1 Samuel 17. I want to read a few verses in your hearing and then we're just going to go. Is that all right? Starting at the 12th verse, here's what it says. "Now, David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time and he had eight sons. Jesse's three oldest sons, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea, had already joined Saul's army to fight the Philistines."

"David was the youngest son. David's three oldest brothers stayed with Saul's army, but David went back and forth so he can help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem. For 40 days every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army. One day, Jesse said to David, 'Take this basket of roasted grain and these 10 loaves of bread and carry them quickly to your brothers and give these 10 cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along and bring back a report on how they are doing.'"

Now, this is an interesting passage I just read you because, in 1 Samuel 17, this is the pivot for David. This is the quintessential battle that people talk about to this day. Books have been written on it. Corporations have been described by it. Football teams have been venerated being called David versus Goliath. Spoiler alert, David won. My focus is not to talk about the actual fight between David and Goliath. My focus is to zoom in on and investigate how David got to the fight, to begin with.

If you're taking notes on this message, please write this down. "Don't be too high to come in low." "Don't be too high to come in low." Bow your heads. Let's pray over the word, shall we? Holy Spirit, humble us. Amen. The story of David and Goliath is a compelling story. It is central to Israel's history. Without Chapter Number 17, we don't see the origin story of how David comes to be who God has called him to be.

I would be absolutely negligent to dive straight into the passage I just read without giving you some framework and some context leading up to it. The only reason why 1 Samuel 17 is necessary is because there's something that happens with David's predecessor, Saul. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Saul and his omissions, not just his commissions, the only thing we would ever know about David is that he was a man of war and he was a great soldier in Saul's army.

For all intents and purposes, ladies and gentlemen, David should not even be the central figure in Israel. It should be Saul because the first person chosen to be king was chosen by God and that man was Saul. In my studies this past year, in my just yearly reading through the Bible, I was able to see something about Saul that I never saw before. It was so interesting to me and it actually broke my heart.

I know if you've probably read about Saul, you've heard people preach about Saul, he's given a bad rep. There are some things that he did that he should not have done. His reputation is marred because of those things, but I have a heart filled with grace and compassion for Saul. The reason why I do is because if you go back to his origin story of how he became king, you will begin to find out that what God had in mind and what Saul had in mind for himself were not the same thing.

You'd have to go all the way back to 1 Samuel 9. In your own time of reading the Bible and prayer, I invite you to do so, so that your biblical IQ can be raised. Saul has been sent on a mission by his wealthy father. He comes from a family of influence, a family of wealth. His father lost a bunch of donkeys, then he sent Saul out to recover the donkeys that were lost. Saul takes off with his servant to go find these donkeys.

Giving up hope, the servant says, "Maybe we should ask a prophet what has happened to these donkeys." They get a gift together and they go to the prophet. It happens to be Samuel and they say, "Hey, can you help us find our donkeys? Will you please, perchance, maybe God will give you some insight or some revelation on where my father's livestock has gone?"

God reminds Samuel in that moment, "Hey, remember I told you that about this time tomorrow, I'm going to show you who's going to be the first king of Israel. He's coming." When Saul walks up, God tells Samuel, "This is the guy. I want him to be king of Israel." Samuel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, moved by God with a word from God, shares with Saul that, "You are now to be the king of all Israel," and here is Saul's response, "Me? You can't be talking to me. I'm from the smallest tribe in Israel and our family is the least of all the tribes in Israel."

This is the way he thought about himself even though Scripture had just said his father was wealthy. I want to take you slow here because you may not understand that the way you see yourself can impair the word that you receive from God. The way that you look at your own situation could literally hinder you from receiving something that God wants to give to you. We've been talking about making room.

If you see everything in your life as something that God can't use, then even if the right word comes, the wrong mindset will block you from seeing that word coming to pass. Scripture said his father was wealthy. Scripture said his family was set, but the way he saw himself was small. The way he saw his family was least of those amongst the tribes and the clans. He tells him, "No, no, no, it's you." He pulls out the oil. The same oil that would be used on David later was pulled out on Saul first. The oil ran out of the horn and it saturated. This was not a contemporary Pentecostal church where we do this and get you with that.

The little oily cross, Babel. This was old school. Whatever you wore that day was going to be ruined for life because that oil was going to come all down your curls, ladies, all through that good old hair coloring you got. Man, it was going to cover that fade, that new supercut you got. Whatever it is, whatever style you had, it was going to come through all of that and go down your face into your shirt. If it was a silk blouse, it's gone.

100% cotton, gone, okay? You got your nice, little suit and it's a nice, little wool suit, dead. Don't even send it to the cleaners because they can't do nothing with extra-virgin olive oil cold-pressed first edition.

Nothing can be done with that. [laughs] The anointing is on them. All the anointing years, I've told you multiple times, is God's approval. The anointing is now on Saul. Saul knows that God has chosen him to be king. Samuel told them. It was done in private for him to receive it first. The next day was about to be public for the entire congregation of Israel to receive second.

I don't know why they chose to do it American Idol-style. If you go back and read the text, it was not done in private with just Samuel and Saul. Then the next day, Samuel walks out with Saul like, "Hey, children of Israel, here goes your first king." They did it like competition-style, called out all the tribes, lined them all up. Levi and Judah and Simeon and Naphtali and Gad and Asher and Benjamin called them all up, lined them all up, and then got them all the tribes lined up, then got all the tribes, and then went down to clans.

From clans went down to families and said Saul is the one that is going to be king. You couldn't find Saul. Saul is the king. Can't find Saul. Think about it. Jennifer Hudson, where's the American Idol? The confetti, "Poof," and it comes down. No Jennifer. Where is she? Ruben Studdard is the winner of American-- You can tell I have not watched American Idol recently at all.

All of my references are a decade old. I make no apologies for that. Not at all. Ruben Studdard. Ruben? Ruby? Gone. Nobody's there. Scripture says that on the day that he was supposed to be coronated as king, he is hiding amongst the baggage. With the oil on his head and the approval of God on his life, he is hiding amongst the baggage. Here's why and this is what broke my heart. Everybody's looking at the leadership of Saul and what he did and how angry he was and manipulative and controlling and how subsequently jealous he would become. You're looking at the wrong thing.

The reason why my heart goes out to Saul is because I understand why his leadership was so janky. It's because he never agreed with God about being chosen as king. When God has spoken a word over your life and said, "This is what I want you to do," and you don't come into agreement with it but do it anyway, you do it with a grudge. You step into that season, but you never really are comfortable in what God is doing it's because you don't agree you should be in there. You should be there in the first place. "I'm doing it. I'm being obedient to the Lord. It's what He wants me to do, but I mean--"

"If you say so, Lord," and that attitude will make the relationship and the season difficult for you. "This is not what I wanted, but I guess if this is what He wants, I guess I'll do it." Anybody besides me, ever been in a season that God has had you in, and you low-key, just didn't like it? I'm exhorting you to change your attitude because there's something you're supposed to learn in that season that if you do not submit fully to the will of God, you will completely miss the revelation. He's trying to give you because you're on to the next. Some of you are in this season out of obedience, but the only thing you can think about is, "When I will be over here."

You never learn what you're supposed to learn here because you're too busy thinking about over there. I know a lot of young preachers with a call in their life and they're married right now that they got to work at Best Buy. They're married right now that they got to do Uber runs. They're married right now that they're still in corporate America not understanding that there are lessons that you are learning in corporate America that's going to train you better for pastoring than when you step into the pastorate. I'll never forget when I used to work for CarMax, the Auto Superstore.

The first one that opened up, Spur 482 in 1997, I was one of the first employees there. I got here in 1997. It opened at the end of 1997. I filled out an application and I was a car salesman at CarMax, the Auto Superstore.

In the first 90 days of employment with the little khakis on and my shirt tucked in, polo shirt tucked in, little name badge on, I sold three cars in 90 days and the sales team lead said, "I need to see you."

"Sir, if I can get you to come over here real quick. It's not working. I don't know what your problem is, but it's really not working out for you, selling cars." There was an African guy who worked. He made me look bad because, obviously, I only sold three cars in 90 days, but he made the second-best sales producer look bad because this dude was selling two to three cars a day. He took that anointing of being aggressively African.

Nobody was leaving without a car. If he locked eyes with you, you are leaving with a car. "You will buy a car today."

"Come this way. Come this way. How much can you afford? Come this way. Come this way. No, no, no, man, you don't look at Mercedes. You look at Pontiac. You will leave with a Pontiac today." I know my accent is not that good. Please, Africans, don't get mad.

I sold three cars in 90 days. They were like, "You got to find another job." I wound up working nights as a quality assurance specialist. All the cars that wind up on the front lot had to pass my final inspection before they went out there. Now, remember, this is a used car sales place, which means that minor distance scratches meant they get to go to the front lot. Minor tears in the upholstery and stains, they get to go to the front lot.

It took a big dent to keep it on the backlot. It took a huge stain to keep it on the backlot. The reason why we had to get these cars to the front lot is because all the cars on the backlot don't make us any money. Let's get these cars repaired as fast as possible to get to the front lot so they could be used for somebody's benefit. The only cars we could not sell, backlot or front lot, were cars that had frame damage. The literal integrity of the vehicle had to be compromised for us not to be able to sell that car. Those are the cars that were sold at auction, so they still had a purpose. It's just that they had to go through a different channel to be used.

That was in 1997. I didn't have my first pastoral assignment until 2006. When I got the job as a young adult pastor, my first pastorate out the gate, here's what the Holy Spirit said when I got in my office and sat at my desk, "Let's talk about you working at CarMax because it was at CarMax that I started teaching you how to pastor. Tim, people are like used cars. They're all used. They all got some scratches and dents, some stains and some tears. In the same way you couldn't judge that vehicle and still had to put it on the front lot, don't let somebody's flaws keep you from looking at the gift that I've put on the inside of them."

CarMax was preaching. I didn't even know it. If I wasn't paying attention in that season, I wouldn't have been prepared for the season that God had me for. Saul's leadership was absolutely compromised because he never lined up with God. The only reason why David even comes up is because God has to look for somebody else. It wasn't even His plan. Jesus should have came to the lineage of Saul, "Benjamin, son of my right hand."

Because of his own personal insecurity, he could not see what God saw in him. Please believe what God says about you. When God calls you His child, please believe it. When He says you're His masterpiece, please believe it. When He gives you a promise, please receive it because you never want your own poor self-image to hinder you from believing what the Creator said about you.

He said, "Samuel, stop checking with him. I'm over him. I have found a man that is after my own heart and I'll show you where he is if you go to Jesse's house." Samuel had already been through a few situations with Saul. Saul was more concerned about his public image than he was about his relationship with God. Therefore, God and Samuel moved on. On the day that Samuel went into Jesse's house, Jesse who has eight kids only invited seven to the reception for Samuel.

Samuel said he was looking for a king. Jesse knows he has eight sons, but he only invited seven. Samuel looks at the first son, Eliab, who was strong, tall, head and shoulders above everyone else, good-looking. Because he looked exactly like the last king who was tall, head and shoulders above everyone else, and good-looking, Samuel thought, "This has got to be the guy. He fits the prototype." God cautions Samuel by telling him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't look at that. Don't look at what everyone else looks at."

Then he makes a statement that so many people in church get twisted. God says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart." Here's how Christians have interpreted that, "I don't care what you think about me and I don't care if you like the way I dress. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at my heart. You don't come in here with almost your pajamas on and say, 'I'm anointed by the Lord,' but you're judging me based on my appearance, but God looks at my heart."

Slow it down. He just dissed you. God said man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart. Slow it down. He just dissed you. Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. You better get your outward appearance looking good because that's what man looks at and you better get your inward heart looking good because that's what God looks at. It's not one at the expense of the other, it's you being able to make both co-exist for the purposes and plans that God has for your life.

"Well, I want to keep it real. Y'all trying to change me. If you chose this profession or career and this is the way you need to advance, you have to make a decision because man does look at the outward appearance." I'm going to tell it myself all day today. I was the youngest elder ever ordained at The Potter's House. I was 24 years old when I got ordained. That's a big deal.

It might not sound like a big deal. Back then, most people were getting licensed. Very few people were being ordained at The Potter's House, okay? I got ordained at The Potter's House when I was 24 years old. Y'all, I'm from LA. I didn't know no better. I knew I had a gift and calling on my life. I was showing up to elders' meetings with DK and white jumpsuits on.

Hoodies on with the drawstring. I had my elder badge clipped to the hoodie with some Shamu Tim's on like, "Yeah, I'm up in this piece. Nobody dressing like you clowns. You look like penguins. Anybody wearing this color sun? I keeps it real with mine."

I kept it so real that I had no access. I kept it real for about six months and nobody said anything to me. I'm in my quiet time with the Lord. Slow it down. I'm in my quiet time. When you get in your quiet time with the Lord, He ain't going to talk to you about you. He ain't going to talk to you about your boss. He ain't going to talk to you about your wife. You get some quiet time with Him, He about to complain like He about to co-sign with you like, "Yes, I don't like them either."

He about to talk about you. I got along with the Lord and the Holy Spirit said, "You are hindering my plan for your life because you won't change your clothes," and I was like, "Oh, why? I just want to be myself." He's like, "You can still be yourself, but man looks at the outward appearance." I went to K&G because that's all I could afford at the time.

Went to K&G and I got me three suits, okay? I got one Mr. Harvey suit and then--

He was hot at the time. Those pinstripes were popping. I got three other suits and I took it to a Russian woman who was a great tailor and I had it tailored to me, okay? I walked in the church and everybody was like, "What?"

I got an attitude, "Oh, now, you want to check me out." Back then--

I was just trying to gauge when you all got saved.

I'm just trying to figure out when Christ came into your life. I see you was after Mike Jones. Okay, so I got the suits. Within three months, they were asking me to serve on the platform, to pray into transition service, and do all of that. I had to understand and learn that you have to be ready when the season changes. You can't get ready when the season changes. You have to be ready when the season changes. God told the children of Israel, this is around Exodus 12 and 13, He said on the night of the Passover, you need to be dressed with your shoes on standing up.

Eat your dinner standing up with your shoes on and your staff in your hand. That way, when I'm ready to move, you're not getting ready. You are ready. The anointing passes all seven of Jesse's sons. God tells Samuel, "None of these are it," and then he says, "Okay, well then, who is it?" Samuel goes, "Do you have another son?" He goes, "I do, but he's the youngest and he's a shepherd." David didn't have a chance to get dressed for this. He didn't have a chance to shower for this. Somebody runs out to get him, "David, David, your dad wants you."

He said, "I'm out here with the sheep. My shift isn't over yet." He was like, "Your dad wants you." David came in smelling like sheep dung, hair matted, has sweated out all day. All his curls sweated out. He in the house, "Yes?" All his other brothers sitting there dressed up, showered, shaved, looking amazing. David runs in. [gasping]

"What's going on?" He said, "They're trying to look for a king."

"I thought they already had a king." "Shhh, shhh, Saul is still over there, but God is looking for somebody and maybe you're it." David steps up and Samuel comes with the oil. He's like, "Lord, are you going to stop me?" The Lord is like, "That's him right there." That oil came out of that horn, went all through David's hair and down his face and into his clothes just like it did to Saul, and he was anointed.

Can you imagine being told at your house, the prophet coming in your house, giving you the approval of God and saying, "You are the next king of Israel"? It's oil that's on his head. When it's done, he's looking at his brothers. He's looking at his daddy and he's like, "Well, what do I need to do?" "Go back and take care of the sheep."

Can you imagine getting an anointing but you got to go back to work? See, we all want this instant change. "Make room."

"I'm getting ready. By week six, it might already--" What if it's week six-year? What if this whole world is 15 years from now? Could you hold it without becoming impatient with it? Because you want everything to change now. He gets anointed by Samuel and he goes straight back out to shepherd the flock. I can't imagine what it's like to know you're going to be a king.

See, sometimes it's good to be blissfully ignorant. I don't know what's going on, so I don't even have nothing on my mind. When God tells you something that you know you both-- you're going back-- You're shepherding, but you're like, "How's it going? How are you going?" Anybody besides me would be thinking about it like, "It's all gone. Is he going to die in this next battle or how--"

You're calling the palace every day like, "Is he sick or is Saul feeling okay? This oil, still in my hair." He's anointed, but it's not time. This is all in Chapter Number 16 of 1 Samuel. He's received this anointing. He's going back to take care of his dad's sheep. At the time that the anointing is coming on David, it is leaving Saul. Because if you ever attempt to operate in something God gave you without His anointing, you can have it and not enjoy it.

He didn't take the kingdom away from Saul. He took his anointing, his approval away from Saul. The moment his approval was taken away, Saul started going crazy. Scripture says a tormenting spirit came and vexed Saul. It was not Saul's suggestion, but it was a suggestion of his service to say, "Maybe we should find a musician that can play and that would calm you down when that evil spirit rises up." I know that's therapeutic because I'm the same way. When I'm getting mad about something, all I need is jazz. I don't need weed to go with it.

All I need is some instrumental jazz. It'll clear my head right up. All I need is some instrumental worship music or all I need is something to put me in the presence of God and to get my mind off of what's going on. They said, "We can bring somebody to come in and play for you." They said, "Okay, so go find somebody." They said, "There's a guy named David." Of all people, the shepherd can also play a harp? Not just like plucking at it, David out there like [beatboxing].

He was the only shepherd that had a harp that the sheep was like [beatboxing].

That's stupid. I don't know why I said that. It's ridiculous. It's nowhere in the Bible. Please, forgive me for that one. That was colorful and slightly inappropriate.

He can play the harp proficiently. They said, "This dude can play the harp and he's good-looking, and I think as he plays his harp, it'll make all of those evil spirits you have go away." They said, "Go get him." Saul said, "Go get him." David came in. He started playing for Saul and Scripture says Saul loved David so much that he made him his armor-bearer and said, "Call your daddy and tell him you're not coming back because I want you to be with me." I want you to imagine David, the anointing of God and now being deemed by Saul himself, the armor-bearer. Can you imagine what's going through David's mind? Getting close.

"Samuel came in my house and anointed me and I just got a job as the worship pastor for Saul. I'm in the palace, can nobody tell me nothing. I'm out, chill." He's serving in Saul's court and then a battle breaks out. When the battle breaks out, Saul takes Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimeah to the battle with him. He does not call David. The three eldest brothers of David that have been rejected by God as king is who Saul invites to go down to the battle with him.

He does not call David. His armor-bearer, his worship leader is not invited to the fight. David does not interject that his résumé is glowing when it comes to fights with animals. "I've killed lions and bears." He doesn't tell him up front. Once again, it seems like he's been rejected. Somebody else has been chosen without him even being thought about. I want you to keep this in context because David's already received the anointing by Samuel and he's already received his appointment by Saul.

Those verses I read you, the Holy Spirit showed me something, y'all. I've been preaching 25 years. I've never seen it until about a month and a half ago. When God gives me a revelation out of His word that I've been reading for 25 years, I promise you to this day, I feel like I'm winning the lottery because I know I don't deserve to see nothing out of that book. The Holy Spirit has to reveal it or I'll never see it.

I'm sitting there and I'm reading and the Holy Spirit said, "I need you to look at verses 12 through 18." I go read starting at verse number 1. Because when the Lord tells me to read something, I act like I never read it before. I don't get the mindset of, "I already know what that say." That's arrogant. I came into 1 Samuel 17 brand new like, "What's that? I wonder what you have to say here. I wonder what this chapter's about."

I start reading and I read that Saul, Abinadab, Eliab, and Shimeah had been at the battlefield with Saul. Because there was nobody to play music for, David wound up back with his dad shepherding a flock. Then David's dad, Jesse, says, "I need you to do me a favor. I need you to run an errand for me. Would you please take bread to your brothers and cheese to the captains of Saul's army and check on how they're doing and come back and give me a report?"

David has an oily head and has a strategic position in the palace and your daddy is asking you to run an errand. I gave you this whole story to zoom in on this moment that if David allows the oil on his head and the position he has in the palace to change his mind about being a servant, he never fulfills his daddy's request. I have seen people get promoted to head usher and lose their whole mind.

I have seen people get promoted to chief parking lot attendant. Now, you can't tell them nothing. I've seen people with 22 people in a church appoint themselves Chief Apostle and have more bodyguards than they have church members because they allowed the title, the appointment, and the position to render them ineffective as being a servant. Let me slow down.

David has been anointed by Samuel. He has been appointed by Saul, but neither Samuel's anointing nor Saul's appointing changes David's destiny. If David doesn't keep the heart posture of a humble servant, he actually misses the very thing God wanted to use to prove to everybody that he was the one that was supposed to be king. Let me slow down. Saul's anointing changed David's mind.

I'm sorry. Samuel's anointing. I'm getting too hyped. Samuel's anointing changes David's mind. Saul's appointing changes David's position, but it is Jesse's errand that changes David's destiny. If David is not humble enough to still be submitted to his father, knowing he's going to be the king, knowing he's already been appointed by Saul, then he does not make the trip that changes the trajectory of his life and saves all of Israel because he thinks he's above that.

There has to be something on the inside of you that no matter what position God puts you in, you still have the heart of a servant. I never want to get to the position in any part of ministry where I go, "Ain't my job." She trashed on the floor in the foyer, "Let's hope somebody pick that up." See a dead cricket in the hallway, "Housekeeping will be here at 1:00. Hope they get that up."

I saw it. I want to be trusted to still run my father's errands. Doesn't matter if I'm a lead pastor. It doesn't matter where he tells me to go. If God tells me to go give you some water, I still want to be found serving and doing what he's called me to do because my position and my anointing does not put me above serving. Samuel, the anointing changed his mind. That's why he hit his head.

He had to get the mind of a king. You don't get a mind of a king without having an anointing. You can never even think like one unless you've been anointed by God. That oil changed his mind, "I'm thinking like a king. Even though I'm not here with sheep, I'm thinking like a king. I know there are sheep now. There are going to be people later. I'm thinking like a king. The way I steward these sheep is the same way I will steward people. I have to think like a king."

"These are the responsibility that God has given me. Even though they can't talk back, I have to be attentive to the, 'Bahhh.' I got to know when one is hurting and one is hungry. I got to know when one is too tired. I got to know that we can't go on to the next pasture because that will make these sheep fall out. We're going to go and go 2 miles when we could've went 4 miles because I got to make sure the baby sheep can pick up with the adults."

He's learning in the field. When he gets the position, that's just to get him comfortable with the palace so that he'll know who to bow who and know who to talk to and know who to give the right answer to. He lets them get acclimated, but it's neither Samuel or Saul that puts him in and sets him up with destiny. It's Jesse, the same one that rejected him and didn't even invite him to the coronation.

He said, "Would you please take this bread and this cheese and just go see how your brothers are doing?" David, being the man he was, was like, "Sure, Dad." Had no idea running this errand was about to change his life, had no idea that running this errand was about to change his destiny, had no idea that just obeying his father was going to mean the salvation for a whole nation. [laughs]

Philippians 2, because I want you to understand that this same servitude and the same servant heart that is in David is in Jesus. 14 generations from David, we get Jesus and we get this, Philippians 2:5. I want you to understand that this is encoded into the DNA of every believer if you would just unlock it. If you want to make room, you have to be humble. You're going to make room, you have to be a servant. You want to make room, you have to get your mind open that God would use whatever opportunity to get you strategically placed in the place that you're supposed to be.

Here's what it says, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross." Before I go any further, the reason why we're all sitting here today is because God sent His son on an errand.

The only reason you are sitting here saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost, all of your sins pardoned, back then, right now, and in the future is because dad was sitting next to his son on his right hand and said, "I have an errand that I need you to go on. It's going to require you to give up authority in the heavenlies and it's going to require you to strip off glory in the heavenlies. I'm going to need you to go down and get in a womb that you created so you can be who you need to be for the people that need to be delivered."

I'm trying to show you, you can never allow the season of your life to make you think you cannot be a servant. Jesus got up from the table. He said, "What do you need me to do?" He said, "You know what happened to Adam and Eve. It'll never change if you don't run this errand. Now, I know it's going to be tough when you get down there to be amongst things you created, to nurse from breasts that you put milk in, to disciple men that you know the hearts of. If you don't do this, we're going to be up here by ourselves. I'm trying to have a family reunion, Son, and I'm not going to be able to do it if you don't run this errand."

Jesus got up from that table. He said, "Where do you want me to go?" He said, "Not now, the prophecy is still talking about you. I've already given them hints that you're coming, but I didn't tell them when. There's only one prophet that's going to know when, but it's not time. You can peek over the balcony of heaven and go, "Well, David is." I know we were going to come through the bloodline of Saul, but David, he's a man after your heart. He's not perfect. He's got some flaws, but I think you can use--" "Can I come through his bloodline? Because he's doing something that looked like what I would be doing."

He goes, "Yes, you can come through him." He said, "But there's so much sin, you can't use a man and a woman. I'm going to just impregnate the woman of the faith of a man that came thousands of years before her." You do know that it is Abraham's faith that got Mary pregnant. [laughs] I'll let you all go read it later. Jesus came down the glory of God in the same way He used to come into the tabernacle, a tent, came into the womb of a virgin.

He didn't just show up fully man like when He made Adam in the beginning. He decided to start from embryo, scratch that zygote, and work his way up. 30 years of silence, working for his stepdad, and learning what it would be like to be fully human without a divine side. He said, "I'm going to have to die for them." It was this errand that made this day possible. I had to give you that before I read the rest of it because the rest of it, we could go bananas over. If you don't get their context to appreciate it, it'll mess you up.

He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, [giggles] God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names. I got to stop right there. I can't go too fast. His elevation came after His delivery. Some of us are trying to be promoted and we've never delivered. Some of us want to be elevated and we haven't even served. When I say, "Make room," the only way Juliette can attest it is my parents can attest it. The only way I have ever gotten elevated is I served my way into an elevation. I never just manipulated or hustled or I grinded. This is not a career.

I do not have a career. I have a calling. This is not a hustle for me. I didn't manipulate nobody. I didn't look at anybody and go, "If I can get next to them, maybe I can connect and maybe that'll be me." I don't have a ladder to climb. Promotion doesn't come from the east or the west. It comes from God and He doesn't use a ladder. He uses His hand. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names.

That's at the name, not the title. Demons don't care about titles. He wasn't given a title that at that title, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Chief Apostle. I bind you in the name of the Chief Apostle. I bind you in the name of the Rose of Sharon. I bind you in the name of Immanuel. I bind you in the name of Jehovah-Shammah. No, no title. It's going to make a demon bow. Demons don't care about titles. They know names. That's why a good name is better to be had than all the riches in the world.

At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth. Under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father, and at least 600 people said.

Let's compare and then we're done. Let's compare. Let's compare real quick. David had the oil of a man on his head. He had the position of a man on his résumé. It's pretty high. It's pretty lofty stuff. All the doors that God has opened for me in the last 25 years of ministry. I'll tell you what my dad says and I'll tell you what my mom says because they say different things. Same thing differently.

My daddy would always say every time a door opened, some pretty heavy stuff. Pretty big doors God opening. Stay humble. There's a lot of people at that conference. A lot of people came to Jesus. A lot of access you've been given, a lot of influence that you're around. It could be some pretty heavy stuff. Stay humble as daddy, mom, baby?

I'm praying for you, but just remember, no matter how high God takes you, you'll still be at His feet.

You will still be at His feet. Let's compare. David, a man had to give him that, had to give him the anointing. A man had to give him a position. A man had to give him a delivery to run on. Let's compare that with Jesus because when I say, "Don't be too high to come down low," if I just leave you with the example of David, you might think, "I can match that." When we read Philippians and you see how high Jesus came down, I don't care how much money you got in your bank account.

I don't care if you kick it with senators and governors. I don't care if your trust fund has so many millions in it that it would take you five lifetimes to spend it. Don't be too high to come in low. Every time I'm introduced to somebody and they ask me, "What's your name?" "Tim," "What do you do?" "I work at a church," "Oh, are you one of the pastors?" "I am one of them," it's just my own reminder that the position means nothing. The title means nothing. The anointing means nothing if I'm not humble.

The only way you can make room, the only way you will allow God-- [cries] the only way you will allow Him to use you, the only way you'll go happy is humble. If you're offended by what He's asking you to do and you do it anyway, you won't even enjoy it. I've been there. I've been in seasons where I would rather not do what He's asking me to do. That's why you have to carry your cross because if you carry your cross whenever you get into a situation where you got to choose your will or His, jump on it and die. That's why you carry it with you because you never know where you're going to need to die. "Why do you carry that cross?" I'll never know when I'm going to have to kill myself.

I just don't even know. Sometimes rebellion just jumps up on me and I'm like, "Glad I've got my cross."

Don't be too high. Don't be too prideful. Don't be too stubborn. Don't be too angry to come in low because your next promotion, your next elevation is on the other side of you being submitted to something God is calling you to do right now.