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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000093S
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00:05 Sermon #S048 - It Doesn't Matter What You Meant (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television 00:22 Ministry broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:26 In today's episode, 00:28 Pastor Snell will continue part two of the 00:31 powerful message titled It Doesn't Matter What You Meant. 00:36 Now let's go deeper 00:39 into the Word of God. 00:44 Second thing this story teaches us today, friends 00:47 who are like this. 00:49 LEWIS Second thing Joseph teaches us 00:52 is that God will bless you so good 00:57 that He'll make you unrecognizable 00:59 to your enemies. 01:03 Oh, George. 01:07 God will bless you so good 01:11 that your enemies won't even 01:13 recognize you now. 01:18 Church. 01:18 Ain't this a blip 01:22 where life has come 01:24 so full circle for Joseph 01:27 that the very ones that sold him into slavery 01:32 have to come into Egypt to buy grain and they somehow 01:37 wind up at his feet, just like 01:41 he told them they would in his. 01:44 Oh, God. 01:46 And it's 01:47 crazy, because I need you to get that, man. 01:50 God has blessed Joseph so strong. 01:53 That man. 01:54 He has blessed him to be such a strong and capable 01:58 and competent man that his brothers don't 02:02 even recognize that weak and trembling 02:06 approval needing brother that they put inside the pit. 02:11 And I just want to encourage for a moment 02:14 somebody who is still in process. 02:17 I want to talk to somebody who is still in development. 02:20 I want to talk to somebody who's still trying to deal 02:23 with the pain. 02:24 I want to talk to that person 02:26 who still can't sleep all the way through the night 02:28 because there's still echoes in your head 02:30 about what happened in your life. 02:32 I need somebody to know that it won't always hurt this bad. 02:37 You won't always be this afraid. 02:40 You will always have this kind of anger. 02:43 You will always have these type of reactions. 02:46 Because God is gonna grow you and bless you 02:50 and anoint you to the point where your perpetrators 02:53 cannot even recognize you 02:59 and see what's this reason, Malcolm? 03:01 The reason they can't recognize Joseph is not just 03:05 his physical maturity and development of the years. 03:09 It's not just that they haven't seen Joseph in a long time. 03:12 The reason they can't recognize Joseph 03:15 is because of his placement. 03:23 They just didn't expect 03:24 Joseph to be where he is. 03:27 And because they couldn't imagine him becoming 03:31 what he became, they couldn't believe it when he became it. 03:35 Oh, God. 03:37 Oh, let me say it again, 03:39 because I can imagine him becoming what he became. 03:42 They could even believe it when they saw that he became head. 03:47 You see, I need somebody to get this critical truth 03:50 down in your soul. 03:53 See, they made a prediction about what 03:56 Joseph's life would be based upon the dirt that they did 04:02 see. They thought that if 04:03 we ever see Joseph again, he's going to be a beggar. 04:07 He's going to be a squatter. 04:09 That he'll be a slave or maybe he'll respond 04:12 with such vengeance because of what was done to him. 04:16 And the reason they can't recognize Joseph 04:19 is they predicted an outcome because of their dirt, 04:23 because they hadn't experienced the goodness of God. 04:27 They can't even recognize the goodness of God when it's 04:31 applied to the most violated of our time. 04:34 And the reason he remains disguised is because Joseph does 04:39 not like what he's been through. 04:44 Oh. Has anybody in this room 04:47 ever been lumped into a statistic testicle category 04:51 that because your life took a certain turn? 04:55 There are certain folk 04:56 that could only anticipate your demise, 04:59 and they're going to be some that because they didn't 05:02 value you, they'll assume nobody else would value you. 05:06 They assume because they couldn't see it in 05:08 you that no one else or God would be able to see it in you. 05:12 And I need you to know that Joseph's greatest revenge 05:16 was not acting out in anger. 05:18 His greatest revenge was just in becoming. 05:24 Who got called him to be? 05:26 No. No doubt. Need to get this. 05:28 His revenge was not putting a knife to their throat. 05:31 History. 05:32 Revenge was in becoming who God ordained him to become. 05:37 Oh, God. I need to hear this today. 05:40 I need you to know your greatest revenge is just in becoming 05:47 who God called you to become. 05:51 Your victory is not in berating is in becoming. 05:55 It's not in bullying. 05:57 It's in becoming. 05:59 It's not in clapping back. 06:01 It's in becoming. 06:02 It's not in returning the favor. 06:04 It's in becoming who? 06:06 God or danger to become. 06:11 See, I need some sister to know 06:14 that there's going to come a day 06:16 when that one act sees who you become. 06:21 Going to have to look three times 06:24 because he won't even recognize the woman you've become. 06:28 In other words, there's going to come a day 06:30 where you become so strong and so confident 06:34 and so able that those who bullied you as kid 06:37 won't even recognize who you have become. 06:42 That's going to come a day when that guidance counselor 06:45 who said you one college material is going to choke on 06:49 that words when they see who you have become. 06:54 There's going to come a day when the daddy that walked out 06:57 the door is going to regret leaving you behind 07:00 when he sees what you have become. 07:03 And guess what? 07:04 When you become it, guess what? 07:06 You ain't got to say how you like me. Now. 07:09 You ain't got to clap back. 07:11 You ain't got to say I told you so. 07:13 You ain't got to throw it up in your face. 07:15 Show kindness as you become. 07:18 And it'll be like throwing hot coals of fire 07:21 all over their head. 07:24 Don't retaliate. 07:25 Just become. Don't bully. 07:28 Just be calm. 07:30 Don't cut back. 07:32 Just be calm. 07:34 Don't out them on social media. 07:37 Just be calm. 07:39 Don't shoot back. 07:40 Just be calm. 07:44 Who God has ordained you to become. 07:49 Oh, you are? 07:49 Hear me today. 07:54 And this is crazy. 07:56 Cos Joseph's brothers, 07:58 when they see him, they shoot 08:04 like, oh, snap. 08:07 It's just like, how can it be, Joseph? 08:12 And it's crazy, Anthony. 08:14 Because when he sees their dismay, he's like, Yo, chill 08:22 it. Don't take all that. 08:23 Right, right, right, right. 08:24 Notice words 08:26 also say he's this cool, this other side of the bell. 08:29 He's saying, You sold me, 08:33 but God sent me 08:37 none of no goodness. 08:38 He doesn't react with vitriolic vengeance. 08:41 He says, You sold me. 08:43 But it was God who sent me. 08:45 He says, It don't matter what you meant. 08:49 I don't care what you meant. 08:51 You meant it for evil. 08:53 But God turned it around and used it for good. 08:57 It's almost as if Joseph is saying 09:00 thank you. 09:05 It's like Joseph 09:07 is saying Thank you for not believing in me. 09:10 Thank you for doubting me. 09:13 Thank you for rejecting me. 09:15 Thank you for not receiving me. 09:18 Thank you for not including me. 09:20 Because in so doing, God used your evil 09:24 to help me get where I am today. 09:27 And do I have at least seven or eight felt 09:30 that need to say ain't you 09:33 to some perpetrators today? 09:36 Thank you for not hiring me. 09:39 Thank you for doubting my potential. 09:42 Thank you for not going out on a date. 09:45 Thank you for breaking my heart. 09:48 Thank you for not being my friend. 09:51 Thank you for on following me on Twitter. 09:54 Thank you for unfriending me on your Instagram. 09:57 Because when you unfriended me, I found a friend and 10:03 and Jesus 10:05 dot the one who sticks closer than a brother. 10:10 It doesn't matter how you meant it because God tells 10:15 what you made for evil and recites it for your good 10:20 man its crazy. 10:23 See, sometimes man don't keep hating on them. 10:26 You got to thank them for the role that God against 10:29 their will use them to play. 10:33 Because I remember coming up, man, I was, you know, 10:35 kind of in the middle in the cousins bunch 10:37 and you know, like most the serials we see in bodies 10:39 are you eat Frosted Flakes back in the day. 10:42 Now that's crazy because like my older cousins, 10:45 whenever some sit down, 10:46 they were kind of pushed me to the side and bully me. 10:48 And then they would get like, man, the first fruit from the 10:51 cereal box. 10:53 I remember one Sunday morning, 10:54 Mandy just pushed me to the side and guess what, man? 10:57 They pushed me. 10:58 Three or four of them got in front 10:59 and they ate the cereal before I did. 11:03 But I need to know that even though they ate before me, 11:06 I didn't get mad. 11:08 You know what I said? 11:10 I said, thank you. 11:13 Now, they looked at me crazy, but the reason I said thank you 11:17 is how many of us know that even though you get the big flakes 11:19 on the top end of the box, 11:24 all the sugar 11:28 and all of the sugar, 11:32 which is what I wanted, was at the bottom of the bag. 11:37 And that day I didn't just come for the cereal, 11:40 but anybody remember they used to put a toy in the box. 11:46 And I didn't really want the cereal. 11:48 I just wanted the toy at the bottom. 11:50 And all they did was get what I didn't need out the way 11:56 so I could 11:56 get exactly what I came for. 11:59 And can I suggest that sometimes 12:02 when they push it to the side, say thank you? 12:06 Because what you need is sometimes 12:09 not at the top, but it's at the bottom. 12:14 Third thing this teaches real quick, quick, quick 12:18 is that there is no secret 12:21 that remains hidden. 12:27 You see, the only thing 12:28 more remarkable than Joseph's rise 12:33 is how God 12:35 literally brings everything completely 12:38 full circle in his life. 12:42 I mean, 12:44 it literally looks like a Hollywood producer, 12:46 a writer wrote it out just the way it played out. 12:51 So, I mean, it's crazy 12:53 because I mean, literally that God uses the one 12:57 that they sold into slavery 13:00 to help prepare Egypt during the years of plenty so 13:04 that they can preserve everybody in the years of famine. 13:08 And it's amazing how that same famine in Canaan 13:12 is what drives them right there to the feet of Joseph 13:16 in the same posture that Joseph saw in his dreams. 13:21 And it's crazy. 13:22 I need you to think about this. 13:24 Like they. 13:25 It was almost a perfect crime 13:30 after they throw Joseph into the pit. 13:32 What they do 13:33 is they 13:33 collude around their land 13:35 and make sure it ain't got no holes in it. 13:37 Then on top of that, they tamper with the evidence 13:41 because they take Joseph's coat of many colors 13:44 and they dip it in the blood of a deceased, our dead animal. 13:48 So to show it to Jacob and I need you to know that 13:51 Jacob is so convinced that he grieves with such gravity 13:55 that the Bible says that he refuses 13:58 to be comforted. 14:02 And it's crazy because they get away with the lie 14:05 for over 20 years. 14:10 For 20 years. 14:11 They've not face justice for 20 years. 14:14 Is yet to come. 14:15 Come on them. 14:16 For 20 years, 14:18 it looks as if they have gotten away with a perfect crime. 14:22 But I need somebody to understand that even though 14:26 they've not gone to an earthly jail, what it shows is that 14:29 when you avoid human capture, what happens is God 14:33 says, You've got to deal with me now. 14:37 See, I need you to know that they are 14:40 they do something worse than prison, because in prison 14:43 you do your time and you'll get released. 14:45 But guess what? 14:46 When you deal with God, you literally become a prisoner 14:50 in the haunted house of your brain. 14:55 What do you mean by that? 14:56 So remember when Joseph shows up 14:58 and when Joseph tests them and says, Man, 15:02 when you all got to stay here, the rest of you, I'll go back. 15:03 What is their automatic assumption? 15:07 They automatically assume 15:09 the reason this is happening 15:13 is because of what we did to our brother Joseph. 15:17 In other words, ain't nothing bad even happened to them yet, 15:20 but you realize they've been bracing for it 15:25 for over 20 years. 15:27 And how many of us know 15:28 that sometimes the anticipating of judgment 15:31 is actually worse 15:32 than if you just go ahead and get it over with? 15:36 Like I can remember back in the day 15:37 when like, your parents are going to punish you, 15:39 but then they don't do it right away 15:43 and they just let you sit and think about that choice. 15:46 Sometimes you just want to be like, 15:47 Dad, just get it over with because. 15:50 Cause sometimes just waiting for it to happen can be real. 15:54 Hear what I'm saying? 15:56 And see, I need to know. 15:57 This is not the first time they assume that I need to know 16:01 for 20 years. 16:02 Every time something bad happens, 16:06 they assume this is Joseph catching up with us. 16:10 Every time they stop, they're told they like, 16:12 Oh, snap. 16:13 This is because of what I did to Joseph. 16:15 Every time they catch a cold, they're like, 16:16 This is because of what we did to Joseph. 16:19 Every time they'd get a flu, this was like 16:20 because of what we did to Joseph. 16:22 Every time an enemy attacks, 16:23 they think this is because of what we did to Joseph. 16:26 Every time the money gets low, they think this is because 16:28 of what we did to Joseph. 16:29 Every time something doesn't go their way, 16:31 they think this is because of what we did to Joseph. 16:33 Every time a thunderstorm comes, they think this is because 16:36 of what we did to Joseph. 16:37 And when the famine comes on the land, 16:39 they automatically assume that this is God's judgment. 16:43 Because what we did to Joseph 16:47 and say, I need somebody to understand this critical truth, 16:50 because what the word is showing us today, friends of mine, 16:53 that even when there is no immediate earthly justice, 16:59 that God has prisons that you can't see. 17:03 And I want to say to every offended person 17:06 or victim in this room that there is nothing 17:09 that escapes the eye sight of God, 17:12 that those that have harmed you, they will not get away. 17:16 They will not be vindicated. 17:18 They will not be excused when they escape 17:21 earthly confines. 17:22 They got to sit before him. 17:26 Now, I do need to say this is the tough part because, 17:28 see, sometimes justice can be slow 17:33 and at other times 17:34 justice is private, not on a go really like this. 17:41 But sometimes God keeps the justice of the offender private 17:47 because if he made it public, 17:49 your desire to be vindicated may cause you to rejoice 17:53 in their suffering, and you lose your soul in the process. 17:58 So God says, Let me keep this from you 18:01 so I can keep hale for all y'all not hear me today. 18:07 And this is the other tough part, 18:09 and it's what makes Grace so offensive. 18:12 Sometimes God makes justice slow 18:16 so that the wicked have room enough to repent. 18:21 No, no. I knew you weren't going out with me on this today. 18:23 But understand, if you actually read Genesis 42 of the 50, 18:27 it becomes clear that the brothers have changed. 18:29 That time has done something to them, 18:32 that there is a contrition now that was not there, as he 18:35 sometimes meant God who desires to see all men. So 18:44 that does he want to see all men say 18:47 Now, no, 18:51 the God who wants to see all men saved 18:55 No. You ought to rejoice that He wants all men to be saved. 19:00 You ought to shout that He wants all men to be saved. 19:04 Be careful about lamenting about 19:07 people not getting what they deserve 19:10 because that same grace is what's keeping you 19:15 from getting exactly what 19:18 what you deserve. 19:21 And I'm saying this to the perpetrators of hurt 19:24 and dark and and harm upon the people of God. 19:27 I need you to know that you are not going to get away with it. 19:30 Jesus says that which has been done in 19:32 the darkness is going to come to the light. 19:35 And Ecclesiastes, God says, 19:36 I'm going to bring every work into the judgment 19:39 with every secret thing, 19:41 whether it be good or whether it be evil. 19:43 I need somebody to make sure that you understand that 19:47 just because there is slow justice, 19:49 it doesn't mean that there won't be no justice. 19:51 That sometimes the God who is slow to anger 19:55 and abundant in mercy is just leaving enough 19:59 room for you to repent. 20:05 He had a crazy thing happen with time 20:08 you got up like my dad had a theme in about his supper. 20:11 He always wanted socks to be clean and white. 20:14 So even when we borrowed him, 20:15 we would not obey the rules like we should. 20:17 And so, you know, sometimes I would go outside 20:20 in his socks in the bottom of them, 20:22 be as black as the ground on the outside. 20:25 So one day when I was in his socks, men go outside, 20:28 you know, play 20:29 one of my friends and I go outside 20:30 and I walk all over the ground with socks and they dirty. 20:33 And so because I'm too lazy to wash this up, 20:37 I say, Well, I want to throw him away, 20:41 but I had to try to throw away evidence before, and then they 20:43 found it in the trash. 20:45 So I said, What I'm going to do is, is 20:47 I'm going to go in the back yard and I'm going to dig a hole. 20:53 Don't judge me. 20:54 I mean, 20:55 oh, God, I can't believe this. 20:56 This is our pastor. Yes. 20:58 He looks beyond our faults. Yeah. 21:01 So I buried the socks in the ground, 21:03 and our little dog, Coco in the back is watching right. 21:09 So the next day, I come home from school 21:11 cookout and went and dug a hole in the ground 21:15 and he got the socks in his mouth 21:18 and he bring them to me like he and did something good. 21:20 I'm like, Oh, snap. 21:23 So I take the socks out of his mouth, 21:25 go to a different part 21:26 of the yard, dig another hole, and put the socks 21:28 back in the ground. 21:29 About three days later, Koko comes to the back door again, 21:34 wagging their little tail with the socks all over her mouth. 21:37 And it happens on one to add one more case enough to that. 21:41 And after that time, I just got to confess. Why? 21:44 Because what I learned is that the truth will never 21:48 stay buried. 21:52 It doesn't matter how long it's been in the ground. 21:56 It doesn't matter how much dirt you throw on the truth. 22:00 It doesn't matter if you're Bill Cosby or Kelly 22:04 or Donald Trump or have you Harvey Weinstein. 22:07 It doesn't matter how long you get away with it. 22:13 At some point, you're going to have to deal with God. 22:15 You are? Hear me today 22:17 asking real quick what this teaches us 22:21 is that forgiveness is more powerful 22:23 than hate. 22:28 Now, if you read the story, it's clear Joseph Angle, 22:31 like he has a little fun with his brothers for a minute. 22:34 He gives them the business, 22:37 but a part of what he's doing is he kind of creates 22:39 some difficult scenario, 22:41 some acts of intimidation, one, 22:43 because he's trying to figure out the condition of his father 22:45 and his brother. 22:46 And he is also testing the heart to see what's inside of them. 22:50 But what becomes clear is that 22:51 Joseph does not respond to them in a way that they treated him. 22:55 I hear me today 22:57 because why is this? 22:59 The only way the brothers could have won against Joseph 23:03 is if he held anger toward them. 23:07 The only way they could have really 23:09 triumphed over Joseph in light of all that God was doing, 23:12 is if he holds his anger, if he stores his vitriol 23:17 and he responds in them to them in the same way 23:21 that they acted toward him. 23:23 And what I need 23:24 somebody to know about this, about anger, is this is 23:27 that anger is not a solution. 23:31 No, no, let me say it again. 23:32 Anger is not a solution. 23:35 All anger does is make you vulnerable. 23:39 And see how many of us know that 23:40 no matter how much you store your anger, 23:42 it doesn't make you strong. 23:43 It does not make you more powerful. 23:45 And the truth is that most of us will never get the chance 23:48 to lash out at those that have done us harm. 23:51 And because we can't let it out as our enemies, most times 23:55 we wind up lashing out against our support system. 23:59 We wound up lashing out against the very ones that are 24:02 our advocates for ourselves or we lash out against ourselves 24:07 and see, this is the thing. 24:09 It's not a shouting message. 24:11 See, Joseph knew this day was going to come. 24:16 The reason we know Joseph knew that day was going to come 24:19 is because he already saw it in his dream. 24:23 He had already saw that this day was going to arrive. 24:26 He saw it with crystal clear clarity. 24:28 And the only way that Joseph could keep from acting out 24:32 toward them in violence 24:34 is if he had forgiven them preemptively. 24:37 See, the thing you got to get about Joseph 24:39 is that Joseph had a forgiving ahead of the apology. 24:44 He had forgiven ahead of the contrition. 24:47 He had forgiven in advance of that remorse. 24:50 He didn't wait for them to come and fall before his feet 24:53 to release the anger and the bitterness. 24:56 I need you to know, in order to be healed, 24:59 you can't sit around and wait for them to acknowledge 25:01 what they have done because some are already in their grave. 25:05 But sometimes the key to your victory is a preemptive 25:12 act of forgiveness. 25:13 You are hearing me today, 25:15 just like when one gets a stain or a grape juice 25:18 stain in the shirt. 25:20 You can't wait two weeks to wash that shirt. 25:22 You got to put it in immediately in some water 25:25 and let it soak. 25:27 Because the longer you let the stain set, 25:32 the harder it's going to be to get it out. 25:35 Why am I saying this? 25:37 Because how many of us know 25:38 that forgiving doesn't get easier with time. 25:42 It gets harder the longer you let it settle. 25:46 And what I'm saying is, man, that you all almost got it. 25:49 Got a half man, some 25:51 Teflon on your soul 25:54 so that you don't let the stain of bitterness stick and corrupt 25:58 everything that God is trying to grow inside of you. 26:02 You cannot keep the root of bitterness from being. 26:04 You got to keep the root of 26:05 bitterness from being entrenched. 26:07 So you got to do it without apology. 26:09 There are going to be times you got to do it, whether 26:10 they acknowledge it or not. 26:12 And so I need somebody to understand 26:14 that forgiveness, friends of mine, 26:15 is not about the worthiness or the deserving this 26:18 of the offender. 26:20 It's about the peace and the wholeness of the offended. 26:23 In other words, I don't do this for your absolution. 26:26 I do it for my personal peace. 26:29 And the thing I need somebody to get about forgiveness 26:32 is that forgiveness 26:33 is not the opioid that makes it feel better. 26:36 Forgiveness is the surgery itself. 26:40 That forgiveness is the cutting away of the cancer 26:44 so that it cannot metastasize and ruin everything 26:48 on the inside and be clear 26:52 to never confuse forgiveness with healing. 26:57 They are not the same thing. 26:59 Forgiveness is the decision of the mind, but lifetime. 28:05 Breath Of Life Music 28:29 [END] |
Revised 2023-11-02