Dedication and Destiny: Shaping Your Future

Dedication to destiny and that's a kind of an odd subject because most people see destiny as something that God does and it just happens arbitrarily and we have no investment or involvement. into it. We normally don't think of dedication and destiny in the same sentence because we ascribe all the responsibility for our destiny to the Lord. You know, all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord. are the call according to His purpose, leaves us thinking that we don't have to do anything. That all things just work together for our good. It leaves us thinking, it gives us the impression that God just makes it work whether we work or not. It's just going to work for our good. If the Lord means for it to happen, it's going to happen. But I'm going to talk to you about dedication to destiny. How dedicated are you to what you believe? I'm going to challenge some of your beliefs. this morning. I may be able to point some things out in your life that will help this year to be more effective, help you to weigh the effectiveness of this year, help you to weigh the effectiveness of the next 10 years of your life. I started talking about the decade. We stepped into a new decade. How many are glad to be a part of this new decade? Now there are a few folks in this room that the enemy didn't even want you to be alive for this decade. So you can't sit there and be cute and look all important and say, oh yes, I'm glad. You know the enemy tried to kill you before you ever even got here. And you need to really get up and celebrate and thank God you're just being here. Just being alive. Just being alive. If you don't do nothing but sit there and look pretty, you ought to just smile at the devil and say, See, I made it. I made it. I made it to 2020. Come on, somebody. Who am I talking to this morning? And because it is our custom, you can remain standing. We're going to go to Genesis 39, 20 through 23 for a few minutes, and we're going to use this scripture just as a leap off point. I don't really so much want to exegete the text, but I want... to use the text as a canvas on which we convey and write ideas and share principles and concepts that will help us to better move into the purpose and the plan and the dictates of God because God has a plan for my life. Good God of mine, I said, God has a plan for my life. It's the reason I wasn't a stillborn. It's the reason I didn't die of crib death. It's the reason I survived my childhood. It's the reason that I survived car wrecks. and accidents, and injuries. God has a plan for my life. It's not that I'm so good. It's not that I'm so perfect. It's not that I'm so smart. It's not that I'm so innovative. It's just that God preserved me because He has a plan for my life. life. And I'm going to live out that plan. So all you haters who don't want me to live out my plan, get over it. I'm going to live out that plan. All of you that have haters that don't want you to live out your plan, tell them to get over it. God has a plan for your life and you're headed somewhere. You can tell I'm fired up. I haven't even read the scripture. I'm already on fire. Shout hallelujah, somebody. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there. In the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph. I like that. I just want to pause right there. What an oxymoron. His master put him in prison and God said, if you're going to jail, I am too. Oh, can't nobody do me like Jesus. If you're going to the emergency room, I'm going with you. If you're going in trouble, I'm a present help in the time of trouble. To everybody who thought you were in it by yourself. you need to shout right now because God does make house calls. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Come on. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph. He committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. And whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. Can you say amen? The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him. And that which he did, the Lord made. it to prosper. Oh, God. I got to put that back up there again. I got to read that last scripture again. Put that up there. Oh, just that last part. That which he did. That which he did. Not that which he thought about. Not that which he danced about, but that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. Touch a neighbor and say, do something. Father God, in the name of Jesus, we stand in this house. Thank you for life. We will not waste this breath. We will not waste this life. We will not waste this year. We will not waste this week. We will not waste this day. Somebody died short of today. But you let me live to see another day. I will not waste this day complaining about who doesn't like me and my toe hurts and my finger hurts. I'm alive. I'm going to work this day for you. glory. I'm going to move some stuff today for your glory. I'm going to get it done in the name of Jesus. Now bless the word while it's being shared today. In Jesus'name, I mean with a thunderous shout, shout amen. Good. You may be seated. Glory. I want to test out your lungs, make sure you got good lungs. One more time, shout amen! Oh yeah, you ready. Okay, what I want to do is dig down deeper into what I started talking about during the New Year's Eve service we had at the church. I want to dig down deeper into it. I want to talk to you a little bit about decades... and decisions. Decades, dreams, and decisions. Now, personally, I plan my life out in decades. I set goals for where I want to be 10 years. from now. And when I talk to people around me, I sound kind of strange because I talk like I'm older than I am because I'm thinking 10 years away. And they say, you're too young to be thinking like that. I said, no, no, no, no, I'm not too young. You're never too young to be thinking 10 years away. Planning my life in decades has helped me to evaluate years. How do you know that you're having a good good year if it doesn't fit into a long-term goal of where you're going to be 10 years from now? How do you measure a good year? Just by survival? Just saw it, just had it, just came? Or do you measure it by things that are going to happen every year? Because I hear people saying, you know, 2019 was a bad year because they went through a lot of stuff or they were in the hospital or they went through this attack or that attack or so-and-so died or this one died. died or that one died. And they say it's a good or bad year based on conditions and circumstances that are going to happen every year. There will be no magic years where your emotions are not tested, where your mind is not tested, where you won't have opposition or enemies. There will every year The year you have, life will be life. But I determine whether it's a good year or a bad year by how much closer I'm coming to what God has in store for me, how much progress I'm making toward the direction that God and I have charted out for me. my life. Not by inconvenience. I'm used to inconvenience. If you don't learn how to flourish under fire, you won't flourish at all. If you are going to keep waiting till the coast is clear before you make a move, you might as well turn into a mummy. You might as well be the Statue of Liberty, because you're never going to move because the coast is never going to be clear. It's never going to be totally conducive to what you're trying to get done. In fact, many, many times the greater... the opposition the closer you're getting to your goal. Any woman in here who's had a baby will tell you that labor pains get greater the closer you are to birthing your baby. I want to tell you something that makes you to begin to recognize that dreams are fertilized in stinky places. Let everybody who ever grew a garden say amen. Dreams are fertilized, not in nice, convenient places, not when everything's going well. It's in the stinky places, it's in the rough places that dreams are fertilized. So if you avoid the stinky. places, you're avoiding the very fertilization of the next move of God in your life. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? Are you hearing me this morning? But when we start talking about dreams, a lot of times we don't get our dreams because we're not specific. I want to be a better man. What does that mean? I want to have a great year. This way of generalizing your dream stops you from monitoring success. I'm going to the next level. Where is that? I want up. Up where? This year I'm gonna be a better person. In what way? See, these types of things cause us to fail because they're not specific enough to hold us accountable. I want to be a good wife. I want to be a better wife. I want to be a... better husband. What does that mean? Specifically in what area? Let's be more specific. I'm going to spend more time at home. I'm going to budget my finances better. Let's tie it down to something that you can measure because if you don't tie your dream down to something you can measure, it is easily dismissed. And with that dismissal comes the feeling of success. So you're always saying stuff that never makes you feel successful. Not because you're not succeeding, but because you don't have quantifiable goals. How are you measuring your life? The Bible says, teach me the number of my days, O God, that I might know how frail I am. Teach me to appreciate every day. How are you measuring your life? Are you hearing what I'm saying? I'm going to get to the good stuff in a minute. This also, when you start talking about decades and you start talking about dreams, you have to start talking about decisions. Because if you don't have goals... How do you base your decisions? Who comes in and out of your life? Where do you spend your time? Who do you engage with? What do you say yes to? What do you say no to? I have finally began to learn not to swing at every ball that comes my way. I mean, I'm not just talking about not swinging at bad things. I mean not swinging at good things. Because it can be a good thing, but if it's not connected to my destiny, I need to reserve my swing. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. I need to reserve my swing for what's coming next in my life. Some of you swing at everything. I just want up. I don't care what I got to do. I'm going to open up a gas station. If that don't work, I'm going to open up a beauty parlor. If I don't open up a beauty parlor, I'm going to open up a beauty parlor. part, maybe I open up a restaurant. I just want up. I just, by any means necessary. No, no, no, no, no. You'll never get up like that. You have to be specific about who you are and what you bring to the table and what you are called to do and be. And you may have to pass up 10 ideas to get to the thing that's in alignment with your destiny. I want to swing at something that's in alignment. I want to have friends that are in alignment with my destiny. I'm getting to the age I can't just carry a lot of dead weight. Maybe when I was 20 I could afford to carry dead weight, but now if it's not getting me closer to where I'm trying to go, I'll help you if I can, but I can't carry anybody right now. I got just enough strength to get me...oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. Because some people don't want to walk. I don't mind carrying you a little while because you can't walk, but some people don't want to walk. They use your compassion as their crutch. I know you're going to carry me, so why should I walk? I know you're gonna pay for it, so why should I do it? I know you're gonna get me out, so why should I stand up? I know you're gonna fix the problem, so why should I be proactive? You need to take an eraser and start erasing all of those people out of your life. who are using you. You are not helping them. You are enabling them to be a failure by not releasing them to their destiny. You need to give them a cup of tough love and say, stand up on your own two feet. You can do this. I'm preaching better than you shout. Every day I have to make decisions. And it's easy to make decisions between good and evil and right and wrong. They're apparent. But it's tough to make decisions between good and great. Between what you want to see me do versus what God has called me to do. Just because something is a just cause doesn't mean it's my cause. I don't have enough me to take up everything that needs to be done. You can't volunteer for everything and still be good at anything. Some of you are spread so thin that you're not good at anything because you said yes to everything. Practice this with me. Practice this with me. Practice this with me. Say no. You did that good. We're going to do that again. Everybody say no. Oh yeah. You know what no gives you? Focus. No gives you discipline. No gives you structure. No gives your neighbor an opportunity to say yes to what you said no to. See, your no is somebody else's yes. And if you stop trying to be everything, then somebody else can be something. But if you're trying to be everything, you're standing in the way of somebody else who's trying to be something. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. I can't go everywhere. I can't speak for everybody. I can't be at every church. I can't be at every event. My no becomes somebody else's blessing. So away with the spirit of guilt that the enemy wants to place on you because you can't say yes to everything. Somebody needs you to say no so that they can say yes. Somebody needs you to say I can't do it so that they can stand up and say I can. Your burden is somebody else's blessing. So, if you're going to have a great year this year, you got to practice, yeah, you got to practice no, so that when you say yes to something, you have the power and the force to really be dedicated and fully committed to that thing. Why do you have to be dedicated? Because if you have a dream that is easily achieved, it is not worthy of you. If you have a dream that doesn't require discipline and focus, you're dreaming far too small. I didn't dream of brushing my teeth. I'm just believing God. That by His grace I would be able to brush my teeth. No, no, no, no, I just brushed my teeth and went on about it. I did brush them, I brushed them. But I did that all by myself. I didn't have to go on a fast food. I need a dream. If you are a big dreamer, holler at me now. I want to talk to my big dreamers because big dreams take time. I want you to stop being angry because you didn't get your dream this year. Because big dreams take time. Malcolm Gladwell says that in order to be proficient at anything, you have to practice it 10,000 hours in order to be effective at it. 10,000 hours will make you an expert. His book Outlier, he talks about 10,000 hours. If you want to be an excellent pianist, put 10,000 hours into it, and you're going to be bad. 10,000 hours, incidentally, is about 10 years. 10 years is a decade. What are you going to do with this decade? I know you're used to me talking about what are you going to do with this year, but what you're going to do with this year is determined by what are you going to do with this decade. Because the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. This year is the first step to the decade. So ten years from now, how old will you be? Somebody said dead That might be true, but I'm gonna let that surprise me. I don't have to plan on that. It can sneak up on me. It'll be all right. It can hit me in the back of the head. But suppose I'm here. Suppose I win. Are you making decisions for the decade or for the moment? I told some people that were getting ready to buy a house and their children were, have, you know, maybe 11, 12, 13, 14, somewhere up in there, and I said, don't buy the house based on the kids. Not at that age. Now, if they were two years old, it might be different, but not at 14, because by the time you get the house built, and you get it furnished just the way you want it to, and all the rooms are made out just the way you need to, they will be leaving the house, and you will be walking around talking about, we don't need all this room. You have bedrooms you don't go into, collecting dust in places, plates you don't use, pans you don't bake in, because you didn't have a plan for 10 years out. You had a plan for a moment that was passing while you... We're building the house. Oh, I hit something right there. What I want to talk to you is the dedication it takes to birth the thing that you're after. And the reason I want to talk to you about it is I am alarmed at the people who give up so easily. And I think they give up so easily because of crackerjack sermons coming from pulpits all over America that talk about spin around three times, God's going to give it to you. And you think that if you spin around three times and it doesn't happen, that God doesn't mean for you to have it. But you can spin around until you pass out on the floor. When you get through spinning, God blesses what you do. Who am I talking to today? It doesn't matter what age you are, you need this message. If you're 70, you don't want to build a house with three floors. Now the young people don't understand why I said that, but everybody's got gray hair. It's starting to get a revelation why putting the master bedroom on the third floor might not be a great idea for somebody 75. This might be a good time to sell the house and get a flat, something that you can handle because you need to have a strategy or if you don't have a strategy, your lack of strategy is going to give the enemy an opportunity to make your life harder than it had to be because you weren't thinking out for the future. Somebody said 10 years from now I'll be dead. If I'm dead I won't have to worry about it. But suppose I'm not. Suppose I'm still here. What am I planning? What am I doing? What am I moving? How am I getting ready for what's next in my life? Am I 30 years old planning for 40? Am I 20 thinking about 30 or am I just living in the moment? And then shocked because my future is not anchored because I haven't been dedicated to my destiny. It determines who I listen to. It determines what books I read. It determines who I put myself around. It determines what committees I get on or off, what boards I join or don't join. It determines who I hang out with because I want to be around people who are feeding where I'm going. You know, there's a community of people that we attach ourselves to because they are kin to where we left. And we connect with them because you're from West Virginia and I'm from West Virginia. And oh my God, you remember the Appalachian Mountains and I remember the Kanawha River and you remember it too. And oh, it's so wonderful because I am kin to you because you are connected to my history. Or you hung out at the same clubs I did. Or you drank the same. Oh, that's the holy side of the church. Let me go over here. I want to go over here and talk to the real people who understand that the human proclivity is to be more comfortable with people whose history aligns with yours. But the divine opportunity is to connect with people whose destiny aligns with yours. Now when you connect with people who you have a destiny in common with, don't expect to feel comfortable. You're going to grow into comfort as you have shared experiences, but initially you're going to feel like an outsider. Because the connection is for a date to come. It isn't so important that you marry somebody that fits where you are. That's not the hard part. It's easy to figure out somebody who fits my present need. But I need to find somebody who will grow with me, and go with me, and evolve with me, and when I switch, you switch. And when we grow forward, you fit the 50-year-old me and the 60-year-old me and the 70-year-old me. I'm not worried about you fitting the 20-year-old me. I'm pretty easy to fit at 20. My list of needs at 20 aren't even smart yet, but I need somebody that as I come to the fullness of my intellectual capacity, that you have the fluidity of thought and nimbleness of mind to... You gotta flow with me, you gotta rock with me, you gotta roll with me. If you gonna ride on a motorcycle with me, when I go this way, you got to go this way. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. Because if you're going to ride with me, don't make me fall over because you're pulling this way when I'm trying to go this way. The turns in your life will tell you who you're riding with. I need to see how you handle the turns. Anybody can ride with me in the straightaway, but when I get to the turning point and the pivotal place, I need somebody who can roll with me, who can slide with me. Oh, come on, talk to me, somebody. I don't need somebody who wants to get off the bike because I hit a bump. My God, I haven't even got to the text yet, but I'm saying something that you need to hear. And this is why you need God in the choice, because God can see the future, and you can only see the moment. I don't need to hire somebody who's good for where I'm at right now. I need somebody that's got the capacity that as I grow, you can grow with me or I'll end up carrying dead weight and every time it's payday, I'm rolling my eyes at you because you haven't evolved in 20 years and you're faithful to who I used to be. Oh my god. I want you to understand something that generally dedication starts in stewardship. Generally dedication starts in stewardship. That is to say, well let me use this first. Luke 16 12 says you must first be faithful. To that which pertaineth to another man. In other words, God lets you practice where you're going to be. Until you can, put that back up there again, until you can be faithful. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? See, some of you are holding back on your dedication because you don't want to be dedicated to something that's not yours. And so when you get there, you're going to give it your best shot when you get there. No, no, no. If you don't give it your best shot now, you won't get there. It is giving it your best shot. You can't, I told a friend of mine, you can't preach good when the crowd's big. You got to preach good when it is not but five people there. You're still giving it your best shot. Because if you are faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many. Oh, y'all don't hear me. Some of you have been saving your best stuff for the big time. No, use your best stuff now so your best stuff will get better. I feel like I'm talking to somebody I don't even know who it is. When I'm not in the pulpit preaching, I'm writing. When I'm not writing, I'm looking at scripts for films and doing films and movies. And we've got some projects coming out on Lifetime. And anytime you're doing character development, a character's life is not believable if it doesn't have an arc to it. An arc. Somebody say an arc. I'm not talking about the thing that Noah rode around here. An arc to it. You can't have somebody... Whose life is just one thing straight. You can't write a story that's just a straight line. It's got to have an arc to it. You can't preach a message that doesn't have an arc to it. You can't do a movie that doesn't have an arc to it. You can't be a person and not have an arc in your life. The arc of life. Every good story has an arc. It is never a straight line. Look at the arc of Joseph's life. Look at the arc of his life. It's like six flags reading about Joseph. He's up. He's down. He's up again. He's down. He's in. He's out. It's good. It's bad. It's like a ride at a carnival. Look at Joseph. life, if you told your life story, you would need tickets for six flags. You've been up sometimes. You've been down sometimes. You wanted to quit sometimes. You wanted to die sometimes. You wanted to fight sometimes. You wanted to give up sometimes. You had good days. You had bad days. Baby, that's not the devil. That's life. You can't rebuke that. You can't plead the blood over it. You can't bind the devil. No, that is life. Let me come down here and look at you. We're about to get somewhere now. Joseph's life couldn't have been better. It was going good. He had been thrown into a pit by his brothers and left to die. They left him for dead, but he survived. And the Midianites came. and found him and brought him out and sold him to Potiphar and he prospered in Potiphar's house. He ran Potiphar's house. Now let me tell you the good thing about being a steward. You don't have ownership, but you have exposure. So he didn't have Potiphar's bills, you see what I'm saying? He didn't have Potiphar's bills, but he got to live in Potiphar's house. He got to run Potiphar's business. He got to practice his stuff. at Potiphar's expense. It was a dream job. It was amazing. He got all the cakes out. He got to do it, and he did it good. He did it so good that Potiphar put him in charge of everything in his house, and Joseph was dedicated. He was winning. He was up. He was getting it. And then one day, he was like, All hell broke loose. Who would have ever thought that Miss Potiphar would have thought Joseph was cute? Which isn't a bad thing, till she started lying on him. People will lie on you. Grinning right in your face. And now you're the ones closest to you. And one lie and he loses his job. His cushy, amazing, influential job where he got to meet people that he would have never met and do things that he would have never done. He lost his job. He was defeated. And... He went to jail. Now losing your job is bad, but going to jail is hell. Fire me. Fire me, please. Thank you. Fire me. God bless you. I'm fired. OK, OK, bye. I'm fired. I'm fired. Going to jail? Wait, oh, oh, that's a whole different thing. We got to have another meeting about that, because I can find me another job, but I ain't planning on waking up to somebody named Bobo. Come on, talk to me somebody. Joseph did everything right and he still lost his job. And he is thrust into the king's prison. He was dedicated to Potiphar. He was dedicated to a good thing. Now he's lost his good thing. What happens when you lose your good thing? Oh, I'm going to preach for a little bit. Yeah, what happens to your character when you lose your good thing? Were you just good because of your good thing? Were you only dedicated because of the paycheck? Are you only going to preach good when the money's good? When the crowd's good? When the people respond? When you're in your element? When the conditions are right? Are you only a good wife when he's a good man? Oh Lord, I think I lost him on that one, Jesus. They was whipping real good right there. Are you only a good mother when the kids are good? You don't need a good mother when the kids are good. You need a good mother when the kid is bad and everybody's giving up on the kid. But mama's standing there fighting for him to come through. I wish I had a witness in here. Many of us wouldn't be here if we didn't have good mothers with bad kids. Are you only gonna be a good husband when she's a good wife? And now you have changed your character to match your condition. I'm not surprised that Joseph was committed and effective and dedicated when he had his cushy job. But now he's in jail. And now the test becomes, how you like me now? Will you maintain who you are when it doesn't look like it's paying off? Or have you gotten so bitter that you have changed you because of the season you're in? Because it is a season. And it's gonna pass. And don't allow a temporary circumstance to change you permanently where you become bitter rather than better. This too shall pass. This is a test. If you can... Can Joe praise me now? Anybody can praise him on their way up. But Joseph is now in prison. And he's in the king's prison. I don't know how he got in the king's prison, because he wasn't working for the king. But he's in the king's prison. And that's a dangerous prison to be in, because the king made his own rules. He'd just wake up one morning and say, you're going to die. And we started reading the text with him being an inmate. Inmates don't have no power. You get up when I say you get up. You go to bed when I say you go to bed. You take a shower when and if I say you take a shower. You eat when I say eat. You eat what I give you or you don't eat at all. Inmates don't have no power at all. And Joseph, with his dedicated self, is now in a situation where it looks like being dedicated didn't pay. And he has every excuse to change. Just like some of you who have unjustly gone through things that weren't even fair. And you don't realize you're being tested to see if you can be dedicated when there is no opportunity. I had to recognize when I moved up in life that people stopped seeing me as a person. Most of them see me as an opportunity. I was dealing with them like I was a person. They were dealing with me like I was an opportunity. And I had to step over into their eyes and look back at me to understand that they don't see that I'm a person. They see me as a chance, a raffle ticket, an opportunity, a quick way up. And so anybody can love you when they see an advantage. Joseph, God's man. Is now in prison. By the way, this was not his dream. You remember, those of you that know the story know that Joseph had a dream long time ago that his brothers were going to bow down before him that he was going to rise to power. There was no dream about bars, slamming doors, sleeping on concrete, eating out of troughs. Have you ever ended up in something that was totally contradictory to everything you dreamed? Everything you dreamed, and you find yourself in the complete opposite situation. I feel like I'm talking to somebody, I don't know who it is. God told you you were going to prosper, you were going to be successful, and your boss said you're fired. Just when you were starting to save some money, have you ever had your life contradict your prophecy? And that's when the devil runs up to you and says, where's God now? When the curtains open we see Joseph, God's prince in a prison. You could be a prince in a prison. And how you respond to that prison determines whether you become prince or not. There were three things that God gave Joseph in the prison that helped him through the prison. Number one, the Bible says the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him. He gave him company in the prison. He said, if you're in it, I'm in it with you. I don't know who I'm teaching today, but the Lord said I'm in it with you. You had to sell a car, I'm in it with you. You had to sell a house, I'm in it with you. He left you for another woman, he said I didn't. I'm still in the house with you. I'm still gonna open doors for you. I'm still gonna make ways for you. I will not leave you by yourself. She don't appreciate who you are as a man. God says I do. I am with you in the prison not just in church, not just on Sunday morning, not just when the praise team sings, not just when everybody's beating the drum, not when people are happy and shouting. God says, I'm with you when it doesn't look profitable to be with you. I am with you. That's what's up. me from some of them folks you call friends even when there is no opportunity. Oh God you don't hear what I'm saying to you. So you go ahead and praise him for your car and you praise him for your stocks, you praise him for your mutual funds, I praise him for not leaving me. Thank you for being with me when all hell was breaking loose. I'm just glad that you was with me. We're gonna practice that. Shake somebody by the hand and say, the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. I may be sleeping on this floor, but the Lord is with me. I may be in some kind of trouble right now, but the Lord is with me. I may have a lump in my breast, but the Lord is with me. I may be down on my luck, but the Lord is with me. Luck comes, luck goes, but the Lord is stable. The Lord is with me. I don't know who I'm talking to. The Lord is with me. He was with me in 2019. He's with me in 2020. He's going to be with me in 2021. If you want to get with God, get with me, because the Lord is with me. If you want to fight God, fight me, because the Lord is... If you and me get into it, He's on my side. That's how I feel about it. You got to know that you know that you know that you know I'm with you even when you don't feel me, even when you don't like the condition, even when you don't like the circumstance. Tell somebody say the Lord is with me. You want to get with God, get with me because the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm in this prison, but the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm sleeping on the couch, but the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm going through a transition, but the Lord is with me. I know I don't look profitable, but the Lord is with me. If I sat down now, I'd already preach. If I don't say another word... So number one, the Lord is with him. Number two, he showed him mercy. Mercy sure do look good when justice ain't just. He showed him mercy. He showed him mercy. Have mercy. I don't understand how people who need mercy can be so merciless. He showed him mercy. So the voice that keeps bringing up what I did wrong to say, you belong in this prison. You brought this on yourself. You're not any good anyway. You're just like your mama said you was. You're just like your daddy. All those voices that we have to fight with, to all of those voices, God showed him mercy. Mercy. Can you receive mercy? Do you have the capacity to receive mercy or are you so angry at yourself over your mistakes that you resist mercy because you like cutting on yourself figuratively or literally? God showed him mercy but he had to receive it. Can you receive the mercy of God? The Bible said his mercies are new every morning. I don't even have to use day-old mercy. He's got fresh mercy for my fresh stupid. You understand? He didn't run out of mercy because I keep being stupid. His mercies are new every morning. He showed him mercy. That's why I beat everybody praising God. Because he showed me mercy. And I owe him a praise. I don't mind raising my hand. I don't mind clapping my hand. Because had God dealt with me according to my sins, I would have been cut off. But the Lord showed me. Whoo! Whoo! I feel a shout coming on. I feel a shout. I'm not even trying to shout, but I feel a shout. Because when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out. He showed me mercy. High five somebody and tell them I got to praise him. You might praise him, but I got to praise him. You might not praise him, but I got to praise him. I've been too crazy not to praise him. I've been too wrong not to praise him. He showed me mercy. Let's go deeper, I gotta hear it. Number three, he gave him favor with the warden. He gave him favor with the warden. He gave him favor with the warden. You might not believe this, but God will make folks like you. You think it's just because you're so charismatic? No, God will make folks like you. He gave him favor with the warden. 2020, I'm walking in divine favor. 2020 I'm just walking in divine favor. I'm walking in divine favor. I'm walking in divine favor. I'm walking in divine favor. Anybody gonna walk with me? Anybody gonna walk with me? I'm walking in divine. Somebody He's got a meeting to go to, and you got to meet with somebody in a high place. And the Lord said, don't worry about it. When you walk in the door, he's going to give you favor. I don't know who that's for, but you came here to get that one word from God that God has already ordered your steps. And when you get there, you're going to walk into favor. Who am I preaching to? Can I give you some more? Let me give you some more. I'm gonna give you some more. My God. My God. My God. That went out of me so strong, I don't know who that's for. I hope you receive it to the magnitude that I released it. That was a prophetic utterance. My God, my God, my God, my God, my God. You walk in like you know they like you. Because God is going to give you favor. Favor with the person in power. Am I talking to anybody in here? Now, let me go a little bit deeper with this. I'm almost where I want to be. The thing that gets me about Joseph is that he was dedicated in a deficit. I understood him being dedicated in Potiphar's house because he was on the upside but this boy is dedicated in prison. He's running the prison. The inmate is running the prison. If you stop crying about being an inmate you'll see why you're in the situation you're in. Because God's gonna get some glory out of the situation that you're in. God doesn't just reveal himself by changing situations. Sometimes God uses the situation to change you. So what gets me about him is that he is dedicated in a deficit. In prison, he's still serving. He's still leading. He's still helping. He's still giving. And had he not been dedicated in a deficit, he would have never reached his destiny. Had he gotten bitter or depressed or discouraged and said, I'm through. Last time I was dedicated, it didn't work. I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm not going out there like that. I'm not going out like that. I'm not going to do it. He would have died in prison. But he was dedicated in a deficit. Can you be dedicated in a church that's not growing? Can you be dedicated to a job you think that's beneath you? I know you say you're going to get dedicated when you get the promotion. No, you're going to be dedicated now. That's how you're going to get the promotion. I'm helping somebody. I don't know who it is. So dedication has to be an internal impulse and not an external reaction. He must be dedicated because he's dedicated. He is not dedicated because things are going good. He has not allowed external circumstances to define internal character. He's just dedicated. He's a dedicated person. He's been dedicated all his life. When he's in, he's all in. When he's there, he's really there. When he's given, he's really given. When he's serving, he's really serving. Regardless, this is who he is. Don't let life change who you are. You got to be consistent even when life is chaotic. Because now I see why God chose Joseph. He could trust him. He chose Joseph because he could trust him. And Joseph ends up the prince of Egypt because he's consistent. Can God trust you in prison? No pay, nobody there to say attaboy. God blesses people he can trust. Can he trust you with power? See, because power... See, see, see, trusting you with money ain't no problem. Trusting you with power? Power is what produced Hitler. Power is a really dangerous thing. I've told you this before, whenever I'm running around with powerful people, I don't pay attention to how they treat me. I watch how they treat the waitress, the skycap, the bellboy, because how you treat them tells me how you would treat me if I ever got vulnerable. Watch them. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, they'll tell you a whole lot. How you manage power says something about you. Joseph has come from being in prison to running the prison. And what's amazing is his gift is still working. He's in prison and he's still giving. So the butler and the baker come to him with a dream. Now the butler's dream was real. But the Bible says when the baker saw what the butler got, he said, I dreamed something too. So I'm a little questionable about that dream. That me too dreams. Sometimes that, you know, it kind of got me a little bit. I'm not saying that, you know, he didn't dream it. I just, I never saw nobody who dreamed because they heard somebody else dream it. I'm just saying. And Joseph is in prison talking about, I'll interpret your dream. We're, y'all, y'all got to see this now. We in jail. We in jail. You know? Jail. Jail, bro. We ain't at the White House. We in jail. And you want a word from the Lord in jail? You want me to interpret? First of all, you dreaming in jail? You mean jail has not destroyed your dream? You in prison and your biggest problem is getting somebody to interpret your dream? And here Joseph is in prison with you, and he is serving you in the prison, because that's who Joseph is. It's not just what Joseph does, that's who he is. See, I'm talking about being, not just doing. Don't let life change who you are. Some of you used to be loving, you used to be giving, you used to be caring, but you've been through so much that it's starting to affect who you are. If we were in business, we would be talking about a brand, and a brand is a promise. A brand is a promise, and it says, what do we get when we get you? And that's why I told you you determine who you are about who you are not. It's your ability to say no that begins to give you distinction. Who are you? Whether you're in Potiphar's house or in the prison or in the pit, there ought to be something consistent that remains the same that I can count on about you. What can I count on about you? Because that's all we got to deal with for this decade. That's all we can deal with. We cannot deal with who you are seasonally. We cannot build with who you are occasionally. We cannot build with who you act like you are or pretend to be while I'm looking. We can only build with that part of you that is you. And that's good, because that means you don't have to be me. Being me is something I can do. I can't be you. Who am I? Or who have I become? And how do I get back to something that God can trust? So that I can be dedicated. So I could set up a trust. You know, when you get ready to put big money into places, you put them in a trust. You invest in a trust. Can God trust you enough to invest? What about you can he trust? Now there's always something about all of us that can't be trusted. Come on, come on. Don't you sit there and act like that. I was up two o'clock last night Slipping into the kitchen. I Don't know why I went in the kitchen. I Was supposed to be going to the bathroom The bathroom is north the kitchen is south But there was this little bit of banana pudding that was left And my problem is when Dexter was home I could act like maybe he ate it. I mean it wasn't even that much. I don't know why I had to have it. It was enough to make me mad. I was mad. I said it's too late to make another one. So all of us have some area that we can't be trusted. Can we just be real? I told myself, I talked to myself real good. I said, we're not doing that. You already had your cheat day. Your cheat day turned into a cheat week. Okay, so you got to live holy for about three weeks. It's gonna be subway and Jesus, subway and Jesus, subway and Jesus. I talked about all while I'm going to get the banana pudding. I'm quoting scriptures and everything. Ain't none of it working. I'm the only one, huh? I'm the only one out of everybody in here. And then I told myself, I said, if you gonna do it anyway, why fuss about it? You might as well just enjoy it. Cause you already know you're gonna get, ain't no need in feeling guilty while you chewing. Just be guilty later, just. It was a good one too, man. I'm telling you, the Lord was in the banana pudding. The spirit of the Lord. That thing was right! It was grandma right! It was so good I started singing slavery songs! Soon I will be done! I was way back in my ancestry! Let's have some area that we have not mastered. I'm not preaching this to convict you. I'm preaching this to challenge you. What is it about you that is consistent, that you're willing to be dedicated to, because that's all we can use for destiny. Joseph down in jail interpreting other people's dreams. And he's doing it for people and saying, man, this is what's gonna happen. You're gonna get out in three days. You're gonna get out. And you're going back to the king. And in three days to this other joker, you're gonna be dead. You're faking, you're phony. You don't know who you are. You didn't dream nothing. You're trying to slip in on somebody else's anointing. In three days, you're gonna be dead. And he's dead. The butler gets out and forgets Joseph, but Joseph is still dedicated. The butler forgets him for two years. I told you it's going to take a decade. It's gonna take a decade to anchor down everything that you're doing right now. It's gonna take a decade to get it where it's established and it's solid and where you're fully respected on the next level or where you're going. Expect it to take some time. Two years he spent forgotten by the people he helped. But Dr. King said truth smashed down to the ground will rise again undaunted. It may take a long time, but if you just keep doing right, if you just stand your ground and be dedicated, if you keep doing right, you can overcome anything. You can lose weight, you can go back to college, you can get your doctorate. If you just keep... God can only bless what you are consistent about. Dedication to destiny. This is my opportunity to dedicate my way unto the Lord and say you know what I'm gonna stop being up and down and back and forth and flipping in and flipping out and I'm gonna be consistent even though my life is not. Even though this year will not be consistent, even though my friends won't be consistent, and my family won't be consistent, my spouse won't be consistent, even though everything around me may not be consistent, these are the areas that I vow I'm gonna hold to. I will not drop this. I may drop something else. I ain't say nothing about no banana pudding, but this other stuff. We still working about that. That's where the mercy, that's where the mercy, back in the other part, the mercy and the putting in the mercy and the putting in the mercy go together, Lord, have mercy. But this right here, this right here, Jesus, this right here. We're gonna lock this down. We're gonna walk this out. If I don't save but $10 a week, we're gonna walk this out. If I don't lay but 200 pounds or 200 calories down. a week, we're gonna walk this out. If I don't take but one class a year, we're gonna walk this out. This right here, I'm gonna put this on lock. I'm gonna put this on lock, because if I put this on lock right now, by the time I get through walking through this, I'm gonna be exactly where I need to be. She can even say I'm after something. I'm after something, I'm after something, I'm after something, and I'm willing to lock down to get it. I'm willing to be stable to get it. I'm willing to dedicate myself toward it. I am not waiting on you to give me nothing. You ain't got to give me a thing. I am not going to be chasing them behind you, sniffing up behind you, trying to get on your good side. I ain't tap dancing or none of it. I'm gonna get this myself and whatever it takes I'm gonna pay the price and I'm not gonna owe nobody when I get it. It's gonna be me and Jesus. It won't be nothing about you. It's gonna be me and the Lord. Touch me people and say I'm after something. God's not going to give me 2020 and me not be after something. God's not going to give me another year and me not be after something. God's not going to give me another decade and me not be after something. Yeah, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do it when I'm in jail. I'm gonna do it when I'm out of jail. I'm gonna do it when things go right. I'm gonna do it when things go wrong. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna be consistent. Lord, you can count on me for this. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise, what can he count on? I learned a long time ago, 50% of winning is showing up for the fight. The fight is half over when you show up. You'll never win a fight you don't show up for. I'm showing up for this. I'm showing up for the fight. Here I am, ready for duty. I am through hiding in the shadows for fear that I might fail. I'm gonna face this head on and let the chips fall where they may. Yes sir, let the chips fall where they may. I'm gonna show up for the fight. You can count on me. I'm gonna show up every day. I'm gonna make a little dent in it every day. I'm gonna hit it every day. I'm gonna chop it every day. I'm gonna swing every day. You can count on me to take action. I will not waste another decade complaining about who didn't love me and who didn't raise me and who didn't invest in me and who didn't teach me. I'm tired of my old story. I want a new story. I want a new testimony. I want to see the head. Oh, I feel God in this place. Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir. Oh yeah. Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir. Took him two years, Jackie, to get rid of the amnesia. And all of a sudden, the Butler, Pharaoh had a dream, and nobody could interpret it. And the Butler said, you know that old whatchamacallit down there in prison, Joseph. Yeah, I was in the joint with him. Yeah, he pretty good, Lord. He's pretty good. Had he not been good in prison, he would have never got to the palace. It was what he did in prison that brought him to the palace. Suppose he would have cussed the butler out and said, forget you. Get out the best way you can. I got my own problems right now. But he was consistent. And they came and knocked on the jail cell and said, The king has needed you. And he washed up, got a line, got his fade just right, said, I'm going to see the king. I prophesy to you this day, somebody is going to see the King. Your eyes have not seen, your ears have not heard, neither have they entered into your heart where God is about to take you. He's about to take you into another dimension. You're going to see the King. Touch your neighbor and say, I'm going to see the King. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm not dressing for where I was. I'm dressing for where I'm going. I'm going to see... The guy who was an inmate in one chapter becomes the head of the treasury for the nation of Egypt. That's why I don't believe in killing yourself. Because when you're killing yourself, you killing a self you ain't met yet. You killing yourself over your past, but what you killing is not your past. It's already happened. You're killing your future. 24 hours can turn your entire life around. You can be on your way down and God can turn your home. I wish I had a witness somewhere. I wish I had one Holy Ghost witness. I wish I had a five-op-times witness. So now it comes down to your part. Why does God have you here today? What do you need to be more dedicated to in order to win? Do you know most people have never thrown their whole weight at anything ever? Most people have never put in the work for their dreams. The 10,000 hours? No, no, no. They want it on credit. They won't read what they're supposed to read, work the way they're supposed to work, do what they're supposed to do. And they will blame God. For their own trifling, lazy, inconsistent behavior. And they will act like God didn't come through. When the truth is, you didn't come through. And God has been waiting on you. God has been waiting on you. And he says, as soon as he will, I will. As soon as she does. I will. So here's the question. What is this about? What is he talking to you about? And only you can answer that. What dream do you have that you have not fully been dedicated to? That you've not thrown your full self at it consistently. Because God said if you do it consistently, he'll bring it down. He'll bring it down. What is the thing that this is about? Church has got to be about more than a Sunday ritual. I don't need another ritual. I don't need another thing to do. I don't need another place to go. I don't need to get in my car and go anywhere else just to say I was there. What is this about? I go to things that are gonna make my life better. I go to things that are gonna strengthen me in some way. I go to things that are gonna help me to advance. I go to things that are gonna fit my destiny. What is this about for you? And do you have the courage? To rededicate yourself. Because God says if you will, He will. If you will. If, if you will. Hesha, if you will, He will. If you will, He will. There's something to the folks my age and older, there's a reason God left you in this world. Stop giving yourself a pass and telling yourself you're through the devil is alive If Naomi would have been through Ruth would have never found her purpose Stop using your age as a pass to be trifling Stop it 70 ain't old nowhere but over here. Every other community respects me. I'm just 70. You get over here, child, I'm 70. I guess I'm supposed to die. And you die because you think you're supposed to die. You're old because you think you're old. You have a destiny, sir. You have something to do, Big Mama. You got something to do, young man. I don't care who you are. If you are under the sound of my voice, God is talking to you. Stand to your feet. When I talk about my beginnings, now they sound terrible. But when I was going through them, they really wasn't that bad. Because I didn't have nothing to compare it to. I didn't know I was poor. Because I hadn't seen rich. So poor was normal. I didn't know what spaghetti sauce was. I didn't even know that government cheese was government cheese. I just knew that it never melted. I knew you could put the oven on 450 and it would stand there and smile at you. I bet you I still got some of that cheese in me somewhere. That cheese... I'm not even sure that was cheese. That might have been concrete. If I didn't minister to seven people with conviction, I would have never gotten to you. If I didn't go out on the road and preach and bring my honorarium in to pay my staff, I wouldn't have 300 people on staff now. If I had not fought for my dream, if I had not stayed up all night for it, cooked for it and slaved for it, dug ditches and bled for it, it would have never happened. God doesn't give away stuff to you Without you being dedicated to your destiny People that think it's easy are stupid You think you're gonna run up here and I'm gonna lay hands on you and you're gonna get what I sweated for, what I labored for, what I did, died and bled for, what I went to jail for, was in the pit for, survived a lie for, rose up again undaunted for, came out of hell and high water for. Nobody's dreams happen without fight. Fight. I mean fight. I mean fight. Girl, with all you got, and you're wrong to quit when you haven't fought with all you got. Look at Jesus. He was so committed to his dream that he went to the cross for it, shed his blood for it, hung his head and died for it, borrowed a tomb and was buried for it. But early Sunday morning, he rose up to show I got what I was after. Good God Almighty. Join hands with somebody. As we join hands today, this is a do-something message. It's not enough to hear it if you don't do it. If you accept the challenge, join hands with somebody. There's an area in your life that you're going to have to throw your whole self at to get, but if you throw your whole self at it, it's going to... to come to pass. You're going to have to throw your energy, your talent, your gifts, your resources, your relationships, your efforts are going to have to be tireless to see that thing come to pass. This will not come cheap, but it will come. It will come. It will come. Squeeze that hand. Something is about to come into the life of that person that God wanted them to be here this Sunday morning. Next week when you come back, I'm going to build from this foundation. I'm going to tell you who you need around you. I'm going to tell you who you need around you. God's going to put a force field of people around you. An intellectual fence around you. people who are gifted enough to stand shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe around you. You just give me the next four Sundays, I'm gonna take you somewhere. I'm gonna drop you so far off over into your destiny that hell is gonna break out in hives. That demons are gonna tremble. That Satan is gonna get nervous. When I get through dropping you over into your destiny, the devil's not gonna fight the same person he fought in 2019. You're gonna be armed and dangerous for 2020. Squeeze that hand. That person is armed and dangerous. Father, let the anointing of the Holy Ghost sweep through this room. Let it stir up gifts. Let it stir up talents. Let it stir up resources. Let it stir up focus and focus and focus and focus and focus and strengthen us to the point that we are dedicated to destiny. I believe, God, that somebody in this room, whose hands are joined and heart is open, that I am feeding something. Yea, Shai, I am feeding something. I am feeding something. I am feeding something that you already spoke inside of them. I am feeding something that you already put inside of them. I am feeding something that the enemy's been trying to kill and steal and destroy, but I feed that destiny. I feed that dream. I feed that prophetic utterance over their life. Ah! Glory. Squeeze that hand. The anointing is moving all over this church. The power of God is in this place. You will never be the same again. You will never be the same again. You got stuff to do. You got stuff to do. The weather don't have to change. The conditions don't have to change. The circumstances don't have to change. People don't have to understand you. They don't have to like you. Their admission is not required. You have to believe in what God put down. inside of you out of your belly so flow rivers of living water I pray that rivers would rise up in your belly would rise up in your spirit would rise up in your Rivers of creativity, rivers of thought, rivers of ideas, rivers of revelation, rivers of contact, rivers of influence. They're coming up out of your belly right now. Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water, rivers of living water. Oh God, Oh God, I see a chair, somebody's getting ready to sit in a seat. in a place of authority. A door is being opened. A door is being opened. A way is being made. This is for you. This is your hour. This is your time. This is your season. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Joseph. I call you out, Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Nothing in your past looks like your future. Get ready, Joseph.

You know, all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord. are the call according to His purpose, leaves us thinking that we don't have to do anything. That all things just work together for our good.

It leaves us thinking, it gives us the impression that God just makes it work whether we work or not. It's just going to work for our good. If the Lord means for it to happen, it's going to happen. But I'm going to talk to you about dedication to destiny.

How dedicated are you to what you believe? I'm going to challenge some of your beliefs. this morning.

I may be able to point some things out in your life that will help this year to be more effective, help you to weigh the effectiveness of this year, help you to weigh the effectiveness of the next 10 years of your life. I started talking about the decade. We stepped into a new decade.

How many are glad to be a part of this new decade? Now there are a few folks in this room that the enemy didn't even want you to be alive for this decade. So you can't sit there and be cute and look all important and say, oh yes, I'm glad.

You know the enemy tried to kill you before you ever even got here. And you need to really get up and celebrate and thank God you're just being here. Just being alive.

Just being alive. If you don't do nothing but sit there and look pretty, you ought to just smile at the devil and say, See, I made it. I made it.

I made it to 2020. Come on, somebody. Who am I talking to this morning? And because it is our custom, you can remain standing. We're going to go to Genesis 39, 20 through 23 for a few minutes, and we're going to use this scripture just as a leap off point.

I don't really so much want to exegete the text, but I want... to use the text as a canvas on which we convey and write ideas and share principles and concepts that will help us to better move into the purpose and the plan and the dictates of God because God has a plan for my life. Good God of mine, I said, God has a plan for my life. It's the reason I wasn't a stillborn. It's the reason I didn't die of crib death.

It's the reason I survived my childhood. It's the reason that I survived car wrecks. and accidents, and injuries.

God has a plan for my life. It's not that I'm so good. It's not that I'm so perfect.

It's not that I'm so smart. It's not that I'm so innovative. It's just that God preserved me because He has a plan for my life.

life. And I'm going to live out that plan. So all you haters who don't want me to live out my plan, get over it. I'm going to live out that plan.

All of you that have haters that don't want you to live out your plan, tell them to get over it. God has a plan for your life and you're headed somewhere. You can tell I'm fired up. I haven't even read the scripture.

I'm already on fire. Shout hallelujah, somebody. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there. In the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph.

I like that. I just want to pause right there. What an oxymoron. His master put him in prison and God said, if you're going to jail, I am too. Oh, can't nobody do me like Jesus.

If you're going to the emergency room, I'm going with you. If you're going in trouble, I'm a present help in the time of trouble. To everybody who thought you were in it by yourself.

you need to shout right now because God does make house calls. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Come on.

And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph. He committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. And whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. Can you say amen? The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him.

And that which he did, the Lord made. it to prosper. Oh, God. I got to put that back up there again. I got to read that last scripture again.

Put that up there. Oh, just that last part. That which he did.

That which he did. Not that which he thought about. Not that which he danced about, but that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

Touch a neighbor and say, do something. Father God, in the name of Jesus, we stand in this house. Thank you for life. We will not waste this breath. We will not waste this life.

We will not waste this year. We will not waste this week. We will not waste this day.

Somebody died short of today. But you let me live to see another day. I will not waste this day complaining about who doesn't like me and my toe hurts and my finger hurts. I'm alive. I'm going to work this day for you.

glory. I'm going to move some stuff today for your glory. I'm going to get it done in the name of Jesus.

Now bless the word while it's being shared today. In Jesus'name, I mean with a thunderous shout, shout amen. Good.

You may be seated. Glory. I want to test out your lungs, make sure you got good lungs.

One more time, shout amen! Oh yeah, you ready. Okay, what I want to do is dig down deeper into what I started talking about during the New Year's Eve service we had at the church. I want to dig down deeper into it. I want to talk to you a little bit about decades...

and decisions. Decades, dreams, and decisions. Now, personally, I plan my life out in decades.

I set goals for where I want to be 10 years. from now. And when I talk to people around me, I sound kind of strange because I talk like I'm older than I am because I'm thinking 10 years away. And they say, you're too young to be thinking like that.

I said, no, no, no, no, I'm not too young. You're never too young to be thinking 10 years away. Planning my life in decades has helped me to evaluate years.

How do you know that you're having a good good year if it doesn't fit into a long-term goal of where you're going to be 10 years from now? How do you measure a good year? Just by survival?

Just saw it, just had it, just came? Or do you measure it by things that are going to happen every year? Because I hear people saying, you know, 2019 was a bad year because they went through a lot of stuff or they were in the hospital or they went through this attack or that attack or so-and-so died or this one died. died or that one died. And they say it's a good or bad year based on conditions and circumstances that are going to happen every year.

There will be no magic years where your emotions are not tested, where your mind is not tested, where you won't have opposition or enemies. There will every year The year you have, life will be life. But I determine whether it's a good year or a bad year by how much closer I'm coming to what God has in store for me, how much progress I'm making toward the direction that God and I have charted out for me. my life.

Not by inconvenience. I'm used to inconvenience. If you don't learn how to flourish under fire, you won't flourish at all. If you are going to keep waiting till the coast is clear before you make a move, you might as well turn into a mummy. You might as well be the Statue of Liberty, because you're never going to move because the coast is never going to be clear.

It's never going to be totally conducive to what you're trying to get done. In fact, many, many times the greater... the opposition the closer you're getting to your goal.

Any woman in here who's had a baby will tell you that labor pains get greater the closer you are to birthing your baby. I want to tell you something that makes you to begin to recognize that dreams are fertilized in stinky places. Let everybody who ever grew a garden say amen. Dreams are fertilized, not in nice, convenient places, not when everything's going well.

It's in the stinky places, it's in the rough places that dreams are fertilized. So if you avoid the stinky. places, you're avoiding the very fertilization of the next move of God in your life. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you?

Are you hearing me this morning? But when we start talking about dreams, a lot of times we don't get our dreams because we're not specific. I want to be a better man. What does that mean?

I want to have a great year. This way of generalizing your dream stops you from monitoring success. I'm going to the next level. Where is that? I want up.

Up where? This year I'm gonna be a better person. In what way? See, these types of things cause us to fail because they're not specific enough to hold us accountable. I want to be a good wife.

I want to be a better wife. I want to be a... better husband.

What does that mean? Specifically in what area? Let's be more specific.

I'm going to spend more time at home. I'm going to budget my finances better. Let's tie it down to something that you can measure because if you don't tie your dream down to something you can measure, it is easily dismissed. And with that dismissal comes the feeling of success. So you're always saying stuff that never makes you feel successful.

Not because you're not succeeding, but because you don't have quantifiable goals. How are you measuring your life? The Bible says, teach me the number of my days, O God, that I might know how frail I am.

Teach me to appreciate every day. How are you measuring your life? Are you hearing what I'm saying? I'm going to get to the good stuff in a minute.

This also, when you start talking about decades and you start talking about dreams, you have to start talking about decisions. Because if you don't have goals... How do you base your decisions?

Who comes in and out of your life? Where do you spend your time? Who do you engage with?

What do you say yes to? What do you say no to? I have finally began to learn not to swing at every ball that comes my way. I mean, I'm not just talking about not swinging at bad things. I mean not swinging at good things.

Because it can be a good thing, but if it's not connected to my destiny, I need to reserve my swing. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. I need to reserve my swing for what's coming next in my life. Some of you swing at everything.

I just want up. I don't care what I got to do. I'm going to open up a gas station. If that don't work, I'm going to open up a beauty parlor.

If I don't open up a beauty parlor, I'm going to open up a beauty parlor. part, maybe I open up a restaurant. I just want up. I just, by any means necessary.

No, no, no, no, no. You'll never get up like that. You have to be specific about who you are and what you bring to the table and what you are called to do and be. And you may have to pass up 10 ideas to get to the thing that's in alignment with your destiny. I want to swing at something that's in alignment.

I want to have friends that are in alignment with my destiny. I'm getting to the age I can't just carry a lot of dead weight. Maybe when I was 20 I could afford to carry dead weight, but now if it's not getting me closer to where I'm trying to go, I'll help you if I can, but I can't carry anybody right now.

I got just enough strength to get me...oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. Because some people don't want to walk. I don't mind carrying you a little while because you can't walk, but some people don't want to walk.

They use your compassion as their crutch. I know you're going to carry me, so why should I walk? I know you're gonna pay for it, so why should I do it? I know you're gonna get me out, so why should I stand up?

I know you're gonna fix the problem, so why should I be proactive? You need to take an eraser and start erasing all of those people out of your life. who are using you.

You are not helping them. You are enabling them to be a failure by not releasing them to their destiny. You need to give them a cup of tough love and say, stand up on your own two feet. You can do this.

I'm preaching better than you shout. Every day I have to make decisions. And it's easy to make decisions between good and evil and right and wrong. They're apparent.

But it's tough to make decisions between good and great. Between what you want to see me do versus what God has called me to do. Just because something is a just cause doesn't mean it's my cause.

I don't have enough me to take up everything that needs to be done. You can't volunteer for everything and still be good at anything. Some of you are spread so thin that you're not good at anything because you said yes to everything. Practice this with me.

Practice this with me. Practice this with me. Say no.

You did that good. We're going to do that again. Everybody say no. Oh yeah.

You know what no gives you? Focus. No gives you discipline. No gives you structure.

No gives your neighbor an opportunity to say yes to what you said no to. See, your no is somebody else's yes. And if you stop trying to be everything, then somebody else can be something.

But if you're trying to be everything, you're standing in the way of somebody else who's trying to be something. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. I can't go everywhere. I can't speak for everybody. I can't be at every church.

I can't be at every event. My no becomes somebody else's blessing. So away with the spirit of guilt that the enemy wants to place on you because you can't say yes to everything.

Somebody needs you to say no so that they can say yes. Somebody needs you to say I can't do it so that they can stand up and say I can. Your burden is somebody else's blessing.

So, if you're going to have a great year this year, you got to practice, yeah, you got to practice no, so that when you say yes to something, you have the power and the force to really be dedicated and fully committed to that thing. Why do you have to be dedicated? Because if you have a dream that is easily achieved, it is not worthy of you.

If you have a dream that doesn't require discipline and focus, you're dreaming far too small. I didn't dream of brushing my teeth. I'm just believing God. That by His grace I would be able to brush my teeth.

No, no, no, no, I just brushed my teeth and went on about it. I did brush them, I brushed them. But I did that all by myself. I didn't have to go on a fast food.

I need a dream. If you are a big dreamer, holler at me now. I want to talk to my big dreamers because big dreams take time.

I want you to stop being angry because you didn't get your dream this year. Because big dreams take time. Malcolm Gladwell says that in order to be proficient at anything, you have to practice it 10,000 hours in order to be effective at it. 10,000 hours will make you an expert.

His book Outlier, he talks about 10,000 hours. If you want to be an excellent pianist, put 10,000 hours into it, and you're going to be bad. 10,000 hours, incidentally, is about 10 years. 10 years is a decade.

What are you going to do with this decade? I know you're used to me talking about what are you going to do with this year, but what you're going to do with this year is determined by what are you going to do with this decade. Because the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. This year is the first step to the decade. So ten years from now, how old will you be?

Somebody said dead That might be true, but I'm gonna let that surprise me. I don't have to plan on that. It can sneak up on me.

It'll be all right. It can hit me in the back of the head. But suppose I'm here.

Suppose I win. Are you making decisions for the decade or for the moment? I told some people that were getting ready to buy a house and their children were, have, you know, maybe 11, 12, 13, 14, somewhere up in there, and I said, don't buy the house based on the kids.

Not at that age. Now, if they were two years old, it might be different, but not at 14, because by the time you get the house built, and you get it furnished just the way you want it to, and all the rooms are made out just the way you need to, they will be leaving the house, and you will be walking around talking about, we don't need all this room. You have bedrooms you don't go into, collecting dust in places, plates you don't use, pans you don't bake in, because you didn't have a plan for 10 years out. You had a plan for a moment that was passing while you...

We're building the house. Oh, I hit something right there. What I want to talk to you is the dedication it takes to birth the thing that you're after.

And the reason I want to talk to you about it is I am alarmed at the people who give up so easily. And I think they give up so easily because of crackerjack sermons coming from pulpits all over America that talk about spin around three times, God's going to give it to you. And you think that if you spin around three times and it doesn't happen, that God doesn't mean for you to have it. But you can spin around until you pass out on the floor.

When you get through spinning, God blesses what you do. Who am I talking to today? It doesn't matter what age you are, you need this message.

If you're 70, you don't want to build a house with three floors. Now the young people don't understand why I said that, but everybody's got gray hair. It's starting to get a revelation why putting the master bedroom on the third floor might not be a great idea for somebody 75. This might be a good time to sell the house and get a flat, something that you can handle because you need to have a strategy or if you don't have a strategy, your lack of strategy is going to give the enemy an opportunity to make your life harder than it had to be because you weren't thinking out for the future.

Somebody said 10 years from now I'll be dead. If I'm dead I won't have to worry about it. But suppose I'm not.

Suppose I'm still here. What am I planning? What am I doing?

What am I moving? How am I getting ready for what's next in my life? Am I 30 years old planning for 40?

Am I 20 thinking about 30 or am I just living in the moment? And then shocked because my future is not anchored because I haven't been dedicated to my destiny. It determines who I listen to. It determines what books I read. It determines who I put myself around.

It determines what committees I get on or off, what boards I join or don't join. It determines who I hang out with because I want to be around people who are feeding where I'm going. You know, there's a community of people that we attach ourselves to because they are kin to where we left.

And we connect with them because you're from West Virginia and I'm from West Virginia. And oh my God, you remember the Appalachian Mountains and I remember the Kanawha River and you remember it too. And oh, it's so wonderful because I am kin to you because you are connected to my history. Or you hung out at the same clubs I did. Or you drank the same.

Oh, that's the holy side of the church. Let me go over here. I want to go over here and talk to the real people who understand that the human proclivity is to be more comfortable with people whose history aligns with yours. But the divine opportunity is to connect with people whose destiny aligns with yours.

Now when you connect with people who you have a destiny in common with, don't expect to feel comfortable. You're going to grow into comfort as you have shared experiences, but initially you're going to feel like an outsider. Because the connection is for a date to come.

It isn't so important that you marry somebody that fits where you are. That's not the hard part. It's easy to figure out somebody who fits my present need. But I need to find somebody who will grow with me, and go with me, and evolve with me, and when I switch, you switch.

And when we grow forward, you fit the 50-year-old me and the 60-year-old me and the 70-year-old me. I'm not worried about you fitting the 20-year-old me. I'm pretty easy to fit at 20. My list of needs at 20 aren't even smart yet, but I need somebody that as I come to the fullness of my intellectual capacity, that you have the fluidity of thought and nimbleness of mind to...

You gotta flow with me, you gotta rock with me, you gotta roll with me. If you gonna ride on a motorcycle with me, when I go this way, you got to go this way. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you.

Because if you're going to ride with me, don't make me fall over because you're pulling this way when I'm trying to go this way. The turns in your life will tell you who you're riding with. I need to see how you handle the turns.

Anybody can ride with me in the straightaway, but when I get to the turning point and the pivotal place, I need somebody who can roll with me, who can slide with me. Oh, come on, talk to me, somebody. I don't need somebody who wants to get off the bike because I hit a bump. My God, I haven't even got to the text yet, but I'm saying something that you need to hear. And this is why you need God in the choice, because God can see the future, and you can only see the moment.

I don't need to hire somebody who's good for where I'm at right now. I need somebody that's got the capacity that as I grow, you can grow with me or I'll end up carrying dead weight and every time it's payday, I'm rolling my eyes at you because you haven't evolved in 20 years and you're faithful to who I used to be. Oh my god.

I want you to understand something that generally dedication starts in stewardship. Generally dedication starts in stewardship. That is to say, well let me use this first. Luke 16 12 says you must first be faithful.

To that which pertaineth to another man. In other words, God lets you practice where you're going to be. Until you can, put that back up there again, until you can be faithful. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

See, some of you are holding back on your dedication because you don't want to be dedicated to something that's not yours. And so when you get there, you're going to give it your best shot when you get there. No, no, no. If you don't give it your best shot now, you won't get there. It is giving it your best shot.

You can't, I told a friend of mine, you can't preach good when the crowd's big. You got to preach good when it is not but five people there. You're still giving it your best shot.

Because if you are faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many. Oh, y'all don't hear me. Some of you have been saving your best stuff for the big time.

No, use your best stuff now so your best stuff will get better. I feel like I'm talking to somebody I don't even know who it is. When I'm not in the pulpit preaching, I'm writing.

When I'm not writing, I'm looking at scripts for films and doing films and movies. And we've got some projects coming out on Lifetime. And anytime you're doing character development, a character's life is not believable if it doesn't have an arc to it. An arc.

Somebody say an arc. I'm not talking about the thing that Noah rode around here. An arc to it.

You can't have somebody... Whose life is just one thing straight. You can't write a story that's just a straight line.

It's got to have an arc to it. You can't preach a message that doesn't have an arc to it. You can't do a movie that doesn't have an arc to it. You can't be a person and not have an arc in your life. The arc of life.

Every good story has an arc. It is never a straight line. Look at the arc of Joseph's life.

Look at the arc of his life. It's like six flags reading about Joseph. He's up.

He's down. He's up again. He's down. He's in.

He's out. It's good. It's bad. It's like a ride at a carnival.

Look at Joseph. life, if you told your life story, you would need tickets for six flags. You've been up sometimes.

You've been down sometimes. You wanted to quit sometimes. You wanted to die sometimes. You wanted to fight sometimes. You wanted to give up sometimes.

You had good days. You had bad days. Baby, that's not the devil. That's life. You can't rebuke that.

You can't plead the blood over it. You can't bind the devil. No, that is life.

Let me come down here and look at you. We're about to get somewhere now. Joseph's life couldn't have been better. It was going good. He had been thrown into a pit by his brothers and left to die.

They left him for dead, but he survived. And the Midianites came. and found him and brought him out and sold him to Potiphar and he prospered in Potiphar's house.

He ran Potiphar's house. Now let me tell you the good thing about being a steward. You don't have ownership, but you have exposure. So he didn't have Potiphar's bills, you see what I'm saying? He didn't have Potiphar's bills, but he got to live in Potiphar's house.

He got to run Potiphar's business. He got to practice his stuff. at Potiphar's expense. It was a dream job.

It was amazing. He got all the cakes out. He got to do it, and he did it good. He did it so good that Potiphar put him in charge of everything in his house, and Joseph was dedicated.

He was winning. He was up. He was getting it.

And then one day, he was like, All hell broke loose. Who would have ever thought that Miss Potiphar would have thought Joseph was cute? Which isn't a bad thing, till she started lying on him.

People will lie on you. Grinning right in your face. And now you're the ones closest to you.

And one lie and he loses his job. His cushy, amazing, influential job where he got to meet people that he would have never met and do things that he would have never done. He lost his job.

He was defeated. And... He went to jail. Now losing your job is bad, but going to jail is hell.

Fire me. Fire me, please. Thank you.

Fire me. God bless you. I'm fired.

OK, OK, bye. I'm fired. I'm fired.

Going to jail? Wait, oh, oh, that's a whole different thing. We got to have another meeting about that, because I can find me another job, but I ain't planning on waking up to somebody named Bobo.

Come on, talk to me somebody. Joseph did everything right and he still lost his job. And he is thrust into the king's prison.

He was dedicated to Potiphar. He was dedicated to a good thing. Now he's lost his good thing.

What happens when you lose your good thing? Oh, I'm going to preach for a little bit. Yeah, what happens to your character when you lose your good thing?

Were you just good because of your good thing? Were you only dedicated because of the paycheck? Are you only going to preach good when the money's good? When the crowd's good? When the people respond?

When you're in your element? When the conditions are right? Are you only a good wife when he's a good man? Oh Lord, I think I lost him on that one, Jesus.

They was whipping real good right there. Are you only a good mother when the kids are good? You don't need a good mother when the kids are good. You need a good mother when the kid is bad and everybody's giving up on the kid. But mama's standing there fighting for him to come through.

I wish I had a witness in here. Many of us wouldn't be here if we didn't have good mothers with bad kids. Are you only gonna be a good husband when she's a good wife?

And now you have changed your character to match your condition. I'm not surprised that Joseph was committed and effective and dedicated when he had his cushy job. But now he's in jail.

And now the test becomes, how you like me now? Will you maintain who you are when it doesn't look like it's paying off? Or have you gotten so bitter that you have changed you because of the season you're in? Because it is a season. And it's gonna pass.

And don't allow a temporary circumstance to change you permanently where you become bitter rather than better. This too shall pass. This is a test. If you can...

Can Joe praise me now? Anybody can praise him on their way up. But Joseph is now in prison. And he's in the king's prison. I don't know how he got in the king's prison, because he wasn't working for the king.

But he's in the king's prison. And that's a dangerous prison to be in, because the king made his own rules. He'd just wake up one morning and say, you're going to die. And we started reading the text with him being an inmate. Inmates don't have no power.

You get up when I say you get up. You go to bed when I say you go to bed. You take a shower when and if I say you take a shower.

You eat when I say eat. You eat what I give you or you don't eat at all. Inmates don't have no power at all.

And Joseph, with his dedicated self, is now in a situation where it looks like being dedicated didn't pay. And he has every excuse to change. Just like some of you who have unjustly gone through things that weren't even fair. And you don't realize you're being tested to see if you can be dedicated when there is no opportunity. I had to recognize when I moved up in life that people stopped seeing me as a person.

Most of them see me as an opportunity. I was dealing with them like I was a person. They were dealing with me like I was an opportunity.

And I had to step over into their eyes and look back at me to understand that they don't see that I'm a person. They see me as a chance, a raffle ticket, an opportunity, a quick way up. And so anybody can love you when they see an advantage. Joseph, God's man. Is now in prison.

By the way, this was not his dream. You remember, those of you that know the story know that Joseph had a dream long time ago that his brothers were going to bow down before him that he was going to rise to power. There was no dream about bars, slamming doors, sleeping on concrete, eating out of troughs.

Have you ever ended up in something that was totally contradictory to everything you dreamed? Everything you dreamed, and you find yourself in the complete opposite situation. I feel like I'm talking to somebody, I don't know who it is. God told you you were going to prosper, you were going to be successful, and your boss said you're fired.

Just when you were starting to save some money, have you ever had your life contradict your prophecy? And that's when the devil runs up to you and says, where's God now? When the curtains open we see Joseph, God's prince in a prison. You could be a prince in a prison.

And how you respond to that prison determines whether you become prince or not. There were three things that God gave Joseph in the prison that helped him through the prison. Number one, the Bible says the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him.

He gave him company in the prison. He said, if you're in it, I'm in it with you. I don't know who I'm teaching today, but the Lord said I'm in it with you. You had to sell a car, I'm in it with you. You had to sell a house, I'm in it with you.

He left you for another woman, he said I didn't. I'm still in the house with you. I'm still gonna open doors for you. I'm still gonna make ways for you.

I will not leave you by yourself. She don't appreciate who you are as a man. God says I do. I am with you in the prison not just in church, not just on Sunday morning, not just when the praise team sings, not just when everybody's beating the drum, not when people are happy and shouting. God says, I'm with you when it doesn't look profitable to be with you.

I am with you. That's what's up. me from some of them folks you call friends even when there is no opportunity. Oh God you don't hear what I'm saying to you.

So you go ahead and praise him for your car and you praise him for your stocks, you praise him for your mutual funds, I praise him for not leaving me. Thank you for being with me when all hell was breaking loose. I'm just glad that you was with me.

We're gonna practice that. Shake somebody by the hand and say, the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me.

I may be sleeping on this floor, but the Lord is with me. I may be in some kind of trouble right now, but the Lord is with me. I may have a lump in my breast, but the Lord is with me. I may be down on my luck, but the Lord is with me. Luck comes, luck goes, but the Lord is stable.

The Lord is with me. I don't know who I'm talking to. The Lord is with me. He was with me in 2019. He's with me in 2020. He's going to be with me in 2021. If you want to get with God, get with me, because the Lord is with me. If you want to fight God, fight me, because the Lord is...

If you and me get into it, He's on my side. That's how I feel about it. You got to know that you know that you know that you know I'm with you even when you don't feel me, even when you don't like the condition, even when you don't like the circumstance.

Tell somebody say the Lord is with me. You want to get with God, get with me because the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm in this prison, but the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm sleeping on the couch, but the Lord is with me. Yeah, I know I'm going through a transition, but the Lord is with me.

I know I don't look profitable, but the Lord is with me. If I sat down now, I'd already preach. If I don't say another word...

So number one, the Lord is with him. Number two, he showed him mercy. Mercy sure do look good when justice ain't just.

He showed him mercy. He showed him mercy. Have mercy.

I don't understand how people who need mercy can be so merciless. He showed him mercy. So the voice that keeps bringing up what I did wrong to say, you belong in this prison. You brought this on yourself. You're not any good anyway.

You're just like your mama said you was. You're just like your daddy. All those voices that we have to fight with, to all of those voices, God showed him mercy.

Mercy. Can you receive mercy? Do you have the capacity to receive mercy or are you so angry at yourself over your mistakes that you resist mercy because you like cutting on yourself figuratively or literally?

God showed him mercy but he had to receive it. Can you receive the mercy of God? The Bible said his mercies are new every morning.

I don't even have to use day-old mercy. He's got fresh mercy for my fresh stupid. You understand?

He didn't run out of mercy because I keep being stupid. His mercies are new every morning. He showed him mercy. That's why I beat everybody praising God. Because he showed me mercy.

And I owe him a praise. I don't mind raising my hand. I don't mind clapping my hand. Because had God dealt with me according to my sins, I would have been cut off.

But the Lord showed me. Whoo! Whoo!

I feel a shout coming on. I feel a shout. I'm not even trying to shout, but I feel a shout. Because when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out. He showed me mercy.

High five somebody and tell them I got to praise him. You might praise him, but I got to praise him. You might not praise him, but I got to praise him.

I've been too crazy not to praise him. I've been too wrong not to praise him. He showed me mercy. Let's go deeper, I gotta hear it.

Number three, he gave him favor with the warden. He gave him favor with the warden. He gave him favor with the warden.

You might not believe this, but God will make folks like you. You think it's just because you're so charismatic? No, God will make folks like you.

He gave him favor with the warden. 2020, I'm walking in divine favor. 2020 I'm just walking in divine favor. I'm walking in divine favor.

I'm walking in divine favor. I'm walking in divine favor. Anybody gonna walk with me? Anybody gonna walk with me?

I'm walking in divine. Somebody He's got a meeting to go to, and you got to meet with somebody in a high place. And the Lord said, don't worry about it.

When you walk in the door, he's going to give you favor. I don't know who that's for, but you came here to get that one word from God that God has already ordered your steps. And when you get there, you're going to walk into favor. Who am I preaching to?

Can I give you some more? Let me give you some more. I'm gonna give you some more. My God. My God.

My God. That went out of me so strong, I don't know who that's for. I hope you receive it to the magnitude that I released it.

That was a prophetic utterance. My God, my God, my God, my God, my God. You walk in like you know they like you.

Because God is going to give you favor. Favor with the person in power. Am I talking to anybody in here?

Now, let me go a little bit deeper with this. I'm almost where I want to be. The thing that gets me about Joseph is that he was dedicated in a deficit.

I understood him being dedicated in Potiphar's house because he was on the upside but this boy is dedicated in prison. He's running the prison. The inmate is running the prison.

If you stop crying about being an inmate you'll see why you're in the situation you're in. Because God's gonna get some glory out of the situation that you're in. God doesn't just reveal himself by changing situations. Sometimes God uses the situation to change you. So what gets me about him is that he is dedicated in a deficit.

In prison, he's still serving. He's still leading. He's still helping. He's still giving.

And had he not been dedicated in a deficit, he would have never reached his destiny. Had he gotten bitter or depressed or discouraged and said, I'm through. Last time I was dedicated, it didn't work.

I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm not going out there like that. I'm not going out like that. I'm not going to do it. He would have died in prison.

But he was dedicated in a deficit. Can you be dedicated in a church that's not growing? Can you be dedicated to a job you think that's beneath you? I know you say you're going to get dedicated when you get the promotion.

No, you're going to be dedicated now. That's how you're going to get the promotion. I'm helping somebody.

I don't know who it is. So dedication has to be an internal impulse and not an external reaction. He must be dedicated because he's dedicated.

He is not dedicated because things are going good. He has not allowed external circumstances to define internal character. He's just dedicated. He's a dedicated person.

He's been dedicated all his life. When he's in, he's all in. When he's there, he's really there. When he's given, he's really given. When he's serving, he's really serving.

Regardless, this is who he is. Don't let life change who you are. You got to be consistent even when life is chaotic.

Because now I see why God chose Joseph. He could trust him. He chose Joseph because he could trust him. And Joseph ends up the prince of Egypt because he's consistent. Can God trust you in prison?

No pay, nobody there to say attaboy. God blesses people he can trust. Can he trust you with power?

See, because power... See, see, see, trusting you with money ain't no problem. Trusting you with power? Power is what produced Hitler.

Power is a really dangerous thing. I've told you this before, whenever I'm running around with powerful people, I don't pay attention to how they treat me. I watch how they treat the waitress, the skycap, the bellboy, because how you treat them tells me how you would treat me if I ever got vulnerable.

Watch them. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, they'll tell you a whole lot. How you manage power says something about you. Joseph has come from being in prison to running the prison.

And what's amazing is his gift is still working. He's in prison and he's still giving. So the butler and the baker come to him with a dream.

Now the butler's dream was real. But the Bible says when the baker saw what the butler got, he said, I dreamed something too. So I'm a little questionable about that dream. That me too dreams. Sometimes that, you know, it kind of got me a little bit.

I'm not saying that, you know, he didn't dream it. I just, I never saw nobody who dreamed because they heard somebody else dream it. I'm just saying.

And Joseph is in prison talking about, I'll interpret your dream. We're, y'all, y'all got to see this now. We in jail.

We in jail. You know? Jail.

Jail, bro. We ain't at the White House. We in jail. And you want a word from the Lord in jail? You want me to interpret?

First of all, you dreaming in jail? You mean jail has not destroyed your dream? You in prison and your biggest problem is getting somebody to interpret your dream? And here Joseph is in prison with you, and he is serving you in the prison, because that's who Joseph is.

It's not just what Joseph does, that's who he is. See, I'm talking about being, not just doing. Don't let life change who you are. Some of you used to be loving, you used to be giving, you used to be caring, but you've been through so much that it's starting to affect who you are.

If we were in business, we would be talking about a brand, and a brand is a promise. A brand is a promise, and it says, what do we get when we get you? And that's why I told you you determine who you are about who you are not. It's your ability to say no that begins to give you distinction. Who are you?

Whether you're in Potiphar's house or in the prison or in the pit, there ought to be something consistent that remains the same that I can count on about you. What can I count on about you? Because that's all we got to deal with for this decade.

That's all we can deal with. We cannot deal with who you are seasonally. We cannot build with who you are occasionally. We cannot build with who you act like you are or pretend to be while I'm looking. We can only build with that part of you that is you.

And that's good, because that means you don't have to be me. Being me is something I can do. I can't be you.

Who am I? Or who have I become? And how do I get back to something that God can trust? So that I can be dedicated.

So I could set up a trust. You know, when you get ready to put big money into places, you put them in a trust. You invest in a trust. Can God trust you enough to invest?

What about you can he trust? Now there's always something about all of us that can't be trusted. Come on, come on.

Don't you sit there and act like that. I was up two o'clock last night Slipping into the kitchen. I Don't know why I went in the kitchen.

I Was supposed to be going to the bathroom The bathroom is north the kitchen is south But there was this little bit of banana pudding that was left And my problem is when Dexter was home I could act like maybe he ate it. I mean it wasn't even that much. I don't know why I had to have it.

It was enough to make me mad. I was mad. I said it's too late to make another one. So all of us have some area that we can't be trusted.

Can we just be real? I told myself, I talked to myself real good. I said, we're not doing that. You already had your cheat day. Your cheat day turned into a cheat week.

Okay, so you got to live holy for about three weeks. It's gonna be subway and Jesus, subway and Jesus, subway and Jesus. I talked about all while I'm going to get the banana pudding.

I'm quoting scriptures and everything. Ain't none of it working. I'm the only one, huh? I'm the only one out of everybody in here. And then I told myself, I said, if you gonna do it anyway, why fuss about it?

You might as well just enjoy it. Cause you already know you're gonna get, ain't no need in feeling guilty while you chewing. Just be guilty later, just.

It was a good one too, man. I'm telling you, the Lord was in the banana pudding. The spirit of the Lord.

That thing was right! It was grandma right! It was so good I started singing slavery songs!

Soon I will be done! I was way back in my ancestry! Let's have some area that we have not mastered.

I'm not preaching this to convict you. I'm preaching this to challenge you. What is it about you that is consistent, that you're willing to be dedicated to, because that's all we can use for destiny. Joseph down in jail interpreting other people's dreams. And he's doing it for people and saying, man, this is what's gonna happen.

You're gonna get out in three days. You're gonna get out. And you're going back to the king. And in three days to this other joker, you're gonna be dead.

You're faking, you're phony. You don't know who you are. You didn't dream nothing.

You're trying to slip in on somebody else's anointing. In three days, you're gonna be dead. And he's dead. The butler gets out and forgets Joseph, but Joseph is still dedicated.

The butler forgets him for two years. I told you it's going to take a decade. It's gonna take a decade to anchor down everything that you're doing right now. It's gonna take a decade to get it where it's established and it's solid and where you're fully respected on the next level or where you're going. Expect it to take some time.

Two years he spent forgotten by the people he helped. But Dr. King said truth smashed down to the ground will rise again undaunted. It may take a long time, but if you just keep doing right, if you just stand your ground and be dedicated, if you keep doing right, you can overcome anything. You can lose weight, you can go back to college, you can get your doctorate. If you just keep...

God can only bless what you are consistent about. Dedication to destiny. This is my opportunity to dedicate my way unto the Lord and say you know what I'm gonna stop being up and down and back and forth and flipping in and flipping out and I'm gonna be consistent even though my life is not. Even though this year will not be consistent, even though my friends won't be consistent, and my family won't be consistent, my spouse won't be consistent, even though everything around me may not be consistent, these are the areas that I vow I'm gonna hold to.

I will not drop this. I may drop something else. I ain't say nothing about no banana pudding, but this other stuff.

We still working about that. That's where the mercy, that's where the mercy, back in the other part, the mercy and the putting in the mercy and the putting in the mercy go together, Lord, have mercy. But this right here, this right here, Jesus, this right here.

We're gonna lock this down. We're gonna walk this out. If I don't save but $10 a week, we're gonna walk this out.

If I don't lay but 200 pounds or 200 calories down. a week, we're gonna walk this out. If I don't take but one class a year, we're gonna walk this out.

This right here, I'm gonna put this on lock. I'm gonna put this on lock, because if I put this on lock right now, by the time I get through walking through this, I'm gonna be exactly where I need to be. She can even say I'm after something. I'm after something, I'm after something, I'm after something, and I'm willing to lock down to get it. I'm willing to be stable to get it.

I'm willing to dedicate myself toward it. I am not waiting on you to give me nothing. You ain't got to give me a thing.

I am not going to be chasing them behind you, sniffing up behind you, trying to get on your good side. I ain't tap dancing or none of it. I'm gonna get this myself and whatever it takes I'm gonna pay the price and I'm not gonna owe nobody when I get it. It's gonna be me and Jesus. It won't be nothing about you.

It's gonna be me and the Lord. Touch me people and say I'm after something. God's not going to give me 2020 and me not be after something. God's not going to give me another year and me not be after something.

God's not going to give me another decade and me not be after something. Yeah, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do it when I'm in jail.

I'm gonna do it when I'm out of jail. I'm gonna do it when things go right. I'm gonna do it when things go wrong. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna be consistent.

Lord, you can count on me for this. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise, what can he count on?

I learned a long time ago, 50% of winning is showing up for the fight. The fight is half over when you show up. You'll never win a fight you don't show up for.

I'm showing up for this. I'm showing up for the fight. Here I am, ready for duty.

I am through hiding in the shadows for fear that I might fail. I'm gonna face this head on and let the chips fall where they may. Yes sir, let the chips fall where they may. I'm gonna show up for the fight.

You can count on me. I'm gonna show up every day. I'm gonna make a little dent in it every day.

I'm gonna hit it every day. I'm gonna chop it every day. I'm gonna swing every day. You can count on me to take action.

I will not waste another decade complaining about who didn't love me and who didn't raise me and who didn't invest in me and who didn't teach me. I'm tired of my old story. I want a new story.

I want a new testimony. I want to see the head. Oh, I feel God in this place.

Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir.

Oh yeah. Yes sir. Yes sir.

Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir. Took him two years, Jackie, to get rid of the amnesia. And all of a sudden, the Butler, Pharaoh had a dream, and nobody could interpret it.

And the Butler said, you know that old whatchamacallit down there in prison, Joseph. Yeah, I was in the joint with him. Yeah, he pretty good, Lord. He's pretty good. Had he not been good in prison, he would have never got to the palace.

It was what he did in prison that brought him to the palace. Suppose he would have cussed the butler out and said, forget you. Get out the best way you can. I got my own problems right now.

But he was consistent. And they came and knocked on the jail cell and said, The king has needed you. And he washed up, got a line, got his fade just right, said, I'm going to see the king.

I prophesy to you this day, somebody is going to see the King. Your eyes have not seen, your ears have not heard, neither have they entered into your heart where God is about to take you. He's about to take you into another dimension.

You're going to see the King. Touch your neighbor and say, I'm going to see the King. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king.

I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king.

I'm going to see the king. I'm going to see the king. I'm not dressing for where I was.

I'm dressing for where I'm going. I'm going to see... The guy who was an inmate in one chapter becomes the head of the treasury for the nation of Egypt. That's why I don't believe in killing yourself.

Because when you're killing yourself, you killing a self you ain't met yet. You killing yourself over your past, but what you killing is not your past. It's already happened. You're killing your future. 24 hours can turn your entire life around.

You can be on your way down and God can turn your home. I wish I had a witness somewhere. I wish I had one Holy Ghost witness.

I wish I had a five-op-times witness. So now it comes down to your part. Why does God have you here today? What do you need to be more dedicated to in order to win? Do you know most people have never thrown their whole weight at anything ever?

Most people have never put in the work for their dreams. The 10,000 hours? No, no, no.

They want it on credit. They won't read what they're supposed to read, work the way they're supposed to work, do what they're supposed to do. And they will blame God. For their own trifling, lazy, inconsistent behavior. And they will act like God didn't come through.

When the truth is, you didn't come through. And God has been waiting on you. God has been waiting on you. And he says, as soon as he will, I will.

As soon as she does. I will. So here's the question.

What is this about? What is he talking to you about? And only you can answer that. What dream do you have that you have not fully been dedicated to?

That you've not thrown your full self at it consistently. Because God said if you do it consistently, he'll bring it down. He'll bring it down.

What is the thing that this is about? Church has got to be about more than a Sunday ritual. I don't need another ritual.

I don't need another thing to do. I don't need another place to go. I don't need to get in my car and go anywhere else just to say I was there. What is this about?

I go to things that are gonna make my life better. I go to things that are gonna strengthen me in some way. I go to things that are gonna help me to advance.

I go to things that are gonna fit my destiny. What is this about for you? And do you have the courage?

To rededicate yourself. Because God says if you will, He will. If you will. If, if you will. Hesha, if you will, He will.

If you will, He will. There's something to the folks my age and older, there's a reason God left you in this world. Stop giving yourself a pass and telling yourself you're through the devil is alive If Naomi would have been through Ruth would have never found her purpose Stop using your age as a pass to be trifling Stop it 70 ain't old nowhere but over here. Every other community respects me. I'm just 70. You get over here, child, I'm 70. I guess I'm supposed to die.

And you die because you think you're supposed to die. You're old because you think you're old. You have a destiny, sir. You have something to do, Big Mama. You got something to do, young man.

I don't care who you are. If you are under the sound of my voice, God is talking to you. Stand to your feet. When I talk about my beginnings, now they sound terrible. But when I was going through them, they really wasn't that bad.

Because I didn't have nothing to compare it to. I didn't know I was poor. Because I hadn't seen rich.

So poor was normal. I didn't know what spaghetti sauce was. I didn't even know that government cheese was government cheese.

I just knew that it never melted. I knew you could put the oven on 450 and it would stand there and smile at you. I bet you I still got some of that cheese in me somewhere.

That cheese... I'm not even sure that was cheese. That might have been concrete. If I didn't minister to seven people with conviction, I would have never gotten to you.

If I didn't go out on the road and preach and bring my honorarium in to pay my staff, I wouldn't have 300 people on staff now. If I had not fought for my dream, if I had not stayed up all night for it, cooked for it and slaved for it, dug ditches and bled for it, it would have never happened. God doesn't give away stuff to you Without you being dedicated to your destiny People that think it's easy are stupid You think you're gonna run up here and I'm gonna lay hands on you and you're gonna get what I sweated for, what I labored for, what I did, died and bled for, what I went to jail for, was in the pit for, survived a lie for, rose up again undaunted for, came out of hell and high water for.

Nobody's dreams happen without fight. Fight. I mean fight.

I mean fight. Girl, with all you got, and you're wrong to quit when you haven't fought with all you got. Look at Jesus.

He was so committed to his dream that he went to the cross for it, shed his blood for it, hung his head and died for it, borrowed a tomb and was buried for it. But early Sunday morning, he rose up to show I got what I was after. Good God Almighty.

Join hands with somebody. As we join hands today, this is a do-something message. It's not enough to hear it if you don't do it.

If you accept the challenge, join hands with somebody. There's an area in your life that you're going to have to throw your whole self at to get, but if you throw your whole self at it, it's going to... to come to pass.

You're going to have to throw your energy, your talent, your gifts, your resources, your relationships, your efforts are going to have to be tireless to see that thing come to pass. This will not come cheap, but it will come. It will come.

It will come. Squeeze that hand. Something is about to come into the life of that person that God wanted them to be here this Sunday morning. Next week when you come back, I'm going to build from this foundation. I'm going to tell you who you need around you.

I'm going to tell you who you need around you. God's going to put a force field of people around you. An intellectual fence around you. people who are gifted enough to stand shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe around you.

You just give me the next four Sundays, I'm gonna take you somewhere. I'm gonna drop you so far off over into your destiny that hell is gonna break out in hives. That demons are gonna tremble.

That Satan is gonna get nervous. When I get through dropping you over into your destiny, the devil's not gonna fight the same person he fought in 2019. You're gonna be armed and dangerous for 2020. Squeeze that hand. That person is armed and dangerous.

Father, let the anointing of the Holy Ghost sweep through this room. Let it stir up gifts. Let it stir up talents.

Let it stir up resources. Let it stir up focus and focus and focus and focus and focus and strengthen us to the point that we are dedicated to destiny. I believe, God, that somebody in this room, whose hands are joined and heart is open, that I am feeding something. Yea, Shai, I am feeding something. I am feeding something.

I am feeding something that you already spoke inside of them. I am feeding something that you already put inside of them. I am feeding something that the enemy's been trying to kill and steal and destroy, but I feed that destiny.

I feed that dream. I feed that prophetic utterance over their life. Ah!

Glory. Squeeze that hand. The anointing is moving all over this church. The power of God is in this place. You will never be the same again.

You will never be the same again. You got stuff to do. You got stuff to do. The weather don't have to change.

The conditions don't have to change. The circumstances don't have to change. People don't have to understand you.

They don't have to like you. Their admission is not required. You have to believe in what God put down.

inside of you out of your belly so flow rivers of living water I pray that rivers would rise up in your belly would rise up in your spirit would rise up in your Rivers of creativity, rivers of thought, rivers of ideas, rivers of revelation, rivers of contact, rivers of influence. They're coming up out of your belly right now. Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water, rivers of living water. Oh God, Oh God, I see a chair, somebody's getting ready to sit in a seat.

in a place of authority. A door is being opened. A door is being opened.

A way is being made. This is for you. This is your hour. This is your time.

This is your season. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph.

Get ready, Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Joseph. Joseph.

Joseph. Joseph. Get ready, Joseph. Joseph. I call you out, Joseph.

Joseph. Joseph. Joseph.

Get ready, Joseph. Nothing in your past looks like your future. Get ready, Joseph.

Transcript for:Dedication and Destiny: Shaping Your Future

Transcript for:
Dedication and Destiny: Shaping Your Future