BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES 00:00:02.33\00:00:09.94 PRESENTS SERMON 539 GIVE HIM THANKS 00:00:09.97\00:00:14.14 BREATH OF LIFE THEME Music 00:00:14.18\00:00:20.55 PB: Psalm 95, verse number 1. The Word of God says, 00:00:20.58\00:00:28.62 "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: 00:00:28.66\00:00:32.36 let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 00:00:32.39\00:00:38.70 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, 00:00:38.73\00:00:43.41 and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 00:00:43.44\00:00:48.98 For the LORD is a great God, and a great 00:00:49.01\00:00:53.78 King above all gods." Let me read that one more time. 00:00:53.82\00:00:59.89 Dr. Lindsey, you read verse 6 earlier today, so, 00:00:59.92\00:01:03.59 this is how the Lord works. You didn't know 00:01:03.63\00:01:05.86 I was going to do this, and I didn't know you 00:01:05.89\00:01:07.23 were going to do what you did, so, let me try 00:01:07.23\00:01:08.90 it one more time. "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: 00:01:08.93\00:01:10.93 let us make a joyful"--what, everybody? 00:01:10.97\00:01:13.30 Aud.: Noise. PB: Come on, a joyful what, everybody? 00:01:13.34\00:01:15.17 Aud.: Noise. PB: "To the rock of our"--what? 00:01:15.20\00:01:17.31 Aud.: Salvation. PB: "Let us come before his 00:01:17.34\00:01:19.97 presence with" what? Aud.: Thanksgiving. 00:01:20.01\00:01:22.14 PB: "And make a"--what kind of noise? 00:01:22.18\00:01:23.75 Aud.: Joyful noise. PB: "Unto him with psalms. 00:01:23.78\00:01:25.65 For the LORD is a great" what? Aud.: God. 00:01:25.68\00:01:27.72 PB: "And a great King above all" what? Gods. 00:01:27.75\00:01:31.69 Today we just came to thank God. Father, 00:01:31.72\00:01:34.52 in the name of Jesus, Lord we've come today by 00:01:34.56\00:01:38.39 the power of Your Holy Ghost just to lift You up. 00:01:38.43\00:01:42.16 And on this Thanksgiving Sabbath, thank You for 00:01:42.20\00:01:46.97 all You've done, for all You're doing, and in 00:01:47.00\00:01:51.87 advance for what You're going to do. So speak 00:01:51.91\00:01:56.14 through these lips this day, and we praise, 00:01:56.18\00:01:59.68 give You honor and glory for what You're going to do. 00:01:59.71\00:02:03.55 Father, I don't know how the appeal is going to turn out, 00:02:03.59\00:02:06.69 but I just want You to have Your way. Have Your way 00:02:06.72\00:02:08.86 in this place, we pray. Forgive me of my sins, 00:02:08.89\00:02:13.76 in the name of Jesus we pray. Let everyone say amen. 00:02:13.80\00:02:17.90 Aud.: Amen. PB: And amen. Now, Danielle, you did a good 00:02:17.93\00:02:26.07 job. [applause] PB: You have a good first name. 00:02:26.11\00:02:31.55 You did a good job, but you know you ended where 00:02:31.58\00:02:38.82 I want to start, all right? If that's all right, 00:02:38.85\00:02:42.82 that's how the Lord's working. Dr. Lindsey gave you 00:02:42.86\00:02:45.63 some Psalm 95, and you ended where I want to start. 00:02:45.66\00:02:50.20 Because I want to say, after eating all done--beans, 00:02:50.23\00:02:53.77 greens, potatoes, tomatoes. Beans, greens, potatoes, 00:02:53.80\00:02:56.64 tomatoes. Beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes. Beans, 00:02:56.67\00:02:58.84 greens, potatoes, tomatoes. Beans, greens; beans, greens; 00:02:58.87\00:03:01.44 beans, greens, beans, beans, beans! You name it! Ha, ha, ha, 00:03:01.48\00:03:11.65 ha. [Aud. reaction] PB: Older folks, you don't know 00:03:11.69\00:03:14.49 what that's all about, but go to the Internet after Sabbath. 00:03:14.52\00:03:16.66 Come on, say amen. [Aud. reaction] 00:03:16.69\00:03:19.09 PB: After eating all the beans, greens, potatoes, 00:03:19.13\00:03:24.83 tomatoes, lamb, ram--that's not us, that's what the 00:03:24.87\00:03:33.34 song says--halls, balls, chicken, turkey, rabbit. 00:03:33.38\00:03:36.41 You name it! Ha, ha, ha. After eating all of that, 00:03:36.44\00:03:42.08 come back now. Come back, come back. Your mind should 00:03:42.12\00:03:48.79 now be ready to focus in on thanksgiving. 00:03:48.82\00:03:52.86 Everybody say "thanksgiving." Aud.: Thanksgiving. 00:03:52.89\00:03:54.93 PB: And thanksgiving should get you to thinking, 00:03:54.93\00:03:58.40 because when you start thinking about all God has 00:03:58.43\00:04:02.40 done for you, you start thanking Him for all He's done. 00:04:02.44\00:04:05.91 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 00:04:05.94\00:04:09.14 PB: Thinking should get you to thanking. 00:04:09.18\00:04:12.48 Now, when I start thinking about thanking, 00:04:12.51\00:04:18.42 I start thinking about biblical examples of thanksgiving. 00:04:18.45\00:04:21.19 From one end of the Bible to the other end, we are 00:04:21.22\00:04:23.83 commanded to be thankful. Commanded to be what, everybody? 00:04:23.86\00:04:25.99 Aud.: Thankful. PB: Now, I'm thinking about the man in Mark, 00:04:26.03\00:04:29.06 chapter 5. He was known to us as Legion. This man was 00:04:29.10\00:04:33.03 possessed with demons, but, and before he met Jesus, 00:04:33.07\00:04:36.40 he lived among the tombs. He was chained up, but no chain 00:04:36.44\00:04:38.41 was strong enough to subdue the man. The man cried out 00:04:38.44\00:04:42.51 day and night, cutting himself with stones, not because 00:04:42.54\00:04:47.22 of some chemical imbalance but because of some demonic 00:04:47.25\00:04:50.45 spirit that was living in him. Jesus comes. Jesus has 00:04:50.49\00:04:54.79 a conversation, if you will, with this demonic spirit, 00:04:54.82\00:04:58.36 and sends the spirit into a herd of pigs. The pigs run 00:04:58.39\00:05:02.63 off a cliff and then run in the lake and they drown, 00:05:02.66\00:05:04.93 because pigs can't swim. The man is then himself again- 00:05:04.97\00:05:10.21 -cool, calm, collected. The eyewitnesses are blown away. 00:05:10.24\00:05:13.41 They ask Jesus, "Jesus, leave." But the man feels the opposite, 00:05:13.44\00:05:17.58 he wants to stick to Jesus like glue. Why? Because he's 00:05:17.61\00:05:20.18 thankful for what Jesus has done. Jesus encourages the 00:05:20.22\00:05:23.75 brother. He says, "Go back home." The man does, but he 00:05:23.79\00:05:26.82 can't stop telling people about Jesus and what Jesus has done 00:05:26.86\00:05:32.23 for him. The man is thankful. The man is what, everybody? 00:05:32.26\00:05:34.30 Aud.: Thankful. PB: But then, who can forget the 00:05:34.30\00:05:36.70 woman in Luke chapter 7? This woman is known as sinful. 00:05:36.73\00:05:41.10 She anointed Jesus' feet. This woman, who's known more 00:05:41.14\00:05:45.41 by what she does than her real name, just lavishes 00:05:45.44\00:05:48.78 love on Jesus. Onlookers squirm; church members whisper. 00:05:48.81\00:05:53.42 She cries so much that she takes her tears of thanks and 00:05:53.45\00:05:57.72 she wipes Jesus' feet. She dries them with her hair. 00:05:57.75\00:06:01.39 She kisses his feet and pours perfume on them. 00:06:01.42\00:06:05.43 She's responding to Jesus', as a holy person's, 00:06:05.46\00:06:09.33 acceptance of her, a not-so-holy person. This response 00:06:09.36\00:06:13.90 is loving but the response is also thankful. She doesn't 00:06:13.94\00:06:18.71 care about what anybody else says. She doesn't care about 00:06:18.74\00:06:21.64 what anybody else thinks. She speaks no words, sings no songs, 00:06:21.68\00:06:27.12 writes no psalms. The woman lets her actions proclaim her 00:06:27.15\00:06:34.26 thankfulness. But then I'm going to stay in the book of Luke, and 00:06:34.29\00:06:38.79 I'm going to go now to Luke chapter 17, and we know the 00:06:38.83\00:06:40.73 story. Ten lepers encounter Jesus. All 10 seem to believe 00:06:40.76\00:06:45.97 that Jesus was pretty much who He claimed to be, and so they 00:06:46.00\00:06:49.74 cried out to Him in healing: "Master, have pity on us." Jesus 00:06:49.77\00:06:54.54 asks them to visit the priest, and on their way to the priest 00:06:54.58\00:06:57.11 they were made whole. No more leprosy. But only one, the Bible 00:06:57.15\00:07:02.02 says, came back and responded with a spirit of thankfulness. 00:07:02.05\00:07:05.72 It was a Samaritan. He threw himself at Jesus' feet 00:07:05.75\00:07:09.79 and thanked Jesus. Even Jesus seemed surprised that there 00:07:09.82\00:07:13.29 weren't a few more of the former lepers who came back to 00:07:13.33\00:07:16.06 say thank you. But Jesus asks, "Were not all 10 cleansed? 00:07:16.10\00:07:19.67 Where are the other nine?" But it was this one leper who 00:07:19.70\00:07:26.81 came back to show his thankfulness. It reminds me that 00:07:26.84\00:07:31.15 those you help the most appreciate it the least. 00:07:31.18\00:07:34.32 But then, who can forget Brother David? David composed songs, 00:07:34.35\00:07:40.59 psalms. How can anyone else compete with David when it 00:07:40.62\00:07:44.49 comes to thankfulness? Not all of his psalms are thanksgiving 00:07:44.53\00:07:47.36 hymns or songs, but when it comes to clear expressions 00:07:47.40\00:07:49.96 of thanksgiving, that are obvious and clear, David leads 00:07:50.00\00:07:53.30 the way. What's obvious is that David has an unprecedented 00:07:53.34\00:07:57.51 awareness of God's blessing, protection and presence in his 00:07:57.54\00:08:01.61 life. If David defeated a giant, it was because of God. 00:08:01.64\00:08:05.81 If his armies were victorious, it was because of God. 00:08:05.85\00:08:09.68 If his nation enjoyed peace, it was because of God. 00:08:09.72\00:08:13.92 This kind of natural awareness will lead to thanksgiving 00:08:13.96\00:08:17.76 more often than not. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 00:08:17.79\00:08:20.73 And so it's from David that I've decided today that 00:08:20.76\00:08:24.27 we use our text. Psalm 95: This is not just an 00:08:24.30\00:08:27.94 exhortation to worship, but within it is a directive 00:08:27.97\00:08:31.41 to give thanks. "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: 00:08:31.44\00:08:36.78 let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 00:08:36.81\00:08:42.48 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, 00:08:42.52\00:08:45.65 and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 00:08:45.69\00:08:47.86 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King 00:08:47.89\00:08:50.99 above all gods." But I want to concentrate on verse number 2. 00:08:51.03\00:08:53.13 Look at it. Psalm 95, verse 2, that's what I'm going to 00:08:53.16\00:08:55.23 concentrate on. "Let us come before his presence with"- 00:08:55.26\00:08:59.80 -everybody say "thanksgiving." Aud.: Thanksgiving. 00:08:59.83\00:09:02.00 PB: Come on, "Let us come before his presence with"--what, 00:09:02.04\00:09:04.87 everybody? Aud.: Thanksgiving. PB: Now, that means, when we 00:09:04.91\00:09:08.51 enter into God's presence we ought to come with thanksgiving. 00:09:08.54\00:09:12.65 In God's presence, we ought to come thanking God for 00:09:12.68\00:09:16.75 what God has done. And when you could come into a house 00:09:16.79\00:09:20.06 of God, when you come into the presence of God, 00:09:20.09\00:09:23.16 you've got to come correct. I don't care what's 00:09:23.19\00:09:25.99 happening in your life. But when you enter into His house, 00:09:26.03\00:09:29.73 you've got to enter with thanksgiving, because I don't 00:09:29.76\00:09:33.80 care how bad your situation is, you've got to be thankful 00:09:33.84\00:09:38.37 for something. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Your car 00:09:38.41\00:09:40.94 may be barely running, but thank God you're not walking. 00:09:40.98\00:09:44.35 You may not have the house you want, but praise God you've 00:09:44.38\00:09:48.45 got a roof over your head. You may not have any money 00:09:48.48\00:09:51.39 in your pocket, but at least you've got some food on your 00:09:51.42\00:09:55.22 table. You've had some good days; you've had some bad days. 00:09:55.26\00:09:59.16 You've had some hills to climb, but when you look around 00:09:59.19\00:10:03.26 and think things over, all of your good days outweigh 00:10:03.30\00:10:07.77 your bad days. Stop complaining. Aud.: All right! 00:10:07.80\00:10:11.91 PB: When you walk into God's house, stop complaining. 00:10:11.94\00:10:15.54 Start giving God thanks when you walk in His house. 00:10:15.58\00:10:18.41 Start praising God when you walk in this house. 00:10:18.45\00:10:21.45 Start worshipping God when you walk in His house. 00:10:21.48\00:10:24.29 David said in Psalm 100, "Enter into his gates with"- 00:10:24.32\00:10:27.36 -what, everybody? Aud.: Thanksgiving. 00:10:27.39\00:10:28.96 PB: "Into his courts with"--what? Aud.: Praise. 00:10:28.99\00:10:31.09 PB: And be what unto Him? Thankful unto Him. 00:10:31.13\00:10:32.33 [Aud. reaction] PB: But this is where I want to 00:10:32.36\00:10:36.60 focus today, 'cause I can get you shouting on that. 00:10:36.63\00:10:38.43 But let me just say, I want to remind you that 00:10:38.47\00:10:42.47 God today has not just called us to thank Him for 00:10:42.50\00:10:46.01 the big things, but we've got to learn how to thank 00:10:46.04\00:10:49.44 God for the little things, too. That means, 00:10:49.48\00:10:52.78 healthy children, the good parking spots--ha, 00:10:52.81\00:10:58.12 ha--the avoided car accidents. I'm here to let 00:10:58.15\00:11:04.89 you know, anything we call luck, it wasn't luck. 00:11:04.93\00:11:08.86 It all happened according to God's sovereign will. 00:11:08.90\00:11:13.70 [Aud. reaction] PB: So Paul says, in the New Testament, 00:11:13.74\00:11:15.77 in Ephesians chapter 5:20, "Giving thanks always for 00:11:15.80\00:11:19.77 all things unto God and the Father in the name of our 00:11:19.81\00:11:23.04 Lord Jesus Christ." He continues in First Thessalonians 5:18, 00:11:23.08\00:11:26.31 it says, "In everything"--in what kind of things? 00:11:26.35\00:11:29.15 Aud.: Everything. PB: Give what, everybody? Thanks. 00:11:29.18\00:11:31.35 "For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 00:11:31.39\00:11:34.82 Which means, be thankful for little things. Be thankful for 00:11:34.86\00:11:41.90 big things. Be thankful for all things. But too often we only 00:11:41.93\00:11:47.54 want to thank God for the big stuff: the new job, the new 00:11:47.57\00:11:52.41 house, the new car, the healing over cancer, the saving of your 00:11:52.44\00:11:59.31 marriage, the money for tuition. We praise God in the big things- 00:11:59.35\00:12:06.32 -and praise God for the big things, praise Him for the 00:12:06.35\00:12:08.39 big miracle--but what about the other things? 00:12:08.42\00:12:10.86 What about the daily, regular, standard, ordinary, 00:12:10.89\00:12:13.80 customary, habitual, expected things? The little things 00:12:13.83\00:12:17.30 that nobody knows but us that we so often take for granted. 00:12:17.33\00:12:21.40 You see, when our power is shut off, we suddenly become 00:12:21.44\00:12:27.01 thankful for electricity. Do I have a witness in this place? 00:12:27.04\00:12:29.78 When our garbage is not picked up--you know they have a 00:12:29.81\00:12:32.68 holiday during the week and sometimes the garbage is not 00:12:32.71\00:12:34.48 picked up on the garbage day--we suddenly become thankful 00:12:34.52\00:12:37.79 the for garbage collector's weekly stop. 00:12:37.82\00:12:40.32 When I was in Flint earlier this year, water had become 00:12:40.36\00:12:44.29 too polluted to drink. Suddenly the people began to 00:12:44.33\00:12:47.36 appreciate good water. You don't know what you have 00:12:47.40\00:12:51.67 'till it's gone. A story is told of a young man whose father 00:12:51.70\00:12:55.57 had to undergo radiation treatment for throat cancer, 00:12:55.60\00:12:58.91 but the therapy damaged his taste buds so much that the 00:12:58.94\00:13:02.31 man couldn't taste his food. His inability to enjoy a meal 00:13:02.34\00:13:05.58 made eating a dreaded duty. So the doctors told him that look, 00:13:05.61\00:13:10.29 your taste might return after the treatments are finished, 00:13:10.32\00:13:14.42 but we can't guarantee that. Weeks passed; months passed. 00:13:14.46\00:13:18.66 Every meal was like forced feeding to keep the man alive. 00:13:18.69\00:13:23.73 After eating flavorless food for over a year, the man sat 00:13:23.77\00:13:28.37 down for dinner one evening, and reluctantly he forced his 00:13:28.40\00:13:32.11 fork inside his mouth, and he discovered that his taste had 00:13:32.14\00:13:37.51 returned. What most people would call a bland dinner became 00:13:37.55\00:13:44.42 the best meal the man had ever eaten in his life. Y'all 00:13:44.45\00:13:48.29 don't hear what I'm saying. Through losing his taste and 00:13:48.32\00:13:52.79 then regaining it, the man began to relish each bite as never 00:13:52.83\00:13:58.20 before. He became thankful for the ability to taste, because 00:13:58.23\00:14:04.17 now he had a reference point. He would never forget what it was 00:14:04.21\00:14:08.54 like to eat tasteless food. But you don't have to lose something 00:14:08.58\00:14:13.68 in order to be thankful. You can developed a taste for your 00:14:13.72\00:14:18.05 blessings by realizing what life would be without them. 00:14:18.09\00:14:21.52 If I must testify today, the older that I get--I mean, 00:14:21.56\00:14:27.23 we're about to go into 2017, I'll be 45 years old. 00:14:27.30\00:14:29.60 I can't believe that. I'm five years from 50, help me, Holy 00:14:29.63\00:14:33.67 Ghost. [Aud. reaction] PB: The older I get, the more I 00:14:33.70\00:14:41.61 realize that it's the little things in life. Oh, I wish I had 00:14:41.64\00:14:46.51 a witness in this place. [Aud. reaction] 00:14:46.55\00:14:48.38 PB: That makes a big difference in life. Somebody still 00:14:48.42\00:14:52.22 doesn't believe me. I've got a couple of illustrations. 00:14:52.25\00:14:53.99 Let me illustrate this way and then I'm going to sit down. 00:14:54.02\00:14:55.96 I travel a lot, you know I travel a lot. And because 00:14:55.99\00:14:59.13 I travel a lot, I see a lot. And because I see a lot, 00:14:59.16\00:15:01.43 I learn a lot. I wish I had somebody who know what 00:15:01.46\00:15:05.57 I was talking about. When I was younger, earlier in 00:15:05.60\00:15:08.94 my ministry--hard to believe, I've been doing this 22 00:15:08.97\00:15:11.04 years now--when I was younger, earlier in my ministry, 00:15:11.07\00:15:14.34 I remember speaking for an event and the host to that 00:15:14.38\00:15:18.05 event put me in a five-star hotel. Now, I was just 00:15:18.08\00:15:23.08 getting started in ministry. I was not where I am today. 00:15:23.12\00:15:30.03 I was just happy to get an invitation, does somebody know 00:15:30.06\00:15:33.60 what I'm talking about? But the host put me in this fine hotel. 00:15:33.63\00:15:38.87 Ocean view, doorman to open the door for you, bellhop to push 00:15:38.90\00:15:44.87 your elevator floor, Jacuzzi in the bathroom, television in 00:15:44.91\00:15:51.05 the bathroom window, La-Z-Boy recliner. You name it, 00:15:51.08\00:15:57.69 this hotel had it. On the last day of my stay in the hotel 00:15:57.72\00:16:02.46 I woke up, and I saw the bill underneath my door. And when 00:16:02.49\00:16:08.90 I saw how much my hosts had paid for the hotel--it was about 00:16:08.93\00:16:13.67 $200 per night back then--I said, woo-oo! I'm in high 00:16:13.70\00:16:19.54 cotton right now. [Aud. reaction] 00:16:19.57\00:16:22.41 PB: But when I saw the pastor, I told the pastor, 00:16:22.44\00:16:24.88 "Elder, that doesn't make any sense." I told him, I said, 00:16:24.91\00:16:30.22 "I could have stayed in a Days Inn, Motel 6, for $29.99. 00:16:30.25\00:16:37.79 Some of y'all are old enough to remember the Motel 6 signs- 00:16:37.83\00:16:40.86 -$29.99. But let the record reflect, I've gotten a 00:16:40.90\00:16:46.30 little older now. I don't do that anymore. 00:16:46.33\00:16:49.77 Do I have a witness in this place? But back then, 00:16:49.80\00:16:52.51 I said to myself, this is ridiculous! All I'm going 00:16:52.54\00:16:56.64 to do is lie down. Anywhere will do. A room is a room- 00:16:56.68\00:17:01.88 -until I got to that room. Now, it's true that 00:17:01.92\00:17:07.12 both were hotels. Both had beds. Both had ice buckets. 00:17:07.16\00:17:12.69 Both had showers. Both had restrooms. In fact, 00:17:12.73\00:17:17.53 they were similar. But it was the little things. 00:17:17.57\00:17:22.44 I had never noticed before that at the 00:17:22.47\00:17:25.07 Days Inn there were no big, fluffy towels to use. 00:17:25.11\00:17:29.74 [Aud. reaction] PB: That the towels were thin and drab. 00:17:29.78\00:17:35.05 Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 00:17:35.08\00:17:37.09 [Aud. reaction] PB: I never noticed at the Days Inn 00:17:37.12\00:17:39.25 that when you opened up the door, that you stepped 00:17:39.29\00:17:41.16 immediately outside with no hallway. I never noticed 00:17:41.19\00:17:45.73 that you had to carry your bags up and down the stairs 00:17:45.76\00:17:48.90 by yourself. I didn't notice anything about room service 00:17:48.93\00:17:53.77 or not having room service. I didn't notice that they 00:17:53.80\00:17:56.91 didn't put bottled water or anything like that in the room. 00:17:56.94\00:17:59.37 I didn't notice that they didn't have a coffee maker 00:17:59.41\00:18:02.71 that you could put water in to boil so you could make 00:18:02.74\00:18:05.75 some hot tea. Isn't it funny today, how the little things 00:18:05.78\00:18:11.72 define the difference between class and deprivation? 00:18:11.75\00:18:17.56 Between success and failure. It's always the little things, 00:18:17.59\00:18:23.90 and your specificity to detail to the little things will 00:18:23.93\00:18:28.14 determine how far you go in life. Listen to me good. 00:18:28.17\00:18:32.01 The difference between a poor manager and a good manager 00:18:32.04\00:18:34.64 is in the little things. The difference between a 20-dollar 00:18:34.68\00:18:38.05 room and a 200-dollar room is the little things. 00:18:38.08\00:18:40.05 The difference between a woman and a wife-- 00:18:40.08\00:18:43.49 [Aud. reaction] PB: --are the little things. 00:18:43.52\00:18:48.06 The difference between a man and a husband are the 00:18:48.09\00:18:52.63 little things. The difference between a pastor and 00:18:52.66\00:18:58.27 a preacher are the little things. Little things are 00:18:58.30\00:19:04.21 important. The difference between 5,000-dollar evening 00:19:04.24\00:19:08.04 gown and an $89.99 special from Tar-jay--ha. Somebody's sitting 00:19:08.08\00:19:16.58 there talking about "What is Tar-jay?" [Aud. reaction] 00:19:16.62\00:19:19.15 PB: Tar-jay is a fine name for Target. [Aud. reaction] 00:19:19.19\00:19:24.83 PB: If you can't spend the money, just change the name. 00:19:24.86\00:19:27.20 I wish I had a witness in this place. [applause] 00:19:27.23\00:19:29.53 PB: Tar-jay. [laughter] 00:19:29.56\00:19:33.07 PB: "Where did you get that?" "Dollar gen-a-ral." 00:19:33.10\00:19:36.10 [laughter] PB: Wal-a-mar, Swal-a-mar. Y'all laughing, 00:19:36.14\00:19:42.98 but don't knock Target! If you look good enough, 00:19:43.01\00:19:46.41 you'll find something. Are you hearing what I'm saying, 00:19:46.45\00:19:49.45 somebody? [Aud. reaction] PB: It's the little things that make 00:19:49.48\00:19:53.15 the difference, and we serve a God who's interested in the 00:19:53.19\00:19:57.56 little things. You're praying about big things. You want the 00:19:57.59\00:20:02.10 big miracles. You want to get up in Oakwood and testify about the 00:20:02.13\00:20:05.93 big things. But I'm here to let somebody know that you're also 00:20:05.97\00:20:08.84 praying to a God who specializes in little things, and before God 00:20:08.87\00:20:14.84 can bless you with big things, He has to be able to trust you with little things. 00:20:14.88\00:20:20.42 [Aud. reaction] PB: Now listen to my ___. Listen to me. 00:20:20.45\00:20:23.79 I don't care how smart I was. I don't care how good I was. 00:20:23.82\00:20:26.92 I don't care how talented I was. When I graduated from 00:20:26.96\00:20:35.30 Oakwood 22 years ago, I was not ready to pastor the Oakwood 00:20:35.33\00:20:41.70 Church. I may have thought I was, but I wasn't ready. Some of 00:20:41.74\00:20:49.94 the people in this church knew me back then, and they'll tell 00:20:49.98\00:20:51.75 you the same person who I am today is pretty much who I was 00:20:51.78\00:20:56.02 22 years ago. But I'm very clear, and so are they, that 22 00:20:56.05\00:21:00.12 years ago I was not ready to pastor this church. I needed to go to Soso, Mississippi. 00:21:00.16\00:21:06.19 I needed to go to Laurel, Mississippi. I needed to go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 00:21:06.23\00:21:12.53 I needed to go to Eutaw, Alabama--yes, there is a place called Eutaw, Alabama. 00:21:12.57\00:21:18.37 I needed to go to Brent, Alabama--why? I had to be trusted with little 00:21:18.41\00:21:24.95 things before I got to the big things. And I'm learning that 00:21:24.98\00:21:31.72 the little things take time. But we're raising a generation 00:21:31.75\00:21:37.86 of young people who want everything now. We want instant 00:21:37.89\00:21:46.03 gratification, instant success, instant grits. [Aud. reaction] 00:21:46.07\00:21:54.04 PB: Instant popcorn, instant fast food, instant husbands. 00:21:54.08\00:22:02.38 [Aud. reaction] PB: Instant wives. And we wonder 00:22:02.42\00:22:08.39 why things don't work. It's because we don't take the 00:22:08.42\00:22:10.66 time to go through the process of development. 00:22:10.69\00:22:13.19 People tell me, "Oh, you're at Oakwood now." 00:22:13.23\00:22:15.00 You don't know how I cried. You don't know how I labored. 00:22:15.03\00:22:17.93 You don't know how I would get to the church at 7 a.m. 00:22:17.97\00:22:20.87 everywhere I pastored and stayed there till 7 o'clock 00:22:20.90\00:22:23.10 at night, till the work of God was done. If you're going 00:22:23.14\00:22:26.74 to be in big things, you've got to be faithful in little things. 00:22:26.78\00:22:30.85 Speaking of grits. Most of our young people today 00:22:30.88\00:22:36.25 have never even tasted real grits. The stuff we eat today, 00:22:36.28\00:22:40.76 that ain't real grits. Come on, say amen. Anything you can 00:22:40.79\00:22:43.83 put in a bag and put in a microwave is not the real thing. 00:22:43.86\00:22:46.43 Does anybody know what I'm talking about? 00:22:46.46\00:22:48.43 [Aud. reaction] PB: Young folk don't know anything about 00:22:48.46\00:22:49.93 real biscuits. My momma Marie used to make real biscuits, 00:22:49.96\00:22:54.87 back in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She used to make a thing 00:22:54.90\00:22:58.61 we called tea cakes. Those were real biscuits, because if 00:22:58.64\00:23:03.48 you have to pop a biscuit on the side of a refrigerator to 00:23:03.51\00:23:06.55 get the can open, that's not a biscuit. [laughter] 00:23:06.58\00:23:10.52 PB: It might look like a biscuit, it might smell like 00:23:10.55\00:23:16.62 a biscuit, but it doesn't taste like a real biscuit. 00:23:16.66\00:23:21.56 A real biscuit has to be in a little flour, a little water, 00:23:21.60\00:23:25.90 a little oil. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 00:23:25.93\00:23:29.47 But somebody knows that the key to real biscuits is not 00:23:29.50\00:23:32.44 in the ingredients, but it's in the handling of the dough. 00:23:32.47\00:23:36.18 So no one say it's not, they don't know what I'm talking 00:23:36.21\00:23:39.11 about. The dough must be handled as little as possible or you 00:23:39.15\00:23:42.42 will have tough biscuits, do you know what I'm talking about? 00:23:42.45\00:23:46.15 This stuff we're eating, they ain't real biscuits. 00:23:46.19\00:23:48.96 Most young people don't understand that. They don't 00:23:48.99\00:23:51.59 understand it takes time. I'm learning. It takes time to 00:23:51.63\00:23:56.87 be a great preacher. Just because you know some 00:23:56.90\00:24:00.64 Scriptures, that doesn't make you a great preacher. It takes 00:24:00.67\00:24:04.41 time to be a great pastor. Just because you have a church 00:24:04.44\00:24:07.58 doesn't make you a great pastor. It takes time to be a great 00:24:07.61\00:24:12.25 husband. Just because you're a male doesn't make you a great 00:24:12.28\00:24:15.35 man, because a man is always a male but a male is not always a 00:24:15.38\00:24:18.49 man. You're a male by birth but a man by choice. 00:24:18.52\00:24:21.96 [Aud. reaction] PB: It takes time to be a good wife. 00:24:21.99\00:24:26.83 Just because you buy a wedding dress doesn't make 00:24:26.86\00:24:29.30 you a great wife. It may make you a great bride but it 00:24:29.33\00:24:32.73 doesn't make you a great wife. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 00:24:32.77\00:24:35.14 That in order to be blessed with big things, you've got to 00:24:35.17\00:24:39.27 be faithful in little things. Let me further illustrate- 00:24:39.31\00:24:43.45 -last illustration. Whenever I'm making an assessment about 00:24:43.48\00:24:47.82 the quality and integrity of a person I'm going to talk to, 00:24:47.85\00:24:51.49 do business with or deal with--'cause we all have to deal 00:24:51.52\00:24:56.76 with business--I never evaluate them on how they treat me. 00:24:56.79\00:25:01.16 Listen to me. I never evaluate them based on how they treat me, 00:25:01.20\00:25:06.87 because they will look at me and treat me a different way because 00:25:06.90\00:25:10.27 I'm the pastor, than how they treat somebody else. Why? 00:25:10.31\00:25:14.91 Because they need something from me. So, when I look at you, 00:25:14.94\00:25:20.72 and I'm talking to you, I don't necessarily go by how you treat 00:25:20.75\00:25:25.52 me, I go by how you treat somebody else. Never judge a 00:25:25.55\00:25:31.46 person by how they treat somebody they think they need. 00:25:31.49\00:25:35.10 Always watch how they treat somebody they don't need. 00:25:35.13\00:25:37.00 I'm doing the best I can. Did they tip the skycap at the 00:25:37.03\00:25:46.94 airport? Were they nice to your secretary? Were they nice to the 00:25:46.98\00:25:54.98 house people? Did they leave a tip for the waitress or waiter? 00:25:55.02\00:26:01.76 How do they speak to the waitress or the waiter? I'm not 00:26:01.79\00:26:06.33 really evaluating how you talk to me, but when you turned your 00:26:06.36\00:26:10.53 head and you talked to him or her, how did you speak? Because 00:26:10.57\00:26:15.67 it tells me that as soon as you get used to me, you're going to 00:26:15.70\00:26:19.01 treat me the same way you've treated him and you've treated 00:26:19.04\00:26:24.25 her. Do I have a witness in this place? 00:26:24.28\00:26:26.48 Don't despise little things. Don't play down little things. 00:26:26.51\00:26:32.99 Don't despise what you perceived to be little people, 00:26:33.02\00:26:37.13 because big things come in small packages. 00:26:37.16\00:26:41.40 Aud.: Amen. PB: Why else, when faced with a giant 00:26:41.43\00:26:45.00 like Goliath would God step past all those soldiers 00:26:45.03\00:26:49.30 who had been in training? Why would God pass up mighty 00:26:49.34\00:26:53.78 gladiating soldiers of Israel and say, "I don't want you." 00:26:53.81\00:26:59.65 And then go get a little shepherd boy, who was out in the 00:26:59.68\00:27:04.19 field taking care of sheep. But God sends him out to 00:27:04.22\00:27:11.16 fight a giant. You've got a boy over here, 00:27:11.19\00:27:16.03 and a giant over there. The boy is winding up his slingshot. 00:27:16.06\00:27:22.67 He doesn't even have a sword in his hand. He's got a rock 00:27:22.70\00:27:27.34 in his hand, and he says, "I come at you in the name of the 00:27:27.38\00:27:34.65 Lord." The giant laughed at first, until he found out about 00:27:34.68\00:27:40.86 the power of a little things; that big things do come in small 00:27:40.89\00:27:46.39 packages. You're saying, "Lord, I don't have but a little bit." 00:27:46.43\00:27:50.10 But God says, "All I need is a little bit. I'm going to use 00:27:50.13\00:27:54.60 the little things." All Gideon needed was 300 men. 00:27:54.64\00:27:59.04 All the little boy needed were two fish and five loaves of 00:27:59.07\00:28:02.64 bread. All David needed were five smooth stones. You'd better 00:28:02.68\00:28:07.42 tell somebody that God can use little things. I should warn you 00:28:07.45\00:28:12.95 today about looking over little things. I should warn you about 00:28:12.99\00:28:16.26 stepping over what you think are little things. 00:28:16.29\00:28:18.43 Thank you for joining us for another exciting 00:28:18.46\00:28:19.66 Breath of Life television broadcast. 00:28:19.69\00:28:21.13 Tune in next week at the same time, 00:28:21.16\00:28:23.16 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message from the Lord, 00:28:23.20\00:28:26.77 just for you. Until next time, may God bless you. 00:28:26.80\00:28:41.82