This sermon by Joshua Daniel emphasizes the importance of being willing vessels for God's work, drawing parallels to the story of the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. It highlights the need to overcome spiritual blindness and lameness, to be loosed and used by God for His glory, and to be open to God's miraculous touch that can transform lives. The message encourages a shift from a focus on material concerns to a heart of prayer and praise, cleansing our temples to be houses of prayer rather than places of worldly distractions.

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge with Joshua Daniel. The Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International is a ministry reaching people from all walks of life since 1935. After a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the age of 16, Joshua Daniel has been declaring a marvelous deliverance from sin which is freely given to all those who turn to the loving Savior. Wherever this message has gone out, broken relationships have been restored, sickness healed, ill-gotten money returned, and fees turned into givers. We now invite you to watch and receive the invaluable blessing that God has for you. You know, one has to be very careful when you come out of a service, when you come out of a worship, because the devil wants to put you to the test. You know, a man said to me, or wrote to me, my wife and I started fighting soon after the service, and we carried on the fight in the long coach ride, and when we went home, we were still continuing the fight. You know, the devil wants to just make you know, all right, this Easter time, you're not loosed. You're not loosed. My dear friends, do you want to add to the gloom on earth? There's enough gloom. There are enough people who say, oh, I can't do this, I can't do that. All right. Or you want to say, I can do all things through Christ to strengtheneth me. I will be at the disposal of the Lord Jesus, and surely He can do something with me. Yes. That's what we have to be at this time. You know, I feel very sad that we seem to be ill-equipped, or at least I seem to be ill-equipped, to emulate a Joseph. I have preached about Joseph, and how at a time of grave crisis, when many nations were without food, here was Joseph, who foresaw and forestalled the situation. You see, there's a lot of difference between foreseeing a situation. Some of us may be very good at predicting, oh, this is going to happen, the next terrible thing is going to happen. Okay. Our media is full of predictions of all sorts, and many of them are very disheartening predictions. But did Joseph come up with another of those predictions? No. He said, But God has shown Pharaoh this thing in order to stall the situation, in order to circumvent, checkmate the situation, to overcome the situation. See, Easter is all about overcoming. And the first thing that we have to overcome is that nature. The donkey that remains unridden by Jesus. The donkey that is not loosed for Jesus' use. Now, just think of those donkeys that were there. Well, who would ever look at those donkeys? The Lord has need of this donkey. And to see when the Lord entered Jerusalem in the 19th chapter of Luke, 35th verse, And they brought him to Jesus, and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as He went, they spread out their clothes in the way. And when He was come nigh, even to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loved voice for all the mighty works that they had seen. You know, it's amazing that many people have got some beautiful things to say about the Lord's deliverances. Strangers. And when they come up and recount some of the things that have happened to them, it's most miraculous. You know, the story is told of President Eisenhower when he was a boy, and there was a time when there was danger. The doctor was about to order the amputation of one of his legs, and he told a brother of his, Stand at the door, and don't let anybody come in. And he was a boy, and he exercised faith. There are so many wonderful happenings, and yet people are so slow to praise God. All the company of the disciples, what did they do? With a loud voice, they praised God. Now you will also notice that there was a cleansing of the temple when Jesus came in and saw that the place of prayer had become a place of merchandise. You know, it is very regrettable. It's very sad that so much time is given to money talk. Money talk. Money has its place. We have to pay our bills. It's not at all easy, and you have to be very careful how you husband your resources. You know, one of the tragedies, however, is the moral disrespect that people have for the law of God. Thou shalt not owe anything to any man. All right. In the matter of investment, the Lord Jesus Christ said, why did you not put your talent in the bank? So, the Lord Jesus Christ recognized the role of a bank in matters of investment and so on. But this overspending by everybody beyond their means, living on borrowed money all the time. You see, when it becomes a plague to a nation and everybody wants more money, even a bank needs to be bailed out. Why? It did not invest shrewdly, prudently, carefully. What happens? A disregard for what God says, with the result that a nation loses its moral tone. You know, my friends, we talk so much about money also in the church. But don't let us forget that we have a God that multiplies the five loaves and two fishes. Don't forget that. We must learn to go to Him. Give us this day our daily bread. Of course, we didn't need to pray that prayer probably because you had more than enough in your fridge to last you for the next month or two. But that is the prayer which the Lord Jesus Christ taught us. Give us this day our daily bread. Now, to make the house of prayer a den of thieves. Matthew 21. He overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold downs and said, My house shall be called the house of prayer. How many people go to the church just for prayer? This is the house of prayer. I won't miss the prayer meeting. I will go and pray. I have need of that touch with God. My house shall be a house of prayer. Not a place to raise funds, to scrutinize what is this man giving or what is that man giving. No. My house is a house of prayer. All right. You know giving is a great blessing. And we know all that. And we can never out give God. We know that. God is no man's debtor. God loves a cheerful giver. We know all that. But to make it a place of just money talk and you see at least when we enter the church doors it should be another occupation. Outside you're all money talk. Anybody sitting around, that's money talk. Oh we don't have this. We can't buy this. The prices have gone up. Or I have lost my this or that. Well my dear friends, when Jesus came into the temple, he said this my father's house is a house of prayer. And so he cleansed the place. He overthrew the money changers tables. And what happened? Fourteenth verse. I like that very much. Matthew 21 and 14. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple. And he healed them. And the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did. And the children crying in the temple saying Hosanna to the son of David. They were so displeased. Well, the blind and the lame. Lack of vision today. You know when these magazines, Christ is Victor, are being put in college racks and hospital racks and prison houses. I can so well remember Mark Radinsky whose story is in the Christ is Victor. I remember Mark and I asked him, Hey Mark, brother Mark. He was a Sunday school teacher. But he could not quit. His alcoholism. His father had owned three bars in the city. I said to him, Well, I did not know the man. So when I visited him, I said, What's your profession? And he told me. I said, Do you know that some of those fellows whom you served at the bar have died prematurely? They have gone to an alcoholic's grave. He put down his head and began to weep like a child. He said, Yes, I went to the funeral of one of our customers only the other day. And he said, I have got any label that you may mention. I've got it here in my house. And he tipped all that alcohol, threw it out and was freed from his alcoholism. Jesus loosed him and he became a radiant person. And all right, many people, many thousands of people will read that little story of Mark and how instead of being an alcoholic and a patient, a man, you know, he said, My wife would say to me, In the church you smell like a brewery. I can't sit with you. And the same man became a blessing. Loose him! The Lord hath need of him. So there were blind people here with no vision. You see, we can spend all our years with spiritual blindness, no vision. The need around us, oh, we are blind to it. We are happy enough that we have plenty. That's all our concern. Now, my dear friends, you know, a woman came to me and said, A woman who had been brought from a very backward area. In fact, very close to the Himalayas. And there was a little daughter, not very well dressed, very poor. She said, I have three little daughters. I can't send them to school. There's no school. And there is, of course, no work or food. But I said to myself, a work has to begin in that place. We have got to provide some teacher. We've got to take care of some of these people. Yes. What do we see? God gives us ears to hear and eyes to see. Jesus opened their eyes. And then there were the lame people. Oh, my. Our churches are full of blind and lame. They come to the house of God blind. They go away blind. They come lame, and they go away lame. But Jesus, after he had cleansed the church, the temple, he healed their blindness. Lame. Never did those feet run to lift others because they were lame. A man who could not use his feet told me, I saw a big snake enter my room, and I was so frightened in my chair. I yelled, and because of my agitation, I fell out of my chair. But he could do nothing. He could not use his feet. My dear friend, a feetless Christianity, a visionless church is no good at all. God wants to cleanse us and give to us that release. That is the first thing. That release. Lose him, and let him go because the Lord has need of him. Let us pray. Let us tell God, when it comes to lifting my neighbor, I seem to be blind. I seem to be lame. Forgive me. Joseph was able to lift so many of other nations besides Egypt. Oh, Lord, help me. I may have nothing in my pocket, but what I need is to be loosed. Loving Father, you rode upon that humble donkey. Oh, Lord, we pray and ask you, Jesus, ride on us, ride on us. We would be so privileged to be as that donkey, loosed for the master has had need of him. Lord, how can it be said you have need of us? We are such ordinary people with so little to put at your feet, but we have heard the song, you will find me at Jesus' feet. Yes, Lord, we want to be found at Jesus' feet to be loosed and used for your glory. Thank you for the memory of our brother Mark who is now with you, that for so many years he was able to save you after being loosed from his alcoholism. How miraculously you touched him. Likewise, oh Father, have mercy upon people who are bound by their thoughts, bound by other habits or practices or hidden sins. Please, Father, make us a people who show forth your glory that people around us can say, speak of your works and cry Hosanna as they see Jesus riding upon us. So help us, in Jesus' holy name. Amen. or prayer request, please do let us know. You can email us at host at lefi.org or visit our website at lefi.org Our mailing address is The Lord's Challenge P.O. Box 14 South Lyon, Michigan 48178 Until we meet again next week, may God bless you.