Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000045
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00:01 (Island Music) PB: Hello.
00:03 My name is Dr. Carlton Byrd and I'm the speaker director 00:05 of the Breath of Life television ministry. 00:07 Right now I'm standing on the beautiful island of Bermuda. 00:11 That's right, Breath of Life is in the county of Bermuda. 00:14 This wonderful island nation of 20 miles long, pink sand, 00:19 beautiful beaches, palm trees, it's just paradise on earth. 00:24 But when I think about how beautiful it is, I say to 00:28 myself, God must have something even that much 00:31 better for us because the Word of God says, eyes have not 00:35 seen, neither have ears heard the things that God 00:38 hath prepared for them that love him. 00:41 Heaven is going to be that much better than this, and 00:44 while I can come here and vacation, I can come here and 00:47 swim and jet ski, we've come, Breath of Life has, to preach 00:51 the Word of God. 00:53 That's right, we're here for their tent meeting and we're 00:56 preaching that Jesus Christ loves us and he 01:00 is soon to return. 01:01 May God bless you as you watch as we minister to you 01:04 to tell a dying world that Jesus saves. 01:10 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy. . . ♪ 01:20 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy. . . ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 01:27 ♪ all the praise. ♪ ♪ (Music) ♪ 01:32 PB: I'm so glad that despite what you see, God saw 01:35 destiny and promise within me, and so rather than leave me, 01:41 God says, I see your destiny so I'm going to develop 01:47 this in you. 01:48 God, friends, could have cut you off. 01:54 God could have written some of you off. 01:57 God could have forgotten some of you, but God developed you. 02:01 Let me show you what God does. 02:02 God allowed Israel to go through some stuff in order 02:05 that they might recognize his presence and desire a 02:08 relationship with him that was beyond the surface, because 02:10 too many of us have a surface relationship with the Lord. 02:13 God is allowing some of you right now to go through 02:16 experience after experience after experience until you 02:19 finally realize what a real relationship with God 02:22 is all about. 02:23 Because you can't have a testimony without a test. 02:26 Because I have found with church folk too many of us 02:29 test a lie instead of testify. 02:33 So, I'm not talking about a surface relationship. 02:36 Oh, I come to church every now and then, if I don't 02:40 feel like it, I don't. 02:41 If I feel like singing, I will. 02:43 If I do, I do. 02:44 If I pray, I pray. 02:45 If I don't, I don't. 02:46 I'm not talking about that, because you're not a church 02:50 member if you talk like that. 02:52 Or maybe I should say, you are a church member, because you 02:56 understand there's a difference between church 02:58 membership and discipleship. 02:59 Church membership means, my name is on the roll; 03:02 discipleship means, I'll take up my cross and follow him. 03:06 Because, let me be clear, if I've said this once, I'll say 03:10 it again, people who perceive themselves to be holy are 03:13 never great worshippers. 03:18 Teach all the worship seminars you want, have all the 03:22 seminars you want on worship and praising God, but if you 03:28 think you are so holy that God ought to be thankful that your 03:33 face is in the place and your smile is in the aisle, you are 03:36 nothing more than sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. 03:40 I'm talking about somebody who really loves them some Jesus. 03:45 The only way you're going to get into a relationship, when 03:48 you really love him, you're going to have 03:51 to go through some stuff. 03:52 I'm not talking about what anybody told me, I'm talking 03:55 about what I know for myself. 03:56 Somebody knows, in order for you to really get to know 04:01 Jesus, you've got to go through some stuff. 04:04 You've got to get to the point where your money can't buy 04:07 you out, your friends and family can't bail you out, your 04:11 degree can't think you out, your charisma can't talk 04:14 you out. 04:16 So when you do come out, you'll know it was 04:18 nobody but Jesus. 04:23 It's about this, sometimes I've got to keep taking you 04:28 through it, until you learn how to love me. 04:31 Now, the good thing about God's love is that God will 04:33 love us until we learn how to love him. 04:37 He could have cut us off but he's more determined to 04:40 develop us than to drop us. 04:41 You see, God says, I'll tolerate your inconsistencies 04:46 and hope that one day you'll love me to be consistent. 04:50 I'll tolerate your unfaithfulness in the hopes 04:54 that you'll love me one day to be faithful. 04:57 God says, I cannot force you to have a personal 05:00 relationship with me, all I can do is take you through 05:02 enough stuff so that one day you'll realize where your 05:05 real help comes from. 05:07 God says--let me bowl down somebody's lane--God says, 05:13 I cannot force you to return tithe and offerings, I just 05:17 hope that one day you'll love me enough to give 05:20 tithe and offerings. 05:21 God says, I cannot force you to come to church, but I just 05:24 hope that you'll go through enough stuff where every 05:27 Sabbath you can't wait to get into the house of God. 05:30 God says, I cannot force you to praise me, but I hope that 05:35 you'll go through enough stuff that you'll fall in love 05:40 enough with me that you'll praise me without 05:44 a praise team. 05:46 You'll praise me in your car. 05:47 You'll praise me on your job. 05:50 You'll praise me in the marketplace. 05:53 You'll praise me in the classroom. 05:55 I must admit I love the praise team here, but let me tell 05:59 you, I didn't wait until I got here to have praise 06:03 and worship. 06:05 I praised him this morning in the shower. 06:07 Do I have a witness in this place? 06:09 I praised him when I was walking along the 06:12 beach and the water. 06:13 Come on say Amen. 06:14 When I was in my car, I was praising God. 06:16 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me 06:20 bless his holy name. 06:22 O taste and see that the Lord is good, his mercy 06:25 endures forever. 06:27 God says, I'm just trying to see who loves me. 06:31 I'm trying to get you to a point where you will 06:33 love me all by yourself. 06:34 That if nobody else ever is in love with me, that you'll say, 06:37 Lord, I love you early in the morning, before the dew 06:41 falls on the roses. 06:42 God, I just love you. 06:44 God, you walk with me. 06:45 God, you talk with me. 06:46 I love you, Jesus. 06:47 Does anybody here love Jesus? 06:49 You love Jesus to the point where by yourself you can have 06:53 praise and worship, in your shower, in your bathtub, when 06:56 you're washing dishes, at the dinner table, at breakfast. 06:59 Lord, I begin to thank you for all the wonderful things 07:02 you've done in my life, because the wonderful thing 07:04 about the Lord is, you thank him for one thing and no 07:06 sooner than later, you're already thanking him 07:09 for another thing. 07:10 I love me some Jesus. 07:12 But God says, I cannot force this thing on you. 07:18 King, God cannot make them love him. 07:23 If God can make them love him, then we can undo it. 07:29 But they love him voluntarily. 07:33 They're loyal voluntarily. 07:36 So, King, it's going to be hard for you to go in and mess 07:39 with them, because they love God too much. 07:43 It's going to be hard, King, for yo to pull them away from 07:47 church, because they love God too much. 07:50 It's going to be hard for some relationship to stop them from 07:53 coming to church, because they love God too much. 07:56 It's going to be hard for them not to tithe, because they 07:59 love God too much. 08:01 It's going to be hard for them to sit up in church and mean 08:04 mug folk and be stuck up, because they 08:11 love God too much. 08:15 But, King, there's one more thing that I found out 08:19 God can't do. 08:20 Now, King, this is going to upset you. 08:23 Your enemy church is not going to be able to handle this one. 08:26 Your enemy is going to lose their mind when 08:29 they find this out. 08:31 Now remember, number one, God cannot lie. 08:34 God cannot what? 08:35 Lie. 08:36 God cannot take his word back, so when you're blessed, walk 08:39 in your blessing. 08:40 Let folk talk about you and curse you all they want, but 08:42 they need to remember something, God says he'll 08:45 bless those that bless you. 08:47 And he'll curse those that curse you, that's why when 08:49 you're blessed and folk are cursed and you wonder why 08:51 they're never blessed, it's because they're 08:55 cursing God's blessed. 08:57 Number two, God cannot force you to love him. 09:02 Either you do or you don't. 09:07 And the last thing is simply this, going to 09:10 make somebody shout. 09:12 Let's do it this way. 09:14 Turn to your neighbor and say, neighbor, God can't fight 09:18 and lose. 09:26 It's about to get good up in here. Hey. 09:32 Let's look at one more text. 09:33 Look at verse 22. 09:35 It's about to get good. 09:40 God brought them out of where? 09:42 Egypt. 09:43 Come on, God brought them out of where? 09:46 Egypt. 09:47 He had, as it were, the strength of a unicorn. 09:53 You see, Israel was always the underdog. 10:00 But God always delivered them. 10:04 There's nothing you're going through today that God can't 10:08 deliver you up out of. 10:11 Now, this sounds so routine, so cliche, so redundant when 10:16 you hear this, God brought them out of Egypt. 10:20 God brought them out of the land of bondage. 10:22 And we hear that so much that we take it for granted because 10:25 we don't understand their history. 10:27 But if you knew the history, you'd understand what was 10:30 going on. 10:30 So let me quickly break it down. 10:33 Remember, Israel was nothing more than a preacher 10:36 and a choir. 10:38 Preacher and choir. 10:39 Word and worship. 10:41 Now, when you hear that God brought them out of Egypt, you 10:44 have to understand the totality in that statement. 10:47 Egypt was the mecca of intellectual society, the 10:50 mecca of military might. 10:52 Don't let your history books fool you and make you think 10:55 all this stuff started in Greece. 10:58 They stole it from the Egyptians. 11:00 Civilization as we know it, the intellectuals, the 11:03 architecture, the stuff we read about in history and 11:06 philosophy, all of this began in Egypt. 11:09 The pyramids, all of this started in Egypt. 11:12 And the greatest military might itself was Egypt. 11:14 The geographical location of Egypt, by all of the rivers, 11:17 all of the commerce, all the money, it was a wealthy place 11:20 which is why it was so beautiful. 11:23 The whole idea of chariots began in Egypt. 11:28 The Egyptians were the first to use chariots 11:31 drawn by horses. 11:33 The Egyptians were the first, they built walls call glace. 11:37 These were walls that were tall and they were slanted and 11:40 they were around the city, so when enemies tried to come 11:43 against them, they could not climb over these glace walls 11:46 because they'd be shot down and the pharaohs, who were 11:50 Ramses I and Ramses II, sat on the throne and they 11:53 were men of great power. 11:55 They would speak a thing and it would be so. 11:57 Who would dare approach the Ramses? 12:00 Who would dare approach Pharaoh. 12:02 I mean, this was a culture that literally taught the 12:04 world about embalming techniques and taught the 12:07 world about architecture and philosophy. 12:09 This was who taught the world about military 12:11 prowess and might. 12:13 And now, Pharaoh sits on the throne. 12:18 Now, can you imagine, with all this military might, all this 12:23 power, what an 80-year-old preacher with nothing but a 12:29 stick and a stutter must have felt like when God said, go 12:36 over there, tell mean old pharaoh to let my people go. 12:42 You all ain't feeling this. 12:43 That's why Moses had all of those excuses, but, uh, uh, 12:48 Lord, uh, wait a minute. 12:51 But God assured him, I want you to know something. 12:57 When they ask you, who do you come in the name of, tell 13:06 them--I got a witness in this place--tell them that I am 13:10 that I am sent you. 13:16 Because I am what you need when you get there. 13:22 I am what you're going to say when you get there. 13:25 You all not hearing me. 13:27 Listen. 13:28 Notice what God says, God says, tell pharaoh, tell all 13:34 of that power and military might, to let my people go. 13:42 Everybody say God's blessed. 13:44 Say God's chosen. 13:46 Now, how do we know this was God's blessed and God's 13:49 chosen? 13:50 We have to go back to Genesis. 13:51 Abraham begat Isaac. 13:53 Isaac begat Jacob. 13:55 Jacob gives birth to the 12 tribes of Israel. 13:57 But out of this you get Joseph. 13:59 Joseph was blessed. 14:00 Joseph was chairman of commerce for Israel. 14:03 He saved them from famine. 14:04 Joseph was so blessed that when Ramses II, pharaoh of 14:07 Egypt, came into power, the reason why the Israelites were 14:10 in bondage in the first place was because there rose up a 14:13 pharaoh who did not know their history. 14:15 He did not know Joseph. 14:16 If he had known who he was messing with, he wouldn't have 14:20 put them in bondage in the first place. 14:24 Ah, do me a favor. 14:27 Look at your neighbor. 14:29 Look at them good. 14:30 Tell them, my enemy just doesn't know who they're 14:36 messing with. 14:38 Hahaha. 14:39 Do you understand, child of God, that I am God's blessed? 14:42 So after a series of plagues, a preacher and a praise team, 14:52 not sticks and stones, not bows and arrows, but a 14:56 preacher and a praise team, a word and some worshippers came 15:03 up out of Egypt. 15:05 God delivered them out of Egypt without having to lift 15:10 one finger. 15:11 So Balaam says to Balak. 15:14 King, let's put this in perspective. 15:19 You aren't even as large as pharaoh. 15:23 I know you want to attack Israel, but you're not even as 15:27 large as pharaoh was. 15:29 God destroyed pharaoh for messing with them and you 15:34 ain't as large as pharaoh. 15:37 God brought these folk that you're messing with out of 15:44 Egypt. 15:46 So whatever you're trying to do, just know I'm trying to 15:50 warn you. 15:52 How did God do it? 15:54 God brought them out by exercising his dominion. 15:59 Look at verse 22 again. 16:02 God brought them out of Egypt, he had as it were the strength 16:09 of a what, everybody? 16:10 Now, quickly. 16:12 You do know unicorns don't exist. 16:16 You don't see any unicorns. 16:18 You don't see an animal with a big horn out of his head. 16:21 So this must be a metaphor. 16:24 Well, if it's a metaphor, where does it come from? 16:27 You must read Psalm 92:10. 16:31 It says, "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of 16:35 a unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil." Now, the word 16:40 for unicorn translated in the Clear Word Bible is wild bull. 16:45 Other translations say wild ox. 16:51 Other translations call it a ram. 16:55 Today let's use ram. 16:59 God, the text, paraphrasing now, brought them out of Egypt 17:06 and is ready to fight for them like a ram. 17:12 Now let me quickly tell you something about rams. 17:16 Rams hang out on mountaintops. 17:18 Rams hang out on high places, because rams don't have time 17:24 to hang out in low places. 17:27 You all don't hear what I'm saying. 17:29 Trying to talk about a ram. 17:30 Now, a ram does not have a vicious bite, nor does a ram 17:34 have poison in his bite. 17:38 A ram's defense and strength is in its horns. 17:44 Now a ram's horns obtain strength by daily 17:47 dipping in fresh oil. 17:50 A daily dip in oil gives rams their strength. 17:55 That's why you and I, we have to keep dipping in oil, 17:59 dipping in the Holy Ghost, and God will keep 18:02 giving us strength. 18:04 I wish you were hearing what I'm saying. 18:06 Somebody knows that every day you wake up you've got to say, 18:09 Lord, touch me again. 18:11 Lord, anoint me again. 18:13 God, lay your hand on me again. 18:17 God brought Israel out, as it were, the strength of a 18:22 unicorn, the strength of a ram. 18:27 How did that happen, Dr. Byrd? 18:29 I'm so glad you asked. 18:30 There are two kinds of rams. 18:37 There are those rams that dip in fresh oil and those rams 18:42 that don't. 18:44 So we have anointed rams and then we just have rams. 18:51 Now, a ram doesn't really have any enemies in the natural 18:56 realm other than other rams. 19:00 And guess what it's all about? 19:02 It's all about territory. 19:05 And what another ram who may not be anointed with oil will 19:08 do is walk up in the territory and challenge an anointed ram. 19:15 What does that ram want? 19:16 I want your stuff. 19:18 I want your territory. 19:20 But what the anointed ram will do, the anointed ram will send 19:26 out a warning. 19:28 He will fall on his knees and he will then butt his head and 19:34 what he's really saying in ram language is this, if I have to 19:39 come up, I'm coming up with some power. 19:48 You've got to tell somebody. 19:50 If I have to come up, you better tell them I'm coming up 19:54 with power. 19:55 Holy Ghost power. 19:56 Anointed power. 19:59 That's what my enemy doesn't know. 20:02 When the enemy messes with me, then I have to go down on my 20:07 knees, because that's where my strength really is. 20:12 Do I have a witness in this place? 20:16 Because if you fall on your knees, somebody knows that God 20:19 will fight your battles and God is not a God 20:23 who will fight and lose. 20:24 Don't you know that's how God brought Israel out. 20:27 When they came to the Red Sea, pharaoh was in hot pursuit, 20:32 Moses got down on his knees and God fought the battle. 20:36 When Daniel was in the lion's den, Daniel went down on his 20:41 knees and God fought the battle. 20:45 When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in the fiery 20:48 furnace, they went down on their knees, prayed to God and 20:52 God brought them out. 20:55 But let's go to the New Testament. 20:57 When Paul and Silas were in jail, they went down on their 21:01 knees and God brought them out. 21:04 You better tell somebody. 21:06 It may look rough right now, but tell them, know this 21:12 thing, God has never lost a fight. 21:16 You better keep falling on your knees, because I know God 21:21 is getting ready to bring you out. 21:24 Do I have a witness in this place? 21:26 That's why you don't have to wait until the battle is over, 21:30 you can shout now. 21:32 I feel an anointing getting loose in this place. 21:36 I feel God getting ready to bring somebody out 21:38 in this place. 21:39 Anybody in this place, you in the fight of your life? 21:42 You're in the fight for your family? 21:44 You're in the fight for your finances? 21:46 You're in the fight for your health? 21:48 You're in the your fight for cancer? 21:50 You're in your fight for your salvation? 21:52 God told me to tell you, the battle is not yours, the 21:55 battle is the Lord's. 21:56 Do I have a witness in this place? 21:58 I've got to close, but I want somebody to understand, God is 22:02 going to take care of you. 22:03 Sometimes you have to tell yourself when you feel 22:07 unlovable, put your hands around yourself and begin to 22:11 hug yourself and begin to say, I know I'm blessed. 22:13 I know I'm God's chosen. 22:15 I know I'm blessed. 22:16 I have to walk like I'm blessed. 22:19 I have to talk like I'm blessed, because I'm blessed 22:22 in the city, I'm blessed in the fields, I'm blessed in my 22:26 going out, I'm blessed in my coming in. 22:29 Let me close it this way. 22:31 I was watching ESPN Classic one day, because 22:35 I'm a sports buff. 22:36 And I was watching it one day and they were showing an 22:39 interview between the famed sportscaster Howard Cosell 22:44 and Muhammad Ali. 22:46 Got some witnesses here in the place. 22:51 Howard Cosell looks at Muhammad Ali just before his 22:58 famous fight with Joe Frazier. 23:01 He said, Ali, how are you going to defeat Joe Frazier? 23:07 Ali said those famous words, you know, I float like a 23:14 butterfly, I sting like a bee. 23:19 I've got a witness in this place. 23:21 Cosell said, but you know, Smokin' Joe 23:25 has a powerful punch. 23:27 Ali said, yeah, I know, but Smokin' Joe is going to try to 23:33 get a head shot in, but Ali said, the way I'm going to 23:40 beat Smokin' Joe is I'm going to stay low. 23:45 You better tell your neighbor you're going to win this 23:50 fight, but you've got to stay low. 23:54 When they talk about you, stay low. 23:58 When they scandalize your name, stay low. 24:03 When they hate on you, stay low. 24:06 When the enemy comes after your money, stay low. 24:10 When your enemy comes after your daughter, stay low. 24:13 When the enemy comes after your son, stay low. 24:18 When your enemy comes after your marriage, stay low. 24:27 I believe somebody knows you've got to stay low. 24:30 Let me tell you, my God has never fought and lost. 24:34 So I've come to serve notice today, I've come to serve 24:39 notice to every one of your enemies, don't start no stuff, 24:42 won't be no stuff. 24:47 God can't lie. 24:49 If God said it, that settles it. 24:52 God loves us, but God cannot make us love him. 24:58 And God cannot lose a fight. 25:01 We don't get in a fight that we're going to lose because we 25:06 fight from victory not for victory, because the fight is 25:12 already fixed for they that wait upon the Lord. 25:21 God shall renew their strength. 25:23 They shall soar on wings of eagles, they shall run and not 25:28 get weary, they shall walk and not faint. 25:31 Fret not thyself because of evildoers. 25:35 Neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity. 25:38 God shall cut them down like the grass, because no weapon 25:41 formed against you is going to prosper, because the Lord is 25:45 my life, my salvation, whom shall I fear? 25:50 The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall 25:54 I be afraid? 25:55 The Lord is my refuge and strength, a very present help 25:59 in time of trouble. 26:01 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 26:04 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth 26:08 me beside still waters. 26:10 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the path of 26:13 righteousness for his name's sake. 26:16 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 26:20 I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy 26:24 staff, they comfort me. 26:27 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 26:32 enemies: thou anointeth my head with oil; 26:36 my cup runneth over. 26:38 Surely, surely, I said surely goodness and mercy shall 26:49 follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the 26:53 house of the Lord forever and ever and ever. 26:59 Christ returneth. 27:04 Hallelujah. 27:07 Hallelujah. 27:10 PB: Hello, I'm Dr. Carlton Byrd, speaker-director 27:14 for Breath of Life Television Ministries. 27:15 For the past year, it has been my joy 27:19 to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ across the globe, 27:22 but principally from the sanctuary of the Berean 27:26 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. 27:28 Beginning in January 2012, I will continue to preach 27:32 the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Breath of Life 27:34 will still be here. 27:36 But it will come from the sanctuary of the Oakwood 27:38 University Church, in Huntsville, Alabama, 27:41 on the campus of Oakwood University. 27:44 It will be the same Breath of Life, 27:46 the same preacher, the same gospel 27:48 of Jesus Christ, the same channel, 27:51 the same station, at the same time. 27:53 Just a different location. 27:55 We solicit your continued prayers and support 27:58 as we take this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ 28:02 to a dying world. 28:04 May God bless you. 28:05 (Music) PB: When you know that you are 28:11 blessed, nobody can undo what God has already done in your 28:17 life. 28:20 So the next time you ask God for something, why don't you 28:23 super size it. 28:25 Super size it in the name of Jesus. |
Revised 2015-02-06