“Freshness When I Thought It Was Finished” | Genesis 45:27

A microcosm of life which I discovered through some of my cell phones that when the battery was low, my phone went into something called low power mode. All right, I received a notification because the battery was depleted and my phone went into something that really bothers me called low power mode. And I received a message on the phone that says that the phone would operate at less than full capacity. It's still a phone, it's still on, it's still living, but it's not functioning to its full capacity because life has happened to it and it's not as strong as it was. And since it's not as strong as it was, the phone goes into protective mode and decides not to function the way that it can. I, I believe this morning that my phone is not the only one who is a victim of living in the low power mode. All right, because I believe that God gave me this word to conclude this year for people who have gone through life, gone through circumstances, gone through situations that has depleted you. And now we have not had your funeral, but you're not operating at your full capacity. There are some things that you should be doing but you're not doing, right? There are some life that you should expect but you have trained yourself to not expect. You believe that since life has happened to you, that now this is all that life has for you, all right? Many of us this morning, sweet children, have experienced some life-depleting circumstances this year. We have gone through some form of heartbreak, gone through some type of calamity, gone through and faced— maybe facing now— some type of disappointment. You don't have to tell me, I know it because God gave it to me. But many of us this morning, because life has happened, you you are operating in low power mode, and there are some things that God has ordained for you, but you have stopped believing God because life has happened. But God sent me on assignment this morning to let you know that if you are alive, that it's time to come off of low power mode and to operate in the fullness of what God has designed for you to live. It may come with some effort, but God still wants you to expect. It may come with a risk, but God still wants you to expect. And God says that I have not designed you to operate on half, but God has designed you to operate at your whole capacity. And it is my My goal that in about 30 minutes when I conclude this sermon, that somebody decides today that I am gonna finish this year in a freshness. I am gonna end this year with a fresh attitude. I'm gonna end this year with a fresh mentality.

I am going to have faith again. I am going to believe again. I am going to try again. Because if life could have taken me out It would have taken me out by now, but since God woke me up this morning, that means that this moment right now, there is a fullness in life that God has designed for me to have.

And if you are listening to me, I emphasize the fact that the father Jacob was revived. At this moment in the text, Jacob is approximately 130 years old. All right, up until this moment, about 20 years prior, Jacob was told that his son of favor named Joseph was dead. But what really happened is that his brothers threw him into a pit, and from that moment on, Joseph had lived in moments of isolation and chaos. But up until now, by this time, God had intervened in Joseph's situation. And now at this moment Joseph has now come back into contact with his brothers because life caused a famine and they had to go to the same one that they threw away. And now Joseph has made up in his mind that he's not bitter about life, but he is now so elevated that he is going to forgive his brothers and he is going to give them refuge in Egypt. And he wants to go and get his father Jacob to come stay with them. And when they told Jacob that his brother, his son, was alive, Jacob did not initially believe it because y'all told me that Joseph was dead. Yeah, but when the Bible says that Jacob heard the word and he saw the chariots and he saw the horses and he saw all of the material that Joseph had sent, Jacob got revived.

A new life came to Jacob, this 130-year-old man who thought that his life was going to end in disappointment. Because he heard a word from God, because he saw that God had moved, that old man found new life. And child of God, I don't know who I'm talking to, but you've gone through this whole year here thinking that your circumstance was what you thought it was, but God's word today is that life is not as bad as you think. If you keep on believing, if you keep on living, you will discover that God is in the midst of your life still. He still has his hand on you. He still has favor on you. He still has blessings for you. It is not over. And since it's not over, I'm not gonna stop believing.

Y'all know the problem in this thing. Jacob is the father of the nation, and actually at this moment God had changed his name from Jacob to Israel. But this teaches us something, that even called and chosen people go through life, and life can deplete you. I can see if Jacob was just some anybody, but Jacob was a man of promise. But just because he was a man of promise didn't mean that he didn't have problems. And child of God, God sent me on assignment this morning to let you know that you should not let your problems make you believe that you do not have a promise. But God's word to us today is that even through your problems Even through your pain, even through your situations, the good news is that the promise is still on in your life.

And before we go into 2026, and before we talk about what we gonna do next year, God said on December the 28th, in the year of our Lord 2025, if he's brought you from January the 1st and you've gone through moments of doubt, and you've gone through moments of uncertainty, if you've gone through doctor's appointments, and if you've gone through financial trouble, but God brought you through all of that, that's a sign that God is not through with you yet. It tried to take you out, but you're still here. It tried to end your faith, but you still got your hands lifted. You still showed up to church this morning. You still say hallelujah. You still say thank you, Jesus, because every day problem he trying to bring you, it let you know you still got a problem.

And I want you to believe this this morning. Here's what I want you to believe. I'm so glad to see you. Happy birthday. Here's what I came to preach. Y'all ready? God gives fresh strength to those who settled in sorrow. That's all. That was a championship. Maybe I should have put a shot button up here. Let me say it again. God has fresh strength for those of you who have made in your mind that you're gonna settle in sorrow.

But here's the good news this day, that even though you thought that you were gonna settle in sorrow, God has a way of bringing you the strength you need to take you out of that place of depression, to take you out of that place of sadness, to take you out of that place of doubt that at this end of this year it didn't take you out. So now you got new strength to go on with God and see what God has in store for you. And before I unpack my hermeneutical highlights, I want to know that anybody who receives that right now, who know that God's got fresh strength for you, who know that God wants to revive you No matter how long it's been, no long matter how long you've been in that situation, God got fresh strength for you. And even though you think that it's finished, God said it's just getting fresh for you. Do y'all believe that by faith this morning, or do I need a hoop with an E-flat? God said he got freshness for you when you thought it was finished.

I really could sit down right now. And go take my nap. But since I was told I'm in college today, I just got a second wind.

So let me unpack my Hermes de Havilland and get up down 162.

This text teaches us this morning that when God gives freshness when you thought it was finished, he does that sometimes by withholding disclosures. Sometimes, Dr. Mason, God will withhold disclosures. Oh yes. Uh, God does not require your awareness for him to be active. God is active even when you are not aware.

Can I show it to you in the text?

I told y'all, see, I would give you a pop quiz because y'all don't pay attention to nothing I say. But at this moment in the text, Jacob/Israel thought that Joseph was dead. And if you listen to me, I told you that he's lived with this thought for approximately 20 years.

Good job, good job!

Yo, somebody got some bonus points! So for 20 years, he has seen what he thought was reality, and he settled in that reality thinking that he had nothing else to be excited for. I want to know if there's another Jacob in the house. What has happened in your life that in your mind now it was so bad that God can't be still working in your favor? And here's the challenge: you still alive, but just like that cell phone You in low power mode. Your praise is not what it could be.

Your commitment is not what it could be.

But notice who I'm talking to when I'm preaching. I'm preaching to people who are in church, all right? All right. Which means that just because you are present doesn't mean that you're operating in power. You don't have to do this. I can see it all in your spirit. Many of us just come and show up so that if I see you somewhere, I won't say, where you been? Many of us just so upset because here it is, even as grown as you are,. And as caught as you are, and as long as you've been with God, you think that you simply showing up, you impress God, and he checks a box for you. But you're here with no expectations. Because here it is, let me, let me, let me end the year messing with y'all one good time. Many of us are not really here the way we should be, because you'll be glad when he find us a musician. And so I'm just gonna sit there until he find a musician.

I'm gonna sit there until something happens in church that I want to have. But God says, even though things may not be happening the way I want them to happen in church, there are some things that's happening in my life that nobody but God could do. So no matter if you don't hit a C chord or an E-flat chord or a C-sharp chord I have breath in my body. And let everything that have breath praise the Lord. Because even though I'm not aware, I still know that my God is active. That while I'm in here, God is working on my life out there. And some things that I've forgotten about, God is fixing right now. Y'all want to know by now, whether you come on or not, I'm gonna stand here and preach. And guess where I'm going? Up 167. And while I'm here, I'm gonna make sure I give God my best, because while I'm here, God is working in my not yet. He's keeping me right now. He's protecting me right now. He's blocking the enemy right now. While I was asleep, there may have been somebody who wanted to take me out, but God blocked it. There was something that the devil tried to do in my life and I don't even know about it now. And the reason I don't know about it is because God blocked it. The doctor found one thing, but it could have been something else going on in my body and I don't even know it today because God blocked it. And I thank God that he can block things even when I'm blind. I feel like preaching a little while now.

Come on. And Jacob is all about— all right, why are you sitting here thinking life going this way?

God says you just don't know. You just don't know what I got going on for you right now. You're going by a false report, and that's what somebody's in right now. You are looking at your facts and you have accepted that false report. But who gonna receive the report of the Lord that you are blessed and highly favored, that you are highly in God, that you are justified and sanctified, that no matter what's going on on the news, I got a God in the heavens who's controlling everything right now?

You think that your facts are fine, all right, but God says it's not founded because you don't have all the facts.

Somebody tell me to say it again. You think right now that your facts are fine, but God says it's not founded because you don't have all the facts. You don't know what God is doing for you right now. You don't know what blessings God prepared for you right now. You don't know what white doors God is opening right now. Is there anybody who believes that while you are in here, God is opening some doors that are never closed in your face? He's closing some doors that don't need to be open. He's shutting up some enemies. He's stopping some plots. He's stopping some traps, and you don't even know about it.

I receive it. That even though I may not be aware—

so you see, the good news is that God is still active, and God does not need my awareness in order for him to be active. He don't need my knowledge. He doesn't need me to be conscious. He just needs me to stay alive. And if he's gonna keep me alive, I'm gonna keep expecting because you never know which way God's gonna come.

You better stop thinking it's fine and accept something fresh. Have y'all ever heard of this term? Let me see if y'all heard it, see if y'all read what I read. This term called metabolic regeneration. I need y'all Metabolic regeneration. It's why you need to make sure that you go to bed. It's why— and next time y'all make fun of me for all the naps I take, I'm telling you, it's because of metabolic regeneration. I spend a lot of time in the gym. That's why I look so weird. I spend a lot of time in the gym. But not only what I do in the gym, it's me taking sleep and taking naps. It helps me. Can I break it down to you? Metabolic regeneration happens at its best when you are sleeping. Little did you know that while you are asleep, your body regenerates and renews. Your body— in wee hours of the morning, you need to be sleeping because that's when your body can give freshness. Cells can get renewed. Y'all missing me. The body can flush out toxins, and when you get some good sleep, you wake up in the morning feeling fresh. Let me unpack a little bit further. Have y'all ever heard this term, don't make a decision now, sleep on it? The reason that you need to sleep on is because while you're asleep, one of the organs or tissues that regenerates the most is the brain. All right, all right. So you being up and thinking about it, it's not gonna solve it. But when you lose consciousness, when you lose awareness—

preach that— when you take yourself out of it, When you allow that work to happen, you wake up brand new. And that's God's word for somebody. When you are asleep, you're not aware. But just because you are not aware, your body is still active. There are some new things happen while you're not aware. There are some freshness that's happening while you're not aware. The message in that is just rest in God and know that God is doing a new thing for you right now. You may not be able to see it, but I sure don't believe it because I know by now that God gives new life when I submit to him and take my mind out of it.

Once I leave here, I'mma go sleep on it and let God do a new thing in my life.

And that may be biological, but there's some, there's some truth to that because I want to let somebody know, as you close this year, start resting in God more. And while you rest, God can renew.

God withholds. He don't even let you know he's doing it sometimes until it's already done. I don't know why that part is just shouting me this morning, because my God is showing me that's so clear that for somebody in here, that while you are not aware, he's not telling you the details.

You thinking that life is going one way, and God say if they just believe, they will find out I'm delivering their deliverance too.

I gotta move on. I gotta be— not getting ready to leave y'all. See y'all next year. This is watching. I pray not only does God withhold But God also moves with— here it is— wandering decorations. He moves with wandering, moving decorations. Dr. Mason, you might appreciate this. God is everywhere at the same time. But guess what? So is his word. Amen. God's mouth is moving. Gavin, tell them what you're saying. We are now In Genesis 45, ain't that text? Yeah, Genesis 45, Jacob/Israel thinks that he's in a place outside of God's favor because there is family, his old son Joseph son of his favor that showed the world he still got it. He's there in his life, right? But Genesis 45 is a derivative of a word spoken in Genesis 28.

In Genesis 28, God spoke a word to Jacob and told Jacob that wherever you go, I will be with you, that his power and favor would always go with Jacob.

Jacob was in Bethlehem Now Jacob is not there anymore, but God's word is still with him. Come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here. You know why that shocks me? Because, you know, I'm a bigger sinner than y'all, right? So, so, so it shocks me. It ain't gonna shock y'all because y'all are better people. God's protection followed Jacob everywhere Jacob went. Here it is: every place that Jacob went, right, is not a place in which God sent. I told you.

I told you, I told you, God's word didn't just stay with Jacob in places that he was safe, but God's promises and words stayed in those places that Jacob went that God didn't send him. And is there anybody this morning who knows that God's word has went with you in places that God didn't send you, and God's word got you out of those places because his word went with you even in those places you ain't have no business going. Y'all better not front with me this morning. Is there anybody else like me who's gone some places you shouldn't have gone? You've done some things you shouldn't have done, but you're here this morning to tell the story because his word went where you were not sent. Y'all can chill, not selling coffee. Okay, you ain't got to act like you ain't naughty and act like you're nice.

God knows. God's word— not God, this is blessing— God's word not only travels to different locations, but God's word travels through different logics. Sometimes the place that we go is not a physical place.

Sometimes the places which we go is a place mentally, it's a place emotionally. It's a place psychologically that we go into, places of sadness and depression that God didn't send us to. Told y'all a few weeks ago about dealing with grief. Sometimes we go to those places voluntarily because we allow life to send us to places psychologically and emotionally Tá, Daddy.

But even in those places, the word of God knows how to reach me wherever I am. I want to know this morning, is there ever any somebody who thought you were about to have a pity party, but God just kept reminding you of some things he's done in your life?

He's kept reminding you of some promises He's kept telling you that you're a favorite, that when people got to tell you about what you're not, God kept telling you who you are. When you told yourself who you're not, God reminded you that you're the head and not the tail. When you kept trying to have imposter syndrome, God told you that his word is in your heart. He told you that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and that now you're not impacted about the word of man But the word of God goes with you everywhere you go. And before you know it, your right hand lift up and then your left hand lift up and you say, God, I thank you that no weapon formed against me shall be able to prosper. I thank you, God, that the joy of the Lord is my strength. I thank you that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I thank you that we may endure for a night But joy comes in the morning, and you find out that God knows how to get in your mind even when you went to those strange places. Yeah, God will go to a club when you ain't supposed to be at that club, but God will go to those strange places in your mind where you think that God is through with you. You ready to give up on God, you ready to give up on life. You ready to stop expecting, but God has a way of getting right there in that room with you when you by yourself. And when you in that alone time with God, you end up worshiping God for who he is.

Can I show it to you today? Jacob didn't have sense enough to know that Joseph was alive. But just because Jacob didn't have sense, he couldn't get to his promise. But his promise— Lord have mercy—

knew how to get to him. Did y'all hear what I just said? Why y'all looking at me like I ain't just get a haircut? That when you don't know how to get to your promise, God's promise know how to get to you. It knows how to find you where you are. Is there anybody who's saved this morning? Because when you were in your sin, salvation got to you while you were in your sin.

I'm thankful. I'll put it this way, I'm gonna put it this way. Y'all know I'm thankful for to conclude this year I'm a living witness that there is mobility in the mouth of my God.

There is movement in his word, that his declarations wonder, that even when I go into the wilderness, those things that he's declared over my life follows me everywhere. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

I've been told, thank you, good afternoon, I gotta go practice metabolic regeneration. But something happened to me this week that I knew God was gonna have me preach. There is this auntie I call very close with my late mother. And she, as people often do when you go through death of loved ones, especially parents, you have this friend who's gonna say, I'm gonna always be right there with you. And Auntie Lisa, she promised me and Jamel— me and Jamel, 9 years old now— but she promised us years ago I'mma send y'all y'all Christmas money every year. I'm a grown taxpayer citizen now, but since she said it, I expect my Christmas card every year. About 2 years ago, year ago, she asked me for my age. All right.

All right, my address from a year ago is not the same address that I live in now.

I was in my new address this week, and in the mail was an envelope with my name on it, and at the bottom of the envelope, it was this yellow marker with the old address on it, but it said forwarding to the new address.

And even though I moved, the prop was following me to my new address. Good night, may the Lord God bless you real good. But God got your mail forwarded to you. You can just walk with God that everywhere you go, his promise will be right there.

Thank you.

And no matter where I go, his mercy is with me. No matter where I go, his grace is with me. No matter where I go, his provision is with me. But here's the thing, she still don't know I moved. But she don't know I moved, but the prophets know exactly where I'm at. And I ain't got to tell no difference because I know now that the word and declaration, the promise she made to me, knows how to get to me no matter where I'm at. And that woman who still don't know where I'm at can get something. Your God knows how to sneak into your sin. He knows how to sneak into your depression. He knows how to sneak into your circumstances. Hands and get you everything you need. Give God praise today. God has freshness.

When you— it was finished. You thought your dreams were dead. God revived old Jacob, 130 years old. He got revived and lived about 17 more years. I speak it over your life, that you will not just grow old, but God will revive you along the way. Thursday morning to refresh. God says you heard his word, let it revive you now and walk with God and see that he knows how to get you what you need, yeah, when you need it, and where you need it. We all for Jesus this morning. Yeah, man, if I was a real preacher, this is what I would do. If I was a real preacher, I would start real low and I would put some music in my voice and I would land at that point and tell you that there was some blood that was shed on Calvary. 2,000 years ago. Yeah, and the blood in Calvary found me one Sunday morning in Winfield.

And the blood found— watch, I would do that if I was a real preacher and tell you that the blood knew how to find me where I was.

One of these days I'm gonna be a real preacher. Y'all gonna be in for it. We offer Jesus this morning. Let's give God praise once again. Let me tell y'all this, what was on my mind, uh, second Sunday, you know, my brother came here for the anniversary, this, uh, Martin, a few days ago. So we supposed to go down to Whitfield second Sunday for his anniversary, second Sunday in January. All right, y'all got that? It's gonna be 11 o'clock, so we'll figure out logistics, but I ain't want y'all to say he don't tell us nothing. You know how y'all are doing. So now y'all know, right? Amen. Any other person?