Why God Removes People From Your Life

All right. So guys, I wanted to jump in right now and share with you concerning, 'Why people leave our life?'

Many times, what begins to happen is that we have people that leave our life and we want to know what's happening in the spiritual realm. We want to know what is God doing at this moment in our life. Why are these people leaving our church? Why are these people leaving our life? And so today, what we're going to do is, I want to share about that. I want to share pretty much about the, why people are leaving our life. Why they had to leave. And so I'm going to share with you a little bit about, How do you know when you need to leave your church and also share, How to leave your church properly.

If that's something that is happening in your life, first and foremost, I do want to mention that I am Pro-church, I am pro being planted and grounded in the house of God. But I do understand that for some people, their season in the church will come to an end and they will have to leave and so, and if that happens, there's a right way to do it and there's a wrong way to do it. Amen.

So the first thing that I wanted to highlight is 'Six Reasons Why People Leave.' The first reason is because 'Your season has changed.' A lot of times God will remove people out of your life because your season has changed. When Moses died, the Bible says that Joshua stepped into the promised land. Now, how do you know that you're stepping into a new season? When Moses died, meaning, sometimes God removes somebody in your life and that is an indicator, that you are stepping into a new season. Something has shifted in your life, because God removes a person. Now, sometimes it's both a person and a provision. In Joshua's case, it was both. The season was predicated by a shift in the provision, meaning, Manna stopped and Moses died. And when people find themselves in that situation, where provision, a job, something with business, something with their career takes a shift and somebody walks away from your life or somebody leaves your life, that is usually an indication you are stepping into a new season in your life and that's exactly what happened to Joshua and it might be happening to you.

I remember when, few years ago on our Raised to Deliver conference, we had this apostle that was coming year in and year out. Raised to Deliver grew because this apostle was coming from Africa. It drew a lot of people, our Raised to Deliver, had in the beginning, first one had maybe 170 people and then it went to a few thousand people, when this Apostle came in. After a few years that he was coming, he was doing powerful deliverances and he gets denied of Visa. One time, he gets denied of Visa. Second time, he gets denied of Visa. Three times. Three times and he's been to America before and so what actually happened is that on Monday, five days before the conference, he denies, he gets Visa denied three times, we had U.S. Congress give him a Letter of Invitation and give him a sense of like, Hey let him into America. He's no threat, he's been a blessing to the United States and still, he gets denied of Visa and this was Monday, a few years ago. On Friday, we have Raised to Deliver. People are planning to come from all around. Some of you maybe even remember that Raised to Deliver conference and he doesn't come and I remember the Lord, speaking clearly to me at that time and saying pretty much, Vlad, the reason why he is not coming is because I'm shifting your season.

Within a month from him not coming, the government school that we had renting our church for over 12 years, they walk away from renting our church. Now, mind you, they were financially supporting us for over 12 years. This was like our spiritual manna. We lose manna and we lose the man of God, in very short season and this is when our church, went to the next level. We stepped into that Raised to Deliver, this was about three or four years ago. A new level of Faith was released. People got out of wheelchairs, people were delivered, people were healed. Today, we're doing these Raised to Deliver's by ourselves and they are as powerful and as dynamic and our team is doing that. The church stepped in, in giving. We took over the place, where the government used to occupy in our own church, our kids ministry I think like doubled, when we moved our kids ministry to where the government school was at and I've seen from that point on that, how do you know that your season is shifting and changing, if the provision changes and people change. God is shifting your season. Maybe, you're watching right now and your season has shifted. You lost the job. Maybe, you lost the relationship. Maybe, you lost the church that you were in or you lost people in your church. God is preparing you. In fact, maybe, He already brought you to a new season. I'm just here to prophetically declare that over your life. You're stepping into a new season. You're crossing the Jordan River. God is preparing you for something new and He will take Manna. He will take Moses out. Because He's preparing you for Promised Land. Come on somebody!

If you're receiving this, if this is helping, somebody could you drop number one in the chat. Could you drop number one in the chat and could you say that in your chat, 'My season is shifting'. 'My season is Shifting' If this is for somebody, that provision and people are changing, right now agree with me, drop in the chat, 'My season is shifting.'

The second reason, why God is removing people from our life is because, 'He is pruning us for more spiritual fruit.' John chapter 15 and verse 2 it says, every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that He may bear more fruit. A lot of times what happens is God begins to prune our life. Now, we know that this speaks of the word of God, pruning us, cleansing us but I do believe that pruning happens not only with the word of God, spiritually pruning happens by God removing people out of our life and sometimes that happens, so that God can prepare us for greater fruitfulness. Somebody drop that in the chat, 'God is preparing me for greater fruitfulness.' God is preparing me for Greater Effectiveness. He will prune people. It will look like, at first, you're going backwards but you are not going backwards, you are going forward. Because when an arrow is being pulled back by an Archer, that arrow is being set up. The arrow is not going back, it's being pulled back for the reason of flying faster and reaching its destination. When God prunes you, He's not punishing you. Oh come on somebody! I feel that. I feel the anointing on that word. Somebody needs to drop that in the chat. When God prunes you, He's not punishing you. He's removing the extra stuff. Sometimes, He'll remove extra people. Sometimes, He'll remove extra programs, extra things. Why? Because He's preparing you. Pruning is a preparation for greater purpose, greater effectiveness. It's not a punishment, it's not a purging, it's a pruning that is happening to a lot of people right now, where God removes certain people like an Archer pulls an arrow and he pulls the arrow backwards and it feels like, I'm going backwards but in reality, you're being set up to go forward with God through the act of pruning.

The third reason, why God removes people is that 'God is clearing your vision.' Some people in your life are, they blindfold you spiritually. This happened to Abraham in Genesis 13:14 it says, the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated from him. After Lot separated from him, lift your eyes now and look to the place where you are. Lift your eyes now and look to the place where you are and then He says from the place where you are northward, southward, eastward and westward. Genesis 13 and verse 14. I want you to notice something, that God is speaking to Abram to look at this vision but you must understand, Abraham received the vision earlier but Abram couldn't see the vision until Lot was removed you know, the word 'Lot' in the original language actually is 'Veil'. Lot was the veil and I believe that a lot of us have veils in our lives and they are in the form of certain people, certain friendships, certain relationships and until these veils are removed, guess what's going to happen, we are not going to be seeing clearly what God wants us to see. Some people in your life are like Veil. They were there for a reason and for a season. But not for a lifetime and God will remove them and once, He removes them, you will see your vision clearly. You received the vision earlier but you couldn't see the vision until certain people leave your life. It happened with Abraham. It could happen with you. When God removes them then, you will begin to see things clearly. It wasn't until Judas was removed from the team, then we see the team of Jesus, these 12 disciples stepped into their full potential. They started to conquer things for Jesus, for the kingdom of God and so allow the Lord to do His work, not only in bringing people but in removing people. Because sometimes that is the way, that God is clearing your vision. He's pretty much wiping your front windshield and making your vision more clear and as you're releasing the people that God is removing, receive Vision. I always like to say that some people are like scaffolding, you put scaffolding around the building to help build the wall and when the wall is built, you remove the scaffolding. Sometimes God brings people in your life to help build something and then, when that is built, He removes those people and you're crying, you're like, why are you God removing those people is because the purpose and the reason for which they came has been accomplished and God is taking them now and now, you can enjoy that building. Now you can see the vision clearly and you can move forward. Come on somebody!

Is this helping anybody? If this is helping somebody, drop number one in the chat. If you are just tuning in, Welcome, make sure that you hit like to the video and subscribe to this channel. Share this with somebody right now. We're about to go deeper. If you are re-watching, let me know in the comments that you are on the rewatch. Most of the people re-watch it and so, stay engaged with me. If this is blessing you, let me know in the comments, what you're receiving from this for the glory of Jesus.

The fourth reason why God removes people is because, 'These people have become your crutch.' In Judges chapter 7 verse 2, the Bible says, then the Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midianites into your hands lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me saying, my own hand has saved me. Sometimes the Lord will remove people because these people, they're no longer scaffolding around what God is building. But they actually have become your crutch. They become something you lean on. You no longer lean on the Lord. Now this is a very tricky point and very tricky way and all of us, to some degree, depend on people okay, so we're not saying to get rid of, for God to get rid of everybody and for us to do everything on our own. This wasn't this thing, where Gideon is going to do everything on his own. This wasn't that point. The point is the crowd that Gideon had was his crutch. It was his source of strength and when the crowd left and Gideon actually let them go, something happened, Gideon had to rely on the power of God, on the power of the Holy Spirit and God received more Glory. Sometimes God will prune you, reduce you to nothing but faith. God will trim you to nothing but dependence on Him. Where you have nothing else to depend on but Him. Until you get anchored in Him, until what He does through you is only because of His grace and as it's because of His grace, He gets all the glory. You know, I remember when there was a season in our youth ministry, where we were shrinking, being reduced, it was scary. People were coming in and more people were leaving. I even had the thoughts running in my head, is my many people come to know the Lord, will I see the church grow, why is this shrinking, why is this being reduced, why are we retreating, why are we, seems like we're going backwards. We're supposed to go forwards. Everybody keeps talking about having, you know visions and goals and having you know, goals to to see growth and we're seeing no growth. We're shrinking, I'm like is this some kind of a curse, is this some kind of an attack and honestly, the Lord gave me this verse, from Gideon at the time, there was a source of my strength. The Holy Spirit was saying, I want you to go forward. I am removing some people and I want you right now to depend only on Me, not to depend on the people and something, I've learned and this is powerful guys, listen to this, 'Your future is not connected to people that left, your future is connected with those who stayed.' Selah! Come on somebody! Drop that in the chat right now. I see the video is freezing but we're gonna unfreeze it, so help me in the comments. The internet just pretty much dying here where I am at. But we're gonna get back to it right now. Your future is connected to people that are staying not to those that are leaving and this was a lesson to me, that those who left, did not take God's Destiny for my life. But it's those that stayed are the ones that God is going to be using and God is going to be empowering, those thousands of people that left Gideon did not took away the glory, they couldn't do that. God's glory was on 300. If you're watching me right now and you are Pastor or you are a leader or maybe, you are going through a very difficult season, where everyone is leaving. I do want to encourage you that, those who left probably are not in your future. Those who stayed are in your future. So don't focus on those who left. Focus on those that are here, that are with you Amen. Okay we're back with our internet. If you're receiving it on your end with YouTube, let me know in the comments Amen.

Number five, the reason why God removes people is because God has another plan for them.' So God removes people as we mentioned because your season has changed, you're being pruned for more fruit. God is clearing your vision. These people have become your crutch. Number five, God has another plan for them. Sometimes, when we talk about God removing people. We always make it seem like, these people are evil. But sometimes the reason why the Lord is removing people is actually because He has another plan for them. If you remember the story of Moses and Jethro, Moses came to his father-in-law and he says, I need to go to visit my brethren in Egypt. Now may I remind you, Moses was with Jethro for 40 years. He lived with him. He raised the family there. He was running a business there. I mean that's kind of his life is there 40 years is not four years, four months and now he comes to Jethro and he says, can I go and Jethro releases Moses because Jethro realizes that God has something else for Moses. Now if Moses would have said I can't leave Jethro's house because I'm too comfortable here. I don't want to go into the unknown. What would have happened to the nation of Israel? What would have happened to the Book of Exodus? What would have happened to the law of Moses? None of that would have existed and so, sometimes people are afraid of leaving and letting people go. But you must understand, when God involved, it's about God's kingdom and God moving and positioning people in such a way that is best suited to His purpose, not to our preferences. We all have our preferences, we want people to stay with us a hundred percent but at the same time, if there is a Moses within your church, within your ministry that God is preparing to release someone else, you have to release them, so that they can go and change the world, not hold them back.

Number six God is taking somebody away from you not because only He is having something better for them, not only because He's pruning you and maybe they've become a crutch and He's clearing your vision and because you're stepping into a new season but number six is 'God is wanting to bring someone else.' Now I will use the example of Jesus leaving. John chapter 16 verse 7, the Bible says, Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart I will send Him to you. Jesus is saying this that, if I leave I will send the Holy Spirit. Disciples were sad with Jesus leaving but Jesus says someone else will come, that will be to your advantage meaning, it will be better for you with this person who will come, with this being, with Holy Spirit that will come versus Me. I believe sometimes that's exactly how it happens in our life is God takes away one because He's preparing somebody that is to your advantage. Oh felt anointing on that. God is preparing somebody that is going to be better suited for what He has called you to do. The Holy Spirit was to our advantage because He lives in each one of us and the Holy Spirit moves through each one of us. Look what is happening with Christianity 2000 years later. Jesus is not physically with us but the Spirit is spiritually with us. But Jesus couldn't send the Spirit until Jesus left us. So sometimes God removes certain people because He's preparing something better or different or to our advantage and we don't like to let go of what is convenient, of what we like, of what we're used to, what we're comfortable with, but we're also holding back the something better that the Lord has in store for us. You're afraid of losing this job but what if God has something better for you. You may be crying over the fact that you got rejected in your last church but what if God is preparing you for something for your destiny and for your purpose. So what I want to encourage you, right now is to let the Lord lead your life. If you're a leader and you're a pastor, pastors please do not control people. They don't belong to you. They belong to Jesus Christ. If people want to go, let them go. If they come, let them come. But please understand that God if He removes people. He will bring people instead of them. It's a matter of time, those people will come into your ministry. Maybe, He's removing them because He's preparing you for something new. Maybe, He's removing them so He can really deepen your dependence on Him. Maybe, He's removing them because He wants to clear your vision. So you will see past these people into the purpose that He has for you. Maybe, He's removing them because they have something better for them. God has something better for them and they cannot fulfill that purpose in your church. Let them go, let them be, receive God's purpose, receive God's Vision Amen. If this is helping somebody, drop number one in the chat.

We just shared 'Six reasons why God removes people,' Let me know in the comments, if this is blessing somebody and right now, I am going to shift to a part that I believe is as important as the first part and that is, When is it my time to go. How do I know that my time has come to go, to leave.' I'm going to share with you, one, two, three, four, five. Five things to pay attention to How do I know it's my time. Number one, People's rejection can be God's Direction and Protection. What does this mean? You get kicked out, that means, it's your time to go. Joseph was an example of that. Joseph gets kicked out. He is not planning to leave, that wasn't part of his agenda. He didn't want to leave his father. He didn't want to leave his brothers. He gets kicked out and so that was a sign to go. So, how do you know, it's your time to go? When you get asked to get to leave. When you get asked to go. That is a sign. Now, you will feel rejection, when you get kicked out, when you get removed, when you get asked, no matter how, please, no matter what reasons, no matter whatever package they send you with. It will hurt. Somebody drop that in the chat, Rejection hurts. Rejection is not fun. Rejection is not easy. Nobody likes it. Rejection sucks. But Genesis 50:20 says this, But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as in this day, to save many people alive. Please hear me loud and clear, Rejection could be God's Protection. Rejection could be God's Redirection to your life. Joseph would have never went to Egypt, if his brothers wouldn't sell him. Think about our Lord Savior Jesus Christ, in Psalm 118, it says, The stone builders rejected became our chief cornerstone. This is marvelous in our eyes and this was the Lord's doing. That means that, sometimes rejection is God's doing. How could it be, where God is positioning you into a place, you otherwise wouldn't go unless you get rejected. Nobody likes that. Nobody likes to hear that. But at the same time, that's the case, in so many cases. Jesus says, if they reject you in one city, shake off the dust and go to the next city. You can't go to the next city sometimes until they reject you, out of the one that you are in. Samuel was rejected by Israel. He anointed Saul and then Saul rejected the Word of the Lord through Samuel. Samuel cried, mourned and God came to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:1 and he says, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I've rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and go. I'm sending you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. Samuel would have never found David, I think personally if Saul wouldn't reject him. Saul would have been the king and I wonder sometimes, if you know, I don't like rejection but God in His wisdom and sovereignty can use rejection of people to redirect your life and so, while you're not excited for that. being let go, sacked, fired, removed. But sometimes, honestly you won't leave any other way. You won't because you're too comfortable. You will never approach yourself from there until somebody comes in and honestly, brutally pulls you out and you end up crying. But what if it's the Lord's doing, what if it's marvelous in your eyes at the end of your life, you will look at it and say, if it wouldn't be for that, I wouldn't be here today. You know, I'll be honest with you, people are saying God doesn't reject you. No, I'm not saying God rejects you. I'm saying people will reject you and God will use that. There was a girl that I liked before I met Lana. She rejected me and honestly, I look back at it, it hurt me for a little season. I am so glad, I was rejected because I would've never met my wife. And later on, when I found out, where this girl end up and kind of all this stuff like, it wasn't. I knew that my life wasn't tied to to her life. It wouldn't be where I needed to be but it wouldn't happen, I probably wouldn't have the guts to walk away from that, if I wouldn't be rejected. It stinged for a little bit but rejection is what brought redirection and it can bring that direction to you. What if you're like Joseph and God is taking you from your family, from your home into your destiny, that one day, you can be a blessing to your family and it's happening through rejection. How do you know it's my time to go? Very simple, you get kicked out. Painful? Yes. Fun? No. Can God use it? A hundred percent.

Second reason, how do you know it's your time to go? When the place of your provision in the previous season, has become a place of pain in the current season. How do you know, it's your time to go? When the place of your provision in the previous season, has become a place of pain in this season. Israel came to Egypt at one time and this was an answer to their prayer. If you remember, there was a famine. Israel comes to Egypt, Joseph supplies for their needs. They live there comfortably but this wasn't a promise from God for Israel. Egypt was God's temporary provision. It wasn't God's permanent promise. When you stay in your temporary place too long,

Your temporary place becomes toxic. How you know sometimes when what used to be a blessing and now, it has become a burden, is that it's causing you now, pain, and this pain is not leaving.

Israel was in Egypt. They were comfortable. They were provided for; this was an answer to their prayer. They prospered there. Thank God for it. And now, Egypt has become a place of toxic, painful mistreatment. This was the time to go. Just because it was good old days, it doesn't mean the good old days are coming back. You have to leave, and for most of us, we're like, "I don't want to go. I just want to bring Joseph back. I just want to bring the good old days," you know, but when that place has become a place of abuse, when that place has become a place of toxicity, it's toxic, it's emotionally destroying you, it's destroying your spiritual life—that's probably a sign to go.

Israel left Egypt because of the torment. It used to be a place of blessing, but now, it has become a place of torment. Exodus chapter 1, verses 11 and Exodus chapter 2, verses 23. Is this helping anybody? Let me know in the comments if this is blessing somebody and drop number one if you're just tuning in. We see new people tuning in right now. Hey, hit thumbs up right now to the video; share this with somebody. If you are re-watching, let me know in the comments that you are in the re-watching mode. Amen.

Number three, the third reason that you need to leave, and that is when God is stirring up the nest because it's your time to fly. So the first reason I mentioned when you need to leave is because you get kicked out. The second reason you need to leave is that it's too toxic to stay. So if you keep staying there, it's so toxic to you, to your marriage, to your family, and you need to leave because it used to be good and you keep reliving those things and say, "Well, I want to bring the good old days," but it's just, it's not coming, and you already have done it. It's been 400 years—quote-unquote 400 years—and it's not changing, so you need to leave.

Now, the third reason that you need to leave is when this place is too comfortable and your calling is calling you. What I call it is God stirring up the nest, okay? God has taken away the comfort. This is not necessarily where it's toxic and it's causing you pain. This environment that you're in is causing you pain and abuse and all of that; it's not that. It's that comfort that you used to feel—God is removing it—and you sense a calling that is calling you. For example, Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 11, it says this: "As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings. So the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him." So this is speaking about an eagle. When little eaglets are born, they are put in the nest and they're covered with feathers because the nest has sharp branches and they will hurt little eaglets. So they're comforted there; the mama eagle feeds the eaglets, bringing them food, and then, when they grow, it's time for them to soar. But of course, little eagles don't want to soar; they don't want to be thrown into the air and spread their wings; they love mama to feed them, and they live like chickens in the nest instead of being like eagles. So what mama eagle does is that she comes over the nest and she stirs up the nest, causing the wind to blow off all the feathers and for the little eaglets to cry out to be picked up on the wings of the mother, and then the mother takes them on her wings and begins to drop them, and they go into the unknown, and now, they have an opportunity to go down and die or to spread their wings and soar. Of course, they freak out because, "Why is mama stirring up this trouble? She was feeding us; now, she's stirring stuff up, and the nest is a place of suffering and affliction. It used to be a place of provision, and then mama is finally taking us on her wings"—praise be to mama—you know, like, awesome, this is so good—and then she's dropping us, "How could she do that? This is wrong!" And then, when the mama is dropping you, she's not dropping you because she's trying to kill you; she's dropping you because she wants you to fly. Because you're not a chicken; you're an eagle. You have to spread your wings; you live by faith; you don't live on the ground; you live in the faith; you live in by faith, trusting in God, and sometimes, God will seemingly drop us, so that we walk by faith. We seemingly, we don't feel His presence because God wants us to walk by faith. He takes us out of one place, doesn't show us where to go yet, except He tells us we need to leave but doesn't tell us where to go, and we're like, "Well, God, I'm kind of confused here," and then God seemingly stops speaking. What do you do then? Is you have to spread your wings, and you have to soar with wings like the eagles. What does that mean? That means you have to trust, wait upon the Lord, hope in God. You begin to trust. You say, "But that's painful." No, it's not, when you begin to—you were meant for the skies. You were not meant for the ground; you were not meant to live in the barn; you were meant to live in the sky. So spread your wings; begin to trust in Him. Begin to live not by your sight but begin to live by your faith and go forward. And for those of you who feel like you're falling and you can't spread your wings, I have a word for you: Something that eaglets learn on their first flight—that mama flies down faster than I can fall. Because when the eaglets get dropped from the sky and they go down to the ground and they don't open their wings, the eagle goes down faster to pick them up, so that they don't break, fall, and hurt themselves. And God took Israel to the promised land, but before the promised land, He took them to the Wilderness where He wanted them to soar. He took him out of Egypt, the place of affliction, but He wanted to take them to a place of soaring, and the Wilderness was a training ground. So what am I saying is this: that sometimes the Lord will take away the comfort, and when is your time to leave? When the place you are in, you know this was a comfortable place, this was a good place, but it's not a place of your calling; your calling is calling you. God is stirring things up around you; God is stirring things up inside of you, and you know, you're meant to be an eagle but you're living like a chicken. You know, your world is the sky, but you've been living in the nest, and the feathers are flying away. What used to bring you comfort now, you're being conflicted on the inside. That is confirming circumstances on the outside, confirming one thing: You are not in the center of God's calling. You are in the center of your complacency and comfort. Acts Chapter 13, Verse 2, it says this: "And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me, Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them.'" The Holy Spirit stirred things up during prayer and fasting, and He says, "Paul and Silas, get on My wings; let's go soaring; let's go conquer the world; let's go open churches; let's go be missionaries; let's go bring the gospel to Europe; let's go write Epistles; let's go shake the world for Christ." Paul and Barnabas could have sat in that little nest church in Antioch and said, "No, we like it here. We love it here. We love the ministry. We like the pay; we like the position; we like how we get respected. We love how predictable our life is. We don't want to go into the unknown. We don't want to get beaten. We don't want to get jailed. We don't want to get persecuted. We don't want to get stoned. We don't want to get attacked. We don't want that," but see, Paul and Barnabas were called to be missionaries. They were called to be eagles, and Antioch was their safe place, and then the eagle starts to stir the nest; the Holy Spirit starts speaking and saying, "Come up higher. Come on, Paul, this is not where I called you. I called you on the road to Damascus, and I said, 'You will stand before kings; you will stand before dignitaries; you will stand preaching My gospel all around the world.' This is not happening, Paul. I am preparing you; you have been fed; you have been nurtured; you have been prepared; you have been trained; now I am stirring the nest. Now, I am bringing this calling inside, and if you don't heed this calling, you will start feeling conflicted on the inside; you will go to church and you will feel like something is wrong. Something is off," and people's like, "What's happening? Everything is fine; everything is fine for everybody else, but for you, you are an eagle stuck in the nest, and something deep inside cries out, 'I gotta go. I gotta go to the sky.' Why? That's where I belong; that's what I was anointed for; that's what I was born for. Esther, for such a time as this, you're not just supposed to be in the palace; you're supposed to save the Jewish Nation. Moses, you're not just supposed to be on the back desert; you're supposed to go and deliver the captives. For such a time as this, you were called; an eagle will stir up your nest until you feel conflicted and you begin to give yourself to your calling. God will cause a storm around you, Jonah, so that you will jump off of your ship and go toward Nineveh because that's where you were called to do. God is far more interested in your calling than in your comfort. God is far more interested in your purpose than in your preferences. God is far more interested in what He called you, what He anointed you for, instead of what you like and what you don't like and where your plans, five-year plan and dreams are at. It is about the purposes of God, and God will stir up the sea. God will stir up the nest, and God will stir up everything around you to get your attention and to make you respond to that call. I felt that! Come on, somebody! Drop that fire emoji if the Lord is stirring things in your heart right now. Drop the fire emoji; say, "Hey, I'm receiving this in Jesus' Name."

Number four, the fourth reason that it's your time to go, it's when your brook has dried up and the Lord has spoken. The brook—what I mean is everybody has their brook. For Elijah, the Bible says, when the brook dried up, the Lord spoke to Elijah to go. Now, the brook speaks of your spiritual life. Sometimes you are in the church where your brook is full of water; ravens bring you meat; you get fed; you get refreshed, and then you no longer feel fed and you no longer feel filled—not fed, not filled. Now, I know a lot of times, we attack people who say, "Oh, I'm not being fed by the church," and we tell them, "Oh, go and feed yourself." I get that. There's a component of that. But in Elijah's case, ravens stopped bringing him food, and the brook that used to bring him water, refresh him, keep him alive, dried up, and then the Lord spoke. Sometimes, when you are no longer in the place where you're being fed and where you feel dry, don't leave just because you're dry; listen to me, guys, don't leave because you're not fed. Make sure that you first feed yourself with God's word, okay? Make sure that you develop a prayer life, but if you are dry and the Lord speaks that it's your time to go, only then go. If you are dry and the Lord does not speak, do not go. Why? Because being dry is better than being dead. Naomi left Bethlehem because there was famine. In Ruth chapter 1, verse 1, but in Ruth chapter 1, verse 5, she buried her husband and her two sons. Why? Because sometimes it's better to be in a famine with God's people than to have a family funeral. Because you're trying to solve the famine problem by going to places God never called you to be in, by leaving the church and saying the church is dry and you're no longer going to church, and now, you're losing your family to the world. Don't leave a dry church until God speaks. Don't leave a church where you don't get fed until you learn to feed yourself. But if God does not speak, you don't leave. Because sometimes, the dry place means you need to find water personally in your walk with God. But if it's a dry place, you've done everything; you're not being fed; you're already feeding yourself, and you've really just—these two things—and then the third thing, God speaks—the word of the Lord came to Elijah, "Go," then you go. Don't leave a dry church unless God speaks because sometimes, a dry season in your life, the problem is now with the church; the problem is that God is developing something. Sometimes you're not getting fed has nothing to do with the church not feeding you. Sometimes it's just simply a season, or you just need to mature spiritually and feed yourself. But if there is a dry place and then there's no feeding, ravens don't bring food, and the Lord speaks, there's a strong leading of the Holy Spirit, it's time for you to move to the widow's house, because "I'm preparing a miracle there. I'm preparing a blessing for you there, and I'm preparing you to be a blessing"—that's when you go. Amen.

Now, the fifth reason when it's time to go is you hear bad conversations, you see sad faces, and you hear the voice of God saying, "Move!" Oh! Now we're gonna get talking. All right, all right, are you still with me? Don't leave the stream yet. Don't log off. Somebody needs to share this right now with somebody. This is going to be a confirmation. You hear bad conversations behind your back; you see unfavorable faces toward you, and God says, "Return, go back, leave." This happened with Jacob. Jacob came to Laban; that's where he found his wife and wives; that's where Jacob got his children; that's in Genesis 31, verses 1 through 3, and actually it says the following: "Jacob has stolen all." So Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons. So Jacob is hearing the words Laban's sons are saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our fathers', from what was our fathers'; he had acquired all his wealth," and Jacob saw the countenance, the face of Laban—indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. So I see, first one, he hears conversations about him, and they're negative; people gossiping, people saying bad stuff about Jacob; then Laban, who, you know, was kind of tricking him but he was happy to see him, he's not happy; he's mad at him for some reason, but I want you to notice these two things did not cause Jacob to leave. It was a third thing, but these two led to the third thing. In fact, I would say that it was not until he heard bad conversations. He saw an unfavorable face that then the Lord spoke. It's almost like these two things became like a platform for God to speak, and I want you to see what God says: "Then the Lord said to Jacob"—then indicates after he heard bad conversations, after he saw an unfavorable face, then the Lord spoke—and this is what the Lord said: "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you," which means, when bad conversations about you, you hear it. You see people don't like you anymore; still don't go because this could be a season, and a lot of times, maybe it's just, honestly, it's all in your head. A lot of times it could be in your head; you're just overthinking. But it's different when God begins to speak. So that's why it's very important to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit because otherwise there is no formula for this. You know, I am one of those guys; I have two churches that I've stayed in my life. One was in the Ukraine for 13 years—well, my family kind of was there, and so I was there with my family—and then the other church is the church that I'm in right now; my mom and my dad came here, and they joined the church with my uncle, who's my pastor, and ever since then, since 13, I am 36 now. So that's been 23 years; I've stayed in this church, and by God's grace, I'm hoping to stay in this church as long as I live and die and have this church be the one where, if the Lord tarries, where my funeral happens, okay. But I do know that it's not like that for every single person, and I'm not encouraging or sowing seeds, but I do know that there's been a lot of shift taking place in people's lives, and I want to bring clarity in that area and bring some biblical sound teaching so that you don't jump at any opportunity but that you pay attention to God's Spirit; you pay attention to conversations; you pay attention to people's faces; you pay attention to the dry brook; you pay attention as well to the stirring that the Lord is doing, calling you to the next season because He's preparing you; or honestly, you pay attention—is this place become toxic and you need to leave? Has this become your Egypt, or have you got kicked out like Joseph? It wasn't toxic. I mean, he could live with it. They just kicked him out. So he just, what did he do? He just left. Why? Because they kicked him out. But Joseph was never mad at them or angry at them.

Now, I want to transition this to talk for just a few moments. Should I leave my church over a disagreement and over doctrine? So I want to kind of clarify something right now, concerning leaving your church, concerning doctrinal or disagreements. Now, Paul and Barnabas in Acts chapter 15—Acts chapter 15 is a good church fight chapter. Because Paul and Barnabas has a fight and a dispute with people who are saying that Christians should be circumcised. I'm so glad that Paul fought with those people because I would not like the idea of Christians being circumcised, and being baptized is great; going to church membership class is great. But imagine like, you got saved and then like the next Sunday, "Hey, we're having circumcision," and the pastor has to perform it. I mean, that would be so horrible. I'll be like, just would not work really well, okay. So I'm glad that Paul fought against that, and so, he fights against this, and these people were spreading this thing where you have to eat a kosher diet, a Jewish legalistic diet. You had to circumcise. You had to do all of this stuff to stay in Christian faith, and Paul's like, "Not really. We don't have to do that. These are Gentiles. They're not Jewish people. We don't have to do that," and so he gets in a fight with them, and I love this about Paul. Paul does not isolate himself from these believers. He doesn't say, "Well, honestly, guys, you're lost, okay? You guys, I disagree with you concerning this. So I'm separating myself, and now there's going to be two churches—Paul's churches and then Apostles churches or Jerusalem churches." Paul doesn't separate. Paul doesn't distance himself. Paul doesn't leave. What Paul does, he takes this doctrinal issue and he goes to the higher leadership, which was in Jerusalem, presents the case, and he says, "Let me ask you a question. Do we believe this or not? What's going on here?" He goes to the board of Elders and Apostles. The board makes a decision. Paul submits to that decision, and they should get solved. If you have a doctrine problem with your church, okay, I would first encourage you to go to the eldership of the church and present that before you take one sound bite from your pastor or before you take one statement that somebody has made, including one of the leaders, or somebody has said about you, and based on that statement, you decide to leave the church. I remember when a person who still comes to church has, you know, said things about me that I am a false teacher, and this person is a member of our church. So he came against me and just kind of heavy, went heavy attacking me, calling me with names, but mainly that I am preaching a false gospel because I'm not preaching about the grace of God. I'm preaching about discipline, which pretty much, I'm preaching about salvation by works—that's his view—and I said, "Where did you get that?" I was like, "I don't believe in salvation by works," but I was like, "I do believe we are saved for good works." He's like, "No, your emphasis, you just don't preach the grace, and you're wrong, and you know like, you're just preaching wrong gospel." So I have a board of elders in our church, and they're seasoned men of God; we have one woman there too, but mainly men, and I came to one of the board members, at that day actually, I was meeting with him, and he asked me, he said, "How are you doing?" And I said, "I'm doing good." He's like, "How you doing?" I was like, "Honestly, I'm kind of, I feel a little bit overwhelmed because I have this guy attacking me," and he's like, "Who is he?" And so I mentioned who this person is. I mentioned what he attacks me about. He said, "You shouldn't be defending yourself. He said, 'This is an issue for elders.' He says, 'Tell this guy to go to us and present his accusation. We, who follow your sermons every single week, as we are part of the church, we will talk to him or we will talk to you.' He says, 'This is not your fight, man.'" That was so encouraging. So instead of me fighting with this guy, I just pretty much reached out to him and I said, "Listen, if you have, if you think I'm a false teacher and I am leading the sheep of God away, we have an eldership; I will submit to their counsel; you bring this accusation to them, and then everything will be resolved," and I said, "I don't believe in salvation by works, but I do believe Christians should live holy, and if that is offensive to you or if you don't like that, well, it's your thing," and so he was really actually happy to hear that we have a board of elders. I was like, "Well, we always had a board of elders," and I was like, "You bring doctrine to them. You don't just leave the church because you took one sermon where I passionately preach about denying yourself and dying to yourself as a sign that I don't believe in the grace of God." The same way that you don't take one sermon where the pastor taught about crucifying your flesh as a sign that he doesn't believe in casting out demons. If you have a doctrinal issue, go to the eldership; do not leave the church because of a seemingly doctrinal issue. Now, if you go there to the eldership or you go to the pastors and you find out they don't believe in the basic doctrines of the Bible, like, for example, casting out demons, moving of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today, tongues are for today. If they don't believe in that stuff, yeah, leave the church; walk away; don't make a nasty exit, okay? Don't leave like demons leave, loud and screaming, okay? Leave quietly; thank them for the service; you know, submit your letter, whatever the procedure in your church; don't just disappear; you know, send the letter or to the church membership or whoever handles that in your church and let them know, say, "Hey, I disagree with the church's stance. I'm going to keep praying for this church, but my time has come to an end, and I'm going to be looking for a church that is Spirit-filled, does believe in these things, and does operate in these things," and so you can do that if you don't agree on the doctrine. The second thing about church leaving is disagreements that have nothing to do with doctrine. Now, remember how I told you Paul had an issue with doctrine, and then he went to the Elders, they resolved that issue, and then, you know, Paul didn't start his own denomination; he didn't start his own churches; it was still part of one universal church. Later on in that chapter—this is very interesting—Paul and Barnabas. So in the beginning of the chapter, they fight against these people who are promoting Judaism and, you know, slapping Judaism on the top of Christianity, and so, he unhinges a New Testament Church from the Old Testament legalistic law through this council in the church, and now, later part

Of this chapter, Acts 15, the same chapter, Paul and Barnabas get in a fight. Because I like this, because to me, Paul is like, human, okay, he's normal, and Barnabas are human. So, Paul and Barnabas, in Acts 15, get in a fight. The Bible says it was sharp. It was so sharp, they parted from each other. They actually took their separate ways, meaning they left each other. Paul and Barnabas had a fight.

This was not about doctrine; this was about an application of a biblical principle. This wasn't pride, this wasn't offended feelings, this wasn't personal ambition; we don't see that being mentioned. We see this as just personal preferences; they saw things differently, and they parted ways.

So, you would ask me, can I leave a church if I disagree over the application of biblical principle? For example, guys shouldn't pray on a stage in tongues, in the microphone. People shouldn't cast out demons in public. A church may be where, you know, a woman is preaching; it's not necessarily a salvation issue, but it's kind of one of those things where you disagree on the application of some of those things, or, you know, Pastor, you know, may preach, "We can cast demons off of people instead of out of people," which is kind of not biblical. And so, but it's not necessarily like the belief on the Trinity or belief on cessationism or belief on the Divinity of Jesus. It's not like those, you know, very important doctrines of a Christian faith. These are kind of minor applications of biblical principles.

Now, I personally think we should get along and submit. But sometimes, there are cases where people have sharp disagreements, who are very strong-opinionated and strong-willed, and they part ways. My thing is this: when you do that, make sure you do it the right way. And God actually allowed this division to create multiplication, where now there was two teams, Paul's team and Barnabas' team. So God used this division to make a multiplication, but it was a disagreement not over doctrine but over application of biblical principle. Nevertheless, it was a disagreement, and I love this because at the end of his life, we see Paul is actually writing to Timothy and he's telling him, "Bring Mark." The argument in the beginning of Acts 15 was about Mark, and now Paul is saying, "Bring Mark; he's useful to me for ministry," and I really believe that things got resolved at the end, and so that's just really encouraging. Number one, that they fought. Number two is that it was a clean fight because it created multiplication instead of division. There was no resentment or bitterness, but they just parted their ways, parted separate ways, and sometimes that's the case in some churches.

It is hurtful though; it is painful, and in some cases, that's the only thing that is, honestly, going to resolve the issue is people just go in separate ways. Remember Abraham and Lot, two people, conflicts between two flocks and all of this stuff, and Abraham says, "Honestly, this is not—we're not getting along. Go this way; let me go this way. Let's leave in peace."

So when you're noticing that in the ministry, there's a—you guys are not getting along—sometimes this happens when there's a section in the church that's not getting along with a pastor and they have their own leader. And while I don't encourage that and I don't like that, personally I dislike that with every fiber of my being, when a church is split, but I do know that there are cases where that's the only solution, where you simply don't see eye to eye, you don't get along, and you separate. And instead of demonizing each other and saying, "Oh, these people are rebellious, these people are proud," sometimes it is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes, and we just have to let God be God and let people go and let them do what they feel God is leading them to do.

I have some friends who started churches like that. Personally, I don't think I will do that. I can't. I don't have that, you know, leading, or first of all, I don't have an issue with my pastor, and if I do, my approach is always humbling myself and submitting instead of picking up a fight and standing my ground, especially in the areas that are more preferences. But in some cases, some people really just kind of stand their ground, like I know some churches that were split because, you know, the church they're a part of doesn't let them raise hands during worship. They don't let them, you know, clap or dance, or it's more of in the Slavic circles, or they don't do this, they don't do that, and the youth usually is the one that kind of appoints or has a leader with them, and they just separate and they move. And while it's painful, at the same time, we actually see that in the Bible. Paul and Barnabas separate over a very sharp disagreement, and sometimes that's the case.

Now, let's end this stream; we already have been for an hour here. And in this last portion, I want to share with you, "How to leave properly." Now, has this been helping anybody? If this has been helping anybody, would you let me know in the comments right now? If you're receiving already something, and could you let me know in the comments below that if this is a blessing to you, drop a number one or fire emoji. Maybe you are in that transition right now; let me know in the comments below; that would be really helpful. Now, the last part that we wanted to mention, and then I'm going to let you guys go. And this is the one: How do you leave properly?

The first thing that I want to mention, how to leave properly, is "Leave with a blessing," like Moses, not silently like Jacob. Both Moses and Jacob needed to go. God told Moses to leave Jethro and go to Egypt. God told Jacob to leave Laban and go to his father's house. But I want you to notice what Moses did. Moses asked Jethro for permission, even though he didn't technically need it. He said, "Please let me go." Jethro blessed him. In fact, this relationship eventually became where Jethro came to Moses and gave him wisdom and advice when Moses needed it. Jacob and Laban was a different story. God led Jacob to leave, and Jacob just packed his bags and gone. He never told Laban. In fact, he secretly left. It frustrated Laban, and I think it was wrong. Laban actually wanted to harm him and Jacob's wives; you know, one of the wives stole the idols, and it was wrong leaving.

So sometimes people leave making a lot of noise, and some people leave silently, in the sense they never let anybody know; they don't let the pastor, they don't let the leadership know; they don't send a letter saying, "Hey, I'm moving out of town; I'm transitioning out of this church. FYI, I bless this church." And so you have to receive the blessing when you transition out of a ministry, regardless. I mean, think about, even Moses asked Pharaoh to let God's people go. Pharaoh was a monster, and still Moses came to Pharaoh and says, "Let My people go," and it wasn't until Pharaoh let them go that's when Israel left. And Moses didn't come into Israel and say, "Guys, we're leaving. Come on, let's go. We gotta go to the promised land." No, they went to ask Pharaoh, even though Pharaoh didn't want them to go. And so I would just encourage you that if it's your time to go, please don't do it silently; please don't make noise. In other words, don't stir up trouble; don't try to pull other people from that ministry; don't spread gossip about that ministry; don't destroy that ministry's reputation. If it's your time to go, it's not a time to dump everything on the ministry, say how terrible they are. If it's really just not your season, just go. And so, and then afterwards, just begin to bless that ministry. So leave like Moses; don't leave like Laban.

And then one more thing, I will give you just a practical advice: shake off the dust from the ministry you are leaving before you step into the ministry that you are going into. Shaking off the dust means, in my mind, don't bring the bad things and the good things into the next ministry and begin to penalize the next ministry for the mistakes of the previous ministry or put expectations on the next ministry to do to you, in a good sense, what was done there. It's kind of like this: you're working on your, on your backyard; it's dirty; you're working on the lawn; your boots are full of dirt. That's one environment you're in. You're exiting the backyard and coming into the living room of your house. What do you usually do? You take off the dirty boots and you leave them on the outside. Why? Because that's—you shake off, you remove that. If you don't remove the boots and you walk into a living room from the yard work, you will stain the carpets because of where you walked in. If you were in one place, it was toxic, or maybe it was honestly really good, you step into a new season and you expect this pastor now to be your best friend because my other pastor was my best friend. We went out to coffee every single week. Except the other church was 50 people, and this new church you're walking into is five thousand. So you're putting this expectation, that's not healthy, and it's—you're bringing stuff from the previous church into this one, and you're trying to fit in the old system into a new place, new season, and it's just not working. And guess what begins to happen? You become frustrated, and you can stain the new season of your walk with the Lord by dragging the old season in. There are certain lessons that will be lived out throughout your life. But certain things that have happened there have to stay there, and certain bad things that have happened there, they have to stay there. Shake off the dust and just let it go. Don't penalize the next because of your ex. Don't drag your ex into your next. Leave your ex in your past. Don't punish your next by what your ex did to you. Shake off the dust. Step into a new season and don't drag your past into that new season. Don't drag the suffering, the pain; deal with it with the Lord. Because you will stain the new season by dragging the garbage from the old season. Come on, somebody! This was a blessing. Amen.