2819 Church - GOD OF MIRACLES | Anywhere But Backwards | Matthew 8:18-22 | Brandon Freeman

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

Pastor Brandon Freeman delivers a powerful message on moving forward in week FOUR of GOD OF MIRACLES. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

I am also really excited about the fact that this has been a season of miracles. And, yeah, come on. And, um, not just here, but even online, that people who watch and who are a part all over the world are receiving miracles this month. So with that being said, shout out to the online fam. Come on, y'all make some noise. Let me tell you something. You should be here.

Fly in. The people from UK flew in. You up the street, you should fly in. Drive in, do something and get in the gathering. There's something special about being in this place. And before I preach, I want to say thank you guys so much for allowing me to be here and for showing up and for rocking with your boy. This is my last Sunday. I'm sad but happy at the same time. Come on, somebody. And I pray that when we part ways, that we will still see miracles. That's what I pray.

Who, who, who, I can't get to you, but just raise your hand if you got a testimony of some things that happened. Come on, she jumped up. Come on, raise your hand if you got a testimony. We at least want to see. Come on, stand to your feet. They can't see y'all. Look at all these testimonies. Look at all these testimonies look at all these testimonies come on i know about people getting bills paid i know about people getting raises on their job

i know about people getting apartments i know about people getting approved for stuff they wasn't previously approved for. I know people, I know there's a lot of stuff going on and I wish I could point it all out, but just know it's a season of miracles and it's not going to stop just because June is coming to an end. Amen? Amen.

Go with me to your Bibles, Matthew chapter 8. I'm going to say my last thank you for last. I've got a very special one. Matthew chapter 8. We've got to go to work. Matthew chapter 8. And I'm going to be starting at verse number 18.

And again, you're going to see the ESV, but I'm going to be reading from the NIV for context. And the word of the Lord declares it like this. When Jesus saw the crowd around, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. Then another disciple said to him, Lord, first him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. It is my assignment this final week of June to preach something that I believe is going to be, should be your declaration

for the rest of this year. And what I'm going to ask you to do is tell me how you feel about this title by when you see it, how it makes you feel. Put the title on the screen. I want to preach to you using the title, Anywhere But Backwards. I'm going to try this side.

I'll go to the left. I might go to the right. My plan is to go forward. but I'm going anywhere but backwards anywhere whoa y'all ready here we go in 2019 a group of college friends from Connecticut got together for a class retreat centered around projects for science and math. While in their deep discussions, a question was raised for the group. Here was the question. Someone asked, why is it harder for humans to walk and or run backwards. Atheist and mathematician Andy Tillman found this question so intriguing that he dedicated the rest of his retreat to studying and researching this theory. Y'all are not ready for this.

In his studies, here's what he finds. It is easier to run or walk forward rather than backwards because of the distinct muscle pattern in our legs, body, and arms, and even the stretch release tendons in our feet make for better speed and functionality only going forward. Now that's the physical perspective. He goes on to say, from an evolutionary point of view, he pointed out that the multidirectional bipedal locomotion would be very difficult to manage if at all possible then his friend Mark Daly chimed in saying whoever made the human body he says whoever made the human body made our knees in such a way that makes moving backwards less fluid. The human knees are designed to move in the same direction as the binocular vision provided by the eyes. The eyes are on the face, always looking forward.

So the knees respond to what the eyes see then he goes further and he says and the human neck does not provide a 180 degree turn to look directly behind without turning the whole torso to say that the body follows where the head goes so he concludes the legs and knees are made to go in one direction efficiently forward while humans can move in reverse the human body was not intended to do this over long periods of time are y'all ready?

Now while dissecting their findings, I got to thinking, not only is it not good for you to go backwards, not only is it not safe for you to go backwards, God did not even engineer your body for backwards. is not good it's not safe but beyond that he didn't even engineer you for backwards God intentionally crafted your body so that forward movement would be your primary movement are y'all ready let this be your declaration not only am i committed to moving forward

but the only time you'll catch me going backwards will be to briefly gain victory over something i might have missed y'all didn't come to church this morning. I'm not going backwards. But if you ever see me going backwards, just know I'm only taking some steps back to conquer some stuff that I missed. It's important that you understand

you were not made to go backwards. Your car was made to go backwards. Only with the direction of your eyes facing front. Which is why that mirror is called a rear view. Because without a rear view mirror, I can't move backwards. And I'm here to tell y'all that some of you have been in trouble because you've been moving backwards and you have no rear view mirror. So you can't even see the trouble you're getting yourself back into you can't even see the trouble that he's gonna cause you you can't see the trouble she's gonna cause you you can't see the trouble they are gonna cause you all you know is when it gets too hard going forward, you...

And I'm only talking to the people who are ready to be honest and say, Yep, I've been moving backwards. Right? Then what happens is you come to church and you get the spirit of the rocking chair. You hear a good message. You get some good worship. And your body starts moving. But you ain't going nowhere.

It's the spirit of the rocking chair which makes you confuse movement for progress. Now, if you love to rock back and forth, cool, but I need a rocking chair with wheels so that when I'm tired of going backwards and forward, I can make some progress. I just want to tell you, you're not meant to go backwards and if if if I mean if I don't want to assume if you're going to follow Jesus he is not going backwards. I'm going to say it again. If you are going to follow Jesus,

you need to know he's not going backwards. So my question to you is, if you are and he's not, who are you following? In the book of Genesis, we see Moses has this encounter with God. And he has this encounter with God and and he has this encounter with God and from the moment of this encounter God and Moses get real cool they get real they have this very special relationship right and one one day Moses has this conversation with God up in the mountain. And he says to God, yo, you know what would be really cool, God, is if you let me see your face. Whoever read their Bible should be shouting. He says, it would be real cool if I could see your face.

And then God is like, not yet, because no man can see my face and live. But I tell you what I'll do. I'm going to let you see my backside. And it's easy to just read that and not understand the implications. What he's telling Moses is the season you're in right now what you need is my back because as long as you see my back it means you're following me so what happens is God's back was so fast that as he passed by Moses Moses starts saying in the beginning and the world was without form and it was void and darkness moved over the sea of the

deep because his backside was so fast it gave him so much information that God was telling him you're not ready to see me in the front as long as you can see my back that tells me you're following me watch this in our text we pick up sometime after Jesus goes on this radical healing spree. Where he is literally healing everyone who was brought to him. He starts off in the house, healing Peter's mother-in-law and then as as that news spread people from everywhere

start coming to where Jesus was and the Bible said he healed them all but the good news and bad news about him doing this is it attracted more of a crowd as if he didn't already have enough people so because it attracted more of a crowd Jesus decides to do something Matthew starts off by saying as the crowds gathered around Jesus he does this to let the reader know that what happens next is a result of the crowd. Hear me. Y'all got to hear me this morning. What happens next is a result of the crowd. Jesus saw the crowd and thought to do this. He said, I see it's a whole lot of y'all. I'll tell you what, let's cross to the other side of the lake.

Jesus gives orders to the disciple to cross to the other side of the lake. Immediately we see Jesus intentionally create some tension. Y'all are not ready for this. He intentionally creates tension by creating separation. Okay? Are you ready? You're about to find yourself in the text. He creates tension by creating some separation. So, I know that you thought Jesus wanted everybody to follow him.

And he does but he only wants people who are willing ready and about that life to follow him he realized everybody ain't about that life right just like as a pastor you got to understand the is full, but all y'all ain't about that life. You ain't about that. As soon as something hits you, you'll stop coming to church. As soon as something hit your life, you'll stop giving. As soon as something hit your life, you'll stop serving. Everybody ain't about that life, so Jesus creates separation.

He creates this separation, and this separation does something to the people are y'all ready as the crowd gathers around he does this he gives orders to the disciples to cross to the other side of the lake and immediately there's tension here's why there was tension because Jesus knew the response when he did something now he wanted to see the response when he asked them to do something it just got tense in the room everybody's running to the altar for a miracle that he has to do. The altar might be a little empty if you found out he wasn't going to do this. You were going to have to. Right? Let me give you an example. God, can you please just remove them out of my life? And God is saying, can you please call them and have a conversation about why y'all relationship really

ain't working out right it's it's it's there's tension when you have to do and I need to serve notice to somebody that everything God will do for you will be partnership he will do his you will be partnership.

He will do his part and then you have to do your part. So when I'm looking in the room and I only see about 50 or 100 testimonies, I wonder how many people don't have a testimony. Y'all don't hear where I'm going. I wonder how many people don't have a testimony because God did his part, but you probably didn't do yours. He creates a little bit of tension. He does something to the people that immediately puts them all in the class together. He says something that means

they have to escape their comfort zone. Oh, I'm going to tell you, I'm about to really exegete this thing. Give me a second. He grabs all of them and says, I know you believe. I know you've been rocking with me for a real long time. But what I'm about to ask y'all is really going to be hard for everybody. Let's cross to the other side of the lake now if you only believe that they're about to travel a few miles to the other side of the lake then you would just think what's the big

deal he's actually asking them to travel to another country to the Decapolis right filled with Romans filled with Gentiles he's asking them to leave Jewish territory and go to the territory of Gentiles. He's asking them to do something their culture says they shouldn't do. And what do you do when God asks of you something you said I really shouldn't do? What do you do when being obedient gets you in trouble? You feel me? What do you do when you can say, God, I did what you said and it got me into some trouble with my family. It got me into some trouble with my friends. It got me into some trouble with my family it got me into some trouble with my friends it

got me into some trouble with my boss it got me into some trouble with myself it got me into some trouble because I thought surely if you said it, the result would be smiles and Hallmark cards. But he asked him to go into hostile territory. What do you do when he asks you to do something? Oh, thank you, Holy Spirit. What do you do when he asked you to do something in one season that in the previous season he told you not to?

I don't have time. Because in that season you weren't ready. Now I'm asking you to go because you are ready. But the problem is you don't know you're ready. Oh, never mind. Never mind. Watch this. This meant they had to get out of their comfort zone. And point number one, if you're going to follow Jesus, you need to know it's going to cost you some comfort. If you're still comfortable, I don't know if you're following. Huh? Can I just excite the building real quick?

If you're comfortable in this building, you ain't following Jesus. If y'all ain't coming in here saying, when we gonna get out of here? I mean, it's been cool for a while. It's lasted us a good time. But something about this place feels claustrophobic. Every time I look, more people are coming.

If you are too comfortable, you will think God wants you to stay where you are. So what he has to do is he has to shake up your life. And you think he's shaking up your life because you did something wrong. I hear you, Holy Ghost. He's actually shaking up your life because you did something wrong. I hear you Holy Ghost.

He's actually shaking up your life because it's time for graduation. And let me just prophetically say to the room. Your agitation is an indication that you are close to graduation. It's when you just can't, that friendship just don't serve you no more. When it's like this relationship was cool last year, but something about me shifted. It's when you're on your job and you're like, ah, $20 an hour was good while it lasted.

He shakes up everything just to get you to move and if you hard-headed like me Mark Quavis I'm one of those people you got to come down from heaven I ain't talking about y'all I'm talking about me God has to come down from heaven tap me on my shoulder and say this is me dog because I'm so afraid of missing the mark I'm so afraid of being out of his will but while I'm waiting on him to send the word sometimes he sends the scripture sometimes he sends the prophetic word sometimes he sends a person

don't be the person on the top of the church waiting to get rescued from the flood and he sent a canoe and a boat and a ship and you was waiting on him I feel like I feel like you're yelling because you know you're supposed to bend and move by now

I feel like you're yelling because you know he talking directly to me my feet have been a little heavy lately ah and i'm just gonna say this and i'm gonna get right back to my point ah i hear you holy spirit some of you can't move because you're carrying dead weight so okay all right so in the process of jesus making request, he's also requiring of them a deeper level of commitment. Because you have to be committed to do the thing that God thinks you can do that you don't think you can.

Okay? Watch this. Now, although going in the Gentile territory may not have been the disciples' plan. It was always God's plan for the sake of the gospel. That, you know, it's the foreshadowing, if you will, of the name of your church. This is why he was asking the Jews to go into Gentile territory. Because of later you're going to see Matthew 28, 19. Right?

So for the sake of the gospel, he's saying, I need you to take your experience to them. I don't need you to feel like you're better than them. It got quiet. I don't need you to feel like you're better than them. It got quiet. I don't need you to catch amnesia like you didn't just get saved. I don't need you to catch amnesia like you don't know it only takes you one decision to be back where you started. No. no I need you to take what you have while you've been following me and go express it

to some people who don't have me and you would think because they've been with Jesus that that would be easy but what do you do Jesus that that would be easy. But what do you do when he calls you while you're freaky? What do you do when he calls you while you're ratchet? What do you do

when he calls you while you're a liar? What do you do when he calls you while you have a porn addiction? I mean, what do you do when he calls you while you have a porn addiction? I mean, what do you do when he calls you in the state that keeps you bound? I want to submit to somebody. And if tears flow from your face,

this was for you. Can I tell you something? It is possible you are just the star of a movie that's not about you it is possible God is using your life and squeezing glory out of it because your life is actually supposed to be lived

for others I know it sucks to say you had an abortion but there's thousands of women who need to hear that I know the molestation hurt but listen to me you cannot give that the victory because God meant for you to take that

to the Gentiles God you can't be calling me do you know who I am do you know what I've done do you know what I'm capable of and God is saying I know all that go the Holy Spirit is sweeping through this room

and here's why because you need to hear the Holy Spirit is sweeping through this room. And here's why. Because you need to hear, you are not disqualified. No, y'all. It's not my schooling. It's not my intelligence that makes me decent at what I do. It's my testimony.

I'm qualified by the pain I've had to endure. And what do you do? Oh, you got to leave me alone, spirit. You got to leave me alone. What do you do? Oh, you got to leave me alone, spirit. You got to leave me alone. What do you do when you hurt people and he asks you to minister to them? What do you do with a family who really know you? And he says, but you're going to be like Moses, their deliverer. What do you do with a family who said, that's just a little Kenny. Ah, that's just a little Erica. And you know, they really don't receive it from you like that. He's asking the disciples to do a hard thing. And I wanted to stop there in the text

because I see too many people just gloss over this. This was not a small thing. Right? You're going to see when you keep reading, he's asking them to do something that later, oh, never mind. Later, he's going to get rest on their way to doing what he said do.

And then a storm is going to hit. Do you not think that he knew the storm was coming? And he still said go? Do y'all hear me? I don't know who you are, but your storm is an indication that he got your back. I gotta move. I gotta stop real quick.

So, so, so, so, so he's asking them to go to gentile country this was also a foreshadowing of the name of this church we've been reading about all the gentiles that were coming to him now he's about to go to the Decapolis but following Jesus meant they had to shift their plans the mystery of life will always be a result of your plans versus God's purpose. The mystery of life will always be your plan versus God's purpose.

I know you have a plan, but does your plan have a plan for when the plans have to change? No, I know you got a plan. You got written down you know exactly what you're gonna do how it's gonna be done some of y'all in here just if I could just get an investor if I could just get oh I'm telling you I got the thing that's gonna set me and my family up for life but what do you do when what you plan do not line up with what he planned your plan has to account for fluctuation

does your plan have a plan for when the plans have to change God is the only one that I know who will bless you without your permission, but also change the plan without your knowledge. Have you ever kicked it with somebody and you knew exactly where you were going, what y'all were doing tonight. You got the outfit

for it, the lip gloss for it. You got the right J's on. Everything was popping. And you called and said, fam, where you at? And they replied with, my bad. Plans changed. What do you do when you're not

dressed appropriately for where the plans have changed to never mind let me keep going here watch this then in verse 19 Matthew records this this is where it gets good he says a teacher of the law came to him and said teacher and because i like the bible this don't excite people but it excites me

y'all know who scribes were scribes were actually associated with the pharisees scribes were actually responsible for plotting to kill Jesus. And this Bible says, as Matthew records, a teacher of the law came to him and said, teacher, ain't supposed to happen is what I'm saying. He comes to him and he says teacher now watch this immediately what he does is he disassociates himself from everybody he was normally with by proclaiming Jesus to be rabbi

which brings me to my third point when you you're following Jesus, oh, it's going to cost you some friends. If your phone's still ringing every weekend, if people are still calling you to hang out, if people are still carrying you here and do you want to go with me there? Yeah, I don't know. If you're following the Jesus I serve. Because when I really started, When I really started following Jesus. I drew a line in the sand. And it was so much so.

That my friends start saying. Oh don't call B. You know he ain't going. But I submit to you. The reason why they still calling you. Is because they know you're still going. And I'm just wondering, have you called him teacher yet? Do they know that you call him teacher?

Because the moment he said teacher, all of pharisees was like oh really so he so he teacher now bet all right bet do you boo boo do you he separates himself from who he was normally associated with by seeing Jesus right. Your friends will fall. I'm telling y'all they will fall off when you see him right. When you stop seeing him as the Sunday go-to. When you stop seeing him as Jesus, the person you call for a rescue mission. When you stop seeing him as a virtual Santa Claus, driving through the hood, dropping blessings on people. No, when you start seeing him as Lord, which means he controls.

Earth think about me. Which means we can't date without Lord. I'm not taking this job without Lord. You want to be my friend? Let me ask Lord. He runs everything. And when that happens, the people he was connected to disassociated themselves. It will cost you some friends.

And I understand that friends are important, but I want to challenge you to get you some godly friends. The seasoned saints used to ask this question in form of a song whose side are you leaning on and then somebody would yell out leaning on the lord's side i'm just wondering whose side are you on? We are trying to do culture so much that there is no difference. I can only talk about this because I'm guilty too. But now I'm at the point to where I'm saying, God, I really want there to be a difference. And as a church, we got to make sure

that we are being counter cultural because the world is doing its best to be counter Christian. So it's like, I pray you got standards for your friendships. Right? Not just for the people you date, for the people you do life with. That is important. In verse 20, let me get to the good stuff so we can go home. In verse 20, Jesus replies by saying, look, I know you're saying that you'll follow me anyway. I know you call me teacher. And that probably puts you in a real weird predicament.

But there is something I need to let you know. Foxes have dens. Birds have nests. But the son of man, I ain't got nowhere to lay my head though. He's figuratively saying, are you willing to be homeless rocking with me he's literally saying are you willing to be inconvenienced

rocking with me which brings me to my fourth point following Jesus it'll cost you your cool if you like me It'll cost you your cool. If you like me, I want five-star accommodations. Maya. If you're like me, I don't care what I'm driving.

We will valet. Okay. If you like me I walk in the hotels This ain't it If you like me If it smell wrong No, uh-uh If you like me, I like convenience. Right.

So I'm broke, but I'm going to pay for this valet. Parking garage. Who are you? Park across the street? Nah, fam. That's for them. That ain't me. In a Toyota Corolla?

I don't care. Valet. If you're like me, you really can't afford $1,800 a month for a one-bedroom. But I am not living anywhere that don't have my amenities. And as a matter of fact, I need shopping and restaurants all in walking distance. And what Jesus is doing is he's breaking them from all that they're used to. And he's saying, rocking with me, there will be no five-star accommodations. Rocking with me, there will be no valet.

Rocking with me, we're not doing what everybody else is doing. I ain't even got a place to stay. Are you still following? Are you still following? Why? Because he's creating separation. Right? I just want you to find out where you are is you going or not

then another disciple approaches him and this is what I came here to say another disciple approaches him and he has Kenny he has a legitimate man if I could just sit on the edge of this stage and really exegete this text

he has a very legitimate reasoning for not being able to go right now. Jesus! Awesome! Yeah! Because obedience is always time sensitive. And delayed obedience is still disobedience right he told you to get

rid of that long time ago he told you to cut them off long time ago and what you think you're doing is delaying your obedience now you're being disobedient. So this disciple, right? And scholars believe this is not one of the 12. This is just perhaps, as Matthew Henry says, perhaps it's another scribe. That's just been following Jesus.

He has a legitimate reasoning why he needs to pause. And he says, Jesus, I'm down to go. Man, I feel you, Holy Spirit. I'm down to go. But I do have this one thing that I really need to take care of. And Jesus, the one who has infinite empathy. Jesus, the one who is accommodating. Jesus.

The one who is kind. Jesus. Jesus. The one who love conquers all. Jesus. Whose third part of him, Holy Spirit, is a gentleman. Jesus. The same Jesus who does all of that,

tells him this. Let the dead bury their own dead. Hold on. It is Jewish tradition and law for the eldest son to make all of the burial arrangements for their father.

Jesus is Jewish. He knows this and he still spiritually forbids him. Watch this. He doesn't forbid him to bury his father. You know what he really forbids him to do? Go back. What he really does, he's not really talking about his dad. He's saying, if your dad was where we were going

I feel you if your dad was where we was going perhaps this wouldn't be an issue but the fact is I'm saying we're going here and in order for you to do that you gotta go back and I don't know what your burial experience looks like

I don't know what your legitimate reasoning for not going now is but I do know that the God you serve you know the one you just yelling hallelujah to you know you always do all that jumping and screaming and lift your stuff that one he says let the dead bear their own dead I am not discounting the legitimacy but I am saying this is more

important I started to title this message, Pastor Eric, Too Shook to Shout. Because to understand that even if you have a legitimate, I mean a genuine concern. And Jesus is like, ah. Then, I want to read it from the text so that y'all know I'm not making this up. He doesn't just say, let the dead bury their own

dead. He starts the statement off by saying, follow me. Your response to me needing to take care of my business is follow me. Here's, are y'all ready ready here's what Jesus was really saying following me is the best thing you could do following me

means that you trust me that your father's burial will be taken care of. Every legitimate excuse you can come up with. He's saying. Follow me. And all that. Is going to be taken care of. I don't know who I'm preaching to.

This morning. But I need somebody in this room. To declare. I got some stuff. I got some reasons. I got some issues. I got some circumstances. I got actually some legitimate stuff as to why it's just not the right time. I need your declaration to be this morning, but I'll go anywhere but backwards. My last point is if you're going to follow Jesus, you probably should know this. It'll cost you your life.

Salvation is free, but it costs you everything. Everything. And my prayer for everybody under the sound of my voice is that you look at all that you have to go back to and you weigh it against all that you have to go back to, and you weigh it against all that you have to look forward to, and you make a grown man or a grown woman decision

that says either that's worth more than he is or he's worth more than that is. And I'm not here to tell you what decision you should make. I know you want me to, but I wouldn't do that. You need to make a decision. Right? I'm not going back to that. I'm not going back to it. I'm not going back to him.

I'm not going back to her. I'm not going back to them. Take anywhere but backwards. And if you are in this room. And you can still go backwards. It's because backwards ain't been bad enough for you. But when you got an ugly backwards when you got a backwards that almost cost you your life when you got a backwards that almost gave you a disease come on y'all don't want to be real

when you got a backwards that almost took you out when you got a backwards that almost made you lose your mind then you probably will say oh i'll I'll go anywhere but backwards. And if you can still go backwards, it's because backwards is still good to you. Right? Now, that's only if backwards is bad. But what this disciple was doing was good. And what do you do when he's asking you to leave a good thing? but what this disciple was doing was good. And what do you do when he's asking you to leave a good thing? Everybody ain't live that out.

What do you do when he asks you to walk away from the most money you've made in your life? What do you do when you're with a good man but he ain't a God man? What do you do when she's great for you but she just ain't got it? I mean, what do you do when he asks you to leave something good? That's when the tension is at its greatest and he's looking to see

who will still choose him. I don't know who you are. I don't know where you are. But I'm just gonna who you are. I don't know where you are. But I'm just going to just say this. In all honesty, maybe you're older than me. I'm 41 years old. My mom left me when I was 13 years old. Didn't see her again until I was like 27 or 26, 27.

Never had a father. Grew up selling dope. Been shot before. Been stabbed before. I almost lost my life plenty of times. Had my firstborn son when I was 18. That changed my life. And I still kept going backwards.

Stared down the barrel of a.357 Magnum and still went backwards. Got in all kinds of trouble because of friends I hung with and still went backwards. It wasn't until not my backwards was bad enough, it wasn't until I started believing that my forward would be better. And when I started believing that there was more for me when I started believing

there were better friends for me when I started believing there was better situations for me I just thought about it it makes logical sense whether I love him or not forward just sounds better and I've been going forward

ever since tripping going forward stumbling but going forward crawling but going forward I don't care what happens I'll do everything I'll do whatever I got to do not to go back and for the first time in my life I don't have nothing pulling me backwards you're in this room and you yep, I keep going backwards.

That's me. I'm caught up in this soul tie and it keeps me going backwards. I'm struggling with people pleasing and it keeps me going backwards. I'm struggling with people pleasing and it keeps me going backwards I'm struggling with rejection and it keeps me going backwards I'm really emotionally immature

and that keeps me going backwards man they said they loved me and that keeps me going backwards but at least he never put his hands on me and that keeps me going backwards. But at least he never put his hands on me. And that keeps me going backwards. But I want to tell you, on the other side of this lake, what he has in front of you is way better than anything you can experience going backwards. I'm done.

And today I'm not going to do an altar call. But what I do want to do is, I want to sit here for a minute for you to think about your backwards. I want you to really consider your backwards. This is a sacred moment. If you don't have to leave, don't leave, don't move. I want you to sit. And some of us need to sit in our backwards. And you need to ask yourself hard questions.

Is it worth it though? Right? Some of y'all, it's just a mindset. Is it worth it? I'm going to be honest with y'all. I said the first Sunday I got here, I hadn't preached in over two years. Part of the reason was because

I just, I don't know what, I allowed a season to steal my confidence see I'm not preaching to you what I read I'm preaching to you what I'm living it's like I allowed that season to just drain everything I thought I was drain everything I like man I could have sworn God called me but you couldn't have been calling me

and this is my life maybe I'm tripping it was my mindset and I needed to tell myself seasons don't get to dictate the word of God over my life. So I was telling your pastor yesterday, man, I knew I shouldn't have did this. This done messed me up. Because the thing I said, I never wanted to do again. This whole month, God is is saying you sure about that?

I'm only sharing it to help you understand man listen this guy I'm walking it out it ain't done yet It ain't done yet. It ain't finished yet. I'm still tripping.

Like tripping, tripping. I be tripping. I'm still falling, but I'm falling forward. I'm struggling forward. Whatever I do, I've made a commitment to myself not to go back not even back to that old mindset

I want to give you something that one of my brothers I wish he was here my brother Q said to me the other night and it's been tearing my spirit up. And I want to give it to you as a prophetic word. Because some things are personal, but I believe what he released in that restaurant was corporate.

This is what he said. And if it bears witness with your spirit, you just thank Q. He said, this ain't the season to be safe. No, you trying to play it safe. This ain't the season for safe though. This is the season to risk it all. This is the season to throw your whole self in it. This is the season to give it all you got.

You got to stop thinking about what you've been thinking about doing and start doing it the steps of a righteous man of order. God is saying, somebody in here got to leave out of here and take a step. We ain't playing it safe. No, we're going out to that house, that house. We probably ain't going to get approved the first time around. So, tell me what I need to do. Bump your credit score up 100 more points. Bet I'll be back.

We ain't playing it safe no more. Father, I pray for every person under the sound of my voice that this message help them to see the problem with backwards. That this sermon help them to see the emptiness of backwards and that this sermon helped them to see

that everything you desire to do in their lives is in front of them. And so, Father, I pray, like me, that you would arrest this room, that you would arrest this room and that you would send them people to speak their lives, to call them out on their stuff, to snatch them out of their backwards. That you would send them a cue to speak a word, that you would send them friends to prophesy over their lives, that you would put them around people who would not allow them to settle for what they've been settling for Father I pray now

that this miracle will be the miracle of anywhere but backwards we thank you and we honor you and because we honor you we thank you and we honor you. And because we honor you,

we worship you. We worship you. We worship you. Ah, we worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you.

We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. Because you are good. And you do have a plan.

And we say yes. Hands lifted all over this room. We're not going to clap. We're not going to hide behind claps. I want you to open up your mouth and just thank God. Here's what we're thanking God for. Listen, hold on. Here's what we're thanking God for.

We're thanking God that he did not give us over to our backwards. You know who you are. You can act like it's all good if you want to oh but i feel you in this room he should have left you in your backwards and that backwards would have ate you up you better worship your god for not leaving you backwards come on all of the stuff you got in this wasn't even stuff he put you in you put yourself there thank you god for not giving me over to my We're my backwards people. I'm talking about like, yo, listen, my backwards. I don't know how y'all save people do it. I'm 85% saved.

I still got 15% I'm struggling with. The forward that God has for you, man, I wish you could see it like I see it. I wish you could see it like I see it. I wish you could see it like I see it. I'm going to take offering and then I'm going to pray and I'm going to take my seat, but I want to release this. Over your life, the Lord showed me this, this morning, three o'clock in the morning. Here it is. There are a few of you in here, you settled for the job that you have. And the Spirit of the Lord wanted me to prophesy to you today, not that you're going to get a better job.

Here's the prophetic word. You will not get a better job until you start seeing yourself worth it. There's somebody in here who needs to fill out the application again. That's you. Fill it out again. It's in the room. It's for you to fill out again. And this time, don't put God in a box of how he's going to do it. Just know he's going to do it. Fill it out again. You've been scared because you're afraid of rejection, so you don't like to hear no. But I hear the Lord saying, fill it out again. There's somebody in here.

It's unforgiveness from a father and it's unforgiveness of a father that you're making your spouse pay for. You see him like he's your dad. Lift your hands if that's you. Don't be afraid. I know what I see. I want to tell you, daughter, he's not your dad. And he's not what your dad did to you. He's a man. And he's flawed. And he has issues. And he's not perfect but do not

hold him to an unrealistic standard and make him pay for what your dad did last but not least you're in this room and you've been holding a seed you heard the Lord say give a certain amount

a couple of weeks ago and you told yourself it wasn't God where you at? lift your hands I know what I hear today I want you to be obedient and give that seed

here's why God is not concerned about the money or the amount this is a test of your obedience do you trust me with what's not yours anyway to the young lady who asked me for my cash app last week with what's not yours anyway. To the young lady who asked me for my cash shop last week, I don't know your name,

but I kept seeing your face all week. And I want you to hear me say this publicly. You don't know what that seed did for my family. You don't know. And I want you to know that your payment will be an anointing to walk in the things that you keep questioning God about. It's like I talked about sowing

and this young lady responded. She said, I want to sow to you. And I was like, I, but the Lord gave me this word. It was because you needed another level of anointing to do what he called you to do. Amen. Father, I pray as we seal this moment, I pray that the sermon worked.

I pray that you did what you wanted to do. I pray that hearts were open. Hearts pray that you did what you wanted to do. I pray that hearts were open, hearts were touched, ears were inclined, and I pray that there was a seed planted. Now, Father, I pray for harvest and fruit that will look like anywhere but backwards. In Jesus' name, amen.