Don't Hold Your Breath - Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

0:00 And incidentally, God gave me this message and this text before I knew that I had pneumonia because I was supposed to be preaching last week. And so the title of this message is Don't Hold Your Breath. Don't Hold Your Breath. And I don't know what God's going to do in this room, but I believe that he wanted to stop it from happening. So I'm praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation. I am in John chapter 1, verse 47. I'm reading from the New King James Version. Context is that Jesus is beginning to show himself to his disciples. They don't know it yet that they're going to be his disciples, but he's showing himself. And as he's showing himself, they're realizing that he is the Messiah. the promised one. And in the process of them beginning to experience Jesus, they go and tell other people. You know how we do when we get a revelation about something, we go and tell somebody else about it. And so when we enter this text, Philip has gone to Nathaniel to tell Nathaniel, I think we found him, the one that the prophets told us about, the Messiah. I think we have discovered him. And Nathaniel cannot believe it primarily because he comes from a place that no one would have suspected. He came from Lagos, Nigeria. Can anything good come out of Lagos?

1:30 He came from the south side of Chicago. Can anything good come out of Nazareth at this time? No one believed that anything good could come out of Oak Cliff. He came out of South Dallas. He says, Nathaniel says, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip says, well, You come and see. See for yourself what God is doing from unsuspecting places. And my text begins, it says, Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit. And then Nathanael has a question. He says, Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? And Jesus answered and said to him, before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, before you knew who I was, before anyone told you that I had been manifested, before anyone came and got you, I saw you under the fig tree. Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the son of God.

2:37 You are the king of Israel. Instantly he was converted. He went from questioning whether or not he was the Messiah to Jesus telling him, I saw you under the fig tree. Whatever Jesus saw under that fig tree, it was something that let him know immediately that no one could have known what was happening under that fig tree but me and God.

3:00 He saw something that no one else would have been able to see unless they were God, unless they'd been sent by God. and Nathanael says you are the son of God you are the king of Israel and Jesus answered and said to him because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree do you believe is that all it took was for me to see you he says you will see greater things than these and Jesus says to him most assuredly I say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. God, that's what we want to see in this room. We want to see angels ascending and descending here at the house. Our house, the homes of those who are watching, we want to see angels ascending and descending.

3:57 Let this be a gateway for heaven. let this be an open heaven that we stand under remove the roof of our depression remove the roof of our anxiety remove the roof of our pride and our ego and instead let us see an open heaven God may we see you face to face in this moment not just us seeing you but God may you see us may you send a word that reveals to us that you know who we are you know what we're going through and you have plans for us. Order our steps as only you can. God, I pray that your spirit would rest upon me, that it would move and breathe through me to the extent that lives would be touched, changed, and transformed. Give me pace and give me peace. And God, give me health. Heal me as I serve.

4:50 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen, family. It's been a minute. You know, I grew up in a generation where we were taught, not by language, but just by culture and experience, that it was better to be seen and not heard.

5:16 My mother would tell us sometimes to make like Casper and disappear. Grown folks business would start talking and then you know tried to be a fly on the wall in grown folks business she'd look over at us and she's like hey make like Casper and disappear now here I am trying to wrap my mind around the Holy Ghost and she's telling me to be a ghost I was very confused as a child Thank you. And, you know, it's no wonder that with that type of cultural upbringing that we became the selfie generation. Now I'm a part of that same generation that was taught to be seen and not heard. Now we taking pictures and posting. We want to be seen all the time. Grade A yappers, we talking all the time on social media about everything and nothing because we didn't get that seen and heard. now you got to see us and hear from us all the time.

6:12 And we're not just showing ourselves. We're not just looking to be seen. Many of us are controlling how we're seen through filters and angles. I don't want to just be seen. I want to make sure I'm controlling how I'm being seen. And we could shake our heads and say, that's just this generation and Lord pray for them. But I believe that that same generation learned this narrative of controlling how we're seen from a generation that taught us what goes on in this house stays in this house. And as much as that was about keeping the business in the family and making sure that we don't tell the business, I also think that that was a part of us making sure that we control how we're seen outside of this house.

7:02 And when we control how we're seen outside of this house, it's supposed to gain us some level of respect or maintain some level of dignity. Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with being seen. But I am concerned that when our focus is on constantly controlling how we're seen, that we end up making gains in the wrong area.

7:25 Some of us tried to control how we were seen through academia. If I get enough degrees, then maybe I'll be seen differently than where I came from. If I close the right amount of deals, if I achieve the right amount of success, then I can control how I'm seen. I won't be seen like other people from my community. I won't be seen like other people from my family. And so we are so consumed with controlling how we're seen that we don't realize that we are getting what we want. We're getting the respect. We're closing the deals, but we're not necessarily winning the way we think we are.

8:01 Mark 8 would say it like this. What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? That word lose is from a Greek word called zamios. I went through these Greek words and I wanted to make sure that you all could see them on the screen so that you could see. In the original translation of the manuscript that is Mark 8, that word lose isn't lose like I lost my keys. That word lose is injure. So when we look at the text, what it's saying is, what does it profit a man to gain the world and to injure or damage his soul? Which means that I can be gaining in one area. I can get the respect.

8:55 I can get the achievement. I can make the changes in the industry. But it may come at the expense of damaging my soul. what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose some gains are worth the loss you know there are some gains now don't get me wrong not everything you gain means that you're going to end up with a detrimental loss but it is impossible to gain without losing something you you gain the new job but you you lost the free time but that's okay because you're feeling fulfilled and you're finally aligned. There are some gains that are worth the loss. You have the new baby and maybe you lost some friends along the way, but because you've stepped into motherhood, some gains are worth the loss. I've never seen anyone who works and works and worked and finally retired. And they did.

9:45 They gained their free time and they gained all of this creativity and opportunity, but they lost their identity just a little bit. They don't want to go back to work because some gains are worth the loss. Thank you. But there are some gains that aren't worth it. Adam and Eve in the garden, they gained knowledge when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We always look at the lost, but the truth is they gained awareness. They had an awareness about their bodies that they didn't have before. And though they got that gain, what they didn't realize is that they lost their soul. damage their soul. I gain, but I damage my soul. The funny thing about life is that you always lose a little bit more than you thought you lost when you damage your soul. Adam and Eve thought they lost their clothes.

10:45 Genesis 3 and 10 says that I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. They think the biggest problem here is that they lost their clothes. They don't even realize you was already naked. but because we always lose a little bit more than we thought we did it is God who then reveals to them that you did not just lose your clothes you lost access you lost a part of who I created you to be you lost I don't know if anyone else has ever realized that there are some moments where I lost more than I thought I did I didn't just lose my mother I lost covering I didn't just lose that relationship. I lost confidence. I didn't just, I didn't just lose what I thought I lost. I don't know if anyone's ever gone through a circumstance like this where you just thought you lost your time, but I didn't realize that I lost my hope. I thought I just lost a person.

11:48 I didn't realize that I feel like I lost my promise. I lost a little bit more than I thought I did. And while everyone else thinks that I gained, what I know is that I lost more than it looks like. I'm just standing here and everyone thinks I have it together, but they don't realize I lost more than they thought that I did. I remember I was 13 years old when I got pregnant and when my parents sat down, I knew that this was, I thought the biggest issue was that I was going to get in trouble, that I was going to get grounded. There was something about their reaction that let me know I lost a little bit more than I thought I did.

12:29 Sometimes we don't realize until after the fact that I lost a little bit more than I thought I did. Living in the aftermath of what I didn't know I lost because I was so focused on what I thought I lost.

12:49 We may not be able to walk it out this Wednesday, but if you're taking notes, I want you to take notes. We're going to call this soul work, not homework. I want you to write this down as a question to ask yourself, to ask God in your prayer time. What did I lose in my soul when I experienced that loss?

13:15 Did I just lose my time, my job, my money, my friendship, or did I lose confidence? Did I lose connection? What did I lose when I took that loss? You see, the enemy is counting on us not assessing the damage of what we lost.

13:37 Because when we don't assess the damage, we normalize it. And if we normalize the damage, we keep an opening for the enemy to exploit. Oh, I wish I could say that real good. When you don't assess the damage of what happened to you, when you don't look at what you lost, then I want you to realize that there is an opening that the enemy will exploit time and time again because you didn't check to see what I lost in the process. You left the gate open for him to use shame over and over again. You left the gate open for him to use rejection over and over again because you did not assess the damage. And when you do not assess the damage to what you lost in your soul, you normalize it. And when you normalize it, when it's time for you to be fruitful and to multiply, you are being fruitful and multiplying a damaged soul. So when we talk about generational curses, many of us want to chop off the fruit of the generational curse.

14:41 But assessing the damage allows you to pull up that generational curse from the root. I'm sorry, that's good to me. That's good to me because I've heard people say things like, oh, I want to break poverty in my family. And so they think that I'm going to do this by just saving money differently. Oh, I want to break addiction in my family. So they think they're going to do this by just abstaining from whatever the addiction is. But what you really need to ask is what type of soul do I need to possess in order to break the generational curse that is connected to them?

15:17 Don't go for the fruit. Pull it up from the root. because if you pull it up from the root, when you are fruitful and multiply, you'll break the generational curse organically because I became something different than the generational curse. I'm going to become something different. I'm going to fix what happened in my soul. Some of us are living in the aftermath of someone else's damaged experience. They may not have the tools to fix it, But if God has highlighted it to you, it's because he wants to give you the tools to pull up that generational curse out of your soul. If you pull it up out of your soul, the being fruitful and multiply, you don't have to worry about. I want you to get to a place where you trust your fruit, where you trust your multiplication. And the only way for you to get there is if you trust this soul.

16:13 Don't normalize it Don't accept it Just because everyone else has normalized it Doesn't mean that you have to normalize it Is this what God calls normal? Is this what heaven endorses? Or have I normalized what the culture accepts But rejected what God wants to bless? I got to figure out what hits I took in my soul. I know you just survived. All I can do is survive. All I can do is you better take 10 minutes to present yourself as a living sacrifice so that you can be more than a survivor. You can be a curse breaker so that you can be more than a survivor. You can introduce generational breakthrough in your family so that you can be more than somebody living day by day just trying to make it.

17:10 And you can walk into rooms with authority and power. You better take 10 minutes and present yourself as a living sacrifice so that you can find out what is the perfect will of God for my life. you got a curse to break you got a new normal to set and you got to do it from the soul this part this is not a mind part at one point it will be a mind part but the first thing you got to do is let it get down in your soul you got to let it get down in your spirit i remember growing up they used to say my soul's been anchored in the lord why do you need your soul to be anchored in the Lord, because everything else I do flows from my soul. And if my soul isn't anchored, my dream isn't anchored. My hope isn't anchored. My prayer isn't anchored. But if I mess around and get my soul anchored, it doesn't matter which way the wind blows. It doesn't matter what the enemy throws in my direction. My soul has been anchored. You need to uproot your soul out of shame. You need to uproot your soul out of depression. You need to uproot your soul out of your family history.

18:14 My soul's got it. Somebody better move the anchor. every now and then you got to move the anchor because sometimes the anchor starts moving when the water starts shaking and you'll mess around and your anchor will be rooted in your depression your anchor will be rooted in your rejection but God says only you have the power to take that anchor and say you know what me and this anchor got to be anchored in the Lord for this world that I'm living in for this purpose God has for my life I cannot be anchored in your opinion I I cannot be anchored in what you think about me. I cannot be anchored in what's happening in the news. I got to be anchored in something that cannot be shaken. I gotta be anchored in something that cannot move. I gotta be anchored not in the doctor's report. I need to know the doctor's report. But I gotta be anchored in who the healer is. I gotta be anchored in who my provider is.

19:08 I'm anchor different. I'm anchor different. It's not perfect. I've been through hell and back just like you, but I'm anchor different. How could you keep smiling? After all you, I'm anchor different. I'm sorry. He built me different. He showed me something. Now I don't move unless he tells me to move. Now I don't breathe unless he tells me to breathe. I'm anchor different. No, they hurt me. They betrayed me too, but I got my joy back cuz I make a difference No, it broke me down too, but I'm I'm anchored different. I'm sorry. And sometimes you got to let the enemy know, I'm anchored different. You knew the old me, who was anchored in trying to find somebody, who was anchored in trying to impress somebody, who was anchored in trying to please somebody.

20:10 But my soul has been anchored. I messed around and found out. I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to move your anchor. Something happens when I worship that moves my anchor. Something happens when I praise that moves my anchor. Something happens when I call on the name of Jesus that shifts my anchor.

20:36 I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to move where your feet have been planted. To move where your mind has been planted. to move where your heart has been planted. I'm sorry I got to drag this anchor out of the rocks. I got to drag this anchor out of the mud. I gotta. Be anchored different for this. New calls, new dimensions, new responsibility. You got to be anchored different for this.

21:19 And you can't let other people determine where you set your anchor. My soul has to be anchored. Which means that I gotta learn the art of being able to go through stuff, but also letting things go through me. In Genesis 4, when Cain gives his offering to God, the text tells me that God did not respect Cain's offering. And Cain didn't like that, that God didn't respect his offering. and God noticed that Cain didn't like that and God tells Cain why are you angry why why are you angry that I didn't respect your offering I have to tell you in my personal study time I've wrestled with God about this whole Genesis 4 business this don't have nothing to do with the message but let me detour like pastors do I'm a pastor now I get to detour take you all off the subject i don't even know where my lines are anymore but give me a minute because i didn't get to preach last week now we're gonna be here till four o'clock okay said god how was he supposed to know what to bring you you didn't give him no guidelines and then he gave it to you and then he reject you rejected it you said you didn't respect it if you would have told him what he's supposed to do, then maybe he wouldn't have ended up in this situation. And God told me, see, that's what your problem is. I said, well, first of all, don't talk to me like that in front of my face.

23:18 He said the thing is that you want all of the instructions up front. And I want to teach you and be in relationship with you. So you got to be willing to get it wrong to figure out how to do it right with me. That was Cain's problem, is that he had to do everything right, and everything had to be perfect, or he got angry and rejected. And God says, why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? He says, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. It's not that if you don't do well, you'll be rejected. It's just if you don't do well, sin lies at the door waiting for an opening.

24:14 For when you don't do well. Because if you don't do well and you get mad about it, its desire is for you. This is the opening I'll use. When you let your countenance fall. When you don't let things just go through you, you harbor them and let them stay in you. and they damage your soul. You so busy going through things, but are things going through you or do they get snagged in your soul? And that's what the enemy uses as the door because you didn't let it go through you. God is trying to tell Cain, you got to shake this off because the enemy's looking for an opening. And if you stay stuck in this, it's going to rule over you when you should be ruling over it. So don't normalize where you are right now.

25:16 You're angry, but don't normalize it. You've been rejected, but don't normalize it. You failed, but don't normalize it. Because sin is waiting for an opening. And when sin gets an opening, it takes advantage of it. and because you don't assess the damage now you got a damaged soul and you're being fruitful and multiply. God is still trying to help us understand who we need to be in the earth even after Adam and Eve ate from the tree. I'm still trying to show you how to do this thing. And the problem is that we have normalized things that we should have let go through us. Oh God. something shouldn't have the authority to rule over you you can go through it but it should not have the authority to rule over you not everything you go through should have the authority to change your soul come on somebody I'm not gonna lie you may change my attitude you may change my emotions but at the end of the day I get in my prayer closet and I reject what you tried to inject because you can't have the power to change my soul I have to reject what you tried to inject I saw what you tried to inject and I almost fell for the bait but because I have a responsibility to make sure my soul stays anchored I gotta reject what you tried to inject tried to make me bitter you tried to make me angry you tried to make me feel like I could be left and forsaken but I gotta reject it because that doesn't align with what God says you can change my attitude you can change my emotions but you cannot change my soul Amy Dockery, our friend over at Covenant Church, tells this story about when she got diagnosed with cancer.

27:22 And they'd given her a short window to live. And she said she would get dressed up to go in for her chemotherapy. Because she figured that if she had cancer, that she also had an assignment. Which means that when she was going to chemo, she was going to be ministering to the nurses and all the other patients. You know what that spoke to me? Cancer, you may have my body, but you can't have my soul. I know we want healing, but what if God's got you on assignment to see if you can keep your soul anchored even in the midst of the trial? If you can keep your soul anchored even in the midst of the disease, you may take my body, but you can't take my soul. You may take my time, but you can't take my soul. Somebody's given somebody too much access to your soul. Somebody's had too much access to your soul.

28:22 This circumstance, you've been going through hell, but you can go through hell without letting hell get inside of you. I hear God saying, somebody needs to take their soul. you don't have the authority to change my soul my soul didn't start with you so you can't come in here changing what started with God I take back everything that the enemy tried to take from me in my soul you can keep the stuff I want my soul back you can keep the time I want my soul back You know why? Because he will restore what the locusts have eaten. You can keep that. I want my soul back. I

29:08 Want my hope back I want my peace back Matter of fact give me my mama's peace cuz you stole her soul. You know what? Give me my daddy's peace cuz you tried to steal his soul You know what give me my great-great-mama's grand freedom. Did you try to steal? You want to talk about unexpected harvest Unexpected harvest is when you don't just get back what the enemy stole from you You get back what he stole from the generator You get back what he stole from the generations before you. God says I kept hands I know what it's sold from your great great grandparents I know what it's sold from your grandmama I know what it's sold from your auntie I know what it's sold from your nephew and I'm just waiting on somebody who will let me give you a heart I know what he took.

30:13 And in one generation, everything he took from previous generations, I prophesy that in the name of Jesus. Everything he stole from previous generations is going to come back in you, generation. I prophesy over your house, over your finances, over your soul, God can't stand. You got to tell the enemy Keep my tab open Keep my tab open I know what you stole but keep my tab open Because I want you to be watching when God restores it I want you to keep your eyes open when God gives it back I heard God say, I kept the tab open.

31:12 I know what he took. I kept the tab open. I know your health has been in jeopardy, but I kept the tab open. Health will be your portion. Whoo! Okay, all right. I'm sorry, this ain't even about y'all. I got war with the devil. I'm sorry, this ain't even about y'all. But I got war with the enemy. Because the enemy thought that with elevation, he was going to do something to our health. That he was going to do something to our bodies. but I know God keeps our tab open so I know that God's got breath for me in this moment and he's got strength for me in this moment cause you don't take nothing from God without God making sure you get it back a hundred fold you don't take nothing out of God's camp without God making sure it comes back a hundred fold Okay.

32:25 All right. Y'all stay focused. Y'all scaring the visitors. Y'all stay focused. Because I feel like God's going to do something in this room that's going to restore souls on the spot. That God's going to do something in this room that's going to let holiness break out on the spot. That God's going to do something in this room that reminds you you've been set apart. You was never supposed to be with them. You was always supposed to be with me, says God. Okay. All right, listen. And then he had told Cain, he had told Cain, he said, Cain, don't even worry about that.

33:20 What I'm trying to figure out is this. Why is God so invested in the way that Cain is showing up in the world? You would have thought, after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that he would have just let them do them. but he's still intimately connected with their seed. trying to teach their seed what the parents didn't quite understand.

34:03 That's a word for some of you parents who've made mistakes that you don't think you can recover from, that God will take over the parenting for you. none of us are going to get it completely right with these kids but God will take over the parenting for you he'll fill in the gap single dad he'll fill in the gap single mom he'll fill in the gap working parents he fills in the gaps with Cain and Abel and I'm trying to figure out why is he so invested in what is happening with Cain.

34:48 And I realize that part of the reason why he's so invested in them is the same reason why he's so invested in us. Because our soul is his breath. I'll prove it to you. Genesis 2 and 7 says this. It says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. that word breath in the hebrew means neshama neshama a puff you got to see so when god breathes his breath inside of us god doesn't have lungs he's not a human we received it as breath but it wasn't breath that hebrew word lets us know that it was divine inspiration or soul slash spirit So what we're calling breath is our soul.

36:01 God's breath is our soul. God cares about your soul because your soul is his breath in the earth. Do you understand? Your soul, everything God's going to do in the earth, he's going to do through you, through your soul. I almost called this ready to exhale because when you step into your purpose, God exhales. God exhales. When you're raising those children, God is exhaling through you. When you're going into that job, God's exhaling through you. You are God's exhale. So this is why the enemy is after your soul. He's trying to suffocate God in the earth.

36:59 he's not trying to knock the wind out of you he's trying to knock the wind out of what god wants to do in the earth this is why the enemy wants you to have a damaged soul because if you don't have the fullness of god's breath then you don't get to release the fullness of God's glory in the earth.

37:23 Neshama. Neshama. Neshama. Your soul is God's expression being released. I got some soul work for you. You got to ask yourself, can God exhale through me? can God exhale through me if God's not exhaling through me what is something is breathing through you. Is it my doubt? Is it my pride? Is it my fear? What's exhaling through me? And who would I have to become to let God breathe through me? my soul is God's breath.

38:20 Do I live a life worthy of him exhaling through me? My life can't be random because God's exhaling through me. I can't just receive anything into my soul because I got to keep my soul pure so God can exhale through me. I got to go to therapy. I got to get the help. I got to get the tools. I got to get the mentorship so that God can exhale through me. I got to fix whatever broke inside of me so that God can exhale through me. So that I'm not praying for someone else to do what God could empower me to do if he could just exhale through me. So that I'm not judging someone else's results with no results of my own so that God can exhale through me.

39:09 This is not just a job. This is not just a marriage. This is not just a church. This is not just a song. This is not just a book. This is God's exhale. this is not just business this is god's exhale and i gotta live like that and i gotta think like that and i gotta let my mind be transformed in that direction because it changes the way i show up it changes who i let have access to me it changes the words that i let come out of my mouth because god's exhale and my cussing can't come out the same mouth. Sometimes I gotta remember. that I was created to be an exhale. I got to ask for forgiveness. I got to be convicted.

39:59 Because God was supposed to exhale me through me. I'm sorry I got angry. I'm sorry I said those words. That was me. That wasn't God inside of me. See, and that's a level of humility. When you realize that God wants to exhale through you, but you're still exhaling too. Hello. Child. Mess around and call my breath, not God's breath. Tell somebody your breath sting. Don't do that because you can't fight and they not all the way saved. But sometimes your breath stinks. Sometimes I don't look like God.

40:46 And so the enemy wants to take God's breath away in the earth. He's going to do it through damaging your soul. I love Psalm 23 and 3 because it teaches us about him restoring our soul. He restores my soul. when my soul gets damaged before I know it when I get out ahead of myself and it's his breath and and my breath are at war and it's just me out there he restores my soul can I show you what I learned when I look this up in Hebrew that word restore it means shub in the Hebrew that means to retreat to turn back not with the idea of returning to a start to a starting point but to recall. So when we see he restores, it really says he recalls my soul.

41:42 And just so you know, that word soul in the Hebrew means breath. God knows how to take his breath back. I don't know what knocked the wind out of you. I don't know what took your breath away. I don't know what made you feel suffocated. but I want you to know that God knows how to take his breath back. I know how to take my breath back inside of you. That's the beauty of restoration. We think restoration is when God gives me back what I lost. Restoration is when God gives you back who you lost.

42:22 It's when he takes his breath back. I know that grief knocked the wind out of you. I know that betrayal hurt you. I know it changed you, but I want to restore your soul. I can't get your time back. I'll be honest I can't give you that person back in your life. You may never get that job back That's not what restoration is. I want to give you you back who you were before you experienced that loss Who you were before you went through that heartbreak who you were before you went and did that time who you were I want to show you that I can restore your soul. I can take my breath back. I can make it as if it never happened and you'll look back and you'll say it's not that it didn't happen it's just that God gave me my breath back God gave you your breath back. God is serious about his breath in the earth. Do you understand?

43:16 When we look at the condition of the world, when we look at what's taking place in the earth, I want you to understand that if you are God's exhale, he will never give up on you. He will never give up on the possibility of breathing through you. So even when you try to run from God, even when you try to take matters into your own hands, God will always come after you because you carry his breath. That's why he didn't care about finding you in the strip club. That's why he didn't care that you would been in the bar. You ran off with something that belongs to me. You got my breath inside of you. You got my soul inside of you. That's why he says it doesn't matter what you've gone through. I'm talking about what I placed inside of you My favorite analogy that proves that God is serious about taking his breath back is when we find Hagar in Genesis 16.

44:20 Come on now. For those of you who don't know the story, God makes a covenant with a man named Abraham. And he tells Abraham, I'm going to make you the father of many nations. I'm going to bless those who bless you. I'm going to curse those who curse you. You're going to be the father of many nations. He says, I'm going to give you a child. And Abraham and his wife Sarah are waiting for God to give them a child. And God hasn't done it yet. So Sarah says, I'm going to give you one of my maidservants. And that's how we'll get a child. So they've moved away from God's plan and created their own plan. Which I know y'all don't do. But sometimes some people say, God, you're not moving fast enough. And I found an alternative route. that I believe could still fulfill what you said, but get it done a little faster than the way you're doing it. People watching online, not people in here, do this kind of thing all the time.

45:15 So God is watching Abraham and Sarah concoct their little plan. She gave Abraham the maidservant. Now Sarah don't like the maidservant. Big surprise there. Who would have seen that falling apart? You don't like the side chick you introduced. My God. She always had an attitude. I knew I didn't like her.

45:40 So now she's being mean to the side chick. She's inflicting the side chick. And the side chick said, I was always the side chick anyway. I'm going to run off because this really ain't my business. This don't have nothing to do with me. I don't know what's going on with these crazy folks. They told my guy she old. They waiting for a baby. I'm getting up out of here. Once again, I'm going to take matters into my own hands. God pauses the plot. it's supposed to be about Abraham and Sarah. Hagar was never supposed to be in the picture but because she has his breath inside of her too. See don't let people make you think that just because they're the star of the show that God don't care about what's happening in the background. God says I will pause the plot to go get somebody else. They may not be who I was originally in covenant with but I'm not going to let you just mistreat somebody because I put you in position. he pauses the plot he says hold on hold on hold on hold on we lost somebody I didn't have them in the original picture but now that they're a part of it I'm gonna figure out what to do with them they can't just take matters into their own hands oh Hagar says God says hold on I got to go get Hagar because Hagar has ran off and so we find Hagar in the wilderness in Genesis 16 and the angel of the Lord comes to Hagar and the angel of the Lord says to her, where are you coming from and where are you going? She says, I'm running away from my mistress. All she says is what she's doing. She doesn't know where she's going or how she's going to get there. But there was something about what she said that the angel of the Lord says, you can't run off now. God help me to say it. You can't run off now. I know you would have never been wanted these cards you have been dealt. I know you would have never wanted to be in this situation but if you run off now you may protect your soul but I want to perfect your soul and if you're so busy protecting your soul you're going to miss how I can perfect your soul.

47:43 What you call protection may be keeping you from having your soul perfected. he tells Hagar you're pregnant so you got to go back you can't be in the wilderness this is no condition for a woman who's pregnant you may run out of food you may run out of resources and I'm telling you going back is the lesser of two evils you got to go back but name that child Ishmael which means the Lord has heard your affliction she never spoke her affliction all she did was started talking to God and when she started speaking to God, God heard the words she couldn't say herself. I want to talk to somebody who doesn't have the language for what they're going through but you know you're going through something. I hear God saying just give me what you got because I can hear what's happening underneath the surface. I can hear what's happening in your soul even if your soul doesn't have the language. Somebody's in this room and you're just off. I'm just off. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's happening. There's something underneath the surface. I can't understand. Give God what you have, Hagar. Hagar, name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction. Do you know what she names God? She is the first person in the Bible to ever give God a name. Hagar, a woman who was never a part of the plot. Hagar, a woman who was never the star of the show, is the first person to ever name God, and she calls him the God who sees.

49:12 What does he see? He saw my soul. God sees my soul. When I speak, he sees my soul. When I'm just trying to make it, he sees my soul. We serve a God who sees. And this, this is what Nathaniel is about to learn about Jesus. he thinks he's coming to see God he doesn't realize he's coming to be seen somebody came and they wanted to see worship. They wanted to see a message. But God says, I've called you into this room so that you can be seen.

50:00 God says, I'm not an entertainer. I didn't come to put on a show for you. If you come to see me, you got to know that I want to see you too. I want you to dare to say, search me, oh Lord. see my soul nathaniel thinks he's coming to see but the moment that jesus sees him jesus says i see you he says i see you as an authentic israelite i thought what is it about what jesus says to nathaniel that makes nathaniel feel so seen he says that nathaniel is a true israelite indeed in whom there is no guile, the King James Version says.

50:48 How did, well, why was that the thing that made him feel seen? And it taught me something about God that I think we all should know. Historically, for him to be an Israelite at that time, given the political and religious corruption that existed, could have meant anything. he could have been an Israelite who had been some kind of way sabotaged by the religious system he could have been an Israelite that was an Israelite by just religion and name alone but not with true belief and there must have been something in Nathaniel that wondered does anybody know I'm the real deal some of you have been placed in industries with labels and titles and families with certain certain systems and structures and you wonder if anybody sees that you're the real deal just because i carry this label just because i have this name just because i do this work can anybody see that i'm the real deal but jesus says something to nathaniel that lets him know I see who you are, a true Israelite.

52:02 I see who you are, a true man of God. I see who you are, a true worshiper. I see who you are, someone who really wants to bring about change. I'm thinking about people who are in government. And just because you're in government and a politician, people may believe that for some reason you are corrupted, but God sees who you really are. and sometimes God places us in rooms and in titles and in places where we fear that other people will see us just like they see the rest of them but God says you got to know that I see your soul that I see the purity of your heart that I see your desire to do things differently that I see your desire to make a true change when God's looking at our soul he's not just looking for the damage. He's looking for the purity. And when Nathaniel has this revelation, this encounter with Jesus, he feels seen. And he goes, I know you are the son of God because you saw what no one else could have known. Whatever he saw under that fig tree, let him know that this is the real deal.

53:10 What strikes me is that Nathaniel would have settled just on being seen. And that's where many of us stop in our relationship with God. It's once he sees our soul, we allow ourselves to just settle in that place. But he has a higher order for Nathaniel. This is not just about you being seen. Jesus says, I want to show you my soul. Hallelujah. I want to show you who I am. I want to show you what it looks like to stand underneath an open heaven. I want to show you what it looks like to let God breathe through you. I want to show you what it looks like when you only do what you see your father in heaven do. It's one thing for God to see you. It's another thing for you to see God clearly. And it is important that Nathaniel sees Jesus.

54:06 Because Jesus has an assignment for disciples to model the life that he is going to display. Jesus goes, I want you to see something. Just because I know who you are, you think that's something? I'm going to show you what it looks like when angels ascend and descend from heaven. And I'm going to show you not just so that you can see it. I'm going to show you so that you can be it. Because the time is coming when Jesus will not walk the earth. But if you allow your soul to be God's breath, when you walk the earth, You'll know what it looks like to see angels and angels ascending and descending from heaven. I'll show you what it looks like to move underneath and open in heaven. I'll show you what it looks like when you don't hold your breath. and what do they see when they see Jesus moving they see he's never out of power he's never out of authority he's never out of companionship he's never out of mercy he's never out of forgiveness because when you stand under an open heaven you are never without heaven's resources I'm getting ready to close but I want somebody to know that you got to learn how to do what Jesus did. You got to learn to stand underneath an open heaven so that angels can ascend and descend from you the same way they did from Jesus.

55:32 I thought to myself, and this is like cute little fancy footwork preaching. I was like, Jesus is God's exhale. You know what I mean? Like he was in heaven. God says, I'm going to embody myself with flesh and come into the earth. And Jesus is God's exhale. And he said, you thinking too small.

55:52 Because Jesus is what it looks like when God breathes. Not just an exhale, but an inhale and an exhale. And inhale, I take it in, but I let it out. I take it in and I let it out. Angels ascend and descend. That's your job. That's your identity. It's for angels to ascend and descend. You will never be without anointing if you stand under an open heaven. You will never be without love if you stand underneath an open heaven. You will never be without power if you stand underneath an open heaven. When you stand underneath an open heaven, you receive all of heaven's resources. As I was studying this text, it stuck to me that Nathaniel calls him the son of God. But Jesus says, you're going to see angels ascending and descending on the son of man.

56:54 This distinction is important. because they were waiting on the Messiah who would be the son of God. And Daniel prophesies about a son of man, and Jesus wants them to understand, I'm both the son of God and the son of man. I'm 100% God and 100% human. But for your connection with me, it is important that you see me as the son of man. Why do you need to see me as the son of man? Because if you see me as the son of man, then you will not excuse yourself because you're human. Hear me clear.

57:31 The excuse of I'm just human will not cut it in this time. Hear me clear. You have to be more than human. You got to be superhuman. You got to be filled with the spirit of God. you have to insist on standing underneath an open heaven you have to do whatever it takes to keep your soul pure and whole you got to do whatever it takes evil is running rampant on the world i hate to sound like a church mother but y'all know i want to be one we are in the last and evil days and even if it's not the last and evil days they are your last and evil days we do not have time for you to wait, to wake up out of your shame and to wake up out of your fear and to wake up out of your pride. We got to wage war with hell. And we need somebody who is willing to let heaven breathe through them. We need somebody who is willing to do the hard work of getting your soul right so your soul can be anchored wherever you go. We need people who are willing to do the hard work I'm saying whatever it takes for God to move through me, I'm willing to do it.

58:44 And I came here to prophesy that you are always standing underneath an open heaven. But you may have to remove the roof of your depression. You may have to remove the roof of your anxiety. Heaven has been waiting to touch earth. And I hear God saying, I'm just waiting for somebody who will come and see what I'm doing. Who will come and believe in who I am. Who will come and take hold of what I'm dishing out. I hear God saying I'm still dishing out power. I'm still dishing out creativity. I'm still dishing out innovation. But I'm waiting for a generation to get serious about who I can be in their lives and who I can be in the earth. God says I will be as serious about you as you are about me. And if we get serious about each other, there is no devil in hell who can, well, I hear somebody has been called to push darkness back. You have been called to serve held notice.

59:40 You have been called to go to war with generational brokenness and generational damage. and I hear God sigh I hear God say this is an assignment for your soul this is an assignment for your soul God says I don't want your hopes and your dreams because your hopes and dreams were birthed from a damaged soul I don't want your goals and your plans because your goals and your plans were birthed from a damaged soul but God says what I want to give you when I finish perfecting your soul I'll give you the desires of your heart I hear God saying you don't even know what to ask for You don't even know what to dream for Because you're dreaming out of your brokenness But when I get finished with you You'll ask me for the nations You'll ask me for your inheritance You will ask