I'm Not Going Out Like That -- Keion Henderson
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00:00:00I'm not stopping. Why? Because the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous
00:00:10can run therein and be saved. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want to preach something today.
00:00:22We're in this principles of the kingdom and we've talked about priorities. We've talked
00:00:28about love. We've talked about humility. We've talked about the law of the harvest. Today,
00:00:36I want to talk about faith. I want to talk about faith. The Bible says, without faith,
00:00:43it is impossible to please God. Somebody say, Lord, increase my faith. Now, it just can't
00:00:50be any kind of faith. It's got to be now faith. See, faith means that I trust God for the
00:00:57outcome even though I don't know what it's going to be. I don't know how this thing is
00:01:01going to end, but I know that he loves me so much that it has to end in my favor. Anybody
00:01:08believe that? See, this is a faith walk. We walk by faith, not by what? I want you to
00:01:19turn to the book of Ruth, the book of Ruth chapter number one, verse 19. It says that
00:01:26they went to Bethlehem and it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that the
00:01:34city was moved about them and they said, is this Naomi? And she said unto them, don't
00:01:43call me that no more. My name is Mark. Just touching them and say, I ain't who I used
00:01:51to be. I ain't who I used to be and I ain't what I want to be. That's yet determined.
00:02:04Listen, let me say it another way. I'm not even what I should be, but one thing I know
00:02:16for sure, I ain't who I. Anybody got that testimony? The world is safer because you
00:02:25are not who you used to be. She says, don't, don't, don't call me that no more. My name
00:02:34isn't Naomi anymore. It's Mara. Watch this, but here's the problem with what she changed
00:02:41her name to. It means to be bitter. Help me, Holy Spirit. She says, and the reason why
00:02:50I'm bitter is because when this famine hit Bethlehem, my family was doing well. We had
00:02:56all of the finances. My husband had a job. I didn't have to work. All of the bills were
00:03:00paid for. I went out full, but I came back empty. Here I am asking you to be grateful
00:03:13for the opposite of what you expected. I can understand you shouting if you said, I went
00:03:21out empty, Yusef, but I came back full. I could shout about that, but how many of y'all
00:03:29like, look, you're going to have to preach the rest of the sermon because I don't understand
00:03:31the logic of being glad about the fact that I no longer have what I used to have and you
00:03:37want me to be glad about it? Well, maybe there's a reason why. Look at Hebrews chapter
00:03:48number 11, verse number six. I'm going to say it again, but without faith, it is impossible
00:03:58to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is. See,
00:04:08this is, oh my God, I love the word. See, we normally skip through this and we say, and
00:04:13that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That's not what the scripture says.
00:04:18The scripture says, for he is, and he is the one that rewards them that diligently seek
00:04:27him. So God says, I don't want you to just love me because I'm a rewarder. I want you
00:04:31to love me because I am. Before you start praising God that he can reward you, can you
00:04:40praise him just because he's God? Anybody in here ever been in a situation where everything
00:04:49dried up all around you and you didn't know how you were going to make it from point A
00:04:53to point B? And if you did make it, you were going to go dragging and fighting and crying.
00:04:58Here's what the Lord told me to tell you in spite of that circumstance, and it is the
00:05:02name of our sermon, and I want you to help me preach it. Tell your neighbor, say, neighbor,
00:05:05I don't know what you heard, but I ain't going out like that. That's what I want to talk about
00:05:11today. High five somebody on your way to your seat. Tell them I ain't going out like that.
00:05:16I ain't going out like that. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.
00:05:24When I was in college, I used to work in the steel mill called Auburn Foundry,
00:05:32and it was a steel mill, and we had to blast metal to polish it up for use, and my paycheck
00:05:43was $400 every two weeks. And in those days, that was pretty decent money for somebody
00:05:51at my age. I thought I was killing. I had me a 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix.
00:05:57How many of y'all remember that? Yeah, see, these little young Thundercats don't know nothing.
00:06:02They ain't never even heard of a Pontiac. Pontiac Grand Prix was white, had a gray interior. Back
00:06:08in those days, if you had cloth seats, it didn't matter. Like, you got to have leather now,
00:06:12but back then, it didn't matter. I had cloth seats, and we had an apartment, and four of us
00:06:18got together to rent this apartment for my brothers, D'Angelo Woodall, Jim Kestnick,
00:06:24Brad Knoll, and myself. We were all in this apartment, and we had to chip all of our money
00:06:30in together just to keep this apartment. In fact, Brad and Jim shared a room because we didn't have
00:06:35enough money to get anything big enough for everybody. Remember, Brad had a 1991 Buick
00:06:41Regal. It had 196,000 miles on it when he got it. Y'all said, Dang.
00:06:52I mean, we were trying to rob Peter to pay Paul, and out of those four… Here's the deal. This is
00:07:00crazy. All three of them were on full ride basketball scholarships. When I went to college,
00:07:06my first semester, I was on a partial scholarship. I had to earn the rest of it
00:07:11because I didn't come in as a full-ride athlete. I was recruited late. I didn't get an opportunity
00:07:17to come into the recruiting process because I was weighing my options trying to figure out
00:07:21where I wanted to go. As a minister of the gospel, everybody was suggesting that I go
00:07:26to a Christian school and that I go to this Christian school and play basketball,
00:07:30but the way my life was set up then… I had no desire to go to school and go to church.
00:07:39I was trying to go to school to get away from home, and I was going because every man in here
00:07:44will know that you stay in your mother's house, but when you get to a certain age,
00:07:49you want to make sure that you don't have to depend on her. Come on, guys.
00:07:53Come on. Talk to me. That she could depend on me. At 17 years old, I made a vow that I was
00:07:59going to make sure my mother didn't have to work. I promised her all of these things that I was
00:08:04going to do with my life so that she could have an easier burden, and I fought until I got that
00:08:09full-ride scholarship. At the end of it all, we were afraid to lose our cars. We were afraid to
00:08:15lose our apartment. We didn't know how we were going to pay for our books. We didn't know how
00:08:19we were going to pay tuition. I had a Pell Grant, but it didn't cover everything. I had all of this
00:08:24stuff going on. I was the guy who would take the books and make sure they were in pristine condition
00:08:31so that I could sell them back. Come on. Talk to me and get the money for them. I did everything I
00:08:36could to make sure I wasn't a burden on her. I was worried. Sometimes I wanted to call her
00:08:42and tell her that we needed groceries. Then we had another roommate. Back then,
00:08:46when you made collect calls, you had to add it to your bill. So, one day we had a $500 phone bill.
00:08:53I'm telling you, we didn't know how we were going to pay it. Me and my roommate,
00:08:56D'Angelo, said, This is what we're going to do. We're going to jump dude.
00:09:00We're going to jump him because he ran up our bill because we didn't want our credit messed up,
00:09:04and so we were going to jump him. Then we realized we were two freshmen wearing 145
00:09:09and he was a senior wearing 245, so we came to our senses and said, The Lord will make a way.
00:09:17No, we didn't do nothing. We talked about it, but we didn't do it. I'm sure that now looking back,
00:09:22we probably could have gotten the job done, but that is neither here nor there. Thinking about
00:09:28all of that, we were afraid we were going to lose it all. I was afraid to call my mother and let her
00:09:32know that we were struggling. You know what? We worried about it, and none of it ever happened.
00:09:42None of it ever happened. We never lost the apartment. We never lost the cars. We all got
00:09:47full-ride basketball scholarships. We all graduated degrees because with all of the
00:09:51stuff we worried about, none of it ever happened. If you are a reader, I want you to read a book
00:10:00called The Worry Cure. I want you to read a book called The Worry Cure by Dr. Robert Leahy. He
00:10:08discovered in his book that most of us worry, and 85 percent of the things we worry about never
00:10:17happen. Eighty-five percent of the things that we worry about never happen. Then he says the 15
00:10:24percent of the things that do happen didn't happen in as bad a fashion as we assumed that they would
00:10:33happen. He says in the book, the substratum of the thought process is only three percent of the
00:10:40things in your life that happen are worth worrying about. I wish I could write to Dr. Robert and say,
00:10:47You are absolutely right. Eighty-five percent of the things that we worry about never happen,
00:10:52and 15 percent of the things that do happen are not as bad as we think they are. The three things
00:10:58that are bad we still don't have to worry because my God shall supply.
00:11:04Come on. Talk to me, somebody. How many of you know that God will make a way out of no way?
00:11:11Anybody believe that? Anybody believe that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him?
00:11:19I want you to do me a favor just in case your neighbor is asleep before this message is over,
00:11:24and I want you to tell him, Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. If it's unmanageable,
00:11:30God is a manager. If it is undoable, God has already done it. If it is something that you need,
00:11:37God can supply all of your needs. Paul said in Romans 8, 28,
00:11:42All things work together for the good of them that love the Lord, and what?
00:11:46Are called according to his purpose, which means that if you are in the purpose of God,
00:11:52you will stay in the providence of God because God will never give you a purpose that he doesn't
00:11:57take care of. I need about 300 people, not just these two. I need about 300 people in the room
00:12:04that encourage the person whose hand you held earlier and tell them God is going to make a way.
00:12:16I know you can't resist the temptation to worry, and you're human, so it's going to happen,
00:12:21but God is going to do it. I know you're worried because they said,
00:12:26You know what? Massive layoffs are coming. Here are two things you have to know. You're not one
00:12:32of the ones that are going to get laid off. If you do get laid off, it means God has something else.
00:12:41I said it means that God has something else that he has for you. What you have to do is learn to
00:12:47process the emotions, because in this season of everything that you've been worrying about,
00:12:52all I know is Sunday after Sunday you think it's going to take you out, but you keep coming back.
00:12:57Why? Because from Sunday to Sunday my God keeps supplying all of your needs. If he's a miracle
00:13:03worker, I want to see some evidence in this room and online. Touch three people and say he's a
00:13:10miracle worker. He's a miracle worker. Here's what the Scripture says. A thousand shall fall at my
00:13:20right hand, ten thousand at my side. Let me paraphrase. They're going to mess with me on
00:13:26the left. They're going to mess with me on the right, but ain't nothing going to happen to me.
00:13:32I need you to tell your neighbor, Ain't nothing going to happen to me.
00:13:35No, I didn't say use your education. No, nothing will befall me. Don't talk proper,
00:13:40because you've got to get ignorant with the devil sometimes. Ain't nothing going to happen to me.
00:13:44You can try everything you want, but nothing shall happen. Did you know that God always ensures
00:13:55that every satanic attack has an expiration date? I heard Pastor Stephen Furtick say it not too long
00:14:01ago. He said that the devil cannot do whatever he wants for as long as he wants. For when the
00:14:06devil attacked Job, he gave him permission, but he said on demand himself, Don't lay your hand.
00:14:13Can I speak to about 300 people in the room? God has the devil on a leash, and if you can resist
00:14:21the temptation to be afraid of a bark, I promise you you'll never experience a bite. He will never
00:14:27let him get close enough. I remember the Lord gave me a revelation a long time ago,
00:14:36and I want to share it with you. You don't have to worry, because anybody who's not on
00:14:40your birth certificate cannot sign your death certificate. If you didn't start me, you can't
00:14:46end me. He who has began a good work in me shall establish it unto the day of Jesus Christ. I need
00:14:52somebody's faith to start to rise in here, because God is working in and on your behalf.
00:15:01So, this famine… Let me just find out if I'm talking to the right people, and online you tell
00:15:05me too. How many of y'all are in a famine right now? By that I mean stuff just tripping. I mean
00:15:15drying up. You don't know where all these bills are coming from. You're trying to figure out,
00:15:19Are they taking money out of my paycheck, or is the electricity bill going higher? I have never
00:15:25had a bill this high, and it's all happening at the same time. Are you with me? All of a sudden,
00:15:30something you thought was in forbearance, now it's due, and then your child needs this,
00:15:34and you have to have that, and they have to have this project, and they have to have this.
00:15:38And you're like, Do them folk at the school know I ain't got that kind of money? Can't they come up
00:15:42with a free science project? You've got all of this stuff going on, and then the cost of daycare
00:15:50is rising. Now you have to make a decision on whether you're going to work or get to daycare,
00:15:56because you just spent a whole check trying to keep them in daycare. Everything is going crazy,
00:16:01and we're sitting up here worrying about what we're going to do. We're pinching our pennies,
00:16:05and we're writing everything down, and we're crying out to the Lord, and the Lord is saying,
00:16:08Hold on! Do you not trust me? I promise you I will not let you.
00:16:18I won't let you go out like that. The setting of this story starts with a famine.
00:16:25And here we are talking about Ruth, who is in the ancestral line of Jesus Christ,
00:16:29who would one day meet a man named Boaz, who was in the ancestral line of Christ,
00:16:33who would have a son named Obed, who was in the direct line of David and Jesus.
00:16:37Here she comes from being a nobody marrying into somebody.
00:16:45This story starts off with a famine. Everything is drying up. The water is not coming down,
00:16:56and the crops are not going up. It is a difficult time. She's robbing Peter to pay Paul.
00:17:03She's struggling. Anybody struggling? I mean, she's in a tough season of her life. She doesn't
00:17:08know where to go. And here's the problem with being in a famine and everybody you know is in
00:17:13a famine. They can't help you either, because they're going through… Come on, talk to me.
00:17:19Just tell your neighbor, say, I would help you if I could, but I'm going through the same thing
00:17:22you're going through. I would encourage you, but I'm struggling to encourage myself. I would tell
00:17:27you to believe, but I don't always have faith the size of a mustard seed. I'm struggling too.
00:17:30I'm trying. Everybody's in a dry place. Everybody's in a dry place. Here Ruth and Naomi's
00:17:38story begins, and the Bible says that the decreptitude of this biblical narrative starts
00:17:43as she is in a famine in a place that does not match with the nature and the name of the place,
00:17:48because the nature of Bethlehem is that it is a place that flourishes with crop,
00:17:53and the name of Bethlehem means the house of bread, which means she has run out of bread in
00:17:58the bread house. She's in a place that had plenty of bread and has no bread. She was in a place that
00:18:06had plenty, and now she doesn't have enough, and now she cannot trust the place. Oh, you missed
00:18:15what I just said. She can't trust the place. She could always trust the place because the place
00:18:20always had bread, but the place doesn't have bread anymore, so now she can't trust the place.
00:18:25What do you think God is trying to show her? He's trying to show her you could never trust the place.
00:18:33You could only trust me. Can I get a hundred people that'll just encourage your neighbor
00:18:38and tell them, You can't trust your job. You can't trust your boss. You can't trust your
00:18:44bank account. You've got to trust Jesus. Oh, my God. I'm trying to help somebody. I need you to
00:18:51help me preach it. Just touch three people and say, You've got to trust God. You've got to trust God.
00:18:56You can't trust in man. You can't trust in chariots. You can't trust social media. You've
00:19:02got to trust God. At the time of the story, she's born, or they are living, I should say,
00:19:15in a place called Bethlehem. How many of y'all heard of Bethlehem before? You know why? Because
00:19:20you know this is where Jesus was born. You can't miss this. See, one of the problems,
00:19:28son, we do it in biblical history is when we read it, we think that everybody is alive at
00:19:33the same time. Noah wasn't alive at the same time as Jesus. It's history. It's historical narrative.
00:19:43So, at the time they are in Bethlehem, Jesus hasn't been born yet. Not only was Jesus born in
00:19:50Bethlehem, David was born in Bethlehem. So, they are in the house of bread, the place where Jesus
00:19:57was born before Jesus was born. What she did not know is that she was living in a place where Jesus
00:20:05would be born and had not been born, and she was poor and didn't know she was going to marry a
00:20:12rich man who was birthed through the ancestral line of Jesus, didn't know Jesus yet, but didn't
00:20:18know Jesus already knew her, was about to marry somebody who knew Jesus, and was about to give
00:20:23birth to somebody related to Jesus. God helped me in this place. See, this is why you can't quit
00:20:31because the thing you're about to birth ain't here yet.
00:20:36I'm looking for my church. Where is the lighthouse at? I don't know who y'all are.
00:20:41Where's the lighthouse? Ask your neighbor, say, where the lighthouse at?
00:20:44You cannot quit right now because you are still pregnant with the possibility,
00:20:50and the thing that God is about to birth through you hasn't been born yet. Touch your neighbor and
00:20:55say, I ain't even got where I'm going yet. If you think this is something, wait to find out where I
00:21:02end up. If you think this is something, wait until God finishes with me because after I have been
00:21:08tried by the fire, I'm going to come out of this like pure gold. Touch somebody and say, I'm still
00:21:14pregnant. I'm still pregnant. I'm still pregnant. I'm still pregnant. And here's the good news. I
00:21:21think it's twins. I think goodness and mercy is in there. I think I got more in me than I realized.
00:21:28Somebody shot us inside of me. Anybody know you still got to give birth to it?
00:21:38That job you got, that ain't your destiny. That's just a holdover until you get enough
00:21:43confidence to start your own stuff. That house you got, that ain't your dream house. That's just
00:21:48a place to put a roof over your head until you get enough confidence to build what God gave you.
00:21:52Somebody shout, I got more in me. Now, I'm telling you to talk to these people because
00:21:59you're going to need them later. So, if they ain't talking to you right now, trade them in
00:22:04because some of y'all neighbors ain't looked at you yet. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:09No, you got to find somebody who's going to talk to you because I promise you by the time
00:22:12the sermon is over, you're going to know why I put you in groups. So, I want you to say,
00:22:15is you with me or is you with me? Like, is we finished or is we done? Because I'm trying to
00:22:20find out if I got the right person next to me because I'm not going to keep declaring a thing
00:22:25over your life and you don't declare that thing back over my life. I said we are ready.
00:22:34I'm looking for the people in the house and online who've been through hell and back.
00:22:42Like, if you really took the time to tell the person next to you all of the things that you
00:22:48had been through… Just look at them. Tell them, if I told you… No, no. Let me put it this way.
00:22:57No, no. Let me… If I told you all the things I'm in… Oh, y'all ain't going to say amen
00:23:05because everybody can talk about what you've been through, but you ain't through everything.
00:23:09Ah, because if I can tell you what I'm in, if I can tell you what I'm struggling with,
00:23:14if I can tell you what my proclivities are, you probably would move your seat
00:23:22because you know folks will judge you in a minute. They'll judge you and they'll tell
00:23:27you that God called them to judge, forgetting the fact that the Bible says, judge not lest.
00:23:35And I'll tell you something, that person next to you, I don't care how bad you are,
00:23:37they ain't better than you. They ain't no better than you. And if their life got flipped inside
00:23:43out and what they're in right now was really exposed… But those of y'all who are engaged
00:23:54in the message, you're like, you know what? You can think about me what you want because I don't
00:23:58have no money. I don't have a house, but I got a testimony. Oh God, I need somebody to shout,
00:24:05I don't have silver, I don't have gold, I still got a mortgage, my car ain't paid off,
00:24:12the interest rate is high, but I still got a testimony.
00:24:18Where are the people that got a testimony? Where are the people that say, if it had not been
00:24:23for the Lord on my side… Don't y'all make me preach this too early.
00:24:27Somebody say, I got a testimony. I got a testimony. I got a testimony. I'm still waiting
00:24:36on what I've been praying for. And if I'm being honest, I almost stopped believing he was going
00:24:43to do it. I'm looking for my church. I can't find y'all. I love the fact that we always want
00:24:50to pretend like we believe everything that God says, but is there anybody here honest and say,
00:24:54God, you said that if I did this, you would do that. I think I did this. Where's your that?
00:25:10I don't want no smoke, Jesus, but I'm just saying, where you at?
00:25:20I know you're scared. He ain't going to strike you down. Don't worry about it.
00:25:22Lord, I know what you told me to do, but you ain't tell me if I did
00:25:28what you told me to do that the enemy get to do whatever he want to do. God says,
00:25:32not only did I tell you that if you did what I told you to do, you'd be fine.
00:25:37Understand that the devil is already defeated and that I've given you the power to tread on
00:25:42scorpions and snakes. I want you to get the devil under your feet and do me a favor.
00:25:50Promise me. Point number one. Are you ready? Whatever you do, don't move to Moab.
00:26:03The famine hit and the limolex said, I can't take it here. I'm moving.
00:26:12I'm moving. God put me here, but because the pressure is too great,
00:26:20I'm moving. You worked your whole life to get it, and you're going to let a little famine
00:26:29make you leave Bethlehem and move to Moab? Oh, I can understand why you're not
00:26:37understanding what I'm saying. Moab means from father, which means the devil will dry up the
00:26:48bread to make you move from the father. So, he'll take the food and you'll lay down your faith,
00:26:59but without faith, it's impossible to… which means I got to believe that God will feed me
00:27:06even when I can't find no food. High five somebody. Say, don't lose your faith. Don't
00:27:13you lose your faith. Don't you lose your faith. Don't you… Fill out another application. Don't
00:27:19lose your faith. Fill out another application. Don't lose… Let me talk to somebody else.
00:27:26Go back online and fill out another application. Don't lose your faith.
00:27:36I know every bank keep denying. You keep looking at houses.
00:27:39How many of y'all get discouraged? They keep saying,
00:27:43oh, we can't qualify you. No, they can't, but somebody can.
00:27:49I'm preaching to somebody here. I don't know who it is.
00:27:54There's a famine in the land. Never allow the situation to make you search for food.
00:28:09The devil will have you on the run trying to escape Bethlehem, the drought in Moab,
00:28:19going to Moab. But here's the problem. Elimelech said,
00:28:24I'm leaving Bethlehem because I don't want to die of starvation. But see, his wife told on him,
00:28:33because if you go down to verse 21, Naomi says, we went out full,
00:28:41which means that the drought had come, but it hadn't even affected them yet.
00:28:48You know what it's called when you make a move and nothing has happened yet? Worry.
00:28:53They got so worried that they left the safety of a drought
00:29:03for the security of much. And the Bible says that when he got to Moab, he died.
00:29:11Because when you move away from God, you end up experiencing what you tried to escape.
00:29:18Oh, God, I'm looking for a lighthouse. Lord, give me a lighthouse back. Give me a lighthouse.
00:29:25When you are with God, you are safer in a storm
00:29:33than you are on dry land by yourself. If you stay with God in the famine,
00:29:39Elijah lets us know that if you are with God in the famine, he will cause a raven
00:29:46to bring you meat in a dry place. I don't know who this is for,
00:29:51but I'm about to declare the Word of the Lord over your life. You are about to do more with less.
00:30:04You're about to do more with less. You're about to do more with less. You're about to be happier
00:30:09with less friends. You're going to make less money and have more income. You're missing what
00:30:17I'm saying, because God says the blessing is in Bethlehem. I know Moab looks more promising,
00:30:25but I'm not there. Moab is Ishmael. Bethlehem is Isaac. In other words,
00:30:35just because you have it doesn't mean God gave it.
00:30:52I don't care how much they tell you they're going to increase your pay. Don't move
00:30:58to Moab. You're going to go to that new job for a bigger paycheck, but that
00:31:02environment is going to be so toxic. Oh, who am I speaking to? You already know it. You can feel
00:31:09it in the atmosphere when you came in here, but sometimes you lay down what God is saying
00:31:13because you're counting the money. God says,
00:31:15Don't worry about it. I can take care of you in Bethlehem, but whatever you do…
00:31:19Don't move. Don't move. Don't you dare move to Moab. Don't worry about tomorrow,
00:31:33because tomorrow will take care of itself. Tomorrow has its own worries. You don't have
00:31:41to worry about tomorrow. Ain't no need to worry what the night is going to bring.
00:31:50Help me, Holy Ghost. It'll be all over.
00:31:57They did not leave Bethlehem because they were hungry. They left Bethlehem because they were
00:32:03worried. I want to see if anybody will identify and admit worry been on me.
00:32:15Worry done grabbed me around my neck. Who gave worry my address?
00:32:27Who gave worry my bank account and routing number?
00:32:32Talk to me. Who gave worry access to my brain?
00:32:36Now here you are worried, trying to hide it from your kids. Now they're getting worried
00:32:47because they can see Mama is worried about something that ain't even…
00:32:58You think God is going to let that happen? I've never seen…
00:33:03You better know your Bible. The righteous forsaken. I ain't never seen… I probably
00:33:09won't speak proper English the rest of this message. I ain't ever seen
00:33:14a seed begging bread. I've never seen God put more on you
00:33:22than you can bear. Whether you know it or not, you built for this.
00:33:32I was talking to a pastor friend of mine about some stuff, and he was giving me a good word.
00:33:41You know, sometimes… See, this is the problem with most of us. We can give a word,
00:33:46but we can't receive a word. He was giving me a good word. He was giving me a good word,
00:33:51and then he said something to me that showed me the humanity and the humility of his persona.
00:33:56He says, I'm telling you all of this right now, and tomorrow you might have to tell it all to me.
00:34:03See, I'm telling you all of this right now, and tomorrow you might have to tell it
00:34:11to me. Whatever you do, don't let the devil knock you off your square.
00:34:17You've got to stand still. You've got to have exousia. You've got to have
00:34:23dunamis. You've got to have power and authority.
00:34:27Somebody shout, don't move to Moab. Watch this. He left Bethlehem because of discomfort,
00:34:34got to Moab, and died. Don't you trade in death for discomfort.
00:34:45You stand there, and you look that devil in his face, and you tell him you long-tongue lying
00:34:53devil. You go back to the pits of hell where you belong, but you can't have my mind. You can't have
00:35:00my family. You can't have my faith. You can't have my worship, and you can't have our church.
00:35:10I need somebody to give your neighbor a high five and say, devil, go back to hell where you belong.
00:35:23When you leave God because of an experience, you experience what you tried to escape.
00:35:35Naomi gets to the place that her husband has led her, and I know she probably was like,
00:35:44are you sure about this? She said, no, are you going to follow me or not?
00:35:56Good woman said, all right, let's go.
00:36:03They get there, and he dies.
00:36:06Her sons, they married two fine women in Moab. Oh, you can read the Scripture.
00:36:20They get them, the good girls, the ones that every mama in here want their son to have. You know
00:36:27every woman in here that got a son thinks she knows who her son is supposed to marry. That's
00:36:31a good one right there. Oh, you can say, don't shake your head in here. You already got them
00:36:35picked out. You just don't want to impose. She says, they married, and watch what happens.
00:36:43Ten years later, her sons die. So, in a decade, she has lost her husband and both of her sons.
00:36:54Do you know how this woman feels? I don't know. Maybe I can ask the question.
00:36:59Has any parent in here ever lost a child? Look around y'all. I couldn't imagine,
00:37:09and my heart… Oh, Jesus. My heart is going out to you right now. I could not imagine
00:37:16the unnatural process of having to lay something down that came through your…
00:37:23She's looking at her two sons dead on the ground. She has no husband. She has no sons,
00:37:39and all looks bleak, all because they moved to Moab.
00:37:49But she didn't stay in Moab. Something spoke up in her spirit and said, return to Bethlehem.
00:38:03She's experienced famine and failure and fatalities, but around verse 6,
00:38:12the first ray of light starts to break through the darkness,
00:38:16and Naomi says, I've got to go back to Bethlehem,
00:38:23because at least in Bethlehem, God was supplying our needs. At least
00:38:29in Bethlehem, I could hear the Word of the Lord. At least in Bethlehem,
00:38:33I had an assurance there I was where God told me to go.
00:38:37It may not have had everything that Moab had, but at least that's where God was.
00:38:45She says… Y'all still with me? She says, Ruth, Orpah, I hope y'all trust me.
00:38:58It's time to go back to Bethlehem. She grabbed Ruth by one hand. This is what I imagined. She
00:39:07grabbed the other one, Orpah, by her hand and said, get up. We've got to get back to the Father.
00:39:18We've got to get back to Moab. And the Bible says that the two women arose.
00:39:26I want to find every Naomi in that circle that we created earlier, because I want you to understand
00:39:35that for everything you have the courage to get up from, there are two women who are going to get
00:39:41up with you. I need every Naomi on every row to grab you a sister and shout, Baby, it's time to
00:39:50get up. Don't you cry about that divorce another night. Don't you worry about that repossession.
00:39:59Don't you worry about daycare prices. It's time to get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.
00:40:12Somebody shout, get up. Fellas, I'm going to come back to you. Every woman find a Ruth and an Orpah
00:40:21say, Baby, we've got to get out of here. Throw the pills away. You will not die by suicide.
00:40:27Get rid of the alcohol. You will not drink yourself to death. Delete the phone numbers.
00:40:32You don't need to play yourself cheap. It's time to get up. You ain't got the right sister because
00:40:42I know when sisters get together, the party gets started. I want a sister who ain't jealous of
00:40:48another sister. Find that girl and say, Baby, get up. Get up. When I move, you move. When I shout,
00:40:56you shout. Get up. Get up. Come on. Grab her. Grab her. Grab her because she almost gave up.
00:41:10She almost gave in. But tell her, My name is Naomi and I am on assignment
00:41:17to make sure that you don't stay down. Get up.
00:41:33Fellas, don't go to sleep. I'm coming back to you. Tell that sister one more time, get up.
00:41:38Now, let me tell you why you're going to have to be up. She said, Go back to your mama.
00:41:47Go back to your mama. And when you get back there, there are going to be houses and husbands.
00:42:00And she said, Uh-huh. Look at her. She like,
00:42:04All right. Stay with me. I told you you was going to need them. I told you. I told you.
00:42:09You ain't believe me.
00:42:15She said, If you keep traveling with me, I can't help you because I can't bear any sons.
00:42:23What she was doing is making a reference to a custom called the Leverett custom.
00:42:27And the Leverett custom says that whenever a husband died, the woman got a chance to marry
00:42:34the brother of the man who died. But Naomi like, I'm 45. I ain't having no baby. I'm past child
00:42:47bearing age. I'm not having no more babies. I done done all of that. I'm 60. I'm done.
00:42:55I'm done. So if you wait on me to have a baby, you might as well die. And guess what?
00:43:01If I did have a baby, you're going to have to wait too long for him to get old enough
00:43:09to marry him. So go back to your mama where there are houses and husbands. Can I make a
00:43:16declaration to every woman who survived this famine in this season of your life?
00:43:23I'm about to declare two things over your life. Single women look at me. God says,
00:43:28get ready for houses. Look at him recorded. He said it on the 12th of October. I'm a hold him
00:43:39to it. Slap your neighbor, say houses and husbands. He going to give you houses you did not build
00:43:46and husbands that look at you as a good thing. If you believe it, open up your mouth and give him
00:43:52glory. Somebody shout houses and husbands said again, houses and husbands. All right. Now listen,
00:44:11I need you to hold that sister's hand because you heard Simon for the rest of the sermon.
00:44:15When you get to work tomorrow, you walk in and they say, how you doing? Just tell them houses
00:44:24and husbands. I want you to go to Facebook right now and change your status. Still single, but
00:44:34waiting on, but I got another declaration. Are you ready? Just in case the husband don't come.
00:44:43God says, I'm going to put the house anointing on you. Oh, I wish I had about 500 women to say
00:44:49this house I live in. I bought it. This car I'm driving. I bought it. This purse I'm carrying. I
00:44:56bought it. When you call your mama tomorrow, cause you know, you normally call her when you get off
00:45:09work. She's going to say, Hey baby, how you doing? Say houses and husbands.
00:45:18How many y'all going out to eat? When you get out of church today,
00:45:20when you sit down at the table, they're going to say, how can I help you?
00:45:24You ain't got that on the menu. Get out of my face.
00:45:40So, so she says, it's time to get out of Moab and go back to Bethlehem. Tell your sister,
00:45:46we're going back to Bethlehem. She says, come on. They start walking.
00:45:53And she says, y'all can go back. And this was the first time that we see a split in the reaction.
00:46:01Because when she said, go back, bro, Orpah said, peace, deuces, I'm out. I ain't got time
00:46:13to be traveling all this, traveling with you. I'm going back. I'm going back. I'm going back.
00:46:19I'm going back. See, this is, this is something that I'm praying that God will do in your life,
00:46:25that he will cause people to abandon you who were not going to finish with you.
00:46:33This is why you're going to have to get over your abandonment issues,
00:46:38because in this season, abandonment is going to be a part of the plan.
00:46:41I'm asking God to cause the people who are not going with you to walk away.
00:46:49Just shout, say, Lord, let them walk away. If they ain't going all the way with me,
00:46:56let them walk away. If they don't mean me any good, let them walk away.
00:47:05How many of you like me can be guilty of maintaining relationships you don't even have?
00:47:12Pouring into and praying for and seeing after and looking after people
00:47:18who won't even blink at you when you need them.
00:47:24Maintaining relationships that you don't even have.
00:47:30Orpah went back, but I'm looking for the Ruth's in the room and online because Ruth said,
00:47:35I ain't built like her. I'm cut from a different cloth. So, let me tell you where I stand.
00:47:43Wherever you go, I'm going. Wherever you live, that's where I'm going to live.
00:47:53Whatever you worship, whoever your God is, it's going to be my God.
00:47:59Watch what she said. As she says, wherever you die,
00:48:02it's going to be my God. Watch what she said. As she says, wherever you die,
00:48:06that's where I'm going to die. Here's what my prayer is for your life.
00:48:09That God erases all of the plastic cosmetic relationships that you've had in your life
00:48:15so you can finally get to the place where you can be vulnerable and share and not have to worry
00:48:21about somebody walking out on you when you need them the most. If I'm talking to you, show me a sign.
00:48:32I'm in the book. Amos 3 and 3 says, how can two walk together
00:48:38except they agree? Your problem is that you're walking with somebody
00:48:48who's with you for convenience, not agreement.
00:48:56And they know if you arrive, they'll get something they didn't work for.
00:49:02God, right now, cut away the wheat
00:49:09from the tear because I don't have time in my life to be full off of empty calories.
00:49:16I need people in my life that are really for me.
00:49:22That's why the Bible says in 1 John, he says, if they went out from you,
00:49:26they were not with you for if they were with you, they would have remained.
00:49:30Do you know your life is never connected to anybody who left you?
00:49:38Just because somebody's been with you don't mean they were for you.
00:49:45I'm saying again, you're going to have to work on your abandonment issues
00:49:50because you're getting ready to walk into a season where people are going to walk away.
00:49:55And you can't be chasing
00:50:02what's walking away because if you turn around and chase what walks away, you are in the direct
00:50:06opposite direction of your destiny. I think you better let it go.
00:50:25Don't you move to Moab. Return to Bethlehem.
00:50:32And I'm asking God to give you the power and the stamina to stick with it.
00:50:41Somebody just look up towards heaven and say, Lord, give me the stamina to stick with it.
00:50:47Because this is what I, this is what I read in the text. The Bible says
00:50:50that they walked until they got to Bethlehem.
00:50:56But to be honest, how many of y'all have ever started reading a book but didn't
00:51:04finish? See, because it's easier to start a thing than it is to finish. They went,
00:51:13here's the word of the Lord. You got to go all the way. Because if you don't go all the way,
00:51:21you can't hold God liable for the promise you didn't get.
00:51:28The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He making me to lie down in green pastures. He
00:51:32leads me beside the still waters. If I don't let him lead me, then I can't cry about the valley
00:51:37of the shadow of death. And I can't fear evil because thou art not with me if I'm not going
00:51:42to follow him all the way. There's an old song that says, trying to make a hundred.
00:51:51Because 99 and a half won't do. Touch somebody and say, you got to go all the way.
00:51:58The Bible says that they went until they got to Bethlehem. Go to school until you're finished.
00:52:04Keep praying until something happens. Somebody shout an until spirit.
00:52:15Her husband is dead. Her two husbands, all of their husbands are dead. Her two sons are dead.
00:52:22Now, I want you to think about this. Can you imagine now that Orpah has gone back,
00:52:30what the conversation was like between Naomi and Ruth? This is what I imagine.
00:52:37One of them said, I ain't like her no way. Come on, sisters. Come on. Come here. Don't y'all.
00:52:46I knew something about the heifer from the first time I seen her. She,
00:52:49a stank attitude. She always was looking at people. I ain't like the way she chewed either.
00:52:53You know that? Come on now. Now, fellas, we different. Like I was telling the first service,
00:53:02I play golf with my buddy Ed here. We'll play golf and I'll get home and my wife will say,
00:53:08how's Ed doing? I'll be like, I think he's doing all right. She said, what do you mean?
00:53:18You didn't ask him?
00:53:23It ain't none of my business. If he wanted me to know he wasn't all right,
00:53:25he would have told me. What y'all talk about?
00:53:32Not that much, but golf. She said, you spent four and a half, five hours with somebody
00:53:38and you didn't ask them how they were doing? I said, well, I'll text him now and ask him
00:53:42how you're doing. If you want to know, because I know that if she spent five hours with Carla,
00:53:54they would have discussed the whole book of Psalms and Proverbs
00:53:58together. Cause, cause when women get together, it's going to start off like this.
00:54:05So I woke up this morning, brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, put on my eyelashes, girl,
00:54:09you know, that glue almost put my eye out. My edges won't lay down because this humidity,
00:54:13I'm so tired of this humidity. I'm so tired of it. I want to move somewhere. It's dry.
00:54:32Fellas, I mean, can I sleep at your house today, bro? I mean,
00:54:34my brother might need a place to stay.
00:54:40So can you imagine what Ruth and Naomi was talking about for 30 miles?
00:54:52Come on y'all. Come on now. 30 miles. And it ain't nobody, but them two.
00:54:57And this is when you couldn't be recorded for saying what you had to say.
00:55:01Oh, they talking about it. Good. I know I'm telling the truth. Cause I was, I was in the gym.
00:55:04We were in Virginia. I was preaching in Virginia on Friday and I went to the gym to work out and
00:55:09I went in and I saw a lady training another lady and, and they was talking and I was looking at
00:55:14them and it was real demonstrative, like, cause I had my headphones in, so I couldn't hear them.
00:55:19But I saw, I saw this. I said to my soul, I said to myself, I said, self, myself said, huh? I said,
00:55:27to my soul, I said to myself, I said, self, myself said, huh? I said, self, this look good.
00:55:31So we're going to do what any respectable person would do in the presence of an interesting
00:55:36conversation. Homie, I turned the volume all the way down. I didn't know what the
00:55:49temptations were saying. I turned it all the way down.
00:55:57Take it a little step further. Not only did I turn it all the way down, I took one of them out
00:56:06cause you know, that noise cancellation to have a brother
00:56:08took that headphone out and I mean, it was getting at it. The lady said, well, my brother,
00:56:20John lives in Florida and um, you know, they just had a hurricane and he just filed an insurance
00:56:27claim to get his roof fixed. I hope the insurance don't mess up the roof, but they went up to
00:56:32Sarasota to get away from it, but they coming back down. Do you know, I don't not like his
00:56:36wife. The first one I did like he had two kids by her. This is verbatim. I ain't no cap. This
00:56:40is the truth. He had two kids by this one. Now he got one by this one. I ain't like her. This
00:56:45one I tolerate. I said, dang, John was out here. Wow. All I'm saying is, can you imagine what the
00:56:56conversation was like
00:57:04when Oprah and Ruth decided to walk? I don't know what the conversation was about,
00:57:10but I do know what the concept was. We agree. We are going in the same direction.
00:57:20We are tired of the same thing and we are going to keep going until we get there. I got about
00:57:28three minutes left in this sermon, but I need you to find somebody you agree with
00:57:33and tell them we going to praise God until this sermon is over. I'm going to shout until I get
00:57:39to Bethlehem. Come on, find you a neighbor, say sister, find you a brother, say brother,
00:57:47come hail the high water. We're not going to stop until we get to Bethlehem. Watch this.
00:57:59What Naomi didn't really realize
00:58:03is that in her broken state, this is the only place where God can use you.
00:58:11I'm going to say it to this side. Just stay with me.
00:58:16The only state that God can use you in is the one we just
00:58:27broken.
00:58:30Let the weak say I'm strong. Let the poor say I'm rich. I got that, but
00:58:37his strength is only made perfect
00:58:42in your weakness. See, God had to break Adam's flesh to get Eve out of it.
00:58:52Yeah, I know he took two fish and five loaves, but he didn't feed the 5000 until he broke the bread.
00:58:59I know the woman with the alabaster box. She put the perfume on his feet,
00:59:05but we couldn't smell it until the.
00:59:12He can't use you
00:59:15until you're cracked.
00:59:19He can't use you until you're limping. Jesus himself could not become our savior until he was
00:59:26broken. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was
00:59:34bruised, broken for our iniquities. The chastisement piece was placed upon him and by his
00:59:41brokenness, we are healed. What I'm telling you is that that break was just the start.
00:59:53You thought he was using you when you were whole.
00:59:55Thank you. Now that you have broken
01:00:00yourself and you have let down your pride, now I can use you for my glory.
01:00:08All of the people who've ever been through a breaking,
01:00:13I want you to begin to worship the Lord in this place today.
01:00:21Tell three people to say I ain't going out like this.
01:00:25I ain't going out like this. I ain't going out like this.
01:00:29How many of you ever seen the movie Color Purple?
01:00:35Y'all remember when
01:00:38one day they found out that Celie was upset. They said, uh, what's Celie at?
01:00:47That little boy said, at home, fenced in the shade, mister. See, they knew mister was in trouble.
01:00:56Yeah, because Celie was about to leave Moab.
01:01:03She was about to go back to Bethlehem. She was about to go to the place before she was broken.
01:01:09She had finally got her mind back and she would say, you know what? I ain't going to take this.
01:01:17I'm moving out of Moab and I'm going back to Bethlehem. And until you do right
01:01:20by me, everything.
01:01:28Y'all remember when, when mister
01:01:33wanted Celie's sister, Nettie. Remember it was a scene that he was on his horse
01:01:44trying to get Nettie. Nettie was with her books. She was on her way to school.
01:01:48Now for the young folks, you might've missed all this, but y'all want you to hear me.
01:01:55There's a scene in the movie
01:01:58where mister decides, Nettie, because you won't move to Moab,
01:02:05you got to get out of my house. And he gets to dragging her by the ankles and she gets loose
01:02:13and she runs and she grabs a tree and she hugs the tree and he beats her hands off the tree and
01:02:20Nettie and Celie are hugging each other. And Nettie says, why? Why? Why? As she's backing up
01:02:35and he grabs her, takes her outside the gate and she's screaming, why? And
01:02:40Celie says to her sister, they are inseparable. She says, don't forget to write.
01:02:52And Nettie says one of the coldest lines in the whole movie.
01:02:57She says, nothing but death can keep me from it.
01:03:02When God has put something in you,
01:03:15don't let nothing
01:03:20keep you from it. Neither heights
01:03:24nor depths, not demons, nor angels,
01:03:36nor things present, nor things to come.
01:03:44Let nothing separate you from the love of God.
01:03:55If you're in this place today
01:04:06and you almost went out like that, I want you to meet me at this altar. You almost let the devil
01:04:11have you. You almost left Bethlehem and moved to Moab. You almost gave up on Christianity. You
01:04:21almost gave up on the church. You almost gave up on love. You almost gave up on hope. Come on to
01:04:25this altar because I'm about to pray for you. I'm about to pray for you. The Lord will perfect that
01:04:35concern.
01:04:40Hug somebody and tell them sooner or later.
01:04:45It's going to work in your favor.
01:04:51Say it with real conviction. It's turning around.
01:04:56Say it won't, it won't always be like this. I mean if you know the Lord will
01:05:09perfect that which concern you.
01:05:18Sooner or later it's going to turn in your favor.
01:05:29Say it's turning around. It's turning around.
01:05:34You see, when the enemy comes in like a flood,
01:05:43the Lord raises up a standard. My brother, a standard is a flag. So, you know when
01:05:51there's a war going on, wherever there's a flag, they raise it up to let the nation know
01:05:58that we're at war. When something dies, they lower the standard because we're in mourning.
01:06:05See, when you lower your standard, it's because you're mourning.
01:06:10When you raise that standard, it's because you're warring.
01:06:16I need you to listen to me. This isn't the time to mourn.
01:06:22This isn't the time to mourn. We got a war going on.
01:06:27Look at me. There's a war going on. Touch your neighbor and say there's a war going on.
01:06:34There's a war going on and it is being fought in high places. It's a spiritual wickedness
01:06:45that has taken over the body of Christ, has transmitigated and transformed our very faith
01:06:53in the Father himself. And now those of us who have power and authority are living each week,
01:07:02weekly because you won't access the divine power that has been placed in you since the day you
01:07:11were born. From your birth, you were created for nations. So I'm going to give you 60 seconds
01:07:21and I want you all to follow me on this because we got to put a certain energy in this atmosphere
01:07:29that's going to let the devil know that he should have killed us when he had the chance.
01:07:34Listen to me. The energy over the next 60 seconds that you are about to exude out of your spirit,
01:07:46I don't want you to do it just because you believe because I know everybody doesn't believe yet,
01:07:51but I want you to do it because you know that if God gets involved in your circumstance,
01:07:58he can override any doubt that you have. So if there's a family member, a financial situation,
01:08:05if there's anything that you need God to do something about, I want you to lift up your
01:08:11voice right now and I want you to begin to shebach the Lord. Come on Lighthouse. Come on online. I'm
01:08:16talking to you right now. Come on, open up your mouth. Come on and give them glory. Come on and
01:08:22give them glory. God's about to do a new thing. Come on, it's your turn now. I'm out of Moab and
01:08:30I'm back in Bethlehem and the Bible says at the end of the story that God brought the bread back
01:08:37to Bethlehem. I came to tell you God's about to give you back everything you lost. Come on, lift
01:08:43those hands and say God I'm ready for it. Give your neighbor a high five and say God's bringing
01:08:48back the bread. He's giving back the bread. He's bringing back the bread. He's bringing back the
01:08:52bread. Your joy is coming back. Your peace is coming back. Your finances are returning. Your
01:08:58confidence is returning. Come on, let the redeemed of the Lord say something.
01:09:06Come on, I can't hear nobody. I can't hear nobody. I said I can't hear nobody.
01:09:13I can't hear nobody. God is about to give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
01:09:20I come up against debauchery. I come up against witches. I come up against warlocks. I come up
01:09:27against soothsayers. I come up against the occult. I call on the name of Jesus and who the son has set
01:09:36free. The name of the Lord is the strong tower. Lord help this house today. The name of the
01:09:45Lord is a strong tower and the righteous shall run in and be safe. Now, I don't want you to
01:09:51wait until the battle is over. I want you to get victory in your mouth and begin to give God the
01:09:58glory. Hold on, hold on. Cut that music. I said give God the glory. Don't let the organ do it for
01:10:13you. The drums can't do it for you. The keyboard can't do it for you. The bongos can't do it for
01:10:22you. Your neighbor can't do it for you. You gotta praise him in advance because your miracle,
01:10:35your breakthrough, your deliverance is on the way.
01:10:44It's on the way.
01:10:50Let God arise. Come down, Holy Ghost. Come down, Holy Ghost. Come by here, good Lord.
01:11:06Come by here, good Lord. Somebody needs you, good Lord. Somebody needs you, good Lord.
01:11:14Somebody needs you, Lord. Somebody needs you, Lord.
01:11:28Now, on the count of three,
01:11:33if you're not by the person you were assigned to,
01:11:35find the person you're next to and grab them by the hand. And I want you to shout,
01:11:45don't stop until you get what God promised you. Don't stop shouting until you get what God promised you.
01:12:08Shout yeah!
01:12:27Something's about to happen in this room. I said something's about to happen in this room.
01:12:32I said something's about to happen in this room. Now let that hand go and say,
01:12:39Lord, it's just me and you right now. I won't let you go until you bless me, until you bless me.
01:13:01Now, shout yeah!
01:13:13Open up your mouth.
01:13:17Make hell nervous. This next shout is for my daughter. This next shout is for my son.
01:13:25One for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Ghost.
01:13:37Open your mouth for the last time and say, God, I believe, I believe, I believe,
01:13:52I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe.
01:14:10No weapon, no weapon, no disease, no weapon, no poverty,
01:14:19me. No weapon, no mental breakdown, no weapon. I have no reason to fear because the Lord
01:14:28is with me. Thou rod and thou stand.