Understanding Ahab Traits and Unity

Well, what's up, everybody? Welcome to Thrive Live. And as always, we're grateful for the opportunity to connect, to come into your homes, to offer you the ministry of the word. And we'd like to begin our time together by invoking. Invoking the presence of God, we know that there are some seasons and situations that we face that cannot be fixed by teaching. We need touches. We need more than principles. We need God's power. More than instruction. We need divine intervention. And we're just believing for that today. We believe in the power, principle of partnership that applies to prayer. The power of all of us is greater than the power of any one of us. actively come together and release our faith. The Bible is clear. We see multiplied results. Our results are multiplied exponentially when we come together. One can chase a thousand. Two can put ten thousand in a flight. See that? Multiplication. The enemy understands the importance of unity. Pastor, I think sometimes the body of Christ doesn't understand. But the enemy understands the importance of unity, which is why he comes against unity so much. And I think it is one of the reasons Jesus prayed for unity. He said, Father, I pray. This is what Jesus prayed. Just as you and I are one, that they may be one. Psalms 133. That's where God commands the blessing. And so I just want you to release your faith with ours on today. We are we are just so, so grateful. We're praying today for Chris the lingo who is believing God for physical healing. We're praying for Glenn Price who believe in God for financial breakthrough. All right. We're praying for Sylvia Haynes who's believing God for freedom deliverance. Pray for Tyrus Harris who's believing God in the area of mental health. We're praying for Chelsea Bayo who's believing for. discernment and clarity. And we're praying for Melvin Brooks who's praying for employment. So Father, we just thank you today for the opportunity and the privilege to connect with you through prayer. We just release our faith now for every single request that has been lifted up to you. And we pray in the name of Jesus, not just for these requests, But for the unspoken requests that are on men and women's hearts everywhere, we pray that you would minister to your people. Some need liberation and freedom. And you are the God who sends an anointing to destroy yokes, chains, fetters. You set captives free. Would you do that today? You're the great bomb in Gilead. You heal all kinds of diseases. Would you do that? We pray that you would meet every need according to your riches in glory. We ask it all in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. And amen. Y'all drop some fire in the chat today. I see some. I see some. Can you guys hear us? I'm I'm I'm I'm seeing that some of you might say louder. Hearing that some of you might. Is this on? So, um, but man, we're grateful to be here. Dr. Dudley, you're doing good, man. I'm doing great, Pastor. It's always a pleasure, man. I enjoy this space, man. I enjoy this space. Yeah, yeah. God is good. And, uh, I'm excited about our time together today. Uh, I feel like I've been running for my life. Uh, what's, what's, what's, what's that song they used to sing? I ain't got tired yet. What's the some of y'all something notice I help us it's a part of the song that says I ain't got tired yet Come on tears. You got to know you a musician. What's that? He young man. He young, you know, I've been running for Jesus a long time I ain't tired yet That's it. Come on here. Don't play with Taz. Taz say I'm young, but don't play with me. I ain't tired yet. I grew up in church. I've been running, trying to make 100. Come on. I'm with it. 99. That's all. That's what I remember. 99 and a half. Just won't do. Just won't do. Yes, sir. Sing it. Sing it for us, Doc. Oh, Doc. I'm going to stay in my grace place, Doc. Put me in E-flat, Taz. He trying to get me out of my grace place, y'all. He said solo, solo. You can't hear it. That's why I'm a soloist. Well, man, listen, we're grateful, man. Excited about all that God's getting ready to do. Listen, man, we're about to get in this word, but I'm super excited about, I don't know how many days away, five days away? I'm about five days away for Uncommon Calling Conference 2025. Can't wait, Pastor. Can't wait. If you have not registered for the Uncommon Calling Conference, what are you doing? Most people don't have a calling problem. They have a clarity problem. Everybody's called. Some people's issue is they aren't clear. Not clear. And some people aren't clear. because what they're waiting on pastor is a label that actually gives them permission to do something they've been purposed to do there are things we've been called to do that traditional church does not have a language and descriptions for they don't labels are for what happened in the past not what happens in the future so if you haven't registered man they're putting a link in the chat i'm encouraging you right now uh don't miss this this is this is this is gonna be it's gonna be incredible it's gonna be incredible so we really look forward to that all right but we're in this series man called the spirit of And last week we talked just as much about Ahab as we did Jezebel. So in our time together today we felt like it was important to spend some time exploring this idea or exploring Ahab a bit and so we're calling this teaching tonight don't let Jezebel win five traits of Ahab you must avoid. Don't let Jezebel win five traits of Ahab. You must avoid. I want to start by sharing this. Our advancement, our evolution, and our elevation is all connected to our influences. I'm going to say it again. Our advancement, our evolution, and our elevation is all connected to our influences. I'm going to say it again. Our advancement, that's where we go, how far we go. Our evolution, that's who we become. Our elevation, that's how high we go, is all connected to our influences. Influence is so important and essential that the Bible is inundated with information that warns us and informs us to be conscious, to be cognizant, to be aware, to be careful about what is influencing us because it is possible to be under the influence of something and not know it. That's right. Now, Pastor, you said something last week that was so strong. It was something along the lines of what did you say? Sometimes you don't know what influence you've been under until you get out from under it. How did you say it? And you said that sometimes you got to get free to see. Oh, yeah. Sometimes you don't know what was influencing you or manipulating you until you're free. You're delivered from it. And then you look back and you see what had control of you. Sometimes. I was working on my message earlier today for Sunday and I'm in this season doc where it's almost like you know how when Paul was writing his letters then all of a sudden he would uh I forgot what the technical term I've had a long day uh but there's this technical term but like it's almost like he would insert these prayers now the writers would put them the redactors kind of put them at the end of the message now unto him who's able to do exceedingly and abundantly and I thought about it like In the preaching moment, creating space in the preaching and teaching moment, creating space for apostolic prayers. You know what I'm saying? Like teaching a thing and then responding to a prompting to pray that thing over the people you're teaching, you're teaching it to. Does that make sense? That makes sense. Yeah. So it's like proclaiming the truth, then pray that truth over the people in response to a prompting. I just felt a prompting, an unction. to pray that this is the season you get free to see yes yes may this be the season you get free to see may this be the season god gets you out my god i don't care if he's got a part a red c to get you out knock down a jerry cole wall to get you out i don't know what he's got to do to get you out but i pray that this is the season you get free to see So that you are at least aware of what is influencing you. I felt something on that, Doc. I love that. Because if you see all throughout Scripture, one of the reasons that God delivered, even in the life of the Israelites, he wanted to deliver them because they were not seeing them in the way that they should. And there are some ways you won't see God or experience God if you abound. There are certain... Sometimes God has to deliver you from certain stuff that's preventing you from seeing him the right way. That's right. And you can't experience Jesus right if you see him wrong. That's right. Man, that's good. That's good. That's good. So we need to be intentional about being aware of our influences. Paul told believers in Corinth, this in 1 Corinthians 15, 33, do not be misled. Is that what he said? That's what he said. Bad company corrupts good character. Now listen to this. I memorized this growing up in the King James. Tez, do you have a King James Bible, Tez? You do? A King James. Okay. All right. The King James says, be not deceived. Bad company corrupts good character. Here's the thing about corruption, Pastor. Corruption happens very often incrementally, not immediately. So the corruption is happening over time. So Paul says don't be deceived don't be misled because it's possible that you're experiencing corruption and you're unaware of it that's it we can be unaware of what's influencing us so this is why this series on the spirit of Jezebel is so important because the spirit of Jezebel is about influence it's revealed the spirit of Jezebel is revealed in a persistent attempt to dominate, to influence, or control others through manipulation, deception, and intimidation to fulfill self-centered agendas rather than God's plans. I'm going to read that again, Doc. I'm going to read that again. If you want me to read it again, I need... all of the, here's what I love about our community. We've got all sorts of Christian traditions in here. But this section right here is for the Pentecostals. Okay? For the old school Pentecostals. This section, this part is for the Pentecostals. If you want me to read it again, put read. Read! No, you do it, Doc. You read. You know how to use the read? Yeah, let's do it. Okay, you read. Let me see. Okay. The Spirit of Jezebel. You read. You read. Y'all don't know about this. I'm ready. I'm ready. The Spirit of Jezebel. Wait! See, it's a spirit. Huh? It's a spirit. It's not a gender. So we can't reduce and relegate it to a female. It's a spirit. A spirit, Tez, is genderless. Read. Is revealed in a persistent attempt to dominate, to influence. Wait a minute. Persistent attempt. Come on. It's a pattern. And when you see a pattern, the problem... is the pattern. Come on, come on. It's a persistent attempt to dominate or to influence, read, or control others through manipulation. Wait a minute, wait a minute. You see, we just mentioned dominate. I'm trying to read and not get happy about it. Woo! I'm trying to read and not get happy. See, it says dominate, but most people don't realize that when someone's trying to dominate you, they don't have to be domineering. They don't have to be abusive. They don't have to be aggressive. That dominating is ultimately all about control. And what Jezebel does is she, that's what the spirit of Jezebel does is the spirit of Jezebel tries to dominate through manipulation. Read. Manipulation. Uh-huh. Deception. Uh-huh. And intimidation. Mm. To fulfill self-centered agendas. What kind of agenda? Self-centered. What kind of agenda? Self-centered agendas. See, that's the issue. That's the issue. It's deception. Come on the bible the one of the dominant metaphors the bible uses for satan is a liar he's a liar jesus calls him the father of lies is that what he says that's the book so he wants to deceive you and me or the spirit wants to deceive you and me into thinking it's about you and me when it's really a self-centered agenda you Rather than God's plans. Now see doc, that's how you read. See some of y'all don't know how to, you don't know how to read like that. That's how you read. That's how you read. Huh? That's how you read. Yes sir. Read. Alright here, I gotta get out of this shack. because somebody just said they married to Jezebel. I said, no, wait. Wait a minute. Don't put it in the chat. I mean, my God. I hope that's not your real name. They put it out there now. They put it out there. So this is important. spirit it doesn't have so it is revealed in the old testament in a woman named jezebel right yet at the same time this we see the work of this spirit in all in both genders male and female and we see it all throughout scripture we could literally say that going back to law first mention in the garden of eden that's good we see this at work it's jezebel spirit yes it's spirit of jezebel spirit of jezebel deceit manipulation that's what he did deception yep yes that's 100 and um you know i was just talking about i want to hear your thoughts on this i was just talking about this uncommon calling conference and um here's what i know pastor if you don't discern and determine your destiny somebody else will they will you That's good. You're going to follow God's plan for your life or somebody else's. But God and you are not the only people that have an opinion about what you should be doing. You know, and Pastor, I think that's why clarity is so important. You know, and I know we were talking and you talk about there's several types of clarity. One is when you don't have clarity at all. And then you say something, you know, clarity, but transitioning. You had clarity in one season, but you're transitioning. You may not be as clear, but then you say something. You said clarity without courage. Oh. When you are clear on what God has said, but you don't have the courage to operate or to move in it. And then you said another one too. And I think this is a big one too. When you talked about clarity without contentment. When you know what God has said, but you are not content or it doesn't serve your purposes. You clear. but you're not content you're saying God I'm clear what you want me to do but I'm not satisfied with my assignment and and sometimes you know we let we we define our anointing by our assignment or we make the assignment our anointing we say I'm too anointed for that it's not your assignment is not your anointing it's your assignment what God wants you to fulfill in that season that's so strong right because you see that with Jezebel yes you see that with Jezebel in it yeah trying to get Trying to push Ahab outside the bounds of his assignment and God-ordained authority. Trying to get him to take that which God had not ordained for him. And so this is important, Pastor, because this spirit is an instrument of the enemy that's intended to detour or destroy our destiny. So we've got to be intentional about identifying the Jezebel in others. that that is not judgment that's not making a judgment there's a difference between making a judgment and expecting fruit come on here that's right jesus said the only way you're able to discern false prophets is by the fruit by the fruit he says by their fruit you shall know them so jesus is encouraging discernment not judgment but discernment but discernment fruit inspection that's right and so we have to be able to identify when the enemy is using and we're going to be talking about jezebel in your house that's one of our teachings we're going to be talking about jezebel in your heart that's one of our teachings because some of us that it'll it'll work through us come on we're gonna be talking about jezebel in your church and we'll be talking about jezebel on your job so we're going to be talking about the different spaces that this spirit shows up and we need to we need to be able to identify the jezebel and others but We also need to be able to identify the Ahab in us because the spirit of Jezebel is most effective when she, when, when it runs into the attitude of Ahab. You know, and pastor, I put, you know, that an Ahab attitude opens the door to a Jezebel spirit. Say it again, Doc. An Ahab attitude opens the door to a Jezebel spirit. It opened doors, not just one door. We talked about that. And I think when you have this Ahab attitude, it attracts and it opens up doors for Jezebel's spirit to take residence. Did y'all hear what he just said? This is powerful. So this means, so last week we kind of gave traits to identify the spirit of Jezebel. Today, we need... To identify and expose traits that are reflective of the attitude of Ahab. Right? So I need to know when somebody is being influenced by Jezebel. I also need to know when I am acting like Ahab. Come on. Come on. So the first question we got to ask and answer is who is Ahab? He was a king of Israel, known for weak leadership and moral compromise. He married Jezebel. who introduced Baal worship to Israel, led the nation in idolatry, and Ahab allowed Jezebel to dominate and manipulate him, making him a passive enabler of her wicked actions. I don't have time to deal with that, Pastor. But Ahab is an enabler. Ahab is an enabler. You want to know an example? Yes. Because you can see, here's what's interesting. He's in a seat of authority. but he's still engaging in enablement he's enabling the dysfunctional and destructive behavior we see an example of this who was it was it eli's yes eli is in authority yeah in the old testament first sam he's a high priest named eli he has some sons that are wowing in the temple read it for yourself i'm not even gonna get into what they was into they were they were outside in the temple yeah they was They was outside inside. They brought outside inside the church. Now what they needed was a good church mother. That's what they needed. Get them right. To discern. Say, come here. You ain't living right. My God. Some, some. I got triggered. You got triggered. They needed a church mother to go to them and say, holiness is still right. That's what they needed. One God, me dog. After I got through preaching, she got me, dog. I tried to move. I couldn't go nowhere. Church mother him you up after you preached, dog. My God today. That joke barely hooked me, man. I was speaking in an unknown tone, man. Like she had grabbed the devil, boy. God bless him. God use God. Bless him. Man, I just got through preaching. You gonna do me like this? In front of everybody? Ooh. Ooh. Bless him Lord, keep him Lord, help him Lord. I said Lord have mercy. And now you know you be looking around seeing who's here and praying. Yes, yes. And how you, what you do when she got through praying with you? How'd you look? I put my head down and went in the pastor's study and went home and went to sleep. Got a good nap. I ain't want no down man, I went to sleep. It's nothing like church mothers. Man, she got me. Cause uh, I remember, I'm not gonna call his name but. He's one of the spiritual sons of our church. He tells this story. He was preaching at his home church. And he's seminarian. He's seminarian, you know, seminarian and go back to his home church and preach. And he went up. No, no, no. He's preaching at our church. He's preaching at our church. I think it was interning at a seminary. He's preaching at our church. And he tells this story. He had me rolling. He say, he went up and preached. We used to do something called Sunday on Wednesdays. We called it so. And so he preached. He said he went up. You know how you write all your stuff out. He said he's about seven minutes in. He was on his last point. So he had 30 minutes. He preached about 12 minutes. And he came back down and one of the mothers from the church, I'm not going to say who it was. She said, now, son, if you would have went up the way you came down, it would have turned out better for you. Yes, Lord. This man came down humble. He came home. She said, if you would have went up the way you came down, it would have turned out better for you. You remember Morris Chapel, right? You remember my former pastor? Man, one Sunday when I took over, man, I preached, man. I thought I did good, man. One of the mothers told me, that's the worst sermon I ever heard in my life. Now, that was in New Orleans. That was in New Orleans. You remember New Orleans, too? yeah they look like they that church look like that woman was 80 years old and i'm saying after 80 years that's the worst we need this is the worst one they should have had church mothers in that temple something so somebody asked what the book is in first samuel if you're so like first samuel details not just the ministry of samuel but it details how samuel well first of all was was born yeah Yeah, like it details his birth and his rise to ministry. So God raises him up to replace a leader, Eli, who's a priest who has some. who are working in the temple here's the issue they they bring it outside inside and here's what he does he speaks to them about it but doesn't hold them accountable for it that's good pastor so he's enabling the behavior and as a result god has to end up leading him to leadership i mean god has ended up removing him from leadership and raising up raising up samuel so this is interesting this is important now here's what the bible says about ahab and it's interesting because it's not his activity it's in is his enablement enablement it says the bible describes him as one who did more evil in the eyes of the lord than any of those before him So, the question we want to try to answer in the remaining time we've got together is what traits can I look for in Ahab so that I can see them when they're showing up in me? What traits can I look for in Ahab so I can see them when they show up in me? Here's the first one. Number one, Ahab is injured. He demonstrated emotional... injury through his sulking and self-pity when he didn't get his way. See, this is why this is important. We're going to talk about this a little bit later. So someone may hear these traits of Ahab and say, I'm not Ahab. You may not be Ahab now, but if you don't manage emotional injury properly, you can become Ahab in another season. And if we're all honest, I want to see if they're going to talk back to me in the chat. If we're all honest, we've all had. some ahab seasons injury injury will make you less assertive when you've been hurt when you've been rejected when you've been betrayed when you've been abandoned sometimes you'll want company so bad you'll accept jezebel and coddle judas my god said that again pastor whoa accept jez you'll accept jezebel and cuddle with judas and cuddle judas here's what the bible says so ahab went home sullen and angry because naboth the jizralite had said i will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors he's upset about not getting something that doesn't belong to him so he lay on his bed sulking and refuse to eat. He is that emotionally fragile, that emotionally injured, that something as small as this has as large of an impact as that. That's an injured man. And if you don't manage emotional injuries properly, if you don't heal from emotional injuries in the past, Sometimes that pain shows up in a personality trait called Ahab. My God. And Pastor, I think this also reveals the importance of who you have in your life and who you are connected to when you're injured. It's one thing to have a Jezebel when you're injured, but it's another thing, and you know, I think about when, I want to say Joshua, when they went up against Ai, a city they should have easily defeated, and they got destroyed. And Joshua went to pray and I said, get up. That's right. You know, get up. That's right. That's right. And so you need somebody to kind of help you deal with it. That's right. In a healthy way. And I think one of our core values of health is we say deal with your stuff so others don't. That's right. That's right. Deal with your stuff when you get injured. Who, who do you, who's in your circle when you get injured? So if I am, if we are dealing with. unattended to emotional wounds rest assured there's some Ahab in us here's what I listen all years of pastoral ministry personal experience listen to me anybody who lets people run over them has been ran over in the past injury it's almost like he felt like if he if he corrected jay uh jezebel he would lose it and if the relationship can't with withstand alignment what kind of relationship yeah that's not good relationship yep that doesn't change a relationship it exposes it so injured here's another one pastor unclear ahab lacked vision and direction he lacked clarity in his role as a king and therefore he allowed others like jezebel to dominate and direct him absence of clarity makes you vulnerable for the presence of manipulation because when you're not clear you just want to answer and when you don't have clarity jezebel is anxious to give it to you and it is possible to allow the anxiety from not being clear to make you open to influences that are clear but they wrong i love it jezebel is confident and wrong she's encouraging and wrong I mean she talking heavy and spicy and wrong and when you're unclear you'll take someone's clarity as correctness. Jezebel was clear but she wasn't correct but because she was so clear even though she was wrong Ahab treated it like it was correct. You know pastor when it comes to being unclear you know I think what happens is what Jezebel does sometimes is she thrives off identity ignorance. He's a king. So basically she's making him operate in identity ignorance, which makes him second guess or doubt who he is in God. A hundred percent. And I think that's, you know, that's how Jezebel thrives. A hundred percent. When she makes us unclear or doubt who we are. And I just believe that there's some blessings and breakthroughs and benefits or belief activated. they're activated when you believe who when you know yeah and believe who you are in god yeah no that's powerful that's powerful and i think you know and we're going to get into this later in this series we're laying foundation now but there are spaces where the spirit of jezebel exploits the lack of clarity in greater ways in the spirit of jezebel exploits the lack of clarity in greater ways in some spaces than other spaces right and you know i've seen this happen a lot is in churches and in homes my god where there's a lack of clarity and someone else particularly in a religious space will feel oh lord i don't know i can't believe i'm about to say this out loud you're out here now tez i'm out here now tez i'm out here now tez i'm with you somebody watch this because when you're not clear you want clarity mm-hmm And especially if you're dealing with spiritual things, the lack of clarity can create some anxiety. Like, OK, Lord, I want to do what you want me to do, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do. You just want an answer. And in religious spaces, you we're assuming those spaces are safe spaces. And then someone else can see your lack of clarity and then they will give you their word for your life and call it a word from the Lord. And have you assuming that you're doing God's bidding. when you're really doing theirs in the name of servant anyway that's it that's a different conversation amen that's a good one amen that's why they need to come to the uncommon calling conference so they can get clarity all right so so number one injured number two unclear number three insecure ahab's insecurity manifested in his codependence on others and his paranoia about being opposed. Watch what he says about a prophet. Listen to what Ahab says about a prophet in 1 Kings 22. This man says, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. That's an insecure king right there. Yes, Lord, my goodness. This man say he never prophesied. Listen to what he says. I hate him. I hate it. You hate it? I hate it. He never prophesies anything good about me. That's scary. But Jezebel exploits insecurity. See, this is why these traits are so important, Pastor, because if not, we can look at people like Ahab in scripture and judge Ahab in scripture. And here's the richness of scripture, right? I want to push back against what seems to be a trending thought when it comes to the way we should be exegeting and interpreting certain biblical passages. It's like there's a stream of thought that it's almost like the stream of thought that operates like they got to protect God from the humans he died for. So they just keep telling humans, it's not about you. It's not about you. It's not about you. And of course, it's not about you, but he did die for you. That's the gospel. The gospel is for you. It's not for him. He doesn't he doesn't need good news. We need good news. So there's your stream of thought that when you're interpreting text that you always see yourself a certain way in the text, right? So the stream of thought would say if you're reading David and Goliath, never see yourself as David. Always see yourself as Israel. Jesus is David. Israel is the enemy. Okay, so that's not incorrect. But you're robbing yourself of the richness of scripture if you don't see yourself in every character. Because sometimes I'm Israel. And then sometimes I'm the underdog, I'm David. That's the point. Am I making sense? That's the power. Yes. That's the power. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, anyway, that's, that's real weird to me. It's borderline narcissistic in my opinion. Anyway, here's my point. My point is we got to look at texts like this, this way, because sometimes, and we're going to, when I say, when I show us Jezebel in our heart, sometimes we Jezebel, Jezebel-ish. And sometimes we Ahab-ish. He's like, I'm not Ahab. Yeah, if I've ever been insecure, if I've ever been unclear, if I've ever been injured at the same time, I can demonstrate Ahab tendencies. And this shows up a lot. And one day, one day we're going to, we're going to have to create a room where we can talk really real about this. You can't talk real nowadays. You have to be measured a degree. But this definitely shows up. I'm going to hit a little bit on this. This coming Friday, we got a singles conference. Okay. And in our New Jersey, you in New Jersey, and our Gwinnett location in Atlanta. And I'm going to deal a little bit with this. The predatory practices in Christian dating. My God. The manipulation. Lord have mercy. That takes place when it can happen both ways, but I can only speak for men because I'm a man. And so I can see when men are doing it. When they are discerning someone's emotionally injured, someone's insecure. They play on it. And play on those things to fulfill a selfish agenda. Oh my God. Singers, y'all need to pull up. Get the game. They can sense. Get the game. Oh, she hurt. Get the game. They can sense that. She hurt. Tell them what they want to hear. She pretty, but she don't know it. She pretty, but somebody made her doubt it. So let me make her feel good so I can do something bad. Anyway, number four. Ooh. Number four. Indecisive. Indecisive. This doesn't mean you don't have enough information. This indecisive isn't referred to when you don't have enough information to make a decision. Sometimes you don't have enough information to make decisions, nor does it mean that you change your decisions. Sometimes if you get exposed to superior or additional information and you've got the space and time to make a better decision to create a better outcome, you need to be committed to that. Indecisive means you're unwilling to make decisions. And Ahab was indecisive in matters of faith and leadership. He's wavering between God and Baal. In 1 Kings 18, it says 20, So Ahab sent word throughout all of Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing. It's indecisiveness. Here it is. Here it is. All of us have seasons when we can be this. So true. You hear what I'm saying? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And the enemy will use something like. Bad decisions that we made in the past to make us indecisive in the future. All right, number five. Y'all all right? Y'all getting something out of this? You're not bored, are you? All right, last one, number five, is apathetic, apathy. Ahab demonstrated apathy by showing no moral outrage or concern over Jezebel's actions, including murder, to secure Naboth's vineyard. You know, I say here's it. Sometimes things go wrong, not because you did something wrong, but because you didn't do enough of what's right. That's good. That's good. Apathy. First Kings 21 verse 15 says, as soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead. And he accepted the vineyard without questioning or rebuking Jezebel's actions. Apathy, indifference. So watch this. If I'm dealing with being injured or unclear or insecure and indecisive and apathetic, these are traits of Ahab that make me more vulnerable. It makes me more vulnerable to the influence and the spirit of Jezebel. And so what do we want to do? We want to decrease our vulnerability. Does that make sense? Yes. So it means that when I don't know if you can control whether or not you get injured, you can't always protect that, you know. but when i'm when i'm injured i need to be aware i'm injured now god is healing me and because i'm in my healing journey i need to be conscious and cognizant that i'm primed for jezebel so i can push back against that say no no no no i'm injured now i'm not dating ah y'all missed it y'all missed it come on i'm all in friday already come on you there I'm injured now. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not making, I'm not making a major business decision right now. I'm injured. Nope. I just got out of a bad business partnership. I'm not getting into another one right now. I'm injured. Or you're in a season where it's like, okay, man, I'm not injured, but I'm just unclear. Some people don't have any clarity at all in the season that they're in. Some people have some clarity. Some people have clarity. and it's shifting. So there are different seasons where it's like, man, I'm not clear. Let me be aware and conscious of this and make sure that the advice and the counsel that I am getting is aligned with what I sense God's agenda for my life is and not theirs. And we need awareness when we're insecure. This isn't evil. Insecurity is a result of an injury. It's not immoral. And you may have seasons of insecurity. I, um, there's this retreat I attend on the West Coast every year, and it is an invite-only retreat for African-American pastors. And it is intended, and so that's not discriminatory. It is because we have all sorts of presenters. And it's not just exclusive, like you won't get turned away because of the color of your skin. The point is there are unique dynamics that every leader has to deal with based on the cultural context, the demographic of the congregations that he's leading. And so this retreat's been going on for a while. And last year, they were having basically one of the themes of the retreat was people, one of the themes was like basically, doing ministry in older years, because a lot of the men in the room are retiring, and they're handing their churches off to successors and et cetera. And just to sit at the table and listen to, I was so encouraged and inspired by their vulnerability, at least at my table. where guys were talking about getting used to a new normal that you threw your whole life into your whole adult life you've been bishop and now all of a sudden you're not bishop anymore and so you kind of go through a season where it's like okay where who am i i know who am i in christ I know Christ's value in me, but now what's my value to the world? You see what I'm saying? Yes, sir. And I think sometimes people separate those things. You need to know who you are in Christ. Right. It's one thing to be clear on Christ's value in you. It's one thing to be clear on your value as an image bearer of God. It's another thing to sometimes wonder, what's the value of my contribution? Am I really making, how do I make a difference now if I'm not a bishop? And that can happen not just in pastoral ministry. It can happen in divorce. It can happen in transition. I'm not a wife. I'm not a husband. So insecurity, indecisiveness, and apathetic. Pastor, let's wrap up here. Most of us aren't born Ahab, but we can become Ahab. What kind of What are some of the things that increase Ahab in us? Pastor, I'm going to let you, I'm going to ask you to share this with the saints. Yeah, one is trouble. Circumstances that break us. Because it's possible for you to survive something and parts of you didn't. That's right. Trouble. Circumstances that break us will bring an Ahab out of you. They bring Ahab. There's some seasons you'll go through where you survive. But it's like, I survived, but my clarity didn't. My God. I survived, but my confidence didn't. I survived, but my decisiveness didn't. Yeah, my God. You came through, but everything didn't come out whole. You survived. You came out. But there's some things that didn't come out with you. Trouble has that tendency. Yeah, yeah. Break us. What's another one, Pastor? Trauma. Wounds that weaken us. So painful experiences such as betrayal, abandonment, or unresolved emotional wounds can strip us of confidence and create a fear of confrontation or failure. Wow. Wow. But this is so good, Pastor. It said trauma may lead us to prioritize peace at any cost, even if it means compromising our values. That's what Ahab did. He was trying to prioritize peace at any cost. At any cost. So he just let Jezebel do whatever he wanted. He violated his faith. He violated his values. He abdicated his leadership responsibility just to keep everything cool, calm, and copacetic. And when you do that, what you are creating is false peace. And it's not true peace. It's fragile peace. It's a peace driven by fear. Not by faith. See, that's false peace. That's false peace. And that's what's happening in many churches. That's what's happening in homes. That's what's happening in marriages. That's what's happening on jobs. It's false, inferior peace. Because that avoids confrontation. But true peace goes through the valley of confrontation. to get through a place called peace. Then lastly, Pastor, this is the last one. Toxicity, environments that shape us, exposure to toxic relationships, systems or influences can normalize behaviors like passivity, fear, or compromise. Ahab's marriage to Jezebel placed him in an environment of manipulation and idolatry, which he lacked the strength to resist. toxic environments that's powerful so trouble uh-huh can birth the ahab in us trauma trauma can birth the ahab in us and toxic environments can birth the ahab in us you know one of the things that toxic environments do is they normalize dysfunction yes and so when you get into something that's more functional than the dysfunction it feels even if it's dysfunction It just feel better. The wilderness just feel better than Egypt, even though it's not Canaan. Come on. That's good. And that toxicity, it can just create an Ahab. It's just, I just throw up my hands. But up, here's that apostolic prayer. But I pray that this is the season that God... redeems, repurposes your trouble, your trauma, and your toxicity. I pray that in this season of your life, that the trouble, trauma, and toxicity that the enemy sent to deform you, because that's what Ahab represents, deformation, that God would use to reform you. What the enemy meant for evil. God works it for good. You can't carry Ahab in this next season. Your assignment requires assertiveness. Your peace necessitates assertiveness. If you're going to have peace in this season, not just if you're just going to pursue purpose, if you're going to possess peace, Ahab is costing you too much. It's costing you your peace. It's costing you your purpose. It's costing you your priorities. And Pastor, why are you saying that? It just came to me even in scripture that you confront both Ahab and Jezebel with a word. God sent Elijah to confront him. My God. My God. Because it takes a word to change and sometime kill Ahab's and Jezebel's. That's right. Because you can't argue with them. You can't go back and forth. You can't negotiate with Ahab's and Jezebel's. You got to kill them. I love it. I love it. If we were in church, I would tell you, throw your hands up. I don't know how you do that where you are, but just put it in the chat. Say, reform me. Lord, in this season of my life, reform me. You know the version of me that my future requires. Reform me into that. Reform me. I've been formed. But reform me. I don't want my pain to deform me. I need you to reform me. I got to get out of Ahab and get Ahab out of me. My peace and my purpose require it. I want to pray over you. As we prepare to go today, I hope you receive this teaching. Someone asks, what book is this? The Bible. We didn't, we didn't, there may be some good books out there on this, but we want this to be, how can I put it? We just wanted to go to scripture. I just, I just put it, we wanted to go to scripture and pull the truth out of scripture and present it to you in a way. that's biblically faithful but applicable for your life so we wanted it biblically sound but we needed it to be practical so we couldn't find a book that we use this book the bible the b-i-b-l-e that's the book for me um so i don't even have a recommendation on this just until you write this Yeah, until I write this book. Maybe this becomes a book. It's coming, yeah. Maybe this becomes a book. But I want to pray for you. We're going to close out in prayer. I want to remind those of you who are really serious about not wasting your life. David said, Lord, teach us to number our days. that we might incline our hearts to wisdom. Teach us to know our days are numbered. So help us to live in a way that makes them count. You were put here. here on earth to make a contribution that only you can make it is an uncommon contribution it's an uncommon calling and i want to help you get clarity on what it is i want to help you have the confidence to carry it out even doing this this this is an uncommon calling say we're gonna sit no light you No, I mean, we got lights, but y'all know what we mean. No, none of the fruit and say, we're going to teach the Bible. We're going to just get in front of a camera and teach the Bible and just believe God that there is a there's a people. Man, listen, I was speaking at this conference this week. And, you know, sometimes you do stuff and you're like, man, it's just such a bad time to do it. But you felt like you're supposed to do it. It was just really a tough time for me to be away because I just got so much going on. And. I was speaking at the conference in the afternoon, but I just felt like, let me just go in the morning to just see what the house is like and what it feels like. And God spoke to me through a preacher in a way. I can't remember the last time I spoke to you like that. But he clarifies something. See, I don't care how clear you think you are. There's one thing he said that gave greater clarity to my calling. This is what he said. He said. God might call you two cities, but he doesn't call you two cities, four cities. Don't carry the weight of trying to shake a city. He calls you to a city, not for the city, but for a people. That there's a people in the city that's waiting on you. What I gave you. OMG. So who you want? We just want our people. Who you meant who you who you teach I'm just teaching to my people to my people because your people want you and your people want it the way you do it come on so don't try to do it in a way that somebody else does it because you're never going to get their people but you'll lose yours my god good stuff so if I've been doing this as long as I've been doing this and I got greater clarity. Somebody can get greater clarity also. So if you haven't registered for the Uncommon Calling Conference, I got a couple of things planned this year. Nothing's more important than this one. So I'm going to actually encourage you to register. And also put the Lord's thirds up, guys, for giving. Pastor, you know what I'm tired of? Reactionary teaching and theology. This teaching that is done in reaction to error as opposed to just going to the Bible and say, what does the Bible say about it? And we don't espouse here a prosperity gospel, but we believe the good news of the gospel impacts every area of my life, including my resources. Huh? That he supplies my needs, that he gives seed to the soul, that I might have an abundance for every good work. An abundance for every good work. An abundance for every good work. An abundance enough to meet my needs and enough to help meet some needs of others. And we believe, we don't believe God's a genie, but we do believe that as we give, Our giving opens up heaven and God makes it rain on our work and on our crops and on our fields. So we're so, so grateful for your giving and for your generosity. And I'm just thankful for sowing back into the field you harvested from. Cat Stokes says, can you have a podcast called Bother It? That's a good idea, Cat. That's good, Cat. Bother It! Bother It! That's the ring to it. All right. We're going to pray over you. Father, we have one request and that is reform us. Yes. Make me over again. This is all we want in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Love you. See you next week. Take care.

Invoking the presence of God, we know that there are some seasons and situations that we face that cannot be fixed by teaching. We need touches. We need more than principles. We need God's power. More than instruction.

We need divine intervention. And we're just believing for that today. We believe in the power, principle of partnership that applies to prayer.

The power of all of us is greater than the power of any one of us. actively come together and release our faith. The Bible is clear. We see multiplied results. Our results are multiplied exponentially when we come together.

One can chase a thousand. Two can put ten thousand in a flight. See that?

Multiplication. The enemy understands the importance of unity. Pastor, I think sometimes the body of Christ doesn't understand.

But the enemy understands the importance of unity, which is why he comes against unity so much. And I think it is one of the reasons Jesus prayed for unity. He said, Father, I pray. This is what Jesus prayed.

Just as you and I are one, that they may be one. Psalms 133. That's where God commands the blessing. And so I just want you to release your faith with ours on today. We are we are just so, so grateful.

We're praying today for Chris the lingo who is believing God for physical healing. We're praying for Glenn Price who believe in God for financial breakthrough. All right.

We're praying for Sylvia Haynes who's believing God for freedom deliverance. Pray for Tyrus Harris who's believing God in the area of mental health. We're praying for Chelsea Bayo who's believing for.

discernment and clarity. And we're praying for Melvin Brooks who's praying for employment. So Father, we just thank you today for the opportunity and the privilege to connect with you through prayer.

We just release our faith now for every single request that has been lifted up to you. And we pray in the name of Jesus, not just for these requests, But for the unspoken requests that are on men and women's hearts everywhere, we pray that you would minister to your people. Some need liberation and freedom.

And you are the God who sends an anointing to destroy yokes, chains, fetters. You set captives free. Would you do that today? You're the great bomb in Gilead. You heal all kinds of diseases.

Would you do that? We pray that you would meet every need according to your riches in glory. We ask it all in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. And amen. Y'all drop some fire in the chat today.

I see some. I see some. Can you guys hear us? I'm I'm I'm I'm seeing that some of you might say louder.

Hearing that some of you might. Is this on? So, um, but man, we're grateful to be here.

Dr. Dudley, you're doing good, man. I'm doing great, Pastor. It's always a pleasure, man.

I enjoy this space, man. I enjoy this space. Yeah, yeah.

God is good. And, uh, I'm excited about our time together today. Uh, I feel like I've been running for my life. Uh, what's, what's, what's, what's that song they used to sing? I ain't got tired yet.

What's the some of y'all something notice I help us it's a part of the song that says I ain't got tired yet Come on tears. You got to know you a musician. What's that? He young man.

He young, you know, I've been running for Jesus a long time I ain't tired yet That's it. Come on here. Don't play with Taz.

Taz say I'm young, but don't play with me. I ain't tired yet. I grew up in church. I've been running, trying to make 100. Come on. I'm with it.

99. That's all. That's what I remember. 99 and a half. Just won't do.

Just won't do. Yes, sir. Sing it. Sing it for us, Doc.

Oh, Doc. I'm going to stay in my grace place, Doc. Put me in E-flat, Taz.

He trying to get me out of my grace place, y'all. He said solo, solo. You can't hear it.

That's why I'm a soloist. Well, man, listen, we're grateful, man. Excited about all that God's getting ready to do.

Listen, man, we're about to get in this word, but I'm super excited about, I don't know how many days away, five days away? I'm about five days away for Uncommon Calling Conference 2025. Can't wait, Pastor. Can't wait.

If you have not registered for the Uncommon Calling Conference, what are you doing? Most people don't have a calling problem. They have a clarity problem. Everybody's called. Some people's issue is they aren't clear.

Not clear. And some people aren't clear. because what they're waiting on pastor is a label that actually gives them permission to do something they've been purposed to do there are things we've been called to do that traditional church does not have a language and descriptions for they don't labels are for what happened in the past not what happens in the future so if you haven't registered man they're putting a link in the chat i'm encouraging you right now uh don't miss this this is this is this is gonna be it's gonna be incredible it's gonna be incredible so we really look forward to that all right but we're in this series man called the spirit of And last week we talked just as much about Ahab as we did Jezebel. So in our time together today we felt like it was important to spend some time exploring this idea or exploring Ahab a bit and so we're calling this teaching tonight don't let Jezebel win five traits of Ahab you must avoid.

Don't let Jezebel win five traits of Ahab. You must avoid. I want to start by sharing this. Our advancement, our evolution, and our elevation is all connected to our influences.

I'm going to say it again. Our advancement, our evolution, and our elevation is all connected to our influences. I'm going to say it again. Our advancement, that's where we go, how far we go.

Our evolution, that's who we become. Our elevation, that's how high we go, is all connected to our influences. Influence is so important and essential that the Bible is inundated with information that warns us and informs us to be conscious, to be cognizant, to be aware, to be careful about what is influencing us because it is possible to be under the influence of something and not know it.

That's right. Now, Pastor, you said something last week that was so strong. It was something along the lines of what did you say?

Sometimes you don't know what influence you've been under until you get out from under it. How did you say it? And you said that sometimes you got to get free to see. Oh, yeah. Sometimes you don't know what was influencing you or manipulating you until you're free.

You're delivered from it. And then you look back and you see what had control of you. Sometimes. I was working on my message earlier today for Sunday and I'm in this season doc where it's almost like you know how when Paul was writing his letters then all of a sudden he would uh I forgot what the technical term I've had a long day uh but there's this technical term but like it's almost like he would insert these prayers now the writers would put them the redactors kind of put them at the end of the message now unto him who's able to do exceedingly and abundantly and I thought about it like In the preaching moment, creating space in the preaching and teaching moment, creating space for apostolic prayers. You know what I'm saying?

Like teaching a thing and then responding to a prompting to pray that thing over the people you're teaching, you're teaching it to. Does that make sense? That makes sense. Yeah. So it's like proclaiming the truth, then pray that truth over the people in response to a prompting.

I just felt a prompting, an unction. to pray that this is the season you get free to see yes yes may this be the season you get free to see may this be the season god gets you out my god i don't care if he's got a part a red c to get you out knock down a jerry cole wall to get you out i don't know what he's got to do to get you out but i pray that this is the season you get free to see So that you are at least aware of what is influencing you. I felt something on that, Doc. I love that.

Because if you see all throughout Scripture, one of the reasons that God delivered, even in the life of the Israelites, he wanted to deliver them because they were not seeing them in the way that they should. And there are some ways you won't see God or experience God if you abound. There are certain... Sometimes God has to deliver you from certain stuff that's preventing you from seeing him the right way. That's right.

And you can't experience Jesus right if you see him wrong. That's right. Man, that's good. That's good. That's good.

So we need to be intentional about being aware of our influences. Paul told believers in Corinth, this in 1 Corinthians 15, 33, do not be misled. Is that what he said? That's what he said.

Bad company corrupts good character. Now listen to this. I memorized this growing up in the King James. Tez, do you have a King James Bible, Tez?

You do? A King James. Okay.

All right. The King James says, be not deceived. Bad company corrupts good character.

Here's the thing about corruption, Pastor. Corruption happens very often incrementally, not immediately. So the corruption is happening over time. So Paul says don't be deceived don't be misled because it's possible that you're experiencing corruption and you're unaware of it that's it we can be unaware of what's influencing us so this is why this series on the spirit of Jezebel is so important because the spirit of Jezebel is about influence it's revealed the spirit of Jezebel is revealed in a persistent attempt to dominate, to influence, or control others through manipulation, deception, and intimidation to fulfill self-centered agendas rather than God's plans. I'm going to read that again, Doc.

I'm going to read that again. If you want me to read it again, I need... all of the, here's what I love about our community. We've got all sorts of Christian traditions in here. But this section right here is for the Pentecostals.

Okay? For the old school Pentecostals. This section, this part is for the Pentecostals. If you want me to read it again, put read.

Read! No, you do it, Doc. You read. You know how to use the read?

Yeah, let's do it. Okay, you read. Let me see.

Okay. The Spirit of Jezebel. You read. You read. Y'all don't know about this.

I'm ready. I'm ready. The Spirit of Jezebel. Wait! See, it's a spirit.

Huh? It's a spirit. It's not a gender. So we can't reduce and relegate it to a female. It's a spirit.

A spirit, Tez, is genderless. Read. Is revealed in a persistent attempt to dominate, to influence. Wait a minute. Persistent attempt.

Come on. It's a pattern. And when you see a pattern, the problem... is the pattern. Come on, come on.

It's a persistent attempt to dominate or to influence, read, or control others through manipulation. Wait a minute, wait a minute. You see, we just mentioned dominate. I'm trying to read and not get happy about it.

Woo! I'm trying to read and not get happy. See, it says dominate, but most people don't realize that when someone's trying to dominate you, they don't have to be domineering. They don't have to be abusive. They don't have to be aggressive.

That dominating is ultimately all about control. And what Jezebel does is she, that's what the spirit of Jezebel does is the spirit of Jezebel tries to dominate through manipulation. Read.

Manipulation. Uh-huh. Deception. Uh-huh.

And intimidation. Mm. To fulfill self-centered agendas.

What kind of agenda? Self-centered. What kind of agenda? Self-centered agendas. See, that's the issue.

That's the issue. It's deception. Come on the bible the one of the dominant metaphors the bible uses for satan is a liar he's a liar jesus calls him the father of lies is that what he says that's the book so he wants to deceive you and me or the spirit wants to deceive you and me into thinking it's about you and me when it's really a self-centered agenda you Rather than God's plans. Now see doc, that's how you read. See some of y'all don't know how to, you don't know how to read like that.

That's how you read. That's how you read. Huh? That's how you read. Yes sir.

Read. Alright here, I gotta get out of this shack. because somebody just said they married to Jezebel.

I said, no, wait. Wait a minute. Don't put it in the chat.

I mean, my God. I hope that's not your real name. They put it out there now.

They put it out there. So this is important. spirit it doesn't have so it is revealed in the old testament in a woman named jezebel right yet at the same time this we see the work of this spirit in all in both genders male and female and we see it all throughout scripture we could literally say that going back to law first mention in the garden of eden that's good we see this at work it's jezebel spirit yes it's spirit of jezebel spirit of jezebel deceit manipulation that's what he did deception yep yes that's 100 and um you know i was just talking about i want to hear your thoughts on this i was just talking about this uncommon calling conference and um here's what i know pastor if you don't discern and determine your destiny somebody else will they will you That's good. You're going to follow God's plan for your life or somebody else's. But God and you are not the only people that have an opinion about what you should be doing.

You know, and Pastor, I think that's why clarity is so important. You know, and I know we were talking and you talk about there's several types of clarity. One is when you don't have clarity at all.

And then you say something, you know, clarity, but transitioning. You had clarity in one season, but you're transitioning. You may not be as clear, but then you say something. You said clarity without courage. Oh.

When you are clear on what God has said, but you don't have the courage to operate or to move in it. And then you said another one too. And I think this is a big one too.

When you talked about clarity without contentment. When you know what God has said, but you are not content or it doesn't serve your purposes. You clear.

but you're not content you're saying God I'm clear what you want me to do but I'm not satisfied with my assignment and and sometimes you know we let we we define our anointing by our assignment or we make the assignment our anointing we say I'm too anointed for that it's not your assignment is not your anointing it's your assignment what God wants you to fulfill in that season that's so strong right because you see that with Jezebel yes you see that with Jezebel in it yeah trying to get Trying to push Ahab outside the bounds of his assignment and God-ordained authority. Trying to get him to take that which God had not ordained for him. And so this is important, Pastor, because this spirit is an instrument of the enemy that's intended to detour or destroy our destiny.

So we've got to be intentional about identifying the Jezebel in others. that that is not judgment that's not making a judgment there's a difference between making a judgment and expecting fruit come on here that's right jesus said the only way you're able to discern false prophets is by the fruit by the fruit he says by their fruit you shall know them so jesus is encouraging discernment not judgment but discernment but discernment fruit inspection that's right and so we have to be able to identify when the enemy is using and we're going to be talking about jezebel in your house that's one of our teachings we're going to be talking about jezebel in your heart that's one of our teachings because some of us that it'll it'll work through us come on we're gonna be talking about jezebel in your church and we'll be talking about jezebel on your job so we're going to be talking about the different spaces that this spirit shows up and we need to we need to be able to identify the jezebel and others but We also need to be able to identify the Ahab in us because the spirit of Jezebel is most effective when she, when, when it runs into the attitude of Ahab. You know, and pastor, I put, you know, that an Ahab attitude opens the door to a Jezebel spirit.

Say it again, Doc. An Ahab attitude opens the door to a Jezebel spirit. It opened doors, not just one door.

We talked about that. And I think when you have this Ahab attitude, it attracts and it opens up doors for Jezebel's spirit to take residence. Did y'all hear what he just said?

This is powerful. So this means, so last week we kind of gave traits to identify the spirit of Jezebel. Today, we need... To identify and expose traits that are reflective of the attitude of Ahab.

Right? So I need to know when somebody is being influenced by Jezebel. I also need to know when I am acting like Ahab. Come on. Come on.

So the first question we got to ask and answer is who is Ahab? He was a king of Israel, known for weak leadership and moral compromise. He married Jezebel. who introduced Baal worship to Israel, led the nation in idolatry, and Ahab allowed Jezebel to dominate and manipulate him, making him a passive enabler of her wicked actions. I don't have time to deal with that, Pastor.

But Ahab is an enabler. Ahab is an enabler. You want to know an example?

Yes. Because you can see, here's what's interesting. He's in a seat of authority. but he's still engaging in enablement he's enabling the dysfunctional and destructive behavior we see an example of this who was it was it eli's yes eli is in authority yeah in the old testament first sam he's a high priest named eli he has some sons that are wowing in the temple read it for yourself i'm not even gonna get into what they was into they were they were outside in the temple yeah they was They was outside inside.

They brought outside inside the church. Now what they needed was a good church mother. That's what they needed. Get them right. To discern.

Say, come here. You ain't living right. My God. Some, some.

I got triggered. You got triggered. They needed a church mother to go to them and say, holiness is still right.

That's what they needed. One God, me dog. After I got through preaching, she got me, dog.

I tried to move. I couldn't go nowhere. Church mother him you up after you preached, dog.

My God today. That joke barely hooked me, man. I was speaking in an unknown tone, man. Like she had grabbed the devil, boy.

God bless him. God use God. Bless him.

Man, I just got through preaching. You gonna do me like this? In front of everybody?

Ooh. Ooh. Bless him Lord, keep him Lord, help him Lord.

I said Lord have mercy. And now you know you be looking around seeing who's here and praying. Yes, yes. And how you, what you do when she got through praying with you? How'd you look?

I put my head down and went in the pastor's study and went home and went to sleep. Got a good nap. I ain't want no down man, I went to sleep. It's nothing like church mothers.

Man, she got me. Cause uh, I remember, I'm not gonna call his name but. He's one of the spiritual sons of our church. He tells this story. He was preaching at his home church.

And he's seminarian. He's seminarian, you know, seminarian and go back to his home church and preach. And he went up. No, no, no.

He's preaching at our church. He's preaching at our church. I think it was interning at a seminary.

He's preaching at our church. And he tells this story. He had me rolling.

He say, he went up and preached. We used to do something called Sunday on Wednesdays. We called it so.

And so he preached. He said he went up. You know how you write all your stuff out.

He said he's about seven minutes in. He was on his last point. So he had 30 minutes.

He preached about 12 minutes. And he came back down and one of the mothers from the church, I'm not going to say who it was. She said, now, son, if you would have went up the way you came down, it would have turned out better for you.

Yes, Lord. This man came down humble. He came home. She said, if you would have went up the way you came down, it would have turned out better for you. You remember Morris Chapel, right?

You remember my former pastor? Man, one Sunday when I took over, man, I preached, man. I thought I did good, man. One of the mothers told me, that's the worst sermon I ever heard in my life. Now, that was in New Orleans.

That was in New Orleans. You remember New Orleans, too? yeah they look like they that church look like that woman was 80 years old and i'm saying after 80 years that's the worst we need this is the worst one they should have had church mothers in that temple something so somebody asked what the book is in first samuel if you're so like first samuel details not just the ministry of samuel but it details how samuel well first of all was was born yeah Yeah, like it details his birth and his rise to ministry. So God raises him up to replace a leader, Eli, who's a priest who has some. who are working in the temple here's the issue they they bring it outside inside and here's what he does he speaks to them about it but doesn't hold them accountable for it that's good pastor so he's enabling the behavior and as a result god has to end up leading him to leadership i mean god has ended up removing him from leadership and raising up raising up samuel so this is interesting this is important now here's what the bible says about ahab and it's interesting because it's not his activity it's in is his enablement enablement it says the bible describes him as one who did more evil in the eyes of the lord than any of those before him So, the question we want to try to answer in the remaining time we've got together is what traits can I look for in Ahab so that I can see them when they're showing up in me?

What traits can I look for in Ahab so I can see them when they show up in me? Here's the first one. Number one, Ahab is injured. He demonstrated emotional...

injury through his sulking and self-pity when he didn't get his way. See, this is why this is important. We're going to talk about this a little bit later. So someone may hear these traits of Ahab and say, I'm not Ahab.

You may not be Ahab now, but if you don't manage emotional injury properly, you can become Ahab in another season. And if we're all honest, I want to see if they're going to talk back to me in the chat. If we're all honest, we've all had.

some ahab seasons injury injury will make you less assertive when you've been hurt when you've been rejected when you've been betrayed when you've been abandoned sometimes you'll want company so bad you'll accept jezebel and coddle judas my god said that again pastor whoa accept jez you'll accept jezebel and cuddle with judas and cuddle judas here's what the bible says so ahab went home sullen and angry because naboth the jizralite had said i will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors he's upset about not getting something that doesn't belong to him so he lay on his bed sulking and refuse to eat. He is that emotionally fragile, that emotionally injured, that something as small as this has as large of an impact as that. That's an injured man.

And if you don't manage emotional injuries properly, if you don't heal from emotional injuries in the past, Sometimes that pain shows up in a personality trait called Ahab. My God. And Pastor, I think this also reveals the importance of who you have in your life and who you are connected to when you're injured.

It's one thing to have a Jezebel when you're injured, but it's another thing, and you know, I think about when, I want to say Joshua, when they went up against Ai, a city they should have easily defeated, and they got destroyed. And Joshua went to pray and I said, get up. That's right. You know, get up. That's right.

That's right. And so you need somebody to kind of help you deal with it. That's right.

In a healthy way. And I think one of our core values of health is we say deal with your stuff so others don't. That's right.

That's right. Deal with your stuff when you get injured. Who, who do you, who's in your circle when you get injured?

So if I am, if we are dealing with. unattended to emotional wounds rest assured there's some Ahab in us here's what I listen all years of pastoral ministry personal experience listen to me anybody who lets people run over them has been ran over in the past injury it's almost like he felt like if he if he corrected jay uh jezebel he would lose it and if the relationship can't with withstand alignment what kind of relationship yeah that's not good relationship yep that doesn't change a relationship it exposes it so injured here's another one pastor unclear ahab lacked vision and direction he lacked clarity in his role as a king and therefore he allowed others like jezebel to dominate and direct him absence of clarity makes you vulnerable for the presence of manipulation because when you're not clear you just want to answer and when you don't have clarity jezebel is anxious to give it to you and it is possible to allow the anxiety from not being clear to make you open to influences that are clear but they wrong i love it jezebel is confident and wrong she's encouraging and wrong I mean she talking heavy and spicy and wrong and when you're unclear you'll take someone's clarity as correctness. Jezebel was clear but she wasn't correct but because she was so clear even though she was wrong Ahab treated it like it was correct.

You know pastor when it comes to being unclear you know I think what happens is what Jezebel does sometimes is she thrives off identity ignorance. He's a king. So basically she's making him operate in identity ignorance, which makes him second guess or doubt who he is in God. A hundred percent.

And I think that's, you know, that's how Jezebel thrives. A hundred percent. When she makes us unclear or doubt who we are.

And I just believe that there's some blessings and breakthroughs and benefits or belief activated. they're activated when you believe who when you know yeah and believe who you are in god yeah no that's powerful that's powerful and i think you know and we're going to get into this later in this series we're laying foundation now but there are spaces where the spirit of jezebel exploits the lack of clarity in greater ways in the spirit of jezebel exploits the lack of clarity in greater ways in some spaces than other spaces right and you know i've seen this happen a lot is in churches and in homes my god where there's a lack of clarity and someone else particularly in a religious space will feel oh lord i don't know i can't believe i'm about to say this out loud you're out here now tez i'm out here now tez i'm out here now tez i'm with you somebody watch this because when you're not clear you want clarity mm-hmm And especially if you're dealing with spiritual things, the lack of clarity can create some anxiety. Like, OK, Lord, I want to do what you want me to do, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do. You just want an answer. And in religious spaces, you we're assuming those spaces are safe spaces.

And then someone else can see your lack of clarity and then they will give you their word for your life and call it a word from the Lord. And have you assuming that you're doing God's bidding. when you're really doing theirs in the name of servant anyway that's it that's a different conversation amen that's a good one amen that's why they need to come to the uncommon calling conference so they can get clarity all right so so number one injured number two unclear number three insecure ahab's insecurity manifested in his codependence on others and his paranoia about being opposed.

Watch what he says about a prophet. Listen to what Ahab says about a prophet in 1 Kings 22. This man says, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. That's an insecure king right there. Yes, Lord, my goodness.

This man say he never prophesied. Listen to what he says. I hate him.

I hate it. You hate it? I hate it. He never prophesies anything good about me. That's scary.

But Jezebel exploits insecurity. See, this is why these traits are so important, Pastor, because if not, we can look at people like Ahab in scripture and judge Ahab in scripture. And here's the richness of scripture, right? I want to push back against what seems to be a trending thought when it comes to the way we should be exegeting and interpreting certain biblical passages.

It's like there's a stream of thought that it's almost like the stream of thought that operates like they got to protect God from the humans he died for. So they just keep telling humans, it's not about you. It's not about you.

It's not about you. And of course, it's not about you, but he did die for you. That's the gospel. The gospel is for you.

It's not for him. He doesn't he doesn't need good news. We need good news. So there's your stream of thought that when you're interpreting text that you always see yourself a certain way in the text, right? So the stream of thought would say if you're reading David and Goliath, never see yourself as David.

Always see yourself as Israel. Jesus is David. Israel is the enemy. Okay, so that's not incorrect. But you're robbing yourself of the richness of scripture if you don't see yourself in every character.

Because sometimes I'm Israel. And then sometimes I'm the underdog, I'm David. That's the point. Am I making sense?

That's the power. Yes. That's the power. Yeah. Yeah.

That's, that's, anyway, that's, that's real weird to me. It's borderline narcissistic in my opinion. Anyway, here's my point. My point is we got to look at texts like this, this way, because sometimes, and we're going to, when I say, when I show us Jezebel in our heart, sometimes we Jezebel, Jezebel-ish. And sometimes we Ahab-ish.

He's like, I'm not Ahab. Yeah, if I've ever been insecure, if I've ever been unclear, if I've ever been injured at the same time, I can demonstrate Ahab tendencies. And this shows up a lot. And one day, one day we're going to, we're going to have to create a room where we can talk really real about this. You can't talk real nowadays.

You have to be measured a degree. But this definitely shows up. I'm going to hit a little bit on this. This coming Friday, we got a singles conference.

Okay. And in our New Jersey, you in New Jersey, and our Gwinnett location in Atlanta. And I'm going to deal a little bit with this.

The predatory practices in Christian dating. My God. The manipulation. Lord have mercy. That takes place when it can happen both ways, but I can only speak for men because I'm a man.

And so I can see when men are doing it. When they are discerning someone's emotionally injured, someone's insecure. They play on it. And play on those things to fulfill a selfish agenda. Oh my God.

Singers, y'all need to pull up. Get the game. They can sense.

Get the game. Oh, she hurt. Get the game.

They can sense that. She hurt. Tell them what they want to hear.

She pretty, but she don't know it. She pretty, but somebody made her doubt it. So let me make her feel good so I can do something bad. Anyway, number four.

Ooh. Number four. Indecisive.

Indecisive. This doesn't mean you don't have enough information. This indecisive isn't referred to when you don't have enough information to make a decision.

Sometimes you don't have enough information to make decisions, nor does it mean that you change your decisions. Sometimes if you get exposed to superior or additional information and you've got the space and time to make a better decision to create a better outcome, you need to be committed to that. Indecisive means you're unwilling to make decisions.

And Ahab was indecisive in matters of faith and leadership. He's wavering between God and Baal. In 1 Kings 18, it says 20, So Ahab sent word throughout all of Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.

Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing.

It's indecisiveness. Here it is. Here it is.

All of us have seasons when we can be this. So true. You hear what I'm saying?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And the enemy will use something like. Bad decisions that we made in the past to make us indecisive in the future.

All right, number five. Y'all all right? Y'all getting something out of this?

You're not bored, are you? All right, last one, number five, is apathetic, apathy. Ahab demonstrated apathy by showing no moral outrage or concern over Jezebel's actions, including murder, to secure Naboth's vineyard.

You know, I say here's it. Sometimes things go wrong, not because you did something wrong, but because you didn't do enough of what's right. That's good. That's good. Apathy.

First Kings 21 verse 15 says, as soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead. And he accepted the vineyard without questioning or rebuking Jezebel's actions. Apathy, indifference.

So watch this. If I'm dealing with being injured or unclear or insecure and indecisive and apathetic, these are traits of Ahab that make me more vulnerable. It makes me more vulnerable to the influence and the spirit of Jezebel.

And so what do we want to do? We want to decrease our vulnerability. Does that make sense?

Yes. So it means that when I don't know if you can control whether or not you get injured, you can't always protect that, you know. but when i'm when i'm injured i need to be aware i'm injured now god is healing me and because i'm in my healing journey i need to be conscious and cognizant that i'm primed for jezebel so i can push back against that say no no no no i'm injured now i'm not dating ah y'all missed it y'all missed it come on i'm all in friday already come on you there I'm injured now. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not making, I'm not making a major business decision right now.

I'm injured. Nope. I just got out of a bad business partnership.

I'm not getting into another one right now. I'm injured. Or you're in a season where it's like, okay, man, I'm not injured, but I'm just unclear. Some people don't have any clarity at all in the season that they're in. Some people have some clarity.

Some people have clarity. and it's shifting. So there are different seasons where it's like, man, I'm not clear. Let me be aware and conscious of this and make sure that the advice and the counsel that I am getting is aligned with what I sense God's agenda for my life is and not theirs.

And we need awareness when we're insecure. This isn't evil. Insecurity is a result of an injury. It's not immoral.

And you may have seasons of insecurity. I, um, there's this retreat I attend on the West Coast every year, and it is an invite-only retreat for African-American pastors. And it is intended, and so that's not discriminatory. It is because we have all sorts of presenters.

And it's not just exclusive, like you won't get turned away because of the color of your skin. The point is there are unique dynamics that every leader has to deal with based on the cultural context, the demographic of the congregations that he's leading. And so this retreat's been going on for a while. And last year, they were having basically one of the themes of the retreat was people, one of the themes was like basically, doing ministry in older years, because a lot of the men in the room are retiring, and they're handing their churches off to successors and et cetera. And just to sit at the table and listen to, I was so encouraged and inspired by their vulnerability, at least at my table.

where guys were talking about getting used to a new normal that you threw your whole life into your whole adult life you've been bishop and now all of a sudden you're not bishop anymore and so you kind of go through a season where it's like okay where who am i i know who am i in christ I know Christ's value in me, but now what's my value to the world? You see what I'm saying? Yes, sir. And I think sometimes people separate those things. You need to know who you are in Christ.

Right. It's one thing to be clear on Christ's value in you. It's one thing to be clear on your value as an image bearer of God.

It's another thing to sometimes wonder, what's the value of my contribution? Am I really making, how do I make a difference now if I'm not a bishop? And that can happen not just in pastoral ministry. It can happen in divorce. It can happen in transition.

I'm not a wife. I'm not a husband. So insecurity, indecisiveness, and apathetic.

Pastor, let's wrap up here. Most of us aren't born Ahab, but we can become Ahab. What kind of What are some of the things that increase Ahab in us?

Pastor, I'm going to let you, I'm going to ask you to share this with the saints. Yeah, one is trouble. Circumstances that break us.

Because it's possible for you to survive something and parts of you didn't. That's right. Trouble. Circumstances that break us will bring an Ahab out of you.

They bring Ahab. There's some seasons you'll go through where you survive. But it's like, I survived, but my clarity didn't.

My God. I survived, but my confidence didn't. I survived, but my decisiveness didn't. Yeah, my God. You came through, but everything didn't come out whole.

You survived. You came out. But there's some things that didn't come out with you. Trouble has that tendency. Yeah, yeah.

Break us. What's another one, Pastor? Trauma.

Wounds that weaken us. So painful experiences such as betrayal, abandonment, or unresolved emotional wounds can strip us of confidence and create a fear of confrontation or failure. Wow. Wow. But this is so good, Pastor.

It said trauma may lead us to prioritize peace at any cost, even if it means compromising our values. That's what Ahab did. He was trying to prioritize peace at any cost.

At any cost. So he just let Jezebel do whatever he wanted. He violated his faith.

He violated his values. He abdicated his leadership responsibility just to keep everything cool, calm, and copacetic. And when you do that, what you are creating is false peace.

And it's not true peace. It's fragile peace. It's a peace driven by fear. Not by faith. See, that's false peace.

That's false peace. And that's what's happening in many churches. That's what's happening in homes. That's what's happening in marriages.

That's what's happening on jobs. It's false, inferior peace. Because that avoids confrontation. But true peace goes through the valley of confrontation. to get through a place called peace.

Then lastly, Pastor, this is the last one. Toxicity, environments that shape us, exposure to toxic relationships, systems or influences can normalize behaviors like passivity, fear, or compromise. Ahab's marriage to Jezebel placed him in an environment of manipulation and idolatry, which he lacked the strength to resist. toxic environments that's powerful so trouble uh-huh can birth the ahab in us trauma trauma can birth the ahab in us and toxic environments can birth the ahab in us you know one of the things that toxic environments do is they normalize dysfunction yes and so when you get into something that's more functional than the dysfunction it feels even if it's dysfunction It just feel better. The wilderness just feel better than Egypt, even though it's not Canaan.

Come on. That's good. And that toxicity, it can just create an Ahab. It's just, I just throw up my hands.

But up, here's that apostolic prayer. But I pray that this is the season that God... redeems, repurposes your trouble, your trauma, and your toxicity.

I pray that in this season of your life, that the trouble, trauma, and toxicity that the enemy sent to deform you, because that's what Ahab represents, deformation, that God would use to reform you. What the enemy meant for evil. God works it for good.

You can't carry Ahab in this next season. Your assignment requires assertiveness. Your peace necessitates assertiveness. If you're going to have peace in this season, not just if you're just going to pursue purpose, if you're going to possess peace, Ahab is costing you too much. It's costing you your peace.

It's costing you your purpose. It's costing you your priorities. And Pastor, why are you saying that?

It just came to me even in scripture that you confront both Ahab and Jezebel with a word. God sent Elijah to confront him. My God.

My God. Because it takes a word to change and sometime kill Ahab's and Jezebel's. That's right. Because you can't argue with them.

You can't go back and forth. You can't negotiate with Ahab's and Jezebel's. You got to kill them. I love it.

I love it. If we were in church, I would tell you, throw your hands up. I don't know how you do that where you are, but just put it in the chat. Say, reform me. Lord, in this season of my life, reform me.

You know the version of me that my future requires. Reform me into that. Reform me. I've been formed.

But reform me. I don't want my pain to deform me. I need you to reform me.

I got to get out of Ahab and get Ahab out of me. My peace and my purpose require it. I want to pray over you.

As we prepare to go today, I hope you receive this teaching. Someone asks, what book is this? The Bible. We didn't, we didn't, there may be some good books out there on this, but we want this to be, how can I put it? We just wanted to go to scripture.

I just, I just put it, we wanted to go to scripture and pull the truth out of scripture and present it to you in a way. that's biblically faithful but applicable for your life so we wanted it biblically sound but we needed it to be practical so we couldn't find a book that we use this book the bible the b-i-b-l-e that's the book for me um so i don't even have a recommendation on this just until you write this Yeah, until I write this book. Maybe this becomes a book. It's coming, yeah. Maybe this becomes a book.

But I want to pray for you. We're going to close out in prayer. I want to remind those of you who are really serious about not wasting your life.

David said, Lord, teach us to number our days. that we might incline our hearts to wisdom. Teach us to know our days are numbered.

So help us to live in a way that makes them count. You were put here. here on earth to make a contribution that only you can make it is an uncommon contribution it's an uncommon calling and i want to help you get clarity on what it is i want to help you have the confidence to carry it out even doing this this this is an uncommon calling say we're gonna sit no light you No, I mean, we got lights, but y'all know what we mean. No, none of the fruit and say, we're going to teach the Bible. We're going to just get in front of a camera and teach the Bible and just believe God that there is a there's a people.

Man, listen, I was speaking at this conference this week. And, you know, sometimes you do stuff and you're like, man, it's just such a bad time to do it. But you felt like you're supposed to do it. It was just really a tough time for me to be away because I just got so much going on. And.

I was speaking at the conference in the afternoon, but I just felt like, let me just go in the morning to just see what the house is like and what it feels like. And God spoke to me through a preacher in a way. I can't remember the last time I spoke to you like that. But he clarifies something. See, I don't care how clear you think you are.

There's one thing he said that gave greater clarity to my calling. This is what he said. He said.

God might call you two cities, but he doesn't call you two cities, four cities. Don't carry the weight of trying to shake a city. He calls you to a city, not for the city, but for a people.

That there's a people in the city that's waiting on you. What I gave you. OMG.

So who you want? We just want our people. Who you meant who you who you teach I'm just teaching to my people to my people because your people want you and your people want it the way you do it come on so don't try to do it in a way that somebody else does it because you're never going to get their people but you'll lose yours my god good stuff so if I've been doing this as long as I've been doing this and I got greater clarity. Somebody can get greater clarity also.

So if you haven't registered for the Uncommon Calling Conference, I got a couple of things planned this year. Nothing's more important than this one. So I'm going to actually encourage you to register. And also put the Lord's thirds up, guys, for giving.

Pastor, you know what I'm tired of? Reactionary teaching and theology. This teaching that is done in reaction to error as opposed to just going to the Bible and say, what does the Bible say about it? And we don't espouse here a prosperity gospel, but we believe the good news of the gospel impacts every area of my life, including my resources. Huh?

That he supplies my needs, that he gives seed to the soul, that I might have an abundance for every good work. An abundance for every good work. An abundance for every good work. An abundance enough to meet my needs and enough to help meet some needs of others. And we believe, we don't believe God's a genie, but we do believe that as we give, Our giving opens up heaven and God makes it rain on our work and on our crops and on our fields.

So we're so, so grateful for your giving and for your generosity. And I'm just thankful for sowing back into the field you harvested from. Cat Stokes says, can you have a podcast called Bother It? That's a good idea, Cat. That's good, Cat.

Bother It! Bother It! That's the ring to it.

All right. We're going to pray over you. Father, we have one request and that is reform us.

Yes. Make me over again. This is all we want in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Love you. See you next week. Take care.

Transcript for:Understanding Ahab Traits and Unity

Transcript for:
Understanding Ahab Traits and Unity