Approved In Private Marked (Part 3)

2:57 We are making an impact Around the world and I want to say thank you Because every time you serve every time you give every time you invite You're you're allowing what we do here to go to somebody else and this is just the beginning And so i'm so excited about it And so today I want to let everybody know that usually in what we do, God's always speaking something fresh to me. And one of the things that we made a decision to do when we started this church is that we are going to acknowledge the calendar like Mother's Day, Christmas, Father's Day, all of the different holidays. We're going to acknowledge it. But I never would base my preaching on what the holiday was because God may not be speaking about what the holiday is. And and I know a lot of people do that. So today's message ain't a mother's day message But it's a message from god and I promise you when you get a message from god It'll be a mother's day message a father's day message a cousin's day message And and so do y'all want to hear from god today?

3:59 Okay, so so I I want to do that and we're gonna honor you all the mothers as you leave We have something for you and we're thanking god that you're here today But i'm about to give you everything I got a little got a little international swag on me this morning Because I'm jet lagged and I don't know what day it is, but um, we're gonna preach today We are starting part three of a series that we're calling say it with me Marked and um, it's because we really do believe that you're marked by God That God has marked you for purpose. He's marked you for global impact He's marked you to do something that nobody in your family has ever been able to do And there is a unique DNA that God placed on the inside of you that if you surrender to this purpose he has for your life, that he's going to do something that only he can get the glory for and only it can come through you. If it doesn't come through you, it's missing in the earth. And even as I say that, a lot of people have been so downtrodden by their own thoughts and by what people have told them that it's hard for you to believe that you're that special to God.

5:02 That he would literally tell everybody else he created. No, no, no, no, no. This is for them to do And today I came to encourage you that you are marked by god That whatever the lies have been that have kept you paralyzed in the same place are doing the same things going to the same Empty wells today and through the rest of this series. I'm telling you I want to revive your faith I don't care if you don't get it today All I'm asking you to do is keep coming back and keep listening because faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. And so today I just want to go a little deeper in this series because the first two weeks, some of y'all are familiar with the concept of Mark where we're where we're talking about the life and the leadership of David. And the first two weeks of this series, we really ain't talked about David at all. Like somebody was like, I thought this was going to be encouraging. I thought this was going to be good.

5:56 But the first week I had to come tell you like yo david wasn't the first person that god tried to mark He tried to do it through saul But saul whited himself out of the purpose that god wanted him to be in And so we made a decision as a church that we would not forfeit the plan of god for our life We would not do that because we had the wrong view of ourselves Because we were comparing our callings to other people that we were walking in partial obedience or that we had pride We said, no, no, no, no. We're going to do everything that God called us to do. And then last week, Pastor Charles came in here with a samurai. If you didn't hear last week's message, he challenged all of us and he said, did you check the price? And that following God and being marked comes with a price. It means that you're going to have a cost because the symbol of our Christian faith is not a crown. It's a cross.

6:51 And that means everybody is gonna have to check it's gonna cost you your plans It's gonna cost you your patterns and it's gonna cost you some of your pleasures And so the reason that we're we're doing that and coming that kind of hard as we start because everybody likes to scream i'm mark I'm called by god But as soon as opposition comes A lot of people check out of this line Like a lot of people a lot of you sitting here aren't doing what God's called you to do because it got tough. Oh, let's be honest. You go to a job every week you hate. And you tell everybody all week you hate it.

7:30 But yet you're still in a place where you know that there's more inside of you, but you have stopped because you don't want to go through the, look at this cuss word, process. See, anything in God, anything that's great, it has a process. Come on, some of y'all won't even say it, but I'm telling you to get to the palace or the promise that God has called you to be. You will have to go through a, say it with me, process. And you know, in this generation, we don't like processes. We want it. We want it now. We want to see it. We want to click it. And it better be here in two days. Amazon Prime. You hear what I'm saying? Where's the Amazon purpose prime? Like, how can I get all that God has for me in two days or less? Now you may be like, that's funny, Pastor Mike, but that's how we act. We stay faithful to what God told us to do for a week.

8:27 Like God didn't come through. You've been crazy for 10 years. And you want him to turn all of that over in one week? And this is where I'm telling everybody the reason that I'm doing this, because I do believe as your pastor that you're marked by God. But you're going to have to go through the process. And so my goal is to help you walk through the process and not give up when you get hit because hits are coming Oh y'all didn't know the bible doesn't promise a hit list christian life It as a matter of fact, it says in this world, you're gonna have trouble But take heart because i've already overcome the world It reminds me of this story like my mom um today's mother's day So I got to tell a funny story with my mom in it. My mother is a woman of prayer, a woman of intercession, a woman of prophecy, all these deep Christian words. And usually she's very mild-mannered.

9:26 And let's pray about this. Let's hold hands. I'm one of five sons. And so me and my older brother, Gabriel, were in an argument one day. And my mom just said, forget it. Y'all going to fight today. I said, has the Lord finally spoken to my mother for the first time? And she was like y'all come down to my room So we came down to our room and we had just went to the Tulsa State Fair and that it had these American Boxing gloves. It was like they had a whole bunch of padding on this side and then no padding They were very cheaply made on this side And so we both put on these gloves and she said now you guys are gonna fight and you're gonna do body shots And I'm a little more athletic than my brother gay and so I was like this is every little brother's dream mom's sitting here I get to whoop my big brother and I don't get whooped like it was it was the best thing ever so she says fight and we go in and I'm I'm gonna lighten him up and then she calls for a break and when she calls for a break I'm talking smack and I'm just like what you want bro what you want big bro and all this other stuff and then she says go again and I vaguely remember vaguely it gets foggy at this part of the story that my brother he turned his hand over on the part where there was no cushion and he stepped back like this and all i remember is he said pop and my head went this way and my body went with it and i fell to the ground like i got knocked out i jumped over i was crying i was like you weren't supposed to be hitting in the head Please let us together And the Holy Spirit brought it back to my memory when I was preparing for this message He said Michael the reason you got knocked out is because there's no hit like the one you don't see coming And so I wasn't guarding my head because I didn't think we were playing for the head But the enemy has been coming after some of y'all's head. He's been coming after your children

11:32 You thought this was body shots You thought this was gonna be something good and you haven't been protecting And the reason why some of you have been knocked out of your purpose, knocked out of having your joy, knocked out of being who God's created you to be, it's because you got hit and you didn't see the hit coming. And there are too many defenseless Christians who are fighting this real war without their hands up. But today I'm telling you, it's time for some of us in this Mark message, you're going to put your hands up today. You're not gonna be fought with your hands behind your back, but you are marked And this is one of the things that I learned after I got knocked out Is that once you stand there and you don't see the punch coming you stand and take the full blow of it But when you know it's coming and you might get hit they say you're supposed to roll with the punches That means even if I do get hit I'm gonna see it coming and I'm gonna start moving with it. So the impact doesn't have the opportunity to knock me out And so today in this series, I'm telling some of you you're about to get your defense back You're about to put your hands up and you say enemy. You're not gonna take my family. Let's fight You're not gonna take my purpose. I'm not gonna live insecure the rest of my life I'm not gonna be in this broke position for the rest of my life. I'm putting my hands up And see some of you have been so beat up you can't even get excited about it

13:04 So much hurt has come to you, but today I'm telling you you're marked by God and This is where I want you to see cuz your purpose will end you up in a palace one day You will reach wherever God and the palace is wherever God's greatest and best is for you Okay, so that can be a single mother in a household raising your kids and get them all through college That can be it or it can be the CEO of a company. I don't care where it is But God said I have a purpose for you, but there will be a process And so today I want to show you through this message and a few others that that that You have to go through the process and what to expect when you're marked David is marked right here and I want you to turn to first Samuel chapter 16 Because because what ends up happening is Saul has disqualified himself Saul has whited himself out. He's still in power But he's no longer the one and it's crazy because Samuel the prophet of God. He was crying over He said I thought Saul was the one and look what God said. He said stop crying over what I'm done with

14:12 Stop crying over that I'm anointing somebody else I want you to get up and go to Bethlehem because I'm anoint somebody as the new king of Israel at Jesse's house This is like a side note. Some of y'all need to stop crying over what God's done with Some of y'all are crying over relationships and jobs and opportunities. And God said, I have moved on. My glory has lifted there. Get up. This was a man of God, a man that heard from God. That means there can even be people in spiritual authority that are still wanting it to have happened one way. And God says, don't waste your time there. I'm not there no more. I'm on to the next one. And he said I want you to go to to bethlehem and I want you to to to be able to anoint one of jesse's sons And this is where we pick this story up verse 6. It says when they arrived Samuel took one look at elia and thought surely This is the lord's anointed But the lord said to samuel don't judge by his appearance or his height for I have rejected him The lord doesn't see things the way y'all see him People judge the appearance outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart Isn't it funny that this man of God looked at him? The first person is like he's it But God said um, you're judging the wrong thing This is why so many of us were spending so much time on on how we look to people and God's saying That's not what's qualifying you for me It keeps passing you over because you're not passing the heart test You're getting all these hearts on instagram, but you not got my heart yet You want somebody to like what you're posting, but I don't like what I hear you saying Because out of your mouth out of the abundance of the heart the mouth I can tell where your heart is by what you say

16:09 And God's saying you're looking at the wrong stuff I'm looking at your everybody say it heart And that's why many of us need to spend more time with heart work than anything else It's crazy to me that they put you through more training to get a driver's license than they do to get married You don't even have to read a book to be married, but it affects your entire life But they don't want you behind the wheel because potentially you could kill somebody or destroy their life but look what marriages do and What we're doing is raising kids in these environments because we're not working on the heart first and God is saying Please do not be fooled. I am a God of heart before anything else And this is what he's telling Samuel. He said then Jesse told his other son Abinadab. He said step up boy Come on. You gonna be the king boy, but Samuel said this is not the one the Lord has chosen Next Jesse Jesse said shimmy get up there. You like your daddy boy. Come on We need somebody to be the king He said neither is this the one the Lord has chosen in the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel But Samuel said to Jesse the Lord has not chosen any of these then Samuel asked are these all the sons you have like like I want you to I want you to see that David's about to be introduced but David was not even invited to the party but they were looking for him Some of y'all because you're a marked You weren't even you're not even in the boardroom that makes decisions They're not even they don't even know that they need you yet But david has stopped the entire procession Because he wasn't in the room yet I came to tell somebody who feels like you've been left out that everything is stopped because you haven't shown up yet There are some situations that you've been trying to get yourself in the room for and god said the room is stopped until you get there and this is what happened he said well they're still the youngest now this is his father talking and his father is describing him by his condition

18:18 not even calling him by his name isn't it crazy that some of the people who are the closest to us and that are supposed to love us the most they describe us by what we've done not not who we are to become? He said, well, there is the youngest and he's out there in the fields watching the sheep and the goats. He just keeps going through these same cycles. He just keeps, but look what happens. It says, send for him at once. Samuel said, we will not sit down until he arrives. Now, this is one of those crazy things because I was raised with five brothers and there's seven brothers sitting here. And that means we can't eat until he gets here. Oh God, we all mad. Do you understand? This is where some people are going to be frustrated because they cannot move forward until you show up. You need to hear me say this as clear as I can.

19:13 You are the linchpin to some things moving forward. This is why you cannot negate what God has called you to do and slow play it. But it's why you can't rush it either because god's divinely setting up a situation where when you walk in Everything is going to start to move. Look what happens. It says so jesse sent for him. He was dark handsome With beautiful eyes get the picture So david stood There among his brothers and samuel took the flask of oil and he brought that he brought and he anointed david with oil And the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. And Samuel returned back home. If you are marked, I want you to write this down. This is where we're going to camp out today. You're going to be approved in private.

20:05 If you're marked, David was marked to be the next king of Israel. But it didn't happen in the city square. It didn't happen in a social place. It did not happen even in front of all his friends. It happened in a room full of people who didn't even invite him to the party called his family And he was approved in private Some of you need to hear this right now because if you're marked God is not going to sound an alarm saying Here is the next whatever He's gonna speak to you in a still small voice and said I'm gonna make you the one who's gonna change your family And you're going to be blessed to be a blessing and you're going to allow forgiveness to run free in that family and you're going to be able to give all your family jobs.

20:53 Should I text them God? No, because he's approving you in private. And this is hard for us today. Because in this generation, we want everybody to know what God's doing in our life. But it's very hard to be in this social media age and this age where we're all trying to prove everything to each other You cannot instagram integrity Out here trying to live saved and be pure You can't facebook faithfulness You just have to show up and do it and that's why god is saying to us He said i've called you i've marked you and nobody's gonna know I've approved you and private and this is where we have to get insulated where we do not let the enemy steal what God has said to us Because everybody's not affirming it. Why do I need man's approval when God's already for me?

21:51 And I'm just trying to tell you because this is a hit that knocks a lot of people out That when everybody's not approving them like and when they're passed over and everybody's skipping them for the party They're like, well, God, I thought you called me. He said I did. Why are you waiting for somebody who doesn't know their purpose to affirm your purpose? I marked you and I proved you in private. And this is the thing about it. A lot of our businesses are in infant stage right now. A lot of our marriages are in infant stage. A lot of the dreams that God has placed in us are in infant stage. And the reason that God has it in seed form is because a seed always goes into the dirt, into a dark place intentionally, because the easiest way to kill an infant is to kill it when it's small. The easiest way to kill your dreams and your purpose is to kill it when it's a little. Let me let me bring it to you like this when they tried to kill jesus When when the king at the time found out that there was going to be a messiah born and he was going to be king What did he say? He said kill every son Under the age of two because it's easier to kill a king when it's a kid And many of you are out here trying to show everybody what god is doing and he said that's the easiest time for somebody to speak death into it When it hasn't barely lived you think you gonna do that who's gonna fund that who's gonna cuz you can't even sing You can't even this and people start speaking death into the thing that God says you better protect that because it's small right now But one day when it grows fully mature that thing's gonna touch the entire world and David Was in a place where he was approved in private And many of you are frustrated about the season you're in, but you're missing what God's trying to do What you are complaining about where you're at at your job and how many networking connections you have and where your financial Situation is you're missing a gift that God's trying to give you God's trying to give you the gift or of the opportunity of obscurity

23:58 He's giving you the opportunity of obscurity. There's things you can do when everybody doesn't know you There's things you can develop when you only got 14 Instagram followers. There's things that you can develop when everybody's not looking to you for marriage advice. You're trying to be the counselor right now, but you need to get taught. Because one day you'll be the counselor. But there's some things right now that you need to develop in obscurity. And most of us are trying to get to where God has us right now that we are negating the opportunity for obscurity Can I tell you where David went right after he was anointed king of Israel? He went back to the field with the sheep and the goats and the poop And he was humble enough to after he knew he was marked To go back to the same job Uh-huh because some of y'all gonna wake up tomorrow and be like i'm tired of this sheep stuff And and and and you're gonna go to a job and god's saying can i mark you and send you back into the place that you were in To be a difference maker there that you would represent me at that job at that place I think and some of y'all ready to quit God. What is this? He said I'm giving you the opportunity of obscurity Because I can develop things in you in this season that you'll never be able to get again And that's why I came to tell you you cannot be looking for man's applause when God has already approved you in private If you believe it, can I get one big amen?

25:37 Okay, so so I want you I want you to see this because some of y'all like why is obscurity an opportunity? I'm gonna give you a few reasons right now. The number one reason that obscurity is an opportunity is because your struggles can become your strengths When nobody's watching everything that you're doing and you're staying on purpose and working on the gifts and the talents that God has given you The things you struggle in today will become your strengths in another season. Let me give you a practical example Everybody's watching what God's doing here now and a lot of y'all are now a part of transformation church And we're going to have four services today and hundreds of thousands of people are going to hear this message. But there was a reason why seven years ago when I started preaching, we didn't have no cameras.

26:22 There was a reason why God let it start in a very small circle of a youth group. It's because I did not know how to do what would one day become my strength. And if y'all would have saw what I did in seed form, none of y'all would be here. I used to preach. We would start SoFly service at 6 o'clock and I would go from 6 o'clock and we would not get out till 1030 at night. Oh, yeah. What you know about that? I preached for three hours, mainly because I didn't know what I was talking about. And I hope that if I said one or two things that was good, somebody's life could be changed. And I did that for years. There are people in the room who were there. I see you CP. He's like, I don't know how I made it, but But I did that, but it was because I was in a season with less than a thousand Instagram followers With less than a hundred people coming to the circle with less than that It was my struggle in that season to be on time and to study and all of those different things It was the struggle in that season that became my strength And this past week I was able to speak on one of the largest platforms I've ever spoken in my life I want to show you where my season of obscurity was because some of y'all don't believe it.

27:42 Can you show them a picture of the circle? This is how I started. I would be in a circle with a bunch of young people who didn't know the Bible, so they didn't know if I was right either. Okay, I would be getting corrected every week because I was like, Jesus did something and maybe that's right. I'll correct it tomorrow. Like, but they were my season of obscurity. and because I did not rush to a spotlight and I was able to develop when nobody was looking this past week this is the audience that God allowed me to be able to minister to in Royal Albert Hall 6,000 leaders from over 80 countries and I was the headlining speaker along with Craig Grocelle. They paid me to be there. Hey, I felt the presence of God right there. But I would have never gotten to my strength if I wouldn't have embraced my opportunity of obscurity.

28:45 And some of you right now, they need to know I can sing. No, they don't. Well, they need to know I have business plans. No, they don't. Well, they need to know that I'm a great writer. Because David didn't ever, ever one time say what he did. He was always sent for. When the opportunity presented itself for him to be in the place he needed to be He was always sent for but it's because he was in the in the in the the place where god had him And he wasn't trying to get to another place This is why we got to embrace our opportunity of obscurity and this is what happened to david Um, I I remember it happening a little further back when he's about to defeat goliath Um, they was like what makes you think that you can defeat goliath? He said when none of y'all was looking when I was in the field a bear came And when the bear came it was overwhelming. I was scared and nobody was there and I slashed that bear And now I got this bear coat And he said and you don't know this but I got scars from fighting that bear So you see I'm not showing everybody because you don't even have to know because it was in obscurity and after the bear came a lion came And this lion it was big it was another obstacle and nobody saw me But when the lion came I slashed him up and I called them scar look at this rug I got

30:10 And so because David took care of his responsibilities in obscurity When Goliath was standing in front of him on a bigger platform, he said who is this? Uncircumcised Philistine that was cuss words back then he was cussing right there. Who is this? This uncircumcised Philistine. He said, I'm about to take him out because I was able to perfect what was in me when nobody was looking.

30:40 Your season of obscurity is more important. It's not a punishment. It's a preparation. And you need to stop negating what God is trying to make you in. Let me give you another point. Obscurity is an opportunity because your character can be cultivated and corrected. There were things that I was doing when I was starting out and so fly I was calling people names I was I was preaching for a long time. I had a lying spirit still in me These were character issues that were going on If I had the platform that I have now with the character issues that I had then when I was in obscurity This would be over like this I had a felony case that caught up with me and I because I was lying and God said I need to teach you this in obscurity. So when I put you over people and I show you what I can do with you, you will have a conviction that your character is to always do the right thing. Your integrity is more important than what anybody says about you, but it happened in the season of obscurity. That's why the Bible says in Proverbs 28, six, look what it says. It says better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in all his ways.

31:53 All I'm saying to you right now is the reason God hasn't brought you to a bigger platform is because he's trying to work out that character thing that will disqualify you as soon as the light comes on. He said, you need to stop playing with this. That's why you need to be focused right now. I'm trying to bring you your husband and you keep selling him for these.

32:14 I'm trying to be good, babe. It's Mother's Day. But i'm saying you keep selling in for less than And god says if you would stay focused and allow me to work on your character right now and correct those things that are going Looking for love and all the wrong places are trying to be a people pleaser He said then when it comes to the right opportunity i'll be able to present you with integrity and purpose And people will be able to trust you and you will not be moved by what the world has to offer you But you will stand and be my example wherever I place you because you are marked Somebody just shout at me. I'm marked say it one more time. Say I'm marked This is why if you're marked you need to be okay with embracing your opportunity of obscurity And that's why the Bible always calls David a man after God's own heart Like how does that happen? How do you get God to name you a man after my heart?

33:09 And through the scriptures if you read it, it says and God was with David and God was with David And God was with David over and over and over again. And one day I asked, I was like, why? God, were you always with David? He said, because David was always with me. He made time for me. He didn't work me out of his schedule. He came to me. He wasn't trying to be so busy looking like he made it. That he cut me out of his life. And he said, that's why I always went before David. Because I had David's heart. And this is why it's so important that we pray and that we read our word every day. How often do you eat physical food? Every day how often should you eat spiritual food every day because it's the one thing that when you open that bible It's the one book you read that'll read you right back You start reading that thing and it'll correct stuff in you It'll start moving thing and that's why many of us stay away from it because it actually will change you And that's why we need to embrace this season of obscurity So that god can make us into who he's called us to be He's approved us in private and marked us, but we cannot get out of position so God can finish making us.

34:15 Let me give you my last point with this. Obscurity is an opportunity because your product can be perfected until it's potent. We live in a time where Christians are some of the most ill-prepared and unskilled in history. Like they want everything to be a miracle. Like I didn't study but I want God to give me a miracle Like I'm not qualified at all but I'm just gonna ask for the part I didn't study the lines And I don't know what this movie is even about but I want to be an actor for the glory of God And the one thing about David is his skills always qualified him for what God wanted to do It didn't disqualify him See before David was a king He was a skilled shepherd He was a skilled musician He was a skilled writer And he was skilled with a slingshot This is what he was able to perfect When nobody was looking And so many of us are trying to show Everybody what we can do And God says you missed You shot and you missed Because you're not good yet And you're trying to Put it on Facebook and you're not good and you're trying to start a company and you suck see nobody tells you this I'm being an NFL player bro you should be a pianist you cannot play football and in the church we don't talk about this stuff because we want everybody to follow their genes and we want everyone and I deal with more disappointed people who put time effort and energy into a dream that God wasn't in and so I feel like it's my opportunity to tell you that you need to stop trying to be famous and you need to work on your craft. You need to stop trying to be seen and you need to develop your skill because that's why God hasn't blown it up yet because he's giving you this opportunity of obscurity so that what your product is can be potent enough to stand in front of the

36:24 entire Israel army who's trained to kill and you can pick up a weapon they've never even thought about using. What you need, bro? You need this sword swing, swing 3000. Do you need this boulder rocket 490? He said, no. I'm going to use what I've learned on. I'm going to use what I spent all this time in the field. When y'all weren't there, I'm going to use the same thing. This is the same thing, just a bigger platform. Hand me five smooth stones and a slingshot. And do you know he knocked Goliath out not with five stones. He only had to use one. That's because he was skilled. And the reason why God is calling you to a season of obscurity is because he's trying to allow you to have an opportunity to grow your skill. So that when you stand before people that don't believe in your God.

37:22 How you do what you do is a testimony more than what you say. You'll be able to stand there and they say he does everything he does as unto the Lord And this is where we have to get okay So so so so when Moses was trying to build the temple in Exodus Look what he said look at the call he put out because they were about to build this ornate temple because God gave them Instruction look what they said Exodus 35 10 all who are skilled among you That means there was a lot of people But there were only a few that were skilled All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the lord has commanded The lord is commanding stuff to be made in the earth In the area of government in the area of sports and entertainment in the area of education in the area of government But he's only calling people who are skilled All who are skilled from among you come and do this work that the lord has commanded to be done I'm telling you some of us need to make a commitment that we'll be content Right where we are So that we can work on what god has placed in our hands And see some of y'all looking at me crazy, but I think this analogy will help everybody see um Some of y'all don't know what this is Does anybody know what this is?

38:44 Okay, this Is a camera and I know right now your smartphone has super pixels and can do all of this cool stuff. But this was as instant as it got about a decade ago. And if I wanted to take a picture, y'all smile right there. Y'all smile. Hey. Ah. And then this is what I have to do.

39:08 Some of y'all know about that, okay? And some of y'all have fast thumbs and you'd be like, pow, pow. It didn't even work. Pow. But the crazy thing about this is this is the only way we could get pictures. And after I used all 24 of these pictures, what I would have to do is I'd have to take the film out of it. And I would have to go to a place where there was a professional. And I had to leave my film with a professional for some, say this cuss word, time. See, some of you don't know this because we want everything right now. But to get these pictures to fully develop one, I had to leave it with a pro for a period of time. And what that professional would do is it would take my film into the dark room. He would take what I took a snapshot in in the light, the vision that I had, and he would take it to a dark room intentionally, an obscure place.

40:09 Because in the dark room, he would pull out the negatives. And when he pulled out the negatives The imprint of what the image could be But not the full image that it was supposed to be He pulled out the negatives and he took it through a process This is some good preaching right here And he put it in different areas for certain times And he washed it off and he cleaned it And he made it right and he kept it in a place where there couldn't be any light because if any light got on the negative parts of that film before it was time it would overexpose the picture and it would give it an identity that it was not supposed to have and what God is saying to you is the reason I've kept you in the dark room oh I feel this the reason I haven't let them see you the reason it's because I don't want your negatives exposed I want to take you through a process so that when I do it, they'll be able to see the full picture.

41:19 So why do you need to embrace this obscurity that God has you in? It's because the dark room develops your negatives. You've been so trying to let everybody know you're worth it. And God said, I already called you worth it. I already approved you in private. Don't nobody have to see what I say about you. They'll see it eventually when the picture comes out. It'll be clear. But if you expose the negatives too quickly, you're going to allow what was supposed to be a beautiful picture to be overexposed. And nobody will ever see the beauty of what God saw when he made you. I just came to encourage everybody right now if you're marked and I believe there's several people in this room That your heart is open that your best days are in front of you. I don't care if you're 65 I don't care if you're 85. You're not gonna retire. You're gonna refire God's gonna give you new purpose and new age and I'm tired of all these 28 year olds talking about I missed it No, you didn't you're just starting that God is trying to use everything that you've been through as a part of the pieces that are going to make your masterpiece.

42:39 I'm telling you, this is the beginning if you get the right perspective. And if you don't run into the light too soon, David was approved in private. And today, I want you to know, God sees you, he's marked you, and don't come out of the dark until it's time. what are you saying dark depression no no no in his presence David was always found doing the last thing God instructed them to do and spending time in the presence of God if it was me I would have been making a trip up to the palace every day like hey y'all just trying to see if y'all need a new king okay no no no no okay cool cool cool cool cool come on let's be honest if the same guy that anointed the king in power came and anointed you You'd be trying to network and get in the rooms?

43:37 And David did none of it. He perfected what God had given him. He stayed humble before him. He spent time in obscurity. And when it was time, they sent for him. I'm telling you that God is about to use you. But you don't need anybody else's cosign to know that you are approved in private. And let me help you. Jesus went through a dark room experience. three of them I can think of. You remember when he was 12 and he was in the synagogue telling all the high priests and everybody like what this means and what this means? He forgot one small detail. He didn't tell his mother that he was going to the synagogue. His mama said, Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Where is this boy? And then she spotted him.

44:29 And then she walked up to him. And she probably did like my mama did to me. She didn't even move her teeth. She said, Jesus. She said, get over here. He said, woman, don't you know I'm about my father's business and we don't hear from Jesus. Read the Bible For 18 years I can't make this stuff up From the time he was 12 To the time he was 30 Nothing But it was the season of obscurity That our Lord and Savior had to go into Where he wasn't working miracles that everybody saw He might have just been serving We know that he learned a skill He became Jesus the carpenter He did stuff in that time And then he has another wilderness season After he's baptized Then he goes to the wilderness for 40 days To be tempted by the devil another season of obscurity like why God why are you doing this he said because I'm trying to get your character right I want to tempt you with everything that you could ever have and I want to know that you can still withstand it because he was all God and all man so he was tempted just like we were tempted and he went into that season of obscurity and when he came out of that season it was 40 days and then he had one more that I could think of right before he went to the cross in the garden of Gethsemane where he was praying out to God if there's any other way Please this cut paths from me But nevertheless Not my will But yours be done And his homeboys, his three best friends Could not even wait with him They couldn't even stay up and pray with him It's because what God's called you to Is not a committee thing When he calls you to a season of obscurity He's not telling everybody around you It's their season of obscurity too You may have to do it alone and right after he came out of that one night of obscurity he went to the cross for every single one of us if david and jesus had to go through the process of being approved in private who are you

46:39 who are we today i want to pray for you if you're in this room and you know there's an area of your life that you've been trying to get out of the obscurity i just want out of this job i just want out of this marriage. I just want out of this thing. And I want to go. I want to be approved in front of people. But you know God's saying there's an area of you that needs to be approved in private. If that's you, I just want you to lift your hand in this room right now. Come on. This is not for everybody, but this is for some people. And I'm about to pray for you because why don't you just slip the other hand up right now. Father, I thank you for every person who's saying, yep, that's me. Who have tried to allow other people to develop them when really the development needs to happen in the dark room. God I'm thinking that you're calling us back to prayer and you're calling us back to seeking your face and you're calling us back to Faithfulness in our word father. I thank you right now that you are Waking up dreams in people right now that their hope is being restored father God that that their plans father that they threw away They're bringing them back out and they're gonna write the vision and make it plain. Thank you But today is a resurrection of people's faith That they know you're not done with them yet, and you've marked them for purpose And we thank you that this is a new day.

47:57 In Jesus' name, if you believe it and receive it, shout amen. Amen. Hey, listen, if you're in this room, I feel that y'all, you do not want to miss a week of this series. Because we're going to keep walking this thing through. And I'm telling you, because some of y'all's faith is going to be revived. And you're going to be marked like never before. This summer is going to be the best summer of your life. Because it's going to be the most productive. You're going to be okay with the season you're in. And you're going to be trusting God for everything he's going to do in your life. But if you're in this woman, you've never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. I want to give you that opportunity today You're saying I need to be marked for the first time Would you just please bow your head and close your eyes for one more second? Just so you can focus there were several people in the last service and I believe there'll be more in this service We're saying you know what God? I'm ready to surrender my life like the young lady from London Who's a part of transformation nation like I'm tired of running? I'm about to give you my life today and nobody knows it. This is a private thing too except you and God.

48:53 And we're going to pray this prayer all together, but only you and God know if you really mean it. So let's pray this prayer together. Say, God, thank you for marking my life. Thank you for sending your son to die just for me. Today, I need a Savior, and I choose you. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me. I give you my life. Change me. Transform me. I'm yours. In Jesus' name. Amen.