Samuel Rodriguez - Bless Me, Grow Me, No More Pain
All the blessed people, lift all your blessings. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "Neighbor, I am blessed. In the finished work of Christ, I am blessed". But tell 'em like you believe it. Tell 'em, "I am blessed. I am completely blessed". No, from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head, I am blessed. You missed it. You're just not blessed on good days, and you're not only blessed when you come to church, you're blessed when you're going through the process. You're blessed. You're blessed every single day of your life. Wherever you go you don't leave the blessing behind. Wherever you go, you are blessed. John 1:16 says that he will bless you, upon blessing, upon blessing.
Ephesians 1:3: "In Christ, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing". You are so blessed. And then Galatians chapter three, that's scary. Galatians chapter three says some crazy stuff. It says, "All of God's promises to Abraham are actually yours through our", oh, you have no idea what that means. He says, "Everything that God promised, everything God promised Abraham belongs to you, belongs to me". Do you know everything God promised Abraham? Oh, that means that you were blessed in the city, in the field, coming in and coming out. It means that he has made you the head and not the tail.
Stop asking like you're cursed. Stop acting like you're a normal American. You are blessed beyond measure, you are blessed and highly favored. Act like you're blessed. Live like you're blessed. The blessings of God, the blessings of God. Now make it legal. "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you," Galatians 3:29. Blessed. Deuteronomy 28, it says this, "You will experience all these blessings". You are blessed by the way, based on what you do, who you are in Christ, who Christ is in you, but your actions bless you. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "What you do will bless you".
Now again, through the finished work of Christ, your blessing, your permanent eternal blessing is Christ. So, if you have Jesus, it means you have his spirit. His spirit is in your life. You are forever blessed. Regardless of what you go through and where you're at in life, you are blessed. But then there are additional blessings, blessings that come as a direct result of what you do. I'll read them for you. You are blessed wherever you go. Your children and your crops, completely blessed. That means your work is blessed. Your children are blessed. Wherever you go, whatever you do, verse six, Deuteronomy 28: "You will be blessed when you come in and when you come out". And then it said something crazy, it says, "Let me tell you about all the blessing".
Matter of fact, it says, "You're so blessed, that if the enemy would dare come against you, you will be so blessed," verse 7, "That if he comes against you one way, in seven he will flee". I'm gonna break this down because it looks like there's this random verse about the enemy in the midst of a blessing chapter. No, it's part of one great continuum. Here's what the Bible say, "You are so blessed. When God blesses you, you will be so blessed that if the enemy is silly enough to come against you, he's gonna run smack into your blessed life and it will prompt him to fall into pieces in seven different directions".
I don't know if you got this. All the blessed people raise your hands. If you're really blessed, raise both hands. If you're really blessed, repeat the following, "I am part of a glorious, victorious, blessed ecosystem. I am designed by the father, defined by the son, and developed by the Holy Spirit". Oh, you gotta repeat that part right there. You have no idea what you just said. You just told every devil to get off your back right now and you don't even know it. You literally told the devil, "Get off my back, get off my family's back". Let's do it one more time, "I am designed by the father, defined by the son, and developed by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in Jesus name I declare today my family is blessed".
Say it like you believe it, "My family is blessed. My faith is blessed. My future is blessed. My mind is blessed. My health is blessed. My relationships are blessed. My finances are blessed. My integrity is blessed. My ideas are blessed. My dream is blessed. My seed is blessed. My today is blessed. My tomorrow is blessed. Next year is blessed. The year after that is blessed. All that I am is forever blessed". All the blessed people give God a shout of praise. Lift up your hands, all the blessed people. All the blessed people, lift up your hands really high, lift up your blessing. Lift up your blessing, lift up your blessing. Nothing can take away your blessing, lift it up. I want you to lift it up and then put it in the palm of your hand like this. Hold it. Hold it really. Hold it really, really tight. Like nothing will be able to remove that blessing from you. Oh, I sense God. You are a blessed people. We are blessed children, we are born-again believers, we live a blessed life.
Notice, pastor Sam never said, pastor Furtick, that if you're blessed you'll never go through anything. That's false teaching. I never said, "Oh, you're so blessed you're never", no. In fact, what it does say is, "Wherever you go, whatever you go through, whatever life throws your way, you are still," what? How many held on to the blessing in the most difficult of circumstances? Raise your hand. How many have the kind of testimony that all of life yelled at you, and shouted, and said, "Let go of it," but you refused to let go? How many know now that it wasn't that you didn't wanna let go, there was a hand on top of your hand that would not let go, permit you to let go of the blessing God placed upon your hand.
How many know that God never let go of you even when you try to let go of him, he never, all the blessed people raise your hands. We are blessed. We are blessed by who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us. We are blessed by what we do, and we are blessed by what we do not do. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the path of the unrighteous, nor standeth in the way of sinners", nor, what we do not do, what we say no to, ooh, wow. One more time. If you're blessed lift it up. You are blessed. I'm blessed, you're blessed, your children are blessed. We gotta speak blessings upon America. This is the time for the church to rise up. Not only are we blessed, watch this.
Church, can you give it out real quick? Where's the team? Can you give these out real quick? Somebody say, "Enlarge my territory". Nah, nah, you gotta say it like you believe it, like he did. Say, "Enlarge my territory". One more time. If you really believe that prayer, say, "Enlarge my territory". You're gonna get this right now. Enlarge my territory means grow my reputation, expand my impact, increase my influence, give me more. Enlarge, "Jabez, what a crazy prayer". I don't know if you're getting this. This guy's name is pain, literally. All his life he was known as 'the pain'. And then he makes one radical prayer, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory"! Do you know what he's actually saying? He's saying this, "I need you to grow me. I need you to give me bigger property. I need you to separate me from my pain".
Lift it up. Open it up if you have it. He literally prayed for this, I'm not making this up. This is called biblical contextualization. Solid biblical orthodoxy expository preaching from the biblical passage of 1 Chronicles 4:9 and 10. What does that mean? This is what he prayed for. He literally said, "Give me a bigger property". Does that make sense to you? No, no, no, no, no, no. You know what it does? "Dear God, I'm living to people that all their lives, they know me as the pain. If you give me a bigger property, you're gonna separate me from the pain".
I wish you would get this right now. If you give me something bigger, you're gonna separate, in other words, I no longer wanna be known as 'the pain'. When God granted his request, that man was no longer known as 'the pain' he was known as 'the man,' 'blessed man' because God', I'm prophesying to you now. I am declaring that you will not be known for the pain that you suffered or the pain that you caused. I'm preaching to somebody. I'm here to tell you in the name of Jesus, you will be known for the favor and the protection of God upon your life. In that you give him praise like it's all yours. No, no, no. If it's all yours, praise him like you believe it and worship him like you believe it. Give him glory like you believe it. Your family will not be known for the pain, your family will be known for the blessings of God upon them. Lift this up for me, lift this up.
Imagine God enlarging your territory. Imagine God growing your impact and your influence. I don't know if you're getting this, but you will. Lift it up like this. When God says, "I'm gonna grow you. I'm gonna bless you. People are not gonna know you". Oh, oh, oh, remember the Hebrew exogen that I promised you? You know what the Bible actually says? Jabez prayed this. Jabez did not just pray this. "God, I don't wanna suffer any more pain". That's not all that he prayed. That's why the original language is so critical. I'm gonna tell you what he prayed, much more mature. He said this, "Lord, I don't wanna suffer any more pain but I no longer wanna be the cause of anybody else's pain".
It's easy for me to preach to you about what's been done to you but we have a hard time preaching about what we've done to others. And usually, what we've done to others, we do to others because of what was done to us. All of a sudden Jabez says, "You break that forever. I don't wanna be known for the pain I cause or the pain that I received, I wanna be known for the blessing". And God granted his request. I don't know if you're here right now but if you are, I want you to know this, I need you to get ready. If you received this word, God's about to enlarge your territory. Oh, three people got it, seven are considering it, the rest are going, it's for somebody else, that's okay. I don't need to obligate you or coerce you. But if those that receive it and believe it, so help me, you're about to see God grow your territory like never before.
If that's you, lift up your hand and say, "I receive it". No, no, if that's you, raise both hands and say, "I receive it". I dare you to look at your neighbor and tell them, "Neighbor, take a look at me now. Look at me now. By the end of this summer, you will see me in a better place, in my mind, in my anointing, in my influence, in my integrity, in my family, in my relationships, in my joy, in my health". I dare you to lift up your hands, and just like Jabez, make that prayer. I dare you to say, "Bless me, enlarge my territory". Say it again, say "Bless me. Enlarge my territory". One more time, say, "Bless me. Enlarge my territory". If you believe God has the power to do it, lift up your hands. No, if you really believe it, go ahead, lift up your hands. "We serve the God of growth". 1 Corinthians 3:6. "We serve the God of glory to glory". 2 Corinthians 3:18. "We serve the God of above and beyond," Ephesians 3:20. Bless me.
Can God bless you in such a way that you will not be known for the pain you caused or the pain that was caused to you? But you will be known for God's favor and protection. That will be the legacy of your family as you embrace the finished work of Christ. So I'm gonna ask one more time. All the people that believe that if God did it for Jabez, he can do it for you. All the people that believe that if God did it for Jabez, will do it for you. One more time. All the people, not the people that hope, think, aspire, spaghetti on the wall, but those that know that the same God that did it for Jabez, will do it for you. Let's take it one different level. All those that believe that the same God that did it for Jabez is already doing it for you. Somebody praise and say, "Bless me! Enlarge my territory"!
I'm overturning. Somebody say, "He's the God that overturns". He's overturning. Matter of fact, I heard, here it is, the season to overturn. I will overturn what the enemy believed was permanent. Oh, wow. I will overturn what the devil declared was permanent. That sickness, I overturn it. That stigma, I overturn it. That depression, I overturn it. That failure, that defeat, that brokenness, that heartbreak, I overturn it. And when God overturns it nothing can overrule it. Somebody shout like it's done in your life. He is the God that overturns. Lift up your hands. There's a season of overturning. I hear the Lord. Lower the volume a little bit, just a little bit. Keep on playing, you're beautiful. Yes, I want you to hear the word.
In this season, God is literally, the judge of the ultimate court is standing up and saying, "The enemy believed that what he established in your life was permanent but I come along, and like this, I overturn it". So, you're about to experience just God overturning things in your life. I sense the Lord that will impact your children, and your children's children this season. If you receive that word, lift up your right hand, if you received it for you and your family. He's the God that overturns. And when God overturns it nothing will overrule it. That is the power of Christ. Bless me, enlarge my territory. God says, "I'm gonna grow it. I'm gonna grow it. I'm gonna grow it". And then he says, "No more pain". Don't forget, no more pain, says this, "I no longer wanna suffer pain but I no longer wanna cause pain".
So here it is, with your hands raised, I'm gonna declare this. You and your family, you will be the greatest blessing to everyone you know. God's gonna bless you in such a way that wherever you go, you will bless. Oh, no, no. You're gonna be so blessed that if i... Whew! What comes out of you? Blessings. Whatever you go through, you're blessed. God's about to bless you in such a way that your family will be known as a family of unprecedented favor and protection. How many receive all of what God is saying? You are blessed because of Jesus, who he is in you and who you are in him. All of our blessings are attached to Christ. And if you think I'm preaching about Maseratis, and Mercedes, and BMWs, if you think that I'm limiting God to a car, or a house, or a gold watch, you're in the wrong place.
Am I saying that God never gives you stuff? Of course! That stuff is derivative outcome of the real blessing. And the real blessing is that Jesus is in you, and you abide in him, the finished work of Christ! All of these things are added onto you, they're add-ons, fringe benefits. The real blessing is your relationship with Christ. So, if you have your key, lift it up. You're blessed. I'm gonna encourage you as your pastor to take that key, put it somewhere in your wallet, in your pocket, purse, whatever it may be. But keep it somewhere where you remind yourself, "Wherever I go, I am blessed".
If you have your deed, lift up your deed. Are you ready for God to enlarge your territory? Are you ready for God to expand your thinking? Are you ready for new ideas? No, I really, are you ready for God to send people your way to make your dream a reality? Are you ready for resources like never before? Are you ready for God to surprise with what you've been praying for in the past 3 years, showing up like this and turning your life? Absolutely. So let's do it. You should be asking, "What's the third element"? Like, what's the whole, no more pain. Do we have it? Lift it up. There it is. Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, "He bore all of our sins, all of our pain, all of our sufferings, all of our weaknesses on the cross. He paid the price for everything".
Everything means everything. He took care of it all, including our pain. Not just physical. Mental, spiritual, emotional, relational, all our pain, he paid the price. Take this home, take it with you. Remind yourself, "He blesses me, he grows me, he takes care of my pain". If this message is 132% for you, now give him the final praise shout that you could give him this afternoon. No, no. If this is all for you, shout and praise like you actually believe it's all for you. If you receive him, look at your neighbor, tell 'em, "I am blessed. My territory is growing. No more pain" tell your other neighbor the same thing. "I am blessed. My territory is growing. No more pain" alright, alright.
As you stand with me, I promise to wrap up. I thought long and hard of whether or not I would share this with you. I am in the context of what's happening. Not everything requires pastors to address issues from the stage, not everything. Our church has a prophetic mandate, I'll tell you why. In the green room, there is an article from the New York times. When there was racial unrest in this nation, the New York times, not by coincidence, supposedly by coincidence, not by coincidence, in the middle of COVID, came to this church in order to capture "Is there a solution out there"?
When George Floyd was murdered, they came to this church and ran a one-page article, and said that, "Multiethnic, multiracial church, that's the answer". So, this church has a national prophetic mandate that we cannot deny. So, there are issues, be it racial unrest, racism, be it something else, and now this issue. This church is not a political church. This is not a republican church or a democrat church. "Pastor, are you a pro... What are you, pro what"? Pro-Bible. Pro-Jesus. Pro the father, pro the son and pro the Holy Spirit. And because we are pro-Jesus, I can't deny John 10:10. "I have come to give you", thank you very much.
See I'm just a man of the book. Now, when this took place last week, I just want you to hear your pastor's heart, it's important. There are so many people viewing around the world. This is what I wrote:
Now is the time for the people of God to step up, proving that we are comprehensively pro-life and pro-women from the womb to the tomb. With not only rhetoric, but actions that dignify, care for and protect the lives of mothers, children, and families. We must be the hands of the feet. Now is the time to unleash the greatest adoption movement in American history to come alongside women making difficult decisions, and provide the necessary spiritual, emotional, relational and economic support to undergird the continuum of life designed by God for all his children. The church must come alongside mothers and provide the necessary economic support that government cannot provide. As we celebrate this biblical substantiated victory, we must likewise double down in providing services of compassion and outreach, and support for the mother and the children, not just in the womb but after the baby is born. We can't just be pro-life which we are for the baby in the womb, we have to be pro-life after the baby is born.
When that woman makes that tough decision or she's inclined to, we wanna come alongside and say "That baby is created in the image of God. That baby has purpose". But if she says, "I'm aborting it 'cause I can't afford it. The daddy ran out on me". What are we, I'm gonna get in trouble for this. I don't wanna hear any pastor, any preacher say, "I'll pray for you". We've gotta go beyond prayer. We gotta go beyond prayer. So, prayer is great, yes, but we go is prayer plus. And that means we come alongside, "If you don't want your baby, we'll adopt your baby. And by the way, if you really want your baby, we wanna adopt you. The church will come alongside you".
If our church is to rise up and say, "We won't let you starve, we wont let your baby starve," that's how we change the world. We're not democrats or republicans, we're God's children first and foremost, and that's how we change the world. I posted this, it was a press release issue. I knew it was God because people from both sides of this debate came along and said, "Oh, wow. The compassion, the reconciliation, the holistic world view, and that was the Holy Spirit, that wasn't me. I wrote that. The Spirit of God filled me, and wrote it, and brought people together. By the grace of God".
I advise, the reason I bring it up is because I can't be quiet. President bush brought me in, one of the areas I advised him in was this. Let me surprise many of you. When I advised president Barack Obama, guess who served on an abortion reduction task force. He had a task force that lasted for a few months because then, the outside groups came and derailed it. But president Obama, I was there in a meeting with president Obama, when he said, six of us, I think. He said, "I'm gonna surprise", this is 2009, "I'm gonna surprise America and the world, and I'm gonna be the president with the least number of abortions in my administration".
How 'bout that for those that think it's a republican and democrat issue. No. And then outside groups came in and threatened and derailed it. My point to you, this is not political, it's not. Make sure your postings bring people together. We're Christians. We believe every single human being is created in the image of God, every single being has purpose. But we, likewise, will not judge women who have made decisions in the past. Any Christian who dares to point a finger, needs to repent in the name of Jesus. We need to demonstrate love and compassion as we offer an alternative that's rooted in the Word of God.