Blessed Are - Part 3

Tonight, we're going to continue on in our our series, Blessed are Blessed are. So, if you have your Bibles, you can turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, we'll be reading a few verses there that are going to be very familiar by the end of this series, I'm sure. But, Matthew chapter 5 is where I'll go here in just a little bit and then Psalm 37 later. I want to talk tonight about something within the Christian life that our culture doesn't understand, comprehend, practice on really any level. The world thinks that if you are gentle, you're weak. If you don't push, yell, and scream to get your way, then you'll get ran over. But, the Bible, it tells a different story. It tells a different story and it talks about the significance of being meek. And so, in Matthew chapter 5, verse 1 through 5, it says, "And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek. That's what we're going to focus on tonight because there's a promise attached to that that they shall inherit the earth.

Now, Psalm chapter 37 Psalm 37, I'll be reading the first 11 verses there in Psalm 37. It says, "Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his ways because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Let's do this. Let's bow our heads and let's pray for our our service tonight, the word, and that God would have his way.

Jesus, we love you again. Thank you so much for allowing us this opportunity to be in your house, Lord Jesus. We're thankful tonight, God, that you've allowed us to gather, to worship you, to feel your presence once again. God, I pray that we would never take these moments for granted. God, I pray for the word to be anointed tonight, God, that you would anoint our ears and our hearts to receive what you have. God, we trust in you tonight, Lord Jesus, knowing that you have something in store for us. God, teach us by your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. The meek shall inherit the earth. For everyone who in the room thought that the Sermon on the Mount was the first time the idea that the meek shall inherit the earth, allow me tonight to introduce you to the Book of Psalms, and specifically Psalm chapter 37. You see, God way back in David's life was beginning to reveal the importance and the understanding that we as humanity would want to fight this concept called meekness, and we would desire to show maybe grit or strength or fight instead. And I will speak to this more, and I don't want to get ahead of my notes here tonight, but I do want to share that the value of meekness, but also with this subtitle, and that is meekness is not weakness.

Meekness is not weakness. Look at your neighbor and say, "Meekness is not weakness." Meek ain't weak. The Bible says in 37, Psalm 37, that we are not to fret, that we're not to be envious, that we're not to be caught up with the the evil actions of other people, their schemes, their ways of going about business, but we are to trust in the Lord. Fret not thyself. Don't be troubled or consumed with worry for the the things that are going on around you. Don't Don't fixate your minds and your energy towards the the people who are doing evil in your in your region of the world, in your area, in your neighborhood, that are somehow, even despite their evil ways, being successful or or prosperous. The The Bible says that we as followers of the Lord, Christians, ought to not be bitter or resentful or or envious from the the lifestyle and the the work of those who dwell in iniquity. Now, I I know that there is a popular phrase that is used in Western culture, and that is that nice guys finish last. This this idea that if you are a good guy, if you're a good person, if you are a person who looks out for other people and and and don't look out necessarily for yourself, that with that mindset, you will finish last in in life. The The way the world sees this is that if you care and place other people before yourself, if you place their desires and their benefit ahead of your own, that you will not get out of this world what you need.

But I I've come to encourage the church tonight and to remind us that the Bible does not teach this mentality. Often times, the Bible will be counter cultural to what the world teaches, and we need to to to comprehend that the culture of Christ and the culture that's found in the word of God, it supersedes the culture of mankind. It supersedes American culture. It supersedes the culture of the Western civilization. We need to understand that the culture and the the word of God is the the way in which we need to live our our life. The the the mindset is if if you are nice, you are going to finish last, but the Bible does not teach this. The Bible instead instead teaches that the righteous will win. The righteous will win. I I'm encouraged tonight as I recall what scripture says that it is truly the righteous that will be victorious. I I want to encourage the church tonight that meekness is not weak is not weakness, but it is in meekness that the church will inherit the earth. In meekness, there will be victory. Now, there are times that perhaps you ought to show a little bit of fight. There are times that maybe you ought not to be overly meek. And those times are typically found between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. in Murfreesboro. If you're coming like my friend Avery from Nashville back to Murfreesboro on I-24, it's not the time to highlight your your attribute of meekness.

I want somebody to hear this. Sometimes on the on that interstate or highway, you you got to put your nose out there just a little bit. All right? You you're you're actually helping mankind by keeping the flow going. I I I would have to do a lot of repenting when I see people, especially with the with the sign in the back that says, "Excuse me." or or "Be patient. I'm a a student driver." And I'm like, "Student driver, how did you end up on I-24?" I'm I want to be patient with you, but I also want to to help you. There there are times I I have to admit, there are are times where where I I I can be on the roadway and I I I will tell God, "Hey, Lord, I understand that that meekness is important to you, but right now I wouldn't mind being the the the judge. I wouldn't mind There's sometimes where I see a fight and I think this is this is a fight worth having. And it doesn't even have to be me. I It was even today and I'm I feel bad even admitting this. I I've told people this before. I I I think you have to have the Holy Ghost to make it to heaven. That's what scripture says. But I also think you have to have the Holy Ghost just to get from one side of Murfreesboro to the other.

And today somebody cut off somebody on the on on one of our wonderful roads here. And and I was just like, "God, is this the time? Is this the time that I can help somebody, my my friend, my neighbor? And can I help this person by just giving them that that glare? They wasn't even me they cut off, but maybe they just need a look." I'm the only one, I guess, tonight. You know, the the Bible says that that judgment will fall like rain. One day we will be judged. But there are times that I'm like, "All right, I can go ahead and step in right now. Lord, I'm a willing vessel. I can help you out a little bit." But again, the Bible's clear that it is the meek that will inherit. They will inherit the earth and it is a promise. It's a promise. Tonight, I want to to help somebody by telling you you don't have to worry about everything going on in your world. That that meekness is a an opportunity for you to trust in God, to have faith in him. In fact, Psalm chapter 37, verse 3 says, "Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness." Meekness is is not a weakness because it gives us the opportunity to have faith in our God. If you're going to have faith in anything in this world, if If going to place your trust in anything in this world, let it be Jesus Christ.

Let it Let it be him. And what I love about this scripture is it says not only are we able to feed off of his faithfulness. I love that concept. But it says for us just to dwell in the land. Well, let me let me just say the way that Wesley reads this this portion of scripture. It is telling me, "Wes, chill out. Chill Chill out. Stop Stop worrying about all the details. figure it out. Stop Stop Stop scheming. Stop strategizing. Stop trying to figure out how God's going to open the next door. Just Just trust him. Place your trust in him. Admit what we all should admit and that is I'm not God. I'm not on the throne. I'm not I'm not the creator of this day. I'm I'm not the one that made the sun rise. I'm I'm not the one that's going to make the sun set. I I can place my trust and my faith in him. I can place it wholeheartedly, fully knowing that he has a good end in mind for me, that he will open the right doors, and he will give me the right opportunities when those opportunities are needed and required of my service. I I love It It says that we are to to feed on his faithfulness. Well, when's the last time you stopped worrying about all the details and you just said, "God, I know you're faithful." God, I I I know you're you're so faith You are not a man that you should lie.

You've spoken promises over my life. This word is chalk-full of the things that you have declared over me and my family. I'm just going to trust you. Reality is though is when things aren't going our way we we like to fight about it. We like to wrestle. We like to get our way. I've got a 3-year-old. Finn is his name. And he is furious at times. Ferocious, I don't I don't know. He is a fighter. I don't know Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, if they met Finn Stevens, I don't know. Here's the deal. I I don't have to guess when he's not getting his way. His body language tells me that I I'm not happy with the decision, Dad. You know, he's a big fan of Coke Zero. No one judge me for that, please. All right, he's my third, okay? He's my third. He But we don't we obviously we don't give it to him on a regular basis. My wife probably doesn't give it to him at all. It's probably just me. But when he asked for that Coke Zero and and Dad says, "No." I'm going to tell you right now he doesn't receive it well. >> >> He He wants to to fight. He He shows me sometimes his fist. I'm like, "Bob, you're three." I'm a little bigger than I I feel like I've got the advantage right now. But the the the reality is is that this is often times our response to the Lord.

When he says, "No, not right now." When he hits pause on some things in our life. When when things aren't working exactly the way we think they ought to work. Sometimes we get that like that fight in us. Well, God, I'm going to I'm going to prevail. Let me Let me help somebody right now. If you decide to fight against God, you're going to lose every time. Every time. It's It's his will that will be what's settled. It's It's his will that will prevail, not yours. Meekness helps us understand that again we are not the ones in charge and that ultimately when he decide desires for us to proceed with anything or to to see something come to fruition, it's going to be with his sovereign timing. In fact, I'll go a step further. Some of you are fighting battles that don't belong to you. They belong to him. In 2 Chronicles chapter 20 verse 15, it says, "And he said, 'Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem and you King Jehoshaphat.'" What a great name. "Thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's." Folks, we we we we're fighting too many battles that that don't have our name on them. That don't require for us to to really get in the fight. We we need to learn how to trust God.

And say, "God, I I I'm I'm going to give this all over to you. I I don't understand what you're doing right now. I don't understand that it's not working out in my mind favorably for me right now, but I'm just going to trust you. Trust you. We've got to decide which fights are worth having. Which hills we're going to die on. And which ones we should just which battles we should just walk away from. All right. I Listen, I've been to the DMV. I know that there are sometimes you just want to fight. You You don't even know what you're fighting for. You just This seems like a good place to fight. UFC, move over. DMV, come on in. Okay. >> >> But Paul, he tells us that there is only one fight really worth having and that is the the good fight, the fight of faith. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12, "Fight the good faith fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. We ought to reserve our energy energy for the fight that is worth having. And let me go a step further and say this. The the fight, once it actually begins, it's going to look quite different than what you actually envision it being. Well, God, I know what word to say to them.

I know what the I know how to fix their attitude. Just give Again, let me be that vessel, God. You know that God doesn't fight the same way we fight. We we we see it a way to fight and and that's not the the warfare that or the weapons of warfare that he has decided to use. There are times in the Old Testament when I I look and I see the the weapons that were utilized in the Old Testament and then I'm reminded of what Paul told the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 when he says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." We got to come to the realization that that God is going to choose different ways of fighting than we think are rational or reasonable. Now now today you can say that that weapons that he utilizes do not work and they're they're a waste of time and they they don't matter, but I want you to hear this tonight. His weaponry is always successful. His kingdom is always victorious. Our God is and will always be undefeated. He doesn't lose. There isn't a battle that he's going to lose. And so the weapons of his warfare have been proven time and time again and at some point you and I we just need to buy into it.

We we need to say, "You know what? I don't know how prayer works. I I don't necessarily understand how worship can get me through this situation, but these are the weapons that God has chosen to utilize. I'm just going to buy in." I'm going to be all in. I'm going to choose his weaponry over my own. Bitterness has not helped me. Anger has not helped me. But but when I get in his presence when when I step away from the table and fast a few days despite my flesh not might not liking or enjoying the the weaponry that God has chosen, they have been successful time after time after time. We need to comprehend tonight that his kingdom will always prevail. He will always be victorious. There have been kingdoms that have stood up to his kingdom, but they have never been prosperous. Nobody's worried today about the Romans. Nobody today is losing sleep over the the Greek. Nobody's Nobody's upset today about what Babylon is doing next. We have seen kingdoms rise and fall, but his kingdom has never ever lost a battle. When when we show meekness, when we show a a spirit of submission to the Lord, we need to understand we are choosing the winning side. You you can do your own thing. You can choose your own type of warfare, but I want you to hear this. You you will lose.

You will not win unless you are linked up with the Lord. Nobody today is worried about the great conquerors of the of past days. Nobody's worried about the Nazis. Nobody's worried about Napoleon. But we look at Jesus and we look at his kingdom. We as see a kingdom that is proven to be victorious time after time after time. And again, Jesus, he he confused the people of his time by not fighting the way that they anticipated that he would fight. Even his disciples were confused as to what this Jesus was all about. But Jesus would tell them in John chapter 18 verse 36, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from here." He he would have to look at one of his closest disciples, Peter, and say, "Peter, put down your sword because this is not how we fight. This is not how we operate. If if this was my my kingdom and this was my way, then you would already know it, but but I I don't fight this way." Jesus says in Matthew chapter 26 verse 53, "Do not think I can pray to my father and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels." Jesus, he could have fought the way that people expected him to fight.

But his kingdom superseded the kingdoms of this world. It defied what battling looked like. And for whatever reason, God chose the spirit of meekness as a way to inherit the earth. Tonight, we're talking about meekness. And I suggested at the very beginning that meekness is not a weakness. And I stress that because with this concept of not rolling up our sleeves and fighting for a red-blooded American, it it can confuse you because you you think, "Well, I I have to show myself to be strong to be victorious." But again, the Bible's clear that the way to strength is through a spirit of meekness. I struggled as a as a student middle school, high school, whenever I really started comprehending what the Bible said, I I struggled, Sister DePriest, with this idea that I needed to be meek. When somebody slaps one cheek, you turn to the other, I I didn't like that. I God, I can get behind a lot of what your word says, but when you tell me that I need to be meek, I'm not a big fan of it. I I don't like it. I I remember as a as a student, I played sports. And when you play sports, the the the one that's meek, that's not aggressive, typically doesn't do very well. I I felt like as an athlete, I I needed to let people know that I was superior to them.

And I was pretty convinced I was. I certainly ran my mouth like I was. I I I didn't like the idea that I would have to be be meek and that in by meekness, I was going to find success in my walk with the Lord. I remember as as a as a student again just really struggling with this and looking at the battles of the Old Testament and thinking man God what in the world like why would you choose Gideon? And then not only why would you choose Gideon but why would you give Gideon the weaponry that he used? Have you ever have you ever thought about that? Gideon and 300 they they take what? A candle a pot a trumpet? I mean God what what we're going to put on a performance? We're trying to build some type of ambiance for them? Trick them into some nice Italian dinner? I I look at it and I think God you could have you could have given them something a little bit better. Give them a fighter jet. I don't know give them give them a you know an automatic rifle at least. You give them a candle a trumpet and a a a pitcher? Jar clay like what is going on with this? I mean at least David got a sling. In some nations a sling's a weapon. But you gave them a trumpet. I I don't want the trumpet.

I don't want the candle. I don't want I don't want the the pitcher. I want I want the heavy artillery. I want the bombs. I want the the cool wow factor. I want the tanks. And I would look at these stories and I would think God how in the world in in a society that teaches that that the that the strongest win and that the the nice guy finishes last, how am I supposed to show meekness and be successful? I would look at scriptures like this and I don't know how to say it, but I would look at it and I would think to myself, I just I want to ignore that portion of scripture. You know, Matthew 5, you get into the Beatitudes, I would just skip over the meek part. When pastor asked me to teach on this, I was like, "God, you have a sense of humor." This isn't This is not necessarily what I would like to talk about from the Beatitudes. I was I was about to call an audible. I'm like, "Pastor, you sure? Can we trade?" There'd be times I would look at these scriptures and I would just want to cut them out. Thomas Jefferson, he was a deist and that's exactly what he would do. He would look at scripture, the supernatural stuff, the stuff that he couldn't understand because God was was bigger than his own mind.

And he would literally he would cut scriptures out of it and they call it the Jefferson Bible. Anytime he saw the miracle, anytime he saw a supernatural thing that he couldn't explain, he would just write it out. Cut it out. Folks, that's that's a scary way to live life. You You can't You can't get into the word of God and start picking and choosing. This isn't a This isn't a a a buffet. And you get to skip the veggies. You got to have it all. And I I get worried because nowadays, and we know this, but the mainstream Christianity in America, it it looks at this and it it picks and chooses what it wants to follow. I'm not I'm not here to bash people tonight, but but we have to comprehend that when we look in scripture and it says to baptize in Jesus' name, we don't get an option there. We don't get to snip it out. We don't get the scissors and cut it out and say, "Well, we prefer this way." When when the Bible says that that that that there is one God, we we don't get to to choose what makes more sense for there to be three. When we When we look at scripture and and it talks about tongue talking, and when you receive the Holy Ghost, there's going to be the evidence of speaking in other tongues, we don't get to choose, "Well, that's kind of weird.

I don't like that." It's No, no, no. Too many people live their lives that way, and I I want to encourage you tonight when you get into the word of God, take the whole Bible. Take every part of what scripture says, even the part where it talks about you need to be meek. Because meekness is not a weakness. It's not a weakness. Now, again, we have to understand that there is a miss- understanding when it comes to being meek. Meek does not mean that you are a victim. And have a victim mentality. We we have to understand that that just because we are to follow meekness does not mean that we get bullied in life and get ran over. I'm going to tell you right now wh- if if somebody were to break into my house, they're not going to experience a an overload of meekness. If they come in harm- wanting to harm my wife or my children, they're going to be anointed with my hands. And it will not be oil. It will be anointing, though. And we will pray. But there are there are times that again we we we see this word meekness and we we almost see it as a as a a a suggestion of of being passive or to be a coward. Spiritually speaking, that's that's not what the Bible's telling us to be. When when we look at this, we have to understand that the the literal meaning is not exactly what we would see as being meek, but it's really to to be submissive, to be humble, to know that at the end of the day we are not God.

We cannot play God. We cannot pretend that we are God, but we have to be submitted wholly to the agenda of heaven. That is what meekness looks like. Meekness looks like us coming before an almighty God and saying, "I am not God. I am not worthy to even touch your sandals, to to to be in your presence, but but I understand that you are such a powerful and wonderful God. I just submit my life to you. I surrender who I am to you. I I give you every part of me and I I say, 'God, you can lead me and direct me wherever you want me to go.'" Meekness is submission. Meekness is humility. It's not shyness. It's not being timid. It's It's not hiding in a corner. It's not pulling the covers over your head when you're scared. It's trusting in God. It's being submitted again to his will and his desire. Tonight, the promise still stands. The meek will be the ones who inherit the earth. It's still available for each and every one of us. We just have to understand and comprehend what it means to be meek. Meekness, brother Fred taught, I believe in 2023, meekness is humility. And I love that concept. It's being humble. It's coming before your your your God and saying, "God, if it's not you, this is not going to work out the way that I want it to." If it's me that has to fight this battle, I'm going to lose.

But God, I know I know that I need to trust you and to follow your will in my life. Being strong and being meek can coincide. It is strong. It is incredibly strong to be able to come before God and truly submit your life over to him. To give him everything. I I know in this day and age, there is a mindset that says that you only have to give some of your things to God. But I truly believe that God is still calling people to give everything to him. Everything. Pastor says it this way, that he's the Lord of all or he's not the Lord at all. And we have to choose. We have to choose carefully where we place him in our lives. Truth is tonight is that God wants to lead us and guide us. He wants to show us his ways. He wants to to to show us the path that he wants us to take. The Bible still says that he orders the steps of a righteous man. The question tonight is are we allowing ourselves to be meek in his presence? And submit ourselves to his perfect will. The way I kind of see meekness is as Paul describes in Romans chapter 8 when he says for as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Meekness looks like us knowing his spirit is leading us and guiding us and following his will even when it's not our own.

We still We still today in 2026 need to be led by his spirit. I I feel this so strong tonight that we are still to be spirit-led people. That we are still to to listen and to obey his his spirit as he guides us. His spirit as pastor talked about will never contradict the word of God. He Pastor talked about that Sunday. You're not going to give out a revelation from God that's going to go contrary to the word of God, but we need to be spirit-led. And being spirit-led sometimes means being uncomfortable. Sometimes it means praying a little longer than we want to pray. Some Sometimes it looks like even on a Wednesday night come in and not just saying well, it's it's going to be a midweek lesson. I'm going to walk out, but but it's coming in and saying I know what God, tonight you could you could there could be a miracle here. The su- the supernatural and it doesn't have to just take place at church. Truly following the spirit says that anywhere anytime God can do something great. We need to be led by his spirit. The The that I see this is the visual of a horse being led by the one that's riding it. Now, horses are are very powerful creatures. I'm impressed by horses. And I know I'll I'll go on record right now and say this.

I love hunting. I love fishing. I love being outdoors. I like hiking. I like all the things, sports, all the things outdoors. Yeah, let's do that. I'm not a horseman. I I see them. I respect them usually from a little bit of a distance. One, I don't know what the horse is thinking. I don't know if the horse likes me. I like it, but I don't know if he or she likes me. There's a lot of things we're trying to figure out. And I also know that that thing is a lot bigger than me. And it's built, unlike myself, of pure muscle. Okay. I'm not a horseman. I like the country. I like horse like the idea of horseback riding, but again, not not a huge huge fan of the of the trusting the powerful animal. And I think probably there was a day where I did enjoy horseback riding. I I'll say it this way. I There was a moment in my life where I was like, "Man, this I You can ask my parents. I used to beg them to to buy a horse." I'm so glad they didn't. That was wisdom. Mom and Dad, thank you so much. I'm not a John Wayne after all. But I I was invited when I first became the youth pastor here some 13 years ago. I'm I'm not the youth pastor now, but when I was first the youth pastor, I was invited to the Leonard farm.

They had horses. And they're like, "Brother West, we want you to go horseback riding with us." And I was like, "That sounds amazing." And then I did it. And my perspective changed. In fact, I think they have a pictures here. This is me and Rowdy. Now, they had bigger horses. And I've never asked the Leonards exactly why, but this is the horse they chose for me. This is Rowdy. Next picture, please. This is me riding Rowdy. Notice that smile. In that moment of my life as a as a 25-year-old, I was loving life. I had always wanted to go horseback riding. I I thought the horse might be a little larger. True. They all had larger horses, but I think there was a trust issue, and I understood that. So, they gave me Rowdy. I'm riding Rowdy, and and I think it was Sister Leonard that was like, "Hey, Brother West, smile." And man, I was like, "Yes, I will smile. Rowdy's behaving and this is great." What you don't see and what they did not take a picture of was that after a few minutes of me riding on top of Rowdy, Rowdy got tired of me. Rowdy was looking at me and looking at herself in the mirror and was thinking, "You're a little too big." I should have showed the picture, but before I got on Rowdy, Lindsey was the riding the horse.

And and Lindsey, my wife, is she's half my size. Rowdy was probably enjoying life when Lindsey was over there. But when I was the next rider, Rowdy was like, "What? I've downgraded." This is no longer fun for me. And so, I'm riding Rowdy, and I've got the reins in my hand, and we've put the the bit in the mouth, and the bridle is kind of steering the horse I'm not a horseman this is me this is me trying to be a horseman. And I'm like I'm like Rowdy We're about 1 or 2 minutes in I'm like Rowdy giddy up. I don't know I thought that was what you said. And Rowdy's like bro you're not ready for this. Furthermore I think you had a Big Mac on the way here we're not doing giddy up. We're not doing that. And so it was it was a couple minutes of joy. But as Rowdy got tired of me and frustrated with me you know doing the kick thing like I was like go Rowdy. Rowdy did something that I've never seen a horse do before maybe this is normal. Maybe this is common for for people. But Rowdy just laid down. It wasn't like hey I want to like buck you off it was just I'm tired this is not fun. I know I'm a horse but I'm going to lie down. And not only did Rowdy lie down she really wanted to send the message to me.

She rolled over. And So now I've got Rowdy on top of me. And I'm like hey I'm not a horseman Rowdy but this is not the way It's not the way it's supposed to go Rowdy. Bad Rowdy I was like you know And I wasn't laughing but everybody else there was they thought it was the best time ever. They're like we should always go horseback riding with West because the horses quit on him. And so I I share that not for the the the fact that I thought you would laugh at me at my expense. But horses are supposed to be powerful. They're supposed to be the when you say giddy up they're supposed to go fast. And they're supposed to be strong Rowdy he having a bad day. Rodney did not appreciate me. But most horses had this ability to to power their way through the situations and and they allow the person who's riding them on top of them steering them to to do just that. It's kind of a fascinating thing because really in actuality the horse is much more powerful than the rider. But because there's a bit there and because of the bridle and because of the reins, the horse is like, "All right, I will I'll go right when you say right, I'll go left when you go left." Now when it comes to humanity and God, I I I believe that God has his reins on us.

He He wants to to guide us into lead us and direct us, but in instead of the the horse analogy, we are not more powerful than God. We ought to listen and obey. We ought to say, "God, where is it that you're wanting to lead us?" This is a sign of meekness by coming before God and saying, "God, I realize you are much more powerful than me. Yet for whatever reason you've chosen to do nothing without me. You want to partner with me." What an amazing concept that God wants to do ministry work alongside you. And all he's looking for is for a for a saint of God, a child of God to say, "God, I will submit myself to you. I will humble myself before you. I will I will listen to your voice. I will be led by your spirit. I will do whatever it is you have called for me to do." Tonight, I believe that God is looking for people who are willing to be meek. Who are willing to allow God to lead and guide their life. I believe he's still looking for people who will say God, I want less of me and more of you. I want you to speak to my mind. I want you to speak to my heart and God, I want you to speak through me. Allow me to be that vessel, God, that you can use.

Tonight, he wants to remind the church that he is almighty, that he is all powerful. But he's looking to partner with the meek. Those who are willing to admit, "I don't have it all figured out. I'm not in control here. But I realize who is." In football, you you've got the the players that are very strong. But again, they're humbled by the guys in stripes who can blow the whistle and throw the flag and tell them the boundaries in which they have to play in. The referees are not the most athletic. They're not the the strongest typically. But they're the ones with authority. The ones in authority get to speak to what the powerful people do. And again, when a kingdom mindset is this is that we have to understand who has authority in our lives. We may feel powerful. We may feel strong, but we need to comprehend that again, it's him, Jesus, who has all authority, and all strength, and all power. Tonight, when you submit yourself to God, when you surrender to him, when you show the spirit of meekness, meekness is not a weakness. It is in fact an incredible strength and an incredible way to live your life. Let's stand to our feet tonight. The horse gets the opportunity to choose while I allow the person who's holding the reins who's got the the bridle and the and the the bit there who's leading me, guiding me.

Am I willing to submit to them? And I felt strongly in the Holy Ghost to to ask the church who who has the reins of your heart? Who are you allowing to speak into your life and to guide you? Is it the the ways of this world? Is it the culture that surrounds us? Or is it what the word of God says? Is it his spirit? Is it his word that leads and guides you? Have you decided that you're going to bless the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? Are you willing to give God truly everything in your life? Truth tonight is this is that if you don't want to live a wasteful life if you don't want to squander the kingdom opportunities that God wants to give you then you have to be meek. You have to be willing to be humble. You have to give and surrender everything over to the Lord. The meek shall inherit. That is what the word of God says. It's a promise according to the Old and the New Testament. The meek shall inherit the earth. Let's bow our heads and let's close Let's close in prayer tonight. Jesus God, we love you. We're thankful, Lord Jesus, for your word. We're thankful, Lord Jesus, that again at the end of the day you have all power and you have all authority, God. There is truly no one like you.

There is nobody besides you. You are indeed the King of kings and the Lord of lords. God, we give our lives to you right now. We surrender every part of our heart, every part of our mind to you, and we ask God that you would lead us wholeheartedly. God, we want to see your promises come to reality in our lives, and we know, God, the only avenue in which we'll see those things is if we develop the spirit of meekness. We give you glory and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.