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When God shows up, you throw the program out. You throw the structure out. You let God have his way. There's a man in the Bible by the name of Daniel who finds himself in a lion's den—but unlike most people thrown into such places, Daniel is there not for doing something wrong, but for doing something right.
Some of the frustration in your life right now might be because you're actually doing right, yet everything feels broken. The enemy is attacking you not because of who you are, but because he peeked over into your future. He can tell that if he doesn't take you out in 2023, who you're about to become in 2024. Don't praise God just for your right now—you ought to shout for the future that God's getting ready to ship.
Daniel is thrown in the lion's den for how he worships. But listen to what they say about him: Daniel had an extraordinary spirit. This is critical. They don't hate Daniel because of what's on him—like a coat of many colors. They hate Daniel because of what's in him.
If you never wear Gucci, Louis, or Prada, if you never drive a fancy car or have a big salary, there's something in you that's extraordinary. Don't let your salary, your family, or what you drive trick you into believing you don't have something special. Greater is He that's in you. There's something in your spirit that makes people have to judge you before you even get there—and it has nothing to do with anything you've ever done to them.
Here's what's critical: Daniel is thrown in the lion's den because of how he worships. Yet when he gets in the lion's den, the Bible says he went to sleep. He turned the enemy into a pillow.
The level of commitment you have right now will give you peace when you get in it. You're surrounded by stuff that could kill you, yet you have peace. Stop wasting your energy fighting stuff that you should go to sleep about. You're up all night stressing out, but the scripture says he rested.
Next morning, he walked out of it. I'm going to boldly declare to somebody in this room: you're going to walk out of what everybody thinks is going to break you. You ought to speak over your life: "I'm walking out of this." Not carried out. Not limping out. Walking out. Not crying your way out—walking out.
The worst thing your enemies and haters can do is let you realize who you really are. If you ever find out who you are, this season of crying and feeling like you can't do it is over. This is your season to walk out of it—walk out of debt, walk out of depression, walk out of low self-esteem, walk out of pity.
But hear me: I can't walk out of something and not walk into something. This room has an exit. If I walk out of the sanctuary, that means I just walked into the lobby. If I walk out of the lobby, I just walk into outside. If I walk out of outside, I just walk into my car.
God is not just a God of exits. He's a God of entrances. You shout because you came out of it. But I'm shouting because I'm about to walk into it. Shout for the job, the blessing, the healing you're about to walk into.
Daniel is in the lion's den because his commitment did not waver. He could have easily said, "They just issued a decree. I'm not trying to die." He could have closed the door and hid. But Daniel said, "For God, I live. God, I die. My commitment is not wavering."
One of the greatest challenges you're going to face is how you remain committed when you have a right to waver. You got a right to act a fool. You got a right to quit. You got a right to throw in the towel. But the question is: will you remain committed?
We don't find out if you commit something while you're praying for it. We find out if you commit it when you hold it. When God gives you what you prayed for, do you still say, "God, I thank you"?
In this moment, there is a spirit of freedom. God has told me: "Michael, I am about to open the door to the thing you pursued and quit."
For some of you, there was a passionate pursuit of something. Life happened, and then you became what the world calls "realistic." But what the world calls realistic is what the Bible calls faithless. People who don't have your level of faith will try to convince you that what you're believing God for is beyond your reach.
What you should have told them was: "You're right. It is beyond my reach. Which is why I'm not reaching to it. I'm reaching to Him."
Think about the woman with the issue of blood. She's crawling because she's hiding—if anybody sees her, she could get in trouble. But while she's crawling, Jesus is walking. She couldn't get to His hand because she wasn't close enough. She had to touch what was touching Him. If I could touch the hem because the hem was connected to the Him.
Many of you are chasing the what. I have never in my life had what I needed. I've always had who I needed. If you stop focusing on the what and start focusing on the who—on God—everything changes. I don't know who I'm talking to, but something just clicked in somebody's mind: I've been trying to be nice to folk thinking they were going to put me in position. But what God is about to do for me? It ain't a man who can call in a favor. It's God.
God is about to answer the prayers you forgot you prayed. But when God does that thing, He's going to see if you'll remain committed.
Many of you are pregnant with vision right now, and God is about to do it. But He's going to do it in such a way that your mouth may block it. The very thing you've been praying for is about to show up—but it's going to show up at the level you can handle it, at the price you can afford it.
When you start explaining it to people, you're going to make statements like, "I don't even know if this is real."
Think about Elizabeth. She finally gets pregnant after all those years. But her husband becomes negative. And the Bible says God took his ability to speak. The next time her husband speaks is when the baby is born. Be careful of what comes out your mouth in this season. God is going to do it in spite of you. Your mouth won't block it. But God will silence the voices of negativity because He doesn't want negativity to impregnate the one who is pregnant with vision.
When that door opens in the next three weeks, don't send a text out in the family group chat. Family means well, but sometimes they don't understand. When you get that call to produce, to create, to do something crazy—don't even call it for anybody. Even if it doesn't manifest, I'm done letting stuff rob me of my joy because I am committed.
We don't normally have church like this, but when God wants to break a yoke, He uses whatever gift is needed. This is God's house, not a show. God sent me here to tell you: you came for a word, but you leave it free.
Stop focusing on who ain't helping. Stop focusing on who ain't come through. Don't ever again get these words in your mouth: "I can't believe mama... I can't even believe... Can you believe my father..." Listen to me: If God is strategically setting it up, that means He's strategically removing people's abilities.
Anything and anybody that steps in during a God move becomes direct opposition to God. If somebody's trying to help you in a season when you're struggling, but God ordained your struggle, He will take their ability so they can't help you. We only talk about the God that gives. We don't talk about the God that takes away. For the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
Think about the children of Israel in bondage. For all those years, He lets nobody help them. And when they come out of it, the scripture says, "And the Lord raised a deliverer." Deliverers aren't picked by man. Deliverers can't be bought. Deliverers are raised by God.
Each deliverer He picked had a deficiency. He tells Moses, "Go tell Pharaoh, let my people go." But Moses stutters. He can't talk well. God says, "That's fine. Go anyway. When you get there, it'll be Me. I just need your lips." God would never pick somebody who had everything, because if He put somebody in position who had everything, they would take the credit.
He picks Gideon and tells him, "Go fight." But Gideon says, "I'm not a fighter. I'm a wheat presser. I'm a farmer." God says, "Go anyway." Because if God had picked a fighter, the fighter would have fought. God doesn't need your confidence in you. God needs your dependence on Him.
If you want to start a business but feel inadequate because you don't know anything about doing it, that might mean you're the best candidate to do it. God is going to have to strategically align the right resources and individuals to do what you need to do.
For many of you, embrace this struggle. When we were at Cheesecake Factory and didn't have any money, the card kept getting declined. We had to sit there and keep calling people to see who could pay. We weren't at the table depressed—we were taking pictures because I knew this was going to be a crazy testimony.
I never had the what. I had the who. When Pastor Hollis had to pick me up and his car didn't have headlights, we were literally driving at night down the street with no headlights. We weren't in the car depressed—we were in there knowing this was going to be a testimony. This was only about five years ago. While I was preaching to you and your mama was telling you I had something, I was giving everything I had to everybody. The Lord clearly said: "This season of your life ain't about your comeup. It's about your pour out."
We're literally driving with no headlights, barely got gas, and we're in there speaking it: "One day he will be a mega pastor across the world blessing people." I knew that all I had was death and life—power in the tongue. Which means you may be miserable in what you're going through right now because you haven't named it.
Whatever you're going through right now, by faith call it temporary. Don't cry about it. Don't be depressed about it. Don't be frustrated about it. Stop being mad at yourself about it. Where you are now, you won't be there forever. Eyes have not seen. Ears have not heard. It is just temporary.
If you miss the lesson in this season of struggle, you're going to miss God.
When we're driving by faith and not by sight, we must understand the power we carry in our words. All you have is death and life—power in the tongue. You may be miserable in what you're going through right now because you haven't named it. Whatever you're experiencing, call it by faith what it is: temporary. Don't cry about it. Don't be depressed about it. Don't be frustrated about it. Stop being mad at yourself about it.
Where you are now, you won't be there forever. Eyes have not seen. Ears have not heard. It is just temporary. If you miss the lesson in this season of struggle, you're going to miss God.
Whoever intervenes in your life, you have to testify about them. If your best friend comes through for you, you're going to have to tell the whole world about your best friend. They did what no man could do. They did the impossible.
God is trying to get you to realize something in this season. Just like the man in the Bible who was born blind—Jesus said, "So that I could get the glory." God will let you go through it in front of everybody so that when you come out of it, it will be very clear: it was nobody but God.
Hear your pastor: I never want to be a hero. That's why you don't even see my name on the building. It was never about that. I had to stay committed in so many places in my life, and I know that same ability is in you.
If we aren't careful, we're going to make gods out of people. You're going to sit at home and say, "You're a preacher—you had what I needed." No. I never had what you needed. I've only always had who I needed. And that who is God. You've only always had who you need. That who is God.
As we prepare to leave here today, redirect your attention to the who. Redirect your attention to God.
Mark this day. Put it in your phone. God told me, "I'm gonna do it for you in such a way it's gonna scare you." I said it three weeks ago, and the Holy Spirit brought it back to my remembrance.
The thing that's going to flip your life is not in your head—it's in your notes. It's the vision you had before you allowed people and life to convince you that you couldn't do it.
Father, I speak over their life the capacity to handle what you're sending them. I speak over their life that you're doing in this season for them something that is indescribable. You said stuff in the Bible that we missed. You said, "I'm going to give you joy unspeakable." In other words, I'm going to give you something so beyond you that you can't even describe it.
For every man in this place: I speak by faith for a church where men love God, where men can feel safe, where men can be all you called them to be. God, help us overcome our pride. It's so hard to trust in a God I don't see when I've been let down by most of the men I did see. So in this season, I ask that you restore our trust. Restore our faith in you.
For every woman listening: There is nothing on the face of the planet like a Proverbs 31 woman. The season of having to carry unnecessary weight is over. The season of having to cave in and capitulate and dummy herself down so people can feel comfortable are over. Every gift in her is about to rise. Every talent in her is about to rise.
If she has to transition, if she has to move out of certain circles, even if she has to walk alone, the steps of a good woman are ordered by God. I speak that a crown be put on her head. The queen that she is—send a king that'll match it. Allow her to find peace, prosperity, and the person that you've desired and designed for her to have in her life.
For those who are single: Let them realize that singleness is not a deficiency. The Bible calls singleness a gift. Embrace that gift, because there are rewards that come with embracing the gift.
Our goals will never trump your desires. Our ambition will not trump our assignments. God, in the name of Jesus, we surrender to you.
This is a moment called an open heaven—when as a collective unit, we submit to God and heaven opens. Here's what's special about this moment: If you speak it, heaven is listening. I can pray for you, but I can't speak it for you. Speak the thing that you need God to do right there.
So many times we don't realize what people pour out. They leave church feeling lighter, but then all hell breaks loose in their life. If I put a cup under a faucet, the cup gets filled. To break the overflow, I turn off the faucet. Which means all I have to do is attack the conduit that the oil came from.
So I speak by faith that God will replenish everything that was poured out. I speak by faith that no ailment, no sickness, nothing will be able to hinder what God is doing in your life. I speak by faith that everything that was poured out is doubled. That anointing, that energy, that pull, that strain on your spirit—I speak by faith that you are restored.
The courage to commitment is our mantra. So many times when you see people up here serving, you have no idea what they're sacrificing. You have a singer who rouses with arthritis. Some Sundays she's stuck in bed for two days because her body is too sore to move, yet she's worshiping, having a hard time standing on her legs.
Right now in children's church, there's a worker who comes to serve straight from chemo. She says, "No, I'm believing God for too much." That's commitment. Think about how many men are standing outside right now in the rain making sure all your cars are safe. That's commitment.
Because of ego, we've allowed preachers to stand here and say, "Well, we're doing a good thing." But without the commitment of all these people, I'm nothing. We need to cultivate a culture that understands this is important. It's not just Pastor Mike Jr. It's the commitment of those on this stage. It's the commitment of people who make sure their kids are here at 7:00 a.m. in children's church twice just to make it happen. For every camera operator holding a 20 lb camera for two hours trying to make sure you get a work—that's commitment.
To every volunteer, to every person serving, to every person here, to every person who got out of bed and drove here: We had almost three overflows with people sitting in rooms. We had to turn a closet into a room and just put a TV in a closet. Five people are literally getting delivered in a closet right now in Jesus' name. Thank you for remaining committed.
But hear me: We're going to touch and agree that the facility we need, everything we need—God's going to do it at a rate we can afford so we never have to sacrifice being a blessing to people.
This past week, I was going to wait until church anniversary to say it, but I just get so excited. Those boys at Carver High School—I told them I was going to buy them new uniforms for winning the championships. Nike is on the phone. Their uniforms will be here by the time football season starts.
I'm meeting with the superintendent of the school board because my vision is: by July of this year, every teacher in the city of Birmingham will be able to go to a storefront or partner with Staples and get whatever they need. That's who God is calling us to be.
Hear me when I say this: We're not going to have a $70,000 mortgage on a building that we only use for one hour. No, we're going to help people. We're going to love people. We're going to stay committed to the vision. That's the type of church you're connected to.
When I see our H.B.C.U.'s underfunded, it's because as a community, we are not committed. When my brother played at Florida State, every Saturday at halftime there would be 75 people on the field giving $10,000. That's why Alabama can do what they do. That's why Georgia can do what they do.
As of right now, I can't help every H.B.C.U., but the ones in my backyard—hear me when I say this—a deeper level of commitment. And I believe as a people, as believers, as an organization, it's going to become so contagious that you're going to have a deeper level of commitment for your family. No niece or nephew you got is going to struggle because of you in ten years.
It takes commitment. Start getting life insurance. I'm going to show you exactly what I'm doing because I'm not a good leader if I'm not being transparent about the moves I'm making. I just sat down and put policies on all five of my kids that accrue cash value. When they get ready to go to college, I've got one that's going to help pay for college. When they turn 30, I want to hand all of them a quarter of a million dollars.
That takes another level of commitment. It's not expensive. You can get something for $75 a month that just keeps going. If your baby's 10, by the time she turns 21, you say, "Baby, on behalf of mama, here go 150." Now we're breaking a generational cycle of poverty.
This is what I'm committed to, and I mean this from the depths of my heart. That's why your pastor spends more time preaching and loving people. If you think about it, I never raise an offering because it's not about what I can get from you. If you're going to give, that's between you and God.
But here's what's on my heart: If we don't become a committed people, God's going to keep on blessing, but it's going to be like a bag with a hole in the bottom. Every year we're going to have a high and we're going to limp out the year. But if we get committed and stay committed, I believe by faith that the level of our commitment—God is about to reward us suddenly.
I just found out this brother right here moved from Cincinnati, Ohio because the Lord told him to get connected to a church. That's Rock City. We're changing lives. If people from around the world are going to tap into an anointing that we have right here, my commitment is going to another level.
I want you to understand something: Commit it and quit it. You'll be surprised how many people say, "God, yes," and then as soon as you turn around, it's a no. That's something the culture calls quiet quitting—when you show up physically but you checked out mentally.
Even when you step into arenas that are too big for you, because of your commitment, God will surround you with people who won't let the world devour you. You feel what I'm saying? God help us remain committed. The devil is plotting. He doesn't mind praise breaks. But he doesn't like mental decisions to remain committed.
