It Just Hits Different

0:44 Hallelujah. Oh, come on up in here. Hallelujah. Can we just give him the highest praise this morning? Hallelujah. Can we give God glory for Apostle Sade? And can we give God glory for Kaffia? hallelujah kaffir glory to god the lord had shown me both of their faces when i was praying about who to bring and i'm so grateful that god has moved mightily in them this morning we got to bring them back for a night of just worship and a night of just prayer hallelujah i just wanted to lay out and not do nothing hallelujah glory to god my doctoral cohort is here if they're in the building. Just stand up and wave at me. Where are they? Okay, y'all act like y'all not here.

1:42 All right. Yes, I'm so grateful to have them. I started with them a couple of years ago. They are earning their doctor in ministry. Come on. With a concentration of women in ministry in the marketplace. And they are graduating this May from Payne Theological Seminary. Hallelujah. And I'm so proud of them. As you all know, I have bonus daughters. I have God's sons, but I don't have any daughters that I have physically birthed. And the Lord told me that these will be your daughters. They will be a part of the legacy that you leave. And so I am so honored to have walked with them. Hallelujah. And have to been with them along their journey. To my incredible husband. Hey, honey, you look so good this morning.

2:34 He is my love. He is my priest. He prays. He provides. He protects. He pleases. And he pleasures. I love you, baby.

2:54 Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 60 and 1. Apostle Chardet was all in my message, but that just confirms to me that the Lord is speaking. Y'all praying for me this morning? Isaiah, we're going to go to chapter 60, verse 1. When you got to say, I got it, Pastor Kerry. Hallelujah. And the word of the Lord reads, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. It reads one more time, arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Father, we thank you that you are already present and active in the building.

3:54 God we thank you that we have come to hear your voice and your voice alone Father my prayer is that you disrupt our service disrupt our norm and do what is unusual today and God we are grateful that you have done just that meet your sons and your daughters exactly where they are they that they may have exactly what they need we give you glory and honor in advance for you are God hallelujah and beside you there is none other heaven and earth declare your glory for there is none like you from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same we will give your name praise from generation to generation to generation to generation to generation to generation for generations to come for you are the Lord Jesus Christ and there is no other name that we shall worship if you agree with this can you just give your father a shout this morning hallelujah hug somebody on your way to your seat and i want you to tell them this morning it just hits different oh come on tell the person behind you it just hits different Hallelujah.

5:33 I remember when I first saw the movie, What's Love Got to Do With It? Y'all know it. It opens with a bold and bodacious little girl by the name of Anna Mae Bullock. All my folk who not pretending that they didn't know who she was also known as the Tina Turner. She was singing in the choir, and if you notice, she's the littlest thing in the room, bopping around and singing to the beat of her own drum with a freedom even as a little girl, watch this, that apparently irritated the older woman directing the choir. And when Anna Mae didn't comply and conform to her rules, she put her out of the church.

6:36 Now, I know I'm early in the introduction of my message, but I want to pause and ask you this morning, how many little girls or women have you put out of the church because their freedom irritated your legalism? Don't worry about it. Just look right directly at me. Don't even look at your neighbor. I'm going to come back to it, but I want you to just think about it for a moment. Because in this moment, we see a pure and innocent little girl who doesn't even know that she's Tina Turner yet. She has no clue that she's going to become an icon. She doesn't know the stages she's going to stand on or the battles she's going to have to fight and ultimately overcome. And yet she's already moving in this light. There's something about light that is always going to irritate darkness.

7:35 Because real light will always disrupt systems and terrorize the status quo. And like little Tina for so many of you, watch this, your light didn't come when people discovered you. discovered you. The reality is your light was there before the platform, before the applause, before the opportunity, before anybody ever knew your name. God had already put something in you that was shining. I love this particular scene in the movie. Watch this because she's not trying to be a star. She is just who she is. Can you look at your neighbor and tell him, I am just who I am. Yeah, I am just who I am. She's naturally moving in what God created her to be.

8:36 And I've come to realize that there is a difference between manufactured light I just need a hundred women in the room. There's a difference between manufactured light and manifested light. The difference is one is fabricated and the other one is real. Can I tell about a hundred of you today, your biggest problem for some people is not your car, it's not your clothes, it's not your degree, it's not your money. Your biggest problem is your light. And the problem with your light is that it's not self-generated. So they can't understand how you can shine as easily and as effortlessly as you do.

9:33 when it takes work for their little light to shine. They got to copy a light. They got to build a light. They got to plug in a light. They got to steal a light. They got to recreate a light. when your light shows up naturally that's why you can say I woke up like this and it actually be the truth because what you got your clothes didn't give to you makeup didn't provide for you heels didn't give to you if you never got your hair done your light would still be shining tap your sister and tell her it just hits differently it just hits differently she was a little girl with a big light singing in a little church in a little town, but there was something that was already disturbing the ecosystem.

10:41 And she didn't even know who she was yet. Can I declare for some of you today, your light has been disturbing demons for a long time. and the enemy has been using people to try to stop your light since you were a little girl but just like Anna Mae Bullock there is something in you that has always been bigger than the room something that was always bigger than the program and y'all know folk don't like when you got a light that's bigger than the program and so for some of you your greatest issue is that you've been measuring your light watch this by the size of the room you are in can I tell you just because the room is small doesn't mean that the light is small because your environment does not determine your level of illumination and the real challenge is you've become comfortable in rooms that can't understand you rooms that try to quiet you rooms that try to suppress you rooms that make you feel like you're less than rooms that call you to question who you really are but hear me in the spirit this morning there is a light that God has put in you hallelujah that existed before anybody ever affirmed you the room did not create your light and so the room doesn't have the ability to take your light away because what God put in you doesn't need man's permission to shine. I came to tell every woman in the room this morning that there is still a little girl in you. The girl who dreamed she believed when she was bold before shame and trauma tied itself to your name. The girl who wasn't afraid to use her voice. The girl who hadn't yet learned

12:46 to make herself smaller. God is calling you back to her. Not back to childishness, but he is calling you back to authenticity. Back to the part of you that knew that there was something special on your life before people and life taught you how to doubt it and discard it. I want to prophetically declare to about a thousand women in the room today that before this year is over, you are coming back to yourself. You are coming back to yourself. Who is yourself? The unscathed you. The not stressed out you. The you that's not worried. The safe you. The power for you. The anointed you.

13:38 and I want you to hear me clearly this morning when God starts calling you back to yourself he's not calling you back to remember who you were but he's calling you back to where you belong because there is a position attached to your light and there is a place that your light was always supposed to occupy and this is why the enemy had to pursue you so young when he thought that you were vulnerable and helpless he had to make sure early that your spirit was broken make sure early that your body was mishandled make sure early that you were violated and bullied and abandoned and left for to dead he had to make sure early that he tried to get you because he knew that if you ever came into the fullness of the light that God He knew if she ever comes into the fullness of who God called her to be, that hell would be in trouble.

14:46 Listen, I need a sister this morning who ain't afraid to look a demon in the face and tell him you should have destroyed me when I was a little girl. You should have killed me when I couldn't help myself. because now that I'm a woman, I'm walking in a different level of authority. I will look a witch in the face, a warlock in the face, a demon in the face and tell them I am. I am covered by the blood of the Lamb.

15:21 Hallelujah. Look at somebody and say, I'm not to be played with. Oh, come on, play with somebody else. But I'm not to be played with. Hallelujah.

15:41 And that's why our focal text is so critical in this moment, because Isaiah is speaking to people who know what it feels to have someone try to take their light. He's talking to a people who have been through some things, a people who have been in a dark place. They've experienced loss and disruption and calamity. And yet in the middle of all of this, God begins to speak. And the first thing that he says to them isn't trying to explain to them the darkness. He simply tells them to get up. Write this down if you're taking notes. Your season of sitting is over. Your season of sitting is over. Can you high five a sister and say, she's up now?

16:41 Look at the sister behind you and say, she's up now. the first word that God gives to them watch this is not shine but the first word is arise because God will never ask you to shine in a position that he has commanded you to leave and somebody needs to catch this because your life can be real and you can still be in the wrong place you can be gifted and still sitting anointed and still sitting you can know what God said about you and you can still be sitting because knowing who you are doesn't automatically mean your position where God called you to be and we live in a generation that is quick to want to shine but slow to embrace what it takes to arise you want the visibility but you don't want the vulnerability you want the platform but you don't want the preparation you want the manifestation but you don't want the maturity you want the elevation but you don't want the excavation but God is saying arise but before God calls you to shine sometimes there's some things that he's got to pull you up and out of. He's got to pull you out of that fear, pull you out of that comparison, pull you out of that rejection, pull you out of that need to be validated, pull you out of those environments that taught you to shrink, pull you out of those relationships that required you to dim your light to keep them comfortable. And sometimes the hardest thing God has to deliver you from is the version of yourself that learned how to survive by sitting down.

18:34 Because sitting became comfortable for you. It was familiar and safe for you because what should have been a temporary place for rest became your dwelling place. So you learned how to permanently sit in disappointment. You permanently sit in grief. You permanently sit in what happened to you you permanently sit in what they said about you you sit in the place where somebody left you and after a while you start sitting on yourself but I came to tell somebody this morning never confuse a season with your identity where you are is not a permanent position because to arise means more than just standing up it means getting back into the position you were created for And for some of you, you've been out of position a long time.

19:30 A long time you've been out of position. You've been sitting under labels God never gave you. Sitting in rooms God has been told you to leave. You're sitting in an aftermath of something that God is ready to turn into a testimony. But look at your sister and tell her she's up now. What does that mean? That means turn the brightness all the way up. Turn your light all the way up. Turn your anointing all the way up. You gotta turn your gift all the way up. Begin to turn your authority all the way up. Say, she's up now.

20:11 Write this down if you're taking notes. Number two, your season of hiding is over. Tap your sister and tell her she's outside now. Y'all quiet. Where is new birth? She's outside now.

20:33 I want you to watch the progression of the text because he says arise. Then he says shine. Because God didn't tell you to get up just for you to live a dormant and dull life. This is for somebody. He got you up so that you can shine. notice what he says he says shine for your light has come he doesn't say arise and find your light he says your light has come God is not asking you to fabricate what he has already placed inside of you God is simply asking you to stop hiding it this is why Matthew says no one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. I came to tell somebody your season of hiding is over. Your season of think you hiding in the back, think you hiding in the car, think you hiding in your house, that season is over.

21:35 Because the reality is you've spent too long dimming your light to make other people feel comfortable. lowering your voice questioning your gift second guessing your calling making yourself smaller so that people can who couldn't handle the fullness of who you are would be okay with your presence God said shot what does that mean don't dim it don't dilute it don't disguise it don't downplay it but you are to shine and for the Pharisees that are looking and talking even right now let me help you since you listening i may as well have a word for you visibility is not vanity when visibility is connected to the assignment because the enemy's design watch this is to vilify your light so that you will never walk in it Their goal is to warp your light in your own eyes so that it appears as vanity in order to demonize it.

22:49 This is why they label you as Jezebel so that you can reject and pervert what God has naturally placed in you. Because those who are ignorant to their own light will always try to deceive you out of your... Look at her. Look at her. Y'all know how they do. There she go again. There she go again. You are absolutely right. Because the world... The word of the Lord said shine!

23:40 Tap your neighbor and say every time they look they gonna see me. because they gonna see what God is doing hallelujah they want to trick you out of what you have we got so many gas lighters and manipulators in the world want you to think twice about what God is in you may God allow their tongues to cleave to the top of their throat every time they put your name Look at your sister and say shine. misery loves company and misery hates light that's why they get vexed when they see you coming but let me be clear your shining isn't so that people can worship you your shining is so that people can see the God in you so when they say something about your light you gotta tell them take it up with my father Take it up with the one who created me Take it up with the one who shaped me While I was yet in my mother's womb Take it up with the one who knows The number of hairs on my head the word of the Lord says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven the text says your light has come not your light is coming tell somebody has come tell them I already got it Tell her she's outside now.

25:53 What does that mean? Every day, baby, you're going to get this light. you gonna get this light because I'm not dimming I'm showing what God did I'm not shrinking but I'm using what God gave me I'm not hiding what God revealed and I'm not apologizing for what God anointed some of us have mistaken humility for hiding you've mistaken servanthood for self erasure you've mistaken being graceful gracefulness gracious for voicelessness but can I tell you your humility does not require your invisibility you can be humble and still be brilliant you can be gracious and still have boundaries you can be compassionate and still be powerful you can walk in authority and not walk in arrogance at the same time you can be beautiful and be bold tell somebody i'm all the things because god made me that way i'm all the things hallelujah i was somewhere recently and we're sitting on this panel and everybody is in expert in their field. I hear my husband. I didn't say where I was. And so they're asking these questions. They get to me. Now, we're in a professional space. This is not the Baptist convention, the Church of Latter-day Saints. We are not in that space. So of all of the things they can ask me, tell us what it feel like to be a first lady.

27:48 Y'all know I love being y'all first lady. But what I also want to allow is people to try to reduce me to one space.

28:12 I was a woman before I was a first lady. as a matter of fact I was an entrepreneur before I was a first lady I was a preacher and a teacher before I was a first lady I was a daughter and an aunt before I was a person I was a doctor before But what I realize is people will put you in spaces that they feel like are the most comfortable for them. So when they can't relate to the fact that you are a CEO and a mother, they're going to ask you questions about what it means to be a mother. Really, after you've run a multi-million dollar business. Yeah, you can ask me that but my value is greater than the place that you we have to stop allowing people to put us in the places that they want us to be in yeah if you don't know nothing about what I do ask about what I do find out about what I do hallelujah tell them to get all of the information so that when they engage you in conversation they are talking to a multifaceted woman.

29:34 A woman who has multiple things that they do. And what you have to overcome is shrinking in a way where when they call you to the one place they know of then you constantly answer. So what I've said is if you ain't gonna ask me nothing else I ain't answering this no more. You determine, hallelujah, how people begin to treat you, how they receive you, and the level of conversation that they have with you. Look at your sister and say, she's outside now. And I'm almost done. Write this down if you're taking notes. Your season of being naive is over. tap your sister and say she's woke now tap the sister behind you and say she's woke now the text declares arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you now I want you to take note here in the text because after God tells you to arise and shine you've now got to learn how to discern because not everything that glows is glory Paul warns us in second Corinthians 11 and 14 that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and to masquerade means to look like something you are not which means that it can look right It can sound right.

31:08 It can even feel right. And it still may not be God. And that's why Jesus said, you will know them by their fruit. You will know them by their fruit. Because watch this. Eventually anything that's fake gets exposed by its fruit. that's why you got to start telling people don't ask me look at my fruit yeah pay attention to my fruit because not everything that glitters is glory just because it's bright don't mean it's divine it might be attractive but that don't mean it's anointed it might be available but that don't mean it's a sign to you the bible says try the spirit by the Spirit. Because just because it opened doesn't mean God opened it.

32:05 And this is why you need discernment. And discernment doesn't come from vibes. it comes from the word of the lord in hebrews the word of god the word says the word of god is alive and active that is sharper than any two-edged sword able to divide and to desert so the more you know the word the better you become at what recognizing what is not the word and the more time you spend with God watch this the less impressed you become with counterfeits we so enamored with counterfeits they don't know how many books in the bible but you just like it and sharing says he a counterfeit brother she's a counterfeit the word of god helps you to identify what comes into your life that is not of god because when you've been with god long enough your spirit starts saying it look good but i don't think that's god it sounds good but that's not the sound of my father it feels good but that's not my assignment there has to be something in you that begins to awaken to what God is doing because a woman who is woke is no longer naive she's not easily deceived that's why you go from listen you can't just tell me you gotta Shhh!

33:50 You got to show me that law that used to work last year ain't the law that I'm... that pattern you have I see right through it it doesn't work anymore because when you are woke you stop asking is it shining and you start asking is there glory on it because the higher you arise and the brighter you shine the greater your discernment has to become And that's why Isaiah didn't stop at your light has come. He says, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Notice he didn't say your glory. He says his glory. Because when God elevates you, the goal is to never to make you the source. You are simply the vessel and God is the source.

34:46 I remember in 2016 or 2017 when I met my good girlfriend and y'all know her, Dr. Kalita Forbes. I was meeting her for the first time and she prophesied to me at a conference. And she said, where you are going, I'm going to tell you this. She said, the higher you go, the lower you get. the higher you go the lower you get I'm declaring that word to you because where God is getting ready to take you your discernment has to be at another level and the only way you can have the discernment of God is to go low the higher he takes you the lower you get the more money the lower you get the more influence the lower you get the more open doors the lower you get the more access the lower you get keep your face prostrate before the Lord keep your heart open before the Lord so that God can speak to you and this is why I believe Moses said show me your glory hallelujah because when you've been with God you become better at recognizing what isn't from God and so we are not called just to arise we are called not just to shine but we are called to carry glory look at somebody and say are you a glory carrier are you carrying the glory of God because to arise and to shine is not a threat to the enemy he don't care about you elevating he don't even care about you shining what threatens the place of hell is when you can do both and carry the glory oh come on I'm looking for some women who are some glory carriers when you walk in the room there's glory when you go in your home there is glory when you are in a conversation

36:56 there is glory because there's somebody watching how you move in your light there is a daughter watching a son watching a brother watching a husband watching they're watching how you move in your light trying to figure out if God is still real they're watching how you handle your warfare watching how you handle lies how you survive being misunderstood watching how you pray and worship and serve even when it feels like your own life is falling apart they're watching how you keep your heart when people mishandle you and as they watch you your life becomes evidence that God can still do it your visibility tells another woman that there is room for you in here your shine is somebody else's sign they are watching you to see what God is going to do and they're asking the question can he do it in me too your very existence gives encouragement to other people to seek out the will of God for their life and so you're not shining just to be seen you're shining so somebody can see the light of Christ through you because what you are seeking has never been outside of yourself all that you are seeking is in the inside of yourself books can help I'm an avid reader podcasts can help schooling can help but if you are ignorant to the will of God for your life And what God placed inside of you, you will always be wondering or seeking a light that was never assigned to you.

38:48 When you know your own light, you will never covet anybody else's. Hallelujah. That's why you can celebrate a sister. You can celebrate another brother. You can be okay with their light. You can be okay with their victories. You can be okay with their life because you know in a minute God is showing up for me. the goal isn't for people to leave your presence saying look how amazing she was but the goal is for them to leave saying I saw God in her I saw the glory of God on her I saw the grace of God on her and I came to declare to every woman in the room you're not just getting your light back but you're getting your position back hallelujah you're about to get your visibility back you're about to get your discernment back and most importantly you are about to get the glory of God back look at your sister and say she's up now look at your other sister and say she's outside now tell her she's woke now why because her light hits different the enemy tried to take everything he could from her and look at her still standing He tried to use every attack he could possibly use, but look at her still moving.

40:18 He tried to take your mind and take your children, but look at you still showing up. He tried to inflict illness on you and look at you declaring the blessings of the Lord. Tell somebody she's up now. Hallelujah.

40:40 Misunderstood and you still talking. Wounded and you still found a way to worship. Knock down but they'll never find you where they left you. because when God says arise, when God says shine, who is man to tell you otherwise?

41:03 What is a group chat? What is a blog? What is a newspaper? It means nothing when God has given to you the assignment on your life and I want to be an example to you. There are days when I didn't think I could get out of the bed. Days where I said to God, my yes has sacrificed my name. Days when I said to him, I didn't ask you for this. the weight of what you have given me is about to crush me my legs are collapsing beneath me I said yes to you and you are about to let them kill me.

42:06 I yielded to you and you have allowed them to put me in the public square to slaughter me. How can I be called and forsaken at the same time? I serve in your name.

42:38 I preach in your name. I give in your name. And the light you have given is about to destroy me. And the spirit of the Lord said to me that the glory costs. He said to be a weighty woman in the spirit will cost you.

43:09 It may cost you your name. It may cost you whatever access you think you have. It will cost you whatever reputation you think you holding on to. But can I tell you there is nothing that you do for God. That will fall to the ground and die.

43:29 God has a way of letting your enemies gather. God has a way of letting the crowd build just for them to think that they have destroyed you. hallelujah only for him to give you a grace that they didn't even see coming he said i affirmed you before i sent you he said do not look at their faces don't be afraid of their faces he said but walk the path that i have given to you and you let me do the rest I'm talking to women this morning who have let hell trick them out of their light you let molestation you let rape you let disappointment you let abandonment you let heartbreak trick you out of what god had already assigned to you And people don't know because you don't look like what you've been through.

44:55 but today I want to pray for some women who say God it's a season where I'm no longer hiding that I need the strength to be able to come forth if you're in the building I want you to just meet me at the altar this morning God I'm tired of hiding I'm tired of hiding I'm tired of Sitting in the back. I'm tired of laying dormant. I'm tired of not doing what you have anointed me to do then I want to talk to some women this morning who say I'm tired of sitting I'm sitting on every gift God has given to me out of fear I'm sitting on every gift God has given to me because I'm worried about what they're gonna say I'm sitting because I'm tired and I'm scared and I'm worried that you won't be with me when I go. I'm tired of sitting.

46:01 and then I want to talk to some women hallelujah this morning who say father I'm tired of being deceived People have taken my goodness for granted. They have abused my kindness.

46:30 And I keep asking myself, why would they do this to me? Why would they hurt me when I just gave them my last? Why would they hurt me when I just opened my doors to them? tired of being deceived you need the spirit of discernment so that God can show you the motive and the heart of a person so that the cycle that you are in of deception can be broken because love in the wrong place will blind you. It'll allow people to have access to the places of you that God had not designed. Come closer to this altar.

47:23 And then the last thing I want us to pray for today is for those women who are living in isolation. You have never experienced real sisterhood. You don't know what it's like for a woman to have your back. you don't know what it's like to have a sister that you can call that will hold your business like a vote that will intercede for you this season God is sending divine relationships to you divine sisterhood to you and the prayer is that you become that in which you desire to have. I was having a conversation with a mentor and she said to me, I probably could never say it out loud.

48:27 She said, but black women aren't safe for me. and some of us may never say it out loud but we've never met a woman who has been safe for us I'm declaring today that before the end of this year that God sends you a woman who is a safe place for you grab your sister by the hand Thank you. hallelujah wherever you are I want you to begin praying on your own hallelujah don't leave a woman in this room untouched whether she is at the altar or whether or not she is in the back I want you to grab the hand of a woman hallelujah somebody bring my oil father in the name of Jesus God we cry out to you today forgive us for not understanding the light that you have placed upon us forgive us for hiding and shrinking forgive us for running and sitting in what you never called us to sit in forgive us for letting their voices be louder than your word forgive us for running when you called us to stand father in the name of Jesus we pray in the spirit that you begin to download to us who we are and what you've called us to do God go back into the annals of time and heal every memory that has left us broken.

50:33 Heal every memory that called us to be discarded. Heal every memory that robbed us of who we are. And we declare by the Spirit of God today that you rename us. that we are not what happened to us but we are who you say we are and no other name shall we answer to father in the name of Jesus we've been sitting on all that you have given to us today God we ask that you would stir up the gift hallelujah stir up the gift that we would begin to move and all that you have called us to move in today oh god we pray that you would take divine blinders off of our eyes help us to see in the spirit realm give us divine discernment so that we can walk in the will that you have called us to Break every toxic cycle.

51:43 Break every toxic idol. Break every toxic connection. Every person designed to destroy us and to hurt us who have come under the guise of love, expose them. and give us the ability to walk away. Give us the ability to stand strong in you. And then God, give us divine sisterhood.

52:21 Send us women after your own heart. Send us women who have been at your feet, who will pray for us, who will intercede for us, who will help walk with us and call us into the women that you have called us to be.

52:44 We are ready to shine. We are ready to arise. And we are ready to carry your glory. Father, make us glory carriers that we can do all that you have called us to do. If you believe that, I want you, hallelujah, to take 60 seconds. Come on and give God glory in the building.