2025 Intentional Steps Of Faith For A Bold Purpose | 5Jan2025

2025 Intentional Steps Of Faith For A Bold Purpose | 5Jan2025

Pastor West: [00:00:00] In the fifth, which is the day after the fourth and day before the sixth. So you can learn all kinds of things in church, can't you? And we're looking into a new year. We won't need any scriptures. If y'all want to just turn me on and sit and or you don't have to, or hold the kingdom down or whatever you want to do. Y'all want a title? I don't give titles away free. Y'all want a title? Yeah. 2025 The Intentional Steps of Faith for a bold purpose. That's kind of a long title, but taking it, taking intentional steps of faith for a very bold purpose. Okay. So there's there's things that you have to do if you're going to, you know, this time of year, people are making all kind of resolutions. I won't get into all that other than saying generally they don't hardly work because they don't really last that long. Statistics say most of them last anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks. Then the treadmill gets sold or put in the warehouse, and we start out with good intentions but not a determination to follow through. And we're and we're, you know, we're not in the sprint. We're in this thing for the long run, aren't we? And so when you're in the long run, you're going to see all kind of stuff. You're going to get the goods, you're going to get the bad, you're going to get the ugly.

 

Pastor West: [00:01:24] And and being that, as it were, since you're going to see since you're going to see all of the good, bad and the ugly, you got to decide on the front end if you're going to go all the way through because you need to know this. You know, Jesus says, look here, I've already overcome the world, but you need to know this. He says you can go ahead and be a cheer, for I've overcome the one who you'll be. He said, now you're going to get to know him. And and the more that you decide to go with him with the Lord, the more the enemy is going to try to get to know you because you're a threat to him and he needs to stop you somehow if there's any way possible. The more you decide to do, the greater. The greater an enemy that you are to the kingdom of darkness. So today is today is it's not it could be motivational, but it could be confrontational. It could be all that. And this is just my opinion. God doesn't go by our calendar. He doesn't restart things on January the 1st. He. I mean, he has a calendar, but it starts in September and October. And, I mean, that's when the actually the Hebrew year was changed. You know during Rosh Hashanah, that was last year. But because here we are in America and how we, you know, how we think and how we've been raised, we're conditioned to say it's a new year and it is for us.

 

Pastor West: [00:02:49] And because of that, there's an opening in, in just in, just in human thinking and logic that we think about a new year, a new start, a fresh start, a do over, whatever you want to call it. So we have this window that we allowed to be opened up, that we would want to make changes, positive changes in our lives. And so we we have that little space that we open up. Sometimes God's not waiting, you know, till January 1st to do something new. He's waiting on people to think new. So he was ready to do this in August 25th years ago. And so the things that I have for you today is not something new, because, I mean, he keeps talking to you about one thing, mostly that he's talked to me about since 2021. And in that being. And we'll get to that in a moment. But you say, well, why would he just doing the repeat? Because he's waiting on a reply. He's he does a repeat because he's waiting on a reply. And if you find people who work with him, then he works with them. If you can't find him, he goes somewhere else. And so this should challenge our thinking and personally and corporately as a church, but individuals, as people and families. And so we want to take intentional steps of faith.

 

Pastor West: [00:04:18] If you're happy with your life with, with every aspect of your life right now, if you're completely satisfied with your life, your station in life, what you've experienced in life, if you're happy with it, you'll get nothing out of the day. You can go ahead and take a nap or or we love you, but you can leave and have an early lunch somewhere. Because this this is for leaders is what this is for. This is this is not for the caboose. This is for the locomotive and locomotives love this. And cabooses hate this. Just like, can't you just leave us well enough alone? What's wrong? So it's not. It's not a getting on message. It's it's a it's a challenge is what it is. You hear in sports all the time where you know whether the team's up or whether, especially when they're down, they challenge them at halftime because you're down and you know, whether you're supposed to have been down or up or whatever it is, they got to go and challenge them to forget the scoreboard and how it feels and how ferocious that team seems, because we can do this. So he has to I mean, what does a coach do when they're when they're way down at halftime? He's doing everything he can to get in. Is he trying to get into their body? No, I mean he can't do that. They already went to the gym.

 

Pastor West: [00:05:39] He's trying to get is he trying to get into their muscles. No. What's he trying to get into their mind. He's trying to paint a different picture. He's trying to get them to forget some things. And he's pointing to the future. He's saying, we got 30 minutes to change this thing and we can do it. And so God has always worked in that 30 minutes, so to speak. He's always worked in that two minute drill. He's I don't see that he's ever had a lot of people at one time to work with. And he doesn't always have a lot of leaders gathered up in one place all the time. It's easier when you have a bunch of people who have leadership skills and want to, and you put them together. They can do a lot of things, and it's great when you can assemble that many together. And that is our goal. But primarily, the leaders get scattered out. So leaders sometimes feel like they're pulling the load of the wagon. Well, I don't I don't, but I'm just saying that that's what happens. So we want to take intentional steps of faith, and it will take a bold purpose. And because we have this window in January that's open to us in our thinking, at least not that God was waiting on January, but because that's when people open their thinking to it. Holidays pretty well wipes people out.

 

Pastor West: [00:06:57] They do. I mean, it goes on. They can be great. They can be wonderful. We enjoy them, but it's usually too much, too expensive and too long for most people. And it's only until about now or, you know, in mid-January, until, you know, you get a little bit of body rest. And the relatives, God bless them, we love them. And they come and they go. And then we say, man, we got to get off this ten, 20 pounds that we invited. And so are y'all ready to go? So you know how this works. We're on Facebook. We're on YouTube. We're on. If you don't want to watch it that way you can listen to it. You have all the different ways to listen to it. But because we don't have that many opportunities, you know, back, take it back. Ten years ago you had Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. You barely can get people to come to church one time a week. So the church has already given up 1 or 2 services already. So That sounds confrontational, too. And I suppose it is, but but here's the deal. We want to put a little bit more in. So if I go a little bit faster, you all you have to do is access it. And you say, well, I don't have time to sit and listen. Well, you don't have to. I mean, you can actually print it off and read it.

 

Pastor West: [00:08:15] I mean, I don't know how to make it any easier than audio or video or print it off and read a transcript of it. I mean, I mean, what else can we do? Braille. I mean, I don't know. So anyway, there's two parts of the gospel, and the gospel has two parts to it, and one is the person of Jesus, and the other one is the principles. These are just simple things right now. That's the two parts of the gospel. The person of Jesus, who's our Lord and Savior. But then he has principles. One is the life of God within you. That's one of them. The other one is the law of God or how the kingdom operates around you. So one is the king and the other is the kingdom and the person of Jesus. What he does is he creates your peace, but his principles create your prosperity. That concludes our service for the day. No kidding. So there's not really a relationship between God's love and your money. Because God loves people who have no money. He loves all people, doesn't he? I mean, there's many sincere lovers of God who remain broke, unable to pay their bills, and God loves them. So who's deciding your wealth in 2025, you say? Are we talking about money? We're talking about all kinds of things. We're going to we're going to we're going to get down to where we live.

 

Pastor West: [00:09:45] So who's deciding your wealth in 2025? Because does God decide who has money? Think about it. Does is he is he the one who decides that if God did, then you'd have to decide why the why the mafia has money. If God is the one who decides who has money and who doesn't. And why is it the missionaries do not and the Mafia does? So the person of Jesus prepares you, the person of Jesus. He lived and died, bore everything for us. So the person of Jesus prepares you for eternity. But the principles of Jesus prepare you for living on the earth. So what do we need? Well, we need Proverbs four seven, which is wisdom, because what wisdom is the what? The principle thing? Wisdom is the ability to recognize differences in your life. And you're going to you're going to see differences. You're going to have choices that you're going to make and wisdom gives you the desire and ability to say they both look good. But I can't do both. I can't be two places at one time. I can't go walk this way and that way and that and one, you know, I'm not talking about necessarily evil versus good. I'm talking about both. May go to a good place, but you can't be in two places at one time. You can't you can't graduate from the University of Auburn and and Texas the same. You can't be in two different universities at one time.

 

Pastor West: [00:11:17] So every problem is, every problem in your life is an invitation to a relationship. Who are you tied to? And so wisdom is the ability to discern the difference in a moment of time. Y'all okay, I'm going slow as I can on purpose. Wisdom is the ability to discern the difference in a moment. Now you remember the miracle of Jesus that healed the blind man? And when he cried out to Jesus, blind Bartimaeus, he said, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. You remember that moment and see, he discerned that the presence of Jesus would create a difference in a moment in his life because of what he heard, not what he saw because he was blind. But he'd heard of Jesus. And they said, he's coming. And he started yelling out to get Jesus attention. And then they tried to silence him. You remember that? Well, side note, do you remember who tried to silence him? Jesus ministry team. Because they wanted him to show respect. They were apprentices. And they they they had a lot to learn. So he heard his answer was coming towards him and about to go past him. Or Roberts used to say, he said he said, opportunity comes to you every day, he says. And then he got questioned on that. He says, they said, you know, that's kind of a statement to bold that you can just tell people opportunities come to them or buy them every day.

 

Pastor West: [00:12:52] He said, yeah, I think you're right. He said, I shouldn't have said that. He said, I think it comes 2 or 3 times a day. They said, well, we don't believe it's true because people aren't living those kind of lives if they had those kind of opportunities. He said he says that's absolutely wrong. They're coming to him all the time. They have no eyes to see it. And that's what we're going to talk about. I mean, what if opportunities are coming to you all the time? What if opportunity comes to you even once a week? That would change your life forever. But we don't have any eyes to see it because we don't have a framework of mind for capacity of that. Because it would it would be changed. It would be so different from what you do and how you do it that you say, well, we can't do this. So what do you do? You abort the idea. And when you abort something, it never has a birth. We just think because this is the way it was always done, it has to go that way. Really? Well, change is here to stay. You ever notice? I mean, our statement we always use for years is change is here to stay. And growth and maturity is optional. But change is always going to be here, whether you like it or whether you don't.

 

Pastor West: [00:14:03] Most people go through so much changes in their life and then they get there. They're there, they're tired of change. Just like we've seen enough. We've done enough. If you all like it, I'm happy for you all. Leave me alone. And I got a measure of that in me. I fight all the time. Technology and all kind of stuff. I remember years ago we decided if I ever wanted to go from a flip phone to anything else. And I mean, I mean, I don't want to text, I don't want to learn how to text. I don't I mean, why do I have to learn how to text? Well, even I found out even now Nick Saban knows how to text. He wasn't he didn't want to know why he was coached. He was too busy. He said, I pay people to text. Well, I guess he could still do that now. But in the position he's doing now, he's had to learn how to text a little bit. He's had to he's had to correspond. I'm glad that I just I always liked that little flip phone. I just liked the idea of it. It was comfortable, especially when I take it with me like I'd be in the hospital instead of, you know, some big iPad called a phone. You trying to get in your pocket somewhere? But texting wasn't the easiest. Now, the new models, I guess you can a little bit better, but it's not.

 

Pastor West: [00:15:07] The best thing for technology is the flip phone, is it? I don't know, y'all. I probably shouldn't jump out here, but do they call any kind of flip phone a smartphone? They don't think it's that smart, do they? Okay. So. But anyway. But you can still buy one, right? They're still there. Now, why are they still there? The only reason why they're still there is there's a market for it. If there was no market, it wouldn't be there. Now, I don't know what the demographics on that end, but I bet you it's not. I bet it's not 18 year olds that's just swooping in the market up and you can't hardly get one. It's people with gray hair. I told you this story years ago, but, you know, years ago. So it's been a long time now since I was running, owning, slash managing or slash owning? Managing all of it. The floor covering store in Clanton family business, but opened the door one morning many years ago because I've been doing this for 30 years. Open door one morning I was early 30s, 30 years old. Whatever I was opened the door. One morning, an old gentleman comes in and we had the inventory on the floor and he says, young man, I need some help. I said, well, I'm here to help you. What do you need? He says, well, I need a I need a living room, a hallway and a bedroom of new carpet.

 

Pastor West: [00:16:27] He said, what do you what do you got that you could you got in stock, you could put in real quick, he says. And I need a good deal. Maybe the cheapest thing you got. So I took him to the cheapest thing I have. And I mean, there's the roll of carpet he can look at, but I went and got the sample so I could turn it over and show him, you know, what it's made out of and this and that and the warranty. And, you know, back then, any kind of any kind of carpet, if it was carpet at all, it, it said five year warranty. I wouldn't want to test that warranty all the time. But it was going to say five year warranty. You know people say warranties, but then the fine print you need a telescope or a magnifying glass, you know, I mean, if they're looking to not fix something, they can find a way not to do it. So I gave him, he says, well, here's my dimensions. And I said, well, I'd have to come out and measure to give you a, you know, a complete total price. He says, well, can you give me a roundabout price? So I just said, yeah, okay. That bedroom. I said, it'd be about this much here approximately, but I got I got to come see it.

 

Pastor West: [00:17:27] He said, well he said well okay. And he said nothing ain't cheaper. And I said, as far down as I got. He says, well, he's looking at it and he's rubbing it. And so it was just silence. So I turned over. I took the sample board, turned over, and I said, well, it's scotchgarded and it's 100% nylon. Continuous filament won't continuous, films won't shed. It's not stapled. It's not stapled in. It's won't shed. You know when you vacuum he said vacuum. What's that? He lived by himself and he was he was getting up in the years. And I said, it's got this five year warranty. He said, you got anything? But he's got about a two year warranty. He said, because he says that's all I'll buy as long as I'm going to be here. He said, I hate to get three years away from something that ain't going to have to do. Well, there was no such thing as a carpet with a two year warranty, you know? So anyway, he ended up buying it. But the thing was, he could see two years and then that was all. I mean, back then he was like, y'all can have it. And when you get with people like that you put them in a room and you got people who want to go all the way and you got some people who want to go back the other way, and you got people who want to stay the way they are, and then you got people who want to get in the way.

 

Pastor West: [00:18:49] And you can have all that in a church at one time. Let me tell you what leaders do and let me tell you what pastors do. Pastors were a different type of hat. So sometimes pastors is like the in the old washing machines which I think are better in, in the people who work on washing machines tell you they're better. They said I would fix a 20 year old machine before I'd buy a new one any day of the week, he said. Because there's no agitator in there, and the guy who works on it generally knows more. Like if you ever want to go buy a new car, if you can walk back in there to the to the shop and ask them, what do you think about this car? Because they really know. I mean, and maybe the salesman does know, but. But he needs to sell it. But they're fixing it so you can get a different viewpoint. You know, back in that part of the of the business that you can from the, from, from the showroom. And so that's what we do as leaders sometimes you do. And that's what I do a lot of times, you know, as, as a minister or a pastor is I'm an agitator. Why? Because I'm supposed to help grow the stains out and the new stuff.

 

Pastor West: [00:20:06] You know, he just says, well, let's just feel good slosh around here, but there's nothing rubbing against it. There's just clothes moving this way and that way a little bit. Or like that country boy said, go this way and that way. And so an agitator. Sometimes we get uncomfortable with them because they're like, you know, you're always pressing me. Well, Paul said he pressed towards the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. And no one's pressing him except. Except the passion that he had in him. He said he was trying to reach a mark and try to know Jesus. And this is like 25 years after knowing him. I was thinking, you know, Damascus was was a pretty good start of knowing somebody. But he went on to know many things, but because he pressed for it, if you don't pray as Jesus is not going to knock you down off a horse and give you some, put a flashlight in your eyes and say, take notes. I just don't think that's going to happen. So a lot of people stumble through life and they say things like, I wonder what God wants. I wonder what God's saying in this new year? Well, Jesus looked at the blind man. Blind Bartimaeus we talked about a moment ago, and he said, what do you want? What would you have me to do? Which seemed like a really foolish question, doesn't it? When Jesus is talking to a blind man.

 

Pastor West: [00:21:25] But he wanted the man to say, this is what I want. That he had to verbally speak it. He would not heal this man until the man verbally verbalized, I want to be able to see. So the blind man had to declare what his need was, what his desire was. True story. You might have heard this. I don't think I read this to you, but Or found this a while back. Said a man noticed a tooth dollar and $0.39. Picture frame at a flea market. And he said he loved the frame, but hated the picture. When he got home, he took the picture to replace it, and he discovered another picture behind the ugly one. He thought, well, this looks different. This looks like the work of a professional. So he called him art museum and he was instructed to bring it in for evaluation. It said, and after some research, they discovered that it was the work of a famous painter, And he sold it for $11 million from a $2.39 picture frame. Y'all want to go to the flea market with me? Well, you say, what are you trying to say? Well, I'm saying something that you're not seeing is costing you money. It's called the law of the mind. See, every life battle is a mind battle. Y'all figured that out. Already had you. Yeah. It is.

 

Pastor West: [00:22:57] Every life battle is a mind battle. And if you. And if you if you win in your mind, then you'll win in life. And if you lose in your mind, then you're going to lose in life. Doesn't matter whether you're a brain surgeon or a domestic engineer. You know, domestic engineer is a stay at home mom. They ought to get the blue ribbon every day of the week. You don't think so? Trade places with her for a week. So when you can manage your mind, that means you can manage your life. If your life is out of control, it's is because your mind is out of control, man. You're you. You're 20. This is this is agitating, okay? You're 20. 25 is going to look as good as your sock drawer does right now, or the or the floorboard of your vehicle. I'm serious. It works the same. It works the same as how your garage looks. Can I get in a little bit more? Because I actually had barely started. So every battle in your mind, you're going to win or lose in your mind, not someone else for you. That's why Paul said in Philippians two five, let this mind be in you. What mind? It's amazing statement. He said, let this mind be in you. The mind that was in Christ Jesus. Is that even possible? Well, Paul said it was so. Your mind needs a Focus. Your mind needs something in the future because your mind has two parts to it.

 

Pastor West: [00:24:35] Everyone's mind today has two parts to it. It has your memory, and it has your imagination. And your memory replays the past and your imagination replays the future. And there's. And that's what that's where the conflict comes in a lot of times is we're we're making decisions based on the, the replay and the experience that we've had. Then we hear about this future, and then we weigh the difference. And then the mind will decide we can do this, or it will abort it and we'll stop there. Happens all the time. So what does God do? Well, God gives us pictures, snapshots, snapshots of tomorrow. So we would not regress into the past. He did it constantly with people all the time. He had to bring Abraham out of the tent. And count the stars. Because Abraham was talking about. I don't have no kids yet. I don't have no kids yet. You still going to have kids? I ain't got no kids yet. Hey, guys. Come on, look up. Can you count them? I can't count that many stars. He said, well, that's that's what your family's going to look like. But he says, shh. He says, look down. What are you standing on? Saying, can you count the grains of sand under your feet? Well, there's no way. God. That's the way your frame is going to look like. But I don't even have a kid.

 

Pastor West: [00:26:00] So God gave him something to look at. He didn't tell him how many. How many attempts of trying to become impregnated with this? No, he didn't talk to him about anything natural. He didn't talk to him about what was wrong in their bodies. He didn't talk to him about their physical age. He only painted vision in front of him. And what did he do? He. He took the. He took the stripe strike post of the mind to the imagination. And he struck it. And then he spoke into the imagination, but it gave him something to look at that he could see. I know faith is the substance of things not hoped for, the things that you don't see with your physical eyes. But God always uses things also that you can see not to do a replay, but to do a replay of the future. Amen. Amen. And so he's our creator, and God always works from a blueprint. He always has. And when God talks with you, he'll put that picture in your mind like we talked about with Abraham, Genesis 15 five and Genesis 22 seven. If you want to go look at it, the stars. And he told him, look, tell me what you see. So the picture in your mind, what does that do for us? Well, the picture in your mind controls your behavior. The picture. That's where you make your decisions and you all.

 

Pastor West: [00:27:26] And you'll always act like the person that you think that you are. Amen. Amen. That's a whole series that. And that's just a statement I'm making. Amen. Amen. You'll always act like the person that you think that you are. Wow. Always. I have had the great privilege of being involved with people for 30 years that I love dearly and has, has been the highest honor of my life to be associated with such wonderful people. On the other hand, I've been with people that I never could help and I just prayed someone else could help them. I've had people that was mad at everything and everybody and I, and I was the reason why they was never going to be successful. Because they needed someone to blame. See, there's hadn't preached in many years, but there's like ten classifications of people that you just can't help. And I won't go into all that. But this morning. But and it doesn't mean that they can't never get help. But until they can change some things, nobody can help them. Amen. I will give you one. One classification of people that you can never help and no one can help them. Jesus couldn't help them until they changed their mind. If they changed their mind, it's thinking that all their problems is your fault. The responsibility of why they are where they are lies with you. This doesn't work that way. It does not work that way.

 

Pastor West: [00:29:11] If you were to trade places with someone in the Third World and they were to come here and you were to go there for a month, you'd have a whole different mindset and compassion for people who, who, who don't even have the options that you have zero options that you have. We kind of like electricity. We kind of like heating air. We use up here late last night working on this thing because the main unit is down. Well, thank God we put in these little pumps here a few months ago. And the other one and we were on these up, you know, past the heat of Hades itself, you know, so maybe you get too hot. So in the morning it wouldn't be too bad. So it worked out okay. But there's people. They're not doing this. There's nothing in the building, and they don't even have a building. But but they do just as much. And sometimes further, because they don't have the limitations of saying, well, if I had this or if I had that, they, they just go do it anyway. So we have to let go of whatever is stopping you. And most of us, most people with their problem mostly is themselves. You say, well, I'm drowning. Well, look here, if you're stuck in the mud and you've been spending for ten minutes and the back wheels. Let me give you one piece of advice.

 

Pastor West: [00:30:31] Cut the motor off. Quit putting it in. Drive and spin it. Don't go any deeper. If your boat is sinking. If your boat sinking, you're out on the water. Boat sinking. Don't put any more water in it yourself. Bail it out. And so your imagination is the raw material, the wisdom that God uses to work with. It's just the way it works. So that means your experience in life is simply the product or mirror of what you've been imaging. What have you been imaging? What have you been looking at? What have you been pondering about? Who do you hang around with? We all need people to be with. Hang around with, if we can That fake on our level, but mostly even above who challenge us. Who? Who can talk to you, get in, get into your life and say, I disagree with you. Every year I have a board meeting and I have people on my board who aren't can't be just yes people. They have to be able you have to you have to give them the right to to say I disagree with you. I mean, I'm in situations, you know, right now, at this moment, you know, with things that we're doing here and, and I'm saying this is what I'm thinking at. This is what I'm considering. Well, why would you do that? Well, if you do that, then what would be the plan about this. Really? Well, but if you do this and you don't go there and cross the T's and dot the I and -50 and add 30 and and that's what they're supposed to do.

 

Pastor West: [00:32:10] That's what you want them to do. Can anyone actually get in your face, so to speak, and change your mind when you're gung ho to go the other way. Does anyone have that right in your life to speak to you in that way? Because everyone is supposed to have someone in your life who can. You don't want just, yes, people in your life all the time. Because what if you're wrong and they just say, well, man, I'm sorry it didn't work out. Yeah, but you've already jumped off the bridge. You're the stunt man. But they ain't no trampoline down there. There was nothing to catch you. And they said it was. And so that's the kind of people that we need in our life. And that's what agitators do. Just like the washing machine. They're, you know, they're rubbing against the clothes. I mean, you can see that, don't you? I mean, I mean, I don't know, that's I've talked to 2 or 3 different appliances, and I was looking for one, and I asked all three of them. Same thing. I said, would you buy it? He said, I wouldn't have nothing to do with that new machine. He said I'd go get me an old 20 year old machine.

 

Pastor West: [00:33:16] I don't care if I spent the same money that it cost to buy a new and get one with an agitator. He says the other ones are absolutely worthless. He says, how do you clean clothes? That it's going like this and ain't nothing touching them? And she said, it'd be like asking a football player on the front line. Have you ever tackled someone with no arms? I mean, you have no arms. I mean, you could try to throw your body in front of them, but he says, so you need an agitator. And that's what that's what the word does to us. It builds us up, but it also agitates us. See, today is to cause you. The purpose for the day is to cause us to think. And if you if you want to go higher, if you want to build something higher, if you're if you're building a building that's more than one story, depending on how high it is, will depend on what kind of, you know, foundation is going to need. If you're going to go 20 storeys high instead of one storey, it's going to be a whole different kind of foundation in the materials, right? So you got to be able to see it, say that with me. Got to be able to see it. And if you can't dream it then you can't see it. If you can't see it, you can't conceive it. And you want.

 

Pastor West: [00:34:36] And if you can't conceive it, you won't receive it. I'm going to skip a bunch of things. So the only limitation to what God can give you is how far you can see. Over to God. See, people, sometimes they look at an opportunity, or they look at something and they don't see it as opportunity because they can't see what something can be. They just see what it is. And they think, well, I mean, I wouldn't do that. Well why not? Well, it's just this. And we got this over here, but it can be this. Yeah, but it ain't that. It's like Walt Disney, you know. And the man had an imagination. Henry Ford had an imagination. Henry Ford fought everybody that you could imagine to get the first car put together. Even the glass people. Because no one wanted. Because they said you can't put no glass in no vehicle and go down the road 30, 40 miles an hour. We ain't gonna do that responsible. It's all going to be shattered. It's going to be in your face, you know. We'll be sued the rest of our life. So he went to his board and he said, don't bring to me any old people who's already elderly people. He said they've already decided it's not going to work before we even talk about it. He said, bring me young, hungry. Bring me young, hungry, passionate people with very vivid imaginations. They compiled a handful of people and he told them, this is what I want and it's going to be an easy thing to go do.

 

Pastor West: [00:36:15] And he says, now go do it and I'll reward you handsomely. They had it figured out in 30 days. How many of y'all have a windshield in y'all's car? But there's a lot of folks said they can't do it. Others said, you know, automobiles will be just a fad. Others said, you don't. You don't need to do that. Because anyone any human going down the road, something 40 miles an hour is going to suffocate, you know, trying to breathe and drive at the same time. I mean, I was going to say the other day, I'm on the interstate and someone passed me like I was sitting still. I know they must have been suffocating. They they were moving. So the only limitation to what God can give you is how far that you can see. He can only do exceedingly, abundantly based on what you see. And the exceeding, exceeding abundantly of God, which is Ephesians 320 is multiplying by your scene. And what are you seeing? If you're seeing nothing, there's nothing to multiply. Now, let me get to today's message. I mean, really, I am. This is. I'm now starting. But don't worry. Amen. I won't keep you. So. I'm. I'm going to make some quotes here. If that's okay. Amen. Don't turn there. But in Genesis 1315 is or Genesis 13 is a story where Abraham and lot separate because there's, there's so much increase that there's strife between the herdsmen.

 

Pastor West: [00:37:49] And Abraham goes to lot and says, look, he said and lot says we have we have prospered so much. There's there's just not enough property here for us all to live on in our herds. And Abraham said, well, I don't want strife. He said, we're kinsmen. I don't want strife between you and me. And I don't want strife between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. Maybe a lot of churches could read that. Or just people. In other words, he said, I don't want strife. And so did Abraham. Classy guy. He tells a lot. He says, well, let's separate. He says you choose what you want. I can choose first. He said, if you go to the left, I'll go right. If you go right, I'll go left. And so he said, okay. So he. So he gets up and he sees all the grasslands and they're well watered, you know, to the east. And he, he takes off and says, well, I want this. You know, really the only reason he's blessed is because of the lot. I mean, because Abraham, I think he ought to kill his livestock and stayed with him. They ought to had a huge barbecue. So he picked out what was best for him, and he left. And Abraham blessed him, went on. And then, of course, we know lot got into a lot of trouble.

 

Pastor West: [00:39:14] Sodom and Gomorrah. And so God brings him forward. And God says to Abraham, he says, you see all that paraphrasing. He says, yes, sir. He says, anything that you can see, I give it to you. If you can see it, you can have it. Hallelujah! This is the father of your faith. The blessing of Abraham is yours, New Testament. So God said, can you see it? He said, yes, sir. He said, how far can you see? He said, I can see you this far. He says, if you can see it, you can have it. Well we'd like. Let me make sure I'm seeing real good then. Can I use binoculars? Yeah. Use them. So he said. He said if you see it, I'll give it to you. And I've said this many times, but it fits really good here. The greatest threat to being all you could be is satisfaction with who you are right now. That's your that's your greatest threat. That's your greatest enemy right now is being satisfied with who you are. You know, there's about 8 billion people on the planet as of 2022. That's a lot of people in it, 28 billion. The problem is they live most of the 8 billion. They live in the four functions as a society out of 8 billion people. Many of them, I would say most of them live on four functions play, stop, pause, rewind.

 

Pastor West: [00:41:01] They daily go to job as many of them dislike Then they come home and stop to rest and they settle there for a while. Maybe they settled in the house they don't even like. Then they pause to vent their frustration from their life. Then they go play games to pretend that they're happy. 8 billion people never daring to rise above the norm of life. Resigned to live a normal life and choosing to accept. To fit in with society. The very thing that you are never created for was to fit in. You were created and endowed by your creator. Not to be normal. So when people have been telling you all your life, man, you're not even normal, you say, thank you sir. God bless you. Thank you. Because you're not created to be normal. God created you with his own DNA. Each one in this room. Unique. Each one in this room significant, each one with a mixture of talents and abilities. Original. You're made in his love. You're made in his image. And you're made in his likeness, right? Yes. He created you. You're the highest class of being on the planet. God put his spirit in you. So he made you just like him. You're in the God class in that sense. And so each one of us this morning, we're seated by God himself. So that you. So that you can rise above the norm in this planet and you rise way above average.

 

Pastor West: [00:42:53] Now, if I asked each of you this morning and I know, I'm sure it'd be true, do you ever feel like you just don't fit in? Has anyone ever felt like, you know, I just don't. I just don't feel like I fit in. I don't fit in here. I don't fit in there. And and I think all of us have wrestled with that sometimes. And we seem to it seems to blend in no matter where. Maybe like, you know, where I work this, that and the other society. I just don't feel like I fit in. Sometimes you feel like you might be a little lost or misplaced. Not sure where you are or where to go because you don't know if you fit in. And we won't turn there again. But in Genesis chapter three, verse nine, God asked Adam. He said, where are you? Because Adam didn't know where he fit in at the moment. Adam had made a bad decision and he ran and hid from God. And God came down like he did every day to have fellowship. And he said, where are you? You know, I don't know. Maybe God's asking the question today. The people here at Gracelife church, where are you? You know, Adam lived to be 930 years of age. He had so much life and God, it took almost a millennium to kill him off this planet.

 

Pastor West: [00:44:07] And you're thinking about getting to 70. You know what Adam did for 930 years? Play. Stop, pause, rewind, and death over and over and over again because he lost the life of God. But you and I are strategically placed on this planet for an appointed time of God's choosing, for a divine purpose. Now, if you didn't, and I don't generally do this, but if you didn't get last week's message, you need it. You say, well, I just don't want to listen to you two times in one week. I get it. Then watch one and read the other. You don't have to watch me. And it was about time. But there's a lot of thought provoking things about that message, and I don't generally point to something that I minister, but I'm saying it was It was a now word that I believe that we need, that these two go together, that there's a thing that God said, there's a time that that you're on this planet and you have to know your time. And we did all the math and we did whatever. And we took, you know, we took the averages of life and how long people live in the United States. And I won't go through all that. And then I even went into our own county, and I told you how many deaths there were and how many funerals there was in Chilton County last month, and that the average age in Chilton County last month of the death was a little under 70 years of age.

 

Pastor West: [00:45:35] There was 40 funerals in Chilton County last month, and the average age was 69.85. And if you took away sleeping and working and you know Reverend, the dog down and cutting the grass and the weeds and cooking and cleaning and shopping and paying bills, sitting at red lights and the ancient text and email. And if you knew what your purpose in life was, how much time do you have left at the end of the day to just work on your purpose of life if you're not working in your purpose of life? And I was very generous and gave you four hours a day that you've done everything. You don't even know what else to do. You just got four hours you don't know what to do with. Let me ask any woman. Not a man. Which one of you mothers are women who have four hours a day you don't know what to do with. How about an overflow? I don't see a hand. Nowhere. But I gave you four hours. And so if you was my age, which a lot of you aren't. Some of you are are close. If you're my age and you subtract the sleeping time eight hours. And if you subtract going to work and driving to work and taking a shower and you know all the things that you got to do washing clothes, whatever.

 

Pastor West: [00:46:47] And you had four hours. If you're my age and you divided that by the years of a someone who lives to around 78 years old in the United States. That's the average. Women lived to be older than men, but average. The average lifetime in the United States of men and women is 77.8 years. I took my age and subtracted. I have to sleep. I have to do some things. You know, I got to you got to do life right. You know how much time I got left? I have 60 months left to do everything I need to do. But for me, thank God, I think I can double that, at least because I think I'm going to live longer than that. But. But if I don't or don't. But here's the deal. But, but, but I'm doing what I'm doing on purpose during the day, so I don't have to wait till I get home. So I don't know why you'd work a job that you, that you were never called to work. And you're wasting giving that to someone else when you're not even on your purpose. You can double what time you have left just doing what you're called to do. So you got to you got to know what it is. Right? But that's last week's message you ought to get. So we're talking about fitting in. But you're created by God to be much more than normal.

 

Pastor West: [00:48:04] That's why you feel like you don't fit in sometimes. That's why you ever wonder why you don't. Because you're not created to be normal. That's why you don't feel like you fit in. It's not them so much. It's not that place. It's not whatever. It's just the God in you. Whether you realize God is trying to provoke you to say, come up, come up, come up. And you may think it's the place. It's not the place or the people. I mean, there's exceptions. It could be. But it's the God in you that you're not called to fit in there. So it takes nothing to join a crowd. Nothing. It takes everything to stand alone, but nothing. Just to join a crowd. I always said it this way. The bad news for some is you're not going to fit in with everyone. The good news is, the great ones never do. Never do. God didn't create you to be like everybody else, did he? Following the masses of people or joining the rank and file of the normal is seldom a winning approach. So the question is, where are we in regards to God's plans for our life? Adam, where are you? Put your name in there. Where are you? Is 2025 going to be the year of your breakout from the norm? Did you get started and ran? Good. And now you've hit a wall and you feel like you've crashed and burned.

 

Pastor West: [00:49:41] And you say, what do I do? You get up and dust yourself off and you start again. You don't get under condemnation, but you don't quit. Losers quit everything. So if you're a quitter, then here's my. Here's my help to you today. Stop it. Quit quitting. Believing God and believing yourself. In the year 2021, as he keeps giving me this phrase over and over again, I said, why do I keep getting it? He said, I'm waiting for you to obey it. I'm waiting for you to do something with it. Everything you want or need in life is already in your life, merely waiting your recognition of it. But people never, hardly ever sees what they don't recognize. That everything that you need or require to achieve the purpose for your life, the calling, the assignment to fulfill God's plan is already in your life merely waiting your recognition of it. I mean, is that true? If that's true, why, we ought to ask some questions. Everything that you need in life that you're called to do and be. All the vision and the provision for the vision is already in your life, but it's waiting for you to recognize it. But these people, said Henry Ford, you might as well forget this. You can't put glass in your bill and going down the road that's bumpy. And all this and going 40 miles an hour. And no, they can forget that.

 

Pastor West: [00:51:15] So what do you do? He quit talking to those people. What did Goliath about? The Goliath story they told? You know, they they harassed David and thinking, here you come out here. I mean, you delivered your cheese and crackers. Get back to the house and watch them. Few sheep. All David wanted to know was what? What does the man get who kills this loudmouth? This guy who has no covenant with God? But we know who killed Goliath. It was David, right? But the Bible said when they mocked him. Go back and read the story. David turned to another. His brothers was mocking him. Everyone was mocking because he was a 17 year old kid and Goliath was, you know, this is a ten foot wall. Goliath is about that, that height right there. You don't generally pick on someone that tall. David wasn't figuring any of that in. He said, I have a covenant. He don't. He says my covenant. He said, I've already killed a lion and a bear. He said, and he'll be next because he don't he don't have a covenant has nothing to do with his stature. I have a covenant. He don't have a covenant. He's a loudmouth. Almost. I'm going to show it. And I get what now? Because he's going to die. What am I going to get? He said, what are you going to get? A house free and no taxes and you get the king's daughter.

 

Pastor West: [00:52:29] He said, what do you mean, get her? He says she'll be yours, he said. He's a 17 year old boy. He said, I get I get my own woman. He says, oh yeah, he's dead. He said, I get my own woman. A house in pretax. He said, that sucker is dead. He said, I get my own woman and I know I've preached this a million times. Go back and read the story. David asked that same question three times in one chapter. He wanted to make sure. What do I get? You think, well, that's kind of not right. Well, he's 17 years old. He knows the guy ain't got no company. He's a loudmouth. So he said, I'm going to kill him. So I want to know what I'm going to get when I kill him. I want to hear it from different people. I want to hear it from someone who's close to the king. So what? I'm going to get your daughter And that house. Yeah. And, you know, taxes outside. He says okay, he's dead. You say, why do you point that out? Because that's how we live life. You're rewarded financially for problems that you solve every day. Most of us are looking to get rid of problems, and you ought to ask for more of them. The people that pick up the trash solve a problem, don't they? What if they quit picking up for about three weeks or three months? That'd be a problem, wouldn't it? The brain surgeon gets rewarded for a problem.

 

Pastor West: [00:53:50] He solves the man who kills the bugs at your house because he solves a problem. Nathan solves a problem. Theresa solves a problem. Keith solves a problem. I get a bunch of problem solvers in the room. You're rewarded because you solve problems. Money, finances, comes to you because you people have problems and you are a problem solver. See, that's just a different perspective. I got to go to work. You know, you get to God created you for this. He put wealth and worth in you and put you around people, and you're looking for somebody to get out of this thing. So if you're not happy with where you are, what are you supposed to be there? Or do you understand your purpose of being here? If you're working for money, it's a lousy reason to work. Money makes a lousy god. It's the tools, all that it is. And when you change your perspective on money, you won't have to find money. Money will come looking for you. You. Left your last night working on some things. Because God will assign people to your life. Is what I'm saying to your life. To the vision that he's put in your heart to do. People that will help and people that will fund, and people that we left here last night, you know, kind of late when trying to get this thing.

 

Pastor West: [00:55:14] I think it's just the thermostat all messed up since we got a new Wi-Fi 300 megs finally. And it's wonderful to go from 12 to 300. It's amazing. So anyway, here's the deal. Left here, went to the post office. Mail in there. Someone ain't seen her for a long time. Opened up. Love, y'all. $5,000 to the church. I think I'm gonna a gold post office the next day. Now the why the dude is not so much because they're receiving spiritual things from here. They don't, you know, they they don't even live here. They don't even live in the county. They live in the state. Sometimes it's because of the relationship that we have with one another, the things we get together maybe once a year and have dinner and talk and minister to one another. And they just said, God's been good to us. And that word that you spoke in our life came to pass in our business, and we want to sell this into your life, into your ministry. Well, that that that works. Yeah. That works. Now, God didn't tell me. If you go do all this, then on this day, this will come to you and he'll come. No, none of that. Abraham left his house not knowing where he was going. He just knew to leave home. Have I gone too far for you? Because, I mean, if I'm me, just getting stuff off the page won't work if we're.

 

Pastor West: [00:56:52] If there's no capacity to put it, you know. It should bring some more jars. There still are. But there wasn't a more jars, so they all remained. It stopped. We can't prove it, but it just looks like if they'd had some more jugs, it would have kept pouring on it. So. So what's your capacity to receive? We ought to expand that just a little bit. If you read the Bible 15 minutes a day, you'll read the whole Bible in one year. What does that mean? To show you a different way. So we need to be like the apostles who were known for their acts, not for their talk. They're doers. They had a destination. They were changing the system. They were changing the government. They were transforming the world. The apostles were nations, were afraid of them. Towns and cities became nervous when they showed up. In acts 17 six, when the apostles began to come into the city, they said, the men who have turned the world upside down are here in our city. Now I wonder if they say that about us. These these holy rollers out of acts chapter two. These tongue talking rollers have changed the world. And I'm just telling you, they're about to walk into our city. They're here now in our city. Change generally upsets people who are content to be stagnant. But we might remember God's, the God of all vision.

 

Pastor West: [00:58:22] And vision comes from God because purpose comes from God, and God created everything to fulfill the purpose. And so God's principle is purpose before production. This is what we're going to get into some how to's just a little bit. God's principle. See, I always remember this. We talked about the beginning of service. The person of Jesus and the principles. This book is really a book about principles. And when you understand the principles and put them work, the principle is like gravity works whether you like it or not. You say, well, I'm well, gravity work for a Christian or a non-Christian? Yeah. What if you're a veteran or not a veteran? Does this work in Indonesia? Same as it works in Georgia. It's no respecter of persons. This Bible is in gravity the same way. You say, well, I'm going to go to Indonesia and jump off a building. Well, are you going to die there? Because gravity works? Well, I'm going to go to Spain. I don't believe it works there. Well, they'll bury you over there because it works there. Well, this is this is a book of principle. It works for anyone who works it. If you believe it. Right. So principle before production. So he establishes the end from the beginning, meaning that God's finishes things first in the spirit realm. When you understand this, it will help you the rest of your life.

 

Pastor West: [00:59:44] Then he goes back and starts it up in the physical realm. So God finishes. He finishes. What he's going to do in the spirit realm is complete. Once he's completed it, he chooses the person for whom he wants to fulfill that purpose after he's completed it, every phase of it. And then he comes and picks the person, and then he starts it up. So you're saying, well, I'm at this venture in my life, or this and my my home, our family, our finances. We got college, we got a business. We're starting going back to school, a ministry making changes. And so I'm I'm at this place in life and ministry and it's like, well, where does where is this going to come from? Well, this venture was already done before I ever got started when I was born and chose to do what I was doing, the finances for one. For one thing was already completed before I went to kindergarten. While I was walking on for sucking on a pacifier. It was all put together. Kind of hard for me seeing me doing that anyway. But here's the deal. God finished it before you started it. Then he goes back and reveals the end result from the beginning. Because he's the author of vision and it's his nature, God's nature, to be purposeful in everything that he does. So when he wanted to do something specific, you see, to accomplish something specific, he was accurate about it and disciplined decisively when he chose you to do it.

 

Pastor West: [01:01:21] Now, I've given you these scriptures before, and we're not going to turn to them for sake of time because I'm running out of time. But I've used these before because they really speak to what I'm saying right now. In Psalms 3311 it says, the plans of the Lord stand firm forever. It's the purposes of his heart through all generations. That's Psalms 3311. Isaiah 1424 says, the Lord Almighty has sworn, surely as I have planned. So it will be. And as I purposed, it will stand. Now do you believe when God says that he means it? So nothing can stop the plan or the purpose from God? But then he. So he says as he says, my plans stand firm forever, throughout all generations, as I've sworn as I've planned. It will be that way. It will be no other way. And then he gets to you in Ephesians chapter one, verse four and five. He says, it says, you were chosen by him before the world began, before the world began. You were chosen by him, and that he planned in advance all that you were born to be and accomplish Before there was a world. He knew you and has already determined everything that you could be, would be and should be. And he says, my purpose will stand in. No one's changing it. So what? What? Can you see any wisdom in working with him? I mean, if he has inside information, wouldn't it be to our advantage to find out what the plan is? Right.

 

Pastor West: [01:03:04] So there's a time for every purpose. Ecclesiastes says in a season for what you're born to accomplish. Ecclesiastes 311 says, God has put eternity into the hearts of his people. So there's something in you that's being directed by eternity or the eternal One. That what God's put in your heart is also something that's in his heart. Maybe that's what Psalms 42 seven could mean when it says deep calls to deep. The Eternal One put a piece of his attorney in your heart to match what was in his heart. So that deep calls into deep now. Isaiah 46 910. If you're making notes, your purpose is already completed in God it says. He says, I'm God. There is no other. I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning and from ancient times what is still to come. And I say my purpose will stand. And I will do all that I please. He seems like his mind's kind of made up when he says it that way. I'm. He. No one changes it. I'm going to do all that I please. I've decided the end from the beginning. I'm going to let you in on it. That's the way it's going to be.

 

Pastor West: [01:04:28] You want to work with me? So with 2025 a year year that you'll decide to remove barriers and boundaries, will it? It's a time with our country to see restoration. Starts this month, January 20th. Will we let God use us to lift burdens, to set captives free from bondages? Bondages of all types? Addictions. Is it time to let go? Is it time to let God? Should we rise up as a church? As a family? Should we rise up in your own family? Should you awaken to possibilities that are awaiting you? You say what? What possibilities? Change your mind, change your perspective. And all of a sudden you'll see the opportunity. You've been given a glorious purpose, precious promises, the word says, and the grace to pursue him. Again God asked Adam, where are you, Adam? Our question is, where are we in our thinking? Where are we in our heart? Will we settle for a mere existence? Will you settle for 2025 to see what it brings? To see what it brings your way. You may not like what it brings your way. Will you? Job 22 eight. Decide and decree what 2025 will be. Do you still have the desire to accomplish what you were set on the planet to do? Questions. Will this be a year of a chosen focus for you? How much will be enough for you in 2025? And how much? How little is too little for you in 2025? Psalm 78 one said they limited the Holy One of Israel.

 

Pastor West: [01:06:31] They turned back and limited him. I looked up the word limited again to make sure it says, if you limit God, you limit something that means you retreat, you flinch, you go back, you backslide, and you turn oneself away. Any backsliders in the bus today? And he flinches here and he retreats here. Taylor told me one time, correct me if I'm wrong. You can do it in real time as a marine. If something's going wrong. Is there some kind of bugle? Whatever. I'm watching movies for the Marines to to retreat. You tell me. He told me one time. He said we don't have one. I mean, they could blow the trumpet or do whatever, but don't mean nothing because we I mean, we're going to it's going to work or we're all going to leave here. I mean, it's going to work or we're going to die. Yeah. We weren't trained to retreat. So he says other branches of service are. He said, but Marines don't have a retreat call. So we went in there and they told us to do this, and we're going to do it, or we're going to or we're going to die doing it because, you know, you can blow the horn all you want to. You can go blow. It don't mean nothing. It was like I wonder what that said. A dog collar.

 

Pastor West: [01:07:41] I don't know. They told us to kick doors down. So I'm telling you to kick doors down. Quit the limiting. Retreating. Looking for treats. Your dog wants treats. Tell your dog no more treats. Can I give you a little bit about potential? I got five minutes. What is potential? Potential is dormant ability. Untapped strength. That's in you. Capt. Success or capability? We don't even know what's all in us until something greater than. Sometimes. It's a need. Sometimes it's. I told you about the time that my my mother got trapped in between two cars. She was in a little pickup, and she was going to go in there and knock it. There's a little four speed pickup. She's going to knock it out of the way. She had one leg in, one leg out in a garage with two cars. And she and and she put it in neutral and she couldn't get the brake on time. And the truck started going forward, but it ran into the car and it pinned her leg between the truck she was in and the other car, and she started yelling and I couldn't get to her in time. And and she said, oh. And she screamed at the top of her lungs, because, I mean, it's wedged in her leg between the two cars. And I and I went to the back of the pickup and I picked it up, and I threw it 2 or 3ft away.

 

Pastor West: [01:09:16] I tried for the next two, next 2 or 3 weeks because like, you know what? Now what do we have for lunch that day? Well, okay, make that again. Let's try it all. You could end up with hernia or hemorrhoids. Either one of them. But it wasn't going to happen again. What was that? Was that adrenaline? I suppose it is, right? But I couldn't make it happen again. How was it able to happen? The moment someone that I loved, that I care about was in a lot of trouble. And I knew I didn't know that was in me, but it came out of my body. Sure, I'm sure God helped me, but we all know those stories. You can read them about someone who picked a tree up off their father in the woods, but they can't repeat it. What's in you that's capped? What's in you that's laying dormant? Its potential is not what you've accomplished. Potential is what you're yet able to do. Potential doesn't have a retirement plan. You're not yet what you're supposed to be. So don't settle for what you have. God told Adam, Adam and Eve. Be fruitful and multiply. Start where you are with what you have. Because nothing is instant. We want everything just to be like two steps and be over with. But it's not even the kingdom doesn't really work that way. There's miracles that interrupts. But that's not even the way the kingdom operates.

 

Pastor West: [01:10:49] The kingdom. The kingdom operates on seed time and harvest, doesn't it? Thank God he does miracles. Things happen instant. But that's not how the kingdom really operates. We have all that. Thank God we have it. But nothing's instant. Nothing God created is instant because God doesn't operate the kingdom in instants. He created everything in seed form with potential. Think about it. He didn't create a ready human race. He didn't create the earth with an instant population. He didn't create the earth with all the inventions. He started with one person, not 10 million. Then he added another. Then he added another. Then he added another. Then they got to you. Now you're offspring. So from that day to this day. Don't allow yourself to be rooted in complacency because you're his offspring. There's much more in you. I'm finishing here. There's much more in you that has to come forward. That lies there, untapped, unused and undeveloped. Say this one statement and we'll just stop here. Not nowhere near through, but it doesn't matter. We have a Wednesday this week. It's going to be cold. Cold? Cold. Wear something warm. It's going to be warm inside. Amen. The potential of your spirit. How many know? Your spirit being right? The potential of your. The potential of your spirit is is immeasurable. Why? The potential of your spirit is immeasurable. Because the measure of your true potential is your spirit. Did you hear that? The potential of your human spirit, your born again spirit made in the image and likeness of God? You can't measure it.

 

Pastor West: [01:12:46] Why? Because the measure of the true potential is your spirit. Can you measure the Holy Ghost? Who's in you? And what are we doing? How much are we. Enough for you in 2025. Is this the year that you're going to scrape by and see how cheap you can live on. Great to have a budget. Great to have a plan. Most of our plans and budgets need to be blown to pieces, smithereens, and get a new plan. Kind of like you boys say, the old timers, you know. Find someone a little boy like you, go out there and swing and get that. Oh, granddaddy, I can't swim. He said you can't swim. You know what granddaddy used to do years ago? He'd take you by the seat of him. They'd put you in. You'd be in jail today. Granddaddy, throw you out there, and you're going to learn to swim in just about 20s. I mean, you're assuming he'll come out there and get you, but you don't really know anyone who throw you by the nape of your neck out there and in your shorts if you got them on. I mean, they may not come after you if you can't swim. He ain't won't be worth nothing. So we'll just manage this boy right now. That's blowing up the plan.

 

Pastor West: [01:14:08] That's blowing up the plan. You know, most of you in here, and I don't want to put. I don't want to. I don't want to take you down to a level. But most of you in here need to make another 50 or $100,000 a year per year. Now, excuse me, and I apologize if you said mine was way above that. I'm with you. But most of us. And I'm not just throwing out candy. I'm saying most of you in here need to make another 50 or $100,000 a year. Because $100,000 a year, you used to be a lot of money. It's not a lot of money when you do Biden Biden, economics on it. You ain't pulling in 4550. He's biding his days for a few more days. Yeah, right. Thank God for U-Haul. Movers. Movers. We take up an offering and give if we need it to. Right. But I'm just saying $100,000 is nowhere near what it used to be. And you think, man, I'm living on 25. You ain't living then? No, you're not going to fulfill your vision in life. See, you don't need to be the department head. You need to own the place. You need to be the regional manager. You need to be the district manager. You need to count stars. How many are there? Wow. God. Remember, God. See? See? We abort things like this because we don't think that we're worth it. Or we don't have the education. We don't all the things that we don't have. The Lord asked me one time and I've already closed, so. But anyways, he just said, you can take it off if you will.