From Pain to Praise (Message)

[Music] [Music] this is in lieu of a series that we would do on finances and how the Lord I just believe I'm supposed to tell you as your pastor God wants you to be blessed financially you don't have to accept it but I believe God wants you to be blessed financially and there's a quote from st. Augustine it says this the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed and oftentimes in our journey with Jesus and are experiencing his grace it's easy to disconnect from the Old Testament and the deep history and the roots where all this began but much is to be learned from the faithfulness of God in the lives of the Old Testament Saints amen and I know I'm in all of the principles they live by in fact Paul tells us for whatever written this is Romans 14 for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through the endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and then he goes on further to say now these things happen to the Israelites of the Old Testament as our example and were written down for our instruction so when we read the Old Testament it's not just getting rid of those stories because that's law and now we're living in grace how many know the old and the new are the total revelation of God and His goodness in our life and his plan for the earth and when I look at the Old Testament one of the things that we can miss if we're not careful is the whole idea of depending on God for sustenance and provision how many know that God is the provider how many really genuinely with all your heart believed this morning that God is your provider and sometimes as we read if you're not careful you can just kind of disconnect from the fact that that the people of God were really called to depend totally on God for their sustenance and provision and one of the areas that we see this whole thing of leaning on God and trusting him in the whole idea issue of the first fruit offering is that is is the idea of the first fruit offering we we think that that's just some D even think it's a gimmick some people think you know it's just something people do at the beginning of the year to get people to give I want you to understand that when you look at the lives of the Israelites in the Old Testament and you consider this whole issue of a first fruit offering we should take away from that the utter dependence that the people of God had on God for his provision as they came into a place of harvest this entire thing about the first fruits shows up in Deuteronomy chapter 26 and remember that in Deuteronomy they are not yet somebodies say not yet they are not yet in the promised land Moses is about to die and he gives them instruction about what to do when they get to the land of promise and he says to them when you get to the land of promise it's going to be a land flowing with milk and honey it's going to be a land of blessing but I want you to make sure when you get there that you honor me with the first fruit everybody to say first fruit a first fruit offering if you've got your Bibles take two minutes here look at Deuteronomy chapter 26 everybody say first fruit Deuteronomy chapter 26 can we put that on the screen please and it shall be when you come into the land which your Lord the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance a inheritance and you possess it and dwell in it keep going that you shall take some of the first say first of all the produce of your ground which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you he said I want you to put it in a basket go to the place where the Lord had God chooses to make his name abide and you shall go to the one who is priest in those days and say to him I declare today that to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God and you shall answer and say before the Lord your God listen to this declaration they gave the first fruit they gave the first fruit offering to the priest and this is the declaration they made and I want you to pay careful attention to the content of what they said my father was a Syrian about to perish and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there few in number and there he became a great nation great mighty and populous but the Egyptians mistreated us afflicted us and laid hard bondage upon us and we cried out to the Lord our God of our fathers and the Lord heard our voice he looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression so the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm with great terrors and with signs and wonders and he has brought us to this place somebody say this place and has given to us this land somebody say this land a land that is flowing with milk and honey and now behold I brought the first fruits of the land which you O Lord have given me then you shall set it before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house you and the Levite and the stranger who was among you keep going this is good when you have finished laying aside the time of your increase in the third year the year of tithing and have given it to the Lea might the stranger the fatherless the widow so that they may eat within your gates and be filled then you shall say before the Lord your God I have removed the holy tithe from my house and have given them to the Levite the stranger the fatherless the widow according to all your but you have commanded me I have not transgressed your commandment nor am i forgotten them I have not even any of it when in mourning nor how about removed of it for any unclean use nor giving of it for the dead I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that you commanded me now watch this next verse look down from your holy habitation from heaven bless your people Israel and the land which you have given us just as you swore to our fathers a land flowing with milk and honey that's a lot to read but I want you to make this connection when they gave a first fruit offering the declaration that they made is we have something in our hands we have no credit for we were oppressed we were enslaved to Egypt they were our task masters we had no land we weren't even a people and God brought us out by his mighty hand and this offering that we now have we give back to God because we know he is the God who gave the blessing to us I want you to know something today I don't know if you feel like the Israelites or not but I want you to know you and I were slaves to sin you and I had no family we were not a people we were going nowhere but Jesus came redeemed us from the curse of sin and has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus today we talked last week about the time the time is the 10% it belongs to God but how many know that the offering is something you and I get to determine I've even said this before I've even said ask God what he wants you to give and there's nothing wrong with asking God what he wants you to give but an offering is not just about God making you do something an offering is an invitation for you and I to step into something greater by giving something we need there's a story in 2nd Kings chapter 7 about a company of prophets who were building and expanding the kingdom of God and while they're chopping down wood to build this house 2 axe handle flies off axe flies off of the axe handle into the water and they can't advance the kingdom anymore and the Bible says that the Prophet told him to throw us stick in the water why is that significant because a stick was part of the building it was a sacrifice they needed that piece of lumber but if you're going to recover the the thing that you lost one of the keys is to make a sacrifice and to give to God and when they threw a stick in the water I don't know how this happened but an iron axe started swimming some of you are like no it didn't yes it did read the Oh bad boy an axe it didn't just float it started swimming backstroke breaststroke how many know it was swimming come on what's the point point if some of you want God and I want God to increase our life so that we can advance how many want God to increase your life so that we can advance the kingdom in greater ways in 2020 not only are we going to be a people who release the seed and the tithes but I want us today to be challenged to give a first fruit offering the first fruit is literally the priest walking out in the field and the first sheet that popped up through the ground instead of taking the ripe sheaf home and eating it and preparing it for themselves they cut it off put it in a basket and carried it to the priest and said this is a first fruit it doesn't belong to me I could take it but I don't want to because this is a testimony of the faithfulness of our God and when you so first fruit offering what you're saying is everything good that I have came from God and everything I'm believing for will come from him as well I want to declare this and we're going to pray I believe 2020 could be the year God supernaturally cancels debt over every house in this church I believe 2020 could be the year an invention comes to your mind that pays off your bills and everything in your check in your entire family I believe this could be the year of promotion and increase and blessing and raises and stuff that you're not even educated enough or qualified enough to have you say pastor does that kind of stuff happen absolutely God will train you on the spot for a place that belongs to you and you don't even have to I'm all about education but there are some blessings from God that will exceed your preparation and qualification 2020 can be a year a blessing for you and your business you and your house I believe in the principle of increase and generosity how many believe that with me but I want you today to bring it to an offering to God at the first of the year why would I do this because it's here we're here today to save through the first fruit thank you for what you've done thank you for taking me out of a place I didn't even have access to you give us a land and you give us blessing that we didn't deserve but not only have you blessed us in ways we didn't reserve the best is still yet to come and the seed we sow into the kingdom of God listen to me seed sown into the soil it makes an announcement to famine that you will not rule my future the only way famine has a testament a testimony in your future is if there's no seed in your ground but if you keep seed in the ground how many know it testifies to the future and famine will never rule my life because seed reproduces and my family and I I'm filling this thing right here my family and I shall be blessed generous people will experience a general generous harvest well I wish you'd quote some Oh Testament okay I will second Corinthians chapter 9 be not deceived God is not mocked whatever a man sows that shall he also reap if a man so sparingly he will reap sparingly if he so generously he will reap generously and will be blessed in all things at all times to advance the kingdom in every way this is the kingdom of God this is prosperity gospel this is not prosperity gospel this is the gospel and I'm gonna tell you the gospel save me when I was poor and it helped me after I got saved to become something I never could have been without the blessing of God what is that that's that's a shaking of a mentality that God saved you to keep you limited broke busted and disgusted I'm telling you I say I serve God when I had nothing but don't expect me to sit down and be quite now that I'm blessed even more I will testify of the goodness and the faithfulness of God be generous people of God be generous God's going to continue to be generous with us let's prepare our hearts to give the time and for those of you who are believing God for the best year of your life I want you I hope you and your family been praying about it I won't you and your family to give a generous first-fruit offering at the beginning of this year to say number one first of all thank you God for giving us a land flowing with milk and honey secondly to say God not only have you given it to us but you're going to continue to increase it in our lives and as you increase us we will remember it was the Lord who blessed us I declare over every business man and woman every hard-working men and woman every college son and daughter every every student in student ministry every child every toddler even every nursing infant every season Saint living on a fixed income I want to release this over you I declare 2020 will be a year of supernatural blessing and provision by God as we seek first the kingdom of God blessings are going to be added to us if you receive it's a man if you're offering or your hand or if you give online and you've already given this week if you if you just want to receive the blessing of this prayer lift your hand up to God I want to pray for God's blessing to rest on all that you put your hands to this is not your tithe this is the first free if you're giving your time wonderful but I want to pray over every person giving the first-fruit offering father thank you for making us the people who were not our people giving us a land that we could've afforded giving us a place in your kingdom that we weren't qualified for neither did we deserve today we are grateful I wish somebody would help me thank God we're grateful for what you've done for us in the seen world and Lord today you're moving in the unseen world so that it manifests in the seen world you're up to something in the spirit because you're getting ready to bless your people in the natural realm I declare harvest over our people harvest time they sowed in tears they will reap in joy bless the people of God in this room today I pray the anointing of increase generosity and prosperity upon our people not for the purpose of more stuff for us but for the intent of advancing your kingdom in greater ways I pray our investments would yield more I pray our jobs father that greater doors would open I pray for an increase to come on every houses and on every house bless every home that's a part of this house in Jesus name today god we received your blessing in Jesus name and everybody who loves God said amen let's stand all over this room one last time before we go into the word come and bring your tithe and offering this morning may the Lord bless you as you give to God [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in my heart I do believe we shall overcome we shall overcome sometimes when we join together to sing it is the price that some must pay to free that children from a permanent psychological death then nothing shall be more redemptive we shall overcome before the victories one son would be misunderstood and called bad names and dismissed as rabble rousers and agitators but we shall overcome and I tell you why we shall overcome because the art of the moral versus long but it bends toward justice we shall overcome because Carlisle is right no I can live for you we shall overcome because we live Cullen Bryant is right truth crushed to earth will rise again we shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right true play upon the scaffold wrong forever on the phone yet that scaffold sways the future behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadow keeping watch above it we shall overcome [Music] [Music] we will be able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and this will be a great America we will be the participants in making it so and so as I leave you this evening I say walk together Chum don't you get weary meeting can you stand with me this morning tomorrow is a day our nation has set aside to honor one of the great voices and leaders of a bygone generation whose dream is still living on amen and we want to give honor to Martin Luther King jr. and the work he tirelessly invested for the cause of freedom and justice and how many know it should still be our heart to continue to fight for the dream and the cause so that we continue to overcome amen and I want this house to know in a moment of extreme division in our nation the people of God are still the answer for what's wrong in America and on Sunday morning in downtown Chattanooga I'm thankful that we're the family of God and we've come out kind of out of all kinds of paths and all kinds of cultures and we've come out of all kinds of places different races tongues and nationalities but washed in the blood of Jesus and today I don't know about you but I'm thankful to be a part of the family of God how many glad you're a part of it this morning I said how many glad you're a part of it this morning [Music] so we honor the legacy of dr. King many of you may not know this this property in my opinion is special and in some ways hallowed just to my left there is the Chauncey Code building and just to the left of that is the old Philips Chapel on the corner with the large bell tower and when dr. king came to Chattanooga back in the 60s early early 60s he and the pastor of the church at that time dr. Lee Robertson met and had conversation about what they could do in Chattanooga to bring about a greater racial healing in this city I don't know the content of the meeting but I know this that our hearts in this house on that same property are still full of expectation that God will raise up a city that is set on a hill that can be the kind of model city that America looks at and sees what it looks like for people to live together in harmony and what to get come on somebody say man if you believe that and it's a part of our heart it's a part of our vision it's been a part of the place down deep in my heart that God would do that and it's happening and I give him the glory for it I need you to open your Bible I need you pregnant people [Music] pregnant people somebody said I'm not pregnant I hope every woman here is full of something from heaven I want you to open your Bible to Genesis 29 I got people getting nervous grabbing their things 70 year old women are running to the car right now how many know God is in the business of filling wounds everybody in here's got a spiritual wolf and I don't want to make too much out of the comparison and and sometimes that's a train wreck but I do want you to know everybody in here should be full of something from heaven you don't have to be empty in 2020 this is good news God wants you to be full of purpose and God wants you to be full of good things look at your neighbor tell a neighbor you're pregnant and you don't even know it [Music] Genesis 29 Genesis chapter 29 I want us to look over there at verse number 15 and we're gonna read a little bit of Scripture today it's more than I'm accustomed to reading and somebody said well you know you're not supposed to take so much time reading the Bible but [Music] I dare say we don't have that argument when it comes to reading our social media status so we can read the Bible and we'll all survive in fact some of y'all gonna get blessed off the reading of the scripture this morning Genesis 29 look at your neighbors say neighbor you look fantastic how are you - you look absolutely amazing it's great to be in this house with so many wonderful people I'm thankful for each of you Genesis 29 verse 15 Laban said to Jacob because you are my relatives should you therefore serve me for nothing tell me what should your wages be verse 16 Laban had two daughters the name of the elder was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel Leah's eyes were delicate one translation said they were weak but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance now Jacob loved Rachel so he said I will serve you Laban for seven years for Rachel your younger daughter and Laban said it is better than I give her to you then I should give her to another man so stay with me Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed only but a few days to him because of the love he had for her Jacob said to Laban give me my wife from my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her as an idiom for intimacy and relationship and they been gathered together all the men of that place and made a feast and it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah this is a switch Jacob wanted Rachel but Laban took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob and he went in to her and Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughters Leah as a maid it came to pass in the morning that behold it was leah and he said to Laban how many know you would have been upset if this happen he said to Leah what is this all he said to Laban what is this you have done to me was it not for Rachel that I served you why then have you deceived me and Laban said it must not be done so in our country to give the younger before the firstborn fulfill her weak and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve me for another seven years Jacob did how many know this sounds like a Jerry Springer episode right here this is my Maury Povich this is crazy Jacob did so and fulfilled her week and gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife also and Laban gave his maid Bill ha to daughter his daughter Rachel as a maid and Jacob also went into Rachel look at this and he loved Rachel more than Leah and he served with Laban still another seven years and when the Lord saw that leah was unloved he opened her womb when the Lord saw that leah was unloved he opened her womb Rachel was barren and Leah conceived and bore a son and she called him Reuben for she said the Lord has surely looked on my affliction now therefore my husband will love me verse 33 she conceived again and bore another son and said because the Lord has heard that I am unloved he has therefore given me this son also and she called his name Simeon say Simeon she conceived again and more a son now this time my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons therefore she named this son Levi she conceived again because somebody tell him again again again it's the word of the day she conceived again and bore a son and said now somebody holland now now i will praise the lord therefore she called his name judah and she stopped barry may the Lord at his blessing to the reading of his word today I want to preach a message today for a few moments from pain to praise look at somebody tell them we're moving from pain to a place of praise pray for me and I'll pray for you father thank you for these moments we have together in the presence of the Lord I pray you'll shape the words that I say and I pray you'll bless the people as I preach and I pray the Spirit of the Lord will rise up in this place and that through the preaching of the word faith would rise and breakthrough would come and revelation and wisdom would rest upon the people I thank you you're moving us from glory to glory from faith to faith from one level to another level from one dimension to another dimension let 2020 be a year of praise for your people I ask it in Jesus name and if you receive it and believe it somebody say Amen amen you can be seated in the presence of the Lord one of the things that I am most thankful for as I read the scripture is the way in which God does not sanitize the stories of the saints both old and new to make it seem like you know the people in the Bible and all those people who are in the word were perfect people with perfect lives and no dysfunction I'm grateful God doesn't sanitize the story and scrub the history of all of the failures and the breakdowns and the fallacies of the people in the Bible the Bible is very authentic and transparent that's a blessing for me because if I just read the Bible and everybody in it perfect and have no issues and there was no dysfunction and there were no problems and there was no there was no strife there was no jealousy there were no match stories if there wasn't any drama I'd get real nervous about my relationship with God because I don't know about anybody else in this room I don't know about any other family in this room but the reality of it is all of us have chapters and all of us have places and all of us have people that we have to make sure we we control the narrative about we we don't want anybody to know how messed up some of our family tree is we don't want anyone to know how messed up some of our pasts is in fact we have friends that if they knew everything about us and all that we struggled with and overcame in our past they might even not be our friends which is why we struggle with telling people are our business because we want people to see the edited version of us their minds get nervous but if the unedited testimony of you and I were rolled up on the screen we would slither under seats and crawl out back doors run to the parking lot and probably never come back to this house because we don't want people to see the dysfunction and the mess and the problems and the issues that we have all wrestled with but the Bible never hides those things about the people in it it's the stories of authenticity and transparency that draw me back to this Bible over and over because what I'm grateful to see is that God has a track record of using people who have a screwed up past now you can sit out there and act like because you got on a Gucci sweater and some red bottoms shoes today that you've always had your ducks in a row and you've always been talking in tongues and you've always been holy and righteous but I'm going to tell you right now the devil is a liar you can sit on there and smile and oh praise the Lord all you want to but there's some crazy stuff that you've overcome there's some chapters you want us to be ignorant of and there's some stuff God covered in his blood that you ought to be thankful God chose you and I in spite of what we did in spite of the mess we made in spite of the stuff we created and even in spite of the chapters and the drama we survived we're still here we're still on the team and he still has a plan for our future and I'm thankful that the bible does not sanitize the history of the saints it actually shows us the adultery of david it actually shows us the denial of Peter it actually shows us the sins that depa Saints committed and how God had a plan even after the failure look at your neighbor and tell'em neighbor God is a God in the midst of dysfunction aren't you thankful God don't have to have a perfect environment to bless you and to bless your family this story freaks me out I mean this thing belongs in a book it belongs on the front of Time magazine it belongs in a Maury Povich episode it is it is something that Phil Donahue what are we crazy about this is that this is a crazy story about a jacked up family and it starts with a man named Laban and this entire story is there for us to look at Laban is where begins and Laban as we will see as a control freak he is a manipulator he is a man who tries to manipulate and and and and finagle and work things in an angle and everybody in here knows people like this you have people in your life you have people in your family who just refused to trust the sovereignty of God and they got to go putting their hands on everything and they got to go taking matters into their own hands and this is the kind of man Laban is he has two daughters he has the older who is Leah the younger who is Rachel and then this name's Jacob comes into the picture and he looks at Rachel and Rachel y'all is fine if I in he fine and he looks Jacob looks at her and he says that's who I want and he goes to Laban and he says I want your daughter to be my wife and Laban says well you're a pretty good guy I think that's a reasonable request worked for me for seven years and you can have her and you know the story Jacob works for Laban for seven years for the hand of Rachel in marriage and after seven years of waiting on her and-and-and I love what the Bible says it is poetic and yet it is beautiful about the story of their love it said that he worked for seven years but it was only seen like a few days oh how many know when you get really in love you start saying crazy stuff like that you know I worked seven years but it felt like a few days I mean when when I was on Devin's trail at Lee University it was borderline it was it was it was borderline yeah I was stalking her that's I know the word I'm trying to find another one because I don't want you to think I'm weird but I knew where she was coming at 11:15 on Tuesday and I knew where she was going at 2-8-2 p.m. 9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. on Monday I knew where she was and I was happened to be waiting on her it was a coincidence we were standing in the same hallway at the same time how did you get here girl and what she did know as I knew and I chased her for years because she was fi in E and it seemed like a few you know I can tell you stories we will tell some stories sometimes but but all those years those two or three years I was waiting and just seeing like a couple of minutes like a couple of days like a couple of weeks because I wanted her to be mine I did all these other people were saying thus saith the Lord you gonna be my wife and she can tell me I'm confused and I kept saying that ever this aligner ever one of those men are false prophets do you hear what I am Telling You I am the jam in your jelly roll I we come on y'all I mean when the enemy starts sending all these people saying thus saith the Lord you got to just lay it out there so so we got together and and Jacob has worked his whole life for Rachel's hand in marriage seven years and it seemed like a few days and the Bible says that all that night they were supposed to come together Laban the control freak takes Leah out of the house and you might say reading this story how can a man for real yo how can a man think he's marrying one person and then wake up and be like what who are you girl and where did you come from like how do you get shocked well the reason it was possible is because you must understand something about the prenuptial tent of intimacy in the Old Testament they didn't just walk down the aisle like we do now you know we court and date and buy rings and be like girl you won't get married on of this 50 no no on the night of their of their betrothal on the night of their intimacy they they slip into the tent it's it's dark it's intimate it's them in the tent and and it's it's dark you got to be careful when it's dark that you know who you're getting and some of you need to understand something you don't find out who you're getting when you get in the tent you gotta know who you're getting before um again Oh y'all gonna say it nothing I'm helping single people real quick on the way to my subject this morning you better make sure you know them before you find them in the place of intimacy because if you're not careful you get some you don't even know about and there are some people in this room you think until you think marriage is only about the tent of intimacy and I will tell you all single people to get nervous and married people are willing to holler at me right now throw a shoe at me let me know you're hearing what I'm saying how many know that marriage is much more than just sexual intimacy come on in here marry people don't leave your preach out here hanging and these single people - no it's much more than just about intimacy you better know slap somebody tell you better know who you getting that's not what I come to preach about leah comes into the tent of intimacy the prenup tional tent of intimacy and she lays with jacob and that is a sanctified way of talking about sexual intimacy and he wakes up the next morning said whoa and in sign up it is and he goes to labor I said how could you do this to me and Laban says well I got my own scheme I'm gonna manipulate this thing evermore I'm gonna control this thing because I got my own scheme and and I can't let you have my younger daughter and not give first my firstborn daughter since control it's manipulation and and you've got to be real careful parents there's a fine line of saying to your children that's not for you I am trying to create the destiny you want your children to have I love some people right there now I want to make sure you understand what I'm saying I have the right as my daughter's father and my son's father as their father I have the right to look at them when they bring somebody to meet me and say that ain't for you but you gonna have to trust God family I'm losing some people right here and the most of the people I'm losing are the control freaks that think well you know I've got to tell them who they're gonna marry well that don't always work out right just because you love that person doesn't mean that they love that person and I want to say to you right now you gotta raise them train them shape them and trust God when you release them to make the kind of decisions that honor and glorify God say Amen Church and so the Bible teaches us that Rachel did want Jacob Jacob worked seven more years for Rachel and was still married to her sister know Thanksgiving was weird I mean for real y'all how many know you go to Christmas you're like let's play the dirty Santa gift they're like I hate you I don't want to talk to you like there was no joy in the room at all it's a very weird family dynamic because of the way that Laban tried to control everything Jacob worked seven more years and here's what I came to talk about this morning I came to talk about not Rachel not Jacob not even the crazy manipulative control freak Laban I came to talk about Leah because I really felt like this week in prayer 2020 needed to be a year where we get rid of some pain and some disappointment and start moving forward in the right direction now can you imagine being in the seat of Leah we talked a little bit about Jacob talked with him about Laban talked a little bit out the beauty of Rachel she was fine but then you got over here almost to the side this lady named Leah she's older she's the firstborn the Bible said that that that she have weak eyes now there's a controversy over what this phrase means some people think it meant that her eyes were actually something was wrong with her eyes and she actually appeared in her eye area in a very unattractive way some people think it literally means when they looked at her they got weak because she was not fine I ain't trying to be mean I'm just trying to tell you there's a plethora of discussion about what this means that whatever it means here's what the Bible says in the seventeenth verse Rachel was beautiful Leah had weak eyes and what we get from that is from the very beginning of this story even the way the Bible records it creates a sense of competition and leah is the loser in the competition Rachel is beautiful leah is not or at least that is the implication she was not as beautiful as Rachel Leah felt like many of us in this room today and many of the kingdom of God we've all had to wrestle with and work through the feeling of being less than and being rejected and experiencing disappointment almost like we just don't up and the problem with this is that we live in a social media crazy world and everybody puts their highlite life on social media and we catch the highlights but we never catch the valleys and we think that everybody else but us is living on a mountaintop and because nobody posts how messed up and jacked up their family really is on Facebook Instagram or Twitter we think were the only ones with the jacked-up messed-up family and we spend our time kicking ourselves regretting and feeling rejected and feeling disappointed that we're not quite what everybody else around us is and I am sick of it now you consider then disagree with me and I'm not here to bash social media I think it's wonderful but I'm going to tell you right now some of us don't feel like we add up because we keep looking at everybody else's highlight reel and we wonder where is our joy my joy is not in how many followers or blue check marks I have after my name my joy must be attached to my identity and relationship with Jesus Christ Leah doesn't add up she felt that feeling of pain everybody say pain everyone in this room no matter how much smile how many smiles and how much joy they have now have not always been in this place everyone in this place have experienced some sort of pain somebody in this room this morning is experienced the feeling of pain and rejection the feeling of being disappointed the feeling of not being wanted by certain people the feeling of being unwelcomed in certain cliques and groups and even places of work didn't hire even that was rejection colleges didn't accept your your your inquiry and that was rejection you feel like you've been rejected by a mother or a father or a brother or a sister or people that you love people that you had confidence in business partners business relationships turned around and it didn't work out it people lied and people deceived and people who broke trust and all of this produces an insecurity all that this produces a sense of disappointment somebody in here today just been through a divorce and you think that that divorce is the final nail in the coffin of just how rejected you are somebody in here was engaged to be married and somebody broke it off in that that engagement that's been broken off and that person turned around and walked out and you think that's the final nail in the coffin of my rejection and disappointment but I want to tell you this morning you have to be careful how you interpret rejection you have to be careful how you interpret when people don't want you to be a part and when you feel unwelcomed and you feel rejected and you feel disappointed and you feel like no one wants you you've got to be careful that number one you don't get bitter look at somebody tell them don't get bitter don't let someone's rejection of you cause you to interpret that the problem is with you the devil wants you to look at that thing and say what's wrong with me God wants you to look at that and say I'm jelly want you to understand nothing's wrong with you necessarily he's trying to get you to see he's too jealous of you to let you get caught up with them jokers that are not part of your future they rejected you but that's actually a blessing I can't find no help look at your neighbor tell them don't get bitter don't interpret their rejection number two as God rejecting you just because how Lord I've get ready to bless myself just because they don't accept you doesn't mean God doesn't accept you in fact i'ma blow your mind this morning their rejection of I don't even know who I'm talking to but somebody needs to hear this when somebody rejected you it was necessary for the blessing of God to come on your life you had to have an enemy you have to have a hater eating hater chips drinking haterade come on somebody you have to have a hater even Jews Jesus chose Judas you say Jesus didn't know Judas was going to betray him Jesus knew everything why would Jesus choose Judas because Jesus understand that even though the will and the purpose of God has got to have people in it who you know are going to turn their back on you but you're gonna let them live with you for three years to give them every opportunity to get it right and to turn it around some of you got a Judas in your life and the devil want you to believe Judas is gonna kill you but Judas is really necessary not just for the cross but for resurrection and for blessing and every time they tried to stop you oh I want to tell you right now Judas will never stop Jesus because Jesus is the resurrection and the life and he sent me to tell you Judas will never stop you either and just because you got a Judas don't mean you don't have a future the greatest watch this look at verse number 30 Lia verse 17 had recons Rachel was beautiful verse 30 Jacob loved Rachel the feeling of not adding up Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah feeling like less than or a failure I want you to understand today that the greatest blessing Leah ever experienced was this disguised in a cloak of rejection the greatest blessing Leah ever experienced was disguised in a cloak of rejection look at this Jacob said I love rain more than Leah and God said I love and favor Leah because she is rejected rewind Jacob said I love Rachel more than Leah and when God saw Rachel as the object of Jacob's love and that Leah was left alone and hated God said ah I got a plan for Leah when Jacob said he looked at Leah and said I'll pass and God looked at Leah and said I'll take her how many in here ever played sports lift your hand if you played sports we use something what we had like this unsaid league in the neighborhood I grew up in we really didn't have all the money to play all those intramural sports so we started our own league and you wasn't cool enough probably to be in our league really it wasn't that you weren't cool enough it was that we created this league and we wanted to feel like we were like blue chip and like we were the best but really we just didn't have the ability to go be a part of the other league so we created our only and I remember baseball I was picked you know mid to high round but when it came to basketball nobody wants the short white chubby guy now I grew up later but I was a refrigerator when I was about 13 and nobody nobody listened I was a liability on the basketball court give me the rock there's a reason you're wide open Wallace in fact there's a reason why you were chosen last can I tell you this that the reason Jacob didn't want Leah is the very reason God chose her the thing that disqualified Leah in the arms of Jacob is the very thing that qualified her in the eyes of God what are you talking about watch this when God starts picking his team you must understand that God wants to make sure he gets the glory for everything that happens on the court he wants to get the credit for the assist he wants to get the accredit for the steel he wants to get the glory for the basket he wants to get the glory for the alley-oop he wants to get the glory for the three-pointer he wants to get the glory for the free-throw and if he chooses people who know how to do it then what glory does God get when he pits somebody who looks like they ought to be able to do this thing but God said the people that the world rejected a little guy on the basketball court so that when his team wins nobody will be confused about who did it it was the Lord I want to bless somebody on the third Sunday of January and tell you something in your lines that you felt disqualified you is the very thing that attracted God to you because when God gets through doing this thing in your life you will never give glory to anybody else look at the greatest blessings some of you ever experienced is the blessing of rejection and the blessing of pain it was the pain and the rejection and the disappointment that caused God to say well they passed on you but God selected you to be on his team that's why Paul said in the book of Corinthians there were not many wise not many accomplished there were not many that had a pedigree and a resume of greatness that I chose but I didn't choose people for what they could do I chose people who trusted me to do what only I can do and when I do it they'll give nobody the glory by me I want to move on for the sake of time but I feel about a 10 second dance in my feet because God is getting ready to bless some people in 2020 many people in the secular world would have never lost somebody he's a source he's your provider your help doesn't come from the north south east or west [Applause] [Music] [Music] you try to ruin me you tried to tell me I paid nothing you tried to tell the people they were going nowhere but if for me it's called the blessing of pain we don't like to talk about rejection and pain but for some of us the greatest thing that ever happened to it is that they didn't let us into their club in fact some of y'all need to go get some thank-you cards thank you sister yay-hey for not let me in your clip because when you kept me out dad opened up another door when you tell me I wasn't good enough job said watch this I'm moving on it's the blessing of pain that we see in the first part of this story then she was rejected by Jacob and accepted by God actually it was Jacob's rejection that initiated the favor of God on her life God doesn't even really begin to show you favor until people show up to try to tell you you ain't qualified for it you got I don't want to make too much of this but you actually have to have an enemy what I want everyone to like me keepo that's a noble and a very very it's a noble desire but not everybody's gonna like you i went through a four-month depression in my life when i started looking at how and I don't mean pure harder than the sense of sinlessness like I meant pure hearted like I really enjoy celebrating the blessing of God on other people's lives I really enjoy when God opens doors for people and I really love celebrating God's blessing for other people and I had about a four month depression when I recognized not everybody gets as excited about my blessing as I did for theirs y'all not gonna help nobody in here y'all not gonna have nobody in here but I would take that some people in here today who are probably praising on top of pain and bitterness because people you celebrated actually took a dagger out and tried to stab you in the back and you're wondering I thought everybody loved it when God's people were blessed no there are some people send me in churches I said churches who got a VIN jealous envious spirit whenever God blesses somebody other than them they always show up on social media to tell you how jacked up everybody else's and the reality of it is you're jacked up and need to get off Facebook and you need to get born again and celebrate other people whether they celebrate your blessing or not save it okay the first thing about this story is the blessing of pain the second thing I need you to see and I'm moving along is the pressure to produce now watch this when God saw I'm trying to stand up here on the stage more but I'm ready to run when God saw God's eyes thinking my feet I want to walk and run but I've gotta stay here come on when God saw that leah was rejected the Bible says something very powerful when Jacob closed the door on Leah God opened the womb of Leah rewind when Jacob closed the door on Leah and said I'm not in love with you God said when he shut the door in intimacy I opened the door for your womb some of you need to understand something this morning the moment people said no it's the moment God opened up your womb to fill it with things that come from heaven and I want you to know right now man may not like you people may be against you but if God is for you stop worrying about everything everybody says about you and start getting your eyes on the one who is filling you with things from heaven when God saw that she was rejected he opened her womb watch this and like some of us Leah took the blessing of an open wound and tried to use it to impress Jacob she used the blessing of God for carnal purposes listen God blessed her with an open wound as she starts having babies so that she can impress Jacob how do you steward the open wound what is your motive for producing are you producing Leah to get Jacobs attention oh yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm getting ready to say some stuff right here preachers who watching me on Monday morning are you trying to produce a bigger church to get your buddies to say oh man look what he's doing down there or which time to do stuff in the kingdom to impress people who don't even care about how hard we're working to predict didn't love her anymore after she started having children then he did before she had children she went through all that labor and he had that needle has not moved at all aren't you tired of working for the approval of people who don't even look they're not even concerned they've moved on from your life and you're still sweating you're still in the delivery room and you just die on the inside and you got all this birth and all this labor and all this pain and the needle has not moved at all in your favor in their eyes somebody in here has a boss you work for the favor of God is on your life and you keep working 80 hours a week to move the needle and you want that boss to approve you prove of you and approve of the day you want the you want the job increase you want the promotion and you're working and killing yourself and your family trying to impress I'm talking to somebody right now you say pastor should not work hard yes you should work hard but you should operate from a posture and a position of charity in God and I'm gonna tell you right now you can't work a hundred hours a week for a man and forget your family and wonder why your family is suffering I know how to kill a shout don't write but we got people sitting in churches who think that their mom they think that their boss is their God don't ever get this thing mixed up and messed up in your mind you may work for a boss but you serve the Living God and at the end of the day you want the favor of your boss on your life but some of you will work harder and harder and never move the needle a favor in your direction and God sent me today to intercept the ideal silent of the devil and tell somebody that just because you want them to approve doesn't mean the more you produce the more of the needle moves yes work hard yes do it in excellence yes giving it your all but don't use the blessing of God the open door of God the favor of God and kill yourself trying to move the needle on people who will never move in your direction this is crazy she had three kids trying to please this joker my wife has that four children four right gift for and for somebody said when's your kid's birthday I I'm just there I don't even have a clue why Deven tells me the day before hallelujah I try I have a I got friends with a photographic memory i I don't know what kind of memory I have but thank God for it wait I have four kids I'm telling you right now every one of them was a job come on in here sisters you know we say things man we say things like this we had we we have we had four children Devon I don't know about all you why I'm sitting here but Devin does not let that statement pass and just be like oh yeah no when I say we had four children she looks at me like this what do you mean we had four children we didn't have it the first child we had was Jeremiah when Jeremiah entered the world I literally passed out my eyes rolled back in my head and I swam down on the ground and never sitting there giving birth to my firstborn and I feel like I'm heaven I can't handle it every child we had something happened to me it was I felt like I was in the moment but as much as I was in the room the reality of it is Devon had the job I had to coach her along I had to encourage her in the process I had to walk with her through labor I don't know anybody else's wife my wife didn't speak in tongues when she had any of our children she spoke in other languages but it wasn't tongues one time it sounded like Darth Vader what come on in here one time it sounded like the Cookie Monster all these things come up out of her when we were having children she was the one going through it it was the labor it was intense we girls and screaming we had four of those can you imagine having three of them just to impress somebody that wasn't looking the first child that she had she said I'm gonna name him Reuben because rumen Reuben means behold I've given you a son surely now that I've given him a son he'll like me but he didn't like her the needle never moved the second one she had was Simeon or Simeon and it means God has heard and what she was saying is maybe now God has heard my cry for love and intimacy maybe God has heard my cry that I want to be appreciated in love but he looked at Ruben and he looked at Simeon and the needle never moved in her favor then she had a third child leave her and leave her means join - or attached to and what she was saying when she named the third child leave her is maybe now that I've given him three sons and I've used my my body and my blessing for his benefit maybe now he will attach himself to me but the needle never moved after three children she still loved less feeling rejected feeling disappointed and like she'll never add up to anything and I'm almost through but before God closed her womb she had one more baby and this one she didn't name behold a son this one she didn't name name God has heard me this one she didn't name maybe he'll be attached to me oh no this one she said isn't even about Jacob I'm tired she said of living my life and spending my energy and investing that resources and taking up and going through hell and high water trying to impress somebody that will never be impressed with me he wants Rachel let his tail have Rachel I'm getting ready to give birth to something that has nothing to do with Jake up anymore I need you to look at somebody and tell somebody I'm moving from pain to a place of praise 2020 is about you and I stop giving birth trying to produce something that makes people like us and makes people think that we're all that whether you ever think I'm all that whether you ever think that to be in your team inclusion then after three children the fourth one will not be used for anybody all planet Earth ready to give birth to something that is a praise to God trying to impress people that will never be impressed but I have made up my mind that when I wake up in the morning til I lay my head down at night my soul will make her boast in the Lord I feel a praise rising up at the beginning of 2020 I need to thank God God still got a plan for me somebody needs to catch what I'm saying intimacy is about to give birth to a place of praise and when I got thing about praise for Kim I think about giving birth to praise I almost missed this but God wanted me remind you of the seven words of praise because some of you said I want to enter 2020 and I want to be full of praise and you got a thought that the only way to praise God is by doing what your neighbor did and if your neighbor knows how to praise God it's certainly in order to follow your neighbors lead but I felt like as your pastor this morning how to take a few minutes to remind you of what praise looks like because if you ever gone to get over the apitla can somebody tell them I'm over it [Music] this is the year I'm getting over it I'm over people rejecting me this is the year where I stop living for the approval of people and this is the year that I don't produce to impress produce because of who I am God here as a producer because in a place of intimacy and when you get over it you'll stop naming your kids trying to impress people and you'll start naming your kids crazy stuff like Judah Judah means praise and if you want to have a pregnancy test today and find out what's in your womb you got to check your praise life coming to church and yes [Music] [Laughter] although I'm through right here seven words of praise go go real quick seven words of praise an Old Testament number one ll somebody say hello hello means to boast foolishly just spin in a circle and shine come on in here Pentecostal people well you know I'm just an extrovert there's a room for all kind of people in this church you don't have to do anything I'm fixin to tell you but I'm gonna tell you right now if your team scores a touchdown and you get more excited in your trailer then you do in church on Sunday morning when we test the fire in his house [Laughter] [Music] seven words of praise never get out your hair or you leave or your distinctions or your toupee or whatever you got number one Hallel to boast foolishly number two tehila it means to sing a new song number three Samar it means the praise God on the instruments it means the price God [Music] [Applause] somebody cries knock my banana stuck every got afraid [Music] number four number four Baraka here it is to kneel before God in praise number five yada to throw up hands in praise and surrender number three powder to sing praises together in community and harmony and number seven Shabak shabbat is when you take a loud piercing tone and aim it and you shoot it at a stronghold and you shoot it at an enemy and you shout till you pierce through the atmosphere and darkness seven you use if you want to sing a new song if you wanna throw up holy hands is the that's a given month I want you to find a way to praise God inflation blessing let's see what God is about thunder [Music] to go with the far subside [Music] here tries the thing wake up your glory [Music] [Music] [Music] ha [Music] [Applause] come on you're the careful centered surprise [Music] somebody stepped up shoot up somebody stand up shoot up shoot up their radish [Music] I dare you to send up shooter for your children there you know send up Juna for your grandchildren I dare you to sift up shooter for your marriage yes [Music] I'm through with this she actually gave birth to the thing that would keep her in a place of continually giving birth when you give birth to praise praise becomes something that causes you to continually keep giving birth Oh what am I talking about see you got to understand something when she had Judah Judah meant praise the Lord if you keep following Judah Judah had a son who had a son who had a son son son son until that son [Music] and keeps a good we're two minutes for this night born in the city of death there's a savior who is Christ the [Applause] nomination be hard [Applause] rice is what Pro cheats us into desire in this room [Applause] [Music] hallelujah my move somebody give it one more shot somebody different one of it somebody give it one more take somebody give more people Charlotte's ago [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] somebody hurt ha [Music] [Music] all right we gotta go we gotta go chickens wait but I feel like 2020 it's gonna be a year a birthing prays after seasons of pain your story's gonna get ready to change starting today and here's how you gonna know it's changing coz when somebody asks you how you're doing you're not gonna take 20 minutes to tell them of all the pain and rejection when they say how you're doing you go say look what the Lord has done look at somebody tell them what the Lord is God lord have mercy [Music] heads bowed eyes closed here in this room and you need a new kind of 20/20 and you need a you need to give birth to something new in life I believe there's some people in here to need today that need to say yes to Jesus maybe you said yes a long time ago and you're away from them maybe you've never said yes to Jesus but you're in this room today and you need to say yes I don't care how many mistakes you've made and how dysfunctional you feel and how screwed up you may think your life is if you're in this room right now and you'll say pastor Kevin I needed Jesus to rescue me and save me and I want to be made new and I want to get my life right and I want to give him my heart when I say three lift your hand one two three lift that hand up god bless every one of you who have your hand up you can put it down your laughs getting ready to be changed all you got to do is say yes to the invitation of Jesus the fact that you lifted your hand or you know you should have as an indication the Spirit of God is touching your life today I want everyone to look at your neighbor on your left and right I don't care if you've known your whole life or you never met them before today here's what I want you to ask them do you need someone to go pray with you in the altar and if you lifted your hand or you know you should have when they ask you that question come out of your seat we're gonna pray together right here god bless you sir for coming people already come in come on you're not the only one today I want to give my heart to Jesus come on come on come on he's a really good guy come on come on come on I'm giving it all top my life around Lord turn my life around come on come on if you need him come on it doesn't matter what you talk it doesn't matter where you [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on people still coming undies of sex to help me give God fries today is the day of salvation tomorrow hallelujah god bless you sweetheart come on come on come on they're still coming somebody give them another praise they're still coming my god rook Martin which thank you recycle recession [Music] god bless your pal come stand with us [Music] somebody I just have to make this a big deal every single soul is a big deal and they mean something to God they mean something to us come on y'all let's join angels right here rest join angels they do God thanks for what Sega comet called my town [Music] I want pastors and leaders to come and help me pray I want you to stretch your hands toward them please and I'm asking you to pray for them like you wanted somebody to pray for you the day you gave it all to Jesus come on pray for them can you do that right now just pray for all over this church bathe them with grace and peace come on just declare good things over their life will you do that right now add the cross and the cross where ever saw the line [Music] it was there I receive ten Signac OPM with me one more time false where [Music] Oh will you do me a favor before we leave but you gently reach over and lay your hand on your neighbor's shoulder let's pray this prayer blessing over our family before we leave father we give thanks today for your kindness your goodness your mercy and your love and we communicate and release over our brothers and sisters your blessing and your favor for this week open up doors God go before me protect them and their family and all their ways bless of God with your goodness and kindness and keep them in all of their goings this week and I pray your blessing on every person as they leave may they demonstrate the goodness of God in every place they go in Jesus name and everyone said amen we love you we'll see you Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. make sure to sign up for connect track go in the peace of God [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Redemption to the Nations Church

Views: 2,074

Rating: 4.9069767 out of 5

Keywords: chattanooga, tn, tennessee, kevin, wallace, kevin wallace, deven, deven wallace, highland, park, highland park, rsm, redemption, redemption to the nations, rttn, rttn church, church, God, Jesus, spirit-filled, spirit, Holy Ghost, pentecostal, love, athens

Id: wg_I6bzTRM4

Length: 91min 56sec (5516 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 21 2020