If you would, turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two. When you reach the book of Genesis chapter two, please signify by saying amen.

And if you don’t have a Bible, get next to somebody that has a Bible this morning. Amen. Or somebody pass out as many Bibles as you can see around. Hallelujah. So that we can all get this word today. In the book of Genesis chapter two.

It is so important that we carry our Word with us when we come to the house of the Lord. Amen. Because we need to know that this is what the Word is really saying. Amen? You can’t just take somebody’s word for it. You got to know that God is speaking this from His Word.

Are you ready this morning? Hallelujah. In the book of Genesis chapter two and verse seven, that’s where we’re going to come from. It said,

7. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Let us pray.

Most holy and gracious heavenly Father, once again it is Your people that come before Your throne thanking and praising You for another day. Father, hide Your son behind the cross, that Your people would see You and not me. Father, as I decrease I ask that You would increase.

Sanctify me today. Oh, and make me holy. And set me apart, that I would be meet for the Master’s use. Father, we’ll be careful to give You all the glory, all the honor and all the praise. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Today the title of the message will be “The Dust of the Ground.” There’s nothing fancy about the chemical (glory to God) elements that make up our bodies. The body is a lifeless shell until God breathes His breath of life into our bodies. When God removes His breath from us, once again we return to the dust of the ground. There’s life in us as long as His breath is in us. And therefore our life’s blood comes only from God.

When we look at the book of Genesis chapter three, and verse six and seven, the problem came when man decided that he wanted to breathe on his own. The problem came (glory to God) when man decided that he didn’t want to breathe the way God wanted him to breathe. Do you hear what I’m saying today? The problem came when he wanted to breathe on his own.

In verse six it said,

6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

When we look at the word “to breathe” it means to live. It means to take air on the inside and to breathe air out of your body, out of your lungs. Hallelujah.

Man decided that he wanted control over his own life process. He decided that the process that God had for him wasn’t good enough any more. He decided that the atmosphere that God had for him was good enough any more. He wanted his own environment. He wanted his own atmosphere.

How are you breathing today? What breath are you taking in today? They went from paradise. They went from the blessing. They went to the curse.

Look at Genesis three and verse seventeen through verse nineteen. It said,

17. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

God was telling man that the land would become worthless. And in order to produce it would come from the sweat of his brow.

When we look at man, man was taken from the dust of the earth. And when man sinned, he became a curse, just like the ground became the curse. And in order (hallelujah, glory to God) for man (hallelujah) to be productive, man was going to have to work on himself just like man was going to have to work on the ground.

I don’t know about you today, but I got to work on me just... Oh, my God, my God. Who am I preaching to today? Just like the ground was cursed, I was cursed, until I received salvation. Oh, this is a revelation. He wasn’t only talking about the ground, the physical ground. But he was talking about the dust of the ground.

He was saying that, “You are cursed.” He was saying that, “You are worthless.” He was saying that, “You were trying to do it without Me, and I’m going to show you without Me you are nothing.” And just like you have got to sweat to till this ground, you’re going to have to sweat to work on yourself.

You see, it’s not easy to till the ground when the ground is hard, is it? It’s not easy to get into God’s Presence when our ground of our heart is hardened, is it? We have got to learn how to cultivate the ground of our hearts to make it fertile, to receive the word of the Lord.

He said the ground was cursed. He said it was going to produce thorns and thistles. Whenever you got a place that’s producing thorns and thistles, it’s worthless. And the only thing that they can do with that place is burn it off. Do you hear what I’m saying?

I’ve got to get in the place where I allow God to burn this off of me. I got to get in the place where I let God burn it out of me. I’m worthless without Him. I’m nothing without God.

We came from the dust of the ground. So He was telling us that we were cursed also.

Let me show you that in Hebrews chapter six. Go there with me today.

You see, sometimes we get to a point where we’re not working on ourselves any more. We’re trying to work on everybody else, but we’re not trying to work on us. We can find thorns and thistles in everybody else, but we can’t find no thorns and thistles in us. Hello, somebody.’

In Hebrews chapter six, and verse seven and eight, it said,

7. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

Now listen.

8. But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

I’ve got to get in a place where I allow everything that’s not like God to be able to come out of me. Everything that’s not like God in us is cursed. But everything that’s like God in us is blessed.

I don’t know about you but I been in a place lately where I’ve been allowing God to work on me. Do you remember I told you how sometimes a person can be irritable? Listen to what I’m saying. Do you remember how I told you how sometimes a person (glory to God) can seem like they’re not themselves?

See, God is working on them. You don’t understand it. You think that there’s something wrong with them. But there’s something right about them. The... Oh, my God, my God. God is doing a new thing with them. He’s tired of the old them. And He’s bringing a new one of them into... Oh, my God. Ain’t nothing wrong with me. God is working on me.

You remember how I talked about a wife can pray for her husband? And how when that husband starts getting irritable... You don’t hear me today. When that husband just... Oh, my God, my God. You don’t want to pray for God to work on them. Let God work on them. He’s getting the thorns and the thistles out of them. And let me tell you something. It don’t feel good.

Come on, give God a handclap of praise today. Oh, my God, my God. Ain’t nobody mad but the devil. Ain’t nobody stiff-necked but the devil.

After salvation that land that the dust of the ground came from had to be cultivated. You see, even farmers know, because they are in the farming business, that if you’re going to keep getting product from that soil, you’ve got to turn it over every now and then. Do you hear what I’m saying?

If God is going to continue to get product out of us, if He’s going to get us to continue to produce, He got to turn us over every now and then. He got to stick something in the ground of our hearts and begin go turn it over, and turn it over, and turn it over, and turn it over again.

He begins to take the weeds that started growing up out of us. And when a weed plants itself, if you know anything about weeds, they plant themselves. You can’t just pull a weed from the surface. You got to pull a weed from the root.

You see, some people just be going through because they mean as the devil. But some folk be going through because God is working on them. Oh, who am I preaching to today? Is God working on you today?

He said the land was cursed. And the revelation is, it wasn’t only the land that they walked on. It was their land. It was themselves. Until Jesus came along. The ground had to be cultivated. Had to be fertilized. The ground of our hearts have to be cultivated and fertilized in order for it to bear fruit.

See, you can’t continue to bear fruit every year and all the time except that soil is worked on, except there’s a pruning that takes place. See, we think that we can just continue to grow (my God, my God) and spread forth. But God has got to first cut some of that stuff away.

When you look at trees, when you see a gardener that has worked in a yard, and there were trees there that are flowering trees, you’ll see that they have cut on that tree. And God said that we’ll be like trees planted by the rivers of water. So He’s cutting on these trees. And it doesn’t always feel right. And it doesn’t always feel good. But let God do it.

All God was asking from them was obedience. That’s what He was asking for. He gave them a choice, because He didn’t want them to be like they were in prison and in bounds. So He gave them a choice. But he still wanted them to choose to be obedient.

See, God has given us a choice this morning. Will we be obedient to His Word? We follow some things, but then other things we don’t follow. We read thirty-three books, but leave the other thirty-three out.

You’ve got to till that land. The Bible talked about breaking up the fallow ground. Breaking up the fallow ground is a place in prayer. When you get into a place in prayer you can till this ground. When you get into the Word of God you can allow it to cultivate this ground.

Go with me today to Isaiah chapter forty-five. Sometimes we don’t want to be worked on. But I ask God to work on me. Oh, do you hear what I’m saying? In Isaiah forty-five and verse nine, it said,

9. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Do you hear the word of the Lord today? Can you tell God what to make of you? See, we get in a position where we want to tell God how to make us. We want to tell God how to do with us what we think He should do. We want to tell God how to move in the timing in which we want Him to move in. And if God doesn’t do those things, we shut down, don’t we? We refuse to be productive until God lets us have our way.

Go with me to Jeremiah chapter eighteen. In Jeremiah eighteen, and verse one through six, it said,

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2. Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Now wait a minute. He said, “When I made it the first time, it wasn’t right.” But don’t you love God that because when it was mad the first time it wasn’t right, He didn’t just throw that clay away? Hello, somebody. He said, “I’m going to take that same vessel, and I’m going to make it over again.”

You see, you may not have came out right the first time. But let me tell you something. God is going to make you all over again.

It said in verse four,

4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 

We are in the Lord’s hands. And some people it takes longer to make than other people. You better believe that because it’s true. Some people take a little bit even longer in the oven to bake than others.

He was looking for obedience. He was looking for them to choose the right choice. That’s what He’s looking for today. He’s looking for you and I to make the right choice. See, you got a problem, a dilemma, a situation, a circumstance. He’s looking for us to make the right choice.

You see, it’s easy to make the wrong choice, isn’t it? It’s easy to try to get out of something. But it’s harder to try to fix something, isn’t it? So we choose to get out of it than to try to fix it.

He said, “I can’t do...” Oh, I felt the Holy Ghost hitting me. He want me to stay right there for a minute. You see, when we’re in a thing, and it’s not going exactly the way we want it to go... Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost moving all over me. We try to take the easy road. Do you hear what I’m saying? We want to get as far away from it as we possibly can.

But see, when you got an anointing on your life, that means that you got a fix-it ability on the inside of you. And see, that fix-it ability on the inside of you is going to begin to come out of you. And that problem that you used to have, all of a sudden it became an opportunity for God to get glory. You better give God some praise in this house today.

Opportunity. Not for opportunity for us to prosper necessarily. Not for opportunity for us to have some type of gain necessarily. But opportunity for God to get glory.

The dust of the ground. What kind of ground are you? What kind of receptivity does your ground have? In other words, what kind of hearer are you?

Go with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter four. In Mark chapter four we’re going to look at verse fourteen. It said,

14. The sower soweth the word.

15. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

16. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

Listen. The first type of person, the first type of hearer is an indifferent hearer. In other words, there’s hardness of heart. In other words (glory to God) they hear the Word, but they reject the Word.

You see, it’s so easy to pick and choose what I want to hear. But see, as soon as the Word start hitting me I turn off my ears. Hello, somebody. As soon as the Word hit me, I start to get upset. And my receptivity changes, doesn’t it? I don’t want to hear it until you’re talking about the blessing again. Hello, somebody.

The hardness of the heart, the indifferent hearer.

The second one was (glory to God) the one on the stony ground, and the one that didn’t have any root in them. They were the emotional hearer. They hear with their emotions. They get all happy. Oh, hallelujah. Glory to God. They shouting all over the place. Rolling all over the floor. But it was all emotions. As soon as the devil come (my God, my God) he takes them out again.

The next kind of hearer is the worldly hearer, the kind that the Word is sown among thorns. And they heart the Word, but the cares of the world begin to drown the Word out. They’re the carnal hearers, aren’t they? Oh, my God, my God. They’re carnal in mind. They’re carnal in their ways. And everything about them, they’re carnal. And the Bible says that the carnal mind is enmity or hostility against God.

What kind of hearer are you today? What kind of ground is the Word trying to penetrate?

The next kind of hearer is in verse twenty. It said,

20. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

My God, my God. These are the receptive hearers. These are the ones that demand results.

You see, when your heart is right, and your listening and your hearing is right, it will demand results. When the soil is perfected (Do you hear what I’m saying?) and you drop seed into the soil, it demands a return. You see, when your heart is right, and the Word of God is sown in your heart, it’s going to demand a return of what was sown.

The dust of the ground. What kind of ground are you today? What kind of ground are you? I don’t know about you, but I want to be good ground. Do you hear what I’m saying today? No matter what the Word is saying, it can crush my toes. If it’s talking to me, Lord Jesus talk on. If it’s walking on me, Lord Jesus, walk on. That’s what I want. I want the Word of God to deal with me.

You see, if the Word don’t deal with you every now and then, then you got a problem. You become in that place where you’re all by yourself, and there’s nobody around you that could ever be on your level.

But when that Word hits you every now and then, when you can say ouch every now and then, you know you’re on track. You know that God can still do something with you.

What kind of ground are you? Ask yourself that question. We all came from the dust of the ground. But in the same question, what kind of ground are you? Are you good ground today?

You better be real with yourself. (Tongues.) If you’re not good ground, you better tell the Lord, “Lord, I’m not good ground. Lord, I need You to work on this ground. Everything I’m producing (glory to God) is worthless. I want to produce something that’s priceless.

Good ground. I want to be real with God. I want God to work on me. I really do. I want Him to work on me.

See, when you’re in the ministry of the prophet, and you tell other people what’s wrong with them, you better know what’s wrong with you. Hello, somebody. You better know that you’ve got feelings in you that need to change. And just like Paul you count it a privilege and an honor to be in His ministry.

You’ve got to know. You’ve got to know that He’s working on you. You’ve got to be able to receive criticism when criticism comes to you in love. Do you hear what I’m saying? Some folks just want to criticize you because they want to tell you what’s wrong with you. And they want to leave you right there. But God want to tell you what’s wrong with you. And He want to get you right.

That’s why I love Him. He wants the best for us. That’s why I love Him. He doesn’t want us to stay where we were. That’s why I love Him. He wants to fix us. He wants to make us a vessel of honor. That’s what He wants to do.

So this morning I want you to ask yourself, what kind of ground are you? What kind of ground are you? It’s not a question that everybody needs to know the answer about you. It’s between you and God. Because the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you.

If you’re stubborn, let Him work on that stubbornness. If you’re rebellious, let Him work on that rebellion. If you’re jealous, let Him work on that jealousy. If you’re easily hurt, let Him work on that immaturity. Let Him work on it. You’ve got to let Him work on it.

And when you get to the place that that place is perfected, every devil in hell better look out. Because he’s going to try to come that way. And he’s going to see an angel standing at the door saying, “You can’t come this way no more. This way has been perfected. And you need to keep out.”

What kind of ground are we? What kind of ground? Receive that word today. Don’t just look at the faults in everybody else. But look at the faults that are in you. Look at the ones in you. Let Him get them thorns and thistles out of that ground. Let Him get it out. Let Him get it out.

That doesn’t mean that you’re not somebody because God needs to work on you. That means you’re somebody because you’re allowing Him to work on you. That means that you don’t want to do it your way. You want to do it His way. That means that you don’t want to breathe on your own. You want His breath to cause you to breathe and have life.

You’ve got to get in that place. And I’ve got to get in that place. The dust of the ground.

Come on, give God a handclap of praise today.