#S071 - Thank God You're Sheltered (Part 2) 00:00:07.60\00:00:13.44 Welcome to the Breath of life. 00:00:19.98\00:00:21.75 Television ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell.. 00:00:21.78\00:00:26.35 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part 00:00:26.39\00:00:30.16 two of the powerful message. 00:00:30.19\00:00:32.69 “Thank God You're Sheltered.” Now 00:00:33.60\00:00:36.63 let's go deeper into the Word of God and see. 00:00:37.67\00:00:40.57 Can I suggest, friends, 00:00:41.14\00:00:42.24 that there are things that God has planned for you? 00:00:42.27\00:00:45.07 But sometimes blessings that are planned 00:00:45.94\00:00:48.64 become a curse when you try to get them ahead of schedule. 00:00:49.88\00:00:52.05 Okay, let me say it again. 00:00:53.15\00:00:54.65 That there are good things that God has planned, but 00:00:54.68\00:00:58.32 they become a curse when you try to get them ahead of schedule. 00:00:58.35\00:01:01.76 In other words, I need you to understand 00:01:02.62\00:01:03.86 that sex is a good thing. 00:01:03.89\00:01:05.46 Say amen. 00:01:05.49\00:01:06.90 But if you can't, you all can say amen. 00:01:07.83\00:01:09.30 But it becomes a curse if you get it too soon. 00:01:10.33\00:01:12.77 Having kids is a good thing, 00:01:13.70\00:01:16.00 but it's a stress if you get them ahead of schedule. 00:01:17.14\00:01:19.24 Getting an apartment off campus might be a blessing, 00:01:20.38\00:01:22.94 but it might be a stress if you get it too soon. 00:01:23.95\00:01:25.95 Getting married is a blessing. 00:01:26.65\00:01:28.45 But guess what? 00:01:28.88\00:01:29.92 It becomes a curse if you do it ahead of schedule 00:01:29.95\00:01:32.15 and say, I need you to get that. 00:01:32.85\00:01:33.96 Some of the greatest stresses are not the result of 00:01:33.99\00:01:37.09 sin is the result of rushing. 00:01:37.13\00:01:40.86 And see, 00:01:41.13\00:01:42.23 some of the greatest sin is simply because we try to get 00:01:42.26\00:01:45.20 what God had planned before he planned for us to have it. 00:01:46.43\00:01:48.97 And say 00:01:49.50\00:01:49.97 one of the things 00:01:50.01\00:01:50.67 I want to encourage you to know 00:01:50.71\00:01:52.04 is that your steps have been ordered by God. 00:01:52.07\00:01:54.71 I need you to know that what God has for you, it is for you. 00:01:55.91\00:01:58.41 And you don't need to look in your peripheral vision 00:01:59.55\00:02:01.42 trying to keep up with what they got 00:02:02.28\00:02:03.55 or to get it when they got it. 00:02:03.59\00:02:05.25 But just stay in the Court of Providence and let God lead 00:02:05.29\00:02:09.16 you and bless you in the time He's ordained. 00:02:09.19\00:02:12.96 See how many 00:02:14.13\00:02:15.13 of us know that the plans of the father for us 00:02:15.16\00:02:18.50 are bigger than the plans we have for ourselves. 00:02:19.57\00:02:21.94 Let let me say it this way. 00:02:22.97\00:02:23.91 I remember a while back 00:02:23.94\00:02:25.27 when my kids were small and we were getting ready 00:02:25.31\00:02:27.08 to take them down to Disney World for the first time. 00:02:27.11\00:02:29.64 And I remember we didn't tell them where we were going 00:02:30.81\00:02:32.18 because we knew 00:02:32.61\00:02:33.68 they would self-destruct all the way on the highway 00:02:33.72\00:02:36.05 if we told them where we were going. 00:02:36.92\00:02:38.25 And so all we told them 00:02:38.29\00:02:39.75 when we arrived 00:02:39.79\00:02:40.86 is that we were going to take them somewhere fine. 00:02:40.89\00:02:43.39 But because they grew up here in Huntsville, kind of the peak 00:02:44.63\00:02:47.03 for them at that point was Chuckie Cheese 00:02:47.10\00:02:50.17 and other words to them. 00:02:51.17\00:02:52.43 In their mind, there was nothing greater 00:02:52.47\00:02:54.04 than going to Chuckie Cheese because they grew up here. 00:02:54.07\00:02:56.54 But we were planning to take them to the Magic Kingdom 00:02:57.71\00:02:59.74 and see, the problem is, when we got ready to go, 00:03:00.81\00:03:02.21 we didn't tell them where they were going. 00:03:03.11\00:03:04.28 And what happened is we pass by Chucky Cheese and guess what? 00:03:04.31\00:03:08.62 Their countenance fell because they were sad. 00:03:09.62\00:03:11.75 They weren't getting to see Chucky. 00:03:11.79\00:03:13.76 They were mad because they weren't getting to see Chucky. 00:03:13.79\00:03:16.66 But when we pulled up 00:03:17.23\00:03:18.33 to the Magic Kingdom, their frown turned upside down 00:03:18.36\00:03:22.50 because they realized what we planned for 00:03:23.47\00:03:25.77 them was better than what they planned for themselves. 00:03:25.80\00:03:28.74 In other words, Chucky had a playhouse, 00:03:29.60\00:03:32.04 but Mickey had a kingdom. 00:03:32.67\00:03:37.01 And see, the problem is you want playhouse blessing 00:03:37.05\00:03:41.15 and God has kingdom blessings. 00:03:41.85\00:03:43.82 So you want to play education. 00:03:44.62\00:03:47.09 God wants to give you a kingdom education. 00:03:47.99\00:03:50.03 You want to play play, man. 00:03:50.69\00:03:52.56 God wants to give you a kingdom, man. 00:03:52.59\00:03:55.06 You just want to have a good time. 00:03:55.90\00:03:58.07 But God, once they give you the kingdom, can you say amen? 00:03:59.30\00:04:01.50 And so you don't just want to settle for a portion. 00:04:02.64\00:04:04.41 You want all that God has installed. 00:04:05.27\00:04:06.91 So if you get it too soon, you'll get half the joy, 00:04:08.01\00:04:10.35 half the peace. 00:04:10.91\00:04:12.38 You'll be walking around with half of a man. 00:04:12.41\00:04:14.48 You will not hear me today. 00:04:14.52\00:04:17.72 You want to wait? What God has in store for you? 00:04:17.75\00:04:19.99 Second thing I want to say quickly 00:04:21.66\00:04:24.26 is this 00:04:24.89\00:04:26.16 Don't complain about being sheltered 00:04:27.03\00:04:29.13 until you realize what God was sheltering 00:04:30.80\00:04:33.00 you from. 00:04:33.03\00:04:37.57 Listen, I won't take long. 00:04:40.14\00:04:41.91 But see, the five is love 00:04:41.94\00:04:44.51 is shown throughout the entirety of the story. 00:04:45.55\00:04:47.08 Most of us only see the father of his love 00:04:47.98\00:04:50.05 when the father allows him to come back home. 00:04:51.05\00:04:52.52 But I see the father's love 00:04:53.19\00:04:54.59 when the father allows him to walk out the door. 00:04:54.62\00:04:56.89 You see, I need you to understand that 00:04:58.53\00:04:59.96 the father does not try to course coerce him into staying. 00:05:00.06\00:05:03.20 The father does not try to force him into staying. 00:05:04.30\00:05:06.13 The father does not restrain him into staying. 00:05:07.10\00:05:09.14 What the father simply does is gives him the portion 00:05:10.27\00:05:12.81 that the law would permit. 00:05:13.44\00:05:14.81 And what he does is he respects the choice of this adult son. 00:05:14.84\00:05:19.11 Can I pass to say to the parents of adult children, 00:05:20.15\00:05:22.48 you've got to pray for them and guide them. 00:05:23.49\00:05:26.09 But don't always clean up all of their messes. 00:05:27.12\00:05:29.92 Don't cover for all their mistakes. 00:05:30.73\00:05:32.59 Don't cushion every one of their falls. 00:05:33.53\00:05:35.36 Don't try to clean it up in the name of the family name. 00:05:36.50\00:05:38.90 Sometimes, when they won't listen to instruction, 00:05:39.97\00:05:42.50 you've got to let experience become their teacher. 00:05:43.61\00:05:45.91 You'll hear what I'm saying. 00:05:47.98\00:05:49.48 And it's funny because this boy is free. 00:05:49.51\00:05:50.91 He's tired of living a sheltered life. 00:05:50.95\00:05:53.45 He is tired of growing up in a Christian home. 00:05:53.48\00:05:56.12 He's tired of church, school 00:05:56.79\00:05:57.99 and church services and church girls and church situations. 00:05:58.02\00:06:01.89 He's tired of a why. 00:06:02.42\00:06:03.63 And see, the problem with him is he's confused his protection 00:06:03.66\00:06:07.40 with restrictions 00:06:08.03\00:06:10.73 since he noticed something. 00:06:11.40\00:06:12.67 Because the character of God is seen in this moment. 00:06:12.70\00:06:15.47 Because notice what the father does. 00:06:16.34\00:06:17.41 The father says, I will let you choose. 00:06:17.44\00:06:20.88 The father says, I will allow you to make the decision 00:06:22.88\00:06:26.51 and see it shows 00:06:27.05\00:06:28.28 the purposes of God as opposed to the purposes of the enemy. 00:06:28.32\00:06:32.42 Because how many of us know 00:06:33.09\00:06:33.89 that the Lord will give you a choice? 00:06:33.92\00:06:36.29 What the Devil does is He confiscates your choice. 00:06:37.39\00:06:40.50 You notice how it's 00:06:41.63\00:06:42.83 easy to stop going to church, but it's hard to stop drinking. 00:06:42.86\00:06:46.90 It's easy to stop praying. 00:06:48.17\00:06:49.97 But it's hard to stop being petty almighty quiet today. 00:06:50.01\00:06:52.74 It's easy to stop studying, but it's hard to stop smoking. 00:06:53.98\00:06:58.78 It's easy for us to stop being spiritual, 00:06:59.68\00:07:02.48 but it's hard for us 00:07:03.02\00:07:04.09 to kind of walk away from the things of this world, 00:07:04.12\00:07:06.99 because one of the things that you'll see 00:07:07.96\00:07:08.92 is that the spirit will woo you. 00:07:08.96\00:07:10.79 The spirit will convict you. 00:07:10.83\00:07:12.53 But the spirit will never choose for you. 00:07:12.56\00:07:14.73 But understand 00:07:15.13\00:07:16.36 that the vices of the life will get so ingrained into your soul 00:07:16.40\00:07:19.87 that the power of choice is taken away. 00:07:20.70\00:07:22.87 And you will declare, like Paul and Roman seven. 00:07:23.94\00:07:25.47 When I want to do good, 00:07:26.04\00:07:27.51 I can't do it. 00:07:28.58\00:07:30.01 And the evil I hate doing, I keep on doing. 00:07:30.05\00:07:33.11 Now I need somebody to deliver me 00:07:33.95\00:07:36.52 from this body of death. 00:07:37.65\00:07:40.99 And I need you to understand that before the light. 00:07:41.02\00:07:45.06 Because even when you don't really grow up in church, 00:07:45.09\00:07:46.96 like you all have some of the stuff 00:07:47.00\00:07:48.76 you all complain about. 00:07:48.80\00:07:49.66 Sounds stupid to me 00:07:49.70\00:07:52.50 when you complain about, oh, I had to grow up in church 00:07:54.97\00:07:57.14 and I grew up in this. 00:07:57.17\00:07:58.01 My life has been so sheltered in it. 00:07:58.04\00:07:59.81 But see, don't complain about being sheltered. 00:07:59.84\00:08:03.18 So you can rejoice a little bit when you realize 00:08:04.95\00:08:07.22 what you've been sheltered from the 00:08:07.25\00:08:10.89 brothers. 00:08:14.32\00:08:15.29 Your folks have kept you sheltered 00:08:16.12\00:08:18.26 from a certain type of woman 00:08:18.93\00:08:22.03 because there is a woman 00:08:23.83\00:08:25.03 who is liberal with her body, but there is poison in her soul. 00:08:25.07\00:08:30.34 And you can't get what's in her body 00:08:30.37\00:08:32.54 without coming in conflict or contact with the toxicity. 00:08:32.57\00:08:36.48 In other words, there is no condom for 00:08:37.38\00:08:39.58 your spirit. Y'all might be quiet in here today. 00:08:39.61\00:08:41.82 No, no, no. 00:08:43.15\00:08:44.15 Because you can't touch one without the other. 00:08:44.19\00:08:46.99 Sister, you're about to praise God because your parents 00:08:48.46\00:08:51.09 have kept you from a certain type of man. 00:08:52.06\00:08:54.00 Because there is a man whose swag is not church, 00:08:55.06\00:08:58.10 but he's got a demonic spirit that will change you 00:08:59.20\00:09:02.30 into something you cannot see coming. 00:09:02.34\00:09:04.94 You ought to thank God that you've been sheltered 00:09:06.01\00:09:08.68 from thug life. 00:09:08.71\00:09:11.11 Listen, y'all can run around here 00:09:11.15\00:09:13.28 scowling in your yearbook picture, 00:09:13.31\00:09:15.58 but a none of you are about that life, are y'all? 00:09:16.58\00:09:18.32 Hear what I'm saying? 00:09:18.35\00:09:19.85 Like, listen, 00:09:19.89\00:09:21.32 there are some cats that are filled with a violence 00:09:21.36\00:09:26.46 and a rage that will kill you for the shoes on your feet. 00:09:26.49\00:09:33.20 You ought to thank God that your parents wouldn't 00:09:33.23\00:09:35.57 let you spend the night with everybody. 00:09:35.60\00:09:38.31 Oh, God, 00:09:38.34\00:09:39.04 you thought, Oh, they making my life so hard? 00:09:40.84\00:09:43.88 No. Mama and Daddy were shown that 00:09:44.71\00:09:46.88 something in the milk wasn't clean at that house 00:09:46.92\00:09:50.19 and they were keeping you from something 00:09:51.12\00:09:53.76 that was going to disrupt your purity in voluntarily. 00:09:53.79\00:09:57.93 You ought to thank God 00:09:58.49\00:09:59.66 that you don't know about certain things. 00:09:59.69\00:10:02.06 TLC said it this way. 00:10:02.63\00:10:04.13 Don't go chasing waterfalls. 00:10:04.17\00:10:06.84 Oh, I know who all the sinners are right now. 00:10:08.04\00:10:10.01 I can see you 00:10:10.04\00:10:11.17 stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to. 00:10:11.21\00:10:15.04 And in fact, there's going to come a time 00:10:16.41\00:10:18.51 where you're going to thank God for what you didn't know about. 00:10:19.78\00:10:20.85 You ought to say, Lord, I thank you that I don't know 00:10:22.02\00:10:23.82 nothing about baby mama drama. 00:10:23.85\00:10:26.09 You ought to say I 00:10:26.12\00:10:27.32 thank you that I don't know nothing about real addiction. 00:10:27.36\00:10:29.49 You ought to thank God that you don't know nothing 00:10:30.59\00:10:31.89 about growing up in a single parent house. 00:10:32.86\00:10:34.23 And you got both parents you ought to praise God. 00:10:34.30\00:10:36.43 And even if you grew up with a single parent 00:10:37.37\00:10:38.83 and they loved you, you ought to praise God. 00:10:39.77\00:10:41.30 Thank God that you don't know nothing about meth. 00:10:42.40\00:10:43.94 Thank God that you don't know nothing about crack. 00:10:45.04\00:10:46.54 Thank God that you don't know nothing about God. 00:10:47.61\00:10:49.08 Thank God that you don't know nothing about abandonment. 00:10:50.28\00:10:51.95 Thank God that you don't know nothing about that life. 00:10:53.11\00:10:54.72 It doesn't. 00:10:55.12\00:10:56.02 Complaining that you've been sheltered, 00:10:56.05\00:10:57.95 you want to open your mouth 00:10:58.62\00:10:59.82 and say, thank you, God, that's just sheltered me. 00:10:59.85\00:11:02.86 Thank you. 00:11:03.66\00:11:04.33 That's a covered me, thank you. 00:11:04.36\00:11:06.59 That I have no knowledge of certain things. 00:11:06.63\00:11:10.43 I praise God for the shelter. 00:11:11.13\00:11:15.67 All y'all hear me? They 00:11:15.70\00:11:16.71 third thing this teachers real quick 00:11:19.91\00:11:21.98 is that the far country in as far away as you think it is 00:11:22.01\00:11:25.28 she's crazy because like, yo, you're poor, man. 00:11:28.48\00:11:30.55 You got to see him. Your boy is on his own. 00:11:31.49\00:11:33.25 He got a little money in his pocket 00:11:34.12\00:11:36.02 as soon as he gets free, 00:11:36.59\00:11:37.59 he gets a tattoo on his wrist and on his neck. 00:11:37.63\00:11:40.63 He's got a gold chain. 00:11:41.16\00:11:42.76 He's got some fresh white Air Force Ones. 00:11:42.80\00:11:45.50 He's got a little light skin, honey on his right hand 00:11:46.67\00:11:48.40 and a little Latino honey on the left hand. 00:11:49.40\00:11:51.04 I mean, literally, 00:11:51.54\00:11:52.54 his life is like a moving real time rap video. 00:11:52.57\00:11:56.95 He is living his best life 00:11:56.98\00:11:59.91 for a short while. 00:12:00.98\00:12:04.19 And she is crazy because the Bible says 00:12:04.22\00:12:07.16 that he journeyed into a foreign country. 00:12:08.06\00:12:10.26 Now I need you to understand 24. 00:12:10.96\00:12:12.49 This is not what happened. 00:12:13.13\00:12:14.30 He doesn't just set out 00:12:14.36\00:12:15.70 with the intent of getting as far from his father as he can. 00:12:15.73\00:12:19.20 That's not what happens. 00:12:19.23\00:12:20.80 But that word journey does not mean to take a long trip. 00:12:20.84\00:12:25.27 The word journey means to drift. 00:12:25.97\00:12:28.41 Yeah. 00:12:28.88\00:12:32.15 In other words, it is not his goal to go far away. 00:12:32.18\00:12:35.25 In other words, 00:12:35.88\00:12:36.95 he sets up a little something over in five points. 00:12:36.99\00:12:39.62 Y'all hear what I'm saying? 00:12:40.29\00:12:40.62 He got he got him a little 00:12:41.76\00:12:42.66 crib over in Madison where he's trying to go. 00:12:42.69\00:12:45.13 But understand that in the in the Middle East, I saw this 00:12:46.33\00:12:48.43 where we in the Holy Land last year, 00:12:48.46\00:12:49.96 what they have is like these mobile caravanning parties 00:12:50.00\00:12:54.10 where they did not settle in one location, 00:12:55.07\00:12:56.71 but it is tent like living where they just go 00:12:57.71\00:12:59.64 wherever the party leads them until they run out of money. 00:12:59.67\00:13:04.48 In other words, man, he's just going to set up 00:13:05.51\00:13:07.15 a little something over here and Madison. 00:13:07.18\00:13:09.78 But then he finds out 00:13:10.35\00:13:11.29 that they sell 00:13:11.32\00:13:11.99 some good weed and Birmingham 00:13:12.02\00:13:14.06 and they go all the way down there 00:13:14.09\00:13:16.09 and then they realize they got some. 00:13:16.12\00:13:17.96 So nut freaks in Montgomery 00:13:17.99\00:13:19.89 and they go a little further down there 00:13:19.93\00:13:21.86 and then they realize they got real parties and mobile 00:13:21.90\00:13:25.63 and they go a little further down there 00:13:25.67\00:13:27.60 and the party is moving and progressing. 00:13:27.64\00:13:30.77 It is fluid and dynamic. 00:13:31.34\00:13:33.04 And somehow he winds up in Gulfport, Mississippi. 00:13:34.14\00:13:39.91 And notice the strange irony of saying 00:13:39.95\00:13:43.08 that as soon as he runs out of money, 00:13:43.92\00:13:48.36 the same time is when the famine comes 00:13:48.39\00:13:51.16 and notice this is where salvation arises 00:13:52.09\00:13:55.06 because the Bible says no one gave him 00:13:55.96\00:13:58.83 any pain. 00:13:59.20\00:14:02.37 I need you to understand 00:14:02.40\00:14:03.41 there are something good about family, 00:14:03.44\00:14:06.24 because famine doesn't just harm people. 00:14:06.27\00:14:09.21 It harms critters. 00:14:09.71\00:14:11.98 We all get that. 00:14:12.01\00:14:13.78 See, what famine does is it runs away the locusts 00:14:13.82\00:14:17.42 that destroy the harvests and see sometimes when you get 00:14:18.62\00:14:22.02 besides yourself, God is going to send a famine to run away. 00:14:22.06\00:14:27.86 Those that have just been leeching off of you 00:14:28.90\00:14:30.80 see, sometimes one of the greatest blessings of life 00:14:33.40\00:14:36.10 is when God shows you who your friends really are. 00:14:37.21\00:14:42.61 And can I say, because back then we'd be complaining 00:14:42.64\00:14:44.45 about being sheltered 00:14:44.48\00:14:45.58 and growing up in church and the hypocrites in church 00:14:45.61\00:14:47.28 and how people don't love you in the church. 00:14:47.32\00:14:48.88 What the story is teaching us is that 00:14:48.92\00:14:50.42 these Negroes in the world ain't got no love for you 00:14:50.45\00:14:53.42 at all. 00:14:53.46\00:14:57.39 Oh, they love you more in the world 00:14:57.43\00:14:58.73 than they love you in the church. 00:14:58.76\00:14:59.63 The devil is a liar. 00:14:59.66\00:15:01.23 Listen, I need you to know there ain't no concern in the world. 00:15:01.26\00:15:04.17 There is no joy in the love in the world. 00:15:04.20\00:15:06.23 There is no compassion for you in the why y'all here. 00:15:07.37\00:15:08.70 What I'm saying to you today, I mean, as soon as he stops 00:15:08.74\00:15:12.44 by rounds, they don't know him no more. 00:15:12.47\00:15:15.98 As soon 00:15:17.41\00:15:18.55 as he runs out of singles, the girls lose all they wiggle. 00:15:18.58\00:15:21.42 Are you all. Are y'all saying this? 00:15:21.45\00:15:23.08 The world says like they don't give him nothing 00:15:23.12\00:15:25.49 and say one of the things that God is going to do for you 00:15:26.65\00:15:28.52 in short order, because even some of your best is now 00:15:29.66\00:15:31.49 won't be your best, is there? 00:15:33.60\00:15:36.33 And that leaves, you know, God, God, God, see, God 00:15:36.36\00:15:39.97 works in everything and he hears the prayers 00:15:40.90\00:15:44.14 of praying parents. 00:15:44.17\00:15:45.44 Because I need you to know that some of us 00:15:45.47\00:15:47.18 will not get saved when it's pleasant. 00:15:47.21\00:15:53.68 We will only respond when it is so painful 00:15:53.72\00:15:57.02 that we cannot manage it anymore. 00:15:57.05\00:16:00.09 The Bible says nobody listen. 00:16:00.79\00:16:02.39 They won't even give him a Twinkie 00:16:02.42\00:16:05.93 like he can't get no change to go to the store 00:16:06.96\00:16:08.83 like they won't even point him to the homeless center. 00:16:10.00\00:16:12.60 So much so that he winds up living with a stranger 00:16:13.70\00:16:16.40 that raises kids. 00:16:16.91\00:16:18.21 And the stranger is so cold 00:16:18.24\00:16:20.01 that he doesn't let him eat in the house. 00:16:20.04\00:16:21.81 He makes them eat whatever the kids have to eat. 00:16:21.84\00:16:27.02 And the Bible says that 00:16:27.05\00:16:28.02 he gets so desperate, I don't catch on this. 00:16:28.05\00:16:30.29 The word says he gets so desperate like here, so hungry. 00:16:31.42\00:16:35.49 Listen, he had not known hunger before, but now he's so hungry 00:16:35.52\00:16:40.43 that the world says he would have gladly 00:16:41.33\00:16:43.43 got down in 00:16:45.87\00:16:46.94 the slop bucket with the pigs 00:16:46.97\00:16:49.14 and what they ate. 00:16:50.37\00:16:52.14 Understand, as a young Jewish boy, 00:16:52.17\00:16:55.01 a pig would have been off limits. 00:16:55.84\00:16:57.41 But he is below rock. 00:16:58.08\00:16:59.61 But he's below the rocks. 00:16:59.65\00:17:01.15 Because not only is he willing to eat 00:17:01.18\00:17:02.95 the pig, he's willing to eat with the pigs. 00:17:02.98\00:17:08.92 But the Bible says Class of 24, thank God he came to himself. 00:17:08.96\00:17:16.26 And the Bible says that he thought he 00:17:16.30\00:17:18.40 I mean, it expresses this train of thought. 00:17:18.43\00:17:20.07 He says, man, how many of the servants, 00:17:20.10\00:17:22.30 man, have food enough to spare? 00:17:22.34\00:17:24.14 And here I am, perishing with hunger. 00:17:24.17\00:17:26.27 He realizes that man, what he was that shelter 00:17:26.31\00:17:29.61 that he despised was actually keeping him from pains 00:17:30.75\00:17:33.31 and hurts and iniquities, that he had no appetite for. 00:17:34.48\00:17:39.22 And it's funny 00:17:39.25\00:17:40.39 because now he has drifted all the way into the far country 00:17:40.42\00:17:43.53 and he decides to kind of pick himself up 00:17:44.49\00:17:45.63 and clean himself off. 00:17:45.66\00:17:47.03 And that's why he decides to go back to his father's house. 00:17:47.10\00:17:50.07 But I need you to understand that. Guess what? 00:17:51.10\00:17:52.37 All the dirt he did along the way to the far country, 00:17:53.54\00:17:56.94 guess what? He's got to take that same road 00:17:57.91\00:17:59.24 back to his father's house. 00:18:00.74\00:18:03.08 He's got to pass by all those folk 00:18:03.11\00:18:04.78 he did dirty on the way. 00:18:04.81\00:18:06.35 He's got to pass by all those folk 00:18:06.38\00:18:07.95 that he thumbed his nose at. 00:18:07.98\00:18:09.45 He's got to pass by all those folk 00:18:09.48\00:18:11.29 that he looked down upon 00:18:11.32\00:18:12.42 while he had plenty of money, friends, and success. 00:18:12.45\00:18:14.82 And can I suggest this? 00:18:15.39\00:18:16.36 Be careful how you handle success, 00:18:16.39\00:18:18.76 because those same people you step on on the way up, 00:18:18.79\00:18:24.23 you're going to have to see 00:18:24.27\00:18:25.33 those same folk when life chops you back down to size 00:18:25.37\00:18:28.74 and might tell them 00:18:29.27\00:18:30.37 the truth, that success has a cyclical nature to it. 00:18:30.41\00:18:33.64 You will always be on top. 00:18:33.68\00:18:35.71 You will always be the man. 00:18:35.74\00:18:37.65 You better show kindness and respect 00:18:37.68\00:18:39.98 and courtesy to folk you think you don't need 00:18:40.92\00:18:43.02 because they're truth and you never know who you go. Need 00:18:44.25\00:18:46.96 are you hear what I'm saying? 00:18:48.46\00:18:50.56 You never know who you're going to need. 00:18:51.49\00:18:53.36 And it's funny because man, I need you to know 00:18:53.40\00:18:55.40 it is providential 00:18:55.43\00:18:56.50 that the word 00:18:56.53\00:18:57.67 says that as he comes there upon the edge of the city 00:18:57.70\00:19:00.74 and he comes 00:19:01.14\00:19:02.34 upon the edge of the house, how many of us know that it is 00:19:02.37\00:19:04.54 no coincidence that the father just happened 00:19:04.57\00:19:07.24 to be out there at the time that the sun 00:19:08.11\00:19:10.11 happened to be coming and see friends? 00:19:11.01\00:19:12.11 I don't believe that this is an accident. 00:19:12.15\00:19:14.68 I just believe that the Father which represents 00:19:15.72\00:19:17.65 our God, goes out to the ends of the gates 00:19:17.69\00:19:20.82 and spends a little time looking every day 00:19:21.72\00:19:23.96 just with the hope and prayer 00:19:24.66\00:19:26.26 that one day the son might come back home. 00:19:26.29\00:19:28.96 And do you see the strange intertwining of fears? 00:19:30.03\00:19:32.30 The father's fear is that the son won't come back home. 00:19:32.33\00:19:35.87 The son's fear is that the father won't accept him. 00:19:36.97\00:19:38.87 But the. See, I need you to know this. 00:19:39.71\00:19:41.34 There's a nature of saying it's not only the saying. 00:19:41.38\00:19:43.85 Get you caught up saying Well, then try to convince you 00:19:43.88\00:19:46.28 that you've done too much to go back to the father. 00:19:46.31\00:19:48.35 But I need you to know that even when you stray, 00:19:49.42\00:19:51.22 when you mess up, 00:19:51.72\00:19:52.25 I need you to know that 00:19:52.29\00:19:53.25 the father is there at the edge of the gate, 00:19:53.29\00:19:55.49 like Motel six. 00:19:57.46\00:19:58.46 He'll leave the light on for you 00:19:58.49\00:20:00.86 so that whenever you get ready to come home. 00:20:00.90\00:20:03.60 Oh, God, whenever you turn around, 00:20:03.63\00:20:06.80 the door is still open and notice. 00:20:06.84\00:20:10.44 Friends, that when he comes, he is stinky and he is smelly. 00:20:10.47\00:20:14.61 And I can see the boy in my mind's eye 00:20:15.51\00:20:16.51 as he tries to knock the dust off his shoulder 00:20:16.54\00:20:18.61 and he tries to shine his shoes and he tries to fix himself up. 00:20:19.88\00:20:22.48 See, I need you to know that he cannot clean himself up. 00:20:23.62\00:20:26.12 He cannot fix himself. 00:20:26.69\00:20:28.22 He cannot wash himself. 00:20:28.26\00:20:30.26 I deserve to know. 00:20:30.29\00:20:31.13 The father has a robe 00:20:31.16\00:20:34.00 that can cover his filth 00:20:34.03\00:20:36.70 so he cannot clean himself up 00:20:36.73\00:20:40.07 to go to the father. 00:20:40.94\00:20:43.74 He can't make himself right before he gets home. 00:20:44.81\00:20:47.44 He's just got to go like he is 00:20:48.14\00:20:50.45 and let the father wash him and make him clean. 00:20:51.51\00:20:53.88 Can I say to somebody who's so busy trying to get right 00:20:55.08\00:20:58.22 before you go to the one who gets you right. 00:20:59.15\00:21:01.52 You've just got to go as you are and let the Lord clean you up. 00:21:02.76\00:21:07.03 Now watch this. 00:21:08.50\00:21:09.90 There is a detail that we often run past 00:21:09.93\00:21:13.10 and we treat it like it's no big deal when the father sees him 00:21:14.34\00:21:16.94 a way off, the father sees him a way off. 00:21:16.97\00:21:22.74 And did you notice that the father doesn't 00:21:23.65\00:21:26.78 wait for the son? 00:21:26.82\00:21:30.59 The daddy doesn't wait for the son to come to him. 00:21:30.62\00:21:34.32 But the Bible says that the daddy breaks stride 00:21:35.36\00:21:39.03 and starts running toward his little son. 00:21:39.96\00:21:42.53 Anybody? 00:21:43.93\00:21:45.03 Faith, hope that God can wait for you to get to him. 00:21:45.07\00:21:49.40 But I can praise him that wow we were yet centers. 00:21:49.44\00:21:54.44 Christ died for the ungodly. 00:21:55.58\00:21:58.25 When I just made one step toward him, 00:21:58.28\00:22:00.95 the Spirit started racing toward me. 00:22:01.82\00:22:03.92 He didn't wait for you to get to him. 00:22:04.82\00:22:06.59 He made you right where you are. 00:22:07.29\00:22:09.62 And watch this. 00:22:09.66\00:22:10.46 The Bible says that that that according 00:22:10.49\00:22:13.33 to the Lord, you know what should have happened to the boy 00:22:13.36\00:22:16.80 when the other 00:22:17.77\00:22:18.77 servants see the rebellious son? 00:22:18.80\00:22:22.10 You know what the servant started doing? 00:22:23.04\00:22:25.04 They start getting rocks in. 00:22:25.71\00:22:27.14 They pockets and they start getting stones in their hands 00:22:27.18\00:22:30.95 so that as soon as the boy walks through the gates, 00:22:31.98\00:22:35.75 they go stark killing him and stoning him with stones. 00:22:36.92\00:22:40.42 But that's why the Bible says 00:22:41.12\00:22:42.99 that when the father sees him, 00:22:43.69\00:22:46.19 he falls on his neck. 00:22:46.23\00:22:50.97 He throws himself on the boy 00:22:52.17\00:22:55.50 so that if somebody cast the stone, 00:22:56.27\00:22:58.57 it would hit the boy. 00:23:00.28\00:23:02.51 But the punishment will land on the father. 00:23:02.54\00:23:04.98 Is there anybody time for the day 00:23:05.81\00:23:08.68 that when you should have been dead, 00:23:08.72\00:23:10.72 should have been killed, you should have been separated, 00:23:11.85\00:23:15.22 that your father, Jesus, 00:23:15.79\00:23:17.93 fell on your neck, 00:23:18.66\00:23:20.90 cover jail, took your punishment, 00:23:20.93\00:23:24.03 died so damn, so that 00:23:24.60\00:23:27.27 you and I might be saying 00:23:27.30\00:23:30.57 hallelujah, 00:23:31.74\00:23:33.91 hallelujah, 00:23:34.31\00:23:35.48 hallelujah. 00:23:35.88\00:23:38.55 So I need you to know that when you're saying I know this. 00:23:38.58\00:23:42.32 I didn't say if 00:23:42.35\00:23:43.99 I said when that the door is open 00:23:44.79\00:23:48.26 and you can quickly come back home 00:23:49.09\00:23:50.86 and notice that the daddy don't ask no questions. 00:23:51.96\00:23:53.70 You don't say where you been? 00:23:54.83\00:23:57.13 He don't say, Where's the money I gave you? 00:23:57.17\00:23:59.57 He didn't say why it took you so long to get home. 00:24:00.74\00:24:03.20 He just said, Let's party, let's do our celebration. 00:24:04.34\00:24:07.51 Because my son, which was dead, is now alive. 00:24:08.48\00:24:12.08 The watch was bound. 00:24:12.61\00:24:13.75 It's now set free. 00:24:13.78\00:24:15.92 I need you to know that he regrets the shelter 00:24:15.95\00:24:19.55 that the son left behind and say, 00:24:20.29\00:24:23.29 I just need somebody to know 00:24:23.32\00:24:25.39 that as you make this transition into life, 00:24:25.43\00:24:28.36 as you move into the adult experience, 00:24:29.26\00:24:31.63 I don't want you to feel like you've got to go 00:24:32.67\00:24:36.87 to the foreign country to see how good God is. 00:24:36.91\00:24:40.71 Just taste and see 00:24:41.54\00:24:44.21 that the Lord is good. 00:24:44.25\00:24:46.45 Blessed is the man who trusted him. 00:24:46.48\00:24:48.82 When your soul is satisfied in God, 00:24:49.68\00:24:52.12 you have no need to taste anything else. 00:24:53.05\00:24:55.92 So class of 2024, 00:24:57.26\00:24:59.33 you've been raised the right way. 00:24:59.36\00:25:01.50 Your Christian education 00:25:03.03\00:25:05.33 did not put you at a disadvantage. 00:25:06.17\00:25:07.97 You actually are a son or daughter of privilege, 00:25:09.04\00:25:12.04 but don't get so busy trying to imitate 00:25:12.97\00:25:16.41 what they have, 00:25:16.85\00:25:19.55 not realizing that they're on the other side, wishing 00:25:19.58\00:25:22.45 they had what you had. 00:25:22.48\00:25:26.29 And don't get so busy 00:25:26.32\00:25:30.16 trying to walk in copied steps 00:25:30.19\00:25:33.26 that you feel realized, fail to realize 00:25:33.29\00:25:35.10 you have ordered steps. 00:25:35.13\00:25:40.14 Don't get so busy 00:25:40.17\00:25:41.20 worried about the fact that you went to an HBCU. 00:25:41.24\00:25:44.24 Ah h b c h s 00:25:44.27\00:25:46.71 yeah. H s 00:25:49.68\00:25:51.98 No, no. 00:25:52.28\00:25:53.18 You've been in a cocoon where there is love 00:25:53.21\00:25:55.65 and compassion and care 00:25:55.68\00:25:58.15 and you will never meet teachers that love you. 00:25:59.12\00:26:00.76 Like the one sitting right here 00:26:00.79\00:26:02.12 on these rolls, right over here. 00:26:02.16\00:26:08.23 Listen, my time is up. 00:26:08.26\00:26:09.56 Instead of complaining that you've been sheltered, 00:26:09.60\00:26:12.23 I need you to thank God for your life's journey 00:26:13.23\00:26:15.27 and realize it's going to come a day 00:26:16.07\00:26:17.97 where you think God, you've been shot. 00:26:18.01\00:26:20.64 Hello, I'm Pastor Snell. 00:26:21.48\00:26:23.91 Speaker, Director for The Breath of Life Television Ministry. 00:26:25.11\00:26:26.95 This ministry was established to take the gospel of Jesus 00:26:28.18\00:26:30.92 Christ throughout North America and across the globe. 00:26:30.95\00:26:35.12 My goal is to make 00:26:35.16\00:26:36.89 Jesus Christ known through the preaching of the Word. 00:26:36.93\00:26:40.70 I need you to know that we need your financial partnership 00:26:41.83\00:26:44.37 in order to make sure that the Gospel can go into every hill, 00:26:45.63\00:26:49.27 into every rural county, and into every inner city. 00:26:50.37\00:26:52.97 And we can only take the gospel as far as the gifts 00:26:54.04\00:26:57.25 that you lend to us. 00:26:57.28\00:26:58.98 We thank you for your financial partnership in the past, 00:26:59.01\00:27:02.45 and I'm asking 00:27:02.88\00:27:03.92 that you will continue to be a financial partner 00:27:03.95\00:27:06.72 with this ministry going forward. 00:27:07.52\00:27:09.06 Here are some ways you can give 00:27:09.09\00:27:11.59 you can give online at our website 00:27:11.63\00:27:13.73 at www.breathoflife.tv 00:27:14.30\00:27:16.46 you can send your gift by mail to Breath of Life. 00:27:17.53\00:27:19.53 P.O. Box 5960 Huntsville, Alabama 35814. 00:27:20.47\00:27:24.61 You can call the office at 256-929-6460. 00:27:25.47\00:27:29.91 Or you can text the phrase GIVE2BOLTV to 188-364-Give 00:27:31.05\00:27:37.45 or the easiest thing is through CashApp at $breathoflifeTV. 00:27:37.49\00:27:43.96 I want you to know that every dime that you give goes 00:27:43.99\00:27:47.86 right back into the ministry so that we can enlarge our reach 00:27:47.93\00:27:52.80 and make sure that the entire world knows that 00:27:53.77\00:27:56.74 Jesus saves and that Jesus Christ is coming again. 00:27:56.77\00:28:00.44 God bless you, and we thank you for your generosity to 00:28:01.54\00:28:16.56