The Way Church Podcast

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The word of the Lord is going to be found. I have two portion of Scripture this morning. The first will be in First Corinthians, chapter number 10. And then we'll flip over to Matthew, chapter 25, First Corinthians 10 and 31. And it reads, therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

00:00:35
No matter what you do, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Then in the book of Matthew, chapter number 25, we'll read verses 14 through 19.

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And it says, for the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And immediately he went on a journey. Verse 16 says, Then he who had five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more.

00:01:37
Also verse 18 says, but he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his Lord's money. After a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. Family I want to tag a title to this particular text today that simply says, work what he gave you. As you take your seats, just tell the person next to you, work what he gave you. Work what he gave you.

00:02:19
Family. We have been in a series called Power Moves. And if you have been tracking with us, then you know by now that God doesn't want us just to survive life, but he has called us and equipped us to move in power through this life. This week's Power Move is not flashy, but it is foundational. It is the reminder that God never demands what he hasn't already deposited.

00:02:56
He doesn't call you to make a difference without first placing something in your hand. The problem that many of us have is that we undervalue what we already carry. We keep asking God for new tools and new platforms and new miracles while ignoring the gifts and the skill and the strategy that is already within our grip. But today we are going to confront the dangerous lie of this culture. The culture says that we don't have enough already, that you need somebody else's voice, you need somebody else's gift, that you need somebody else's lane in order to make an impact.

00:03:47
But the truth of the matter is that you don't need a bigger stage. You just need the strength to stand where you are, that you already have enough. But you need to make the power Move that God has given you. If you work what he gave you, look at somebody again and tell them, work what he gave you. And let me be clear.

00:04:10
Let me be clear. This sermon is not about asking God for more. It is activating what you already have. We are not living in the season for you to sit on your gift. It's time for you to move.

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You may not feel qualified. You may not feel like you measure up. You may not feel like you have what it takes. But God did not leave you empty handed. You are not disqualified, qualified.

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You are not underdeveloped. In fact, God gave me this word to let you know this morning that you are well equipped and that you have been empowered and that you are expected to produce. I don't know who this is for, but I dare you to say, work what he gave you. Yeah, work what he gave you. Because you already are enough.

00:04:58
And Jesus teaches us this in Matthew chapter number 25. Every one of us have been entrusted with something. And what we do with what we have been given is what matters deeply to God. Whether it is your voice or your creativity, or whether it is your resilience or your leadership, or perhaps it's your business savvy or your kindness or just your hustle. God wants you to make a power move, not borrowing somebody else's blueprint, but by activating what he has already placed in your hands.

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I d you to lift your hands and say, God has put something in my hands. Yeah, he's put something in my hands already.

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And today is your invitation to steward your strength, is your invitation to hone in on your individual uniqueness, to make a power move with what you already have. Because God never gives us anything without purpose, and he never invests anything without expecting something in return. What he has placed on the inside of you, he has placed something of value, something powerful, something that is divine. And what he has placed inside of you, God fully intends to get glory out of everything that you do. So as we park in Matthew Chapter number 25 today, I want us to lean in to what Jesus wants to show us.

00:06:48
Because you have been entrusted with something. Look at somebody and say, you've been entrusted with something. Yeah. Number one, you have been entrusted with something. In Matthew 25 and verse 14, the Bible says that he called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

00:07:10
One, he gave five bags of gold to another, two and to another one each according to his ability. Now we have to pause here. We can't go any further because you have to understand the text does not Say that the master gave, gave them the same thing. But it does say that he gave each of them something. That means that nobody was skipped, nobody was forgotten, nobody was left out, nobody left empty handed.

00:07:43
Some got more and some got less. But everybody got something. And here is the first truth that we have to wrap our heads around and confront and write it down. If you're taking notes, you are not empty. But you have been entrusted with God's valuables.

00:08:02
Somebody declare it I'm not empty. Yeah. Whether it's five or whether it's one. God saw something in you that was worth investing in. God looked at you even when you were in sin, even before your mother and your father got together and they conceived you.

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God looked at you and saw something in you and invested something in in you. The master did not toss his wealth around randomly. The text says that he gave according to their ability. This speaks to me of intentionality. It speaks to me of him being strategic.

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That means God tailored your gift to your capacity. That where you are right now, what you have right now, however tall or short, no matter where you feel come from, where you were born, God has tailored your gift to your ability. Your portion may look different, but your purpose is just as valuable as the per person that's sitting next to you. That doesn't matter how theirs look. Yours is valuable.

00:09:13
See, we get caught up in this trap of comparison. Yeah, yeah, she got five and I only got one. Or he's more talented than me, or they're more outgrown going than me, or they have more influence than me. Or their name got called and my name didn't get called. They went viral and they and I didn't go viral.

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But here is what I found out, brothers and sisters. If you spend your whole life looking at what's in somebody else's hand, you will never cultivate the gift, the skill, the ability that God has put in your hand. I can celebrate you and thank God for your gift, but I can know I got it going on because God saw something worth valuable investing in me.
00:10:05
The one who received one talent wasn't less loved. He was simply trusted with a specific assignment. And so have you. What you have been given isn't random. It's responsibility.

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And Paul echoes this. In First Corinthians, chapter number 10 and verse 31, he says, Whatever you do, whatever God has assigned to you, do it all for the glory of God.

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Walk with your head up, walk with your shoulders back, serve God with excellence and say, I'm doing it to the glory of God. If I'm in the parking lot, I'm doing it to the glory of God. If I'm on a platform, I'm doing it to the glory of God. If I'm passing out envelopes of fans, I'm doing it to the glory of God. If I'm working on my job, I'm working this job to the glory of God.

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Whatever you do, do it to God's glory.

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That whatever includes your job and your creativity. It includes your voice. It includes your parenting. It includes your leadership. It includes your ministry.

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Maybe it's your administrative gift even in your pain. I'm walking through this pain in the glory of God. I'm speaking standing, with my hands lifted. Yes, I'm hurt. Yes, I'm going through hard times, but I'm lifting my hands to the glory of God.

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Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.

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Yeah, I may be heavy, but I'm gonna do it to the glory of God. I may have to press to lift my hand, but I'm doing it to the glory of God. I'm not trying to impress nobody. I'm trying to lift up the name of Jesus. I'm trying to give him glory.

00:12:16
I'm not going to look at anybody else because you might not have their stage, but you have your space and the space that God has assigned you. The spear that God has placed within your grasp. He wants you to to do whatever he has called you to do to his glory.

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You may not write books, but you can write encouragement in somebody's life. You may not sing a solo, but you can show up with consistency. You can show up with integrity. You can show up with a good attitude and with joy. All of that brings glory to God.

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God doesn't need you to be impressive. He needs you to be intentional about bringing him glory. Can I ask you a question this morning? What have you buried because it doesn't look like somebody else's gift?

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What have you minimized because it felt small compared to somebody else? Maybe your talent is raising those children with wisdom, sanctification to the glory of God. Maybe your gift is organized systems at work. Maybe it's writing or encouraging or desiring, signing or leading or praying. Maybe your gift is teaching that class to the best of your ability.

00:14:00
Whatever it is, don't neglect it. Don't downplay it. I'm arguing this morning. Work what he gave you. I'm working.

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I'm arguing this morning. God put something in your hand. God. God didn't give what he gave you to impress others. He gave it to you to bring increase into his kingdom.

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Look at somebody again and tell them work what he gave you. Your gift is not for comparison. It's for contribution. And are you making the contribution that you are supposed to be making? What I'm trying to tell you this morning is instead of doubting your ability, instead of walking around with a sad face on resenting your assignment, make a power move and work what God gave you.

00:15:04
I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'm not trying to be all that in the bag of chips. I'm just working what he gave me. I'm just doing it to his glory. I'm just work.

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Talk about me if you want. Look at me funny. I'm just gonna work what he gave me. Yes. I didn't put it on me.

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He gave me the coat of many colors. I'm just trying to wear what God gave me. I'm trying to do what God told me to do. I'm gonna work what he gave me. This, brothers and sisters, is your next power move to work what he gave you.

00:15:40
Why? Why is this important? This is important. Number two. Because God expects movement, not maintenance.

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God expects movement, not maintenance. Verse 19 of that 25th chapter. He says, after a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. I couldn't help but look closely at this phrase, Elder John, because when it says settled accounts, I had to imagine that this was not a social check in. He wasn't just pulling up on them just to see how they were doing.

00:16:23
It wasn't a casual visit. It was, in other words, a performance review. This was a divine audit to see what you have done with what I gave you. He didn't just give them something, he came back to see what they did with it. This tells us something powerful about how God works.

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That God is not just a giver, but God is a grower. That he didn't just give it to you just to give it to you, but he gave it to you so that you could grow it. He does not invest in you and watch you play it safely, but he deposits in you with the expectation of movement. He invests in you with the expectation of progress and a return on what he has given you. You were trusted with a gift, not so it could collect dust.

00:17:27
You weren't handed a talent so that it could stay tucked in a journal, buried beneath your insecurities. But he gave you a gift so that you could grow it. He planted you in the areas that he planted you on the job that He Planted you in. He planted you in the sector that he put you in so that you could produce, make advancements for his kingdom. But look at the servant to whom he gave one talent.

00:18:04
Verse 25. He buried his talent. And he says, I was afraid, so I hid your talent in the ground. Now catch this. Catch this.

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Because his problem was, was not just laziness, it was fear. Somebody say fear. But in God's economy, fear is not an excuse for not doing what God told you to do.

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I know fear may feel safe, but more often than not, fear is often sabotage to the purpose and plan that God has for your life. Many of us try to justify inaction in the name of caution. I'm just waiting on confirmation. I'm still praying about it. I don't want to fail God or I'm not ready yet.

00:19:07
I don't want to be pushed up front yet. But hear this. Playing it safe is not the same as playing it smart.

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Sometimes what we call wisdom is only worry in disguise.

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Sometimes we say we're using wisdom, but we're really worried on the inside. He gave you the gift that he gave you to grow it, not to bury it.

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And you don't get credit for maintaining what was meant to be multiplied.

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You don't get a pat on the back. Because, yes, I received that. He gave me the gift. I received that he gave me the call. I received that.

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Yes, my hands have been laid on me, but I have done nothing with it. That's why the Master calls the one who buried his gift wicked and lazy.

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Not because he wasted it in sin, but because he wasted it trying to be safe.

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Are y' all getting this? God is not impressed by preservation. God is impressed and moved. When you progress, when you build, when you grow what he has given you. The goal is not to keep his gift, the.

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The purpose and the plan that he gave you in mint condition. That's not the purpose. The goal is to move it. The goal is to risk it. The goal is to work it.

00:21:04
The goal is to sow it and to stretch it until it brings a return that glorifies God. I may get tired, but I'm gonna keep working it. Cause I gotta bring a return to God. I might have asked them one time, come, wouldn't go with me to church. And they didn't say yet, but they said, maybe next time.

00:21:25
I'm going to keep asking because I got to bring a return to the gift that God gave me. Can we be real this morning? Some of us have gifts that have been sitting on the shelf for years, the business plan still in the notebook, that ministry idea still written on a napkin, that book half written by barely prayed over that mentorship you keep saying I know I've been called to deal and mentor women and mentor men and you're still waiting for the perfect time. But here is the sad reality. Gifts that are not activated become the graveyard for God's intentions.

00:22:15
You will live and die and never fulfill. Feel what God has called you to do when you wait for the perfect time to do it.

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Please, please, please don't let fear, comparison or insecurity keep your gift in hiding.

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Fear keeps saying to you what if I fail? Comparison keeps saying whispering in your ear but I'm not like this person and I don't do it like that person.

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Insecurity keeps whispering and telling you I don't think I'm enough.

00:23:00
But faith says God gave me this on purpose and he's expecting a return from what he deposited in me. What many of us need is a mindset shift. Stop asking the question what if I mess up and start asking what if I grow it? What if it just explodes? What if God just takes what I do and multiplies it?

00:23:29
What if it does work?

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So many of us, we play to lose instead of playing the win. But some of us realize you on the winning team. So even if I'm down by double digits, I believe that the God that I serve is going to cause me to come back. Even if it looks like in the beginning it's not going to work out, I'm going to keep believing. I'm going to keep working it.

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I'm going to keep declaring and standing in faith because I'm going to work what he gave me.

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Because watch this. At the end of the day you are not responsible for the outcome. You are only responsible for your obedience.

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What do you mean? You remember Paul says in First Corinthians chapter number three and verse six, he says I planted Apollos water but God is the one that will make this grow. God is going to give the increase. The responsibility is not on me. As long as I plant, God's going to be pleased.

00:24:38
As long as I water, God's going to be pleased. As long as I open my mouth, God's going to be pleased. God is responsible for the increase, but we think the responsibility is on us and therefore we don't do it because we don't know can I really do what God has called me to do? News flash. God would have never given it to you if he didn't know that you were already capable of doing what he called you to do.

00:25:10
Yeah, that's a good place to clap. That's a good place to clap.

00:25:16
I know it's not religiously correct to say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I dare you this week to take one of the gifts that you buried and been hiding and watch God make it grow. I dare you to stand up and say, I'm gonna make movement with what God gave me. I'm gonna send the email. I'm gonna make the call.

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I'm gonna write the first page. I'm gonna launch what God told me to launch. I'm gonna offer the help. I'm gonna make the move that God has told me to make. Look at somebody and say, I dare you to do it.

00:25:47
I dare you to work what God gave you and watch God make it great grow. I dare you. Because God will stamp his seal of approval on whatever you do. When you take one step, God says, I'm gonna take two. Because I'm the God that speaks the end from the beginning.

00:26:06
And when I say it, it's going to come to pass. I dare you to do it. I dare you to do it.

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Because listen. And I'm almost done. Listen. Number three. Faithfulness is the power move that unlocks supernatural flow.

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Faith is the faithfulness is the power move that will unlock supernatural flow. What are we talking about? Matthew 25 and 21. He says, well done, good and faithful servant. Well done.

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Say, well done. I want to hear him say, well done. The choir sing song. I want to hear him say, well done. Well done, good and faithful servant.

00:27:07
Listen to me. Notice the master did not say, well done, thou successful servant. He did not say, well done, thy talented servant. He says, well done, thou faithful servant. Notice that the one with the five talents and the one with the two talents receive the exact same same reward and affirmation.

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He said the same thing. Why? Because God was not measuring the quantity. He was measuring the faithfulness.

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God is not comparing what you do with somebody else's fruit. God is looking to see, what did you do with the seed that I gave you? What did you do with what I planted in you? You are not in competition with anybody.

00:28:10
I'm gonna say that again for the people in the back. You are not in competition with anybody. You are not called to match someone else's results. You have been called to maximize your assignment. When you realize this, there is a freedom that comes that only God can give, that I'm not in competition with anybody.

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I can celebrate you. I can clap for you. I don't have to hate on you. I don't have to look at you up and down. I don't have to say anything derogatory, but celebratory.

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I know I'm not in competition with anybody. I'm in my own lane until my lane opens up, up and I'm going. Do what God has called me to do.

00:29:04
Tell the person next to you. God rewards faithfulness over flashiness. Yet he. He rewards obedience over optics.
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He rewards your purpose over the performance. And some of us miss our moments because we want bigger stages. But we have avoided the small steps that he told us to make.

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God's not doing this for me. And this person has been elevated, and that person has been elevated. Maybe they did what God told them to do. This person getting blessed. Maybe they said yes and were obedient to what God told them to do.

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Please don't miss this before God gives public power. God will always, always somebody say always. God will always inspect your private consistency.

00:30:07
He will always inspect your private consistency. That's why Zechariah 4:10 tells us, don't despise these small beginnings. For the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. You don't grow in front of crowds. You grow in quiet.

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You grow behind closed doors. Stop asking for the platform and start being faithful in the practice.

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Because whatever you do in private is going to show up in public.

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If you pray in private, it's going to show up in public. If you love in private, it's going to show up in public. When you give in private, it's going to show up public.

00:31:07
You remember that story over in Matthew, chapter number 17 and 27? We doing all right? Matthew 17 and 27. The Bible says Jesus told Peter, go to the lake, take the first fish that you can catch, open his mouth, and you will find a coin. I couldn't help but to look at this, Deacon Phil, because Jesus tells Peter, track with me now a skilled fisherman, to do what he knows how to do, fish.

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But this time, his everyday skill becomes a vessel for supernatural provision. He says, in the fish's mouth, you gonna find a coin. The coin's gonna be enough to pay the temple tax. Tax for both Jesus and Peter. Now catch this.

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Jesus doesn't give Peter a new gift, but he gave him new purpose to the gift he already had. He didn't need Peter to perform a new act. He just needed him to obey in the area of his expertise. You're going to catch Me in a minute. This wasn't about fishing, but this was about faith.

00:32:27
Because it was a reminder that God doesn't need to give you a new ability to bless you. God will use the skill that you have to release his supernatural supply. In other words, God knows how to breathe on your ordinary to bring forth something extraordinary when you yield your gift and your talent and your ability ability to God. God says, I'll breathe on what you already do. And I'll open up the floodgates and I'll bless you right where you are.

00:33:05
Listen, you don't have to have something new to be powerful. You just need to be faithful where you are. Be faithful in what you doing. You don't need to be the next anybody. You just need to bring God what you have.

00:33:20
Bring him your sling, bring him your stone, bring him your neck, bring him your notebook, your voice, whatever it is, bring it to God. What is it that he has in your hand that you can bring to God? He asked Moses, Moses, what is in your hand? Moses says it's a staff. But when you surrender to God, that staff will split the sea.

00:33:46
When you surrender it to gas to God, that staff will open up what cannot be opened up otherwise. David, you still playing with that slingshot? David said, he said, I refuse to have Saul's armor. He said, I can't go in these because I'm not used to them. You know the story, David killing Goliath.

00:34:11
Saul tries to suit David in his armor.

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It looked like a good idea, but it wasn't a God idea.

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It didn't fit him. He wasn't familiar with it. And most importantly, it wasn't anointed for David. David said, I can't go in these because not used to them. And David chose his sling and stones not because it looked impressive, but because he had experience with them, with God.

00:34:50
What other people saw as insignificant. David said, this is a strategy that's fail proof. I've already tried and proven it and I know that this works. Let me go with what works rather than me trying to do something that. That there is no guarantee.

00:35:06
What am I trying to tell you? You don't need someone else's sword when God has given you a slingshot and God's track record. I don't need to do what nobody else did. I'm going to do what God has proven himself over and over and over again.

00:35:26
Whisper to your neighbor and say, God doesn't anoint imitation. He breathes on authenticity. He breathes on authenticity. When you be yourself, when you do it like you do it. When you act and move like you move.

00:35:42
God said, that's what I can breathe on. That's what I can anoint. That's what I can heal the sick. That's what I can raise the dead. That's what I can bring about deals that cannot come any other way.

00:35:53
God says, I will do what what I said I'm going to do. When you are faithful.

00:36:01
The armor looked strong, but it wasn't proven. The slingshot looked weak, but it had history with God. It may not look like you're doing much when you get on your knees and you pray. Some people say, no, I ain't going to clap back. I ain't saying nothing.

00:36:19
I'm getting on my knees and I'm going to pray. Because when I pray, things happen. I'm going to push my plate back. Because when I push my plate back, things happen. Oh, no.

00:36:27
I'm going to do what God has anointed me to do. And I know he's gifted me for this. So I'm going to get on that job, and I'm not going to get into no bickering with nobody. I'm going to work what he gave me. And God will orchestrate some things.

00:36:41
And before you know it, the person that was giving you problems got shipped out of the way. And God opened up the door to elevate you to the place that he wanted you to be. I'm going to work what he gave me.

00:36:58
Your slingshot may look simple, but it is proven. It's personal between you and God. And watch this. When you partner with God working what he gave you using that slingshot, giants will fall. Yeah, the giant will come down.

00:37:22
David said, I'm gonna use this slingshot in my stone, and I'm gonna throw my stone because I got a track record with him already. And when I use it, the giant is going to fall. Family, this is what work, what he gave you is all about. David didn't ask for new tools. He used the tools God had trained him with in private.

00:37:48
That burden's been on your heart.

00:37:52
That desire has been on your heart. The passion has been in your heart. And you know that God put it there.

00:38:02
God's training with you in private. Can I tell you that your past victories were not random. The things that you've gone through, they were a rehearsal for your next breakthrough. God wants to release his supernatural in your life. And God will always honor what he place in your hand over whatever somebody else tries to put on you.

00:38:33
That's why I'm very careful with telling people where God is taking them and what they're going to be doing because I don't want it to be me that did anything. I want you to hear from God because God will always anoint you in the area that he has called you in. That's why you stop measuring your gift by somebody else's gear. Your gift is different from there. They might have a slingshot, but God might have given you a sword.

00:39:00
He said, I'm gonna give you the sword of the spirit. You gonna cut down devils in the spirit realm? They might have a slingshot, they might have something else. You might be in business and that person might be at home. But God has given everybody a tool that they can accomplish what he's called them to accomplish.

00:39:20
Stop burying what looks small to man but has power with God.

00:39:28
Somebody say, I hear you. Just like David. You are not showing up to this battle empty handed. You're showing up with a proven weapon. Proven by God.

00:39:42
Say it out loud. Faithfulness activates favor. Faithfulness will activate favor in your life like nothing else when you do what God has called you to do. Luke 16:10 tells us, Whoever can be trusted with very little will also be able to be trusted with much. In other words, before God releases multiplication, he tests the management and how you have been managing what he's given you already.

00:40:17
You don't have to answer it, it's a rhetorical question. But how are your test scores looking? How would God reach you? What have you been treating as ordinary that God may be waiting to breathe on? What skill, what gift, what role have you devalued because it doesn't seem glamorous to you or other people.

00:40:43
God doesn't need you to be impressive. He needs you to be obedient. He's not looking for people that are chasing the spotlight. He's looking for people that will carry the oil. They say, yes, I don't have the spotlight, but I got some oil and I know when I use it what God has given me.

00:41:01
The oil. The anointing will destroy every yoke.

00:41:09
I don't have to try to be discovered. I can start being dependable. Because when I am dependable, I will be discovered. The Bible says that your gifts will make room for you and they'll bring you before great men. You don't have to make your way.

00:41:25
The Bible says when you work what he gave you, it'll open up doors for you family. Ephesians lets us know we are his workmen, created to do good work. Some of you under the sound of my voice. You've been asking God for more. While heaven has been waiting on you to move.

00:41:49
Waiting on you to make a power move. The gift is in you. The oil is in you. And the time is now. You don't need another sign.

00:41:59
You don't need another strategy. You don't need a new talent. You don't need more confirmation. What you need is commitment. Commitment to work.

00:42:13
What he gave you.