Change the Mind - Negatives

Matthew chapter 4 verse 17. If I had this message since the

Matthew 4:17

beginning of the year and I've been waiting on the Lord to

allow me to release this, if you have ears to hear, to change

your life. If it doesn't, then you know

you're not going to stay with the Lord anyway.

So you know, that's kind of how this is going to go.

Thinking about that sermon we had back in the day called Let

It RIP. You know, that wasn't my sermon,

but it was that little analogy. And some things I need to say

today are going to be pretty straightforward because there's

a lot going on in the earth today, a lot going on in the

realm of the spirit today that many people are getting caught

up in, and they're not winning the battle.

And the reality is, is that they're falling to opinions and

not even truth. And so when you start living

your life based upon opinion about what somebody thinks, you

know, then the reality is you're going to get swayed pretty

quickly because, you know, there's many ways to do

something. OK, There are many ways to put

this shoe on. All right?

One way is to untie it, loosen it, put it down and put your

foot in it. That's one way.

Another way is to bring your foot up like this, like my wife

does, and put it on this way. That kind of hurts my hip

flexors right now. And you can tie it from this

position or you can tie it from down here.

In both of those example examples, I've put my shoe on,

or you can do it like I do it, which is there.

Now, you may hate my way, you may adamantly disagree with my

way, but my way is not wrong. It's my way because there's

nothing written in Scripture that says I have to put my shoe

on a very specific way. And yet we are finding

ourselves, especially here in the last of the last days, that

people are going to fall away, not because sin is the issue,

but opinion is becoming dominant.

We're in a society where everybody wants it.

How do I know this? Because the Bible says that

there's going to be itching ears.

People want to hear what they want to hear, which means.

And our, you know, our devices are tailoring that to us.

As you know, you know, if you have a smartphone, it's

listening to you. And if you talk about certain

things and all of a sudden it shows up on your social media

stuff, you're like, wow, look, there's an ad for this.

We were just talking about that. Well, you understand, you're

going to hear that concerning scriptures, people that are out

there saying stuff that's not even scriptural.

But if you have an opinion about something without going into

scripture or you identify with something on a, on an opinion

base, then you know the enemy is going to find plenty of

opportunities for you to be supported.

And so you got to make sure that you abandon opinions and you

say, what does the word say? And when we look at Matthew

Matthew 4:17

chapter 4, verse 17, it says from this time Jesus began to

preach and say very important word repent, say repent.

Come on, say repent. Now to say repent.

Many people when you hear that you're already in a religious

thought process because for most people the word repent is the

dominant thinking, is that I need to not sin so that I can

accept Jesus, so that when I die I go to heaven.

And that's all they think about when they hear the word repent.

I need to be born again so when I die I go to heaven.

Although Jesus is talking about something that you would be

doing on a continual basis because repent is not a

religious word. It means change your thinking,

and we have to change our thinking about a lot of stuff,

not just where are we going to go when we die.

In fact, Jesus is not even asking that question.

Jesus is like, there's something totally different, more, more

important than knowing where you go when you leave your body.

In fact, Jesus is addressing death now.

He's addressing people who are dead.

They're spiritually dead, separated from God.

And so he's addressing, listen, if you want the Kingdom, if you

want to, to get back in your original position, then you're

going to have to change your thinking.

Say change my thinking. It's amazing how many Saints

want to change God's thinking. I mean, we're almost like

begging God to accept us our way or accept our situation our way,

or get us out of our situations our way.

Yet Jesus leads his public ministry with this word.

Change your thinking. Notice Jesus's first public

address was not you need to be born again.

Because even if a person's born again, if they do not change

their thinking. They will live a defeated life

in the planet. So Jesus did not come just to

save your spirit. He came to revitalize your whole

man, spirit, soul and body. Are you hearing me?

So from that time Jesus began to preach and say repent for the

Kingdom of heaven as a hand. Change your thinking now.

How many people does God wants their thinking changed?

Acts 1730 says it this way. Therefore, having overlooked the

times of what? Of what say I was ignorant?

I mean, let's just go ahead and admit it.

We were ignorant and being born again does it instantly make you

wise, Nor does it instantly make you have all knowledge and

understanding. Being born again gives you

access to wisdom, understanding and knowledge, but it requires

effort on your part to seek His Word and let His Word transform

your thinking. So He says.

Having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring

to men that how many all people everywhere should repent.

Repent. We have to change the way we

think now the good news is being born again allows our spirit man

to be alive to God where we can hear God's voice.

It gives interest to the Holy Spirit inside us, meaning we

become the temple of the Holy Ghost where the Holy Spirit who

is our teacher, right? He will reveal truth to us, He

will speak to our spirit so that our spirit can tell our soul or

our mind change that. And our spirit now has the

ability, if we yield, to make our mind change.

Our spirit man, if we yield, has the ability to reach within our

soul, within our mind and say that thought, do not take it

anymore. This thought hold fast to it.

Prior to being born again, we could not do this.

We were dead separated from God. We love to do things that were

contrary to his word. Paul had this conflict.

He said, Ben, I wanted to do good, but I found myself always

blowing it. No matter what I did, I found

myself not doing it. I was a wretched man in sin.

Who will save me? Who will deliver me from this

life of sin? But thanks be unto God that he's

more than a tribe in Christ. He's given me the necessary

tools that when I hear the Holy Ghost within me and He speaks to

me concerning truths from heaven, that now has the power

within me to gain access to my mind and break off thoughts that

hinder the power and purpose of God from manifesting in my life.

All right. And so everyone is to repent.

The reality is, is that all of us had prior to Christ, and even

in Christ a negative mindset. Many times we talk it this way.

We call it sin consciousness, cause sin is simply disobeying

God. Our consciousness of sin, we're

always rebelling, going against God.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We are wanting to do it our way. We are independent of God.

We are rebelling from His word. In essence, we're always

thinking evil, even when it seems good because there's a way

that seems right to a man, but in the end lies death.

All right, Albert Barnes, according to this verse, Acts

1730. He says this, if God commands

all people to repent, we may observe one that is their duty

to do it. There is no higher obligation

than to obey the command of God #2 it can be done.

God will not command an impossibility #3 it is binding

on all. It is binding on all that all

need to what? What does that word mean?

So when I say repent, you say change your thinking.

When I say repent, you say, when I say repent, you say, That way.

We understand what we're saying here because we're not saying

repent, let's get saved. We're saying repent, change your

thinking because as a man, so, and if you don't change it, even

though your spirit man may be alive #4 it must be done or the

soul is lost. He said it will not, It will

not. It is not safe to neglect a

plain law of God. It will not be well to die

reflecting that we have all our lives despised His commands.

Hallelujah, you say, Can you despise the word of God and be

born again? Well, let's ask Adam.

Adam is not born again, He's born of God.

He's a man without sin. He's a man who's perfect in his

body, in his soul, and in his spirit.

He is created in the image of God, in the likeness of God.

Are you hearing what I'm saying? He has the nature of God.

He functions as God of this world, and he was given

dominion. Yet someone in another realm

rebels against the word of God and God casts him out of his

realm. He shows up in the garden and he

starts asking questions. He says, what has God said?

I want I want to know what you know about God.

In essence, how does God thinking of which he asked this

question? Oh, you can't eat from any tree,

Eve says. You can eat from any tree of the

garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you

shall not eat. For the day you eat, you'll die.

Then he says this. You're not going to die 'cause

God knows. Now he starts talking about God

as if and not acknowledging God even being somewhere in essence.

He's, you know, in this thought process, since you don't see God

and God's not here, let's talk about him.

Let me give you a thought of God.

Let me tell you what I know about him.

You know, why didn't Adam say, you know what, let's just to ask

the Father that. Let me hold on a second.

What are you saying? You're saying that if I eat the

fruit, I'm not going to die and I'll be like him knowing good

and evil. You know what, Let me get him in

the room right now because you know, he comes in the cooler

today and let's have a conversation with him and you

here. But did he do that because the

minute Adam chose to listen to another voice without the one

who spoke it originally be there to verify this conversation, he

lost the world. He lost the world.

So can we be born again today and not obey the commands of

God? Yes, we can, although it's our

duty because He says we all should repent.

We all need to change our thinking.

The greatest thing you can do is decide that you don't know

everything that God does and you're going to seek Him and

change the way you think. And you'll never arrive to all

knowledge, but you'll always be in discovery.

Amen. And there's nothing God cannot

bring to light, all right? Look at John chapter 3, verse

John 3:20

20. John chapter 3 verse 20 says for

John 3:20

everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the

light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Now I'm going to use a little analogy here because I think

it's kind of, and I'm using negatives in two different ways

here. OK, so let's talk about

negatives in photography because when you take a photo, in

essence, you expose this film to the light that's in darkness.

You expose it for milliseconds to light, and that light burns

an image on the film. Now, when it burns that image,

it is called a negative. And when it goes underneath a

process, it becomes a positive. I remember back in the day, now

you know, I'm older and there were you had to send your film

off to be developed. None of this clicking on the

phone, right? I mean, now I love today because

today tells me I can get in the positive quicker.

In fact, I can live in positive instead of having this process

from negative to positive. And So what happens is a

negative. Everything in the positive realm

that is light in the negative is dark.

And what is dark is light. It's the reverse.

And the thing about a negative, you must hold it up a lot of to

the light in order to even see the image.

So when you are born again, God hit you with the light of His

word and impressed in essence an image of you that now He wants

to process to create a positive. Because when you bring up the

negative to the light, you can see the image, but you miss

details because the details show up after the process and it

turns into a positive where all the real colors can manifest.

Are you hearing me? So when you're born again, God

exposes you with His light. Hallelujah.

He exposes you with His light and He puts an image about you.

That image is called in Christ. Now, the darkest area of you at

this point after you're born again is your mind, and God

needs to expose it so that it can turn into light, so that you

can begin to walk out that which you are an image of already.

But many of us don't want to go through the process.

We got our little negative that, you know, as long as we hold in

the light, we see it. But the minute you're away from

the light, we don't know who you are.

We don't know who you are. I got to quit looking at that

light up there. I'm seeing dots now as long as

again, This is why the church, the church, the reason why

sometimes people have a hard time born again believers have a

hard time coming to church is because it starts to expose this

image and then says, hey, I want to process this.

I want to process this so that all can see the beautiful colors

that you are in me. Are you hearing me?

But there's another definition of negative, and that is marked.

Here's a Merriam Webster dictionary.

Negative means marked by features of hostility,

withdrawal, or pessimism that hinders or opposes constructive

treatment or development. All of us, because we have

sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, have sin

consciousness or a negative mindset, meaning we filter

things through a negative mind because we have been there, we

have sin has ran its course in our lives.

We have been disappointed. All kinds of things have taken

place in our lives so that when God begins to try to speak

constructively to you for your development, we get resistant.

Because we are filtering everything he's saying through

this negative mind. How do I know?

Because the minute something start, oh, am I in trouble?

Felt like I'm in the principal's office.

Oh, man, that service today, man, you know, that was hard.

Was it hard? I mean, why do you why do you

sound so negative? They just want this.

They just want that he wants this.

I got to do that. I, I have the privilege of being

developed. I, I all have to do is shift and

not see what God's saying as a negative, but see it as a

positive. It's my attitude in my mind that

if I'll change it, that will give full exposure to this image

God has made me, but I'll never get there.

As long as when something comes and exposes I see I meet it with

hostility instead of brace it with positivity, then my growth

and development will be hindered.

It said we're marked by features of hostility, withdrawn or

pessimism. This word pessimism is really

interesting. By definition, it means an

inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions or

possibilities to accept the worst possible outcome.

You know how many people come to church with a pessimistic mind?

You know, we're always thinking of the negative side.

Well, if I do that, that's this. And you know, oh, I can't be.

I hope they don't preach on that.

Hope this doesn't happen instead of how's the Lord going to speak

to me today? What kind of training will I get

today? What's he going to knock off me

today so that I'm look more like him?

I mean, not coming to service thinking, oh, I hope they don't

say anything that would hurt my feelings to.

I hope the Lord shows me something that I need to get rid

of and I'm going to be quick to do it because you know what?

I had a terrible mind and a spirit before I met him.

And then I met him and I know my mom was still jacked up.

And I'm like, Lord, get this mind together.

Help me out, renew in me, renew my mind, transform my thinking,

Allow me to see this image and do something now.

If you have that attitude, sermons will be something you'll

embrace. Moves of the Spirit or something

you embrace. Oh man, they're speaking in

tongues again. Oh, are these people even going

to? What are you doing?

What's your mind doing? Why are you so hostile?

How long are they going to sing? Why are you hostile?

Adverse reaction to something the Bible says.

Holy hands lifted high. We're to praise him.

Why would we be hostile to that when the when the worship leader

says let's lift your hands before the Lord?

Why is there pessimism? I mean, I understand it's really

difficult to do this. I know it's so much effort.

That's a lot of work, right? A lot of work there.

But what happens? How do you know your negative

mindset? Because you're resistant.

Anytime someone gives a command, when someone gives a command of

the Lord, you're resistant. You're adverse.

Well, God didn't tell me. Did we just read Scripture then?

God told you another definition of pessimism.

Is this the doctrine that reality is essentially evil?

It's the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life.

No matter how much good comes, you always can find something

wrong. I remember talking to someone

that used to be here, they were like, I just want to win.

And I went through the testimony their whole life of how God had

done so many amazing things. And I'm like, but because

they're broken in their mind and they refuse to develop a

positive mindset anytime the word comes the only way it would

be positive if you give them accolades and they're looking

for accolades instead of just having peace with the Lord.

I've been doing ministry for 30 something years.

I'm not a novice at this. I've been 21 years in this one

location and been around people for years and know a lot about

people, know about what they've gone through.

I know about their minds, their thinking, their behaviors, what

they struggle with, what they cannot seem to overcome, and

then see others thrive. Why?

Because they just accept God's Word as training and they

embrace it and love it and they believe more that God's way is

better than anything they're thinking.

Hallelujah, Proverbs 623 says this, For the commandment is a

lamp, and the teaching is light, and reproofs for discipline are

the way of life. So again the commandment is a

lamp. Again, there's darkness in our

thinking, so God has to expose it.

Remember, He says you are to work out your salvation with

fear and trembling, meaning it's your assignment after you're

born again and your spirit is made alive and God places the

Holy Ghost on the inside of you that you work out your salvation

with fear and trembling. You renew your mind.

That's your responsibility and the reason why you are to renew

your mind. The reason why God listen, the

reason why God did this is because he needs to know he is

not making robots. These are not you are not a

robot. And when your spirit man's dead,

you're at a great disadvantage that you cannot be before God,

for He is spirit. But when he causes what only he

could do through the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus

and the blood that's applied to your account because you met God

at his word and believe that Jesus came, died on the

crossroads from the grave. His blood is on the mercy seat.

You accept his blood as the forgiveness of your sin and

wrongdoing. Then it makes you a new creature

in Christ. Then he says, now you transform

your thinking. I'm now empowered you and

there's a my spirit is in you that as you submit yourself to

study, then you will remove renew your mind and you will

begin to create the image that you are on the inside that I've

made you. You will release because God

will not override your will. He wants you to love him because

you choose to love him. And choosing to love him is not

only at salvation. It's not only at salvation

because Adam made a choice being made in the likeness of God to

rebel from him and die spiritually.

So we have to allow our minds to be renewed.

It's our responsibility to be transformed by the renewing of

our minds and God has empowered us.

This is why we would be without excuse because the Lord's like I

put, I made your spirit alive to me.

I gave you the Holy Spirit who is the great teacher.

He is, you understand, he's recording every class.

Can I just say it that way? God is recording every class.

He every conversation he's having with you.

He's recording how he taught you and he's recording your

response. We're all without excuse because

what we think on is up to us. Paul said think on these things,

which implies you cannot and is God.

Listen, if God was in control, he would only make you listen to

his word. But you're in control of what

you listen to. You're in control of what you

take heed to. My wife says she's got a some

message on that. I'm not touching it today, but

you know what? You need to take heed of what

you hear, because God's not giving you thoughts to to kill

someone, to steal from someone, to covet from someone, to walk

in unforgiveness with someone. He's not giving you those

thoughts. You have to decide.

And when. The commandment is a lamp and

the teaching is the light. Then guess what?

It's going to bring a reproof because God already Jesus lets

us know right out the gate. You're going to need to change

your thinking. Don't think more highly of

yourself than you, which means the the place of humility you

have to maintain is in your soul realm.

OK, Lord, how should I think about this situation?

How should I go about with this, you know, in in this, you know,

situation. Psalms 100 nineteen 9/11 says

this way. How can a young man keep his way

pure by keeping it according to your word, verse 11 your word I

have treasured in my heart that I might may not what sin against

you. So it's the Word of God that

will help us, that we keep our mindset on it and then we allow

our mind to be renewed to that word, not to our feelings, not

to what just happened, not to how I feel.

And again, that word is going to come as a reproof because your

thinking is off. All of our thinking is off and

needs to be corrected, needs to be changed.

But if every time God comes and begins to talk to you about that

way of thinking and you become resistant, ah, well, that's a

negative mindset, which means you're going to hinder.

And you don't realize he did that because he's trying to

produce a positive. It's actually great news that he

pointed this out, that the reality is we should be

rejoicing that he just brought a reproof.

Instead of crying, instead of being resistant, we should be

like, give me more now. It was a statement of faith when

I was in the Army, you know, But the reality is it made me

better. They would say, you know, make

it hurt, drill Sergeant, make it hurt.

Well, you know, naturally you don't want it to hurt.

But if it does, then ultimately you're better.

Yeah, you're better. I mean, I went in doing only so

many push ups. The first PT test I had, I think

I might have did 55 to 60, little surprise, 80s a Max.

So it wasn't so far off, but it took me two minutes you just to

get to that number and you know, I was going to muscle failure.

And there's nothing more ugly than a push up going to muscle

failure because your whole body starts shaking kind of crazy

looking. You're like, bro, he can't even

push himself up. I mean, you're, you're gone.

Your arms are shaking, your legs and start shaking.

I mean, you just look crazy. But yet because they kept it

instead of seeing the physical exercise as Oh my God, I got to

work out to man, if I was in war, I sure want to be able to

run, jump, leap, be strong and overcome.

This is good for me. I mean, they're only thinking

about my best interest. They're not concerned about how

it feels to my body. They were concerned about what

it will produce out of my body. So that by the time my I was,

you know, finished basic training, I could do the Max of

82 push ups in less than 60 seconds and I would just get up

and rest the last minute because they had conditioned me to do

something that I could not do before and it was positive.

But most of the time, you know, again, there are penny plenty of

people right here in the sanctuary right now that if I

say you need to go to the gym, that's negative to you.

That's not negative, that's a positive.

You need to embrace it. Now, you shouldn't look at one

body type and think that's in shape.

In fact, we were down in South Florida and someone had

mentioned, you know, well, you know, I want to be in shape like

Pastor Earl. And you know what, on the

outside I am in shape, but yet I'm working on the inside of

something that's not as much in shape because my outside was

deceiving me. I had a fast metabolism.

I could eat whatever I want to. It wouldn't gain Jack.

But in around 42, I think it was in prayer of the Lord said, son,

you better change the way you eat.

And I'm like Lord, I'm not overweight.

I work out. He says, son, you don't know

what your inside, what's happening to your insides.

Then about five years later, I went to a nutritionist who

pulled blood from me. And come to find out, I was in

the beginning stages of heart disease because my vascular

system was gunked up with all of the hamburgers I ate in my 20s

and other food that all youth pastors eat and destroy the

inside, probably the insides. I can't say that because, you

know, everybody's body makeups different.

My wife, now, she ate, you know, basically what I ate.

But her vascular system is amazing.

I mean, when we go out, my heart rate, boom, it goes up.

Why 'cause my veins have constriction.

She not at all. We can go to the gym together, I

can do a set on the bench and my heart rate to jump up to 13135

pretty quick. Hers, it's less than 100, and

you're like, well, you're doing more weight.

I mean, she's doing the weight for her that would cause

something. But her vascular system's so

much better. I mean, she has to do jumping

jacks in between sets to get her heart rate up.

Me, I just have to look at it. Yeah.

So I have to do something for my inside to change that because my

outside was telling me I was OK, but my insides were getting

messed up. So you understand, I don't see

it as a negative to eat a salad. I don't see a negative to eat

broccoli. I don't see negative to eat

spinach. I don't see a negative to say

I'm not doing that dessert. I see that as a positive because

I want to have long life. And you know what?

God cannot satisfy me with long life if I resist the protocol of

the natural body and just eat Twinkies the rest of my life.

In the words of Doctor Miles Monroe, you cannot be smoking

cancerettes, puffing on them, and calling your lungs clean.

Well, some foods are doing stuff when you know what it is, and I

know what that is with me. So again, the doctor had to

reprove me. He reproved me.

He said you're going to have to change this here.

Wait, he basically said, Pastor Earl, because you heard God

earlier, you're already on the, the, the road to recovery, that

this is what else you need to do.

And I'm you're going to need to take these as well.

And I'll be honest with you, you know, I got a little skeptical

because I was dropping a lot of money monthly on supplements.

And I'm like, really, is this our food really lacking this

much nutrition that I got to take all this stuff, man.

I mean, wow, at least it's not pharmaceuticals.

I mean, it's just natural vitamins, just different types.

And I came off for a little bit, had a blood draw and my stuff

went in another direction. I'm like, wow, that's the real

deal. Let me go get my omegas back

out, right? Let me go jump on some homo homo

stay scene. Let me get into some other DHEA

and all kind of other stuff that I'm taking, you know, so I'm

having to make some adjustments. Well, because I want to have

long life and I'm thankful that the Lord said, son, you need to

do something different. I'm glad he arrested me at 42

and say, son, if you don't change the way you eat, you're

going to have a problem. And I'm thankful that the Lord

loved me enough. Let me just do what I wanted to

do, because His Word says with long life, He'll satisfy me.

Second Timothy 316 and 17 says that this way.

All scriptures. How many scriptures, all

scripture is inspired by God for and profitable for teaching, for

reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness so

that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every

good work. Again, because in the last of

the last days, they'll, they'll be a falling away that will take

place and there will be seducing spirits and doctrines of demons

and people will have itching ears to hear what they want to

hear. And again, we're living in the

last of the last days right now. So again, somebody's going to be

subject to this. You have to be intentional that

it's not you. You, you cannot accept that just

'cause you come to a church, you are growing.

You can go to the gym and push weight and never grow.

You can consistently go to a gym and push weight that never puts

you in any type of muscular fatigue that a minute starts to

hurt. You're oh, I'm done.

OK, all right, I'm getting oh, that hurts a little bit.

That seems a little heavy. I'm going to go down and you're

like, all right, great. You go to the next one.

You know, like I worked out. I did 30 minutes today.

Yet your muscles never got to a place to grow.

You understand this is working your muscle, this works your

muscle. And the number one cause of why

older people go to assisted living is not because they can't

walk, it's because they do not work this out, this muscle here

because they get to a place that they can't even do a body weight

squat because when they go to sit down to #2 they can't get

up, yet they can walk. Walking does not build quads.

Say Amen. Anyway.

So again, if you're a little bit older, you need to, to, to, if

you want to be self-sufficient till you go and not be put

somewhere where everybody's having to help you up, then you

need to start a little process and you start by doing this.

There's a particular minister whose father is like 8090 years

old. He does this to work on his

balance so that as he gets older, he can maintain it,

right? You have to work on these

things. You have to keep yourself

trained. These are not negatives.

They're actually positives if you see them.

Oh man, I got to do that. Do you want to have success?

I mean, that's all that God wants us to do is have success.

So I'm doing this and though it may hurt, but eventually you're

getting down and you're doing this.

Before you couldn't do it at all, but now you are.

And you know what? Praise God I can be longer in my

sufficiency because I was willing to go through a little

pain and discomfort that is not negative but extremely positive

for my life. Tranisha stand up.

Tranisha decided I'm I'm running and she started running 5 KS.

Now I'm just going to be honest with you.

She doesn't have a runner's physique and you've lost quite a

bit of inches at this point, have you not?

And how many five KS have you done now?

Three or two? Two.

Now notice she didn't wait till she looked like somebody that's

been running their whole life. You understand, we make excuses

to not because that's negative. Well, you know, I just start and

know that every step's doing something now.

Did you run walk the first one or run the whole thing?

OK, the second one, run the whole thing or run, walk, run,

walk further east. Time for the run.

What are we doing? We're we're having games.

Because again, she understands I'm not going to run a marathon

today. But you know what I am doing?

I'm run, walking a 5K and she's she just told me she's doing

kickboxing now. Yeah.

So if I'm around here, don't come up.

She'll kick you. I'm forewarning.

She may throw a Roundhouse. You can be seated now.

Trenisha, do do you mind if I ask you how old you are?

56. I mean, the point is, is you're

not too old. There's not a, there's not a lid

on you. There's not a lid if you just

will commit in your your spirits alive.

If you just commit in your soul and your thinking and then tell

your body, no, you're going to do this.

That's right. Now I'm sure her body told her

multiple times, you're not doing this anymore.

And she's like, Oh yeah, we are, because her mind is stronger

than her body, and she can make her body submit to her mind

because she's listening to her spirit.

And everyone in this room can do it.

You know what? That's extremely positive.

Now I'm going to read some things from Rick Renner.

OK, I'm going to read from Rick Renner.

Sparkling Gem Book concerning Second Timothy chapter 3 because

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

he's a Greek scholar and I want you'd, I'm going to have him

break it down for you so that you know that a Greek scholar is

telling you this verse Paul wrote in the Bible profitable

for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and

righteousness. He said, let's look at each part

of this verse so we get a full benefit of what Paul is telling

us. First, he stated that the Bible

is profitable for doctrine. This particular Greek word, I'm

not going to read all the Greek words.

I'm just going to say this Greek word of this word includes the

idea of something that is need for or oblig.

You're obligated like a debt that is owed.

It can be translated as a word indebted.

So it refers to someone, something that is mandatory,

essential and an absolute requirement.

So he says using this word, Paul is telling us that God's word is

not optional in our lives. It is mandatory, essential and

absolute requirement for us. So reading it daily is a

positive. I got to read the Word again.

They want me to do the Bible reading plan.

We're trying to get an image to come out and God sees it that

way, said Paul. Connected this word profitable

to the word doctrine, which is a different Greek word, and this

doctrine used in the New Testament denotes things that

are that we affirm and believe to be true.

Some Christians sneer at the mention of doctrine, thinking it

is to be stuffy or unimportant, but the kind of But that kind of

attitude reveals their ignorance regarding the importance of

doctrine. Doctrine is the foundation of

what we believe it. It impacts what we think.

It affects our world view. It determines what we believe is

right and wrong. It guides us in life, determines

our convictions and standards, and effects all of our actions

and activities in life. In short, we are to we are the

product of our doctrine. Therefore, it is mandatory,

essential. We are under obligation and an

absolute requirement that our lives be based and and built on

the Bible, that we must see ourselves as indebted to it.

So it is also very important to point out the word profitable.

The Greek word here means is connect in connection with law.

Just as laws must be obeyed, we are obligated to live by them.

We as believers must live our lives with the Bible as our

guidebook and our law for life, obeying it absolutely to the

best of our ability. You understand in today's

society, we're so adverse to the word law because again, we've

wrongly defined what law means from Scripture.

The law itself is not bad. What's bad is when you try to

fulfill the law in it of yourself or according to your

flesh, you cannot do it yourself.

That's the law revealed our inability, although the law

itself is holy and Jesus fulfilled the law.

So if Jesus kept the law, it couldn't be bad, but He's the

only one who could because he was God in the flesh.

And what we now fulfill is the law of the Spirit of life in

Christ Jesus. By faith we believe God that He

fulfilled all the requirements so that we could be born of God.

But the reason why this term is used often, even in the New

Testament when you break it down, is because the Bible's

about a king, his Kingdom and his royal offspring anyway.

And the Kingdom has laws and laws are not negative, they're

positive. So if we approach, if we take

this approach, the power of God's word will be released in

our lives, making us to profit in every realm of existence.

Next, Paul wrote in the word of the word of God produces reproof

in our lives. This word, reproof is a Greek

word that's nowhere else in the New Testament.

The Old Testament uses a different word and it's used as

conviction. So when God's word shines into

our lives, it's glorious and brilliant.

Light is so strong that exposes every dark area that remains in

our souls and minds. As the light of the Word shines

on our darkness and works in our hearts and minds, we are

reproved, convicted, and censored by the Holy Spirit.

As a result, we don't remain in darkness.

That's positive. We are changed as our minds are

renewed to think correctly what a benefit the word of God is to

us. Paul then writes on that the

word of God brings correction into our lives.

Reproof and correction are not the same word.

There is a difference because when you get to correction it,

it means this. It means it.

It means it's a triple Greek word or compound word that

ultimately means it means this. That the apostles declaring

wherever, whenever, wherever and at any moment or anytime a

person makes it the decision to build his life on the Word of

God, to allow its light to shine into the deepest parts of His

being, to expose the dark areas that need to be changed.

The Word will release the power required for the necessary

change. God's Word will lift that person

even if they have been knocked flat on his back in life, and

will set him back up on his feet again.

This correction that comes from God's Word will cause him once

again to stand erect and upright, regardless of how long

he has been down and out. Now that's important because

some of your thinking is so bad and you thought that way for so

long, but he's saying it doesn't matter how long you thought this

way. God can correct it.

God can correct it. God will release so much power

in that person's life that he will put him on level ground.

So once you're put, that person is back on his feet.

The Word of God will then become His instruction and

righteousness. This Greek word is means to

train a child. It simply means to educate a

child or to give a child everything necessary to prepare

him for life. Hence this word simply refers to

a child training or the process of getting a child ready for

life so afterwards he can be sent out fully equipped in

success and successfully live as he was taught and trained to do.

It was believed by the ancients that such child training was

essential for success in life. The word righteousness here in

the Greek means right living or just right, right living or just

living. It is means to live by a

righteous standard that results in upright living.

When you use this in connection with the word instruction, it

tells us when God's Word is taken into our heart and applied

to our lives, it fully equips us to successfully live by a higher

standard that leads to upright, godly, clean living.

So when you put all these words together, it could be

interpreted this way. All Scripture is given by

inspiration of God and is mandatory, essential, absolute

requirement for those things we affirm and believe to be true.

It brings reproof, conviction, and sensors into our lives.

It it can take anyone, including those who have been not flat on

their backs in life, and it can set them back up on their feet

again, regardless of how long they've been down and out.

The Word of God will make them once again stand direct and

upright. It will put them back on level

ground fully equipped them to to successfully live life at a

higher standard that leads to upright godly clean living.

Now I don't know about you, but that's extremely positive.

So I'm like, and again, he says it will reprove, correct and

instruct. 2/3 of that is cleaning up how you're thinking.

Yet we are in the time when Saints only want to be

instructed and celebrated. Give me instruction that

celebrates me. Yeah, the Lord's like, I'm just

trying to help clean up your brain so I can release who you

really are to the world. Because as long as you think

like this, even though you're born of me, you won't look like

me because you're not allowing the mind of Christ to function

through your soul. And that takes effort on our

part. And that is the responsibility

of the fivefold ministry to equip the Saints.

My responsibility is not to celebrate you, although I will

celebrate you every time you demonstrate equipping things.

And I am being very positive to your life when I say you need to

not do that. Well, Pastor wants to see you.

Oh no, what did I do? Why are you thinking negative?

Why are you thinking negative? Because even if we are

correcting you, you should be praised, God, for that.

Thank you Lord. Thank you, Lord.

I mean, all of us have thought wrong.

So not one person in this room is ever going to live without

reproof. Or if you're going to a church

that preaches the word of truth to equip you, your feelings are

going to be hurt multiple times because God's going to expose

now you got to quit thinking like that.

God's going to say, don't respond to them like that.

Don't talk like that to them. Don't hold that thought about

me. And when you have a positive

mindset, when you change it, then you embrace it.

But if you have a negative, you will be offended and you will

not stay with the Lord. You will.

You will define God yourself. Second Timothy 4/2 says it this

way. Preach the Word.

Be ready in season and out of season.

Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

Once again, we have lost the reality of the atmosphere of the

Church He's building. In fact, all you have to do is a

study. This is why I love the Apostolic

gift, because the Apostolic gift definitely has this ability to

maintain big picture. It's amazing if you look at each

dispensation before we leave 1 dispensation and move into

another, there is a lot of correcting and reproving

happening by the Spirit of God. In fact, before we go into the

captivity of Babylon, all the false prophets are saying it's

going to be good with us. Y'all are good.

God's good with you. God's so good with you.

Oh, you're good, you're great. Oh, you're amazing.

Oh, let's celebrate you, you're so great.

And Jeremiah's like, no, no, you're not.

No, no. What's going to happen is, is

that you are going to be made captives because every time a

true prophet came and tried to bring correction and reproof to

you, you killed them, you threw them in prison and you kept

going against God. And he was patient and

long-suffering. But at this time he says, I'm

taking my hands off. Babylon will conquer Jerusalem,

and between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant, we have what

they call 400 years of silence. Because if you're not going to

change, why is God going to talk?

Because his words are life. Lord, speak to me.

Well, probably 2/3 of that conversation is going to have

some kind of adjustment. Now at the end of the day, that

doesn't mean he's not going to say, now you can do this.

You're awesome because you've been made in my image.

He'll always finish out the conversation about the image of

who you are. But that doesn't mean he won't

touch those places in darkness. And you have to be comfortable

with your heavenly Father to be able to have the many people

don't have a relationship with their with their fathers or with

their parents because they don't want to be corrected.

But the reality is where to train.

And this is not opinion. This is the right standard of

living. Say Amen.

Anyway, for all those who already know this positive.

You should be shouting and helping the rest who's trying to

get their minds adjusted. Amen.

Because that becomes contagious. Like man, these people are like

excited. I need to get excited about this

as well, right? I mean, if you go work out with

Pastor Mike in the gym, it's going to be pretty exciting.

Now, your body's not going to say that.

Your body's going to say like this is crazy.

You've lost. You are another Nah.

But if you stay with the process, you'll be different.

Proverbs 1510 says his grievous punishment is for him who

forsakes the way he who hates reproof will die.

That's serious. So I'm like, thank God, he

reproves me 'cause he just don't want me to die.

I mean, you should come to service or anytime you're

underneath the word, even in your own purse.

You say, Lord, show me anything that I need to get rid of.

Come work, work me out in my mind.

I mean, you want to embrace that.

You want to see it as a positive.

You don't want to resist and go, oh, don't talk to me about that.

No, now you don't. No, don't resist, don't walk

away. Don't forsake, because when God

begins to say, hey, make an adjustment here, he's, he's only

telling you something you can do.

How many of us can get up at 4:00 AM in the morning?

Every one of us. We can do it.

That doesn't mean we choose, but we can.

We can. Hallelujah.

I like what one minister said. A friend of mine in Nebraska, he

said this. He said the Lord spoke to him.

He said, he said, Pastor Tony, if you do not schedule pain,

pain will schedule you. Meaning if you do not subject

yourself to some training that's going to get you, they're going

to cause your muscles to be sore, then pain's going to

manifest in your body and you're going to have a scheduled

appointment with your doctor. So you choose.

You either schedule it or it schedules you.

Hallelujah. So again, it's just a change of

thinking. Amen.

And we can do it. We must get rid of our negative

mindset. Look at Psalms 5016 to 22.

Because again, grievous punishment we saw in Proverbs is

for him who forsakes the way. He who hates reproof will die.

Now here's the thing about God's reproof.

God is reproving, but just just speak.

And when he's reproving and people are resistant, sometimes

they'll get stuck in deception and think God is not really

talking to them about things they need to change, He said.

But to the wicked God says, what right have you to recite my

statutes and take my covenant or pledge on your lips, seeing that

you hate instruction and correction and cast my words

behind you, discarding them. Now how can God know that

they're doing this? Well, it's because of their

action verse 18 when you see a thief, you associate with them

when and you take have taken part with the adulterers.

Now that doesn't mean sexual immorality alone.

It can be idolatry, meaning going after other gods.

So that was a form of adultery as well.

Verse 19, you give your mouth to evil and your tongue frames

deceit, but yet what's in the mouth?

He says you're taking my word. He goes on and says you sit and

speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's

son, these things you have done and look what God says.

I kept silent. Now he reproved, but you hated

it, and he's quiet. Because if you're not going to

do make the corrections, I'm not talking to you any more than

what I've already said. You need to correct.

Yet because they disregarded it, their life shows that they're

not yielding to this correction. And he gives them the list of

their behavior, the way they're interacting.

So he says these things that you've done, and I kept silent.

And because God didn't talk to him anymore about it, he says,

you thought I was once entirely like you, but now I will reprove

you and put that the charge in order before your eyes.

Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in

pieces and there be none to deliver.

Let me read this out of the Passion translation from verse

19 down. It says the sins of your mouth

multiply evil. You have a lifestyle of lies

devoted to deceit. You speak against others, even

slandering those of your own household.

Now again, this is the church body.

This is a household. You can't be slandering your own

brother. He goes on and says this.

All this you have done and I kept silent.

So you thought that I was like you sanctioning evil.

But now I will bring you to my courtroom and spell out clearly

my charges before you. This is your last chance, my

final warning. Your time is up.

Turn away from all this evil or the next time you hear from me

will be when I'm coming to pass sentence upon you.

I will snatch you away and no one will be there to help you

escape my judgment. Now I can move this over to a

New Testament scripture that talks about gently reproving

people so that they might repent if the Lord would give them the

ability to. Because you even as a new

covenant believer, if you keep resisting the reproof and

correction of God, then God himself stops talking except for

judgment. And judgment just simply means

you'll sleep early, you're going to go to sleep early.

Proverbs 1531, couple more verses and we're done.

Let's be positive. Let's embrace correction.

Let's quit seeing that when something comes through because

again, I mean you, you just have to go to another church if all

you want is never hearing things that you need to change.

That's not a person equipping Saints have to bring correction

and it's not personal. It's not like I'm personally

coming and saying now, Pastor Vanessa, you need I'm not.

But God's general word will come and expose thing and we're like,

man, I got to change that. And you're like, you're talking

right to me. You know how many people like

man you're you know, when people were first born again, they were

like excited that God was talking to them about things

they need to change. Where did we get so holy and

self-righteous that we no longer wanted to be corrected?

Proverbs 15 and correction is not opinions.

I don't like the way you put your shoe on correction.

Is righteousness sin? OK, Proverbs 1531 to 32.

He who here who he whose ear listens to the life giving

reproof, will dwell among the wise.

He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who

listens to reproof require acquires understanding.

So I'm like, thank you, Lord, change my thinking.

How do you want me to handle this?

What do you want me to say here? What do you want me to do here?

How do you want me to respond here?

How do you want me to do something?

Because at the end of the day, can I say this?

Because I like to say that. And he said, you can't say that.

OK, then I won't say that. Isaiah 55 last passage of

Scripture says this verse 3 incline your ear and come to me.

Listen that you may what So why are we listening that we may

live. Why are we listening that we may

you know what this service, this sermon I'm preaching right now.

If you really understood the Holy Ghost impact, you would be

jumping up and running. This is we have become so

conditioned that unless it's you know, we sing joy.

That's when we run. I'm amazed at how we have dumbed

down the body of Christ. I mean they are so conditioned

to do responses based upon specific little buzz things

instead of just recognizing when God.

Man, that's good news. Wow this is great.

I should rejoice. I should jump up and say

Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, because you understand even when

corrections come in, it's a time to shout for joy.

Now I understand there are times you're taking it in.

I get that, I understand that. But once you recognize, ma'am,

this is helping me, then you, you have the ability to move it

over into joy yourself. And you don't have to wait for

somebody. The Holy Ghost did not just

moving when we sing, you know, look what the Lord has done.

He healed my body. Oh, OK, now we get to run.

There's the song. Now we can do this.

Or when someone starts laughing, now we can all laugh.

Come on, let's get a personal response.

Let's get a personal response. I mean, are we connected?

Are we just being lectured to? But if you come and say, Lord,

teach me something today, Lord, I want to be in your presence.

And I know if I'm in your presence, you're going to expose

something because I'm not a perfect person.

And Lord, whatever you need me to deal with today, I'm going to

deal with it. I'm going to deal with.

Because God's not going to give you something you can't handle

nor you can't overcome, but He's going to keep strengthening you

along the way. And yeah, sometimes it's just

going to be a celebration. I get it.

But the celebrations are not better services than a full

blown reproof service. Those are like, yes, bring it.

He's growing me, man. I'm getting rid of this stuff.

Whoa, it's leg day on Sunday for those who go to gym.

You understand that joke all right, Incline your ear and come

to me. Listen that you may live, and I

will make an everlasting covenant with you according to

the faithful mercy shown to David.

Jump down to verse 6. He says, seek the Lord while you

may be found. Call upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his

thoughts and let him what? This is the whole point.

We're returning to original intent when God blew the

exposure of the light of Jesus Christ into our hearts.

He's like, this is who you were created to do, to be in the 1st

place, to have dominion, to rule and reign, to have the nature of

God and the thoughts of God. So let's return to the Lord and

he'll have compassion on him and to, to and to our God.

He will abundantly pardon for my are not your, nor my your,

declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher

than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my

thoughts than your thoughts. And so I'm like, Lord, give me

your thoughts, teach me your thoughts, change my thinking,

reprove me, correct me, and then give me the instruction on how I

can carry this out consistently in my life.

Expose every dark place, cause the negative in me to show up as

a positive. Full blown picture that every

detail of who I am in Christ is clearly seen to the world,

clearly seen to the world. And every time I come into

service, I'm like, thank you, Lord, Holy Spirit, teach me,

train me, instruct me, release me in my mind, strengthen me to

get rid of this stinking thinking, to cast down these low

level thoughts and give me the highest standard of who I am in

Christ. That I can walk that thing out

in the world. That I can lay hands on the

sick. I can pray for people.

I can walk into me. I can overcome temptation.

I can walk in love, forgiveness. I guard my mouth because my

mind's guarded. For me, church is the most

positive place to be, even when it's the hardest messages

because they're really not hard. They're beneficial.

The only thing hard about a message is me resisting.

If you leave and say man that's hard, it's only because you

don't want to change your thinking.