Chosen But Broken | Kelly Steele | Calling All Queens

But I'm here to remind you today that you are loved and wanted by God, that there is a purpose for your life, that God has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And God does not think you're pitiful. He thinks you are powerful. God wants every piece of you. He wants every ounce of you. He wants you to be more than attached. He wants to love you. But if your heart's not guarded, you'll be up one day and down the other. You'll follow Jesus tonight, but you'll let him go in the morning. You'll believe what the word of God says during this conference, but when you leave, you shut it down. Time out for being unstable in the name of Jesus. God is calling stability to the woman of God. Stability in Jesus' name. You are not just a mother. You are not just a wife. You are not just a grandmother. You are not just a worker. You are a called, anointed, strong woman of God. You are free in the name of Jesus. That relationship that has had you bound up, I call it loose right now in the name of Jesus. You will walk out of here with a clear mind, with a clear soul, with a clear heart and with a renewed strength in the name of Jesus. Hey, come on, give Jesus praise in this place. Yes, God, we love you so much. We love you, Jesus. I'm so glad— wait, before you sit, let's give honor where honor is due. Let's honor Pastor Hope Carpenter. For putting this on by faith and bringing us all together in San Antonio. And we love her, don't we love her so much? We love you, Pastor Hope, and of course Pastor Ron and all the team. And so thankful to be with you. I, I'm honored by the opportunity to preach the word of God, and I'm honored to be your friend. And I thank God for our relationship with each other, relationship with the church, and God is good. If you don't know who I am, I'm Pastor Kelly Steele from Phoenix, Arizona. Anybody from the West Coast? All right. Yep. I love it. And I am 52 years old and I have been preaching the gospel now. We have a church in Arizona, 20 years old. I think, you know, my— I've been married to the love of my life for 32 years, about to be 33 together, 35. And I honor him as— do you guys have a picture of my husband? My husband, there he is. Yes, that's Reggie Steele, Ron's friend. That's my man right there. That's the man who got me pregnant 5 times in 6 years. Got married at 18. We've got quite a story. You know, matter of fact, my whole family is going to come up, I think, next. My entire family. I've got 5 kids. Kids, a, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, all the people there. I'm thankful that all my children, um, are in ministry with me. They are serving God. Praise the Lord Jesus! Except for one. I got one that's in pursuing to be a comedian, but praise the Lord, everyone else is in church. But the real thing I want to show you is the best gift You guys have my grandbabies. That's what matters. Any grandmas in the house? Any Gigi's in the house? Man, if I could have skipped having kids and went right to this, I would have done it. But those are my grandbabies. Matter of fact, my twins Sierra and Savannah turned 8 years old today. And so I got Sierra, Savannah, Layla, Jada, Nora, and Jacoby. And I'm just so thankful for that. And you know what? I love the fact that God puts us on this earth for purpose, and I believe part of that purpose is to have family and have children and children's children, and that's a blessing. Amen. Amen. So yes, that, that's a little bit about me. We have a church in Arizona, 21 years old. We've been doing it strong, and I thank God for people like the Carpenters that always speak life into ministry, because ministry is hard and it's difficult, and I thank God that we're not in the journey alone. Amen. Are y'all ready for the word? Praise God. I'm gonna go here. I'm excited about this. 1 Peter 2:9 says, but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Let's pray. Father, I thank you, God, for your presence is here so strong, Lord. Thank you for the worship that went forward, God. Thank you for the breakthroughs that happened. Thank you that we're able to worship you in in spirit and in truth. Father, I thank you, Lord God, that these women came here for a purpose, on purpose to hear from you. And God, I thank you that every word that you've given me, I'll be able to preach back to them, Lord. Let my words be led by your spirit, Father. Let us, our ears be open, our hearts be ready to receive, to leave here changed, never the same. In Jesus' name, let's all shout amen. Amen. Queen characteristics. We are chosen. You all know that you've been chosen. Amen. You know, I know you are saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost, but you realize that you did not choose God. God chose you. That we were chosen. Amen. And we are royal. All of us here are royalty. Royal means that we belong to royalty or we have the status of a queen. I thank God that we have the status of a queen because we are royal. I love the fact that we are God's special possession, that our God is possessive. Amen. You know, when you're dating before you know Jesus, you want those real relationships where your guy's a little crazy, a little possessive. Oh, am I the only one? Mind you, I did it at 18. So I liked a little bit of being, you know, crazy. You know, not like going to jail crazy, but crazy enough to be possessive. Well, you know what? Our God is possessive. He wants us. He wants all of us and He will chase after us. Amen. In a healthy way. Our status means that we know that we are royal, that we belong to God and we are his. You realize that the enemy's trick is to make us feel like we are not royalty, but we are peasants. Amen. The enemy wants to convince us that we are peasants, someone that has a lower status, someone that has very little education, and someone who's not a landowner. And that's very important that the enemy wants us to be in a peasant state of mind, that we have low status. Anybody remember when they used to do low-down dirty things? Thank you over here. Amen. Praise the Lord. Everyone else like, no, I've been holy my whole life. I've never done anything wrong and I've been perfect and praise the Lord. Well, good for you. Anybody else that used to be a little low? Come on. You had low friends, low thoughts, did low stuff on the down low. Hallelujah. We were low, and the enemy wants to keep us there. He wants us to— the enemy wants us to think that we don't have any education, that we are dumb. Praise the Lord! But that is not the truth. He wants us to think that we are not landowners, which is very important because the word of God says that the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. And if it belongs to God, it belongs to us. Amen. The enemy wants you to also think that you're just a handmaiden, that you are again low status, that you are subordinate, that you have little purpose. Little rank and little power. But let me tell you right now, you don't have little rank. The Lord sees you as a queen. He sees you as his daughter. He sees you as holy. He sees you as righteous. Let me tell you this. You don't have little power. You are powerful. We serve a powerful God. Our God is strong. Our God is mighty. And the God that we serve allows us to walk in that same power. Can I get an amen this morning? Listen, we've got a lot of power. Let me remind you here that we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Amen. That we represent the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That we've been chosen by God, called into his purpose, brought out of darkness into his marvelous light. Does anybody know what I'm talking about this morning? That we have been brought out of a bad place into a good place because Jesus called you by name and said, "Daughter, come up here with me." You belong with me. You are not low down in the dirt anymore. You are a queen. Come on and give God praise in this place. All things work together for the good because you love God and been called according to his purpose. And I thank God for that scripture, Romans 8:28, one of my favorite scriptures, because I am a called according to his purpose woman of God. I know that God has worked out every detail of my life to shape and form me for such a time as this. You should know that God is using everything in your life, the good, the bad, and the ugly to shape and form you for such a time as this. Don't you look at what you're going through. Know that God is going to use it for your good, and it's always to bring him glory. Are there any women in the house that know what it's like to be down, but God lifted you up, and now your test is your testimony? Your mess is your testimony. What you went through didn't break you, it made you. If you know that to be true, give God a Shout! I'm sorry, I get a little excited because I remember where I was. I look at where I am and I know it was nothing but the goodness of God. Hallelujah! You belong to God. You are royal. You are different. You are unique. You are perfect. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are healed. You are delivered. You are set free. You are a new creature in Christ. You are forgetting what's behind you and pressing toward the mark of the high calling. You are a queen, and all the queens say amen. Woo! But the world does not understand this. See, Romans 12:2 says, and we are not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and what is acceptable and what's the the perfect will of God. Conformed, it means that we comply to the rules and standards of this world. We no longer do, but we don't do things that are socially acceptable. We're not conformed to the standards of this world. We don't conform to the rules of this world. We don't look at the world and match up the world. See, worldviews have different terminologies and different outlooks when it comes to the word queen. Can I get an amen? Queen is sometimes used to describe an effeminate or flamboyant man. I'm so tired of men trying to be like us. You could not do one day of a period. Can I get an amen? Not a day. And you can't do menopause— can I get an amen— and have a baby and breastfeed. Stop taking what's ours. So the world says a queen's a flamboyant, effeminate man. You know, another word for a queen is someone who is aggressively over the top. Just doing the most. Anybody know people like that? Just doing the most. She's such a queen. You know, Gen Z comes with the word queen with encouragement. Yes, queen. Yes. Encouragement. Oh, queen. I see you, queen. Then some of you know drama queens. Something's always going on. You always have a story. Someone's always out to get you. People don't like you. People are saying things about you. You're always having a problem. Let me give you a little bit of advice. If everywhere you go there's drama, it could be because you are there. Everybody shouldn't like you. You shouldn't have a problem with everyone. You know what? Wherever you go, there you are. Drama queen. Always have drama. You can see them coming. Oh God, here she comes. Hi. What about this? Drag queen. I switched it up a little bit. Drag queens are people that always drag their issues with them. Their same story, their same problem, the same trauma, the same situation. You never get healed, you never get free, you're still down in the dumps. We hear the same old story. I know that happened 45 years ago, but my God in heaven, you've been in church for 43 3 of those years. When are you gonna get free? When are you gonna get healed? Where is the victorious story? Dragging all your mess with you, refusing to get healed. A lot of times people want to be validated in their feelings. They want to be validated, so they tell you their situation. You give them a remedy. Oh, Jesus can heal you. Oh, but this, this, this. Well, Jesus can set you free. Oh, but this, this, this. But Jesus doesn't look at— Oh, but this, this, this. But, and then you're looking at them like, listen, well, I just want you to validate my feelings. Things they say. And I say, you know, when you go to a restaurant and you go and you have a ticket that is validated by the restaurant to get your car, once they see it's validated, you get in your car and leave. I need you to get in your spiritual car and leave. Oh, that's a word. Hallelujah. Come on, somebody. It's validated. Yes, you were hurt. I get it. I'm hurt too. Who has not been hurt in this room? We all have a story. Stop dragging your mess. Stop being a drag queen. But the biblical view of queen is excellent, admirable, powerful, worthy of respect. You're expected to be a role model if you're a queen. You are uplifting to all. You are trustworthy and you are one that have the ability to stand out. That's the biblical view of a queen. Queens should come from a place not of self-care, but of confidence in Jesus Christ. Romans 12:3 says that some think more highly of themselves than they ought to, and some queens try to think they're more important. But you know what? We don't want to do that. We know the important one. His name is Jesus. So I want to talk to you this morning about some queen characteristics. Are you guys ready to take some notes? Some queen characteristics. Queen characteristics. Number 1, a queen knows their status. They are legitimate heirs of Christ. And I love that Pastor Hope just pressed on that last night. We need to know who we are and whose we are. We are joint heirs through the faith of Jesus Christ. We are joint heirs with Jesus, which means that whatever Jesus has, we have access to. You've got to understand that we belong to Jesus and whatever he has, we have. Romans 8:17 says, now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If you are a child of God today, you are an heir, meaning that you are legally entitled to— to the— legally entire— I'm sorry, legally entitled to everything that Jesus has for you. You are legally entitled to the property and to his wealth. Can I get an amen up in here? You legally need to go in it. You need to say, this is mine. I will have it. It's not about being materialistic. It's not about things. But you need to know your status. You need to walk in a room with your head held high. You need to walk in a room and people should wonder who you are. You should be in the workplace and people would know that you are different. You have a different mindset. You have a different training of your children. You are different because you are an heir. You're not conceited. You're just convinced. Anybody up in here know what I'm talking about? That you belong to the Most High God and you are an heir. Jeremiah 1:5 says, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I sanctified you. He knew you before you were here. I love the one in a million story. Come on, somebody. We are one in a million. Before we got here, God knew your name. God knew your issues. God knew your sin. God knew your forgiveness. God knew your hang-ups. God knew your proclivities. God knew everything about you and said, I choose her to represent me. Ephesians 1:3-5 says, blessed the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly Christ— in Christ, just as we chose him in us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ, to whom self according to the good pleasure of his will. We've been adopted. And that's so important because adoption is a process. Can I get an amen? Amen. You don't just go out and just pick any old body. You pick one specific for the purpose and for the call. See, listen, Galatians 4:7, one more scripture. Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ Jesus. You, woman of God, are no longer a slave. You can't be a queen and a slave to sin at the same time. Oh, hallelujah! I know we don't say it in church anymore, but it's the S-word, sin. Hallelujah! You can't be a queen and a slave to sin. I'm not talking about you fell. I'm not talking about you made a mistake. I'm talking about you were slave to that thing, that you come to church and you can't wait to get into what you know God delivered you from. When you come to church and you can't wait to go back to who you were. When you hear the word but you don't receive the word. That you hear the word but you don't want to change. You hear the word but you never had an encounter with Jesus Christ. I'm talking about that thing, people of God. You are an heir of God through Christ. You can't be a queen and a slave. You're either one or the other. Amen. John 8:34 says that most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits who lives in sin is a slave to sin. And I understand what it's like to be a slave to sin. Sometimes we think sin is like doing things, you know, fornicating, you know, doing something, you know, doing nasty stuff. I'm talking about the sin of idol worship where we idolize that man. Oh, hallelujah. I could talk about that here because Reggie was my idol. Praise the Lord. I love that man with everything I had. I loved him with the wrong type of love. I loved him crazy lifetime snapped love. If he went to church, I went to church. If he didn't go to church, I didn't go to church. If he prayed, I prayed. If he didn't pray, I didn't pray. Idol worship. Accepting Jesus kinda. Wanting Jesus just to fix him. Didn't want him to do nothing with me because I'm perfect. A slave to sin. A slave to it. If anybody controls your emotions, they control you. And that can even be that one that you're married to. Amen. That can be your family. That could be your children. If anybody controls your emotions, they control you. You're being a slave to that because God's like, listen, I want to be first. Jesus is like, I'm your first love. You got to keep me first. Ah, hallelujah! Galatians 5:1 says, stand fast therefore in the liberty by Christ has made us free, and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Aren't you tired of being bound? I know there's people in there that realize they've been set free because they were bound before, so they understand what bondage is. When we sing about freedom and I see people really worshiping and really shouting and really praising God, I said, oh, they were bound and now they're free. You can see on how they jump. Y'all jump so much in this church. Cardio is on 10 up in here. But you're really free, so you understand it. Those are a little reserved. I understand that you haven't yet— I made maybe a little bit of freedom, but you haven't tapped into the true freedom that Jesus brings to you. I know what it's like to be in the true freedom of Jesus Christ. You know, I found out I was an heir of God not in church, not in service. Because in church, I was going to my husband's father's church, and he was there, the mom was there, Reggie, my boyfriend, was there, I was there, and his ex-girlfriend was there. And I believe there was like a Holy Ghost fight going on because she got saved and filled and I didn't. So she would look at me like, I got it first. Y'all, my story just seems fake, but, and I was the type, you're not going to make me do anything. So don't pray for me because I'm not going down. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Do not, listen, don't push on me. I'm not going. I'm not going. I'm not going. And then of course then I have a demon because I'm not going. So she got saved before me and now the family's loving on her and I'm up there like, You know, thinking, okay, Jesus, Jesus, whatever. But it wasn't until after we got married and our marriage was falling apart and we were on Section 8 living and my husband was committing adultery and doing all kinds of stuff, and I was drinking gin and juice every day, every day. I can't even stand the smell of gin, praise the Lord, but that was my drink. Or Strawberry Boone's Farm. Anybody remember that? Top tier. Life is falling apart. I've heard about this Jesus. I've been at church learning about this Jesus. Hadn't had an encounter with Jesus. But the moment I knew I was losing my mind because I was losing my idol, I was losing my husband, my marriage was falling apart, I was losing it all. Everything my parents said would happen to me is happening. I'm poor, I'm struggling. I don't know where my husband is majority of the time. and I've got 2 little small babies. And I knew I was going to lose my mind. So I dropped my 2 children off to the mother-in-law's house because I'm a responsible mom. If I'm going to go crazy, it will not be in front of my children. Can I get an amen? You got to just— and as I was in a corner in my roach-infested Section 8 apartment, I began to cry and I began to feel sorry for myself. And the enemy was in my ear that you should die, you should kill yourself. Everything that your parents said is happening. You made the wrong choices. You left a full-ride scholarship to college to marry this man. You're poor. You don't have anything. You're on food stamps. You're on Section 8. You don't know where your husband is. You should just die. You should just die. You should just die. And somehow, some way, I remember to call on the name of Jesus. Anybody know what I'm talking about in here? That when you call on the name above all names, he comes into the room. Can I get an amen? Come in. And I felt him come in that room and wrap his arms around me. And that was my encounter with Jesus Christ. Some of you need an encounter with Jesus. He is living. He is loving. He wants to come in and be near you. If you call on his name, he will show up. Come on and give Jesus a hand praise in this place. I'm not ashamed about it. Jesus had a radical encounter with me and I said, oh my God, this Jesus is real. He is a very present help in time of trouble. He will lift the standard in your life. He comes in like a mighty rushing wind. Oh, come on! He makes a way out of no way. He makes the crooked places straight. And he began to straighten up my life and change me around. And husband or no husband, I'm sticking with Jesus. Money or no money, I'm sticking with Jesus. Food or no food, I'm sticking with Jesus. He's real. He's real. He's real. Come on and give Jesus praise in here, women. And then Romans 6:6 began to happen in my life. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. You begin to have a life that's crucified, where your feelings are crucified, where your desires are crucified, where your will is crucified. And you know I'm an absolute heir because the relationship is real. When the relationship is real, you know your daddy owns cattle on a thousand hills. When your relationship is real, you know that healing belongs to you. When the relationship is real, you know that he cares about your mental health and you could put on the mind of Christ and begin to think like him and reason like him and be in his presence. When you become an heir of God, you understand this. So queens know that they are heirs. They're legitimate. You have a legitimate right to Jesus. You've got rank up in here. Amen. Number 2, queens are confident. Confidence is not arrogance or egotism. Can I get an amen? See, arrogance is an exaggerated view of yourself. That usually dismisses others. Let me tell you, sweetheart, you're cute, but you are not all that. Hallelujah. Your breath stinks in the morning. We all need deodorant. Come on, somebody. And them Spanx is holding you in just so much. We know when you get home, it's like biscuits. I get it. Egotism is self-importance. Excessive selfishness, egotism. People that have to deal with egos love their flesh. They do what makes their flesh feel good. And how many of you know in the kingdom of God, rarely does your flesh feel good? Oh, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm concerned. You should know what it feels like to want to do something and not do it. Hallelujah, somebody. You should know what it feels like to really want to go there, but you know you can't. You really want to say that, but you know you can't. You really want to post that, but you know you can't. Both of those, egotism and arrogance, are both rooted in pride. And we all know that pride comes before the fall. Amen. So don't think I'm a queen, that pride is attached to it. Absolutely not. When you are a queen, it means you're confident. And biblical confidence is having a mind with freedom from uncertainty of what God can do. I'm going to say that again. Biblical confidence is having a mind with freedom of uncertainty of what God can do. Psalm 27:13, one of my favorite scriptures, it says this: I would have lost heart unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Anybody know what I'm talking about? What it means to could have lost heart, that the one thing that kept you going is that you knew God was going to show up. The one thing that kept you praying is you knew God was going to show up. The one thing that kept you fasting is you knew God was going to show up. The reason why you kept on singing is because you knew God was going to show up, not when you die, but in the land of the living. God, I thank you, Lord Jesus, that I didn't lose heart, but I stayed steadfast, strong, unmovable, always abounding in the works of the Lord because Because of the confidence I had in Jesus. Woo! Confidence is believing you can rely on the Lord. It is a firm trust. I love my husband. He is a good man. He has changed his ways. He is faithful. I trust him now. But not more than I trust Jesus. Hallelujah! Jesus is the only one that can remain faithful. Jesus is the only one that keeps his promises. Jesus is the only one that won't let you down. Jesus is the only one that doesn't need a side piece. Do you know Queen Esther, the mother with no father, no mother, adopted by Mordecai, had confidence sureness that God would do what he said we'd do. She's the one that said, I'm gonna go to the king even though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. Man, that's some confidence right there. Amen. Esther 5 says that she put on royal clothes and stood in the inner court and waited to get the king's attention. Do you know that you don't have to say a word when you are confident? Your confidence can speak for itself just by how you present yourself, just by how you stand. You don't have to say anything to get people's attention because when you are confident in God, it oozes from you. It comes out of your pores. Can I get an amen? Her confidence got the king's attention. Let me tell you, your confidence will get the king's attention. Jesus will say, is that my daughter believing in me again? Is that my daughter talking to me again? Is that my daughter believing for the impossible again. You get his attention when you are confident. Queens are confident. Number 3, queens are a problem solver. A problem solver is a person or a system that identifies issues, analyzes them, and develops, implements effective solutions. Stop being mad that everybody comes to you to fix the problem, mom. Stop being annoyed, wife, when he comes to you to fix the problem. I don't know where your keys are again. Where are your keys? You're a problem solver. Remember, you got married, you're the help. Ah, praise the Lord. Whole nother topic, marriage situation. Hallelujah. You're the help. You're there to help. The reason why people come to you with their problems is because God made us, queen, to be problem solvers. The only way to be an effective problem solver is when you have a deep awareness or desire to fix the situation. And the only reason, the only way you have a deep desire is when you have compassion. Queens don't have their nose in the air. Queens are compassionate. You want to help. You want to get involved. Let me prove it to you. What's the one thing you do when he's getting on your nerves? So I'm not helping you. You better figure that out. Oh, come on, somebody. You don't say it, but you ain't doing nothing to help. You're just watching them just struggle because the compassion's gone. Only compassion makes you want to help. Only compassion makes you want to help. Queens have empathy. You feel bad for others. And I'm firm about this. Don't be no cheating woman. I know not here. Tell the other ladies. Don't be messing with somebody's man calling yourself a queen. A queen you are not. You're a— I'm just kidding, I'm not gonna say it. I'm not sure, because if you were a queen, you would say, I'm not gonna marry with that, I'm not gonna mess with that man, that woman's husband. I don't want to break up a family, I can get my own. Queen you are not. Queen, you are not. Queens feel pain of others. Ephesians 4:32 says, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Christ— God in Christ forgave you. To be kind to one another, tenderhearted to one another. My husband and I went through a really rough patch of our marriage the first probably 5, 6 years of our marriage. It was very crazy. It was nuts. I probably should have left, but God told me well, God did not tell me to stay. That's not true. I always make that clear. I prayed and asked God what to do. I heard nothing. And sometimes when you hear nothing, you should do nothing. That was the answer. And I was fighting against a flesh situation that was all spiritual. It was a supernatural situation I was trying to keep in the carnal. And it wasn't until I shifted to the supernatural that I began to see God do amazing work. And part of that was to be kind to someone that did not deserve kindness, to be kind to someone that doesn't deserve anything nice from me at all, to be tender-hearted, to have compassion to the sin-sick person they became. To feel bad because you know there's more in them, that there's better for them. Not to be a better husband, but just, I don't want you to go to hell. Come on, somebody. I'm not worried about our relationship. I believe that heaven and hell is real. Amen. And you are on the journey to hell in a handbasket. And I don't want you to suffer for eternity. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another. How did I forgive? Because God forgave me. Oh, come on, somebody. I know you did some stuff that nobody knows about. Them secrets, you know, secret sin, the secret sin. You know, it's funny, we testify about the public sin. We don't know about that secret sin that God did not expose you, that God didn't have it all up on the internet, that God let the person that you did it with go somewhere to be away that couldn't tell the story. Come on, somebody. The secret stuff you did that God forgave you for. When you realize that you've been forgiven for all the things that you've done, for the things you've done in your past, right now, and what you will do, you look at forgiveness differently. When you receive forgiveness, you can give away forgiveness. I thank God that he is a forgiver. I know I look perfect and never did nothing, but remember I said I was low. God forgave me. He forgave my doubting. He forgave my questioning. He forgave me saying, "God, are you really real?" He forgave it. So how could I not extend forgiveness? Colossians 3:12. Therefore, as an elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. "If anyone has a complaint, even as Christ forgave you, you so also forgive." When you walk in forgiveness, you can solve problems. When you walk in forgiveness, you can say, "Forget how they're acting. Forget how they've tripped in. Forget that. I'm going to get them out this trouble one last time because God always got me out of trouble." I love the story of Abigail in the Word of God in 1 Samuel 25. Abigail, the Word of God says that she was a strong woman, a beautiful woman, was married to a fool. Anybody been there? Married to a fool, the Bible says. Naaman, he was a drunk. And David's people came to visit their property and said, "Hey, we need rations 'cause we're watching over your property, and, you know, give us some food and we'll kind of protect your area." And Naaman said, "I'm giving you nothing." And they went back to David, and David said, "Oh, let's go kill everybody." Man, it was different back in the day, amen? And David was on his way to kill everybody because of the disrespect, and Abigail heard the news from a servant, And what did Abigail do? She began to get food, bread, some pasta, some lasagna, some meatloaf. I don't know what she did, but she started cooking. And she got her servant, said, "Listen, we're going to take food to David. We're going to meet up with David and give him what he's wanting for." And as she walked to him, she said, "Listen, forgive my husband, but this is from him. Don't kill everybody." And he didn't. And I think about that story a lot because in my 35 years of being with my husband, there are plenty of times that I could have said, you know what, I'm leaving and you can go ahead and get killed. Can I get an amen? But because compassion was on me, I was a problem solver. Because compassion was on me, I didn't want him to get what he deserved or what he earned. And that's what Abigail did. I don't want him to get what he deserved. Or what he earned. So this is what he did. She got the food to David. David went on his business and guess what? Naaman heard about it and Naaman had a heart attack and died. And then David went back and married Abigail. So it was a win-win. I love the Bible. Dang. And I believe David married her because he said she's a problem solver. Ooh, you single women up in here right now. If you're looking for a man, be a problem solver. Be someone that can figure things out out. Be one that can bring a plan. You can add. You can think. You can spell. Men want more than lips, hips, and fingertips. Can I get an amen? Can you think? I know you got a booty, but do you have a brain? Number 4, queens desire wisdom. The Bible describes wisdom as God-given supreme quality essential for righteous living. With reverence for the Lord, involving prayer and understanding God's perspective. When you become a queen in the kingdom of God, you want to be around women that are smart. Can I get an amen? You want to be someone who has wisdom for you. Proverbs 2:6 says, for the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. At some point, you don't realize that the things you do and the things you say are foolish I need to be around some wisdom up in here. Some of us have been in trouble, but not because of something the enemy did, but because of something you did, because of foolish decisions, foolish choices. Oh, come on, somebody! Luke 11 and Matthew 12 talk about how the Queen of Sheba traveled in the Old Testament to go to Solomon. Why? To seek his wisdom. Wise women seek wisdom. And the Bible says in Proverbs 3:13-18, blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. Can we pause right here and give God praise that wisdom is a she? She is more precious than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all of her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her. Those who hold her fast will be blessed. All that is wisdom described in the word of God. And you can either live a life that's full of foolishness or live a life that's full of wisdom. And let me tell you, wisdom rarely feels good. Wisdom usually always goes against what you think you should do. Oh, hallelujah! Wisdom will make you pause. It'll make you wait. It'll make you say, wait a second, I probably shouldn't do— wisdom would be like, don't do that, don't go there, don't say that. That's wisdom. A fool is someone who lacks judgment. Anybody know someone that is book smart but dumb as a box of rocks. Like you got all the degrees and the certificate, you wore the hat with the thing and the tassel, but have no common sense, no street smarts. I like to say no wisdom. You've got no wisdom. It's different from being book smart 'cause somebody can study and remember, but can you apply the word of God to your life and change? Wisdom comes with change. I know about wisdom because, uh, I've done some things, praise the Lord, that were, you know, probably not the wisest. Amen. And there was a time in my life where I was loving God, living for God, getting to know— it was after my encounter. Jesus is real. I'm gonna change. I'm working on me. I'm gonna become an amazing woman of God. I was focused on me, myself, and I, and Jesus. But I was still married to a man that I was, you know, having to look for because he'd go missing. And it's amazing when I think back to that story because I'd have like 5 days of holiness and then 2 days of craziness and then 6 days of holiness and 1 day of crazy and then 4, you know, come on, anybody been there? Praise the Lord. Still going to church, still serving God, still believing the Word, but I got an idea. I said, you know what? He's been missing a lot, going to play basketball, coming home smelling like Irish Spring. I need to figure out what's going on. I need to figure out what's happening. So I got my sister. I said, hey, listen, I got a plan. You come to my apartment, you stay with the babies. I'm going to take your car. When he leaves, I'm going to follow him and see where he's going. She's like, bet, let's do it. See, usually fools run in packs. So I get all ready, we get the plan going, he leaves at the parking lot, I get in her car, I'm following him, and the whole time I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get him, I'm gonna get him. He gets on the freeway, I'm like, okay, he goes another way, I'm like, oh, where's he going? I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get him, I can't— oh, I'm gonna get him, he doesn't even know I'm gonna get him. Back then there's no phones, All we had is our own will. I always say find my iPhone. For me back then would have been find my husband. So I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get him. I'm following him and I'm like, oh, I'm excited. I'm gonna get him. And then he goes off the freeway. I'm like, oh, where is he going? And I'm driving and the Holy Spirit says to me audibly, are you ready to find out the truth? And I knew within myself I wasn't. And I kept on going straight and exited the other way and took my behind home in tears because I knew I couldn't see what I was going to see. Because see, the Lord won't give you more than you can bear. And I went home not defeated, but feeling kind of silly because wisdom said, You don't understand. Had I pulled up on him, I wouldn't be here. I would be probably getting out around now. I'd be here fresh on probation or parole. Is it parole? I'd be on parole like, hey, 'Cause y'all, I was nuts. I was the one that jumped on cars. I chased with knives. I, you know, slashed tires. I did all that. I'll fight you. I fought him. I'm like, oh, if you're gonna hit me, I'm hitting you back. If I look beat up, you look beat up. We both look beat up. Wisdom said, mm. That's why you gotta have friends around you that are queens that'll say, girl, don't do that. Don't do that. If you need to know, God will reveal it to you. God will show you. And do you know, 2 weeks later, I found out what was going on. 2 weeks later, that girl came to my job, asked me what I was doing with her, my husband. And I told her, well, he works 2 jobs, so I'm not leaving him. True story. Sometimes you gotta look at economical situations. Can I afford to get out? Come on, somebody. Can we afford to separate? We need to split these bills, pay this rent. Can I get an amen? Oh, it's real. Do you realize that when I share these stories, I have a strong, healthy, loving husband, and he's a pastor that leads people of God. Thousands of people come to our church a week. God can use anything and anyone when you submit to what God has for you and his purpose. My last point: queens understand submission. Real quick about the wisdom though, you know the word of God says if you lack wisdom, you can ask for more. So if any of you are struggling in a situation, you're like, Lord, I gotta be better. He'll give you more. Just go, Lord, I'm kind of dumb. He'll be like, no problem, here's more wisdom. But you gotta listen to it. Number 5, queens understand submission. A queen has no problem yielding to the Lord. I'm gonna say that again. A queen has no problem yielding to the Lord. When I was on that freeway, I yielded to the Lord. I said, I'm going to be submissive to your plan because my plan is going to have me end up on the 6 o'clock news. So I'm going to submit to you, Jesus. She desires having a higher authority and seeks God's will. She doesn't frown at obedience. I was one that used to hate the word obedience. I'd say, I'm not a dog. I'm not going to obey. Anybody remember how they were before Jesus? You are strong. You are arrogant. You are egotistical. No one's going to tell you what to do. I've got my own mind. I'm smarter than you. I know what's going on. I'm better than you. Come on. Struggling with submission because they want power. I got the power. Yeah, struggling. They want to be the leader. Let's be honest, we think we're right. Be honest, ladies. We think we are right all of the time. James 4:7 says, submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, he will flee. When you submit to God, the devil flees. When you submit to God, the devil flees. I'm gonna say that again. When you submit to God, the devil flees. You don't need to be like rebuking the devil. Just submit to God. The devil says, oh, she listens to the Lord. Oh, she follows his law. Oh, she— I can't get to her because she's gonna do what God says. So let me just go bother somebody else. Give into the ways of the Lord. Give, yield into the ways of the Lord. Ephesians 5:22 says, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do the Lord. I love this scripture because some of you here can submit to your boss who is not your husband with no problem, but you will not submit to your own husband. Ha! Submit yourselves to your own husband. You'll submit to Pastor Ron, but you won't submit to John at home, and then you wonder why he doesn't want to go to church with you. No man wants to know that a man has voices stronger than his. Amen. So this is why we struggle with submission. I really did a deep dive on this because I struggled with submitting, because you know what, most of the times, ladies, we're smarter than our guys. Let's be honest. We're problem solvers. We figure it out. We see things afar off. Can I get an amen? We see things a mile away. We're like, "That one, okay." So I struggle like, "Lord, why is it such a problem with me getting in line and submitting to the husband?" This is just wife stuff right now. And for you to get married, prepare. Why is it so hard for me to submit? This is what I believe the Lord showed me. We were not made to submit at first. In the garden, Adam and Eve, Adam came first, we know that. Eve came out the rib, we know that, we believe that. But the Word of God says, "I'm going to give you somebody comparable to you." Comparable means equal. Equal logic, equal emotions, equal think. Could you imagine? 'Cause men are amazing how they think. I do like that about them because they can watch something and hear a baby screaming and have no response. It's amazing. Do you not hear the baby? Oh, men have the ability to think about nothing. When you ask your husband, what are you thinking about? He says nothing. He's thinking of nothing. How does he do that? How do you just sit and think of nothing? I'm thinking about 45 different things and he's like, nothing. Like, how? How? We were even. We were even. We had the same emotions, the same intellect. We were on the same page in order because it was perfect. But then the fall happened and then we were dealt consequences. Genesis 3:16 says, to the woman God said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow of your conception, and in pain shall you bring forth children. If you don't believe that, this right here should make every woman that's had a child believe in Jesus, because there's no pain like giving birth to a child. I had 4 of my natural, and on the 5th, I said, give me every drug that man has made. Which could be why that fifth one's trying to be a comedian. Got a little tism. Not the R, just the tism. Then Genesis 3:16 goes on to say, your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. Which tells me before then there was nobody ruling over us. So thanks, Eve, once again. Cannot wait to get to heaven. Well, I can, but when I get there, she's the first one I'm gonna see. Rule, command, control, have dominion, have power. Men, the man, the husband has the rule, the command, the control, the power, and we resist it because it's unnatural. 'Cause we were at once equal, but now we've gotta submit to our husband and follow him as he follows Christ. Amen. And if you struggle with surrendering to God, you will struggle surrendering to your husband. And don't tell me you follow or submit to God and you don't submit to that man. It's impossible for you to say, I submit to God, but not to him. 'Cause God will do strange things to you when he's trying to teach you submission. Like for me, I'm like, I love the Lord, I love Jesus. My husband was living for God. He had finally got his life together because he didn't get the 21 years he was supposed to get for the armed robbery he committed. Praise the Lord. Long story. Praise the Lord. But he got out of it. He's living for Jesus, living for God. And I'm just sitting there, you know, thinking, oh God's just so good. And I'm in the kitchen and the Holy Spirit says, go give him some water. And I'm like, well, he didn't ask. Come on somebody. Like, why? Like, he's fine. And the Holy Spirit's like, "Go give him some water." So I make him a little thing of water, bring it to him. He's like, "Oh baby, thank you so much." I'm like, "You're welcome." Went back. 2 days later, I was mad at him 'cause he did just what they do, praise the Lord. The Lord says, "Give him some water." I'm like, "Nope." Holy Spirit, "Give him some water." "Mm-mm." Third time, "Okay, fine." I bring him water. When I brought him the water, that anger broke. God was showing me something. It's hard to serve what you don't love. And when you love, it's easy to serve. And when you forgive quickly, it's easy to do things. So I'm like, okay, Lord. And do you know, to this day, that still happens because I love my husband. He's amazing. He takes great care of me. But in the moment, I think, oh, he's so perfect. He does the dumbest thing. And the Lord remind me to serve him. Why am I doing it? Because God told me to. I'm submitting to God first and submitting to him. Amen. When you surrender your life to God's authority and seek himself in all areas of your life, that's when submission kicks in. You humble yourself, you cultivate a humble heart, You ask God, you seek his guidance in decisions, and you say, Lord, what should I do? Isaiah 1:19 says, if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. If you are willing, ladies, and obedient— that dog phrase again— if you are obedient to the word of God, to the Holy Spirit, you will eat the good things of the land. You're not a peasant. You're not low rank. You're not gonna always eat a Taco Bell. I miss Taco Bell. For those that know, Mo, I'm on a GLP journey. I've lost 73 pounds, praise the Lord. Got 38 more to go. Amen. When I'm 187, you can't tell me nothing. I'm just kidding. But I miss that place. But Taco Bell is great. But God wants you to have steak every now and then. God wants you to have a good mind, a good spiritual life. He wants you in a good church. He wants you to have good friends. He wants you to have good kids. Oh Jesus. He wants you to have a good marriage. He wants the good things for you. And all those things come when you say, I'm a queen and I've inherited this. It's not for anything I've done. It's all that Jesus has done for me. And Jesus, your word says that if I'm willing and obedient, I will eat the good of the land. Let's stand up. Ladies, your rank is legitimate. You've been given compassion. That's why you're a problem solver. The next time that you see an issue in You let your anger or your frustration or your, your, your mad show up. Push past that and thank God that you still have compassion to fix the situation. You are confident, not egotistical, but you know that God will not let you down. Lizzie said something last night when she was worshiping. She said, faith has never made me look foolish. That struck my heart. 'Cause when you're in the middle of battles, when you're in the middle of the press, when you're in the middle of change, when you're in the middle of believing for miracles in your life, you feel foolish. The enemy will tell you, "Stop letting that man walk all over you and stop letting people do it." 'Cause your flesh rises up. You want to retaliate. You want to fight back. And the Lord says, "Be still and know." And you're like, "But God, me being still makes me look weak." I know what that feels like. I remember very clearly. But when you're confident that God's gonna do it, all those feelings of frustration leave your body. You can walk in wisdom. You can say, Lord, what should I do? And you can submit to what he says. And again, usually what he tells you to do is complete opposite. Like, God, should I burn the car? Lord, should I go through his phone? Lord, should I start looking at records? Listen, I'm a firm believer— this is for somebody here— if you think he's cheating, he probably is, okay? Because you shouldn't think it. I hate the show Cheaters. If you're getting cameramen, you know what he's doing. I even open up my eye gate to that stuff because I come from that. But I'm just saying, God can change people. God does it. You don't do it. You finding out doesn't change it, but putting prayer on it, getting wise counsel, getting other people that are wise with you, not those that will help you go with your plan. You could submit to God and experience the good land, the good that God has for you. 1 Peter 2:9, but you are chosen, you are royal, we're a holy nation, we are God's special possession. Why? So we can declare the praises of him who called us all out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Hands up. Father, I thank you, God. That you've called us out of that dark place. You've called us out of depression. You've called us out of oppression. You've caused us out of mental health challenges and issues. You've called us out of irrational thinking. You've caused us out of a life of living suspicious. You've called us out of sin. You've called us out of doubt. You've called us out of shame. And God, we are in your marvelous light because you love everything about us. You like to look at all of us. There is no shame in any of us, Father. I thank you, God, that you know every detail of our lives and still yet called us daughters. You say that we are queens, we belong to your kingdom, that we are royalty, Father. And I thank you, God, right now that as your daughters, we submit and surrender to you right now. Father, you know what we struggle with. You know that we— the thing we still hold on to. You know that thing that we still have difficulty putting down and letting go. Father, I thank you right now that whatever that is, they are saying, today is the day that I lay that down at the foot of your cross. And I say, Jesus, enough is enough. I am tired of that one little thing that bothers me, God, I ask that you take it and allow me to walk in your purpose and in your call. And Father, let me be the queen that you've designed me to be. In Jesus' name, we all shout amen. Were y'all blessed? Come on, give Jesus a shout. Hallelujah!