Overcoming Trials Through Christ - Dan Mohler JR (Testimony included)

We don't have a lot of guest speakers come in, and that's, uh, that's that. That shows the growth of our church. It's a good thing. Amen. But, but the, the good thing is that when someone like Dan comes in, you have a guest speaker in. You know, they're not having to take care of things. You know, like when I fill in for somebody, I'm having to go and take care of things. But when you can just come in to be a gift to that church, it just frees you. Amen. To speak what the Lord wants you to speak. And I've shared this with you guys in Ephesians chapter 4. The Bible says that when he, when Jesus resurrected, that he gave gifts unto men. And we kind of take that out of context. But the gifts that he's talking about there is actually the ministry of the fivefold. It's the five-fold ministry. And it doesn't mean that the five-fold ministry is elevated above everyone else, but God has placed gifts in your life through the five-fold ministry. And the idea is for them to, to edify you, to build you up, so that you can do the work of the ministry, so that you can be a blessing to the world. Amen. So this morning, God has sent us Dan, and he's going to come, and he's going to be a gift to you this morning. God has given you a gift through this man of God. He's given you the opportunity, uh, to let him speak into your life, speak into your heart. Amen. And I just believe the Lord's going to give him utterance, and he's going to speak a word in due season. Amen. So guys, let's give it up for Dan Mohler Jr. as he comes. Can you, can you help me move this real quick, sir? This, I like to walk when I preach, and I will feel like I am in jail with that. That's good. Thanks, bro. Amen.

Good morning, guys. Morning. How are you? Do you guys believe that? It's the first thing I saw and I walked in. It's what I preached about last couple nights. Right there. It's good stuff. How many of you guys never heard me and have no idea who I am? Okay, about 30%. Um, just curious, how many of you guys have listened to or know who my dad is? A lot of people. Okay. Um, uh, such a blessing to be here. You guys feel his presence in here? He says, "Where two or more gathered, he's in the midst." And he inhabits the praise of his people. Yes. And I'm just, well, I get emotional. I don't mean to sound flaky, but I just, I've had quite a weekend down here. And, uh, I was at Church of the Savior on Thursday and Friday doing a youth conference. And, um, just watching deliverance breakout and restoration and prophetic words. And it's amazing what God will do when you decide to just give him your life. How many of you know he gave us everything? We had nothing to offer. Yes. And now we live in the New Covenant. And the Covenant means everything that's yours is mine, and everything that's mine is yours. Just like marriage, it's one plus one isn't two, it's a stronger one. And when you learn that, and you learn to see yourself the way God sees you, it changes everything. And last night, um, uh, last night was so powerful. You guys were there. This family drove three hours yesterday to come here with seven kids. I just applaud you guys again for that. That's incredible. Yeah. The last night was powerful. Um, I was going to do music. I'm a hip-hop artist. I do rap. I do some slower stuff. I do that full-time. And that's what I always thought I would do. I never thought I'd preach. I never thought I'd stand in front of people and do that. Um, and it's crazy what God does, you know? Like, he'll change the desires of your heart. And they, he'll give you your desires as long as they line up with his will and purpose for your life. Amen. I think a lot of times we have a plan for ourselves and then when we, we want God to fulfill that, and then we question him and wonder where he's at when it doesn't happen the way we wanted it. But we made it all about us. But Jesus told us to die to ourselves so he could live through us. That's right. Amen.

And, uh, I was going to do music this morning too. And then I was just like, you know what? I did music Thursday, Friday. They talked me into some at the end yesterday. But I didn't even do a sound check this morning. Um, and I just feel, I just felt like the Lord said, I want you to just bring my word. And the coolest part, I told said it last night, it's the scariest place, but the most peaceful place I've ever been at. Is like, I don't have scriptures up there today. I don't have a sermon prepared. I didn't take notes. Um, I just call it winging it in the Holy Ghost. Serious. That's what I do. That's how I preach. I've never prepared a sermon in my whole life. I've tried many times, but it's almost like a cloud comes, and I can't even think about it. It's just like, and some people, that's the enemy, brother. No, I believe it's the, I believe it's the Lord preparing me to trust in him and put all my trust in him. Because, because if I prepare a good sermon and I come up and preach, and you guys are happy, and God moves, and it's amazing, I might feel good about that. And that's a problem. Because then I find my fulfillment in how you treat me. But if you don't treat me the way that I intended or expected you to treat me, now I'm trying to find my identity in something else rather than the one who I'm supposed to find it in. So if I trust in him completely to just open my mouth and fill it, see, he knows your heart better than I do. He knows what you need. It's real good. Like, just even last night, in the middle of the service, guys, like the Lord just gave me words of, of knowledge. And I heard somebody had depression going on, which you don't necessarily need a word of knowledge for, because a lot of people deal with that. And they shouldn't, because when you're a Christian and see yourself complete in him, that stuff has no place in your life. The only reason you can ever feel depressed is if you still have self-centeredness dwelling in you. And, and but I had a word that there was specifically one person. And then, uh, I heard the right side of neck, shoulder, like severe pain in people's bodies. I said, I think it's one person. I'm not sure. And I said, does anyone deal with that? And two ladies raise their hand, sitting side by side. And I said, can you guys come up here? Just in the middle of the service. And the Lord just touched them, and they got completely healed. And then at the end of the service, couple more people, just people were laying on the floor getting. It was just really good. See, it's not us that does that. It's him through us. If you're willing, like your prayer doesn't heal people. It's the faith through the prayer. And faith works through love. So if not walking in love, then you have nothing. And that's, I believe that's what I'm going to talk about today, I guess. I don't know. I was like, Lord, what do you want me to talk about? He's like, the gospel. So, and it's cool that you brought up, um, it's, do you guys do communion every Sunday? Yeah. Wow, that's cool. That's powerful. Um, don't ever let that become like a religious ritual. Especially kids in here, don't ever think like, well, that's just what we do in church. Like, there's power in it. And I'm going to explain some of that stuff today. And, you know, like he said, he who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. And, and in the beginning, we know the story of Adam and Eve. And he even said, they bit the fruit, and that's when everything changed. See, God gave them everything that they could possibly have, need, want, or desire. And it was clean. It wasn't about them. Says, "God made man, let us make man in our image." Genesis 1:26 and 1:27. He did it, and he saw that it was good. Good. And he made man. And out of the fullness of who God was in man, when Adam fell asleep, he brought forth the woman out of, out of Adam. He said, "So not eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because the day you eat it, the day o-" Surely you guys read your Bible. When they ate it, they didn't die, but something died. Cuz God said something was going to die. So it died. It was that relationship of them being completely made full in the image of God to walk and be in love. Soon as they ate that, and they got separated from God, now man became in need of love. So then your whole life, you're trained by this lie that says, "You need to do better to get, you need to do things to make God accept you. You have to walk a certain way for God to be pleased." And then we get this image that he's just like this genie in a lamp that we call on him when we need him, and he's up there with a wand, and he's spanking us, and we have to walk a straight line. And then, and then where's my Bible at? This turns into a list of rules if we're not careful. Yeah. And people say, "Well, things got hard when I became a Christian." Well, the only reason you weren't attacked before that is because you were already on the enemy's side. He wouldn't need to attack you. But this isn't a list of rules. It's something you become. And you say, "Well, you know, I like to go do this, and the Bible says I can't." That's your flesh. When you get to know God, he changes those desires. And then it's no longer a list of rules. You actually start feeling violated if you do those things because he changes you. See, Adam, it says, "Adam walked with God in the cool of the day through the garden." Like, Adam and God. Just imagine waking up, going, "Hello, Lord." And he just like shows up. I mean, he does for me. But no, I'm serious. Like, walking with God through the garden. Just imagine that every day. Walking with God in the cool of the day. As soon as Adam goes against what God said, now all of a sudden, he's exposed. He knows he's naked. See, he wasn't naked before, or he was naked before that, but he didn't understand. He didn't know. That there was no, there was nothing weird. The moment he bites the apple, as soon as he gave in to a sinful desire, fear entered. How do I know that? Because he ran and hid. And now the same person, his best friend, that he walked with each and every day in the garden, now all of a sudden, he's hiding from his best friend. That's what we do sometimes. In the church, we come to Christ, we have a pure heart, we want to serve God. And then we slip up, and we do something silly or stupid. Can I say that? We make a dumb decision. And now all of a sudden, we feel unworthy, like we can't pray to God, we can't seek him, like we were, we feel like, you know what? Well, God's not going to hear my prayer because I did this, and he's probably frustrated with me. And all we do is allow condemnation to separate us, to hide from the same person that we're supposed to run to when we have a problem. And that's when self-justification entered the world. And it became all about us. And then that becomes normal. And then we grow up around that. The Bible says, "As a man thinketh, so he is." So the enemy's number one strategy is to get into your mind, to put a thought in there for you to dwell on it long enough that you become that very thing that you hear. So you become it, and you believe it, and you step away from the truth, isolate yourself, when iron's supposed to sharpen iron. And we allow mistakes and failures and past things to become an excuse of why we're not where we should be. When Jesus said, "Come to me, and you can be a new creation." It's really easy. We overcomplicate it. Like forgiveness isn't a process. Like he already forgave you. Yes. Like, like he forgave you a long time ago. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before the foundation of the world, he predestined and you were formed in your mother's womb." Some of you say, "Well, I grew up with a household where my mom wasn't really present, or she didn't love me, or my dad wasn't there." But God predestined you. So even if she didn't love you, he did. And just because she didn't love you doesn't mean you're unlovable or unvaluable. It just means she wasn't able to see, see value and didn't know how to love. Cuz, cuz the Bible says, "Love one another as I have loved you." It says, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." The second greatest is, "Love your neighbor as yourself." But when man got separated from, from God in the garden, and did the one thing that God said not to do, and selfishness entered, he lost love. So now all of a sudden, people are in need of love rather than giving it. And then you search for identity your whole life, going through high school, you know, or elementary school, somebody says something to you that you don't like, or they make fun of your outfit, or whatever, and all of a sudden that sticks with you, and it marks you, and you start to become a product of what people said about you rather than what he already claimed about you. You guys with me? It's real. Everyone deals with it. You know, that's why you must be born. It's all about your identity. It's all about seeing yourself the way that God sees you. Cuz, like I said, the second greatest commandment is, "Love your neighbor as yourself." But how can you love somebody else if you don't love you? How can you extend God's love if you don't see yourself clear, how God sees you? If you don't understand and have a clear perception of what God did through Jesus Christ on the cross and why he did it, then it'll just be a big question in your mind and a big question in your heart. And all you'll hear your whole life, that I heard growing up, was, "Jesus died on the cross because I'm a sinner, and when I die, I'll go to heaven." We've all heard it. But the gospel is so much more than that. That's like a tenth of the gospel. Like, he came to restore that which was lost. And in the garden, the day you eat the fruit, the day you'll surely love was lost. Cuz God is love, and we are created in his image. So when we got separated, like he was talking in the Old Testament, they would sacrifice the, the lambs, the bulls, the goats on the day of atonement, and they would give their best offering in front of God to cover their sins. And the blood would cover over their sins for a moment of time. But then when Jesus Christ comes, he goes through a woman, a virgin woman. See, the fascinating part is that Jesus didn't appear, just pop up in the desert one day and go, "Poof, here I am, 30 years old, I'm Jesus." He didn't do that. He could have, but he didn't do that. Why? Because if he did, we would see that as, "Well, that's not normal. That's God, and we can't follow that." But Jesus came as a man, empowered by God, but put down that deity as a man. Was tempted at all points. See, God can't be tempted. Jesus was. So people say, "Well, Jesus was fully God." He was God, but he was also fully man. He was a man with God empowering him. Because we can follow that. That's why he said, "Follow me." See, it's hard to preach that sometimes because people say, "Well, brother, you know, Jesus was perfect. We're not perfect. We're all sinners. We're all this. We're all that." But the problem with that is what you're really saying is, if God, if God doesn't say that about you, but you say it about yourself, that means your own theology and experience in life all of a sudden backs you up more than his word. And now you're right, and he's a liar. And we get so full of ourselves, and we call it humility. We call it humility. We say, "Well, you know, we're always going to be a sinner, brother. We're always going to sin." Listen, the Bible tells you in Romans 6 to die to sin and be alive in Christ. Reckon yourself dead to sin. Reckon yourself dead to sin. I'm not talking perfection where you go, "Well, you know, I'm always going to make mistakes." Listen, you might make a mistake, but if you're constantly thinking that you're going to, you're probably going to end up there. Because, like I said earlier, "As a man thinketh, so he is." If you wake up in the morning and just think about how wretched you are and why would God want me, you're in big trouble. Cuz he doesn't see you that way. So why are you allowing the enemy to control your thought process and make you live a life that he didn't call you to walk out?

Can I share a little bit of my testimony? Yeah. Um, some of you guys might know it. I talked to some people out front. They said, like, "Oh, I watched it on YouTube." It's always the same story because it's my story, my testimony, but it always comes out different. Um, I was raised in church. And, um, not everybody was raised in church. And I want to encourage you with this before I go any further, is just because I've experienced certain things or I went through things or I was raised a certain way, don't sit in your seat and think, "Well, I can't relate to that because I wasn't raised in church, or I didn't have both parents, or I this, or I that." Cuz we all have a story. We all have a story. And some of us didn't grow up with a mom and dad. Some of us didn't grow up in church. Some of us didn't get to church till a long time ago. Some backslid, like I did. Like, everyone has a different story. But if you allow yourself to identify with that, then you'll always compare yourself amongst one another when the word of God says not to do that. And then you'll say, "Well, I can't relate to you because I didn't experience that, or you don't know what I've been through." But it's not about what you've been through. It's about what he's been through. So you don't have to live in that place anymore. Because there's people in their 40s, 50s, I'm 34, and I just got this a couple years ago. And I see people 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s still talking about how they were touched wrong when they were seven, and that's why they are the way they are today. Can I be real? But what you're doing is you're identifying yourself with something that someone else did to you. But they would have never did that to you if they knew who they were in Christ. So why are you allowing where they were to put you where you're at now? Cuz now you call Jesus Lord in worship, but you're allowing someone else to be Lord over your life. And you're only as good as how they treated you. See, I heard this stuff my whole life growing up as a teenager, in my young 20s, being preached. But I didn't understand it. And there were times when I was very young in ministry, and I would get handed a microphone, and I'd talk about it, and it sounded good, and people would nod their head and be like, "Amen, brother." But I'd walk out the door and face the same thing I just preached about, and I'd fall right on my face. And I'd feel discouraged. And I'd compare myself to other people. And I had people in the church tell me, "You have big shoes to fill." And, "Well, brother, preachers' kids are the worst." Anyone ever hear that? "You got big shoes to fill, brother." So now, as a child, I'm starting to think I have to be like somebody else. So then I'd preach what somebody else preached. And I'd hear a YouTube sermon and I'd take their sermon and revelation and apply it to my life, and then I'd fall short and always question God and wonder why he's there for them and not me. But I realized after year after year after year failing that it wasn't about their revelation. It's about me knowing him that way too. See, cuz I can't apply something to my life and actually walk. Like, you can't preach in power unless you've walked through it. Because you will be tempted and tested in what you speak. So there's a place called the fire that we go through, and it's a refining process. And we always say, "Well, brother, you know, pray for me, I'm in a wilderness season, or I'm in the fire." But when I read in my word, there were two wildernesses. There was one for the, the Israelites when they went around for 40 years. Moses dies, then Joshua takes him into the promised land. But so many people died in the wilderness for 40 years. That was a bad one. But Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, and that's where he overcame being tempted at all points so that he could be the Son of God, walking perfected to show us what we can do if we walk in him. The fire. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they wouldn't bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar. And they said, "No." Listen, when they're praying, us, us as Christians, believers, if they were about to throw me into the fire, I'd probably be a little scared. And then I'd be praying that God puts the fire out. But God didn't put the fire out. He just put someone else in there with them. See, it's not about the fire you're going through. It's about who's in the fire with you. The fire doesn't have to burn you up. Come on. You can come out of the fire and be stronger. They didn't even smell like smoke. It says. Really think that's a real story, guys. If it's not, then the Bible's a fairy tale. We shouldn't be here. But you guys are here for a reason because you believe it. And it's real. Like everything that I read through that book, it actually happened. Like, I think it's very easy to read scripture and then compare things to nowadays life and say, "Well, it was good then, but it's not now." Well, the Bible says the only hope that we have is Christ in us, the hope of glory, that we grow from glory to glory. And we die to ourselves and become like him. So there's a place where we go back. "Unless you're like a child, you won't inherit the kingdom." See, child is constantly. We hear that and we think, you know, pure, innocent. But a child's always growing. When you become an adult, you become mature, and you stop growing. How many inches did you grow this year? None. How many inches did they grow? A couple. It's physical and spiritual. It's a real thing. Unless you become like a child, that means until you get your heart in a position where you're innocent, you're pure, and you want to continue to grow in the Lord. You guys following me?

So my testimony. Five years old, I got, I got born again at five years old. I, I, I said the, back then, I said the sinner's prayer and asked Jesus to come into my heart so that if I die tomorrow, I go to heaven. That's all we knew. And, but at age seven, I got radically baptized in the Holy Ghost. Um, me and my sister at the same time in a service, to the point where my bus driver, I think it was like three days later, asked my parents, "What was going on with us?" Cuz we were non-stop on the bus for three days. Teachers at the school, "What happened to your children? They're different." And it was at that age where, seven years old, I'd stand up there with Dad, and people come up for prayer and get six feet away from us and just hit the floor and be healed. I witnessed that growing up. Anointing, calling, power. See, the enemy saw that, and the enemy got concerned because he saw a young, innocent child going after Jesus. And that's what he's, see, the devil doesn't care that you read your Bible. He doesn't care that you sang worship this morning. He doesn't care that I'm here preaching. What he cares is when you walk out the door and apply what you've been sowed into today, and you become the word. That's what the devil doesn't like. And that's why his number one mission is to try to thwart your mind and make you think something opposite of the truth. Because he knows he can't stop God. He's already been defeated. But what he can do is try to stop God through people. True. So by the age of 12, I started getting swayed into peer pressure, you know, growing up through, through school. My, my parents didn't believe in celebrating Halloween. I still don't. Um, I think it's demonic. That's me. Sorry if you don't like it, just grow deeper and you will be convicted. But I always got pulled out of, like, Halloween parties at school. And they're all having fun, candy, trick-or-treat, whatever. And my dad understood the wickedness behind it and was like, "I'm not partaking in that. It's, it's just wrong." And he would pull us out the classroom. We'd go home. And kids would ask me why. And I'd tell them, you know, "Because I go to church." And they're like, "Oh, my Lord." And it was from a young age, I got made fun of for that stuff. And had to go to church every Sunday and do the communion. And it just, to me, at that age, it got old because I started to allow the enemy to whisper in my ear and tell me, "Well, look at your friends, look what they're doing. Why don't you go try this? Why don't you go try that?" And it never reminds me of the garden. The garden in Eden, where you have everything that you need, but you want to go after that one thing that you're not supposed to do. So by age 12, I started getting high behind my parents' back. They knew something happened because I started to act different, started to shy away and have fear, kind of like Adam when he ate the apple. See, it's a trend, guys. It's a trend generation after generation after generation. So I go through my young teenage years, and by the age of 16, I was playing high school football. And I was, I, I think I always liked football, but I think a big reason I played it was to try to stand out because I knew that I was fast and whatever. I was small, but I was fast. And, you know, I started on varsity. And it was like, people would applaud when you score a touchdown. And it made me feel good because I wasn't living for anything else except for the applause of men. And any of us that ever play, anybody ever play high school sports, like, there's nothing wrong with sports. Like, it feels good when you succeed. It feels good when you score. It feels good when you specialize in your talent and ability. But if you find yourself through that, and that's it, then you still feel empty. That's why, like, all these professional athletes have millions of dollars and all the stuff the world teaches will make you happy and satisfied. But a lot of them are overdosing. A lot of them blow it all and lose everything, and they fall into depression, and they're on medication because their career is over. That's scary. That just proves how real the lie is. So I played football these couple years, almost went to, uh, Division 3 college to play. And I got so wrapped up in the streets and messed. That's when I got all my tattoos. And I was just living bad. Which I got them all covered up. They're all Jesus stuff now. But, um, if you don't like tattoos, you're just religious. If you can't hear what I'm saying today because I have tattoos, go home and pray. I'm serious. I've went into church with my chain on and stuff, and they're looking at me like, "I hope he gets saved today." And then they hand me the mic, and then they're like, "But then the power of God comes over them, and they get very convicted." See, because God doesn't judge by the outward. We've been trained to. There's stuff I did to my body a long time ago that I would have never did if I knew what I knew now. And God sees that. So after my years of high school football, praise God, I graduated high school. You're supposed to clap. Um, just kidding. I graduated high school. That's where stuff went really downhill because I was working, just like a normal 9-to-5 job. But I had really bad friends in my life. I was not serving the Lord. Um, marijuana turned into cocaine, cocaine turned into crack. Crack addiction led to me selling crazy amounts of marijuana to supply my drug addiction to get free drugs. And how many of you know you can't profit off something you constantly use? So then I just turned into a full-blown addict. And then I had friends that were on heroin and things like that. And he wanted me to try it. I tried it a couple times. I absolutely hated it. And I believe it's the grace of God that kept me from getting addicted to that. Um, but then I started selling it because I thought, "Well, I like everything else. I can't use that, but if I sell heroin, I can make the most money, and that can fuel my drugs." So I started selling heroin. And after a year and a half of that, I had friends that I graduated from high school with dead because of me. Just being real. Like, I'm responsible for that. But I don't live in condemnation anymore. And family members have been talked to, and things have been forgiven. But it was those dark years where people say, like, "Well, God will put you through this and that to teach you." That's false. We make stupid decisions. And in the midst of the stupid decision, it's God's goodness that leads men to repentance. People say, "Well, brother, you're breaking the heart of God." That's impossible. If you've been taught you're breaking the heart of God, that's false. You can't break the heart of God. God is love, and love never fails. Love holds no record of wrongs. So wherever that theology came from, it's probably the devil. Because you can't break the heart of God. I think I understand what people are trying to say. It's because God loves you so much, he doesn't want to see you do that. And there's times where I believe he might pull back a little bit and let you make your own choices. That's free will. I mean, he, people say, "Well, if God knew everything, and God was so good, why'd he even put the tree there in the first place? Why was the forbidden tree even there to tempt them?" It wasn't. It was instruction to live by love and not live for yourself. And the coolest thing is that it was there because they had the choice to serve him when everything else was around to be distracted by. And that's what we have today. We have the choice to go after God. He's not making you. That's your choice. He's not smacking you, saying, "You better follow me." And then people say, "Well, if I don't follow him, I'm going to hell." It's your choice. He's given you an option way better. Why wouldn't you follow it? It's not hard. But I went through these seasons, and I believe God, that's where he taught me the most. Like, people hear my dad preach and see the way I was raised and think, "Well, how could you even do that?" Guys, I went on a drug binge for 12 straight years, 13 almost, running from home, partying with girls. That was my struggle. And I, and I growing up, I always felt like I wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend because my parents would act weird or something. I would try to hide things. It was just this delusional lie that I lived by for so long. So when my dad, this was before he just traveled weekends, he would travel through weeks and be gone five, six, seven days at a time, five days at a time, six. And I would, my poor mom, I'd put her through so much. I'd leave and go, like, stay at a girl's house for like three or four days when Dad was out of town because I knew he wouldn't allow that. But I could walk all over Mom. And then the day he was getting back, I'd come home and be home. And then she wouldn't say anything to him at the fear of what he would do to me. That's how bad it was because I manipulated my mom that bad. I tell people I was gifted in manipulation from the wrong father. And, and it got to the point where I eventually would just say, you know what, forget it. It's better there because I was indulging in my flesh and fulfilling my worldly desires. And it felt good for the moment because I was so lost. I had to find my comfort in someone else. And all I was doing was taking from an innocent life, taking from an innocent life. When God didn't create that. He called us to feed, not take. Even when you come to church, it's not just about what the pastor can give you or what God can do for you. We've turned it into that. "What's God? What can God do for me today?" But God never created you for him to serve you. He's not your genie. He's your Father. He wants you to be more like him, to represent him in a dark place. You guys with me? So when I would live these, I, I would leave. There was times I left for a year to a year and a half and would just live with a girl that had a kid. And it was like a comfort thing. And I would get deeper into addiction. And I wouldn't even talk to my dad. I'd run off to a crack house. And it'd be 4 in the morning, and I wasn't home for three days straight. My mom didn't even know if I was alive. And you know what she would do? She wouldn't say, "Ah, you ridiculous son, you know better, you were raised in church, I don't know what you're doing, your dad's a preacher and making him look bad, you're making me look bad. All we ever do is pay your bills, help you out, and you're going to do this to us." It's not what they did. She would text me at 4 in the morning at a crack house when I was gone for days, and I'd read the text, and you know what it would say, word for word? "I love you, man of God. Come on. I love you, man of God. Come on." She would call forth things that are not as though they are. Yeah. Come on. Because she knew that there was a seed planted, and it was only her job to plant it, but it's God who waters. Mark 4 says there's a man, the gospel is like a man who scatters seed. He goes to bed, in the morning, it's grown. And the, it's, it's planting the seed of truth. See, Proverbs 22:6 is one of my favorite scriptures. It says, "Train a child up in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart." It doesn't say they won't walk away for a while. It doesn't say they won't make bad decisions. It says they won't depart. Depart means to completely turn away from. See, in the midst of my darkness, and in the midst of those struggles, guys, and listen, I don't, I'm not going into death, well, listen to all the bad stuff you did, why does he keep talking? I don't share the bad stuff to say, "Look what I've been through," or give the enemy credit. I do it to glorify God and show you guys how much he can take somebody out of. Like, he doesn't hold a record of wrong against you. It's not a process to say, "You know what, Lord, I messed up. I need to come back to." And now you got to go through three months of biblical counseling and ministry classes and Bible courses to get right with God. It can be like that. Is it good to encourage yourself and edify yourself through those things? Absolutely. And it's necessary to have good peers around you and good influence to keep you in that place. But if you think that it's a process, you're wrong. God's, God's forgiveness is like that. The moment you get off track, and you say, "Wow, Lord, I should be doing better." Not beating yourself up and condemning yourself, that's from the enemy. It's the moment you recognize and go, "Whoops." That's the opposite of what Adam did. Adam ran and hid. We're supposed to run to him. We fall down, we bump our knee, and we make a mistake. And all of a sudden, we're all worried and upset. Listen, if my daughter just learned to walk a while back, she's 20 months old now, and if she does something and messes up or falls, she runs to me. Why? Because she's childlike. It's a real thing. But it was in those years of darkness where no matter what I did, like I said, Proverbs 22:6, "will not depart." I might have walked away for a little bit. But it was in those times where people will ask me, like, "Did you still hear the voice of the Lord? Did God still speak?" And I will tell them, "Absolutely. Every day. Every day conviction. Every day that I was living wrong, I knew what it was to do right. I just didn't know how." Cuz I was trying to do it in my own strength, still living for me, and trying to apply the gospel to my life while I was living like that. And I call it, last night, it's like trying to take a little bit of hell into heaven, wanting to serve God for him to help me and clean me up, but still want to do my own junk. And it doesn't have to be drugs. You don't, you could have never done drugs in your life. You can still relate to this because there's other things that will try to keep you from walking in the fullness of God. It could be your cell phone, could be social media, it could be food, it could be pornography, it could be movies, it could be stuff you know you shouldn't watch, it could be gossip, it could be whatever. People get hooked on different things. And all those things do are they're just anything that enters your mind to give you peace is a false hope. And when you're looking for something like that besides God, it's just a counterfeit of the Holy Ghost. When you're looking for other things instead of finding your peace through God, anything that brings you, anything that brings you, enters your mind to bring you peace is false hope. And anything that is trying to give you peace that isn't God is a counterfeit of the Holy Ghost. Did I say that right the second time? See, I couldn't really remember because I don't have this planned. I'm making sense to you guys this morning. So when I get off the stage, sometimes people are like, "Man, that was good." And I'm like, "What? I don't even know what I said." I'm serious. Serious. I know I, I share my heart and what I know. Um, and it just seems to impact people everywhere I go. You know why? Because we were all created with the same value, and we were all created in the same image. But the image was lost. So depending on how far along you've come with Christ and see yourself, no, depending on how clear you see yourself, depends on how much it resonates with you. Some people are pretty solid, and they, they hear it and they're like, "Yeah, that's good. Like, I needed you know, reaffirmed in that." And then other people hear it and they break because they realize how off track they've been, and the enemy has them deceived. And they think that what they're doing is okay when they're a million miles from God. Because you might still go to church, and you might even play in the worship, or you might be an usher, or whatever you do, and you end up finding your identity and fulfillment through how you serve ministry rather than being his. And it's real easy to fall into that pocket. Listen, I was at a church recently where there was a worship leader, very talented, and she leads worship amazing. And I watched her go through a deliverance session after a meeting, and demon after demon after demon came out of her. She's throwing up, screaming. I don't like that stuff, but it happens. And she was serving with a nice gift. And you would never guess it. Probably one of those people that we've been before where people say, "Hey, how you doing?" You're like, "I'm good, brother. I'm good, sister." And deep inside, you're hurting because you know there's a secret that needs exposed. And the truth is the only thing you can replace the lie with to be okay and be free. It's the truth that makes you free. I'm preaching this morning.

So I get to the point in this, in this dark running with the girls and, and whatnot. I come home for a season. And, um, well, let me back up. I was driving around one day in my car. I was 20, 22, driving around super high, just messed up. And I was looking down at myself, cell phone, texting and driving. Don't do that. I'm still guilty. And I just hear this like, and I look here, I just, all I did was swerve off the road two feet. The front corner of my car and my mirror hit a sign on the other side. Was like a 80-foot drop to a canyon. So thank goodness that it was the sign was there. Um, I believe that was the Lord. But I hit this sign, and my windshield cracked, my front bumper fell off, my fender was smashed in, my mirror light came down. My car was jacked up. And I'm living at home at that time. And I'm like, "Oh my God, the first thing I thought, oh my gosh, what am I going to tell my parents? What am I going to tell my parents?" And I'm 22, living like a child. Like, what am I going to tell my parents? So I like pull over. I look at the car. And I'm like, "Oh my gosh." It was drivable, but it was jacked up. So being an addict like I was, I'm like, "Well, I'm screwed." That was my mentality. So I get back in the car and just light another one up and keep on rolling. Figured I'll deal with it later. I got to the point where I'd get so high, I couldn't get any higher. That's what would lead me to something else. So I'm driving around so zooted out of my mind. I was only a mile and a half when this happened. I was a mile and a half from my house. Later that night, and it was almost 11:00 at night. And all of a sudden, my car comes to a stop. Here, I ran out of gas because I wasn't even paying attention to how much fuel I had because I was that out of it. So my mom's out of town visiting her sister out west, and my dad's home. I have no friends at the time because everyone's addicted to drugs. And all their ever friends with you for is to get something from you. So they're not really friends. They're sucking the life out of you and what you have to offer them to destroy each other more and more. So literally, the only person I had to call to rescue me was my dad. So I call my dad at 11:00. Now, you guys, how many of you guys say you know who he is and how wise and sharp he is? Now imagine this. I call him jacked up, slurred speech, can barely even function, don't even know my gas is out. And I call him and say, "Hey, Dad, uh, could you bring me some gas?" And he's like, "Where are you?" And I told him where I was. Was he's like, "That's like a mile away." He's like, "What are you doing?" I said, "Just driving around." And he knew something was up. And he's like, "Okay." He's like, "Are you all right?" And I said, "Yeah, I'm good." So he comes, pulls up behind the car, gets out.

Brings me the gas can. He just kind of looks at me, like, he looks right through you. Looks like you're not okay. And he turns and looks at the car and he goes, "What did you do to your car?"

And my response was, "Uh, I don't know. I hit a sign."

He's like, "You hit a sign?"

I was like, "Yeah."

And he's like, "You're not okay. Are you okay to drive home?"

And I was like, "Yeah, I'm good."

He's like, "Follow me home, please." That was it. And he turned and got in his car. And I, I had every temptation to go the other way. Where would I go? So I follow him home. He said, "Go get yourself some sleep. We need to talk in the morning." And I'm like, like, my end of my road. Stand on my road. So we go to bed. I didn't sleep much that night. In fact, I just got high out of my bedroom window most of the night. Is that bad?

In the morning, he sits me down. He's like, "I realize you really have a problem." And he starts bringing up some stuff that I, when you're living that way, you think that nobody notices, but people see it. And I, they, he brought to attention that my grandma knew that there was money and jewelry and things missing out of her house. Stuff that I was taking from my own family. And brought it all to light. And I just broke. And he's like, "Buddy, you need to get help." And I was like, "I know, I know."

But basically, long story short, he got me into a Teen Challenge three days later down in North Carolina. I live in Pennsylvania, so it was pretty far away. I was always a mama's boy, always around my parents. So I was like, scared to death to go away. Um, but I knew that was like my only choice, 'cause I was at my dead end. So they drive me down to North Carolina. I go into the program. I did four months at the program, and then I transferred to the next training center up near my house in Pennsylvania. And my parents, a 12-hour visit, they came and picked me up, took me out, and we went back to my house to spend the day. And that was like the worst thing that I could have decided to do. And they let me do it because it's not like their fault. They just didn't understand where my mind was. Um, because I still had manipulation in there. And it made me homesick. And I wanted to be back home. And I knew my dad saw that my life had changed. So I played my cards right.

And I realized that I didn't really just go to Teen Challenge for change. I went there for help. 'Cause help will get you out of a problem temporarily, but change will, will keep you from going back to the issue. And I realized that the only reason I went there is 'cause I had nowhere else to go. I didn't really want to change. I had a heart for change. I had a heart for God, but I still had a lot of junk in me that I wouldn't admit that was in there.

So I get a job at a wallpaper place. I'm picking orders, driving a forklift. It's like the work I did my whole life. And I was serving the Lord for a season where it was powerful. Guys, like, people were getting healed in the aisles at work. There was a guy that had, um, shingles. At one point, he had diabetes and it affected his eyesight. He couldn't see much. And I prayed for him in the aisle. He didn't really believe in God. He's like, "I was like, do you believe God could heal you?" He's like, "Uh, I don't know. Maybe." And I was like, "Well, I believe. Can I pray for you?" And sometimes people think, like, "What if nothing happens?" It's like, well, what if something does? You know, if it doesn't happen, at least you stepped out. You were obedient. You did what the word said. And you loved somebody. That's the worst that can happen. You might feel embarrassed. But if you do, that's because it was all about you. And you're caring about how you look. But it's not about you. It's about Him. And if it was about you, that's probably why they didn't get healed.

So I pray for this guy. He gets healed. And people saw a difference in my life. And, and I was doing good for a season. But then suddenly, I started to drift back into, you know, well, a cigarette sounds good. So I'd smoke a cigarette. And then from that, it went to marijuana again. And before you know it, now I'm living a double-sided life where I still have truth in me. And I came out of the season. And, oh no, everyone at church is going to know that I'm falling back. And that's embarrassing. I can't let them do that. So when they ask me how I'm doing, I'm just going to say, "Good," and put on my church face. And that only lasted so long. 'Cause I opened the door for the enemy to eat my lunch. And before you knew it, I was full-blown back into it. And now everybody at work sees, "Whoa, what happened to Dan?" And now I'm going into work every day in fear, condemnation, guilt. The tactic of the enemy, guys.

So I go back into addiction, even worse. And then 2014, it was a year and a half later. I, I, I hit rock bottom. Like, rock bottom. Um, I was homeless. My dad got to the point where he called me on my phone one day and said, "Look, buddy, I'm leaving town." Well, he didn't say buddy that time. He said, "Daniel." He said, "Hey Daniel, left me a voicemail and said, 'It's your Dad. I'm leaving town. I don't know where you went. You've disappeared again. I don't even know if you're alive.'" That's what he said. "Don't even know if you're alive. But when you hear this message, if you do, I'm leaving town by tomorrow. And I need the house key tonight. You're not welcome here anymore. I guess you're deciding to be a man, so let's see how that works out for you. 'Cause I can't enable you anymore. If I don't have the house key back in the mailbox or on the front porch by tonight, before I leave tomorrow morning, I'm calling the West Manchester Township Police." Which is where I lived at the time. And he said, "I'm going to describe the make and model of your car, who you are, what you look like, and what you've been doing, because you're a danger to society. And you're either going to kill someone or yourself if you haven't already." Click. That's scary.

See, like I was living in a double-wide trailer. I wrote a song about it called "The Prodigal Son." It's my whole testimony in a story. And, and it's powerful. Where I was living in a double-wide trailer with busted-out windows. It was like a hoarder's house. You guys ever see the movie, the show "Hoarders"? Disgusting, right? It was a house like that. Where a lady went to jail. And this guy offered to let me live there. It was only $150 a month. He charged me to have a roof over my head. But there was junk everywhere. There was bugs. I saw demonic spirits. It was nasty, nasty. My mom, my poor mom, would bring food over for me. Because she knew I had a full-time job, guys. And I made like $26 an hour, $28 an hour at that time in 2014. And my rent was $150 a month. And I could barely pay it. And I didn't have money for propane to heat the house in the winter. So you could see your breath in the bedroom. Because I'd rather get high. Me. Some of you say, "Well, I can't imagine you doing that." Look at you now. Well, that's called the Gospel. You don't see that, but it happened.

So at that point of breaking point, where for the first time in my life, at 24, I said, "You know what? Something needs to change. I can't keep doing this." Paul said, when I, at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, he said, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." And there was a point in my life where I realized the Teen Challenge revelation, where I didn't go there for change, I went for help. And it's time to get different. So I went to get help. And it's just, I'm not going to go into full detail for time's sake how it happened. But God hooked up a divine appointment with somebody through the church that I thought hated me at the time because of relationship stuff and breaking their daughter's heart at the time. And it was just a mess. This lady calls me when I'm in the deepest place, contemplating suicide. Calls me. I don't recognize the number. Which I usually don't pick up numbers I don't recognize. I pick up. It's the lady that I thought hated me, the girl's mom. And she says, "Daniel, where are you?" And I broke and told her. And she said, "I was just on my face before the Lord praying, and you appeared. And He said, 'You're in a dangerous place to get a hold of you.'" And I looked. And I still have your number now. See, if she was the average person, she'd have bitterness, anxiety, frustration. "Look what you did to my family. Look what you put her through." She didn't do that. You know why? 'Cause she saw herself how God sees. She understood how God sees her. So she saw me the way that He sees her. Like I was talking about earlier, how vital that is. That phone call saved my life. God saved my life. But it was through the phone call.

So they helped me get into a program. It was 14 months long. It's called Life Changers Outreach. And it's very similar to Teen Challenge. Um, but it was free of charge. I didn't have no money. I had like three grand in the bank account. So like, I could have tried to go get an apartment and keep my job and just make it. But I knew that I was going to die if I, if I tried that route. So I made the choice to go to this program. My parents were ecstatic. So happy. My mom's like, "Praise God, answering my prayers." 'Cause see, she prayed for me for a long time. And could have got very discouraged and said, "Where are you, God?" But He was there, working on my heart the whole time. She just didn't know. That's why it's so important to minister and pray for people when you have the opportunity. Pray for them in the secret place. Because just because their life doesn't line up with what you've been praying doesn't mean God's not working. Same with healing. There's times that I pray for people and I'm expecting them to get healed and delivered right on the spot. And I'm like, "Check your this, check your that." And they're like, "Up, still the same." I'll pray again. Still the same. They go home. And the next day they're like, "Dude, I woke up and I'm fine." Because faith's not a point in time. It's a position of your heart to believe that you're going to receive what He paid for. So my mom just kept on praying and praying and praying and praying and believing and believing and not allowing these circumstances to dictate her prayer life and her direction of faith.

So I finally make the choice to go to this 14-month program. And believe it or not, I went the whole way through it. Hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But the best decision. Best decision ever. And I ended up, like, this isn't like, "Whoa, look at him bragging." No, it was, it was the favor of God. Because when I went into that program, my mind was so, so distorted and like, just like foggy, cloudy. I couldn't think. Just from all the years of abuse on my body and my mind. And I think, until this day, like I had more, they were called contracts. Like, you had to do like seven or eight contracts to graduate. They're like Bible studies where you have to remember a certain amount of scripture. You have to quote them to the teacher. You have to do these study reports, set personal goals and accomplish them. And I think you had, you had the 14 months to do seven or, I think it was eight of them. And I think at six months or seven, I had 13 of them done. And it was like, "This guy's way ahead." And it wasn't just because my dad was Pastor Dan or Todd White's mentor. Yes, that helped. Having that biblical knowledge. Because the Holy Spirit brings back to remembrance everything you've been taught. So when I went into the program, everything that I thought I forgot came back to life. And all of a sudden, there's scriptures that people are having a hard time memorizing, and they're just coming to me. And that's where I got a revelation. Like, God never leaves you. He's right there. Like, He loves you. He just wants you to see yourself clear.

So I got benefits from in that program. Being able to do that. They saw I was on track spiritually. Um, and just, you know, signs and miracles were happening. They released me to start praying over students while I was a student. Which is, you don't do that in programs. Because then what happens is, you're a student still messed up with a messed up mentality. You still have stuff in you that's not right. But then you pray for somebody and then get healed. So then you think you're right with God. And now everyone you lay hands on gets healed. And you're living in complete sin. And God still moves through you. 'Cause gifts are without repentance. So then you think you're right with God. But then when you die and go to heaven, He's going to say, "Depart from me, I never knew you." See, people don't understand. They think you have to walk a certain way to do things. That's false. There's people that are living really messed up lives. Preacher after preacher of mega-churches gets exposed because they think everything's good. Because they have $4 million, 12,000 members, and they're flowing in the signs. And all of a sudden, they get caught in some kind of scandal or infidelity. But they had the whole congregation tricked. And then people get hurt by that. Because they're finding their identity through the preacher, not through the Father.

But you're not allowed to pray for these people because you're still growing. You're there for a reason. But they released me because they saw the, just whatever God was doing. I mean, guys, I was in the program. Well, an example I shared it last night. I was in the program for three weeks. Three weeks. I was still like detoxing. I was there for three weeks. And a kid that was there for six months, just saw something different. And he asked me to pray for him. Because he had scars going all up and down his arm from shooting heroin. Looked like railroad tracks. And he said, "You know, I've been growing in the Lord. I love it here. It's hard. I miss my family. But every time I look at these, uh, marks, it reminds me of what I used to do and who I was. And it wants to drive me out the door. He said, 'Will you pray for me?'" And that was before I didn't know, like, you're not supposed to pray for people. So we went in the bathroom. I prayed for him. So simple. I shared it last night. I just put my hand on him and just said, "Lord, I thank you for Scott. Brand new skin in Jesus name." And I, the Holy Spirit said, "Blow on him." And I was like, "That's weird." But I did. I was just like, and I had my hand around him. And he goes, and I, like, hold him. And he just hugs me and looks at me. He's like, "Thanks, bro." He's like, "Thanks." Like a stoner. He's like, "Thanks, bro." Like a hippie. I was like, "Yeah, dude." It was one of those moments. And so then two guys walk out of the bathroom together. That was weird. Um, so we go to sleep. Some of you call that, I guess, 2024. It's not so weird. Um, so we go to sleep. We wake up in the morning. And we go to, we go to praise and worship. We go to breakfast. And Scott walks up to me while I just got my food. Go to eat. He walks out to me. He's white as a ghost. He just looks at me. And he goes, pulls this thing up. Brand new skin. Not a mark on his skin. Not a mark on his skin. Some people say, "Well, I don't believe that." Well, that's the problem. That's why you never see.

See, I heard that stuff my whole life. My dad, he said it's probably over a thousand people that he's seen scars disappear off of. And times that he hasn't even prayed. Where he's done a meeting this size and he's preaching redemption and what it looks like to be a new creation. And all of a sudden, somebody in the crowd screams. And people think a demon's manifesting. But it's because they look down and realize everything went away. Because God's there. He's here now. Do you believe that? So I pray for this kid. And I'm like, rejoicing. It's like the word of the campus. 20 minutes later, I get pulled into the pastor's office. And he sits me down. He's one of my best friends now. And he knows my dad well. But he sat me down. He said, "So what happened with Scott?" And I was like, "Oh, dude, it was incredible." Start telling him all about it. And he said, "That's good. He said, but don't ever do that again. You understand me?" And I said, "What?" And he said, "Don't ever pray for somebody else here." And I, most people hear it and they're like, "What do you mean?" And that's where I got the revelation. My dad was like, "Wow, Pastor Mark was very wise for doing that." 'Cause you could have thought, "Well, I'm a preacher kid and I have an anointing. And now I'm okay. And now I can leave early." And it would have just been the devil's trap to put me out premature again. Because I didn't know who I was and who my dad really was. So I said, "Okay, that's cool." And I received it. Because it clicked. And I got it. And I thought, "Wow, I respect you for that. That's cool."

Well, then that's where he let me. At nine months, you become an intern. They let me start praying for students at like four and a half months. So like, when they had order calls and praise and worship, and all the leaders up there, they'd call me up and let me pray. Because they saw a difference. And I did. That's the moment I learned to not allow your gift to identify you.

So I go through the program. I graduate. I was assistant teacher, an intake coordinator. I helped start a center in West Virginia. Um, assistant director. It was an amazing time in my life. And, and through all that, I learned like, it freaks me out how much we can say we know the Lord, but we allow things into our life to creep in. And like, I heard it said before, "If you give the devil an inch, he'll try to be your ruler." Get it? Inch. Ruler. And it's true. Like, the devil has no power. We talk about the devil a lot. And say, "Well, the devil's really attacking me. Can you pray for me? I'm going through spiritual warfare." And spiritual warfare is very real. But I think a lot of times, what we call the devil attacking us is just our thoughts. And I learned that in that program. Because I would listen to things that was instilled to me through other people that I listen to, that I glean from, you know, spiritually. But I watched how many people came through, served in leadership, did a great job, had an anointing on their life, and then they left. And a year later, we got a phone call that they overdosed. Because they let things back into their life. They let the enemy speak louder than truth. And they served their flesh at the cost of truth. When truth makes you free. So they became bound again. And it was a cycle that I had to learn and go through.

Like, when I got out of the program, and I had, just, I worked for the ministry for a little. There was a season where I felt like it was time to leave. And when I left, I didn't go back to drugs. I didn't go back to the mess. But I got a girlfriend right away. And then we started messing around, sleeping together. And I started falling into sin once again. After all this I've been through. And as good as God's been, I'm still doing the knucklehead move. It's like David in the Bible. King David. He was a little shepherd boy. We know the story. Kills Goliath, the whole nine yards. But as he gets older, he makes mistake after mistake after mistake. And then he does Bathsheba. That's a real bad one. Sleeps with a married woman to feed himself. And then he's supposed to go to battle as king, but stays home. And then sends her husband. Finds out who her husband is. Puts him on the front line and gets him killed. So he doesn't have to face his misery. Because she's pregnant. That's jacked up. You know what God called David? Come on, see. Because when David repented, none of that was held against him. So why do you hold against what you did yesterday? That hit a few people. I felt that. That landed good.

Listen, guys. God wants us to walk in obedience so we can be perfected in Him. But He already sees us as perfect. When I say perfect, it doesn't mean never make a mistake. Perfect in God's, in God's words, means made complete. You've been made complete. So don't sell yourself for anything less when you've already bought at a price. It's that easy.

But I got that revelation. How you can allow the enemy to come in. And you think that everything, everything's the devil. All of a sudden, like, in church, guys, like I have friends that have big deliverance ministries. And, and I'm not against them. And it's just like, but I don't always agree with any, everything they do. And we have conversations. Like I got friends that have millions of followers on YouTube. And we talk on the phone about things. And they're like, "Oh, the brother, the Lord's about to propel you and this and that." And like, deliverance. I'm like, "I don't want that." Like, I, like, I don't want it for, like, the people. You know what I mean? Like, I want to go where God wants me to go. Like, I'll do conferences where there's four or 500 youth and everyone's going crazy. And then I'll come to, like, a smaller church. Like, you guys feel like a family here. And I like that. 'Cause I feel like I can get raw and real. And it's more personal. It's more personal. But like, people are like, "You're called to a deliverance ministry." But I grew up with a dad that always said, like, "I'm not against deliverance, but everyone makes everything a devil." And I see what he means. Because we always say, "Everything needs deliverance. Needs deliverance." And there's a place for deliverance. And it's biblical. And I've seen it. And I've cast demons out of people. And watched them growl and do weird stuff. And it's not fun. But it's cool seeing someone get set free. But it's like, we turn everything into a demon. And then we thrive off what the devil's doing in the person. Because it makes us feel good when they come out. That's weird. You should be hurting for somebody.

But I realized, just this deliverance thing, guys, like, I grew up with that. Dad saying, like, "It's not a, you know, not everything needs deliverance." And I always thought like, "Everything was." 'Cause that's what I was taught. But now I'm realizing how much the enemy actually just lies to, to us. And wants you to believe the lie. And I'm going to share this truth here before we wrap up. 'Cause I think it's going to free you. I preach almost everywhere I go. Some of you may have heard some of it before. But how many of you ever get a thought that doesn't encourage you? It doesn't edify. It doesn't lift you up. It doesn't feel good. You're in worship, worshiping, praising the Lord. And all of a sudden, you get an image, a flashback, a memory. Somebody walks in that shouldn't be wearing something that you're wearing to church. And you get a nasty thought in your mind. And like, "Well, that bothers me." Be honest. Anybody? Wow. You guys are holy. Yeah, every hand should go up. At some point, you have a bad thought. Because it's the same devil attacking a believer. But then we turn and we think, "Oh my gosh, I shouldn't be thinking that. What if I still have this? Maybe I have a soul tie from this relationship." And we start feeding into what ifs. And we get analytical and analyze what we've been through. And maybe it's this. And, oh my Lord, forgive me. And then it comes back again. You're like, "Lord, forgive me."

Well, let me tell you this. After the first time you ask God to forgive you, He doesn't know what you're talking about. He knows what you did yesterday. He knows what you're thinking right now. He knows every thought. And every single one that blows my mind. There's billions of people on the Earth and crazy situations going on. And He knows every hair on your head. He knows what you're thinking. He knows what you like. He pleases people. He does little things to just show you that He's there. The smallest things. Like just pop up. I'll be at the store and won't be able to. My dad tells a story how he loves Barq's root beer. Some of you might have heard it before. And he was at a hotel after a sermon. And he was like, "Man, I could really go for a root beer." And he went up and he looked down through all the sodas. And there's Coke, there's Sprite, there's whatever. And there was another root beer. It was like Mug's root beer or something. And he's like, "Oh, well, that'll do." And he hit the mug. And a Barq's fell out. Think about that. People say, "Well, you know, they probably just stocked it wrong." Okay, cool. Believe what you want. I'm going to believe it was the Lord loving somebody.

But we get these thoughts. And we, and we dwell so much on the thought, guys, that we allow it to distract us from what we're supposed to be doing. Like when I went to Teen Challenge, I'll tell this story quick. What time do I have till? He said 3:00 earlier. I was like, "All right, cool." Kid. When I went to Teen Challenge, they made you, like, pray. They made you read the Bible and all this. I thought he was getting delivered. Just kidding. He made you. They made you do all this stuff. And it was for a reason. It was because you didn't have any structure in the world. And you didn't know how to seek God for yourself. So it was to teach you to get into a discipline, a routine, build a prayer life, etc. So me, even growing up in church, like, I went to church because my parents made me. And then when I got older, that's why I stayed off. Because I really didn't give a rip about God until I found out that I needed Him.

So I'm in the program. I'm on my knees one day underneath my, underneath my desk praying. I had like a pillow over my head. Pillow over my head. And like, the staff's walking around. They look in the rooms to make sure you're not like clowning around. And because you hear people like giggling. And then they walk in. They're like, like, just acting like they're praying. They're for the wrong reason. But I'm digging in, guys. I'm like, "I need something. Needs to break in my life." You know? So I'm praying. I'm praying. And all of a sudden, this voice, it wasn't audible, but it almost sounded audible. It was like, I could feel this thing. And it didn't feel good. So I knew it wasn't God. I heard this voice say, "You don't even know if God's real. You're just praying to the wall. This whole thing is an emotionalism thing. Your dad's teaching you emotionalism. And you'll never be like him anyway. So why are you even doing this?" Clear as day. "You're just praying to the wall." Said it like three or four times. "You're just praying to the wall."

So you know what I did? I did what I was training to do when I was a kid. Devil, I bind you. I put my spiritual voice on. Yep. Yep. I sounded, I said, I sounded like an old black woman in the '70s. I said, "Devil, I bind you in the name of Jesus." And I brought the revival voice out, the Billy Graham days. And I came at him so hard. And it went quiet. And I'm like, "Yes!" So I start praying. All of a sudden, this voice comes back and goes, "You're just praying to the wall." Comes back and attacks me again and again. So what did I do? I rebuked the devil again. I bind him. I start quoting scripture. And then prayer ends. So we go to chapel, whatever, do our thing that day.

So I had two phone calls a week to my dad and my mom, 15 minutes each, just to like catch up. And it was just, it was hard. But we, we managed. And my dad's like, "Hey, buddy." Now he's calling me buddy, not Daniel. And we're like friends again. I have a relationship with him. And he's like, "Hey, buddy, how are you?" And I was like, "I'm good, man. I was like, but I got to talk to you about this." He's like, "What's up?" And I, I tell him the story. I said, "You know, I was praying the other day, and I knew it was the enemy started speaking to me and telling me that like, this thing's not real. And I knew it was a lie. Like, he's saying, 'You're an emotionalist.' I know that's false. Like, I've seen too much in my life. But he kept telling me, like, 'I'm praying to the wall. God doesn't hear me.' And it really bothered me." So he's like, "So what'd you do?" And I said, "Well, I started to rebuke the devil. You know, 'Get behind me, Satan. Put him under my feet.' Like, I'm quoting scriptures." And you know what my dad said? He said, "Don't ever do that again." And I was like, "What? Like, that's what I thought I'd do." And I said, "But you resist the devil, he flees." He said, "No, you submit to God, and He resists." I was like, "Okay." He said, "Do you understand the tactic of the enemy?" And I said, "No." And he said, "He sees that you're finally focused on the Father. And you're digging into your potential and your future with God. And he sees you're serious. So he came and whispered to try to get your focus off the Father and put it on him. Because he knows he's defeated." And I went, "Whoa."

'Cause we do that. And we need reminded. We could be driving and just think about somebody. And it goes, uh, like our heart goes, uh, like from your past. 'Cause there's unforgiveness or something going on that you need to resolve with God. Or you get this perverse image. Like, there's times that I've come up to preach. And I'll get flashbacks or memories from a relation, just nasty stuff. And people will be like, "Well, you need freed, brother. That's a devil." No, you're wrong. I've been delivered. It's called a tactic that used to work on me. So the enemy will come back now and then and just make sure I don't have any cracks in my order and try to seep in and get you and try to take something that's not his. People say, "Why do you allow the devil in your head when he doesn't pay the rent? Jesus paid the price to kick him out."

So this thought comes. So this is what he taught me to do. He said, "I said, 'So if I don't rebuke him, what do I do?'" He said, "You submit to God." "What's that look like?" He said, "If you hear that you're not going to make it, you just raise your hands and say, 'Father, I thank You that I'm going to make it.'" He said, "If you hear that you're not good enough, you say, 'Father, I thank You I've already been accepted and I'm worth Your blood.'" If He says, "This thing's not real," you say, "Father, I so thank You You how real You are and that You're going to continue to just birth a desire to seek You so I can see that and be founded and rooted and grounded in faith, love, and work through that and follow You for the rest of my life." And all of a sudden, what the enemy used to tear you down, just propelled you closer to the throne.

So now what's he going to do? If anything, he's just going to try to work through somebody else. Because you still might find your identity and how people treat you. So now all of a sudden, he might speak through a family member or someone you consider a friend to put you down or say something when they're in a bad moment because they don't know who they are. And now you find you're, "Oh no, they hurt me. I thought they were my friend." And now you feed off of that negativity. He'll work through stuff like that. That's why you're supposed to be rooted and grounded in love. Because faith works through love. And love holds no record of wrongs. It's patient. It's kind. It doesn't envy. It doesn't boast. We know the scripture. That's all it's about. It's your identity, guys.

Listen, I could preach for three more hours about the same thing. And you could walk out of here and still believe a lie that you might have believed when you walked in. That's up to you. No preacher, no sermon, no nothing is ever going to change you unless you believe it. That's why we're called believers. You believe. I have a shirt back there. I, I designed it. Looks like a Nike sign. Because Nike says, "Just Do It." And it says, "Believer. Just Be It." Because we try so hard. No, I'm not trying to sell you a shirt. It's just, it's, it's this. It's a relationship, guys. Like, it's seeing yourself. It's seeing that Jesus didn't just die on a cross because you were a sinner. He died because you sinned. Jesus came to restore that which was. When John the Baptist was about to baptize Jesus at the river of Jordan, he said, "Behold, one comes after that's greater than whose sandals I am unworthy to carry." Somebody way greater. He comes to take away the sins of the world. He could have said, "Forgive." And then maybe that means you're still a sinner and He's coming to forgive you. He comes to take away that which was lost. He comes to take away the sins of the world.

First Peter 2 talks about it. Actually, I have it. I took a screenshot of it last night when I was preaching. And I'm going to read it quick. Because we all know this scripture. How many of you know the scripture, "By His wounds, we are healed"? Right? "By His stripes, we're healed." Brother, you know what the beginning of that scripture says? "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness." Comma. "By His wounds, you have been healed." For you were like, verse 25, "For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." Your souls. Your mind, your will, and your emotion.

Why do we have such a hard time thinking like, "Well, brother, we're always going to, we're always going to make mistakes. We're always going to do." We, we, and we get mad at people. And people fight in the church about it. And say, "Well, you're just preaching. You couldn't even preach righteousness 20 years ago." You get stoned, maybe crucified upside down, who knows. But it's the Bible. But then we get offended and say, "Well, what's he saying?" He's saying he never sinned. I never said that. I said I'm not anxious of it. I don't worry. I don't wake up and go, "Oh my gosh, I'm such a sinner. I'm going to mess up." 'Cause if you live like that, by 11:00, you've probably committed three. And if you're Catholic, you got to get washed by the priest. My wife was raised Catholic. And she tells me some of the stuff. Not bashing people that ever were Catholic. I'm not saying I'm not saying that. But it's a religious thing. And she's been raised that way. And she tells me some of the stuff. And I'm just like, "What?" It's just like, people need Jesus, guys.

But it says, "died to sin." So like, Jesus hung on the cross for our sins. And anything that was hung in that time period was cursed. So people say, "Oh, Jesus was cursed." No, Jesus wasn't cursed. It says, "He who knew no sin became sin." So He was perfect, never did anything wrong, took the sin of the world on Him and got nailed to a tree. So Jesus didn't just get nailed to the tree. Sinned. And it was cursed in the flesh. In the beginning, Adam and Eve had their full identity in Christ. And they knew who they were in Christ. And they recognized themselves through God's image. And when they bit that apple and got separated, like we did communion this morning, to be brought back to the blood of Jesus covers us. When they got separated, they lost their identity. And they couldn't recognize who they were anymore. That's why they had to hide from the holiness.

In the New Testament, Jesus came. And it says that He took on the sins of the world. And He was beat beyond description. Now, you think about what that looks like. Anybody ever see "The Passion of the Christ"? If you haven't seen it, and say, "Well, it's too graphic. I can't watch it." You need to peel your eyes open and watch it. 'Cause that's not even near what He went through. You could still tell that it was Him in the movie. In real life, you couldn't tell what He looked like. You couldn't tell if He was a male or a female. Think about people that did the worst stuff and they got burned at a stake and they turned into a pile of marred ashes. Jesus looked worse than that. You know what that's a symbolic reference of? Just like Adam lost his identity in the garden, Jesus took our sin and lost the identity. It wasn't recognizable anymore. When you get that, it frees your mind and your heart. Your mind's very important because it's where the enemy tries to play. But your heart's even more important. Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And whatever the heart's full of is what you're going to do. And what you put in is going to come out. So if, if you fill yourself with truth, truth's going to come out. Has no way not to. And you're called to overflow. You're called to shine.

So if you walk in discouragement, that means there's something still about you. Because you're frustrated because things aren't going your way. When it's not about you. And people say, "Well, brother, you know, the Christian life's hard." You have ministers that'll go up here and say, "The gospel is going to cost you everything." Ever hear that? The only thing the gospel is called taking from you is everything you weren't created to be. Well, I got to give myself. But that's what the gospel is. And you weren't created for you. You were created for Him. The only reason you have a problem is because there's stuff in your heart that's still all about what you want. Yeah, that's true. Very. There's stuff you want. So it makes you think, "Well, hopefully God." And we turn God into this busboy that just comes and wipes up our mess when we need Him to. And now and then, we'll give Him a little tip. We call Him when we need, need Him. And we pray for Him for a better benefit, more blessings, heal our marriage.

How many of you have ever been through something? Not, I'm not. And listen, guys, don't think like I'm up here like yelling at you. I'm not. I promise. I'm not. I'm passionate about this. And I'm not saying you guys are those people at all. I'm not saying you're those people. I'm not saying you're doing that. I'm talking the body of Christ as a whole. But if you are dealing with some of the things I'm talking about, it's not to condemn you and say, "Oh, man." Because that's never God. Like I explained, you have the choice to either say, "Wow, bummer," and get all upset and still live in that place. Or you go, "Whoops, I missed it. Thank You, Lord. Father, I thank You for sending this man to speak that into my life so I can get back on track. Thanks for forgiving me. And I can be free when I walk out." It's really easy. Really easy.

Bible says in Romans 12:1 and 2, "Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will." See, because the world trained us in that lie. I said this last night. I'll share it real quick. We were trained by that lie. Where examples that I've been taught that I, I like to relay and give because everyone gets it. You know, we hear phrases growing up that try to determine the outcome of our life. We, we believe stuff and we think that's just the way it is. Like we think, "Well, brother, everybody has emotions. Everybody gets frustrated. Everybody gets jealous. Everybody has anger. You know, God created us that way." For you to say that you don't feel those things or do those things, that would be blaspheming. Because the Lord made you that way. You're wrong. God didn't give you that. Adam gave you that after the fall. Adam did. Did you see that in Jesus? Did you see Jesus get jealous? Did you see people yell at Him and mock Him and say that He heals people from the devil, this and that? He still went out and fed them. He didn't get offended and go to Peter and say, "Man, brother, I'm about sick of these people. I'm about to take back off up on the clouds." Never said it. Sounds funny, but we do it. And then we say, "Well, that's normal." But if it's not in the life of Jesus, I shouldn't see it in mine. Come on. Jesus wouldn't say it's possible if it wasn't. Because that would be a liar. But He's really called the truth.

But it says, "renew your minds." 'Cause we've been born into a lie. And then we become that for so long, it becomes a stronghold. A stronghold is a belief that you believe for so long, it becomes fixed. And it's a stronghold. And now it needs broke off your life. And the only thing that can break it is the revelation of truth. Like, "Well, you don't, what you don't know won't." Yep. Isn't that funny? You guys know that way down here in Kentucky. I'm from Pennsylvania. And they say this same thing. But "what you don't know won't hurt you." The Bible says, "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge." And it also says, I think in Proverbs 14:12, that, uh, what is it? "There is a way that appears right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." But the bi, or the world says, "What you don't know won't hurt you." The Bible says, "What you don't know is destroying you." How about, "Well, they made the bed, they need to go." Yep.

But 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!" It's the opposite. Complete opposite. We hold that against you. See. And then somebody does us wrong. Somebody does us wrong. And then we hold that against them. "Well, you don't know what they did to me. You don't know what I've been through." What about what He's been through? Who are we to be forgiven of everything and not forgive somebody else for something? To want to receive mercy, but we don't give mercy. It's the gospel, guys. It's impossible to live that Christian life without the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you, causing you to react the way Jesus reacts. And the only way you're going to do that is spending time with Him. Because you become who you hang out with. Bad company corrupts good. Good company makes them better. So walk with Him. Stay with Him.

So what you don't know won't hurt you. You made your.

bed. Go sleep in it. Um, well, what you see is what you get. The Bible says, live by what is unseen. It says, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We walk by faith, not by sight. What you see, what is, what you get, isn't true. What you believe is what you get.

Some people say, "Well, brother, that's new age energy speaking things into existence." The Bible says that there's power of life and death in your tongue, and a man eats what he sows. He reaps what he sows. Yeah.

Everybody, just close your eyes. Father, I thank you. Thank you for today, Lord. Thank you for just preparing the hearts of your people to receive. I want everybody to just picture like rolling grass hills as far as you can see. You're just standing out. Kentucky's a good place, right? Out here, rolling hills as far as you can see, just grass, open fields. And there's one tree on top of the hill, and that tree has acorns all over it. Okay? You, you with me? There's one tree on top of a hill, and there's acorns all over it. All of the sudden, acorns start dropping. The wind's coming, the leaves are coming off. It's fall. The acorns are dropping. The next year, that tree is still there. The leaves come back. It starts growing acorns. But then all those little acorns around underneath it start shooting little tiny grass sprouts out of the out of the ground where they got seeded. Those acorns dropped, and now they're reproducing. Every seed reproduces after its own kind. So now you're looking through these rolling hills and you see the big oak tree on the hill, and it has leaves and oak tree, oak, uh, acorns on it again. But these little trees are growing up around it. And then fast forward. That's year after year after year. You see across those hills and now there's trees all over the hills. Some big, some mature, some small, some are just sprouting again. And now you have squirrels running up and down feeding off the acorns. You have deer underneath, they're eating the acorns. The wildlife's being fed. There's birds carrying them off back to their nests. That one acorn that dropped and reproduced all those trees. Now those trees are dropping and reproducing. That one acorn is you. You die to yourself, you sprout, and you begin to have fruit to give to everything around you. You start to feed what's in need. You start to supply those around you that are hungry, that don't know where else to get food except for you, because your roots are in the ground and you're being seasoned and fed the right nutrients. And now you have something to offer besides just being a single tree with a fruit on it, not doing anything.

I'm not like a huge altar call guy because altar calls can turn into, you know, "Let's just go up and get prayed for and then you leave because you needed to feel something." But it's never about the feeling, guys. It's about believing what Jesus did is accomplished and it can live and work through you. An altar call isn't just meant to say, "Well, let's see how many people respond so we can feel good." That's weird. It's about your heart. It's about where you're at in life. And it's about your humility to say, "You know what? This is where I've been, and I know that I could be doing better." And it's not a works thing. It's not, "Well, I need to behave better." Like I explained earlier, for God to appreciate me. God loves you right where you're at. But if you want to reach the full destination, like fulfill the mission before you reach the destination. Like people think, "Well, the goal of being becoming a Christian is going to heaven." No, that's the destination. Your mission is to destroy hell while you're on Earth. Otherwise, you'll just live through it until you get to heaven. But you're called to be that oak tree with the acorns that feeds everything around them. And a sign of humility, I believe, with the altar call is saying, "You know what? A good time to fix this thing is to stop worrying what people think because the fear of man will destroy your life." And you're supposed to die to yourself so you can be free from yourself. And when you're free from yourself, you can be free from people. And now all of a sudden, their opinion doesn't have anything to do with you. You're free, and you know it. And all of a sudden, you don't get hurt by people anymore. You hurt for them. When somebody does you wrong, you don't get offended and ticked off. You say, "Wow, if they knew who they were and saw what I saw, they probably wouldn't treat me that way. God bless them. Go get them, Holy Ghost." It's a freedom where you realize when you wake up in the morning, you don't wake up for people to serve you and do you better and give you a better hand. If anything, they might be in trouble and they might be lost, and you carry the only token of gratitude and appreciation for life. And you understand the purpose of it, and you can give them something to feed off of and put them into the light of truth.

Holy Spirit, do what you do. Do what we can't do in our own strength. Lord, I'm asking you to penetrate hearts. God, I'm asking you to change minds today. Lord, that we lay down the past and we step into what you've really called us to do. Lord, whether we've been on track or not, God, if there's something we've been missing, that we've been allowing to suck them into our mind and just go through and through and play and play and play over and over and over, that doesn't belong there. Lord, I'm asking you for just to remove strongholds today. Break strongholds in lives today, God. Every age group from young to old, Lord, regardless of how long they've been walking with you. Father, I'm asking for a new humility to come over your people today, 'cause you oppose the proud, but you show favor to the humble. God, thank you for giving me words to speak today. I put my trust in you, and you never fail. God, I'm asking for a special grace today, a withdraw like an anointing, a withdraw from heaven. God, I'm asking for it to transfer. Lord, I'm asking for impartation of grace, your unfailing grace. God, I'm asking for impartations today. Without worrying about what people think, if you just want a fresh touch from heaven today, and you just, you need prayer for something, you want God to renew your mind in an area, you want, you just need something, whether I need to know it or not, I want you to come up front right now, and please don't hesitate. I want to pray for you.

Father, I thank you. God, I thank you, Jesus. When you come up, just, you just raise your hands and you just thank God for what he's about to do in you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come. God. God. Father, thank you for. He's so. Off things. Your. Fill her. God. Fill her. God. Fill her. God. Fill her. God. God. Lord. God. Thank you.

I'm not a big numbers guy, but I just heard directly, there's three people and you're on this side of the room that are thinking, "I I should probably go up, but I don't really want to." But there's something that God wants to break off your life, and you need to respond. It's three of you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Flesh people for.