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You good people, come on in and let's talk just a few moments. Y'all come in. Y'all come in, let's talk just Just a few moments. Y'all come on in. Y'all come on in, trying to make this work. Come on in, everybody, come on in. I'm sharing it just with a few people. I done had to get on YouTube to stream this, uh, which is an attestation to Facebook and and how they behaving on me all the time. This, this is the devil. It's a word that I need to share, and Facebook don't want me to do it, but we're gonna get it there either way. So I'm going to share it to my personal page now. Y'all stand by. Come in, please share this. This word is important. This word is important.

Praise God.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Glory to your name, God.

We give you the praise, Lord. We give you the praise.

Thank you, Jesus.

Glory to God.

Thank you, Lord. Y'all come in, please share, please. Hi, Cynthia, how you doing? Please share this, guys. Please share, please share. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus, we bless your holy name, Father. We bless your holy name.

You're worthy of praise. You're worthy of the glory.

Thank you, Lord. Y'all come in just a few moments. I'm not going to be long tonight, I promise you. I promise you. I just got to get it running so we can say what we got to say. Tonight.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to God.

So it should be everywhere now, should be on all my pages. God bless your hearts. Welcome to everyone that's coming in. Uh, I'm gonna make an attempt to teach this really quickly. Uh, tonight I'm going to talk about the dangers of sowing discord and strife. This is part forward to this message. I've been teaching it at the church, and it's so very important because at the end of the day, we block so many of our blessings and the things that really could be happening in our life because we operate in a place of discord and in a place of strife. And I want to tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, that just is not the will of the Father. Uh, you gotta understand that the Father has a plan, and his plan is absolute, his plan is sure. Praise God. And it operates from the standpoint or the vantage point of accord and not discord. I'm gonna say that again. It operates from this vantage point and the standpoint of accord and not discord. I want y'all to catch that, because anytime there is strife and discord in your life, it creates delays, uh, because God is a God of peace. So when everything that releases out of him is released from a place of peace, and so there has to be order for God to give you his best. So tonight we're going to talk about that a little bit. Because, uh, I need you to be very clear. Okay, Mike, I got your text. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me better now? I don't know what's happening. Can you hear me now? I got all my audio plugged up correctly. I'm telling you, the enemy don't want me to get this word out. Can you hear me? Text me back, Mike. Let me know if you can hear me better now. But at the end of the day, guys, I want you to be, uh, certain and absolutely clear that nothing— again, God does— he does it out of a place of confusion. He does it totally out of a place where we honestly can see the hand of God moving and how it streamlines without trepidation, without blockages. And discord is one of the major I'm telling you right now, ladies and gentlemen, it's one of the major blockages of the blessing of the Lord that he wants to release for his people. So we got to make sure that we get the discord out of our life.

If you're watching me, I want you to say— just, just say that when we say, get the discord out.

Glory to God.

Get the discord out of our life. We got to do it. And, um, So let's just talk about this. So first of all, what is strife? And I talked about how discord— and because I don't have a lot of time— but how discord, it leads to the spirit of strife. So strife, uh, it is an angry undercurrent.

It's bickering, it's augering, it's tension, okay?

It's animosity that is most of the time, ladies and gentlemen, fueled by envy. Most of the people who, uh, sow discord concerning you, who constantly have, uh, things that cause strife in your life, is because at some juncture they are insecure with themselves, and there is an insurmountable amount of envy that has arisen in their life because they're not at peace with what is happening for you. So, and I said it last week, misery loves company. So I want you to be clear that with that said, with strife being an undercurrent, it's an undercurrent, it's a spirit behind actions that come towards you that compromise your peace. So first thing I want to tell you tonight, guys, you got to get everything out of your life that compromises your peace.

Peace.

Are you hearing me? And if it's compromising your peace, if it's, uh, glory to God, making you not have a peace of mind where you can function, where you can think straight, I want you to know this is an evil spirit. Strife is an evil spirit that's sent out of hell, and it's sent out of hell to cause destruction to churches, marriages, families, businesses, and life as a whole. And I want to tell you something, the whole thing about COVID-19 and coronavirus, you know, it ain't so much that the coronavirus, you know, is a deadly disease that can kill people. That's, that's, that's big. But the biggest piece is there's a spirit of strife and discord behind it that causes separation Come on. That is causing businesses to fail. That has caused churches to close, preachers to leave ministry. Most of those that left ministry during COVID they really weren't called anyway. If they couldn't keep, glory, if they couldn't keep managing to preach the gospel through a pandemic, they really weren't called anyway. So at the end of the day, yeah. We have a spirit sent from hell that has unplugged us from the realities of unity.

So I want to give you, first off, at the top of this, let me go and just jump in this and teach, man, because I can just sit here and ramble about it all night because this is in my spirit.

We gotta—

we can't let circumstances in the culture of life disconnect us from really what we should be doing, and that's walking in unity. God—

we complete the joy of the Lord when we walk in unity. Did you know that?

The scripture says in Corinthians that we actually complete the joy of the Lord when we dwell together in unity.

That's a powerful piece, man. And anytime something divides us and keeps us apart, it's not of God. So let me give you 3 things off the top, and I'm not gonna be long.

3 things off the top tonight that I believe that if you—

hear me— would apply these things, they will keep strife out of— strife out of your life, okay? And they will bring blessings in your life. So these are 3 things that you need to do to obtain the blessing of God in your life. Number 1, you got to keep the strife out of your ministry and your life. You got to be very deliberate, very strategic from keeping strife out of your ministry, out of your life. You don't need people around you who walk in strife. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You don't need people around you who move in their flesh, who are jealous and envious of you and have animosity and tension toward you. That blocks the blessing. Okay, secondly, if you want to obtain blessings in life, you need to do things— watch this— in excellence. Do what you do in excellence. Let's not half do anything, ladies and gentlemen. Let everything we do, let's do it in the name of the Lord. Let's do it in— oh my God— excellence. I dare you, shout it right where you are. Shout excellence! That's what he wants. That's what he desires. Praise God. Whatever you do, I need you to do it in excellence.

Glory to God.

So thirdly, and this is a very powerful thing, if you're going to keep discord and strife out of your life, you got to be a person of integrity.

What is integrity?

Is doing what you say you will do. And watch this. There are times things arise. You can't do what you say. And if you can't, integrity says, I said I can do that, but something came up. This is happening.

I can't do it.

Are you, are you hearing me? So we got to understand, the reality is God, he never— he never— I want you to hear me— he never, he never moves in the place of confusion and discord. He never does it. So we can— we gotta choose now to live a life without strife.

Glory to God.

Now here's— I want you to go, go to— let's get into the Bible.

Let's go, let's go real quick.

Proverbs 28:25. The Bible says, he who is of a greedy spirit— watch this— stirs up what? Strife. But he who puts his trust in the Lord shall be enriched and blessed. So again, many things cause strife, but the Bible mentioned two things right here is jealousy and greed. So when a person again is moving in jealousy, arrogance, and greed toward you, I'm telling they're gonna— they're gonna always stir up tension.

Lord help me, I got a little jet lag, I just came from the West Coast.

Uh, they're gonna stir up tension, they're gonna stir up strife. But you, you got to be very clear that you have to be deliberate in managing this. It's dangerous, and you got to stand against it. Strife is a trap that comes from the devil to bring destruction to God's purpose in your life, and you just got to make sure you guard your peace. Hallelujah. And you know what, I, I've become so uh, I'm immune to strife, that I can sense it when in a room. I could tell when a person is walking in this—

my God— just by some of the stuff they post on Facebook or Instagram or social media. I could tell that they're walking in strife.

Wow, I really can. I, I could tell the undercurrent in some of the things people write that they walk in strife. And I, I just concluded I don't want those people around me. Uh, I don't care what they claim they have, how anointed they say they are, because what I've come to understand— when you move in strife, you are a blessing blocker. Some of you got supervisors that move in strife, you got managers that move in strife, and all they do is stir up matter of fact, I've seen it in so many different business situations where the office manager or the leader is the messiest person among the whole group and keeps up nothing but strife. Let me tell you something, you'll never be blessed in that environment. And I challenge you, you better start looking for something else because strife does not work.

Are you hearing me?

It blocks the blessing of God. The Bible said in Proverbs 28:25, but he who puts his trust in the Lord shall be enriched and blessed. Now, if you truly trust God, I'm gonna tell you something.

There's no need for you to ever be jealous of anybody, to walk in insecurity, holler, to be, to be a hater to not to hate when you see somebody else progressing.

You know, it's amazing how thousands upon thousands of people can get on the bandwagon when someone is hurt, when someone falls, when somebody makes a mistake. How people can— so-called Christians can dive into that, that, oh my God, that sea of forgiveness, swim past their sin and pick up somebody else's sin and start killing them while they're down. That's not the— that's, you know what, that's not the way this was designed to be. The Bible said rejoice with them that rejoice. So if I see my brother prospering, I'm gonna rejoice with him. I ain't hating on him. If I see my sister prospering, I'm gonna rejoice with her. No need to be hating on her, because guess what? If I rejoice with someone else when they rejoice, that means when God blesses me He's going to put people who around me— because you reap what you sow— who rejoice with me. I don't want people who can't rejoice with my success, who can't rejoice with me being happy.

You, you should go on, put up your finger and just go on, because at the end of the day, you need to dismiss every person who moves in strife because they are blessing blockers. I got to go, I got to move quick.

Okay, so watch this.

Go to James 4:1, because see, if you believe God loves you and has a purpose and a plan for your life, there's no need to sow discord against somebody else who found that reason.

Someone who God restored, somebody who recovered.

See, I found out something, and I know this personally.

God forgives immediately.

People hold stuff years.

God forgives you the moment you repent. That's what grown folks— because people want to put you in a hell that, one, they don't own, And they want to keep you down because it makes them feel good that you're down. But God, he forgives quickly and he restores quickly. And it takes a mature person because God's not a God of strife. He's not going to keep you at tension with him. The blood of Jesus works, okay? It really works. And this is why I make a choice deliberately every day to really live for him. To walk my life out in him. Oh my God, because I know he is— oh my God—

a God that if I quickly repent, he's going to quickly restore.

That's what he wants to do. You hold the guilt and God already forgave you. There's no need to be guilty anymore. There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who've been made free from the law of sin and death. I never forget James So people— watch this— who are greedy and never satisfied— this is where I'm going— they stir up strife for a couple of reasons. All right, number one, they stir up strife because they quote unquote say, I want this, I want that. Listen, your wants— hear this good— can cause strife.

I'm gonna say that again.

Your wants can cause strife, whether it's for a promotion, whether it's to be married, whether it's to have a church, whether it's to be promoted in ministry. Oh God, many times when people want something so bad, they stir up strife between them and God. Uh-oh, here we go.

Uh, Lord, you've been taking me down this road. I gotta go with God.

People can want an office like the apostle, the prophet, so bad, and they'll get in a hurry, not ready. I saw a video the other day that's just really saddened my heart. I saw a guy, probably— and please, I'm gonna say this in love I saw a guy who probably is the least most apostolic person I ever seen. This is the danger in this. He himself is not really apostolic.

Watch this.

But then when I watch the video and saw that.

And then I went back on the page to see some of the advertisement of that particular service because I was curious, man.

I said, this guy affirmed in the earth 40 apostles at one time in one service.

And I was like, oh my God. And most of the people I've seen that were on the flyer that I know, 85% of them not apostolic at all. Prophets, evangelists, even not apostles. It's sad in my heart because one of the persons that he affirmed was in covenant with me, but because they was in a hurry and not willing to comply— but this person is known for being rebellious anyway. You try to give people the benefit of the doubt and then they come to you and you know that how they've had their character and their track record with former leaders, and at the end of the day, this person wasn't ready.

I wasn't moving fast enough. I wasn't gonna embrace that, and they wasn't ready for that. I don't know her. I don't deny that she really— yeah, it can be an apostle, but she's not ready now, nowhere near it. So here, here we go. People's wants again can stir up strife because you can get in something that you want and you get it so bad and then you be stressed out when you get it and it ain't what you were supposed to get because now it's causing strife in your life. Yeah, yeah, it does. So let's go, let's look at James because what ends up happening, you get into the works of the flesh and you start trying to achieve things in your own power and that is not the will of God, my friends. Trying to achieve something in your own power. That ain't God.

On no day is that God.

James 4:1: How do conflicts, quarrels, and fighting—

just to amplify—

originate among you? Do they not arise from what? Uh-oh, your sensual desire, soulish desire, fleshly desires, that are warring in your bodily members. What you covet— when you covet what others have, watch this, your desires go unfulfilled. Wow, that's heavy, because the scripture really is saying that there's a dichotomy that exists on the inside of us.

We're tripartite beings.

We're body, we're soul, and spirit.

Now, our body houses invisible things.

And one of the invisible things that's in us is our spirit man that has all of these invisible operations, which I don't have time to teach about tonight. But the reality is, in your soul, which is where your senses are, your desires, your plans, uh, your ability to taste, your ability to hear, your ability to smell, your ability to see— all that is in your soulical man, your psuche life, your intellect. Your mind. So we sit and we think about the things we want. We start coveting what other people have, and then the spirit of strife comes into your spirit. It's the root of this thing and starts influencing your soul to desire— watch this— to desire something that's against God's desire for you. The danger is, is desiring and obtaining something that God did not desire for you to obtain. I'm saying it one more time. So, because there's a lot of people that out of their flesh they desire things that God doesn't desire, and then they end up grabbing hold to something that wasn't the will of God. You get in a ministry that wasn't his will. You start taking classes that wasn't his will. Folks going to school because they're getting a check the devil. Glory to God. You ought to be taking classes because you want education. Praise God. Hallelujah. So when— so are you that person according to this text that's constantly telling God— are you hearing me— if I had that, I'd be happy? Because that—

oh boy. That's the second reason why people cause strife. They stir it up because if I only had this, I'd be happy. Think about this for a moment. How really consistently content are you when you think about your life? How often are you just always satisfied? Listen, even if you got what you think would make you happy, let me tell you something. Happiness has nothing to do with material good. My God, when people are dissatisfied, here's what I learned: they tend to cause trouble. Yeah, think about how relentless and resentful and reluctant even people are who base their happiness on things and what other people do to them or for them. There has to be an innate quality in you that causes you to be happy. And you cannot let not receiving what you want make you unhappy. You can't get critical of other people really fast because you didn't get what you want. Listen, let me move in here. It's not other people having what you don't have that makes you unhappy. What makes you unhappy is your inability to trust in God's providence, to trust in God's ability to take care of you and to provide for you. It's your inability to put your trust in God. That's what makes you strife, because you're at odds with him.

You want what you want, and he wants something, and you want something else.

So instead of just taking the time to listen and waiting to see what he says, you start pursuing something that really ain't his will. I gotta go, y'all. I've been on here too long. Two ways to keep strife out of your life. One, you got to consider who you spend time with. Let me ask you a question: what kind of character do your friends have? Think about people you eat lunch with. Think Think about the people you converse with at work. Think about your church friends. Do they gossip? Hmm. Are their attitudes negative or positive? Now, I'm not saying cut yourself off from everybody, but you got to be selective in who you spend your time with, because people who gossip, people who lie, people that are always tearing down somebody else, those are people who are unsatisfied with themselves. And ultimately they're going to cause strife. And I want to tell you something: if they're gossiping to you about somebody else, the moment you make them angry, they're gonna gossip about you to someone else as well. My grandmother used to say—

I was a little boy, but I used to hear her say this—

always watch the dog that brings the bone.

Yeah, the bone's there, but take a close look at that one that brought it, because if they cut someone else down, they'll cut you down too. So you got to consider that. You gotta really inspect your environment and make sure you got the right people around you.

Hey, yes Lord, you got to—

that, that's so important. And number 2, you got to guard your heart.

Let me say this real quick: make sure you are affecting— thank you, Holy Spirit— the people that spend time around you, and not allowing them to infect you. Or make sure the people around you are having a positive effect effect on you, and you're growing, and you are increasing.

Oh boy.

Number 2: Guard your heart.

You pick up and become— this is my belief— what you spend time with and what you open your heart up to. Yeah.

You pick up the things that you spend time with and what you open your heart up to. So you got to guard your heart.

If you're around someone that is negative, make sure you guard your heart for that negativity, because you cannot leave the doors of your heart open.

Because people who are greedy, jealous, critical, and judgmental—

what will happen is if you open up to that stuff, you will pick up those negative spirits, and you do not want this. So we've looked at the root of this.

So, and I've tried to give you some meat, some stuff you can go out and apply right now, tomorrow, and start putting this stuff in place. Because you want to guard your heart, you, you want to make sure you're around the right people.

So here's the bottom line in my clothes on strike, and I'm gonna continue teaching this at church on Sunday. I mean, it's so much I just wanted to come in here and talk to you because it was on me. Because, you know, most people don't know how to defend themselves against this, but you gotta just be very deliberate.

You control your environment, you do.

And then you got to make sure that you're guarding yourself.

But some people, you gotta—

if you work with them, they come straight, you got to be around them, just got to guard your heart.

And then sometimes you just got to tell people, look, you know, I don't want to hear that, and in a very nice way. Okay, so here's the bottom line: being greedy, you know, um, covetous, jealous, envious, moving in strife—

these are actually very serious sins.

You're missing the mark big time.

You know, Exodus 21:17, the Bible says Thou shall not covet. You know, that's one of the Big Ten, all right? So at the end of the day, you just got to make sure you're not coveting, you're not wanting what somebody else wants. Listen, it's okay, and I'm closing, but you say, you know what, I wish I had that, I wish I could have— but you can't have a bad attitude toward desiring things. And you can't be mean to other people because you desire it. All right, so I pray you got something out of this today— tonight. You know, I'm sleepy. I just got a plane. I told you a couple hours ago, but I had to get in here and talk to y'all. I hope y'all doing well. I haven't went live like this in a long time, uh, but I'm grateful to have some time to spend with you. I tried to do it from my phone My phone was not letting me be great. No, Facebook was not letting me be great because it kept giving me this crazy message. Then, you know, I don't know. Well, anyway, I'm glad you're here. Y'all be blessed. If you're in Atlanta area, make sure you make the choice to worship with us. God is moving at Rhoda Church. God is blessing us in a serious way, and you want to come and be a part of something momentous that God is doing. It is phenomenal. We believe that the hand of God is on our church. We're believing God for miracles upon miracles to continue to flow in our house. We have decreed that Roddell Church is a COVID-19 free zone. What does that mean, Michael Woods? That means if you come to Roddell Church with COVID-19, you will be healed. If you come to Roddell Church and you've never had coronavirus, you will never get it. You cannot receive it in that environment. We've consecrated that building to that end.

And I know there's—

we got some skeptics, you know, this is my level of faith. We have no cases, glory to the name of God. We have seen the healings, glory to the name of God. But that building is sacred. It is a place where God dwells, glory to God. And many times we worship and pray until he tangibly shows up every single time.

So I'm grateful.

You're invited. Go to rodderchurch.com to get more information. Thank you guys for joining me tonight. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile upon you is my prayer.