In Between Fights - Bishop T.D. Jakes

get your Bibles and go to Acts chapter 9 verse 8 through 21. that's a lot of verses but some of y'all ain't read your Bible all week look at your neighbor and say I'm in between fights [Laughter] and just come out of one and don't know what I have to fight but in between fights now we're jumping in in the middle of of a Bible story very common Bible story to those of you that have been in church a while we're on the road to Damascus we're not on the Jericho Road we're on the road to Damascus we're not on the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem we're on the road to Damascus where everybody traveled by foot or by course or by mule and we're we're watching the the man named Saul that you know as Paul had an encounter with God on the road to Damascus and I'm gonna set this up for you but that's why we're jumping in the middle of it I want you to understand that Saul has been knocked off his Beast by the power of God have you ever had God knock you off your Beast [Applause] to get Saul's attention he knocked him off for beast and showed a great light and and disrupted everything in his life and Saul arose from the earth and when his eyes were opened he saw no man blind but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink and there was a certain disciple at Damascus name ananias and to him said the Lord in a vision ananias he said behold I am here Lord and the Lord said unto him arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth and have seen in a vision a man named ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight we we the blind man still saw in a vision isn't that something yeah in sight yeah no eyesight but still got Insight he's seen in a vision a man named man and I is coming in putting his hands on him that he might receive his sight then analyze says the Lord are you serious I have heard by many of this man how much evil he have done to thy Saints at Jerusalem and here he hath and and here he hath Authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name and you want me to go pray for him but the Lord said unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me see you don't get to pick who God chooses yeah he is a chosen vessel under me to Bear my name before the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake and ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on himself look at look at what he said look at what he said look at what he said to the man he was scared of and he called evil but just because God said that he belonged to him he hadn't even laid hands on him yet but he just just called him on credit brother Saul [Applause] brother Saul the Lord even Jesus had appeared unto thee in the way as thou cameth have sent me and thou might as received that thou might as received thy sight and be filled with the Holy ghosts and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight for with and a rose and was baptized and when he had received meat he was strengthened then was all certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues wait a minute and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the son of God but all that heard him were amazed and said it's not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem see even back then people would bring up your past and came hither forward that intent and he might bring them bound unto the chief priest that's the end of the text the subject is in between fights father God in the name of Jesus we approach thy Throne humbly before you asking you to move in the midst of your people I thank you in advance for what you're going to do have your way great God that you are in Jesus name someone shout amen you may be seated in the presence of the Lord let's go to work in order to appreciate the texts we have to look at the context in which the Texas extrapolated from the pretext tells us the atmosphere that exists during this time it is an atmosphere of newness it is an atmosphere of new beginnings it is the disciples embarking on Christ's work without Christ's physically being there and they start the work of the Lord at a deficit because all through the synoptic gospels they are referred to as the 12. but now they only have 11. because of the process of the crucifixion Judas has hung himself and his guts have Spilled Out On The Potter's field so they have the name the twelve but the reality is 11. sometimes your name can be greater than your situation and when your name doesn't have equilibrium with your situation you want to fix that thing so that you become authentically what they call you and in the process of them attempting to sit they meet together and praying and selected Two Men and they begin to cast lots to see who would be judas's replacement they cast lots and they cast lots and the Lots fell on the lot fell on Matthias and Matthias became in their view the replacement for Judas and I'm not saying that he wasn't the replacement for Judas but it is interesting to note that he didn't that there's no recordings of Matthias doing anything amazing no no books written by him there's disagreement about whether churches were founded by him he's not mentioned any place in all of the Epistles but they had picked him by casting lots cut in total contrast to that God has chosen Saul who we call Paul to be a new testament apostle now Matthias according to my research had been walking with the disciples and around Jesus all the time and in my carnal mind it makes sense that Matthias would be a replacement because he is a witness to the miraculous power of God it's all on the other hand has no real experience with the power of God but rather than having experience with the power of God he is totally opposed to Christianity in fact when he meets the Lord he meets the Lord on the way to capturing more Christians to bring back to Jerusalem though they were not yet called Christians it was called the way yeah and he was trying to find people who were in the way to bring them back to Jerusalem to persecute them and yet he has an encounter with God couldn't help but think of the difference between in the Old Testament between King Saul who was somebody that God gave Israel because they desire the king and David whom God chose many are called but few are chosen and in the Old Testament Saul was called but David was chosen you will remember when the kingdom was rejected from Saul and Samuel was weeping God said why are weapons now over what I have rejected I have found a man after my own heart look at the contrast between Soho and David Saul is it looks like a king by all natural rights he has every reason to be king he has a stature and the demeanor of the king he is from The Tribe of Benjamin he comes from the pedigree that is prophesied that he would be King David comes from the house of Jesse he he doesn't have the pedigree or the background he he he's from the tribe of Judah he doesn't have uh the history behind him that connotes kingship Saul stood ahead and shoulders above all men he had the right look but David had the right anointing David had the right anointing and while we pick people that look good [Applause] God will pick people that are anointed for the service and for the task and all of a sudden we find ourselves in this situation that is mirrored in the New Testament as a reflection of the old but whereas we are talking about Saul versus David in the Old Testament in the New Testament we're talking about Matthias is he the 12th Apostle or is it Paul some would even argue that Paul is the 13th Apostle but my concern is I don't see where Matthias ever did anything and I'm a living witness the folk I pick on my own I'm just gonna let that hang out there because enough people laugh to let me know that you know what I'm talking is there anybody in here that ever picked somebody on your own cast lots pick somebody cause your mama was born in May and my mama was born in May and and then grandma's name was Thelma and your grandma's name was Thelma and it makes sense to you but everything that makes sense to you isn't what God has for you in fact more times than not God will pick something that makes no sense at all and raise it up and you'll be scared to receive it because what God has in his heart for you doesn't agree with what you had in your mind for you that's just the case here in the text the very fact that that that Saul would be chosen was so shocking that even ananias and his faithfulness to God did not really want to go lay hands on Saul because Saul was snatching people that followed Jesus and taking them and persecuting them and yet Saul has an encounter with God somebody say an encounter with God he has an encounter with God and it is it is not where somebody witnessed to him it is not where somebody preached to him it is not where somebody persuaded him if God did not use any human hand or sticks like lots to choose him God stepped into Saul's life and if you read the whole text you will read it was a fight on the road to the Damascus this starts out with a fight there is a fight between God and Saul Now Saul has gotten permission from the high priest to go down and attack Christians he's got permission from the priests but not from the one who the priests serve and he is credentialed to go down there and attack Christians but God has another plan he intervenes in his life he disrupts his life and he starts wrestling with him a great light appeared and knocked him off of his beast and then he said who is it Lord and he said it is Jesus whom thou persecuted wait a minute I got to talk about that of a minute Saul had never done anything to Jesus he had only attacked those who followed Jesus but Jesus Takes It Personal when you attack his kids [Music] it is Jesus whom thou persecuted you think you're just rounding up my disciples but you're actually persecuting me that's why we're trying to teach you that the battle is not yours it belongs to God because people think they're fighting you but they're not fighting you they're fighting the God they're anointed you the battle is not yours and you don't have to get even and you don't have to feel bad because you didn't get the last word in and you don't have to fend for yourself and you don't have to struggle for yourself because God has a way of dealing with your enemies I prophesy to somebody your enemy is about to get knocked off his piece he's about to get knocked off his Beast this is a radical War like conversion it is not a nice easy conversion it is not a polite conversion it is not that somebody gave him a track it is not that somebody praying with him and it's not that somebody talked to him it's not that somebody intellectualized him God just came on the road and knocked it over oh God have mercy glory to God I'm just in my introduction I'm trying not to get happy but when I start thinking about all the things that God knocked over is there anybody in here that's had God knock over some stuff glory to God that was coming to get you and you knew it was coming to get you and God knocked it over you you it might not be but 10 people in here but your praising God not for a new car a new house or a new job or a new place you're praising God because when the enemy was coming at you God knocked it over nugged somebody and tell them he knocked it over they were after me and he knocked it over they were after my job and he knocked it over they were out of my mind and he knocked it over they were after my peace and he knocked it over they were after my sanity and he knocked it over they were up to my family and he knocked it over and I'm still praising God how God can overthrow the plans of the enemy the tactics of the enemy The Wiles of the devil when God gets ready to do it you don't have to run out to the middle of Damascus Road gotta meet him in the middle of the road and knock them off their piece can I get about 10 seconds of praise for it knock over oh it's gonna be a knock over I knock over I knock over I knock over a knock over God and knock it over threw him on his back locked him to the floor and he says who is it Lord and the Lord said it is Jesus whom thou persecuted this alone is enough to make you be careful about who you attack because you can inadvertently be attacking Jesus fighting people [Applause] and get knocked over because you didn't even realize who you was fooling with Saul has no idea that it is Jesus that he is persecuting anytime you get in the way of God's purpose with your opinion your opinion does not equate to God's purpose God has a purpose and when God has a purpose your opinion don't amount to God's purpose and if you put your opinion in the way of God's purpose God's Gonna Knock it over it is Jesus over thou persecutors and the Bible said that when Saul humbled himself that he when he got up he saw no man so walk watch one watch watch this because you got to see this this is a radical this is a radical fight out here on the road to Damascus between a belligerent individual who is courageous enough to snatch people out of their house and drag them back to Jerusalem and a God who don't care nothing about his personality says I will come against you I don't care how tough you think you are and knocked him right over it reminds me of Jacob being on penile and how he comes to penile and how God dealt with him and wrestled with him and brought him down and changed everything he thought about himself his name his Destiny his background your name should no longer be called Jacob but Israel Jacob had that kind of radical conversion there are some people in this room that had a radical conversion God just came into your life you wasn't planning for it you weren't expecting it you had no intentions of doing it some of y'all used to talk about church folk never thinking in your life that you would end up Clapping Your Hands and jumping around in church today can we be real for a minute some of you never thought you'd be in The Potter's House and here you are sitting in The Potter's House Clapping Your Hand cause God did something radical in your life to turn you around glory to God glory to God glory to God glory to God some of you never thought you belonged to a big church you said I don't like big churches I don't like being in crowd but God has a way of knocking you off of your Beats and sending you in a completely different direction is there anybody that can be real in here and be honest a radical a radical conversion [Applause] of radical Converse a radical converter we don't use the word conversion much in church we don't talk about conversion and we don't talk about conviction it used to be in the church they talked about conviction people will come to the altar convicted now they come to dogs are taking pictures and now people come to the altar FaceTiming you and doing uh uh Facebook live you have the altar supposed to be looking for Jesus and you know you you think you're a film producer but when conviction gets a whole to your life you cut your camera off and lay down on the altar with tears running down your face because you've had a radical encounter with God I'm not talking about coming up to the altar because your dress is cute I'm not coming up to the altar because you want a picture to take home to show your friends you were there you don't come to see me you come to see Jesus you don't come to see people you come to see Jesus you don't come because you're a film producer you come to see Jesus a radical conversion thank you so really God I want all the folks who got convicted about your life and your best and your stuff and the way you live to jump up on your feet and just bear witness that there's still some conviction left in the church conviction about Sin conviction about evil conviction about wickedness there still exists a convicting holy spirit it's not just advancing Holy Spirit there's a convicting holy spirit that the holy spirit that will knock you off your Beast bring you down to your knees make you surrender make you sell out there's a convicting Holy Spirit that'll make you walk away from people you thought you could live without a convicting holy spirit that will disrupt you that will change your life that will make you uncomfortable with stuff you like a convicting Holy Spirit that'll come into your life and speak to you about your nasty sinful way a convicting Holy Spirit that'll bring you down to your knees and make you surrender to God and say Yes to God I don't care how long you've been doing it foreign and because we have little conviction we have little conversion because you can't have true conversion until you have true conviction glory to God I can't make you be convicted I can't talk you into being convicted you have to have an encounter with God that shows you yourself and all of a sudden you see him like you've never seen him before who is it it's Jesus whom thou persecuted and he shows up as light Jesus shows up his light in him was life and the life was the light of men Jesus shows up as light stop making choices in the dark Jesus shows up as light he illuminates situations he'll show you perspectives see the problem now all the prophets can see everybody but themselves I'm a little bit leery of people who know what you ought to do but don't know what they ought to do how come you can see my life and you can't see your life how come you can see my child but you can't see your child there you are talking about my child your child was out there with my child shut up did I say that out loud well I did I said it out loud I said it out loud I said it out loud I said it out loud he had a moment with God I'm going to talk to you about four things I'm going to talk about the moment the misfit the messenger and the message the moment the moment the moment the moment it's a moment it's a moment that's how salvation reaches you boom it's a moment the moment the misfit the messenger and the message he had a moment with God a moment with God they disrupted everything he knew about himself he was of The Tribe of Benjamin he knew that about himself he was a Pharisee he was a Pharisee the most conservative group he was a Pharisee concerning the law he was zealous he was committed to what he believed he had slipped all of his life up under the law and in one moment it was all disrupted do not know I don't care how long you've been in a religion I don't care how long you've been following an idea I don't care how many generations it's been in your family one moment with Jesus can radically revolutionize your life somebody listening at me you're trying to hold on to your traditions and get a little bit of Jesus and you like some of the stuff Jesus said and you think that religion is the smorgas boy I have a cup of this and a little bit of that and a little bit of the other and I'll mix it all up together me and God got my own thing no if you encounter Jesus you got to give up everything you encountered before and walk away from it that's why Paul said I count it all as tongue everything I do everything I learned everything I lived for I had a radical moment with God that changed my value system [Applause] my values have been misaligned and all of a sudden Paul who was Leading Men ends up being led by the men he was leading and they had to lead him because he was blind because God said I must shut your eyes till you get this right I'm gonna shut you down till you get this right I'm gonna shut up your finances till you get it right I'm gonna shut up your strength until you get it right God has a habit of shutting you down till you get it right especially when you're stubborn especially when you're hard-headed especially when you like to fight God knows how to shut you down he said imma bring you to a place of vulnerability where you're gonna need the people that you used to lead and they're gonna have to lead you as I bring you into the truth it was the moment it was the moment that changed the rest of the moments for the next 2 000 years and God didn't trust no evangelist to do it he appeared unto Saul on the road to the Maxis now part of the criteria of being an apostle is to be an eyewitness to the resurrection that Saul wasn't at the tomb so Jesus did a special appearance foreign do a special appearance he'll come in your room he'll come in your hotel he'll come in the club he'll come in the bar gotta do a special appearance he'll come right where you are and just show up oh really God somebody holla he showed up showed up in my life I wasn't planning to get saved he showed up when I came back to the club I went to Columbus I brought two sets of clothes I said I'm gonna go to the convocation and at night I'm going to the club I never got to use the second set because he showed up [Applause] I had packed all my Sharp stuff too I was gonna be clean baby I was gonna be clean I put a couple of suits in there you know give God a nod how you doing Jesus yeah I'm going to the club quick change out to church [Applause] never made it to the club cause he saw that next thing I know I'm walking down the highway with tears running down my face mother McKesson was singing all of my life I'll say yes Lord and I'm crying in an offering coming back to the Lord have you had a moment with Jesus or do you just go to church [Applause] have you had a moment with Jesus or is there a nice looking girl in this church and you're coming over here because you're trying to convince her that you you and Jesus are you cool we're cool I could give Jesus a nod you know it's really you I'm after you can experience The Potter's House and not experience Jesus you can experience me and not experience Jesus if you have a moment with Jesus it will radically change your perspectives your attitude and look at how look at how how Jesus wrecked everything that that Saul's life was built on is suddenly in one moment is gone you can't be a member of the Sanhedrin and preach Jesus you can't be a Pharisee and preach Jesus you can't be serious concerning the law and teach Grace it changed his head it changed his identity it changed his personhood it changed everything about him he wiped the god wiped the Slate clean completely clean this is why you hear Paul saying over I profess to know nothing but Christ and him crucified he is not going to fall into the Trap of thinking he's smart again he's spoken five different languages and he says I am a fool for Christ 's hand and he has a moment with God Alone with nobody there but the men who were with him and they're leading him they're leading him into Damascus and this is not how he planned to go into Damascus he didn't plan to come into Damascus blind being led by men he planned to come into Damascus strong attacking men snatching women out of the house but it doesn't always end up like you thought just cause you think something right now doesn't make it true he comes into Damascus helpless the powerful man is now helpless blind groping depending on them to lead him and God tells him to go to a man he doesn't even know name ananias and there he is on a street called Street doesn't even know ananias's address y'all don't hear what I'm saying an ananias when God tells ananias to pray for Saul he says are you serious Saul a Tarsus you want me to pray for him you want me to go pray for him see we get in these clicks [Music] and sometimes we won't pray for people because they're not in our clique I'm not praying for no Democrat I'm not praying for no Republican I'm not praying for no white folks I'm not praying for no life because I I went through something you don't know what I went through I don't care what you went through when you was a child God will humble you down because God does not promise to always use who looks like you votes like you dresses like you to bless you thank you God uses whoever he wants to use he don't meet with you he doesn't do a poll he doesn't do a senses he doesn't meet with the committee he doesn't need board approval when God gets ready to snatch it oh y'all got quiet when God gets ready to snatch somebody he will snatch somebody ananias doesn't want to be seen with Saul it's bad for his brand it's bad for his reputation it could be bad for his life and yet God says he prayeth now there ought not be nothing that supersedes the command of God in your life When God Says forgive forgive When God says Let It Go Let It Go When God Says it'll all be over in the morning it'll all be over in the morning when God says weeping may you do it for a night but joy comes in the morning he don't ask you how you feel feel about it it [Applause] well Lord I just don't feel like it I don't feel like this morning it don't feel like morning to me shut up if God says this morning this morning it may still be dark outside but this morning you do know that morning starts in the dark When God says it's morning it's morning so he wants you to Rejoice like this morning he wants you to shout like his morning he wants you to move like this morning and ananias he wants you to go down to a street called straight and pray for a man who was coming to kill you how do you pray for man who was coming to kill you a man you have ought against that's why God won't accept your gift if you have malice in your heart he said leave your gift at the altar and reconcile yourself with your brother because whatever they did it ain't worth you losing your Authority with God whatever they said it ain't worth you losing your power with God no matter how it hurts you it doesn't matter you still got to do what you got to do and if God says do it you got to do it see we don't use this word anymore the old word obedience obedience is better than sacrifice obedience is better than sacrifice I appreciate whatever you sow but obedience is better than sacrifice you can't give your way into getting your license to do wrong [Applause] so ananias obeys God and he goes down there and he lays hands on the man who was going to lay hands on him can you do it no seriously can you do it can you lay hands on the person who was coming to hurt you [Applause] ananias lays hands on Saul who was going to lay hands on him and the power of His obedience caused the scales to fall from Saul's eyes I don't know who I'm preaching to but I'm talking to somebody that if you would just do what God says do and stop wrestling with your ego and your pride and humble yourself the the power you would have the scales fall from his eyes and suddenly Saul can see and he goes from having a moment with God to a moment as a misfit I want you to feel this how can he go back to the Sanhedrin Court and tell them about Jesus because he is no longer one of them there is no seat for him amongst the Sanhedrin he's lost all of that he's lost all credibility with the hedron because he has taken on this Jesus philosophy that they hate it they have empowered him to attack what he has become so he she got me tickled so so he came he can't go back there is a point in God it's not that you don't want to go back it's not that you ain't tempted to go back it ain't that your flesh don't want to go back but there is a point in God where you cannot go back that's somebody's word watching right now you cannot go by you can't go back and undo what God has done in your life you cannot know what you know once you know who Jesus is you can't uh know that I don't care how you drink how much weed you smoke how high you get I don't care how many lap dances you get once you know Jesus there's a mark on your life that something is always going to be missing until you say yes you can't go back problem however is not just that it can't go back because I can leave one group if I connect with the other I can I can I can I can be rejected if I'm accepted by the other the problem with Saul is when he comes to the apostles [Music] they don't believe in him they don't believe him they don't believe in him they don't like him they don't accept him and so he has to accept being a misfit [Applause] you have to accept being a misfit you can change your hair you can change your clothes you can change your style you can change your walk they still not gonna like you because when God has called you out you can't go back in you have to accept being a misfit look at somebody say I'm different I'm different you ain't never seen nobody like me before you're never gonna see anybody like me again I'm different and after years and years a low self-esteem and crying about it I'm finally starting to accept that I'm different I'm cool with it I'm okay with it I can live with it I understand it I've been trained in it I learned how to be a misfit it doesn't matter that you don't like me and it doesn't matter that you don't believe in me I can stand on my own because I had an encounter with Jesus [Applause] and so when Saul who is now called Paul starts to minister he ministers from the place of a misfit all my Misfit people hear me good the reason you have the anointing is because you are misfit the reason you have your anointing is because you're a misfit had they accepted you you wouldn't have had the anointing had they embraced you you wouldn't have had the anointing because Paul was a misfit he gives us most of the New Testament Epistles because he does not fit in with either Groove he's an outcast on both sides but when you're an outcast with men you are in cast with God do you hear what I'm saying I'm talking to somebody I don't even know who it is you are Misfit stop fighting it stop changing yourself stop redoing your philosophy stop trying to be what everybody else wants you to be you were meant to be a misfit your savior was a misfit the stone that the builders rejected has been made the Chief Cornerstone stop crying about it stop worrying about it stop being frustrated about it you don't want to be in with them God saved you from being in with him he meant for you to be different look at your name and introduce him say hello I'm different yeah my name is different my name is that my walk is different my talk is different the way I think is different the way I believe is different the way I flow is different I understand it if you don't like me everybody can't walk with the misfit you have to be a misfit yourself to understand another Misfit when you see it I want some Misfits in this room to give God a prayer you don't fit in with your family you don't fit in with your community you don't fit in with your neighborhood you just a misfit for Jesus foreign [Music] often it takes half your life to accept being a misfit [Applause] because we are always advertised marketed modeled and promoted fitting in and it hurts to not quite be either one it's lonely [Applause] it's lonely being a misfit when you are a misfit you are misunderstood they accuse you of being arrogant they accuse you of being high-minded they accuse you we used to say of being such a much they accuse you of walking around with your head up in the air they accuse you of forgetting where you came from come on Misfits back me up on this being a misfit means that you have to learn to be okay with being misunderstood that ain't easy [Applause] that ain't easy that ain't easy it was not easy to be the Apostle Paul it was not easy to be shunned by your future and rejected by your past it'll make you pray harder because you don't have nobody to depend on but the Lord it'll make you get up and come to church on Sunday morning okay how cold it is outside you wrapped up and came to church because this is the only place you fit not the building the presence of the Lord the glory of the Lord the anointing of the Lord this is a place where we feed the Misfits hey Misfits dinner is served [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] that immediately Paul started preaching immediately ain't that something immediately he starts preaching in the synagogue he didn't come back to the synagogue to be accepted he knows they think he's crazy but he's preaching in the synagogue he has to fight all of his life but in between the fights he's writing most of the New Testament in between fights he came to lystra and they threw rocks at him and they stoned him till his head was busted and his back was bleeding and they they drug him out the city as half dead but as soon as he woke up he got in between the fight and started preaching again saying stuff like there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk no longer after the flesh but after the spirit If any man Christ he is a new creature all old things have passed away behold all things have become new for we know if this Earthly house or Tabernacle shall be dissolved we have another building Eternal in the heavens uh having this assurance that God who has begun a good work in you shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ I want to talk to everybody in here that's been in the fight after fight after fight the Lord said in between the fights preach the gospel lay hands on the sick open up blinded eyes rebuke the devil and keep on going they'd put him on the boat and the boat fell apart he survived the Shipwreck and the snake bit him but in between the fights he kept on telling them Jesus is Lord to the glory glory of God I wish I had a hundred people that would praise God in between the fight [Applause] you're still God you're still God the ship has wrecked but you're still God the snake has been me but you're still God the rocks made me bleed but you're still God see it ain't no praise until you're praising God with blood running down your face there ain't no praise tell your praising God in the middle of rejection and pain let the redeemed of the Lord say so I'll give you 30 seconds to give God a praise like you lost your mind [Applause] [Applause] [Music] you got 10 seconds to open your mouth every Misfit in the building every Misfit online every Misfit in the balcony you got five seconds to open your mouth and give God some praise and settle in I'll be disliked settle in or be controversial settle in on being mistreated it's okay [Music] this is why it's okay this is oh this is why it's okay to be a misfit because number three you're the messenger and you can't be the messenger if you fit in that's what's wrong now we got too many folk trying to fit in too many preachers trying to fit in if you're gonna be the messenger you got to be willing to be the misfit glory to God you can't be common with the people that you're trying to lead that's why we don't have parents no more because they're too busy trying to be friends with their kids you so busy trying to be friends that the kid ain't got no parents and now if you're not a friend you're not a parent the devil is a liar you gotta understand that you got to be a misfit you got to be a misfit if you're gonna win this battle if you're gonna be a boss you got to be a misfit you can still be nice but you ain't got no business chasing in behind people trying to make them like you this ain't no election your paycheck voted me boss I'm the boss [Applause] you can't cash the check and not recognize who signed it come on we might as well clean it up in here look at somebody say clean it up you are the messenger you are the messenger you are the messenger I don't care whether you're a preacher or not you're the messenger you still a witness you're a soul winner stop trying to be an undercover agent on your job you don't want nobody to know that you saved so that you still got permission to live out your old life go ahead and be a messenger start praying for people on break you're a messenger god didn't put you on the job to make money he put you on the job to change lives you could have made money anywhere you're on assignment you're a messenger you got a message you're on a mission that's why the enemy keeps fighting you it's because you're a messenger he wouldn't try to shut you down if you didn't have something to say the reason he's attacking you is because you're a messenger I want every messenger in here to clap your hands I'm a messenger I'm a messenger I'm a messenger I'm a messenger I'm a messenger I'm a messenger but Messengers get fought with being Misfits [Applause] because being a messenger means saying yes to being a misfit so when the enemy wants to shut down your message he'll show you how bad you don't fit am I preaching right I say am I preaching right you are a messenger most of what we know about church about the five-fold ministry about the resurrection from the dead about the mystery of the godhead about the peace that passeth all understanding about having peace with God about no condemnation most of what we know about the resurrection came from Paul not Matthias stop worrying about who they picked God picked you God picked you I'm gonna say it again God begged you imma say it again God picked you and you don't have to be 80 and you don't have to be 70 and you don't have to be 60. you don't have to be 50. Jesus started ministering when he was 12 because God picked you you have to understand that God picks you and it's not because your past is in alignment [Applause] is because you had a unique moment with God and stop being frustrated because you can't teach people how to have a moment that they didn't have oh God that's so good thank you Jesus I'ma watch this on YouTube again myself some of you that our messages are frustrated because in your loneliness you are trying to make disciples out of people who do not have your moment and if they did not have your moment they cannot have your mantle let me tell it to the people over here if they did not have your moment they cannot have your mantle that's why Elijah told Elisha if you see me when I'm taken up you can have my mantle you can't get my mantle just because you want it just cause you think you got a right to it just because you gave me a love offering you can't buy me off and get this until you've been knocked off your Beast until you've had an encounter with God until you walked around blind and until you're willing to be a misfit you can't teach people how to be what they didn't see so forgive yourself for not being able to reduplicate yourself [Applause] when Jesus picks out 12 to say y'alls y'all pulling at me now when Jesus picks out 12 disciples you know what the first thing he tells them take up your cross and follow me because you're going to hear me Teach all you want to but you're not going to get my mantle off of what I teach you're going to get my mantle off of what I suffer so the invitation is until you have a shared experience you cannot receive my spirit without receiving my cross [Applause] most of us are stuck in the misfit stage hindering our message because we are still grieving overnight fitting and until you resolve and say yes not only to God but yes to not quite fitting in with either group yes to being peculiar yes to thinking different yes to having a flow that's different from other people's flow you will never discover your message with your message which is your purpose number four your message because you are a messenger your purpose is predicated on your message natural emotions God God didn't call you for your feelings he called you for your message because you are a messenger to a Dying World [Applause] tomorrow what love looks like what strength looks like what maturity looks like what diligence looks like what commitment looks like what fortitude looks like in between fights you gotta keep teaching people how to be survivors how to walk alone sometimes [Applause] am I helping anybody let me tell you something most of the divorces that we're having we should have never had because we are trying to get something out of marriage that it is not designed to give you [Applause] you're taking marriage for therapy and when you don't get therapy out of it you get out of it if you want therapy go to a therapist it is not my job to fix you it is my job to love you the reason I can't fix you is that I'm trying to fix me and it is wrong of me to expect you to fix me because whatever's broke in me was broke when you bought me I'm the house you bought as is I'm a fixer-upper [Applause] the train don't work and the lights flash on and off and when it rains real hard I leak in the kitchen but I'm still your house y'all don't hear me [Applause] and you are angry with me over stuff I don't know nothing about you trying to work out in me stuff you had going on with your daddy I'm trying to work out and use stuff I had going on with my mama that ain't even fair you wasn't even married you don't even know what happened and if I tell you you only get my side foreign and yes I got a devil to fight how many people in here are honest enough to say you got a devil to fight that's why I'm at church this morning because I got a devil to fight that's why I was clapping my hands and praising God when you were singing cause I got a devil to fight that's why your job is so important because you helped me fight my devil that's why I can't cross my legs and look cute in church cause I got a devil to fight and I came here this morning to get some ammunition to help me in the fight because when I leave this place I'm going back to the front lines and I'm gonna have to do battle huh I'm not talking about doing battle with people I'm talking about doing battle with me do a battle with my own head going battle with my own pain go in battle with my own self sometimes doing battle with my Prophecy with my destiny am I ready can I handle it can I pull it off am I enough no I'm not enough but with God I'm more than enough I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me can I get a praise in this place can I get a praise in this place [Applause] so when Paul gets down to the end of his life he sends a message to his mentee he does not tell Timothy about all his Revelations he does not tell Timothy about all the places he traveled he does not tell Timothy how he was trained at the feet of Camille he does not tell Timothy how many languages he spoke in he does not tell Timothy that he is solely responsible for the gospel reaching the Greeks that he preached the gospel on Mars Hill until a whole nation got saved he does not tell Timothy that it was not Peter alone that brought the gospel to Rome but that's why the Shipwrecked was to keep him from getting to Rome because when Paul got to Rome the whole game changed and the headquarters of Christianity slipped over from Jerusalem over to Rome he doesn't tell him any of that you know what he tells him I fought a good fight [Applause] a good fight I did it when I felt like it I did it when I didn't feel like it I did it when things were going good I did it when things were going bad I did it when I was on the mountain I did it when I was in the valley I did it when people liked me I did it when people hated me I did it when they understood I did it when they didn't understand I I have fought a good fight and you got to learn how to clap for yourself and say foreign somebody clap for yourself [Applause] I've fought a good fight I raised them kids by myself I'm a single mother but I fought a good fight Hallelujah I divorce the mother but I kept on taking care of my children I fought a good fight I fed people who didn't like me I came to work where they talked about me I kept on going to work even though the person I trained ended up getting a job I should have got but I still came to work and I fought a good fight I want to talk to some people have been into some fight I don't want to talk to these cutie pie people that ain't been through nothing yet I want to talk to some real soldiers that's been in some real fights Paul tells Timothy [Applause] I thought [Music] I thought I thought a good fight I thought fights other people wouldn't even take up I thought fights I could have avoided I thought a good fight you know what kept the faith yeah sometimes that was the fight something see y'all think I'm fighting with people sometimes the fight is to keep the I fought a good fight I kept the faith wait on this here's what you've been waiting on now laid up for me is a crown of righteousness didn't get it when I wanted it didn't get it where I worked at it some stuff only God can give you now laid up for me is a crown of righteousness we used to say stuff like We Shall Behold Him or that other song The Marketplace is empty no more selling in the streets the king is coming we don't sing about heaven right now because we got better cars we don't sing about heaven because we got air conditioning we don't sing about heaven because we got dishwashers and garbage disposals and stuff like that but the truth of the mighty is nothing you own is your crown [Applause] none of it is your crowd there is a crown for those of you who have fought a good fight and it ain't down here [Applause] it ain't down here bro it ain't down here why would you preach this because every time I open up the paper somebody else has committed suicide you know why most people commit suicide because they never got the crowd they put in the fight and they didn't get the crown but Paul tells Timothy now laid up for me is a crown of righteousness and not for me only but for all of those who await [Applause] appearing stand to your feet [Applause] if God spoke to you today give him some kind of praise quick teachers review is in make your life count in between fights don't survive a fight only to be in misery about an old fight you wasted your free time talking about your old time in between fights makes your life do something purposeful that's what the fight was about in the first place in between fights do what you were created to do this is a teacher's review the power of obedience understanding that sometimes you have to go against your feelings and obey God and lay hands on people who are trying to lay hands on you [Applause] because this is not your business this is God's business you're doing do you hear what I'm saying teachers review I want you to understand you didn't choose God chose you teachers review fit me in is overrated [Applause] be okay with being different nobody writes books about ordinary only extraordinary cool with it all of not all but most of our heroes were lauded after they died if you demand payment up front you are distracted from your destiny who am I talking to when you worry about being a misfit you put your happiness in the hands of someone else means I can only be happy if you like me that's too much power to give to any clique any group any crowd any co-workers that's too much power to give anybody you got to be cool with doing you [Applause] you're off the joke talk about how my wife loves Christmas and she got the house you know it looked like Santa Claus lived there and uh and and the one who always teased her about it I said how come you ain't playing your music you know why it ain't my thing but it's hers and if it gives you Joy turn the music up it takes a long time to stop trying to change people and just love them like they are it ain't nothing wrong with that I thought I let me turn the music on let me do something top trying to make people into you because can we be honest a minute you ain't that happy being you [Applause] so why are you trying to make me be you early in the message I used two words that I've said we don't use much conversion and conviction conversion the right to change the right to be somebody else is important don't lock yourself into situations you can't get out of because conversion is a process and conviction is a decision that I need to change directions [Applause] now I'm not sure but I believe that somebody in this room will watch it online has been knocked off a few beasts the wind knocked out of you blackout you can't see your way clear God has disrupted your life because he's got something for you that's different than where you were headed and you can be hard-headed and come to him on a cot lowered down through the roof or come to him in a dread disease or you can come to him now and say Lord I need to make some changes ain't no need in me having a New Year if I'm not going to be a new me even if I am despised even if I have to leave my click my gang even if I have to change jobs whatever I have to do to fulfill what you created me to do tired of fighting you God it's enough to fight me you know what Jesus told uh Paul that I left out he said it is hard for you to kick against the pranks the prick was something that they put at the end of the stall to stop the mule from kicking the stall trying to get away it was a sharp object that the more you kicked against it the more it hurt you and When God says it's hard for you to kick against the pricks he said you kicking against me and hurting you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 2,132,288

Keywords: td jakes, faith, wtal, woman thou are loosed, megafest, potters house, bishop jakes, pastors and leadership, pastors, leaders, instinctbishops, village, a divine encounter with god, make your life matter

Id: BsqlbIpPFQQ

Length: 80min 58sec (4858 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2022