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00:00:00 ♪ Welcome to the Lighthouse, Lighthouse ♪
00:00:02 ♪ You're welcome here ♪
00:00:03 ♪ Let me introduce you to my father ♪
00:00:05 ♪ Welcome to the Lighthouse, Lighthouse ♪
00:00:07 ♪ We'll get it straight to you ♪
00:00:08 ♪ I believe that we owe God a praise ♪
00:00:11 - Spirit of the living God,
00:00:14 fall fresh upon us.
00:00:16 Eternal Spirit, it's once again that we come
00:00:22 soliciting your permission to preach,
00:00:26 not to entertain, but to proclaim
00:00:29 that you are the Christ.
00:00:31 Use me and guide me, order my steps in your word.
00:00:36 Hide me behind your cross.
00:00:38 Cover me in your blood
00:00:41 that they may see none of me,
00:00:44 but oh Lord, all of you, I'm yours.
00:00:47 You're mine.
00:00:48 Use me as an instrument.
00:00:51 I wanna play the tune of your choice.
00:00:56 In Jesus' name we pray.
00:00:58 Lord of the Lord, say amen.
00:01:00 - Amen.
00:01:01 (audience applauding)
00:01:04 - This is our last lesson on wisdom.
00:01:09 I want you to go with me to the book of Daniel,
00:01:12 chapter one, verse number eight.
00:01:15 Daniel chapter one, verse number eight.
00:01:19 I'm only gonna read one verse.
00:01:23 (audience laughing)
00:01:26 The Bible says in Daniel chapter one, verse eight
00:01:32 that Daniel purposed in his heart
00:01:34 that he would not defile.
00:01:39 That means that he wouldn't pollute,
00:01:43 he wouldn't desecrate himself.
00:01:45 He would not defile himself
00:01:48 with a portion of the king's meat,
00:01:51 nor with the wine which he drank.
00:01:54 Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs
00:01:59 that he might not defile himself.
00:02:02 I want you to know that basically what Daniel is doing is
00:02:06 he's starving, but he refuses to be fed by the wrong person.
00:02:12 (audience cheering)
00:02:16 (audience applauding)
00:02:19 The Bible says if you study the history of the exile
00:02:27 of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar,
00:02:31 and the Jewish people,
00:02:32 this is where the story of Shadrach, Meshach,
00:02:36 and Abednego and Daniel come to fruition.
00:02:40 I'll touch on it, but basically they're exiles.
00:02:44 Sort of, as not,
00:02:46 whenever there is a political upheaval
00:02:53 for whatever purposes, an exile is someone
00:02:56 who has to move from their country
00:02:59 in order to survive.
00:03:02 Daniel and his people have been forced out
00:03:05 of where they live.
00:03:07 He hasn't eaten, he's being treated like a slave.
00:03:10 His stomach is growling, he's thirsty.
00:03:14 Somebody offers him some food and he says,
00:03:16 "I'd rather die from starvation
00:03:19 "than to eat from an ungenuine table."
00:03:23 The sermon topic is not going to make you shout.
00:03:34 I would venture to say that some of you all
00:03:37 will probably tune me out because what I'm getting ready
00:03:39 to talk about today is not a miracle.
00:03:43 It's something you're going to have to do for yourself.
00:03:47 I know typically when I tell you what God is going to do
00:03:53 for you, you run around.
00:03:56 But when I tell you what you got to do for God,
00:04:00 you go to sleep on me, tell your neighbor,
00:04:02 "You should have slept last night."
00:04:03 This is not.
00:04:04 Nobody here has got less sleep than my wife and I.
00:04:11 I was texting our production team at 345 this morning
00:04:15 about what we were going to do today.
00:04:19 So I've been revving up for this message literally all night.
00:04:23 I slept three hours.
00:04:29 This one is on you.
00:04:34 Touch your neighbor and say, "This one is on you."
00:04:38 I want to talk to people who know
00:04:41 that you are just one decision away
00:04:48 from God healing the whole thing.
00:04:55 This is the year of wealth and wisdom.
00:05:05 The Lord told me to talk today on this simple subject,
00:05:08 Daniel's decision.
00:05:09 If you can learn how to make your decisions
00:05:15 with the criteria that Daniel used,
00:05:19 you will go from starvation to surplus.
00:05:22 God will bless you.
00:05:25 How many of you believe it?
00:05:27 Touch two people on your way down to your seat
00:05:31 and tell them you got to make better decisions.
00:05:35 (audience chattering)
00:05:38 Now y'all still, y'all got my back or y'all done?
00:05:46 Y'all finished or y'all done?
00:05:54 Which one?
00:05:55 (audience applauding)
00:05:56 Y'all going to be here?
00:05:58 Well, let's go.
00:06:03 How many of y'all have ever heard of the Daniel fast?
00:06:07 Oh, that's when you want to be fine, right?
00:06:10 That's when you got a Vegas trip coming up.
00:06:14 You going to Puerto Rico and you got to fast.
00:06:19 You know, it's a lot of people that know
00:06:22 about the Daniel fast and don't even know the Daniel story.
00:06:29 I will tell you that most of us know Daniel
00:06:34 because of the lion's den,
00:06:35 but by the time he got to the lion's den,
00:06:38 the story was all the way over.
00:06:41 You can't judge him by the fact that he laid down
00:06:46 on a lion and was in a lion's den
00:06:48 and the lions didn't bother him.
00:06:50 You got to see all of the decisions that Daniel made before
00:06:54 so that by the time he was in the den of lions,
00:06:59 he already had a decision-making policy
00:07:02 and he was able to survive in the den
00:07:07 because of his decisions.
00:07:09 605 years before Christ, the Babylonians had come in
00:07:14 and a king named Nebuchadnezzar had caused an exile
00:07:21 amongst the Jewish people and in the land of Judah
00:07:25 and carried, watch this, the Bible says
00:07:27 that he took away some of the youngest
00:07:30 and the brightest people among them.
00:07:35 Just hear me out because anytime the devil bothers you,
00:07:39 he's actually letting you know that he considers you
00:07:44 the best and the brightest.
00:07:46 (audience applauding)
00:07:49 Nothing about the devil suggests
00:07:54 that he wants anything weak.
00:07:57 So his veracity towards you is actually a compliment
00:08:01 that I believe that you're God's best
00:08:05 and so the way to get back at God is to mess with his best.
00:08:09 So don't look at attack as a revelation
00:08:14 that you're worthless.
00:08:18 The attack from the devil actually should show you
00:08:21 your worth and let you know that the only reason
00:08:25 why he wants you is because God does.
00:08:28 (audience applauding)
00:08:31 Did you hear what I just said?
00:08:34 The only reason he wants you is because God does.
00:08:38 God's got this plan and the devil's like,
00:08:43 "Nope, I'm not letting that come to fruition
00:08:45 "and since I can't be God, I'm going to frustrate his plan.
00:08:50 "And if I can't be God, I'm just going to make sure
00:08:53 "that his people are so frustrated with their destiny
00:08:55 "that they will abandon it and give it up
00:08:57 "and once they give it up,
00:08:58 "they'll start making bad decisions
00:09:00 "and when they make bad decisions,
00:09:02 "then God will be against them."
00:09:05 It's a whole trick.
00:09:07 It's a plot.
00:09:10 Daniel, 605 years before Christ became an exile
00:09:15 and it wasn't just him.
00:09:19 Remember, the book of Daniel is comprised
00:09:22 of really two main characters.
00:09:24 You've got Daniel, but Daniel had three friends.
00:09:28 Their names were Azariah, Hananiah, and Meshach.
00:09:33 You know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:09:37 Daniel's real name isn't Daniel.
00:09:42 Daniel's original name given to him
00:09:46 by his parents is Belshazzar.
00:09:50 But the first thing the enemy does
00:09:54 before he dilutes your potential
00:09:57 is he tries to change your identity.
00:10:01 See, you ever wonder why you got so many people
00:10:04 saying stuff about you that ain't true
00:10:06 and it's half true and it's got some truth in it,
00:10:08 but it ain't got all the truth in it
00:10:09 and they always want to label you
00:10:11 because when the devil's trying to stop you,
00:10:13 he starts at reputation.
00:10:15 And here's what I've never understood.
00:10:20 You have people who won't deal with people
00:10:22 because of what they've done, but we deal with you
00:10:27 out of all you've done.
00:10:29 Touch your neighbor, say, "I know for a fact
00:10:33 "you ain't no better than me.
00:10:35 "You might be dressed better than me, but you ain't nothing.
00:10:38 "Your lipstick might cost more,
00:10:39 "but you still ain't nothing but dirty rags.
00:10:42 "Your car might be better than mine,
00:10:43 "but if I could dig up under the earth of your life,
00:10:46 "I'd find skeletons in your closet
00:10:48 "just like they are in mine,
00:10:50 "and I don't care how many tongues you can speak,
00:10:52 "you still evil."
00:10:54 (audience cheering)
00:10:57 'Cause see, church people are good
00:11:01 at coming to church and acting, "Hey, saints,
00:11:06 "I'm blessed and highly favored.
00:11:07 "The Lord is good all the time."
00:11:09 Yes, the Lord is, but you are not.
00:11:10 (audience laughing)
00:11:13 If you can't say amen, say out.
00:11:17 (audience laughing)
00:11:20 He said, "I want the children,
00:11:25 "I want the young men who have no blemishes."
00:11:29 He said, "I want the ones that are skillful
00:11:32 "in wisdom and knowledge and know science
00:11:35 "and technology and math.
00:11:37 "I want them, and I want them to stand in the king's palace,"
00:11:41 watch this, "so that I can unteach them."
00:11:45 (audience chattering)
00:11:49 See, don't miss this.
00:11:52 He says, "Give me the intelligent ones,
00:11:55 "because they've already proven they can learn."
00:11:58 So you think being smart is a weapon?
00:12:03 Sometimes it's a liability.
00:12:05 He grabs him and says, "Because you have learned so much,
00:12:10 "I want you so that I can unlearn you
00:12:13 "and reteach you so that you can use
00:12:16 "that intelligence in my plan."
00:12:19 That's why the devil wants you,
00:12:22 is because he knows you're smart, he knows you're bright,
00:12:24 so he wants you to work for him the way you work for God.
00:12:27 He wants to use you in his own plan.
00:12:31 He says, "Give me the brightest,
00:12:33 "give me the most intelligent, give me the strongest,
00:12:36 "and I want them with me."
00:12:38 And the princess of the eunuchs gave David the name
00:12:41 Belshazzar and to Hananiah Shadrach and to Meshach
00:12:46 and to Azariah of Bendigo, the prince.
00:12:49 Watch this, he just hoped that by changing their identity,
00:12:54 that he could change how they thought of themselves.
00:12:58 He said, "If I can change what they call you,
00:13:02 "maybe you'll forget who you are."
00:13:04 I'm preaching and I ain't even got started.
00:13:10 If I can get you so nosy that you always have to hear
00:13:14 what everybody's saying about you,
00:13:16 if I can just get you so nosy
00:13:18 that you actually seek what they say,
00:13:22 then I can change your identity
00:13:24 because you'll be depressed by the definitions
00:13:27 of people you've never met,
00:13:29 instead of encouraged by the perspective
00:13:31 of people who actually know you.
00:13:33 You actually have to get to a place in your life
00:13:40 where you're not affected by the opinions of people
00:13:44 who benefit off of your dysfunction.
00:13:46 Are you listening to me?
00:13:53 That would be like the person sitting next to you,
00:13:54 you never met them and they looked at you and said,
00:13:56 "I heard you evil."
00:13:57 And you can look at them and say, "So do I care?"
00:14:00 No, because you don't know me.
00:14:03 And so how can you define that which you have never studied?
00:14:08 You know, the real problem is you believe it.
00:14:12 And because you believe it,
00:14:17 you often hear sounds that sounds like the voice
00:14:22 that you have in your head that's often more negative
00:14:25 than the ones in your environment.
00:14:27 And so when you hear something that sounds familiar,
00:14:31 you gravitate towards it because the truth is,
00:14:33 is you will fight anybody if they say something bad
00:14:36 about you, but you have not yet corrected yourself.
00:14:39 I dare you to correct you the next time you begin
00:14:49 to talk bad about you.
00:14:51 Can I talk to you today?
00:14:58 Don't let what they call you make you change
00:15:03 what you think about yourself.
00:15:04 (congregation cheering)
00:15:06 Somebody repeat after me, I'm a King's kid.
00:15:08 Somebody shout, I'm an heir of salvation.
00:15:12 I'm the lender and not the borrower.
00:15:15 I'm above, never beneath.
00:15:18 I'm the handiwork of God.
00:15:21 And you got to say that stuff over and over and over
00:15:25 and over until you believe it,
00:15:27 because many of you have years of trauma
00:15:32 from teachers and family members and brothers and sisters
00:15:35 and siblings where you have began to sing a negative song
00:15:39 over your life, but I've come to tell you today
00:15:41 that you've got to decide that you are who God says you are
00:15:44 and it does not matter what nephew Kegneser says about you.
00:15:48 God has chosen you for such a time as this.
00:15:52 If I'm talking to anybody in here, shout at me in this place.
00:16:01 I'm giving you early the key element to Daniel's success.
00:16:06 His success was in the fact that he purposed in his heart
00:16:11 not to defile himself.
00:16:13 If I could just get you to treat you better.
00:16:18 Preach Keon, that ain't gonna sell.
00:16:26 Had to help my own self out today.
00:16:31 If I can just get you to stop hitting yourself in the head,
00:16:34 tell me how stupid, you heard that.
00:16:37 If I can get you to stop comparing your situation
00:16:42 to somebody else's and calling yourself a failure.
00:16:44 If I can get you to understand
00:16:50 that although you made a mistake, you are not a mistake.
00:16:53 Am I talking to anybody in the balcony?
00:16:59 - Yes sir.
00:17:00 - Just because you haven't arrived yet
00:17:03 doesn't mean you're not gonna arrive at all.
00:17:05 Just 'cause you don't have a million dollars in the bank
00:17:09 doesn't mean that you're any less
00:17:11 than the person next to you.
00:17:12 Since when did the goal become to be rich to be worthy?
00:17:19 Or to be slim to be pretty?
00:17:23 To be this or to be that?
00:17:27 You better stop defining yourself
00:17:30 based on a static definition of what greatness is.
00:17:33 Greatness comes in all size, forms, packages,
00:17:36 education statuses, cities.
00:17:38 It doesn't matter how you start,
00:17:41 what matters is how you finish.
00:17:43 Can somebody say amen in this place?
00:17:45 - Amen.
00:17:46 - Y'all gonna have to walk with me today.
00:17:47 There is something that I am sure
00:17:49 that most of y'all have heard of,
00:17:50 and you raised your hand,
00:17:51 you've heard about the Daniel Fast.
00:17:53 And let me just tell you that that just meant
00:17:56 that they didn't eat certain stuff
00:17:58 because God told them to.
00:18:01 In the Old Testament, you couldn't eat meat
00:18:05 unless the blood was drained out of it.
00:18:07 They had like 796 laws, everything had a law.
00:18:13 You had to wash your hands and bag out of a room
00:18:17 and you had to say this and you had to say that
00:18:19 and you couldn't eat at this time
00:18:21 and you had to eat in this direction.
00:18:23 They just had a law for everything.
00:18:25 And here's the reason why God tells them about this fast
00:18:29 is because in the Old Testament,
00:18:31 whenever they would have an animal sacrifice,
00:18:34 they would sacrifice the meat to an idol God
00:18:37 and then they would eat it.
00:18:38 So now Nebuchadnezzar, all of the people
00:18:41 are following his etic and his transition.
00:18:43 And so now whenever they sacrifice an animal,
00:18:46 they sacrifice it and they ask a heathen God,
00:18:50 which is not Yahweh to bless it.
00:18:52 And then God says to Daniel,
00:18:53 you better not eat that meat
00:18:55 because I will never bless anything
00:19:00 that was intended for somebody else.
00:19:02 Come on y'all.
00:19:04 He says, I'm a jealous God
00:19:06 and I'll have no other God.
00:19:10 Can I tell somebody something here without you getting mad?
00:19:13 You better stop asking your heathen gods for something
00:19:16 and then asking your God to bless it.
00:19:18 All right, let me say it this way.
00:19:22 The reason why most of us suffer
00:19:24 is because when we want something, we consult ourself.
00:19:26 But when we get out of something, we want God to help us.
00:19:29 And God says, I'm a jealous God.
00:19:31 You asked you to get in it, now ask you to get out of it.
00:19:34 Anybody in here guilty of not praying
00:19:40 before you signed on the dotted line for a situation
00:19:43 and then when you found out it didn't work,
00:19:45 you said, it's not my mother, it's not my father,
00:19:47 but it's me, oh Lord.
00:19:48 Anybody ever said, God, if you get me out of it this time,
00:19:52 I can't stand no fake church.
00:19:55 I said, anybody ever, you knew it was wrong
00:19:57 when you were driving there.
00:19:58 You was praying the whole way, Lord, please, Lord,
00:20:01 just make my car turn around.
00:20:03 He's not going to make your car turn around.
00:20:05 You have to decide in your heart, I'm not going to defile.
00:20:09 I can't tell you how many times
00:20:15 people have done crazy things and then blamed God
00:20:17 and said, God, why you let me do that?
00:20:18 God like, you should see the meme on God's face
00:20:21 when you say, God, why you let me do that?
00:20:23 He like,
00:20:24 since when have I ever been able to let you do anything?
00:20:30 It's called free will.
00:20:33 I just want to see about 300 people,
00:20:39 you knew it was wrong when you start thinking about it.
00:20:44 You was praying while you was doing it.
00:20:48 (congregation laughing)
00:20:51 I'll come out there, I got gym shoes on today.
00:20:54 You was praying while you were doing it,
00:20:59 you prayed after you did it.
00:21:01 You got your sage and your,
00:21:05 break the soul tie, Jesus.
00:21:10 (congregation cheering)
00:21:14 You got to be careful
00:21:31 that when you're in transition,
00:21:39 that you eat with people who have the same diet.
00:21:41 Anybody ever been on a diet before
00:21:49 and then you get around people who ain't on one
00:21:52 and hear you up here talking about you on the Daniel Fast
00:21:55 and they up here eating greens and yams and grape
00:21:59 and you sit up here like, Lord, yield not to temptation.
00:22:02 And next thing you know, it's like,
00:22:04 well, it ain't going to hurt nothing if I just get.
00:22:06 (congregation laughing)
00:22:09 'Cause a little leaven, come here,
00:22:12 leaven the whole loaf, it takes a pinch of sin
00:22:17 to create a lifetime of dysfunction.
00:22:20 (congregation cheering)
00:22:23 Oh, don't act like we the only ones in here
00:22:28 that can't trace our dysfunction back to a single day.
00:22:35 And just 'cause you refuse to speak about it
00:22:37 don't make you no better than us.
00:22:39 'Cause what most people do is they sweep their trauma
00:22:41 under the rug and act like they never did it,
00:22:43 but it's there, baby, we can see it.
00:22:44 It's written all over your face.
00:22:47 Just remind your neighbor, you ain't no better than me,
00:22:53 just tell them you ain't.
00:23:01 God says, listen to me, I refuse to bless anything
00:23:06 that was used to honor anything else.
00:23:08 You better hear me.
00:23:13 God says, if I wasn't in it in the beginning,
00:23:18 it's going to be hard for you to get me in it on the end.
00:23:24 If that food was sacrificed to Dagon,
00:23:30 don't try to give it to me.
00:23:32 I prepare my own table.
00:23:36 God says, I don't know if you heard,
00:23:43 but I don't eat leftovers.
00:23:45 You can't prepare something for somebody else
00:23:51 and then put it in Tupperware and bring it to me.
00:23:53 He says, I don't give you leftovers,
00:24:00 I give you daily bread.
00:24:01 So why do I have to eat that which was designed
00:24:07 for someone else, but you get it fresh off the press?
00:24:10 God says, I don't, listen to me, are y'all listening?
00:24:13 I don't have an appetite for leftover religion.
00:24:17 I won't be your afterthought.
00:24:23 Is you is, or is you ain't my baby?
00:24:29 Are we going to be married or are we going to date?
00:24:32 And I'm tired of you asking me to be a husband,
00:24:35 but you get to be free.
00:24:36 Now, either we going to be in this thing together
00:24:42 or we just going to date each other.
00:24:43 And if we going to date each other,
00:24:44 don't get mad if I bless you every once in a while.
00:24:47 But if we going to be in this thing,
00:24:52 I got you like four flats on the Cadillac.
00:24:54 Anybody in here knows that if you give God
00:24:56 all of yourself, God will give you all of him.
00:25:00 I'm trying to get you to stop treating God
00:25:10 like a sugar daddy.
00:25:11 That you only nice to him when you need
00:25:14 something you can't afford.
00:25:15 Holler at your boy, I don't care if you say man, say ouch.
00:25:19 You know how it work.
00:25:20 Whenever you need something from somebody
00:25:22 who can get it out, you start being nice
00:25:24 three days ahead of time.
00:25:25 (audience laughing)
00:25:28 I got a deal with Antoine.
00:25:30 Hey Antoine, how you doing?
00:25:32 I was just checking on you.
00:25:35 Hey there, come on.
00:25:36 I was just thinking about you.
00:25:37 The Lord put you on my heart.
00:25:39 What you doing Antoine?
00:25:40 Oh nothing, I'm just sitting here doing nothing.
00:25:46 Nothing, ain't nobody coming in about three hours.
00:25:49 So just whatever.
00:25:50 (audience laughing)
00:25:53 You can't just call God when you want something.
00:26:07 I don't know about you, but I need him every hour.
00:26:11 Come on man, come on.
00:26:14 I need him in the morning.
00:26:16 I need him at night.
00:26:19 I need him when I'm up.
00:26:21 I need him when I'm down.
00:26:23 I need him when I got money in my pocket.
00:26:25 I need him when I'm starving.
00:26:27 I need him when I'm happy.
00:26:29 I need him when I'm sad.
00:26:31 I've learned to be content in whatever state I'm in.
00:26:35 Whether I'm high or whether I'm low, I need him.
00:26:37 Whether I'm in or whether I'm out, I need him.
00:26:40 Whether I got a smile on my face
00:26:41 or I've got a frown on my heart, I need him.
00:26:43 I need him in the morning, I need him at the nighttime.
00:26:46 I need him when I'm happy.
00:26:47 I need him when I'm sad.
00:26:49 I need him.
00:26:50 Anybody need God?
00:26:51 I need him.
00:26:57 I said I need him.
00:26:59 Somebody shout, I need you God.
00:27:07 God says, not only do I not want the meat
00:27:11 in your belly from the king's table,
00:27:13 you can't even drink his 1942.
00:27:18 I just had to name something that y'all know about.
00:27:20 You cannot drink his apple crown.
00:27:30 All of this stuff I heard about, by the way.
00:27:32 I don't know nothing about it.
00:27:34 Just to tell you right now,
00:27:36 I drink water from the king's table.
00:27:38 (audience laughing)
00:27:41 That ain't nothing.
00:27:51 This, my all my.
00:27:55 You know, everybody's got this whole thing.
00:28:05 You know, you can have a whole argument
00:28:06 with people in church about whether
00:28:08 it's wrong to drink or not.
00:28:09 God said that you can drink.
00:28:16 You just can't drink to get drunk.
00:28:21 Shut up.
00:28:23 She said, that part.
00:28:28 You heard me, I got you.
00:28:31 But look, I'm going to give you a scripture.
00:28:35 (audience shouting)
00:28:38 Matter of fact, I want them to bring it up.
00:28:40 Proverbs 20 in one.
00:28:42 Let's just put this drunken Christian spirit to bed.
00:28:50 Wine is a mocker.
00:28:56 Strong drink is raging.
00:29:02 Watch this.
00:29:03 And whoever is deceived about it is unwise.
00:29:08 He said, the problem is not what it is,
00:29:18 but what it does to you.
00:29:20 So if you don't believe that wine is a sin,
00:29:25 you will be sinning after a glass of it.
00:29:27 'Cause it's a rager, it's a mocker.
00:29:32 And anybody who thinks that they can partake in it
00:29:35 and nothing will happen is unwise.
00:29:38 So the real sin is not the alcohol,
00:29:41 it's the lack of wisdom that you use
00:29:43 when you have it in you.
00:29:44 Now, my question is, can anybody trace
00:29:50 an unwise decision back to your last sip?
00:30:02 Uh-uh, don't hold the back of your head.
00:30:03 Now, your neck ain't itching.
00:30:05 Tough, don't you do that.
00:30:07 That's why it's called spirits.
00:30:20 Come on now, how many of y'all,
00:30:26 when you get that oil in you,
00:30:29 (congregation cheering)
00:30:33 come on, talk to me y'all.
00:30:34 How many of y'all know,
00:30:34 you become a whole different person?
00:30:37 Thank you, son.
00:30:57 Daniel said, "I know what food from the wrong table does.
00:31:01 "I know what liquor does from the wrong table to me,
00:31:04 "so I will not defile myself even if I'm starving,
00:31:08 "'cause I'd rather be wise and hungry
00:31:10 "than fool and foolish."
00:31:12 Did you hear what I just said?
00:31:26 I'd rather be wise and starving
00:31:30 than fool and foolish.
00:31:37 So he says, "Even though I have an appetite
00:31:41 "for what you have, I don't have a need for it."
00:31:44 When is the last time you refused an offer
00:31:52 you knew wasn't good for you?
00:31:55 (congregation chattering)
00:31:58 Even, you know how sometimes you can get in it,
00:32:01 but you recognize when you a few months in it,
00:32:03 you're like, "Ugh, I need to get out of this.
00:32:08 "This ain't good for my spirit.
00:32:10 "It ain't good for my heart.
00:32:12 "It ain't good for my anointing.
00:32:13 "It ain't good for my perspective.
00:32:15 "It ain't good for my future."
00:32:17 But here's the truth, here's the truth.
00:32:20 God understands, because the good I would do
00:32:23 (congregation chattering)
00:32:25 I don't do, and that I don't do, I do what?
00:32:28 Because evil is always present.
00:32:31 I'm perplexed on every side.
00:32:33 I'm distressed, yet not in despair.
00:32:35 I got enough anointing to get out,
00:32:37 but I got too much flesh to want to get out.
00:32:39 I want to go to my future,
00:32:41 but my past has me in a chokehold.
00:32:43 I want to go where God is calling me,
00:32:45 but I'm stuck where the devil has settled me.
00:32:52 See, this summary won't work,
00:32:53 because most of y'all want to act like
00:32:54 you already have made the right decision,
00:32:56 and you are where God wants you to be.
00:32:58 But is there anybody online and anybody in this house
00:33:01 that can say, "I haven't always made Daniel's decision?
00:33:06 (congregation applauding)
00:33:09 "I saw the red light, but I ran it.
00:33:15 "I felt icky, but I went anyway."
00:33:20 (congregation laughing)
00:33:22 "My mama told me, but I told her I was grown."
00:33:26 Oh Lord Jesus.
00:33:33 I bet you ain't come out here for this, did you?
00:33:37 So before you memorize Daniel's fast,
00:33:50 list, can you remember his decision?
00:33:54 It was not the fast that made him successful.
00:34:00 It was the decision not to eat from the king's table
00:34:05 and being patient enough until the king of kings
00:34:11 will fill in the gaps that the king left.
00:34:16 (congregation applauding)
00:34:20 Watch this, all right.
00:34:23 For some of y'all who's struggling with this,
00:34:24 this is why this is important.
00:34:26 'Cause the Bible said that when Daniel said,
00:34:28 "I'm not eating it," the Hebrew boy said,
00:34:32 "Well, if you not, we're not either.
00:34:37 "What if I told you that your anointing is so powerful
00:34:41 "that every decision you make
00:34:43 "will affect three other people?"
00:34:45 (congregation applauding)
00:34:49 I want you to hear me.
00:34:50 This is not just about you.
00:34:53 There are at least three people
00:34:55 whose lives will be forever changed
00:34:57 if you just make one correct decision.
00:35:01 You don't even know how much power you have.
00:35:03 You don't know how much admiration you have.
00:35:05 You don't know that people are looking at you
00:35:07 saying, "I want to be like her one day.
00:35:08 "I want to be like him."
00:35:09 So God says, "Take that responsibility on your shoulder
00:35:12 "and make the right decision,"
00:35:13 because there is at least three people
00:35:15 whose lives will forever be changed off of your decision.
00:35:22 Isn't that amazing?
00:35:25 That you are so powerful that whatever you picked
00:35:27 will be picked by other people.
00:35:29 There are four, listen, the Holy Spirit gave me this
00:35:37 as I was studying this this morning.
00:35:40 And I didn't even know how it was gonna work,
00:35:42 but God said, he said, "Tell the people
00:35:45 "that their decisions are so consequential."
00:35:48 God says, write the Scripture down,
00:35:52 First Peter chapter two, verse nine.
00:35:53 The Bible says that you are a chosen generation,
00:35:57 a holy nation, a royal what?
00:36:01 Priesthood.
00:36:02 In one translation it says we are a peculiar people.
00:36:06 Can I preach how I feel like preaching today, y'all?
00:36:09 We are a peculiar.
00:36:10 You know what peculiar means?
00:36:12 It means strange.
00:36:14 So God told me to tell you when I was studying this
00:36:17 at one o'clock in the morning all the way
00:36:19 until my eyes could not stay up anymore.
00:36:22 He says, "Tell the people that the way they will know
00:36:25 "they're making the right decision
00:36:27 "is people will start to think they're strange."
00:36:30 When you start making decisions
00:36:36 and people start thinking that you're weird,
00:36:39 you're actually making better decisions.
00:36:42 Why?
00:36:43 Because when Daniel refused to eat the king's meat,
00:36:47 only three people decided not to eat with him.
00:36:50 The Bible says the rest of the multitude ate with him,
00:36:54 which means that great decisions
00:36:56 don't have great crowd participation.
00:36:58 When you make a great decision,
00:37:02 it might be one or two of your friends
00:37:04 that say, "I'll do that with you."
00:37:06 The rest of them gonna say,
00:37:06 "I ain't got the strength to do that."
00:37:09 And God uses decisions to separate you from people
00:37:13 who are not a part of your destiny.
00:37:15 Can I talk to y'all like I want to?
00:37:23 When you make the right decisions,
00:37:25 there will be people in your life
00:37:28 who will not go in the direction that you are going,
00:37:32 and that is God's way of saying,
00:37:34 "Take that person's name off the list."
00:37:38 Because when you get in the fiery furnace,
00:37:40 I'm only coming for the people
00:37:42 who made the right decision before they got in.
00:37:45 If you don't make the right decision before the lions,
00:37:52 then the lions will have you for breakfast.
00:37:55 That's why so many people you know
00:38:01 have died in things you survived.
00:38:04 Oh God.
00:38:07 Oh God, I wish I had somebody here.
00:38:08 Anybody in here can just testify,
00:38:10 I saw some friends die from this storm,
00:38:13 but I came out like pure gold.
00:38:16 I need somebody to thank God
00:38:19 that the devil didn't have his way with you,
00:38:22 that you survived.
00:38:23 Slap three people and say, "I survived."
00:38:29 I survived a breakup that I never thought I'd survive.
00:38:33 I've been surviving lonely.
00:38:34 I thought I would never be able to do it.
00:38:37 I thought my identity was connected to this person
00:38:40 and God showed me that I was all led by myself.
00:38:43 Anybody want to thank God?
00:38:45 God always backs the correct decision,
00:38:54 even if it follows you making a bad one.
00:39:04 I've never figured out
00:39:05 how imperfect people judge imperfect people.
00:39:10 I've never figured out
00:39:15 why you think your grace is sufficient,
00:39:21 but somebody else got to go to hell for their stuff.
00:39:24 If God covered them,
00:39:28 then I know he's going to cover me
00:39:33 because we're all saved by grace.
00:39:37 It ain't about whether you eat apples or pears
00:39:48 or strawberry juice or whatever else,
00:39:50 cayenne water, whatever you're drinking.
00:39:52 Well, people be doing some weird stuff on these diets.
00:40:03 I'm talking about, no, the Lord said oxygen and Gatorade.
00:40:06 It's just good for the soul.
00:40:08 Huh, what I said?
00:40:09 Obviously, if you read the whole story,
00:40:20 and I don't have time to teach it to you,
00:40:22 the Bible says that they only ate vegetables
00:40:26 and the rest of them had steak.
00:40:28 But in the end, the people who had nothing to eat
00:40:31 and vegetables looked better than the people
00:40:33 who had steak and potatoes.
00:40:34 Because let me tell you, when you eat from God's table,
00:40:37 I don't got to have a full meal.
00:40:43 All I need is a dose of God.
00:40:44 I don't have to have the money you have.
00:40:46 I don't have to have the connections you have.
00:40:48 I don't have to have the Instagram followers you have.
00:40:50 I don't have to have the notoriety you have.
00:40:51 But as long as I got Jesus,
00:40:53 anybody here just touch three people
00:40:56 and say, "As long as I got Jesus,
00:40:58 "as long as I got a word,
00:40:59 "as long as I've got an anointing,
00:41:00 "as long as I've got an assignment."
00:41:02 (audience cheering)
00:41:05 They are going to think you're strange.
00:41:10 Telling you.
00:41:16 'Cause when you are making a decision to change your life,
00:41:19 any real people in here?
00:41:21 (audience cheering)
00:41:22 'Cause I just can't talk, any real people in here?
00:41:25 (audience cheering)
00:41:26 Because when you're deciding to change your life,
00:41:28 this is how your Insta story is going to look.
00:41:30 Club, church, wine, Kirk Franklin.
00:41:35 (audience laughing)
00:41:38 I can't stand y'all.
00:41:39 When your life is in transition,
00:41:42 you're going to have Donny McKirkland, trap music.
00:41:46 You're going to have Future and Fred Hammond.
00:41:51 Ronald Isley, Drake.
00:41:57 (audience cheering)
00:41:59 Chameleon Cup, Moscato D'Asti.
00:42:03 I know your drink, I know what you drink.
00:42:07 And for everybody who's judging you,
00:42:15 I want you to look at them and tell them,
00:42:17 "My pastor said, at least I'm in transition."
00:42:21 Oh yes.
00:42:25 Yes, I did have a bikini on at Sunday Funday.
00:42:30 And yes, I did wear a skirt to church, but at least I went.
00:42:34 I'm in transition.
00:42:36 Yes sir, yes, I came to fight the devil in here.
00:42:42 'Cause the devil will make you
00:42:44 not pay attention to your progress.
00:42:46 Snap somebody and say, "At least I'm here."
00:42:49 - At least I'm here.
00:42:51 (audience cheering)
00:42:54 - Yes, I got a tattoo on my neck.
00:43:01 I got one on my back and I got 12, you can't see.
00:43:04 But at least my heart is changing.
00:43:06 And it don't make you no better than me
00:43:13 because you ain't got a tattoo,
00:43:14 but you do have some filth in your heart
00:43:17 that you can't get rid of either.
00:43:20 (audience cheering)
00:43:23 Somebody shout, "I'm changing my decisions."
00:43:27 - I'm changing my decisions.
00:43:30 - And you don't get to judge me
00:43:32 because I still have old decisions on me.
00:43:34 (audience cheering)
00:43:37 All have sinned.
00:43:43 And come short of the glory of God.
00:43:46 Just touch three people and say, "I'm in transition.
00:43:47 "I'm in transition.
00:43:49 "I'm in transition.
00:43:50 "I will pray for you, but if you get on my nerve,
00:43:52 "I will cuss you smooth out.
00:43:54 "I am in transition.
00:43:57 "My mouth ain't under control yet.
00:43:59 "And I can throw these hands."
00:44:01 And let me tell you something,
00:44:02 if I get my hands on you,
00:44:04 I promise you, you going to know you've been in a fight.
00:44:06 But I'm trying not to go there because I'm in transition.
00:44:10 I got a temper, but sometimes I can control it.
00:44:16 Sometimes I pray and sometimes I fight,
00:44:19 but I'm in transition.
00:44:20 I'm working on these decisions.
00:44:28 I'm working on these decisions.
00:44:30 I'm working on them, but they working on me too.
00:44:32 I'm just trying my best, man.
00:44:44 I'm trying my best.
00:44:46 Trying my best.
00:44:49 It ain't easy, but I'm doing the best I can.
00:44:51 Please be patient with me.
00:44:53 God is not through with me yet.
00:44:54 I'm not what I used to be.
00:44:56 I ain't what I...
00:44:57 I know I look strange.
00:45:06 I know I look strange.
00:45:09 I know I look strange.
00:45:13 I know that my decisions ain't making sense.
00:45:17 I know I look strange.
00:45:19 I know you ain't used to a Christian who like rap
00:45:23 and Christian gospel music.
00:45:27 I know you ain't used to me turning gospel music into,
00:45:33 but I'm in transition.
00:45:38 And this is my expression of God.
00:45:39 And forgive me if it don't look like your expression of God
00:45:42 and the problem is, is you think God look like you,
00:45:45 but baby, I promise you, he don't look like you.
00:45:47 God don't look like me.
00:45:48 God look like God and neither one of us look like him.
00:45:51 And so until then, I'm going to work on these decisions.
00:45:54 I want everybody in here to just look at your neighbor
00:46:01 and say in the words of the prophet Tupac,
00:46:03 only God can judge me.
00:46:04 (congregation laughing)
00:46:08 I feel like preaching.
00:46:17 You know what?
00:46:19 You know why they think you strange?
00:46:21 Is because people who are not accustomed
00:46:23 to operating in wisdom don't know wisdom when they see it.
00:46:26 So they think that what you're doing is unwise,
00:46:28 but it's just unwise to them
00:46:30 because they don't know what wisdom looks like.
00:46:32 (congregation cheering)
00:46:35 You'd be surprised how many people are depending on you
00:46:48 to find that wisdom.
00:46:50 You don't even know who you are.
00:46:57 You are the Daniel in this story.
00:46:59 And when you choose it,
00:47:01 you're going to see people in your family
00:47:02 just start falling in line.
00:47:04 And it's going to be people you thought
00:47:06 that Lord couldn't even reach.
00:47:07 How many of y'all got people in your family like they...
00:47:12 I know they're going to hell.
00:47:15 What you want me to do about it?
00:47:16 Decisions.
00:47:24 People are going to start falling in line with you.
00:47:27 Attitudes are contagious.
00:47:30 The question is, is yours worth catching?
00:47:32 Matter of fact, there are people on your road right now
00:47:41 that if you were to break out in worship right now,
00:47:43 they would follow you.
00:47:44 You see, every row that has a spark on it,
00:47:50 I'm looking at how it's affecting the whole row.
00:47:53 Some of y'all row, you ain't even got an ember on it.
00:47:56 So the whole row dead.
00:48:00 (audience cheering)
00:48:02 I dare somebody on every row to say,
00:48:04 "I'm about to spark this thing."
00:48:06 'Cause one can chase a thousand,
00:48:08 and two can put 10,000 to flight.
00:48:12 I want you to take responsibility for your section
00:48:16 and shout until the walls fall.
00:48:20 (audience cheering)
00:48:23 (audience applauding)
00:48:26 I'm still waiting.
00:48:42 That's about 80% of y'all.
00:48:44 All right, 80%, let's do something
00:48:48 over the next 15 seconds.
00:48:50 There are some people in your section right now,
00:48:52 this is what they saying, "It don't take all that."
00:48:55 I ain't gonna let nobody make me yell
00:48:56 unless I feel like yelling.
00:48:58 That ain't how I get my praise on.
00:49:01 I'm gonna give you 15 seconds
00:49:03 to irritate the hell out of everybody in your section.
00:49:06 I want you to shout,
00:49:08 shout,
00:49:11 shout,
00:49:12 shout,
00:49:15 shout.
00:49:17 (audience cheering)
00:49:20 Hallelujah.
00:49:27 Look at your neighbor and say,
00:49:30 "Neighbor, please forgive me
00:49:33 if I act a little strange,
00:49:37 but praise is what I do."
00:49:46 Hallelujah.
00:49:47 Give somebody else a high five and say,
00:49:50 "Neighbor, praise is what I do.
00:49:54 Praise is who I am."
00:49:56 When praises go up,
00:49:58 (audience cheering)
00:50:01 (shouting)
00:50:04 blessings come down.
00:50:06 (audience cheering)
00:50:09 Woo, woo.
00:50:14 Woo, woo.
00:50:15 How many of y'all still feel weak in your spirit?
00:50:31 Just be honest.
00:50:32 I want you to find somebody who looks strong
00:50:35 and I want you to look at me.
00:50:35 If you feel weak, find somebody who looks strong
00:50:37 and just tell them, "I'm depending on you.
00:50:39 I'm depending on you."
00:50:43 What are you depending on me for?
00:50:44 To pull me through.
00:50:45 I want you to grab somebody
00:50:47 and I want you to pull on them
00:50:50 and say, "God told me to tell you
00:50:53 that over the next 10 minutes,
00:50:55 I'm assigned to you.
00:50:57 You will not lack.
00:51:00 You will not quit.
00:51:02 You will not bow."
00:51:04 Shout it, yeah.
00:51:05 (shouting)
00:51:12 I feel glory in this room.
00:51:15 I feel glory in this room.
00:51:16 Oh.
00:51:25 (audience cheering)
00:51:27 Come back here, good Lord.
00:51:29 Come back here, good Lord.
00:51:31 Come back here, good Lord.
00:51:34 Woo.
00:51:38 (audience cheering)
00:51:41 Do me a favor, tell your neighbor,
00:51:45 say, "Neighbor, I know you're not perfect,
00:51:48 but keep trying until you get it right."
00:51:52 Did they receive it?
00:51:54 Find somebody else.
00:51:58 Tell them, "Neighbor, keep working until you get it right."
00:52:01 (audience cheering)
00:52:06 (shouting)
00:52:08 I know we ain't supposed to be praising like this,
00:52:21 but I'm not bowing to culture.
00:52:23 Who the son has set free is free indeed.
00:52:29 Now I need somebody to act undignified.
00:52:33 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
00:52:38 Somebody shout, "I'm redeemed."
00:52:54 Somebody shout, "I'm redeemed."
00:52:56 I've been brought with a price.
00:53:00 Grab your neighbor by the hand and say,
00:53:03 "Neighbor, when I move, you move just like that."
00:53:08 Oh.
00:53:11 (audience cheering)
00:53:14 Oh, I feel the glory.
00:53:16 Oh, I feel the glory.
00:53:18 I said I feel the glory.
00:53:20 Find you a praise partner.
00:53:22 Shout, "Neighbor, when I jump, you jump just like that."
00:53:27 Oh, I feel somebody about to get a breakthrough.
00:53:32 Find your neighbor.
00:53:40 Grab him by the hand and shout,
00:53:44 "Neighbor, if I run, you run just like that, just like that,
00:53:53 just like that, just like that, just like that,
00:53:58 just like that, just like that."
00:54:02 Oh, good God.
00:54:03 (audience cheering)
00:54:06 Yeah!
00:54:20 Yeah!
00:54:22 (audience cheering)
00:54:25 (upbeat music)
00:54:29 (audience cheering)
00:54:33 (audience cheering)
00:54:37 (audience cheering)
00:54:40 (audience cheering)
00:54:44 (audience cheering)
00:55:10 (audience cheering)
00:55:37 Yeah!
00:55:38 (audience cheering)
00:55:41 Only God can do it.
00:55:50 Only God can do it.
00:55:52 Woo!
00:55:58 (audience cheering)
00:56:05 Somebody shout, "Devil, you can keep him.
00:56:07 You can have the whole world,
00:56:10 but just give me Jesus."
00:56:17 (audience cheering)
00:56:20 (audience cheering)
00:56:26 (audience cheering)
00:56:29 Just working on my decisions.
00:56:44 Truth is, I might slip up still.
00:56:54 (audience cheering)
00:56:56 Thank you, God.
00:56:57 You got your temp under control.
00:56:58 I'm not telling you that I might not go off next week.
00:57:03 I'm working on it.
00:57:05 See, here it is, we don't got the same problem,
00:57:09 so it's easy for you to judge me
00:57:10 by how long it's taken me to get over my problem,
00:57:12 but baby, it's taking you some time too.
00:57:15 (audience cheering)
00:57:20 See, if you don't make the right decisions
00:57:25 about what you're going to eat,
00:57:27 then you're not using wisdom,
00:57:31 because the truth is, this whole world of sin
00:57:35 came as a result of a bite.
00:57:40 (audience cheering)
00:57:44 If Adam and Eve had Daniel's decision,
00:57:50 then women, there would be no pain during childbirth.
00:57:53 We would not be at enmity with the enemy.
00:57:59 Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure,
00:58:07 all of this is a result of one bite, eating the wrong,
00:58:11 and listen, the inside of the apple is called the flesh.
00:58:16 (audience laughing)
00:58:19 If Adam and Eve had Daniel's decision,
00:58:25 we'd be in paradise.
00:58:29 Now we gotta die,
00:58:32 and be resurrected,
00:58:36 and wait on him to come back all because somebody said,
00:58:42 "I can eat anything I wanna eat."
00:58:45 Oh, and by the way, apples are on the Daniel Fast menu,
00:58:50 which means it's not about the menu,
00:58:53 it's about the decision.
00:58:54 (audience applauding)
00:58:58 I don't know who you are.
00:59:01 Rest of the sermon, I'll do it at another time.
00:59:06 But I don't know about you,
00:59:11 but anybody need God to help you with your decisions?
00:59:16 (audience applauding)
00:59:19 Look at me.
00:59:20 I'm so tired of causing me pain.
00:59:23 Let him worship.
00:59:31 I'm not gonna stop that.
00:59:34 Speaking in this heavenly language,
00:59:37 you don't need to be observing,
00:59:38 you need to be worshiping God too.
00:59:39 Worship is not out of order
00:59:44 because you're not doing it on the same level.
00:59:47 I'm so tired of being bound.
00:59:59 I had no idea that he would bless me hungry.
01:00:14 I never knew that being alone
01:00:18 was the thing he was using
01:00:21 to make me good enough to be with someone.
01:00:25 I never knew loss was the avenue towards gain.
01:00:34 I did not know that losing friends was God's way
01:00:44 making room for my real ones to come.
01:00:46 The parts of my story that I tell you,
01:00:57 I really tell you because it's probably
01:01:02 the only part of the story you can handle.
01:01:04 But I've been through hell and high water.
01:01:11 (audience chattering)
01:01:14 I've been through pain that would numb your sensibilities.
01:01:19 And I have been betrayed so bad
01:01:22 it made me decide that I would never trust
01:01:24 another human being on the earth.
01:01:26 But I knew that that was not the right decision.
01:01:34 (audience chattering)
01:01:37 I remember growing up
01:01:45 and my mother, she worked at a fast food restaurant
01:01:53 as you all know, but she hired me,
01:01:55 she hired my sisters, Keana's in the other room.
01:02:00 She hired my other sister, Ebony.
01:02:01 So my mom was managing several franchises
01:02:06 and she had her children working in these franchises.
01:02:11 See at the time, I thought mama was working at Taco Bell,
01:02:19 but when God raised her up from being an employee
01:02:25 to a manager, this sermon came to mind
01:02:28 because we didn't know that when she went up,
01:02:32 the three of us were going too.
01:02:34 So the woman who lived in a 700 square foot apartment
01:02:46 with four children now has four children
01:02:51 literally all owning their own homes.
01:02:55 (audience applauding)
01:02:59 And their own businesses.
01:03:01 And she never did any of that.
01:03:06 She never had her own business.
01:03:11 I remember when my mother went back to school.
01:03:13 See, she didn't know when she went back to school
01:03:16 and started getting a degree that she was teaching
01:03:21 the three of us, don't you quit.
01:03:26 So what did the three of us do?
01:03:28 We finished.
01:03:29 You don't know who will be affected by your decisions.
01:03:38 Mothers, fathers, be careful what you choose.
01:03:47 Somebody's watching.
01:03:56 If you're in this place today.
01:03:57 (dramatic music)
01:04:00 (dramatic music)
01:04:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]