You Are What’s Missing - Pastor Touré Roberts
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00:00:002nd Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 5. You therefore my son Paul speaking to
00:00:20Timothy his protege during a time when he is now locked up in chains he is to a
00:00:27certain degree passing the baton to one of his sons. He has no time for fanfare he
00:00:33has no time for cute little messages that the the season he knows later in
00:00:40this particular epistle he talks about how he's already being poured out as a
00:00:45drink offering. The time of his departure is drawing near so he is investing deep
00:00:52spiritual principles so that his spiritual son will be established and
00:00:59can continue the work. That's the context. He says you therefore you therefore my
00:01:06son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things you have
00:01:12heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful men who will be
00:01:18able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier
00:01:28of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the
00:01:37affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier and
00:01:46also if anyone competes in athletics he's not crowned unless he competes
00:01:55according to the rules. I just want to work through this thought this command
00:02:05this declaration concerning you here those who are watching via livestream
00:02:10you are what's missing. You. You. You. You. You are what's missing. Let's pray.
00:02:29Father I thank you so much for this opportunity to be your mouthpiece. I
00:02:35thank you God for this opportunity to be a channel of your love. Your love
00:02:42demonstrated through your continuous pursuit of your sons and daughters for
00:02:47the purpose of edification building us up causing us to be not only prepared
00:02:55for the days that are upon us and the days that come but that we also might be
00:03:00fruitful and multiply. This is your radical love for us. Now God you spoke to
00:03:06me there's no doubt and I thank you therefore that you've given me the
00:03:11spirit of wisdom and revelation and insight and knowledge and prophecy. I
00:03:16thank you for those who are in this room. Those who are watching via livestream
00:03:22those are in this moment that are going to be activated in a way that will not
00:03:28only literally save their life but will cause them to go from darkness to light
00:03:34and to amass a level of fruitfulness that they once couldn't even imagine.
00:03:39Therefore let the words of my mouth and a meditation of my heart be acceptable
00:03:46in your sight my Lord and my Redeemer. Do a great thing in this house and may it
00:03:51all be for your glory in Jesus name. Amen, amen, amen. God bless you please greet
00:03:58somebody as you as you take your seat. Thank you Jesus. You're going to see me
00:04:07be very intentional about sipping water as a minister because I'm trying to be
00:04:16smart. Recently we engaged a professional to to take care of our our
00:04:29throat our voice and I had never considered I guess singers do it all the
00:04:33time I had never really considered it which is probably a bit foolish because
00:04:38it's my instrument. Yes my mind but but but by osmosis I can't get this word to
00:04:48you and so if I sip it's not because I've run out of things to say it's
00:04:53because I'm trying to be intentional about taking care of myself because
00:04:57science teaches us how to do us better. Okay so the the message that I
00:05:09originally had was a message for sheep and God said I don't need you to talk to
00:05:17sheep today although we all are sheep and maybe we can expound upon that in a
00:05:23minute. He said I need you to speak to the shepherd in people. Now the truth of
00:05:29the matter is we are both sheep and shepherd. We are the sheep of his pasture
00:05:34so inwardly we are sheeps and even upwardly vertically we are the sheep of
00:05:41God but outwardly as it relates to how we engage the world and how we impact
00:05:48the world outwardly we are called to be shepherds. So he said I don't I don't I
00:05:55don't I don't want you to talk to sheep. I want you to talk to the shepherd in
00:06:01each of us. Do me a favor I just want you to say I'm a shepherd. You're a shepherd
00:06:06and and God needs the shepherd in you to be activated because the moment that we
00:06:16are in right now is calling for the expression of kingdom leadership like
00:06:23never before. Can I take my time and talk to you? This moment that we're in right
00:06:29now very much needs the expression of kingdom leadership that you possess.
00:06:39Bishop taught it about a month ago about about the collective expression of his
00:06:47essence so so we we carry something we we carry when we get aligned and we get
00:06:52certain things figured out we carry an expression of the glory of God that if
00:06:59we never become us we would deprive the earth and the world of that unique
00:07:06expression. And right now in this moment that we are in Dr. Russ the expression
00:07:15of kingdom leadership is necessary and vital because and I'm gonna talk really
00:07:25spiritually and I think that you'll catch it right now there is a strange
00:07:33silence in the earth. Let me break it down a bit. There's a strange it's not
00:07:41that there isn't a lot of noise because there is a lot of noise wars and rumors
00:07:48of wars the conflict in the Middle East and and all that's taking place there
00:07:54there is a lot of noise talk about the economy and certainly the election and
00:07:59all the place there's a lot of noise a whole bunch of noise but there is no
00:08:06prevailing sound. Oh stay with me you're gonna get it today. See there's a lot of
00:08:13noise a lot of opinions and and a lot of ideas and a lot of propaganda. Even in
00:08:25the church the pulpit is replacing preachers for pundits. Okay I'll move on
00:08:34maybe. So there's a lot of noise but no sound and so that is creating a deafening
00:08:48silence. Have you felt that? It seems like it ought to be loud but as a spiritual
00:08:53person it feels a bit silent. A noisy silence a deafening silence. Can we talk
00:09:07a little bit? And so this noise that that is coming from the earth and all that
00:09:14is taking place this this unharmonious sound this noise is sterile and impotent
00:09:22and it's creating a vacuum that I believe that only anointed kingdom people
00:09:30are able to fill. Can deep just call on to deep just just just for a second the
00:09:39noise that this this unharmonious noise that is taking place in the earth in the
00:09:47world right now has no ability to be fruitful and to multiply it's just noise
00:09:54because it takes an anointing. It takes a divine thing but not an opinion not a
00:10:06perspective but but it takes a divine grace to cause things to actually be
00:10:15fruitful and to multiply that's why if you're listening to the noise you'll be
00:10:20moved one way today and in another way the next way because there is nothing
00:10:25that is grounded in the bedrock of God and it's creating a vacuum. You take
00:10:45anything you listen to anything you try anything because there is a sound that
00:10:59is missing. It's a strange strange silence because there is a sound that is
00:11:12missing and I believe that there's another level of alignment that God's
00:11:19people have to step into in order to release the sound that is required to
00:11:29produce health and fruitfulness in our world. Science backs this up. I was
00:11:42reading an article about some research that was done by Flinders University and
00:11:53they did a study. I'm drinking my water but obviously not minding my business.
00:11:58There was some research done that I was studying by Flinders University and it
00:12:06reveals that, watch this, there are sounds in the soil. They discovered that the
00:12:16sounds of the soil can offer vital insights on the health of forests
00:12:22particularly in areas that are undergoing restoration. So there are certain parts of
00:12:26the world, I believe actually in Brazil, the Amazon, there's a lot of forest
00:12:29restoration and things that are going on and scientists have discovered, watch
00:12:33this, that healthy soil, this is crazy, healthy soil actually sings. When the
00:12:43soil is healthy so that it can be fruitful and abundant and multiply,
00:12:47scientists have studied, they've listened, and the soil sings. And conversely, soil
00:12:56that is in damaged habitats remains eerily silent. And so in some places where
00:13:08they are attempting to restore diseased forests and forests aren't going anywhere,
00:13:17they're now, scientists now are studying those sounds to attempt to reproduce
00:13:23those sounds to bring life to those dead areas. Just turn to your neighbor and say,
00:13:29sound is important. Right there in the soil, God in his infinite wisdom, he
00:13:37created everything through sound. A lot of the rabbis believe that God
00:13:43didn't just speak creation into being. A lot of the rabbis believe that God sang
00:13:47creation into being. So it wasn't just let there be, it was let there be. Are you
00:13:58tracking with me? Maybe that's why we're moved so much during the worship when
00:14:02God puts his hand on somebody and they begin to release sound. Like Jeffrey
00:14:09today, he was just, he was tapped into something and he began to release a
00:14:13sound and the atmosphere started changing. These acoustic signals linked to the
00:14:25rich, the richness of life below ground, scientists believe, could literally
00:14:32revolutionize how we assess the success of geological restoration efforts.
00:14:39It's crazy. And so, and so, so our sound is missing. We just came off of, I, can I
00:14:51take my time today, by the way? I am, I'm obviously not Jewish, but for the past
00:14:5812 years or so, I have noticed an alignment between the biblical holiday
00:15:05that the Jews celebrate, Rosh Hashanah and ultimately Yom Kippur and the
00:15:11Ten Days of Awe, which is, it's the biblical New Year and it's a time where
00:15:17those who, who practice it and follow it, go through this period called Ten Days
00:15:22of Awe. And the Ten Days of Awe is basically a resetting. It is a time of
00:15:31contemplation and fasting and, and, and repentance and going back to the word
00:15:39and, and remembering who you are, remembering who God is, and you come out
00:15:43on the tenth day of Yom Kippur, it's a day of atonement where you are aligned
00:15:48properly and that is how you step into the new year. And it's interesting that
00:15:53in this season where prophetically there is this silence, it fell right into the
00:16:02time of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur literally was Friday. And I believe that
00:16:09God has a way of using things to communicate to us when we are in a
00:16:18moment where it is prudent for us to pause, to reflect, to recalibrate, and to
00:16:26get into alignment so that we aren't doing an old thing in a new season.
00:16:33Are you tracking with me? And so when I think about this deafening silence that's
00:16:46taking place and, and I think it's silent because too many of us are distracted.
00:16:59This is a very, see the only problem, Bishop alluded to it earlier, the, the
00:17:03only problem with noise, particularly the, the level of noise that our world is
00:17:11experiencing right now, the problem with it is that it is very distracting and, and
00:17:19when you have distraction, this thing called dullness occurs. I feel the Holy
00:17:25Spirit. This is why silence is actually your friend because if you don't learn
00:17:34how to appreciate silence, then you are going to look up and you are going to be
00:17:41dull. Your act is not going to be as sharp as it once was and you will
00:17:47ultimately be ineffective. Watch this and what is more scary, soundless in a season
00:17:54when you're supposed to be releasing your sound. It's a very, very, very big
00:18:03deal. And so, so when we move in a distracted reality that brings us to
00:18:14this inevitable dullness that occurs, we forget who we are and more specifically,
00:18:26we forget that we are soldiers. Soldiers. I, I, I know I'm a Christian. I'm not gonna
00:18:39forget that. I, I know that I am a believer. I'm, I'm not gonna forget that, but I
00:18:48forget that my identity is more than just a Christian. It is more than just a
00:18:56believer. My identity is that of a soldier. Oh God. And this is what Paul is trying to
00:19:06remind Timothy of and what I believe the Spirit is aiming to remind us of
00:19:13today. Just turn to somebody and say, I'm a soldier. Fun fact, fun fact about me.
00:19:23Y'all learned a lot about me in the past 60 days. Fun fact about me is that my
00:19:30mother sent me to a private Christian school because, not only because of the
00:19:40fact she wanted me to get a good education, but, but I needed some
00:19:44attention, some special attention. Glory to God. And this particular private
00:19:52Christian school was a military school called the Southern California Military
00:19:58Academy. And, and the first couple of years that I was there, I stayed on
00:20:04campus, right? Mom, you know, she, I saw, I went home on the weekends, but during,
00:20:09during the week I was there and I lived in the barracks with all the other
00:20:14cadets. And early, every morning, Bishop Jakes, early in the morning, there would
00:20:24be this sound. Anybody know what a bugle call is? If you're not familiar with the
00:20:36bugle call, it is a sound unlike anything else. And no matter what you were dreaming
00:20:44about, no matter where you thought you were, this sound would alarm and awaken
00:20:55you to who you are. I want to hear what a bugle call sounds like.
00:21:14My military people, some of y'all snap to attention right there and just started,
00:21:29sir, yes, sir. But no matter what you had going on, when you heard that bugle call,
00:21:41it was an immediate reminder of the reality of who you are and what you're in.
00:21:49Are you tracking with me? So, so, so, so historically, bugles, drums, and other loud
00:21:59musical instruments were used for clear communication. Watch this, for clear
00:22:04communication in the midst of a noisy and confusing battlefield. And I believe in all
00:22:14of my heart, the Spirit right now is releasing a bugle call. Let's hear it.
00:22:34Yeah. And this bugle call is to awaken us to our true assignments and calling us to
00:23:01the kingdom battlefield. It's in the Spirit. So, let's look at 2 Timothy. So, Paul in 2 Timothy
00:23:15chapter 2 and verse 3, and I'll just read verse 3 to 5 and we're going to unpack some things and
00:23:21we'll move on. He says, first of all, you, I love this because Paul, he's talking to him,
00:23:27he's talking to Timothy, but he's talking to us. He's talking to you.
00:23:31Just, I know I've done this a few times and it might make you feel uncomfortable, but just do
00:23:34it again. Just say, he's talking to you. He's talking about you. He's talking, he's talking
00:23:37about you. He's talking about you. He says, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier
00:23:47of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in a warfare entangles themselves with the affairs of this
00:23:53life that he may please him who will list them as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in
00:23:58athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. Meaning that we don't
00:24:04get to decide what the rules of engagement are. This means that we're not soldiers based on our
00:24:16interpretation of what a soldier is or how a soldier should think and move. You can't just
00:24:24go out on the football field and do anything you want to do and just disrupt all the rules.
00:24:28Do it your way and win. That will actually get you kicked off the team. There is a way
00:24:38to be a soldier and Paul is trying to teach Timothy what that way looks like. Can we unpack it a bit?
00:24:47I love it. It says in order to, he talks about when he goes into verse five and also anyone who
00:24:52competes in athletic, he is not crowned. He is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
00:24:59In other words, in order to manifest our crown, the Bible says that we are kings and priests,
00:25:06which means that in the spirit we have a crown. And when this crown is squarely on our head
00:25:14because we have positioned ourselves properly, when the crown is squarely upon our head,
00:25:19when we receive our crown, there is an authority. Don't play with me. There is an authority that
00:25:27the very gates of hell themselves cannot prevail against. Some of you are getting overrun by the
00:25:32enemy because your crown is crooked. It's not squarely upon your head because you think you
00:25:39can put it on your head any kind of way, any old way, but there is a way to wear a crown.
00:25:44And I believe that that God is going to show us.
00:25:52See, it's not, I don't believe that God is going to give you any more authority
00:25:57because authority was given once and for all in Jesus Christ. If any man is in Christ,
00:26:03he is a new creation. It says we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
00:26:09This is our position. But what happens if we leave our position?
00:26:17He doesn't strap you to your seat.
00:26:23He doesn't force you into your seat. You have to take your seat. You have to lay hold of your seat.
00:26:32You have to square the crown on your head properly so that you can sit in your seat.
00:26:38And that's when you begin to open your mouth and demons start trembling. That's when you begin to
00:26:44pray and stuff starts happening. That's when you begin to move and miracle signs and wonders
00:26:50begin to follow you. It has to do with whether or not your crown is squarely upon your head.
00:26:58Where are the miracles? I hear God saying, where is your crown?
00:27:02Where is the breakthrough? I hear God saying, where is your crown?
00:27:06We used to wear, where I'm from, and I still do it every once in a while, a hat tilted to the side.
00:27:14Because that was my, oh you see the walk is still there too. It was part of, it was part of my
00:27:21expression, right? It's part of my expression and that works in the hood. That works in style,
00:27:27but it does not work in the kingdom. You have to put your crown on your head the way that God says,
00:27:36put your crown on your head. It can't be tilted to the side. It can't hang off the back. It's got
00:27:41to fit square on your head. And when it is fit square upon your head, you will walk in something
00:27:49different. You will open your mouth and you will decree a thing and it will be established.
00:27:56Where are my kings and priests at in God's house? Give God a shout if you are a king in God's house.
00:28:10I can't, I get your personal style. I get that. I get your personal, I want you to do you.
00:28:19But when it comes to that crown,
00:28:23you got to do certain things to wear that crown.
00:28:26Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.
00:28:32So the first thing we have to do in order to receive and wear this crown
00:28:41so that we can walk in our true identity and our kingship. So that the gates of hell
00:28:49can't prevail. So that all of a sudden we got keys that will open doors that no man can shut
00:28:56and keys that will shut doors that no man can open. See, it's already been given to us.
00:29:02We just have to posture ourselves in it.
00:29:07Number one, we must undergo hardship.
00:29:16Ain't, ain't, ain't, ain't no other way. I, ain't, I said ain't.
00:29:21Ain't, but that sometimes you just got to say it. Ain't no other way around it.
00:29:26There isn't another way.
00:29:33It, it, it, it is part, it, it, it is part of the process.
00:29:42That word soldier literally means warrior.
00:29:46It means warrior. And watch this, warriors, April are not born.
00:29:51We've got two Aprils, are not born, double portion, are not born. Warriors are not born, they're made.
00:30:02They're made. You ain't born, I don't care how tough you are. I don't care how strong you are.
00:30:08I don't care how, no, they're made. God knows this. He says, so, so you have to endure
00:30:15hardship. Now, that word, there's one Greek word that was used to, to, that was translated, rather,
00:30:33undergo or endure hardship. They're two words. And as I study those two words,
00:30:41they, the two words are not undergo and hardship.
00:30:47The undergo hardship is actually one word. It's one word, undergo hardship in the Greek
00:30:53is one word. The second word is with. So, there are two words when it says that you must endure
00:31:02hardship. There are two words that represent endure hardship, but those two words are not
00:31:10endure hardship. Those two words are one word is endure hardship. The other word is with.
00:31:18Meaning that, yes, indeed, we have to endure hardship. Notice it says endure it.
00:31:26Doesn't say it's going to defeat you. Doesn't say it's going to wipe you out. Doesn't say it's
00:31:29going to kill you. Doesn't say it's going to destroy you. You, we just have to endure it.
00:31:34We have to experience it. Our journey from soldier to warrior, our journey from believer
00:31:44to warrior is a journey of experiencing hardship as we are enduring it. There's something in the
00:31:54process of experiencing that hardship and it not killing you and at night, not wiping you out
00:32:02and it not destroying you. There's something in that process that develops you and causes you to
00:32:10come out as a warrior. So, so, so in other words, it only is going to happen because it has to
00:32:20in order for me to be me. When God says, before I formed you in the belly, before I formed you
00:32:29in your mother's womb, I knew you and I ordained you and I sanctified you. I set you apart to be
00:32:35all of these things in the beginning before you were you, he already knew the hardship
00:32:41that would be assigned to your life in very seasons. Watch this if need be
00:32:49so that you can be produced and developed into who he knew you were.
00:32:56So the same way, watch this blessings and miracles and restorations are assigned to your life. So
00:33:02is hardship. That is when God is blessing you spiritually. We struggle with recognizing the
00:33:09blessing of God because we think that the blessings of God are painless. We believe that
00:33:13all of the blessings and the miracles of God are painless. If it's pain, it has pain and it must
00:33:19not be a blessing. No, no, no, no, no, no. When God is blessing you spiritually, it has to be
00:33:24painful because it is a pruning process. I feel the Holy spirit of God. It is a pruning process
00:33:31to remove what is not you so that you can fully bloom. Are you hearing the words that are coming
00:33:36out of my mouth? I know it's not sexy. I know we don't like it. I know that that's not the good
00:33:40news, but it is good news. You know why? Because when God gets finished with what he is doing with
00:33:46you, when he gets finished with the pruning process, when he gets finished developing you,
00:33:52you are going to emerge with a new dimension of glory. You are going to emerge with a power,
00:33:59with a strength, with an anointing, with a grace that the gates of hell cannot stop.
00:34:06If you know I'm preaching the truth, holler at me in God's house real quick.
00:34:15Can we talk a little bit like Tevin Campbell? Can we talk? Can we talk? Can we talk about what
00:34:20greatness looks like? Can we talk about what it takes to be a warrior? Can we talk about what
00:34:25it takes to be you? It's not gonna be easy. I'm gonna tell you right now, it's going to be hard.
00:34:31Jesus said, in this life you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome
00:34:42the world. I've overcome the world. You're gonna have tribulation. It's gonna get tough.
00:34:51You're gonna have to endure some things, but remember how I said, it says endure hardship,
00:34:56but the other word is with. God is saying you're not gonna go through it by yourself.
00:35:01You're gonna be a good soldier of me. If you're a good soldier of me, then I'm gonna be a good
00:35:06general. I'm gonna be right there by your side. Oh, I feel the spirit of God in this place.
00:35:11Somebody needs to know that the Lord is with you. The Lord is your light and your salvation.
00:35:17Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art
00:35:27with me, with me. All I need to know, Lord, is that you are with me. I will go through
00:35:36whatever I have to go through. If you make me this one promise, that you will never leave me,
00:35:42nor forsake me, that you will never fail me, that you will be by my side every step of the way.
00:35:52Yeah, yeah, yeah. You gotta endure it, but you ain't gotta endure it alone. Hey, I'm not by
00:35:59myself. Even when I feel like I'm by myself, I'm not by myself. His eye is on the sparrow,
00:36:07so I know he's watching over me.
00:36:18Hey, soldier, you gotta endure hardship, soldier, but you can do it. You can do it,
00:36:25because I put something in you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I put something in you that can't even come out
00:36:31until your back is against the wall. I feel the Holy Ghost before I even let it come your way.
00:36:36I put something in you. Hey, I put something deep down on the inside of you, and when that fire
00:36:44comes, and that pressure comes, it will stand up. It'll stand up. There's a you in you that will
00:36:56stand up out of that martial blood. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a you in you that will stand up
00:37:02when that giant starts taunting you. There's a you in you that will stand up that says,
00:37:09I've seen this before. I don't understand it, even though I ain't never been in it.
00:37:15There's something familiar about this thing. I slayed the lion. I slayed the bear, and I will
00:37:22tear down this Goliath too. I wish I had about a thousand radical worship in God's house. Come on
00:37:29and worship God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's something in you that knows you got this.
00:37:41Do me a favor. High five somebody and say, you got this. You got this. You got this.
00:37:47You got this. You got this. You got this. He's a good God. He's a good Savior. I will never let
00:38:00you walk through the valley of the shadow of death by yourself. I will never let you go through it
00:38:07by yourself. I am not a deadbeat God. I will be with you every step of the way.
00:38:17Uh-huh. My rod and my staff, they will comfort you, and I will prepare a table
00:38:29right in the presence of your circumstance. I'll prepare a table that has bread on it,
00:38:36that has worship, paraphernalia on it. I'm gonna prepare a table right here,
00:38:43right now, and you're gonna eat, and you're gonna be full,
00:38:47and you're gonna be healed, and you're gonna get the strength that you need.
00:39:03I'm a good God. I won't turn my back on you. I won't run out on you when things get tough.
00:39:10That's what man does. Later on in that passage, it says even when we are faithless,
00:39:17God remains faithful because he cannot deny himself.
00:39:23I'm a faithful God. I'm a good king. I'm a good keeper.
00:39:28I'm a good sustainer. I'm a good way maker. I'm a good yoke breaker.
00:39:34And therefore, surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.
00:39:48Either it's goodness or it's mercy, and it's all good.
00:40:04It's all good. It's all good because you're a soldier. You're a soldier, and you're a warrior.
00:40:18You're a warrior. Break down that word soldier that was translated warrior even further,
00:40:26and it means that you are a camper, a camper out. I'm a camper.
00:40:34Which means that my circumstances do not change who I am. I'm Torei in the palace,
00:40:41and I'm Torei in the projects. I feel the Holy Ghost. I'm Torei in abundance, and I'm Torei in
00:40:47scarcity. I feel the Holy Ghost. I cannot be moved by circumstance because greater is he who is in me
00:40:57than he who is in the world. Are you hearing the words that are coming out of my mouth?
00:41:02I will make my camp anywhere for this. I know God is for me.
00:41:17I'm a camper. I'm built for all kind of conditions.
00:41:23I'm built for all kind of stuff. I'm not built simply for fair times.
00:41:32I'm not built for what is the appearance of prosperity. I recognize that God is either
00:41:38prospering me in a painless way or a painful way, but make no mistake about it. He has prospered me
00:41:45for I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
00:41:51I feel the Holy Ghost. If you are in a bruising season, a pruning season, God is saying,
00:41:57it's not going to harm you. It's not going to harm you. When you go through the fires,
00:42:01you will not be burned, and through the floods, it will not overflow you. You ain't drowning.
00:42:07You ain't drowning. You ain't drowning. You just got to put your feet down.
00:42:16You've heard it said before. There's some people,
00:42:20and they've drowned in three feet of water, and they're five feet tall.
00:42:27All they had to do was stand,
00:42:31stand, endure, and so we're talking about how to square your crown.
00:42:44You got to endure hardship, number one. Number two,
00:42:52we are in it, but we are never of it.
00:43:00So, we got to learn how to be in it,
00:43:07but not of it. We got to learn, our bishop said earlier, to engage it, but not become it,
00:43:17and that's why Paul goes on to say that no one engaged in warfare
00:43:26entangles himself, herself, themselves with the affairs of this life. Now, this is critical.
00:43:38This is critical. That word that was translated entangle is a Greek word. It literally means to
00:43:45intertwine, and the word picture there is to braid, okay? So, no one engaged in warfare,
00:43:55we're soldiers, we're engaged in warfare whether we like it or not, whether we want to or not,
00:43:59it is what it is. You don't, even if you don't want to be in a war, war is waged against you,
00:44:07against your thoughts, against your health, against your family, against your finances.
00:44:11You cannot be, you cannot want to be a soldier or warrior all you want to.
00:44:15That just means you're going to lay down and take it, and a thief comes to rob, to steal.
00:44:20That means you got something, you can't steal where there is no possession. So, you're in war,
00:44:28got to embrace it, and God has made provision by causing you to be a soldier, and through a
00:44:35development process, more than a soldier, ultimately a warrior. So, no one engaged in warfare
00:44:42entangles themselves with the affairs of this life. Interesting words. So, entangle again means to
00:44:50intertwine, to braid. Affairs is an interesting word. It literally means transaction.
00:44:58Sub thought there is negotiation. So, let's read it better. No one engaged in warfare joins, braids
00:45:07themselves, yeah, with or in the affairs, transactions, negotiations of this life.
00:45:19I was thinking about this. I'm like, God, talk to me more. If you think about the world system,
00:45:25the world system barters with temporal items and ideas. Oh, here we go. Yeah, yeah, the world system
00:45:37barters, negotiates with not eternal things, but temporal things, things that thieves can break in
00:45:45and steal. The things that you cannot build your life on. That's what, that's the affairs,
00:45:55the transactions, the negotiations, right? And so, we have to learn how to manage being in it,
00:46:05but not of it or braided into it. This is when you lose your sound.
00:46:14You lose your sound because you don't know how to stick and move.
00:46:23I am in it, but I am not of it. And it's okay to be in it because God put me in it.
00:46:30He said, do business until I return. So, I'm called to be in it, but not called to be
00:46:41of it. And that oftentimes, see, that's why you have to be prayed up and spiritual.
00:46:49I know we like natural messages, but you need deep spiritual messages because you're a spiritual
00:46:53being and you have to be spiritual in order to navigate the fine line of demarcation between
00:47:01being in it and of it. How can I be in it, but not of it? That means that I have to be so fortified,
00:47:07Jalen, in who I am in God and who I am in the spirit and my values and my prayer life. I am
00:47:14so fortified that although I am doing business in it, the business is not getting in me.
00:47:24You can't be a cute Christian and make this happen
00:47:28because you will look up and you will be intertwined. You will be braided into it.
00:47:36Watch this and lose yourself because when two or three strands together,
00:47:42come together and braid it, it becomes one strand. And now you have to try to figure out,
00:47:48even when you are taking braids out and let's just, and see, I'm not a hairstylist. I'm out
00:47:53of my zone, but let's just go with it. So when you are taking out, let's just say you applied
00:47:58some hair to it. You have to be careful. I've got kids and they had braids and you had to apply
00:48:04some hair and I have to be careful when I take the braids out and when I begin to cut, not to
00:48:08cut their natural hair because it has been so interwoven into the braid that it requires a
00:48:16level of sophistication to get her free. So I have to be spiritually disciplined enough
00:48:29to know how to be in it, but not to be of it and to be braided into it. Are we tracking?
00:48:39So, so, so, and when I say you not being braided into it, you have to work in it. You have to do
00:48:45business in it, but you don't allow your essence, who you are, your values, your focus, your spirit.
00:48:52My spirit is never in any of my financial deals. No matter how lucrative, how wonderful, my spirit
00:49:00is never in it. My business head is in it. My strategy is in it, but my spirit is not in it
00:49:06because I can't put my spirit into anything that is passing away.
00:49:14I use my spirit to make decisions, but I do not involve my spirit in the deal
00:49:22because if the deal goes down, I can't go down. I have to have a line of demarcation.
00:49:27And are we tracking? So number two, you got to be in it,
00:49:38not of it. I was, when I was meditating on that, we're getting there.
00:49:421 John 2 19 popped out and it didn't seem like it made sense, but I'm going to speak it. Maybe
00:49:46somebody will catch it. But 1 John 2 19 says, it talks about how they went out from us
00:49:52because they were not of us. For had they been of us, they would have continued with us,
00:50:01but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. And I was
00:50:10looking at that and there's two ways to look at that. One way is the way that we normally look
00:50:16at it, right? There's some people that have left you because they weren't of you. They weren't for
00:50:21you. And, and, and just a little, little caveat, a little note of wisdom. Don't chase nobody who
00:50:26leaves you because sometimes the Lord is delivering you from someone who ain't you.
00:50:33They have to be manifest that they are not of you. So let them.
00:50:40It says that it might be manifest when you, when you start getting close to the moment where you
00:50:55have to step into the fullness of who you are. That means that you're walking into new dimensions
00:51:03and levels of glory. When you start walking into new dimensions and levels of glory,
00:51:10glory manifest what ain't glory. If you put glory next to something that ain't glory,
00:51:19it's going to be obvious that that fake glory wasn't glory at all. And the brightness of the
00:51:25glory begins to push away from you that which ain't you. So in this season, soldier,
00:51:40when God begins to manifest the spies and the traitors,
00:51:47see, see Judas had to do what he had to do. He didn't change. He never was.
00:51:58And who he was had to be manifest. Jesus released him. He said, man, go on. That what you do,
00:52:04go and do it quickly. And if Jesus had gone after Judas, trying to bring him back, oh Judas,
00:52:14please, man, we've got all this history together. Judas, come on Judas. I just see sometimes your
00:52:19heart, your big old heart. And I'm glad you have a big, I have a big heart too.
00:52:27Now, since I know I have a big heart, I put safeguards around me. I'll put some people
00:52:35that are ruthless in the most Holy way around me, because I know they will cut some daddy
00:52:42that I will not cut. So I put my killers on the front line because my heart is too big.
00:52:53I know my 600 part of my 600. I have to strategically manage my life in such a way
00:53:01where I put strength, where my weaknesses are.
00:53:05I can't sell books, but Jan Miller can. And you talk about a ruthless business person
00:53:13in the most Holy way. I need people like that around me to buffer me, to buffer me from me.
00:53:25I'm too nice. My wife is a killer. She'd be like, baby, you need to cut that thing off.
00:53:36I digress. It has two meanings. One is kind of what we know and what we discuss.
00:53:45But the other meaning is there might be some of you and you have been pretending too long
00:53:53in some environments. You know that you are not who you're pretending to be
00:54:01for the sake of company and to avoid loneliness. You know that you have to become
00:54:10somebody else in order to stay in that click, in order to stay in that thing,
00:54:15in order to stay in it. You know, if you're honest,
00:54:20that you're not of that. And it's time for you to make a decision to come out of it
00:54:30because the world is waiting for your sound and you cannot release your sound
00:54:40while you're still pretending. Let that marinate.
00:54:47Feel the Holy ghost. Now is not a time to compromise you. Not now.
00:55:01Because you are what's missing. The real you. So one, we're almost done here.
00:55:11We must undergo hardship. Two, we have to be in it, but never of it. Three,
00:55:18this is so important. Never forget who enlisted you.
00:55:22A word enlist, if you study that word, it literally means to gather or to select as a
00:55:28warrior. There's an interesting Greek word I may break down there,
00:55:31but John 15, 16 came to me as I was thinking about this. Jesus said, you did not choose me.
00:55:41This was not your doing. You did not make yourself a soldier. You're not in this building
00:55:50you're not in this building or watching via live stream because you enlisted yourself.
00:55:58Jesus says, you didn't choose me. I chose you.
00:56:07And I, watch this, appointed you. I ordained you. I ordained you. You didn't choose me. I chose you.
00:56:14I ordained, I appointed you, watch this, that you should go and bear fruit
00:56:24and bear fruit. I'm not calling you to do what you do not have the ability to do.
00:56:33In my calling, if you go into what I've called, I've called you to, you will be fruitful
00:56:42and multiply. That's how, you know, oftentimes whether you are where you're supposed to be
00:56:49or doing where you're supposed, is there fruit? You got to learn to be a fruit inspector.
00:56:57Now, sometimes you're in a season where you are taking root downward
00:57:02in order to ultimately bear fruit upward. Sometimes you are in a season like that. I
00:57:08understood that's when you're being developed on the inside, but after a while you should be
00:57:15bearing fruit. If you are moving and what God has called and chosen you for,
00:57:22it will work. You have not chosen me, but I chose you and I ordained you. I appointed
00:57:28you that you should go and bear fruit. I love this and that your fruit
00:57:32should remain. Not only that, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you. See,
00:57:41that's what I'm talking about when you have that crown squarely on your head.
00:57:47You're going to be fruitful and you're going to have access to the Father to manifest everything
00:57:56everything that you need, not only to bear fruit, but to remain fruitful.
00:58:05Are we tracking? So, you got to remember who enlisted you, right? And that word, if you,
00:58:13so the word that I was talking about is the Greek word, stradalogeo,
00:58:18and it's a couple of words. One is stratus, right? So, enlisted, you've been enlisted.
00:58:22Stratus literally means camp, army. From a figurative perspective, it means the angels
00:58:29and celestial luminaries, or you know, the Bible talks about the Lord of hosts, and we're talking
00:58:36about the host of the armies of the living God. So, you are not, you have not been enlisted
00:58:44into an earthly army. You have been enlisted into a heavenly army, which means that your backup is
00:58:56on a whole nother level. I wish I had time to really give you everything that the Holy Spirit
00:59:00gave me. Your backup is on a whole nother level. You remember when Joshua was leading the children
00:59:07of Israel into battle? You remember that? And he was going, and he was conquering stuff,
00:59:13and he had his, you know, his sword, and he came upon this being. He thought it was a man,
00:59:19and Joshua was like, hey, are you with us or against us? And this being said, neither.
00:59:31He says, no. He says, neither. He says, I am the captain of the army.
00:59:41There's so much revelation here. I am the captain of the army of the host of the living God. Watch
00:59:48this. Notice that he was stationed in the land that Joshua was getting ready to take. I feel
00:59:55the Holy Ghost. I hear God saying that I'm calling you to be a soldier into a heavenly army,
01:00:02and I already have my divine troops in place. Hallelujah. And as long as you are about my
01:00:09business, heaven is going to back you up. Heaven has already gone ahead of you to make your crooked
01:00:17paths straight. I need about a hundred people that are facing a difficult command from God
01:00:23to stand on your feet and give God a roar for the host of heaven that's got your back.
01:00:34Hallelujah. I'm not by myself. Hey, I'm a part of the camp of the risen Savior.
01:00:44There's a host that got my back. I feel the Spirit of the Lord. There's nothing you can't do.
01:01:03Yeah. Stratos is in there. That's also where we get the word strategy from.
01:01:09God's got a strategy. He's got a multi-layered, multi-dimensional strategy. That means that
01:01:16God has got a level for every devil that you face. I feel the Holy Ghost, the host of heaven.
01:01:23Ooh, mighty angels. Mighty. I feel God. Some of you are called to massive things.
01:01:31And God is saying, I've got levels of protection. I've got layers of warfare. I've got layers.
01:01:40You're not by yourself. No wonder God calls you to do tremendous things. He's got tremendous
01:01:50hosts. Layers, layers, layers, layers, and levels, layers. If you knew what was for you,
01:02:01if you knew what was backing you up, if you knew what was on your side, you would never doubt.
01:02:08You would never hesitate. You would never procrastinate. You would run into the battle
01:02:13like King David. Praise God with me in this house.
01:02:16Because I got to go. Because He enlisted you into His camp.
01:02:35What camp are you in? I'm in the King's camp. I'm in the camp of the holiest of holies. I'm
01:02:41in the camp of Adonai Zvaot, the Lord of hosts. I'm in the camp of Elohim. I'm in the camp of El
01:02:48Shaddai. I'm in the camp of Jehovah Jireh. I'm in the camp of Jehovah Shalom. I'm in the camp of
01:02:55the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I'm in the camp of the Alpha and the Omega. I'm in the
01:03:01camp of the beginning and the end. Next time somebody asks you what camp you're in,
01:03:11you let them know. You let them know I'm in the King's camp, baby. Heaven and earth will pass
01:03:18away, but the King's camp will stand. In fact, the kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms
01:03:25of His Lord. I'm in the winning camp. That's what camp I'm in.
01:03:38Ask of me and I'll give you the nations for your inheritance. Hear God saying for some of you,
01:03:46your prayers are too small. If you knew what was backing you up, you would pray for crazy things.
01:03:53You would pray for cities and nations and communities.
01:04:07Never forget who enlisted you and what even enlisted you too. Are you tracking with me?
01:04:15I gotta land this plane in a minute. One more. You gotta know your place in the army.
01:04:20You gotta know your place in the army. We're all in the same army, but not everyone has the same role,
01:04:31position, function, and assignment. Everybody is called to pray,
01:04:39but some people have an anointing for intercession.
01:04:43And let me tell you something, nothing moves without intercession.
01:04:47I said it before, I'll say it again. What you don't cover in prayer, you forfeit.
01:04:53There are certain things you ain't got a right to unless you pray for it.
01:04:56Are you tracking with me? I cover my family every single day. I cover my bishop. I cover this church
01:05:01every single day. You and your families, bishop, first lady, pastor Sarah, we cover you every single
01:05:15day. You just know that there's intercession, real intercession, because we love you and you
01:05:21are our responsibility and we're for you and we go to war for you. Paul talked about that later
01:05:30in the scripture. He says, I suffer things for the elect's sake.
01:05:36Saved, I'm good, but there's an assignment and we are not slack when it comes to intercession.
01:05:43So the point that I'm making is, you got to know your place in the army.
01:05:48Got to know your place in the army, right? Some of you are plants in the marketplace.
01:05:57You're plants in the marketplace. God put you there. God has given you favor there.
01:06:01He's given you access there and he's given you, watch this, stewardship over resources in the
01:06:07marketplace and decisions and decisions. Some of the people that we're doing business with
01:06:15are kingdom people and God has put them in place and they're channeling resources
01:06:21into the kingdom, making decisions. They're not fearful. They're esters.
01:06:30They realize that they're placed in that position for such a time as now.
01:06:37Others are called to the church. You're literally called to the church to enhance
01:06:49the services of the church toward the city, toward families, and towards communities
01:06:56for outreach and soul winnings. Some of you have technical skills
01:07:02and you're sitting in your pews and we're trying to do a better job of getting you plugged in.
01:07:12That's why at the end of service, we put that QR code up there so that you can be grafted in
01:07:17because your place in the army for some of you, for many of you, some is the marketplace,
01:07:23but many of you is to church. This is our, as it relates to who we are, our spiritual Mecca.
01:07:33And God is attracting the best and the brightest because he is giving us so much influence.
01:07:41It's from God. So you can't just sit. You have to get plugged in.
01:07:50You can't just sit and eat. If I sit and eat and never exercise, I'll get fat and die.
01:07:57I have to burn some of that energy every week. Energy. Boom. Holy ghost. Boom, boom, boom, boom,
01:08:05boom, boom. But if I don't serve, I just get bloated.
01:08:13Others are called
01:08:17to fight with their money. Literally called to fight with their money.
01:08:25Called to fight with their money. I'm gonna show you something real quick.
01:08:29First Timothy six and 17, it says, command those who are rich in this present age, not to be haughty.
01:08:37Man, one of my vendors, we had a heart to heart conversation. He was honest with me. He's like,
01:08:43man, you know, I thank God, God has blessed me. And he was upset because he was like, man,
01:08:51there's two types of wealthy people. I said, what do you mean? He's like, man, there's people who,
01:08:57and they're just haughty and they're high mind. They treat you bad.
01:09:00He said, and then there are people like you who are humble and you see people and you,
01:09:06you, you love people and you, you're generous. And
01:09:12now I could levels to wealth. So don't get a twist and don't be asking to borrow nothing from me.
01:09:17It levels to it. But from where I've come from,
01:09:21he says, command those who are rich in this present age, don't be haughty,
01:09:25not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
01:09:33It says, let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, ready to give.
01:09:42Ready to give, ready to give. I understand it. I understand why we have it is to give,
01:09:50not to hoard it, but to find places to release it. God wants to bless you in such a way that
01:09:56your biggest problem is not going to be amassing money. It is where to channel it.
01:10:01I prophesy that over you right now, as your heart is right. And you are a seeker first of the kingdom
01:10:07of God and his righteousness. I prophesy and decree right now, you're watching via live stream.
01:10:12I prophesy and decree right now that God is going to bring you into abundance
01:10:16because he trusts you. He knows that you will not be a hoarder. You will be a good steward
01:10:22because you realize that naked you came in and naked you're going out and you're going
01:10:27to be graded on every dollar. Abundance be your portion.
01:10:37He says that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves
01:10:42a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. There's
01:10:46going to come a moment where the only thing that's going to matter is not your net worth,
01:10:52your neck worth, your waist size, your degrees. I promise you like a thief in the night,
01:11:03none of that will matter. The only thing that will matter is did I have a good relationship
01:11:08with Jesus? Was I a good steward over the resources that God put into my life?
01:11:12Did I bless somebody? When people were naked, did I feed them? When they were hungry, did I feed?
01:11:17When they were naked, did I close them? When they were in prison, did I visit them?
01:11:23And that's what we as a community try to model. But as an individual, you have to model that too.
01:11:31So you got to know your place in the army. And when everyone does their part,
01:11:38when everyone does their part, it produces a divinely harmonious sound
01:11:45that brings alignment to the earth, that produces health and abundance
01:11:55in every good thing among those he is saving.
01:12:04I want to pray for some people.
01:12:05I want to pray for some people.
01:12:10You are what's missing. That silence, that intimacy, because it shouldn't be silent,
01:12:16it should be noisy because everything is going on. But that silence is because your voice,
01:12:25maybe your audible voice, but your expression is a voice. You are a sound.
01:12:30Your love for people is a sound.
01:12:35Your generous spirit is a sound. Your compassion is a sound. Your wisdom and your brilliance
01:12:44is a sound. And God will multiply it, and God will magnify it, and the world needs it.
01:12:54I wrestled. It was so frustrating. I had this thing that I was going to do, this word, and God
01:13:00said, that's not it. It's not that it's a bad word. He said, it's a good word. It's just not a God word.
01:13:09It's a good word, but it's not a God word. What's the difference?
01:13:14A God word is the word that God is saying right now.
01:13:18A good word is something that He has said in the past, or maybe saying later, it's about timing.
01:13:26And I felt what I was preparing to share was outside of timing, but that this is in the timing
01:13:35of the Lord.