Fit To Finish // Start Sharp (Part 4) // Michael Todd

Welcome to Transformation Church Podcast, where we represent God to the lost and found

for transformation in Christ. We're so glad you're here and wherever you're listening from,

we believe God will transform your life. Do today's message. I have

a word today that I believe is going to change the trajectory of our church.

And I say that all the time, but I believe it all the

time. I don't be up here just saying stuff to help people feel better

about themselves. I want us to actually live something. There are tons of

churches that are going to tell you what you want to hear today, and

today I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna tell you what God told me

to tell you, and what He already told me. There is nothing that

I can preach to you that the Holy Spirit has not already worked in me.

It is a vow. It is a value violation for me to come

up here and act like I got something together that the Holy Spirit has not

actually done a way in me. I'm not saying I'm gonna stand up here

and be perfect at anything, but I am saying that I will have started

the process of actually walking this thing out in today. The Holy Spirit literally

shut my mouth for over seven years on the topic. I'm about to preach

a whole message about seven years. He said, shut up. You have

no authority to talk about that, because I'm looking at your life now.

I know every past that acts like they are the grand dah dah of every

subject, and they act like they have a PhD in every subject. No

no, no, no no no no no no. Knowing information and living

that thing out are two completely different things. And today I want to bring

us into this message with a little illustration that I thought about. Does anybody

remember or have little babies where they had the shapes that they had to get

something to fit into. And so you know, when I was a child,

this game was actually very exciting for me because everything has been a competition

since I was six months old, and so when I saw this, I

will always try to figure out how I could do it the fastest. Now

that I have children, it's not about fast, it's just about getting it

in there. And when your when your children are still developing their cognitive skills

to be able to figure out what to do, it's frustration frustrating sometimes as

a parent to sit and watch them try to put the triangle in the star.

No no, VIVI no, no, no, no, uh uh,

it's the other one, the other one, the other one. And

many times, if you've ever been a parent, depending on how your where

your kids are on the learning level, it takes a while for he said,

you ain't never law. It takes a while sometimes for them to figure

it out. But once they get it, it's a beautiful picture. Well,

I feel like sometimes in our life with Jesus, we have something that's

we think it is supposed to go in here, but everywhere that we try

to put it, it doesn't. It doesn't what it doesn't fit, and

it doesn't matter how much. Oh it's a circle and it's the same color,

so it must it doesn't. Why hold on, Maybe I'll turn it

and for some reason it doesn't. I said, it doesn't. Okay,

that makes sense to us. And what most of us would do if we

bought this toy from Tarja, y'all know that's a bougie version of Target.

If we bought this from Tarja, what we would simply do, put this

right back in here, get our receipt, and take it right back to

that little counter. Because it didn't. We would tell them. I'm so

sorry. Something must be defective with this. It does not fit in the

same way. Where's my man, Zion? Come here, buddy. I

need you to come up here in the same way. Zion, he's one

of my best friends. In prayer, we all give it up for my

mansion. He's been here every night. Come here, buddy. He's been

joining me in prayer. And I decided I was going up upgrade his clothing

today, and so I brought some clothing from my closet that I wanted.

Zion, Come on, put this on, big Daddy, he said,

I'm ready for the mirror call. Now, this jacket is expensive. This

jacket was made by a craftsman. But if you were to see Zion walking

around in this, you would say it doesn't Now now it's expensive, it

looks fresh. Come on, baby, putt on these Gucci shoes. Baby,

and yeah, yeah, yea, yea yeah. Get your some goat

chase come here. Come on. Oh no, you're falling because you're in

something that doesn't Okay, all right, get that foot in there. What'd

you say you can't fit it? I mean it feels like it should fit

you, but it doesn't fit. And it doesn't matter how much I try.

This will become uncomfortable because it doesn't fit. Do some jumping Jack's big

Daddy, Come on, yeah, yeah yeah. Can you do a push

up? You know how do a push up? Oh? Oh, there

it is there, it is there, it is Oh, increasing my shoes.

Come here, Come here, he is increasing my shoes, staying.

Oh, God, in the name of Jesus, we believe you for a

miracle. No matter what happens, this will eventually become uncomfortable because it doesn't

come Mara. Let me just put you down here, get all my stuff

from him. Okay, here you go, take him, God bless you.

What if what if God desires to use someone for twenty five years,

but he looks at the purpose and the person and their body doesn't fit.

What if our body doesn't fit purpose? Talking about starting sharp and staying sharp,

we're talking about praying for miracles, We're talking about God changing things around

in our life. And what if we are not fit to finish? Matter

of fact, that's the title of my message today. Fit to finish.

Now I need everybody to take a deep breath, say y'all weigh again,

because today I'm coming to you pastorally, lovingly, and I'm asking you not

to pray for anything you won't prepare for. Some of us are at the

end of this twenty one days of prayer and fasting, and you're like,

oh man, it's been so good, Like I don't have headaches and I

just feel better and I'm waking up. Part of it is spiritual, but

the other part of it it's just you haven't been eating trash, and your

body for twenty one days has been regulating to not have as much sugar.

I've already a man myself, so I don't need nobody's amen today. If

it ain't real. Because I came on assignment to get your life back,

you missed it. Many of our prayers are praying for miracles that could be

prevented if we actually took our lives. Seriously, my question to you is

will you be fit to finish? I can't answer the question for you.

I don't eat with you, I don't stay with you. And this is

gonna bother some people because you think that it's a vanity message. This is

not a vanity message. This is about your actual value. Okay, let's

just keep going. Are you fit to finish? What God has called you

to do. Let me give you the personal revelation that happened for me seven

years ago. The Holy Spirit told me in a time of prayer. He

said, Michael, I only can bless the ministry to the level your body

can take it. And my response to my heavenly Father was, that's not

fair. That's not why. I thought it was to the level that my

spirit man could take it, thought it was to the level that my marriage

could take it. He said, yeah, all of those are true,

but I'm not gonna bless the ministry past what your body can do. And

I ignored the word of God, your pastor for four years. God up

here yelling crazy faith, sweating in my back rolls. Okay, I'm gonna

be humble, open and transparent today. I'm about to expose myself to hope

that one person makes a delineation between what you've been living and what God desires

for you to live. Okay, he said, I only can bless you

to the level that your body can take it. And I'm not saying that

this revelation needs to be your revelation, But could I submit to you?

Could this be true for you too? Is God actually looking at what you

do with the temple and using that as a part of Him factoring in,

can they do what I've called them to do? And I challenge every person

under the sound of my voice, because I feel everybody's booty tight right now,

everybody, take a deep breath, then let it out. Okay.

I challenge you not to deflect or defend for forty five minutes because some of

y'all are you don't know, my boy, you don't know what the royal

issue I God, you don't know what Okay, stop, hold on,

wait, my family beg boned. Okay, Okay, I know, but

I challenge you not to deflect or defend because this message is about your destiny.

This is not about anybody else today. And I hear something of y'all

saying I know tons of people who are overweight and successful, and I want

to agree with you, Yes, tons of people. My question is not

are there people doing it? My question is what version of them are we

getting? And my second question is if they were healthy, how many more

years could they do what God has asked them to do? Okay? Okay,

okay, So I want you to write this down. This is a

point. Okay, because because I want you to understand we're talking about being

healthy and holy, not just holy. I said healthy, and we talk

about the spiritman being tears. I wash my mind, Lord, and never

talk about cleaning our cupboard. Guys, I'm coming to humbly submit to you

that we may be cutting off our influence, our purpose, and God's desire

and design for us because of how we take care of our body. This

is not fat or skinny. Crackheads are skinny, Okay, I can't be

real. Y'all got offended by that unhealthy snorting everything shooting up, ask them

to take off there. So I have seen people who are abusing drugs cause

some of y'all think fast, no, no, no, no, no

healthy. This is not about superficial desire. This is about supernatural discipline.

This message is not about how you look and getting six packs and making sure

you got an hour. I don't care nothing about that. I care it's

diabetes gonna take you out like it took out your mother and your mother I

care about is its hypertension going to take you out like it took out your

uncle. It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank. When

your heart stops It does not matter how how many homes you have if you

have to live in a nursing home. And just so we can even up

the playing field for everybody that's still watching, I'm about to expose myself so

that you can know I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to me.

I'm gonna show you me at my heaviest. Put it on the screen,

two hundred and seventy five pounds. He took his shirt off in church.

No, no, no, no. I want to show you what this

really looked like. I want to show you the man who was yelling crazy

faith and believing for new buildings and talking about relationship goes number one New York

Time bestseller and insecure and overweight and emotionally eating and drowning my sorrows and cookies

and cream bluebell ice cream with doctor Pepper and gummy bears on the side,

if with cream and vanilla oreos too. What in the world was I doing

every Sunday night, trying to manage stress, trying to figure out why did

that family leave and go up the street and all that? Never mind?

I know pastors don't want you to see this, but the way I overcome

is by the blood of the Lamb. That's what Jesus did and the words

of my own. This is my testimony wearing four X shirts. My children

could sleep in my clothes without blankets. Don't laugh at hard mom, y'all.

It be your own people, It be your own people. Literally,

my children could put on my shirts, on her jacket, not need a

blanket, just be on the couch knocked out. I couldn't. I couldn't.

I couldn't walk how I wanted to. I couldn't play with them how

I wanted to. But I was a man of God. I was being

used every Sunday. Nobody ever came up to me and said, Pastor,

that message was great, but it looks like you're unhealthy in your life,

not one mentor not one spiritual covering. It was like almost that people felt

that they could not say anything while they saw me killing myself. If I

put a knife to my wrists or a gun to my head, I would

have tons of people say no, no, no, no, don't do

that. But when I put a fork in my hand and a knife in

my hand, nobody said. Matter of fact, they took me to do

it, they paid for it. Get whatever you want get two of them

take something to go what okay? And it's so crazy that I had so

many hurdles to my health, not just physical. I'm talking about entire like

if you look at yourself, being a whole person. Part of my testimony

is I had to jump the hurdle of pornography. I beat that hurdle.

I had to jump the hurdle of lying. I jumped that hurdle. I

had to jump the hurdle of being a manipulator, and all the things that

I talk about. But the one hurdle that I wouldn't even talk about was

the hurdle of my actual physical health and nutrition. And some of y'all are

getting caught up to you just like that's Michael. I just don't understand.

I just don't think that you should be in her talking about my body like

that, because this is my body, is the body that God gave me,

and I'm just gonna be with body, Audi Audi, and I'm gonna

do what God has told me to do, no matter what body I got.

And all I'm saying is I don't want you to be this is not

an Instagram type of comparison thing. I want you to be fit everybody say

the word fit. Let me give you the definition a suitable quality, standard

or type to meet a required purpose. I just want you to be able

to meet the required purpose God places on your life. So if he tells

you to go to a remote village in Africa to minister the kids, can

your body take it? Some of y'all? God would call you there and

you would be cussing the whole way, not because of any other reason except

your heart. Your desire is there, your knees aren't. Oh my god.

You won't even go swimming with your kids because you don't like the way

you look in a bathing suit. So you're robbing your kids of an opportunity

to connect with you because you don't like or will work on. Let me

stay to my notes. What I'm saying to you is being fit is not

about a size, It's about a standard. Does everybody hear what I'm saying?

I don't care what size you are. Zero? Anorexia is unhealthy too.

Do y'all hear what I'm saying. There's so many people trying to you

think just drinking water and red bulls, Okay, it's healthy. We don't

want the esthetic. We want to actually be everybody say the word to me

fit. So I said, Holy Spirit, You're gonna have to give me

some real revelation on this because I feel like either we gonna gain a lot

of people in the church getting healthy after this message, or everybody gonna flip

me off and go eat a burger. So I need some revelation. And

I'm telling you. On Tuesday night, at three point fifty in the morning,

the Holy Spirit woke me up with First Samuel, chapter sixteen, verse

seven, and this is where Saul was the king, but he disobeyed God,

and Samuel had to find another and God told him to go to Jesse's

house and he was going to be able to pick the next king of Israel.

And he tells Samuel. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not

consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord

does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward

appearance. You know this next part. But the Lord looks at the heart.

And I said, God, that's powerful. Oh my God, you

look at the heart. Oh you look at the inside. Oh you look

at the motive. Oh you look at the character. Oh you look at

the integrity and all my life in church, That's all I've heard is that

God does not look at the outside. Thank you Jesus. He knows our

heart even when people mess up. I've even said it was like, man,

I messed up with God. No my heart. You know I love

him. I don't obey him, but I love him. He know my

heart. And I said, Holy Spirit, where's the revelation? He said,

read it again? He said. People look at the outward appearance,

but when God goes to choose somebody for purpose, he looks at the I

said, Holy Spirit, you got to help me. He said, read

it again. And no, I wasn't just talking about looking at it spiritually.

I look at it physically too. And I said, people look at

the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Are you telling

me that when God is calling people for purpose, he looks at their central

thinking system, which is the heart of man. But he also considers can

your actual cardiovascular heart take the mission he's asking you to go to? And

I said, Holy Spirit, do not be this cold. He said,

I was being figurative, spiritual, and literal, because no good father would

send their kid to die without considering their actual abilities. Now think about it.

What is David about to go do? David after he becomes anointed as

the King of Israel, the next time we see a big story about David,

He's killing the giant that nobody in the whole army wanted to face.

So he was looking at the man's integrity, but he was also looking at

his My question to you is can your heart handle it? Because health is

all about your heart. So then I was like, okay, Holy Spirit,

Okay, some people are gonna say, oh, he just took that

out of He took that out of I said, okay, Holy Spirit,

I want to make sure that I give people practical handles to be able to

look at this and look. I cannot make this stuff up. This is

what the Holy Spirit said to me. He said, look up the number

one cause of death in America. I just did a small Google search,

and the number one cause of death in America in all ages, all genders,

all races is heart disease. I said what he said, the Enemy

has taken out more people with lack of discipline with their fork and their health

than anything else. He said, there are many things I want to get

done on this earth. That I can't because I haven't found anybody with the

heart, And can I talk to my brown and black people real quick?

I gotta talk to y'all because nobody says this, because we've been hamhocking it

and mac and cheeseing it and sweet potato pie and an upside down cake and

seven up cake and red velvet and Krispy Kreme donut daylight donuts. Look at

y'all, you I ain't said that much all service. I just start mentioning

stuff and your spirit just starts yell a bit as sheep. But the American

Heart Associating Association found that people were more likely to experience cardiovascular disease if they

lived in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy foods, space is to be physically

active, or health care facilities. And I know a lot of the problems

that we face in today are systemic, but this one is not the man.

It's your meal. Nobody said it to me. Some of y'all are

hearing the message I'm preaching right now, and you're planning to tear down your

temple after this fast in a way that is epic. You've been planning this

meal for twenty one days. As soon as we went on the fast,

she was like, when I break this fast, I'm gonna tear it a

club boy, Like, but what if part of God's picking process has to

do with your heart being right and your heart rate. Okay, God's looking

at David, I just want you to go with me. He's looking at

David, and he was like, David doesn't just have to be spiritually ready

to face Goliath. He has to be physically ready to face the life.

Now. I know we never thought about it like this because most pastors stay

out of your personal business. But David had to walk from the palace back

to Jesse's house all the time. Yeah, yeah, he had to literally

just think about it with me. Y'all. Remember when we talk about and

David faced the bear and David faced the lion. Have you ever fought a

bear? No? No, no, we say it so cassually. Yeah,

he was just fighting a lion. No, that's not regular. Do

you know what type of strength and endurance and intentionality you have to have to

actually spar and it be practiced with a bear and if the bear wasn't good

enough, then you do it with the lion too. And we call that

preparation for a giant y'all. A lot of people talking about God knows my

heart. We're not called to reach God, He's already reached us. We're

called to reach people, and most of us are not fit to actually do

what God's asked us to do. When it comes to your health. This

is a question I had to ask myself three years ago. Do people have

a reason to follow me when it comes to your health? Could we copy

and paste how you take care of yourself? And would you want to place

that on the people you love? Eat what I eat? Wort how I

work out? What would what would your children look like? What would my

children look like if they copied my habits? See, every area of my

life needs to be something worth following as a believer. When it says follow

me as I follow in your health, are you worth following? I didn't

say in your prayer, because I know you could pray. I didn't say

in your worship leading because I know you can lead worship. But in your

health are you worth following? I started this journey over three years ago and

it was the most embarrassing, humbling thing I've ever done. I will post

videos this week of me telling my trainer, I cannot run, cannot The

only thing that motivates me is competition. So we cannot just go running.

We can't just go jump rope. We can't just lift weights. I gotta

trick my mind. So can we play basketball? And I just need to

start moving this jelly. Oh it was bloogola, you know when you go

this way. But I was like it was doing something different. I go

right here and went back. I was like, why is happening? Then?

Okay, some of y'all don't have these problems. I'm talking real problems.

And for thirty minutes, I paid him to come play basketball with me.

I'm a grown man with kids and a job. I should be able

to do this. You should be able to do that. I couldn't.

I believe so many lies about where I was that I needed somebody to come

play a game with me to make me accountable, to start doing something.

What I'm telling you is it does not matter where you start. Okay,

because I know there's some people here that are saying passing Mike, that's just

too much. I'm sixty eight years old. You want five more years or

fifteen more years? Do you want to live to see what you've been praying

for. Do you want to see your grandkids be able to do the things

that you never were able to do, But because of your faithfulness, you

planted the seeds into them and now they can walk into us. He's facing

a place that you were never able to but it is retribution because you see

them do it? Or are they talking to your tombstone? Now? I

did it. I graduated because you wouldn't go walk. See. When I

started this fitness journey, the Holy Spirit told me to shut up. He

said, this is an area you cannot encourage anybody in because you have not

been consistent. And me, I like sharing stuff. If I'm just two

steps ahead, I'd be like, y'all come on. That's how I've always

lived in the Holy Spirit, not in this area. He said, I

need the work to go deep and I need it to be forever, because

when I allow you to share it, it's going to transform the world.

And I said, God, why are you putting all of this on me?

He said, because I've tried to do it with several people and nobody

would answer the call publicly. And when I started working out, people around

me started working out. Pastor Charles is one hundred and forty five pounds,

soaking wet. Any day he got abs, like every day. It's just

because he's skinny. Nobody cares. I'm just funny. He's like, don't

play me, boy, stop. But any day ever since I known him.

But when I started working out, ch'all said, I need to start

working. My leader is starting to work out for his health. I don't

have what he has, but I need to be healthy for all these kids

that me and Abby is happy. And he started working out. Another person

in here a year ago, brother Will Heck and Bob. Now some of

y'all, some of y'all don't know. But when I met Will, Will

was going through a transition. He had been in prison. He tells his

story, God drastically changed his life. He starts serving, and God brings

him here and he does the internship and he just keeps going to level the

level. But as he was going up, up up, he was going

up up up in his weight too. And I was watching him. I

was talking to him, will you good? And he's like, I'm great.

But he got up to three hundred and fifty pounds. Put him on

the screen. So my dog full of the spirit. You gonna show his

belly hair like that, Yes, because I want you to see the real

testimony. When I started working out, it was a year and a half

ago, as see. And this is what I wish I could do with

everybody. But Will has shown me that he can take actual leadership. And

so so the Bible says it like this, better a cut from a friend

then kisses from an enemy. I came to Will and I said, hey,

bro, you gotta get your health in order. And he said,

I received that, Pastor, I've been trying. I said, I'm going

to pay for your first month of training, and he was like, pasta

And I looked him in his face. I said, I have four kids.

Do not waste my money? Am I telling you that? I said,

do not waste my money? That's all he needed. Will come here,

keep the screen up, one hundred and forty pounds down. Oh,

y'all can celebrate with us. Come on, so proud of you, bro.

Now. The only bad thing about this my man be in my closet.

Now, get out of here. Shout out to my man, Trevor.

That helped him and Tanner Tulsa training. They really focused in on them

like how Some like why you shouting out training facilities because that might be your

answer prayer. Do you see what Will's testimony just did. No, no,

no, no. Will didn't say a word. Church. People talk

so much because your fruit is not evident. People write this down. We

almost done. I know everybody's like, when is this gonna be over?

I'm talking to you with a passionate heart today because I was right where you

were at. People should be able to look at every area of your life

and see God. And I want you to hear me say this, and

I've been saying this. I think this subconsciously was a phrase that came out

of my own insecurities that God purified and used. But when I when I

was in the place where I couldn't even see myself healthy, the Holy Spirit

just said, progression not perfection, just progress. Take a step, do

something you wasn't doing yesterday. Progression not perfection. And I just want to

let everybody know who's struggling right now. We are not on this journey of

health from for acceptance. We are on this journey from acceptance. Jesus has

already accepted you. He just wants to use you in such a way that

it means we got to change the way we live. Okay, so don't

wait till it's perfect. Let me give you a couple of scriptures Romans twelve

to one. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view

of God's mercy, to offer your bud as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing

to God. This is your true and proper It's a what it's worship.

Now, I need everybody to hear me say. This worship is not the

songs we sing. It's the way we live. And I want you to

see how many times you comes up in this. Therefore, I urge you

nobody can do this for you, in view of all that God's done for

you his mercy, to offer your body. That means nobody else can offer

this. This is your offer God at the beginning of twenty twenty four,

I am offering my body as a living sacrifice. Now, I would be

cool with this if it just said as a sacrifice, because a sacrifice is

one time. Think about it, I'm going to the altar. I'm sacrificing

this one time. But why did you add the darn word living? Because

that means it don't fully die, so I gotta keep offering it as a

sacrifice every day. So I want you to offer your body as a living

sacrifice every single day, holy and acceptable. And then he says this,

that's just reasonable. What this is like the least of what you could be

doing in view of what God has done for you. Keep your house clean,

keep your temple tamed. Lord, this is hard. Well, this

is the thing I want you to hear me. God will never ask you

to do something he hasn't equipped you to do. Romans twelve, one and

two. I'm gonna run through these, It says, do not conformed to

the patterns of this world. We'll just love your body. Just go No,

We're gonna love our body and we're gonna progress too. You can do

both. You can be right here and love it, and you can say,

but this is not where I want to stay. It says, don't

copy the patterns of this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is,

his good, pleasing and perfect will. I want to submit to you.

Watch this. Your body is borrowed. Some of y'all still tight, but

it's right you have a borrowed body. One Corinthians six nineteen. Do you

not know? I love how this starts, because it just assumes that we're

ignorant to it. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the

Holy Spirit. It's in you whom you receive as a gift from God.

You are not your own, your borrowed. You were bought with the price.

Therefore, honor God with your I heard this as a youth for for

everybody trying to not burn with lustful desires. But we keep talking about purity,

but this actually is a self disciplined scripture. How do you treat something

that's ball rod If somebody lets you borrow their luxury car, how would you

treat it? You usually treat it. Watch this better than you treat your

own stuff. Water bottles in your car, treat fil a rappers in your

car. Come on, y'all, let's be honest. Dirty clothes. I

gotta go to gym. I okay, I get them. Every time you

walk that car, you're like, oh my god, what oh that's me?

But in somebody else's car. Yeah, if this ain't your temple,

it's the temple of the Holy Spirit. How you treating it? Y'all?

Remember last week I told y'all that we had three settings we needed to be

in. A setting of faith, a setting of friends, and a setting

of spiritual formation. I brought the setting of faith back up here because this

is the house of God. So this is a temple. Okay, I'm

gonna move this out the way because we don't need these clothes no more.

I need everybody to see this. Yeah, if this is the temple,

the house of God, I'm just gonna start acting how we be acting with

our bodies in the house. My favorite is Chinese food and catch up?

Why you so bother? Who gonna clean it? Yeah? This is just

the house of God. It's just a house, just a house, just

a house. Who cares? I lift my hands in the Saint sho wear

eggs. I lift my hands to give you the glory. I lift my

hands. You do you where and we will praise you. Don't care so

much. It's just a temple, sir, up all over the communion.

Don't care so much over the Bible too, y'all. Stop at the like

you care about this. I mean, man, stop acting like this matters

to you. On the picture. I need to do some artwork on the

picture. See. Oh, come on, come on, come on,

oh, come on. Oh shit, ooh. When I got into the

mess, it affected the way I walk outside of it. It's a subway.

Sounds your foot long? Dang. I hope I didn't hit a band

member. It's just a temple. Stop acting bothered. You don't care,

you don't care. We don't care about this. Ooh wooh, what'd you

say? We get it? No, you're don't. It's been forty years.

It's been fifty years. It's been fifteen years of not caring about our

temple. Why do you care about these eight chairs and these symbols of Christianity

when it's not even the place where the Holy Spirit is dwelling. I am

the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's still on me. There's a little

bit on me. Huh. I ain't even see it until I looked in

the mirror. Ain't no napkins up here. But I love pizza and egg

rows, a couple of sausages. Anybody loved Ninja turtles? Ninja Turtles made

me think, have y'all ever found a Ninja turtle pizza? Because I have

never like with the cheese. Somebody said, let me get a slice.

You've had plenty, it's healthy. While y'all keep saying, oh, y'all

know what I'm about to do. Y'all. Every time I do this,

you act like it's a new revelation. Yep. Yet they told us we

eat three meals a day, and every time we do this, nobody says

nothing. We get it. Now. I need eight volunteers to come sit

in this. Come on, yeah, I need eight volunteers, come here,

big dog, All right, I got eight. All right, y'all

sit down, all right, y'all sit down. What's your name? Bro?

Angel? Angel? What's your name? Ho? Hold on? Just

stay right here. What's your name, Kendrick? Come on? Come on,

sister, what's your name? Kelsey? So nice to meet you,

y'all come here, Come on, just stand right here, y'all, just

stand here. What's your name Arianna? And what's your name? Brandy?

And what's your name? Charae? And what's your name? Everybody just staying

so I can still see this. Okay, now right there, right there,

right there, right that's say. It would be inhumane of me to

make these people who actually got up and washed their face, brush their teeth

and look cute to go sit in that mess. Yet every single day we

make the Holy Spirit inhabit a place that we do not care about making sure

it's clean. The fact that these people even came up here is a testimony

to how hard it would. Because I said I need eight, I need

eight people to help me. Everybody was like, ah, you thought you

was getting something, and I said, I need you to come sit in

this. And everybody's like, oh, thank you for being the eight out

of millions who would be willing to be a living sacrifice. And this is

this is now here. Hear. What I'm saying is they they could be

up here just because they want to be on TV. Okay, so I

don't know, but I just wanted to make a picture. There's a lot

less people willing to sit in the mess, yet the Holy Spirit sits with

us every day. Thank you, guys. Well y'all give it up for

them. I'm not gonna make y'all sit in it. That woman said,

thank you Lord. Oh my God, I just bought this sweater and it's

cute. We're done. What I'm trying to say is God is always God

is always more concerned about your body than any building. If somebody did this

to your church, If y'all saw somebody in the lobby doing this, y'all

would physically fight them, like I already know, y'all, But why would

you be more concerned about trash they put in a building than the trash you

put in your body? Do you know the one time God was really mad

about how people were treating the temple, y'all, remember where he picked up

the whip and started squow. Why did he do that? It's because people

were doing things in the temple that weren't supposed to be there. This message

is not about body image, It's about God's image. The scripture says you

can't love your neighbor until you evaluate how you love yourself. And the truth

of the matter is, some of us, if we take off our clothes

and we are bear in front of the mirror, we do not like what

we see. We are insecure, we don't and then we project that on

other people. And what I'm saying is this is not something we need a

miracle for. This is something we need to decide for honor. Some of

us hate ourselves, and the crazy thing about it, we've been talking about

damage but not destroyed. But this is the thing I want everybody to know.

What's not transformed. And now you try to make your kids not eat,

or you trying to give them what you didn't have. You can do

both spectrums and God saying, could you please be an example? If nobody

else follows you, could you live in a way that at least the ones

I told you to train up in the way they should go could follow you.

Last thing I want to say to you is if you were going to

embark on this journey of health, hear me when I say this. The

biggest thing that hindered me is I wanted to transform my temple in thirty days,

and it took three years. I need you to hear me say this

today, where I am in my health, what I feel like I can

do. I can run through troops and leap over walls. Now like that's

how I feel. I feel like I feel youthful, I feel younger.

I feel ready to do whatever God's called me to do. But it didn't

come in thirty days. It came out of consistency for three years. And

this is what I want you to write down. It takes time to transform

your temple Hebrews twelve to eleven. No discipline is enjoyable. While it's happening,

it's painful, but afterwards there will be a peaceful harvest. Man,

do y'all know that harvest is not a peaceful time. If anybody's ever had

a crop and they have to pull it, harvest is stressful. Harvest is

work. But God says, if you would train yourself in discipline, you

would have a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this

way. The real reason that I started working out, y'all, is because

of a little boy that has my name, MJ. And my son,

as most of you guys know, is special needs. He currently has autism

and we're believing God for a miracle in his life. But I don't deny

facts to be able to live in the future. I apply my faith now

so that the future can be different. And so one of the only ways

that I could connect with my son is he loves playing go tickle, and

it's where I chase him around and then I catch him and then I throw

him up in the air and I tickle him and MJ can do this for

hours. No, no, no, no, this is not an exaggeration.

It's when he'll look me in my eye. It's when he I mean,

I just see my son and he's having so much fun and he's laughing.

He go tickle, Daddy, go tickle. He uses his word one,

two three, go go tickle, Go tickle. And MJ has been

wanting to play go tickle for six years. And MJ would say, Daddy,

Daddy, go tickle, and I would come home from work, come

home from ministry, go home from and he would go. I could go

one or two times, and I didn't have the energy. And I saw

the disappointment on my son's face that he could not articulate with his words,

My daddy doesn't want to play go tickle with me. It's not that I

didn't want to. I didn't have the heart for it. Because of what

I was eating, and because I wouldn't take time to do the things that

were hard, I couldn't do the things that would make him happy. And

he started wanting me to pick him up, and he kept growing and I

didn't have any muscle to do it. It went from like throwing him up

in the air and then there was no air. I was like shoot on

himselves trying to give sound effects to act like real, like no air.

But I made a decision that if the only way I could connect with my

son is being physically strong enough to be able to play with him and throw

him up in the air, Daddy was gonna do the hard things to make

him happy, and I couldn't think about him as five six. I had

to think about him as eighteen. See, people don't know why you're going

so hard. It's because I might be having to throw an eighteen year old.

I might have to wrestle a bear. But I promise you one thing

is that I'll have the heart to be able to do that. I know

depending on where you're at right now. This may be a tough pill to

swallow, but I swallowed it and I'm swallowing it every day. I have

not reached perfection, but I was released by God to share this message because

I wanted. I believe God wanted people to know that this takes faith too.

Faith is fitness is an act of faith, and I don't care where

you are and what lie you believed. I think that God has a huge

plan for your life, and you have to have fitness to actually finish the

plan one Corinthians nine twenty four lives scripture. And we're out of here.

Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but

only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the

prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do

it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it,

somebody say we do it, say it with faith. We do it to

get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like

someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.

No, I strike a blow to my body to make it my slave,

so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified

for the prize. I will be fit for the finish. Will you stand

all over this building, please, this is what I'm gonna I'm gonna pray

for you, and then I'm gonna challenge you. The prayer is gonna be

the genuine prayer that I had to pray. God, I thank you that

you will give me the desire and the power to do what pleases you.

This is scripture. And I prayed that every almost day. But then I'm

gonna challenge you. Don't leave yet, hold on, hold on, wait

a minute, you did, don't. I know you're mad, but just

hold on. And then I'm challenging us for a twenty eight day walking challenge.

I didn't say lift bench president, I said because we walked by and

we're gonna walk by steps too. And I'm challenging everybody to at least I

don't care what fitness level you are on. I want you to do this.

On top of whatever you do. I want you to at least walk

for thirty minutes every day for twenty eight days. Now, listen, listen,

listen. Some of you, this is gonna be easy for you,

and then the Holy Spirit's gonna tell you to take it up to something else.

For others, you already in something, and you're gonna it's gonna take

discipline to just submit and listen. I do push on, I do it,

and you don't listen. You do everything everybody tells you not to do.

But just slow down for a season and listen. But we're gonna walk

as a church. And I believe that one day this church will own a

gym, it will become I'm prophesying to us. It will become a central

hub of outreach and in reach. Imagine a place where you can come every

day. You come to the gym when you're actually serious about it, more

than you go to a church, and imagine the music in the atmosphere being

charged with faith. Imagine you walking in and people are greeting you with love.

Imagine you see in a glassroom with people meeting in small groups all over.

Imagine your kids over there having volleyball practice and basketball practice, and three

or four nights a week. I'm just painting a picture and they're recording it

because it's gonna happen. Somebody say it's gonna happen. Imagine you inviting your

friends to it and it being a place where they meet people that believe like

you before they ever have to come into this arena. Imagine, along with

thousands saved in our year in metrics, we have pounds lost. What is

that doing, pastor Mike, It's adding years onto our life so that we

can go into all the world and make what which means a disciplined one,

hands lifted. Father, I thank you for our church, for my family,

for people that it or just like me who Father, You've done a

lot of miracles in different areas of my life, but health was a hurdle

that I needed your help in. And God, I'm asking you, Father,

that people would not hear any venom in this message, that they would

see that they're actually valued. Father showed them how you showed me that this

was a conversation of love. Have really said you had so much more in

me than I thought I had in myself. God, I thank you that

you would give us both the desire and the power to do what pleases you.

Because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I come against doubt,

confusion, past patterns, and even the fear of failure. And I

thank you Father God. By this time next year, everybody under the sound

of my voice and everybody they send this to, we'll have a testimony of

progression, not to be compared with anybody, but to give you glory.

Father God, we will be fit to finish the purpose you have called us

to. And Father, you've placed us in a house called transformation. Let

us live that out with another level of decisiveness. God, we want to

honor you with our bodies because it's our reasonable worship. Now, whatever the

next step is, God, you can tell us and you can show us,

and we will be careful to obey. In Jesus' name, somebody say,

we agree, we accept, we expect. Amen. Hey, listen,

real quick, real quick, real quick. I believe in you.

No, look at me, look at me, Look at me. I

believe in you. And this next step is going to be more spiritual than

you've ever imagined, because the Holy Spirit's going to help you every single day.

If you believe it, Let's give God one shot of praise in this

flat. Oh, come on, come on from where we're going, y'all,

we are gonna be fit to finish. Listen. Next week we are

celebrating fifty years of Bishop in Pastor Debbie, twenty five years of our church.

And listen, I'm releasing the Word of the year. Okay, I

couldn't do it until I taught this message. I need you to send this

to fifty people, and I need you to bring fifty Next week we're gonna

turn up and have a party. Listen to me. If you've never accepted

Jesus as your personal Lord and savior, today's your opportunity. I know there

are people moving because they're so excited to get to the parking lot. But

for you, the Holy Spirit has been knocking on your heart this whole message.

And today is the day of salvation. If you want to accept Jesus

Christ as your personal Lord and savior right now, I want to give you

the opportunity to make the greatest decision of your life. Don't do this life

without him. It took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody

who was addicted to pornography. And I was carrying around a bunch of weight,

not just physical but spiritual too. And the Holy Spirit say give me

your heart and I'll help you change your habits. If that's you in this

room on account of three, and if you're watching online or watching on rebroadcasts,

I want you to lift your hands and we're going to pray the prayer

of salvation. And I'm telling you your whole life is going to turn around.

One. You're making the greatest decision ever. Two. I'm proud of

you. But more than that, your name is going to be written in

the Lamb's Book of Life. Three. Shoot your hand up all over this

building. I see you right there, all online, I see you.

I see you, A whole family right there Come on Transformation Church. I

see you, my brother. I see you, my brother. Come on

Transformation Church. Rust celebrate glory to God. I see you. But more

than that, sister, God sees you, and that Transformation Church where family

nobody prays alone. Can we lift our hands one last time and say God,

thank you for sending Jesus just for me today. I admit that I

have messed up and I need a savior. I repent and I turn to

you, Change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours in Jesus'

name. Amen. Can we celebrate every Oh y'all, y'all better turn up

in this place. Glu read of God swans for masis. Hey, listen,

if you made that decision, hit the QR code on the screen and

we're gonna give you some things to help you walk this out. If y'all

need prayer for anything, man, I want to let you know, don't

leave this church without getting prayer. The ALTI workers are gonna come up to

the front. People are gonna start talking and leaving, But God wants to

meet with you. If you want to come back to Monday night prayer tomorrow,

we're gonna be here praying. I just want to let you know this.

Twenty one days is over, but our spiritual connection is just getting started.

I love you, I believe in you. Don't leave here without prayer

until next week. Go out and live a transform life. I love you.

Sing y'all way one time, say thank you for joining us today.

If you said that prayer and accept it Jesus into your heart, it's the

best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, and

we have some tools to help you on your journey. Tech saved to A

two eight two eight two, and to find out more about TC text connect

to A two eight two eight two. Be sure to subscribe and share this

podcast with your friends. Thanks for listening. Now, go out and live

a transform life.