Consider Your Ways - Stephanie Ike Okafor

[Music] thank you Lord have you guys been plugged into the series come on but just stand with me we're going to read the word of God [Music] and we're going to be reading now for this teaching today we're going to read ha ha guy from verse one through 11 but just for this moment there's something I just want you to ponder about as we go through um the word just says just the Lord will lead us in this um in this moment that we have together but I'm just going to read from three verses for

now and then we're really going to take our time in the scriptures so we're going to read from verse 5 to 7 and now it says now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways you have sown much and bring in little you eat but do not have enough you drink but you are not filled with drink you clothe yourselves but no one is warm and he who earns wages earns wages to put in a bag with holes thus says the Lord of hosts again when the Lord says something twice you got to

pay attention anyone has that mother who just when they call your name two times you start calling the father two times said Lord Lord so thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways Heavenly Father we love you and we thank you for this moment that we are gathered in your name and holy spirit I ask to do what only you can do glorify Jesus through everything that takes place breathe on this word in the hearts and in the minds of your sons and daughters that it will minister to them in that specific area of

their life that you are after that we would leave this place and those even watching online that went at the end of it all that they would leave that the song we just worshiped to Christ is my firm foundation would not just be a song We Sing but the life we live that you oh Lord you are my firm foundation in the totality of my being you are the foundation of it I trust you you are the anchor you are the one I stand on I know that with you I can overcome all things and

so heavenly father have your way in Jesus name amen amen amen you may be seated now if maybe this is your first time or you weren't tuned in last week you know we kicked off the series moving forward and Pastor E taught on a message about the faith to move forward you saw a recap of it and I just want to encourage you if you have not watched that message you definitely want to do yourself a favor yes yes that's right you want to watch it you know one of the key takeaways you know for

from Pastor E's message for me something that the Holy Spirit just really put a light on was when he talked about how movement does not you know equal progress and sometimes we are actually moving in circles and not moving forward right and I was sharing this earlier um as a team as a staff we were talking about the message and we're talking about you know what area of your life do you feel like you're moving in circles and not moving went forward and you know it was so interesting like everyone had something so incredible to

share you know just sharing things I was like Wow but I had to be honest with myself you know when people are sharing things that just feel profound like yes oh that's a good thing to want to move forward in and I said Stephanie either you're quiet or you're honest and I said well mine is working out [Music] guys and it's not that I don't work out you know but I have this goal in mind you know do you just have this picture on your vision board sometimes you're like wow I see that and then

you know kadas just paused [Laughter] me and I just needed a moment of accountability you know with the team to say just even when I have my quesadilla keep moving you know just keep moving forward in this in this thing but in other ways how do we see this right because that's my truth but let's look at it in a general truth sense because when the Lord is talking to the people about consider your ways he's really speaking the same message you think you're progressing but you're moving in circles because to move forward in the

sight of God is when you are in a steady place of alignment according to the will and purpose of God for your life when you're outside of that you're really moving in circles so he tells the people because you see a little back story of what is taking place here you know first of all if you have and how many people have finished a book in the Bible you know while there are some hands that are not up it's no problem we listen we don't judge right and I want to encourage you you could Flex

next time when we say how many hands you say finish the book read Hagi two chapters literally two chapters in the book you can say you know what I I just read you know have to tell people the book you could just say go live one day say you I was I just finished this book in the Bible and man the Lord really spoke to me people be like wow you are in your word but be in your word right but but Hai you know is it's a prophet of the Lord and when he starts

speaking you know the Lord sends him to give the people a word and when he's speaking to the people these were people that were in Exile in Babylon and they were now free to go back to their Hometown and during the time they were in Exile you know the Babylonian Kingdom had just brought Jerusalem to ruins um the the temple that was built by the King Solomon was destroyed the land was desolate it was not a place you know you you want to be right but the people had returned to the land the Lord had

set them free they were in captivity for about 70 years so during that time children were born people were raised raised up in that Babylonian system but when they were set free and and here's the thing that is so interesting with when you see there are certain things as you study the Bible you will see that Babylon in this context was not just about a kingdom back then but that through this Kingdom they established a system that the enemy is involved in and the system of Babylon we see it where even in the Book of

Revelation it talks about the fall of great Babylon right because it's talking about Nations that have taken on this system and it's a system where they teach you how self is God where you become your own God Babylon caters to you it caters to self it is it is against everything that God is for it teaches you idolatry right and really the idol is you so this is the system that these people have been in for 70 years this is the syst system that they had children in this is a system that they were raising

up you know little Andrea in right and so when they're set free if you're in Drea this place you're not in that system but but when they were you know the spirit of the Lord is Spirit of Freedom you know you got to let loose sometimes but when they were set free and when they returned back one of the things they were charged to do by the Lord was to rebuild the Temple of God and it was not just because you know the Lord just you know is just sitting up there he's like hey I

just want to see my thing happening the temple represented something deeper than just the people building a temple it was for the people to prioritize their spiritual life that this Freedom you have experienced in God is not just to satisfy you because you came out of the system but the system needs to come out of you you need to get back into the place of worship you need to get back into the place where you hear the voice of God you need to get back into the place where the Lord is involved in every matter

concerning your life but you see the people up until this moment and we're going to read the book of you know just from verse one down the people had been you know they they returned home they were home for two years then two years later they start laying the foundation for the temple and when they laid the foundation they were excited they were rejoicing they had a celebration but there was opposition and they allowed the external opposition to cause internal defeat and they stopped building and even when situations became a little bit more comfortable and

it was no longer just about the external opposition now it would be about the sacrifice required in order for them to build they never returned to building and 14 years go by and what were they doing all that time they focused on building their own homes they were building paneled houses if it was in modern day they were at Home Depot checking out what towels to put in the bathroom what wallpapers to buy while the house of God was in Ruins and you see the Lord is steps in in the matter in a way that

should cause them to pay attention to their ways because what the people didn't realize we're focusing on us we're focusing on self we're focusing on building me doing me you know they have laid a foundation what does that look like in our lives salvation we came out of the kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom we said yes to Jesus we we said you know what Lord I want to walk with you and we just paused there and we went back to serving the kingdom that we just left even though we're not associating ourselves with where

we were but our actions are living to fulfill the desires of a different Master this was this was where the people were they didn't even realize it and let's actually read the text because there's so much to pull out of this and we'll see what the Lord is saying from it about us so in Hagi chapter 1 it goes and says in the second year of King Darius in the sixth month on the first day of the month the word of the Lord came by Hagi the prophet to zerubabel the son of shitel you know

when you see his name just say sh Andel we give you a better memory governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of jehos the high priest saying and then before we go into the next one so where we're at right now again Hagi comes into the picture the people for 14 years have not been doing anything except building their life they abandoned the Temple of the Lord they abandoned and here is the significance of that they were comfortable about being in a place of spiritual death as long as their personal what they regarded as

their personal lives was thriving but was it because in what in the snippet we read earlier they earned wages to put in a bag of holes so they're in this constant pursuit of self but it's not actually adding up so let's continue then in verse two it says thus speaks the Lord of hosts saying this people now if you when you read prior to this the Lord is very clear that these are his people but he doesn't go from he doesn't say my people and and when the Lord wants to say my people he will

use my people but right now it's almost like there is a and not like you can disappoint God CU that means you surprised him right but there is a level of misalignment that the Lord sees with them that you should you should have seen this by now you're not acting like my people this is not the way those that belong to me should behave because if you truly belong to me then I would be the priority of your life and and here's the thing we have to understand about the Lord because sometimes as Christians we

we think that Christianity is just about rules and regulations and that the issue of that idea or that Doctrine often comes about when we just grew up in church when you ask a person hey like when did you know Jesus when did you give your life to the Lord they say oh from the womb and then you're a little concerned like you encountered him were you in the womb and you recognize your sin you know was it like a womb Club where y'all were going hanging out you just disappeared for some time then came back

and you're like oh Lord I Need A Savior and you realize that when people say that like oh man I just I've always known Jesus what they're really saying is I've always known tradition I've always known religion I grew up in a Christian household but if you really know the Lord there's a there's a moment there's a time that you know that there was a shift that took place because Christianity is not just about someone telling you dos and don'ts it's when you encounter a person and the person is Jesus and so when we have

this concept that you know what GE you know Christianity just wants to control my life my question question is have you met the person because when you meet him when you have an encounter with him there's something that pulls you that draws you to him that you know that me I want to lay my life for you it's not only because you're my mother's God or my father's God or my grandfather or my grandmother I have met you and I want to encourage you because you might be listening to this you might be in the

room you might be online and that is your testimony when did you give your life from the womb no no no no no there is a moment where things changed there is something that you come to know about Jesus that in your will you gave yourself to him you made a decision the starting point there was there has to be a turning point in your life no matter how young no matter how old but you should be able to identify it and if you have not identified it ask him to reveal himself to you because

if not when the system fails you that's when you walk away and say no I'm no longer Christian just just you know they're just a bunch of rules no no no when you meet the person when when you meet a person when you think about your best friends or people in your life you can't just wake up one day and deny their existence you just wake up and you say you know what I just you know I'm just tired of people telling me about who they are because they don't exist you just had coffee with

them yest yesterday so meet the person and why I'm saying this is because when you meet the person Jesus what changes is that you begin to understand that everything about him when he speaks to you when he gives you instructions when you study his word he's not trying to confine you he wants to give you life he created you he understands the uniqueness of your identity he understands why he placed you on the Earth and there is an insurance policy that the Lord put in man that there is a desire that will never be met

until he has a place in your life and he has an active role in your life not just salvation that's amazing but if it was just about salvation and the moment you said yes to him you should just transcend to Glory but you're still here because it's about walking with him that now that you know him now can he plays a role in guiding your decisions in showing you the way that you ought to go in order to experience true life because you start living not when you're serving the kingdom you came out from but

when you're serving the reality of who you truly are in him that is why you see one thing when you study one of my favorite um you know uh like chapters to read in the Bible is everything connected to the Garden of Eden because in that you will see Satan has no new tricks what what you see happen in the garden is the same play he does every single time for example wanting the Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before they could ever get to the tree

of life he starts planning he starts conniving away to make certain how could I get them to eat of this tree and what does he say he says God knows first of all he he's lying that if you eat of this you would be like him in other words if you eat of this tree you become your own God you don't need somebody telling you which way to go turn left turn right do this don't putting restrictions on your life you don't need that you can tell yourself you are man enough you are woman enough

to know what's good and bad for you why do you need a God to tell you how to live your life that is what the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil was about and when they ate of it all of a sudden even their reasoning changes and even when Adam realizes he's naked God did not ask him how did you know he said who told you because what you don't realize is that your life on Earth is serving a kingdom whether it's the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness so the desires

you have you have to vet it because if you think it's just of you that's the enemy's trap no you are you be your own God and that was how he ruled over Humanity until the coming of the Lord but the Tree of Life was representative of Jesus if you eat of this you would understand what eternal life is really about you would walk in the way of life but many of us has fallen for the lie that I just want to do me I know what's good for me and what's wrong for me I

I I you know what God I will do your thing later you don't know it's the same play he did in the Garden of Eden every time he present presents something to you where you're like yeah even though this does not really look like what God wants for me but you know it's it's not that bad we start to create our own philosophy outside the word of God the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and so when the Lord is telling the people consider your ways is to bring them back to a place

the road you're on right now is it really profitable to you are you just moving and all you are taking glory in is that there's movement but you don't realize that where you're actually doing is just moving in circles your time delay is taking place in your life time is wasting you're missing out on the times and seasons of what God has for you because you're regulating yourself and you have not found dependency on the Lord and so as verse two says this people God is like you're not acting like my people this people says

the time has not come the time that the Lord's House should be built first of all they don't deny the fact that hey these are God's people they don't deny that the temple should be built but they do the spiritual thing you know it's just it's not God is not telling me to do this right now it's it's not time for 14 years went by it's still not time and why was it not time because it was hard it was going to cost them just like when you really give your life to the Lord and

you start to walk with him there are things that you realize I used to profit from but I need to walk away from but because you profit from it you're like it's not time the Lord is doing something there you know just fill it there are times that the Lord will speak to you about things that he's calling you into and you make up all the excuses why because you don't want to ruffle feathers you want your your friend group to not feel shaken by your how you move you don't want people to start feeling

like you're doing too much you don't want people to call you and say man you've changed because there's something in the relationship you're still after you're like it's not time you see when the hand of God is involved in something when when the Lord is moving on you to do things there are certain things the Lord cannot release in your life until your life takes the shape and alignment of his will and so you're you're wondering like why isn't this happening why isn't that happening but there are certain things until when heaven looks at you

and they recognize the person you're supposed to be in the season there are things that God cannot release to you it would be illegal for him to give it to the false version of you can you imagine feeding your Shadow wow where would the food go that is how many of us are living in the shadow of Our Lives you now remember there's a minister there's there's a minister who's a friend of this church he's he's preached here several times friends of our pastors and I can never forget a testimony that he shared how there

was a time you know him and the wife were just believing God for children they were trying everything in the natural and nothing seemed to be working but the Lord had called him to start a Ministry and he was running from it when he finally accepted the call baby one came boom bang bang bang bang bang baby to came boom you know I'm married I can say that what am I saying there are times that the hand of God will step in to withhold something because what that is connected to goes beyond your own pleasure

it is connected to the aligned version of you for what God wants to build on you but before he can build these things on you he has to build you he has to develop you he has to make certain that your appetites are not leaning to the appetites of the world he has to make certain that he has priority in your life and why is that because when the Lord has priority in your life he can Safeguard you he becomes your Firm Foundation you're not easily shaken by every wind you see we're in interesting times

in this country two playe crash back to back many people have their ideas around the whole thing and you know what present presented in prayer cuz I don't think the news is going to really tell us what's going on but what I can tell you is that this nation has entered very interesting times it has entered times of shaking we're going to see things that will rock you to your core much worse than what we're looking at on the news and these are things that are signs pointing to what's to come but here is the

thing if you were not Anchored In God then in the time you're supposed to stand and You Begin to Fall so there are times when the Lord will take matters into his own hands and he will cause a drought on your life and he does it out of his mercy and his love for you because who he needs to build if you keep going the path you're going because you think you are successful in it you will never consider your ways you will never realize that wait what I'm doing I'm putting so much work in

and nothing is coming out I'm given all my time and yet there is no reward the Bible says and they will drink but yet they're not full of drink what is the drink actually speaking to you're looking for things to satisfy a thirst and every desire every accomplishment nothing nothing satisfies it so you become an accomplishment Junkie looking for one thing to the next you see sometimes there desires that people put their whole lives into their whole energy everything they're whole focused into and if you look at the root of that desire it's just to

prove somebody wrong it's just to prove that I'm not the failure you thought I would be and you know what that is that person still controls your life you see there are people I know personally that at the height of their greatest accomplishment was also at the height of their Depression was also the moments they felt the most suicidal why because they thought the accomplishment was the answer they thought this thing I've G I'm going to give my whole life to would finally satisfy me and it was empty it was void because if God has

no place in it it would never bring true satisfaction and so the scripture continues in verse three it says then the word of the Lord came by Hagi the prophet saying is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panel houses and this Temple to lie in ruins the people said oh it's not time to build the God thing but it's definitely time to build our thing for 14 years they were building their houses ignoring the temple so the Lord now brings them into a moment of reflection you said it's not time okay but

it's time to build your thing but not the God thing that would actually keep you secured but it's time to do your thing and then it continues this is so interesting and then it says now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways that word consider your ways is a Hebrew figure of speech and it actually means put your heart on your roads what it's saying is that now I I want you to really get your emotions involved in this look at the path you're going is this how you really want to continue

for 14 years you focused on doing you it's almost like the Lord is saying how has it worked out is this the path you want to continue in moving in circles living in the shadow of your life doing all this work and it amounts to nothing you have all the right things in play you have the publicist you have everything but nothing is working out you have all the right relation relationships but nothing is working out you have the perfect idea but nothing is working out you show up first you live last the promotion is

not working out and the Lord is like consider this season of your life is not about you blaming your employee or blaming this person or blaming your friend group or blaming the person that should put you on or blaming this or blaming that no no no no no my hand is involved in this the Lord continues he says now from what we read you have sown much and bringing little how many people feel like that even in the house you feel like man I'm I'm pouring in so much but nothing really is coming out I'm

giving of my whole self to this thing and nothing is happening the way I think it should and even though everyone is looking at you like man you're just getting it you just you know just hustling grinding just doing the thing cuz you're your social media are so active but you're dying inside you walk into places you're hidden you come into a dark room you have glasses on say girl you know you sure you can see you know why you're hiding even in the fashion it's not really fashion it's to hide because I've tried it

one time I say you know what maybe this is like a a cool thing to do I wore these really Dark Shades went into a dark room I said you know what I don't think I was born this [Laughter] way what I'm trying to explain to you there's some of you it it overwhelms you that even in public you need to stay hidden because everybody is applauding you you see it's so interesting you know I was I was doing this research about just how you know advertising really um kind of communicates to Generations about what

you should go after they're teaching you they're training you on this is the life you want and this is how things should look by the by the images they constantly feed you and it was interesting to see that in the '90s you know I had to look at it because I I'm a 90s kid so don't really have much history there but when I looked at the the the the ads when they talked about when they showed images of the wealthy you know what they're dressed like you know swim shorts laying down by the beach

around family these people were just having a good leisure time they were present in the moment you see kids running to their fathers the dog is doing its own thing somewhere you know they were present they were having a meal that was what they were showing as wealth in our generation a suit suitcase always on the go in the car on the plane in the jet movement movement movement movement but where is it heading where is it leading so then now we are now a generation and a people that constantly want to be on the

go but when you get home you know that I'm doing all these things I'm attending every event I'm answering every call I am overwhelmed and still nothing what I'm putting in does not look like what I'm getting out see what the Lord continues to say you eat but you don't have enough you drink but you are not filled with drink you clothe yourselves but you are but no one is warm he who earns weight wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes the Lord is addressing different types of issues that they're facing there

are some of you this is your issue that is your issue then he goes into the last one and he who earns wages it's almost like the devour just comes and snatches it because imagine if you have been building a house for 14 years I mean is there issues every time just something is just taking your money from that house and you have to fix it again he says he who earns it it goes into a bag with holes now the interesting thing is that when we continue now in verse 7 it says thus says

the Lord of hosts consider your ways go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified says the Lord you looked for much but indeed it came to little and when you brought it home I blew it away why now the Lord is about to answer the question of the hour why is it that every nothing is amounting to much says because of my house that is in Ruins while every one of you runs to his own house therefore the heaven above you withhold

the Dee and the Earth withholds its fruit can you imagine planting but because the Earth has been commanded to not give you fruit you did everything right you planted the seed you watered the seed the sun came out other farmers in other towns they're talking about oh yeah that they're learning from your method it's working for them they're like hey man how is how is the trees you're like well it's still a see have you ever been there where what you did you advise someone else to do they went they came into abundance you are

still in seed why because concerning your case the Lord had commanded the Earth to withhold its fruit he said for I called for a drought on the land and the mountains on the Grain and the new wine and the oil on whatever the ground brings forth on men and livestock he said you will look for resources you won't find them you will look for help in people you will not find them and you would miss it if you start to blame the people like man all this people in my life are just fake you know

I just need some real friends you know new friend season and the Lord is like no no no you're missing it have you ever experienced when you went on a fast and you were serious about the things of God and someone just calls you that has been holding on to something concerning you and they're like man we just thought about you for this thing the heaven responded to you you see something I've learned about God man you you know we we have this hustle mentality and I believe in excellence I believe you know with what

you have do things to your best but if the hand of God is not in it it's not going to do what it's supposed to do I remember you know I was in Nigeria um this in in this last month the end of December going into January and I was ministering at a church and they had this moment where they did an interview and the the pastor's wife she asked me an interesting question and she was like you know she she said Stephanie what happened because I noticed when there was this sudden shift in your

life and all of a sudden you started traveling everywhere to speak and she said what exactly happened and I said it I said this is not a generic answer it was the Lord and here's the thing I REM when I was pregnant with my daughter and there were things the Lord began to show me about her and you know I was just sharing this during like in between the the two um Services right that when it comes to and I'm just going to share my testimony I don't know who this is for but the holy

spirit is just putting this so strong on me to share this when when I got married I was the one who wanted to you know let's just travel for a year or two before we started bringing children and the Lord had other plans and one thing I told the Lord I said I will never be in your way when it comes to the children you have desired to come into this home I know I have my will I have my desires but I'm not going to be in your way because I know I don't have

the capacity to only trust in my husband and I's ability to raise this children if your hand is not in it I will freak out I will have anxiety I will Panic every little thing I'm going to be losing my mind I said but if you're in it I'm cool so whatever you desire I'm good with it so when the Lord revealed to my husband and I that it was time for our our first daughter and I was like okay you know cool we submitted to that exactly when you know because even before I got

married some of you have heard this testimony the Lord told me how old I would be when I would be a mom and he reminded me of that he said don't forget I showed you this and I said okay Lord I you know we're just going to travel with her and that's exactly what the Lord allowed so when I got pregnant with her then the Lord says to me that at her after her birth this was so interesting when I I would get invitations to minister in different places but it was always within certain regions

the Lord says to me I will open up the Nations for you because what you're going to do in the Nations is connected to the calling on your child do you see the alignment so the nation's opening up was not just him giving me a pat on the back he says because you aligned with my plan now I will open up the Nations to you when I tell you that year we received speaking invitations from every part of the continent except I mean every Contin interet uh except what's it called Antica Antarctica you know I

don't I don't think there's any churches in um antara but there were places where the Lord says not yet not yet but he says but I wanted to show it to you that now I would open it up for you and when I told the lady I said it was nothing I did it was the same message it was nothing I did it was just what the Lord desired to do when you get in the shape of what God desires out of you there are things hustling cannot open it is literally the will of God

and the word of God that begins to open up certain doors and that's why the same way he has the power to shut them he says I will cause he caused a drought in their lives you see I don't know who was here but but I felt this so heavy the drought you're EXP experiencing is because the Lord wants you to reorder your priorities your life right now is servicing the kingdom of darkness even though you're out of it it's not out of you your life right now is servicing the validation and the comfort of

those around you and the Lord is say no no no it's time it's been time I've spoken to you about this for years now and now it is the mercy of God for you to recognize because you see sometimes the Lord doesn't always need chaos for you to get your attention but if you would listen to him even when he's telling you when everything seems great you would not need to fall into the time of chaos some of you are here and you will feel like man no my life is doing is doing just fine

but who are you really in service to don't wait till it feels like it's falling apart consider your ways now begin to search and ask the Holy Spirit Lord am I really in service to you do you have a place in my life in my career do you have a place in my relationships do you have a place in my home do you have a place in my lifestyle because you see you can come to church every Sunday and that is just part of your routine but does God have a place in your everyday lifestyle

when you look at everything connected to you does God have a place in it because when he has a place that is your security that is your comfort that is the place he begins to develop you and build you to take on the image of who you've always been you see there are times that the abundance of wealth you need is not in finances it's in your peace of mind for the times to come what you're going to need more than anything is peace of mind and the Bible talks about how there is a peace

that surpasses all understanding all knowledge that means the peace it's talking about has to do with a knowing it has to do with an understanding there is something you begin to know in God concerning your life that you're not moved by what moves everybody else that is why the scriptures say don't those who know their God shall do great exploits but how do you know your God when you put him in his right priority when you put him first and putting him first in your life is not just about it's not only when you wake

up and you pray in the morning it's in your actions it's how he shows up in your everyday life what influences your decision making because your prayer could just be one-sided It could only be petition or request or Lord I Thank you for waking me up and that's it or do you come before the Lord and present your day and say did I please you when I did that did did I please you when I signed that contract did I please you when I was on the phone with that lady and you know I thought

we were talking about this person out of concern but maybe it was gossip and the Holy Spirit begins to work on your heart begins to work on your mind you see what the Lord began to show me I saw people and even as you were hearing this message in especially was in this service you felt like just running literally running and just falling on the altar it it was like but there was something you just feel like man finally I understand and I just want to take a time of prayer just stand with me if

you can and if we can just open the rose because God is after you and he's after you from a place of love for the Lord to go to these types of heights to literally call a drought in their lives it's not because the Lord is just some narcissist who is insecure sitting on the throne he loves you so much the Bible says for God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus everything that every action produced from the Lord is act is an action that comes from his love for you and there are

times that when you're going in the wrong direction if that is the thing that would get your attention then he would allow it so that when you look back and you start to realize wait what am I what am I actually doing you know I had this dream few nights ago and this man this man died in the dream and then he came back to life and when he came back to life he was just like testifying he was so excited he was like Jesus saved me Jesus saved me and it's like he had this

understanding that man I I get it he's like the breath in my body Jesus is the one who is holding my life together if not for him I wouldn't be alive he sent me back and he was so excited and he said he was telling the doctors he was telling everybody around him he said with this life now I will serve him I will say what he wants me to say I will do what he wants me to do because he is the one holding my life and as I was watching this man I had

this understanding and I was like Lord how beautiful would it be if we all came to this place without near death experiences or coming back from the dead if we all understood that you are the one who holds our life together that you are the giver and the sustainer of life life and as I was reflecting on this the Lord also began to show me myself because you see there there messages that even when the Lord is is preparing it in you he would also convict you so the Lord began to show me myself that

he's not just showing me this for the people but that even personally he says remember this and I want you to remember this as well he says any time you feel almost like you you there there is someone or something that makes you feel like you should shrink that makes you feel like you know what let me just stay in the shadows let me just stay in the place of my comfort remember they don't have the power to give you life why should someone who doesn't have the power to give you life influence what you

do with it and that I I hold on to that any moment that I just feel a little bit of anxiety because it's we're we're humans I said wait this situation cannot give me life so why would you influence what I do in this moment I will serve the Lord I would not give given to my doubts or my anxiety or my fear I will serve the Lord and here is the beauty and he is mighty enough he is able enough to provide all that concerns me you see some of you in this room there

are things you have to disconnect yourself from Because deep the holy spirit is showing you now you see the job of the holy spirit is to convict the message just creates a vehicle for the Holy Spirit to take that and begin to show you in your personal lives what are the things that you need to divorce yourself from things you've accepted things you've things you've been tolerating and it's like the Lord is not in it things you said yes to and you know you only said yes to because of what you were profiting from it

but you know that the Lord is not in it and you don't want to live as a slave to a liar the enemy just wants to deceive you you don't want to live as a slave to the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil being God over your life that was never in the will of God for your life you don't want that when the the last days come and you you see your maker face to face cuz we're all going to die one day we just pray to not die prematurely that we have

a long full beautiful life I remember one of our volunteers um the husband was telling telling me you know the the wies and they're they're going to laugh at this but the wife's grandmother passed away that's not funny but and they were looking so sad and distraught so then I was like oh man that's sad I got a little sad too then I asked I said hey you know how how old was your grandma the moment she said 100 and that's it girl what are we sad about I said know I'm actually [Laughter] hungry I

thought I lost my appetite morning I said uh she passed a 100 but why I'm saying that is man she did not die prematurely she said the grandma was ready she said you know I'm done I'm done send me home you know that that is beautiful to me so we're all going to die one day we just want to live a long full life but when that day comes because it will come and you meet your Lord are you going to have the confidence to say man I live the way you wanted me to I

lived according to truth I lived I experienced what life is really about I wasn't a slave to the wrong system I understood why you sent me on this Earth you see don't allow the distractions around you to make you think that life is just about paying bills and you know taxes and you know yes if you love to travel hey a good trip it's not just about that there is a call on your life there is something God wants to express on the earth through you and when you meet him you don't want to feel

like oh man I was deceived you don't have to eat of that tree now a lot of us will blame Eve and Adam If we're honest he was right there but we do the same thing over and over again we find ourselves eating of the same tree over every time we we believe that we don't need another influence in our decision making we are eating of that tree whenever we believe you know what I I got it I'm intelligent enough to know what's good and bad for me we're eating of the same tree why don't

grab out from the tree of life and that is the ways of Jesus for the holy spirit to guide you and order your steps and if you know I'm speaking to you man and you know this message pierced your heart in a way that you can't even explain and you know that you have been living in the shadow of who you truly are and you've just been doing you you've been building your own house and if you're honest it's not really amounting to much and it's time for you to submit to the things of the

Lord and I sense that that even in some of the mundane things like I shared a a testimony about pregnancy and that and there's someone I sense it so strongly there's someone here and you're just like man if I get pregnant it's going to mess up my schedule you know I have things I want to do this year and that year and it's going to mess this up not knowing that child is going to bring the favor wow you're like you know I don't know how this is going to work not realizing what God wants

to release to you is connected to why he's showing you the child it's time to submit in mind in body in Heart Lord I want to do this your way you formed me you gave me life you're sustaining my life I want to do this your way come and meet me at this altar very quickly going to pray thank you Lord thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you [Applause] Lord thank you Lord have your way God have your way have your way thank you Lord there's some of you I could just sense it man

and you're scared if you're honest you're scared you're scared because you don't know what life would look like outside of what you've known you you're scared of walking in and accepting the unknown but if you don't give Jesus a chance you never really open up yourself to to seeing what he could really do if you don't give him a chance you you don't want to fall into the Trap the Israelites fell into in the wilderness they're the same ones that cried out to God for Freedom they cried out that you know what Lord set us

free from this slavery and this bondage and God answers their cry he didn't force anything on them the Bible says he and he heard de cry you've been crying out to God for Change and when God sent Moses to them and they had to go through the Wilderness the fear of the unknown began to them even though they saw the power of God in their lives what's what happened they started Desiring bondage again they started Desiring to go back to Egypt cuz they're like man at least there was food there you see there are times

where God will allow you to go through seasons and the season feels like lack and you came from abundance and the problem is you you allow the lack to start to Define you and you forget that you're defined by being a child of the most high you see if the Israelites were not so focused on the lack they experienced in the wilderness and realize that wait God was so mindful of us that he showed his power in such a great and mighty way that same God knows how to take care of me you see there

there are some thank you Holy Spirit a couple years ago I actually wrote a book name moving forward years back I was serving as an usher in the church the Lord has stripped me from everything I knew from my business from everything and I remember when the Lord instructed me to write that book and I was like God come on man my life is not even moving forward right now because I was in a place of lack in following the commands of God I went from a place of abundance to a place of willful lack

I chose to walk in the path he told me to and it brought me to a place of lack and this is what I remember oh man when the Lord told me to write the book I forgot who I was and began to Define Myself by the lack [Music] I I I forgot the experiences I've had with God I forgot the faithfulness of God on my life and I began to Define Myself by this season I was in I'm like God man I like come on this is not the time you s tell someone to

write a book like this and what changed was when the Lord showed me remember who you are everything I've brought you through was not to bring you into a place of defeat it was just to strip off what was not you but who you were was always at the core of you I just needed that person to come out of hiding you see some of you in this room right now there was a time you believed the things that God is telling you to do now but you went through seasons in life and you forgot

who you were you began to Define Yourself by the abuse you began to Define Yourself by the disappointments you be you lost sense of the hand of God that had always been on your life and you began to Define Yourself by other things if I'm speaking to you just run to this altar right now the Lord is after you you lost sight of who you are thank you Lord thank you Lord thank you [Applause] Lord Chad it's good to see you man and I want to use you at the point of contact cuz the Lord

has been showing me you I haven't seen you in a minute and I don't know what's happening in your life right now but the Lord is calling you home seeing you right now is also a testament for me of what God is doing in this room because he's calling you home you've been literally a prayer point on my heart because he showed me he needs to stop running and he needs to get back to the place of knowing he's safe in God's presence and there's nothing you could have ever done that will make God turn

his hand against you he loves you and he's for you and he's saying be bold about what I've called you to do and I pray that speaks to you in the room you see there are times the Lord would highlight something to confirm what he's doing in you God is crazy about you guys the love that God has for Humanity we can't even understand understand it we we we don't have language to comprehend it but when you are settled in knowing that everything that flows from him comes from a place of love you will not

allow the enemy to keep having the upper hand against you the moments that feel chaotic let it be a season when you learn trust in a new way bring the Bible says cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you he knows you're going to have anxiety the Lord is not saying hey man if you love me don't be anxious he knows you're going to be anxious that's why the Bible says so many times fear not fear not fear not fear not fear not fear not because he knows you're going to be freaking

out he says but why don't you freak out in my hands why don't you give me a chance to show you what I can really do and who I really am let us pray just lift up your hands before for him Heavenly Father we love you we thank you Lord for who you are we thank you for what you're doing in this place in the lives of your sons and daughters we thank you Lord Jesus because it is only you only you can touch the heart of men and women and begin to show them the

way that you have called them to walk in only you can open blind eyes naturally and spiritually to show us Lord when we have been moving in circles when we thought we were moving forward and how do we get to this place of forward keeping our priorities in order so Lord I pray because even to serve you and please you we need your help so I pray that you would begin to help your sons and daughters Empower them equip them oh God to know how to serve you as they are coming before you Lord saying

I don't want to continue in this way I'm putting my heart on my road and I know this is not the way I want to continue Lord bring conviction to their hearts bring awareness to their minds reveal to them the things that they're in that speak to blindness not sight the things that they are in that speak to circles and not forward and show them what it looks like for you to be in the midst of it all for you to be anchored in their lifestyle not just their routines Heavenly Father help us guide us

silence the voice of the enemy that comes as the chatter in our minds and that comes even through the voices in our lives silence the voice of the enemy I come against every Spirit of shame in this place and everything shame has connected itself to in your life to keep you bound there I come against the feeling of not thinking that you are worthy to come before God until you're clean until you're free of these things because he is the one that sets you free I thank you Lord that your children will come before you

in vulnerability with openness of heart and call on you because your word says you are mighty to save you are the everpresent help in the time of trouble direct them Lord guide them and let it be spoken of them that these are Sons and Daughters who fulfilled the counsel of God in their lifetime let them have that that that Joy of fulfillment because they placed you first in Jesus mighty name amen now Family one more thing and this is one of the most important if you are in this house and you have not given your

life to Jesus and you want to know him you want to you you really want to know what this whole thing is about you don't just want to be God over yourself anymore you sense his presence so strongly if that is you just lift up your hands and we're going to pray I see you God bless you thank you Lord thank you Lord I see you God bless you thank you Jesus can we just do this as a family just say everyone say this with me Lord Jesus Lord Jesus Come into my life into and

make my life your home let your Holy Spirit dwell within me let your Holy Spirit dwell I acknowledge you as my Lord and Savior on the cross you died for my sins and when you were raised up I was raised up with you free and Victorious and Victor thank you for the victory thank you for you alone you Al are Lord and Savior Lord and have your way in and through me in Jesus mighty name for those who said yes to Jesus you're going to see a QR code scan it because this is the turning

point but there is a journey ahead and we want to walk with you amen may the Lord Lord bless and keep you may he cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you may he lift up his his countenance over you and Grant you shalom shalom love you and that is perfect peace we love you family God bless you