(Breath of Life Theme Music) 00:00:01.13\00:00:06.77 Sermon #B685 - Lose Some Weight 00:00:06.80\00:00:20.82 Dr. Byrd: I want to get right in the word of God today and so if you have your Bibles, 00:00:20.85\00:00:23.89 I invite you to take them and turn with me to the book of 00:00:23.92\00:00:27.56 Hebrews. Hebrews chapter twelve and we are going to verses one and two, just two verses today. 00:00:27.59\00:00:32.33 Hebrews 12:1-2, and I am going to read from the King James Version of the Bible. 00:00:32.36\00:00:37.40 Hebrews 12:1-2, the word of God says, 00:00:37.43\00:00:42.24 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 00:00:42.27\00:00:47.48 let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so doth easily 00:00:47.51\00:00:53.98 beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set 00:00:54.02\00:00:59.79 before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of 00:00:59.82\00:01:03.39 our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, 00:01:03.43\00:01:09.33 and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God." 00:01:09.36\00:01:14.50 Today, our message is simply entitled "Lose Some Weight." 00:01:14.54\00:01:19.94 Lose Some Weight. God, right now, at this moment, in this space, in this time, 00:01:19.97\00:01:26.82 we need you and we want you and God we ask that you would move by your Holy Ghost right now. 00:01:26.85\00:01:32.09 There are people over the internet airwaves, 00:01:32.12\00:01:35.09 television airwaves that need to hear a word from you so speak 00:01:35.12\00:01:39.96 Lord right now. Speak for your servants here at hiding behind your cross, forgive me of my 00:01:40.00\00:01:44.13 sins, and may this word go forward, we pray this day and we promise we will give you the 00:01:44.17\00:01:49.77 praise, the honor, and the glory so take these lips of clay and may your people not see me, 00:01:49.80\00:01:56.21 may they hear me, but may they see Jesus. May they hear Jesus and may they never be the same 00:01:56.24\00:02:02.35 again. It is in his name we pray, begging for forgiveness of sin, let everyone say Amen and 00:02:02.38\00:02:09.32 Amen. Lose Some Weight. For the past six months, 00:02:09.36\00:02:15.80 many of us have been cooped up in our homes unable to go outside like normal. 00:02:15.83\00:02:22.64 We have been sheltered in place and because we do not smoke, drink, or two, we have been 00:02:22.67\00:02:29.41 eating, eating, and still eating. Many people are now on what I call a seafood diet if 00:02:29.44\00:02:37.22 they see it, they eat it. Are you hearing what I am saying? 00:02:37.25\00:02:39.85 In fact, we have been eating so much that I was reading this week in a Web MD poll 00:02:39.89\00:02:45.43 where it said that adults in the United States have gained an average of eight pounds 00:02:45.46\00:02:51.10 since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to weight loss product 00:02:51.13\00:02:56.84 and service provider Nutrisystem, 76% of Americans have gained up to sixteen pounds 00:02:56.87\00:03:06.25 from the mid-march COVID-19 quarantines. 00:03:06.28\00:03:11.29 Life in lockdown has created the perfect setup for putting on 00:03:11.32\00:03:18.99 pounds. In fact, two new terms have made their way to our 00:03:19.03\00:03:24.20 vocabulary. The quarantine fifteen or the COVID-19 which simply means you must have 00:03:24.23\00:03:33.44 gained fifteen pounds during quarantine or nineteen pounds during COVID. But long before 00:03:33.48\00:03:42.38 the coronavirus pandemic hit, the need to lose weight was always at the forefront of our 00:03:42.42\00:03:49.09 lives resulting in hundreds of us spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars trying to 00:03:49.12\00:03:55.03 lose weight. Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, the South Beach Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, LA 00:03:55.06\00:04:06.98 Fitness, the YMCA, Gold's Gym, that tread mill, the stationary bicycle. You name it, we have 00:04:07.01\00:04:18.25 done it. Now before we had smart TVs and Netflix and Hulu and YouTube, people would buy 00:04:18.29\00:04:26.36 aerobic and exercise videos only for many of them to end up sitting in front of the 00:04:26.39\00:04:34.47 television watching somebody else work out on tape while they ate ice cream and potato chips 00:04:34.50\00:04:42.58 talking about, "I am tired. I am worn out. I will do this tomorrow." And what happens is, 00:04:42.61\00:04:48.82 tomorrow becomes next week. Next week becomes next month. Next month becomes next year. 00:04:48.85\00:04:53.59 But I am here to tell somebody, stop eating all that ice cream, 00:04:53.62\00:04:59.03 lose some weight. Stop eating all those potato chips, lose some weight. Stop eating all 00:04:59.06\00:05:05.23 that fried chicken, that is right, fried chicken because every one of you is not a 00:05:05.27\00:05:09.00 vegetarian. Fried chicken or vegetarian, fried chicken, and french fries lose some weight. 00:05:09.04\00:05:14.68 Stop eating all that chocolate cake, that red velvet cake, that carrot cake, that pound cake, 00:05:14.71\00:05:21.42 that apple pie, that sweet potato pie, that key lime pie, that pecan pie, lose some 00:05:21.45\00:05:29.26 weight. Stop drinking all those sodas, lose some weight 00:05:29.29\00:05:33.50 and I am here to tell that person who is out there trying to lose some weight, 00:05:33.53\00:05:36.87 let me encourage you right now. Losing weight is a challenge. It is rough but it is not 00:05:36.90\00:05:43.67 impossible. I need you to be encouraged today because, in the name of Jesus Christ, 00:05:43.71\00:05:47.74 I am a witness that you can lose some weight. But allow me now to 00:05:47.78\00:05:52.75 shift and move from the physical and let us now move to the 00:05:52.78\00:05:56.89 spiritual. And let me remind somebody today that you need to lose weight not just in the 00:05:56.92\00:06:02.89 physical but you need to lose some weight in the spiritual 00:06:02.92\00:06:05.93 because of the truth be told if we seeing the devil today, 00:06:05.96\00:06:09.53 too many of us are carrying around excess spiritual weight 00:06:09.56\00:06:13.20 in our lives that is causing us to be spiritually out of shape. 00:06:13.23\00:06:18.51 What am I talking about? Too many of us have demonic diets filled with carnal calories that 00:06:18.54\00:06:23.95 are affecting every area of our lives. But if you are going to be what God has called you to 00:06:23.98\00:06:28.85 be, you better lose some weight. More specifically you better understand that you are going to 00:06:28.88\00:06:33.02 have to let some things go in your life. You are going to have to let some people go in your 00:06:33.05\00:06:38.56 life. You have got to rid yourself of the unwanted baggage 00:06:38.59\00:06:42.86 in your life and you have got to declare I need to lose some 00:06:42.90\00:06:46.37 weight. Now, when we look at our text, the writer of Hebrews is talking about running a race. 00:06:46.40\00:06:51.54 And anyone who has ever run a race knows that you got to watch 00:06:51.57\00:06:55.54 your weight because excess weight can hinder your progress 00:06:55.58\00:06:59.35 in a race. Are you hearing what I am saying? The text says in 00:06:59.38\00:07:05.12 Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we are also compared about with so great a cloud of witnesses. 00:07:05.15\00:07:11.66 Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily 00:07:11.69\00:07:16.13 besets us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." That is Hebrews 00:07:16.16\00:07:21.87 12:1. The writer begins in Hebrews of telling us that we have a great cloud of witnesses. 00:07:21.90\00:07:27.84 We have great deal of examples, a great number of pioneers who 00:07:27.88\00:07:33.78 blazed the trail before us who can show us through their experience how we ought to run 00:07:33.82\00:07:39.95 this race. Now, remember our text is found in Hebrews twelve which means then that Hebrews 00:07:39.99\00:07:45.89 eleven comes before Hebrews twelve. Are you hearing what I 00:07:45.93\00:07:48.83 am saying? In Hebrews eleven, we have the Great Hall of Faith. In Hebrews eleven it says, 00:07:48.86\00:07:55.77 "Multiple people, multiple times by faith this happened, by faith 00:07:55.80\00:08:01.88 that happened and it shares the testimonies of those who had 00:08:01.91\00:08:06.18 great faith." Now you need to understand that these people were human just like you and me. 00:08:06.21\00:08:11.39 I mean we are sitting up here whining because somebody does 00:08:11.42\00:08:16.83 not like you. Crying because somebody is talking about you. But I can hear brother Job 00:08:16.86\00:08:22.16 saying, "Can you please come down and sit at my table 00:08:22.20\00:08:25.60 and let me tell you what going through is really all about. I lost everything I had. 00:08:25.63\00:08:31.47 I lost everything. My health went bad. My wife started tripping, she told me to curse 00:08:31.51\00:08:38.71 God and die. My children died. My cattle died, my stocks crash." And if I can say the 00:08:38.75\00:08:45.02 Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away but blessed be the name of the Lord. If I can say that in 00:08:45.05\00:08:50.86 all my days, I will wait till my change comes. What are you whining about? What are you 00:08:50.89\00:08:56.13 crying about? If you have got the faith, I am here to tell you God has got the power. 00:08:56.16\00:09:00.57 Hebrews eleven starts out by saying faith is. Those two 00:09:00.60\00:09:07.31 words, faith is. They are powerful because the Bible does 00:09:07.34\00:09:10.28 not say faith was. The Bible does not say faith was going to be. The Bible does not say faith 00:09:10.31\00:09:15.02 will be. The Bible says faith is. I wish I had somebody in his 00:09:15.05\00:09:18.12 church. If you are going to then run this race, if you are going to lose some weight, 00:09:18.15\00:09:23.43 your faith has to be right now. I wish I had a witness in this place. Every day I wake up, 00:09:23.46\00:09:28.53 I have got to understand that faith is. When I go to sleep, faith is. When I wake up, faith 00:09:28.56\00:09:35.00 is. When I kiss my wife and my kids goodbye in the morning, faith is. When I start my car, 00:09:35.04\00:09:41.41 faith is. When I drive to the church, faith is. When I pray for the sick, faith is. 00:09:41.44\00:09:46.11 When I have sickness in my own body, faith is. When I pay my bills, faith is. It is all about 00:09:46.15\00:09:53.66 faith. You have got to believe that while you are running this 00:09:53.69\00:09:55.46 race. If God said he is going to do something, you better believe that God is going to do it. 00:09:55.49\00:09:59.09 By faith, I believe that God's word will not return unto Him 00:09:59.13\00:10:02.16 void but it will accomplish just what it sets out to do. By faith, you can be delivered. 00:10:02.20\00:10:07.07 By faith, you can be healed. By faith, you can be set free. By faith, you can be debt-free. 00:10:07.10\00:10:14.51 By faith, if he breaks your heart, you can find somebody else. By faith, if she breaks 00:10:14.54\00:10:20.45 your heart, you can still make it. By faith, if they lay you off, God will still make a way 00:10:20.48\00:10:25.39 somehow. And by faith, if they talk about that God will keep 00:10:25.42\00:10:29.12 you. By faith, it does not make a difference what your situation looks like because we walk by 00:10:29.16\00:10:33.90 faith, not by sight. In God I put my trust, all my battles he 00:10:33.93\00:10:38.60 will fight. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, 00:10:38.63\00:10:40.77 the evidence of things not seen so every day I wake up in the 00:10:40.80\00:10:44.51 morning. I wake up and my faith is which means I wake up in 00:10:44.54\00:10:50.71 anticipation. I sit on the edge of my seat knowing that something is getting ready to 00:10:50.75\00:10:55.98 happen in my life. But the text continues after the text begins and tells us we have a cloud of 00:10:56.02\00:11:01.36 witnesses, the text Hebrews 12:1 continues, and says, 00:11:01.39\00:11:04.43 "Let us lay aside every weight and the sins that have so easily 00:11:04.46\00:11:11.43 beset us." Now with the writer is talking about now is weight elimination. Notice, now, in the 00:11:11.47\00:11:16.57 text, the text is not saying every weight. The text says rather every weight. 00:11:16.60\00:11:22.68 The text does not say one weight. The text is not even saying a few weights. 00:11:22.71\00:11:28.18 The text does not say some weights but the text says every 00:11:28.22\00:11:33.62 weight. You see it is not just one thing that is weighing you 00:11:33.66\00:11:36.93 down. It is a whole lot of stuff that is weighing you down and with these weights, 00:11:36.96\00:11:39.69 you can run like God needs you to run. You can not carry around all this weight and be 00:11:39.73\00:11:43.93 effective. Let me tell you something. 00:11:43.97\00:11:45.37 You see many of us. 00:11:45.40\00:11:47.64 We would have already achieved some of our goals in life if we did not have all this just to 00:11:47.67\00:11:52.77 weighing us down. Just stuff in excess. 00:11:52.81\00:11:55.81 Just stuff we know we do not need in our lives weigh in us 00:11:55.84\00:11:59.75 down and the longer you try to run ignoring the reality, 00:11:59.78\00:12:03.59 the more you going to get frustrated but you got to let it go. Can I be real today? 00:12:03.62\00:12:08.72 You can not keep going through life holding on to stuff that somebody did to you ten years 00:12:08.76\00:12:12.76 ago. You got to let that stuff go. You got to lose that weight. 00:12:12.79\00:12:17.07 You can not still hold a grudge against somebody for fifteen 00:12:17.10\00:12:20.60 years. They are going on with their lives and you still struggling with the weight, 00:12:20.64\00:12:23.74 you got to lose some weight. Some of you right now, you can not let go of your ex 00:12:23.77\00:12:28.04 and that is why you can not move on to your next because you still hold it onto that weight. 00:12:28.08\00:12:32.71 You can not keep holding on to trifling people 00:12:32.75\00:12:35.48 and negative folk that you have got in your life that every time 00:12:35.52\00:12:39.72 you call them, they just weigh you down. Every time you get off the phone with him, 00:12:39.75\00:12:44.53 they just weigh you down you just feel heavy. Every time you see him coming you saying to 00:12:44.56\00:12:49.56 your spirit, oh, no here they come. Here they come I feel a weight coming on me. 00:12:49.60\00:12:54.84 Why are you doing that to yourself? 00:12:54.87\00:12:56.74 Why are you still hanging around folk that drains your spirits with all their negativity? 00:12:56.77\00:13:02.21 Folk that saps out all of your energy. Folk that sucks the very 00:13:02.24\00:13:07.05 life out of you. When you are walking around with something heavy, Jesus is in that. 00:13:07.08\00:13:12.45 What do you need to do? You need to lose some weight. Shake off 00:13:12.49\00:13:17.26 the hindrances. Shake off that stuff that is holding you back. The writer of Hebrews says, 00:13:17.29\00:13:20.30 "If he is writers took all those things that will slow them down 00:13:20.33\00:13:23.23 because they did not want to have any hindrances in the race." So that means any 00:13:23.26\00:13:27.07 weights, any burdens, any loads, you got to let him go. It could not hold on the baggage. 00:13:27.10\00:13:33.34 It could not hold on to weights, you got to let him go. If you look at runners today, 00:13:33.38\00:13:39.35 we often look at runners when they are running in the 00:13:39.38\00:13:41.35 Olympics. When you look at runners today, most of them only wear a shirt, a pair of shorts, 00:13:41.38\00:13:46.45 and a pair of shoes. The shirts, shorts, 00:13:46.49\00:13:48.36 and shoes are specifically made so that their light and nature, 00:13:48.39\00:13:51.93 and they would not hold the runner down. 00:13:51.96\00:13:53.53 You will never see a runner run with weights around his legs or 00:13:53.56\00:13:57.40 his ankles. They will never run with the extra load 00:13:57.43\00:14:00.40 because they know they will never win which means any impediment that is going to 00:14:00.44\00:14:04.97 hinder you in your running, you better take them off. Get rid of any sinful thoughts, 00:14:05.01\00:14:08.28 any sinful action, any sinful habit, any sinful relationship, you better lose some weight. 00:14:08.31\00:14:13.98 Fear, lose some weight. Lust, lose some weight. Envy, lose 00:14:14.02\00:14:19.82 some weight. Jealousy, lose some weight. 00:14:19.85\00:14:21.79 Pride, lose some weight. add- iction, lose some weight. Habits that are bad, lose some weight. 00:14:21.82\00:14:28.10 Gossip, lose some weight. Get rid of those things that will 00:14:28.13\00:14:33.13 hold you back. Whatever that you have that is holding you down, 00:14:33.17\00:14:37.77 get rid of it. The Bible says, "Lay aside every weight." The 00:14:37.81\00:14:41.24 Bible says, "Lay aside those sins that so easily beset us. 00:14:41.28\00:14:46.48 Let me tell you something. The race that we are into gets God's kingdom is not a sprint, 00:14:46.51\00:14:51.45 it is a marathon. And marathons require endurance. Endurance requires discipline. 00:14:51.49\00:14:57.99 The same discipline that it took to get some things out of your life is the same discipline that 00:14:58.03\00:15:02.86 it is going to take for you to be patient. Now, let me be 00:15:02.90\00:15:05.77 clear. Unless you have had gastric bypass surgery or the lap band procedure. Nobody loses 00:15:05.80\00:15:18.38 weight overnight. Now, you can believe all this stuff people talk about oh I did this 00:15:18.41\00:15:20.88 and I lose a hundred pounds in a week. That is not true. You do not lose weight overnight. 00:15:20.92\00:15:27.49 You have to work at it. It is not going to happen in a second. 00:15:27.52\00:15:32.33 If somebody hearing what I am saying, it is going to take a minute. You have to exercise. 00:15:32.36\00:15:38.97 You have to drink water. You have to diet. You have to stay off sweets. No garbage in. 00:15:39.00\00:15:46.61 No junk food. No fattening food. You have to endure. You have to 00:15:46.64\00:15:52.58 be disciplined. You have to be patient. You have to work at it until some of that stuff falls 00:15:52.61\00:15:58.52 off. Now, there are some people who would like you to think that they lost weight overnight. 00:15:58.55\00:16:02.79 Like you to believe they lost weight overnight 00:16:02.82\00:16:04.69 that they would want to make you believe it was all abracadabra 00:16:04.73\00:16:09.30 that they had some special anointing or something. But I am here to tell somebody that this 00:16:09.33\00:16:13.84 thing is race. This thing is a journey. This thing is day to 00:16:13.87\00:16:18.57 day. Let me throw this in, do not let church folk fool you just because they talk and look 00:16:18.61\00:16:24.38 spiritual. Do not let folk make you think that they are deeper 00:16:24.41\00:16:27.22 than you are or that they have got a first-class ticket into heaven or they have got an 00:16:27.25\00:16:31.89 insurance policy that guarantees them their salvation. 00:16:31.92\00:16:34.26 Let me tell you, he only difference between you 00:16:34.29\00:16:36.96 and them is they can cover up their stuff better than you. But they have got the same 00:16:36.99\00:16:42.63 struggles, the same issues, the same drama, the same weight that you have got in the name of 00:16:42.66\00:16:48.64 Jesus. This thing is a process, it is day to day. It is 00:16:48.67\00:16:54.21 sanctification. God's imparted righteousness and you have got to endure which means you are 00:16:54.24\00:16:59.58 going to cry sometimes. You are going to hurt sometimes. You are going to be alone sometimes. 00:16:59.61\00:17:03.39 You are going to be talked about sometimes. You are going to be criticized sometimes. 00:17:03.42\00:17:06.96 You are going to be lied on sometimes. You are going to be up late in the midnight hour 00:17:06.99\00:17:12.13 but I am here to tell somebody late in the midnight hour. God is going to turn that thing 00:17:12.16\00:17:17.43 around. He is going to work it out in your favor. This race requires endurance. 00:17:17.47\00:17:21.97 This race requires patience. You have got to be in this thing for 00:17:22.00\00:17:26.84 the long haul. You have got to make up in your mind that regardless of what I go through 00:17:26.88\00:17:31.41 I am not going anywhere until I get the promises of God, and the promises of God are yes and 00:17:31.45\00:17:36.95 amen. I am here to tell somebody the race is not given to the swift or to the strong 00:17:36.99\00:17:41.89 but to the one who endures to the end. You have got to keep on 00:17:41.92\00:17:45.89 running. You have got to run through the tears. You have got to run through the fears. 00:17:45.93\00:17:49.56 You have got to run to the store. You got to run through 00:17:49.60\00:17:52.93 the rain. You have got to run through sickness. You have got to run through pain. 00:17:52.97\00:17:56.27 You got to run when friends walk out on you. You got to run until 00:17:56.30\00:18:02.04 you debt free. You got to run until you get what you came for. You have got to say, 00:18:02.08\00:18:06.61 "I am going to stay in this race until I receive what God told 00:18:06.65\00:18:09.65 me. I am going to receive because what God has for me, it 00:18:09.68\00:18:13.25 is for me." How am I gonna get it? I am down now to my final 00:18:13.29\00:18:16.52 point. Hebrews 12:2, it says, "I have got to look unto Jesus the author and the finisher of my 00:18:16.56\00:18:23.33 faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, he despised the shame, 00:18:23.37\00:18:29.07 but right now he is seated at the right hand of the Throne of 00:18:29.10\00:18:33.54 God." In Greek, the word author here signifies captain or leader which means Jesus is my captain. 00:18:33.58\00:18:39.78 Jesus is the captain of my ship. 00:18:39.81\00:18:42.15 Jesus is my leader but the reference here in the text seems to be the judge in the games 00:18:42.18\00:18:48.22 whose business it was to admit the contenders and to give the prize to the conqueror. 00:18:48.26\00:18:52.83 Jesus is here in this text and he represents my presiding 00:18:52.86\00:18:58.97 officer. He admits the contenders and he gives the prize to the winners. 00:18:59.00\00:19:04.57 Jesus is the judge under whom and by whose permission and 00:19:04.61\00:19:09.58 direction. According to the rules of the heavenly race we are permitted to enter the race, 00:19:09.61\00:19:14.78 commence the race, and he is the finisher by awarding 00:19:14.82\00:19:18.85 and giving the prize which consummates the runners at the 00:19:18.89\00:19:22.66 end of the race. Are you hearing what I am saying? As a runner, I have watched the cloud of 00:19:22.69\00:19:27.36 witnesses. As a runner, I have watched the examples. As a runner, I have watched the 00:19:27.40\00:19:33.60 pioneers. I see those who have gone before me. I have to lay aside the weights. I am now 00:19:33.64\00:19:40.34 running the race. I have got patients. I have got endurance but now it is time for me to 00:19:40.38\00:19:46.01 look to Jesus, the author, and the finisher of my faith. Because if I look at you, I will 00:19:46.05\00:19:51.19 get discouraged. If I look at myself, I will get disillusioned. If I look at 00:19:51.22\00:19:56.52 other folks, I will get disheartened. But when I look at Jesus, I get delighted. When I 00:19:56.56\00:20:03.16 look at Jesus, I get excited. When I look at Jesus, I get energized. When I look at Jesus, 00:20:03.20\00:20:09.40 my soul gets on fire. It is like Jeremiah said, "It is like fire. Shut up in my bones." 00:20:09.44\00:20:14.84 Let me tell you something, I am about to take my seat but keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:20:14.88\00:20:19.05 Not your husband, not your wife, not your son, not your daughter, not your roommates, 00:20:19.08\00:20:24.75 not a co-worker, not a friend, not church folk, keep your eyes 00:20:24.79\00:20:31.39 on Jesus. I do not know about you but somebody right now I speak under the authority of the 00:20:31.43\00:20:35.70 Holy Ghost. I am looking at Jesus. I am walking and talking with my mind and my eyes stayed 00:20:35.73\00:20:42.27 on Jesus. Peter messed up that day on the Sea of Galilee. He took his eyes off of Jesus. 00:20:42.30\00:20:48.31 All he had to do was keep his eyes on Jesus 00:20:48.34\00:20:50.85 and that is a let us know when you take your eyes off Jesus you 00:20:50.88\00:20:55.45 are going to fall. When you take your eyes off Jesus you are going to fail. When you take 00:20:55.48\00:21:01.06 your eyes off Jesus, trouble is going to come but keep your eye 00:21:01.09\00:21:05.53 on Jesus. Because the Bible says not only is he the author but the Bible says he is the 00:21:05.56\00:21:10.97 finisher. Oh, I feel like stopping but I feel like my soul 00:21:11.00\00:21:14.70 is getting happy. So many people start off in life pursuing their goals, but they never achieve 00:21:14.74\00:21:20.48 them. But when I look at Jesus, I recognize that Jesus started 00:21:20.51\00:21:26.51 something in me. Jesus started something in Carlton Byrd and the same God that started that 00:21:26.55\00:21:33.42 thing in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So whatever Jesus has started in 00:21:33.46\00:21:38.56 you, no devil in hell can stop what Jesus has for you. In other words, God does not start 00:21:38.59\00:21:45.87 anything, he can finish. God's not like us. God is not a god of incomplete projects. 00:21:45.90\00:21:51.84 Can I preach like I want? Can I preach like I feel it? Excuse my 00:21:51.87\00:21:56.34 southern slang but God ain't fitting to do nothing. God ain't fitting to get around to do 00:21:56.38\00:22:01.45 nothing because God already started it. God already finished it. I feel my help coming right 00:22:01.48\00:22:06.35 now. God is tired of all these folks starting stuff and they 00:22:06.39\00:22:09.56 never finish. And the reason why you never finish friends of mine, it is because you got too 00:22:09.59\00:22:14.10 much weight, too much drama, too much stuff, too many issues. But when you lay aside these 00:22:14.13\00:22:20.34 weights, when you lay aside these sins, the race gets a 00:22:20.37\00:22:25.47 whole lot easier. When you start getting a little lighter, you start running a little faster. 00:22:25.51\00:22:29.68 God is getting ready to take somebody in the name of Jesus. 00:22:29.71\00:22:33.72 God is getting ready to take you to another level but you got to 00:22:33.75\00:22:38.02 let the fat go. You got to let negative folk go. You got to let negative situations go. 00:22:38.05\00:22:43.83 And when you run, you got to runs. And when you run, you are run giving him glory. 00:22:43.86\00:22:47.50 Run giving him honor. Run giving him praise. 00:22:47.56\00:22:50.63 You will be walking down the street clapping your hands, people look at you like you are 00:22:50.67\00:22:54.10 crazy. Why are you doing that? You say I am running but I am giving him glory. I am giving 00:22:54.14\00:22:58.47 him honor. I am running but I am giving him praise when I think of the goodness of Jesus 00:22:58.51\00:23:01.98 and all he is done for me, my soul cries out. Hallelujah. Thank God for saving me. 00:23:02.01\00:23:07.98 I am trying to quit but my soul is getting happy right now. 00:23:08.02\00:23:11.52 I want to tell you one last thing that there is one thing 00:23:11.55\00:23:15.69 that every person who has ever lose weight, there is one testimony they always have. 00:23:15.72\00:23:19.66 They always walk around with two pictures. The before picture and 00:23:19.69\00:23:28.10 the after picture. Somebody knows what I am talking about. Before I was this, but now I am 00:23:28.14\00:23:37.48 this. Now, I know I am in the church building by myself. 00:23:37.51\00:23:41.52 I mean, I know we got the pastors in here and every now and then the Holy Ghost gets on 00:23:41.55\00:23:45.55 them and they shout a little bit. I know we got the media 00:23:45.59\00:23:48.49 team here and they can not really lift their hands and 00:23:48.52\00:23:50.86 bless God because they have got a hold on to the camera. I know we are in the church building 00:23:50.89\00:23:54.73 but I believe that if you were here today, I tell you to tell 00:23:54.76\00:23:59.33 somebody. If you only knew what I used to be, you understand my 00:23:59.37\00:24:05.81 praise right now. If you only knew the weight I used to have 00:24:05.84\00:24:08.68 on me, you will understand why I praise him like I do right now, why I clap my hands, 00:24:08.71\00:24:13.95 why I stamped my feet, why I lift my hands, and bless him. 00:24:13.98\00:24:17.85 You see somebody before you used to get drunk on liquor but now you are drunk on the Holy Ghost. 00:24:17.89\00:24:24.26 Before somebody used to get high on that stuff but now your high 00:24:24.29\00:24:30.40 on the Holy Ghost. Before you used to be in love with Leroy, you used to be in love with 00:24:30.43\00:24:34.90 Shirley but now you have discovered there is not a friend like the lowly Jesus. 00:24:34.94\00:24:39.21 So look at me now before and the after me, I have lose this weight. I have shed a few 00:24:39.24\00:24:49.68 pounds. The clothes I used to wear do not fit anymore. 00:24:49.72\00:24:52.59 My old friends do not recognize me anymore. I have got a new walk. I have got a new talk. 00:24:52.62\00:24:59.73 I have got a new attitude. I am thinner. I am lighter. I am moving to the next level, 00:24:59.76\00:25:08.07 I am losing weight. Folk, I used to hang out with ten, twenty, 00:25:08.10\00:25:13.14 thirty years ago, they do not understand me. Now, I am moving to another level. I have got to 00:25:13.17\00:25:17.15 lose some weight. In the name of Jesus, learn to let some things go. In the name of Jesus, learn 00:25:17.18\00:25:25.62 to let people go. You have seen the pioneers before you. You see the cloud of witnesses before 00:25:25.65\00:25:34.93 you. You have seen the evidence. But lay aside the weights. Lay aside the sins that are clinging 00:25:34.93\00:25:46.14 to you. Separate yourself from them. And you got to run. And 00:25:46.17\00:25:55.42 you got to endure. And you run and you endure with patience and 00:25:55.45\00:26:00.79 in this race, you have got to keep your eyes on Jesus, the 00:26:00.82\00:26:07.60 author and the finisher of your faith who endured the cross for you, who endured shame for you, 00:26:07.66\00:26:21.48 who is now seated at the right hand of the Father pleading your case, lose some weight. 00:26:21.51\00:26:36.32 How I lose it? Asked the Savior to help you. Comfort, strengthen and he will keep you. 00:26:36.36\00:26:45.30 He is willing to aid you and he will carry you through, lose 00:26:45.33\00:27:03.95 some weight. Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 00:27:03.99\00:27:08.52 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 00:27:08.56\00:27:12.96 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 00:27:12.99\00:27:15.50 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 00:27:15.53\00:27:27.71 [END] 00:27:27.74\00:27:33.75 GONE BOOK PROMO 00:27:33.78\00:27:34.45 Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama, 00:27:34.48\00:27:43.56 in life we experience these things. 00:27:43.59\00:27:46.90 My wife and I have a story, 00:27:46.93\00:27:49.73 we have a testimony of how we lost 00:27:49.76\00:27:53.87 our first born daughter in a horrific car accident. 00:27:53.90\00:28:00.91 We have this new sharing book, its en-titled “Gone.” 00:28:00.94\00:28:05.88 And, in it I want to share with you 00:28:05.91\00:28:09.48 how God has helped me, 00:28:09.52\00:28:12.12 how God has helped my wife, how God has helped us, 00:28:12.15\00:28:16.83 as we had to endure the fact that our first born daughter is 00:28:16.86\00:28:25.73 gone. www.breathoflife.tv 00:28:25.77\00:28:30.44 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 00:28:30.47\00:28:45.49