"Where Leaders Are Born" with Jentezen Franklin

the following program is sponsored by friends and partners of Kingdom connection hello and welcome to Kingdom connection coming up on today's program dad teaches us how living a christ-centered life is like running a long race a long life's journey you'll experience ups and downs but through it all you can experience a new level of faith when you run with purpose and focus on him all this month we're talking about things that shape your life and faith plays a big part in your spiritual fitness that's why we have prepared this brand new message series faith that shapes your life two powerful messages that will draw you closer to God in study and in prayer and we believe will help your race and grow in faith this series is available for your best gift this month before we go into the message we wanted to share an exciting update from our mission Food for Life in Haiti new men new game newsmen given yonder yeah arrows madmen mumbai become a society immediacy peasant our hostel and a low moon cushy artists at mommy oppa Bono well back in 2009 and 2010 we saw video of Haiti with Bobby and sherry Burnette and when we saw children and adults hungry and that that's got to touch your heart and we at that moment decided to help the Haiti our project I'm from Djibouti basically sending our belkaid service given but finally I'm giving them to attend give a liquid you leave ice cream pops wine anything o my Shyam got bigger Jindo know by the end of do that Lori and I have five children so we know the value of having to have an income to support our family Lori and I both been blessed because we both have jobs in our lives we've been blessed and we're now I feel like we're supposed to be vessels to channel some of the blessings other people that don't have what we have and yeah the marketplace will outlive us you know and then Haiti will have a long-term way to make a living and it'll be an investment that we put some funds into that will outlive us the Lord is behind this this is a light in the midst of darkness food for life sustainability giving jobs changing lives not only for now a niche here but 14 years 20 years 30 years and 50 years you you first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it everyone who competes for the prize is temperate discipline in all things now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown therefore I run this way not with uncertainty thus I fight not as one who beats the air but I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection listen when I have preached to others i myself should become disqualified Paul uses the analogy of running a race and he's talking to Greeks he's talking to the Greek culture and the Greek people they were very athletic they were very fit they prized physical fitness in the Greek culture he says it's not speed but endurance it's not that everyone enters the race and he draws this analogy but he says it's those who win the prize there is no there is no in the Greek culture there was no reward for the second place or the third place only if you won the prize were you a winner and it's like running a marathon living for God requires us to be temperate or disciplined in all things just like a athlete has the discipline his body just like an athlete will abstain and be temperate and know that if I eat a pizza tonight I'm not going to perform perform well on the field in the morning they know that they they're temperate in all things you must be temperate in all things he said and you you avoid excess as a runner in your diet you retain your flesh you restrain your flesh it's under subjection your patient in other words you endure without complaint so I came upon a story that I want to share with you today true story of what happens in the Boston Marathon the Boston Marathon is one of premiere marathons that runners are familiar with particularly professional runners 26.2 miles they run in they train and what is interesting is the first 16 miles of the Boston Marathon a lot of people don't know this but it was it was it was designed by the planners of the Boston Marathon that the first 16 miles be a slowed down grade he'll you may not know it when you're running it but the whole time for the first 16 miles of the Boston Marathon is it's a slowdown grade run downhill but then when you hit the 16 mile mark there is something that begins to take place particularly in young runners that confounds them when the race starts out and the gunshot goes off and the racers start running everybody looks good everybody looks fresh everybody's got on the shorts and the nice tennis shoes and the little number and they all look like runners all of them but when they get to the 16 mile mark it's a proven fact that physically something begins to happen to your body the muscles begin to really really have a have a meltdown the mind begins to get a little foggy and at the 16 mile mark something begins to happen it comes when you're at your weakest condition when you're most depleted that's when the designers of the Boston Marathon have the first heal you have to climb and it's called Heartbreak Hill they know that after the runners have run for 16 miles all the amateurs and the beginners will run and run and run and they think I got it I got it but they get finally to the 16 mile mark and something begins to break down it's called hypo Ksenia when your body and the endorphins and everything inside begins to drain and the brain has a choice to pull the rest of the energy out of your body or your muscles and the brain wins and you you all of your power all of your energy all of the endorphins it goes to your brain and now you're running on raw muscle power that's running on its own and everything in your body is screaming stop stop stop and then they said what happens is the head begins to get cloudy at the 16 mile mark it's called hitting the wall for runners and when they hit the wall everything in you says just give up says it's time to quit and especially when you hit that wall when you really need a break that's when it really gets hard that's when you hit Heartbreak Hill and that's when the runners start falling out by the hundreds because there's something about Heartbreak Hill that breaks the spirit and breaks the heart of the amateur week kind of weekend runners who just kind of showed up for the marathon if you do happen to make it 16 miles you're not gonna make it up Heartbreak Hill unless you have really prepared yourself for this moment I'm a runner I love to run I love to run four or five miles a day I just I love it and I've been doing it for years and years and years every once in a while my girls will say daddy we want to go run with you and they will get out and just take off running wide open now I know if I'm going to run five miles I need to pace myself but they'll just take off and about a third around the track they'll slow down and slow down and huff and puff and I'll just go right by them and I'll look back and wave it's a blessing you don't pay any attention to people who come out of the gate real fast the real contenders are content they're disciplined they understand that I'm holding my flesh back for this race I'm going to need the energy when I get to Heartbreak Hill the real experienced runners know Heartbreak Hill is coming I didn't expect it to be a downhill run the whole way I didn't expect it to be easy I never expected there just to be a nice little trot across the finish line I am fully aware that if I'm going to have what I need to get over Heartbreak Hill and get to the prize I'm going to have to pace myself we need to get out of just being weekend contenders see what we don't understand is the strategy of Heartbreak Hill by those who designed the Boston Marathon was to weed out weekend runners weed out the guy who's just out there to impress his girlfriend and he said let's go and his belly's hanging over it you know and he's going to get out there and run the Boston Marathon you might run downhill a good long ways but when you get to heart ache you might have a heart attack he'll when you get there it's designed to weed out the amateurs it's designed to get rid of the social runners it's designed to weed out the weekend contestants those who just have nice fancy shoes and colored shirts and and they look the part of a runner Heartbreak Hill nullifies everything but stamina and physical conditioning and training and desire and the wheel to win if you don't have that you will never be able to get over Heartbreak Hill I don't care how good you started I don't care how far you ran when you get to heartbreak EAL if something isn't in you that says I cannot quit you won't make it Heartbreak Hill weeds out the guys who are just out there Heartbreak Hill comes when fatigue is a real factor you face your Heartbreak Hill when you are exhausted when you're worn out when you're worn down when everything in you is screaming quit that's when you have hi-pro the Semak spiritually you have it and suddenly you're physically exhausted fatigue has set in to your faith and into your praise and into your spirit and everything in you says quit because now you've been running and running and running and it was easy when you first started but now you're facing Heartbreak Hill something's breaking your heart something's breaking your dreams something's breaking your heart your children are causing you to be heartbroken your marriage your family is leaving you heartbroken some crisis you're going through it's in that moment in this Christian race that you find out what you've really got it's not the hi-- times it's when you're facing heartbreak heal feels like your muscles are running on nothing your head feels dizzy and foggy it's in that moment you have to stretch it's in that moment that you have to decide I'm not a weekend runner the Ethiopian runners are the fastest runners in the world they're so little they're so skinny and if you ever running in a race and some guys from Ethiopia show up you need to just go get you a doughnut and watch because because it's not going in well have you ever seen these guys how many of you I follow running the Ethiopians are the fastest runners in the world and if they show up just forget it don't embarrass yourself especially if you're a white guy like me don't get out there and try to outrun those Ethiopians they can run like you would not believed and here's why this is what one was interviewed recently from Ethiopia Africa and this is what he said he said we run up heal all our lives he said you Americans just run and practice running straight and then uphill he said we run uphill our nation is running uphill all our lives so when we come to Heartbreak Hill it's no big deal I've been running up healed my whole life why would I quit now I love that we stretch ourselves we run uphill we're not amateurs we're temperate in all things we run to win we don't quit we don't stop Heartbreak Hill is located in one of the lonely places loneliest places of the race when you first come out of the starting gate they're cheerleaders they hurt their there there's people screaming there's thousands of fans clapping but when you keep running and you get to that 16 mile mark and you're about to go up Heartbreak Hill there are no fans there's no cheering it's lonely it's by yourself nobody's saying you can do it you can do nobody's running out offering you some Gatorade there's nobody there but you it's a lonely place and some of you can run as long as people are encouraging you some of you can run as long as somebody's bringing you you know a spiritual Gatorade and always encouraging you but there is a place you're going to get to in your future walk with God I hate to tell you this but it's the truth there's a Heartbreak Hill somewhere in your life you're going to encounter and there won't be anybody there cheering you there won't be anybody there saying you can make it there won't be anybody it's the only voice that will matter is your voice and God's voice and you have to do like David and he encouraged himself in the Lord it's a lonely place there's no visible finish line in sight and Heartbreak Hill but it was put there strategically by the one who planned the race and I'm saying to you that God allows us to run and sometimes it's an easy and a wonderful and a fun run and we're running downhill and the wind is at our back but then their seasons where we get to Heartbreak Hill but the Bible said in Psalms 37 the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord not just the down steps and the easy steps but now the mountain steps the Heartbreak Hill steps God says I want you to climb this Heartbreak Hill and if you can get over Heartbreak Hill well that's a bit I just setup mouthful that's the whole sermon right there if you can get over your Heartbreak Hill something broke your heart something happened somebody somewhere something did something and it brought you to this place in your Christian walk where it broke your heart and you're facing Heartbreak Hill God why did my marriage fall apart why did this happen to my children why did this my family why did they why did this my dad leave me why if you won't let heartbreak he'll stop you the word of the Lord to you is there is a wonderful prize on the other side of heartbreak he'll most drop out most quit most give up at Heartbreak Hill but there are some who say I never thought it would be easy I never expected a smooth ride across the finish line most runners expend themselves but there are those who are tempered who have a made up mind who discipline and even if no one cheers you and no one pushes you men and women who understand that God has placed me at this point and what the enemy meant for my evil I didn't never think I'd be at Heartbreak Hill some of you been in relationships and you're still crying about some guy who left you some girl who left you some person who left you but I want to say that what they meant for your evil God will make work out for your good if you won't quit at Heartbreak Hill some of your facing tragedies and have faced tragedies and the word of the Lord to you is if you will get over your heartbreak he'll quit living there quit talking about it quit building your life around the pain of yesterday but it's time to go over Heartbreak Hill because there's something good going to happen to you if you won't give up at Heartbreak Hill I need somebody to give God a shout of praise if you believe there's hope in your future here's what I want to say it's at that moment that the real leaders come forth 416 miles other people have ran ahead and they look like they were going to win but when they get to Heartbreak Hill but if you don't watch it you turn around and here comes the real leaders the real leaders are born at Heartbreak Hill that's where that's where preachers are born that's where ministry is born that's where that's where leaders are born not running downhill with no resistance but leaders are born when they face a huge mountain and it breaks their heart but they persevere and they won't quit and they're crying and they're struggling and the mind is cloudy and everything inside is saying give up the dream ain't gonna happen it's not going to happen but real leaders then kick in and say I know what God told me and by His grace I'm going to win the prize whoo let's rejoice this is where greatness is born not going downhill but at Heartbreak Hill that's where greatness is known you can get over a broken heart you want to be a leader let God break your heart and see if you can get over the Heartbreak Hill he puts in your life and that's the test always and if you can get over it not be bitter and not be angry and I hate and not be all upset at God and man even when you get no explanation and you don't understand and God just breaks your heart but you still say god you're a good god don't understand but I love you that's where leaders are born I thought about in closing the story of Naomi let me tell you about Naomi Ruth and Orpha Naomi started out of the gate man they had on the sneakers they had on the they had on the running shirts and the nice striped shorts and beautiful family she had her husband she had her two sons they married two beautiful daughters is the biggest happiest family you've ever seen the gun goes off they start running the race it and this wonderful running downhill running down here oh this is so fun look at our beautiful family the running and the wind's blowing in their hair it looks like the Brady Bunch they just they're just having a wonderful time holding hands running and then Heartbreak Hill comes and the husband dies and then the son dies and another son and so now you have Naomi who is a widow and you have her daughter-in-law Ruth who is a widow and you have her other daughter-in-law Afra who is a widow and they're standing at Heartbreak Hill and Naomi hears that there's bread in Beth ham on the other side of Heartbreak Hill there's a prize and she turns to her two daughter-in-laws and she says our lives have been devastated we went out fooled but now we've come back empty and she says don't call me Naomi anymore call me bitter life has dealt me a hard blow and she said girls you need to leave me alone and you need to go to find you another life this one isn't going to work for you an offer came and kissed her on the cheek one of her daughter-in-laws and said I love you but I'm not going to climb the hill I'm going back where I came from and they parted but Ruth grabbed her and she said where you go I will go and your people will be my people and we're standing here at Heartbreak Hill and we've lost our loved ones but you know what we're not going to die at the foot of Heartbreak Hill we're going over Heartbreak Hill and we're going to see what God has on the other side they go to Bethlehem and when they get there there was a guy by the name of Boaz and God says let me hook this couple up now who was Ruth Ruth was a Moabite the Moabites came into existence because a lot slept with his own daughters she was the product of incest so Ruth was the product of incest and Boaz was the product of a prostitute mother but they made it through there Heartbreak Hill and they got to the other side and now God hooks up Ruth with bow ass they get married and they have a child named obeyed and obut had a child named Jesse and Jesse had a child named David and David had a child a grandchild named Jesus God took that family from incest and prostitution to Matthew chapter 1 there in the genealogy of Jesus Christ but they had to make it through Heartbreak Hill don't tell me God can't bless your family don't tell me God can't bless you beyond your background don't tell me God can't move in your life and even if you've been through heartbreak don't quit don't give up don't throw in the towel because on the other side of Heartbreak Hill there is a prize there is a crown there is a reward if you won't quit and you won't give up thank you so much for watching this program and I don't believe that you've watched and heard this message by chance I believe in Kingdom connections I believe in the power of God's Word to go through and touch a heart and you're ready somebody's watching this program and it's time to make a change pray this prayer tell you it all begins with your faith to say lord I can't change me change me by your power so pray this prayer just say Lord Jesus I need a change in my life I need a turnaround and I surrender my life to you today I believe you shed your blood and rose from the dead just say those words I believe you shed your blood and rose from the dead so that I could have a new life a new birth and I receive that nail in Jesus name Amen and amen we would love to hear from you that's why we're here is to help you in your new walk with God please dial the number on the screen go on the web let us know you know what has happened in your life tell us about it and we would love to help you and send you material if we can help you in your new walk with Jesus Christ thank you partners and friends for making this kind of ministry possible we are so thankful that you care god bless you we'll see you next time life is real vivid alive beating breathing it happens behind closed doors and out in front there's joy there's laughter chaos lifelong friendships are forged love is found moments cherished and never forgotten life is a gift and together we are real family real friends real people experiencing real life is free chapel

Channel: Jentezen Franklin

Views: 49,585

Rating: 4.8315787 out of 5

Keywords: Jentezen Franklin, Kingdom Connection, Free Chapel, TV, Ministry

Id: A6cJdIus0gw

Length: 28min 7sec (1687 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 06 2014