Into The Deep, Week 4

Chris Durso | February 26, 2023

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Transcription

Do me a favor,  remain standing just for a few more seconds. This moment right here is so important. This moment is so important because it's actually what sets us up for everything else that's to come. See, it's almost predictable that when a guest speaker comes, there's going to be this swapping of honor. Your pastor just said some nice things about me now I'm about to say some nice things about him. The truth is, if you miss out on this moment, you could miss out on the rest because the fact is honor really has nothing to do with me and it has nothing to do with your pastor, but it actually has everything to do with God. And I have so many great things to say about your pastors. I think he's absolutely amazing. I think he's handled this season incredibly. I'm honored to know him. I'm honored to be a brother. Watching you is like a masterclass in leadership and until you're in a position of leadership, you may not even realize how difficult this moment could be, but you've done it so well and you've done it with such grace and ease and I honor you and I love you. Come on one more time. Can we thank God for him?

And it would be remiss of me not to point out that Pastor Tim Ross, the other Tim is my pastor. When I was 23 years old, my first speak engagement ever was because of Tim Ross and I'm 39 today and I've just been walking with him ever since and he has loved on me. He's yelled at me. Well, he don't yell, but he does his thing and I'm just better because of him and I'm grateful. I'm grateful for his ministry and what in honor for me, who I've been here before and I've preached when Pastor Tim was the pastor and now I'm here as the first guest speaker as pastor Tim is the pastor and I'm just, I'm honored. I'm absolutely honored. But the reason why I'm pointing out all this is to set us up because theology teaches us that when we make much of a man or a woman of God, what we're saying is God, I agree with your choice and when you come into agreement with the choices of God, he extracts his glory from them.

I don't know about you, but I cannot think of a better choice in this season, in this moment. Then the pastor that you have right now in Pastor 10, come on, can we thank God for his choice and for the one, the one that's struggling, for the one that's struggling? Let me just bring it into just a little bit more perspective for you. I know I'm being a little bit redundant here talking about honor and I'm belaboring the point, but I want to see you blessed. The Bible says that when Jesus was in his own hometown, he couldn't perform any miracles because of the lack of faith and the lack of honor. That means somebody showed up to the house where Jesus was and did not get what they needed because of pride. I do not know about you, but I do not have the luxury of flying home the same way that I came.

If Jesus is in the house and he has something for me, I want it. If there's a blessing in the room, I want it. If there's a miracle in the room, I want it. Come on. If there's restoration, healing, financial precision, whatever it is, I want it. I want it. Is there anybody in the room that says The only thing I got to do is honor Jesus? That's easy because I once was lost, but now I'm found. So we're going to honor Jesus. Include me. If you are grateful for the name of Jesus, lift up your hands, open up your mouths, and with everything on the inside of you, give Jesus a shout. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Go on ahead and grab a seat. Grab a seat if we've not gotten a meet before.

My name is Chris. I'm born and raised New York City. Beautiful. I have a beautiful, beautiful family and I've been in ministry most of my life. I grew up in a pastor's kid served as a youth pastor and youth director and a youth ministry called Misfit for a well over a decade. And then from there I served as an executive pastor, then a senior pastor. And then in this season of my life, I get the beautiful privilege of being an evangelist and teaching pastor. I serve as a teaching pastor for five churches around the country. And then I get to a part of houses like this in moments like this where I get to preach and teach the good news. Can I just show you a picture of my family real quick? I want you to see my family. If you could just put that picture up real quick, show how beautiful they are.

It's like a Hallmark sharp, right? It's like to on my shoulder, that beautiful young lady, her name is Chloe, and she just turned 13 years old. 13. I'm still mourning over it. <laugh> because she wants to shop at places like Lululemon and Sephora now. And I'm like, I don't want any of that. Let's go back to the children's place. You know what I mean? Just keep it young. But she loves Jesus and she's absolutely amazing. And the young man to the right who is taller than me, even though I am sitting down, but he is now taller than me. His name is Dylan. He is 15 years old. He's absolutely amazing. He loves Jesus and he's actually here with me today sitting up here and I'm just the lady that I get to be their father. And then that woman behind me, her name is Gyrus.

Everybody say gyrus. So many people mispronounce it when she goes to Starbucks, she says Lisa, but it's it's gris, it's it's gris. And we just celebrated 17 years of marriage this past November and before we got married we dated five years. So at this point of our lives, we've been together longer than we've been without each other, and I'm only showing you that picture to ask you that if you ever remember us beyond this moment, would you pray for us? Yes, just pray prayer, blessing over us and I promise as I remember you, I'm going to pray over you because in this season with all the traveling and moving, we're grateful for it. But it takes a shift in how we lead and how we lead our home and just pray. Is that okay to ask? I want to give you this word today because the Holy Spirit downloaded it to me.

So I'm going to jump right in. If you have your Bibles open up with me to Second Kings chapter two, second Kings chapter two verses one through 10. And then I'm going to read one quick proverb to you, but this is a pretty famous moment in the Bible. It reads like this. It says, when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elijah were on their way from Gilgo. I know this is the first service, so we got all the Bible theologians in the house, but if we're just being honest, who here has ever confused Elijah and Elijah before? Come on. Can I see your hand? Four of you. The rest of you are lying. That's not true. Well, for the rest of us, like me that are not that smart, I've messed it up so many times.

So I've taught myself this little trick that Elijah is the mentee, Elijah is the mentor, and Elijah spoke with the incident. So I put that a second just to remind myself so I know who I'm talking about and when I'm referencing things. But anyway y'all, y'all already knew that Elijah said to Elijah, stay here. The Lord has sent me to Bethel, but Elijah said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. And then this is the part that got me. So they went down to Bethel. That was it right there. Just pay attention to that one. So they went down to Bethel. Verse three says, the company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elijah and asked, do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know Elijah replied, but do not speak of it.

Then Elijah said to him, stay here Elijah. The Lord has sent me to Jericho and he replied, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Jericho. You seen a trend? Yeah. We'll keep going. We'll keep going. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know He replied, but do not speak of it. Then Elijah said to him, stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan and he replied, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So the two of them walked on. Are you seen this pattern? Yet 50 men and of the company of the prophets win and stood at a distance facing the place where Elijah and Elijah had stopped at the Jordan.

Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, sh struck the water with it. The water divided the right to the left and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed Elijah said to Elijah, tell me what can I do for you before I'm taken from you? Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit. Elijah replied, come on, if you grew up in Pentecostal church, that's a shout moment right there. It goes on to say in verse 10, you have asked a difficult thing. Ma'am, when I read that, I thought to myself, what's so difficult about him? He goes, you've asked such a difficult thing, Elijah said, yet if you see me when I'm taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise, not what you've asked for is difficult. That sounds like it makes sense and I think I could understand it, but then it goes on to say, yet, if you see me when I'm taken from you, well what would happen that I wouldn't see you?

It'll be yours otherwise, no. Skipping on over to Proverbs chapter 28, verse 20. The Bible reads like this, A faithful person will be richly blessed. A faithful person will be richly blessed. If you're taking notes, I want you to go on ahead and write this down. I titled this message, I intend on being blessed. I intend on being blessed. If you're not taking notes, take notes. I intend on being blessed and let's pray one more time. Holy Spirit speak. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I felt the Holy Spirit posed the question to me this way. What does it mean to live intentionally? What does it mean to live intentionally? And as I started to think about this idea, especially according to theology, I started just to pen down my thoughts as the Holy Spirit started to download into my spirit. And what I've learned and I realized is that living intentionally means to purposely pursue the life God has called you to live.

Good intentionality requires deliberate action. God is intentional, God is intentional, and he has called us to be the same. God did not create the world by accident or chance. He did not make us at random long before we were even a thought in our parents' mind. God knew about us according to the psalmist in Psalm 1 39, verse 13, he writes it this way, for you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them.

Yeah, the psalmist is writing here and he is praising God for his intentionality in creating human beings. God took an unformed substance and created something out of nothing. He created something out of nothing and somebody needs to catch this revelation today that regardless of your story and regardless of you and the relationship you have with your parents and regardless of what you know of your parents, you have a father in heaven that knew you before a parent would know you and before the earth would know you and he created you and he created you with precision and purpose. In Jeremiah chapter one, verse five, the prophet rights, he says, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. See, while explaining his call as a prophet, God tells Jeremiah that he was appointed long before he was conceived in his mother's womb.

God didn't just know who Jeremiah would be. He planned it. He did not just know who Jeremiah would be. He planned it. He doesn't just know who you are. He has planned every day of your life. He has planned your future single person. He has planned your spouse, married person. He has planned your future, he has planned your children, he has a planned for you and there are intricacies about you that are unique, one of a kind. And with that said, he wants you to own the details that he's detailed you with. He wants you to own the details that he's detailed you with. If you want to see the completion of the plan that God has for you, it will take owning the details that he's detailed you with and it will take one massive word in order to accomplish that. You ready? Intentionality. Good. But how many know that there is a great difference between intention and completion? There is a great difference between intention and completion. A few weeks ago I was online at the mall standing in a store to make a return. Of course, this was not my return, it was my wife's return, but as a husband, it's one of my duties.

So as I'm standing on the back of this line, a line as long as eternity, this man comes and stands right behind me. Not even two seconds later, a young woman approaches him and says, excuse me, sir, you took my spot. He said, excuse me, completely confused. I was the last person line. He came and stood right behind me. She then continued to say, I intended on standing where you are right behind this man pointing at me. I was like, don't involve me. She said, but I got distracted on the way over here, but that's supposed to be my spot. There is such a great difference between where you intend to be and where you actually are. There is a great difference between where you intend to be and where you actually or see is. I was watching this play out. I thought to myself, how many saints, how many believers, how many people are there in the world that are frustrated because they had a vision but they did not have the discipline to complete it? They are frustrated with God, with where they failed.

There's a great difference between where you intend to be and where you currently are and we will never complete anything if our intentions are void of actions. In other words mean what you say and say what you mean. Don't tell me what you want to do. Do it. Don't tell me what you want to do. Do it because unless you do it, it will not happen unless you do it, it will not happen. And I say this respectfully to all my Pentecostals, non-denominational, charismatic people in the room. We as believers are guilty of praying prayers where we hope for God to take care of what he's actually intended for us to complete.

We have asked God to do what he has commissioned us to do. With that said, be mindful as you pray prayers like God, take me there. God build this. God, say this. Those are great prayers to pray. Only if you understand that you have a role to play. Those are great prayers to play. If you understand that you have a role to play, see, understand that we are equally responsible with God for the role we play in our prayers. We are equally responsible with God for the role we play in our prayers. Let me say it this way. If you are praying for God to go somewhere, you better recognize that you have legs so that you could walk. That's right. If you are asking God to build something, you have to understand that he's given you hands so that you could build. If you are asking God for opportunity, you have to recognize that you have a mouth so that you could ask. If you are praying for a shift in your family and in your believing, then you better understand that you have a tongue so that you could declare. If you are praying for something new, you better understand that you have a voice so that you can create. I'd like to suggest to you today, embassy city, that there's the breakthrough that you are longing for is possible. If you stop backing down,

Your breakthrough is possible. If you stop backing down in 2023, I know it's still the first quarter of the year, so let's just declare from this moment on that your moment of procrastination has come to an end. Let this be the year that you do let this be the year that you did what you said you would do. My goodness, let this be the year that your yes Bs and your no be no. Let this be the year that's your yes BS and your no be no yes because understand that every time you use a yes and every time you use a no, you are saying yes to consistency.

Right?

Good. When you say yes, you're saying yes to follow through. When you say no, you're saying no to follow through. You're saying, I created a boundary. I'm not going forward with it. If you said yes to it, that means I'm not only showing up on the day, but I'm showing up on time. Let's break it down a little bit further. Practically, if you said yes to a diet, you said no to the donut. If you said yes to the savings, you said no to the spending.

If you said yes to the waking up early, that means no to go into bed late. Come on, can we go deeper? Let's go deeper. If you said yes to the relationship, that means no to the selfishness. If you said yes to the relationship, you said no to the selfishness. If you said yes to being a parent, that means you said no to being childish. When you said yes to being a parent, that means you said no to being childish. If you said yes to the job, that means you said no to the laziness. If you got the upgrade and the raise that you've been praying for, that means you are going to shift how you be behave. Can we go a little bit deeper? If you said yes to Jesus, then you said yes to surrender. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to surrender.

If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to obedience. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to holiness. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to being misunderstood by the world. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to being rejected by the world, but do not worry because if you said yes to Jesus, you also said yes to peace. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to prosperity. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to blessing. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to eternity. If you said yes to Jesus, you said yes to destiny. Where all my destiny, people in the room that says for me in my household we will serve the Lord and even though we don't look like what I thought it would look like, I know that the more I follow him and the more I serve him, I will see and complete everything it is that he has for me. If there's a person in the room that says, that's for me and my household, take about 30 seconds and put a shout on it. We are people of destiny. If we have a God, that means we have a place to go. If we have a God, that means we have something to do. He is calling us to move. He is calling us to believe. He's calling us to lead knowing that there are people that are so lost in this world, they need your testimony, they need your faith, they need your prayers. They need your encouragement. Yes,

Good.

But with that said, how many of you know you know that if you said yes to being a child of God, you said yes to integrity. Yes,

Yes.

An intention, yes without integrity, yes is an illusion. That's good. Intention without integrity is an illusion. Integrity means when I give you my word, I keep it. That's right. When I make a promise, it'll happen. Integrity means my word is my bond. See, do not believe the lie that you are a person of integrity. If you following through on your word is of low possibility. In other words, if you make a promise to your spouse and she don't believe you, that's not her fault. That's yours. If you make a promise to your children and they don't believe you, it's not that they're bad children, it's that you've shown them something in the pattern of your parenting <affirmative>, right? If you're asking for something at the job and they're not giving it, maybe it's not that they don't have anything against you, it's that they know you so well that they've seen your work pattern.

Good.

See, what I love so much about this text, second Kings chapter two, Elijah tells Elijah, stay here, but then Elijah makes this commitment, this beautiful speech, and if I'm being honest, we as believers have learned the art of beautiful speeches. We have learned how to promise. We have learned how to communicate. We have learned how to exhort. We have learned how to piece words together. So for me as I was reading this, it was not the beautiful speech that this man made and it's a beautiful speech. As surely as the Lord lives, as surely as the Lord lives, I will follow you. I will not leave you. I will stay with you as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I'm with you. Depending on the translation that you read, it wasn't so much that he made the promise, it's then the following sentences, so they went down together. How often are there people that make promises but then don't show up at the right time? I want to help a husband today. It's not that she doesn't love you, she just doesn't believe you

Because the last time she got frustrated, you told her, I'm so sorry. I forgot I got caught up at work, but I promise you next week weekend, I'll take care of the yard. Or when I get home from work later, I'll go to the bank. You make all these promises and you say, baby, baby please, and you kiss her on the neck and you put your hand on her hip and you try to butter her up. You even make your way to the mall to buy her a gift to make her believe that she is your first priority. But do you know how many gifts you would have to save if you just simply did what you said? If you just did what you said the first time, you wouldn't have to be digging yourself out of a hole. You wouldn't have to be making these extra stops. You wouldn't have to be buying these extra cards. I mean, give your wife a gift just because, not because you want her not to be mad at you. The reason why she's mad at you is that she's frustrated with the over promising and you have learned how to sweet talker, but she's tired of the words and what she wants is in action, right?

Right.

If that's the truth, if there's a wife in the room that agrees, can you shout? Amen.

Amen. <laugh>

One husband pinched her legs said, you better not <laugh>.

See, practically speaking, practically speaking, what Elijah was doing, what Elijah was doing was he was going to say bye to these three schools of prophets. He had three schools of prophets set up in each location, so practically all he was doing was saying his farewell before ascending to heaven. But in that moment, there's something so beautiful that happens, something very spiritual that happens, and so often the spiritual takes place within the practical. I understand that we have over mystified this idea of blessings when in reality there is something beautiful about just doing what you said that allows blessings to flow. And what As I was studying this text, I realized that this pathway that they take is actually a pathway of blessing. I want you to write this down. I want you to write this down. I want you to write this down. I intend I'm being found in the house of the Lord.

I intend I'm being found in the house of the Lord. If you could put that text up there for me, Eli, it says in Second Kings chapter two, verse two, Elijah said to Elijah, stay here. The Lord has sent me to Bethel. Everybody say Bethel. Bethel actually translates to house of God. He says, I got to go to Bethel. Elijah says, I'm going with you to Bethel. Surely as the Lord lives, I will not leave you. I'm going with you. So the two of them went together. I want to point out we know that the text ends with Elijah saying to Elijah, what can I do for you? And then Elijah says, I want a double portion of your spirit. But understand that that moment only happens because this first step was taken, and I find that so many people are avoiding the fact that they need to be found in the house of the Lord because they do not even realize how beneficial it is to their future, how beneficial it is to their family.

I mean, the Bible does tell me that I should not forsake the gathering of the believer that I need to be with my brother. I need to be with my sisters. I need to be able to be with like-minded individuals because when I am in like-minded individuals, blessings will come as a result of it. It will shift how I think. It will shift how I talk. It will shift how I believe. Why? Because who you hang out with will determine the way that you start to behave and the way you start to believe. So it is better that we be found in the house of the Lord. Yes, I want to be found with believers that know that without Jesus, they would not have made it. I want to be found with people. I want people around my children that would say to them, even when you think about making mistake, I've been there before.

Let me encourage you. That is not the route to go because the truth is somebody is going to influence my family. Whether I decide on that or not is the issue. And I would encourage you today that you would be somebody that would say, for me in my household, we will serve the Lord. We will be found in the house of the Lord because I want to set up my family for victory. I want to set up my marriage for victory. I want to set up my children for victory. Heck, I want to set myself up for victory. I'm not strong enough to do it on my own, but when I find myself around people that say, I'm going to worship the Lord my God, and when I'm feeling down and their worshiping up, there's something about their praise that encourages me. There's something about their worship that blesses me.

I get around a believer. I get around an individual that knows who they were and where they once were, but now they're found in the house of the Lord and now they cannot keep the praises to themselves. When I have moments of doubt, it's your praise that encourages me and makes me want to worship and makes me want to praise. You know what? Real quick, I don't know who's feeling downcast in the room, but all the people that don't mind praising, why don't you give God a shout of praise so that the person next to you can feel encouraged? There's somebody in the room that wanted to give up last night and it took everything on the inside of them for them to show up today. So why don't you encourage them right now? Lift up your hands, open up your mouth and with everything you got, give Jesus your best shout. We praise you

Jesus.

We praise you Jesus. We worship you Jesus. We will serve the Lord. I'm, I'm better because of it. I'm lost without it.

I think about the world we live in and all the lies they want to sell us and all the plans they have for me and my family. I don't want the plans of the world. I will honor the government that I'm under, but I am not going to allow the government to dictate the morals and the principles that I teach my children. I I'll pay my taxes. I I'll stand for the pledge of allegiance, but beyond that, if we are not talking about Jesus, then I'm not following you because you have a plan for my child and it is not a plan to prosper my child. It is not a plan of victory for my child. So child, as long as you live with me, we are going to church and we will serve the Lord well. What happens if he doesn't want to go? Well, he's coming anyway because I'm the parent and he's the child.

Can we just switch up? How we're parenting by the 2023 is live to so many people. You got to be there friend. You don't got to be their friend. You got to be their parent. Well, you got to let them feel their way through. Let them feel their way through. All the trouble. My feelings have got me in. I am the head of my household. I am the leader of my home. We are going to church. A couple weeks ago I was preaching in Miami and I thank God my son Dylan, he loves Jesus. He wants to be in church, but it was a full day of church. I've had to preach this one church, two services, then do a leadership session and then leave there and go across town and preach at another church, so it was church all day. So I said, Dylan, you want to go to the first service or the second service?

I gave him freedom within a framework. I gave him options, but the option I did not give him was, do you want to go to church? That was never a possibility. We are going to church. You could go the 9:00 AM or you could go to the 11:00 AM because even if you didn't want to go and even if you didn't want to show up, I know that you'll be better because of it. I intend on being found in the house of the Lord and what I love through this relationship of a mentor and a mentee, their first stop was the house of God. Yeah. What was the second stop? Where? Where'd they go? Je Jericho. Everybody say Jericho. Jericho. I intend on living a life pleasing to God. Write that down. I intend on living a life pleasing to God. What does Jericho translate to? Jericho translates to the aroma of God, the aroma of God.

I love that. In this relationship they're walking together and they're talking together. They first go to the church. Then the second stop represents being the church, living what you preach, living what you declare. Do you know that in 2023 holiness still matters to God? Yes. I know we've evolved in church and we don't have to be suited and booted, and I know we have different styles of worship and I'm game for all of it, but there are just some things that are non-negotiable. We know that, right? How you live outside of church matters and that's what makes this church so special because in the middle of the Bible belt and in a city where people just go to church because it's Sunday, come on, come on. There is a remnant. There is a group in this church that seeks after the deeper things of God that says, I'm going to be a man of holiness. I'm going to be a woman of holiness. I'm not afraid to talk about it because I want to be someone that represents God. Well, second Corinthians two says, for we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ good among those who are being saved and those who are perishing, we are the aroma of Christ. We are the aroma. I could smell you and I should smell Christ.

Amen.

I used to work in my grandparents' Italian deli as a teenager and then as a young adult and even early on when I was a youth pastor, youth pastors don't make a lot of money, so I had to work there too, and especially the holidays. I would get in as many hours as possible and I would come home and I would stink Parmesan cheese. I walked through the door. My wife, she couldn't keep her hands off me, just run to me right away like a magnet. She kissed me all up, love me, welcome me home, but we always had this joke. We always had this joke. She would just stop, pause and look at me after kissing me and be like, oh, you smell Italian.

It was obvious that I came home from work because where I had just spent my time. That's good. I could tell where you've been by how you smell. It is obvious to tell who you are, not by how you talk, but by how you smell because when life happens and when gossip shows up and difficulty happens, the way that you respond tells me a whole lot about you. You could tell me that you've been in your prayer closet. You can tell me that you've been seeking the Lord, but the way that you respond to life, it is evident whether you've actually been in your prayer closet or you've been in your gossip closet, it is obvious. It is it obvious who it is that you first spoke to, who you first had a conversation to. Did you first seek the Lord or did you seek your bff?

That goes to church too because the two are not the same. You could talk to another believer, but just because you are talking to a believer about your issues does not mean that you are having the right conversation, and what I love about talking to God, he never steers me wrong. He never misses. When I talk to him, he talks back to me. He corrects me, he leads me. He guides me with his rod and his staff. He comforts me. He tells me where to go, and as a result of it, I will be blessed. You know why? Because Jesus said himself. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and they shall be satisfied. Good. I love that. In this relationship, the first stop was the house of God, and then the second stop was the aroma of God. Everybody talking about they want to be blessed. Well get you in church and start being the church. Right?

That's good.

We come from Aaron. I thank God that we're beyond it. There's some churches that still preach it, but if you just sow a seed, all of a sudden you're going to be blessed. Oh, that's not how it works. That's not how it works. That's not how it works because if he didn't care about you, maybe it would if he was just trying to get something from you, but what he wants from you, you ready? Is relationship. So we have this picture of this mentor and this mentee and they're walking together and they're talking together and they're, they're going together and they're doing together, and the mentee promises the mentor, as surely as the Lord lives, I will not leave you. And what I love is that he means what he said and he said what he means, right? I got mentors in my life. Tim Ross is one of my mentors.

He called me at any moment. He called my wife. He has called my wife without calling me. Check in on us. What's going on? What's happening? I got mentors. My mentors never have to look for me. I tell 'em where they are unsolicited. I just tell them here, this is what's going on. This is the decision we made. I got mentors. I just got a text this morning from mentor. I'm supposed to have lunch with him this Wednesday. He said, Chris, I got to change it to Thursday. Did I already plan my day around Wednesday? I already did, but when my mentor says he wants to change it Thursday, guess what I do? I shift Thursday so that I could be with him. Right? Because there's something about that walking together and they're talking together that is going to make me better. There's something that's going to make me grow as a believer, right?

Good. They go from Bethel to Jericho. What's that last place? Jordan? The Jordan. Jordan. I intend. I'm being blessed. They went to the Jordan. You know what Jordan translates to flow down? To flow down. They go to the house of God. Then they go to the aroma of God, and now that they got the house of God and the aroma of God, they now set themselves up to flow down. I find it so amazing that Elijah did not ask Elijah from the beginning, right? Because if he was going to leave Elijah from the very beginning at the very first stop, stay here, I got to go on over here. It was never his plan to come back and get him. He had a journey. He had somewhere to go, but as a result of them walking together, that even puts a lasher in the situation to even be positioned enough to even ask the question, I want to double portion of your spirit, but it was after the time of them walking together that the mentor says, what can I do for you?

And what I've learned that in 2023, we have a whole lot of people that want mentors and they want blessing, but they're not willing to put the time in and they're not willing to walk and they're not willing to go. This is why when Elijah says to Elijah, I want a double portion, what does Elijah say? He says, what you've asked for is a difficult thing, but if you see me when I go, then it'll be happening. If you see me when I go, if you see me when I go, why else he have seen him? Huh? If he would've left prematurely, right? Right.

Good.

So many of you want to be blessed. God, why am I not blessed? You're not blessed because you won't stick around long enough for the blessing.

We living a day and age that people think if I asked it's enough, I put it in the atmosphere. You got to manifested this idea that if I just speak it, it will happen. Let me tell you that your actions have so much power than your words. You could speak it all you want, but if you do not position yourself to be someone that does what they say and say what they mean, you could sew all the different seeds you want. You could sew it at this church. You could sew with a gateway. You could sew it a potter's house. You could sew with a shoreline. You can sew it at any other church in between. But if you can't just stick around long enough in one church, in one house with one community where you grow together and you go together, I promise you, you can make all the demands you want, but you are going to miss out on the miracle. You know why? Because the miracle and the blessing happens where you A seed. Yeah. Right? You got all these scattered seeds, all these church hoppers.

Oh yeah, Lord,

Good. If you could just put a verse 11, verse 12, as I shut this thing down, it goes on to say, he says, what you've asked for is a difficult thing, but if you see me when I go up, it'll be yours. And then look at verse 11, the very next line after that, as they were walking along and talking along as they were walking along, you know what that tells me? That tells me that Elisha didn't just get his opportunity and dip. I got to ask now. I'm gone. All right. Put in my work now with him over here, one with him over there, one with him over there. Finally got my moment, and then I'm gone. No, no, no, no. He sticks around even after the request. Why? Because the relationship. Yeah. Oh, the relationship is so important and it is connected to the blessing. So what does it say? Put it back up there for me. They were walking along. They were walking and talking. They were walking and they were talking. They were walking and they were talking. They were walking and they were talking, and as they continued to walk and talk a cherry, the fire of horses, a fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven and a whirlwind. And while that is happening, what happened? He said to him, if you see me when I go up,

Because he stood around long enough even after he asked, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. There's so much more to unpack here and the next service, I'm preaching two hours. They already told me.

I don't know. I don't know how many people in the room struggle with commitment, but can I tell you that your God does not struggle with staying committed to you? Yes. He loves you. Yes, he loves you so much. He has plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and to give you a future. But he says, son, daughter, if you could just listen to me, if you could just stay around long enough, if you could just stay put, I promise you the blessing, it'll come to you and it'll, he said, I want a double portion of your spirit. So many people say, well, I want that. Yeah, but how you're, you're asking for a double, but how have you steward your single? You haven't even positioned yourself for a double portion because you've done poorly with a single. It's not just about asking and sewing and jumping, right? It's about walking and talking and committing and walking and talking. Good. Remember the story of the prodigal son? The young son goes to the dad and says, I want what's coming to me. Now, the issue with that statement is that he wanted his future prematurely. There are so many things you want in the future, but I promise you, you don't want it now. You want it when God has it because his timing is perfect. Would you stand with me? Stand with me. Stand with me.

Holy spirit's hoping to tell you, this is the year that you do. This is the year that you complete. This is the year that your marriage goes to the next level. This is the marriage that you're parenting goes to the next level. This is the year your business goes to the next level. It's not about finding something new to do. It's about doing more of the same. It's about, it's about staying put in the house of God. It's about being a man and a woman of holiness, even when people aren't looking, even when people aren't watching. But when you're alone, what are you looking at? What are you listening to? What are you doing in your private time? Are you seeking the Lord? I promise you. You want to be blessed. Stay committed to the house of God. Stay committed to holiness and what's going to happen.

It'll position you for all the blessings to flow down to you, but so many people have missed out what was supposed to flow down to them because they already went somewhere else thinking that they weren't going to get it where they were. No, it was coming, but you wanted it prematurely. He says, son, my timing is perfect. Daughter, my timing is perfect. Just stay with me and I'll bless you. Yes, if you would say in the room, God, I want to be blessed. Whatever you got from me, I want a double portion of it. Come on, lift up your hand. I want a double portion of it, but God, if I have poorly stewarded my single portion, God help me with that. I want to steward it properly, and if you've been stewarding it, well then amen. Lift up your hand. You're going to keep on keeping on.

It's not about just completing, it's about continuing. It's about the continuum of stewardship. It's the continuum of obedience about this, the continuum of holiness. I'm going to keep chasing after you every morning. I'm going to wake up and I'm going to put you first. I'm going to repent. That's why there are new mercies offered to me every day. I'm going to repent and I'm going to become a better man than I was yesterday. I'm going to become a better woman than I was yesterday. I'm going to seek after you and the next day I'm going to keep on chasing, and the week after that, I'm going to keep on chasing, and the next year after that, I'm going to keep on chasing because I know that it aligns me with blessing. Every hand lifted up. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would fall on us right now and that you would hit us something sweet.

Oh, father God, that you would convict us, oh God, and you would position us, oh, father God, to make sure that we are seeking you all the days of our lives. Show us our blind spots. Show us the things that are getting in the way. Show us the things that are affecting us from being consistent. Get any pebbles out of our shoe so that we could keep on walking so that we could keep on talking. Oh, God, would you allow us to get up just a little bit earlier so that we could spend time with you, so that we could walk with you, so that we could talk with you? We want to remain in your house. We want to be people that operate giving off the aroma of Christ. Holy Spirit, would you, Phyllis, would you lead us? Because if you are blessing for us, we want it. If you are blessing for us, we want it. If you are blessing for us, we want it. We want it. We want it. If you're in the room and say, I want to be blessed, and I want my children to be blessed, and I want my marriage to be blessed, and I want my business to be blessed, go on ahead and give your God a 62nd standing ovation saying yes, and amen. Amen. Amen.

Come on, come on, come on.