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TD Jakes — Don't Settle



Greetings brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus Christ our King, this series "Reel it in" has really impacted people in a supernatural way and I can not wait to share this message because it's so important you do not compromise your integrity because of what you are trying to accomplish. The message is called "Don't settle". Don't you do it. This is a prophetic word and powerful word. Don't give up, don't give out and don't settle. Everybody Jesus called was busy. You don't see Jesus calling sleepy people. No lazy people. When he found the disciples they were after him. He taught them, he trained them but God uses people that move. God uses people that move. Alright?

Now we're going to go into this today. I'll read Hebrews 11:1. Quick and easy and we're going into Genesis 7:14-22 and trying to unload the principles that Hebrews 11:1 shares with us. When you have it say amen. Now faith is the substance of the things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Let's go to Genesis. I'm tempted to jump on that right now but I'll be back to it in a minute. Glory to God it's going to be good in here this morning.

Genesis 17:14. And the uncircumcised man/child who's flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised that so shall be cut off from his people. He hath broken my covenant and God said unto Abraham, as for thy wife thou shall not call her name but Sarah. Shall her name be. And I will bless her and give thee a son also of her, ye I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her. You got kings in you. You got nations in you. You're barren right now - but you got kings and you got nations in you. You're broke right now. But you got kings and you got nations in you. You're lonely right now but you got kings and you got nations in you.

So you cannot judge what's in you by what you see around you. Oh, my God. And it's going to come of her out of you. Then Abraham fell upon his face. Come on Jesus, get a clue. You got to be kidding. Ain't no way you can be talking about me and Sarah. A child born in him that is a hundred years old and Sarah that's 99 years old, it's too late. Too much has happened. We've been through too much. My past experiences inform me what you say in front of me is not possible because I have no point of reference. My neighbors are not getting pregnant. My friends are not getting pregnant. The people I went to school with is not getting pregnant. You got to be joking.

Abraham said oh, that Israel might live, I got this kid over here, you know. Yeah. Yeah, Ishmael. That's it. You know? That situation that happened. What had happened was - and God says, Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son indeed and thou shall call his name Isaac.

I'm not talking about Ishmael I'm talking about Isaac. I'm not talking about some substitute blessing. I'm talking about Isaac. I'm not talking about a counterfeit situation I'm talking about Isaac. I do not need you to cover for me I'm talking about Isaac. You don't have to try and make it look good I'm talking about Isaac and I'll establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him and I hear you. Behold I have blessed Ishmael and will make him fruitful and 12 princes and I'll make him a great nation but - my covenant will I establish with Isaac and Sarah shall bear unto thee. It's not anything you've seen so far. At this set time in the next year - you got three months to get pregnant and nine months to deliver. And when he said that, he left off talking with Abraham and left.

Wow. My subject this morning is, don't settle. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Ya'll ready for this? I was thinking about Hebrews 11 and it says now faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. By it the elders obtain a good report and then you go through this long dissertation about things they did by faith. There's so much said about faith there is a misunderstanding in the text. You would think when you read the text that the star of the text is faith. But faith is not the star of the text. Hope is the star of the text. Faith is a supporting actor.

If faith is the substance of the thing I hope for, then hope is the star and faith is the support. If you don't have the hope, faith has no job. Let me say that again. If you don't have the hope, faith has no job. Let me tell you why it's getting increasingly difficult to get people to come to church. The reason it's becoming increasingly difficult to get people to come to church is they have lost hope. I know you've lost hope because I can tell by the way you eat that you've lost hope. Because see, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God but when your faith has nothing to do, you're not hungry.

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. What drives you to come to church is so that you can feed your faith. But if your faith isn't doing anything your faith isn't hungry and your faith can't do anything if you have no hope. If there's nothing in front of you, if you're just going through the motions and your life is just ritualistic and routine, you're not even listening at me good this morning. The only people who are really listening to me are people that are involved in a process, in a fight, in a battle.

After something trying to bring it in and get it together and they're sitting up and they're saying come on, talk to me now. Say something. Talk to me. I didn't come out here to show off my tie. I didn't come out here to show off my socks. I came out here because I'm trying to feed this faith. I'm in a fight right now and I need some word that will anchor me so that I can go forward.

The leader, if he is in fact a leader or she is a leader, then there is someone to lead and there is a purpose for leading. And there is a place to lead them. I believe that I should be my own best customer. I practice what I preach and it's worth - that's why I'm so hot to trot about it. If people can get a hold of it and work it and you have to stay with it until it produces the kind of results that you want.

Hope is an expected end. It is an expected end. It is not necessarily a specific process. The hope is an expected end. When it's all over, this is what I'm hoping. Hope has nothing to do with process. It has everything to do with destination'. Hope is a broad perspective, it's not always specific. Lord you put a business in my heart, that's my hope. I see a building, I want to execute my hope. My hope is that I'll be in business.

My faith says I need a building. Now if this building doesn't come through don't think I lost my hope. Because my faith, if it can't ride in a helicopter, it'll jump on a motorcycle. Ya'll don't hear what I'm saying I may have to change the method. Give me another rod. I may need another fishing rod, or change the bait. Modify the hook. I may have to modify the hook but the expected end is still the same and where I bring it in by hook - or whether I throw my net at the end of the day, you getting on this boat. You getting on this boat. I'm not going to come back empty-handed. I didn't live this life to come back with an empty boat if I have to toil all night, if I have to strip out my clothes and jump in the sea naked. You're getting on this boat.

See? We got all this teaching about faith, faith, faith. But we're talking to people who have settled. In a court case when a court case is being litigated many times before you go into litigation, they'll give you an opportunity to settle. And a lot of people settle not because they're innocent or guilty they settle because it costs so much to litigate the case.

And sometimes when it comes down to a case where, you have unprecedented expense you will settle the case because you don't want to pay the cost. But when you are highly principled sometimes it's not about the cost. It's about getting to the facts. And whatever it costs you, you say, no, no, no, judge, uh-uh. I know it's going to be expensive and in convenience. I know you have to have jury selection and I know it's going to be tough, but I refuse to settle.

All around me I see people who settle. It drives me crazy. All around me I see people who settle. Who settle with less than what God promised them. Who just made do out of their life. People who stop swinging. I see people that have gotten 40, you quit at 40? Well, if it was going to happen it would have hand, I'm getting older now and I'm going to let myself go. I'm not doing it. I am not doing it. I'm not picking out no caskets. Surprise me. I am not - I know you get a discount if you buy early but I'm not planning to die I'm planning to live, surprise me. I will not settle.

It may take longer and it may be harder and I may have to pay more. I may have to go this way when I thought I could go that way or with this one and not that one and change this and change bait, hook, rod and reel but when it's over, you getting on this boat. That's the kind of people like to run with. I like to run with people that don't take no for an answer. I like to run with people who refuse to settle on less than the best for what God has in your life.

Now - now faith, the reason I'm out here and the reason I listen up when I have a respected minister in front of me, because everybody can't feed me, I listen up when the word is proven in your life because I came to eat. I love all the other stuff you do it's wonderful and good but I got to feed this thing. So I'm going to fight every day so I have to feed it every day. It's not like I don't have opposition or other voices on my shoulder telling me what I can't do and can't have and that I'm too old or too short or too tall or too stupid or something. There's always something on the other shoulder telling me to settle. I need to feed this other voice so I can fight back this voice.

That's what I need. I need faith. And faith is manufactured in the factory of word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. But when it comes to my faith, I want a lion in the pulpit. I don't want a pussycat. I want a lion. Glory to God. Hallelujah. I want somebody that still has a roar. Glory today to God. Touch your neighbor and tell them something is going to happen in here. You look nice and you smell good but I didn't come to see or smell you. I came to a church where something is going to happen! Glory to God.

How many people in here trying to reel it in? You know, I went deep sea fishing and I was really, after something I could mount on the wall. Yeah, I did. I wanted big old sailfish. You know spread out it's fins and everything and put it on the wall. Through out - threw out my bait and I caught a few snapper. Snapper is good eating. It's good eating, I'm not disputing the fact that it has value but it's not mountable. You don't go in nobody's house and see no snapper.

I was encouraged by the snapper. They are biting. But I wasn't satisfied. Don't become satisfied with something that should only encourage you that you're in the right spot. I wanted the sailfish so when people came over I would have something to point at. Pray for me. Because if you have - people think you're lying when you say nine feet long they think, yeah it's about six. But when you got your trophy on the wall, it will shut every mouth - you got on this boat.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and Lazarus couldn't preach, didn't open up a church. Wasn't prophetic and couldn't even sing for as far as we know. Of all the people that could have been functional and raised from the dead he picked Lazarus. Why? Because he wanted someone to point about so when haters came and they doubted his authenticity and that he was the Messiah Lazarus didn't have to say anything. All he had to do was sit there and breathe. You need some kind of trophy that proves that he that is in you is greater than he that's after you. Glory to God.

We're not going to live and die and shout and fall out and talk in tongues and not produce anything. When Jesus came down to the sea shore and saw the disciples who had been fishing all night he didn't ask them how long they'd been fishing he said have you caught anything. He didn't ask them how old are you? He said have you caught anything? Hope is an expected end. It's saying when it's all over, I'm going to catch something and reel it in. I'm going to preach something and build something. I'm going to make something happen. I am not going to live and die and not leave anything in the earth as a sign I was here. I'm going to build something. I'm going to leave stones as a memorial and an arc on a hill. I'm going to leave some sort of sign that my children and my children's children will know that when I passed through the world, the Lord was with me.

I will not settle. Even if I an of to start over. Even if it took longer than I expected. Even if I have to make payments or crawl on my belly. Hey we'll be right back after this. When you reel something in, you are in your element and the fish is in his element. And both of you are fighting to stay in your element. But when you reel it in, it means your blessing is in another dimension. You will not find what you need in your dimension.

I like to run with people that will not take no for an answer. I like to run with people that refuse to settle on less than the best for what God has in your life. There are some places in God that once you go through them you can never go back to being who you were before. What you need to do is reach over into another dimension and stand flat-footed and reel it in. To live a satisfying productive life you must be filled to capacity. No question my seed is potent and my word works the question is do you have the capacity to receive my word?
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