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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000159S
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00:03 #S082 - “In God We Trust” (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to The Breath of Life Television Ministries 00:22 broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell in today's episode. 00:27 Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful message 00:32 “In God We Trust.” Now 00:35 let's go deeper into the Word of God. 00:38 You can never trust a governmental leader 00:42 to go against the wishes of the majority. 00:45 And let me be clear. 00:46 This is not a call, my friends, to civil disengagement. 00:52 It is actually a recognition of the authority he has. 00:57 See, I need somebody to understand that the power 01:01 is not in elected officials. 01:05 The power is with the people that elect them. 01:08 Not here today. 01:09 In other words, I need you to be clear 01:13 that elected officials never do the right thing in a vacuum. 01:18 It is because the people require them to operate 01:22 with principle. 01:23 All with the pastor today. 01:24 In fact, I love what Dr. King said. 01:27 He says freedom 01:28 will never be voluntarily given by the oppressors. 01:33 It must be demanded by the oppressed. 01:37 And do you notice that all the major civil rights legislation. 01:42 It was never voluntarily given. 01:45 It was because people of courage and conviction 01:49 shifted the desires of the majority. 01:52 In other words, look friends at the voter. 01:54 Read your voter acceptance. 01:56 Write up 1964. 01:58 You know what brought that into being? 02:01 Remember Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge 02:06 and other words, civil rights leaders were able to maximize 02:08 a particular moment where America was giving 02:13 the message of democracy around the world. 02:16 But they realized that they had to voluntarily 02:20 take a beating on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. 02:23 And once the cameras sent that message across the world, 02:28 it was outside leaders that same the leaders at home 02:32 to say, you can't promote freedom over here 02:35 if you're not giving it to your very own citizens. 02:39 And understand that when they change the view of the majority. 02:43 Six months later, the Voter Rights Act came in 1964. 02:49 And what I'm saying to somebody today is that the leaders 02:53 will never do the right thing on their own. 02:56 We've got to raise our voices. 02:59 We've got to commit to the process. 03:02 We've got to engage in the journey. 03:05 This is not a time to give up. 03:08 It's not a time to sit in the corner 03:11 and wait for the coming of the Lord. 03:12 We've got to act here, Pat, until he comes. 03:17 And we've got to be a people that will stand for the rights, 03:21 even though that happens for all y'all with me today. 03:24 Church. 03:25 And see, one of the things I need 03:27 somebody to know is that we use moments 03:29 like this to disengage, to bury our heads in the sand. 03:34 But God is looking for a people that will stand and be true 03:37 to duty, as the needle is to a pole 03:41 and not hide when things get hard. 03:43 But stand up and speak when things get hard. 03:47 Y'all with me today church. 03:48 Second reason that we cannot put trust in leaders. 03:53 Are y'all with me today? 03:54 Church is that leaders will outright lie to the people. 03:59 Am I preaching anybody that 04:00 if I cannot get you to go with me somewhere, go to some 62 04:05 and verse number nine, some 62 and verse number nine. 04:08 Just go back a few chapters. 04:10 Psalm 62. 04:12 And I want you to see this in verse number nine. 04:15 When you get there, you say, man, 04:18 some 62 in verse nine. 04:19 And again, let me be clear that this principle is not partizan. 04:23 It is not based on race. 04:24 It is not based upon gender. 04:26 It is simply an indictment of the nature of mankind. 04:31 So I'm 62 in verse nine, when you get rid of me, you say, Man, 04:34 listen, the Bible says, surely men of low degree 04:38 are a white vapor. 04:41 Men of hide, degree or position are a what? 04:45 There are a lot. 04:46 And if they are weighed on scales, 04:50 they are altogether lighter than a vapor. 04:53 Does all that church now know if we caught the principle 04:58 that the patriarch just espouse to us? 05:00 And essentially it is the danger 05:03 of putting your hopes in the words of mankind. 05:07 He says, If you take the word of a common man 05:10 or a man of low degree, his word in what ways? 05:14 As much as a vapor. 05:16 And he says the word of a man in high position is a lot. 05:21 And he's saying if you take the word of a common man 05:26 and a powerful man and wave them together, 05:30 the Bible says they both weigh less than a breath of air 05:34 and see what it talks about. 05:36 Friends, is the danger 05:38 of putting our trust in the words that people 05:41 give to us and the promises that leaders give. 05:45 In other words, friends, they are not to be trusted 05:48 in their entirety. 05:49 They are to be received 05:51 with a grain of salt and not trusted as binding. 05:56 In other words, when they make certain promises 06:00 to make your life better 06:01 and to improve your state of being, 06:05 you've got to apply hope loosely. 06:08 Because the Bible says that men of high degree are a lie. 06:12 Are you all with the pastor today? 06:14 And the formula for disappointment of people of 06:17 every sort is to believe everything that people tell you. 06:22 How many of us know you can't put trust in what people say? 06:27 If you want to be 06:28 disappointed romantically, listen to everything 06:33 a man or woman say is out of their mouth. 06:36 If you want to be disappointed spiritually, believe everything 06:39 someone in a church services in a microphone. 06:44 If you want to be disappointed politically, 06:47 then believe everything on every promise that a candidate 06:50 may espouse. 06:51 And what I'm saying to the church today 06:54 is that you cannot allow your hope 06:57 to be attached to the promises of man. 07:00 You've got to allow your hope 07:02 to be attached to the promises of the living. 07:04 God are with me today. 07:06 In other words, friends, this is how you avoid, disappoint men. 07:11 You don't apply hope to man's promises. 07:14 You simply affirm good behavior. 07:18 But I apply hope to the promise of God 07:22 because I know that God is going to act on what He says 07:26 and see. 07:27 The problem is that we invoke the formula backwards, late, 07:31 where we trust entirely what people say, 07:35 and we need God to stand up and prove what He says. 07:38 But how many of us know friends 07:40 that the promises of God and him they are? Yes. 07:45 And in him they are a man. 07:47 In other words, 07:48 I'm not going to put my trust in a political party. 07:53 I'm not going to put my trust in a political candidate. 07:56 On Christ the solid rock I stand. 08:01 All of the ground is sinking, saying I dare not trust 08:06 the sweetest faith but holy lean on Jesus name 08:11 and friends. 08:12 If I'm going to trust anybody, I'm going to trust the one 08:17 that the Bible says he cannot lie. 08:21 Oh, God, 08:23 no, no, no, no. You. 08:24 I didn't get that. 08:25 The word doesn't say he doesn't lie. 08:29 The words says, your God is so awesome that he cannot lie. 08:34 In other words, friends, the Bible is not just teaching 08:37 that God is an honest kind of God. 08:40 He's not just truthful. 08:42 God is truth. 08:45 And because He is 08:46 both truth and divine mind. 08:51 The Bible makes it clear he cannot lie because he is a 08:54 hybrid of divinity and truth, 08:58 so that even if God tried to lie because He's divine, 09:04 whatever God lied about would become the truth 09:08 simply because the mouth of the Lord spoke. 09:12 And that's why Isaiah says that His Word 09:15 cannot return to him void. 09:19 But in the law, 09:19 accomplish what he pleases 09:21 and prospers and the things that he sends it to do. 09:26 And so I need somebody to know that if you can trust 09:29 something, you need to trust God. 09:33 You are hear me today, friends. 09:36 Third reason. 09:37 Friends of mine you can't trust leaders is how are you going 09:41 to be dependent on somebody else who's also dependent? 09:46 Okay, 09:48 so notice what 09:49 the word says you say is putting all your trust in princes 09:52 or in the son of man in whom there is no help. 09:58 Did your catch that the Bible says in him there is no help? 10:03 And then the Bible talks about the frailty of mankind. 10:05 Time for the Bible 10:06 says on the day that he dies, his spirit departs 10:10 and he goes back to the earth from which he came. 10:14 You see, the reason certain leaders are going to lie 10:18 is not necessarily an intentional lie, but simply 10:21 because they are finite human beings. 10:25 In other words, people of every sort do not have 10:28 the divinity or the power or the agency within ourselves 10:35 to even act on our most noble and hopeful intentions. 10:40 We can't even guarantee 10:42 the words that come out of our own mouth. 10:46 The reason I can't keep every promise I make to you 10:51 is that I can't even guarantee my own tomorrow. 10:55 I can't keep my word to you 10:58 because I can't even guarantee if I will make it to the end 11:01 of the day. You are with me today, Church. 11:03 And so that's what the Bible says. 11:05 But not your trust in princes 11:08 or in the son of man in whom there is no help 11:12 in the outcome of church. 11:14 Come on, church. 11:15 The Bible says in them there is no help. 11:20 Why am I saying that? 11:21 Because there are times where we get frustrated 11:24 with government, our leaders, 11:25 because you think they refuse to help. 11:30 But the Bible is saying that 11:31 in them there is no help. 11:35 And see what the Bible is addressing 11:38 is misplaced loyalty or trust. 11:42 See, there are some of us that are frustrated with government. 11:44 We're frustrated with friends. 11:46 We are frustrated with our job 11:49 because you think that these folk refuse to help. 11:52 But the Bible is making it clear that there is only one 11:56 source of help, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. 12:01 You've got to stop looking to your cousins. 12:03 Stop looking to friends. 12:04 Stop looking to the White House. 12:06 Stop looking to the church. 12:08 And learn how to look till the heals from whence 12:11 cometh your help and realize that your help comes from God. 12:17 Are y'all hear what I'm saying today, church? 12:20 And see, I need you to know that you got to get this 12:22 because you are frustrated, because you're trying to get 12:26 something from people that can't give it to you. 12:29 And see, the problem is not their lack of giving. 12:31 The problem is that we have flawed expectations. 12:35 In other words, I shouldn't expect you 12:37 to be able to give something to me 12:39 that you don't have the capacity to give. 12:42 It's funny, this happens to me. 12:43 There are some 12:44 who get frustrated with me 12:45 because sometimes they will ask me to do things 12:48 that is beyond my competency to be able to do. 12:51 So sometimes 12:51 when I'm in the hospital, 12:53 sometimes people will ask me for medical advice. 12:56 They'll say, Pastor, do you think I should 12:57 have this surgery or that surgery? 12:59 Or sometimes an end of life scenario? 13:02 Some will ask me for legal advice, and they will ask me 13:06 to help them legally 13:07 assign assets from one family member to the next. 13:10 And they get mad when I refer them to somebody else. 13:14 I let them know that 13:15 if you need spiritual guidance or theological guidance 13:17 or leadership or marriage, I might be able to help you. 13:21 But when I meet medical advice, 13:25 I call a doctor. 13:26 Are you with me today? 13:27 When I need legal advice, I call. 13:31 I are. Hear me today, church. 13:32 In other words, 13:33 I'm not trying to say to you I just can't help you. 13:38 Are you? 13:39 Are you hear what the pastor saying 13:40 and see the reason this is critical is that 13:43 we are trying to get help from those 13:46 who simply cannot give it because they are human. 13:52 And it's funny. 13:53 That's why I laughed the other day 13:54 when I heard the president elect say after his victory speech 13:58 that I'm going to fix everything wrong with the country. 14:02 And the reason I laughed is simply because to do 14:05 that is beyond the capability of any human being. 14:10 And this is why you've got to be careful how you apply trust 14:14 and where you assign hope, because we're looking for help 14:17 from people that need help. 14:20 We are dependent upon people that are dependent upon God. 14:25 We're looking for answers from people that need answers. 14:29 We're looking for provision from folks that need provision. 14:32 We're looking to be sustained by people 14:34 that themselves are being sustained by God. 14:37 And instead of looking to somebody 14:38 to sustain us when they are sustained by God. 14:42 Maybe I just look to God to sustain and undergird 14:46 every single area of my life. 14:50 Now there are some who are listening to this 14:52 and you're wrestling with what I'm saying 14:53 because you're saying, 14:54 Well, Pastor, doesn't God bless us by using people. 14:58 I'm glad you asked. 14:59 Yes. God uses people to bless us. 15:03 Can you say amen? 15:04 In fact, God won't just use people 15:08 that like you to bless you. 15:10 God is so good that the Bible says 15:13 he'll make your enemies show favor unto you. 15:17 But this is 15:18 the key when God uses people to bless you. 15:23 You say thanks to the person, but you give the glory to God 15:28 because it was God that put you on their minds. 15:32 It was God that put compassion in their hearts. 15:35 It was God that sent through them 15:38 the blessing that originated in him. 15:41 In other words, Church never confused the sender 15:44 with the source. 15:47 Okay, listen, listen. 15:49 I remember 15:51 back in the pandemic, there was one of our senior 15:54 members of my previous church, and she lived with her daughter. 15:59 And because the daughter had to go into work, 16:02 what she would do is see what DoorDash lots 16:04 to her older mother each and every day. 16:08 And so some days she would 16:09 DoorDash, Cheesecake Factory, other days 16:11 she would DoorDash KFC. 16:13 Other day she would DoorDash Olive Garden. 16:16 And I remember talking to the senior member 16:19 and she said something I always laugh at. 16:21 She says, Pass the you got to try 16:22 this restaurant called DoorDash. 16:25 And I was like, What? 16:26 What restaurant called DoorDash? 16:29 She says, Yeah, pass it. They're good. 16:30 They make everything. 16:32 They make KFC, 16:34 they make Italian food, they make cheese cake factory. 16:39 They're able to make stuff from Chick-Fil-A. 16:41 And because she got a little messed up, 16:43 she thought that 16:44 because DoorDash same tip that DoorDash made it. 16:48 You all missed what I'm saying today. 16:50 And what I'm saying is never confuse the sender 16:54 with the sauce. Oh, you're not hearing me. 16:56 In other words, your job is DoorDash. 17:00 It was God that sourced it, but it was the job 17:03 that sent them that your cousin is DoorDash. 17:07 It was God that sourced it. 17:09 It was simply your cousin that sent it. 17:12 That the hospital is DoorDash. 17:14 That God gave the healing. 17:16 But the hospital sent the healing. 17:19 That the government is DoorDash, 17:22 that God creates the provision, but God sends it through them. 17:26 Never confuse the sauce with the can't do it. 17:31 Y'all hear what I'm saying today, church. 17:33 And so 17:34 notice what the Bible says here in verse number five. 17:38 The Bible says, Happy is he 17:40 that whose hope is in the Lord, 17:44 the God of Jacob, 17:47 and see what the Bible is teaching us here today, friends, 17:51 he's helping us understand that we serve the God 17:56 that can cause us to thrive 17:58 in every situation. 18:03 Notice what he says. 18:04 He says happy. 18:05 See who believes in the God of Jacob. 18:10 Now I need you to get what he's doing 18:11 for the children of Israel. That's Hagai Zacharias. 18:14 Write this. 18:15 He's trying to help them re recall their own history 18:21 by reminding them of the affairs of God 18:25 in the life of the Patriarch, Jacob and friends. 18:28 When you look 18:29 and read the narrative of Jacob, what becomes clear 18:34 is that Jacob served the God that could cause him to thrive 18:39 no matter what situation he was in. 18:43 Now, it's funny because 18:44 Jacob gets kind of a bad rap as a schemer and a hustler. 18:48 And the reason Jacob developed these characteristics 18:52 was because he was always on the wrong side of the numbers, 18:56 and it took a while for him to be able to trust God 18:59 to bless him no matter what circumstance he was in. 19:03 Remember, Jacob was on the wrong side of the age bracket, 19:07 that the birthright was always supposed to fall 19:09 to the older brother, but God was able to bless him 19:13 no matter the situation 19:15 so that the younger brother received the birth. 19:17 Right. 19:19 Now somebody always say he got the birthright through trickery. 19:22 No, that's just the way it played out. 19:25 Remember when Jacob was first born that God told his mother 19:29 that the older one was going to serve the younger one? 19:33 If Jacob had just been steel, he would have seen the hand 19:35 of the Lord do it and bring it to pass on His behalf. 19:40 Remember when Jacob showed up in Lehmann's house 19:43 that he was tricked 19:44 by his father in law into 14 years of service, 19:48 where Laban added the other daughter, Leah, 19:52 because Jacob had too much to drink. 19:55 But even though he was on the wrong side of the numbers, 19:58 God bless Jacob's flock with such abundance that he left 20:01 Lehmann's house with even more than he came in with. 20:06 Remember, Jacob was on the wrong side of the numbers 20:10 as he saw head west strong and had an army ready 20:13 to take him out. 20:14 But God sent an angel ahead to Esau 20:18 and to take the hatred out of his heart. 20:21 So that by the time he saw Esau, he saw didn't curse him. 20:25 But Esau blessed him 20:26 and added to his household gifts and signs of favor. 20:31 Even when Jacob got old and wound up in Egypt, 20:35 God had already sent Joseph ahead and gave Joseph 20:38 so much favor that Pharaoh gave him the best 20:42 land in the land of Egypt 20:46 so that no matter what situations. 20:49 Joe Jacob was in, God always permitted him to thrive. 20:56 Okay. 20:57 Why am I preaching this today? 20:59 Because there is somebody that feels like 21:03 you're on the wrong side of the numbers. 21:06 There is somebody 21:07 that feels like you're in a bad predicament. 21:11 There is somebody that feels like you are under the authority 21:16 of someone who is not interested in your well-being. 21:19 But I need you to know that your prosperity 21:23 is not connected to your predicament. 21:26 You serve the God that can make your enemies your footstool, 21:31 and the God that can make you thrive no matter what 21:34 predicament or situation you find yourself in. 21:40 Can I just say this? 21:41 Because in the African-American community, 21:45 there is this unique grief that has touched us 21:48 because of the things of this week. 21:49 And one of the things I need to remind us of 21:53 is that we've gone through this kind of stuff before. 21:59 Remember what God told Joshua? 22:02 He says, When you pass through the Jordan River, 22:05 he says, Don't go through empty handed. 22:08 He says, I want you to take some stones with you 22:11 so that whenever you get nervous in the future 22:15 and you see these stones, it's a reminder that it was 22:19 the hand of God that brought you through the Jordan River. 22:24 You are hearing the pastor today. 22:25 In fact, Prince, I had somebody use hyperbole this week 22:30 and they say, man, pastor, it ain't never been this bad 22:33 for people of color. 22:33 I said, hold up. Wait a minute. 22:36 Have you forgotten where God has brought us from? 22:41 Do I have any folk in this room that when you study history, 22:45 you realize we've got some stones 22:48 that anchors us when things seem unstable? 22:53 In other words, we serve the God that kept us in slavery. 22:57 We serve the God that kept us in reconstruction. 23:02 We serve the God that kept us in Jim Crow. 23:06 We served a God that prospered us in civil rights 23:09 that we serve. 23:10 The God that's applied when you are unemployed, imposed it. 23:14 And I love what Edmund White says, 23:16 that we have nothing to fear for the future, 23:20 lest we forget the way in which God has led us in the past. 23:24 And do I have seven folk that can look back over your life 23:28 and testify that God kept me in the pandemic? 23:32 That God kept me in the Bush years? 23:35 God kept me in the calendar year. 23:38 God kept me in the Obama years. 23:41 If God kept me during COVID. 23:44 If God kept me during the first drought, then God will keep me. 23:50 Do I have a witness? 23:51 If he kept you in the sixties, 23:54 if he sustained to in the seventies, 23:57 if he was good in the nineties, if he was in control 24:01 in the arts, anybody know that he still on the throne, 24:08 that he hasn't been voted out, 24:10 he can't be overthrown? 24:13 I love when verse ten says that he reads 24:17 whatever. 24:19 Oh, God. 24:22 Oh, and see, this is the good news. 24:24 Know that's what the word says. 24:26 Look at the rest of the chapter. 24:28 He says he gives food to the hungry, 24:32 that he opens the eyes of the blind, 24:36 that he sets the captives 24:38 free, that he raises those that are bowed down. 24:42 That he takes care of the stranger. 24:46 He watches over the fatherless and the widows. 24:49 Oh, we've missed it. 24:51 God says I care for the hungry, the prisoner, 24:56 the stranger, the oppressed, and the bowed down. 25:01 And what it is, is a promise 25:04 that whatever the deficit government has 25:08 got says, I'll 25:09 make up the difference. 25:13 So when the poor are hungry, God is gonna feed them 25:17 when they mess up medical facility. 25:20 God says I'm 25:21 gonna open their eyes when criminal justice is unfair. 25:25 God says I'll set the captives free. 25:28 When they promote mass deportation. 25:32 God says, I'll take care of the stranger and the immigrant. 25:35 So wherever governments fail, 25:38 God steps in. 25:40 So you don't have to trust Republicans. 25:44 You don't have to trust Democrats. 25:46 My hope is an end the donkey. 25:49 My hope isn't in the elephant. 25:52 My hope is in the lamb of God. 25:57 That takes away 25:59 the sin of the world. 26:02 My hope in the end, the donkey. 26:05 But in the light of the tribe of Judah. 26:10 And if you believe, can you give him some 26:12 praise? 26:16 Hey. Hey. 26:18 And it's just a reminder 26:20 that you can't put your hope in print. 26:23 This are in the son of man in whom there is no help. 26:27 But like the old song says on crisis, 26:31 the solid rock. 26:32 I say 26:34 all of the ground 26:38 is sinking, saying 26:41 I dare not cross 26:43 the sweetest train 26:46 but holy leave. 26:48 Oh, Jesus. 26:52 And this message, friends of mine, is 26:53 for those who are having tension and you're wrestling 26:56 with what this election means, I need you to know that. 27:01 That at the end of the day, we we have this moment of grief, 27:04 but now it's time to gather ourselves 27:07 and realize that our help comes from the Lord, 27:11 the Lord who makes heaven and earth. 27:13 Even if your candidate or candidates, 27:15 whether it's for the Senate 27:16 or the House or whatever, the day one. 27:18 What if you're a person? One Guess what? 27:20 The Bible still gives the same admonition. 27:23 Put not your trust in princes 27:26 or in the son of men whom there is no help. 27:29 But we are blessed when our hope is in the Lord, 27:35 because I'm at a place where I can just declare like 27:37 the dollar bill. It is in God 27:41 that we 27:41 trust . |
Revised 2025-02-12