Hurdles to Wholeness - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] this morning by the grace of god i want to talk to you about hurdles to wholeness hurdles to wholeness i want you to grab your bible and go to john 5 1-12 and when we start talking about hurdles to wholeness hurdles were made to be leaped over hurdles were made to be overcome hurdles were made so that you can catapult yourself into the next dimension come on hear me somebody hurdles to wholeness and i want you to understand and i want you to recognize and i want you to realize that nobody grows up wanting to be defeated and nobody wants to be flawed nobody wants to fail and nobody grows up and says i want to be in prison and nobody grows up says when i grow up i want to be a chronic depressed person and nobody grows up in this world as a little child and says i want to be a failure or i want to go down i want to go out and yet it happens in life but you can make a comeback in jesus name i said you can make a comeback in jesus name two things i'm going to do the pmt's are forgot for the people that are in artists pace your offering to the left pace your offering to the left to the left to the left to the left to the left but now i ain't got nothing left to the left to the left to the left beyonce eats your heart out to the left to the left to the left and and we're go we're going to pray we're going to pray a two-fold prayer we're going to pray over the seeds of our audience and our viewing audience and we're going to pray over the word before we go into it and we're going to do it together okay and i want your seed represented in this time of prayer and you you might say well you all pray over everything you better pray over everything the way things are looking right now you got to pray over everything amen amen i want to slip in a prayer for haiti too i want to slip in and pray can i slip into prayer for haiti father as we stand here in our sanctuaries and our homes and our living rooms and our kitchens and our bedrooms or wherever we might be viewing today we are so cognizant of our haitian brothers who have been victims of this earthquake whose houses have been ramsacked buildings have crumbled and they are pulling out dead bodies they need your touch and your grace and your mercy and your love and your provision haiti has already been up under attack haiti has already been tempestuous he's already been in chaos and i pray in the name of jesus that you would stabilize that country i even asked you lord to avert the storm that's supposed to be coming toward haiti and just drop your loving arms around it and shield that nation in the name of jesus and lord as we stand here in as we sow and we plant into the kingdom of god it is the very trouble that's going on in haiti that reminds us of your hand over our lives and your mercy and your grace and we're thankful not only because we're going to get a harvest but if you didn't do anything else for us but keep our house standing and keep our children alive and keep us from danger and turmoil and no fire in our neighborhoods and no pestilence under our feet if you don't do anything but sustain us i i want to advance but if you don't do anything but sustain us i'll be i'll be happy just to know that i can wake up in my own bed in my own mind in my own clothes with my own thoughts i thank you right now in the name of jesus bless every seed that sow bless every sword that sows bless every individual that plants blend every bless every person that's watching online in a supernatural way and as we dive into your word like a swimmer into a pool immerse us into truth and revelation knowledge and we thank you for what you're going to do in the name of jesus i want the biggest amen i've heard all morning one more time glory to god that's good that's good that's good glory to god it's not good for me to watch in the news because when i watch the news i see all the things that's going on all over the world and sometimes it troubles me and sometimes it upsets me and sometimes i just pray over people i don't even know in places i've never been i've been praying over to afghanistan and and all of that and then i have to remind myself that that i can't fix everything do you ever have to remind yourself if you can't fix everything and you can't fix everybody but i can pray over everything i can pray over everything i can't negotiate peace and settle setting order world peace but i can pray over everything it's our custom to stand for the reading of the word of god if you would respect that we would appreciate it we're going to be in the gospel of saint john chapter 5 verse 1-12 and i promise you you can sit and sleep and do whatever you need to do the rest of the time the gospel of saint john stands in a category all by itself uniquely set apart from the synoptic gospels it brings before us almost in short stories parables of truth and word and information and historical content of the life of jesus in a way that we can compartmentalize one incident from another and on this particular occasion the fifth chapter starts out not so much a continuation of a discussion of the previous chapter but says after this there was a feast of the jews and jesus went up to jerusalem now there is at jerusalem by the sheep market a pool which is called in the hebrew tongue bethesda having five porches in these land great multitude of impotent folk a blind halt withered waiting for the moving of the water for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had and a certain man was there which had an infirmity 30 and 80 years when jesus saw him lie i knew that he had been now a long time in that case he saith unto him listen to that closely he saith unto him will thou be made holy there have been a man answered him sir i have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while i am coming another step of down before me jesus says unto him rise take up my bed and walk and immediately [Laughter] and immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked on that same day was the sabbath the jews therefore said unto him that was cured it is the sabbath day it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed he answered them he that made me whole the same said unto me take up thy bed and walk then i say him what man is that which said unto thee take up thy bed and walk and we're going to stop right there from now hurdles to wholeness you may be seated in the presence of the lord yeah let's do it one of the things that the text brings before us it brings before us a jesus that is not a conformist in fact he is anything but a conformist a lot of times when you see jesus depicted today in modern depictions of jesus he's passive and tranquil and he floats through the air and he's kind of quiet and and almost almost tranquil in the way in which he moves but don't you believe that was radical jesus was rambunctious jesus had a way of upsetting things most of his ministry occurs beyond the parameters of orthodox religious ideologies he was wild church folk didn't always like jesus because jesus would upset say this is the jesus who broke the rules who turned over tables in the sanctuary it's not the convenient quiet polite jesus this is a radical jesus who ignored the sanctimonious disapproval of the scribes didn't conform to the pharisees nor did he acquiesce to the sadducees he was in a class all by himself and wherever he went he disrupted things think about how jesus would upset a city or a village or a town and come into a city and and and disrupt things if he got into a house so many people would come into a house until the house was filled and nobody could get in one man had to cut the roof open and be lowered down through the roof to get a chance to get into the presence of jesus if he got into a city he would turn a city upside down and most of his arguments were not with prostitutes or pimps or drug dealers or alcoholics most of his arguments were with religious people pharisees and sadducees and scribes of the day because they could not stand the fact that jesus would not conform to that their ideas nor twist himself around their logic nor submit himself to their hierarchy and their political advantage jesus had a way of upsetting things he was a rock he was a rock strong as a rock he was as unstable as a tree that's thrown into bitter waters and there'd be ripples everywhere he went if jesus got in it there would be ripples if jesus got in there would be ripple if jesus gets into your house there will be ripples if jesus gets in your finances there will be ripples if you want to keep everything nice and calm keep jesus out of it because if jesus gets in he will break some rules and upset some things and turn some tables over and bless people you didn't want to be blessed and raise them up from the background to the forefront jesus was a rabble rouser jesus was radical glory to god that's where i get it from jesus would make noise jesus would get in your faith jesus would confront you jesus would confront a problem he wouldn't avoid it he said show me where you laid him down roll the stone away i'm getting ready to mess things up i'ma turn this graveyard out he would go down and lay hands on a casket and tell a dead boy to get up jesus was radical [Applause] do you hear what i'm saying now it is the time of the feast and by all rice he should be going into the celebration and instead of going into the feast he was stopped by a place that most reputable leaders would they didn't want to they didn't want to it was a smelly place it was a diseased place it was an infectious place it was a place where people hung out who had little hope they were afflicted and there were no hospitals that could cure them no medication that could rectify it and they were all convocate around this particular area so that people could go to and fro without having to run into them because people love you until there's something wrong with you [Music] [Applause] y'all aren't going to talk to me today they really love you until something's wrong with you they really love you until it becomes inconvenient to love you they really love you until you become difficult to deal with they really love you as long as you've got on your color but when you start smelling a little bad people don't want to deal with you they want to put you off in a corner all by yourself so that they don't have to confront you when you're misfigured in some way they don't want to look at you they don't stare at you they act like they don't notice you you become invisible can you kind of get away if you're homeless they look straight ahead in the car they don't look at you they want to act like they don't see what they see this is the place where the people dwell that nobody wanted to deal with he is seen here with sick people over whole people broken people afflicted people people who had delivers and crisis that were unfixable in the time in which he was living he does not just associate with the elite on the high and mighty or the pious or the holy or the righteous jesus wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty jesus wasn't afraid to go into places where other people wouldn't go jesus wasn't afraid to talk to the outcasts he brings his power to those who need it oh you ought to be shouting by now because you need it he brings his power to those who need it you ought to be dancing right now because you you need it he brings his power to those that are in trouble he doesn't bring his power to those who deserve his power he brings his power to those who are afflicted and if that were not true you wouldn't be here and i wouldn't be here and you wouldn't be watching online right now you wouldn't be where you are right now if jesus wasn't able to get to you when you couldn't get to him most of these people couldn't get to jesus but jesus could get to him thank you lord for traveling the district to reach me when i couldn't reach you he came where i was and he sat where i sat [Applause] and he was touched by the feeling of my infirmity and he wasn't afraid to talk to somebody who didn't have any mouthwash or didn't have a toothbrush and had been sick for a long time had been afflicted and jesus had a conversation with a bad breath bad disease infected them picture his confused terrible frustrated man and jesus comes and talks to him he is not a lawyer he's not a physician he's not a doctor he's not a potent pain he's not a person of mine he's not a person of political influence he's just a sick man who've been sick a long time a nameless man a man of no pedigree or background but jesus came and talked to him so i rebuked every devil that's telling you you're not important enough for jesus to come and talk to you the devil is alive if jesus can come and talk to a man that is sick and afflicted and diseased surely he can come and talk to you [Applause] this man had no offering this man can offer jesus nothing and yet jesus comes where he is in the middle of a feast jesus comes to bethesda bethesda that's what they called it bethesda bethesda is located near the temple but it's not in the temple over and over and over and over again do you see how jesus does some of his best work outside the temple glory to god he does some of his best work outside of the temple he heals the most people outside of the temple he's sending you a message that god has come outside of orthodoxy that god has come outside of normal religious ideas he sent you a message that he is not going to conform to the traditions of his day and the thoughts of his error that he came to change things he's a rabble rouser he's a leader he makes some noise leaders don't just follow the pack they lead the band oh y'all don't hear what i'm saying to you i feel like preaching this morning i wish you felt like having church because if we got together something would happen in here this morning anybody coming here to praise our god this morning yeah one of the first places i went to see when i got to jerusalem is what is the area where bethesda is bethesda is called the house of mercy or the house of grace it was the place where they infirmed hung out together it was a place where they came together to comfort one another and it was a place where they were able to live on five different porches house of mercy or a house of grace my god i'm thinking about changing my name to bethesda bethesda jakes i don't sound too bad obj oh b.j that's pretty cool bethesda jacks yeah you know why because i'm a house of mercy i'm a house of grace i want to change my name because i'm standing here by the grace of god y'all don't hear what i'm saying i'm standing here by the mercy of god [Applause] what they meant for disgrace god called it grace they put all the disgraced people all in a pack together and yet it is the house of grace and it is a house of mercy because grace hangs out with disgrace oh i'm gonna tell them over here because i don't think they got it grace hangs out with disgrace grace hangs out with shame grace hangs out with affliction grace hangs out with sinners grace hangs out with trouble grace hangs out with sick people grace hangs out with infirmity grace doesn't go to the country club grace doesn't stay in the yard grace goes down in the ditches of the buck and the mire and somebody slipping up under a bridge grace hangs out where the stink is and the stench is that the fever is and the blind man is falling and the lame man can't move and the paralyzed man is rolling over grace says i'm coming over here to hang out oh bethesda bethesda bethesda but there's somebody is a witness to bethesda grace comes [Applause] grace comes out these porches are a shelter from the elements five porches they're saved from from the palestinian heat it gives them some comfort while they wait for the miracle moment to happen which only happens annually once a year up until then they're sustained in these protocols that that protect them from the elements there were five porches somebody say fire porches pay close attention to these porticoes because they had to be able to fit within five portraits no matter what was wrong with you whether you were blind or paralyzed you had to be able to fit within those portico some folk can't get along with nobody but when you're in trouble you gotta humble yourself and learn how to get along with people you got to learn how to get along with people you got to learn how to get along with there were five porches and when i read about the five porches i remembered that god created the earth in five days and somebody else would say he created in seven days but that's not really accurate he created the earth and recreated the earth within a five-day period on the sixth day he created man and brought him into the finished work of the fifth day and all of a sudden a man enters into a grace where he did not create it he did not build it he did not labor it five is the number of grace have you ever had god bring you into something that you didn't have nothing to do with but god by his mercy and by his grace did the work and then brought you into it have you ever had god do the work and then bring you into it have you ever had god build the house and then move you into it have you ever had god make the way and then set you on the path god waited till the earth was created and then on the sixth day he scooped man about the earth and brought him in said let me show you what i did for you before you got here it's grace cause you couldn't have earned it you wasn't here yet i did it without you but i did it for you so that you might receive it you are saved by the grace of god you are living the grace of god you are breathing the grace of god if i had a witness in here we'd have some church in here maybe there's a witness online god is bringing you into stuff that he already fixed before you got here [Applause] look at somebody in holland ain't nothing but grace [Applause] and what shall we say of aaron when god started the priesthood with nadab and elie hazard and abahu and ithamar his four sons his four sons and aaron make five and god sent one anointing on them so that they can operate in the priesthood because five one two three four five is the number of grace or what should we say about the temple that was built with walls five cubits high to cover because five is the number of grace or what about the five piercings in the body of jesus christ his left hand his right hand his feet two feet but one nail his crown of thorns and the piercing of his side one two three four five is the number [Music] five is the number of grace or what about the five-fold ministries apostles prophets pastors teachers evangelists all for the perfecting of the saints and the work of the ministry one two three four five is the number of grace there is no accident here that there are five portraits because god always brings you into grace to the number five somebody shout grace oh y'all don't want none of that somebody shout grace oh amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved the wretch like me i once was lost but now i'm found was blind but now i see somebody shout grace see as opposed to you thinking that you earned it and that you're entitled to it you need to come humbly before the throne of grace that you might obtain mercy and find what grace grace to help in the time of need anybody got a need god's got a grace anybody got a problem god's got a grace anybody's got a crisis god's got a grace glory to god don't be walking around like god holds you something and your shoulders all stretched out and your chest all out like you're doing god a favor to come to church or listen to the word no shout grace [Applause] grace let you be able to hear [Applause] and somebody said well how can you call it the house of grace or the house of mercy when the sick were not all healed yeah but they were all covered [Applause] in their five protocols they were covered because the truth of the matter is everybody in here ain't healed and if you hang around here long enough you will shout when i say that because we like to act like we got it all together and we like to act like we're perfect and we like to act like we just got off off the foot of the cross but the truth of the matter everybody in here got a little something something that's in the five porticos that you're asking god to help you with and god is covering you while he's healing you and god is protecting you while he's healing you and god is helping you while he's healing you and god is teaching you while he's healing you and don't you act like it's just the people out there that have these five portraits there's a little bit of grace going on up in that balcony there's a little grace going up into the pulpit it's a little grace on the usher boy somebody talk to me it's grace on the line this morning it's grace on youtube this morning it's grace on facebook this morning it's grace on the app this morning oh if you got a little grace make some noise clap your head holler out scream do a dance i live in the grace of god grace fed them they weren't all healed but grace fed them every day they would have died you came here 38 years without food grace fed them sick but i'm fed ah y'all don't hear what i'm saying grace fed them every day grace let them breathe grace gave them a bed to lie in grace kept them alive alive go sick [Applause] addicted but alive the more you said the more i want to dig down into you yeah in trouble but alive some of you are living right now in the very grace of god you know you know you know come on don't make me prophesy you know you don't deserve to have what you have and come as far as you've come it's by his grace that you are where you are and while other people might be praising god because of the stuff they own you're praising god for the grace you got it's grace that got you up his grace that stirred you look it's grace that broke your chain that's grace that opened up the door it's grace that gave you a second chance in fact if half the people knew who you really were they wouldn't even want to touch you but grace covered you and put you on the porch and gave you a shelter a shelter to sing in to preach in to work in to marry it to stand in my god my god can i take about five minutes and just praise him for grace can i just praise him for grace anybody been kept by the grace of god anyone eating by the grace of god anyone sheltered by the grace of god make some noise in this place [Applause] oh i feel the praise i feel a praise coming on i feel a praise coming on i feel a hallelujah coming on i feel a thank you jesus coming on i feel a glory to god coming on [Applause] yeah yeah look at this this is grace this code is grace these shoes of grace address you got on that's grace you wearing grace right now you drove up in the parking lot in grace what you driving is grace you thought it was a ford it ain't afford it's great you thought it was a bentley it ain't a bentley it's grace oh you thought it was a cadillac it ain't a cadillac it's bethesda it's the house of great you're driving in the grace of god [Applause] this man's problem was not that he was not a recipient of god's grace he had been living in god's grace for 38 years on five different porches expressions of grace there is nothing to doubt about the fact that he is alive by the grace of god his problem is is that he has been in a state of grace too long can you overstay your welcome [Applause] with grace can grace that was sent to cover you [Music] start to your development can you use grace as a cloak for maliciousness can you stay in grace so long that you become familiar can you stay in grace so long that what was a covering becomes a cane [Applause] 38 years and now we meet him at a turning point the bible says that he had an infirmity for 38 years and when jesus comes to the house of grace he comes to remove him from the house he comes to kick him out the hospital he comes to get him out of his wheelchair he comes to remove his cane see some folk get stuck in help ah some folk is stuck in mercy this is the turning point in the text it is the moment in which that god begins to challenge him what is a house of grace can become a harbor for pain if we stay too long look at romans six and one for a minute just romans six and one verse one and two for just a moment and paul is talking about what i'm talking about when he's talking about what he's talking about in romans six one and two he says what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound god forbid how can we that are dead to sin live any longer than in other words god will eventually kick you out and say it's time for you to stand up on your own two feet is time for you to grow up it's time for you to recover it's time for you to be stronger don't get stuck on the porch just because god provided it doesn't mean that you ought to stay there god provided egypt when there was famine going on in the promised land and all of joseph's brothers found provision in egypt for a while but if you stay too long then you you become a slave [Applause] how many of you have overstayed your welcome you know what it's like then for something that god sent to be a blessing and it is of being a burden because you start taking it for granted and you stay there longer than you're supposed to stay and it's time for you to take up your bed and walk but you've gotten comfortable laying in your bed of affliction i came to rattle some change i came to make some noise i came to dislodge some people i came to get somebody loose this morning that just because god covered you doesn't mean he liked what you did just because god covered you that means he is happy with the state you're in just because god made a way doesn't mean for you to stay in a state of dependency on something that was meant to be scaffolding and you turned the scaffolding into a patio oh god gave it to you so you could grow [Applause] and now the man has been in the house of grace for 38 years nobody builds a porch to be a house how long will you be angry [Applause] how long will you be weak how long will you creep how long will you sneak just because grace covered you how long will you delay your recovery to make room for your dysfunction how long will you accept what god has rejected how long will you say this is just how i am this is how my parents were i got that from my daddy i'm like that because my mama loves like that how long how long will god have to come up for you [Applause] god is trying to bring you into recovery and jesus comes by to ask this man a paramount question well thou [Music] wilt thou be made whole sounds like a crazy question will thou be made whole i've been sick 38 years and yet jesus asked him the question not is it my will for you to be made a whole he asked him is it your will do you really want to get better or do you just want to act a fool do you really want to overcome or do you really just want to play cane do you really want to be a real christian or you just want to belong to the potter's house do you really will thou be made oh or you just want to build a deacon boy will thou be made all or you just want to sing [Applause] see the first hurdle you have to overcome is the hurdle of a haven [Music] the hurdle of a haven is where you have become comfortable on a porch the porches that we build can become a deterrent to to being better oh it got quiet jesus it can become a deterrent to getting better because we always make excuses for you we give permission to you 38 years of us understanding you has created a codependent relationship that has enabled you not to get well and i came to serve an eviction notice [Applause] i came to serve an eviction notice i stopped by the house of grace to tell you you got to get out of here your time is up you got to make room for somebody else somebody else needs that spot on that porch you've got to go the porches we build can become a deterrent to better that's one thing you got to think about what porches are there in your life that have given you permission not to grow up just because i let you talk to me like that [Applause] [Music] does it mean for you to keep on talking to me like that because one day i'm gonna snap on them i'm gonna snap on you i'll put up with it cause i understand you're going through something but don't go crazy let me break it down into ebonics where you can get it don't go crazy off my kindness cause one day i'm gonna flip totally out and turn into somebody you don't even recognize shall we continue in sin that grace may abound god says don't take my kindness for weakness god forbid eventually you've got to get better [Applause] somebody shout better somebody shout better see that's a hard word to sell in the time we're living in now because nobody is praying lord make me better everybody's praying lord make me bigger i just want to be bigger i don't care nothing about being better but i want to raise up a generation of people who are laying on their face before god crying out lord make me better i'm not satisfied to stay up on this porch of affliction i realize you blessed me i realize you're fed me but i'm not happy to live like this i want better for my life i want better for my wife i want better for my body i want better for my children lord make me better but today all they're praying about is lord make me bigger and when you get bigger and you don't get better you end up exploding [Applause] oh i'm preaching good this boy lord have mercy on preaching good let me stop and just praise god for the word he gave me this morning he gave me some good word this morning he gave me some disruptive word he gave me some radical word he gave me some words to stir up some he gave me some table knocking over word some rebel rousing word god said it's over it's over it's over is homer will thou be made whole [Applause] i feel something coming up in here i feel a glory coming up in here i feel an anointing coming up in here i feel a truth coming up in here yeah enough is enough enough is enough enough is enough god said i'm washing my hands of it before i winked at it but i'm tired of winking at your foolishness you're in the strip club on saturday you're in the choir stand on sunday god said i'm tired i'm tired i'm getting tired now i put up with him for a long time but i'm getting tired i'm getting tired i'm getting tired my grace is starting to enable your dysfunction so when jesus confronts him with his will do you really want to get better because some folk like being sick because then they get attention when they're sick oh you all don't hear what i'm saying they get money when they get sick they get cash outs when they get sick they like it because they can get go fund me pray some people need it but other people are there because they're used to it and it becomes a rocket and you ain't trying to get a job you ain't trying to get better you're just trying to be slick so when jesus confronts his willingness to get better the man rather than to jump over the hurdle makes an excuse he says lord while i am coming another one jumps in front of me and whenever they jump in front of me that's my reason and in fact lord i have no one to help me oh i'm messing with somebody today if if if if my mama would have raised me if my sister would help me with these kids if so and so would have done such and such if my husband would have stayed if my wife would have been a better woman if it hadn't been for that i wouldn't have cheated but she was bad i wouldn't have cheated but he was bad i wouldn't have done this we we always point at a person to enable and empower us to remain sick lord i told you they weren't gonna shout if i preached this and my question is i can understand he says while he's coming another one steps in but the thing that confused me is so why did you go back to the porch [Applause] because missing your turn doesn't mean you got to go back to where you began in 38 years if you would have just come as far as you could and waited for the next time and then gone a little further in 38 years you could have got yourself there but every time he missed his turn he went back to his porch what do you go back to if you can't say hey man say ouch now the porch has become the problem because it he said while i'm coming somebody gets in front of me if you could make it back to the porch you could make it down to the pool i just want to know because at first i thought you were so paralyzed you couldn't move but when you said while i am coming and you were coming without anybody helping you and all you had to do was hold fast to that which you have and let nobody take away i may not be where i'm gonna be i may not be where i ought to be but thank god i ain't where i used to be thank you for getting me off of that porch i'm a little bit closer today than i was yesterday who am i preaching to in this place every step you take is a little bit closer to the miracle that god has for you if i'm talking to you shout yes and maybe i'm not where you are but i refuse to go back where i was because i've come too far to allow any devil in hell to drive me back to where i used to be i may not be in the pool but i will not die on the porch i'll stand right here until i can take another step [Applause] i'm talking about the celebration of progress the celebration of progress i had to learn this in my own life i don't celebrate my progress enough i'm so goal oriented that i delay the party until i reach the goal but i'm learning how to throw little mini parties along the way and say lord i thank you for bringing me this far i may not be there yet but i thank you that i made it to right here some of you don't celebrate small steps away from your porch maybe you haven't made it to the pool but you're not on the porch and you need to stop in the middle of the road and light you some candles and blow your horn and put a hat on your head and say lord i thank you lord i thank you lord i thank you i'm gonna praise you right where i am they don't understand it but when i look back over my shoulder i used to be stuck on that porch love god lord god lord god let god [Applause] [Music] look at somebody say i'm getting better look at somebody else and say i'm getting better if don't neither one of them shall shout for yourself shout for yourself throw yourself a party play your drums make your noise beat your symbols grab your tambourine throw your own party [Applause] yeah in 38 years he could have been in the pool in 38 years he could have been down in the water he could have been in the water when the angel came in 38 years but his problem is is he is number two the hurdle of blame [Applause] the hurdle of blame will stop you from wholeness the hurdle of blame gives you a license to be dysfunctional in other words he's saying to jesus it's not my fault it's their fault it's the folks who cut in front of me it's their fault he never takes responsibility for his own progress and most of us are stuck at the hurdle of blame but we're gonna jump that sucker today we're gonna jump in today we're gonna jump in today because when you make me the excuse you turn your destiny into my hands if your ex-husband can stop you from getting there that means you can't get there till he change his mind the devil is alive you got to make up in your mouth oh y'all ain't going to help me somebody in the balcony help me the folks on the floor don't get it you got to make up in your mind i'm not blaming my mother i'm not blaming my father i'm not blaming my uncle i'm not blaming my friend some of the folks you blaming are dead you'll always be on the porch if you've got to wait on them to help you the devil isn't alive if you don't help me i'll help myself [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my father died when i was 16 years old he'd been sick since i was 10. he died when i was 16. i loved him then i love him now but after he died i started looking for another daddy i said cause everything i didn't get to ask him i'm gonna ask somebody else because i got to make it i got to make it if i wasn't meant to make it i'd have died when he died if god let me live he's got something else for me to do and i can't hang around the grave and cry the rest of my life over who left me i will arrive and go for myself look at your neighbor and say get up [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i'm saying that your truth may be truth but it may de-incentivize you to go forward i'm not saying it didn't hurt i'm not saying that it didn't slow you down i'm not saying that you don't miss them i'm not saying that they treated you fair i'm not saying that it was right that they fired you but you can't spend the rest of your life grieving over what happened to you you have to get over that hurdle somebody take a little jump this is the morning i'm gonna jump over that hurdle i'm gonna jump over that hurdle i'm gonna jump over that hurdle i'm gonna jump over that hurdle and the lord told me to tell you and i don't know who this is for it may be somebody online but the lord said if you jump your hurdle your children will jump theirs [Applause] yes yes yes yes i don't know who that was for i don't know who that was for i don't know who that was for you've told them everything you knew how to tell them but it's not what you say it's what you do the lord said if you jump your hurdle your children will jump theirs and i dare you to take a minute and give god a crazy pray in the middle of the jump i'm gonna pray them in the jumper i'm a i'm alright yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah if you jump down jump if you jump they'll jump if you jump they'll jump if you jump they'll jump somebody help me praise him i feel a generational curse break it up in here right now [Applause] i'm not gonna let it be about people because whenever you tell god about people it suggests that the people are greater than god and ain't nobody stronger than god in fact no weapon formed against me shall be able to prosper and every tongue that rises against me god will condem i'ma jump over it somebody said i'm gonna jump over it somebody type on the line i'm gonna jump over it i'm gonna jump over every hurdle i had hurdles all my life i had to fight all of my life i had to struggle all my life but if i jumped over that i'll jump over this if i jumped over that i'll jump over that too i will get over every hurdle and get to wholeness will thou be made whole jump will thou be made whole jump will thou be made whole trump will thou be the top i will now be jumped without [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] don't know about me cause somebody gonna be made whole today somebody will be made whole today before the day is over somebody's gonna be made whole somebody's gonna be making a hole somebody's gonna be in there you know [Applause] i want to give you my third hurdle and this is important and i want you to get this shot i feel glory in this place oh my god i don't know who it is but somebody ain't playing somebody is jumping these hurdles somebody's made up in their mind i got to get to hope i got to get whole i've been through too much i got to get to a hole i can feel it in my spirit i can tell when the virtue is going out somebody is pulling on that anointing down inside of me i got to get whatever i got to jump whoever i got to jump over whatever i got to change i'm getting ready to jump type it on the line jump jump jump jump jump jump jump jump jump jump jump i will jump i got to jump i got a jump for my daughter i got to jump from a son i got a jump from my grandchildren i gotta jump so they can see grandpa jump grandma can jump grandpa can jump and go jump [Applause] let me give you this other part i gotta calm down y'all get me excited ready [Applause] that ain't a word but it'll work today [Applause] yes i feel like something about to happen in here i feel like something about to happen up here i feel like somebody's about to get loose up here here i feel like somebody's about to get their miracle in here somebody's about to pick up their bed and start to walk in here number three [Applause] and it's a big one this is important you got to get this because this is a big one the hurdle of a faulty belief system the hurdle of a faulty belief system it will mess you up every time it's just as important what you believe as it is that you believe now watch that i didn't say what you say because sometimes you can say right and still believe wrong a belief system a belief system is formulated over time in your life it becomes your core philosophy from which you work from is not just an orthodox idea it is a belief system you are where you are as a result of your belief system you talk a good game i'm god's woman i'm a libyan queen i'm the head not to tell but beneath all of that there's a belief system oh if there's a belief system up under all of that talk that says i can't do it i don't deserve it i'm not worthy of it i can't handle it that's what we got to get to your core belief system that's the hurdle that has to be jumped over and the core belief system is set up by the voices that spoke to you the people who taught you the people who said you ain't never gonna be nothing you just like your daddy you're stupid you're dumb you're not gonna you're ugly all of those things develop belief systems down inside of you that determine what you go after that determine how you go after it that determines whether you make it to the pool or wait on the angel the hurdle of a faulty belief system fits this text because the idea that the angel comes every year is a faulty belief system it was folklore it was folklore it is not a biblical truth it was a customary idea it was a tradition and he built his whole life around a faulty belief system he built his whole life waiting on something to happen that wasn't going to happen if i if i opened my heart about this i swear i would cry because the thing that i see most often holding our community back it's a faulty belief system i'm not blaming us for it there's a whole lot of things that contribute to developing a system a system not not just a belief but a belief system what you've seen what you've been exposed to what's been said what support all of that plays into your belief system but you still gotta jump it if if we don't jump it i don't care how much money i give you you'll lose it i don't care how many degrees you have on your wall you'll still sabotage your success because you have a faulty belief system i hate to tell you this ain't no angels coming you waiting on somebody to come trouble the water that ain't coming the they and the them of your belief system is killing your progress [Applause] this man was in front of more than his entire belief system jesus was more than everything the man had based his belief system on and jesus showed up in his life but he had to get over his belief system he wasn't expecting to be healed because it wasn't no angel and it wasn't no water and it wasn't the right day and it wasn't the right time and who was this stranger talking to him if he didn't jump over that belief system he was not going to get healed some of you have burned in your head how god is going to do it and if god doesn't do it how you think he's going to do it you reject it because you have a faulty belief system it's going to happen this way i'm going to meet them here they're going to look like this it's going to happen like that the faulty belief system will cause you to be stuck 38 years waiting on what you have imagined waiting on what they told you about waiting on what you heard waiting on god to do it like he used to do it do it like he did it for your grandmama god didn't promise to do it the way he did it for your grandmother a faulty belief system stops you from progress just so you can belong in a group you will develop a faulty belief system to fit in on a porch oh god i'm preaching we're looking at it right now in america you got people who don't even believe what the design they carry but because they get to sit on the porch they will tie into a faulty belief system for the sense of belonging just so i can say i'm one of them a faulty belief system will stop you from people and things and opportunities that you were supposed to have if you don't jump over it i'm talking about subconscious belief systems that aren't often uttered but they can either be strengthening or create struggles and i must give you a sure sign to test your belief system you are attracted to people who reinforce that belief system you show me who you draw i'll show you how you think why do i keep drawing drawings cause you bark cause you bark because they they sense that you're a dog lover you say you want a progressive y'all don't want me metal you you you say you want to go forward but watch what you draw watch what you draw watch what you draw i was at a leadership conference they were teaching about leadership they said if you take somebody who has the ability to pastor a thousand people and give them 100 they'll gain 900. if you take somebody who has the capacity capacity capacity to lead a hundred people give them a thousand they'll lose 900 belief systems you won't be satisfied till you run 900 people away because you have not given yourself permission to be more than where you came from this text is a war between two different belief systems one belief system it's the belief system of jesus and the other one is the belief system of folklore and jesus comes to shatter the myth the folklore says it can only happen on this day it can only happen this way it can only happen in this spot it can only happen at this time and jesus comes on the wrong day stands in the wrong spot yanks one man up and does it and breaks all the rules of the ideas that formed his belief system and the lord told me let me come down here i'm gonna come a little bit closer i want to get down here where i can see you the lord said i'm going to shatter your negative belief systems that have always held you back [Applause] you you talk forward but you think backwards and as long as you think backwards no matter how much you talk no matter how much you apply no matter how much you try you will only rise to the level of your belief system how can you prove that yes i can as a man thinketh in his heart so is he it is what you think about you it ain't what i think about you it is not what i think about you i stopped trying to change the minds of my critics years ago as soon as i found out that my growth was not predicated on their opinion i let them think whatever they want to think about me because it is not their belief system that causes me to prosper is what i think about me is what god thinks about me it's what god's word says about me who am i talking to if i'm talking to you right now you're fighting the wrong battle you're fighting trying to change the mind of somebody whose words don't even matter god ain't listening to your haters god is listening to you will thou be made whole i didn't ask you about the other people on the porch i didn't ask peter about the other people on the boat i didn't ask the little boy about who else had lunch money i want to know what are you going to do with what i gave you [Applause] the man has a faulty belief system and all the religious people he had been exposed to had a faulty belief system it's proven because when jesus shatters his belief system and heals him on the sabbath day jesus purposely says take up your bed and walk to expose the faulty belief system come on the faulty belief system around him here come brother naysay and deacon sugarfoot and they come running up to him and talking about it's unlawful for you to carry your bed on the sabbath day they couldn't find nothing else to criticize you can see it on instagram and twitter and facebook they'll find something to criticize i just don't think you ought to wear pocket square while you're preaching you overlooked everything i was preaching and you focus in on the pocket square because of a faulty belief system you'll always find a reason to be a hater you always find a way to be what you are if it's not my square it's my shoe if it's not my shoe i should grow my hair back why did you shave your face but how could you miss all this message and focus on my beard it's because of a faulty belief system they bypassed a man who had been sick for 38 years and the man was healed by the power of god and they're complaining about him carrying a cot on the sabbath day away from people with faulty belief systems you're not ready to help them you're not ready to handle them you're not ready to minister to their get around people with strong belief systems look as i close i want you to understand something that jesus was willing to break the rules to bless him and jesus is willing to break the rules to bless you lift your hands where you are for a minute jesus is willing is willing to break all protocol to bless you this morning he wants you to overcome every hurdle to wholeness that stands in your way so that you can finally start to realize i don't care how much you put on you it's what you put in you that's going to make you arise out of the ashes he's going to show you where to put your energies for such a time as this and right now as you raise your hands and open your mouth to worship him he is cancelling out the things that were canceling you out oh we bless the lord we bless you help me with my mind help me with the way i think help me with the way i process help me with the way i think about things if you can get it in my head you can get it in my body if you can get it in my head my paralysis will be over i'm sick of being paralyzed i'm sick of being stuck i'm sick of being in the same spot and as i worship you this morning i'm gonna leap over every hurdle i'm gonna leap over every hurdle i got to make it to wholeness if i can't leap over it i'll climb under it i'll be like the woman with the issue of blood as long as i get to hold any way you bless me lord i will i will i will be satisfied i will i will i will i will i will i will not hear this message and not be this message i will not hear this message and not see this message i will not hear this message and not walk in this message i will hurdle i will climb over every hurdle and get to wholeness get to wholeness somebody said with me get to wholeness get to wholeness get to wholeness get to wholeness get to wholeness get to wholeness get to wholeness get the wholeness hallelujah [Music] one more thing the bible said and i didn't in all the times that i've looked at this text i never really paid the 12th to the 15th verse any attention because the 12th through the 15th verse explains how it all happened one the man didn't even know who jesus was so when they asked him who told you to take up your bed and walk he couldn't tell him who it was because jesus had disappeared out of his midst he didn't even know who jesus was okay when he later runs into jesus jesus speaks a word to him and said go thy way let me let me put it up on the on the screen yeah he asked what man is that which said unto me take up thy bed and walk and he that was healed said was not who it was for jesus had conveyed himself away a multitude of being in that place come on after with jesus finding him in the temple and said unto him behold thou art made whole [Applause] sin no more lest the worst thing come on today i never paid no attention to that before jesus said you know why you like that you stop acting like this is a mystery you know why you're like that he said go thy way and sin no more lest a far worse thing come upon you [Music] now this is person jesus got him off to himself i said don't you do that no more let's the far worst thing come upon you he said i'm gonna get you out of this but i expect for you to get changed i expect for you to change and it may not be when we go to sin we always go to certain types of sins and we let the other sins get by and and so we think in terms of of sexual sins or or stealing or something like it might be that might be that i ain't letting that off the hook but it could be other types of serious negativity the way you talk to people the way you respond in crisis the way you treat people don't you think they don't come back on you the way you treat people will make you sick go that way unless the far worst thing come upon you bow your hands with me you're streaming online by your heads with me [Music] this message came to speak to you [Music] there's some hurdles in your life god wants you to leap over god wants to get you off the porch and into your purpose and into your destiny [Music] and it's not about them and it's not about they and it's not about what happened and it's not about where you've been and it's not about what happened to you and it's not about your haters and it's not about the people who talked about you and it's not about the people who disappointed you and all of that may be legitimate i'm not being hard i know what it is to be crushed by people god knows i do i know what it is to be wounded and bleeding and hurting i get it i get it i get it but you can't spend 38 years in a state of paralysis over a person and then get in the presence of jesus and say i'm no further because nobody helped me for 38 years whatever the thing is that keeps you from leaping over your hurdles whatever the belief system that you've bought into that makes you keep attracting the same experiences over and over again this is a leaping sunday or time this is a leaping sunday and i don't just mean leap in your body i mean leap in your mind i mean leap in your mind over top of everything that does beset you lest a far greater thing come upon you father right now in jesus name [Music] i pray for every son and daughter in this room i pray for all five porches in this room i pray for massive change and healing and restoration and renewal i pray for us to stop making excuses and start leaping over hurdles [Music] i pray for us to model in front of our children the kind of leaping over hurdles that will make them leapers to give us the courage to make the leap i believe you for change right now in the name of jesus while your head's about and your eyes are closed i'm gonna challenge you to make a covenant with god right now then i'm gonna do some leaping i'm gonna do some leaving i'm gonna do some progressive movement forward in my life i may not get to my goal but i'm not gonna stay on my porch it may take me twice as long i may have to work twice as hard but i will not stay on a porch that god has provided for my temporary recovery and make it a lifestyle for the rest of my life i will not accept this that my life is stuck on this porch i believe you for change and i covet it with you right now not for bigger but for better not for longer but for further i covenant with you right now that i will not just come to church and still be who i was a covenant with you right now that i'm not satisfied with my paralysis wherever i'm paralyzed in my finances in my business in my relationships in my life in my body wherever i am paralyzed i believe you for movement and change and miracles right now in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the [Music] if i have to roll if i have to crawl i'm gonna move [Applause] i have been preaching to you out of the gospel of saint john chapter number five about the five porches i have been preaching to you about the hurdles to wholeness and i challenge you right now if you made up your mind that you're going to do some leaping and there's some areas you're going to leap in i want to touch and agree with you for you to leave right now [Music] for you to leave right now if you're watching and you're not saved i want you to follow the prompting on the screen and call one of our counselors and give your life to jesus christ if you're in this building and you don't know jesus raise your hand i want to pray for you right where you are that you might come to know jesus i don't care if you're in the top balcony i don't care wherever you are if you're here and you're backslidden and you need jesus hold your hand up i won't embarrass you hold your hand up this is serious business you want change in your life i want to pray for you i want god bless you i see you i want to pray for you god bless you i see you i want to pray for you god bless you i see you that you might have changed in your life father god right now i pray that they would experience jesus from the crown of their heads to the souls of their feet that as they yield their lives to you that they would never be the same again i thank you lord for climbing over every hurdle and ministering to the needs of those that i can't see and those that i can't see i pray that their blood would wash them whiter than snow and that you would cleanse them in jesus name i want every blood blood spirit-filled believer in this room to give god praise for these souls right now [Music] right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now that was a big leap they just took that was a big leap that was a big leap over a hurdle to wholeness somebody shall make me whole somebody shall make me whole somebody shall make me whole tonight i covenant with you this morning i come in with you for wholeness in your life i want everybody in here that's got 55 gospel of saint john chapter five five porches everybody that has 55 whether you're online whether you're in the building whether you can text to give it i want everybody that can to sow 55 into this text not only that i want you to go home and make this a part of your devotional this week don't just give the money if you're not gonna make it a part of your devotional i want you to make it a part of your devotional this week a lot of you make the excuse i don't understand the word of god when i read it i was your commentary i just broke it down to you you can't use that as an excuse leap over that excuse and make this your devotional for this week and read it and i want you to purpose in your heart what hurdles you need to leap over to be whole this week how many of you will do that how many of you will do that how many of you will do that all online i want to see hands i want to commit commitments from you i sow this seed to remember not to get stuck on the porch 55 the fifth chapter the gospel of saint john the five porches i might be there but i won't stay there i so right now the information is on your screen you want to join us in covenant we're going to covenant with that we're going to read that this week we're going to pray over it this week and not only that we're going to do some leaping this week how many folks are going to do some leaping this week i'm going to do some leaping this week i'm going to do some leaping this week you got some leaping to do yeah i got some leaping to do just i'm no different from you i got some leaping to do i got some hurdles to my oldest and i want it right now and i believe god for right now and i believe god forbid right now pmps have out envelopes for people that want envelopes hold your hand up high this won't take but a minute i'm not gonna go with no trance i'm not gonna call out your mama's name tell your phone number if you don't know your phone number i can't help you i just want people who are going to activate on the word of god quickly quickly quickly and we're getting ready to go home how many people are glad you came to church today [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 706,539

Rating: 4.8444328 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, hurdles to wholeness, hurdlestowholeness, overcoming obstacles, why does god want to test me, how to be confident with purpose

Id: t67wgHK74XI

Length: 92min 29sec (5549 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021