Relentless Church Special Devon Franklin Single and Whole

Dave I wasn't the one that started you on your way I wasn't the one that made sure that was breath in your lungs and there was blood in your heart you better give praise where praise is zoom come on it wasn't the eyeball it wasn't the Android it wasn't your decision it was his because if it was up to you you wouldn't be here right now but because of his mercy and grace he's talking for you to have another day so would you take just a moment to let him know you're grateful that you appreciate them come on do and hold it in all week Newman hold in distress Newman fight through the depression tonight is your night to let him know how you feel about him don't praise your problem praise the God of the solution why don't you give him praise why don't you give it break the Bible says he had have a surprises of his people why don't you make room for him tonight is there anybody out here waiting for God to answer your prayer is there a prayer come on but let's do it an unanswered prayer wave right now now let me ask you if your praise was contingent on the answer being revealed how would you praise Him [Applause] I'm gonna get to my time I promise you but why is this so important why because too often we get in the business of praising people that ain't done nothin for you that don't care nothin about you but you won't praise him who did everything for you and for me who cares if you meet a celebrity you know the King of Kings the Lord of lords I'm tired of people worrying about a red carpet worried about the red blood that was shed for your city who am I talking to tonight [Applause] last thing and then we're going to transition why is this important because so often we keep our our entire life we all have a phone right we spend so much time in selfie time me me me me me I don't have I don't have I want I don't have we spend so much time here that we don't reflect him and say God not my will but thine be done I'm not here to do what you want what I want to do I'm here to do what you want me to do and when we come here tonight if your heart is not affixed to him you're gonna miss what is coming to you tonight so when we praise we turn our heart to him and we say thank you turn to never say I'm glad that I'm alive turn to never say I'm glad I'm the house of the Lord tonight yes yes you may have your seat if you can't so give it up for your pastors my good friends Pastor John an advocate Craig give it up come on let them know you love them let them know you appreciate their sacrifice amen we love you Megan sends her regards she is auditioning for a big movie right now and she's like baby boy you called me I said why just want to let you know I'm clean for a message to the singles so if you're married god bless your heart this section is not for you we got about 25 minutes and as my pastor would say yeah i'ma cut it off on both ends and set fire in the middle too often if you are single let me hear you wait see you wave your hand let me hear some noise [Applause] mmm that was pitiful can see here is the issue and I'm gonna jump right in walk you through a text and talk about why you can unlock and how to unlock the power of your singleness but too often in the church there's been too much shame associated with being single if you have been single if you had a dollar for every time somebody asked you when you're getting married how much longer you gonna be single are you dating you will be a millionaire too long in the church we act as if singleness is a disease instead of a blessing may I submit for your consideration that if you are not happy as a single person you will not be happy as a married person I'm talking to somebody right now I got it let me let me stay in the word and then I'm gonna break it down so I want to draw your attention quickly to Genesis chapter 2 verse 15 to 24 Genesis chapter 2 verse 15 to 24 I'm gonna be reading from the New International Version and then I want to break down some strategies for as for you as singles to unlock the power of your singleness alright alright anybody need some power tonight okay so here we go the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it that's verse 15 of chapter 2 of Genesis and then the Lord God commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree in the garden but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for if you eat of it you will surely die verse 18 the Lord God said it is not good for man to be alone who whoo-hoo hmm I will make a helper suitable for him for who for who alright he's making sure you with me verse 19 now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky he brought them to the man to see what he would name them and whatever the man called each living creature that was its name verse 20 so the man gave names to the livestock the birds of the sky the wild animals but for Adam the man no suitable helper was found so the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and while he was sleeping he took one of the man's ribs close it up close up the place with flesh first and he God brought her to the man God created the woman and brought the woman to the man watch this then the man said this is now bone of my bones flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man that is why a man leaves his father and mother and as united to his wife and they become one flesh the reason why I articulate this text is because if we're being honest most of our Christian culture related to singleness is shaming women as if something is wrong with them that they do not have a husband yet but when you look at the text it says that it was not good for man to be alone ah but see here's the problem how I meant relentless so I can be honest we've allowed the rules of the world to creep into the rules of the church and to oftens secretly in the church we go ahead and behind the scenes and we go ahead and pick up player ISM and we say the young men oh it's cool we are not solving the problem the problem is that we as men think that we find our value and how many women we got but the truth be told we really find our value in committing to one I don't know who I'm talking but if you are a single man and you came here tonight and you're dating more than one and they don't know about each other let me tell you God called me to put you on notice stop playing with God's daughter because see here's what happens and I'm not talking to you about nothing that I don't know see I've been married seven years right but I was the last one of my three brothers to get married I didn't get married until 33 years old my younger brothers got married in their 20s so here I am as a young man who did not have a father because my father died when I was nine years old trying to find out what it meant to be a man and so as I was raised and growing up in the church nobody told me that real value as a man is found in our commitments not in how we play I'm talking to somebody right now so choice this was a young man as a single man I fell into the temptation and the trap to find my value and how many women I was dating oh yeah there were times I would date someone on Tuesday someone on Thursday someone on Saturday night and none of them would know that they were not the only one uh honkers he says a brother right now you're real quiet cuz you're with your Friday night one and she don't know she ain't the only one listen I didn't come to play with you I came too far not to play with you but here's the problem here's the problem we're hearing in Genesis the divine design right and so as a young man I bought into the idea that the more the better and here's what I found the more that I gave of myself to different women I had no intention for the less I knew who I was and the further I was away from what God had called me to do see we think that we can just play and that we don't have to pay a price may I submit for your consideration every decision you make comes with a price and are you willing to pay the price can I go a step further so often we think that it's men and this is the truth and this is why God has me here because too often as men we treat sex as the admission price for connection for relationship or just to be with somebody may I submit for your consideration how what will you have to show at the end of your life if you keep living like you're living if you're a young man who is only seeking sex without any regard for the woman you're trying to get it from if you get to the end of your life what will all the back seats and and the hotel rooms what will you have to show for it what will you have done with all the money and time you squandered getting as much sex as you can stand did it make you a better man no did it take you further to where God calls you to be no so this is why we got to go back to the beginning because the culture has twisted with God laid into foundation all right I'm trying to say to my notes God said that it was not good for a man to be alone but the culture says it's not good for women to be alone think about analyst in my day job is I work in Hollywood I produce films and television shows and so I too sometimes have been subject growing up to this romanticization of relationships and marriage and love and there were times and even though I was a single man and in dating that I didn't feel completely whole because I didn't have the right one in my life and I began to look at this why is this the case because too often the culture wants women to think that if you don't have a man you're not as valuable Adam was the one who had the need the river was taken out of Adam and listen what's so fascinating is that God did not take two ribs out of that enema some of y'all missed it some of y'all missed it everybody wants to know well monogamy is not natural really if he thought we needed more than one here's a crazy thing as a man you can't even handle the one you got why you starting something with somebody else sorry y'all shoulda asked me to come tonight just didn't ask me to come I gotta tell you I'm just telling you what God told me to tell you so here's the thing eats at one rib to create one woman when Eve comes in the earth there is no record of her saying where is Adam Adam was the one who was missing a rib Eve came into the earth hole you are single because your hope I don't know who I'm talking to right now come on you're not missing anything do me a favor just just touch me you got two ribs if you're a single woman say I'm single cuz I'm home next time somebody asked you why you're not dating cuz you say listen I'm not right for everybody and everybody's not right for me why is this important because Eve coming into the earth hole Adam was the one that said this is bone of my bone this is flesh of my flesh for this reason will I leave my mother and father and cleave even say this is the reason I'm gonna do these things no it was the man but society says men play women oh you know it if you feel less than if you don't have somebody may I submit for your consideration that we got to get back to the Divine Design I can tell you that that that even though at times when I was dating as a single man and I was not dating perfectly God ended up giving me a vision that completely changed the way I dated I'll never forget this I I was it was literally I remember a few dreams I remember anybody ever had that problem with you you have a vivid dream and then you wake up and you're trying to remember it if you don't write it down you forget right well this vision this dream has stuck with me for years so here's what it was I was at my wedding and I was about to say I do and and kiss the bride and the minister said turn around and I turned around and down the center aisle were all the women that I had dated have mercy on me Jesus Oh Lord I'm telling you all my truth all my dirt it's all right without transparency there can be no transformation a man so I'll be transparent with you as a result you will get transformed a man so watch this so the issue though was not just that they were all there but they were all slain they were all cut open and they were litter down the center aisle bleeding and God said do you think it was worth all of their hearts to get here because here's what happens as men too often we treat women as objects of our pleasure instead of the daughters of God that they are God said to me he said stop playing with my daughters he said if you're not serious let him go and and I woke up out of this vision and it startled me so badly and I realized I had been by again to a myth because the more women I had the more chaos I had because what I realized there were things in me that I was not dealing with and I was finding escapism in dealing with multiple women instead of saying hey God who have you called me to be as a man in letting not and let me not get comfortable with the collateral damage for my journey being the because too often as men when we come together and we're talking singles so much of his focus to the single women but the problem is to single women most of the time we're doing good it's a single men that out there wrecking havock come on inside and outside the church who I just had a man hmm I just had a woman tell me her whole story on DM about how she's abiding by the rules and doing what God has called her dude but it seems like those that don't abide by the rules in defining a relationship and she was really frustrated by it and I and Megan and I years ago we wrote this book called the way about the value of until Marisa happens so many women there have been hundreds of thousands of people that have read the weight since it was released and I cannot tell you how many countless women have come to Meghan and I to say we are waiting but we cannot find a man who away with us we we want to do what God has called us to do but most men even if we meet him in the pew they still want to get what's in our pants I got a message for you tonight to all my brothers if a woman tells you she does not want to sleep with you that is a sign of a great woman not a sign of a woman you should discard because what is in her heart is more valuable to you than what is in her pants can I say that can I say that go for her heart stop trying to get in her [Applause] okay why is this important because for us to have strong hearts special hearts and strength we got to right the ship we got to get back to the Divine Design so if you are single I want to help you quickly unpack the power of your singleness one a relationship does not define you I want to be clear about this too often I find singles come to me because they're depressed if they don't have anyone I'm here to tell you I promise you if you're depressed now you will be depressed later because the person that God may have for you is not the answer God is the only one that can help you find happiness amen you hear what I'm saying and let me tell you too often we there's so many couples to get divorce well they stopped making me happy well that's the problem if I outsource my happiness to Megan I'm gonna stay depressed why because I have to be responsible for my well-being she has to be responsible for her well-being and then we both come together we're committed to our collective well-being but I'm not responsible to make her happy cuz I can't make her happy she can make her happy I can make me happy and we come together we can make me happy but here's the thing if I'm dependent on her every single day to make me happy I'm gonna be in trouble why because sometimes you get up in the morning and you feel a certain way that ain't got nothing to do with your commitment who am I talking to right now this is why as a single person don't allow the thought that a relationship to find you as a matter of fact you define the relationship okay number two win ain't got a lot of time I got about nine minutes when I was 18 years old no I think I was 17 years old I was raised in the church you know right told me to wait until marriage to have sex no no nobody told me why and nobody showed me how in the church we do a great job of teaching holiness but what do you do when you're holy and you're still horny I will keep it real or what are we gonna talk about this thing oh we're just gonna act like now no I'm holy i never get horny what are you talking about no I keep it all dirty now come on now you can be saved sanctified filled with the Holy Ghost and on fire to do something you know any time to do who am I talking to right now is there anybody willing to be honest right now this is the talk we don't get it kick me out you'll kick me out on this it's almost like the holier you get it sometimes the horny you get because when you free yourself from the constraint that you get closer to God God create assets hello somebody but ah when we don't teach when we don't teach how we leave it up to people to figure it out so I was left to figure it out and I didn't do a really good job so at 17 years old I was waiting and then I got into a relationship and I I was awaiting no mo I was telling you the truth Oh Lord I'm giving y'all all my Derrick it's okay but here's the issue I wasn't telling anybody I was lying to the people in my church and saying they don't know I'm waiting until marriage uh-huh if they had only asked well what did you do last night man I'm talking to somebody right now somebody's getting convicted right now hey man somebody so watch this for about six years I was not waiting and I was didn't know how to do it didn't have a strategy so I just kept falling to the flesh but here's what began to happen the person that I wanted to present and who I really was so more than I was having sex there was a wider gulf between who I was presenting and who I really was anybody can present an image to you ah I got to give you a commercial break I'm gonna come right back to our regular scheduled program this is why if somebody asks you out on a date before you get all head over heels and lovey-dovey and all infatuated you got to give it time for them to reveal are they really who they say they are let me tell you something right now we have more information available to us than any point in time in the history of the earth you can look at their Instagram you can look at their LinkedIn their Facebook posts their snapchats investigate evaluate and take your time because sometimes people want to portray to you an image but the other the real person is someone totally different but if you rush to make a decision because you're lonely if you rush to make a decision because you're seeking out value you may end up with somebody that if you only gave it time time would have revealed they were not even qualified to share your airspace who am I talking to right now we're almost done so here's what happened back to our regular program because I had no peace around when I was 23 I said to God God God get me out of this relationship please I said because I need to wait I know you're calling me to wait again but I'm too weak anybody ever been there before come on can we have an honest moment where where he's just so caught up and in your flesh your flesh has a stronghold and you need something supernatural to break in I don't know who I'm talking to right now but I am praying that God super natural power breaks any perverted stronghold that is keeping you attached to somebody that is taking away your value that is taking away your body that is taking away your mind that is taking away your time I don't know who I'm talking to right now but I'm you can get free and he whom the Sun sets free is free indeed watch it so God got me out of the relationship and I said okay I'm gonna wait I had no idea that I was not getting married until I was 33 okay okay this was in my early 20s and I didn't know it was gonna be a long journey why am i sharing this with you because so often in the church we just say wait but we don't talk about how and why here's the reason why I started to wait again and ultimately wait it again until marriage so often we want as a single person when you're single it's almost like we're trying to game the system to get what we want it's almost like we're treating God like a holy vending machine what is the code I have to put in to get the person that I want so if waiting is a part of the code then I'll punch it in but it's not in my heart hey I told you if you don't want to be convicted you can turn around there's exes behind you there's exes on the side of you but God told me to tell you the truth tonight here's why I waited I waited because I wanted more of him and I wanted his purpose in my life Romans 12:1 2 2 says therefore I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to god this is your true and proper worship do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is is good pleasing and perfect will the reason why I waited is I wanted to be able to discern my destiny it had nothing to do with being in a relationship with a person I wanted a relationship with him I don't know who I'm talking to right now but you've gotta fix your focus stop worrying about this and start worrying and focusing on your relationship with him make sure in your heart you want to be closer to him than you want to be closer to someone down here and I guarantee you things will start to shift in your life here's the other thing we have to recognize that we're spirit and flesh so so not only was I committed to waiting as I began to wait two things happened God took me further in my career people asked me right now I'm 41 years old I had my own production company I'm all written my fifth book in ten years travel around the world on television why I said because I presented my body as a living sacrifice let me tell you something because seto often we think of waiting it's like oh I'm just waiting for somebody to show up are you crazy that come on if you are single it's because God has some special time for you get up go to the gym get yourself together get next agree go ahead and get the doctorate go ahead and buy the house live your life become your best self who am I talking to right now stop putting your life on hold you better live life you better live it to the fullest [Applause] the other thing that happened was this I had to realize I'm spirit and flesh I got triggers alright so so yeah I'm not Superman so I can't be doing Superman situations trust me there were some nights when Megan and I I said ah we ain't Netflix and chilling nothing uh-oh I'm weak tonight I'm gonna stay in the car I'll wave from the car no no I'm walking you to the door you got to know your triggers stop putting yourself in tempting situations that you know you're not strong enough to hang in there come on somebody come on uh-uh no no no no you know what no we're not gonna go to the movies asthmatic I'm taking you to relentless tonight come on cuz I need some strength their strength ahead numbers come on somebody alright you got to know your triggers and also here's the other thing I want you to know that as I begin if you are single I want you to stand right now you are single I want you to stand right now every single person do me a favor raise both hands in the air I want you to know there's nothing wrong with you I want you to know you are not broken I want you to know that God has you set aside because of what he wants to do in your life I don't want you to look at someone else's relationship or marriage and get depressed I want you to look at him and get excited we serve the god of God who says he would do exceedingly and above

Channel: Maggie Dow

Views: 61,054

Rating: 4.9209661 out of 5

Keywords: Relentless Special Night 9.13.2019, Hearts & Strength Special Night

Id: JOiwMQbIMrs

Length: 31min 11sec (1871 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 13 2019