Latest / The BLAZE (Bible Study) / Morning Devotion from John: Pick Up Your Mat
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Good morning, fan. Good morning. God bless you. Welcome back
- 0:04Speaker 1: to the Morning Devo. We made it to the fifth
- 0:07Speaker 1: day of this series, which would be Friday live, but
- 0:11Speaker 1: from the time of this recording or from the time
- 0:14Speaker 1: that you're listening or watching, amen, we're here. We're in
- 0:18Speaker 1: chapter number five of the Book of John. We're doing
- 0:21Speaker 1: a series of the Book of John, taking a couple
- 0:24Speaker 1: of verses from each chapter of the Book of John
- 0:26Speaker 1: for these Morning Devos. So We're in John chapter five,
- 0:31Speaker 1: excuse me, verses eight and nine. John chapter five, verses
- 0:34Speaker 1: eight and nine. It's a day in the morning, Devo.
- 0:36Speaker 1: We're going to pray first. After we pray, we'll share
- 0:38Speaker 1: this out for like 60 seconds. So that way we
- 0:42Speaker 1: could see more people involved in that. I'm not going
- 0:45Speaker 1: to put a timer or anything. I'm just letting you
- 0:46Speaker 1: know after we pray, go ahead and start sharing and listen.
- 0:50Speaker 1: Keep on watching and listening. Amen. And we're going to
- 0:53Speaker 1: do it from there. So Father God, I thank you
- 0:55Speaker 1: so much for another day. You inspire us. You can
- 1:01Speaker 1: do whatever you want with a willing spirit, with a
- 1:04Speaker 1: willing heart, with our lives and in our lives and
- 1:06Speaker 1: through our lives. I thank you, Lord God, for positioning
- 1:08Speaker 1: us for a blessing. Thank you, Lord God, for allowing
- 1:11Speaker 1: us to see another day, a new day. Whatever we're
- 1:15Speaker 1: going through, whatever we went through yesterday or the day before,
- 1:19Speaker 1: we have right now to give you glory, honor, worship,
- 1:22Speaker 1: and praise. We have right now to be totally satisfied
- 1:26Speaker 1: with your spirit, with your word, We have right now
- 1:30Speaker 1: to start a new day with you, to wake up
- 1:34Speaker 1: and win the day according to your purpose and your
- 1:36Speaker 1: perfect plan for our lives. I pray right now, Lord God,
- 1:39Speaker 1: a hedge of protection over my entire family and over
- 1:44Speaker 1: every single family that's listening and watching right now. I
- 1:47Speaker 1: pray a hedge of protection in the powerful name of
- 1:50Speaker 1: Jesus that you, Lord God, will dispatch your warring angels
- 1:55Speaker 1: to annihilate the tactics of the enemy. I pray, Lord God,
- 1:58Speaker 1: in the supernatural, knowing that you are able and willing
- 2:01Speaker 1: to do your will over and through our lives. I pray,
- 2:05Speaker 1: Lord God, that you will continue to inspire, continue to
- 2:08Speaker 1: correct us, continue to mold us, inform us, and fashion
- 2:11Speaker 1: us in your image. I pray, Lord God, that the
- 2:14Speaker 1: powerful word that you're going to share with us today
- 2:17Speaker 1: will be so impactful that we would just want more
- 2:21Speaker 1: and more of what you're doing in our hearts and minds.
- 2:23Speaker 1: I pray this by faith, knowing that you are able,
- 2:26Speaker 1: that you are willing, In the powerful name of Jesus,
- 2:28Speaker 1: amen to the amen. So let's go forward. Let's go
- 2:31Speaker 1: back to the screen here, and we'll take it from here.
- 2:36Speaker 1: And here's the verse, ladies and gentlemen. John 5, verses
- 2:39Speaker 1: 8 and 9. The Bible says, Then Jesus told him,
- 2:44Speaker 1: Get up, pick up your mat, and walk. This is
- 2:50Speaker 1: the powerful, at least for me, the powerful message impactful
- 2:55Speaker 1: part of this version of the scripture immediately the man
- 3:00Speaker 1: was made well and he picked up his mat and
- 3:04Speaker 1: walked okay that immediately part i don't know about you
- 3:10Speaker 1: but yeah it got me amen immediately that means like
- 3:14Speaker 1: literally right after so today's message i'm calling it pick
- 3:18Speaker 1: up your mat john chapter 5 8 and 9 little
- 3:22Speaker 1: background there was this man that was in need of
- 3:26Speaker 1: healing right jesus shows up i think he was like
- 3:31Speaker 1: 38 years or 30 something years in that situation that
- 3:35Speaker 1: he was facing 38 years this man had been in
- 3:41Speaker 1: his condition he's been lying beside the pool waiting for
- 3:47Speaker 1: his situation to change because he was seeing people get
- 3:50Speaker 1: in that pool and getting healed You might be in
- 3:52Speaker 1: a situation right now that you're seeing everybody just bypass, right?
- 3:56Speaker 1: And they're getting their victory. They're getting their healing. They're
- 3:59Speaker 1: getting their deliverance. Relationships are working better for them. And
- 4:03Speaker 1: you're like, man, what about me? Have you ever felt
- 4:05Speaker 1: that way? Like, what about me, Lord? I'm here. I'm waiting.
- 4:09Speaker 1: But this man for 38 years, I thought it was
- 4:13Speaker 1: 33 years. I could be wrong. 38 years. This man
- 4:16Speaker 1: was like, excuse me laying beside the pool waiting for
- 4:24Speaker 1: his situation to change then Jesus shows up and this
- 4:28Speaker 1: is the beautiful thing when Jesus shows up in your
- 4:30Speaker 1: life and in my life Jesus shows up and gave
- 4:36Speaker 1: him a command that required faith and action so Jesus
- 4:43Speaker 1: told this man get up pick up your mat and
- 4:47Speaker 1: walk right a command commanded that man's body to do
- 4:53Speaker 1: exactly what the Lord was saying. But what did the
- 4:55Speaker 1: man have to do? The man had to activate that command.
- 4:59Speaker 1: He had to respond to that command, right? He had
- 5:02Speaker 1: to have faith and put his faith into action. Sometimes
- 5:09Speaker 1: we hear the command of God over our bodies, physically, emotionally,
- 5:13Speaker 1: and spiritually, but we don't want to put action. We
- 5:15Speaker 1: don't want to put faith to it. And then we're like, yeah,
- 5:18Speaker 1: that's not for me. Yeah, that's not going to work. Yeah,
- 5:21Speaker 1: that's not going to happen. And then you start speaking
- 5:23Speaker 1: negative things into and over your life. Amen? That's the
- 5:28Speaker 1: nature of man's heart and woman's heart, right? That we
- 5:32Speaker 1: start speaking the negative before we start speaking the positive.
- 5:35Speaker 1: It could happen to any one of us. But when
- 5:38Speaker 1: Jesus shows up and gives the command over our body,
- 5:41Speaker 1: over our mind, then we need to put faith in action.
- 5:46Speaker 1: But Jesus didn't tell him to stay where he had
- 5:49Speaker 1: always been. Jesus didn't say, well, you've been there for
- 5:52Speaker 1: all these 30 plus years. You might as well just
- 5:55Speaker 1: stay there. Jesus is not that type of savior. Jesus
- 5:59Speaker 1: is not that type of God. Jesus is not that
- 6:03Speaker 1: type of healer. Like you have healing preachers going all
- 6:06Speaker 1: around the globe, right? Some people are getting healed. Some
- 6:09Speaker 1: people are not. You know, they have to answer to
- 6:13Speaker 1: God for that if it's not genuine. or if it's
- 6:16Speaker 1: something different, a strange fire, I call it. But say
- 6:21Speaker 1: you're in a healing service, you're at a healing service
- 6:23Speaker 1: or delivering service, and everybody's getting delivered and healed except you.
- 6:28Speaker 1: And then you'll leave discouraged because you're like, okay, God,
- 6:31Speaker 1: this is not for me. But let me tell you something.
- 6:34Speaker 1: Let me encourage you. When Jesus shows up in your life,
- 6:37Speaker 1: your personal life, in your personal situation, he will Do
- 6:43Speaker 1: exactly what his command over your body, mind, soul, spirit
- 6:47Speaker 1: will do. He commands us to follow him. We don't
- 6:51Speaker 1: have to unless we put action to our faith, faith
- 6:54Speaker 1: to our action. Amen. I hope I'm not losing nobody.
- 6:57Speaker 1: What I'm trying to say is when Jesus shows up,
- 7:01Speaker 1: there's an immediate change and we need to immediately respond
- 7:06Speaker 1: by faith and action. Pastor Michael Jakes, good morning. God
- 7:09Speaker 1: bless you. Brother Maurice, God bless you as well. Good morning. Amen.
- 7:13Speaker 1: Blessings to you and your family as well. Thank you
- 7:15Speaker 1: for the welcome back. It's good to be back in
- 7:17Speaker 1: the studio. So Jesus didn't tell him to stay where
- 7:21Speaker 1: he had always been. Jesus told this man to get up.
- 7:26Speaker 1: Get up. Amen. I know sometimes when he tells me, listen,
- 7:32Speaker 1: stop worrying or stop entertaining the situation that you're in.
- 7:38Speaker 1: You're not in defeat. You're in victory. Get up. Get up.
- 7:43Speaker 1: Sometimes we get, or I get so familiar with what's
- 7:48Speaker 1: happening now currently with my struggles, my issues, that I
- 7:53Speaker 1: start to identify things. I start to identify myself in
- 7:58Speaker 1: that situation as that type of person. You ever been there?
- 8:02Speaker 1: You're surrounded by evil. You're surrounded by pain and struggle.
- 8:07Speaker 1: You're going through relational issues. You're going through you know,
- 8:11Speaker 1: financial issues, whatever the situation you're facing, you start identifying
- 8:15Speaker 1: with that situation instead of listening to the voice of God,
- 8:19Speaker 1: listening to the command of the Lord Jesus, amen, and
- 8:21Speaker 1: putting your faith to action. It could happen to anybody.
- 8:25Speaker 1: So we carry yesterday's disappointments, right? Because you know today's
- 8:29Speaker 1: a new day. Yesterday is gone. Could never go back
- 8:33Speaker 1: to yesterday. And tomorrow, it's not even a promise. We
- 8:35Speaker 1: don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. We don't even
- 8:38Speaker 1: know if we're going to be in tomorrow on this
- 8:40Speaker 1: side of eternity, but we have right now. And when
- 8:43Speaker 1: you have the word, you have a right now word.
- 8:45Speaker 1: When you have the scriptures, you have a right now
- 8:47Speaker 1: situation that can change lives and change your life. So
- 8:51Speaker 1: sometimes we carry yesterday's disappointments, yesterday's failures, yesterday's regrets, and
- 8:57Speaker 1: yesterday's limitations as if those things are permanent. And you
- 9:03Speaker 1: know how I am. I say those things are only temporary.
- 9:06Speaker 1: This is like, if you had a... 1 million foot rope, right?
- 9:12Speaker 1: And you compare that to your life, you're at the
- 9:14Speaker 1: very first thread of the rope when you compare it
- 9:18Speaker 1: to eternity. When you compare your life now compared to eternity,
- 9:24Speaker 1: you're at the first strand in that 1 million feet
- 9:29Speaker 1: foot rope, right? If you're getting what I'm saying. So
- 9:34Speaker 1: eternity is a long time. So let's not place temporary
- 9:38Speaker 1: things in front of eternity and say, well, this is
- 9:42Speaker 1: it for me. That man could have been like, this
- 9:44Speaker 1: is it. I've been 30 plus years in this condition,
- 9:47Speaker 1: sitting at the pool, watching people getting healed, watching people
- 9:50Speaker 1: get delivered, and I'm just sitting here. No one's helping me, right?
- 9:53Speaker 1: This man could have been doing all of that for
- 9:56Speaker 1: all those years. We don't know. We just know what
- 9:59Speaker 1: the scripture says. When Jesus shows up in this man's life,
- 10:04Speaker 1: he looks at the man, asks the man a couple
- 10:05Speaker 1: of questions and get up, pick up your mat and walk.
- 10:12Speaker 1: That was the command. And the Bible says immediately the
- 10:16Speaker 1: man was made well. What was so special about this man?
- 10:21Speaker 1: I suggest that there was really nothing special about this
- 10:23Speaker 1: man other than the special show of the Lord Jesus
- 10:27Speaker 1: Christ showing up in this man's life. Immediately, the man
- 10:31Speaker 1: was made well. He picked up his mat and began
- 10:34Speaker 1: to walk. When people saw that, they were like, okay,
- 10:39Speaker 1: this Jesus has power and authority over circumstances, over physical need.
- 10:45Speaker 1: He's a healing person. person. He healed this man by command.
- 10:51Speaker 1: You got to read the rest of the chapter. You
- 10:52Speaker 1: got to read the whole chapter to get this into context.
- 10:55Speaker 1: But since we're just devoting some time to these two scriptures,
- 10:58Speaker 1: I just want to go back and encourage you, as
- 11:02Speaker 1: I'm getting encouraged, to get up. When Jesus shows up,
- 11:05Speaker 1: it's time to get up. When Jesus shows up, it's
- 11:07Speaker 1: time to move. When Jesus shows up, it's time to
- 11:09Speaker 1: activate your faith. That mat represented or could represent The
- 11:16Speaker 1: place where the man had been stuck. That mat or
- 11:21Speaker 1: whatever the situation you're in, where you find yourself stuck,
- 11:25Speaker 1: that could be, you know, figuratively speaking, that could be
- 11:31Speaker 1: your mat. That situation. Same thing that once carried him
- 11:38Speaker 1: became something he could now carry. That situation that you're in, amen,
- 11:44Speaker 1: that seems like it's your mat. It's your struggle. It's
- 11:48Speaker 1: the point where you feel like you're stuck. That very
- 11:51Speaker 1: same situation can be turned around when the Lord Jesus
- 11:55Speaker 1: steps into the scene and tells you to pick up
- 11:58Speaker 1: that mat, that very situation. Pick it up. Get yourself up.
- 12:02Speaker 1: Pick up your mat and walk. The same thing that
- 12:04Speaker 1: you thought was carrying you in your struggle, your situation.
- 12:08Speaker 1: Maybe it's illness in your body. Maybe it's mental decisions
- 12:13Speaker 1: that are going wrong. Maybe it's... You're struggling with your faith.
- 12:18Speaker 1: You're struggling in relationships. You're struggling with family. You're struggling
- 12:21Speaker 1: with finances. That could become your mat. Don't identify with
- 12:24Speaker 1: your struggle. Identify with the Lord Jesus Christ, the one
- 12:27Speaker 1: who could show up in your life and in my
- 12:28Speaker 1: life and tell us by his command, pick up your
- 12:32Speaker 1: mat and walk. So don't let your situations carry you.
- 12:35Speaker 1: When Jesus shows up, you're going to carry the situation. Amen?
- 12:38Speaker 1: Nothing is going to hold us down as men and
- 12:41Speaker 1: women of the Lord Jesus, as children of the King
- 12:44Speaker 1: of kings and the Lord of lords. as a child
- 12:46Speaker 1: of God. And by the way, only the Lord Jesus
- 12:50Speaker 1: Christ gives us the right to be called children of God.
- 12:55Speaker 1: We are all made absolutely in the image of God, right?
- 12:58Speaker 1: We're all made in the image of God. I believe
- 12:59Speaker 1: that 100%. And then if you look at the scriptures
- 13:02Speaker 1: a little deeper, amen, you'll realize that in the book
- 13:06Speaker 1: of Genesis, there was a shift. And although Adam and
- 13:10Speaker 1: Eve were created in the image of God, then you
- 13:13Speaker 1: have a situation You have to read it for yourself
- 13:15Speaker 1: in Genesis. I can't remember the exact portion of Genesis,
- 13:20Speaker 1: but it's in the beginning chapters that a man, right,
- 13:25Speaker 1: was created in the images of man. It says it
- 13:28Speaker 1: in Scripture. So because of the fall of man, there
- 13:31Speaker 1: was a turn. There was a shift. But generally speaking,
- 13:36Speaker 1: we are made in the image of God. So what
- 13:39Speaker 1: used to be a symbol of this man's weakness is
- 13:43Speaker 1: became a testimony of God's power. Just think about it.
- 13:48Speaker 1: Your situation that you're in and people are watching, because
- 13:52Speaker 1: I know from personal experience, people will watch you when
- 13:56Speaker 1: you're struggling. They'll watch you when you're down because a
- 13:58Speaker 1: lot of people in the background, they don't want to
- 14:01Speaker 1: see you or me prosper. A lot of people are
- 14:04Speaker 1: secretly having disagreements with you. I remember I put a
- 14:09Speaker 1: post up during last year's Super Bowl asking the Lehigh
- 14:15Speaker 1: Valley leaders, pastors, and all that to repent for celebrating
- 14:21Speaker 1: bad money because of the culture that he represented. Brother John,
- 14:26Speaker 1: I see you. Good morning. God bless you. Yes. Pick
- 14:29Speaker 1: it up. Pick up your mat and walk. So when
- 14:33Speaker 1: I put that, it went viral. People were all over
- 14:36Speaker 1: the place with that call to repentance, getting DMs from
- 14:40Speaker 1: pastors saying you're being judgmental, whatever. That wasn't my intention.
- 14:44Speaker 1: I was calling us, including myself, to repentance, right? So
- 14:51Speaker 1: for some reason, people were trying to bring politics into
- 14:56Speaker 1: that call to repentance, specifically for the Lehigh Valley leadership
- 15:00Speaker 1: pastors and churches and all that. The reason why I
- 15:03Speaker 1: put that up is because I was seeing people, right,
- 15:08Speaker 1: that lead worship, that were pastors, leaders in the Lehigh
- 15:12Speaker 1: Valley you know, dancing and all that on little reels
- 15:18Speaker 1: and lives on their social media platforms. I was like, yeah,
- 15:21Speaker 1: we're playing games because the very next Sunday, I'm sure
- 15:25Speaker 1: that we're going to call that representation of Puerto Rican culture.
- 15:31Speaker 1: We're going to call it sinful because of who was delivering, um,
- 15:35Speaker 1: this cultural music. Right. So I called us repentance. And then,
- 15:40Speaker 1: you know, you get all kinds of, um, comments and
- 15:44Speaker 1: you start realizing, wow, I never knew I had an
- 15:47Speaker 1: issue with this person, that person, this person. And they
- 15:49Speaker 1: were saying, yeah, we always had issues. We never agreed
- 15:52Speaker 1: with X, Y, Z. And I was like, wow, I
- 15:53Speaker 1: was shocked. Amen. So some people don't want to see
- 15:58Speaker 1: others in the kingdom of God advance, prosper. Could it
- 16:03Speaker 1: be that this man at the pool, some people were
- 16:05Speaker 1: secretly like, nah, we don't want to see this man healed.
- 16:09Speaker 1: It's too late for this guy. Or Secretly, we had
- 16:13Speaker 1: issues with this guy, but he doesn't even know I
- 16:14Speaker 1: have issues with him. Scratch all of that. Move all
- 16:18Speaker 1: that aside. Bump that. When Jesus shows up in your
- 16:21Speaker 1: situation in your life, all that stuff goes away. And
- 16:24Speaker 1: Jesus shows up and gives the command over your life
- 16:26Speaker 1: to get up, pick up your mat, and walk. So
- 16:30Speaker 1: what used to be a symbol of his weakness became
- 16:32Speaker 1: a testimony of whose power? Of another man's power? A
- 16:37Speaker 1: woman's power? No, of God's power. And Jesus is God,
- 16:41Speaker 1: so therefore... When he speaks the thing forward, whatever God speaks, amen,
- 16:47Speaker 1: will come to pass. But we have to place our
- 16:49Speaker 1: faith and activate the word of God in our lives
- 16:53Speaker 1: so that way we could demonstrate the glory of God
- 16:56Speaker 1: through us and what God is doing in our hearts
- 16:59Speaker 1: and in our lives. What used to be a symbol
- 17:01Speaker 1: of his weakness became a testimony of God's power. And
- 17:05Speaker 1: then Jesus said, walk, right? Walk. It was impossible before.
- 17:12Speaker 1: at that, before Jesus shows up in this man's life
- 17:16Speaker 1: to walk, obviously, he couldn't walk. Obviously, he was in
- 17:21Speaker 1: a situation where if it wasn't for Jesus, he would
- 17:26Speaker 1: have stood, been in that conversation. Still, I can't talk
- 17:30Speaker 1: this morning. He would have still been in his situation
- 17:35Speaker 1: if Jesus had not showed up in his life. You
- 17:39Speaker 1: and I would have stood Yeah, we would have been
- 17:45Speaker 1: still in our old situation had Jesus not shown up
- 17:50Speaker 1: in our lives. A lot of words going through my head.
- 17:52Speaker 1: I'm trying to get it right. Amen? So don't just
- 17:58Speaker 1: celebrate what God has done in the past in your life, right?
- 18:03Speaker 1: That's great. It's worth celebrating. Move forward because of what
- 18:08Speaker 1: God has done in your life in the past. Because
- 18:12Speaker 1: you know, just like I know, if he did it before,
- 18:15Speaker 1: that means he could surely do it again. The thing
- 18:18Speaker 1: about God is I've never, in my experience, I've never
- 18:22Speaker 1: had something, a repeat from God happen exactly the same way.
- 18:26Speaker 1: Because God is so creative, right? He's so awesome in
- 18:30Speaker 1: all his ways that when he shows up in your life,
- 18:32Speaker 1: it's always different, right? It's always different. That's why it's
- 18:37Speaker 1: hard to explain when I got saved because I'm like,
- 18:40Speaker 1: I don't know what happened. All I know is that
- 18:43Speaker 1: I called on God and I asked him to change me.
- 18:46Speaker 1: And the very next morning, he opened my spiritual eyes
- 18:49Speaker 1: and he started changing me. Don't ask me to explain
- 18:53Speaker 1: how did he do it. Just ask me who did it.
- 18:56Speaker 1: And I'll tell you it was the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 18:58Speaker 1: I don't know how he did it. I just know
- 19:01Speaker 1: who did it. And in this man's situation, if you
- 19:03Speaker 1: read the chapter, people were like, who? Who did what?
- 19:08Speaker 1: How did you get healed? You know what I mean?
- 19:10Speaker 1: People by nature are like that. People by nature are
- 19:13Speaker 1: like that. You see it, I see it, amen. Could
- 19:16Speaker 1: be even in the church. People see somebody get healed.
- 19:20Speaker 1: People see somebody get delivered. They're like, just no way.
- 19:24Speaker 1: Who did that? Who laid hands on you? Not realizing
- 19:28Speaker 1: that God could use me, God could use you to
- 19:30Speaker 1: show up in somebody's situation that you or I might
- 19:34Speaker 1: be clueless of and then God will start speaking. Our
- 19:37Speaker 1: brother in Christ shared a video He was at a
- 19:41Speaker 1: church service and the preacher called him out and they
- 19:46Speaker 1: started filming it and she prophesied over my friend in Florida.
- 19:52Speaker 1: And not only that, prophesied. He said, are you married?
- 19:55Speaker 1: His wife was standing right next to him. And she
- 19:59Speaker 1: prophesied over their marriage. Amen. She probably didn't know what
- 20:02Speaker 1: the situation was. But she showed up. God showed up.
- 20:06Speaker 1: Jesus showed up. Work through the preacher to prophesy and
- 20:10Speaker 1: speak life into that marriage. So God could use anybody
- 20:18Speaker 1: to reach somebody. Amen. So that way we could go
- 20:21Speaker 1: and tell everybody about him. Because he gets the glory.
- 20:27Speaker 1: So I don't, you know, God don't play with his glory.
- 20:30Speaker 1: God don't play with his word and his promises. Amen. Amen.
- 20:34Speaker 1: But he can use the most unlikely people or the
- 20:38Speaker 1: unlikely person to reach you and me. That's why the
- 20:42Speaker 1: Bible says, you know, we might be entertaining angels sometimes.
- 20:46Speaker 1: They might show up in the form of a homeless person,
- 20:50Speaker 1: in the form of a drunk. Quick story, I was
- 20:54Speaker 1: doing Lyft and Uber at night. I used to do
- 20:56Speaker 1: Lyft and Uber at night years ago. Don't do nights
- 20:59Speaker 1: no more just because of situations. And there was a
- 21:04Speaker 1: picked up a lady. She got in. She was spent.
- 21:07Speaker 1: She was drunk, right? Out of her mind. But she
- 21:11Speaker 1: recognized me from somewhere. She said, I know you from somewhere.
- 21:15Speaker 1: Just don't know from where. And I said, well, you know,
- 21:18Speaker 1: she said, wait, it could have been on the church service.
- 21:20Speaker 1: And she mentioned some people and it could have been,
- 21:23Speaker 1: I couldn't confirm it, but it could have been. She said,
- 21:26Speaker 1: so when I got to her destination, she was like,
- 21:28Speaker 1: young man, let me pray for you. She was a
- 21:30Speaker 1: little I guess she thought I was younger than her.
- 21:33Speaker 1: I probably was older than her, but she called me
- 21:35Speaker 1: young man. And, oh, whatever. And she prayed a prayer
- 21:41Speaker 1: that God was using this drunk woman to speak directly
- 21:45Speaker 1: into my current situation at the time and in my life. Right?
- 21:50Speaker 1: So who was I to try to disqualify of this woman, right,
- 21:57Speaker 1: that claimed to be a woman of God but struggling with, obviously, alcohol.
- 22:01Speaker 1: Who am I to discredit her and say there's no
- 22:05Speaker 1: way God could use her because she's drunk? Nope, it's
- 22:09Speaker 1: not the guy that I serve. God could speak through
- 22:11Speaker 1: a donkey. He could speak through a drunkard. He could
- 22:15Speaker 1: speak through a drug addict. Now, he's not condoning the
- 22:18Speaker 1: behavior of being drunk, not condoning it. To be higher drugs,
- 22:23Speaker 1: he's not condoning it. But he's showing us his power
- 22:27Speaker 1: to use even those people who are struggling in their
- 22:30Speaker 1: situations to speak through them life. And I think at
- 22:34Speaker 1: the same time, while they're speaking life to someone else,
- 22:37Speaker 1: I believe God is cleansing them at the same time.
- 22:40Speaker 1: All depends on the person's situation, where they're at, and
- 22:45Speaker 1: if they're activating their faith or not. Some people are
- 22:49Speaker 1: in places that they know they shouldn't be. It's just
- 22:51Speaker 1: that now they're struggling with what we call the three-letter
- 22:54Speaker 1: word sin. They're struggling with it. And the Bible says
- 22:58Speaker 1: sin is pleasurable sin. for a season. So they might
- 23:02Speaker 1: be in a season of sin that seems to be pleasurable.
- 23:06Speaker 1: That is pleasurable according to the scriptures. But when that
- 23:08Speaker 1: season is over, then there's consequences. That's why we always
- 23:12Speaker 1: have to be consistently praying for one another, correcting one another, reproving, right?
- 23:17Speaker 1: Encouraging one another, praying with one another, right? Telling each
- 23:20Speaker 1: other to get up, pick up our mats and walk.
- 23:26Speaker 1: And then you might experience an immediate season Because immediately,
- 23:30Speaker 1: this man received this immediately. Immediately, the man was made well. Immediately,
- 23:38Speaker 1: you could be sober. Immediately, you could be off drugs. Immediately,
- 23:41Speaker 1: you could be useful as a tool in the kingdom
- 23:45Speaker 1: of God for God's glory wherever you go. You don't
- 23:49Speaker 1: have to understand every step. You just have to take
- 23:52Speaker 1: the first one with Christ. You just have to take
- 23:56Speaker 1: the step Jesus is asking you us to take. Right?
- 24:02Speaker 1: When you have your faith, you have your focus, you
- 24:05Speaker 1: have your purpose, it's one day at a time, one
- 24:08Speaker 1: step at a time. We know life throws a lot
- 24:11Speaker 1: of curveballs, so sometimes we swing and we miss, right?
- 24:16Speaker 1: But when the fastball comes, sometimes we get it, hit
- 24:18Speaker 1: it right on the nose, and we hit it out
- 24:20Speaker 1: the park. Listen, we don't get the glory for that.
- 24:23Speaker 1: I don't get the glory for that. God gets the
- 24:26Speaker 1: glory for that. So, Let's make some declarations to end
- 24:31Speaker 1: this week off in a strong way. Today's declaration. Follow me.
- 24:38Speaker 1: Maybe even wind the tape and write it down later on.
- 24:42Speaker 1: I will not remain where God has delivered me from.
- 24:46Speaker 1: That's huge. Don't go back to where God delivered you from.
- 24:52Speaker 1: So make a declaration. I will not remain where God
- 24:55Speaker 1: has delivered me from. Declaration. Declaration. I am getting up.
- 25:01Speaker 1: I am picking up my mat. I am leaving the
- 25:05Speaker 1: past behind. Right? I know it seems obvious like, well,
- 25:10Speaker 1: you can't go back to the past. A lot of
- 25:12Speaker 1: people are trying to relive their past for whatever reason.
- 25:17Speaker 1: I am leaving the past behind. I will walk by faith,
- 25:22Speaker 1: not by fear. Fear kind of like distracts your faith.
- 25:29Speaker 1: Fear tries to eliminate your faith. So declare that I
- 25:33Speaker 1: will walk by faith and not by fear. What once
- 25:38Speaker 1: represented my defeat will become part of my testimony and
- 25:43Speaker 1: you will have the victory. Jesus already won. We win
- 25:48Speaker 1: because he won. Because of Jesus, I will move forward.
- 25:56Speaker 1: You could declare these things over your life. It's okay.
- 25:58Speaker 1: Some people say, well, that's kind of, you know, egotistic
- 26:02Speaker 1: or self-centered. No, you're declaring the power of God in
- 26:06Speaker 1: your life and through your life and over your life.
- 26:08Speaker 1: Why not? Everybody's making their declarations in the world. Why
- 26:12Speaker 1: can't we stand up and make declarations in the kingdom
- 26:15Speaker 1: of God for the purpose of God? So thank you, Father,
- 26:20Speaker 1: you can say for meeting me right where I am
- 26:23Speaker 1: because you know for sure and I know for sure
- 26:25Speaker 1: through my testimony that God met me where I was
- 26:28Speaker 1: And I believe now he's taking me to where he is.
- 26:30Speaker 1: He can do the same for you. Get up, move forward,
- 26:34Speaker 1: walk with Jesus, right? And remember that today is a
- 26:38Speaker 1: new day. God has purposed this day, planned this day
- 26:42Speaker 1: specifically for you to get up, pick up your mat
- 26:46Speaker 1: and walk. And you're going to experience an immediate season
- 26:51Speaker 1: or you can experience immediate season. I can't speak with
- 26:55Speaker 1: definites because I don't know your situation. But in my situation, amen,
- 27:00Speaker 1: I could literally declare this word over my life. So
- 27:04Speaker 1: you're not called to carry your past. You're called to
- 27:08Speaker 1: carry your testimony that will lead others as well to
- 27:12Speaker 1: their testimony. Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.
- 27:17Speaker 1: Share this out with somebody that needs this encouragement. I
- 27:19Speaker 1: know I need this. I want to watch this again.
- 27:20Speaker 1: It's Jesus' word, amen. It's not my word that you
- 27:25Speaker 1: could put to the test. Why don't you put the
- 27:27Speaker 1: word to test for yourself, man? Jesus is in the building,
- 27:32Speaker 1: in your life, in my life. So let's activate our
- 27:35Speaker 1: faith and move forward and press forward. Hope you had
- 27:37Speaker 1: a great day. Hope you're having a great day. I
- 27:41Speaker 1: hope and pray that you have a great weekend for
- 27:43Speaker 1: the time of this recording. So I'm out of here,
- 27:46Speaker 1: but let me leave you with a blessing. God bless
- 27:47Speaker 1: you all. God keep you all. And remember always that
- 27:52Speaker 1: God is good. Peace.