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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000091S
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00:20 Welcome to the breath of life television
00:22 ministry broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell 00:26 In todaypisode, Pastor Snell will continue part 00:30 two of the powerful message titled Tailor Made Temptation. 00:35 Now let's go deeper into the Word of God. 00:40 It's crazy. 00:40 Church I remember 00:41 a couple of months ago we went to the Holy Land 00:45 and we went over to this this one area called 00:48 the ancient city of Petra. 00:50 And did you know, man, that the the tourism man 00:53 the the salesmanship I mean, the hustle is real. 00:56 Like nothing I've never, ever seen in my life. 00:59 I need to know as soon as you get off your bus, 01:01 man, you are assailed by folk 01:03 that got a con from every type of angle imaginable. 01:07 And see, it's crazy because, man, they are so aggressive 01:10 that you can't really say no in a kind way. 01:13 In other words, man, they so aggressive, man, that 01:15 even if you say no, man, if you listen to him long enough 01:18 and you just stop, you can't even make eye contact. 01:20 I y'all hear what I'm saying? 01:21 Like, when you walk, you can't even make eye contact. 01:23 If you stop and listen to them, they're just going to start 01:26 putting raps on your head. 01:27 They're gonna start putting amulets on your arm. 01:29 They're going to start knocking down the price. 01:31 So one paid one price. 01:33 Another paid another price because, man, 01:35 they are not going to take no for an answer. 01:37 And I remember one day, man, me 01:38 and my wife was walking through the little area 01:40 and I looked over my eye, 01:41 corner of my eye, and I didn't see her. 01:43 And before I knew it, Eve was back there 01:45 in the clutches of the salesman. 01:48 I mean, they 01:49 put an ambulance on her arm and wrapped all around her head. 01:52 A little head, a little boy salesman 01:54 talking about how pretty a smile is and the whole shebang. 01:58 And I had to go and get Eve from the tree because, man, 02:02 we was all about to go down that. 02:04 And it's crazy because, 02:05 man, I'm 02:06 talking to them in a pastoral way, 02:08 cause we got a lot of saints around on the trip. 02:11 But after a while, I realized that I can't be. 02:13 I can't be nice with this. 02:15 In other words, after a while, I got my Tallahassee 02:18 swag on man. 02:19 I got to a space where I'm not looking in the eye. 02:22 When they came up on me, I was like, 02:23 No, don't even look at me. Don't even talk to me. 02:26 And you know, you got to have a little ass with that thing. 02:29 You can't say no nicely. 02:31 You got to say it in a way that you ain't even entertaining. 02:35 And what I'm saying 02:36 is, when they come with alcohol, you ain't even listening. 02:40 When they come with the Temptations, 02:41 you're not entertaining because you know what God has for you. 02:46 It is for you. 02:50 Matter of fact, I alive. 02:51 I'm one of the brothers that you would never want to invite 02:56 on one of those timeshare tours. 03:01 Angle I'd be big mad at me. 03:03 Hey, Bobby, I need you to know, man, 03:05 maybe give be a little pitch. 03:06 Abbey sitting there, man, with an angry black man face, 03:10 man, my arms folded, 03:13 and it was hard to make all kind of compromises. 03:15 Well, sir, what can we do to make it for you? Right? For you. 03:17 Man, I can cut the price down to this. 03:19 I'm just very clear. 03:20 I just came for the free trip, 03:21 and I got a witness out yesterday. 03:24 In other words, I need them to know from the get 03:26 I ain't interest. It may. 03:28 And one time my attitude was so sour 03:31 that he cut the presentation 20 minutes short and says, Let's 03:34 go back to your hotel. 03:35 You know what I'm saying? 03:38 And when your mind is made up, 03:42 sometimes you can short circuit certain 03:45 aims of the devil because your mind is so made up. 03:49 You are hear what I'm saying? 03:50 Like France, so, so quickly. 03:54 What I want to do 03:56 is I don't want to just spend a whole lot of time 03:57 talking about specific temptations 03:59 and behaviors of smoking and drinking and sex 04:01 and doing all of that kind of stuff. 04:03 I want to talk about certain conditions 04:07 that give strength to the temptations 04:10 that are going to be tailored just for you. 04:14 So one of the first things you got to do in order 04:16 to overcome temptation, friends, is you've got to be thankful 04:19 for what you have 04:23 and you've got to be thankful for who God made you to be. 04:25 I got with the pastor today another real quick quote 04:28 I want to share with you, our patriarchs and prophets. 04:30 Page 52. Watch this. 04:32 And the happiness and peace 04:35 and the 04:36 happiness and peace of the holy pair in Eden. 04:39 He beheld a vision of the bliss 04:42 that was forever lost, moved by what? 04:48 Satan is moved by what? 04:51 No, no. I need you. 04:51 Get this. 04:52 He's moved by what? Envy. 04:54 He determined 04:56 to incite them to disobedience and to bring upon the guilt 05:00 or bring upon them the guilt and penalty of saying 05:02 he would change their love to distrust 05:05 and their songs of praise to reproach against their maker. 05:09 Now, I need you to know 05:10 that's what I just told you right there. 05:13 So I need you to understand this, because one of the ways 05:17 the enemy attacked our first parents 05:21 is by creating the perception 05:23 of a false deficit. 05:27 He got them to believe 05:33 they got straight. 05:34 Okeydoke. 05:37 He got them to believe 05:39 that something was wrong 05:41 with their perfect life. 05:47 Oh, God. 05:50 And you know what inspired the enemy? 05:54 The reason he's coming for Adam and Eve 05:57 is because he sees in them 06:01 what he can no longer have. 06:05 And he promises to make them like God. 06:09 But his goal is to make them like him. 06:14 To guarantee that 06:15 his fate becomes their fate. 06:19 And see, one of the things some people real quick, 06:21 I need you to understand this, that misery loves company, 06:26 and you ought to be careful about listening to folk 06:29 who are trying to get you to throw away what they have 06:32 already. 06:33 I denounce as invaluable. 06:37 And again, it's crazy because you'll notice, 06:39 man, that when folk drink, man, they will just 06:41 keep it to themselves. 06:42 They ain't going to be happy because the bus ain't as hot 06:45 until they get somebody else to drink with them. 06:48 What you're going to 06:50 learn is nobody wants to flunk out of Oakwood by themselves. 06:53 So guess what? 06:54 They got to drag somebody down with them. 06:57 You'll be amazed how when somebody high schooler 07:01 loses their virginity. 07:03 Then they'll challenge you to treat yours with contempt. 07:07 Be careful about that, brother. 07:09 Our sister who's going through divorce. 07:11 Don't let them become your marital counselor 07:16 because their perspective 07:19 may be fueled by their own experience. 07:21 I got to hear me today. 07:23 I see friends of mine. 07:24 A part of overcoming 07:26 is a gratitude for the life that God has provided. 07:30 You are all still with me today. 07:32 Do you realize that there is something in our DNA 07:35 that was passed down from our very first parents 07:39 and there is this liability in our flesh that always says, 07:43 Man, that your life is 07:46 missing something. 07:50 If he could get Adam and Eve 07:52 to believe something was wrong with their perfect life, 07:56 certainly he can get us to believe 07:58 that something is wrong with our difficult life. 08:01 And see, I need you to get me the. 08:03 The absurdity in the way he bamboozle them. 08:07 Go me quickly. In your Bible. 08:08 Genesis, chapter two and verse. 08:10 Now I need you to see, man, how hard he played Adam 08:13 and Eve in this joint Genesis two and verse number nine. 08:17 Now, you all remember we read in Genesis three 08:19 that the Bible says that they took of the fruit 08:21 when they saw 08:23 that it was good for food and that it was pleasant 08:26 to the eyes based on the promise that they would be like God. 08:29 Now look at Genesis chapter two. 08:30 In verse nine, the Bible says, and out of the ground, 08:34 the Lord God made every tree grow. 08:37 That is pleasant to the what, 08:40 to the side and good for what food. 08:44 The Tree of Life was also in the midst of the Garden of Eden. 08:47 I don't know if you all really caught that. 08:49 See, the Bible says that every tree God made 08:55 was pleasant to the eyes. 08:58 Every tree God made was good for food. 09:02 Do you realize that essentially, Satan 09:05 gets them to side with him by simply offering them 09:10 what God had already provided them? 09:13 He says, Your eyes will be open. 09:16 Her eyes are already open because she sees the tree. 09:19 The Bible says that all the trees were pleasant to the eyes 09:23 and good for food. 09:24 Do you realize, man, that the tree of the knowledge 09:27 of good and evil, it didn't sign. 09:29 It did have different colors. 09:31 It didn't have a halo over it. 09:32 It looked just like every tree they ate 09:35 from every day. 09:38 And he convinces her that she'll be like God 09:41 when the truth is that Adam and Eve are ready. 09:44 Like God. 09:47 And so I need you to get that at the strategy work 09:49 to make them believe 09:50 that something is wrong with their perfect life. 09:53 Man then certainly he's going to try to get us to believe 09:55 that there's something wrong with our difficult life. 09:58 And what I need somebody to get today. 10:01 Is this. 10:03 That you will get constantly ensnared 10:07 trying to get a life 10:09 that God didn't ordained for you. 10:12 Okay, see, 10:17 one of the keys overcoming is contentment. 10:19 Somebody out contentment. 10:22 So you got to get to a place where you learn 10:23 how to be content where you are right now. 10:27 Okay. 10:27 And it crazy how when you're single, 10:30 the devil tries to convince you life will be better 10:32 when you get married. 10:35 And then when you get married, he tries to convince you 10:37 that life would be better if you're single again. 10:40 He tries to convince your brothers that the woman 10:42 that you don't have 10:43 is going to be better for you than the woman that you do have. 10:46 He's going to try to convince you 10:48 that Jack Daniel's provides more peace than Jehovah Gyri. 10:52 And I need somebody to understand that a better life 10:55 is not found on a different path. 10:58 A better life is found when you adopt the path 11:01 that God has for you, 11:03 or you complete the path that God already has you on. 11:07 See, I need somebody to know 11:08 that when your steps have been ordered by God, that 11:12 everything that will bring you joy and contentment and peace 11:17 can be found on the path that God has ordained for you. 11:24 And it's crazy because Satan holds himself out 11:27 as the example. 11:29 He says, Just look at me. 11:33 Look at this knowledge that I have. 11:35 And it's crazy because he's inviting them to be like him 11:39 when his ultimate desire is to be like them 11:44 and see the genius 11:46 of applying a perceived deficit. 11:49 Is this. 11:50 It is the message 11:51 that rings all the way through down to our time. 11:55 This is it. 11:57 You know what? 11:58 Essentially he tells Adam and Eve. 12:00 It is the message that resonates with us 12:02 through media, through music, 12:04 through all of the messaging of our time. 12:05 You know what he said to he says to Eve, 12:08 you're not enough. 12:13 That's the message. 12:16 He says, you're not complete the way God made you. 12:20 You need something to augment who you are. 12:24 You need something to complete the incomplete work 12:28 that God left open ended in your life. 12:32 And I need you to know that that is the message that rings 12:35 down to our young people, even in this generation. 12:39 And I stop by here to simply let the descendants 12:43 of Adam and Eve know this immovable truth. 12:47 I need you to know that you are enough in God. 12:52 Oh, help me, Holy Spirit. 12:54 I need somebody to know 12:56 that you are already fearfully and wonderfully made. 13:00 I need you to know that you are God's workmanship. 13:03 I need you to know the plan God has for you, plans to 13:06 prosper you, and not to harm you. 13:09 To give you a future and a hope. 13:11 I need you to know that how God made you is more than enough. 13:16 I need you to know that your curves 13:18 are more than enough. 13:20 That your dark skin or your light skin is more than enough. 13:24 That's our kinky hair. 13:25 Our straight hair is more than enough. 13:27 That's our tall stature. 13:28 Our short stature is more than enough. 13:31 I need you to know your perspective is more than enough. 13:35 That your thinking 13:36 is more than enough, that you don't have to tie it. 13:41 Buy it. Nip and tuck it. 13:43 Tattoo it. Here, sit. 13:45 How I've meant it expanded by it. 13:48 Derrick, I need you to know you are more than enough. 13:52 Do I have seven or eight saints 13:54 that realize I don't need improvement? 13:57 I don't need surgery. 13:59 I don't need to transition to a different gender. 14:02 I don't need to change my major. 14:04 I don't need to wear what the designers make. 14:07 I don't need to be like everybody else. 14:10 So I have seven folks that thank God for who 14:13 God made them to be. 14:18 Are y'all hear what I'm saying? 14:20 Sister, you more than enough, young man. 14:23 You're more than enough 14:26 that God put inside of you everything you need 14:31 to prosper 14:33 and be in health all the days of your life. 14:38 So some days, like you said, you got to wake up 14:41 and thank God for who he made you to be 14:45 and you got to wake up. 14:47 Some days and think, God, I know you are tired of hearing me 14:50 say it, but you got to thank God for the life that you have. 15:04 Spirit, I need you to say it because 15:05 words ain't getting to them. 15:07 You got to get to a place 15:10 where you're willing to acknowledge 15:14 God's goodness 15:18 and the way your life is unfolding. 15:24 Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. 15:25 I wish I could have 15:26 just screamed back 6000 years to Adam and Eve. 15:31 Dude, just look around. 15:36 Yeah, just look around. 15:41 Doc. You went in 15:44 broke. 15:44 Don't know. 15:45 Don't nobody die in your economy. 15:48 There are no needs in your economy. 15:50 You want for nothing in your economy. 15:53 There is no sickness in your economy. 15:56 There is no rivalry in your economy. 15:59 There is no racism in your economy. 16:02 There is nothing wrong with your economy. 16:04 And it's crazy because he gets them to forfeit 16:07 a perfect life for a disastrous life. 16:13 But the same counsel 16:14 that can be given to Adam and Eve can be given to you. 16:18 Sometimes the problem is not that you ain't blessed enough. 16:23 It's not that you are. It's 16:24 that you're not acknowledging your blessings enough. 16:28 You realize young people, God's word to some of y'all 16:31 is Look around. 16:34 Look at where you went. 16:36 You got an opportunity for education. 16:39 Look around. 16:41 God is blessed your parents enough 16:42 to be able to pay for it so you don't have loans. 16:45 Look around. 16:46 Some of y'all black kids 16:48 was raised with two parents in your house. 16:51 Look around that. 16:53 Folk didn't make it 16:53 out of the neighborhoods you came up out of. 16:56 You need to look around, 16:58 see some of y'all married folk need to look around 17:01 cause somebody is covering the one you complaining about. 17:05 You better look around 17:07 and recognize that God has put you in a house. 17:10 He's put you in a car. 17:12 Look around. 17:13 You've got your health. 17:15 Look around you clothed in your right mind. 17:18 Look around all your needs have been supplied. 17:22 Look around. 17:23 Your bed has not become your calling board. 17:26 Look around. 17:27 He woke you up this morning. 17:29 If you're a seasoned saint, look around 17:33 because your old. 17:41 Now, before you get offended, 17:44 how many of us know the goal is to get old? 17:50 There are some folk 17:51 born in your year, but they ain't no longer here. 17:55 And if God woke you up, then you ought to just say, 17:58 I'm gonna look around and thank God for my life. 18:03 It's like the old song says. 18:05 When I look around 18:08 and I think things over when I look around 18:13 and I consider it all all my good days. 18:17 Outweigh my bad days. 18:19 And I will not complain. 18:24 Can just say, man, all right, I'm moving. 18:31 Second key phrase is, you got to realize 18:34 that your temptations have been 18:38 tailored. 18:39 You know, you 18:42 little bit. 18:44 Y'all be strong. 18:45 All right? 18:51 I've been missing y'all. 18:52 He made 18:57 you got to realize. 18:58 So, listen, 19:00 Eve is under heavy surveillance. 19:06 I mean, 19:07 Lucifer watches everything she does. 19:12 He notices that she's intrigued by the comical nature of 19:16 the monkey, 19:18 and she's impressed 19:20 by the power and strength of the elephant 19:24 that at times, man, she's curious 19:26 about the tall stature of the giraffe. 19:30 But there is something 19:31 that happens whenever the serpent comes by. 19:35 He notices that when the serpent shows up, man, 19:38 her pupils dilate, 19:39 that her breathing changes, that it arrest her attention 19:43 and understand that, you know, we're at a time now where, 19:46 again, serpents walk around with fangs and spewing poison. 19:49 But back then, man, the serpent was the apex of all 19:52 creative beauty. 19:53 Do you realize that before he was cursed to the ground 19:56 that the serpent stood up and perhaps had capacity to fly 20:00 and literally when he flew through the air, 20:03 he had the appearance of burnished gold. 20:07 And it is when he notes how attentive 20:10 she is to the serpent that he says, This is my disguise. 20:16 And see, 20:18 I need to understand that you two are under surveillance. 20:21 The enemy knows how your pupils dilate. 20:23 When certain things come across the screen. 20:25 He notices how your breathing changes 20:27 whenever an enemy enters the room. 20:29 He notices how your neck cranes. 20:31 Whenever Sister 20:32 So-and-so passes by, he notices everything about you. 20:36 And I need you to know that the temptations are custom. 20:40 In other words, everything that's outside of you 20:42 is simply a reflection of what's inside of you. 20:45 In other words, your temptations are not off of the rat. 20:48 You cannot get it at T.J., Max, all with Ross. 20:50 They have been tailor made just for you. 20:54 And so I need you to know what you're up against, 20:56 because our enemy had 6000 years 21:00 of hunting experience. 21:03 He sent the thing. 21:04 The trends of humanity come and they've gone. 21:07 I need you to understand that the enemy knows your habits. 21:10 He knows your patterns. He knows your likes. 21:13 He knows your dislikes. He knows what. He likes you. 21:16 He knows what discourages you. 21:17 He literally knows even what's in your DNA. 21:20 He knows what called Granddaddy to fall. 21:22 He knew what calls your parents to follow. 21:24 And he literally 21:25 customizes temptations that suit it towards your fallen DNA. 21:29 And that's why parents sometimes the best thing you can do for 21:32 your children is not just to tell them 21:34 everything your family has done right 21:36 and how many generations you have in the church. 21:39 Sometimes you've got to open up and say, 21:40 this is where our family struggles and the faith 21:45 are. You all hear what I'm saying? 21:49 He knows you have a weakness for a certain build. 21:53 He knows your insecurities make you vulnerable to flattery. 21:59 He manipulates the traumas that cause 22:02 you anxiety and stress. 22:05 He knows that your stress 22:06 creates a craving for immediate relief. 22:09 He knows that 22:11 when you are lonely, you become open to bad company. 22:14 He knows that when you start feeling low, food is 22:16 what gives you comfort. 22:18 He knows that your dad's abandonment is 22:20 what makes you crave toxic people. 22:23 He knows your triggers, and he manipulates them in a way 22:26 that draws you away from God. How many of us know 22:29 that the devil was the first psychologist 22:35 and the macro idea friends of mine 22:37 is that the key to temptation is not 22:40 just holiness, it's holiness. 22:49 The key to 22:50 temptation is not just righteousness. 22:53 It's holiness. 22:56 Did you notice that when Jesus healed, he didn't 22:58 just say, Do you want to feel better? 23:01 He asks the question, Do 23:03 you want to be made whole? 23:06 Because the more hey you are, guess what? 23:10 The less access the enemy has. 23:13 In other words, friends, I need you to get that. 23:14 The problem is not that they didn't value. 23:17 The problem is that you didn't value yourself. 23:20 The issue is not how many cakes they bring into your office. 23:23 The issue is your inability to manage your stress and emotions. 23:27 It's never about how many drugs people offer. 23:30 It's actually about your need to be included. 23:33 It's never about how many people come into the wrong way. 23:36 It's about the conditioned responses 23:38 that you've embraced as normal. 23:40 It's never about how sexy the other man or woman is. 23:42 It's about the deficits inside of your own home. 23:45 It's never about how flashy things sparkle. 23:49 It's about that inner poverty 23:52 that we're always trying 23:54 to compensate for with things and stuff. 23:58 I hear me today, friends 24:00 telling us, understand this. 24:01 I'm borrowing from Pastor Phil. 24:03 He used some water. 24:04 I said, I got to come on and say it. 24:07 So I need to understand that righteousness, friends of mine 24:11 was not supposed to be based upon your effort. 24:16 It was supposed to be based on your infilling. 24:22 I mean, do we read our Bibles? 24:23 And how many of us understand 24:26 that righteousness was simply a byproduct 24:29 of being filled with the living water of Jesus Christ? 24:34 Are you hear what I'm saying? 24:35 So. So that let's say 24:37 I take some dirt and put it in this cup, right? 24:41 How many of us understand that? 24:43 If I just feel the cup. 24:46 Guess what? 24:48 Eventually the dirt is going to overflow and come out. 24:51 So what the enemy is going to try to do 24:54 is poke holes in the cup and 24:59 are y'all with me today? 25:01 And so if he can keep your cup full of holes, 25:05 then you can never stay full. 25:07 And then the dirt is going to remain inside of you. 25:12 And see, that's why the key to holiness 25:15 is not effort, it's wholeness. 25:18 So whenever I empty the cup 25:22 and then I don't just focus on the dirt, 25:25 but I focus on the wholeness of the cup. 25:29 And I make sure that the cup is home. 25:32 And I make sure that the cup has no holes in it. 25:36 And I make sure that all of the cup is completely sutured 25:40 when I put the dirt 25:41 on the inside and then I allow it to get full 25:45 and it has no holes in it, guess what? 25:48 All the dirt comes out 25:50 because the cup is full and it ain't got no holes in it. 25:55 And what I'm saying is 25:56 that when you let the gospel transform your insecurities 26:01 and it transforms your trauma and it transforms 26:04 your abandonment and it touches your sharp 26:08 callings, I need you to know God makes you whole. 26:11 And when you get home, you don't have to try hard to be clean. 26:16 You just try to be available. 26:18 And when you make yourself available, 26:21 God then fills your cup again. 26:24 Guess what? 26:25 All the dirt flows out when you get filled with Jesus. 26:29 Y'all hearing me today? 26:32 What's good? 26:32 Family. 26:33 Listen, life can always be hard. 26:36 Troubles always abound, man. 26:39 And difficulty never RSVP. 26:42 I want to encourage you to take one night 26:44 and get away from it all. 26:45 Join me on Sunday, October the 22nd, at 7 p.m. 26:50 for a celebration of hope. 26:52 It is where we're going to lift up 26:53 Jesus and song through testimony and the Word of God. 26:57 We're going to be joined 26:58 that evening by gospel recording artist Smokey Norful. 27:03 Gospel recording group Stephen Manders and Decree 27:07 and the Inspirational Choir of First Church. 27:10 I need you to know it's going to be a night 27:12 where we're going to celebrate God's goodness 27:14 in the midst of life's difficulties. 27:16 Again, that's going to be Sunday, October the 22nd at 7:00 27:20 PM, right here in the Oakwood University Church Sanctuary. 27:24 For more information, 27:25 go to our website at www.breathoflife.tv 27:29 I look forward to seeing as we celebrate our hope. |
Revised 2023-10-19