How To Break Your Cycle

Hey, what's up everybody? It's Dan Miller Jr. Welcome to my channel.

Um, I've had a couple requests lately, well, more than a couple, um, to start shooting some short videos again. Like little teachings, little experiences, um, just little nuggets of encouragement, little nuggets of wisdom, um, that I feel like God's given me, are things I've learned through the past, uh, just like living with my dad and the revelation he has. And under that umbrella, experience that I've been through, just with like drug addiction, growing up in the church, backsliding, running cycles in my life. Um, and that, that's what a lot of this video is about. Is if you're stuck in a cycle right now, um, I want to discuss how to break out of that cycle. Or if you continue to do the same thing, just like Paul talks about in Romans, stuck in that place where it's just like, "I want to do this, but I continue to fail." And then it's like, "I don't want to do this anymore, but I keep doing it."

And also, like, I only ever speak about something if I have experienced it or have overcame it myself. Um, and I don't mean like a dangerous, like, you know, "Oh, you're preaching out of your own life where it's your experience, you're creating your own doctrine." No, because that's what we preach against. You hear my dad preach against that. But we also were talking about preaching out of your life lived, where you have experienced something, you have walked through the fire, you have spent the time in the wilderness in that area, and you have overcome it. Or you are experiencing it now, but you're walking through it scripturally. Excuse me. So, so that is what I want to touch base on. Um, because you have no authority over what you fear.

And for a long time, like, I would pray and like ask God to help me through things, but in the back of my mind when I was praying, it was really a place of like, "Oh no, Lord, please take this from me." Like, like I went through an anxiety thing, and it wasn't long ago, and I'll talk more about that in the future. Called me totally off guard. And I've noticed a lot of men of God and women of God in this season are getting attacked with this depression, depression, anxiety thing out of nowhere. And it's a demonic scheme, it really is. But again, it's all part of the plan to get us to fall into this cycle, to feel condemned or not worthy, to have other people say, "Here we go again," to shut you off, to not hear you anymore, because they're waiting for you to fall rather than walk this thing out.

So again, I want to talk briefly about how to overcome this cycle, how to overcome this struggle. Paul talked about, because let's face it, we deal with things, we have to walk through things in life. Like, because we're Christians and we seek the Lord, doesn't mean everything's perfect. We know that. We hear it taught all the time. But what's it really look like to reflect Christ in the midst? Like, how did Paul look when he was in chains, writing a third of the New Testament in prison? And we complain about like, silly stuff. This is real. Like, I'm understanding this now. Like, I'm 32 years old, and sometimes I'm like, "Man, like, about time I get it." Like, my dad was older than me when he got saved. So like, I'm done listening to lies. I'm done listening to the enemy's voice and people saying, "You're not ready for this." No, if God has my back, God has my back. And here I am. So let's talk about this.

And by the way, I'm not upset at all. Sorry if I come across like, "Oh, like, he's fired up." I am fired up, but in a healthy way. Like, I'm full of joy. I'm okay. I'm just super passionate about this because I want people to get this, because it'll bring a lot of freedom. If you're somebody that's, if this ministers to you, I pray it ministers to you. If you're struggling with what I'm about to talk about. So I'm going to talk about comparison. And the reason I'm going to talk about it is because if anyone has a voice to talk about comparison, I believe I am justified to speak about it. Um, growing up in the church, and as part of my testimony, growing up in the church, uh, I was introduced to Jesus at a very young age. I was five years old when my dad got saved. I think he was like 34 or 35. I forgot what he was. I'm 32 now. So, and that's the other thing. I get lies in my head all the time and people tell me, "Oh, you're 32, been through cycles." Like, devil, shut up. Like, I am 32 years old. My dad was older than me when he got saved. Like, I'm glad I'm getting this when I got it. I'm glad I've been through the battles the last 10 years to gain the revelation, understanding that he's pouring upon me for the next generation. Thank you, Jesus.

So check this out. So, so many times, like, people watch these preachers on YouTube. And it doesn't matter who. It doesn't have to be Dan. Well, it doesn't have to be Todd White. It doesn't have to be Steven Furtick or Benny Hinn or whoever. And what happens is, a lot of people have this pure, innocent heart, and they want to pursue God. They want to pursue truth. So the first thing they do is they go look at these successful preachers or ministers that are really walking this thing out or doing well. And they glean from what they're teaching. And they go, "Oh, I want to have that, or I want to be like that." And that's good. And a lot of people are going to say, "Well, yeah, the Bible says be imitators of the faith." I get that. And we're going to talk about that.

So I have Hebrews 6 right here. If you look at Hebrews chapter 6, it's verse 11. "We want, we want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." This is NIV. So we take that scripture and we go, "Oh, yeah." So then we think it's okay to just like take what people are preaching and copy it. And I don't think that's always our motive, our intent. Like I said, we have an innocent heart. We want to pursue truth. We want transformation. However, that's not the way going about it. It's a healthy way to glean perspective. But check this out.

If you back up in Hebrews chapter 6, if you actually go to chapter 5, verse 11, it says, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make clear to you because you no longer try to understand." And then it goes into talking about needing milk and not solid food. Scripturally, what he's actually talking about in Hebrews here is he's actually talking to the Christian church, the Hebrew people, the Christian church, and he's protecting them from falling back, warning them from falling back into Judaism. Judaism because of persecution. We miss that. So it's important to study into who Paul's talking to, or who somebody in the Bible is actually speaking to, what they're talking about, addressing a situation, rather than just take a scripture and say, "Oh, well, the Bible says this." Yes, the Bible says it's inspired word of God. It is true. But it's very easy to twist scripture, like the enemy twisted scripture in the garden. So it's very easy to misconstrue things and try to apply. And that's what happens with a lot of like preachings and teachings. People listen to the sermon, but they take the one clip that they don't agree with and they throw out the whole message. And I used to do that.

So again, this goes back to only talking about things that I've dealt with. So back in the day, I did that. When I was in a program, because I had this big head knowledge, I thought I was walking in humility, but I walked into a rehab full of pride because of who my dad was and how I was raised. But who the heck am I to have that perspective when I'm the one strung out? Like, maybe I do need something changed in my heart. Duh. Let's get it. So I go in, and then I hear these preachers and speakers, and I'm like, "Oh, they don't have the revelation I was taught." And I would just immediately disagree and shut off what God had for me. And I heard a preacher one day, he said something very profound, and it wrecked me. He said, "Chew up the meat and spit out the bones." And I'll say that again for somebody that needs to hear it. Chew up the meat and spit out the bones.

What that means is, sit down in a sermon, sir, and be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11. They took the word of God, they studied it. Whenever they heard a preacher, they made sure it lined up with the word. So do that with what I'm talking about. Again, I'm talking about what I've experienced out of this place of sincerity, seeking the faith, seeking the Lord. And I'm going to talk about this whole compromise, and are not compromised, comparison. So you get on YouTube, you watch these preachers. And here's what happens. I get so many messages, and I'm going to be transparent. And this isn't a haughty or a prideful thing. I boast in the Lord with how he is beginning to use me. It's whenever you, when you exercise your gift, he will increase it. That is biblical. He will increase your gift as you continue. And it's like when you step into the light, and the veil is removed, it's like, "Oh my gosh, I get it." And the more you spend time with the Lord, the more that will happen. The more you spend time on YouTube and watch it happen to people, you'll wish you were there and wonder what you're doing wrong.

See, what happens is the enemy takes advantage of your pure heart and your motives, and he takes you, and it distracts you. It's hard for me. Some people say, "Well, that's what, like, my dad will say, it's easy to get in the word of God." He loves it because he's been walking it out over 20 years. His faith has built, his faith has increased, he gets it. I have not been into the faith as long. Yes, I got born again when I was five years old, seven years old, filled the Holy Ghost at 12 years old. I started smoking pot at 14 years old. I lost my innocence at 18 years old. I was running the streets, strung out, and I got into rehab at 24 years old. Got cleaned, and here I am now, married, hoping to start a family. So it's pretty incredible where God can take you from. But that didn't happen from just listening to my dad preach. A lot of it came from understanding that revelation. But through his preaching, it taught me how to seek God for myself. And from that place is where I get my own revelation, which then you increase, and then you produce double portion, which is biblical.

Now I'm preaching. And if this has blessed anyone in this time, please take a minute to hit the like button, hit the subscribe button. I know we're sick of hearing that. I say it on my intro video, but we're trying to get the word of God out there. We're trying to get the algorithm increased because people need to hear the truth. And it's a truth that'll set you free.

So I did this for a very long time where I would, I would go through these struggles, these struggles and cycles. Like I would go to church, and I would see the anointing move, and I would see the power of God. And I would listen to my dad, my own dad, I would listen to him preach. I'm like, "Man, this is so powerful. Like, I want to be like that. I want to have that." Because I had, like, Proverbs 22:6 is one of the life verses I stand on. It says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart." I have so much in me. So the enemy would try to pervert and twist things. So I would have a sincere heart, pure heart, go to church, listen to my dad preach, and go, "Man, I really want to have that." So then what I would do, and this is what I want to talk about. I keep saying that, but it's because this gets really deep. A lot of people do what I did where they listen to what he is preaching and they go, "Yeah, I want to do that." So then they go apply his sermon to their life, rather than apply the truth and the Bible. Yes, he's preaching the truth, but you need to understand something in order to walk it out.

Let's use a practical example. For instance, soldiers go to battle, okay? But they're trained for war. So you get enlisted in the military, you go through basic training, what is like eight weeks or so? I don't know. Uh, military friends, basic training. You get a sign-on bonus, you go through the camp, they go through Hell Week for the week, the basic training, and then they get trained how to fight a battle. If you just take a soldier and put him in, like, back in the drafting days when they would just throw, if they were just throwing me in a war right now, I don't think I'd do too hot. Like, yeah, I'm a hunter, but I never hunted people, and I don't know how to function under that kind of brutality and that mentality and the pressure. They get, they get trained for the battle. So if you're just watching these preachers and you're saying, "Hey, you know, I really like what they're preaching, I really like what they're saying, I want that," and you should go try to walk with what they're walking, and you haven't actually went through the process, then you're not going to end well. You're not going to run well with that.

And that's not a condemning word. Like, if that's you, if that speaks to your heart or convicts you, just go, "Oops, duh. Thank you, God, for exposing that. Thank you for using someone to speak that into my life and help me recognize what I'm doing so I can grow in you." So it's not, it's not a condemning word. The reason, like, the reason I'm warning against this is because of those messages I get. Like, I'll have the most sincere people reach out to me that go to church like three times a week, and they read their Bible constantly, and they pray, and they fast, and they'll like ask me sincere questions. Like, some of them are so spiritually deep, I'm like, "That convicts me that I'm not there in my walk." Like, "How did you get there?" But here's the catch-22. Is their level of understanding is so shallow. And I don't mean that harshly. I mean, it's back to that milk scripture where it's like, if we would, if we would pursue truth and not pursue preachers, we'd be okay.

There's so many social media posts right now, and I get, like, holding your brother accountable and calling people out. But like, I've never felt like I was supposed to really interfere with stuff. I kind of just like play behind the scenes and like pray for my brothers and sisters. And if I feel that I necessarily need to step out and say something, I will do. I miss it sometimes? Absolutely. But there's so many posts on social media, even now, like, "A lot of Christians doing this, a lot of Christians doing that." Well, what are you helping? Posting that you're just getting people to go, "Ha ha, yeah, I get it. Yeah, they're lost. They're this." It's causing division. Like, we just need to get a grip and stop that stuff. And there's people that are going to disagree with me. That's my personal conviction. So again, when I'm, what I choose to believe and walk out is producing fruit in my life. And, you know, a tree by its fruit. So that's why I talk confidently from that place.

It's, it's totally normal for like people to see Christ in somebody and want what they have. Like, nobody's gonna want the gospel or want the freedom you have if they don't see you free. Like, and that's another thing. I get that. Like, like people follow Jesus in the Bible for a reason because they wanted what he had. Like, think about thousands of people in crowds and like flip-flops in the desert, wandering around lakes, listening to him preach from a boat. Like, if you would see that nowadays, like, that reminds me of like the top celebrities and people like worship people. It's strange. With Jesus, it was correct because he was the Son of God. He was God in flesh. So. But now here we are with the Spirit of God in us, and now we are preaching the gospel with the Spirit of God in us through us. So then the people hearing aren't supposed to come to us. They're supposed to come to the Father, go to the Father through us, come to the Father through us. So that's where we miss it.

And again, this is so, like, it's so simple. It's more of just like a convicting word. Like, if it's you, like, just, just like snap out of it and be like, "Whoops, like, I need to spend more time with God." Because it's so easy. Like, I rabbit trail too. Let me go back to where I was talking about my dad. How it's so easy for him to get into the word. He gets into the word so easy because he's been walking this thing out for like 20 some years. And I started talking about like a little bit of what I've been through. And I haven't been walking out that long. I've been in, like, the Christian life that long. But I haven't truthfully walked out the truth that I know for a very long time, or a very long season in my life, because of the cycles. And the reason I encountered those cycles is because I did what I'm talking about. The reason I'm talking about this is because I did. It makes sense. It's because I experienced it and I realized the detrimental harm that it caused me.

So now when people reach out to me, it's a red flag, and I see it because I experienced it. So now I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I see that." Like, I made it through that deception. So now I see the deception. There's going to be things in my life that come that I might not recognize. And if my prayer life's not right, I definitely won't see it. And I'll just be trying to apply another man's revelation to my life and wonder why I'm always falling short. And the danger that I was getting to that is involved in doing that is that we start to condemn ourselves. And we wonder what we're missing. Why, why can't we get it? Is anybody else struggling with what I'm struggling with? How come I hear Pastor Dan preach about being so free and not being offended, but my spouse says something and it ticks me off?

Well, let me tell you something. My pastor actually just preached this a few weeks ago. We were at lunch yesterday, and we were talking about it, and it was super powerful. He said, "When you get the revelation that somebody else is only doing as good as their prayer life, it frees you from a lot of things." Think about that. If I love you as my neighbor, or I love, I love my neighbor as myself. If I learn to love myself, and the only way I learn to do that is through Christ and intimacy and fellowship with him, and opening my Bible in the morning when I don't feel like it, and praying when I don't feel like it. And from that place, then God moves, ministers, touches my heart, builds my faith. And then the next time I feel like it, a little more. And then that time I feel like it, a little more. And then that time I feel like it, a little more. Now somebody's walking by me in the post office parking lot and says, "Excuse me, sir, can you help me with this?" And three minutes later, you're praying for him, stepping out in faith, when you're scratching your head going, "Man, a month ago, I didn't have the bones to do that." How did you get the boldness? Because of the fellowship. Not the YouTube videos. Because of the intimacy.

And when you develop that intimacy, then you start to recognize the lie. And the lie, like I said, what happens is when you only look at preachers and pastors and their life and where God's taken them and what they're doing, and you try to apply their revelation to you without actually encountering the presence of God, the enemy is going to come along and he's going to test you in those areas. And he's going to mark and see if you really believe what you're preaching. And then, like, when the enemy comes to test you, if you've only been watching the YouTube preachers and you haven't been spending the time with the Lord, and you haven't been spending time in this word, then he's just gonna, he's literally gonna laugh at you and say, "Wow, that sounds good. You drive to church three days a week, you listen to so and so, you like what they have, but you don't spend any time with the person that will give you the ability to walk that out like they gave those persons. He gave that person the ability to walk it out."

So I'm just gonna hit you with the simplest little things and watch you crumble over and over and over and over and make you question yourself, what you're doing wrong, and how come this, and how come that. And now all of a sudden, you're knocking on different church doors thinking your pastor is missing the point. He doesn't care enough about you because he's not feeding into your struggles because he loves you too much to enable you. And now the sudden you're getting ministry and deliverance and "I must have a devil in me" and all this crazy stuff. And now I probably sound like my dad, and I'm getting pretty hyped because I see it a lot, and I'm seeing it in my personal life, and it breaks my, it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart. Like, we really got to get a grip on this, guys.

And again, it's not a condemning word. It's a convicting word. If this is you, just repent. Just repent and seek the Lord. Get in your word. And speaking of the word, let me end with this because I know I'm rambling. Uh, Colossians 3. Bear with me here. Colossians 3, verse 1. "Living as those made alive in Christ. Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." If you go down to verse 5, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." We read the scripture. We've heard many people preach on. My dad preaches Colossians 3 like every time he preaches about putting things off, putting things off. But again, until you spend the time with God, you're not going to effectively put those things off and walk like this. Like you see them walk.

The reason they have the power and the anointing backing that, and the anointing comes with a responsibility, and the anointing comes with a sacrifice. And responsibility comes with sacrifice. We see a lot of these people, the ministers of platforms, the microphones, the prophets, they have and the influence, and we see their schedule and look at invites. But the truth and the reality is, until we grow, we're not even responsible. A lot of us are not responsible to even handle that schedule. I'm not at a place to even handle my dad's schedule right now. Of course not. No, because he has himself in that routine. Now, if I will believe that lie for the rest of my life, that would be a problem because I believed lies for a long time. And I never stepped out because of the, uh, the reach he's had and the, what do you want to call it, the influence he's had on people. I haven't stepped. I was like, "Oh, like, what do I have to offer?"

Do I have a lot to offer? I know that. I realize who I am in Christ. I know that I have a voice. I have a calling on my life. I have a gift, and I'm going to use it. So when you get that understanding, it changes everything. And it makes you want to seek the Lord. It makes you so. I hope this encourages somebody. I pray, I pray that you don't miss the message that I'm trying to release. I pray that your heart receives it if it is you.

So I just want to pray over anyone that's watching this right now. Just close your eyes. Father God, I just bless any viewer on this channel right now, Lord. I pray that you would just increase their understanding and their awareness of your Spirit, Father God. I pray that you would just increase their alertness for your presence. I pray, Father God, that they would feel you tangibly in a different way, Lord. Not a way that we just base our relationship with you off of feelings, Father God, but just like a comfort, like a knowing that you're there when we feel like you may not be hearing us. But we know we get to that place that we are always secure, and we know you hear us without a doubt. The more we spend time with you, we find out how real you really are. So God, I bless every single listener in their journey today that is on here viewing from wherever, in Jesus name. Amen.

Again, if this blessed you, please hit the like button. Leave a comment. Comment where you're hearing this from. Uh, that would be awesome, just to see like the reach. So bless you guys. Love you. Take care until next time. I really should not have told everyone to close their eyes when I prayed, especially if they were like driving and listening to me. And well, if they weren't born again, hopefully they got saved when they heard my video. Oh, I'm still recording. It's like, nah.