Worship 5 of 8
When the Flesh Rises Up, Worship God
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
The sermon you have heard all your life that says you have got to be broke in order to be holy is not in line with the Word. Now it is good for you to be holy. That should be the number one thing in your life. But I know the flesh will rise up and desire things that God doesn’t want us to have. I live in a body with flesh, too.
Sometimes there are certain things that you might like to have, things that everybody likes, but you can’t always have them. You know you want them. Sometimes you want them real bad. But God says you can’t have them. When He says that, you just have to say “no” to them and walk away.
The greatest word you can ever say to temptation is No!
The greatest word you can ever say to the Devil is No!
The greatest word you can ever say against a Particular desire in your life is just plain No!
You just have to say No! That’s all!
The Devil understands the word No.
When he says to you, “Try this,” or, “Do this,” you just have to say, NO!
Then he’ll say, “But you know you want to do it, so just go ahead.”
What do you say?
I Said, “No!”
One morning my doorbell rang. When I opened the door, a tall, slim, beautiful blond woman was standing there. After she walked into my house, I said, “What do you want?”
“I’ve come to get you,” she said. “What do you mean you’ve come to get me?” “Well, you’re a bachelor, aren’t you?” “Oh, yes.”
“Well,” she said, “I know you get lonely. I’ve come to fulfill that loneliness.” Naturally, with her saying that, I knew she wasn’t a Christian.
I said, “Oh, really?” “Yes,” she said. “I know that since you’re a bachelor you’re bound to get lonely. Aren’t you normal?” “Oh, yes, I’m normal all right.” “Well, I’ve come to fulfill that desire.”
“Young lady, you just have to understand something about me. I’m probably just as normal as you are, but I can’t have both you and Jesus. And I don’t want to trade Jesus for you!”
“What? What did you say?”
“I said, ‘I can’t have both you and Jesus. And I don’t want to trade Jesus for you.'”
“I don’t know why,” she said. “You can have us both. You’ve already got Him, and now here I am.”
But I said, “No! No!” “You know you want to. You’re a bachelor. Well, here I am.”
But I just kept saying, “No!.No!.No!” I stood right there until I had talked her out of it.
If you try to get people like that saved, they won’t attack you. You have to start talking to them about how much Jesus loves them.
I didn’t say to her, “You creep, get out of my house!” I said, “Well, I’m sure a pretty girl like you won’t have any trouble finding a man. You’re so pretty. But I can’t do that. I just can’t.”
You have to be careful when you are talking to a person like her. If you do anything wrong, you might make her mad. And there is no telling what she might say about you then!
There are a lot of women like that. I go to lots of meetings, and there are lots of people in the hotels and convention centers and churches. Most of the time these women don’t know where I am staying, but sometimes they do.
Sometimes I will see a lady in a meeting. Then when I walk through the hotel lobby, I see her sitting there. I try to look the other way. Then I go straight to my room and don’t come out!
Worship Over Desire
After a meeting one night, I was walking through the hotel lobby. The fellow with me said: “Hey, Norvel, there’s that beautiful girl I saw in the meeting tonight. She was sitting on the front row. Did you see her?”
“Oh, yes. I guess everybody saw her. She was so dressed up.”
“Well, she’s sitting right there. Don’t you want to go over and talk to her?”
“No, I don’t! But let me teach you something about a situation like this.” (She was sitting close to the elevator, and it was hard to keep from seeing her.) Then I said to him: “As we walk to the elevator, be careful not to glance over toward her. Let’s just keep talking and get on the elevator as soon as possible.”
So we talked and talked and talked. After I had pushed the button, the elevator doors opened, and we got on it as quick as we could and headed up to the room.
“Now, young man, get into your room. The only way you can keep away from a pretty girl like that is by staying in your room.
“Don’t let the Devil tell you, ‘Go to the lobby and get a paper.’ Don’t let him talk you into going back downstairs for any reason. That is exactly what he will try to do. If you say no to him, he will try coming at you from some other angle, anything he can to get you into the lobby, so that you will start talking to her.
“Don’t go downstairs. Just stay in your room. Don’t even answer the phone. Just put your eyes on God and start worshipping the Lord. Get down on the floor and worship Him. Just worship Him more and more.”
Watch Your Associations
I am not smart in myself. I dropped out of school. I am not supposed to have any sense. But because of God, I am prosperous. He has blessed me beyond belief!
Not too long ago, I put a piece of my property up for sale. I had paid $90,000 for it, but I was offered much more than that. People may ask, “How much are you worth, Brother Norvel?”
I really don’t know. I have no earthly idea. I don’t even keep track of it, and couldn’t care less. I just live the simple life, just as simple as I can.
I have already been involved with the country club and the fancy bunch and found out they are as phony as the Devil. I don’t want to get involved anymore with wealthy socialites.
At home in Cleveland, Tennessee, they have tried to get me to join all the country clubs and go to all the social functions with all the “successful” people. I hide from them! I don’t even want to go around them.
If I stayed around places like that, all the neglected wives would want attention. Because they need someone to care, they will reach out for a man they think can fill their wants and desires. I know that kind of thing is going to happen before I ever go, and I don’t want to get involved in that.
My God, deliver me from that kind of a world! Dear Jesus, help us all! I just want to be plain and simple before God. I want to worship the Lord and praise His name because I know that the
blessings of God will come on me as I keep my eyes on Him.
Don’t Let Pride Stand in the Way
One time I spoke at this great, big, fancy banquet in Georgia. When I got through speaking, I gave an altar call. When you get a thousand invitations, it doesn’t matter whether they invite you back or not. So while you’re there, you may as well give an altar call and get some folks blessed.
When I finished giving the altar call, about two hundred people got out of their seats and walked down to the front. One of the businessmen who had come forward had a wife who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She had knelt down before the Lord in their bedroom by the bed and prayed and said, “Jesus, please baptize me in the Holy Spirit.” And He baptized her in the Holy Spirit. The heavenly language began to come up out of her, and she began to speak it out so beautifully and gloriously. It was so precious.
Her husband was stubborn and said that he didn’t believe in that kind of stuff. After a while, she just kept on loving him and would pray in English and speak out in her heavenly language some. He got used to seeing her beside the bed praying, and he would just lie there and watch her.
Finally he got to the point that he was convinced it was real and was even wanting it himself. But he was full of pride, and he told God, “God, I believe in that now, and I want You to give that to me. I want you to give it to me the same way my wife got it—in private, on my knees, by my bed, where no one can see
me.
There were about two thousand people at the banquet the day he decided to come forward. Everything was real sweet and nice until all of a sudden someone slammed up against the wall and just hung there. When I looked over, there this businessman was. He was trying to push himself up while he was sliding down the wall saying, “Oh, no God, no, not in front of all these people. My wife didn’t get it like this.” He would pull himself up again then God’s power would push him down again, and he would be speaking in tongues.
When God got through with him, he didn’t have any pride left. All the pride he had was exposed, and he knew he was a meathead. If you ever in your life try to tell God anything, it is for sure that He will never do it that way. Believe me, this may be a shock to you, but God knows a lot more than you know. And because He is God, He can’t afford to let you tell Him anything. You ask Him for what you want when it’s promised to you in the Bible then you step back and let God do it the way He wants to do it.
But don’t go around full of pride like this man did and say, “God, I’m a classy man, and I want what my wife has because it’s so beautiful. But I want You to give it to me quietly. I don’t want anybody to know that I speak in tongues. So give it to me in my bedroom. Do you understand me?”
Of course, God doesn’t even answer people like that. Oh, He understood him all right, and He knew exactly how to make him look like an ox in a china shop. He was the most miserable looking mess I had ever seen in my life. But he got the baptism of the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues. And he won’t
ever forget it.
No Blue Mondays!
Some people’s emotions get the best of them, and they live from day to day on a roller coaster. One day they are up, and one day they are down. God told me this about that kind of life. He said: “Son, I don’t have any blue Mondays. What are you doing with them?”
“Well, Lord, if You don’t believe in them, then I won’t believe in them either. Praise God! I’m going to worship You all during that blue Monday.”
“Son, I don’t believe in blue Mondays or gray Tuesdays.” “Then neither do I!”
Whenever you find out how Jesus believes about something, then agree with Him as quick as you can. Just say, “I’m going to believe like that, too, Jesus.” As long as you try your best to follow after Him, your mistakes will become fewer and fewer.
During meetings and conventions, I fellowship with my brothers and sisters in the Lord, but I can hardly wait sometimes until the service starts the next morning. When I am speaking in those morning sessions, I always get anointed really strong because I spent time worshipping the Lord. If you will take time to worship God, your life will be like that every day—every day!
Sometimes I have ridden in the van with my ministry team on the way to another city for a meeting. As we listen to anointed music tapes, we just worship God and praise His name. That is when I get blessed. Something blesses me, and I just want to keep praising God over and over again!
If you are living a dead, dry life and you are wondering about God, you may say: “My life doesn’t seem very exciting. What do you think is wrong with me, Brother Norvel?”
I probably wouldn’t have enough time to tell you all that is wrong with you, but I know about something that will help pull you out. I can guarantee you that. It will totally get you out of what is wrong with you.
The next time your flesh rises up and you start to have a bad day or a confused day or a blue day, start worshipping God and praising Him. Tell Jesus how much you love Him. Thank Him for all He has done for you. Praise Him for caring enough to give His own life on the cross two thousand years ago. Begin to really Worship Him and praise Him.
Notice the second verse in Psalm 29. It says:
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.Give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto His name. That is truly worshipping the Lord!
Have you done that lately?
“But, Brother Norvel,” someone may say, “I go to church.” Rats and mice go to church, too!
“Well, I got saved years ago, Brother Norvel, and I love the Lord.”
Are you singing the same song over and over again? Are you saying “I love the Lord…I love the Lord…I love the Lord!” over and over again like a habit?
Just going to church or saying “I love the Lord” over and over isn’t worshipping God. You are to worship God for His name and His power.
You are to worship Him all the time—all the time—in the beauty of holiness. As you do, your outlook on your everyday life will change. You will expect God’s blessings to come on you because you are keeping your eyes on Him, and you won’t have any more blue Mondays!
Worship 6 of 8 What to Do When You Are Desperate
Norvel Hayes