Live Pre-Thanksgiving with the Woods

All of you are getting prepared to eat all of that wonderful food that is being cooked for you on tomorrow. Listen, I want to start by saying I have my lovely wife, Felicia Woods, here with me on tonight. I'm so grateful that she's here, and we're just going to take a little time to talk to you, just a few moments. I want to invite you, however, to get the epilogue of this on tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. We're going to stream live right from this living room. uh, for our Thanksgiving service. It's going to be amazing. We're going to have praise and worship, uh, by— with our worship pastor Chelsea and Harry. And my wife is going to do some singing. I'm going to teach the word just for about an hour, okay? We're going to share what thus saith the Lord. And listen, I want you to understand something. No matter what you're going through right now, there is reason to give thanks. The Bible says in all things give thanks. Maybe just sing a little bit of something.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, Lord. I just want, I just want to thank you, Lord. Oh, thank you, Lord. We're grateful, Lord.

We thank you for everything. We thank you Oh, thank you. You're amazing. And out of our soul we say thank you, Lord.

Yes, Jesus. I just want to thank you, Lord. Hallelujah!

Somebody right where you are, just lift your hands and say thank you. In fact, on the screen, just type thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah! Matter of fact, just for a few seconds, I want every person listening right now just to take a moment and reflect. Even though this year has been absolutely crazy, many of you have so much to be thankful for. You didn't catch COVID-19, you're still here. Out of all the deaths in our nation, the Lord covered you and kept you, and you, my friends, are still alive. And we just stopped tonight to say thank you. Listen, I wanted to take a few moments with my wife while I got her here. And, um, you know, it's 11:28. Uh, we're here in Orlando, Florida. We're celebrating, as we do each year here in Orlando, our Thanksgiving. Um, we're just enjoying our family and friends. And, uh, you know, marriage is a lot of work. And I think single people think that they're operating at 70% joy. They figure if I can get a mate, I'll be 100% happy. But you don't realize that there's some married folk looking at you single folk saying, if I can just drop this dud and be by myself again, they would, because they don't want to put in work. But if you're gonna be happy in marriage, it's a two president company. You have to wake up every day and decide, we're going to work on this and we're going to build the greatest marriage company we possibly can. So, you know, my wife and I talk all the time about different things, and one of the things that conclusions we've arrived at is that there are 3 things in every marriage. And of course, these three things were built upon the foundation of love. And we just want to share with you just a few moments what those three things are and what they mean and how you have to work on them. So, three things: one, sex, money, and communication. All these things are very important. I believe that of the three, communication is probably the most important, because if the sex is bad, you can talk about how to make it better if you got good communication. If you're broke, you got good communication, you can talk, come up with a plan, a strategy to get more money. And the reality is, I think a lot of couples struggle talking to each other. Being transparent, being open, being honest. You know, a lot of times my wife and I are out eating and we observe other couples in the restaurant, and it's amazing sometimes to sit and watch couples sit and have a whole meal they paying for in a restaurant and don't talk to each other. That's a problem. And so I can imagine how they live. Maybe in our marriage, how important is communication to you? Considering all things I do as an entrepreneur, as an apostle, um, as a person that's called on by so many people to do different things, why is communication important to you when it comes down to me as your Well, um, it's an open policy.

Communication is very vital because even if I'm not around you or if you're out doing some other things, as long as I know what's going on and it's not a matter of me trying to figure out where you might be or what it is you're doing or why you're away or you had to go into a still place, But when I know what's going on and we can both come to common ground, it helps. And then just to always have everything open. It's not always good. A lot of people like to keep secrets and hide things, but I think it's best if it stays open, even if it's something you're not too happy about. But if it's put out there in the open, you can always work on it. Always fix it. So communication is very key to any relationship, not even just in marriage, even in friendships with your close friends, with your family. Uh, honesty is the best policy, and communication is very, very much necessary in any kind of relationship that you have that's meaningful. You want to always have an open line of communication.

Amen. And so, and let me just piggyback on that just a little, because a lot of times— and this is not my first marriage, I was, of course, I was married before— and one of the mistakes I made, my life was tremendously busy. I traveled about 15,000 miles a month around this world preaching and doing what I did, but I was a poor communicator with my wife, and I vowed this time around that no matter what I did, I was going to communicate it to her. So she may even get tired of me sometimes. I can go to the store and I'll call and say, hey, I just left the store, I'm on my way home. Well, if I'm at the church, I just left the church, I'm on my way home. And some of you be like, oh, I ain't gonna check in like that, ain't gonna let up with no LoJack on me. But listen, you don't know what kind of honor that gives to your wife when you're that open, when you're that clear to trust her with your every move. Um, so communication is vitally important. Now let's go back to the top of the list. Let's talk about sex. Um, the interesting thing to me, I talk to married people all the time that tell me they're not having sex. Who does that? That's the place where sex should be happening. That's the place where it is legal. And at the end of the day, if you're married, your sexuality should be wide open. My favorite book says in marriage, the bed is is undefiled, which means you can't mess that up. And you need to be able to give your husband what he wants and give, give that woman what she wants. And let me say to you, brothers, listen, I don't care what you got to do, you know, you got to take care of your wife and you got to make sure that this is not a one-sided situation. That you getting pleased and she's not. Uh, every time you make love to your spouse, you become one with her or him. The two shall be one. And so if you ever want to really gel and be close, it comes through those sessions. So maybe you want to elaborate on sex a little bit? I'm putting you on the spot. I know you really don't want to talk.

No, sir.

Yes, I already knew she was going to say no, y'all. But let me tell you something, don't let her quietness about this subject fool you. I have to take all kind of vitamins, supplements, Red Bulls, energy drinks, everything to keep up with this person. So don't, don't let this Quiet, I don't want to talk about it. I just left heaven to have this interview, uh, and my chariot is outside waiting to carry me back. Didn't mean to fool you. She understand. All right, uh, Revelation 21:26 said all liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire. Let me tell y'all something, it is important And you need to make sure you're not selfish in this. I mean, it brings you closer to your friend that you married. So, uh, and I'll end this, that part with this, so we can get out of here. Listen, I had a good friend, the late great Bishop Philip Coleman out of Jackson, Mississippi, pastor the largest Pentecostal church in Jackson, Mississippi, Greater Bethlehem Temple. Uh, Bishop Coleman, uh, used to invite me in constantly to preach for him. And Bishop Coleman used to always tell me in the office— I wasn't married at this time— and he always tell me, said, you need to go and get married again because you in strong disobedience, because the Bible said be fruitful and multiply. But at the end of the day, I learned, guys, that sex is more than just for us to be fruitful and multiply, to have a bunch of babies. It's for us to really have oneness and be close to the one we love. Now we're going to do this last one. We did communication. Money. Do you know 85.9% of all marriages end in divorce because of fighting financial issues. So when it comes down to money, man, let me tell you something. You cannot sit on the couch all day playing PlayStation 4, 5, 6, whichever one you got. You gotta find something to do that's creating income. You should be the priest, the provider, the protector, and the prophet of your house. And money helps you fulfill all of those roles easier. And I want to empower every man listening to me tonight to really take up in your spirit to become an entrepreneur. Find your niche. Every one of you has something in you to create wealth and legacy for your family. Don't let your wife be the sole breadwinner. Now, with me and my wife, my wife has been— before I met her, she has— she's a superior officer at the United States Post Office. She is a hard worker. She's been working there for some 31 years, 33 years. And so she was used to doing things herself. And communication has helped us a lot in this area because I'm accustomed to being a breadwinner. I'm accustomed to taking care of everything, but she wants to do her part. So one of the things I had to learn how to do in this relationship is allow her to continue to be herself money-wise too, without feeling intimidated. Because although in a lot of instances I may bring in more, I may be bring in large sums of money, but what she brings, what I bring, it all is important to the forward advancement of my house. What am I saying? What everybody does money-wise has to be respected, man. If you— even if you were the woman that make more cheese than you, you got to learn how to at least go hunting. It ain't what you bring in, go hunting and get something. And if you do that, at least you're putting something in the pot. Yo, baby, you got any thoughts on that?

Um, I think it's, um, necessary. It's, um, when we got married, of course, um, I've always been independent, um, so it was, it was the, the mission together, uh me, somebody coming into my life that was able to, you know, may tell me to do this or do that. I'm so used to doing things on my own. I've always been self-supportive when it came to finances because it was just me and my two kids, and I raised them pretty much alone. Matter of fact, pretty much alone. They're grown now, but I'm very aware of it. But I'm learning now because I was one that all my money had a name to it, so I budgeted. And if it was where I didn't need to do this, I didn't do that. So I'm learning now since I've gotten married to this wonderful man right here. He said, stop worrying about all that, just buy it.

See all that pumping my head up she doing right now?

Just buy it.

That's working on sex. See, she knows what she's doing.

But I didn't. I've always You know, I managed and watched my money, and I still do, but it's nice now to be able to make it and just sit on it and just use his. And that's pretty much what I do, uh, and it's kind of great. But money is something that you use, he always says, to give to something, somebody else, something that they can't do. So I don't look look at it as just money. You gotta have— it's a tangible tool that helps you acquire what it is that you need, and you give that away. So it's really just a transfer. If you need groceries, you give them money, they give you the grocery, and that's how it is. But it's— money can tear up a marriage when you've got two people that are both eager. You gotta have an even balance, an even balance there, uh, even with spending you know, spending money. I like to buy things, but I can sit back and watch. On the other hand, my husband right here, he loves— he's a shopper. He's a shopper. And some things I'm sitting back like, well, I'll just wait. I don't have to get that. He don't wait. If it's— I need those and I need them like right now, then he's getting them. Me, I'll wait months and months. Ain't a big deal to me. But I'm learning now. But money can Money can be good, but money can also tap up a marriage, can tap a relationship, a friendship. You have to put money in its perspective place and realize that this is not the driving force to a relationship. It's just something that enhances your ability to achieve what it is that you're trying to achieve. And that's how I've always lived. What I made, I was able to achieve the home that I live in, the cars that I drive. Because I put a name to what I had. And foremost, foremost, my first fruit always goes to Jesus Christ. Whatever I make, he gets his 10%. And I believe that's the blessing in what money can do for you. Sowing seeds and giving your 10%, everything else falls in place.

Awesome. Well, listen, I ain't got nothing else to say. That is it in a nutshell. We have to balance. So be thankful, guys. If you got a spouse, be thankful. Single people, if you're alone during this season, listen, just continue to pray and become your very best at being who you are. And you know, I, I believe that when you do that, the person you need to be with just shows up. You know, uh, I'm grateful for all of my friends that are here with me, my family Um, I was sitting— I, I view— I've taken Harry and Chelsea on as spiritual children. I was sitting down talking to Harry, sharing some things with him about stocks. You know, I believe money is what you get when you give somebody something they can't get without you. So if you learn to give what you have, money follows that, and you'll never lack. You'll always have me. And, um, if that's it, we love you guys. Listen, again, 9:00 AM, we're going for the gusto. Just 1 hour, guys. We're going to teach the word, we're going to have some worship, but we're going to give thanks unto the Lord. Uh, he's done some amazing things. I'm grateful to have again my family, my friends here with me. This week, and we're going to just celebrate each other. My mother is here. She's— we're probably waking her up right now, another old sleep. But at the end of the day, we love you. You guys be blessed. Heaven smile upon you is our prayer. Meet me right here, either on YouTube, this page, or the Raleigh Church page, 9 AM tomorrow morning. We're going for it, and we're going to give thanks unto the Lord for the great things he's done. Y'all be blessed. Grace and peace be unto you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I lost my sound engineer. Emmanuel, push stop streaming for me.