Transcription
[Music] Hey family, listen. You're about to watch a message here. This is a grown folks message. It's called "This Ain't It." In order to do what you're supposed to do, you gotta know what you're not supposed to do. I only have one request of you, and that is: if this message adds value to your life in any way, would you do me a favor and just share it with somebody else? We want to reach as many people as possible. We can't do that without your help. All right, enjoy the message.
Speaking of moving with God, we're in this series called "Detours," and I'm really excited about this message today. I've probably been mostly, I'm probably most excited about this message than any other message in the series. And so, we're going there today. We're going all the way there today. It's all gas, no breaks today. I want somebody to put "today" in the chat. Not T-O-D-A-Y, put T-U-H-D-A-Y. We going there today. Today.
So, let's look at the book of Acts, chapter number 16, beginning at verse number six. Acts chapter 16, beginning at verse number six.
[Music] This is what it says, family. It says, "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been—listen to this—having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia." Y'all, did you didn't hear that? You weren't paying attention. It's no way you didn't pay—you were paying attention and you missed that. Here it is, I'mma read it again: "Having been kept by the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit did not allow them to, to preach the word in the province of Asia. Then they came to the border of Mysia and they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed Mysia and went down to Troas. And during the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, 'Come over here to Macedonia and help us.'" And after Paul had seen the vision, "we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." This is the reading of God's word.
I want to talk from this subject, if you all ready today: "This Ain't It." Somebody drop that in the chat like you mean it. This, this ain't it. This, this ain't it.
Family, as we leap into this lesson today, I'd like to present a concept for your consideration. This is for my notetakers. Here it is: Detours don't always show up looking like obstacles. Sometimes detours show up looking like opportunities. I'm gonna say that one more time: Detours don't always show up looking like obstacles. Sometimes detours show up looking like opportunities.
When the adversary is attempting to derail us from destiny, he doesn't just simply orchestrate obstacles. He also arranges opportunities. The same enemy that uses obstacles to discourage us is the same enemy that will use opportunities to distract us. This, this truth is seen in our first introduction to the adversary of the enemy found in the book of Genesis. We will call this in some circles, for those who embrace this hermeneutic, it's called the law of first mention, which simply suggests that the first time you see something mentioned in scripture, specifically in the book of Genesis, that is an indication of the way that concept is to be seen and interpreted all throughout scripture. In some way, the first time you're introduced to it is a picture of a pattern that you'll see with that concept all throughout scripture.
So, there's some stuff that the devil does in the Garden of Eden that is a picture of what he's going to do in the garden in your life. Yes, sir. Did you hear what I just said? And so, when we look at the activity of the enemy, the first time we see him in scripture, he does not attempt to derail Adam and Eve's destiny by presenting them with an obstacle. Y'all aren't talking to me in this studio. I said, when the first time we're introduced to the activity of the enemy, he is not derailing the destiny of Adam and Eve by presenting them with an obstacle. He derails their destiny by presenting them an opportunity. He says, "Look at that tree of knowledge of good and evil," and he, and he uses that opportunity to derail them. That's, that's what he did. The first, the first Adam in the garden.
And when he takes, when, when Jesus is led in Matthew chapter 4 into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, he tries to do the same thing. He doesn't try to derail Jesus's destiny with obstacles. Read Matthew 4. Those three temptations, they're all opportunities. "Command these stones to be made bread." Use your gift this way. You got a gift, use it this way. Opportunity. "Look at all of these kingdoms, bow down to me, and I'll give you all of them." Opportunity. It's quiet in this studio, church, today.
[Laughter] Listen to me, family. I, I'm trying to let some of you, uh, know who are watching and who are listening. Your greatest struggle is not going to be your obstacles.
[Music] I'm trying to get you to see that for some of you, your greatest struggle is going to be your opportunities. But I believe I'm talking to just a remnant of people who have got the revelation that everything that glitters is not gold. Yeah. I believe I'm talking to some people who are living with a degree of discernment where you can see every door is not my door, and every opportunity isn't my opportunity, and every chance isn't my chance. And you have got to the place where you recognize, "I'm not a rat, and I'm not chasing and will be trapped with cheese. I don't want just any door, I want my door. I don't want just any opportunity, I want mine. I don't want just any assignment, I want my assignment. And I don't want to just make a difference, I want to make my difference." So I'm not chasing what other people are chasing. So you can't trap me, devil, the way you trap them, because this ain't it.
[Applause] And I'm talking to some people who are serious about achieving and accomplishing their purpose. It is impossible to reach your purpose without the revelation of what's not for you.
[Applause] I am telling you, if you have not discerned what you're supposed to say no to, you will never be clear on what you're supposed to say yes to. Purpose does not just require saying yes. Purpose also requires saying no. And some people can't get to their "it" because they have not discerned this ain't it. Passion, says Stephen Covey, is what you love to do. Talent, that's what you can do. Purpose is what you're supposed to do. And it takes a strong man and a mature woman to look at what you want to do, to look at what you could do, and submit all of that to what you're supposed to do.
All throughout scripture, we see this picture in the person of Jesus, who could have done things that he chose not to do because he submitted his good "do's" to his "supposed to do's." Do you not remember when he was taken into custody and Peter cut off the ear of an official? And Jesus told Peter, "If I wanted to, I could call for legions of angels." But just because I can doesn't mean I am, because I'm not driven by my good "do's," I'm driven by my "supposed to do."
[Applause] [Music] [Applause] And ladies and gentlemen, I'm trying to get this revelation into some hearts of some people who are in this room who are not just looking for opportunities.
[Music] They are chasing assignment. And I believe this is a timely word because the Bible uses a term called "the spirit of the age." It means that there are attitudinal trends that we see at different points in human history that entrap people in a way that they're unable to accomplish what God intends because they're thinking the way people are thinking in that, in that period of human history. So, a spirit of this age is a spirit of opportunism.
[Music] It's just the spirit of this age. Now, watch this. And so, whatever you see in culture will be pervasive in carnal churches.
[Applause] When I say "carnal," what does that mean? It doesn't mean that they're not born again. It doesn't mean that their heart's not new. It means their mind isn't. It means that they have a new heart, but it is still governed by old thinking patterns. Paul says, "Your life is not transformed by the regeneration of your heart." Paul says, "Your life is transformed by the renewing of your mind." The regeneration of your heart makes you open to the renewing of your mind. And just because you feel different doesn't mean you think different. But life doesn't change until you think different. And there's a spirit of this age that doesn't even look at relationships as relationships. They look at relationships as opportunities.
[Music] It's a spirit of opportunism.
[Music] Not connection. And there cannot be biblical love. Biblical love cannot coexist with opportunism because biblical love is a loyal love. That's, that's the word the Bible uses to describe God's love. It's a loyal love. And that's why you got to be careful in this day and age because there's a spirit of opportunism that will cause you to confuse your "supposed to do's" with your "could do's." Yeah. Let me, bad grammar, but good theology: You ain't supposed to do everything you could. Some stuff is your Isaac. You offer.
[Music] And I think, besides Jesus, there's no clearer example of what I'm trying to articulate than this narrative we see with the Apostle Paul in Acts 16. It's profound, specifically when you know who Paul is and you know all he could do. When you, when you recognize this man's back—the backdrop of his story and his capability and his competencies, he could have done a whole lot. Some historians suggest he spoke between seven and fourteen languages. He's a Jewish man but a Roman citizen, so he understood biblical law and cultural law. He was trained under the rabbinical tutelage of Gamaliel. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. His name was originally Saul because he was named after the first king of Israel who came from the tribe of Benjamin. His name was Saul. He was a Pharisee, Hebrew of Hebrews. So if anybody was capable of doing a number of different things, it was Paul. Paul ain't have to do ministry.
[Music] Do you know everything Paul had to say no to to say yes to this? The stability that he gave up. And so, so Acts, the book of Acts, Acts of the Apostles, is really a book that records, it records the ministry of the apostles. But there are two dominant figures in there besides the Holy Spirit. It's really chapters one through twelve are primarily about Peter, and then chapters, uh, um, chapters 12 through the remainder of the book are primarily about Paul. And in Acts chapter 16, we see one of Paul's missionary journeys. The, the text is clear here. I, I, I, I feel like we all, I feel like I'm on something here, huh? I feel like I'm on something that Paul calls a principality.
[Applause] Yeah, a principle, a way of thinking that is entrapping a demographic or age range. I feel like the Holy Ghost is on that today. And I want somebody to make this confession in the midst and in the middle of this message. I want you to declare this over your life: "I will not be distracted." Yeah. "I will not be distracted. I will not be distracted. I will not be distracted. I will not be distracted by an obstacle or an opportunity. I will not be distracted. I'm on assignment."
[Applause] [Music] Here it is. Acts 16, uh, he's on his first missionary journey, on one of his missionary journeys, excuse me. And the Bible says in Acts 16 that that Paul came to a place, he goes to Derbe and then he goes to Lystra. And the Bible says when he gets there, I love this, in Acts chapter 16, it says, "When he got there, he met a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was Jewish and a believer, but whose father was Greek." And the Bible says, "And the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him." And Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. Don't miss this. So he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area. Okay, so his mom was Jewish, but the father was Greek. If the father had been Jewish, he would have been circumcised already. But because his mom was saving the dead, what?
[Music] He was circumcised. And so Paul says, "Okay, I want to mentor you." And you say you want mentorship, but mentorship requires circumcision. It requires, it requires cutting off of things that are not bad, but are going to get in the way of you reaching a people group you're assigned to reach. Paul knew that that Timothy was gifted enough to reach the Jews, anointed enough to reach the Jews, capable to reach the Jews. But the Jews were going to use circumcision as a distraction and as, and as something that inhibited them from receiving the ministry of Timothy. So Timothy had went his whole life without being bothered by this. And he runs into Paul, who says, "Now's the season to cut that off. You, you can't carry that with you anymore. I know you got away with that until now, but somebody needs to tell you that needs to stop. You need to cut it out. You need to stop that." And make God send some real people into your life that will let you know it's time to cut that.
[Music] [Applause] You talk too much. Cut that. You, you, you get in rooms and you try to let people know who you are through your talking and not by your listening. It's trying to cut that. You don't submit to authority. He's trying to cut that. Nobody can give you counsel. It's time to cut that.
[Music] And do not invest in people who are unwilling to be cut, because they don't want your investment. If they're not willing to be cut, they want affiliation with you or attention from you. Yes.
[Music] Did you hear what I just said? And some people that are coming to you talking about they want investment, what they really want is association with you, affiliation with you, or attention from you. It's the spirit of this age, which is why people choose mentors based on notoriety and not greatness.
[Applause] That's how you know. Y'all know. See, their greatness shouldn't determine whether or not they're your mentor. Your goals should, because they can be great in an area that's not lined up with your goals. So Paul says to Timothy, "Man, you're great, you're talented, you're amazing, but there are some things we have to cut off because it's going to hinder your ability to reach a people group that you've been anointed to reach." Yes.
[Music] And what's scary is nobody knows it needs to be cut because it's not obvious. It's not obvious. It's hidden. But Paul said, "I love you enough to ask." Okay? Yeah. "I love you enough to ask about areas of your life nobody else is asking about." Uh, yeah. "I, I love you enough not just to look at what's going on on the outside. I want to know what's going on behind the wall of the veneer of your life."
[Music] And I'm telling you, I'm talking to some entrepreneur, I'm talking to some person in business, I'm talking to some Christian who wants deeper discipleship. God has not sent you Paul because you're not Timothy yet. God wouldn't even be just to send you Paul. It wouldn't even be good stewardship of his time to send you Paul. You're not Timothy yet. You want Paul to waste his time, and Paul don't have time to waste. See, that's why you don't have it, because you're not, you're not willing to be cut. I love it.
So what Paul does, Paul and his companions, they, they leave Derbe and Lystra. And this is interesting. We just read this. We read it. They leave Derbe and Lystra, they go to Galatia. And the Bible says, verse six, "They were kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word of God in Asia." I want y'all to hear that now. The Holy Ghost told them, "Don't preach there." Are y'all ready for this kind of teaching? Yeah. The Holy Spirit. Now, you would think that the Holy Spirit would tell them to preach everywhere. Why would the Holy Spirit tell you, "Don't preach there"? See, this is getting ready to disrupt some things. Now, he says, "No, no, no, not there." Should not preach the gospel everywhere. No, not there. Text says, "So they came to the border of Mysia and they tried to enter Bithynia." But the text says, "But the Spirit of Jesus—the Pneuma Christos, that is the Holy Spirit. That's not anything different. But the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, which is why Jesus told the disciples, 'I have to go, because there's something in me that can't get in you unless I leave.'" Right? So it says they're trying to go into another place, and the Spirit of Jesus said, "No, you can't go there either." Are y'all following this? So, so text says they passed by Mysia, they go down to Troas. And during the night, Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over here, come over here and help us. Come over here, come over here, come over here. You could go there, but come over here. They want you there, but come over here." Because you're there, ain't you're here. "Come over here and help us." Y'all missed it. I, I want you to catch this.
So the fact that the Holy Spirit would not allow Paul to minister in these other places reveals something to you. Every need is not your responsibility. He says, "I'm not letting you go there." He says, "When you assume you got to go to all these places, you assume you're the only one I can send." And some people are missing their ministry, abandoning their assignment, because, because, because they don't understand and they have not discerned that God has other ways to meet those needs besides you. And if you're trying to do all of these things, you have opportunism masquerading as godly ambition.
[Music] Right? Because it's easy to attach a spiritual adjective to a carnal concept. It can be straight opportunism, and we can call it calling. Listen to me now. Paul could have went to all of these places, but he recognized, "Every need isn't my responsibility. Every opportunity isn't my assignment." He could have went to those places and made a difference, but he would not have made *his* difference, because the difference he was supposed to make was in Macedonia. And this is the struggle of gifted people. Yes, it is. The more gifted you are, the more options you have. Did you hear what I just said? This is why I told you what I told you at the beginning of this lesson, and that is, your greatest struggle is not gonna be your obstacles. Your greatest struggle is gonna be your opportunities. That's the curse of the gifted.
There are so many things you could do, so many things you're capable of doing, things you could do well, things you, things that others are observing potential in you and telling you that you could do. And the more gifted you are, the more complex clarity becomes.
[Applause] This is why some of you are struggling to get clear. It's not because you're spiritually immature. It's because you're uniquely gifted. See, when you, yeah, when you can only do one thing, it's easier to be clear on the one thing you're supposed to do. But when you've got the ability to do a plethora of things, it becomes more complicated to identify the things that you're supposed to be, supposed to be doing. Yes, sir. But Paul, driven by
[Music] His assignment, and not opportunism. So I could go here, but I won't. I'm not, I'm not even going. I'm not going to bother this.
[Music] I'm not going to bother this. See, uh, I want you to see something. This, this is, this is what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, verse 3. Because when you're super gifted, this is what you got to do. Paul says in Philippians 2, verse 3, he said, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but rather in humility, value others above yourself." Then he goes down to give Jesus as an example of a person that actually did this. He says, "In your relationships with one another, have the same mind as Christ, who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. But watch what he did. It says, 'But rather, he made himself nothing, he made himself by taking on the very nature of a servant, being made into human likeness.'" And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself. He did it. Humbled himself even unto death. Because humility puts things to death. If death isn't present, humility, it neither—
[Music] Listen to this. Even death on a cross. But here's the shout. If we was in, if we was in one of our locations, I believe I get a runner right here. Here it is. I believe I get a runner right here. "Therefore God has highly exalted him. And because he didn't try to make a name, God gave him one."
[Applause] I got to get out of here, but I want to talk to some people in here and let you know, if you'll stop trying to make a name, God will give you one. He gave Jesus a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He's the Lord.
[Applause] God's like, "If you stop trying to make a blessing, I'll give you." Listen to this. Paul modeled this. He modeled this. And so he says, "I'm, I'm not gonna go to Galatia. I'm gonna go to Macedonia." Even though God's gonna help me spin the block and I'm a minister to Galatians, but not the way I thought I was. Yes. I thought I was going there in person, but I'ma write them a letter.
[Applause] What's that letter? It's called the book of Galatians. The book. He said, "I can't get there, but God's gonna use me to do this another way." And so, my question is, are you in love with being used? Are you in love with your idea of the way you think God wants to use you?
[Applause] He said, "Because it's some places you want to go in person, I'm just going to let you send the letter."
[Applause] [Music] I don't know if y'all ready for this, but I'm out here now. I'm out here now. And the people in Galatia might prefer to have you a certain way.
[Music] The, the people. I'm not going to bother, but you'll see. You'll see throughout some of Paul's writings, he would say to them, "I'm trying to get to you. I'd like to get to you, but I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get to you." Because, because he recognized that "I can't carry out my assignment accommodating everybody's preferences."
[Applause] Because just because they prefer you a certain way, don't mean that's the way they need you. God will, all God will not only send you what you need, God will also send it to you the way that you need it. He said, "You think you want me in person, but if you take this letter and receive this letter, this ministry from a distance will break yokes off of you. This ministry from a distance will, will set the captives free. This ministry from a distance from a distance will make a difference." Because some people prefer you in a way they don't really need you. And if you'll just take the ministry how God's given it to you, you'll get blessed.
Here it is. Let me wrap up here. So, so they didn't go to Bithynia, they went to Macedonia. So when they go to Macedonia, which is a city, city in Philippi, the people who lived there were called Philippians.
[Music] They get there, they run into a woman who was a dealer in purple cloth named Lydia. She's an entrepreneur. She invited them to stay in her home, which was large enough to accommodate Paul and his companions. She was able to do more than in a seed for them. She was able to assist them. Some people are so busy chasing opportunities, not realizing your Lydia is in Macedonia. That God's got hidden blessings in your assigned places. God said, "If you obey me, I got a Lydia waiting on you." Did you hear what I just said? If you'll go where I send you, I got a Lydia waiting on you. And many people miss Lydia looking for—so Lydia blesses them, supplies them. And, and as they leave Lydia, they run into this girl who was an idol worshiper. She follows them around for many days. And, and the Bible says Paul gets agitated and annoyed to the degree that he casts the spirit out of the woman. Now, this is interesting. Now, the, the woman's owners—are y'all ready for this? I don't know. This right here is really going to stir the pot a little bit. Uh, the woman's owners, those that were exploiting her financially, got upset with Paul because when they set her free, those people could no longer benefit from her bondage.
[Music] Right? Because somebody benefits from our bondage. Now, what this woman was doing was, she was providing people with spiritual experiences, even though they weren't godly. One translation said she had a spirit of divination. And so these people say, "This, this, this Paul guy, they messing up my money." So what do they do? They go to Roman officials and say, "Hey, these guys are breaking the law." Because in Rome, you could practice your own religion, but you could not recruit Roman citizens. So what do they do? They spin the situation to justify their outrage. They really don't care about Roman law. They care about their money. But when people don't like you, they will reach for illegitimate excuses to legitimize their dislike. All right, don't miss this now, because I want y'all to see something.
So Paul and Silas, who's with them, get in prison. I'm in Acts chapter 16, right? The Bible says, watch this, "They were flogged." So they had lacerated flesh. They were beaten, so they had aching, aching limbs. And they were sitting in a cell. But the text says, "At midnight,"
[Music] "Paul and Silas prayed and began to sing praises to God." That's what the text says. And the prisoners heard them. God made sure that unbelievers were in the proximity to Paul and Silas's inconvenience because He wanted unbelievers to hear how to respond in prison.
[Applause] Did you hear what I just said? Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, see, see, the text says, "The prisoners heard them." I'm not going to bother that because it means they were loud enough to be heard. That's why everybody that don't like loud church. I said, they were, they were loud enough to be heard. They were praising, randomly praising. And the Bible says, "And suddenly, there was a, there was a great earthquake." No warning. God sent an earthquake. Now, typically, the earthquake would be something you're afraid of, because you think the earthquake is intended or will be used to destroy you. But the Bible says this: "The earthquake shook the foundation of the prison, and they shook it so that all the doors were open." I'm trying, I'm coming to get somebody right now who's complaining about earthquakes. Sometimes earthquakes precede open doors. Sometimes God's like, "I'm shaking up some stuff in your life to shake some things open that would not be open any other kind of way."
I want you to see what happens here. The text says the jailer was about to take his own life because he knew he was going to be assassinated as a result of all of these prisoners getting set free. But Paul saved somebody's life who was trying to take his. And Paul said, "I'm not only going to help you believe in the Lord Jesus," but the text says, "This man and his household will—" Say, "Don't miss this." And Paul and Silas didn't leave. See, that's what y'all miss in the text. That's what y'all missing the text. They stayed. Because if they left, they knew that man would have died. You sure you want to be used? Now, watch this. They tried to go into Bithynia. They tried to go into Asia, right? But they didn't. They go into Macedonia. And it's in Macedonia they meet Lydia. But it's also in Macedonia that they save these people's lives. So there are people now that are impacted by the gospel that would not be impacted by the gospel if God hadn't sent them on that detour. If they were not discerning enough to realize and to recognize that these other opportunities ain't it, but God has a sign for me to be in the right place at the right time so I can have impact on the right people. Not when I get out of my trial, but in it.
So they stay in prison. But don't miss this. The next morning, the authorities ordered Paul and Silas to be released. I love this. However, the Bible says, are y'all ready for this? It says, "Y'all can go." Paul sat there and demanded that the magistrates themselves come and escort them out. Because Paul, who's a Roman citizen, knew he had, he should have had a trial and should not have been scourged first. So he was flogged first without a trial. He knew he should have had the trial before he was flogged. So watch this. The magistrates themselves come and try to appease Paul. And in order for Paul, watch this, in order for Paul to walk out of that prison, Paul not only had to have a revelation of God's law, he had to have a revelation of Roman law. And he had to have a standard that was rooted in a revelation that God is a God of justice. And say, are y'all catching this? And say, "You're not just going to send me out without giving to me everything that is owed to me as a citizen of Rome." I came to tell somebody, you're not a citizen of Rome, but you're a citizen of God's kingdom. And as a citizen of God's kingdom, the Lord promises this: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
I want you to catch this. But none of this would have happened. I'm done. None of this would have happened if they hadn't had the discernment not to see every need as their responsibility. What a powerful testimony. We don't know how many letters he wrote from that Philippian prison that blessed people groups all over the land because he was able to discern, "This ain't it."
I, I want to share something with you. I'm out of here. When you don't have that discernment, there are three things that happen. Here's the first one: There are people you don't reach.
There are people you should be reaching that you don't reach when you don't discern this ain't it. Cause some of the people you're assigned to are in Macedonia. Here's number two: Not only are there people you don't reach, there are things you don't get. The ravens feed you at a brook called Cherith. The widow woman feeds you at Zarephath. Meaning there is some divine supply that comes when you, where you're supposed to be, not where you think supply abundantly is. So there are certain things, certain people never get because they're chasing them. And God's like, "Lydia's in Macedonia." You're trying to go into all these other places because you heard Lydia's are there. He said, "But I'm God's like, 'But I'm only—'" "There's a whole bunch of Lydia's over here." But God's like, "I'm only speaking to the heart of the Lydia where you're supposed to be." So there are things you don't get. Number three: And there are places you don't get to go. Do you know how many people don't get to go places because they're too busy trying to go places?
[Music] They're like, "I'm going places." No, you're not. And it really comes down to trust. Is God's word saying, "Do you trust me to get you there?" And I'm speaking to somebody right now, and you are dealing with unnecessary anxiety and pressure. Pressure. You're so stressed because you're working according, you're working in a way that's similar to the way God described life would be without Him in the garden, where you're doing it by the sweat of your brow. Isn't that what He told Adam? He said, "Man, now you got to do it by the sweat of your brow." And Jesus is like, "All right, when I came, when I come now, you don't have to do that. Come to me, and I'ma give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is light." Now, all I expect from you is swift obedience. I want swift and long obedience in the direction that I point you. And if you'll do that, I'll get you to where you couldn't get to on your own. And I'm trying to talk to a culture that's infected with opportunism. That if you will just obey, if you will just lean into
[Music] What God—and I'm, I'm telling you, I'm not just telling you what I've seen in the Bible. I'm telling you what I see in my own life.
[Music] I've never seen anybody get to where somebody they admire is by trying to get to where they at. It's never happened because there are too many things that have to happen that are outside your control to make it happen. Do you understand what I'm saying? I want y'all to understand that some of the places you're trying to end up, your gift don't get you there. Cause some of the gatekeepers aren't impressed by your gift. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. Some platforms, I've been honest, nothing I can do with a mic that is that impressive. God has to put your name on the heart of a gatekeeper. That's the way your door swings open. And I'm talking to somebody in this room. I'm in the church space, I'm in the entrepreneurship space. I see the same thing in both spaces. You can till the ground, but God has to make it rain. Where's your Macedonia? Lean into that. Kill that. Be faithful to that. Be fruitful there. And watch God multiply. And I wish people that God has used in certain ways will be honest about all the "no's" they have to give. Because all we see and hear about is the "yeses." But the "no's," the discernment to say, "This ain't it."
And so some of you, I feel this, man. This is a stronghold. You just got so much anxiety and discontent, you can't even see the goodness of where you are. Because we live in an age, in an era, where we got access to people's lives we're not supposed to have. God didn't wire you to see what's happening with everybody else's life.
[Music] Social media is a wonderful tool. We use it. We consider it Goliath's sword. It's a thing that Goliath wanted to use to kill David. We take the same weapon, and we're going to kill the enemy with it. Yet, at the same time, it is a contributor for, it is a contributor to much of the confusion that people have about their assignment. Because we were not created to be exposed that much to what's happening with everybody else. And all it creates is a degree of discontentment in your own soul with what God's doing with you. So now you live a life proving instead of pursuing your own purpose. And you're trying to prove stuff to people that will never be convinced.
[Music] So it's such anxiety. I've talked to people recently, 19, 20 years old, upset, feeling like I hadn't done enough in my life. I said, "You, you're not even legal. You ain't even 21." What do you mean? But they're comparing the reality of their life to somebody else's highlight reel, and it's not real. And we aren't talking about the discontentment that is pervasive in the body of Christ. And I don't care how much money you got, I'm coming for you too. It doesn't matter how much money you got. If you're discontent, you're poor. You're poor. It'll never be enough. Because I'm telling you, whatever level you're trying to get to professionally, financially, once you get to that level, you're on the bottom of it. That's what you understand. You get to a certain level, you're like, "Okay, I made this." But this is just the bottom of it. It's like going from high school to college. You were a senior, you graduated, but now you're at the bottom of another level. Because there never feels like there—and God wants to set His people free from that, because it's torturing you, and it's confusing, and it is creative. I don't know why the Holy Ghost, I don't know. I feel, I'm just listening. It's just, it's an apostolic flow right here. And it's creating a culture of clonism in the kingdom. It's just cloneism, because people are doing what they think works instead of being who they've been called to be. You work. Jesus. Jesus. You work. If you're working—
[Music] So, Father, I pray right now that You break this stronghold off of the hearts of Your people. I pray that You would deliver us from discontentment. Break those shackles. Set us free. Help us to live in the joy of Your current provision in our lives. Make clear to us our Macedonia. And give us a godly ambition to chase after that with everything that's in us. Give us the grace and the wisdom and the courage to say yes to Macedonia, but to say no to any and everything that gets in the way of that. And I thank You that as we humble ourselves, what You did for Jesus, You'll do for Your people. You resist the proud, but You give grace to the humble. I thank You for this, and I pray this over the life of Your people in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.
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