0:00

coming up on the potter's

0:10

touch. Jacob has discovered

0:13

God up until then. He

0:15

just heard about it from his daddy and

0:18

from his grandfather, but he has

0:21

not had a personal experience with

0:23

God. You can't know God through your mama.

0:25

You got to know God for yourself. You

0:27

can't know God through

0:30

your daddy. You got to know God for

0:32

yourself. You can't know God through

0:34

your church. You got to know

0:36

God for yourself. In law, there is

0:46

a term called discovery. And the

0:49

definition is this is a formal process

0:51

of exchanging information between the parties

0:54

about the witness and evidence that is

0:57

submitted, that they'll present at

0:59

trial. Discovery means

1:01

not only you have to collect the information, but

1:04

share the information. Discovery enables

1:06

the parties to

1:08

know before the trial begins what evidence

1:12

may be presented. One of the most common

1:14

methods of discovery is to take depositions.

1:18

And so what we are seeing

1:20

here is Jacob is in a state

1:22

of discovery. He doesn't know who he is.

1:24

He doesn't know who

1:26

God is. He doesn't know what's

1:28

going on in his life. He doesn't know

1:31

where he is. He is living on the run.

1:34

You'll be shocked at the people in this room

1:36

that are living on the run, working yourself to

1:38

death because you're living on the run,

1:41

going through all kinds of changes because you're

1:43

living on the run. You don't want to

1:46

take off. You don't want a vacation.

1:48

You don't want a peace. You don't want

1:50

to have a good time because you're addicted to

1:52

running. You've been running all your

1:55

life. People think you're running toward a goal,

1:57

but it's not what you're running

1:59

to. is what you're running from.

2:02

Esau is chasing you. Your

2:04

past is chasing you. Your

2:06

God is chasing you. Your

2:08

past deeds are chasing you

2:10

and you're exhausted from the

2:12

run. If I were

2:14

to break this message down into themes,

2:16

I would talk about the struggle. I

2:19

would talk about the strategy. I

2:21

would talk about the serendipity. I

2:24

would talk about the sovereignty of God and

2:26

I would talk about self-discovery. I'm going to

2:28

say that again because I want you to

2:30

get it. I would talk about the struggle

2:32

which I just did. I would talk about

2:34

the strategy which I'm about to do. I

2:37

would talk about the serendipity which I'll get

2:39

to in a minute. I'd talk about the

2:41

sovereignty of God and I would talk about

2:44

self-discovery. Life is

2:46

full of struggle, strategy,

2:48

serendipity, sovereignty, and self-discovery.

2:51

Struggle, strategy, serendipity,

2:54

sovereignty, and self-discovery.

2:57

Struggle, strategy, serendipity,

3:00

sovereignty, and self-discovery. Jacob is

3:03

in a state of struggle

3:05

and he does not realize

3:07

that while he is struggling,

3:10

God has a strategy. I

3:14

said while he is struggling, God

3:17

has a strategy. While he's on

3:19

the run, God has a strategy.

3:21

I got news for those of

3:23

you that are watching me online.

3:25

You're in a struggle but God

3:28

has a strategy. You're in the

3:30

hospital but God has a strategy.

3:32

You lost your job but God

3:34

has a strategy. Your husband walked

3:36

off but God has a strategy.

3:39

Your wife left you but God

3:41

has a strategy. You take that

3:43

out of wedlock but God has

3:45

a strategy. You had to give

3:48

up your house but God has a

3:50

strategy. And if you can't praise him

3:52

for the struggle, you ought to praise

3:54

him for the strategy. Your

4:03

God is a strategic God. Can

4:05

I take my time this morning?

4:07

Your God is a strategic God.

4:09

He doesn't react, he acts. His

4:12

word is forever settled in heaven.

4:14

He has determined the end from

4:16

the beginning. He worketh all things

4:18

after the counsel of his old

4:21

will. All things work together for

4:23

the good of them that love the Lord. God

4:26

has a strategy for your life.

4:28

Do you hear what I'm saying?

4:31

God has a strategy for

4:33

your life. God has a strategy for

4:35

your life. And if you're not happy,

4:37

you're not happy because you're not in

4:40

the strategy. As soon as you line

4:42

yourself up with God's strategy and get

4:44

away from your struggle, you're so focused

4:46

on your struggle that you haven't asked

4:49

God for his strategy. But somebody ought

4:51

to throw your hands up and say,

4:54

God, give me the strategy.

4:57

Give me the strategy to

4:59

raise this child. Give me

5:01

the strategy to save this

5:03

marriage. Give me the strategy to open

5:05

up my business. Give me the strategy

5:08

to come out of debt. Give me

5:10

the strategy to live the abundant life.

5:12

There is a strategy if Rockefeller can

5:14

do it, if the Hunts can't do

5:17

it, if Oprah Winfrey can do it,

5:19

if Tyler Perry can do it. If

5:21

anybody else can do it, there's gotta

5:23

be a strategy. You're not a respecter

5:26

of persons. If you did it for

5:28

anybody, you'll do it for me. Give

5:31

me the strategy or I'm helping

5:33

somebody. There's a strategy that will

5:35

break every chain in your life,

5:37

that will break every struggle in

5:39

your life, that will break every

5:42

pain in your life. God has

5:44

a strategy for your life. God

5:50

is strategic. He

5:52

has a plan for everything. When

5:55

he created the earth, he had a plan. He

5:58

knew what he was gonna do the first day. He

6:00

knew what he was going to do the

6:02

second day. He knew what he was going

6:04

to do the third day. He knew what

6:06

he was going to do the fourth day.

6:08

God has a strategy and he worked it

6:10

according to his strategy. Give me the strategy

6:12

for being 40. Give me

6:14

the strategy for it by 50s. Give

6:17

me the strategy for my 60s. Don't

6:19

let me be 60 trying to be 30. Don't

6:22

let me be 50 trying to be 20. Give

6:25

me this day my daily bread. Give

6:27

me the strategy for where I am

6:29

right now. I'm trying to help somebody. I

6:31

don't even know who it is. There

6:34

is a strategy for

6:36

where you are. There is a strategy.

6:38

There is a strategy for what you're

6:40

going through. There is a strategy for

6:42

this stage in your life. There is

6:45

a strategy. The reason you can't get

6:47

the strategy is because you're too stubborn

6:49

to admit where you are and you're

6:51

60 trying to be 20. Give

6:54

me the strategy for where I

6:56

am so that I can be

6:58

the baddest 60-year-old you ever saw

7:00

in your life. So that I

7:02

can be the baddest 30-year-old you

7:05

ever saw in your life. I want to

7:07

be smarter than 20. I want

7:09

to be wiser than 15. Give

7:11

me the strategy. God

7:13

is a strategist. He

7:16

made kings out of 8-year-olds.

7:21

God don't care nothing about your birthday. God

7:24

cares about your wives' day. Give

7:26

me the strategy that's necessary. God

7:28

created the earth through his wisdom.

7:30

The manifold wisdom of God. Wisdom

7:33

will solve every problem in your

7:35

life. Wisdom will fix every situation.

7:37

If you would shut your mouth

7:40

and wait on God to speak

7:42

through you rather than speaking out

7:44

of your flesh and speaking out

7:46

of what Rebecca taught you and

7:48

wait on the Lord, God would

7:51

change your situation. Half the trouble

7:53

you're in, your mouth got you

7:55

in. If you shut your mouth,

7:57

you could change your outcome. That's

7:59

why... the Bible says, Be still

8:01

and know that I am God. I

8:04

feel like preaching here. Be still

8:06

and know that I'm God. You

8:08

talk too much, you fuss too

8:10

much, you're tall too much, you

8:12

trust too much. Sometimes you just

8:14

gotta shut up and hold your

8:17

peace and let God fight your

8:19

battle. Why should God fight for

8:21

you when you're fighting for yourself?

8:23

But I dare you to stand

8:25

still and say I'm a child

8:27

of God and watch God come

8:29

to your rescue. He'll send angels

8:31

running up and down the ladder

8:34

to get you a breakthrough. If you'll

8:36

just be still, God will give you

8:38

the land that you're lying on. If

8:40

you'll just be still, if you're just

8:43

trusted for strategy, throw your hands up

8:45

and say, God, I want your strategy.

9:00

God has a strategy.

9:03

Grace has serendipity. Grace

9:08

has serendipity. Serendipity is the thing

9:10

you stumble into. You

9:13

stumble into it. You didn't

9:15

even know you were going into it. You

9:17

just stumbled into grace. God

9:19

gives you grace to deal with something

9:22

you thought you couldn't handle. You just

9:24

find grace. Oh, I'm preaching

9:26

to somebody. The Bible says Noah found

9:28

grace in the eyes of the Lord.

9:30

He didn't plan for it. He wasn't

9:32

looking for it. He just stumbled up

9:34

on it. Oh, do you

9:36

hear what I'm saying? Jacob wasn't looking

9:39

for this rock. He just stumbled up

9:41

on it. Grace has serendipity. How many

9:43

people have happened to be in the

9:45

right place at the right time and

9:47

you stumbled up on something that changed

9:50

your life? I wish I had a

9:52

witness. Maybe I got somebody online. I

9:54

don't seem to have nobody in church,

9:56

but maybe there's somebody online that God

9:58

just lets you stumble. up on a

10:01

grave and now you're standing things you

10:03

thought you couldn't stand. Doing things you

10:05

never went to school for. Doing things

10:07

that you've never been trained for. But

10:10

grace is serendipitous. You just fumbled into

10:12

it. You didn't even know you could

10:14

do that. You didn't even know you

10:17

could function like that. You didn't even

10:19

know you could stand that. But grace

10:21

has a serendipity. Grace

10:28

has a serendipity

10:33

because God is

10:35

sovereign from

10:37

what you stumble into God

10:40

already strategized. I

10:43

want you to see this. What

10:45

you stumbled into God already strategized.

10:48

He has determined the end from

10:50

the beginning. Nothing just happens in

10:52

your life. When

10:55

Ruth tumbled up on Bo

10:57

and his field it was

10:59

her serendipity but it was

11:01

God's strategy. He knew exactly

11:03

where she was. Job says

11:05

the Lord knows the

11:07

way that I take and when he

11:10

has tried me I shall come forth

11:12

as pure gold. I don't know who

11:14

I'm prophesied to but you're about to

11:16

stumble into something that's going to change

11:18

your entire life. You're just going to

11:21

stumble into it. It's just going to

11:23

come knocking on your door like Elijah

11:25

and ask you to bake a cake.

11:27

You're just going to be at the

11:29

right water fountain. You're just going to

11:32

be at the right restaurant and meet

11:34

somebody that changed the trajectory of your

11:36

life. That's why the devil's

11:38

trying to move you out of

11:40

your place because the devil knows

11:42

that God has a strategy. And

11:44

if you just trust God by

11:46

serendipity you're going to step into

11:48

the strategy of God. And once

11:50

you step into the strategy of

11:52

God demons have to back up,

11:54

witches have to back up, Hubble

11:56

has to back up, home has

11:58

to back up. What

12:00

you did in the astrology of God,

12:03

you have gotten into the presence of

12:05

a God who's got angels on the

12:07

run, bringing blessings from

12:09

every direction. Glory to God. Somebody

12:11

turn around in a circle right

12:14

back. Everywhere you look, you've got

12:16

an angel. Everywhere you look, to

12:18

the Lord, to the South, to

12:20

the East, to the West. The

12:22

Bible said the angels of the

12:24

Lord encamped about them that feared

12:26

Him, and Jacob didn't even know

12:29

it, but he was laying with

12:31

angels. Father

12:40

God, in the name of Jesus, we thank

12:42

You, not just with the

12:45

fruit of our lips, not with His verbal praise, not

12:48

just by watching the service, but we

12:50

praise You with our substance. And

12:53

in so doing, we enter

12:55

into covenant with Your ability

12:58

to exceed our expectations, not

13:00

just in spiritual ways, but in tangible ways.

13:04

We thank You for divine favor. We

13:07

thank You for the kind of doors that opened

13:09

to us that caused us to get butterflies in

13:11

our stomach. We thank You,

13:13

Lord, for a future that is so bright that

13:15

we need sunglasses to be able to see it.

13:19

We thank You, Lord, for an

13:21

escalator ride up an area where

13:23

we've been climbing up steps. You're

13:26

going to expedite the process.

13:29

Hallelujah, and it's going to be big.

13:31

We thank You for surrounding us with

13:33

big people, with big ideas, and sometimes

13:35

we don't even understand how we got

13:37

connected, but You're setting us up for

13:39

something. You're

13:48

going to always be scared. What

13:50

earns you the right to be a leader is

13:53

to feel the fear and do it anyway. If

13:58

you're not afraid, you're going to be a leader. stayed in

14:00

the same place too long. It's

14:03

become familiar and

14:05

every time things get familiar God will pull

14:07

you out of your conference zone so

14:11

that you will have the anxiety and

14:13

the uncertainty of having to walk by

14:15

faith and not by sight. The

14:18

second thing is you

14:21

cannot earn the right to leave

14:23

them if your feelings are leading

14:25

you. You

14:28

only earn the right to lead them

14:31

when you dethrone your feelings.

14:35

They still may be an occupant but

14:37

they're not driving you. He

14:55

slept his life strong. He

14:58

slept his inheritance. He

15:01

saw to get an inheritance that he

15:03

had to run from and

15:05

now he's in the desert fleeing

15:07

for his life and

15:10

there out there of all

15:12

places he discovers God. The

15:18

discovery of God not

15:21

church. You

15:27

have discovered church but

15:30

I am here to help you

15:32

discover God. Glory to God. If

15:34

you discover God when the service

15:36

is over in the building it'll

15:38

get in the car. When the

15:40

service is over in the building

15:42

it'll get in your house. When

15:44

the service is over in the

15:46

building it'll get in your life.

15:48

If you discover God the prison

15:50

isn't strong enough to keep God

15:52

out. If you discover God he'll

15:54

slip through the bars as Paul

15:56

and Silas. He'll come in at He's

16:00

discovered God. God will bring you

16:02

through all kinds of stuff. Jacob

16:04

has discovered God. Up

16:07

until then, he just heard about

16:09

it from his daddy and from

16:11

his grandfather, but he has not

16:13

had a personal experience with God.

16:15

You can't know God through your

16:17

mama. You gotta know God

16:19

for yourself. You can't know

16:21

God through your daddy. You gotta

16:23

know God for yourself. You can't

16:25

know God through your church. You

16:28

gotta know God for yourself. There are people

16:30

that are more loyal to their denominations

16:32

than they are to God in himself.

16:35

You would never leave your denomination,

16:37

but you cheat on God

16:40

all the time. Jacob has

16:42

discovered God. Ooh. Yeah.

16:48

Yeah. Yeah.

16:54

At the worst moment in his life,

16:57

he discovers God. At

17:01

the worst moment in his life, in

17:04

the middle of a wilderness, a

17:07

place of barrenness, a place

17:09

of dryness, a place of

17:11

emptiness, a place of sweat, a

17:14

place of desperation, a

17:16

place where little grows in the

17:18

wilderness. Jacob discovers God,

17:20

and he's had such a

17:22

struggle. He's had

17:24

such a struggle that when he

17:27

discovers God, he steps into what

17:29

I call the social order of

17:31

heaven. The

17:34

theologians call it angiology. He

17:38

comes into the social order of heaven.

17:41

Nothing is moving in the wilderness,

17:43

but everything is moving in the

17:46

social order of heaven. He

17:49

has to go to sleep to see

17:51

it, but he sees angels ascending and

17:53

descending on the ladder, and yet he's

17:56

laying in a place where nothing is

17:58

moving. Are you

18:00

laying in a place where nothing is moving?

18:03

You need to step into the

18:05

spirit because something is moving in

18:07

the spirit. Something is moving in

18:09

the spirit realm. Something is changing

18:11

in the spirit realm. Something is

18:14

working in the spirit realm. And

18:16

notice they were ascending and descending.

18:18

In order to ascend, they had to

18:21

be on the ground before they came

18:23

up. That means that when he laid

18:25

down, he was laying with angels. Glory

18:29

to God, he was laying with angels.

18:31

He was laying with angels. But April,

18:34

the problem was, he didn't

18:36

know it. God

18:39

was there and he

18:42

knew it not. How

18:45

many people in this room

18:48

have the sensitivity of knowing

18:50

that God is there? How

18:54

many people who are in

18:56

the hospital know that God

18:58

is there? How

19:00

many people who are going to

19:02

the funeral home to work with

19:04

the funeral home understand that God

19:06

is there? How many people

19:09

who are going through a hard

19:11

time are not cognizant of the

19:13

fact that God is there?

19:20

You see, God cannot be

19:22

explained. He must be revealed. Moses

19:32

told God, show me your goodness. Show

19:36

me. I

19:39

need to see you. Show me your

19:42

goodness. Manifest

19:44

your omnipresence. I

19:48

know your presence because you're omnipotent.

19:50

You're all places at all times.

19:52

You've had all times simultaneously both

19:54

past, present, and future. But

19:57

I need a manifestation of the presence

19:59

of God. presence of God. I

20:01

need to discover you until you

20:03

become more real in my life.

20:05

You need to be more real

20:07

in my life than my church

20:09

is. You

20:12

need to be, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

20:14

I'm gonna drive it. I'm gonna drive

20:16

it. I'm gonna drive it. I'm gonna

20:19

drive it till my car is sitting

20:21

on your lap. You need to be

20:23

more real in my life than my

20:25

bishop is. You need to be more

20:27

real in my life than my family

20:29

is. You need to be more real

20:31

in my life than my problem is.

20:33

See, you have not discovered God. You're

20:35

discovering church. And

20:39

you go a while and you leave a

20:41

while and you hear a while and you

20:44

walk away for a while. But if you

20:46

discover God, you will be stable. God

20:51

is stable. God

20:54

is kept fast. God is unchanging.

20:56

God is immutable. God is eternal.

20:59

God is everlasting. God is God.

21:01

Before there was a where or

21:03

when or this or that God

21:06

was God, nobody made him God.

21:08

Nobody elected him God. Nobody appointed

21:10

him God. He was God before

21:13

there was anybody there to tell

21:15

him he was God. He doesn't

21:18

need your praise to know who

21:20

he is. He said, I look

21:22

for one greater than myself and

21:25

finding no one greater than myself.

21:27

I swear by myself that surely

21:29

blessings I will bless thee and

21:32

multiplying I will multiply thee. When

21:39

I say God is tragic, I

21:41

mean he is providential. In

21:45

his providence, he

21:47

has already created your

21:49

entire life while

21:52

you are yet to discover it. Did

21:56

you hear what I said? I know you heard

21:59

me. I don't. I don't know if the rest of them heard me.

22:01

God has already created your entire

22:03

life while you are waiting to

22:05

discover it. When your mama rocked

22:08

you in her arms and nursed

22:10

you on her breast, God saw

22:12

you as an old woman, as

22:14

a young woman, as a middle-aged

22:16

woman. God had determined the end

22:18

from the beginning. He gave you

22:20

enough grace. He gave you enough

22:22

strength. He gave you enough wind.

22:24

He gave you enough power. He

22:26

gave you enough mind to carry

22:28

you the entire journey. You don't

22:31

just have grace for the moment. You have

22:33

grace for the future. God,

22:36

Lord, I wish I had a church this morning. Somebody

22:42

hallowed grace in the desert. It

22:46

doesn't matter that you're in the desert.

22:48

God will give you grace in the

22:50

desert. You can be in a dry

22:52

place, but God is there. He brought

22:55

water out of a rock in the

22:57

middle of a desert. He showed himself

22:59

strong in the middle of a desert.

23:01

He healed people of diseases in the

23:03

middle of the desert. He turned the

23:05

bitter waters of water sweet in the

23:07

middle of a desert. God doesn't need

23:10

a wet place to be God. He

23:12

can have you in a dry place

23:14

and still be God. Your life is

23:16

based on your conditions, and when your

23:18

conditions are right, you say God is

23:21

there. But when your conditions are all

23:23

wrong, God is still there. You have

23:25

no money in your pocket, but God

23:27

is still there. No job

23:29

to go to in the morning, but

23:32

God is still there. Nobody to

23:34

hold you at night, but God is

23:36

still there. Nobody can tell you they

23:39

love you, but God is still

23:41

there. Nobody seems to

23:43

appreciate you, but God is still

23:45

there. God has grace

23:47

in the desert. If you're in

23:49

the desert and you've discovered God,

23:51

make some noise right now. Yeah,

23:55

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,

23:58

yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

24:00

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Praise

24:03

Him with your single self.

24:06

Praise Him with your alone

24:09

self. Praise Him with

24:11

no money in your pocket. God

24:14

is a God of the desert.

24:16

God walks in dry places. He

24:19

moves in hard times. He works in

24:21

the middle of a struggle. I wish

24:23

I had about 100 witnesses that

24:27

have been going through a desert, and yet

24:29

God has been with you. I wish you'd

24:31

stop asking like the other people that

24:34

ain't been through nothing and start

24:36

giving God the praise for not

24:38

leaving you alone. God

24:41

will not leave you in a

24:43

dry place. He'll be

24:45

right there with you as, hey,

24:48

God, God, I speak to you

24:50

in the desert. He'll show you

24:52

water in the desert. He'll supply

24:54

your needs in the desert.

24:56

He'll make your emotions in the

24:58

desert. He'll give you power in

25:01

the desert. He'll give you strength in

25:03

the desert. Help in

25:06

the desert. Help

25:08

in the desert. Help me to

25:10

prove to you the truth. Somebody

25:13

help me pray. Is there anybody

25:15

in the balcony that'll help me

25:17

pray God? God, I'm gonna

25:19

cry for you. God, I'm gonna

25:21

pray for you. Forgiveness of

25:23

His� opened fuel

25:25

is the praise of

25:29

the day. Forgiveness of the entropy

25:31

of your presence is the

25:34

song of the Human

25:46

being that today is perfect. Let The

25:49

Great Record. Let the Great Record. Early

26:06

for was a berth or one or more of

26:08

a result of all I want to put. Forward.

26:12

Count your blessings and be ready for

26:14

more for your gift of any amount.

26:17

Remind yourself of God Love all year

26:19

with the ready for more. Twenty Twenty

26:21

Four Well calendar. Heard

26:24

of, was murdered refers you. Are

26:27

plenty of the Broadway? Have you heard

26:29

of such a way? Off

26:33

for your gift! Of nine dollars, the more.

26:35

you'll also receive the Twenty Twenty Three

26:37

custom Christmas ornament as a reminder of

26:39

God's goodness. For your gift of one

26:41

hundred seventy five dollars or more, you'll

26:44

receive the gift that the wise men

26:46

annoying thing oil boxing, a beautiful would

26:48

box containing frankincense. Merce and. Symbolical

26:50

gold in addition to the

26:52

Christmas ornament and calendar. Over

26:55

for you have to get out of a

26:57

freezer was revered Road Bow. Drill

27:00

by. Anything is possible through

27:02

God Call or athletes Today.

27:06

Registration is now open for the 2024 International

27:08

Leadership Summit. Continue

27:11

your growth and elevate your journey with

27:13

world-class speakers and transformative workshops. Coming home

27:15

to Dallas, Texas, the 2024 International Leadership

27:17

Summit is where the world's most visionary

27:20

leaders gather. I want you to be

27:22

in the room where it happens. Act

27:24

now and secure next year's spot at

27:26

the best possible price. I

27:29

believe God has something for

27:31

you. Register today at thisisils.org

27:33

and empower your leadership journey.

27:42

Casts. A.

27:57

shadow over A

28:00

little experience with fresh ideas.

28:07

Feel free to reach out to us on social media

28:09

and share your story of how God has been impacting

28:11

your life. We look forward to seeing

28:13

you next time.