Toure Roberts - The Year of Perspective (01/16/2026)
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In this fiery New Year's Eve message from December 31, 2018, the preacher uses the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32 to illustrate the pivotal moment of "becoming"—where Jacob's name and identity shift to Israel after a real, face-to-face encounter with God. Drawing from Genesis 32:22-32 and Isaiah 43:1, he declares 2018 as the year of becoming (a challenging process of God forming us like a potter with clay) and prophesies 2019 as the year of perspective, urging believers to embrace their true God-given identity, let go of false humility or unworthiness from colorful backgrounds, and fight to maintain a renewed viewpoint of themselves and God. The climax calls everyone to the altar for an authentic surrender, expecting transformative encounters that change names, perspectives, and trajectories into the new year.
Jacob’s Encounter: From Jacob to Israel
Genesis chapter 32 is not an unfamiliar beginning, starting at verse 22 with the story of Jacob. Hallelujah! In his moment of becoming, it says, «And he (Jacob) arose that night and took his two wives.» I’ll explain later; somebody said «holiday, ” not „uh, ” that was by mistake. Okay, you’ve got to study the whole thing right. And he rose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants—somebody’s a glutton, no kidding—and his eleven sons and crossed over the Ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. This man was God.
In verse 25, it says now when the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob— they were wrestling and Jacob was winning— and so God saw that he was not prevailing against him. God touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. God said, „Let me go, for the day breaks.“ He said, „You’re not serious about this. You don’t really want this. You don’t want to be my friend.“ God says, „Let me go, stop playing! You don’t really want to do what it takes to lay hold of everything I have for you. You’re still playing games.“ And God says, „I’m a businessman.“ Hey, His business is the kingdom. But God says, „I’m a businessman; I love you, but I’m not going to play games with you. Only holler at me if you’re ready for real. My mercy and my grace will be there; you’ve got that all day, baby! You’ve got my love, you’ve got my mercy, you’ve got my grace—you’ve got that all day! But if you really want to be a kingdom soldier, if you really want to be my friend, if you really want to walk in fullness and in victory and power, if you really want to be the head and not the tail, if you really want to live in such a way that every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, then you can’t play with me!“ So God says, „Let me go.“ Not quite that way, but He says, „Let me go.“
Then Jacob says, „I will not let you go unless you bless me.“ Moving right on to verse 27, God said to him, „What is your name?“ And he said, „Jacob.“ There’s a lot to that because, well, let me keep reading now. I didn’t want to preach as I read because I wanted to get you seated, but I’ll just tell you really quickly. He asked him his name, and Jacob had a history of being a slickster, pretending and faking. God says, „If we’re going to do business, you’ve got to be real with me. What’s your name for real? Not the ideal version of you; I need the real version. Tell me the truth. I know already anyway; I just need for us to have a certain level of agreement before we can start moving in the things that I want to allow you to move in.“ He said, „What is your name?“ And Jacob said, „All right, you got me. Jacob, ” which literally means supplanter, shyster, slickster, right? He was named and defined by his issues, his struggles.
In verse 28, God said, „Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.“ That’s some of you in here right now in the year of becoming. You struggled through some stuff, but the fact that you’re standing here tonight, December 31st, 2018, hallelujah, is a testimony that you prevailed! Oh God! God put you through some stuff, and man put you through some stuff, but you wiggled your way through! We’re not going to even play with that! He said, „Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.“ Then Jacob asked, saying, „Tell me your name, I pray.“ And he said, „Why is it that you ask my name?“ That was kind of interesting. That jumped out at me. God is basically saying, „You know who I am; why are you playing? Why are you pretending to not know what you know?“ I almost want to unpack that, but we’ve got to get through this.
2019: The Year of Perspective
You see, this is 2019—the year of perspective. What God is doing is saying, „Listen, I need you to stop pretending like you’re not who you’re not. I need you to look at everything that you’re dealing with, all your decisions and everything; stop looking at them through the lens of a lesser version of you.“ This is the year of your perspective! I feel the Spirit of God in this house! This is the year of perspectives! Every time you move, it’s going to be according to who you are! Every time you open your mouth, it’s going to be according to who you are! Every contract, every deal won’t be signed unless it’s from Him! If you’re going to live a life, stop playing! Okay? You’re going to flow differently this year! I’m almost done! You’re going to flow differently; you’re going to flow differently! God is shifting your perspective. He’s shifting your perspective!
That’s what He did with Jacob. He says, „You’ve been caught! You shall no longer be called Jacob anymore; you’re going to call you Israel! You’re going to call you by the name that I called you! You’re not a slickster! I know you do slick things, but my DNA is in you.“ Some of you are getting ready to break out of false identities! You’re going to make up your mind once and for all: you are who God says you are! No more vacillating back and forth! „I’m powerful in God!“ „I’m strong in God!“ Oh, somebody give me a sandwich! The devil is a liar! I am who God says I am! By the grace of God, I am who I am! I will no longer shrink back! 2019 is going to be a year of focus!
Isaiah 43:1 – Created and Formed
Let me read one last passage: Isaiah 43 and verse 1. This one verse: „But now, thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘I have called you by your name; you are mine.’“ Now, if you graze over that, you would think that He’s talking to two different people. He’s talking to one person! So God is saying, „I both create and I form, so that what I have created will ultimately look like what was in my head before I started.“ Are you tracking with me?
Reflecting on 2017 and 2018
In 2018, you can sit down if you want to. In 2018, every year I’ve been graced to give a prophetic word about the year—not because I’m special, but because I believe, as we all should, to walk in what many call the Issachar anointing. They were one of the tribes, and it says this about the tribe—they had an understanding of times and seasons and what Israel ought to do, what the people of God ought to do. So every year I pray and say, „God, what sort of word about the season of the new year are you releasing?“ If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve heard several words: the year of alignment was a couple of years ago, and God was bringing things into alignment. Alignment is difficult because it seems all cute and fluffy, „Oh, I’m getting into alignment.“ But to get into alignment means that things that are not in alignment have to break off.
So 2017 was a year of alignment, and it was probably one of the most difficult years, but you got some things in order and stepped into 2018, which was a year of becoming. What’s kind of tricky about alignment is that you think that the moment you’re aligned, you start to take off and prosper and grow and blow up and all that kind of stuff. No! No! Alignment is just positioning you! It’s just positioning you! You still have to become! It’s like Psalm 1. We love that! It says, „Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.“ For his delight is in the law of the Lord, you know it. So, there is an alignment that must take place to get you in a position to grow, evolve, and ultimately to become.
So 2018 is the year of becoming. It’s a year of becoming. Things have been happening. The becoming process is hard; that’s the difference between being created and being formed. The Hebrew word that was translated as ‘form’ when he says, „I formed you, O Israel, ” literally means to squeeze into form and has the idea of a potter with clay on its wheel. So that the season of becoming is challenging and tricky because all of your stuff shows up. Hey! And so I don’t have a ton of time because we’ve got to launch this thing right into midnight; you’re in it! Matter of fact, I’m just going to talk to you! I can’t do this without enough time to do that—I’m just going to talk to you!
The Process of Becoming
So, I like Jacob’s story; there are several stories in the scripture about people becoming, about them going from God creating them to God forming them. That’s your destiny! To be honest with you, God created you, and that is wonderful, but He is yet for you in becoming! I’ll be honest with you—it’s not a one-stop shop; we never really arrive as it relates to becoming. But there are critical and pivotal moments where you begin to take shape in such a way that your life will never be the same again. Oh God, I feel it! When you go from trying to figure out who you are to trusting and knowing who you are—beginning to reflect the glory of who you are—nothing can stand before you!
Oh, let me say that again! You cannot project what you don’t perceive! In other words, you can’t even project the glory of who you truly are until you believe who you are! Until your perspective changes! Are you tracking with me? That’s why you come around some people, and they’re gorgeous and all this kind of stuff, but they’re emitting ugly because their perspective about themselves is such. I believe we’re moving into a season where God’s people are going to get a revelation about who they are, and they’re going to start walking in places where they’re going to shine with the manifest presence and the manifest glory of God! Because listen, the greatest glory that rests on your life is the person that got formed.
I’ve got to say this right—I’ve got to say this right. When God finishes forming you, and you have this encounter with God where you recognize, „Oh, that’s why I went through that! Oh snap, that’s why that had to happen! Oh, okay, I get it now!“ You stop blaming God, and you stop being mad at God, and you realize that the difficulty that you went through was part of the shaping and the becoming process. You didn’t know what was going on because you were dizzy from being on the potter’s wheel! But God was shaping you, molding you into something that would ultimately be unbreakable and unshakable; it would shine and blind every devil, demon, and hinderance, and obstacle! Oh, I feel God! You’re going to shine so bright that nothing negative will be able to stick to you! If it’s not Jesus, it’s going to flee! I feel that thing right there!
And that same light is going to attract every miracle. There are miracles assigned to the real you. There’s favor assigned to the real you! All of creation is out there waiting for you to be the real you! The real you is getting ready to shake up your workplace, to shake up your industry! I feel it! And what you cannot do is disqualify yourself because of the colorful dynamic of your background! See, the reason why I chose Jacob to illustrate this point is that Jacob had a very colorful background. Hey! He had a very colorful background! I mean, drama from birth. You’ve got to study this—it’s incredible. Just drama from birth! He’s a twin, and he’s sliding into first position! He was a manipulator. His twin brother Esau was hungry one day, and he came out of the field working. He was hungry! Like, „Oh, I’m so hungry!“ And Jacob said, „How hungry?“ Esau said, „I’m hungry! I’ll do anything for some food, anything!“ And Jacob ends up swindling— you’ve got to study it! It’s the craziest drama! I’ll tell you, you can just put Netflix on sleep and just read about Jacob! And he weasels the man’s birthright from him! It’s crazy!
And if that wasn’t enough, when it was time for their father Isaac to bless him, Isaac says, „Bring Esau in here, ” because there was a little bit of family drama; he favored Esau over Jacob, but Rachel favored Jacob over Esau. Isaac said, „I’m getting ready to bless my firstborn, Esau—bring him to me!“ And Rachel hears about it, and Rachel slides Jacob—oh, tricky self—up in there, and he ends up robbing him of the blessing! You’ve got to study it! Too much story to tell! His life is marked by shifty-ness! He has a colorful background! He’s got thirteen kids by four different women—he’s got two wives, but only signed up for one! He is slicking people! His uncle Laban slicked him, and he turned around and slicked him back! Colorful background! But I learned something about God. Why would God use him to ultimately be the father of the tribes of Israel, the tribe through which the Messiah, who would redeem the world, would come? Why would He use somebody with such a colorful background? I mean, just scandalous! Are you tracking with me?
God Uses Colorful Backgrounds
I’m learning something about this becoming process: it takes a little bit of joy, a little bit of pain, a little bit of holiness, a little bit of, can I say it? An ex-freak! Can I say that? I’m in LA! I couldn’t say it in Denver, but I can say it here. Oh, you don’t like it? Don’t sit over there and act like this! You know why I say a little bit of an ex-freak? Because an ex-freak is thankful for the mercy of God! Come on, somebody! That if it had not been for the grace and the goodness and the mercy of Jesus, I would have died in my freakiness! You don’t like it? You don’t like it? That’s all right. Somebody—I got real quiet.
I’m learning, I’m learning, I’m learning that to truly become, it takes all of that—the stuff that you count yourself out about. It takes that. In this encounter with God, Jacob, as he’s wrestling with God, his perspective is changing. The whole thing was to get him to the perspective about who he was! His perspective is changing! His perspective, first of all, about himself is changing! I believe that Jacob, you know, it’s funny—I did a little study on what happened when it says that he touched his hip. Well, it wasn’t necessarily his hip, like hip like you think! Because you think hip, and you put your hands—and you think that that’s not where he touched. You know the story! In the story they’re wrestling, and the Bible says that Jacob essentially is winning!
But the only problem is he’s wrestling with God! You’re supposed to let God win! If you’re winning a fight with God, you’re really not winning! Are you tracking with me? And so they’re wrestling, and Jacob is prevailing over God—which is not God’s problem; it’s Jacob’s problem! And God loves Jacob too much to let him win! Because there’s destiny on his life! I feel God! This is some of you! I just want to say it real quick, like I see it! The reason why you haven’t won like you’ve been wanting to win is because there’s too much destiny on your life! And God is saying, „No, I’m going to slow you down! I’m going to hold you back because I have too much investment in you! And if you come up the way you want to come up, I’ll never get you back!“ Who in the world am I talking to? „You will not! 2018 is going to be my year!“ But God said, „No, it’s not going to be your year because you’re trying to have it your way, and if you have it your way, you’ll miss your way!“ Are you tracking with me?
So God reaches in—oh my God, I’ve got to keep moving! God reaches in, and He touches Jacob’s hip! Right? And the battle shifts! He touches his hip, but it really ain’t his hip! Study it in Hebrew—He reaches in, and the Bible says that He touches—truthfully—his inner thigh! Mm-hmm! It’s inner thigh! And you know what’s close to your inner thigh if you’re a man? Hello, somebody! Don’t stop that tonight! Now, sit there sensitive and stuff! I want you to get this because if you keep, if you give in to that Hebrew word and keep breaking it down, it literally means his generative parts—generate, produce! So he grabbed him by–that’s why I was like, „Oh, I need you to bless me now! I won’t let you go until you fix this!“ Study it! He grabs him!
Okay, y’all too serious. Okay? He grabs him—watch this! And He disables his ability to produce for himself! Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit! In order to save his life! To save him! Because he had tribes in him! He had a nation in him! He had us in him! And He had to touch his inner thigh up high! Jacob had to learn! See, because Jacob was so talented! I feel the Lord! Because he was so talented and because he knew how to navigate things and weasel his way in and out of things, he learned to trust in himself and not God! I feel that! Some kings in scripture lost everything, and not all of them had scandalous lives! There were a few that made only one mistake—and that was they stopped trusting in the Lord!
God had brought them to certain places; He had given them position, He had given them promise, and they just stopped trusting! The worst thing you could ever do is stop trusting in the Lord! So he learned in that moment not to rely upon himself! And then I also think he learned in that moment to be worthy! See, there are some people in here right now and I’m about to prophesy all night and we’re going to pray and we’re going to party in just a few minutes! But the reality of it is words from God just bounce right off you! And they bounce right off you because in the recesses of your psyche, you don’t feel worthy of the high-level things that God is speaking!
I feel God so much so that when good things come, you sabotage them! Not you—somebody you might know. But see, see unworthiness is a huge problem because it will show up! You will begin to do weird stuff! I don’t know where! Just sabotage it! Have the best thing going! But somehow in the recesses of your mind, you’re thinking, „This is not going to last! This always happens to me!“ And if you dig into it, and if you dig down into deep enough, there’s a spirit of unworthiness somewhere!
Jacob had that! Right before this, he’s praying to God! He says, „God, I’m not worthy of the least of your mercies!“ And I believe for some of you as you step into this new year, you have to shake that off! It’s not because you’re so good! It’s not because you’re so righteous! God says, „I’ll have mercy on who I have mercy on!“ So he learned his things about himself! I want to just move through this because we’re going to pray in a moment! But then I also think he learned some things about God! I think he learned that God is not this sensitive emotional pout when you mess up! „If you’re not clean, don’t touch me!“
I think he learned that God was real! And the reason why I know when I say God is real, I mean God deals in real things! God deals in colorful things! I know we don’t like that, but with the exception of Jesus, just about everybody He used in the Bible had a colorful background! Paul—colorful! He killed Christians—colorful! Rahab the harlot—colorful! Tax collectors and publicans—colorful!
Oh, come on, somebody! The woman caught in the act of adultery—colorful! Mary Magdalene—the freak—the x-rated—colorful! Y’all don’t like it, but it’s true! Even God cherry-picked all the people I needed! This is very Jim right here! Anytime not to my Mary! I need this already, you know why? Because one time, and that was it! But not the people that He got mileage out of—colorful! Peter? Cussing and cutting off ears and butt-naked—jumping in the ocean—colorful! Colorful! And even, isn’t it interesting that God would use for the sign of a covenant of mercy—a rainbow? Colorful! You think I’m joking? Jacob even gives his favorite son, Joseph, when he’s early on, a coat of many colors! Let’s all say it together—colorful! So the more I like that, the more your life—the more you can use! You’re tracking with me?
Watch this! Even Jesus became colorful! Oh, you don’t like that? Oh, religious people like, „Oh, you done did it now! First, you took my ball, grabbing all this and that! And now THIS is just too much! Now you say Jesus was colorful?“ No, I didn’t say that! I said Jesus became colorful! For God made Him who had no sin to become sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! God’s going to use your color! He’s going to use your background! He’s going to use your disappointment! He’s going to use your setbacks! He’s going to use the things—I feel God! He’s going to use everything because He wastes nothing! He brought you out so that you can bring others out!
The Moment at Peniel
That’s why God said to Jacob, „Boy, what is your name?“ Don’t come over here faking like you’ve never done anything! No! Come over here faking like you’ve always sought me first! „What is your name?“ And he says, „Jacob. The colorful Boy Wonder! I’m Jacob! I’m trying to do better! That’s why I’m here! That’s why we’re wrestling! Because I’m trying to get in my life! Because there’s something on the inside of me that knows I can’t go on like this! I’ve made a mess of my life! My brother is seeking to kill me! I’m trying to make amends with my brother, but it’s crazy! There’s so much going on! Esau is looking for me! I’ve just messed up in my life! And I heard about the God of my father—the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac! And just maybe, just maybe, if I get in front of you and I bear all, you’ll bless me!“ And he did!
And it was all to get to a perspective! It was all to get Jacob to this moment of becoming where he would no longer call himself Jacob, but from that moment forward, he would be called Israel. That’s where you’re at! I really believe that God’s going to speak some things to you! I believe with all my heart that He’s going to call you by your real name! But I want you to be honest! See, Jacob named the place where he had this encounter! It completely shocked him! He thought he was unworthy, and God blessed him and brought him into his inheritance! Right? He had his moment of becoming, and he names the place Peniel. He says, „I’ve seen God face to face, and I didn’t die! I’ve seen God face to face, and I survived!“
I think the last moment of becoming for you tonight—I believe that many of you are going to step into some things. God’s going to show you something! He’s going to change your name and change your perspective tonight! We’re going to pray for you! I think it’s going to happen! And when it happens, hear me! We’re going to pray in a second! When it happens, you’re going to have to fight to maintain that perspective! That’s why this is the year of perspective! I would take the first month of the year, maybe even the first quarter of the year, to rehearse and regurgitate all the words that God speaks to me and all the things that God says to me! I would use it to fight back against everything that would try to present an alternative perspective of self and perspective of God!
I’ll tell you right now—somebody, I was on social media the other day, and somebody called me by my name! My name from Watts! Yeah! Without right! Right? Right? Because not everybody—but some people will try to pitch their perspective on you to see if you’re going to answer! I don’t— I don’t know! Right? Right? Right? You’ve got to guard your perspective! You have to fight against things! You’re going to have to fight against old seasons and old people and old situations! Because who you are, there’s a sound connected to who you truly are! There’s a sound! And if you do not hear that sound come out of somebody’s voice, then they are not for you! You can’t help them! They cannot help you! Because the only person that can help you is the person that truly sees you!
And if you don’t truly see me, that means you don’t have perspective of me! And I love you, but I can’t rock with you! Because we can’t get together and make a baby! Because I’m only putting out holy babies! Are you tracking with me? I’m only pushing out holy babies! If you don’t see me right and I don’t see you right, what can we produce? So here’s what I want to do—if you’re here tonight and you say, „Pastor, I want to be real with God! I want to see God face to face!“ That’s interesting! I want to see God face to face! A true encounter with God, an encounter of surrender, is a face-to-face encounter! It’s not just God looking at you! His face is always towards you! A face-to-face encounter is when you finally stop thinking on your ways and turn your feet to His testimonies, as David said!
So having a face-to-face with God, the onus is not on God—the onus is on you being willing to show God to look! You know people, they don’t look at you! I can’t, I can’t not—it drives me crazy! I won’t do business with you! I may not even pray for you! It’ll be a quick prayer! Look me in the eye! Show me who you are! What’s your name? If you’re here and you want to look God face to face, and you want to be real with God, and you don’t want to step into 2019 faking and shaking, but you want to step into 2019 knowing that you’ve had a true face-to-face with God, right here at this altar we’re going to pray for you! You’re going to have a moment with God, and I believe as you’re real with God and tell Him who you’ve been, He’s going to tell you who you truly are and where you’re headed!
Altar Call for Face-to-Face Encounter
If that’s you, I want you to come and meet me at the altar! Everyone else, stand if you would! That’s you! I want you to come meet me at the altar! What better way to cross over into 2019 than at the altar, having a face-to-face with God? Come on! Come on! The countdown has started! Come on! Hallelujah! Midnight at the altar! Stepping into 2019 with a face-to-face! With a face-to-face! I’m Jacob! I’m Jacob! I’m Ray-ray, whatever! I’m Baby! I’m Boo-boo, whatever! Because I’m not going to be Jacob anymore! We’re almost there! Come on! Make your way there! I want you to be here! Get as close as you can! It’s about to be midnight! It’s about to be midnight right here at the altar! Powerful things in the scripture happened at midnight!
I believe you’re about to experience something—here we go! Here we go! Seven, six, five, four… some are thinking we’re having a face-to-face with God! Hallelujah! We’re coming into the new year on our face! We’re coming into the new year in His presence! In His courts! Family, let me tell you my story! I know if you’ve been here for any length of time, you’ve heard it before! But this was in 2000, and I was Jacob, man! I was Jacob! I knew the promises of my father, but quite frankly, I didn’t know—I didn’t know what living out the life that I was called to look like!
I didn’t know it, so I was kind of in this pickle because I believe in God; I had that part worked out! But because I was talented and gifted and skilled, I was producing out of my own strength! Are you tracking with me? Because that’s all I knew how to do! And I knew how to succeed in my own way, right? And God just did it! Man, I was at a moment, a season in my life where I was prospering outside, but inside, I just—there’s a timing thing in that story! He sends people away, and he finds himself alone! But it doesn’t even really say that he created that alone time; it just was time! And God starts wrestling with him! And that’s what’s been happening in the hearts of some of you—God’s wrestling! Not because He’s trying to hurt you, but it’s your time!
It’s time for your name to change! The world needs your name to change, right? And it wasn’t even that Jacob was a bad name—that wasn’t necessarily it! But it wasn’t his divine name! Jacob was successful! You study it; it’s crazy! He was very rich at that moment—he got richer! But he was very rich at that moment, he was successful! He had two wives by mistake (it’s a long story), but his inside started catching up to him! And God says, „It’s time! I need you!“ So for me, I was Jacob! And so I went on this search, right? It was about seven months! I’m struggling back and forth! „I’m going to get it together! I’m going to do right!“ And then do wrong! You’ve been there before! Paul said, „It was kind of like the good that I want to do, I don’t do. And the thing that I’m trying not to do, that’s the thing I do!“ That was me for seven months—back and forth, back and forth!
And then I had this Peniel moment, and it was just like this for me in the seventh month—the number of completion—when God said, „Enough is enough! A just man falls seven times and then rises up again!“ That means that there is a perfect moment for a radical change! That’s what it was like for me, right? And so God was in that moment—in that seventh month—He said, „You sought me, and now you found me!“ And He takes me back over my life! And He shows me how it wasn’t because I was so smart! He says, „Lookie here! Right there! It could have all crumbled right there! Look at here! He made this deal—it could have all come down right there! Look at that! You see that? Oh, you were a little careless over there! I could have come back and bite you!“
He showed me that it wasn’t me—that it was Him all along! Oh! Protected me, and guided me, and covered me, and kept me! And somehow in my big head, I thought it was me! He said, „Let me show you something! All I had to do is reprogram that scenario right there! All I had to do is rewrite that line in your story, and you would be out of here!“ He said, „You sought me, and now you found me! And I am who I am! Don’t ask me! Don’t be like Jacob and ask me what my name is! You know who I am! I’m the one that was with you!“
When you were 9, I’m the one that was with you when you were 16, bleeding in South Central! Don’t, don’t, don’t! Why are you asking me what my name is? You know—I’ve proven that I’m good! Don’t play with me! Stop! No! He said, „You sought me, and now you found me! What are you going to do?“ And I remember, the only way I can describe it— I just remember the conversation we’ve got up to that point was God speaking to me in my ear! And if He’s speaking to me in my ear, that means that I’m not facing Him! That means I’m still facing my way, trying to decide what I’m going to do next!
That’s what some are in this room; some watching via live stream right now! God’s talking to you! But He’s talking to you to your ear because you haven’t turned to Him entirely! As long as I’m doing this—sometimes, I’ll be honest— sometimes when people are talking to me that I don’t necessarily want to spend a whole bunch of time with my body language is like this! And I’m hoping that that means stop talking to me so that I can move this way! That’s when I’m in a very good mood! But we do God like that, don’t we? I’m going to stay right here like this! As long as you’re talking good! But when you require something of me, I’m going to be like, „I ain’t listening!“ Oh, wait! Hold on! I can’t!
And so in that moment, when He was saying, „You sought me, and now you found me, ” that was going in my ear! He said, „You sought me, and now you found me. What are you going to do?“ And I knew that my life needed to do something! Not my mouth! I knew that my life—like the totality of mine, you know what I’m trying to say—like my life needed to do something! Like the whole of who I am needed to do something! And I just remember, family, this is how I was! And this is how it’s going to happen for you! I remember just turning to face the voice that was talking to me! I wasn’t afraid to turn! And I surrendered!
And family, let me tell you! Instantaneously—nobody laid hands on me! Instantaneously, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit of God! Nobody touched me! That was later; I got an impartation later! But that was between me and God! It was a face-to-face! And I was filled with the Spirit of God! And my eyes got light! And my heart got strong! And the taste for things got taken out of my mouth instantaneously! I’m talking about things—the taste was gone—just like that! Strength! Clarity! I went and I picked up the scriptures! And where it used to be just boring text—confusing, unrealistic, boring, just full text—all of a sudden, out of words, jumping off the page! Wisdom is coming off the pages, smacking me in the face! I’m like, „How did I miss that?“
It was like God wanted to activate me; it was like He turned me on! I thought I was on! Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost! Put me on! You don’t even know what you’re asking for! It was like God turned the real me on! BAM! And the whole world looked different! And stuff that was stealing from me—life—time—energy! I probably look younger now than I did then! It was like this restoration thing came upon me! He changed my name! And I’ve been walking in that identity ever since—from faith to faith and glory to glory! And He wants to do the same thing for you! We want to change your name!
Prophecy for Inspiration and Innovation
So we just want to pray for you! I love you so much! Happy New Year! I believe, family, that something’s going to happen here! And you’ve got to fight! You’ve got to fight for your perspective! I’m telling you that when God gives you—I think there’s going to be a lot of inspiration! New inspiration as you are aligned in this way! There’s going to be fresh inspiration! And when God gives you inspiration, you’ve got to consider it a gift because inspiration is the seed of innovation! Are you tracking with me? It is the seed!
Oh, glory to God! Can I prophesy for a minute? It’s the seed! See, your wholeness—your wholeness is going to be your advantage! Because, I mean, you can just—you can google this right now! The economy is doing something weird right now! Man! I love telling God’s people this type of stuff! The economy is on the brink of doing something real strange! It’s got to be a crash! I’m not trying to scare you! It’s going to work for you if you’re aligned right! Wealthy people understand that a crash is not a bad thing! That’s when you get in!
I wish somebody would catch what I’m saying! How do you think Joseph got so rich? It was a crash in Egypt! But God had prepared him beforehand! You are in the right place tonight! I did not think that this was going to happen like this! Joseph, the one with the coat of many colors—the son of colorful Jacob—was positioned! His becoming was placed to place and placed to place! And then guess what? There was a crash in Egypt! But the Lord spoke to him beforehand, and he began to position himself so that the crash did not affect him!
I feel the Holy Spirit tonight! Wow! The crash did not affect him; it prospered him! You’ve got to stop playing now! Because God’s people who are listening, the sons of Issachar, understood times and seasons! And God will give you inspiration, which is the seed of innovation! So that you can be positioned to prosper when everything is crumbling! I’ve been noticing the level of service in a lot of places is dropping way low! Like, so much so that I won’t even do business with some places that I’ve done business with forever because the service is dropping!
It’s getting way lower! I’m like, „What is this?“ And people who don’t get it, who can’t rest in the promises and assurances of God—they’re freaking out right now! And so you’re going to start seeing companies shaken up and falling! Big companies! Companies that you would think would never fall! Can I talk to some? Where are my real people in here tonight that believe that God has called you to something serious? If you’re an entrepreneur—serious entrepreneur—raise your hand!
Oh God, I’m going to pray for you! It’s your moment! It’s for the kingdom! I’m not trying to gas you up about wealth! Because you can have all that and be broke internally, which means that you’re poor! Sometimes the people you’re— you just all wish, „I had their money!“ Or wish, „I had their life!“ because you see the money! But wealth is balance! True wealth is balance! It’s not just money! It’s family! It’s relationships! It’s health! It’s inner wealth! That’s true wealth! Don’t let nobody tell you that! Are you tracking with me?
Wealth is balance! It’s balance! There are going to be opportunities, family, and God is going to whisper them into your ear! He’s going to inspire you at night! Keep your pen by your bed! Honor—honor inspiration! Honor inspiration! It is a gift from God! I know it doesn’t seem like anything because it’s only a thought! But everything that’s around us happened because of a thought! Are you tracking with me? If you’re making this decision tonight, say, „God, me and you face-to-face! I give my heart to you! I’m telling you who I am! I’m going to stop playing! I was turned up last night! I was turned up this morning! God, I’m high right now, if I’m to be honest, just a little bit. That’s all right! I love it! Look now, because you got glaucoma! I understand! I understand! It’s for medicinal reasons! I got you! Whatever, okay? But God, I’m Jacob! Heal my glaucoma! And I won’t do—I’ll be real with Him tonight! He can handle it! He’s not a baby! He’s not the sensitive little brat that we make Him out to be! God was so designed—
Oh, I just disappointed Jesus! Be quiet! No, you didn’t! Why, pastor? Because Jesus is omniscient! That means that He can’t be disappointed! He knows everything! There has to be an ignorance in order for there to be disappointment! I thought something was going to happen, but it didn’t! I’m shocked, and now therefore I’m disappointed! I am pouting at you! You’re on time out! God can handle color! He can handle color—because He knows how to take all that and mix it up and put the Holy Ghost on it and stand it up and cause it to be something beautiful for His glory! Keep your pen nearby!
And keep this perspective! See, prophecy is to create perspective! How I see now-prophecy! How I see now — prophecy! It’s to change the way you see! If you change the way you see, you change what you expect! If you change what you expect, you change what you get! I can talk to you all night! I just love you, man! I just want to pour! It’s been six weeks! Y’all miss Jim! I miss you! It’s good to be back, baby! Can you pray? You receive what I’m saying? Pray! This is a face-to-face moment for all of us, and this is going to be an incredible year!