God wants to equip you and sometimes that means going through the process He has you on. Be sure to listen to last week’s episode and this week is part two!
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back, you are now tuned into the prayer is breathing podcast.
[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: My name is Latoya, I want to thank you so much for listening.
[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you subscribe, send this out to some friends or people that you want to encourage.
[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And today we're going to continue with part two of Kingdom Soldiers.
[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: This was a sermon that I was honored to preach and part of what we talked about in the sermon
[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: is the equipping and so God wants to equip you in this battle.
[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: God wants to equip you in the army of the Lord and so we're going to continue on with
[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the equipping.
[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Now before we continue, I just want to let you know that every Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard
[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Time, I host a Bible study called the Equipping virtually for ladies and ladies Bible study.
[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can register on Eventbrite just type in the equipping women's Bible study so that
[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you can be a part.
[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I would love for you to check out await ChristianColdin.com.
[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: That's A-W-A-K-E ChristianColdin.com where we have faith-based apparel, prayer words,
[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: watch and pray tons of fun designs.
[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you sign up for our email list as well.
[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, let's go ahead and continue with this sermon.
[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_03]: The C, where the enemy is operating, especially in your bloodline because what if you
[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_03]: have one man like Giddy in you are silent and you let the enemy roam long enough,
[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_03]: he gets stronger.
[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And this one person said, what you don't cast down, you'll have to cast out.
[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_03]: So the thoughts that you don't cast down eventually, that thing is going to gain some type
[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_03]: of willpower.
[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And eventually, you'll start to come into agreement with those thoughts that you are initially
[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_03]: supposed to cast down.
[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, I was guiding you trauma.
[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_03]: There was one time I got into a car accident situation where I'm going to work.
[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_03]: This is many years ago and I'm driving straight forward and it's intersection right here
[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_03]: and it's ladycams and she runs straight into me.
[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And I remember thinking, now I was running late and I have some Cheerios and I don't
[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_03]: know I was eating dry Cheerios on a way rushing to work.
[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_03]: But I say, God, I do remember having the light.
[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember the light being green.
[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Then I found out, I get she hits my car.
[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_03]: She has like a brand new car.
[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I had a hoopty.
[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, because she hits my car, her airbags come out.
[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to go out the passenger side of my car.
[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm in the days.
[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like what happened?
[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I go open the door of her car, pull her out, she's shaking.
[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, what in the world is going on?
[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_03]: And what she did was there was an ambulance and she ran the red light to get out of the
[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_03]: way to ambulance.
[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_03]: And then running the red light, she hit me.
[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_03]: So now she was the one in the ambulance and praise God, she lived and always well.
[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Now while I'm telling you that story because later on, months later on, I'm driving
[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_03]: here me and I'm slowing down at the green light.
[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm thinking it's just so innate in my brain to slow it down even though the light
[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: is green.
[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And then I had to recognize the devil and I'm recognizing this is from a place of trauma.
[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_03]: How you respond sometimes is from a place of trauma.
[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you don't recognize that, the devil will have a field day.
[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_03]: So you have to really, really take some time to understand and understand and ask God
[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_03]: to open up your eyes.
[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_03]: So it says here in Ephesians 5, 17, therefore do not be unwise.
[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_03]: But understand what the will of the Lord is.
[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_03]: So we must understand the love of God.
[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_03]: We must understand spiritual warfare.
[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_03]: We must understand that we have the victory, that we have the victory.
[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to understand that and then we have to understand that the enemy we are fighting
[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_03]: is not flesh and blood.
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Even if it's a person, you have to understand that a lot of times demons will operate in people.
[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So you cannot be stuck in your flesh and be carnival and hold these unforgivenesses
[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_03]: and hold this offense and lock people in in flesh and blood.
[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And then the devil gets off Scott's free.
[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know what that means.
[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know why people say that but they always say get off Scott's free.
[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_03]: You heard that before?
[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, somebody's pointed to me later.
[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_03]: But at the same time, you're holding this person and unforgiveness and the devil is running rampant
[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: with unforgiveness in your heart in mind.
[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And then you wonder why I can't get this breakthrough.
[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I can't step into this.
[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_03]: So you have to be wise.
[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I want you to look at what Paul says to the church and Corinth.
[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And second, Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10.
[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's talking about things that are happening in the church, right?
[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_03]: But he also starts to tell them about forgiveness.
[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And I want you to listen to what he's saying.
[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_03]: So he says, now whom you forgive anything I also forgive?
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_03]: For it indeed, I have forgiven anything.
[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I have forgiven that one for your saints in the presence of Christ.
[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Then verse 11 is where you say God opened my eyes.
[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Verse 11 he says, I want to drop this microphone.
[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Verse 11 he says, let's say in should take advantage of us.
[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_03]: What?
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_03]: He's telling the church, you have to forgive.
[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's say it and take that advantage of us, meaning that unforgiveness is not just a natural thing
[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_03]: but spiritually the devil's gaining ground.
[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So he says, let's say it should take advantage of us next part.
[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Next part for we are not ignorant of Satan's devices.
[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So meaning where, where was happening here?
[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I understand what happens when our harbor unforgiveness.
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_03]: So I have to forgive people because I'm at war.
[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to forgive not because I like you as a person but because I understand that we wrestle
[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_03]: not against flesh and blood.
[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So when you understand that you are in a warfare,
[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_03]: you will move differently when you understand that we're at war.
[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I love the example of a possible game last week that if your commander is giving you instructions
[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_03]: you don't have time to debate and go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth
[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_03]: when there's active bombs flying over your head.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like okay God, in order to advance the kingdom,
[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to understand that forgiveness is a non-negotiable.
[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_03]: And you have to allow God to deal with those people and it's hard, okay?
[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Especially when you feel like God, God, it's.
[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_03]: You are so busy being God, I can handle this.
[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_03]: By the way, let me just take that off your desk.
[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't even worry about I can go ahead and handle that for you.
[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not the only one.
[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I know some of y'all.
[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_03]: And the Lord said, vinduces mine, I said, okay, let me just borrow it for a quick second.
[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_02]: And then I'm like God, I can handle this.
[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I can handle this person, let me add them.
[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's not worth it.
[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Let me tell you what God told me and this thing hit me like a ton of bricks because
[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just not a fan of like when people don't tell the truth and I just, you know, all that kind of stuff right.
[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_03]: And so God said to me, I was praying about something that happened.
[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And God spoke to me and he said, I didn't get to defend my name either.
[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And I said, okay, amen.
[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_02]: It is so end of discussion because when you have all the receipts, you might God, this is a quick.
[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And God said, I didn't defend my name either.
[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_03]: He went silent.
[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_03]: No way.
[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_03]: He said at any moment, I can have an angel come, smile at all y'all.
[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Won't be the first time and just probably be excited.
[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Waiting for the assignment.
[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_03]: But he said nothing, even going to the cross, oh God.
[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Who?
[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And he remained silent because he didn't have to defend himself because he knew he was.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So when you understand, listen to me, when you understand that we are in the warfare and that there's a spiritual war going on,
[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_03]: let me tell you something, you will forgive quicker.
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Even if it's hard, I don't think that forgiveness is something that we can do naturally.
[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to say God, touch my heart.
[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_03]: God, you know what we say, miracle signs and wonders sometimes it's a miracle for you to forgive.
[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So that can count as miracle signs and wonders.
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_03]: You might not need to let the grow out but I need you to help me forgive it.
[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_03]: And sometimes I feel like these are on the same levels of impossibility.
[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: So then you forgive because you're at war.
[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_03]: You don't hold grudges because you're at war.
[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to have my prayers answered.
[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm tired of it.
[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe you can live without prayer.
[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to have my prayers answered.
[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to wage war for my bloodline and my family.
[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_03]: So excuse me, if I can't hold the grudge on you forever, I got to move on eventually.
[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And then also when you understand that we're in a warfare, you'll communicate.
[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_03]: You want to allow the spirit of offense to come in because you understand hey, this is a battle.
[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_03]: So what you do I remember one close friend and they got real quiet.
[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And I said oh no, I'm a fight for this friendship.
[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I said this one I'm a fight for.
[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Some of you just let them go peacefully but like, Lord bless you and keep you because it's face to shine upon your amen.
[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_03]: But then some of them you like know I'm a wage war for this one.
[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_03]: So now I'm going hey, what's up? You quiet.
[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh nothing I'm just know no okay.
[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Did I fin you what happened?
[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Because I know this is the work of the enemy.
[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And this takes being an adult. This takes being a, okay.
[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_03]: When you could communicate and say hey my bad I was wrong.
[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey I didn't know that that was a trigger word for you, my bad.
[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Now I won't say it next time.
[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_03]: But when I understand that this is a friendship that God has ordained, guess what?
[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not going to let the enemy come in so easily.
[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Because I understand and as Paul says we are not ignorant of sayings devices.
[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_03]: So if you're married you cannot be ignorant of sayings devices to come into your marriage.
[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to recognize when the devil is at work.
[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. So you don't give the enemy any grounds to come in okay.
[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't give it to them. Sometimes you might slip and be like man I left the door open.
[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I have a good friend system Christ.
[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if this is a southern thing y'all can tell me but they'll leave their doors open and unlocks.
[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a southern thing I would never.
[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't care. I don't care where I'm at.
[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I could be in the best neighborhood. I'm always locking my door.
[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't have no cash. You know money in my car. Nothing that would even remotely make somebody want to steal anything.
[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not even remotely. I'm locking my car door.
[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_03]: These are people leave their houses unlocked.
[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I said what is this?
[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Years ago, not now. Okay. But this out be a little strapped up too. So yeah, I guess this is a balance there.
[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, okay. Yeah, I know what I'm talking about.
[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_03]: So the I is for inquire inquire. You can inquire of the Lord. I love this part. You can inquire.
[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_03]: This means that you can ask God about certain situations.
[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I know sometimes we're raised like don't question God.
[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a difference between questioning God and asking God a question.
[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay? There's a difference between questioning God and asking God a question.
[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Asking God a question would be like Lord. Why has everybody in my bloodline struggled with the same thing?
[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It's asking God a question. Question in God would be like, well, you know, whatever you can put in there as a question in God.
[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Why do you do this? So why are you whatever you want to put in there?
[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I try not to question God too much but I do ask him questions and God can handle how we feel.
[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_03]: But here's the thing. There are certain things God does want you to inquire about.
[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So that you can go forward and battle. And you know that it was so intense that any Old Testament that they never went to battle without inquiring of the Lord.
[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_03]: And then they would find the prophet. They would find any prophet. And be like, hey, what's the Lord saying about this battle?
[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_03]: They wouldn't step foot into any type of warfare unless God was with them.
[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And so you have to inquire of the Lord and say, God, what is your will for my life? What is your plan for my life? What do you want me to do?
[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's things that God wants to show you. And there's things that God will reveal to you.
[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_03]: It's just like when you go to the hospital, they want to inquire, hey, do you have this?
[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Does this run in your bloodline? What symptoms are you feeling? Because they want to know how can I help you?
[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_03]: So when you inquire of the Lord, now God will give you a strategy in warfare because you need a strategy.
[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_03]: So in the natural way, you have a commander and they're going to tell you what to do. And you have to inquire for the next instructions.
[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_03]: So here we are in Judges chapter 20 verse 18, and this happened all throughout the Old Testament so you can find it.
[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And Judges 20 chapter 18, awesome. It says, then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God.
[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_03]: They said, which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?
[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_03]: And the Lord said, send you to first.
[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_03]: The Lord said, our worshipers there. The Lord said, why are you asking me? Why are you inquiring of me?
[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know. He says send you to first. Now, had they not inquired of the Lord and they just randomly sent anybody first that out comes going to be different.
[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_03]: You can't hold God to something that you never asked him about.
[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_03]: You can't hold God to say, okay, now I'm in this relationship and it's okay. And it's falling apart because you didn't inquire of me.
[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And then when you did and I said, no, you said, all right, I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway. Now it's God's fault.
[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And you say, God, get me out when God was like, I was trying not to get you in.
[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So if you don't inquire, just be silent. Just say, God, I know I got myself in here. Just get me out, like an escape room. Give me out of this.
[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_03]: So you can inquire of the Lord or how to be a better parent. You can inquire of the Lord, how to evangelize.
[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_03]: You can inquire of the Lord, how to respond to certain situations, but understand that in order for you to be equipped,
[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_03]: you have to inquire of the Lord. And God is not always one size fits all.
[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_03]: So even when they went to battle, you know, they talked about sitting in due to first, but there was times when they went into battle and God would give them other instructions.
[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_03]: God would say, hey, I want you to march around the wall seven times. And so what we have to do is not put God on autopilot and say, okay, we're always going to just send you the first.
[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_03]: What we have to do is say, God, what is your will for this situation? I'm in right now. I know how you brought deliverance yesterday.
[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I know what you did in the past, but right now, what is the will of God for my life?
[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's how you inquire of the Lord and your intentional to say, God, you go before me in battle.
[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And you inquire of the Lord.
[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, and the P is for, who wants to guess what the P is for? Let's take maybe three guesses.
[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_03]: For air. I love to guess for air.
[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_03]: No. We're talking about equipping when you are getting a quits.
[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_03]: We're almost there. Prepare somebody said it in the back was a brook. All right, it's prepared, but I love prayer.
[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I almost want to switch it to prayer.
[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay. So it's prepared. When you are being equips, you're also being prepared.
[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_03]: God wants to prepare you.
[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And when God prepares you, he will take you through a process and order to equip you to overcome.
[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And the process is ghetto. I might say two out of ten, not recommend.
[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_03]: But when you are not your own, when you're bought with the price, when you don't have a say anyway,
[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I wish a Marine would buck up and say we're not doing this, this lead craw all this whatever craw we're doing.
[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It's not up to you.
[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_03]: The process of how you pass and how you graduate and actually become a Marine, you have nothing to do with the program.
[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_03]: You are enrolled and you're going to do whatever the command is say.
[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_03]: And if we take that mindset as a kingdom soldier, and we stop all this kicking in screaming, like we're going to reinvent God.
[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_03]: So the process, you go through it because you're already enrolled. I'm already, I'm already signed up.
[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm already a soldier. Okay. Back out now.
[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_03]: So you go through the process and what if God uses the process and everything that you've been through to prepare you into equipped you for what is to come.
[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_03]: This is the first thing that God prepares us for, which is super exciting in the Bible.
[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_03]: It's not exciting in the natural, but you know that God prepares every believer to be rejected.
[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_03]: We fight rejection, we hate rejection.
[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Many of us struggle with the fear of rejection. We have to get delivered from the fear of rejection.
[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And in the Bible, God was like, yo, prepare yourself. It's coming.
[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to let you know now it's coming not only is it coming and bracing and braced the rejection, prepare for them to reject you.
[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_03]: And what happens is your skin gets a little bit thicker because you've been like, I've been rejected before. I lived. Look, I'm still here.
[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And so your mindset or rejection has to be different when you're a soldier.
[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And so almost everybody in the Bible, I would have to think about somebody in the Bible who was not prepared through rejection.
[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_03]: That's how bad it is. Moses was rejected, believe it or not. Okay? He grew up in Farrell's house, but he kind of grew up adopted and he kind of grew up where the children of Israel, they were like, you're not really like us because you grew up in Farrell's house.
[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_03]: So this is why he had to go through this battle of saying, like, who should I tell him, sit me because Moses is like, they don't rock with me.
[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So I have to tell him something so that they know that you sit me because on my own natural they don't cast me out. They're like, who was this Egyptian?
[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_03]: And then you have David who they couldn't even find him, Samuel went through all the sons and Jesse forgot he had a son.
[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_03]: He was talking about the black sheep literally. And then you take Jeremiah, God tells him, hey don't be afraid of men in their faces because I'll just may you.
[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_03]: You make me look bad, I'm gonna have to find them and say, and every prophet in the Bible don't be afraid of men's faces.
[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_03]: So now we go to Ezekiel, chapter 3 verse 7 through 11. And this is what God tells the prophet Ezekiel and he says, but the house of Israel will not listen to you.
[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Imagine you get ready, your kids ready for school and you say, hey don't talk to strangers, hey don't let this person take your lunch money.
[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_03]: God always pulled his people his prophets and he said, hey they're not gonna listen to you.
[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey don't be afraid of their faces, hey it's not personal. So he says, but the house of Israel will not listen to you because they will not listen to me.
[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And he says for all the house of Israel are imputed and hardhearted, behold I have made your face strong against their faces.
[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_03]: This is what I'm saying when God wants to give you thicker skin, like you can't be so offended so easily. So God tells the prophet Ezekiel, I have made your face strong against their faces and your forehead strong against their foreheads, like Adam and stone.
[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Harder than Flint, I have made your forehead do not be afraid of them nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Moreover he said to me, son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I speak to you and hear with your ears and go get the captives to the children of your people and speak to them and tell them,
[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_03]: God says the Lord God, whether they hear or whether they refuse. So then accepting you is never a part of the equation.
[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_03]: They will even accept you or they will refuse you but that's never a factor in whether you're going or not.
[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_03]: That's never a factor in whether you get to bow out and say God they're not gonna accept me and you still have to go.
[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's where God prepares us to handle rejection and God even says that they're rejecting me, not you.
[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And so what we have to do in a natural is not bow down to rejection and say, oh well, I'm not gonna do this.
[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not gonna tell this person no because I want them to like me.
[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm gonna over commit myself because I'm too afraid to be rejected.
[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to show up this way because I want everybody to like me.
[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember in high school, I wanted to be best dressed. I got most likely the fall of Stephen Class.
[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_03]: And I took a picture in the ear book.
[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_03]: So here's the thing it doesn't matter.
[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't even know why that was my random desire because I don't even like dressing like that.
[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know what that came from.
[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_03]: But here's the thing, y'all, it doesn't matter.
[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, people are gonna find a reason to reject you.
[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And you say, okay, well, tell me, maybe that's just the profit that should prepare to be rejected.
[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And this is the danger sometimes in 2024 when everybody wants to be a profit and I'm like, you really don't want to be a profit.
[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_03]: You don't want to be a profit.
[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember when I thought about the five-fold ministry in the past and the evangelists to teach it a,
[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_03]: you think in America, the profit or the profit tests grammatically if your female, you should be a profit test, but that's need to hear no there.
[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_03]: But what happens is you think the profit tests flies in, prophesies the word of the Lord and they go home and they leave.
[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So to me, I'm like, that's the easiest one or the five-fold because pastor in is not for the faint of heart.
[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_03]: You got all these other offices and you would think, okay, the profit is the easiest one according to the American church.
[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_03]: But in the Bible, you don't want to be nobody's profit.
[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Because the process that God takes you through and if you struggle with pleasing people, then there is a strong chance that you're not a profit.
[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Or you have to go through the process until God takes that away from you.
[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_03]: So if you are here picking, I would say pick another office, be a teacher.
[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't pick the profit because you have to be ordained in kind of born a profit and you have to have thicker skin.
[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_03]: You got to be built almost like, I want to say, maybe judge Judy, where you just don't care what people have to say.
[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And so it's not just a profit show.
[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Matthew 1022.
[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_03]: This is the disciples that Jesus says and you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_03]: But he who endorsed to the end will be saved.
[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_03]: So just because you're a believer, people will hate you and has nothing to do with you.
[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, and I'm going to run through this quickly and I'm almost done.
[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_03]: So God also prepares us through humility.
[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's the scripture says if we humble ourselves, God will exalt us, right?
[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_03]: But as we humble ourselves, we prepare ourselves to become good vessels of the Lord.
[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_03]: So God in this hour is really not going to tolerate anybody still in his glory.
[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay? And so we have to make sure that no flesh, glory is in the presence of God.
[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay? So we have to humble ourselves and then also God will equip you sometimes through pain.
[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Through hardship, through the things that you don't like, they will build muscle in you in the realm of the spirit
[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_03]: and God will begin to equip you through the pain, through the hardship, through the suffering, God will equip you.
[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Then God prepares you by giving you thicker skin, the thickest of skin as when Jesus tells you this, he tells you this.
[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Go and do what you must do quickly. That's what you know, you really follow in Christ.
[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And God will have you pray for people that you amen.
[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And so what Jesus told Judas was, go do what you must do. Go hurry up and do what you gotta do.
[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I know you're gonna betray me. I know you're gonna do, go do it quickly.
[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Because I'm gonna move on now until my assignment. I'm not gonna stay here and take this thing so personal.
[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm gonna keep moving forward. So you know what you do? You hurry up.
[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Because the more you hurry up, the quicker I am to my destiny. The more you slander and betray and do what you supposed to do,
[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_03]: the quicker I'll make it to where I need to be. So you speed that then and he broke red and he loved him like every other disciple
[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_03]: and he understood with Brassunata against flesh and blood.
[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And then being misunderstood is a part of God equipping you.
[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_03]: It comes with the territory when you're a trailblazer and when you do things for God, people will not understand you
[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_03]: and that's a part of the equipping. That's a part of the preparation is that you have to be misunderstood at times.
[00:27:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And I love this and I probably get ready to close out on this and my brother Jamie preaches so good on Bible study. Oh my goodness. So so good.
[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, it's this part where David's brothers, they misunderstood him and they attacked his character and his identity.
[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, so if we want to look at first Samuel chapter 17 verses 28 through 30.
[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. So it says now Eliab, his older brother, oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men and Eliab's anger was aroused against David.
[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_03]: And he said, now my dude back story is David is showing up on a scene. He's bringing them lunch by the way. So he's sitting by his daddy to bring them lunch.
[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So he's pretty much this like door dash at this point and he comes to them and he's like what's happening here?
[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Why is everybody shook? What's going on? And it starts to fill him in on a story about the Philistine, Galaya.
[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's just puzzled as to why these children of Israel are scared of the Philistines when we have got on our side.
[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And so now his oldest brother, when he spoke to them, it says that Eliab's anger was aroused against David and he said, why did you come down here?
[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? Now he didn't have to take no shots. He took a shot right there.
[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to get that to himself. Then he said, and I know you're pride. And the influence of your heart for you have come to see the battle.
[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_03]: You have come down to see the battle. First of all, there is no battle because you're a punked out in your escape. Let's start there. See this is why the Lord has shut me up because that's quite bad.
[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, what battle am I coming to see? But here's the thing. Here's the thing. The most dangerous thing that you can do. One of the most dangerous things that you can do is let somebody else identify who you are.
[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_03]: When you don't know who you are, you inquire of the Lord. Don't let somebody else tell you hey you're proud. Don't let somebody else tell you hey you're arrogant. You're intelligent. You're intimidating.
[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I used to get that when I was younger and people were saying like, oh you're so intimidating. And I'm like, I'm from New York. We don't just walk around in small. So I don't know what you want me to. I don't know how to be less intimidating.
[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And then God had to reveal to me sweetheart. And this is why you can't take your identity from people and he had to say, hey you're not intimidating. They are easily intimidated.
[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's a difference. And you can have the most quote unquote intimidating person. And I'm like, yeah what's up? I'm not easily intimidated. So what happens is people want to speak in tongue. People will force their insecurity.
[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And you will take that thing. And if the devil has his way, you will download it like software into your brain.
[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_03]: And then somebody like David can say, well you know what? I'm not going to go again because they're going to accuse me of being prideful. They're going to say hey I'm arrogant.
[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And just because of the fear of what people might say, you won't show up. Because you let that get into your identity and if you struggle with being rejected.
[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_03]: But if you don't say hey I don't care. Let God watch between you and me. I don't care if you think I'm proud of that God who searches the hearts of men.
[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Watch between you and me. Why were I started brother said, I know you're pride. And the influence of your heart for you have come down to see the battle.
[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And let me tell you what, David was processed behind the scenes. And I don't know if you're a younger sibling. I'm the youngest.
[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm going to tell you this answer would have went real different. And so in this when we got a verse 29, do you want to know that David didn't even defend himself?
[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_03]: He wasn't even like, what you mean? You think I'm prideful?
[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_03]: No. And David said whatever I done now is they're not a cause. So David is not even taking this thing personal. He's saying it. This is a bigger picture at hand.
[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And then verse 30, it says then he turned from toward him which would be a lie up his oldest angry probably hungry angry brother.
[00:31:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing and these people answered him as the first one did. So they all, they all followed Eliab.
[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_03]: They all, this is you got to be built different. It's one thing of one person attack you, but then they all say the same. And then David still was like, yo, I'm going to go fight the Philistines.
[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not going to sit here and take this thing personal. And then he went, he took Elias head off. But some of us, we lose the battle right here because it says these people answered him and said as the first ones did.
[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_03]: That means they said the same thing that Eliab did. And when you hear something all your life, you'll never be anything, you'll be just like your daddy. Nobody on your bloodline has ever done.
[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_03]: If you don't understand that you're in a warfare, you will download that into your brain.
[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Versus, not accepting that and recognizing who you are in God. So being misunderstood is a part of God equipping you.
[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to thank you so much Philistine to this episode. I know it was a little bit longer than normal, but I pray that you were blessed and that you remember that God is equipping you in this season.
[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And so be encouraged and just continue to stay in prayer. Have a blessed victorious week. And again, I would love for you to check out awake AWAKE ChristianColdin.com.
[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Even if you just subscribe to the email list that would be wonderful. But I do encourage you to make a purchase there as well.
[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_00]: God bless you and God keep you if you have any prayer requests. You can send those into prayer is breathing at gmail.com. Have a wonderful week.