Handle Your Mess, Part 4: "The Power of Bulldog Faith" | Dr. Mike Woods

Well, praise God, everybody! Welcome to our live this morning. Happy Thanksgiving! Listen, if you are here, I need you to do me a favor before we get started. It is very important, extremely important. I need you to do approximately 3 things. Number 1, I need you to like this video. Number 2, I need you to comment below and say hello, and I need you to be engaged with this teaching this morning. It's going to be a great word that I believe is going to thrust you, uh, into another dimension of faith and belief as we navigate through the end of the year and get ready for what's to come in 2024. So I need you to please, guys, like Engage below, say hello, let us know that you are here. And then thirdly, I need you to do me a favor on this Thanksgiving Day. Please, guys, if this is blessing you, show an act of gratitude, uh, for someone else and for what you're receiving, and share it. You are blessed to be a blessing. So we're going to get started in just a moment. Glory to God. We'll pray. And we're gonna get right into this word. Oh God, I'm super excited about what God's gonna do today. Lebe soturabakaye basoturaboshii. Come on, we give you glory. Listen, please guys, I feel the anointing. Glory Jesus. Share this very quickly, we're going to get started. In just a few moments. Thank you guys for being here. And again, like I said, say hello, let us know you're here. Hi, Kiara. Hi, daughter. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Glory to God. Hi, Tamara. God bless you. Dr. Martin, Happy Thanksgiving. Praise God. Prophetess Sharon Turner, God bless you. Happy Thanksgiving. You guys do me a favor, please share this live stream. Glory to God. This teaching. Something's going on with our tech system, so we wasn't able to get the text out like we normally would. Glory to God. That's right. Yes, Kiara, that's who she is, Dr. Tamara Martin, or Tamara Martin. Good God from Zion, we give you praise, God. We give you glory. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. So you guys tag and share, uh, let somebody know we're here, and we're going to get started in just a few moments. Glory to God. Thank you, Jesus. I love you, Father. We give you praise, God. We glorify your name, Jesus. We glorify your name. Hallelujah! Father, I decree and declare the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and adds no sorrow upon every person on this live stream this morning. May the blessing of God over take them, overthrow them. In the Divine side, if you're just coming in, please say hello, let us know you're here. Glory to God. We give you Rusko. We give you, oh God, oh, we give you. Jesus, we glorify your brand. We bless your name. Hallelujah! Come on in. God bless you, Priscilla Fleming. Thank you for being here with us today. Glory to God. Listen, you guys that are with us, uh, do like Priscilla and others, please comment below. Please like this video. Praise God. And I also— glory to Jesus. I need you to share this. We're blessed to be a blessing. Brancy, let him answer. Yes, God, I give you glory. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Jesus. Something's going to be released on this live today that's going to be absolutely life-changing. I need you guys to help me share. People you don't see Tag them, glory to God, in the comments. Share, glory to God. Um, shemanda, I don't know what's going on our tech system. Uh, they're having technical difficulties with our company, so we could not send out our mass text, which ultimately would immediately help our numbers. But listen, I need you to really help me today because this word. God bless you, wife. Happy Thanksgiving to you, dear. Glory to God. I'm hungry already. Glory to Jesus. Hallelujah. Oh Father, we love you. Thank you, Jesus. Share, ladies and gentlemen. Like, comment, share. Like, comment, share. We give you glory, God. We give you honor. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. We bless your name, God. Hallelujah. So Father, in Jesus' name, yes Lord, we thank you and we glorify you. Kuramban sai. We bless you, God, for your goodness, your mercy, your grace, your favor toward us. God, we decree and declare that besides you there is no other. You rule and you super rule. And so, Father, on this Thanksgiving Day, as we teach the word, as we share your heart, as we disseminate your power and your authority, Father, let the word go out with such power and authority that it makes preaching and teaching easy today. Lekiska po suto drama. Oh, Shabaya! I feel the glory. I feel the wind of God blowing through my house. I feel it blow, and the same anointing that is here with me is going to be translated into this live. Oh, Shabbat, Samantha, share this with someone sick, someone that needs a breakthrough, that needs deliverance. The anointing is going to flow with power and authority. We give you glory. We give you honor, God. We give you praise. Ramabai. Yesata. Let us experience the light, the illumination, and the intelligence of the Holy Spirit. Have your way, God. Do something unusual, something man cannot do. And we praise you now, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Glory to God. We bless the Lord. We bless the Lord. I'm gonna take a few moments. I'm gonna grab my phone here. Glory to Jesus. Yes, God. And I'm going to just share this with a few folks. I need you to do the same. Gloria Mansa. Yes, God, we bless you. Ramokuska. We honor you, God. We honor you. Yebasade. Shututubahi. Bransatabakuse. Rambababamasatabaya. Rekutababasante. Lededede osandabakisatai. We glorify you, God. We glorify you. We thank you for your goodness. We're streaming to every platform— Twitter or X, YouTube, uh, Facebook, personal Facebook, Rhoda Church Facebook, Dr. Mike Woods Facebook. Uh, we're streaming, glory to the Lord, name of the Lord, everywhere this morning. We give you glory, God. Hallelujah, we give you thanks. Come on, right where you are, right where you are, just begin to worship God on this Thanksgiving morning and give him thanks. The scripture says, oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Yes, God, for he is good. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for he is good. For he— oh. Oh my, for he is good. We're trusting God for a Thanksgiving full of fire, that even as you entertain your family members this day, that there'll be a fire on you. Glory to God, that there'll be a glory that rests with you, that there'll be a light on your life. Glory to God, that will bring healing and restoration and reconciliation to all that could— oh to all that connect. Yes, God, and encounter you today. Hey Bruce, God bless you. Happy Thanksgiving. May the glory of the Lord rest on you today, my friend. May the blessing of God be with you and your family. We bless you, Father. We bless you, we bless you. I'm gonna teach in a moment, but this prophetic flow, whoo, is all over me. I dare you to tap in. Oh, Rabban. I decree and declare that even someone in your family that's not saved and doesn't know Jesus will be saved and filled with his Spirit today on this Thanksgiving Day. I declare that your life will be a light of the glorious gospel of the love of Jesus Christ. Oh, I declare it. Amen. Oto, sutaba, babamantaye, rakuta, bababaya. I declare their family members that are sick, we rebuke cancer, we rebuke dementia, we rebuke Alzheimer's, we rebuke high blood pressure and diabetes. We decree and declare that this will— oh God, the Holy Spirit is taking over. Rabasatababa kotoshe. Yes God, we decree and declare that this will be a Thanksgiving of ever-flowing power, ever-flowing glory, ever-flowing anointing. Leba surakai. Yes, God. Hey, Pastor Jasper, God bless you. Glory to Baba. I release the blessing of the Lord over your house, sir. Over your family. Glory to God. Over Christopher and Zion and Ma and all of your guests, I decree and declare that the power of the living God will be made manifest in your home today, and that the love of God will be shed abroad. Yes, God, in the Holy Ghost. We give you glory, we give you glory, we give you honor. Share, family, like, share, please. Yes, we glorify you. A Thanksgiving full of fire. I declare that not only will your belly be full today, but your innermost being, your innermost belly will be filled with living water. Hallelujah! I declare it will be filled with living water. Rababan sata. That will overflow out of you into others, and the glory of God will fill your life. Rambasaye, rambasotoyaya, brunsatabahemia. I release the blessing of the Lord on you today, daughter, that makes rich and adds no sorrow. Loto shatababakaya. I thank you for the spirit of boldness and power and light that will flow in you and through you even today, in the mindset about— in the name of Jesus. And I declare even supernatural supernatural breakthrough and provision for you, Minister Alexander. Letoso tobo koso to rabakaya. And I declare that your life, Rabban Sata, will never be the same. And I decree and come into agreement with you now that 2024 will be your year of supernatural increase, prosperity, exposure, and blessing. And no weapon formed against your ministry will be able to prosper in the name of Jesus. Welcome, Gloria Brown. God bless you. Thank you for being here. I release the blessing of the Lord on your life, Gloria Brown, and I decree and declare that this Thanksgiving Day will be filled with the joy of the Lord. Yeah, I heard that, God. Gloria, God said today you will know like never before that God is God. Habba soribebebe sututababata tatata. You will know the hand of God on your life like never before. And all of the tears you've cried, all of the obstacles you've faced in 2023, God said that he's going to catch you up, Gloria Brown, and he's going to make it up to you. He says just trust him with your whole heart and put your whole hand in his hand. Rebonso tobaka, rebasa tabataia. And God says every burden you've carried, he's lifting even as I'm speaking to you, Gloria. God shaman tabatoia. And God said you will go into 2024 light. Light. And you to basoto bababakaya. And you will experience the goodness of God in the land of the living. Yes, God. Mr. Sims, Lord bless you, daughter. May the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and adds no sorrow to it be upon you and your house today. And I decree and declare that no weapon formed against you will be able to prosper. And I release the promises of God over your life today. I decree and declare that your life will be a voice of what God can do. I declare that your life will be a light and a magnetic— oh my God, oh my God— a magnetic pull to those that reject God. And because you live, daughter, they will know who Jesus Jesus is. Ah, I decree and declare that the passion of God will flow out of you to others in the mighty name of Jesus. God bless you, Phyllis Stewart. Welcome, family. Y'all make Phyllis Stewart welcome. It's her first time. Phyllis, thank you for joining us. Glory to God. I release the blessing of the Lord on you today, Phyllis Stewart, that makes rich and adds sorrow. And I decree and declare that as you move into 2024— yes God, I hear this— that 2024 will be a year of foundations. It will be a year of establishing where new things will be born out of you, Phyllis. I decree and declare that that business that you've been planning, there's a business that's going to begin to flow out of you. Glory to the name of God. In the year to come, that's going to change the total trajectory of your life. There are some dreams you had even as a young girl that God is going to begin to bring to pass and that he's going to begin to bring to light and life for you. And I declare that you will be impactful and influential as you navigate through the world. And I decree and declare you will show up in the world with power and authority. And people will know who Jesus is because Phyllis Stewart lives. God said to tell you, Phyllis, this morning— God, I feel the anointing— leta kasha tababaya. Because your heart is beating, your purpose is still necessary. So don't you dare quit. Don't you dare give up hope with all of the things the enemy has thrown at you. Your heart is beating today, and the Father says to tell you he still yet has need of Phyllis Stewart. In the name of Jesus, we give you glory, God. I promise you guys, I didn't come on here to do this. I came on here to teach. Glory to God. Well, the Holy Spirit start taking over this stream. We give you praise, God, and we give you glory. So, Father, we thank you again. Zion, I decree the blessing of the Lord on you, daughter. I see you on YouTube. And that makes rich and adds no sorrow, daughter. I hear this, God. 2024 will be the ministry year for you where everything in you will come full circle. Daughter, you were born a prophet, and the Lord says no longer can you constrain or fight what God has placed in your spiritual DNA. The spirit of the Living God says that— oh God— Zion, you will prophesy to kings. You will prophesy to kings even in your country from where your family has emerged. You will prophesy to prime ministers. You will prophesy to kings in at least— I see that, God— 3 continents of the world. You may not even understand what's happening right now, but there's something God's going to do with you that's going to thrust you in a season of your life into the earth where you'll be called a minister to dignitaries. Even right there where you live in the DMV, in the nation's capital, you will minister astutely to government officials. And even rabban tatavasa, great favor will come on Pastor Jeffrey and yourself. And there will be even invitations into Congress, the Senate, to pray. Glory to God. To minister to the Senate and Congress, senators and congressmen. Rabba satava. And even invitations to the White House. And taba sutodavasa. Well, God said, I call your feet as royal feet. And this is why so many times, even in your childhood, the enemy fought you and fought your family and fought your growth and fought you with doubt and fear. But God says this is the year, rabasoto rabaya, of emergence. Daughter, prophesy. Yes, God, I glorify you. The world will be different because you're in it. Prophesy. We give you glory, God. We give you glory. I gotta teach. I gotta teach. Thank you, Holy Spirit. But as the Lord leads, we will— whatever thus say the Lord. Glory to God. I love you guys today. Glory to God. Father, bless this word again and let it come forth with power and authority in Jesus' mighty name. Listen, I love you guys so much. You're so wonderful, you're so mighty, you're so glorious, you're so awesome. And again, one last time, God, I'm going to invite you, uh, to share this live teaching. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Please share, please share, please share. Glory to God. Hallelujah. God is so good, he's so kind, he's so wonderful, he's so mighty, and he's so very awesome. Glory to God. Hallelujah. I love you too, daughter. I love you all. Glory to God. He's a mighty God. Thank you, Jesus. He's a mighty God. Orababa. Yes, God, we give you glory, we give you honor, we give you praise, we give you praise, we give you praise. Hallelujah! Glory to God, glory to God. Y'all bear with me a moment. I'm Guta. Hallelujah! My God, today we praise you, we honor you. You're my, my Hallelujah! Glory to God! We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. Hallelujah. Yes, God, we might be able to— yeah, we might be all right. Gonna be all right. All right, guys, the devil's a liar. This word is gonna be so good, I already know. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Y'all stay with me, stay with me. Praise God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We give him praise. We give him honor. All right, stay with me, guys. Stay with me. All right, I won't be long, I promise you. Y'all good? Y'all good? God bless you. God bless you. It's called atmospheric disturbance. There's no way that flow that just flowed out could happen and the enemy not get mad. So he got mad. He got mad. Glory to God. Hallelujah! God bless you, Bruce. Yes sir, you're right about it. Glory to God, we love him. He— oh my, say thank you, God. All right, let's jump into this. So we're continuing our series, um, on, praise God, handling your mess. And we've learned some very interesting pieces. And so on this Thanksgiving Day It's very important, guys, I need you to hear me, all right, that you grab one of the things that we have been discussing and hold it dear to your heart. Glory to God. All right, because the reality is we all have mess and we got to handle it and we got to deal with it properly, okay? And we cannot— and I can't overemphasize this— become critics of others' mess so that we miss the fact that there's mess that we— and issues we have to deal with that we need to take introspectives and deal with so that we can release what God has for us. Can I submit to you today and again, I'm not going to be long— that most of the things we are dealing with in our life, the obstacles, the challenges, the insurmountable situations that seem like we're never going to get out of, or change— we're dealing with those things, ladies and gentlemen, hear me, because we refuse to address the mess. We refuse to deal with our issues. And we become so critical of others that stuff in us lies dormant. And God is saying, I'm just waiting for you to get this together because what I want to do for you, I can't do it until you address this. And do you understand that I'm bigger than it and I can help you overcome it and conquer it? All right, so today on this Thanksgiving Day 2023, I want to talk to you about just on the premise of the substratum— hear me— of becoming a student of your idiosyncratic ways, your mess, your issues, versus being a judge to others. I want to talk about the power of Bulldog Faith, because what happens is somebody say, how does that correlate. I'm gonna tell you right now, this is not going to make theological or hermeneutical sense, but it's going to be very prophetic. Okay, Bulldog Faith is aggressive faith, and many times we don't address things in us. Hear me, or we don't even own stuff that we do or problems we have. A lot of times we'll sweep it under the rug and act like it's not there, it's not us, we don't have these issues because we really don't believe that it can change. Are y'all hearing me? Because we really don't perceive that the issue in our flesh or our carnality can actually be different and change. I'm telling you right now, God has the power to do exceeding abundantly above all you could think or say that asked. But you gotta trust— hear me— in his ability to do more than you could ever think about, more than you could ever ask for. He can. Glory to God. So I want to talk about this aggressive faith because I think that in order for us to excel in what we're on this planet to do, our faith has to become more aggressive. The opposite of aggressive is passive. And I'm just being honest, I don't want to offend anyone, but many people in the body of Christ, they have passive faith. They believe just enough to be saved, to, to escape hell. Oh my God, they believe just enough to make it through a day, and they'll pray. They'll be just enough to get on their knees and pray or make confessions or make decrees, but they don't put demands on their faith and be aggressive toward the result. The way you get results, you must have aggressive faith. Here's my first point, and I want you to write this down. And if you're writing in the comments, write it in the comments. If you're not doing it by faith, listen to me, you're doing it wrong. I'm going to say that again. If you're not doing it by faith, you're doing it wrong. You know, you got some, um, I think God been teaching faith for 30 years. This is, this is Faith and purpose is the messages that God has given me. The reality is I could not teach this message if I didn't live by it. I live this, and I've understood that every failure in my life was a faith failure first, but every success I've had— listen to me, family— it was a faith success first. I'm gonna let you get to your chitterlings and and turkey and dressing and string beans and collard greens in a moment. Stay with me, do not scroll. Again, if you're not doing it by faith, you're doing it wrong, and you're, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you're trusting in your bank account, if you're trusting in your family, if you're trusting in people, if you're putting your faith in your job You know, the reality is that's a job and you work for somebody else. It could end. You better be trusting God to be your source and your resource. That's why you can't afford not to be obedient to the things of God, because when you align yourself with God and deal with your mess and trust him and not doubt And doubt is a big mess that we gotta address and that we gotta deal with. We can't trust God when it's convenient for us to trust him. We gotta trust him at all times. Touch yourself and say, I must trust God. Hear me, at all times. Okay, man. All right, I hope y'all getting this. I really hope that you are getting this. You gotta trust him at all times, not when you want to. The just shall live by faith. It's a lifestyle. You don't try it out every now and then. Let's get into this. Let's get into this. All right, so I'm gonna basically leave you with 5 personalities or characteristics of bulldog faith. So like I said in the beginning, the opposite of aggressive is passive, weak, walked-on, laid-back, dormant faith. That's not what you want. You want aggressive faith. Can you have bulldog faith? Yes, you can. Um, I want you to grab these principles, right? I want you to learn them today, and I want you to start applying them today. All right? Because if you do that, you can leave this live today, apply what I'm about to teach you, and it change your life forever. All right? So here's one thing I know, and I'm gonna start right here. Bulldogs, they have a reputation, you know. They got— sure, you know, they got these nice wrinkles on their forehead that makes them distinguished. Um, they got a stance that makes them distinguished. Their body shape is distinguished. But their outer appearance, honestly, is not what draws the most attention. Bulldogs, hear me, are a breed of remarkable ferocity, remarkable courage. Hear this, remarkable defense mechanisms. And most of all, they have a tenacity of grip. That is second to none. They are stubbornly aggressive, all right? They're persistent and they're determined. I'm gonna say that again. The reputation of a bulldog is remarkable ferocity. He's ferocious, he's courageous, he has a tenacity of grip. Once a bulldog locks down onto something He is not going to let it go. Hear me, until he feels totally satisfied with what he's trying to accomplish by locking down. And in many instances, that's bloodshed. Listen to me, I'm going somewhere. A bulldog is stubbornly aggressive. Watch this, stay with me. Persistent and determined. Listen, if something that belongs to you gets in the bulldog's mouth, it's over. You're not going to get it back because he's going to lock down on it and he's already taken ownership. Oh my God, Everett, you're not getting it back. Don't— so don't even plan on it. He'll hold on, he's going to lock down, and he gonna stand his ground Watch this, longer than you want to hang around. He'll stay— he'll stay locked down on that thing longer than you want to wait for him to let it go. That's how stubbornly ferocious and aggressive and, oh my God, persistent he is. Listen, as citizens of the kingdom, hear me, we need to be just as aggressive just as stubborn, just as persistent and passionate. Watch this. When it comes to the promises of God, you cannot let up. You got to be aggressive. So why, why, Apostle, why, Apostle, do we need this bulldog faith? Well, I'm glad you asked. You know why? Because we have an enemy. Watch this, listen. We have a real enemy that doesn't want the promises of Jesus Christ to be manifested in your life. As a matter of fact, this enemy, all he wants is for you to be a dancing, shouting, worshiping, tongue-talking, praying, church-going Christian that never experiences the life of the Bible for real in your life. Because you can go through all of those motions and never experience what God promised. And I'm telling you right now, the enemy that's opposing you, he doesn't want you to get what God has for you. Be— oh my God, because if you get it, you become a threat to him, his kingdom, and what he is doing. Ah, oh my God, oh my God, you listen. So don't you give up, don't you let up. You gotta have it because he's trying to keep you from getting what God wants you to have. Listen, do you realize that everything you need or ever would desire has already been provided to you through the word and can be obtained by faith? I'll say it again. Everything you need and whatever desire has already— it has already been provided for you and can be obtained by faith. I dare somebody— oh my God, just type it in the comments. Thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. Because if you walk in faith, not in passivity, but in aggressive faith. Glory to God! Everything you need and could possibly want can be provided and obtained because it's already promised. But you can't get it without faith. Come on, type it in the comments. Thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. And you, come on, just— I'm telling you, be thankful that you have an opportunity today to believe. So that the Bible can come alive for you. Oh God, God, I love you. I got to get through this. Listen, if you're fed up for real— and I'm gonna get into this— but if you're fed up with the devil stealing your blessings or blocking your blessings or holding up what's yours. Listen, and you're ready to claim what's rightfully yours. Listen, it's time to get some aggressive bulldog faith. Glory to God. All right, number 1, write this down. I'm gonna give you these 5 characteristics of bulldog faith. Let's go, we're going to Matthew 11:12. Write that in the comments, Matthew 11:12. It says this: the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. Oh my God, Matthew 11:12. So number 1, bulldog faith— I've been talking about this already, but it's the main point— is aggressive. Write that down, type it in the comments. Bulldog faith is aggressive. So faith is— what are you saying, Apostle? Faith is more than believing. Yeah. Oh my God, more cooking in this house. Glory to God, it's seeping up through the vents. Praise God. I'm not gonna be distracted. I was having technical difficulties, now the food. Glory to God. Listen, faith is more than believing according to this text. The very nature of faith— hear me— is aggression. Ah, it's persistence. It's being determined. Is being tenacious, it's being commanding, and it's being confident. Let me say that again. We— I feel like running. It's being commanding, confident, tenacious, determined, persistent, aggressive. What does that mean, Apostle? It means it's always moving forward, never looking back. Real aggressive faith is continually trying to reach his goal, trying to see what was promised manifested and come alive. Like a bulldog, you got to seize it with a a faith grip that cannot be shaken off. You got to get so determined that you're going to receive what God said about you. I don't know about you, but I am. I receive every promise. I receive every promise of wealth. I receive every promise of healing and deliverance. I receive every promise— glory to the name of God— of power and authority and good success that God has promised me. And I got my teeth in it, and I'm not gonna let it go until I see the manifestation of every word. You got to be aggressive, you got to be determined, and you cannot allow anything to distract you. So ask this question today, guys: where is your faith today? Oh my God, yeah, where's your faith today? Where's your faith today? Where— I mean, really, Are you just maintaining? You just sitting still believing, or are you pursuing aggressively? I mean, be honest with yourself. I want you to answer these questions. Just maintaining for your business, for your family, for your home, or are you being aggressive and pursuing Oh my God, are you just standing watch and holding the fort down, or are you advancing and taking new ground? Now, I was in the military, and in the Navy we had what was called watch. And so whenever you had watch duty, you, you stood your ground and You watch for enemies, you watch for anything out of order to make sure that the barracks or the place where you were was secure from the threat of the enemy. Some of you are standing, you're, you're doing that, but are you coming? Because watch was a set time. It started and it ended, and after it ended, we had to be Sailors, we had to do our duties and our job outside of watch. We had to do the job we were trained for, and we had to take new ground. We had to become better. We had to increase. We had to grow. Can I ask you something? Are you increasing? Are you growing? Are you being better? Are you taking new ground by faith? Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory! Shabbat! We give you praise, we give you praise, my God. Today, ask yourself the questions: are you settling with the status quo, or are you trying to get to the next dimension? Are you satisfied with your life and the status you have, the status quo? What you're satisfied with pleasing what others want, or what the definition others have given you You got to handle your mess, man, and be aggressive and reach for more and reach for that next dimension. Reach for that next level. Lord, help us today. I know it's a fight. I know it's hard. I know it's tough. But ask yourself this: are you throwing in the towel? Are you fighting every round with everything you got in faith. Don't give up. Whatever you do, don't quit. The only way you lose is if you quit. I'll say that again. The only way you lose is if you quit. See, if you quit now, you'll never know that you could have won. Oh my God. I was telling one of my friends, um, and business partners— I was talking to him yesterday, and he and his family gonna stop by for Thanksgiving today. I made him very clear, um, you need to bring your best spade game today because we will be playing some spades, and I will be whooping some heads today in spades. But listen to me, glory to God, And think— just thinking about cards, there are 52 cards in a deck. 4 aces, 4 kings, 4 queens, 4 jacks, 4 tens, 4 nines, 4 eights, 4 sevens, 4 sixes, 4 fives, 4 threes, 4 twos, 4 ones, 2 jokers. All right, watch this. If I got 52 cards and my ace is my best card in this deck If I turn, if I start turning over cards, if I turn over 2, I turn over 3, I want you to get that in your head. Visualize this. I'm turning over 4, I'm turning over 7, I'm turning over 10. If I quit at 10, it doesn't change the fact that the ace is still in the deck. I gotta keep going until I get the ace. And guess what? I turn over the very next card and it's the ace. But if I were to quit at 10, I never would have got to the ace. Y'all not hearing me. Some of y'all still stuck and say I'm about to play cards. Yeah, ain't no money gonna be on the table, we won't be gambling, but I'm about to take some folk down. They're about to go down. It, it, it— listen, and prayerfully my partner will be in place, who is Michael Woods Jr. We take no prisoners, glory to God. We take down victims, glory to God. We take this very seriously. Uh, it's healthy competition. But yeah, so into my family that's watching this, any of my friends is gonna stop by today, all my Spade people, just get ready to take this whooping. It ain't personal. All right, okay, let me keep teaching. Number 2, number 2, number 2. I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go. So I can't draw back, I can't let up, I can't quit. Matter of fact, go to Hebrews 10 real quick. Go to Hebrews 10 real quick. Let me show you why you can't draw back, why you can't quit, why you can't stop, why you got to keep going. Hebrews 10. Oh my God, 10 and 38 and 39 is what I want. Hebrews 10:38-39. I'm almost through. Glory to God. I'm way over time. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Oh my God, I love you today. Thank you, Lord. Watch this. The Bible said, now listen, the just shall live by faith. That word live, I want you to grab this, is zio in Greek, and it means that— it means breath breath or the very life source that is achieved or obtained daily should be by faith. So the very breath you breathe is by faith. It doesn't just happen. You wake up, open your eyes, you believe your lungs gonna work because you've been trained to believe that— take for granted they will work. You believe your digestive system, your cardiovascular system, that all 9 systems are going to work. You believe they're going to work. But can I let you in on a secret? They only work because God allows them to. And you believe— if you could believe that, you can believe every other promise in the— he promised to give you life. He promised to give you time to fulfill your purpose. Glory to God. So the just shall live, not tried out every now and then, by faith. Faith, pistis in Greek, P-I-S-T-I-S, pistis, which is confidence. Reliance, absolute total reliance on God's truth, conviction that God can't lie. And if he said it, you believe it and you live by what he says. Oh, watch this. If any man draw back, my soul shall not have pleasure. So watch, wait a minute. So here's a command to walk in bulldog faith. Oh boy, are y'all getting that? He said, I ain't gonna have no pleasure in you if you draw back off faith, if you, if you're not aggressive, if you're passive in your belief, if you wishy-washy, you believe today and tomorrow you just say, oh, I'm just having a day of doubt. Who does that? You don't get to have a day of doubt when you're aggressively walking by faith. Every day is filled with trust and faith in God. Oh, thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. Thank God for faith. And I'm telling you, you want God to find pleasure in you. He said, I have no pleasure. Oudikio in Greek. Oudikio means— watch this— I don't approve you. There— watch this— there's no approval you if you draw back in faith. So if I don't approve you, I can't give you what I've already approved you to have. Oh God, aggressive faith. Stop looking at your credit report, stop looking at your bank account, stop looking at your check at the end of the week, but get aggressive in faith during the week. Every single day, every moment, you need to maximize in faith. Oh my God, today every moment you need to maximize in faith. You too dependent on you, that's why you stuck. You got to decide, I'm not going to be stuck another day. I got to get out of here, man. I know y'all hungry, I'm hungry too. Verse 39. But we are not of them who draw back. So that means you and I, we're saved. We're not of them who draw back unto perdition. What's perdition? Apoleia. Here we go. This is what ties it into mess. It means destroying, utter destruction. Watch this. It means the ruin. It means to go broke. It means to doubt God's ability to provide. I like that one because a lot of times we are ruined, we do go broke, we do come short, we do miss the mark because we're dependent on ourselves. Sometimes I hear, 'Apostle, can you, can you just please start back prophesying?' No, I'm prophesying right here. I'm prophesying right here. I want you to get this for real. I'm very serious right now. You need to be grateful that God has made some promises to you. If you're thankful for anything today, be grateful for it and show your gratefulness or thankfulness by pursuing those promises. They are not just there to be there. They're there for you to enjoy. Oh my God, today, huh? He said, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. So we are of them that believe. Pissed us again. We're of them that are persuaded that God can't lie. We're confident in his truth. We're confident that if he promised it, if he said it, he is going to do it. So that was number one. 1, Bulldog Faith is aggressive. I think y'all got that. Number 2, Bulldog Faith bites down and doesn't let go. Hebrews 10:23. Type it in the comments, guys. Number 2, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. Oh my God, bite down. In other words, get your teeth in the promise, be persistent, and don't let go. If you take a good look— watch this— at the face of a bulldog, you'll see that his jaw protrudes and his nose is indented. This structure allows him to bite down on something almost definitely because he can breathe without hesitation or trepidation through his nose. So he can bite it and keep breathing. Oh my God, glory to God. Listen, what does that mean, Michael? That means this is a picture of you as a believer. You gotta bite into the promise, be stubborn, refuse to let go of that promise. Keep confessing it, keep praying it out of your mouth. I said it Sunday, you shape the world that you live in with your words. No, I said it last Saturday in Jackson at Roderick Jackson. You— what you say is what you get. So you gotta bite down, keep saying what God said, keep praying what God said, and keep living life breath coming out of you while you bite down on that promise. And I promise you, promise is going to walk up to you and shake your hand and say, I'm here, I'm here. You, you, you have bit down on this until it showed up. That's all I'm saying. Are y'all hearing this? Don't let go, don't let go. Keep talking it, keep speaking it, keep believing it, keep it in front of your eyes. Write the vision, make it plain. Write it down, read it every day. Glory to God. Develop your ability to see things that are not as though they were. What does that mean? That means when you bite down on it, you take ownership of it. Remember I told you when that, that bulldog bites down on it, he, he takes it as his own. When you bite down on the promise of God, you own it as if it is already yours. Oh, I feel like running. I feel like running, y'all. Oh my God, I feel like running. Oh boy, are y'all here? Oh my God, I feel like running. I feel like running. Listen, I gotta get out of here, man. Oh, I gotta go. But you gotta take ownership so you can occupy. But here, here we go. There can be no ownership and no occupancy without opposition. You will be opposed. But when you are opposed, hear me. Oh my God, you gotta keep biting down. Oh my God, say that with me. Say, I gotta keep biting down. You got to keep biting down, y'all. You can't stop, you can't let go. Glory to God. You got to keep biting down. Lord Jesus, I love you, I praise you, I magnify you. You're so good and ain't nobody like you nowhere. So I got to keep biting down, y'all. Hold on a minute, I'm trying to make sure— the devil is a liar. Glory to God, we bless the Lord. Hallelujah, wonderful Savior. All right, so keep biting down, keep biting down, keep biting down, keep— I had to plug up my laptop, so I just kind of jumped in here. I'm telling you, I was in the spirit, I was in prayer before I came in here to start teaching, and I just, just jumped in and that's what I got, technical stuff. But we're good, just stay with me, I'm almost done. So I got to keep biting down. You got to see things that are not as though they were. Hear me, you can't let situations you're in— listen to me, family— put constant pressure on you. See, when you're aggressive, you're putting the pressure on it. I'll say it again, you can't let what you're going through financially put constant pressure on you. You got to put pressure on it. You got to put pressure on it. You got to put pressure on it. Glory to God. So you can own it, occupy it, and defeat the opposition. Listen, it takes aggressive action— watch this— to get aggressive results. Write that down. It takes aggressive action of faith to get aggressive results. Listen, in due time, the Bible says, you will reap if you faint not. In due season You will reap if you don't give up, if you don't let go. I'm almost done, y'all. I'm, I'm over an hour already with the prophecy that was at the beginning, so stay with me, stay with me. I need you to get this on this Thanksgiving today. Stay with me, don't leave. I know you tempted to scroll, tempted to roll away. Stay with me. It's going to become reality. You will see, because you got to own it before you occupy it. So you got to see it before you see it. Bulldog faith allows you to see it before you see it, so when it manifests, you will recognize it. Oh, so bulldog faith— when I put pressure on the promise, I own it. I see it as mine before I see it, so when it comes forth, I recognize that it actually belongs to me. Because really, if you're believing to something that you don't No. Oh my God. Can and will happen. Or you really don't believe it. Pistis, faith. It's not gonna happen. It's just not. But if you believe it, take ownership, talk about it, say it, pray it, live it, it's gonna show up. You got to be aggressive. Number 3, write it down, write it down. Number 3, Bulldog faith, listen, never takes no for an answer. We— write it down, y'all. Now put it in the comments: never takes no for an answer. Watch this. John 5:4 said that this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. That's John 5:4. This is the victory that has overcome the world. Watch the operative word here is world. The word world is cosmos in Greek, is where we get words like cosmopolitan, which is a system of existence or living— watch this— that is pseudo or fake reality. So the world system is pseudo-reality. It's fake reality. Oh my God, oh my God, the world system is fake Reality. So what's reality? Reality is the life that God has planned for us through the kingdom's systems and laws and parameters, and not the laws and parameters that the world has placed upon us. I'm giving an example. Doctors are in the world system, so the doctor can say, no, you won't get better. No, you'll never walk again. No, you can't have a baby. Oh, your employer may say, no, you can't have a raise, and no, we are not going to ever promote anyone here. The world says no, that you can't enjoy wealth and riches because you're Black, or you're a woman and you can't have a successful business, or maybe you are a Black man in a minority in America and the world says you could never excel beyond the structure I put in place for you. When the world says no, Bulldog Faith says yes. Oh my God, when the world says no, Bulldog Faith says yes. Good God Almighty. My God, today, are y'all here? My God, are y'all here? I'm almost done. I know I've been on long. I know I've been on long. Every opportunity, and I said in the beginning, is an opportunity for faith or failure. Everything you're facing right now, whether good or bad, it's an opportunity for faith or failure. But I don't have time. But Mark 10:47-48, right, put it in the comments. It says, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Hallelujah! Be quiet! Many of the people yelled at him, but he only shouted louder, Son of David, have mercy on me! Watch this. This is blind. Bartimaeus knows Jesus is coming by. It's an opportunity to stay blind or see. That's what this is about. He doesn't care that others looking at him are saying no. Shut up, you're out of order, be quiet. See, the world system will tell you you're out of order. The world system will tell you to be quiet. The world system will say calm down, you, you believe it too much, God ain't gonna do all that. Lie, lie, lie. You better say what you need to say according to the word of God and be like Bartimaeus, I ain't gonna quit till I can see. I ain't gonna quit until this man lays hands on me and I can see. Don't accept the report of the doctor, the report of the world. Whose report will you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord. Oh my God, I got to get out of here, y'all. I got to go, man. Hallelujah. Number 4. I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go, because I can go on in that. Here we go, number 4. We're giving you 4 personalities of bulldog faith. That's just as simple. And I want you to be thankful for faith and the ability to be aggressive. God gave you ability to be aggressive toward his promise. You don't have to be this passive person that prays, okay, well, if God do it, you know what he doing. If he don't do it, you know what he doing. No, he's giving you some direct promises that he says he will do. You got to accept that. You can't just take what you want out of the Bible and let that just be your life. That's not— that's misery. Because most of you, most of you will live in misery doing that because you're afraid, and that's the mess, to believe. You're afraid that God really can give you better, that he really can take you to the next level. That's very psychologically debilitating when you are in a position where your thought process is a world system worldview and thought process where you cannot have a kingdom worldview of your life. You need to look at your life through the lens of God's promises. Oh my God, did they— hallelujah. Number 4, bulldog faith is fully persuaded. And being fully persuaded, what he had promised he was also able to perform. That's Romans 4:21. Are y'all hearing this? Abraham was 100 years old in this text, Romans 4:21, and he said I'm fully persuaded that what he promised he's able to perform. God promised Abraham a baby at 100 and that he would be the father of many nations. Just because God said it, irregardless to Abraham's physical makeup, his old age, his wife not being able to have any more kids, he chose to believe God over what he could see. How do you mess— how do you mess— how— listen, you, you, you cannot fall in love with your circumstances where you prioritize them over what God said. You gotta fall in love with what God said and believe it and be aggressive Bite on it. Be persuaded that it will happen. Fully persuaded doesn't mean hoping it's true, wishing it's true, or liking the idea. Oh yeah, it's a good idea, God, that I can, uh, the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and adds no sorrow. That's a great idea, but I just don't expect that for me. Devil is a liar. Everything he promised It's not just a good idea, it's, it's, it's available for you. Oh yeah, I read it, God, that you said with, uh, oh yeah, with your stripes I can be healed. Yeah, but I'm still just gonna trust this report that doctors gave me, and if you perhaps heal me— no, no, no, bite down into that promise and receive healing in your body. In your mind, in your soul. Receive the deliverance that God— oh my God— has provided. I got to get out of here, man. How do I develop this persuaded faith? I'm glad you asked. You got to confess. You got to say things like, I wholeheartedly agree with everything God has said about me in his word. Try that right now. Say, I wholeheartedly agree with everything everything God has said about me in his word. Whoo! Yeah, you ought to say that every day until you get persuaded. I wholeheartedly agree with everything God has said about me in his word. I wholeheartedly agree with everything God has said about me in his word. You could develop that persuaded faith. Oh my God, today, wait a minute, I heartily agree. When you got sickness, that I am healed. My whole heart I agree I'm healed. My whole heart agree I'm prosperous. With my whole heart agree I'm redeemed. Whatever he says in his word, I wholeheartedly completely agree. Hallelujah. I gotta go, y'all. When you become completely persuaded, completely confident, you will dare to believe God over your natural circumstances. That's what it means to be persuaded, where you put God over what you got coming in financially. You're doing all you can, you're working, you got whatever's coming in, that's what's coming in. But you got to trust God above your circumstances and say, I hold wholeheartedly believe every word God says about me and my finances in the Bible. You gotta wholeheartedly believe, not some of what he said, all of what he said. I'm done. Number 5, and I'm gonna let you go get your Thanksgiving dinner on. Glory to God. My God, today. Number 5: Bulldog faith takes it. Doesn't ask for it, doesn't negotiate. It takes it because it belongs to them. The person believing, it belongs to you and I. So we don't negotiate for it. We don't ask for it. We take it. Somebody said, but that's rude, Apostle. I, I don't care about being rude to the enemy. We take it. We take it. We take it aggressively with our faith. I got to get out of here, man. Joshua 18:3. I'm reading it out of The Message. Bible. It says, how long are you going to sit around on your hands? Listen, how long are you gonna sit on your hands? Listen to me, y'all. How long are you gonna sit on your hands? Hear me. And put off— just putting it off— taking possession of the land God has given you. God promised them that they will have a land that flow with milk and honey. You know the story. The land wasn't just given to them, they had to take it. So the promise was made, and once the people aligned with the authority they had to take what was theirs, they took it. Here's reality: the original children of Israel who came out of Egypt did not go into— whoo, Lord— the Promised Land. Because they sat on their hands for 40 years and wandered in the wilderness. Should they or should they not take it, in fear of the Moabites, the Amorites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, fearing confrontation. Took them 40 years to get somewhere they could have gotten in 12 days. Perhaps the delay in your life is because you know the promise— I'm done— but you won't take it. Perhaps you're sitting on your hands. Perhaps your delay is connected to You not handling your doubt mess. Yeah, your inability to prioritize the promise of God over what you're dealing with. Maybe that's the delay. Question is, how long have you been waiting for it? How bad do you want it? Those promises, guys, already belong to you. Go to Ephesians 1 and 3. I'm gonna walk this out and we'll be through, I promise you. This is the last point. Ephesians 1 and 3, he says, blessed be God. One gelatos in Greek, blessed, which means worthy to be praised. Adored, thanked. Hallelujah for what he has promised. Blessed be God. God is blessed. Do you hear me? God is blessed and he's worthy of our praise. He wants to get the glory out of my life. He wants to get the glory out of your life. He wants to be adored through manifested promises. So that others will praise him because of what God does for you. It's not like— it's not even about you. It's about people seeing where God brought you from and what he did through you for real, so you could testify. I really can't tell you the science or the mechanics on how I got this Bentley, how I got this mansion, how I got this million dollars, how I got this husband, this wife, how I got a successful business. Really can't give you the science, but what I can tell you, I never let go. I was persuaded that what God promised, oh, he was gonna bring it to pass. You can say God did it. He said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Lord, help us today. So next time you get an obstacle, a bill, an opportunity that— listen, I'm working on a project now, man, that I'm literally gonna need, and I'm trusting God to do it debt-free. I'm gonna need at least $6.5 million to to do it the way I want to do it for my production studio, to build it, to purchase the land, purchase, build it, put everything we need in it, and then begin to hire the first tier of our entire production team. It's going to take a miraculous move of God and aggressive faith. But I ain't— God promised me this 4 years ago. I ain't letting go. I— and I'm closer now than I ever been. Things are opening, opportunities are open, resources are open. Oh my God, investors are opening. Because I got my teeth in this thing. And let me tell you something, you keep your teeth in what God promised. Don't you let it go. Oh my God, it's a bashi. Oh God, I need you, Jesus. He's blessed. So lay your hands on that opportunity, lay your hands on those bills, and blessed be God. Lay your hands on your children and say blessed be God. Walk on that land, walk on that ground, mouth and say, blessed be God. He's already blessed and he's already promised it. Take it. Stop rejecting it. Handle your mess. Stop rejecting it. Stop thinking you're not worthy. You are worthy. His grace is sufficient for you. Ah, that's prophetic, Phyllis Stewart. I receive it. They're already coming. Glory to God. And I'm telling you, I receive it for every one of you that got dreams and aspirations. I declare what Phyllis Stewart just said. I announce the blessing over your life. Glory to God. The investors are coming. The investors are coming. The investors are coming. The seed sowers are coming. The well-wishers are coming. The people— listen, you only need one open Oprah, one Tyler Perry to be preoccupied with your vision and your dream. You don't need thousands of people, you just need the right one person to see what God sees in you. Oh my God, and they will give to God's cause in your life. My God, today the investors are coming. The resources are coming. Take it, take it. I'm done. The resources are coming, the resources are coming, the resources are coming, the Resources are coming. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. Receive it in the name of Jesus. Oh, shibata ya. Yes, God is coming. It is coming, it is coming. Oh, we love you, Jesus. We thank you. Just begin to worship right where you are. I, I just stopped. I had more, but I'm stopping. I think you got it. Glory to God. Wonderful Jesus. You got to get this aggressive faith and take what God has for you. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, we give you praise. We give you glory. We give you honor. We lift you up, God. We exalt you. We we glorify you, God. And we thank you that the worst is over and our best days are here. We thank you for aggressive faith. And I decree and declare that every person under the sound of this word, that they will operate in aggressive faith. And that— oh, shatta taban sete de besoto rabakaya. And we give you praise and glory for it now. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, and amen. Thank you so much, guys, for joining us on this Thanksgiving Day. Listen, I want to challenge you right here to sow a seed of gratitude. Glory to the name of God. On this Thanksgiving Day, I don't care what it is, but get something in the ground to say to God, I'm thankful for aggressive faith. I believe your promise. One of the promises is if you give, it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men give to your bosom. The ways to give are scrolling at the bottom of the screen. Get your seed in the ground. Be thankful. Be thankful for the word. Listen, it's a good opportunity put it in action, that the promises are coming. Glory to God. And there's one way that's not listed there, you guys can type it in the chat for me. If you want to use Zelle, you can give to the church's Zelle account by using the email address info@rodderchurch.com. Uh, if you want to give via Zelle, info@rodderchurch.com. The Cash App is there, the church website is there. Every person under the sound of my voice voice. Listen, be obedient. Get seed in the ground. Get in the ground. Now, Father, I declare that every seed sown today in gratitude, your scripture will come alive for them. As they give, it will be given unto them good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will men give to their bosom. I declare it now in Jesus' name. Listen, we're going— have a happy Thanksgiving. Just by way of announcement, Listen, you guys, if you're planning to go with us to the DMV, if you're on here and you're in the DMV area, I'm super excited to come to the DMV. We'll be in the DMV December 8th, 9th, and 10th, and God is going to meet us there for, uh, 3 powerful opportunities for worship and fellowship. On Friday night, glory to God, we'll be ministering. Pastor, if you have the address to where we're going to be on Friday and Sunday, you you could put it up. If not, we'll, we'll get it up another time. But the reality is I need you to be in the house. God's going to meet us there. Listen, if you're coming from Mississippi or Georgia, you're going with us. Uh, we've had a lot of time to get ready for this, guys, and I really— it would do my heart good if you could come. If you're going, you need to get your deposit in. I sent out a text last week, um, I told you the plane tickets were fluid Uh, the closer you get to the date, plane tickets change. So the plane ticket went up by $100 as of today. Uh, tomorrow it enters into 14-day advance. It may go up again. And precisely because people are traveling, this is the holiday season, we're going to the nation's capital, um, the ticket prices are going up. So if you're going, I need you to get your deposit in. Glory to God. God. And let's believe God. Let's just trust God by faith that he could do whatever needs to be done. We love you guys. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile on you is your prayer— is our prayer. Felicia and I, we greet you with God's joy, and we say happy Thanksgiving to you. We can't do this without you. So all year long, you guys support with your presence, with your time, and even with your talents. It helps us to do what we're called to do. So we appreciate you, and we're looking forward to the days to come. So Happy Thanksgiving. We love y'all. Be blessed.