Michael Todd - Cuffed to the Clock
We are in week 17 of a series that we are calling «Cuffing Season.» As we’re coming to the end of this extensive Deliverance series—because that’s what it is—a series for those who need to be delivered from something—you cannot be delivered if you don’t recognize that you are chained. The truth is, most people think their chains are jewelry; they believe it’s fashionable to be addicted to certain things because culture says it’s acceptable. We think Christ is applauding our chains, but being a control freak or a boss?
God never applauds bosses. We didn’t start this conversation too soon; God is not looking at you and saying, «Yeah, you’re on your grind; that’s what I’m talking about; there goes my child.» He’s not clapping for the same things that culture celebrates. The number of zeros in your bank account does not determine your worth or worthiness. Many times, those things pull us away from worship. I want everyone, as this year ends, to understand that God desires you to be free. He wants you free from the things you believe you must be chained to. You don’t always have to deal with those same issues, but that requires you to identify what you are cuffed to and then allow God to set you free.
In this 17-week series, we have only two weeks left—today and Thursday. I mentioned it would be tough until Christmas, and I now want to bring everything we’ve discussed to a culmination because God challenged me as I prayed about what to speak on today, and then He started checking me. I find it frustrating when I’m praying for someone else, and out of that prayer, God begins to reveal things about myself that I am not even qualified to pray for them at that moment. Okay, can I be honest? How many people have thought they were going to God for someone else, and then God started reading them?
That’s what happened to me because every one of these messages, honestly—I can’t preach anything that God isn’t working in my life first. Every secret, every message I’ve preached, I needed it first. When I started talking about being cuffed to control, cuffed to cake, and cuffed to cap, God said, «You better not get up there and preach anything that you are not allowing me to work on in you.» I thought, «Oh shoot,» because I had some other really good points, but God said, «You can’t talk about that until you let me touch it; you can’t talk about it until you let me guide you on how to handle it.»
So I asked God, «What am I supposed to tell the people?» He said, «Tell them what I told you.» So, what are you going to do with all this information you now have? I thought, «What do you mean?» He said, «You’re going to get uncuffed from control and you’re going to get uncuffed from a sense of obligation.» He said, «That’s all just hot air until you put action behind the instruction.» I asked, «What do you mean?» He replied, «I’m tired of my children having a form of godliness with no power because they haven’t taken action after the instruction. So many of us have binders full of instructions and timelines filled with what God said. We’ve been telling everybody in our small groups what the Lord has impressed on our hearts, yet we haven’t made one move to obey what God said.» At the end of this year, He’s asking all of us, «What are you going to do?»
Let me bring it back because, honestly, God has been telling us the same thing in different ways for years. If we’re all honest in this room, the first instruction we received from God should have been the last instruction we ever needed. But because we’re stubborn and don’t listen, many times, He has to keep showing up in different seasons, saying the same thing in various ways, hoping that we get it this time. God was really dealing with me. He said it like this: «Don’t make me say that again.» Y’all, I’m talking about God talking to you, saying, «Don’t make me say that again.» I’ve been telling you to get away from that friend group for seven years. Don’t make me say it again! I told you to start that Bible study back in August. Don’t make me say it again! I told you to enroll; I don’t care if you don’t have the money yet. There’s a scholarship waiting if you would just take the action to do what I said. Obey me! Don’t make me say that again!
As we end this year, it would be irresponsible to discuss uncuffing from cash, from cuddling, and from comments while ignoring God’s instructions. The church is in the most disobedient state it has been in decades because everyone has an opinion about when and where they should obey God. So, as I considered what to talk about, God told me, «Michael, tell the people I’m ready to deliver, but deliverance starts with a decision.» Write that down one more time. I said it in another message, but God said today, I need you to decide: Are we going to be at the end of 2023 still praying about the same issues we’re praying about right now? If you want deliverance, it starts with the decision to obey God. Don’t ask for another word if you didn’t obey the last one. Are we going to go through this again? Are we going to replay the whole situation where you act like I didn’t speak clearly to you? Some of you are in careers that are outside God’s will for your life while everyone around you is celebrating, and God is like, «Um…»
I’m speaking too directly today because some of us have disobeyed God for so long that we’ve convinced ourselves we are in His will. We think, «I must be in His will because I have peace about this, and I’m being successful.» No, that’s the skill and gift He gave you. His gifts are without repentance. You’ll still be able to produce in that area because He gifted you, and He’s not going to take that back. But if you want God’s favor in your life, peace, and blessings that add no sorrow, you only get that in obedience. You’ve been disobedient. I said, «God, people are going to need help.» He said, «Give them your favorite scripture in the Bible: Philippians 2:13. For God is working in you, giving you both the desire,"—everybody say «desire"—"and power"—say «power"—"to do what pleases Him.» I don’t care how hard the task seems. Now God says, «If you decide, I will give you the desire and the power to do what pleases me.» Somebody say, «I gotta decide.»
Some of you are so wishy-washy with the will of God. One day you want to serve Him; the next day, you don’t. Today, you want to live pure, but tomorrow, you want to wild out, and God is saying, «Come on, just decide!» The rest of this year is about your decision. Are you going to live pure? Are you going to be everything God called you to be? Are you going to write the vision down and make it plain? Are you going to forgive? Are you going to sign up for therapy? Are you going to actually serve in the area that God has called you? Are you going to work on that thing He told you to work on that may not make sense right now but He instructed you to do it at night after you come from your job? You have a responsibility, but you also have a destiny to fulfill. Are you going to actually do it? Decide! And God said, «If you decide, I’ll give you the desire and the power to do what pleases me.»
But here’s what I found out: He cannot give you the power if you remain loyal to your old patterns. He can’t give you power for something new while you’re still clinging to your old ways. But this is how I do things; this is how I always maneuvered; this is how I got here. God said, «Here is not where I want you to stay anymore. I want you to move toward the preferred future I have for you.» But you have to disloyal to your old patterns. Some of you would rather die than change. You’d prefer to lose everything God has for you than to disappoint a few people who are committed to an old version of you, a version you don’t even like anymore. You don’t even like who you used to be, but every time you’re around them, you feel the need to fall back into that old role because you feel you have to play your part in that situation.
Some of you are about to go home, and you will fall back into character traits you gave up five years ago, and for five days, you’ll put on a facade and revert back to the old version of yourself instead of stepping into the new thing God wants to do in your life. That requires something serious. I may have to have a tough conversation with a parent to shed that old version of myself. I might need to be vulnerable enough to express how what they did affected me. When they did that, it hurt me deeply. I didn’t want to call you again. I’m only here today because I was hoping we could start repairing what was broken a decade ago.
One clap, that’s fine, because most of us live our lives in the same cycle: New Year, same you. This year, I want everyone to post what is really going to be «New Year, same me,» because your attitude hasn’t changed, your decisions haven’t changed, and your circle hasn’t changed. It’s a brand new year, but it’s the same you. We will be here at the end of the year asking, «What happened? I thought you said…» I did say it, but you wouldn’t obey. Everybody say «obey.»
The truth is, God impressed upon my spirit: «Michael, when are you going to obey me? When are you going to do what you know I called you to do?» Sometimes we complicate things, saying, «God, I don’t know all the things I’m supposed to do.» He said, «No, there’s one thing all of us know we should be doing right now.» Okay, let me take a poll: How many of you know there’s something God wants you to do that you just haven’t done? Hands raised all over the room and online. Okay, that’s almost everyone in here. The ones who didn’t raise their hands are lying! You’re cuffed to the cap! Go back and watch that.
To obey God, you don’t have to do everything; you just need to do the one thing. What’s the one thing, Osby, that God told you? What’s the one thing, Trish, that God told you? What’s the one thing, Chris, that God said? While you’re trying to be confused about everything you should be doing, you know there’s that one thing He told you to do that you still haven’t done. Somebody say, «I will obey.» But you need to understand this: God is going to continually tell you things and show you things even as we close this year.
Here’s what I had to realize for myself: there’s always an obligation after revelation. If God reveals a truth to you, now you are responsible. Many of us have seen something and now we’re called to work with children. You’ve heard Him say it, and now there’s an obligation. For example, «God, I don’t know what to do,» and He says, «Just start reading about children. Go serve with them!» Why don’t you go volunteer with TC Kids? I’m calling you to children; why are you around no children at all? You’ve publicly stated you don’t even like children! God is telling you to do something with what He instructed you to do.
Every revelation comes with an obligation, and until you start obeying the obligation that comes with revelation, we live in delusion. God’s about to do it—not if you don’t obey. Many of us have limited what God can do because we have not followed simple instructions. God is telling some of you, «You need to stop eating as much.» I’m trying to be practical; I don’t want to be up in the clouds talking!
About the seventh heaven, and you can’t stop eating Devil cakes, he said, «You got us. You gotta— you have a purpose that has to last the next 50 years, but you have a habit that’s going to kill you in 27.» You’re cuffed to the cake. Would you please watch this? Obey me. Would you please just do the thing that seems difficult at this moment? Some of you, the obedience step is just a conversation you need. Excuse me, some of y’all, the obedience step is just blocking somebody. You don’t need to know what they do ever again; they are no longer a part of the destiny of your life. You don’t need to be aware of anything that has to do with their existence. But we once had a real connection, and it’s going to tangle you up and keep you out of the will of God for your life. Obey me.
What I’m figuring out is that God is trying to teach all of us something, but the only way you know if you’ve been taught is if you’ve been tested. For many of us, 2022 has been a test. Am I the only one that feels like 2022 has been… it feels like, «God, when is this going to end?» I thought 2020 was the year; maybe I got the delayed situation because 2022 just felt like one thing after another, after another, after another. But what the Holy Spirit revealed to me is, «Michael, you don’t know if you’ve learned until you’re tested.» The things that God has been showing you in other seasons, this is the season where He says, «Let’s prove it.» The truth of the matter is, it’s very difficult to obey God; it’s very challenging to do what He says in a season where you feel like, «This may not even be worth all that I’m going through.»
I’m just talking from personal experience today. There are some things that God’s been requiring of me, and it’s like, «I don’t even know if this is worth it. Do I gotta obey you like that? Do I gotta sacrifice like that?» He said, «There’s elevation on the other side of the test, but I gotta know you learned what I tried to teach you.» So, Pastor Mike, what are you saying to us? The test is not a punishment; it’s proof. The tests you’ve been going through are not a punishment. Maybe this is like a therapy session as we’re starting this right now. This is for me, but it’s for you too. God told me, «Michael, the test is not punishment; it’s actually proof—proof that I’ve been with you.»
Let me just be completely real; 2022 started off rocky for me. My first sermon preaching in 2022—it seems like it was four years ago—was the Sunday that I effectively titled, «When the Spit Hits the Fan.» You may not have heard about it, but there was a little incident with saliva, and it was just a whole thing that happened. God revealed to me just recently—it was the beginning of the test. He said, «This whole year I’ve been testing to see if what I’ve put in you for the last decade is real. I needed to make sure you came to me in prayer. I needed to make sure that when things got hard, you didn’t run back to the old vices. I needed to make sure, because where I’m about to take you, Michael, we can’t even be fooling with that type of stuff. Where we’re about to go, there can be no question. The level I’m about to take you to—the altitude that I’m about to take you to—we can’t be fooling with that little stuff.»
So I had to test you this whole year to make sure we’re not still dealing with those same coping mechanisms. I had to test you this year to make sure; I had to touch your trauma this year to see if you would actually talk, or would you bottle it in like you’ve always done and become a volcano that shakes up until you explode on somebody? He said, «The test is proof of what I’m about to do. This wasn’t punishment. 2022 was not punishment; it’s proof that you’re not the same person you used to be.» This testing, even of positioning this year, has been a year of a lot of people being demoted in ways. I’m talking about what I know by the Spirit. God has intentionally taken position, title, ranking, and money; He’s taken people lower to see if their service was dependent on a seat. «I’ll serve if I have a certain seat.» God said, «I’ve got to get rid of all of that for where I’m bound to take you. It doesn’t matter how they see you; it matters how I see you.»
And God has been challenging you, Michael. Every little thing that I’ve told you to do—obey me. I have been one of those, um—how do I say? I think the right way to say it is, I sometimes have been a «when I feel it» obeyer. There are times I feel like I hear God, «Today’s the day, I’ll do your will, Lord, whatever you ask me to do.» Then there are other days like, «Really? Today you want me to pray for somebody?» A lot of my obedience has been based on my feelings; I feel like obeying, so I will. But when I don’t feel like obeying, maybe I’ll get another opportunity to do it. But James chapter 1, verse 2, says, «Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.» Hold on—trouble comes my way? Get happy about the test! For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
Everybody say, «Grow! Let it grow! Let it grow!» Don’t be disobedient anymore. «Let it grow! Let it grow!» God’s ready to open a door. Here I am. Now, let me say—y’all saw her like—but you have to let it grow. But what God wants to grow in your life cannot grow with disobedience. He said, «Let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete.» Watch this part: «needing nothing.» How many people want to live at a place in your life where you don’t need anything?
Now, let’s get past the material things. I don’t need to go find peace anywhere; I don’t need to go find love from anyone. Do you know what it would feel like to not need anybody’s approval, to be completely secure in the way God made you? He said, «If you would obey and let your faith grow, let that thing grow, you could get to a place on this Earth as a believer where you would need nothing.» You want to talk about overflow? That’s living in the overflow. But this is the thing I need you to know: if I want things to overflow—write this point down—overflow starts with obedience. I’m going to keep saying the same thing in different ways this whole message until it clicks inside of you. Oops, I’ve been disobedient! Oops, I’m living in a house I’m not supposed to have! You already know. Like, «Oops, I’m sitting with somebody that should not know me intimately.» It’s all, «Oops, I’m sitting here watching TV while I should be serving at my local church!»
You have been disobedient, and God’s saying, «Don’t ask for it to flow if you won’t let your obedience grow!» Let’s just be honest. Let’s keep it 100. I ain’t doing nothing else until you obey what I told you to do. But what about His grace and His mercy? It’s His grace and mercy that has kept you, no! No, no, no! Oh my God! It’s His grace and mercy that you get to wake up and smile and be disobedient every day. Foreign exposes you for the trash you’ve been living. That’s His grace and mercy. Pastor Mike, what is the grace and mercies? You still have a job, and you’ve been lying there for years. The grace and mercy is that your children haven’t found out that you’re doing the very thing you tell them not to do. It’s His grace and mercy that He hasn’t exposed you. But don’t look for elevation and overflow when you won’t obey the last thing He told you to do.
God, I started evaluating for myself. People who don’t obey God—bad people. And then I started looking at myself: «Am I a bad person?» Come on, let’s be honest. And what I found out is that people who disobey God aren’t terrible people; they’re just slow to obey God. The truth of the matter is, a lot of the time, they’re not terrible. They just think they have more time. «Like, I will obey you, God! Let me just finish doing this a couple more times. Let me get through my birthday weekend, and then I’ll do it.» Then, «Let me make sure when I get out of college, like, I’ma actually…» «And when I have kids, then I’ll actually…» «And when I get married, then I’ll actually…» «Well, when the kids get out of the house, I’ll actually…» We use all of these excuses not because we’re terrible. It’s just we think we have more time! «I missed it this time, but I’ll get it next time! Big man upstairs, I disobeyed you this time, but next time I got you!»
And the Holy Spirit told me, «Michael, every time you do that, every time you disobey me because you think you have more time, it proves to me that you’ve been cuffed to the clock.» I said, «Cuffed to the clock? What do you mean 'cuffed to the clock'?» He said, «Michael, being cuffed to the clock is you being frustrated when I don’t do it on your timetable, but you’re indifferent about obeying me on My timetable.» Oh my God! The level of audacity for us to be mad at God because I’m not married at this time, and because I didn’t have a kid at this time, and I thought I was going to be promoted by this time, and I thought, «God, you were going to show them my worth, and I was going to be elevated to the heights of elevation!»
How mad we are with God, how frustrated we get—and we say, «I’m not going to do this until you do this.» He said, «You have the audacity to be frustrated with me because I don’t do things on your timetable, but you’re indifferent about obeying me on My timetable. You’re cuffed to the clock.» Then I said, «Alright, Lord, you’re going to have to unpack that.» He said, «Allow me.» Y’all, look at this. He said, «Michael, you don’t run the clock; I do.» And I was like, «Hold on! What do you mean?»
He said, «I stand outside of time. I created time as a construct for you to be able to process my vast nature. But when I created time, I stepped outside of it. So when I speak for you to do something, it’s not just in that moment affecting everything that you will ever do—it will echo throughout all of eternity. You thought you just missed the moment. He said, 'You messed up miracles.' Your disobedience doesn’t just mess up a moment; it echoes through eternity, making you miss other miracles. You don’t know what that one conversation would have done. You don’t know what’s stopping in line and praying for that person through the drive-thru. You wait 10 minutes for them to make a fresh chicken sandwich for you, but you’re frustrated when God asks you for 30 seconds to reach your hand out or even stretch your hand to pray for that worker. It doesn’t matter if it feels weird to them. The proof of obedience is not in how it’s received; it’s in you actually obeying.»
I’m about to teach y’all something. We think obedience is successful based on the outcome. Obedience is successful when it is accomplished. So you can say, «Can I pray for you?» and they can say, «No, great.» «Lord, in the name of Jesus!» Y’all missed it! God can say, «Give them four hundred dollars,» and they say, «God told me to give,» and, «I’m not accepting this!» Put it in your pocket and run away! Because the obedient step is not about you receiving it; it’s about me obeying what God told me to do! I’m getting happy! God is requiring another level of obedience that is not dependent on outcomes. We only think it’s successful because they saw it and acknowledged it. God said, «I’ve told you to do stuff that you’re frustrated about doing because enough people won’t know about it.» Okay, say you’re cuffed to the clock. Say you don’t run the clock.
«Pastor Mike, what’s running the clock?» Running the clock—watch this—is the arrogance to assume that you will have the option to obey later. When you think you run the clock, when you think you’re the one in charge of your time—"This is my life; I set this up; this is me!» All of this self-talk going on right now about how I control my destiny! You think you’re running the clock, and running the clock is the arrogance to assume that you will have the option to obey God later. Nobody in here knows if they’re going to make it to Christmas Day.
We assume we will; we’re planning like we will, but the audacity to think that you are in control of the breaths that you take! Nobody knows when the timer runs out on this life, and God has given us opportunity after opportunity to obey him. Yet, we have the arrogance to think that maybe there’ll be another year, another day, another week, or another person that I can obey God with. He said, «You think you’re running the clock? It’s time to get un-cuffed from the clock! You don’t run anything around here. God said, 'You better obey me, and you better obey me now because you do not know if you’re going to have the option later! ' No, I’ll write the book just after I finish this.»
Some of y’all I know because I began to really evaluate what God told me. The illusion is that if you do a lot of things that God has blessed, somehow you’ve been obedient. Oh my God, do you know you can actually be successful in the wrong thing? Do you know the greatest tragedy is to win at the wrong thing? I was at my daughter’s basketball game the other day, and that is high-level stress for me. I probably will never go again; I’m going to have to watch through FaceTime. I almost cussed out the referees; it is bad, y’all, and I have to maintain my pastorship. There was a lot going on. Anyway, I’m going to be quiet because some of the people are watching. So, this is what I’m saying: one of the girls from the other team went to almost score on our basket, and we were losing. Everyone on our side was like, «Yes!» and everybody on their team was like, «No!» because she was about to win at the wrong thing. Maybe some things you missed were the greatest things that happened because if you had made it, you would have won at the wrong thing.
Okay, I gotta talk to these people who are cuffed to the clock because some of y’all are game clock Christians. Just identify yourself; put on the game clock. You’re a game clock Christian; you only obey God when there’s an ovation, when the lights are on. When it’s time for the game, you obey God, but you won’t practice obedience in private. You’ll only do it when there’s a platform. That’s what you are—a game clock Christian. First quarter: «Oh my God, I’m gonna obey God so they can see.» Second quarter: «Oh, give me the ball. It’s the last 30 seconds; I’m gonna obey God in crazy things.» And God said, «I would trade all of that for you to actually honor your wife.»
That’s a written-down commandment. You want a fresh revelation? Let me give you one: stop lying. You only want to do the things that get ovation, and you’re a game clock Christian. But some of y’all are grandfather clock Christians. Oh yeah, just old and set in your ways. Let me say it like this: if you’re a game or grandfather clock Christian, your obedience is old. You are clinging to one season where you obeyed God, but you have no new record of obeying God. You talk about the one time in 1995 when you moved here from Kentucky and God told you to join the church. You don’t even go to church anymore; you don’t do anything. We don’t even see the fruit of your life because you’re a grandfather clock Christian. Your obedience is old. Your kids don’t even see you trusting God anymore. You broke the memories of this season in your life when you really were on fire for God, and they haven’t even seen smoke in years. Just identify yourself.
I don’t know who you are. Some of y’all are game clock Christians, only obeying for ovation. Grandfather clock Christians, your obedience is old, and this is where a lot of y’all are. Y’all are cuckoo clock Christians. Goku! Everybody say, «Goku.» The reason you’re a cuckoo clock Christian is that you obey the outlandish requests from God but ignore the obvious ones. I moved here from Antarctica to start a ministry to homeless people in this one block. Dang, that’s crazy! But you won’t show up to work on time. You’re cuckoo to think that God only lives in these huge moments of miracles and doesn’t care about the little things. He asks you to just read your Bible daily, and you’re like, «I wrote the entire Bible in tattoos on my chest all the way down to my toes. I’m a living epistle.» You’re a cuckoo clock Christian. You’ll do the extreme stuff but won’t do the ordinary.
The last one I want to camp out on is stop clock Christians, and we think that we can press a button and stop time. We think we have some control. Let me give you the definition I came up with for a stop clock Christian: you obey on your own time because you think you own time. This mindset has gotten a lot of us into trouble. You somehow think that one day, you’ll turn it on; one day, you’ll start serving God; one day, you’re going to obey; one day, you’re going to stop doing this; one day, you’re going to stop smoking; one day, you’re going to stop sleeping around; one day, you’re not going to lie on your taxes. She’s laughing at the lying on the taxes because you know it’s true. You don’t have any kids but claim five dependents on your tax form.
What I’m saying to you is that this level of thinking, that you can stop the clock and obey on your own time, is a level of delusion. But I did it, yeah, when you wanted to think about your kids. For everyone who is a parent: you tell them to do something because you have something prepared. Y’all are going somewhere. You’ve prepared something amazing for them, but all you need them to do is a couple of things, and they never do it. They never do it! Please, just wash the dishes! They’re steady making dishes but will never wash them! They’ll never do what you ask them to do! At some point, as a parent, you say, «I cannot let you experience the level of blessing I’ve prepared for you because of your blatant disobedience.» It’s already provided for; it’s already done; your name is in rooms on papers that you have not even known I was putting you on. But because of how you acted right here with what I told you to do, I’ll just say this clear: for every Christian who is confused, partial obedience is disobedience. There is no participation trophy for obedience.
Oh yeah, after 16 years, you obeyed me. God’s hand—everybody say it with urgency—now say it one more time: «Now is the time to obey.» I began to look at a Bible character named Saul, and I want you to go back and study his life because I think we can learn a lesson from someone who thought they could obey God on their own time, how they wanted, and when they wanted. I want you to see if we can learn something from his life to determine if this is what you want for your life or if you desire a different outcome. See, Saul was the first king of Israel, and when he came into this position, he wasn’t confident. But God said, «I’ve called you to do this; you can make this happen, but I just need you to—everybody say—obey. Since you don’t know how to do this, just obey me. I’ll tell you how to do it; I’ll give you the power to do it; I’ll send people to help you do it—just obey me.»
What ends up happening is that God gives him instructions to conquer a city, but it was the first city he was supposed to conquer out of many. We know that the principle of first is that the first belongs to God. So when God says to give Him the first, He ensures that the rest is blessed. That’s why we tithe and why we do all the things we do. God, you can have the first. So God literally tells him, «The first city you’re about to conquer, I want you to destroy everything, bring all the spoils, and I want you to sacrifice it to me.» He said, «I got you!» He goes into the city, kills everything, but keeps the best of a few things, stating, «I obeyed you, but I thought it was okay for me to keep playing around with this, even though you told me to give everything.»
We will pick up this story in 1 Samuel, Chapter 15, Verse 15. Is it true—this is Samuel talking to him—that the army spared the best of the sheep, the goats, and the cattle? Saul admitted, «But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.» I was doing it for God. I didn’t obey, but I thought what I was doing—because it was around the church—would still be okay. No, I told you to do that specific thing; none of that other stuff that they ask you to do. «But I thought it was for God.» No! He literally said, «Then Samuel said to Saul, 'Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night.' He said, 'What did He tell you? '» And Samuel told him, «Although you may think little of yourself—oh, Jesus, although you may think little of yourself—are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel?»
This points back to Saul’s trauma because when God came to find him, it was time to anoint him, he was hiding behind some suitcases. He didn’t think he was qualified for the work that God had chosen him for, and because he didn’t feel qualified in his own mind, he thought he was little. He thought that his obedience was a little thing to God, too. He literally said, «I’m just from the tribe of Benjamin.» He always thought little of himself, so he thought the consequences of his actions would be little, too. But God said that your obedience matters, no matter how little you think you are a part of this story. Everybody say, «My obedience matters.» Write that down. Yes, your obedience matters.
It says, «The Lord has anointed you king of Israel, and the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, 'Go and completely destroy the Amalekites until they are all dead. Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? ' That’s the question He’s asking us right now: 'Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight? '» But Saul insisted, «I did obey the Lord! I carried out the mission He gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.» He is in such delusion that he claimed he did it, and then in the next breath, he said, «But I kept this…» «But I did do it!» «What then? My troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.» But Samuel replied, «What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice?»
Listen, this is what I want everybody to leave here with: «Obedience is better than sacrifice.» My obedience to whatever God says to do is better than any crazy faith offering I’ve ever given. My obedience to do the little thing that God said is better than any grand presentation that I can do for the Lord. «I gave up smoking. I gave up this, I gave up that.» And God said, «Yeah, we’ll get to all that. I need you to tell your wife what you did. I need you to tell your husband where the money actually went.» We got quiet. Obedience. Somebody say, «Obedience!» Why, Pastor Mike? Why are you camping out right here? Because some of y’all think you have time! You think you have time to do it later. With some of the recent events happening all over the world, I’ve been challenged to look at my life. Like, y’all, I was just like, «Yesterday, I was just 21.»
No, I don’t even feel that way on the inside. I was 21 yesterday, and now I’m 36. I’m four years away from 40. I’m halfway to 80! Like, you start to hold on! That means, how did it happen that fast? Ten years from now, I’ll be 46. That’s not that bad, except that means Bella will be 19. But that’s how quickly life begins to move. And you still got the audacity to think you have an option to obey when you feel like it? Write this down: «Little obedience is better than big sacrifice.» I’m not trying to hype you up today; I’m trying to help you. God, throughout this entire series, has given all of us instructions, and some of us didn’t even need the series to get instruction—you’ve known what you were supposed to do. But now it’s time to actually decide to do it. Little obedience is better than big sacrifice.
Verse 23 literally says, «And submission is better than the offering of the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft.» Y’all be talking about people burning sage, the vibes, and the chakras—you’re doing witchcraft too because you don’t obey God! He told you to forgive them; He told you to write the letter; He told you to fill out the application. You might as well put on a hat with a pointy top because you’re witching too! Because disobedience—rebellion—is as witchcraft. Y’all don’t hear the word, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. Yo, I cannot make this stuff up! I’m talking to two groups of people right here. If you’re rebellious, you’re saying, «I’m going to be disobedient; I’m not doing it.» But if you’re stubborn, you say, «I’ll do it on my time.»
Some of you are spiritually stubborn. God’s been telling you to deal with stuff that you feel like isn’t worth addressing right now. This is what I want to say: disobedience is witchcraft, and delayed obedience is idol worship. It’s that message that tells you, «Oh, skip that one. Skip that one.» You’re going to actually watch 16 of the messages, but at 17, it’s going to give you the secrets to make your life work—obey God. Those four letters have transformed my life: obey. I didn’t get a playbook when I became a pastor. Do you know what my only instruction was? Obey. I didn’t get a playbook when I became a husband; do you know what my only instruction was? Obey. When I became a parent, I did not get a manual that told me how to do this.
God says, «If you stay close to me, if you read my word, if you get in the right community, if you dwell in my presence and just do what I tell you to do, you will end up in places you could have never gotten yourself. But all you have to do is—what’s that four-letter word?» There’s an old song that says, «Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus except to trust and obey.» What if that’s all we gotta do? Trust and obey. Saul forfeited the plan of God for his life because he decided to be stubborn and delayed his obedience. Look at the rest of this verse; I want you to see it. «So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.»
What? You’re telling me that everything you wanted me to do I can’t do because I just disobeyed you this month? God’s saying to all of us today, «Please, please don’t leave 2022 with the same arrogance you had the last five years. You’ve been cuffed to the clock as if you’re running it. You don’t run the clock; I do! And today, you have today to do everything that I asked you to do.» When I looked at this in my life, I summed it up. You can bring the keys up; I’m ending right here. I found this revelation out, and it changed my life: obedience isn’t easy, but it is simple. It’s not easy to obey God, but it is super simple. All the things God told me to do were things like this: «Stop talking to them.» That’s simple, but it’s not easy. «Don’t go there anymore.» That’s simple, but many times it’s not. «Hey, read your Bible.»
We read more posts—six-inch posts. Do you know if people make a six-inch post, it must be thick with no spaces? We just could have read a whole chapter of Proverbs to get to the end, and it’s like, «Period! The end!» You know it’s the truth. You’re finding out recipes you’re never going to cook. You looked up the whole recipe, and you know you’re never going to try this. But all God said was, «Read your Bible.» It’s simple, but many times it’s not easy. «Prioritize your spouse.» You told everyone that you would forsake all others and be with them, but you can’t make time in a week for date night? Obedience is simple; many times it’s not easy. I think about «obedience is better than sacrifice» and I just think about in my life.
Last week, my family and I stepped out in crazy faith, and we sowed a seed to change the generational trajectory of all four of my kids. I’ve never given that much of anything to anybody. I was so weak after. I was weak physically. Let me just be honest: I had to sit down after I dropped my offering off when I went to the bank to get a cashier’s check. I’m just being very vulnerable with y’all because I don’t want to ever get up here and lead as if you should know this is easy for me—like, «Hex to the no!»
This year, God asked me to do something that was a sacrifice. I thought about it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. When I checked with the account on Friday, it was the same. This morning, I was just being honest; I thought, «Dang! We did that!» You know how you’re trying to be confident, like, «Yeah, we did that!» When I read this scripture, God was challenging me. He said, «Michael, your sacrifice was great, but that person I told you to meet with before the end of the year so that you could start working on reconciliation—this is real for me.» He said, «Your obedience to make that phone call is worth more to me than that number you gave to Transformation Church.»
And in my mind, I was like, «Well, why didn’t you just say that before I gave it?» Come on, let’s be honest! Why didn’t you just… He said, «I’m requiring both, but if you want to know which one weighs more, if you want to know the one that I value more, it’s not the thing that’s monetary; it’s the thing that is going to require your heart.» «Obey me, Michael!» And as soon as He said that, I texted someone, «I’ve got to have a meeting. It’s going to be uncomfortable, and it’s going to be frustrating, and I’m probably going to have to deal with some other things.» God said, «But you don’t know what’s on the other side of this moment of obedience.» It reminds me of a story I want y’all to go look up in Acts Chapter 5. Have y’all ever heard of—there are a little less popular characters in the Bible—Ananias and Sapphira? Have you ever heard of them? Only two of y’all?
Okay, cool! If you go read, they had this crazy faith moment in the church where everybody was giving all their possessions. In Acts Chapter 4, nobody had needs. Everybody was hawking their TVs and taking all the money. It was like, «Who needs something?» Everybody was selling all their furniture; it would be like that type of moment. And God was requiring a sacrifice from people. They were selling their possessions and giving everything they had to ensure that the community was doing well. In Chapter 5, we get introduced to these two people who happened to be a husband and wife. What ends up happening in this story is that there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property. They were landowners; they were bosses. They had a business, and God told them to sell it. They sold it, got the money, and brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. Partial obedience. He brought something, but he didn’t bring everything.
It’s true he obeyed, but nobody would have known except him that it was a partial amount. There are some things that look like obedience on the outside, but the only person who knows if it’s true obedience is you. He said he brought it, claiming it was the full amount, with his—oh, watch this—with his wife’s consent, so they were in unity. He kept the rest; he was going to provide for himself. This is Acts chapter 5, verse 3. Now then, Peter said, «Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart?» I bet he was thinking, «I just gave this huge sacrificial offering from my property.» But he said, «No, no, no, no, you have lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself.» He said, «Bro, why didn’t you lie? The property was yours to sell or not to sell as you wished. After selling it, the money was also yours to give or not to give. You didn’t even have to be a part of this, but you decided to step into this and say, 'God, I’m going to give you everything.' How could you do a thing like this? When you were lying, you weren’t lying to us, but you were lying to God.»
As soon—watch this, y’all—this is shocking. Let me warn everybody right now: the next part of this scripture is very shocking. As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died! What? How in the world did he not even get another opportunity to sell some other property? He could have been like, «You know what, never mind, here’s the rest of it. I don’t want to offend God.» He didn’t have a chance. His disobedience would be his legacy. The last thing he would be known for is disobeying God. He was cuffed to the clock; he thought he had more time. And this—this isn’t even the worst part of the story. It says, «Oh God!» But when I read this, y’all, this scripture alarmed me in the best way.
Look at it: as soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. He had no more time. After three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what happened. «How y’all doing?» «Well, okay. Hey, where’s Ananias?» Peter said, «Come here so far, I’ve got a couple questions for you. Was this the price? This is all scripture, y’all: was this the price you and your husband received for the land?» «I think so, yeah, yeah, yeah.» «No, no, no, he did tell me that was the price. What is going on in here?» «Uh, that was the price.» And Peter said, «How could you two even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?»
That’s what disobedience is—it’s testing the Spirit of God. He said, «The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out too.» She didn’t even get context for what happened. Instantly—just as soft as y’all were, some of y’all imagine if I was there—imagine if I just died and some people came and scooped me up and took me out and buried me. She didn’t have time for explanation. She didn’t have time for a do-over. She didn’t have time to explain how she was feeling at the moment, under pressure. She just disobeyed, and something died.
What are you saying, Pastor Mike? Disobedience always means something dies. It may not be you physically, but there is a relationship that dies because of your disobedience. There’s a connection that God wanted to make. God says in Romans 8:28, «All things work together for the good.» Yes, they do. But He has a perfect will and a permissible will. He has a will like, «This is the way I really want it to happen,» and you keep slopping over, wanting His grace to abound even more because your sin keeps abounding. He said, «Would you just obey me so nothing has to die in the process of your disobedience?» When I read this scripture, y’all, I started to think, «Yeah, disobedience means that something dies,» but obedience also means that something dies. When I’m obedient to God, something in me dies. Pride dies. My need to be in control—when God tells me to do something I don’t want to do, something in me has to die. It reminds me of a scripture in Galatians: «It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.» This is how we’re supposed to live.
When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. They started in unity of disobedience and they died right next to each other in disobedience. It said they carried her out and buried her next to her husband. This is the part that I felt: great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. And I’m not talking about scared fear; this is the fear of God. I’m not talking about a clothing brand; I’m talking about the reverence—when God tells you to do something, this isn’t like a life coach telling you to do something. When God tells you to do something, this isn’t even like your pastor telling you to do something. When God requires something of you, this is not optional; it’s an obligation.
When God is asking you to give that up, set that down, pick that up, or go there—these are not opinionated suggestions; these are commands that have eternal implications. And in this season, because we’re about to walk into what we hope is the best year of our lives, one sure way to cut that off is by being disobedient. I want everybody to gain another level of the fear of God. I’m talking about when God speaks to you, it’s more urgent than the IRS coming to find you. When God speaks to you, it’s more important than a landlord coming to pick up his rent. See, there are certain places and people who, when they start talking, you start moving. «The big boss is coming!» The big boss is coming! I’m talking about the One who is in charge of eternity has given you an instruction right here on earth, and you’re still debating whether you’re going to obey or not.
Oh, I forgot—you’re cuffed to the clock. You have the audacity to think that maybe you’ll have another option or opportunity to obey God at a later time. «Why do you live like you live, Pastor Mike? Why are you producing music, writing books, spending time with your family, doing this?» Dude, because I do not run the clock. And when I expire, I want to make sure that I did everything that God asked me to do because it’s not even about this life. This life is just the point of reference for everything that’s going to happen in eternity. I know we don’t do messages on eternity anymore because you think it’s something out of a Marvel movie. You think Thanos is somewhere in the galaxy about to snap his fingers and do—no, no, no, no, no, no. There’s no Mind Stone or Time Stone; the only One who’s in control of the clock is God. And every day that I live, I’m becoming more and more aware that I need to be eager to obey God. I need to be anticipating what God’s going to ask me to do. I need to be on the edge of my seat, ready to obey.
As I walk into a new year, I’m not looking for God to prove to me that He’s been good enough for me to obey Him. I’m looking at His track record and I’m seeing that, God, You’ve been so faithful back there that whatever You tell me to do, I will do. Wherever You tell me to go, I will go. Whatever You tell me to give up, I will give up. And whatever You tell me to sacrifice, it’s dead because I don’t run the clock. Proverbs 9:10: «The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.» You want to walk in wisdom? When God speaks to you, you better take it seriously. You live in an estate for the aesthetic, and you know you’re supposed to be in that country town helping that little church. And you’re out here living your dreams and denying God’s desire for you—obey Him. «I don’t want to move back in with my family; there’s healing that has to happen there.» Six months of obedience will produce a lifetime of freedom. Obey God!
I’m literally sitting here walking into our—what are we finishing? Our eighth year of ministry, about to go into our ninth year, and I realized something the other day: I know nothing about being a pastor. And that may sound weird to everybody here, but the more God has grown this, the more God has done in my life, I realize I have no clue what I’m doing. The only reason I’m standing up here is because God knows that I would be somebody who would listen and obey. I get instructions daily. I can’t run this off of plans that have already worked; I don’t—I couldn’t, I don’t got no skill. You already know I got six months of high-level Tulsa Community College education, didn’t even give me a degree or nothing for six months—I could at least have gotten a pamphlet or something for six months. Didn’t get anything—got nothing to prove. I don’t know how to be a father. I don’t know how to be a husband. The only thing I know how to do is listen and obey. And many of us are listening but we’re still being disobedient. I would hate for us to go into another year under the delusion that God’s about to do something new, and we haven’t obeyed what He said that’s old.
Then my last point: I obey because I can’t afford not to. Bree, I have no clue what I’m doing! If I don’t obey God, I can’t hold up what God has placed in my hands. I obey God because I cannot afford not to. How I’m living now is not as a game clock Christian. I’m not living as a grandfather clock Christian. I’m not even living anymore as a cuckoo clock Christian, because that was me—doing the crazy favor, doing the crazy stuff, wouldn’t do the regular stuff. How I’m living now is as an alarm clock Christian because I don’t know the time or the hour that that thing is going to sound, and God’s going to require something of me. But at the moment I hear Him saying anything, I’m awake to it. I’m alert to it. I’m anticipating, «God, early in the morning will I rise, and I’ll seek You. Whatever You want to say to me, whatever You want to do, I’m on alert for Your whisper. I’m on alert; God, what do You want us to do?»
Let me give you a practical example. The past two years—y’all already know we’re a generous church. God told us to be generous. Last year in one service, we gave away seven million dollars in one service—in generosity, with no strings attached. Y’all can clap for that! That is people getting houses and cars. It felt like Oprah! As soon as I walked off the stage, Brian Charles would meet with me, and the Holy Spirit said, «Don’t do it again like that!» I said, «God, but they love that! They love seeing the people cry and the things!» He said, «Don’t do it again like that.» And I had to listen. I mean, it wasn’t—I didn’t even make it to the Green Room, and I literally heard the Holy Spirit say, «That was the last time you do it like that. You’re still going to be generous; you’re still going to do this stuff,» but He said, «I don’t want you to do it.» I was like, «What am I going to do?» He said, «I’ll give you instructions later on in the year.»
I said, «We’re supposed to give money at every offering time, every Sunday, every week of the year, and it’s going to equal out to a bunch of money at the end of the year.» And God said, «I’m taking—all the fanfare out of it. I’m taking all this stuff. I’m taking all the people that are tagging me in the crazy faith cards thinking I’m Santa Claus. I’m not Santa Claus; I just want to be honest with you. I’m not doing this. There’s a whole team of people and there’s all kinds of stuff, but God said, 'Don’t do it like that no more because they’re going to think you’re the answer and not Me.'»
And all I can do, Tony, is listen. And this year we have given—Transformation, put that up on the screen. I want to show you all the organizations we have given to. You might not even think about it, but just to churches, we have given—no, no, no, no, no—go put all the things: the TC cross and all of the stuff on. I want you to put the names of the organizations up there real quick. Y’all, we have given to so many different organizations: churches, food pantries, sex trafficking. We have given to schools; we have given to orphans and widows. We have given to survivors. We have given, y’all, for churches! Just to churches, this year we’ve given three million—put the number up there—just to churches? We’ve given three million. Here, let me get the number: three million, eight hundred eighty-seven thousand, to other churches and to other organizations we’ve given two million, five hundred thirty-four thousand. We’ve given a total of six-point-three million dollars away. Y’all need to give God some praise right here—that’s God!
When I took over, the entire income that came in for the first two years was 1.2 million dollars! That was everybody’s salary; that was everything we’re doing. And the fact that God allowed us to give away almost seven million dollars—that’s because we have—I made it a practice to listen. I said listen. And so I said, «All right, God, what do you want me to do?» He said, «Give it away.» All throughout the year—no big crazy Faith Sunday—where some of y’all came today. Just be honest. Some people thought today was the day God said—every day you wake up, you should be expecting today is that day. I asked Him, I said, «How much do we have left in the budget for crazy Faith?» They said, «Not much,» because we obeyed God. We did it! We’re at the end of the year, and we’ve been giving away all year, but there was just a little bit left. I said, «God, what do you want us to do?» He said, «Listen and obey.» The team had been asking me for weeks, «Pastor, has God said anything?» I’m like, «No, I’ll tell you when He tells me.» Sometimes you just have to be like, «I’m not going to move until I have instruction.»
There’s a pastor and his wife who went from a mega church to helping at a mega church and then returned to their hometown to start a church. This is a man named Will Coleman. Many years before I became a part of Greenwood Christian Center, he was a part of Greenwood. He and another gentleman used to be rappers in a group called Two Three, and they served at the foundations of this ministry. I didn’t even know that he was a pastor; I didn’t even know he was doing it! Last I heard, he was working at Life Church, and God called him to move back and start a work. I saw them two weeks ago in this lobby, and he was showing on Instagram the lobby and how proud they were of the walls they painted, the tables they built, and the coffee they would serve. I just saw this trust in God; he obeyed Him.
So, Pastor Will and Kazon Church, I want to let you know, on behalf of God and all the people here at Transformation Church, there’s a check for a hundred thousand dollars coming to you and your church so that you can continue to listen and obey. Somebody give God praise right there! Glory to God! That was the end of the money. Oh man, maybe that’s it! We listened, and we obeyed. The reward is not people cheering or likes on Instagram; God is saying, «Well done,» because we listened.
Now, God, on Thursday, I’m in a finance meeting. In the finance meeting, I was like, «We made it through 2022.» You know, sometimes when you conquer a year, that’s incredible! So fake! Y’all want me to be fake for y’all? As a church and as a staff, we made it through! You gotta shout, «We made it!» We made it through 2022. And God said, «All right, Mike, you did what I asked you to do; now I want you to sow a seed into where you’re going.» Many of y’all didn’t catch it, but next year, this will make way more sense when I tell y’all the word of the year. But next year, I’m just saying it in faith: it is my prayer and I believe our instruction to partner with five different churches that we don’t have any affiliation with, at the amount of one million dollars per church.
Now listen. That hasn’t happened yet, so just hold on. This means we gotta be faithful; it means we have to give. You ain’t never seen me come up here and ask for no second offering. No, God said, «I want you to be a beacon to the whole church, and I need you to give to places and organizations that don’t even see it coming.» Last week, we gave $500,000 to the Little Lighthouse, helping special needs children. They were blown away—people crying like, «What? The church? Yeah, the church! Yeah, us!» When nobody would give the victims of the race riot any reparations for what they went through, guess who stepped up and did it first? Transformation Church! We gave each one of them $200,000, which would be the cost of a home if they had it back. What are you talking about? Yeah, us! But that only comes from listening and obeying.
I had this burden in my heart to give to a church right here in our city of Tulsa. And you know, when I meet with Bri, Tammy, and Charles, Charles is always by my side like, «Pastor, blessed God! Let’s do whatever’s on your heart!» You always need a Charles, like somebody needs a hype person that says, «If we gonna do it, we gonna do it!» That’s Charles for you; that’s my dog! But Tammy and Bri, sometimes they’re very grounded. I need them; they’re practical and analytical and understand all of the implications. Me and Charles love God, and so I said, «I really feel like we’re supposed to give this amount,» and Bri was like, «I just want you to know that it’s over what we were allotted to spend.» I said, «Okay.» Then I sat and thought, and Tammy was just like, «Yes, she is correct.»
Then the Holy Spirit whispered to me, «You can’t have a forest if you don’t sow seed.» He said, «You obeyed what I told you to do for this year, but now I need you to sow into what I’m about to do in this next season.» I said, «Tammy, what would happen if we gave this amount to a local church?» She said, «We would give that amount to a local church.» I said, «Will everybody get paid?» She said, «Yes.» I said, «Well, will everybody get a Merry Christmas?» She said, «Yes.» I said, «I think we’re supposed to still do this thing in crazy faith.» So right here, in faith, we can do this five times next year.
And it was like, «Okay.» Because many of you may not know, for the first time in our church history, we gave one million dollars to Forward City and Pastor Travis Greene and Jackie Greene in South Carolina. God said, «You can’t do it for them and not do it right here at the house.» So the Holy Spirit said, «Listen and obey.» I was scrolling through Instagram, and someone who barely ever posts showed a building they’re about to move into and how they needed $400,000 to finish their building situation. I was like, «Lord, we could give them $400,000 and help them finish!» He said, «No, no, they’re gonna finish it on their own. I want you to give them this amount so that it can launch them into the next level of their ministry without care and without worry.»
So this church, when we had a facility that was so uninspiring to meet in—I’m not even lying—we called this pastor and asked if we could use their church offices to have a meeting where God birthed the revelation of stride in this church’s staff offices. They sowed that seed into us when we needed it. So today, on behalf of God and Transformation Church, and people all around the world in Transformation Nation, Pastor Matt Nelson and City Church Tulsa, Transformation Church wants to present to you a check for one million dollars. This is for you! We want you to move into that new building with force, faith, and fruitfulness! We love you and thank you. Somebody give God some praise in this room! Are we crazy until it happens? That’s it! I’m tired; I gotta sit down. Bring the lights so I can say it right here! Put some light on me! That’s it!
Listen, there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Do that one more time! Say, «Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.» One more time for somebody’s soul! «Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.» Whatever He told you to do, no matter how scary it is, trust and obey. He’s speaking; are we listening? Are we obeying? I want to pray for every person who has been cuffed to the clock, thinking you got time to obey later. Everybody say, «Right now!»
Bring me that clock real quick. I have this mental image of me—you remember Flavor Flav? If anyone knows Flavor Flav, you can look him up; he used to wear this big clock. I was thinking about this clock, and many of us, because we’re cuffed to the clock, think we can move it when we want and stop it whenever we want. God’s saying this has been something you’ve been cuffed to—wearing it like jewelry, but it’s actually a chain, it’s a bar. Y’all will get it later; you’re not in control! Even if I’m delusional, spending time in my own world, there’s still a world clock that everybody else is on. God’s saying, «Would you uncuff? Take it off and put your time back on the altar, put it in My hand.»
We’re going to obey God. Hands lifted just right where you are. God, I thank You. Thank You, Father God, for the opportunity we have today to repent, to turn back to You, to obey You! Today, Father, we don’t know about tomorrow, but right now we can do what You ask us to do. So, God, give us the audacity to obey You. Give us, Father God, the faith to not live frustrated, trying to make You fit into our timetable. Let us be fruitful because we obey You—whatever You say!
For every person in here who is struggling with the timing that You’ve been doing things, God, I thank You that they would trust You again. Thank You that they would know, as the scriptures say, You’re not being slow like some people may think; it’s actually You giving us all time to repent and come back into Your will. God, thank You for Your grace and mercy that haven’t destroyed us, that haven’t taken us out, that haven’t discounted us. Thank You that today we have another opportunity to place the clock back in the hands of the One who really is in control!
Today, we’re uncuffing from the clock. We’ll trust You with the timing; we’ll trust You with our lives. We’ll trust You, Father, with when we’re supposed to get married, when we’re supposed to have kids, when the business is going to pop off. We’ll trust You, Father God, for when the conversation is going to happen, when You’re going to promote us. Father God, we will trust You! And we won’t just trust You; we will obey whatever You’re asking us to do in the middle! Give us the audacity to obey, Father, as we go into this Christmas season where it’s usually about everybody else. Father, I thank You that You are giving us strict instructions in the last few days of this year, and no matter what it is, we’re going to obey!
Have Your way, God! Do a work in us! Give us the faith to believe! I feel that right there! Give us the faith to believe that if we just obey You, You got everything else under control! Obedience is not easy, but God, thank You that it’s simple—that You’ll give us both the desire and the power to do what pleases You! Today, we are putting our whole trust back on You! I have faith to believe; You have all that I need.
Say it sweet right there! You control everything, God! I can trust and obey; You got everything! Something’s happening right now! Say, «I have faith!» Just one more time! Somebody with faith, say, «I have faith!»
My times are in Your hands; my days are in Your hands! Nobody knows the time of the hour, but God is controlling it all! My God, just real quick, I need something to happen. We’re about to leave, but I think there are people all over this auditorium and in their homes that need to repent for being disobedient. We’re about to do something. We got a big arena church, and a lot of times we don’t do this, but we’re about to have an altar call. If there’s an area in your life that you know you have been disobedient, and God is really bringing it to your heart right now, and you need to repent, I want you to get out of your seat and come to this altar. If you’re at home right now, I want you to get off your couch, get off your bed, get on your floor, make an altar wherever you are.
There’s something about to happen in this place! Come on up because I believe God’s about to do something! This is an act of faith right here; you just gotta make a move. It’s not about me touching; it’s admitting, «God, right now, here I am!» Just come on up! Some of y’all, this ain’t for everybody; this is your time to exit. But for some of us, we cannot afford to hold back. Move the stanchions; we need all this space right here. This is your act of faith right now. Come on, lift your hands! Come in this place and allow God to start moving! Prayer team, I need y’all down here, staff pastors—we’re about to just start praying! Y’all come up, y’all come closer. Some of y’all just move, yep, come on, come on. I have faith to believe. Somebody lift your hands inside. If you came to the altar, hands lifted, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the aisle; it’s all good. You made a step of faith; that’s your altar right now. All I’m asking you to do is talk to God. I want you to tell Him you’re repenting for the disobedience. Come on, right there.
Father, every area that I’ve disobeyed You, when I know I heard Your voice, when I know You gave me an instruction, Father, when I know You told me to leave that situation—God, right now, in the name of Jesus, I pray. Father God, even as I touch my system as a point of contact, I thank You, Father God, that even in this moment, You are ministering to Your sons and daughters. Father, every lie of the enemy that they’ve been disqualified by, today You’re coming to eradicate that lie. I thank You, Father God, that there’s swift obedience coming to Your children. Thank You, Father God, that right now, there will be an urgency of eternity that begins to fall on Your people. We will get the fear of God again, Father, that we would hear Your voice and we would obey. I pray for every husband that’s been passive, sitting back and not doing what God called them to do. I give thanks that courage would rise up in the men, Father; men of God, rise up and be everything You’ve called them to be. I pray, Father God, for every single person that has been trying to live pure but has had a struggle. Father, I thank You that right now, there’s another level of obedience coming for what You called them to do—to guard their gates, their minds, their hearts, Father God, their surroundings. Today we repent, Father God, for everything we said, everything we did, everything we didn’t do, everything we didn’t say. Father, today we come believing that You’re going to do a miracle, a sign, and a wonder on the inside of us. God, today we come as a church, me as the first person, and God, I’m asking You to forgive me for every little instruction that I grazed over like I had more time. Today, I give myself to You. I don’t just listen; I will obey. Let this be a cry of a generation: Don’t just speak, God; let us listen and obey. Today, God, here we are. The greatest gift that we could give You is all of us. I give myself away, I give myself away so You can use me.
Come on, this is the moment right now where you’re giving God a fresh commitment. Everything that you thought you had control of: my relationship, my money, my business. Sing that again, my position, my health, my title. You can have everything—my status, my social media, my reputation, my career. I want to obey Your will for my life. God, it doesn’t matter about anybody else; it doesn’t matter what they say. Father, I just want a well done from You, God. Sing that next part: My life is Yours. I say, «Lord, I’m available to You. I’ll do what You say. Use me, Lord, to show someone the way.» I feel the presence of God in this place. Lift your hands and tell God: «My storage is empty.» That’s what God wants to know: Will you obey me? Are you available to me? I just want to sing that one more time: I’m available to You. Come on, somebody say, «My will I give to You. I’ll do what You say. Use me, Lord, to show someone the way.» This is what obedience is going to say right now: my storage is empty. I’m not holding anything. Just one more time, somebody lift your hands and say, «My storage.»
Father, for every person that made a faith step, whether at home or in this house, I thank You today that You have seen our act of faith. God, I thank You that today the situation is turning. Father God, would You be so gracious as to clarify and remind us of what we need to do next? Thank You for being a good, good Father—so good that You would give us another opportunity today. Father, we will not wait until next year; we won’t even wait until next month. There are some things we know we need to do today. God, I thank You that no opposition will be able to stop our obedience. Your people have heard Your word, we have listened, and now we will obey. Father, we give You the glory, we give You the honor, and we give You the praise in Jesus' name.
For all the obedient people in the room, would you give God a hilarious hallelujah? Come on, let’s give God a hilarious hallelujah. Oh, there’s a worship in this house! Hallelujah! There’s someone under the sound of my voice who has not received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Today, everybody shout at me: Today is the day of salvation! It’s a thing that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody who was addicted to pornography, cuffed to the clock, cuffed to the cake, cuffed to all kinds of stuff. God said, «Give me all of that, and I’ll help you change.» All I had to do was listen and obey. Today is your day! You’ve been watching this; somebody put it on. You’ve been casually listening in the background. You didn’t even want to come to the service today, and God said, «Today is the day!» The alarm is going off in you. He said, «Today I want to change your life. I want to transform it.»
In Transformation Church, there are no perfect people—we’re all jacked up. How many jacked-up people do I have? Everybody here is jacked up inside, but that’s a beautiful thing under the grace of God. We’re all forgiven; we have an opportunity to live our life for Him. So if that’s you and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, on the count of three, I want you to slip your hand up, whether you’re in the room or online.
Today is your day! One—you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two—your name is about to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and it will echo through all of eternity. Three—shoot your hand up in the air! I see you! I see you! I see you! I see you over there! Oh, there’s a rejoice going on! I see you! Today is the day! If one person gives their life to Christ, heaven is turning up! Transformation Church world family, nobody prays alone! So today we’re going to pray this prayer for the benefit of all those who are coming to Christ, and God knows your heart. Some of y’all are like, «Well, He doesn’t really know; I’ve got these bad habits.» God said, «Give me your heart; I’ll help you clean up the habits.» Listen and obey me; I got you. Let’s all pray this prayer together. Everybody say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I’m going to be obedient to Your word, and I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I believe He lived, He died, and He rose again just for me. Today, I give my life over to You. Change me, renew me, transform me. I will obey in Jesus' name. Amen.