TD Jakes - Insurrection
The word "insurrection" comes from a Latin word "insurgere" that means to rise up. And that's exactly what Miriam did and that's what's happening in our world today. Everybody's rising up with something to say. Everybody's rising up. "Well, I think so and so. Well, and I think so and so. Well, I think". It's an insurge. Everybody's rising up against the collective, organized, structured, developed hand of God that brings order out of confusion.
I want to go into this whole thing about order because order is important. Somebody say, "Order". Isn't that what the judge says when they hit this gavel? They say, "Order in the court". We gotta have order. The way the original sin occurred as a violation against the order and the infrastructure that God has set. God set this thing up. It was working beautiful. Everybody walking around naked, eating fruit and stuff, just chilling, laying up under trees. Nobody had to go to work. No alarm clocks going off. It was just beautiful. No traffic in the morning. It was just beautiful. No reports to be turned in by noon. It was just beautiful, just laying up under a pineapple tree, drinking coconut juice, talking about, "Whoa, what's going on? How you doing today"?
Everything's going fine. God set an order up, a Garden of Eden, which was a hangout spot for Adam, and Eve, and God to hang out there in the garden. But the earth was the Lord's, the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein, until all of a sudden this little, slithering spirit of insurrection crawls into the garden to rise some kind of question regarding the loyalty toward God and his creation, and said, "I know he told you one thing, but let me tell you something. You eat this tree. You eat this tree, you gonna know what he knows". Hear the pride in it? Hear the pride in it? You know, Miriam said, "Doesn't God speak to me"? He speaks to Moses. "Yeah, that's cool, but he speak to me too". You understand what I'm saying? This whole spirit is the same spirit you see in the garden where the slithering serpent comes in there and says, "Yeah, yeah, I know what he said, but listen. If you eat of that tree... he's just trying to hold you back. That's what he's trying to do, trying to hold back your gifts. You eat this, it's gonna be good, girl. It's gonna be good. It's gonna be good".
And rebellion is a spirit. The Bible said it is as the spirit of witchcraft. Rebellion is a spirit. Say that with me, "Rebellion is a spirit," yeah, yeah, because I want you to be able to identify - I'm not even concerned about it as it relates to church. I want you to be able to identify it in yourself, in your life, in your children, in the world around you. Rebellion is a spirit. It doesn't matter whether Pharaoh is living or dead, rebellion is a spirit. It doesn't matter whether you're in the garden or not, rebellion is a spirit. Rebellion is such a spirit that it will make you tear up good stuff. I'm going into this. I'm going into this. Y'all pray for me 'cause he gave me so much I ain't even got to the point yet. Rebellion is a spirit. So wherever it begins to fester, it has come to throw you out of order.
Now I'm gonna hook that up in a minute. It's gonna throw you out of order. It wants to throw you out of order, and so it happened in the garden. And that's how sin entered. How in the world did it get in? It got in - it's a spirit. It's a spirit that challenges what God has put in order. I know what ought to be done. I know how it ought to be handled. It's a spirit. It's a spirit that rises up. It rise up. Insurrection rise up. It rises it. If something rises up, it wasn't always up. That means it can be in us and not know it, and you have to catch it on the rise. Y'all have to catch it coming out of the gate. You have to catch it in your speech and in your thought process. You have to catch it when the enemy brings it up in your head. They're just overlooking you. You just need to be acknowledged. You just need to be read. You can do better than they can do. You have to catch it as it rises. Rebuke it down at the root. Get it right at the root 'cause it's trying to destroy your house, destroy your job, destroy your career, destroy your future. Kill it at the root.
And all of a sudden we find ourselves in this situation where Satan has said to them, "If you do this, you're gonna be like God". And this is what I want you to understand, insurrection often starts with admiration. I never will forget something Oprah told me. I will carry it to my grave. She said, "Watch people". She said, "They'll start out at your feet, but they end up at your throat". The same people, the same. I don't mean some new people, the same people that started out at your feet end up at your throat. Because it starts out as admiration. We admire our leaders. We always do. As little kids, that's why little kids dress up. You get your kids - your parents are away and you go in their closet. Come on, let's be honest. You grown, you can tell now. You won't get a whoopin'.
And little kids everywhere, you at least once try on your daddy's shoes or your mama's hat, and you walk around, and you get in front of the mirror, and you put your lipstick all up on your face trying to dress up and be grown. Trying to be grown, trying to be grown. Isn't it funny that that same spirit still exists later? Trying to be grown, trying to be grown. Look at me. Oh yeah, look at me. Look at me, I got it. Look at me. Rather than to wait and grow into it, we rush into it. And then when it doesn't fit, frustration rises. Problems begin to emerge and we find ourselves in a critical state.
He says to Eve, "If you do this you will be like God". So, she decides to try on her daddy's clothes. Give me this. I want this. See, she should've left it like it was. When God sets things in order, leave them alone. He knows you wanna wear the suit. He knows when you're ready for the suit. If you put it on too soon it's gonna swallow you. Just wait on it. And by the way, when that admiration turns to jealousy and you start wanting to kill the person you used to admire, killing me don't make you king. "We're gonna get rid of..." You'll get rid of him. That doesn't promote you. That doesn't promote you. Give the people the 30 pieces of silver back, Judas. That will not make you the Messiah. Killing him won't make you king. Touch your neighbor and tell 'em, "It's the Spirit".
I'm gonna show you one more thing and then I'm gonna get to the point. I haven't got to the point yet. I'm just setting up the framework to get to the point to get where I'm trying to go. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna get there. He gave me a lot to tell you. The earth teaches us something. The creation of the earth and the story of the creation, much more than being a scientific illustration of the creation, it sets in order who the author of the earth is, that "The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein". That is to say God didn't explain to us how he did it, he just says, "It's mine". And he brings us into it at a stage, at a stage in its development that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the first thing the Bible tells us is that the earth was without form and void.
Stay with me 'cause I'm going somewhere. The earth was without form and void. Darkness covered the face of the deep. The first thing the Spirit of the Lord did after he said, "Let there be light," was start putting things in order. "This goes over here. That goes over there. The firmaments above the light and the firmaments of beneath. The waters go by - this goes over here". The first thing God does is create boundaries, order, and structure. I had somebody tell me, said, "I've been stuck". Somebody text me last night, said, "I've been stuck in the same place for 30 years". That's why, you don't have boundaries, order, and structure. Boundaries, order, and structure. No life could grow. No fish could swim. No man could walk. They had the earth but it didn't have boundaries, order, and structure.
Your challenge for 2018 is to get boundaries, order, and structure. This goes over here. That goes over there. I'm not gonna worry about that. That's not my problem. I'm gonna put my energy over here. Boundaries, order, and structure. Say it with me, "Boundaries, order, and structure". If you don't want to spend the next billion years just spinning around with nothing happening in your life, you must step into it, say, "Let there be light," and create boundaries, order, and structure. I feel the Holy Ghost in here. This is your year to have boundaries, order, and structure. You gotta push back some stuff and say, "Here and no further". And push that back and say, "Here and no further". You've got to command something, "Bring forth. You will be fruitful. You will not die. You will not faint. You will not collapse. Every gift I've got in me, bring forth".
I'm telling you that when you have no form and you have no boundaries, order, and structure, creativity diminishes, fruitfulness is destroyed, productivity dies, and you continue to spin around with nothing meaningful happening in your life. Have you ever noticed that people who gossip the most have the least? Don't they see the connection, that you don't have the energy to put in your business 'cause all your energy's in mine? Miriam is all up in Moses's grill talking about the Cushite woman. And I understand Miriam a little bit. She's glad to get her brother back. He has been raised in Egypt in the palace. It's not inundated with the culture. She wants to keep the culture pure. He has spent 40 years away from them all together on the run and now he's back.
You understand? And the woman he's now in love with is not what she had in mind. It's not what she pictured. He married a Cushite woman. Cushite, Cush, Cush, Cush, Cushite. See, "cush" in Hebrew is "black". And she wasn't exactly, you know, she was cool, but it's a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"? moment. So, sister goes off, trips out about it a little bit. Moses won't say anything back. Isn't that funny, that Moses who had the courage to speak to kings, confront pharaohs, fight off the magicians, still was helpless to push back the people in his life that he loved, but were out of order. So, he won't say anything to her, so God came down. I keep coming back to that part 'cause I like that part the best. God came down. God came down.
The reason I like that part the best is some battles in my life I won only because God came down. Touch somebody and say, "God came down". I didn't have a job, but God came down. I was about to lose my house, but God came down. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but God came down. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. Everybody in here has an unexplainable success story that happened in your life that you can't take credit for, but just in the nick of time when all hell was breaking lose, then God came. My God, that's why I gotta praise him. That's why I gotta worship him. That's why I gotta lift him up. 'Cause every now and then, God just comes down. I owe him the praise. I should have spoke up. I should have fought for myself. I should have said something, but I didn't. And even though I didn't, he came down.
Sit down, I ain't got to the good part yet. So, what's interesting, watch this 'cause this to me, the Bible said, "And then he left them. And as he went up in the cloud, Miriam's skin turned to leprosy". And Aaron looked and her and said, "Ooh. Moses, we sorry about everything we said about you, man. We shouldn't, we didn't have no business talking about you. Look, look, just pray for us. 'Cause you know what happened to her, I don't want none of that to get over here on..." Of all the things that God could have done, number one, he didn't announce to her that he was gonna do it, he just did it. When he left them, the residual was she had leprosy.
Leprosy is a disease that causes body members to start to decay and fall off. Leprosy means you start losing stuff. She started losing stuff because of what she said. Stay with me. Stay with me. Don't go. Don't you go nowhere. Sit right there. The Lord left her and then her fingers started leaving her. She started losing stuff because of what she said. What is this? This is the first mention of this disease showing up in a person's life. It shows up as a judgment. It is the only disease in the Scripture that you almost never see the word "healed" around it. It says "cleansed". He healed the blind. He healed the blind. He healed the lame. He healed this one. He healed that one. And cleansed the leprosy.
The question becomes, if the things that were meant to be mine are falling off, will I ever get them back? Will I ever get back what fell off? I understand now that it's... I'm not saying in every case, but in some cases, what I lost might be connected to what I say... what I forgot to respect, what I forgot to honor. Do you not know the Bible said, "Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be longer"? It is the only commandment with honor that if you honor them (I don't care whether they any good or not), if you honor them, this is the deal. I know you still mad at them, but this is the deal. If you honor them, you live longer. I don't care if you had to go get him out a crack house. I don't care if your mama's turning tricks. If God says if I honor her, I'll live longer, "Hey Mama, you want some flowers, girl? I know you didn't raise me. You gave me up. But here, you're cool with me".
I can get over it because this is my shot. I don't want the curse of insurrection to be on my life where I start losing stuff because my unforgiveness won't allow me to get over. It's gonna be some phone calling tonight. It's gonna be some phone calling. Somebody dialing their mama now, "I love you". Text your mama and tell her right now, "I love you". It might give you another week. Text her right now. Text her right now and it might help you out.
Will I ever get it back? Ten lepers heard that Jesus was in the city, and they came over where he was, and hollered at him, and said, "We need to be healed. We need to be set free. We wanna be made whole". And Jesus says, "Go show yourself to the priest". And the Bible says that while they were walking... that means it's gonna be a process. But the Bible says that while they were walking, they were healed as they went. They were healed as they went. And they showed themselves to the priest and the priest declared them cleansed.
One of them turned back and said, "I just wanna thank you". I wanna thank you because what was wrong with me, there was no cure for it. And if you hadn't have done what you did when you did it, I would've never got it back again. I thank you for the fingers you gave me. I thank you for the toes you gave me. I thank you for the arms you gave me. I thank you for the legs you gave me. I just wanna worship you. Now praise, anybody can do it. But that kind of deep, gully-washing worship comes from understanding who God is in you and that the breath you breathe, and the step you take, and the move you make is all a gift you don't deserve, but he gave it back to you.
To everybody who ever lost anything that was rightfully yours, I prophesy to you, God will restore unto you the years that the palmerworm and the cankerworm ate up in your life. The things that were eaten up and fallen off, if you walk with him and serve him, get this Word in your spirit, while you're walking, God will take the things that fell off, glory to God. If you lift your hands, and open your heart, and let this Word get down into your heart, I don't know who you are, it may only be ten people in the room, but whatever you lost. Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever. I decree and declare there will be a restoration from the Lord. There will be a restoration from the Lord. There will be a renewal. There will be a revival. There will be a refurbishing.
I decree and declare that God will give it back to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. God will give it back to you. God will give it back to you. God, God will. Not men, not clubs, not parties, not flesh, not a new husband, not a new wife, God will give it. Stop looking to other people to do it, God will. God will. God, God all by himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you receive that word, touch seven people and tell 'em, "I'm getting it back". Yeah, yeah, like you mean it. Like you mean it. Like you believe it. When you get to number seven, give God a crazy praise in this place.