Your Position of Authority

Are you being held captive by your own thoughts? Well, this episode dives into the establishment of God's authority and empowers believers to possess the "gates of their enemies" (Genesis 22:17). We explore what this means in practical terms, particularly in taking authority over opposing forces, including our own thoughts and perceptions, as highlighted in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to For Life and For Legacy. We appreciate you jumping on in today. Looking forward to making something great. Because there's greatness in you. So just sit back and don't relax yourself. Get tuned in. Get tuned up. And I tell you what, get fired up. Because we're about to tackle some good things that are good for your life and legacy. Start a communication. We get, so, you know, I love it. You know what? You know what? I'm going to repent right now. Because y'all are good at it. Y'all are good at it. Y'all are good at it than I thought. I put it all the way down here. I'm going to go get it right now. I'm going to go get it right here. I'm going to get it. See, what you're just talking about is Luke, Luke the sixth chapter, verse 47. I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and put them into practice. He gives us guidance. He gives us peace. There's a restoration of communication. That's what salvation is, is that now I get to talk to the one who created me. As opposed to just wondering. I don't know if y'all ever prayed and just wondered if he heard you. Yes. Okay, all right. Thank you. I knew there was at least one of us in here besides myself. Some of y'all being quiet. If anybody in here ever prayed and wondered if God heard you, amen, amen. But then the good thing to know that isn't a good thing to know that when you say that God always has an ear out for your words, he's got an ear looking for your words right then, but he will answer you because he is a savior. I don't, I won't say it slowly because he is a saint. He's a savior. I didn't deliver it wrong. Right. I apologize. He might take his time, but because he is a savior, he's going to come to the rescue. Are y'all with me so far? I know I need to slow down. I apologize for moving so fast, but I don't have much time. He is a savior. It is in him to save. So if it's in him to save, he's going to save. We need to take confidence in knowing that if he's a savior, that he's just going to, he's just going to do it. Even though it takes him, how can I tell you that it takes him a little bit of time because these prophecies, some of these prophecies were thousands of years before Jesus showed up. And there's a scripture that says at the appointed time, he came for, at the what? Appointed time. Let's go back to that crocheting. There has to be a pattern. And sometimes we, we get, we get disillusioned when the pattern doesn't go the way we want the pattern to go. But at the appointed, somebody said the appointed time, he's got to say why? Because he's a savior. Yeah, I knew what I was going to come up with. He's going to do it. He's a savior. Y'all say it with me. He's a savior. He's a savior. And so here we go. Here we go. So he's a savior. Look, saviors give us hope for the future. Amen. Hope for the future. Can I read Isaiah 61 and three for you to a point of them that morning Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of what heaven is that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planning of Lord that he might be glorified. Let me read it one more time that you might be, that you might be given beauty for ashes. If you will. That's physical. That you might be given beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for morning. That's emotional. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaven is spiritual. So he's going to take care of your physical, your emotional and your spiritual needs. Y'all see the savior comes. He's extending his hand out in each regard, both for your physical, your emotional and your spiritual needs. I'm going to do that again for your physical, your emotional and your spiritual needs. Y'all see that with me? I know I jumped in there real quick, but Isaiah 61 and three, anybody ever read that really good? I mean, just, just broke that down. Beautiful ashes. What does that mean? Come on. Let's talk about that. Beautiful ashes. What's ashes. What's happened with ashes. You got ashes. What's ashes? You got safftoth and ashes. Safftoth and ashes. Right. And so you got a point where you, you even in ashes, if something's get burned down, what you something called a fire when somebody, let's go back in the old time and somebody burned your city down and normally you made it out of wood. Beautiful what? Ashes. In other words, he's going to restore those things that may have been burned down. Those that have been torn down. Right. He's going to, he's going to get to you. As you just alluded to, let's go down to the one that says he'll give you what? The oil of joy for mourning, mourning. You get to the point where everybody ever been really sad. I mean, you've been sad, sad, you're passing over a loved one, something like that. But God says, I'm going to give you the oil of joy. Oil of joy. What do we use oil for? Oil. What do we use oil for? Cooking. You would say that. Anointing. Anointing. An anointing oil, an anointing. Anointing that will be put upon you. There's an anointing on you. Even in the midst of mourning, there's an anointing on you to bring you joy. We just read the scriptures that said that they want to give you everlasting joy Can I stop here real quick because I know it's happening in a Christian body Is that there's been a rash of people who are going through depression? And the enemy tries to I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit But the enemy tries to if you will confine our thoughts and our heart based based on what we've experienced Based on what we've experienced. That's what he does He confines our hearts and our and our hopes based on what we've experienced And if we just think on these things, which is what we've experienced their truthfully depression will set in right? But when we realize That that's not the way it should be The things will change because God is a savior. We're gonna just talk about today He's a savior and if he's a savior that means he's a savior He's come to rescue us from those thoughts from those from those unforeseen patterns from the unforeseen Circumstances in life and as we begin to realize this oil this oil some I say the oil The oil of joy is there for a purpose Go with me to Isaiah 10 and 27 Isaiah 10 and 27 the oil is there for a purpose You know at one point in time especially last Sunday We had an opportunity to look at some of the things that I believe Zacharias had to do and when you get to 10 and 27 Just say amen Zachariah had to do he did he had the incense and there's actually a formula for the oil in Scripture I thought at one point in time like the anointing oil Amen that there was no formula at one point in time, but the formula is in the scripture And that anointing oil was indeed full and it was specific for the use of the priest to anoint the people There was a specific purpose. It actually goes forward to say you don't use it for any other purpose Yeah, I'm saying you don't you don't use it for any other purpose This oil is specific as needful. If you had Isaiah 10 and 27 somebody read that for me really quick Destroyed There is a yoke y'all That's the enemy tries to put on us in our emotional sometimes even our emotional distress because we feel that we need salvation even at that moment and Lord help us if We know things seem like they're just not going the way we want them to be But there's an anointing. Can I say can somebody say that with me? There's an anointing as an anointing on me I just need to remind myself that there's an anointing on me Are y'all with me? I Need to remind myself. There's an anointing on me to overcome this obstacle this burden this time It says they're annoying and it says the yoke shall be destroyed off your neck because of what the anointing So it didn't say there wouldn't be a yoke Are you with me? It didn't say there wouldn't be a trial. They didn't say that It didn't even in the same in Isaiah 61 and 3 it didn't say you won't mourn This is what there will be an oil of joy for your more I know it was I have a salve I have a salve as in salvation a salve They use to put on people if you ever been shot or whatever something that you put on you to help heal the wound Right, it's a salve you put it on there to help heal the wound and that's essentially what he said I have an anointing for you to help heal this wound Because here's the truth ladies and gentlemen boys and girls brothers and sisters Is that we live in a world that has been if you will eroded by sin It's been captivated by the thoughts of lust and and we have problems to deal with some of the things that have come about I mean even the ailments in our body And our body really are things that try to tear us down and keep us from believing in the promises of God Am I right y'all? So I gotta go cuz I'm running out of time, so here we go Hallelujah, so we understand that the promises are true and they said the oil of joy for mourning The garment of praise for the spirit of what? Heaven is so there is opportunity for the spirit of heaven is to lay upon you But he gives us the garment of praise Okay, even pastor would say if you praise him you'll feel better If you praise him you feel better, and I know it seems like that's not the right thing to do at certain moments But it is the right thing to do Matter of fact everybody Gotta play some football gotta play some football been some sports and sometimes you know it seemed like you know what? You feel like you're tired and the coach tell you no you do some more Just do one more no coach. I'm No, you need to do one more. There's an opportunity here I think even in the rock would do it in his in his exercise He said he learned to lift some weights And then you get to a point where he realized he was at his it is it was it and he go find the heaviest Weight and he push it Mmm. He push it Just do two not ten not ten as a rep he do two and what he'd end up doing is finding out after he did That as his last set when he come back because he pushed it to the next level for that set his body it was Justin And sometimes we think well, maybe we ought to quit no don't quit now Don't quit now you do you so far ahead. You don't even know it. You know there's statements even in the army I'll share it with somebody the other day if you ever been an army you want on one of them one of them nice little walks Call it one of them little walks Especially if you all you all get out You all get out and everything and sometimes near the last mile before you make that last turn and I understood it some of the Soldiers drill sergeant will tell you quick. You give up now you give up now. We'll put you in the truck And then you don't know it, but you if you just make that one last turn If you just make that one last turn you would see the finish line But there's somebody even people in the camp you think should be cheering you on quit man quick quick quick We got something for you, just jump in the truck no no no see there's an oil on me There's oil on me and sometimes we need to realize that there's some what oil on us That we need not quit when we're not going gets rough because we have a savior We do anybody here know you got a savior. We got a savior. Is he a savior and what does the Savior do he? That's what he does. That's what he does. He saves he saves So we understand that he's given us all this so that we can go through these vicissitudes of life these troubles these ups and downs in life So we we need to put it in our mind that he is a God of promising All right, so let's do this All right, so let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Where were we? Hallelujah Oh, Isaiah 9 and 6 let's go to Isaiah 9 and 6 and we're gonna make we will bring it home. Thank you Don't worry. I ain't forgot what Jesus was And So here's the reason because what we're about to turn to it's something I think that's so profound and so important and You know, we live in a very a Very nice society. I'm gonna just put it that way Most of us don't remember what it's like to go through Times where you couldn't vote most of us don't most of us don't know what it's like to go through Those particular times where people would would would would really Out front say you couldn't do X Y& Z because of the color your skin Most of us don't know that right? Most of us don't know what it's like to actually be denied the right to read the Bible Most of us never experienced that most of us never experienced that if you anybody here was experienced That way you were denied the right to read about right? Most of us have been experiencing most of us have not been in a place where in You were actually going to be thrown in prison for proclaiming the gospel anybody in here Most of us have never been in a place where we had to actually go press grapes Press grapes right in a in a feed trough. Most of us never been there Yeah, some of y'all don't know what I'm talking about. But y'all his boy name It was his name the boy named Bob Thank his name was Gideon remember Gideon He was hiding He was hiding from the Philistines and the other people who because they desired to take over everything that Israelites had They know we were oppressed state because they had been conquered Most of us have never been in a time where you Know you it's good to have at least ten dollars in a bank account It's good to have at least ten dollars in the bank Yeah, you're better glad you have more than two nickels to rub together You have been I mean you ever been in a place where you didn't have two nickels to rub together You remember that feeling when it was like you don't know how to make You couldn't even rob for Peter to pay Paul because you couldn't find him Right What things will just stress out you remember that the way it made you feel just imagine feeling like that all your life All your life You said what are you talking about? This setting is Israel has been going through captivity after captivity after captivity Even now when we get to this point in time where they're actually the Savior has come Israel is still being on the Roman rule They have to pay taxes to both the church through time and a Roman government You know That's a lot That's just a lot right And many instances they were told the priest would tell them listen Don't even take care of your family If you give me give me what you won't give to you to your mom and your daddy and God gonna say you good That was that was corruption y'all I don't know if y'all know That's just corruption. So if you ever think about it that time when you Couldn't find two nickels to rub together feeling like that all your life wondering when salvation was going to come See It's kind of hard to relate sometimes It's hard to relate because you get in your car you turned it on this morning It started you got it You wonder what you were gonna eat you didn't have to think about one that the police was gonna pull you over and hit you And take the money rob your children Don't know if y'all have any clue what I'm talking. This is what they lived in There was no there was no sensibility of rules and what was the right rule was the rule I made up on the street So here we have I say us nine and six who's got it from me who's got three seven because I run out To us the child is born. Yes. Good. Go ahead. So I say son is given. Mm-hmm. The government shall be upon his shoulder Yes, his name shall be called wonderful May they go mighty Yeah Hallelujah keep going because we got to get to the everlasting Peace this be no in no in Over his kingdom Establish it and to uphold it with justice. Yes Yes Even The government shall be upon his what So let me get this straight. We understand that salvation comes and we actually under many times Salvation is that yes, we get to see the Lord Jesus. We get to live with him forever. But how about this? Why are you here? Why are you here serving him why don't you need some protection and save and why Why I'm still got my eyes I need that while I'm here because I know that forever is coming. In other words, there's promise. Oh, yeah I love this one. There's the promise then there's the performance of the promise then there's perfection I'm gonna put it there's the promise. There's the performance of the promise and then there's perfection Let me use it as a good example because I heard some people say what about salvation? You know think some people love salvation because that means there's healing in salvation But there are times in our lives where God does heal us over and over again every day because every day I wake up There's something being done in my body to allow me to wake up and be a good sense of good mind, right? So there's a healing already been performed. I remember I think it was Bishop weeks. He said God continues to heal us Even though we don't see the healing in place and present time that if I woke up God healed God allowed me to be here But there's a time and space where God says I got the promise the promise is an execution now because I'm healing you but there's also a perfection and that perfection doesn't all often take place the way we wanted to take place because the perfection of a promise is The exaltation of God's Word in the windows in this kingdom and sometimes the exaltation don't clap too quick It's the fact that you move from this place to a better place That's the execution and then there's a perfection of the execution I want you to understand that there is times in our lives. We may not like how he perfects things But it is perfect It is perfect it is his will because he knows that this place is corrupt And if I'm going to take you from from promise to the performance of the promise to the perfection I gotta switch gears for you Because I gotta move you from that which is temporal to that which is eternal I gotta move you because guess what? That's where I'm that's my plane. My plane is the moving Of the plane, but listen, that's a plane. That's this beautiful plane that that's the way we go The whole point of salvation is to know that I can't keep you That I can keep you here But this ain't the place to stay That's right, this ain't the places I can keep you here, but this ain't the place to stay maybe I'll see I see I see I see I gotta do this. I gotta do this go to Genesis the 22nd chapter Let me let me prove something to you that Genesis the 22nd chapter verse 17 listen Genesis 22nd chapter verse 17 So here's what we understand that he says the government shall be upon his shoulders I find it interesting that He says if I'm to us a son is born to a child given his name shall be called wonderful counsel mighty God everlasting father Prince of peace now I slip on down to verse 7 where it actually says that you know The government shall be upon his shoulders and of the increase of his government. There should be no in in other words Here's what we understand not only am I saving you Spiritually, but there is a perfecting there is a performance of the promise Forward to the perfecting if you will in me having government set up forever Now, let me anytime you see forever. It leaves the temple I'll say something. I'm gonna say one more time anytime you see is what you see forever It leaves the temple. It wasn't moved from just the promise being performed to it being perfected All right God doesn't stop moving and he just knows that the promise has been performed But I got to move it to the perfection of the promise So when he says forever it means forever that means that if you can't be forever in temple Y'all with me you can't be forever in triple. She's I'm gonna establish a kingdom what forever. So here we go Genesis 22 and 17. I'm gonna establish a kingdom It says that in blessing thee I will bless thee then in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying it I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven as a sand of the sea which is upon the shore and I see Shall possess the gates of the enemies if you read that it'll slip past you And you say so he's gonna possess the gates of the enemies Okay You don't have enemies gates running around No, you gotta look at it the text means specifically that he's going to have I'm gonna talk to minister Bruce God says you're going to possess the gates of the end What does that mean? The gates mean judicial rule? It means a predominant a predominant or dominant place in history where you have the ability to put your foot on your in You have Can I read it the way? Can I read it the way it is? It's the establishment of supreme authority There's no vacillating and whether or not you're going to be in power over this thing right here, it's the establish I'll take it a little further It basically says specifically that you will be it you will have fortified positions that seek to Excuse me The enemy has fortified positions that seek to erode and destroy our power But he's going to give us the ability to have authority over all of that as you hold down the gates of your enemy That's the point of him Establishing a government because he can't you can't have king you can't be king of kings unless you have some games You can't you can't be king of kings unless you got some kings so God said I got to set up an authority That's gonna rest on my shoulders because they can't be in their way and it's gonna be established forever But why are you on this earth? I? Want to make sure you are able to possess the gates of your enemies Just in case you think because we want to be established in the mouth of one or two You can go down. I believe it's let me do this Genesis 24 and 60 and they said to Rebecca and she said to her house And your sister shall be mother of thousands of millions. Let your seed possess the gates of those that hate you Oh, maybe When when you when you break it on down even in Psalms 31 of Proverbs 31 it says that a woman found that her husband was at the gates the gates represent authority They're doing judgments at the gates How about this can I bring in the full focus where did I'm salon meet the people when he tried to upset the kingdom? He met them at the gates. He knew that if I meet them at the gates Then I could turn the tide on the kingdom. I could upset David's my father David's kingdom There is a point where you need to realize okay, you say where you go and the very gates of hell When he's saying the gates those gates they're not literally just those gates that open these are places of authority How about this let me let me bring it further can I go deeper can I go a little deeper here we go Let's go to 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 10 verses 4 through 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 verses 4 through 5 there are gates there are gates there are gates There are literally gates that there are gates that specifically are are those things that are ephemeral those things that you can't really see They're like their gates like their principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness and what high places their gates They're against their gates and if we are God's people and therefore the Savior has come He's come to make sure that we understand that we're to possess the gates of our enemies Why are we here? Because he said I'm gonna put the kingdom. I'm gonna put it on my shoulders Sometimes in sports analogies he put the whole team on his what shoulders he did they put it on the shoulders and it brought him If you dare say I'm name The weapons of our walls are not carnal but I might as you God for the what pulling down on strongholds These are the same thing strongholds casting down imaginations and every half thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God bringing into what? Captivity we're gonna possess the gates. You said what you just do just talking about thoughts your thoughts are gates The way you think of yourself is a gate How you perceive yourself is a gate your ear is a gate your eyes a gate If you don't possess the gates and somebody will possess your gates for you. Yes Here's what we understand that the salvation that is brought to us is verse first We even physically told to this to the shepherds in the field. I don't have time to really go back there He's told to the shepherds in the field. What does that mean? God is really intrinsically involved in people. I don't care what state you read He didn't go to even go to Herod Even go to Cyrenus. He didn't go to any of them. He went to the shepherds in the field He sent the angels to the shepherds in the field to go see about Mary and baby Jesus God is concerned about us at this level that we might be able to see God's salvation come to our home Why is that I want to bring this because back in the day Y'all remember when the disciples asking Jesus said what they were talking about the rich man They said was harder for a rich man to get to get in the heaven And then the camera go through I have a needle and as far as they're concerned the rich would always be able to get in the head Because you can buy your way in. Oh Yeah Even even a Greek text in the Greek text you would actually try to buy you they would bury themselves with wealth with the intent that They thought that they would be able to buy themselves past Hades Why do people who thought that they thought well because you're wealthy then that means you're the blessed of God But what did God do in his grace and his mercy? He's he flipped it. That's right He flipped it. This Savior is a Savior who is righteous and true So he didn't even be he's not born in a mansion That's right Right, he's not born in a mansion He's he's in a bar And the matter of fact, he doesn't they say he's wrapped in swaddling clothing I have time to go into that but at the end of the day they laid him in a manger He said look You can't I can't get no more. I can't get no more realer than this right here with y'all I've got the shepherds coming Who in many instances were in many instances were thought to be one of the lowest things to be most jobs to have They're come to visit the king and the king is a child at this moment, but there's so many promises For him that they're gonna come to pass like the government being on his shoulders There's so many promises coming before him like he's gonna heal the sick matter of fact He's gonna do something. Nobody's ever done Raise the day. Oh, no. No, I got one better for you. He's gonna open the blinded eyes cuz nobody's done He's not gonna just walk on dry land he gonna walk on water What kind of God is this this is what we're talking about when you get to yourself and maybe just maybe you're going through some When you start reading Luke the second chapter start thinking about what it took to make this happen For him for him. Listen, it's one thing to telegraph a punch Y'all remember Muhammad Ali's say I'm gonna hit you did it and I'm gonna knock you out Right God. No, no. No, you got a short Spain God telegraphs his say his words over thousands of you Yeah, and still man's real it in every time Every time he reels it in every when you think you can't do he reels it in again Hallelujah