WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000
Our God has the power to raise the dead.

2
00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.000
Have you forgotten that?

3
00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:11.000
As you go through your life and circumstances are rising and bills are piling up and circumstances,

4
00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.000
these things that you wouldn't pick for yourself.

5
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.000
They're coming and they're strangling life out of you.

6
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:23.000
You need to remember that we serve a God who heals, a God who delivers, a God who resurrects!

7
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000
Welcome to the City Light Church Podcast.

8
00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:35.000
Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us.

9
00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000
If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com

10
00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:44.000
that's citylightnyc.com.

11
00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:52.000
Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds.

12
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.000
As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God,

13
00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:03.000
that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

14
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:12.000
I specifically want to talk to you guys today about protection.

15
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.000
This is not going to turn into a PBS special, so I hope your mind didn't go there.

16
00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.000
Some people are nervous like, wait, what?

17
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:25.000
No, I want to protect some things that need to be protected, and it's not the usual fair.

18
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:30.000
What we need to protect today is gratitude.

19
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:38.000
We have to, specifically the Lord has given me a mission today that we have to arm the people so that they can protect their gratitude

20
00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.000
because their gratitude is actually going to protect them.

21
00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.000
Amen?

22
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:53.000
All right, and there's a reason for this, because I've noticed that sometimes when we become familiar with something,

23
00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:59.000
we don't value it the same way that we once used to.

24
00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:04.000
There's something about the familiar that just makes it lose a bit of its lustre,

25
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.000
so the treatment that we give it.

26
00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.000
I mean, you can look no more than to, I remember when I bought these shoes,

27
00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:17.000
which, actually, that's a lie now, and I'm thinking, I look down, these were a gift, praise God.

28
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.000
But there's something about when you first get something new that you treat it with a certain way,

29
00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:28.000
like you open the box ever so gingerly, and rustle with your paper,

30
00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:35.000
and you just look at them, you make, my sneak-aheads know.

31
00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.000
It's like you almost don't want to walk with a crease, so you get that funny duck walk in the beginning?

32
00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.000
Because you treat it a certain way, like even how about this?

33
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000
I can show you the distinction between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

34
00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.000
When you bump somebody on the street, and let's say you step on a sneaker head,

35
00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:58.000
oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to.

36
00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:06.000
Let you bump somebody in your house.

37
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:10.000
You give them a quick forearm shiver, you stop, you give them a look, and then you keep them moving,

38
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.000
and the look says everything.

39
00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.000
Don't let it happen again.

40
00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:21.000
And you don't articulate that with your words, but there's something about it that's just like,

41
00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.000
you've been warned.

42
00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:30.000
How is that possible that we would give more reverence to a stranger than somebody in our own home?

43
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.000
It's the familiarity.

44
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.000
I know this to be true because I look at it even within my own marriage.

45
00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000
I remember when I first started getting to know Tiffany,

46
00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:47.000
as friends, we were just friends or so she thought.

47
00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.000
I was scheming for a long time, gentlemen.

48
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.000
Yes, yes, yes.

49
00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.000
Jehovah Sneaky was that play? He was on my side.

50
00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:58.000
And I remember, I would craft these text messages to her.

51
00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.000
And I used that word intentionally.

52
00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.000
They were crafted messages.

53
00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:08.000
These were intentional devices meant to put on full display.

54
00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:14.000
They all some holy anointing that the Lord had put within the man of God in a presence.

55
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.000
They had to be funny.

56
00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.000
They had to be cute.

57
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.000
They had to be smart.

58
00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:18.000
They had to be all of that.

59
00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:20.000
Because I was trying to win her affection.

60
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.000
And now it's like, yeah.

61
00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000
You doing a chicken a night?

62
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000
Thumbs up.

63
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.000
It's just a difference.

64
00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.000
That is, it's bred through the familiarity, right?

65
00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.000
We all go through that.

66
00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:51.000
My task today is calling people back to the all and the reverence and the wonderful God of heaven.

67
00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:55.000
Because it cannot be that we have such an interaction with something so powerful,

68
00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.000
someone so loving, someone so beautiful that we would treat him the way that we treat him

69
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.000
because we've known him too long.

70
00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:06.000
It's not going to be a lot of amends tonight.

71
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000
I feel it.

72
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:19.000
We have to go back to thankfulness and gratitude and show how our gratitude is actually a shield of defense against the enemy's plans for us.

73
00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000
It's so funny.

74
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.000
I remember one time I was in an office sitting and somebody brought their entire family to work.

75
00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.000
They didn't plan to stay the whole day.

76
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.000
It was just the one time thing they were coming in to get something done and then go on vacation

77
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.000
so their whole family was with them.

78
00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.000
Wife kids, everything. They only had one at the time.

79
00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.000
And their kid was there and they were like, just watch them for a second.

80
00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.000
I just want to run.

81
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.000
I'm like, I got stuff to do, Jack.

82
00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.000
What are you talking about?

83
00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:44.000
Just leave their kid.

84
00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.000
The kid is about one years old.

85
00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.000
And he's like, I'm just leaving.

86
00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.000
He doesn't move. He's good.

87
00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.000
You know, it's like such unfair things.

88
00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:00.000
I'm like, at my desk, like, don't die.

89
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:09.000
And lo and behold, this one-year-old gets up and starts walking around.

90
00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.000
I don't have my phone on me because I'm like, I'm like, what do I do?

91
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.000
I'd never seen a kid walk before.

92
00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:18.000
I'm like, so I'm like, top of my lungs, calling the pair.

93
00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.000
I'm like, come and look at them.

94
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.000
I'm missing.

95
00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000
Because I think I'm witnessing the first steps ever.

96
00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000
I will forever hold it.

97
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000
I taught you how to walk.

98
00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.000
That was me.

99
00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.000
The anointing leached out of me and just grabbed you and got you up on your feet.

100
00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000
That was me.

101
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.000
I taught this kid how to walk.

102
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:43.000
His dad leans in from a doorway and goes, oh, yeah, he does that now.

103
00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.000
So what used to be a monumental celebration?

104
00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:53.000
Because it becomes a mundane acknowledgement of, oh, yeah, that thing.

105
00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:58.000
We can't ever let our relationship with the Lord become that.

106
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:09.000
Because we would be in danger of missing the true benefit of interacting with who we love, the King of Glory.

107
00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.000
Tolerance is not always a good thing.

108
00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:20.000
When we encounter something too often, our senses are dulled to it regardless of how amazing and life altering that thing is.

109
00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:25.000
Humans develop a natural tolerance that is gradually built up by exposure with everything.

110
00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:27.000
How many coffee drinkers we got in the house?

111
00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:28.000
Look at you.

112
00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.000
Look at you.

113
00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.000
Sick of all of you.

114
00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.000
Here's the thing.

115
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.000
I'm not anti-coffee in any way.

116
00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:36.000
I drink coffee all the time.

117
00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.000
But I'm not like a connoisseur of any sort.

118
00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000
I drink coffee the way some people unfortunately drink alcohol.

119
00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.000
I'm only there for the effect.

120
00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000
I'm not here for...

121
00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:50.000
Oh, the bean straight from Aurobica.

122
00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:55.000
I can tell that this was roasted on the mountains of Algeria.

123
00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.000
I couldn't care less.

124
00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:58.000
When people get...

125
00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.000
Sometimes the saints are super gracious.

126
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.000
They're like, hey, Pastor, I saw you work hard.

127
00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000
Here's the coffee.

128
00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.000
Literally, this has been my reaction.

129
00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:05.000
Sometimes it throws people low.

130
00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.000
They're like, oh, thank you.

131
00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.000
People are looking at me.

132
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000
What type of monster are you?

133
00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.000
I'm like, you got me coffee.

134
00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.000
I wanted to get it.

135
00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000
There's caffeine in it.

136
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.000
The caffeine's going to do something to my body.

137
00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:18.000
I got it.

138
00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.000
Thanks.

139
00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.000
What do you want?

140
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.000
Because they're not used to people consuming coffee.

141
00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.000
Because I'm not consuming it for the flavor.

142
00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.000
I don't care.

143
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.000
I drink a lot of water.

144
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.000
I'm good.

145
00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.000
Not to say that I don't mind you bringing me coffee.

146
00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.000
I don't.

147
00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:31.000
I like bangs and all sorts.

148
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.000
Yes.

149
00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.000
Putting too much out there.

150
00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.000
Praise God.

151
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.000
But it's about the effect.

152
00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.000
If I use it more and I have used the substantial amount of coffee in my life,

153
00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.000
not that I'm a fan of it and any sort, but I've used it,

154
00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.000
it doesn't mean anything to me anymore.

155
00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.000
It's all that I'm saying.

156
00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.000
That happens in the spirit.

157
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:59.000
Your senses are dulled by how much you use something.

158
00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.000
Even with human nature, they tell you with children.

159
00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000
Back in the days they didn't notice and they would tell you,

160
00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.000
keep your kid away from everything.

161
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.000
Now they tell you, give your kid everything as early as possible

162
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.000
so that we know what they're allergic to

163
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.000
and what they need to be protected from.

164
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.000
Amen?

165
00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.000
They're like, you know, we don't know whether your kid has a peanut allergy.

166
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.000
You just smear some peanut butter all over their face.

167
00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.000
I'm like, whoa, bro, relax.

168
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.000
But it's something like we're from the beginning.

169
00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.000
And I apologize for that.

170
00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.000
I definitely went right across our face.

171
00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:26.000
Like, yeah.

172
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:34.000
But no, they tell you they want you the kid to gain a tolerance to certain things early.

173
00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.000
Not so in the spirit.

174
00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.000
I want you to have a tolerance,

175
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.000
but I also want you to have an appreciation that lasts.

176
00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.000
Amen?

177
00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000
And you guys will see where we're going with this.

178
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.000
They ain't nervous.

179
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.000
Oh, my God.

180
00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.000
It's good.

181
00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:52.000
I just want to make sure.

182
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:53.000
All right.

183
00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:54.000
All right.

184
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.000
You're good.

185
00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:56.000
You're good.

186
00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.000
I promise.

187
00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.000
Sort of.

188
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.000
Let's go to Mark 6.

189
00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.000
Because we see this in the scriptures.

190
00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:11.000
And we see how dangerous it can be if you don't put Jesus on the right bookshelf.

191
00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.000
So often with people, and I tell people this in counseling,

192
00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.000
you need to determine who people are in your life.

193
00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:24.000
This will allow you to avoid a massive amount of conflict.

194
00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.000
If you would understand who people are and put them on the appropriate shelf.

195
00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:30.000
I'm talking about boundary work.

196
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.000
I'm giving you this one for free.

197
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.000
It's not even part of sermon.

198
00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.000
This is just something that's going to bless your life.

199
00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:37.000
Learn how to put people on the right shelf.

200
00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.000
The reason that you keep finding so much conflict in some of your relationships is

201
00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.000
you are putting people on the wrong shelf.

202
00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.000
You keep thinking that these people are high brow people,

203
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.000
and you need to lower the stand a little bit.

204
00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:54.000
Not everybody can I call on as my friend.

205
00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.000
And it's not that I don't love you.

206
00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.000
It's not that we don't associate.

207
00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:58.000
Well, but that suggests it.

208
00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:59.000
You are my associate.

209
00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.000
You are not my friend.

210
00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:02.000
My friend I can count on.

211
00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:06.000
And listen, I could go on vacation with associates.

212
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.000
I could go to basketball games with it.

213
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000
Certain people I know what to do with them and what not to do with them.

214
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000
Certain friends I know I'm not going to count on you to watch over my kids

215
00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:21.000
because my kids will end up in Guatemala somewhere.

216
00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:24.000
But that doesn't mean that they can't walk my dog.

217
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.000
You just got to know where to place people.

218
00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.000
Because the disappointment comes from the mis-expectation.

219
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.000
I thought you can handle this.

220
00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.000
You clearly can't.

221
00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.000
And now I'm disappointed.

222
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.000
Oh, they're not safe.

223
00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.000
It's to real this morning.

224
00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.000
Gee, willikers.

225
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.000
I've already used, it's a kicker and gee willikers and two sermons.

226
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.000
My wife is keeping count.

227
00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.000
Mark six.

228
00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:55.000
Then he went out from there and came to his own country and his disciples followed him.

229
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000
And when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue.

230
00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.000
And many hearing him were astonished saying,

231
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.000
where did this man get these things?

232
00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:09.000
And what wisdom is this which given to him that such mighty works are performed by his hands?

233
00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:14.000
Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James,

234
00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:19.000
Joseph, Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?

235
00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.000
So they were offended at him.

236
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.000
And some of you are like, Jesus had that many siblings?

237
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.000
Listen, Joseph was backed up for a little bit.

238
00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.000
He got to work immediately once the son, all right, that was too much.

239
00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.000
I felt it from the Lord, it's too much.

240
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:42.000
But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own country,

241
00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:47.000
among his own relatives and in his own house.

242
00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:54.000
Now he could do no mighty works there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

243
00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.000
And he marveled because of their unbelief.

244
00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:00.000
Then he went about the villages in a circuit teaching.

245
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.000
They had too much exposure to Jesus.

246
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.000
Boy, Adam, I'm not an watch.

247
00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.000
You snout nose kid, I know you.

248
00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:16.000
There were some people, their first interaction with Jesus, all they saw him was as the miracle worker.

249
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000
The Messiah, the man.

250
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:27.000
And it was harder for the people who watched him grow up because they had had contact with him.

251
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.000
And I know immediately some of you are thinking that could never be me.

252
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.000
I only know him as the savior of the world.

253
00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:39.000
Yeah, but do you?

254
00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:44.000
For some of us, we know him too well.

255
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:51.000
And it has started to dull our senses to who he is and what he's capable of.

256
00:13:51.000 --> 00:14:04.000
And what I'm talking about is actually super scary because when you don't give the proper place and reverence, you don't know what to get.

257
00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.000
I'll give you a fun example.

258
00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:11.000
And I'm not one where I'm held up on prestige and title.

259
00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.000
Many of you know me, you talk with me.

260
00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:17.000
I'm the most down to earth pastor you've ever experienced in your life.

261
00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.000
I can say that humbly as Moses did.

262
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:27.000
Moses listed in the scripture in the book that he wrote that Moses was the most humble man on earth.

263
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:32.000
I can say that I'm one of the most down to earth pastors ever.

264
00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000
But I am.

265
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:41.000
And I find specifically, and I've seen this in real time,

266
00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.000
when people come up to me and they're like, yo, it was cracking mo.

267
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.000
It was good, bro.

268
00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.000
They only get a bro anointing.

269
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.000
They only get a mo, anointing because that's what they've come for.

270
00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.000
How far, bro?

271
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:56.000
And I'm with it.

272
00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.000
I've heard.

273
00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.000
But then there are those who go, hey, Pastor Mo, you got a second.

274
00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000
I kind of need to pick your brain.

275
00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:08.000
I'm hoping that the Lord would be in the midst of us as we had this conversation.

276
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.000
And then there are moments when I'm going through it.

277
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.000
I don't want to talk to nobody.

278
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.000
Listen.

279
00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.000
I know that that shook some of you like, wait, what?

280
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:21.000
That happens to you too?

281
00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.000
Yes, I'm a human.

282
00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:28.000
So this word that I'm ministering to you today, this is not out of nowhere.

283
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.000
I've learned that I have to live in a place of gratitude

284
00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.000
for those circumstances and life.

285
00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.000
I don't get to pick every one of them.

286
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:40.000
This past Friday, I woke up with the most insane cold.

287
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:45.000
I felt like I had a full-blown flu, congestion, coughing, body ache.

288
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:51.000
And then my wife tells me, hey, you know, that house that they're working on for us to live in.

289
00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:56.000
The door is being delivered today and the window for delivery is 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

290
00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.000
and somebody needs to be there.

291
00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.000
A.k.a. it's not going to be me.

292
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:11.000
So I get up and go, I drag myself to the house and now I'm waiting at the house.

293
00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:16.000
And I think maybe around 11, the people from Home Depot show up with the door.

294
00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.000
And I noticed that they're moving with an expediency.

295
00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.000
And at first I appreciated it until like they left too fast because I went into the house

296
00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:29.000
and I looked to inspect the door and by the time I found scratches all over the door

297
00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:36.000
that had just been ordered, the smoke from the truck was going.

298
00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:41.000
So I get on the phone and I'm now on the phone for two hours straight getting hung up on,

299
00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.000
getting put on hold and getting hung up on with Home Depot.

300
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:49.000
Yes, Home Depot, I'm calling you out.

301
00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.000
So eventually, this is what they tell me.

302
00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:58.000
We can come pick up the door and you'll just have to reorder it again.

303
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:02.000
I don't think you understand about houses, they kind of need doors on them.

304
00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.000
I can't afford to send you back with the door.

305
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.000
Either bring me a new door, don't.

306
00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:10.000
So two hours, get that sorted out.

307
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.000
Go back to my car because now I can go back home and lay down in my own bed.

308
00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.000
And I hit the start button on my car.

309
00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000
And the wildest thing that I've never seen happen before.

310
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:27.000
All of the gauges in my car from the gas gauge, temperature gauge, all of them started doing this.

311
00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:33.000
Like it was like a carnival show and I was like, what is happening?

312
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.000
Car wouldn't start, car wouldn't react to anything.

313
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.000
And I'm like, oh, this is fun.

314
00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:42.000
Because again, I'm talking to you about gratitude and learning how in the midst of things not to be shaken by these things.

315
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.000
Amen.

316
00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.000
I'm not talking to you from an ivory penthouse.

317
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:50.000
I'm talking to you from real life in a story of Queens.

318
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.000
So I give Mazda a call.

319
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.000
I said, hey, I have a 2023 Mazda CX-9.

320
00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:04.000
I'm going to need you to come get it and take it to the dealership because for some reason my gauges think it's a carnival.

321
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.000
The lady goes, okay, fine.

322
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.000
What's your license plate number?

323
00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:08.000
Give her the license plate number.

324
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.000
What's your vin number?

325
00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:10.000
Give her the vin number.

326
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.000
How many miles on the car?

327
00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:12.000
I say 39,000.

328
00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.000
She goes, ooh.

329
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.000
I said, excuse me.

330
00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.000
What is, ooh.

331
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.000
She goes, ah, well, you know.

332
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.000
It's a little bit of a problem.

333
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:25.000
I was like, what's that?

334
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:31.000
She goes, well, you know, you have on warranty either three years or the first 36,000 miles.

335
00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:33.000
And unfortunately, you're at 39,000.

336
00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:36.000
So the toll will be coming out of your pocket and not mine.

337
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000
Oh, she didn't understand who she was on the phone with.

338
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.000
It wasn't the anointing that rose up in that moment.

339
00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.000
Oh, the spirit of Karen came upon me.

340
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:56.000
And I began to instruct her in the ways of Karen and letting her know that this is a mechanical malfunction, an electric malfunction, if you will.

341
00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:00.000
I was preaching to this woman out of the spirit of Karen and I made her to understand.

342
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:06.000
I said, this vehicle is under warranty for any of these type of mishaps up to 60,000 miles.

343
00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:12.000
And if you don't mind, I'll speak to your supervisor, please.

344
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.000
So needless to say, she goes, oh, you know what?

345
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.000
My bad.

346
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.000
We can definitely get that toe out and we'll get it done.

347
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:22.000
They'll be there in 90 minutes.

348
00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.000
Three hours later.

349
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.000
I get a call from the toe people.

350
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.000
Hey, we got your information from AAA.

351
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.000
We'll be there in 90 minutes.

352
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.000
Two hours later, they show up at four o'clock.

353
00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000
They take the car.

354
00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:44.000
Two Mazda.

355
00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.000
They get there at 4.30.

356
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.000
Mazda closes at five.

357
00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:50.000
I call Mazda.

358
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.000
I say, hey, is any chance somebody going to look at my car?

359
00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:58.000
The lady said truthfully and respectfully, sir, kick rocks.

360
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.000
It's not going to happen.

361
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.000
I said, okay.

362
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.000
All day yesterday, sick and bad calling Mazda.

363
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000
Hey, what's the deal with my car?

364
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.000
They say, respectfully, sir.

365
00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.000
Saturdays are busy as day, so you should probably kick rocks.

366
00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.000
I was like, oh, okay, well.

367
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:19.000
So I'm without a car today.

368
00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:23.000
But that's all to say, I still thank God.

369
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000
See, one of the things that I loved actually about the message

370
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.000
that passed a bold preach last weekend.

371
00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.000
It's because I don't ever want you to see somebody from this

372
00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.000
pulpit preaching the word to you that is not living it

373
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:38.000
and putting it into full practice in their own life.

374
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000
He gave you testament, and that was just one.

375
00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.000
One testimony of the things that has transpired in his life

376
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.000
that despite these things, he's still able to say,

377
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.000
God, you are wonderful.

378
00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:48.000
You are magnificent.

379
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.000
You are the way maker.

380
00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:50.000
You are my God.

381
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.000
I know in whom I have believed.

382
00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:54.000
Amen?

383
00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.000
We need to get to that place where we're not dulled

384
00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.000
because we've been in relationship with him

385
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.000
and we just feel like I asked whatever.

386
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.000
I don't need to praise him as hard as I did in the beginning

387
00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:06.000
because there's something about a new believer praise

388
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.000
that is a real distinct type of praise.

389
00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.000
I remember the first day that I got saved

390
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.000
and I was in a church service.

391
00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000
I clapped so hard that my watch broke.

392
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:20.000
What was the last time you clapped that hard?

393
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.000
And there's something that dulls our senses

394
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.000
despite how amazing he is where it goes from,

395
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.000
oh, Jesus, thank you for saving my life too.

396
00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:45.000
We become real too good.

397
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:47.000
Matter of fact, we time it just right.

398
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.000
Yeah, Sean's going to be up there for about 18 minutes.

399
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.000
I got another 16.

400
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.000
Like I never missed a beat.

401
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.000
Come on, y'all.

402
00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.000
Jesus, hey.

403
00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.000
Jesus.

404
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.000
Can I put you on notice?

405
00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.000
The opportunity that we have here

406
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.000
is not just a musical portion to warm up the preacher.

407
00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.000
When you are late for worship,

408
00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.000
you have missed your opportunity to worship through song.

409
00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:18.000
That's not on me.

410
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.000
You missed your part.

411
00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.000
I stole your part because I noticed you wasn't here.

412
00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.000
I said, I'm going to take all the Jesus for myself.

413
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.000
And I'm going to lift up his name

414
00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.000
and I'm going to magnify him because I know

415
00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000
how good he's been to me.

416
00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.000
So if you notice that you came in a couple minutes late

417
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.000
and your worship felt a little flat,

418
00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.000
it's because I stole your portion.

419
00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:45.000
But the honest truth is nobody can steal your portion

420
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:48.000
if you came with a heart to experience him, amen?

421
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.000
Don't get so familiar that you miss out on who he is

422
00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:55.000
and who you're actually dealing with.

423
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.000
We need to stay in a place of gratitude.

424
00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:58.000
Why?

425
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.000
What does gratitude do?

426
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.000
Gratitude resurrects what's dead in your life.

427
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.000
I'm not going live.

428
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.000
That was the point where you probably should have yelled

429
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.000
and screamed and clapped.

430
00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.000
And here's the reason why because I know some of you

431
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.000
and I know that you got some dead things in your life

432
00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:20.000
that need resurrecting.

433
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.000
There's some relationships in your life that have been killed

434
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:27.000
because of pride, because of conflict, because of disorder.

435
00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.000
There's some sicknesses in your body.

436
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.000
Manifestations of dis-ease that need to be resurrected.

437
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.000
You need the resurrection power of Christ in your life.

438
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.000
That same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

439
00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.000
You needed to come and quicken your mortal body.

440
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.000
So it's kind of not my fault that you missed your opportunity

441
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:47.000
to shout.

442
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:50.000
Hopefully another one comes for you.

443
00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.000
John 1141 says this.

444
00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.000
And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said,

445
00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.000
Father, I thank you that you have heard me

446
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:03.000
and I know that you always hear me.

447
00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:06.000
After Jesus had said these words, he cried with a loud voice.

448
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.000
Lazarus!

449
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:11.000
Come forth!

450
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.000
Now, this is super important because I don't know if you missed

451
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.000
the context of this.

452
00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:22.000
He had to specify Lazarus because it would have been

453
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.000
Holy Zombie Day on Earth had he not.

454
00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.000
It was very much a velvet rope situation like,

455
00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:32.000
no, no, no, no, no, no, you, you, you, you, you, you, you,

456
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:33.000
we're going to let in the club.

457
00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.000
Only Lazarus, only let, sit down, sit down, sir.

458
00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.000
Lazarus, come forth.

459
00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:41.000
The resurrection, because these are the things that you forget

460
00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.000
and you miss.

461
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.000
Our God has the power to raise the dead.

462
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.000
Have you forgotten that?

463
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.000
As you go through your life and circumstances are rising

464
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:53.000
and bills are piling up and circumstance,

465
00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:56.000
these things that you wouldn't pick for yourself,

466
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.000
they're coming and they're strangling a life out of you.

467
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.000
You need to remember that we serve a God who heals,

468
00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:05.000
a God who delivers, a God who resurrects.

469
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:12.000
So he says, Lazarus, come forth.

470
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:17.000
And the man who was dead for four days came out of his tomb.

471
00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:20.000
This is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed.

472
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.000
Lazarus has been dead for four days when Jesus raised him to life.

473
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:30.000
When you agree that death is indeed an extreme problem,

474
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:37.000
are we in agreement?

475
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.000
Having no money in the bank, it's a problem.

476
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.000
Being sick, it's a problem.

477
00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.000
Losing your job, problem.

478
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:51.000
Bad as they are though, being dead is a bigger one.

479
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.000
We can all agree on this.

480
00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:56.000
Okay, just checking.

481
00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.000
But what I want you to see is this.

482
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:02.000
If Jesus in the most extreme of problems shows us

483
00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.000
that the solution is still Father, I thank you.

484
00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.000
Come on.

485
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.000
He says, Father, I thank you.

486
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000
How much more should we thank God in the midst

487
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.000
of the less serious problems we face?

488
00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.000
If Thanksgiving, aka the humble acknowledgement

489
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.000
and recognition can raise the dead,

490
00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.000
then let us give thanks in spite of the negative circumstances

491
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.000
so that we can see victory.

492
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.000
Come on, church.

493
00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.000
Unfortunately, we tend to do the opposite.

494
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:39.000
The minute we face circumstance, we call somebody.

495
00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:43.000
And we don't call somebody so that they would join their faith

496
00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:46.000
with ours, that we might lock arms, believing that two of us

497
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.000
shall make a thousand go to flight.

498
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.000
No, no, no.

499
00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.000
I need to complain at somebody.

500
00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:52.000
You free?

501
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:55.000
I got some murmuring to do about my circumstances.

502
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:58.000
Can you put me on the schedule?

503
00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:00.000
Oh, that's only me.

504
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:01.000
Okay.

505
00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:02.000
Okay.

506
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.000
So that's nobody.

507
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:05.000
So you and your invisible finger, you get up on out of here

508
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.000
because you don't need it.

509
00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.000
Lies.

510
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.000
We call and we complain.

511
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:16.000
You don't know when they're doing the man work.

512
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.000
They don't appreciate my talents.

513
00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:20.000
It's like the LeBron James.

514
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.000
I'm taking my talents to South Beach.

515
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:24.000
People always want to move when everything's getting hard.

516
00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:27.000
Be on Zillow like you just watch.

517
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.000
Oh, look what they got in Utah.

518
00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:32.000
They got a whole house in Utah for what I pay for rent.

519
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.000
You just watch.

520
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.000
I'm out.

521
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:41.000
I don't know why the devil tells us that our geographical

522
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:43.000
location is going to make everything better.

523
00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:46.000
Did you realize that when you move to this new place,

524
00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:49.000
you still have to go with you.

525
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.000
Oh, that's too uncomfortable.

526
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:53.000
It's epic.

527
00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:54.000
Got it.

528
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.000
Jesus.

529
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:08.000
Murmuring and complaining only magnify the problem

530
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.000
whereas Thanksgiving is the language of faith.

531
00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:16.000
Did you know that Thanksgiving is the language of faith?

532
00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:19.000
So when you are exercising, you don't even know this,

533
00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:20.000
but you've engaged in faith.

534
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.000
Because some people think that, you know,

535
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.000
this is only for ministers and evangelists and pastors and preachers.

536
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:27.000
No, no, no, this is for you as the believer.

537
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:31.000
You exercise your faith every time you thank God for what hasn't happened yet.

538
00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.000
That is you moving in a very great deal,

539
00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.000
in a great level of faith.

540
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000
When you pray for God to do something in your life

541
00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:43.000
and you don't have it yet and you have the audacity to say,

542
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:46.000
God, I thank you.

543
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:51.000
Faith is the evidence of things not yet.

544
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.000
So if I can't see it, but I'm thinking,

545
00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:58.000
God, like it's here already, I'm exercising my faith.

546
00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.000
Hallelujah.

547
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.000
My God.

548
00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:16.000
I'm not saying that we have to give thanks for the problem.

549
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.000
Because some people hear them, they immediately think like,

550
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.000
why do you want me to thank God for this ungrateful person in my life?

551
00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:25.000
Why do you want me to thank God for this mean boss, this mean spouse?

552
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.000
I'm not asking you to thank God for them.

553
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.000
I'm asking you to thank God in spite of them.

554
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:41.000
We thank God that He is our answer and that He has already given us every blessing

555
00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:46.000
in spiritual places and the things that pertain to life and Godliness.

556
00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:50.000
But Pastor Mo, what I have is so little,

557
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:53.000
how can I honestly be expected to thank God for it?

558
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:58.000
My friend, thanking God for the little you have will multiply what you have.

559
00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:01.000
We see this all over the Scriptures.

560
00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:05.000
Jesus thanked His Father for five barley loaves and two small fish,

561
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.000
a little boy's lunch, and they were multiplied to feed more than 5,000 people

562
00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:12.000
with 12 baskets full of leftovers.

563
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.000
But this is the more important part, and I love this,

564
00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.000
because you have to notice that when the Holy Spirit,

565
00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:20.000
who ultimately is the author of the Scriptures,

566
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:23.000
despite the men that He used and breathed upon,

567
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:26.000
when He brings remembrance of this event,

568
00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.000
He highlights something specific.

569
00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:33.000
It's not just the miracle, but it's the giving of thanks that He remembers.

570
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.000
John 6.22 says,

571
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:38.000
on the following day when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea

572
00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:43.000
saw that there was no other boat there except the one which His disciples had entered,

573
00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:46.000
and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples,

574
00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.000
but His disciples had gone away alone.

575
00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:53.000
However, other boats came from Tiberius near the place where they ate bread

576
00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:58.000
and the Lord had given thanks.

577
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:02.000
So there's something about this Thanksgiving that God really delights in,

578
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:07.000
because Thanksgiving is an acknowledgement of the things that He's done.

579
00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:11.000
You don't realize it, but every time you hold your mouth shut

580
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.000
because of the enemy's influence, because of your flesh,

581
00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:17.000
because you don't feel it in the moment,

582
00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:21.000
what you're doing is not giving God the credit that is do Him.

583
00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:26.000
Is that really the place that you want to put yourselves in as a believer?

584
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:30.000
The place that you want to be always is to give credit,

585
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:37.000
glory, honor, worship, awe, and reverence to the one who does everything for you.

586
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:50.000
The more you thank God, the little that you have is going to exponentially multiply.

587
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:56.000
What happens when gratitude is absent? You miss out on certain benefits.

588
00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:00.000
So I actually read a study that was done by a group of psychologists,

589
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:08.000
and they said that there were actual benefits to people who tended more towards gratitude than criticism.

590
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:13.000
Because ungratefulness always leads to criticism.

591
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.000
When you are not grateful for what you have,

592
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:21.000
look down on what you do have, and then begin to mock and corresponding language

593
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:26.000
comes out as ill or not enough.

594
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:29.000
You tend to look at other people's marriages and go,

595
00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:32.000
hmm, must be nice.

596
00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:36.000
Oh, he said it.

597
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000
You look at somebody else's bank account.

598
00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:40.000
What? Pass the bow, God, I may back.

599
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:43.000
Hmm. Praise God.

600
00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:52.000
Listen, I have learned in my life that God is not a respect of persons.

601
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:58.000
And if he did it for somebody else, that just means that I become capable on the list.

602
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.000
The first time, see, I'm putting somebody else's business out there.

603
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:05.000
The first time he told me, he's like, I'm a millionaire now.

604
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:10.000
The way that I rejoiced, you would have thought that I wasn't, he wasn't.

605
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:15.000
Like, to the point that it kind of shocked him a little bit, like, oh, God, is he about to get me?

606
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.000
Like, no, no, no, it's just like, this is fantastic.

607
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.000
Look at what our God is capable of.

608
00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:25.000
That should be your heart when you see the good happening in the lives of other people.

609
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.000
Amen?

610
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:32.000
Don't be stuffy like, hmm.

611
00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.000
Listen, now's not the time to be baptized in lemon juice.

612
00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:36.000
That's not it.

613
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.000
You better have a joy in your heart.

614
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:41.000
Listen, when you and your homegirl who been praying for a man,

615
00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:45.000
when she get her man, you better be nice to him.

616
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:47.000
You better learn how to appreciate it.

617
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:53.000
He got friends.

618
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:55.000
You don't want to be that one friend now.

619
00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:05.000
You better because she got the bus and you don't realize he got a whole harem of friends for you.

620
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.000
And now he got to tell his friends, listen, her eye twitch a little bit,

621
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:12.000
don't you want to even worry about that?

622
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:18.000
Like, she comes from a good stock and I'm saying just try to overlook the...

623
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:19.000
Well, I don't know, man.

624
00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:26.000
Just pray that God, you know, touch her.

625
00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:30.000
So again, back to these benefits that belong to you through Thanksgiving and gratitude.

626
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:35.000
You have a stronger immune system, less bothered by aches and pains, lower blood pressure,

627
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:38.000
exercise more and take better care of their health.

628
00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:42.000
You sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking, psychological benefits,

629
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:47.000
higher levels of positive emotions, more alert alive and awake, more joy and pleasure,

630
00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:49.000
more optimism and happiness.

631
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:53.000
Socially, you are more helpful, generous, compassionate, more forgiving, more outgoing,

632
00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:57.000
feel less lonely and isolated, spiritual, miraculous things open up.

633
00:34:57.000 --> 00:34:58.000
See, these are the better...

634
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:01.000
This is not like the commercials where I tell you that ill side effects at the end,

635
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:03.000
like, may cause diarrhea.

636
00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:06.000
It's not going to give you diarrhea, it's going to make you a better person.

637
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:09.000
It's going to make you more happier, pleasurable to be around.

638
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:10.000
Amen?

639
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:20.000
Jesus, hallelujah, my king.

640
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:25.000
Actively stay aware of what the Lord has and is currently doing in your life

641
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.000
and stay grateful for it.

642
00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:31.000
Let that gratitude usher in the miraculous into your life.

643
00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:35.000
Think about this. Luke 9.16 says, taking the five loaves in the two fish

644
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:38.000
and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.

645
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:42.000
Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.

646
00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:46.000
We don't know the anatomy of this miracle.

647
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:49.000
All we have is what the scripture notes.

648
00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:57.000
He has a little bit and he thanks God and then he has enough to feed 5,000 people.

649
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:02.000
The anatomy here, we don't know how this works,

650
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:07.000
but we know that something that was involved was gratitude.

651
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:12.000
I would take that to bank in my own life and go,

652
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:15.000
enough to feed 5,000. I could use somebody at my life.

653
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:18.000
I could use enough kindness to feed 5,000.

654
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:20.000
I could use enough finances to feed 5,000.

655
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:22.000
I could use enough bread to feed 5,000.

656
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:27.000
I'm asked by the fluctuates here today, down the moral, back up again.

657
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:29.000
Be grateful.

658
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:36.000
When you're grateful, it actually changes the paradigm for the lens for how you see things.

659
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.000
The last thing you want to do is see God like this.

660
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.000
Number one, it's a lie and you're lying on his name because he's so much bigger than that.

661
00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:49.000
But if you can only see God this big, then he can only operate this big in your life.

662
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:55.000
I don't ever want to see God as little in anything because I need a big God.

663
00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.000
I'm a big man. I need big stuff.

664
00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:04.000
Only one person in the back was like, yeah, Chris got.

665
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.000
No, I want a big picture of Jesus.

666
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:14.000
I want the God who sits high and looks low, not the God who's stuck in traffic.

667
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.000
I tell my daughter all the time, my daughter is really smart.

668
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:20.000
She's nine now.

669
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:26.000
It's a funny thing about kids when they start to learn certain things and feel like they got it.

670
00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:28.000
Well, dad.

671
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:30.000
It's actually well dad.

672
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:31.000
Did you know?

673
00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:32.000
Yeah, I knew it.

674
00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:43.000
And I tell her all the time, I'm taller than you.

675
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:47.000
I can see further than you.

676
00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:51.000
Only the parents are laughing.

677
00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:55.000
There's something about that understanding.

678
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:57.000
It's not that she can't teach me anything.

679
00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:58.000
I'm clearly teachable humble.

680
00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:02.000
She teaches me things all the time that I have to Google to make sure that she's not lying.

681
00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:08.000
But there is something to knowing that our God is taller than anything else.

682
00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:11.000
And he can see all of what's coming.

683
00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:12.000
And I can trust him.

684
00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:18.000
And again, when I thank him, it makes the perspective of who he actually is bigger.

685
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:21.000
You'd ever read in the scriptures when it says magnify the Lord with me.

686
00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:28.000
That scripture excites me because what it really means is we're going to put God in His proper perspective.

687
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:33.000
And then we're going to see Him move in our life in a way that we never thought possible.

688
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.000
Oh, magnify the Lord with me.

689
00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.000
Okay.

690
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:51.000
You take approximately 23,000 breaths every day.

691
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:55.000
When was the last time you thank God for one of them?

692
00:38:58.000 --> 00:38:59.000
I'll wait.

693
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:07.000
It would be a show off in the front row.

694
00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:10.000
It would be.

695
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:12.000
Praise God for that one.

696
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:20.000
This is the problem because we get these 23,000 every day on recycle.

697
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:26.000
And what we're really doing is we're waiting for the one that takes our breath away.

698
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:36.000
I've hiked to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the view is so breathtaking.

699
00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:39.000
I am without breath.

700
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:44.000
It's magnificent.

701
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.000
It's glorious.

702
00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:52.000
But yet every day, 23,000 breaths he has given you.

703
00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:55.000
And you let his skip.

704
00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:59.000
Matter of fact, some of those breaths look like this.

705
00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:00.000
You way, go.

706
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.000
What's with breakfast today?

707
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:13.000
Instead of.

708
00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.000
God, you'd have a.

709
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:25.000
Just me even taking a breath is pronouncing your name and giving glory to all that you are.

710
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.000
Hallelujah.

711
00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:30.000
Thank you for waking me up another day.

712
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:36.000
Did you know that it's a very complex system for you to exhale carbon monoxide and pull in oxygen

713
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:41.000
to maintain the stratosphere of the environment that you live in, in and of itself.

714
00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:43.000
But we don't thank God for that.

715
00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:44.000
We just go.

716
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:46.000
Monday.

717
00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:48.000
Kind of hate it.

718
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:55.000
I dare you to just try the perspective shift that when Monday comes tomorrow,

719
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:58.000
instead of you worrying about how much you hate Mondays.

720
00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:03.000
And if any of you are from Boston, I'm going to think differently about you because that means a different thing in Boston.

721
00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:07.000
Well, people are Googling right now.

722
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:08.000
Hate Mondays book.

723
00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:10.000
No, don't do it.

724
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:12.000
It's a racist joke, by the way.

725
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.000
They hate Mondays.

726
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:15.000
They compare Mondays to black people.

727
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:16.000
I don't like it.

728
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:19.000
Got real serious.

729
00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:23.000
Instead of you hating a Monday,

730
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000
I wish some of you would roll over and make the devil sick by praising God.

731
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:31.000
I wish you would roll out of bed and just declare,

732
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:34.000
I am blessed and highly favored.

733
00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:41.000
I am kept by the God of heaven, the God who redeems, the God who works everything together for my good,

734
00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.000
because I am called and I love the Lord.

735
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:46.000
Come on.

736
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:50.000
Did you think about how much different your day would be when you are empowered in that way?

737
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:52.000
And yes, that empowers you.

738
00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:58.000
You know, sometimes occasionally I make my way to the gym.

739
00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:03.000
Why are you laughing?

740
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:06.000
Occasionally,

741
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.000
I enter the place.

742
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.000
And I'm not going to lie to you whether I lift up 5, 15 or 75,

743
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:16.000
I definitely walk out like I'm small.

744
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:23.000
And it gives me a certain confidence while I feel like,

745
00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.000
don't you test me?

746
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000
I don't listen to me.

747
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:32.000
When people ask me for directions, I'll be like,

748
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.000
like, bro, you worked on legs today.

749
00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:41.000
What time is it?

750
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:47.000
Calf muscle straining because I did it wrong.

751
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.000
But there's something about when you do this thing that it empowers you and it strengthens you

752
00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.000
and it changes the way that you walk.

753
00:42:56.000 --> 00:43:02.000
I feel like gratitude is no different because gratitude allows you to face the resistances of life

754
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:05.000
with a different level of strength.

755
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:10.000
Gratitude literally protects you from the plan of the enemy for your life.

756
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:16.000
His plan is to still kill and destroy with shame, guilt and condemnation.

757
00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:23.000
You offset these things when you properly are grateful to God for all of who he is and what he's done.

758
00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:31.000
I like illustrations as you can tell.

759
00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:34.000
I'm a very picturesque type of preacher, if you will.

760
00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:37.000
I want to read you something that the Lord gave me.

761
00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:44.000
Imagine for a moment that your city is surrounded by enemy forces who aim to destroy you.

762
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:51.000
And you're aware that enemy sympathizers are insurrectionists.

763
00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:54.000
What was the word I used for a service?

764
00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:56.000
Insurgents.

765
00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.000
Insurgents or living is a very hot topic word.

766
00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:00.000
You say that and it's like, what's out of you on?

767
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:02.000
I'm going to talk about that.

768
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:04.000
But there are insurgents living in your city.

769
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:09.000
These are people that work directly for the enemy and they are hidden in plain sight.

770
00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:12.000
These are enemy sympathizers.

771
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:16.000
They live and they work in this city with a view to undermine the city's defenses.

772
00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:23.000
And suppose that you discover that there is a song which the enemy and the sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach.

773
00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:27.000
Whenever they hear it, they pull back and they run in the other direction.

774
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.000
Isn't it certain that you would want to learn that song?

775
00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:34.000
And after you learned it, you would sing it when you went to bed at night.

776
00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:36.000
You would sing it when you got up in the morning.

777
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.000
You would sing it on the way to work and whenever you were among strangers.

778
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:48.000
As your confidence grew, you would even venture outside this city and you would sing it as you walk boldly through the enemy lines on your way to another town.

779
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:56.000
The more deeply embedded in your mind, the song became the more steady and deep and serene and fearless your life would become.

780
00:44:56.000 --> 00:45:05.000
Others would see and hear and learn the song from you and in the end you would conquer the enemy and there would be no threat at all.

781
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:08.000
It's a beautiful picture, right?

782
00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:14.000
Well, we are surrounded by an enemy, namely Satan and his forces.

783
00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:17.000
He is the father of lies according to John 844.

784
00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:21.000
His weapons are guilt, shame, condemnation, deceit, and delusion.

785
00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:24.000
His aim is the destruction of your faith and your love.

786
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:37.000
And there are enemy sympathizers, these insurgents in the city of our own soul, namely the desires of the old man, your flesh.

787
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:41.000
These things are warring against your spirit and they don't want the things that God wants.

788
00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:44.000
They want the things that the flesh wants.

789
00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:51.000
So not only do you have to battle the enemy but you have to battle the enemy within.

790
00:45:51.000 --> 00:46:00.000
And there is a song that Satan and his sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach, namely the song of thanks to God.

791
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:08.000
We're not talking hypotheticals, we're talking about something that you have at your disposal every day that puts the enemy on notice.

792
00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:15.000
Here's the thing, I need you to understand something because sometimes we give the enemy too much credit.

793
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:21.000
Did you know that every time the enemy comes to harass you, he has to roll the dice?

794
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:24.000
Because he knows something that most Christians don't know.

795
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:26.000
You have access to the name of Jesus.

796
00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:32.000
The Bible says that all things under heaven and earth are subject to that name.

797
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:34.000
And you've been given access to that name.

798
00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:36.000
Even further, let me break it down for you.

799
00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:44.000
The Bible says that all authority under heaven and earth has been given unto Christ Jesus the head of the church.

800
00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:47.000
And again, you miss your moment to shout.

801
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:53.000
See, because if you would get this, it would change how you see yourself.

802
00:46:53.000 --> 00:47:00.000
Forget going at a gym, this is like taking steroids in the spirit.

803
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:07.000
All authority under heaven and earth has been given to the head who is Christ Jesus, the head of the church.

804
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:08.000
Amen?

805
00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:11.000
That should get you excited because think about it.

806
00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:14.000
All authority under heaven and earth has been given to the head.

807
00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:15.000
Okay, they still not getting it.

808
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:16.000
Let me break it down.

809
00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:19.000
Who in here raised your hand if you had breakfast this morning?

810
00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:20.000
Don't be shy.

811
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:21.000
Ain't nobody going fat shame?

812
00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:24.000
If you ate breakfast, you ate breakfast. Praise God.

813
00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:28.000
All right, for all the people who raised their hands, for the rest of you, you're probably lying.

814
00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:29.000
You ain't fastened.

815
00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:31.000
It's not 21 days of prayer and fasting.

816
00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:33.000
There's nobody fat shame in you.

817
00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:36.000
Least of all, not me.

818
00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:40.000
So, you ate something today.

819
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:41.000
What happened?

820
00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:45.000
You put food in your head.

821
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:48.000
Where did it go?

822
00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:50.000
Oh, we got a smart church.

823
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.000
You put food in your head and it went to your...

824
00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:55.000
Say it loud with conviction.

825
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.000
You put food in your head and it went to your body.

826
00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:01.000
Now you see where I'm going?

827
00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:07.000
The Bible says that all authority under heaven and earth has been given unto the head of the church, Christ Jesus.

828
00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:12.000
All authority under heaven and earth has been given to your head.

829
00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:16.000
Whatever goes to your head goes to his body.

830
00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:19.000
Who is his body?

831
00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:20.000
That's me.

832
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:22.000
If you don't want to take it, I'll take it.

833
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:24.000
That's me. I'm the body of Christ.

834
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:29.000
All authority under heaven and earth has been given to me.

835
00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:36.000
If you would be willing to appropriate that and take it for yourself, understand the position and the power that belongs to you now.

836
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:38.000
You have access to the name of Jesus.

837
00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:45.000
That means when the enemy comes into your marriage for destruction, you can say not today, devil.

838
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:47.000
You cannot buy here.

839
00:48:47.000 --> 00:48:49.000
You must go in the name of Jesus.

840
00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:56.000
I told you every time he messes with you, he's rolling the dice because he doesn't know if you know that there's power in the name of Jesus.

841
00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:58.000
You have access to the name of Jesus.

842
00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:00.000
He's real shaky.

843
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:02.000
I hope they don't understand.

844
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:04.000
Hold that word that they read last week.

845
00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.000
It doesn't stick.

846
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:07.000
Okay.

847
00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:08.000
Sickness.

848
00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:11.000
And here we have the man of God going.

849
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:14.000
Oh no.

850
00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:15.000
Oh no.

851
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.000
It is by his stripes and I'm healed.

852
00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:18.000
Oh no.

853
00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:19.000
Oh no.

854
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.000
And you start praising the Lord and declaring the scripture of God.

855
00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:25.000
You get a bill.

856
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:26.000
Oh God.

857
00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:28.000
Oh no.

858
00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:31.000
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, devil.

859
00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:33.000
You have no place here.

860
00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:37.000
He needs all my needs according to his riches and glory.

861
00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:39.000
The gold in the silver is his.

862
00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:41.000
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

863
00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:45.000
You know, we got to get gregarious in our old schools.

864
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:47.000
He's like, all these things belong to me.

865
00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:49.000
I am the head and not the head.

866
00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:51.000
So you have authority through his word.

867
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:52.000
You have power.

868
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:56.000
You have gratitude that puts you on notice.

869
00:49:56.000 --> 00:50:01.000
I pray that one of you would walk out of here encouraged to go,

870
00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:05.000
I'm going to magnify the Lord by giving praise and glory and honor.

871
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:07.000
I'm going to be grateful for the things that he has done.

872
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:10.000
I'm going to manage the things that he's done and not let them slip

873
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:12.000
to the side as a regular thing.

874
00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:15.000
It is not a regular thing that you have been saved from hell

875
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:17.000
and given eternal life.

876
00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:20.000
If you didn't know, everybody in this room, myself included,

877
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:22.000
we deserve hell.

878
00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:25.000
The Bible says that the wage of sin is death and all that fall

879
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:27.000
in short of the glory of God.

880
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:32.000
But yet we have eternal life.

881
00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:35.000
We know the one true God and the one whom he sent Christ Jesus.

882
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:38.000
We put our faith in him.

883
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:40.000
If you count yourself a Christian.

884
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:42.000
If you don't count yourself a Christian,

885
00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:44.000
I have an invitation for you.

886
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:51.000
I want to read one last scripture before I can out of your way.

887
00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:53.000
And worships him, you could come on up.

888
00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:55.000
Actually, I'm going to read you two scriptures.

889
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:58.000
Listen, I'm a non-denominational Christian preacher,

890
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.000
but I've got Pentecostal roots.

891
00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:04.000
So that just means when I tell you one,

892
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:07.000
I probably got five more in my back pocket.

893
00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:10.000
Romans 121.

894
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:17.000
Let me read you this before that.

895
00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:20.000
Thankfulness is an essential guardian of the soul,

896
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:23.000
and therefore we should guard ourselves with gratitude.

897
00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:25.000
Evidently, we are fair game for the devil

898
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:27.000
when we don't abound with Thanksgiving.

899
00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:30.000
Unless the song of Thanksgiving is being sung in our hearts,

900
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.000
the enemy outside will deceive his way into the city of our soul

901
00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:36.000
and the enemy sympathizers will make that his job easy.

902
00:51:37.000 --> 00:51:39.000
So for the sake of your own safety,

903
00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:41.000
strive to fill your heart with Thanksgiving,

904
00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:44.000
guard yourself with gratitude.

905
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:46.000
Romans 121 says this,

906
00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:48.000
because although they knew God,

907
00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:51.000
they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful,

908
00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:54.000
but became futile in their thoughts

909
00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000
and their foolish hearts were darkened.

910
00:51:57.000 --> 00:52:00.000
So Paul accuses those who have seen

911
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:03.000
the evidence of God's power and deity in nature,

912
00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:05.000
but have not responded with gratitude.

913
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:07.000
In other words, if your heart does not respond to God

914
00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:10.000
with gratitude, your mind will be darkened.

915
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:13.000
You surrender yourself to the blinding work of Satan.

916
00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:16.000
Gratitude is the guardian of the lamp of the soul.

917
00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:19.000
If the guardian dies, the lamp goes out.

918
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:22.000
Guard yourselves with gratitude.

919
00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:25.000
Put up a second Peter.

920
00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:31.000
But also for this very reason,

921
00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:34.000
giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue,

922
00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:39.000
to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge self-control,

923
00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:42.000
to self-control perseverance,

924
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:45.000
to perseverance, godliness,

925
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.000
to godliness, brotherly kindness,

926
00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:51.000
and to brotherly kindness, love.

927
00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:54.000
These are powerful things that you should aspire to have

928
00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:56.000
in your Christian character, Amen?

929
00:52:57.000 --> 00:53:01.000
For if these things are yours and abound,

930
00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:04.000
you will neither be barren nor unfruitful

931
00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:06.000
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

932
00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:07.000
Amen.

933
00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:08.000
That sounds good.

934
00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:10.000
Everything we want.

935
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:12.000
But check what he says, because he doesn't end there.

936
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:18.000
For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness

937
00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:23.000
and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

938
00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:26.000
It's a funny little connect here,

939
00:53:26.000 --> 00:53:28.000
a connecting point between the two scriptures

940
00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:29.000
by two different authors.

941
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.000
He says, the blindness that we're talking about

942
00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:34.000
that produces such wicked and evil behavior

943
00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:36.000
that keeps you from the holy behavior

944
00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:39.000
that we all look at and aspire to happens

945
00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:42.000
because there is a forgetfulness,

946
00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:44.000
a lack of acknowledgement,

947
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:45.000
a lack of gratitude.

948
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:47.000
How could you be thankful for the blood of Jesus

949
00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:49.000
when you forgot what it did?

950
00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:56.000
He says, all these things you can't have

951
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:59.000
because you've forgotten.

952
00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:02.000
So that means that tells me that every day

953
00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:05.000
I want to put the gospel at the forefront of my mind.

954
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.000
I want to remember who you are

955
00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:11.000
and what you've done for me, Jesus.

956
00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:13.000
You are my everything.

957
00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:14.000
You are my salvation.

958
00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:15.000
You are my peace.

959
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:16.000
You are my joy.

960
00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:19.000
The joy that you give me, no man takes away.

961
00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:22.000
You literally died in every way possible

962
00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:24.000
so that I could have life.

963
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.000
If you would be grateful,

964
00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:31.000
you would protect yourself from yourself

965
00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:33.000
and from the enemy.

966
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:37.000
I want to make an invitation

967
00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:40.000
before we receive the tides and offerings for this week.

968
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:43.000
If there's anybody under the sound of my voice

969
00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:45.000
and you hear what we're talking about today

970
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:46.000
and there's a bit of a disconnect

971
00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:48.000
because you're like, I'm not even a Christian yet.

972
00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:50.000
This invitation is to you.

973
00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:53.000
As I reiterated earlier,

974
00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:57.000
everybody is a sinner before the eyes of God.

975
00:54:57.000 --> 00:54:59.000
Every one of us have sinned

976
00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:02.000
and fallen short of the glory of God.

977
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:06.000
The only thing that we can honestly do on this earth

978
00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:08.000
is earn a wage of death.

979
00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:11.000
But God loved us so much that he sent his son

980
00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:16.000
a perfect son for a divine exchange.

981
00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:19.000
He would live a perfect life

982
00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:22.000
and thoughtward indeed, never sin against God.

983
00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:24.000
And then he would receive the punishment

984
00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:26.000
that all of us deserved.

985
00:55:27.000 --> 00:55:28.000
And it's a divine exchange

986
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:30.000
because he takes our punishment

987
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:33.000
so we take his perfection.

988
00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:36.000
We take his right standing.

989
00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:41.000
But that offer is only for those

990
00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:43.000
that are willing to receive it.

991
00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:46.000
If you can acknowledge that you need that type of Savior

992
00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:49.000
to save you from yourself, from your sin,

993
00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:51.000
then I want you to raise your hand.

994
00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:53.000
I'm not going to ask you to come to the front.

995
00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:54.000
But right where you sit,

996
00:55:54.000 --> 00:55:55.000
you can raise your hand

997
00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:57.000
and we want to pray for you and with you.

998
00:55:57.000 --> 00:55:58.000
If that's you today

999
00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:00.000
on the count of three, raise your hand.

1000
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:02.000
One, two, three.

1001
00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:06.000
I see that hand in the back.

1002
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.000
Hallelujah.

1003
00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:09.000
Yeah, you got it right, Christians.

1004
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:12.000
The Bible says that the angels of heaven rejoice

1005
00:56:12.000 --> 00:56:14.000
that one person who comes to faith

1006
00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:16.000
so we rejoice with them.

1007
00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:20.000
There's anybody else.

1008
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:21.000
I want you to,

1009
00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:23.000
and not just the one person who raised their hand.

1010
00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:25.000
Everybody under the sound of my voice,

1011
00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:26.000
I want you to repeat after me.

1012
00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:27.000
Say, Father God.

1013
00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:29.000
Thank you.

1014
00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:31.000
Thank you for Jesus.

1015
00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:34.000
For the blood that He shed.

1016
00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:37.000
For His perfect sacrifice.

1017
00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:41.000
By faith, I receive Him

1018
00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:45.000
as my Lord, as my Savior.

1019
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:47.000
Wash me clean.

1020
00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:49.000
Make me yours.

1021
00:56:49.000 --> 00:56:51.000
And draw me close to you.

1022
00:56:51.000 --> 00:56:54.000
Father in Jesus' name.

1023
00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:57.000
Father, those that have accepted you today

1024
00:56:57.000 --> 00:56:58.000
have eternal life.

1025
00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:00.000
Show them your goodness,

1026
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:02.000
your favor, your mercy,

1027
00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:03.000
your love, your power.

1028
00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:06.000
Make yourself bigger in their sight

1029
00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:09.000
that we might magnify you together.

1030
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:13.000
That we might always be grateful for who you are

1031
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:16.000
and what you've done in saving us, in healing us,

1032
00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:18.000
and providing for us, and protecting us,

1033
00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:20.000
in maintaining us,

1034
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:22.000
Lord, in making us cute.

1035
00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:24.000
We thank you,

1036
00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:27.000
because you've called us to be a royal priesthood

1037
00:57:27.000 --> 00:57:28.000
and a peculiar people.

1038
00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:32.000
Truly, we are a blessing in this world, light and salt.

1039
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:34.000
Use us now in that capacity

1040
00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:36.000
to be a blessing to others.

1041
00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:40.000
To be not just a testimony of this gospel,

1042
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:42.000
but also to tell people and witness it

1043
00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:45.000
that they could come to faith as well.

1044
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.000
Move in us and use us, Lord, in Jesus' name.

1045
00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:51.000
This is the CityLight Church podcast.

1046
00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:54.000
If you've missed any part of today's message,

1047
00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:57.000
or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Janskik

1048
00:57:57.000 --> 00:57:58.000
in CityLight Church,

1049
00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:01.000
visit us at CityLightNYC.com

1050
00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:04.000
that's CityLightNYC.com.

1051
00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:08.000
Feel free to visit us online or in person any time.

1052
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:10.000
We would love to connect with you.

1053
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:13.000
We pray that you have been encouraged today,

1054
00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:16.000
that you have been reminded how much God loves you,

1055
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:19.000
and that you are surrounded by grace.

1056
00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:20.000
Thank you for listening.

1057
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:23.000
Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast

1058
00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:26.000
wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.
