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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000127S
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00:04 #S066 - Stay Out Of The Comment Section (Part 2)
00:20 Welcome to the Breath of Life 00:21 Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:26 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part 00:29 two of the powerful message titled 00:32 Stay out of the comments section. 00:35 Now let's go deeper into the Word of God. 00:41 So the words this was here in verse number six. 00:43 I promise I'm not going to take you long. 00:45 The Bible says So we built the wall 00:47 and the entire wall was joined together. 00:50 Watch this. 00:51 Up to half of its height for the people had a mind to work. 00:55 And now it happened. 00:56 That same bullet to buy up the Arabs 00:59 and the Ammonites and the Exodus. 01:01 Heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored 01:06 and that the what gaps were beginning to be closed. 01:10 And then they became what? 01:12 Very angry. 01:13 Second thing really quickly you got to know 01:15 is that you've got to be intentional 01:18 about closing your gaps. 01:23 The friends I need you to take note 01:26 of when this conspiracy begins 01:28 to reach its peak or its zenith. 01:32 So I need you to notice. See? See. 01:34 What happened is 01:34 the flow 01:36 is beginning to take shape and it is beginning to take form. 01:40 Like they have progressed to the point where the wall 01:42 has reached half of its ultimate height. 01:46 God is doing a work to the point where the wall is almost 01:49 reached the entirety of the circumference of the city. 01:53 But notice reads when the attack shows up 01:57 is when they're on the verge of closing. 01:59 The gaps in the wall. 02:01 In other words, church, 02:02 because the gates have yet to be installed, 02:07 there are some strategic or structural vulnerabilities 02:11 in the wall because it doesn't matter how tall the wall. 02:15 It doesn't matter how immense the wall. 02:17 It doesn't matter how great the stones are. 02:19 Wall can always be breached if it has gaps in it. 02:25 And I need you to understand the timing 02:28 of their attack illustrates a more powerful truth. 02:32 Because some of us are heavy in the building process. 02:35 God is causing your rebuilding to go well. 02:39 He is causing certain things to begin to take form. 02:42 And I need you to know that some of the greatest attacks 02:46 are going to come before you close the gaps in your wall, 02:50 because the enemy knows 02:52 that once those gaps get close to where the church hit today, 02:55 that he can't 02:56 stand anything against you but your most vulnerable. 03:00 If you allow gaps to remain in your spiritual walls. 03:06 See, this is important because there's somebody 03:09 your spiritual walls are beginning to take forth. 03:11 You are in the building process. 03:13 It is beginning to get halfway to its heights. 03:17 But because some of us only pray every now and then, 03:20 you've got some gaps 03:22 that makes your wall reachable down the line. 03:26 There are some of us that are have a growing appetite for God. 03:30 You're beginning to grow and come to church, 03:33 consume, consuming online. 03:34 But the problem is that because you don't know what to believe, 03:39 you create some gaps 03:40 and allow yourself to be made vulnerable toward deception. 03:44 Down the line. 03:45 There are some students 03:46 that are building well academically. 03:49 You are putting forth more effort, 03:50 but there are some gaps in your process. 03:54 So much so that you study. 03:55 Always when people are around you don't edit 03:59 or second look over your work before you turn it all in. 04:03 The problem is that some of us write the same way we talk, 04:06 and because there are some academic gaps, 04:10 our process can be contaminated. 04:14 There are some marriages that are going strong. 04:16 You've made it up in your mind to stay together. 04:19 You've decided we're going to work that thing out. 04:21 But because some husbands and wives are not controlling 04:25 what's coming through our portals, 04:28 some of us are going to get divorced on Instagram. 04:31 Y'all not hear me today? 04:33 Y'all go left 04:34 password protection and have y'all in front of a judge. 04:36 I'm going to tell the truth today. 04:38 And the problem is we're allowing some gaps 04:41 in the marriage to keep us from becoming 04:45 everything that God has called us to become. 04:49 And what I'm simply wanting to say to somebody today, 04:52 it doesn't matter how strong your gates, 04:55 it doesn't matter how powerful your design, 04:57 it doesn't matter how immense the architecture. 05:00 You can always be defeated as long as you have gaps 05:05 that the enemy is able to penetrate in your life. 05:08 You hear me today, friends? 05:09 Third thing we find today here is in verse number ten. 05:11 I told you, I'm not going to take long. 05:13 The Bible says. 05:14 Then Judah said, The strength of the laborers is failing 05:20 and there is so much rubbish 05:24 that we are unable to build the wall. 05:29 Everything I need somebody to get 05:31 is that there's going to come a time inevitably 05:35 where it feels like it's too much. 05:41 Now, friends, there are multiple tensions 05:46 that begin to converge at the same time. 05:50 Are you all still with the pastor today? 05:53 So first there is the enormity of the task, 05:57 the actual physical labor of trying to rebuild 06:00 this mammoth structure around the entirety of the city. 06:05 But do you realize that there is an added tension 06:09 because of the harassment of Sand Ballard and his team? 06:13 Now remember, Saints, 06:14 that the people are not living in Jerusalem 06:17 at that time. 06:18 They are scattered 06:19 in the surrounding villages and countries. 06:23 And so they literally have to walk through a gamut of derision 06:26 each day just to get to the work site. 06:31 And the enormity of the task is made 06:33 greater by the mental intimidation 06:37 that is provided by Sand Ballard and his peers and friends. 06:41 I need you to get that. 06:42 It is more than intentional that the spirit 06:46 of discouragement falls on the Tribe of Judah. 06:51 Okay, so one of the things you got to remember, Prince, 06:57 is that God had six 06:58 at least some of them understand his truth, 07:00 that because God is with them, there is no enemy 07:05 that can defeat them from the outside 07:11 because God is on their side. 07:15 There is no real threat from those outside of the wall. 07:19 The only thing that can 07:21 defeat them is division in their own ranks. 07:25 And I just need to say 07:26 this to the church that there is no persecution 07:30 or power, that freedom from without that can hurt us. 07:35 The only thing that can hurt us is division from the inside. 07:39 In other words, when the enemy can turn black saints 07:42 against white saints and southern against Oakwood, 07:45 and this church against that church, 07:48 I need you to know 07:49 we're not growing enough 07:50 in order the enemy to stir up persecution. 07:54 But if he can keep us fighting against one another, 07:59 he can keep the walls from being rebuilt. 08:02 Now, my 08:03 friends, I need you to get this, because 08:07 God's said to Abraham, 08:11 I'm going to make of you a great nation. 08:15 And in you. 08:16 So all the nations of the earth be blessed. 08:20 So I understand when Abraham says, 08:23 I got this to Abraham, that all of the nations of the earth 08:25 are going to be blessed through you. 08:27 That was not just talking about the supremacy of Abraham, see, 08:32 it was an announcement about Jesus 08:36 and understand the reason 08:39 that discouragement settles upon Judah. 08:42 It's a preemptive attack against Jesus. Who? 08:46 Yo, yo, yo, not hear me today. See? 08:49 Understand friends of mine that. 08:50 That because of the captivity, Abraham seeds are 08:55 scattered among all of the foreign nation. 08:57 In other words, 08:58 they are not centralized in the area of Jerusalem. 09:03 But what happens is that if they do not finish 09:05 building the wall, what happens is that Abraham C 09:10 remains assimilated into a bunch of different cultures, so much 09:14 so that his seed gets diluted and guess what? 09:19 The tribe of Judah's ancestry gets corrupted. 09:22 And guess what? Jesus cannot come. 09:25 Do you realize that in the 09:27 12 tribes there were two tribes that have a little more say? 09:31 Levi, because they were the priests 09:33 and Judah, because they were the tribe of the Kings. 09:37 Remember that David came from Judah, and guess what? 09:40 Jesus would come from Judah. 09:43 And the reason the enemy tries to discourage Judah 09:47 is because it is a pre century attack to try to keep 09:50 Jesus from coming through the line of Judah. 09:54 I see friends of mine. 09:55 I need somebody to understand this 09:57 about the difficulty that you may sometimes face. 10:01 I need you to realize that sometimes 10:03 it is those difficulties of life that actually create 10:06 Christ likeness in you. 10:10 It is those hardships that produce 10:12 the character of the presence of Jesus in your life. 10:16 And so that sometimes 10:18 when the enemy tries to discourage you 10:21 and make you give up on the building process, it's 10:23 because that process is going to produce a Christ likeness 10:28 that cannot be achieved through any other mechanism in life, 10:31 so that if God 10:32 short circuits the trial, guess what? 10:35 It's short circuits the Jesus that's gonna come 10:39 through. It's 10:42 say, I need somebody to understand this, that trials 10:45 don't just produce stress, they produce 10:48 Jesus in you. 10:51 Oh, God, count it. 10:55 Oh, Joy. 10:58 When you fall into diverse trials 11:02 for the trying of your faith work of what? 11:04 Patience. 11:06 In other words, I need somebody to understand that that God is 11:09 an efficient Savior who does not waste your time. 11:13 He does not waste your efforts. 11:14 And one of my favorite writers, Rick Warren, 11:16 says that God never waste a hurt 11:21 so that if God 11:22 permits it, it has purpose. 11:25 Oh, God, I need somebody 11:28 to understand that everything you go through 11:32 is going to develop something in you 11:36 that cannot be achieved through any other mechanism. 11:40 And I'll be first to testify that 11:42 I never like the trial in real time. 11:46 I only can celebrate what it produces in other words, 11:50 without the hardship, without the pain, 11:54 you cannot become who God has ordained you to be. 11:57 In fact, let me just say it this way. 11:58 Anybody in this room exercise a workout? 12:00 If you do, raise your hand real quick. 12:02 All right, now you exercise. 12:04 But you know what? Exercises 12:07 in a nothing 12:08 but voluntary suffering. 12:12 No, no, that's what it's voluntary suffering. 12:15 In fact, some of y'all pay people called trainers. 12:18 Oh, God. 12:20 Y'all pay trainers to help you suffer 12:23 or y'all still ain't got it. 12:25 And the reason you go through voluntary suffering 12:29 is because you believe and what it produces. 12:33 In other words, you believe in the 12:35 that you believe and the biceps and you believe and the triceps 12:39 and you believe your dress is going to fit by love 12:43 that weekend because you believe in what it produces. 12:46 You're willing to suffer for the perfection of the body. 12:50 But how many of us want the perfection of the character 12:54 and the perfection of the soul that's a willing to go through a 12:57 and suffering so that my character 13:03 can be perfect. 13:06 Y'all hear me today, friends 13:09 of friends. 13:09 When you build 13:11 that, when inevitably come a time 13:15 where it's going to feel like is too much. 13:19 Tell the truth. 13:20 You wanted to give up before. 13:24 I love young church people. 13:26 You've wanted to give up some before. 13:28 Come on, now. 13:29 You have wanted to throw in the towel. 13:32 You have wanted to go back the way that you came. 13:36 You see, the witness of faith is not just about what you avoid. 13:40 It's about what you survive. 13:43 The witness of faith is when the devil has hit you 13:46 with every combination in his bad. 13:51 But after you gather yourself, you stand up on 13:54 the two feet that Christ gives you 13:59 and you let the devil know I'm still here. 14:03 Oh, God, I'm on it. 14:07 I want some more. 14:08 I are here in this thing today. 14:12 There going to be some times 14:14 when you're going through it in the building process 14:16 and you're trying to build spiritually, 14:18 you're trying to build the marriage, 14:19 you're trying to 14:20 rebuild your health, you're trying to rebuild financially, 14:22 you're trying to rebuild socially. 14:23 You're trying to rebuild your emotional and mental wellness. 14:27 There's going to come a time where 14:28 as soon as you think you're making progress, 14:31 the further 14:32 along you get, the further way the finish line 14:33 is going to appear. 14:34 And then sometimes you look at where you are 14:36 and where you want to be, and you don't get to a place 14:39 where you just feel like, man, the work is too much. 14:42 I just need to go back the way in which I came. 14:46 I want to say this 14:48 to somebody spiritually, because watch this notice. 14:52 Oh, it's it, right? 14:54 Notice when they get ready to give up 14:56 when the wall is halfway 14:59 finished. 15:04 Do you realize that finishing the wall halfway 15:08 should have actually been a cause for rejoicing 15:12 and celebration in the camp? 15:15 They should have been running laps around the wall 15:19 because of God can build it halfway. 15:24 It was proof that God can build it the rest of the way. 15:28 But I need you to understand, friends, that faith 15:32 is not so much about what you see. 15:35 It's about the perspective and how you see what you see. 15:39 You see. 15:40 The problem, 15:41 friends of mine is, is when they're rebuilding this wall, 15:44 they look at it halfway and they just like, man, 15:47 oh, snap, we got a long way to go. 15:54 We got 15:55 more than half of the work to be done. 15:58 And guess what the gates have yet to be installed. 16:02 But I need you to understand 16:03 that they get overwhelmed friends 16:06 because they're looking at the finish line 16:10 instead of looking at the starting line. 16:13 Okay. 16:15 Instead of saying we're only halfway there, 16:19 they should have been shouting we halfway there. 16:23 In other words, like if they had just taken a moment 16:27 to look back about 30 days when they first started, guess what? 16:32 They would be reminded that the whole city was in ruins, 16:37 that the walls were torn down, that the gates were burned 16:40 with fire, and if they had just remembered 16:44 from whence God had brought them, 16:46 the halfway point would be the proof of the evidence 16:50 that God is going to take us the rest of the way. 16:54 And I want to say 16:55 this to the person who is discouraged spiritually, 16:58 because I need you to know that, as Paul says and Philippians, 17:01 that you've got 17:02 to look forward to the prize that is set before you. 17:05 But I do want to encourage you 17:06 that you've got to look both forward and backwards. 17:09 You've got to look at where you are supposed to end up. 17:13 But sometimes in order to get the courage to go on, 17:16 you've got to look back at where you first started. 17:20 Okay. 17:21 See, some of us get overwhelmed 17:24 because we look at ourselves and we look at Jesus 17:28 and we think, man, we've got so far to go. 17:31 But the one thing I need to say is never get discouraged 17:35 by the goal. 17:38 The goal is to be like Jesus. 17:40 I also with me now, the reason you don't have to be discouraged 17:44 by the goal or the standard is because it's not 17:47 a competition. 17:50 In other words, 17:51 I'm not trying to compete with the righteousness of Christ 17:55 because my righteousness is not earned. 17:57 It's borrowed in other words, somebody to get 18:02 you need to stop saying God is saving me. 18:08 When you talk about your salvation, you ought to talk 18:11 in the past tense. 18:13 Oh, God. 18:13 Let me push you all on this side. 18:15 God is not saved me. 18:18 I'm already say 18:21 I'm already ready in heaven. 18:24 My work is complete and my record is expunged. 18:30 But what's happening in real time is sanctification. 18:34 And see, that's why you don't have to worry about 18:37 how many floors you have in your life. Why? 18:38 Because sanctification is not the work of a moment. 18:43 It is not the work of a day. 18:45 It is not the work of a year. 18:47 It is a lifetime work that is not done until the trumpet blast 18:53 and the sky recedes like a scroll and other words. 18:56 Christ is going to be working on you 19:00 until the day He appears with you today. 19:03 Friends. 19:05 Oh, friends. 19:07 I would encourage you 19:08 to not spend so much time looking at your finish line 19:12 and to spend 19:13 a little bit more time looking at your starting line. 19:17 See, I need some works. 19:20 Religion oriented slave, 19:24 who is 19:25 70, who has no joy, 19:30 who overcomes nothing, 19:32 who has never been liberated by the power of the spirit, 19:36 who is trying to earn their way into the Kingdom of God. 19:41 And you spend more time looking at your flaws 19:44 than you do at His perfection. 19:47 I want to say that as you keep on building, don't 19:50 spend so much time looking at how far you have to go. 19:55 You need to spend more time studying where God has brought 19:58 you from. 20:00 Oh, do I have at least eight people in the room 20:03 that can testify 20:05 that God has brought you 20:08 a mighty, mighty, 20:11 mighty long way? 20:13 And this is going to feel like a crazy praise. 20:19 But but if you only smoke 20:21 two packs a day, you ought to praise him. 20:24 Cause we used to smoke seven packs a day. 20:27 Oh, I know. Y'all gonna get mad at this, 20:30 man, man. 20:31 Maybe if you only curse when you get mad, you out of prison 20:35 because you used to curse when you are mad or happy. 20:38 And you ought to praise him. 20:41 Oh, don't get mad because it took you seven years 20:44 to graduate. 20:45 If Jesus delays his coming in 30 years, that alumni 20:50 ain't nobody going to be counting. 20:51 How many years it took you to graduate. 20:54 We just going to be shouting cause you graduated. 20:58 Oh, maybe you only come to church once a month. 21:02 Hey, praise him. 21:03 There was a time where months went by 21:06 and you only showed up on Easter Sabbath or Sunday. 21:10 Maybe you only pray three times a week, but 21:13 there's three times more a week than you used to pray. 21:16 And what I'm saying to somebody is never get arrogant 21:19 because of progress, never pat yourself on the back 21:22 because of progress, but let progress be your fuel 21:27 because he which has begun a good work in you. 21:31 So continue it 21:33 until the day of Jesus. 21:37 Can somebody testify like the old thanks? 21:40 I'm not all that I ought to be 21:44 high, but I'm better than what I used to be. 21:48 Can somebody testify? 21:50 He ain't done with me yet. 21:53 Oh, but 21:54 can you praise him that he's still at work in your life? 21:58 And it does not yet appear what we shall be. 22:03 But the promise is that when he shall appear, 22:06 we shall be like him and see him like he is. 22:11 And guess what? 22:12 If you don't give up on God, God won't give up on you. 22:17 Somebody praise him for the progress. 22:21 Praise Him. 22:21 That's you. Pray a little bit more. 22:24 Just study a little bit more. 22:26 You forgive a little bit more, man. 22:29 You don't curse your hump too hard. 22:31 Come on now. 22:32 Praise him for how he's going you 22:35 in your life. 22:40 Listen, I remember I was first learning how to swim, 22:45 and I was, you know, used to be in there 22:46 in this Halloween where I could stand up. 22:48 But I remember the first time they put me over in the deep end 22:51 and you had to swim all the way across. 22:53 And I remember that I got about halfway in the water 22:58 and then all of a sudden, man, I got freaked out 22:59 because I realized I was halfway in the deep end, man. 23:05 And I got so discouraged by how far I had to go. 23:07 Then I got paralyzed and I just start pedaling where I was. 23:11 And it's crazy 23:12 because I look back to try to go back the way I came, 23:17 but the lifeguard began to shout that you're right there 23:20 in the middle 23:23 is going to take you 23:24 just as much energy to go back 23:27 as it would be if you just went forward. 23:31 But I'm so scared that I'm dog paddling 23:33 because I'm looking at how far I have to go. 23:36 And guess what? 23:37 I'm losing energy 23:40 by just studying how far I have to go. 23:45 And he says, If you came half the way, 23:49 he's saying you can make it the rest of the way. 23:53 And I remember the one thing 23:55 the lifeguard did is he didn't make it easy for me. 23:59 He didn't pull me out of the deep end. 24:02 But because he was a good lifeguard, 24:05 what he did was he jumped in the pool next to me 24:08 and he says, Let's swim it together. 24:11 And together we go, get to the other side. 24:14 Y'all missed it. 24:15 Jesus 24:16 sees you at the halfway point. 24:19 He said it'll take too much strength to go back. 24:23 If I brought you this far, 24:25 I'll take you the rest of the way. 24:27 But can anybody praise that 24:30 Jesus doesn't just tell you to go to the other? 24:34 But our lifeguard jumped down and Golgotha 24:38 jumped down in Nazareth 24:40 and said, I'll swim with you 24:43 and we'll get to the other side together. 24:47 Praise him for the lifeguard. 24:50 That is Jesus Christ. 24:53 They met him in. 24:56 And listen, I just stopped by 24:58 to let some struggling 25:01 person in their faith 25:04 struggling in your morality, 25:06 struggling with your convictions. 25:08 You make it one step forward and you take two steps back. 25:12 I just want to remind you that nobody gets it 25:14 right on the first take. 25:17 I don't want you to be impressed by this 25:19 suit, this title, this oration, or the fact that I'm here. 25:22 I need you to know I'm just a person that kept making takes. 25:28 That's it, Lord. 25:29 I'm going to put my hand in your hand. 25:31 And I told God, even here in 1998, 25:36 I'm going to put my hand in your hand. 25:37 And like Jacob, I won't let you go 25:42 until you bless me. 25:45 I want to curse. 25:46 I'm so overwhelmed. 25:48 It feels like giving up. 25:51 I want to go back the way you came. 25:53 That he's brought you too far in nature, 25:55 God, to say to somebody, Don't go back. 25:58 I want you to move ahead. 26:01 I want you to know the blessing is in front of you. 26:04 It is not in the way that you came and he that 26:08 has begun. The good work in 26:10 is going to 26:11 continue until the day of Jesus Christ. 26:14 What's good family? 26:16 Did you think the revolution is over now? 26:18 We're just getting started. 26:20 Earlier this year, 26:22 we made the decision that we're not going to make any excuses 26:25 for poor, 26:26 spiritual or physical health at this leg of the journey. 26:30 We're not going to make any excuses 26:32 for not paying attention to our mental and emotional wealth. 26:36 I want to invite you to join me on a two week mental 26:40 health revival from July the seventh to the 19th. 26:44 We're going to be pouring into God's people 26:47 so that they will be able 26:48 to prosper in their mental wellness. 26:51 I'm going to be joined 26:52 by a number 26:53 of mental health professionals, life coaches and pastors 26:57 that are going to equip us with some very powerful tools 27:01 from July the seventh through the 19th, each Sunday 27:03 at eight and Monday through Friday at six, 27:07 we're going to be learning how to deal with 27:08 things like guilt, 27:10 how to manage our stress, how to stay in balance, 27:13 and how to deal with difficult people. 27:16 Each morning 27:17 you're going to get a spiritual word 27:19 and then you're going to be led in some miracle conversations 27:24 that are going to leave you better 27:25 than when you first started. 27:27 So go ahead and mark 27:28 the calendar, save the date July 7th through the 19 27:32 Sundays at eight, Monday through Friday at 6am. 27:36 I need you to know that we're going to gather hope 27:39 you're going to be equipped and encouraged as we continue 27:42 the journey of becoming ExcuseLess 28:05 (Breath of Life Music) |
Revised 2024-07-02