Oct. 16, 2024
Overcoming Betrayal: Finding Purpose in Pain
In this powerful episode, Margie Fleurant shares a deeply personal story of betrayal and how it shaped her ministry. Recalling a prophetic word from Dick Mills, Margie reveals how a painful experience of being betrayed by a fellow leader led her to a ministry focused on healing the broken-hearted. Through the story of Joseph in the Bible and her own journey, Margie encourages listeners to rise above personal pain, recognize the spiritual battles at play, and ultimately walk in forgiveness and purpose. Learn how to navigate betrayal with grace and grow spiritually through adversity.
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You pray it and he can answer it.
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The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
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God will put the prayer in your heart to pray
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so that he can answer it.
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Goes into the hearts of the people.
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Does it return void?
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It produces results.
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Well, why don't we go ahead and open in prayer.
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Thank you, Lord.
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Heavenly Father, we just come to you.
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We thank you that you're here,
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that your Holy Spirit is here,
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and that the entrance of your word brings light.
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I ask that you would enlighten us,
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shine your light on the tablets of our hearts.
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Help me to speak this message tonight
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to the hearts and lives of your people.
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And I pray that the Holy Spirit would just have his way
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and confirm your word with signs following
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in Jesus' name, amen.
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So this is guided prayer or what we're calling prayer school.
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The Holy Spirit sent the intention for tonight.
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Sometimes we set the intention
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because we just, okay, Lord,
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I might get in a specific direction.
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But the Holy Spirit set the intention four weeks ago.
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It's probably the quickest I've ever gotten direction.
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And the prayer focus tonight
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is going to be prayer for your enemies.
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I believe that the reason why the Spirit of God
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has us going in this direction is because
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he wants to do some great and mighty things.
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And the Bible speaks about,
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in Luke eight and Matthew 13,
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about the different kinds of ground.
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And it's the ground of our hearts.
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And what I believe he's doing in our hearts
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here at New Beginnings and in a lot of the regions
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on the East Coast is he's getting our hearts ready
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to experience, I just keep hearing it,
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some great and mighty things that he desires to do.
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But here's the key.
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If I regard iniquity in my heart,
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the Lord will not hear me.
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And I think sometimes there's thorns in our hearts
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and hard ground that we have
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and just some things that choke what God wants to do.
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And sometimes we're aware of it and sometimes we're not.
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Now you know if you have unforgiveness in your heart
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because you get like a little prickly feeling
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when you think about that person.
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Amen.
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But I believe that the Spirit of the Lord is here
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and I believe that he has anointed me
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to heal the brokenhearted.
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And I believe that he's here
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and he's gonna help us to uproot those roots of bitterness
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that have kept some of us from running the race
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that's set before us.
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So our prayer focus is gonna be prayer for your enemies.
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Our text is Matthew chapter five, verse 43 and 44.
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And just those of you know this,
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but I'm gonna go ahead and repeat it.
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Whatever we do in prayer school,
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the idea is for you to learn here
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and take what you receive here and bring it home
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and develop your own prayer life
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or your own prayer habit with God.
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According to Matthew 6,6.
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Go into your own closet, shut the door,
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use what you're learning here
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and practice your prayer time and your prayer life.
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Amen. Matthew 5, 43 and 44.
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Jesus said, but I say to you,
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isn't this an interesting prayer focus?
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I would have never thought of this.
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It was an idea from God.
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I've never taught on this before.
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He says here, but I say to you, love your enemies.
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Bless them that curse you,
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do good to them that hate you
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and pray for them which despitefully use you
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and persecute you.
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So he's telling us right here that he wants us
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to pray for our enemies.
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And we're gonna get into that.
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Ron Carpenter once said in his book,
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The Necessity of the Enemy,
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he said, an enemy arising in your life
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is an announcement that the next stage of your future
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is about to be born.
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So I'm like excited about that
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because if he's got me ministering on this tonight,
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there must be something coming up the road ahead.
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And I know for a fact that anytime God's desiring
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to do something, the enemy will try to come in
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and sift us, throw a roadblock in
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to keep us from running the race.
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So I'm gonna read that again.
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An enemy arising in your life is an announcement
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that the next stage of your future is about to be born.
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Now the question is, are you going to let the enemy win?
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This is, and I thought, Lord, why would I say
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are we gonna let the enemy win?
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It's not about winning and losing, but actually it is.
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When you forgive and you let go, you win.
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When you don't, there's a lot that we miss out on
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and we lose, amen?
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So the question is, are you going to let the enemy win?
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Are you going to allow him to hinder your advancement?
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Is it worth it?
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I don't know about you, but I wanna go all the way
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with Jesus.
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And if there's someone or person that's something
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that's happened in my life that's gonna keep me
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from going the full course of what he's set before me,
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I don't want that in my life.
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How about you?
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It's like I always tell people what we wanna do
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is we wanna live in the lot of eternity.
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We don't wanna live for this world.
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We wanna live in the lot of eternity.
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And some of these weights and some of these sins
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and some of these hindrances, they'll keep us
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from our purpose and our plan and our destiny.
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So is it worth it?
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I just said it.
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Let's live in the lot of eternity and let go.
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Give God the pain.
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Let the root of bitterness and unforgiveness go.
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It is time to let it go.
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Jesus instructs his followers to love their enemies
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and pray for those who persecute them.
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This teaching emphasizes the radical nature
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of agape love and forgiveness.
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It's radical.
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We're talking radical tonight.
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Amen?
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But you know, we can do the radical.
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You know why?
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Because Romans 5.5 says that the love of God
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has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
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So we have the capacity to forgive.
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Even as Jesus forgave when he was on the cross.
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Didn't he say, Father, forgive them?
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They don't even know what they're doing.
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They thought they were doing right.
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They thought they were doing what they should be doing.
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And they didn't even know that their moments were wrong,
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that they were actually literally playing right
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into the plan of redemption.
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Sometimes your enemies will do you a favor.
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Amen.
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And we're gonna get into that.
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But the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
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by the Holy Spirit.
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So we have the ability to forgive.
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But it's not a forgiveness that's of the feelings.
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It's a forgiveness that comes from the heart,
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from the spirit of man.
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Your feelings may say one thing,
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but your heart will say another thing.
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How many of you know what I'm talking about?
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You know, your feelings are fickle.
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As a matter of fact, after tonight,
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when we let go of those things
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that have been awaited to us and forgive,
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you may be tempted to have those feelings
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of unforgiveness come back.
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But I'm just gonna tell you straight up,
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just cast it down.
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And say, you know what, Lord, by faith,
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I've already forgiven that person.
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I've already let it go on September 13th at six,
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whatever time it's gonna happen tonight.
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Because the enemy's gonna come in,
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he's gonna say, oh no, you didn't forgive.
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Well, we don't forgive by feelings,
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we forgive by faith.
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Amen.
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Okay, so the radical nature of agape love and forgiveness.
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Now you know that there's four kinds of love
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we're not gonna get into.
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So agape love is the unconditional love of God.
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The kind of love that is patient, it's kind,
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it's not jealous.
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You know, it's the love of God that never fails, right?
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It's that radical nature, okay?
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Number one, the command to love.
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Jesus challenges us by commanding us to love
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not only our friends, but also our enemies.
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It's easy to love our friends, isn't it?
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It's a lot harder to love our enemies,
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but it's the same love.
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Amen?
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This love is unconditional and transcends personal feelings.
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I like to call it like this.
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I like to call it dying to self.
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You know, dying to self.
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I remember one time when I first started ministry,
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I used to like to use the rose as my logo.
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And you know, one day the Lord said to me,
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I don't want you using the rose anymore
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as your logo for your ministry.
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And I go, why Lord?
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I love the rose, it's me.
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And he said, that's precisely why I don't want you
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to use the rose in your ministry.
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I don't want it to be about you.
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I want it to be about me.
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And I want you to hide behind the cross,
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because this is not your ministry, it's my ministry.
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So I want that to die.
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And so I wrote this article,
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I found some of my old newsletters from back in the day.
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So I was radical back then too, you know,
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and that title of the article is, the rose is dead.
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This is funny.
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But that's the dying to self.
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Dying and surrendering to God and giving God your all.
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Even these feelings of unforgiveness,
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even though that person, you know, yes, you may have been right.
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Yes, they did what they did.
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Yes, you were despitefully used.
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Yes, that person was mean to you.
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Yes, they were verbally abusive.
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Yes, that bad thing happened,
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but you've got to let it go.
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It's not worth it, because all these things
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will just eat at us and only hurt us.
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That's why God said, I want my people to have clean hands
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and a pure heart.
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So when you stand before me,
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there's nothing that's hindering.
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Okay, now the power, number two, the power of prayer.
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Praying for our enemies is a powerful act
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that can change our hearts and our perspectives.
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So when you pray for your enemies,
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something happens on the inside of you.
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I know that people don't like to pray this prayer
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in the grace movement,
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but it's a prayer I'd like to pray.
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We may pray it tonight.
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Create in me a clean heart
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and renew a right spirit within me.
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Let's balance it.
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I know we're the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
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I know that when we stand before God,
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we stand before God just as if we've never sinned.
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When the Father sees us, He sees Jesus.
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But let's look at the renew a right spirit within me part.
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If we have unharmed unforgiveness,
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there's something in our hearts that just isn't right.
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How many of you know what I'm talking about?
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And I have to tell you as leaders, we know this.
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If we have to preach and teach and minister,
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not out of anger.
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And I've seen leaders, they're mad at their people,
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they're mad at whatever happened to them,
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and they're ministering out of anger and hurt.
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And that's not God.
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God has to create in them a clean heart
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and renew a right spirit within them.
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Where does it take place?
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It takes place in the presence of God
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because something's only God can do.
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We could take all the steps that we need to take,
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but it's really God, the Holy Ghost,
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that's got to come into those areas of our hearts
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and heal us, amen?
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So it changes our hearts.
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I don't know about you,
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but I want a heart change, amen?
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It can lead to healing both for ourselves
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and possibly for those we view as adversaries.
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And you know, the beauty of praying this prayer
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of forgiveness is when we do that
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and we enter into the presence of God,
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we're gonna talk a little bit about that.
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We see them the way God sees them.
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You know, we don't see that outward thing that they did,
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not outward, all of that, all the words and all the things.
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We start to see them the way God sees them.
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And God's no respecter of persons.
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I hate to break the news to you,
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and it's something I don't even want to hear,
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but God loves everybody the same.
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Even that person that was a complete idiot to you
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and to I, he loves them.
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And so when we begin to enter into this kind of praying,
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we see them or that person the way God sees them
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and God loves them.
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Is everybody here?
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Right?
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Well, we've just gotta get to that place.
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Number three, forgiveness.
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The act of praying for those who hurt us
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is closely tied to forgiveness.
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Holding grudges or onto grudges can be detrimental
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to our spiritual well-being while forgiveness can liberate us.
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00:15:03,620 --> 00:15:05,820
It's like Psalm 66.
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00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:08,580
It says, create in me, I already quoted it,
303
00:15:08,580 --> 00:15:09,820
but I'm gonna say it again,
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a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
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Psalm 66, 18.
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But certainly, no, no, no.
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If I regard iniquity in my heart, that's the verse,
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the Lord will not hear me.
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But certainly, God has heard me,
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he has attended to the voice of my prayer,
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blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer
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nor his mercy from me.
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So this prayer of praying for your enemies and letting go
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causes the channels to be opened back up.
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And is that what we want?
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And Hebrews 12, one and two says,
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therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud
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of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
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and the sin that so easily entangles
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00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:09,060
and let us run with patience or perseverance.
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The race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,
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the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
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I remember one time I was in a season
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where the Lord told me not to go anywhere,
325
00:16:22,380 --> 00:16:23,900
not to preach, not to do anything.
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00:16:23,900 --> 00:16:27,100
I didn't know it, but he was working on my heart.
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00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:29,620
And my heart wasn't right and I needed to let go
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00:16:29,620 --> 00:16:34,380
of some things so that he could take me to another level.
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Are you listening?
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00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:37,420
And so for like a year and a half,
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I just spent time in the presence of God.
332
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:43,180
And I always like to work on my love walk.
333
00:16:43,180 --> 00:16:46,500
So I took out 1 Corinthians 13
334
00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:49,620
and I was reading it in the amplified.
335
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And when I got to the part,
336
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aren't you glad that the Lord who he loves, he corrects?
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00:16:55,660 --> 00:17:00,540
When I got to the part, I'm confessing, I am patient,
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00:17:00,540 --> 00:17:02,580
I am kind, I know, you know,
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00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:05,100
because you do that because that's your true nature.
340
00:17:05,100 --> 00:17:07,540
And when I got to the part that said,
341
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and I pay no attention to us suffered wrong.
342
00:17:13,260 --> 00:17:17,580
And the Lord said to me, you are paying more attention
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00:17:17,580 --> 00:17:22,580
to that person that hurt you than you are to me.
344
00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:26,340
And you, my daughter are distracted.
345
00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:29,780
So instead of looking onto me,
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00:17:29,780 --> 00:17:32,260
the author and the finisher of your faith
347
00:17:32,260 --> 00:17:33,900
with the eyes of your spirit,
348
00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:36,060
you're looking at that person.
349
00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:38,620
And you're harboring resentment in your heart,
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00:17:38,620 --> 00:17:40,100
bitterness in your heart.
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00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:42,500
And don't think that I could do everything
352
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:43,940
that I wanna do in your life.
353
00:17:43,940 --> 00:17:47,680
If you don't let it go, it's not worth it.
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00:17:49,860 --> 00:17:52,020
First Corinthians 10, 13 says,
355
00:17:52,020 --> 00:17:55,360
these are the scriptures God gave me for us tonight.
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00:17:56,420 --> 00:17:58,740
No temptation has taken you
357
00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:01,380
except what is common to mankind.
358
00:18:01,380 --> 00:18:03,060
And God is faithful.
359
00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:07,580
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
360
00:18:07,580 --> 00:18:09,500
But when you are tempted,
361
00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:14,500
he will provide a way out that you may endure it.
362
00:18:15,420 --> 00:18:17,100
And the Lord said to me,
363
00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:21,320
the way out is for my people to pray for their enemies.
364
00:18:23,780 --> 00:18:24,920
That's the way out.
365
00:18:27,420 --> 00:18:29,020
And I know it hurts.
366
00:18:29,020 --> 00:18:30,100
Let me just say this,
367
00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:33,980
emotional pain I think is worse
368
00:18:33,980 --> 00:18:35,860
than physical pain at times.
369
00:18:35,860 --> 00:18:37,740
Because physical pain, you have a headache,
370
00:18:37,740 --> 00:18:39,940
you take two Tylenol, right?
371
00:18:39,940 --> 00:18:42,020
But when you have emotional pain,
372
00:18:42,020 --> 00:18:46,300
that's why some people numb it with drugs, alcohol, food,
373
00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:48,580
cigarettes, right?
374
00:18:48,580 --> 00:18:51,940
Cause you're trying to numb the emotional pain,
375
00:18:51,940 --> 00:18:54,620
but it's the Holy Spirit can come in
376
00:18:54,620 --> 00:18:59,060
and he can heal your broken heart and bind up the wounds.
377
00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:01,900
But we pray for people to get set free from addictions.
378
00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:03,340
How about just getting set free
379
00:19:03,340 --> 00:19:08,860
from some of this emotional pain?
380
00:19:08,860 --> 00:19:10,380
So we pray for our enemy
381
00:19:10,380 --> 00:19:13,980
and this will help us emotionally.
382
00:19:13,980 --> 00:19:17,780
But number two, I wanna make sure I say this,
383
00:19:17,780 --> 00:19:19,540
just because you're forgiven,
384
00:19:19,540 --> 00:19:20,860
you're praying for your enemy,
385
00:19:20,860 --> 00:19:24,940
does it mean you should be friends with them?
386
00:19:24,940 --> 00:19:27,500
Mind if I say that?
387
00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:33,020
Some people, you need to love them from a distance.
388
00:19:33,020 --> 00:19:35,860
Yeah, she said, didn't I just say that?
389
00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:37,940
Some people, you gotta love them from a distance
390
00:19:37,940 --> 00:19:40,060
because the Bible says you're to guard your heart
391
00:19:40,060 --> 00:19:43,900
with all diligence, cause out of it flows the issues of life.
392
00:19:43,900 --> 00:19:46,780
Some people, you just gotta set boundaries
393
00:19:46,780 --> 00:19:49,500
and keep that, you know what a boundary is, right?
394
00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:51,420
It's like a fence around a house.
395
00:19:51,420 --> 00:19:53,860
It keeps the bad guys out, right?
396
00:19:53,860 --> 00:19:57,620
You gotta set up those boundaries and stick to it.
397
00:19:57,620 --> 00:19:59,740
Some of you are empaths and the reason
398
00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:01,620
why you hurt so many times
399
00:20:01,620 --> 00:20:05,100
is because you're mercy motivated, you're an empath,
400
00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:08,780
don't allow your empathy to allow that person
401
00:20:08,780 --> 00:20:10,860
back into your life.
402
00:20:10,860 --> 00:20:13,900
Would God, God severed that thing,
403
00:20:13,900 --> 00:20:15,900
now don't go back to that person.
404
00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:20,540
So it's important and it's healthy to set boundaries.
405
00:20:20,540 --> 00:20:21,380
Amen?
406
00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:26,380
Number three, here's another way out,
407
00:20:26,380 --> 00:20:31,020
stop talking about it or him or her or whatever it is.
408
00:20:31,020 --> 00:20:33,580
Now I believe in talk therapy.
409
00:20:33,580 --> 00:20:35,460
I've been to talk therapy.
410
00:20:35,460 --> 00:20:37,780
I'm in talk therapy right now.
411
00:20:37,780 --> 00:20:41,140
Dr. K, and I'm gonna talk to Pastor Joe about Dr. K.
412
00:20:41,140 --> 00:20:45,820
She's a tremendous therapist
413
00:20:45,820 --> 00:20:47,140
and she's got a lot of degrees
414
00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:50,780
and I like people that are holy ghost and have degrees.
415
00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:52,340
What do you even talk therapy for?
416
00:20:52,340 --> 00:20:55,460
Because I think it's sometimes it's just good for us.
417
00:20:55,460 --> 00:20:58,380
Just to have somebody to bounce things off of
418
00:20:58,380 --> 00:21:01,940
because we all have blind spots.
419
00:21:01,940 --> 00:21:03,260
Thank you, holy ghost.
420
00:21:04,340 --> 00:21:07,140
And sometimes when you're talking things through,
421
00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:09,740
it's revealed to you what your blind spots are
422
00:21:09,740 --> 00:21:12,100
and it brings healing to you.
423
00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:13,780
I'm a believer in talk therapy
424
00:21:13,780 --> 00:21:16,300
and there is a time and a purpose and a season
425
00:21:16,300 --> 00:21:18,980
under everything, a time to talk
426
00:21:18,980 --> 00:21:20,500
and a time just to stop talking.
427
00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:22,660
I could stop talking about it.
428
00:21:22,660 --> 00:21:24,860
You know, I have to be, can I be honest?
429
00:21:24,860 --> 00:21:29,860
You know, I mean, sometimes we have friends, right?
430
00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:34,540
And you got me have a friend that would complain
431
00:21:34,540 --> 00:21:36,580
and complain and is really upset
432
00:21:36,580 --> 00:21:39,460
about a certain person in their life, right?
433
00:21:39,460 --> 00:21:41,420
And then you just complain and complain
434
00:21:41,420 --> 00:21:42,740
and you're a friend of that person.
435
00:21:42,740 --> 00:21:44,420
You just listen and listen and listen
436
00:21:44,420 --> 00:21:47,580
and then all of a sudden you find yourself chiving in.
437
00:21:47,580 --> 00:21:50,140
I was doing that one day, one night.
438
00:21:50,140 --> 00:21:52,780
The next morning I woke up
439
00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:55,760
and the Spirit of God gave me a scripture.
440
00:21:56,660 --> 00:21:57,900
I have to read it.
441
00:21:57,900 --> 00:21:59,180
I couldn't believe it.
442
00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:01,900
I'm gonna read it to you, you mind?
443
00:22:07,180 --> 00:22:08,020
Here.
444
00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:12,340
The tongue is an unruly evil.
445
00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:16,860
I woke up to that and I was like, what?
446
00:22:16,860 --> 00:22:19,300
He said, you're taking on her offense.
447
00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:22,140
She's talking about it and you're chiming in
448
00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:24,100
and now you don't like that person
449
00:22:24,100 --> 00:22:26,380
and I want you to stop talking about it
450
00:22:26,380 --> 00:22:28,860
because the tongue is an unruly evil.
451
00:22:28,860 --> 00:22:30,460
And if you don't stop it,
452
00:22:30,460 --> 00:22:33,820
I'm not gonna be able to take you where I need to take you
453
00:22:33,820 --> 00:22:36,500
because life and death are in the power of the tongue.
454
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:39,100
So you better stop it, woman of God.
455
00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:45,740
Because if we're gonna speak life
456
00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:47,460
and we're gonna bring healing to people,
457
00:22:47,460 --> 00:22:50,580
we cannot allow bitter waters and sweet waters
458
00:22:50,580 --> 00:22:52,300
come out of the same fountain.
459
00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:56,540
It is time for us to get rid of this stuff and let it go.
460
00:22:56,540 --> 00:22:59,500
And if you don't mind the word in church, repent.
461
00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:04,980
And then I got another one about four days later
462
00:23:04,980 --> 00:23:06,900
and it was on September 6th
463
00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:08,700
and then I didn't know all these rules.
464
00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:09,580
I mean, I knew a couple of them
465
00:23:09,580 --> 00:23:11,180
but I didn't put this together.
466
00:23:11,180 --> 00:23:14,900
The law of kindness is in her mouth.
467
00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:16,900
You wanna display my glory?
468
00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:19,060
You wanna display my love?
469
00:23:19,060 --> 00:23:21,740
You wanna be a virtuous woman?
470
00:23:21,740 --> 00:23:25,980
Get rid of that unruly evil tongue
471
00:23:25,980 --> 00:23:30,260
and allow the law of kindness to come out of your mouth.
472
00:23:30,260 --> 00:23:33,340
It's the old saying, what would Jesus do?
473
00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:35,700
What would Jesus say?
474
00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:38,260
Father, forgive them.
475
00:23:38,260 --> 00:23:40,420
They don't even know what they're doing.
476
00:23:40,420 --> 00:23:42,740
Can I just tell you that straight up,
477
00:23:42,740 --> 00:23:45,540
some people are just messed up.
478
00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:46,380
Okay?
479
00:23:49,620 --> 00:23:53,260
Some people have personality disorders.
480
00:23:53,260 --> 00:23:56,740
Some people are on the spectrum.
481
00:23:56,740 --> 00:23:59,860
Some people, they're just messed up.
482
00:24:02,180 --> 00:24:03,060
Right?
483
00:24:03,060 --> 00:24:06,380
So I feel like we need to have more compassion for people
484
00:24:06,380 --> 00:24:09,320
and love people the way Jesus would love us.
485
00:24:11,900 --> 00:24:14,420
Let's talk about the story of Joseph.
486
00:24:14,420 --> 00:24:15,900
Do you like my message tonight?
487
00:24:15,900 --> 00:24:16,740
Yes.
488
00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:22,900
In the book of Genesis, Joseph's story illustrates
489
00:24:22,900 --> 00:24:27,580
themes of forgiveness, providence and redemption.
490
00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:30,420
I'm just making this condensed.
491
00:24:30,420 --> 00:24:33,940
Joseph, the favored one of Jacob,
492
00:24:33,940 --> 00:24:37,020
is given a beautiful coat by his father
493
00:24:37,020 --> 00:24:40,860
which stirs up jealousy amongst his brothers.
494
00:24:40,860 --> 00:24:42,260
You ever get around somebody
495
00:24:42,260 --> 00:24:44,340
and get grieved in your spirit?
496
00:24:44,340 --> 00:24:45,460
You don't know why?
497
00:24:45,460 --> 00:24:48,820
And sometimes it's somebody right in your own house.
498
00:24:48,820 --> 00:24:51,220
Sometimes there's people, members,
499
00:24:51,220 --> 00:24:53,260
in your house that are family.
500
00:24:53,260 --> 00:24:56,780
They're some of the ones that can hurt you the most.
501
00:24:56,780 --> 00:24:59,820
Personally, I personally don't understand jealousy.
502
00:24:59,820 --> 00:25:02,000
I've never been a jealous person.
503
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,940
But his brothers, in this case, they were jealous of him.
504
00:25:05,940 --> 00:25:07,780
They plotted against him.
505
00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:12,020
See, the devil will always attack you where you're strong,
506
00:25:12,020 --> 00:25:13,180
but he'll also attack you
507
00:25:13,180 --> 00:25:15,380
where you've got a crack in your armor.
508
00:25:15,380 --> 00:25:18,220
If you're prone to jealousy, you got to watch that.
509
00:25:19,540 --> 00:25:20,380
Right?
510
00:25:22,700 --> 00:25:25,260
It stirred up jealousy amongst his brothers.
511
00:25:25,260 --> 00:25:28,460
They plotted against him and ultimately sold him
512
00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:31,500
into slavery in Egypt and deceived their father
513
00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:34,460
into believing that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.
514
00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:35,580
You know the story.
515
00:25:35,580 --> 00:25:39,380
In Egypt, Joseph faces numerous trials,
516
00:25:39,380 --> 00:25:41,900
including wrongful imprisonment
517
00:25:41,900 --> 00:25:45,980
after rejecting the advances of Potiphar's wife.
518
00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:50,980
Despite these hardships, seven years of abundance followed.
519
00:25:51,260 --> 00:25:55,380
Joseph remained faithful and interprets dreams for Pharaoh,
520
00:25:55,380 --> 00:25:58,060
predicting seven years of abundance
521
00:25:58,060 --> 00:26:01,380
followed by seven years of famine.
522
00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:03,340
Impressed by his wisdom,
523
00:26:03,340 --> 00:26:06,900
Pharaoh elevates Joseph to a position of power,
524
00:26:06,900 --> 00:26:11,420
allowing him to prepare Egypt for the forthcoming famine.
525
00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:13,740
So God gave Joseph favor.
526
00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:16,140
He was eventually put into the position,
527
00:26:16,140 --> 00:26:19,940
even though he went through all these hardships.
528
00:26:19,940 --> 00:26:23,860
I remember one time, how many of you ever remember Dick Mills?
529
00:26:23,860 --> 00:26:25,220
Remember Dick Mills?
530
00:26:25,220 --> 00:26:27,020
I was with Stephanie Busada.
531
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:28,940
We were at the 700 Club,
532
00:26:28,940 --> 00:26:31,380
and this was way back in the day.
533
00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:33,820
We're talking like 30 something years ago,
534
00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:35,540
and Dick was on the program,
535
00:26:35,540 --> 00:26:38,220
and Stephanie was on the program singing now, Stephanie.
536
00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:40,220
They're both in heaven right now.
537
00:26:40,220 --> 00:26:43,300
But I remember we all got back into the bus,
538
00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:45,460
and we were going back to the hotel,
539
00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:50,220
and Dick Mills, he turns to me, and he gives me this word.
540
00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:55,380
You know, one of these words you don't really want to hear.
541
00:26:55,380 --> 00:26:56,820
He turns to me and he goes,
542
00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,860
you are gonna be betrayed by your brothers,
543
00:26:59,860 --> 00:27:01,540
just like Joseph.
544
00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:03,460
You're gonna be betrayed by your brothers,
545
00:27:03,460 --> 00:27:05,220
and he went into this whole thing,
546
00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:07,100
and then he says, and you have a ministry
547
00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:10,780
to ministry to the brokenhearted, to the divorced,
548
00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:13,220
to people who have issues with rejection.
549
00:27:13,220 --> 00:27:15,700
What a beautiful, powerful ministry.
550
00:27:17,100 --> 00:27:20,100
Do you know about six months later,
551
00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:21,460
I was already in ministry,
552
00:27:21,460 --> 00:27:23,700
already was flowing in the things of God.
553
00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:25,300
You know about six months later,
554
00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:29,500
another high level leader started calling me
555
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:32,140
a false brethren.
556
00:27:32,140 --> 00:27:33,540
You know that scripture that says,
557
00:27:33,540 --> 00:27:36,460
false brethren have risen up around you.
558
00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:38,100
Do you know that wasn't her?
559
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:40,940
She was being motivated by the devil,
560
00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:43,900
because I was teaching prayer and intercession,
561
00:27:43,900 --> 00:27:46,780
and according to Kenneth E. Hagan in all his stories,
562
00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:49,100
when he'd cast devils out of people,
563
00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:51,300
sometimes some of them would scream out,
564
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:54,700
I hate intercessors, I hate intercessors.
565
00:27:54,700 --> 00:27:58,220
So it wasn't her really coming against me,
566
00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:01,500
it was she was motivated by the demons
567
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:03,820
that hated what I was teaching.
568
00:28:03,820 --> 00:28:07,460
Sometimes I think we take things too personal,
569
00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:09,700
and we think it's about us.
570
00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:14,300
That's why the mark of spiritual maturity is growing up,
571
00:28:14,300 --> 00:28:18,220
and whether they praise you, or whether they reject you,
572
00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:21,180
whether they speak all manner of evil against you,
573
00:28:21,180 --> 00:28:23,380
it shouldn't matter either way.
574
00:28:25,260 --> 00:28:27,820
And that really bothered me, it crushed me,
575
00:28:27,820 --> 00:28:29,980
it hindered my ministry, you know,
576
00:28:29,980 --> 00:28:32,940
but Dick already had prophesied it,
577
00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:35,100
and at the end of the day, I forgave her
578
00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:39,260
to the point when she, did I say her name already?
579
00:28:39,260 --> 00:28:42,540
When she reached a really hard point,
580
00:28:42,540 --> 00:28:46,140
and was in a really bad place,
581
00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:49,120
I gave her money, and helped her.
582
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,260
You don't mind the language, but screw the devil.
583
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,860
See, the devil wants to divide us,
584
00:28:56,860 --> 00:28:58,820
if he can divide us, he can conquer us.
585
00:28:58,820 --> 00:29:00,540
How about praying for one another,
586
00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:02,140
standing with one another,
587
00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:04,820
understanding that we have an enemy?
588
00:29:04,820 --> 00:29:08,060
It's not always the person, it's the enemy.
589
00:29:09,740 --> 00:29:12,700
See, we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
590
00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:15,220
but against principalities, powers,
591
00:29:15,220 --> 00:29:18,420
and the rulers of the darkness of this world.
592
00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:21,900
Sometimes it's the enemy that destroys marriages,
593
00:29:21,900 --> 00:29:23,880
because people let the enemy in,
594
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,600
but you know, the family that prays together stays together.
595
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,220
Be as wise as a serpent, as harmless as a dove.
596
00:29:32,220 --> 00:29:34,020
Stand with your husband and wife,
597
00:29:34,020 --> 00:29:37,380
and wives don't, you know, honor your husbands.
598
00:29:37,380 --> 00:29:38,980
Don't go to your best friends,
599
00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:41,900
and start telling them all the secrets
600
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:45,180
that's going on in your personal life.
601
00:29:45,180 --> 00:29:49,060
Love covers the multitude of sin.
602
00:29:49,060 --> 00:29:59,060
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast.
603
00:29:59,060 --> 00:30:01,060
It has been such a joy sharing this time with you.
604
00:30:01,060 --> 00:30:04,060
For more inspiration and resources on today's topic,
605
00:30:04,060 --> 00:30:20,060
please visit our website at margiefloran.org.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,240
You pray it and he can answer it.
2
00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:07,240
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
3
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,040
God will put the prayer in your heart to pray
4
00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:12,320
so that he can answer it.
5
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,080
Goes into the hearts of the people.
6
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,440
Does it return void?
7
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,120
It produces results.
8
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,000
Well, why don't we go ahead and open in prayer.
9
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,040
Thank you, Lord.
10
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,160
Heavenly Father, we just come to you.
11
00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,640
We thank you that you're here,
12
00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,600
that your Holy Spirit is here,
13
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,800
and that the entrance of your word brings light.
14
00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,560
I ask that you would enlighten us,
15
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,280
shine your light on the tablets of our hearts.
16
00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,040
Help me to speak this message tonight
17
00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,880
to the hearts and lives of your people.
18
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,600
And I pray that the Holy Spirit would just have his way
19
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,680
and confirm your word with signs following
20
00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,840
in Jesus' name, amen.
21
00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,000
So this is guided prayer or what we're calling prayer school.
22
00:01:04,940 --> 00:01:08,640
The Holy Spirit sent the intention for tonight.
23
00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,720
Sometimes we set the intention
24
00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,640
because we just, okay, Lord,
25
00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,100
I might get in a specific direction.
26
00:01:15,100 --> 00:01:19,480
But the Holy Spirit set the intention four weeks ago.
27
00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,800
It's probably the quickest I've ever gotten direction.
28
00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,800
And the prayer focus tonight
29
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,120
is going to be prayer for your enemies.
30
00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,200
I believe that the reason why the Spirit of God
31
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,160
has us going in this direction is because
32
00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,100
he wants to do some great and mighty things.
33
00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,120
And the Bible speaks about,
34
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,600
in Luke eight and Matthew 13,
35
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,160
about the different kinds of ground.
36
00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,800
And it's the ground of our hearts.
37
00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,480
And what I believe he's doing in our hearts
38
00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,400
here at New Beginnings and in a lot of the regions
39
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,920
on the East Coast is he's getting our hearts ready
40
00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:12,680
to experience, I just keep hearing it,
41
00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,160
some great and mighty things that he desires to do.
42
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,440
But here's the key.
43
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,360
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
44
00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,800
the Lord will not hear me.
45
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,440
And I think sometimes there's thorns in our hearts
46
00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,120
and hard ground that we have
47
00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,120
and just some things that choke what God wants to do.
48
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,620
And sometimes we're aware of it and sometimes we're not.
49
00:02:38,620 --> 00:02:42,720
Now you know if you have unforgiveness in your heart
50
00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,280
because you get like a little prickly feeling
51
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:46,920
when you think about that person.
52
00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:49,360
Amen.
53
00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,040
But I believe that the Spirit of the Lord is here
54
00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,360
and I believe that he has anointed me
55
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,680
to heal the brokenhearted.
56
00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:58,480
And I believe that he's here
57
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,320
and he's gonna help us to uproot those roots of bitterness
58
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,640
that have kept some of us from running the race
59
00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,560
that's set before us.
60
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,120
So our prayer focus is gonna be prayer for your enemies.
61
00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,960
Our text is Matthew chapter five, verse 43 and 44.
62
00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,040
And just those of you know this,
63
00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:19,960
but I'm gonna go ahead and repeat it.
64
00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,280
Whatever we do in prayer school,
65
00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,240
the idea is for you to learn here
66
00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,640
and take what you receive here and bring it home
67
00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:33,860
and develop your own prayer life
68
00:03:33,860 --> 00:03:35,880
or your own prayer habit with God.
69
00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:37,280
According to Matthew 6,6.
70
00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,120
Go into your own closet, shut the door,
71
00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,160
use what you're learning here
72
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,120
and practice your prayer time and your prayer life.
73
00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,280
Amen. Matthew 5, 43 and 44.
74
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,200
Jesus said, but I say to you,
75
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,640
isn't this an interesting prayer focus?
76
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,880
I would have never thought of this.
77
00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:58,620
It was an idea from God.
78
00:03:58,620 --> 00:04:00,680
I've never taught on this before.
79
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,280
He says here, but I say to you, love your enemies.
80
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,920
Bless them that curse you,
81
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,480
do good to them that hate you
82
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,040
and pray for them which despitefully use you
83
00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,880
and persecute you.
84
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,000
So he's telling us right here that he wants us
85
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,560
to pray for our enemies.
86
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,560
And we're gonna get into that.
87
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,360
Ron Carpenter once said in his book,
88
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,600
The Necessity of the Enemy,
89
00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,600
he said, an enemy arising in your life
90
00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,760
is an announcement that the next stage of your future
91
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,720
is about to be born.
92
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,340
So I'm like excited about that
93
00:04:45,340 --> 00:04:48,780
because if he's got me ministering on this tonight,
94
00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:51,860
there must be something coming up the road ahead.
95
00:04:52,900 --> 00:04:56,300
And I know for a fact that anytime God's desiring
96
00:04:56,300 --> 00:04:59,420
to do something, the enemy will try to come in
97
00:04:59,420 --> 00:05:02,260
and sift us, throw a roadblock in
98
00:05:02,260 --> 00:05:04,940
to keep us from running the race.
99
00:05:04,940 --> 00:05:06,260
So I'm gonna read that again.
100
00:05:06,260 --> 00:05:10,860
An enemy arising in your life is an announcement
101
00:05:10,860 --> 00:05:15,580
that the next stage of your future is about to be born.
102
00:05:16,660 --> 00:05:21,020
Now the question is, are you going to let the enemy win?
103
00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:23,540
This is, and I thought, Lord, why would I say
104
00:05:23,540 --> 00:05:25,060
are we gonna let the enemy win?
105
00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:28,540
It's not about winning and losing, but actually it is.
106
00:05:28,540 --> 00:05:32,680
When you forgive and you let go, you win.
107
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,300
When you don't, there's a lot that we miss out on
108
00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:39,760
and we lose, amen?
109
00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,380
So the question is, are you going to let the enemy win?
110
00:05:43,380 --> 00:05:47,500
Are you going to allow him to hinder your advancement?
111
00:05:50,180 --> 00:05:51,520
Is it worth it?
112
00:05:52,740 --> 00:05:57,260
I don't know about you, but I wanna go all the way
113
00:05:57,260 --> 00:05:58,900
with Jesus.
114
00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:02,980
And if there's someone or person that's something
115
00:06:02,980 --> 00:06:05,020
that's happened in my life that's gonna keep me
116
00:06:05,020 --> 00:06:10,020
from going the full course of what he's set before me,
117
00:06:10,420 --> 00:06:11,980
I don't want that in my life.
118
00:06:11,980 --> 00:06:13,380
How about you?
119
00:06:13,380 --> 00:06:16,420
It's like I always tell people what we wanna do
120
00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:19,660
is we wanna live in the lot of eternity.
121
00:06:19,660 --> 00:06:21,480
We don't wanna live for this world.
122
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,420
We wanna live in the lot of eternity.
123
00:06:23,420 --> 00:06:25,660
And some of these weights and some of these sins
124
00:06:25,660 --> 00:06:28,340
and some of these hindrances, they'll keep us
125
00:06:28,340 --> 00:06:31,860
from our purpose and our plan and our destiny.
126
00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:33,700
So is it worth it?
127
00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:34,540
I just said it.
128
00:06:34,540 --> 00:06:38,660
Let's live in the lot of eternity and let go.
129
00:06:38,660 --> 00:06:40,900
Give God the pain.
130
00:06:40,900 --> 00:06:44,820
Let the root of bitterness and unforgiveness go.
131
00:06:44,820 --> 00:06:47,900
It is time to let it go.
132
00:06:50,260 --> 00:06:54,500
Jesus instructs his followers to love their enemies
133
00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:57,940
and pray for those who persecute them.
134
00:06:57,940 --> 00:07:02,180
This teaching emphasizes the radical nature
135
00:07:02,180 --> 00:07:04,820
of agape love and forgiveness.
136
00:07:04,820 --> 00:07:05,820
It's radical.
137
00:07:05,820 --> 00:07:07,640
We're talking radical tonight.
138
00:07:08,700 --> 00:07:09,580
Amen?
139
00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:11,580
But you know, we can do the radical.
140
00:07:11,580 --> 00:07:12,900
You know why?
141
00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:16,780
Because Romans 5.5 says that the love of God
142
00:07:16,780 --> 00:07:21,780
has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
143
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,660
So we have the capacity to forgive.
144
00:07:25,660 --> 00:07:28,900
Even as Jesus forgave when he was on the cross.
145
00:07:28,900 --> 00:07:31,500
Didn't he say, Father, forgive them?
146
00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:34,340
They don't even know what they're doing.
147
00:07:34,340 --> 00:07:36,020
They thought they were doing right.
148
00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:38,500
They thought they were doing what they should be doing.
149
00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,340
And they didn't even know that their moments were wrong,
150
00:07:41,340 --> 00:07:44,340
that they were actually literally playing right
151
00:07:44,340 --> 00:07:46,740
into the plan of redemption.
152
00:07:46,740 --> 00:07:49,660
Sometimes your enemies will do you a favor.
153
00:07:51,420 --> 00:07:52,540
Amen.
154
00:07:52,540 --> 00:07:54,300
And we're gonna get into that.
155
00:07:54,300 --> 00:07:57,140
But the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
156
00:07:57,140 --> 00:07:58,140
by the Holy Spirit.
157
00:07:58,140 --> 00:08:02,560
So we have the ability to forgive.
158
00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,900
But it's not a forgiveness that's of the feelings.
159
00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:10,300
It's a forgiveness that comes from the heart,
160
00:08:10,300 --> 00:08:12,540
from the spirit of man.
161
00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:14,780
Your feelings may say one thing,
162
00:08:14,780 --> 00:08:16,620
but your heart will say another thing.
163
00:08:16,620 --> 00:08:18,780
How many of you know what I'm talking about?
164
00:08:18,780 --> 00:08:21,060
You know, your feelings are fickle.
165
00:08:21,060 --> 00:08:23,540
As a matter of fact, after tonight,
166
00:08:23,540 --> 00:08:26,380
when we let go of those things
167
00:08:26,380 --> 00:08:29,580
that have been awaited to us and forgive,
168
00:08:29,580 --> 00:08:33,460
you may be tempted to have those feelings
169
00:08:33,460 --> 00:08:35,740
of unforgiveness come back.
170
00:08:35,740 --> 00:08:37,620
But I'm just gonna tell you straight up,
171
00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:39,260
just cast it down.
172
00:08:39,260 --> 00:08:41,260
And say, you know what, Lord, by faith,
173
00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:43,540
I've already forgiven that person.
174
00:08:43,540 --> 00:08:47,700
I've already let it go on September 13th at six,
175
00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:50,740
whatever time it's gonna happen tonight.
176
00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:52,220
Because the enemy's gonna come in,
177
00:08:52,220 --> 00:08:53,660
he's gonna say, oh no, you didn't forgive.
178
00:08:53,660 --> 00:08:56,420
Well, we don't forgive by feelings,
179
00:08:56,420 --> 00:08:58,740
we forgive by faith.
180
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:01,480
Amen.
181
00:09:03,420 --> 00:09:08,420
Okay, so the radical nature of agape love and forgiveness.
182
00:09:08,660 --> 00:09:10,500
Now you know that there's four kinds of love
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we're not gonna get into.
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So agape love is the unconditional love of God.
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The kind of love that is patient, it's kind,
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it's not jealous.
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You know, it's the love of God that never fails, right?
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It's that radical nature, okay?
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Number one, the command to love.
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Jesus challenges us by commanding us to love
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not only our friends, but also our enemies.
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It's easy to love our friends, isn't it?
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It's a lot harder to love our enemies,
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but it's the same love.
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Amen?
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This love is unconditional and transcends personal feelings.
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I like to call it like this.
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I like to call it dying to self.
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You know, dying to self.
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I remember one time when I first started ministry,
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I used to like to use the rose as my logo.
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And you know, one day the Lord said to me,
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I don't want you using the rose anymore
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as your logo for your ministry.
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And I go, why Lord?
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I love the rose, it's me.
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And he said, that's precisely why I don't want you
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to use the rose in your ministry.
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I don't want it to be about you.
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I want it to be about me.
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And I want you to hide behind the cross,
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because this is not your ministry, it's my ministry.
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So I want that to die.
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And so I wrote this article,
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I found some of my old newsletters from back in the day.
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So I was radical back then too, you know,
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and that title of the article is, the rose is dead.
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This is funny.
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But that's the dying to self.
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Dying and surrendering to God and giving God your all.
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Even these feelings of unforgiveness,
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even though that person, you know, yes, you may have been right.
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Yes, they did what they did.
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Yes, you were despitefully used.
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Yes, that person was mean to you.
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Yes, they were verbally abusive.
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Yes, that bad thing happened,
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but you've got to let it go.
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It's not worth it, because all these things
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will just eat at us and only hurt us.
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That's why God said, I want my people to have clean hands
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and a pure heart.
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So when you stand before me,
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there's nothing that's hindering.
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Okay, now the power, number two, the power of prayer.
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Praying for our enemies is a powerful act
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that can change our hearts and our perspectives.
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So when you pray for your enemies,
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something happens on the inside of you.
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I know that people don't like to pray this prayer
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in the grace movement,
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but it's a prayer I'd like to pray.
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We may pray it tonight.
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Create in me a clean heart
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and renew a right spirit within me.
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Let's balance it.
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I know we're the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
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I know that when we stand before God,
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we stand before God just as if we've never sinned.
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When the Father sees us, He sees Jesus.
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But let's look at the renew a right spirit within me part.
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If we have unharmed unforgiveness,
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there's something in our hearts that just isn't right.
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How many of you know what I'm talking about?
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And I have to tell you as leaders, we know this.
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If we have to preach and teach and minister,
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not out of anger.
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And I've seen leaders, they're mad at their people,
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they're mad at whatever happened to them,
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and they're ministering out of anger and hurt.
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And that's not God.
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God has to create in them a clean heart
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and renew a right spirit within them.
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Where does it take place?
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It takes place in the presence of God
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because something's only God can do.
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We could take all the steps that we need to take,
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but it's really God, the Holy Ghost,
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that's got to come into those areas of our hearts
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and heal us, amen?
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So it changes our hearts.
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I don't know about you,
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but I want a heart change, amen?
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It can lead to healing both for ourselves
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and possibly for those we view as adversaries.
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And you know, the beauty of praying this prayer
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of forgiveness is when we do that
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and we enter into the presence of God,
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we're gonna talk a little bit about that.
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We see them the way God sees them.
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You know, we don't see that outward thing that they did,
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not outward, all of that, all the words and all the things.
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We start to see them the way God sees them.
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And God's no respecter of persons.
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I hate to break the news to you,
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and it's something I don't even want to hear,
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but God loves everybody the same.
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Even that person that was a complete idiot to you
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and to I, he loves them.
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And so when we begin to enter into this kind of praying,
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we see them or that person the way God sees them
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and God loves them.
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Is everybody here?
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Right?
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Well, we've just gotta get to that place.
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Number three, forgiveness.
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The act of praying for those who hurt us
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is closely tied to forgiveness.
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Holding grudges or onto grudges can be detrimental
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to our spiritual well-being while forgiveness can liberate us.
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It's like Psalm 66.
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It says, create in me, I already quoted it,
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but I'm gonna say it again,
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a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
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Psalm 66, 18.
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But certainly, no, no, no.
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If I regard iniquity in my heart, that's the verse,
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the Lord will not hear me.
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But certainly, God has heard me,
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he has attended to the voice of my prayer,
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blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer
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nor his mercy from me.
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So this prayer of praying for your enemies and letting go
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causes the channels to be opened back up.
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And is that what we want?
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And Hebrews 12, one and two says,
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therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud
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of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
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and the sin that so easily entangles
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and let us run with patience or perseverance.
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The race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,
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the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
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I remember one time I was in a season
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where the Lord told me not to go anywhere,
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not to preach, not to do anything.
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I didn't know it, but he was working on my heart.
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And my heart wasn't right and I needed to let go
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of some things so that he could take me to another level.
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Are you listening?
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And so for like a year and a half,
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I just spent time in the presence of God.
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And I always like to work on my love walk.
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So I took out 1 Corinthians 13
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and I was reading it in the amplified.
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And when I got to the part,
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aren't you glad that the Lord who he loves, he corrects?
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When I got to the part, I'm confessing, I am patient,
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I am kind, I know, you know,
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because you do that because that's your true nature.
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And when I got to the part that said,
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and I pay no attention to us suffered wrong.
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And the Lord said to me, you are paying more attention
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to that person that hurt you than you are to me.
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And you, my daughter are distracted.
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So instead of looking onto me,
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the author and the finisher of your faith
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with the eyes of your spirit,
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you're looking at that person.
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And you're harboring resentment in your heart,
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bitterness in your heart.
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And don't think that I could do everything
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that I wanna do in your life.
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If you don't let it go, it's not worth it.
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First Corinthians 10, 13 says,
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these are the scriptures God gave me for us tonight.
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No temptation has taken you
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except what is common to mankind.
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And God is faithful.
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He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
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But when you are tempted,
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he will provide a way out that you may endure it.
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And the Lord said to me,
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the way out is for my people to pray for their enemies.
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That's the way out.
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And I know it hurts.
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Let me just say this,
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emotional pain I think is worse
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than physical pain at times.
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Because physical pain, you have a headache,
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you take two Tylenol, right?
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But when you have emotional pain,
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that's why some people numb it with drugs, alcohol, food,
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cigarettes, right?
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Cause you're trying to numb the emotional pain,
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but it's the Holy Spirit can come in
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and he can heal your broken heart and bind up the wounds.
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But we pray for people to get set free from addictions.
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How about just getting set free
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from some of this emotional pain?
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So we pray for our enemy
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and this will help us emotionally.
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But number two, I wanna make sure I say this,
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just because you're forgiven,
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you're praying for your enemy,
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does it mean you should be friends with them?
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Mind if I say that?
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Some people, you need to love them from a distance.
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Yeah, she said, didn't I just say that?
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Some people, you gotta love them from a distance
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because the Bible says you're to guard your heart
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with all diligence, cause out of it flows the issues of life.
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Some people, you just gotta set boundaries
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and keep that, you know what a boundary is, right?
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It's like a fence around a house.
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It keeps the bad guys out, right?
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You gotta set up those boundaries and stick to it.
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Some of you are empaths and the reason
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why you hurt so many times
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is because you're mercy motivated, you're an empath,
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don't allow your empathy to allow that person
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back into your life.
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Would God, God severed that thing,
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now don't go back to that person.
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So it's important and it's healthy to set boundaries.
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Amen?
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Number three, here's another way out,
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stop talking about it or him or her or whatever it is.
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Now I believe in talk therapy.
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I've been to talk therapy.
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I'm in talk therapy right now.
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Dr. K, and I'm gonna talk to Pastor Joe about Dr. K.
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She's a tremendous therapist
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and she's got a lot of degrees
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and I like people that are holy ghost and have degrees.
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What do you even talk therapy for?
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Because I think it's sometimes it's just good for us.
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Just to have somebody to bounce things off of
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because we all have blind spots.
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Thank you, holy ghost.
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And sometimes when you're talking things through,
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it's revealed to you what your blind spots are
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and it brings healing to you.
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I'm a believer in talk therapy
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and there is a time and a purpose and a season
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under everything, a time to talk
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and a time just to stop talking.
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I could stop talking about it.
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You know, I have to be, can I be honest?
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You know, I mean, sometimes we have friends, right?
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And you got me have a friend that would complain
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and complain and is really upset
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about a certain person in their life, right?
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And then you just complain and complain
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and you're a friend of that person.
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You just listen and listen and listen
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and then all of a sudden you find yourself chiving in.
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I was doing that one day, one night.
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The next morning I woke up
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and the Spirit of God gave me a scripture.
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I have to read it.
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I couldn't believe it.
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I'm gonna read it to you, you mind?
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Here.
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The tongue is an unruly evil.
445
00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:16,860
I woke up to that and I was like, what?
446
00:22:16,860 --> 00:22:19,300
He said, you're taking on her offense.
447
00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:22,140
She's talking about it and you're chiming in
448
00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:24,100
and now you don't like that person
449
00:22:24,100 --> 00:22:26,380
and I want you to stop talking about it
450
00:22:26,380 --> 00:22:28,860
because the tongue is an unruly evil.
451
00:22:28,860 --> 00:22:30,460
And if you don't stop it,
452
00:22:30,460 --> 00:22:33,820
I'm not gonna be able to take you where I need to take you
453
00:22:33,820 --> 00:22:36,500
because life and death are in the power of the tongue.
454
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:39,100
So you better stop it, woman of God.
455
00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:45,740
Because if we're gonna speak life
456
00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:47,460
and we're gonna bring healing to people,
457
00:22:47,460 --> 00:22:50,580
we cannot allow bitter waters and sweet waters
458
00:22:50,580 --> 00:22:52,300
come out of the same fountain.
459
00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:56,540
It is time for us to get rid of this stuff and let it go.
460
00:22:56,540 --> 00:22:59,500
And if you don't mind the word in church, repent.
461
00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:04,980
And then I got another one about four days later
462
00:23:04,980 --> 00:23:06,900
and it was on September 6th
463
00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:08,700
and then I didn't know all these rules.
464
00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:09,580
I mean, I knew a couple of them
465
00:23:09,580 --> 00:23:11,180
but I didn't put this together.
466
00:23:11,180 --> 00:23:14,900
The law of kindness is in her mouth.
467
00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:16,900
You wanna display my glory?
468
00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:19,060
You wanna display my love?
469
00:23:19,060 --> 00:23:21,740
You wanna be a virtuous woman?
470
00:23:21,740 --> 00:23:25,980
Get rid of that unruly evil tongue
471
00:23:25,980 --> 00:23:30,260
and allow the law of kindness to come out of your mouth.
472
00:23:30,260 --> 00:23:33,340
It's the old saying, what would Jesus do?
473
00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:35,700
What would Jesus say?
474
00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:38,260
Father, forgive them.
475
00:23:38,260 --> 00:23:40,420
They don't even know what they're doing.
476
00:23:40,420 --> 00:23:42,740
Can I just tell you that straight up,
477
00:23:42,740 --> 00:23:45,540
some people are just messed up.
478
00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:46,380
Okay?
479
00:23:49,620 --> 00:23:53,260
Some people have personality disorders.
480
00:23:53,260 --> 00:23:56,740
Some people are on the spectrum.
481
00:23:56,740 --> 00:23:59,860
Some people, they're just messed up.
482
00:24:02,180 --> 00:24:03,060
Right?
483
00:24:03,060 --> 00:24:06,380
So I feel like we need to have more compassion for people
484
00:24:06,380 --> 00:24:09,320
and love people the way Jesus would love us.
485
00:24:11,900 --> 00:24:14,420
Let's talk about the story of Joseph.
486
00:24:14,420 --> 00:24:15,900
Do you like my message tonight?
487
00:24:15,900 --> 00:24:16,740
Yes.
488
00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:22,900
In the book of Genesis, Joseph's story illustrates
489
00:24:22,900 --> 00:24:27,580
themes of forgiveness, providence and redemption.
490
00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:30,420
I'm just making this condensed.
491
00:24:30,420 --> 00:24:33,940
Joseph, the favored one of Jacob,
492
00:24:33,940 --> 00:24:37,020
is given a beautiful coat by his father
493
00:24:37,020 --> 00:24:40,860
which stirs up jealousy amongst his brothers.
494
00:24:40,860 --> 00:24:42,260
You ever get around somebody
495
00:24:42,260 --> 00:24:44,340
and get grieved in your spirit?
496
00:24:44,340 --> 00:24:45,460
You don't know why?
497
00:24:45,460 --> 00:24:48,820
And sometimes it's somebody right in your own house.
498
00:24:48,820 --> 00:24:51,220
Sometimes there's people, members,
499
00:24:51,220 --> 00:24:53,260
in your house that are family.
500
00:24:53,260 --> 00:24:56,780
They're some of the ones that can hurt you the most.
501
00:24:56,780 --> 00:24:59,820
Personally, I personally don't understand jealousy.
502
00:24:59,820 --> 00:25:02,000
I've never been a jealous person.
503
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,940
But his brothers, in this case, they were jealous of him.
504
00:25:05,940 --> 00:25:07,780
They plotted against him.
505
00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:12,020
See, the devil will always attack you where you're strong,
506
00:25:12,020 --> 00:25:13,180
but he'll also attack you
507
00:25:13,180 --> 00:25:15,380
where you've got a crack in your armor.
508
00:25:15,380 --> 00:25:18,220
If you're prone to jealousy, you got to watch that.
509
00:25:19,540 --> 00:25:20,380
Right?
510
00:25:22,700 --> 00:25:25,260
It stirred up jealousy amongst his brothers.
511
00:25:25,260 --> 00:25:28,460
They plotted against him and ultimately sold him
512
00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:31,500
into slavery in Egypt and deceived their father
513
00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:34,460
into believing that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.
514
00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:35,580
You know the story.
515
00:25:35,580 --> 00:25:39,380
In Egypt, Joseph faces numerous trials,
516
00:25:39,380 --> 00:25:41,900
including wrongful imprisonment
517
00:25:41,900 --> 00:25:45,980
after rejecting the advances of Potiphar's wife.
518
00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:50,980
Despite these hardships, seven years of abundance followed.
519
00:25:51,260 --> 00:25:55,380
Joseph remained faithful and interprets dreams for Pharaoh,
520
00:25:55,380 --> 00:25:58,060
predicting seven years of abundance
521
00:25:58,060 --> 00:26:01,380
followed by seven years of famine.
522
00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:03,340
Impressed by his wisdom,
523
00:26:03,340 --> 00:26:06,900
Pharaoh elevates Joseph to a position of power,
524
00:26:06,900 --> 00:26:11,420
allowing him to prepare Egypt for the forthcoming famine.
525
00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:13,740
So God gave Joseph favor.
526
00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:16,140
He was eventually put into the position,
527
00:26:16,140 --> 00:26:19,940
even though he went through all these hardships.
528
00:26:19,940 --> 00:26:23,860
I remember one time, how many of you ever remember Dick Mills?
529
00:26:23,860 --> 00:26:25,220
Remember Dick Mills?
530
00:26:25,220 --> 00:26:27,020
I was with Stephanie Busada.
531
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:28,940
We were at the 700 Club,
532
00:26:28,940 --> 00:26:31,380
and this was way back in the day.
533
00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:33,820
We're talking like 30 something years ago,
534
00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:35,540
and Dick was on the program,
535
00:26:35,540 --> 00:26:38,220
and Stephanie was on the program singing now, Stephanie.
536
00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:40,220
They're both in heaven right now.
537
00:26:40,220 --> 00:26:43,300
But I remember we all got back into the bus,
538
00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:45,460
and we were going back to the hotel,
539
00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:50,220
and Dick Mills, he turns to me, and he gives me this word.
540
00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:55,380
You know, one of these words you don't really want to hear.
541
00:26:55,380 --> 00:26:56,820
He turns to me and he goes,
542
00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,860
you are gonna be betrayed by your brothers,
543
00:26:59,860 --> 00:27:01,540
just like Joseph.
544
00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:03,460
You're gonna be betrayed by your brothers,
545
00:27:03,460 --> 00:27:05,220
and he went into this whole thing,
546
00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:07,100
and then he says, and you have a ministry
547
00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:10,780
to ministry to the brokenhearted, to the divorced,
548
00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:13,220
to people who have issues with rejection.
549
00:27:13,220 --> 00:27:15,700
What a beautiful, powerful ministry.
550
00:27:17,100 --> 00:27:20,100
Do you know about six months later,
551
00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:21,460
I was already in ministry,
552
00:27:21,460 --> 00:27:23,700
already was flowing in the things of God.
553
00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:25,300
You know about six months later,
554
00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:29,500
another high level leader started calling me
555
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:32,140
a false brethren.
556
00:27:32,140 --> 00:27:33,540
You know that scripture that says,
557
00:27:33,540 --> 00:27:36,460
false brethren have risen up around you.
558
00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:38,100
Do you know that wasn't her?
559
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:40,940
She was being motivated by the devil,
560
00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:43,900
because I was teaching prayer and intercession,
561
00:27:43,900 --> 00:27:46,780
and according to Kenneth E. Hagan in all his stories,
562
00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:49,100
when he'd cast devils out of people,
563
00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:51,300
sometimes some of them would scream out,
564
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:54,700
I hate intercessors, I hate intercessors.
565
00:27:54,700 --> 00:27:58,220
So it wasn't her really coming against me,
566
00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:01,500
it was she was motivated by the demons
567
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:03,820
that hated what I was teaching.
568
00:28:03,820 --> 00:28:07,460
Sometimes I think we take things too personal,
569
00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:09,700
and we think it's about us.
570
00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:14,300
That's why the mark of spiritual maturity is growing up,
571
00:28:14,300 --> 00:28:18,220
and whether they praise you, or whether they reject you,
572
00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:21,180
whether they speak all manner of evil against you,
573
00:28:21,180 --> 00:28:23,380
it shouldn't matter either way.
574
00:28:25,260 --> 00:28:27,820
And that really bothered me, it crushed me,
575
00:28:27,820 --> 00:28:29,980
it hindered my ministry, you know,
576
00:28:29,980 --> 00:28:32,940
but Dick already had prophesied it,
577
00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:35,100
and at the end of the day, I forgave her
578
00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:39,260
to the point when she, did I say her name already?
579
00:28:39,260 --> 00:28:42,540
When she reached a really hard point,
580
00:28:42,540 --> 00:28:46,140
and was in a really bad place,
581
00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:49,120
I gave her money, and helped her.
582
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,260
You don't mind the language, but screw the devil.
583
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,860
See, the devil wants to divide us,
584
00:28:56,860 --> 00:28:58,820
if he can divide us, he can conquer us.
585
00:28:58,820 --> 00:29:00,540
How about praying for one another,
586
00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:02,140
standing with one another,
587
00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:04,820
understanding that we have an enemy?
588
00:29:04,820 --> 00:29:08,060
It's not always the person, it's the enemy.
589
00:29:09,740 --> 00:29:12,700
See, we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
590
00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:15,220
but against principalities, powers,
591
00:29:15,220 --> 00:29:18,420
and the rulers of the darkness of this world.
592
00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:21,900
Sometimes it's the enemy that destroys marriages,
593
00:29:21,900 --> 00:29:23,880
because people let the enemy in,
594
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,600
but you know, the family that prays together stays together.
595
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,220
Be as wise as a serpent, as harmless as a dove.
596
00:29:32,220 --> 00:29:34,020
Stand with your husband and wife,
597
00:29:34,020 --> 00:29:37,380
and wives don't, you know, honor your husbands.
598
00:29:37,380 --> 00:29:38,980
Don't go to your best friends,
599
00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:41,900
and start telling them all the secrets
600
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:45,180
that's going on in your personal life.
601
00:29:45,180 --> 00:29:49,060
Love covers the multitude of sin.
602
00:29:49,060 --> 00:29:59,060
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast.
603
00:29:59,060 --> 00:30:01,060
It has been such a joy sharing this time with you.
604
00:30:01,060 --> 00:30:04,060
For more inspiration and resources on today's topic,
605
00:30:04,060 --> 00:30:20,060
please visit our website at margiefloran.org.
