Dharius Daniels - There's More

I want to talk about this subject and our time together: «There is More.» Clap your hands in anticipation of God’s word. There are a number of words that can be used to describe the nature and character of God, but in our time together today, I want to highlight one that is extremely important yet often overlooked, and that is: our God is the God of principles. Somebody say «principles.» What is a principle? A principle is simply a rule of operation for a thing, derived from the creator of that thing, that ensures the preservation, protection, and productivity of that thing. Principles are rules of operation for a thing that come from the creator of that thing, ensuring its preservation, protection, and productivity. I want to belong, I want to be protected, and I want to be optimal. Principles are rules of operation that derive from the creator of a thing, which ensure its preservation, protection, and productivity. God is a God of principles, and sometimes the answer to your prayer comes in the form of a principle, because when principles are ignored, abuse is inevitable. Did you hear what I just said? I said, «Whatever principles are ignored, abuse is inevitable.» Principles are the avenue and the path through which we possess God’s promises. It is the way God gives us direction toward what He declares is ours. We don’t just achieve an amazing relationship through prayer; we also establish it through principles. Am I making sense? We don’t just find peace through prayer; we find peace through principles: «Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.» Am I making sense here? This is crucial because our potential is tied and tethered to our awareness of and implementation of principles, and the enemy understands this, which is why he aggressively attempts to keep us uninformed. He doesn’t mind us being inspired as long as we’re uninformed. He doesn’t mind our excitement as long as we remain uninformed. He doesn’t mind our enthusiasm as long as that zeal is not according to knowledge, because he knows something: Hosea put it this way: «My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.» Let me contemporize this: ignorance is expensive. Whatever area you are ignorant in, you will suffer. The Bible says the devil is called the Prince of Darkness, and darkness is not just a metaphor for evil; it is a metaphor for ignorance. If someone says, «I’m in the dark,» they mean they are ignorant. The Apostle Paul says that when we are ignorant of Satan’s devices, he gains an advantage over us because he understands that whatever area we are ignorant in, we suffer. This is why the enemy is agitated with so many of you; because you don’t just settle for excitement, you don’t just settle for enthusiasm, you don’t just settle for zeal. You did not get in your car, drive all this way, or take a shuttle to get to this place just because you’re excited. You have something that scares the enemy. You have more than excitement; you have hunger. Let me check over here to see if anyone will talk to me. I said you possess something that intimidates the enemy—hunger. Let me tell you why he is so afraid of hunger: because, ladies and gentlemen, you and I become so occupied with what we don’t have that we devalue what we do have. You and I are obsessed with what we are not, not realizing what we are. The enemy knows what you are better than you do. That’s why his attacks don’t make sense to you. You’re like, «Why is the enemy bothering me?» It’s because you don’t see what he sees. He believes in your potential more than you do because he sees that you have something the average person does not possess: hunger. And because you have hunger, whatever you don’t have, you won’t be without for long. When you’re hungry, you go hunting. If I don’t understand it, I’m going to hunt until I figure it out. If I don’t have it, I’m going to hunt until I get it. If they won’t help me, I’ll help myself. Do I have anybody in the building today who will say, «It’s hunting season?» I’m not waiting on anyone to bring me anything; the kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. I’m hungry! When you’re hungry, you will do things that don’t make sense to other people. When you’re hungry, you will get out of bed in the middle of the night, when the house is cold, to go down to the kitchen and get something to eat, because you are hungry. The enemy is scared of that hunger. He knows that if that kind of passion ever gets linked up with the right principles, there’s nothing you won’t be able to do. If that passion gets linked with the right principles, you become a spiritual weapon of mass destruction. We must become aware of and obsessed with implementing kingdom principles—principles from the Creator. Because the creator of a thing knows how to get the best out of it. There are a number of principles I think are incredibly important, and today we are just talking.