Don't Miss The Moment - Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 God gave me the subject, don't miss the moment.
00:16 To be honest, this worship experience
00:22 has already so aligned with what God has given me
00:26 that I'm not sure that I can add much more.
00:29 But in the spirit of obedience, I'm
00:32 going to give what God gave me.
00:35 And I won't go any further than what God gave me,
00:37 because we might be out here in time
00:39 to catch McDonald's before they stop serving breakfast.
00:42 [LAUGHTER]
00:45 My text begins in verse 45, and it says--
00:48 well, let me give you context.
00:50 I know most of you are Bible scholars,
00:52 but for those of us who are still finding our way
00:54 through the word, Mary and Joseph
00:57 have survived giving birth to Jesus
01:00 in a treacherous time in the Roman Empire.
01:04 They've given birth to him, and they've
01:06 moved from city to city.
01:08 And at this time, they have found a way
01:11 to navigate the reality of them raising the Messiah,
01:15 but also keeping him concealed until his time has come.
01:19 When we open this text, they have traveled
01:21 to Jerusalem for Passover.
01:24 This is the end of Luke 2.
01:26 And they've traveled to Jerusalem
01:28 at the end of Passover, and they're heading back home
01:30 when they look amongst the multitude that
01:33 was traveling to Jerusalem at the time
01:35 and realize that Jesus is not with them.
01:38 They think to themselves, because at that time,
01:41 they would go in caravans, literally multitudes walking
01:44 towards Jerusalem, that perhaps he is somewhere in the crowd.
01:48 And they look amongst the crowd and walk and navigate
01:50 and realize, no, he must still be in Jerusalem.
01:56 So when they did not find him, they
01:58 returned to Jerusalem seeking him.
02:01 Now, so it was that after three days,
02:04 they found him in the temple, sitting
02:08 in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them
02:11 and asking them questions.
02:15 And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding
02:20 and answers.
02:22 So when they saw him, they were amazed.
02:24 And his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us?
02:29 Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.
02:34 And he said to them, why did you seek me?
02:37 Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?
02:42 But they did not understand the statement
02:44 which he spoke to them.
02:47 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth
02:50 and was subject to them.
02:52 But his mother kept all these things in her heart.
02:57 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature
03:03 and in favor with God and men.
03:07 Father God, we thank you for your divine wisdom,
03:12 your providence, that nothing catches you by surprise
03:18 and you orchestrate us strategically,
03:21 that we are positioned for all things to work together,
03:26 even the hard things, even the scary things,
03:32 even the things we feel ill-equipped for.
03:35 Because we have you, we are not without.
03:39 And so Father, I tap into that wisdom, that strategy,
03:42 that providence, that anointing of alignment.
03:46 And God, I ask you that I would not
03:48 be in the way of what you have already
03:50 decided to do in this room.
03:52 May I decrease that you may increase.
03:57 May hearts be open to receive.
03:59 May the ground be open that seeds may be tossed
04:03 and roots may take place.
04:06 Bless this word as only you can do.
04:08 In Jesus' name, amen and amen again.
04:13 You can be seated.
04:15 Thank you, sir.
04:15 Thank you.
04:18 You're not preaching until you hear him say go ahead
04:20 or something in that.
04:23 I grew up in the '90s.
04:27 Before there were like Netflix binging,
04:29 I would sit up and watch TV, my sister and I.
04:32 And I could tell what time it was
04:34 based off of what was on TV.
04:36 We didn't even have to have a clock.
04:37 I knew at 3 o'clock this came on.
04:39 I remember TGIF.
04:41 Oh, Lord, I'm old enough to say I remember.
04:43 Oh, God, it's happened to me.
04:44 [LAUGHTER]
04:48 I remember, though, some of my favorite episodes
04:52 of the TV shows that I watched religiously
04:55 were the moments where they went back in time.
04:58 I don't know if you remember those.
05:00 But they would go back in time, and they would play out
05:02 an alternate scenario, like had one thing not happened,
05:07 how everything would have changed.
05:10 And I love these episodes because in these episodes,
05:13 we see how monumental one decision can be
05:17 in changing our entire lives.
05:21 I can remember countless episodes
05:23 of these life-altering moments.
05:25 But even when I think about my own life and my own existence,
05:29 I think about the moments where a seemingly random moment was
05:33 actually a life-changing opportunity in disguise.
05:38 My father tells a story about going to Azusa
05:41 and preaching "Woman, Thou Art Loosed"
05:42 and Paul Crouch being there, seemingly
05:45 another random, normal moment that
05:49 turned into something that catapulted him into destiny.
05:54 Me, when I went to LA, I didn't know
05:56 that I was having a meeting with who would become
05:58 my husband and my pastor.
06:00 As a matter of fact, I had promised myself
06:02 I would never marry a pastor.
06:04 No shade to the pastors.
06:06 I'm one of you now.
06:07 But for a minute there, I was concerned.
06:10 And I met a man that changed my mind.
06:16 I thought we were just having a casual brunch meeting.
06:19 And then suddenly, there was a connection there
06:22 that turned into what would be the change of a lifetime.
06:26 When David took his brothers lunch,
06:28 he probably thought that he was just
06:30 taking them something to eat.
06:32 Little did he know that what was a seemingly random moment
06:36 would be the awakening of him as a giant slayer.
06:41 Just one moment that randomly came about
06:47 that changed the entire projectory of his life.
06:52 When Naomi's son married a woman named Ruth,
06:56 she probably had no idea that she
06:58 was receiving the woman who would ultimately
07:01 be with her in one of her darkest days
07:03 and also be the bridge to how she experienced
07:06 restoration and redemption.
07:08 You just don't know who you're connected to
07:11 and what is possible out of what could be just a random moment.
07:15 They're not just random.
07:20 We talk a lot about how God is always opening doors.
07:23 And I love that about God.
07:26 But as I was studying for this message,
07:28 I felt that there was something deeper than just
07:31 God opening doors.
07:33 There are moments when God opens portals.
07:36 [APPLAUSE]
07:40 A door, when we think about it, even when we think about God
07:44 opening doors, it may change something in our life.
07:48 But when God opens doors, it doesn't always
07:50 change our entire life.
07:54 But when God opens a portal, it is an entrance
07:58 into another dimension.
08:01 Those of you who are fans of sci-fi
08:03 understand that there are moments in science fiction
08:06 when you're no longer in the same universe
08:08 that you were once occupying because you
08:11 entered a portal that gained you access to another dimension.
08:16 And it is not often that God opens portals.
08:21 These are moments that happen ever so often in our lives.
08:25 As a matter of fact, most of us in the room
08:27 have lived long enough to recognize that that just wasn't
08:30 a phone call, that wasn't just a meeting,
08:33 that when I met that person, God opened a portal.
08:36 When I came to that church, God opened a portal.
08:38 When I received that word, it was a portal.
08:41 It was meant to take me into another dimension.
08:44 There are some people in this room
08:45 who don't even think the way they once thought,
08:48 not because they just changed their mind on their own,
08:50 but because they see the one revelation.
08:53 And that one revelation was actually
08:55 a portal that opened them up to a new way of being,
08:58 a new way of thinking, a new possibility for what could
09:01 happen for them and their family.
09:03 Sometimes God opens doors, but most of the time,
09:06 when our lives are radically changed, he opens up portals.
09:10 When Jesus was walking through and he walked by
09:12 and saw a young man and said, hey,
09:14 I'll make you fishers of men if you follow me,
09:17 they thought that they were just meeting a man.
09:19 They had no idea that they had been introduced to a portal.
09:22 And so when I began studying for this message,
09:26 I was torn because I wanted to really dig into the reality
09:30 that when God opens these portals for us,
09:34 that we have to be sensitive enough to not miss the moment.
09:40 We've got to be discerning enough to understand
09:44 that this is a moment that we can't miss.
09:48 We've got to be discerning enough to understand
09:52 that this opportunity, this connection, this relationship
09:57 is not just something I'm passing along the way.
10:01 Who would we be if we treated every introduction
10:04 like it had the possibility of being a portal?
10:06 [APPLAUSE]
10:09 Because I think it's also worth mentioning
10:12 that not every portal is connected to promotion.
10:15 [APPLAUSE]
10:17 A portal is just the method that allows you
10:20 access to another dimension.
10:23 But where that dimension takes you doesn't necessarily
10:25 mean that it's promotion.
10:27 Sometimes there are portals that allow you
10:29 access to things that are on assignment to destroy you.
10:32 [APPLAUSE]
10:35 That's why it wasn't just a heartbreak.
10:40 It was a portal.
10:45 That gave you an awareness about darkness and destruction
10:51 that you were never meant to have access to.
10:55 That's why I'm careful about--
10:57 y'all watch some scary movies if you want to.
10:59 That's not for me.
11:00 [LAUGHTER]
11:02 That's not for me.
11:04 You talk about my faith.
11:05 You talk about my salvation.
11:07 You do what you need to do.
11:08 But I don't play with the devil because, listen,
11:10 I don't know what I'm getting access to.
11:11 I don't know-- you get to chant and something.
11:13 Now I got to speak in tongues in the movie theater
11:15 and ruin the movie for everybody because I
11:17 don't play with them portals.
11:18 I don't know where this is taking me.
11:20 I can't trust everything I am exposed to because I recognize
11:23 that some of these things are portals.
11:26 And you came to be entertained, and now you're
11:28 leaving afflicted because you didn't allow yourself access
11:31 to something that was meant to take you
11:33 into another dimension.
11:35 There were some things you were exposed to that you should have
11:38 never been exposed to, but because you were connected
11:40 to somebody who you didn't realize was a portal in disguise,
11:44 now you're dealing with their devils and their demons
11:46 because you're in a dimension that you were never supposed
11:49 to be in.
11:50 I don't know about you, but I got careful over my circle
11:53 when I started realizing I wasn't just fighting
11:55 my depression.
11:56 I was fighting their depression.
11:58 And now I'm in this mess with you because I
12:00 allowed you to be my portal.
12:02 [LAUGHTER]
12:09 What do they get when they get you?
12:12 Where are you taking them?
12:14 Are you in a position where you can even allow someone access
12:18 to the dimension of you and it make them better,
12:21 or are you making them more ill?
12:24 Do you recognize that connection is a portal,
12:27 and can you stand by the dimension you're currently
12:30 existing in?
12:34 Because it's not just on them.
12:37 It's on you, too.
12:40 And that's why you do yourself a service when you make sure
12:43 that you are aware enough about what's happening
12:45 in your spirit so that you're not preaching, teaching,
12:48 pouring, parenting, loving, sexing with people,
12:51 not realizing that you are really giving them access
12:54 to a version of you that you don't even like,
12:56 but misery loves company.
12:58 And now we're sitting in this dimension of torment together
13:01 because I didn't realize.
13:03 [APPLAUSE]
13:08 That this was a portal.
13:11 Something to be said about us recognizing
13:18 the power of connection, the power of opportunity
13:23 to not just meet us but to move us.
13:27 When is the last time we took inventory
13:30 of what is happening in our life and who was in our lives
13:33 and asked ourselves, where are you taking me?
13:37 Because your purpose only works in a certain dimension.
13:48 Jesus, help me.
13:51 Some of us fall for this belief that if I am anointed,
13:58 I am anointed anywhere.
14:00 Oh, God, this one even in my notes.
14:05 But your anointing is assigned to a dimension.
14:11 I'll give you an example.
14:13 There are some people, not people you know,
14:16 not people in this room, who justify what they do
14:22 by saying, well, Jesus sat with sinners and drunks
14:25 and everybody else.
14:27 Yeah, but you have a drinking problem.
14:29 And he was anointed to be in that dimension,
14:33 and you are not.
14:34 You are not witnessing at the strip club, baby.
14:37 You are not anointed for that dimension.
14:39 And don't fool with the anointing and dilute it
14:42 by making the anointing fit your lifestyle
14:45 instead of changing your lifestyle to fit the anointing.
14:48 [APPLAUSE]
14:53 You don't work everywhere.
14:55 Jesus told the disciples that if you go into a house
14:58 and release your anointing, if they don't receive it,
15:01 go into the other house because your anointing--
15:03 you can't force your anointing into spaces
15:06 where you are not called.
15:08 If there is not capacity for your anointing, then move--
15:11 [APPLAUSE]
15:20 --into a dimension where your anointing can align
15:25 with the mission that God has assigned on your life.
15:30 Don't cast your pearls amongst swines.
15:33 [APPLAUSE]
15:35 You got the right pearls but the wrong audience.
15:38 [APPLAUSE]
15:48 When we recognize that we have found ourselves
15:54 functioning in dimensions that take us backwards,
16:00 that shrink our anointings, that dilute our power,
16:05 we are not without help.
16:08 Because the truth is, though we can try and protect it
16:11 as much as we desire, we're all going to find ourselves,
16:17 whether we realize it in the moment or not,
16:21 sucked into dimensions where we lose focus on our anointing.
16:30 Sucked into dimensions where the only thing we see
16:34 is the depression.
16:37 Sucked into dimensions where the only thing we see
16:39 are our failures, our shame, our insecurity,
16:42 our abandonment issues, our inadequacies.
16:47 And most of the time, if we trace our steps back,
16:50 we see that that wasn't just one rejection.
16:53 It was a rejection that unearthed all the other directions.
16:56 And now I spiraled into a dimension
17:00 that I cannot get out of.
17:03 [CHANTING]
17:04 Yeah, I know.
17:05 I know.
17:06 Yeah.
17:07 [CHANTING]
17:09 You can't always get yourself out of these dimensions.
17:14 I love affirmations.
17:18 We have our children say affirmations every morning.
17:20 But there are some affirmations that don't help us
17:23 get out of the dimensions.
17:25 There are some moments where that dimension is so heavy
17:28 and so dark that we cannot get out of it.
17:31 And so as believers, if you are a believer
17:35 and if you are not a believer, I highly
17:37 encourage you to tap into this truth that is helping us.
17:40 It is not that we don't spiral into dark dimensions.
17:43 It's that we understand the power of prayer
17:46 is not just the place where we go and ask God to bless me,
17:49 bless me, bless me.
17:50 Prayer is transportation.
17:52 Prayer is a portal out of this dimension
17:55 and into the dimension I'm supposed to be in.
17:58 Sometimes I start praying because I recognize
18:00 I'm not in position.
18:01 And sometimes I'm already out of position when I start praying.
18:05 But God is so good that he tells me, if you humble yourself
18:08 and pray and seek my face and turn from your wicked ways,
18:13 I'll send an Uber for you out of the place of destruction.
18:17 I'll send an Uber.
18:18 Oh, Jesus, I feel there's some oil on that.
18:21 That your prayer is sending up a GPS notification that says,
18:26 God, here I am.
18:27 And I got sucked into some mess that I cannot get out of.
18:31 But help me, Lord.
18:32 Lord, I understand that I don't have to live this way.
18:36 I didn't have to be stuck in this dimension.
18:38 But I humble myself and I begin to pray that verse.
18:42 It's in 2 Chronicles, and it's very powerful.
18:46 When you understand the dynamic of Israel
18:49 and their relationship with God,
18:50 you recognize that they kept finding themselves
18:53 out of position over and over again.
18:56 They would start dabbling with other religions,
18:58 having sex with people they shouldn't be having sex with,
19:01 worshipping other idols.
19:02 They didn't even realize that they were worshipping other idols.
19:05 And I just want you to know, just because you don't have stones
19:08 and just because you don't have sage,
19:10 it doesn't mean you're not worshipping other idols.
19:12 If you are worshipping that worry,
19:14 if you are worshipping that insecurity,
19:16 if you are worshipping the idea of marriage,
19:19 if you are worshipping the idea of being single,
19:21 baby, you got an idol too.
19:23 I know you think you're better than the other people
19:25 because you don't have their idols.
19:26 But everybody in here came in here dragging an idol.
19:29 If you're worshipping success,
19:31 if you're worshipping achievement,
19:33 if you think you're only as good as your bank account,
19:35 baby, you got an idol.
19:37 But 2 Chronicles 7 tells us that if my people,
19:41 who are called by my name,
19:43 will humble themselves and pray and seek my face,
19:47 why am I seeking God's face?
19:49 Because I'm in a dimension where I don't see God.
19:52 But God says, "If you start searching for me,
19:55 I don't care how dark the dimension is.
19:57 I don't care how long you've been in the dimension.
19:59 I don't care how many friends you got in the dimension.
20:02 If you start seeking my face, God says I'll show up.
20:06 If you turn from your wicked ways,
20:08 you'll hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins."
20:13 I hear God saying, "Come out of the sunken place."
20:20 I hear God saying that somebody got turned upside down.
20:25 I don't know who, what the porter was
20:27 that sent you into a dimension of darkness.
20:30 I don't know what the porter was
20:32 that sent you into a dimension of ego.
20:34 I don't know what the porter was
20:36 that sent you into a dimension of bitterness.
20:38 But I hear God saying, "There is no dimension dark enough
20:42 to keep me from finding you.
20:44 There is no dimension wide enough
20:46 to keep me from coming to you."
20:48 But God says, "I won't come unless you call.
20:51 I won't betray our covenant.
20:53 But if you call me, I'll answer.
20:55 If you seek for me, I'll show up."
20:57 I feel like preaching in this place
20:59 because I understand what happens
21:01 when we begin to call on the name of God.
21:04 God says when you can't get out of the atmosphere,
21:11 you can shift the atmosphere.
21:13 When you begin to shift the atmosphere,
21:16 God, I can't break the addiction on my own.
21:18 Have you ever seen somebody drunk
21:20 but calling on the name of God?
21:22 You can discredit them if you want to.
21:24 But they recognize I'm in a dimension
21:26 I can't get out of.
21:27 God, if I could put it down, I would.
21:29 But since I can't put it down,
21:31 I'm asking you to meet me right where I am.
21:34 In this dimension, right where I am.
21:37 In this brokenness, right where I am.
21:40 In this pain.
21:42 God, I need something stronger
21:45 than the dimension I got sucked in.
21:49 (congregation cheering)
21:52 Prayer is my transportation.
21:59 Thinking about Paul and Silas.
22:07 Locked up in a prison cell.
22:11 In one dimension, I'm restricted.
22:17 But when I start worshiping,
22:19 when I start worshiping,
22:22 I invite heaven's dimension into my dimension.
22:25 That's why that worship was so good this morning.
22:29 Because I wasn't in my dimension on my own anymore.
22:33 I invited heaven's dimension into my dimension.
22:36 And when Paul and Silas said,
22:38 "I may not be able to get out of this cell.
22:40 I may not be able to get out of these cuffs,
22:42 but I can let worship meet me in the place of restriction."
22:46 Then all of a sudden, the ground started shaking.
22:49 You couldn't see it earlier,
22:50 but every time you lifted your hands,
22:52 I saw the ground started shaking.
22:54 You didn't see it earlier,
22:55 but every time you lifted your hands,
22:57 I saw demons backing up off of you.
22:59 You didn't know it yet
23:00 'cause you've been carrying that weight for so long.
23:03 But when you started worshiping,
23:05 I saw chains being broken off of you.
23:07 You didn't realize it, but you're shook up the ground.
23:10 When you walk out of here,
23:12 you may have to walk a little differently
23:14 'cause I hear God saying, "I shook up the ground
23:17 that you're walking on.
23:18 I ordered your steps."
23:19 Because when I shook up the ground,
23:21 it's not the same way that you used to walk anymore.
23:25 (soft music)
23:28 (soft music)
23:31 (soft music)
23:34 That's why the enemy wants your worship
23:37 'cause your worship changes the dimensions.
23:40 That's why the enemy wants your tongue
23:42 'cause your mouth changes the dimension.
23:45 The power of life and death is in the tongue.
23:48 So you decided to not speak death,
23:50 but I hear God saying, "Did you speak life?
23:53 You shut up on one end,
23:54 but did you open your mouth on the other end?"
23:57 'Cause if you open your mouth on the other end,
23:59 what you'll learn is that same power
24:02 that caused you to shrink
24:03 is the same power that will help you release
24:07 the gift of God that's down on the inside of you.
24:11 Let me tell you.
24:14 Let me tell you how cold God is.
24:17 (crowd shouting)
24:20 Some people in this room,
24:23 and they drag themselves in this room,
24:27 but they can't release their worship
24:30 'cause they're in a dimension of so much pain
24:34 that they can't even release it for themselves.
24:37 It took everything they had to come into this room
24:41 'cause they've been carrying trauma
24:43 after trauma after trauma.
24:45 But if one can chase 1,000,
24:49 when worship releases in this room,
24:52 it doesn't just change your dimension.
24:54 It changes the entire dimension.
24:58 That means if you can't lift your hands,
25:01 I'll lift them for you.
25:03 If you can't open your mouth...
25:05 (crowd shouting)
25:08 What's up?
25:11 What's up?
25:13 The kingdom of heaven's suffering violence
25:16 and the violence taken by force.
25:21 You better watch who you're sitting next to
25:23 'cause I hear God saying,
25:25 "The dimension is about to shift.
25:28 "The dimension is about to go higher."
25:34 Yeshua online. Yeshua online.
25:37 Potter's House, Dallas.
25:39 Let's shift the dimension in Africa for a minute.
25:42 Let's shift the dimension in London for a minute.
25:45 I hear God saying we can shift it from right here.
25:52 We serve notice on hell.
26:03 I got a dimension to shift.
26:06 I got a generational curse to break.
26:10 I don't have that much time,
26:12 but I just came here to let you know
26:15 that when you shift the dimension,
26:17 it's not just gonna change it for you.
26:20 It's gonna change it for everything connected to you.
26:25 Don't be surprised if your family starts acting different.
26:29 Blame it on this admission shift.
26:32 Don't be surprised if the coworkers start acting different.
26:36 Blame it on the dimension shift.
26:38 Don't be surprised if the tears start flowing.
26:42 Don't be surprised if the joy starts coming.
26:45 Blame it on the dimension shift.
26:47 [music]
27:02 [music]
27:19 Shame's gotta go.
27:21 Anxiety's gotta go.
27:24 Depression's gotta leave me alone.
27:27 I got a new dimension.
27:32 Shift them, God.
27:34 Shift them with their worship.
27:36 Shift them with their praise.
27:38 We make a throne in this place.
27:40 Have you a way, great God, that you are.
27:44 We rebuke it in the name of Jesus.
27:46 We break covenant with despair.
27:49 We break covenant with bitterness.
27:52 We break covenant with our fear.
27:55 I'm walking in a new dimension.
27:58 This dimension's about faith.
28:00 This dimension is about miracles.
28:03 [music]
28:13 Little mama, you jumping with that baby?
28:16 You just jumped that baby into another dimension.
28:19 Little mama, I don't know what you asking God for.
28:23 But I hear God saying, you about to take that baby into another dimension.
28:29 You about to break a generational curse before he says his first words.
28:34 How about you?
28:36 [music]
28:45 She jumping, and you jumping for your baby.
28:49 And you jumping for your marriage.
28:51 And you jumping and jumping.
28:54 And you going to leap and find yourself in another dimension.
29:00 You better watch out when you clap your hands.
29:03 Because you going to look, and you going to have wings.
29:06 [music]
29:16 Oh, yeah.
29:17 I see you jumping.
29:19 I see you dropping up there. I see you dropping. Where are we going? Where are we going? Is it healing? Where are we going? Is it wholeness? Where are we going? Is it a miracle? Where are we going? Is it breakthrough? Where are we going? Are we breaking a generational curve?
29:36 going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm
29:45 going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, and
29:50 every time I worship I get transported to another dimension. I'm going, I'm going, I'm
29:56 going on earth as it is. In heaven your kingdom come. You will be done in this dimension.
30:02 I'm not going to wait until I die to see another dimension. I'm going to see a dimension. I'm
30:09 going to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
30:13 [music]
30:43 I don't, don't miss the moment. Don't miss the moment where you can transition from discouragement,
31:06 fear, insecurity, sin, lust, addiction. It's not just a problem. It's another dimension
31:23 you're in. That's okay. God says I can invade that dimension. But you've got to be willing
31:36 to want to come out of that dimension. Because he's too holy. I can move you but, but you've
31:46 got to be willing to move because you're asking me to change my holiness to come into that
31:50 dimension and you are worth it. I'll leave the 99 to come after the one but it's not
31:54 so that you can stay the same. This dimension transition requires change. It requires obedience.
32:03 And there is a dimension where you are not ashamed or afraid. There is a dimension where
32:20 you truly believe that no weapon formed against you will prosper. There is a dimension where
32:28 the righteous are not forsaken. There is a dimension where miracles happen. There is
32:34 a dimension. So maybe you're right. There is something wrong with your environment.
32:45 Maybe you're right. You needed a change. You needed release from the dimension that
32:59 makes you shrink. Because I heard God tell me that there are people who were coming,
33:08 people who were watching, who were standing at a portal and didn't know it. And because
33:19 you were so stuck in your rhythm and your routine, because you had to be in order to
33:25 survive, that it is possible that you will miss the moment where the opportunity, the
33:34 relationship is actually the portal for the next dimension. So I asked God, how do we
33:45 know? How do we know which, how do we know to be sensitive to it? How do we know to lean
33:51 into this portal that allows us access to the next dimension? How do we know when we
33:57 see it? And God took me to this text and I wrestled with it all day. And I was wrestling
34:07 with it even this morning. When God got ready to bring redemption to the earth, he used
34:17 the portal of a woman named Mary. And through Mary, Jesus left one dimension and entered
34:27 into another dimension. And in this dimension, he is 100% God and 100% man. He is man enough
34:42 to weep when Lazarus dies, but God enough to say, "Lazarus, come forth." And he came
34:50 out of that grave. Yes, this Jesus who was man enough to be sleep on the boat, but God
35:00 enough to speak to the wind and the waves and say, "Peace be still." He is 100% man
35:06 and 100% God. And we find him at this moment in the text. And it doesn't look like it,
35:18 but he's standing at a crossroad between portals. He's got the reality of his divinity on display
35:30 in the temple. The temple and the priest are asking him questions and he's answering and
35:36 they are marveling at his wisdom because that is a different tone than they've heard before.
35:42 He's 100% God. They've never heard it quite like this before, but he is a boy Jesus. He's
35:52 a boy with divinity. And he's trying to get to this stage where he is fully developed
36:05 in his humanity so that he can fulfill the assignment of his divinity. And when he's
36:16 at this moment, if he were like some of us, he would have stuck to what he was good at,
36:28 to what he was being applauded for and stayed in the temple even though he was underdeveloped
36:37 as a boy. Because our tendency, ours, not his, our tendency is to lean into the areas
36:47 where we feel strength and confidence and shy away from the places that will require
36:55 us to be accountable for where we are underdeveloped. That's why relationships are hard because
37:08 they see where you're underdeveloped and they want to hold you accountable for that. And
37:14 you don't like to be held accountable for where you're underdeveloped because you think
37:17 your worth is connected to your underdevelopment. And yet Jesus models for us that when you
37:28 have the opportunity to avoid accountability, when you have the opportunity to shine instead
37:36 of being developed, that those are portals. And if you are really going to fulfill the
37:44 assignment connected to your life and you find yourself at a crossroad where you must
37:50 choose between the portals that allow you to exist in a dimension where you're not questioned
37:56 or trained or grounded or rooted in anything other than what you're good at, God says the
38:03 true sign of someone he can use is the person who chooses the place where you must be developed.
38:10 God, I wish I could say that better. Mary and Joseph could not help Jesus be God. They
38:26 weren't anointed for that, but just because they were not anointed for that, it didn't
38:31 mean that they were not anointed to be his parents. That means that you can receive training
38:38 and tools and guidance from someone who is not necessarily anointed for your anointing.
38:44 They are anointed for the place where you are underdeveloped. Thank you. Because that's
38:53 a real good word. Because oftentimes we disqualify people who cannot speak to our anointing and
39:01 discredit the places where they can speak to us. And we go on to have some measure of
39:06 success, but we are leaky vessels because we did not allow ourselves to be developed
39:11 by the people who were anointed to develop us. I may not be anointed to show Jesus how
39:25 to get on a cross, but in Luke 2 52, it says that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature
39:38 and in favor with God and men. This is not God, Jesus. This is not God, Jesus, that increased.
39:45 This was boy Jesus that increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men,
39:51 because though he was 100% God, he was not fully 100% man because he needed to go through
39:57 a process of development that would make sure that when he entered into the dimension of
40:01 his most effective ministry, that he would have enough wisdom to say, John, I ask that
40:06 you baptize me first. He would have enough wisdom to navigate the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
40:12 If he would have gone on at 12 years old, he would not be who we knew he could be, but
40:16 because he humbled himself and submitted to somebody and said, I'm going to be accountable
40:21 to you because I recognize that a portal that does not have accountability connected to
40:28 it will allow me to run reckless. His ministry could have been accelerated had he just stayed
40:39 in the temple, but acceleration without accountability will always lead to destruction. I say it
40:49 like this for my uncles, all money ain't good money.
40:54 A bunch of old black men taught me how to play dominoes. All money ain't good money.
41:07 If you escape accountability because you don't like the teacher or because the teacher doesn't
41:12 understand you fully, even though that accountability is directly connected to who you know you're
41:18 called to be, you are not hurting them. You are hurting your destiny.
41:29 I'm finished. I just want to say this. There are people in this room and God is calling
41:36 you to be a teacher. God is calling you to hold the people in your life accountable to
41:45 who you know that they have been ordained to be, but you cannot do that recklessly either.
41:57 As much as they need the vulnerability to submit to being seen flaws and all in front
42:03 of you, you need the wisdom to handle their vulnerability. When God allows you access
42:10 to where someone has been underdeveloped, you must be wise as a serpent. You need the
42:20 Holy Spirit to make you wise enough to navigate the areas of their lives where they have been
42:27 damaged and disappointed. If you are not anointed to be their teacher, I would rather you let
42:33 them go than to use them as a vessel for you to unleash your anger and your discouragement
42:41 and your disappointment because they cannot be who God has called them to be and navigate
42:46 your anger at the same time. If you're not anointed to do it, move out of the way so
42:50 another teacher can get in position.
43:04 [END]
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