The Danger of Entitlement - Bishop T.D. Jakes

3:08 What I'm going to give you today is in the book of Mark, the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 12, verse 1 through 12. It is extensive. It is fairly, fairly unfamiliar, not often preached about, but it is something that the Holy Spirit gave to me today to share with you that you might hear what the Spirit says to the church. You're looking good this morning. Thank you. Thank you. I'm feeling good. That's the good part. I hope I look good, but I'm happy I'm feeling good.

3:45 Hallelujah. I'm feeling good down to my toes. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling blessed. I'm feeling like God is with me. I'm feeling like somebody praying for me. Yeah, yeah, that's good, that's good. In the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 12, verse 1, he records a parable that was written, that was given by Christ in response to an adverse crowd who was trying to trip him up. You must understand that most of Jesus' ministry was not done amongst his fans, his friends, or his congregants. Jesus did most of his miracles amongst unbelievers and people who were doubting and scoffing and trying to trip him up you can't pick the crowd God sends you to you got to be ready to do whatever God says do I've got a podcast with my daughter one day and then the next day starting Monday I got a podcast with Jeezy you you you got to reach out the Bible said all souls are mine not just the ones that sing in the choir all souls are mine are you hear what I'm saying and you ought to be strong enough by now that you can share your truth and listen at somebody and still come out and know who you are let them be who they are and let you be who you are and you'd be surprised at the people that don't come to church, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't come to the Lord. Amen. Some of us make it hard for people to come to church. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Anyway, it was good.

5:34 It was good. It was good. It was good. Then he began to speak to them in parables. He's speaking to them in parables because they're trying to trip him up. He's delivering truth to them in a way that they can handle it. If he talks to them directly, they will become offended and escalates the crucifixion before its time. He knows ultimately they're going to try to destroy him, but not yet. And sometimes you have to behave yourself wisely because people can't handle you at full strength. And so he speaks in parables because it is easier to behold the beam in your brother's eye than to admit the mote that you have in your own. And so when I tell it in a story, it makes it more palatable for you to understand it. Then he began to speak to them in parables.

6:30 A man planted a vineyard. and I want you to follow this closely because I got something I want to pull out of here. A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower and he leased it to the vine dressers and went into a far country. Come on. Now at vintage time, when it was fruit time, when it was harvest time, Pastor said we're coming into harvest time. He sent a servant to the vinedressers that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedresser. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again, he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones.

7:29 now these are people that the owner said but you know you sent when people throw stones they wounded him in his head and sent him away shamefully treated and again he sent another and him they killed it got worse and worse all they were coming for you must understand is to get the master's portion of the vineyard. They were sharecropping in a situation where the master had set them in a situation that there was a harvest to be harvested, and yet when the time came to give him his portion and keep their portion, they wanted it all. Look at your neighbor and say, are you greedy?

8:23 And again, he sent another, and him they killed. They found it easier to kill the man than to be a good steward. And many others beating some and killing some. Therefore, still having one son, now here's a hint, his beloved,

8:46 he also sent him to them last saying, they will respect my son. But those vine dressers said amongst themselves, this is the heir. Come let us kill him and the entire inheritance will be ours. We won't have to worry about splitting with anybody. You can't do good business with bad people. So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine dresses. You're not going to win. And give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this scripture?

9:42 the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Sometimes rejection is direction. I know it hurts. I don't like it. You don't like it. We don't like it. But sometimes rejection is direction. this was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes and they sought to lay hands on him but feared the multitude for they knew he had spoken the parable against them this was the Pharisees they wanted to kill him but they were scared to kill him because there were so many people that were for him that's why when you're for somebody you gotta speak up That's why you've got to get away from these two-faced people who grin in your face and stab you behind the back. You need some people around you that stops what the enemy's got planned for you because the enemy's not scared of you, but he's scared of them.

10:50 How many folks got a them? You will have to come through them to get to me. God will head you in with the them. not everybody in your life ought to be trying to get something from you there ought to be some people in your life that give something to you and those that you cover they also cover you Oh, y'all ain't ready for me.

11:19 They sought to lay hands on him but feared the multitude for they knew he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away. I want to spend a little time this morning talking about the danger of entitlement. the danger of entitlement. Can you say amen? Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on us today. Open up the light from heaven and shine a little light on our soul. If you find anything that shouldn't be, take it out and straighten me. I want to be right. I want to be whole. I want to be free. I do not want to be entitled. In Jesus' name, amen.

12:12 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Let's go to work. My God, today there is so much to be understood. About 20 years ago I had a conversation with a young man and I was telling him how much it unnerved me 20 years ago to see these young upstart preachers with security. It just bothers me. It's just my personal pet peeve. I don't understand why you need security when nobody know you. And they had security. They had bodyguards. They had briefcases. They had all of this stuff that they didn't even need yet. And I told him for us older folks, it kind of older then was 40. That's gone.

13:07 anyway Jesus, now if you're 40 you're a young man but I said it kind of unnerves us a little bit a lot of times you're walking in a grace you haven't earned and he told me something that educated me. He said, we weren't trying to irritate you all. We were trying to imitate you.

13:34 We didn't hate you. We admired you. When we came along, that's where you were, but we didn't see how you got there, and when you see somebody in a place, but you didn't see the journey they went through to get there, it creates what appears to be entitlement because you underestimate what it costs to get there. And anytime you underestimate what it costs to get there, you feel entitled for something that you don't own. Oh, my. You underestimate it, and we were guilty. Number one, we had unspoken rules. And if you broke one of them, we would fall out with you, and they're not written down anywhere, but we had unspoken rules. You couldn't wear sunglasses in church.

14:28 You couldn't wear a hat on your head if you were a man. We had all these unspoken rules. There's no scripture for it. Don't look for it in your Bible, but it's just rules we got. You put your finger up when you're getting ready to walk out of the crowd, The usher shut the door when somebody gets ready to pray. Come on, somebody. Y'all know what I'm talking about. We had rule. Church people understand it. People who are not in the church, who always got something to say about the church, are quick to say things about something they don't know. The history, the origin of where it came from and how it came about. I didn't understand why we swayed from side to side until I was in Africa and Kenya and I saw the Kikia tribe and they were swaying from side to side. And I remember thinking, so that's where we got that from. There's something about tracing your history that unveils your destiny. If you lose sight of your history, you don't understand the origin of what it took to get you to where you are. Entitlement refers to a mindset.

15:28 A mindset or a belief that a person inherently deserves certain privileges, benefits, or special treatment. that they deserve it. You didn't understand that they, I'm not fussing because they got it. They think that they deserve it. And if they don't get it, they get angry because they're entitled. Often without having earned it, without considering the responsibilities that it takes to maintain it. We like the title, but we don't like the word. we want the mantle but we don't want to walk the mileage that's why Elijah told Elijah if you're still with me when I get through my mileage you can have my mantle you can't just have my mantle because you want it there's some mileage, there's some walking, there's some serving there's some humility, there's some humbleness that earns the mantle and then when I look around and there's nobody else to hand it to but the person who was faithful, you earned the right to walk in the glory.

16:32 And when you smite the waters, they will part from you. When you didn't freeload and get it, but you received it rightfully, it's really yours. When it's really yours, can't nobody take it anyway. I thought at least the women would shout me down. When it's really yours, can't nobody take it anyway. You're not afraid for somebody to come up and talk to somebody that's really yours. Because you know when you get them car keys and rattling, they coming on home with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can win the shop all you want to. But when I get ready to start that car, if it's mine, they coming on home with me. Thank you, G. When you're insecure, you'll jump in and fight and wrestle. Because you don't really understand the difference between ownership and stewardship. What is happening in this text is an argument between ownership and stewardship. Ownership has entered into a covenant with stewardship and says, I'm going to set you in a situation that is already set up before you got there.

17:42 I'm going to build the tower. I'm going to dig the back. I'm going to build the hedges. I'm going to own the property. I'm going to buy the land and then I'm going to set you into something that costs you nothing and you have to be level-headed enough to walk into it and not be entitled and yet be confident. Oh, I'm prophesying to somebody. Let me break it down in the church language. I'm going to give you houses you didn't build. I'm going to give you venues that you didn't grow. I'm going to set you over into stuff that you don't even know what it's made of or how it got there, but I'm going to set you in there. But when you get there, don't feel like you own it. You are a steward of this moment. You are a steward of this opportunity. You are a steward of your life, of the breath in your body. You don't own it. I'm going to come take it one day, but I'm letting you use it right now.

18:45 Don't act entitled like I had to wake you up this morning. I woke you up this morning and started you on your way. But somebody else, I didn't even wake them up. Don't you feel entitled to have an opinion and have an attitude? Because if I didn't let you, you couldn't catch your breath. So there's an attitude that comes along with entitlement that is disgusting. It's irritating, it's aggravating, especially when the owner has given you so much.

19:27 And you think you deserve it and it's been given to you. It's been lavishly bestowed upon you. The health you got. The breath you got. The mind you got. The understanding you've got. The gift you've gotten. The ability to be able to navigate through the education you got. That was a gift. That's not you. You're not really that smart. That was a gift. God just gave you a supernatural understanding. You can't figure out how to bake cookies. And you can do a heart transplant. That's a gift God gave. There are some gifted people in here that know that you didn't get here by might. You didn't get here by power. But you got here by the Spirit, said the Lord. And God has set you in the place and called you a baker and you never took a bakery class. Called you a pilot and you only took a six-week course.

20:21 Called you a leader and you never led anybody but two fish and five loaves of bread. God has a way of setting you in situations and make you fit. and he will make people respect you as long as you don't think you deserve it he will make people respect you but when you start thinking you deserve to be respected and you start acting entitled the bigger you are the smaller they see you the smaller you go the higher they perceive you In other words, if you humble yourself, God will exalt you. But if you exalt yourself, God will humble you. I don't know who I'm talking to, but the tallest people are the smallest people. The greatest people are the lowest people. The more you are humble in your own eyes. God told Saul, when you were small in your own eyes, I blessed you.

21:18 But now that you think you're important and you think you're somebody, now I'm going to take away everything you got. And there's Saul is down there ripping at the feet of Samuel trying to get back what he lost because God had made him a king. He wasn't a king. He wasn't a king. God made him a king. And when you know God made you something, you know who you are. You know the stuff that runs through your mind. You know how filthy you are. You know how nasty you are. And here God made you something, and you done fooled around and believed your own press. it's entitlement.

22:03 It's entitlement. I gave you strength to run. I gave your body agility. I gave your mind acuity. I put you into a place of opportunity. I put you into a place of opportunity that people who were more talented couldn't get in and I let you in. And I let you in even though you had less talent. I let you in because you had humility. And if you have humility, I can give you the talent. But if you have the talent and you don't have the right attitude, I have to deny you because you feel entitled. When you entitle a property, you entitle ownership. You entitle rights. You entitle certain privileges that come with entitlement. In fact, the value of the property goes up with entitlement. There's something that when you're in the process of buying property, that when the property is entitled, the whole valuation of the property accelerates because it has been entitled.

23:05 And you can't entitle your own property. Entitlement has to come from somebody on the outside who perceives it at a higher value. But you're trying to entitle yourself. And that's why the door keeps closing in your face. And your nose gets busted. And your lips are bleeding. Because I wish I could buy you for what you're worth and sell you for what you think you're worth. I can live off the profit the rest of my life. That's entitlement. That's entitlement. That's entitlement. Slap somebody and say, humble yourself. If you think God's going to take you up, humble yourself. If you think God's going to give you wisdom, if you think God's going to give you talent, if you think God's going to give you wealth, humble yourself. If you think God's going to make you a leader, humble yourself. And the more he takes you up, the lower you got to go. The more you get good at what you do, the lower you got to be about it.

24:03 The more talented you become, the more doors he opens, the more ways he made. God only bless you according to his eternal purpose. He didn't bless you according to your ambition. He didn't bless you. because your mama told you you was cute. He didn't bless you because you got all kind of alphabets behind your neck. God blessed you according to his own good pleasure and he chose to bless you. So that's why you ought to have a praise because it's just his choice. He chose to bless you. You didn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. You didn't dig the ditch. You didn't build the bat. You didn't build the tower. You didn't set the hedge. You walked into all of that stuff. You stepped into it. Who am I talking to? Blessed people know what I'm talking about.

24:56 Have you ever walked into something and you don't even know yourself how you got there? You're sitting up there trying to look like you're supposed to be there. But when you go home at night, you say, Lord, what in the world are you doing to put me in a situation like that? And you got to be humble because you know you could mess it up at any moment. and for fear of failure. You gotta, it's better to lay on your face than to fall on your face. All God wanted them to do was to be a good steward over what he's given you. What has God given you? What has God dressed and bought and dug and prepared and built and put it within your reach and gave you proximity to things that you never would have gotten on your own? And now that you're in them, can you stand to be blessed?

25:55 Can you handle being blessed? Can you handle favor? Can you handle what you're asking for? Or are you so full of ego that you are entitled? I should be the one I'm preaching. When are they going to use me? I should be the one leading the song. That's why you're not.

26:24 It don't have nothing to do with your voice. It has something to do with your attitude. When you humble yourself and say, Lord, I don't even have no right to be standing up or singing no song in front of all those people because you know what I did last week and you know what I did last month. And you know what ran through my mind while I was getting dressed. And yet you choose to bless me. And when I sing, I start crying because I recognize that the real testimony is that you did so much with so little. That's my real testimony. You did so much with so little. And when you see somebody trying to be big, they're real little.

27:03 Oh, this is so good. I'm going to say it again. When you see somebody trying to be real big, it's a sure sign they're real little. Entitlement rests in the hands of people who never did anything to earn what has been given them. And they are acting like they dug, like they built, like they had the vat, like they built the tower. They're acting like they own something that they're just a steward of. The truth of the matter is God has brought them into a place of favor. he's brought them into a place of grace I wish I had some people who had just stumbled into some grace And the other people are in there because they knew somebody. And the other people are in there because their uncle was somebody. You don't even know how you got in there.

27:56 You're walking around like Gomer Pyle saying, golly. Golly. I don't know how. Golly. I can't believe I fooled around and earned that property. Golly. I can't believe I got out of debt. Golly. I can't believe I finally got more than one credit card. golly i bought me a new car golly i'm headed somewhere golly i got different streams of income there was a time i couldn't hardly feed myself i was eating beans and rice golly see you gotta remind yourself you gotta come against this because this entitlement is a spirit can i go deeper entitlement is a spirit the bible calls it pride and it said pride coming before a fall. And of all things that God hates, God doesn't just hate pride. He hates a proud look. If you look proud, if you look uppity, if you walk around with your nose up in the air, God hates your face. He hates the way you look. He hates the way you stand. All that is in the world is not about dancing. It's not about going to a strip club. That's not what he's talking about. That's worldly, but that's not what he's talking about. All that is in the world is the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And we preach about the lust of the eye, and we preach about the lust of the flesh, because those are sins you can see. But we don't say anything about the pride of life, because the pride of life can hide itself in a choir role.

29:36 The pride of life can hide itself behind scriptures. The pride of life can hide itself behind fake humility, nice deeds, doing things to help people, trying to get credit as if you were benevolent. But you know you don't like people. You did that for you. The pride of life hides out. The pride of life loves to hang around in church. And God said, I hate pride so bad that if you look like you're proud, I despise the way your face looks. I despise the fact that you won't cry. I despise the fact that you won't lay prostrate on the floor. I despise the fact that you got the nerve to be important. When you could be in jail, when you could be locked up, when you could be sleeping up under a breath. If I hadn't intervened in your life, you'd be a drug addict with a needle hanging out your arm. and now you too proud to worship me you ought to beat everybody on the floor you ought to be down on your face i don't know who i'm preaching to you ought to be the first one to hit the floor while everybody else is dancing you ought to be laying out in the floor because you know if it had not been for the lord that was on your side you would you would have been you would have been swallowed up. You have no right to have a sense of deserving. You have no right to fuss at somebody, that's my seat. What do you mean that's your seat? You was going to hell in a handbasket, and you got the nerve to have a seat. You ain't got no seat. Shut up. Sit down wherever you can sit down. That's my chair. I'm somebody. I need to be brought in this way. I need to be handled that way shut up god knows you he saw you up under the bush he saw you up under the tree you act like you're entitled you act like you have a right to this but you know the truth and because you won't tell the truth you won't be free that's why you can't worship that's why you can't praise that's

31:44 why you can't lay prostrate because you are trying to look big to people but when you give up on trying to impress people and humble yourself before God. It's funny, the lower you go, the more God will raise you because God knows he can trust you with a blessing. He knows he can put you in a vineyard that you didn't grow. He knows that you don't have to dig every well. You don't have to build every tower. You don't have to handle every issue. You don't have to plant every hedge. I'll put boundaries in your life. you know you didn't always have no boundaries God put boundaries in your life and if he removes the boundaries you will do everything you ever did and some more on top of that if you got any willpower it's because God put hedges in your life and don't you act entitled or above anybody else because there but for the grace of God It's so hard.

32:45 I'm going to preach in a minute I said there but for the grace of God I don't get no glory out of watching anybody fall watching anybody go down I don't think that's fun I don't think that's entertaining because I always know it could have been me and it will be you because the same people that are with you today will cut your throat tomorrow And you got to stop rejoicing in other people's downfall. You need a spirit of humility, not entitlement. It's about time she had it coming. She had that coming. She deserved every bit of that. Who are you to be handing out sentences to somebody? If you got what you deserve, you'd be burning up right now. We'd have to get a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

33:41 You'd burn up the whole pew if you got what you deserve. Hallelujah. How dare you sit up and talk about what somebody else deserves. I'm just in the first verse. I haven't got out the first verse yet because I'm locked up in the grace. I'm locked up in the grace. I'm locked up in the grace of God. I'm locked up in the fact that these fellas put no work in and yet they're in charge of everything. Look at you running stuff you didn't have to pay for. You didn't have to pay for none of it. And God put you in that office suite. God opened up that door. God gave you that opportunity. God gave you a child when the doctor said you'd never be able to have a child. God opened up your womb and gave you a child. And there'd be anybody else that's a baby. But every time you rock it, it's a miracle. Because you know God did something supernatural. Who am I talking to in this place?

34:37 I'm talking to somebody. I don't know who it is. That's why you shout over stuff that people don't understand. They don't understand why you're shouting about it. Because your miracle is somebody else's normal. I said your miracle is somebody else's normal. So what I'm after is to tear down that sense of automatic deserving. Someone with a sense of entitlement feels the good outcomes, respect, success, resources, attention should come to them by default. it's not about fair reward for effort it's an assumption of owed benefits just because your husband is good to you doesn't mean that you deserve it Just because your wife is kind to you doesn't mean that you deserve it.

35:37 It's an assumption. because you're worth, you think that you are worth more than you are. You think that you are in a place of uniqueness. It is a spirit of entitlement. And God has taken these people, and what I want you to see out of this first verse is that, oh, there's so much I want you to see. There's so much I want you to see. First, I want you to see that the first verse of this text is really just a type of the Garden of Eden. I want you to see that what God did for them in the parable is a picture of what God did for humanity in the Garden of Eden. That he built the garden and finished the garden out and put a system of irrigation in the garden and put a place of fruition in the garden. before he created the man.

36:37 He didn't create the man until the sixth day. And by the sixth day, the stars were already in heaven and the sun was already shining and the days were passing in order and he had already established an environment that had an oxygen enough for you to breathe, that had night enough for you to rest, that had ability enough for you to think. And God didn't bring you into an unfinished earth. He finished the earth and then made you out of his finished work and brought you into the finished work of God. In fact, you were the last thing God did. The only thing God did after creating man was to pull the woman out of the man. Hallelujah. And the woman didn't come until everything was done. That's why y'all ask so many questions. Where are we going? What time are we going to get there?

37:31 Who's going with us? What do they serve on the menu? What part of town is that in? What are they going to be wearing? What are you going to be wearing? What time does it open up? What time does it close? The reason you ask so many questions is that you didn't come into anything unfinished. You were created in the finished work of Jesus Christ where all the questions could be answered before the woman came forward. God didn't bring you in. You were the crescendo of the creation. And he brought you in at a time that all questions could be answered. And he didn't bring you in until the man was enamored with you. He didn't bring you in until there was a man saying, whoa, man. Good God Almighty. Look at that woman right there. She's bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

38:25 He didn't bring you in until there was somebody to adore you. and that's why you need to be adored. You need to feel beautiful. You need to feel appreciated because you were created in an environment of growth. So if you're taking notes, I want you to understand that this is a habit of God of creating you into an environment of growth. He did it in the Garden of Eden. He did it in the tabernacle. He did not start the ordinances before he finished the furniture. He made sure everything was overlaid and all the artisans had completed their work. And then he brought the priests into that which was finished. He didn't bring the priests in the work that the artisans needed to do. The artisans did a work that they didn't get to stay in.

39:19 And the priests got to stay in a work that they didn't get to do. because God is a provider and God will provide for you everything you need before you need it and let you step into some bookshop. He'll let you step into some. He'll let you step into some. He'll let you step into some. I wish I was preaching to some. I wish I had some really blessed people that could admit that you just stepped into something. You was just having some coffee and you stepped into it you weren't even on the job interview then you just stepped into it and that's why you got so many haters because they feel like it ought to be them and they feel entitled but you weren't entitled you just stepped into it and that's why when you think of the goodness of jesus and all that he's done for you your soul cries out hallelujah because you stepped into it. Somebody stomp your foot. I stepped into it. God said everywhere your feet trod, I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to let you step into stuff where people had more preparation and less opportunity. I'm going to put you in a position of growth. And that's why you got to be little because you got to grow into it. I'm going to put you into a position where the grapes are growing.

40:38 They're not finished. I'm going to give you a tower before I give you a grape. I'm going to give you a vat before I give you a grape. I'm going to open up doors for you and build hedges before I produce grapes. So you will grow into it together. Oh, shut up. I don't know who I'm talking to, but somebody in this room is growing into something. And you're wondering why the grapes aren't there yet. When you are ready, the grapes will be ready. Oh, God. God's putting you in a place of growth. He's putting you around people that are saying stuff that you don't even understand. And you're having to Google up under the table trying to figure out what the conversation is doing. Because you're going to grow into it. God has put you into a place of growth to stretch you, to enlarge you, to increase you.

41:35 God knew you were tired of traveling around behind the 12 yoke of oxen, plowing behind that that you've already mastered. And he put you in a place of growth. How many people in this room are in a place of growth right now? You're in a place of growth. You're in a place of uncertainty. You're in a place where you're not sure of yourself. You're in a place where you're not established. You're in a place where you've got to build a brand for yourself. You're in a place where you're dealing with people who are used to what you're just stepping into. You don't have the lingo right. You don't have the movement right. You don't have the fortitude. You don't have the attitude. But God put you in a place of growth and then gave you the grace to grow in a place. I don't know who I'm talking to, but somebody will admit that God gave you the grace. You got on that job, didn't even know how to do it.

42:32 And God gave you grace while you were trying to figure out how to do it. God gave you grace. That's why you, on Sunday morning, after being dignified all week, you got to code switch and come in and start dancing and praising the Lord. Because you and Jesus know that you don't even have no business making that kind of money. You know you didn't grow up with no money. You know you grew up eating beans and rice. You know you grew up eating macaroni out of a box, and now you're a connoisseur of that which is exquisite. Humble yourself and come on back down and come back to earth. You ate everything. You ate Wheaties. You ate some rice patties and went to bed hungry, and now it's got to be this or you can't touch it. You are too high. Come down. to be oh my to be in a place of growth is such a grace when a plant has outgrown its pot its roots overflow the parameters of its pot until the roots are growing down the side.

43:56 And then if you're wise and you're careful, you will unpot it from what was too small and put it into something that was much bigger, not just so the plant can grow, but so that your roots can stretch. God's stretching somebody. Slap three people and say, God's stretching you. He puts you in a large place. He opened up some door. He puts you in a place of growth. He put you in a place you got to stretch out. He knew you couldn't reach the size. You thought you was going to be over here like you were over there. But this is not that. This is a large place. It's a bigger place. It's demanding more from you. It's stretching you because God knew the potentials of your root was bigger than your situation. So God pulled you out of your situation and put you in a larger situation. Now you got more dirt than you got root.

44:53 Now you got more root than you got water. Now you're in a situation where you have to grow into it. And you're scared. And I know you're scared. And God knows you're scared. And hell knows you're scared. And demons know you're scared. But God knew what you could do before he put you in that big environment. And if you'll let him stretch you, he'll stretch you in areas that you begin to grow into things. words begin to come to you vocabulary comes to you humility comes to you grace comes to you the grace of being placed in a room full of growth you want to be a big fish in a tiny pond and then when God puts you into something bigger you get an attitude because you're not getting the reaction you got to grow into it You don't see the stewards participating in the building.

45:54 The owner did that. The steward's job is to grow into that which is finished. and now you're stretching for it now you're reaching for it now you're thirsty for it God gave you something to make you thirsty God gave you something to make you pray God gave you something to bring you to your knees God gave you something that stopped you from being so independent and made you need somebody's advice God put you in an environment where you didn't know so such a much. God put you into a place where you needed somebody's experience to help you to navigate in the water. That's why we can't have ego in the room.

46:46 Because ego will shut you up from being open to direction. In the multitude of counsel, there is safety. And you won't get counsel when you have fooled yourself into thinking that you deserve something that you just stepped into. If I'm preaching to you, make some noise. It is the atmosphere of growth. But the problem was, he put greedy people in the atmosphere of growth. And when you put greed in the atmosphere of growth, greed will not grow in the atmosphere of growth because it's only interested in what growth can do for them.

47:43 so because your motive isn't right you won't see the growth that you really need because that greed has kicked in and when that greed kicks in now when it's a harvest time greed doesn't show up nobody's coming, nobody's bothering nobody's knocking at the door as long as there's not harvest time when it's harvest time that's when you know what you got when it's welfare time you don't know what you got when it's food stamp time you don't know what you got but when you get two or three little zeros behind your check now you're starting to find out what you got and they were greedy and so when the man came this is another way to detect greed they were threatened they were threatened by their own agreement that they had made with the owner that he would give them all of this if they would set aside just a portion for him.

48:51 Now they're not satisfied to have all of this. They want his portion too. You can't help some people. because they're not satisfied with their portion. They want your portion too.

49:11 Greedy people are dangerous. Greedy people can't be trusted. Greedy people can't be left alone in a place of growth because they will steal. Will a man rob God? A lot of blessings God won't give people because he can't trust them with the blessing. And the church is always preaching about the wilderness. They don't preach about the place of growth. And you're talking to people about the wilderness as if I'm going to spend my whole life walking through sand. When in reality, God keeps testing me with growth. To see if I've grown up enough to stand to be blessed. and I won't get beside myself. God keeps dipping you in favor.

50:05 I don't know who it is, but God keeps dipping you in favor to see can you handle it. God keeps giving you opportunity to see if you can be responsible enough. God keeps dipping you in the opportunity to see if that greed has died out yet. If in the process of growth, did you grow inside? You grew outside. You've got all the implications of growth. You've got all the trinkets of growth. You've got all of the bracelets and the necklaces and the clothes of growth. But on the inside, you're just as broke as you was when you was a little girl. And God keeps testing you to see if there's any growth on the inside. Because when you grow on the inside, greed has got to go. Growing on the inside creates humility. Growing on the inside means God doesn't have to watch you. Growing on the inside means you will deliver to him what is his.

51:02 Give unto God what is his. Give unto Caesar what it is. Growing on the inside means God can give you more because you grew on the inside. Some of y'all just now coming into stuff that God talked to you about 10 years ago. But you just now grew into a place that God could bless you like he really wants to bless you. And I know you got to sit there and act like you don't know what I'm talking about. but me and God know that you know exactly what I'm talking about. If God would have given you that 10 years ago, your head would have been so big you couldn't have got through the door. He had to wait for you to shrink down to be able to receive the blessing that he had for you. It wasn't that God, you were waiting on God. God was waiting on you. God was waiting on you to come to a place where you could handle what he had for you. And some of you, God's still waiting on you to grow up enough so that he can give you.

51:58 And he keeps showing you something that's not manifesting in your life. And you keep saying, why are you showing me this and I'm not coming into it? And your answer has come today. He's showing it to you to let you know it's yours. He's withholding it, waiting on you to grow into it. Greedy hearts corrupt expansion.

52:27 Greedy hearts corrupt expansion. Greedy hearts make you not satisfied to be a steward. You got to be an owner. Greedy hearts. listen to this scripture people don't quote it often woe unto him who prospers with that which is not his

54:31 I'm going to say it again for the people in the back. Woe unto them who prospereth with that which is not his. The problem with taking God's part and using it to make you look good is that what you call prosperity is really robbery. You said God increase you, no. You spend them tithes. you spent that offering.

55:08 That's not an increase. You increased with something that was not yours. Years ago I had a person on staff whenever I got ready to pay for dinner they said, oh no I got it, I got it, don't worry about it, I got it. I didn't know they was using my credit card. it's easy to be generous when you're using somebody else's money oh y'all ain't gonna help me ain't nobody gonna help me in here and don't nobody know what i'm talking about in here don't nobody know what i'm talking about it's easy to be generous when you're using somebody else's stuff they told me to put my money in my pocket like they had it handled and then they whipped out my corporate card and paid for the bill and said and lied and said i got it no you don't if you got it use your credit card The problem with envy and greed is that it never feels the satiety of enough.

56:21 the satanity is the thing that God put in your body that lets your brain know you are full and doctors teach us it takes about 20 minutes for your neurological system to convey to your brain that your stomach is full and that's why they tell you to eat slow because you can be full and not know it and by the time you know you're full you're stuffed and you have overeaten everything because it took you that long for your brain to realize that your blessing reason I'm preaching like this is some of you it hadn't hit your head yet that God has blessed you.

57:19 that God has opened doors for you, that God has made ways for you. And you say you're not going anywhere and you forgot where you could have been. You forgot where you should have been. You're looking at all this stuff on Instagram and on TV and comparing yourself with that. You need to look at where you came from and see how far God brought you and start thanking God. I want to be the nerve system that carries to your head that God's been good to you. That sister next to you that keeps jumping up and down, that gets on your nerves, it ought to get on your nerves because you ought to knock her down giving God the praise for what you didn't go through, for what God did in your life. You ought to push her over in the floor and say, get out of my way.

58:14 You can't tell it, let me tell it. what the Lord has done for me, where the Lord brought me from. Oh, girl, you don't know nothing about praising God. You don't know nothing about it. I know what it is to be on the back porch picking peas with my grandmother. I know what it is to smell cow dung in the backyard. You don't know nothing about praising God. Let me show you how to praise God. I know what it is when I had to do my hair myself and bergamot grease and a hot cone was on the stove and mama was frying my head. Now, if you're right, if you're right, beautician ain't in town. You can't even go to the beauty parlor. Ain't you cute with your fine self? You've forgotten where you came from. You ought to knock that girl down. Praise God. How dare you let somebody out praise you? Let me tell y'all, how dare you let somebody out praise you?

59:11 as good as God been to you. How dare you let them sit there and give God more glory than you did. You owe him a praise. You owe the Lord. You owe him a supernatural praise. You owe him a shout. You owe him some victory. You owe him some rejoicing. You owe him a dance. If you praised him right, we'd have to shut the service down. When you look back over your shoulder and remember all the things that God did for you. It'll make you crazy in the balcony. It'll make you dance down them steps. It'll make you run the aisles in the back of the church. When you think right where God brought you out of, when you think about where you could have been, when you think about the domestic violence you were in and how the gun didn't go off and how they didn't kill you and you made it out alive and your children came out alive.

1:00:08 How dare you sit there and not praise the Lord when they were trying to blow your brains out and God delivered you. When you think about you were sleeping with somebody's husband and they didn't kill you and God kept you alive while you were wrong in your sins, in your dirt. You ought to beat everybody in here. Praise the Lord. In fact, I'm going to give you a chance. It's going to be a quick chance. You can take it or you can leave it. But I'm going to give you five minutes to get up on your feet and praise God like he's really good. praise God like he's really good praise God like he can do anything praise God like he can do everything praise God like you know for yourself where he brought you from praise God like you're not ashamed praise God like you acknowledge the fact that God brought you through stuff that he didn't give you what you deserve that he didn't take you out when he put up praise him out your mouth praise him with the fruit of your lips praise him with the sultry and the heart, praise him with the dance, praise him with the clapping of your hands, praise him with the leaping of your feet you owe him a praise you could have been in a mental institution you should have been in an insane house, you should have lost your mind, you should have had a nervous breakdown but God who is rich in mercy. Wherein he loved you. When you were talking out of your head. God preserved you. When you thought about killing yourself.

1:01:51 God brought you through. If you'd have had your way, you'd have blown your brains out. I'm going to give you two more minutes to give him the praise. I'm going to give you two minutes to come out of your pride. Come on the way out of your pride. Strip down out of your pride. Come down out of your foolishness and start praising God like you ain't got no sin. Because don't nobody know like you know what the Lord, what the Lord, what the Lord has done for you. He held your head together. He held your mind together. He held your feet together. I got to quit Because I feel the power of God standing up in my soul. I feel the anointing in this place. There's somebody in this place that's got a praise down in you for stuff he did 10 years ago.

1:02:49 Stuff he did 5 years ago. Stuff he did 20 years ago. You owe him the praise. He kept you in the earth to praise the Lord. He kept you in the earth so that somebody up in the balcony would know that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. Is there anybody in the balcony that's not afraid to praise the Lord? Is there anybody up there that's not afraid to lift him up? Is there anybody online that wants to give God a praise for what he's done in your life? Is there anybody in there that knows how to glorify God? Is there anybody in here that will lift him up in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of righteousness, in the beauty of survival? Is there anybody in here that slept with the lions and God brought you over?

1:03:46 Would you give him the praise? Is there anybody in here that they threw in the furnace and you came out and you weren't even smelling like smoke? Would you give God a praise? Is there anybody in here that should have died of COVID? You had multiple reasons to die of COVID, but God kept you alive. Is there anybody in here whose mama got sick and you were worried about it and you were halfway across the country, but God sent his angels in like nurses to raise your mama up? Is there anybody in here? God kept your kids from being mugged in the street. You ought to open your mouth. You got one minute left. You got 60 seconds left. You got 59 seconds left.

1:04:40 You got 58 seconds. You got 57 seconds. You got 55 seconds to give God the praise. You got 54 seconds to give God the glory. Come out of your cute self and praise him for what he's done. Praise him. I don't care who don't understand it. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care if your coworkers are here. You ought to give him the praise for what he's done. You got four seconds left. For the next four seconds, take the roof off this building. Take the roof off the building. and give, I can't hear you. Two seconds left. Open your mouth. What? Thank you.

1:06:00 He's watching you. He's watching you. His eyes are going all over the building looking for your praise. He's waiting on you to praise him. You that he healed from cancer. You that he brought out from kidney failure. You that he brought through grief and despair and turmoil. He's waiting on you to give him the praise. The eyes of the Lord are sweeping through the crowd. He's going through the crowd looking for somebody who recognizes it was God all the while. It never was me. It never could be me. I couldn't heal myself. I couldn't save myself. I couldn't touch myself. I couldn't help myself. I couldn't stop myself.

1:06:53 I couldn't raise myself. But to God be the glory. for the things he's done. He's done it. He's done it for me. Toray's done it. If he don't do it no more, he's done it for me. He's done it. He's done, done, done, done, done it for me. I got nothing to prove. He's done it for me. And when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, I don't need a cheerleader. My soul cries out, Hallelujah Thank you Lord I gotta thank you I gotta thank you Because I can't let pride Take root in my soul I gotta thank you for my couch I gotta thank you for my living room I gotta thank you for my guest bedroom I gotta thank you for my garage And a car in the garage I gotta thank you for strengthening my body I gotta thank you for my heart pumping blood I gotta thank you for my lungs and tissues I got to thank him for my corpuscles.

1:08:02 With all of my might, I must give God the praise. Am I by myself? Is there anybody that will help me? Is there one person in the room that's got something to praise God for? Shout, yes! Shout yes! Shout yes! Shout yes! Shout yes! Shout yes again. I won't get to point four, but I will give you a point three. Point three is gratitude.

1:08:53 So we went from growth to greed to gratitude. I want you to understand the difference between praise and gratitude. Praise is an action. It's something that you do. Gratitude is an attitude. It's something that you are. You don't have to move anything to be grateful. You can still drive the car down 30 and be grateful. you can still answer the phone and be grateful if you praise him you're going to have to hang up on him because praise is an action and you got to praise him with the fruit of your lips but gratitude don't have to say anything because it's an attitude gratitude is an appreciation for what he's done in your life gratitude says I recognize I recognize that I don't deserve where you brought me.

1:10:03 And I owe you, I owe you so much. And I give you so little. I murmur and complain and fuss and carry on and don't want to be bothered with nobody as if I had the right to be there when if it wasn't for the grace of God, I would be on the other side of the problem. I'd rather give the answer than to be the problem. And I have gratitude. Gratitude will make you sing a song that has no words. Gratitude will make you dance in the shower. Gratitude will make you giggle in the car by yourself. Gratitude will make your neighbors think you crazy. gratitude will let you sit up and let somebody insult you and you'll be smiling at them and they think you lost your mind they don't know you you heard what they said but it didn't hit you because you had your umbrella up the umbrella of gratitude gratitude will increase what god has given you it will open up doors for you it will change your behavior after your attitude you've been asking God to change your behavior when what you need to do is to ask God to change your attitude. Your behavior is a derivative of your attitude and your attitude is a derivative of the way you think. If you change the way you think, it will change your attitude. If you change your attitude, it will give you increase. It will enlarge you. It will build you up. You are not fighting a demon.

1:11:51 You're not fighting a demon. You think you're fighting demons. You're not fighting demons. You ain't even ready for a demon. You haven't done enough good to attract the devil. there ain't no demon chasing you there ain't no demon keeping you up at night it's you keeping you up at night it's you and not being willing to give up that attitude and lay down ingratitude when was the last time you got in your bed and thank God for your bed When was the last time you had gratefulness to tears? You whine and cry about everything else.

1:12:55 When was the last time that you couldn't find a word to express how differently your life could have turned out? Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? I'm almost done. I want you to stand up on your feet. There's something in this place, in this room right now, that we need to pay attention to, that we really need to give the most earnest heed to. People who are entitled don't know they're entitled. The signal hadn't gone from the stomach to the brain yet.

1:15:41 In fact, they feel like the victim. they feel like they're being mistreated, that they're not getting what they're worth because they think so highly of themselves. Anytime you try to bring them back to earth, they think you're trying to pull them down. So it is possible for this message not to hit you anywhere because you don't know God is talking to you. You don't know you're entitled. it's like kids raised with so much that it's their normal your ceiling is their floor they leave the milk out they leave the lights on they go shopping in your house go to the grocery store in your pantry because what you work to build is your normal and they don't know that they're entitled and you're frustrated because you don't feel appreciated and you don't feel appreciated because you know how much it costs you to make it possible you know how many times you had to go out when you wanted to stay in they don't know because they stayed in while you went out So entitlement doesn't announce itself.

1:17:17 Do you hear what I'm saying? Entitlement doesn't announce itself. You can be secretly entitled and not know it. Because the blessings that you've enjoyed have become normal to you. And you think you're supposed to have it. Look at the stuff you think you're supposed to have. You're talking about where you're supposed to be Who told you you was naked Who told you where you were supposed to be? That mark you conjured up in your mind about what you deserve. How dare you? Are you serious?

1:18:08 I'm not getting what I deserve. Stop. You're right. You're not getting what you deserve. You deserve to go to hell. Y'all have to edit this tape. you deserve to be completely ignored you deserve to lead no one teach nobody say anything you deserve to be mistreated and ostracized all the people you didn't hurt and you talking about that hurt my feelings it didn't hurt when you was giving it out Pain ain't pain till you feel it. And here you are. entitled.

1:19:09 Now God, I tried to preach. Lord, I tried to preach what you gave me. I know I didn't finish. Yeah, God, I'm all shy. But I tried to tell him I asked for a great apocalypse to hit this place, which means a great unveiling. And I can't do that without you. To turn the flashlight around backwards, where it shines on me rather than shining on everybody else. And I can see that I'm handling my life in a spirit of entitlement.

1:20:08 And I'm sorry. You must be so disappointed to have done so much for me and gotten so little credit. You must feel like some of our parents feel who have done so much and you get the complaint, but you don't get the appreciation. I'm always on my knees asking you for something else I'm sorry I ate up my half and ate up your half.

1:20:45 I spent my stuff and your stuff. And it still wasn't enough. I ripped you off so I could have a dress to impress somebody I would never see again. because they were more important to me than you. I would rather offend you and impress her than offend her and impress you. I'm sorry. My priorities have been in the wrong place. If it were an action, I could stop doing it. But because it's an attitude, I need your help. I can have an attitude and not even know it. I can say, that's just how I am.

1:21:42 I can weave it into my personality profile and use it to describe myself, to convince myself that I can't change myself because I owned it to myself. and there you go, how are you? I picked that up.

1:22:09 Hanging around other folk. I didn't used to be like that. I used to be grateful. When you brought me out of that hospital, I was grateful. When you pulled me out of that jail, I was grateful. When the doctor said I'd be dead in three months and I lived through my fourth month, I had a party for 30 days over another month to breathe the air. That's not who I am. I have lost myself in this crazy world trying to be like them, and they're not happy. today Lord I cast down the spirit of entitlement If you're listening online, I want you to literally reach up and pull it down.

1:23:11 Entitlement. It's got to come down. It's coming down to the floor. If you're in this room and this message hits you anywhere, me and God have been walking the floor with this text. we've been walking the floor with this text and I know I'm in the right place at the right time talking to the right people and there's somebody in this room you started not to come but God pushed you to be here he pushed you to be here because he wanted you to hear this because he's tired of you praying for the same thing as if he hadn't been good to you And if you suspect that you've been acting entitled, get down to this altar.

1:24:07 Get down to it now. and let's fix this attitude if it were the praise break and I ask you to jump in now you jump in now you can do that real good because it's an action but gratitude is an attitude my attitude needs adjustment I'm sorry that I could receive so much and acknowledge so little I've been a spoiled brat And I told everybody, it's just how I am. This is not me. I refuse to own this spirit another day. When the master came back, he killed all of the sharecroppers.

1:25:06 They didn't need to die, but they did have to reap what they sowed. I'm trying to save your judgment. The Bible said if you judge yourself, you have no need to be judged. I'm going to say it again It said if you judge yourself You will have no need to be judged I'm going to say it to you right now You're watching on television If you judge yourself You'd have no need to be judged If somebody you need to call and apologize They don't owe you nothing It's the danger of entitlement. I don't want it on me. I told God, when I was sitting over there dying.

1:26:07 I said, if this is it, I'm cool with it. Because you've already been good to me. You've been so good to me. You don't have to do nothing else. If you want to take me, take me. If you want to keep me, keep me. Ain't nothing of my business. Because if you would have dealt with me the way you could have, should have, would have, I'd be gone. so whatever way you bless me Lord I'm cool with you.

1:27:15 I just wanted you to be okay. I was okay. I really was. I was okay. to live is Christ to die is gain I was okay I've been all around this world.

1:27:40 I've been places my mama only read about. I met people that I never thought I would meet. I did things that I wasn't even trying to do. If I'm going to be ungrateful, what kind of example do I set to you? I'm teaching you to be greedy, not grateful.

1:28:09 Close the eye at the moment. discipline your thoughts for a moment and think only of the things that God has done for you the things you know he did for you, the things he did for you personally. the ways he made. the people he didn't let curse you and he didn't let kill you and they had plots to destroy you and God brought you anywhere I want you to think about it I want you to think about it I want you to think about yourself as if you are God's favorite child as if he dropped his coat of many colors on you and you are Joseph and the prison can't make you forget the favor of God is on your life.

1:29:11 And I want you to be grateful. I want you to be so grateful You're watching online. I want you to be so grateful till tears run down your face. Massectomy and all. Be grateful.

1:29:42 Double massectomy. You're sitting there with a double massectomy. But they got all the cancer. Be grateful. You did dialysis yesterday, but you're still here. Be grateful. You got to take your insulin shot before dinner, but be grateful. Lift your hands. and give all of that entitlement back. Give it back. Give it away. Cast it on Jesus so he can carry it to the cross. Holy Spirit, I thank you for this moment.

1:30:47 I thank you for this second. I thank you for my children and my wife and my grandchildren. I thank you for my mama and daddy that raised me. I thank you for standing up in me when I wanted to run away. I thank you for healing me when I was sick. I thank you for touching my mind when I was distraught.

1:31:25 I thank you for bringing me through danger, seen and unseen. I thank you for favoring me. For favoring me. I thank you because you've been a fence all around me. Every day you protected me and kept me all along this way. I thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you for what almost happened. And could have happened. And should have happened. And would have happened. I want to thank you for a place to sleep. I want to thank you for a car to drive. I want to thank you because I can breathe real good. I want to thank you because I'm oxygenated. I want to thank you for my energy. I want to thank you for my drive. Thank you, Jesus. I'm almost 70 and I thank you. I got enough energy to run all over this church. I thank you, Jesus.

1:32:17 My legs work. I thank you my knees are working. I thank you, Lord. I can bend my knees and they don't ache. I thank you, Lord, for the activity of my limbs. I thank you that I got a right mind and I can still think and I can still learn. Father, I thank you. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. I meet people that are my age that can't move. I'm so grateful. I meet people that are my age who lost their children. I'm so grateful. I'm not burying my children today. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful.

1:33:00 I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. I'm sorry for being spoiled and having little pity parties and temper tantrums. I'm sorry. I give all of it to you. I renounce it. I repent of it. I'm so grateful. I'm grateful.

1:33:25 I'm grateful. I'm grateful. lift your hands and open your mouth and give him the sound of gratitude it doesn't have to be a word just the sound of gratitude