Bishop Jakes centers his message on the story of Christ’s transfiguration and the calling of the three disciples who followed Him upwards. A central point of this passage is that when you are called and chosen when God shows you “glimpses of His glory,” you are set apart. The “uniqueness of the path” that God chooses for you means that you cannot be common in your associations. To follow Christ up the mountain and witness His glory, the three disciples had to leave the other nine. To progress in your walk with God, you must be willing to forsake the familiar and venture into the unfamiliar. Your faith is proven throughout your whole journey – both in the valley and the mountain. Another highlight of T.D. Jakes’ sermon is his focus on the mountain itself. It was the highest mountain in Galilee and, for the disciples, would have meant a change of scenery, a change of climate, thinning of the air, and relative unknowns. Jesus, however, takes them step by step. He leads them upwards gradually. While progressing in your Christian walk requires patience and perseverance, Jesus knows what you can handle. Your journey toward your purpose pushes you to new places, and you will experience struggle – but the view is worth it.

that the upward call the downward

craving the pole between two experiences

that which is before me that which is

behind me pulling my soul apart

up right here and made an altar call the

altar would be packed if it was an

honest altar call called to be married

crave to be single oh I lost you breathe

in breathe out we’re gonna make it

we’re gonna make it we’re gonna make it

we’re gonna make it FEMA job of a

teacher is to bring the Scriptures to

the level of the listener I just landed

this is the posture

greetings in the name of Jesus Christ

our King I’m so blessed and delighted to

have this opportunity to share the word

of the Lord with you we’re going to open

up a series called view from the top and

I believe it’s going to illuminate in

your heart the Word of God and give you

revelation for such a time as this

the first message out is secret to

Elevation may God open up your heart and

bless you as we go into the word of God

when we read the Gospel of st. mark we

are we are reading a moment that Jesus

is teaching men that have not yet

matured have not yet mastered their

faith that they will at best become

clinicians but for life students every

teacher worth their salt is forever a

student you cannot teach further than

you learn you don’t get a masters degree

in in faith you’ve never mastered it you

follow on to know you grow progressively

and this is a training moment they’re

they’re inquiring about the kingdom and

Jesus is saying to them some of you will

not taste death until you have seen the

kingdom of God coming glory some of you

shall not taste there’s some people I

have trouble with this scripture because

they say well all the Apostles are dead

and and and they have not seen the glory

they didn’t see the glory and I think

you didn’t read the Bible because some

of the twelve he set apart and led them

up on a mountain to see the glory of the

kingdom of God but the glory of the

kingdom of God for them came in glimpses

glimpses that’s the word I really like

glimpses I like that word personally

because my life has been full of

glimpses at eight years old I told my

mother sitting in the backseat of her

car coming back from her speaking at a

Delta sorority meeting I said right now

I go to hear you speak and they call me

Miss Jake’s son but the time will come

you’re come

hear me speak and they will call you Tom

Jake’s mother at 8:00 they’re gonna call

you Tom Jake’s mother I was pretty close

one time it was TV that is medicine at

eight years old I caught a glimpse a

glimpse of what I would be doing all of

my life I wasn’t sure I was gonna be

preaching but I knew I was gonna be in

front of people it was gonna be a lot of

people and she was gonna be in the crowd

and they would know my name more than

hers at 8:00 the the glory of God is

revealed in glimpses not details he

snatched a shoe into it he snatches her

out of it and you’re out of it and

you’re back to reality

Jesus says some of you will not taste

death until you see the kingdom of God

come with power and then he pulled three

from the 12th and he pulled them apart

and I want to deal first of all with

with when you are chosen you will

forever be pulled apart trial you want

to fit in with the 12 that she were

meant to be in the three the truth of

the matter is that when God gives you

glimpses he said-she apart not not for

Aleta the matzo for superiority not for

arrogance sake but because of the

uniqueness of your path you could never

be common in your associations so don’t

think that the miracle begins at the top

of the mountain the miracle begins down

in the valley when he called the three

from the twelve and said leave the rest

of them to operate on this level and I

fit you apart

some people don’t pass that test they

are not willing to leave the pack

they prefer the associations with the

familiar than the sacredness of

following that that is divine living

life is lonely business it really is we

grant we giggle we smile but it’s lonely

business because if you’re really gonna

follow Jesus he’s gonna call you apart

by yourself everything being that ever

happens to you that you go through for

the most part you go through it by

yourself even if you lose a loved one

and all of the family grieves together

we don’t grieve alike and we didn’t all

lose the same thing what our loss is

different from what you lost because

what I had was different from what you

had and ultimately you face that grief

by yourself so I don’t want you to think

that that faith is just proven on the

mountain faith is proven in the valley

it if the faith proven in the valley

that makes you eligible for the mountain

if you’re not willing to leave the

twelve then you cannot see the one

I think a lot of times people see things

but they don’t look into what they see

they feel such a superficial level that

they don’t want to see they don’t

understand the dichotomy that occurs in

the human soul when your situation is

elevated above your mentality this is

the struggle of being called up the

struggle of being called up is to think

on the level of your calling just

because you have a degree in a and a big

office does it make you professional

you can have all the accouterments that

are necessary to function on this level

but all the cravings to live on that one

imagine being stretched between two

lovers that that is before me and that

that is behind me he called them apart

by themselves the truth of the matter if

you be honest everybody who’s ever

gotten an upward call has wrestled with

a downward craving and those two forces

pulling you at the same time are enough

to pull you completely apart

he called them apart by themselves and

people say what were you thinking the

same thing you was thinking when you did

this stupid stuff you did fast stopped

right here

and made an altar call altar would be

packed if it was an honest altar call

called to be married crave to be single

oh I lost you breathe in breathe out

we’re gonna make it we’re gonna make it

we’re gonna make it we’re gonna make it

Fila job of a teacher is to bring the

scriptures to the level of the listener

I just landed he called them apart

Babbitt’s is what makes people implode

and explode and nobody knows why is

because they’re pulled apart and the

Bible says that Jesus led them up into a

high place the particular mountain that

the Mount of Transfiguration is believed

to be is 9,000 feet above sea level it

is the highest mountain around

surrounding the Sea of Galilee 9,000

feet in the air above sea level means

that the tops of the mountain is covered

with snow in the summer and that means

that on your way up you won’t feel every

type of weather

sunny at the bottom slowly at the top

you don’t know what to pack for the

journey because on your way to the top

you’re gonna feel everything it is a

higher place if you want sameness in

weather a homogeneous atmosphere a

climate that you can predict stay down

there cuz if you start following him up

the hill you don’t know how to pack cuz

you don’t know what you’re gonna have to

face on your way to the top standing at

the bottom of the mountain looking at

the top of his shirt I look different so

Jesus led them into it it doesn’t give

it to him all at once cuz it would be

culture shock to take you too fast so he

doesn’t beam you up he lets you see

where you haven’t been and then he takes

you step by step thank God for the steps

because

if you’ve got there too fast you

couldn’t make the adjustments your body

might go into shock your mind might

implode you might crumble up under the

pressure you’re exposed to so every step

he introduces it to you gradually so

that you don’t faint along the way I

would have fainted had not I believed to

see the goodness of the Lord in the land

of the living

lord I thank you for the steps I thank

you for the steps I thank you for the

steps I do not despise the struggle

thank you for not giving it to me too

fast I would have been able to handle it

I underestimated how hard it is to be

what I saw he pulled them apart by

themselves he led them up to the tops of

the mountain and there he lets 3 out of

12 see the kingdom they get to see the

kingdom they get to see who Jesus really

is they have walked with him and ate

with him and talked with him they had no

idea who he really was

they knew of him but they did not know

him because who he really is is revealed

in the high place you cannot know him in

the valley but as you go up to the high

place he reveals his spend difference

glory his wondrous grace his phenomenal

essence his divinity it’s in the high

place my God is in the high place it’s

in the struggle it’s in the storm it’s

in the blowing of the wind if in the

test it’s in the trials

it’s in the frailty of life if it’s in

the fickleness of people it’s in it’s in

the brokenness of circumstances it’s in

the fragment of the human heart death

that’s where God reveals himself just

just glimpses of his glory just just

glimpses of his God just traces of his

essence it’s just a whiff of his

fragrances revealed as a storms of life

cast cage of soul and you think God I’m

being pulled apart it it’s in it is in

the stretch that we beheld the wonder of

his glory the only begotten of the

Father full of grace and truth

and I wanted to see the kingdom of God

but I had no idea what it looked like

until I started the journey and then I

saw the kingdom is not meat and drink

but joy and peace and the Holy Ghost

it’s not natural eat and drink it’s not

carnal meat carnal carnal it’s not meat

and drink it’s spiritual it’s me it’s

not in my circumstances it’s in my

tenacity that’s that’s how you know I’m

in the kingdom come tough

and you’ll never know that I’m tough

till them tried still to come on the

parties touch it is the change in the

biologically it is me but it’s not me

genetically it is me but it’s not me

same DNA but different presentation and

some people will stop you in the middle

of your metamorphosis and and not allow

you to complete your turn and and when

people meet you in the turn they tend to

define you by the twist but they don’t

understand what’s pulling me down to the

mountain but I have an opportunity to go

to the top

if you’ve ever climbed a mountain you

know that reaching the summit requires

perseverance determination and struggle

in your journey with Christ he’s often

pushing you to a new and sometimes

uncomfortable place but there’s always

purpose in the pain and when you reach

the destination that he leads you to the

few is worth it to me what I am and I

had no chance of unlocking the door to

myself without getting to the key and he

took the key and hid it in his garments

and started up the hill and told me

you’ll never know if you don’t chase me

for helping us reach others with your

gift of any size you’ll receive secret

to elevation on CD or when your gift is

$200 or more you’ll receive view from

the top on DVD a grateful heart

stationery and the woman Thou Art Loosed

Bible reach the destination that was

meant for you today

if you’ve ever been to a high mountain

and tried to walk the breathing is

different people at the bottom I’ll tell

you how you ought to breathe but but you

don’t understand that the air is so much

thinner up here then it is where we

begin and they walked up where the air

was thin and the climate was cold and

they did it because they were following

Jesus following Jesus will take you

where the air is thin and the climate is

cold but I’d rather have thin air on the

mountain then full air in the valley

somebody asked me if you had it to do

all over again would you do it again

what was the motivating force that move

you along I said I had to find out what

was in me I could not bear to live and

die and wonder what was in me it if not

for him alone that I chase him

it is selfishly for me because he has

the secret to my potentials and he has

hid it in his person and I had to chase

him to find out who I was he had the key

all y’all over here what I’m saying he

had the key to the mystery of me and I

had no chance of unlocking the door to

myself without getting to the key and he

took the key and hid it in his garments

and started up the hill and told me

you’ll never know if you don’t chase me

so that’s a double shot about feet at

normal time so I had to go outside of my

comfort to catch him I had to overcome

my fear to chase him I had to fight off

my inner reservations and my timidity

and he kept going higher and higher and

many times I wanted to go back but I

reminded myself he’s got the key in his

garment the key to me to Who I am to why

I am to to what I am to where I am

I had to chase him I had to chase him

Orpah could go back home but I had to

chase I had to go with Naomi because

Naomi had the key to me if not just she

had the key to her she has the key to me

they said why would you hook up with

Paul Timothy you were young man you

could go on on your own no no no no I

got to follow Paul because Paul has the

key to me so the three went up with the

one because the one held the key where

the air was thin and the climate was

cold they they went up almost two miles

in the air to see not only who he was

but who they were and there they beheld

the wonder of his glory in the place of

unity in the source of water there on

the mountaintop for the first time they

saw him change they saw the same Jesus

that they saw the mountain but in a

different way this this is a this is a

Luo idiom of thought it is it is a new

realm of existences this is not the same

place that it was down low it’s not the

same place up high geographically it’s

in the same space but because it is

elevated it is different becoming what

you see is a difficult thing and if

you’ve never seen it it becomes even

more difficult because some never had

the benefit to even see anybody be where

you’re trying to go but Jesus didn’t

push them he led them so they got to see

somebody do it and if you see somebody

do it I can follow in your footsteps

give me a few minutes Yoho and so they

come to this high place and there and

Jesus changed before them he just the

Bible says he transfigured himself

when you get to a certain level you see

everything different everything looks

different is so amazing it’s the same

Jesus that your head down on the bottom

but appear

he’s now showing them the price it pays

to see the kingdom and now he reveals

himself with glimpses and he changes

he said now he changed before them

before his raiment

don’t rush to the raiment before you

recognize that that the changing of the

raiment is a reaction to the changing of

Jesus then that when you change

everything connected to you changes to

yeah yeah you can’t have a changing

raiment if you don’t have a change in

Jesus

the clothes didn’t make the man the man

made the clothes when the man changed

then the clothes change everything that

touched him changed because it was

connected to him and Jesus changed

before their eyes and the Greek word is

Metamorpho it is to go through a

metamorphosis it it is me but it’s not

me I am the same but I’m not the same

it’s gonna be familiar but it’s gonna be

different

you’re gonna recognize me but you’re not

gonna know me transfigured metamorphosis

to go with it from from from the

silkworm to the butterfly from the

caterpillar to the Frog it is the change

in me biologically it is me but it’s not

me

genetically it is me but it’s not me

same DNA but different presentation and

some people will stop you in the middle

of your metamorphosis and and not allow

you to complete your turn and and when

people meet you in the turn they tend to

define you by the twist but they don’t

understand

doc don’t don’t don’t judge me yet

because I’m still spinning I’m still I’m

still spinning I’m still spinning them

I’m still spinning I’m still I’m still

spinning I’m still coming out of my

grave clothes I’m still wrestling with

where I came from I’m still becoming

what he called me – I’m still if there

anybody in here still spinning just just

spin it I’m 40 and I’m spinning I’m 50

and I’m still spinning I thought it’d be

over by now I’m 55 years old still

spinning still spinning coming out of my

cocoon be finding my wings figuring out

that that I can fly in this dimension

where I crawled in that dimension I am

becoming I am becoming I have not become

I count not myself to have apprehended

but this one thing I do I’m forgetting

those things which are behind and

reaching to those things which are

before you you will hear no more talk

about the valley now that I’m up on the

mountain because I’m I’m wrestling I’m

wrestling with what I see before me and

I’m not wrestling now with where I came

from I’m wrestling with what is before

me Jesus is not who I thought he was he

he doesn’t look like I thought he look

he doesn’t feel like I thought he felt

he doesn’t care about what I thought he

cared about oh I apologize to all the

people I killed with the religion I used

to have

yeah I must apologize to all the people

that when I majored on the minor and

minored on the major I spoke it because

on the level I was on I thought it was

true but on the level I am now I’ve

realized that that the Jesus I knew at

the bottom is not the Jesus I don’t know

at the top and and he has transfigured

himself before me hey we’ll be right

back after this what’s pulling me down

to the mountain go to the top

if you’ve ever climbed a mountain you

know that reaching the summit requires

perseverance determination and struggle

in your journey with Christ

he’s often pushing you to a new and

sometimes uncomfortable place but

there’s always purpose in the pain and

when you reach the destination that he

leads you to the few is worth it and I

had no chance of unlocking the door to

myself without getting to the key and he

took the key and hid it in his garments

and started up the hill and told me

you’ll never know if you don’t chase me

for helping us reach others with your

gift of any size you’ll receive secret

to elevation on CD or when your gift is

$200 or more you’ll receive view from

the top on DVD a grateful heart

stationary and the woman Thou Art Loosed

Bible reach the destination that was

meant for you today this is an

opportunity for pastors to get up close

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[Music]

you gonna spend the holidays with your

grandparents what kind of parents are

you play the brokenhearted kind

story of black Nativity revolves around

a 15 year old boy named Langston who’s

living with his single mother in

Baltimore and they’ve fallen extremely

hard times she hasn’t been able to keep

her house payments together she sends

him for Christmas to stay with her

parents I was told to expect my grandson

not some pickpocket the world is is

changed for the better we are mindful of

the needs of this youth big in need of

guidance or simply a belt to hold his

loose-fitting pants up it shows that God

can do anything you know all all his

life he was searching for his family and

he found his family you guys went away

to Harlem

it might’ve caused all my mother’s

misery did my very birth destroy my

whole family you meld and move through

reality so play that we’re doing it side

it and then the fantasies of the main

character Langston they’re just really

bringing back family on that on that

Christmas day there’s something for

everyone and for every generation I want

this to be like the Christmas movie of

all Christmas movies like home-along is

to me I want black nativity replay it’s

such a beautiful project I wouldn’t want

anyone to miss out on it

[Music]

I would to God that I could spend more

time with you but I am absolutely out of

time I’m not out of word I’m just simply

out of time made may God bless you and

strengthen you and I hope that the thing

that you have heard today have have

helped to propel you toward your destiny

and your purpose in Christ Jesus know

that we here at the potter’s house are

praying for you and with you that God’s

best might be accomplished in your life

may God bless you may have a smile upon

you I’ll look for you same time same

station be there

[Music]