Transcription
[Music] I invite your for consideration to the gospel of Saint Mark, chapter number six, verse number 46-52. Open your hearts, and open your spirits, and open your mind as we consider what the Holy Spirit has said to us today. He's that heaven here. Let him hear what the Spirit saith to the church. He sent his word, and it healed him. He didn't send his angels. He didn't send the royal diadem, nor cherubims, nor seraphims. He sent his word. That was enough to get the job done, and it healed him. May God heal you through the word today.
We're looking at Mark chapter 6, 46-52, and it reads this way: "And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ships in the midst of the sea, and he alone was on the land. And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them walking upon the sea. And would have passed by them, but when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out. For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were so amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves; for their heart was hardened."
Can you say amen? I want to go back and pull a verse that really stuck out to me, verse 48. I want to go back and look at verse 48 for a moment. And in verse 48, it says, "And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them walking upon the sea."
Uh, remain standing. I'm going to preach, teach, whatever, with the help of God. We're all in the same boat.
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We are all in the same boat. We are all in the same boat. You might feel different. You might feel unique. Your circumstances may deviate from your norm. But trust me when I tell you, we're all in the same boat. Let us pray together. Spirit of the living God, I need you.
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You know, I can't do this without you. It's only by your grace and your power that I am, that the word is illuminated, and that I am anointed enough to share the bread of life in such a way that lives are changed, people's minds become illuminated to truth, they walk in revelation knowledge, because you send glory beings from heaven. Send them now, great God that you are. I believe you to do mighty things in the name of Jesus. Somebody shout amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
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I want to set the text in context, as it were, so that you can appreciate the surrounding peripheral around the text and understand that the text does not stand in isolation of incidents that preceded it. You must understand that Jesus has started his ministry, and he is ministering with 12 disciples. And the disciples had a difficult job keeping up with Jesus, because Jesus is the kind of leader that something is always going on. It wasn't about a schedule. It wasn't about a routine. It wasn't about certain hours of working. Wherever Jesus went, stuff just happened. They didn't get to plan it. They had to be able to react at a moment's notice, because Jesus would just walk past somebody and decide to raise up a dead man, or, uh, turn water into wine. It wasn't on the schedule. It just happened. He'd just heal the woman with the issue of blood and keep on walking. Wasn't on the schedule. It just happened. He just touched blind Bartimaeus and caused him to see. It wasn't on the schedule. It just happened. And they just got through a tough day of following. I know that those of you that work in other jobs, construction, or, or CEOs, or companies, or executives, or Walmart, or, or Burger King, or wherever you were, I know you think it's a tough job, and you think this is an easy job. But ministry, I mean, real ministry is a tough job. Trust me when I tell you, it's a tough job. It's a tough job emotionally, psychologically, physically. It's a tough job. It takes a toll on you to be in ministry.
Jesus said, just finished the biggest crusade of his ministerial career with 5,000 men, not to mention women and children, surrounded by multitudes of people. The crusade had gone on so long that the crowd was about to faint with hunger. So the disciples were serving while Jesus was teaching. Like I have people serving while I'm teaching right now. And as long as I'm up, they have to be up. And they were up before I got here, and they'll be up after I'm gone. And they do a whole lot of things that you never see. But without them doing what they do, I couldn't do what I do. This is a job of the disciples. They made it happen. They made it rain. They made it work. They made it do what it do, as the kids say. They, they were there early. They left late. They had long hours. They came to Jesus only with the problem. They came to Jesus to tell him, "We're running out of food. The people are about to faint. Should we send them away?" Jesus said, "No, they need not depart." And then a sudden, unexpected, spontaneous miracle occurred. And they had to react to it without preparation. They didn't get to meet and plan it out. They didn't get six weeks to plan it out. They didn't get three days to plan it out. It just happened. Jesus took two fish and five loaves of bread and started blessing it and breaking it and fed 5,000 people, not to mention the women and children, and had them all set down in groups of 50 in the grass in the desert. It's been a long day. And after they had had a long day, and after the long day had ended with a long dinner, Jesus tells him to gather up the fragments and put them in the boat. And he says, "I'm going on the mountaintop to pray." He doesn't tell them how he's going to get to them. He doesn't tell them how to load the boat. He doesn't estimate how many hours it will take. He just left the disciples alone to do the work. Gather up the fragments. Can you imagine for a moment gathering up the fragments from over 5,000 people eating? The work of it, the look of it, the smell of it, the feel of it. Why does he even want it in the first place? It's over when it's over. It's over when it's done. It's done. Let it go. Leave it behind. Let the birds eat it. Let the animals get it. But Jesus places value on fragments. You don't have to be whole for Jesus to put you on the boat. You can be used and abused. You can be squeezed and shattered and broken. And Jesus said, "I'm still not going to leave you behind." Oh, y'all don't hear me. That's shouting stuff right there. I still value the shot at the bottom, the broken. And I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I think one of those baskets was for me because when he found me, I had been broken and battered and tatted and torn and twisted and and half used and thrown away. And anybody else would have stepped over me and kept walking. But Jesus valued me enough. Said, "Go pick up that boy. I know he's broken. I know he's in pieces. But I have a place prepared for him." And put me in the basket, and place a basket on the boat. And after they had gathered up all the fragments that looked totally worthless to the world and put them on the boat, they set sail. Now thinking the day is now over. We can relax. And Lord, child, if it ain't one thing, it's another. The, the, the storm breaks out. Now, I don't mind dealing with a storm when I'm rested. I don't mind dealing with a storm when I'm at my best. I would like to schedule my storms around my best hours. Some people work better in the morning. Some people work better late at night. But nobody works good when they're tired.
They have sailed out into the sea. They've gone out into the sea. And they've gone out into the sea without Jesus. And whenever the enemy catches you without Jesus, he will always send some kind of storm into your life. He don't bother you long as Jesus is around. No winds blew, no lightning flashed, no thunder rolled. None of that happened while Jesus was there. But when Jesus went away, he said, "Oh, I got you now." And while they were separated from Jesus, they came into a storm. They came into a storm. The storm is all around them. And the Bible talks about them toiling and wrestling, trying to hold the ship together. I want you to understand the fact that sometimes we expect God to deliver us from storms that he leaves around for us to wrestle with.
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If Jesus was up on the mountaintop praying, he could have rebuked the storm from where he was. He's already proven that he doesn't have to be in a place to speak to a place. He could have rebuked the storm before he ever came down off the mountain. But he allowed them to struggle. And the Bible says the struggling was tough. They were toiling and wrestling, trying to hold it together. The struggles of life are unavoidable. Life is not designed for us to avoid heartache. I hate to tell you that. I know that doesn't make you happy. While we can avoid the unbearable, because God does not put more on us than what we are able to bear, that doesn't exempt us from the struggle. Our faith informs us that he who has designed us will take us no higher or no lower than we can withstand. So we must incorporate in our thinking a certain normalcy to the struggle. The toiling and twisting is permitted by God. And we are struggling, trying to figure out, "How are you going to get me through this? I'm already tired. I'm already stressed. I'm already at my wit's end. And this is a bad time to have a pandemic."
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"How can I have a pandemic and a divorce? How can I have a pandemic and lose my job? How can I have a pandemic and my child just cuts me out? I can't take all of this at the same time." And the enemy says, "Where is your God? If your God was really here, you wouldn't be going through this. Where is your God? If your God was really here, the wind wouldn't be blowing. Where is your God? If your God was here, your child wouldn't cuss you out." And Jesus lets them toil and struggle. And this has been a year. Can I take a moment and say 2020 has been a year, baby? I don't care how strong your faith is. I don't care where you work. I don't care how many degrees you got. I don't care if you are so beautiful that people pass out when you walk past. This has been a year that has tried your nerves. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, this has been a year. Whether you're conservative or liberal, this has been a year. Whether you're black or white, this has been a year. Whether you are rich or poor, this has been. It's just been a year. The kind of fight we have had has been a common denominator. That, that you had no strategic advantage. You couldn't get on a plane and fly away from it. Per adventure that you could afford to get a ticket. Even if you could afford to get a ticket, you couldn't find a place on the whole planet that would exempt you from the test. And he left us toiling. He let us toil and wrestle and sweat and be tired and be empty. And he let us. Tell you, some of us was feverish. A friend of mine called me the other day. He said, "I had on all of my clothes and put something on my head and climbed under the bed with a quilt, and I was still cold with coverage fever wrestling out of my body." And he left us toiling. The Bible says that they were toiling in the middle of the boat, and they were all in the same boat together. Different personalities with the same boat. There was John, the one whom Jesus loved. But he was in the same boat with Judas, the one who would betray him. There was Judas, who was selling for 30 pieces of silver, and he was in the same boat with Peter, who had cut off a man's ear to defend Jesus. It didn't matter the details of their personalities or their perspectives or their background. Matthew, the tax collector, all of them were all in the same way. There was no distinction based on what kind of personality you had, how charismatic you were, how cute you were, how loyal you were, how devious you were. They were all in the same boat. Can I preach this thing? And Jesus left them to toiling.
I have a problem with the old church. I came up in the old church. I love the music and the dancing and the clapping and the guitar playing and the tambourines and the washboards and the bass drums and the church mothers and the light scarves and the big hats with fruit bowls on top. I came up in the old church. But my problem with the old church is the old church taught us about deliverance, but they didn't teach us about struggle. They told us if we fasted long enough, and if we prayed hard enough, and if we talked in time, that God would magically stop whatever we were struggling with. But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, that everything you're dealing with does not go away. Every trial that comes up doesn't go away. Every weakness doesn't go away. Every proclivity doesn't go away. There are some things that God will leave you in the middle of it.
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And let you struggle. They did not prepare us for struggle. I have a problem with the name it and claim it, go blab it and grab it generation, because they made us think that if we talked right, if we said the right thing, if we professed the right way, that we would rebuke the storms and everything would stop. They didn't tell us.
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There are some storms that God will allow you to struggle in. And the problem with us today is that we have no degrees in struggling.
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We have the storms that demand struggle, but not the preparation to wrestle with it. So if it doesn't work, we throw it away. If it doesn't happen, we throw it away. If we're not getting along, we get a divorce. If you don't like the way I cook, I'm going back home. If you don't talk to me right, I'm out of here. Because we have not been taught. But sometimes you just gotta deal with the storm, and God doesn't take it away. And you gotta struggle with it and still believe. Hey, anybody can believe when the struggle is over. But I want to talk to some people who are in the middle of the struggle, and you still believe. Oh my God. I want to talk to somebody who ain't so happy, but you still believe. I want to talk to somebody that can only go to the grocery store on Tuesday with coupons, but you still believe. I want to talk to somebody who's eating out of the dollar store, but you still believe. I want to talk to somebody who's wrestling in their flesh, but you still believe. And you prayed, and you got anointed with oil, and you're greasy as KFC chicken, but you still got a struggle in your flesh. Nobody told us.
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That sometimes storms keep on raging.
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And he could rebuke it, but he has ordered toiling for you. Ain't going to be no shouting today, baby. He's already strained and grunting and pulling and grinding for you. Look a minute what Paul says in Philippians 4:8-13. He says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, and whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, if there is any virtue at all, if there is any praise." You got to get it in your head when you don't have it in your life. Y'all miss this shout moment right there. If you can't control the wind around you, you got to get it inside of you. The peace on the inside, even when you got hell on the outside. If there be any virtue, if you're going to have any victory, you got a reason inside of yourself. "I'm better than this. I'm stronger than this. I will survive this." Then he says, "Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do." That's the only way it works. Underline learned. If you don't learn anything, it doesn't matter how many times you come to church if you didn't learn anything. "Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do." It doesn't work if you don't do it. It doesn't work if you just hear it. It doesn't work if you just shout about it. It doesn't work if you don't act on it. It only works if you do it. My God. "And the God of peace shall be with you." When will it be with me? When I do it. Not when I hear it. Not when I watch it. Not when I think about it. Not when I burst into tears. Not when I have a fit. Not when I pitch a hissy fit. Not when I go through the house tearing up stuff. It only works.
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If you do it.
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And the Lord will be with you if you do it. And you can only do it when you wrestle with it. He says, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me had flourished again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity." They weren't taking care of him. He was suffering. And he said, "I rejoice when you got better." It's not that you didn't want to do it. You didn't have opportunity. You couldn't do it. He said, "Not that I speak in respect of want." Watch this. "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I..." Oh, y'all ain't gonna talk to me this morning. "I have learned." That means you don't come here knowing this. That means you didn't get this coming out of your mama's womb. That means you don't get this as a three-year-old. He says, "I have learned, in whatsoever state..." Oh God. "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content." Oh my God. I know how to be content in a storm. I know how to be content in a struggle. I know how to be content in warfare. I know how to be content in bad times. I know how to be content in isolation. I know how to be content in turmoil. I know how to be content in a windstorm. I know how to be content with the lightning flashing. I know how to be content when I got a whole lot. I know how to be content when I don't have hardly nothing. I have learned it. Didn't know it. I learned it. I learned it. You can learn how to survive in a storm that God won't stop.
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Y'all ain't talking to me. Y'all ain't talking good as I'm preaching. You can learn how to stand in a storm that God will mess up. Paul says, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed." Oh God. "I am instructed both to abound." We do good teaching that part. But I'm also instructed to suffer need, loneliness, frustration, turmoil, aggravation. The same God that orders blessings.
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He instructs me to suffer. And because we don't teach this, we have a chance in shock.
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We have a chance in shock because we tell you, "If you got saved, you'd have a Mercedes in a month."
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"All of your kids would graduate. You'd be happily married the rest of your life. Everything would fall in place. And your back would never hurt." And now all hell is breaking loose, and you're shocked. But "I am instructed both to be full, and I am instructed to be hungry." I want to talk to my hungry people. Sometimes God will order hunger. He will put you in a situation that hurts and leave you in it and let you struggle. He will let me be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. Everybody in this room, streaming online, zooming in here, I don't care how you're making contact with me. In some area of your life, you are in need. It's not just support folks. There's folks with a job and they're in need. There's rich folks in need. Nobody escapes it. White folks in need, brown folks in need, young folks in need, old folks in need. It may not be the same need. But just because it's not the same need doesn't mean that it's not a need. Doesn't mean that the need doesn't cause pain. Doesn't mean that it doesn't create frustration. Doesn't mean that you don't have to toil and wrestle with it. And then he says, "I can do all things." See, he does not use this text to be motivational. That's not the meaning of "I can do all things." "I can do all things" means I can be poor. I can be rich. I can be married. I can be single. I can be with. I can be without. I can do all things. See, you want to pick the things.
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You want to pick the things that you can do through Christ. But Paul, that gave you a list.
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If you order a struggle, I can do that. If you order tears, I can do that. If you order loneliness, I can do that. If you order pain, I can do that. If you order the penthouse, I can do that. If you order the palace, I can do that too. If you order me a lot of friends, I can do that. If you order isolation, I, I can do.
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My God. Somebody needs to put in the comments, "I can do it." Whatever the devil is threatening you, you will tell him, "I can do it." All hell might be breaking loose in your life, and tell him, "I can do it." Through Christ.
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Through Christ which strengtheneth me. I want to take a minute and I want to take, I want to take two minutes and pray that God will strengthen you in your struggle. Lift your hands everywhere, all over the country, all over the world. I'm praying for God to strengthen you in your struggle. I know you're tired. I know your arms are aching. I know your mind is frustrated. I know you feel like it's not fair. I know you feel like throwing up your hands. I know you feel like everybody else got something that you didn't get. I know you hate the holidays because you're going into a season where you think everybody's got something that you don't get to have, and you're depressed, and you lost loved ones, and you've been through heartaches, and it's not the best time in your life. But I pray that God would strengthen you right now in your struggle. As long as you got Jesus, you don't need anything else. And I pray the strength of God come upon you from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. And if you receive that prayer, shout, "I can do it!" "I can do it!" "I can do it!" This is your homework. I want you to walk around the house. Say, "I can do it." While you're washing your dishes, say, "I can do it." While you're cleaning out your closet, say, "I can do it." While you're washing your car, say, "I can do it." While you're going to the market, say, "I can do it." While you're doing your own hair, say, "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." Your spirit needs to hear you confess, "I can do it." You've been feeding yourself the wrong food. You've been telling yourself what you can't take, and what you can't handle, and what you can't stand, and what you won't put up with. And that's why you're dying, 'cause you're eating diseased food.
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Practice it. "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do this." "I can do this." "I can do this." "I can do this." "I can do it." If it don't happen, I can do it. If you don't come over, I can do it. If you don't love me, I can do it. If you do love me, I can do it. If you want me, I can do it. If you don't want me, I can do it. If you leave me, I can do it. If you betray me, I can... Oh, y'all ain't talking to me. I can.
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He says, "Sit down. I'm gonna go deeper." He says, "Can I go deeper?" I feel something pushing me. I feel like somebody's getting some help. I feel like somebody's getting a breakthrough. I feel like God is talking to somebody. I feel like God is ministered to somebody. I can see demons.
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I said, "I see demons running." I see them fleeing away from you. I said, "I shouted again, 'I can do it.'" Say it again. "I can do it." Every time you say it, hell gets sick. Demons get nervous. Witches get upset. "I can." What?
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"I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." "I can do it." I told my son-in-laws, "You never have to worry about my daughters wanting you because I've raised them not to need you. So if they're with you, they want you. I told them, 'You can want a man, but don't need one. Be sufficient enough that you can take care of yourself so that when you make a decision, it is born out of want and not need.'"
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"I'm not going to raise no prostitute." You.
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Somebody shout, "I can do it!"
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And this is a comforting thing to my son-in-laws to know that they're not being chased by desperate women who can't take care of themselves, who can't think for themselves, who can't make decisions for themselves, who are helpless without them. Then they know they have been chosen, not stolen. Somebody shout, "I can do it!" Now, he said, "Sit down. I'm gonna talk to you a minute." Give me just a minute. Give me just a minute 'cause I'm.
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The thing that gets me about Paul's statement is that he says he has learned to be content. It's not just that he's enduring. He has learned to be content. He has learned to chill. He has learned to enjoy his own company. He has learned to celebrate himself. He has learned contentment in the storm. Now, contentment doesn't mean the absence of aspiration. Contentment doesn't mean apathy. It doesn't mean a difference. More aptly, it means to make peace with the process.
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To make peace.
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With the pro. If it takes this to get to the other side, I can do it. If I have to go through lightning to get to my destiny, I can do it. To make peace with the process is contentment. And the program that God has designed for my life, if we are to maintain then our aspirations and be effective, we must do it without developing frustration. Some of you have aspirations, but you're canceling it out with frustration. We must avoid the temptation to be defined by our current status, whether it is positive or negative. It simply doesn't define me. I will not be defined by what's going on around me. Storm or not, wind or not, good or bad. I learned not to get drunk of success because if you get drunk off of success, you get drugged by failure.
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I learned that neither my double shy. I learned that neither my successes nor my failures define me. That I am centered by what is in me and not what's around me. That the things that I think are lovely and pure and true, those are the things that stabilize me. Not what I wear, not what I drive, not where I live. That could come, that could go. I've got to be stabilized by something that's solid and stable. I'm learning not to live with the myth that means changing my situation will change my realities. I am who I am, whether I'm married or single. I am who I am, whether I'm in a storefront or a cathedral. I am who I am, whether I'm driving a truck or a Bentley. I am who I am. My situation is not defined by my circumstances. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying.
So quickly, I'm almost close. The boys are on the boat, and there's three ways I want you to look at it. I want you to look at the boat. I want you to look at the battle. And I want you to look at the bread. The boat, the battle, the bread. The boat, the battle, the bread. The boat, the battle, the bread. The boat. I want to talk about because God has this thing for boats. All throughout scripture, when he deemed something valuable, he always put it on a boat. When Noah found favor with God, God said, "No, I'm gonna get you through this on a boat." If I put you on a boat and I shut the door, don't come out till I open it, 'cause all my treasure will always be on the boat. When Moses, the baby Moses, had gotten too big to be hidden, and when he could no longer be hidden, his mother made a little boat for him called an ark and put him in the river. And no matter how many alligators or snakes or serpents were in the water, as long as the baby stayed on the boat, as long as the baby stayed on the boat, it might get rocky, but as long as the baby stayed on the boat, he survived. When Paul was traveling toward Rome, and everybody was getting ready to leap off the boat, he said, "Even if the boat falls apart, stay with it. Any little piece of the boat will get you to your destination." God does everything by boat. When he got ready to create life, he put it in the mother's womb, which is a boat, and allowed the baby to float in her belly, because anything that God thinks is precious, he puts it in a boat. When he got ready to come in the flesh, he came into Mary and said, "Let me borrow your boat," and he climbed up in her womb and he floated nine months and came out the baby Jesus, because anything God thinks is precious, he puts it in a boat. When he met Peter and he got ready to preach, he came down to the seashore and said, "Peter, let me borrow your boat," and he started his preaching from a boat, because anything that God thinks is precious, he puts it in a boat. And he put the disciples in the boat and said, "I'm going up to pray. You go ahead. I'll join you later." We are all in the same boat. Rich folks, poor folks, black folks, white folks, educated, illiterate, articulate, intelligent. We are all in the same boat. Stop feeling cheated. To all you haters out there, the reason you are haters is because you think that the people you are hating on got something that you didn't get.
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You think that they have no struggles. You think that they have no suffering. You think that they have no pain. You think that your life is the only one that hurts. The one that you're hating on hurts too. There's no need in you being a hater. You don't get through this world without storms and struggle and pain. Calm down.
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Calm down. We are all in the same boat. If you got COVID in a trailer park and you can't breathe, it don't make it better if you're in a mansion with goose down pillows. If you can't breathe, pain is pain. One person to sleep on an old foam pillow and all the foam has become so weakened that it's almost flat. But if you can't breathe, it don't matter where you lay your head. One person has got nurses and attendants and maids, and other ones got the grandma shoveling food through the window of a trailer. But if you got COVID, it don't matter the circumstances. Stop hating on people. Life is just. We are all in the same boat.
The battle, the common human struggle. You think, "Lord, if you would have made me differently, I wouldn't have the pain I got now." Yes, you would. The circumstances might be different, but you would have pain. Single people say, "I'm tired of being by myself. If I could just get married, I'd be happy." No, you wouldn't. You'd just had somebody to argue with instead of arguing with yourself. Married people think, "I'm tired of being married and I want to be single." Skinny people praying, taking all kind of stuff trying to gain weight. Fat people running all over the house trying to be small. Everybody got a struggle. Black folks got to struggle. White folks got to struggle. Democrats got to struggle. Republicans got to struggle. Everybody. You don't get through this world without struggle. Calm down. There's no way to get to the other side without the struggle. So they are battling. Somebody shout, "Battle!" Somebody shout, "Battle!" I didn't say said, I said shout, "Battle!" When you shout, "Battle!" you let the devil know, "I'm gonna fight back." When you shout, "Battle!" you let the wind know, "I'm not just gonna let you take me under." When you. Somebody shout, "Battle!" That means if you jump on me, you gotta fight on your hands. If you come in my house, you gotta fight on your hand. That means I'm not gonna lay down and die. That means I'm gonna battle. Somebody shout, "Battle!" And they battled on the boat. But here's the thing that gets me. This text is the only text that tells the story without telling about Peter. Did you notice when I read the text, there is no mention of Peter walking on the water? And all of a sudden, I begin to think, "This is strange. Mark doesn't focus on Peter or mention him at all." And I had to rethink in my mind because all of the 43 years of my ministry, I have always applauded Peter for getting out of the boat. I thought he was better than the rest of them because he got off the boat. I thought he was stronger than the rest of them because he got off the boat. I thought he had more faith because he walked on the water. It never occurred to me.
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That for him to get off the boat might be to leave the place that he was instructed to stay. And maybe we got too many people who are asking God for permission to get off the boat that God instructed you to stay. Mark doesn't hurt. Mark doesn't mention Peter because it's not God's will for you to run from the fight and leave everybody else struggling.
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Peter, it's not that God told him to get off the boat. He asked to get off the boat. Some of y'all keep jumping off of boats every time the storm rises. You want to walk away. When are you going to grow up and sit your hips down and wrestle with them oars and fight your way to the other side?
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Holler at somebody to tell them, "I'm through running. I'm through running. I'm gonna stay right here on this boat, rocking and reeling and pulling and telling till I get what God wants me to have."
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Who says that Peter was right to run? There is no scripture in the Bible that applauds him for running. And when Jesus saves him, he only had to save him because he got out the boat.
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I just. Oh, y'all ain't gonna talk to me this morning. And then he says, "Ye of little faith." I thought he would call him a little faith because he's saying, "Could it be that his faithful little faith was running from the struggle?"
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This is the word of the Lord to somebody. You will not run from the struggle. You will stand flat-footed in this struggle. And no matter how you're toiling, how tired you are, you will stop asking for miracles to get you out of what God puts you into. You will get in that struggle, and you will grab them oars, and you will deal with the struggle because God has instructed struggle in this season for your life. I'm almost done. Mark does not mention Peter at all because Peter missed the battle. And my God, Peter has a habit of missing battles. When Jesus got to the cross, he missed the battle. He denied him and said he wasn't a disciple. He missed the battle. He ended up ashamed and disgraced. He missed the battle. I'm just saying, it could be possible that he should have stayed in the battle. Have you fought hard enough? Have you resisted on the blood? One final thing. He doesn't mention Peter. He only talks about the boat. He only talks about the battle. And then at the last moment, he brings up the bread. And now I understand. I've never understood why Jesus told him to gather up the fragments. We don't hear where they ever used them. We don't hear where they ever ate them. We only hear that the fragments were on the boat. And it is this gospel writer that makes us understand why the fragments were on the boat: to remind them of what God had done before in their life. And the Bible said that they forgot the loaves because of the hardness of their heart. The loaves were there to remind them of what God had done in the past. And Jesus said, "Take the scraps with you." I never could. Because my mind draws pictures. I never could figure out who wants to eat this stuff, these leftover scraps in baskets where everybody's been eating off them and throwing it away. Did not sound appetizing to me. So I thought maybe I'm frivolous. But it seems like to me, you know, Jesus, if I'm gonna work for you for three years, you could give me something fresh to eat. What are we gonna make with these scraps? We're fishing. If it was this day-old bread, I could make some bread pudding or something. But what am I gonna do with this old fish and this old bread? God left the fish and the bread so you could remember what he brought you through before. And God knew that a storm was coming in your life. And he said, "I want to leave an evidence in your life that when you needed me before, I've always been there." And every time you've ever been in trouble, I brought you through. Everybody that's watching me, if you've ever been in trouble and God brought you through, give him a praise right now. If you've ever been in trouble, come on, sound man, give me something in the house. If you've ever been in trouble. If you've ever been in trouble. If you've ever been sick and God brought you through, give him a praise. If you've ever been broke and God brought you through, give him a praise. If your child's ever been in trouble and God brought you out, give God a praise. If you've ever been jobless and God provided, give God a praise.
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And the Lord told me to tell you.
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Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you do, wherever you go, always carry your scraps with you. Your scraps are a testimony that if he did it before, he'll do it again. If he did it before, he'll do it again. If he brought me through that, he'll bring me through this. If he brought me through it, he'll do it again. Hallelujah. The battle, the boat, and the bread. I want every believer who's got some scraps, some old testimonies, some old evidence, some old signs that God did. Some of you were supposed to die as a kid. You were supposed to die in your crib. God kept you when you didn't even know scriptures. Before you ever even got baptized, God saved your life. When you was in the street, some of you God saved you when you was drunk, and you was a dope dealer, and a pothead. And if God did all of that, won't he do it right now? I want you to get in your scraps. Get in your scraps. Get in your scraps.
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He may not come when you want it, but I got evidence. That's why the Bible said, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." You gotta say so. You gotta say so. You gotta say so. You gotta say so. You gotta say so. You gotta say so. You gotta say so.
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Hey, let the redeemed say so. I don't expect a liar to say so. I don't expect the unbeliever to say so. But God said, "I left you with evidence that I have always made a way." And you gonna get out here and doubt me now?
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The boat, the battle, the bread. Look at your bread.
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Look at your bread. Look at your bread. Some stuff God did for you when you wasn't even saved.
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Some stuff God did for you when you was a baby. And you mean you gonna get in this season and give up over a little wind and a little storm? We are all in the same boat.
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Lift your hands and open your mouth and give it two minutes of the craziest praise you got. Come on. Come on. Come on. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We bless you, Lord.
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Hallelujah.
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Thank you for the battle.
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Is.
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While you're in the spirit of worship, I want to pray for you that the Spirit of God will touch your life in a supernatural way. The one praying for you is in the same boat that you are. I ain't no better. I ain't no worse. Don't worship me. Don't hate on me. I'm in the same boat just like you. I'm one from among you. I'm kin to you. I'm rocking when you rock. I'm reeling when you reel. I'm sweating when you're sweating. I'm pulling when you're pulling. We are all in the same boat. But here come Jesus. Here come Jesus. Here come Jesus. Here come Jesus. Here come Jesus. Here come Jesus.
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The Bible said when Jesus came, the storm stopped. When he stepped on the boat, the storm stopped. The moment he got in the middle of it, it stopped. God said he's about to.
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And it's gonna.
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God said when I get through.
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It's gonna. I don't know why you're watching me, but he's gonna come in the hospital, and it's gonna.
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You don't have long to wait. You don't have long to wait.
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Tell the president here we go.
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You hear me? Did you hear what I said, devil?
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Did you hear what I said, heartache?
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That's what's about to happen in your life right now. That's what's about to happen in your life. That's what's about to happen in your life. That's what's about to happen in your life. That's what's about to happen in your life. That's what's about to happen in your life. That's what he's gonna. He's gonna. He's gonna. He's gonna. He's gonna. He's gonna. He's gonna. Everything that the devil did, God set out. God set out. God set out. Here I come, devil. Get out. Get out. I'm coming now. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to get you.
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This night, this day, this moment, I pray for you that you will not fight. Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't give out. Don't collapse.
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Don't commit suicide.
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It'll break before you do. It'll break before you do. You hear me? It'll break before you do. Roll with it. Rock with it. Pull with it. Tug with it. Because we're all in this boat together. Now, as I pray for you tonight, today, I want you to understand something. Paul said he learned it. That doesn't mean that you don't come here knowing it. You learn. You do. He comes. You learn. You do. He comes. Now, however you reacted now, you learn to do that. You learn to give up. You learn to fall out. You learn, "Get me out. Pick me up. Take me away. Save me. Come get me." That's a learned behavior. Paul said, "I cannot be threatened." Abased, I'm good. Abound, I'm good. Full, I'm good. Hungry, I'm good. You cannot threaten a man who knows how to be content in any situation. Past a while, I went in the grocery store the other day, and I passed all the meats and stuff getting ready to cook, and I ran up on some neck bones, big old family pack of neck bones for $5.83. I bought four packs just for practice.
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I just cooked them to let the devil know, "I still can." And if you pack me into a corner.
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Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. Yeah, I have not forgotten how to stretch $10 and feed my whole house. Y'all don't know what I'm talking about. It's a few people know what I'm talking about. You get you a bag of brown beans and some neck bones and some Jiffy cornbread, you fed all your kids. Everybody ate it. Everybody ate. You still got $2. Put in the gas tank. You know how to abound.
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You know how to abound.
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I can't do all things. Father God, as I pray to right now, minister to your people. Bless your people. Pour your Spirit out on them. Strengthen them. It's an unusual storm at an unusual time in a difficult place. Sometimes we can't see Jesus. Seem like he off in the mountains. Does he know that we're in a storm? But this word reminds us that he is on this ship. He knows all things. He knows exactly where I am. Minister to your people. Reclaim your backslider. Save the sinner closest to hell. Come on in this boat, boy. You've been out there too long. Come on in this boat. What you doing ain't working. If you stay out there, you gonna drown. Come on in this boat, sinner. Come on in this boat, backslider. Come on in this boat. Peter walked away from the boat, and Jesus walked him right back to the boat. He walked away from God. God is calling you back to what you was walking away from. There's no escaping the boat. There's no getting around it. Jesus walked him right on back to that same boat he stepped out of. And I hear God saying, "I'll walk you back to what you just stepped out of." I'll walk you back in the fellowship with the saints. It's gonna be rocky. Yeah, it's gonna be rocky. Everybody's not gonna be loving. Everybody's not gonna be real. You can't control what other people think about you. You can't fix none of that. That's part of your storm. Struggle with it. Deal with it. But never leave him till you get to the other side. In Jesus name, amen. We're all in the boat together. Take care.
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