← ONE | A Potter's House Church
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Hey, good people, this is Torre Roberts. Blessings to you and welcome to the ONE Podcast. I'm excited that you're here. ONE is a community of dynamic and vibrant thought leaders, preachers, teachers, and just a community of wonderful people all together. And we're excited to bring you this weekly podcast from our Services from One in la. If you haven't been to one, I encourage you to check it out. You can go to one the Word one O N E online and find out all about the service times and all about the teachers and all the philanthropic things that we have going. I believe you're going to be blessed to be a part of it. And speaking of being blessed, we're getting ready to get into a teaching right now that I believe is going to bless you. So tune in, enjoy, and I'll be back with you at the end.
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Hey, y'. All. I am so looking forward to tonight. I think God's gonna show up a little different tonight. We might have some Q and A, we might not, but I think we're gonna do some word studying and some praising and some praying. I think we need a little bit of all of those things. Amen. We don't get to pray together as often as I think we need to. Those of you who come to church on time, you've noticed that in the last couple months we started opening service with prayer Just that 10 minutes. And I feel like it has made so much difference in the atmosphere. We cannot ever overlook how important corporate prayer is when we pray together. And so I just have it on my heart to us to do some praying together tonight. So we will. But I want to call the title of this Bible study the Good Stuff. The Good Stuff. I was studying about disciples and discipleship and came in contact with this verse, which I've read before, but it jumped out at me, Acts 13:52. But I'm actually going to. Well, I'm going to read it first. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. We hear a lot of things about what it means to be a disciple, to follow Christ, to lay things down, to crucify things, to be obedient, to be surrendered. And that's true. But I don't want us to miss out on the fact that the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Let's not forget the good stuff. We gave our lives to Jesus and we continue to follow him, because there's a lot of good stuff in here. Life is better with Jesus than it is without them. And I don't want us to miss that. And I think when we are, often we're going through things. And if you are like me, you're descendant of groups of color in this country. I'm a descendant of black Americans and indigenous Americans. That we have needed God under pressure in a specific kind of way. I'm not saying no white folks ever needed them. I'm not. Don't email me, don't email me. But the traditions that have shaped the movements that I'm from were influenced by those experiences. And so sometimes our emphasis on God helping us in trouble can get a little disproportionate from our remembrance of the good stuff. So that we're not always filled with joy. We're filled with determination and endurance and power and strength, but joy. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Now let's read the passage that that's in context of cause it makes it even better. I'm going back to Acts 13, verse 42. I didn't give them to this on the slides, but you got your Bibles with you. So let's go. Acts 13:42. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that those words might be preached to them. We got some. Paul and Barnabas are preaching that those words might be preached to them at the next Sabbath. They showed up, they preached a message so good they said, please come back and preach that next Sunday. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy. They didn't like that people were gathering to hear somebody else. And contradicting the Jews were contradicting them and blaspheming. They opposed the things spoken by Paul. The religious folks didn't like the word that was going forth. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold. It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. The people who were religious, the people in the family of God. I'm not gonna get off on a tangent. Had the opportunity to hear what God was doing next to first. But they didn't like it. So they said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and by rejecting it you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Behold, we're going to turn to the Gentiles the people you think don't deserve to be here, the people you think don't deserve to sit in the room. The people you think that God is not ready to bless or use. We're going with them. That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. Now, when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. Oh, oh, we get to get in. And they glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life, they believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout the region. But the Jews, the religious people, they stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city to persecute Paul and Barnabas because they didn't like what God had to say next and to whom he had to say it through. And they expelled Paul and Barnabas from the region. And what did Paul and Barnabas do? They shook the dust off their feet, whatever. So now all this stress done happened. They shook the dust off their feet after they got thrown out of their city. And then it says, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Now, how did that verse get in there? I need us to be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Even as we walk through difficult times, it is part of our anointing. By following Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, we cannot lose sight of the joy. You gotta keep your eye on the horizon. Imagine the good thing that's coming. Hear from God the good thing that's coming. Confess the word of the good thing that's coming. Do not let the battle get you so embroiled that everything goes dark. Don't miss out on the good stuff. And what is the good stuff? Well, guess what we get as disciples? Promises, provision, gifts. Three more things. Hold on. I may say promises, forgiveness, gifts, blessings, desires and rewards. Now, don't forget the good stuff, because a lot of times we skip over those things and we're not putting as much spiritual energy into what we are allowed to lay hold on because of our relationship with Jesus. And so this coming week, these coming days, I want you to dig into this. We're gonna skim across those categories tonight, but I want you to dig into them deep with the information I give you in these coming days and weeks. I want you to make sure that the attention you give to the battle, to the warfare, to the struggle, is outweighed by the attention you give to the good stuff that his crucifixion and resurrection got for us. He died and rose. We don't spend this whole walk dying. We also spend it resurrecting. We also spend it standing in the power of what he got for us. Is there challenge? Is there trials? Are there tribulations? Yes. Is there suffering for a moment? Yes. Will it be tough? Will you be confused? Yes. And also promises, provision, blessings, gifts, desires, rewards. Don't forget to live the good stuff. So y' all ready to get in that promises? What are God's promises? God promises us the things that he wants us to have. A promise is this. It's God's spoken pledge. His speech is a promise. It's guaranteed by his character, and it's embodied in his giving. I want to give you some scriptures now. I want to do something else, a little old school fun tonight. Who's got a microphone? I'm going to let some of y' all read some scriptures. Yes. Remember that in church, they always say, like, somebody read this verse for me. So I'm going to start right here with this sister right here on the corner. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Look up that first verse. Second Corinthians 1:20. Turbo, come on. Give me Hebrews 10:23. Sister next to him. Give me Romans 6, 20, 21. Let's go. You got it yet? Ah, she like, what happened? 2nd Corinthians 1:20. Oh, man. And she don't have the app. She flipping them pages now. Who got. Who got it fast? Who got it fast? I'll give you another one. Oh, she got it. All right. First Corinthians. Second Corinthians 1:20. What's it say? 120. Yes. We don't read our word out loud enough. When y' all are at home reading your Bible. Read out loud. Let me hear his word. Because faith cometh by hearing, not just thinking. Hear your own mouth. You said second Corinthians 120. She like, I'm gonna get there. Okay. Oh, you guys, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, y'. All. That's all right, sis. We got your back. This is. You didn't volunteer, so I'm gonna go ahead and just. We gonna be right here with you. I'm confused. You said second Chronicles. Second Corinthians 1:20. Oh, you went to Chronicles. Okay, who got. I'm give you another one. Who got Second Corinthians 120? I got it. All right, go ahead. She got it. You got it right here. All right. She go, we gonna get you. I'm gonna get you another one. Go. Who done started reading out loud? Come On. I love the energy. I got you. On the next round, I'm. Wow. Okay. For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes. And through Christ, our Amen, which means yes, ascends to God for his glory. Yes. And I mean good old King James is. For all the promises of God to him are yes and amen. Do you believe the promises of God? Amen. Get on your mind something right now. You know, God promised you. And let me hear you say yes and amen. All right. Hebrews 10:23. Come on. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful. That promise. He is faithful. Who promised? Romans 4, 20, 21. You ready, my first sister? Get ready with Genesis 28:15. I'm coming back. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. Amen. That's Abraham that they're talking about. He did not waver in the promises of God. He did not waver. And so he is one of the fathers. He is the Father of faith because he never wavered. All right, These verses we're coming up on now, these are God's promises as he speaks them and declares them. Genesis 28:15. And behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places, whether thou goest and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. God will not leave you until he has done what he said he would do. Get that thing in front of you that you are about to give up on and declare, God will not leave me until he has done what he said he will do. He will not leave me until he has done what he said he will do. And you say it till you get excited. He will not leave me until he's done what he said he would do. His promises are yes and amen. All right. Joshua 2145. Who got that one? Come on, sis. 2145. Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed. Every one was fulfilled. Not one of God's promises to Israel failed. Everyone was fulfilled. Did Israel behave themselves all the time? He did not. He did not. They did not. He Israel. Didn't they. The tribes of Israel didn't. They did not behave themselves all the time. They blew it a lot. But he fulfilled his promises. Because he who makes a promise is faithful. He will fulfill it. I need you to know that that's not Conditional. He fulfills his promises. We see when Sarah finds out that she's gonna be pregnant. Y' all know Sarah, Abraham's wife. She was real old. God says, you're gonna have a baby. And we know the story. Sarah did what? She laughed, not in joy, like, thank you, God, but like, ha. I doubt that. We never find a verse that tells us that Sarah changed her mind and started believing God. We don't see it. We don't see it where it says Sarah fell. Sarah went and messed that Haggart thing up. Hagar thing up. She got in trouble trying to make it happen her way. But there is no verse where we see Sarah saying, forgive me, Lord, for that Hagar thing. I believe you. I'm standing on your promise. I will get pregnant. We never see Sarah agree that she believes it. But guess what? She got pregnant. He is not going to leave his word. I preached this to you guys a couple weeks ago. His word cannot return unto him void. It will fulfill what it was sent to do. Do not let go of the promises of God. All right, let's keep going. Y' all having a good time? All right, we here. Genesis 28:15. You got it? Oh, we read that one. Oh, I'm sorry. Numbers 23:19. Anybody got that one? You do. Come on. Come on. For God is not a man that he should lie, nor the Son that he should repent. Come on. That's it. Right, Right. Okay. He said, I know numbers 2319 by heart. You know, I think we need to bring back the official memory verse. I think we need to bring it back that when we come to Bible study, I'm have five people and see who could say the memory verse for the month. That's how you get it in. You memorize it. We can memorize songs, we memorize all kinds of stuff. Memorize these scriptures that will get you. God is not a man. He's not a human. That's not saying men lie more than women lie. God is not a human. That. I just gotta clear that up. That he should lie. He cannot do it. His promises will always do it. What he has spoken, he will make it good. Let me get Deuteronomy 1:8 from somebody. And Exodus 6:8, Deuteronomy 1:8, and Exodus 6:8. Who got Deuteronomy 1:8? All right, there we go. Stand up, sis. Squeeze out a little bit because you in there. We need that microphone. Deuteronomy 1:8. Behold, I have set land before you go in your possessors. The land which the Lord, swear unto your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give unto them and go their seed after them. Go in and possess what he promised you. It's not always going to get delivered like manna first thing in the morning. What have you been afraid to do? What move have you been afraid to make? What step have you been afraid to take? You don't have to see the whole thing to take the next step. When God has promised you something in your life, do not let seven days pass that you don't do something to touch it. Research something, call somebody, walk down the street and look in the window at night. Do something that is related to your movement to possess. Because the enemy will try to get you to use the idea of waiting for God's will to keep you from moving at all. Don't use scripture to hide your fear. There's things to do, and often this is a space where we have what I call the opposite call on our character. So those of you who always run fast on day one and then you bash into the wall by accident, you might need to learn stillness. But the rest of y' all who are still all the time, waiting and waiting, you need to move. Because we often live out our faith according to what our personality dictates. If you're a natural extrovert, you run for it. If you're a natural introvert, you stay inside and wait on God. I need you to stretch in the direction that's not natural to your flesh. Balance yourself out in the word. Don't let every favorite scripture of yours actually just be a description of your personality type. Find something that stretches you in a direction that's not natural to you. And so if you always running at the mouth, memorize. Let your words always be seasoned with grace. Memorize. Be quiet, mind your business, and work with with your hands. And for those of you who never want to talk, never want to do anything, it's time for you to be the violent that take it by force. Find a verse that isn't the reflection of your natural way of being in the world so that you can be stretched into the full image of His Son instead of stuck in who you were all along. Oh, I knew God had things to say. Tonight. I'm going. I might not get through all these categories, though. All right, I'm going to keep going. The last verse, that was Deuteronomy 1:8. Exodus 6:8. Who got that one? This sister right here. Just because I saw her hand first and I think I probably asked her to look for a verse earlier. Today I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord. These are generational blessings, promises. What in your bloodline is a blessing that is a promise that hasn't been completely manifested yet? What did your mom almost do? What did your grandfather almost do? What was coming down the line. But this promises has promised has been reserved for you. Hebrews 11 in the second half of the chapter, the part that we don't like as much, where people are sawn in half and killed by lions, we don't quote that part as much. The first half of Hebrews 11 we love is all the heroes of faith that God did all the things he said he would do for them. And Abraham is in there. And we know all of that part. But the second half of Hebrews 11, read it later talks about those who were torn asunder and killed by lions, who were tortured for their faith, and they died in faith not having received a particular promise that was reserved for us. So what has your bloodline almost reached that you know in your spirit is for your generation to manifest Stand on that promise. Amen. Promises of God are trustworthy because they are expressions of his character. His word performs, his hand gives. His word performs, his hand gives. The promises are expressions of his character, which means they cannot go awry. Remain standing on the promises. I'm gonna read some promises for you real quick. And if you have been standing on this promise in any way, I want you to stand to your feet. God always keeps his promises. That's Numbers 23:19. Psalm 146. Who's standing on the fact that God always keeps his promises? God created us and he knows us. That's a promise. Everybody said me that God chose you. God chose you. Psalm 33:12 God is always with you. That's a promise. Deuteronomy 31:8 God never forgets us. Let me stand up on that. Forgets me. Isaiah 49:15 God watches over your life to keep you from harm. Psalm 121 Stop being afraid to go to the doctor, afraid to find out what might be wrong. God will keep you. Afraid to check your balance in your bank, Afraid to file your taxes. Stop. Stop. Oh my God. God will keep you. He has plans to prosper you and give you hope. God strengthens us and helps us. Isaiah 41:10 God fights for he promised. Exodus 14:14 Deuteronomy 1:30 God rewards us when we love our enemies. Ooh. Who's standing on the promise. Oh, everybody was like, I don't know about that. Love our enemies, but he promised that if you do, that's a hard thing, but man, that's a big one. Door number two, that enemy thing. God is kind and he cares for us. He promises that he cares. God promises that he will teach us and guide us, that we will be his, that he will be our hiding place and our refuge. God promises to keep us safe while we sleep. Psalm 48. Don't you get up and check that locked door for the third time in a row. You know it's locked. Say Psalms 4, 8. Said, God will protect me while I'm asleep. Oh, somebody just was like, ouch. I have done that. And I'm speaking from experience. I'm laying in there like, did I lock that door? You know you did. And instead of letting myself get up that one more time and let that be my peace, I will say, God, if I can't trust you to cover me enough for me to fall asleep instead of getting up again, then I don't trust you at all. Oh, you got to push yourself into his promises. Don't only believe his promise under duress, though. God will provide a way out of temptation. He promised. You don't have to fall 1st Corinthians 10:13. And God will even give us victory over death. 1st Corinthians 15, 3, 4. That means that I can speak life out of my mouth, not death. I have victory over death with what I speak. I have victory over the pain of death and grief. I have victory over it. Because even when those who love God leave here, they pass from death to life. What shall we fear? He promised. Hallelujah. Sit down. Provision. Who wants some of that? Yes, provision. These are the things we worry about. These are our needs. And God promised to meet our needs when he gives us provision. His provision is first of all foresight that provides its abundant supply and it cancels lack. You are not required to spend your whole life in provision mode. We give a lot of energy to provision and I'm sure that this will be a whole preach one day. But couple weeks ago, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, this provision plays defense, wealth plays offense. We are so provision focused that we are always in a defensive stance. Do I have enough? Is this taken care of? Will this be covered? Okay, I got this. And yes, you should have good stewardship. I'm not saying blow everything you get in your hand, but the fact that we are chasing provision to the point of relief when there's provision, but not moving for the blessings of wealth that he has for us. That's active movement. That's not defense. That's offense. But you can't do both. You can't do both. And so look in your life and see where there's so much attention on what needs need to be met that they do get met. But we aren't having the attention on the wealth that he promised. He said he would give us the power to get wealth. He will provide your needs, but he gives you the power to get wealth. You hear the difference? God will supply your needs. He'll hand you, but he gives you the power to get wealth. And so what is wealth to you? It may be financial wealth. It may be relational wealth. It may be spiritual wealth. Whatever you decide it is, it is your pursuit. I want all the wealth. And somehow when I'm playing offense, defense starts to get taken care of in a different way. And so I want you to balance that out. But provision does matter. So let's look at what he had to say about provision. All right, here. My scriptures are up there. I'm guessing. No, not yet, but that's okay. Who's gonna do it? Let's go. Let's run down this side. Genesis 22:14. Genesis 22:14. My sister right behind her. You right? Yep. Huh? Psalm 34:10. Psalm 34:10. My sister right next to her. Can you get me 2 Corinthians 9:8? 2nd Corinthians 9:8. Can you do that one for me? 2nd Corinthians 9, 8. Okay, my white head, banded sister right there. Can you give me Philippians 4:19? And then right next to her, second Peter 1:11. And then in our pink sweatshirt, can I get Galatians 3 and 5? Let's go. Genesis 22:14. And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. Amen. Keep going. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. They who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Thing. Any good thing. How did that verse start? It said, who lacks the young lions? The young lions. Even the young lions. Don't stop trying to be a lion. That's not going to solve. It's about the fact that you seek the Lord. I shall not lack any good thing. Look at the place where there's need in your life. Point at your finger at it and say, I shall not lack any good Thing if you got to write it down and stick it on the wall so you can point at it. I shall not I shall not lack any good thing there's money missing in my life. I shall not lack any good thing Healthy relationships are missing from my life. I shall not lack any good thing Love seems to be absent. I shall not lack any good thing Housing my car, what I need a job A sense of purpose I shall not lack any good thing. Why? Because I'm a disciple filled with joy. Go ahead. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you. That ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Yes, all good things. Oh, God. You look like you needed that verse for yourself. See? Yes, yes. Next one. Keep going. But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. By Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:19. My God shall supply all needs according to his riches in glory. Let me get that one. Next one. 2 Peter 1:11. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And on top of the provision on this earth, we get the provision of being able to walk into glory when all of this is done. My God. Come on. Galatians 3:5. Therefore, he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the law, by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? By the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith, does God provide. What's the answer? Faith. Now, the just shall live by Faith. Amen. Matthew 6:33. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. What were those things? What you will eat, what you will wear, where you will live. All these things will be added unto you. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven. Amen. Keep your eyes on things above. On things above. Psalm 23:1. We know that one. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In other translations it says, I know no lack. I know no lack. Amen. God will absolutely provide. God's provision is proactive and abundant. He sees ahead, adds what's needed, fills to the full, and supplies richly. That is provision. He does the things the enemy will attempt to cause, lack to exist in your life. Rebuke it. Pay your tithes. That's real. Pay your tithes. It's real. The 10% is holy. If you have not been paying your tithe, it will be a change in your life when you do it. It's not. You don't wanna have a curse on your money. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. God knows he asked. He will open up the windows of heaven and bless you. Amen. So we got promises, we got provisions. We also, because we are his disciples, full of joy, we have gifts. I'm not gonna do it. We have gifts. You know I got gifts. Yes. God's generous nature in action. This is his tangible goodness. All right, what row is we. Where are we gonna get reading this time? Let's go up the aisle. All right. I like that this brother looked up like, what? Yes, yes. Can you find me Matthew 7:11? Sir. Matthew 7:11? And then right behind him, can I have Ephesians 4:8? My brother in the tan sweater. Can I have James 1:17, then the next row behind him, Can I have Romans 5, 16, then the next one, Acts 17:25. And then right behind him, James 1 and 5. Yes. I love hearing these voices. Read the word. Let's go. Matthew 7:11. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? Let me tell you, this is one of my favorite verses. This verse changed my parenting, too. It changed my parenting, and not only me as his child, but like, I know that my kids would. They ask me for something, I would give it to them. And if that's true, then how much more will God give to them? I'm reminded that not only are they my child, but they're his child. And so even when I don't have a way to give them what they want, God will get to them what they want. I couldn't make a college accept them. I couldn't make a dance company accept. I couldn't make the apartment come. There's things in their life I can't do now, but I remind myself that they're still his children and he will give them good gifts. You are his children. If you ask him for bread, would he give you stones? If you ask him for fish, would he give you a snake? Well, then stop settling for something that will meet the need in this moment, but isn't really truly a gift. Are you looking for a provision or are you looking for a gift? He will give good gifts. Ephesians 4:8. That is why scriptures say when he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people. He led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to his people. Are you his people? Amen Then the gifts are coming. Let's go. James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. And cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. That is one of my favorite verses. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Light. Light is truth. And there's no darkness in Him. There's no shadow of turning. He doesn't change. He doesn't switch up. Every good and perfect gift comes from him. If it ain't good and perfect, it didn't come from him. If it's coming from him, it's good and perfect. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line. Now, good. You may need some sanctifying and maturing and trauma therapy in your definition of good, but let what God gives teach you what is good. Oh, my goodness. Let him teach you what is good. Sometimes we get what we thought was good, and it turned out it wasn't good. Mmm. I'm not gonna testify. My God. And then he might send something that you're like, I don't think that's gonna be good. Give it a minute. Hallelujah. Let's go. Next one. Romans 5:16. Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin. The judge, the judgment, followed one sin and brought condemnation. But the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. Amen. One man sin brought mess for everybody. But the gift of God changed and brought life to everyone. Know that the gift of God will change every dimension of your life. And gifts are free. Yes, sir. And he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. Do not forget that you are always carrying a gift of God. When we used to have testimony, service in church when I was growing up, my grandmother would stand up and the first word she said every single Sunday. Thank God for life, for health, strength. I thank God I woke up with breath in my body. She say, if he hold my. If he held his breath, I'll be gone. The fact that even when we were doing what we shouldn't be doing, saying what we shouldn't be saying, being going where we shouldn't have been going. We were still breathing. He didn't stop giving us breath no matter what. Because why? It's a gift. It's a gift. So even when you're like God, I'm waiting on this gift. I'm waiting on this gift. But, man, thank you for he gave me life, health, strength, Breath. I always go back down. I think we got a song somebody wrote around here called Simple Things. Thank him for the simple things. Amen. Give me the next one. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraid, if not, and it shall be given him. Amen. Wisdom is the greatest thing. We had that in the last Bible study. It is a gift we can ask for. Alrighty. Psalm 84, 11. I'm gonna read that. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from you. The challenge often I say this a lot, is that we have come up with what thing we want to meet, our need or our desire. He may not give you the thing that you see as the thing that you want, but he will meet the need. Does that make sense? I want that house. But he might give you this one. And you will find out why this one really was the good gift. And so don't narrow God by you want to explain exactly how you want him to do it. That vision board got 67,000 cutouts on it. Like, if God don't do every single thing on here, he didn't show up. Generalize, broaden a little bit. Get in touch with where you are emotionally and what the need actually is that you're trying to meet and give God that. And I thank you for the good gifts that you give. I'm hungry. I may not ask you to specifically give me cookie dough cheesecake and fried mozzarella. I'm just saying, father, I'm hungry. He might say, I'm gonna hook you up with some grilled fish and vegetables. Because, sis, let him know that, God, I thank you. I'm hungry. But I know you have a gift for me. And watch what he does. Give God some space to work. Give him some space to make them creative decisions that you'll be like, yes. I could not have come up with an idea that good. Stop trying to control him by telling him exactly what you want. I know. I'm not saying don't pray specific, but leave some room for him to give you a gift. It's not as much fun of a gift if you say, people, what would you like for your birthday? I would like a brevia espresso machine with the extra foam thing that they have it at Williams and Sonoma in the back on the left hand corner. Let somebody buy you a present. Dag it. It's not always about instructions. Let him give you a gift. I'm gonna keep going. Final Thing about gifts. God is a giver by nature. His giving is continual. His gifts are good. They are tangible and ultimately represent who he is. You are entitled to good gifts, promises, provisions, gifts, blessings. You are empowered to flourish and called to bless others. Blessings are empowerment, imparted and favor. Decl. I'm blessed. I am empowered and I have favor over my life. Let's do some scriptures about blessings. Genesis 1:20. Where we going with this time? Where's Ashley? Is he over there? All right. Oh, you hitting it all right. We gonna start right there. You giving me the look, Shayla. Don't give me that face. Genesis 1:28 and then right behind her, Genesis 12, 2, 3. Right behind her, the twins. Genesis 28:2 for one of y' all and Psalm 103:1 2 for the other one. And then the sister behind her give me Ephesians 1:3. And then right behind her, Luke 6:28. My sister in the jean jacket or the blue jacket. Romans 12:14 and my sister in the brown. James 3:9, 10. Are y' all enjoying these scriptures? I love the word of God. The word of God is live. All right, go. Genesis 1:28 and God blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. A few months back, I think it might have been March or April, I preached a sermon called Create Intentionally. If you didn't hear it or you need a reminder, that verse right there is about what it means to be fruitful. It means that we are going to be fertile. We have the capacity to produce. And God spoke that over us. Amen. To give us power for success, prosperity, longevity. Next verse. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Amen. I love that not only will he bless us, but I'll be a blessing. However do we say, God, make me a blessing. Make me a blessing. I want to have enough to give out. I want to be so at peace that I have words overflowing to speak. Peace over you. I want to be so healed that the power is overflowing for me to lay hands and see you get healed. Bless me so much that I'm going to be A blessing. Bless me that far. Because when we're provision minded, as soon as our needs met, we stop. Uh huh. But I wanted to overflow to other people. Bless me. To be a blessing. Amen. Hallelujah. Next one. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God. Blessings are a result also of obedience. Just do what you're supposed to do, child, and watch what God does for you. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Stop making excuses. Just do the darn thing. Just do the thing. Just do the thing. How many people have something in their life right now where they could increase their obedience level by. Come on. Wow. Do you know how many people need the overflow blessing from you to be a blessing to them? And not only is your obedience blocking some of your blessing, but it's blocking somebody else's because you're blessed to be a blessing. So if you won't do it for you. Somebody's waiting. Somebody's waiting. And they might be right in the room. Your overflow blessing may be for her and hers may be for you. Just for us. Oh, just do it. Do it. Please do it. Please. We need it. We need your overflowing blessings. Next one. Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits. We have the capacity to bless the Lord, man. Any other old school church folks hear hearing that song? I will bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Hallelujah. Yes, I know y' all in here. All right, orange sweater, come on. We get to bless the Lord. That's phenomenal. Go ahead. All right. Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God and our and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Amen. Let's go. Keep going because technically I got two minutes behind. Go ahead. Luke 6. Luke chapter 6, verse 28. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you that snuck in there like that enemy one from the last one. Remember that saying. Wow. Wait a minute. Bless those who curse you. I can tell you from experience you haven't stood in a power space until from your heart you stand in your bedroom and you name the people who have cursed you. I bless you. I bless you. I bless you. There's a Isaiah 54 that says no weapon formed against you shall prosper. But it also says that every tongue that rises in judgment against you, you shall condemn. And when I read that verse, I hear this. I don't hear condemn them. I don't hear condemn Jane because she's speaking against me. I say, where a tongue of judgment rises in the mouth of. Of Jane, I condemn the tongue of judgment, and I command truth to come out of that mouth. In the name of Jesus, I condemn the tongue of judgment in any mouth that rises against me. I'm not here to condemn that person. See, you want to wrestle with flesh and blood. You want to fight. That's not what this is about. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, principalities and powers. He gave me the power to condemn the tongue that rises against me, not the power in whose mouth it is. I gotta leave room to love them. Oh, I'm gonna condemn that tongue. And bless them. I bless them. I bless them. I bless them. I bless my enemies. Oh, glory to God. Come on and let's grow up. Let's grow up. When you feel that unforgiveness rising again, I bless em. Bless em. I tell you, I had a relationship in my life that I had to end. Not a romantic relationship. It was another kind of relationship. I had to end it. It was right to end it. It was healthy to end it. Have done all the things, tried the things, forgive the things, talked through the things. It's been many years. This is not a healthy space for me to be in. But I was scrolling through my photos today, looking for a photo, and this person's face came up because they're in my people thing. You know, an iPhone. They got all the people thing. And I was like. And I said to myself, let me delete this person so that I don't see them coming up. Because in my mind, I was thinking, I don't want to give myself a reason to be triggered and then get mad and have to re. Forgive. Like, I don't. I'm trying. But then the Holy Spirit said, bless him. And so I left it there so that when that happens to pop up, I'm saying, I bless you. I bless you. Because the Bible told me to. Y' all don't want none of this. But, baby, this is the good stuff. This is how you be a disciple filled with joy. Bless them. Pray for those. He didn't say, I didn't have to fast and pray seven days, but maybe don't skip over the ones that will take you to your next level of spiritual maturity and power, because right in that moment, I had to kill. A little piece of my flesh died. And I said, Okay, I bless you. I bless you. It makes it hard to harbor hate when you're blessing somebody. And that's good for me. Cause I don't need that to renew. It was the right decision in the relationship, but I still have to manage my flesh. So I bless them. Every time I see that face pop up my phone, I'm gonna bless em. Hallelujah. Maybe one day they won't be in that thing no more. Cause they're not being added to. But till then, I bless them. All right, we're going to Desires. I'm gonna jump. I'm gonna jump. Desires. Ooh, this is a big one. Cause we know, we love that verse. What verse? What verse? Delight your son, the Lord. He'll give you desires of your heart. Right. A desire is a longing. But the word that's used for desire often is a neutral word. It's not only good or only bad. It depends on whether it's trained toward God or away from Him. Whether it's moving us to life or whether it's moving us to sin and death. And so I'm gonna read through some of these verses really quick. Cause I'm running out of time. But the movement of the heart toward or away from God is quick. Critical. Psalm 37. Four, delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. The fact that we delight ourselves in the Lord first is so that our desires are sanctified. Because when we are connected, whatever we're delighting ourselves in, we will desire more of that thing. And so I have to make sure I'm delighting in the Lord so that the desires I get, not only are they fulfilled by him, but they actually come. When it says he will give me the desire, he actually put it in me to desire it in the first place. And then he will actually grant it. So as much as I talk about how much I was blindsided by God speaking to me to step into the role of leading this church, when I was able to look back in the two months preceding that time, I can see where God had started addressing my heart in a different way. I was actually on my way to work at another ministry in another state. I had agreed to go and work there because I was a wonderful opportunity to minister to people. And why would I turn that down? God hadn't said go. I just. It was offered and I wanted to be able to bless people. So I was going. But they had sent me an organizational chart so I could understand, like, where I would fit in. And I saw There was an empty space for a discipleship pastor. And something in me when I saw that word, I got, like, butterflies. And I was like, lord, what was that? Because I don't do no pastor thing. You crazy. I'm not doing that. But I was so moved by that phrase in front of me that I started praying, God, what is this? Are you. Are you. Do you want me to. I'm gonna take that back. I'm not gonna ask, but I'm acknowledging God that I felt some kind of way when I saw that. And just me saying, I'm gonna be open to what I may have just felt. I didn't pursue anything else about it, but I said, God, whatever you wanna do, I'm open. And I had forgotten about it. And two months later, I'm sitting in that chair right there when God said, this is your house to lead. But I had opened up before he gave me the desire and I was willing to move out of the state that I love to. To have this opportunity just because I could be a blessing to more people. That's me delighting myself in the Lord. It wasn't. I got a word from him to move out of state. No, it was like, hey, would you like to do this? I'm like, sure. People will be blessed. I would love to bless people. So I was delighting in the Lord, and so he put a desire in me, and then I just left it alone. And now, and here we all are. So delight yourself in the Lord first. Amen. And he will give you desires of your heart. A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but in a body abomination to fools. To depart from evil, you have to make sure the desire is holy because it will either be a delight or you gonna be a fool. All right, I'm not gonna read the much more of those, but I'm gonna make sure they send you guys this. You guys can download this thing with all the scriptures. Would that be okay? Like, maybe. Can we put it as a link on the podcast? Okay, I got you. I got you. I'll clean it up and get it to you. So. So you have our desires. God will grant you the desires of your heart. And again, in the same way as the gifts, in the same way as how you imagine the promises. Leave room for God to do it his way. Leave room for God to do it his way. I've been declaring 10 things over my life for what I would like to see manifested in my life by the time I'm 55 years old. So I still got A few years left, but I abbreviated them as health, wealth and lavish love. And I started with love. And in my mind it was like romantic love. But then I was like the Holy Spirit moved on me and I was like, man, I have so much love in my life. Like, my kids are amazing. I talk to them every day. They tell me they have risen up to call me blessed every day. My kids tell me they love me. They're amazing. They miss me. That is so much love. I have really close friends who adore me, who I'm emotionally intimate with. I love the people of God. I read Amazon reviews about the book where people are like, you changed my life. That feels like love to me. So the Holy Spirit was like, you have love in your life. Do not narrow. And so I changed that to say lavish love. That means I want love just overflowing out of my life in every area. And however God gives that to me, I want that. So health, wealth and lavish love, those are desires of my heart. But I make room for him to grant the desire of my heart and not just the thing that I think will meet the desire of my heart. You with me and man, he has been showing up on all of those already. So the desires, let's go to rewards. Let's go to rewards. A Rewards are recognition of your faithfulness, recognition of your faithfulness. God himself is a reward, but also the outcomes of our alignment with God. He does reward us. He rewards those who diligently seek him and don't be afraid. This was also used to be hard for me. So many times God would send someone a word and they say, God did this for you because you were faithful in this area. And I would. I don't want to feel like I'm saying I deserve it or I earned it. But he does reward us. Not everything is a gift. Some things are reward, some things are payment for being steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the word of the Lord. You may not know exactly which thing is a reward and which was a gift, but when you are walking through through the work of this life of salvation, remind yourself you will be rewarded for it. And ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you when rewards show up in your life so you don't miss them because we will overlook them. Because we feel like if we say he rewarded us that we are saying we deserved it. And that's not it. But the Bible does say he will reward us. And so God, I thank you for the rewards of faithful labor. Because sometimes I manage to be faithful Dag it. And I can be godly proud of myself for the things in my flesh I've crucified for my moments of faithfulness. Yes, it's my reasonable service, but he says he will reward me and it is okay to enjoy the rewards of being a faithful servant. And heaven after death or the rapture, which apparently we didn't miss, is not. I hope not. Cece Winans is still here. I know she is. It was her birthday today and I sent her a happy birthday message so we're all safe. But the rewards are not just in the by and by. They are in this life. They are dream jobs and unexpected friendships. They are the. The dream house and the open door. They are rewards that you will be given because you have earned them through your faithful work. That's not transactional. If it were transactional, you would be able to know exactly what you were going to get before you worked. But you don't know exactly how he will reward you, but you're willing to do the work anyway. Amen. I am a disciple filled with joy. And the reason I'm filled with joy is because of all the good stuff. Promises, provision. Desires of my. Wait. Promises, provision. Desires of my heart. What else did we do? Blessings, rewards and gifts. I know I skimmed across the top of these, but it's because I want you to dive deep into them. What stays with you tonight. Some of you are leaving with promises stuck to you. And that's the one you're gonna dive into first. Some of you, it's gonna be the desires of your heart. Maybe because you have been struggling in that area, wondering if God's gonna do it. Some of you will realize that what you thought was a gift was actually him being a desire. And that this reward will come before the promise. It's all these different things. So also. So you know how to pray. Cause sometimes you're like, give me the desires of my heart. But really that might just be a gift. Or it's a promise you can stand on, that you don't have to ask for. Cause that was already given to you. So dig into all of these. But there'll be one. And I know this by the spirit. There's gonna be one that's sticky to you. And I want you to dive deep into that one first and then come back into the others in the coming weeks. Do one per week. But know that this is the good stuff. I am not only called to a life of suffering and endurance, trials and tribulations, yes, they are going to come into this life. And I want to come out of the fire as pure gold. I do. But I am also willing to be a disciple filled with joy in the Holy Spirit because he purchased this good stuff for me on the cross and I refuse to live without it. I will not allow the enemy to convince me to underutilize the cross. I will not. I will not. I'm utilizing it. I'm taking this for all it's worth because I can't skip the hard stuff, but I sure can run into the good stuff with all my might. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. We are done. We are not gonna ask questions. We are going to pray. We're gonna pray. Are you ready to pray, Father? Thank you. We bless you. We bless your name. We bless you because you are a good, good God. Thank you for being a good father. And thank you, God, for healing every misconception we have ever absorbed about what father means. We release it in the name of Jesus. We release every misconception about what mother means, about what parent means, about what authority means. And we receive your goodness. You are a God who keeps his promises. So we thank you, Father. God, we are positioning ourselves to believe and receive your promises. We will not doubt them, Father. We just thank you for strengthening us in our inner man. The pieces of us that want to doubt your promises, we lay them on the altar tonight and we leave them behind because we know your promises are yes and amen. And so we will not allow ourselves to say no and it won't be yes and so be it. In the name of Jesus, we resist the lies that present themselves as truth, that come to conclusions that are not godly, that are not true, but they are convenient and give us some sense of control to explain what we cannot explain. But we refuse to accept cheap solutions and explanations just for the luxury of not having to live in ambiguity. I'd rather say I don't know than to come to a conclusion that blocks a good gift, that blocks a blessing that keeps me from speaking a blessing out of my mouth. I want to stand and be faithful and find out what that reward reward is that you have for me. Because I love you, I do it. But I'm excited because you said you would reward me. And so I'm going to stand here for the joy set before me. I'm going to stand in this spot no matter what it costs. I'm going to live according to your word, no matter what it costs. I'm going to crucify my flesh because I want to Experience resurrection power in every area of my life. And so God wants. We thank you for it because you are a rewarder. I don't know what it is, but I know it's going to be good. So I thank you in advance for the reward that's coming. I thank you in advance for the reward that's coming on every life under the sound of my voice, for the faithfulness that they are putting out. God, that you are rewarding them. And you don't kill off rewards because we make a mistake. You don't kill off rewards just because we trip and fall. It doesn't change you. Father God, for the faithfulness we achieve, you will reward us. Your word says it. You promise to reward us. You promise to bless us. You promise to give us the desires of our hearts. You promise to give us good gifts. You promised. We believe in your promise. Your son Jesus was a promise and you kept it. And we have received him in our hearts. And we know you will keep all your promises. Father, seal this word in us. Seal this word in us so that when lament overwhelms us, when grief overwhelms us, when fear tries to overwhelm us, let this word surface quickly. Let us be reminded of what you promised us in your scriptures and also what you have individually promised us, what you've spoken to us in our prayer closet, the words of wisdom and knowledge that you have sent to us over the years, letting us know the specific promises for our life. Father, let our grip be tight. God, we're holding on to it. Fill us with joy. We want to be disciples filled with joy. We shake the dust off our feet right now of everything that didn't work out, of everything that didn't go our way, of the people who rejected us and didn't believe what we brought. Father. God, just like your disciples shook the dust off their feet, we shake the dust off our feet and we go out, not indignation, not with indignation, not with an attitude, not worrying about when you're going to strike down our enemies. We go out with joy. Anoint us, strengthen us, to bless our enemies, to pray for us who try to despitefully misuse us. We condemn tongues of judgment in the mouths in which they rise, but we bless those in whose mouth it was. Father, thank you. We don't have to battle people when you've already given us victory in heavenly places. Father, help us to stop wrestling against flesh and blood. Because when we do that, we miss the good stuff. It becomes about our strength and not your strength. And my strength can never do what you can do. All I can do with my strength is love you. I love you with my whole heart, with my mind, with my strength. I love you. That's all I can do with my strength is love you. But it is your strength that has provided for us the promises that have bestowed upon us the gifts that have given to us and will give to us the desires of our hearts. God, change anything I desire that's not of you God There are hearts in this room that have been struggling and suffering because their desires have not come. Their hope has been deferred and it's making their hearts sick. Oh God, if it is a desire that is not from you, remove it. Please just remove it entirely. Sanctify my heart space. Let it be set aside only only for desires that are in alignment with your kingdom. Will in my life transform me God pull up my childhood fantasies that don't belong here and identities that I wrapped myself around before I knew better. And it's not even who I am. God, tell me my name, Teach me who I am. Call me the calling that you've given me God, let me hear it clear. I thank you for every preacher, teacher, pastor, apostle, prophet under the sound of my voice who has not embraced the gift for which they are called here. God has called you to be receive it and be open to how it will be walked out. Whether it's on this platform, another platform, a street corner, a business office, a zoom room, an e cord course, whatever it is a mentorship program, however it is that you have fit for the graces to be walked out. God, send us into all corners of the earth to do what you've made us uniquely the best at. Because there is something that we are the best for. Let us know what it is. Let us embrace it, let us hope, hold it as hard as we can and know that it's on us to walk into it, to pursue it. God and you will open the doors as we move as we carry this good stuff into the world. Blessed to be a blessing, come against the enemy who would try to lie and whisper that this house is not a blessing to you because your work for the kingdom isn't necessarily under this roof and these doors of these walls. But you are here to be filled up, taught and shaped so you can go out and bless. This is not the most prestigious place to work. This is a filling station. Go do take the good stuff. Take the good stuff. God, thank you. Let us be developed in ways that we need to as we gather we hear the word, we pray. We are filled up, we are challenged and changed to go out. Spread the good news of this good stuff. Father. Don't let us rest well when we haven't brought a soul to the kingdom recently. Make me hungrier, God. Make us hungrier, God for souls. Make us hungrier, God for harvest. We want to be your laborers. The harvest is ripe, the laborers are few. But let me be one of the few. God. I don't want to miss the opportunity. Make me hungry for souls, for more discipline. Disciples. And I cast all my judgments on the ground where I would be like the Jewish people and the religious people that were described in Acts 13. That they didn't want to embrace the good news because it was being preached to those that they didn't deem worthy. God. Break everything off me. Every preconceived notion about who's worthy. Every preconceived notion about who can actually be saved. Every preconceived notion. God. So that we bring people in the kingdom and we don't hurt the little ones, we don't hurt the newest members of the kingdom trying to judge them and tell them what to do and fuss at them. God. Before we've had a chance to love them. Help us to trust the work of your spirit in their lives. Jesus. We want revival. We want to see souls. Cleanse us. Let the cold touch our lips. Let our hands be clean so that you can trust us to receive the souls you send in and not wound them before they have a chance to grow. Father, help us. Let us be that house. Let us be that house. Let us be that house where those who were rejected elsewhere come. Where those who have been wounded by a body can be healed. I want to be the misfit reject house. Because I know what you do with those folks. Because I know what you did with me. I know what you did with me. Send us the brokenhearted and anoint us to bind up those wounds in the name of Jesus to show them the good stuff. Convict us when we allow struggle, warfare, demonic movement. All important, but convict us when we make that bigger than you. This life you called us to lead, no weapon formed against us can prosper. There's no name above the name of Jesus. There's no name above the name of Jesus. There's no name above the name of Jesus. So I just speak Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Nothing compares you over every question that didn't get answered tonight by me. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Your word says that the Holy Spirit can teach us all things that we don't need anyone to teach us, but you will teach us. So, Holy Ghost, answer every question. Answer every question. Touch them in the emotional space that would have been touched by an answer from me. Touch them in that space. I know what it means to need connection. And I'm grateful, God, for every chance you give me to be a part of that in someone's life. And also, Holy Spirit, touch us like no person could touch us, heal like no human words could heal us, put us back together. The parts that have been broken, the parts that are most fragile. The part that we fear exposure. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. I speak blessing over them I speak sobriety over them I speak healing over them I speak promises over them I speak the desires of their hearts. Over them I speak blessings over them I speak provision over them I speak rewards over them I speak the gifts of God over them I declare good things, good plans and all of the outcomes of serving a good God in Jesus name. In Jesus name. Amen and amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Don't miss the good stuff. My babies, my children, my sheep, my brothers, my sisters. Don't miss the good stuff. Don't miss the good stuff. When we lean into the good stuff, it makes it so much easier to let go of the thing that we've been struggling to let go of because we're trying to grab this. That's why Paul said, I'm being apprehended by what apprehended me. I'm trying to grab onto what grabbed onto me. I can't grab that when I'm holding this. Your pursuit of the good stuff will free your hands up. Oh my God, you'll be shocked. Go after the good stuff.
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Hey, family. Well, I pray that you were just as blessed by the by this teaching as I was. I'm just so grateful again to be a part of a dynamic community full of love, full of revelation and wisdom. One has been a movement that's been blessing people for over two decades and I'm so glad that you got an opportunity to experience it. I also have a podcast called the called it's right here on wherever you're listening to this Spotify or Apple or wherever you're listening to this podcast. You can just look up the call T H E C A L L E D with myself, Terry Roberts. This is designed for entrepreneurs, leaders and business people. It's a weekly podcast and it will bless you. But, hey, I enjoyed having you here. Meet us here next week. Check out the call. Much blessings to you. We'll catch you next time.