GOING TO THE NEXT LEVEL: 10 PRACTICES WHICH GUARANTEE AN IMPACTFUL LIFE

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Welcome to the Jonathan Shuttlesworth Podcast. To stay connected, go to revivaltoday.com. And now here is Evangelist Jonathan.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Let me see Deuteronomy 28, 1 to 14 in the NLT. I want to read something. I want to react to some things that happened this week in America and show you some things from the Bible that I feel like it's one thing if unbelievers don't know it or people outside the church. But when Christians start to not know what the Bible says, it's concerning to me. If you fully obey. Now, what is this? This is Deuteronomy 28.1, which is in what's called the Bible. So you saw that one host on ESPN. He said, I'm tired of Christians feeling like if they find something in the Bible, they're bulletproof. No, you're beyond bulletproof. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands for how long? Forever. He who ignores my teachings is like a fool that builds his life on sand. The waves come and the wind crashes, and great and complete is the destruction of the house. But he who listens to my commands and doeth it is like a wise man that builds his life on the rock. The wind blows and the waves crash, but the house is still standing firm. So you get, you know, that's one of the things that they misrepresent when you preach in church, like you're giving people some kind of fantasy life that all their troubles go away. The wind and waves still come, but then God, God's word causes you to build your house of your life in a way that there's nothing that can happen in this earth that can take your life out. Can you say amen? So here's what the Bible says. Because uh if you take out the inerrancy of God's word, that's how the devil starts. That's the first thing the devil did in the Bible. You'd think if you were a snake and you wanted to take Eve out, you'd just wrap yourself around her and start biting her. But he didn't. He said, Did God say? Everybody say, Did God say? If the devil can put doubt in your mind about what God plainly said, you don't have to be but seven or eight years old to read the Bible and understand it. You actually have to have a theologian talk you out of it. Tell you healing's not for today. God doesn't uh bless people anymore. If you read the Bible without anybody with unbelief talking you out of it and just read it like God wrote it, there's there's only one conclusion you can come to. So this is the Bible. If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I'm giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. Keep going. You will experience, now, not you'll believe in them, you'll what? Experience. That means you'll have them. All these blessings, all of them, not some of them, if you obey the Lord your God. Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed, the offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed, the fruit, your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you'll be blessed. The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. So again, the Bible's not teaching a life free from enemies. It's saying that God is not a moron. He knows that as you rise, there's people that make it their whole business in life. You know, Brock could tell you, I mean, he wasn't directly involved. I wasn't really directly involved. You'd think if if in a day when you have all kinds of problems with fentanyl overdoses and all that, and a church blows up to 700 people in four months, that the reaction of the city would be, thank God. Anything we can do for you, let us know. But it's not. Now, some places it is. Some places Jesus went, they threw him a parade. Other places they went to push him off a cliff. Same message. So you you can't control people's reaction. But uh that was not Pittsburgh's reaction. How can we shut them down? I mean, we're still in court over the only place they sent people to count heads to make sure that they were within occupancy compliance in the last five years was our church. That's illegal. It's called discrimination. But God's not stupid. That's why you never let it worry you. God said, I know that as you rise, there'll be people that make it their business to take you out. Don't even pray about it. When your enemy attacks you from one direction, I will make them run from you in seven directions. Every enemy against your life, may they come under a divine curse today in Jesus' name. If you believe it, can you say amen? The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he's giving you. If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. Then all the nations of the world, the King James says, the heathen, like people that don't believe in God, will see how God's blessing you and they'll stand, and they'll stand in awe of you. 11. Go back to NLT. The Lord will give you prosperity. So now I I know there's people that in the name of prosperity, the reason most people don't like prosperity is A, they don't understand it, or B, they had people preach it to them that used it as a guise to take very high pressure offerings. This service is not gonna go on until we have more people put envelopes at the front. That kind of thing. Ushers, lock the doors. We're taking the offering. That's not prosperity, that's a lack of prosperity. No church that has an abundance of resources takes offerings like that. The Bible says, let each person give, not reluctant, uh, not reluctantly and not in response to pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver. I can't think of a way to put people under more pressure than to say, lock the doors till everyone gives. But if you if you, because you've been around morons, write off prosperity. I don't believe in prosperity, then you have a problem. Because that would be the same as saying, I don't believe in God in sexual immorality. I don't believe in healing. You can't not believe in things that that are clearly written in the scriptures. The Lord will give you what?

unknown 6:00

Prosperity.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Who will give it to you? Yeah, not the devil. The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12. The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you'll never need to borrow from them. If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today and be careful to obey them, the Lord will make you the and never the you will how many times be on top?

unknown 6:34

Always.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Always. That's why you know there's a scripture in the New Testament. It says, Don't judge a thing before it's time. So, in other words, it would have been stupid for me when the city was suing me to go, Lord, you told me I'd always be the head. Now the city's uh kicking me up. No? The Bible, so what do you do? The Bible says, having done all to stand there for, brethren, do what? Stand, don't back up. You know, did anybody follow our ministry when we first opened the church and we did 40 days of glory? Do you know what 40 days of glory was? The city had just told us we're not allowed to have Sunday services. So I announced we're going to have 40 straight days of services. That's what you do when attack comes. You never let your enemy back you up. You always stand and keep standing. Can you say amen? Everybody that your enemy's tried to back you down, God has given you grace on this Saturday to stand and come out the other side with a victory in Jesus' name. If you believe it, can you say aloud amen? If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today and be careful to obey them, the Lord will make you the head and never the tail. You will always be on top. Everybody say, always on top. Everybody say never at the bottom. So, so where does somebody get mountain and valley preaching from? How many no? You can't stay on the mountain, life is full of valleys. How many no? Yeah, and everybody puts their hand up because if you listen to that crap every Saturday, you're gonna go through a lot of valleys. The Bible says, in two different places in the gospels, you have made the word of God of none effect by your vain traditions. You say things that aren't in the Bible, where does faith come from? It only comes from one place. Faith comes from and hearing by the so if you hear a word or you don't hear a word in an area, how many of you went to a church that didn't believe in healing, never preached on it or preached against it, and never saw anybody healed?

unknown 8:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Because no one has any faith for it. Meanwhile, like that lady that was on oxygen in the wheelchair, that wasn't a healing service. But I was just mentioning, I was, I was at least not preaching against it and letting people God's powerful, he's Jehovah Rapha, he's El Shaddai, people start to hear that and they think, well, wait a minute. Maybe there is hope for me. You know, I'm getting ahead of myself. I have a good organized message there. But but but I th I think all the time how terrible it must be if you don't know Jesus, if you're not around the Bible. Because it's like that lady. For the doctor to say we ran a scan and you have cancer, and then you're it's gonna get worse and you're gonna die. You're a doctor, you're not a prophet. You can't tell people what's going to happen. Nobody knows the future. So, what gave her a resistance to that? The Bible issue. No, I reject that report, and I'm gonna instead contend for healing. The Bible tells you that God does not have a plan for your death or destruction. God has a plan to prosper you and never to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a glorious future. If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God, I'm giving you today and be careful to obey them. The Lord will make you the head and never the tail. You'll always be on top, never at the bottom. 14. But you must not turn away from any of these commands I'm giving you today, nor follow after any other gods and worship them. Now, I want to hit a bunch of other scriptures to show you Jesus operating in these principles. What was Jesus really like? Matthew 14, 13. Matthew 14, 13. As soon as Jesus heard the news, the news was that they beheaded his cousin, John the Baptist, he left in a boat. Everybody say left in a boat. If I have to hear one more time, people say Jesus rode on these preachers flying jets. Jesus rode in a donkey. No, he didn't. He went other places too. In a boat. Jesus didn't have a Cadillac, yeah, but he had a boat that could carry 12 disciples, plus him, and a 13-passenger boat still cost more than a Cadillac. Don't turn Jesus into a begging pauper. He had 12 men that traveled with him, plus women, plus sometimes 72 disciples, and then we're going to read what he did. Now watch this. Here's a boat to a remote area to be alone, but the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. That evening the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. Go back to 15. That's religion, and that's people without that aren't like Christ, always trying to divvy up the cost. I'm telling you, if I wasn't raised, how many of you have heard my father preach here? He did the best he could raising me. He's a gentleman. And if it wasn't for him, I'm so close, but it's not my business to tear into all these people that have that preach against prosperity, and then at their conferences, it's $99 a ticket, $300 a person, and you get turned away at the door if you don't pay the money. So apparently you do believe in prosperity. And if you don't have any, they won't let you in. So religion's mentality is make sure everybody pays for themselves. You have a youth group pizza party with 11 kids, it's $6 a kid because nobody in the whole church can have faith for the $66 to pay for the whole pizza. That's back to them. The disciples said, send them away so they can buy food. Did Jesus say good plan? No. Jesus said, That's not necessary. You feed them. But we only have five loaves of bread and two fish. 18. Bring them here, Jesus said. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took, now I was gonna preach on this, but I'm not, but I'll just mention it. I was gonna preach a message, and I'm probably still gonna preach it somewhere, called How to Buy with No Money. Because we had $700,000 to our name in the ministry when we went to build that $7 million building. And we finished with more in the bank after with no loans, because it's not how much you have, it's knowing how to thank God for what you have, and then get the plan from God to multiply what's in your hand. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed it. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. Let me tell you something. A poor man can't tell 5,000 people to have a seat, and everybody's gonna eat until full with no charge. Jesus manifests, put, put John chapter 12 up. Don't let communism turn Jesus into a communist. Six days before the Passover celebration, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a 12-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of nart, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, That perfume was worth a year's wages. You know, there's still perfumes like that. If I had a billion dollars in the bank and money was no object, what is the most I could buy a jar of perfume for?

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Even if money were no object, there's a limit to what you could actually buy because no one is out there making a perfume for a billion dollars. But in the realm of ultra luxury, there are some famously extravagant bottles. For instance, a bespoke fragrance from a luxury house, a custom bottle, rare ingredients, diamonds, you name it, might run you into the low millions.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

So this wasn't a million, but it was a year's salary. So you used to go on now up $60,000? That perfume was worth a year's wages. It should have now, the lady who Jesus had delivered decided to worship him by taking the most valuable thing she had and pouring it on him. And what was Judas' religious disciple, same people that told the the crowd to get their own food? Is he happy? Does he say, wow, that's nice someone did that for Jesus? No. What a shame. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Now keep that up. 2,000 years later, what does everybody in the media or religious media have to say anytime somebody gives something big, builds something big, or buys something big? That money could have been used to give to the poor. They're so concerned about anonymous poor people. And then you have people say, that's why churches should be taxed. How can you, after what happened in the Minneapolis Daycares and what they're finding in California, you think whatever complaints you have about the church and private individuals' wealth, you think it can be better handled by the federal government? That's the biggest waster of money in the history of mankind. I want to show you today that God's plan is not for the nation to prosper and you to be poor. It's not for religion to prosper and you to be poor. God said, if you'll obey me, I'll make your houses and your fields and your children blessed. That's what made America different from other nations. We're not gonna see that get flushed down the toilet in our generation. God is gonna pour out his blessing on a new generation of Americans, and you're gonna taste of it yourself in Jesus' name. If you believe it, can you shout aloud amen? That perfume was worth a year's wages. It should have been salt and the money given to the poor. Six. Not that he cared for the poor. He was a thief. I'm telling you, anytime you hear somebody say that, it's the same thing. Because it's Judas. That could have been given to the poor. You're a thief, and you don't care for the poor. He was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some of it for himself. So if you run a business and you had a shady accountant, Jesus dealt with the same thing. When you take it to him in prayer, he knows exactly what you're going through. Can you say amen? So nothing has changed. Jesus replied, Jesus said, Yeah, that's kind of ridiculous. Don't ever don't anybody ever do that again. Jesus replied, Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. Eight, you will always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me. That would have cleared out a church in Canada. That statement would clear out a church in most of America and all of them in Europe and England. Because they misdirect that the church is to be a feeding program for the community. What does that church do for the community? What do we do for the community? You can give all the bread and Christmas toys to people you want. If their father beats them at home, it doesn't solve that. If their parents are on drugs, it doesn't solve that. I want to declare today, I want to pound it into your spirit that for everything that builds big things. You know, the guy that built our church came to me. I didn't know any of this. He said, I had a ton of people come to me while I was building this and say, Why is the church spending all that money on a building? You know, we didn't build a big building and hope people will come. The choice is either build a building big enough to house the people that are getting saved, or refuse to spend the money and disperse the crowd. They always ask, why does a preacher need a jet? You never hear him say, Why do the Arizona Cardinals need a jet? They've never won a Super Bowl. What are they flying for? They should be riding by bus. The Detroit Lions should be taking a bicycle, they've never won anything. No, it's always the church. Do you know why? The real issue is not prosperity. The real issue is a devaluing of the work of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the world does not see the value, the current world, and what we do. But if you want to ask the question, why aren't churches taxed? Read it in the tax code. They found out that churches were doing more good than all of the money that could be devoted for social programs. Nobody stops beating their wife because somebody puts a uh a billboard on Interstate 11 or 10 or 17 that says domestic violence hurts everyone. Nobody reads that and says, Okay, that's true. I'm not gonna hit my kids anymore. It's a spiritual problem. Because if money could change things, God owns all the silver and all the gold. He could have rained money from heaven. If education was the answer, he could have put a university every square mile, had angels teach the courses and make it tuition free. But until something changes on the inside of a man, nothing changes on the outside. And only the blood of Jesus can change people from the inside out. The biggest buildings in the last days before Jesus comes back will be churches full of young people, full of mothers and fathers, full of grandparents lifting up their hands and worshiping God. We are not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation, saving everyone who believes. If you receive that, go ahead and do a chart of doing. Clap your hands and give the Lord a mighty shout. Let me see. Uh here's another one. I got sick of reading uh this week. Luke 22, 35. This is gonna be more like group therapy than a sermon. Jesus sent the disciples out with nothing and told them to sell everything they had. Yes, the first time. Then the second time. Jesus asked them. When I sent you out to preach the gospel, and I told you not to take any money, or a traveler's bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you ever need anything? Lackest thou anything? And they said, No. 36. But now he said, Jesus told him not to have any money. Yeah. He said the first time, go out, don't take anything, and don't greet anybody along the way. Do you know what he was showing them? Don't take anything and don't go talking to people saying, I don't know how I'm gonna do it. Jesus sent us the Capernaum, you know, we don't have any money. We don't know how we're gonna make it. And this, oh come, we'll give you. Don't put any, don't sort of go fund me. Don't do anything on Facebook, just go where I tell you. And then when they came back, he said, When I sent you out without anything, did you ever lack anything? No. Yes, and now take money and take a traveler's bag, and if you don't have a sword, sell your coat and buy a sword. Personal protection, personal money. Jesus is not an idiot. I'm telling you, if you let public school and media interpret the Bible for you, they want us to be morons that have to meet in rented buildings, have no influence, and that's why you have a hundred million born-again Christians in the United States, and you would think it's two percent of the population, and the LGBT's 2.5%, and you would think they were a hundred million. Because as long as you're quiet and you don't command any wealth and you don't have any influence, then the wicked can write the laws and you'd be under oppression. But when the church rises up in the blessing of Abraham and lets God open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that's so great they won't have room enough to take it in. Then the table gets flipped on the devil, and I see that table getting flipped today in the United States in Jesus' name. Let me see. Let me see Mark 1028. And then if you would find for me, I forgot where it was. I had it on the way here. When Jesus said, take to the one that has the least and give it to the most. And they reject, they got upset and said, He already has 10. And Jesus said, Yes. To he who has, more will be given. And to he who squanders what he has, even the little he has will be taken away. So remember Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor? Peter began to speak up. We've given up everything to follow you, he said. 29. Yes, Jesus replied. And I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for my sake and the sake of the gospel. We'll receive. Not might receive. We'll receive. If Jesus lied here, why trust John 3.16? Why trust Genesis 1.1? If one of it's a lie, all of it's a lie, and if it's all true, then take all of it. We'll receive now in return. Whether it's here, whether it's in heaven. No, it would say now. In return, a hundredfold as many. Houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property. Houses, property. Yeah, but what about the mothers and sisters work? Go to India with me. Meet people that their families had mock funerals for them when they converted from Hinduism to Christianity. And now they have people that are closer to them in multitude as brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers than their own family. Because God, the opposite of what I heard preach growing up. God will never let you walk away from anything for Him that He won't turn it back to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over to make room for more. And in the life to come, they'll have eternal life. So he differentiated them. Then let me let me have the other one about the distribution. Yes, the king replied. Go to 25. Go to 24. Then turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one who has 10 pounds. But master, they said, he already has 10 pounds. Yes, the king replied, and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. One translation says, and they'll have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. That's God's way that economy works. And if you try to fix it, to take it from those that have the most and spread it to those that have the least, there's an old saying, if you take six poor people and one rich person, soon you'll have seven poor people. It doesn't work that way. So God did not reward inactivity and waste and then punish people that produce. Now maybe I have this in me a little stronger because I have a sister that pastors in Canada where they're getting ready to do everything to criminalize Christianity, criminalize public prayer, criminalize the reading of scripture without commentary. That's about to go through and get passed right now in Canada. I know what the end game is of this wicked spirit. You know, I got I got in a pretty heated argument with a denominational leader on the phone. I don't do that much as the first time. But he was mad because I spoke out about what was going on in Canada. And he said, Jonathan, whether this legislation goes through or not, Jesus is still on the throne. I said, Yep. And he's still on the throne in Yemen, and he's still on the throne in Somalia, and he's still on the throne in Iran. But ask those people how things are going. Ask North Korean Christians how's it going. Leadership matters. I reject with every fiber of my being any kind of belief that, well, whatever happens here, God's gonna make a way. No, I can show you all through the Bible. Let me see uh Ezekiel 22, 36. Ezekiel 22, 36. I sought for a man to rebuild the wall of righteousness. 22, is there is there another 36? What's the one I do? I sought for a man to rebuild the wall of righteousness, but I couldn't find one, so I had to go in and destroy the city. 2230. I looked for someone that might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have to destroy the land, but I couldn't find anybody. Now, say a scripture with me. Say the heavens belong to the Lord. But the earth he has given to men. So anything, now you don't have to say this part. Anything that happens in the earth, now I'm gonna tell you this. If you like some kind of head in the clouds Christianity, you're not gonna enjoy this church. Any faith that doesn't work in real life is a fake faith. Jesus did not sit in a mountain in a robe and people came to him and he just pontificated about life. He healed the sick. Literal blindness. Literally, that's why I play those videos. Because people don't think the word of God actually works. The word of God will give you new lungs, the word of God will give you a new spine, the word of God will take blindness out of your eyes. The word of God is living and active. It's as true in 2026 as it was in 26. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our glory stands forever. Hey, grab Joy to Houston and give me a thumbs up when it's ready. Because I want to show you what church is supposed to be. Everybody say, We are the light of the world. Everybody say we are the salt of the earth. The only reason there's not partial birth abortion nationwide is Christians. I can show it to you demographically. The only people that vote against unbridled wickedness are born-again Christians. They're a restrainer to the Antichrist system. They're a restrainer to central planning deciding how much money you and your wife can have and whether your children belong to you or the state. The Bible flies in the face of communism. That's why the first book they make illegal, all my socialist Christian friends that think the Bible uh promotes communism, then why does North Korea, California, Canada, the first book they have to go against if they want to put these things in, is they have to ban the Bible. Because when you read the Bible, you realize I don't need the government to be my health care. Jesus died that I can have dominion over sickness and disease. I don't need the government to be my provider and increase my welfare. He made me the head and not the tail. He's opening the windows of heaven and pouring out a blessing that's so great, I don't have room enough to take it all in. Do you have Joy to Houston? Now, watch this. This was done in 17 days by our ministry. By our ministry, I don't mean me, I mean church people. So look what private wealth can do, and then you have everybody come up to you. We've never had anyone do anything like this before. Oh, you haven't? Interesting. Because I don't have access to mercantile tax, I don't have access to gas tax, I don't have access to city tax, I don't have access to property tax, I don't have access to state tax, and I don't have access to federal tax. So the people that have those billions of dollars have never done this for you one time. And one little guy can come with some Christians and do more than the federal government can do. That's because God's plan to change a country is not in the government, it's in the hands of the church. And if we lay it down, the country will go to rot. But we're not laying it down. We're gonna make a decision today, Lord. Anoint me with fresh oil that I can do your work on planet earth, and God's gonna use you to change your generation. Take a look.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

We felt led by the Spirit to go to a section of Houston facing some of the highest levels of childhood poverty with one simple goal to bring joy and hope to the families in the city. When God speaks, you move quickly. Revival Today went into action, and in just 17 days, this event came together. We initially planned to reach a few thousand people, but the advertising caught fire. In one week alone, more than 20,000 people registered. Paula White's Ministry, the National Faith Advisory Board, Citizer, and others donated two 18 years filled with over 22,000 toys to give children's gifts for Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

I came to tell the devil something in Houston.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

I tell you in the name of Jesus. That's not the first one we've done. Muslims come in their garb. A moms come from the mosque. Everyone is attracted to blessing and money. Keep going. As Pastor Jonathan. You know what else I like about the Holy Spirit and and Bible Christianity? It works everywhere. You could do it anywhere. I don't need a special music plan. I don't need you to be in a room with no windows and get invited in like Scientology. Scientologists can't do that in public. Buddhists can't do it in public. You have to be in their thing. But Christianity, the light goes out and pierces the darkness. People start falling out under the power that don't even know what that is because God is interested in the rescue of mankind. Keep going.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Tears filled the crowd, and bondages were broken. When the altar call was given, hundreds responded. In total, we saw 10,320 in attendance, and 710 people gave their lives to Christ. This is not the devil's time in America. This is America's time to come to Christ. Our generation will be saved.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

One four-year-old church, 550 church people, not counting givers. We need to. What are, um, governor, what are you gonna do to increase programs for the poor? How about just get out of our way? How are people that can't that are on their third marriage gonna help your family? Why would I got quiet that one to let the ear out of the room? Let me see, let me see Jeremiah 17.5. I'm gonna tell you what I'm talking about. Jeremiah 17, 5. This is what the Lord says. Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans. Governor, how are you gonna keep us safe from COVID? What's he gonna do in his khaki pants and laminated name tag? Governor, what are you doing to help with the sick? See, communism has to get you to see the government as your healer, the government as your provider. But the Bible is telling you if you make man your trust, you rely on human strength, and you'll turn your heart away from the Lord. Six. They're like stunned shrubs in the desert with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness in an uninhabited and salty land. But here's the alternative but blessed are those who put their trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They're like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by heat. You prosper when Iran's at war, you prosper when the Strait of Hamas is closed or open. There's nothing anybody down here can do because your blessing comes from above, not from below. With roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green. And they read that, read that last verse for me. Lift your right hand and say it one more time. That's right. So if the Bible says that, why do you have a vision of yourself being 65 and like dilapidated? 52 and dilapidated. When do they mail you ARP? 50? When do you get ARP in the mail? No, they lowered it. I'm gonna mail mine back. I'm not retiring. I'm just getting warmed up. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. I was getting my hair cut yesterday. They had a new lady cutting my hair, and she said, uh, you know, just started talking sickness and cancer and skin cancer. She said, you know, make sure to get checked. I said, I finally had enough. I said, you know the last time I've been to a doctor? When I was 17. Because I had to get a physical to play ice hockey. I didn't even have a choice in the matter. I'm not going back. I have no trust. I pray for hundreds of people every year that the whole reason they need prayer is from what got screwed up by the by doctors. I'm not against doctors or surgeons, but the Bible tells me, let me see, Exodus 23, 25. Exodus 23, 25. You must serve only the Lord your God, and if you do, I'll bless your bread and water. And I'll take King James, I'll take sickness out of the midst of thee. I won't allow you to get sick. How many of you have followed me for at least two years? When have you ever seen me? I preach 300 times a year. When have you ever seen me cancel something because I'm sick or Brother Jonathan's not feeling well or he's tired? No, I don't need I'm not one of these preachers that needs an eight-month sabbatical every four months. There's a God that keeps you strong and healthy, and he's gonna take, I'm telling you, if you'll get a confidence that this is not a book of encouraging stories to get you through hard times, it is living power that'll set you high above all the nations of the earth. So I looked up, as in my home city of Pittsburgh, they're having a group called the Democratic Socialists of America. They're not Democrats, they're communists. Meeting on uh they're doing a meeting on how to loot stores, and the government's letting it happen. So I I had a feeling this was coming from communism. I had a feeling the criticisms against Joel Osteen that rose up again all of a sudden have nothing to do with the size of his house. They're the ideals that they tried to spread in Canada, have Canada, UK, and Europe. They're trying to do it here. But we're gonna repel it from the word of God. Listen to how familiar this sounds. This is what communism deals with. These are their main points. The economy. Number one, abolition of private property, no individual ownership of land, businesses, or wealth-producing assets. Why does he need all that land? Why do they have all that land? That's communism. Two, centralized control of the economy. Three, elimination of free markets. Four, redistribution of wealth. Income and resources are taken and redistributed to enforce equality. You worked many days away from your family so money could get sent to daycare centers in Minnesota where there were no kids and everybody's driving a Mercedes with the money. If I was president of the United States as a born-again Christian, the first piece of legislation I would pass would have nothing to do with abortion or gay marriage. It would be that it was illegal to take federal and state taxes out of your paycheck, and every person had to pay it themselves. Because if you had to write a check for $14,000, you'd want to know where it was going. But instead, they've produced a group of people that's so stupid, they're gonna get money back after April 15th and say, We the government gave me money. It's your money. You think you got a bonus check? I went to Canada a while back and was preaching. And I was talking like this, and they said, Yeah, I know you're American. I don't know if preaching like this because I'm American. How the Bible says things are supposed to work. People should pay their fair share. What's your fair share of what I legally earned? Anyone see him getting on Joel Osteen this week? I don't even know if he knows I exist. I'm not trying to get into Lakewood. I just I wrote a friendly reminder to all Christians that anyone who has legally earned money has a right to spend that money any way they want without any input from you or the government. Then how did Joel Osteen get so rich? I can tell you one of the ways, by not commenting on your house. He's actually doing what did I write? A general reminder to all Christians who have knowingly or unknowingly adopted communist ideals. Joel Osteen, along with every other American, can spend their personal, legally earned money however they see fit without any approval from you, the government, or central planning. Mind your own business or move to Beijing where you'll feel more at home. Blessings, comrade. I'm gonna break that spirit. I'm tired of it. I'm tired that a country that used to be full of producers is getting vilified for wanting to accomplish something because you want to know what? And I know this is gonna sound harsh, but I'm not wrong. If the government has its way, you'll be a fat, transgender, weed-smoking, antidepressant, addicted person that they make money off of that's easy to control. They tell you stay home and stay lives. You don't have any thoughts because you're smoked up and you're nothing. That is not God's plan for humanity. God's plan is for you to be strong and courageous and bold and acquiring and producing and making problems for the devil. I see you doing that from today. In Jesus' name. If you believe it, can you say amen? God. Number five, atheism and rejection of God. Communism is rooted in materialism, denies God as authority. Six, state is supreme authority. The government replaces God as the highest authority in life. Seven, suppression of religion. Faith is often restricted, controlled, or eliminated. Family. Eight, weakening of the traditional family. These are communist ideals. I printed them off from their site. Weakening of the traditional family. Family structure is seen as a tool of inequality and control. Nine, state influence over children. Education and upbringing are heavily controlled by the state. You're gonna have elections this fall. Listen to how many people talk about how if you elect me, we're gonna have early daycare for free, early childhood education before school, and then we're gonna lower the preschool age so there's pre-preschool, and you're gonna have care before school so you can drop them off before work, during school, and we'll keep them late for free after work. You know why that is? Because the devil doesn't care if you take your kids to church 1.9 times a month, which is what the average church member comes to church, not in our church, nationally. If you drop them off and they get instructed by people that hate you, hate your God, and hate your family for 60 hours a week, you can take them to church and you're gonna watch them drift from God. But we're gonna kick that system right in its no-nos today and remind the devil, your children, our children are not to be raised by the state. Our children are to be raised by men and women of God that say, like Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. It'd be a cold day in hell when I'd drop that little girl off of estate daycare to get God knows what. 10. Elimination of generational wealth. That's why they don't like families. No inheritance prevents families from building a lasting legacy. They want you to be free. They want to be free from you having any ability to influence what's decided on your behalf. I mean, the World Economic Forum, anybody ever see the video? Soon you'll own nothing and be happy, you'll rent everything, you'll you'll travel on bus, you'll travel on tram. That is not God's plan. You want to know whose plan it is? The Antichrist. The Bible says, in the last days when the Antichrist comes to power, his plan is that no man will be able to buy or sell without a mark in his hand or his forehead. That's digital currency and controlled wealth. Satan, opposite to how people feel on the outside, which makes me sad, they don't go to church because they think if you go to church, you lose your freedom and you're controlled. And if you want to be free, you go outside of church and serve the devil. My friend, as anybody here that served the devil can tell you, nothing is further from the truth. The devil promises you freedom, a life of free partying and drugs and alcohol and free sex. And very soon you realize you're living in a prison that you're not free to make your own decisions. But he who the Son sets free is free indeed. You know, even as a pastor, who have I ever texted here and told you, I don't think you should date him, I don't think you should marry her, I don't think you should live there. I don't text anybody. I do all my counseling from the pulpit in this microphone and let the Holy Spirit deal with you. Because God did not create people to be controlled by a pastor or a government or anybody else. He created people to be led by the Spirit, to hear the voice of God and to be productive, to have an overflowing cup, to have goodness and mercy, following them every day of their life, not to be a slave to the pharmaceutical companies, not to be a slave to the marijuana dispensaries or the vape shops or the antidepressants. He created you to be free. And I see you being free today in the name of Jesus Christ. Now say this then, once I'm free, say once I'm free. There's something for me to do. Yeah, I didn't go to Houston to go celebrate my freedom. I was free at home. I did it to pass it along. That's funny having people at the end of that ask, even though I never brought it up. How come the government's never done this for us? I said, that's a good question. You should explore it. Starting to realize if some 40-year-old can do this with no grants, no nothing, then what are they doing? Those politicians. I'll tell you what they're doing. Playing with your money. Then they want me to feel bad because we're building the church. I don't feel bad. You don't feel bad for building Epstein's Island? I don't feel bad for building a house of worship. You can build football stadiums. I'm for people being able to do whatever they want with their money. I'm not for control. But don't tell me that I have to have a little church with 40 parking spaces and little altar calls and little offerings because God gives a blessing to his people. And he said, the blessing of the Lord makes a man rich and adds no sorrow. I want to tell you, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8 is absolutely true. The Bible says physical exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things. It doesn't just get you to heaven, it helps your household, it helps your health, it helps your money, it helps your relationships, it helps your thinking. Everything, the harder you connect with God, the harder his supernatural blessings and power begin to overtake your life. And it might not happen overnight, but I promise you, within a decade, you'll be living in a different world than you grew up in. And it only takes one person and a family to say, enough is enough. As for me and my house, we're gonna serve God, we're gonna be healed, we're gonna be blessed, we're gonna have the things the Bible says belong to us. If you make that decision today, let me hear your mighty hand clap and shout as a sign to God. Say it out loud. I'm not like everybody else. I'm not gonna live like everybody else. I'm gonna live for God. Say this, I'm gonna be a reflection of God. Yeah. People start thinking, you must be hooked up. How are you able to do that? You know, when you give out toys to 10,000 people for free, and they're not cheap toys or broken toys, go-karts, Nintendo DS, whatever else they saw in there, how are you able to do this? I don't know if you heard the message or not, but that's not a pretend God I'm talking about. That was $1.2 million worth of toys acquired and assembled and distributed in 17 days. Because God spoke to me to do it and He did it. God's real, my friend. This Saturday you chose to spend here is not some aberration from real life where you smoke spiritual marijuana and just have some joy and peace and then go back to the real world. That Bible affects the real world. How many know where Scottsdale, Arizona is? That place was founded by a preacher. God got him tipped off that they were gonna run water into Scottsdale and it was gonna go from desert to farmable land, and he acquired it. And Scottsdale remained a dry town, I think, up through the 70s. And it still has one out of every 17 people that live there is a millionaire. Because the roots it was founded on are great. As much as they criticize American Christianity, there's only one country every missionary runs to when they need to raise their support. They're not going to Canada, they're not going to the UK, they're not going anywhere else. They come here because the Bible produced a different country here. And it, I'm telling you, I'm not gonna watch it slip away in a handful of years. I'm gonna tell people, I don't care how much they write about you online, who cares? You used to get burned at the stake for it. So a couple of insults on Facebook's not gonna bother me. People need to hear the whole word of God. When you start preaching it, they say, just preach the gospel. You're not called to just preach the gospel, you're called to deliver the full counsel of God's word. God created the heavens and the earth is not the gospel. That gospel's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The instructions for marriage are not in the gospel. You don't just preach the gospel. In Houston, you preach the gospel to people coming out of the hood that are bound by sin on their way to hell and have never heard about Jesus. Tell them the gospel. But then what about once you've heard the gospel? Is that it? Just wait to go to heaven? If it is, then when we baptize you, we should just hold you down until the bubbles quit coming up. But say this: when Jesus saved me, He saved me unto good works. Yeah. There's people that had Christmas that wouldn't have had Christmas because of a good work we decided to do. That you will show forth the works of your father. We're not to be even that's communistic. It's not about works. You really? Bible says faith without works is dead, in the amplified, inoperative, and utterly useless. Christians should be a tear to the devil. Christians should be a wrecking ball to the kingdom of hell. Can you say amen? Hallelujah. I see the blessing of God coming on you and your family today. You're not like everybody else, you're not gonna live like everybody else. God is lifting you out of whatever pitch you're in and setting your feet on the rock to stay. If you believe it, shout amen one more time. I titled this Going to the Next Level. Practices which guarantee an impactful life. Number one, this is introduction. On this, I'm gonna fly through it. See the purpose of having an impactful life. You're never gonna want something you're not interested in. Because I don't care about money. If you don't care about money, you are a stupid person. Because what you're saying is, I don't care about anyone else but me. I don't need all that money. That's the point. I didn't need three 18-wheelers full of toys. That's right. It gives you the ability to bless other people. See the purpose. Say this. My kids will not be raised by the state. It gives you the ability to raise your family how you want to raise your family. I've told you the story when they told my daughter she has to have so many vaccines. I wasn't even, I didn't even study on vaccines back then. She's 13 there. She was she was one, less than one. How was it, two months, three months? When was that appointment? A two-month appointment. We're gonna give her 14 shots. All I thought was that's a lot of shots for something that's this big. So I said, Well, why don't let's pump the brakes on 14? He said, Oh, you're anti-vaccinist? I've never thought about it until right now. I said, How many did I get when I was a kid? Four. I said, give her two of those. I turned out okay. And maybe we'll see about the other two later. Then he I told you, he said, I must insist. Now you've irritated me. I said, Does the child have the hospital's last name or my last name? They're not used to being talked to like that. See, you can't talk like that when you're on in Section 8 housing or on food stamps. Because what will they say? They'll write a letter of referral to take custody of the child or to take your benefits away. But when you're not controlled by the state, they don't have any control over you, and you can do what the Lord tells you to do without any input from some schmuck. The Bible says money is a defense. Yeah. They told me in in Pittsburgh they were gonna find me a thousand dollars a day for meeting in that building. I said, can I write you a check up front for $365,000? We didn't hear from them anymore. Yeah, if I was some poor pastor, hey, we can't do okay. See, the the devil wants you poor because you don't have any, you don't have any lawyers, you don't have anything. But then when you have money, the Bible says money is a defense. Money is for influence. The Bible says the rich rule over the poor. And then money, everybody say money is a blessing. Yeah, money in the hands of the righteous is a blessing. I'm not starting a fentanyl distribution system with my excess money. I'm blessing children at Christmas. So the more money a righteous person has, the better off the world is. And the more money the wicked have, the worse off the world is. Now, as I'm saying this, don't think of it as being some righteous person out there. Everybody say, use me, O Lord. And he will. Your life is not a mystery, it's a system producing predictable results. I know that sounds like Chad GPT, but I wrote that. Refuse to blame outside forces. People more oppressed than you, who have experienced more horrific tragedy than you, have risen to the top. Results are not accidental, they're engineered. That's also not Chad GPT. You don't rise by desire, you rise by design. Also not Chad GPT. Every consistent outcome has a has a system behind it. Going to the next level, practices which guarantee an impactful life. Number one, next level devotion. Develop and maintain deep intimacy with God. Psalm 63, 1. O God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. First Timothy 4 8. Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise in the life that now is and in the life that is to come. Develop and maintain deep intimacy with God. It'll keep you from sending photos of your private parts to other people you're not married to. That'll take everything out. Well, that went over a lot better than I thought it would in church. Interesting crowd. It'll keep you from doing all kinds of the goofy stuff that send people to federal prison every day that used to have good ministries and good businesses because they don't spend time with God. The Bible says, in the last days, wickedness will abound. And so and many will depart from the faith. So if Jesus said that was going to happen, then it's a good idea to not make church something you go to if little league's canceled or there's no golf that day. To make God's house and God's word. You know that time, that 47 minutes you spent with BJ Putnam, with your hands lifted, singing to God. You know something gets on you when you do that? Did anybody watch that documentary on the Chicago Bulls with uh Phil Jackson, the coach? I I it's like people don't even hear the words that are coming out of their mouth. He said, My mom was a Pentecostal, and we were in prayer meetings every night. My brother and I would sleep under the pews, made it like it was a waste of time. Like, gee, and as you sat there in that anointing, you became the greatest basketball coach and maybe the greatest coach in the history of sports. Because when you stay in the presence of God, something gets on you and it doesn't wear off when you go out the door. You take it with you that week and you kick the devil's tail, and I see you kicking plenty of devil tail this week. Number two, number one, have a next level devotional life. Number two, have a next level personal expectation. Say this out loud: expect more from yourself. Proverbs 23, 7, for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. 1 Samuel 17, 36 and 37. Thy servant, this is David talking. Let me see NLT. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, for he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine. Saul finally consented. All right, go ahead, and may the Lord be with you. David had a confidence in himself because he knew he was with God and God was with him. So you should be that way. You know, God, how am I gonna, how am I gonna get toys to all those gifts? No, expect more from yourself. When you watch these absolute morons on MSNBC and Fox News that are in government, that don't even match their clothes, that are having affairs by text message, as if the NSA doesn't have all the information and they've risen to the top. What do you think you can do? They're doing that under a curse. You're under the blessing of God. Stop seeing yourself as poor or dumb or unable to do things. Start saying from your spirit, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Number two, next level of personal expectation. Number three, next level thinking. Romans 12, 2, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The mind is the control tower of destiny. That's not Chat GPT, that's Pastor Matthew Ashemaloa. Where the mind goes, life follows. Your life moves in the direction of your dominant thoughts. Feed your mind daily or starve your future permanently. Matthew Ashemaloah. Isaiah 55, 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. I'm glad I'm not sitting around a barbershop thinking about cancer. That lady is all she talked about. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. See, why doesn't my mind go in that direction? Because I filled it with the Bible that doesn't tell me I have a future of cancer. It says that I have long life, that I have a good future, that God's taken me higher. I don't have to worry about attacks. The shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts of the devil. Number three, next level thinking. Thought correction precedes life correction. Number four, next level planning. Develop an action plan. Faith is not what you say, it's what you do. Ideas don't change lives, actions do. Movement separates dreamers from achievers. Practical work. Everybody say practical work. Let me see Ephesians 4.28. Ephesians 4.28. This is the verse that set America in a different direction during the Great Awakening. If you're a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work. Then give generously to those that are in need. So in England, they had taught people that money's wrong to have, but John Wesley taught the Americans that you should use your hands for good hard work, and then you'll have an abundance to take care of your family and to bless those that are in need. That it's not wrong to acquire and accumulate. If it is, Abraham's in hell, Isaac's in hell, and Jacob's in hell. Can you say amen? Number four, next level planning. Have practical work that you do. Work. Anybody say work? You meet charismatic Christians, their brains don't work right half the time. You know. I have um the Iraqi currency, the dinar, and some people are saying that it can go to a million dollars. Okay, that's not work. And you've had that for 12 years, and where are you now? Work. The only substitute for a hard life, hard work is a hard life. You have to work. Watching the kids is not work. I need to go to the grocery store today, it's not work. You have to do something that produces money. Make people react to you instead of you reacting to things. And we must say, have a plan of action. Yeah. I don't have time to uh what do you think about what's going on with Tucker Carlson? I don't know. I'm building a church, I'm doing something that's in my vein of living. Stop associating. I I wrote to one guy on Twitter. How does Joel Osteen have such a big house? I said, one of the ways is he's never commented on how big your house is. He's doing his own thing. He's not on Facebook every day trying to solve Charlie Kirk's murder. If you're in the FBI, solve it. If you're a housewife, do something with your kids. Can you say amen? Wrapped up in everything that produces nothing instead of focusing and settling in on what God has for you to do. Everybody said that'll never be me. Jeremiah uh James 2.17. Faith without works is dead. Utterly useless. Number five, next level speed. Mark 1.18. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. Delay is disobedience in disguise. Speed is a spiritual advantage. Next level speed. Whatever you're gonna do, do it quickly. That building should have taken us four years to build. It took ten months because God is a quick God. They talk about him in church like he's some big, dumb, slow God. You know, we're ready, he's not there when you want him. Sometimes he's late. No, he's not. He created the whole world in six days. He never needs more than one day to sort out a problem. God will not only show you a divine thing to do, he'll give you divine speed to get it done. That whole Houston thing was dreamed up and done in 17 days because we serve a supernatural God. I said we serve a supernatural God. We serve a God that put his hand on Elijah and he outran the king's chariot. May God give you supernatural speed in all of your endeavors this year in Jesus' name. Somebody say next level speed. Where am I preaching in the morning? Pittsburgh. Next level speed. And I was doing Texas, Los Angeles, Arizona, and Pittsburgh, three of the four every weekend for seven months. Next level speed. They're called airplanes. Should a preacher have a plane? I actually don't care what people have to say because if you read church history, they were mad that John Wesley had a horse. Then they were mad that preachers had cars. Then they were mad. People aren't anti-jet, they're anti-transportation, apparently. But what we're gonna do for the Lord, when I say us, I mean all of us. It's not gonna get done on a bicycle. God did not make this technology so Epstein can have his island and fly in human traffic girls. He made technology so that the church could do in a hundred years what it wasn't able to do in 1900 years. We're gonna embrace it, we're gonna move, we're gonna move with speed, and God's gonna back us with heaven in Jesus' name. Number six, next level giving. Luke 638. Give, and it shall be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, men shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you meet, with all it shall be measured to you again. First Chronicles 29, 3 to 5. And now, because of my devotion to the temple of my God, David said, I'm giving all of my own private treasuries of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is the in addition to the building materials I've already collected for his holy temple. This is David, his own private treasury. I'm donating more than 112 tons of gold from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver to be used for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings. That's almost $10 billion. It came from his own money. And for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsman. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today? I told my wife, you know, Adam Lamb that I introduced, he put on Instagram that he bought him a Ferrari. And uh I'm glad because that guy gives Ferrari-sized offerings. God doesn't mind you having nice things, he has a problem with you having a Lamborghini and giving huffy 12-speed offerings. But if you put the kingdom first, Adam many times has uh given what would what it would cost to buy about half a Ferrari in an offering. Not once or twice, many times. I got half a million dollars of my own money in that church building, and the church isn't deeded back to me after I die. I gave it to the Lord. When you become a next level giver, things work differently. How many of you have ever seen Dag Haywood Mills? Do you have the crusade footage? His last crusade? You have it ready? Okay, here's Dag if you don't know who he is. This is his last crusade. Mauritius. Hindu Island. Pause. How much did you send the missionary that gathers crowds like that in places where the gospel's never been preached a month? My churches gave them $5 a month when I was growing up, $10 a month. Anybody go to a church like that? Had a big wall of missionaries? $10 a month, $20 a month. I decided to do $20,000 a month. Then after I saw that crusade, I said, the Lord spoke to me, I'm bumping it to $35,000. You know what he wrote back? I've never had anybody from America do for us what you're doing. May God richly bless you. Guess what? He did. Because when you give $35 a month, you get a $35 a month blessing. But when you give $35,000 a month, you start having builders that don't go to your church say, I want to build you a church. I'm going to build it for $68 a square foot. I want to get the permitting for you in zoning. What you make happen for others, God makes happen for you. And see, if if someone's not interested in that, I can't be friends with them. If you're not interested, I don't want to see something like that and go, Well, God bless you, sir. Pray that the Lord opens more doors. No, I want to be the one that when I walk in the room, people start smiling because they know somebody's about to have their day changed. That's gonna be our church. Our church is gonna be a multitude of people that when they go out into the world, they're not going out with their hand out, they're going out with their hand full of blessings to give to others. Receive that grace today. If you believe it, shout out receive it. Number six, next level giving. Number seven, next level team. Build a team on mutual strengths, goals, and actions. First Chronicles 12, 38. All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest, also of Israel, were of one heart to make David king. Winning teams are unified, disciplined, and mission locked. Greatness is never solo. You need helpers of the war, not spectators or people who create more wars for you. So you you you get people that. Help you. Pay attention to who God sends in your path. I don't mean to keep bringing my friend Adam up, but I was preaching in uh Rowlett, Texas. And I finished preaching one night. I never go out to eat with people. I just don't. And I walked by him and he said, Hey, would you mind, would you uh be interested in getting lunch sometime? I said, Yeah. He's just dressed like he is right right now. I just felt something on him. This guy is not a random guy. This is somebody God brought into my life. We went to a barbecue place, Pacan Lodge, in downtown Dallas, and ate meat like men do. And then uh we stayed in touch. You got a row full of people, brother. Pay attention to who God sends in your path, and and people that are interested in you. Many times people that you like a lot aren't interested in you. And people, and this is not in Adam's case, but people that are kind of annoying to you, but they really like you. Pay attention to it. You don't have to hang out with them all day, but when somebody wants to help you get across the finish line, that guy that built our church for us in Pittsburgh, he doesn't even go to our church. I didn't obsess, well, how come you don't go to our church? Go to I'm glad he goes to church. He's going to heaven, that's all I care about. So who you think some people get so wrapped up on who they wish would have helped them that didn't, that they miss all the other people God sends into their path that would have helped them, but you ignored them. Your mom might not have done what she should for you. Your dad might not have done what he should for you. But if you'll pay attention, God's gonna send other people in your path that'll do more than they ever could have done. God is gonna send you helpers this year. I said, God is gonna send you helpers this year in Jesus' name. Everybody's saying next level team. Number eight, next level joy. Negative moods block positive outcomes. The host of the Phoenix Suns arena shows here. If she acted like a normal Christian, she'd be fired by the second quarter. Christians are sad people. You know, have you ever noticed in church when they show the crowd, not at our church, but when they cut to a crowd shot, people don't know they're on camera, then they see they're on camera and they like change their face because they look like they passed away two weeks ago? Do they see themselves on camera? Yeah, that's what you look like all the time. Your face repels any opportunity God wants to bring you. Thank God we don't have a church like that here. When you look across, it's happy-looking people that look like they have a pulse. May God increase your pulse, may God increase your joy, may God increase your happiness. Can you say amen? That little girl Camila is so happy that we're staying in the presidential suite at a five-star resort because the manager just likes her. The manager bought her a Stanley drinking cup for Christmas and wrapped it and had it in the room when we went in December. Because she's so happy. She goes and talks to everybody. She was at the Russian barbershop with me the other day. They're all coming over and talking to her. They asked me every time I come without her, Where's your princess? That's Dracula, but that's the closest I can get to Russian. She's happy, she talks. Yeah. Have joy. Nehemiah 8:10, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Habakkuk 3, 17 and 18. Here's an obscure scripture. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Joy is a choice, not a reaction. Refuse negative atmospheres. They choke results. Stop getting around people that drain your joy. Stop getting around people that make you feel like you have to take a nap after talking to them for six minutes. Start being full of joy. Seek out people with joy. Stay around joy. Treat joy like a commodity. Stop losing your joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Can you say amen? Number eight, carry next level joy. Number nine, have a next level household. Say this out loud. Mind your spouse. Number two, say this: mind your children. Now say this. I will mind my children. Or I'll be raising children when I'm 65. That's right. A lot of moms and people have to be mom and dad again at 60 because they didn't mind their children. You know, when I see Camila on the front row, sitting on the front of her seat, paying attention, I'm happy. If I came to church one day in Pittsburgh and she was in row 10 on her phone. And then we said, let's everybody stand in worship. And she stayed. That's the time to ask what's going on. Tell me what's wrong today. And then they'll tell you. But if you let that go by week after week and don't mind your children, by mind your children, I mean to make sure they don't run around in Walmart. Pay attention to their faces. Pay attention to your wife. Pay attention to your husband. When your husband says we don't ever spend any time together, yeah. He's trying to tell you he'd like to spend more time. When your wife says something like, you know, I wish we could be around. I was here planning, we just went out to eat last time. Don't pay attention to them. When somebody takes the step to communicate something they're feeling, don't knock them down. Everybody say, mind your spouse. Don't have friends of the opposite sex when you're married. That you communicate with by text all day. And meet for dinner or lunch by yourself. Well, you're just a coworker. I know. You can have an affair with a coworker. Ask Eric Swawa. Allegedly. Don't need to go to a third court hearing. Take, have rules. You know why I'm saying this? Next level family? Because it's nice to have four churches that are growing and making impact. And I'm not running all over the world rescuing other people's children and helping other people's marriages and losing my marriage and losing my child. Do you know you can have both? See, the world, you can't have both. You have to pick. That's why they're always talking about work-life balance. But when you do it God's way, God will not have you excel for his purposes and lose your family. God's the one that created marriage. God's the one that created the family. And God's going to put a grace on every person in this room today that as you be fruitful and multiply outside your house, your home's going to become strong and a place of the presence of God. Your marriage is being healed right now. Your children are being healed right now. You and your house are going to serve the Lord to the shame of the devil, whether he likes it or not. One final time today. Give the Lord the biggest hand clap and mightiest shout if you receive it. Next level household. Ephesians 5 25. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. What you neglect at home will punish you later. Strong ministry requires a strong household. And finally, number 10. I didn't tell you there were 10 in the beginning because it would have depressed you. 10. Everybody say next level perseverance. Learn to enjoy insults and criticism. Focus and don't quit. Galatians 6:9. Let us not be weary in well-doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Micah 7:8. Rejoice not against me on mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be alight unto me. Criticism is proof that you're in motion. And winners always outlast their critics and their opponents. Don't be somebody that all the devil has to do is send one curveball and you've shut everything down. This is an actual story from years back. A husband started a restaurant and then he said, How's the restaurant doing? We shut it down because my wife is pregnant. Are both of you delivering? I've never, I've never seen such a generation of men that like one thing. My wife's pregnant. So you're quitting work? That's not gonna help problems, that's gonna create problems. Learn how, when something gets thrown your way to find a way to grow in the middle of it. I don't have time to read it. When you go home, in fact, the next time you do devotions, I'm gonna give you an assignment. Read the entire chapter of Genesis 26. Isaac is being illegally persecuted the whole time, and he keeps acquiring flocks, herds, and land. Learn how our church, when they started suing us in Pittsburgh, we had 400 people. We had 1,580 last week. We didn't survive it. We grew and got a building out of it. Learn how to punch back. When the devil, how many ever hear Christians, the devil's attacking? You know you also can attack? You know you have a sword of the spirit? You know you have a shield of faith? You have a fist too. When the devil shoves you, hit him right in the nose. You know what these four churches are? These four churches are a rebellion to that attack in Pittsburgh. Oh, you want to shut one down? I'm gonna make three more by the grace of God. If you were mad about one, get ready to get on some high blood pressure medication, Mr. Devil, because we're gonna do more. What you're trying to get us to stop doing, we're gonna do it four times and even more because the devil doesn't get the privilege to determine your future. You can rise up today in the power of God and say, I refuse to be defeated, I will not give up and quit. He that began a good work in me is bringing it to completion in Jesus' name. Stand on your feet, everybody. Go ahead and do what you're doing. I said you only had to do it one more time, but you're already clapping, so give God a mighty hand clap and shout. Come on, clap in anticipation of where you're going today. Say it out loud. I will not be defeated. I will not give up and quit. Say, he who began a good work in me is bringing it to completion. Lift your hands all over this place. I bless you in the name of Jesus. Whatever attack the devil tried to send your way, that attack is not gonna determine where you finish. Let me get something fast and happy. That is not gonna determine where you finish. And I'm not maligning what might have come. Most of you know my dad about 15 months ago was on his deathbed, down from 230 pounds to 170 pounds, and they told him he'd always need 24-hour medical care. But he's not. Because you can get back from a setback, and it doesn't have to take nine years. The thing can leave quicker than it came. Every person that came in here with a problem with your children, with your marriage, with your business, as you've taken time to put God first and be in his house today. The Lord is settling supernaturally right now what you weren't able to settle at all, or what with people would have taken years. Supernatural speed is overtaking super is overtaking negative supernatural delay that the devil tried to send. In Jesus' name, I command everything that's heading in the wrong direction to reverse. Command your body to become strong. I command your mind to be clear in Jesus' mighty name. With your hands lifted, just begin to thank God out of your mouth that you're going to another level. Next level thinking, next level thinking, next level joy, next level family, next level relationship with God in Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord. We rejoice, and as we do, our five loaves and fish become more than enough to feed the multitude with baskets left over. In Jesus' name. Every head bowed, every eye closed, you can put your hands down. If you're here and that first point resonated with you, maybe for whatever reason you've let your devotional life, your intimacy with God, your time in his word slip. Or maybe it was non-existent, and you need to come to the altar today and make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior. He's the only one through whom you can have a relationship with God. He's the door. He came that you can access the Father and go into the Holy of Holies. I can't make you do it. Nobody can make you do it, but you can decide today. I'm not gonna live like the world. I'm gonna receive Jesus Christ and live in accordance with that covenant that's outlined in the Bible. If you say, Jonathan, I would like to do that today. I would like to make this day the Saturday after Resurrection Sunday. That's the day I got right with God. I want you to put your hand up as high as you can and wave it, man. We're gonna pray right now. In Jesus' name. I see your hand. Who else? I want to give my life to the Lord today. Very quickly, you that lift your hand, come out of your seat and join me. We're gonna pray right now in Jesus' name. Come. This is your day. Yes. In Jesus' name. Go ahead, tap the person next to you. Go ahead. Yes. Who else? I saw more hands. I saw a hand. I'll wait for you. What's your first name? Nice to meet you. Say this nice and loud. Heavenly Father, I've come forward today to give you my life. Forgive me of all my sins. Wash me in your blood. I believe in my heart. You raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth. Jesus is Lord and my Savior. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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