I wish somebody would have told me | Elevation YTH | Mike Todd

[Applause] so um I'm so excited to be here today let me go ahead and tell you a true story we almost didn't make it we got up at 7:00 a.m. was on a plane and we set on the the tarmac for three hours and I was like I gotta be at you Dix so we started praying praying for the plane praying for the pilots playing for everything and they came over the thing is like Bing this is your captain speaking and he told us we'd be able to make it in time we just got here a few minutes ago and enough time so this is why I tell you that cuz this is not an accident that we're all here today I'm on assignment and so if you're ready to receive let me hear you say yeah okay cuz I have a word that God's placed in my heart and honestly if I'm honest with you this word has been stirring in me for over 15 years because I once was you and I was at youth camps and youth events and I was in a youth ministry and I was going through a bunch of crap in my life now I know everybody in here is perfect in your Instagram is poppin and you have everything going in your life but but some of us if we'd be real or going through some stuff okay and I would go to these youth the Venson we would sing we would shout we would play but nobody would ever touch my issue and like I would leave out of places like this and all my friends would be feeling better and they were at least just like they were feeling better and they got changed and revival but there was still lust in my heart that didn't get touched now I'm gonna be real today so everybody who wants to be bougie and be like oh my god the pastor you can keep that but God doesn't bless who you pretend to be he blesses who you really are and so I wanted to be real because 15 years ago when I was in a youth ministry or youth group I went through some things that my youth leaders my pastor at the time all the stuff they never touched and so after shouting and praising and going to say Jesus at the top of my lungs I'd still go home and be struggling and then I found out as I progressed and I went through hard situations and I started getting deliverance from some of these things and started understanding stuff I told myself if I ever got an opportunity to specifically talk to people who were in high school that I would tell them what I wish somebody would have told me so the title of today's message is I wish somebody would have told me and I'm about to be so real with you because if somebody would have told me what I'm about to tell you today it would have saved me a decade of issues what I'm trying to do is encourage somebody in here who is called to change the world who is called to change their family their school system who is called to be the first one in your family line to do something different I'm here to encourage you and tell you what somebody should have told me so today consider yourself privileged because you about to get the cheat code to this thing because I'm telling you that there are things that are found in the Word of God that if you grasp them while you're in ninth grade 10th grade 11th grade 12th it won't change the trajectory of your life all the people you think are cool right now we'll be bringing you Amazon packages five years from now oh okay the man I'm just saying that everything you think is hyped right now it fades so quickly and and this is the first point I want to give you I wish somebody would have told me that God is not committed to my dream he's committed to his purpose for my life now I know everybody's told you since you were born but what's your dream what are you dreaming follow your dreams but where was that dream originated because if it was originated by something you saw on MTV or BT it may not be a God dream and what I've seen is so many people let me not talk about so many people let me talk about myself I was watching MTV Cribs one day and I saw somebody open their refrigerator and all there was was data raids in their refrigerator and they had like literally still colored Lamborghinis and Bentley's and all this other stuff and I remember that day was prophetic for me it changed me because something in my mind said I want that that is my dream and in high school I made a dream that was not rooted in God and I started chasing after a dream that had nothing to do with my purpose and so everything I was thinking about doing the schools I wanted to go to the people I hang out with always trying to fulfill a dream that God said you can have that if you can get it but I am helping you and so many of us go after dreams but I wish somebody would have told me set me down I was like Michael hey come here bro I know yeah yeah you look stupid God's not committed to your dream he's committed to his purpose that he's already designed for your life and I want to tell you that today I use X because I'm gonna save you a lot of time your dream is Billy and he's six four plays on the basketball team and it's chocolate but what are you telling you if if that's God if that's your dream but God's purpose is Ricky who's five four and a computer geek I'm telling you no no but hear what I'm saying to you you will get your heart broken you'll have a baby before its time oh you will be in things tracing your dream instead of God's purpose and I just wish somebody would have told me and then then I looked in the scripture as I got older and look what proverbs 19:21 says it says many of the plans in a person's heart we make plans we we set up dream boards we do all these things but have you gone back to God and said is this mine am I supposed to do this I know I have the college that all my family went to but am I supposed to go there God because many of the plans in a man's heart but look at this it says but the Lord's purpose it's the thing that actually prevails I just wish somebody would have told me cuz I wouldn't talk to autumn girls if I would have known that that that was it God's purpose for me I wouldn't gone so hard after things that took from me if I knew that that was God's purpose can I tell you something else I wish somebody would have told me let me tell you that right now because God has the plan Jeremiah 29:11 for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you give you a hope give you a future take you to a destination this is what I wish somebody would have told me Mike like I'm telling everybody at you that make decisions for destiny not for temporary desires see because right now everything in front of you is your temporary desire like everything right now that you see like you want let me tell you this funny story so again back to my prophetic moment of watching MTV Cribs and and and getting this idea that I just wanted to be have money and do all this other stuff and all this stuff so I made a vow that my first car would be a Land Rover now some of y'all like what's wrong with there but I was 17 at the time and I wasn't talking about driving mom and dad's Land Rover as some of you I mean some of you are so blessed but what I'm telling you is I was just talking about I'm a pay for my own layer I'm gonna do this nobody talked to me about credit nobody talked to me about savings nobody talked to me about how I literally made up a plan got a dream didn't consult God about it and then was asking him to bless it now I don't know about you if there's any plans or things that you've made and you just want God to kind of cosign what you've already decided but I'm telling you this way of living doesn't work and I went and I got the car and I paid for it for eight years now for many of you that doesn't make any of you you don't even care you're like oh wow eight years a car that was a car that was supposed to cost $25,000 ended up charging me almost $40,000 just took from me just and I'm out here balling stupid because I was trying to fulfill a temporary desire but I wasn't thinking about my children I wouldn't even have him yet it was all about me I wasn't thinking about the what my wife and a home I wasn't thinking about following after God's purpose and investing in my gifts right now I wasn't thinking about I was thinking about impressing people who didn't even care about me and what I did is I depleted what God had given me trying to impress people who don't even care about me and I wish somebody would have told me I don't make decisions based on how you feel right now make decisions based on who you want to be ten years from now like like like like make decisions of your friends right now you need some of the people who are good at math you need them as your friends cuz if you plan to ever have any money you gonna need an accountant and you hanging out with people who don't even care another roll let's go get the blaze let's go let's go smack what why are you saying this Pastor Mike it's because that was me I was the one that if it made sense now we're supposed to do it but I wish somebody would have told me like I'm telling you now that God's purpose for you his destiny for you his destination for you is going to take you right now in tenth grade making decisions to say you know what I'm not going to do what they're doing you know what I know everybody else thinks that this is what's supposed to be happening but I'm going to invest in what God has given me I know it's a seed right now but you see a seat I see a tree like I know it don't look like much right now but you see what I am and I see what I'm going to be now just wish somebody would have told me and I know that's hard to make decisions based on who you're going to be right now because none of us really have self-control come on let's be honest okay can we be hot that's humble open and transparent how many people in this room at least two areas that they need self-controlling come on some of y'all can not stop eating doughnuts Sabiha cannot stop texting people somebody okay we need we all need self-control and I begin to look at this whole concept of self-control and I found these two scriptures by the wisest man the Bible tells us that ever lived and I want to drop them on you because I wish somebody would have told me look what proverbs 25 28 says it says a person without self-control somebody say self-control a person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls now that may not make a lot of sense to you but back in the day when the scripture was written it didn't matter how powerful you are unless you had walls around you that's what protected you this scripture is saying if you don't have self-control you literally are open at all times to be taken from you you literally have no defenses and and so I begin to liberally look at this somebody should have told me Mike you need self-control and I want to looked at him like cool bro get out of my face but if I was talking to myself like I'm talking to you I would have said man if you could hook up with the Spirit of God and learn that you can have self-control in a season where it looks like everything is out of control it would change the way you live society is telling you one thing culture is telling you one thing they're telling you Yolo you only live once that's not true we're gonna live twice do you you have to understand this is just practice this is just rehearsal and and and the way I live right now it's going to change what happens after this but you got to get some self-control somebody say I need self-control now I know people don't come to a youth conference and talk about self-control because that ain't sexy like I could talk about all kinds of things breakthrough and all that other stuff but I don't want you to like me I want you to change like like did you understand what I'm saying I wish somebody would not have cared how cool I was and cared about who I was gonna be and that's why I got on a plane today cuz there's somebody in here that needs to know whatever your flesh is telling you it's not what God has for you whatever your friends and whatever your signature is saying you've gotta do know you don't there's a power of the inside of you that is greater than anything that you may be feeling right now did you give God a shout of praise in this play see when you talk about self-control let's look at that word control control means to have power over our influence to direct people's behavior or the course of events my question to you at youth X today is what's controlling you I've had some like ain't nothing controller be AIA free I am free did you hear the song we just saying I am free um but some of us are controlled by food some of us are controlled by sex some of us are controlled by the opinions of others you changed outfits four times before you came today it's just like oh my god yeah that was me because because we're controlled by money we'll control by popular culture we're controlled by past relationships and fear are we controlled by the Word of God are we controlled by the spirits something is controlling you and this is what when I started thinking about this I started thinking about like the evolution of video games not know everybody don't play video games but I'm a date myself right here but I remember the Atari like I remember and some of y'all that's hot I don't even what look how old people like yeah yeah okay they're all um but I remember the Atari does anybody remember the original Nintendo like like the one you had to blow like do brother y'all know what I'm talking about salut veeraiah ah okay anybody remember the original Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog okay does anybody remember the PlayStation the original the brave playstation with the disc that y'all know nothing about that y'all know the vertical ones and then you think about it you got wheeze and Xboxes and all the other stuff and now we basically carry around video games on our phones but do you know like like we can all agree that the technology from the atari analog very basic graphics all the way to whole 3d worlds right now i mean i mean it has changed dramatically but do you know the one thing that has never changed about any game system is they all have a controller can I submit to you no matter how much you upgrade in life something will always be controlling yes some of y'all got that they didn't get it on this side but no matter how much you upgrade something will always be directing what you're doing the question is I just wish somebody would have told me that's the fight of your life it's in control versus spirit control this is the fight of your everyday you wake up you literally should hear ding ding ding in this corner is sin and as you step down he is undefeated with you for the past 50 days you've been allowing him to direct your steps your cell phone conversations and he's defeated your family for the past 16 generations ding ding ding and in this corner it's the Spirit of God and he has a plan for you and a desire for you to be able to be everything that he purposed for you who's gonna win in many days we wake up and we get out of the bed and we choose who's gonna control us that day will it be same control and will it be spirit control and I wish somebody would have told me this fight never ends so you see some of y'all think you're so hot and bothered with all your your your emotions and your lust and all the other things that are happening right now and that's Mike it's just like fire shut up in my bones I can't contain it well I just need to get married can I tell you a secret when you get married your eyes don't go blind I need to come closer cuz you needed to feel that up when you get money money doesn't change who you are it just magnifies who you are we're always waiting for this next level to get rid of what's happening right now and what I'm telling you as the battle never changes every day it's sin control forces fear control and you have to get everybody say self-control are you saying okay I've had somebody synchrotrons fear control self-control look at Galatians 5 7 17 look what it says it says the sinful nature wants to do evil which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants that's why they're fighting and the spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what our sinful nature desires these two forces are constantly fighting each other so you are not free to carry out your good intentions have you ever wanted to do the right thing and it was just like how come I always end up in this dance agent like I said am I by myself anybody ever wanted to do the right thing it's because we're in a war and you sleep like there's a fight going on every day and you scrolling and we keep losing cuz we won't check in and I wish somebody would have just told me Mike you gotta get control and I'm gonna help you with this because you get to choose who's gonna control you and this is the beautiful thing about the word of God when we talk about self-control self-control is not actually being in control check this out write this down self-control is the opportunity to choose who you will let control you now know that's a lot and some of y'all like to carry the two add the three let me let me help you okay when we are born we're born into sin we're born at a disadvantage we don't even have to learn to be selfish we're already selfish it's all about me it's all about and look at this excuse this is the one I had I'll fix it but before I really come to God I need to clean myself up I need to fix a few things if you could have fixed it you would have already fixed it and and so we're in this place we're broken we're lost we're jacked up and what ends up happening is that the wages of our sin is death that's what Romans 6:23 says it says for the payment the wages of our sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus that's why I'm so excited to hear the stat that 139 of y'all gave your life to Christ last night I thought you do better than that can y'all give God a shout a break that's crossing over yo for the hundred and thirty nine of you that made that decision there could not be a better message that you're hearing right now cuz I wish somebody would have told me that you can walk the aisle you can make the decision you can go to the group but every day you're gonna have to be empowered to live different and so when we sit here and we get this new life in Christ we get an opportunity now to choose what self is gonna control us I don't know something like okay self control but look what Deuteronomy tells us he tells us that that we have a choice in this today I give you the choice between life and death between blessings and cursing now I'm calling on heaven to witness the choice that you make every day ding ding ding who's gonna control you what you saw on the grand last night or what you read in the word last night come on what what's gonna control you how many of y'all when you get pushed to the edge some words come out that you didn't know was in your vocabulary y'all lyin the ones that's your I got your hands up you're lying but what I'm saying to you is it only can come out if it's in you and what ends up happening is we're allowing our flesh and our sin to control us but you have another option it says make the right choice choose life it's an open book test right now that God is placing before you everyday life and death and then he's giving you the answer to the test choose life and today I came to use Youth X to tell you to choose life and to choose having self-control I'm gonna break this down for you right then SEL F like write down self like straight down and this really helped me and I think it's gonna help you um you can either be controlled by one of two cells you can live a spirit empowered life of faith and that will be the thing that controls you or you can live a sin empowered life of the flesh and that will control you I want you to see this so clearly because when you step out of youth X today ding-ding-ding our girls already text you and and you already have an attitude with somebody that looks like your cousin that really has an attitude when we walked in and there's all these things fighting for how are you going to act and God says I want to empower you by my spirit to live a life that is not normal what are you saying Pastor Mike when you make a decision against yourself you're living a spirit-empowered life what do you mean when I want to cuss you out I say God bless you that wasn't me that was the Spirit of God okay we're not what I wanna go and do things that I know I'm not supposed to do but I block you that wasn't me that wasn't my flesh that was the Spirit of God when my parents are tripping and I could already cut up everything they say cuz they don't even make no sense and I say yes ma'am yes sir that ain't me that's the spirit of god of the inside of me making me choose against what my nature wants to do and when you start making decisions against your flesh nature then you start living a spirit empowered life a faint and I know I know some of y'all don't care right now and that's why I told my assistant I said I'm here on assignment because there are some people that have to hear this and there are some people that ten years from now will realize this no no it's okay but it won't be because somebody didn't tell you it will be on you because I'm telling you right now if you get self control in your life right now if you can say no to things that your flesh wants to say yes to if you will allow the Holy Spirit when you wake up before you hit that bed father it's me again and I want to do things that I know aren't right ah but today I thank you that you are empowering me by your spirit to get out of this bed and not to be me but to be empowered by your cuts greater it's Oh [Applause] that it's in than anything that's in this way I want you to understand but you have to choose to live self-control sit down and I'm not done and if you want to live sin control that's cool but I want to leave you with this scripture in Galatians 5:19 and I'm gonna read it from the message version because it explains it real good it's obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time it's a life that's repetitive loveless a life full of cheap sex a stinking accumulate a stinky accumulation of mental and emotional garbage frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness trinket God's magic show religion paranoid loneliness cutthroat competition all-consuming yet never satisfied once a brutal temper and impotence to love or to be loved divided homes and divided lives small-minded and lopsided proves suits the vicious habit of D personalizing everyone into a rival wrote a check in for me ain't nobody even looking at you uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions ugly parodies of community and I could go on this isn't the first time I've warned you you know if you use the freedom the grace of God the thing that he's giving you if you use it this way you will not inherit God's kingdom I wish somebody would have told me Mike everything you going after right now following culture following society following all these fear it's empty you can get it and still feel like you have nothing how are people killing themselves with fifty million dollars in the bank it's because what you thought was worth it really wasn't and I'm asking every person at you things to reevaluate what's controlling you don't live this life being sin control allowing your flesh to tell you well it feels good it's lying to you but you saying you know what I'm gonna make decisions against what feels natural and I'm gonna make decisions lined up with the Word of God I'm gonna make decisions that make me have to pray I'm gonna make decisions that make me have to be accountable girl please I am going in to this store but you know Jimmy worked there so come with me cuz if Jimmy asks me the right question I can fall see you want to be faith and act like you got it all together but what God is saying if you really want to do something to change your life and not live controlled by sin and live spirit controlled this is my last point for you you need to flip the switch some of you in this room have been living by your flesh and whatever feels good that's what you do and whatever feels right that's what you say and I'm telling you I wish some that's how I live it and I wish somebody would it came when I was thinking I was cooling and pressing girls at the youth camp I wish somebody would it came and would have been real with me and told me this it does not matter what you think you look like right now God's plan for you is bigger than anything you could fathom right now and if you start making decisions for your destiny and not for your current desires God will do more with less and take you to a place never ever imagined you could be if you believed it for your life I dare you to just in faith shout unto God right now check it out but some people in this room feel like their plan is better than gods I know you've already made it up you've already you've already got it and God's grace is so good that he rather you go ahead and try it and fail and come back with nothing and say all right you ready now cuz that's what he did with me I'm not telling you from somebody else's story I tried I went I I did it and he said yeah how did that work out and he laughed at me and then he hugged me and he said I told you I have a plan for you a plan to prosper you and not to harm you a plan to give you a hope and a future but guess who's playing it is mine so if you don't take your dreams and submit them back to God you may be working on something that you'll lose anyway anyway you may be going to school for a degree that you not gonna use anyway but because God is not committed to your dream he's committed to his purpose for you and I wish somebody woulda told me I get on a plane in one hour to go back to be with my babies but I know that today there's somebody in this one who's been living a sin and our life of the flesh and today after hearing this message it may be in an area that nobody even knows it may be in an area that you've kept secret it may be an area that everybody knows and you've just decided this is just the way I am and I'm here to say no that through the blood of Jesus he can take the worst [Music] everybody do like this this thing I want you act like it's a big switch I just want hey hey light man turn the lights out this is what most of our lives look like living a sin empowered light of the flesh but on the count of three I want somebody to say flip the switch and when we say flip the switch this is a prophetic sign of what God is about to do in your life [Applause] [Music] and he's going to lift it up one two three somebody gets on a shower watch it got any worse [Music] look at him good captain I feel the presence of God in this place because areas that have been dark are lighting up if you're in this room and you're saying Pastor Mike that's me I don't care if you hear what your girlfriend I don't care if you're here with your boys I don't care but you know this message was for you and you're saying I'm not going to live a sinning powered life of the flesh today I'm flipping the switch and I'm gonna live a life empowered as a Holy Spirit if that's you in this room I want you to be bold right now and I want you to lift your hands and this is what I'm gonna ask you to do when you lift your hands you're making a decision not to do a back and forth dance you're saying you know what today you thinks I'm not gonna flip the switch and go back off and flip them I'm making this decision once I'm gonna live my life empowered by the Holy Spirit if that's you in this building say pastor light that's me I want you to lift your hands all over this place man I'm so proud of you can you do me one more favor if that's you I want you to get out of your seats from all over this place and I want you to come I don't know come on because there's something that's happening in your faith right now there are people that are coming up here and people right now are walking out of addictions people right now are coming out of relationships that have had them down I see the faith rising right now no come on I don't care don't matter get as close as you can I want everybody to look at me as people are still coming oh I feel the presence of God yeah there's fears flowing there's people understanding that you're about to break generational curses I don't know who you are but bro when I tell you that the power of God is about to use you for this generation they're not what you said you are you're not you're not what they said you're a child of God you're chosen by the king yeah there's so many more people coming listen I don't care if you get stuck in the aisles why are you saying move Pastor Mike because this next journey of your life is going to take you having to step out in faith like like it's gonna make you have to be like well there are other people sitting down and God said don't matter you step like like oh my god they gonna look at me wear nice clothes like like like when others are doing stuff when we're going on this graduation trip and we're gonna get done at a time you're gonna be like I'm sorry I've decided to make Destiny's decisions like like and I'm gonna have fun and I'm gonna have a trip but not at all because what God's placed on me is worth more than your approval I'm not looking for a well done for my clique I'm looking from a well done from my down yeah I see you still coming so this is what we're gonna do this is what we're gonna do I'm gonna pray for you and when I pray for you nothing magical is gonna happen I'm just gonna agree with what you already decided like see the powers not up here like I'm close to the altar my mana God my youth leader no James tells us if you confess your sins one to another and pray for each other that's where you get healed that's why I love that right after this we're going in the e groups because the healing is gonna happen when you start opening your mouth they're gonna say what have you been been struggling with this that I've been addicted to this and today I flip the switch switch hands lift it all over this place father I pray from the front to the back you see your children if you're a leader around and you see a child just touch them right now we thank you for the youth right now father God that you have a purpose and a plan for their life father God I thank you that today we are coming out of living our lives controlled by sin and I thank you Father that we are gonna live spirit control lives father cos of faith I speak freedom freedom from every generational curse freedom from every addiction freedom in the name of Jesus from every pain we speak freedom in the name of Jesus and father I thank you that as they flip the switch today father God that you are going to change not just them but you're changing their family father you're not changing just them but you're changing their children's children we declare that today use X will be marked as a memorial that longer will this generation be the same that they will stand and they will come out of darkness and walk into life they will flip the switch in Jesus name somebody give God a shout of praise in his face [Applause]

Channel: Elevation YTH

Views: 642,746

Rating: 4.9576988 out of 5

Keywords: elevation youth, elevation yth, elevation church yth, elevation church youth, michael todd, pastor mike todd, youth sermon, I wish somebody would have told me, mike todd youth, transformation church youth, messages for youth, helpful for youth, teen help, youth advice, generation z has it hard, advice for generation z, helpful tips for youth, tips for teens, summer camp experience, summer youth camp, YTHX, camp for teens, summer camp for adolescences

Id: TDMaTMi4Wuk

Length: 40min 19sec (2419 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 04 2018