Transcription
Amen. See, because, like I said, a lot of people, I feel like a lot of people, and this isn't a judgmental statement, you know, a tree buys fruit. You know, a tree buys fruit. If the roots are good for the tree, the tree will be good. And if the tree is good, the fruit's good. Rotten fruit doesn't grow on a good tree.
So I see these things where there's a lot of people that have been going to church, and they go Sunday after Sunday, and they worship and they sing, "Jesus, you are Lord of my life. Jesus, you are Lord." But then they walk out discouraged and frustrated. And then somebody cuts them off in traffic, and then they let that person become Lord and they let that person dictate the rest of their day. We get cut off by some, we get into an argument, guys, with somebody. They said, "Well, he said, she, you don't know what." Or somebody you've had a fallout with somebody years ago, and then you, you're talking to a family member or a friend and say, "You know who I saw the other day? I saw," and they say the name and go, "And you've been holding on to that." But you sing to God how you've been forgiven, but you don't forgive others. And we sing, "He's Lord," but then we let other things govern our life and what we do.
See, the Bible says there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death, doesn't it? It's not just talking about physical death. It's talking about spiritual death too. You ever hear it said, "Unforgiveness is like drinking a cup of poison and expecting the other person to die"? We'll sing, "Jesus is Lord," and and and we'll be praising Him for who He is and what He's done for us, but then we hold something in our heart against somebody else.
So then the human tendency, and the way we've been trained, the thing we've been taught to do is, "Well, I'm not talking to them." School kids, somebody in class frustrates you, or somebody makes fun of you, or says something that you don't like, and now all of a sudden when you see them, your heart goes, when your heart goes and you feel angry. They're still fine. You're in prison. We've been trained to cut people off and and all these things, and don't talk to somebody for 15 years, and don't invite them to the family event anymore, and go down a separate hallway when we see them, or avoid going to our locker because that person's there and we don't want to see them. But that whole time, they're okay. You're not. We think we're winning by cutting them off.
What if Jesus cut us off? Could you imagine when Jesus was carrying the cross to just freak out and say, "You know what? I've had enough. These people haven't changed. They're never going to change. All I do is feed them. I pray for the sick. I heal them. I raise the dead. Lazarus, he stank and he came out of the grave. And they traded Barabbas for me, a murderer. They let a murderer out of prison. And all I've done is good to people, and they want to kill me. I'm done with these people." Can you see Jesus saying that? But we're supposed to look like Him. So why doesn't it seem foreign to us?
People say, "Well, that was Jesus. Brother, Jesus was God." Made in the man. God doesn't have arms, a head, a body. In the beginning, when it says God created us in His image, He's not talking about looks, because if He did, that means we'd all look the same. He's talking about love. God, we were made in God's image. And God is. So we were made in. But something happened in the garden with Adam and Eve. Whenever they bit that fruit. Listen, God gave them everything. He, it says Adam walked with God in the, the cool of the morning in the garden. He walked with God. And then the snake came along to the woman, the serpent. "Did God really say that? Did God really say not to eat that? He just doesn't want you to be smarter." He doesn't want you to be wiser. Eve bites the apple and goes against God. And now all of a sudden, they're exposed. They know it. And now they're hiding, trying to hide from God. Adam's best friend, he's walking with, and now he's trying to avoid him because his conscience came alive. A sin conscience. "Oops, I did it. I sinned. Oops." You guys following me? See, they weren't aware of that before then, because the earth was perfect. There was no sin. That, that's where it entered.
So now we have people, and forgive me if you're, if you're like a psychologist in here, I'm not bashing you, I'm not blasting you. But we've fallen into this trend where generation after generation, you study Jesus. He doesn't operate the way that medicine does. He was the all-time physician. We take what we've been through and allow that to form us and mold us. When He's supposed to be the potter, not your circumstance. How many of you ever did something in your life that you wish you never did? Every hand should be up. How many of you ever did something, you know, you wish you never did? How many of you still think about that thing and it bothers you and you allow it to bring you down at times? Stop.
I was talking to Pastor earlier, how John the Baptist, when Jesus came, did you know Jesus before? It's impossible to walk out the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, not the do attitudes, the be. You become the attitudes of God. It's impossible to do that in the carnal flesh. You need the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn't perform a miracle, didn't preach, didn't do anything until He was baptized, and then the Spirit came down like a dove and ascended upon Him. John the Baptist said, "This is what John the Baptist said, guys, pay attention. I know there's some distractions. You need to hear this." John the Baptist says, "One who, one is coming greater than me, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.'" He didn't say forgives the sins of the world. He said, "Take away."
We've been taught. How many of you taught your whole life that Jesus died on the cross because you're a? If you live your life as a, every single day, guess what you're probably gonna do. But you know God told you to be dead to sin and alive to Christ. I can show you 10 scriptures where you are to die to sin and be alive in Christ. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. [Music] Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus. Romans 6: "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin." It's right there. This isn't my sermon. This isn't my twisted theology. Well, he's saying everyone's perfect. Listen, we take the word "perfect" as making no mistakes. Perfect means to be complete. You're complete in God's eyes. God doesn't see you for what you did yesterday. But we allow yesterday to keep us in the same place. So tomorrow's the same. By no means! We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. You can't live a new life if you're still stuck on yesterdays.
You guys know the story of Paul? Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul. And he got knocked off his donkey. He was on his way. He, he killed Christians. Guys, tell your parents to read it to you tonight. Yeah, he killed Christians. Guys, Saul was one of the head terrorists in that time. He gets knocked off his donkey by Jesus himself. Gets blinded by the light. Then he goes, it's Ananias, prays for him. The scales fall off. Paul goes out and spends, some people say three, some people say four years in Arabia with literally with Jesus teaching him and showing him and mentoring him. Peter, guys, know Peter? The guy in the Bible that is always with Jesus. He said, "When I, Jesus, when you got crucified and went to the cross, he said, 'One of you are going to deny me three times by the time the rooster crows.'" Now, Peter was with, Peter was with Jesus all the time for the whole time of his ministry, following him, watching him, learning from him, praying for people. Whenever the time came of persecution, he saw Jesus getting beat and getting arrested and beat. And he gets questioned by people, "Don't you know him?" And he says, "I don't know the man." The same guy that looked out for him for years, taught him everything he knew, he denied him three times. Son of God.
So you got Paul killing people that are Christians, and you got Peter denying the Savior. But Paul went on to write 13 books in the Bible, and Peter went on to perform miraculous miracles and live a godly life. Something had to happen. Can you imagine the guilt? We think that we did bad stuff. Can you imagine the guilt of knowing when you step into the light and you see how real God is and how much He loves you? Can you even imagine the guilt that you killed a bunch of people because they believed in what you see now? You can't change that. Something had to happen to make them realize they're forgiven. They got it. Paul, when we read Paul's revelations and understandings, I don't mean the Book of Revelation, I mean his revelation that he had. When we read about the things that he writes about, you know that guy spent time with the Lord. Very wise, not in his own eyes, taught by Jesus himself in Arabia, out in the wilderness. And Paul even says, "Oh, that I may know Him more. Oh, that I may know Him." Do you guys know Him? Is there something lacking in your relationship with God tonight because you're still stuck on yesterday? You're still stuck, maybe 10 years ago. You might still be stuck on what your parents did to you 30 years ago. Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. When you were yet sinners, He died for you. Guys, this isn't just about, "Oh, well, God's a good God. He takes care of me." Because here's the problem. What time is it? Here's the problem. When your whole focus is about what can God do for you, I promise you, you're going to be discouraged. Because what about when you pray for something and it doesn't happen? Now all of a sudden, God's your busboy rather than your Father. And you're not paying a tip because your steak ain't cooked right. We turn it into a beckoning thing where it's like, "Lord, please do this. Please do that." And and a lot of times we come to God with a bunch of requests. It says, "Come to the throne with boldness and confidence." Your hope should rest assured in Him. We give Him thanks for what He's done for us. It's out of a place of gratitude that God can bring increase. He deserves our praise even when things don't look good. If things were always perfect, you wouldn't need faith. And the whole Christian life is built on that principle. [Music] Faith. It's polar opposite of the world. Guys, watch this. How many of you ever heard this? "Well, don't get your hopes. Don't get your." The Bible says, "Get your hope sky-high." "Well, you made the bed." Go. Jesus gave you a whole new life instead. To put the old one away. You got brand new sheets. And He wants to sleep with you. Well, brother, what you don't know won't. Bible says, "People are being destroyed for the lack of knowledge." Sounds to me like we've been trained by a lie. Sounds to me like we've been trained by a lie. That's why Romans says, "You must be transformed by the renewing of your." Why do you think the devil's after our teenagers' minds? Why do you think we have kids going to school saying they're a cat? Can I be real? Because everything flows out of identity. And you got guys wanting to be girls and girls wanting to be guys. Everything. See, the devil's after your identity because he knows that when you see who you are, you'll change things. You're in a war. Here's the thing about war. A lot of times we come to the Lord, and we're, we come to our brother and pastor, "Can you please pray for me? I've been under attack." Brother, who cares if the devil's attacking you? I'm gonna say it. Who cares if the devil's attacking you? He's a liar. So when you hear negative voices in your mind, it can't be God. And if you're hearing negative voices, and He's a liar, why are you feeding into it? Just clip it and replace it with truth. [Music] Can you tell I've been through some things? See, if you preach like this, but you've never actually experienced it, you will be tested in that area to see if you stand. And gold is refined by the fire. But see, it's never about the issue. It's never about the fire, guys. It's not about the fire in the, the fight that you're going through. It's about what you do in that fire. It's about who's with you in the fire. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You guys know that story? The three boys that were in the fire, and they refused to bow down and worship the idol. And they said, "I know my God's a deliverer." Listen, we'd be praying and seeing them turn the furnace on, going, "Oh my God, where are you? God, where are you?" Freaking out. They left their faith in place. They kept their eyes on the Father because they knew God. See, you can't live that way if you don't know Him. You're not going to believe something if you don't understand it. It says, "In all you're getting, get understanding." "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge." And all you're getting, get understanding. Because when you understand how He sees you, you understand what He's given you. A lot of times we ask prayer, and we're on the, we're on the defense, and we're like, "Lord, the devil's attacking me." Who cares? He's giving you the power to over. He's already overcame. You're on the offense. You're on the offense, guys. Take the ball and run with it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fire. We would have seen that freak out. A lot of us freak out. They got thrown in the fire. God didn't stop the fire, but He was in there with them. They said, "Who's that fourth man in there?" It's not about the fire, guys. It's who you take in there with you. Because the fires are going to come. Jesus promised. See, we get this philosophy and somehow through church, years and years of preaching, that once you come to God, everything's peachy. That's false. If anything, you get attacked more because you weren't being attacked in the world because the devil already had you. And the enemy only attacks what's valuable. If you're already living for Him, you're not a threat. But when he starts seeing people like this preach and talk about these things, that's where truth lands. And truth is what makes you free. John 8:32. He doesn't like that. But you have nothing to fear. He's powerless. He's cut off. And he wants you to believe he's powerful because the power that he has is the power you give him. He's been stripped. Now all he can do is lie, manipulate, and try to twist your thinking. And it works very good on a lot of people. And sadly, a lot of believers, because we believe what we see. Bible says, "Put your hopes in what is unseen, not what is seen." Somebody gets hit with cancer or illness, and we freak out. And we call 10 family members, tell them to pray, and then we hang up the phone, and we're in fear. What about understanding that you have a blood covenant with Jesus Christ? And understanding your authority. Listen, guys, when I was a freshman in high school, freshman, 14, sophomores, anything okay? I was about your age, a little younger. I come home from a football game. I didn't play football that year. I played, started playing the next year. So I just went to like, watch the game and see how it was. And I was with some friends, not good influences. And we got jumped by a bunch of skateboarders, and we got in a fight. And I come home. My friend's dad was really ticked off at us. He drops me off at the house. I walk in. My dad comes out in the kitchen. He's like, "Hey, buddy, we need to talk." And I'm like, "Oh God, here we go. Preacher man trying to get me in trouble." I was rebellious at that time. I wasn't this guy. I was high and everything else. And he pulls me in, and he says, "We need to talk. Your mother had a seizure earlier, was carrying the laundry basket down the stairs, and fell down the whole flight of stairs, and she's currently in the ICU, unconscious, on life support." When I left and went to the football game, everything was fine. When I get home, my mom's unconscious on life support. Now my dad has two choices: freak out and let the circumstance control his faith and ask God why He allowed this to happen, or know that He's a good, good Father and that He has the authority to bring healing. Don't let that go over your head. So he, he says to me, "Do you want to go see her? I'm not sure if you want to see your mom in that stage or condition, but I'm going to go see her. Do you want to come?" And at first, I said no. And he said, "I think it would be good for you to come." So I went. And I walk in. I barely recognized her face, swollen, tubes down her throat, tacked, all this stuff. Like, goes my mom. My dad walks up to her, and opens her eyes and goes, "Hey, honey. Your boys are here to see you." What he did. The doctor's looking at him like he's a looney. But I'm looking at him like he's a looney. "Hey, honey, how are you? Boys are here to see you. You're going to be just fine." And I looked to my dad, and I got enraged. I had fits of rage back in. I'd punch holes through doors, break windows, do all kind of stuff. I freaked out. I started screaming and stomped out of the room. The doctors, everyone's looking out the, you know, the other nurses in the other rooms looking out. I'm freaking out. My dad grabbed me. He said, "Buddy, you can't act like this in here." And I said, "I don't know how you can be like this." And I just, I said some choice words, which I would never say in front of my dad, but I said them. "I don't understand. Mom's laying in there ready to die." But he said, "That's the problem. She's not gonna die. She's gonna be okay." Now, some people say he's just in denial, being over-spiritual. The truth is that she's on life support. It doesn't look good. The doctor said she had like a 15% chance of living, and if she did, she'd probably have severe brain damage and be a vegetable. He walks in and opens her eyes and says, "Hey, bud. Hey, honey. Your buddies, boys are here to see you. Everything's going to be okay. We love you." See, because he understood that if the enemy can't get through you, he'll try to attack someone else. And he might even try to work through them. If you find all your hope and confidence and your identity through somebody else, the enemy will use that person to try to tear you down. Because if they don't accept you, then you feel failed. But he understood his faith. And he spoke life. Power of life and death in the tongue. Like I said earlier, when I was running on crack binges, living in crack houses, girl after girl, drug after drug, stolen money, stolen jewelry from people, nasty stuff. Guys, every day looking over my shoulder, wondering when the law's coming. My mom would text me in the middle of the night and say, "I love you, man of God." She would call me that when I wasn't a man of God. I wasn't living like one. But I knew the truth. Guess what? She knew the truth. You mama's prayers are powerful. Don't ever quit praying. You dads too. Dads are called to be the leader of the household. But you mothers, there's something special when you intercede. Do I have any moms in here that's struggling with? They have a kid that's running crazy, or they're believing for something to take place? You do. Like right now, current situation. Can you come up here? I just want to pray for you guys. I just feel this in my heart. Jesus. Boy or girl? Girl, boy. [Music] Or speak children. God, I ask for even just a special transfer from me to them right now. Did it for me. Do it for them, Lord. I speak life over them. I speak healing over them. God, I speak protection over them. Lord, I ask that the Holy Spirit would just come and to manifest in ways that are impossible to be seen. That isn't God. You know it's God when it happens. Situations would arise, circumstances would happen, whatever that looks like. God, that Your power would be made manifest. Get to glory. That You would bring them home, God. Let the love change them right now in Jesus' name. God, I thank You for the warrior women in front of me who have not lost hope, who have not lost sight. God, she has a daughter running crazy, and she's standing here worshiping me. Guys, that says something. Knows God never changes, but He changes people. Father, I thank You in Jesus' name. Peace over their minds. No more restless nights. God, I thank You for peaceful sleep. God, I thank You for sound joy in the morning. Supernatural ability. God, Father, I ask that You would begin to show them visions throughout the daytime of where their children are and what they're doing, that they'd be able to properly intercede. And you, you never stop speaking life over your baby because truth never changes, and it's truth that makes free. So you declare over them what you want to see and what God wants. You know the heart of the Father. It's in you. So we release that grace over their life right now in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Bless you guys. I just felt that in my heart. I had to do [Music] that. Never lose hope, guys.
So my dad speaks this over my mom, and the next day the doctor calls us and they say, "Hey, we don't know what's going on or how to say this, but your wife's awake and she's fine." I believe that if my dad would have gave into fear, she would have died. Now, that's a strong statement because some of you might have lost somebody in a situation like that, and you think, "Man, I wish I would have handled it different. Maybe they'd be there." That's the lies I was talking about earlier. That's the enemy. That's not God. That's not God. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If they died, it wasn't God's fault. If you feel some type of way about it still and feel like it's your fault, that's stealing from you, and that's destroying your current life. That's the three trick off. They're gone, you're upset, and it's taking away your future. That's deep. But life's fragile, and we lose people. We lose them physically, but heaven gains them, and we get to see them again. God doesn't take people, He receives them. It's the enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. God is not responsible for calamity in your life. People say, "Well, brother, the devil's attacking me." Sometimes we're just positioned for it. Now, don't get me wrong, there's spiritual warfare, and things come against you. But if something's attacking you, that means you're probably doing something right. Because why would it attack you if you weren't? If you're living in complete sin and just running crazy, then you're giving the ability to control you anyways, because that's where you're at, and that's where you'll stay until you taste and see the Lord is good. He loves each and every one of you in here with the same amount. See, the world doesn't teach that. The world teaches what you dress like, how you look, how much money you make, what your job profession, if you went to college. God doesn't see that. God could care less about you going to college. God could care less about what you're wearing. God could care less about what kind of car you drive. He cares about your heart. We are so easily tricked into being deceived by outward appearance and what we see, and we think it matters. Guys, kids, it's hard. School's hard. If you're, how many of you in public school? There's peer pressure, and it's a real thing, and you feel like you have to be a certain type of way to get respect. Your whole life, you're trained to either be introverted or to be a fighter. The whole introvert, extrovert, the whole thing. I get people have different personalities. The only reason people feel that way is because they claim it over themselves. Do you know people say, "Well, God gave us emotions, brother." Not the emotions you grew up with. All the negative things we do, and we call it normal. Did you ever see Jesus do it? If He came to show us what was possible when we get born again and be restored back to the Father, and we die to our old self and put on the new. It says, "Put off bitterness, put off anger, put off rage, put off malice, filthy language from your lips, sexual immorality, perversion, all that stuff. Put it off and put on the new." It's impossible to do that if you don't understand how God really loves you.
Listen to this. I found a really cool scripture in my Bible one day, and I'm going to read it. Hopefully, it's still there. I think it might still be there. I found out this is one thing in life you can rely on if everyone else let you down. Listen to this. Romans 8, chapter 30, or Romans chapter 8, verse 39. Remember I was talking about Paul earlier and Peter, and how Paul was killing people when he was Saul, and Peter's denying the Savior of the world, and how something must have clicked and registered to them, "Wow, I'm forgiven." Because it would have been impossible for Paul to go on with his ministry and write so much of this 13 book. It would be impossible for him to do that if he didn't see something. This is Paul's words: "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Going read that again. "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us." I'm sorry, let me, let me go back. Sorry, verse 38. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." You know it's missing on that list? One thing. Does anyone know what it is? Read it again. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." You know it's missing on that list? Your past. You know why? Because it doesn't exist in God's eyes. You know why people feel like they're separated from God? Because of what they did. Because of their past. You're stuck worried about not being close to God because of what you used to do. And He doesn't even know it exists. That opens some eyes up. You, that's, that's not Dan Mohler Jr.'s sermon. That's God speaking through Paul. God said that, not me. The same God you doubt in your heart because of what you used to do and who you used to be, doesn't see that anymore. You're free. And the best thing is, you can be so free from yourself that you can be free from other people. When you realize that you didn't wake up for people to do you right, you're free. If I stand up here and tell you, like, "Look, guys, you can't offend me. There's nothing you can say to drag me down." You, you can look at somebody and say, "Well, they're arrogant." Don't mistake arrogance for confidence because I woke up to love you, not for what you can do for [Music] me. I don't need to know you to love you. I just so happened to know that when I had nothing, God gave me everything. I see that and I understand that. And we're called to be like Him. In fact, He said, "We do greater things." What's that look like? You know, I've prayed for people with cancer, and it went poof and disappeared. And I've prayed for other people with cancer, and they died. And I've prayed for people with scars and marks down their arm from drug use in their past, and nothing happened. And then I prayed for somebody else when I felt like I didn't even have that much faith to do it, and the next day they came freaked out. When I was in a drug rehab program, getting my own life fixed, prayed for somebody out of my heart, and they came back, and they had brand new skin. Some people get weird about that and they said, "Well, I don't believe that." Well, the reason you don't believe it is you'll never see it because you're staying there in that place. I haven't seen this part yet. But my dad, when I, when I'm like, "Dude, that's crazy. You've seen that." How many of you know my dad? Anyone know my dad? Quite a bit. Probably. My dad is Todd White's mentor. You know Todd White? He travels 45, 46 weekends of the year preaching the gospel all over the country, sees miracles after miracle after miracle. He, when I tell him, like, "That's crazy." He's like, "Oh, Daniel, I've seen that thousands of times." It's like he doesn't even phase him anymore. Where he's been preaching at a rehab or a facility or somewhere where people used to have a drug lifestyle like I did, and they start freaking out in the congregation, and the ushers and the deacons think someone's manifesting a devil. But he knows like, "Whoa, whoa, wait. What's going on? Give them the mic." And they're like, "You're preaching about redemption, and I looked at my scars. They're gone. Didn't even pay for them." Guys, in the Bible, they were walking past people, never prayed for them, and they were getting healed by their shadow. And you're going to sit with your analytical mind and say, "Well, that's not possible." Brother, you better watch who you're taking that power from, because He gave you the very breath in your lungs, and now you're denying Him like Peter. Am I okay? I did not have a sermon prepared, guys. I know I'm eating Pizza Hut later. I'm eating a lot of it. This is so cool. You know the Bible says, "Unless you become like a child, you won't inherit the kingdom." Now, we think children, all immature, growing up, whatever. Listen, when you become an adult, you stop growing. Children are constantly growing up. You're called to grow into the fullness of Christ, from glory to glory, and Christ in us is the hope of glory. So if you don't believe He lives inside of you, and you don't believe what I'm saying is true, then you walk out the same. But that's your choice. See, God doesn't force anyone to do anything. You've been given a free will. People say, "Well, I don't want to come to God because I got to do all these things and change all these things." No, He changes them, and you don't want to do them anymore. It's not a book. It's not a book and a list of rules. I used to think being a Christian was, "Why, if I'm a Christian, I do certain things, and I'm nice to people, and I can't do this, and I can't do that because I'm a believer. I'm a Christian." Christian means Christ-like. One Christ in you, Christ-like. One where when you walk into school, guys, people say, "There's something different about him." They might call you weird. That's cool. You're not supposed to look like the world. You're in it, but not of it. What happens when you actually sell yourself out for Jesus, and you're in school, and that same kid comes up to you and makes fun of you and says something to you? Instead of you getting hurt, broken, and offended, all of a sudden the Holy Spirit whispers in your ear and says, "Well, last night his dad was beating on the mom, and he's a heavy alcoholic, and he's been going through a lot of stuff, and he doesn't have anyone to talk to, so he's taking it out on you." And all of a sudden you say, "But look, man, I just feel like, you know, I love the Lord, the one that you're making fun of in me. And I just know what's going on at home, and your dad's been having some situations with your mom, and you don't really know where to turn. But I'll be praying for you." And they go, and they turn white as a ghost. That stuff happens a lot. I was in a service last year in Lexington and preaching like I'm preaching now, and there was this young teenage boy, 18, 20, sitting in the front row like this the whole time. When I did music, when I preached, that was him the whole time. In the flesh, I could see something was going on with him. Like he was upset about something, maybe mad at his parents. Raised in church, like raised him in church. Who knows? I don't know the situation. Well, I do, because I told him it. I'll get to that. I looked at him, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me. See, like, God will never tell you something about someone, especially publicly, to put them down. Prophecy edifies. Words of knowledge, things that encourage people. Not only does it encourage the person giving it, because you know you're hearing God and you're being used by God, He wants to flow through you, but it encourages the person because they know God actually cares about them. Because how in the world would you know that? I've actually had people in store say, "How the blank did you know that?" And they cussed at me. And I'm like, "Are you pray for somebody?" And they say, "Well, I'm not a believer." I said, "Can I pray for you?" They're, "I don't believe in that." I'm like, "I didn't ask you if you believe. I do. Can I pray for you? You're already telling me that you don't believe in it. So if nothing happens, you won't be discouraged. So if we pray, and something does, then what?" So I've had this, this service in in Lexington where there kid sitting there so angry. And at the end, I publicly said, I said, "Hey, buddy. I said, I can tell you've been through some stuff, and you're struggling with some things in your heart right now. But some of the things I said tonight have really hit your heart, didn't." And went cold. I said, "You played high school football, didn't you?" And he went, "I said, running back." And he said, "No." And immediately it was like me like getting ahead of the Lord. Heard, "Outside linebacker." In my ear, the Lord. I said, "You're outside linebacker." And he looked at me like, "How the blank do you know that?" And I said, "Left side." And now he's freaked out. And I said, "Listen, I know you've been dealing with some things as when you grew up in your childhood, and you're still holding your parents accountable for that. But you can't change how they raised you. You can only change what you do with your future now as a young man." And I started speaking into his life. And now, you know what happened? Now it wasn't just coming to a church service, hard-hearted, mad, "Here we go again." Now it's, "Oh my gosh, the Living God that this guy's talking about, that says cares about me, actually just told him a bunch about what else is He going to tell him?" It's the Lord through. He'll do it with everybody. Doesn't make me special. You're just as anointed. I promise. I know there's different callings, there's different things, but we all have one purpose, and that's to shine. And the more that you step out in faith, the more that you're going to activate that, and you're going to see it grow. We get so discouraged where we say, "Well, I never pray for anyone because I prayed for a few people and nothing happens." Well, that's no good because now you're never going to see it, and you'll just become a prophet of that, and you'll believe that, and then you'll create a message out of that or a doctrine that God doesn't do that today or He doesn't want to use me. And you become the very lie that the enemy's trying to turn you into. Who cares if they didn't get healed? You still loved them. Jesus said, "Lay hands on the sick." And the, your prayer doesn't heal people. It's not the way you pray and what you do. It's God through your heart. When you see a need in someone, and you make, make it greater than your own, He moves. Listen, I don't travel the country for free with an 8 MPG bus with a wife who we, well, she was pregnant the first time we started traveling, and then we have a 14-month-old. She still works a full-time job and takes vacation time to come with me because what we do is a unit and a team. I don't do that for free just because I want to have fun. Traveling is not always fun. People see what I do and they're like, "Oh, I want to be around. I want to do this. I want to stop." There's times and I'm like, "Lord, why am I doing this? Why do You have me doing this?" And I'm just getting started. There's, there's sacrifices and cost to come with it. There's so much that goes into what I do that you don't see. And if you're doing it in the flesh, it will wear you down. And that's why you see people discouraged because they didn't do it for the Lord, they did it for them. God is the only thing that can empower me to do what I do. And when I preach, I feel His presence in the room. So He must be okay with how I operate. Do you guys feel the presence of God tonight? I feel it thick. If you don't feel it, I want to challenge you to spend more time with the Lord because it's impossible to feel something, know what it is, if you're not familiar with it. I'm earning that pizza. Pastor with ghost peppers. You guys all right? Listen, when I talk and I say strong things, it's not to spank you and say, "Well, look at you and tell you where you're not." It's telling you where you can be. And if you're not there, I'm patting you on the back and saying, "Come on, you can do it." Not pushing you down and picking you up. Not condemning you and convicting you. So the boot fits, kick it off. Y'all good? Thank you, Jesus. I don't feel the need to do an altar call tonight. Um, but I will do this, and it takes a. I'm not going to call you up to the front, embarrass you, and all that. But God likes humility, and He opposes the proud. If something I said tonight, and don't worry about what people think or you missed the whole message that I just preached, if you feel in your heart right now, "Wow, something spoke to me tonight, and I need to get back on track with the Lord, and there's some areas in my life that have been slipping, and I know I can do better, but He's not mad at me. He cares about me, and He'll bring me back to that place and restore the time that's been stolen." I want you to raise your hand. I'm going to pray for you from right here. Thank you. I honor your obedience. Teenagers, that's amazing. Yeah, that's 50%. That's good. That means I did my job with him. That's why I said you came tonight because you're serious. And what we do is we stir. It's not just another church service, guys. You stir one another up in loving good works. I stirred you up, and you're reacting in love, and now we're going to pray, and good works going to take place in your life. So everyone just stretch your hands, just wherever, and just we're just going to give God the glory for this time. Father, I thank You for the words that went forth tonight, God. The boldness and the confidence You give Your people when we align ourselves with Your will. And God, I'm asking right now, Lord, that You would just fall on the hearts of those who raised their hands tonight. God, soften the hard pieces and restore the broken areas. God, I speak restoration and peace over minds tonight. Restoration over bodies. God, that You would restore the purity and the innocence back into the young ones, even the old. God, I thank You for Your finished work on the cross. God, I ask that You would continue to reveal. Take what I gave them tonight and grow it. Empower them with a new level of boldness. God, a new level of boldness. God, the kids that are going into the school, school place, the adults going into the workplace, Lord, that You would just empower them in a new and a mighty way where they are so caught up in what You've done for them, they can't help but to tell people about it. Not something we have to perform or make it good enough to please You. God, You're already pleased, or You wouldn't have sent Jesus. Make Yourself known. Reveal Yourself to us in a more intimate and deep way. God, we know we've been forgiven for the times that we've strayed off, and we thank You for that forgiveness. So I declare grace and freedom over the house tonight. God, I speak grace over Pastor Daniel and his wife, Pastor Rebecca. God, I just speak grace over them, Lord. Divine wisdom, revelation, fresh revelation. God, Father, strengthen them as shepherds of the house to steward the flock well. Holy Spirit, rest Your presence on these people as they leave out of here tonight. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.