My Life Is Not My Own

Several weeks ago, we started a new series that we are answering this question, Who are you?

Who are you? And the basis scripture for this series has been Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

And it's the time when there were exorcists. Seven sons of Sceva were traveling

around trying to exorcise demons out of people.

Footnote, there are demons still around today, and they are still operating on the inside of people.

And now we cover it up with medicine and mental health and all this other stuff.

But a lot of cases, they're demon-possessed people.

And so these exorcists are traveling around trying to exorcise demons out of people.

And the command they're using is, in the name of Jesus of whom Paul preaches.

I cast you out. And the evil spirit inside of the man said, Jesus I know,

and Paul I know, but who are you?

And so that begs me to ask the question, do you know who you are?

The evil spirits seem to know people, but do they know you?

Do you know who you are? And if you don't know who you are in that passage of scripture,

that man that was possessed with an evil spirit whipped and beat them seven

sons of Sceva up where they were wounded, injured, and they ran out the house naked.

Now that tells me that if you don't know who you are, you will be defeated in life.

You'll be whipped, wounded, and running around naked like a chicken with his

head cut off if you don't know who you are.

And so over the last several weeks, we've been trying to answer the question, who are you?

Society tries to tell us who we are.

Society tries to say, you are what you feel.

You are how you act.

Some of us so identify with the color of our skin more than we do with Christ.

I thought I'd get a hearty amen after that, but it's true. Some of us identify

more with our political party.

We identify more with our experiences. We identify more with our past.

We identify more with Pookie, Ray Ray, Grandma, whoever has said about us.

We identify more with all these other things, our sexuality.

We identify more with all these other things than with who Christ says we are.

And we have to answer this fundamental question.

Who am I? Who am I? You are not what you feel.

You are not what you have experienced.

You are not what you are going through. And so the only way we can discover

who we are is by looking into the Word of God.

The Word of God is a mirror that we can have reflect back on who we really are.

See, the truth of the matter is you have never looked at yourself.

You have only seen a reflection of yourself in a mirror, or you've seen a picture,

which is simply another reflection, but your eyes have never,

looked at yourself, and that's the way we should do the Word of God.

We should see the Word of God as a picture of us, a reflection of who we really are.

We should dive into God's Word and discover

who we really are, not how we feel, not what other people are saying,

not the circumstances we're going through, not what my absentee father has said

or my absentee mother has said, but who

am I through what the word of God says?

Because identity is how you see yourself.

Identity is how you see yourself. Identity provides purpose.

Identity will give you clarity and direction,

identity will give you a mission in life but we have to discover who we are,

you remember in i believe it's matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Jesus asked the disciples what are people saying about me he's trying to ask

them a question to see what the word on the street is about him, right?

He said, what are people saying? And they're saying, well, people are saying,

you're one of the prophets, you're Jeremiah, Elijah, one of the prophets.

And he says, but who do you say? And everybody got quiet except for Simon.

And Simon says, well, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus turned around and said, now Simon, you are Peter.

And on this rock, I'll build my church. What happened? When Simon identified

who Jesus is Jesus then told him who he was and is,

And so, in order to find out who you are, you're going to have to find out who you are in Christ.

And a few weeks ago, we talked about 1 Corinthians, or 2 Corinthians,

I'm sorry, chapter 5, verse 17. We talked about that we're a new creation.

Paul tells us, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, say, that's me.

He is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

So when you believe and receive the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord

Jesus Christ, you become a brand new creation, a species of being that has never existed before.

You become unheard of and unprecedented. You are not unused. You're brand new.

And the good thing is, it's not like, well, I gave my life to the Lord in 1985

and somehow I was brand new back then.

Now it's 2026, and I'm no longer brand new. I'm washed up and used.

No, because the outward man is perishing, 2 Corinthians tells us,

but the inward man is being what? Renewed.

How often? Day by day. That tells me every single day I am a new creation in Christ.

Every single day I'm being replenished. Every single day I'm full of energy and grace.

And limitations tells us that his mercies are new every morning.

Every time I wake up, I'm a brand new creation in Christ Jesus.

Nothing is old about me. Matter of fact, yesterday has passed away.

What I said yesterday passed away. What I did yesterday passed away.

I'm a brand new creation in Christ. Somebody say amen.

Matter of fact, let me give you this little nugget here.

You know your spirit man, the real you? Let me back up. You are a spirit.

You have a soul. You live in a body.

You are not a body that has a soul and also a spirit.

You are a spirit. You were created in the image of God. God is a spirit.

You are a spirit.

You have a soul which consists of your mind, your will, and your emotions.

It's your thinker, chooser, feeler.

And you live in a body. Some of y'all don't have a nice body like I got.

I'm just playing. But you live in a body.

This is not you.

It's just your house. The real you is the spirit.

And do you know, now I can make the statement, that your spirit has never sinned.

Your spirit has never sinned. It's being renewed, replenished,

reinvigorated day by day.

What has sinned is your body.

What's happening in your soul and in your body is what's causing you to miss the mark.

But this is why the Lord tells us that we have to renew our minds to the Word of God.

And then when we begin to renew our minds to the Word of God,

we can take captive thoughts.

And we can begin to control what we think, what we meditate on,

and then begin to demonstrate in our bodies what's really going on on the inside of us. Amen to this.

And so you are a new creation in

Christ. Every single day, you're a new creation in Christ. Say, I'm new.

Every day. Every day, you are a new creation in Christ. So somebody asks you, who are you?

I'm a new creation in Christ. Amen to that.

We found out a few weeks ago that you and I are born again.

We're born again. In John chapter 3, we find out Nicodemus meets with Jesus.

John 3 · chapter mention

And Jesus tells him, you must be born again. And Nicodemus feels like, well, wait a minute.

Do I need to enter into my mother's womb a second time?

And Jesus said, nasty. No, no, no, not at all.

You must be born of the water and you must be born of the spirit,

meaning you must have natural birth and you must have a new spiritual birth.

And so born again means born from above.

A new spiritual birth from above.

So when you gave Jesus permission to come into your life, you experienced a new birth.

I was born in Mississippi, but the fact of the matter is I'm born from above.

I'm from heaven. God birthed me and he birthed you too. You're born from above.

And I can tell a lot about you when I find out where you're from.

My sister here is from Cleveland. I know a lot about her.

We never even went to coffee or anything. But because she's from Cleveland, I know a lot about her.

Right? You can't really separate people.

Who you are from where you're from. So I'm from above.

What does that mean? You know something about me. You know that God is my father

and he birthed me and he's taking care of me and he's the God of gods and king

of kings and Lord of lords and all powers in his hand.

You know a lot about me when you find out that I'm from above. Say, I'm from above.

So if someone asks you, who are you? You say, I'm from above.

Matter of fact, this actually really did happen.

I was dating Stacey. Now, this is a long time ago. We were dating,

and I wanted to just pull a trick on her. And she said, where are you from? I said, I'm from above.

She looked like, this dude is crazy. She's like, you're from where? I said, I'm from above.

And I said, no, I was born in Mississippi, you know, raised in California,

lived in Alaska, moved back to California, you know, moved to moved to Texas,

you know, now I'm in North Carolina, but I wanted her to realize she dating a spiritual man here.

I'm not just earthly. Amen?

I'm from above. Say, I'm from above.

And then we found out last week, if you look at Galatians chapter,

no, no, no, no, Colossians chapter two, I'm sorry. Colossians chapter two.

We found out, this was a few weeks ago, we found out, verse 9,

for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete

in him who is the head of all principality and power.

We found out a few weeks ago that we are complete in him.

And if you want to listen to these messages, just go to truelifefc.org,

and all of our messages are there for you for free.

No cost means no excuse. And so listen to it and you can catch up with us.

But you and I are complete in him. That means there's no deficiency,

no inadequacy, no lack, no loss.

We're not missing anything. And him, Sierra, we're complete.

That means I don't need all these other people.

I don't need him. I don't need her. I don't need them. Sometimes we feel like we need folks.

I don't need all these other people. In him, I'm complete.

In him, I move. In him, I breathe. In him, I have my being.

So stop putting your roots, your emotional roots in unstable people.

Keep your emotional stability in him and don't root it in unstable people or

you and I will be unstable just like them. Say amen to that.

And so we're complete in him. And if you are complete in him,

you don't have to look outside of him to discover who you are.

In him, you're complete. Say, I am complete. I am complete. In him. In him.

And then last week, we talked about Galatians 2.20. Put it on the screen there.

Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God

who loved me and gave himself for me.

We are conformed to the image of his son and we have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live. So who are you? I'm just like Jesus. He lives through me.

I'm crucified with him. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And so that tells us that your identity changed at the cross.

The person you used to be no longer exists. Did you hear me?

The person you used to be no longer exists. This was many years ago.

There was a gentleman in our church, and he used to tell me all the time that he had a Bible study.

I used to have a Bible study, and I had a Bible study. It was 150 people would

show up from my Bible. This is what he would tell me all the time.

And I had a Bible study. Every week, he would tell me he ran a Bible study.

I had this Bible study, and 150 people showed up with this Bible study.

And I asked him, I said, what happened?

And there was a falling out in the Bible study where he could no longer teach the Bible study.

But every week, he kept telling me, I had this Bible study, or it felt like

every week, I got this Bible study, got this Bible study. And one day, I said something to him.

I said, brother, I said, that Bible study doesn't exist. Right?

I said, it only exists in your mind. You don't have a Bible study.

It doesn't exist.

And then there are times he sat back, he was like, I said, you tell me all the

time you had a Bible study and how good it was, but it doesn't exist.

He cannot move forward because he's been stuck in the past.

How many of you have been stuck in the past and the person you used to be that's

not you anymore say that's not me,

I know you talk to some people back that you went to high school with and they

bring up I remember that time you did this and that brother that's not me anymore that man died.

You remember the time we went to this place no you was there It wasn't me.

It wasn't me. I know you was there. I'm going to find some pictures. It wasn't me. Amen.

Hey, that person doesn't exist anymore. Say amen to that.

And so today I want to go a little further in who you are in Christ.

And let's go to Romans chapter 12. Meet me at verse 1, and we'll continue to

Romans 12 · chapter mention

verse 2, Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God.

Give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.

Because of all he has done for you.

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

This is truly the way to worship him. Verse 2, don't copy the behavior and customs of this world,

but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think,

then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I want to talk to you today about giving your bodies to the Lord.

You are a living sacrifice. Say this out to me. I am a living sacrifice.

And so Paul tells us here in Romans that we are to present, the King James says,

present our bodies to the Lord as a living sacrifice. What does that mean?

That means we are not going to conform to the world.

And so last week, we're just like Jesus. We've been crucified with Christ.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

Now we're going to have to give our bodies to the Lord as a living sacrifice.

How many know sacrificing is not fun?

But we're to live, continue to breathe, and operate on the earth.

Understand Christ is living through you and I, and our body is a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

The world consists of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

So if we're going to give our bodies as a living sacrifice, we are not going

to be involved in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life.

You still live, but you and I must sacrifice what our flesh desires.

And you know that sacrifice is not fun,

and so we're to present our body to give our body unto the Lord I like this

because of all he has done for you and

I in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 let's look at 19 through 20,

Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives

in you and was given to you by God?

You do not belong to yourself for God bought you with a high price.

So you must honor God with your body.

We're going to get into this today. The temple of the Holy Spirit is your body.

Your body houses the Spirit of God.

And this verse tells us that you do not even belong to yourself.

He goes on there and Paul tells us that you have been bought with the price.

Now, in 1 Peter chapter 1, 18 through 19, we find out what the price is.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

The price is not corruptible things like money, silver, and gold.

The price is the precious, and I may add, the rareness, the sacredness of his blood.

His blood was the transaction that purchased our bodies.

And so God did not just renew your spirit, or let me say it this way.

God did not just give you a new spirit.

He also purchased your body.

He also bought your body. And so you became a new creation in Christ in your

spirit, but you still have this body. God bought that too.

So the fact of the matter is you don't even own your own body.

It's going to be quiet in here today, but let me tell you what,

I know what I'm saying is the truth.

And I came with a bunch of amens already stored up on the inside of me.

So I'm full of amens on the inside of me, okay?

You can't even do what you want to do. I don't mean to bust your bubble.

But you can't even do what you want to do.

You have been crucified with Christ. You no longer live. Your plans,

your purposes, what you want to do no longer matters.

You've been purchased. You've been bought. And what you want to do means nothing.

The Lord bought your body. You don't even own it.

Say this, I don't own my body.

You don't own this body. The Lord purchased your body with a price.

And then he gave you the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of it.

You are God's property.

GP are you with me,

we have a church we ain't going nowhere.

You feel like you can't tell yourself no, but I want you to know that it's not even yours.

And so if the Lord says, tell your body no, you say no.

And you need to practice. You need to practice telling yourself no.

Yeah, I can eat ice cream every day. I can.

I'm capable. I'm very capable of eating ice cream every single day.

Matter of fact, I used to.

End of the day, sitting at home, made sure Stacy bought ice cream,

and I would sit and just eat ice cream. And the Lord said, this ain't your body.

This is my body. Now, I want you to stop eating ice cream every day.

And guess what? I don't have no choice because I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

So I started telling my body, no, we want some ice cream. No.

I want to sleep in and not go to church today. Body, no.

So we're getting up and we're going to church.

Why? Because Christ owns this body.

I don't own this body. I don't get to do whatever I want to do.

I wish. I tell my kids, well.

You get to do it. I don't get to do whatever I want to do.

So, you ain't going to do whatever you want to do. Amen.

I remember when we first started churches, a couple people wanted to do something

in the church, and we need to do this, and we need to do that.

And I was learning how to pastor and learning how to receive some things from

people, but at the same time, do what the Lord says do, right?

And if you let people with all their opinions, I mean, this would be a monster

if we let everybody do what they want to do.

And one day, somebody wanted to do something. And I remember finally I told

this particular person, I can't even do what I want to do. And I'm the pastor.

God won't even let me do things that I want to do. Why would I do what you want

me to do if God won't let me do what I want to do?

Because we've been purchased with a high price. Say amen to that.

Romans chapter 14, 7 and 8. Romans chapter 14, 7 and 8.

Romans 14 · chapter mention Romans 14 · chapter mention

For we don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves.

If we live, it's to honor the Lord. And if we die, it's to honor the Lord.

So whether we live or die, guess what? We belong to the Lord.

We belong to the we don't even belong to ourself you're going especially when

it comes to the things of god you're going to have to tell your body no,

no we're not watching all of that no we're not engaged in that conversation,

no i don't need to hear all of that i was at a place i was serving,

at a particular school that my kids go to,

and just they needed some volunteer help, and I volunteered to help.

They actually ended up paying me, which was interesting.

I volunteered, and I got a check. I said, praise God. Okay.

And so, huh? Yeah, exactly. Let me know if I can sign up.

And so I was like, oh, wow. And then these teachers had gotten together,

and they was talking about the principal.

And I just stepped I just stepped away I just went over here and stepped away

and they're like hey Mr. Alexander why are you not over here with us doing this

I said I don't want to hear all that,

I said, I did. I said, I don't want to hear all that. No, I don't want to hear all that.

Oh, oh, I guess we don't need to talk about that. No, I'll be over here.

Y'all do what you want, but my body don't want to hear that.

My soul don't need to be a part of that. Say amen to that.

I don't even own this body, so I need to monitor what comes in and what goes

out because I don't even own my body.

I've got to monitor, put a guard over my heart.

To monitor what comes in and goes out. And I know there's a lot of teaching,

which I don't disagree. There's some teach on listen to your body.

Have you heard this? You know, listen to your body.

You know, you got to listen to your body. And on one level, I understand that.

There's some discomfort or some pain in the area. Go get that checked out.

That's an indicator that something may not be right.

I get that. Listen to your body. But too many Christian folks,

saints, and listening to our body way too much.

Stay in the bed. Don't read my body. Don't wake up early and spend time with the Lord.

Just this past week, I said, I'm going to wake up a little earlier and start

spending with the Lord. You know what my body said? No, we need to stay in the bed.

I said, body, I own you. Or matter of fact, the Lord owns you.

And we're going to get up early and we're going to spend time with the Lord. Say amen to that.

You're going to have to tell your body what to do and realize it's not you that owns it.

It's the Christ Jesus owns your body. You belong to the Lord.

You do not belong to yourself.

Now, watch this. people generally treat things that belong to others worse than their own possessions,

often showing less care, maintenance, caution with borrowed or shared items. Imagine a rental car.

I'm not vacuuming that thing and running through the car wash and changing the oil.

I'm driving that thing hard, right? I'm trying to get it to point A to point

be, right? And get it back and move on, right?

We're not treating other people's things with the gravity that it needs to be for the most part.

But, somebody say, but, if it's valuable or expensive or brand new,

people tend to treat those things with extra care and over-caution.

Follow me. So if it's extremely valuable.

If it's extremely costly,

if it's a life, when Burrell, he's Steve and Tasha's son. He's back there.

Burrell was an itty-bitty baby. We watched him when he was a newborn,

and we were very careful watching him, right? He's a brand-new baby.

Hey, we got our eyes on him. Now, we had a lot of experience with other kids

as well, but we were very cautious, right? We were very on top of it while we

were watching. It's a precious life.

If it's something valuable, brand new, expensive, we'll treat it right.

You don't own your body, but God says that you are brand new.

You are a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away.

Every single day, you're being renewed day by day. That's precious.

That's costly. So you and I have a tendency to treat something costly with more caution.

I want you to start seeing your body as very precious,

and costly and expensive and valuable and start treating what God possesses,

which is your body, with great concern.

Take into the fact, hey, Mark was here in our Inspired Decor.

He works out every day. He said, I work out every day. People think I like the

workout. It ain't about liking the workout, he said.

It's about this body doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the Lord,

and I need longevity here on the earth.

I need to take care of what belongs to the Lord so I can do what God wants me to do.

This is why I reject any teaching that has to do with God wants you sick.

What can you really do for the Lord if you're sick? nothing.

Nothing. If I had 10,000 employees and all of them called in sick,

would we get any work done?

Not one thing would get done. So why would God want the body to be sick so that

nothing would get done on the earth?

That doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know about you, but it doesn't make any sense to me.

I spoke with someone recently and they were talking about They had gotten sick,

and then they started telling me this was, they was Job.

And, you know, just going, you know, I said, Lord, use me, and the Lord put

all the sickness on me. That doesn't make any sense.

So he wants you laid up in pain, in the bed, in the hospital,

and Lord, use me while you laid up in the bed.

Makes absolutely no sense. Let me ask you this. Would you give yourself a deadly,

sickness on your body? Would you get, if you could, would you give yourself

a critical sickness right now? No.

Why would God want to do that to the body of Christ?

I don't know why I've gotten off on that, but somebody needs to hear that. that God wants you well.

He wants you healthy. He wants you whole. He wants you thriving.

He wants you blessed, and he wants you abundant and growing and fruitful and multiplying.

He wants your best every single day. And if we'll begin to treat what God owns,

as precious and valuable, then we'll understand and recognize and realize that.

This is the Lord's doing. And it's marvelous in our eyes when we recognize that

this is God's body. I've been thinking a lot about this.

We're going to talk a little bit about it next week too.

But this body is not mine.

The lord says go apologize to that person i don't want to that doesn't matter,

doesn't matter whether you want to uh i like this one what the lord you somebody's

saying what the lord said he's gonna give you the desires of your heart let

me let me show you this what if the desires you have were given by the lord,

and maybe that's what he gave you the desire of.

We feel like he's giving and going to manifest the desire, but what if he just gave you the desire?

And what if that desire is from him?

Now, I do believe he can manifest desires of heart. There have been many desires

of my heart that the Lord has manifested in my life, but I've been thinking

a little bit about maybe I have that desire because the Lord gave it to me.

Say amen to that. You want to do something good for somebody.

Is that me? Is that God? Is that the devil? It's definitely not the devil.

It's the desire from the Lord that he wants to give to you. And full disclosure,

I have learned that,

I know what God wants me to do,

by my flesh not wanting to do it.

I can tell now the lord asked me to do something i don't want to do that and

i'm like that's exactly what the lord wants me to do and and i'm i'm really,

and that's when you become a living sacrifice,

we did healing school here recently and many of you came we had another church

combined with us and we're meeting on monday nights it was really good and we

enjoyed our time together i didn't want to do that.

I didn't want to. It was summertime. I want to stay home.

The Lord said, do it. I said, well, when, Lord? He said, now.

I was like, well, that's not what I wanted to do.

I wanted to enjoy the summer, right? No, what I have to do, I don't live my life for myself.

I do what he tells me to do because he purchased my body and he gave me a brand new spirit.

And so a lot of times I find out, okay, I really don't want to do it.

It actually may be the Lord.

And there are people that tell you, well, me and the Lord, we always agree.

I just, me and the Lord, we agree on everything. We just agree,

we agree. Then how in the world have you ever been a living sacrifice?

If you just, y'all just agree on me and the Lord, we agree, whatever he tells

me to do, I just agree, I agree, I agree.

I am, I just agree with it. Then you cannot be a willing sacrifice.

This is why scripture says that you and I must be willing and obedient.

Because the willingness part is we mostly, we're unwilling.

We're mostly unwilling. I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that.

And the older I've gotten, the more I don't want to do.

I put something on Facebook recently that I'm that friend that if you cancel

with me, good, because I didn't want to go anyway.

That's me. I didn't want to go anyway. So if you cancel, great.

I'm good staying at home. Why?

We've become unwilling, and so we've got to become willing and obedient.

How many of you know it's not just about being obedient?

It's about being willing and obedient in order to be willing we're going to

have to sacrifice sacrifice what you and i want to do or what we don't want to do because,

we belong to the lord say that i belong to the lord,

say it like you mean it i belong to the lord i.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 15, Paul tells us, he died for everyone so that those

2 Corinthians 5:15

who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. There it is again.

We are not to live for ourselves. Instead, they will live for Christ who died and was raised for them.

So if you decide to receive new life in Christ, you forfeit the right to live for yourself.

So here's your options. Live for yourself.

Serve the devil. Do whatever you want to do and go to hell at the end of the day, okay?

That's your option. Or give your life to Jesus.

And live for him because he lived for you and exchanged all of your wickedness

and all of your unrighteousness for his righteousness.

And now you get a chance to live for him and you get a chance to honor him in

your life and in your body.

And at the end of the day, you go to heaven and then there's rewards in heaven. I mean, you choose.

I'm either going to live for myself or I'm going to live for him.

I need to forfeit the right to live for myself.

You do not get to do what you want to do. Well, I wanted to stay home today.

You don't get to do what you want to do if you're going to truly live for the Lord.

Are y'all getting something out of this today?

Philippians 1, 20 through 21, Philippians 1, 20 through 21, for I fully expect

and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for

Christ as I have been in the past.

And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

So what does living mean? Living means living for Christ or bringing Him honor.

The reason why we live is to bring Him honor.

The reason why we exist on the earth is to allow His Holy Spirit to tell us what and what not to do.

To lead and to guide us and to direct us. We are supposed to be where we're supposed to be.

I tell Zavin, my oldest son, this all the time. This is how you stay out of trouble.

Be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing with the right people.

You'll be out of trouble if you're always in the right place at the right time,

doing the right thing with the right people. That's what I endeavor to be.

Lord, you control my life.

Where do I need to be? Where do I need to go?

What needs to happen? Because you are the one.

That is the one leading my life. My desires don't matter.

What I want to do doesn't matter. I didn't want to be a preacher.

I wanted to be a United Airlines pilot.

That's what I wanted to do, but that didn't matter. What God needed matters. Say amen to that.

And so now I am more fulfilled in walking in what God desires for my life than

I am even with what I desire for my life.

You know, people say this, follow your passion.

I don't think that's true. I don't think you should follow your passion.

Some people are passionate to sit in the basement and play video games all day. Don't follow that.

Don't follow your passion. No, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

What is the Lord saying? Follow that. I was talking to a friend recently,

and he used to make beats and sounds. And he said, man, I'm passionate about

making beats. He's married with kids.

Honey, come hang with us. He's downstairs making beats. I'm passionate about

beats. Not one beat ever sold.

And he said, finally, I had to come to the realization, I can't follow my passion.

Because it's not putting money in the bank account. I'm not able to spend time with my family.

I can't follow. I got to follow what the Lord says for me to do. Say amen to that.

Start yielding to him. Lord, what is it you want me to do? I'm yours to command.

Where would you have me go? What would you have me say? What would you have me give?

There are times the Lord told me this as a pastor. Now we would have a church event.

Let's say corporate prayer. We had corporate prayer this morning.

It was wonderful. and we have events. Somebody said, well, pastor,

I can't make that because of this, that, and the third.

And I used to say, now that's okay. You know, that's okay. That's okay. Whatever.

You know, you got to do what you got to do. You know, that's okay. I don't do that no more.

When they tell me they can't make it, I just look at them. Why?

Because you got to be where the Lord is telling you to be.

Is he telling you to be there? If he is, be there. If he's not, don't.

Where's the Lord telling you? There was one particular time,

Creflo Dollar was coming to the church I was going to. And at that time,

I was really big into Creflo Dollar. I still like Creflo Dollar,

by the way. But I was really big into him at that time.

And he was coming to our church, and I had to work.

And I said, Lord, where do you want me to be. He said, I want you to be in that meeting.

Guess what I did? I told work I won't be there.

Got quiet in there. I said, work. I won't be there.

I ain't scared of y'all. Somebody, who's going to pay my bills?

Now we need to know where your trust lies.

Your trust is in that job and not in the Lord's supply telling you where and where not to be.

I ain't scared of y'all. I called in. I said, I won't be there.

They said, why? I said, it's none of your business.

I need to be where the Lord told me to be. I went. Now, I'm not saying every

single time that's where the Lord wants you to be, but there are times you need

to be where the Lord's telling you to be.

And sometimes it takes a sacrifice in order to obey that.

Ooh, y'all going to get this tonight. You're going in the middle of the night,

it's going, you're going to wake up like, woo, I got it. Praise God.

I got to be where the Lord tells me. And then there are times,

there was one particular time, I remember, this was a few years ago,

I was invited to a ministry meeting, and I didn't feel like the Lord told me to go.

That was a really good meeting, you know, to be at.

I just, I don't feel like I'm supposed to.

The Lord never gave me the green light. Stacey and I talked about, I didn't go.

I got calls. Why didn't you come? We were looking for you. You had a spot here,

this, that, and the third, and I didn't feel like the.

Why? I don't control my own life. Amen. I am a living sacrifice.

What you do with your body, appetite, sexuality, energy, health,

and ability should bring glory to God.

Is what you're involved in bringing glory to God?

Is what you're doing, the decisions that you're making without the leading of

the Holy Spirit, is it bringing glory to God?

Because our life is not our own.

When we receive Jesus as our Lord, say Lord. That means master.

That's not just a nice friendly word for friend,

it means ruler he's the lord the master of our life and he's the savior when

we gave our life to jesus we gave up the right,

to do whatever we want to do,

and i believe today this is an opportunity.

For you and i once again to surrender our bodies to the Lord,

our entire spirit, soul, and body.

Surrender it to the Lord.

This is our opportunity, once again, to rededicate our life and say,

we belong to the Lord. Who are you? I belong to the Lord.

My life is not my own.

I belong to the Lord.