Michael Todd - Cuffed to Contamination: The Subtle Attack Of Covert Control
We are in a series called «Cuffing Season,» and today is week 11. If you’re excited about the Word of God today, would you make some noise in the building? Hey, listen, I feel like I have a mandate from God; it feels like God woke me up this morning to deliver this message, and there has been opposition since I decided this was going to be the message. Okay, so last week we talked about being cuffed to control. How many control freaks are out here? Come on! We live with humility, openness, and transparency. Whoa! God doesn’t want you to be like that anymore. Let me be very clear with you: this whole cuffing series is designed to help you get delivered. Everybody say, «Deliverance!»
God doesn’t want you to stay the way you are. I know society today promotes, «Love yourself, be you,» and I understand that to a point, where it’s positive in your life. But sometimes, being you isn’t good. Uh-oh! Sometimes the things you do—how many people know they have some traits in their lives that they wouldn’t want replicated in their children? Uh-oh! That’s how you know if it’s good or not. How can you tell your kids, «Don’t do what I do; do what I say?» What kind of ignorant statement is that? I’m watching you; you’re my model, and you’re telling me, «Don’t do what you do, do what I say.» This is how backwards many of us are because we do not want to take the time to actually deal with the deliverance that we need. It’s too ugly, it’s too far back. We don’t want to address issues we have with people who are no longer living. Some of you are mad at parents who aren’t here anymore.
Oh, it’s getting quiet in here! You’re frustrated with people who haven’t been in your life for years, and God is saying that for you to actually get over or move past that thing, we’re going to have to deal with it. Deliverance makes you confront it. You may not even talk to them anymore, but you’ve got to deal with what it left you with. It may not have been your fault, but it is now your responsibility. This is why everybody comes to church saying, «Hype me up! Make me feel good! Give me enough sedatives to let me go and live like everything’s cool.» Let me just have a little inebriation of the anointing so I can make it through another week. And God says, «You don’t have to live like that.» Somebody say, «I don’t have to live like that!» You can be—everybody say—"delivered!» That means we have to talk about what you’re cuffed to.
Last week, we discussed a significant issue that some of you are still not trying to digest: a lot of people are cuffed to being in control. Everyone around you sees it, but you’re like, «That’s not me!» If you ask them—if you ask the people who love you—they’re not going to say it with you in the room because they know that if they actually tell the truth, one of the ways you know that you’re always in control of the situation is that people won’t tell you the truth when you’re around. Yeah, and you don’t really know this until after the fact, but a lot of people who control and manipulate situations, who are cuffed to it, always find out stuff after the fact because nobody feels close enough to them to tell them the truth in the moment without being manipulated, shut down, or punished. Parents, let me come to you. The way you might have been parented could be creating separation between you and your children, not closeness.
A lot of the issues they’ll deal with later in life is because they had no one to come to with their issues or pain; they had someone who would punish them if they actually shared what they needed help being delivered from. Pin drops. I counsel so many people right now, and it’s like, «Have you told your parents?» Oh, hell no! This is their reaction to me: the person who bathed you, birthed you, and provided for you, and you wouldn’t tell them? Oh no. Okay, let’s be honest in here. If you’re not sitting next to your parents, and if you are, just look directly at Pastor Mike; don’t even look. How many people did not go to their parents when they actually needed them during their adolescent life? Come on, listen—hands! That’s over 70-80 percent of the room! And if your parents ever found out about it, hey, yeah, they say that when you’re 35. But when you were 14?
Oh my God, what year is it? All I’m telling you is that God is not like that. He desires for you to bring your dysfunction to Him, and many times, because of how we have been controlled or manipulated in our physical families, we think God is trying to do the same thing to us. So if we tell Him, «I actually lust after that person,» or «I’ve been towards this perversion or a lie,» a lot of the time we don’t know why we lie. I just told someone I was drinking coffee when I’m allergic to it; I’m drinking tea. But they said, «Are you drinking coffee?» and they like coffee, so I just lied, «Yes.» I mean, most lies are just dumb. But if we bring that to God, He is faithful to help us through those situations. The enemy’s whole job is to keep you confused about who’s actually in control and make you think that you taking control, covering up yourself, and taking matters into your own hands is the best way to handle things when God says you don’t even know how to do anything anyway.
Come to me. Think about it. Adam and Eve in the garden—I am fully convinced that if Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit and then said, «Daddy, yeah God, I messed up; I did exactly the opposite of what You told me to do,» there would have been grace and mercy for them. But what did they do? They hid. They started covering up their vulnerable places instead of bringing their vulnerable places to God. And I know you think I’m just talking about Bible characters; I’m talking about you! Many of us are cuffed to things that God is saying, «Would you just bring it to me?»
So, when I started thinking about, «Alright, how do we keep going?» I literally read the definition of cuffing season again—write this down if you haven’t heard it yet. Cuffing season is a season where, because of loneliness and desperation, you settle for a relationship that is way beneath your standard because of your own feelings. You settle for something. Okay, let me bring it down from relationships right now because for some of you that’s too deep: Have you ever been so hungry that you ate something you didn’t like? I mean, there are certain places I hate going to, but it seems like those are the places that are always open after 10 PM. If you ever catch yourself in a late-night food run or had to work late, you’re on your way home, and you’re like, «Let me get something to eat,» like Taco Bell—I had to say it.
There hasn’t been one time I ate Taco Bell that I felt good about it the next day. In that moment, sometimes it hits the spot, like it rings the bell, but the next day? What if, in every area of your life, you were settling like that because you felt like there was no better option? Now you have become accustomed to what God never even wanted you to have an appetite for. Oh, that’s nasty! Many of us are craving and wanting what God never even wanted us to have an appetite for, and that’s why I have to talk to you about being cuffed to control again—with a twist. Control doesn’t just manifest as being overt; you can give us peace. I was in the shower and the Holy Spirit said, «I got more.» I was like, «What do you mean, God?» He said, «Most people think control—listen up—is something that people who have a certain personality or are boisterous exhibit. Control is loud, demonstrative; it’s someone who comes in with this attitude and says, 'Give me control; I’m the boss.' It’s this powerful, strong, overt dominance, but God said some of the most toxic control is secret and covert. It’s not overt control; it’s covert control.»
Today, I have to address everyone in this room who is dealing with covert control. Let me explain it to you. You ever met somebody who isn’t obviously in charge but they’re always around the people who are in charge, and somehow they always have the ear of the person who actually is in control? Have you ever known someone who says a lot without actually saying anything? How was the movie? That’s not—what do you know about Troy? Okay, what? They won’t tell you anything, but their presence—or lack of it—is used to manipulate and control you covertly. I’m coming for y’all— all you quiet people who don’t say much, but be saying a whole bunch!
Many people use their presence as a means to let others know whether to be attached to something or not. You all can go if you want, but they’ve learned that leaving things uncertain, shrouded in mystery, is more powerful than bringing clarity and letting you know how they’re actually feeling. This confusion allows them to manipulate, control, and dominate situations. It starts as children: «Eat your food.» «I don’t really want to eat it!» «Mommy/Daddy said I gotta eat the food.» «Well, you can do it if you want to!» «My mama said I have to eat the food!» «Well, your daddy doesn’t eat all his vegetables.» «I’m just showing you.» Now watch—this little child has figured out the whole time that Mommy and Daddy are arguing.
«I know you didn’t tell her that I didn’t eat my broccoli!» And then it escalates: «You didn’t get home until 7:30 last night, and you told me you’d be here at five!» «Girl, I was working for our family!» Guess what’s not getting eaten? This may not be a real example for you, but it shows us how we begin to learn to manipulate and control in these spiritual matters. It’s a spirit I’m going to discuss shortly. But, again, we try to take people from where they’re supposed to be to a toxic place, and what it really is—it’s the spirit of contamination. I don’t need to be in control if I can just contaminate your thoughts. I don’t even have to know all the information; if I can make you doubt just a little bit—this is an area of the church and as people we act like it’s nothing, but it is literally holding people back from their calling because we’ve been dabbling in the Christianity of contamination. I’m telling you it’s happening everywhere, and you think it’s innocent, but it’s polluting people’s purpose because of the little things you say and do.
Today, I have to talk to everybody who is cuffed to contamination. Your words, your actions, your speech, your attitude—it’s contaminating God’s people. You know someone is trying to do right? You’re saying, «Does it take all of that?» I told you I’m trying to eat right; I’m uncuffed from the cake, and the first thing you offer me is cake? We do it with the right spirit—"I mean, it’s just a piece of cake.» I just told you I was setting a standard in my life, and what you want me to do is fail at that standard so you don’t feel bad about yourself for not making one in the first place! I tell you that I’m working out, but you invite me not to go work out. I tell you that I’m trying to live here and not have sex before I marry, and you say, «Well, it’s your birthday!»
Yeah, it’s the spirit of contamination. When we try to do something aligned with God’s Word, there are people who will come in and speak words, not «I mean I’m not saying go do it,» but «it ain’t the end of the world if you do.» That is control and manipulation in a covert manner. It’s how the serpent came to Adam and Eve. All he did was suggest, «Did he really say that?» And I’m telling you right now that this spirit of contamination has been controlling so many people from doing what God has called them to do. Today, if you want to be uncuffed from this thing, God—through His Word—is going to reveal the truth to you. He’s going to give you the ability to see it. Some of the people you’ve been around?
Tomorrow, you’re going to see them differently because you’re going to walk, and you’re going to see, «They’re trying to manipulate me; they’re trying to be in control of that situation.» I ain’t nobody’s been good enough in a relationship for me because every time I get into a relationship, they tell me everything that’s wrong with them, not one thing that’s right. If I engage in a relationship that will change our dynamic, so instead of saying I have a toxic connection with you because you make me feel better about my issues, I’m just going to keep controlling everybody around you so that I can maintain my space. I’m being too real right now, and the truth of the matter is that people don’t understand that contamination doesn’t take a lot; it just takes a drop.
Today, I’m confronting the subtle attack of covert control. Let me tell you what contamination means, according to the dictionary: it’s the action or state of making or being made impure by polluting or poisoning. If I told you that all of this water was good to drink—and it is right now—then I told you that I had a lab give me just a little bit of poison, which compared to this isn’t a lot, and if I said, «Hey, I want you to drink this water, but hold on one second,» I’d take the one that’s filled most with the spirit, the one that looks the most filled up, overflowing, and I’m just going to put «everybody» and say «a drop.» A drop of contamination. Oh, hold on, let me see where it’s at; which one got it? You all said there were 50 of them up here, huh? How can I avoid getting any of that on me? One drop, two drops, three drops, four drops.
Now watch this—it looks like it’s being contained, but slowly and surely… see, this is what contaminating relationships do to you: they still let you see what could have been, but they slowly and surely start to take control. It doesn’t even look like what it looked like five seconds ago. When you have contaminating conversations, you don’t sound like you did five minutes ago. Have you ever talked to somebody who talked to someone else, and you could tell something was different about how they felt about the situation you had just discussed? It’s on my team—let me see, did I get it? Show me something. I can’t be up here talking with the red—yeah, why? Come on, wipe it off. Am I going to die? It’s gone. Do you see how quickly people who care about you come to get contamination off of your lips? It’s so crazy that it was on my mouth, as that’s the primary place of contamination.
Okay, let me help you: what comes out of me is what defiles me, and that contamination now turns something that was very pure and very holy into something that now I don’t know if anybody could ever partake in. So what ends up happening is we get around other people and think, «Ah nah, I’m not going to let you contaminate me.» Well, I don’t really want to go fully in with the God thing, so I’m going to get something that won’t affect the color of it as much. It looks pretty clear—I mean, they still go to church; they still serve on the team. It doesn’t look like that, so we start comparing contamination. Well, I mean, she has three kids, I mean, before the age of… and at least my first baby—he and I were together for six weeks. Are you… no, we do—come on, y’all! Well, my kids, I mean, they’re bad, but they’re not crackheads.
I have heard people in church say, «It’s not as contaminated as theirs, so it must be clean.» No, this is bleach. If I drink this, even though it looks more pure, this is why I have to let you know that it’s very dangerous territory to judge people because what looks pure on its own may not be. And the crazy thing about it is that no matter how much of God I pour into the thing that’s already contaminated—"I’m going to go to church; I’m a servant"—it doesn’t matter how much I pour in to the thing that’s already contaminated: one drop of contamination has now made everything this could be something dangerous for others. Write it down in a point: it only takes a drop of poison to contaminate your… it only takes a drop of poison to contaminate your purpose. A drop.
Some of y’all have people around you who, every time you tell them your dreams, they tell you why it can’t happen. «Well, who has the money for that? Obviously not you.» Like, what if every time you talk to them about «This is my last relationship and it’s going to be abusive,» they say, «We’ll see.» «Well, God gave me this burden and this passion to start this ministry.» «I hope it works.» Where is the support? Where is the faith? The truth of the matter is that so many of us are allowing contamination into our hearts and minds because they’re disguised as people we love. Oh, this is where it’s going to get really rough for a lot of us. Okay, let me just keep going.
Let’s go back to the Garden: how did the devil try to control and confuse? It was through contamination. Let me give you the three costumes of contamination. There are three costumes that people put on. People put these on. Okay, the first one is side comments. People have no actual opinion or investment in something, but they always have a side comment. They may be working in the spirit of contamination. «You’re going to that church again?» Like, I wasn’t even talking to you about going to church; I just told you I had to get ready to go. It’s Sunday. «You’re going to that church again?» Nobody asked you for that side comment; where did that come from? It’s a spirit who’s trying to control your calling, but not overtly—they didn’t say, «You don’t need to go to that church.» They said, «You’re going to that church again?»
Do you see how covert, how undercover? And I know some of y’all are getting tight right now because it’s you. I’m going to deal with you in a second. I’m trying to talk general to everybody, but it’s you. It’s like Job’s wife, seeing all the crap that Job was going through, and then she gives the most deadly side comment of all: «Why don’t you just curse God and die?» What? That was the side comment? After us both losing our children? After us both losing…? You know what I’ve been through? And you’re going to watch out for people who always have side comments. I’m trying to give you practical tips right now because the people with side comments are the people you love. It’s the people you trust. It’s the people that are around you. Evaluate!
Look at your neighbor and say, «Evaluate.» Uh-huh. The second thing—I’ve got so much to go through. Okay, the second costume of contamination is sarcastic concerns. People who have sarcastic… oh, y’all aren’t doing okay. The only reason you said that is because you want me to spill my guts about the issues we’re going through so that you can go back to the water cooler and tell everybody where we’re at. They don’t care about me, but like dummies we’d be like, «Yeah, let me just tell you what happened last night.» But I’m telling you, people who always have sarcastic concerns may be working in the spirit of contamination. They’re trying to find out things about you that they’re going to, at some moment, use against you.
Prime example in the Bible: Delilah. Y’all remember Delilah? She was always asking Samson, «Why won’t you just tell me? Just tell me, just tell me.» No! That’s what they’ll do; they’ll use everything they’ve got. Oh y’all, don’t hear me? They will tempt and manipulate you. «Like, be where you’re at; lay where you lay.» Uh, I’m in your business right now. But their whole intent is to find out what can jeopardize your calling. Delilah’s there; I’m just so mad at you. If you read that story, it just—I just want to slap Samson for playing with the enemy. And some of y’all are so prideful that you keep playing with the enemy. You think you’re so strong that you can lay down and spoon with her? You think you’re so strong that you can keep going and doing those things, and God says you better stop playing with the enemy.
That spirit of contamination is trying to rob your calling. He lays down, and then she puts a guilt trip on him because that spirit of contamination always tries to use guilt. «You’re treating me like everybody else. I thought we had something special. I thought there was…» He literally says, «Why won’t you tell me?» And that boy finally tells her, «Amen, it’s my hair; I’m not supposed to cut my hair.» She had already attempted several times, and then he finally tells her. This man spends the rest of his life without power. What used to define him now has destroyed him. Because he allowed that spirit of contamination to be around him. The third one—I’ve got to get out of here, y’all. But the third costume of contamination is cynical questions. People will not say statements; they’ll ask you questions that have ill intent. «Did God really tell you to move to that city? Are you really supposed to be giving in that crazy faith offering?»
They put the word «crazy» in it. It just sounds crazy to me. They never ask you when you spend thousands of dollars on shoes and boats. They don’t care when you take them to restaurants and eat steaks and shrimp. But at the moment you’re doing something that goes against something they think—cynical questions. Parents do this all the time. I’m not even going to get on your parents right now because you’ll turn into them. But we do it all the time. «You sure you’re supposed to go to that college? Name one successful person who came from here.» This one goes all the way back to the garden. What did Satan say to Adam and Eve? He didn’t even say nothing; he asked them a question: «Did God really say?»
It was a cynical question. That was the covert control: the only man and woman on the earth that the enemy used and all he did was contaminate. I don’t know who I’m talking to today, but some of you have been cuffed to contamination. And let me say even more plainly, you’ve been cuffed to people who are committed to contaminating your calling. «But that’s my best dude; I mean, we’ve been through…» When I lost my dog, they were there; when I had a bad day, they were there. And they don’t need to be there for the next thing because you may forfeit what God has called you to do because you’ve been cuffed to people who are committed to contaminating what God told you to do.
Okay, let’s just keep going. 1 Corinthians 15:33. I feel the Spirit trying to make me back up; I bet you I am not—don’t be fooled by those who say such things. For bad company corrupts, contaminates, controls good character. All of these things were good and pure in the beginning, and it was just a little bit of contamination that turned them into something useless. Do not go from useful to useless because of somebody else’s contamination. Oh my God, that’s coming straight out of the Spirit. Yeah, let me just ask a real question. You don’t have to raise your hand—just blink three times. How many people in this room know they’re around somebody or people who could potentially contaminate your calling? Somebody? The woman said she just lifted her hand up; she’s like, «I ain’t going to blink.»
I don’t know if you can see me. I’m not saying they have yet or that they are, but you know they have the potential—like the one friend that every time you and your spouse have a disagreement, they say, «Leave him.» Hold on! What? Every time he just—he didn’t give me the Chick-fil-A sauce. I mean, I’m mad. Like, I’m really mad, actually, because this chicken ain’t right without the sauce. But y’all know how to be. But to leave him! Girl, the friend that every time is trying to introduce you to the other chick—you know I’m married; you know I’m struggling. «Hey, have you met…» And it’s been seven attempts and you haven’t fallen yet, but they have the potential to contaminate.
You’ve been serving in your spot with the right attitude, and then somebody comes along, like, «They don’t pay you for that yet.» I wasn’t even thinking about it when God blessed me on this side. «Well, I mean, somebody with your caliber and your training…» All I’m saying is write this down to the point: keeping contamination close will corrupt your calling. If you keep it close, at some moment you’re going to need to make the right decision, and you’re going to go to the wrong person, and they’re going to convince you. I’m just telling you right now that there are people in this room right now that are being controlled by somebody not in this room right now.
Oh my God! Oh my God! There is somebody listening to me right now who is in full puppet mode. You’re in full puppet mode by somebody who doesn’t even live in the same state as you. They’ve been dumping their opinions on you for years. They’ve been dropping their conspiracy theories on you for years, and just somehow every year you start looking a little darker. You’re just a little more pessimistic. When God says something, it takes just a little bit longer for you to believe. God pours something in, and it doesn’t even look like anything happened. It’s because keeping contamination close will corrupt your calling. It’s contamination; all it wants to do is control. I said those three things, those costumes: side comments, sarcastic concerns, and cynical questions. I want you to know those are all contaminants.
The goal of contamination—write this point down—is control. However, the spirit behind it is the spirit of Jezebel. I’ll say that one more time: the goal of contamination is control, but the spirit behind anything that seeks to control your life is the spirit of Jezebel. Oh, come on, stop! You might not realize you are working in it. Let me explain this because the church has made this a super hype moment. I call out the spirit of Jezebel. What does that even mean? Most people, like me, who grew up in church before actually studying the Bible, thought the spirit of Jezebel was simply a pretty woman.
If someone like me sees a pretty woman in the room, they think she is operating in the spirit of Jezebel. It’s like, «Oh my God, let me get away from her!» No, you’re just insecure and upset because she is beautiful, so you want to… Let me stop. We don’t even know what the spirit of Jezebel is. I have never heard of a man having the spirit of Jezebel because spirits are genderless. We are always talking about women with the spirit of Jezebel, which is a confused narrative. You think Bathsheba is Jezebel; you don’t even know, because David fell for her.
There’s an Old Testament Jezebel and a New Testament Jezebel, but when Jesus and Elijah confront this spirit, they are talking about the spirit behind the person named Jezebel. That spirit desires control; it desires to contaminate from the backseat. Have you ever been in a car with a backseat driver? «Turn right here!» «Are you going through that?!» «Brake!» Natalie, if you do not stop, I’ll be asking my wife if she wants to drive because I can’t take this. But I want you to think about that in your actual life: someone who doesn’t want to be in the driver’s seat but wants to dictate every turn. Someone who doesn’t want the responsibility of actually being in control but wants to control you. The spirit of Jezebel! Today, I’m going to explain it—not as a hype moment in service but as a habit in many of our lives. That spirit of Jezebel works as a habit in many of our lives to manipulate and control anyone who is in power.
Revelation chapter 2—the people that just got mad at me, I don’t care—verse 18: «Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze.» Revelation chapters one and two: this is Jesus talking. It says, «I know all the things you do.» He comes to congratulate these people first: «I have seen your love, your faith, and your service, and your patient endurance. My God, that is commendable, and I can see your consistent improvement in all these things.» If the verse stopped right there, and Jesus were telling me all this, I’d be like, «Man, that is really, really special—thanks, Jesus!»
Verse 20: «But I have this complaint against you. With all your faith, all your love, all your service, and all your patient endurance, you are permitting that woman, that Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet.» Beware of anyone who needs to label themselves! Her other name was Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. If someone needs a title to function… That’s not even part of my message, but it just jumped out at me. Beware! You allowed this spirit to lead my servants astray or to eliminate the closeness. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. Let me say it another way: to be tied to things that they love but that don’t love them back. She teaches them that this is okay.
Verse 21: «I gave her time to repent.» Some of you are like, «Why doesn’t God just deal with this?» He gives people time to repent! «But she does not want to turn away from her immorality. Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent.» So it’s not just operating in the spirit of Jezebel; if you allow or permit it to operate within you and you don’t repent, you receive the same consequences! This is why I came to tell you to uncuff from that contaminating spirit—the spirit of Jezebel—that wants to control you from the background. You’ve got to uncuff, because if you don’t, you’ll suffer the consequences too.
«I will strike her children dead.» That means anything that was supposed to produce will be fruitless. Then all of the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person, and I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. We’ve got to uncuff from this spirit of contamination. Write this down about the spirit of Jezebel: Jezebel is not a person; it’s a spirit working in a person. I need everybody to hear me say this! All my life, it has been like, «She’s got that dress on; look at old Jazzy.» Stop that! It is a good person who is being controlled by a bad spirit. The Bible tells us that the enemy is looking for an open door to enter into people’s lives. Oh, you’re talking about possession or devils? Yes, because it’s real, and some of you have been so comfortable with your demons that you’re sitting here with them right now! The attitude you’ve found is not your spirit man fighting against the Word of God! Oh my gosh! Some of the things that are happening in your body, in your family, in your stuff are due to the fact that there was an open door to the enemy that you let him have a foothold in. And that baby doesn’t sit in the background; he controls your day!
Y’all ever seen Men In Black? Remember that thing that gets inside? That’s how it looks—you’re possessed! And what does the word possessed mean? Controlled! You want to respond rightly, but an attitude comes out. Have you ever said something and thought, «That wasn’t me?» She replied, «Yes, every day!» I don’t know, but the truth is, it’s real! For many of us, this needs to be an eviction Sunday. I don’t know; somebody over here needs to hear me. For many of us, this needs to be an eviction Sunday! Anything in my life that is not like God—every thought, every devil, every desire that is not—I’m preaching right now! —it has to go! The problem is, you’ve been cuffed to the comfort of it. You like being able to have that little attitude. Y’all know when we say things like this: «They better not push me past my limit, or I’ll just black out. I don’t even know what’s going to happen!»
Yeah, but one of the fruits of the Spirit itself— which one is it? Unless something has crept into your life, who you’ve allowed to be there, and who you have the authority to evict, but you’ve decided to let it stay. You know how people say, «Yeah, you know what I’m saying? I don’t really have a place to stay right now; I’m just couch surfing.» I wonder, in my head, how people stay at someone else’s house for nine months. Your stuff is here in my living room! Every single morning, it’s like, «Good morning!» What usually happens that breaks that up? It’s that the person gets so comfortable in there that they start taking control of things that they’re not supposed to be under control of at all. So you come into your house, wanting to chill, but they’ve invited somebody over. Oh, it takes your breath away! How are you inviting someone else into my heart when you don’t even live here?
That’s what devils do. If you let them stay, they invite their friends. Oh my gosh! That’s how you start off lying. You let lions stay on the couch for a little bit, and then perversion comes because it calls them and says, «Hey, no, no, we found a place. We found a spot. They’ll let you go in the refrigerator. They’ll do whatever they have to do.» I know it’s uncomfortable for some of you because it’s been years, decades, and now you have roommates that you never wanted: depression on the kitchen counter, anxiety on the toilet — always having to use the bathroom. Perversion has made its way into your bed, and now you’re cuddled up on the side of the bed, trying not to touch perversion on the side, just squeezed. It’s time for an eviction, and it starts with the spirit of Jezebel that works in people. Okay, write this down: the spirit of Jezebel comes to attack — who, Pastor Mike? Leaders. It cannot function without someone in a leadership position.
Okay, oh God, I know this is going to make some people uncomfortable, but watch this: Ahab was the leader at the time in the Old Testament. Jezebel was controlling. He was a king; she wasn’t. She was actually just one of his wives, but she got close to him and started manipulating, controlling, and teaching him how she wanted the kingdom run. Her closeness to him made him do some really horrible things, but nobody could find out who was actually doing it. It was the contamination spirit of Jezebel behind the king. If you are in any type of leadership — what does leadership mean, Pastor Mike? You have influence over others. So if you’re a mom, you are a leader. If you have one person following you at your daycare, you are a leader. If you’re a husband, you’re a leader. If you work in a church, you’re a leader. Whatever you do… oh, the enemy is so smart! He doesn’t want to just come after leaders; he wants to come against future leaders because God has put a call on your life. That’s why the spirit of Jezebel tries to get you when you’re young. But the spirit of Jezebel must be — everybody say this word with me aloud.
The king could have literally said, «Get out of my presence,» but there was something about her that he was comfortable with, and his comfort became the thing that controlled him. Now I need every leader in here to know that it is so important to deal with this right now because it’s coming to attack you and make your leadership powerless. People were more scared of Jezebel than they were of Ahab. Oh God, help me! There are people around you trying to contaminate your leadership because God sees you in this great role, doing all these amazing things, and the enemy is trying to get somebody in there who has just enough clout, just enough influence, just enough connection with you to contaminate what He said. Those people become more powerful than you in your position, but if you don’t allow it, it cannot function.
Okay, oh God, write this down: the attack lasts as long as you allow it. Jezebel can only function as long as you allow it. This is why, in the church context, if I feel or see anybody trying to use money to manipulate something, I’ve told people straight up — business people that wanted to meet with me — that’s right, «We have something for you. We want to bless the church with this large sum.» Go ahead and take a look at it; I hand it to somebody; I don’t even look at it. Why? Because I don’t want you to think for one second that anything you put in dollars and cents is going to give you say-so about what happens in this house. Scott, am I telling the truth? Scott Mo, am I telling the truth? People will hear me.
I flew all the way from Mobika, Africa, to hand you this, man of God. Thank you so much for your consistency and love. I said, «I don’t want to be influenced. I don’t want anybody to have any type of say-so or control over what God is doing and saying in my life. I will not let you contaminate the calling that is on my life!» Somebody needs to get an attitude. «I will not let you contaminate the calling that’s on my life. I will not be a pure vessel that will be counted as impure because of your contamination.»
And can I let you know that spirit rests on TV shows and music? Oh, because I talked about people, but there are certain spirits that rest on certain programming. You always want to have sex after you watch that series; what do you think that is? Creative cinema, photography? No, there was a spirit and intent inside when they created that thing, and now it’s got you sitting in your room at one o’clock in the morning, hot and bothered. Who’s up? What’s going on? And then if you call that one friend or that one person who knows you’re talking about purity but is okay with a little bit of contamination, nine months later… wait, I’m not… y’all, this is how it happens. Jesus!
Okay, the spirit of Jezebel… I just got to keep going because I feel you! I know some people are asking, «Should I leave? Should I tune off?» I’m telling you, if you sit through the rest of this message, somebody is going to get free today. Let me help you: the spirit of Jezebel comes to — watch this — discredit, exaggerate, and has a disposition of disagreement. So anytime you see the spirit, I’m trying to teach you how to recognize it.
Anyone that comes in, they always discredit everybody else: «They don’t really know what they’re talking about.» What do you mean, «How do they know?» There’s always this thing that tries to make what anybody else says or what you have decided seem like it doesn’t have as much merit as it needs to. The second thing: they always exaggerate. «No, everybody was saying it!» No, no, no! I’m telling you, everybody told me. You only know five people! How did everybody tell you? Come on, y’all!
Anytime people come and say, «I’m just telling you, if you do this, you’re going to lose everything,» everything? But somehow in that moment, you start believing the spirit of exaggeration. The last thing: it has a disposition of disagreement. This covert thing tells everybody to line up. It’s like, «Why we got to line up?» «Hey, I need everybody to come at this time.» «They’re not going to be ready at that time!» It’s like this: I’m stuck in the stain of just being difficult, and what they’re trying to do is use their difficulty to make leaders back up.
«Well, maybe I do need to change it.» No! God told you to do it like that. If they come or they don’t come, it’s okay; God’s coming. But the problem is people try to measure if God was in it by the participation of people. Let me help you: the win is obedience. The win is not participation! If God tells you to do it and nobody shows up, the fact that you did it means that you won because you obeyed God! But that spirit of Jezebel makes you think, «See? I told you it wasn’t a success! You spent three thousand dollars and made three hundred.»
I’m just saying, let me tell you what all of this is: these are all attempts to isolate leaders. Listen to me, every leader, if you just lead because your cousins listen to you at Thanksgiving — whoever you are, leaders — y’all know that’s the truth. A lot of things that I really desired in my life are because I had these cousins that I thought were cool, and at Thanksgiving they would tell me what they were into. I would literally go back to Tulsa and live my life trying to be like my cousins.
Because they had influence over me, leaders, listen to me: the spirit of Jezebel comes to discredit, to have disagreement, and to exaggerate. It’s all an attempt to isolate the leader’s decision-making ability so that that person has the most influence in their life. So, the spirit of Jezebel comes to discredit everybody else, disagree with everybody else, exaggerate that everybody else is against you so that now the leader isolates and they’re the only person there with them. «No, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.» «Well, you are the one that stays with me. You have been here through everything; you’ve always been ride or die! Well, just make sure before you make the decision that you call me and let me know what you’re going to do before you do it so I can just make sure.»
Watch it! «So I can just make sure how I can agree with you in prayer?» I need my intercessors to be praying right now. I’m fighting spirits right now, covering up your messy gossip and your spirit trying to — I just need to know what’s happening so I can be agreeing with you. I’m not trying to agree with you; they’re trying to be in control just enough — directly, covertly, not overly. Half of these people I’m talking about wouldn’t even know who they are; it’s that undercover.
I’ll say it in a point: the spirit of Jezebel isolates for influence! If you’ve ever found yourself in a place where the solid voices that were around you are very faint and there are one or two people who, when you look at the results of their lives, are a mess, but somehow they know everything — it would confuse me how people with nothing feel like they have the best advice for you. If I was leaving a church? You ain’t leading nothing! I can’t believe they were closed during COVID! If I was — nobody trusts you! It would trip me out! I wouldn’t do music if I were the pie. You can’t sing, play, or do anything! We know that’s not even an option for you! But somehow people who don’t play the game know what shot should have been taken in the fourth quarter.
It would trip me out! People would be at the game like, «LeBron, you suck, you suck!» And it’s like, «Wrong! You’ve not even played on high school basketball teams!» But the truth of the matter is these are the same fans in our lives commenting day after day on our decisions that are influencing, and many of them have never walked the road of faith that we are walking on!
Okay, I remember — the reason I got to say this isolation piece real quick is that the spirit of Jezebel isolates for influence because remember what I told you last week: control kills collaboration! If the people around you never want you to collaborate with anybody, warning, warning: there may be a spirit of contamination on them!
Okay, so I got to talk to, very quickly, the people who operate in this spirit, and I’m going to be very direct because, let me say it like this — you can be gracious with people, but you cannot be gracious with the spirit. I just need to be very clear with this: if this spirit is operating in your church, in your business, in your household, you can be gracious with the person, but not the spirit. It is trying to kill your calling; it is trying to destroy your life, and it is trying to control things that only God was meant to control.
Let me be very clear: the six seeds of the Jezebel spirit. These are the seed forms of how Jezebel kind of shows themselves and how they’re birthed. I need you to watch these in people. I’m not saying everyone you think is a person; they’re working in the spirit of Jezebel. No! Some people are just immature! Some people are still just growing, and they may not need that! But I need you to be aware of these things.
The people who work in the spirit of Jezebel — one of the top things they all have is very strong insecurities. They don’t know their own identity, so they work through controlling other people who seem more in their purpose. So, as long as they’ve got influence with that person, they’re going to be okay.
The second one: most every person who walks in the spirit of Jezebel has dealt with some severe form of rejection. I don’t have time to break all of these down, but let me say this: Jezebel dealt with these two very strongly — Old Testament Jezebel: insecurity and rejection. If you study Jezebel’s story, she was rejected by her father. The only reason she got connected with Ahab is that she was given to him in a trade, a treaty to have more land and peace. She didn’t want to be with Ahab, but her father rejected her and gave her to a different kingdom, and she was raised by a very dominant mother.
She became the child of what she was birthed in. So, insecurity and rejection — watch this: wounded her. What I’m saying to anybody that operates in the spirit of Jezebel is, I understand you are wounded, and now this is an illegitimate attempt to control everything around you so you never get hurt again. When people are wounded, they don’t want to feel that rejection again, so they feel like they have to control every person and circumstance around them. This is what I came to tell you: if you’re operating in this spirit, your unhealed wounds can become a weapon.
Why are we saying uncuffed from all these things? Because if you don’t deal with these unhealed wounds — the things that have made you hurt — and now you’ve got these defense mechanisms, and now anybody comes close to you, you’re doing all of these things. If you don’t deal with them, your wounds become a weapon! You’ll use them against others rather than allowing God to heal you. Use them on your kids, you’ll use them on your boss, you’ll use them on your wife, you’ll use them on your husband; you’re defending yourself from never experiencing it again, and it becomes a weapon to everybody you say you love. Golly, I’d stay there all day; this is why we’re getting counseling. This is why we come to the house of God; this is why we do community.
One of my friends, Will, was telling me about Pastor Aaron and Bree when they bravely shared their story and brought so much healing. He said that the next week at their men’s B group, it was like the walls of wailing men opened up. Everybody was sharing the things they were going through, the struggles, the vulnerabilities they had never shared with anybody. People started crying who hadn’t cried in decades. Why? It’s because they felt safe to start dealing with their wounds. I need you to know that the healing for your wounds does not come from the pastor. If I could just get past the mic to pray for me — you don’t need me to pray for you; you need to get in community with people. The Bible says in James that healing comes when you confess your sins one to another, peer-to-peer, messed-up person to messed-up person. Then we pray, and that’s when healing comes. But if nobody even knows that you’re wounded, your wound turns into a weapon.
Let me just say the last ones: the six seeds of Jezebel. I told you, insecurity, rejection, pride, arrogance, manipulation, control. If anybody walks in those things, watch out; that may be operating in a spirit of Jezebel that’s trying to control. And I gotta say this — there are a lot of adult children who are still being manipulated by the spirit of Jezebel. You’re 36 years old, and you’re literally being controlled by a mom, a dad, or an auntie and their opinion of you, their approval of you, or their acceptance of you in a way that is not godly or in accordance with your purpose. They say stuff like, «We just want the best for you.» You’ve never even prayed about it; it’s just not your preference, and they use that as a manipulation tactic. I’m telling people right now it’s time to uncuff from that. Who does this spirit of Jezebel attack?
I already told you — leaders, but what attracts the Jezebel spirit? You need to know this. What attracts it? Three things: anointing, resources, and influence. If God’s hand has been on you for something, you can literally be someone who sows. If you become an awesome sower, an anointed sower, God’s like, «Yeah, I made them to do that.» People will start trying to connect with you because God has approved you in an area; that’s all anointing means — it’s God’s approval on something. If God’s approval is on it, it’s gonna be way better than if you do it without His anointing. That’s why people who sing — some of the foulest people in the world — but somebody can open up their mouth and sing, and it’s like, «I just want them.» Why? That’s why the platform, I always tell people, man, this ain’t where you want to be unless God’s called you to be here. Because this place makes people, it’s like a light that attracts bugs. Y’all ever seen the bugs? They just… I don’t know why I’m going here, and this kills them. Why does that happen? It’s because people think that somehow this makes them special. The platform is just a raised version of who you actually are.
So, what attracts the Jezebel spirit? Anointing, resources, and influence. Let me say it in very plain terms, okay? What attracts the spirit of Jezebel? Respect, money, and fame. If you have respect in an area, there will be people that come close to you for the sole purpose of trying to contaminate what God has called you to do. If you’ve got a little bit of money, you can be ugly with money, dumb with money—I have so many examples in my head, but you… it doesn’t matter. You ever seen… never mind, whatever you thought, yes?
Okay. And then fame, social media, because you can… No, I’m serious; there are grown people being held in higher esteem than educators. Why? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with influencing; I’m saying if you are there, beware of people. You know what you should do? You know what I would do without you? You really need to get out there and do more appearances. And you know God told you here—it was holy; He spoke a word to you. But now, because of the, always trying to position themselves, why? It’s because all of those things are the opposite of what the spirit of Jezebel actually wants and does not have. They want anointing because they’re insecure, they want resources because money equals power, and they don’t have power, and they really like fame and influence because they just want to be accepted.
Okay, Matthew 28:18 says, «I have been given all authority.» This is Jesus in heaven and on Earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. I told you last week we don’t need to take control; all we need to do is borrow God’s authority. This is why I don’t need to take control of anything; I just need to borrow God’s authority. Let me say it like this: real leadership does not take control; it just borrows God’s authority. I don’t have to be in charge of everything, just the things that God gives me authority to lead. I’ll lead them full throttle, and I don’t have to be manipulated or controlled by anybody else.
See, this is how real leadership borrows God’s authority. I want to show you a picture. Remember when Elijah called down fire from heaven? He literally was in front of the entire country, called out 400 prophets and then 450 more prophets. They were like, «Call on your gods!» They were slashing their arms and calling on all their gods, and Elijah was like, «Y’all let me know when you’re done, because then I’m gonna borrow some of my authority that God gave me to burn this thing up.» He says, «God, do that thing!» and he’s like, «Whoosh!» and then it blows up, and everybody’s like, «Shoo!» And then all of the prophets—850 of them—die. Okay, this is the MLT version, the Michael Living Translation. Then look what happens. Connect this: the next thing that occurs after God does this amazing miracle in Elijah the prophet’s life is he gets confronted by the spirit of Jezebel.
1 Kings 19:1-3, I’m almost done, y’all. Now Ahab, who was the king at the time—now all his 850 prophets just got burned up—tells Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel—not Ahab, not the king, not the leader—sends a message to Elijah the prophet: «May the gods deal with me be it ever so severely if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.»
I’m gonna burn you up, boy! That’s what it says. Now watch this: Elijah, the strong prophet who did all these miracles, and then look what the next thing it says in verse 3. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. You just made the biggest barbecue in history out of 850, and one woman with the ear of the leader made you run afraid. Jesus! When does the spirit of Jezebel attack? At the start of something and after a great victory. Two examples, I can’t even go into it, God. I gotta get out of here, okay? Yeah, everybody that has to go, just sit down. This is so powerful! The enemy does not want me to finish this, but I’m going to plow all the way through it. Here we go.
Listen, the spirit of Jezebel attacks at the start of something. When Nehemiah went to rebuild the wall, Sanballat and Tobiah were trying to get him at the start. They were trying to get him to come down off the wall, and what did he say? «I will not stop building this wall.» That spirit of influence was trying to get him to stop. And then in this particular moment right here, right after a great victory, Elijah comes, and the spirit of Jezebel comes to attack him. I’m really just perplexed. Elijah, this great man of God, is now running scared because somehow he forgot that the same God who did it the day before could do it again. Ahab? Maybe the saddest thing about this is that Ahab is the victim because he allows her to use his leadership to dictate what happens under his rule. Parents, if you’re allowing a child to dictate the marriage that you and your spouse have—no, this is real stuff that happens, y’all. Bosses, if there’s that one coworker that you know you need to correct, but you keep correcting everybody because you’re afraid to deal with that one person— I’m in your business right now. Everybody knows who it is, but you won’t deal with just that person, and you suffer the consequences.
Let me just say it like this. This attack of contamination and control always comes from—watch this—someone close. It ain’t a stranger that comes with the spirit of Jezebel; it’s someone close. It’s someone who has influence in your life; it’s someone who’s a bestie. It’s someone whom you respect and honor. It’s people who may have helped you become who you are, and now that you’ve become who you are, they just want a little piece of control. So what do I do? Well, if you are under the influence of this spirit of Jezebel or the spirit of contamination, you stop tolerating it. Today it’s over. Not another day. I told you before you can be gracious with a person, but not the spirit.
If you have been allowing the spirit of Jezebel to contaminate and have control, three things you need to do. Number one, resist. Some of us won’t even resist it; we welcome it. «Tell me what you think.» There are some people who don’t need to know your next move because all they’re going to do is try to manipulate it to see how it will benefit them. But what if the next and the rest of my life has nothing to do with you? Will you still be my friend? Will you still pray for me? But it’s unknown. It’s only if I can advance you in some way. The Bible says, «Resist the enemy, and he will flee.» The greatest thing that many of us could do is just resist. No, if you don’t have anything good to say about this situation and you don’t want to pray for me in this situation, I don’t want to hear what you have to say. «Well, just hear me out.» No, you have a track record of bringing down anything I get excited about in God. No, resist. And look what they’ll do: they’ll flee!
Oh my gosh! Okay, the second thing: rebuke them. Now, I know this is not a term that we use all the time, but I’m not saying rebuke them; rebuke the spirit in them. That spirit of Jezebel is the same spirit that Satan operated in when he tried to take control of Heaven—who had the unmitigated gall to try to take over Heaven? Lucifer did. And oh, he was so crafty at his job of contamination that he convinced one-third of the angels to go with him. Now, if angels who were worshipping around the throne every day—"Holy, holy, holy"—can be contaminated, you ain’t got no choice. They’ve seen God for real. Don’t think too highly. Rebuke them. The Bible says, I believe it was Zechariah that said, «Satan, the Lord rebuke you.» One of the most powerful phrases is, «In the name of Jesus, Satan, the Lord rebuke you.» Y’all, I have been in moments where I’ve been attacked by certain things, and all I could get out of me is, «In the… not your name! I’m borrowing authority right now, not in my control!» I don’t say «In the name of Michael,» but I say, «In the name of Jesus, Satan, I rebuke you!» There is power in using the authority that God has given you.
The third thing: if you have been allowing the spirit of Jezebel to contaminate and have control, remove that person from any personal influence with you. This is usually the hardest one, but you cannot… If I find out that there’s a spirit of Jezebel in this church, we’re going to remove it. I’m so sorry. You can’t be here. I don’t know about the Bible—yes, it is the Bible! We have to remove. If there’s somebody in your friend circle and they’re not going, I guess, you don’t go no more. They don’t want to leave?
Let me say it better so you can understand: they don’t want to leave that community. Then it means you must leave. Because if you play with it, it has the opportunity to cancel out your own calling. Resist, rebuke, remove. Say it with me: resist, rebuke, remove. One more time: resist, rebuke, remove. Okay, now watch this: if you have been working in the spirit of Jezebel, nobody’s going to stand up and raise their hand, but there are thousands of people under the sound of my voice who have been behind the scenes controlling and manipulating.Situations convert covertly through contamination. I know that was a lot of C’s, but you felt all of them. If that’s you, the scripture was very clear: you have one R word to do: repent. Now listen, He said, «I was trying to give Jezebel time to repent, but she was unwilling to turn.»
Today, if you’ve been working in that spirit, I want to give you this: this is really why I took all this time to get to this message. If you are walking in that spirit today, God is giving you an opportunity with understanding to repent, to turn, to say, «I no longer want to be in control of anything. I want to be close to God, and I don’t want to feel like I have to control situations.» The holidays are about to come up; this is prime breeding ground for the spirit of Jezebel. «Well, they’re not coming, are they? Well, what do they think they’re doing? Um, we’ll see if I come to their baby shower if they don’t come tomorrow.» I’m telling y’all, there is so much silent, covert manipulation that happens around the holidays. There’s a first-year husband right now trying to figure out how to tell his wife they’re not going to their family’s Christmas this year because «If I’m not at my mama’s house at 6 PM, she’s gonna kill me!»
What, she’s not gonna be your mama no more? The Bible says to leave and cleave. There are just so many things that are wrong, but the truth of the matter is there’s a covert spirit of manipulation, and God’s saying, «Would you uncut from that?» If you’re in this room, everybody just stand up. I’m not going to put anybody on blast today, just stand up at your home; just stand up if you have been in an area of control by the spirit of Jezebel and contamination or if you’ve been operating in it. I want to pray for you right now. Would you just lift your hands? Y’all, we are about to go home in a second. I just need everybody to chill out for one second because somebody’s about to get their deliverance.
Father, here we are today, Father God. If we have been allowing this spirit, today we’re making a decision that it stops. We are putting in an eviction notice on everything that has come to covertly control us, whether it was from childhood, Father, or something we picked up recently. Today, Father, we repent, and we surrender, and we ask you to give us the courage to cut off or uncuff from everything that has come to contaminate our calling: every relationship, every television show, every social media feed, every influencer. Father God, today, we’re asking that you would clean us from the inside out and allow us to be controlled only by your Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the spirit that was given by Jesus to lead and guide us into all truth. We do not need to be controlled if we are being guided and led by the one who’s in control. Father, today, we make a commitment to stay close. And Father, for every person that is in this room who knows they’ve been operating in this manipulative spirit of contamination and control, today, Father God, you said in your word that if we would repent, you would be faithful and just to forgive us. So today, Father, for any of us and all of us who have worked and walked in that, today, God, we’re asking you to forgive us. Today, we decide to turn. We will no longer use our words to tear people down; we will no longer use our presence to silently control things. Father, we will no longer use our bodies to manipulate moments. We will no longer, Father, use our connections and our resources, Father God, to try to contort things into the way we want them. Today, we are giving you our whole lives anew and afresh. Father God, we’re asking that that spirit no longer has a hold or an open door in our lives. We rebuke you, Satan, in the name of Jesus, and we declare that freedom would reign in our lives, in our hearts, set on our minds, and in our families. I break the back of manipulation over families and households, over husbands and wives, over businesses, over staff. I pray in this church that every spirit of manipulation, from the usher, Father God, to the executive team, we break it in the name of Jesus. We will no longer tolerate it or allow it to be comfortable in this house. We are uncut from the spirit of contamination. Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable before you, God. Today, we are being delivered from the spirit of Jezebel. We thank you for your grace and your word that makes all this possible, and we thank you that no lie of the enemy can steal the seed of revelation that you have given us today. We are free in Jesus' name.
Somebody shout amen if you believe it! Let’s give God a shout of praise! Come on, this is a shout of freedom! Hallelujah! Listen to me, if you are in this place and you have never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, today you get to walk in full freedom. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve gone through; today, God wants to offer you the thing that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody addicted to pornography, somebody who had a felony case, somebody who was trying to covertly control everything. He didn’t turn me into a perfect man; it turned me into a progressing man. Today, I’m asking if you are in this room, please, everybody, I know you have to leave, but you are distracting people right now.
This is the whole reason we came: to see transformation in Christ. I want you to not even be… I need everybody to hear me say this, even for the people who have to leave: we understand emergencies and all this, but there are some people sitting in this moment, and when you started moving, it gave them permission to move, and they’re missing a moment that God wants to change their life because you just got to get to the car. Yo, I’m telling y’all, I’m just telling you guys, be a participant in this moment because maybe your life has been changed, but somebody’s still bound. I need you to be praying right now. I need people to be praying that those spirits that are fighting for people just stay and be broken.
If you’re in this place and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I feel the presence of God right there, and you’re saying today, «I want to give up control, and I want to give it to God.» On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands—super simple. I’m not going to ask you to confess all your sins to me; all I’m saying is you’re saying, «I’m giving up control, and I want to let Jesus be the Lord of my life.» One, two, three! Online in the room, look at the hands going up everywhere. I said, look at the hands! Buddy, I see you. It’s the greatest decision you’re ever making. I see you; God sees you.
Hear me, hear me, hear me, hear me: at Transformation Church, we’re family; nobody prays alone. Today is the best day of your life. Bro, I’m telling you, everything doesn’t change and become perfect, but you now walk with the perfect one. According to Romans 10:9, it doesn’t call for perfect people; it just says if you would believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, He died on the cross, you will be saved; your eternity is secure; and now we’re going to work on living your history out in a way that honors Him. We’re a family that’s going to pray together. Online, I know there were hundreds of hands; if you’re in agreement with faith with me, would you just pray this prayer? Everybody say:
God, thank you for uncuffing me from sin. Today, I give you my life. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me. Today, I admit I messed up, but I know that you have a purpose for me, so I give you control. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m yours. In Jesus' name.