Words To Live By - Part 5 - "Thanks"

This Palm Sunday, we've gathered to hear the word of the Lord. I am especially thankful for the opportunity to speak on the word thanks. Thanks is a wonderful word to live by. This experience of the human narrative, this divinely inspired journey that we are all on began roughly 6,000 years ago when God spoke this universe into existence.

Let there be light. Let there be land and sea, sky and stars, life in the waters and on the ground. From the billions of stars in the cosmos to the fragile existence of the ant colony, all things were inspired by this creative and intelligent mind of God. And God completed his creative design when he took his hand and scooped up the clay of the earth and formed man.

We were his choice creation. We are his imagebearers, the ones who are made in his image and after his likeness. And no diligent designer would place their masterpiece into to some chaotic abyss. No. No. God placed his creation in a perfect habitation, the Garden of Eden. And this garden was the perfect portrait of beauty.

It had the vibrant colors of trees that would just fill the horizon. And there would be smooth streams that would flow to create steel waters. And every detail of this garden would point to the perfection of its creator. But the perfection of Eden's physical beauty was only second to what truly made it paradise.

Eden was physically beautiful. Yes. But spiritually there was an atmosphere that provided unbroken communion between the created and their creator. God and man experienced in this place uninterrupted fellowship. Yes, the trees were ever green and the waters were ever still. Every element flowed in harmony. But it was only because it mirrored the order of the spiritual realm.

The only spiritual laws in operation were righteousness, peace, and joy. And so this physical and spiritual atmosphere reflected the pure operation of God. He was and is that perfect and brilliant light. There was no shadow of turning in him. As he was in heaven, holy, holy, holy, so was he in the midst of the garden.

What was the sting of death? What was the victory of the grave? Who had ever heard of such things? What what was depression or fear or debilitating insecurity? You could not find these satanic operations here. No, not in the garden. until hath God said, did did God really say that you couldn't eat of every tree in the garden?

No. No. No. Thou shalt not surely die. And Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit. And the death they experienced was far greater than what the serpent had convinced them that they would avoid. It wasn't just a momentary death for a momentary decision. This type of death would be gradual because now their eyes became open to know good and evil.

And when you know evil, you experience the consequences of evil. And the wages of sin. And the reward of rebellion is always death. And this death, it comes in waves until that final day where it has been appointed unto man once. Before Adam and Eve, they could not distinguish between love and hate.

But now they have a glimpse into this hate. Before they could not tell you what guilt and shame were. They couldn't articulate the feelings of embarrassment or vulnerability. But now they felt ashamed and made clothes to hide themselves. That beautiful symphony where both the spiritual and the physical operated in the flow of God's perfect love has been brutally shattered.

And God comes walking in the cool of the day to visit that place that he loved. That that place of unbroken fellowship, that place where God and man came together. Adam, where art thou? Where where are you, Adam? We have fallen. We have sinned. And because God is just and holy, his very nature demands that sin be dealt with.

Genesis 3:es 3-15. And God and the Lord God said unto the woman, "What is this thou hast done?" And the woman said, "The serpent begiled me, and I did eat." And the Lord God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.

Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Verse 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. This in number in verse 15 was more than a curse.

There was something far greater being established here. One seed represented Satan's agenda, the continuation of evil. And her seed represented God's redemption that someday would come the future Messiah. This was the beginning of spiritual warfare. It was the establishing of the two kingdoms. Will light reign supreme in God's creation or darkness? Will the decision be life that is made or death?

It's right versus wrong. It's his way versus our way. It's immity between thy seed and her seeds. And Satan's kingdom is always against God's kingdom. And they are at war with one another. And so, fast forward 4,000 years to a sermon that shocked the world then and still shocks the world now. When Jesus delivers that sermon on the mount, this was the most complete picture the world had ever been given of God's kingdom laws and patterns.

You have heard it said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." This is the way that the world operates. This is satanic logic. You return like for like. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer them also the other one. These are the laws of my kingdom. And here's the truth. God's kingdom is minimally manifested in buildings and material wealth. We thank God and we rejoice for the building that we are worshiping in this morning. But it is absolutely impossible for God's kingdom to be fully manifested in this room.

It's impossible. God's kingdom manifests when we choose to love the unlovable. God's kingdom manifests when by the power of his spirit, we forgive the unforgivable. One of the most powerful ways you could advance God's kingdom today is to forgive that family member that hurt you. His kingdom comes and his will is done when we choose to be patient and kind at the restaurant.

When we choose to be humble and meek with that customer service rep on the phone. When we have every right to be rude and ugly and snarky. His kingdom has potential to be manifested in everyday interactions we will never see in this building or on this platform. And this is why our mandate from pastor for this year is to be the church.

Not come to church. Be the church. And we're being the church. The New Testament is not it's not a collection of amazing suggestions that are designed to empower our egos. The New Testament is a manual for spiritual warfare. It is divine instructions on how we continue to walk out of the kingdom of darkness and live fully in the kingdom of his marvelous light.

Philippians 4 is not a set of lovely words to hang on a wall. It is a set of battle instructions on how to keep our minds right, our hearts pure, and our spirits aligned with his. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, are just, are pure, are lovely, of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things on a daily basis.

In and most of our situations, we are not under assault by gunfire in an attempt to take our physical life. But we are daily faced by assault through others words and actions, through others mindsets, their broken behavioral patterns. We are confronted with strong rhythms of sin in this world around us. And all of these things have one agenda, and that is to pull us out of God's kingdom and his divine pattern.

But the good news is that the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal. They're not guns and tanks and horses and chariots, but don't be confused. They are mighty through God because they have the ability to pull down strongholds. Forgiveness is a powerful weapon. Giving grace and speaking peace, powerful weapons. Choosing to speak life and not death is a powerful weapon.

Faithfully attending church, reading the word, praying, fasting. These were not religious duties meant to condemn us. These are weapons that God has placed in our arsenals to empower us and to prosper us in the ways of his kingdom. God's desire is that we would walk and grow in the light of his kingdom.

And as his dominion increases in our inner man, his kingdom will increase all around the outer man. Here's how it works. When the weapons that God has given us are in operation, your toxic workplace, your toxic boss, they're not able to shut you down emotionally for weeks at a time because you have dominion over those behaviors.

When when when the weapons of our warfare are in operation, the toxic people that are in close proximity to you, they lose their power because you have grace and you have forgiveness and you have love for their brokenness. When we're operating by his kingdom laws, the stock markets crashing, rising, they don't impact my joy.

losing my job, keeping my job, it doesn't upset my emotional infrastructure because we don't trust in horses and we don't trust in chariots. We're operating in a higher dominion. And so it's with this framework that leads us to our word to live by today. Thanks. I was going to sing for Sister Regina, but she always just she loves it so much.

I just didn't want to be that good today. I wanted to sing that song. You know, I don't know if y'all know it, but thanks. Thanks. I give you thanks, you know, for all you've done. I am so blessed. My soul has found rest. Yeah. See, I can do it. Sister Regina, where's she at?

I can lead. Okay, I'm here to preach. Thanks is one of the most overlooked tools that God has given us for success. I can tell you this morning, it absolutely deserves our attention. And it might feel kind of weird to discuss this concept for the adult main service. You know, if I'm being honest with you, they're currently teaching this concept in the nursery.

They're changing diapers and they're teaching them to say thanks. You know, but here's the reality. This is much more than a simple thought. It is much more than a nice idea. It's beneficial to examine how this kingdom behavior impacts our lives. According to Paul in First Corinthians, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

And he's chosen the weak things to confound the strong. And to the natural man, thanks seems foolish, seems weak. The systems of this world do not promote thanks as a way of life. Maybe some companies try to highlight it occasionally. America has even given it a holiday with a turkey. But if you look at history, if you look through nations, kingdoms, and cultures, you don't find just strong exhaustive teachings around this concept of thanks or thanksgiving.

It's not a principle that carnal systems live by. Education, intellect, that they're not prioritizing this. They're not teaching whole semesters of this over at MTSU because the world's model is this. Be in control. Be in charge. be respected, climb to the top of the social pyramid, whatever that takes. And in that model, if you express too much thanks, it can appear like weakness and it can feel like you're giving away power.

I do this on your own time. Go read through Exodus 1. This is a picture of the operations of Egypt, which we use as a type and shadow of the world today that we live in. And if you go read through how the Egyptians treated the slaves, you will not find any examples, hints, or mentions of the slave masters giving the slaves thanks.

It was more, more, faster, not good enough because that's the operation of the world. But here's what spiritual understanding gives us. It gives us this truth. Thanks, thankfulness, thanksgiving, gratitude. These are not simple ideas. These are powerful laws at operation in God's kingdom. When you examine thanks, you see that gratitude is very closely related.

These terms are often used interchangeably. Gratitude is an emotion that we feel on the inside. But thanks is something that we give on the outside. Gratitude is that inner working where thanks is the outward de demonstration. I often feel great gratitude in my heart. Going to make a shameless plug and push here.

But I feel great gratitude in my heart and in my stomach when my sweet wife decides to diligently prepare and deliver a meal to me. I love it. I'm so blessed. And but I here's the deal. I've been married long enough to know this. If I sit on that gratitude in my stomach only and I never express thanks or thanksgiving or thank you, I'm not going to be getting meals delivered to me much more.

what I'm feeling on the inside needs to manifest on the outside to give thanks. It's an outward manifestation. So, so it's no you know surprise here that scriptures are completely filled with instructions to give thanks to God. 30 times. 30 times in your Old Testament, you will find a rendition of this expression.

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercy endureth forever. 30 times. Colossians 3 and 17. We love this. We Pentecostals, we love this one. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. but listen, we can't stop there.

Giving thanks to God and the father by him. Ephesians 5:20. Giving thanks always, how? When? For all things, where? To who? Unto God and the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the issues that God has had to settle in my spirit is my love for vehicles. From the time I was a very young man, I loved vehicles.

I blame my father. He owned a car lot and he showed me what could be. And I've always liked vehicles. I look, I like fast vehicles. I like strong vehicles. You know, I like a vehicle that when I sit behind the wheel, it talks to me and it says, "Listen, if you know what you're doing, buddy, I know what I'm doing.

Let's go. You know what I'm talking about, Jojo. So, listen. I'm going to tell you what thanks is in God's kingdom. It is a powerful vehicle that God has given us to translate us into his presence. Psalms 104, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful. Be thankful unto him and bless his name.

Thanksgiving is the entry door into the presence of almighty God. Now, I can't sing again. I'm not I'm not going to. I say that, y'all. No, I ain't going to do it. All right, let's go. All right, look. I was going to sing that one song, you know, when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all he has done for me.

Oh, my soul cries out, hallelujah. Thank God for saving me. Thank God. Woo! Thank God for the blood. I'm going to show you this. I'm going to show you how this simple concept of thanks can completely transform your prayer life. Completely. Philippians 4:6. Ready? Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication.

So the goal is everything should lead us to prayer. But how should we pray? With thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Here's why this is so important. You typically give thanks when what you ask for has been received. Hey, will you go grab that for me? Sure. Here it is.

Let me you bring it back to me. And I say, "Thank you." Because what I've asked for, I've received. And scripture says, "Hey, as you pray, go ahead and pray with thanksgiving, believing that what you're asking for, you're going to receive." With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Naturally, we give thanks after the need is met.

Supernaturally, we give thanks in faith and expectation that the need is about to be met. In John chapter 6, there are large numbers following Jesus because of his miracle working power. The teachings of his kingdom have begun to captivate the masses. And in this specific instance, there is a crowd following him where the number of men was 5,000.

And Jesus probably not really using any spiritual gifts. He was probably just using his common sense and said, "Hey, that these people are they're becoming hungry. I don't care how spiritual you are, at some point you're going to get hungry." And so, I love what Jesus does here. He's having a little bit of fun.

He looks at his disciple Philillip and he's like, "Phillip, how in the world are we going to feed all these people?" You know, it's like that'd be like like pastor texting me and be like, "Hey, Taylor, I want you to buy the church lunch after church today since you preached." And I'll be like, "How am I going to do that?"

You know? Yeah. That's kind of what he's doing with Philip here. He's like, "Hey, Philip, you know, you see these 5,000 men alone, how are we going to feed all these pe these people?" And Philip says, "Lord, if we worked for several months, my calculation says we couldn't even come close to feeding all these people."

And Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, speaks up. Hey, we've got a young boy here. He's got five loaves of bread and two fish. And I love this. Every time Jesus begins to do something, he's setting a pattern. He he's he's doing something that is teaching us elements about the ways of his kingdom. And so Jesus here begins to set a pattern for the miraculous.

He tells his disciples, "Tell everyone to sit down because obedience and submission are powerful precursors to the miraculous." Okay? But then we see this in verse 11. John 6:11 says, "And Jesus took the loaves. He took what he had. He took what was there. And when he had given thanks, multiplication before the miracle took place, before the multiplication of resources began to happen, Jesus gave thanks.

Why? With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. It will change your spiritual life if everything you do, you do it in a tone of thanksgiving. When you go to pray in your prayer time, be thankful in your heart, knowing that he's going to meet you there. When you go to worship, be thankful knowing that God is going to receive your worship.

Now, normally I'm kind of funny when I talk about my kids, but I I'm going to be serious here for a minute because my son is 6 years old and he has absolutely learned to wield this power of thanksgiving. My son will come up to me and he'll be like, "Hey, Dad, can we go to the moon?"

And if I pause for 25 milliseconds, he takes that as a yes. And half the time, what he's asking me for, I don't want to do. You know, it's 10:30 at night. I don't want to go get you a Big Mac. I can barely afford Big Mac these days. But if I give him any pause, you know what he starts to do?

Thanks, Dad, for taking me to the moon. Dad, thanks so much. Thanks so much for getting me that Big Mac. I haven't even done it yet. But I'll tell you this, the more thanks he gives me for something I haven't done yet, the closer I get, the closer I get to doing whatever that little boy just asked for.

Because there's something about giving thanks that moves the heart of the father. There's something about lifting up your voice and saying, "I know you haven't done it yet, but I'm thankful because I know you care for me, and I know you take care of me, and I know you've got my best interest in mind.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah." Here's the point. You have enough money in your bank account, give thanks. If you don't, give thanks. If all is well in your home and your family, be thankful. If all hell's breaking loose and everything's falling apart, be thankful unto God. If your body, if your body's at its prime, especially when your body's at its prime, young people, I have an expectation that you're worshiping on Sundays and you do a great job and I love you for it.

Your body's at its prime, please give thanks unto God. But hear me. If your body is sick, if you're frail, if you have a condition holding you back, let that thanksgiving begin to work in your heart. begin to let that thanksgiving go up to God. And I promise you this, God can send lifegiving power to your body if you'll be thankful unto him.

1 Thessalonians 5:18, in everything in everything give thanks. This is not a silly concept. We are discussing a tool, a weapon, a vehicle in the kingdom of God to advance his people in all circumstances. Listen, if you want to drive yourself absolutely crazy, try to control everything around you. If you want to be filled with anxiety at night and wake up depressed in the morning, try to control everything at your job and everything in your family.

But listen, if you desire to live an overcoming life in every circumstance you find yourself in, give thanks unto the Lord. For he is good and his mercy endureth forever. It's a divine. It's a divine operation. Thanks and thanksgiving. I It's It's a It's an absolute matter of life and death in the heart of a child of God.

But in Luke 17, there were a group of 10 lepers that came to Jesus. They all had the same need. They all had the same need. They needed a miracle. And Jesus speaks the word. You're going to be healed. Go show yourself to the priests. And only one tenth of the congregation moved from one dimension of the miracle to the next dimension of the miracle.

one/tenth moved from one place to the other place. And how did they do that? In Luke 17 15-19 and one of them when he saw that he was healed, he turned back and with a loud voice glorified God and he fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks. And Jesus answering said, verse 17, "Were there not 10 cleansed?

But where are the nine? They are not they're not found that return to give glory to God save this stranger. And he said unto them, "Arise, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole." God forbid that he would ever look down on the congregation of Centerpoint Apostolic Church and say, "Where are the nine?

I see the one that came back to give thanks, and I see the one that came back to glorify me, but where are the nine? Do I have any recovering or rec Let me say this. Do I have any recovered addicts in the room? You were addicted. Could you just stand? If you don't care, come on.

By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Hey y'all. Come here. Come here, please. If you don't mind, if you don't mind, come here. If you don't mind if you don't mind. If you if you don't, you don't have to, brother. Sit down. Come on up here. Listen. I was an addict, too.

Okay? I was severely addicted to pornography as a young man. So, I know the behaviors and the patterns of the mind of addiction. I look I know here's what I know about people who are recovered from addiction cuz we're not addicts anymore. Jesus has saved us. He's washed us. He's cle We're not that anymore.

But here's what I know about about our kind. Okay? We're really good at messing everything up. We're really good at failing. We're everything that we touch. It's like, why can't I be good enough? Right? Cuz we're at it. We were at we were addicts. But you know, one thing I found about addicts that have recovered, one thing we're really good at is giving thanks unto God.

One thing we're really good at is saying, "I was one thing, but Jesus has made me another thing." Come on. I thought y'all give me more thanks than that. Come on now. I'm I'm trying to teach them that we know how to be thankful unto God. Okay. Hey, you know what? Such were some of you.

Such were some of you. You might not have been an addict like this, but you still had sin. You still needed salvation. You still needed the blood of the cross. I tell you this, Jesus ain't ever going to sit on his throne and look at Taylor Little and say, "Where are the nine?"

I'm going to be a part of the one. Woo! I don't have it all together. I don't have it all figured out. I fight condemnation. I fight I don't do enough and I'm not good enough and all. But you know what? I'm not going to fight is giving him thanks. Let me tell you

something. This is why you don't judge how somebody else is living their spiritual life. Oh, they're just making a big scene every Sunday in worship. They just like to appear more spiritual than everybody else. They just they just like to act like they pray and speak in tongues more. You have no idea how much salvation I need working in this brain of mine.

You have no idea how if I'm not controlled every second by the spirit of God where this old flesh mind returns. I have to have it. I have to have it. And I'm thankful unto him. Here's what I have found. Here's what I found. When I'm not thankful, I'm entitled. A heart of thanks says this.

I'm so glad to be here. A heart of entitlement says, "Everyone else should be so glad that I'm here. If we're going to talk about his kingdom operation, we got to talk about the other kingdom operation. If we're going to talk about how God's kingdom operates and his laws and his ways, we've got to be well acquainted with satanic ways because he would love to deceive us.

He would love to pull the blindfold over our eyes and let thoughts sit in our hearts and sit in our mind that cut us off from relationship with Jesus Christ. And we don't even know what's cutting us off. And it could be entitlement. Be entitled is not the way God's children should feel or behave.

There was nothing about the coming of Jesus that was entitled. If there was any person in the history of this planet, let me say it this way. If there was any person in the history of the cosmos that was entitled to come to a palace and in grandeur and in the glory of this world, it was the everlasting one.

It was the one who was and who is and who is to come. But he came in a manger. If anybody if anybody in the history of the world deserved servants and armies and cooks and technology and comfort and convenience, it would have been Jesus Christ. But he told his servant, he told the one, he said, "The son of man doesn't even have a place to lay down his head.

I don't even have a room to sleep in. The best pastor, the best preacher, evangelist, prophet to ever walk this planet was Jesus Christ. And he didn't even have a church building to host his congregation. Now, here's how I know that we probably all battle this, you know, because one of the greatest struggles I have had personally is entitlement.

I start to think that I've done enough good things. I start to think that I've done enough good works. I've prayed enough good prayers. I've fasted enough days. Some of the most dangerous times in my life are when I come off of a extended fast because my flesh convinces me coming off my fast that I've done enough and I don't need his blood to cover me the next day.

That is a lie from the enemy. I've done enough to be who I am. I've done enough to do what God has called me to do. And I'm so thankful for the voice of corre correction that comes from God. And I thank God that his voice, his love does not always feel good to you.

If the voice of God is always feeling good to you, you need to check the voice of God in your life. If you can't remember the last time he said something to you and it hurt a little bit or it stung a little bit, you need to check your walk with God. Thank God for his correction.

And I think I'm going to tell you what brings thanksgiving from my heart. It's when he gives me a fresh reminder. If it were not for the grace of God, if it were not for his mercy, I would not be standing in this pull pit today, I would be lost. I'd be undone.

I'd be of no value to anyone around me. I wouldn't be of value to my family or to my church or to my workplace. It's only by the grace of God. And I'm thankful. entitlement dangerous. You need to serve some eviction notices in your heart and mind to some entitled thoughts that have been sitting there for quite some time cuz it's robbing you of some things.

It's robbing you of some of the lifegiving fruit that comes from being connected to the vine. Ah, it's robbing you. It's robbing you of some of the kingdomgiving laws and principles that God wants us to operate in. Hear me. Right before Judas betrayed the Messiah, right before Right before scripture says that Satan entered his heart.

Satan entered his heart. What a horrible place for Satan to enter. Isn't that what Jesus is after? He's after my heart. He's after my heart. But Satan was able to enter Judas's heart. And here's what we find. There was an account of a woman who came. She poured out costly perfume on Jesus's feet.

It was one of the greatest accounts in the gospel where someone fully understood the identity of Jesus Christ and was willing to pay all to worship him. And instead of Judas being thankful to witness this worship to the creator of the universe, he became overwhelmed by his entitlement to his own opinion. He felt entitled to let the creator of all the world and all of his peers around him know exactly how he felt the church was supposed to operate.

He had been following the teachings of Jesus. He had journeyied with the disciples. He looked apart and he was entitled. His opinion mattered what he thought had great value. And so he watched this true act of worship and he said that oil could have been sold to feed the poor. Yeah. He had been there at Matthew 25 when Jesus had talked about what you're supposed to do to the poor.

But his entitled spirit caused him to miss the whole truth of God's word. And not only could he not understand what he had heard before, he couldn't understand what he was seeing right then. All because he was overcome with entitlement by his own opinion and his own thoughts. And the next thing we read about Judas is he's leaving the presence of God for the last time because entitlement had allowed Satan to fill his heart.

I'm not I'm not perfect. I'm not I Listen, I told you I struggle with entitlement and I told you God has to. You know what I mean? I mean, it can get rough sometimes. that prayer closet, you know, we light the candle, you know, we turn on the instrumental music, we dim the lights, and then God walks up in there with two swords and a gun in his hip, and he's like, "What are you doing?"

Like, I'm here to take care of some things. I see you got the mood all set, but I've got some You've got some ideas in your mind I need to talk to you about. Hey, you've got a thought that's been controlling the way that you worship. has been controlling the way you walk around the sanctuary.

It's been controlling the way you walk in and out of those back doors. And tell her I need to have a talk with you about it. Hallelujah. And I tell you what, I have learned, I will have more entitled thoughts come because that's just part of the human condition. But I tell you this, I have learned to welcome that voice of correction in my life.

Oh God, I have learned to be thankful. I have learned to be thankful and to cleave to the voice of a pastor in my life. Doesn't always feel good. It's not always supposed to feel good if he's our pastor.

He's not paying me to say that. He's paying me to deal with them. I don't want to cling to voices that make me feel good. I don't want to feel good all the way to hell. I don't want to feel comfortable and unchallenged and wake up one day and him say, "Depart from me.

I never knew you." It's serious. It's serious. Oh, thanks. Thanksgiving. That's just simple cute stuff. No, it's heaven or hell stuff, my friend. Don't be worried about all of this stuff. You better worry about what's operating in this heart. You better operate in what thoughts are controlling this mind. Thanks, Lord. Thanks for letting me be here today, Lord.

Thanks for letting me be able to come to this pull pit, Lord. Thank you for Thank you for cleaning me up and teaching me how to blow dry my hair and stuff. Lord, I hate doing it. Thank God for a wife. Come here. Let me get all that off you really quick. I hate it.

But thank God for his grace. Covers me, washes me. You wouldn't know everything I've been through. And if the blood's washing you the right way, I wouldn't know everything you've been through. We're not supposed to. Because when we come in here, you're not supposed to see Taylor Little. You're supposed to see Jesus Christ.

And when I come in here, I'm not supposed to see whoever you are. I'm supposed to see him high and lifted up. And I'm supposed to see his train passing through the temple. Thanks, Lord. I give you thanks,

Lord. I was at I was at a predominantly African-American church one time. That's about as close to heaven as we're going to get on earth. I said it. I don't care. I They just They have They have the beautiful practice of letting whatever comes into their heart come out through their mouth. It's like there's no filter.

And I was I was in this service and there was this man sitting behind me. God. And I still This was like 12 years ago, y'all. And I can I can hear his voice behind my ears as he was just Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And there was such thanksgiving that was in his heart.

Another time saw a man I'm talking about kingdom operation. You with me? I'm talking about how the laws of God's kingdom work. Saw a man one time different church long. That's a long time ago. 12 13 years ago. And he was taking up offering and he wasn't putting on a show. He wasn't putting on no show.

And I can tell that by one, some of the things he did, but two, you can see when the anointing is on somebody, right? We've been doing this long enough. You can see when somebody's razledazzling or when they're, you know, doing the thing. And this man got up to take offering and I saw a spirit of gratitude come over him.

And I've never I had never seen it before then. I had never seen the spirit that swept over the book of Acts church until I saw it rest on this man. He picked up his wallet to give offering. He was taking up offering and I'm telling you the Holy Ghost just sweeped over him.

Just a spirit of gratitude sweeped over him and he and he just began to as the spirit took control, he just began to take those $100 bills in his wallet and he and he threw it all out and he began to worship God because he was thankful. It doesn't it doesn't hurt me to be a cheerful giver when I'm thankful.

It doesn't hurt me to come off a few hundred bucks or a few thousand dollars when I'm thankful for what he's given me. It's all connected. It all works in step with one another. You've got to let gratitude fill your heart. You've got to let gratitude fill your mind. And you've got to let it come as thanksgiving.

Musicians can come. We all deal with entitlement, thankfulness, thanksgiving, a heart of gratitude. This is a re-examination of where I was versus where I am now because of him. And when I have that examination of the cross, it pulls me out of I don't really deserve to be here. I don't. And you don't either.

You don't deserve to be sitting on that pretty cushion seat in this comfortably climate controlled building. We don't deserve it. And as that gratitude comes, it will pull that entitlement out of our spirits and it will say, "Hold on. Why have I been thinking about the church that way? Why have I been thinking about what in the world is going on in my spirit?

What's gotten into me? that satanic kingdom operation. And today, thanks, is the anecdote. Paul was writing to his son in the gospel. And in Paul's wisdom, and I'm very sure his own experience with entitlement, he knew this would be something Timothy as a young minister would face. And I would gently echo these words of Paul to all of my brothers and sisters who are in the ministry this morning is what is what Paul said.

1 Timothy 1:12. And I thank I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me. For he counted me faithful and put me into the ministry. Today we're celebrating Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday represents the day that Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It marked the beginning of the Holy Week, the final week of his earthly ministry leading to the crucifixion and resurrection.

And as he rode into the city on a donkey, the crowds greeted him by waving palm branches and shouting, "Hosana." And hosana meant save us. That's what hosana meant. They were calling for the Messiah. Save us. Save us. And today on this Palm Sunday, you and I, we don't have to cry, "Hosana, save us."

Because 2,000 years ago, he went to Calvary and he stretched his arms out on a wooden cross. And he was beat and he was bruised and he was spit upon and he was stricken. And he died on that cross. And it was because of Jesus that we received salvation. And so today, we can just say, "Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord." Well, well, you don't understand my life. You don't understand my struggles. You don't you don't understand the battles of my mind. You don't you don't understand all that I've been through even this week or all that I've been through this past few months. And I would say friend of mine, if the only situation that you have on your side and fighting for you is the salvation of Jesus Christ, you have every reason in the world to be thankful.

You don't understand. I feel cast down. I feel struck down. I feel beat down. But what about 2 Corinthians 2:14? Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. We can all stand this

morning. Taylor, you know, hell has a way of articulating itself. wonderfully. Hell has such a strategic way of how it's like acupuncture. It can press custom all into the perfect and right areas of our life to get us to where we're at, our end. And hell, sometimes when we're experiencing it can feel overwhelming.

It can feel like there's no point. Here's how I here's how you can know if you're battling hell is if you are overcome with the emotion that this situation is hopeless. Meaning there's no change in sight. There's no change that can come. You're battling hell, my friend. It's serious stuff. But I want to flip the switch on hell today.

I really do. I really really would love for all 450 500 of us. I'd love for us to all walk out of the sanctuary and flip the script on hell today. Anybody want to do that with me? Thanks and thanksgiving is an amazing word to live by. It is not a simple thought below our understanding or below where we're at.

We talked about hell. I want to show you what's going on in heaven. Revelation 4:9. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who lives forever and ever. There is not a situation of hell that if you do not catch a glimpse of him sitting on the throne that thanksgiving cannot begin to sweep over your spirit.

And I'm not saying your situation will change. But I'll tell you what, the winds are not going to have an impact over your sails like they have. The waters that have been flowing over onto your boat, they're going to begin to lose their power. Because as you see the one who is sitting high and lifted up on the throne, he's never been struck down.

He's never been cast down. He's never been forsaken. He's never received a bad report. He's never received a report of defeat. He's never looked at a situation and said, "I can't handle it." And so, your goal today, my friend, is not to focus on your situation. It's not to focus on the I see in the Holy Ghost right now.

There are many health situations facing our congregation. There are many health situations and some of them are dynamic and layered reports. Some of them there are un there there's answers that aren't there. It's like a formula is halfway written, but we don't see the end of the equation. And I'll tell you this, you don't need to focus on whatever that report card says.

You need to focus on the one. The one. The one. He is the God who health thee. He is the God who takes away our sickness and our infirmity. Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost right now. Boy, hold on. I feel revelation flowing right now. Here's what you need to know. This is kingdom operation king.

This is what the enemy loves to keep hid from us. the studies that have been released about the health benefits of people who express gratitude and thanksgiving and the life that it releases in their body. It's all connected together. It's the kingdom of light and life. And when we operate in his principles, he has set our bodies up in natural ways to respond in ways that push life into us.

But if you're captivated by bitterness and you're captivated by hatred and you're captivated by entitlement and you're captivated by frustration because you don't understand why and you don't understand who and you're looking at them and it looks right and you're looking at them and it looks wrong and your situation's already bad, but now you're inviting death to work in your body.

You're you're inviting death to work in your mind. And I'm trying to tell you how to reverse that today as you come down here and I tell you where I would like to start is God, I need on this Palm Sunday, I need a fresh picture of the cross of Calvary. Those were my hands that were supposed to be nailed.

Those were my hands that were supposed to be bleeding out. I was supposed to be hanging there naked and bruised, being mocked and scorned by the world in front of me. That was supposed to be me, but it was him. And he says, "You know why I did that? Cuz I want you to come boldly into my presence.

Go back to that garden of Eden where there was unbroken fellowship, where everything was perfect. Everything flowed in harmony. Everything looked great. Everything looked grand." Why? Because you're operating in the perfect harmony of heaven. When we're thankful and we're grateful and we operate in his presence, can we begin to flood this altar right now?

Can we let a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude sweep over? Oh, we want the signs and we want the miracles and we want the wonders. There's nothing more wonderful than giving thanks unto him than thanks unto God. There's nothing more wonderful. Come on, let's hit. Oh, thanks be unto you, oh God. Oh, thanks be unto you, oh God.

Come on. We're going to lay down our entitlement at this altar today. All of us. We're going to lay down our entitled thoughts like we were entitled to salvation. Like we're entitled to pay our tithes here. We're entitled to our opinions. I don't want that junk working in me. I don't want that junk working in me.

I'm not entitled to any of this. This is an operation of his grace and his mercy and his

cross. Come on, let's repent together. Come on, let's just do it together. God, forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Thoughts I don't even know or in my mind. Thoughts I don't even understand. Lord, forgive me. Create in me a clean heart. Please, Lord, renew within me a right spirit.

One more thing I want to say. The Holy Ghost is moving right now. When we're walking someone through the greatest breakthrough of their life to receive the Holy Ghost, do you know what we have to convince them of is that every nasty, dirty sin you just asked for God for forgiveness for, he really forgave you.

And if they have that revelation that they've really been forgiven of their fornication and their drug addictions and their needles in their arms and them sleeping with somebody last night and being in the pre if they really start to believe that God has forgiven them because of his blood, thanksgiving begins to come out of their heart and you enter into his gates with thanksgiving and then praise begins to come out of their mouth.

Oh, you're good. Oh, thank you. You're good, God. You've forgiven me. You've washed me. And then they begin to speak in a tongue they've never known or understood cuz the Holy Ghost just begins to flow in. We need to tap into that operation right now.