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00:00:00 Judges chapter number four, starting at verse number one.
00:00:03 If you're ready to read it, say, "I'm ready."
00:00:04 - I'm ready.
00:00:05 - If you need some time, say, "Give me some time.
00:00:07 It's the Old Testament."
00:00:09 Oh, you got it, come on.
00:00:12 And it says, "Again, the Israelites did evil
00:00:18 in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead.
00:00:23 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin,
00:00:25 king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.
00:00:28 Sisera, the commander of his army,
00:00:31 was based in Herosheth, Hagoyim,
00:00:34 because he had 900 chariots fitted with iron
00:00:37 and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
00:00:42 They cried out to the Lord for help.
00:00:45 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lapidus,
00:00:50 was leading Israel at that time.
00:00:53 And she held court under the palm of Deborah
00:00:56 between Ramah and Bethel in the hill,
00:00:58 the country of Ephraim.
00:00:59 And the Israelites went up to her
00:01:02 to have their disputes decided.
00:01:05 And she sent for Barak, son of Abinoam,
00:01:08 from Kadesh in Naphtali, and said to him,
00:01:10 "The Lord God of Israel commands you,
00:01:13 go, take with you 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulon
00:01:16 and lead them up to Mount Tabor.
00:01:19 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army,
00:01:23 with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River
00:01:26 and give him into your hands."
00:01:28 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go.
00:01:33 But if you don't go with me, I won't go."
00:01:39 That's how he sounds in my head.
00:01:41 And Deborah says, "Certainly I will go with you.
00:01:46 But because of the course you are taking,
00:01:50 the honor will not be yours,
00:01:53 for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman."
00:01:58 So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh.
00:02:06 Let's fast forward to verse 17.
00:02:08 "Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,
00:02:12 the wife of Heber the Kenite."
00:02:14 Because there was an alliance between Jabin, king of Hazel,
00:02:16 and the family of Heber the Kenite.
00:02:18 "And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him,
00:02:21 'Come, my lord, come right in.
00:02:24 Don't be afraid.'
00:02:25 So he entered her tent
00:02:26 and she covered him with a blanket.
00:02:29 'I'm thirsty,' he said.
00:02:31 'Please give me some water.'
00:02:33 And she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink
00:02:35 and covered him up.
00:02:37 'Stand in the doorway of the tent,' he told her.
00:02:40 'If someone comes by and asks you, is anyone in there,
00:02:42 say no.'"
00:02:44 Verse 21, "But Jael, Heber's wife,
00:02:50 picked up a tent peg and a hammer
00:02:54 and went quietly to him
00:02:56 while he was fast asleep, exhausted.
00:02:58 She drove the peg through his temple into the ground
00:03:03 and he died."
00:03:07 I bet he did.
00:03:09 "Just then, Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera
00:03:14 and Jael went out to meet him.
00:03:16 'Come,' she said.
00:03:18 'I will show you the man you're looking for.'
00:03:20 So he went in with her and there lay Sisera
00:03:24 with the tent peg through his temple, dead."
00:03:29 I bet he was.
00:03:32 I had quite a few titles for this message.
00:03:36 One was, "A Tent Peg to the Temple."
00:03:39 That was one title, but since this is the message
00:03:43 that I didn't get to preach at Social Girls one day,
00:03:45 I want to title this message, "It Took a Woman to Win."
00:03:50 I thought I would get a bigger reaction than that.
00:03:59 It took a woman to win.
00:04:04 I need you to help me preach today
00:04:07 and just look at your neighbor and say,
00:04:08 "Neighbor, oh neighbor, there are some battles.
00:04:13 It just takes a woman to win."
00:04:17 That neighbor didn't like that,
00:04:18 so find another neighbor, find another neighbor.
00:04:20 Come on, say, "Other neighbor, this might make you mad,
00:04:24 but I got to tell the truth.
00:04:27 Sometimes it takes a woman to win."
00:04:32 Come on, everybody give God some praise if you believe
00:04:35 His word is true.
00:04:37 My goodness.
00:04:38 Would you bow your heads and let's pray.
00:04:41 Father, thank you for your word.
00:04:43 Lord, the grass withers, the flower fades,
00:04:44 but your word will stand forever.
00:04:47 Holy Spirit, saturate the Windspear Opera House.
00:04:51 God, we've not come here today out of religious routine.
00:04:54 We've not come today to be entertained.
00:04:57 We've come to be changed.
00:04:59 Speak to us so clearly.
00:05:00 Let us leave different than the way that we came in.
00:05:05 And Lord, as I do every year and every season,
00:05:08 today I just selfishly pray
00:05:11 that tonight you would favor your team,
00:05:15 America's team, the Dallas Cowboys,
00:05:19 to defeat every giant from New York.
00:05:22 In Jesus' name, everybody said.
00:05:25 - Amen.
00:05:26 - Just agree, you may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
00:05:32 I pray for everything.
00:05:39 It took a woman to win.
00:05:44 Quick little sermonic survey
00:05:47 before I jump into this text today.
00:05:50 How many of you say by showing of hands,
00:05:53 you've never heard me preach before?
00:05:55 Can I see your hand if you've never heard me preach before?
00:05:57 Never heard me preach?
00:05:58 Okay, cool, quite a few hands.
00:06:00 Some people are clapping.
00:06:01 [audience laughing]
00:06:04 Let me say this, that typically, typically,
00:06:07 those of you who have never heard me preach before,
00:06:09 whenever I start a sermon,
00:06:11 I generally start a sermon with a story.
00:06:14 Start it with a story that is engaging,
00:06:16 a story that has some laughter,
00:06:19 a story that has some levity.
00:06:21 And embedded within the story is a principle
00:06:24 that I will ultimately connect to the passage of Scripture
00:06:27 that I'm teaching on that day.
00:06:30 However, today gonna be a little bit different.
00:06:32 Today's gonna be different.
00:06:33 I don't have a story for you today.
00:06:35 I don't have any cute story to start today
00:06:38 because the reality is,
00:06:39 when you are exegeting and preaching a text
00:06:41 about a woman, a housewife, a female assassin
00:06:46 named J.L. who takes a hammer and a tent peg
00:06:53 and puts it through the cranium of the leader
00:06:57 of the Canaanite army,
00:06:59 I mean, a story like that don't need
00:07:01 no cute story to proceed it.
00:07:04 You just gotta get straight to the point.
00:07:05 So that's why I'm at the pun intended.
00:07:06 I'm getting straight to the point today.
00:07:10 So I'm gonna tell you the point of this message today.
00:07:13 I only have one point in this sermon.
00:07:14 You note takers, get ready to write it down.
00:07:16 Get your thumbs ready.
00:07:17 I only have one point in this message today.
00:07:19 This is my sermon in a sentence.
00:07:22 If you don't get this sentence,
00:07:23 you're gonna miss the entire sermon.
00:07:24 Matter of fact, after I say this point,
00:07:26 you can go home, go to Cracker Barrel
00:07:27 'cause this is the only point that I have in this message.
00:07:31 You ready?
00:07:32 Here it is.
00:07:34 You don't get to choose who God will use
00:07:37 because God will use whoever he wants.
00:07:42 Wait for it.
00:07:44 Period.
00:07:45 You don't get to choose who God will use
00:07:52 because God will use whoever he wants.
00:07:55 Oh, I pray that you leave this service today
00:07:59 or if you're watching this on YouTube right now,
00:08:02 I hope that this gets cemented into your heart,
00:08:04 into your mind, and into your spirit
00:08:06 to know that you don't get to choose who God will use
00:08:10 because God will use whoever he wants.
00:08:14 That's not just a good point.
00:08:15 I think that would be a good T-shirt.
00:08:17 That would be a good bumper sticker.
00:08:18 That would be a good face tattoo
00:08:20 to get right on your forehead and wake up every morning
00:08:23 and look in the mirror and understand
00:08:25 that you don't get to choose who God will use
00:08:28 because God will use whoever he wants to.
00:08:33 More specifically, God will use whoever he wants
00:08:36 to do whatever he wants whenever he wants to do it.
00:08:40 That's how your God works.
00:08:42 He is sovereign.
00:08:43 He has that type of swag.
00:08:45 He has that type of jurisdiction.
00:08:47 You don't get to pick or choose.
00:08:49 That blesses my soul to know that before God uses somebody,
00:08:52 he does not get an opinion poll.
00:08:55 He does not check to see if you got a blue check.
00:08:58 Bought or earned before he uses you.
00:09:01 He doesn't see how many followers you got
00:09:03 before he decides to use you.
00:09:05 God will use whoever he wants to use.
00:09:09 Oh, that blesses my soul right there.
00:09:12 There's an old school song.
00:09:13 There's an old school song.
00:09:13 Some of y'all way too young, way too young to know the song.
00:09:16 And some of y'all ain't that young.
00:09:18 And you think Britney Spears was the first one
00:09:20 to sing the song.
00:09:21 And then some of y'all are old school.
00:09:22 And you know that Britney didn't first sing this song,
00:09:24 but Bobby Brown sang this song in the '80s.
00:09:27 And it's a good song.
00:09:28 It's a good song.
00:09:29 Well, it's an okay song.
00:09:30 I just like one part of the song
00:09:31 because God could actually sing this song.
00:09:33 This song had a $20 SAT word in the song.
00:09:36 And it says something like this.
00:09:37 It's my prerogative.
00:09:39 Don't, don't.
00:09:40 I can do what I wanna do.
00:09:42 God could sing that song.
00:09:44 It's my prerogative.
00:09:46 I can use who I want to use.
00:09:48 It is his prerogative.
00:09:50 Oh, Lord, help me in here today.
00:09:53 If God wants to use somebody that's old, guess what?
00:09:56 He'll use somebody that's old.
00:09:58 If he wants to use somebody that's young,
00:09:59 he will use somebody that's young.
00:10:01 If God wants to use an introvert, he will use an introvert.
00:10:05 If God wants to use an extrovert, he will use an extrovert.
00:10:09 If God wants to use a Democrat, he'll use a Democrat.
00:10:12 If he wants to use a Republican, he will use a Republican.
00:10:15 If he wants to use somebody
00:10:16 that ain't voted ever in their life, he will use them too.
00:10:20 If God wants to use somebody that matriculated
00:10:23 from the upper echelon of the most prestigious
00:10:25 Ivy League university and consistently eats charcuterie,
00:10:29 he will use them.
00:10:31 If God wants to use somebody from the streets
00:10:33 that don't even got a GED
00:10:34 and don't know nothing about charcuterie
00:10:36 but'll have a Lunchable and some Kool-Aid,
00:10:38 he will use them too.
00:10:40 If God wants to use somebody black,
00:10:43 he'll use somebody black.
00:10:44 If he wants to use somebody white, he'll use somebody white.
00:10:48 If he wants to use somebody Asian, he'll use somebody Asian.
00:10:51 If he wants to use somebody Latino, buenos dias,
00:10:54 he will use somebody Latino.
00:10:57 God can use.
00:10:59 I feel like preaching this service.
00:11:00 Whoever he wants to use,
00:11:03 God will use the person you don't like.
00:11:07 And all while you rolling your eyes
00:11:10 and sucking your teeth and saying,
00:11:11 "I wouldn't use them."
00:11:12 He don't care.
00:11:13 He didn't ask your opinion.
00:11:15 He had a purpose for their life
00:11:17 before you ever had an opinion.
00:11:19 God can use
00:11:21 whoever he wants to use, period.
00:11:27 Matter of fact,
00:11:28 matter of fact,
00:11:29 God don't even have to use a who.
00:11:31 He can use a it.
00:11:35 He can use an entity.
00:11:38 This is what I love about God is that even creation,
00:11:40 even creation is incarcerated and confined
00:11:44 to the call of God.
00:11:45 God can, he'll use wind.
00:11:47 He'll use rain.
00:11:49 Ask the Egyptians, he'll use frogs.
00:11:52 He'll use locusts.
00:11:55 Ask Jonah, he'll use a whale.
00:11:57 He'll use whatever he needs to use.
00:11:58 Can I tell you,
00:11:59 I love that I get to preach the gospel to you.
00:12:01 Even on days I don't feel like preaching,
00:12:03 I still wake up and I preach
00:12:04 like I had six Red Bull and some espresso
00:12:06 'cause it's a privilege to preach the gospel to you
00:12:08 because I'm fully cognizant and aware of the fact
00:12:10 God don't even need me to preach.
00:12:12 He'll use anybody to preach.
00:12:14 He'll use one of y'all sitting out here to preach.
00:12:16 Matter of fact,
00:12:17 God'll put a donkey up here
00:12:19 and a donkey will start preaching.
00:12:20 Y'all don't read your Bible.
00:12:21 God can use anything.
00:12:24 And he won't ask your opinion of who he wants to use.
00:12:30 I'm glad that you're here praising God today,
00:12:32 but he didn't even need you to praise him
00:12:34 'cause if you kept quiet,
00:12:36 the rocks would cry out and give him praise.
00:12:41 If he wants to use a man, he'll use a man.
00:12:47 But if he wants to use a woman, he will use a woman.
00:12:52 And what I want to argue today
00:12:54 is there are actually some battles
00:12:56 that only a woman can win.
00:12:58 There are some battles,
00:13:00 but I'm sorry, fellas, it takes a woman to win.
00:13:03 Let's be honest, some of y'all are here today
00:13:05 because some grandmama, some mama was praying for you.
00:13:09 That's why you couldn't even enjoy yourself in the world.
00:13:12 That's why you were crying in the club.
00:13:13 They were bringing out bottles
00:13:15 and you were like, "Something about this ain't right.
00:13:17 "That's 'cause her grandmama was down on her knees
00:13:20 "saying, 'God, bring them back to you.'
00:13:22 "I plead the blood of Jesus over my baby."
00:13:25 They out there in the streets,
00:13:26 but God, they got a call.
00:13:27 God, they got a purpose.
00:13:29 That's why you in church,
00:13:30 because there are some battles.
00:13:32 Oh, it takes a woman to win.
00:13:35 Where would we be without the women of God
00:13:40 that started movements?
00:13:41 Where would we be without the Mariah Woodworth Edders?
00:13:44 Where would we be without the Corrie Ten Booms?
00:13:46 Where would we be without the Harriet Tudmans
00:13:49 and the Sojourner Truth?
00:13:51 Where would we be without these mighty women of God
00:13:54 that aren't always pushed to the forefront,
00:13:56 yet God strategically used them
00:13:58 to bring revival and reformation and change in the earth?
00:14:03 Some battles, it takes a woman to win.
00:14:05 Well, could you give us some scripture?
00:14:07 Okay, Genesis 3:15.
00:14:08 Genesis 3:15, perhaps,
00:14:11 is one of the most powerful verses of scripture
00:14:13 because all the way in the book of Genesis,
00:14:15 hear me, after the fall of man,
00:14:17 after Adam and Eve have jacked up
00:14:20 and taken up the forbidden fruit,
00:14:21 but understand, Eve was deceived.
00:14:24 Adam wasn't.
00:14:25 Adam knew what was going on.
00:14:29 Brumman knew the deal.
00:14:31 She was tricked.
00:14:32 She was deceived.
00:14:33 Still responsible, just like Adam, but she was deceived.
00:14:36 And right when she thought all hope was lost,
00:14:38 God, even in his judgment, had mercy.
00:14:41 Genesis 3:15.
00:14:44 He said, look at what's gonna happen.
00:14:45 He said, guess what, woman?
00:14:47 I'm going to put enmity, hostility,
00:14:50 between your seed and between the seed of the serpent.
00:14:53 His seed is gonna bruise your heel,
00:14:55 but your seed is going to crush his head.
00:14:59 God has always been about crushing heads.
00:15:01 What is he saying?
00:15:02 He is looking at Eve and he's saying,
00:15:04 I know you feel like you've messed up
00:15:06 and I know you feel like all hope is lost,
00:15:08 but guess what?
00:15:09 It is through the womb of a woman
00:15:11 that I'm gonna redeem what Adam messed up.
00:15:14 It's not gonna be you, Eve.
00:15:15 I'm looking at you, Eve,
00:15:17 but I'm talking to a girl from Bethlehem
00:15:19 all the way thousands of years in the future.
00:15:22 She is gonna have the Holy Spirit overshadow her
00:15:25 and she's gonna give birth to the son of the living God.
00:15:29 And where the first man, Adam, chose to die with his bride,
00:15:32 thank God for Jesus, the second man, Adam,
00:15:35 who said, I'm gonna die for my bride.
00:15:37 Oh, thank God that even Jesus had to be birthed
00:15:40 through a woman because some battles,
00:15:43 (audience cheering)
00:15:45 only a woman can win.
00:15:49 And we see this all the way from the book of Genesis,
00:15:51 first number, chapter three, verse number 15,
00:15:54 where God is strategically showing us
00:15:56 that there are some battles it takes a woman to win.
00:16:01 And we love stories of Mary, don't we?
00:16:05 Christmas is coming up and we'll sing
00:16:08 and we'll shout about Mary.
00:16:10 Hail Mary, full of grace.
00:16:12 I guess the thing I wanna bring today is how come,
00:16:17 how come nobody say hail JL?
00:16:19 How come nobody talks about Sister Girl
00:16:22 that we read about today?
00:16:23 Do you know how long I've been in church?
00:16:25 Y'all, I'm a proud Sunday School alumnus.
00:16:27 I feel like I've been walking with the Lord
00:16:28 since the third trimester of Pastor Honey's pregnancy, okay?
00:16:31 I was raised in church and I never heard nobody preach
00:16:35 on Sister Girl JL who took a tent peg
00:16:39 and put it with a hammer through the head of an enemy.
00:16:42 Nobody talks about JL.
00:16:44 Oh, we love to talk about Mary.
00:16:46 I heard a bunch of sermons about Mary every Christmas.
00:16:48 I hear about Mary.
00:16:49 Oh, we love to preach sermons about Sarah,
00:16:52 the great matriarch of our faith.
00:16:53 Wasn't she awesome?
00:16:54 Gave birth to the promised seed, Isaac.
00:16:56 We talk about, ooh, Ruth, don't we?
00:16:59 How many singles conferences have you been to?
00:17:01 Tell my Lord, give me my bo-ass this year.
00:17:03 We talk about Ruth.
00:17:04 We talk about Hannah, how she prayed for God
00:17:07 to give her a child.
00:17:08 All throughout the New Testament,
00:17:10 we talk about the woman with the issue of blood
00:17:12 and how she pressed her way through the crown.
00:17:14 We love all these images.
00:17:16 We love Queen Esther.
00:17:17 You remember Queen Esther,
00:17:18 who was called for such a time as this,
00:17:20 but she just walked in and had all her Mary Kay
00:17:22 and Mac makeup on and just stood and looked pretty.
00:17:25 And I'm all for all those images of womanhood,
00:17:27 but I think sometimes we bring our own gender bias to it
00:17:30 and we're afraid of a woman warrior.
00:17:32 We're afraid of JL who said, yes, I look good
00:17:36 and yes, I got it going on, but don't get it twisted.
00:17:38 If I need to pull out a hammer
00:17:40 and if I need to get a 10 peg,
00:17:43 I will do whatever needs to be done to get the victory.
00:17:47 Oh, somebody should preach about JL more.
00:17:50 How many girls have we robbed in Sunday school?
00:17:55 'Cause nobody talk about JL.
00:17:58 We cool with David and Goliath, you know,
00:18:00 slingshot, shots to the head.
00:18:03 But wouldn't it just be awesome
00:18:03 in one of those little Sunday school classes
00:18:05 when you're talking about David and Goliath,
00:18:06 shot to the head, that a little girl goes,
00:18:09 I'd like to get somebody a shot to the head.
00:18:12 Oh, really?
00:18:13 Let me tell you another Bible story
00:18:14 about JL who took a 10 peg
00:18:19 and put it through the cranium of Sisera.
00:18:22 This is a man, hear me,
00:18:24 who had been attacking the children of Israel
00:18:27 for over 20 years, destroying their families,
00:18:31 destroying their homes,
00:18:33 putting them in bondage and captivity.
00:18:35 And finally, JL said, "Enough is enough."
00:18:38 Before I really delve into the details of the life of JL,
00:18:42 let me just put her in context of the scripture
00:18:44 because her story is found in the book of Judges,
00:18:47 Judges chapter four,
00:18:49 and then she's mentioned in a song in Judges chapter five.
00:18:51 And you have to understand the book of Judges
00:18:53 might be one of the most depressing books in all the Bible.
00:18:57 If you go into the crib, like read the Gospel of John,
00:19:00 don't start with Judges, okay?
00:19:01 'Cause Judges is kind of depressing,
00:19:03 and one of the reasons it's depressing
00:19:04 is because all you're reading in Judges
00:19:06 is the sixth cycle of sin
00:19:09 that the children of Israel went in
00:19:11 over and over and over again.
00:19:14 It's just a repetitive cycle of sin.
00:19:17 It starts like this.
00:19:18 The children of Israel would always do evil
00:19:21 in the eyes of the Lord.
00:19:22 After they would do the evil,
00:19:24 God would sell them or give them over
00:19:27 to one of their enemies.
00:19:28 And when he gave them over to the enemy,
00:19:30 all of a sudden they would repent and say,
00:19:32 "God, we're sorry, we ain't gonna do this no more."
00:19:34 This sound familiar to some of y'all.
00:19:35 "God, please, I promise I will never date
00:19:37 "somebody like that again."
00:19:39 And then God raises up,
00:19:41 I didn't say that first service, so that's for somebody.
00:19:43 God then raises up a judge.
00:19:46 He raises up a deliverer,
00:19:48 and then they repent and come back to God.
00:19:50 But once that judge dies,
00:19:51 they go right back into sinning again.
00:19:53 That is the book of Judges over and over and over again.
00:19:57 They would do all,
00:19:59 then they would cry out to God for a deliverer.
00:20:01 God would send a deliverer,
00:20:02 but before that he would give them over to an enemy
00:20:05 to get them to cry out for repentance.
00:20:07 Isn't that crazy that God would use an enemy
00:20:10 to get your attention?
00:20:12 It almost seems cruel.
00:20:14 It's like, "God, why don't you just speak to me?"
00:20:15 But some of us don't understand when he speaks.
00:20:18 So he has to put you in a situation to get your attention.
00:20:20 God, he used an enemy to get his children's attention.
00:20:24 I don't think he should use an enemy
00:20:26 to get their attention.
00:20:27 That's cool, but don't forget the point of my sermon today.
00:20:30 You don't get to choose who God will use
00:20:34 because God will use whoever he wants.
00:20:36 That means your enemies, that means your haters.
00:20:39 I wish some of y'all would just shut up about your haters.
00:20:42 Some of y'all, first of all, don't even have any haters.
00:20:44 And the other ones of you,
00:20:45 the haters are actually doing more than your friends.
00:20:47 Your haters are making you better.
00:20:49 Your enemies are making you pray.
00:20:51 They're actually making you have more discipline.
00:20:56 And so this cycle repeats itself over and over again.
00:20:59 And in the book of Judges,
00:21:00 you will see that 12 judges God raises up, 12 judges.
00:21:05 Let's see if I can remember all 12 of the judges
00:21:08 that God raised up.
00:21:08 There was, let's see, let me think.
00:21:12 There was Otheniel, there was Ehud, there was Shamgar,
00:21:15 there was Gideon, there was Tola, there was Jer,
00:21:18 there was Jephthah, there was Isbon, there was Elan,
00:21:21 there was Abdon, and there was Samson.
00:21:23 How many of that is?
00:21:25 11?
00:21:27 Who's the 12?
00:21:28 I'm tripping, no, there was Otheniel, there was Ehud,
00:21:31 there was Shamgar, there was Gideon, there was Tola,
00:21:33 there was Jer, there was Jephthah, there was Ibon,
00:21:36 there was Elan, there was Abdon, there was Samson, and.
00:21:39 Did I say 11?
00:21:42 Who was the last one?
00:21:44 Who was the last one?
00:21:45 Oh yeah, Deborah.
00:21:47 Deborah, the woman of God that God raised up.
00:21:51 I like Deborah because Deborah's name, guess what it means?
00:21:54 Be.
00:21:55 That's what it translates to me, be.
00:21:58 I want you to look at your neighbor and help me preach
00:21:59 and just say, neighbor.
00:22:01 Let me.
00:22:03 Be me.
00:22:04 Let me be me.
00:22:06 Be who God has created and called you to be.
00:22:10 So many of us, when we step into our car,
00:22:12 we feel like we gotta be somebody else.
00:22:15 It makes me laugh all the time.
00:22:16 There's some people that come to faith
00:22:17 and all of a sudden you done learned Christianese in a day
00:22:19 and you just, bless the Lord.
00:22:21 Praise the Lord, yes.
00:22:23 I was reading the book of Palms and Job yesterday.
00:22:27 You ain't even saying it right.
00:22:29 Just be.
00:22:31 Be who God created you to be.
00:22:35 Some of y'all are new to faith.
00:22:36 I know it's social.
00:22:37 You're gonna have this pressure to start being somebody else
00:22:39 and yes, God is changing you,
00:22:41 but God wants to use your own unique personality.
00:22:44 He wants to use your own unique gifting and grace
00:22:47 to do what he's called you to be.
00:22:48 Her name means be.
00:22:49 I love that she's a be because she is a prophet
00:22:52 and she's a judge.
00:22:54 A prophet and she's a judge.
00:22:56 Judges administer justice.
00:22:59 Prophets proclaim what thus saith the Lord
00:23:01 and speak the truth.
00:23:03 No wonder she's a be because I'm, you know,
00:23:05 when you encounter a be, they can make some honey,
00:23:07 which is so sweet, that is justice,
00:23:09 but they also can sting you when they need to
00:23:12 and that is the truth.
00:23:13 I believe in this last day, God is raising up a generation
00:23:16 that is going to stand for justice and truth.
00:23:18 That's gonna stand for righteousness and peace.
00:23:21 That's gonna stand for mercy and truth coming together.
00:23:24 This is Deborah.
00:23:25 And Deborah pulls up on Barak,
00:23:29 who is the general of the Israelite army
00:23:32 and she says to him,
00:23:33 "Has not the Lord commanded us to go fight?"
00:23:38 In other words, what you doing, bro?
00:23:40 Let's go fight.
00:23:42 Let's go get the victory.
00:23:43 And when I heard what Barak said back,
00:23:46 oh, it made me mad.
00:23:48 This dude says, "Well, if you go with me, I'll go.
00:23:51 But if you ain't gonna go, I ain't gonna go."
00:23:56 Oh, and I felt some type of way towards Barak
00:23:58 'cause I'm like, come on, man, get some backbone.
00:24:00 Do some pushups, man, come on.
00:24:03 What you mean?
00:24:04 You should look at her and say,
00:24:04 "Hey, I was already ready to go.
00:24:06 I'm getting the truth together right now.
00:24:07 If you wanna go, that's cool.
00:24:08 I'm gonna go anyway.
00:24:09 Why in the world would you say,
00:24:11 "Well, if you go with me, then I'll go.
00:24:15 But if you ain't gonna go,
00:24:16 man, I think I'm just gonna stay here."
00:24:18 And I judged him.
00:24:19 I judged him from a distance.
00:24:21 But then I started doing my homework
00:24:23 and I realized who he was going up against.
00:24:26 It is so easy to judge somebody's battle from a distance.
00:24:31 So I would have had more faith than that.
00:24:33 Would you?
00:24:34 You ain't in my fight.
00:24:35 You sure you would have had that faith?
00:24:37 I cannot completely castigate Barak
00:24:39 because he actually made the Hebrews Hall of Faith
00:24:40 in Hebrews chapter 11.
00:24:42 So even though he had reluctant faith,
00:24:43 he still had some type of faith.
00:24:45 Oh, I'm telling you,
00:24:46 I judged him and thought he was a coward
00:24:48 until I started doing my due diligence
00:24:50 and I realized who he was going up against.
00:24:52 Understand the King of Jabin and Sisera,
00:24:55 they had, some scholars say, an army of 300,000 men.
00:25:00 They had 10,000 in their cavalry.
00:25:02 They had 3,000, some scholars say, chariots.
00:25:06 And 900 of them were made of solid iron.
00:25:09 They were sophisticated in their weaponry.
00:25:12 They were powerful.
00:25:14 Oh yeah, it's easy to say, man, I would have knocked him out.
00:25:16 Oh really?
00:25:17 Let's see if he was coming for your head, what you would do.
00:25:19 Everybody on the sideline always got something to say,
00:25:21 just like it's football season.
00:25:22 Oh, how could he throw that pass?
00:25:25 Let's put you on the field, homie.
00:25:27 And see when you got a 400 pound lineman coming after you,
00:25:32 it's easy.
00:25:33 Oh, how could he make that mistake?
00:25:35 How could you?
00:25:36 You're sitting up there eating guacamole and pizza.
00:25:38 You couldn't have done it?
00:25:41 Isn't it crazy how we judge the battle from a distance?
00:25:45 And I said, Barack, I didn't realize
00:25:46 what you were going up against.
00:25:48 This was a massive army, and the children of Israel
00:25:51 only had 10,000 people.
00:25:54 And they weren't trained to fight.
00:25:55 They didn't even have the right weapons.
00:25:56 They had like pitchforks and farming tools.
00:26:00 God didn't train them.
00:26:01 Well, how in the world can you fight a battle like that
00:26:04 when they have iron, iron chariots?
00:26:06 This is like going against tanks,
00:26:07 and here they are trying to fight them,
00:26:09 and yet they still had the advantage.
00:26:11 This is why I love Deborah, this powerful woman of God,
00:26:14 is trying to say, I know we don't have
00:26:16 the militaristic training.
00:26:17 I know we ain't got the weapons,
00:26:18 but we do have one thing going for us,
00:26:21 and that one thing is more important than anything else.
00:26:23 Ooh, don't shout before I show you the scripture.
00:26:25 Look at what she said to him.
00:26:27 In Judges 4, verse 14, Deborah says,
00:26:29 "Get ready, this is the day.
00:26:32 "The Lord will give you victory over Sisera,
00:26:35 "for the Lord is marching ahead of you."
00:26:38 Oh, in other words, get ready to fight, Barack.
00:26:41 I know we ain't got the most soldiers.
00:26:43 I know we don't got the weaponry,
00:26:45 but we got something going for us.
00:26:46 God's already given us the victory,
00:26:48 and God has already marched ahead of us.
00:26:51 I don't know who this is for,
00:26:53 but you don't think you got the right weapons,
00:26:54 and you don't think you got the right resume,
00:26:56 but the only thing you need on your resume
00:26:58 is to know that God has gone before you,
00:27:01 that God has already given it to you,
00:27:04 and there's somebody in here that can testify
00:27:06 that the only reason I got some of the stuff I got,
00:27:10 oh, it wasn't my intellect, it wasn't my credit score,
00:27:13 it wasn't my gifting, the only reason I'm still here
00:27:17 is because God, oh, went before me.
00:27:22 Oh, don't start acting brand new.
00:27:23 Don't start acting bougie.
00:27:25 You know who you could have been
00:27:27 if God hadn't gone before you.
00:27:29 You better always give the glory
00:27:31 to the one that gave you the victory.
00:27:35 (audience cheers)
00:27:37 I wanna take a little praise break
00:27:39 for somebody that knows the only way you won
00:27:42 is because God went before you.
00:27:45 God gave you the victory.
00:27:48 Sit up here with your lips zipped in church
00:27:53 like it was you that won the battle.
00:27:56 You might have been fighting,
00:27:57 but it was God's grace behind you.
00:27:59 It was the Holy Spirit empowering you.
00:28:02 That's the only way I can fight.
00:28:04 That's the only thing social got
00:28:06 is that God has gone before us.
00:28:09 (audience cheers)
00:28:11 That one thing is the only thing
00:28:18 that'll get you the victory.
00:28:20 How many times do we look at our training
00:28:23 and do we get stuck in our insecurity and insufficiencies?
00:28:27 It's like, God, I ain't got no,
00:28:29 God, they got iron chariots.
00:28:32 I got a pitch for it.
00:28:34 God, how am I?
00:28:35 God, I don't have the education.
00:28:36 God, I don't have this, I don't have that.
00:28:39 You've been so focused on what you don't have.
00:28:41 You've forgotten what you do have.
00:28:45 That he has gone before you.
00:28:48 So Deborah says, "Let's go.
00:28:51 "I'm with you.
00:28:52 "I ain't never been scared."
00:28:54 Here comes Deborah and Barack and 10,000 troops
00:29:01 facing perhaps 300,000.
00:29:05 And they start in the mountain of Tabor.
00:29:08 And then they quickly advance down by the valley
00:29:14 of Kishon, by the river, to fight.
00:29:16 They start in the mountain,
00:29:19 but they go down in the valley to fight this army
00:29:22 that's bigger than them, that has better weapons than them.
00:29:26 Can you see 'em?
00:29:27 Go on, Lord, what are we gonna do?
00:29:30 I don't know if you've ever studied the Bible
00:29:32 and looked at God's military strategy.
00:29:35 It is always jacked up.
00:29:36 No, I'm serious.
00:29:39 Study the military strategy of God,
00:29:41 and you'll be like, "This dude is up there
00:29:42 "smoking on something."
00:29:44 'Cause none of it makes any sense.
00:29:47 No logic.
00:29:48 Just read it, just read Judges.
00:29:49 He said up here, "Downsizing armies."
00:29:52 Oh yeah, you got too many people.
00:29:54 Excuse me?
00:29:55 Yeah, for the battle, you got too many people.
00:29:58 Too many people.
00:29:59 Yeah, cut 'em down.
00:30:01 Why?
00:30:01 I don't like the way they drink water.
00:30:03 Excuse me?
00:30:04 The dumbest stuff.
00:30:08 Send a worship team in front.
00:30:10 Lord, we ain't making an album, we fighting.
00:30:12 No, put them in the front.
00:30:15 What?
00:30:17 Oh, here's one.
00:30:18 Walk around the wall and yell.
00:30:20 It looks stupid, but when he's gone before you.
00:30:28 (audience cheering)
00:30:30 I feel this in my spirit.
00:30:31 This is for somebody that looks so stupid
00:30:33 in this season right now,
00:30:34 and people are laughing at you.
00:30:36 Talking about, "For real?
00:30:37 "You doing that?
00:30:38 "You ain't even got a job?
00:30:39 "You tithing on unemployment?
00:30:41 "You giving when you ain't got your stuff?"
00:30:43 I know it looks stupid.
00:30:44 The only thing I got is that he went before me.
00:30:47 (audience cheering)
00:30:50 And here they are, you gotta see it.
00:30:54 They're in the valley,
00:30:56 and they're fighting an army that's bigger and better.
00:30:59 And you don't get this little bitty powerful detail
00:31:03 until you read Judges chapter five.
00:31:06 But I need you to see what happened in the valley,
00:31:08 'cause they're fighting them, they're outnumbered,
00:31:11 they got better weapons,
00:31:13 they're covered in their iron chariots,
00:31:15 and no wonder Deborah said, "Go quick,"
00:31:17 because something happened in the atmosphere.
00:31:19 How about the Windsor Opera House?
00:31:22 Thank you, God, for setting up the acoustics of this room
00:31:25 for this illustration.
00:31:27 'Cause here they are in the valley
00:31:30 with the Keyshawn River, which by the way,
00:31:32 should have been dried in this season,
00:31:34 but all of a sudden, something happened in the atmosphere
00:31:37 as they're getting ready to fight.
00:31:38 And I need you to help me do it.
00:31:41 Everybody just put this finger like this.
00:31:42 Can I see the finger like that?
00:31:43 Yeah, just one.
00:31:44 I want one.
00:31:45 I see y'all at the top.
00:31:46 Here we go, right there.
00:31:47 And can you get this hand right here?
00:31:48 Yeah, and just do this for me, do this.
00:31:54 As hard as you can.
00:31:55 Yeah.
00:31:58 See, they're in the valley,
00:32:01 and all of a sudden...
00:32:04 Stay with me.
00:32:09 All of a sudden,
00:32:14 when they're getting ready to fight,
00:32:19 and they're outnumbered...
00:32:21 (audience applauding)
00:32:24 It starts,
00:32:26 it starts raining.
00:32:29 I know who this is for.
00:32:32 Don't stop clapping,
00:32:33 'cause I don't want the rain to stop.
00:32:37 I'm talking to somebody that's out of the army
00:32:38 that outnumbered you,
00:32:40 and you don't got the weapons.
00:32:42 But what good is an iron chariot
00:32:45 when it's stuck in the mud?
00:32:46 Because you serve a God
00:32:50 that knows how to make it rain.
00:32:52 And all of a sudden,
00:32:54 the iron chariots are stuck,
00:32:57 because God is the God that can use anything.
00:33:00 He can use the rain.
00:33:02 And when the rain started coming down,
00:33:05 they had to get out of their iron chariots
00:33:08 and start fighting.
00:33:09 Oh, somebody needs to give God some praise
00:33:13 like you hear the sound of an abundance of rain.
00:33:17 (audience applauding)
00:33:20 I wish I had an organ in this place.
00:33:22 God sent the rain.
00:33:29 Who knew God can use rain in a fight?
00:33:32 I knew God could use rain in a fight.
00:33:35 You know how I knew?
00:33:36 Put my point back up in there.
00:33:38 You don't get to choose who God will use,
00:33:41 because God will use whoever he wants, period.
00:33:47 (audience applauding)
00:33:50 And the rain caused them to get stuck
00:33:56 to their iron chariots,
00:33:58 and they had to fight in physical combat.
00:34:02 Now I understand why the Bible says,
00:34:03 "Some trust in horses,
00:34:05 "some trust in chariots,
00:34:08 "but we will trust in the Lord our God."
00:34:12 Bring it to the 21st century.
00:34:13 Some trust in paychecks,
00:34:15 some trust in the Dow Jones and their stocks,
00:34:18 but I trust in the Lord.
00:34:20 I trust in the God who gave me the victory
00:34:25 and who already went before me.
00:34:29 This is so simple it should make you shout.
00:34:32 The fact that the only thing you got going for you
00:34:35 is that he went before you.
00:34:37 And all of a sudden, watch what happens.
00:34:41 I'm almost done.
00:34:43 They fight in hand-to-hand combat.
00:34:45 Israelites defeat every single one of them.
00:34:50 It says no man was standing.
00:34:52 And all of a sudden, watch this.
00:34:54 Sisera, the commander of the army,
00:34:56 when he realizes all his men were dead,
00:34:59 I'm in the text, he left.
00:35:01 He fled.
00:35:03 I don't blame him.
00:35:04 You got no one to hold him,
00:35:05 you got no one to fall to.
00:35:06 He's like, "Oh, all y'all dead.
00:35:09 "Yep, that's my cue, all right."
00:35:10 He left.
00:35:12 He left, he deserted all of them,
00:35:15 if I had time, which I do.
00:35:17 I will tell you,
00:35:18 I will tell you that's interesting to note
00:35:22 that the Canaanites worshiped the God Baal.
00:35:25 And they believed that Baal was in charge of the rain.
00:35:31 So when it was the rain that caused them to lose,
00:35:36 it proved that their God was not the true God
00:35:42 and that Baal wasn't really in control.
00:35:44 Oh, somebody needs to know,
00:35:47 in spite of what you're going through right now,
00:35:50 the battle's gonna prove who's really in control.
00:35:52 And watch this.
00:36:01 He takes off running.
00:36:04 And here's where he runs.
00:36:07 He runs to the area of Jael, who was married.
00:36:12 She's just an ordinary housewife.
00:36:15 Her husband's name is Heber.
00:36:17 He runs in the direction of Heber.
00:36:22 Let the church say Heber.
00:36:24 Say it with your chest, say Heber.
00:36:26 Anybody in here, are you single?
00:36:29 Single, can I see your hand, you're single?
00:36:31 No commercials.
00:36:32 That's the whole church.
00:36:36 (audience laughing)
00:36:38 What y'all doing, have you met?
00:36:40 Is that why you're here?
00:36:41 Jael is married to Heber, Heber.
00:36:51 Those of you who are single, marriage advice for free.
00:36:55 Okay, it's free.
00:36:56 It's your prerogative, do whatever you wanna do.
00:36:59 But if you're gonna marry somebody, don't marry Heber.
00:37:06 Don't pick, like if you're on the first date,
00:37:07 what's your name?
00:37:08 Heber, run.
00:37:10 No, just run.
00:37:12 Say I'm so sorry, we can't do it.
00:37:14 Don't marry Heber, because Jael, this woman warrior,
00:37:18 is married to Heber.
00:37:21 Heber is a Kenite.
00:37:22 He's a Kenite that is connected
00:37:27 to Moses' father-in-law, Jethro.
00:37:29 So he has some type of connection to the Israelites.
00:37:33 And yet if you look at verse 11,
00:37:34 read it when you get to the crib,
00:37:36 you'll note where he chose to live.
00:37:38 Heber chose to live in an area
00:37:42 where he could play both sides.
00:37:43 He was friendly with the Canaanites,
00:37:48 and he was friendly with the Israelites.
00:37:51 As a matter of fact, history tells us
00:37:53 that the Kenites worked with weapons.
00:37:56 So he's making weapons for the Israelites,
00:38:00 and he's making weapons for the enemy.
00:38:02 He's in the middle.
00:38:04 Don't marry, don't date, don't be connected to Hebers.
00:38:10 (audience applauding)
00:38:11 Heber has no problem coming to church on Sunday.
00:38:16 Heber loved the Lord, but Heber loved the world too.
00:38:21 Heber is what the book of James calls
00:38:25 a double-minded person that's unstable in all of their ways.
00:38:30 Heber has one foot in and one foot out.
00:38:33 Heber's name translates to mean ally,
00:38:36 which means I'm gonna be a friend with the world,
00:38:38 and I'm gonna be a friend of God too.
00:38:41 I'm not gonna be on fire for God and go all the way,
00:38:43 but I'm not gonna go all the way in the world either.
00:38:46 I just wanna play both sides.
00:38:47 And how many know when you are playing both sides,
00:38:49 it's only a matter of time that you only fall on one side,
00:38:52 and it's really not the side of the Lord,
00:38:54 and it's high time to stop playing games.
00:38:56 If you're gonna be all the way in the world,
00:38:58 then do that and be all the way in the world,
00:39:00 but if you're gonna be in the house of God,
00:39:02 come on, man, come on, women, be a man of God,
00:39:05 be a woman of God.
00:39:06 Say, I have some boundaries.
00:39:08 Say, I have some integrity.
00:39:09 I got some character.
00:39:11 I'm not just professing something on Sunday
00:39:13 that changes on Monday through Saturday.
00:39:15 (audience applauding)
00:39:19 It's a mixture that we love sometimes.
00:39:23 Heber is playing both sides.
00:39:26 Oh, now I see why Sisera felt like it was safe
00:39:31 to run to the tent of Heber.
00:39:34 Heber had a peace treaty with him.
00:39:37 So he said, "Oh, I know I'm running from the enemy,
00:39:40 "but I can go to Heber.
00:39:42 "He'll take care of me."
00:39:43 'Cause Heber plays both sides.
00:39:46 And look at Sisera, running, afraid,
00:39:50 thinking he can get to Heber's house.
00:39:52 Come on, where's Heber's tent?
00:39:53 I just gotta find Heber,
00:39:54 'cause I know Heber's my dude.
00:39:56 He plays both sides.
00:39:58 He gonna take care of me, even though I'm on the run.
00:40:00 But here's what I love about it.
00:40:02 Heber wasn't home.
00:40:03 JL.
00:40:06 (audience applauding)
00:40:10 Standing right in front of the tent.
00:40:14 Oh, hi, Sisera.
00:40:15 I'm so sorry.
00:40:16 Yes, Heber's not home.
00:40:18 Because sometimes it takes a woman.
00:40:21 (audience applauding)
00:40:25 To win the battle.
00:40:26 I'm landing the plane.
00:40:28 I want you to see how cunning and how brilliant JL is.
00:40:33 She goes up to Heber, outside of the tent.
00:40:37 She says, look what she says.
00:40:38 I'm gonna text.
00:40:39 "My Lord, my Lord, don't be afraid.
00:40:42 "Come into the tent."
00:40:44 She's not calling him Savior,
00:40:47 but she understands that he is a general of an army.
00:40:51 And if she's going to gain his trust,
00:40:53 she must come to him with respect.
00:40:56 I'm going somewhere.
00:40:59 This is an evil general.
00:41:01 Evil.
00:41:03 He has been assassinating
00:41:06 and destroying the children of Israel for 20 years.
00:41:09 And yet JL is smart enough to know
00:41:12 that if I'm gonna get a man to trust me,
00:41:13 I cannot come to him with disrespect.
00:41:15 Respect is his love language.
00:41:19 Preach the Bible.
00:41:20 That's why in Ephesians chapter five,
00:41:22 when Paul starts teaching on marriage,
00:41:23 he commands the husband first to love your wife
00:41:27 as Christ loved the church.
00:41:28 And then he commands the woman to what?
00:41:30 Respect your husband.
00:41:33 Why?
00:41:34 Because it's difficult for men to love the way Christ loved.
00:41:37 And sometimes it's difficult for women to honor,
00:41:40 especially when your man is acting a fool.
00:41:43 That's why he puts those restrictions.
00:41:47 So I want to speak to some lady in here today.
00:41:49 And fellas, you can thank me later.
00:41:51 If you want to get his attention,
00:41:52 come to him with honor, come to him with respect.
00:41:55 There ought to be some things you just don't say
00:41:57 about your baby daddy in front of your child.
00:41:59 You might not respect his behavior,
00:42:01 but can you honor the position of him as the father?
00:42:04 Because your son is listening and your daughter is listening.
00:42:08 Oh, I wasn't gonna get no amens right there.
00:42:10 Isn't it crazy that JL,
00:42:16 because she wanted to gain the trust,
00:42:18 didn't roll up and say,
00:42:19 "Ah, let me tell you something, sister.
00:42:22 "You about to die.
00:42:23 "You ain't got no man.
00:42:24 "I can't stand you.
00:42:25 "I'm about to kill you.
00:42:27 "You ain't nobody.
00:42:30 "We're your little army now.
00:42:31 "We're your little army."
00:42:33 You know how y'all do.
00:42:35 "We're your little iron chariot now."
00:42:39 She don't do that.
00:42:47 Look at how she plays him.
00:42:49 Says, "My Lord, my Lord, don't be afraid."
00:42:55 She comforts.
00:42:57 She gets a dude that probably built like Shaquille O'Neal
00:43:00 to come into her tent.
00:43:04 "Okay, don't be afraid.
00:43:06 (audience laughing)
00:43:08 "Don't be afraid.
00:43:08 "It takes a woman to win.
00:43:09 "Don't be afraid, come on.
00:43:13 "You tired, ain't you?
00:43:15 "Fighting that battle.
00:43:16 "Come on in here.
00:43:17 "Come on, relax.
00:43:20 "Don't be afraid.
00:43:21 "You ain't got nothing to fear.
00:43:22 "Come on."
00:43:22 Gets him in the tent.
00:43:26 The Bible says the first thing she does,
00:43:29 this housewife, first thing she does is she covers him.
00:43:34 I told the team, I said, "Get me a diaper bag."
00:43:38 'Cause it takes a woman to win sometimes.
00:43:43 I don't know if JL had any kids,
00:43:45 but I know she was just the housewife.
00:43:47 And you gotta work what you got in your bag.
00:43:50 She didn't have time to go to military school.
00:43:54 She didn't have time to get a sword.
00:43:55 She just had to work her bag.
00:43:58 And so he comes in, and the first thing she does
00:44:00 is she covers him.
00:44:02 She just takes a little blankie and covers baby Huey.
00:44:07 'Cause women, you know how to cover.
00:44:14 You know how to cover.
00:44:15 Let me put it, I want you to see my blanket.
00:44:17 She covers him.
00:44:20 Say, "Relax.
00:44:22 "You all right?"
00:44:23 Covers him.
00:44:24 Gets him so comfortable.
00:44:26 He says, "Oh, you got some water?"
00:44:28 I'm in the text.
00:44:30 Can I get some water?
00:44:33 She goes, and I am convinced that she coulda got water.
00:44:38 I think she had water.
00:44:40 But sometimes it takes a woman to win.
00:44:43 And you gotta go to your bag.
00:44:45 She didn't get water.
00:44:46 She gave him some milk.
00:44:48 She said, "Take this milk.
00:44:54 "You know milk has properties in it that actually
00:44:57 "make you sleepy.
00:45:01 "It's also in turkey, too.
00:45:02 "That's why at the Thanksgiving, you're like,
00:45:03 "Man, I don't even know."
00:45:04 It takes a woman to win.
00:45:09 She gives him the milk.
00:45:11 And before you know it, this warrior
00:45:15 is knocked out of sleep in her tent.
00:45:22 Sam play real pretty right through here.
00:45:25 And now, she's realizing,
00:45:31 this is my moment.
00:45:34 This is my opportunity.
00:45:37 She didn't have time to pray.
00:45:40 She didn't have time to fast.
00:45:42 She knew that sooner or later, he's gonna wake up.
00:45:46 So I gotta make a move.
00:45:48 I don't know who this is for today,
00:45:50 but God's saying the thing that has been running
00:45:52 in your family, the thing that has been
00:45:53 destroying generations, you have an opportunity
00:45:56 to kill this thing.
00:45:58 You have an opportunity to put a tent peg in its head.
00:46:02 It mighta ran in your family.
00:46:03 It don't have to run in you if you'll have the nerve,
00:46:06 the courage, the audacity, the boldness to say,
00:46:10 this is my moment.
00:46:11 She didn't have time to read a book on warfare.
00:46:17 She didn't have time to go get a sword.
00:46:20 She had to go with what was in her bag.
00:46:23 And she got a hammer and a tent peg
00:46:29 and said, this is the only opportunity that I got.
00:46:36 Can you see her?
00:46:39 She had to be nervous,
00:46:40 but she still moved with stealth and strength.
00:46:43 I can see her.
00:46:44 She's got a warrior asleep in her tent.
00:46:48 And she says, this is the only moment that I got.
00:46:50 I can see her.
00:46:51 Her palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.
00:46:54 There's vomit on her sweater already.
00:46:55 Mom's spaghetti, she's nervous, but on the surface,
00:46:58 she looks calm and ready to drop bombs.
00:47:00 But she keeps on forgetting what she wrote down.
00:47:02 Her name is J-I-F.
00:47:04 No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:47:07 Y'all mad, I took you out of the spirit.
00:47:09 But that's the reality.
00:47:10 She only got one shot.
00:47:12 And I don't know who this is for.
00:47:14 You only got one shot.
00:47:16 This is your moment.
00:47:17 This is your season.
00:47:18 This is your opportunity.
00:47:20 You gotta move when there is an opportunity in front of you.
00:47:24 (audience cheering)
00:47:27 I only got one shot.
00:47:29 And all of y'all that are mad
00:47:32 that I just used that illustration,
00:47:34 put my point back up on there.
00:47:35 I just wanna let you know,
00:47:37 you don't get to choose
00:47:38 who God'll use,
00:47:41 'cause God'll use whoever
00:47:43 he wants.
00:47:45 Here he is,
00:47:48 asleep.
00:47:50 This is a warrior that has been feared for 20 years.
00:47:56 You only get one shot
00:48:00 to get this right.
00:48:02 I'm trying to figure out
00:48:07 where does she get that precision?
00:48:09 Where did she get that accuracy and the agency?
00:48:15 'Cause you only get, if you miss and he wakes up,
00:48:19 it is over.
00:48:23 Where did she get the steadiness of hand
00:48:29 and accuracy of aim
00:48:32 to get this one shot?
00:48:35 I'll tell you where she got it.
00:48:37 Y'all, when I studied this,
00:48:40 it made me do back flips.
00:48:43 I found out that our girl, JL,
00:48:47 who's married to Heber,
00:48:49 they are Kenites.
00:48:50 And Kenites travel from place to place.
00:48:54 They are nomadic in nature.
00:48:57 They didn't have a home of their own.
00:48:59 They're kind of like social Dallas,
00:49:01 going from venue to venue.
00:49:03 One week they had Gillies,
00:49:04 the next week they had Toyota Music Factory,
00:49:06 the next week they had Windspear.
00:49:08 So guess what I found out?
00:49:10 I found out that every place they went,
00:49:12 they had to set up and tear down their tent.
00:49:15 Set up and tear down their tent.
00:49:17 Set up and tear down the tent.
00:49:19 And guess who responsibility it was
00:49:21 to set up and tear down the tent.
00:49:24 It was not the responsibility of the men
00:49:27 'cause they were at war.
00:49:29 It was the job of the women
00:49:31 to set up the tent and tear it down.
00:49:36 That means our girl, JL, had some practice for years.
00:49:41 She was accurate for years.
00:49:43 Every day she set up that tent and teared it down.
00:49:47 It was practice for that moment.
00:49:50 Hear me, mama.
00:49:51 Every time you put those kids to bed at night
00:49:53 and you wake 'em up in the morning,
00:49:55 that is practice for the warrior you're raising.
00:49:58 Every time you stand in the gap
00:50:01 and you do stuff that people don't see or notice,
00:50:04 it is practice.
00:50:05 She had been practicing for years.
00:50:08 No wonder she was accurate.
00:50:10 Ooh, who is this for today?
00:50:16 God told me to tell you
00:50:20 that every moment of power
00:50:24 is always preceded by countless hours of practice.
00:50:30 Every moment where God uses you in one shot,
00:50:34 there were countless moments that preceded that moment
00:50:37 where you were being faithful day after day.
00:50:42 She had been practicing that shot her entire life.
00:50:49 And I just wonder if JL ever thought
00:50:53 when she was putting up the tent
00:50:55 and tearing it down year after year,
00:50:59 this is pointless.
00:51:00 Is this my life?
00:51:05 Putting up tents and tearing 'em down.
00:51:10 Is this my life?
00:51:12 I bet she questioned whether her life had value,
00:51:17 not knowing that every time she hit that tent peg,
00:51:23 it was practice for the one shot
00:51:28 that would take the enemy down and out.
00:51:31 Y'all, the shot was so precise.
00:51:36 It didn't just go through his head.
00:51:38 It went through his head into the ground.
00:51:41 Oh, who is this for today?
00:51:44 God said, "This enemy in this battle you've been facing,
00:51:47 "this is the last time you're gonna see this enemy.
00:51:50 "You've been prepared for this.
00:51:51 "You've been prepared for this.
00:51:53 "God has been preparing you in the secret place.
00:51:55 "Take your shot."
00:51:58 (congregation applauding)
00:52:00 But you won't take the shot
00:52:02 if you let fear and intimidation.
00:52:05 But what do you got to lose?
00:52:08 If he wakes up, I'm dead.
00:52:11 If I miss, I'm dead.
00:52:13 I better give it what I got.
00:52:15 She took the shot.
00:52:18 It is the moment of unseen faithfulness
00:52:22 that prepares you.
00:52:26 Mama, making them lunches every day is preparation.
00:52:29 Don't just say, "I'm just a mama.
00:52:32 "I'm just a housewife."
00:52:34 I'm reminded of a mama.
00:52:36 Her name is not mentioned in Scripture,
00:52:39 but in my exegetical imagination, she's in Scripture,
00:52:42 who is probably every single day
00:52:44 making two fish and five loaves for her little boy.
00:52:47 It's time I did this my life,
00:52:50 making two fish and five loaves,
00:52:52 packing it every day.
00:52:53 Is this what my life has come to?
00:52:55 He ain't even gonna eat the lunch anyway.
00:52:57 Probably gonna go trade it with somebody.
00:53:01 Until one day, her little boy comes home.
00:53:06 Says, "Mama, you ain't gonna believe
00:53:08 "what happened to my lunch."
00:53:09 What you mean I ain't gonna believe?
00:53:10 You didn't eat it, did you?
00:53:12 Who you traded with?
00:53:13 Oh, Mama, I traded it with this man named Yeshua.
00:53:17 You heard of him?
00:53:19 Mama, he multiplied the two fish and the five loaves,
00:53:23 and everybody was fed that day
00:53:26 with the lunch that you packed.
00:53:27 She didn't know the lunch that she was packing
00:53:30 was gonna feed thousands.
00:53:32 She thought she was making it for her son.
00:53:34 She didn't know we'd be talking about it today.
00:53:36 You don't have a clue what God is gonna do
00:53:39 in generations to come.
00:53:40 You just gotta be faithful.
00:53:42 She didn't know she was gonna defeat a commander,
00:53:45 but she was faithful.
00:53:46 Oh, can I prophetically speak over our church right now?
00:53:49 We don't got a building yet.
00:53:51 We ain't got a building yet.
00:53:53 But every single day we show up,
00:53:55 every single day we serve,
00:53:57 every sermon that is preached,
00:53:58 every song that is lifted up,
00:54:00 God is preparing us for what we haven't even seen yet.
00:54:04 Miracles, signs, and wonders,
00:54:07 a revival that'll break out in the city of Dallas.
00:54:10 I just gotta be faithful with every...
00:54:13 Hey!
00:54:15 Come on, can you get up on your feet
00:54:20 and give our God the most thunderous applause
00:54:23 of praise that you got?
00:54:25 Take your shot, take your shot.
00:54:29 Your victory is on the way,
00:54:31 but be faithful with your shot.
00:54:34 Hey!
00:54:47 (upbeat music)
00:54:49 Just gotta be faithful.
00:55:00 Gotta be faithful.
00:55:04 I gotta be faithful.
00:55:08 'Cause every time I strike it,
00:55:15 it's practice to defeat a giant,
00:55:18 to defeat an enemy.
00:55:20 Thank God for a woman that not many people talk about,
00:55:25 but she stopped the tyranny of an enemy
00:55:30 that had been messing with the people of God for years.
00:55:33 Sometimes,
00:55:35 it takes a woman to win.
00:55:40 It takes a woman to win.
00:55:43 I believe this message is not just for this house
00:55:47 and the women of this house.
00:55:49 It's for every single person
00:55:51 that needs to step out of the shadows.
00:55:54 You've allowed fear and intimidation
00:55:57 to cripple you for far too long.
00:56:00 God's saying it's time for you to take your shot.
00:56:05 He's saying it's time for you to realize
00:56:09 that every time you're doing the thing
00:56:13 that seems so menial,
00:56:14 it seems like it's not a big deal,
00:56:17 just being a faithful husband,
00:56:21 being a faithful wife,
00:56:24 just showing up to church when you don't feel like it,
00:56:27 every single day,
00:56:29 God said,
00:56:31 even when humanity doesn't see it,
00:56:34 I'm a great record keeper.
00:56:37 And I'm watching.
00:56:39 I'm watching.
00:56:42 (congregation applauding)
00:56:44 And even if you don't get the recognition
00:56:46 on this side of heaven,
00:56:47 how many are thankful there is coming a day?
00:56:49 There is coming a day where we shall see him in his glory.
00:56:54 And even when we get our crown,
00:56:56 we're still gonna cast that crown off
00:56:58 because we realize that the prize is him.
00:57:00 He is the reward.
00:57:02 He is the one that our soul desires.
00:57:04 He is the one that crushed the head of the enemy.
00:57:09 So I'm gonna ask every head be bowed and eyes be closed.
00:57:12 It's been a theme all weekend.
00:57:16 It started with Social Girls
00:57:18 and I believe God wants to continue to break it.
00:57:20 The spirit of fear.
00:57:22 Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear.
00:57:27 It doesn't mean you won't feel afraid.
00:57:30 I can't tell you how many times I've walked out here,
00:57:35 especially with what God has done in the last two years.
00:57:38 I felt like my knees are shaking,
00:57:41 but I've learned to feel the fear and do it anyway.
00:57:44 And somebody in here is about to miss out on the shot
00:57:51 that you were ordained to take
00:57:53 because you're allowing fear and intimidation to stop you.
00:57:58 So I believe God wants to break that today.
00:58:01 I believe there's some of you that have been far from God.
00:58:07 Maybe somebody invited you
00:58:08 and you ain't been to church in a long time.
00:58:10 Maybe you've been to church for years,
00:58:11 but you've never really surrendered your life to him.
00:58:13 You've been Hebrew.
00:58:15 You're one foot in, one foot out.
00:58:20 And God is speaking to your heart today
00:58:22 to say, make a decision.
00:58:24 Stop being double-minded.
00:58:27 Stop living one way on Sunday
00:58:29 and then your life is completely different
00:58:31 the rest of the week.
00:58:32 Be all the way in or all the way out.
00:58:36 He said, this is the day I put before you life or death.
00:58:39 Choose one.
00:58:40 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
00:58:44 Heads bowed, eyes closed today.
00:58:48 If you'd be so honest to say, you know what?
00:58:49 Fear has been stopping me from taking the shot.
00:58:54 If that's you, would you just lift up your hand
00:58:57 high enough and long enough to where I can see it?
00:58:58 I believe God wants to break that fear off of you today.
00:59:02 Thank you, Jesus.
00:59:02 Thank you, God.
00:59:03 Thank you, Lord.
00:59:05 Lift it up and put it right back down.
00:59:07 Thank you, Father.
00:59:07 You're here today watching online on the Pando app
00:59:12 and you've never surrendered your life to Jesus.
00:59:15 Today would be an incredible day to do that.
00:59:18 He is our JL.
00:59:22 Crush the head of the enemy.
00:59:26 Live the life that we were supposed to live
00:59:29 and die the death that we were supposed to die.
00:59:31 He took our place.
00:59:34 And you don't have to get yourself together to come to him.
00:59:37 You just come to him just as you are.
00:59:40 If you've never surrendered your life to Jesus,
00:59:41 I would love to include you in this closing prayer.
00:59:44 If that's you, would you lift up your hand high enough
00:59:45 and long enough to where I can see it
00:59:47 and say, I need to give Jesus my life today.
00:59:49 I see hands all over this place today.
00:59:50 Thank you, thank you.
00:59:52 Social global family right there, even in your living room,
00:59:55 you can respond and say, God, I'm coming to you.
00:59:57 Thank you, Jesus.
00:59:58 Thank you, Jesus.
00:59:59 Here's what I want us to do.
01:00:01 I want us to pray this prayer, but after we pray it,
01:00:03 I want us to sing, I'm gonna see a victory.
01:00:06 And after we pray this prayer of salvation,
01:00:10 there's some of you, especially if fear has,
01:00:13 I'm talking about been crippling you.
01:00:16 I think there's some of you that actually need
01:00:17 to get out of your seat after we pray this prayer
01:00:19 and just come find a place here at the front
01:00:22 as we declare, I'm gonna see a victory.
01:00:24 Because you are declaring to yourself as you move
01:00:28 that the fearful, intimidated, insecure you
01:00:32 is staying in your seat and the new you
01:00:34 is stepping boldly and courageously
01:00:37 into what God has called you to.
01:00:40 You don't get to choose who God will use.
01:00:44 God will use whoever he wants.
01:00:47 Some of you, it's not the voices of other people,
01:00:49 it is your own voice in your head that is disqualifying you.
01:00:52 And God's saying, I still chose you
01:00:55 with your insufficiencies, with your issue.
01:00:57 I still have a plan for your life.
01:01:02 So we're gonna pray this prayer of salvation
01:01:03 and these altars are gonna be open as we sing this song,
01:01:05 but can we pray this first?
01:01:07 I'm gonna give you the words,
01:01:08 but you say it from your heart, say,
01:01:09 Jesus, thank you for loving me enough
01:01:14 to pay the price for my sin.
01:01:18 Jesus, I know you lived the life
01:01:23 that I was supposed to live.
01:01:25 You died the death that I was supposed to die.
01:01:30 You took my place.
01:01:32 So my response is to surrender all of me for all of you.
01:01:37 Forgive me of my sin.
01:01:41 Make me brand new.
01:01:43 From this moment forward, I'm following you.
01:01:48 No longer afraid.
01:01:53 I will take my shot
01:01:58 because I know you have already given me the victory.
01:02:03 And if you meant what you prayed,
01:02:06 would you give God the best and the biggest
01:02:09 and the loudest shout of praise that you got?