Jentezen Franklin - Don't Waste What You've Been Through
Hello and welcome to Kingdom Connection. I really appreciate you taking time to watch and to find us. I believe that this is a very special Kingdom Connection. In just a moment, you're gonna hear a testimony of a young man who was saved. And what God has done in his life, and I've had the honor of baptizing him, it's going to touch you. You better get your family around the TV because this is one of those moments that's gonna be very touching. And immediately following that, I'm going to bring a message called "Don't Waste What You've Been Through". And I'm telling you, you need to stay tuned to this whole telecast from beginning to end and don't even leave, because God is going to speak to you. I know He's going to touch you. And we've got every minute that's counting today. So, I want you to open up your heart, listen to this amazing testimony, and then get your Bible open for "Don't Waste What You've Been Through".
Jentezen Franklin: What's your name, son?
Spencer: Spencer Green.
Jentezen Franklin: Spencer Green.
Spencer: Spencer.
Jentezen Franklin: This is so interesting. You wanna tell this?
Spencer: Yeah. So, I've been in the depths of depression and family violence, child abandonment, child abuse. And I was introduced to a family at the age of six. And I was, kinda, already torn up, but they tried their best to guide me to Christ. They were really the ones who planted the seed of God in me. And I, kinda, just went downhill after I was entered into her household and ended up going to prison. Done almost, I guess, about 12 or 13 years in prison. And when I got out, my drug addiction spiraled out of control, my self harm spiraled out of control, but God was still guiding me. Just working behind the scenes, and I ended up going to a ministry called Made for More Ministries. It's been such a game changer in me, and I've been able to become a better father for my daughters. I got four beautiful daughters. And I think my biggest motivation of doing this and surrendering my life to Christ was 'cause I wanna be a better example to them. They've seen so much. And yeah man, let's go Jesus.
Jentezen Franklin: And the tattoo on this side says, "Dope boy". Are you still the dope boy?
Spencer: No, no, no. I'm a dope disciple though.
Jentezen Franklin: Come on! Oh! Come on. I'm gon' get me a T-shirt. I'm a dope disciple. That's power, we didn't plan that. That was quick. You were on it. You ready?
Spencer: Absolutely.
Jentezen Franklin: I'm proud of you.
Spencer: Thank you.
Jentezen Franklin: The best is yet to come. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Bless him and keep him. Anoint him and use him God, in Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
In the book of Jonah 1:17. "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights". And then over in Matthew 12:39, "But he answered and said unto them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, no sign will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights," this is Jesus speaking. "In the belly of a great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And Nineveh will rise up in judgment to this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here". I wanna talk to you for a few moments on "Don't waste what you've been through".
Don't waste it. And I wanna come at this story, a famous, if you grew up in church, you know the story of Jonah. We call it Jonah and the whale. It was a great fish. And I believe this story. I believe it just like it's told. And Nineveh was a very wicked city. Nineveh was a place that was controlled by the Assyrians. They were brutal, they were cruel, they hated Israel, hated all of the Hebrew people especially. They were famous for their brutality, they were famous for the way that they would behead their enemies. On one of the walls, it's thought that there were up to 30,000 skulls embedded in the walls of the city of Nineveh. They had pyramids that they had built, smaller ones.
Pyramids and piles and piles of skulls. They were known for specifically inventing, this is brutal what I'm saying but they would, particularly they called a prophet that came sent by God to oppose their great idolatry, the worship of idols. They would cut their tongue out, and they would skin them alive. And it was a brutal way of torture. And then behead them and use their heads as trophies. They even had parades that the remaining family members would have to carry the skull in worship to one of their deities named Dagon. And they would have to carry in that parade their loved one's remains, the head. I say that because I want you to understand Nineveh. I want you to understand it was the headquarters for the terrorists of that day.
As it was as bad of people as you could get. They would brutalize women, they would brutalize children, they would torture, they would mutilate, and God loved them. God loved them so much that He sent prophet after prophet after prophet that they killed and put their heads in the walls as trophies. And so, we make Jonah into this big rebel who doesn't wanna do the will of God as though he's some half backslid, you know, preacher that's lost his way and his calling. But that's really not right if you understand the history of the place that God told him to go tell that city to repent in 40 days, they have 40 days, or He will destroy the city. He knew what that meant. He had heard about the other prophets that had been sent. There's no question others had been sent and they had been brutalized cruelly, tortured, and killed.
And so, he was human. And in this story when he was told to do it, he fled. Why did he flee? Because he knew it was a death sentence. He knew, and he thought in his mind, and here's what I love, God knew that he would run. God knew that he would go down, and jump on a ship, and get on a ship, and head to Tarshish, which was 500 plus miles away to get away from the calling that God had put on him for the city of Nineveh. So, God knew that he wouldn't be like the other prophets and go directly to the place and do it. He knew that he would take a diversion. And so, the Bible said that God prepared a storm. That's what it says. It says, your scripture says in Jonah 1, "God," number one, He prepared a storm. And you need to understand something about God, that storms are designed to get you off of your track unto God's track.
And then secondly, he gets so into a bad place that he moves from confusion to being consumed by what He's going through. He's consumed completely because they take him realizing that the only way that the storm can be stopped is to throw him overboard. He was the reason. And he said to them, "Throw me over". He didn't jump over because he's a picture of Christ. Jesus didn't commit suicide on the cross. He said, "I give myself over to you. I could call 12 legions of angels and they would defend me. But I give myself into your hands. Use me as a sacrificial offering". And they threw him off of the ship. And when he hit the ship, from the ship to the water, the scripture said that suddenly he goes from confusion to being consumed because a great fish swallowed him and took him down into the depths of the sea.
As low as you can go. The confusion doesn't confuse God. He's still in control. And now, he's consumed. It swallows him up. And it's bad when you have a problem that swallows you up and you feel no way out because at least when you were in the ship, you could determine you were in control of what direction you were going, but now he's in the belly of a fish and he has no control, and that fish turns and starts a three day journey, three days and three nights on a journey that's 500 plus miles in the ocean heading to the city of Nineveh. When you understand that he turned his face toward Jerusalem in that process. He's down in the belly of the fish. And I didn't take time to read this scripture, but it says it in that chapter, he turned himself. He turned himself toward Jerusalem.
And I pray today that somebody's listening to me. And if you're in confusion, and if you're in this place of absolutely being consumed by your problem. You're not in control anymore, it is. Let that problem cause you to get in alignment with God's assignment for your life. He uses storms, he uses unusual things and problems that swallow us up, that we are no longer in control. Even alcohol may be that whale that swallowed you, or maybe drug addiction, or maybe some sin that you just cannot, or a financial problem, or some depression that you're no longer in control. God says, "Turn. Just make a turn toward the right direction and I'll get you in alignment with my plan and use what the enemy meant to destroy you, I'll let it be a bus to your destiny".
And after three days, a bean in the belly of that fish, he spits him out at the port of Joppa, which was right there near the city of Nineveh. And the king had spies and guards who were watching that area like you wouldn't believe. And when he spits him out, I want you to see the picture, it's like a fish surfaces, probably a whale. The water is spraying everywhere, and he comes up unusually close to the beach. He opens his mouth, and he spits out the prophet. And he comes out, and by now, all of his clothes are gone, all of his hair is gone. And one of those guards sees this whole thing, and thousands of people that are working at the port there see it. They're in shock, and he takes off running, and he says to the king, "King, there's a new prophet in town. They sent another one to get us to repent from our idols".
And the king, I could see him in my mind say, "Sharpen the knives. Get the axes out. This is gonna be a good celebration. We'll have a special feast". "No sir, you don't understand. You don't understand, this one's different. He showed up and a fish brought him". Now, why does that matter? Because the number one deity, this is not a debate, this is not a question, this is a fact. The number one deity that they worshipped was a God called Dagon. He's first introduced to us in 1 Samuel 5 or 6. And it's where they brought the ark of covenant into the temple. And they put the ark of the covenant beside a statue of Dagon, and Dagon is a half fish, a half man god.
So, do you understand, this is their god. This is the one who they worshipped, and they've never listened to a preacher before. They cut their tongues out. They'd never listen to a prophet before. They skinned them alive, cut their head off, and put their head in the wall. But this time, God said, "I'm not gonna let him come through a great lineage of genealogy and family that has been serving me and the kids that came up in the school of the prophets. I'm going to send a rebel. I'm gonna send a weak man who was scared trying to run from the assignment. But I had a prepared whale or fish that swallowed him up. And so, mister king, this one, he came from a fish". "Oh really? Bring him in. The whole nation will hear him".
What I'm preaching to you is simply this, you don't know what God's gonna do because when they watch him crawl out of the belly of the god that they were worshiping, and he said, "That is not God. The God that you need to be worshiping is the God who's over your idol god and his name is Jehovah, Yahweh". When you wonder, "Why God? Why are you putting me through this? Why God"? Because when you crawl out of that belly of addiction, other Ninevites are listening and watching and saying, "If he got victory over it, I can get victory over it".
When you crawl out of the belly of alcoholism, it's not just about you, but it could be about your children and your children's children. And I'm telling you, God says, "Don't waste what you've been through". You crawled out of the belly, some of you, of divorce. And when you hated yourself, and you were going through dark days, and you cried. Some of you been in the belly of grief. Don't waste what you've been through. Only a person who's been in that belly and crawled out by the grace of God can turn around and say to somebody else, "You can get out of it too in Jesus' name".
Give Him a big praise. Lord, I love you. Hallelujah. Can I tell you what Jesus did? Hallelujah, He's our Jonah. He said, just as Jonah when they came to him and said, "Preach a sermon and show us a miracle". Come on, do a miracle. He said, "The only sign I'll show you is the sign of the fish," hallelujah. "As Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, I'm going to go to the cross, I'm going to carry the sins, I'll be the sacrificial death that Jonah was when they threw him over, and they had peace on the boat as soon as they threw him over and sacrificed him".
As soon as you accept Jesus Christ, your rocking boat will smooth out and God will give you peace, and you're about to hear that up here. People need peace. They need peace in their home, peace in their mind, peace in their relationships, peace in their marriage, peace in their family. He's the prince of peace. And when you look to Him as your sacrifice, He brings peace that passes all human understanding. You can come out of your failures. You can come out of what swallowed you up. You can come out of your confusion.
God used him crawling out of the belly of the fish. you don't have to come from a long line of blessing. God can use what you crawled out of, hallelujah. We're about to give the devil a black eye. We're about, the devil needs to get his handkerchief out, 'cause the only one who's gon' cry at the funeral, and that's what it is, it's a burial. When they go down, it's the old person dead, and when they come up it's a new life, a new beginning, a new soul. Hallelujah! So, to God be the glory.
Jentezen Franklin: I know you. Good to see you. You're Carlos.
Carlos: Yes sir, yeah.
Jentezen Franklin: I met you the other Sunday about three weeks ago. So, you got a bunch of fans out there.
Carlos: I do. I do.
Jentezen Franklin: So, what did the Lord... How did you end up here? Tell your brief story.
Carlos: Well, I found God in prison. Well, He found me. I was real into the gangs, drugs, always angry about everything I've lost, you know. And honestly, it almost got me killed. But I guess something happened 'cause I was supposed to, and I got hit in the artery in the throat.
Jentezen Franklin: With gun fire?
Carlos: Yeah, and they stabbed me. They stabbed me in prison. But thank God, you know, I'm still alive. And honestly, I met Kendrick, that's how I got connected to you.
Jentezen Franklin: So, Kendrick is over our prison ministry. And so, they started coming, what prison was it? Can you say?
Carlos: It was Phillips State. It was like perfect timing because, like, I needed to hear, and it was crazy, I'm not gonna lie to you. Every time I watched you, you spoke of something that I was literally going through. I don't know if Kendrick remembers me telling him, "Is somebody calling you telling you what DVD to bring or something? Because this is crazy, you know"? But I just, I don't know. I'm thankful. I'm thankful to be alive, I'm thankful to be here with Him, with you. And this is the first.
Jentezen Franklin: Lord, I thank you for this miracle, and I baptize him in the name of the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. My God, my God, my God, my God. Hallelujah. Praise the mighty name of Jesus. Praise the Lord. God bless you. What's your name?
Makayla Jones: Makayla Jones.
Jentezen Franklin: How old are you?
Makayla Jones: Eighteen.
Jentezen Franklin: Why are you doing this?
Makayla Jones: It's a public declaration of what Jesus has done in my life.
Jentezen Franklin: What's He done?
Makayla Jones: Well, I grew up in church, got saved very young, and it's more of what He's protected me from in my life. I don't have a crazy story of how I was in the belly of a huge beast, but that's my testimony, is the Godly heritage that He's allowed me to live in. My family has been so blessed. I'm just so thankful for it.
Jentezen Franklin: Oh, we need to do a standing ovation on that one. That's the greatest testimony. That is the greatest testimony I've ever heard. That's it.
Makayla Jones: Thank you.
Jentezen Franklin: Just because you haven't been through a whole lot, that doesn't mean you should compare your testimony to everybody else. That is your testimony and...
Makayla Jones: It's an even greater testimony that you served the Lord in the days of youth, and it'll go well with you. It'll go well with you. You watch. It'll go well with you. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I tell you, I love that. That's a good one. That is so, so powerful.
Jentezen Franklin: I am so thankful for those lives that we heard that were changed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And what He did for those people, He can do for you and for your family and for your children. He loves you. He cares. Pray this prayer with me right where you are. Say these words. Say, "Jesus, I need you. I surrender to you. I give you my life. I mean it, Lord, and I wanna follow you. I wanna carry my cross spiritually and follow you. In Jesus' name, amen". And if you prayed that prayer, then just go online and just show us and tell us on the website what God has done. There's free resources, there's salvation devotional we'll send you free. It's our joy to do that. And thank you so much for being a part of this telecast.