Living For Christ In A Lazy Boy // Happy & Hungry (Part 2) // Michael Todd

I think I got a name, y'all, TC inside. What if y'all are TC inside? And what I'm telling you is I'm coming to see you. This week, y'all, I had the awesome pleasure of going and preaching in a prison right here in Oklahoma. And I was able to take the worship team and it was something that marked me. We saw 43 inmates get baptized. We saw countless number give their life to Jesus. And it just gave me a different burden and a passion to do more things inside of the correctional facility. So y'all be praying. We are trying to plan and prepare right now. But maybe one day we get to come to where you're at. And hopefully some of you are getting out and get to come to where we're at. You're welcome here. We love you. Today we are in a week two of a series we're calling happy and hungry. And this one is gonna move you out of complacency. The Bible tells us, blessed are those, happier those, joyful are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And most people have no clue what righteousness actually means. Today I'm gonna teach you and I promise you it's gonna make you be able to see God and see yourself differently. Today's message is called living for Christ in a lazy boy.

Yeah, we're going all the way there when righteousness reclines. I'm telling you just by the message title I need you to buckle up and get ready to be transformed. All right. Y'all ready? 'Cause with that much worship, this word, it's about to actually get into the places it's supposed to be. And I want you to get out your notepad or your smartphone, your dumb phone. If you're writing on your hand, whatever it is, you got to take notes today. 'Cause today I am going to try to break down one of the concepts that feel very elusive in Christian language and in Christian life and get practical application to how you're supposed to live this thing out. Everybody say live it out. All of this means nothing if we can't live it out. All of this is for no actual game if we don't actually look like what we're reading about. And so today I just wanna let you know I don't care how long you've known Jesus. My question to you is how long have you looked like him? I wish we would stop judging our Christian life by how long we've gone to church. I've been in church my whole life. I was raised on the pew. But you look like, dude, I'm just, I'm saying you don't live like nothing.

Do you understand what I'm saying? My question is when you look at the reflection of how you live, do you still see you or do you see a reflection of him? 'Cause until we look like him, act like him, talk like him, walk like him, give like him, serve like him. Okay, let me see. Y'all pushed me too much. I just saw one person going like this and then I start putting it in a flow, okay. But until we do that, we have missed, watch this, the fundamentals of faith. The fundamentals of faith is that something is taught so that it is retained. It gives revelation so that you can actually live, walk, or do something different. And so today, I just got one question as we start week two in a series called Happy and Hungry. I got one question, how did you eat this week? Now we could, somebody's like, (laughs) No, no, no, we could talk about what you ate naturally 'cause some of us failed that test this week. But I'm gonna ask you to raise the level of your introspection right now. I'm talking about you, I'm not talking about your neighbor, I'm not talking about your kids, I'm not talking about your wife, I'm not talking about your husband, I'm talking about you, somebody say he's talking about me. How did you eat this week?

Who did you feed this week? Did you feed the spirit you? Or the flesh you? Now you're all dressed up and you look cute right now and your hair is all good, I said a poem last week that gave the crux of this entire message happy and hungry, but it says, "Two natures beat within my chest. One is foul and one is blessed. One I love and one I hate. The one I feed will dominate." "Who won this week?" "I'm not going to answer it for you, but I need you to actually assess this." Pastor Mike, can you help me assess it? I'm so glad you asked. How did you eat this week? How did you see this week? What did you say this week? What did you do this week? What did you hear this week? What did you entertain this week? And what did you excuse this week? "Oh, how did you see this week? Today I need us to do an internal intake. Because until you do this, you're never going to be able to change what you won't actually be honest about. I need everybody to understand the reason why mean people don't get nice is because they don't think they mean. Do you hear what I'm saying? Like, if you ask mean people, are they nice? They think they nice. They say stuff like, "I'm just telling the truth. You're mean. We don't like you. We go around the other ways to get away from you." But they, because acknowledgement allows you to actually have, watch this, the power to assess it and then change it. And this is why Lamentations 340, it's a book of the Bible. Y'all skip over, but there's some jewels in here. It says, "Let us search out and examine our own ways." Do you know that God doesn't have to examine what you already admit is broken? When you go to the doctor, the doctor usually asks you, "What's going on?" And what do I do as somebody who wants to be healed and help? I point them in the direction of the pain. Why when it comes to God, we always want a prophetic word for what we could tell somebody. I sense right now by the spirit that you're dealing with a spirit, a city, a spirit of lust. I could have told you that. Right now, there's a lot of confusion going on and you're dealing with anger. I've been angry for 12 years. But for some reason, it feels more spiritual

because we don't point it out. Could I submit to you that all you're doing is delaying your healing, delaying your transformation? When somebody has to come discover what you could decide to expose, you are delaying your own deliverance. God, lead. And some of you have been waiting on God to take you out of a situation that you're admitted that it's a problem or you're actually being vulnerable enough to say, "I'm struggling with this." It would watch this accelerate your healing. You want a miracle for Christmas? Tell the truth. Tell the truth of how you've been feeling. Tell the truth of what's been going on. Tell the truth of how you've been self-medicating. Tell the truth of how you've been listening, but you haven't been hearing. Tell the truth about it. And I promise you what will happen is acceleration will come to your deliverance. And this is why the word says, "Let us search out our own ways." And then it tells us to repent. Why do we know that? Because the word turn needs to repent. He says, "And turn back to the Lord." So in this series, I need you to know that I'm coming for everything that has become comfortable in your life that's working against your destiny. Because there's some things that you coddle with and coddle with and it is okay for you and nobody has even seen that it's an issue in your life. Because you don't let anybody close enough to that. But today we're coming to challenge in this happy and hungry series, your appetite. Because there's a reason you have a taste for that thing. I don't know where you first tasted it. I don't know where you first got a glimpse of it. I don't even know where you became curious about it. But the things you're desiring, not in your mind, but in your heart. It came from somewhere. And if you're going to actually live the life that You have to take inventory of your appetite. Okay, it's gonna be quiet. But I'm gonna help you today. Write this point down. An appetite you won't assess is an appetite you won't address. If you won't assess that this is an issue in your life, you'll never address it. This is why right now if I ask you, what's wrong in your parents' life,

you would have a laundry list. Tell me what's wrong with your mama. (audience laughing) Right now, look at the, he's like, oh my God, oh my God. What's not wrong with my mom? If I ask you because you can address that 'cause you've assessed it, you've been in your car. I can't believe she would. (imitates car revving) Now, if I ask you about you, you're like, uh, uh, uh, I mean, I don't know, like, I could come to church more. I could pray more, you know. I can actually show up for my small group. Is that the real stuff that's going down deep in your soul? Is that the insecurity and the emptiness that we try to feel with things that are literally empty? Today, I'm asking all of us to assess it so we can actually address it. Where do you still feel lonely? Even when you're full of compliments and appreciation around you. Why is there a hole there? Why do you still get angry when other people succeed? Why do you see somebody else getting married and it's like, yay, but, ugh, okay. Why, why, why if somebody else get a promotion that you love, you start comparing y'all's journeys? Well, I did this and they did this and how did they get this and they don't, they don't even know how to and I've been, I've taught them how to.

Okay. Today, I'm gonna teach you how to do an internal intake and I hope this picture never leaves you. I got to talk to a couple of people from Transformation Nation and they were hot, humble, open, and transparent. And then this is just a little analogy of the intake and how it weighed on the scale. So I'm gonna introduce you to Sean and Sarah. Sean and Sarah are two people who love God, are saved. But this week, they had different intakes. And you can be Sean, you can be Sarah, this can be interchangeable, but I want you to assess your own life in this. And I asked Sean, what did you see this week, Sean? And what did you say this week? What did you do? What did you hear? What did you entertain? And what did you excuse? So we're gonna start with Sean and we're gonna do a way in on what happened in Sean's life this week. What did Sean see this week? He watched porn this week. Now don't judge him 'cause all I've seen. And fallen short of the glory. God, we're just gonna be honest about it. Okay. I knew that was the first one.

I had to do it 'cause the religious, oh, oh! Sean, it's been 20 years since I've struggled in that lane. Yet the Bible says that if you look up on a woman lustfully, okay, I just wanna, it's even at the foot of the cross. No big and little sins, okay? Were they gay? Were they lied? Were they this? Were they even? Okay, I can't even go into that 'cause some of y'all, no, uh-uh, that is not, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The sexual sin? It's the same thing as you lying on your taxes. I want you, I want you to know, getting drunk is the same thing as you lying that you were on time for work this week. All right, y'all wanna be, okay. I feel the sedity saints in here right now. We're not judging Sean, we're telling the truth. Sean, watch porn this week. What did Sean say this week? Well, Sean confessed to his small group. He actually told somebody what was going on and he encouraged six people this week. So even while Shane was trying to eat him up, he actually confessed to one another. and he encouraged some other people. What'd he do this week? Well, he was a present father.

He went on a field trip with his kids. He went to work, but he was late every day and lied about it. And then he took his wife on date night, but the tipsy became drunk. He wanted to go on date night, but there was a lot of stress 'cause they was gonna do a meeting and he knew he was gonna get in trouble 'cause he lied and they had video cameras in. So we got drunk. Cool, what do you hear this week? Well, this week he wasn't really feeling transformation worship's bloodline album 'cause he was going through and he fell back into his old college playlists. Some of y'all know that college playlists, he went crazy for the '99, 2000s. (audience laughs) ♪ Vah, vah, vah ♪ ♪ Vah, vah, vah ♪ ♪ Vah, vah, vah, vah ♪ ♪ Vah, vah, vah, vah ♪ ♪ Vah, vah, vah, vah ♪ ♪ Vah, vah, vah, vah ♪ Okay, good stuff. (audience cheers) Some of y'all ain't been saved your whole life. And it went from one song to another to another. He was member part, he was member.

Okay, Heather on the front row like Lord Jesus saved me. Okay. What did he entertain this week? He entertained a DM conversation with a young lady that was not his wife, that was borderline inappropriate. I mean, it had phrases in it like, that's crazy, but show me. I'm like, that's it, right there. There's a guy just saw his neck get so stiff. (audience laughs) He hasn't moved in 30 minutes. We're telling the truth. And it didn't cross into anything physical, but he knew and they knew it was inappropriate. What did he excuse this week? Well, one of his brothers called him randomly and said, hey, bro, I was praying for you is on my heart. Everything good. And he excused an opportunity to actually be vulnerable and tell the truth. - Jesus. - His answer was, nah, bro, I'm good, wasn't good. And then flipped it on him. You good? 'Cause you know, a lot of times when God gives us a way of escape, the Bible says he'll always give us a way of escape. What we do is we defer, we sidestep that thing, we Heisman that thing,

and then we throw it on him like we holier than thou. Like, nah, nah, bro, are you going on with you? And today, when I look at the scale of Sean's life, guess what, he's still going to heaven. I said he believed in Jesus. The problem is his week has been held. (congregation cheering) So I want us to evaluate, can we evaluate? Well, I'm gonna just tell you about Saria, 'cause some of y'all are judgey. Oh, so his flesh man was bigger this week, and his spirit man was smaller. It wasn't that he did everything wrong. He just fed one of them more. Do you hear what I'm saying to you right now? Everybody under the sound of my voice, if you're in middle school, if you're in high school, if you're in college, if you pay your own mortgage, it doesn't matter. There is a spirit you and a flesh you, and it's eating all the time. It's like the hungry, hungry hippos. Y'all ever seen that game? That game on the little balls? You don't matter. (congregation laughing) And it's just hungry, hungry hippos. And that's what your internal man is doing. Just eating and depending on what is there. Somebody grew this week. You know when it's harder to pray?

When your flesh man is bigger. It's harder to forgive when your flesh man is bigger. It's harder to admit, that's my bad, when your flesh man is bigger. It's harder to tell the truth. I just want you to see a picture. and your coffee and your matcha, that's great. Matcha tastes like grass. I don't know. That's personal conviction. You want to drink warm grass, do your thing. I'm just saying you ain't had the right matcha, you want to put honey in grass and dirt? Anyway, I'm sorry. That is not my message. What I'm saying to you, what I'm saying to you, it doesn't matter how it looks. It matters, watch this, what you took in. Let's talk about Sarah. Sarah's not perfect, but Sarah heard the message last week and she decided that she was going to take a month off of social media. She said this is not a good place for me to be and to work on my insecurity because I'm insecure right now about myself and every time I go there that's a cesspool of comparison. So I'm going to get off of social media, this is not, and instead of being on social media, I'm going to read the Bible and I'm going to read a book. So she made a decision to feed on something. What did she say? Every day she confess Ephesians 220, she confessed in the mirror to herself, "I'm God's masterpiece. I know my insecurity has been ravaging me. I know I was molested when I was young. I know that people use me in different situations, but for some reason, I know they're still valuing me and I am God's masterpiece."

I don't really feel it right now, but I'm going to say it until I feel it. I'm God's masterpiece. She confessed and meditated on the word. What did she do? When she went to get her nails done, she showed the woman a picture and the woman did exactly opposite on her nails of what she said. She popped off on the nail tech, popped off on the nail tech, told her who she was and who her mama was and she can go, "Y'all, you're getting too excited about this. Some of y'all have done this." She's like, "Look at this. There's nothing like this there." She popped off on the nail tech and she has to find a new nail salon now. What did she hear? She did listen to the bloodline album. She got stuck on inheritance and was listening over and over about her value and her worth. She was trying to put it in and then to finish her workout, she was about to quit and she listened to one sexy red song. Y'all don't want to be real. She had to get it through. She needed some bass to get through that leg workout. I'm just saying, "Okay, y'all want to sanitize her, I'm telling you the truth." What did she entertain? She actually likes being outside because she's a single woman and she's really trying to mingle and she's looking for her boas and so she likes being outside but usually what she goes outside to do doesn't actually feed her spirit man but this week Pastor Rowe came in town with the Air One concert and she went down to the Tulsa Center and her Pastor Rowe and met up with some good people and went to IHOP afterwards so she entertained herself with that concert and it felt good and what did she excuse? She excused an advance from a random guy named Sean. Sometimes it'd be running together like that, huh?

Can we assess what happened in Sarah's life? Not perfect but progressing. Sarah's spirit man won this week and guess what? You don't get to freeze frame. This is how today you get to make a decision who you're going to feed. I hope this never leaves you because one day we will actually get on this scale in front of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and it may not look like this. This was in my imagination but he is going to be judging every one of the things that we did on this earth. So all I'm begging you to do and week two of this is to feed your spirit more than you feed your flesh. Am I saying you'll never feed your flesh? No, you are in an earth suit. You are in this thing that wants to do the opposite of what God wants you to do. Have you ever found yourself getting up out of your bed at night when you should be at home, going to get something physically to eat that you know is bad for you? Y'all are fake church. Excuse me. Let me make the new announcement. You're trying to yourself ordering something from DoorDash or what's the other one's? Uber Eats and past the time you know you should even be eating. What drives you to hit that button and be charged an extra seven dollars? When you just saved my money it's still funny, but you about to order crispy creams for twenty-seven dollars. How do I know I have kids? And this, I'm saying it's because something's driving you that you don't always acknowledge. Can I let you know your appetite will have you doing stuff and you be acting like you don't know why you did it? I don't even know how I ended up here. I don't even know why I bought that.

I don't even know why I said that because something is driving you. For many of you watch this because I've been talking about food ambition is driving you. No, I'm not going to be broke. I'm going to be better than my parents. I'm going to see everything that God has. I ain't never going to struggle for money. And what that appetite for having more than enough is doing is making you ignore God. He's been telling you for a long time to tithe. How you going to think I'm going to make you have all of this money you won't honor me with the $200 you got. All money does is expose who you really are. It magnifies us. So if you don't tie that $200, you'll never tie that $2 million. Do you all hear what I'm saying? And God's asking you, but that ambition is driving you. Watch this. Watch this. People pleasing is driving you. The appetite for everybody to like you. Let me tell you something as I stand here black and in this yellow jacket. Everybody ain't going to like you. And if you do everything they want you to do, they'll still find a reason. I wouldn't have done it like that though. What? I do what you all said. What I'm telling you is trying to please people is a dead end quest. Pleasing God is the only thing that matters in this life, but you have to acknowledge for me to please God, I have to check my appetites. Go to Galatians chapter 5 verse 16. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your life.

Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature you'll flesh you wants to do evil. Can we make an announcement? All of us at our core base level want to do bad stuff. It's hard for even y'all to even accept that because I'm a good person, according to who? The Bible says if you are in this flesh, without Jesus, you're going to want to do evil. But it says the sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit you want and the spiritual you gives us desires that are the opposite of the sinful nature. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intention. And this is where I have to be very clear. So many believers right now, I know this word is strong, but it's going to help you get a revelation. So many believers are at a place right now where they keep asking this one question that is fundamentally messing up our ability to live a life in Christ, well, is it sin? That one question lets me know that you are in the lower level of maturity when it comes to being a believer. Hear what I'm saying? Is it sin is not the barometer of how we should be living? I want to help you understand that's like saying, is it almost a car wreck? Like I don't even need to be thinking that way. I need to raise the level of my thinking because the scripture says sin is not even the barometer is up if you should be doing it or not. Watch this. This is what the barometer is, wait. He said if it's weighing you down, you need to throw it off. [LAUGHTER] And some of you have made allowances for the weight in your life. W-E-I-G-H-T.

You have made allowances for things that are not sinned but are slowing you down. Okay, y'all don't believe me, Pezo Mike, you making that up, okay, Hebrews 12-1. Therefore, since we have been surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses of the life of faith, let us, who's doing it? Who's doing it? The Holy Spirit ain't doing this. I just want to be very clear. He has given you the responsibility to take the weight off. You hear what I'm saying, God, relieve me of the weight, turn the TV off. Holy Spirit, lift this heavy burden, delete the app. God let me walk free from this comparison. Stop going to that place. Somebody say, "Let us." God deals with sin, you deal with weights. You hear what I just said to you? He's never going to unplug the video game system. It's my release, okay, cool, but your wife about to release you too. She about to release you. You won't call a duty. You're going to be calling everybody to help you get your stuff because you won't turn off the weight, I'm not saying you can't have a release, but how much are you feeding that thing? You'll spend six hours on a game system and not one, asking questions without entertainment going on around you. What do you feed? Why are you saying this past the mic? Because I'm trying to give you real keys to your life, and that's why I want you to say it doesn't have to be sin to slow you down. I just want to let you know some of you are in a race and you're going so slow, not because sin got you no more.

Sin will definitely trip you up, sin will definitely jack you up. Sin will definitely mess up the race, but you know what else will mess up the race? You being tired. Oh God, I'm trying to say everything that God is telling me to say today, but the Bible says let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. So I want you to get this picture, I'm in a race. The weights I put on and I can take off, that's the stuff that is not sinned but it's slowing me down, but the sin it trips me up. So if I'm on the track and I got weights on and I'm sinning, and you don't invite your whole family to watch you run, you put it on it, watch me live for Christ. This is why you fall. You fall not just because of sin, you fall because of weight and sin and this is what I got to tell you, I'm getting happy because of the revelation. It really blessed me this week. Sin trips you up but weight makes you tired and some of you have been walking in a race you were supposed to win, not because of the sin. You've been walking because of the weight. You're tired. You're tired of not having energy for your kids but you have not correlated that the time you spend in the comments is taking away from the times you could give to your actual children. You're so interested in what's your favorite celebrity or the drama of the week. Some of you all went down the rabbit hole of the polygamous this past week and you tried. You're so enamored on how somebody could get up and talk about and do all this stuff that you missed your own quiet time. How do you get to thinking something like that is God? As you put on weights and you get tired of doing the right thing, and tired of confessing, and tired of coming to church is raining. How did that little sprinkle?

You know what I'm saying? The little thing that's bringing forth fruit and that little thing kept you at the house? It's the only reason that little sprinkle that little rain. That little drop. Do, do, do, do, do, do. It's like, "Oh my God, I can't handle it anymore." Do you all hear what I'm saying? Yes. So this is why we have to run the race with endurance that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. This is what I need everybody to hear me say. And I need you to hear me say it very clearly. You always consume your way into compromise. Nobody just makes a mistake. You ate your way there. You don't ever just steal money. Nobody just wires a hundred thousand dollars from their business to themselves without first doing $10. When it tells you only take one sucker at the dentist. And you grab a handful when they go to make the copy. 'Cause them your favorite suckers, they cost one cent. You could go buy a thousand of them, but something in you, here's it say take one and for some reason you take 12. Compromise. There ain't even your suckers and you at the dentist. You already have nine cavities. What are we talking about?

Here what I'm saying. 'Cause you consume your way to compromise. You don't just end up in somebody's bed. You just don't end up in somebody's bed. (audience laughing) Do you hear what I'm, you have consumed ideas and watch movies with that plot line and talk to your friends about what they did. Now tell me again, like what happened? Did he just call you over or did he just, what did he, I don't understand. And you're getting fed something. (audience chattering) I'm just asking you, what are you consuming because you may be eating your way to something that's gonna cost you more than you wanna pay. The beautiful thing about God is anytime that sin abounds. The Bible tells us that quiesce is much more prevalent. So I'm telling you the truth and then I'm telling you the truth truth that whatever sin you're in, there's more grace. Somebody shout at me more grace. Everything you've done can be covered but you have to uncover so that he can cover. The message is just starting to warm up and we're gonna get back to it. But I gotta let you know about two special things that are happening in the life of our church coming up really soon.

The first one is on November 15th, we are doing something called TC Honors. And this is gonna be a day that's gonna be special in our church's history 'cause it's gonna be a day of ordination. Your boy is accepting the elevation that God has spoken over and over again in my life and I'm walking into it publicly and I would love for you to be here for it. It's gonna be a day of ordination, elevation and celebration. It happens to be my 40th birthday and we thought no better time to make this thing come to life than on that day. It'll be a mark of significance and we've got all kinds of friends coming and I promise you it will be a service that represents everything that Christ has called us to do in leadership. So I want you to be there. All right, second thing I need you to know about and more than know about, I want you to pray about is our crazy faith offering. On December 6th, our church, as we do every year, we are gathering around this idea that God wants us to sacrificially give above our time and offering to the cause that he has called us all to. But we don't just give a number amount or build towards something. We ask God, what do you want us to give?

Generosity is one of the things that transforms our life in a way that nothing else can. And when you're dealing with greed, selfishness, even gluttony more than enough that we are doing the thing that God challenges us to do is to give away and trust him. And so I'm asking everybody right now to pray. Pray about how you can accelerate this vision to God's people in ways that can be done when we all do our part. And so December six, coming here, some of you will fly in, some of you will give. There's no distance in what we're doing, but we are gonna give in crazy faith. And I want you to go get one of the cards off of our online or click the QR code and get these cards because we direct our faith as we sow sacrificially. I want you and your family to be a part of this significant moment in our church's history. All right, y'all, it's time to go back in and hear the word of God. And I'm telling you this next half is gonna bless your life. So if you're consuming your way to compromise, watch this. You can consume your way into consecration. (crowd cheering) Okay. If you consume your way into consecration, being set apart, being holy, another one says, being completely other than.

God says you can be in this world, but not of it. That means you have to consume something different than the world is consuming. That means you can't watch and hear and say and respond and see everything that everybody else is doing. And think you're gonna put out something different. He says if it goes in, it's gonna come out. And you need to make sure that you're consuming something that actually can set you apart. That's why Psalms 119, 130 says, the entrance of your word God brings light. And it gives understanding to the simple. What I found out on my journey of health and working out is that the greatest way for me to get results is to do the simple thing over and over and over again. When it came to eating, I was working out for years before I started seeing results 'cause I was killing myself with the eating. I almost worked out to give myself a reward of eating. Come on, somebody would be like, I worked out so I might as well. I feel like I did good today. What I learned is that doing the simple thing consistently produced the results that I wanted to see and I ate my way into consecration. Anybody that's around me, they know what I eat every day. Chicken, ground beef, turkey, chicken, ground beef with some sauce, turkey steak, chicken, I mean, if you look at the way I eat now,

it's so simple, but it has changed every line in my life. My waistline, my hairline, it's changed every line in my life. Here what I'm saying, I didn't muscle my way. I didn't lift my way, I ate my way. In the same way I'm trying to give you a spiritual parallel that you can each your way into a new level of living. 'Cause being compromised leaves you vulnerable. Take the word, comp, promise. Two words, comp, meaning free. Have you ever got a comp ticket to a game, a free ticket, something that is complimentary? Oh, we're gonna give you another buffet for free 'cause it took a long time. It was a comp, promise is the other word in there. It's giving away, compromise is giving away your promise for free. The enemy doesn't even have to trick you. We are compromised when we're eating the wrong thing. We are vulnerable when we're consuming everything culture is telling us. And today I wanna encourage you to consume the right thing. Matthew five, six, it's our anchor scripture for this whole series. And I want you to meditate on this. Blessed are those who hunger and what? Thirst, for what? Righteous, for they shall be, watch this promise, field. What would it look like for your life to be fulfilled? Just close your eyes for one second.

What would a fulfilled life look like for you? I'm talking about fully overflowing with more than enough, not wanting nothing from nobody, not needing to prove yourself to anybody, not needing to compliment where you're going. What would a fulfilled life look like where I may be single, but I'm satisfied right now? You married passionately and like, what would this is the promise of those who are happy and hungry? What are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness? It's a blessing to be hungry church. So if, in my last few minutes, I need you to lock in with me because I need you to hear me say this. I built all of that to give you this, Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and there's one other thing it says, what is it? Christmas. And then it says, and everything else will be added in your life. Let's rewind it back. Matthew 5, 6 says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after underlying that in your Bible, write that word down, learn how to spell that word. Because righteousness may be more important to the believer than we have given it credit. There's two of the fundamental scriptures that shape people's faith belief, have this word, righteousness in it. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst not for prayer meetings, not for prophetic words, not worship nights, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after. What's righteousness? If I went around to every person in here and ask you to define righteousness, we would probably get 2,000 different answers because the truth of the matter is we have not been taught properly what the key meal we should be wanting consists of, the meal that God says we should eat, hunger and thirst after this, we don't even know what it is.

What is righteousness? It's just being right, justness. And I watch, watch, watch and then seek first the kingdom and not seek second righteousness. So God, because he's God, said seek two things first. Seek first the kingdom and which means they're on the same level. It could say seek first righteousness and the kingdom. We pray let your kingdom go, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But he put righteousness on the same level as the kingdom. What is righteousness? Most believers cannot define it and so we can't eat it. Because we can't eat it, we can't live it. Because we can't live it, our lives look like people who don't know God. All right, so next week I'm going to tell you what righteousness is. And then no, I'm not going to do you like that. Don't flip me off, hear me, hear me. I'm going to give you the simplest biblical definition of righteousness. The revelation of this changed my life. Righteousness is right standing with God and right treatment of people. I'm going to say it again, righteousness is right standing with God and right treatment of people. You cannot be righteous if you are not in the right position with God and you cannot be righteous if it's not coupled with right treatment of people. Oh God, the meal that you need to be hungry for is right standing with God and right treatment with people. You cannot be at an all night prayer gathering and then treat your boss like crap. That's not righteous. Seek first the kingdom and righteousness. and right treatment of people. Until you start treating your kids, right? You're not righteous.

No, you don't never, you don't bat talk me, don't ask me no questions, don't, don't, don't, don't. How are they gonna learn? Who they gonna ask? Where are they gonna find out how to deal and grapple? If they can't ask you nothing, 'cause you're so annoyed, oh, you're so weighed down. You're so tired that you don't even have time and capacity for your children that you, they didn't ask to be here. You prayed for them, did baby showers to them, gave them Jordans and now you don't wanna talk to them? And so till there's right treatment of people, it don't matter who the people are, you can't be righteous. Okay, okay, y'all think I'm playing with you? I'm telling you right now, I'm gonna give you this and then I'm gonna break it down. There are three lanes of righteousness. I'm gonna give them to you, I'm gonna explain them next week 'cause I can't leave you high and dry, but we got to go. Right standing with God, right treatment of people. So three lanes. I have to be in right, all I'm gonna touch today, just so you can hear me 'cause my teacher is coming on and I want you to give this. All I'm gonna give you today is the right standing with God. Next week we'll do right treatment of people. Right standing with God. You have to have right standing with God eternally. Then you have to have right standing with God in reality and then you have to have right standing with God

with your destiny. So these are the three areas you need to assess every day. Am I in right standing with God? And it's very simple, I'm gonna give you the cheat sheet to the test right now. To understand if you're in right standing with God in eternity, that takes salvation. Period. To understand if you're in right standing with God in reality, watch this. That takes, I love the Bible, sanctification. We don't use this word a lot, but this means I gotta continually be made more like him. Okay, that's in my day-to-day life. And to understand the right standing with God in my destiny, watch this, that takes submission. So to understand it in eternity, it's salvation. Reality is sanctification and in destiny, it's submission. I'm gonna give you how you get all of these. How do you get salvation? All you have to do is receive it. This is why people don't understand. You can do the whole build out. Eternity, when you get salvation, you receive it. You are in right standing with God. Why? The end of every message, I tell my testimony and I tell who I was, I was a liar, I was a manipulator, I was addicted to porn. Why do I do that?

'Cause I'm trying to get people to get their right standing with God eternally secured. You shouldn't be working and worrying about that every day. That's over. According to the scripture in Ephesians 2, 8 and 10, God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this. This is something you just received. You did not work for this. It says it is a gift from God. Is anybody grateful for the gift of salvation in this room? Watch this for all the religious. Salvation is not a reward. You do not get salvation for doing good things. You do not get salvation for showing up to church every Sunday. You do not get salvation for saying your prayers three times a day. Salvation is a gift from God. I'm trying to get somebody settled in their eternal salvation. It says it is a free gift from God. And these are not for things we have done. So none of us can boast about it. For we are all God's masterpieces. He created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. So then a reality, sanctification. How do I get sanctified? I gotta renew my mind.

Pastor Mike, why are you saying this series? Why are you telling me to watch it over and over again? Why are you telling me to read these scriptures in my Bible for myself so I can get my own revelation? Because that renews your mind. Romans 12, too. This is the founding scripture of our church a new person. This is renewal by changing not your actions first. Actions follow thinking. Did you hear the words that just came out of my mouth? You can think your way into living different. As a man, as a thinking in his heart, so is he. I'm wealthy no matter what's in my bank account. So wealthy people don't take 12 suckers. wealthy people bring suckers to the dentist and say, "I saw y'all were low on suckers last time." I just wanted to, because it's not what's in your account. It's what's in the accounts. And some of y'all's mindsets are so warped that until you allow God to renew your mind, you're going to keep acting how you've been acting. You need to start thinking, "I'm healthy. I'm healthy. I have lost weight, and I am healthy. I like working out. I don't know why. I like it, but I do. Some of y'all have to start thinking. Your body is going to follow your thoughts." And you want somebody to pray for you. Pray for me, Pastor, I will, but it ain't going to help. Because until you change your thinking, my prayer hits a stronghold. And when my prayer hits a stronghold, watch this called your submission, there ain't nothing my prayer can do for you. If you agree with my prayer and I pray something like, "Father, give them the strength to choose what's right." And then you go out here and God makes a way of escape for you, but you skirt back around. You got to the drive-thru, left your car at home. You went home to get your car. To come back and get my prayer back. Sick of praying for people who are going to be disobedient. You're not going to do what we're talking about. Just tell me the truth. Get my prayer back. We got to go. Destiny, submission, not my will, but yours be done. Okay, if you're going to get in right standing with God in the area of your destiny, then that means you're going to have to submit. Watch this. You may not like what he says, but you still have to do it. Most people don't understand that the richest place in the world is the

graveyard. Miles Monroe said it because it's the place where God gave people dreams and visions and ideas and watched this. They were not submitted enough to his will to actually respond and do it. My question for you is will your appetite keep you from responding to the God who made you? Well, I'm just an introvert. Cool. Be an introvert in obeying. Well I don't like getting up in front of people. Great. Do whatever you need to do to get up in front of people and to what God, I don't like kids. You got to raise yours. So come on. Come on church. It's time for us to stop being led by our feelings. I don't feel like Jesus didn't either. He literally said if there's any other way, nevertheless, God, my will, I'm submitted. I'm sub to the mission. I'll do it even though I don't want to. White people, it would be easier to go to a church with all white people because I don't have to explain to my friends that I go to transformation church. Let's be honest. Ain't that the black guy with the, ah, but if God told you to be here. sure as be I have the hard conversation I'll play when I feel angry I'll do older black people it's hard to listen to a young man in the yellow flyjack is I'm just saying it check this goal I'm just saying here what I'm saying to you what he gonna teach me I've been alive more you he's young enough to be my son he young enough to be my okay but if God told you that you were supposed to be here and not just sit on the sideline but get involved and learn the songs and serve and the younger to cheat the older should teach the younger and the younger should give vitality not my will but sure to be done and there are so many people missing their calling because of their preference if you're gonna reach destiny on this earth you got to get submitted and how you respond matters how you respond to this message matters how you respond when people talk about you matters how you respond when God asked you to give in the crazy faith offering that matters why because he's looking for who he can trust with the destiny he's already written out for you so our James 122 says but don't just listen to God's word do it new Nike commercial James 122 just do it otherwise watch this what it says you fooling yourself if I have more time I would tell you that that righteousness is right standing with God but most believers are in what I call right-sitting with God you are living for Christ in

a lazy boy oh that feels good yeah turn it on yeah power power lower power power lower yeah which setting of righteousness do I want to explore today judgment from the sidelines yeah if I was a pastor I'd never do it like that why would that worship team even decide to sing that song that is not who yay to everybody who's giving crazy faith I'm going on vacation this year I hope God asked somebody else to give all those poor children in Africa y'all gonna send some little shoeboxes to them I'm trying to get this sale these shoeboxes in my closet oh what most believers are right now are not in right standing with God they're in right sitting with him your righteousness is reclined I need to stretch out a little more extend my legs please extend it zero gravity yes bring me up let people see me I'm only doing it if it's comfortable I'm only doing it if it does not require me to move out of my spot I got you matter of fact no I will not do the things the Bible says because that would make me have to move out of my favorite spot go into all the world to make disciples as long as this chair has a motor as long as somebody pushes me as long as it goes with my aesthetic. No, no, no, I know, like, when God, when you need to cry out to God and cry and weep and, oh, that feels like the really churchy people do that, I don't want anybody to think that I would do something for the cause of Christ that would make me look foolish, reclined righteousness. And see the reclined righteousness, put it up there on the screen, just all of them. I just want you to know there's an inverse, oh, this feels comfy. Have you ever seen Baby Boy? Y'all ain't safe. You know that part where Jodie's in the recliner and his stepfather comes behind him and chokes him? Y'all remember that? The only reason is because when you're in a recliner or you're in a comfortable position, it makes you vulnerable to the enemy.

How good could I fight from this position? This is how I fight my battles. How good could I protect myself? How good could I actually help somebody who is in need right there? If somebody was in need right there, my feet, it is squeezing my feet right now. How quickly and even to move to obey God, okay God, I'll do it. Y'all don't need me no more? The slow obedience is disobedient, while I'll go back to my comfort zone, y'all call me next time crazy faithful offering combs. I got to start my settings over, start over with God, let me start well, since I'm starting over, might as well have a full experience, might as well feed the things that I was feeding back in the day. Pastor Mike, what are you saying? When you're in right sitting with God, your eternity still comes through salvation, but you think it's your works. And so you battle with yourself all the time, am I a good person or did I do enough or did I give enough for doing, and that's because you're reclined in this thing called righteousness, you're not active in it. When you're in right sitting with God, your reality needs sanctifications, but you base everything off of what you want. So I want to be sanctified, but not more than I want to talk to him. I want to do your will, God, but not more than I want to be comfortable. And that last one right there, it says, when you're sitting with God, your destiny is about submission, but submission is tainted because of your wants. It's your wants and your wants. I will never look stupid, for God. I wonder what David made it feel like when he was dancing until his clothes came off. I don't never look stupid for God. I don't want nobody to think I'm crazy. John the Baptist was literally yelling, prepare the way for the Lord, daily.

People thought he was insane, I don't want people to judge me. Paul was killing Christians on a Monday, went blind on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Friday was declaring the works of God to all the people he was trying to kill on Monday. What are we talking about? Right standing with God means that I have to stop letting my life of righteousness be defined, David says in Psalms, I incline my heart. That means I'm leaning into what you're saying, not leaning back. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever to the end. Somebody needs to tell Psalm as Fat Joe that we're done leaning back. (congregation cheering) What an incline does is it does this. Where am I going? What do you want me to do? I'm leaning towards you, God. Righteousness, right standing with God. Church, all I'm asking us to do is stop living for Christ in a lazy boy. He's requiring us to get out of a passive position and to lean into what he's asking us. Right standing with God, my eternity is in right standing through salvation, which comes from receiving it. My actual reality is in right standing with God because I'm actually sanctifying every day by doing what he says to do in my life. In my destiny, it's submitted to God. God, whatever you tell me to do, wherever you tell me to go, however long I have to be there, whatever you're saying to me, I will respond to your word.

Staying all over this building. The church has become comfortable righteousness being optional and it's leaving us vulnerable. I'm gonna say it one more time. The church has become comfortable with righteousness being optional and it's leaving us vulnerable. The promise, everybody listen to me, the promise of Matthew five and six is fulfillment. I ask you earlier to close your eyes and what would a fulfilled life look like to you? I wrote this out, I wanna read it over you and this is what I'm believing for you. What does fulfillment look like? Fulfillment is the soul finding its feasts in God. The deep gladness of a heart being made right with him. Learning to desire what he desires and discovering that his presence is enough to build your whole life on it. Fulfillment, it is waking beneath the father's care, knowing that the one who closed the lilies has not forgotten about you. It is receiving today's bread with grateful hands and leaving tomorrow in the hands that will provide it. It is a heart growing pure enough to recognize God's beauty but tender enough to offer mercy and courageous enough to make peace. It is righteousness taking root in the hidden places until the whole life begins to bloom. There may still be tears but there is still comfort.

There may still be opposition but there is a kingdom that cannot be taken away from you. There may still be unanswered questions but you have a father who knows what you need before you ask it. Fulfillment is a beautiful mystery. You can be satisfied in his love and still be being shaped into his likeness. Every taste of his goodness draws you closer to him and every feeling deepens your desire to know him. A fulfilled life in Christ is a soul at home in the father's love. A heart seeking first the kingdom and righteousness and a life becoming fruitful with his goodness. You can be happy because you belong to him and you can be hungry because there is still so much more to know about him. Happy and hungry. If that's your desire to be fulfilled, would you lift your hands all over the room and online? Father God, I pray that there be a picture of what you have come to give us life and life to the full. That would be ingrained on the hearts of your sons and daughters. That this is not unachievable or some pipe dream. You are telling us that we can be righteous. We can hunger and thirst after right standing with you eternally in our reality as well as for our destiny and we can have right treatment of people. God let us look more like you. the name of Jesus and today we renew our minds in your word blessed are those who

thirst and hunger after right standing with you and right treatment of others they will be filled feel your people feel families feel households feel blood lines feel people's minds to their overflow reverse the lies that we have to live empty and come get a refill at church I thank you Lord that we can live every day of our life fulfilled because you are the bread of life and you say in John 6 35 whoever comes to you shall not be hungry and whoever believes in you they shall never thirst again thank you Lord that you satisfy let our hearts be inclined to you let us come out of the recliner of righteousness in Jesus name in the same heart posture if you're in this room I feel the presence of God and you've never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior today I'm asking that you would incline your heart towards the Savior he's somebody that took me from being a liar a manipulator addicted to pornography somebody who had very dark and deep things in his heart and it didn't make me perfect but it transformed my life and I begin to progress and today that same Savior who came after me who actually came off of his strong to pursue me he's pursuing you and I'm telling you today is the day of salvation I need the church to begin it to pray because this week I was in a penitentiary with over 300 men and I gave a call for salvation for men who are literally facing 30 years and 40 years and 20 years in prison families disowned them have done horrible things and I'm watching tears fall down their eyes at their hearing that they still have value that God didn't take away the consequences but he could take away the condemnation they're sitting there in this moment and they've never heard anybody come and just say look it was just a decision a way that I could be in here with you and I watched as men who had already been labeled by society and given a number I told them you may be a number in here but God knows your name and you could you can literally see hope cracking through because they were feeding on something different their spirit had been so starved and all I did was come bring them the bread of life I had a whole message prepared and all I did is I could testify of the goodness of Jesus and how it would change your life and we watched as hundreds of them I literally said if you want to give you

her life to Jesus stand up the entire room y'all don't hear me the entire room stood to the I'm talking about gangsters and killers they stood to their feet tears coming down their eyes hands lifted up and then 43 of them decided right then and there they was getting baptized they didn't have no change of clothes y'all don't know when to rejoice they didn't have no shower waiting on them they literally jumped in he said today I'm being buried with Christ but I'm coming up a brand new y'all I was overwhelmed with emotions watching as people were fighting with their humanity we said as everybody done is everybody done nobody nobody else wants to get baptized and there's still hundreds of dudes around and a guy who didn't even come sit with everybody else you could tell he was a OG you could tell he ran stuff in the prison the whole group of men started clapping I didn't know what was happening but this dude who literally didn't make one facial expression the whole time he came to that pool he said he said these demons have been plaguing you're no longer cursed by no demons, that the bloodline is changed when Jesus comes in y'all. And I was able to lay hands on him and declare that we baptized you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and he went down and came up with his hands with him. When you watched, as the entire population of that jail shifted, because one man who was the last man to come and get baptized said, "Today I surrender, I'm going to tell y'all like I told them tomorrow's not promised." And every person thinks, "Oh, at Christmas I'll do it, and at Easter I'll do it." This is not a fear tactic, this is a fact. Today is the day of salvation. You want to be in right standing with God, let's go ahead and make it right eternally. All you have to do is say it with me, receive. If you're in this room, or you're watching online, or somebody sent this to you, or you're in prison and you're watching on the pando app, I see you, my brother, you have a reason to live. I see you, my sister, there's more for you.

Today, this church is a hospital for humanity. I don't care where you wait on the scale this week. Today you get another opportunity to eat the right things and make the spirit you stronger. But this whole service and all that worship was to get you to this point where your spirit man would be big enough to raise your hand and say, "I know what I did, and I know what I was planning, but today I'll receive Jesus." On the count of three, if you want to be included in that prayer, I want you to raise your hand in this room, or watching online, one, you're making the greatest decision of your life. Two, your eternity is about to be secured, and your literal life is going to be written in the name, Lamb's Book of Life. Three, if you want salvation today, and you want to give your life to Jesus, I see you, my brother. He tells me, "I see you, lift your hand high real quick if I see you. I see you up there." There's one more. And if you're watching online, come on. This is where we celebrate, y'all. Hands down. If you're watching online, if you're in this moment at another time, and if everybody in here is saving, I want to let you know that today is the day that we give our life to Christ and nobody does it alone. So would you lift your hands for the benefit of those coming to Christ? We're a family. And just say, "God, thank you that today I receive Jesus. Thank you for making a way for me. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power just for me. Today, I ask you to change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours. I repent, and I turn to you, and I will be in right standing with you for eternity."

In Jesus' name, amen. If you just made that decision, I want you to text save to 8-2-8-2-8-2. No more reclining in your relationship with God. You're going to be inclined to obey Him. The last thing that I'm going to say, transformation church, listen to me real quick. I know everybody's got to leave, but look at me, just everybody freeze. Bring your unsaved friends to church. Hear me say this, "There is a table prepared every week for people to eat, and if you do not bring them and do not invite them, what we do is we become a country club. For people who believe, there should never be a Sunday where there's less than 50 hands going in the air, because this message actually will transform people's lives. You're proof of it. But if you're trying to do God's work by making sure that everything goes right and they're comfortable, the Bible tells us that some plant, some water, but it is God who adds the increase. It is you that need to invite and bring, but it will be God who does the increase, and so I am commisioning you to get off your recliner. invite them to church. Who your kids do soccer with and basketball with and football with? Y'all can talk about Stanley Cups, but not talk about the Savior. Today is the day you get out of your recline, and you don't gotta be weird about it. But it's better if you invite them and they say no, than they get to heaven and say nobody ever told me. (congregation cheering) Nobody ever told me. This church will not be a reclined church. Every seat in this place will be full

with people who need to know about the loving Savior that can heal them. I don't care what they heard online. You know what this is. You know the potency of what God is doing. That's just a say that the enemy tries to use to keep people from their delivered. You think what they get out there is better than what they can get in here. We got living water in this place. This is your call off the couch. Don't come to this place in consume and take it to go box. Your refrigerator spiritually is stuff with stuff you're gonna end up throwing away. While there's people right outside starving. You don't need another note in your notebook. You need to see what you've written down and played out in real life. Today I'm asking this church. Pray for the person you're inviting starting today. Send this message to somebody as soon as it drops at five. Bring people 'cause next week, I'm gonna talk to you about the right treatment of people. This church is going to be an incline church, not a recline church. We're gonna lean into what God says, not sit back on what he says. And I declare that we're gonna see more people come to Jesus. Can I get at least 400 people with faith? That this next calendar year,

we're gonna see more people come to Jesus and not just talk about him, but live like him. Alter my heart, God. Make me more like you. (soft music) (chimes) (upbeat music)