Michael Todd - I'm Still Here
Well, today I want to welcome you to a series we are calling «Here is Help Me Holy.» I believe that God is taking the hustle out of His house and, more importantly, He’s taking the hustle out of your heart. For some of you, your busyness has kept you from your healing; your success has kept you from the secret place. What God has been doing in me and at this church, if this is your first time joining us in this series, is that God is putting a prophetic pause on a lot of the things we thought were going to happen in the time we expected them to happen.
If you don’t know our story, God supernaturally created a way for us to buy an arena on the other side of town, but we are not in it right now. We’re back where He took us from; we’re back in the converted grocery store with low ceilings, green carpet, and green chairs. You can’t tell right now online because we have darkness everywhere in here, but I’m standing 19 inches above the ground. Things are not how we thought they would be because we’re back here. God began to tell me, «Michael, when I direct you to a place, even if it looks familiar and even if it reminds you of something you thought you had been through already, I am trying to do something new here. I just need everybody to be open.» Somebody say, «Lord, I’m open.»
You know, I love week four of a series because we lose all the fans by week four! Everybody’s trying to come see what’s happening in week one, and some of them stay around for week two, but then everybody decides around week three and week four, «Ah, this isn’t for me; I’ll go watch somebody else.» I love that because I appreciate when hungry people stay around. Do I have any hungry people in the house today? Oh, y’all better help me! There’s nothing like hungry people preaching to hungry people because you’re open. You’re open to whatever God wants to say. You don’t need to be convinced that this is for you.
If you’re here, you’ve already made the decision that here is holy; it’s set apart; it’s different from last year. I can’t copy and paste. Uh-oh, I can’t just go on the vacations I took last year; I can’t keep doing with the friend group what I did last year. I have to reevaluate everything because God said this is completely other than—I mean, it’s actually against.
That’s what the word «here» means—opposed to there. Many of us need this sermon series as a marker in our lives that everything you’ve been doing out of, watch this, this is big theological terminology, but it truly reflects many of our lives: everything you’ve been doing out of dead works is no longer going to be applauded by heaven. You’re not getting claps because you worked yourself into the hospital, and you’re not going to get, «Now I’m going to give them more,» because you neglected your family to do it in the name of God. This is the time when God says, «I want you here so you can become healthy here, whole here, happy here.» Until somebody stands up in the midst of where we could be doing a lot and says, «No, we’re going to pause and we’re deciding to do greater!» Somebody say, «Greater!»
We’ve been following the story of Moses and how he has this life-altering, life-transforming moment in a desert place where God tells him, «Don’t come any further; take off your shoes because the ground you’re standing on is holy. I’m about to give you an invitation into a calling that you didn’t even know you were qualified for.»
What if, by the end of this year, you literally see something about your life and the reason why you’re here that isn’t even in your mind right now? No, I need to shift you into this morning moment in Moses’s life. He spent 80 years thinking his life was one thing, and in one encounter with God, it literally shifts his entire life to what he would actually be known for. What if you’re 80 and they don’t even know you for what you’re going to be known for? What if right now, as you’ve reached every pinnacle of success and done everything with your family, made all this stuff happen, and God is saying, «That ain’t even what they’re going to remember! You’re trying to build this kingdom, and I’m trying to build My kingdom.» If you would get in line with what I’m trying to do, you will find out that here is holy.
What happens is Moses misses this moment. What if he’s on the ground, being distracted by comparing himself to other people he used to know back in Egypt? The only reason you go to that high school reunion is that you’re trying to fill a void that was there when you were actually in the 11th grade. Eleven years later, you still have the void, and now you want to go back to show people that you made it out. Wow! God said that’s not even who you should be comparing yourself to. I called you a deliverer from the time you were born. You see, I hadn’t even looked at my iPad at this moment because this is coming out of me. God is trying to say to you, «It is not even in your mind what I’ve planned to use you for in this world, but I’ve been trying to get you still enough to give you instructions for your future.»
Most of us are busy bodies, planning the next thing, trying to get to the next level, trying to make somebody who doesn’t even care about you think you’re greater than you actually are. God said, «Could you just for just this year, I’m not even asking for 2023, can we just focus on here for 2022? Could we just push out all the distractions? You might have to get off social media for an entire week this year.» You see how quiet it just got? You might have to watch this: not know what’s going on.
Do you know one of the greatest advantages you can have to stay focused is minding your own business? But what makes you live in a world of busyness is other people’s business. I just said something to you—your business comes from other people’s business. The only business you get credit for that’s good is your own. Did they get married? It doesn’t matter. Did they move to another state? Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’m not saying to be cold-hearted or mean; I’m just saying that the priority in this season is the soul work—the soul, the mind, will, and emotion work that God has to do on me here. That’s why I have to be available. Somebody say, «Here I am.» That’s what Moses said, and then he took off his shoes. He took off his protection, and that was his vulnerability. Then he said, «All right, this is holy ground.» His presence is here; that was sensitivity.
I’ve said this every week because I feel like this is something that’s coming against years of programming in me. Forget y’all; I am a busybody. The reason why this word is real is that I can make stuff happen. I can strive my way into everybody thinking that I’m a man of God, and God is the only one sitting there unpleased while everybody else is clapping. We have to be very careful to get a «Well done» from people and not «I never knew you» from God. I need us to be that sensitive because right now we feel like whatever culture says is what we should be going after.
Realistically, if I make a $60,000 salary for the rest of my life, give my life to my kids, and produce what God’s called me to produce on earth, and I don’t gain the whole world but retain my soul, I won. Y’all missed it; I won! If that’s to go, and I know some of y’all are crawling on the inside of you because it’s like, «That’s not my dream,» but God’s not committed to your dream; He’s committed to the purpose that He made you for.
That’s why I’m trying to tell everybody. My team knows we could do whatever; everything I’ve ever dreamed of doing, we could do right now without anybody saying yes or no. That’s why you have to be Spirit-led because resources do not mean green light. Oh, God! You may have a $250,000 loan limit, but you’re supposed to stay in. You’re not supposed to—I mean, most people think resources mean do it, but the Bible says the steps of a good man and good woman are ordered. That means God says, «Step here and then step here and then step here.» They’re ordered, and so today I want to let you know wherever you are, even if you don’t like it here, God is with you here. He can take here and turn it into there.
So today, I just want to preach like I want my bandana and my earring. Today, I told Brie, Brie said, «What’s going on?» I said, «I’m ready to fight!» I don’t know; I ain’t worn an earring in 10 years. But I put this Mr. T dangly cross on today and I feel ready to fight the devil! It’s taken me three weeks to lick my wounds, but I’m ready to fight today! I came to tell somebody that whatever has been keeping you down, there’s a greater One that lives inside of you, and He wants to stand up strong! The fact that I’m here means that God is not finished with me. Somebody say, «God’s not done with me!» So today, I am going to act a fool because I felt my second wind come this week. I’ve been listening to that song «Here is Holy» every day, and God said, «From here, from this point, from this moment, I’m going to elevate My characteristics in you and allow you to kick the devil’s butt because of the way you respond with My Word.»
So today, this is my boxing ring. It’s not going to happen on Instagram; it’s not going to happen. The more people that get this message, the more people that get saved, the more people that see their lives differently than they’ve ever seen them before—that’s how we win! We’re robbing hell, and this today is going to be a reminder to every person that’s here. Somebody shout at me, «Here!» It’s not an accident that you got here; this is God’s providence that you got here. Okay, let me just go ahead and preach. «Here is Holy.» Write that down if you have not, and I want to give you the working definition of «Here is Holy.» It’s the phrase of the year for Transformation Church, and it honestly should be a mantra for the rest of your life, knowing that every step you take, if God is there, that place is holy.
«Here is Holy» means the awareness that your current situation, no matter how much you like it or hate it, is sacred and being intentionally used by God to prepare you for your purpose. It’s opposite to «there.» The thing that I’ve told our church over and over for the past four weeks is that we are divorcing the theology of «there.» I am no longer getting up here and selling you the lie or the manipulative thought process of escapism evangelism.
Now you just got to make it because over there, God’s going to do something. We know He’s going to do something over there, but you can’t get over there if you don’t let God do something on you here. So we’re not running from this; do whatever you got to do here. It’s what I just said in that song, «Since I’m here, Lord, please take over,» and we’re divorcing that theology of «there» because here is holy. Last week, I talked about it; I’m not going to go into it a lot, but I want to let you know that as we become available to God, vulnerable to God, and sensitive to God, then you get to see something that most people never get to see. That sensitivity is a strength. When you start walking in sensitivity, it heightens your ability to be aware of what’s going on around you. A lot of the things that happen to us are simply because our sensitivity was down and we’re not aware of what God is trying to do.
A lot of times, we pray, «God, take me to another place. Let me have peace.» God doesn’t send a peace dove when it’s time to get peace; He sends chaos. «God, help me develop peace.» He sends chaos so that you can be able to develop peace in the midst of the story. It’s not peace if everything around you is peaceful! Some of y’all were going to change your prayer once you understand, «God, let me know true love.» Yeah, I know it’s Valentine’s Day, and the only way you know true love is if it gets tested. I’m not going to come down your street and talk about your specific situation, but the truth of the matter is, my and Natalie’s love became fortified because of friction. You’re asking God to inject a feeling into you. Y’all remember Street Fighter?
Maybe some of y’all are too young for that, but you want God—somehow supernaturally—to allow you to be disciplined. When you pray for discipline, do you know what God does? He puts you under tension! «Stay here; keep doing it day after day. Go get up, and they’re going to have a party and bring you a cake, and you can’t eat it.» Well, just this one time, that then turns into two times, and that turns into three times. Seventy pounds—not because God did something it’s because he did the thing that creates the environment to prove what we’re actually praying for. God gives me faith, and He allows me and Natalie to have a son with autism. Crazy faith—I’ll take it back! If we’re going to be honest, maybe I should have changed my thing to «crazy generosity.» But when I pray, «God, make me a man whose faith will be known when I’m gone, and my grandchildren will stand up and say, 'This stupid stuff I pray, ' and God said, 'I see you.'»
So the only way I can prove that level of faith in you is to put you in an environment where you have to stand in that environment and still call it holy. Even though it hurts, you still have to stand with the right open heart and call this holy. Even though I’m standing in hell right now, this is why we have to become more sensitive. Can you put up, um, I do random research when I start looking up things? I thought about sensitivity, and I remember this one time that I went to this Chinese foot massage place, and I thought it wasn’t even going to be a real thing. Then that brother started touching my feet, and I don’t know if you’ve ever had a real Chinese foot massage—not like the ones that are $13 at the mall, but I’m talking about the kind where you go to a spot, and they start touching stuff. They have this chart on the wall.
Can you put that chart up on the screen real quick to let you see? I saw this, and it’s called—what do they call it? Yeah, foot reflexology. From your feet, they can start touching all these places. That man hit my big toe in some type of way, and I felt—no, I’m not even lying to y’all. I said only Natalie can make me feel like that—brother, back up! He started hitting my pinky toe, and y’all know I showed y’all my pinky toe that’s up in the air. He hit the hydraulics on it, brought it down a little bit, and then rubbed the side of it. Y’all, I started thinking about whether God could be touching one area of your life, but it’s actually correcting, changing, moving, fixing other areas. Let Him touch your speech today; He’ll fix your childhood drama. If you let Him touch the soul—S-O-U-L—your mind, will, and emotions—could He be fixing?
When I looked at this very practical example that referred to the spiritual, God says what I’m fixing ain’t what I’m touching. The reason I’m messing with your finances and telling you to get disciplined in there is because that’s not even what I’m fixing. That’s just the part that you’re willing to let me touch. But when I touch this, what I’m actually fixing is a poverty mentality that was handed down from slavery. You’re looking for somebody else to fix it, and I’m the only one that can. I just came to tell somebody our declaration this entire year is, «I am here,» and because God is here, here is holy. Somebody say it with me: «I am here, and because God is here, here is holy.»
Let me tell you the revelation I found this week going back over that scripture in Exodus when we’re talking about Moses having this burning bush experience. What I found out is here is more valuable than we actually have placed weight on it. We think that here is a pass-through to there, but here is actually the culmination, the peak, the zenith of God’s faithfulness. Because if you aren’t here, that means somewhere along the way, you got taken out. Here actually is a testimony to you. Here is actually the sign of God’s favor. Instead of looking up there, some of us need to shout right here because there were many other times in your past that you could have been expired, taken out—not used to your fullest capacity. And even though this isn’t what I wanted to be, here is a testimony.
Today I need to remind somebody that you prayed prayers to get you here. Uh-oh! You fasted to get here. You gave to get here. Until you decide that here is enough for you to praise God and here is enough for you to give your life fully and here it is. See, what y’all have thought God was about was giving you a life that looked like what everybody else has looked like. But every day that I live, I am more aware that nothing past here is promised to me. I think about one of my great mentors from afar, Dr. Miles Monroe, who was tragically snatched away from us with his wife and his second in command all in the same moment because of a plane crash. This man was the head of states; he was a governor. He would speak to kings and diplomats and do all this.
There were a lot of other people, and if I were God, I would have felt like they didn’t matter as much—thank God I’m not God. But the truth of the matter is, when he was born, God had an expiration date that nobody—not even his children who outlived him—knew. So if a man who could speak all of these languages and had changed the kingdom of God forever is not guaranteed 65 years plus, my life becomes very fragile when I think about planning for there. And see, this is how you know y’all don’t think about eternity a lot because we’re waiting to get there to start enjoying life, and God said, «Who promised you that?» As I stand here today, this could be one of my last messages.
Someone’s like, «Don’t say that!» No, the Bible tells us nobody knows. I pray, I want to be here until I’m wrinkled and raisiny. I want to be so raisiny that I can’t even say, «That’s what I want to be.» I want to see my daughters raised, and I want to walk them down the aisle. But do you know how many people wanted that and didn’t get it? But God’s not going to give anybody a pass on what they did with their life just because they didn’t get as many years as somebody else. If you get 40, He’s still going to have you come before the great white throne of judgment and ask you, «What did you do with the 40 I gave you?» And there’s not a sliding scale of, «If you get 80, you get 90, you get 65, then…» And this is why the only thing that I can be fully given to is right. Do you know? Write this down: «Oh, I love God. You only get here if God was faithful back there.»
Can I tell you that the only reason I was able to stand in the spit-hits-the-fan moment, the only reason I got to that place is because of how faithful God had been to me in other seasons. And people feeling so sad from, «Oh my God, that happened to you.» It’s like, «I’m just grateful. Yeah, that I’m here to even experience persecution, to experience people.» There are people that would love to be where I was at, but they did not get to experience the faithfulness of God in different seasons the same way that you are. And today I want to shift your perspective. Somebody say, «I’m still here.» You’re still here after the family you came from; you don’t even want to introduce people to your real family. You’re still here after the decisions you made. How many people got at least three decisions that you really wish you could take back?
Come on, let’s be honest. Some of y’all got 30, but we’re only talking about three right now. You’re still here after those one-night stands. You’re still here after that substance you put in your body. Y’all gonna be fake on this side? I’m so—I’m washed in the blood of the Lamb—well, nasty self! Yeah, let me stop because I’m ready to fight! Somebody say, «I’m still here.» See, this is the thing that I need you to understand; you didn’t even say it with your chest. Somebody said, «I’m still here,» one more time with faith: «I’m still here.»
See, the power of here is revealed by your history. If you don’t ever look back on how God has delivered you in your history, you do not value here. After the molestation, you’re still here. After they put you in a mental institution, after you were exposed to all that greed, after you were adopted by people who didn’t see your value, after you got cut from the team, after you went to prison, after all of that, you’re still here. I believe this was the revelation that God was trying to layer on top of this holy moment for Moses—that he could have been killed a long time ago, but the fact that he was having this moment was a testimony of God’s faithfulness.
So I want to take you down memory lane of Moses’s life, and maybe it’ll jog your memory that history brings value to here. The reason why we celebrate Black History Month is because for me to be standing here—you all don’t understand; there were people who slept in water, who were brought over here on slave ships. There were people who were beaten and had their rights stripped from them. My father had to fight every single day in 1955 in Alabama when schools were segregated, and his mother was a teacher. She told them, «You’re going to get the best education, even if that means you have to get beat to get it.» He and his twin sister had to fight for a year and a half just to be in a place they were told they could be in. So when I stand up here, I don’t disrespect the people, the faith, the giving, the fact that there’s a church here.
In 1999, Bishop and Pastor Debbie stood on the corner of Greenwood and Archer in the middle of the most racially divided piece of our city, Black Wall Street. He took off his shoes—oh, y’all didn’t know that was the story? He actually took off his shoes—it was his Moses moment that God told this white man to go to Black Wall Street, take off his shoes in broad daylight, and he told him to reverse the curse. So when I stand up here, it is a miracle that I am here. But until you look at your history, you’ll think that somehow you just ended up here and that God owed you to get you to this place. Somebody shouted, «I’m still here!» Oh, I’m about to preach this!
Exodus chapter 3, verse 5. Oh, it says that God told Moses, «Don’t come any closer,» the Lord warned him. «Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.» Here is holy. But then something happens—this is the revelation: God does not talk to Moses about anything in the future at this moment. After He tells him to take off his shoes—"Right here is holy,» I’m expecting a prophetic word for the future: «Here I am, your holy servant, Moses. Lord, speak to me about the promised land.» I’m hoping He’s going to tell me something, but look what God says right after this holy moment. Oh my goodness! Verse 6: «I’m not going to talk about the future up there, but I do want to tell you my record back there. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.»
Well, God, I thought you were about to talk about my future. No! I need you to know how gangster I was in your past. I need you to know how faithful I was in your history. I’m the God of your daddy, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, for most of us, we just read past that in the Bible, and we don’t understand the context of that. But that’s why you have a pastor and a teacher who’s going to take you to class today and show you how powerful it is because you’re here. Somebody say, «I’m here.» That means God was faithful back there. See, many of us aren’t aware that God’s approval or anointing has been on our lives from birth.
When’s the last time you recounted all of God’s faithfulness in your life? It’s hard to complain and be grateful. The reason why most of us can’t remember what God has done is that we’ve been complaining about what He’s not doing right now, and it’s very difficult to complain and be grateful at the same time. God’s trying to change our language. «Here may not be what I want, but God, I thank You for doing it just the way You did it to get me here.» Somebody shouted, «I’m still here!» If we’re honest, most of us don’t know how the blank we got here. Fill in the blank. But I can tell you how you got here: it’s called the equation of here. Write this down: «Plus grace times mercy equals here.»
The only way you got here is you, raggedy, ratchet, hot mess, plus grace—that’s what Jesus did on the cross for you, plus His mercy that the Bible tells us is new every morning equals you getting here. Most of us think that it’s you plus smarts times connections equals here. Oh my gosh! You thought it was you plus that relationship times getting that job equals you here. You are only here by the grace and the mercy of God. I am so in touch with my humanity and how destitute I am without God that it makes me examine how in the world did I get here. I’m telling you right now that when you were busted and disgusted, full of pride—see, some of y’all don’t have outwardly big problems because everybody in the church talked about you. How can you call yourself a gangbanger? No, you were prideful.
We can’t see pride, but God smells it. You, you, you are actually judgmental. You were religious and looked down on people because they didn’t pray like you. That is the same level of filth, and God said it’s you plus grace times mercy equals here. If you ever forget that, you have set yourself in a place of pride. You know where pride comes from—it comes right before the fall. One of the greatest things you can do for yourself is wake up every week, recognize, and verbalize that it is God’s grace and mercy that has opened your bank account. You’re making more money than you ever made. Could you please acknowledge that it was not your skills? You plus grace times mercy equals here. Say it with me: you plus grace times mercy equals here.
Can I give you a Bible for it? Lamentations chapter 3, verses 22 to 23: «Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed.» Do you know how many things were sent to devour us, and it was just the mercy of God that snatched us out? The grace of God says, «Because of His compassions, they fail not; they are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.» Y’all thought that was just a song; that isn’t just a song, it is the anthem of those who are in touch with God’s grace. The saddest narrative today is that people have forgotten about the grace and mercy of God. You would be less judgmental of people going through what you went through when nobody could see it. Some of you are so fake that you were just the same as them, but you had the nerve to create a blog post and talk about somebody just because Facebook wasn’t popping and you didn’t have any followers. But you were in the same situation; you forgot about grace and mercy.
So, you’re so quick to disassociate and so quick to think, «Oh, I need to go over there,» and God said, «No, I want you to be right here with them.» This is why we need B Groups. Today, we’re starting Belong Groups all over Transformation Church and Transformation Nation. The reason why this is so powerful is that God says you don’t even need a pastor to get healed if you have community. Y’all don’t read your Bible. It says that when you come and confess your sins one to another, that’s a plumber to a mechanic, that’s a working house mom to somebody that works at Target. It’s not the pastor, the prophet, or the «man of God.» Stop saying «man of God"—it is a man of God. Whatever you do, God literally says you confess to each other, you pray for each other, and you will be healed.
The reason why we need community is because it’s the grace and mercy. When we look at other people’s situations, it reminds us. When I think about my community, the crazy situations I’ve walked through, and being able to see them walk through situations and see the grace and mercy in their life, it reminds me of the grace and mercy. Some of you just don’t have anybody around you, which means you don’t have any mirrors. You’ve been getting dressed in life in the dark, with nothing to reflect. Have you ever thought you looked really good?
Come on, let’s just be honest: you thought you looked good, real good, but didn’t have time to fully check the fit in the mirror. You went throughout the whole day and then found yourself in the reflection of something—you’re like, «Oh, they don’t love me; they let me go looking like this.» It wasn’t that; it was something you wouldn’t have changed. It was just something you couldn’t see. I believe in this season, in which God’s saying «here» is holy, a lot of the reason why God’s telling you to slow down, don’t go up there, is because you miss things when you’re going that fast. The pace of culture, the pace of your family, the pace of the money—you miss seeing it, and God’s trying to tell His church, «Hey, the only reason you’re here is because of my grace and mercy. Would you please just let me guide you the rest of the way?»
This is where Moses finds himself. Somebody shout, «Me here!» See that? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I need to take you through the story in the movie of my mind real quick. Welcome to Michael Todd’s Bible study; I’m going to take you on a journey right now. There was a man named Abraham; he was the father of our faith, the father of our crazy faith. In my mind, Abraham looks something like James Earl Jones. He looks like Mufasa to me. I don’t know why or how—he could be 28 in this picture—but I don’t know; he just feels like that. Abraham was given a promise by God that he was going to have descendants that would fill the entire earth. If you know anything about his story, they had to wait until he was old—old, wrinkled, old raisin old—to be able to have children. But God, in His omniscience, allowed him and his wife Sarah to get married at an old age, and they had a son named Isaac.
Now Isaac comes along, and if you remember in this story, he feels like a Denzel type of character to me. Calm down, Pastor Barbara—he’s married. This is what I’m saying: he gets to an old age, but I want you to understand that there was a moment when Abraham had to decide that he was going to actually obey God because God asked for the promise back. Imagine you being here celebrating the son you waited almost 100 years to have, and then God’s saying in his teenage years, «Give him back.» Abraham shows us a picture—even though this isn’t our story today—of how you can obey God here, even when you do not think that it’s fair that God would ask for the promise back. Y’all know the story: he goes to sacrifice his son Isaac, and then, man, there was a ram in the bush.
God said, «Don’t kill him; I was just trying to see if he was bout it.» Right? That’s what happened—my old Masterpiece reference. Going to say no, no, okay; some of y’all know what I was talking about. We choose soldiers; I don’t know what’s happening right now. In eighth grade, that was amazing. Some of y’all know what I’m talking about. At the end of the day, he was just trying to make sure that he had Abraham’s attention. What ended up happening is Isaac went on and had a son named Jacob. Okay, Jacob then comes on to the scene, and Jacob’s name gets changed to Israel.
When you talk about the children of Israel, that’s actually Jacob’s sons whose name was changed to Israel—all of his sons. Israel had 12 sons. When they showed up at the birthday party, they came looking like this; they looked kind of like Kool & The Gang—a bunch of them coming into the situation, just eating up everything. Y’all ever invited somebody to a birthday party or get-together and they just brought too many kids for the budget? That was the Tay kids. What ended up happening is one of these sons was named Joseph.
We talked about Joseph a few weeks ago, but Joseph was the one who had to embrace here, even though here was the pit—Potiphar’s house. Oh, y’all remember this? He went through all these things that everybody would say was trash, but at the end of the day—women calm down—my man Joseph rose to second in command in all of Egypt. He was then put in a position to save his own family. Now I need to bring this up because sometimes we read the Bible and think that everybody’s related, but what I need you to know is that these were all Hebrews. God took people who were not from the land with resources and raised them to power in a land that they were not from. He went through all these things to fulfill the promise to Abraham. This isn’t even about Joseph; the things that God’s trying to do in your life are Him trying to fulfill promises to your great-grandmother. This hasn’t got anything to do with you.
There were prayers that Leola Jones prayed, and God, even though she’s not here anymore, has been faithful to His promise. He literally takes it from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to his twelve sons to Joseph. You remember Joseph had the Gucci coat of many colors; that’s why he’s down there with the Gucci coat of many colors on. I need everybody to see this: his brothers jacked him over, but what they meant for evil, God turned for not just his good; He turned it for their good. Y’all don’t remember that? Everybody was in famine, and because Joseph found himself here, he was able to save his family. But this is the thing I need you to understand about what God is doing in your life, and that you can see in Joseph: God’s purpose doesn’t consider your pedigree. It doesn’t matter where you come from.
If you say yes to God, He will take you and raise you to power in a place that you are unfamiliar with, and that is not natural to get His purpose done in the earth. Hebrews reigning in Egypt is the same as you being the head of a Fortune 500 company. How does God take me? Well, all it is from here to there. It’s because I’m faithful wherever He places me. But what happens in this story? I’m still giving you just a little bit so you can get to Moses. What happens in this story is that eventually, people forget about what Joseph does. He literally has a great name for years, and the Hebrews living in Egypt are living well for decades because of the faithfulness of one person.
But then the Bible says in Exodus chapter 1, verse 8, eventually a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. They didn’t know, and he started looking with his natural eyes and said, «These people have been so prosperous for so long here; they’re outnumbering us, the people who should be right here, and they’re growing stronger.» Verse 10: «We must make a plan to keep these fools from going anymore. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us; then they will escape from this country.» So, the Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: «Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River, but you may let the girls live.»
Look at Exodus chapter 2, verse 1: About that time, God raised up a man and a woman from the tribe of Levi, and they got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; this is Moses. Moses comes into the picture, and what ends up happening with Moses is that he is born into a situation of assassination. This reminds me of a lot of our situations: what happens when you’re born into a situation that already puts you at a disadvantage? They kill every boy; they don’t even want to see him grow a little bit. They don’t even want to see what they are made of: kill every Hebrew boy under the age of two so that they can stop multiplying. But look at verse two: Abraham’s mama saw that he was a very special baby, and she kept him hidden for three months.
Write this point down: the enemy’s attack is proof you’re anointed. The only reason the enemy, Pharaoh, came after these boys is that there was an anointing on Joseph that was still carrying all the way to this young boy Moses, and he said the greatest time to kill a king is when he’s a kid; the greatest time to kill a God idea is when it’s in its infant stage. This is why you should be very careful whom you share what God is sharing with you, because the greatest time to kill it is when it is in its infant stage. But this mama had the presence of mind to look at what they said to kill and notice it was special; she noticed it was so special that she said, «I cannot go along with what has been commanded by culture.»
The enemy’s attack is proof that you’re anointed, that God has approved. What happens when some of y’all have been attacked since you were babies? The things you were exposed to at four and five, the things that were done to you, the things that you had to watch—those things were the enemy not even coming after your mom and dad; he was trying to kill your faith. You were born into an assassination, but that is everybody shouting at me: proof. It’s proof that God has anointed you. That’s why you have to come here and get the Word of God in you that lets you know that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimony. We’re not going to be quiet about what happened to us; we’re going to stand up and declare what happened to us because when we declare what happened and everything that God brought us through, it brings validity here.
People think you’re the only one that went through it, and the enemy tries to get you in isolation. Some of you have literally blacked out whole years of your life, protecting yourself from the pain, and God says, «I need you to go there with wisdom, the Holy Spirit, and some counseling because it’s still festering, and it’s still creating toxicity.» You ever say, «I don’t even know why I respond to that every time somebody does that,» and you don’t even know why? It’s because those places are still festering, and they’re keeping you from walking in your greatest level of faith right here. God’s saying, «I want to go back to those places because the enemy has been trying to take you out since you were a baby.»
The assassination you were born into in that situation, you don’t even need to look at it as a problem anymore—it’s not a problem; it’s proof. I’m not looking at this as a problem anymore; this is proof. This is proof that I’m anointed; it’s proof that I’m supposed to be here; it’s proof that God has called me; it’s proof that God wants to use me. This is very personal to me because some people thought that a few weeks ago was the thing that was going to take me out. You don’t know I was born into a situation of assassination.
Three years ago, I found this out. What do I do every Sunday? I talk. Hundreds of thousands of people will hear this message this week, and who knows how many over the next few years. When I was born, the day my mom had to have a cesarean, it went code blue or whatever it is—y’all nurses know blue—because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my throat twice. What the enemy was trying to do from the time I was born was to stop my voice. What they tried to do through social media and news articles three weeks ago was to try to stop my voice, but what they don’t know is I made it through the umbilical cord being wrapped around my throat as a baby. I have a testimony like Moses. I’m still here.
So, when they tried to do it again 35 years later, I was able to stand flat-footed and tell the whole world, «I’m still here. I’m not new to this; I’m true to this.» God has been so faithful in my life. You may not know my whole story, but God has been good. I’m proof. I’m proof that God has anointed me to share the gospel. The enemy was so scared of me, he didn’t even wait until I could fight back. That’s why I told you I was ready to fight today because I learned where my fight was. It’s not in flesh and blood, huh? It’s not this thing that we see right now; it’s not in the comment chats, but me walking in my purpose and snatching people from the gates of hell.
The plan was to kill me, but somebody shout, «I’m still here!» If we go down the road, there were moments: a random bike accident or carbon monoxide. You didn’t even know it was left on in the house, and you were about to cook some ramen noodles. Do you know how many times God has saved us, and we didn’t even see it? You ran out into the street to get the ball, and it happened that God allowed the person to look up and see. It might not be on your timeline, but it’s on God’s. This is why I want to look at this story in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23. I want to take you all through the scripture because they start talking about this same story and how it was by faith.
Everybody shout at me, «By faith!» You didn’t shout at me; say, «By faith!» Look what it says in Hebrews 11:23: «By faith, Moses’s parents hid him for three months after he was born.» Look how brave they were because they saw he was no ordinary child; they saw he was anointed, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. It was by faith they hid their son, and they were even so sure that God’s hand was on his life that they were not afraid for their own. They said, «We’ll stand up against culture.»
This is what I want to urge everybody that’s listening, especially those who are parents or plan to have children: Moses was born in a faith-filled home, and the greatest thing that you could give your kids is not money or clothes or things; it’s parents that live their faith out loud. It was by faith that Moses’s parents made a crazy faith action. Do you know how crazy it is to put your baby—my wife won’t even put our baby in certain seats that were made for babies? Do you understand what I’m saying? He’s over three pounds, and so like it does all of that stuff; she won’t even. They made a basket and put the baby in the Nile River.
Now, I don’t know if you know what type of animals are in the Nile River, but I know there are at least two crocodiles, and I know there are some hippos and some other things. But it was by faith. What I’m telling you is the decisions that you make here by faith are the decisions your children will know you by. I’m going to let you know a lot of the reason why it’s hard for a lot of us to step out in faith is because we never saw it. We never saw our parents step out in faith; we saw them step out in facts, we saw them step out in figures, we saw them step out in fun, but we never saw them live and step out in pain. It was the greatest thing that we’ll see in just a moment that his parents gave to him because it was by faith that she did this. And oh my goodness, when you live your life in faith in front of your children, they will reinforce the faith that you have displayed to them and make you sure you believe it.
Let me tell you a story: when we were doing the fast, Bella kept asking me, «Daddy, why are you not eating Chick-fil-A?» Because one of the worst things to do is to be a parent and fast, because your kids actually don’t care that you’re seeking God for your family. They don’t care that you’re doing so—they still ask for cookies, they still ask for cake, they still ask for ice cream, they still want to go on date nights, they still want Chick-fil-A every day after school! So what ends up happening, I mean, smelling those fries go past you to go to the back is very, very hard. My daughter is so receptive and sensitive; Bella’s like, «Daddy, why do you keep not…you usually take a fry before you give them to us?» Because I don’t know about you, but as a parent, that is a rite of passage: you don’t get your food; let me taste it. That’s where this extra came from—all of them!
So she’s like, «You’ve not been doing that.» I said, «Babe, I’m fasting.» She said, «What is fasting?» My daughter’s eight years old. I said, «Well, it’s when we give up certain things that we like to actually get closer to God and put our flesh in check.» I was like, «Is there anything that you’d like to fast?» She said, «No, Daddy.» This is beautiful because the one thing that you need to do is nurture your children into faith, not force them to do anything. There are so many people deconstructing their faith right now because they were forced to do what they would have loved to do if they would have been nurtured into it. I just told her, «Okay.» Not ten minutes later, «Daddy, I think God told me what I’m supposed to fast.» I said, «Really? What are you supposed to fast?»
She said, «Pop!» I said, «Pop?» «Yes! I’ll do pop! Orange pop, ginger ale!» She started naming them, and for 13 of the 21 days, Isabella let you know every time she was giving up pop! «Oh my God, Dad, it’s pop!» She let you know every single time because Ava wasn’t giving up anything! Ava was just like, «I got orange Fanta; I got it really working!» Y’all just pray for Ava. But for 13 days now, at eight years old, for her to begin to work the muscle of her faith around pop—the greatest thing I could give her is not a new pair of Heelys or a hoverboard; it’s her being raised and loved in a faith-filled home. And this is what happens because of it: look at Exodus chapter two, verse three: «But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket and made it of papyrus.»
She waterproofed it with tar and pitch, placed the baby in the basket, and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. Write this point down: you didn’t get here without being hidden. Many times, there were moments you thought you were overlooked; you were being hidden. If they had found out who you were in that ministry, they would have exploited you. You thought they were overlooking you, but it was God hiding you. Moses had to be hidden so he could get to his purpose. There were so many moments when I showed up in places, and I knew I was getting picked, and God said, «Not today.» It wasn’t because of my pedigree; it wasn’t because of my skills; it wasn’t that I couldn’t do it; it was because I shouldn’t do it for my purpose.
God said, «I’m going to hide you in plain sight; I’m going to let them see you and not choose you. I’m going to allow you to be there for years and never get seen because what I have for you is so much bigger than this moment. If they see you now, you die; but if you allow me to hide you, I will take you to places of royalty.» Y’all know the story, right? Do y’all know how strategic this story is? It’s a story of the precision of provision; it’s the exact nature of God. Think about it: she had to lay that baby in the Nile River at just the right time to catch the current, so Pharaoh’s daughter could see the baby at just the right moment. He starts crying, and then watch this: she notices; the Bible tells us that he’s a Hebrew.
How does she notice he’s a Hebrew at first glance? Watch the revelation. Because Hebrew boys were circumcised, they were cut at eight days old. The circumcision was a sign of a covenant with God, and it meant, «I belong to God.» What I’m trying to tell you is what God is cutting away from you is going to be the reason why you get recognized. She recognizes that this baby is a Hebrew and knows immediately because of what he didn’t have, not what he had. If you understand anything about anatomy, you can actually live with nothing being cut away from you in the male private regions, but God told everybody who was a Hebrew that he needed them to cut something away to prove to themselves and everybody else that they have a covenant and belong to Him.
So when I start cutting or pruning or taking things away, this is not punishment; it actually is the promise. It is the proof that you are mine, and I’m yours. So even though it feels like you’re being cut back, it is the reason why you will be recognized. Somebody should give God praise right there because everything you thought you had been losing is a setup for what God has called you to do. I’m preaching good up here! A lot of people think that God cutting on you is punishment. I was asking God, «Why did you do this?» He said, «I had to make you holy.»
Remember what holy means: separate, completely other than, opposed to. What God did by the faith of his mother and father was cause him temporary pain that allowed him to be recognized and raised in the palace. The pain allowed him to be seen by somebody in authority who could take him into the palace. Do you know the remarkable part of this whole thing? Moses’s little sister was watching the whole thing. See this is the grace and mercy of God. She was watching the whole scenario and said, «Hold on! She just picked him up! She’s not going to kill him; she’s going to keep him!» So let me go see if God can create a crazy faith miracle out of the faith my mother had to let that baby go.
«Excuse me, hey Hebrew girl! Y’all got to kill me; don’t worry about it. The edicts that I can live by, um, just wanted to know: do you need someone to take care of that baby?» «Yeah, I’ll be right back, mama!» God provided so well that when you have the faith to trust God to let my brother go, he ended up in the palace. Now you’re going to get paid to do what you would have done for free. You’re going to be compensated to walk in faith. I’m telling y’all this is the season where God double backs and blesses you because of the faith that you sowed in a different season. Somebody shout, «I’m still here!» That’s what Moses’s mama said to the baby when she got him. She said, «Baby, you don’t have to worry; mama’s still here.»
Oh, I feel that thing! She was able to raise her son because she made a move. Somebody shout, «Me by faith!» I’m telling you there are situations that will look dead. You’re going to be able to look at that business that’s a baby; you’re going to be able to look at that daycare that’s a baby; you’re going to look at that record company that’s a baby, and they said, «We’ll die.» You’re going to be able to say, «Don’t worry, I’m still here.» Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24: I want you to see what his mother gave him because Moses gets raised in the palace. Louis, everything Gucci, everything Fendi; he gets raised by the culture, but he gets nurtured by his mother. He has two mothers: the mother of culture and the mother of the kingdom.
Y’all didn’t see it; it says in Hebrews 11 verse 24, «By faith Moses,» not his mama. His mama did the «by faith» earlier, but because he was raised in a faith-filled home, he got it naturally. «By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.» Hold on; you’re about to go against culture right here. How did he even have the wherewithal to stand up against the culture that raised him? It’s because he had two mothers. When he would go into the palace and they would tell him, «Eat this; this is what we’re training you to be. It’s okay if you sleep with all of these people. You need to sow your wild oats; you need to do this; you need to do that,» they were doing all these things that culture dictates.
Culture wasn’t actually speaking to him in his vulnerable places. The person who bathed him was his mama. The person who nursed his wounds was his mama, and she knew the promises of God. So when he would hear this at school, he would come back home, and his mama was saying, «You know you’re the deliverer? You know what God said about you, right? You’re going to live and not die. God spared you for a reason. Do you know all your other brothers didn’t make it, but you did? The reason you’re still here is because you’re going to deliver all of us.» She was speaking kingdom when he was living in culture. Write this point down: I gotta stretch. You see me right here? I’ve got to stretch. As long as you’re called—somebody say «I’m called"—there will always be a conflict between kingdom and culture. There will be things that culture will say are normal that God will say are not okay, and you will always be in this conflict.
This is why you have to be very careful about who nurtures you. If he did not have his Hebrew mother, he would have had nothing in him to ever do it by faith. He still had to do it by faith, but he would have had nothing in him capable of making the decision to go against culture—to go against what his parents said, to go against what everybody said. That’s why I tell people all the time: this is why it’s so important who nurtures you; because mothers are nurturers. Your nurture becomes your nature. Whoever nurtures you forms into your nature, and whenever you have a nature, it becomes what you know. Whatever you know becomes normal. So if you are nurtured to have a poverty mentality, it becomes your nature to be greedy and to hold back. Even with a lot of money, you still won’t give; even with more than enough, you still won’t help your brothers and sisters.
«Well, I don’t know what they’re actually going to do with it,» and God says, «I know why I gave it to you.» But your nature has now become your knowing, and now because you think you know something, it becomes normal. That’s why some of y’all are so prideful that when you see a homeless person, you’ll never give to them, because you watched a 60-minute documentary about how homeless people are living better than you are living. God said, «I don’t care if they’re living better than you’re living; if I tell you to give, I’m working a kingdom principle, and you’re going off culture.» They don’t even live underground. I promise you they’re going to go around the corner, jump in the Tesla, and go to a high-rise.
I’ve heard people tell me this about why they don’t do what God tells them to do and judge others who do. «You’re just stupid; you’re just getting played.» No! I’m being obedient. If God ever tells me—if God tells me to give to Bill Gates—the thing is we think God only does stuff for people that are lower. God doesn’t care; He’s concerned about everybody’s obedience. But it’s how you were nurtured, and this is why I need to come and tell somebody that because of your nurturing, that became your nature which led to your knowing, and now that is normal. That’s why you’re where you are, and because of how you are and where you are, a lot of people think they have to stay there. But I came to give you really, really, really, really good news: your foundation does not have to limit your transformation.
Even if your foundation was broken, poverty mentality, greedy, a liar, manipulator, judgmental—whatever your foundation was—that’s why a lot of people don’t even like to hear that because they’re not even self-aware enough to be able to identify. I told everybody last week, and a lot of y’all didn’t do it, I said you need to write down where «here» is for you. I’m going to give you the assignment again this week: write down «I’m here,» then write a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay about where you’re at. «I’m broken; I’m frustrated; I’m tired of being alone; I’m happy every Thursday, and it’s only because I see the one at the ice cream shop; but other than that, I feel like suicide.» Because God doesn’t bless where you pretend to be; He blesses where you really are.
Most people won’t declare where their foundation is because if you locate yourself or drop a pin, God is saying your foundation does not have to limit your transformation. You can go to a whole other place. Somebody say, «I’m still here!» If you’re still here, there’s still time. That’s my encouragement for you today: if you’re still here—well, if you’re still here, Craig—if I know, after everything that happened to you, Gabby, if you’re still here, there’s still time! So many people are convinced that they’ve wasted more than God can use for the future. «Well, I just wasted all my teens, my 20s, my 30s, and my 40s. Now what is God going to do with somebody at 50?»
What you’re talking about? The God who restores the years that the cankerworm stole! You’re talking about the God who stands outside of time! Somebody say, «I’m still here!» Say it with faith: «I’m still here!» That means there’s still time. That’s why I’m telling you that Romans 12:2, the foundational scripture for Transformation Church, has to become your anchor. Look what it says: «Therefore, I urge you"—that’s what I’m doing through this message—"brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy"—that’s how you all are here—"offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.» Here’s our word: holy, separate, set apart, completely other than. That’s all I need: to embrace being holy and pleasing to God.
This is your true and proper worship. Oh, you mean the song wasn’t my worship? You mean my life and my obedience are actually my worship? Oh yeah! That’s why it says, «Do not conform to the patterns of this culture, of this world, of social media. Do not get caught up in these patterns.» He said, «But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.» Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is: His good, pleasing, and perfect will. That word «conform» got me. I need you to bring me out of that Plato for me real quick because this is what our life looks like.
It looks like an amalgamation of a bunch of thoughts, ideas, and random Instagram posts we saw, and stuff that we learned in high school, and stuff that our cousin taught us. This is what your life looks like—a bunch of stuff that we did, and nobody even knows we did it. I’m 45, and nobody even still knows. «God, I didn’t even think I was going to get out of college without somebody finding that out, and the DVD has been burned, and the website no longer exists that I used to go to and post my stuff on.» And this is what we look like. Then we say, «God, use me!» We say, «God, do a work on the inside of me.»
But I’m going to read the word, but I’m also going to watch the shade room before I crack my Bible. I’m also going to allow CNN and Fox and MSNBC to give me my truth, and I’m going to allow God to come in as much as He can. But I’m not going to stop letting other things affect me to ensure that I’m well-rounded and that I know what culture is telling me. Yeah, here I am at 35, and what happens is I get hooked up with the wrong people, and they start putting their imprints on me. What happens is, Play-Doh is something that conforms to whatever steps on it. So if I walk into the right environment and somebody imprints on me, what happens is if I don’t allow this thing to be renewed by someone with the power to change it, the imprint and the name of whatever was on them will now be on me. You may not be able to see that, but that’s a Balenciaga.
What ends up happening is it’s going to stay there; it’s printed on me because this Play-Doh has conformed to the pattern that was on the model of whatever stepped on me. Until I put my clay or my Play-Doh back on the potter’s wheel and immerse myself in the word, which is the only thing that could begin to reshape what was formed incorrectly, everything I confront tells me it’s okay. I mean you need to know these things, and you get into environments where it’s okay to cheat on your wife, it’s okay to have a drink every night to gain peace, and it’s okay to let your kids do what everyone else is allowing. What this does is the world applies its imprint. This is why the church is struggling: things are happening that shouldn’t be happening, things are being stretched that were never supposed to touch us. And now, when we look up and it should say «God,» it has culture’s name on it. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed.
I read the Bible every day because whoever’s pattern stepped on me every day, I have to allow God to form me, mold me, change me, and smooth out the edges. What begins as something really messy is somehow becoming beautiful. I never saw these colors together like this before, but as I allow God to mark me and begin to mold me into whatever He wants me to be, what once brought culture glory becomes something that now can be shaped into whatever God desires to give Him glory. My question is: whose imprint is on you? Whose ideas have you been conforming to? God is saying to you, «Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.»
A pastor might put it this way: the world’s imprint doesn’t have to remain; it can be changed in His presence. This is Moses’s story: he had Egypt’s imprint on him; he was raised in that culture. But he decided to allow God to refashion and transform his mind and his life to become something completely different. Y’all, this is why we worship: it’s to remove the world’s imprint from us. This is why we pray: it’s to eliminate the world’s imprint from us. This is why we give: it’s to rid ourselves of the imprint of greed in relationships. This is why we go to counseling—to remove the imprint of our parents from us. This is why we listen to each other—to hear the voice of God. This is why we forgive—to erase the imprint of culture from us. However, the only way is to not conform to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We’re almost done.
Let’s check back in with Moses in Hebrews 12:25. Moses made a decision; he chose—look what it says in Hebrews 12:25. He chose to go from the cushy palace life and instead be mistreated alongside the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. Write this point down because this will be a defining moment of thought for all our lives: choosing your calling will always come with consequences, but it also comes with a crown. My question is, are you more concerned about the crown or the consequences? He knew he would be mistreated if he chose God’s way.
Many things I do, I know I’m going to be mistreated because I’m a pastor, and this is what’s happening. If I were living wildly, with 16 children from 16 different people, and doing things that would embarrass me, it wouldn’t have mattered. People would just say, «There goes Mike Todd acting the fool,» and album sales would soar. We know of people who live completely crazily, but it’s almost a badge of honor. Look at that comeback story, huh? But it’s the choice I made; I can’t blame anyone else. They won’t understand everything I do because I chose the kingdom over culture. Choosing God comes with consequences, meaning there are people watching right now looking for me to mess up so they can try to claim I will mess up. Am I going to end up on TMZ again? Maybe. Depending on how long I do this pastor thing, probably. For people who follow me, if that makes you take a step back, then you haven’t truly committed.
If people talking about you makes you say, «I don’t know about this God thing and Pastor Mike,» I knew something was off. That’s part of the consequences of choosing the kingdom. Moses knew following his calling would cost him, and if your calling doesn’t cost you, it’s not worth answering. If your calling doesn’t cost you, do not answer. That’s why the old song says, «Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.» The only way I can stay focused, like Moses, is by looking towards a reward that I won’t see historically; he focuses on an eternal reward and directs his eyes to Jesus. I mean, I have been in focus this whole time. Can you go to a wide shot real quick and put Jesus on the back LED? Yeah, Jesus. And turn the lights down on me. Yeah.
«Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.» Now watch what once was the focus of everybody’s attention on the screen has become dim. You can’t see if my eyes are open or closed; you can’t notice the detail. Put Jesus back on the screen. What you need to understand at this moment is that everything—what they say about you and how your family talks about you—doesn’t matter if you focus on Jesus. Everything else you were looking at becomes dim. You don’t even know what color jacket I have on; you only remember from memory; you don’t know by actual sight at this moment because what was once the focus has faded significantly.
As I focused on Him, everybody say Jesus! This is how I answer my calling. This is how I show up every day. This is how I raise my children: as I focus on the reward that’s beyond what I can see and feel right now. I focus my eyes on—somebody shout His name—Jesus! Bring me back into focus! What I need everyone to understand is that what we are making major is actually minor in the grand scheme of things. So, Moses decides, «You know what, I’m going to do this thing,» but it still sucks that I’m here. Everybody say, «I’m still here.» Most of us discuss our situation like this: «Dang, I’m still here.» In our prayer time, it’s a question to God: «God, I’m still here. I’m still single; it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m still here. I still don’t have the house I believed for four or five years ago. I’m still here, still getting angry every Father’s Day because my dad is alive but won’t call me. I’m still here.» It’s a question.
When I look at Moses’s life, in Exodus 2:11, one day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them in their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. He was ready because he had turned his back on Egypt and culture and was eager to do something great for God. Looking this way and that way, he noticed no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Can I tell you that the right conviction without character always kills something? Moses had the right conviction; God was going to make him a deliverer. But he was out of timing. He didn’t do what God told him to do here, so he went and did it there, how he thought it was supposed to be done, and he ended up killing someone. The next day, when people found out, it made him go on the run. For 40 years, this man was in Midian in the desert, going from being in a palace to now being in the desert.
Exodus 2:2-3: This is where we return to the whole story. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Can you put the bush on the screen for me? It says Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, «I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.» Write this point down: Could it be that the fire is a sign of God’s faithfulness? Pastor Mike, I don’t understand this—how could it be that the fire is a sign of God’s faithfulness? I’ve read this scripture probably 200 times and never saw what I’m about to share with you right now. Okay, what ended up happening is—somebody shout, «I’m still here!» You didn’t shout it with enough faith; say it with faith: «I’m still here!»
Well, as Moses stands in this moment with his shoes off—remember, he takes off his shoes, saying, «Here I am, Lord; I’m available.» Then God tells him, «Take your shoes off; I’m vulnerable.» Then God tells him, «Stand here; I’m sensitive.» As he does this, I believe Moses has flashbacks of every place in his life where God delivered him when he was supposed to be killed. That’s why God says, «I need you to remember; we’re not going to talk about your future. I’m the God of your father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.» So when Pharaoh tried to kill baby Moses, he was able to stand up and say, «What? I’m still here!» Help me! Culture tried to steal his identity, but he turned his back on culture and said, «What? I’m still here!» He made a mistake and killed someone and had to run for his life, but he escaped that situation to say, «What? I’m still here!» Y’all better help me!
When I was sitting in the desert for 40 years, not knowing if God was going to do what He promised, he was still able to make it out of that situation and come to the burning bush and say, «What? I’m still here!» Somebody say, «I’m still here!» When you change the question before God from «I’m still here» to praise, «I’m still here,» it changes everything in your life! The crazy thing is when Moses did this and transformed what seemed to be a problem into praise, the bush began preaching to Moses! Did y’all hear his message? I’m like, «Pastor Mike, please help me.» He said, «What are we saying? I’m still here!» This bush is set in a situation in a place that’s on—what?
Everybody say «fire!» Yeah, that’s what your situation feels like. This is what the things that they said would take you out—oh no, we’re not stopping right now. Oh, that’s okay; we’ll find something else to light you with! The situation is on fire, but He literally tells us that it’s on fire but the bush is not consumed! So Moses reaches this moment, and out of everything in his life, he can say, «I’m still here,» and God uses a bush that is on fire and not consumed. Guess what? The bush says back to Moses and to us, «I’m still here!» It was burned but not consumed. God is saying to you that in your burning bush moment, it speaks back to you. «I’m going to use something that should have taken you out and I’m going to use it to preach back to you.»
The reason I believe Moses could have faith here is that the bush began to preach to him. By faith, this situation looks like it’s—do y’all know that the contents of this whole bush haven’t changed? It just burned up but is still here! May this be the testimony of every believer who embarks on this journey of faith, even knowing that culture will go against you, should get vulnerable before God. Let your environment start to preach to you. Look at all the things that should have been gone, dead away from you. Think about your whole life: the enemy tried to take you out at different stops, tried to thwart your marriage.
The fact that you are experiencing another Valentine’s Day with your wife or husband is the grace and mercy of God. Your testimony from now on all around Transformation Nation is three words, and I need you to yell them out with all your faith: One, two, three—I’m still here! Somebody give God a shout of praise in this building if you’re glad to be here! Oh, y’all better help me! If you know that God has kept you through the fire, I’m still here. What are you saying, Pastor Mike? God is trying to turn your question into praise! I need it to go from I’m still here to I’m still here! Take the question mark off of it and put an exclamation mark! I’m still here! No, I’m still here!
Here is no longer a place that I dread being at. Here is the testimony of how faithful God has been! Back there, we’re going to move forward, and we will do everything, but I couldn’t go any further in this series without us valuing how good God has been to get us right here. Hands lifted all over this place. God, thank you that we will never take here for granted again.
Father, turn our questions into praise. Turn the questions we have, like, «God, is this why?» «Why do you?» and «How are you?» into praise! Since I’m here, take over! Somebody just say that: «Since I’m here, take over!» God, I’m asking you to do a work on the inside of me and inside of this church, that we will be able to acknowledge, no matter how painful it is here, that the fact we are here is a sign of your faithfulness in our lives. Through all of that, with all of that baggage, with all of that hurt, here I am, God! Since I’m here, Lord, take over, mold me and make me, design me into the purpose you have for me! You’ve seen me before I was formed. Father, I thank you that even for my brothers and sisters who are in the middle of the fire, let this example be a sign to them, that even though there are still remnants of this thing burning right now, it’s still standing! It’s still here! It’s still usable! It’s still on display! It never got discarded just because it was on fire! So since I’m here, God, yeah, use it all! Father, I thank you for our church growing and maturing in you, that the fire refines us and we will see your faithfulness over and over again. Have your way in us, Father God!
If you’re in this room or watching online and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, He is the protection in the fire! He is the one who, when you invite Him in, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, was sent into that fire with them to be their Savior. They went through, but they came out not smelling like what they had been through. Why? Because they had a Savior in the fire! Today, I want to invite you into a loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to know that He made a plan and a way for you to escape whatever you’re in right now and to use all of that to bring Him glory and transform your life! How do you know, Pastor Mike? Because I was a liar, a manipulator, and I was addicted to pornography.
This wasn’t decades ago; this was me having to go to the dark places of my heart and say, «God, here I am.» I’m not going to fake it in front of people! If you call me to be a pastor, I’m going to be real! I’m going to do everything you tell me to do, and I’m going to tell the real story of how I’m really struggling and how Natalie and I are in counseling today, and we’ve got to keep working on this because it’s not about perfection, but it’s about progression. God’s never looking for anything perfect; He’s looking for something willing! And today, I’m coming to you as a flawed man, saying, «Here I am!» That’s the same thing that God wants from you—with your addiction, with whatever, whether alcohol, workaholism, or whatever else you have. God says, «Bring that to me. I’ll take all of that because I want to use your life to change other people and bring me glory!»
If you’re watching this and you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I said it earlier, but tomorrow isn’t promised. A lot of us are going to watch the Super Bowl tonight and do all this other stuff. This could be our last Super Bowl. I don’t have any fear tactics; I just want to let you know I’m living at such a place of peace that I’m no longer scared of death. I’m different now! Two years ago, you wouldn’t have known it, but I’m living at a place right now that God can call me at any moment, and I know that up until the moment I drew my last breath, I did exactly what He asked me to do. If you’re still here, there’s still time!
Today, I want you to give your life to the all-consuming fire, the one that can take everything that has been weighing you down and turn it into a testimony that brings people to the kingdom! I need y’all to begin to pray! Transformation Church, there’s a war waging right now! Somebody’s making a decision right now; they’re about to choose the kingdom or they’re about to choose culture. We’ve learned from Moses' story that God has such a big plan for you; it doesn’t matter how old you are; it doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone; it doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re in a desert right now. God says, «I’ll meet you in a burning bush and call you by name!» Twice! He said, «Michael, Michael! Susan, Susan! Sarah, Sarah! Billy, Billy!» He’s saying, «Evan, Evan! Today, I want you to join me in an amazing calling!»
All you have to do, according to Romans 10:9, is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. Turn from the life you’ve been living and accept this free gift of salvation! If that’s you and you want to make that decision, let me tell you something encouraging: over 5,700 people have made that decision this year alone at Transformation Church! Y’all can do better than that! This is why our church exists—to see transformation in Christ! There are people cheering for you, excited for you to get the healing you want! Since you’re here, you might as well say, «Lord, take over!» On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hand in the comfort of your home, in the car, on the track, if you’re walking, if you’re in your bed—it doesn’t matter! Right now, that place is holy. Somebody say, «Here is holy!»
God doesn’t need a cathedral or lights; all He needs is an open heart! When He finds that, it’s a holy place! So right now, if you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you’re saying, «Pastor, invite me into that prayer!» On the count of three, I just want you to raise your hand; it doesn’t matter who’s around you, and it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done this! Your heart is open right now for God to do a new work! One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life! Two, I’m so proud of you, but more than that, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for all of eternity! Three, shoot your hand up in the air right now! There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people making the decision right now! This is what we’re going to do at Transformation Church: we’re a family, and nobody around here prays alone; we walk together! That’s why we get in small groups; that’s why we do what we do! We walk together! So we’re going to pray this prayer together! Everybody just say:
God, thank you for sending Jesus to get me here today! I give you my life! I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power just for me! Today, I say, 'Here I am! ' Since I’m here, take over! I give you my life! Change me! Renew me! Transform me! I’m yours! In Jesus' name, amen!