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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. We're gonna be in Second Chronicles, chapter nine and verse one. And I'm going to step on a few landmines today. And if you're in the room and you can say amen, say Amen. And if you can't say Amen, say ooh me. Now. When the Queen of Sheba. Jesus called this woman the Queen of the south, she happened to be a very, very powerful woman of color. She was celebrated for her beauty, her discernment, her independence, and her wit. Josephus said that she was the queen of both Egypt, Ethiopia. Others say that she was a ruler of a pre Aksumite Ethiopian kingdom named Punt. Others say that she ruled from Saba. It was a kingdom actually in Yemen that reached across the Red Sea to modern day Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia. But whatever the actual location of her throne, we're about to see that a real queen doesn't have an attitude. She just has standards. And don't confuse the two. Any queens in the room? When the queen heard of the fame of Solomon, there's nothing wrong with being famous as long as you use your fame for good. And wouldn't it be great today if kingdom church leaders operated with such excellence, such discipline, that secular powers came in and paid attention and took notice of what we were doing. She came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. I love this verse because I think it really points something out. At times I feel like a woman's whole role in life is to test a brother. Not that one, of course, but every other. It is said that a woman's loyalty is tested when her man has nothing. And a man's loyalty is tested when his woman gives him everything. All right, you're in the room. The latter is why the queen had to verify some things first. She didn't ask easy questions like, do you work out McDonald's or Burger King? What's your favorite movie? Mm, mm. She came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. So she was like, oh, King, before we go any further, tell me what you're credit score is. Oh, Solomon, do you have a five year plan? Are you willing to work? Can you hold a job, Solomon? Can you wait, oh King, is one woman enough? Or how about this one? Do you hit? Sometimes asking the right question is half of the problem solved. You're in the room, some of you are like, I Don't know what to do with this particular message. You ain't doing good until this Sunday, Bishop. She came having a very great retinue. This was a woman with accomplishments, a woman with friends, a woman with her own relationships. You know, the old folks used to say, I could tell you where you're going by the books you're reading and the people you hang around. And I think they were onto something. Because God's blessings will often force you to change your circle of friends. You will never soar like an eagle insisting on hanging around with turkeys. She had camels that bore spices, gold, gold in abundance, and precious stones. And what we see from the outset is this woman had her own. She was comfortable being her own type of beautiful. And you gotta learn to be comfortable in your own skin. I'm of the conviction that confidence is the best makeup any woman could wear. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. And young ladies, this is important. If you can't talk to your man about what's going on in your heart, he's not your king, simply say it again. If you can't talk to a man about what is happening and really going on in your heart, he's not really your king. Open and honest communication is the lifeblood of any lasting relationship. So Solomon answered all her questions. So, ladies, if you can't ask him certain questions, it's a sign. Run. There was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. You see, a queen gets bored with a guy that she must do all this explaining to. You gotta bring something to the table. Yeah. Learn your Bible, read a book, listen to a good podcast every now and then. All I'm trying to do is help you out. I ain't putting you down. I'm just trying to help a brother out. And when the Queen of Sheba watch this. Had seen, Solomon didn't just talk about it, he let her see it. See men in the room. Listen, I'm not picking on you. We're all in different stages in life, but no matter where you are, you can let her see a little something. When I met my wife over 30 years ago, I was a broken, struggling minister trying to figure it all out. But I still had enough street sense to wrap a hundred dollar bill around all my ones and stick them in my money clip. She didn't know it was part of my rent money, but I wasn't going to let my temporary condition cause her to misread my future. When the Queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom, didn't just hear it, she saw it of Solomon. Real wisdom produces results. Real wisdom can be seen. We all have friends, you know, who knows everything but accomplishes absolutely nothing. Stop letting people run your lives who can't run their own lives. The proof of the pudding's in the tasting. I'd rather see something once than hear it a thousand times. You are what you do, not what you say you'll do. She saw the house that he had built. The food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel. So what we see here is this man had his own place. He had food in the fridge. He was wearing clean clothes, his grass was cut, his light bit was paid. And he surrounded himself with people doing things in life. And then it says something else. Key. And it's entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord. So on top of all of this, his house was connected to the Lord's house. So what we see here, we have a brother with a job. How many will say amen to that? Now, every now and then, we go through some things, and God will get you another job. But there was a brother with a job. He was surrounded by good people. He went to church. But watch this. And he liked women. See, y'all scared to clap. I said, he liked women. She saw that. She almost passed out. Scripture says this. There was no more spirit in her. She was like, whoa. Then she said to the king, it was a true report, which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Okay, let me clean something out. I like a woman. Not women. Plural. All right. Thank you. Yes. I have to go home, too. Well, she said, you know, it was a true report. All that I heard in my land. And about your words and your wisdom, when your actions don't live up to your words, you have nothing to say. But when your actions match your words, you've already said everything. And this was the case with Solomon. But watch the wisdom of this woman. She was not gullible. She was not silly. She says, however, I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And, ladies, stop being so colorful. Don't believe everything the joker says. Let him show you. You'll figure out what to do with this message by the time we're done. And indeed, half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. Meeting expectations is good, but exceeding expectations is where greatness comes from many of us are struggling in life because we were raised with do the bare minimum mentality. But Jesus wrote he had these scriptures recorded so he could drill in an extra mile mentality. And he did it for our own good. If a man compels you to go one, go two. If you're just trying to do the bare minimum, you'll never be great. The best you'll ever be is average. But when you begin to exceed the expectations of your boss, of your husband, your wife, your children, your church members, that's when you step into something extraordinary. He said you exceed the fame of which I heard and this is the way my God is. Because the Bible says unto him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think. Now if a mortal king like Solomon, who later goes sideways, he has about a thousand wives, so many concubines, we start losing numbers, you know, I don't even remember. Might have been 800 wives and a thousand, I don't remember. But it was just a whole bunch of them. I don't know, I. One woman, that's enough. I don't know how he did it, but he did it somehow. But if a mortal king could exceed expectations, how much the one the Bible says is the king. Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God who specializes in above and beyond. Happy are your men and happy are your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. Now, if there was a joy in serving this man or this King Solomon, how much must it be the case? Or ought it be the case? Or should it be the case for the one that said about himself, indeed, greater than Solomon is here. That's what Jesus said about a king greater than Solomon is here. And if they were happy with this joker, how much more happy should we be if we're serving the almighty, living and true God? Now watch what else the queen says. Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you setting you on his throne to be king for the Lord your God. Because your God loved Israel to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them to do justice and earn righteousness. Now in that little statement there, we see the heart of God. And actually he says this expressly both in the New and the Old Testament. God wants to bless us so much that the world has to take notice and give him glory. That's why he. Yeah, he said, let your light so shine before men so they can honor your father. God wants to do things in our lives that will bring glory to God, not just shame to God, average. Everybody can do average. God wants to do extraordinary, exceptional in our lives if we will let him such that only he can get the glory. And she gave the king 120 talents of gold. Now, most of us would think that it's a mistake for a woman to ever give a man that much. But it's never a mistake if your man is really a king. Why? Because a real king will never let a queen outdo him. A real king is like, well, you give me this. Oh, I gotta give you that. A real man is wired like that. You know, women just seem to be giving because maybe they're wiser, smarter. I don't know what it is, but God gave men egos and that. See, no, no, that ego is a gift from God. Jesus would walk around the crowds and say, I am the way, the truth and the. Yeah. And the life. Yeah. You see that 200 foot door in the temple? I am the door. I am the good shepherd. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not talking about bragging. I'm talking about acknowledging who you are, embracing who you are. And God placed ego in us for a reason. And women, they tend to often be a little bit more giving. So God put an ego in a man and say, well, I'm not going to let you beat me at giving. Real men are wired that way. Then it says, spices in great abundance. Notice it was only after she tested him and saw that he was for real that she gave up her spices. Ladies, do not give up your spices so quickly and so easily. And precious stones. You see, a healthy woman wants to give back to a man that helps her solve her problems instead of a man just bringing her constant problems. Then watch this next statement. There never were any spices such as those the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Men, you want more spice in your life? Keep answering the hard questions and solving her hard problems. Also the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold for Ephraim. What's about to happen is it got contagious. What she did was so overwhelming, it impacted everyone watching brought algum wood and precious stones. Her generosity inspired people. And no act of kindness, no matter how small, when it's given to our king is ever wasted. But watch what Solomon did with his resources. I'm almost there. So the king took all these resources that was given him and he made walkways. Now we see that he actually, when you read the text, they have problems translating this term here. So it probably speaks of steps and railing and, and some ornaments that he used there because there was already. His house was already connected to the Lord's house. But when she brought that extra, he began to improve both his house and the Lord's house. And the king made walkways, steps and railings of algum wood, which is very costly wood for the house of the Lord and for the king's house. See, God has no problem with you improving your house if you're committing to improving God's house. See, I want to ask folks, sometimes, how is it that you're okay? You know, once or twice a year, you know, every couple years. I don't know how often you do it, but you invest thousands of dollars into the Bellagio, the MGM grand, the Luxor. You know how expensive those rooms are. You'll save up for a year, two years to go stay in those places. But anything over $250 in the house of God is too much. It's over the top. It's controversial. Also harps and stringed instruments for singers. So the blessing that was brought to him through the Queen of Sheba as well as the servants of Hiram, he blessed his house and the house of the Lord. So Solomon used those resources to make sure that God's house had the best instruments, had the best sound system available at that time. And there was none such as these seen before in the land of Judah. So what I want you to see is the queen of Sheba brought out the best in. In Solomon. And that's a real queen will bring out the best in you. Not the fool in you. Not the dumb in you. Not the stupid in you. She will bring out the best in you. And actually, this queen caused his rulership to go to an entirely new level, a level that had never been seen before. But it was because of what this queen did that brought it out of Solomon. Now watch. King. The king's response here. This is important. Now, King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba. Watch this. All she desired. As I said earlier, this is, man code 101. A real king will not let a queen outdo him. There is nothing more satisfying to a man than. Than knowing the woman he loves most is satisfied and her needs are met and she's doing all right. And her hat ain't on sideways and her wig ain't on. They know that there's something that rise up on the inside. I said, I'm doing that. I'm doing that. Look at that. Walk across. I'm doing that. You hear what I'm saying? There's something. And God placed that in you. The Bible says in the book of. I guess I got too real. Cause y'all scared. Now. I'm gonna talk to this side of the room. The book of Proverbs says a wife is a husband's crown. I don't judge a man by what he look like. I judge him by what his wife look like. Okay? I don't care how much money he makes. I don't care how fast he can run, how high he can jump. If that woman is dizzy, confused, and all messed up, I know it's because of him. See, now y'all mad. But fruit don't fall far from the tree. I don't care how well you preach. I. I know lots of preachers. They're great preachers. But I look at the woman, and after looking, I was like, you ain't got nothing to say to me, brother. I don't care what scripture you memorize. I don't care how big your church is, you ain't got nothing to say to me. King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all she desired. Watch this. Whatever. No restrictions. She asks. You know, when you see, in the Bible, Jesus said, you know, whatsoever you desire, when you pray to others, those whatsoever. Those are kingly statements. Only God and an ultimate king can fulfill. Whatsoever whosoever. You know, whensoever. Types of statements. But whatsoever. She what asks. So if you want to take the lid off your marriage, the lid off your relationship, stop. Focus more on your giving than your receiving. He gave her all that she desired, whatever she asked. You see, there was a code in this time of history, you know, amongst the kings. A king's glory was not only reflected in the gifts he received, and it mattered. You didn't just give a king minor gifts. That's why I don't come before the Lord empty handed. I never come into service with nothing to give the Lord because he's my king. Remember when the wise men came? You know, they didn't come just say, oh, I hear there's going to be a king born. And then salute and walk away. No, they bore gifts because. And since he was going to be the greatest king that the world had ever seen, you know, there was a great magnitude of gifts that these very, very powerful and rich magi brought to him. But a king's glory is not reflected in the gifts he receives, but the gifts he gives. That's why the Bible says when he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. Because, thank God, when we worship him, we give him gifts. When we. But God will Not be outdone. He will never let you worship him more than he responds and blesses you for the worship. He will not let it happen just like. Like he puts it into a man. I will not let my wife outdo me. The Bible calls us the bride of Christ. God will not let anyone, any person in the church ever outdo him. You will never be God. Giving, loving. You will never, ever do it. You just can't. King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked. Watch this. Much more. Many of us, our image of God is almost demonic. We think God's the devil. The devil is a pimp. He will. He will extract, he will take, and he will leave you for dead with nothing. And that image of the God of the world, we place on the God of Heaven. And it's evil. But when you begin to understand the character of our God, everything else begins to fall in place. Let me read this again. King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to him. You will never be the king giving, whether it's materially, emotionally, relationally. God so loved the. That's John 3:16 that he gave. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. You see, God always wants you to leave with more than you came to him with. See, people wonder why they don't have faith like you and I. And they thought, well, maybe if I just, you know, memorize more scriptures and all the rest, maybe I'll have faith. No, no, no, no. The reason why people don't have faith like you and I is that the answer is faith is confidence in the character of God. And if you don't know what kind of God God, you can't have faith. See, you worship a God trying to take something from you. A God that's all rigid and unhappy. He's miserable. He's just trying to make your life all messed up. He's never really for you. He's just trying to extract something. Always trying to judge you. But I worship a God that does exceedingly, abundantly, above all that I ask or think. I worship a God that the blessings of the Lord make rich and he has no sorrow. I worship a God. There's no darkness in him. Shadow of turning, not one way one day, another way the next. I love a God that, while I was yet a sinner, died for me and loved me, put his name on me, his spirit in me. I Serve a God of above and beyond. And the reason you can't have faith is because your image of God is wrong. And my hope was in the teaching of these scriptures today that it would change your image of God. If he ever asks you for something, it's not to get something from you, but to you. Because my Bible says that he gave her much more. 100 talents of gold, precious spices, precious stones. But it's like, you're not going to leave until I give you more. You will never sacrifice more than God can reward. If you can do more than God, you'll become a little God. But God alone is God. He will not be outdone by you. Your sacrifice is noted in the book. And give him time. He is a rewarder. He is faithful. You hear what I'm saying? He will keep you and preserve you. Now, let me say this. When she gave to him, he didn't immediately give back in the same way. But before that season ended, he was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I still got something for you. He gave him much more that she had brought to the king. And then she turned and went with her servants. So when God asked me for something big, you know, my flesh sometimes gets a little bit weak. But after I get over my flesh, I get excited because I know my God will not be outdone. I know how I'm wired. I'm not going to let that woman in the first row do more for me than I do for her, even though actually she probably does. But I'm going to keep working on it. Yeah, I am. I'm going to keep working on it. And I raised my boys to be real men. And they're going to spend a lifetime walking on theirs trying to make sure that she gets more out of the deal than they get out of the deal. But we are to be made in the image and likeness of God. The Bible says that we are a royal priesthood. And I'm going to wrap up with this. When Nelson Mandela came out of prison, I believe it was in the 90s, early 90s. And one of the things that struck me, I only when I was in college, I saw his pictures up on the wall, and it was the young Nelson. So I hadn't really seen the old Nelson, but his government had taken, I don't know, 30 years of his life, estranged him and his wife. Actually, they ended up having a divorce. His children didn't know him, and at times they were a little bit frightened of him. But when he walked out of that prison, there Was a royalty about the man. There was something the prison couldn't take away. There was something the government couldn't take away. He had a sense of who he was and his destiny. A lot of us were like, well, they did that to me, so I'm going to do that to them. You're so petty and so silly. Our king came to earth and he took our worst, hung high, and gave us his best. And what God wants, you know, there used to be such thing as class. Okay, I'm going to say something. I'm just going to say it. But senators were supposed to wear ties and suits. It's just saying I'm not the most important person in the room. I respect you enough to put on my best. That's one of the reasons why I'm still jacking it up. Because I still have a problem. I got rid of the tie because of the culture and everything. I'm like, okay, I'll get rid of the tie. But I'm hanging on to the jacket because God deserves my best. He ought to be honored. And I can't just look any away. I just want to, you know, okay, I got off point here. But what God wants, it's for people that act, not just blabbit and grab it. I got my promises and I'm gonna get mine. I don't care about yours. People with some royal regalness about them and just, you know, woman know, you beat me. I'm gonna stay here and forgive you and love you and I'm gonna take it for you. And I'm not gonna go tit for tat with you. I'm gonna be the bigger man. I'm gonna show you how much I love. See? See that? See? No, no. See, nowadays you don't talk like that. Cause everybody got to get theirs. And it ain't fair. You hurt me. Life hurts. Marriage hurts. Relationships hurt. Raising children hurts. But Jesus gave us the example of what to do when it hurts. Father, forgive them. They have lost their minds. They don't know what they're doing. God, I don't get what their problem is, but Lord, I'm willing to let them go and release them. And God wants us to have that type of spirit that's large enough to let go. See, everyone wants to hear church sermons until we talk about forgiveness, until we talk about letting your sister go, your brother go, the person in the second row go, your husband, your spouse go. As long as we talking about heaven and you know, streets of gold and don't talk much about what I gotta do here. But just talk about, you know, the by and by. I'm okay, but God's looking for some people that are willing to take up their cross and keep walking. Not walk away from God because the cross is involved, but walk up that hill. Jesus could have come down like that. He could have called a legion of angels, but he didn't. And there were times, and there have been times in my life I could have walked out. I could have let go, I could have backed away. But I had to think about Jesus. What held him on that cross? It wasn't those nails. It was his love. It was his royalty. We gave him nothing and he gave us everything. So if I'm truly his follower, I'm going to have a different attitude when it comes to hurt, pain and disappointment. God can love us more in a moment than anyone can love us in a lifetime. And my prayer today is you would stop taking the cross out of Christianity and you would take up your cross and follow Christ in your relationships, your place of work, your neighborhood. Not talking about, you know, not speaking truth. Speak the truth in love. People will persecute you and say bad things about you at times. Rumors will be started, but you gotta embrace that. You know what? That's par for the cross. That's what happens with kings. Everyone don't understand kings. Everyone don't understand queens. And I get it that y'all don't understand because y'all ain't there yet. But you gotta stop being like the world. They hit me, I'm gonna hit them. Stop it. And hit back in the spirit. Love somebody. Forgive somebody. Yeah, speak the truth. Speak the truth. But we can be kind. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekrer.com by clicking the link in the description.