Transcription
[music] Judges 16:18-20. And this is what it says.
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, I'm going to preach this in our relationship series. She sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more. He has told me everything." You got to be careful who you tell stuff to.
>> SO THE RULERS OF THE PHILISTINES returned with silver in their hands after putting him to sleep on her lap. Watch whose lap you lay in.
>> Uhoh.
>> That's right.
>> And if you ain't got a ring, don't be laying in no laps.
>> And and don't be letting him lay in your lap. Amen.
>> Praise God. After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair and so began to subdue him. Watch this. And his strength >> left him.
Verse 20 says, "Then she called Samson." Now you want to act surprised.
>> THE PHILISTINES ARE UPON YOU. He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." Watch this. But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
>> Let me say that again cuz some of y'all might be sleep. He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before. I'll do what I've been doing this entire time. It's worked before. It should work again. and I'll shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had left him."
I'm going to conclude the reading of our scripture there. I'm going to add a title to this text. Living off leftovers.
>> Living off living off leftovers. Father, I pray that you would help us to hear this word. Help me to teach this. Father God, I pray that you be in in the midst of this room. Thank you that you're already here. We love you. We praise you. We thank you. In Jesus name, we all say,
>> "Amen." Amen.
Family, let me start our message today with a statement that will guide us for the next few moments. If you're not careful, anything repeatedly experienced can slowly lose its wonder. Let me say that one more time. If you're not careful, anything repeatedly experienced can slowly lose its wonder. In other words, with time and repetition, you can get used to anything. Let me break this down for you. You can get used to pressure if you face it often enough.
>> You can get used to pain if it's something that you face often enough. You can get used to success if you win enough. You can get used to attention if you get it enough.
Let me press on this cuz y act like y'all don't want to talk to me. Have you ever met somebody and you like this is the first time you got attention? You're like, "Yeah, this is this is new." But the real BUT YOU CAN TELL, WATCH ME. BUT THAT FEELING slowly subsides if you get it enough. You can get used to your routine if you do it enough. You can get used to having influence and being impactful if you do it enough. What I'm saying is human beings have an incredible ability to normalize things that once shocked them.
>> Let me say that one more time. Human beings have an incredible ability to normalize things that once shocked them.
Now, some of you don't know this, but but but I played college sports. And as a child, I used to dream about playing in a stadium in front of people. And I was the type of kid that used to run around in my apartment complex, throw the ball to myself, and I would imitate the crowd. I'd be like, "David scores a touchdown." [sighs] And I would imagine hearing thousands of people JUST SCREAM, "HE SCORES AGAIN."
>> [sighs]
>> And I and I could close my eyes and I could see people sitting in the sense and I WAS LIKE I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I GET THIS OPPORTUNITY. I was blessed to go and I'll never forget the first time running out on the field at Kyle Field in Texas&M and I remember running out and seeing 105,000 people and I was like, "Oh my goodness, this feeling is something I'll never get used to." Eight weeks later, it felt like another Saturday. Watch me. And the thing that used to be the impossible dream to me eventually became my expectation.
>> It used to be the thing that I dreamed of and eventually it was just the thing that I expected that I will walk out. I'm like, man, we only saw 90,000 people today. What happened?
>> And watch me. And the thing that I loved was just another day. See, but it's not just adults because children that that it's something that is innate that that my daughter's two and for her second birthday last year, I always dreamed I said, "Man, baby, I'mma I'mma buy my baby a swing set. I'm going to get her a little playset in the backyard." And I got it and listen to me. She thought I was the best dad in the world. She, "Daddy, daddy, thank you so much. Oh, I love you so much." Every day we'd be driving home from school. She'd be like, "Daddy, I want to go to playground. Dad, I want to go to playground." 6 months later, that baby don't talk about that at all. We get home and she like do you want to go to the playground? Nah. And I'm like, AT ONE POINT IN TIME IT WAS EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANTED, but now it's just something that you have and it's just become another thing to add on to the list. Watch me. Because anything repeatedly experienced can slowly lose its wonder.
>> Let me contemporize this. What once that's why what's what once made you cry eventually stopped moving you. What once made you grateful eventually becomes expected. What once made you dependent eventually becomes routine. What once drove you to your knees eventually became something that you just casually managed. And if we're honest, that's one of the most dangerous things about human nature is our ability to adapt and make things normal. Because listen to me, something that we've learned is that familiarity has a way of removing wonder. And anything, listen to me, write this down. Anything you stop being in awe of, you eventually stop protecting properly.
>> Let me say that again. We have a saying in our church that notetakers are
>> world changers.
>> World changers. Anything you stop being in awe of, you eventually stop protecting properly. Let me come down your row really quickly. That's why marriages drift.
>> Wow.
>> Because at one point in time, she was your everything. and you remember the vows that you read and then at some point in time she's just the woman that you live WITH THAT HE USED TO BE THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS and then you recognize that he wasn't perfect and now he's just the guy that you live with. MARRIAGES DRIFT BECAUSE YOU STOP BEING IN AWE OF WHAT GOD HAS BLESSED you with and then it just becomes something that you don't protect and because you don't protect it eventually becomes normal. When it becomes normal becomes common and when it becomes common you start looking at other people and thinking that they're uncommon when you have something that's uncommon. THAT'S WHY YOU SEE SO MANY PEOPLE LEAVE RELATIONSHIPS because it got normal.
>> And you start looking at somebody else grass and you like, well, look what they do. If you don't focus on your stuff,
>> THAT'S WHY MARRIAGES DRIFT. LET ME COME DOWN HERE A LITTLE BIT MORE. THAT'S WHY FRIENDSHIPS DRIFT. She used to be your bestie for the resty.
>> That was your partner for life.
>> And then watch me. And then you normalize something that God said was abnormal and now it's just something that's common. Watch me. That's why people drift from purpose because it was once something you used to be so thankful that God called you to serve and now it's just another task that you got to do. Watch me. That's why people drift. Let me press into this a little bit more. That's why people drift from God
>> because you stop being in awe and you stop protecting your relationship with him. And watch me. This I want you to know is that people don't I want you to write this down. People don't always walk away intentionally. Because what I want to teach you in this is that sometimes we hear that it's like, well, I'm not trying to walk away. It's that's not the things you have to be worried about. Most people don't intentionally walk away, but it be happens gradually because what once was sacred slowly started feeling normal. Is this making sense?
>> And hear me, one of the greatest dangers spiritually is when holy things stop feeling holy. Yeah.
>> When holy things stop feeling holy to you. When it just becomes something that's normal. Watch me. When prayer just becomes routine and not something that's actually coming from your heart.
>> When it becomes words that you just say before you eat but not something that you're really trying to speak with God.
>> When it becomes a box that you check and not something that not trying to build something with God. Watch me. When worship just becomes routine and it just becomes listening to a song rather than offering up your praise to God.
>> When tithing becomes, well, I'm just doing this so God don't get mad at me. Instead of seeing it as worship and what it is that you're actually doing instead of giving begrudgingly and saying, "Nah, God, I'm going to give cheerfully." Because this is not a routine. This is something I'm doing out of reverence and obedience. When serving just becomes something that you do and not a part of who you are. When church just becomes a routine. Let me say something about that. When it stops BECOMING THE THING THAT'S FEEDING YOUR SOUL and where you're being equipped and led, it just becomes a box that you check and post that you was there.
>> When it's no longer holy to you, it's just another day. It's just another moment. Watch me. When disciplehip becomes a word that you look at on TikTok and not a lifestyle that you live. WHEN ACCOUNTABILITY JUST BECOMES AN IDEA BUT NOT A TRUTH THAT YOU WANT to actually live in. When presence and when God's presence stops being so incredible and it just starts to feel familiar. It should scare you when you're in the midst of church and you used to feel God's presence and now it's just we're just waiting to go to the next song. It should watch me. It should run something. You should feel something in your heart when you're saying, "Well, I don't need to get there for worship. I just want to hear the word. Oh, y'all not going to talk to me. Don't worry about it. I'm trying to show you something [snorts] is that familiarity can make miraculous things feel common. Let me speak to some of Okay, let me speak to some of my people who have been at this church for a long time. Is that you've seen the church grow and because you've always seen the church grow, you think that it's normal for churches to grow like this. And if you're not careful, you'll get arrogant and prideful like it's something that we did and not something that God breathed.
>> This may not be for the new times. This may be for the dream teamers. But if you get arrogant, it is watch me. It is scary to think that we we ain't build this. God built this.
>> So the THING IS WHEN HOLY THINGS stop feeling holy, you can find that the miraculous things start to feel common. Watch me. And if you're not intentional, you can become so used to God moving in your life that you're not even aware of it anymore. So used to God blessing you, blessing your marriage, opening up doors, walking in favor, God speaking to you, God using you. Watch me that you stop pursuing him with the same desperation that you once had.
>> That you can become it is possible to be so familiar with what that what with what God does through you that you stop prioritizing being with him. And that is how we turn God into a transactional God. I come to you so you can help me do what I need to do, but I don't come to you because I want to be with you. You're just a person who gives me what I need when I need to get it done, but I don't ever want to be with you just to be with you. It is transactional. Are y'all with me?
>> This is what I'm trying to show you is that you can get so comfortable with the gift that God gives you that you lose the wonder of the giver. Now let me come down your row really quickly. She said you already did once more because this is the thing is that some of us gotten so much into the routine of Christianity that the same that the moments that should move you don't move you anymore. Some of us can look back into this and think of a time when worship used to bring you to tears and now we're more concerned of whether or not they're singing the song that we prefer. Wow.
>> Some of us remember when we used to come to church and take notes and really be diligently trying to figure out what God is doing in our life. And sometimes it's like, [sighs] I'm going to go watch another sermon when I leave.
>> And we don't watch me. We don't watch a sermon to be fed. We watch a sermon to be entertained.
>> Some of us remember when his presence used to break us. Some of us remember the times when you used to get convicted when you did that thing.
>> You knew what you felt when you was driving to that house you should have been driving to
>> and you ignored it the whole time on your way over there. And now you drive now you bring a whole bag and it don't bother you no more. YOU REMEMBER?
>> YOU REMEMBER WHEN talking like that used to make you cringe
>> and now it's like, "Oh, this is all I do."
>> You remember, WATCH ME. YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU FIRST GOT INTO THE FAITH and you were on fire and then you met some other Christians who have learned to watch me to skate around their lifestyle. And so you've learned, watch me, how to publicly perform.
>> Am I talking to anybody?
>> YOU REMEMBER THE TIMES. THIS IS THE REALITY of it. But when you miss that, watch me. You miss that because somewhere along the way, routine replaces reverence. And so what I'm learning to do is I'm learning how to perform publicly,
>> how to function publicly, how to work publicly, how to lead publicly. This is one of the greatest dangers. This is one of the greatest dangers for people who grew up in the church
>> is because you learned how to Oh Lord, let me let me say this the right way. some and not not everybody but if some of us who grew up in the old church is that people prioritize what they saw you do not what they didn't know about you doing and so the reality of it I just learned watch me I just learned how to get away with it so you watch me you didn't learn how to live better you learned how to lie better
>> all right let me keep going
>> and you're living publicly
>> while slowly drifting privately And this is the scary thing is I want you to hear about this. I want you to write this word down in your notes. Drifting. Drifting. Because the reality is this. Drifting is not something that happens quickly.
>> This is the other thing. It's not something that happens loudly. is something that happens subtly, gradually, quietly. It's something that just happens. Watch me. It happens one distracted season at a time.
>> One prayerless week at a time,
>> one compromised decision at a time. Yeah,
>> this is the reality is that I'm just going to do it today. I'm just going to do it on this trip.
>> I'm I'm I'm just It's okay. I I This is just a busy week for me. This is just okay. You know, they don't really mean that they're not bad influences. They're working on themselves, too. One compromise at a time,
>> slowly. I tell this story about when my wife tricked me into taking on a baby moon for the for Zoey and uh where my feelings at? I'm fine, y'all. But but we went on a baby moon and I'll never forget that I told her I was like, "Yo, like I'mma go, you know, I'mma go out in the ocean right there, but I'm I didn't seen too many shark movies, so I wasn't going to go too far." And I remember I stayed and I intentionally said that I'm going to stay right by the shore. And I was crazy enough to just I'm feeling myself. I'm there and I'm just I'm just I closed my eyes and I'm like, "Man, God, you just so good." Like, I'm just out here in the I'm out here in the water. This is a great time. And I must have closed my eyes for about 5 seconds cuz I ain't that crazy. And I looked up and I was so far from the shore. And I kept asking myself, "How you get all the way out here?" Well, because watch me. I got too comfortable. I closed my eyes. I let my guard down. And I did not fight against the current.
>> Compromise took me out further than anything I could have imagined.
>> That's how drifting works.
>> Well, I just kind of turned my, you know, I don't have to be so spiritual over here.
>> I don't have it ain't that serious over here.
>> Well, I know he don't really love God, but he said he'll work on it. She don't really love Jesus. She just got I mean, but she got Philippians 4:13 in her bio. So, or y'all know what y'all like to do. Proverbs 31. Woman don't even got a church home. That's crazy. Um, let me stay forward. Let me go this way. Drifting just takes you out one season. Listen, if you got Proverbs 31 in your bio, forgive me. [laughter] Unless you're not at a church, then then find you a church. So, this right here, one compromise at a time. Watch me. One moment of spiritual casualness
>> at a time. And one day, watch me, you wake up and you're functioning off memory rather than intimacy. I'm doing what I know to do instead of being with God.
>> And what does that mean? You're living off leftovers. And this, watch me, this is exactly where we find Samson in our text today. Before we get to Samson, before we get to our text, I want to remind you, we're in a series called Gifted. Somebody say Gifted.
>> Gifted.
>> And And this is what I want you to know. I want you to write this down because this is the premise of our series is that God never created anyone empty. God never, hear me, God never created anyone empty. That there's not a person in this place that God has not divinely, strategically, and sovereignly through his grace place gifts on the inside of you. Watch me. That are meant to glorify him and impact others. Let me say that more condensed so you can write it down because I know some of y'all are transcribers. He said God never created anyone empty. That everyone has divine gifting that is meant to glorify God and impact others. Right? So that means that your gift is not for you. Your gift is meant to glorify God. So we all have gifts. Watch me. And God cares about how we steward our gifts. You think about this and if you're here for the beginning of our series that we start off talking about the lie of not enough where the enemy tries to sew this seed of insecurity and inadequacy and we're when we tackled this what I call the epidemic of insignificance where people just feel like what they do and who they are in the kingdom doesn't really matter. One of the reasons why I feel like we see such a um why some people are so hesitant or reluctant to join churches is because they feel like me being here doesn't really change my life or change its life. I don't feel like I really move the needle. Why some people don't feel like but they don't recognize that God could use you to change your family to change your friends to change your job to change everybody around you that God wants to do something. The lie of not enough is from hell.
>> And then we went over to next week which was last week and we talked about practice makes purpose which it doesn't matter if God gives you a gift if you don't develop it.
>> And how some of us watch me that you're so anointed but you're also so lazy.
>> I'm not going to preach it again. But the reality is is that God didn't just give you a gift just so you can sit on the gift and hide it. But God wants you to develop your gift so that you can use it. Amen.
>> But then today we're going to talk about something because God doesn't just care about how we steward our gifts. God also cares about how we steward our relationship with the giver.
>> And so since we're all gifted, but let me say this, there's not many people in the history of the world that were more gifted than Samson. If you're not familiar with the life of Samson, the Bible shows us that he is the strongest man to ever walk the earth. The strongest man to ever. He's one of the greatest warriors to ever walk the earth. Samson was gifted. The Bible tells us that Samson was so strong that one day when he was walking, a lion came upon him and he didn't just kill the lion. See, David said this, that I grabbed it by its mane and I beat it with my club. He was saying, Samson said, "I don't need none of them weapons." The Bible says he tore him in half with his bare hands.
>> Yeah.
>> This is, watch me, and this is not allegorical. This is literal. He literally ripped the lion in half. If that wasn't enough, the Bible says that one day he took the jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand people.
>> Yes, sir.
>> At one time,
>> 10 TOES DOWN, RIGHT, BY HIMSELF. MY DADDY WOULD SAY like this, Samson was a bad man.
>> Samson had godgiven strength. Samson was gifted. But watch me. Before Samson was ever gifted, he was called.
>> I feel like shouting. Before you were ever gifted, you were called. Before you ever had a gift, God had a purpose for your life. God never created anyone empty. Which means God never created anyone without a gift. But he also never created anyone without a calling.
>> And I have to say this because some of us walk around and we think that God is trying to figure out your calling. Why you trying to figure it out? They'll be like, "Man, God, I know you just waiting to see what you going to do with me." Just because you're unaware doesn't mean God is.
>> And look, WATCH ME. THIS IS HOW YOU CAN SEE BIBLICALLY THAT WE KNOW THAT THAT THOUGHT PROCESS IS INCORRECT. Because if you were to go to Jeremiah chapter 1, we see a conversation that God had with Jeremiah. He says, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I KNEW YOU." WATCH ME. BEFORE YOU WERE EVER FORMED, I KNEW YOU. WHICH IS SAYING THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN A SURPRISE to your parents, but you weren't a surprise to me.
>> THAT WATCH ME. YOU'RE NOT AN ACCIDENT. YOU WERE INTENTIONAL. AND BEFORE I EVEN FORMED YOU, THEY MIGHT HAVE MADE YOU, BUT I formed you. I'm the one that shaped you. I'M THE ONE THAT GIFTED YOU. AND I DIDN'T DO IT WITHOUT REASON. I DID IT BECAUSE I CALLED you to be a prophet to the nations.
>> AND I SET YOU APART, which shows that he formed you. He knew you. He assigned you. And if he assigns you, he assigned purpose to your life. Which means, watch me. You're called even if you can't see it.
>> You have a calling even if you can't discern it yet. You're called even if you don't know it. That you're called even when you can't perceive it. You're called even when you are walking away from God. You're called even when you're far from God. You are called. Somebody say, "I'm called."
>> So Samson was called. We first learned of this calling in Judges chapter 13. Can I teach this really quickly? We first learn of this calling in Judges chapter 13. When the angel of the Lord comes to a woman who was childless and unable to give birth, we always got to pay attention. For any of us that are Bible nerds in here or you want to be, there's you should always study about when God opens up the womb of a woman in the Bible to give birth to something.
>> Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
>> Something special happens when there's a miraculous birth that comes forth.
>> So, watch this. And so God comes to her and says, "Hey, you haven't had a child yet, but you're going to have a baby." And and he's not just any baby. There's a calling on his life. Because if you were to go through the book of Judges that we see that there's this consistent cycle of the Israelites worshiping God, turning away from God because other things look better to them, and then they want to live that life, and then God ends up giving them over to their desires. And then they see that their desires actually are putting them in prison and shackled and bound. And then they turn around and say, "God, we didn't mean it. can you just save us again? And God says, "Okay, I'll raise somebody else up, which was a judge." Somebody say, "Judge."
>> Judge.
>> So, he would raise a judge up and he would deliver them and they would lead them out of bondage and out of oppression. And they would say, "God, thank you for doing this. We love you." And then they would do it again. And then it was this cycle of saying, "God, if you get me out of this, I'll never do it again." And they went back and did it again. And so Samson was a judge.
>> And he tells his mom, "Listen, he's special. But because he's special, I have special instructions
>> that there's specific things that you have to do as the mother who's caring him. Things that you have to abstain from, that you have to withhold yourself from. People that you cannot hang with because I can't let what's on them get in him."
>> Watch me. This is for my parents in here. Which is why you have to make sure that you train a child up in the way that they should. You have to train a child up in a way they should go. Watch me because you're not just raising children. You're raising solutions.
>> Some of y'all, oh, we some of us would raise our children differently if we recognized that God had a purpose on their life before they ever came here.
>> God called him and said, "Hey, listen. There's a couple things you can't do that that that that you got to, you know, you can't touch any dead things. You can't get drunk. And hey, by the way, don't cut his hair. Never cut his hair. This is what the the Bible describes in the book of Leviticus as a Nazerite vow. And and and and the thing is is that we see all throughout history people taking what is called a Nazerite vow. Easy. And and and what it is, is they will say these these three things. Hey, I'm not going to touch any dead things. I'm not going to get drunk and and and I'm not and I'm not going to cut my hair. And and but majority of people watch me took this seasonally. So they did not take it indefinitely. It's like, hey, I'm going to go through a season of fasting, maybe 18 months, and and what it is, and I'm not going to cut my hair. The reason being is because I want people to look at me and know that I'm set apart.
>> Don't miss this. I want people to know my life by when they just see me from afar. And what a Nazerite was saying. I'M NOT CUTTING MY HAIR CUZ I want you to know who I belong to before you ever even walk up to me.
>> Are y'all with me? And Samson didn't just take this for a season. Samson had to take this vow for his life.
>> Okay? Okay. Am I in the book?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Okay. And so what happens is is that the Bible says that he's living his life and he's living according to these um to to these rules until he don't. If you remember that line that I spoke about is that when he ripped that line apart, Samson was on his way to Timna to go marry and try to date a girl that he should not have been dating.
>> I know none of us ever been there before. And so he's going and on his way back, he sees the lion that he killed and it's a carcass now. And it says, "Bees had nestled on the inside long enough to create a honeycomb inside. And Samson sees something that he likes inside of something that he should not touch.
>> Samson sees SOMETHING THAT HE'S FORBIDDEN FROM, but he likes some on the inside of it.
>> I'm going to preach a sermon called I can't touch that. Because the reality is, Lamar is that he sees the lion, but he also sees the honey and he's just like, "Well, what if I can get the honey without touching it
>> and finds a way?" The Bible tells if I can move fast. He goes in and touch the honey. He eats some of it and he moves on. Compromise
>> a little at a time.
>> Walks a little bit further. The Bible tells us that Samson's at a wedding and the Bible implies that he is drunk because he's now arguing with drunk people and doing and having a bribe and a wager and placing bets about certain things and and he's telling these riddles and the Bible says that that he's there and and he's acting out of character. So, we're drifting a little bit more and then we get into Judges chapter 16 where he meets a beautiful woman called Delilah and all of a sudden he in her lap drifting once again in the midst of that. Watch me. The Bible says that he goes and she's like, "Well, can you tell me where your strength is, and he begins to lie in the middle of the night, boom, the Philistines come in, he shakes himself free, kills him." Now, we would say, "What type of dummy would go back to that lap?"
>> You and me. Thought you had a friend over here, huh? Who would be dumb enough to keep going back to a relationship that's bad for them? Who would be dumb ENOUGH TO KEEP HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS that keep leading THEM TO SIN? WHO WOULD BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO KEEP PUTTING THEMSEL in compromising positions? This me.
>> Who would be crazy enough? US. THAT'S THE REALITY OF IT.
>> And then what HAPPENS IS, BUT WATCH ME. EVERY SINGLE TIME
>> they bumrushed him.
>> Yeah.
>> He broke himself free
>> and said, "Oh, I shake myself free and I kill him until Judges 16:18-20."
>> Right. Right.
>> Judges 16:18-20. Watch what it says really quickly is that it says, "Then she called Samson. The Philistines are upon you." Keep in mind he had finally told her. She cut his hair in the middle of his sleep.
>> Oh, that's why you got to watch who you lay down with.
>> And if you're not married, stop laying down.
>> I'm All right. Let me Lord, bring me back, Jesus, cuz I'm about to get upset. Watch me. She cut his hair. The Bible says in verse 19, the very last the very last line in verse 19 says, "Then his strength left him, breath." So this what happened. Judges chapter 16 verse verse 20. Then she called Samson. The Philistines are up on you. Now you want to act surprised. You done set me up every week. And now you over hacking like you don't know what's going down. Watch this. He awoke. That's a word in itself. He awoke from his sleep. And watch this. Don't miss this. That's why we have to not just read the Bible. We got to study the Bible.
>> It says he awoke. And when you wake up, the first thing that's natural to you comes to mind. He say, "Oh, it's the same thing. I'll just gonna shake myself free. We done been here before, right? Like I done I done faced this battle. You You know how we all know how this go. I'm break it and I'mma kill you." But he did not know
>> that the Lord had left him. Watch me. He had no idea. In other words, Samson got up saying, "My gift has gotten me out of this so many times.
>> Surely, it'll do it again."
>> Now, watch me. Samson had gotten so familiar with his gift that he had lost sight of the giver.
>> Which leads us to our big idea. Write this down. The greatest danger is not losing your gift. It's becoming so familiar with what God gave you that you stop pursuing himself. Because I think this is the thing. So often we get afraid of what happens if I lose my gift. And that's the least of your worries.
>> What happens if you lo if you keep your gift but lose your relationship with God?
>> That's why the Bible says, "What does it profit a man to gain the world but lose his soul?"
>> But the reality is this. If you have an improper metric system, you're okay with losing God if it gives you your gift.
>> Which is why we see so many people put their relationship with God on the altar for success.
>> Amen.
>> This is the reality. So the greatest danger is is not losing your gift is becoming so familiar with God and what he gave you that you stop pursuing God himself. Hear me. Listen to me. You're gifted and you're called, but so is Samson. And his familiarity with his gift led him to believe that his gift would save him and not his God.
>> Yeah. No good.
>> Because this what you ought to recognize. His strength wasn't in his locks.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh my. If Don't ever miss this.
>> THE POWER WAS NOT IN HIS THE BIBLE SAID HE HAD seven braids. THE THE POWER WAS NOT IN HIS HAIR.
>> IT WAS IN HIS COVENANT.
>> YEAH.
>> You can't MISS THAT. AND WHAT HAPPENS IS IS WHEN HE FINALLY GOT HIS HAIR CUT, IT WAS A SYMBOL OF THAT I DON'T BELONG TO YOU ANYMORE.
>> And he didn't even know
>> that God wasn't there.
>> The greatest danger ain't losing your gift. Let me even share. The greatest danger is not losing your bank account.
>> The greatest danger is not losing your losing whatever your business. That's not the greatest. Would that be a tragedy? Absolutely. The greatest danger is losing your relationship with God.
>> And the reality is this is that we see a lot of things in in in the life of Samson that that that us as gifted people can learn because hear me I say this, you're gifted and I don't want you to lose sight on that. But I don't want you because we're talking about gifts for for five weeks. And I I don't want you to get so caught up on the fact that you're gifted that you don't recognize that there's a giver.
>> Write this down. Point number one, familiarity with your gift can create complacency with God. I said that fast. I said, "Y'all looked at me." Familiarity with your gift. She said, "Uh-uh. I got the mic." Can create Familiarity with your gift can create complacency with God, right? It can create complacency with God. What? What? What? What am I saying? Samson got used to winning. Like, don't I don't want you to forget about this. I and for for us that are that have been in in competitive sports before um is that you know what happens when you get on a winning streak.
>> You just feel like you can't lose. And and watch me. And for those of us that play at a high level, you can always tell when people get so used to winning that they feel like they ain't got to work no more.
>> And it's kind of like Yeah. It's if if if you watch basketball, you start looking at people like Steph Curry, he's hitting all these shots. There's something that you do called a heat check. And it's kind of you making so many shots that you feel like you can't miss. So you just start shooting from anywhere and you feel like man it a I ain't seen one not go in and you and so what happens is is watch me is that sometimes you can get so used to things working out that you start even trying to do it wrong.
>> SAMSON GOT USED TO WINNING. HE GOT USED to strength. He got used to moments. He got used to power. Now watch me. This is a rebuke to some and a warning to others because for some of you your gift has blessed you and now it's becoming a burden to you
>> because watch me because before every time before this moment let me prove this to you. Every time before this moment Samson shook himself his power came. We read this. We went through the book right? Every time God showed up. THERE WAS NEVER A MOMENT THAT God did not show up
>> right
>> until he didn't. And Samson, watch me. Samson got so used to his gift working, Kim, that he got entitled to it.
>> And this is the thing, and some of us in here, this is my warning or rebuke, is because some of us in here have gotten so familiar with your gift or your anointing that you stop pursuing God deeply. Now, let me contemporize this because y'all looking at me like, y'all don't know. Some of y'all prayed way harder until you got the job.
>> You used to cry in that apartment. You got that house and now you ain't got the time to worship in the same.
>> So watch me. Watch me. You fasted and now you make six figures. So you don't feel the need to do that anymore.
>> SOME OF YOU WATCH ME. YOU STARTED WINNING AND YOU like and you want to know what the one of the greatest Oh my. You want to know what the greatest tragedies is and one of the greatest temptations is winning and feel like God didn't help
>> cuz you can convince yourself I don't even know if I need this right now. Watch me and you start to drift. Oh, I did this without prayer. You know, I never forget that I used to get so nervous. Um but when I worked in corporate I used to give presentations and sales um pitches to sea and I'll never forget the very first presentation I had to do um was from a CEO in in in Toronto Canada and and I was out there and I was throwing up nervous at my hotel before I drove there and I remember that I prayed so hard and God showed up but I also remember the first time I gave a presentation and I didn't feel like I needed to pray because I said oh I do this I'm good I'm one of the top employees of my like I I'm good. And watch what I did. I thought that I had just grew in my gift, which I did. But I also grew to the point where I felt self-sufficient instead of dependent.
>> Samson's gift was never supposed to make him independent.
>> It was to create dependency.
>> And the thing is is IF YOU GET SO USED TO WINNING, you can get complacent with God. Watch me. Your past success can make you spiritually casual.
>> I want you to write this down. Spiritual complacency. Spiritual complacency. Spiritual complacency. When I don't feel the need to push any further in my relationship with God, I'm content. Do you know what spiritual complacency looks like? I'm give you a second. I see y'all stay right. Do you know what spiritual complacency looks like? It looks like surviving off of old encounters.
>> It looks like, watch me. It looks like having an old conviction. It looks like living. Watch me. It looks like going into your next season off of an old prayer life. It it I say this every week is that we got to be careful. You can't go into a new season with an old word, right? That you can't go into a you can't go into your marriage season acting like a boyfriend, right? Like you can't go into your next place acting like your last place and you can't go into watch me you can't take on God's new assignment with your old prayer life.
>> Is this making sense?
>> There there's a reason why in the Bible it says give us this day our
>> do you know why it said that? Because in the Old Testament you go back and look in the book of Exodus when mana came that ref that in the Lord's prayer that is referencing mana that we saw in the Old Testament when they were in the wilderness. And what God would tell them every single day is he said, "Hey, listen. Only gather enough of what you need today."
>> Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
>> He said, "If you gather anymore, it's going to spoil unless it's on the sixth day, because on the Sabbath, I'm not going to rain and bring it down anymore. So, you need to take enough for that day." Are y'all with me?
>> Why do you think God did that? He was trying to train them into dependency,
>> sir.
>> And what would happen is people would still be like, "Well, what if he forget?"
>> And they would take a little extra. and they would wake up the next morning and the Bible said it would be spoiled
>> because God was trying to say you can't live today off of yesterday.
>> Leftovers ain't going to get you through your calling. You need fresh encounters. You need a fresh prayer life. You need a FRESH WORSHIP. YOU GOT TO BE WITH God now. You can't just live off of how you were with him.
>> We see that Samson was living off of leftovers. Second thing we can learn is this and this is a dangerous one is that you can lose sensitivity before you lose functionality.
>> You can lose sensitivity before you lose functionality. What does that means practically is that you can keep living and leading and working and your gift can still be and your gift can still be working but you can still be drifting at the same time. Right? This is the thing. The most terrifying part of the entire scripture is this. Heaven says he [snorts] did not know. Think about this. Samson had been walking with God since a boy.
>> And the Bible says he didn't see the the Bible could have easily said that the strength had left him,
>> right? And Samson could have woke up and been like, "Man, I'm they got me." But the Bible says he woke up. Think about how spiritually disconnected you have to be.
>> For him to be gone and you ain't even know he not there.
>> Think of watch me. THINK ABOUT HOW FAR GONE YOU GOT TO be
>> to be living in a house with your spouse and not know that they not there no more. HOW DISCONNECTED DO you have to be
>> TO BE RAISING YOUR child and not know they've been checked out from LISTENING TO YOU? HOW disconnected do you can you be
>> that the GOD THAT HAS BEEN WALKING WITH YOU SINCE YOU WERE a baby
>> ain't there no more.
>> And this is the thing. is easier than you think because if you equate people's applause to God's presence,
>> if you equate, watch me, your gift working to God being present, then you'll start to think, well, I just don't feel him the same, but I'm still getting the results. And if you're not careful, you'll begin to watch me value the results and the benefits of the gift while not now, while not checking to see if the giver is still present. And do you know how you maintain watch me maintain your sensitivity? Intimacy.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Watch me. If you are not intimate with God consistently, if you're not in your word, I say this all the time. Let me say it again for those of new. I'm not your God. Blueprint, not your God. If I'm the only Bible you hear every week, that's a problem. You should be reading your Bible. You should be worshiping outside of the 19 minutes that they're singing up here. You should be praying more than when you just before you eat. And when I say now unto him, you should have an active, spiritual, engaging life. And now watch me because I'm about to offend some of y'all. And that doesn't mean just listening
To more podcasts and more sermons [applause] because some of us are so lazy, lazy in our engagement that we rather listen to more people preach to us and not apply what's being preached. Amen.
Some of y'all don't need to turn on another podcast. You don't need another sermon. Do it. Go in your closet and pray. Turn on a song in worship and don't just try to find the songs that you like. Sing what, what does he want to hear? Is this making sense? That the familiarity with your gift can create complacency.
Last thing I want to know is this, because this is the danger. Your gift was never meant to replace God. Now, some of y'all are like, "Pastor Matt, of course." Like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not trying to exchange God for my gift. But let's go back to that word that we wrote earlier, drift. Sometimes we don't understand that we've slowly replaced God through our drift. Like, no, not many people are openly saying like, "Yeah, I'd rather be gifted be with God's presence." Like, not many people have that type of desire. But the reality is this is often times believers, disciples fall into this all the time.
Do you know why it was so, why the Israelites fell into idolatry so often into the Old Testament and why it's documented so frequently? Because it's so much easier than you think. We've equated idolatry only down to, "Am I, did I build a statue and am I bowing down to it?" But anything that makes you hesitate to obey God for it is an idol in your life. Anything that you have to check with before you do what God said is an idol in your life. Anything, watch me, that makes you hesitate in any area of obedience is an idol in your life.
And sometimes the idol in your life are not bad things. It's you just put them in a bad place. Because your children can be an idol. They're not bad. They're, they're a gift from God. Bible says they're quivers, that they're arrows in your quiver. They're beautiful. But when you start to idolize your child and being a mom or a dad over being a disciple, it's idolatry. The gift and the leadership that you have, the business that you have, it's a blessing. God gave it to you. The gifts are supposed to work. That's why he gave them. But they're not supposed to distract you from being with God.
I said this in the very first week is that when the enemy knows he can't take your gift, he'll just try to pervert your gift. Yes, sir. Or he'll try to pervert the way you see your gift. And some of us have got putting so much into the thought of our gift and what we do with it that you don't even recognize. You've slowly taking God down and you've put it up. And so now your gift is your identity, not in Christ. Now your hope is in your gifting and in your business, not in Christ. Watch me. Now your dependency is on the 1st and the 15th, not in Christ. Now your joy and your happiness is in your gift, not in Christ. You see how that works easily. It was never meant to replace God.
This is what I want you to know. God never wanted us to be so gifted that we stopped needing him. And do you know how we protect ourselves from this? Remembering this one thing. God is the greatest gift. His son was the greatest gift. And when you fight for your wonder, fight [snorts] for your awe, it will change everything. You're gifted. I've known this from the beginning. We're, we're an incredibly gifted church and I'm so thankful for it. But we got to be rooted in what matters most, which is making sure that we're aligned with God. Amen.
Let me pray for you. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we love you. We thank you. Yeah. God, there's nobody like you, God. I feel led to do this. Um, God, there's some of us in here that just want to say sorry. Um, and I've been here multiple times, Father. Sorry for the times that we ran so fast feeling like we were working for you, God, that we stopped being with you. So, Father God, we just repent. God, we ask that you forgive us and we're thankful that you do, that you throw into the sea of forgetfulness. But God, we don't want to just leave this moment forgiven. We want to leave this moment changed. God, help us to repent. What doesn't mean just ask for forgiveness.
[music] To literally turn away from our way of thinking and our ways of acting. God, we want to pursue you with everything. We don't want to be gifted and lonely, but we want to be gifted and attached to the Giver. God, my prayer over everybody in this place, God, that you'd help us be aware of our gifts, but help us to acknowledge who gave them and to know that they're better with you. I want everybody to repeat after me. Say, "Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me?" And I pray that you'd allow God to just speak to you for about 10 seconds. [snorts]
If we have any children in here, you're gifted. Any teenagers in here, you're gifted. If you got your baby next to you, can you just hold them close really quickly? Thank you, Father, for blessing them and keeping them. Thank you, Father God, that you chose them, Father. Thank you, God, that from the even before they came into this world, you had a plan on their life. Thank you that you called them, God. I pray you'd equip every parent, Father God, every expecting parent, Father God, with the courage and the strategy, [music] Father, to be able to lead and train them, God, in the way that you called them to, Father. And I pray for everybody and every, every married couple here that's expecting children or trying. God, I pray that [music] just as we saw in this place, God, that you would open up wombs. I pray, Father God, that you would bless them and keep them. Father, that your face would shine upon them and give them peace. God, I pray that there'll be a testament. I pray for every mother coming after Mother's Day who's grieving. I pray that you bring peace to their heart, Father, in the mighty name of Jesus.
If you're in this place and you've never given your life to Jesus, um, now's your moment. I'm not going to be long. If you never given your life to Jesus or there is a group, maybe you have given your life to Jesus, but like we said earlier, let's go back to that word. You drifted and you feel like Pastor Matt, I'm in the middle of the ocean and I just want to be back with God. If you're in this place and you want to give your life to Jesus for the first time, for the hundredth time, on the count of three, I want you to raise your hand as quickly as possible. One, two, three. Come on, we got hands lifted. Come on y'all. Come on Blueprint. I seen your hand out back there. I seen you. I seen you. I seen you. Put your hand up. Come on y'all. We are so. Come on, Blueprint. We can do better than that. [cheering]
Listen, [applause] we are about to pray in the book of Romans chapter 10. Um, it says, "If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, that you shall be saved." Um, and some of us look and we're like, man, like that sounds super easy. Well, Jesus did the hard part. Um, he gave his life for us. We just have to put our hope, our faith, and our trust in the finished work of Jesus. Watch me. And then turn away from my ways and follow him. And so, I want everybody to repeat after me. Say, "Father, Father, I love you. I love you. I thank you. I thank you for Jesus. For Jesus. I believe. I believe that he lived. That he died. And that he rose. For my sins. Come into my heart. Be my Lord. Be my Lord. I am yours. I am. And you are mine. In Jesus name. Come on. Amen." And amen. [music] [music]