Rising Through The Ranks

March is the Month of Provision, Phil. 4:19 – But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We have declared a Double Portion over our lives by pledging to honor God through giving and trust that we will never lack. Sowing and reaping is where the M I R A C L E is!! Honoring God with your first is how God knows He can trust you. First Fruit is : 1 week, 1 month, 1 year of your income or give the year 2023 for the year or 223.It is not about the size of the gift, it is about the heart posture and the sacrifice of the gift.

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Autogenerated Transcript

Pastor Keion (00:00:03):
Introduce to my father. I believe that we owe God a praise. Say Sayah. Somebody said, what do

Speaker 2 (00:00:31):
You mean sayah?

Pastor Keion (00:00:33):
It’s a term in the Psalms. It means just pause. It’s not even one that you

Speaker 2 (00:00:39):
Articulate. It’s just something you

Pastor Keion (00:00:40):
Do. Just stay right there. Have your way. Blessed assurance. Jesus. His what? For? Glory. Glory. Glory of glory. Divine era of salvation purchased by born of and wash in his blood. This is my story. This is my soul, my savior, my perfect submission.

Speaker 3 (00:03:20):
Mercy, this is my, this is, I promise you I’m going to be praise myself. This is my story. This is my song. I promise you, for the rest of my life, for the rest of my life, I’ll be praise. Praising my savior. Praising my savior. Praise in my Savior, my savior. Sit down, sit down.

Speaker 2 (00:10:05):
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a mighty God. We serve people all around you like man, we’ve been standing up for about an hour, but my question is, can you watch? Can you not watch with me for one hour? It’s worth standing up and giving God praise for an hour when he’s trying to, it’s really been trying to sit you down your whole life and some people are standing next to you. This is really them letting the devil know that in spite of it all, I still got the victory. Still got it, still got the victory. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

(00:11:21):
Do me a favor and encourage the person next to you and say, we’ve got the victories, we’ve got the victory, we got the victory. We got the victory. That’s all that matters. The devil tried it, but it didn’t work. Somebody say you tried it, but our God is faithful. Our God is healer. Our God is stronger. Our God is wiser. Our God is a deliverer. Be not weary and you’ll well do it for in due season you will reap the harvest. If you faint not, you know what that means? If you don’t get too tired and quit, then eventually God will make you victorious.

(00:12:23):
Your deliverance is always on the other side of where you gave up. Don’t you ever quit? You got to fight and then you got to pray. Then you got to watch, then you got to fight again. Then you got to pray and after you finish praying, you know what you got to do. You got to fight. Then you got to watch. Then you got to pray, and then you know what else you do. Then you got to watch. Then you got to fight, and before you know it, the devil will realize I ain’t doing too good fighting him and her.

(00:13:09):
Let me go find somebody else to fight. And we have joy in chaos. We have peace that makes no sense when everything around us is falling apart and shaking, we stand on the firm foundation and you got to live every day of your life from that position. I don’t lose, I’ve already won. We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory. So I’m just waiting on God to show me how this thing is going to work out. Do you believe that? Just before you sit down, just hug your neighbor and tell him we can do this. Just hug him before you say, we can do this. We can do this. So wait on the Lord, on the Lord, he on He’ll renew. He’ll renew yes on in your house. You got to wait on ’em in your marriage. You got to wait on ’em with your children. You got to wait on ’em on your finances. You got to wait on them with your health. You got to wait on them.

(00:14:52):
He’ll one more time. Say Lord. So wait, would you all give this music ministry a hand? God bless you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Let’s get a band a round of applause. You all are amazing. Thank you so much. And I know we don’t do this all the time, but listen, these sound technicians, they working too. They got to make sure everything is balanced and all that kind of stuff. Give it up for all of the volunteers and cameramen and for those of y’all who are watching online, there’s a team of 30, 40 people just making sure that you can turn your phone on and just look at what’s going on in this house. We are in the month of provision. You better get ready for unexpected blessings.

(00:15:55):
I started to put a sign out front that said, watch out for falling blessings. Enter at your own risk. How many of y’all can stand to get hit upside the head with a miracle all month long? We are going to be telling you how to get it. Anybody ready to get it? Yeah, you’re going to get it. And today is First Fruit Sunday. Come on and praise God for that. I got mine ready. I got both my tithe and my offering ready because I want you to know that your tithe and your first fruit are not the same thing for those of you all who are watching online, but when we get done, we’re going to take our first fruit and lemme tell you something, God is getting ready to make sure that every time you go to the field you’ve got something growing you shall never lack another day in your life again.

(00:16:50):
If you believe it, say amen. Today is not a prosperity sermon. It is a truth serum. I don’t intend to raise my voice above this because what I have to tell you today, you can’t shout it out. You going to have to learn and be cerebral and be focused and pay attention because the devil has found out, at least for our people, that if he can keep us in financial disarray as a people group, then he can keep us disenfranchised. The Lord gave me, I’ve been telling my wife this for the last two or three days and I’m going to be working with our staff and all of our volunteers on this. The Lord just told me this past weekend, he said, tell the people of God at the Lighthouse Church, it is time for us to diversify.

(00:17:52):
I will not go to heaven and people keep calling us a black church because that ain’t what heaven looks like. We got to see black, brown, white. It is the diaspora of Christianity and I was listening to the songs we were singing and the reason why I want you to cross pollinate across cultural boundaries is listen, is if we just keep staying around each other, we ain’t going to learn but what we already know, there are some things that other cultures know innately that we don’t know because all we do is have conversations with each other. If you’re going to grow, you got to have some friends that didn’t go to your high school, that didn’t go to your middle school, that wasn’t raised by the same babysitters. You need some people who grew up in a 5 million house so you can find out how to get one number one and number two, when you get there it won’t make you happy.

(00:18:53):
So there’s a lot of things that we got to know and we got to learn and we got to get around other people groups because I want this church to look like heaven. I said I want this church to look like heaven and we have to desire people of different races, ethnicities and culture. Why? Because nobody’s going where they’re not expected and nobody’s going where they are not appreciated and nobody is going where they are not celebrated. And I am determined to make sure that this is the house of God. Can you say amen to that? So I’m already about to start the sermon. I’m not even going to read the scripture upfront. I’m just going to tell you that here is the thought process behind the sermon. Many of you have been looking whether it’s online or in the church or in your family, and you’re wondering how did that person rise through the ranks so fast?

(00:19:54):
I remember when they were here, have you ever seen when you met ’em they were here and then all of a sudden they were up there and you were there with them in the process, but it didn’t happen for you as fast as it happened for them. I am getting ready to show you one of the quickest ways to go from last to first, okay? I’m going to show you one of the quickest ways to go from your present situation and predicament to where God wants you to be in today’s sermon, today’s conversation, today’s message is called rising through the ranks. Everybody say rising through the ranks. Let me put that in your vernacular. I’m coming up. Lemme say just tell I’m coming up, just tell everybody around you. I’m coming up, I’m coming up. I’m about to blow up, I’m about to blow up. And so you better get to know me now because don’t ask me for my number when I roll up ahead next week.

(00:20:48):
You better get to know me now. How many of you all have literally been in church all of your life? Look around now. I want you to put your hands down and to be honest, how many of you’all are new to the faith? Let me see your hands. Let’s praise God for that. Come on guys, let’s praise God. That means we’re doing our job. That means we’re doing our job that our church shouldn’t be full of only Christians. We ought to have new converts. We ought to have people who have switched religions. We ought to have people who just got baptized last week and we ought to have people who’ve been saved all of their life because all of that means that the church is growing. But I don’t care how long you’ve been in church, some of this stuff is hard to understand. Does that make sense?

(00:21:35):
There are plenty of terms and phrases connected to Christianity that are difficult to understand even to the most astute subscriber to the word of God, even your favorite preacher, your pastor, myself included. There are some things in here that I have to read over and say, God, what did you mean by that? It doesn’t make sense. And that’s why the Bible says study to show thyself a prove that you might be able to rightly divide the word of truth. Everybody say you have to study it. And I don’t care how prolific of a preacher, I don’t care how prolific of a prognosticator you are, I don’t care your ability to ask the wage and navigate through multisyllabic expressions and read Hebrew and Greek and Aramaic and know the etymology of the Latin or the Anglo-Saxon and the no expositional preaching and no Aris tense and active voice. And you can know all of that, but you still don’t know what you’re talking about.

(00:22:42):
And here’s one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible through all thy getting get understand. If you can get that scripture in your heart, that’s the best one to quote somebody come to you talking about what do you think about this? You can just spit back and say, in all thy getting, get understanding. What do you think about what’s happening in the world In all thy getting get understanding. What do you think about the Supreme Court’s ruling in all thy getting? Get understanding because Solomon was correct in the Book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs that in all of our getting we should get wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is the correct usage of knowledge. There are a lot of smart people who are not wise because knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing.

(00:23:39):
Is there anybody in here that would be honest like me a whole lot more than you do a whole lot more scriptures than you follow? Because there’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom. I know a whole lot about that Bible, but when it comes time to do what that Bible says, now I got to step out of knowledge and I got to step into wisdom. And that’s why Solomon said, give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding because without all three you are tinkling, brass and sounding symbol. Are you with me so far? So even after 2000 years of church history, more than that now we’re in 2023, so 2000 plus years. Now, today is going to be like these bunch of random thoughts that you may have thought but you never asked a question. Why are we in the year 2023? It’s because our calendar is what we call BC and ad, okay?

(00:24:41):
So before crisis, BBC ad is after the death. So we are 2023 years after the death of Christ. Does that make sense? That’s why we are in the year 2023. So Christ to the best of our assumptions died over 2000 years ago. And so we are in the year of our Lord and Savior 2023 years after he was resurrected from the grave. And so there are some bible verses and passages that leave even the most brilliant biblical scholar speculating as to the exact continuity and correctness and the meaning of the word of God. And so I was asking myself last night as I was preparing this message and finishing it off, and I’d been thinking about it all week, why is it so hard sometimes to understand the Bible? Why is it so hard? And I began to blame God inadvertently not like God, you did this. I just was like, God, why didn’t you make this clearer? And the Lord says something to me that convicted me and it is probably one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard God speak back to me. I kept saying, God, why is it so hard to understand the Bible? Why does it take so much effort to fully and correctly understand the Bible? Before the question is explored, it must be said that this is what God said to me. He said, son, I did not make my word unclear.

(00:26:23):
I said, God, have you read your Bible? God said, no. He said, I did not make my word unclear. He says, my message is perfectly legible and clear. He says, but I want you to tell the people and let them know upfront that it’s going to be a statement and that you’re going to have to be humble enough to take what I’m about to say next. So all of the egotistical, arrogant and prideful people, this is about to go over your head and all of you all who think you’re right about everything, this is about to go right over your head. I just lost half the room, Lord have mercy.

(00:27:06):
But if you can just have a moment of humility for about 30 seconds, I can change your life. I want you to lay aside your pride. I want you to lay aside your thought process. I want you to lay aside your emotions. I want you to lay aside your opinion. I want you to lay aside what your mama taught you. And I want you to hear me just for one second. The Lord told me to tell you the reason why the Bible can sometimes be hard to understand is because we are sinful beings and the sin that we have committed distorts our understanding and leads us to twist the Bible into the portion that leaves us feeling good about ourselves.

(00:27:49):
And everybody ought, I should drop the mic. The church says say amen and the sermon is over sexy chocolate. That’s it. The reason why the Bible is hard to understand is because you see what God says and then you say, I don’t know if that’s right because, and now you get in yourself and you start twisting the word of God so that his word will agree with your perspective and his ways are not our ways. And sir, his thoughts, Tammy, am I right about that are not our thoughts. And so God being confusing to you is because you are not clear that he’s right and you’re wrong.

(00:29:00):
Do I have your permission not to sweat today and run you crazy and act all nuts and crazy to make you feel like it was a good sermon? Do I have your permission to talk to you like this Mano, I mano man to man, man to woman, and we can get a clear understanding so that the devil can stop tricking you. Here’s the truth. In our egotistical pride and in our own way of growing up in our household and watching the news and watching Instagram and being on TikTok and listening to the hurt, trauma and pain of other people, it builds a worldview and then people do you wrong and then it builds a worldview and then you read the word of God and he says, forgive everybody. And then you say, but you don’t know my ex.

(00:29:53):
I’ll let your boy. Surely God didn’t mean that because he didn’t see what I went through. God ain’t dumb. He’s clear about what he said. He says love them that despitefully use you not love them that love you. You have never seen God ever have to tell us to love those who loved us because he knew that would be automatic. But he did say give bread to the person who gave you a stone and give love to the person who gave you a snake. And if they try to gouge your eyes out, pray for them.

(00:30:29):
And when we take all of that and we’d be like, well God just know my heart and I’m just going to have to answer for that when I get that because he and you’re going to find yourself in hell lifting up your eyes because you wanted your opinion to be more important than God’s word. Can I just put something in your pipe so you can smoke it? There is no enemy you have that’s worth you going to hell over. I ain’t met nobody that I dislike so much that I want to go to a burning lake of eternal fire. I want to go where the streets are paved with gold. I want to go where the elders are in the city and if it mean I got to look over your ignorance in order to get in, I’ll do it because I think that we often forget that although we live in time, we are in an eternal exercise and that you can’t keep living like you’re going to wake up every morning. And by the way, this sermon probably won’t go viral because the church don’t preach about sin anymore. The church don’t tell people they need to get their act together and the church don’t tell people that they can’t do whatever they want to do. So if only five of y’all rewatch this sermon too bad because I will do my job, the rest is up to you.

(00:31:49):
Open this for me. Thank you sir. God says, my word is not hard to understand. Sin has clouded your judgment and you have to twist the word of God into the position where it makes you not feel bad about yourself. When the Bible says bring the first scripture up, Matthew chapter five, verse 43. The Bible says in Matthew chapter five verse 43, it says that you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Well who told you that? Your mama, your daddy, your brother, your sister, your friend, somebody said that somewhere. Even if you told yourself love your friend hate your enemy, Jesus says, but this is what I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be the sons of your father who is in heaven.

(00:33:00):
We counter that by saying, well, they did me wrong first, so why I got to, they offended me. So why I got to say I’m sorry. You see? So now we twist the word of God so we feel good about our position, but God ain’t. He said what he said, he said, I’m clear you’re cloudy. Are you listening to me? It’s what I call the sin spin. Have you ever watched the news and the news? I’m sorry. You watch the news and they spin the story. It is like the same thing will happen. And then you go to Fox News, they saying one thing, you go to c n n, they saying another thing. You go to m Ss n b C, they saying another thing and then you sit around the table with your friends and you figure out how they all lying and then you say another, it’s the sin spend.

(00:34:10):
Why? Because the sin that has beset you determines how you see everything, right? Watch this. So I’m going to use a scripture in the Bible. Now there is a story about the prodigal son. How many of y’all have ever heard it in Western society When we talk about the prodigal son, here’s our perspective. That boy took his daddy’s stuff and went out and lived and right as living and his daddy was just there waiting where? Open arms. You know why we talk about the father and son relationship in the prodigal son’s story so much is because in Western society, especially in the African-American community, 50% of our fathers are absent.

(00:34:59):
So when we look at the prodigal son story, we see the father and the son dynamic because our trauma is parent related. You go over to Eastern America and they never mentioned the father because divorce is not happening in some of those countries and the father is always there, but there is something they always deal with is famine. So when you preach the prodigal son and in the Eastern society, most of the preachers over there are talking about the famine, not the father. There is a story that I just read in the book that talks about why in the past Christianity did not take its roots in Japan like it did in other nations. And one man says in a story that I was reading, he says that the reason why, and I’m not saying that no Japanese are not saved and I’m not saying that God is not in the nation for anybody who’s watching.

(00:35:54):
I’m not saying that. I’m talking about an anecdotal story as to why in times past Christianity didn’t take root nationally like it did in other places. And he said because in America we are individualistic, but in eastern societies they are collectivist. And he says the reason why Christianity didn’t take root in that country at that time is because they do everything together. But the Bible says that I had to believe God for myself. So he says I could not believe in a heaven where my ancestors couldn’t go with me E. So at the expense of leaving their family behind, they could not subscribe to a relationship and a religion that says that I alone individually had to believe in God for my own salvation. And so they opted for something that says that we can all go together because culturally it always determines how you see a thing in Indonesia, they don’t allow their children to go on dates beneath a certain age. Why? Because they said why would we allow two people who don’t know each other to go to a place where only willpower can keep them off each other So when their children go on dates, the parents go with them. Now see if that happens today in Houston, Texas, in Florida. Let your 21 year old say, mama, I’m getting ready to go out on a date. And you say, where we going? You know what? They’re going to say nowhere. I’m just ain’t going to date. I’m just staying home.

(00:37:35):
But it’s because of where we are because if we live somewhere else, they wouldn’t have a choice. But our problem in America is we’re individualistic. There is data that shows that wearing uniforms to school reduces bullying, increases grade point average and allows security to know which kids go to the school and which kids don’t. But because we want our kids to be individuals, we will march to make sure that they don’t wear uniforms so they can remain individualistic. And it is this individualism that has made our country selfish. I don’t care if you say, man, I’m going to preach in here today. It is individualism that has made us bad husbands. It is individualism that has made us bad wives. It is individualism that has made us bad leaders and it is individualism that at times has made us bad as a congregation and church. Why? Because here God is saying when we all come together, what a time we will have. And here we are trying to say, I don’t need no toxic people in my life. This is the year for me to love myself. This is the year for me to get it myself. This is the year and you’re creating the very poison that’s keeping the cure away.

(00:39:01):
We’re so individualistic that you almost got anxiety because somebody close to you right now, every time they leg touch us, they leg brush up against mine. I don’t play like that. That’s one reason. There are several reasons that makes the Bible hard to understand, but I want you to write this down. The primary reason the Bible is hard to understand is because of culture. Culture. Every body in this house and washing it online has a personal culture. That’s true. Everybody’s house has a subculture in your house. You can leave dishes in the sink and go to bed.

(00:40:14):
Oh yeah. It wouldn’t be no roaches if that wasn’t true. If somebody’s culture is true, come on Now, Houston by the way, was just voted the nastiest city. I don’t know if y’all saw that. So don’t tell me Uhuh, don’t tell me Uhuh. It might not be you, but when I say you, I ain’t talking about you. I’m talking about somebody touch your name and say not you but you somebody else’s culture. If you don’t wash them dishes before you go to bed at night, somebody getting woke up with a belt to go wash those dishes. Somebody’s culture. Why make up the bed? I’m getting back in it.

(00:41:04):
I’m so judgmental. I was driving down the street yesterday and I looked at one apartment buildings and the window was open. I seen all them people beds I made. I’m like, ugh, how is it three o’clock and your bed ain’t made and you ain’t in it? Somebody else’s culture. As soon as you get up, you make the bed. One culture says, hey, you don’t drive your car with the gas light on somebody else’s culture When the gas light come on, I still got 50 miles sit down. That ain’t no good thing. I’m just she talking about, yeah, rev showed up. No, sit down, put some gas in your car.

(00:41:52):
I am just kidding baby. I’m just kidding. It’s your car. You do what you want to do. We all got different cultures. Some people show up to church early and some people say, well, I don’t want to be there when they sing. I’m just going to get there right when Rev get up and then soon as he get done, I ain’t stand for no offering, I’m giving no line. I’m going out to door because I don’t want to be in that parking lot fooling with them. People coach, some people spank their kids some put ’em on timeout.

(00:42:54):
Come on Johnny, you didn’t eat your brussel sprouts. You’re going to be on a timeout. My mama said you ain’t going to eat but sit there until you get hungry. I have had to sit at the table 12 days for some Brussels sprouts. I’m going to tell you right now, I was 12 when I sat down. I think I was 13 by the time she let me up from the table, by the time I finished eating. It’s all culture and guess what she got it from? Guess where he got it from? You see? And we passed our cultures on and it is the reason why you are in this room right now and I promise you I’m preaching one sermon and all of you all are hearing something different.

(00:43:37):
Somebody’s like, oh, he being hard today. Somebody else is like, this is exactly what I need. Somebody’s like, oh, this is boring. I don’t want to hear it. And somebody’s like, no, this is exactly what I need because we’re all in this room twisting what I am saying right now to fit the narrative that makes you continuously feel good about yourself and the scripture doesn’t work until you use it as a mirror and not makeup. No, no, I got Bible. First Corinthians says, for we see through a glass darkly, that’s a mirror. In other words, I’m supposed to look in the scripture and see my distorted image and do something about it and not hide it to say he understands my sin, he understands my heart. He knows who I am. It’s not makeup, it’s a mirror.

(00:44:38):
Ain’t that how you put it on? Y’all got time today. I do. We going to get breakthrough today. Come on, clap your hands if you want. Breakthrough. Everybody say culture. Now Pastor Hammond, if I’m talking culture, if I’m in the Bible, I can’t be talking about your culture because you wasn’t there then. Whose culture am I speaking of? The biblical culture, the one that was originated by human beings bc. Okay, so let’s talk about some things they didn’t have in that culture. No clocks, no clocks, no cell phones, no ig, no TikTok, no Gmail, no Microsoft teams and yet they still showed up on time without a post.

(00:46:02):
They knew what time church was without 12 reminders, no l e d screens, yet they still enjoy church. All they had was the word and their faith. No cars, they walked to church. The children of Israel walked in the wilderness for 40 years. How many of you all would come to church Sunday if it was a 40 minute walk? If you had to walk 40 minutes to church, raise your hand if you would walk 40 minutes to church every Sunday, you better than me. I don’t know if I would. I might have to do it. I might stream it. I’m going to come every once in a while, but ooh, that’s a lot of walking in Houston. By the time you get here, you’re going to look like you were in the pool of Bethesda.

(00:47:29):
I would like to think I would, but I’m not sure I could. No electricity. So remember you’re going to walk to church and it’s going to be as hot in church as it was walk over. So just thinking about that and ain’t going to be no bottled water to handout and you’re going to have to sit next to somebody who smell like a puppy. That’s what we smell like when we come from outside. Ain’t it amazing? You can put on cologne, clean clothes, you go outside and turn around and you already smell like outside. Anybody know what it means to smell outside? Because see, this generation don’t know what it means to smell like outside. They got video games but it’s a certain smell. It’s like a Labrador. It’s like a poodle. Anybody, it’s an outdoor smell. Your mom may never tell you, oh, get away from me. You smell like a puppy.

(00:48:29):
I’m going to get there. You’re going to understand in a minute. Everybody say culture. Culture. Say it again. Say culture. Culture. Am I doing a good enough job at letting you know that before I give you what they went through that they did not have what you have when they were going through it? Because I’m getting ready to say some stuff. You’re going to think it’s easy because you’re going to be sitting in your comfortable seat. I’m trying to get you out of Houston. I’m trying to get you out of your city, out of your country and your state and I’m trying to take you into a day where the streets were not paved and I’m trying to take you into a day where there was no central air conditioning and I’m trying to take you to a day where the beautician couldn’t wash your leave out and get it back down so you can look like everything is still done. I’m trying to get you to a day.

(00:49:18):
I wash the leave out. That’s how you elongate the style. You know you just, yeah, holler at your boy. I know a little something, you know what I’m saying? Know a little bit that didn’t have it wasn’t no Gatorade wasn’t nothing, it was just you could drink water and wine. It wasn’t no energy drink, no, no five hour energy, no Red Bull, no Mountain Dew, no. Pick me up, get out. I’m trying to get out of your culture and get into where they were so that when I give you what God says next you won’t take for granted. That what I’m going to say, what’s harder for them than it is for you. And it is amazing how proficient they were at doing what I’m about to tell you. Even though it was harder for them and easier for us, less of us are doing it today than they were doing it with no car, no electricity, no hvac, listen and no proof because Jesus hadn’t come nor walked the earth nor died, nor was he resurrected.

(00:50:38):
They had to believe what I’m telling you to believe. Pre Jesus talk to me church, they were what we call an agrarian society, agrarian, ag, agriculture, agrarian, vegetarian, agrarian. They lived from the land. Now how many farmers in this building right now, any farmers? One farmer, two farmers, two farmers. We got two farmers. Okay, I’m sure some of you all online, what this simply means is the grocery store closes, we’re all dying and they’re going to live. If this me, I don’t know how to plant nothing. Anybody know? I don’t know how to plant. I know you put it in the ground and I know you water it and I know that about two or three months later it’s supposed to come up. But what you’re taking for granted is that everything doesn’t grow in all kinds of soil. It’s an art to it. And lemme tell you something about a farmer. I looked this up. Farmers are working 16 hours a day, six to seven days a week hoping for something to happen.

(00:51:56):
So please hear me, I’m going to be done. But you got see you can get an orange off the shelf when you are in their day and time, you put the orange seed in the ground and now you got to and you only got a certain amount of water so you got to figure out how to share it with it and with you because there is no faucet. If you’re going to go get the water, you got to walk. You remember the woman at the well, you got to go walk and get the water and the only water you can take home is the amount of water you can carry. Now think about this. What if you can’t carry a lot of water?

(00:52:44):
Imagine carrying that 24 case of Ozark water 30 miles home today. Y’all not getting it. You struggling to get it out of the basket to get in the trunk. Can you get this for me? I just got my nails done. I don’t want to break a nail can and Lord show you can carry water. I got that. I got that. Ain’t nothing. I got that baby. Anything else you need? Water carrying is for men. That’s what my wife, if that water, she see that water coming to the door, she’ll be like, baby, there’s some water here. I know, I know baby. I’m going to get that water. I got to get it.

(00:53:39):
I want you to think I’m trying to get you out of your western society and go into the day in the desert with the dust and the heat and it is time for you to step out of your culture and step in the culture of the scripture and that many of us in this room are not farmers so we don’t understand. Let’s preach sowing and reaping. We understand buying and eating. We understand ordering and receiving. You can get your groceries at the front door now and some stores will stock your refrigerator. Oh, don’t tell me you ain’t grub hubbing and door dashing and Uber eating and everything every day we’re ordering stuff right now. Or you can go to the store and order online and they’ll bring it out to you and put it in your trunk. You have no idea what I’m talking about because we’re so spoiled. They didn’t have microwaves, they didn’t have ovens, they didn’t have air fryers. All they had was fire and food.

(00:54:54):
So your child couldn’t tell you, mama, I’m hungry at 1130 and they have a meal at 1102 after the hot pocket says dinging like our kids. It wasn’t no Lunchables, no caprice sons, are you still in your culture or have you left it yet? So what does it mean to give the first fruit? What does it mean? Why? What did Moses mean when he wrote in Leviticus 23 and 10 that when you come into the land, which I give you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheath of the first fruit of your harvest to the priests. The concept of first fruits is rooted in biblical agrarian society where the only thing they ate was what they could grow. Point number one, God told me to tell you in the year of manifested promises, you are only going to be able to eat what you can grow. He says, I’m stopping the manna.

(00:56:13):
For those of y’all who missed what I just said, let me give you a better explanation. Here was the transition of the children of Israel when they were in a position where they did not have, God was allowing bread, manna and certain animals and water to come to them, but when they got in the promised land, God says, in exchange for you getting into the promised land, I will no longer give you bread. You will only eat what you grow. God says, I am stopping the handout system in the year of manifested promises. If you going to eat, you going to have to sow.

(00:57:04):
Y’all not listening. You’re walking out of the season where you’re going to be able to say, God, I need help with my cell phone bill. And God going to say, that’s why you have a job that pays you 50,000 and if you ate your seed, don’t ask me for food. Here is why we are struggling as a people. We spend our seed and then pray for our need. We so busy trying to look rich, we so busy trying to act rich where you could have anything you need if you would just live within your means, stop trying to impress people who ain’t impressed and so you can reap. If you eat your seed for breakfast, what will you have for dinner?

(00:58:13):
Anybody who knows anything about fruit, they will tell you that it will make you sick if you eat it before it’s ripe. No wonder we’re so upset is because we are eating things that are not ready for consumption. Eating your tithe is like eating an unripe piece of fruit. It’s going to upset your system and make you sick and you will not be able to rebuke the devour because the seed is the one way that God creates a trust relationship with you. Now let’s get into the word because when God asked them for the first fruit, why would people say God wants their money? Now let’s go back into their time. First of all, God has never had a cucumber salad in his life, so why would God ask them for vegetables and fruit as if he gets hungry?

(00:59:16):
God does not ask for fruit because he eats it. He asks for it because he knows you do. And he created sowing and reaping as a way of creating a trust and vulnerability system between creation and creator to find out do you trust your sustenance or do you trust the source? I’m going to wait on y’all today. I’m going to wait on you. And the reason why it’s so hard for us to give is because we live in an instantaneous society. Take you back to all culture. So we think that when we put it in the basket or click give online, then something should happen by the end of the day because we want God to operate in our culture, but God does not operate in our culture. He operates in eternity and not time and he still operates with the sowing and reaping system, which means that if you just sold it might take a while for you to get a return. But watch this. The reason why there’s so many blessed people in this house and the reason why we have riches and it adds no sorrow is because we’ve been sowing.

(01:00:40):
Come on y’all. I’ve been sowing a long time. So the reason why I’m blessed is because what I sold last year is feeding me right now. Y’all not healed me today. You are not going to do right by God today and your whole life is going to be recompensed. You’re going to have to sow, sow and sow like the rest of us so you can walk into seasons where there is no lack. I have been tithing over 80% of my life. I ought to have something. My mother even made sure that when we got birthday gifts, she used to give us Ziploc bags and taught us what 10% of the birthday gift was and made us take it to the church because she knew that we would only eat what we could grow.

(01:01:48):
And you had better teach your children now the art of sowing and reaping otherwise you are going to keep sowing and they’re going to keep reaping off of you. And there are a lot of people in this room right now. You could do much better in life if everybody in your life wasn’t dependent on you. If you teach ’em to depend on God, y’all ain’t talking to me. If you teach ’em to depend on God, you won’t have to empty your savings account to save a child that didn’t do right by what God gave them.

(01:02:29):
Everybody say just wait, just wait. God created sowing and reaping is because he knew he controlled the rain, he controlled the sun, he controls the mercury in the soil and now he also knows that we are at the mercy of the season and we are at the mercy of the climate. But because in those times they understood culture, horticulturally, are you listening to me? It create a knowing that whatever was planted, that God was going to take care of it. And because we live in our western society, we don’t trust that God can do anything but fail because we have other options that won’t let us wait long enough to find out if he will.

(01:03:31):
And let me tell you why God has been taking you through an isolation process and you cannot figure out why friends have been flaking on you and people have been leaving you behind. God says, I have allowed you long enough to have too many options to solve your problems without coming to me. I tried to see if you were going to do it by yourself but you did not do it. So I’m going to make people hate you that you, you’re not even going to be able to understand why they stopped liking you. I’m going to make y’all fall out and I’m going to let you fall out over dumb arguments and I’m not trying to isolate you for the purpose of being alone. I’m trying to isolate you for the purpose of letting you know that you never could trust him anyway.

(01:04:12):
I’m trying to get you alone so you can let me be Lord and stop asking me for loans. I’m about to make a powerful statement. In the last 13 years, I have never asked God for anything that he did not give me 13 years of never wondering if he was going to do what he said. Why 13 years not because God just got good 13 years ago. It just took me that long to recognize how good God is. Can I go deeper? Is this helping anybody? Wake your neighbor up and tell ’em it help you if you wake up, tell them, listen to this. God created the reap and so system intentionally to ensure that man could achieve advancements but not independence.

(01:05:45):
Who needs me to say it again? See some of y’all trying to act like you’re writing this down, you’re really texting but I’m going to say it again. I know what note fingers look like and I know what texting fingers look like. I’m going to say it again. I’m going to say it again. God created the reap and soul system intentionally to ensure that man could achieve advancements but never achieve independence. God is never going to give you enough where you don’t need them. That’s why when they prayed Dolores prayer, what kind of bread did they ask for? Daily bread. God says, you think I’m going to trust you with a loaf? No. Come get the end of this bread. How many of y’all now, isn’t this a shame when it comes to a loaf of bread that we eat the middle first, them two little lonely ends being there the whole time. I am not eating a sandwich with the end of that bread. If you ever make me a sandwich and you bring me them two ends, that is a croissant. That ain’t no sandwich, not eating it. How many of y’all don’t eat the end? I know it’s the same. I don’t want it.

(01:07:12):
I don’t even want the piece next to the end because it ain’t a whole piece. It’s slightly inish. It got a little white on it, but it is small on that side. Who know what I’m talking about? I’m terrible. I know God says I have a right to ask you for the seed because number one I put the zinc in the soil. Oh, and the rain that was mine. Oh, and the sun that was mine. Oh the potassium that was mine. Oh, the meum that was mine. The zinc that was mine. The iron that was mine, the calcium that was mine. So how did I provide everything and it get to be yours?

(01:08:30):
How is that your money? Tell me the last time you produced oxygen, how was that your money? Whose bones are those? Whose hands? Who gave you those fingers? Who gave you those eyes? Who gave you those capillaries? Who gave you that heart? Who gave? So since I gave you everything, I can’t figure out how I gave you everything and it gets to be yours. It’s quiet, right? I’ll tell you because if it was your skin you would change it. No, when I grew up I had acne. Anybody had acne? If it was my skin, I could have did away with it.

(01:09:30):
If it was my hair, I still have it. No, come on now, let’s keep it real. Did I tell myself self no hair? So God did that. Did I tell myself be six four? No. No. See, this is why I can’t deal with him. Did you hear what Tyrone said? He said I did. He’s not six four, but he’s over there saying that he did. Tyrone, stand up. This is why I can’t deal with him and we’re getting ready to spend the next four days together. I got to get myself together. Is Sierra here Because I’m going to have to, she and I going to have to pray.

(01:10:11):
I didn’t pick any of this. So since I didn’t pick it, it can’t be mine because I’m going to tell you there are things about you right now. If you were in charge, you’d change it. And we do change it. We do it through surgery, we do it through all kinds of things and see this is the problem. Now we’re back in our culture. It used to mean that when you would try to get in shape, you had to take the long way. Now you can just be like, I don’t like this. I got 10,000 and I don’t have it anymore. Now watch this, you look better, but you’re not healthier.

(01:10:57):
You skipped a part of the process. Come on. So what you have done is you’re eating a hamburger, but it’s McDonald’s. It’s not real. It’s not organic, it’s fake. And no wonder we’re so sick because now let’s just have a real conversation. There is no nutrition in the food. Everybody’s got cancer, we’re eating all of this processed stuff. And I read something the other day, how many of y’all we think we’re doing something zero sugars and natural flavors read what a natural flavor is. It’s still a chemical. But they found out subconsciously that if we see the word natural, and by the way organic, you know what? Let me, lemme stop. Lemme stop. Lemme stop. Lemme stay. Lemme stay focused. Ain’t ready for it. I ain’t.

(01:11:52):
So when God told Israel to bring the first fruit, it wasn’t about crops, it was about partnership and reciprocity. What I’m trying to get you to understand is, is that you don’t just want to be God’s partner in praise. You don’t want to just be his partner in attendance. You need to be his partner in giving because praise without sowing will make you always hope for. And the people always say that church stuff don’t work. It’s because you are trying to do portions of the system without implementing it all. Yes, you got to praise them. Yes, you got to show up, but if you leave the sowing out, you’re not going to trick God out of his own system.

(01:12:39):
If you can’t say man, just say ouch. So in Deuteronomy chapter number 11 verse 17, when Moses was giving the Israelites instruction from God, he spoke of the blessing and the curse of either obeying or denying God. If you chose to obey God and follow the idols, then the Bible says then the Lords anger will burn against you and he will shut up the heavens and the rain in the sun so that it will not rain on the ground that you’re on. There will be no produce and you will soon listen. Perish. Listen on the land that he gave you. The sad reality is some of us have died spiritually and emotionally in the blessing.

(01:13:36):
You finally got the house and now you can’t even get no sleep in it. You finally got that car you couldn’t afford and now you ain’t got nowhere to go and you just had to have the house with the extra bedroom for guess who don’t come to see you don’t act like you didn’t get caught up in that. I need a house with a guest room just in case they come over. Lemme tell you, it is cheaper for you to get them guests a hotel room for a day than it is for you to buy a house and have it all year. For people who visit you at Christmas, you are paying a thousand dollars a month more for a house with an extra bedroom with no guest, not to include the bed you got to buy to put in there not to include the comforter that you got from Bed Bath and beyond to put in there not to mention the pillows that you got to get to bed. Not to mention the towels you got to put in there not to mention, not to mention, not to mention for them not to even send you a thank you card after they leave, put ’em at the Hyatt, send an Uber to pick ’em up 20 minutes before dinner and then send ’em back home.

(01:15:02):
By the way, they ain’t got no extra room for you if you go there. No, I’m trying to tell y’all how to get it. You don’t need a house with a guest room if you can’t afford it. Don’t get a house with a guest room. This is what you do. Y’all listen to you, boy, go down there to the Walmart, get you an air mattress, take the coffee table, slide it to the side, put that air mattress right in the middle of that living room, right in front of that tv and that is the guest room.

(01:15:49):
They even got air mattress now to come with a little air thing. It’ll be done in about 13 minutes because that just got it up. That ain’t even started. Some of y’all in there light. Don’t tell me you ain’t almost passed out. Blowing up air mattress before. I done almost passed out, blowing up a water tube thing before. I know an air mattress ain’t possible. Y’all doing all right? Yeah. One of the reasons some people have famines in their life and when you hear the word famine, everybody just, I want you to start thinking of subconsciously, when I say famine, it just simply means that I have wants, okay? Simply means to want. It’s because of disobedience in the sowing and reaping system. Back then there were many rules with giving the first fruit sacrifice. Listen to this. Good God, I got so many good things to tell y’all and lemme tell you what I’m running up against right now. I know our culture. Once the sermon gets to about 45 minutes long, y’all like, okay, I heard from the Lord, but I will not be moved by you today.

(01:17:35):
You’re probably going to end up walking out acting like you’re going to the bathroom and going home. Before I finish, one of the reasons some people have problems in this system is because back then this is so good. Write this down. I’m going to say it two or three times, this is for you. Alright, y’all ready? Michelle? Now when I say this, most of us are not going to get it because you know where we are right now. We are in our culture. But remember, I need you to take a vacation. Come on, just get up and step. Can we go back just one second. This is why one of the reasons or one of the rules I should say in BC was they had to bring the first fruit to the temple.

(01:18:28):
Watch this. If they did not bring the first fruit to the temple, they were not allowed to spend money on anything else. God was so in charge that God says, if you haven’t bought me the first fruit, you’re not permitted to go shopping. If you haven’t given the first fruit, then this ain’t the year you trade your car in and get a new one. If you haven’t given the first fruit, you don’t get a shopping spree this year. Ain’t no beauty salon, ain’t no nail tech, no facials, no massages, no vacations until you give the first fruit. I prohibit any other commerce.

(01:19:45):
But because we live in our culture, we start with our stuff and we give God what’s left over. Now I got a Bible word for you. Come here Cain and Able. The Bible says in the book of Genesis there was some twins named Cain and Abel. One of them, the Bible says, brought some fruit and vegetables, but Abel brought the fatted calf and the fat of his first produce. And God was more pleased with April’s offering over canes. Why was God more pleased? They both brought him a first fruit so that how did one rise through the ranks and leave the other one behind? Are we back where we started? How did one get above the other? They both bought an offering that day. But the Bible says that Cain brought God some vegetables and Abel brought him the offering.

(01:21:09):
Cain brought him some vegetables. Abel brought him the offering. So what it means by some, it means that Cain took his first fruit, fed his family, fed himself, fed his animals, and then took God What was left? Abel said, baby, I love you, children, I love you. I do anything for you except forgive you. So he gave God what belonged to him and then God went and fed them and it made Cain so mad that he kills Abel because God preferred him over him. Can I tell you God didn’t prefer Abel over Cain? God preferred Abel’s offering, and let me tell you how to get ahead of everybody. You can’t figure out how to outperform outgive ’em.

(01:22:32):
See y’all bored on the wrong sermon. If I was telling you, give your neighbor high Hive and tell your neighbor, high, high, this is my season and it ain’t going to be how many years. You need to find out that it ain’t been your season yet. When you keep the fruit and you eat it first you give God an unfavorable offering. Stop giving God some money and give him the money he’s asking for. Here’s time for tithes and offering. All right, God, take this 20. That’s some fruit, but it ain’t the fruit because the only way you give God $20 is if you made 200, if you gave God $20 and you made more than 200, will a man rob God? Yes. Wherein have you robbed me in tithe and offering notice? God didn’t say, will a man steal from me? He said, will a man rob me? Because there is a difference between a thief and a robber.

(01:23:53):
A thief is somebody who steals from when you’re not looking. A robber is one who walks right up to you and said, I want what you got and what you going to do about it. And God says, every time you come to church and you bring the money in and you take it out, you have told me I’m keeping my fruit. What you going to do about it? Preach. Preach Keon. Because they ain’t going to help you preach. They out there mad and they the one that didn’t do it. Preach How you mad at me?

(01:24:32):
I’m trying to figure out as we rob God over and over for our luxuries and we take our tithes and by mimosas and still miserable, you would prefer to get drunk than get delivered. Do you trust me? Are you just here to just punch in the ticket and say, I went to church. Am I doing my job? Yes, I’m asking. I don’t know what you hired me for, but I’m doing my job right now. It is not my job to make you feel great about this. It is my job to let you know what God expects so you can get what’s yours. That’s my job.

(01:25:38):
And for everybody, this isn’t a problem for they’re having a great time. Everybody like for I don’t know why you’re talking to me. I ain’t got nothing to do with this. I’ve been tithing but I’m trying to get you to understand. Hear me. You might be saying, pastor, I do my job, but there’s a man in the Bible by the name of Aiken and if it wasn’t for Aiken, I wouldn’t be preaching this story. All of Israel had done what they were supposed to do, but it was one man in the house by the name of Aiken who stole what was God. And God cursed everybody and you don’t understand. Your unfaithfulness is costing me.

(01:26:27):
Your unfaithfulness is messing up my child’s future. Your unfaithfulness is messing with her son. We got to get on the same accord so God can bless us all. And let me tell you something. When I prepared the sermon, I knew I was going to lose some people. I knew it. I knew when I came in the door since some people ain’t going to receive it, but I was so comfortable with it because I understand that it is not because I am not giving them the truth. It’s because they can’t get out of their culture and get into what God wants them to have.

(01:27:08):
I came to tell you that you are living beneath your privilege. It is the father’s good pleasure that you would have the benefits of the kingdom. It is God’s intention that you reap the harvest. It is God’s. It is his intention that you have life and have life to the fullest. That’s what more abundantly means. Anybody want to have abundance? Anybody tired of praying about cell phone bills? Anybody tired of not having insurance? Anybody tired of trying to pray that your son is an athlete so that he can get a scholarship and you can look that boy and I say, boy, if you can’t hit a baseball, daddy got you. If you can’t shoot a basketball, mama got you because I got seed in the ground.

(01:27:52):
But you know why we struggle with this is because Israel saw the first fruit as a way of multiplying their future. We see giving as a way of subtracting from our present when it comes time to give, all we can think about is what we won’t have if we give that. And you don’t realize that what you’re keeping is the reason why you can’t keep nothing. Can I say what I just said? Again, what you’re keeping is the reason you can’t keep nothing. So God says, oh, you won’t give me what’s mine. Okay, neighbor, throw a baseball through their window. They don’t have insurance. Drunk driver hit the car while it’s on the street. They only have liability. God will orchestrate ways to take your harvest if you don’t give it to him.

(01:28:56):
Toothache, come on, they ain’t got dental insurance. Come on, toothache. Refrigerator, break down. They didn’t get the warranty job go overseas. They ain’t got a backup plan. And yet you sitting next to somebody who lost their job too and ain’t Mr. Bill yet. You know why I said do you want to? I need everybody in this building online who lost a job, lost some hours, had a pay cut and still ain’t lost nothing. Make some noise in this place. Crystal. I don’t know why when you up here saying wait on the Lord, it almost took me out because they didn’t know what I was preaching when they decided they were going to sing that song. Everybody say, wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord. But you know what? Because we live in our culture and we don’t live in God’s culture, we don’t understand weight.

(01:30:11):
No, no, we don’t understand weight. See, you used to have to wait until you gave birth to find out what the sex of the baby was. Now you can get pregnant on Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon they can tell you if you’re having a boy or a girl, don’t live. You used to have to wait until your cycle didn’t come. As of we’re letting you know now you can go get something from the store and I think the last commercial I’ve seen is in seven days. Now look at all the things we used to have to wait for when we were growing up. My mother used to start cooking on Saturday.

(01:30:50):
You’d be smelling, you’d be smelling the crock pot, black eye peas, green beans with a ham hock in it. Come on. Cornbread and candy, yams and greens. Lord, help me. Jesus. Oxtails and rice and gravy, my Lord Jesus. Now we get home from church. What you want to eat? Let me find out Cracker Barrel open. Don’t got to wait no more. We don’t have to wait. We don’t have to wait on nothing. People got the nerve to get mad when fast food takes too long. I’ve been waiting on my nuggets for four minutes. Wait, you don’t want to ask for I’m hot because fresh takes time.

(01:32:02):
But because we’re not used to waiting, we want the fresh taste without the time you tell me how somebody going to get you something hot if they don’t make it when you order it. I wish your kids would tell you how cold that food is when you take it to the table while you around here complaining about stuff being cold. But they can’t say nothing because you’re going to beat ’em. So they just eat it lukewarm. I’m talking to y’all. The Holy Spirit gave me this word. I said the Holy Spirit gave me this word.

(01:32:40):
Lemme read you some scriptures and let y’all go home so you can get a nap. God says, the reason why I can ask you for the fruit is because I am the first fruit. The Bible says that he is the first born of all creation. Notice the Bible doesn’t say he’s the first created. Come here John one and one. In the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God. Y’all read that one before, right? And the Bible says in John it says that, how do we know that the word is referring to Jesus? Because you got to go to verse 14 of chapter one to understand this. He says, and the word became flesh and tabernacle dwelt among us. So that simply means that God is actually saying that when you see the word, you’re actually talking about me because the word became flesh and I’m the only part of the Godhead and the Trinitarian complex that became flesh and tabernacle and walked amongst you.

(01:33:53):
I tabernacle amongst you. You didn’t even know I was a shadow because the children of Israel had to go to the tabernacle. I’m the one I tabernacle amongst you. I was tabernacle amongst you in the wilderness, not in the New Testament. That was me. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without face and form and void. And here it is and the Bible says, and the spirit hovered over the water. And here you are thinking that I came 2023 years ago, did you not see in creation that my spirit was already hovering over the water? And that is why when Peter got out of the boat he didn’t sink because he wasn’t walking on the water, he was walking on the spirit.

(01:34:39):
Alright, I got to let y’all go. Bring Colossians one and 12 up on the screen so they can see it. Colossians one and 12, the Bible says this says, giving thanks to the Father who made us partakers of the inheritance, who also delivered us from the darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his son who redeemed the word redeemed means to compensate for defects. Yeah, I could too. He said I bought ’em knowing it wasn’t working. Hallelujah. And what did he buy us with his blood? Verse 16. For by him all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers. He is before all things and by him all things consist. Verse 18, he is the head of the church. Who is the beginning, the first born from the dead. Now why would he say that he’s the first born from the dead? Where is the dead buried in the ground?

(01:36:20):
So if the seed is buried in the ground, how do you know the seed grew? You see evidence above it. Wow. I’m just trying to see who the fast learners are in the class. Someone like, alright, well okay, get on with it. The seed is in the ground. What’s the proof that the seed grew evidence above the ground? Where was Jesus buried in the ground? Well, what’s the evidence that he works? He rose above the ground. If I and I be lifted up out, draw all men unto me. God says, I’m just like the seed in the garden. If you see my works, if you see me, then you’ve seen my father and my father and I are one. He’s basically saying, how dare you not trust the God who was dead and got up on his own.

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You not going to trust me with your money, but you can trust me with your soul because if I can’t do right by your money, then what makes you think I got a heaven you can go to? So you going to trust me with your destination but not with your dollars? Imagine if you were in a relationship with somebody who treated you like we treat God. I trust you for this, but I’m going to get the rest of that from somebody else. I’m going to let you take care of me, but I’m going to let somebody else pour into me while you around here talking about faithfulness. You cheating on the biggest player of them all so I can be in charge of your life but not your finances depart from me. I never knew you and my friends as I close. This is the gospel. Stand to your feet. I am the true vine. My father, he’s the husband man, I have never put

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Myself in a position. God says to not be trusted,

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Ask somebody who really authentically tried me. What I would do. Don’t ask the people who tried to manipulate me. Ask the people who tried me help me. Holy Spirit, in this valley of dry bones, hell is nervous. Did you hear me? Hell is nervous because if we could ever get liberated from this, oh people of God generational wealth, it’s the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous. You want to find out how we can outrank other groups, learn to not just be activated by giving to the poor. The reason why black people love giving to the poor is because most of us know what it feels like to be poor. But let me ask you a question. When is the last time you got a miracle? Because you gave somebody a quarter on the street.

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Sowing and reaping is what the miracle is. I’m giving God 20% today. I trust him. I know if I give God 80% of my entire worth right now, I bet you I will not borrow for bread because I know that if I gave him the 80, it’s his and since he’s not going to let me out, give him, it’s the only reason why I have 90% is because I give him 10. Listen to me, every person in this room and watching me online, you ought to live by this. If you do nothing else, give God 10%, give yourself 10% and live off the rest.

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Watch God stretch your 80 and it’d be more than your a hundred. If you want to be aggressive, if you want to go just a little more aggressive than 10, 10 80, go 10, 10, 10 70. Give God 10%, save 10%, invest 10% live off to 70. Once you do that, your 10% the interest will pay for the 70 that you want. I want you to get to a place where the interest you accumulate from your sacrifice pays for your living expenses. I’m calling you out of robbing Peter, whoever he is to pay Paul, whoever he is when I could just pay Elohim and he’ll pay Peter and Paul.

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Look at how you decrease your creditors by one, by going right to God and not out. I want for nothing. Look at me. I want for nothing. I’m from Gary, Indiana, I’m from the hood, I’m from the projects. I’m from the street and I want for nothing and it ain’t smart. I’m a giver. I can do whatever I want to do because a giver, I can live wherever I want to live because I’m a giver. I can drive whatever I want to drive because I’m a giver. When I first started this church, I used to let people make me feel bad at what kind of car I drove, but they was just mad at me. They wasn’t givers. And then when they became givers and got blessed, guess what? They got the same when I was driving because you can’t be God given when we came to church, I can show you no less than I’m guessing in this room right now, 10 to 15 people who have the ability to buy more houses, more cars, but they didn’t. So we could get in here.

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Now when they go to the lot, they can decide if they want to or not. See when you get to the car lot because your car breaking down and you got to have another one immediately, that’s no position to be in. You shouldn’t be in a place where you can’t give your children lunch money to go to school because you don’t have it. And I’ve been there, I once was lost, but now I’m found. I once was blind, but now I see. So I want you to put a stake in the ground today that with this tithe than this first fruit, I’m putting the devil on notice that I will never lack another day in my entire life ever again. Can you say amen? Amen.

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Listen to me because some of you’re have a great skillset, you have a great talent, you have great businesses, you’re not tithes. And this isn’t resonating with you because you’re like, you know what? I’m doing all right with the little 2, 3, 4, 5% I’m giving. You don’t know what the devil got planned. And let me tell you something, you might be getting by but you’re not going to get away. The Bible says in Malachi that even sometimes sickness is associated with the lack of giving that the devil, when the Bible says devour earth, he’s talking about the devil. He’s saying, so when I give this, it is I rebuke the devil. This is what my tithes does to the devil. Every time he tries to give me block, block, block, block. If I don’t have this hedge, now I’m at God’s mercy. And to every man there is given a measure of grace.

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Somebody say, Lord, don’t let my grace run out. Come on, say it again Lord. Don’t let my grace run out. I want every person online and every person in this room, our ushers are passing out envelopes right now. I want you to get your envelope and I want you to get your first fruit. Your first fruit is one week, one month, one year of income. If none of those work for you, we said you can do the year 2023. If that doesn’t work, you can do 223. Why? Because God is not considered. He’s not considering the size of the gift. He’s actually looking at the size of the sacrifice. It would be crazy to ask somebody to give 2020 $3 and they only made $10,000 in the whole year. But you can give God a hundred. You can give God a thousand.

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I have an investment. Watch this. Just this morning my financial advisor sent me a text message with three screenshots of an investment. Are you listening to me that he just discovered that yields 35% annually. I didn’t say, I text him and say, Hey, what you got? I said, I opened up my phone today. And he text me. Because when you are a giver, God will put you on the right people’s mind. And I dec declare and declare that after this first fruit, great people are about to start bringing you great opportunities. Come on somebody. How many of y’all want to be connected to people who say, you know what? I just found out about something legal?

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Yeah, we ain’t going down that road. That will set you up to be a blessing to your children’s children. How many of y’all want to be a blessing to your children’s children? Everybody got your gifts? Everybody online there getting you instructions right now. This is going to be, I declare it by faith. This shall be the largest gathering of gifts that this church has ever received in one day in its history that people from all over the world are about to release gifts that will show you God, that we are in partnership with you and give you permission to release those gifts back to us. We’re asking that you would unblock Jacob’s well so we can get our inheritance. Give us what’s ours. God, we’re ready for it. This is the year of our manifested promise. We will not have one bad financial day this year.

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We will not have one late fee this year. We will not have one unpaid bill this year. We will not even have a week where we can’t put 10% in our savings account. God, we ask that you would put us in a position where there was only transfer from checking to saving, not saving the check in. Hallelujah. Jesus, all of our credit cards are paid off by the end of the month. We pay no interest on our credit card bills. Our student loans are evaporating in the name of Jesus all because of our faithfulness. Today as I move towards greater move, towards greater, I will accept all divine ideas, all divine thoughts and concepts that will connect me to my destiny. I believe I that what Jesus Christ has done for me is bigger than what anyone has can and will do to me. And because of his full gift, I will lend to many nations and borrow from none. Don’t give yet. Everybody put a praise on it.

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Now those of you all who have your tithe and your first fruit, meet me at this altar. For those of you all who are just tithe them today, stay where you are. If you have both your tithe and your first fruit, two separate gifts. Say faithful. Faithful. Everybody say faithful. Alright? The reason why I asked you to come, this is my view. God has called me in this hour to be a part of the wealth transfer that’s getting ready to happen in your life. And the reason why I know it is because I experienced it first can tell you Micha, you can tell them she’s standing up next to a street. They can tell you where I was when they met me. Can you tell ’em Shalene, when I met them, I needed them to take care of me. Am I right? Ramon Dee, they can tell you when I met them and we said we was going to start the lighthouse, your boy clothes was 12 years old and my suits was too baggy. You listening to me and they can tell you that there were some Sundays and some months where I wear the same suit in the same month on the same stage, preaching a different sermon because even though the word was fresh, my clothes, I’m going to tell you I was. I’m talking about six buttons. Don’t say too loud like that. Mama Richardson. I don’t want him to believe me that much. Blue jean suits. How many of y’all remember the blue jean suits?

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Your boy was struggling. My office was in a room with garbage cans. Am I right? Mama Rosa. And by the way, we were so poor that Mama Rosa and Brother Watson had to buy all of the Church’s Lord’s supper materials. I couldn’t do it every week for two years they purchased the Lord’s Supper so that I could administer to the people. I didn’t have the money to do it. But God, when I moved to Houston, all of my clothes were not shipped here in boxes like you. When you came, I filled up the trunk, the backseat. How many of y’all know what I’m talking about? Couldn’t put ’em in boxes because there wasn’t no room. I stuffed my stuff in the car last time I moved. I had a little mover, had me a little boxes. I even paid for the bubble wrap. You know doing better when you don’t rap in the newspaper yourself and you left them or don’t act like you don’t put newspaper and paper towels in between them plates to make sure they don’t break.

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I said upgrade me. I won’t bubble rap. And when I knew the Lord had blessed me when I didn’t save the boxes after we finished moving, oh come on church. The first time I moved with boxes, I went to Walmart. I called them ahead of time and asked them, did y’all have any boxes you getting rid of? And I stayed there and I asked them to save them and I picked the boxes up, which I should do that now. That’ll save you a whole lot money. I think that even when God does bless you, you still have to live like no one else so you can live like no one else. I asked you to come. I want you to partner with God for the rest of your life. I want us to be the, I wish that we could take the offering the way the Old Testament church did. Lemme tell you how they did it in the Old Testament. The offering came before the sermon. Go back and look at the tabernacle. The altar of sacrifice was at the front door before they got into the place where the holies was because they gave their offering when they walked in because they didn’t have to be convinced that God was going to take care of everything thing.

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I don’t want your tithe to be determined on how much you’d like the sermon or how much you were moved. 10% is 10% no matter what your mood is. And that is when we’re going to be the blessed people that God is calling us to be. I want to say a special prayer over those of you all who are not substituting one for the other. My prayer for you. Hold somebody’s hand and I want you all to say these words with me. Are you ready? This word is about to change your life. Y’all ready for it? I can tell. Can two words, y’all ready? I want you to look at your neighbor right in the eye, the one you like. Look at ’em, tell you right now, if they didn’t look at you, that mean they ain’t feeling you. Look, some of ’em like this. You two, you two, you two, you two. Everybody. Look, look, look. You ready?

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I said, are you ready? Yes. Shout these two words in their face. Say double. Double portion. That’s what’s about to happen. That’s what’s about to happen. Come on, look at your other neighbors. Say double portion. Double portion. There’s a double portion anointing about to fall on this house. There’s a double portion anointing about to fall on your home. And I need you to spend the next 22 seconds giving God the glory. God is about to, I shall recover. God right now is the name of Jesus. Every goal they have, multiply it by two, multiply their salaries by two, multiply their anointing by two, multiply their influence by two. Let their business income go up twice, give them twice the amount of ideas and visions and dreams.

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And this is the day that we turn the world upside down. And this is the day that we left poverty behind and our decree that not another person with your last name shall ever be poor again in the mighty name of Jesus. I want you to take your gift and I’m going to bless your gift and we’re going to lay it on the altar. And if you are not in a hurry and you don’t have anywhere to go, we still have to make sure we give God the best gift of all, and that is our soul.

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So if you’re not in a hurry and you don’t have anywhere to go and you can wait until I give you the benediction, then please be obedient and subservient to that request. If you have to go to work or you have to go somewhere else, God knows your heart, you can go. I’m going to give you the blessing now that God will bless you and you’re going and you’re coming and that you will get home and everything will be in order. For those of us who are not in a hurry, we’re going to lay our gift on this altar and then we’re going to give an opportunity for people to give their souls to Jesus Christ. Is that all right? Do y’all got my back? Do you got my back? Alright. Lay your gift on the altar. Lay it on the altar. Lay it on the altar. Lay it on the altar. Lay it on the altar.