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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000077S
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00:06 Sermon #S040 - When God Disrupts Your Contentment - (Part 2)
00:20 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 00:25 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful Message titled: 00:31 “When God Disrupts your Contemptment.” Now, let's go deeper into the word of God! 00:39 Pastor Snell: But see, one of the things I need somebody to understand is that sometimes God will disrupt your contentment. 00:53 See, I need somebody to understand the danger of Midian. See, Midian is not a bad place. They ain't got no idols. 01:00 Jethro serves God. But the problem with Midian, it is this predictable place. It is this comfortable place. 01:09 See, the problem is you don't get stretched in Midian. You don't get challenged in Midian. 01:17 The problem is you ain't got to pray with perseverance in Midian. See the danger with Midian, 01:23 it is a place that does not require faith. 01:28 And sometimes you can carve out a niche in life that is so comfortable that faith is no longer required 01:38 and you get content there. And sometimes God has to disrupt your contentment and say, 01:47 I need you to know that God shows up there n Midian 01:49 because he's trying to preserve the remnant of the advocate that remains in Moses. 01:57 He's got to get the fighter that is left before all of the fight and Moses dies. 02:03 Is there anybody that's ever had God disrupt your contentment? 02:08 You see, sometimes we can kind of carve out a borough in life where I'm not stretched, 02:13 where I don't have to advocate for anybody else, where life becomes comfortably predictable, 02:18 where I don't really have to walk by faith, 02:21 where I don't really have to find that level in God that only trouble is able to produce. 02:28 And see, that's why somebody's currently on the verge of having God disrupt your contentment. 02:37 You see, one of the things about contentment if you're not careful is that sometimes your comfort will smother your 02:43 convictions. See there was a point where Moses had conviction about the people in Egypt, 02:51 but it is the comfort of Midian that has smothered nearly to death his convictions about being an advocate 02:59 and a server of an oppressed people. 03:02 And one of the things I want to say today is that somebody is about to have an intersection with the most high 03:09 because you've got content and comfortable with some things that are about to smother your convictions. 03:16 See, the problem is we've got some young people here that have just gotten content being out of school 03:23 but in Huntsville. There are some couples that have become content being roommates and not lovers. 03:36 There are some singles that have become content in abusive or toxic relationships. 03:42 There are some that have gotten content living together, unmarried. 03:47 There are some that have gotten content in a profession that is beneath your calling. 03:52 There are some that have gotten content not coming to church. 03:58 There are some that have gotten content no longer serving in ministry. 04:02 And see sometimes like Moses, God has to throw off the balance sometimes, man, he's got to disrupt the calm. 04:10 Sometimes God has to throw things out of order so that you learn how to find your balance in him. 04:18 [ Congregation: Amen] 04:20 And it's crazy because there almost seems like a contradiction of terms because doesn't, 04:23 the Bible calls us to be content in all things, but I do need to make this quick kind of adjustment to your thinking. 04:29 God calls us to be content in all things but not become complacent with everything. 04:36 [ Congregation: Amen] 04:38 Are you all hearing me today? Friends? So for somebody who's about to have their contentment disrupted, 04:43 I want to just give a few lessons of counsel, then I'm going to take my seat. Is that all right today? Church. 04:47 [ Congregation: All right] 04:49 See there, there are three brief lessons I want to share with you before I sit down today. 04:51 The first thing I want to say to somebody today is be careful not to settle for the first thing you're good at. 05:02 I want to caution somebody not to get too comfortable with the first fruits. Oh God. 05:10 See sometimes when we're trying to discern the will of God and the will of God is sometimes unclear, 05:17 one of the first things that we do is we latch on to the first thing 05:22 or situation that produces some immediate or quick results or fruitfulness. 05:28 And we make the assumption that because this bears fruit first that it's supposed to feed us forever. 05:36 In other words, remember now when Moses was first acting as an advocate in Egypt, 05:41 he is initially burned and turned on by his family members and his friends. 05:45 He is hunted by Pharaoh. And so even though it was the hand of God that leads him to the land of Midian, 05:53 understand that Midian was supposed to be a stop gap. Midian was supposed to be a transition space. 06:00 Midian was supposed to be a holdover. 06:03 But what happened is he confuses the place of preparation as a place of permanence. 06:11 And see, I need somebody to understand the error is this, that what happens is he meets his wife there in Midian, 06:17 he has some kids there in Midian. He has a job that's paid the bills. 06:22 This is the first time he has some family, a sense of belonging, a sense of acceptance, a sense of comfort. 06:28 And he accepts the first circumstances that are good to him. And he assumes they're supposed to be permanent for him. 06:36 And how many of us know that there are times where God will place you somewhere temporarily 06:43 and he will allow you to have some fruitfulness in that space so you know that he is with you, 06:49 but never confuse the place of preparation as a place of permanence. You see, why Moses, he's making a living. 07:00 The bills are getting paid. He can literally see himself dying in Midian his wife and he have a headstone in Midian. 07:08 But I need somebody to understand that just 07:11 because he is being prepared doesn't mean he's supposed to stay there permanently. 07:19 And can I suggest today friends of mine that we are some missing, some have missed God's divine will simply 07:25 because we confused the 07:27 season. We thought this season of fruitful preparation was supposed to be where we were supposed to be permanently. 07:37 And what happened is we confused the first fruits with our lasting fruit. Okay. 07:44 You got to be careful not to settle for first fruits or the first thing you're good at, 07:51 I hate to break it to some of our students, 07:53 but some of the first friends you met here at Oakwood won't be your permanent friends. 08:00 Am I preaching anybody today? 08:02 How many of us understand that some of us were just so glad to have some friends that you try to make permanent friends 08:10 out of those that were supposed to be seasonal friends, God sent them to pass through, not to stick to you. 08:17 Are you all hearing me today? 08:19 See there are some of us that man just chose the first major where it seems to come natural to us. 08:24 And we did not continue on a journey of exploration to try to figure out God's divine purpose and calling for us. 08:32 There are some of us that God assigned to a job just as a stop gap measure to help you pay some bills 08:39 and get through a particular season. But because it's enough to survive, 08:43 you decided you were going to stay there permanently. 08:46 There are some of our young ladies that accepted a date to the first guy that asked to the banquet. 08:52 And some of us carry that same posture to the altar. 08:55 So you'll accept a proposal from the first guy that asks instead of realizing that maybe God has something in store, 09:03 are you all hearing me today? And what I'm saying is that somebody assumes that the first thing is the only thing. 09:09 And even though it's fruitful initially, it does not mean that that's where you are supposed to be permanently. 09:15 See how many of us understand that first doesn't mean forever. 09:23 So sometimes your first friends aren't going to be your forever friends. 09:27 That your first love won't be your forever love. That your first job won't be your forever job, 09:34 that your first ministry might not be your forever ministry. And what Moses is teaching us friends, 09:40 is that sometimes you got to even be willing to pivot away from your first love. 09:48 And let me just say to the pensive and the nervous amongst us that if God can make you fruitful in that season, 10:03 God can make you fruitful in any season. 10:07 [ Congregation: Clapping] 10:09 See, the problem is we confuse the circumstance with the author of the circumstance. 10:14 And so if God can keep you right here, how many of us know that God can keep you wherever he places you? 10:21 And see, and this is why I'm saying you cannot get addicted to the first fruit. 10:26 Are you all here in the past today? In other words, 10:27 you all realize that the fresh fruit was what happened in the harvest season. 10:32 You had first fruit that would break the ground before the rest of the harvest. 10:37 But guess what? When the first fruit broke the ground, they would present them as an offering to God. 10:42 But guess what, man? You celebrated the first fruit. 10:44 Why? Because it was an indication that the rest of the harvest was on the way. 10:51 In other words, you don't sequester the first fruit, you don't herd the first fruit. 10:56 You don't try to eat off the first fruit for the rest of your life. 11:00 It is to build your faith to know that a rest of the harvest is already en route 11:06 and some have missed out on the harvest. Because you still trying to eat on the first fruit. 11:14 Are you hearing me today, my friends? 11:17 And see one of the things I need somebody to get that sometimes when God is calling us to a pivot, 11:22 we lean into the wrong fear. 11:28 See, when God first shows up to Moses, you know what his initial fear is? Man, 11:34 what's going to happen if I leave Midian behind? What's going to happen if I move away from the familiar? 11:44 But do you realize that he was worried about the wrong fear? 11:47 He shouldn't have been worried about what he was going to leave behind. 11:52 He should have been fearing what he would miss out on if he disobeyed God's call. 11:59 Oh God, do you realize that Moses lived one of the most spectacular lives outside of anybody but Jesus Christ? 12:07 Do you realize that if he stayed in Midian, guess what? Then he misses the 10 plagues fall on Egypt. 12:13 If he stays in Midian, guess what? He misses the Passover miracle. If he stays in Midian, 12:20 he never sees God open the Red Sea. He never sees the cloud by day and fire by night, 12:27 he never sees manna fall down from heaven. He never sees water come from a rock. 12:33 He never sees his people leave the land of bondage. The fear should not be what am I going to leave behind, 12:40 the fear ought to be what am I going to miss out on if I stay in the familiar. 12:46 [ Congregation: Clapping] 12:47 He would've missed the miracle of the manna. 12:49 He would've missed the miracle of the water. He would've missed the miracle of the deliveries. 12:53 But do you realize he would've missed out on heaven? [ Congregation: Amen] Oh, God. 12:59 I don't know what he Adventist saw in his room there. Do you realize he would've missed out on heaven? 13:04 Not to say that if he had stayed in Midian, he wouldn't be saved. But if he had stayed in Midian, 13:10 he would still be sleeping. 13:14 How many of us know in Jude, the Bible says that Michael came to resurrect Moses and the devil tried to keep him down, 13:24 but it was the angel of the Lord that said, I rebuke the Satan and he took him all the way up. 13:32 And Moses right now is sitting in the new Jerusalem so that when Jesus was transfigured, guess what? 13:41 Elijah was on one side, Moses was on the other side. 13:46 And the reason he's in the new Jerusalem is because he left old Midian. 13:52 Are you all here in the past of today? [ Congregation: Clapping] 13:55 And what I'm saying to somebody is that your first step toward the new Jerusalem has to be a move away from something. 14:02 Oh, don't miss out on New Jerusalem being loyal to old Huntsville. 14:08 Don't miss out on New Jerusalem being loyal to your old friends. 14:12 Don't miss out on New Jerusalem being loyal to your old friends. 14:13 Don't miss out on new Jerusalem being loyal to your old posse. 14:17 If God is going to get me into new Jerusalem, it's got to start with a new thing right now. 14:24 [ Congregation: Clapping] Are you all hearing me today friends. 14:29 Second thing this story teaches us friends, is that it's never too late to pivot. 14:40 Go with me in your Bibles real quick. Romans chapter 11 verse 29. 14:44 One quick verse I want to share with you Romans 11 and verse 29. 14:48 When you get there with that New Testament, say amen. 14:51 [ Congregation: Amen] 14:52 Romans chapter 11 and verse number 29, 14:55 hear the word of the Lord. See one of the things I just taught you. 14:59 Third thing real quick is that it's never too late to pivot. The Bible says for the gifts 15:05 and the calling of God are irrevocable. Oh God, somebody didn't catch it. Somebody's version says the gift 15:17 or callings of God are without repentance or change. 15:22 See what God is trying to tell us folk, that it doesn't matter how long your gifts have been abandoned, 15:29 God still does not revoke them or repossess them. Oh God. 15:40 In other words, as long as you have breath in your lungs and blood pumping in your veins, 15:49 then God still has a work for you to accomplish. 15:53 See I don't go with some that kind of interpret this text a little bit differently. 15:59 But essentially what it's telling us is that as long as you are living there is time for the miraculous to occur 16:07 in your life. Now it's crazy because some of us, I think we used to teach wrongly that if you don't use your gifts, 16:14 you lose your gifts. No. And it's based on a wrong interpretation of the parable of the talents. 16:20 The one, the man that had the one talent had it taken away, 16:23 but the talent that was taken away is not his spiritual gifts. A talent was a portion of money. 16:30 So what the word is saying is that the gifts and calling of God, oh they have no expiration date. 16:36 They don't spoil, they don't go bad. But as long as you are living God is not going to allow your gifts to be wasted. 16:48 So there is an advocate in Moses that's been dormant for 40 years. 16:55 Now, how many of us understand that when something is dormant, it doesn't mean it's dead. 17:01 And all my nurses and doctors can attest that many of us have viruses that are inside of our bodies that are dormant. 17:08 That they are still there but the right confluence of circumstances stirs them into being they are not dead, 17:17 they are just inactive. 17:19 And what I'm saying is that there are some in the body of Christ that have gifts that have been lying dorment. 17:26 But guess what? They are not dead. And that's why Paul says certain gifts, they don't need to be revived, 17:33 they just need to be stirred up. [ Congregation: Cheering] Are you all hearing what I'm saying today my friends? 17:41 I need to share with you a brief quote here from child guidance. Put this up here real quick. 17:47 I want you to see this because I want us to understand what our obligation is unto God. Listen what she says, 17:54 child guidance. Our first duty to God and to our fellow beings is in self what? 18:01 [development] 18:03 Every faculty with which the creator has endowed us should be cultivated to the highest degree of perfection 18:10 that we may be able to do, the greatest amount of good of which we are capable. 18:17 In other words, friends, I need us again that our first duty to God is not righteousness, it's development. 18:26 It is the right employment of every gift and every faculty under which he has allowed us to be a steward. 18:33 Are you all hearing the pastor today my friends? And see, I need us to understand something very, very powerful. 18:39 So God has put an advocate in Moses that is starting to die. But because the gifts are irrevocable, God says, 18:51 I can't let these gifts get spoiled. You know it's interesting how God trained Moses. He didn't train Moses 18:59 and make him bitter in slavery. He let Moses see oppression through the viewpoint and the worldview of the oppressors. 19:08 So what God did was he let Moses figure out how Egyptians think. He wanted Moses to learn how they process. 19:17 He wanted Moses to learn what they valued. And so you realize that the Israelites have been in slavery for 400 years. 19:25 So everybody that's in slavery now was born into slavery. Slavery is all that they know in the land of Egypt. 19:31 But because Moses lived as a free man and as a head of state, he has traveled outside of Egypt. 19:38 He knows life outside of Egypt. 19:41 He has been on some traveling tours in caravans so that he knows that there is life outside of slavery. 19:48 And that's why God could not raise up one from the slavery because even when it was time to go, 19:54 they were nervous because they had known anything else. But God trained Moses by expanding his worldview. 20:00 In fact, the only way he knew how to escape to Midian is probably cause he had been there at some point before. 20:07 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 20:10 And it's crazy because you realize that God has these amazing ways of training us and preparing us. 20:14 I need somebody to know that God is up to something in your life. 20:19 I need you to know God was not allowing the advocate to die because God made him a shepherd. 20:28 [ Congregation: Amen] 20:31 So that, guess what? When the wolf came upon the flock, guess what? 20:38 The good shepherd had to advocate and stand up on behalf of the flock. 20:44 That when the sheep fell over by the brook, the advocate had to go and stand up the sheep and put him back on all four. 20:52 That when a shepherd strayed from the flock, the advocate would leave the 99 20:57 and go in search of the one that strayed and bring him back. Whenever a lion showed up, 21:02 the advocate would take his rod and go to war on behalf of the flock. 21:07 And I need you to know that God was not allowing the advocate to die, but he was preparing Moses the entire time. 21:17 [ Congregation: Amen] 21:19 God says, listen man, I cannot let these gifts be wasted. Are you all hearing me today? 21:28 And see, one of the things I want to say real quick to somebody is that your time in Midian has not been wasted. Okay, 21:40 I'm going to take my time since we started early today. [ Congregation: Laughing] 21:46 No, no. Since you all are not getting it, let me explain that a little bit more. 21:49 Hey, see, is Moses life behind schedule or is his life right on schedule? 21:59 [ Congregation: Right on schedule] 22:02 And the reason I'm saying this is because there are times where I hear somebody say something in church 22:06 and in the general culture and I used to say amen to it, but I don't know if it's true anymore Mayan. 22:12 Sometimes we'll say something like, I should be further along than I am right now. 22:19 And I don't know if I believe that anymore. 22:22 Some of us operate under the assumption that I should be further than where I am spiritually 22:26 and financially and professionally. But if your steps have been ordered by God, 22:33 should you be further than where you are or are you right now where God has already ordained for you to become? 22:45 In other words, friends, I need you to look at it because when we say I should be further along by now, 22:51 we are usually doing that based upon comparison. We're looking at ourselves juxtaposed against our peers 22:57 and our classmates and folk that we grew up with. And we say man, 23:02 because they're at that place that I should be at that place. But how many of us know that if God orders my steps, 23:07 he orders my stops, he orders my delays that he is the author of everything 23:13 [ Congregation: Clapping] 23:15 that is it work in my life. 23:17 See, to suggest that I should be further along by now is to suggest that God didn't know that you would mess up, 23:24 that he didn't know your mistakes, that he would not take into account your fears. 23:28 But how many of us know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to 23:36 your purpose. So God knew every mess up and he took it all into consideration. What do you mean pastor? 23:47 God called Samson to kill the Philistines. He took his holler tree into consideration so that even though he had messed up, 23:59 he still found his way by some pillars and his hair began to grow back 24:06 and he killed more in his death than he killed in his living. God told Peter, you are going to deny me three times. 24:16 But he says, when you are converted, I want you to strengthen your brethren. 24:21 Remember God allowed Joseph to go to the pit and into the jail, 24:27 but God was still taking what his brothers meant for evil and turning it around and using it for good. 24:33 God took Saul's gift that was persecuting the church knocked him off of his high horse 24:40 and turned him around in the direction of what God had planned for him. 24:46 How many of us know that when Jehovah is your GPS, you can never be lost. 24:57 Oh God, I'm going to preach it if it am all by myself. When God is your GPS, guess what? You can't never be lost. 25:04 Sometimes I drive with my GPS on even when I know where I'm going. 25:09 And so sometimes it'll tell me to go left and I'll decide to go right. 25:14 But because the GPS has taken every road into a consideration, guess what? 25:21 It knows everywhere you turn. So when you go the wrong way, the GPS doesn't say I quit. 25:27 [ Congregation: Laughing] 25:29 It doesn't say I'm done. It doesn't say they too stupid. It doesn't say they won't listen to me. 25:34 It doesn't say I'm done with them. It just keeps recalculating and recalculating and recalculating. 25:45 And the further wrong I go, the more it recalculates me and gets me where I was supposed to be in the first place. 25:57 So I still wind up at my destination. Are you all hearing the preacher this afternoon? 26:07 Have you ever wondered why life is so painful? Have you ever questioned whether or not the pain will ever end? 26:15 Have you ever just stood in need of some hope? I want you to know that trouble won't last Always. 26:22 This summer, Breath Of Life Ministry will be coming to Seattle, Washington, 26:27 where I'll be preaching a two week revival under the theme “Almost Home.” 26:32 These messages are designed to teach us that this world and its horrors are passing away. 26:39 We'll be meeting from July 16 through July the 30th each night at 7 p.m., 26:45 with the exceptions of Tuesday and Thursday evenings. 26:49 I'll be joined in partnership by gospel recording artist Karen Clark Sheard, Jonathan Nelson, Lucinda Moore 26:57 and Tamara Bodie. Dinner is going to be served each night from 6 to 7:00 pm 27:03 and there'll be special programing for your little ones between the ages of four and ten years old. 27:10 The services are going to be held at the Emerald City Community, SDA Worship Center. 27:15 It's an in-person event only, so you've got to come in person. For more information, 27:21 go to our website at www.BreathofLife .TV. I look forward to seeing you where we're going to have great food, 27:29 great fellowship and the Word of God. I need you to know that this world and its horrors are passing. 27:35 And Dorothy said it best that there is no place like home. 28:15 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:37 [END] |
Revised 2023-07-14