Walls Must Fall: Day 4: Carry the Presence: The Jericho Fast Series"

0:00 Music. Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her.

0:46 This isn't just a podcast. This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen. Hello, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. Today, day four episode from our Walls Must Fall series, the 12-day Jericho fast of consecration and dedication. Today's title is Carry the Presence, Don't March Without the Ark. The foundational scripture is found in Joshua 6, verse 13, out of the NIV translation, and it reads, The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing trumpets.

1:34 The armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord while the trumpets kept sounding. How powerful is that? Do not march without the ark. The ark of the covenant was not just a box. It represented the tangible presence of of God. Wherever the ark went, God went. Before Israel marched, they made sure God's presence led the way. So must you. God gave them an instruction. God gives us instruction. It does not meant for us to do it by ourselves.

2:19 So we cannot go ahead of him and march without the ark, without the presence of the Lord. So just like Moses said, Lord, if you don't go with me, I don't want to go. You should do the same. And expect him not just to go with you, but to go before you and prepare the place you have to go. And I want to just share this story. So I had a meeting, there's some things happening in the office. If you work in the office, you know some things are always happening in the office. And so on this particular day, I want to share how God moved in this event. And this is so powerful only because in my own strength, you know.

3:02 We'll be to mess some things up. Can I just keep it real? Because I think women, we are either so quick to, we're going to hurt somebody with our words. We'll hurt somebody with the looks we give. We can really just kind of hurt someone. but knowing that you're going to be in that office for 10, 20, 30 years, you're going to have to live with these people. And so you have to find a way with the Bible says that be at peace with everybody. And sometimes it doesn't require you to always confront everything, even though you might have been wrong. So I teach a class. I won't go into too much detail, but I teach a class and I was preparing the material.

3:42 And I created this nice little booklet for my students. And I was copying on the machine. It was colorful. It was beautiful. Don't get me wrong. And the. Apparently, she took what I was copying and took it to my, took it to person who used to teach the class that I'm teaching. And somehow I ended up in my main boss office. I have two supervisors. One's a media and one is the kind of the director that oversees everything. And pretty soon, you know, surely that same day, I was calling to his office. He said, well, kind of you can't use this material. I'm more like shocked. Like, where did you get this? this was on my desk or off the printer. And so I just said, okay, sir. And I was like, okay, I'm not going to be mean.

4:26 I'm not going to say anything. But in my mind, I'm thinking like, how dare you, whoever did it, come in my office and take something off of my desk. And so over the period of from that day for a week, I had to just kind of deal with a lot of emotions. You know how we do ladies. And I was like, okay, do I stay? Do I go? How do I handle this. And so immediately I was looking for another job. Now, how many times we do that? We're like, I can't stay here. I got to go. I got to go. And then on the third day, because God seems to move on the third day, the Lord whispered in my ear and he says, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And I was like, okay. And when he said that, I knew exactly where it came from.

5:10 Because if you read the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah 8, chapter Nehemiah 8, 10. So if you're going through something like I went through, and I'm going to show you how God showed up, then we'll get back to, this is a side story. You know me, got a side story for everything. And I hope this does help you out. But the Lord whispered to my ear, he says, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And in my mind, immediately. I knew where that scripture was. The walls must fall. So Nehemiah, he was a cupbearer and he went before the king to ask to rebuild the walls of Israel and the Israel, right? And so he had an opportunity to rebuild the wall. But during the time he was rebuilding the walls, the haters came out and we're going to have a series on how to handle the haters.

5:59 Throughout all his troubles, Nehemiah was able to build the wall. Even with all the haters, in record time, the Bible says he built the wall in 52 days. That's a note. But on this particular day, as I was getting ready to get on my knees, like I always do before the Lord, the Lord whispered, you know, in that still small voice, he says, The joy of the Lord is your strength. And I knew exactly what he meant because sometimes he can, God can give you a scripture. And if you read the Bible, you know, the whole story.

6:39 So when he gave me that scripture, he was like, Connie, don't worry about the haters. I got the haters covered. You will be victorious. He didn't say that. He didn't have to tell me that. He said that just joy of the Lord is your strength. Just don't focus on the haters. Focus on me. So I went to work that day. Nothing has changed. I, in my own mind, was still a little perturbed about what happened. But the joy of the Lord filled me so full that I no longer thought about the haters, nor thought about leaving the job, nor thought about any negative things that you might want to do to that person for just being just that person, right? You know how we do.

7:21 And I was like, wow, Lord, I was so full of joy from the moment he said that from 5, about 4.30 in the morning until that evening. And I was just bubbling over so much that I really couldn't even sleep that day. But I realized the Lord was just telling me like, don't worry about the haters. Don't worry about the haters. And that reminds me, because when you think about the joy of the Lord is your strength, and we're talking about don't march without the ark, that means God wants to be part of your good, your bad, and your ugly, right? Because he knows how to handle each and every part. But we always invite him in when it's our bad and our ugly.

8:02 Invite him in when it's your good, right? Let me tell you what happened. He took away all of that, all of that. He took away that ugh out of my heart. And what really took it away was some incidents that happened And that particular day I had training and I had training, so I wouldn't be able to teach the class that I usually teach. But guess what? The students showed up anyway because they forgot the class was canceled. And some of the students who never brought their book, who never did their homework, they said, we here for class. I said, well, class is canceled because I have training. They said, well, I got my book and I got my homework done. And I'm like, man, that made my heart just melt. And I said, well, bring it next week.

8:46 Now, these are not kids. These are not college students that I used to teach. These are adults with addiction who I'm teaching. I'm going to tell you what I do. I teach an addiction recovery class. Think about what that made me feel like. I was getting ready to vacate the premises, leave a job because of the haters when I'm supposed to be here for the people who need me. You see how the devil will do you, uproot you from where you call to do because of some haters. But Nehemiah did not let the haters hate. He let them hate because that's what they do. Haters hate, don't get me wrong. But he continued his journey. He had a sword in one hand. You have to read the book of Nehemiah.

9:27 I will cover it probably for the month of August, but Nehemiah had a sword in one hand and he had the bricks and mortar and stuff in the other hand. He worked and kept doing what he was called to do in the middle of the haters. And that's what I was doing that day. I was still doing my work. I wasn't moved by what they were trying to do to distract me. I was still doing what I was called to do. Because when you have the joy of the Lord as your strength, it only comes from the Holy Spirit. And you know, the Holy Spirit is with you every, everywhere you go. He's with you. So he filled me with strength. And then, check this out. Now that's.

10:09 Third day. And then the weekend happens and then it came close and you're doing your regular routine. You're thinking like, okay, Laura, thank you. I wrote up a statement because I was going to meet with my boss regarding this incident, but I didn't want to go into my boss presence just rambling off of rambling. You know how we get in there and she said, and he said, and they said, and I said. I wanted to go in there professionally and I wanted to make sure I had my words right my words tight and just present the case as is and tell them what my options was because my option was if you're not going to protect me from the haters you know I'm just being funny but if you're not going to you're gonna allow this behavior to continue then this is not the office that I want to work in and I don't want to teach this class because it's causing a lot of you know I said drama but unethical things to happen and I can't even use the printer unless somebody's going to grab my paperwork and run it to you like a little kid? I think I shared that part.

11:09 And I was trying to keep it as real as possible, but not so professional that he couldn't understand it. Come on now. And I just kind of went through a story of why I do what I do, because I had it all written out. Whenever I want to share this with you as a professional tip, when you go before your boss, make sure you take time to write out some notes. Even write out what you're going to say, type it out nicely, because you don't want them spending all day writing down notes. I wanted him paying attention to me. I wanted him to pay attention to my words. And that's what he did. I said, sir, I have everything written down. And then you don't have to write notes. I got everything written down and I'm going to give you a copy. And that's what he did. He paid attention to me and he listened to all my words.

11:52 He says, honey, I apologize for that. And after that, I don't think I heard anything else, right? Because I came in with one plan in mind. But before that, I want to share that. The Lord said, kind of already went before you. And that's in Exodus 23, 20. I already went before you. I want you to just count on me. Open your mouth and just speak what I tell you to speak. And I went in there. I didn't have a pre-written script. I didn't even probably look at the notes I had in my paper. I just allowed the Lord to speak through my heart regarding why I teach, why I like this class, why I handle things the way that I do with my students. But this particular day, my boss was present in the room and he was paying attention to every word that I was saying.

12:39 Connie, I am listening. I am paying attention. I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. You are one of our best employees. He realized that I wasn't the problem, that the problem was the people who was bringing the problem to him. You get what I'm saying? Look how God turns things around when we come in his presence first, and then we carry his presence with us wherever we go. Remember, it's God moving for us, moving with us, helping change things right before our eyes. Amen. That's how we handle it. Can I keep going, y'all? It's so good. so you can't fast without his presence you can't pray without his presence come on you can't be go before your boss without his presence matter of fact you can't even work a job without his presence you can't drive without his presence i wouldn't even eat the food if you're going through a drive without his presence you're gonna need god's presence everywhere you go and so if you can you can expect walls to fall.

13:44 How can you expect walls to fall if you leave his presence behind? So in this walls must fall series, I can guarantee you that walls are falling in my life because I'm carrying the presence of the Lord. I am consecrated and dedicated. Remember I told you, he says, Connie, I need you to fast. It says not about the food. It's about your consecration and dedication to me. Yes, food is involved. I'm not out here gorging on everything. I've set a set of time, right? But it's not about the food. Remember, sometimes people fast and they're making all these fancy fasting meals and they totally left out God.

14:27 There's no presence there, right? So the ark was the center of their formation, the Israelites, just as God's presence must be the center of our formation. Amen. So don't carry the weight of this consecration, dedication, this 12-day Jericho fast without carrying the weight of his glory. Remember, I told you, this is not about rules. It's about relationship. God isn't moved by effort or long. He's moved by intimacy. What is intimacy, right? When you think about intimacy with a male and a female, it's not always about the sexual relationship. It's about the conversations you can have without even saying anything to each other, the looks you give, the touch you give, right?

15:15 God whispers in your ear and you move. You don't even see God. He's not even visually presence, but you move him because he spoke to you. That's intimacy. And when you invite his presence, you carry power. So when I walked in the room, he was ready. He was ready. He said, Connie, you called this meeting. I was like, what? I forgot I did call this meeting. So I got the floor. I got the floor and I didn't waste any time. I cut. I didn't make a long story short. I didn't make it longer like I do on this podcast. I kept it reasonable. And if I made it longer, guys, it'd be about 30, 40 minutes for every podcast. But I keep it within 20 minutes. I try to. You know that.

15:56 So the power to walk in silence. Come on now. God has given me the power to, if this person, like Nehemiah did, is going to be a hater, steal stuff off of the printer, and run and tell. This lady is like 30-something years old. And I'm a lot older than her. And she did a kid-like move. So she ain't ready. Because I wouldn't want to address her in a way that as a professional, she would address me in a kid-like attitude. And a lot of times when that doesn't equal out, I usually require somebody who's going to be fighting because it's going to be a disrespect. And that's why for me, I rather just, I handle it as professional.

16:39 I was like, I've got your back. I got you. I can understand you. You're about the same age as my children. I'm not going to be having a verbal kung fu with you, but I know I'm going to watch you and I got my eye on you. Matter of fact, I don't even have to watch you because God is the one that fights for me. And that's how he showed me. Let me tell you how I found out who it was. I was in the office and he said, no, someone took it off the printer. And then right before my eyes, God showed me the vision of the girl who did it. Come on now. Oh, and I said, oh, I know who it is. I had closed my, I know who it is now. Oh my gosh. So God, you can't, you're messing with the wrong one, you guys, right?

17:19 Come on. We hold the power when we consecrate and we dedicate, when we walk by faith, when we trust God, we have intimacy with God. Think about the intimacy with God. God is saying like, when we're going to talk about the touch, it's the look, it's the whisper. You're doing it with intimacy with God. He's whispering to you. And you're moving. And they're like, how do you know what to do? Because my God is talking to me. So when you invite his presence, you carry power, power to walk in silence. I just said that again. Why did I say it again? Because many of us, and today, if you watch, I don't watch a lot of this crazy social media stuff.

17:59 It's just people think about it. Cameras everywhere, really. So you stage and most of this stuff. So you get all stirred up over some staged event. But meanwhile, the power to walk in silence. I mean, the power to pray when you feel nothing, the power to believe when you see nothing move, the power to believe the whisper that God said, I got you on this one. I'm already went before you. But not just that, the power not to go punch somebody out, to tell somebody off to do something, to keep your routine as though nothing happened. That messes other people up when you don't walk in a fence, when you're not loud in the office saying, I know somebody took something off my printer.

18:45 You know how people do. You don't have to be loud. You just still keep it professional. Why? Because they don't know how to respond to that. They're ready to respond to loud black girl, but they ain't ready to respond to a professional. And so ladies, we walk with Jesus. We're queens. We cannot be in the office acting like we don't have a crown on our head. Amen. That we don't have an intimate affair with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. As though he does not talk to you and tell you to quiet down. Don't be walking in disobedience. How about this one? The power to believe when you see nothing moves, nothing is moving.

19:26 Today is a call to realign your focus, not on the wall, not on the hunger pains you feel when you're fasting, but on the one, capital O, who goes before you. Let's pray. Lord, I don't want to take another step without your presence. Be the center of this consecration and dedication fast. Fill every room I walk into. Fill my thoughts, my prayers, and my worship. Talk to me. Teach me how to wait on you, to listen to you, and to follow where you lead. I decree that I am a carrier of God's presence. I do not walk alone. Every step I take is led and surrounded by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the living God.

20:09 I will not fasten the flesh. I will not consecrate and dedicate in the flesh. I walk in the fullness of His power and His presence. And if your presence does not go with me. Do not send me from here. In Jesus' name, amen. So today, focus on prayer. Focus is. Go beyond a staining, but intentionally create space for God's presence. Turn off distractions, play worship music, sit in silence, invite him to fill your home or car in your heart. You know, what I've done is I like my same kind of worship music. I know we have our favorites, but I've been listening, trying to find new worship music, you know.

20:51 And so I found this kind of listening to like Spotify. And I'm like, wow, I'm finding some music from Nigeria and Africa, different kind of worship music, people who know how to worship God, that can shift the atmosphere in your room. Isn't that what we're trying to do? We want to bring God in the room with us. Where in your life have you been moving ahead of God without his presence? He tells you something and you run ahead without him? And how can you reenter his presence in your daily walk today? I thank you for this time with me and our series, Walls Must Fall. So until next time, see you on the next episode. Goodbye.

21:33 Thank you for listening to this episode. And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14. Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. You said you will restore us from captivity. So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, are small.

22:16 Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen. Music.