The STORY OF A KING, Part 5, "Born to Restructure" | Dr Mike Woods, Sr | 15 Dec 2024

Could have been a night just like this one. The air filled with anticipation. And that light, so bright in the night sky that it beckoned for shepherds and wise men to follow. Imagine to their surprise when they arrive and find a tiny baby laying in a manger surrounded with nothing more than farm animals. How could this be their king? How could the Savior of the world be here in this place? And yet they were compelled. They bowed down right there and worshiped him. You see, they knew that something beyond comprehension had just transpired. The hope of all mankind kind has just shown up before them. That Jesus, although a baby, had come for you and for me. He came to give us a hope and a future. He came so that we might have joy and light. He came so that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, all we have to do is call on his name and we would be saved. This is the story Christmas. This is the story of the greatest gift ever given. The story of a king, the savior of the world, born in a manger for you and for me.

I'm going to attempt to teach this, but I could just really get in the corner right now and just lay before him honestly. O shaman di o sata babaya. Glory to God, glory to God. We're continuing our series on the story of a king. Glory to God. Say that with me, say the story of a king. Hallelujah. We've been discussing why he was born, the story behind his birth. Glory to God. And just by way of review, I want to review a few things I've already taught. And I pray that these messages have been a blessing. And those of you that are watching, do me a favor, guys. I need you to do a couple of things. I need you to comment below, let us know you're here. Secondly, I need you to share this with someone else. Someone else needs this word. And then thirdly, glory to God, I need you, praise the name of God, to press the like button, glory to God, to let us know that you are enjoying these teachings. But if you missed any of these, please go back and watch them. Part 1, we talked about Jesus being born to reign. Glory to God. And we, we gave you some principles of the character of a king. Listen, if you missed that, you need to go back and watch that because no kingdom can exist without a king. If someone's running around talking about they're a king and ain't got no kingdom, uh, that's a problem. Actually, they're honestly lying. There's no way they have a kingdom and ain't no king around. Glory to the name of God. The kingdom has to have someone to rule. Glory to God. So go back and watch that. We talked in part 2 that Jesus was born— this is his story— he was born to redeem. He came in the earth to buy us back. Glory to God! To eradicate our sin. He's the eraser. Glory to God! He erases sin in our life. So he was born to erase sin. Glory to God! You ought to thank God that you've been renewed, you've been bought back, you've been redeemed. This is the story. And honestly, again, this is what Christmas, this time of year, is really all about. Then in part 3, we talked about the fact that he was born to restore. I gave you some principles of kingdom. In Principles of Redemption, I gave you some principles of citizenship, because again, in every kingdom there are 3, uh, main elements. You have the actual kingdom, the functioning. You have the citizens who carry out the assignments of the king. You have the king who rules. And then fourthly, glory to God, last on Thursday we talked about Jesus being born. What a great teaching! If you missed that teaching on Thursday night, please go back and watch it. We talked about how Christ was born to bring revelation, to reveal himself to us, and watch this, to reveal you to yourself. The way you get to know the real you, you got to get to know him. And what he'll do is open your eyes and show you who you are. So many times we live in the realm and under the auspices, glory to God, of people's opinion of us. Say that with me, say born to restructure. To restructure something, let's, let's start right there, to restructure something. Glory to God. Deals with the idea to rebuild or modify an entity, a people, a planet. Hear this, so that it can function at its highest capacity. I'll say that again. Restructuring deals with the idea of rebuilding a person, a people, a planet, a business, an entity. Hear me, so that it can function to its highest capacity. Touch your belly, those you watching me, those you in here, and say, God God wants me to function at my highest capacity. I need y'all to get that. God wants you to function at the highest level of potential and ability you can. And again, that's why Thursday's message is important. You got to get a revelation of just how special and how unique and how authentic and how big you are on the inside. Touch your belly again and say, something's big is working in me. I'm telling you right now, there's nothing little about you. There's something big, there's something humongous that's working on the inside of you. Glory to God. And God wants that to operate in its highest capacity. That cannot happen. Watch this. Anytime you're restructuring, restructuring often happens— hear me, family— inside of the right environment. You cannot restructure anything if the environment or the culture is bad. Let me give you an example. If you're trying to restructure your children at home when they're small. You can't create an environment of discipline, obedience, and respect and honor in the house if there's someone in the house that consistently is dishonoring the system, or you let them go somewhere else for the summer and that system is totally different than the environment you have them in, they gonna come back and you gonna have to try to rebuild them all over. Because at the end of the day, environment is important to restructuring. So you gotta maintain a healthy environment. That's why you can't restructure or rebuild a ministry, a church, a business with the wrong people. If you got the wrong people in place, you're gonna have unhealthy environments, unhealthy attitudes, and you can't build with them. And that spirit that's upon them is gonna be released upon everybody else. 'Cause watch this, messy is contagious. I'm gonna say that again, messy is contagious. Drama is contagious. Negative is contagious. Matter of fact, negative— watch this about negative— negative doesn't even need evidence. Somebody can say something negative and your ears automatically go up and you incline to it, and you ain't even got no evidence it's true. That's why negative things on the internet blow up, go viral so fast, because negative don't need evidence. But you tell somebody something positive that's happening, they want to see the proof. Well, how you know that? How you know that's real? They want to see the proof of it. But negative never needs evidence. Are y'all hearing this? I, I need you to grab this because in order to maximize your potential, you got to be in the right environment. In order to rebuild and let and the King restructure your identity so you can live at the highest level of your capacity, you gotta be in the right environment. Watch this, write it down. The environment of a kingdom— here we go— is glory. Oh boy, here we go. The environment of a kingdom is glory. So the kingdom is the government of God, right? It's the king's domain, it's the king's rule. But the environment of the kingdom is the glory of the king. So we can't advance the kingdom at its highest capacity if we don't create an environment of glory where he can dwell in our life. Oh boy, watch this, because when he moved in, he brought his government with him, and he wants that government and that glory to exude through you. Go to Isaiah 9:6. Glory to God. I don't even have that in my notes, but let's go. Glory to God. I want to show you that. Isaiah 9:6. Watch this. The Bible says, for unto us a child is born. Now I've been telling you, he's born to reign, right? He's born to redeem. He's born to restore. He's born to reveal. Glory to God. Now, now I'm telling you today, he's born to restructure your life. Watch this. For unto us a child is born. Who's that child? Glory to God, we're talking about Jesus. Unto us a son— watch this— is given. So this is important. Children are born, sons are given. I'm gonna say that again. Children are born, sons are given. God gives sons to men and women, glory to God, who have to preserve their legacy. There's something great in that seed, in that line, that needs to be preserved. So God gives sons. I couldn't have a girl when I was having babies if I tried. I got 3 children that came out of my body, all of them males. They were given, glory to God, because God wanted to make sure, dude, if you mess up, I got 3 that still got your DNA and it's a chance to preserve your legacy. Sons are given. Watch this. God gave his Son for the purpose of redemption, to bring us back to him, to restructure our life, to reveal our identity. Oh boy. So he can come and reign. Watch this. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. Not the government, the government. Not the government, the government. Glory to God. Mishra in Hebrew. Watch this. The rule, the dominion, the empire, the authority is on his shoulder. So Jesus carries government authority. The kingdom has authority. The kingdom needs authority on earth. The authority of the kingdom on earth can't be manifested without you and I. His glory has to come through us to the world so they can see the King. I'm going somewhere, stay with me. The government is on his shoulder, so if he's in you, that mean that same government that's on his shoulder is in you too. And you gotta take your place in that governmental system so his glory can shine on you and through you wherever you go. But you know what we've done? We become so attributed to systems of the world, systems of the earth. We become attributed to, uh, democracy and the ways of the world. And God says no, there's a greater government in you. There's a greater kingdom in you. It's a kingdom that can't be shaken. It's a kingdom, glory to God, that can never be overturned. So we should probably choose that kingdom. Oh, say that with me. Say, I choose the kingdom of God. So you got to let him rule. So he can't really get glory until you're creating an environment of submission where he's ruling. Oh boy, that's an empire in you. That's what this means. That's what, that's what Mishra in Hebrew means. There's an empire. Government is an empire. So ain't nothing small about who we are. There's nothing small about what we do, even though we have a relatively small church. We got empire in us. Are y'all hearing this? You, you listen, there are people with mega churches and it's just mega mess, and they don't understand the empire that flows out of them. They're not making impact in kingdom. They're doing church stuff, but they're not making an impact in the world to bring about change. God only needed 12 with the empire. He laid a foundation of 12 disciples and he changed the entire world with 12. Rub your belly, say, I got an empire in me. I need y'all to grab that, man. Listen, if you're gonna be thinking, you might as well think big. If your brain gonna be working, let it work big. Think empire, think scale, think expansion, think growth, think increase, think influence, so you can maximize your potential on a large scale. Y'all with me? Glory to God. So restructuring then is necessary to reflect the glory of God, to reflect the empire that's in us. Many times our thinking has to be restructured because we think too low. As a matter of fact, in many instances, our vision of God is too low. Eba, sura miki sataya. Yeah, God, I said that. There are people that need paradigm shifts in their mind as to how big the God we serve is. Your mind needs to elevate to his vastness and his ability to share that vastness with you. I say his ability to share it because honestly, it has already been shared. If you're saved, if you're redeemed, if you receive God, the empire is already in you. He's already shared the vastness with you. So why would you walk around mediocre and accepting mediocrity as a way of life? That's not God's plan. Why are we here? He wants us to glorify him and make the world know that he's a big God. He's a great God. So write this down. I'm going to give you just some things about environment, because again, remember, environment is important to glory. Environment is important to restructuring. You got to be in the right environment. I wouldn't attend a dead church if I was the pastor. Glory to God. Yeah, I just wouldn't. Glory to God. I just— I probably would quit after the second day because I don't ever want to be where God was. I want to be where God is. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. I don't ever want to be where God was. I want to be where God is. There's some people watching this clip, this video. Glory to God. You're sitting in a place dying and you need to make up in your mind God is gone. And when God pack his bags and go, you need to put up your little Baptist finger and you need to get out of there and go too. I don't care how much extracurricular stuff the church is doing. Glory to God. Giving toys to kids, giving away clothes. That's stuff you don't get a hero cookie for doing that. You're supposed to do that anyway. But if there's no power, if there's no glory, if there's no anointing, if there's nothing but hype, Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. If there's a preacher that's impure and can't live holy, because God can't stay there if there's no purity, if there's no holiness, if there's no right— y'all ain't got to talk to me here. You need to pack your bags and get up out of there. And I ain't saying that because I want you to come here. Listen, this is a good place to come, but you, you need to go anywhere the glory is. Amen. Glory to God. Write this down, write this down. I gotta go, I'm getting beside myself. Write this down. Number 1: in order to be like God, we must know God. And to know God, listen, we must spend time in his presence. Glory to God. So you want to be like him? Listen, you gotta spend time with him. You can't become like anything you do not spend time with. The greatest way to spend time with God is in worship. Watch this. Lucifer, when he was in heaven, he worshiped so that he just— he felt like he was God. And he said out of his mouth, I will exalt myself above the Most High. The more you worship God, the more you become like him. And folk will complain that worship is long, the church is long. And God forbid if they get up and have to pray, they pray about 5 minutes and they're done. You need to spend some time in his presence so you can get to know him. You can't know anybody you don't spend time with. I'm, I'm convinced there are people who just met God. They don't know him. They just met him. Hallelujah. There's a difference in knowing someone and meeting them. I have met some wonderful people, but I don't know them. I just met them. You only know folk you know, and you only know when you have time or history with them. Glory to God. Number 2, write it down. Before God created man— write this down— he prepared an environment perfectly suited for him. Are y'all hearing this? So God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:1. God never does anything just to be doing it. Heaven was his dwelling place. He created Earth for man, and Earth was perfectly suited for this human that God created. It was perfect. The condition of it before sin— hear that— was perfect. Y'all listening? Before sin and disobedience, the earth was perfect. Write this down. Number 3: Eden, which is where God put the first humans— Eden, y'all know about that, right? Garden of Eden. It represented a state. It was an environment, and it was an environment that was pure, that was complete, and it represented— watch this— unbroken fellowship with God. Pure, complete, unbroken fellowship. That's Eden. The Hebrew word is paradise. So God created a paradise-like environment. We're gonna see in a moment why he created this like this. Jesus came to restructure us— hear me— back to this type environment, to get us back to Edenic-type living that's pure. This is the lifestyle in Eden, complete. So we don't need to be living incomplete lives. We don't need to be living impure lives and— oh my God— perfect, perfect habitation for God to come down and fellowship with man. It was perfect. He's trying to restructure us so we can get back in that space. We carry Eden in us. You know what breaks fellowship with God? Sin. And, and somebody said, preacher, you've been taught— because this is why Jesus came. This is a story. He came to deal with sin. And the condition the church is in today, and the condition the world is in today, is because of sin. Because sin breaks fellowship with God. Okay, come here, Isaiah. Isaiah said, because of your sin, this has separated you from between you and your God. Why does sin separate? I thought God loved me. He does. But he hates sin. He hates the works of the flesh. So you need to start restructuring your life to maintain fellowship so glory can come out of it. Only way glory could come out of it, the King's got to be there. The King cannot dwell in an unclean temple. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So he cannot come in unclean environments. In the church, all kind of stuff be going on in these churches. People get turned out, they having orgies. That's crazy. That's a problem where the preacher getting together with other members having orgies. The devil is a liar. Something's wrong with that picture. It's a problem when we jump, shout, speak in tongues, spit, blow bubbles over sin. You all up in there coming in the Honda, leaving in the Lexus. The devil is a liar. You need deliverance. Hashem, Rebekah, shout over homosexuality. Listen, the reason the people in the kingdom can comfortably be homosexual is because the king holding the mic is perverted himself. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. So, and watch this, gays and lesbians, LBGTQIA, whatever they are, they love hubs. I, I've noticed in— I studied the spirit because the stronghold is so strong in Atlanta. It's a principality that operates in this region, and they like hubs, they like gathering places. They've tried to take over Midtown of our city. The devil is a liar. The church will not be a hub for homosexuality. The church will not be a hub for lesbianism. I'm telling you right now, I am not here to make any lesbian, any homosexual, any whore monger comfortable in sin. Oh my God, it's impossible for you to host the glory of God and you live in a perverted life. I don't care what you say. I don't care what Carlton Pearson taught you in his era. Glory to God. You, and you, you call me what you want, you say what you want, you can post this, repost this, I don't care. The reality is the Bible is right and somebody's wrong. Yes, his grace is sufficient for us. Yes, God will forgive you when you sin, but you making a choice to live in sin? That's why churches have no power. That's why there's no anointing that destroys yokes and removes burdens, because we're shouting in our mess. And God says, I need to clean that crap up. Are y'all hearing this? Yeah, okay, write it down. Glory to God. So Eden, again, Eden represented a state of pure, complete, and unbroken fellowship with God. There's only one way to fellowship with God, it's through purity. Hallelujah. It's through completion, teleos, perfection, maturity. Anything else breaks it. Doubt, fear, sin of any type breaks fellowship. And if you want a consistent environment where God dwells— oh boy, I got to get out of here. You got to keep purity in place. Write this down. God's original purpose for Eden— watch this— was for Eden— here we go— to be duplicated throughout the earth. So my, my revelation of this is that before sin, God had a plan for every human to be fully grown, born. Hallelujah! A glorious being, pure, without sin, with a soul, with a will, but giving homage totally to God. But God knew when he created man with a free will, he had choices. And the devil, evil, gives context to good. That's why something's wrong with you psychologically and intellectually and spiritually if you believe there is no hell but there is a heaven. How can you believe there's no hell but there is a heaven? Come on, people, the reality is hell gives heaven context. Just like evil gives good context. If there's good, there is definitely evil. Oh boy. If there's heaven, there's definitely hell. If there's sin, there's definitely righteousness. So you can't take just the punishment away. So you can keep doing evil? No, man. If there's right, there's wrong. It gives it context. Somebody say context. I got to get out of here. I don't want to preach too long. So God wanted to duplicate this thing, so he's got to restructure environments. That's why the King is here, so that we can create environments of glory where he shows up. Watch this. And people, just because his presence is there, they want to live right. They want to please him because they had real encounters with God. Watch this. If you really ever have a real encounter with God, there's something down in you that's going to want to please him. You ain't going to want to live any kind of way. You want to, you want to live in a way that returns to him what he asked for. And what did he ask for? He said, be holy, for I am holy. That has nothing to do with the blood that makes you holy. That has something to do with what you become. You live holy, for holiness without no man can see God. I don't know why I'm on this so hard. Glory to God. It's the world we live in. They lack glory, they lack authority, they lack power. Glory to God. Write this down. Number 5: The presence of God— watch this— is the manifestation of the active power of God. That fills environments created by the citizens, by us. So we create an environment, the presence manifests and fills that environment that we created. Well, that's why we got to take the time to create the environment in here when we worship corporately, out there when we live, we in our homes. We need an environment that's centered around worship. That's why— watch this— you can't be in the house with other people, you got to be extra prayerful. When you living with other people that's living in sin, you're saved but they're in sin. Oh, y'all ain't got to talk to me here. You got to control your environment in that house. Ah, shaman diosa tababamaya. And you could, you could let a relative move in, but if that relative live in sin Guess what? All them spirits that they carry is coming in your house with them when they show up, when they move in. If they living in something, that's in there with you, and it opens portals because an idle mind is the devil workshop, and you got to manage your environment and not let those demons take over your space. 'Cause watch this, we need a place that God can feel and manifest himself at home and at church. Like I said in the beginning, if I wouldn't pastor dead church, if I was called to be the pastor and they gave me $100 million to pastor that church and they chose not to resurrect, I ain't going. Because at the end of the day, I'd rather have God I— yeah, God have mercy. I'd rather have him feel an environment than you stuck in your ways. Got 30 deacons up at the front singing, dead as two left shoes. God can't feel that crap. That's religion. That— God doesn't feel religion. He feels the heart that pursues him. Impurity. Oh boy, just give me God, just give me God. Watch this, write it down. Outside the environment— say environment— of God's covering presence, hear this, man, you and I cannot function properly. So outside the right environment, we go crazy. We're out of control. That's why people can continue to live in sin. That's why the world is so simple, because they're not in their ideal environment. They're out of control because they're subject to the system of the world. Watch this. And the prince and the power of the air, which is Satan. So they're living under his auspices. That's why so much violence, so much sin in the world. Watch this, inside of the church, when you have sinful people who don't change, it's because they're outside of their ideal environment. I mean, if you're really around God, that's going to put a demand on your lifestyle. You know, I love my parents, my mama, my daddy. And my bonus mom, my dad's wife, who he's been married to for 50-some-odd years. The reality is I have honor for them. There's certain things I ain't gonna say or do in their presence. Y'all ain't got to talk, cause I honor who they are. I honor their— I'm not going to my daddy's house and show out. And start hollering and acting crazy. I'm not going to do that and throwing stuff. Listen, I got— I honor him. If you could do that in the natural— oh, you're hearing this— we should be able to honor the presence of God and the environment of the King and his government in our life. Glory to God. Number 8, write it down. At the root of sin— hear this— at the root of sin is willful rebellion against the will of God. So sin starts with rebelling. So every time you sin, you're making a choice to rebel against what God desires. Remember I told you sin is harmatia in Greek, which is to miss the mark. God has set a standard in the Bible for us to live by, and instead of us trying to— you got these crazy folks out here that want to write a new Bible. The devil is a liar. Oh, there's books missing out of that one. And we need to write a new one, and King James transliterated it wrong. Well, study it right in the Greek and the Hebrew, you still gonna get the word from the Lord. This is the living truth that God has given us to live by. You want to change it because you want to do what you want to do. Sin begins with rebellion. And you got to decide not to be rebellious. Every time you sin, you're rebellious. Oh, it was just a mistake, I didn't mean to do it. That's why you should think before you act. Oh, glory, my God. We can't expect— hear me— the world out to follow us, to come in, to be saved. Hear me, guys. And we rebelling against God. Don't you know worldly people, people who don't know God, are looking at you saying, ain't no need me going to church, they ain't even living it. Cussing, drinking, smoking, lying. And then saying you in God, talking about you saved. What you saved from? You say with a beer in your hand, I got a problem with that. What you saved from? You're rebelling against— somebody said, Woods, it's Christmas time, why are you so hard? Listen, I want you to be saved. I don't want you to die and go to hell. You rebel, you need an environment, and I want you to be successful on earth. You can't be effective without God, so you gotta change your ways. Lord have mercy. Amandias, you know what the most abused word in church is 'God said.' It's highly abused because God ain't saying as much as these people saying he's saying. He done said so much that we are rebelling against. Let's obey that. And then people say, God said, and if it goes against the word, it ain't true, it ain't God. And we're abusing that word and we need to stop it. Go to Matthew 6:33. I'm about to get out of here, y'all. We gonna get out of here. So I gotta shift my environment. So that God can restructure. He's restructuring you so you can operate at full capacity, so the optimal reality for your future can be realized. I'm gonna show you how he does it. Let's go to Matthew 6:33. This is why he was born. Hallelujah. Matthew, it says, but seek first. Somebody shout, first. Now I want to stop right there and just break that down. The word seek is zetaio or zito in Greek, and this word means to pursue hard after with uninterrupted focus. Watch this. The proof of desire is pursuit. I'm gonna say that one more time. The proof that you desire something is found in the fact that you pursue it. Glory to God. I'm married to my wife. I desired her. She never would have knew it if I wouldn't have pursued her. She never pursued me because that's out of order for a woman to be pursuing a dude. Y'all gotta talk to me here. The Bible said he that finds a wife finds a good thing. Some of y'all watching me, you're single right now because you looking for a husband. You cannot find anything that's not hidden, so go hide. That's my advice to you. You want a husband, go hide. And he's gonna find you in purpose. He gonna find you in prayer. He's gonna find you in worship. Hide in the things God has called you to do and the man of your dreams will find you. So the Bible says here, but seek, pursue, go after God with uninterrupted focus. The proof that you desire him is that you pursue him. So that means you need to get up and worship. You get up out the bed and pray, not in the car praying on the fly, 'Lord, bless this day. God, please keep me as I go.' You don't roll out the bed, run into your appointments. Set your clock where you can get up and pray. And sometimes God wake you up 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, that's for you to pray. That's for you to seek him, not to turn on the TV and find something to watch. Roll out the bed, get on your face, and talk to God. Pursue him. But seek ye first, zataio. Watch this. The first way I gotta seek him— oh, this is good right here. Thank you, Holy Spirit. I gotta change and restructure my words. Remember I told y'all earlier this year that your words— and I've been preaching this forever, but I told y'all earlier this year, your words shape the world you live in. So the world you live in is ultimately a result of how you have spoken. Gloria, you want a bigger house? Speak that thing out of your mouth. You want more money? Speak it out of your mouth. Death and life is in the power of your tongue. You, your, your mouth is a life force that brings things into fruition. You can create like God creates with your mouth. Watch this, I'll say it another way. Your world will follow your words. Let that marinate a moment. So the world you live in is gonna follow what you say. So you gotta seek God with your words. You gotta start speaking things in faith that causes God to gravitate to you. Oh God, and stop all that negative talk. Listen, I, I'll say this right here because we have to be careful what we let come out of our mouth. Yesterday I was getting ready, I got up early to go to a funeral, got dressed, I was clean as the board of health, ready to go. Glory to God. Could not find my keys. Came in the house the day before and didn't leave out. As I came in, set my computer down and went on by my business. The baby, my grandbabies were there, went downstairs, spent some time around them. I just didn't think no more about my keys. The next morning went to look for them, could not find knew they was in the house. It was wearing me out, it was wearing Felicia out. But then Felicia, she gets deep in it. She became one with the search for these keys. Glory to God. And it started getting on my nerves that she was so deep in it. I was like, look, them keys gonna pop up because I— it's frustrating me that I can't find them. Glory to God. And she— but she knew something was wrong. And I was so frustrated. She said something to me and I just said, you know what, I don't want to hear that, please stop. And I'm just— I was on one because I'm like, I gotta find these keys. I done blamed everybody for picking them up and taking them. I said, I set my keys there. And yeah, I'm just talking because I'm angry. But the Bible do say be angry and sin not. And I realized, glory to God, that I was out of order. So I just was quiet most of the day. And last night I went in my office, went over to the shelf where I put the computer on, look right under the— on the next shelf, there my keys said hello. It was God testing my reaction. I was asking him too. He wasn't saying nothing. He was just— he was trying to teach me how— what I'm teaching y'all— how to go to that space between stimulus and response. I should have went there and just marinated. Glory to God. And I didn't. And so I had to— when I had— I was too embarrassed last night when I found him to tell my wife I found him. Because I had cut up so bad with her about them. Glory to God. I'm just, I'm just honest enough to tell on myself. Y'all not honest enough. But at the end, I had cut up bad about them keys. Glory to God. And I'm like, okay, so I repented to her this morning, told her I found my keys and I'm really sorry. And, and the reality is we have to watch our words because we don't know what we're saying, what we're speaking against, what, what we're putting in the atmosphere. Your words have power. Your world will follow your words. I even hollered one time, this ain't nothing but the devil done took my keys. But it wasn't nothing but my 55-year-old self forgot where I put them. Are y'all hearing me? Glory to God. I gotta go. But seek ye first. Say first. The word first here is— oh boy, here we go— pariso in Greek. And this, this word means— watch this— to give superlative priority to. So this is why we got to restructure the priorities. He says seek, pursue hard after it, go after the kingdom. And now he's saying prioritize the kingdom as your first go-to. How many times when we felt the pain, our first go-to wasn't the kingdom? Okay, I got to go to the doctor and check that. When you got a healthcare system in the kingdom, ita man so rabba ki haya, that's second to none. Matter of fact, the doctor still practicing medicine They still trying to figure out, glory to the name of God, how to get it done. Our healthcare system is headed up by Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. And every time I bring sickness to him, glory to God, he stretches his hand out and he touches my body to heal it, because he's a healer. How many times we have financial difficulty, we go to complaining And speaking negative, that's why you got to prioritize your words. Instead of speaking what's going on, speak those things that are not as though they were. Are y'all hearing me? Your world follows your words. I want y'all to grab that today. Your words shape the environment. I come in here sometime and I, when I'm walking around, I just be saying, Lord, fill this place with your glory. And I declare that your glory inhabits this room. And I declare that there's nothing in this space that's not like you. I begin to speak in this space that this space is a cancer-free zone. And I decree and declare, God, that when people come in here, if they have cancer, they'll be healed just because they walked in the door. This is how I'm talking in here. I said, even if they don't have cancer and they come in the door, they'll never get it because this space is a cancer-free zone. You got to start speaking those things that are not as though they were, because if you speak what is, you're going to always be frustrated. You don't always be negative. I always come in here and speak, glory to God, this church is growing by leaps and bounds and increases upon this house, and God has added to this church 5,000 souls, and this church is becoming— even in 2025, I have decreed that we'll reach 1,000 1,000 souls for Jesus. I'm declaring it to be so in Jesus' name. You, instead of speaking to what is, you got to speak to what's coming. And I'm telling you, we going to watch a miracle in this place. We going to watch this place be way too— it's already way too small. We going to watch this place be small real fast. Because we're shaping our world with our words. Hallelujah. Oh, shabba-baiah. He says, seek ye first the kingdom of God. The word kingdom is basileia in Greek. It's the authority, it's the rule, it's the reign. Watch this, it's the government of God. So I'm pursuing I'm zito. I'm going after the kingdom. I love it. I'm going after his way of doing things, his authority, his rule. I'm seeking basilia. I'm seeking the environment of God to fill my life so I can operate in a space of rulership and authority. He says, seek ye first the kingdom and his righteousness, diasune in Greek, which means his accuracy, his accurate way of doing and being right. Which means as a kingdom citizen, I need an environment, I need a restructuring in my life so that— listen, you need it so that you'll never miss it to the left nor to the right. Instead of speaking that negative, oh, we all mess up sometimes, we all fall sometimes. No, you ought to say out of your mouth, I'll never miss it to the left or to the right because I'm seeking the righteousness of God. I speak that every day. And you know what God does? He shows me the areas that I need to work on, and I have to make a choice to work on those areas. You got to decide you want more of him and less of what you've been getting. Glory to God. He says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Here's what I love: and all these things will be added. See, that's restructuring for real. Let me just show you how that verse came into being. If you go back up to Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, no man can serve— oh boy, here we go— doulos in Greek, serve, become a slave to two masters. Oh my God. He said you cannot serve two masters. You got to choose who you're a slave to. See, here's the problem with the church today. We have not embraced mastership. So Jesus makes the statement in 6:33: one, because there's a problem with mastership. The people he's talking to have an issue who they gonna serve. When you choose sin deliberately— okay, here we go— it's because you got an issue with who you want to serve, your master the devil or your master Jesus, because somebody's going to be your master. See, you might be saying, no dude, no doc, I ain't got no master, I'm my own person. No, yes you do. What you don't realize, you are a trichotomy— your body, your soul, your spirit. And your spirit man is the one that controls everything that happens in your life. So either you're being controlled by a demonic force, or you're being controlled by the Holy Spirit. I choose to let God be my master. I'll be a slave for Jesus any and all day, every day. What you want, God? Here I am. You gotta mortify your flesh. You gotta mortify those thoughts that come to your mind that go against your master. Lord have mercy. You got to lock it up and throw it away. The Bible said every thought that exalts itself, 2 Corinthians 10:4, against the knowledge of God, he said imprison that thought. There ought to be a little jail warden in your mind just waiting for a thought to come up, and every time that thought come up, he ought to say, come on, and lock it up. Because watch this, these thoughts are there and they just flow through your psychological man, but you have to control them with the spirit. Watch this, the thought of doing wrong won't go away. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. Listen, temptation is not going away, but anything that won't go away You must control. So it's there, it's going to tempt you, it's coming, but you got to control it because you want to please your master. Listen, I hate to use this as an example, but ask Kool G. Kinte, who said, 'I'mma run,' came in his mind, 'I'mma run, get away from the master. Yeah, he got caught and got his whole foot cut off. Listen, you better think twice about rebelling against God, because sin will make you pay more than you want to pay, and it'll make you stay longer than you want to stay. And you got to decide, I'm gonna obey the master. So there was a problem with mastership. That's why he wrote 6:33. Secondly, he says you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is money, or the work required to obtain money. God said you cannot be so in love with your job— hear me— that you don't pay homage to God and that you don't understand that God is your source. So first, there's a problem with mastership. Secondly, there's a problem with priority. He says, look, your priorities are wrong. I need you to restructure your priorities. You think the world system is going to take care of you. You've been deceived. I'm your God. I'm your King. I'm Jehovah Jireh, your provider. Trust me and I got you. 'Cause you know, in bondage, the master took care of the slaves because he needed them strong and healthy. They never missed a meal. They had good places to sleep, goods they could have back then 'cause he needed them to work. Took care of the babies of the slaves, future slaves. So make sure they were taken care of. That's what the devil will do. He'll take care of you in your mess and make you comfortable in it. But God says he could do more for you than the enemy could have ever done or could ever, ever do. Get your priorities straight. Let the King who was born restructure your priorities. You don't get what you want for Christmas this year, it ain't about that anyway. Get your priorities straight. This thing is about getting you to be the best version of you you could possibly be. Then verses— oh my God— 25 5 through 32, that's a whole nother problem. It's a problem with anxiety. He spent all them verses talking about worrying because they were worried about what they were going to eat, what they were going to drink, what they were going to put on. You talking about some restructuring because that's what— how we think. I got to figure out I'm gonna do this so I can eat. I can do this so I can put on some clothes. I gotta do this so I can have somewhere to stay. And we put it on ourselves when God says, you're my family, you're my citizens. If you trust me, I'll provide for you, I'll open doors. Now, he's not telling you to be lazy, but he's saying trust him with your life. I was sitting here talking to someone this morning. They was talking about why they hadn't retired, and all I heard was no trust. I heard everything they said, but I just heard, no, you're retired because you really don't trust God. You, you trust that system. And I told him, you've been saying that for 5 years, you're about to retire, man. But you got to trust God to take care every single thing. Glory to God. We have created comforts and we lean on those comforts because we know if I do this, I'm gonna be good. But God said, just trust me and do what I said. And I'm gonna take good care of you. That's the problem with anxiety. God ain't never called none of us to worry. He told them, take no thought for tomorrow, what it'll bring. He said, if I clothe the lily of the field, I take care of the fowls of the air, what more would I do for you? Matter of fact, he said, I know you need this stuff before you ask for it. Wow. God know you need it. Stop begging him for it. Just trust him. Watch this. Just seek it. That's why he said, but seek. You walk around here worrying and complaining about what you don't have. God says, no, seek my face, seek my kingdom, seek my government. Restructure how you do this. That's the restructuring. Put the kingdom as the Priority. Seek it. Go hard after it. He said, now add these things, which means you ain't even got to ask for them. He said, I'm going to just add them. He didn't say— he didn't say seek the things. He just seek the kingdom, and I'm going to just give you these things because you trust my kingdom, you trust my way. In other words, he said, I'm going to slip you a house. Just seek the kingdom. I'mma— you going to look up and say, oh, where that house come from? I'mma slip you a Benz. I'mma slip you a BMW. I'mma slip you a Bentley. I'mma slip you a husband. I'mma slip you a— just go after me and I'mma just slide it in there. I'mma add it to your pursuit. Hallelujah. I'm done. Everybody stand. Step into the new year with power, with purpose, and with prophecy. The word "stereogryphus" you are, which means literally to turn on. So your gift is really off until you encounter an apostle. The apostle has to flip the switch. Stop making this my goal and my go-to. Let God raise you up in the marketplaces. Let God raise you up in government. Let God raise you up in the school system. As perverted as these school systems are now, they need a voice from the Lord. Rother Church invites you to New Year's 2025 Revival Fire! 4 powerful and dynamic encounters that will transform your life. Mark your calendars now from January 2nd to January 5th. Immerse yourself in dynamic worship, prophetic teaching, and heavenly encounter— come on! with expectation and receive personal prophecy to start your year with divine navigation and direction. Hear what God has to say about your purpose and destiny for 2025. Seating is limited, so RSVP today by texting 2 $2,025 to the phone number 470-777-8279 to reserve your VIP seat today. This is your moment. Nothing. Don't worry about what's in the bank. Don't worry about who's with you. He says step out and start creating. He's gonna supply every need because of your heart.