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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000083S
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00:07 Sermon #S043 - When Enough Is Enough (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 00:26 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful Message “Enough is Enough.” 00:35 Now, let's go deeper into the word of God! 00:40 Pastor Snell: And so, I need you to know friends of mine, that one victory. Oh, let me slow it down. 00:48 See, when you celebrate the victory, it's not just about how God allowed you to conquer what was in the past. 00:55 It's actually God strengthening you for what's ahead. See some of us still nervous, you're scared in the house of God. 01:03 See, I need you to know that man, you are in one of three phrases as it relates to trials. You either coming out of a trial, 01:13 you are either in the trial, come on, talk back to me, or you are about to go right back into a trial. 01:19 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? So that you'll go from one uncertainty to another uncertainty, 01:24 one hardship to another hardship from one loss to another loss. 01:28 But before you get discouraged, what I need you to be careful of is never confuse graduation with promotion. 01:37 [Congregation: Clapping] 01:40 No. Saints never confused graduating with being promoted. Now, I hated to be the barer of bad news. 01:46 Were coming to the end of a school year. So my kids men who are singing across town, it's crazy because man, they are so hype, man. 01:53 My oldest is so hype about going to the eighth grade. And it's crazy because man, he is like the eighth graders get to bring their phones 01:59 and the eighth graders get to have longer lunch, and the eighth graders get to do this outside. 02:03 I can't wait to get promoted to the next grade and listen, I don't want to be a jerk, 02:08 but I'm like, son, do you realize what it means to be promoted? Promotion is when the teacher certifies. 02:17 That you can handle a certain amount of work on this level. So they going to promote you to handle work or stress on another level. 02:26 And see, I need you to know what promotion is. Promotion is when God says you could handle this level of faith. 02:35 So I'm going to send you to another level of faith. But never confuse promotion with graduation 02:44 because you just going to get promoted from one level to the next level. As we await for the commencement, 02:52 there is a graduation. Oh y'all not hearing me. There is a graduation when the trumpet sounds, 03:01 oh God, there is going to be a graduation from life's sorrows. And guess what? You won't have on a graduation robe, 03:10 but you'll put on a long white robe. God is not going to give you a graduation cap, but he's going to give you a crown of life. 03:20 That God won't let you graduate summa cum laude or magna cum laude. But when we see the scars in his hands, we'll say, thank the Lord. 03:33 I'm grateful for the graduation that takes place when Jesus comes. Are y'all hearing the word today friends? So Elijah, friends of mine, 03:47 I need you to get, he has a moment, but Elijah, he is an authentic follower of God. 03:55 But we find him in this moment in a place of despair, dissonance, and a fatal jadedness has tapped its way into his soul. 04:07 So man, she tells Elijah, man, you got about 20... you got to the same time tomorrow to be about... you ain't got to go home, 04:15 but you better get up out of here. And it's crazy because man, Elijah man begins to take his stuff and he begins to bounce. 04:23 He begins to go to Bathsheba where he drops his servant off and he goes so far into the wilderness where he cannot be detected by human inquiry. 04:34 And the Bible friends of mine literally says that he sits down under this juniper tree and he tells God I'm done. 04:42 He hands God his resignation and he says, I'm no better than my father's and I need you to know that he is in such a dark place. 04:51 That death feels like a way up from where he is. He says, God enough is enough. 05:02 Church, have you ever been in that place where you just felt like enough is enough. 05:11 Man, I know you love the Lord, but have you ever been in that space where you just felt like you've had your tipping point, 05:18 where you felt like God had wrongly assessed how much you are able to bear, where you felt like you had gotten to your breaking point, 05:25 where you just felt like you could not take it anymore? 05:32 And It's crazy because Elijah is in a dark place. And you know friends, 05:38 one of the things I love about the Bible is that it's not just a hype book for Jesus. 05:45 The scripture is transparent with man's flaws and frailties and how we come short of the glory of God. 05:52 And see what Elijah's story teaches us, is that even when you're a person of faith, you can get overwhelmed as a person of faith. 06:00 You can become anxious. As a person of faith, you can get sidetracked. As a person of faith, you can get tempted and fall. 06:08 As a person of faith, you can get so depressed that the only way out seems like it is to leave this life. 06:15 I need you to know that even the greatest amongst us lose our hold on God. And Elijah lets us know how dark life can get 06:29 and what place you can find yourself in. But I do want to encourage you not to just agree with one portion of the story 06:37 because this is what Elijah shows us. Elijah says it's possible for you to drift into the dark place, 06:44 but it also teaches us that if you can get into it, then God can bring you out of that same place. 06:59 So Elijah, Y'all Go get mad. I got mad. He listens, man. He don't... he sends the resume resignation and signs it at the bottom. 07:16 He says, God, I quit. He says, God, I'm done. He says, God ain't fooling with you no more. He says, God, enough is enough. 07:31 And there is this critical truth that I need the church to understand. It is this that you don't get to tell God when you've had enough. 07:41 God tells you when you've had enough. You don't get to tell God when you quit. God tells you when your work is done. 07:53 You don't get to tell God when you are finished. God tells you when you are finished. 07:59 Do you realize Elijah has so little sovereignty over his own life that he can't even die on his own terms? 08:08 God said, who gave you permission to die? I hold the least on your breath. I got the remote control to your heartbeat. 08:17 I'm the Bluetooth to your brain activity, as long as I will you here. Get up because we still got some work to do. 08:32 Are you hearing me today friends? And see there's some things that God does for Elijah that I'm going to talk about in just a moment. 08:39 But see there is a larger principle for the body of Christ to digest. And it is this that we are not our own. 08:48 It is why Ephesians says that you are God's workmanship and that create good great works, have been created in you ahead of time. 08:57 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? And see, we've got to get to the place where we accept some realities that we are potter. 09:08 Excuse me, that he is potter, and that we are clay, that we are instrument and he is musician. That we are tool and he is contractor. 09:21 That he is remote control and we are the vehicle. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? And see I need us to understand this, 09:29 because there's a question that some of us need to evaluate as we think about setting aside or stepping away from certain responsibilities. 09:36 The question is, did you quit or did God release you? No, this is a question you got to answer yourself. 09:48 Because see, I need you to understand that a purpose of God, you don't get to quit. Ooh, y'all going to get mad. 09:56 You got to be released from an assignment. So, that your boy Moses, when he struck the rock the second time, he didn't quit. 10:04 God just said, listen, all right Moses, you're done. Let me call somebody else in. You've taken it as far as you can go. 10:13 In other words, you're not quitting the job, but guess what, Your work is done. I'm going to let you die Moses. 10:18 But guess what, I'm going to take you on back up to glory. And see there's a word for the people of God 10:25 because true workers of God don't retire. 10:27 They repurpose So I know ministry leader, you resigned. But the question is, were you released? Volunteer, 10:43 I know you resigned from the position, but the question is, were you released by God from the position? 10:50 I know you quit your job over there serving those folk, but the question is, 10:54 did God release you from serving those folk you didn't want to be around? 10:58 I know you quit or divorced the remarriage. But the question is, did God release you from the marriage? 11:06 And see, I need somebody to get that when you quit, I need you to know that it disrupts the flow of God's blessings toward your life. 11:13 But guess what? When you are released by God, there is a peace and God blesses you for the next venture that is ahead of you. 11:21 But I need somebody to make sure that you know the difference between peace and ease. There is no peace when you quit. 11:32 But guess what? There is an ease when you quit. In other words, it's easy for the moment, 11:37 but I need somebody to understand that that ease is temporary. It's going to ultimately be replaced by regrets and what ifs and questions. 11:46 And did I bail out on God too quickly? 11:51 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? And see, I need somebody to understand why God won't let you determine when you've had enough. 12:04 Y'all still here church? There's a reason why God won't let you make that assessment. 12:13 How many of us believe that as humans we all have a breaking point? The reason God won't let you make that assessment is 12:20 because your breaking point is perceived. How many of us know that what you think is your breaking point is not your actual breaking point? 12:43 How many of us know that you think you can only go this far but God knows how far you can go? 12:55 Do you realize there's a difference between what you think you can bear and what God knows you're able to bear? 13:04 And see, that's why God will not allow you to determine when enough is actually enough. 13:10 Only the one who created you knows where the actual breaking point is. It's crazy. 13:18 I remember being right here in this city. I was pastoring in another place at the time I was a little bit younger 13:23 and I had got a grown little weary mark with small church life and no growth and things not moving forward and some of the messy, 13:30 dramatic politics of church life. And I was just like, man Lord, there's got to be more to it than this. 13:38 And it's crazy because I was here at camp meeting man walking around full of frustration and anger 13:42 and my father-in-law at the time was doing some work documenting the great evangelist EE Cleveland. 13:47 And so he took me over to his apartment, and it's crazy because when I was there I didn't say really anything besides hello sir 13:53 and goodbye sir when we left. But it's crazy. This man was so filled with the spirit of God when he found out where his Pastor is. 14:00 He says, I knew there... he says many pastors went there to die. But he looked at me, he said, you don't look like one that's destined to die. 14:12 And he says, I know it may be hard, but he said something I'll never forget. He says, it may bend you but it ain't going to break you. 14:22 And it's crazy. He laid hands and prayed and it changed the whole trajectory of my life 14:27 because I need you to know there was a point where I thought I couldn't take it no more, 14:32 but God was bending me but it was not going to break me. And God's word to somebody is you are in a bending season 14:42 but there is no breakage anywhere close by. 14:46 Alright. See some of y'all are still looking at me strange. Can I get the old folk to help me preach for a moment? 14:52 Can I get some folk who've ever been through something to help the preacher out? Anybody ever had a season in life? 14:58 Whether it was a death, a loss, a job loss, a slander, a betrayal man. 15:03 And it was so hard you thought you wasn't going to never make it through. 15:08 Anybody ever had that illness that had you calling on God and wondering if God heard. 15:13 You ever had that season in your marriage where you saw the travail of your soul, 15:17 and you wonder whether or not God had forgotten about you. 15:20 Anybody ever had a pain in your body so great that you didn't think you were going to make it to the end of the week? 15:26 Has anybody ever been in that season where you thought you were at your breaking point? But here's the shout. 15:35 That was 10 years ago, 20 years ago, five years ago. And there was a point you thought you couldn't go no further, 15:45 but you look back on it and realize that was light affliction and you've been through 10 things harder than that one thing. 15:55 And it's why God won't let you determine when you've had enough. Because God knows what's in you. He knows what has to be done 16:05 and there is strength you can't see. A portion, you can't access, a hope that you can't glean. And if you hold on to God's unchanging hand, 16:17 if he brought you to it, he'll see you through it. Stay with me church. Why do you pay a personal trainer? 16:30 You don't pay them to tell you what to do. You pay them to push you. Oh God. In other words, when you would do 10 by yourself, 16:43 when you get to 10 the trainer says give me five more. See, their job is to get out of you all that he's put inside of you. 16:52 And I need you to know Jehovah is the personal trainer for the character of the saints of God. And when you think you can only get to 10, 17:02 Jesus says, give me five more, give 10 more, give me 15 more. There's more in you. And when you can't take it, Jesus gives you a spot 17:17 and carries what you cannot carry. Are y'all hearing the word today friends? Listen, I'm almost done. 17:33 Third, next thing is to teach you real quick, the reason Elijah had enough is because he didn't have enough. 17:44 Now I'm praying this course helps somebody to course correct today. 17:47 Now, this going to help somebody very practical thing and listen, I'm almost done. 17:51 But see we find Elijah here, man your boy, he's done man. He is emotionally depleted man. 17:54 He's mentally scarred man. He is at a place of complete disgust and suicidal man. He don't think he can go no further. 18:01 And it's crazy because I don't know if in the first time Elijah falls asleep or if he just passes out. 18:10 But I want you to see the miracle in what God does and then what God doesn't do. So Elijah goes to sleep, angel comes, wakes him up, 18:24 and guess what he does? He's got some bread baking on coals and he tells Elijah to eat something. 18:32 Then he lets Elijah go to sleep for a long time. And when he wakes him up, guess what he does? 18:38 He tells him to eat something again. Some of y'all have missed this. Understand that when Elijah is at his breaking point, 18:47 the God doesn't give him a vision. God doesn't give him a dream, God doesn't give him more of the Holy Ghost. 18:54 God doesn't tamper with his mortal nature. What God simply does is help Elijah get back in rhythm by giving him rest and nourishment. 19:09 See, the reason Elijah had enough is because he didn't have enough. See, I need you to get that on the worst day of Elijah's life. 19:20 You know what God did? is he helped him get his life back in balance. 19:26 See, I need you to understand that Elijah has began to develop some habits that even though they made him strong in the spiritual, 19:33 they created some detrimental effects that will harm anybody that's still touched by mortality. Are y'all with me today Friends? 19:42 So remember now man, because of the drought man, Elijah has not eaten in some time. And then after he calls fire down from heaven 19:51 and the prophets of Baal are executed, go back and read it. 19:55 The Bible says that he runs ahead of Ahab on foot all the way to the land of Jezebel. 20:02 So Elijah's in a place where he is physically depleted, he is already worn down. And guess what? 20:08 He is so overwhelmed because of what he does not have. Now watch this. Elijah is spiritual. He is on pursuits for God, 20:20 he is running divine errands. But I need somebody to get this point that a spiritual surplus will not eliminate an earthly deficit. Oh God. 20:31 In other words, just because he is strong on this side doesn't mean he gets to neglect the other areas of human experience. 20:43 So, that a part of your assignment is to be filled with the spirit. Come on and say amen. It is to accomplish what God has put before you. 20:49 But guess what? You cannot like Elijah, get to a place where your withdrawals have exceeded your deposits lest you are destined for breakdown. 21:03 Are y'all hearing me today? And see the rhythm reason that some of us don't have enough is because we are out of the rhythm of rest 21:11 and nourishment. See, the reason that some of us are messed up is because we have succumbed to what Dr. Daniels refers to as grind to culture. 21:22 In other words, we're man man, I'm just going to grind. I just got to go out and get it man. I got to go and overwork myself 21:27 and see what it is, is where man I compromise my inner wellness in order to procure outer wellness. In other words, 21:35 where I compromise my health, my family, my inner being, my spiritual life for the procurement or the... 21:41 to be able to have access to things which ultimately perish. 21:46 See, grind culture has began to infect the church so much so that man we have gotten out of the rhythm of rest 21:52 and even sabbath because we think that we got to go and build this empire. 21:58 Why you trying to build an empire when you ought to be living for the kingdom? Are you hearing what I'm saying? It's crazy. 22:07 Malcolm I was listening to a podcast this week where Steve Harvey man, and I get what he was trying to say. 22:11 He made a statement, man, that essentially man alluded to grind culture. Which essentially said man, 22:16 that there's no way you can sleep eight hours a day and be a success. 22:21 And he based it on the formula that eight hours is one third of the day. 22:24 So he said if you sleep eight hours a day, then you sleep one third of your life. 22:29 But I would rather sleep eight hours a day and live 90 years than to sleep four hours a day, 22:36 have a house and live to be 45. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? 22:43 And see there is somebody that will not receive this because you're not in touch with your mortality yet. 22:49 There is an effect of imbalance. Do you realize man, God blesses Elijah with a nap. He lets him sleep 23:02 because you realize that there are some specific detriments that are the result of sleep deprivation. 23:08 There are some specific health maladies. Do you realize that as a result of sleep deprivation we suffer heart disease, kidney disease, 23:15 high blood pressure, diabetes, likelihood of stroke, obesity, depression, mood issues, memory loss, concentration issues, 23:25 weakened immunity and irritability just because we don't get enough rest every night. Are y'all hearing me today? 23:37 And see a lack of sleep, the way we subsidize it is by dependence upon energy drinks and stimulants and we spend our whole fortunate Starbucks. 23:52 I'm going to mess with you for a minute. Some of us spend more time at Starbucks than we do with the bright and Morning star. 23:59 Y'all might be quiet in here today. 24:02 And it's crazy because what we do is we use certain things to subsidize the abuse of the body. 24:11 And I want you to hear this because one night of sleep ain't going to fix everything. 24:16 I'm talking about a consistent rhythm of rest that gives you the highest possible likelihood of 24:22 becoming everything that God has wanted you to be. And see the crazy thing is that man, when the body begins to break down, 24:29 what we do is we begin to petition God and say God I need a miracle. The truth is, some of us don't need a miracle, we need an adjustment. 24:37 No, We don't need a health miracle. We need some health adjustments. And the reason that God won't give some a health miracle is 24:45 because if you don't make the health adjustment, your lack of adjustment will nullify the miracle. Ooh, it's hard truth up in here today. 24:57 So we are not made to live life overloaded. It's crazy right now. This Monday I am waiting on the repairman to come 25:07 because my washing machine is down. You know why it's down? because I got some folk in my house that don't want to wash several loads. 25:18 They going to stuff four or five in one little basket. And it's crazy because the washer has operated man, great for the last couple of years. 25:28 So understand that overload man ain't going to break it down once but cumulatively over time. I'm about to pay a whole lot of money. 25:42 But there's a greater consequence for the overload of this and the overload of soul. It ain't going to kill you right away, 25:52 but in time something is going to short circuit. Are y'all hearing what I'm day saying? Ooh, I need to end this. 25:58 But not only do we not have enough sleep, we don't have enough sabbath. See, some of us man don't keep Sabbath. 26:13 All we did was add church to a bunch of other responsibilities that we never stop doing. 26:20 It is why we are as stressed at the start of the week as we are at the end of the week. 26:24 The reason we are afraid of Sunday morning, the reason we tired on Monday is because we never experienced any sabbath. 26:31 Oh, you might as well say amen to this word today. The reason man that we are still tired at the start of the week is 26:39 because we're outside of God's rhythm of rest. Where every seventh day of the week we are supposed to cease from our labors 26:47 and be renewed in Jesus Christ. Are are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? It's not just about going to church on the right day. 26:56 It's about entering into a covenant that allows me to have connection with the Savior. 27:02 It is about being plugged in so that the same way my cell phone gets recharged when I plug into the wall, 27:09 when I cease from my labors and plug into Jesus, my battery gets refueled. 28:12 [Breath Of Life Music] 28:31 [END] |
Revised 2023-08-22