Michael Todd - Strengthen Your Strength
I have a word that I think is about to shake the foundations of our church and the world, and it has already shaken the foundations of my life. I’m going to deliver it in 50 minutes. I’m going to hit you so hard in the next 50 minutes that you’ll be able to walk out in the snow and not even feel cold! Yes, this is the one. Somebody shout at me, «Start! Start!» How many of you have started something this past week, this first week of the year, that you know you’ve been needing to do? Come on, let’s go! Okay, some people in here with their hands up look like they were about to lie, and I thank you for being honest in this church because we’re a hot church—Humble, Open, and Transparent! What I’m saying is, yes, the beginning of the year would have been the best time to start, but the next best time is today.
Somebody say «Start! Start!» I feel like there’s a mandate on me to help people move from complacency because it’s very difficult to push a car that is not moving. But if you can just get a little momentum on the vehicle… Okay, some of you are acting like you’ve never run out of gas before! I don’t know where you all just came from, but you better know what type of church this is! How many people have run out of gas before? How many people had to push the vehicle to either a safe spot or a place where you could get some gas? Okay, I know some of you have been privileged all your life; your daddy was like, «Yeah, Triple A.» But what I’m telling you is, some of us didn’t have AAA. Some of us had to push!
If you’re from the Midwest, the thing I love about the Midwest is that if you are struggling outside, there are people who will actually stop what they’re doing and help you. I know it’s not like that on the East Coast because y’all need to be saved in New York, Boston, and Chicago, but if you come to Oklahoma and you’re on the side of the road, all you have to do is wait for about three minutes, and somebody’s going to stop! What happens is if you get anyone with wisdom, they say, «You get in the driver’s seat, open the door, and put it in neutral, and I’m going to get behind.» It’s so beautiful because when one person gets behind, then others stop because they don’t want to do it alone. Then there’ll be two or three more guys that get behind. The whole goal is to take you from a stopped position to a starting position.
When you get someone behind you to push a little bit, it’s much easier to steer a moving vehicle than one that is staying in the same place. I come to submit to you this year that the engine doesn’t even have to be on for you to be moving in the right direction. This does not have to be like, «Oh, I feel…» We are just trying to get this thing out of a stagnant position, and I believe by faith I’ve been called to push you today! Somebody shout at me one more time, «Start! Start! Start! Start!» All right, you’ve given me permission! God told me as I started this 21 days of prayer and fasting. I’m doing a fast I’ve never done before. I’m not telling you what it is, but it is a struggle bus. I just feel, for what I’m believing God for in this season, I wanted to do something that was an indicator for me of what I’m believing God for.
When I started on this fast, I expected God to speak to me. I know some of you just like the worship music and the Bible, but I’m saying, «God, say something!» Like, I don’t care how you do it; you can do it through the Goof Troop movie my daughters are watching, or through something on a napkin, but speak to me. The Holy Spirit, when I was up early just praying, said something to me that He’s never said to me before. I was like, «God, can I release this to the church?» He said, «I only gave it to you to live it out and then give it away.» He said, «So today, I want you to tell the church the message I gave you for 2024. This isn’t the word of the year, but this is a prophetic word for you.» He said, «The goal is not just to start sharp; it’s to stay sharp.» And He said, «If you’re going to stay sharp, Michael, there are some things I need you to revisit.»
I was like, «Okay, what do I need to revisit? What do I need to read? What do I need to do new? Anything you want me to do, Lord, I’ll do!» And He said very simply, «Michael, I want all of 2024—this is the title of my message and I want you to write it down. He said, 'I want you to strengthen your strengths.'» I said, «What?» He said, «The things I’ve already made you strong in, get stronger.» I said, «Hold on, wait! God, I thought I was supposed to be strengthening my weaknesses.» He said, «No, I do that.» Y’all missed it! He said, «I will be strength in your weakness, but you have a responsibility to strengthen your strengths.» I said, «What do you mean?» He said, «Everything that you think you do well, you can do better.»
I said, «What do you mean?» He said, «Every time you speak, you do it for a living. People know you for that. Can you get better at it?» I said, «Hold on, Holy Spirit! What are you saying?» He said, «I did, but I don’t want you to preach for an hour and a half anymore. I want you under an hour.» I said, «But some of my examples, Lord! Some of the things that help the people of God.» He said, «You can do everything if you strengthen your strength.» Okay. He said, «If you know it backward and forward, if you get in it earlier, if you take out the fluff, if you actually rehearse it before you do it—don’t just rely on your raw talent! If you would just strengthen your strength.» I’m being this transparent because you’re going to watch me do it in front of you all year! Okay, see, I’m not scared of anybody because for me to actually live this out, I have to live it out.
Some of you are scared to strengthen what God has given you because you’re scared of failing. Failing is a part of it! The only way you can strengthen something that you’ve already had confidence in is by becoming a student again, and some of you are too proud to fail again. Ooh, I’m already in my bag! Oh, you thought because your business was successful you can’t strengthen it? Oh, you thought because you already have a good marriage you couldn’t improve communication? The way to do that is by looking at other people who don’t have what you have, wishing for what they had, which makes you lax about what God gave you. Okay, how are we going to start sharp and stay sharp? We’re going to strengthen the things that God has already given us to do.
Okay, what would happen if everything you’re at a six or seven in became three levels better? What if the organizational skills that are already up here were notched up two more notches? How more efficient could you be? How many more people could you help if you just organized? No, I know I’ve got some shoes to give you somewhere! I know they’re somewhere! Hold on; maybe they are at storage. What if you didn’t do spring cleaning but did a right-now cleaning? The stuff that you never wear, that doesn’t fit you, and won’t ever fit you—let’s be honest! What if, in my life, the first thing I did to start this up was go to my closet? I have witnesses—I gave away so many clothes! So many shoes! I’m talking about with tags on them, name brands! Everything you think—I gave them all away! Somebody’s like, «Why are you doing this?» I said, «I need less to manage. You want a blessing? I need less because I need more room to do what God has called me to do. Organizing all this stuff is not making me better!» Okay, what happens when the blessing becomes a curse? Somebody say, «I’m going to strengthen my strength!»
Now I want you to start thinking: what are your strengths? What are the things that you have discounted as natural for you? «Oh yeah, I just…» God said, «That’s the thing I want you to become better in this year!» We’re always going to have a weakness; that’s why we need grace, that’s why we need God. But what if you became a better graphic designer this year? What if you thought about what you were going to say before you said it? Uh-oh! I’m in too many people’s business right now! Just what if you actually made a budget this year? Somebody got so convicted they started coughing; they almost threw up over there! Yes, you got out of debt, but you haven’t been able to invest! So, you keep getting back in debt since 2014, 10 years ago! I’m saying great, but what else? Where does the next level come from? The Holy Spirit convicted me so hard, Michael. He said, «Michael, I’m expecting more from what I gave you!»
That one song in 1996 was not why I gave you that gift! That one piece of clothing you put out is not why I gave you that creative eye. Many times, when we don’t create, we critique! The reason why everybody is commenting and critiquing and talking about what everyone else is doing is because they aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing! I don’t have time to comment on your excel or your fail because I’m in here strengthening my strength! Okay, all right? Some of you are like, «Pastor Mike, strengthen my strength?»
Okay, let me give you some synonyms for strength: build up, enhance, enlarge, establish your gift, extend your gift, heighten, intensify, invigorate, reinforce, set up, step up, support, sustain, and toughen the things that God has already placed on the inside of you. Okay, who would you be if you strengthened your strength? Many of you would be the leader and not the follower. Many of you would be the lender and not the borrower. The Bible says that He has given us the ability to produce wealth, but many of us have not strengthened the things that we can do. You’ve been working on 17 hobbies that will never produce for your family. You’ve been doing things, but God has given us some inherent gifts that I believe this year we’re supposed to strengthen. What if you leveled up in love? I was reading this book the other day, «Nonviolent Communication.»
Why was I reading this book? Because I have a way of talking that doesn’t have much cushion around it. I just want you to know what I actually mean. That doesn’t work well in marriage! I talk for a living, but direct communication with you gets me sleeping on the couch with Natalie! So what am I going to do? I’m not going to say, «Well, I’m a man; I’m a grown man.» No! I ordered a book off Amazon and got Scott one too! Am I telling the truth? Scott got one too! Why? Because I have to strengthen what others call my strength, but I know there’s still an area for me to improve! What if you maximized the marriage? What if you didn’t need the marriage counseling because you really worked on it and could help young married people?
Some of you have never even seen yourself in the position of giving it away because you’re so broken and messed up right now. But what if, for the next five years, you made a decision to figure this thing out? «I’m going to figure out how to be romantic,» even if I don’t like being romantic! No, this is going to take you being honest with what you have already resolved. Ain’t you? This is just me; it doesn’t have to be just me. I was so convinced I was going to be fat and big my whole life that I started to tell myself, «It’s just me; give me a 3X, give me a 4X. I’m going to eat the whole buffet! Do they have a buffet? Is it all-inclusive?»
This was my lie! «If we’re going to live, we’re all going to die!» These are things I might as well enjoy. But at some point, I had to make a decision to divorce the thing I had made a contract with. Some of you cannot move forward into what God has because you’re going to have to break the contract with the lie you’ve believed. You’re going to have to strengthen your strength! Say it with faith: «Strengthen my strengths! Strengthen my strength!» Can I give you another word for strength? Gift! Your strength is your gift; it’s a gift from God!
Name for me a couple of things that you know were a gift from God that you didn’t even have to work hard for. Come on, some of y’all, what is it? Talking? Humor? What is it leading to? Come on, somebody, talk to me. What do you say? Charisma. Charisma is just when you walk in the room; you never meet a stranger—everybody loves you, taking you out, wanting to introduce you to their mom. Could I submit to you that that gift, which may have been diminished as just a part of your personality, is actually a strength that God wants to expand for His glory?
In Second Timothy chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, I want to introduce you to a young man named Timothy who has been given some gifts but comes up against opposition. He writes to the OG Paul, and if anybody doesn’t know what OG means, it’s Original Gangster; it’s just a term of endearment for someone who’s been in the game a while and understands the pathways that someone else may be going through. Timothy is a young man who has been judged because he’s doing big things at a young age, and he was like, «I don’t know what to do with all these people.» He writes to Paul, and Paul writes back to him, saying in verse 6, «Therefore I remind you to stir up the gifts of God that are inside of you!» Yell out, «Stir up the gifts!» That’s great!
He says, «I’m reminding you to do something with what’s already there. I didn’t say go find a gift. I did not say go copy a gift. I did not say go get a mentor that can possibly lay on you a new gift.» He said, «Stir up the gift of God which is in you.» Somebody say, «It’s in me! It’s in me!» He said, «Stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.» He said, «I already approved that these were gifts on the inside of you. I already confirmed this. Why are you doubting what you know God gave you? So you need to be reminded to stir it up, for God has not given us—y’all didn’t know that Scripture was there! Our whole Christian life, we’ve been quoting that separate from the first part.» You’re scared? Oh no, no! God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Put it in context: stir up the gift of God inside of you. It’s already in you, and I confirmed it by the laying on of my hands.
«I don’t know if I should do that. God has not given you a spirit of fear to walk in your gift. Fear would keep you from doing that. 'Well, what would they say? Nobody in my family’s ever done that! What if they don’t accept me? ' God has not given you a spirit of fear. 'Well, I don’t know how to do it, and I’ve never gone to school for this.' God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. He said for you to maximize your gifts, you need to not be scared anymore. I didn’t say scared; I said scared! Some of y’all are so scared of the thing that God’s already confirmed in you. Natalie, God has created you to be creative! Come on, don’t be scared of stepping out and doing what He told you to do! There is nobody that can stop you when God puts the gift inside of you.
This year, I’m about to release so much music! Oh yeah, y’all—God should not have given me this word! I’m pigeon-talking like this! He should not have given me this word because one thing I know is that if I don’t know anything else, I’m strengthened to be creative through music. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it because the goal is not for people’s appreciation; it’s for obedience! You missed it! So many of us have capped our gifts because we want them to work in man’s eyes. But what if the gift was just to bring Him glory? What if He put it in you to get it out of you?
There’s somebody who’d do it for 20 likes, and they’re content, and they’re faithful, so I’ll bless them another way. This doesn’t have to make money. This doesn’t have to be the thing that pays for the house. We’ll pay for the house a different way. Will you be obedient to release what I put on the inside of you? Somebody say, „Stir up the gift!“ Oh, I feel it! Okay, let me bring some context to you because when Paul, the OG, was talking to Timothy, he was working in his gift as a pastor. This is how we extract truths from the Bible: not everybody has to be a pastor to be working in their gift, but we can get the principles that God is trying to share.
He said this young pastor was doing it, but he was a young man who came up against opposition. Well, this shows a couple of things: number one, God does not have an age limit to a calling! I need to talk to everybody under the age of 25: stop waiting! Stop listening to these memes that say, „In your 30s that’s when you build, and in your 40s that’s when…“ What if God called you to do it at 18? Okay, I am in a different place in my life because I heard the call when I was still a teenager. That’s right! I started doing things that other people weren’t doing, that didn’t make any sense, and didn’t give me any money.
Can I just say this? Some of y’all want to get paid so bad you’re missing the place of your purpose. You’re calling everything manipulation, saying somebody’s using you, and all that other stuff. No, dummy, you’re not good yet, okay? Maybe you’re good at the skill, but you’re not good with people. Every training place is not for you to be in charge. I can’t tell you how many places I’ve been where my title didn’t even matter. It was what I was getting more than what I was giving. It was a blessing to get anything at that moment. When I started running sound at this church, I was getting paid $35 a week—that wasn’t enough for gas money for the 15-passenger van I had borrowed to get there! But it’s a story for another time, but it’s true!
What God was teaching me at that sound booth, getting $35 a week, being there from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., was faithfulness. You can’t put finances on faithfulness! The way I’ve learned to show up when nobody else shows up came from me having to be the first one there. Me and Brother Glenn—I don’t know if Brother Glenn is still in here, but he serves on our Ushers committee right now. Me and Brother Glenn would be the first people there. He would turn on the lights, and I’d be down there praying and rolling up mic cords. I learned faithfulness because God said, „Yeah, you’re good at music, and you’re good at talking, but you’re not good at faithfulness. So I need to strengthen that because what I see 10 years from now is that you’re going to have to be faithful when people leave. You’re going to have to be faithful when they run off with a narrative that isn’t true. You’re going to have to be faithful to me, no matter what happens. So I have to teach you something that you can’t learn on the platform.“
Okay, today I just came very simply to tell you: stand strong in your gift and stir that thing up! That’s it! All year, if you’re not getting better, some of y’all need to go back to lessons. You used to be able to play the piano, and now every time you play, you just play the same song, and everyone says, „Oh, you can play the piano!“ „Oh, I used to…“ Used to? You’re killing that one song? Really? There are songs that God gave you; there are songs that He wants you to write. But for you to be able to get that out in the spare time you have between the three kids you have, you’re going to have to get more efficient, so you need to go take lessons!
„I ain’t paying for no lessons.“ Cool! Stay on the level that keeps God from doing what He planned to do. It’s not God. There are certain things that I know I have to do. I have to be diligent, dedicated, and faithful to get to the place where God can release what is already in me. Strengthen your strength! Pastor Mike, what are some strengths? Administration, discernment, exhortation, encouragement, faith, and giving are strengths! Yes! I’m not just talking about money; some of y’all, God gives you stuff to give away. Decide in your heart this year, „I’m going to give more than I’ve ever given!“
I told my wife what we’re giving in the Crazy Faith offering next year. For that to happen, God is going to have to give seed to the sower. But I already decided! He said strengthen your strength. I’m going to give the most outrageous thing that anybody—I don’t know anybody in my family that’s given this much to anything. I want to be the first! God, would you bless me to a place? Could you open my ears enough? Could you give me ideas and witty inventions? Could you put me in the right investment? Could you show me who to connect with? Because it’s already made up in my heart that this year, I’m going to strengthen my strength of giving.
The gift of healing—do y’all know what another gift is that some of y’all discount? The gift of helps! It’s literally in the Bible; people are gifted to help! That’s great! And you’re like, „I’m the only one out here doing this! Ain’t nobody else helping!“ The reason it’s a burden for you is that God gifted you! Instead of being mad at them, come up with a training course to help people who help! Okay, y’all aren’t hearing me yet! Gift of leadership? How do you have a gift of leadership and you’re always on the bench? No, no! I just need to talk to you because you know you’re a leader, and anything you step into, people gather! Anything you do, and you put half the effort into it, seems ten times better than everyone else! But all you do these days is sit on the bench and judge, „Oh, I could have scored that!“ You don’t play anymore; you’re retired!
We say that for people who are athletes and in sports, but there are so many retired Christians! Oh, you don’t serve anymore? You don’t help anymore? We don’t even know what you used to do! You used to do this stuff! You ran things! You prophesied! You used to create! And all you do now is bring coffee and say hello? You think that it’s a privilege that you showed up? To us, it is, but to God, He’s disappointed! He put all of that in you, and you give it to Fantasy Football effort and energy! And I’m not saying anything’s wrong with Fantasy Football if you have the margin to do that! But that’s not going to get you anywhere with what God told you to do!
I am offending you! You should see the faces that are looking at me right now! I don’t care either because I’ve been sent on a mission to push you into the place that you need to get to! You need to strengthen your strength! Paul tells Timothy: stir that thing up, it’s in you! Stop complaining about what they don’t have and who’s leaving! Stir what I put in you up!
Write this down: teaching is a gift; wisdom is a gift. We all have gifts, and they all come from God! „P, I don’t think God gave me any gift.“ Stop it! It might have been crushed; your gift may have been devalued by someone who was threatened by it. Your gift may have been mislabeled! But somebody say, „I have a gift! I have a gift!“ Your gift is not just mothering; that may be part of your maternal instinct, but there are some other things He’s given you that you’ve been discounting, and God is counting on! I’m going to prove it to you: James 1:17, „Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change.“ He has not changed His mind about your gift!
Yeah, He doesn’t change like other people. I hear some of you saying right now, „Pastor Mike, how do I know what my strength is?“ Three things very simply. Okay? How can you identify your strength? Because some of you are really thinking right now, and I want you to do that. I want you to start going back, and some of my seasoned saints—the older people—your gift does not expire! No, it doesn’t! Some of y’all think because you have grandkids now it’s time for you to sit down. The gift that God—do y’all know how old Abraham was when he started? Do you know how old Sarah was when giving birth? My mama said she was old!
How do I know what my strength is? It’s something that’s natural! Yeah, these are the gifts that come easy to you but are harder for others. What comes easy? What’s natural? My sister Abby, she naturally has the gift of hospitality. Like, literally, I could tell Abby, „Text her, 'Hey, I’m at the door! I’m coming to drop…'“ Something was off with Charles. She opened the door with a plate of brownies, and I was like, „When did you have the time?“ „Oh, I was just cooking brownies,“ she said. „The Holy Spirit told me to.“ I asked, „You’re cooking brownies?“ She showed up at my house for a meeting with brownie mix, eggs, and soft butter in her purse to make brownies with my daughters. „How did you even know we had the stuff?“ I asked. She replied, „Well, if you didn’t bring it,“ and she pulled out eggs.
I can’t make this stuff up, but caring comes naturally to my wife, Natalie. She cares so much that it gets on my nerves. I’d say, „Don’t make them,“ and she’d reply, „We paid to be here.“ I’d think, „Be quiet; the other people are experiencing this. It’s my seat; I can say whatever I want.“ She just thinks about everybody else. I wanted her to think about me and care for me, but caring comes naturally to her. My brother Aaron has a gift for paying attention to details. In any room, if we walk in together, he knows where all the exits are in three seconds. I’m not kidding; he knows when people move and who came in at what time. I’d ask, „Hey, bro, what time is it?“ and he’d say, „Well, when you got here, it was 7:26, and when you sat down—“ I’d be like, „What in the world?“ He naturally pays attention to details. That’s why he does my edge up, and that’s a gift—some might call it a strength.
So how do you know what your gift is? It might come naturally. Let me give you one more way to identify your gift: names. These are gifts that loved ones and strangers can identify in you. People start naming things about you. A second ago, I told you I was naturally good at music. I never took lessons, but I could hear and put things together. It took Prophetess Pam Vanette, when I was living backwards, to call me up to a stage in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on the 145th. She said, „You are going to be a pastor.“
I laughed at her face. She said, „I know it sounds crazy; I have the prophetic word on tape. You’re going to use humor and irony in people’s real-life situations to explain the Word of God to people all over the world.“ She said my ministry wouldn’t just be to young people; I’d minister to people everywhere. I sat there thinking she was drunk. Over and over, there have been many women of God who have come to me, and they’ve named it. „I know you do music, but you’re going to be a pastor.“ For years, I denied it. „You don’t know me; you don’t know what giftings God gave me.“ That’s why you need people around you because sometimes they see things you can’t. Some of you have been so isolated that the things in your life that need to be named haven’t been recognized because you haven’t let anyone in to speak to those things.
So, they can be natural, they can be named, or watch this—they have to be nurtured. How will your strengths get stronger? They must be nurtured. These are gifts that have been watered by your environment, encouragement, and effort. Some people have stopped recognizing their gift from God because it was never nurtured. It came to them naturally, but it was never nurtured. As a result, others have become better and further along, which makes you doubt its value. God says all you have to do is put a little water on it.
For everyone else, it’s complicated, but if you would just add a little water, a little faithfulness, a little consistency, a little intention, it would grow exponentially. I’m saying to you what Paul said to Timothy: stir it up! Your career may not be your purpose. That’s a tough one to swallow because you’ve spent 17 years in school for it. You’ll be paying Fannie Mae for the next 30 years because of what someone planted in your mind that you should be. But you can’t find satisfaction in it. You’re a lawyer by day and a DJ by night. You know it’s true; you’re at Guitar Center buying all this stuff but aren’t reading law books because there’s no burden for it. Now you have responsibilities.
How do you get from responsibility to purpose, doing what pleases God and gives Him glory? You’ll have to put in effort. You’ll need to optimize things that aren’t yielding fruit and do what God tells you to do. When I talk about nurturing your gift, parents, I need to talk to you for a second because the things that annoy you about your kids are often gifts in disguise. The very thing that gets on your last nerve—why do you always ask so many questions? —is because God gave them a gift of discernment. Every time they talk, they’re uncovering your truths, and you can’t stand it because they know you’ve been lying about… never mind. Our primary responsibility as parents is to nurture the gifts God placed inside our children.
Can I share a revelation I got today? Proverbs 22:6 is a familiar scripture, but I want to read it with the backdrop of nurturing our children’s gifts: „Train your children up in the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not depart from it.“ I’ve only ever heard Proverbs 22:6 discussed in the context of discipline—"Train the child in the way he should go; that’s why I beat them.» My mom beat me; my grandma beat her, and we’ll just be a beating family. But what if, for just a second, we viewed it from the context of purpose? God says He has placed gifts in this little child that are unrefined, and He’s giving them to you to train this child, nurture this child, and encourage them in the way they should go. Hallelujah! So that when they get older and face opportunities, career choices, and distractions, they won’t depart from the purpose, the gift, the strength He gave them. That’s revelation right there!
What if it’s about stirring up our gifts? Someone say, «Stir it up!» Greatness is always nurtured: Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, David Beckham, Venus Williams, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Whitney Houston—what do all these people have in common? They were all great, and they were nurtured from childhood. Now, I’m not saying their stories ended well, but they reached greatness because they were nurtured. I’m not going to ask you to look at your kids right now, but I’m saying maybe you’re just telling them what they’re not. «You’re just like your daddy.» Well, hold on; he’s not here. He’s unfaithful and not intentional, and now you’re speaking that over my child? Right now, I’m nurturing my daughter Isabella Moni. From as far back as I can remember, she has been a leader. She tells me what she wants, where she wants it, and where to go. I’ve been calling her «boss baby» since before the movie came out because this little girl has the God-given gift of leadership.
When my daughter, at five or six years old, told me I could no longer go on date night with her mother, I asked, «Bella, why can’t I go?» She said, «Because every time you go, I feel lonely.» I explained that I’m married to her mother and she’s my daughter, and our relationship priorities matter. God comes first, then me and Mommy can pour into you. She said, «I get it now, Daddy.» One day, the Holy Spirit hit me and said, «Michael, your daughter wants to use her gift. Use your influence to nurture it.» I was told to turn that relationship conversation into our first book and save the proceeds for her future. I said to Bella, «We’re writing a book!» She asked when, and I replied, «Now! You’re seven!» So we began working on it. The book comes out February 6th; it’s called «A Cup of Love» and it’s about relationship goals for kids.
I made a huge mistake: when I submitted it to the publisher, I thought I clearly conveyed to them that it should say, «Written by number one New York Times bestselling author Michael Todd and illustrated by Joel Santana.» When Bella saw the book, she saw her likeness on the cover but didn’t see her name. That baby said, «This book wouldn’t exist without me!» I’m not joking. She said, «Why isn’t my name on it?» I called the publisher and said, «Is there any way…?» Not in a disrespectful way; I explained we could add her name to the next book. But what I’m doing is nurturing and stirring up the gifts inside her.
Pastor Mike, what are you trying to say? Strengthen your strengths! We’re in the second Sunday of 2024. Stir it up! God will start revealing to you, through prayer and fasting, the things you’ve let lay dormant in your life. He’ll say, «Try to draw again,» «Pick up the guitar,» «Start writing that book,» «Make the curriculum,» «Fill out the application,» «You’re going back to school.» It’s time to stir up the gifts! If you feel discouraged because you have too much weighing on you, or if you don’t know where to start or feel like your gifts aren’t strengths anymore, it’s usually due to four strength killers: comparison, coveting, complacency, and conforming. If you conform to what the job wants you to be, you’ll give up your gift. If you become complacent about what God gave you, you’ll give up your gift. If you covet someone else’s gifts and aren’t grateful for your own, you’ll give up your gift. If you’re stuck in comparison, you’ll give up strengthening the gift God has given you.
That’s why Romans 12:2 says, «Don’t conform to the patterns of this world.» That’s what they do all the time! But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Today, I came to fire up your gift, and for a few people here, I’m telling you: it’s time to flip the gift! Everyone say, «Flip the gift!» I just need to talk for two minutes to the people whose gifts have been mislabeled. You were told that what you have wasn’t from God because it was going the wrong direction. When I was a sinner, I was still a leader; I was just leading people the wrong way. All I had to do was flip the gift, and now people come from South Africa to attend my services while I preach. I could have been leading in the wrong direction my whole life, but I flipped the gift.
That’s why it’s important to understand the context of Bible stories. The reason Paul could speak so confidently to Timothy is that Paul used to be named Saul, and Saul was the chief sinner. He went from the number one persecutor to a pastor. Bounty hunter of Christians, the number one contributor to the Bible, and spreading the word of God and the gospel throughout all the land at the time—how do you do that when you have an encounter with God and He flips your gift? If I could do a backflip, I would. I almost brought a trampoline up here; I was this close! Just think if you could take everything you’ve been doing in the wrong direction and flip it. God said, «I can turn what people have labeled wrong and what people have told you is a dysfunction.»
Even right now, you’ve heard, «I’m introverted.» No, no, no! That means you recharge by yourself, but it also means you know how to reach people who recharge like that. What if the thing people have been labeling is actually your strength? That means your small group won’t have a million people in it; it will have three faithful people, and you all will love each other, be there for each other, and then take breaks, saying, «Today, let’s not talk; we’ll meet next week.» What if the thing you’re trying to get rid of is a thing that God is trying to stir up? Every gang leader, you’re a gatherer; you’re just taking people to the wrong place. Every gossip, you’re an evangelist; you just have the wrong message in your mouth.
Somebody shout at me, «Flip the gift!» Everyone who has anxiety, everyone who is riddled with anxiety, and whose mind can’t stop racing—you’re a prayer warrior! You’ve proven to us that focus is not your problem; you just focus on everything you can’t control. If you would flip the gift! If I were going through something, I would want you praying for me because you’ll focus on every detail of my situation and take it to the one who is in control. It’s time for us to flip the gift. Everyone, please stand. It’s my last point: Strength submitted to God is success, and strength unsubmitted to God becomes stress. I’ll say it one more time: your strengths, your gifts submitted to God will bring you success.
I can’t tell you where I would be right now if I hadn’t brought all of this that I had to God and said, «Do whatever you want.» He has blown my mind by what He’s done with my submitted gift. But a strength, that gift unsubmitted to God, becomes stress for you. It’s time to stir up the gift and strengthen your strength. I want to pray for people today—that this would be the last day you consider what God gave you an option. I’ll say it one more time: today I’m praying that it will be the last time you consider the gift God gave you an option in your life. I’m praying it becomes a burden, a priority—something you make practical steps towards this year to strengthen. You’re an actor? Get in the play! Do the thing!
Well, nobody is going to see it; this isn’t for them to see. You can start remembering lines again. You’re older now; your brain doesn’t work like it used to. You need to get your memory back because four years from now, the call is going to come—the one that’s going to change your family history. But if you don’t strengthen your strength now, you won’t be able to seize that opportunity when it comes. What if you strengthened the number of scriptures you know by memory? You know the six scriptures your grandmother told you, and they’ve kept you for years; but what if you learn six more this year? Because every time you need them, the Wi-Fi seems to be not working—I know there’s one in there on purity somewhere. Lord! What if you write Psalms 119 on your heart? How does a young man or young woman keep his way pure? By hiding themselves in the word of God.
I remember when my mom told me that scripture I needed to recite because I was out here living wildly—oh, can we be real? We were in the laundry room of our house on 35th and Yale. She said, «Michael, you need to remember Psalms 119:9.» I can’t tell you how many times I was ready to do something that would take me back into a sin cycle I had left, and that Psalms 119 jumped out. That’s what the Bible means when it says, «I will hide Your word in my heart.» What if you just strengthened the thing you already have? Strengthen today. I wanted us to pray together. I wanted to create a «Strengthen Your Strength» prayer, and I wanted us all to say it together. I don’t know if they have it on the screen, but if they do, great; if they don’t, I’ll teach. There it is! I want us to say this all together, and I honestly want everyone to be able to screenshot it or write it down. We’re going to put it on all the social media platforms, and I’m just asking all of us every day this week to say this when you wake up before school.
Put it on your mirror, say it with your kids, teach it to your kids. We will say it like this: Let’s say it together. «Dear God, today I acknowledge that I am gifted.» Saying that phrase by itself does something to your confidence. Let’s start again. «Dear God, today I acknowledge that I am gifted.» I pray that You would help me stir up the gift You have placed on the inside of me. Let Your strength be my strength every day this year. What would happen? And this is why I thank God for the model He’s given me: progression, not perfection. Nobody is going to be perfect at this. Honestly, to get better, you’re going to fail, but I want you to come back to this. Just like the OG Paul said to him, «Stir up the gift on the inside of you so that you can see everything that God has called you to.» Hands lifted all over this place.
Father, I pray for my brother and sister. As You gave me a mandate to strengthen my strengths, the gifts You put on the inside of me, today I’m praying for every person under the sound of my voice and those who will watch this on rebroadcast and share it with a friend. I thank You right now that they will stir up the gifts You have placed on the inside of them. Father, every lie they have believed—that they should leave the things You put there—be gone in the name of Jesus. I thank You for an activation today—that their faith would believe again for the impossible. Father, they wouldn’t just clap for those who are experiencing it in their lives, but they would believe that You could do a fresh and new thing in them. To every person over the age of 45, I declare that there would be a new fire kindled within you—that you would not retire but refire—so that in your old age, you could do things you were never able to do in a previous season and that your latter will be greater than your former. I thank You that You’re stirring up the gift, and for every person under 45, I thank You that confusion leaves their minds right now in the name of Jesus—that they will not be wanderers for decades, trying to figure out what You’ve called them to do. They will not conform to what culture is saying, but they will get a clear word from You. Father, let us all have an encounter with You that allows us to flip our gifts. Father, whether it’s making money or helping people, we don’t just want to do what seems successful; we want to do what is successful in Your eyes. So, Father, today we’re making a commitment to not just start sharp but stay sharp by strengthening our strengths.
If you’re in this room right now and you’ve never accepted the source of strength—His name is Jesus—today I want to introduce you to my best friend, the one who saved me from being a liar, a manipulator—someone who was addicted to pornography. I’ve shared my story. I was going the wrong way and leading others there, and God encountered me and flipped my gift, but it came when I gave my heart to Jesus. See, this is the only religion where everybody prays to a God, but this is the only one where God comes to you and says, «Give Me your heart, and I’ll help you change your habits.»
Today, on the second week of 2024, there are some people who have been doing your own thing. You’re watching online right now, and you don’t even know why this is on, or you came into this building, and God has been drawing you, or the Holy Spirit has been drawing you this entire time. Today is your day of salvation. The first thing God wants to flip is your heart toward Him. He wants to bring you from darkness into light. I’m telling you, you are in the right place at the right time to receive God. Today is the day of salvation, and we’ve been praying for you.
So, if that’s you, and you want to stop doing it your own way, and you want to give your life to Christ, on the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands. One: you’re making the greatest decision of your entire life. Two: your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s book of life, and your eternity is secure. Three: just shoot your hand up all over the room. I see you, my brother! I see you, my sister! I see your whole family! Oh, y’all come on; I see you online! Just put your hand up. I see you! Come on, glory to God! This is what it’s all about. Here, you’re talking about strengthening your strength. You’re about to level up at Transformation Church! We are a family; nobody prays alone. So, can we all just lift our hands and lift our voices and say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I receive His strength in my life. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power, just for me. And today, I surrender my life; I’ll serve You with all of it. Change me, renew me, transform me. In Jesus' name, amen!