Priscilla Shirer speaks at Lakewood Church on TBN’s Praise, the 2018 Passion Conference, and the Propel Women’s Conference for TBN’s Praise. Listen as she teaches the importance of wearing the armor of God, living holy, and trusting that God has you where you’re meant to be today, and will lead you to where you’re meant to be tomorrow. This video was brought to you by TBN Networks®. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/TBN/feature… Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) – Sharing the Word of God to all the nations of the World! TBN is the world’s largest religious network and America’s most watched faith channel. TBN broadcasts programs hosted by a diverse group of ministries from traditional Protestant and Catholic denominations to Messianic Jewish, Non-Profit Charities, Interdenominational and Full Gospel churches. TBN also offers a wide range of original programming and faith-based films. #tbn #priscillashirer #armorofgod #purpose 0:00 Intro 0:38 RIght Where You Need to Be 37:55 Armor of God 1:21:29 Holiness Will Change Your Life
you’ve been thinking this is not enough
gifting this is not enough talent it’s
not enough money it’s not enough i don’t
have enough and jesus is whispering in
your ear tonight
your conscience is not the voice of god
but your conscience is like this wiring
that helps this microphone amplify my
voice the the conscience is the
microphone that the holy spirit uses to
help you hear the voice of god the one
thing that opens up our eyes is god’s
spirit on us and if you want if i want
god’s spirit on our lives then we got to
decide to live
[Music]
so jerry and i my husband and i we’ve
been married nearly 20 years now i can’t
believe that and we have three sons that
we are raising they are giant
they are giants y’all
my 15 year old is six foot two inches
tall
his 14 year old brother is six foot two
inches tall um their nine-year-old
brother is coming up right after them
they are some big boys and one of the
things i do for these boys in fact you
should know that my full-time job is
feeding the boys that is my full
time job i am trying to figure out any
which way i can differently to cook
chicken for dinner every single night
just like y’all that’s exactly what i’m
doing
so we just do sports and everything with
the boys they’re growing up so quick so
one of the things that i have done
since my oldest was five i started when
he was five um i went to uh ross dress
for lest in the back hand corner left
hand side there is a one row that has
books and journals and those sorts of
things i went and i grabbed um three
journals hardback journals they were
just little little um with the little
spine spiral spines nothing real fancy
4.99 i picked one for each boy i’ve had
it ever since my oldest was five
and at that age i started to record a
journal for them i do not write in it
every week or every month or even um you
know just on a regular basis it’s just
when something happens i don’t want to
forget or they say something that’s
really interesting or i see the hand the
handiwork the fingerprints of god in
their life in some way i kind of write
it down my goal is to have a collection
of writings and thoughts and and love
letters really to my boys about their
life that i hand over to them when
they’re you know mature enough to
appreciate it or better yet i might just
hand it over to their wives and say girl
this is what you’re getting yourself
into right here
and because my oldest will be 16 next
month i was looking through his journal
and came across the story from when he
was five
i read it with fond memories
because it was the little journal entry
i put in there about him losing his
first tooth
he had wiggled that tooth
and wiggled it he couldn’t wait for it
to come out
and the reason he couldn’t wait for it
to come out is because we had told him
that when your tooth comes out the tooth
fairy will come
she will come and she will replace the
tooth with a treasure
so he could not wait
finally the tooth came out and that is
my boy still to this day that that has
never been eager to go to sleep but that
night
he dove into bed at bedtime he could not
wait he put the tooth underneath the
pillow he laid his head down and he was
he was trying to go to sleep but every
three to five seconds he would look
under the pillow
to see if anything had happened
finally he did fall asleep
we let some time pass and then about
three o’clock in the morning or so the
six foot two 250 pound tooth fairy that
i sleep next to every night he got up he
went upstairs and he replaced the tooth
for a treasure
in the morning i knew in jackson and at
the time we just had jackson and jerry
jr
i knew when they got up i knew i could
hear it i could hear the excitement the
squeals i could hear the stomps on the
floor i could hear the eagerness and
enthusiasm because the tooth fairy had
come and left the treasure they bounded
down the stairs into the room jackson’s
fists were both clenched closed he ran
up to me and said mom the tooth fairy
came she left me a treasure
i said buddy let me see what she left
you opened up one hand and it was a
package of gummy bears which was a big
deal at the time because that was his
favorite snack he opened up the other
hand and it was five dollars
[Applause]
now i don’t know what happened when
y’all were growing up but
i grew up in the days of dimes and
nickels
can the church say amen
so you know i’m trying to be excited for
the boy
[Applause]
but really i’m annoyed about this whole
five dollar situation and my husband can
see
that i am troubled
and you know if mama ain’t happy
[Applause]
nobody’s happy
after jackson left the room jerry came
over to me and he said priscilla don’t
worry
he said do you remember that last month
was jackson’s fifth birthday
he said do you remember that we had all
of the family over still to this day we
do that when one of the boys has a
birthday we invite the whole clan over
grandparents and cousins and aunts and
uncles everybody comes to celebrate he
said do you remember they all came most
of them had cards and then those cards
were five dollar bills he said do you
remember we took all those five dollar
bills and we put them in a birthday
drawer in the kitchen he said this
morning at 3 a.m i went right inside
that birthday drawer
dave ramsey would be so proud of us
that’s good financial stewardship right
there is what that is
[Applause]
so that morning
really what i had witnessed
was my little boy getting excited about
treasure
that actually already belonged to him
treasure that he already had he just
didn’t know it
i came to tell somebody that there is
treasure
hidden in these earthen vessels
i came to tell you that by god’s spirit
there is gift and there is power that
has been entrusted to you that is
available to you available to me as
daughters of the most high king you need
to know that even if you do not believe
what the scriptures declare to be true
about your treasure if you don’t believe
that you’ve been forgiven or that you
already have the victory or that the
enemy is already underneath your feet
that there is no condemnation for those
of us who are in christ jesus or that
you have been made competent by the
spirit of god
i came to tell you that even if you
don’t believe it the enemy does
he knows who you are what ashamed it
would be for him to know
and us not to
so it’s time for us to open up the
drawer and start pulling out the
treasure the treasure we’ve been
ignoring the treasure we’ve been calling
insignificant the thing that we’ve said
is not enough not valuable lord if i
could just be like her lord if i could
just be like that if i could just have a
bit more of that if i weren’t me then
lord i’d be enough he says uh-uh you
have enough you just haven’t opened up
the drawer
pull out the treasure
there is a story in scripture that is
going to be very familiar to you it’s
the one that the lord has been using in
my own life to remind me about how he
will compel me and he will compel us to
open up the drawer and reach in and pull
out the treasure and see what it’s like
when he uses what he has already
entrusted to us
luke chapter nine verse one
and two
says this
and he called that’s jesus he called
somebody say he called
he called the 12 together and he gave
somebody say he gave
he gave them power
and he gave them authority
over all demons and to heal all diseases
verse two and then he sent somebody say
he sent
he sent them out
he called them
he gave him treasure
and then he sent them out
verse 10 says and then when they
returned to him they gave an account to
him of everything they had done
and taking them with him he withdrew by
himself to a hill called bethsaida the
multitudes were aware of this verse 11
says so they followed jesus because you
know wherever jesus went a crowd was
sure to follow they weren’t quite sure
he was the messiah but what they didn’t
know was that when this man showed up
blind people could
see what they knew is that when jesus
showed up the lame could walk and the
death could hear the dead were being
raised so wherever jesus was they came
the crowd followed and welcoming the
multitude jesus began speaking to them
about the kingdom of god and curing
those who were in need of healing verse
12.
so the day starts to come to a close and
the 12 come to jesus and say now jesus
you’re gonna have to send this multitude
away they’ve got to go into the
surrounding villages and countryside and
find lodging they got to get something
to eat jesus come on now here we’re in a
desolate place
verse 13 jesus said to them
uh-uh
you give them something to eat
they said jesus we have no more than
five loaves and two fish unless perhaps
you let us go and buy food for all these
people because you know we’re not enough
as we are right now
there were about 5 000 men
scholars say the reason why luke
specifies men is because there were
women and children too so there were
probably about 15 000 hungry people that
day
jesus said have them recline to eat in
groups of about 50 each so they did so
had them all recline and then he took
the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven he blessed them
and then he broke them
and he kept giving them to the disciples
to set before the multitude and verse 17
says they all ate
they were all satisfied and just so you
know how satisfied they were they went
by and picked up all the leftovers
cause there was overflow
in this story we meet a hungry multitude
a multitude that is placing a demand
they have a need there is a lack that
needs to be filled and most of the time
when this proportion of the scriptures
is looked into the multitudes who we
concentrate on the five loaves and the
two fish and how they were satisfied
with it but just for a few moments
tonight i want to talk to you about the
12 disciples
those who walked with jesus and talked
with jesus those who were in close
communion with jesus those who would
come out on a friday night to be in the
presence of jesus amongst the people of
jesus i want to talk to the disciples of
jesus
the disciples on this occasion had been
called to jesus by jesus they were
having a conversation with each other
jesus entrusted them with power and
authority and then he sent them out
i love that this uh gospel is one of the
synoptic gospels the synoptic gospels
are those that tell there are three of
them matthew mark and luke these three
tell some of the similar stories in a
similar tone in a similar way so that
we’re able to get more layers to the
story i love the gospels in that way
they give us layers
just like if someone were to offer you a
chocolate cake but they gave you options
you could have a one layer chocolate
cake or a seven layer chocolate cake
which one you gonna choose
seven every single time because the more
layers there are
the more rich and delectable the
experience becomes mark chapter six is a
layer of chocolate cake for us it tells
us that this is the experience when
jesus called the disciples to himself
and then he sent them out in pairs do
you remember two by two into the
neighboring towns and communities they
were supposed to teach and preach and
perform miracles that would authenticate
the deity of jesus christ mark chapter
six our layer of chocolate cake tells us
that they
expended themselves y’all they were busy
from sun up to sundown they were about
the task of doing what it was that jesus
had assigned to them they wanted to be
diligent about it so much so that when
they came back to jesus they gave an
account to him and jesus recognized
their exhaustion
he saw that they were tired in fact
jesus himself commented that they didn’t
even have time to eat because they had
been so busy
they were depleted and they were tired
and they came back to jesus and they
gave him an account
for how they’d handled the assignment
that he had entrusted to them
if you’re a believer in jesus christ
you got an assignment
and don’t let anybody tell you that your
assignment isn’t ministry just because
it happens to be in a corporate setting
mother of small children who’s chosen to
stay home with those kids don’t let
anybody tell you that a ministry
every single time you make that chicken
for dinner and you set it on that table
and you teach those kids a bible verse
before bedtime don’t let anybody tell
you that that ain’t ministry
corporate woman when you sit around that
boardroom table and you’re the only one
that has a set of ideals that lines up
with the truth of scripture at a table
with those who are thinking and acting
and planning in a way that is left of
god’s word don’t let anybody tell you
that you around that boardroom ain’t
ministry that’s ministry
high school student college student
you’re the only student that stands for
truth when your professor says this is
the way it is and you say no that’s not
the way it is don’t let anybody tell you
as the light on that college campus that
you are not in ministry
every single one of us has an assignment
and the day is coming
when we’re gonna have to give an account
and here’s the thing
you don’t know when that day is
my 38 year old cousin
38
four small children
the day is coming and you don’t know the
day or the hour
neither do i when we’re gonna have to
stand before him and give an account for
how we handled what he had entrusted to
us i’m asking you tonight how are you
handling your assignment
because young women if you think that
you’re young because of your age listen
to me if you’re 20 but you only have
until 30 you’re pretty old
if you’re 50 and you’re going to live
until 100 then you’re pretty young
age is just a number my friend and you
and i cannot qualify young or old base
births based on our our birth date
it’s based on our death date and since
we don’t know when that day is
that i implore you sisters by the
mercies of god to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling by which you have
been called
because listen i don’t know about y’all
but when i see him face to face i’m
looking for a well done
i’m looking for well done
when i see him he will not ask me how
many instagram followers i had
he will not wonder whether or not folks
liked my post he will not be interested
in whether or not my selfies were
perfectly lit he will ask me
did i know his son
and then i will give an account
so the disciples they come and they give
an account to jesus i wondered if there
was a recipe for effective ministry
because if these guys were willing to
come and look jesus in his face and give
an account i figured there might be a
recipe for us for effective ministry i’m
interested anybody interested
there are three ingredients to the
recipe luke chapter 9 verse 1 it says he
called them
he called them
and his calling superseded any personal
ambition that they had
they laid down whatever they were going
to do because they heard the call of god
beckoning them to do something else
the beautiful thing about that entire
picture is that all of the glory of god
the father
all of the glory of heaven was packaged
in human flesh jesus wanted so much god
the father wanted so much to make sure
that he could speak and so that humanity
could hear that he left his throne in
glory
put on flesh so that the disciples could
hear his call and in the same way he has
given us the holy spirit so that each
and every one of us have the privilege
to hear the calling of god on our lives
the conviction the unction the pressing
the fire that is shut up in your bones
sending you in a particular direction
heed the call of god on your lives
then they were not just called i love so
much that before he skips to the third
ingredient in the recipe sending them i
love that before we get to the third one
there’s that second one he did not just
call but then he gave them power and
authority it means that what he was
calling them to do he was simultaneously
equipping them with supernatural power
to be able to pull it off so it’s good
news for anybody in the room that you
feel like you’ve got a dream that is way
over your head you’ve been called to do
something you don’t have the money for
you don’t have the time for you don’t
have the patience for you don’t have the
gifting for you don’t have the talent
for you don’t have the connections for
the good thing and the great thing about
our god is that he does not call people
who are already equipped he calls you
and then for the people that say yes he
equips them with what they need for the
calling
he entrusted them with power and
authority and can i tell you why this is
important this is important because in
order to accompl and accomplish
supernatural tasks
you have to have supernatural capacity
in other words you can be the most
talented person in the world but if you
go in your own strength and power
you still won’t be able to accomplish
the god calling on your life it requires
what it is that only god himself can
give to you to accomplish the task oh
the enemy hopes you will go in your own
power
he hopes you will think you are flashy
enough and savvy enough and talented
enough and impressive enough so that you
will no longer lean on god instead of
leaning to your own understanding
but it is not by power and it is not by
might it is by the spirit of god
and some trust in horses other folks
trust in chariots but not us we trust in
the name of the lord our god
so he called them and then he entrusted
them he gave them some treasure and then
he
sent them
he’s the one who did the sending
resist the urge to send yourself
to do something that it is not yet time
for
because just as important as our calling
is that is equally as important as the
timing is
in which that calling is outworked in
our lives and if you go too soon you
might if you if you give birth too soon
to that which god is trying to produce
through you you might abort
what it is that he’s trying to
accomplish in you
the spiritual backbone the fortification
that he was trying to establish in you
so that you could handle the spotlight
when it hit you because listen that
spotlight that you may be craving if it
hits you and you have no character it
will burn you to a crisp
so he called them
he entrusted them he sent them out and
they returned to him and gave an account
they were tired
the disciples had been given it
everything they had
and i know there are some of you in the
room and you would admit that you
haven’t done it perfectly but man you’ve
sure been purposeful
you’ve been intentional about this
marriage you’ve been giving it
everything you’ve got
you’ve been intentional about that
teenager you’ve been giving that kid
everything you’ve got this toddler that
has this specific vent or this specific
issue that you’ve been doing everything
you can going to see every expert that
you can reading everything that you can
to be the best that you can as a mother
single mother you’ve been giving it
everything that you’ve got working the
jobs that you’ve got to work to keep
food on the table you’ve been giving
that business that ministry that
endeavor everything that you have and
you the disciples are tired
the good news about jesus is that when
the disciples come to him tired he does
not say
go away from me and get yourself
together
come back and then i can use you
he says
come away
with
me
in other words listen
the cure for your exhaustion
is intimacy with jesus
that’s the cure y’all
i’m saying i agree take the holiday take
the vacation tell them you need a little
sabbatical you got to step back for just
a little bit you need a little margin in
your life take the holiday but don’t
take a holiday from jesus
don’t take the sabbatical from your
relationship with the lord prayer
shouldn’t exit your schedule because
these are your rest days you still need
to be the deer that pants
after the water your soul has still got
to be replenished and can only be
replenished
when you have intimacy with him
and you’re trying to figure out lord
you told me that i was going to be
replenished you told me that i was going
to refresh you told me that you had
something that you wanted to give to me
why would you take me here to this place
where i’m being pressed down by a
multitude of issues and concerns and
frustrations there’s something
overwhelming me that is bigger than what
i feel like i have the capacity to
handle why would you bring me here this
tells us that the story of the feeding
of the five thousand is not just about
the five thousand
it’s also about the disciples it’s not
just about the multitude getting fed
it’s about the disciples being fed
physically spiritually emotionally and
it tells us that the five loaves and the
two fish are the gift to the multitude
but it’s the multitude
that’s the gift to the disciples
because the multitude
is what’s going to make them
have to finally open up their drawer
pull out the treasure that they would
have otherwise ignored
place it in the hands of a multiplying
master who’s gonna show them what it
looks like when he takes their little
bit and makes it a lot
there is no replenishing
like watching god multiply your loaves
and fish
i came to tell somebody who’s got a
multitude pressing on you
in your marriage or in your finances or
in your health or in your parenting or
in your singleness that thing is
weighing down on you that means that
there is a drawer waiting to be opened
that means there’s some treasure waiting
to be unveiled
when you take it out finally when you
stop ignoring it when you stop
circumventing it when you stop acting
like god hasn’t given you everything you
need when you will finally recognize
this little bit this little gifting this
little talent this little time this
little money this little dream this
little vision that this is all i need if
i’ll just pull it out
and entrust it to the hands of a
multiply master
can i just show you real quick what the
disciples did
just real quick because i think it’s
interesting because it’s so us
they said to jesus in verse 12 send the
multitude away
[Applause]
and here’s the thing that’s so us see we
don’t just say it
we pray it
[Applause]
we pray away what we don’t even
recognize is the gift he has given us
to press us into opening up our drawer
so if you pray for your multitude to be
taken away and in god’s sovereignty he
has left it in your life
that means there’s a drawer there’s a
drawer stop start looking for a drawer
if there’s a multitude that means
there’s loaves and fish somewhere in
your life that is supposed to be
entrusted into the hands of god so we
pray away did you realize in verse 12
they are wishing away what in verse 11
jesus welcomed
jesus welcomed what they’re wishing away
so the disciples say
get get this multitude away
they don’t even know they’re praying
away their miracle
everybody wants to see the red sea
divide but nobody wants to be the one
that comes face to face with a red sea
everybody wants to see the walls of
jericho come tumbling down but nobody
wants to be the one who has to walk
around those walls in obedience to god
to trust him to shout prior to seeing
one brick fall
if there is a multitude that means there
is a miracle
okay
so praise the multitude or they ask for
the multitude to go away and jesus he
doesn’t go for that so when he doesn’t
they he doesn’t go for that the
disciples have another solution this is
us too
send the multitude away jesus says
and they say
well send us away then
you see it
they said send us to the surrounding
towns and villages so that we can go and
buy more
accumulate more get more because as we
are is not sufficient
so send us somewhere else so we can get
better and be better suited to this
multitude because as we are is not
enough it has always been the tactic of
the enemy to get us to think that we are
not enough as we currently are that what
we currently have is not sufficient for
the task that is before us but if the
lord has allowed that multitude into
your experience that means that as you
currently are with the entrusted
treasure the power the authority that he
has given to you you’ve got everything
you need if you just pull out what he
already has entrusted to you
in fact in mark chapter six our layer of
chocolate cake we find out that he says
to the disciples
well what do you have
he asked them that question
he says what do you have and then he
doesn’t even give him a chance to answer
he just immediately responds and says
go and look
he said it like that go and look
he said it like you would tell your kid
if the month i mean the week after
christmas they came to you and said mom
i’m bored
you would say
well what do you have
and then before you gave them a chance
to respond because you could already
tell that the response they was going to
give you was going to get them in
trouble
so you didn’t even give them a chance
you just say you would say to them
go and look
because if you’ll just look you’ll see
that the thing you’re complaining about
is something you already have access to
if you will go and look moses you will
see that everything you need to do what
i’ve called you to do it’s in your hand
it’s that rod that common rod that has
always been right beside you but now i’m
gonna infuse it with my power if i can
just get you to go and look moses pick
the stick up put it over the red sea you
will see that it will make the red sea
divide like a solid wall go and look
david yes goliath is right there but if
you’ll go look down by the stream i’ve
already provided five smooth stones that
will be everything you need to take that
giant down go and look spend all of the
energy that you’re spending complaining
spend that energy going to look for what
god has already given us access to
so they pulled it out
all right jesus you’re gonna do
something with this
they say okay
here you go
and they put it in his hands
everything changes
when you put your five and two in the
hands of jesus
everything changes when you stop
speaking negatively about it and just
trust it into the hands of g when you
just take that little dream that he has
entrusted to you and you give it back to
him and you say don’t look like much
right now but i’m putting it in your
hands and the great thing about our god
verse 16 says is that he took
the meager gifts of man
he didn’t look at their little bit and
say come back when you’ve got more uh
a holy divine almighty powerful god a
god who does not need us or our loaves
and fish when man gave it to him
he received it
and looking up to heaven
he blessed it
y’all you don’t need more you just need
god’s blessing on what you’ve already
got
you don’t need more you just need god’s
blessing on your five and two girl
that’s all you need
you know what his blessing is it’s his
favor
y’all favor is what makes the scales
balance over in your favor
favor is what makes things a little bit
unfair on your behalf favor is what
opens doors that nobody can shut favor
is what puts you in positions that
nobody can take away favor is what sets
you before kings and queens the favor of
god is what you want on your life on
your five and two looking up to heaven
he blessed it then he broke it and he
kept giving it
to the disciples
and it kept going and it kept going and
the 12 didn’t understand how the little
bit they had they had in the beginning
had become so much
and their entire multitude
the whole burden was satisfied
and when everybody was satisfied
oh somebody say satisfied
oh victoria i wish we had time tonight
girl
satisfied
this is not some you know happy meal
sort of situation here
this is not a number one on the burger
king drive-thru this is sunday afternoon
i’m talking about old school sunday
where your mom started to cook on
saturday night and the yeast rolls were
rising and the macaroni and cheese was
bubbling and the sweet potatoes were all
gooey on the stove and ever the sweet
tea was going the roast you know she
started the roast on 200
the night before and let it simmer all
night long y’all are getting hungry
aren’t you i know listen
do you remember how when you came home
from church the next day you ate that
and the only thing you could do after
that was
that’s all you could do that’s why jesus
said go ahead and have the people
recline
have them get in a posture
of expectation
that i’m getting ready to do exceedingly
abundantly above and beyond anything
that they can ask or think
satisfied sunday afternoon kind of
satisfied
that’s what he does
and they were so satisfied y’all don’t
even sit down just stay standing listen
they were so satisfied this is how you
know how good the meal was
there was leftovers
they started going around picking up the
leftovers y’all and guess what
there were 12 baskets full
one basket
for each disciple
to take home
as an overflow of the grace and the
blessing of god
i want to pray for any of you who are in
this room and you’ve got a multitude
weighing on you
you gotta i mean that thing is burdening
you down and you’ve never considered the
fact
that you’ve already got what you need
you’ve been thinking this is not enough
gifting this is not enough talent it’s
not enough money it’s not enough time i
don’t have enough and jesus is
whispering in your ear tonight
you got enough
just give it to me i’m gonna multiply it
i’m gonna blow your mind with what i’m
gonna do if you just trust it to me
anybody got a specific multitude
that you need prayer in regards to just
go ahead and raise your hand we’re going
to pray right now
in jesus name victoria will you come up
with me please just as a pastor in this
house would you just be
present in this moment so we can pray
over god’s people lord
right now we entrust every single woman
who has her hand raised in particular we
entrust every single one under the sound
of our voice lord to your love and care
we thank you that you are sovereign over
their lives father we thank you that
there is nothing that is in our
experience right now that is not first
passed through your fingers and since we
know you are good and that you are kind
and that your mercy endures forever then
father we
believe that if you’ve allowed this
multitude there’s something in this
multitude we don’t want to miss and so
father i pray right now that you would
change our perspective so we can see in
this multitude what you have for us
don’t let us miss it for anything in the
world lord
and then father i’m gonna pray over our
five and two i ask right now in jesus
name whatever the five loaves and the
two fish are that you have entrusted to
every single woman i pray that you would
give a holy courage and a holy boldness
that would compel us to open up the
drawer and pull it out and entrust it to
your hands father god i do pray that if
this multitude has anything to do with
the enemy lord if the enemy has assigned
an attack on any woman or her family i
pray that his attack would be canceled
in jesus name and by his blood that has
been shed on calvary
but lord if this multitude is of you
then right now in jesus name i thank you
for it in our lives come on and thank
him for it
i thank you for it
and then father
we’re going to go ahead and get in a
posture of abundance we’re going to
start living and praying and acting like
people who believe that you are the god
of ephesians 3 20 and 21.
you can do above all that we ask or
think in jesus name
i cannot even begin to tell you how
excited i am
to be here
thrilled
finally to be at passion this is my
first time being at passion
i i’m
the new kid on the block
thank you for making the new kid feel
welcome
it is a privilege to be a part of what
god has already been doing through this
movement for these years these decades
that god has been sowing seed into the
lives of
of you
y’all don’t even know what it is that
the lord has in store you can’t even
imagine i’m trying to tell you that
whatever is in your mind right now about
what god might do with your life
it is too small for what he’s actually
planning to do
too small
you cannot fathom what god has in mind
for you
the reason why i can say that with that
much boldness
is because while there are 30 plus
thousand of us that are gathered
together in these three arenas and then
those that are on the other side of the
screen in their homes
thirty thousand sounds like a big number
unless you consider the fact that with
seven plus billion people on the planet
the fact that he’d let us be the ones
that are recipients of what he’s done
over these last few weekends really it’s
just our last few days really it’s just
a drop in the bucket 30 000 sounds like
a lot but in the grand scheme of all the
people that could have been here y’all
he chose us
that means he intended for you to know
you’re an arrow
that your expectation is that you’re
getting ready to go places the likes of
which you could never imagine
oh i like y’all y’all talk back to me i
go to that kind of a church where they
talk but you know i go to the kind of
church where if the preaching gets
really good to us we might throw
something at the pastor
a shoe a baby anything might go flying
up there
y’all are my people y’all came to have
church
so i have three boys
um it’s a little bit scary to me that
they are nearly it will be very soon in
the next few years will be about your
age three sons the distinguishing
characteristic about my boys is that
they are giants they are huge boys my 15
year old is six foot two inches tall he
wears a size 14 men’s shoe my 13 year
old is about six one he wears a 13
men’s shoe
and uh they tower over me i have a nine
year old who’s coming up in the ranks
with his brothers they are
tall boys somebody can help me feed
these people
and one of the distinguishing
characteristics about or what makes
their size work for them rather is that
they do love sports so whatever sport is
sort of in season that’s what we’re
playing at the time my second son for a
lot of years he’s into basketball now
but for a lot of years baseball was this
thing and i enjoyed that i enjoyed
baseball season i liked going out there
for spring ball i liked spring ball
because you go sit in the cool of the
evening while your kid is practicing i
remember all those years of of little
league when he was just coming up and
we’d sit out there in the cool of the
spring evening under the lights of the
bleachers watching and practice and
enjoying just
uh that that whole atmosphere i like
spring ball so much the only problem
with spring ball is that it is going to
become summer ball
and i don’t know what happens where you
live wherever you’re coming from but i
can tell you in dallas texas which is
where i still live
where i was born and raised in dallas
texas in the summertime it doesn’t warm
up slightly
it gets hot
i’m talking about slap your mama hot
that kind of hot the kind of hot where
you feel like the sun must be mad at you
about something like you did something
to the sun and the sun is trying to get
you back all summer long that’s what it
feels like and you’re sitting out there
at a game trying to enjoy your kid’s
game and it really still is okay when
there’s just one game
the problem is that at the end of every
season there’s a tournament
so you got to be out there on a thursday
at 8 a.m and 10 a.m and noon and 2 p.m
and then depending upon how your kids
team did you’re gonna have to come back
on friday at 8 a.m and 10 a.m and then
they give you a little lunch break but
you got to come back for the 2 p.m game
the 4 p.m game and then if your kid’s
team had the nerve to do well you got to
come back again on saturday for the 8
a.m game and 10 a.m and noon and two and
man you’re sitting out there under the
blazing sun trying to be happy that your
kid is doing well
really you’re wondering if it’s ever
okay to pray they lose so you can go
home
i will never confirm nor deny that i
have ever done that
but i will tell you that we were sitting
out there at a tournament so several
years ago
sun was blazing
we were so excited for the lunch break
just because that meant we would be able
to go to a restaurant where there would
be air condition and ice water that
actually had ice in it
we got refreshed we came back
we drove our suv up into the parking lot
opened up the back of the suv so that we
could pull out all the gear that we
needed to go to the next game in the
tournament we were three days into the
tournament hot sweaty they were doing
well we were trying to be excited about
it
ready for the next game i was walking
behind my son to get from where we had
parked the car over toward the dugout
where the next game was going to be
played and so i gathered up all the
stuff you know the ice chest that you
have and the um the umbrella that you
might have to go over your head and you
know the water bottles the the backpacks
the the baseballs the mitts all that
stuff and i was following behind my son
my second son jerry jr is a fairly
gregarious personality he’s outgoing
he’s excited for a challenge
so i could see that in his step as i
followed behind him i could see a skip
in his step his chin was up his
shoulders were back he was excited about
the next game and i got to tell you he’s
pretty good in baseball he has a natural
knack for it i remember at 10 years old
was the first time he got a good hit and
sent it sailing over the fence line at
10 years old and i think it’s partly
because of his size just a lot of power
behind the swing a great as a first
baseman so we were really excited about
his success in baseball and and i
watched him as he kind of hopped and
skipped over to the next game just
excited about the next challenge in the
tournament
but because i was following behind him i
had my eyes glued on him and i could see
when something changed
i could see that as we took the short
walk from where we’d parked the car over
to the dugout i could see that his
shoulder started to hunch over and his
head hung down
i could see that that that skip that had
been in his step had changed he was kind
of walking like he was nervous he was
wringing his hands a little bit i saw
that he was looking around his eyes
darting and looking a little bit sketchy
i was trying to figure out what happened
to my boy it was a short walk from where
we parked the car over to the dugout and
all of a sudden his countenance had
completely changed so i started looking
around trying to figure out what was
going on why did he look so insecure and
fearful all of a sudden
i realized that as we were going toward
the dugout we were walking past
some kids from another team they were
all laying
on the grass underneath the shade of an
oak tree getting ready for the next game
as i passed them i could see this was
the team we were about to play next
kept walking and i kept getting a look
at these boys
and when i looked at them i realized
what my son’s problem was
we had faced this team before
we had faced them earlier in the season
and when this team had played my son’s
team earlier in the season they had
annihilated us
it had been a complete embarrassment a
complete upset this team right here
y’all they were serious baseball players
but we had to walk right by them to get
to the dugout
as we walked past there were two players
they were talking to each other one was
whispering to the other i think he
thought he was whispering but we could
hear him
he leaned over to the other one and he
said
there goes that big kid from the red sox
team
is he the one that hit the ball and it
went over the fence
yeah he was the one at first base the
one that caught any of the outs that we
got in the game that was him
so
that’s jerry
shire
when my boy heard his name
crossed the lips of the opposing team
members
those shoulders that had been hanging
down all of a sudden i watched him pop
back again
i watched his chin go up i watched him
get a little swag back in his step as he
headed over toward the dugout
in fact we had to bring him down a few
notches before the game started
it’s amazing really how your countenance
changes
when you really overhear and understand
what the enemy thinks about you when he
sees you coming
it doesn’t mean that the challenge goes
away it means that in the face of it
you’re different your stance is
different because you recognize that
when the enemy sees a daughter or a son
of god coming his way he’s shaking in
his boots not because of you but because
of the holy spirit of god that lives on
the inside of me
i came to tell somebody today that even
if you don’t believe what it is that the
word of god declares to be true about
you you need to know that the enemy does
he knows that every single thing that
god’s word declares to be true about you
every word that has been declared over
you in these last few days of this
conference even if you’re not convinced
about it the enemy is
he knows that you have been forgiven he
knows that there is therefore now no
condemnation for those of us who are in
christ jesus he knows that you have been
given the victory he knows that you have
been made competent by the spirit of god
he knows that there is therefore now no
condemnation for you or for me no shame
no guilt he knows that you have not been
given a spirit of fear but a power and
love and of a sound mind and y’all he
knows that in the end we win
and i’m saying what ashamed it would be
for the enemy to believe more about your
potential than you do
what ashamed it would be for us to go
out of here with all of this inspiration
that we have been given this investment
of god’s word that he has gathered us
together over the course of these days
to worship in spirit and in truth and to
hear his word declared true over our
lives what a tragedy it would be for us
to walk out of here and still live like
we were before we came through these
doors
so what the enemy will do is scatter
challenge in front of your life because
listen you’re going back home to
challenge y’all do know we going back
home in a little while right
and don’t we wish we could wake up to
this every single day
don’t we wish that we could have god’s
word spoken over our lives with this
much authority and power every single
day and be in the presence of leaders
who can lead us into the presence of god
and worship every single day like this
but the reality is
we’re going back home
the challenges of your university campus
the challenges of your home your
relationships your friendships on your
job those challenges will be sprawled
out in front of you when you get home
and let me tell you something what the
enemy hopes is that the sight of them
will cause you to shrink back in so much
fear and insecurity that you’ll never
step up to the plate of being who god
has called you to be
listen if you place faith in jesus
christ i hope you know that the enemy
understands he cannot destroy you
he knows his chances are over of
destroying you so he is going to spend
the rest of his time and the rest of his
energy just trying to discourage you
trying to distract you so that you’ll
shrink back in fear and insecurity and
not step up to the plate
and be who god has called you to be
it is at least in part to this end
that the apostle paul gives us a passage
of scripture that has become a lifeline
for me
in fact i was talking with
christine yesterday chris and i have
known each other for a very long time
very close friends and she was asking me
what i was going to speak on and i had
several thoughts
of directions that i was
leaning toward
but in the end we as we were talking the
question came up if there was only one
thing you could say to them
if there’s only one message that you
ever have the opportunity
to tell these students these young
people that will be gathered together on
this occasion what would that message be
and there was one thing that immediately
popped into my heart and my mind for you
at the end of this year’s passions
passion conference
it’s the words of the apostle paul
he writes them in the book of ephesians
listen
let me just tell you quickly before i
read this passage you got if you if
you’ve not read the book of ephesians
you’re gonna have to read the book of
ephesians
y’all listen
it’s it’s like for real
the apostle paul y’all know he was a bad
boy he gave us most of what would become
the new testament
letters written to first century
believers that now disciple us and help
us to mature as believers and as the
body of christ
and scholars say that of all of paul’s
writing really the cream of the crop the
cherry on top of the cake is ephesians
because in the book of ephesians y’all
he just spends the first half of the
book just rehearsing who you are as a
daughter or a son he wants to make sure
you step up to the plate rise to the
occasion of who you’ve been recreated in
christ to become those of you who place
faith in jesus christ last night who
stood to your feet at the end of pastor
louie’s message and you placed faith in
jesus listen the old has gone and the
new has come
you’re a daughter you’re a son and you
have full rights and privileges that
have been granted to you the apostle
paul wants you to know what is the hope
of his calling and choosing you he
writes in the first and second and third
chapter about the treasure that you have
he wants you to know about the mercy
that has been lavished upon you the
grace that has been given to you he
wants you to know that if you’ve been
rejected by everybody else you’ve been
hand-picked chosen and adopted by the
one true god he wants you to know that
if you’ve dug a pit of sin for yourself
that is so deep you can’t find your way
out of it that the mercy of god is so
great and so grand that it can reach
down into any pit and snatch you up out
of it once and for all in fact paul gets
so worked up that by the time he gets to
the middle of the first chapter he
bursts out in a prayer and he says i’m
praying that the eyes of your heart
would be open
so that you would just know what is the
hope of his calling and choosing you
and after going over and over and on and
on about the lavishness the richness the
grace the mercy the goodness the
adoption that has been poured out over
us the forgiveness that has been granted
to us he’s trying to figure out how do i
close this letter to make sure they step
up to the plate
how do i put an exclamation point on
passion 2018 to make sure that what god
has given them they don’t hand over to
the enemy as soon as they walk out the
door
and the apostle paul writes these words
to us
in ephesians chapter 6
beginning in verse 10.
he says
finally
you be strong in the lord
and in the strength of his might
he says put on the full armor of god
so that you may be able to stand firm
against the scheme somebody say schemes
against the schemes of the devil he says
we wrestle not we struggle not against
flesh and blood but against the rulers
against the powers against the world
forces of this darkness against the
spiritual forces of wickedness that are
in the heavenly places he says so
therefore you might as well just go
ahead and put down all the weapons of
this world that aren’t working for you
anyway and take up some weapons that
actually have some power he says take up
the full armor of god so that you may be
able to resist in the evil day and
having done everything to stand firm he
says you ought to just stand firm
therefore
in these few verses of scripture the
apostle paul begins to introduce to us a
concept
that has not been at least in the
context of thus far in church
development at that time had not been as
overtly described as it is right now
in paul’s letter
he brings up the topic
of spiritual warfare
he says you have an enemy
he says i want to make sure that it’s
loud and clear there are other places in
the old testament and throughout
throughout the new york where we can
infer that we have a spiritual unseen
battle going on but this is the first
time that an author comes right out and
says you have an enemy
and he is scheming against you
that when you leave this place in just a
little while when i leave this place in
just a little while you need to know
that there is an enemy he is against you
he is not for you
he plans to do anything and everything
in his power to stir up challenge in
your life enough to cause you to shrink
back and not rise up and stand firm in
the victory that you have been given in
christ jesus that’s why the apostle paul
says stand
firm
because you have an enemy
an enemy that wants you to think that
just because he is invisible he is also
fictional
he wants to be chalked up to nothing
more than a caricature
a cartoon picture a myth a a character
for a kid’s nursery rhyme he doesn’t
want you to recognize the influence that
he has over your life possibly to to
cause you to never walk into the full
expression of god’s grace and goodness
in your life he is sinister he is a
master illusionist and he is a deceiver
and he hopes to cleverly disguise
himself behind life’s most pressing
problems to where you will forget he is
even there
he wants you to point fingers at him or
at her at your boss at your parent at
that particular professor or your r.a in
your dorm he wants you to think it’s
that advisor or it’s that financial
problem anything flesh and blood because
he knows as long as we’re looking at the
flesh and blood we will direct all the
wrong weapons at the wrong culprit
we’ll think our money will work we’ll
think our rationale and logic will
actually work we think that the diploma
we’re about to to achieve and receive
we’ll think the diploma will be work
worth it we’ll think that the
connections will work anything natural
cannot take care of the supernatural
when your problem is unseen and
spiritual you need weapons that work in
that realm
so the apostle paul says you got to know
first of all that your enemy is not the
person you were sitting next to today
that your enemy is not your parent at
home your enemy is not that professor
that is difficult to work with your real
enemy is not your boss on your part-time
job your real enemy is unseen he is
hoping y’all that we will forget he’s
there
he is the master deceiver
so there’s a little church around the
corner from
my house
in dallas i’ve been taking my kids there
since they were little
to harvest festival that’s basically
this church’s answer to halloween
so we will go there for harvest festival
and this church has a good old-fashioned
trunk or treat
does anybody know what i mean when i say
trunk or treat
okay
all right so trunk or treat for those of
you who are not clear on what that is
that’s when members of the congregation
volunteer
they volunteer to bring their cars into
the parking lot on harvest festival
night so that they can open up the trunk
of their car so you go into the parking
lot all the trunks are open
and each person has basically crafted a
carnival game or some sort of fair game
out of the trunk of the car so kids line
up one trunk after the other they play
whatever the game is and then most of
the time whether they win or lose the
person that owns that car gives them a
whole bunch of candy and sends them home
we’re always so grateful
so we stand in line
one car after the other waiting on bags
of candy and we play one game after the
other a few years ago
the biggest line the longest line at the
carnival wasn’t behind the a car it was
behind the bed of a truck it was really
clever
a huge truck had been
parked in the parking lot
and they’d put a step ladder right at
the bed of the truck so that a kid could
walk into the bed of the truck they had
attached a top which was about the same
size as the bed of the truck they had
attached it to the side of the truck cut
six holes into it put some fabric some
drapery over it and out from those holes
every few seconds a puppet would pop
through
they gave the kid a huge plastic mallet
and the job of the kid was to run up and
down the inside of the bed of the truck
as he tried to hit the puppets on top of
the head it was a homemade whack-a-mole
game is what it was
and it was the longest line me and jude
at the time he was like four jude is my
youngest me and jude are standing in
line we’re waiting on our turn behind us
there’s another kid he’s with us his mom
he’s probably four or five as well and
y’all he was hysterical
because he was annoyed at this whole
situation and he was making sure she
knew it
he was first of all annoyed because mom
i don’t understand why i got to stand in
this long line didn’t we come to the
carnival to have fun this ain’t fun
standing in line ain’t fun i have an
idea mom how about this how about i go
play all these other games while you
stand in line and hold our place and
then when it’s our turn i’ll come back
and join you in life
but he was not only annoyed about the
line the four-year-old was also annoyed
because mom i don’t even understand this
game why in the world would i waste all
my energy running up and down the inside
of that truck to hit the puppets on the
top of the head if when i hit them on
the head they’re gonna disappear but
then they’re just gonna come back as
soon as i hit them on the head what’s
the point of this game
so everybody in the line is laughing
hysterically because this four-year-old
this five-year-old is talking so much
about all of his frustrations
finally he gets so frustrated
that he works himself into a frenzy to
where all i saw out of my peripheral
vision was a four-year-old flash running
past me as he ran forward and he grabbed
the drapery off of the table top and
pulled it clean off
underneath there were three adults with
puppets on each hand
that day we all got a good laugh but we
also got a good lesson
there is always something you can’t see
influencing what you can
and if you spend all of your time your
energy your effort trying to hit at what
you see popping up in your life you’re
gonna be so frustrated and by the way
exhausted because as soon as you take
care of one thing another one is coming
back unless you do what the apostle paul
says pull back the curtain and let the
enemy know we got our eyes on you
and we’re gonna use some weapons that
actually work back there behind the
curtain y’all i wish i had learned this
when i was 18 19 20 21 years old that
that person that physical problem isn’t
really where you need to invest your
energy pull back the curtain use the
weapons that actually have power
the apostle paul wants you to know that
the tactics of the enemy are serious
business and so he uses a specific word
to describe them
he says
schemes
listen to me he knows your weaknesses
he knows how to dangle what carrot at
the right time in the right way to make
sure you are snagged in particular
have you ever wondered or found curious
that that particular carrot is always
dangled in front of you when you are
most tired
when you are most vulnerable when you
happen to be most hungry
most alone most weak that particular
carrot the one that wouldn’t mess with
your friend because it’s not her deal
it’s not his deal he’s not enticed by
that but the one that entices you always
shows up at the right time y’all that’s
not coincidence that’s a scheme
the enemy is trying to derail you he’s
trying to make sure that you don’t walk
in a manner worthy pleasing of the lord
that you come in here but then you don’t
go out of here the
purpose to live
for the glory of god he’s trying to trip
you up
not only for his own benefit but because
he does not want you having access to
everything that you are privy to as a
rightful heir to the king of kings and
the lord of lords
it’s a scheme
so if he’s got tactics
we need tactics
the apostle paul outlines them for us
i’m just going to read them to you
because he says in verse 13 you need the
full armor and here’s what they are
verse 14 he says make sure that your
loins are girded with truth then he says
you need a breastplate and the
breastplate is called righteousness and
then he says in verse 15 you got to have
something for your feet if you want any
hope of being able to move forward
successfully so your feet need to be
shot with the preparation of the gospel
of peace and then not only that but he
says there are some flaming missiles of
the evil one that he fully intends to
send sailing into your path you’re going
to need a shield and the shield is your
faith and then you know there are lies
there are strongholds that he’s going to
try to erect in your mind you’re going
to need something to protect your mind
he says you need a helmet and the helmet
is your salvation but not only that he
says that you are going to need a sword
really a dagger of the spirit it was
about 18 inches long or so the one the
apostle paul is referring to you need a
dagger so that when the enemy is all up
in your space you’ve got something close
at hand to make sure that he stays at
bay you need a dagger of the spirit and
the dagger is called the what
the word of god
but y’all he doesn’t stop at those six
can i just say that there is one more in
18 verse 18 traditionally it’s taught as
six i really believe there are seven
pieces of armor because in verse 18 he
says
pray
it says pray
[Applause]
not like you know a prayer or a day to
keep the devil away
not like a prayer over your meal
just because that’s what your mama did
and your grandmama did and that’s what
you’re supposed to do
not something quick and casual
fervent
prioritized prayer
y’all you can’t have victory if you
don’t pray
do you hear what i’m saying to you
prayer is the key
that unlocks the resources of heaven so
that they can be unleashed on planet
earth
prayer is the key he’s actually given
you to get all the good stuff down here
because i don’t know about you but i
don’t want to wait to get to heaven to
experience all that god has for me any
bits of heaven he plans to give me on
earth i want it right now
prayer accesses the bits of heaven he
intends to give you now
and prayer listen prayer is what pushes
the kingdom of darkness back
it’s what pushes it back that’s why
jesus said my house shall be called not
a house of good preaching
not a house of good singing
not a house of great spotlights and
production not a house of great cafes i
hope you have all of that enjoy it but
jesus said at the end of the day my
house better be called a house of prayer
because spotlights and fog machines and
great singing and great preaching that
won’t necessarily push the kingdom of
darkness back but when my people who are
called by my name when they will humble
themselves and when they’ll pray he says
then i’m gonna hear from heaven i’m
gonna heal the land the enemy will have
to bend the knee at the name of jesus in
prayer
so pray
there’s one other piece of armor i
couldn’t get by without talking to you
about it for a few moments y’all still
awake everybody again
it’s in verse 14.
he says put on a breastplate
called what
righteousness
righteousness
jerry and i live in a fairly rural part
of dallas fort worth
we like it that way close enough to the
city we can get there quick
but it’s quiet and lazy we live on a
little two-lane sleepy road somebody’s
got some horses over there there’s some
cows over there
and one of my closest friends lives
across the street that’s why we like it
because she’s got a pond in the front of
her property
so i’ll get the boys and the two fishing
poles i bought on sale at the local
walmart i have a tackle box too that i
got on sale there because and you know
we need things we need extra hooks
because the boys always lose the hooks
extra bobber thingies you know because
we need extras of those i also have
gloves in the tackle box because y’all
know i don’t mind going fishing but i
ain’t going to actually touch no fish
so we walk across the street with
whatever hot dog meat we’ve got left
from the week because you know we’re
professional fishermen so our hot dog
meat is our bait
we walk across the street we stand in
this little cove underneath some trees
and we fish just right there most of the
time just a little sun perch stuff like
that we can catch quick in an hour we
can catch like 10 or 12 fish just a
little quick easy little fishing trip
every now and then though i’m feeling
adventurous
what that means is is that we will get
into my friend’s little row boat they
bought on craigslist it’s metal it’s not
a big deal it’s just a little it’s
seaworthy it can hold us up that’s all
we need
i’ll swim we’ll uh row out into the
middle and we’ll fish from there every
now and then
but i always think twice before i do it
and here’s the reason
because in order to get in it we first
have to turn it over
they leave it upside down as they should
to drain water while nobody’s using it
so i gotta turn it over to get in it and
what i do know for sure
is that when i turn this thing over
something is either gonna hop out from
underneath it
something’s gonna waddle out from
underneath it or worst of all oh
something’s gonna slither
out from underneath that boat because
the environment under there is moist and
damp and perfect for critters
do you know what i’ve noticed every
single time we turn it over something
comes out and never once have i had to
write a golden sealed invitation and
send it into the brush nearby
to invite the critters to come and join
us at one o’clock today you’re welcome
never once have i had to invite them
because the environment created by the
upside down boat is invitation enough
righteousness
is right side up living that invites the
sunlight of god’s favor and blessing
upon your life
unrighteousness
is upside down behavior that is out of
alignment with the truth of god that
you’ve been sitting underneath for the
last few days it’s behavior that is out
of alignment with the truth of god to
where you don’t have to invite the enemy
and come and make himself at home in
your life you just keep living upside
down
and the environment created by upside
down behavior is invitation enough
listen to me you can pray against the
enemy till you’re blue in the face but
if you and i leave passion and we do not
walk in holiness we do not live in a
lifestyle that is in alignment with the
truth of god we will have wasted our
breath in prayer
paul says somebody’s got to live right
it’s flat out
straight up
holiness
it’s holiness
it’s a word that our our grandmothers
and our grandfathers back in the good
old days when you went to church and you
sat on a wooden pew
it’s before some churches became so
pre-seeker sensitive
i remember y’all i went listen i’m off
track listen i went to a church and they
said we are a pre-secret sensitive
church and so we actually want to sort
of
uh in a way they said dull down the
actual
literal name of jesus just so we can get
people in first then we will we will be
more direct later on i said oh you have
invited the wrong person
because there used to be a day in time
where it was just black and white
where there were fewer gray areas and
tolerance yes come as you are but don’t
stay as you are
holiness
brothers and sisters i implore you by
the mercies of god to walk in a manner
worthy of this calling by which you have
been called
that every bit of truth that you have
received this weekend to align your
lifestyle to it
to not determine that you will still dig
your heels into the ground and live
immorally or speak immorally or do the
things habits and lifestyles and choices
and relationships that you know are
outside of alignment with the truth of
god turn the boat right side up
so that you can invite the favor of god
on your life the apostle paul says
righteousness is your breastplate the
roman army in the first century they had
many pieces of armor as you know
but the breastplate would have been one
of the most critical the reason why was
because
it obviously protected the most vital
organ they had their heart
the heart is the lifeline for your
physical well-being all of the blood
flow the vitality the energy that you
need to function in every level of your
life comes from the vitality of your
physical heart what the physical heart
is to the physical life your spiritual
heart is to your spiritual life all of
the vitality the energy that you need to
be who god has created you to be to have
fervency in your prayer life to follow
him with passion and with fire to read
the bible and not just be ink on a page
but you hear his voice speaking to you
to have clear reception between you and
the holy spirit you need a vital
spiritual heart that’s why if i were
your enemy more than all else i’d be
after your heart
because one shot to the spiritual heart
will wipe you out
your spiritual heart is comprised of
four things your mind the way you think
your emotions the way you feel your
ambitions what you purpose to do and
your conscience
your conscience is not the voice of god
but your conscience is like this wiring
that helps this microphone amplify my
voice the the conscience is the
microphone that the holy spirit uses to
help you hear the voice of god so if i
were your enemy i’d be after your heart
because if i could get to your heart
that would mean i would have automatic
access to your mind now i could tinker
with your thinking i’d have automatic
access to your emotions i can mess with
the way you feel and make sure they’re
out of alignment with the truth of god i
can mess with your ambitions to where
what you want to do is totally out of
alignment with what god wants you to do
and more than all else i’d want to make
it sure i have a shot to your heart so
that i can short-circuit the wires
between you and the holy spirit
now you can’t even hear god speak to you
because you didn’t have a breastplate on
the apostle paul says holiness is your
breastplate
holiness blocks you from a full frontal
attack of the enemy
holiness keeps the enemy at bay to where
when he comes looking around for some
people that he can infiltrate some
upsell inside down environments that he
can fester in he can’t find that with me
or with you because we’ve chosen right
side up living
aligning ourselves with the truth of god
breast place in place securing us
against the schemes of the enemy
holiness is your breastplate
i came to tell you to live right
i came to tell you not to just have
heard all of this
to go home and live in accordance with
it be
ye
holy
not by your power not by your might but
by the spirit of god
there is no relationship you’re in that
if it is out of alignment with the truth
of god that the holy spirit himself
won’t help you to sever so that you can
walk in holiness
there is no lifestyle you are living
that is too uh that you’re too wound up
in that you can’t break free from no
matter how you feel in this moment you
can walk in holiness
there is no way you have been speaking
no addiction that you have
no habit that you have been festering in
your life that you have been harboring
in your life that the holy spirit won’t
empower you to break free from so that
you can walk underneath the banner the
favor of holiness in your life be ye
holy y’all listen
listen
back in our grandma and our grandparents
days
great-grandparents
they wanted to honor god more than they
wanted to impress people
see the problem with instagram and
twitter and social media if there’s a
problem y’all the problem is we want
this
we want to be impressive
and if i’m worried for our generation
it is that we are impressive
but we don’t have breastplates on
it is that we have the applause of
people and our selfies are perfectly lit
and we have a whole bunch of friends and
a whole bunch of instagram likes and
people are following us and the enemy is
thrilled because we have sacrificed
holiness
on the altar of impressing people
you gotta live for the applause of
heaven
you gotta decide i will not be
politically correct before i will choose
to be holy
i will not be impressive before i will
choose to be holy
i may not be the the person that
everybody wants to be around i may not
be the most impressive but what i will
be is holy because a time is coming
y’all where we are gonna see our savior
face to face
and when we see him he will not ask us
how many instagram followers we had
he will not ask us how many friends
liked our post
he will not want to see the selfies that
we took when we see him face to face
he’s going to ask us did we do business
with his son jesus christ
and then
and then we’re gonna give an account
and i don’t know about y’all
but i’m looking for
well done
[Music]
i want a well done
i want jesus to look at me and say you
did the thing girl
not because they bought the books they
bought the bible study they saw the
movie no you did the thing because you
honored me
whether with an audience of one or an
audience of 30 000 you honored me
yes
i came to tell you brothers and sisters
walk
with integrity
be
in the dark
who you are in the light
everything that your god has entrusted
to you over these last few days the
enemy does not mind he doesn’t like but
he doesn’t mind that you heard him he
didn’t mind you came here what he minds
is if you leave here and live by what
you heard
[Music]
praise your father
[Music]
if you’re here
[Music]
if you’re in this room stay standing if
you’re in this room or one of the other
arenas that were at home and you know
you are living in a way that is out of
alignment with the truth of god your
breastplate is not in place you are open
to full frontal attack by the enemy
because you haven’t girded yourself with
holy living and maybe you’re in a
situation where you’ve been trying to
live right but by your own strength and
power you just can’t seem to pull it off
and you need the holy spirit to do what
he does
to set you free to empower you to rise
up in victory to step up to the plate
and hit a home run for the kingdom of
god
[Music]
y’all remember
y’all remember in the lion king
[Music]
simba’s messing with the hyenas and he’s
like where and they’re like seriously
and he does it again
and they’re like you got to be kidding
he does it again
[Music]
and they’re like
no you’ll never take us down you’re too
weak you’re too small you’re too puny
by yourself
he tries it one more time
he lets out his best roar but it sounds
like something big and giant and it
echoes off of the mountains nearby and
the enemy enemies go running away not
because he was the roar but because his
daddy had come up behind him and mufasa
had let out a great roar
the roar of the father is behind you
walk in victory in jesus name amen
[Applause]
so glad to be with all of you listen
don’t even take your seat yet let me
just let me just go ahead and read god’s
word over you while you’re standing is
that all right i think every now and
then we ought to just stand up when
god’s word is read just to remind
ourselves who’s talking to us
listen to luke chapter 2
verse 21 through about verse 32 or so
when jesus was
about eight days uh were completed he
was circumcised his name was then called
jesus
the name given by the angel before he
was conceived and when the days for
purification according to the law of
moses were completed that’s about 40
days after jesus was born or so
so he’s 40 days old they brought him
into jerusalem to present him to the
lord every firstborn male that opens the
womb shall be called holy to the lord
and they came to offer sacrifices
according to what was said of the law of
the lord a pair of turtle doves or two
young pigeons
and behold somebody say behold
come on y’all say behold
and behold there was a man in jerusalem
this guy’s name was simeon and he was
righteous and devout and looking for the
consolation of israel and the holy
spirit was on his life
[Music]
and it had been revealed to him by the
spirit that he would not see death until
he had caught sight
of jesus
so he came into the spirit into the
temple and when the parents brought in
the child jesus to carry out the custom
of the law simeon saw him he recognized
that this little baby was jesus christ
he gathered the baby up in his arms he
blessed the child and he said lord now
you can let me depart in peace i don’t
have to see anything else i haven’t yet
seen this guy perform one miracle
lazarus hadn’t been raised from the dead
the sick have not yet been healed deaf
ears haven’t yet been opened i haven’t
seen any of that but once i’ve caught
sight of the savior
lord he says you can let me depart in
peace because my eyes have seen your
salvation which you’ve prepared in the
presence of all the people he’s a light
of revelation to the gentiles and the
glory of thy people israel thank you
for letting me see
jesus
lord open up our eyes so that we can see
you lord open up our spiritual ears so
that we can hear you god we are sitting
on the edge of our seat because we are
anxious to see how you will
introduce reintroduce yourself to us
today lord i’m so grateful that all of
us is here but we didn’t come to see
each other we came to see you
so lord come we’re your daughters and we
want to see you
in jesus name everybody agreed when they
said amen
give somebody a high five before you
take your seat
[Applause]
i’m so grateful and i’m so honored to
have an opportunity to be here with you
and to share in god’s word i believe in
the power of the word of god i i do
parent uh chris just told you three sons
they are giants i just have giants
walking around my house
my nearly 16 year old is six foot two
inches tall his 14 year old brother is
the exact same height they both wear
size 14 men’s shoe
my youngest son his name is jude so i’ve
got jackson jerry jr and jude and we
named our third son jude on purpose
because y’all that’s as close as i could
get to revelation because it is finished
that is it it’s the end of the line
and they’re giant somebody come help me
feed these people that’s all i do is try
to feed the boys and i remember this
particular weekend because i was in
memphis tennessee there were very little
at the time and i remember being very
very tired on this particular trip i
could not wait to get to the location in
memphis tennessee so i could get to the
hotel i’d had an early flight and was
very excited to be at the hotel early so
that i could immediately go and get in
the bed and go to sleep early that night
i was so happy to have that opportunity
and so i arrived in memphis tennessee
was picked up at the
the airport driven by a sweet woman who
had come from the church where i was
going to be at their conference she’d
come and pick me up
took me to the hotel and it was about 7
30 in the evening i was so happy she
said would you like to go out to dinner
first i was like oh no i get to go into
this hotel room all by myself and have
the bed all to myself i could not wait
so i laid down watched a little
something on television i think in about
8 30 i mean i was out
i needed all those hours of rest
except that
around 3 a.m or so
i was jarred awake jolted awake by a
train
that started to go by right outside the
back of the hotel there were train
tracks that were just a few feet behind
the hotel the conductor was sitting on
the horn the entire time that all of the
cars of the train went by i was jolted
awake and i went immediately to the
window and looked outside and i saw how
close that that train actually was and
then you know you have to kind of sit
there and wait for the whole thing to
pass and this wasn’t a small train this
was one that goes on
and on and on
finally it passed and i tried to get
back to sleep but really couldn’t nestle
down into a good sleep i knew i had to
be up really early in the morning so i
couldn’t sleep real well but did my best
got up in the morning the sweet woman
from the church came picked me up i got
in the car didn’t say anything about the
train had a great long day at the at the
church at the conference and then could
not wait to get back to the hotel so
that i could try to get a good night’s
sleep this was gonna be the night that i
got all my good hours of sleep in before
having to go home the next day and so i
laid down in the bed about 8 30 9
o’clock in the evening fell into a very
deep sleep until 3 a.m in the morning
when a train went roaring by the
conductor sitting on the horn the entire
time that the train went by this time i
was jolted awake went and looked at the
train outside the window and i thought i
can’t wait for the sweet woman from the
church to come pick me up
so that i can tell her about this train
that is passing by right outside the
door or outside the back of this hotel
so when she came i sat down in the car i
said thank you so much for picking me up
i gotta ask you
about this train
i described to her how at three o’clock
in the morning for the last two nights
this train had gone roaring by in the
back of the hotel as i
explained it to her i felt bad for her
because it was like it was occurring to
her dawning on her like she was reminded
about this train that comes through
their community her eyes were as wide as
saucers and she said priscilla
i am so sorry i i totally
forgot about that train and she said the
reason why is because those of us who
live in this community
have gotten so used to the sound of the
train that we don’t even recognize it
anymore that train comes by two or three
times a week every week and we paid
little attention to it because we’ve
lived here so long that we’ve gotten so
used to the sound of the train that when
it comes
we don’t recognize it we’ve been
desensitized
to the train in this community it occurs
to me that those of us who live
particularly in this part of the world
where we have been overwhelmingly
blessed by the presence and the power of
god among us we’re here in this country
you and i can go on a saturday to a
christian’s women event like this one or
we can go to a christian bookstore when
we can pick up any bible in any
translation in any language or we can
turn on christian radio and listen to
gospel if you like that or contemporary
christian music if you like that we have
options available to us could it be that
we have lived in this neighborhood of
blessing for so long
that when the train of god’s glory wants
to fall in an unusual way when he wants
to show up in power and in glory that we
have become so used to it that we don’t
even recognize his blessing anymore
that we’ve become so
desensitized to god’s presence among us
that it doesn’t cause us as it always
should for us to fall to our knees in
adoration our arms outstretched and
worshipped that god would visit us in
this unique beautiful way lord help us
to never be desensitized to the train of
your glory
and in the old testament or in the new
testament rather in the book of luke
luke’s gospel i love so much because
luke writes about people who encounter
the train of god’s glory in the person
of jesus christ
he gives a story after story encounter
after encounter of jesus meeting with
people and transforming their life he
included a handful of these stories so
that you and i would be not only
reminded of their encounter with jesus
but recognize that they are not
exceptions to the rule they are examples
for us of the encounters that we should
also expect to have with jesus and
listen this should be your goal
not just hearing about him but
experiencing him
that should be your goal like your
appetite should be wet your heart should
hunger for more than just a knowledge of
who jesus is
you ought to come to the place i ought
to come to the place in my relationship
with the lord we’re more than anything
else we want to see him with our own
eyes we want to hear his voice with our
own ears that the same god who divided
the red sea in the old testament the
same god who raises lazarus from the
dead in the new testament the same god
that did those things we don’t want to
just celebrate it in the lives of other
people we want to stand in line to have
an encounter with god like that
ourselves
luke writes about encounters because he
wants to wet our appetite to have an
encounter with jesus christ because
listen y’all we have wasted our time if
all we’ve done is come here on this
satur saturday to applaud what jesus did
yesterday i’m so glad about what my god
has done yesterday but i want to see him
today anybody interested
i want to see him in my own marriage and
in my own finances and raising my kids
and on my job and in my ministry i want
to see and encounter the power of the
almighty living god
that’s what today is about
it’s to make you hungry again
it’s to whet your appetite again
it’s to not let when the day ends
something to end in your life but really
to launch you forward to a brand new
beginning and an adventure with jesus
christ so luke writes about encounters
and he writes during a time when the
nation of israel is experiencing
national depravity and decay they have
been oppressed by oppressors who have
come in and stolen from them much of
what they valued they are living in a in
a place of oppression and a praise of
destruction and
luke writes to them during this time
when their nation is in trouble
and i don’t know if if you’ve noticed or
not but our nation is in trouble
we are living during a time of moral and
social decay and decline like never
before and listen the more god is
marginalized the more he’s segmented to
the periphery of society the more he is
completely ignored or disregarded the
more we will continue to see an influx
of chaos and an influx of destruction in
our nation
but luke doesn’t just write to people
who have national trouble luke is
writing to people that have individual
personal struggles they’ve been waiting
on a hero to show up they’ve been
waiting for the kingdom of god to be at
hand they’ve been waiting for the
prophecies of all to come to floridian
that there would be a messiah a savior
who would come and rescue them from all
that they’ve been experiencing
nationally but also the things that they
have been experiencing personally
so i know our nation is in trouble but i
didn’t really come to talk to you today
about what’s happening in the white
house i want to talk to you about what’s
happening in your house
underneath the roof of your home
the trouble that might be happening in
your marriage the thing that causes the
tears to fall down from your eyes in
regards to your kids or your finances or
your health or on your job or in your
ministry you like the children of israel
like me
been waiting on a hero
somebody who can come in and speak life
to the dead places and refresh the dry
places of our life luke is writing for
people who need an encounter with a god
like that
and i just want to tell any of you that
might be in a struggle personally
underneath the roof of your own house
and the landscape of your own house and
you’re in a struggle you’re in a time
like luke writes to where man things are
just plain old flat out difficult i just
want to
suggest to you the possibility
that sometimes
sometimes your difficulties are less
about the enemy being against you
and more about god wanting to show you
what it looks like when he’s for you
sometimes the stuff that you were facing
the stuff that i’m facing that are
difficult it’s less about the enemy
being against you and sometimes it’s
just about god allowing a stage to be
set in your life to where when he shows
up you will never ever doubt again that
you’ve had an encounter with jesus
so the children of israel need an
encounter with a messiah
they need an encounter with jesus christ
and finally jesus arrives on the scene
after 400 years of silence between the
old testament and the new testament
jesus arrives on the scene after
centuries of waiting after prophecy
desiring to be fulfilled jesus shows up
on the scene their hope has finally been
fulfilled but here’s the tragedy when he
comes he does not come as they supposed
he would he is not on a throne he is not
riding a white horse he is not coming in
power and vengeance and authority that
they had mirrored in their oppressors
that they had pictured that their
messiah would come in no he is born as a
baby
all of that deity and authority and
miraculous working power that they
longed for was packaged in the skin of
humanity and a small human at that this
is not what they wanted it’s not what
they recognized it wasn’t the
expectation they had built up in their
heads so when he came they did not
recognize him
when he showed up because he was not in
the package that they had pictured in
their minds
he didn’t come in the package they had
prayed for
he had come in a different way because
he did not meet their
expectations when he showed up they did
not recognize him
in the passage that we read jesus is
being brought into the temple he is
being carried uh by his mother mary
joseph is along for the ride as well
they have come with jesus about 40 days
old into the temple they are in a
religious gathering where people have
come
to perform their religious duties
and all the people who are gathered that
day are in the presence of the one they
prayed for and do not know him when he
comes
would you please notice that they’re not
just anywhere
they are in the temple
and still don’t recognize the presence
of god
i want to suggest to you that it is
possible to be at propel and not see
jesus
i want to tell you that it is possible
for you to be in your church every
single sunday which i pray you are but
you can be in your church and not have
an encounter with jesus
i want to tell you that i’m so glad many
of you are in bible study stay in bible
study but you can read a verse a day to
keep the devil away until you are blue
in the face
but if you read the scriptures with a
hardened heart with your eyes not open
you can be filling your days with the
duty of religious activity and never
catch sight of the lover of your soul
never have an encounter an experience
with jesus all these people
were in the presence of jesus christ and
did not know him when he came
because oftentimes many times
when the lord comes to minister to you
to speak into your life’s circumstances
he will come in a way
that is not the way you expected
why because his ways are not our ways
his thoughts are not our thoughts as
high as the heavens are above the earth
that’s how high his ways and his
thoughts are above our own and
what i attempt to do what you often
attempt to do i’m sure is to dumb him
down so that his ways match our ways his
thoughts match our thoughts we want him
to answer our prayers the way we’ve
prayed them
we want the solutions that work out in
our minds to be the solutions that will
be best given the scenario that we see
given the prayer requests that we’ve
prayed but y’all sometimes we pray for
growth
and he answers with rain
sometimes we pray for oak trees and he
answers with an acorn
and when the answer comes for your
marriage when the answer comes for your
parenting when the solution that god
listened today god is going to give some
of you solutions and divine strategies
for things that are happening in your
life and on your job and in your
finances the struggles that you’re
facing and i’m saying when he answers if
the answer does not come in the package
that you have expected will you miss it
because you want your way not his way
and so jesus he comes and he’s in a pool
of religious people and they do not
recognize the presence of god near them
now i want to open up a little
parenthesis here before we jump to a
specific person that i want to draw your
attention to he’s the only person in the
text who actually sees jesus
but i want to open up a little
parenthesis because you may have
recognized that luke went into a whole
lot of detail to sell us something about
the texas one thing i love about luke is
that he gives us details i like all the
juice and all the details out of the
text so that i can get a full picture
painted of what’s happening in the story
and luke wants us to know that that mary
and joseph are coming for the ceremonial
dedication of their firstborn son that’s
what everybody did they would come to
jerusalem particularly during this time
when they had a newborn son to present
their newborn son to the lord get the
picture of this the lord in this case is
being presented to the lord
and they come in and
luke writes and tells us exactly what
they have with them other than the baby
jesus
says that mary had two turtle dubs or
two pigeons for her sacrifice
now that wouldn’t really be of interest
except that we know from leviticus from
the sacrificial system that had been set
up divinely mandated by god in leviticus
that when someone came to make their
sacrifices they did need two animals to
be sacrificed one was a pigeon or a
turtle dove the other was supposed to be
a lamb that they were supposed to bring
a lamb with them but we find in luke’s
gospel that he’s made sure we know mary
and joseph do not have their own lamb
luke chapter 12 tells us or leviticus
chapter 12 tells us that there was a
caveat for why someone would not bring a
lamb to be sacrificed there’s one little
verse luke chapter 12 verse 8 or so that
says if someone could not afford a lamb
if their financial resources were so
that they could not buy for themself a
lamb to bring into the temple to be
sacrificed there would be an exception
made for them they could bring two
turtle doves instead of one turtle dove
and a lamb they could just bring two
turtle doves but that was a symbol of
the fact that they were insufficient in
some way they did not have the finance
finances
to buy their own lamb which means
when mary and joseph came on that
particular day with their two turtle
doves in tow people would have
automatically looked at them and
recognized them as a couple who had
insufficient funds as a couple who was
inadequate in some way as a couple who
had lack and who had knees i wonder how
many people turned their noses up at the
couple who could not afford their own
lamb i wonder how many people ignored
the poor couple who didn’t fit in with
everybody else who had been able to
purchase their own lamb i wonder how
many people did not get an opportunity
to have an encounter with the baby jesus
because they ignored the people who had
him carried in their arms
i want to speak to who anybody who’s in
this room and you’ve ever felt excluded
or ignored from the click of people who
have the money to buy their own lamb
they drive the car and they live in the
house and they’re able to to communicate
or to experience life in a certain way
that that man you just can’t afford
maybe you’ve got lack financially or
you’ve got lack emotionally you have
lack relationally you have poured
everything out and you find it that
you’ve got insufficient funds in some
way in your life and you can’t afford
what it looks like everybody else can
afford and you’ve been ignored or
ostracized people have turned their
noses up at you can i just tell you that
sometimes
you don’t need to have your own lamb
when you can carry the lamb of god that
takes away the sins of the world
in fact
the lamb is most often best experienced
in the lives of those who have
insufficient funds
in fact i think it is our affluence that
keeps us from actually having an
encounter with the living god we’ve
become so used to being able to bless
ourselves
that we don’t have a real authentic
relationship with the blesser
we are so affluent we have prosperity
particularly in this part of the world
where listen if you’re poor in this
country you’re rich in other countries
and here where we’ve been able to
sustain ourselves where we know where
our next meal is coming from where we
choose from a closet full of clothes as
to what clothes we’re gonna wear to a
particular event where we might have
financial struggles everything is not
perfect but we still have our daily
needs met it is sometimes in our
affluence
because our arms are so full of the
lambs we have bought for ourself we
actually don’t even have room we don’t
have margin to have an intimate ongoing
relationship with the lamb of god that
takes away the sins of the world lord
forgive us when we’ve turned our noses
up at people
who don’t have all of the external
markings of affluence in doing that we
have missed out on the blessing of
having a relationship with the people
who often have the most intimate
relationships with jesus christ
because sometimes y’all those people are
not in the in the spotlight they’re the
ones behind the scenes sometimes those
are the people that are not in mega
church churches they’re in store front
churches
sometimes there are the people that are
not the ones on the platform with the
microphone in their hands they’re the
people that volunteer their time to
clean up in a sanctuary like this to
sweep up after us they’re the people who
volunteer their time to be in the sunday
school teaching our second graders and
third graders so that you and i can
enjoy an opportunity like that lord
forgive us when we ignore those people
and clamor after the people whose gifts
happen to put them in the spotlight but
we ignore those people who are who are
uh
in intercessory prayer
who are on their knees in the secret
quiet places the lamb of god tucked
within their arms having an intimate
encounter with him but we ignore them
because they don’t look like us or dress
like us or drive what we drive or live
where we live
so if you’ve ever been that person
the text speaks to you today that it was
mary and joseph who did not have what
everybody had
but they had
what everybody else didn’t have
and so they come into the building
nobody recognizes that jesus has arrived
except one person
luke writes at the top of the passage
he writes and behold somebody say behold
come on y’all say behold
any time an author in the text writes
that word it isn’t a throwaway word it
isn’t something that you just need to
skip or skim over quickly anytime you
read behold in the text the authors
trying to tell you lean in put your chin
in your hands just in case you kind of
fell asleep during all the minutia and
the fine details that led up to this
moment this is when the author wants you
to open up your eyes and sit up straight
because there’s somebody he wants you to
meet
he says behold
there was a man named simeon
and when no one else recognized the
presence of god when god came near there
was one guy who did
and if in this room today
there are only going to be a handful of
us who actually have an encounter with
god i’m talking about where we hear his
voice when we our hearts are set aflame
by the holy spirit when you when we get
some some uh direction for the purpose
that he has for our life if they’re
gonna be a whole lot of us who have an
experience today but only a few that
actually encounter the living god that i
don’t know about you but if there’s only
going to be a few i want to be one of
them anybody
so luke says pay attention because
there’s one guy that’s going to show you
how to have your eyes open so that you
aren’t just in the religious place but
so that you encounter a holy living god
he says there’s a man named simeon he’s
righteous devout
and he’s looking for the consolation of
israel his eyes are open peel to the
horizon waiting for jesus in whatever
package he chooses to come
waiting for an encounter with the
long-awaited messiah
and then he gives us
at least the one there are many
throughout this text but the one
characteristic of his life that i
believed opened up simeon’s eyes to
catch sight of god that will open up our
eyes to catch sight of god he says at
the bottom of verse 25 he says and the
holy spirit
was upon him
luke says simeon’s eyes were opened to
catch sight of god
because
god’s spirit was on him
the holy spirit is the greatest gift you
will ever receive this side of eternity
the moment you place faith in jesus
the moment you received jesus as your
personal savior i don’t know if you knew
it or not but you received in that
moment the greatest gift you will ever
receive the holy spirit of god
and the holy spirit is not a ghost or a
wind or a fire or a dove he is often
symbolized by those things but y’all
they ain’t who he is
the holy spirit is the third person of
the trinity
not third because he is least in value
just third because he is the last to be
revealed to us in the pages of scripture
but all of the fullness all of the power
all of the authority all of the
greatness all of the grandeur of god the
father is in the person of the holy
spirit
which means when you place faith in
jesus christ and the holy spirit takes
up residence in you
that now means that all of the power all
of the glory all of the grandeur all of
the greatness of god the father now
lives on the inside of you ephesians
chapter 1 says the moment you believe
you receive the holy spirit with promise
you are not waiting on the holy spirit
you have the holy spirit right now you
did not receive the holy spirit in
installment plans
you can’t give away a person in parts
all of the holy spirit you ever gonna
get you got the moment you got saved
now we need to be filled by god’s spirit
as we yield to his conviction in our
life in obedience
as what is happening in us becomes an
outward expression as our behavior is
modified as we are sanctified somebody
say sanctified
that means as we are molded into the
image of christ jesus so that we start
to think like him and talk like him and
walk like him and behave like jesus
jesus behave we need to be filled by
god’s spirit but when you got saved
listen to me you received the holy
spirit of god god’s spirit is in you the
benefit of this is
all of the fruit of god’s spirit is
available to you
that means that that there is gentleness
that you don’t have in your own natural
ability for that person or that problem
that now you are able to have that is
beyond your own natural capacity because
the holy spirit what he does is help us
to live beyond ourselves when we’ve come
to the end of our patience you know with
that one co-worker that one that if she
says one more thing to you you gonna
knock her out that one
the holy spirit is the one that gives
you patience when your patience has long
since run out the holy spirit is the one
who gives you self-discipline so that
you have discipline in areas where you
know left to your own natural desires
and propensities you would not have
discipline in that area of morality or
that area of gluttony you wouldn’t have
discipline but now because the holy
spirit lives on the inside of you you
can live beyond your natural capacities
anybody excited about that
the holy spirit gives you fruit so that
you are able to have more than what you
would have if left to your own
but you don’t just get his fruit you get
his gifts
the holy spirit gives you gifts through
which you can edify the body of christ
he turns what would have maybe possibly
been just a talent into a gift that
actually causes what you do or what you
craft to actually get to the hearts of
the people that you are singing to or
speaking to or dancing for or writing to
those people now don’t just read words
on a page that you wrote now the words
are like fire shut up in their soul it
changes their heart it renews their mind
it accomplishes spiritual purposes in
their life so listen if you’re a writer
well then write do your best work but in
the end what you’re praying for is that
god’s spirit will anoint your words with
power and with fire to affect people for
the glory of god
don’t just speak
ask god for fire on your message
don’t just dance perfect your craft but
in the end what you’re looking for is
not just talent
what you want is a gift
and there’s no amount of manufacturing
that can give what only the holy spirit
can give
so when the holy spirit takes up
residence on the inside of you and on
the inside of me at the moment we are
saved we have the privilege of having
relationship with jesus christ having
relationship with god having
communication with him because of the
holy spirit that lives on the inside of
us that if when god sent his son jesus
to die on the cross if when we received
that gift we got a ticket to eternity
and that was all we got just that we
knew we were saved from death hell and
the grave and we got to experience
eternity with jesus christ listen if
that’s all we ever got out of this
salvation deal that would have been
enough for us to celebrate for the rest
of our days but when that might have
been enough for us it wasn’t enough for
him amen he said no i’m gonna send you
the holy spirit so that i don’t you
don’t have to wait to get to heaven to
experience heaven but so that you can
have a little bit of heaven right now
while you’re here on planet earth i’m
going to give you myself in the person
of the holy spirit so that you will see
what it’s like to walk with me and talk
with me and have friendship with me and
an ongoing relationship with me that is
what it means to have the holy spirit
but luke says
that simeon did not just have the spirit
in him
it says that the spirit was
upon him
this tells us
that there is a difference
between the spirit being in you
and the spirit being on you
i want to live a life
that invites the presence of god’s
spirit
on me
i know he’s in me but i want the kind of
life that is a magnet that calls down
the grace the favor the anointing the
presence of god upon my life i want to
live in such yielded surrender to him
that not just is he in me that’s a gift
that all of us get who place faith in
jesus christ but i don’t just want him
in me i want him on my life
i want the evidence of him on my life i
want it so that when i do something or
say something or participate in
something or pray over something i want
it so that when i walk away people don’t
just say priscilla was here i want them
to say no god’s presence was here that
only happens when the spirit of god is
on you
and so if you want to mother your kids
in such a way that you leave the imprint
of god on those kids the spirit can’t
just be in you he got to be on you
if you want to be the wife that god has
called you to be single woman if you
want to be the kind of single woman that
god has called you to be if you want to
be the kind of employer or employee that
god has called you to be if you want to
walk with purpose in the way that god
has called you to then thank the lord
that god’s spirit is on you
but i’m asking that god will allow it
there to be 2 000 women who leave this
place today at the end of the day and
god’s spirit isn’t just in us but god’s
spirit is on us
where we are marked by the presence of
god where when people encounter us
there’s something unusual something
distinct something that they cannot
touch or taste or communicate with their
five physical senses there’s an
intangible that is on their life where
when the employer is looking to give the
promotion it’s not that your resume says
you are the most qualified out of all
the candidates but there’s something
about you that they just
can’t put a finger on that’s called the
spirit of god being on you
it’s called
favor
favor is what opens up doors no man can
shut
favor is what puts you in places you
know you don’t have no business being in
favor is what sets you in positions that
you know you aren’t qualified for
say favor is what makes it so that you
are exactly where you’re supposed to be
to accomplish exactly what it is that
god has set for you to come it’s it’s
what qualifies you when you don’t have
the degree and you don’t have the
diploma you don’t have the connections
you’re just where god has opened up a
door for you to be and even though
people might talk badly about you or try
to push you out of that place you cannot
be moved not because you manufactured
your way there but because god’s spirit
has placed you there god’s spirit on
your life
is what makes it so that you don’t have
to market yourself because you’ve
already been marked by the presence of
almighty god
oh i want god’s spirit on me and can i
tell you this are you listening
there is one thing that attracts the
presence of god to rest on our lives
and it
is holiness
plain old
flat out
old school
holiness
i implore you sisters by the mercies of
god
to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling by which you have been called
that if you come if i come into this
room and we celebrate till we are blue
in the face and we wave our hands and we
read the scriptures and we worship but
we walk out of here and we live in a way
that is incongruent
with everything that we’ve heard here
today
if we do not choose to walk in a way
that honors god we will have wasted the
time that we have spent here
and if there is something that breaks my
heart for my own generation and the
generation coming up after me
is that social media has made it so that
we are more interested in impressing
people
than walking holy before our god
we are more interested in being
perfectly lit
than we are in making sure that we’re
laying up treasures for ourselves in
heaven
lord help us
when because of our hubris because of
our arrogance because of our pride we
are more interested
in receiving the applause of people than
we are of making sure that we will
receive the applause of heaven
but a day is coming y’all sooner than we
think we’re going to look our savior in
his face where we’re going to see him
face to face and when we see him he will
not ask me how many instagram followers
i had
he will not wonder how many people liked
my message on twitter what he’ll ask me
is number one did i have a relationship
with his son jesus
and then i will give
an account
you will give an account
and i don’t know about y’all but when i
give an account i’m looking for
a well done
not because i necessarily please people
but because he is pleased with my life
and the one thing that invites the favor
of god on our life like simeon that will
open our eyes to see him more clearly so
that we don’t miss him when he comes
into our circumstances trying to speak
to us to answer us to make himself a
parent in our lives the one thing that
opens up our eyes is god’s spirit on us
and if you want if i want god’s spirit
on our lives then we got to decide to
live
holy
i implore you by the mercies of god to
lay aside every sin
every hindrance anything that is keeping
you entangled so that you cannot run
with endurance the race that is set
before you
any relationship separate at the past so
that you can walk holy sister
any addiction any habit any lifestyle
choice that is keeping you from being
free and walking in victory in jesus
name let it go by the power of the holy
spirit so that he can rest on your life
going to church is good but it’s not
enough
do in your bible study oh it’s great but
it’s not enough if you want god’s
presence on you marking you making you
distinct and different from the people
around you then you’ve got to walk in a
manner worthy of the lord
be
ye
holy
it’s not perfection
it is a call to yield to the power of
the holy spirit in you so that you do
not give way to all the desires of your
flesh
what it means is that you have not
chosen as a lifestyle
an attitude or an action that you
already know is displeasing to god
you know up front that you’ve already
got on your calendar after this is over
a place you’re going or a person you’re
seeing that you know you don’t have busy
any business being in relationship with
but you’ve already scheduled sin into
your calendar
i’m saying walk away from everything
that is keeping you from having the
biggest most amazing blessing you can
have on your life and that is god’s
presence
marking you
all up on you setting you apart girl for
his purposes and with his power evident
through your life if you are in this
room and you are in chains in some area
of your life where you’ve tried the
12-step program you’ve tried to walk
away from that illegitimate relationship
you’ve tried to not live this lifestyle
because you know that it is out of
alignment with the truth of god but
everything you’ve tried in your own
power has not set you free so that you
can walk in holiness and have god’s
presence resting on your life i believe
that before this day is over those
chains can fall off of your life
that you can decide that i’m gonna live
holy so that i can have god’s favor like
simeon so that my eyes can be opened
because i want to see my god i want to
hear his voice i want to have an
experience and an encounter with him if
you are in this room
and you know you’re not walking in
holiness
you know there is an area of your life
whether in attitude
or an action
i mean god’s asked you to forgive that
person and you have dug your heels in
the ground you have refused to forgive
or in your actions where you were
literally doing something participating
in something engaging in something and
you’ve dug your heels into the ground
you’ve ignored the little pricks of the
holy spirit asking you to walk away from
that
or to participate in that
you’ve you’ve ignored it and you know
you are not living holy before the lord
and you want to get that strike today so
that we can all be women who honor god
in our attitudes and in our actions and
invite the favor of god on our lives
listen if you are in this room and you
know holiness is the call that god has
given to you this morning
would you please right now in this holy
space just rise to your feet if that’s
you if you need freedom in a specific
area of your life we’re going to walk
out of here a holy band of women
who want god’s favor on us
don’t be embarrassed don’t be ashamed
listen ain’t nobody got time for that
this is the moment where we say god we
give ourselves to you a living and holy
sacrifice
we present our bodies to you we present
our minds to you we present ourselves to
you lord a living and holy sacrifice do
with us what you will we surrender the
area of life that is our area of bondage
the area we’ve been holding back the
little cove we’ve kept from your
fingerprints being upon it we surrender
that to you if you want freedom in jesus
name this is your moment stand to your
feet
you don’t have to go home the same way
you came girl
you don’t have to think the same you
don’t have to act the same you don’t
have to be in bondage like you are
and have been we can change that by
god’s spirit today lord jesus i looked
up every single sister who was standing
underneath the sound of my voice and i
pray right now in jesus name that you
would give them a holy boldness and a
courage
to surrender to you every area of their
life that they’ve been holding back
sister would you picture that area where
you know you need to ask for forgiveness
i’m gonna ask you to just put your hands
out in front of you cup cup those hands
in front of you like you’re holding that
thing picture it in your hands
right now the scripture says that if you
confess your sin he’s faithful and just
to forgive you your sin and to cleanse
you of all unrighteousness picture that
in his hand in your hands ask the lord
to forgive you
ask
for for his forgiveness
and only when you are ready you lift up
those hands as if you were yielding it
finally completely to him
and you lift up those hands and
surrender
give it to him just let it go
lord every attitude every action
every little hidden place in our life
lord
every bondage lord every illegitimate
relationship every immorality father
everything that is not like you we give
it to you right now in jesus name
lord i pray that if there is a bondage a
shackle on somebody’s life that is
demonic in nature lord i pray in jesus
name and by his bloodshed on calvary
that you would cancel every demonic
assignment against these women and
against their families lord i pray that
you would by your holy spirit break the
shackles lord loosen them help us to
hear the shackles falling off right now
in jesus name and lord i pray that we
will walk in a manner worthy of the
calling by which we have been called
father i pray that you would enable us
by your spirit to no longer walk by the
flesh but to walk by the spirit so that
we will not fulfill the desires of the
flesh lord i pray for freedom in jesus
name i thank you for galatians 5 1 that
says it is for freedom that we have been
made free therefore we will stand firm
and no longer be subject again to any
yoke of slavery that is in our life we
are free in jesus name
and it is in the matchless name of jesus
christ that everybody agreed and said
amen
amen
at tbn our mission is to use every
available means to reach as many
individuals and families as possible
with the life-changing gospel of jesus
christ thank you for helping make
the gospel of grace go around the world
without you we couldn’t do it god bless
you