Sunday Message - Pastor Portia Sumner (October 19, 2014) | Life Bible Church

I'm just encouraging you to give 100 % of your

attention. I told her she could preach for one

hour. Now preaching, ministering, singing, she

kind of does it all. And so I'm just asking you,

she will keep you, she'll keep your attention.

But open up your hearts. Let's just receive from

her. Let's stand and welcome Portia from Shiloh,

my friend, my sister. So good to be here. Caleb,

you got to come back. Caleb, where's that Caleb?

That brother's so anointed on them drums. I was

about to take everything. I told the prayer team

earlier, I said, I want to take y 'all with me.

I was like, man, if I didn't value the relationship

that I have with this church, I would just take

y 'all with me. That Caleb, man. I want you to

get back on the drums for a minute. That's anointed,

brother. Isn't he anointed? Just let the Lord

use you. Go ahead and just play. Can you hear

that piano back there? Yeah. You're getting your

ears. I know it was a last minute thing. You

know, that's how the Holy Spirit do. You think

you're going to do one thing and the Holy Spirit

say do something else. You know what I'm saying?

So just go ahead and play for a minute. There's

one more person that should have got out of your

seat. Don't worry about what people think. Come

on. Don't worry about what people think. Don't

worry about it. Let this mind be in you that

was also in Christ Jesus. I see the flowers blooming

where there was a flood. And the waters are drying

up from your God. thank you Jesus. Say Lord I

receive the joy These are your daughters. The

one that you love. And there's been an assignment

on them, Lord God. There was something that happened.

It was a disappointment. It was a big, big disappointment.

And God said to tell you that your life is in

his hands. That he loves you. He loves you. And

he will never leave you. And though you felt

like, God, this situation, some kind of abandonment

thing, but God says, you know what, God? God

said, tell my daughter I will never leave. Jesus.

I break the power of the accuser in Jesus name.

Let her feel your presence now. Go say it. You

about to make the devil real mad. See you got

this. name of Jesus never the same again never

the same again from this day on this is your

daughter she is a worshiper she does you rip

down strongholds sometimes people look at you

and say you know what I don't know that I don't

know if that lady got it all but I'm gonna tell

you what you got it all you got it all I'm gonna

tell you what the way you worship God is pleased

with you Sometimes I just see him joining in

and dancing when you dance and worshiping when

you worship. The Lord wants you to know that

he loves you. Come on, that your labor is not

in vain. That he sees you. The Lord wants to

just say thank you. I love you, daughter. Come

on, lift your vision. in the name of Jesus I

thank you for your daughter God see I'm gonna

have to stop I don't care if I use all my time

up on you because you're so precious to God's

sight he loves you he loves you desperately loves

you here you go ready the point Father, I thank

you. You're marked for greatness. That's why

the enemy comes against you. You're marked for

greatness. Remember I told you that. Amen. You

are. You're special in the eyes of God. You have

so much greatness in your future. Let me just

tell you. Your future looks way better than you

can imagine. With the blessing of God. In the

name of Jesus. Every power. Every lie. Silence.

The voice. Of the enemy. Be perpetually bound

in hell for all eternity. You cannot have this.

The daughter of the Lord. Her destiny is too

great. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. In Jesus

name. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. His hand

is on you. You know that leaders don't fit in?

Wow. have heard let him see you clearer let him

hear your voice louder speak louder brother on

the guitar or the bass listen this is one of

my spiritual mentors pastor marion did you just

love her at the conference yes she's a mighty

woman of god i am who i am today because of this

lady right here who took me under her wing and

mentored me i was really rough around the edges

my mother my grandmother was married i was sharing

at the conference at 12 years old and my mother

was married I think at 17 years old but my grandmother

she had her first kid at 14 so how much do you

really know at 14 you know she ended up having

nine kids one of them my mother and so I didn't

learn all the things about grace and about being

a woman all this stuff uh to later on in my life

and thank God there was a woman in the church

that did not give up on me and she happened to

be the worship pastor and she pushed me forward

in my ministry and that's My mother Marion right

here. So thank you so much. I used to really

struggle with depression. I used to struggle

so much. Who never heard my testimony before?

A lot of people. I struggle because my parents,

they loved God, but they didn't have a lot of

wisdom. And they invited people to live with

us. They invited people from off the street to

live with us. They just wanted to help people.

They had good hearts, but not wisdom. And so

one of them molested me, raped my sister at three

years old. And it seemed like my life would never,

I would never be happy. So I understand when

you have something tragic, emotional happen to

you and you cannot get over that thing. I understand

what it's like to walk every day wanting to die.

When I was a teenager, In the eighth grade, there

was one man who came to our church and his name

was Milton Laxington. He became my godfather.

And I love this man because this man went through

more than I did. His stepfather was so mean,

he made his brother eat a rat for peeing in the

bed. He made his brother eat a rat. So he would

tell me stories about his childhood. I was like,

wow, I guess I don't have that bad. But Milton

was actually a very depressed person. He was

at a young age, teenager. He ran away from home

because his stepfather would be with other women

and make him watch. And he ended up later on

getting saved, but he had a struggle with depression.

And so this was the one person that I could relate

to that I really loved, Milton Laxington. I said,

this man, he understands me. But when I... At

times he would get so depressed, I would always

talk him out of committing suicide. But this

particular day in the eighth grade, I couldn't

talk him out of it. I tried my best, but I couldn't.

And one thing I knew that there was a hell. Because

I had a friend who went to hell, died for 45

minutes, came back, had the pictures of her being

dead, the autopsy, you know, the whole thing.

But the doctor's report had the, you know, 20

-pound cast on her head to hold her brain together

because she was in a car accident. And she told

us the story. And literally, it made the hair

stand up on my arms. And I was just, like, scared.

So I knew that was a hill because she didn't

have no reason to lie. For 45 minutes, she died.

So I would tell Milton, I would say, Milton,

listen to me. Listen to me. I said, there's a

hell and there's a hell that's worse than the

hell that you're going through. He said, no,

this is my hell on earth. My daughters became

prostitutes. He says, this is my hell on earth.

I don't care what you say. This is my hell. And

he says, as a matter of fact, when I die, I'm

just not even going to say nothing. I'm just

going to go ahead and just lay down and die.

I said, you're going to get a glimpse of hell

and you're going to cry out to God. He said,

no, I'm not. I'm not going to cry out. He said,

because this is my hell on earth. His wife had

left him. When I was in the eighth grade, he

took a gun. I'm on me on the phone trying to

talk him out of it. And he shot himself twice

in the stomach. But the doctor said that that

was the crying is praying his man. The ambulance

said that they ever heard. I'm like, ah, so much

for not getting a glimpse of hell because there's

a hell worse than this one. There's a fire worse

than this fire that you're going through. And

so. I said that to say that I understand what

it's like to be depressed. And I actually, the

enemy will come against my mind so much that

tell me to kill yourself. Anybody know what I'm

talking about? Yeah, thank you. Kill yourself.

Go ahead. Go ahead. Your life is not worth living.

Father's not home. My father was traveling all

around the world being a superstar. Here we were

living in a rat's den, open drawers. Mice would

jump in my face. And my father would jump just

traveling all around being a superstar, eating

$100 plate dinners while his family was at home.

So here I was stuck. My mother was always sick.

Here I was. I had a victim's mentality. To go

to school, I had to fight. Because the bullies

in my neighborhood. To come home, I had to fight.

So I understand what it's like to be under pressure.

I understand what it's like to not have your

life go right. And to wonder why. Why is my life

this way? But what happened was something happened

to me. My sister comes up to me and she says,

Portia, she says, because I tell him after my

godfather shoots and stuff, I'm going to kill

myself. I tell him, Jackie, I said, I'm going

to kill myself today. I want to say goodbye to

you. Peace out. Peace. I'm out. You know, I'm

out. And my sister says to me, did Romeo and

Juliet love each other? And I said, everybody

know that Romeo and Juliet loved each other?

What the heck? I'm about to kill myself if you're

telling me something stupid like that. Everybody

know that Romeo and Juliet loved each other.

And she said, no, they had a selfish love for

each other. They didn't love each other. Then

I learned about agape, storge, phileo, eros,

all those different kind of loves. And agape

being the really unconditional love of Jesus

Christ. And I remember sitting in the service

and hearing a word and said, God show up today

or I'm going to be dead tomorrow. And all I can

tell you is that God showed up. And I'm going

to tell you something. I used to live for revenge.

I wanted to live to kill the man that molested

me and raped my sister at three years old. I

wanted to live to kill him. Even at 19 years

old, I had planned his entire murder. And I was

in a service that talked about, the man was talking

about forgiveness. And he said, if you don't

forgive, God can't forgive you. I'm like, are

you kidding me? Are you kidding me? I could go

to hell because what this man did to me and my

family. And God is saying I won't make it because

I won't forgive. And that's exactly what he was

saying. It bothered me so bad, but I knew that

it wasn't hell. So I started, I said, okay, God,

I heard if you call on the name of Jesus with

all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, what

do I have to lose? What do I have to lose if

I gave God a chance, right? What do I have to

lose? And so I did that that day, but the depression

didn't stop. God touched me. Yes. His hand was

upon me. Yes. I probably was dancing all over

the church and people couldn't believe I got

saved. It was a revival at my church because

I got saved. They actually had, we having a revival.

It must be revival. Portia got saved. So everybody,

we having a revival all this week. And so what

happened was here I am struggling with depression.

I'm going to tell you how to beat it. Y 'all

ready? I'm so excited to tell on the devil. I'm

excited about it. This is how you beat it. You

beat the enemy by doing the opposite of what

you feel. You confuse the forces of darkness.

So what happened was, let me tell you how real

this is. Let me tell you how real it is. I started

to realize that it wasn't myself being depressed,

that it was the enemy talking to me. I started

to realize that, wait a minute, this doesn't

sound like my voice really. I could be like real

happy and all of a sudden I hear, you don't have

no money. I don't got no money. You don't have

a job. I don't got a job. You don't have a boyfriend.

I don't got a boyfriend. And all of a sudden

I found myself, I was agreeing with the enemy.

I was agreeing. That wasn't what God says. God

says, Jeremiah 29, 11, I have a plan for your

life. I have a plan to prosper you. I have a

plan to give you a hope. I have a plan to give

you a good future. I have a plan for you. Anytime

you have a plan, just like God has a plan for

this church. You think the devil is just going

to sit back? Yeah, let them go on casting out

devils and let them go on getting people free.

Oh no, he gonna just come. You know how he gonna

come? He gonna come with people in the church.

He gonna come whispering. You gotta understand.

Listen, listen. You gotta understand who was

whispering to you. Who was whispering to you?

Oh, I wish I had time. Wish I had time. But let

me just tell you. I started to do the opposite

of what I felt. So when the enemy comes in and

tells you, because the Bible says in Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, put on the helmet of salvation. Put

on a breastplate. Y 'all know this. Y 'all know

this. This is a very, very well -taught church.

And I started putting on the whole armor of God

every day. And all of a sudden, when the enemy

comes in, I used to have horrible nightmares.

Who had nightmares? All you got to do is realize

that you're dreaming. Secret. Right there. You

put on the whole armor of God before you go to

sleep. And then when the enemy comes in, say,

how dare you? come in my dream I have on the

armor of God I guarantee you you will see it

I used to be haunted with nightmares now if the

enemy comes in my dream I'll be like where the

rest of y 'all at I just pull out the sword just

start cutting off all ahead and I say God take

me take me fly that where they at let me just

go in and just so anyway I would hear the enemy

talking and he would say don't lift up your hands

Don't shout. It don't take all that. Hallelujah.

Don't dance. I'm going to tell you, you have

a weapon. You don't even know it. It's worship.

Worship your way. When you hear it, do the opposite.

I would tell on the devil. Devil whispered in

my ear, you're depressed. Father, I thank you,

God, that the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Last service, I talked about the joy of the Lord.

I talked about a hope, a blessedness. See, I

don't got time to tell y 'all that. Listen, I'm

going to tell you something. If you realize who

you are and who your daddy is, If you realize

who you are, you're going to get mad. I started

to get mad and I started realizing that it was

the devil that used that man to molest me and

rape my sister at three years old. I start to

get upset and I start living for revenge for

real. To be a spoiler of the kingdom of darkness.

He should have never done it. You thought I was

just going to lay down? You thought I was just

going to lay down and die? You should have never

done it. Oh, you coming to me with depression?

I'm going to tell you, so for years after I learned

this, prayer and the word, two wings that will

take you above it. The Bible says, they that

wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They

will run and not be weary. They will walk and

not faint. So here it is, one wing is worship.

I'm going to praise no matter what. I'm going

to praise because you're still worthy even when

everything is going wrong. So this is for somebody

in here. I have totally other notes, but this

is for you. So here it is. One wing. My mama

taught me that. But if you just use one wing,

you ain't going nowhere. You're going to look

like this. The next thing you got to use is the

word. You got the word, the sword of the spirit.

The Lord told me a long time ago. He said, Portia,

stop calling Pastor Violet Kitely to pray for

you. Pastor Violet was my next door neighbor.

And she did these powerful prayers. I'm like,

I don't have to pray. I got Pastor Violet next

door. I got to pray. Yes, you do. You better

have your own relationship with God. You got

to have it. My mother taught me that too. My

natural mother. My mother. Earthquake would happen.

And I'd dive under the table. And she would be

praying. She'd look at her table. Sweetheart,

the table ain't going to save you. I was like,

oh, it's not? You know, you learn that in school.

Dive on the table, you learn that. And then one

time, it was another earthquake, and I got real

close to mama. Mama, mama, mama. She said, sweetheart,

mama ain't going to save you. I was like, dang,

what do I got to do then? What's going on? She

said, you know what I'm going to tell you? Who's

going to save you is a relationship with Jesus

Christ. And so the Lord, long story short, the

Lord took me in a dream. And he said, Porsche,

it's time for you to know my word, the sword

of the spirit. This is for everybody that was

depressed. Here it is, sword of the spirit. I

want time. So when the enemy comes in, you got

to learn how to will it. You know what I'm saying?

Y 'all seen the 500, whatever, that movie, them

violent bloody movies? They knew how to use that

sword. This is your sword. This is your, see

you, intruder come in your house, and you got

like a .44 Magnum gun, and they got a toothpick.

Who going to win? Say, I'm going to win. That's

not rocket science. I'm not trying to trick you.

You're going to win if you have that gun in your

hand and you know how to use it. And you know

how to use it. So here we go. Check this out.

Check this out. So God told me, he said, Portia,

you're going to have to know my word. He said,

I have to know my own word. And I am the word

made flesh. When the enemy came in. And he said,

command that these stones be made bread. He said,

it is written that man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word that preceded. When

the spirit of fear comes in. God has not given

me the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and

acceptance. You got to use the sword of the spirit

against the enemy. Two wings. We have prayer

and praise. We have prayer and praise. Come on,

hold them up. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break

up the clods. Hold them up for a minute. Let

them see their weapon. Let them see their weapons.

They have prayer and praise in the word. The

sword of the spirit. You don't have to live in

defeat for one split second. You don't have to

live in defeat and be depressed for one split

second. I'm going to tell you something. This

is the truth. Y 'all put your hands down. A few

years ago. About two years ago, my sister from

Texas called me. She used to be mad because we

would hear from God all the time and she couldn't.

God loves you more than me. No, he doesn't. No,

he doesn't. Do you think if you have the gift

of hospitality and you were faithful in that

gift, and I have the gift of prophecy, and basically

you think one gift is better than another? You

think when I get to heaven, you're going to have

a smaller crown than me? Absolutely not. Absolutely

not. So here it is. She calls me up on the phone.

And I haven't heard voices 27 years of my life

or more. And I'm up one day at the grocery store

out of the blue, Pastor Jan, all my life. Out

of the blue, I hear, kill yourself. I literally

did like this. For real. That's what I was thinking.

You're depressed. I didn't tell nobody. I didn't

tell my husband. I thought it was the weirdest

thing. After over 27 years, you're going to come

back and speak to me? You lying devil. I just

ignored him. But this is what got me. This is

what got me. I'm so excited. What got me was

my sister from Texas called me. And she's crying

on the phone. She said, God spoke to me. I heard

the voice of God. He spoke to me. And I saw you.

I saw you leading worship. I saw you carrying

other people's crosses. She said it. Oh, and

by the way, the voices that you heard recently.

The voices that you didn't tell nobody about.

Not even your husband. The voices. You remember.

The voices that you heard when you were younger.

That told you to kill yourself. Now I'm lost

right now. I'm like. Because you know when you

know it's God speaking to you. Because I didn't

tell nobody about it. So it had to be God. God

knows you. So here it is. She says. The voices

that you haven't heard since you were a little

girl. She said, and you just ignored them. She

said, God said to tell you that the reason why

he allowed the voices to come back is because

he knew what you would do. And she said, and

when you ignored them, that God stood up from

his throne and laughed in their faces. You should

have seen me at that school. I was like, hey,

ha, ha, ha, ha. Now, I'm going to tell you, how

do you maintain the peace of God? Would you like

to know that? Because of time, I'm going to be

real quick. Because of time, skipping all these

notes. How do you maintain the peace of God?

How do you keep it? Because the Apostle Paul

in Philippians chapter 4 talked about a peace

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

that passes all understanding, even when things

go wrong, even when your kids are acting up.

It's not a happenstance. It is a joy. That word

comes from Matthew. Matthew, the Beatitudes.

Oh, gosh. I feel like I'm rushing, but I got

to give you this. In Matthew chapter 5. Says

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

blessed. Jesus is sitting down and he's sitting

down at a place of authority. That place, it

has a legal term to it. And he starts to talk

about the beatitude. And that word, blessed,

that word is the word makarios. It means the

one in whom joy and grace continually overflows.

And I said, Lord, how do I be that person? The

person that's content that the apostle Paul was

talking about. A person that's not moved by my

circumstances. A person that doesn't freak out

when somebody gives me bad news. How can I be

that person? The person in whom joy and grace

continually overflows. God, I want that. And

then I looked at the apostle Paul. He said in

John 16, 33. He said, trouble is going to come.

But in the same breath, the apostle Paul said

something else. That's what I'm telling you.

So that you will have peace. Your peace cannot

be based upon a happenstance. Christians are

not happy people. They are joyful people. So

the word. Our happiness, that means, Lord, if

my family does good, then I'll be happy. Lord,

if I get this raise, then I'll be happy. Lord,

if my husband acts this way, then I'll be happy.

No. Because whatever gives you happiness can

take it away. Our happiness is not like that.

Our joy is unspeakable joy. Our joy is content

at all times. Because we are in relationship

with Jesus Christ. It is our relationship with

him who is joy that gives us our contentment.

And see, when you look at that word peace, it's

the word shalom. The word shalom literally means

just breaking it down. May things be with you

as they ought to be. That's what it means. May

things be with you. As it ought to be from the

beginning. In Genesis chapter 1. When God made

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

man and woman. And he told them. And they walked

with God. They had a relationship with God. So

when you say to somebody shalom, that you're

saying to them, may things be with you as they

ought to be. That's according to God's original

design. Well, what was God's original design?

God's original design was for us to be in relationship

and fellowship with him. That was his original

design. Adam and Eve walk with God. Adam and

Eve had a relationship with God. They had a relationship

with each other that was off the hook. Right?

They had a relationship with each other and then

they had a peace within themselves. But when

sin entered into the world, that peace, that

shalom was broken. And it was broken on those

three levels. It was broken because they no longer

had that same relationship with God. It was broken

because they no longer had that same relationship

with each other. It was broken because they no

longer had that shalom, that peace, the way it

ought to be within themselves. That's why. It

was broken. But God, so the whole essence of

the gospel. The whole essence of the gospel is

God is trying to call his people out of hiding.

Because at that moment, they went and they hid.

And God said, come on, Adam. Put your name in

there. Adam, where are you? God knew where Adam

was. He wanted Adam to see where he was. Do you

know that we serve the only God that prepares

a table before us? I mean, I talk to people from

India and they have like all these thousands

of God. And if one of their gods don't do what

they say, they take the God and punish it by

putting the closet. My God is too big to be put

in the closet. Amen. You got to see who your

God is. So here it is. What God is trying to

do, he's trying to ask you today, where are you?

He wants you to be right back in that peace.

Have that peace that's not moved by circumstances

like the world is. That peace that's content

because you know who your God is. And he's calling

you into fellowship with him. He's saying, come

on, sweetie. I want you to be in fellowship with

me. I want to invite you to the table. Now, I'm

going to tell you something. I didn't say this

the last service because I didn't have time.

But you guys are in fellowship with each other.

Did you know that? God has called you to this

house. You can't decide, I'm just going to leave

and go over here to this fellowship. A lady told

me before, she said, Pastor Portia, I had a dream.

She was one of my youth leaders. She said, I

had a dream that I was in. I was at the table

with you guys. And my dream was that I got up

from the table with you guys and I left and I

went over here to this table where my ex -boyfriend

was. This lady's married. So I said to her, say

her name is Amber or something. I said to her,

Amber, that's not a good dream. I said, The enemy

wants you to leave a relationship with the church,

leave relationship with us, and go over here

to be in a relationship with these guys over

here, this guy, to leave your husband, to leave

fellowship with us, and go over here. Somebody

say, that's a trick of the enemy. And she said,

that'll never happen. Somebody say, two months

later. Hear her ex -boyfriend come. And the whole

time I'm saying, Amber, Amber, remember? Remember

the dream? She says, I know God showed me I'm

like Jonah. She broke relationship. She ended

up with another man. Even though God warned her.

You can say, oh my God. God warned her. She didn't

listen. How many times we don't listen? How many

times when God tells us to do something and we

don't do it? But here we are at the table. We're

in fellowship with this church. And the only

way that we can be, we always going to be in

fellowship with this church if we do things right,

right? We always going to be in fellowship with

this church if we hear the voice of God. Because

you were born here. You were birthed into this

place. Right? And so in order for you to be in

right relationship with God, you're going to

be in fellowship with his people. Do I have like

five minutes? Okay. Take my five minutes. In

order to be in relationship with God, you're

going to be in relationship with his people.

So in order to have peace, first thing, number

one, you're going to have right relationship

with God. You're going to come out of hiding

and be transparent. That's the first thing. You're

going to say, Lord, I want that relationship

back with you that Adam lost. God, I want the

peace that passes all understanding. Second thing

you're going to do is you are going to be in

right relationship with the people that you are

in fellowship with. But the problem is at this

table, there's some issues going on. But at every

church, there's issues. Y 'all exempt out here?

Okay, I just want to make sure. I was going to

say sign my autograph. Okay, check this out.

Here it is. In every church, there's a laundry

room. In every church, there's an eye chair.

Gimme, gimme, gimme. I need, I need, I need.

You seen that? What about Bob movie? That's one

of my favorite movies. Gimme, gimme, gimme. I

need, I need. That part drives me crazy. That

part drives me so funny. But there's an eye chair

right here. A lot of people, it's all about me.

One thing my mentor right here that taught me,

she said, Portia, it's not about you. It's about

us. We have a responsibility. The reason why

God has brought us together as a church, the

reason why God has brought you together as a

church is to do his will, to snatch people from

the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

God has brought you together as a church to accomplish

a goal. I say this to say, when you go by a restaurant,

I don't care how nice, how five -star that restaurant

is. I don't care how off the hook it is. And

there's a kitchen. If you go by the kitchen,

sometimes it looks like chaos. Don't it? Some

of y 'all shaking your head. I know what you

mean. And a lot of times that's how the church

is. But it's not really chaos. It's order. And

I'm going to tell you something. Here it is.

You're going to have the people here. That's

the babies that always need your attention. The

pastors can't do it all. Pastor Jenny, Pastor

Brad, how off the hook awesome they is. They

can't do it. They can't tend to all the babies.

That's why they need you. Then over here in this

chair is the newborn, the people that's going

to hell. You should bring somebody to church

that's not saved. That's what this chair is for

right here. Somebody should always be here that's

not saved, brought by you. That's your responsibility.

Lord, I don't have a ministry. Yes, you do. See

the lost people. Then over here, you have the

people that have the vision for evangelism. You

have the people that's the Acts chapter 2, the

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 28 people. You have the core

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

people in the church. Right? That's doing the

work of the ministry. You have the prophet, evangelist,

the pastor, the teacher here. You have that chair.

You have the watchman on the wall. Your pastors

are the watchman. And they are to watch out for

your soul. This is what this means. I am in fellowship

with you. I am committed to you. Iron sharpens

iron. But I got offended. I got offended. I was

hurt by the church. Good. You know why that's

good? Because you can't be a part of the net

unless you get crossed. I'm out of time. I really

appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today.

You have a responsibility. You are important.

Say, I'm important. Say, I have a destiny. You

know, God, I'm going to tell you something. When

you use your wing of prayer, things start happening.

Things was going totally wrong. I called Pastor

Jan crying. At my church. Did God tell me to

leave fellowship? Did God tell me? No. You know

why? Because I need to die to myself. And people

are anointed by God to aggravate the hell out

of me until all the hell was out of me. But if

I leave God's fire, then the devil going to create

a fire for me. You feel me what I'm saying? He

going to create a fire for me and ain't going

to be able to take it. So I stayed in God's fire

and I started to pray. And I said, God, why is

this affecting me so much? He said, because you're

too much alive for sure. You still need to die.

Otherwise, it wouldn't even bother you. So I

started to cry out to God. And I said, God, you

see that this wrong. Because prophetically, it's

not always easy, huh? I said, God, I see this

is wrong, God. And God says, well, you pray for

them that are in leadership. And you cry out

to God. And I will show them. Not you. I will.

And so I started to cry out to God. Because that

was the place that God called me to. He didn't

call me down the road. People were saying to

me. Pastor Portia, you should go down here. Revival

is over here. I said, but God didn't tell me

to go there. I'm going to pray till revival comes

to my church. I'm going to pray till I see these

people through in my church. I'm going to cry

out to God. I'm going to worship. I'm going to

do my part. I'm not going to be in the eye chair.

Don't be the one that just, oh, pastor going

to be like, oh, God, I hate I ever came to the

ministry. Don't be that one that drive them away

from the ministry. Say, not I. In this room.

In this room. There may be somebody in this room

that says, Pastor Portia, you're talking to me.

There may be somebody in this room that says,

you know what? I want to give God a chance like

you did on that day. He stopped you from committing

suicide. I want to walk in my destiny and my

purpose. Come on. If God can do it for me, he's

no respecter of person. Come on, he can do it

for you. If you are here right now and you said,

Pastor Portia, you're talking to me right now.

I want to give my life to Jesus. Come on, 100.

Somebody say 100%. If that's you, I want you

to wave your hand at me. I see your hand and

I see your hand and I see your hand. Everybody

say this prayer. Lord Jesus, I thank you for

dying on the cross for me. I ask you, Jesus,

to come into my heart. Help me to live for you.

I can't do it by myself. Oh boy, the Lord just

told me something real quick. There's somebody

in here that needs to forgive. And that's why

you're depressed. Because the only thing that

the devil can hold on to you with is something

that belongs to him. I'm going to take one more

minute. If that's you, say, that's me. Wave your

hand. You can't let it go. Wave your hand over

here. Right now, you're going to be able to let

it go, sister. Right now, you're going to be

able to let it go. Say, I choose to forgive.

I choose to forgive. I let it go right now in

the name of Jesus, the Christ of Nazareth, who

died and rose again. Father, in the name of Jesus,

I thank you, God, for this sister's confession.

When she leaves this room, the enemy is going

to lie to you and say that you really let it

go. And you're going to look at him. You're going

to say, you know what? You're going to look at

him. You're going to say, I let it go, you lying

devil. I'm going to tell you a big secret. You

got to say it out loud. You can't just praise

in your heart. You can't just worship in your

heart. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and

the word of our testimony. We overcome by the

blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

That means you're going to have to say it out

loud. When the enemy comes in, you can't think

it. I don't got time. You got to say it. Somebody

say, say it. Say, I am a victor. I got to go

back to the sinner's prayer just in case. Lord

Jesus, I believe that you are the Christ, the

son of the living God. I believe that you died

for my sins and you rose again on the third day.

I confess that you are Lord and you are savior

of my life. I ask you, Jesus, to bring me back

in right relationship with you. to put you first

in every area of my life. I want to stand and

fight for my church. I want to be in right relationship

with other people here. In Jesus name. So remember,

number one, right relationship with God will

give you peace. Number two, you got to be in

right relationship with other people and let

your gentleness be made known. You're not the

one that's going to be adding the fuel to the

fire. That's going to be putting in your two

cents. You're going to have to be the one that's

in right relationship with other people around

you. And then you will find peace. Thank you

so much. or contacting Life Bible Church, go

to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541

-995 -8282.