Delivering Power of Discontent
Reverend Jeff Arnold 6/17/2025
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52:38
Summary
Reverend Jeff Arnold explores how 'divine discontent' serves as the spark for miracles and personal transformation, urging believers to trade comfortable mediocrity for a desperate pursuit of God's supernatural power.
Key points
- •Discontent is not always negative; when channeled correctly, it acts as a divine catalyst for change, improvement, and spiritual growth.
- •Deliverance occurs when human discontent (dissatisfaction with the present state) joins with divine discontent (God's desire for our transformation).
- •Material 'stuff' and social programming are no substitute for spiritual activity and the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost.
- •God often allows setbacks, failures, and frustration to bring us to 'the end of ourselves,' which is the exact place where His architected purpose can finally be realized.
- •A healthy church must move from being merely 'presence-oriented' to actively pursuing the 'unexplainable and undeniable' manifestations of God's power.
Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Deliverance Centers
Transformation
Holy Ghost Power
Prayer and Desperation
Life application
Identify one area of your spiritual life or character that you have been complaining about but tolerating. This week, stop the passive griping and instead turn that discontent into desperate prayer, asking God to manifest His power in that specific area.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life have you become 'mediocre' or too comfortable with the status quo?
- How can you distinguish between a 'sour puss' attitude and a 'divine discontent' that motivates holy change?
- What is the 'end of the Lord' (the intended outcome) that God might be working toward through your current frustrations or setbacks?
- Are you spending more time seeking God's 'pasture' (deeper things) or just camping at the 'door' (initial salvation)?
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Full transcript
0:00to a camera and uh it's very hard to get
0:00really excited and inspired. So as I
0:01begin to teach tonight, just understand
0:04something. Preaching is yelling.
0:08Teaching is telling.
0:11Okay? One gives you information, one
0:15gives you inspiration,
0:18but they're both supposed to give you
0:20transformation.
0:22So if if you can't get transformed by
0:24the word of God, ain't no sense trying
0:26to run the aisles and bump into the
0:28walls. I got some really good stuff to
0:30share with you and you don't have to
0:32stand up. I'm just going to read a
0:34couple of scriptures. It's in Exodus
0:36chapter 2 and uh verse 23. It came to
0:41pass in the process of time the king
0:42Egypt died. Children of Israel sighed by
0:45reason of the bondage and their cried
0:48and their cried came unto the Lord God
0:50by reason of their bondage and the Lord
0:52heard their groanings remembered his
0:54covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
0:57And the Lord looked upon the children of
0:58Israel and God had respect unto them. Go
1:01over to the next chapter. This is the
1:03chapter where Moses bumps into the
1:05burning bush and all of a sudden the
1:08bush catches on fire and starts
1:09challenging him. But I want you to get
1:11these scriptures here. And the Lord
1:13turns around in verse seven and he says,
1:16"And the Lord said, I have surely seen
1:18the affliction of my people which are in
1:21Egypt. And I've heard their cry by
1:25reason of their taskmasters, for I know
1:27their sorrows." You need to underline
1:29that. I've heard. I know. I've seen.
1:34Okay. And I am come down to deliver them
1:38out of the hand of the Egyptians. Now,
1:41that's all I want from those scriptures.
1:43And then I'm I guess I'm going to
1:44paraphrase the rest of it. Lord, bless
1:46the teaching in Jesus name. Amen. I I I
1:49had a scripture over here that maybe
1:51I'll give you for a homework assignment
1:54if you'll take a few moments tonight or
1:56tomorrow and read 1 Samuel chapter 2.
1:59I'm going to paraphrase it. There was a
2:01man, okay, and and he had two wives. And
2:06his one wife's name was Panina, and the
2:09other was uh Hannah. And uh and he he
2:14just he was good to both of them. And he
2:17loved them both, Elana. And the problem
2:20was Panina had children left and right,
2:23left and right. And and poor Hannah
2:26wanted so bad to have children. Watch
2:29this. Verse five, but unto Hannah he
2:32gave worthy portions, for he loved
2:34Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her
2:36womb. And her adversary also provoked
2:38her sore, for to make her fret, because
2:41the Lord had shut up her womb. And and
2:44he did so year by year when they went up
2:46to the house of the Lord to provoke her.
2:48And therefore, she wept and did not eat.
2:51When you go a little further, it says
2:53Hannah rose up, verse 9, and after they
2:55had eaten and she went into the temple
2:58and she began to pray. The Bible says,
2:59"And she was in bitterness of soul, and
3:02prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore, and
3:05vowed a vow, and said, Lord of hosts,
3:08that thou will indeed look on the
3:09affliction of thy handmaiden, and
3:11remember me, and not forget thine
3:13handmmaid, and will give unto thine
3:15handmaidaden a manchild, then I will
3:18give him unto the Lord all the days of
3:20his life, and he'll be no razor upon his
3:23head." That means he's going to be a
3:24Nazerite. Okay, I'm just going to
3:26paraphrase all this cuz I got a lot I
3:29want to share with you. Okay, now as I
3:31tell people all the time, I look stupid,
3:33but I'm not stupid. I I'm a lot smarter
3:36than I look. And And here's what I want
3:38to talk to you about. The delivering
3:41power, the delivering power
3:46of discontent.
3:49Delivering power of discontent.
3:52Okay.
3:54Keep going. Okay. Now, let me just go
3:57and give you an explanation. Content.
4:00Okay. Content. Happy enough with
4:03everything the way it is. Okay.
4:06Satisfied with the present situation,
4:09your present status or state of being,
4:12not desiring something more, different
4:15or better to be content. But discontent
4:19is the lack of contentment,
4:21dissatisfaction,
4:23restlessness of desire for something
4:26more, something better, or something
4:29different. And so I want to talk to you
4:32because discontent is always all my life
4:36has always been projected in a negative
4:38aspect that if a person is discontented,
4:42they're a sour puss, they're gripy,
4:44they're complaining, they're faultf
4:46finding. Nothing could be further from
4:48the truth. When a person can be
4:51discontent and still be very very
4:54thankful for all the things that God has
4:56done and all the issues in their life,
4:59what they possess, what they own, what
5:01they have experienced. So don't let
5:03anybody lie to you and turn around and
5:05tell you that discontent will make you
5:08thankless. That's not so. It's not so.
5:12You just have to understand that there
5:14is a positive side to discontent as well
5:17as a negative side to discontent. But I
5:20I feel like I have something to share
5:22with you that when I read that Exodus
5:25chapter 3, I've come down to deliver
5:28them. How is he going to deliver? Their
5:31discontent,
5:33their status, their slavery, their
5:36suffering, their unfair treatment
5:39motivated them to cry out to God. Watch
5:43this. And divine discontent,
5:47delivered them. Oh, hallelujah. I thank
5:50God that there is such a thing as divine
5:53discontent. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
5:56Hallelujah. Just look in the natural
5:58world. All the discoveries and the
6:01inventions that we have are usually the
6:03offspring and the results of some level
6:07or some measure of discontent. Now
6:09watch. Discontent does not mean you're
6:12sour push bribing or complaining.
6:14Discontent gets at a hold of you and
6:16says we can make it better. We can make
6:20it easier. We can improve this. We can
6:23cause change and alteration. So we went
6:26from the horse and buggy to the car and
6:28we went from an old car to fast cars
6:31going down. We went from dirt roads to
6:35interstates. We went from windup phones
6:39to now we have cell phones and we have
6:41the internet and we have all this crazy
6:44stuff. All these what do you call them?
6:46Smartphones. I own a dumb phone but most
6:49people have a smartphone. And so the all
6:53these inventions and improvements and
6:55discoveries all came from a level of
6:59discontent that was in people's lives.
7:02And I I would just like to say as as
7:04best I can the intolerance of your
7:08present situation
7:10is what creates a better future.
7:14You hear me?
7:15Discontent is literally the catalyst
7:19that brings change. You can't build a
7:22better church if you don't have a
7:23measure of discontent. You you can't be
7:26more spiritual and walk with God in a
7:29greater way unless somehow God allows
7:31you to feel a sense of discontent. That
7:34doesn't mean you're griping or
7:36complaining. It just means that there's
7:38somehow a desire in you that you want
7:41more than you have and you want to be a
7:44better person than you are and you want
7:46to walk closer to God. I'll tell you
7:49what what I think the Pentecostal
7:51movement needs a baptism of discontent
7:54because there's too many of our churches
7:56and our our districts and our people
8:00that are satisfied with just being
8:02saved. Being saved is not the issue.
8:06Remember what Jesus said? I am the door.
8:09If any man enter in by me, he shall be
8:11saved. Fine. That's where all the holy
8:13rollers are right there. They're camping
8:15at the door. He said, "And they shall go
8:17in and out and find pasture." For years,
8:21I used to wonder what how in the world
8:22could you go in and out of the door? In
8:24and out of the door. And the Lord
8:26finally helped me to realize, "No, no,
8:28no, no. When you go in, watch. Then you
8:31go out. You go out into pasture. You go
8:35out into deeper things in God. You go
8:38out into holy things of God. You go out
8:40into transformation into the into the
8:43very Christlikeness that God wants us to
8:46have. So you you realize that that
8:48you've got to become discontented
8:52with mediocrity. I tell people all the
8:54time, the tragedy of people who are
8:56mediocre is that mediocre people are
9:00always at their best.
9:03They ain't never going to get no better.
9:05They're just going to sit on their dove
9:06and just get mold on their brain and
9:08just sit there and wait till the rapture
9:10takes place. Listen, discontentment
9:14will cause you to reach for the things
9:16of God. It will cause you to pray
9:18better. It will cause you to be more
9:21liberal in your giving. It'll cause you
9:23to be more loyal in your attendance.
9:26It'll cause you somehow to have an inner
9:29dissatisfaction while you still are
9:31thankful for everything that God has
9:34done for you and everything God has
9:36provided for you. But somehow this
9:38discontent says, "But there's more.
9:41God's got more for me and I want to be
9:44more than I am." So when I looked at the
9:47scripture that I read to you in in
9:48Exodus 2 and three, he said, "I've come
9:51down to deliver them for I've seen their
9:54sorrows. I know their sorrows. I've seen
9:57their suffering. I've heard their
9:59crying. And I am going to come down. But
10:02you got to hear me. Their deliverance
10:05was the direct result of divine
10:08discontent.
10:11Unionizing with human discontent. When
10:14human discontent joins with divine
10:17discontent, woo, man, you got miracles
10:20and signs and wonders. You got people
10:23getting the Holy Ghost. You get people
10:25getting healed and divine dis discontent
10:28is the thing that changes everything
10:31around. Let me try it again. Discontent
10:34is the catalyst that brings change.
10:38Discontent doesn't bring griping and
10:41complaining and faultf finding and all
10:43that foolishness. That's the negative
10:45side of discontent. The positive side of
10:49discontent, it brings growth. It brings
10:52improvement. It brings a a a closeness
10:55of God to you that you didn't have
10:57before. So even though at times you and
11:00I may feel overwhelmed with a feeling of
11:03discontent, that is actually a work of
11:06God that he puts in us. You see the
11:09adversary, he tries to make you
11:12satisfied. The ally tries to make you
11:15discontented.
11:18Why? Because if you can experience
11:20discontent, it will motivate you. It
11:23will move you. It will make you stretch
11:26for things that you want that you don't
11:28have. When we read that story, and I
11:30hope you read it after I finish, when
11:33you read that story of Hannah, Paniner's
11:35having children left and right, but
11:38Hannah doesn't have any children. for
11:39some reason the Lord didn't see fit to
11:42let her get with a child and get
11:44pregnant and she's brokenhearted and
11:46she's got a soul hunger and oh what a
11:49word that is soul hunger that's the
11:51product of discontent soul hunger and
11:54she goes to the temple we know the story
11:56she's praying and her lips are moving
11:58but the voice doesn't Eli who's
12:01spiritual as a dead rock he turns around
12:03and he dams her and condemns her and
12:05thinks he's a drunk and says put away
12:07this wine and strong drink. He says,
12:09"No, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
12:12Don't think I'm a daughter of bal. I've
12:15poured out the complaint of my heart.
12:17All I want to do is give birth to
12:19children." And you got to hear me. She
12:21is thankful
12:23for her husband. He is a good husband.
12:26He provides food and clothing and
12:29shelter. He gives her extra gifts and
12:31things when they go to the temple. He
12:33loved Hannah. But it was fact when you
12:36read them. I see you, brother Elms. I
12:38see you looking over there. You need to
12:40underline this. The Bible said when her
12:43husband talked to her, he says, "Am I
12:45not better to thee?" Elconor says, "Am I
12:48not better to thee than 10 sons?" If you
12:51were here looking at my Bible, I have
12:53written in big red letters, "No
12:58stuff is no substitute for sons, right?
13:02Stuff and material is no substitute for
13:05spiritual activity. And you're raising a
13:08generation that is satisfied with stuff.
13:12And you got a nice building, you got
13:14nice clothes, you got a nice car. That's
13:15I'm happy. I'm glad God's happy. I'm
13:18glad God gave it to you. But you cannot
13:20substitute stuff for the supernatural.
13:24You cannot substitute materialism
13:27for mighty works of the Holy Ghost. And
13:30the only way that happens is when you
13:32and I become discontented
13:35at the level that we're at. Yes. Saved?
13:38Yes. Born again? Yes. Full of the Holy
13:41Ghost? Yes. Baptized in Jesus' name?
13:43Yes. Name written in a long book of
13:46life? Yes. He never leave me nor forsake
13:48me. Yes. Never put on me more than I can
13:51bear. Yes. But there's still this
13:54discontent. It's almost like God takes
13:56his package of discontentment and sticks
13:59it into the heart and minds and spirits
14:01of his people because it'll motivate you
14:04to reach beyond what is so you can
14:08experience what can be and and I got a
14:12new I got one for I see that brother
14:14Elms with his hands in the air. Okay,
14:16are you ready? All the rest of you doing
14:18your Mount Rushmore impersonation, I'm
14:21really impressed with it. That's nice.
14:22Are you ready? Watch this.
14:25This woman's discontent, you're going to
14:28start running the aisles now, Brother
14:29Elms. Here we go. Her discontent
14:33motivated her to summon the
14:35supernatural.
14:39Her discontent moved her to make an
14:43appeal to another world that's got all
14:46power and all knowledge and all wisdom.
14:50And he's on your side. And if God before
14:53me, who or what can be against me?
14:55Hallelujah. And no weapon formed against
14:58me is going to prosper because I'm going
15:00to keep seeking after the things of God.
15:03That's why the Lord come follow me.
15:06Follow me. You got to You can't just
15:08believe in Jesus. You got to follow him.
15:11You know, one of the problems, the
15:13negative side of discontent is when the
15:15Lord was dealing and bringing Israel and
15:18feeding them with supernatural bread,
15:20mana.
15:21They complained about the mana and they
15:24complained about the way that God was
15:26taking them. That's the negative side of
15:29discontent. The positive sign is water
15:33out of the rock, quail falling out of
15:35the sky, the cloud being with them, the
15:38pillar of fire being with them,
15:40protecting them day and night.
15:42Discontent is a driving force that will
15:46help you and I become more than we are.
15:49That's how people change jobs. That's
15:52how people get education. They are
15:54discontented with the job they have or
15:57the pay level they're at or how the how
16:00the lawn mower is running. You you're
16:02not going to fix the lawn mower or
16:05replace it until you get discontented
16:08with how it's working. It's the same
16:10thing with your house. It's the same
16:12thing with everything in your house.
16:14Until you get discontented about it, you
16:17won't do anything about it. Now, let now
16:19let me just make a neat statement here
16:21for you. I'm I'm assuming all you people
16:24staring at me, you're listening to me.
16:26Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
16:28Are you ready? Stop complaining
16:32about things you keep tolerating.
16:36Stop complaining
16:39about this about the status and the
16:42position that you have in God and you
16:44don't do anything about it to improve.
16:47That is crazy. You cannot. Now, I'm
16:50gonna make a statement here. Okay? I'm
16:52going to put this in Ganessa's records.
16:54You ready?
16:56Everything you face in life, you may not
17:00be able to change.
17:02But watch, everything in your life you
17:06refuse to face, you can't change.
17:10So, you've got to you got to face and
17:12confront things that are bad in your
17:14life, weakness in your life. That's how
17:16your prayer life gets better. That's how
17:18your fasting gets better. That's how
17:20your Bible reading gets better. That's
17:23how your Christian walk gets better. I
17:25thank you, Lord, for everything you've
17:26done for me. But I I want to be more
17:29godly. I want to be more Christlike. I
17:31want to be what you want me to be. I
17:34want to be a kinder person, a more
17:36forgiving person, a more spiritual
17:38person. Now, I I'm an old dozen. I'm 80
17:41years old, almost 81. And I got news for
17:44you. I'm still stretching for the
17:46supernatural. I'm still reaching for God
17:48to work in my life. I'm still wanting
17:51God to use me in miracles, signs, and
17:53wonders. And that all comes, as far as
17:56I'm concerned, out of that ministry of
17:59discontent.
18:01Thankful for what I have, but I I don't
18:03have enough. I want more. I want the
18:06things of God operating in my life.
18:08Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So
18:11when we look at all these things I and
18:13if I I never read this in a book. Uh
18:16brother Elms, you're my dear friend, but
18:19two days ago I got a set of notes right
18:21here right in front of me. I I never
18:24ever heard the term divine discontent. I
18:28never read in a book. I never heard
18:29anybody use it. I'm sure they have, but
18:32I didn't. But he gave it to me and he
18:34turned around and said, "Tell my people,
18:36yes, their deliverance comes from divine
18:39discontent." Hallelujah. That meets
18:41human discontent. And then he gave me
18:43these thoughts. I got it right here. I'm
18:45going to put it out right here. This is
18:46so powerful. I got it. I said, I've
18:49never seen this before. Tell my people
18:52that divine discontent
18:54is what gave them the incarnation.
18:58Wow.
19:00God was so discontented with human
19:03slavery and being beat up and held
19:06hostage by sin and Satan that God looked
19:09and said, "I I got to get rid of this. I
19:11got to do this." So what happened? And
19:13the word became flesh and dwelt among us
19:16and we beheld his glory. God of the only
19:18begotten full of grace and truth.
19:20Hallelujah. And divine discontent gave
19:23us the incarnation. And the incarnation
19:27was a record and a parade of divine
19:30discontent. Are you ready? Okay, Elms, I
19:33see you. Sit down. Sit down. You'll be
19:35tired. Sit down. Are you ready? Watch.
19:38Divine discontent
19:40healed the leper in Matthew 8.
19:44Freed the centurion servant in Matthew
19:468:9. Raised Jarus's daughter from the
19:50dead. Woo. Hallelujah. Healed Barnameus
19:53of his blindness. set the woman with the
19:56issue of blood free after 12 years of
19:58hemorrhaging. Yes. Bought those two
20:00blind men out of darkness and gave them
20:02sight. Wow. Gave the Syrup Phoenician
20:05woman deliverance for her
20:07demon-possessed daughter long distance.
20:10I got news for you, baby. Discontent is
20:13so powerful that it can work long
20:16distance. If your child is backsliding,
20:18if your loved ones are lost, God can
20:21make long distance and he can bring
20:24deliverance to them just out of your
20:26discontent.
20:29Hallelujah. And I got news for you. You
20:32cannot get saved until you become
20:35totally discontented the way you're
20:38living and how your life is and what
20:40you've become. the drug addicts off the
20:42drugs and the drinker off the alcohol
20:45and the liar and the immoral. They
20:46changed when they finally reached a
20:49level of being discontented and said,
20:51"I'm fed up with this. I've had I can't
20:54take no more of this. I got to have a
20:56change because discontent is the
20:59catalyst for change, improvement, and
21:03alteration, and finally transformation."
21:06Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
21:09That's that's so wonderful. I think it's
21:11so precious that Christianity is a
21:15record of divine discontent working with
21:19human discontent. When divine discontent
21:22gets involved, watch this. Humanity
21:25experiences deliverance.
21:29My God have mercy. It ain't nothing we
21:32do. It's everything that he does. Right.
21:34He turned, you know, when I looked at
21:36all these things, all these v various
21:39miracles that I read, I wrote in my
21:41notes over here. When the four lepers in
21:44Samaria, second Kings 7, they turn
21:47around and say, "Why sit we here till we
21:49die? If we go in the city, we'll die in
21:52there. They're all starving to death. If
21:54we if we sit here, we're going to die."
21:56Yeah. It's fallen to the Assyrians. If
21:59they kill us, we'll just die. And who
22:02knows they might spare us. Watch. And
22:05their discontent of their situation
22:08brought them to a place where they
22:10experienced deliverance.
22:12Hallelujah. God. How many of us have a
22:16had God has allowed a certain level of
22:19discontent to bring us to a place of
22:22desperation? Remember, desperation is
22:24what delivers people. Not just desire,
22:27but desperation. And discontent can make
22:31you desperate. It can make you struggle
22:34and reach. As I said, Hannah reached for
22:37the supernatural because she wanted
22:40children. And God heard her prayer and
22:43answered and blessed her union with her
22:45husband. And she had children. Isn't it
22:48funny? She said she wanted a child.
22:51Instead, God gave her a prophet.
22:56God have mercy.
22:58She wanted an a she wanted an answer
23:01from her agony. And God gave her someone
23:05who could change an entire nation. Who
23:08knows what will come out of your
23:11discontent? Who knows what you and I
23:14might be able to give birth to when we
23:16somehow react and respond to our
23:19discontent. It moves us somehow that we
23:23become something God wants us to be.
23:26Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I I
23:29just thank God for I I just I just think
23:32it's wonderful. Oh yeah. Divine
23:34discontent brings transformation.
23:37Hallelujah. Heavenly discontent somehow
23:41makes us to become more than we are. I
23:43think of the story that we love so much
23:45when we read Luke 15 about the prodal
23:48son. Now, now you read all you want to
23:50and say all you want to, but I'm gonna
23:52tell you something. He's in the mudpin.
23:55He's with the hogs. He's with the slop.
23:58He's not playing any Jeff Arnold tapes.
24:01He's not listening to Lanny Wolf Trio.
24:03He's not listening to Sister Elm sing
24:05her beautiful songs. He's there with
24:08slop and oink oink oink. What does God
24:11do for her? He doesn't deliver him. He
24:14puts a sense of discontent in his heart
24:17and says, "What am I doing here? My
24:20servants in my father's house have more
24:23than enough to eat and I perish with
24:25hunger. I'm getting out of here. I'm
24:28going back home and I'm going to
24:30apologize to my dad. And I'm going to
24:32tell him he was right and I was wrong."
24:34And we know the story. His dad received
24:36him. He kissed him. He loved him. He put
24:39he put shoes on his feet and a ring on
24:41his hand and killed a fatted calf. All
24:44that came as a product of discontent.
24:48Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Don't don't
24:51don't run that down when you feel lousy
24:54or you feel guilt or you feel shame. God
24:57uses all those as tools to create a
25:01sense of discontent. So, it motivates us
25:05to act. It motivates us. I now I don't
25:08know about you, like I said before, I'm
25:09I'm 80, okay? I have had many times when
25:14my attitude was lousy and my reaction
25:17and response was not so good and and how
25:21I how I reacted to things was poor and
25:25God allowed that to happen to me and
25:27there came an overwhelming sense of
25:30discontent in my life as if God was
25:33saying I'm not pleased with that. Wow. I
25:36let that happen to you so you would
25:38somehow come to the end of yourself. You
25:41know, there's a wonderful story in the
25:43book of Job and the book of James. You
25:45know, I've never heard anybody, Brother
25:47Helms, I was going to do this two years
25:48ago at general conference, but I got
25:50sick. I said, there's a there's a
25:52scripture in James that says, we have
25:55seen the patience of Job. We've seen the
25:59longsuffering of God. We've seen what
26:01the prophets have gone through. Then he
26:03comes up with a statement I've never
26:04heard anybody preach on. ready? And
26:07we've seen the end of the Lord. I've got
26:10that circled in my Bible. And I said,
26:12"The end of the Lord." And I stopped and
26:14I started praying. I said, "Lord, what
26:17is the end of the Lord?" It says, "We've
26:19seen the end of the Lord." And the Lord
26:22began to deal with me. It became a great
26:25revelation in my life. He said, "Son,
26:27the end of the Lord is what I had in
26:30mind when I let things happen to you
26:33because I was going to bring you to a
26:35place in myself that you couldn't get to
26:38without setback, without loss, without
26:41sorrow, without failure, without
26:44mistakes." And he gave me the
26:45illustration. And you said in your city
26:48when they start repaving the roads and
26:50they and they make the two lanes go into
26:53just one lane and you got all these
26:55barriers there and you got traffic
26:57backed up and you're aggravated, you're
26:59frustrated because you're trying to get
27:01to where you want to go and and the Lord
27:03just dealt with me. He said, "Now you
27:04understand that that traffic mess and
27:07all the the cones and all the slowed
27:10down traffic, that's not the end that
27:13the architect and the engineer had in
27:16mind when they started the project. But
27:18in about six weeks when the paving is
27:21done and the striping is done and the
27:24cones are out of the way and now you got
27:26all the lanes open going 45 miles an
27:28hour." He said, "That's the end that
27:31they had in mind." And he said, "And
27:33when I allow things to happen in your
27:35life and I allow things to to cause you
27:38problems and crying and weeping and
27:40setback, that's not the end. The end is
27:43when I can bring you to an end in
27:45yourself." Remember, Job was considered
27:49the richest man in the east, and he was
27:51one that pleased God amazingly. And yet,
27:54God brought him down and stripped him of
27:57everything. and he lost his money and he
28:00lost his health and his wealth and his
28:02friends didn't understand him and he got
28:04damned and criticizing and run down by
28:07his wonderful friends. I got friends
28:09like that and and turned around and said
28:12when the Lord finally got him to the
28:14end, watch this. Ready, Brother Elms?
28:16You go take this and preach all over the
28:18world. Ready? Here it is. Here's what
28:20the end of the Lord was.
28:22Job finally got to a place where he
28:24said, "I have spoken things that I did
28:27not understand and I misaid things and I
28:31misunderstood." And he said, "And I
28:33abhore myself and I put my hand on my
28:37mouth and I sit in sackcloth and ashes."
28:40And God said, "That's the end that I had
28:43in mind when I gave you all this trouble
28:46and all this sorrow and all the setbacks
28:49that I brought you to an end of yourself
28:52and you've got the end of the Lord." And
28:55what happened when you finally get the
28:57end of the Lord, Satan will shut God
29:00will shut Satan's mouth. Sickness will
29:03be healed. He got twice as much. He
29:06lived to see all his kids years and
29:07years later. That's the end of the Lord.
29:10All that comes from discontent. He was
29:14frustrated. He even cursed the day he
29:16was born. Wish he had never been born
29:18before. Everybody gets to a place where
29:21they're picking low cotton when they
29:23wish this didn't happen. And that didn't
29:25happen. I lost my glasses here. Where in
29:27the world are my glasses here? No. Here
29:30we go. I'm sorry. I lost my glasses. So,
29:32I'm looking at this thing about
29:34discontent. And the Lord said with with
29:37Paul writing, he said, "For it is God
29:39who workketh in you both to will and to
29:42do of his good pleasure." You know what
29:44that means in English? God gives you the
29:47desire and then he gives you the ability
29:50to fulfill the desire. But you're not
29:52going to fulfill nothing until God puts
29:54something in you. And there's one thing
29:56I never like. I don't like when God puts
30:00discontent in me. I like when he puts
30:02success in me and my picture on the wall
30:06and and and I get people clapping and
30:08saying, "Oh, brother Arnold." No, no.
30:10God turns around and says, "No, I I'm
30:13going to get you to place where That's
30:14right. You realize you're not like me."
30:17And I went, "Oh my God." And when I do
30:19something stupid and I say something I
30:21shouldn't say and I act in the wrong
30:23way, there comes a a sense of discontent
30:26that I'm not Christlike and I'm not like
30:29you and I want to be like you and I and
30:32when I don't forgive fast enough, I
30:35realize God again allows a sense of
30:38discontentment to get a hold of me, not
30:41to defeat me, but to deliver me. Because
30:45there are some deliverances that you
30:48cannot experience until God allows you
30:51to experience a sense of discontent.
30:56Hallelujah. Let let me say something
30:58else. I'm almost finished here. I'm just
31:00I got to go get some geratl. Just hold
31:02on here just a second. Now watch. Now
31:05you talk about divine discontent. Watch
31:07this. Moses is on the back side of the
31:11desert. Bible said he's feeding his
31:14father-in-law's sheep. If you read
31:17Exodus chapter 2, here's what it says.
31:20And Moses was content.
31:23Now watch. Moses is content while the
31:26slaves are crying out in agony and
31:29sorrow and pain for deliverance. And the
31:31guy who can be used to deliver him is
31:34too busy feeding his father-in-law's
31:37sheep.
31:39Now watch this. God looks at him and
31:42says, "I'm not wanting you to waste your
31:45life feeding your father-in-law's sheep.
31:48I want you to free my sheep.
31:52I want you to free my slaves." And
31:55that's what the Elms family and this
31:57great church family is doing in this
31:59city of Davy and Fort Lauderdale. You're
32:01here to free sin slaves. You're here to
32:05set captives free. You're here to
32:08somehow preach the acceptable year of
32:09the Lord. You're here to somehow someway
32:12cause people to see there's a better way
32:15to live than the way you're living. So I
32:18thank God that every time God has
32:20brought into my life a sense of
32:23discontentment because discontentment is
32:26the catalyst that can bring alteration,
32:30improvement, and change. I wish I could
32:33get an amen some of you Baptist out
32:35there. Can I get an amen?
32:39I got a guy over here coming out taking
32:41all kinds of notes. Oh my god. Oh my
32:44God. Hallelujah. I want to ask you a
32:46simple question. I'm almost there. Are
32:49you passive
32:51or are you pursuing the deeper things of
32:53God? That's right. Are you satisfied
32:57with who you are, what you are, and
32:59where you are? Or are you stretching to
33:03make fresh contact? Hallelujah. I thank
33:07God for everything he's done in my life.
33:10But I am convinced that there's things
33:12in God that I still can experience that
33:15God wants me to taste. That God wants to
33:18help me to become a better person. I
33:21don't know about you, but I I thank God
33:24that I have some dimension or level of
33:26spirituality, but I'm not as spiritual
33:29as I want to be. I'm not as powerful as
33:33I want to be. Oh, I haven't preached my
33:35greatest sermons and taught my greatest
33:37Bible studies yet. There's somehow
33:39there's something in me and say, "Lord,
33:42make me more sensitive to your voice.
33:45Make me more responsive to your touch.
33:49Don't have to throw me on the ground.
33:51Just let there be a whisper in a wind of
33:53your spirit so that I react and I
33:56respond and I give myself over. I don't
33:59know about you. I don't know about your
34:01church, but I've been around this whole
34:03movement. There's a great concern in my
34:05heart. Pastors Elms, there is. I am
34:08concerned that there's a there's a
34:10something going on in the Pentecostal
34:12movement that we're becoming more social
34:15and less spiritual. Oh, God. We're
34:18becoming more programoriented
34:21and less presenceoriented.
34:23Now, I could go up and sit church and
34:26know she was a lady pastor. I don't know
34:28whether you agree in that or not. We had
34:29a little church by a railroad track, but
34:32that gal could preach the cover of a
34:33Bible. And that lady had a walk with
34:36God. And we had tongues of interpret
34:38interpretation all the time. And when I
34:41pastor here in Gainesville, we would
34:43have visitations of the Holy Ghost. We'd
34:46have what I would call divine
34:47interruptions. We'd be having a service
34:50and people be singing and people be
34:52clapping and I'd get ready and all of a
34:54sudden the wind of God would just blow
34:56into that place and the sermon got shut
34:58down and the song got shut down and the
35:01power of God just started falling and
35:04people started weeping and people
35:05started going to their knees. Now, I
35:08don't know what you do in your church,
35:09but I'm telling you, we need to recover
35:12and recapture that tremendous that
35:16tremendous visitation to God. And to me,
35:19the only way it's going to happen is
35:21when we become discontent without it. We
35:26got to have God talk to us. We got to
35:28have God interrupt our services. We've
35:31got to have the gifts of the spirit get
35:34stronger and stronger in the church. We
35:38need healing and miracles and signs and
35:41wonders. I don't want to hurt nobody's
35:43feelings. I'm just a guest with you
35:45people here. Okay? But but your homework
35:48assignment, I want you to write down
35:50Acts 4 29 through31. Now, the people
35:54that were in the Pentecost church, they
35:56saw more miracles than any people had
36:00ever seen. Peter and those disciples,
36:02they were using of God and casting out
36:04devils and healing the sick and doing
36:06all kinds of miracles. When they get
36:08into the book of Acts and they're having
36:09that revival,
36:11they have seen more signs and wonders
36:14than any group of people that I can find
36:17recorded anywhere. Are you are you
36:19hearing me, brother Elms? I'm looking at
36:21you now. Watch. Here's what blows my
36:23mind. 429. These people had more
36:26miracles, signs, and w. And he said,
36:28"Now, Lord, behold their threatenings
36:32and grant unto thy servants boldness
36:35that we may preach thy word." Here it
36:37is. By stretching forth thine hand, that
36:41signs and wonders and miracles be done
36:45by the name of thy holy child Jesus. Now
36:48the church who had received seen more
36:50miracles, signs and wonders than anybody
36:52else prayed for more miracles and more
36:56signs and more wonders and more
36:59healings. Where are we? My God, we need
37:02to start praying out of a dimension of
37:04content. Thank you Lord for the
37:06wonderful building. Thank you Lord for
37:08the money we have to pay the bills.
37:10Thank you Lord for the wonderful people
37:12that come here. Thank you, Lord, for
37:14people once in a while get baptized, get
37:16the Lord, we need the wind, hallelujah,
37:20the wind of the Holy Ghost to start
37:23sweeping in here. You know what? We
37:25start need to start asking God to give
37:29us services you can't explain.
37:33You walk out of the service and you look
37:35like you just went through a terrorist
37:36attack. Your dress is all messed up.
37:39Your hair is all messed up. Your tie is
37:41over sideways. You go to McDonald's or
37:44Wendy's to get something to eat and they
37:45say, "What happened to you?" He said,
37:47"Jesus showed up at the house." Jesus
37:50started knocking over tables. Jesus
37:53started casting out devils. Jesus
37:56started opening hearts. Jesus started
37:59healing. Jesus started doing signs,
38:02wonders, and miracles. We need some
38:05services that are unexplainable
38:08but undeniable.
38:11Hallelujah. I'm talking about the
38:13delivering power of yes content. I am
38:19thankful, but I'm discontent. I am
38:22grateful and thankful for what God's
38:24done in my life, but I'm being honest.
38:27It's not enough. I'm not as Christlike
38:30as I want to be. I'm not as powerful as
38:32I want to be. I I want God to use me in
38:36a sizzling way and not just an emotional
38:39way, but in a demonstration way. I am
38:42very concerned, Pastor Elms, that we
38:44have great preachers that can proclaim
38:48the truth with clarity and greatness and
38:51yet they never perform. Okay? We
38:55proclaim, but we don't perform.
38:58We declare, but we don't demonstrate.
39:01Wait a minute. Right. I was in a to
39:04meeting some years back and sitting on
39:06the platform and I was waiting for the
39:08choir to finish and they were just doing
39:10a wonderful job and while I was just
39:12sitting there looking at my notes, the
39:14Holy Ghost just kind of whispered to me
39:16whoosh. And here's what he said. I'll
39:19never forgot it. He said, "Son, if you
39:21can convince my people,
39:24I will confirm my word." That's right.
39:28And I have spent the last 20 years doing
39:30my best to convince the people that God
39:33wants to forgive. God wants to heal. God
39:36wants to deliver. God wants to
39:38encourage. God wants to bless. God wants
39:41to enrich your life. God wants to make
39:44your church grow bigger and better than
39:45it's ever been, ever. And it all comes
39:49out of having a spirit of discontent.
39:52The delivering power of discontent. Am I
39:55making sense?
39:58I got I got so many notes in here I'm
40:00driving myself crazy. You just until
40:03listen until you and I reach a level of
40:08spiritual discontent, right? Nothing
40:11great's going to happen, right? That
40:14once again, that doesn't mean that
40:16you're griping or you're faultf finding
40:18or you're thankless. That's not so. You
40:21could be thankful and appreciate all the
40:23good and kind things that God has done
40:25to you, but you're just reaching. You're
40:29stretching. You want more. You know, the
40:31Bible says that the Lord where in Acts
40:34four when Paul's talking to the people
40:35of Athens and he talks to the Athenians
40:38and in him we live and in him we move
40:42and in him we have our being. I've never
40:44heard anybody preach on that yet. You
40:46ready? He's telling that to sinners.
40:49He's not telling that to saints. That's
40:51right. He's telling that to idoltors and
40:54idol worshippers. And he says, "In him
40:57we live and in him we move." So what I'm
41:00trying to tell you is right now, whether
41:01you feel anything or not, you're sitting
41:03in the lap of God right now. You're in
41:06his presence right now. Whether you feel
41:10anything or not, you I think sometimes,
41:14you know, people say, "We want the Lord.
41:16We want the Lord to move." I don't want
41:19to hurt your feelings and and I know I'm
41:22going to be challenged, but to be honest
41:24with you, in reality, spiritually,
41:27there's no such thing as a move of God.
41:30We we say we had a move of God and the
41:33wind blew and the God moved and I
41:35understand what you're saying, but
41:37really, here's what the truth is. He
41:40didn't move. He was already there. He
41:43just manifested what was already there.
41:50Hallelujah. And that's what we really
41:52want. We want him just to manifest his
41:55power and his presence. And I got one
41:58more thing to say. Can I speak just just
42:00five more minutes and I'm done? Are you
42:02ready? Watch. Here's the blessing of
42:06discontent.
42:07It has the ability to produce
42:10conviction.
42:12And conviction is not condemnation.
42:16And conviction is not damnation. And
42:19conviction is not the Almighty being
42:21angry. Listen to me. Conviction is
42:24simply the love of God talking to us and
42:28saying, "Come on, you're better than
42:30this. You can do better. You can
42:33improve. You can do better." I wonder
42:35how many of you sweet people sitting
42:37there this right now have ever felt in
42:39your life conviction. Would you wave
42:41your hand just for a second?
42:44Thank. Aren't you glad for that? Aren't
42:46you glad for conviction? I'm because the
42:49Bible says that that King Saul was just
42:52frustrated when he said, "The Lord
42:55answers me not, neither by dreams, nor
42:58Yurum and Thumbum, nor by the prophets."
43:01And David who saw that happen to King
43:04Saul, he prays a prayer and he
43:06said,"Lord, be not silent unto me, lest
43:10I be like them that go down into the
43:13pit." The worst thing any Pentecostal
43:16church can have is when God stop
43:19talking. When God stopped touching, when
43:23God somehow
43:25gets where people don't listen, when you
43:27have a service and people are sitting in
43:28the back and tears run down their cheek
43:31and their lips quiver, oh, hallelujah.
43:34You know what it is? That's the divinity
43:36of God saying, "Come on, there's a
43:38little discontentment here. I want I
43:40want to help change you. I want to turn
43:42you around." That's how we repented.
43:44That's right. We got discontented with
43:46the way we were living. That that's how
43:48it happened. I mean that's that's the
43:50way things work in life. Discontent is a
43:54gift from God. It motivates us. So we
43:57seek change. Change doesn't just happen
44:00by itself. It has to be sought. It has
44:03to be reached for. So once again I say
44:07stop complaining about stuff you're
44:09willing to keep tolerating.
44:12You got to confront it and you got to
44:14say by the grace of God I'm going to
44:16change it. And and if my attitude is
44:18lousy, I'm going to ask God to help me.
44:21And if I feel guilty about something I'm
44:23allowing in my life or doing, good.
44:26That's divine discontent. That's trying
44:29to get human discontent together so you
44:32experience deliverance. It is it has
44:35been my pleasure to come and spend a few
44:38moments with the wonderful friend of
44:40mine, Brother David, and his sweet wife.
44:42And and and I've known him a long time.
44:44I knew him when he was just a a little
44:46guy. That was a long time ago. And I was
44:50friends with his daddy and his mom and
44:52and I'm just honored to be with you. I'm
44:54sorry uh I couldn't fly down there with
44:57Delta Airlines trying to put me in
44:59bankruptcy, but I hope and pray what I
45:02tried to say to you right now that that
45:05that that God would help you to see it.
45:07Let me just say one two more things and
45:10I'm done. Okay, watch this. I'm talking
45:12about discontent. when the Lord comes in
45:15Luke 4 in 16 he said he came to Nazareth
45:19and they gave him the book and he read
45:21where it says spirit of the Lord's upon
45:23me because he's anointed me to preach
45:25the gospel to the poor sent me to heal
45:28the brokenhearted he came in to bring
45:31preach deliverance to the captives and
45:33he came recovering of sight to the blind
45:36to send liberty them that are bruised to
45:38preach the acceptable year of the Lord
45:40okay then when you go to Acts 10:36 Six,
45:43it says how God anointed Jesus with the
45:46Holy Ghost and power, who went about,
45:48watch, healing all that were oppressed
45:51of the devil, for God was with him.
45:54Jesus entire
45:57entire ministry was all about dealing
46:01with human discontent and manifesting
46:05divine discontent. when he found people
46:08bound in sin, publicans and sinners. He
46:11found the adulterous woman. You know,
46:13Brother Elms, I think that is one of the
46:15funniest things in all my life. Please
46:16forgive me if I keep referencing to you,
46:18but I just know you and and and I see
46:21you on the on the movie here is like uh
46:24I think this is one of the things you
46:26want to you want to be discontented
46:28about. You want to make sure you never
46:30become religious. Yes, rel people are
46:33nuts. Religious people are dangerous.
46:36They killed Jesus. Religious people
46:39killed the early church. Religious wars
46:42are You want to be spiritual. You don't
46:45want to be religious. And I'll show you
46:47how dumb religious people are. They
46:49caught a woman in the very act of
46:51adultery. My God, that's embarrassing.
46:54In the very act of adultery, they snatch
46:56her out. She's half naked. She's
46:58humiliated. They drag her down the
47:01street. She knows she's going to be
47:03killed because stoning is the is the
47:05reward for adultery in Israel. Now watch
47:08religious people, brother Elms, watch.
47:10How dumb can you be to take a guilty
47:14person and throw them at the feet of the
47:17God of grace?
47:22You want him to condemn you. Don't ever
47:25bring a guilty person to Jesus cuz he's
47:27going to forgive him. He's going to
47:29pardon him. He's going to restore him.
47:31He's going to turn you around. He's not
47:33going to throw him out. And he's not
47:35going to let him stone in here today.
47:37Oh, hallelujah to God. I thank you so
47:40much for letting me come. I hope I made
47:42some sense. I I know I haven't been real
47:45long like I usually am, but this is a
47:47great Bible study. I I I I think I need
47:50to do this again. This is good stuff.
47:54Of discontent. God bless you. God bless
47:57you. I pray God will help you. Please,
47:59Lord, just let there be a spirit of
48:02divine discontent. Move into that pastor
48:05and his wife and move into that church
48:08thankful for everything he's done. But
48:10some way, somehow, Lord, let there be an
48:13operation that joins human discontent
48:16with divine discontent, and it'll bring
48:18deliverance. I pray things in Jesus
48:21name. God bless you, brother M, sister.
48:24Thank you for letting me come. I'll see
48:26you in the front. Bye-bye. Ha, I love
48:29you. Oh, somebody stand up and give the
48:32Lord a cry of desperation.
48:36A cry of desperation.
48:39We're going to take some time here
48:41tonight and let the cry of our own
48:44discontent that the Holy Ghost is
48:46putting on us to come out. Oh Lord, I'm
48:50opening this altar right now. Why don't
48:52you come find your way your way down
48:54here and let your cry. You know where
48:57God's been working on you. You know
49:00where God's been shaking you up. You
49:03know where God's been placing you in
49:06predicaments, in places that you just
49:09are discontented. The Holy Ghost has
49:12sent his word right now. Ah, I want to
49:16hear some folks that are willing to make
49:18the cry of a Hannah. I want to hear some
49:21folks that are willing to make the cry
49:24of the children of Israel saying, "Oh
49:27Lord, there's some deliverances that we
49:30are wanting to see. We want to not be so
49:33contented that we're comfortable. We
49:37want to embrace the discomfort. We want
49:39to embrace the storm, the storm. We want
49:43to embrace the setback. We want to
49:46embrace the feeling of of discontentment
49:49that is sent from on high. The devil
49:52doesn't get to define our responses into
49:56mere nothingness. Oh Jesus. Jesus.
50:01Jesus. We're crying out for your spirit.
50:05We're crying out for your transformative
50:07power. We're crying out for souls. We're
50:11crying out for broken purposes. Things
50:14that we're not happy about. Things that
50:17we're seeing that are not satisfying.
50:21Oh, we've been seeing it, but we've been
50:24not admitting that it's there. And
50:27today, we're lifting our voice to say,
50:30"I see it, Lord. I'm looking at it right
50:33now. I'm going to stare at it a moment.
50:36It's not the way it ought to be. It's
50:39not the way I want it to be. It's not
50:41the way it's going to be. And so I'm
50:45reaching and I'm striving and I'm
50:47present and I'm praying and I'm fasting.
50:50I'm pushing away from the table. I'm
50:52pushing away from the the relationships
50:55of busyiness and I'm going to shut
50:58myself in with God and say, "Lord,
51:02hear my cry.
51:05Hear my cry. I'm not going to pray a
51:08normal prayer. I'm not going to pray a
51:11comfortable prayer. I'm not going to
51:13pray a contented prayer. I'm coming to
51:16you as a woman on her knees that has a
51:21disease that doctors cannot heal. I'm
51:24coming to you as a blind Barnameus
51:28that's fed up with blindness. Fed up
51:31with people telling me to be calm and
51:34collected. I'm fed up with the usual. I
51:38want something more. I want to break
51:40through. I want to break through. I'm
51:43going to pray until something happens.
51:45I'm going to praise until something
51:47happens. I'm going to worship until
51:49something happens. I'm going to put word
51:52in me until something happens. Oh Jesus,
51:56that's it. Let the enemy hear your
51:59prayer. Let the enemy hear your prayer.
52:02Besides that, let the Lord hear your
52:05prayer. Let the Lord know that you have
52:09the spirit of Job on you right now. I've
52:12spoken things that I didn't even know
52:16what I was talking about. And I'm coming
52:18to grips with myself. I know he's got
52:21more for me than what I've got. I know
52:24he's got more for me than what I'm
52:26receiving. I know he's getting me
52:29uncomfortable.
52:31Oh, because he wants to move me to a
52:33higher place.
52:35Hallelujah.
52:37Hallelujah. That's it. Pray, pray, pray,