Keep On Ticking

I'm gonna invite you as soon as you're able to we're going to the Word of God in first Chronicles chapter 4 and

1 Chronicles 4 · chapter mention

Verse 10 excuse me verse 9 and I am beginning a short series a

Two-week series today called level up. Amen. Can someone say level up?

Level up we're gonna look at the life and the prayer of a man in the Bible named Jay Bez and

We're going to uncover this week and next some of the secrets to leveling up over our challenges and

into an abundant life

The Word of the Lord says this way in first Chronicles chapter 4 in verse 9 now Jay Bez was more honorable

1 Chronicles 4 · chapter mention

than

his brothers

And his mother called his name Jay Bez saying because I bore him in pain

And Jay Bez called on the God of Israel saying oh that you would bless me indeed and

Enlarge my territory that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from evil

That I may not cause pain

so God

granted him

What he requested?

Amen. Why don't we pray one more time before we see it father? We thank you for your word. We thank you for your spirit

And we feel so powerfully so real in this place today. God

thank you God for meeting us at this appointed time and I ask Lord that

Father as we open our hearts to your word that you would speak to us that it be not mere

Man's words, but it would be the word of the Lord God

You would season every word with your anointing God and that you would touch every heart help us to receive this with gladness

Father I come against every every ounce of doubt every ounce of fear

We bind it all those contrary things in the name of Jesus

We we cast it out and we just we release faith in this place

God we release you to do what you want to do in Jesus name. We pray someone say amen

You may be seated in the presence of God. I'll give you my title in just a moment, but in the

1960s and 70s

Timex ran a series of TV ads where they put their watches

through

torture test to prove their durability and

It survived tests against different things like

paint mixers jackhammers

Washing machines dishwashers and even a

87 foot dive off a cliff in to the ocean

And after every test the spokesman would repeat timex's slogan

And the slogan was it takes a licking and keeps on

ticking

And I like that slogan so much

I decided to take the last part of it and preach on that today keep on ticking someone say keep on ticking

keep on ticking

the man that we're going to be

Studying and preaching from today and next week named Jay best

was one who took a licking and

Keep on ticking starting from the day that he was born

Most biblical figures just appear in the pages of scripture without much detail

about their

birth or their childhood

But the bible tells us about jay bez's beginning

and

When you read this short

passage you'll see that he could not have gotten off to a worse

start

I want to for a few moments walk you through

the start of jay bez's life and why

His witness his story is so profound scripture records that jay bez's mother said I

bore him

in pain

And there are several things to note about this statement

first

She mentions the pain

Now that may not seem like a big detail, but

of course

pain is

As normal in childbirth

She had other children. She already knew the pain of childbirth and so

The fact that it mentions this or the fact that she said it would suggest to us

that this was a

unusual pain

What I mean by that is that this was an abnormal pain or a pain that

went beyond the expected pain that

a mother in labor would experience

A different type of pain perhaps a combination

of pain physical

emotional

or emotional pain

or mental

Bible doesn't give us the details of

What made this pain so extraordinary, but it was unusual

It suggests to us a pain that went beyond just the physical

For these words to be recorded

in scripture secondly

Whatever painful issue was happening was so intense

That his mother

named him

jay bez

which means

sorrowful

Sorrowful

Man what a name, huh?

sorrowful

Uh, that's probably not one of those, you know top five top ten names that uh expecting parents would

Name their children but

Whatever she was going through whatever was occurring whatever events were happening in their lives

must have been so significant that

she

decided to mark the occasion or at least

uh

Emphasize that moment by naming her son sorrowful and

I began to think about with a name like sorrowful

I

cannot imagine

What life must have been like?

for jay bez

With a name like sorrowful. I can't imagine

What it was like making friends

When you find out that their name is sorrowful

Brother sorrowful

I can't imagine what it would have been like applying for a job

To write your name on the application

sorrowful who's gonna hire

That guy um

There are a lot of things that I would imagine a name like sorrowful would make life

more difficult relationships

Pretty much every aspect of his life with that kind of name that would have been such a stigma that he had to carry

Almost as if he had to explain himself to people

Like my name is sorrowful, but you know

Let me let me explain why like most people don't have to do that

But with a name like that, you almost live your life apologetically

Like there's there's a reason behind that whatever it was so

There's another aspect

The fact that he was named sorrowful and lastly

And maybe even more importantly than all the other factors

That I've mentioned is that

His mother was the one who named him now according to Hebrew tradition

fathers

Were the ones who officially named

their children

in fact, there's even

records of

mothers naming their children one thing and then the father

renaming

The other thing that he was the one who officially named his children

the one who was even named their child something else and then that would be the legal name

So one

could ask

Where was dad?

Was he not around? Did he?

Did he die? Was he just a silent figure?

In the background

We don't know but what we do know is that either way

his father's voice who could have renamed him something else would have had a profound effect

on his life. We can dig into that if we'd like to and think about all the psychological implications

that there might be. Whether he was there or not his voice wasn't it prominent enough in his life

to reverse this negative label that was placed on him. So when you add all these things up when

you look at the situation he was born into, the name that he was given and the fact that there

was not a figure in his life to come and maybe rescue him and redeem the situation with all these

odds stacked against Jabez he could have easily become just another statistic. He could have

easily become just another number, just another life that was relegated to despair and live up to

his name. Think about it if all Jabez ever did was be sorrowful for the rest of his life he would have

at least lived up to his name. Nobody would have held it against him. Nobody would have said well

Jabez I mean man the guy has so much potential. The fact that if he had turned out sorrowful

everyone would have kind of looked around and well kind of make sense. Nobody was really setting a

high bar for this guy. Nobody was counting on him. Nobody was placing their bets on him. Oh this guy

is going somewhere this Jabez you know. With a name like sorrowful you're not gonna win over too

many people. With all these odds stacked against him he could have easily chosen a life of sin,

turned his back on God, pushed people away and even lived with a constant chip on his shoulder.

Feeling judged all the time, condemned by people who don't even know him. He could have lived his

life like that and probably been justified in doing so and saying hey I didn't ask for any of

this. I didn't ask to be born on this side of the tracks. I didn't ask to have this name you know.

I didn't ask for any of this. It was just I inherited it. This is just the lot I was given.

These are the hand that I was dealt. What am I supposed to do? And he could have just resigned

himself to a life of sorrow and misery but when we read the scripture we see something. We see that

somewhere along the way we don't know where, we don't know when, we don't know what moment,

what time in his life but somewhere along the way Jabez must have come to a place in his life

where he made up in his mind that he was gonna place his trust in God and put his life in God's

hands and persevere. At some point in his life he realized that I can either be another statistic,

I can either be whatever one else thinks I'm going to be, I can either live up to those low

expectations or I can take a licking and keep on ticking. I can reach the purpose that God has over

my life and Jabez was a man who did exactly that. He overcame the odds. He overcame the odds and he

was an Old Testament believer with I believe a New Testament fruit of the Spirit. One of the most

least talked about fruits of the Spirit is the fruit of long-suffering. You ever notice that's

like the forgotten fruit? I'm growing and I'm growing in joy, I'm growing in peace, I'm growing

in love. You don't ever hear somebody say I want to grow in long-suffering and it's interesting

when you read newer translations of the Bible because newer translations of scripture replace

the word long-suffering with a much nicer word, patience. Patience sounds a whole lot nicer than

long-suffering doesn't it? Can I tell you something? You can be patient but it doesn't mean you're

necessarily long-suffering. Patience is not the same thing as long-suffering and the word long-suffering

in the Bible is made up of two Greek words and this is all relevant to Jabez's life and I wanted

to call this out so we can understand the mentality, the spirit in which this man was living in.

Long-suffering is made up of two words meaning long and temper. It literally means long-tempered

and it carries the idea of going through trouble without getting bitter or allowing it to destroy

you. It means it carries this word picture, this image. This is the image that I want to put in

your mind of long-suffering. It actually means to have a long fuse as opposed to a short fuse.

Long-suffering is the gift of God. It's the fruit that gives you a longer fuse.

A short fuse when it's lit blows up pretty fast. A long fuse when it's lit takes a long time for

the bomb to go off. It's a long fuse. The opposite of long-suffering is short-suffering. Big

revelation, right? It's a short fuse and that is not what's going to keep you ticking. That's not

what's going to help anybody level up in God is you have a short fuse. Jabez, to live the life that

God had destined for him had to learn the art or the practice of long-suffering and this is a fruit

of the Spirit. This is a part of Christian life. This is an area that we all, if live life long

enough, will experience and it's entirely up to us what we become at the end of our trials and our

tribulations, at the end of our troubles. And there are three keys that if you just give me a few

moments today I want to share with you that I believe Jabez demonstrates to us three keys to

keep on ticking. The first key is perspective. Somebody say perspective. Perspective is one of

the hardest things to find and maintain in the midst of hardship. One of the most valuable places

or I should say vulnerable, one of the most vulnerable places to be is when you don't know

which way is up or which way is down. One of the most vulnerable places to be is when you are in

some way disoriented or confused or misunderstanding what it is that is taking place in your life. When

you're struggling to make sense of your situation, struggling to connect the dots in your life,

struggling to understand why something is happening to you. And what I want to tell you today is that

a lot of Christians think that the devil is only after your joy and your peace. But I want to inform

you today that he's also after your perspective. The devil wants to distort the way that you see

God and the way that you see yourself in his plan. If he can distort, if he can thwart, if he can

darken your perspective, how you see your life and the circumstances that are beyond your control,

in many ways that he can dictate or influence your life and your decisions. Perspective is so

important. It is one of the most important things that we cannot afford to lose in the midst of pain,

problem or trouble. We cannot lose perspective. Someone say perspective. Perspective is a delicate

thing. You can have it one day and lose it the next. Perspective is something that day after day

you must renew your mind and ensure that you have a godly, healthy perspective. Amen somebody. I said

amen somebody. It is something that you cannot put perspective on autopilot. You cannot put

perspective on cruise control. You cannot, you must take an active, intentional approach in your

Christian walk to maintain a biblical, godly, healthy perspective about what is occurring in

or around your life. Because if the devil can thwart your perspective, if he can taint your view

of God or how you think God sees you, that in itself can set off a chain reaction of things in

your life that can ultimately take you out of the will of God. And I came to encourage somebody

this morning. The one thing that you cannot afford to lose in your pain, in your battle, in your trial

is your mind. Someone say my mind. You cannot afford to lose your mind. This is the one reason

that I believe that we see Jabez. The Bible says in verse 9, it says but Jabez, now Jabez was more

honorable than his brothers. I began to meditate upon that verse and I thought about what was it

that made Jabez more honorable. He was probably dealt the same hand as his brothers. He grew up

in the same household as his brothers, possibly dealing with the same pain as them. Why did the

Bible says that he was more honorable than his brothers? Why couldn't it just say Jabez was

honorable period? Why did it have to say and his brothers? As if to show us a comparison and show

us that both him and his brothers were dealing with similar things in their life. But Jabez found

greater honor. What was it about Jabez that found an honor that distinguished him from his brethren?

I believe that it was because of his perspective that he had about God. He realized that despite

everything going on in his life and the problem that affected his household, he had the approach

that my life still matters. He had the mentality that he had a future and a calling that was worth

fighting for. And I believe today that as I preach to you, there is somebody in this house that is

having a mental battle within yourself about what route and approach you should take in the midst

of your pain, in the midst of your struggle. But God sent me here today and tell you that you got

to get your mind back and you got to retake those thoughts and retake and count. My God, hallelujah.

I can imagine Jabez was battling in his mind. I can imagine there was a tug of war between what

thoughts he ought to feed and what thoughts he ought to starve. But he ultimately took authority

over every wild and worrying thought that came to sabotage his mind and plague his future. The Bible

tells us this when Paul writes in Philippians 6, and I preach like I want to today, he said in

Philippians 6, 8, finally brothers, whatever is true, someone say true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any

excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. We've got to get to a

place in our life because we got to get to a place in our Christian life, in a place in our

relationships, in a place in our walk with God where we start taking control and command over

our thoughts and over the things that come into our mind because the one thing you cannot afford

to lose is your perspective. I want to tell you how to get the right honor and let me tell you how

you do it. The right perspective comes by replacing dishonorable thoughts with honorable ones. You

replace it with honorable ones. You need, can I tell you, you need to tell yourself what to think.

Let me put it to you this way, you need to start thinking about what you're thinking about. Come

on now, that's just plain. That's, I'm just trying to keep it plain right there for somebody. You need

to think about what you're thinking about so you don't lose perspective and realize that wait a

minute, God is much bigger and greater than everything that I'm going through. He's got the

whole world in His hands. He's got the whole world in His hands. He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got and you know what's part of that world? You. Y'all forgot that song didn't you? Amen,

hallelujah. He's got you in that world so why should I worry? Why should I fret? Why should I

allow my mind to get all confused and disjointed and why should I panic? Why should I freak out?

Why should I throw in the towel? When God's got everything under His control I can lift up my eyes

to the here and see the help that comes from the Lord. Clap your hands and give God some praise

today. You gotta start casting down arguments every high thing that exalts itself against the

knowledge of God. Bring in every thought into captivity through the obedience of Christ. Say

get over here little thought. The devil's a liar. Get over here. Bring it to captivity. Come back.

Reel it in. He said no this is this is this is not God's purpose for me. No no no no no don't get

confused. Don't get blind. Don't allow things to rob you of your perspective. So this is the

first thing. I got a roll here with the next point because the next key hallelujah is praise.

Someone say praise. In order to see how praise was a key for Jabez you have to zoom out and look at

the entire context. Jabez's story appears in 1st Chronicles chapter 4. This is an important

chapter in 1st Chronicles. Now in all these chapters both before and after are listing the

descendants of different tribes of Israel. The different tribes. There was 12 in total and in

this particular chapter in 1st Chronicles chapter 4 records all the descendants of Judah. And guess

where Jabez was. He came from the tribe of Judah and that name Judah is special because it means

praise. Someone say praise. Judah was a special tribe because they were the ones who made music

and led the people of God in worship. They were the ones who are responsible for offering up praise

to God and they were not just the music department of Israel. They were also strategic in warfare

because most times when the armies of Israel would go into battle God would instruct the

tribe of Judah to go first in front of all the 11 tribes. They were on the front lines of battle.

They didn't play harps and flutes man. These were warriors. Amen. These were people of battle.

These were people who were full of boldness and courage and so the praisers, someone say the

praisers. The praisers were out on the front lines and they went ahead of the armies and when the

enemy saw the armies of Israel coming and all the tribes of Judah with their worship and their

singing and their instrument, you know what it would do to their enemies? It would confuse them.

They were mystified, baffled that these praisers were in the front and what it did for the people

of God, it gave them the element of surprise. The enemies were confused. They didn't know what to

expect. Here comes these worshipers and praisers and it knocked them off balance so that when the

armies of Israel came in and we know that it was the hand of God that was moving upon them,

God would give them the victory. But God also wanted his people to know a fundamental about

living for him. That it's not by power and it's not by might but it's by my spirit says the Lord.

God wants us to understand that the key to keep on taking, the key to keep on making it,

the key to victory is not in how knowledgeable you are, it's not in how strong you are, it's

not in what your name is, it's can you praise him in the midst of it all and when you learn how to,

my God, hallelujah, when you learn how to praise God and praise is a part of who you are, that's

your natural response. J. Best had praise flowing in his DNA. It was flowing in his veins. He came

from a long line of praisers. He was surrounded by a people with the praise first mentality,

surrounded by a people who knew how to rejoice in the midst of trouble, knew how to rejoice in the

midst of warfare. Well, God sent me here today this afternoon to encourage somebody who finds

themselves in the middle of a problem of pain and struggle. I come to encourage you and tell you,

like David said, I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my

mouth. There is something you need to know today that if you become a praise first Christian,

the devil will never be able to rob you of your joy, of your peace, of your future. I wonder if

there's somebody today that can give God a praise. I wonder if there's somebody under the sound of

my voice that can shout hallelujah, that can bless his name, that can say thank you, come on somebody,

can you give God the praise? He is worthy of all the glory and all the honor. Paul taught these

words and he taught the words he said be filled with the Spirit speaking because one of the signs

that you're really filled with the Spirit is that you will be speaking to one another in Psalms,

hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Paul was a

witness to the power of praise. Paul was a witness in Acts chapter 16 when he and Silas were there

Acts 16 · chapter mention

chained up in that Philippian jail. My God I want to preach here today. You could come on up here

brother I'm almost done. He was there in that Philippian jail and all of a sudden the Bible

says at midnight Paul and Silas began to sing praises unto God. Oh despite the fact that they

were bound, despite the fact that they were hurting, despite the fact that they were persecuted,

they began to lift up their voices in the midnight hour and began to sing glorious songs unto God.

And began to pray and the Bible says that at midnight as they prayed suddenly the foundations

of the prison were shaken by an earthquake. I want to tell you that when you begin to praise God,

you begin to attract the presence of God. God my Lord. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises

of his people. If you want more of God, I've got the answer for you. Learn how to lift up your voice.

Learn how to lift up your hands. Learn how to shout hallelujah anyhow. Doesn't matter what I'm

going through. Doesn't matter what I feel. I've got to praise here. Anyhow somebody shout hallelujah.

Somebody shout hallelujah. I don't know where it was when J.B.S. got that revelation. I don't know

if it was in the midnight hour. I don't know if it was somewhere by himself. I don't know if it

was when he was crying himself to sleep. But all I know is that something changed in his mentality.

J.B.S. probably had an aha moment. He probably had a turnaround moment. He probably figured I

could spend the rest of my life complaining about what's wrong. Oh my God I want to preach today.

I can spend the rest of my life saying woe is me. And if you only knew what I've been through,

I can spend the rest of my life blaming everybody for my problems. Blaming the pastor. Blaming my

friend. Blaming my coworker. Blaming my dear. I can spend the rest of my life here. But J.B.S.

must have got a revelation. He said hold up. Wait a minute. I am from the tribe of Judah. I am a

praise from the inside. And so for that reason I refuse to stay where I am. Oh I wonder if somebody

hears me today. I said I wonder if somebody is hearing me today. Are you going to spend the rest

of your life feeling sorry for yourself? The rest of your life waiting for a pat on the back.

Waiting for somebody to you know make feel sorry for you. Or are you going to lift up your voice

and say I will bless the Lord at all times. I will bless the Lord at all times. I will bless the Lord

at all times. I will give him a song in the night. I wish somebody would just magnify the Lord with me.

And let us exalt his name together. Let us exalt his name together. Let us exalt his name together.

I wonder right there where you are. If you could just call the devil a liar. You can shut the mouth

of the devil right now. You can shut the mouth of every lie. Every dysfunction. Every fear. Every

my God you can shut it down simply by opening up your mouth. Simply by giving God the praise.

They say I will bless his name. I will bless him. I will bless him. People say pastor you are old

school. Pastor we are more dignified than that. Pastor we don't make that kind of noise. Pastor

it's the 21st century. The devil is a liar. From the time that I learned how to talk I learned how

to praise. From the time I learned how to walk I learned how to jump. This is who I am and I'm not

going to change for nobody. I am a praiser. Is there anybody else out there with me today?

I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel the Holy Ghost.

I don't know what it is that's holding some of you back. I don't know what it is that's stopping you

but there is something happening right now. Oh my God. My God. My God. My God. My God. I feel

something happening. The Bible says the third key I tell you was the key of prayer. As I finish

the key of prayer he began to pray. J.B.S. called out to God. Next week I'm going to preach about

the contents of the prayer but for right now I just want to emphasize on the fact that he prayed.

Oh my God. That he prayed. He called on the Lord.

Oh my God. My God. He called on God. He called on him. He called on him. I feel the Holy Ghost

right now. He called on him. He called on him. He called on him. He got into his prayer room.

He put a sign on the door that said do not disturb and he called on God. He called on him

and he came before God humbly. He came before God desperate. I want to tell you something

that there is something about this prayer that really got into my spirit. There's something

about this prayer that really got a hold of me. Even if J.B.S. had turned out all right.

Even if he did not become a failure for the rest of his life. Even if he just lived an average life.

You know maybe he didn't have to pray the way that he did. If he just took a couple of self-improvement

courses. If he just read a couple of self-help books. He might have just made it all right.

But I've come to announce it to somebody's heart today that Jesus didn't come all the way down here

and go to the cross for us. Just so that you can live an average life. He came so that you

can level up my friend. He came so that you can live an above average life. He came that you would

be the head and not the tail. He came that you would be above and not beneath. He came that you would rise up.

He came, he came that you would level up. That you would experience the best life. An abundant life.

A life overflowing. A life full of grace and truth.