You have lived this life with pain after pain, trial after trial, and temptation after temptation. But take heart: You are not as alone as you feel. You have a resilience within you that keeps you from despair. You are no longer bound by this world and its problems, no longer bound by your emotions, no longer bound by “friends” who won’t encourage you. You have full permission to encourage yourself, pursue your dreams, and take back what is yours!

[Music]

but the lord has given me a word for the

people of god and i’m anxious to get

into the word that i can do my best to

cover as much territory as i can i’m

going to be in first samuel chapter 30

verse 3 through 15.

that means i’m going to read 12 verses

of scriptures some of y’all ain’t read

12 verses of scriptures in 12 months

so this would be the most bible reading

you got in for a long time but it’s

going to be good for you get it online

first samuel chapter 30 verse 3 through

15

and then i’m gonna share what the lord

told me to tell you i’m so excited about

it

i’m so excited i almost jumped out the

car and started running

run the church to tell you what they

saying the lord because this is a a

message of release

this is a message of release this is a

message of restoration it is a message

of renewal and i’m excited to share it

with you

now we we we pick it up in midstream but

i’ll talk about that more later so david

and his men came to the city and behold

it was burned with fire

and their wives and their sons and their

daughters were taken captives

then david and the people that were with

him lifted up their voices and wept

until they had no more power to

weep have you ever cried out

until you ran out of tears

and david’s two wives lord have mercy

i can just handle one barely i can’t do

that he got two anyway and david’s two

wives were taking captives ahem the

jezreelite and abigail the wife of nabal

the carmelite

and david was greatly distressed

for the people spake of stoning him

now he lost as much as they did but they

they spoke of

stoning him it’s funny when you’re in

leadership people don’t think you’re a

person

and even though he had nothing to do

with it the people spoke of

stoning him

because the soul of all the people was

grieved

they wouldn’t have done it if they

weren’t

stricken but but but when people

are hurting they lash out at other

people

every man for his sons and for his

daughters but david

but david but david david david david

you got to be tough to me

david encouraged himself in the lord

his god

could god have you ever had to encourage

yourself

glory to god if you don’t know how to

encourage yourself maybe you’re gonna

learn today

just in case of people you thought that

we’re gonna encourage you let you down

sometimes you got to encourage yourself

young people hear me you got to

encourage yourself if you don’t get it

from mommy if you don’t get it from

daddy if you don’t get it from cousin

willie if uncle allen is a drunk if you

can’t get it out of your neighborhood if

you can’t get it from your teacher if

you can’t get it at your school you got

to go and look in the mirror and say you

know what i’m still going to make it

somehow other i’m going to get through

this god it’s going to bring me through

and david said to abby after the priest

a himalayan son i pray thee bring me

hither the ephod

and every arthur brought dither the

ephod to david

and david inquired at the lord saying

shall i pursue after this troop

shall i overtake them

check this out this is this is very

important

and god answered him pursue

[Applause]

god oh i got chilled pursue

somebody shall pursue

for thou shalt surely overtake them and

without fail

recover all

so

david went

he and the 600 men that were with him

and came to the brook bessor where those

that were left behind stayed

but david pursued he and 400 men for 200

above behind which were so faint

that they could not go over the brook

bessor

and they found an egyptian in the field

and brought him to david and gave him

bread and he didn’t eat it they made him

drink water

and they gave him a piece of a cake of

figs and two clusters of raisins and

when he had eaten his spirit came again

to him he was almost dead

for he had eaten no bread nor drunk any

water three days and three nights

and david said unto him to whom belongs

thou and whence art thou and he said i

am a young man of egypt

servant to an amalekite

and my master left me

because three days ago i fell sick

and they’re funny people love you too

till something wrong with you

who has so many messages in here i can

preach a month off of it

if you’ve ever stayed sick over a week

you know what i’m talking about

that first week you got chicken noodle

soup and cards and flowers and

everything you get about on that third

week all of that dries up and people

start working around you talk to me

somebody

we made an invasion this is what the

egyptian slaves said we made an invasion

upon the south of sherathites and of the

shirethites and upon the coast which

belongeth to judah and upon the south of

caleb and we burn ziglag with fire

ziggler was where david was staying

that’s where his wife was and the kids

were and all of his men were at zinc lag

and the the egyptian slave is telling

him that he was with the amalekites as a

slave and he’s telling them about them

burning up their property

and david said to him can’t thou bring

me down to this company and he said

swear unto me but by by god that thou

will neither kill me nor deliver me into

the hands of my master and i will bring

thee down to this company

can you say amen

go back to that verse that that verse

where god spoke yeah yeah yeah yeah

verse 8 and david inquired that the lord

saying

shall i pursue after this this is so

profound

because sometimes we go after stuff and

then ask god for help

but before david went after anything he

asked god

shall i pursue after this truth

shall i overtake them

and he answered pursue

for thou shalt surely

overtake them

and without fail

recover all

so god said pursue

and thou shall surely prevail

and without any doubt you will recover

it all now that alone if i sat down

is enough word from god

for somebody in here

who is on the precipice of a

breakthrough

for somebody in here who has gone

through setbacks and turmoil and the

enemies tried to make you think that

where you are is all there’s going to be

that ought to be enough but then the

lord gave me this subject and i’m going

to pass it on to you the subject is i

have permission

[Applause]

type it on the line write it in your

notes put it everywhere say it out loud

put it on your lips tell your neighbor

to the right or the less i have

permission i have permission i i have

permission i just want you to know i

have permission i have permission for

what’s about to break loose in my life i

have divine supernatural holy ghost

permission i’m not doing this on my own

my i’m not ego driven i’m not ambitious

i have permission

let’s pray together the spirit of the

living god falls fresh on us today i’m

hungry to hear from you oh god allow me

to deliver to them as you delivered to

me your word and such a profound and

didactic way that we are changed and

altered

forever by the power and the intensity

of the relevance of your word and i pray

that somebody’s online who needs this

word

somebody on this line lord somebody

that’s streaming in somebody that came

physically needs his word in such a way

that it releases them

to go after their destiny and i thank

you for it in jesus name amen you may be

seated get comfortable take your girl

off

[Applause]

people ain’t worn girls for 25 years

have it

lower them spanx so you can breathe

[Applause]

yeah

yeah glory to god

i think god made spanx

spanx are of god

can you say amen

the frivolity of life is common to us

all

life is strange

one writer said life is a tale

told by fool

it seems like it has no rhyme or reason

we cannot depend on life to stay in

either a good place or

or a bad one

the moment you settle into bed good

comes

the moment you settle in the good bad

comes you don’t know from one day to the

next what is going to happen it shifts

it changes it turns it twists

always teaching

always teaching not just the good but

even in the bad life is always teaching

i always look for a lesson in everything

you go through that’s how it becomes

profitable what you went through it’s

always teaching you something with few

breaks few intermissions

few quiet places and sell them a time of

recess

life is amazing

now it reminds me of going like the six

flags or something like that many people

enjoy the entertainment of the rides in

the carnival i’m not speaking against

six flags don’t sue me

they love the thrill of being turned

upside down and flipped over backwards

they love it they scream their head up

they love being scared out of their wits

and their jaws being pulled back to

their ears and their eyes being bucked

uh

and at ten thousand feet in the air they

absolutely love it

the more volatile the ride the longer

the waiting line they just line up for

miles they travel for a mile just to be

shook up

but the moat between nauseating and

exhilarating is as short as the plank of

a pirate ship

because what is exhilarating can also be

nauseating

i lean i lean to the nauseating side

you your life is like that

it’s crazy

it’s tempestuous

i got on one of them rides and we were

going up it was pretty cool

click click click click click click

click and i thought this is cool

we got our way to the top

we got on top i was looking around and

how far i could see all over the place

look at the sights and about the time i

was looking at the site something

slapped and it started going down i said

wait a minute wait wait wait a minute

wait a minute

wait a minute

give a brother a warning or something

like that it went absolutely crazy

that’s the way life is you’re only one

phone call

one email

one text

from either feeling exhilaration or

nauseation can be changed by text

you can be laughing and dancing and then

everything change on you in one text

that makes you get up and run out of

here and have to go and your life is

changed forever by one text or one phone

call you don’t know from moment to

moment that’s why y’all not ever look

down your nose at anybody because until

you’ve been through what they’ve been

through you don’t understand

and it can leave you feeling some kind

of way and you have all kind of feelings

i have all kind of feelings but feelings

aren’t facts

feelings aren’t facts feelings are in

fact right there that feelings aren’t

facts and one of the great problems we

have today

is we have a world full of leaders who

are leading my feeling

and you it doesn’t i don’t wake up in

the morning asking myself how do i feel

because my feelings will fluctuate

sometimes i feel the way i feel because

i have no coffee yet

you understand and i might i might snap

your head off over a cup of coffee

feelings are not facts

we have them they’re a wonderful thing

to have

but but facts tend to be stable

while feelings fluctuate

i love facts give me the facts

give me the facts give me the carfax

even if you don’t believe me the fox

bring me the facts

i want to know what’s going on because

the facts are gonna stand two plus two

is four

don’t matter whether you’re white black

green blue yellow educated intellectual

illiterate two plus two is still four in

africa and australia and japan it

doesn’t matter whether you’re on the

mountaintop or in the valley facts are

stable

it is what it is

i absolutely have feelings but i try not

to allow feelings

to have me

i am i am honored that i am a raid with

a wonderful consortium of emotions it

makes me me it gives me personality it

makes me human it’s a wonderful thing

that i can laugh and cry and have an

array of emotions that god decorated my

soul with feelings and there are

wonderful things to have

until the feelings have you

there is nothing worse than being led by

somebody

who is being controlled by moods

i have to get a grip on my feelings as a

leader

i can manage the facts

but i cannot allow my feelings to abort

my mission or alter my plan or change

the way i conduct myself let’s i be i

become practically schizo to deal with

and you see when you’re in a position of

power if your schedule everybody who

gets in your atmosphere has to suffer

the consequences of your indecisiveness

your aggravations your mood swing your

attitudes and eventually people just

wear you out because they’re wearing

themselves out and you get caught in

their orbit note to self watch out for

marian people who are dramatic

because when you marry somebody

who has a lot of drama going on you get

caught up in the orbit of their drama

and whether you want to or not you

become a victim a captive chained to

their drama you’re scared to go in your

own house

i know y’all can’t lie because you

sitting beside somebody just keep

looking right ahead and wiggle your toes

who lead from their emotions are

volatile and hard to follow

they’re hard to follow because you don’t

know from day to day

how they gonna feel today

i really try not to make emotional

decisions i have emotions but i

avoid emotional decisions i’ve learned

the way and

beverly knows to wait sometimes i get

mad and i’ll fire off a letter and

she’ll type it up and then i’ll call her

like five hours later and say have you

said that yet

she said no i thought i’d give you a day

because right off the cuff you know you

can flip out so we got a 24-hour

moratorium this is true on my letters

cause if i’m hot

i will let you have it

[Music]

and so beverly just holds it 24 hours

till i come to myself

because in the heat of my emotions

i can’t as my mother would say cut off

my nose to spite my face

did y’all’s mama say that too

everybody’s mama who said wave your hand

i thought my mama created that

you mean my mama didn’t create that my

mama act like she altered that statement

don’t cut off your nose to smite your

face

have you ever cut off your nose to smite

your face

emotions pass

but decisions linger

and a lot of times in emotions you do

things

that you have to live with later

if i allow my ever fluctuating feelings

to lead my decisions they will drive me

over a cliff

i would have made it 25 years at this

church

i wouldn’t have made it 45 years in

ministry i would have made it almost 40

years in marriage if i allowed my

feelings to control my decisions

i would have wrecked everything

lost everything

because in the heat of a feeling and the

feeling can be brought about by

something that don’t even have nothing

to do with you

it ain’t your fault that the toast

burned in the toaster

but if you happen to call while it’s

burning

i might not be ready for you

that cliff i’m talking about going over

the edge isn’t literally driving your

car for cliff it’s that

self-sabotaging behavior

it’s it’s the kind of thing that that

that that that that that that that uh uh

hagar did when she got mad and ran out

of sarah’s house

and she ran out of sarai’s house

and got out in the wilderness and almost

died and god said i provided for you in

that house go back to sarai’s house

that’s right hang on didn’t have any

reason to be mad she was the one who

picked the fight

read the story

she picked the fight and then got mad

and left

but it’s hard to see ourselves

am i right about it

right now we’re shooting a film in

canada uh seven deadly sins we’re doing

the last five anthology uh the last five

deposits on the anthology of seven

deadly sins in canada shameless plug

but but it’s easy to make the kinds of

decisions and the kinds of moves uh that

that debilitate people the reason i love

to do films is because when you see it

on tv

it’s easy to see what’s wrong with other

people

because you can’t see yourself

if i don’t feel worthy neither moral

support nor mighty sermons will enable

me to get up until i permit myself to go

forward

wait a minute if i don’t feel worthy

if i don’t feel worthy for whatever

reason

it doesn’t matter what somebody preaches

it doesn’t matter who supports you have

you ever tried to support somebody who

had made up their mind not to get up

it’s frustrating in it it drives you

crazy because you say all the right

things i know you can do this you have

the power to do this you created to do

this you’re so gifted you’re so smart

you’re so bright and all the while

you’re trying to fill them up it’s

leaking out the bottom of them

and it’s impossible to support somebody

who’s made up their mind

i’m not worthy

i’m not worthy and and there’s no sign

on her head that says i’m not worthy

it’s no warning it’s just there

it’s they may not even know that they

are self-sabotaging themselves they’ll

shout over things that they’ll never

possess

because they’re they have never given

themselves permission

to feel worthy

to be where they are

[Music]

i know i am

i know i am i know i because so many

people have lost love and lovers and

people who really cared about them only

because they didn’t agree with being

loved

[Applause]

and when you don’t agree with being

loved you won’t rest until you find

somebody who’s hitting you upside the

head with a skillet

because

oh i’m gonna mess with you now i might

make you mad a little bit but your

feelings gonna be okay

but because they reflect how you feel

about you

you are only comfortable with negativity

because you have not felt worthy

of somebody being enamored with you and

you say he’s all right

[Applause]

she kind of nice but she kind of like a

sister

anytime they relegate you over to the

sister brotherhood lane

you are disqualified from anything else

come on that’s the kind of language

y’all give when y’all don’t want to be

bothered with that oh he’s a good man

but he kind of like a brother

translation

he loves me in a way that feels strange

and i don’t know how to receive that

kind of love and rather than wrestle

with my insecurity i relegate him to a

column that requires nothing of me

i’m going to talk to you about five

things today i want you to drop these

down these are very important i’m gonna

go through these five things and i’m

gonna paint them on the canvas of the

story i want to talk to you

about the ability to pivot

that’s good right there

because if life is going to keep

changing you got to be able to pivot

you got to be able to pivot without

warning you got to be able to pivot on a

dime we were planning a couple of years

ago to have a leadership conference

everything was a goal we had 12 000

people registered for the leadership

conference everything was set up the

place was allocated we paid the deposits

we had the hotels everything was in

place and then all of a sudden kovit

came along

you got to pivot it doesn’t matter how

much you invested in it you got to pivot

you can’t just get mad and blow up and

explode and set the building on fire you

got to pivot when life changes you gotta

pivot so i’m gonna talk to you about the

ability to pivot number two i’m gonna

talk to you about the paralysis of pain

the paralysis of pain

how hard it is to function when you hurt

how it will shut you down

how it’s hard to think when you’re in

pain

how it’s hard to move forward when

you’re in pain how it’s hard to accept

opportunities when you’re in pain the

paralysis of the pain number three the

permission to prevail

the permission to prevail

the permission to prevail

if you don’t have permission to prevail

you can do nothing without permission

you could even jesus before he started

his ministry got permission

john identified him behold the lamb of

god who taketh away the sins of the

world the heavens opened up and the

father spoke this is my beloved son in

whom i am well pleased that kind of

permission enables you to be able to go

do what you’ve got to do jesus went to

the garden of gethsemane and prayed

father if it be thou will pass this

bitter cup from me then he comes back

and tells the disciple sleep on i’m okay

now i’m not worried about anything why i

got permission

i’m not scared of the cross because i

got permission i’m not scared of the

nails because i got permission i’m not

scared of being laid in the tomb because

i got permission i got permission that

says if i pursue

i will prevail so nails i don’t believe

you and cross i don’t believe you and

pain i don’t believe you because god has

given me permission that even if i have

to hurt to get there when all of this is

over i will rise again and still i ride

be careful of people who keep getting up

again be careful of people who arise

every time you put your foot on be

careful of people that you try to

destroy and they bounce back up again

those people are anointed by the power

of the holy spirit god dwells with those

people some of them are in this room

right now there are some people in this

room that have been through hell and

back and every time the devil counted

them out they jumped back up like jason

they came through fire they came through

flood they came through burning

buildings

[Music]

they have the permission to prevail

the fourth thing i’m going to talk to

you about is the danger of pettiness

[Applause]

oh i’m loaded this morning

i’m loaded this one the danger

of pettiness it’s all in this text

and number five

is trashing the party

yeah man

yeah man i got something for you this

morning let’s get down

when you start the story at the chapter

that i started in you don’t really get

the power

and the context of where david is in his

life

david is in this strange

midlife crisis

i call it midlife crisis because

he’s in the middle of his life

he has been a part he is an israelite he

is a hebrew he is a child of god he is a

part of of of saul’s uh leadership and

his army

but him and saul have fallen out

because him and saul have fallen out

he has had to feign himself to be mad

and start hanging out with the

philistines

and now david who is a philistine killer

incidentally

is now living with the philistines

because sometimes your enemies become

safer than your friends

[Applause]

y’all don’t hear what i’m saying to you

sometimes your enemies become safer than

your friends

because you don’t defend yourself

against your friends and you look around

and you never would have thought that

somebody who had adopted you as a son

would be throwing a javelin at you

i know to be careful when i’m with the

with the enemy when i’m with the

philistine but i thought i could relax

around you

so david is now hiding

amongst the philistines

he has 600 men that he has gotten out of

nowhere

raggedy ruffian wild distorted

disoriented man no longer having access

to saul’s army he’s had to make an army

out of misfit men

these are his soldiers these are his

warriors and they dwell in zig lag which

is a camp

in the philistinian area of control

hiding from saul

and the philistines have come

against

saul and they’re going down the killing

and as they make their way down to kill

him david wants to go with them

and he speaks to a klish who is the head

of the sons of gab

and says to him he’s been living amongst

him for years

and he says to him i will go down and

fight with you

and we don’t know for sure whether david

was going with them

to fight with them or whether he was

going to turn and kill them

because there’s such a thin line

between the friends and the enemies

that we don’t really know what he had in

mind we don’t know whether he’s being

shrewd and he’s going to come in from

the rear and attack them

or whether he’s going to go through with

killing them if he went through

with attacking saw

then david would have lost the chance to

be king of israel

[Music]

so god allowed him

to be rejected because even though

aclish wanted him

to go with him

and english was the the king in charge

his princess said are you crazy

you don’t know him like that

they sound like my wife

ain’t nothing like a woman to tell you

you don’t know them like that

you’re so naive you just take people in

so easily you need to watch it but why

you must be crazy you must be out of

your mind i love you honey

but the princess says you don’t know him

like that and they were right you don’t

know him like that to let him come in

from the rear suppose he attacks us and

kills us and all of a sudden david’s

plans are aborted

he doesn’t get to fight with the

philistines against israel no matter

what his intention was he has to pivot

he had to pivot to go be with him

and then he had to pivot again to be

rejected by the people that he had to

pivot to go into

life is great look at your life look at

how many times you’ve had to pivot look

at how many times you’ve had to turn

look at how many times you unpacked your

bags and had to pack them back up again

look at how many times you call somebody

a friend and they slit your throat look

at how many times you thought somebody

was the enemy and they came to see about

you when your friends didn’t come to see

about you look at how many times you had

to turn around and change the game you

cannot survive in this world if you

don’t develop the ability to pivot i

don’t want to be married to anybody who

can’t pivot i don’t want to hire anybody

who can’t pivot i don’t want to work

with anybody who can’t pivot

people who are rigid or dangerous

because the world keeps changing it’s up

today it’s down tomorrow it’s eastern

end as well and you got to be able to

pivot on a dime you got to be able to

lead and follow you got to be able to be

keen and served you got to be able to be

a base and about you got to be able to

pivot and if you don’t learn how to

pivot you’re going to miss what god has

for you because you lack the flexibility

[Applause]

to pivot so he goes back to his 600

soldiers who are all dressed up to fight

they’re ready they got the swords they

got their shields they’re trained

they’ve been exercising they’ve been

stretching they’ve been doing pilates

they’ve been doing everything they’re

ready to go fighting he says

we got to

pivot we got a pivot we gotta we got to

go back home

and so they head back

to zig leg

and when they head

back

to zig leg

it’s always a good feeling

to go home when you’re a soldier to go

have you watch those little commercials

and stuff on tv where the dads show up

at school and the sun starts crying

and they set them up and there i am

sitting up here with my old self trying

to cry

take that off the tape because i don’t

want people to say that

the older i get the mushier i get i’m a

person influent like i’m the little boy

or something i don’t know who i am i

don’t know whether i’m the father or the

son but it’s so touching to see little

daddy

and he runs out and he hugs him and he

cries and the reception is amazing and i

feel like you know yes

[Applause]

and i think you ain’t the soldier of the

kid but

perception is important

reception is important

perception determines everything

footnote

if you give men

great reaction

they will give you anything

if a man stops giving you it is because

you stop giving him reaction

we are suckers for reaction

we are suckers for reaction if i got two

bags of groceries and my wife started

bragging me you so strong i said oh give

me that other bag

about to break my back carrying the bag

and give me the bad girl that ain’t

nothing that ain’t nothing i bring in

all the groceries at one hand i’ll

shovel a bang on my foot

[Applause]

come on fellas don’t leave me hanging

out there

and i don’t think it’s just about men i

think it’s about women too if she cooks

a good dinner or she goes to work and

she comes home and she’s available to

you or whatever she does that’s amazing

to you and you sit there and grunt

you got to learn how to be grateful you

got to learn how to be appreciative you

got to learn how to give great reaction

great reaction is great encouragement

the greater your ability to respond the

more you’re going to get of what you

respond whatever you respond to i’m

gonna do it again

i’m gonna do it again if i buy you a

coat and you make a big fuss about it

because you see what i’m talking about

you you see what you you see i got

something for you too i got something

for you too i got something for you see

that’s what i’m talking about right

there that’s what that’s what that that

that that right there that right what

you see right there that right there

that right there i bought that coat

that’s what she’s spinning around and

then coat it i got something else too

cause anything make you spin around i’ma

buy another yeah baby do the spin do the

spin rock and reel show it off because

reaction

take notes ladies take notes take notes

take notes take notes

reaction creates response

so the men are coming home from battle

unexpectedly

and they’re expecting the little boy to

run out to meet them

and maybe the women will dance and sing

and maybe they’ll smell the smell of

fresh bread

or venison being cooked in the backyard

in a pot

but the closer they got

to zigla

they heard no sounds of music

they saw no children running

in the past the women had sung david has

saul has killed his thousands but david

has killed his tens of thousands where’s

the music strike up the band we’re back

but there was

no sound of music when they came to

ziggler

and they smelled smoke

they smelt smoke in the air but it was

it was not the smoke

that smells like food

it was a smoke of devastation

it didn’t even look like home

[Music]

what happened to the village

what i think sometimes about america

[Applause]

what happened

[Applause]

to my country

[Applause]

so fire

the smoke is burning

the ashes are where the houses used to

be

and it is in this atmosphere

that david returns

now

you have to feel this

this is not just an ugly picture

where is my wife

where is hannah

has anybody seen abigail

abigail

abigail

abigail

there was no sign

of a hit or ham or abigail

and all the men are running through the

debris

looking for their

children

lifting up burning embers trying to find

their sons and daughters

and they had stepped into pain

the kind of pain that paralyzes you

the kind of pain that shuts you down

that

the women and the children were taken

captive their homes were destroyed

now the man

he trained

the men

that he had trained himself and invested

in and poured into and brought from

nothing to something

we’re so filled with pain

and anger

that they thought

let’s stone him

now look at the setup

david as a leader

cannot go to saul

because saul wants to kill him

he can’t go to the philistines because

the philistines just rejected

him he he

he he can’t

turn to abigail

because she’s gone

and i can’t find a hit i am

and he turns to the man that he has put

so much into

and they’re looking at him and their

eyes are red and tears are running down

their face and he sees hatred in their

face

and there’s nothing like seeing hatred

in the face of the people you raise

i know you can’t act like you know what

i’m talking about but somebody in here

knows what i’m talking about to pour a

lot into a person who goes into attack

mode

[Music]

you’re gonna stone me

you’re gonna stone

me

at my weakest most vulnerable moment

this is the paralysis

of pain i want to speak to somebody

right now

who has been through the kind of pain

that has created paralysis

it has shut down your senses

it has limited your ability to respond

or retaliate

it has brought you down to your knees

it has so upset you on the inside that

you don’t even have words to articulate

the magnitude of the trauma you’re

experiencing

and all you do is sigh

or cry

or groan within yourself

because it looks like everywhere you

turn

there is pain

and rejection

and suffering

and you might be a leader

but you

are

alone

i’m not talking about being lonely

that’s a feeling i’m talking about alone

that’s a fact

lonely you can get over in the dead

alone is alone

and you can’t turn

in either direction

and

find nobody nothing

no one not an encouraging word

everybody in your life needs you

but nobody in your life feeds you

what do you do

when people only want you when you have

the answer

they only want you when you fix stuff

and then when you’re backed up against a

wall and you can’t fix it

they forsake you

and you are there alone

it was against the backdrop of this kind

of atrocity

that david has to grapple with

maybe it’s over

i can’t go to israel

saul is shut the door his godless

behavior and his loss of anointing has

made him mad

and i can’t go to a collection because

english has listened at his princess and

rejected me

from being amongst the philistines

and the worst part about it is

i can’t go home

what do you do when you can’t go home

you ought to always be able to go home

david can’t go home

my god i need marcus

david can’t

go home

my mama told me you can go home when you

can’t go nowhere else

[Applause]

and he is paralyzed by pain

and it was at this point

that he made the most profound

decision

if if abigail doesn’t encourage me

if for him i am doesn’t encourage me

if the philistines don’t encourage me

it’s the israelites don’t encourage me

and i don’t have nobody to count on but

me

then before i lay down and die in the

spot

then i will encourage

myself

i will encourage

myself i wonder if there’s anybody on

the line or in the room or in the church

or in a family or in a marriage or in a

business or in a situation where you

couldn’t get what you needed where you

thought you’d be able to find it and you

had to encourage yourself

because if you didn’t encourage yourself

you were going to die if you didn’t

encourage yourself you were going to

backslide if you didn’t encourage

yourself you were going to quit if you

didn’t encourage yourself you were going

to faint

i’m wondering am i talking to anybody

that’s had to go look yourself in the

mirror with tears in your eyes and say

you’re still gonna make it you’re still

gonna make it i don’t know when i don’t

know where i don’t know how i know

you’re gonna make it i know you’re gonna

make it i know you’re gonna make it i

know you’re gonna make it you’re hurting

but you’re gonna make it you’re lonely

but you’re gonna make it you’re broke

but you’re gonna make it you’re

disturbed but you’re gonna make it if

you know what i’m talking about take 30

seconds and praise god like you lost

your mind

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

[Applause]

yeah

[Music]

the courage you need to survive

must come from within you

when it doesn’t come from around you it

must come from within you out of your

belly shall flow rivers of living water

out of your soul out of your spirit

there has to come something that says

though he slay me yet shall i trust it

there has to come a fight back that says

it was good for me that i have been

afflicted if i wanted afflicted i’d

never see the glory of god there has to

be something that rises up and say

cancer you ain’t gonna whip me

call then you ain’t gonna whip me there

has to be something in you that makes

you fight back

and david encouraged

himself

[Applause]

this is not something that god does for

you

this is something that you must do for

yourself

stop sitting back waiting on an angel to

fly in the window and get you out of

your paralysis the devil is alive you

have to furnish the fight to say i will

not die today

[Applause]

[Music]

i’m gonna encourage myself

i’m taking myself out to dinner

i’m gonna be my valentine

oh y’all don’t go help me

i’m gonna be my valentine

i’m gonna get myself used to being

treated good so when boaz comes i’ve

already set the standard

in my life i don’t go below this baby i

don’t go below this it starts right here

because i was doing this good when you

met me cause i learned how to encourage

myself i’m not gonna date you cause i

need you i’ma date you cause i want you

cause i learned how to encourage

i learned

you ain’t a man till you learn how

to encourage yourself

you’re not a grown woman until you learn

how to encourage yourself i don’t care

how old you are

but until you’ve gone through something

that stripped you of all other resources

and backed you in a corner where you had

to come fighting out of there and say i

will not die today tell hell you’re a

liar i’m getting back up if i gotta

crawl on my knees if i gotta take one

step at a time if i have to push myself

if i have to roll in a wheelchair if i

have to walk on a walker if i have to

get on crutches and hop in i will not

die right here i’m coming up

[Applause]

somebody anybody make some noise in this

house

[Music]

yeah yeah yeah

you might not even feel it yet

it may not be in your feelings because

we’re not living by our feelings we’re

leading by the facts

but i want you to say it by faith i’m

encouraged

this broke somebody tell him i’m

encouraged

the devil thought he was gonna kill me

with all this smoke he thought he was

gonna destroy me with all of this fire

he thought he was gonna take me out i

lost my job but i didn’t lose my courage

i lost my house but i didn’t lose my

courage i lost my friend but i didn’t

lose my courage

[Applause]

god i wish i had somebody who understood

the words that are coming out of my

mouth

you see

what you need

what you need to stop the paralysis of

pain

is the tenacity

to believe

it will not stop right here

you’re watching online there’s a reason

god’s got you online right now so that

you can get this word you desperately

need this word

you’ve been in a state of disappointment

some of you have been in a

disappointment for years you have gone

over and over how much right you have to

get support from people that are no

longer there no longer with you you

cannot spend another day complaining

about the past you have to come into the

present if you’re going to change the

future for getting those things which

are behind and reaching to those things

which are before you have to make up in

your mind if you don’t encourage me i’ll

encourage myself i’ll hug myself in the

bed i’ll lay in the bed and wrap my arms

around myself and tell myself i love you

i will encourage myself i’ll take myself

out to dinner i’ll buy myself a

valentine’s gift i’ll lift up my own

head i’ll put on songs that make me feel

happy i will encourage myself and if

anybody ever does come welcome to the

party but the party’s already started

set it off in here set it off in here

set it off in here

set it off in here until demons turn you

a loose until the hell breaks loose

until trouble breaks a little set it off

in here

[Music]

the lord said this is to be your turning

point this is to be your resurrection

moment this is to be the moment that you

come to yourself listen to the moment

that you say i’m better than this

some of you heard me tell you about the

time i walked in my house and my lights

was off and my water was off and they

repossessed my car

and i walked in the house and nobody was

in the house with me and i started

talking to the house anita i told the

house i told the house and now you want

to treat me don’t you but i told the

house i talked to the house like it was

a person and i said you’re a liar

[Applause]

the paint was coming off the walls

the gas didn’t work the water was off

the phone was off i said you’re lying on

me

i do not accept this

i’m better than this

i told my sister i’m getting up

when you make up your mind to get up no

devil in hell can hold you down

i don’t care if it’s racism sexism

governmentism i don’t care what’s going

on and when you make up in your mind i’m

going to get up i don’t know i feel like

i’m talking to somebody in this room

encourage yourself encourage yourself

encourage yourself stop blaming

everybody who didn’t and encourage you

you ain’t got time to be bitter you got

to make it to better you got to get to

better if you got to crawl on your belly

i got to encourage

[Applause]

myself

notice that it was only when he

encouraged himself

that he got high enough

to hear from god

oh

you can get

so low

that you cannot hear

from god

[Applause]

he does not

seek them and urim

before he encourages himself

because he has to encourage himself

to get high enough

to receive a good word

and once he got through encouraging

himself

you got to do this

i found out it’s too much weight to put

on your mate

to expect the person you married to lift

you

you’re too heavy

you know the pictures where the husband

bring in the bride and carry her over

the threshold you can only do that if

she’s a size five

when she a size 50 baby you got to walk

across this door yourself i’ll hold your

hand or something like that but a

brother can’t be busting his back trying

to be romantic you are 50.

the girl on tv was like 5.

come on in baby come on in here you got

to encourage yourself

you are too heavy for anybody else to

carry

you’ve been through too much drama

you’ve been through too much hell to put

the full weight of your recovery on

another person i don’t care whether it’s

a man or a woman or a dog or a cat you

got to encourage yourself

[Applause]

[Music]

god i feel like i’m talking to somebody

god wouldn’t have me preaching like this

if something wasn’t about to happen in

your life

something that you lost is about to come

back something that got up from under

your foot you’re about to get it back

again and this is your boot camp that’s

giving you step by step by step by step

by step how to get back what the devil

stole from you if i’m talking to you

give god 30 seconds of crazy holy ghost

praise

[Applause]

you got 10 seconds

you got five seconds

you got three seconds

you got one second

if the kids don’t bring you no roses get

yourself some roses if they don’t send

you no card get yourself a card

encourage yourself you can’t spend

another year talking about what did i do

wrong why don’t they love me why don’t

they respect me you are losing life you

can’t spend another year trying to you

can’t make nobody love you you can’t

make nobody respect you you got to

encourage yourself i release you

[Applause]

you can only apologize for law if i said

anything if i did anything whatever i

did i’m sorry i went back i want you to

understand i was going through something

you can only explain so long sooner or

later you got to make up in your mind

maybe that their no is no to them but

it’s still yes to me and if you don’t

want me i still want me

said i still

want me

house on fire smoke everywhere

everything’s burning up but i still

[Music]

[Applause]

make me want to do my happy dance

don’t you know demons tremble when you

start talking like that

hell gets nervous when you start talking

like that the devil thought he had you

in a full nelson thought he had you

locked down and you weren’t gonna get up

and you just jumped up and hollered i

still want me

demons tremble

hell gets frustrated witches lose their

power somebody’s shouting out i still

want me

[Applause]

i’m still on my side

if you ain’t on my side

i’m still on my side

if you ain’t got my back

i got my own back

if you don’t stand up for me

i’ll stand up for myself

[Applause]

when he got through encouraging himself

pastor michael then he asked god what

say ye

go get them in urine

and let’s see what the lord is saying

shall i go out

should i overtake them i’m not going up

if i’m not going to win

[Applause]

hey

oh i feel the holy ghost i didn’t cut

this far to lose

i told old to lose i can’t take another

loss

should i overtake them

[Applause]

[Music]

and the lord said

[Applause]

[Music]

the lord said pursue

somebody shall pursue

type it on the line pursue

in the middle of it pursue

in the middle of crisis pursue

up under attack

pursue going to a divorce pursue

[Applause]

for thou shalt surely

overtake them

[Applause]

god said thou shalt surely not maybe

surely

overtake them

and without fail

recover all

i don’t know why you ain’t dancing

[Applause]

i don’t know why you ain’t praising it

i don’t know why you’re not rejoicing

i don’t know why your belly ain’t

leaping up and down

because when god said it

now i got permission

[Applause]

[Music]

hey

up until then all i had

was encouragement

[Applause]

you can get encouragement

from a motivational speaker

but you can only get permission from god

and the lord said

oh god i feel like preaching the lord

said

i’ve given you permission

who am i preaching to

you that are healthy

i got proficient

[Music]

i was in florida

and the news reporter was interviewing

me

and he said

you’re a pastor

he said what are you doing

doing blockbuster films

he said you got

all these books 12 books on the new york

times bestsellers list

one of them has been on for 16 weeks

but you’re a pastor

you’re dabbling in real estate

but you’re a pastor

he said why are you doing it

i said because i can

[Applause]

if i couldn’t do it

i wouldn’t do it

but if god gives you the grace

to pursue

then you ought to go for it

i release you

to go after your dream

god said

you have permission

[Applause]

[Music]

you don’t have to fit in the box that

anybody made for you

and describe you and incarcerate you to

their opinion of what you ought to do

god has given you

permission

shout it i

have

permission

i

have

permission

i

have

permission

given 30 seconds of praise

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

the permission to prevail

the permission to prevail

the permission to pro

the permission to prevail

trauma can dismantle wants courage to

fight

it can make you give up

it can make you angry

and depression is nothing but anger

turned inside

it can strip you of your fight

take away your fortitude and your

resilience

your creativity and your thinking and

your innovation is disrupted by trauma

you can’t be innovative and traumatized

help

i’ve fallen

and i can’t get up

many people who love the idea of victory

cannot accept it because they get stuck

in the pain

all of those are the reasons that david

had to

encourage himself i want you to do

something right now i want you to throw

your arms around yourself and hug

yourself

and i want you to walk from side to side

and say i got you

i got you

in this season you’re in in your life

hug yourself say i got you

i got you you’re gonna get through this

i got you

your heart is broken

but i got you

your feelings are crushed

but i got you

your home is in shambles but i got you

your house is on fire

but i got you squeeze yourself

and say i got you

and they say not only that

god’s got me too

i got divine permission

i got permission to pursue

i got permission to get up i got

permission to fight back

why is permission important

because without permission

you won’t accept help even when you get

it

because you don’t feel you have not

given yourself

permission to be better

and i don’t care how much i preach

you can call from them and you’re them

all you want but until you encourage

yourself to get high enough to receive

this word

you cannot pursue

what you do not believe

[Music]

can i go a little bit deeper let me go a

little bit deeper

the enemy is after your belief system

he wants you to believe the smoke and

the fire

more than you believe the word of god

he wants you to believe the word of men

and the word of saul more than you

believe the word of god he wants you to

believe your situation more than you

believe the word of god but the devil is

a liar

the devil is a liar the devil is a liar

somebody is coming up i can feel you

coming up in this room while i’m

preaching to you look like to me you’re

getting taller i don’t know what it is

but something is leaving up inside of

you reminding you that you have

permission

[Applause]

if i give you the

position

and you don’t have the permission

you will lose the position

because you’ll never take ownership

of what you don’t believe you have a

right to have

i go a little bit deeper

self-permission

led to god’s permission

i don’t care if you got to get

counseling i don’t care if you got to

get therapy i don’t care if you got to

counsel yourself i don’t care if you got

to walk around the house and say

something over and over again until you

cancel out negative thinking i don’t

care you have to change the way you talk

to yourself i don’t care if you have to

rehearse it and at first you start

saying it and you don’t even believe it

but you keep saying it you keep saying

i’m better than this i’m better than

this i was in that raggedy house saying

i’m better than this i was broke i said

i’m better than this my gas was off i

said i’m better than this my phone

didn’t work i said i’m better than this

they repossessed my car i said i’m

better than this i’m out

i got ouch

as a man thinketh it is hard

so is

[Music]

[Applause]

david doesn’t lack the power

or skill

to turn around the situation

he has the power he’s a fighter david

badge y’all

david killed the philistines and cut off

their foreskins and threw them in saul’s

feet they’ve been bad

david’s been killing giants since he was

a boy david is bad it is not that he

didn’t have the skill

he didn’t have the permission

today in jermaine i give you permission

to pursue

i give you

permission

to prevail

i give you permission to be

to be

not just to do

you’re good at doing i give you

permission to be

today i give you permission to live and

not die

today i give you permission

that your latter day shall be greater

than your former day

today i give you permission if you’re

watching online god had me preach this

word so that you could get confirmation

of his permission god has given you

permission to go after that thing that

looks impossible to you

roll it i’m almost done

here’s the challenge

here’s the challenge don’t miss this

all he had to fight with

was men who had hurt him

this is the danger of pettiness

the men

he had to fight with

were the same men

who said they were gonna stone him

and a lot of us

cannot prevail

because we are petty

the most successful people i have ever

met

have always regarded purpose over

pettiness

watch this watch his watches y’all don’t

get this y’all don’t give this

in the same chapter

in the same scene

these men were getting ready to stone

him

but when he got permission he said come

on let’s fight

do you have the capacity

to let people in

that you have locked out

[Applause]

if you don’t develop the capacity

to let people in

that you have locked out

your pettiness

will destroy

your purpose

[Applause]

how do you fight with folks who was

getting ready to stone you

you cannot do this

if you are petty

that’s why petty people

never make great kings

because they are too vindictive and

spiteful to be aligned with purpose

[Applause]

i want you to see this if you miss

everything else

david’s army

was made of his detractors

and a lot of times god wants to use

people

that you are still mad at

[Applause]

and if you

are still angry with him

your pettiness

your petty-ness

is going to destroy your purpose

the whole

victory

depended on david

not to be petty

y’all was shouting good i lost y’all

the only reason hagar didn’t die in the

desert

is because god healed her from pettiness

said swallow your pride and go back to

sarai

pettiness would have caused the prodigal

son to die in the hog pin

anytime you can’t make up

you can’t move on

i’m talking about the danger of

pettiness don’t worry i’m almost through

i’m down to almost my last point

i hate to be the one to tell you this

it’s not the devil that’s holding you

back

it’s not demonic warfare that’s holding

you back

it’s not a satanic attack that’s holding

you back it’s because you are petty

[Music]

[Applause]

you are stuck in victim mode

and you don’t feel strong enough

to rethink your position

i’m a victim over here i’m a victim over

there

i’m a victim with saul

he didn’t treat me right

i’m a victim with the philistines they

didn’t treat me right

i’m a victim at home

i got home and they weren’t there for me

i’m a victim i’m a victim i’m a victim

and yet god calls me to pursue and then

asks me

to use the men

who are going to stone me

here is the test of your character

[Applause]

can you get over your pettiness

to see the real battle

is within yourself

to see beyond the pain of betrayal

that doesn’t mean that

that you can continue to walk with

people you can’t trust there are some

people you have to dismiss

but it does mean if you dismiss

everybody who let you down you will have

nobody

nobody nobody that’s why you got nobody

now you got nobody cause you write

people off and you have written off so

many people you ain’t got nobody

because you write off everybody who

ain’t perfect

and ain’t nobody perfect so you got

nobody and then you end up writing off

yourself because you ain’t perfect

either

[Applause]

petty people demand more of other people

than they can supply themselves

you forgive yourself for stuff you hold

me hostage for

oh

don’t stop dancing now don’t stop

dancing now

why did david take them in

they were tried and true

they were trained by him

they knew how to

fight he also is placed in a position

there are two things he had to do i want

you to get these these are important for

every leader every influencer in the

room two things he had to do he had to

be

over his pettiness

to the point that he could let people

back in that he had locked out

and the second thing the text reveals

is that he had to trust new people

god sends into your life

those are two different kinds of tests

you remember the egyptian slave that

they found that was about to die in the

text

they didn’t know him they said who are

you and to whom do you belong

they had to trust somebody new

and because you are

so hands-on

so skeptical

or so

cynical when new people come into your

life

you can’t let them in

because they’re new and if david had not

let the egyptian slave in

he would have never gotten the victory

because the slave didn’t have a sword he

didn’t have a knife he hadn’t eaten for

days he was about to pass out he had

been left for dead the slave had one

thing going for him

he knew where the treasure was

hey

god

said i’m gonna bring somebody

into your life

who knows

where the treasure is

you won’t have a background with them

you won’t have a comfort with them they

won’t be somebody that grew up with you

they won’t be somebody you’re familiar

with but god said i’m gonna bring a

stranger into your life and look they

had to trust each other the slave said

i’ll tell you but promise me you won’t

kill me

[Applause]

promise me you won’t kill me and promise

me you won’t turn me over to my master

and i will tell you so david had reason

not to trust the slave but the slave

also had reason not to trust him

what helped them to come together is

david fed him

[Applause]

do you feed new people

or stare at them

[Applause]

lord i’m losing them jesus

i had them good i’m losing them now i’m

losing them that’s all right i’m just

teasing i don’t need your response i

brought mine with me

i also know

my church well enough to know

that when you get quiet

you are thinking

[Applause]

and i know you are cerebral enough

to challenge your own behavior

and to take this as the word of god

and to ask yourself

who

am i holding at babe because they’re new

and who

have i locked out because they hurt me

[Applause]

those two groups of people

are going to carry you

into your destiny

watch this i’m almost finished give me

five minutes i’ll wrap it up he he he he

fed

the slave

that the amalekites discarded

the slave was there when they burned

ziglag down and david is feeding

somebody who was complicit

in the problem

look at david’s capacity to be pivotal

he’s feeding a slave even though he’s

hungry and he’s sick he was there when

they was burning down the city and

taking away the children

but that doesn’t mean he’s not useful

now

because he has something i need to win

[Music]

he knew where they were so david says to

him

show me where they are

and when they got down

to where they were

the slave let them down

the bible said

that the amalekites were throwing a

party

they were living it up

they were laying around

the women were dancing

they were drinking

they were having a good time

my last point

is david trashed the party

god said

your enemies are celebrating

what they took from you

but god said the devil is a liar

you’re getting ready to trash

the party

i don’t know who i’m preaching to

i don’t know who i’m preaching to

i don’t know if you’re healed enough

to hear what i’m saying to you

but god said he’s given you permission

to trash the party

you’re going to go in the party

and number one you’re gonna crash the

party

number two you’re gonna defeat your

enemies

number three you’re gonna recover

everything

that the enemy stole from you

whoever i’m talking to

hear me real good

your stories look bad for a long time

but everything is about to change

this is not just a sunday morning

message

this is a prophetic utterance god said

you have permission

go in the party

kick open the door

and tell them i’m here

to take back what the devil stole from

me i’m here to take it back

i’m here to grip my destiny

i’m here to lay hold on my future

give me my wife back

give me my sons my god

give me my daughter back

give me my goal

and give me my silver

somebody turn around in a circle

god said he’s gonna turn the whole

thing around

what the devil meant for evil

god is going to make it good

i better quit

because i feel like preaching now

and when i feel like preaching

the holy ghost stands up in me

the lord said you’re going to get it

back

the lord said you’re going to get it

back

i don’t know what your idiots but

whatever the enemy stole from you god

said you’re going to get it back

kick your foot

kick the door open

tell hell i’m coming

i’m coming after my job

i’m coming after my future

i’m coming after my finances i’m coming

after my destiny

i’m coming after my ministry

i’m coming after my purpose

glory to god

i won’t stop

till i recover everything

that the devil stole from me

whoever i’m preaching to

i want you to praise god

like you already got it back

praise it

like you got it back

praise it

wait a minute you don’t hear what i’m

saying

this is an act of faith

praise him

like you already got it back

[Applause]

i got it back

i got it back

i got it back

i got it back

i got it back

i have permission to get it back

i’m gonna get my walk my talk

my finances

my power

my anointing

my consecration my ministry

my gifting

i’m gonna get it back

you thought you had me

but the party is over

i declare war

on hell’s party

somebody lift your voice

and shout out to god

i have permission

shout it out again

i have permission

shout it out again

i have permission

shout it out again

i have permission

[Applause]

[Music]

lift your hands

and open your mouth

and begin to praise god

in whatever way you’re comfortable

let the holy spirit speak to you right

now

that you have

been given this morning

you’re watching online you picked the

right week

[Music]

this morning you have permission

you have

permission

you have permission

you have permission

if you sit there it’s your fault

if your stay there is your fault

if you wallow in your pain it’s your

fault

if you stay in the paralysis of your

past it’s your fault

lift your hands and start talking to god

tell him what you’re going after

tell him what you’re going after

say it out loud

give it a name

speak it

declare it

lift your hand and open your mouth and

tell your god

i’m going after it

i’m going after it

i’m going after it

i’m going after it

it might be a degree

it might be a course

it might be a masters

it might be a doctor i’m going after it

it might be a business

it might be a church

it might be a ministry i’m going after

it lift your hands and name it i’m going

after it

i have permission

i have

permission

i am enough

i have enough

i’ve got enough

i have permission

i’m not accepting any more excuses

devil you might as well stop talking to

me

about what i can’t do

and what’s too late

and what’s over

because this sunday morning

i receive

permission

now praise him like you got it

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

you