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00:00:00Avoiding the Ops.
00:00:11For those who may need some clarification, the term or the word Ops is simply a cultural
00:00:24colloquialism.
00:00:25It's contemporary slang that refers to opponents, adversaries, enemies, opposition.
00:00:40The term Ops can represent anything that stands in opposition to your advancement and evolution.
00:00:52And while much of the cultural use of the word Ops refers to external enemies, in our
00:01:03time together tonight, I'd like to encourage us to take an alternative look at the term
00:01:09Ops and not just focus on external enemies.
00:01:20And I'd like to encourage us to explore the possibility of internal ones.
00:01:28Sometimes the Ops isn't opposition outside of me.
00:01:37Sometimes the Ops are issues in me.
00:01:42And today I came to expose, to identify, and hopefully help us arrest an Op that is
00:01:49extremely dangerous, yet often dismissed.
00:01:53It's an Op called Average.
00:01:59Please allow me to boldly get right to business.
00:02:02You are too anointed to be average, too radical to be regular.
00:02:06You are too special to be simple.
00:02:10You have been created, called, and commissioned to stand up, to stick out, and to set it off
00:02:17for the glory of God.
00:02:19Your purpose is too profound and your assignment is too imperative for you to haphazardly live
00:02:25your life, meandering through the maze of mediocrity.
00:02:29As a matter of fact, Elton Trueblood, the former chaplain at Harvard University said
00:02:35this, intentional mediocrity is sin.
00:02:42It is mismanaging and poorly stewarding the gifts, talents, and ability that God has graciously
00:02:50granted us.
00:02:51And I came to announce tonight that if you and I are going to accomplish our God-given
00:02:58assignment, then we must be willing to address and arrest a principality called mediocrity.
00:03:07Pastor, a principality?
00:03:12Yes, a principality called mediocrity because, listen to this family, a principality manifests
00:03:20itself in dysfunctional social norms in a geographical region or in a demographic of
00:03:28people.
00:03:29I'm going to say it one more time.
00:03:31A principality manifests itself in dysfunctional social norms.
00:03:37So you see norm, you see, watch this, you see dysfunction becoming normal.
00:03:45Did you hear what I just said?
00:03:47You see dysfunction becoming normal.
00:03:51And you see patterns of dysfunction that are not necessarily taught, they're caught.
00:04:02So regions and families and people groups seem to have similar challenges.
00:04:13But when dysfunction becomes normal, you feel comfortable with dysfunction because
00:04:19everybody is, to the degree that when you step out of dysfunction and you actually become
00:04:26functional because people have misinterpreted dysfunction as normal, when you stop being
00:04:32dysfunctional and start becoming functional, people start looking at you as if something
00:04:37is wrong with you, as if you are confused, as if you are deceit, but the devil is a liar.
00:04:47We are coming for the principality of mediocrity and Jackson, your season for playing small
00:04:56is coming to an end.
00:05:01This is why I'm praying that God gives you discernment about your circle because some
00:05:06of you are surrounded by people that unconsciously put you in positions where you have to play
00:05:14small because you being your authentic self disrupts their sense of self.
00:05:20So they only feel big when you are small, but I pray that God sends you people that
00:05:29are able to receive the fullness of who you are.
00:05:35Here it is.
00:05:36I'm praying that God sends you people that you don't have to censor your testimony to.
00:05:45What happened?
00:05:46It was all right.
00:05:47No, I'm praying God sends you people that can handle the totality of what God did.
00:05:51What happened?
00:05:52He blew my mind.
00:05:53What happened?
00:05:54He opened the door.
00:05:55What happened?
00:05:56Exceedingly and abundantly above all, I asked to think we've got to break this principality
00:06:08called mediocrity print principality, dysfunctional, social, it manifest in dysfunctional social
00:06:21norms that show up in regions or demographics of people.
00:06:27We see it.
00:06:28We see evidence of this in action in Daniel chapter 10.
00:06:31When the Bible says Daniel praise, he's waiting for clarity regarding his prayer and then
00:06:37he fasts for 21 days and in Daniel 10, the text says on the 21st day, an angel, a messenger
00:06:46comes to Daniel and says these words from the first day that you set your heart to understand
00:06:54I was sent to you, but listen to what the angel said, but the Prince of Persia withstood
00:07:01me 21 days.
00:07:04Now how can a literal human Prince hold up the arrival of an angel?
00:07:11Actually Daniel's not referring there to a literal human Prince of Persia because here's
00:07:18what the messaging angel said.
00:07:20The messaging angel said that the Prince of Persia was so strong he had to go up in rank
00:07:25in angels and he said, I had to call for Michael to help me.
00:07:28I had to call for an archangel, one that was higher in authority to come and assist me.
00:07:35So this wasn't a human Prince.
00:07:37It was a principality that was assigned to the region of Persia responsible for orchestrating
00:07:48dysfunction in families, in people groups, in regions, Satan's kingdom mimics the organizational
00:08:13infrastructure of God's.
00:08:15Come on here.
00:08:18And this principality of mediocrity, this principality is rooted in an inaccurate and
00:08:31unbiblical understanding of humility.
00:08:39If I don't have a biblical understanding of humility, I will always fall victim to
00:08:45mediocrity.
00:08:47If I don't have a biblical understanding of humility, I will always fall victim to mediocrity.
00:08:54If I don't have a biblical understanding of humility, I will always fall victim to mediocrity.
00:09:01Pastor, what do you mean when I have an unbiblical understanding of humility, I operate with
00:09:08the assumption that arrogance comes when I have an awareness of what God has done for
00:09:15me or what God has put in me.
00:09:21An unbiblical understanding of humility confuses awareness with arrogance.
00:09:33Are y'all here tonight?
00:09:34Jackson?
00:09:35Yeah, I need somebody to repeat after me.
00:09:38Don't tell your neighbor because I don't know what kind of energy they on tonight,
00:09:41but somebody just repeat after me.
00:09:43I want you to say, I'm not arrogant.
00:09:46I'm just aware.
00:09:48And some people are so used to people who have no self-awareness or low self-awareness.
00:09:54They don't know what to do with somebody who know who they are.
00:10:05But one writer puts it this way.
00:10:07He says, arrogance doesn't come when you know who you are and you know what God has done.
00:10:13He says, arrogance comes when you forgot or you forget who gave it to you.
00:10:18Yeah, I'm not arrogant.
00:10:20I'm aware of who I have, of what I have, but I'm humble because I know who gave it to me.
00:10:27And if he gave it to me, I'm going to use it.
00:10:29If he gave it to me, I'm going to walk in it.
00:10:32If he gave it to me, I'm going to unleash it.
00:10:35And if you have an issue with me walking in my awareness, don't expect me to bring mine down.
00:10:41You need to pull yours up.
00:10:59Your season of playing small has to come to an end.
00:11:07And I am not, I am not articulating this just for the purpose of your peace.
00:11:12I'm articulating this because of the reality of your purpose, because mediocrity is an
00:11:20assassin to your assignment.
00:11:22See, come on here.
00:11:25We can stay comfortable in mediocrity when we have an inaccurate understanding of what
00:11:31purpose requires.
00:11:33And what most people don't realize is that purpose requires the unleashing of your potential.
00:11:40That the potential that you have is for the purpose that you've been given.
00:11:45And if I am not properly stewarding my potential, it means that I will not be able to walk in
00:11:51my purpose because purpose will require all you got.
00:11:56You can cheat on the test.
00:11:58You can cheat on the documents.
00:12:00Come on here.
00:12:01You can cheat.
00:12:02Are y'all following me?
00:12:03Yeah.
00:12:04You can cheat in school.
00:12:05You can cheat on the job, but you can't cheat purpose.
00:12:09Purpose will require all that you have.
00:12:11How do you know Darius?
00:12:13Because when Jesus was accomplishing his purpose on the cross, he didn't just hang on the cross.
00:12:19He was stretched on the cross.
00:12:25Let me say it one more time.
00:12:27He didn't just hang on the cross.
00:12:29He was stretched on the cross because purpose will stretch you.
00:12:34Purpose is going to require everything that you have.
00:12:39And I want to know, is there anybody that has the spiritual sensitivity similar to the
00:12:46sons of Issachar where you can discern the time and know what you ought to do?
00:12:51Is anybody discerning?
00:12:52I'm being stretched right now.
00:12:55He's stretching my faith.
00:12:56He's stretching my ability.
00:12:58He is stretching my mind.
00:13:01He is stretching my patience.
00:13:03Is there anybody in stretching season?
00:13:05Well, if you're in stretching season, you better get ready because when God gets through
00:13:11stretching you, he's going to use you in ways that your eyes hadn't seen and your ears
00:13:17hadn't heard and your heart.
00:13:25What you call suffering, he calls stretching.
00:13:31What you call trials, he calls stretching.
00:13:38I'm trying to get you to see something.
00:13:43I'm trying to get you to see something.
00:13:53That your ability to accomplish your assignment is tied to your willingness to overcome the
00:14:00op of average.
00:14:05And it's relative.
00:14:07This is what's scary, it's relative.
00:14:12It means that I can't authentically declare and determine whether or not I am walking
00:14:22in my potential by comparing my progress to another person.
00:14:33Did you hear what I just said, right?
00:14:36Because what God is judging me on is how I am stewarding what he gave me.
00:14:47So it means I can't compare myself to them and then determine how good I'm doing.
00:14:53I got to compare myself to me.
00:14:56And God's like, for some of us, he say, I've given you so much, you can give 50%.
00:15:03And your 50% is somebody else's 90%.
00:15:07So you don't feel the pressure and the urgency and the unction to take it to another level
00:15:13because you're still doing better than most.
00:15:18But I came to agitate you tonight.
00:15:20I came to not come on here.
00:15:22I didn't come to give you a wow message.
00:15:23I came to give you our message tonight.
00:15:26I came to tell you there's more in you.
00:15:28I came to tell you God wants to use you in ways that blow your mind.
00:15:32I came to tell you that it's time to unlock and to unleash dormant potential.
00:15:41And the text that we read in Daniel is an amazing example of this.
00:15:48This passage is an incredible passage that exposes us to an individual that I think we
00:15:54would all agree accomplished his purpose.
00:15:59Now here's catch this.
00:16:00He's widely known as a prophet.
00:16:05Got me?
00:16:07But his impact on us is not his prophecy.
00:16:12Because most of us don't know his prophetic messages.
00:16:17You know, Jeremiah's, you know, you know, you know, some of Jeremiah's prophetic messages,
00:16:22don't you?
00:16:23I know the plans I have for you.
00:16:25Give me a Daniel one.
00:16:32Because are you hearing me?
00:16:34Because he's widely known as a prophet, but his greatest impact for us was not as prophetic
00:16:40ministry.
00:16:41It wasn't come on him being known as a prophet.
00:16:44His impact was because he was a picture.
00:16:50God not only use them as a prophet.
00:16:53God also use them as a picture.
00:16:55As a prophet, God uses gifts.
00:16:58As a picture, God uses life.
00:17:01And we got to be conscious of this if we're serious about being used by God, because it's
00:17:07one thing for God to use your gifts.
00:17:10It's another thing for God to use your life.
00:17:12And most of us want to be used as a prophet, because it doesn't cost me anything to let
00:17:17him use my gifts.
00:17:21But when God uses you as a picture, he says, I'm going to let you go in the lion's den.
00:17:27And I'm going to let you stay there and not be consumed by something that will consume
00:17:32somebody else, because I want to use you as a picture.
00:17:39That if I do, y'all do remember the story now, we don't have to go back to Sunday school,
00:17:45do we?
00:17:46Do we not know that when Daniel went down in the lion's den, he didn't go down by himself?
00:17:54That somebody went down there and shot the mouth of the lion.
00:18:02That because, I'm not going to bother this, but because Daniel was functioning in a way
00:18:08that was consistent with his assignment, God honored his faithfulness.
00:18:15Y'all missing this?
00:18:16He honored his faithfulness by making the creatures behave in a way that was consistent
00:18:23with kingdom order.
00:18:25Y'all missing it?
00:18:27Because before sin, Adam in the garden was living in harmony with animals, because that's
00:18:37the father's original intent.
00:18:41So when Daniel went in the lion's den, the same God that did it for Adam is the same
00:18:52God that does it for Daniel, because he speaks lion.
00:18:59Y'all missed what I just said.
00:19:03Daniel doesn't speak lion, but God, you do know God speaks multiple languages.
00:19:08You do know that the Bible says when Jonah got out of that well, what happened?
00:19:12God spoke to the fish because he speaks well.
00:19:16You do know water came out of a rock.
00:19:20God told Moses, speak to it, not hit it, because he speaks rock and he speaks lion.
00:19:28He speaks the language of whatever is holding you hostage, and when he speaks to it, it's
00:19:36got to let you go.
00:19:53So he used Daniel as a picture.
00:20:02He uses Daniel as a picture, a possibility for us.
00:20:11And many of us are saying, God, I want you to use me.
00:20:30You want me to use you?
00:20:31Yeah.
00:20:32All right.
00:20:33I'm going to let you go in this lion's den.
00:20:38You want me to use you?
00:20:39Okay.
00:20:40All right.
00:20:41Here's what I'm going to do.
00:20:42I'm going to take pain that you want to stay private, and I'm going to make it public,
00:20:55because if I don't make it public, they can't see the picture, and if they can't see the
00:20:59picture, then they won't be able to see the potential for them.
00:21:05So I'm going to take something that you want to stay private, and I'm going to make it
00:21:09public, because I need the same people who saw you go in the lion's den to stick around
00:21:19long enough, because I want the same people that saw you go in to be the same people that
00:21:27saw you go in.
00:21:28I want to see you come out.
00:21:29Somebody throw your hands up and say, keep watching.
00:21:30You saw me go in, and you're going to watch me come out.
00:21:31You saw me broken, you're going to watch me whole.
00:21:32You saw me sick, you're going to watch me well.
00:21:33I'm coming out.
00:21:34I'm coming out.
00:21:35I'm coming out.
00:21:36I'm coming out.
00:21:37I'm coming out.
00:21:38I'm coming out.
00:21:39I'm coming out.
00:21:40I'm coming out.
00:21:41I'm coming out.
00:21:42I'm coming out.
00:21:43I'm coming out.
00:21:44I'm coming out.
00:21:45I'm coming out.
00:21:46I'm coming out.
00:21:47I'm coming out.
00:21:48I'm coming out.
00:21:49I'm coming out.
00:21:50I'm coming out.
00:21:51I'm coming out.
00:21:52I'm coming out.
00:21:53Michael!
00:22:09If I say Daniel's name, you don't know many of his prophecies, but you do know the lines
00:22:17then.
00:22:20Yes, sir.
00:22:23a major prophet. Right? He's not a minor prophet. He's a major, which it's not, it's
00:22:29not that he's more prophetic than others. It means that the, that the span of his
00:22:32writings was more exhaustive. Right? It just means his prophetic writings are
00:22:38larger. He had a lot to prophesy about. You don't know, but you know about that
00:22:46lines then. Because your picture is louder than your prophecy. Did you hear
00:23:00what I just said? Yeah. Your picture is louder than your prophecy. Yeah. He's,
00:23:09he's, he's, he's a picture. I'm almost done. I got eight minutes. Y'all all
00:23:13right. Okay. Here it is. Here it is. Some of y'all, I came a long way. Okay. I
00:23:18got you. I got you. I'm a finish. I got you.
00:23:27So I don't have time to unpack this the way I would like to, but I want you to
00:23:31see, I want you to see here. Um, not just what is accomplished, but where it's
00:23:38accomplished. I'm actually getting ready to spend two days next week,
00:23:42walking people through some of this revelation because I want you to see
00:23:47where this is accomplished. It's not at church.
00:23:59Let me read, let me just make sure I read it right. Daniel chapter six verse, I
00:24:06want to make sure I'm reading this right. And it pleased Darius who's the
00:24:10king of Persia to set over the kingdom, 120 satraps to be over the whole
00:24:17kingdom. And over these three governors of home, Daniel was one.
00:24:21That's not church.
00:24:31That is a Persian pagan king.
00:24:40It is a sector or some people call it a mountain. I call it a street. It is the
00:24:47governmental street. He works in government
00:24:55with a prophetic gift.
00:25:03Did you hear what I just said? Yeah, he works in government and he is working
00:25:08for an unbelieving supervisor.
00:25:17And so, and so he's just trying to do his job.
00:25:36That's it. This is second supervisor. The first one was crazy.
00:25:42See, I'm not even going to bother this.
00:25:58Because this is what Daniel had and this is what I want. Good to see you pastor.
00:26:01This is what Daniel had. This is what I want. The anointing of longevity.
00:26:06Y'all missed it because most people think Daniel's story starts in Daniel six,
00:26:15but the entire book is called Daniel.
00:26:19So if you go back to Daniel three and you see this story about the Hebrew boys,
00:26:23Daniel's in there. Are y'all here?
00:26:28Which means when Nebuchadnezzar was around, he was there.
00:26:36And when Babylon got conquered by Persia and Darius took over,
00:26:41he looked at Daniel and say, you with me.
00:26:47Are y'all ready for this?
00:26:52This is the reason, and I'm getting ready to show you this.
00:26:56He's experiencing workplace warfare.
00:27:03Y'all not talking to me.
00:27:05I thought I read the text.
00:27:09I thought the text says that Daniel,
00:27:13come on. Daniel was one of three governors.
00:27:17Come on.
00:27:19And he distinguished himself above the others because the exodus spirit was on
00:27:24him. And verse four says,
00:27:26so the governors and satraps sought to find some charge
00:27:31against Daniel.
00:27:35Yeah.
00:27:37So he is just trying to do his job and he's dealing
00:27:42with shady, competitive, insecure,
00:27:46combative coworkers.
00:27:49That's upset that they don't have what he has,
00:27:53but they can't do
00:28:00they're missing something.
00:28:02They can't have what he has because they don't have what he has.
00:28:14It's, it's, it's, it's in the text.
00:28:19It says he dis he distinguished himself above.
00:28:25Is that the text? I said he distinguished himself above y'all
00:28:31missing it. This is what's called a hermeneutical loop.
00:28:35Start off saying one thing, talking about a concept,
00:28:38not directly tying the concept to the text.
00:28:41And so you're wondering what does the concept have to do with the text?
00:28:44But I pulled the concept out the text and then I started talking about the
00:28:47concept. Then I started talking about the text.
00:28:50And then I show you how the concept I was talking about has been in the text
00:28:55all along. He distinguished himself.
00:28:59He was different. He wasn't average.
00:29:07Y'all miss what I just, yeah, he, he wasn't average.
00:29:13He distinguished himself.
00:29:18And here's some of our issue. You're scared to walk in your distinction
00:29:25because you're just, Oh Lord, I don't have time.
00:29:27Your distinction becomes a trigger. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is.
00:29:31He distinguished himself above the governors and the satraps.
00:29:37Listen to this. Look at the text because
00:29:42an excellent spirit,
00:29:46not just excellent habits,
00:29:51not just worldly excellent tactics,
00:29:55not, not simple, not cultural, uh,
00:29:59organization, but,
00:30:03and so the writer attributes Daniel's ability to excel to be the fruit of the
00:30:12work of the spirit.
00:30:18The Holy Spirit does more than excite us.
00:30:25Come on here.
00:30:28The Holy Spirit empowers us to excel.
00:30:33He says, I want to do more than make you shout. If you let me,
00:30:38I'll make you sore. I'll make you rise.
00:30:42I'll make you distinguish yourself. The text says it was an excellent spirit.
00:30:47It was an excellent spirit.
00:30:51Now here's what we got to understand, guys. God doesn't have many spirits.
00:30:59Even I can take you to prophetic writings that talk about the spirits that
00:31:01surround the throne. There are,
00:31:02those are manifestations of the attributes of the father. He's all of that.
00:31:10Robin teaching our church that that the anointing isn't separate from the
00:31:15spirit.
00:31:19The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.
00:31:28They're empowering presence of the Holy Spirit that makes you uniquely
00:31:31effective at what you've been called to do.
00:31:34Anointing the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit that enables you to be
00:31:37uniquely effective at what you've been called to do.
00:31:40The anointing,
00:31:43the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit that makes you uniquely effective at
00:31:48what you've been called to do. Not what you want to do, not what you like to do,
00:31:52not what you're able to do, but what you see,
00:31:56just because you got ability doesn't mean oils on it.
00:31:59Oil is on the thing that you've been called and assigned to do.
00:32:05And it is an X factor.
00:32:07It is a distinguishing factor and it goes beyond mere inspiration and beyond
00:32:13normal impact. Here's what the Bible says about the anointing.
00:32:17It removes burdens and it destroys yolks.
00:32:24So y'all follow me here. So,
00:32:27so the fruit or the evidence,
00:32:30the outworking of the person of the Holy Spirit empowers Daniel to accept the
00:32:37cell
00:32:40and excellent spirit. This is not a different spirit.
00:32:46It is the spirit of God.
00:32:49Psalms eight one I think puts it this way. Oh Lord, our Lord,
00:32:58how excellent is your name?
00:33:02Your name,
00:33:07your name is, your reputation is excellent. Yeah.
00:33:11Your nature is excellent. When we see you're working,
00:33:15it is not normal. The fruit of your work is not normal. It's abnormal. You're,
00:33:20you're, you're, you're, you're excellent.
00:33:21You're excellent is who you are and excellence is what you do.
00:33:26When you created the world,
00:33:27you create it and then step back and evaluate it and said, it's good.
00:33:32You didn't say it'll do.
00:33:35You didn't say it's good enough and you didn't move on to the next day until
00:33:39your evaluation of your creation was good.
00:33:42And even when he got to the sixth day and he created man and looked at man and
00:33:47said, it's not good. He didn't leave not good alone. He said, it's not good,
00:33:51but because I'm a God of excellence, I can't stop with not good.
00:33:54So I'm going to put you to sleep and I'm going to pull out of your rehab and
00:33:59then I'm going to fashion a woman so that
00:34:08so he empowers you to excel.
00:34:14So often when we talk, y'all, y'all following this often when we,
00:34:19we talk about the work and the person of the Holy spirit,
00:34:24it's inspiring, but not empowering.
00:34:29Yeah.
00:34:34And I came tonight because I,
00:34:38I want you to know it's time to do more than shout.
00:34:44It's time to soar,
00:34:46but there's a way that you can't,
00:34:49that you cannot soar if you're trying to soar with human effort.
00:34:53There's a way that you cannot soar if you're just using self-reliance,
00:34:57that there's a way that you cannot soar if you're simply using willpower,
00:35:01but if you will surrender to and submit yourself to the work and the person of
00:35:08the spirit, he will empower you to excel.
00:35:15Here it is family. Here it is. And we see this,
00:35:19we see this here in, in Daniel.
00:35:22This is how he lived his life.
00:35:25This spirit of God,
00:35:28which is the spirit of excellence was in Daniel.
00:35:31It empowered Daniel to excel and it aids and assist us in doing the best we can
00:35:37with the resources we have available. However,
00:35:41because we live in a culture that cuts corners and we live in a society of just
00:35:47enough,
00:35:47we've been conditioned to try to get maximum results with minimal efforts.
00:35:53And this may work on the school, on the job and in relationships,
00:35:58but it will not work with purpose.
00:36:05And what if I told you,
00:36:07this is the issue that's holding up some of our effectiveness and advancement.
00:36:13You keep working a gift,
00:36:15not knowing your gift is taking you as far as it can.
00:36:20I'm,
00:36:23I'm
00:36:28did you hear what I just said? Yeah.
00:36:30Paul says in Romans 11 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable
00:36:36that without repentance. So watch this. I want you, I want you to catch this.
00:36:39So when God gifts you, he doesn't un-gift you.
00:36:43Now he'll lift an anointing, but he won't remove a gift.
00:36:48That's good.
00:36:51So if the enemy can't un-gift me,
00:36:54how does he render now my gift ineffective?
00:37:01He renders my gift ineffective by getting me mired in the mud of mediocrity.
00:37:09That doesn't mean when I say ineffective, it doesn't mean not effective at all.
00:37:13It just simply means not as effective as we could be.
00:37:19And when I'm mired in the mud of mediocrity, I can help some people,
00:37:24but the only people I can help are people that are impressed with mediocrity.
00:37:34So it limits how God can use me and it limits where God can send me because he
00:37:40can only use me with people that are in such dire straits that they need my gift
00:37:50so much that they tolerate what comes with it.
00:38:01Are y'all here tonight?
00:38:04And what happens is some people, they get away with that for a season.
00:38:08They're hot and they're popular and they're in demand,
00:38:11but their attitude is nasty and they're not punctual and they're not honoring
00:38:17and they're not considerate and they don't have pleasant attitudes and they're
00:38:22not displaying the fruit of the spirit,
00:38:24but because they're hot and people want who's hot,
00:38:27they tolerate all of the stuff because of the gift.
00:38:31But then when the hotness wears off and the gift is there,
00:38:35now they say, I got to weigh whether or not I won't, not just you,
00:38:40but everything that come with you.
00:38:49This is change night, right? This is,
00:38:54this is a, this is how I render that gift.
00:39:04So hence, if one is serious about accomplishing their assignment,
00:39:09they must make a commitment to avoid the op of mediocrity.
00:39:16All God's asking you is,
00:39:18are you really partnering with me by giving me your best?
00:39:27And what's scary is only you and God know.
00:39:31That's how you can go. Gosh, that's, that's what's scary.
00:39:35Only you and God know what he put in you.
00:39:38And so that's all I'm asking you today
00:39:42is to just think for a minute and just be honest.
00:39:47Are you partnering with God? Now we know God's giving you his best.
00:39:51Are you and I got to get out of here,
00:40:02but can I have five more minutes? Okay, here it is. Cause,
00:40:06cause I see some stuff in the text. Just real quick,
00:40:09just three quick things that I see in the text that I want you properly prepared
00:40:13for when you make this shift. Here it is. Here, here it is.
00:40:18Here it is. And don't you shout Jackson.
00:40:22Don't you shout on point number one, you better not shout.
00:40:27You better not stand up and you better not receive this with prophetic
00:40:32implications. You better not. Cause the first thing I see in the text,
00:40:36when Daniel made a decision to be empowered to Excel,
00:40:40what I see in the text is promotion.
00:40:51Okay.
00:41:04Pastor, what do you mean? No, no. See,
00:41:06here's what I want you to see cause I might not be talking about where you're
00:41:09talking about. Cause in the text, the text shows us two things.
00:41:13It shows us number one, the King saying, okay, I got 120 administrators.
00:41:18I need three C suite leaders to oversee 40 of them a piece.
00:41:24So Daniel gets selected to be one of the three.
00:41:29Now you would think initially that's the promotion.
00:41:34You would think that's the blessing. That's enough to shout over right there.
00:41:43But that was just God putting Daniel in place.
00:41:49Some stuff you've been calling promotion is just placement.
00:41:54He said, I haven't promoted you yet.
00:41:56I just put you in place to get you ready for the promotion.
00:42:02That's on the, did you hear what I just said? Yeah.
00:42:07You remember in the book of Genesis when Joseph had that dream and he saw
00:42:11himself in an elevated place of influence and he goes down in that pit,
00:42:16he gets sold into slavery and he ends up in Potiphar's house and he goes from a
00:42:21slave in Potiphar's house to second in command in Potiphar's house.
00:42:25He's probably thinking, this is what I saw in the dream.
00:42:28I got influenced and God's like, you have no idea. That's not promotion.
00:42:32That's placement. I put you in Potiphar's house,
00:42:35but you're going to end up in Pharaoh's house. That's the promotion.
00:42:40Yeah.
00:42:42And Daniel got selected to be one of the three,
00:42:45but the text says because of the excellent spirit, the King said, you know what?
00:42:49I'm going to put you over everybody and I pray that somebody is receiving this
00:42:55tonight,
00:42:57that what you've been shouting about it and even the promotion is just the
00:43:02placement.
00:43:06I got to get out of here.
00:43:09That's what I see in the text.
00:43:14I see, I see promotion. I got to go.
00:43:22Let me tell you why he wants to do it.
00:43:28Cause it can sound, this can sound selfish. It can sound self-centered,
00:43:33but I want you to see the kingdom implications of this.
00:43:35Let's make hermeneutical loop.
00:43:39He says, if I'm going to use you as a picture,
00:43:44when you're in the lion's den,
00:43:49I'm also going to use you as a picture when you in the palace.
00:43:56Don't don't don't miss it. Don't miss it. See, see,
00:44:00this is what I want you to see.
00:44:03When you experience this kind of advancement,
00:44:07yeah, here's what God's able to do.
00:44:10And he can't do this with people who are mired in mediocrity.
00:44:14But when you make this shift, he can, he can use you differently.
00:44:19He can use you when you're mired in mediocrity. When you make this shift,
00:44:23he can use your name.
00:44:29I know in the Bible you see people using his name,
00:44:33but I can show you in the Bible on an occasion or two where he used people's
00:44:37names.
00:44:39When he introduced himself to a man named Moses in Exodus three,
00:44:44here is how he introduced himself. He didn't just say, I'm God.
00:44:52He said, I'm the God of Abraham.
00:44:57I'm the God of Isaac. I'm the God of Jacob.
00:45:02You see what happened with Abraham? I did that.
00:45:06You see what happened with Isaac? I did that.
00:45:09You see what happened with Jacob? I did that.
00:45:13And I don't know what your name is,
00:45:15but my prayer is that in this next season of your life,
00:45:19God starts using your name. Yeah, I did that.
00:45:23You see what happened with her? I did that. You see what happened with him?
00:45:27I did that.
00:45:31Okay.
00:45:38Promotion is in the text, but with the promotion, here it is.
00:45:43Number two is persecution.
00:45:52Yeah.
00:45:53I need you to be prepared for this because it'll persecution
00:45:58is a prize wrapped up in pain.
00:46:01Yeah.
00:46:03Y'all missed it. Yeah. It's a prize wrapped up in pain
00:46:08because it is the gift of exposure.
00:46:16You're not here because you don't want to be elevated and unaware
00:46:21of who's around you. That's not really with you.
00:46:25Yeah.
00:46:27The price is too high. The consequences are too great.
00:46:31And this is why some of you have to submit to divine
00:46:35separation without an explanation.
00:46:38Some of you are looking at some relationships that separated and you're
00:46:43confused because you don't know what happened and God orchestrated
00:46:47separation without explanation because the separation had to
00:46:52happen before your elevation.
00:46:55Y'all aren't talking to me.
00:47:02When you are stewarding responsibility and influence,
00:47:06when you're responsible for people,
00:47:09when your decisions have implications beyond you,
00:47:13one thing you can't afford to be worried about
00:47:17is who around you.
00:47:22Did you hear what I just said? Yeah.
00:47:24When you are stewarding what God has given you to steward,
00:47:29you can't worry about that and worry about who's around you.
00:47:36So the persecution sometimes is exposure
00:47:41of who's not healthy. And it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean they're not Holy.
00:47:45It can mean they aren't healthy enough because it's their health,
00:47:49not their holiness that determines how they handle your elevation.
00:47:55How emotionally healthy.
00:48:05It's like Gideon. When God cut that army down,
00:48:09that was a gift. He thought it was a disadvantage. He's like, Gideon,
00:48:14I don't want you thinking.
00:48:17I don't want you going into war thinking you got more than you have.
00:48:20You're going to be at a disadvantage if you think you got more than you have.
00:48:29So you think I'm subtracting, I'm revealing.
00:48:34This is all you really had. I know, I know,
00:48:37I know you have more numbers in your phone,
00:48:43but this is all you really had.
00:48:44And here's what's crazy.
00:48:50Read the text. It says they sought to find some charge against Daniel, right?
00:48:54But they say nothing to him.
00:49:01So their persecution is private.
00:49:11It's not what they said is what they didn't say.
00:49:15And here's what I teach our church. I teach our church.
00:49:18Don't just monitor and watch what people say when you lose it.
00:49:26Watch what they don't say when you win
00:49:33because when you lose it, some of them vocal, but when you win it,
00:49:36it's silence of the lambs.
00:49:41I got to go.
00:49:44Number one is promotion.
00:49:49Number two is persecution. Number three. Don't you shout.
00:49:54It's protection.
00:49:57It's in the text. The text said,
00:50:01it says that they started looking
00:50:07to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom,
00:50:12concerning the kingdom,
00:50:14but they could find no charge or no fault because that is what the spirit of
00:50:22excellence does. It defends you in your absence.
00:50:29You didn't hear what I just said.
00:50:31And some of you right now need to tie up loose ends because you got to start
00:50:36living your life today. Like he's about to elevate you tomorrow.
00:50:42Yeah.
00:50:47Now I got another theory because the text says they could find no charge
00:50:52concerning the kingdom, meaning his work.
00:50:56But we know since no man is perfect,
00:51:01but Jesus that if they wanted to find some other issue,
00:51:08maybe not concerning his work.
00:51:10If they look long enough, they would have found it.
00:51:14But God is so good.
00:51:21The Bible says when a man's ways please the Lord,
00:51:25he makes his enemies be at peace with him.
00:51:28Some of you need to shout cause he made them look in the wrong place.
00:51:35Okay. All the perfect people sit down. This is not for you.
00:51:39This is for some people who made some mistakes and who made some choices and
00:51:45want to praise God because it was something to find,
00:51:49but he didn't let them find it.
00:51:53I feel
00:51:57like preaching in here. I got to get out of here,
00:52:02but I need somebody to just take 10 seconds and praise God for his perfection.
00:52:09The devil thought he had me,
00:52:15but when the enemy came in like a flood,
00:52:20the spirit of God lifted up a standard,
00:52:24a standard against them.
00:52:26Is there anybody here that can testify?
00:52:30The reason I'm here tonight is because he protected me.
00:52:35Can't nobody do me like Jesus.
00:52:40Can't nobody do me like the law.
00:52:44I got to get out of here, Jackson, but I got one more point.
00:52:48Not only was there promotion,
00:52:52not only was there persecution,
00:52:55not only was there protection. I got to leave you now.
00:53:00Bye bye Jackson. I'll see you next time. But number four,
00:53:05there was preservation.
00:53:10In the middle of the lion's den,
00:53:14God kept Daniel.
00:53:18And is there anybody here that can testify in the
00:53:22middle of it?
00:53:24God kept me. Now onto him.
00:53:32He's able to keep me from falling.
00:53:37Is there anybody here that's been kept by Jesus?
00:53:41Is there anybody here that can testify?
00:53:45I got to go.
00:53:47I was sinking deep in sin,
00:53:52far from the peaceful shore,
00:53:55very deeply staying within,
00:53:59sinking to rise no more.
00:54:03But then the master of the sea,
00:54:06he heard my despairing cry from the waters.
00:54:12He lifted me. Now say, safe,
00:54:16am I? Love lifted me.
00:54:21Love lifted me.
00:54:33I am.
00:54:59He kept Daniel in.
00:55:02What he didn't keep them from
00:55:09preserved him.
00:55:14Some of you in it right now,
00:55:20but he's keeping you in what he didn't keep you from.
00:55:28I want to share something with you.
00:55:30I shared this with some of our team in a meeting we had a couple of weeks ago
00:55:37and honestly,
00:55:38this experience prompted me to release this message tonight.
00:55:46Um,
00:55:47I was speaking at an event in Atlanta in April and there was a guy there that
00:55:55was an investment banker.
00:55:56It was an event where there was actually two conferences going on at the same
00:56:00time. One was a leadership conference and then the other was like a next gen
00:56:04conference. And
00:56:07this guy was an investment banker from London who's a believer and he was
00:56:11speaking at the leadership conference.
00:56:13And there was a friend who was helping run that leadership conference.
00:56:17Friend of mine who came over to hear me speak at this event.
00:56:20So he brought this guy with him. I never know. I didn't know him.
00:56:22He didn't know me.
00:56:24So there was a lot that went on prior to that event.
00:56:28And, um, there was a guy, he's in heaven now named Bishop Tony Miller.
00:56:32He said something to me a long time ago. He said, um, he said,
00:56:36there is, you may, sometimes your information may be unorganized. He says,
00:56:40but you're never unprepared
00:56:44because you got a well of resources that you've been pouring into your soul for
00:56:48years. And so, but I'd never lean on that. I'm always,
00:56:53I try to be as prepared as I can,
00:56:54but there was a lot that had went up to, to that event. And frankly,
00:56:59I didn't want to be there.
00:57:00The only reason I was there was to let your yes, me, yes. And you'll know me.
00:57:04No. So there was a lot that went into that week.
00:57:08And so I wanted to keep my word. And so I get up and speak.
00:57:14And, um, I worked on the talk the day before,
00:57:16so I was prepared and I sit down and this guy who doesn't know me,
00:57:22I don't tell you yet.
00:57:23Two things going for him that made him very free to speak to me. One,
00:57:27he rich
00:57:32that he got money, money too. He's older.
00:57:37And so that filter goes, I'm too old to play games.
00:57:41So I come off the stage. He doesn't know me. And, um,
00:57:46he didn't say it this way. Okay. He didn't say it this way,
00:57:48but I'm summarizing what he said.
00:57:49He took out scripture and he showed something and
00:57:55he basically said something along the lines of your next is going to take more.
00:58:02So number one, I never had a man like, bro, we don't even know each other.
00:58:06You just, but it, it resonated with me in such a way.
00:58:11I said, I need to talk to you more. Cause I need to unpack that.
00:58:14I don't know what that means. And I said,
00:58:16I'm getting ready to go over here to the leadership conference.
00:58:18Cause I was speaking at both and say, I'm going to speak at this.
00:58:20What time are you speaking? He's speaking after me.
00:58:22And that was like an hour break between the time I spoke and he spoke.
00:58:26And I said, okay, I want to talk to you.
00:58:30And so we sit and talk and this man had prophetic gifting.
00:58:35And so biblically speaking, when you look at biblical,
00:58:40cause some of the stuff is pathetic in culture,
00:58:42but biblical prophetic ministry, not only,
00:58:46not only can the gift at times anticipate or predict something in the future,
00:58:51it interprets your present. It gives language to a season you in,
00:58:57but you don't currently know this man looks at me and we have this conversation.
00:59:01He says, there's, here's your problem.
00:59:05Your problem is you're too good.
00:59:09And he said, because you're so good,
00:59:13you can not give it your best and people not know.
00:59:19He said, I don't know you. I've never heard you speak.
00:59:21You did not own that message.
00:59:26This wasn't last year. This was April. This is
00:59:36now I'm going to tell you,
00:59:37he says this to me in the very arena that we had just feel for Easter.
00:59:45A month earlier, we feel that arena.
00:59:54Our church field arena Easter. And a month later I'm sitting there and he's like,
00:59:58yeah, you didn't own that.
01:00:03And he says, there is, here's what this is about. He says,
01:00:06this is satisfactory underperformance.
01:00:23And he says, here's what I'm afraid for you. He says, I'm not afraid. He says,
01:00:27I don't pick up a scandal. I don't pick up. He says,
01:00:29I'm not as concerned about that with you. He says, this is what concerns me is
01:00:34what concerns me is that you will live the rest of your days.
01:00:40Never fully seeing what God could do through you if you gave it your all.
01:00:50He's talking to a man who had just filled our church had just built that arena.
01:00:55A man who's speaking for services every Sunday.
01:01:00I work hard in my mind.
01:01:05And he says, my, my furious,
01:01:10you will live your life not seeing fully what God can do with a man like you who
01:01:21will give it his all.
01:01:28And this spoke to me and it shifted something in me.
01:01:35I rearranged my whole schedule.
01:01:39My assistant said, she probably said, I changed my schedule seven times since
01:01:42then. Here it is. Don't miss this.
01:01:47And nobody would have known.
01:01:54Many people were impressed with what he called satisfactory underperformance.
01:02:05And I just believe that's not just a word for me.
01:02:21So word for us.
01:02:26That's why I came tonight.
01:02:29My wife and I were talking this morning. I'm in this really weird place.
01:02:34Pastorally. I'm so,
01:02:37I've never been so clear, clear on my assignment to change.
01:02:44And so it's like,
01:02:45I'm so spirit conscious now that even on a night like tonight,
01:02:52I got to say what I feel like I'm supposed to say,
01:02:55not what people think should be said on a night like this.
01:03:00Who talks about excellence on a, you know, it's weird.
01:03:05I got it. I got it.
01:03:08But I came for you tonight
01:03:14because I'm afraid for you
01:03:18that you won't get to see
01:03:21what God could do.
01:03:24If you gave him everything
01:03:30that thing in your back pocket, he said, I want that too.
01:03:34That area, you don't want that area of your heart. You don't want to give him.
01:03:37He said, I want that too.
01:03:39And I don't know what your root is or what the root issue that's got you holding
01:03:43back
01:03:46for some of you is exhaustion.
01:03:50You're tired.
01:03:52You're tired of the work not working.
01:03:59So your heart posture is why do I keep doing all of this work?
01:04:03And it's not working.
01:04:06I'm tired.
01:04:08So now you're accepting your life
01:04:12instead of living it.
01:04:17Some of it is not exhaustion. Some of it is injury.
01:04:22That persecution hurts you in a different way.
01:04:28And there's a pain. I don't care how strong you are.
01:04:31There's a pain that'll paralyze you.
01:04:37There's a pain that'll slow you down.
01:04:40There's a pain that'll say, let me get myself together.
01:04:46I don't know what your root is.
01:04:50And I know it's not my job to know.
01:04:53That's the Holy spirit's job to show you.
01:04:55My root was image consciousness.
01:05:07That was the root.
01:05:12And until I dealt with that, I could not,
01:05:15I had to get delivered from the desire to control how I was seen.
01:05:26You know, I want to come off the wrong way.
01:05:30I don't want to say the wrong thing.
01:05:37I don't know what it is for you,
01:05:42but you can't leave out of here the same.
01:05:47Your future is demanding a different version of you.
01:05:52And that's why I came tonight to wake it up,
01:06:00to set a fire down in your soul that you can't contain and you can't control.
01:06:12So in this change night,
01:06:16Jackson, I don't care where you're from,
01:06:22but you're here in this moment, in this place tonight.
01:06:29And God's saying to you,
01:06:33like that man said to me,
01:06:37your next is going to require more.
01:06:42And I believe the Holy spirit would ask us this question.
01:06:46Will you give it to him?
01:06:47Will you say, God, all of me,
01:06:56I hold nothing back.
01:07:02So today I want to,
01:07:04I want to pray over you as we prepare to dismiss.
01:07:09And I'm going to pray a very targeted prayer.
01:07:14I want to pray that God gives you the grace
01:07:17to release
01:07:24what you've been holding back.
01:07:31You can't even do it without it,
01:07:35but tonight God's going to give you the grace to release. Thank you, Jesus.
01:07:44Grace is going to hit your heart.
01:07:47Grace is going to give you the grace to release.
01:07:53So father tonight,
01:07:56whatever you're receiving posture is getting that that's lifting it.
01:07:59Whatever your posture is getting that posture, if it's lifting hands,
01:08:03if it's sitting, if it's standing, it's kneeling, whatever your posture is.
01:08:08Father, I pray tonight
01:08:12for the grace,
01:08:13your enabling ability to release what we've been holding
01:08:20today. We give it all.
01:08:26We repent
01:08:30of being poor stewards of the potential you gave us.
01:08:36We admit
01:08:37that we have not properly unleashed all you put in us.
01:08:44And from this day forward,
01:08:47we make a U-turn.
01:08:52Now, I thank you for the grace that is being released to release.
01:08:57And I pray today
01:08:59that as they release it to you, that you would release them into their future.
01:09:03I pray that you would identify and expose every root issue.
01:09:08And I pray for the grace in the name of Jesus
01:09:12to step out of the old and into the new,
01:09:14to step out of the past and into the future.
01:09:17And we declare the words of Haggai, the prophet over your people,
01:09:21that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former.
01:09:27We pray that you would release them into their future.
01:09:30Than the glory of the former.
01:09:33We declare the best is yet to come.
01:09:37Chains broken, yokes destroyed.
01:09:42And he whom the sun sets free is free indeed.
01:09:47We declare we are free to release it all in Jesus name.
01:09:53Amen. Would you shout unto God with a voice of triumph?