Discovery! - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] it's time to go to the word of god let us go as we stand to our feet to the book of genesis chapter number 28 verse 10 through 19 so that we can hear what the spirit of the lord is saying to the church it's so good to see you this morning how many are visitors glory to god glad to have you so glad to have you so glad thank you for choosing to worship with us this morning and i pray that it will be profitable to you in the kingdom of god genesis 28 10-19 jacob left bear sheba and set out for haran when he reached a certain place he stopped for the night because the sun had said taking one of the stones there he put it under his head and laid down to sleep he had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth which its top reached to heaven and the angels of god were ascending and descending on it there above it stood the lord and he said i am the lord the god of your father abraham and the god of isaac notice he didn't say jacob hmm i am the lord the god of your father abraham and the god of isaac i will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying going to give you the land on which you are lying what are you laying on you need to go lay on something your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south all people on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring i am with you and will watch over you wherever you go i am with you and will watch over you where ever you go and i will bring you back to this land i will bring you back to this land i will not leave you until i have done what i have promised you [Applause] and they're good i don't even have to preach do it if i just read it it's enough to feed you all myself when jacob walked from his sleep he thought surely the lord is in this place and i was not aware of it he was afraid and said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of god and this is the gate of heaven early the next morning jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it he called that place bethel though the city used to be called loves can you say amen i want to go back to verse 16. when jacob awoke from his sleep he thought surely the lord i want you to think about this surely the lord is in this place and i was not aware of it isn't that amazing surely the lord is in this place and i was not aware of it surely the lord is in this place and i was not aware of it i want to use a subject this morning one word subject discovery discovery discovery spirit of the living god falls fresh on us as we delve into your word we do it with an appetite to hear what the spirit is saying to the church you will not have to feed us intravenously you will not have to force feed us we are not on a hunger strike we want to hear what you've got to say in fact honestly we came to hear from you and we don't want to leave until you talk to us because we're going to live this week out in accordance to this word that we hear today i thank you for what you're going to do have your way great god that you are in the name of jesus we pray somebody with all of the voice you can muster shout amen you may be seated surely the lord was in this place and i knew it not could that be possible that we could be in the presence of god and not recognize it god is omnipresent which means he is in all places at all times it is just that occasionally we go from the omnipresence of god into the manifest presence of god god reveals himself and we discover him now to discover something doesn't mean you created it to discover something means it already existed but it has it is new to you it has been revealed to you which requires that you live your life from a perspective of being a lifelong learner i said in one of the classes the day you get to the point that you think you know everything you are ignorant the smartest brightest most proficient successful people in the world spend their lives learning they have a spirit of being inquisitive it's the life of filled with discovery it implies that for many of us like jacob life is a mystery it's a utter mystery you don't know what's going to happen in the next second one text can change the trajectory of your life one phone call can change your mood your outcome can change everything that's happening around you because life is itself a mystery as soon as you master it you step into a new mystery the moment you accomplish being able to get the children ready to go to preschool and you got all of their stuff in order and you got the little clothes laid out and you get used to being able to do that while they eat in the car and leave a mess in the car and you get good at bed and how to manage that the next thing you know they want the car keys you get used to them on the car keys and the next thing you know they moved out little by little life brings changes and it keeps you in the position of the student always inquisitive always learning always becoming not only learning about life but learning about yourself and learning about god the important thing is not to stop questioning curiosity has its own reason for existence curious people are always interesting people one cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity of life of the marvelous structure of reality it is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day said albert einstein albert einstein says life is a mystery so if it was a mystery to einstein then surely it is a mystery to us notice the inquisitive way in which he approached life seeking not only to see what happened but to understand why it happened what can i learn from what i've been through rather than groaning about what you've been through the greater question is what did this come to teach me what did this come to teach me how did what i'm going through serve as an instructor to train me for the class because if i don't learn what i was supposed to learn i am destined to take the class over again i will say that again if i don't learn what i was supposed to learn i am destined to take the class again and some of us have had to take remedial courses over and over and over again in life simply because we are so engulfed in complaining about what happened that we never learned what we should have learned from what happened whether it be good or bad everything teaches you something everything catapults you and everything develops equity in the bank of your wisdom experience builds up equity intellectually so that you will be more profound and have a deeper understanding there is nothing as embarrassing as an old fool [Applause] to have lived a long time and learn nothing is a disgrace it's a disgrace to be on the earth a long time and not be any wiser than you were when you started i think that we are so busy now that we don't have think time you need think time we're so busy doing that we don't have time to think and to reflect and to understand what did this come to teach me and then some of us are so busy fighting the new season trying to fight our way back to what was that we don't learn from what is but every stage of life brings you into a different level of understanding and renewal and if you will learn from it you can gain peace from it the reason we have so little peace today is that we have a life filled with unresolved issues it's not unresolved because people didn't apologize it's not unresolved because somebody died and didn't say i'm sorry it is unresolved because you have failed to use the experience as a lesson to learn something that would equip you and make you better you are not dependent upon somebody else's reaction to extract the value out of the experience it is up to you to dig into the treasury of your memory and say what did i do and how can i do it better and how can i learn from what they did how can i use their mistakes to be my maestro and educate me and bring me into a deeper intellectualism because if you don't learn that the person you criticize today you will be tomorrow oh i'm preaching better than you shall as as we as we meander around the parameters of this text you must understand first of all that jacob is in school and the world is his university and god is taking him the class all of his classes develop us into the man that we should become and jacob is becoming he is not he is becoming he had had difficulty he had had a very difficult life and at this time is fleeing the wrath of esau he has swindled esau his brother most of what he has learned has not been from his patriarchal lineage he didn't learn it from abraham and isaac and therefore you don't see god saying i'm the god of abraham isaac and jacob instead most of jacob's life lessons have been learned from his mother rebecca he has been influenced by rebecca a careful study will reinforce the fact that he is a mama's boy he is exposed to his father but he is mentored by his mother and she has mentored him in trickery she comes from a long line of sneaky people her propensity to trickery and deceit has shaped his identity a lot of us are shaped by the people we've been exposed to choosing the wrong person to speak into your life will shape you into some contorted figure that may take 20 years to untangle you from because of the influence of his mother and because of the influence of her uncle laban and because of so many other things jacob has followed their personality profile and is exhibiting the kinds of traits that makes god reluctant to call him his god he says i am the god of your father i am the god of your grandfather but you have not yet learned or earned the right to be to allow your name to be listed in the patriarchal family because you're too sneaky to be my son you're too underhanded to be my son you're too deceitful to be my son you got too many scams to be my son you'd be surprised at the people who get in church and they're still sneaky let me go over here and talk a while you'd be surprised at the people who get in church and they say churchy things and they wear churchy clothes and they have churchy statements but deep down inside they are still the same person they were before they joined the church but they had never had an encounter with god this is jacob's first real encounter with god up until now he has only encountered his mother but now he has encountered god he has the spirit of laban he has the disposition the bad side of the family and through trickery and evil devices he has been successful at scamming his brother out of his birthright if i were to theme jacob's life it would be struggle jacob's life is full of struggle it starts in prenatal care before he was ever pushed out of his mother's womb he was fighting in her womb later the texts will teach us that jacob and esau were fighting in the womb not just two people but two nations fighting inside of one person oh let me pause there and talk to the people who have two nations fighting inside of one person which is everybody [Applause] each one fighting to get the upper hand on the other one each one fighting to get a control of your mouth each one fighting to get control of your decision each one fighting to get control of your finances each one fighting to get control of your future all of us have a jacob and an esau at war on the inside of one human being and depending on the circumstance which one comes out first rebecca's uncle was self-willed and self-promoting and self-aggrandizing they come from people that promoted their own agenda ignoring the sovereignty of god and now he has a birthright he cannot enjoy he got the birthright from his brother he schemed the birthright from his brother but he can't enjoy it because esau is going to kill him and because esau has set out to kill him jacob is on the run he he he isn't just running from esau he is also a fugitive of god he is a he's running from esau because he stole the birthright but he's a fugitive of god because he has yet to discover who god really is god introduces him in this strange place he isn't just he isn't just uh uh there to be there he's there because he's on the run he has fled from canaan he has left his homeland which should have been his birthright and fled into the wilderness to escape esau and there in the wilderness he has an encounter with god there is no place we can run that god cannot find us david said if i make my bed in hell thou art there if i take the wings of the morning and ascend to the uttermost parts of the earth god is there i want you to know that when god is tracking you he will run you down he he he don't just come to church you don't you don't just have to be in church to encounter god god will come in the strip club god will come in a beard joint god will come in a drug house god will come in a prison cell god will come in any place to get what he wants god it's the god of the whole earth of all things that are in the earth and under the earth and above the earth are all up under his domain all of it's up under his domain there is absolutely no place you can go where you can get away from god there's no place you can go that you can get away from god and consequently jacob has had a life of struggle he struggled with his brother in the womb he struggled to get the woman that he loved he had to work 14 years to get the woman that he loved everything comes hard for jacob i'm here to talk to somebody who's had a life of struggle everything came hard for jacob things that were easy for other people came hard for jacob everybody else just had a baby but when it came to jacob it was a fight all the way till she gave birth everybody else just chose a wife but when it came to jacob he got a trickster and he had to work 14 years to get one woman the first woman was a booby prize she she was a consolation pride she was a runner-up prize her name was leah and he never wanted her and it's a bad thing to be married to somebody who don't want you let me stop right here and shout i said it's a bad thing to be married to somebody who doesn't want you not only is it a bad thing it's a traumatic thing to be married to somebody who doesn't want you it's a terrible thing to work a job that doesn't want you it's a terrible thing to pastor a church that don't want you it's a terrible thing to direct a choir that doesn't want you and jacob has had a lifetime of experiences where he has gotten the woman that he didn't want and yet he had relationships with somebody he didn't want i'm not going to ask you to raise your hand i don't want to put you on blast like that but there's some brothers in here that understand what i'm talking about that it is possible for a man to function physically with a woman that he has no attachment to ain't gonna talk to me y'all ain't gonna talk to me let me find me a real church maybe there's a real church online maybe there's a real church on mine jacob slept with leah and didn't even know who she was he thought she was rachel it was morning before he knew who she was and so everything has been a struggle he's got a struggle in the womb he's got a struggle to get the woman that he wants now he's got two women in the house he's got rachel and leah in the house he's got a struggle in his house ain't no struggle like a struggle in your house if i gotta have a struggle let me have a struggle on my job cause at least at five o'clock i can punch the clock and i can get away from all of that but when you got a struggle in your house you gotta lay down in a fight you gotta get up in a fight you gotta drive around your house trying to decide whether you want to come in your house or not cause you got such a struggle in your house that you can't rest in your own bed i know you can't say nothing i know you can't say nothing keep looking straight ahead act like you don't know what i'm talking about but somebody in here knows what it is to have a struggle in your own house if it's not coming from your spouse it's coming from your child it's a bad thing to come home you wouldn't think something that little could drive you that crazy but somebody that can create a struggle in your house makes you not want to come into your own house you're making payments on the house you can't have peace in y'all didn't hear what i'm saying you making payments on a house that you can't have peace in and every time you make the payment you're frustrated because your whole life is a struggle this kind of anxiety causes your blood pressure to go up this kind of anxiety creates creates eating disorders this kind of anxiety causes insomnia this kind of anxiety causes you to have multiple personality this kind of anxiety causes you to burst out in tears and nobody has died this kind of anxiety causes you to have mood swings and temper tantra just because you don't have any peace and you think it's a demon no it's a person and this kind of anxiety is not always a demon sometimes it's an individual that's driving you up the wall i would rather stay in a dog house and have me some peace than live in a mansion with somebody that don't want me if you don't want me call me text me send me a note send a pigeon send a dove send a crow set aside i'd rather be by myself than to be with somebody who's always creating a struggle in my life you're tired when you go to bed you're tired when you get up in the morning you're tired of arguing over stuff that don't make any sense get the clue they just don't want you [Applause] most people fight chris on jacob's life from the perspective of his rather shady character it doesn't help that he has been named his very name at birth means a planter means trickster every time you call it they say hey trickster come on get something to eat hey con artist come on get you something when people start calling you something and you start answering to it you become what they call you seldom does anybody examine his character and to begin to understand that he is born out of extraordinary struggle he didn't get that way by himself in fact jacob's life has been so bad that his theme of his whole life is nothing but struggle and if you struggle long enough it changes your personality it changes your disposition it changes your attitude it changes the way you see life it changes the way you focus on anything and everything because you've been through so much hell you're afraid to be nice you'd be surprised at the nice people who have been beat down so bad that they have assumed the false identity to survive the atrocities of the life that they're living in oh but you're gonna get some help today because god is about to pull off all of those mass and all of those scabs and get you back to being who he created you to be i need about 50 seconds of praise in this house i just want to be who he created me to be i just want to be who he created me to be i just want to be who he created me to be i want to be who he created me to be but sometimes you don't even know who he created you to be you've been who you had to be so long that you don't even know who you're supposed to be you've assumed so many identities to survive the atrocities of your circumstance that you don't even know who you're supposed to be and instead of living in your promised land you are like jacob running through your desert i call you out of every dry place i call you out of every barren land i call you out of every obscure place i call you out we gonna put you on trial today until you get a breakthrough in your life until you are vindicated until you are exonerated until your records are expunged until you have a brand new beginning until you have a fresh start ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free truth is liberation truth is liberation it's not about being right it's not about being wrong it's about being true to be true to yourself it is what it is somebody shout it is what it is until you come to understand what it is you can't change it into what it ought to be you got to be honest enough to say this is where i am jacob is lost in the desert in law there is a term called discovery and the definition is this is the formal process of exchanging information between the parties about the witness and evidence that is submitted that they'll present at trial discovery means not only you have to collect the information but share the information discovery enables the parties to know before the trial begins what evidence may be presented one of the most common methods of discovery is to take depositions and so what we are seeing here is jacob is in a state of discovery he doesn't know who he is he doesn't know who god is he doesn't know what's going on in his life he doesn't know where he is he is living on the road you'll be shocked at the people in this room that are living on the road working yourself to death because you're living on the run going through all kinds of changes because you're living on the run you don't want to take off you don't want a vacation you don't want a peace you don't want to have a good time because you're addicted to running you've been running all your life people think you're running toward a goal but it's not what you're running to it's what you're running from esau is chasing you your past is chasing you your god is chasing you your past deeds are chasing you and you're exhausted from the run if i were to break this message down into things i would talk about the struggle i would talk about the strategy i would talk about the serendipity i would talk about the sovereignty of god and i would talk about self-discovery i'm gonna say that again because i want you to get it i would talk about the struggle which i just did i would talk about the strategy which i'm about to do i would talk about the serendipity which i'll get to in a minute i talk about the sovereignty of god and i would talk about self-discovery life is full of struggle strategy serendipity sovereignty and self-discovery struggle strategy serendipity sovereignty and self-discovery struggle strategy serendipity sovereignty and self-discovery jacob is in a state of struggle and he does not realize that while he is struggling god has a strategy [Applause] i said while he is struggling god has a strategy while he's on the run god has a strategy i got news for those of you that are watching me online you're in a struggle but god has a strategy you're in the hospital but god has a strategy you lost your job but god has a strategy your husband walked off but god has a strategy your wife left you but god has a strategy you're pregnant out of wedlock but god has a strategy you had to give up your house but god has a strategy and if you can't praise him for the struggle you ought to praise him for the strategy your god is a strategic god can i take my time this morning your god is a strategic god he doesn't react he acts his word is forever settled in heaven he has determined the end from the beginning he worketh all things after the council of his own will all things work together for the good of them that love the lord god has a strategy for your life do you hear what i'm saying god has a strategy for your life god has a strategy for your life and if you're not happy you're not happy because you're not in the strategy as soon as you line yourself up with god's strategy and get away from your struggle you're so focused on your struggle that you haven't asked god for his strategy but somebody ought to throw your hands up and say oh shot god give me the strategy give me the strategy to raise this child give me the strategy to save this marriage give me the strategy to open up my business give me the strategy to come out of debt give me the strategy to live the abundant life there is a strategy if rockefeller can do it if the hunts can do it if oprah winfrey can do it if tyler perry can do it if anybody else can do it there's got to be a strategy you're not a respecter of persons if you did it for anybody you'll do it for me if joe got off drugs if willie got off drugs if mary got off cocaine if sally got off crack i can get off too give me the strategy oh i'm helping somebody there's a strategy that will break every chain in your life that will break every struggle in your life that will break every pain in your life god has a strategy for your life god is strategic he has a plan for everything when he created the earth he had a plan he knew what he was going to do the first day he knew what he was going to do the second day he knew what he was going to do the third day he knew what he was going to do the fourth day god has a strategy and he worked it according to his strategy give me the strategy for being 40 give me the strategy for in my 50s give me the strategy for my 60 don't let me be 60 trying to be 30 don't let me be 50 trying to be 20. give me this day my daily bread give me the strategy for where i am right now i'm trying to help somebody i don't even know who it is there is a strategy for where you are there is a strategy there is a strategy for what you're going through there is a strategy for this stage in your life there is a strategy the reason you can't get the strategy is because you're too stubborn to admit where you are and you're 60 trying to be 20. give me the strategy for where i am so that i could be the baddest 60 year old you ever saw in your life so that i could be the baddest 30 year old you ever saw in your life i want to be smart at 20. i want to be wise at 15. give me the strategy god is a strategist he made kings out of eight-year-olds god don't care nothing about your birthday god cares about your wise day give me the strategy that's necessary god created the earth through his wisdom the manifold wisdom of god wisdom will solve every problem in your life wisdom will fix every situation if you would shut your mouth and wait on god to speak through you rather than speaking out of your flesh and speaking out of what rebecca taught you and wait on the lord god would change your situation half the trouble you're in your mouth got you in if you shut your mouth you could change your outcome that's why the bible said be still and know that i am god oh i feel like preaching here be still and know that i'm god you talk too much you fuss too much you tell too much you trust too much sometimes you just gotta shut up and hold your peace and let god fight your battle why should god fight for you when you're fighting for yourself but i dare you to stand still and say i'm a child of god and watch god come to your rescue he'll send angels running up and down the ladder to get you a breakthrough if you'll just be still god will give you the land that you lie on if you just be skilled if you're just trusting the strategy throw your hands up and say god i want your strategy [Applause] [Music] god has a strategy grace has serendipity grace has serendipity serendipity is the thing you stumble into you stumble into it you didn't even know you were going into it you just stumble into grace god gives you grace to deal with something you thought you couldn't handle you just find grace oh i'm preaching to somebody the bible said noah found grace in the eyes of the lord he didn't plan for it he wasn't looking for it he just stumbled upon it oh do you hear what i'm saying jacob wasn't looking for this rock he just stumbled upon it grace has serendipity how many people have happened to be in the right place at the right time and you stumbled upon something that changed your life i wish i had a witness maybe i got somebody online i don't seem to have nobody in church but maybe there's somebody online that god just let you stumble upon a grace and now you're standing things you thought you couldn't stand doing things you never went to school for doing things that you never been trained for but gracious serendipitous you just struggled into it you didn't even know you could do that you didn't even know you could function like that you didn't even know you could stand that but grace has a serendipity [Applause] grace has a serendipity because god is sovereign so what you stumbled into god already strategized [Music] i want you to see that what you stumbled into god already strategized he has determined the end from the beginning nothing just happens in your life when roost tumbled up on boaz's field it was her serendipity but it was god's strategy he knew exactly where she was job says the lord knows the way that i take and when he has tried me i shall come forth as pure go i don't know who i'm prophesying to but you're about to stumble into something that's going to change your entire life you're just going to stumble into it it's just going to come knocking on your door like elijah and asks you to bake a cake you're just going to be at the right water fountain you're just going to be at the right restaurant and meet somebody that changes the trajectory of your life that's why the devil's trying to move you out of your place because the devil knows that god has a strategy and if you just trust god by serendipity you're going to step into the strategy of god and once you step into the strategy of god demons have to back up witches have to back up trouble has to back up stones have to back up because once you get in the strategy of god you have gotten into the presence of a god who's got angels on the road bringing blessings from every direction glory to god somebody turn around in a circle right back everywhere you look you got an angel everywhere you look to the north to the south to the east to the west the bible said the angels of the lord and camp about them that fear him and jacob didn't even know it but he was laying with angels [Applause] jacob has left his home he's left his family he's left his livestock he's left his inheritance he tricked esau to get an inheritance that he had to run from and now he's in the desert fleeing for his life and there out there of all places he discovers god the discovery of god not church you have discovered church but i am here to help you discover god i have seen people discover church and go to hell but if you discover god glory to god if you discover god when the service is over in the building it'll get in the car when the service is over in the building it'll get in your house when the service is over in the building it'll get in your life if you discover god the prison isn't strong enough to keep god out if you discover god he'll slip through the bars ask paul and silas he'll come in at midnight if you discover god god will bring you through all kinds of stuff jacob has discovered god up until then he's just heard about it from his daddy and from his grandfather but he has not had a personal experience with god you can't know god through your mama you got to know god for yourself you can't know god through your daddy you got to know god for yourself you can't know god through your church you got to know god for yourself there are people that are more loyal to their denomination than they are to god himself you would never leave your denomination but you cheat on god all the time jacob has discovered god [Applause] at the worst moment in his life he discovers god at the worst moment in his life in the middle of a wilderness a place of barrenness a place of dryness a place of emptiness a place of sweat a place of desperation a place where little grows in the wilderness jacob discovers god and he's had such a struggle he's had such a struggle that when he discovers god he steps into this what i call the social order of heaven the theologians call it angiology he comes into the social order of heaven nothing is moving in the wilderness but everything is moving in the social order of heaven he has to go to sleep to see it but he sees angels ascending and descending on the ladder and yet he's laying in a place where nothing is moving are you laying in a place where nothing is moving you need to step into the spirit because something is moving in the spirit something is moving in the spirit rail something is changing in the spirit rail something is working in the spirit realm and notice they were ascending and descending that in order to us in they had to be on the ground before they came up that means that when he laid down he was laying with angels glory to god he was laying with angels he was laying with angels but april the problem was he didn't know it god was there and he knew it not how many people in this room have the sensitivity of knowing that god is there how many people who are in in the hospital know that god is there how many people who are going to the funeral home to work with the funeral home understand that god is there how many people who are going through a hard time are not cognizant of the fact that god is there you see god cannot be explained he must be revealed moses told god show me your goodness show me i need to see you show me your goodness manifest your omnipresence i know you're present because you're omnipotent you're all places at all times simultaneously both past present and future but i need a manifestation of the presence of god i need to discover you until you become more real in my life you need to be more real in my life than my church is you need to be oh yeah yeah yeah i'm gonna drive it i'm gonna drive it i'm gonna drive it i'ma drive it till my car is sitting on your lap you need to be more real in my life than my bishop is you need to be more real in my life than my family is you need to be more real in my life than my problem here see you have not discovered god you're discovering church [Applause] and you go a while and you leave a while and you hear a while and you walk away for a while but if you discovered god you would be stable god is stable god is steadfast god is unchanging god is immutable god is eternal god is everlasting god is god before there was a where or when or this or that god was god nobody made him god nobody elected him god nobody appointed him god he was god before there was anybody there to tell him he was god he doesn't need your praise to know who he is he said i look for one greater than myself and finding no one greater than myself i swear by myself that surely blessings i will bless you and multiplying i will multiply thee [Applause] when i say god is tragic i mean he is providential in his providence he has already created your entire life while you are yet to discover it did you hear what i said i know you heard me i don't know if the rest of my heard me god has already created your entire life while you are waiting to discover it when your mama rocked you in her arms and nursed you on her breast god saw you as an old woman as a young woman as a middle-aged woman god had determined the end from the beginning he gave you enough grace he gave you enough strength he gave you enough win he gave you enough power he gave you enough mind to carry you the entire journey you don't just have grace for the moment you have grace for the future god lord i wish i had a church this morning somebody haul a grace in the desert [Applause] it doesn't matter that you're in the desert god will give you grace in the desert you can be in a dry place but god is there he brought water out of a rock in the middle of a desert he showed himself strong in the middle of a desert he healed people of diseases in the middle of the desert he he turned the bitter waters of mars sweet in the middle of a desert god doesn't need a wet place to be god he can have you in a dry place and still be god your life is based on your conditions and when your conditions are right you say god is there but when your conditions are all wrong god is still there no money in your pocket but god is still there no job to go to in the morning but god is still there nobody to hold you at night but god is still there nobody to tell you they love you but god is still there nobody seems to appreciate you but god is still there god has grace in the desert if you're in the desert and you've discovered god make some noise right now [Applause] yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah praise him with your single self praise him with your alone self praise him with no money in your pocket god is a god of the desert god walks in dry places he moves in hard times he works in the middle of a struggle i wish i had about a hundred witnesses that have been going through a desert and yet god has been with you i wish you'd stop acting like them other people that ain't been through nothing and start giving god the praise for not leaving you alone god will not leave you in a dry place he'll be right there with you ask hagar god will speak to you in the desert he'll show you water in the desert he'll supply your needs in the desert he'll lift your emotions in the desert he'll give you counseling in the desert he'll give you strength in the desert he'll give you help in the desert he'll feed you food in the desert he'll bring you through in the desert somebody help me praise it is there anybody in the balcony that'll help me praise god god of your dry place god of your painful place god of your hurting place god of your lonely place i need the sacrifice to pray the devil don't want you to praise god because all you can see is your desert but god is about to give you a discovery that god is in the middle of your desert and i dare you to open your mouth i don't care nothing about that mass and god don't either open your mouth and give god [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now jacob does not go to the desert to find god it's serendipitous he goes to the desert to flee esau he goes to the desert to escape man he goes to the desert because his scheme leaves him in an on the run situation he goes to the desert because he has embezzled his birthright he has made his bed hard my mama used to say make your bed hard you got to you got to lay in it and so jacob is laying in a hard place and whoever i'm preaching to right now you're laying in a hard place you're laying in a hard place you know you have had a life of struggles when you can make a pillar out of a rock i said you know you've had a life full of struggles when you look at a rock and say this would make a nice pillow jacob has become so callous that he can rest on a rock who in here wants to sleep on a rock to put a rock up under your head a rock for a pillar you have to be hard to use a rock for a pillar but what the devil meant for evil god made it good because when he messed around and put his head on the rock the heavens opened up when you put your mind on the rock the heavens open up when you put your head on the rock the heavens open up don't you understand this rock is jesus that's why the heavens had to open up because when you put your mind on jesus god will open up the heavens in your life if you're not getting anything out of the service it's because you haven't put your head on the rock but if you put your head on the rock the heavens open up if the heavens open up the ladder will descend and angels will start ascending and descending in the spirit you're watching me on the screen god's got angels going and coming bringing you blessings taking up praise the more you send up praise the more god sends back blessings when praises go up blessings come down i dare you to take a minute and give the angels something to take up the ladder if you open up your mouth and start praising god there's both sides of messiah hallelujah the reason you're not seeing activity is because you're sitting there with your lips glued together and your legs crossed but if you would give the angel something to take up to god god would give the angels something to bring back to you when praises go up blessings come down i wish i had two minutes of praise that would send up the angels get that put something in the angel's hand open up your mouth and give god the praise i dare you to praise him in the middle of your serendipity in the middle of your circumstance in the middle of your crisis in the middle of your deliver open up your mouth and give god the praise [Applause] i know you're not an emotional person i know you're a quiet person by nature i know you taking notes but you need to drop your notepad and open up your mouth for the kind of hell you're going through you need to give the angel something to work with you're in a dry place right now you don't know what to think you don't know where to go you don't know who to trust you don't know what to say but if you open up your mouth and start sending up the praise i want you to fill the raptures with praise i want you to fill it with glory i want you to send the ladder up with the praise right now praise him in your living room praise him on your couch praise him at your kitchen table praise him in your bedroom praise him right where you are sitting in that chair praising through your phone praise him through your ipad let everything that have breath praise jesus lord let everything that have breath if you ain't dead open your mouth and give god some praise if you are still alive give god some praise if you got one breath use it to praise the lord because if you send up a praise god will sit down a healing if you send up a praise god will sit down a financial breakthrough if you send up a praise god will deliver you send something up you can't get something for nothing if you sow you'll reap if you plant you'll harvest if you praise you'll prosper open up your mouth and praise our god i double dare you i double dare you his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make her vote in the lord i'm gonna give you 60 seconds to find your voice the angels are waiting the angels are waiting the angels are waiting in the balcony the angels are waiting on you open your mouth and praises you can't praise him and not get better you can't praise him and not get loose you can't praise him and stay depressed the more you send up praise the more god will send down deliverance you want to be delivered you don't need me to lay my hands on you you need to open up your mouth the power of life and death is in your tongue you shall have whatever you say i double dare you to open your mouth and give god the praise right now give god the praise right now give god the praise right now give god the praise right now shame every devil save every spirit break every curse break every bondage and discover the presence of god god is sitting all around you god has developed you god has covered you god is in your process god is in your nostrils god is in your lungs god is in your chest let the redeemed of the lord say so let the redeemed that the lord so [Music] i'm gonna move to my next point but i'm not through yet somebody needs to praise him till the chain falls off somebody needs to praise him till the yolk is broken somebody needs to praise him till the door is open somebody needs to praise him until a ladder comes down thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven thy will be done on earth as it is i can't hear you i came here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] something is about to happen in this place take me further come on tell them something's about to happen in this place something's about to happen in this place something's about to happen tell the person behind you something's about to happen in this place something's about to happen in this place something's about to happen i'm about to make a discovery i'm about to have an awakening i'm about to have a breakthrough i'm about to discover a power of power that's greater than my problem a power that's greater than my circumstance a power that's greater than my dilemma a power that's better than my store i'm about to make a discovery yes he's here yes he's here yes he's here yes he's here he's still with me in spite of my trickery in spite of my mistakes in spite of my crisis in spite of my storm in spite of my dilemma god still loves me i feel the power of the holy ghost about to shake this place discover discover discover discover discover discover discover discover discover discover this girl i feel the anointing of the holy ghost lift your voice [Music] [Music] [Applause] look at somebody say i just stepped into something i just stepped into something i just stepped into something feels like angels are all around me don't feel like i'm socially distanced i'm no longer socially distant i'm spiritually close i feel an angel on my right side i feel an angel on my left side that means devil if you get to me you got to go through my angels i got angels all around me the angels are the lord and camp about them that fear him i don't know who i'm preaching to but if i'm preaching to you holler at your boy right now [Applause] can i go just a little bit deeper sit with me let me go just a little bit deeper [Music] [Applause] hallelujah glory to god the anointing of god is in his place i expect a tumor to shrink y'all don't hear me i expect a tumor to shrink in here i expect a cancer to dry up in here i expect the practice i expect the power of god to move i expect a yoke to break i expect the door to open oh my god he oh my god i feel glory in this place i feel glory in this place i feel glory in this place somebody open up the door and let the devil out let the witches out let the curse out let the depression out let the suicide out let the trouble out let the pain not let it out let it out ain't no room for you in here you got to go you got to go you got to go praise is filling up the room down your head shout yeah [Applause] oh [Music] serendipity serendipity grace is serendipitous he said i have found the house of god bethel means the house of god but then he said i found the gate of heaven that means heaven's got a gate glory to god heaven's got a gate somebody just walked through the gate you're dwelling in the heavenly places in christ jesus somebody take a step just any step you just step through the gate you just stepped into the gate you just stepped into the supernatural you just stepped into the cleansing of your soul you just stepped into your deliverance you just stepped into your breakthrough you just stepped in the fresh glory you just stepped in the fresh shrimp you just stepped in the best power you just stepped in the wisdom you respected the knowledge you respected the glory you just stepped into healing you take a step through the gate [Applause] god says to jacob [Applause] i will give you the land you lie on [Applause] imagine that god says i will give you the land that you're lying on that's right praising bruh praising don't pay me no attention this ain't about me this is about what god is doing down in your spirit this is about what god is doing see sometimes we got too much order in church glory to god sometimes we got too much order in church every now and then you need to get out of order you need to get a breakthrough you need to get so alone with god that you don't know what time it is you don't know what day it is you don't know who's looking at you you don't care what you got on you need to praise them till you lose sight sometimes you need to praise until you come out your shoes and you gotta find them latest [Music] [Applause] god says to jacob i want you to get this promise he says i will not leave you i will not leave you until i have accomplished every thing i promise you i won't leave you at 30. i won't leave you at 40. i won't leave you at 50 i won't leave you at 60 i won't leave you at 70. i won't leave you at 80. i won't leave you at 90. i won't leave you at 100. however long it takes i i will not leave you i'm not looking at the calendar i'm looking at your purpose i will not leave you until i accomplish what i sent for you to do and the bible says that jacob got up from that place and took some oil and poured it on the rock and anointed the rock with oil as a marker of the spot where the gate opened this is the spot where the gate opened that's why i go to this church this is the spot where the gate opened that's why i come every sunday this is the spot where the gate open i don't always feel like coming but i come anyway cause this is the spot where the gate opener this is the spot where the heavens open up this is the spot where demons were reviewed this is the spot where witches became delivered this is a spot where drug dealers become deacons this is the spot where the gate open look at your neighbor and say you're in the right spot he anointed the rock with oil as a sign that this is the right spot [Applause] he goes from there now bear in mind he's still running from esau he spends 20 years running from esau comes to a place called penile and there he wrestles with god the man who wrestled in the womb the man who struggled for a wife the man who struggled all his life is now struggling with god because struggling is the only language he has some of you all you know how to do his fight and even in the presence of god you're gonna fight and the bible said there a theophanic manifestation appeared unto him that means that it is christ in the old testament a man wrestled with him can i pause right here and thank god for wrestling with me can i thank god for wrestling with me can i thank god for wrestling with me can i thank god for wrestling with me when i was trying to go in my own way can i thank god for wrestling with me when i was about to blow up everything can i thank god for wrestling with me is there anybody else in here that needs to thank god for wrestling with you i would be in prison if he hadn't wrestled with me i would have od on drugs if he hadn't wrestled with me i'd have blown somebody's brains out if he hadn't wrestled with me you go ahead and praise him for your car but i praise him for wrestling with me thank you for not giving up on me thank you for talking sis to my crazy head thank you for getting me together thank you for boxing me thank you for wrestling me thank you for every karate chop you gave me thank you for everything you did to humble me thank you for not giving up on me the bible said that when the angel saw that the day breaker that he smote him in the hollow of his head thank you lord for the pain that it caused me to humble myself you could have left me standing straight up but you left me with a limp god said you might walk up but you're going to limp back i'm going to break you down i'm going to bring you to your knees i'm going to break you till you say yes i'm going to break you to your surrender i'ma break you to sell out i'ma break you and now this time the first time god introduces himself the second fight god introduces jacob to himself [Music] [Applause] because jacob doesn't know who he is he says to jacob what is your name and jacob said jacob that's what they call me god says your name shall no longer be called jacob but israel watch this because as a prince you have prevailed with god jacob didn't know he was a prince oh my god lord help somebody to hear this word don't let it just fall on the rocks in the dry places let it fall on good ground jacob had lived most of his life thinking he was a khan you could be wrong about you [Applause] what they call you might not be who you are he wrestled for self-discovery the discovery of self he said i didn't know i was a prince he said your name shall be called israel and i will bless you with descendants spite of your early mistakes you may be greater than your father or your grandfather y'all gonna get this in a minute let me let me prove that for my for my scholars and my theologians abraham produced the seed isaac passed the seed but jacob multiplied the seed god is about to take some of you into multiplication multiplication press down shaken together and running over god said i'm gonna use your struggle as a strength you got two wives and two concubines i'm gonna use all of them to multiply your seed what labor meant for evil god is gonna make it good you work that job and they fired you but you learned something that that job that's gonna help you down the road you went through your first uh marriage and you got your heart broke but you learned something that god's gonna help you in your next relationship to multiply your seed look at your neighbor and say i'm about to be multiplied i'm about to be multiplied i'm about to be multiplied i'm about to be multiplied i'm about to be multiplied and jacob wrestled with the angel until all of a sudden he knew who he was so he has gone from the struggle to the strategy to the serendipity to the sovereignty of god to the self-discovery and that's where we want to be this morning who am i not what did i do i know what i did who am i i thought i was jacob and as long as i thought i was jacob i lived like jacob as long as i thought i was mentally deficient i lived up to what they called me as long as i thought i was depressed i lived like i was depressed as long as i thought i was suicidal i lived suicidal but that's not who i am that might be what i did but that's not who i am i'm a prince [Applause] i'm a prince it was the fight of his life not to find god but to find jacob to find himself to know who he really was because all of these hands had shaped him into who he was never meant to be as i close this message today look at the hands that shaped you look at the hands that shaped you into that mouth you got that attitude you got that weakness you got look at the hands that shaped you it is only when you discover god that you discover you are you getting something out of this clap if you're getting something out of this i i preached a message a few months ago and it's probably the most viewed message on youtube i didn't know i was me jacob didn't know he was a prince he didn't know that laban's trick was going to work for his good why should i be mad at laban for tricking me when god used the trick why should i be bitter against god when god had a strategy for my painful places and now it's all coming together as i discover myself so jacob comes down off the mountain and he's limping and he runs into esau and he makes peace with esau and he says to esau may the lord watch between me and me while we are absent one from another we use that all the time but we don't know where it came from it is what jacob says to esau in a final benediction to a lifetime of running it's over it means it means the struggle is over may the lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another and you remember god promised jacob he said i will bring you back to this place so when he leaves esau he comes back to bethel only this time he calls it l bethel the first time bethel means house of god el bethel means god of the house [Applause] he has gone from just being a church member to l bethel means at first i just saw the house of god now i have met the god of the house my concern as a pastor my concern as an e-pastor my concern to my viewers don't just stop with bethel i watch the potter's house faithfully i'm a e-church member i'm a member i go to that church i just love bishop james oh i love the way he preaches whatever you saying whatever you type it uh don't stop there el bethel means you must discover bishop jakes is god the potter's house god the god of this house the god of this house right here the god of this house that moved me out of the hills of west virginia to a place i never dreamed i would live and bless me to build over the last 25 years something that people have been here 50 years had not built the god of this house the god of this house [Applause] who is translating this message you're here right now into 52 different languages the god of this house that's distributing water to people that have no water and food to people that have no food the god of this house that's rehabilitating inmates former ex-felons and getting them jobs and opera the god of this house that has 50 different nationalities a attend this church the god of this house uh i don't want to introduce you to the house i want to introduce you to the god of this house by the time jacob meets god by the time jacob meets god he's limping because i don't really think you can meet the god of the house without a limp [Applause] by the time he sees that stone again that all his stone he left at last by the time he comes back to laws and finds that stone he limps up to it and now he perceives the god of this house there are some people in this room that god had to smote you in a painful place and leave you with a limp for you to discover him more clearly and it might not be a physical limp [Applause] it it it might not be a physical limp an emotional a marital a psychological a sociological a relational lymph in your life that humbled you that stopped you from thinking you were so such a much that stopped you from being so impressed with yourself that brought you down to your knees that make you say yes to god [Music] god said i'm not gonna stop until you go down and i come up and i become the bigger part of your life your pride and your ego has stopped you from seeing me i want you to see me and if i have to break your heart to show you who you are i will break your heart into pieces because i'd rather you limp into heaven than strut in the hell the god of his house the god of this house the god of this house the god of this house jacob jacob lampson to the stone and he says hell bethel this child god of the house and he multiplied his seed and out of his twelve sons ten sons two half sons comes to twelve tribes of israel comes the birthing of a nation of people a nation came out of a con man can you hear that can you hear that that god can bring a nation out of hope a somebody who had a baby out of wedlock somebody who's hiv positive somebody who's been perverted all of your life that if you can hear this word you can have a discovery you are not what you did you are not where you've been you are not what happened to you [Applause] [Music] echo god wants you to have a discovery yeah in the bible the word is behold apocalypse and unveiling where you see god in a way you've never seen him before if you come to church every week and you don't see god you wasted your time [Music] but if you see god one time if you see god his excellency his power his pharmacy his commitment his longevity the god who will fight you down the god that will beat down your bride the god that will humble you the god that will bring you to your knees the god that will not leave you nor forsake you not in the hospital [Music] all them friends you got they're only your friends cause you got a little something as soon as you lose a little something they gonna be gone they ain't real you gave your soul to their fullness they'll love you they love what you got run out of it and see how much they love you but god said i will not leave you god said i will not leave god said i'm with you for the long haul i'm with you when you're a fool i'm with you when you're crazy i'm with you when you're foolish i'm with you when you made mistakes i'm with you when you was running in the wrong direction i've been with you all in your life and i deserve a commitment from you a commitment stand to your feet i'm done this is the moment of discovery [Applause] this is a moment of discovery you might be the last person in the last row in the top of this balcony but if you made it in here today you made it in here for a reason the reason was for you to have a discovery this is the place right here the rock is oily there's oil on the rock this is the gate of heaven and you mean to tell me that you're going to come this close and walk away and not discover god jacob said god was here and i knew it not oh god don't let me so blood be so blind or so prideful or so egotistical or so stubborn or so ambitious or so carnal or so greedy that i fail to perceive that you are here right now you are in this place right now i don't care what your religious tradition is i don't care where you came from i don't care what you think you are your background what you accustomed to what they told you this spot right here this spot right here [Music] the heavens open up i'm not saying we're the only church but i can only testify about where i am this spot right here [Music] this spot right here this miracle ground right here [Music] that we built in the first few years of our ministry while my mother was dying this spot right here that god blessed us to burn the mortgage in three years this spot right here god who's right here you can't make me believe it i don't care what you say you can be a brown hebrew a black hebrew any other kind of thing you want to call yourself you cuss me out you can you can you can troll me all you want this spot right here i don't know what you talking about this spot right here [Applause] i can't i can't help that you don't know it [Music] but god is here yahweh [Applause] right here jehovah this hat right here elohim right here jehovah sharma right here jehovah right here jehovah's sycamore right here jehovah's locker desk right here this spot right here [Applause] [Applause] jacob said this is an awesome place i have found the gate of heaven when he laid his head on the rock the heavens opened up backsliders sent us online on the back row up front i don't care where you're sitting if you need the heavens to open up in your life now is your chance in in in in in the middle of a pandemic in the middle of a world going crazy in the middle of conflict in afghanistan in the middle of the rebuilding of haiti in the middle of struggles all over the world in the middle of china taking over in the middle of disruption like we have never seen this spot right here i don't care what your gender is i don't care what your race is you let race stop you [Music] when you know god is here [Applause] if you have been in the desert and it has been so dry and you've been running so long and all your life you had to fight the struggle could end today if you would meet me at this altar [Applause] the struggle the struggle the struggle could end today i don't mean you won't have problems i mean problems won't have you [Music]

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 447,845

Rating: 4.8441038 out of 5

Keywords: td jakes, faith, potters house, bishop jakes, The Potter's House of Dallas, TPH Dallas, td jakes sermons, bishop td jakes, inspiration, td jakes motivation, motivation, sermons, td jakes ministries, motivational speaker, motivational speech, gospel, motivational, sundayservice, tdjakes, td jakes 2021, td jakes sermons 2021, discovery, using faith for self discovery, change and evolution

Id: xaPqYfAd9OE

Length: 96min 51sec (5811 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021