MANIFESTED VISION, PART 1: "VISION & PURPOSE" | DR. MIKE WOODS | 11-6-2022

Well, praise the Lord, and grace and peace be multiplied to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is Apostle Mike Woods. For those of you who are uninitiated, and welcome to our Sunday night edition of Rhoda Now. I'm super excited as usual to come into your homes or wherever you may be watching us and share with you the word of the Lord. Listen, it has been A very glorious and exciting day for us at Rodder Church. And, you know, I just believe that God is doing something for his people across the board that is simply unusual. Matter of fact, I was in Mississippi last week in revival with my son, Apostle Brandon Cornelius, and we, we like to minister together in teams. And when he had the mic, uh, one of the nights we were there, he got up and said that the unlikelies are coming. And I'm just telling you right now, I believe that we've stepped into a season, hear me, of unusual things where God is literally doing some unusual stuff, ah, where he is going to blow your mind. So listen, get in position because it's only being, only being in the right position, hear me, that's the thing that's gonna change the condition. Right position changes conditions. If you wanna change the condition, Get in the right position. Your condition is a result of your positioning. And if you're positioned in a religious camp, if you're positioned around religious people who think they know it all and think that they, oh my God, have died and went to heaven because they are a part of some popular thing and not some powerful thing, you have missed it, my friends. And this is why, for the most part, I promise you, You remain stuck. So welcome tonight. I'm not going to belabor the time. Listen, I want to get right into this word. I want to drop this word because I did not want to admit my online audience from this teaching that the Lord gave me for today. So I'm going to teach it tonight. Uh, listen, if you— there's nothing like experiencing Rother Church in person. Uh, there's certain things we just don't do and can't do, uh, online. And at the end of the day, we just can't do them because you're not physically in our presence. But if you want to get a word from the Lord, a personal prophecy, you have— you're sick and need prayer, you know, if you just want to experience prayer and worship in person, you got to be in the building. But you know, the word of God, it translates through digital means, and we're going to share it tonight. And I believe you are going to be blessed. So let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I love you, God. Hallelujah. I thank you. You're so good, you're so wonderful, you're so mighty, you're so merciful and gracious, God. So I thank you for another opportunity, God, to be used of you. You know, I don't take it lightly, uh, that you would choose to use me. So I pray, God, tonight that Michael Woods will be hid behind the cross. No flesh would seen, and that those that hear would experience the light, the illumination, and the intelligence of the Holy Ghost. And I give you praise and glory for it now, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Hallelujah. All right, so we're going to drop this like it's hot, right? Gloria, I know I'm I'm so dating myself when I say that, but I just believe this is a hot message. We're gonna drop it like it's hot, and I want you to open your spirit, glory to God, and receive what thus saith the Lord on tonight. Do me a kind favor, guys, please share this. It's just nice to be nice. And you know what, when you share this with someone else, you are blessing them. The scriptures declares we are blessed to be a blessing. So if you're getting blessed by the word, why not share it with your friends and family online so they can be blessed by the word? Tag someone by below, share it to their page, share it in their DM, however you choose to do it. Share it to one of the groups you're a part of. Listen, share the message. The more you share it, the more others can be blessed by it. And I believe this for these next 2 months, God has put— hear me, guys— literally a very strategic and deliberate prophetic teaching on my lips. Because as we cross over into 2023, it's going to be very important that we are prepared for what God is getting ready to do. Spirit of the Lord spoke to me this morning in prayer, and he said, Michael, Personally, I want you to be very clear that 2023 is going to be the year of manifested vision for you. So the things you've envisioned, the things you've dreamed about, these are the things, son, that I'm going to bring to pass in your life. And he said, share it with your people. Prepare them for manifested vision to, to even— watch this— overtake themselves. Suddenly, and things that were going to take 10 years, he's going to speed it up, and you're going to see it happen next year. Glory to God, because you aligned yourself again in the right position. So hear me, I need you to make sure that you receive this tonight. So this teaching, I don't think we should wait to '23 to get ready. So the Holy Spirit says start teaching this now. So in November and December, every Sunday, every Thursday, We're gonna be approaching the subject— I'm sorry— very deliberately and very strategically of manifested vision, because every one of us wants to see the vision or dream that God has placed in our life come to pass. And we're gonna talk about that, how to see that happen. Before I get started tonight, I want to take you into a trailer that kind of introduces this series, and then we're gonna come right back and and teach the word. Check this out. One of the most tragic things in the world is to have sight but no vision. As a matter of fact, it's quite pathetic because you see, the greatest gift God ever gave to mankind, it's not the gift of sight but the gift of vision. Sight is a function of the eyes. Vision is a function of the heart. And because so many people look at life through their eyes and not real vision that comes from the Spirit of God, they're frustrated in their marriage, they're frustrated in their businesses, they're frustrated in their life. They have no hope. They're depressed. They can't see their way out. But the reality is, those that have good success are those who live for from the realm of vision, prophetic perception. And I just want you to be clear this month and next month even, that as we move into this new year, vision will begin to be manifested in our lives, and we gotta get ready now. I promise you, vision is God's optimal reality for your future, and he wants to see it manifested. All right, so yeah, that's simply the truth, man. God wants the vision for your life to be manifested. So tonight we're going to jump into this, man, and we're going to start talking about vision. Hear me. And purpose, vision and purpose. That's what we're going to discuss. We're going to dive into this with both feet because I think that when there is a proper marriage between purpose and vision, nothing is impossible. As a matter of fact, when you're accurately— hear that— accurately inside of your purpose, and following after the vision that God planned for your life, nothing is impossible for you to achieve. So again, I want to say this, and I just want to go on record as saying that one of the most pathetic and miserable humans in the world is that human being that is living their life without vision. God put innately in every human being when they came to this planet his vision. The problem is the scriptures declares that we were born in sin— hear this, and I'm already teaching— and shapen in iniquity. So when you were born, you were born into an Adamic plan that was failed. All right, you had to meet Jesus Christ, the second Adam, to remove the curse from your life and redeem you from sin. Now, even when you get redeemed from sin, that doesn't necessarily— hear me— defeat the iniquity, because iniquity, the Greek word, is a word that means lawlessness. So we're shapen in lawlessness. We are without heavenly supernatural kingdom, hear me, or spiritual law. So we start being shaped in a culture that's utter heavenly, that's anti-heaven. Oh boy, that's anti, uh, supernatural. And religion has been the biggest perpetrator, hear me, of teaching people anti-supernatural, anti-heavenly, anti-spiritual. Oh my God. Things that push them into new dimensions. Here's what I need you to realize. Glory to the name of God. You came to this planet again with the supernatural dimension locked inside of you. The Bible declares that before he formed you in the belly, The scripture says that he knew you. That word knew in Hebrew is yada, which means he was intimate with you. And intimacy is not sex. Hear me. That's Jeremiah 1:5 for those of you that need reference. Intimacy is not sex. Intimacy, it's defined literally inside of the word into me see. So real intimacy says I open myself up and I show you my vulnerability. I show you the deepest parts of me. And so what God did in the before, he opened you up. Glory to God. And he made deposits innately inside of your spirit man. And watch this. He gave you a package that you were to bring to the earth. And then he put vision. Hear me. Oh, inside of you. So that when you came into a knowledge of him, that your eyes would be enlightened and open, and you would now— hear this— see your life the way God— hear me— sees it. Oh boy. So here it is. As you were shaping in iniquity, you learn then to become dependent listen on your sight, on what you beheld carnally, on what you encountered through common sense. Can I— when we were discussing this today earlier, there's nothing about moving in the supernatural that's common. There's nothing about tapping into supernatural resources and walking with God in the spirit realm that's common. Everything about God that he manifests in our life is simply uncommon because it, again, it builds from a different nature. It builds from your spirit. So as you're cultivated in iniquity, you learn to depend on carnality, carnal sight. Sight, listen to this, is a matter of the eyes. Yeah. Sight is a matter of the eyes. Vision is a matter of the spirit because God deposited vision in you before you got here. And you can only behold vision through the realm of the spirit. Now, there are people who create, watch this, vision that comes out of their soul or vision that emerges straight out of their flesh. When I say soul, it comes out of something they desire, something they want, something they've seen. So they create a vision for their life. But let's give you an example. You may watch T.D. Jakes. Oh, I love the ministry T.D. Jakes has. And so what you'll do instead of trying to find your own plight, your own fire, your own authenticity, your own uniqueness, you start trying to— oh, Bill! Oh my God! What T.D. Jakes built, which was the vision God gave him, not you. And what, what makes you extremely successful is your ability to build what God put in you. So vision, then again, is a matter of the spirit. Sight is a matter of the eyes. Now, the greatest gift that you ever received from God was not the gift to prophesy. Yeah, was not the gift to pray, was not the gift to preach. I'm finna take you somewhere. Was not the gift to lay hands on people and they lay down and take a nap. No, that, that wasn't the greatest gift that God gave you. It wasn't to cast out devils. The greatest gift God gave you as an asset to your life as a human is vision. I'm gonna show you why in a moment. And as a matter of fact, most people think their eyes, what they could see, what they could perceive. If I could see it, I can be it. Yeah, and most people say that from a fleshly connotation, not understanding that that's really true. If you see what God sees, you really can become it. Oh my God. Oh my God. Are y'all here? Please share this. Please share it. Glory to God, cuz somebody needs this word today. So here we go. Eyes that look— because that's all eyes really do— are very common. Your eyes just look. They have no ability to do nothing more than look. When you use your physical eyes, you are actually just looking at something. But vision. Hallelujah! Create an eyesight that actually sees. And listen, ladies and gentlemen, this is rare. It is rare to have eyes that actually see. Most people look at things at the surface, and that's all they see. They see what they see at the surface. That's why people can get online and pretty much be what they want to be, because people really just look at them. But if you really take an opportunity to see or discern a little— oh my God— below the facade, below the acting, I promise you, you're going to see something, glory to the name of God, that they're not showing you. Because watch this, innately everybody has something in them that they don't want nobody else to see, and then everybody has something in them that no one else has seen. So what your prayers are to be, God Give me eyes to see and not just look. I dare you to touch yourself right now and say it. Wherever you're watching me from, touch yourself. There are people that watch this from all over the world. So in whatever language you're hearing me in, there's somebody listening to this podcast. Listen, I want you to touch yourself and say, Lord, give me eyes to see in the name of Jesus. Say, I don't just want to look. Give me eyes to see. Matter of fact, I dare you type it in the comments. Lord, give me eyes to see. Lord, give me eyes to see. Because quite honestly, wherever you find yourself right now is based on what you've seen. Or what you've looked at. And listen, the greatest success, the greatest positioning in life comes when we learn, hear me, how, oh my God, to look at life through the lens of God. Oh wee! All right, let me just get some working definition before I get too far in this, man. So vision, comes from a Hebrew word, qazón, qazón, and it literally means prophetic perception, prophetic oracle. It means, watch this, a prophetic revelation, a prophetic dream, a prophetic end. Oh my God, it means literally to perceptively see. So you just don't look, but you see with perception. So what you're looking at, you see depth, you see long distance. As a matter of fact, I always say that prophetic people, not pathetic people, but prophetic people— hear me, it's a lot of pathetic people out there— but prophetic people, hear me, they have what? They have two type vision. They have one, they have microscopic vision. Which means through microscopic vision in the spirit. Hear me, they have the ability to take what is small and see it as big. Oh, so you, you could, you, your percept, your depth perception change. Hey, Pastor, you may have a small church with 3 people, but when you really get the vision from God you can see those 3 people as whatever it is. It may just be 100, it may be 200, it may be 5,000, but whatever the plan of God is for you is success. So when you get microscopic vision, you could take what is small now and see it enlarged. You can see your business, it may be a small business now, you can see it as a corporation when you have microscopic vision. Oh, you can look at your bank account and see your account growing into multi-millions and even billions if you have the insight to do it and you can see your life through the eyes of God. Oh boy, I can't even tell you everything I see. Lord have mercy. You have, you have to have the ability to take something little, microscopic vision, and see something huge emerge out of it. Secondly, here we go, prophetic people also have, oh my God, telescopic vision. They have the ability to take things that are far, they could see it as if it was close and bring it near. It takes, a telescope takes the stars which are far away and brings them close. Listen, I wanna challenge everybody, if you never looked in the sky through a telescope, let me challenge you to do that. It's an amazing experience. If you never been to a planetarium where they bring the stars close, glory to the name of God, it's an amazing experience because when you understand that these stars are millions of miles away and that telescope brings them right in front of your face, This is what visionaries and prophetic people who have telescopic vision can do. They can see the long game. They can see the end of a thing because the Bible says God declares the end from the beginning. They could see that end and pull it close and understand the strategy and the process is necessary that they must walk out to get to that end. Many of you have seen some things or you heard some things. You had some prophetic oracle. You've had some prophetic revelation, some vision come to you. But you have not spent enough time to develop and mature your telescopic vision enough. Hear me, oh boy, God have mercy. So that, listen to me, you could pull what's far close and strategize and plan with God, hallelujah, on how to ascertain or bring that thing to pass. Ooh. Oh, glory to God. Are y'all following me? See, I'm telling you, you gotta get this, 'cause as we cross over into '23, I'm telling you, hear the prophet of God. I'm telling you now, it's gonna be a year of manifested vision for those who are ready, for those who have exercised their senses in the realm of the spirit. Listen, bodily exercise profits little. Glory, but godliness with contentment is great gain. The only way you can have godliness and be satisfied with it, you gotta have a vision of God that's bigger than where you are, and you gotta learn how to dream with God. So that's vision. So let's put it together with the word manifested. Manifested simply just mean apokalupsis in Greek. It simply means to put on display. To expose as reality. So let me tell you something. Vision manifested deals with the idea that the thing that God has been telling you, whoo, whoo, he is going to cause it to be manifested in your life. Lord have mercy. Y'all didn't hear that. The thing, oshia, briske tabanso robo kushke, the thing that God said he was gonna do through you and in you hear me, he's gonna cause it to be manifested in your life. Oh, hallelujah! Jesus Christ, I feel the anointing of God. Jesus, let me tell you something, man. God has a plan for you. He has thoughts, he has visions of you. He already knows where you're going. You just got to see it. And then what he does while you're on earth, he wants you to walk through the earth in a way with so much authority, insight, intelligence in the spirit that you can bring forth and bring into manifestation the things that he has planned for you. Oh my God. So let me give you some quick facts about vision, then we're gonna get into vision and purpose tonight. One, Vision is a source of hope and life. Somebody type that in the comments. Vision is a source of hope and life. Listen, it does not matter. Hear me, if you— you could be broke, you could be hurt, you could have lost everything, you could be going through a divorce, but as long as you got vision Vision will give you hope that the future is still imminent. Hear this. And now remember, remember, vision is prophetic revelation. So you have to transition into the spirit, not into your mind, uh, not into your intellect, not into religion, not into watching somebody else and then develop a vision from what you saw them do, but really authentically tapping in to the prophetic revelation over your life. Lord have mercy. Number 2, vision— watch this— makes disappointments and sufferings bearable. So even where we are as a nation, things the nation has gone through, even we just come through this pandemic, still in some ways dealing with it, but vision When you have— when you— I wasn't ever afraid of the pandemic. Neither was I ever afraid that it was going to last forever. Never did I fear that I would die because I had vision that one, we would get past it, that two, God would show us grace. Glory to the name of God. And as long as I kept vision, I had hope. And you had people just because of a pandemic, and you still got some of this ignorance going around saying that the pandemic— listen, I, I, the pandemic might have changed the way you do things religiously, but if you was a spiritual person actually walking with God in the spirit and not just when you get on stage or when people watching you, you know, it's a whole nother deal when nobody ain't looking, you a hoe or you gay, but when everybody looking at you, you're— you look spiritual and deep and you say all the right things. Listen, I don't even wanna hear you tell me nothing about the world has changed because of the pandemic. Because at the end of the day, if anything, the church will never be the same. Yeah, it won't be, it has to get better. And if the pandemic taught us anything, it should have taught us how to seek God without structural religious institutions in place. It should have taught us how to build relationship with God without the presence of a popular preacher on stage telling us what we need to do. That's what it should have did. But if anything, the pandemic came to push us closer to the arms of the Father. Listen, the church was never defeated by the pandemic. Please, glory to the name of God. The church is the most powerful entity on earth. It should be when it is a supernatural church. If it was a church governed by man and man's will and man's vision for himself, then no, it's not going to give any hope in suffering. You don't have a vision to take you beyond the building. You don't have a vision, glory to the name of God, to take you beyond your finances, to take you beyond the sickness in your body. You got to be able to Know that, hey, I got vision with God. See, this is the problem. Oh boy. Most people develop these visions outside of God, but you got to learn how to have vision with God. You got to learn how to dream with God and not implement your dreams outside of his dreams. We're going to talk about that in a little bit. So vision makes suffering and pain bearable. Because you understand it ain't gonna be this way always. Hallelujah, hallelujah! You understand that things are going to change. Glory to God. Oh, I gotta go, I'm bored y'all already. Ah, vision number 3 inspires work. So when you got a vision and you see it for real and you visioning with God, you vibing with God around this vision, you know you're really moving somewhere. It inspires you to not be lazy. It inspires you to work. Ooh. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says this. It said, "Whatever you find your hands to do, do it with all your might." Woo! Glory to God. Here's a reality. When you have vision, you wanna put your hands to work to that vision. To make sure that vision— glory to the name of God— is moving in the right time and moving in the right season. And watch this, it's being handled with excellence. In that text, he ain't talking about fighting. No, he talked about, you know, some people take that literally, put what he finds, do, do it all you might. No, you're not talking about fight. He's talking about literally working what he put in your heart. Oh wait. Okay, okay, matter of fact, matter of fact, matter of fact, matter of fact, let me just go to it. Let me go to it because y'all, I, I feel y'all, man. Listen, let me just go to it. I'm gonna go to it. I'm gonna read that whole verse. That one even in my notes, but let me go to it. Let me go, let me go to it, man, cause, um, I, I want you to see this. Ecclesiastes 9 and verse number 10. Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes 9. Somebody type that on the screen. 9 and 10. 9 and 10. The Bible said, whatsoever you find your hand to do, do it with all your might. Listen, with all your might, work, work for what you— hallelujah— are envisioning. He said, watch this, for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave where you're going. So he said, while you're on this earth, envision it while you're alive. Work what God gave you. And if you work it, it will live. If you work it, it will have longevity. Vision, real vision. You can't tell me you got a vision and you ain't inspired to work. Sometimes my vision keeps me up all night because I have a vision, not just for the things I do in church, but I'm a kingdom man. So the things that I do as an apostle in the marketplace, in the municipality and in ministry. These— the visions God has given me for those entities sometimes take all of my sleep. You know why? Last part of this verse: because where I'm going when I die, I ain't gonna be able to work this vision. So it's important to me that when I die, every ounce of this vision has been birthed, whoo, and has come alive in my life, and that the people that come behind me— legacy— can eat the fruit of what I worked for because I co-labored with God to bring his vision to pass in the earth. Oh boy. Jesus said, I must work the works of him that sent me while it's yet day, for the night come when no man can work. So when you get the vision, while you got the day, the illumination, the light, work it. Glory to Jesus. Hallelujah. Watch this. Vision— I don't have time because I got to cover some more stuff, but vision energizes— hear this— your faith. I'll say that again. Vision energizes your faith. When you got real vision, it will force you to move in faith. Because you know what? When real vision comes alive in your life, glory be to God, listen to me, you're gonna automatically know that it came from God because you ain't gonna know how in the world you can accomplish it alone. Listen, I question that it's from God if he gave you something that you could do without him. See, God will put you in a position where you understand that you can't live without him, and you can't build a kingdom vision without the king present. Lord have mercy. Listen, y'all want to tune up an organ or something? Want me to cue in one? Listen, I don't know what it's going to take for you. I want you to get it. Right? I want you to get this because some of you are gonna die, and it's unfortunate, it's sad. My spirit weeps for you. Jesus, it really and truly does. It really and truly does. You're gonna die and you're not gonna fulfill the God vision for your life because you never allow yourself to be spiritual enough to see the vision, number one. And number two, you didn't allow yourself to believe enough in faith that through your work with God you could accomplish what he has designed for your life. I'm determined, man. I will not quit until I see what I saw in the spirit, in my ministry, in my businesses. God, whoa. And in my influence in the municipality, I know what he showed me. So I'm gonna keep teaching, I'm gonna keep preaching, I'm gonna keep building business, I'm gonna keep traveling, doing what I do in corporate America, teaching corporate leaders from Apple. Glory to the name of God. Microsoft, from every, every place the Lord trusts me to go, from Salesforce. Glory to the name of God. I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going to these Fortune 500 companies and teaching their leaders principles that connect them to the kingdom until I see the vision that God gave me come to pass. I dare you, touch yourself and say, the Lord has a vision for me. Put your hand on your eyes and say, Lord, give me eyes to see. Ah, shabba urianse briske tabamamoncia. I decree now, I decree and declare now that God is giving you eyes to see in the name of Jesus. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Let me read, man. Let me read. Let me read. Let me read. Let me read. Let me read. My fifth point. So, one, vision is a source of hope in life. Two, vision makes disappointment and suffering palatable, bearable. Three, vision energizes your faith. Four, watch this, vision inspires work. Five, here we go, vision is God's optimal reality for your future. So wait a minute, this says to me that God is the source of all vision. Not you, not me. Now again, as a human, you can conjure up some vision and make some vision come forth on your own. But hear me, God is the source of all Vision. Whew. And it's his optimal reality for your future. So the only way you could truly see vision, take note of this now, is you must first get a real vision of God. You must know beyond religious experience that God is real. You must have a strong relationship with him so that he can trust you with what he sees. Because let me tell you something, he wants to— he wants to show it to you, but he's got to trust you with it. Because at the end of the day, he don't want to waste it on you if you're not going to do it, if you're not going to take action and carry it out. One of my favorite preachers in the whole wide world to this day is Bishop Wiley Jackson Jr. Bishop Jackson, it used to— was when he was on television, man, and you know, I used to watch him every Sunday night at 10 o'clock on Channel 69. I was a young preacher and I just loved the faith that Bishop Jackson walked in. He was an amazing giant in the kingdom, and he still is. Glory to God. He was, uh, a man of action. His ministries were called Word in Action Ministries. Uh, today that's still his ministry. Matter of fact, we used to call him Action Jackson. The reality is he used to always say this at the end of his broadcast: share the word with a friend and keep the word in action. And that thing stuck with me because you know what I learned? That it doesn't matter how much word I really know, how long I've been in the church. Oh my God, none of that matters, right? It don't matter at all. None of that matters at all. What matters is what I do with what I learned. See, it don't matter if you don't put the word in action, if you're not a person of action like Wiley Jackson Jr. That James said it so clearly in the Bible, be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. So when you discipline yourself, watch this, you start understanding They're actually vision of God. Because the more you see God, the more you get to know him, the closer you get to know him, the more— I'm telling you right now— the more you want to know about him. The closer you get, the more you want to get closer. It keeps you coming back. And then you develop this discipline to look for him. Oh my God, when my child Michael Jr.— Michael Jr., my oldest baby— Michael Jr. was a baby. He was about 3. Me and him used to play hide and seek a lot in the house. Whenever he would, he would run and hide. At 3 years old, he don't know how to hide. I'm gonna find him, right? So the interesting thing was this game never got old because the joy I had just going to look for him and the thought process of him thinking he could hide. It brought me so much joy, and I find him every time. Sometime I act like I couldn't find him, knew exactly where he was. But here's the thing that brought me the most joy. It's when I would hide, and I would always make it challenging for him. He would come looking for me, and it always took him a minute. But when he found me, oh my God, he laughed and fell in my arms and there was so much joy because he found daddy. Let me tell you something, man. This is how it feels every time you discipline yourself to go into the presence of God for real and seek his face. He said, if you seek, you'll find. If you knock, the door will be open. You just gotta go look for him. You gotta knock on the door. He's there and he wants you to discipline yourself because that vision becomes a source of personal hope and vision. It gives you an idea, because watch, when you get a vision of God, you start realizing ain't nothing I can do. I know a lot of people be looking at me crazy when I say, you know, I confess daily that I am a billionaire, praise God. And I— and then I have the innovation and business and opportunities and creativity of the Holy Spirit to bring those resources into my life for purpose of the kingdom. I confess it daily. Listen, daily. Some people say, man, you crazy. No, I'm not. That my vision of what I saw gives me hope that what I'm saying is going to come to pass. See, what you don't realize, when you— your decrees— the Bible said you decree a thing and it shall be established. The Hebrew terminology for shall be established, watch this, so it literally means when you decree a thing oh my God, the thing starts seeking for you. It starts looking for you. Can I tell you something? You better change your confession because what you decree starts looking for you. I declare right now in the name of Jesus that property is looking for you. You better start opening your mouth and say, "Property is looking for me. Houses are looking for me. Land is looking for me." Billions are looking for me. New business is looking for me. Listen, and what you say is what comes to you. But if you pull mouth it and talk about you sick, you hurt, you broke, that's what's gonna look for you, and that's ultimately what's gonna find you, and that's ultimately going to be your vision of yourself. I told you that vision was prophetic revelation. You gotta Speak that thing out of your mouth, man. So it start looking for you. Money is looking for you right now. I dare you declare, money, money, money, look for me now. I dare you declare, all my needs are met according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus the righteous. I dare you to declare, oh, I dare you declare, with his stripes I'm healed. Healing is looking for you. Glory to the name of God. I dare you declare that I am living in my wealthy place according to the word of God, and let that wealth start looking for you. And you need to confess it daily. Some of you are living beneath your privilege. Hear me, you're living beneath your privilege. Listen, simply because— hear me— you ain't opened your mouth and got a vision of what God has envisioned for you. All right, let's move, let's move. So we're talking about vision and purpose, but I had to lay that little backdrop. Listen, we're going to be teaching on purpose all November on Sunday and Thursday, all December on Sunday and Thursday. So we going to get so much vision because when we go over in 2023, I'm telling you right now, God's going to start manifesting vision for us and through us. Let me go, let me go, let me go. So we're discussing vision and purpose. So hear this, I want you to write this down. God has placed inside of every human a vision that is designed— hear this— to give purpose and meaning to your life. I'll say that again. God has placed inside of every human being of vision that is designed to give purpose and meaning to your life. Hear me, good people. Hear me good. Oh, you came to this planet packaged with potential, manufactured by purpose, and full of vision so that you could live a prosperous productive and meaningful life. It is not God's will— I don't care what religious person told you— for you to live beneath your privilege as a royal citizen in the kingdom. You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. You have been called out of darkness into marvelous light and illumination and intelligence and innovation. You should not be living like a pauper. It ain't God's plan. So if you came to this planet packaged with this, what do you do with it? Well, there has to be a marriage between vision and purpose. I call it the vision purpose collaborative. There's got to be a collaboration between God's vision for your life and purpose. And I know you may say they may be the same. Well, they're actually different. Vision is just the ability to see the completed work. It's the prophetic revelation of where you're going. It's— watch this— it's the thing that is manifest because purpose is known. So you have to make sure that you have purpose and clarity about that purpose, because if you don't, you'll mess around and start building a vision that didn't come from God. The only way you get that clarity, you got to discover purpose. So let's read Proverbs 19:21, very familiar passage of scripture. Let's read it. It says, there are many devices, or in the Hebrew, plans, in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the purpose of the Lord shall stand forever. So the only thing that is eternal is not the childlike dreams that you carry in your heart, the things that you want to do. Oh my God. Oh my goodness. That seemed like the right thing to do just because it seems right. Oh, remember the scripture in Proverbs also said there is a way that seemeth right, but the end of that way is death. We don't want that. We don't want what seems right. We want what is right. And when we tap into what is right, we avoid death. Oh, mm, Jesus. He said there are many plans. So all of us come to this earth, and then the more we get shaped in iniquity, we start defining those plans And a lot of times we'll call it God, and a lot of those plans are not him. Because he says here, nevertheless, nevertheless deals with the fact that God's option is never less than yours. His plan, his vision, his purpose is never less than what you can dream up. So it would behoove you to get the discipline Hear me, to pursue his vision and his purpose, because they're never less than yours. They're always greater. And he said they're the only thing that stands forever. So let's get some basic understanding of purpose. So what is purpose, Michael? A Latin, propose or proposal. It is something that is proposed. So Watch this. It is the will of God for us to walk in purpose, but it is a proposition from God. Whew. He proposes it. He doesn't force it on you. He's God, and he could really, if he wanted to, make all of us do what we're supposed to do, but he don't. He give us a will to choose, and then he proposes a purpose But watch this. Many people don't even get the proposal because they don't spend enough time with God for him to propose purpose. You watch too much TV, too much TBN, too much Word Network. You following preachers and it's okay, get the word right, but spend some time with the Father because he's the manufacturer of purpose. Spend enough time with him so he can show you the proposal. Oh God, I wonder really, those of you watching me tonight, have you really tapped into the proposal? Have you really seen the proposal, heard the proposal from God? Because again, it is the proposal, it is the original intent for the creation of a thing. It is what is proposed. There's an authentic you. That's an authentic reason why you were created. Why? Okay, I'm, I'm gonna go on and hurry to a close because again, I'm feeling y'all, man, live and replay. This whole, uh, energy and, and warfare around this teaching is crazy right now because the enemy don't want people to hear this. Because people are deceived. They think they're moving in purpose and they're not. They're so far away from it. Because honestly, if you never have heard the proposal or seen the proposal in a vision and had an opportunity to adhere to it and walk it out, you could possibly be on the wrong path. Maybe you guessed right, maybe. But think of all the fulfillment you're missing because you missed the proposal. So purpose is the original intent. Anything outside of the original intent is perverted intent, which causes us to be operating in life in a spirit of perversion. So perversion goes even though man on man, woman on woman, that's perverted, right? But it goes deeper than that. You're not living in the correct purpose for your life. It's perversion. Yeah, you, you're not following the plan of authenticity that God designed. It's a perverted way of living. And watch this, it's, it's actually a type of transgression because you're coming short, you're missing the mark. And sin, the Greek word for sin is harmēsia, which means to miss the mark or come short. So many times we're living out a perverted existence because we're coming short every single day because we're not living according to purpose. Oh we, Michael, Michael, did you say that? Yeah, I said it. So let me say this. You were created for a purpose, on purpose. I'll say it again, write that down. You matter of fact, touch yourself, say, I was created for a purpose, on purpose. God never does anything just to be doing it. I'm gonna say that again. God never does anything just to be doing it. Everything God does, he has a purpose on his mind. Oh, because guess what? God is a God of purpose, and every vision he gives is aligned with his purpose. So it's impossible to really have authentic, pure purpose when you don't have clear vision of God, the relationship. Watch this, because you'll start building a perverted purpose against the vision of God, which now you got two visions hovering over your life. And now what that is called is di-vision, two visions. And anything with two heads or two visions is a monstrosity. It's a freak. It's a problem. Because you can't serve two masters. You can't serve two visions. You can't serve two purposes. That's why you gotta get clarity about your purpose. Get clarity about God and his vision for your life. God is a God of purpose. Everything, everything in life, including you, has a purpose. A cockroach has a purpose. Somebody say, what in the world does a cockroach have purpose? Well, he does. He's, he's a part of a food chain, number one, that feeds a bigger insect or a bigger animal. He also, he, he is a part of a cleanup crew that cleans up things that need to be cleaned up in the earth. He has a purpose. Your little crusty toe and them corns on it for buying all them cheap shoes all those years. Hallelujah. That little toe has a purpose. Cut it off, you're gonna lose your balance. The hairs in your nose have a purpose. Everything God does, he did it with purpose. Now here's a problem, here's a problem, here's a problem, here's a big problem because most humans have no idea what their purpose is. While everything has a purpose, God is a God of purpose, most human beings have no idea, no clarity as to what their real purpose is. And this is a problem. Because when you don't know your purpose, you're going to move in division, which is going to lead to abnormal use of your life. When you don't know the purpose of something— your life, a car, money, you name it— when you don't understand purpose, you will abuse the thing where you're not clear a purpose. Abuse, abuse. You don't know the purpose of children, you abuse children. That's child abuse. You don't know the purpose of money, you abuse money. That's financial abuse. You know the purpose of— oh my God, oh Jesus— of food, you abuse food. That's food abuse. You know the purpose of drugs, you abuse drugs. That's called drug abuse. We don't understand with clarity what the purpose of something is, you abuse it. The worst thing you can ever do in life is not be clear about your purpose and your vision and start living a life of abuse. Because watch this, abuse always leads to alienation. Anytime someone is abused, whether it's verbally, physically, mentally, socially, through a bully, they alienate themselves. They isolate themselves and pull back from society, from God, from church. They get bitter. You know, you got people who had things happen to them in a church by some perverted preacher, and they stopped going to church because that happened to them in a church. Well, you cannot blame every church because that church had a preacher that needed deliverance, that felt like they need to mess with children. That's a problem. But that abuse caused them to alienate them from the very— alienate themselves from the very place that can lead them to more of God, to lead them to a future that they've never thought they could have. The very person, God, that could heal them because alienation often leads to abortion. You abort the dream, you abort the vision, you abort the purpose, and you end up alone. And that ain't the will of God. You cannot fulfill purpose in isolation. You cannot fulfill a vision in isolation. You need people to do both. Ah, I hope y'all getting something, man. I hope y'all getting something. Uh, your purpose— hear this— is never your decision, it's always your discovery. And I'm coming quickly to a close. I'll say it again: your purpose is never your decision, but it's always your discovery, because purpose comes from God. He created you with a purpose, so he has the purpose in his heart. Glory to the name of God. And the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:10-11, he said he makes all things beautiful in his time. He's speaking of purpose. If you read Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, he's talking about there's a time and place for everything, for every purpose under the sun. There's a season for every purpose. And in the process of time, in the right space and in the right place, he makes it beautiful. But you got to keep walking with it. You got to stay in relationship with him. Let's look at Romans 8:28. Come on, come on, let's go. Because some of you have given up on purpose and vision because of what you've gone through. You— the process has made you want to quit. The process has made you want to give up. The process has made you want to stop. But I want to tell you something. It's not God's will. It's not God's plan for you to stop, for you to quit, for you to give up. Romans 8:28, let's read it. And we know— the word know there in Greek, and we know, and we know, and we know. Not we're guessing, not somebody told us, not we hope it is, but we know. The word there is gnōskō in Greek, which is knowledge through a process, by relationship, through experience. So because of our experience, because of what we've gone through, because when we look back over our shoulder and see what God has brought us over and brought us through, the things he's lifted us up out of, the times when we cried out to him and he heard our prayer and delivered us and brought us through, we know this. We're not guessing at it. See, and this is what happens in real relationship with God. You learn things about God that nobody can take away. So the apostle says here, and we know that all things, oh my God, work together for good. So everything you've gone through in the process of marrying your purpose to God's vision, and oh my God, and discovering your purpose and being where you need to be in the plan of God. The Bible says here all of these things work together, that work together, some plural in Greek. Yes, Lord. Hallelujah. Which means it's— it means that they all come together. Hallelujah. As co-laborers. Hallelujah. As working side by side with the same energy and the same flow, the same vision. They're not— one's not looking here and another's looking there. Everybody's focused on the same thing. So even in your the elements of your life operate according to a purpose, according to a vision, and they're working together. Watch this. For good. For good. The word good in Greek, bena, literally means profit. P-R-O-F-I-T. Not a prophet that prophesies, but profit. Ask a businessman to define profit. He's gonna tell you what's left over after the expenses of the business have been paid and covered. Can I tell you something? Nothing you've gone through is in vain. Hallelujah! Nothing you've gone through, hallelujah, came to destroy you. Can I submit to you, God bothered you to make you better. Can I say to you this day that you should never curse your crisis because God in his infinite vision, glory to the name of God, is looking down at your life and he's already seen your future. He's already declared your end and every single thing that you go through, he is working it together, co-laboring with your life to bring forth profit. Again, ask a businessman to define profit. That, that is left over after the expenses of the business have been paid and covered, after you've gone through the process. God said, I'm gonna bring you out and give you a profit out of all this stuff. And the devil won't be able to touch you in this area ever again. I got to go, y'all. I gotta go. I really got to get out of here. He said they work together for good to them. Wait, that love God, agape God, have unconditional love toward God and love him for love alone, and love him out of relationship and not religiosity. I'm convinced, man, some people love religion, they don't love God, because if they love God, they would pursue— God forgive us for the time we were lazy and slothful and didn't pursue you like we should have. He said, for them that love God and are the called, hear me, according to what? His purpose. So the prophet comes, that that is left over, that the wave in the devil face and say, you thought you killed me, but I'm still alive. You thought I was gonna die in this, but I'm still here. Listen, he said that thing works for profit, and you're gonna wave it in their face, and your heathens are going to look at you and say, the Lord has done a great thing for them, because you endured the process out of your love for him, because you knew the process was birthing something great according to called according to klētos in Greek, which is an RSVP, direct invitation. It's not kaleo. Kaleo in Greek is an outcall to everybody. But he speaks here of the call, the klētos, those that have a direct call. And every human does. The problem is every human doesn't know it, and every human doesn't answer it because they never tap into either the education that breaks them being shaped in iniquity and introduces them to a new way of thinking and a new way of living that plugs them into a realm beyond Earth. I gotta go, man. I gotta go. I gotta go. Proverbs 29:18. The Bible says, where there is no vision, listen, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law happy is he. So where there is no charzon, or harzon in Greek, prophetic revelation, where there is no vision. So watch this, the people perish. Wait a minute, the people with purpose, the people with a plan, they lose control. That word perish in Hebrew means they cast off restraint, they get out of control. And watch this, they enjoy or love being out of control. There are some people listening to me tonight, you're out of control and you love it. Listen, and I'm not talking about wilding out, out of control. I'm talking about you living a purpose that you really think you're doing the right thing, you think it's God, and you out of control with that. You, you're going too far with some things that God didn't ordain, with some plans that God didn't ordain. You're out of control because you've learned to lean on sight and not vision. You've learned to lean on your flesh and not purpose and God's vision for your life. He said the people perish. Oh my God. He said, but he that keepeth the law— what law? What law? Kingdom law. There are laws in the realm of the spirit that we must embrace, that we must keep. We must grab kingdom law and walk after it. He said he that keepeth the law happy Hear me, happy is he. Glory to God. Ha! See, and I'm getting out of here. A few points: the vision and purpose must marry. There must be a collaborative— see, a vision or dream that is not aligned with purpose, hear this, it will become a nightmare. You know why it becomes a nightmare? Because you never get the opportunity to fulfill it. Because if you, if you see the vision and you understand what your purpose is and you never are deliberate in making sure they come together— mainly most people do this because they really don't want to obey God, because maybe what they're looking at with their natural eyes seems easier, seems better, seems quicker to ascertain. So they go that way. Oh, But God says that thing is going to become a nightmare to you. There's no longevity in that because it's a nightmare, because you keep seeing and you know you're supposed to do it, you don't do it, and you're frustrated. There's so many people that have built things on their own. They got money, they got cars, they got house. Listen, I talk to these people. I play golf with people who are totally unfulfilled. I play golf with some guys, rich, totally unfulfilled. All they do is complain the whole time they're playing golf. $10 million net worth, $20 million net worth, $50 million net worth, complaining the whole time. And even if they watch this, they know I talk about them all the time, and I, and I give them the light. Glory to God. The reality is, man, you have to tap into what God desires, because the moment you do what you want to do, you're setting yourself up for a nightmare, for failure. Oh boy, listen, when purpose and vision is aligned, here it is, it guarantees success. I'll say that again: when purpose meets vision and they collaborate, it guarantees success because you have God's vision you have his purpose working through you, and you can't help but be successful. Hear this, and this is the truth: every success in my life was a prayer success first. Meaning I prayed long enough to see the vision, to get clarity about the purpose of the thing I was involved in at the time. On the flip side, every failure in my life was a prayer failure first, which means I didn't pray long enough to get clarity on the vision and to understand the purpose of that which I was involved. But when you align them right and you know what God said— I'm telling you, you know— and you understand the purpose and you're willing to obey and walk it out, Success is always guaranteed. There's never been a time in my life when I did exactly what God said and I did not succeed. Oh boy, I got to get out of here, man. Yeah, shatta ye, shukura mali. Thank you, Lord. Listen, here's the bottom line. You can't separate authentic purpose and authentic vision from God. Again, you can come up with some stuff that you're gonna do and get it done, but it's much better when you can do this thing with God, man. Lord have mercy. Listen, I want you to understand something. When God— and I'm closing my iPad, y'all— When God and his vision and his dream and his purpose take precedence in your life and you marry purpose and vision together through his eyesight, he gives you access to see yourself the way he sees you. It gives birth to a future. That you can never ascertain except you properly embrace vision and properly embrace purpose. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you for this word. Don't know who I was helping today, God, but I thank you that you gave me an opportunity to help somebody. And I pray, God, in the name of Jesus, that this word would land it on the good ground of every heart, and that they will reap it in due season if they faith. Now I pray, God, that you will cause this word to be shared, to— hallelujah— even go viral, because people need to understand your vision and your purpose for their lives. And I give you praise and glory for it. Now I thank you for as we move swiftly toward 2023, which will be the year of manifested vision. I believe that be many people that will see the things they prayed about, cried about, dreamed about come to pass in this next year. I'm thanking you, God, that even if they don't see it in the fullest, they'll see the vision beginning to blossom and manifest. And I give you praise that through these teachings, your people, the body, will be prepared for what's coming. So many people are out here doing their own thing. They got churches open that— oh my God— that are dying and not growing. They got— glory to the name of God— ministries online and doing things, God, that you necessarily didn't tell them to do. And many people are holding on to stuff for pride. They're trying to pastor for pride. They're trying to keep saying they're an apostle for pride. But the reality is, help us to find clarity in what you say and do that and that alone. And we give you praise for it now, in Jesus' name. Amen. Listen, guys, I love you guys with the love of Jesus Christ. And guess what? Ain't nothing you could do about it. I want to challenge you really quickly to give. It takes money to operate ministry and do the things that any man or woman of God is called to do. Many of you watch our teachings, you follow our our lives. And some of you never give, and we don't put pressure on you to do it, but I want to really challenge you tonight. You know, every person watching me, especially if you're not connected to our church, I want you, number one, to tithe to your own church. You know, many of you are cursed financially because you don't give tithe to your church, and you need to really be a tither. You know, there's people out here teaching that tithing is wrong, and the reality is, you know, it's just an age principle that brings blessing. Glory to the name of God. So make sure you're giving a tenth of your earnings to your church. But I want to challenge every person here tonight, up and above your tithe, after you've given your tithe, I want to challenge every person listening to me to get a seed in the ground of $51. That's what I heard when I sat down in the studio tonight. And I'm gonna share it with you. Don't kill the messenger, but I need every person watching right now. You need God to do something. Maybe that's all you got, but I want you to trust God tonight. Take what you have and turn it into what you need. Again, the ways to give are on the screen. Two ways to give to Rhoda Church. You can give via Cash App @rhodachurch, just that simple, or you can give online at our website, rhodachurch.org. GlorytoGod.com/donate. Very simple. You can find either on your mobile device, glory to God, or your computer. However you choose to do it today, we want you to get seed in the ground. I need you to do it and be very honorable and diligent in doing so. Listen, I love you guys. Again, we're going to be teaching this all month. I want to invite you to come out and worship with us at Rhoda Church, you know, 3 o'clock in person. I need you to be in the house. There's something that happens in the house that don't happen right here. So listen, join us next week, 621 King Arnold Street in Hapeville, Georgia. Uh, we are a rock's throw from the Atlanta airport. I'm so excited about our new location. It's amazing, it's beautiful. I'm excited about all the tech that's in the building. I'm just really just excited to see what we're going to be able to do with this new space God has given us. So listen, y'all come out, join us, be a part of what we're doing. And we're super thankful. Glory to the name of God for your presence here today. Y'all be blessed. And I want to tell you, as I do each and every week, share the word with a friend. And remember, your decisions determine your destiny. God bless you. I love you.