SHEEP, PART 1 | DR MIKE WOODS SR | RADAH CHURCH | 8-8-21 | #DRMIKEWOODS

Welcome to the Apostle's Table, where lions roar and lives are changed. The Apostle's Table is a part of the worldwide outreach ministry of Dr. Mike Wood Sr. You will encounter supernatural wisdom and revelation that will help you discern God's purpose for your life, develop your potential, and deploy your gift effectively into the earth. We decree your life will never be the same again. Thanks for joining us and welcome to the Apostle's Table.

Well, praise the Lord and welcome today to our teaching. I'm super excited to share this word on today. All month long we're going to be teaching from the series Sheep. We're going to be talking about the benefits of becoming a sheep, of moving in this sheep mentality as it relates relates to our Father. This is something that is so avoided today, but listen, it's very, very needed. So what I want to do, I want to pray and I want to jump right into the heart of the teaching today, if that's okay with you. Listen, stay with me, do not scroll. I need you to share this live stream today. Uh, somebody needs this. Listen, in an hour where— listen, we need God like never before. Oh yeah, breketebe oska ye shetetebe osi. Yes, God. Well, we need the Lord like never before. We have to guarantee his presence, his imposition in our life by positioning ourselves as sheep. And so you need to share this because this world needs God. America needs God. You need God. Your family needs God. And one of the guarantees that God really is with you, not you believe he's with you, not you posting about him, not you running around preaching about him, acting like you're something you're not. Listen to me, we need God for real. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Glory to God. Father, Eshu, Rukia, Brise, Lebo, Ushi, Andetebe, Osea, Mamba, Bakori, Andaya. Father, we come before you right now. As humble as we know how, God, we worship you, we adore you, we praise you, we thank you. Hallelujah. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for your grace, God. We thank you for your favor. We thank you for your kindness, God. You're the only wise God. It's in you we live. It's in you we move. It's in you we have our being. You're our help. You're our strength, God. You're our everything. God, we can do nothing without you. And so, Father, we come before you today, God, asking that you would touch these your people, God, that watch us live or by replay. We pray that this word would superimpose itself upon every listener, upon every hearer, dear God, that they will hear and that they will obey. And we give you praise. Hallelujah for what you're gonna do, God. May this word bring liberation. May it bring deliverance. May it open doors. May man make ways. May it introduce us to you in dimensions we've never seen. God, we thank you now for the light, the illumination, and the intelligence, God, of the Holy Spirit. Have your way, God, in the name of Jesus. Loose power now. Loose joy now. Loose victory now. Loose healing for the body now. Loose prosperity for your people now, in the name of Jesus. And we bless you for it, and we give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Hallelujah. I don't know about you, but I believe God has heard our prayer today. Listen, somebody watching me right now, glory to the name of God. I hear you, Holy Spirit. You are sick in your body. Matter of fact, I see it. Oshia bre kedaba. You're having— my God— COVID-19 symptoms. Yes, I hear that so clearly. You're watching us either live or by replay, but I dare you to lift up your hands. Glory to God. Yes, and begin to worship God right now, right where you are. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer. Ike shi brie soruku ta basandolo boku shiata is coming where you are and touching you to heal you now. Yeah God, I hear that there's somebody watching now, you have lupus, you've been diagnosed with lupus, lupus, but in the name of Jesus, with his stripes, I decree and declare you are healed. Lebansi, Brusque, Muscat, Rabat, Telebosi. Lift your hands and receive the healing now in the name of Jesus. Matter of fact, I pray against any form of cancer in your life, or if you know someone with cancer, lift your hands. The healing virtue of God now is— Brisa, Rusha, Roba, Mukuska, Tatebe, Osi. Ah, it's going to where Oshandola Bohoya, your loved one is now. Just stretch your hand toward my hand as a point of contact. Listen, listen, something is happening right now. Stretch your hands toward my hands as a point of contact. Something is happening in your life, in your body right now. Cancer is drying up. As a matter of fact, I'm telling you that Jehovah Rapha is here with us now. Eba soroku brie abuskute reba surrebeke lese netebo. Oh God, someone having constant migraines, someone, hallelujah, with diabetes or high blood pressure, which is— could be any of you watching. So many are inflicted with these diseases, but in the Name of Jesus, I command your blood pressure to regulate now. I command your pancreas, oh, and your kidneys to function properly for blood pressure and diabetes. I decree it to be so even now in the Name of Jesus. You will not go blind. But with His stripes, You are healed. Somebody's got vertigo. I hear you, God. Somebody watching live or by replay, you're struggling with vertigo right now, but God said, "With his stripes today, you are healed." Receive it in the name of Jesus. Receive it in the name of Jesus. Someone with lower back pain, . There's an anointing flowing through your body right now like liquid fire. You are being made whole. God is healing you now. Receive your healing in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Well, clap your hands right where you are. Type in the comments, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. We thank you for healing, God. And I pray right now, God, for any sickness that I did not call out by the auspices of the Holy Spirit. I'm asking you, God, to touch these, your people, to heal. In the matchless name of Jesus, amen and thank God. Hallelujah. Listen, we're gonna go right into the heart of the word today. Praise God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. We believe God for healing. We believe God for deliverance. We believe God for freedom. Let's go into the word today again. Hallelujah! Let's rejoice. Praise God for victory over the enemy. We win. Glory to God. Hallelujah! And there's no weapon formed against us can prosper. We win. So we want to jump right into this. This is message 1. Glory to God of the message. She And, um, we're talking this month, hallelujah, around the church and all over the internet, wherever we can be seen— YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, wherever we can be watched— we're talking about sheep, the blessing of becoming a sheep, the benefits of becoming a sheep. Amen. We want to talk about the becoming a sheep, the blessings of, hallelujah, becoming a sheep, and the benefits of becoming a sheep. Those are 3 different things. So today we're going to get into this, and of course You can't talk about becoming a sheep or the benefits or the blessings of the sheep-shepherd relationship between God and his people if we do not look at the 23rd Psalm. This is a psalm that many of you learned in Sunday school. Glory to God, you learned it. Praise the name of God. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Going to church all your life, if you've been anywhere around the church people that don't even go to church, sinners. Hallelujah. Understand, because somebody in their house was quoting the 23rd Psalm. So people understand Psalm 23. Glory to God. So we want to read it. This is going to be the foundation and the substratum of our teaching this month. I may not get into the meat of it today, but what I want to do is show you some nuggets and show you some things I'm sure maybe you have not seen in this psalm. Glory to the name of God. Some benefits in this psalm, oh my God, that are just amazing and that every believer should be walking in and walking out in their life. So let's read Psalm 23 and then we're going to get into this today. All right, I'm so anxious to teach it. God, y'all stay with me, please share this. Do not sit stagnant on me. Share this teaching, share this teaching, be a blessing to somebody else. They need to know the power of the blessing. Hallelujah. And the benefit of becoming a sheep. Let's read Psalm 23, the Bible declares, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Glory to God. He maketh me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside still waters, he restoreth my soul for his name's sake. Yea, do I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Hear me, thy rod, listen, oh my God, and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table, oh my God, before me. Glory to God. In the presence of my enemies, thou anointest my head with oil and my cup runs over. Surely, verse 6, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Hear me, and I will dwell, yes Lord, in the house of the Lord forever. Amen and thank God. And again, it's so much meat and nuggets in that age-old text that everybody has heard of. I want to pull the detail out of this text in this series this month, because as we enter into this very prophetic month of August, glory to God, today is 8/8, my God, 21. And if you're watching me today on 8/8/21, this is a prophetic surge, a prophetic beginning. But, you know, Eighth Day people are not just people of new beginning. Hear me, uh, people said number 8 is number of new beginnings, starting over, because on the 7 days God rested, then day 8 was new beginnings. Well, I want you to understand something. 8 actually in scripture and prophetically is a number that lends itself to circumcision, and circumcision deals with the idea of cutting away Come on, say that with me. Say the number 8 deals with circumcision. Men are, by practice in the world today, are circumcised when they're born, which means the foreskin is cut away so that the potency of their male part protrudes. Hear me, that the power of their male part protrudes. Now, cutting away circumcision. This is prophetic today. 8-8, a double cutting away. As you're listening to me today, I want you to understand that God, number one, Himself is cutting away some things, some people, some ideas, some— oh my God, some plans. Listen to me. Some dreams that do not belong in our lives. And God has a way to cut you away from people you don't need to deal with. Listen, in our church right now, we were dealing with some business in our church with a certain individual. And, you know, God cut us away from that individual because at the end of the day, Uh, their heart and their motive, uh, was not pure toward who we were and what we were doing, and they could not have it because they had no real revelation of who we are and who we are on earth. Listen, at the end of the day, God is going to cut away every person, every deal, every business, every connection that does not resonate with your purpose, your destiny— watch this— or your value. So prophetically, hear me. I want you to understand this is a day and a month of cutting away. So I want you to spend the month of August cutting away things that do not belong. So it's a, it's a double cutting away. One, God's going to do it himself. Two, you're going to have to identify some things that in free will God will not remove. There's some things that are detrimental that God has to handle himself. He'll remove. But there's some things you got to be very deliberate and strategic yourself in removing. Hear me, hear me when I speak to you this morning. You got to remove it. You got to let it go. You got to cut it away. My God, there are some people you cannot take into your future. Hallelujah. And you got to let them go. Circumcision. Cut it away. Hear me. That's where we are. 8/8/21. Cutting it away. This is a very prophetic day. After you get off this live today, I want you to go and write you a list of every dream you need to cut away. Listen, if it's of God, glory to the name of God, keep pursuing it. But if it's not working, cut it away. And if he didn't ordain it, cut it away. Don't get married emotionally to a business, to a ministry that God did not ordain you to do. Don't get married emotionally to a person that God did not call you to be with. And you know they're treating you terrible. You got it now. Make the choice. 8-8, circumcision. Prophetically, I'm telling you, cut it away so the blessing will come. So as this relates to the teaching this month, you got to cut away some mentalities. Hear me, that keep you from being a sheep. Everybody wants to be a leader. Oh my God. Everybody wants to be popular. Everybody wants likes on Facebook. Every— oh my goodness. Everybody wants likes on Instagram. Everybody wants followers, followers, followers, but nobody wants to follow. Oh my God. Matter of fact, most of the people with huge followers, they never follow back. Glory to God. Listen, I'm— let me tell you something. I can only speak from experience. It's not all that it's chalked up to be. At one point on the fan page, Dr. Mike Woods on Facebook, we had over 28,000 people who followed and liked that page. To date, we have about 8,900 that follow and like that page because all it takes is for one thing you to say or do, or for one lie to be told about you, and the people that seemingly follow jump off. So at the end of the day, it's not all it's wrapped up to be. I had some 18,000 followers on Instagram. That 18,000 went to 3,000. Now it's back to 13,000 and growing. But let me tell you something, that stuff is, is insignificant to the reality that I must be a follower of God and a follower of the things that God has ordained for me to follow. So stop seeking that because it's short-lived, it's temporal, and for the most part, in a lot of cases, it doesn't mean anything. Hallelujah. Glory to God. You need to make sure that you're positioning yourself. Your work should go into becoming a sheep and following the Lord with your whole heart, being discipled so completely that whatever God says, you never question it, you do it. So let's get into this. So what does it mean then to become a sheep? Well, I'm glad you asked. Becoming a sheep is both transformational and transfusional. I'll say that again. Becoming a sheep— hear me, we're going to get to Psalm 23, but I got to lay a backdrop, guys, because I'm a teacher. Glory to the name of God. Any apostle that just screams all the time— listen, I love to preach. I've been preaching. My first office I stood in alone was evangelist. 30-some, 32 years ago, I became a full-time evangelist traveling the length and breadth of this country preaching revival and I love to preach, don't get it wrong. But as an apostle, my chief duty is to train, is to educate, is to build. We have too many ignorant people in the body of Christ who refuse to take the position of a learner. And an apostle cannot afford to waste his opportunity to share with people screaming at them. We must teach. So I gotta lay a backdrop, okay? So becoming a sheep Hear me, is both transformational and transfusional. Let's look at Romans 12:1, and we're going to see how, glory to the name of God, again, it's transformational and transfusional. You got to become a sheep. Touch yourself and say, I must become a sheep. Say, say, say this with me. Say, it's non-negotiable. Say, I must become a sheep. Type it in the comments. I must become a sheep. Listen, I'm telling you right now, this is something you cannot afford to miss. This is something you cannot afford, saints, to do on your own. You must become a sheep so that you can have God's full authority, full— oh my God— blessing in everything you're doing, because when you become a sheep, you only do what the shepherd does. Hallelujah. All right, so here we go. The Bible said Romans 12:1. Somebody type that on the screen. Romans 12:1. The scriptures declare, and be not conformed to this world. Hallelujah. Oh, y'all better go with me today. And be not conformed to this world. Hallelujah. But be ye transformed. Hallelujah. By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We're going to get into this. I'm going to unpack this text because again, I got to lay a backdrop. You can't be a sheep and if you don't understand this, because becoming a sheep first of all is trans— transformational. The sign that I have been transformed as a sheep and I'm living my life inside of the covenant— the covenant, say that with me— the covenant of a sheep-shepherd relationship. A covenant is an agreement between one or two parties where both parties agree to carry out the tenets of the covenant. There is a covenant. My God, I feel like teaching. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that exists between sheep and the shepherd that must be lived out, that must be carried out. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. And God is always 100% committed to the covenant. The covenant goes bad when we take up our own agenda and want to do things our own way. But God— or watch this— or the things we think is right and they sure wrong. Watch this. There's a way that seems right. But the end of that way is the way of death. You shouldn't be doing things. Listen to me. Just because you can. I'm going to say that again. You should not be doing things just because you can. You should be doing things out of obedience and because you have access to that assignment from heaven. OK, so let this— so here again, a sign that would— here's some signs according to this text that were transformational. First of all, we're not conformed to the world. Oh boy, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. OK, so the word conformed is the Greek word systematizo. Systematizo. Watch this. System, which is where we get words like systems. Matizo deals with being subjective or to pattern after. So if you put these words together, it says now to be conformed means to pattern yourself after a particular system. So he says, be not conformed to the world. watch this. So as sheep, systematizo, I should not be conformed to the ways of the world. The word world in Greek is cosmos. It's cosmos in Greek. The word cosmos, ladies and gentlemen, hear me. Oh my God. It's where we get words like cosmopolitan. It deals with a system of being in— glory to the name of God— the earth realm. It is a system of existence, a way of living, a way of doing things. So as a kingdom citizen who has a sheep mentality to follow his Father, oh my God, I should not be conformed to the ways of the world in how they live, how they work, how they view money. Oh, y'all not talking to me. How? Oh, she and I. Brek halabohosya, how they view dominion, who should be in charge. I should be patterning myself by what the Lord says I ought to be doing and how I ought to be living inside of the covenant that he's presented to me in the word and through the sheep shepherd relationship. Are y'all getting this? This is going to help you understand Psalm 23 so much better because you understand you really have a right to everything listed there. And as I begin to unpack unpack those things and show you what he's really saying, it's going to blow you away. Because it ain't just some little cute scripture that we quote in Sunday school or that we teach our children. This scripture is packed— Psalm 23— with covenant principles that we should be experiencing and living out as children of God. So one sign that you are a sheep is that you're not conformed to the world. And I'm not talking about you don't wear pants, you don't wear earrings, you don't dress like— I'm not talking about that. There ought to be a transformation on the inside that, watch this, reflects the kingdom of God in your life in every way. See, some of you may not be doing sin, you may not be committing adultery, committing fornication, drinking, lying, cheating, cussing, all that, but the word sin— oh my God, oh my God. Is hermitsia in Greek, and it literally means to come short. Hermitsia means to come short, come short, come short, not meet the mark of what God has set. And so many of you, you don't believe it, but you're in sin. You've come short of purpose. You've come short of your destiny. You've come short of the ways of worshiping. You've come short in the ways, oh my God, of studying and prayer. You're in sin. You're living your life the way you want to live it. You're doing what you want to do and not what God is telling you to do. You're coming short and you're in sin. Even if you're not committing adultery, you're in sin just like them that's doing it, because sin is unrighteousness that missed the mark. Unrighteousness, un-diasune, which is righteousness, the covenant of God that he's assigned between him and man. Some of you are coming so short of this assignment. Oh my God. And you're living life the way you want to live it, and that ain't the will of God. So you got to be conformed not to the world. You've conformed to the world's way of doing things. You, you don't even believe that it's God's will for you to be rich and to be wealthy. It is, because you can't establish dominion without wealth. Every one of you listen to me, you have a creative, innovative idea in you. Oh, I'm getting into Psalm 23. Some of that stuff is talking about this. There's something— listen, you can't be created by the Creator and not be creative. Oh, and let me take it deeper. You cannot have the Holy Spirit in you, by the way, who is a creator, and not be creative. One of the prayers I pray daily: I am a creator because the Holy Spirit lives in me, so therefore I'm daily creating. So if you ain't creating and everything you create is a pseudo manifestation of what somebody else has already done, you're saying you coming short, you're not reaching the mark. Hear me. When I told you, glory to God. So that's a sign that you are sheep, that you're becoming a sheep because you're no longer conformed to the systematizo of the world, of the cosmos, of the human way of living, way of working, way of doing, way of being. But you have sold yourself out and emptied yourself out. I'm laying a backdrop to Psalm 23. To the ways of God. I got to be this homiletically and hermeneutically solid on this, because when I get into Psalms 23, you need to have some substratum, some foundation that says what I'm saying is true. Because at the end of the day, I don't want you saying I made any of this up. Let's keep moving. All right. So we're again, we're hermeneutically, we're homiletically sound. Let's move forward. So the other thing in Romans 12:2, that shows me. And then I'm going to get into the transformational piece. He says, when you're transformed, hear me, when you transform, watch this, you prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So you approve the good will of God. Listen to me. These are three type wills that the apostle mentions here. You approve the good will of God. The acceptable will of God. Hear me. And then you also prove the perfect will of God. So here again, there's a lot of people who have not become sheep. Oh my God. Because the way they live their life, hear me, does not prove the good will of God, the acceptable will of God, nor the perfect will of God. None of it. Let's look at what that means. So let's look at— let's break it down again. We got to be etymology. We are— etymology has to be strong, which is homiletics. We got to look deep into the wording in this text so we can make sure we do this, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But faith without works is dead. Be a doer of the Word and not just hearers only, according to James. So what is the goodwill of God? The agathos. Watch this. The agathos is the useful will of God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Agathos means useful, of benefit. So when you are a sheep, you are useful or beneficial to others as it pertains to the will of God. When the last time your life, your ministry has benefited somebody other than yourself? Oh my God. I'm going to say that again. When was the last time your life, your ministry has benefited other somebody, somebody other than you? That you felt good because you had a lot of likes, you felt good because you had a lot of followers, you felt good because your church is growing, you felt good in your business because you got a lot of clients, you got a lot of partners. But when has that helped somebody other than you? Because it should be agathos— good, useful. It should be beneficial to some. God has a will that is useful and beneficial to you and others. So, and your life should prove that. Let's go back. Prove. What do you mean, Michael? What should prove? Prove. Dokumaiso. Dokumaiso means that it has been tested. It has been an ex— oh my God. It has been examined. It has been tried. It has been scrutinized to see whether it is genuine or not. Oh my God. You could tell me how authentic, how genuine you are all you want with your lips. But the proof, baby, is is in the pudding. What have you gone through to prove to God and others that you can be an influence in their lives? Listen, God wants us to be influential. He wants us to be useful. He— oh my God, he wants to prove to others that we are useful and that there is some good that comes out of serving him. See, we need to be able not to just show these church folk that follow you on social media, hallelujah, that is useful. And good to serve God. But we need to be able to show— and I thank God that God has given me an audience with millionaires and stars and athletes that I have been able to influence certain ones to know how useful it is and beneficial to serve and follow God. Listen, but I had to go through something, be scrutinized. Listen, you're not exempt from scrutiny. You're not exempt from haters. Oh my God. Hallelujah. You're not exempt from— oh my God— rumors. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Scandal. It can show up at your door. But what proves you're authentic is your ability to survive the scrutiny, to go through the test that God allows. And the devil hits you with his best shot. Lord, I feel like running. And you're still standing. Woo! We got to prove to others that it's useful to serve God. But if you acting like them and doing what they do, hallelujah, and you're just as carnal as they are when you're with them, you got to raise the bar and you got to be a light and you got to prove what is the goodwill of God. What else do I got to prove? I got to also prove— I got to go. Hallelujah. What is acceptable? What is the acceptable will of God? Eurethos in Greek. Eurethos deals with what is acceptable or pleasing, the pleasing will of God. In other words, there's a will that you can operate in, in your human will, that doesn't please God. I would say that again. There's a human will you can carry out in the— you can do the right thing for the wrong reason. You can be preaching and doing something. It's right to preach, it's right to share, but you can be doing it to get people to look at you. You could be doing it, glory to God, to raise money. You can be doing it— y'all not talking to me here— because you think it's easy. Because there are some of us, because we've been scrutinized, we've been proven, and we can talk about what pleases God because we— watch this. Not because we've always pleased him. Ha ha! Oh boy. But because we messed up. See, for you persons that's perfect, you know, and I'm still dealing with a situation, man, of something that happened because I love this gentleman. I love this preacher. But I know for a fact that when he was preaching at my church, he did something that was totally out of the will of God. It wasn't pleasing to God. And I know, because I know, you know, I mean, I know by the Spirit, and the Lord showed me. I know God, and he needs to be corrected on it, you know. And I'm going to speak to him in love. He may or may not receive it, but I need him to know, because I love him, what pleases God. And I need him to be clear, that didn't please God. And if you're watching this live, which sometimes you do, Listen, man, that didn't please God, you know. And you know what we're talking about, and we're going to have a conversation, trust me, because we want to make sure that when we've been proved— hallelujah— tested, scrutinized, that we don't make rookie mistakes. And watch this, that we understand where we are when we're doing what we do, because you got to understand when you're in the midst of prophetic people who are connected to God. Glory. Anything out of order, they're going to pick up, they're going to see. So you got to make sure you're moving in what pleases him and not in what doesn't please him, because there's a lot of things that people are doing or do that does not please God. So we got to prove what pleases him because we've been through the stuff that displeases him. We've made mistakes. I've been rebuked. I've been corrected. I've made mistakes. God has rebuked me. I've been rebuked by men. My spiritual fathers have rebuked me. Listen, you're not above it because I have a sheep mentality. But when you've been scrutinized, you go through it and you accept the rebuke. Again, I'm talking about sheep. I'm laying the backdrop. We're gonna get to Psalm 23. May not be today, but we're gonna get there because I got to talk to you about becoming a sheep. So you prove what is good according to the text. What is good? What is acceptable? Come on. And here we go, teleios in Greek, perfect will of God. Yeah, watch this. When you've been tested, proven scrutinized, gone through it, and your value— hallelujah— has been validated by God, you can be perfected, telios, mature, complete, and show the total will of God through your life. Oh my God. So here's a problem: we need people— ilebes okushia— that can manifest— listen to me— the total will of God in their life. So when people look at you, when they look at me, they can see the complete will. You're married to the wrong— right person. Hallelujah! You're— ah, you're doing the right ministry, you're living the right assignment, but it's a process of growth, it's a process of development. You'll never get there if you don't become a sheep. Remember, he says, I want you to prove what is good, what is acceptable, what is perfect. So there's two things, two ideas there. This shows I'm a sheep when I've been— I'm not conformed, systematizo, to the cosmos of the world, the systems of the world, but I'm conformed to the systems, the ways of God, which is revealed through scripture, revealed through teaching and preaching, revealed through prophecy. I am conformed to God's way. Secondly, I have the ability to prove what's the good will of God, what's the acceptable will of God, and what's the complete will of God. Not you doing what you want to do at some time and then doing the will of God on another time. No, your life is surrendered totally to doing the will of God when you are sheep. So guess what? This teaching this month is needed because— hear me, hear me when I tell you— there's so many people who are conformed to the world. They are conformed to the world in the church. I expect worldly people who are not kingdom sitters, who have never been born again, to be conformed to the world. They cannot comprehend what it means to be conformed to light. Because darkness and light have no fellowship. Dark— oh my God, the darkness can't even comprehend the light, it's so powerful. So the reality is we expect that, but you're in church, especially you preachers, apostles, prophets that's been in— pastors, evangelists, and teachers that's been in church all your life. You ought to be ashamed that you're still worldly. And you— oh my God, and I'm not talking about again your dress. Get me. So this ain't just you that talk— done took the scripture and you didn't study, and you start throwing the scripture at people because of how they dress. You start throwing this scripture at people because of how they look, or oh my God, or if they drive a car like the world, if they wear jewelry like the world, if they wear makeup. No, that's not what I'm talking about. You didn't study. You should have studied the word. Listen, what I'm telling you is we should not be conformed to the systematizo because we taught people outward conditioning and legalism, but we did not— oh my God— which is transactional instead of transformational. See, we don't need transactional religion. We need transformational relationship. See, most people have experienced only God through a transactional situation. They got saved, they stopped doing stuff, they changed their clothes, changed their habits a little, but their life wasn't transformed. Here's what it says. So let's read the whole thing. And be not conformed to this world— you know what it means now— but be ye transformed. Let's stop right there, because again, becoming a sheep is transformational. The word transform there is metamorphoo in Greek. It's where we get words like metamorphosis. A metamorphosis. Meta means, ooh boy, it means a total change in disposition, a total change in creation. Morphosis is the process that causes that change. So God says, I want you to have a metamorphoo. A total shifting, changing of your mind. Oh my God. He didn't say by the renewing of your clothing. He said, I want you to be transformed by the renewing, the redoing, the anachronosis. God, the anachronosis, the anachronosis, the anachronosis. Oh my God. By the renovation, the redoing, the rebuilding. Hallelujah! God says you can't even phantom being a sheep and taking that low position of humility. See, y'all want to be a lion. God told us to be like Jesus. Jesus was both lion and lamb. That's the whole purpose of this, is to be like Jesus, not for you to be trying to be like Jakes to be like your favorite popular preacher, to be like your favorite business person, but to be like Jesus, to be like Jesus. That's what I want. I want to be just like him. Oh my God, yes I do. Hallelujah. If I'm gonna be like him though, I gotta be both lion and lamb. I gotta be lamb enough to be humble and take the position of a learner. But I got to be lion enough to use what I learned to undo the systematizo, the systems of the world and the conditioning of the mind of God people. I got to be lion enough to roar the truth of the gospel, but lamb enough to take correction and rebuke when it comes to my own life. I got to be lion enough— oh my God, hallelujah— to be be bold when others are wimpy and running away. But I gotta be lamb enough, hallelujah, to let God lead me as a shepherd to every space and every place I need to be. So the Bible says is I gotta let my mind be rebuilt. Anakinosis. You need an anakinosis in your mind. Your mind needs to be rebuilt. See, you got too much stinking thinking. And you cannot inherit the benefits of the kingdom. Well, we're going to talk about this this month, of the kingdom, with stinking thinking. You need God in every way, shape, form, or fashion. Oh God, my time is about gone. Glory to the name of God. Let me get through this. He says, I want you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You got, you got to have a rebuilt mind so you can prove, so you can be sustained during the scrutiny, the tests, the trials, the challenges, and you can prove the good will, the acceptable will, and the perfect will. You got to be transformed. It's transformation. You got to empty yourself of you, and you got to make the decision that I'm going to become a sheep. I'm going to conform to the ways of God and not the ways of the world. I'm going to prove the good will, the acceptable will, and the perfect will of God. So it's transformational. But also we see in the text that it's transfusional. To be trans— something— when something is transfusional, it's the act of transfusing, or it's the act of superimposing. It's a sharing of something that you need from someone that has it— watch this— in greater capacity. Let me give an example. In medicine, a transfusion— hear me— is the transfer of, like a blood transfusion of whole blood. Listen to me, that— watch this— from one individual to another. Whole blood that is healthy from one individual who— to another that has unhealthy blood or a low deficiency in blood to help them live. So watch this. When you becoming a sheep means You take on the characteristics in the realm of the spirit as it relates to God as a sheep, because you come before him sheep-like, so you can reap the benefits of all of the things Psalm 23 says is going to give us and transfuse into our life, that it becomes a way of living every single day. Oh boy, God have mercy. Let's just look at this. So if I empty myself and take on the characteristics of a sheep, what are some of the characteristics of a sheep? I'm glad you asked. A sheep is timid. Yeah. In the presence of the Lord, you should be reverential and have some timidity. Glory to the name of God. And listen, you should be very mindful of his presence. So sheep are very timid. They're very fearful. They're panicky. Okay. Uh, they're dumb, they're gullible, they're stupid. I'm not saying for you to be dumb, gullible, and stupid, but this is what I want you to hear: when you come before God, you know nothing because he knows everything. I'll say it again. So in essence, you are dumb, gullible, and stupid. You should be dumb, gullible, and stupid to God so that he can infuse or transfuse everything about him to you. Wait a minute, I love it, I love it. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Ephesians, let's just go there, let's just go there because I want you to see it. Ephesians 3. Thank you, Holy Ghost. This is powerful, man. I hope y'all, y'all share this. Glory to God. Hallelujah. And take good notes. Ephesians 3, let's go to 3 and 3. Ephesians 3:20, watch this. It says, now unto him, the shepherd, right, that is able— hear me— to do exceeding, exceed, not exceedingly, but exceeding. The word exceeding in Greek is hyper, H-Y-P-E-R. Hyper is where we get the same English word hyper or hooper, hooper, which means over, above, beyond, Hallelujah. Transforming across. Hallelujah. He is superior, so he's able to do superior abundantly, overabundantly, hyperabundantly. Abundantly is perissos, which means, oh my God, beyond measure, superfluous. Or watch this, to violently infuse or transfuse. So he's able to violently infuse or transfuse. Hallelujah! Into your life. Watch this. Above all, this is where I wanted to get. We ask or think. Wait a minute. So to be dumb, stupid, and gullible ain't a bad thing when it relates to God, because God on any given day can do more than you can do on any given day. He is more powerful. He is omniscient. He knows every single thing. And so in his presence, you got to understand he's able to do exceeding hyper over, over. You'll never be equal with God in his ability to perform in your life. I know you think you're God. I know you've been in control of your finances and doing things your way. But if you learn to submit your way to God— I'm closing. Listen, he'll do over overabundantly. Over— perissmos— overabundantly, vehemently put abundance in your life above all you can ask or think. So we gotta learn how to shut up in God's presence because he can do above all you can ask. Sometimes you talk too much, and then sometimes you think too much. You cannot handle God like you handle people. He said, I can do above all you can ask or think. So sometimes being a sheep and being gullible, being dumb in the presence of God— not sometimes, all the time— is letting him think, listening, confessing, speaking his word in his midst, praying, but then listening to what he has to say and listening to what's on his mind and letting him do above all you can think. Stop analyzing before you believe God. God. He said, I'm able to do it. Listen, sheep are easily killed by their enemies. That's why you need to God. That's why you need to take— empty yourself out and let him be God. Sheep are jealous and they're competitive for dominance among each other because they know they can't handle anybody else. Because guess what? They're killed by the enemies easily because they have no weapons of defense. They can't bite, a snake back. Uh, all they can do is run. They can't fight a wolf because most of the time they're overweight. Most— they're very slow. Y'all not talking to me here. Listen, this is why you got to become a sheep. You got to empty out of you and decrease in all of your ability toward God so that he can fill you up and transfuse his ability on you. I'd rather move in God's intelligence and ability than my intelligence and ability any day. Listen, sheep are easily flipped over on their back. They're easily pinned to the ground. Come on, man. Sheep need the most care than any livestock that a shepherd may have. They need more care than a cow, a horse. They need more care than any other animal out there. Thank God we got a good shepherd. I'm not— I just want to show you. So you got to empty out of you, take on this sheep mentality toward God. Some of them, I ain't gonna do that, I ain't gonna be dumb, I ain't gonna be stupid, I ain't gonna be gullible. You should be toward God. He's smarter than you. I gotta pray. Let me pray. Oh my shi— I gotta quit, y'all. I'm done. I just wanted to lay a backbone on becoming a sheep. Holy Spirit says, "Stop." I'm stopping. I feel like you got it. Glory to God. I said, "I feel like you got it." I said, "I feel like you got it." Glory to Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I'm done. I'm done. Let's pray. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you for your Word today. I pray that your people will begin to walk in a sheep mentality. I pray, number one, that they will not be conformed to the world. Hallelujah! Conform, systematizo. They will not be submitted to the systems of this world, of this cosmos, the human ways of doing things, but they will submit themselves to the covenant that you've cut between us and you. I thank you, secondly, God, that this people who hear this word live or by replay will be able to know what is the good, what is the acceptable, what is the perfect will of God, because they have been proven. I pray, God, in the name of Jesus, that you will transform every mind, renew, rebuild, redo every mind under the sound of my voice. Metamorphoo! I release it now. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In the name of Jesus, and I say it is so, in Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah! Listen, I thank you, God. Hallelujah for this word. Stay with me all month. We're gonna jump deep into Psalm 23 next time. Listen, you don't want to miss one teaching from this series. Please share this. Please be a blessing to someone else. Listen, I want to take this opportunity to challenge your hearts to give. The Bible declares if we give in Luke 6, it will be given unto us good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give to your bosom. If you're listening to me now, especially if you're connected to Rhoda Church, Rhoda Alliance, you are a leader that's connected to our covering, you know your responsibilities monthly. Make sure you give your tithe. Glory to the name of God. The reality is you cannot avoid being a tither, whether you're a leader or whether you're a layperson in a church. The tenth is holy unto God. So give again, it shall be given to you. And I want to challenge every person person listening, up and above your tithe, to plant a seed today. This is August 8th, 8-8, a circumcision seed of $88 above your tithe. Pay your tithe and release that $88 seed and ask God to cut poverty away, to cut struggling away, to cut away everything that's been hindering your business. We want God to begin to cut away every blockage that's block the growth and the increase of your ministry. I've already, even prior to recording this, plant my seed and given my tithe. I want to challenge you to do the same. God is faithful to those that are faithful to him. I love y'all. The ways to give on the screen— I want to pray for your offering. Please follow those ways to give. You can do it via Cash App. Rhoda Church is our Cash App. You can do it online in rhodachurch.com/donate. There are two ways to do it. I want to challenge you to do it now. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, bless every giver and every giver, every obedient soul that will sow that $88 seed. Circumcise every blockage, every challenge that comes against their finances. And those that don't even have financial challenges, loose things that more more would flow into their life. I give you praise for it now. Bless the tithe of God according to Malachi 3, and open the window of heaven and pour them out a blessing that they will not have room enough to receive it. Rebuke the devourer for their sake, and we praise you for it now in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Listen, thanks for your giving. Thanks for joining us today. I love every one of you with the love of the Lord, and And remember this until next week: share the word with a friend, and remember, your decisions set you up for dominion. God bless you.