Amplify Your Life - LIVE with Pastor Marlena Hollis

In today's episode, we're sharing a powerful message from Pastor Marlena that she delivered LIVE on stage. It was simply too impactful not to share with our global audience. Amplify Your Life is about discovering your God-given purpose. Pastor Marlena shares powerful insights from scripture, emphasizing the importance of having guidance in your spiritual journey and the transformative power of saying 'yes' to God's call. Through the teachings of Elijah and Elisha, and personal stories from her own life, Pastor Marlena inspires you to amplify your spiritual life and take bold steps toward your divine calling. Find out how to step into your calling today with support and guidance in the upcoming year!

To connect with Pastor Marlena and learn more about her upcoming coaching program visit her website here! 

Transcript

Amplify Your Life - LIVE with Pastor Marlena Hollis

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Marlena Teach Jesus Podcast. Today you're in for a treat as we introduce Marlena Hollis, a prophetic Christian ministry speaker, coach, and author who is dedicated to uplifting you in your faith journey. Marlena is here to inspire you, encourage your growth, and help you connect with a community of believers who share your heart for God. Get ready to explore meaningful insights and find your place to call home in this vibrant faith community. Let's jump in. 

Today we're excited to share this incredible message from Pastor Marlena recorded live from the stage. It was simply too impactful not to bring to our global audience. Get ready to be inspired and empowered. Plus stay tuned until the end where we'll share how you can take bold steps into your God given calling today.

 [00:01:00] 

Marlena Hollis: Hello, hello! Alright, guys. So, we're talking about purpose. How are you going to get to your purpose if you don't have someone helping you? Right? Because if you think you're gonna go rogue and get very far, you'll get far, but you may get far in a ditch.

Right? We need somebody to lead us forward and we need somebody to lead us well. Alright? So, I'm gonna open up the scripture because disclaimer is, I'm Marlena Hollis, preacher and teacher of all things Jesus. I'm going to dig into the word, because the word is our guide, right? It's what we need to survive, to lead, to do. And I'm a real storyteller as I start teaching this out. As I said, we need a covering. So I want you to do me a favor and I want you to look at your neighbor and I want you to tell them, say, "get covered". [00:02:00] Get covered.

All right. So I'm going to tell you a little bit of a story because it's a long story in the Bible, but I'm going to hit a few of the high notes and I'm going to catch up with it in the middle of my colorful story. Is it all right if I do a little bit between the black letters? All right. Okay. 

All right. Well, let's go to 1 Kings Chapter 19. All right, 1 Kings Chapter 19. I'm going to try not to use my readers. I've graduated to readers on top of contacts. Jesus take the wheel. My gosh. And I'm actually mad about it. I just want to say that I'm mad about it, okay. Yeah, I've got some kindred spirits in the room.

Yeah. All right. I'm so mad about it. Uh, but anyway, like I need something else to take care of, you know. I can't keep up with myself, much less a set of readers. All right. So 1 Kings [00:03:00] Chapter 19. What'd I say? Y'all hear me? 19. Good. We got some people in the room listening. I know who that is.

That's my sister Charlene over there. Who helps me in ministry. I love her. We partner. Ebony and Ivory. That's right. Y'all figure out who's who?

Alright, alright. Okay, I've got to get serious because I like to have a lot of fun. And that is a good thing. Right? Because sometimes we can take ourselves way too serious. We can be way, way, way too deep. And sometimes we just need to come to the shallow end and splash around a little bit and have some fun.

Right? So let's do that. But then in the middle of the fun, let's learn something good today because we are amplifying, but in order to amplify, you've got to go high. Right? You see those? I think there's some mountain peaks. You see those? Vague [00:04:00] distinction? That's because mountaintops have a great view. And the perspective is a whole lot different than in the valley.

In the valley, there's a lot of growth. That's where the green things are, right? You don't see a lot of green on top of the mountain when it's real high. But you see the perspective shift, and you can see where you came from, right? So we're gonna talk about today, I wanna tell you about a story about Elijah and Elisha.

So, in verse 19, we're going to start there in Chapter 19, it says, "So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him, and he threw his mantle on him, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, 'Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I [00:05:00] will follow you.' So Elisha turned back from him and took a yoke of oxen, and he slaughtered them and boiled their flesh using the oxen's equipment and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and he followed Elijah, and he became his servant."

So here's the story. Elijah the prophet was the big guy in town. When they knew Elijah was coming into town, everybody was preparing. They were like, "Is he going to stay at my house? Is he coming to me?" You know, they were knowing that the man of God was coming. And they knew when the man of God came, he had a word.

And that word was going to be life changing, life altering, and that they were going to have to have an action. Because when the word comes today to you in this room, you need to take action. Right? If you sit here all day, and you are just a spectator, [00:06:00] and not a participator, then all you're gonna get today is a good meal and good fun, but you haven't grown, and you're certainly not gonna amplify. Right? 

So, Elisha encounters the man of God, and the man of God does something so strange, and I won't take my clothes off today like I've done when I've spoke this before where I took off my jacket, but he takes off his mantle, and he comes by Elisha. Elisha is minding his own business. This boy is out there plowing the field. he's got his yoke of boxing. he's got his daddy's business. He is doing fine. He is doing great. 

And then the man of God comes by. And that was opportunity, and it was calling. And so when he comes by, he takes his mantle off from around him, the prophet did, and he put it on Elisha, and then he just strolled off.

He just kept walking. And Elisha had a [00:07:00] choice right then because they knew that when the man of God came and the mantle was put upon someone that there was an opportunity and it was an invitation to go higher. So many times we want to talk about going forward. We want to talk about, oh, we're going to go in 2024 and we're going to move forward in our life.

Let me tell you a little bit about going forward. I'm going to go forward a minute. I'm going forward, I'm not going backwards. I'm still going forward. I'm going forward. Yep, still going forward. You notice anything?

Cycles, patterns. Oh, I'm gonna do better. Oh, I'm gonna do bigger things this year. I'm gonna go forward. [00:08:00] But I got a call of action today that's different than the forward motion. It's called amplify. It's called leveling up. God is calling you today in this house, and I believe he's calling me to level up.

To level up. So I'm going to flip over. We're going to jump a little bit. We're going to go to the book of Revelation. Chapter 4. Again, trying to resist the readers. Let's see how this goes. See, I'll step back. See that? It's a technique I wanted to teach somebody who's gonna need it later. Yeah, okay. 

Okay, Revelations Chapter 1, it says, "After these things, I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here. And I will show you things which must take place [00:09:00] after this'". 

Verse two, "Immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one set on the throne. And he who sat there was like a Jasper and Sardis stone in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an Emerald. There was a call to come up here, to come up higher."

And if you notice in the language, it says, "come up here". And then it says, "behold", that means he saw something greater. He saw something worthy to go up higher. And there was no question about it because in the next verse, in verse two, immediately... so many times we sat in the valley of decision. And we sit there too long. [00:10:00] Some of you have been in decision valley for so long that you've set up housekeeping and you've got, you've even got storage sheds.

It's time. It's time to make a decision. It's time to level up. In all your seeking. Well, you've asked, you've done the things, right? Matthew Chapter 6, you've asked, you've seeked, and you've knocked. And the door's open. But will you come up here and go up higher? Will we? You say, "How am I going to do that?"

Somebody's done, gone on before you. See, there are people who have been where you want to be. But you can't sit back and only be a [00:11:00] spectator. You've got to become a servant and you've got to follow the lead and you've got to be teachable. You've got to be able to be another, here's a big word. You've got to be unoffendable.

You've got to be willing to take the hard constructive criticism without getting hard. God, you've got to be willing to listen intently. And to follow the lead of someone who has got your best interest at heart. And see, Elijah and Elisha developed a relationship because Elisha decided that he had something that had to be sacrificed in order to go forward.

Back into the scripture, it said he immediately took, and he said, I want to go back to my parents. I want to go kiss them goodbye. [00:12:00] But did you hear him say, hear anything about that anymore? After Elijah said, you need to think about what I just did. That's another translation. You need to think about what has just been offered to you.

The mantle has been put on you. That is a call of God. It is a mandate for you to go higher. And so what he did is he decided to turn back. But when he turned back, what he did is he went back to go take care of things that would have hindered him and called him back. So he took the oxen and he slaughtered them and he took the plow and used it for firewood and he cooked that joker, those jokers. There was a lot of jokers. 

He cooked what was his provision and dispersed it, and steward well, what God had done in a former season. But what he did was he knew that he had to get rid of that in order to [00:13:00] go with Elijah. Because so many times you're in the valley of decision too long. And we got this backup plan.

Let me make it personal. It's no secret if you're looking at me for 10 seconds and you're a hairstylist that you know I'm a hairstylist. Right? I mean, you know, we do red hair, blue hair, whatever hair. Something. Okay, cause there was some, there was a hairstylist in the room. Where was my hairstylist? There she is, yes.

Yesterday, we're in the bathroom and she's looking at me and I already spotted her. She came in and I was like, that girl's a hairstylist. I knew it. We can spot each other. Okay, I've been a hairstylist for many, many years. Very grateful for the skill set, for the time that I spent there. But there was a day that God said to me, I was into my career, had a great salon, making great money.

Talk about those digits. The Pastor Yo [00:14:00] I was talking about, making some good money. I was what I wanted to be. I was the best hairstylist in my community. And I'm not saying that just braggadocious, because it, I was meaning to be, right? I pursued it. I was gonna do whatever I did with excellence, and I was gonna do it to the glory of God, and I did. I ministered to a lot of people who sat in my chair. 

One day I was sitting in my salon, and I distinctly remember the day. I was sitting there in the quiet, and I was having a moment of gratitude. I was thanking God. I was like, thank you Father for this day. Thank you God for all these people that trust me and for this business that's doing so well.

And I was just having a moment. And you know what the Lord had the nerve to say to me? He had the nerve to say to me, he said, "But would you give it up?" Listen, [00:15:00] I said, "Yes, sir." I didn't give it up that day because he didn't ask me to. He asked me, would I? And I said, yes, I would. And I listened to see if it was the time, and it wasn't.

But he was preparing me. He was like Elijah, and he had taken the mantle, and he had thrown it over me. And I had a choice now to become a servant. And I started being a disciple, a learner. I began to learn the word. I dug deep. Because I knew the call of God was there. I knew what he had called me to. 

And so it was years later, I was still pursuing in my career. God was gracing me in that. I became an instructor. I got a job, numerous jobs that I didn't apply for, but I was asked to come in and to help the beauty school. I have numerous students that I've had the opportunity to [00:16:00] pray with. I had a young lady, I'd been witnessing to them in the way that you can when you're in a state school. But they knew what they got when they got me, right? 

Y'all know what y'all signed up for when y'all got me here today? Right? And I remember this young lady that day, she was like, "I need to talk to you". And she said because she was in Wicca, she was in witchcraft, and she was doing all the things, you know? And I'd been talking to her about it and I said, "You know what? If you'll come after class we'll have a conversation". She said, "Okay". 

So after class that day, this young lady, she comes in to my office, and it's after hours, and she sits in there, and I told her the truth about the darkness that she was in, because white witchcraft is alive from the dark devil. Right? And I talked to her, and I shared the truth with her, and I shared with her what she was looking for [00:17:00] was the gifts and callings that were in her were getting fed by the wrong satellite signal. 

And so I asked her and gave her an opportunity that day to receive Jesus, but she had to denounce that in order to move forward. She had a decision moment. She had a choice, to level up. She had a choice to move up. And that day she did. And so she denounced Wicca. 

And that's just one of the many beautiful stories that I'm so grateful for. So it seems like, "Oh well that's great, why would you leave that?" But you know, when the assignment was over, and it was time for me to move on, I had to make a choice to follow God's lead and leave something that may appear blessed, good, and lucrative.

Because everything good is not always God. Right? It's not always God's assignment. And so I made a choice that day, in that classroom that [00:18:00] "God, this is what I'm doing. But if you still want me to move into ministry, I will". Had great opportunities, still pursuing in the career, but I had to walk away in order to level up to do what God had called me to do.

That's each of us. It's each of us. Right? Each of us distinctly, God has got something that has been just down inside of your gut. You just know that I am meant and made for this. And your this doesn't have to look like mine and mine doesn't have to look like yours. Because each of us is a part of a beautiful body of believers.

We have our place, we have our space and God will anoint you for that. But when we're discontented, oftentimes it's because God is calling us to a higher place, but we are still hanging on to [00:19:00] the ox and we're still hanging on to the plow. Right? Some of us in here today, your call to amplify and your call to action is that some of you have some oxen that need slaughtered and some plows that need to be burned in order for you to come up higher.

Right? All right. So let me head on over. I want to read this scripture to you in Matthew. And it's not interesting, it's God, how he wants to drive a point home because Pastor Yolanda used this exact scripture today in Matthew Chapter 6. And, and I'm going to try to find the verse. Are y'all making fun of me? I just want to know, are you joining me? 23 anyways, it's near to the last verse in the book of Matthew. 

All right. Okay. Does it help if we're real? [00:20:00] It does, doesn't it? Yeah. Because the fact of the matter, God likes you like you are. He does. He really enjoys your personality. He enjoys the little quirks and the little idiosyncrasies about you. And He will take those and make those so beautiful to bring Him glory. Right? Alright. 

It says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you". Period, period. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you."

That preaches all on its own, right? Because so much of our seeking is seeking after what we feel fits us best. We're trying to get smarter. We're trying to, to gain more clout, more money, more notoriety, more fan [00:21:00] base, more social media followers, et cetera, et cetera. All of those things, God knows what you have need of.

He knows where you need to be and he knows how to get you there. But putting first things first, we'll get things in alignment. And when you come into alignment, then God's gonna get you in the right vehicle to get you to the assignment that you're called for. But in the seeking, we get lost in seeking.

We get lost in the pursuit, and we start pursuing the wrong thing, if we just seek Him, he's going to bring it all in. But you have to seek his kingdom. You've got to seek that your message should line up with his message. You've got to seek righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is right standing with God. [00:22:00] Righteousness is living a lifestyle conducive for the Holy Spirit to move in your life. 

Right standing with God happens when you receive the Lord Jesus, but whenever you receive him, you've got to engage with the master. You've got to get involved with relationship. You've got to start leaning in to hear what he is saying to you so that you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind and get into the word and let that word begin to form in you a right heart before God. 

And when your heart gets right before God, and you start leaning into Him, he's going to teach you, he's going to lead you, and he's going to fill you, and he's going to fulfill you. You're going to feel the purpose come and chase you down. Right?

Blessings are going to come looking after you. They're going to be chasing you. I'm not going to have to seek to be [00:23:00] blessed. All of a sudden I'm going to turn around and I'll be like, "what the, what just hit me?" That was the blessings of the Lord that done chased me down. Some of you need some blessings in your life and you need them to be chasing you down, but you're running from... Right?

You've got to know whenever you're not running in the right lane. Right? You've got to run in the lane of righteousness if you want the righteous blessings of the Lord. Elijah had to take the lead, but Elisha had to follow the lead. Elijah on the journey was, "Hey bud, why don't you just stay back here because God's calling me over this direction".

And he did that to the boy three times, but he couldn't get rid of him. Elisha was like, "No, no, I'm going. You're not getting rid of me. Wherever you go, I'm gonna be there. I'm gonna be watching what you do, I'm gonna be knowing how you do it, I'm gonna be seeking after the God that Elijah is serving because I [00:24:00] see the results in Elijah's life." And he's thinking, "If those results are in Elijah's life and I hang out real close to him, and I get covered, then what's gonna happen next is that covering of blessings is gonna start flowing in my life, and then what I'm gonna do next is I'm gonna be a covering for someone else."

You know as the word goes on in 2nd Kings Chapter 2 it says that there were fifty other prophets who stood back and they were watching the whole scene. They were keeping notes. They were watching Elisha following Elijah, but they were spectators, not participators. So when the day came that Elijah was carried off by the chariot of fire, Elisha was the one standing there when the mantle came falling down.[00:25:00] 

And the fifty were still afar off watching. Are you willing to be in the fifty or are you willing to be the one? Are you willing to be the Elisha that says that ain't getting past me? There ain't a chance that I'm not following after that because I'm going to be on that dude's skirt tail. I'm not leaving wherever you go, that's where I'm going because whenever you go up, I want the glory to come down and I'm not missing it.

I'm not missing it. And so immediately when it happened, Elisha gets that mantle because he had a choice. There's some mantles in this room. Let me speak to somebody right now. I feel the spirit of the Lord on that. There's some mantles in this room. [00:26:00] Some of you have family members that have been righteous saints of God.

And you're not walking after their lead. There's some mantles that's laying, waiting for you, to bend down as a servant and to pick it up and to do something with it. The first thing he did is he picked that mantle up and he hit the water. And he went across into dry ground. He went from one place to another.

Some of you need to cross over. You need to cross over, you need to climb higher, and you need to make a decision to do that today. Today, you're going to have lots of beautiful opportunities in this room to level up, to amplify, to be engaged in the spirit [00:27:00] of the Lord, to be empowered by his presence, but you have to say yes.

Your yes is going to make a way for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to come ushering in those blessings that are going to chase you down. They're going to have your cup running over. Your cup's going to run over so much that you're going to be splashing on everybody around you. They're going to say, what happened to him? What happened to her? 

And it's going to be because the blessings of the Lord came. You said yes, you made a decision. You got out of the valley of decision. You quit going in that forward circle motion. And you saw the opportunity, where the door of heaven opened, and said, come up here. Come up here. Is that you?

Is that you today? I'm going to end this right [00:28:00] now. I'm going to do a quiet, reflective moment. I want everybody just to quiet yourself. I do this exercise where I say I'm going to quiet my soul. Because my soul is my mind, my will, and my emotions. And when I quiet my soul, then I can begin to let the spirit inside of me speak to Holy Spirit. They can have a conversation. 

I believe there's a conversation needed to be had in this room. We might as well start this early, right? So let's just close our eyes and let's just have that moment.

Holy Spirit, I ask that you speak with visions right now that they're seeing, they're hearing, and they're knowing that you, God, are calling them up higher. You've set forth the invitation. I pray that their answer be [00:29:00] today a yes. A yes. Thank you, Father, in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 

Alright, guys. I'm gonna hand this baton over. We're about to have an amazing speaker that's gonna step up. You've got a power packed day. But I wanna encourage you. If you said the yes, there's an action that needs to happen there. Because I believe faith without action, the word says it, faith without works is dead.. Got somebody in the house. 

Let's put it and breathe life into it. Write it down. Share with someone. I want to challenge you. Share with someone today. What was your yes What was it that the invitation looked like specifically to you? Because he's so [00:30:00] personal. he's such a personal God. He loves you so much. 

Thank you all for listening to me today, and be blessed, and I will be happy to meet most of you in this room today, somewhere along the lines of my booth, because I get a little social. Right? Alright. Well, praise God. 

Outro: Wow, that was a powerful message. Are you ready to amplify your life and step boldly into the calling God has placed on your heart? Pastor Marlena is hosting a transformative group coaching program created for women like you, ready to uncover their hidden purpose, conquer fear, and walk confidently in their God given assignment.

This is your moment to say yes to God with the support and guidance of an experienced coach by your side. The next course begins in February, but you can sign up now to stay [00:31:00] updated and receive exclusive invitations for more information in the new year. Don't wait. Take the first step toward the life you were created for today.

Find the link for more information in the show notes.

Thank you for listening to the Marlena, teach Jesus podcast. We hope you found today's episode uplifting and enriching. Please share this message with a friend so they can be encouraged by it too. If you're looking to deepen your faith and connect with a supportive community, be sure to follow Marlena Hollis on social media and visit Marlenahollisministries.com for the latest updates and events. Don't forget, you can also click the link in the notes to discover Marlena's book: "That's Mine! A 14 Day Journey of Declaring and Decreeing the Peace of God Over Your Life". Remember, you have a place to call home here. [00:32:00] Until next time, keep growing and shining the light of Christ.