Committed

Coming up on the Potter's Touch. It's wrong for you to think that you're going to give an offering and God's going to bless a business you ain't committed to. Bless a marriage you ain't committed to. Bless you in school and you won't study. Bless you as a saint of God and you won't walk like a saint of God. Who do you think God is? Somebody playing in Vegas? God is not hitting a slot machine. God is a guaranteed definite I am the mighty God. A sure blessing. He told Abraham, I swear I'm going to bless you.

This is the father's touch. Hello everybody. I'm so glad to have the opportunity to be blessed to be in your home and to be a part of your life and to talk to you just very practically today out of the word of God. I believe it's going to bless you in a significant way. We all want changes. We want changes. We want changes over here and over there. In some area of our lives, we want God to do something. But without commitment, nothing really happens. So today, we're going to talk about commitment. Buckle your seat belts. You're in for a ride.

Commitment. Levi means to be joined, to be connected, to be focused, to be committed. That is something we don't see anymore. Oh, we have the ceremonies. We still have weddings, but people don't get married anymore. I mean, even the people in the wedding, the bride and the groom, we throw rice at them. We give them a certificate, but they don't get married. They move in together. They get the tax deduction, but they're not married. They're not joined together because the first little wind, the first little storm, the first little problem, the first little weakness, the first little test, they are out of there. They have no root. They have no connectivity. They are not joined. They are not committed. They don't have it in their character to withstand anything. They are only there for convenience. And when they don't see the convenience or the connection, they forsake the responsibility and walk away from their commitment.

We we we seldom see real church members. People I've seen people come. If everybody who joined this church came one Sunday, it would kill us. They come down here, they sache down here, they walk over there, they get all of the stuff, they go through the little orientation, shake the hand, and some of them people, you never see them again. We We go through the actions of commitment, but we're not really committed. We're not really connected. We're not really joined because we have no understanding. Check this. of our responsibility to any relationship. Write this down. You cannot have relationship without reciprocity. You cannot have true relationship without reciprocity. You cannot get into a relationship to get and not give. And I want you to ask yourself, do you give as good as you get? Add up what you're getting and weigh it against what you're giving and then you will know whether you're really joined to anything.

You have people that come to work, they take a job, they're not committed to the job, they want the check. They want the check. Well, everybody wants some money, baby. I'm going to say it again. Everybody wants some money, baby. That I'm just here for the check. That's why it's not going to work for you. You don't understand the reciprocity. Anybody want some money, but if you're not willing to give at least as good as you get, it will not last. And that's why you can't stay anywhere or work for anybody because you've never had Levi. You may have had Reuben. You might have had Simeon, but you've never been joined to anything. So, you've had you collect anniversaries. You've got a lot of birthdays. You've got some plaques on the wall, but you've never been the person that you could be because the could be is locked up behind commitment. And until you're committed, you'll never get the could be.

I'm glad the choir sung, you're happy. I don't have to worry about preaching. You're happy. You know what I thought to myself? I thought I would hate to live and die and never know what would happen if I ever committed myself to anything. Some people have never thrown their whole self at nothing. Not at school, not at work, not at marriage, not at church. Oh my God. You've had one foot in and one foot out of every dream all of your life. And you've never seen what you could be if you ever really connected and through everything. That's what's going to make your death so sad. That's what's going to make it so sad is that you never live first. You you you never fully engage. You've never fully studied. You've never fully invested in anything or anybody. You want to get something that you are not willing to give. You have never been joined. You just wore the dress, got the plaque, they threw the rice, you joined the church, you took the job. But you've never seen what you could be if you threw your whole self at your dream.

You go to this church, but you're not joined. If you don't have reciprocity, you're not joined. If you're not really bought into it, if you don't really feel like it's my church. Oh, I come here cuz I get a word. Reciprocity. What do you give back for what you get? Without reciprocity, no relationship will ever reach its apex because you're not fully invested in anything you do. So, you catch some crumbs that fall from the master's table, but you don't get the children's bread. You get the puppy dog blessing that comes from being in the right place at the right time because you are not joined into the connectivity that produces the real blessing of God in your life. And you're getting older and you're running out of time and running out of excuses and running out of people to blame. Wonder what would have happened in school if you'd been committed. Wonder what would have happened in your marriage if you'd been committed. Wonder what would have happened in your church if you'd have really thrown your whole self. You've always been casual and never been committed. And some of the most casual people are talented people. Because talented people will lay on their talent and use their talent as a camouflage to cover up their lack of commitment. And because you're talented enough to be able to float by on broken pieces, you will fool an indiscriminate eye into thinking that you are committed. You're not committed. You're just talented. You'll never know what you could have been if you would have really committed yourself. You're just talented enough to get over and you faked them out. and you've been at 30 or 60fold when you were created to be a hundfold person.

I just think it would be terrible. I can't be committed to everything. I can't join everything. I can't be married to a thousand women. I can't work a thousand jobs. I can't join five churches because I take my commitment too seriously to spread it around loosely. Your life is a false advertisement. Four color big glossy ad promising product you don't carry in your inventory. You'd be shocked how many people sitting out there who can really sing, but they're unwilling to make the commitment to make the rehearsals and do what it takes to be upfront. And so they sit there on their talent and they won't do for God what they are asking God to do for them. And they wonder why their prayers are not answered. Tell three people say commitment, commitment, commitment. [Applause]

You take a half committed man and a half committed trifling woman and put them together and they'll have some half committed trifling kids and the whole house will be half committed because children will be what they see. Stop fussing at your kids. They're a reflection of you. Your whole life is the facade. The whole thing in the face. The whole thing in the front. Your whole life is a camouflage suit. And now you're getting older. And you'll never get to see what you could have been because the cost of getting to see it in the commitment that you've never been willing to pay. You're trying to get somebody to fall in love with a you that you've never discovered yourself. You come to the altar and you raise your hand and you say, "Lord, I give myself to you." But you don't. You walk down here and join the church and you say, "Now I'm a member of the church." But you're not. You marry somebody and say, "You can count on me. I'll be there through the thick and the thin, for better, for worse, for richer and poor and sickness and hell." You didn't mean it. Half studied, half worked, half labored, and then wonder why I thought I'd be further than I am at the age. Let me tell you why you are not further. It is not the devil. It is not witches. It is not demons. And it sure God ain't haters. You are not any further than where you are right now because you have never thrown your whole self at anything in your life. And you think greatness goes on sale. [Applause] But true quality never goes on sale. Greatness costs what it costs. Oh my God. Help me in here today. I feel something about to take over this place. Somebody in this church is ready to receive this word. You're ready to get your breakthrough. My God, I feel a miracle coming in this place today. I wish I had a hundred people that would give God a praise. He told Abraham, "I swear I'm going to bless you. Ain't no chance, ain't no doubt, ain't no joke about it. If I told you I was going to bless you, I will open up the windows of heaven and earth."

Still to come on the potter's touch. I have never met anybody who became incredibly successful in any area of their life until they had suffered and sweated and sacrificed and kept their focus and fought through tears and trials and tests. And if you have a dream and you commit to it, it will come to pass. Though the vision, Terry, wait for it. A harvest starts with a small seed. If he showed the orchard, everybody will snatch it. So he'll hide it in a seed. If you be faithful over a few things. For your gift of any size, you will receive this stirring message. These are they on CD from the series Seeds of Greatness. There's a king in you. There's a victory in you. As soon as you find your cause, you'll unlock your king. And when your gift is $65 or more, you'll receive Bishop's series Seeds of Greatness on four DVDs. If you take good seed and you plant it in good ground, it's only a matter of time before a harvest breaks out. However, for your gift of $120 or more, will also include seeds for good soil, encouraging words from Bishop's Heart to yours, as well as Bishop's timeless book, 64 Lessons for a Life Without Limits. Plant the seeds of God's word today and your harvest will be on its way. [Music]

Your first commitment is to God. Your second commitment is to family. Your second commitment is to family. And it's a very important commitment. It's a very important commitment. You better be committed or you ain't going to make it. If you can only love me when you like me, we ain't going to make it. Cuz sooner or later, I'mma pluck your last nerve. Then say, "How you like me now, it's to your family, crazy as they are. If you're not committed, you're not going to make it. Even the ones with the personalities you don't like. You have to be committed. Through the storm and the rain and the heartache and the pain and the disappointment, you have to believe in the we and the us and not the me and the you or you're not going to make it. It's a commitment. It's not a feeling. You got to come home when you in love and you got to come home when you not in love or you're not going to make it and stay there till the love comes back. It's a commitment. Y'all don't want to hear real truth. You want to hear fairy tale Hollywood shake and bake stuff. But in reality, it's a commitment. You're my son in my house. You're my son when you took the money. You're my son in the hog pin. You're my son in the wh house. You're my son on the road back home. It's a commitment. And if you're not going to be committed, you don't need no kids. Commitment to God. Number two, commitment to family. Number three, commitment to your church. I've never seen anything like this generation today. They don't commit to anything at all. You're lucky if you see them again after they join. And if you do see them, it's only going to be on Sundays. And don't talk too long cuz they got to go. Forget Sunday night. Wednesday night's out of the question. We'll hear about the revival next Sunday. We sacrifice nothing for our church. We will serve nowhere. And yet, is Bishop preaching? Yeah. Is bishop preaching because it's all about what I can get and nothing about what I can give. And if I think I'm not going to get what I expect to get, I won't even show up because I have a give mentality. I never came to give. Oh, I lost y'all on that. I lost the whole house on that because you consider with great contemplation where you can go to be fed that's good but where's the reciprocity? What do you give for all that you got? No, any relationship that does not have reciprocity will not last. If I'm always the one giving and always the one sacrificing, always the one pushing myself over the limit to be there for you. And I don't see that in return, eventually my patience will wither, my hope will die, and I will give up. Any relationship that has no real reciprocity will die. Strong people will keep giving to you a long time eventually when they don't see it coming back in similar capacity. They will eventually become convinced that the investment does not warrant a return. I tell you before you lose again. If you don't learn to give like you learn to get every area that there is not reciprocity, it will die. If I had time, I'd take you all through the ecological system. It's not just biblical. It's ecological. It's science. It's everything. Anything that takes more than it gives will eventually destroy the soil. I would show you how God commanded the farmer to let the ground rest because you have to put something back in something that you're taking something out of. See, somebody has never taught you how to give. They teach you how to take. Are you demanding more of your God or of your family or of your church than you give? Because any area that you expect more than you invest, you will live in a perpetual state of disappointment.

You're committed to God. Number two, you committed to your family. We're going to get through this. That should be the language you approach your family with. We will get through this. We may have to bunk up. We may have to move in together. We may have to put our backs up against each other. We may have to both get part-time jobs. We may have to come out sideway. But we will get through this. When you get me, you get help. If I walk in the room, help came in the room. I'm going to add something to you. I'mma add something to you. I'mma add something to you. I will not take something from you unless I add something to you. I will be an asset and not a liability. If I stay in your house, you going to miss me when I leave. I'm going to add something to you. I'm not going to take something from you. If I join your church, you going to feel the impact that something has been added to you. The only number that doesn't add to the sum total of the equation is a zero. What do people get when they get you? If you can describe it, define it, and deliver on it, you'll never be without. Everybody wants an asset. Liabilities get left behind.

Number four, commitment to your dream. You cannot get people to believe in your dream until you believe in it yourself. Stop asking people to invest in things where you have no investment. Stop asking people to deliver something to you where you're not willing to go to the wire for yourself. Nobody's going to put into your dream before you put in. You have to invest in what you dream for. Hallelujah to God. A golf club is just a golf club. You can pay $500 or $5,000 for it. It's just a golf club until you put it into the hands of Tiger Woods. When you put it into the hands of Tiger Woods, the value shoots up. It's the same set of clubs. All you added was commitment. When you get it in the hands of somebody who is committed to a dream, who's been working when they was five and swinging when they were six and swinging when they were nine and swinging when they were 12, oh yes, you're going to get a great return because there is a great investment. Do you have anything that you're dreaming that you're willing to be committed to enough to see it happen? Or are you throwing pennies in the wishing well of life? Wanting to receive on credit something that you're not willing to pay for. You must be committed to your dream. Oh, hallelujah. I'm scared to talk about it cuz I believe it so bad. You ought to see my toes are dancing in my shoes. Glory to God. I don't have no hair on my head, but my hair on my chin is jerking over this right now. I have never met anybody who became incredibly successful in any area of their life until they had suffered and sweated and sacrificed and kept their focus and fought through tears and trials and tests. And if you have a dream and you commit to it, it will come to pass. Though the vision, Terry, wait for it. He not just the beginning, he also the end. If God started it, he will finish it. Shout yes. Committed to your dream. Yes. Committed to your dream. Anybody can dream it, but you'll never see it until you're willing to be committed to it.

I was telling somebody the other day when I didn't have anything, church didn't have any members. I'd get off work working at Carbide and drive up the road and work on the church till I had to turn around and go back to work. We worked when we didn't have food. We worked when we didn't have lights. I was putting my whole check in the offering. All of it trying to keep it going. When I finally got some staff, I went on the road preaching and whatever I made on the road preaching, I brought it home to make the payroll of the staff. And sometimes I got them paid and couldn't pay me. Commitments. Looked like a fool. Didn't have any clothes. Suits was falling off me. Line and wore out my clothes. Couldn't send them to the cleaners. Had to wash my suit in the washing machine. They laughed at me. Looked like a old raggedy country preacher. I had holes in my shoes. I couldn't kneel down. [Applause] I couldn't kneel down and pray because if I knelt down to pray, they would see holes in my shoes. They laughed at me. They said, "That boy's lost his mind. He'll never be nothing. He stutters. He's got a list when he speaks. He'll never be a preacher." I don't care what you say. If you are committed to what you believe, you'll never never never bring down somebody who is committed. Because somebody who has really been committed has been down before they ever got up. [Applause] Yeah. You can't scare me off with trouble. I started in trouble. I grew up with dirt up under my fingernails. I'm used to folk not liking me. I'll fight for myself. Hallelujah.

Commitment. I've got to stop. This is a big subject and many people struggle with it. They mean well. They have sincere hearts. They promise so much more than they're able to deliver because they don't understand commitment. What if you threw your whole self into the vision that God has given you rather than just hitting that imp? What would you achieve? You cannot conquer what you're not willing to commit to. Take that word with you today and may God bless you and strengthen you. That's my prayer for you. Before we leave, get your hands on this book, Destiny. It's for people who are going somewhere. It is for people who are trying to master commitment who feel that they are drawn of God into a purpose that you can't quite figure out. So the book is destiny step into your purpose. You can do it and you need to do it right now. I pray God will bless you. I'll be waiting on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook to hear your comments as we read together. Destiny step into your purpose. God bless you. Take care. I'm sorry, Brian. We're going to have to let you go. Failure is not the end of. We've had to make staff changes. Listen for Destiny's authentic call. Destiny awaits you. Will you take the first step? Destiny is written to connect what's in you with the purpose that awaits you. The first action step requires faith. Order Destiny today. Everywhere books are sold. There is more. 10 committed people will trump a thousand spectators. 10 committed people. Jesus didn't pick but 12 and turn the world upside down with 12 people who were committed. Wonder what would happen in your life, in your church, in your finances, in your marriage. If you were committed. [Music]