Take Off Your Shoes | Pastor Tabatha Claytor

hey what's up everybody this is pastor Ken and Tabitha Hey so glad you're tuning in today I know that this message that you are about to watch right now has something on the inside of it that will transform your life that is so true God always has something to say whenever his work is going forward so let's enjoy the word today and so we want you to grab a pen grab a notebook matter of fact share this message with somebody else sit back and enjoy we've been doing a series called the Holy Spirit is that not amazing I mean it has been blessing me and and so I've been caught following along with pastor Ken as he's reading a chapter of Acts every day and as I was preparing for this message I was reading Acts and it was referring to the scripture that we are going to go over today and so the Holy Spirit is all over this message in fact we're gonna be talking about something that the Holy Spirit lunges us and prompts us to do all the time my title of today's message is take off your shoes and I will explain that just as soon as we pray father we love you today thank you that we were able to gather together in your presence Lord we know that you abide in the praises of your people and so your presence is here with us and Lord we just asked for you to do what only you can do touch our hearts Lord renew our mindsets father heal our body set us free do what only you can do in Jesus name and we promise to give you the glory for everything that is accomplished today amen okay so take off your shoes is what we are talking about today and so when I was growing up my mom had a strict rule for our house and that was that you had to take off your shoes before you came in her house now my mom really wasn't concerned about the floors being dirty as much as she was concerned about respect see where I come from it was a cultural thing that when you you respect people's homes when you come in you take off your shoes before you come in the door it's similar to a man maybe taking off your hat like you we used to do and so now that it's kind of you carried over with me a little bit in that I'm not so far on the respect side with my mom what she was saying was that you better recognize who house whose house you're coming in to before you come in my door you better take off those shoes and know that when you come in my house you can't act any kind of way you have to submit to my rules and my ways when you come in my house and so that stayed with me a little bit as I grew up but I'm not so much on the respect side as much as I am on the cleanliness side because I just have a need for clean you know I might be a little OCD with it but I just don't like the fact that you know we go out in public and we use public restrooms and then you come in my house with those same shoes that you were in the toilet oh my and like you go to the gas station you're pumping your gas did you ever look at this gas station cement I mean there's gum there's spit there's it's like Oh Lord don't come in my house like that and so especially when I had kids and they were babies and so Hannah's my first child she was about eight months old and I had a real strict rule you have to take off your shoes when you come in my house I'm gonna y'all know that new moms can just kind of be a little extra yeah yeah we're a little extra with everything don't look at my baby don't touch my baby don't breathe in my baby's direction okay and so I was there you know and I had this gathering for a friend and I allowed them to just they invited some of their friends and so some people came to the house and I didn't know everyone in particular there was this friend of a friend and so there's people coming in my door and I heard a little commotion going on it's like just do it just do it and there's like fuss and I'm like what's going on so I went up and I heard that there was one of the guys who was a friend of the friend where he didn't want to take off his shoes and when I heard this I was like oh you know yeah I just asked everyone to take off their shoes because I have this baby she's 8 months old she's crawling everywhere I mean she picks up everything I don't know how they find stuff on the floor I just swept it but she found something she put stuff in her mouth and so I'm explaining to this guy and he's just like well I don't like to take off my shoes when I go to other people's houses they don't make me take off their shoes and so I'll share with you what I was thinking but what I said was I had this emergency pair of like shoe covers like image wars submarine I have that juncture I just ran to the juncture I pull out the shoe covers and I give it to him but what he did was he spoke to me something he said something to me right there at the entrance of my home before he even entered in I was able to identify him that this was not my friend okay first of all he didn't care about me he didn't care about my house he didn't care about my baby he did not care he didn't even have half enough sense half a brain or enough respect to know that when you walk in somebody's house especially when they say they have a baby and they ask you to take off your shoes take off your shoes dude come on and so I knew that this was not my friend and so I knew how now to deal with him I knew that he wasn't ready yet he wasn't really ready for that iron sharpens iron relationship that I would give to him I would say some things that might break him because he could have been a little plastic at the time so you need to recognize that some of those friends you've been hanging out with they're not really your friends they're not even ready yet they can't even respect the fact that you know that you are a friend and come to you in honor and stuff and so let's examine the friends that we have in our lives you know most of the time when you first meet people don't let you know right off the bat where they stand and so this guy was not my friend but you know I love people I showed him the love of God he came into my home and you know I like to treat people real good when they come to my house I just want you to know that you know I love you that God loves you and like whatever I have it's just available for you all of my goods and services whatever you need as long as you're in my house it's available to you and so there's a certain blessed thing that you get when you come into someone's house you know there's a blessing that's made available to you and so everyone came into the house we played games we had fun we had fellowship we ate food and everyone left with the blessing but not that guy okay but listen he didn't leave with the blessing because I didn't make it available to him because the blessing wasn't in the food it wasn't in the drinks the blessing was in the communion the blessing was in the fellowship the breast thing was when okay I hear your story here's my story and now I have your back I can pray with you we can be there for each other that's where the blessing was but that blessing was available to him but he did not seem to receive the blessing because he left his blessing at the door when he refused to take off his shoes okay he forfeited his blessing at the door and the faith same thing that everyone else was able to receive he could not now how sad would it be if when we come to God's house and he has all of his goods and services available to us that we come in and we let our neighbor to the left get the blessing and our neighbor to the right get the blessing but we walk out without it I want you to know that everything that God has when you come into his house it is available for you he loves you he wants to feed you he has prepared a meal for you that is good the Bible says that he will prepare a table in the presence of your enemies he wants you to eat good it would be sad if you left out without everything that you need there is healing in the house if you need it there is a restoration in the house if you need it whatever you need it is here in the house you got to take off your shoes and get into position so that you can receive everything everything that God has for you amen and so there are some things that God wants to do in you there's some things that God wants to do through you but first he has to get you into position so that you can receive so there are some dreams that God's placed on the inside of you he wants you to get you into position so that you can make those things come to pass there's goals there's visions there's hopes there's all of these desires that you have God wants the position you so those things can come to pass in your life I want you to know that your dreams are so much bigger than just you you know like those of you study medicine and you become a doctor it's one of them the best things that you can do because you're helping people to heal and that's good you thought that you were just going to be able to help people in their physical bodies that's wonderful but God says that's just half of it you see because when all of the earthly wisdom fails and all the textbooks fail and all of the mechanics and all of the technology that we have today fails God wants you to know but there is one but you can call on that is in heaven that is the Great Physician and he's never lost the patient that he can work through you and do miracles that no man can do your vision your dreams it's so much more than just yourself and so God is putting you in position so that you can receive everything that he has for you and so with most things there is a position that you're gonna have to assume when a woman gives childbirth there is a position that she gets into so that she can push so that she can push out that child and give birth whenever you get into your car to drive somewhere you get seated into position you start positioning your seat you're you're fixing your cell phone you're you're fixing your your your cup holder you are positioning yourself because there's somewhere that you need to go you are moving forward in any sport that you play there is a position that you will have to take my sport of choice is track and field come on y'all and when I was in high school I ran the four by four relay and it happened like this my position yeah I've got some track runners in the house my position was the second leg and so we would get into the the gun would go off boom the first leg starts going as soon as the first leg left I would get into position now it takes her about a minute to run around that track but I was still in position and I was waiting because I didn't want to miss the baton when it came my way I wanted a smooth pass i wanted to receive them but with baton so i can start moving forward into my destiny into my victory I wanted to win waste the race and I just want you to know that no matter who you are today where you're from what the color of your skin is I don't care if you're rich or poor God is positioning you today because he's trying to get you to the victory line and so he's you in position to receive not the baton but he wants you to receive the blessing so that you can take the blessing and move forward into your new business move forward into your calling move forward into your healing in restoration and your family and relationships God is positioning you so that you can receive the blessing amen and so turn to your neighbors say I need to get in position come on you need to get into position come on y'all ok I want to talk about a story from the Bible in Exodus chapter 3 I'm gonna talk about a man named Moses and I want to show you how God has positioned him for what he needs to do and if you are maybe you've been in church for a while you probably know this story about Moses he is an excellent man God used him in a mighty way but maybe some of you are here for the first time and you're in church and you don't know this story of Moses it's going to be good but most some of you may be like me I did not grow up in church and so I didn't really know anything about the Bible but I do know something about Moses because every year like once a year when I was growing up the Ten Commandments would come on TV and you know back then I live with my grandma we had this old this big box TV and it didn't have a remote you had to go up and and turn and I would get in trouble because I would I would turn through the channels anyway if you if you're a certain age you have no idea what I'm talking about but anyway we didn't have a remote and there were only a few stations I think we didn't even have cable we had like these why your ears that you know so there were only a couple stations so if the Ten Commandments came off guess what you were watching the Ten Commandments and so I knew Moses from that story and so anyway let me catch you up on where we're going to enter into the story here in Exodus chapter 3 we're going to start with first 2 but before that this is this is where Moses is so Moses is Hebrew he's an Israelite one of God's chosen people and the Israelites at that time are being controlled by the king of Egypt the Israelites begin to grow in number I mean they are multiplying like rabbits the king of Egypt gets upset and he says hey I'm gonna have to do something about this because suppose we go to war and then they team up with our enemies there's so many of them they could overtake us and so the King sends out a decree that all of the Hebrew males that were born had to be thrown into the river and drowned and so this was the situation that Moses was born into his mother in order to save his life takes him and puts him in a basket and puts him near the river side now the king of Egypt his sister finds the baby in the basket she takes him in and raises him as his own as her own and so Moses life is saved he grows up in the palace he grows up as an Egyptian but somewhere along the line he finds out that he's not really Egyptian that he's Hebrew and he begins to feel some kind of way about that in fact he begins to fit he's out one day and he came upon one of the Egyptian soldiers they were beating up one of his Hebrew brothers Moses became enraged he stepped in fought the man the Egyptian soldier and ended up killing him now the king of Egypt here's what happens he sends a warrant out for Moses that he wanted Moses killed Moses escapes Egypt he flees and makes a life in a city outside of Egypt he builds a family there he has a wife and kids there and forty years go by forty years from when he left Egypt and that's where we are entering into this story in Chapter three now Moses was tending the flock of his father's father-in-law in verse two there the angel of the Lord appeared to him Moses in flames of fire from within a bush Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up so Moses thought I will go over and see this strange sight why the bush doesn't burn up and when the Lord saw that he had gone over to God called him from within the bush and said Moses Moses and Moses said Here I am do not come any closer God said take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground God says take off your sandals take off your shoes for the place that you are standing is holy ground now I love where God enters into this story of Moses because he's been gone Moses has been gone from Egypt and from his family and from everything he knew for forty years but God enters back into his life at a point where Moses probably thought God is done with me I can't do anything else for God look at me on the murderer I've escaped from Egypt there's a warrant out for my arrest God can't do anything it left God can't do anything else with me I have nothing left I want you to know that that's not the character of God some of you are here today and you might feel like man I've done too much you don't know me I've done so much wrong I want you to know that God will take your mess and he will turn it into a message it is not too late God wants to use you the Bible says that he will take the foolish things of this world and use them to confound the wise I want you to know that God still has a plan for you just like he did Moses and so he comes into Moses life through a burning bush imagine how what Moses was thinking and then he the next thing he says to Moses is don't move take off your shoes for the ground in which you are standing is holy what was God saying he was saying Moses first the first thing I need you to do is recognize Who I am first of all I need you to know that I am God I need you to know who I am in your life and what I can do in your life so he says Moses take off your sandals and I want you to know and see the position that happens whenever you begin to take off your shoes first you bend your knees you're bowing your knee and you're bowing down and you're coming into a position where you are in total submission in your head is bowed down in honor in reverence in worship to God and so Moses is in this position it's not so much about the position its what the position represents it represents what's going on in here it represents the honor and the obedience and the respect that you have in your heart and so Moses is in this position and then God begins to speak you know when we come into service on Sundays what's the first thing we do we open up in praise and in worship why is that it is a form of us taking off our shoes it's a form of us recognizing before we do anything else first we're going to say that you are God and you are holy and you are the reason why we're alive and you are the reason why we here we're worship you that's what it's all about and so Moses is in a position now of surrender and seized in a position of Honor and God says take off your shoes and I want you to see what God says after this in chapter 3 verse 7 the Lord said I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers and I am concerned about their suffering so I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land into a good and spacious land a land flowing with milk and honey and I want you to pay close attention to verse 10 so now he's saying to Moses so now go I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt you see god heard the cries of his people they were in bondage and they needed help and they begin to cry out to the Lord and I want you to know that there are people around you there are people in your community in your neighborhoods on your jobs there's people in your classes they are crying out for God and you are their answer you have what it takes to deliver them out of the darkness that they are in out of the land of not enough into the land of milk and honey notice God says Moses I've heard the of my people and I am choosing you you go out I am anointing you I am appointing you I am calling you God speaks to Moses and then calls him into ministry you see when you get into that position of kneeling down when you put some respect on it when you begin to honor God he begins to speak and things begin to happen in your life God has so much more for you and so he calls Moses in to ministry and he says I want you to go and deliver my people from bondage let's look at what Moses says in verse 11 he says to God Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt Moses says Who am I God I'm I'm a murderer I remember I can't even go back into Egypt I've ran away from Egypt I've been gone for 40 years God Who am I and no doubt there's someone here and you're saying god but who am i to start a business god but who am i to act like I'm the leader but God Who am I to lead a small group but God Who am I to pray for someone let me tell you who you are okay first of all you are not who your family says not who your friends say you are who this word says and this word says that when you are born again when you have received Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior then behold old things have passed away your past has passed away that old you has passed away and you are a new creation and now with Christ you can do all things now God is on your side and no one can be against you that's who you are you are who the word says you are a blood bot blood washed child of the Most High God you are somebody come on y'all and so Moses says well Who am I and I love how God responds you see it when I first heard how God responded to Moses his question first I was like well Lord did you understand the question that he asked you know maybe he didn't understand you know because God is like he's amazing like that his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and I'm just like I don't know what you mean here God responds like this he says in verse 12 I will be with you Moses says wha Who am I God says I will be with you God did you not understand yes he understood the question what God was saying Moses it doesn't even matter who you are all that matters is that I am with you is that God is with you come on y'all if that were the case I would not be standing before you today I wasn't raised in church we didn't know Jesus we didn't have a Bible on our table I'm not supposed to be here my inheritance was alcoholism my inheritance was drug addiction sex abuse domestic violence I was depressed for 12 years of my life just trying to get out of that messy situation like Moses that I was born into and there is one reason that I am standing before you today completely healed completely joyful there's only one reason and one reason only it is because God is with me come on y'all God is with you you can overcome your past nothing can hold you back whatever you want to do you can do it not because of who you are but because God is with you amen and so God is with Moses and that's how he responds and so I just want it really quick you give you two points I want to give you two things to help you get into position okay and it's as easy as taking off your shoes okay is easy as taking off your shoes and part in my hood my hood references here in my my hood terminology you know y'all know y'all know where I'm from okay number one in order to get into position number one you better recognize and number two put some respect on it okay number one you better recognize you've got to recognize who God is you got to recognize that he is the Most High God El Elyon he creator of the heavens and the earth you gotta recognize that he is the the highest-ranking authority in heaven and earth and in Hell below he is god all-mighty you got to recognize who it is that lives in you who it is that you're talking to and number two you got to put some respect on it put some respect on it you know I have three kids and sometimes you know we're playing in and I want to be there for my mommy and we're having fun and stuff like but then they start treating me like I'm one of their friends and I have to remind them no baby girl I am your mother okay you got to respect the fact that I'm your mother don't talk to me don't talk to me like that no don't look at me like don't roll your eyes don't you move your head like that girl you better recognize I am your mother I brought you in this world I will take you out okay listen everything that you have it's mine all right I am your mother I own this house I own your bedroom I own all the toys I own you girl you better recognize and put some respect on it come on the same way with God yes he is our Creator he's our father as well and He loves us but we have to recognize and put some respect on it when we are talking to him sometimes we don't just go to God any kind of way there are some things that you have been asking God for and you haven't seen them manifest in your lives I want you to go back put some respect on it and then you'll begin to see those things begin to happen in your life and some of you are asking God God why God who what when where tell me God what how is this going to happen listen you are wasting your time asking all these questions just do it because God said to do it amen you got to put some respect on it and so God is speaking through Moses through a bone burning bush he calls Moses to lead the Israel Israelites into the Promised Land Moses says I am I'm sorry Moses says Who am I God says I will be with you and then Moses asks God this one last question he says God but when I go and they ask me who sent me who do I say you am who do I say you are and so God answers again in quite a peculiar way he says tell them that I am that I am God is so gangster isn't just tell them that I am okay and I'm like God why did you you know why did you respond in that way and and I think God responded for this reason it is because of this it was like Moses you they don't need to know who I am as much as you need to know who I am you need to know that I am that I am now the original Greek or the original Hebrew text translates to I will become what I will become meaning I will be what I will be so God was telling Moses it don't matter what they know what matters is that you know you need to know that I am that I am that I will become what I will become I will be what you need me to be so Moses if you need some protection I will be that Moses if you need some peace I will be that Moses whatever you need I can't become bad because I am that I am and you need to know that you are never alone that God is with you and everything that you need God can be he can become he will be what you need him to be amen what a mighty God we served and so my kids ask me questions like you know mommy and I always actually growing up I was just like you know I'm gonna be the best mother I'm gonna listen to my kids and every question they have I'm gonna answer because they're just little people after all and they just want to know and that's why they're asking the questions and so I'm gonna be the best mom and I'm gonna answer all of my children's questions okay so 14 years later into motherhood and three children later listen sometimes I don't want to end sometimes I don't have time to answer your questions okay sometimes you just need to do it why because I said so all right but mommy why but mommy why but who who who's coming with us but when we go and when are we go where do we go a mobile why but what because said so just do it because I said so and I want you to know that there are some things that you need to do that God is telling you just because he said so isn't he God isn't he the God who was able to make all things possible there's nothing impossible with God you gotta quit wasting your time saying how is it going to happen God when is it going to happen God where is it going to happen God who's gonna help me God just do it because he said so he's not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent if God said it he will make it come to pass in your life he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond oh that you could ever ask think or imagine he is God amen and so God is positioning you Church he is positioning you so that you can receive the blessing he is positioning you so that you can be blessed to be a blessing because all of this that you have going on in your lives it's about so much more than just yourselves there are people all around us who need you they need your story they need to hear how you overcame they need to hear how you were addicted but now you're free they need to know how your marriage was terrible but now it's good they need to know how you wanted to commit suicide but now you're so happy that you didn't because God is so good there are people all around you who are crying out and God is saying right now I am calling you I am calling you to go into the community I am calling you to go into your classroom you go out you preach the gospel and so I just want to declare over you today that God is positioning you and I want to encourage you to take off your shoes it's not so much the outside position but it's the inward position that when you come into God's house take off your shoes when you go to God and ask him for things he wants to give you every single thing that your heart desires but don't disqualify yourself because you didn't come with respect because you didn't come honoring him the one who is worthy and wholly worthy of our praise and honor amen I want to pray with you today would you do me a favor please bow your head and close your eyes I want to give you an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior you know I was 22 years old when I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior I was broken I was in a dark place I had been depressed and severe with severe depression and anxiety disorder I was heavily medicated I was having suicidal thoughts I I didn't know where to turn I didn't know where to go I didn't know what to do but at that critical moment in my life I received Jesus someone came to my door and they prayed with me they they showed me the Bible and I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior and there's two things that happen on that day that I will never forget I remember it like it was yesterday number one when I prayed to Jesus I felt the love that I had never known before that if someone could die and give their life for my sins if someone could die and care that much for me it made me feel so loved and the second thing that happened is that I just received a hope a hope that I had never known before like there was hope for me this girl who was raised in the projects this girl who was from the wrong side of the track this girl that was just half black half white she was a much she was supposed to be a statistic she wasn't supposed to make it out alive but if there was hope for me thank you God that there's hope for me I don't know where you are today and I don't know what you've been through but I want you to know that Jesus Christ wants a relationship with you he wants to give you a love that she's never known before he wants to give you a hope that you've never seen before and if I'm talking to you I want to give you the opportunity to receive this same Jesus that I did I want to say a really simple prayer with you and then you will know that you are born again and you can receive Jesus Christ so I want to ask you to raise your hand with every head bowed and every eye closed would you raise your hand if I am talking to you I'm talking to you thank you so much I see your hand if you're here today and you've never said the prayer of salvation thank you so much I see your hand if I thank you so much I see your hand you can put your hand down if you've never said the prayer of salvation I want to pray with you today and listen some of you are here and you are here because it has become tradition for you but you grew up in church and maybe your mom and dad came to church and and maybe you're praying to your mom and dad's God and to their religion but I need you to know that this relationship has to be to be between you and God not your parents and God this relationship has to be between you and so if that's you would you raise your hand and I want to lead you in this prayer of salvation thank you so much I see your hand I want to lead you in this prayer so that you can leave this place knowing that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ thank you so much I see your hand thank you I see your hand thank you so much she can put your hands down and so right now I am going to leave you in a prayer and all you have to do is repeat after me and listen more so than me seeing your hand God sees your hand more so than me hearing your voice God will hear your voice and things are going to shift in your life now a live church can I ask you to join in with all of those people who are praying for the very first time repeat after me dear father I thank you today for saving me thank you for Jesus who gave his life for me I admit that I am a sinner I need help I can't do life without you life is too hard without you I need a Savior Jesus come into my heart be my Lord and Savior forevermore in Jesus name Amen well if you were set that prayer for the first time I pray that that message blessed you today I know for me God's Word changed me it changed me it helped me overcome years of depression sexual abuse even poverty and I just know that God's Word is changing something for the better inside of you yeah if this message today has blessed you in any way you know the greatest compliment that you could ever give us will be to share this with someone else you know when I go out to a great restaurant I don't want to keep it to myself I want the world to know you got to go here to get that fried chicken and sweet potatoes man and so this has been good groceries for you if it's been good food if it's been life transformation for you do what's the favor share it with a friend comment below make sure that you subscribe to our Channel today and we hope we'll see you again real soon god bless you we'll see you soon

Channel: Alive Church

Views: 2,340

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

Keywords: Alive Church, Pastor, Faith, Christianity, welcome video, Alive Church pastors, Alive Church Gainesville, Alive Church Orlando, Take off your shoes, Church sermon, Ken Claytor, Welcome to alive church, Church, Church Sermon, HolySpirit, Holy Spirit Series

Id: zg9mJrXrPHI

Length: 35min 0sec (2100 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 23 2019