DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS (1)

"There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death"  PROVERBS 14:12 & PROVERBS 16:25. True life and abundant life does come with and from the DIVINE Manual of God. The Bible! It is the only healthy way into full and lasting manhood that will bless the family,community,culture,  city and the world.  DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS!

"IT IS FINISHED "

JOHN 19:30

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Praise the Lord, everyone, on today. Minister Anthony Bonner here of Truth Turned Up Ministries coming to you live with another episode from the podcast series, The Gospel, The Game, and the Glory. A very special broadcast dedicated today to a very special group of people whom God has placed on my heart in this season of life to start producing content and divine material for to help them not only find their way, but to be more than conquerors, to overcome and to be Christ's vessels in this generation, and to experience the fullness of the gifts and the potential that he's placed in their hearts, in their minds, that he's just waiting for them to access and go on and do great things to be world changers in his name and for his glory. Who am I talking about? I'm talking about the Xennials, the Zoomers, that Generation Z group. A very amazing group of people that I've had the pleasure to work with on and off the court the last uh decade or so, considering that my son is in that Generation Z, being 17 years old now. Uh that group varying from those born according to statistics uh 1997 to 2012, uh Generation Z ranging in age from 15 to 25. What an amazing group of young people. Young people that God needs to remind and renew, and even in many cases introduce Himself to that they didn't just get here by accident, that they're here for a divine purpose, a purpose bigger than they can even imagine, that they've probably even heard of, you know, and uh prayerfully through these podcasts and the uh uh following things that are gonna flow from it, they will be able to tap into all that God has afforded them to through the blood of Jesus. We're gonna open with a short prayer and then we're gonna get right into it. I'm very excited again today, as I said, because this is a new year, a new venture. All things are being made new right now for those who will open themselves up to it. So we just want to take as many people along for the ride as we can because it's not for us. It's not about us. It's all for God's glory. All of God's children, whether we find ourselves in Florida, Missouri, Chicago, India, Africa, Russia, London, it does not matter. God's love, his omnipotence, his grace, his faithfulness, it extends to all. And there's no place that you can go that you cannot access it. To the lowest hole in the bottom of the earth, God is there with you, and to the highest mountain in the Himalayas, God is there with you. And if that is not good news, my brothers and sisters, my young brothers and sisters, my newly appointed brothers and sisters, then I don't know what is, because we all need someone. All of us have felt misunderstood, lost, lonely, depressed, confused, misinterpreted. Uh, you name it. You can fill in the blank. Believe it, Minister Bonner has been there because Minister Bonner has not always been Minister Bonner. Minister Bonner at one point was just like you, trying to find my way in the world, trying to find purpose, trying to make sense of things, trying to deal with my parents on a daily basis, trying to deal with my own personal insecurities, uh, to fit in or not fit in, uh, the right group of people to uh uh identify with and hang out with. But hey, it's all good. You're in the right place at the right time, and we're gonna thank Jesus for that because it was not me, believe me. Dear God, O Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for this opportunity to come and speak life into the lives of all the young people who will be blessed to hear this word, O Heavenly Father, who you've ordained from the foundations of the earth. You singled them out. They're the apple of your eyes. They're not lost, they're not wandering, they're exactly where you've allowed them to be, and you know where that place is. And because you know where that place is, this word right now, this hour is coming forth to reach, to teach, to instruct, to guide, to empower, to uplift, and take them to a place, oh heavenly Father, that's going to be magnificent. There'll be a blessing to people, they'll be blessed, oh heavenly Father, and your kingdom will be advanced. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So let's get with it here, my brothers and sisters, my young brothers and sisters. So please bear with me. If my language is a little outdated to you, because I am a lot older. I am from a very different generation, born in 1968. So I know to you that's an unk, an elder, a dinosaur, and many other things, but uh that's okay. That's what's so great about God. We don't get to pick what generation uh that He has ordained or decided that we would be inserted in. But we are responsible for what we do with that time. Hallelujah. I think I'm gonna say that one more time to you young people. We do not get to decide when we're born any more than we get to decide when we transition home to the next life, which God has prepared for those that will accept him in this generation or their generation and walk with him, follow him, and commit their lives to. But we are responsible for what we do with the life in which we've been entrusted. That's called being a steward in the kingdom of God. You are a steward over the time God has given you in this earth. So what you do and what you do not do with the time and gifts and resources that God entrusts in you, you will be held accountable for and you will have to give an account for it. So as we flow through this podcast, my young brothers and sisters, if there was a title, I would name the title of this podcast Divine Instruction. And we're gonna go with Divine Instructions simply because let's just picture regular instructions. We know how we all respond to instructions. We were born in sin and iniquity, meaning we were born outside of the will of God. We were born disobedient. Each and every person that's ever entered this planet that we call Earth was born a disobedient child, a child of disobedience. The Bible talks about the sons of disobedience and the sons of righteousness. So because we were born disobedient, our sin nature likes to be in control. If you know what I'm talking about, you can raise your hand right where you are. Or you can just sigh, but if you can relate, by all means relate because God is speaking to your heart right now about this very issue. We all want to have our own way as soon as possible. We all want to go our own way. We all want to make our own decisions, we all want to make our own choices. We believe at a certain point in time that we know what's best for us, and unfortunately, that times come sooner rather than later in the lives of most young people in every generation, but we're talking about Generation Z, so we'll keep it 100 and keep it pinpointed on you. This is your moment to be in the spotlight. I know this because I can remember when our son Brock was maybe four or five years old, and my wife and I were sitting in the living room of our town house in Atlanta back during that time, and my wife gave Brock an instruction, and I'll never forget it. And I even said that day, man, this one is gonna be a problem. Only God is gonna be able to do what needs to be done in his life. My wife gave him an instruction, and Brock looked and said to her at four or five years old, he said, Why do you get to be the boss of me? Wow. I mean, blew me away, but did not knock me out. Because the Bible says that foolishness is stored up in the heart of a child. Foolishness is stored up in the heart of a child. And knowing that and being in the word, uh it just really came to my mind and uh uh uh reinforced the fact that as a dad, as a man of God, everything I did with him had to be real intentional in growing him up in the fear and knowledge and the ammunition of the Lord so that the seeds could be planted in his heart as soon as possible and give God something to work with, okay, to pull him out of the world, to open up his eyes to understand why instructions are important, but divine instructions are mandatory. Hallelujah. You see, some of the instructions you're going to receive from adults and normal people in the world, they can help you get a job, they can help you avoid some issues, they can help you put on muscle, maybe uh run faster, you know, you study, you can be smarter, it can do all those things. But the divine instructions of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are the instructions that help you become who God created you to be. That when you walk in this earth, you're walking in purpose and on purpose. That when you leave this earth, you've accomplished God's purpose for your life. There's no greater satisfaction one can experience on a daily basis and a long-term basis than knowing I am being pleasing to my Heavenly Father, who gave himself for me. Hallelujah. Who sent his only begotten son to shed his blood, that that which was made crooked couldn't be made straight. You and I were made crooked by sin, by our forefathers Adam's decision in the garden. Yes, Eve bit the apple, but Eve was not given the instruction. Come on now, stay connected with me here. Eve was not given the instructions. She definitely bit the apple, but he told Adam which tree he could and could not eat from. He gave Adam the assignment of what his job was in the garden in the cool of the day, that he was to tend and mend it way before Eve even came on the scene. But yet, our first father, our first earthly father, forefather, disobeyed God. He disobeyed a divine instruction, and the result was all the rest of mankind has been out of line since and had a fallen nature. But God in his infinite wisdom and his love sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to give us the opportunity to get back in line. Hallelujah. To have a choice, to live fruitful lives, lives of power, lives of purpose, to separate from the crowd and not just go along to get along, to not think you're doing this along, that you don't have to be victims of many of the things that are succumbing your generation, the drugs, the alcohol, the free, loose sex, the single parent uh motherhood experience, or the uh uh uh athlete who has a child out of wedlock, and now he has to make a decision between going to college and considering uh continue his athletic career, or now just working at Walmart to make ends meet, or dealing with the pressure of society trying to decide what you should do with your life, them telling you you gotta go into the armed forces, or you gotta do this, or you gotta do this, or you gotta do that. No, the only thing you need to do is turn to the one who created you. Any problem, any situation, any circumstance that comes upon you that you find, Generation Z, that is too overwhelming, that you just can't make it make sense. There's one who has the answer. He is the answer to all things, he created all things for his glory. The Bible says that in the book of Isaiah, in the 43rd chapter, the seventh verse. God has created everything for his glory. You were not created to figure this out on your own. You were not created to do it alone. It is impossible. I am 57 years old, a lot older than you, and have had some amazing experience throughout my life playing professional basketball all around the world. Have met all kinds of people, some good, some bad, and unfortunately ugly. Not ugly in a physical sense, but ugly in their character, in their nature, the way they express themselves, the way they interact with people. I've had super, super highs financially. I've had some of the most lows financially. I've lived in amazing houses. I've lived in places that we don't even want to talk about, homeless shelters. You know, but through it all, it was God's love, it was God's grace, it was God's plan for my life reminding me that I had purpose that kept me going when there was no other reason for me to keep going. It was not my mother, it was not my departed father, it was not any of my natural blood brothers or any of the friends, it was not any of the countless trophies and awards that I've received playing basketball throughout my lifetime. It was not my high school or college diploma. It was not the fact that at one time I seriously was tall, dark, and handsome, according to people, not me. Uh, it wasn't my gifts that God has bestowed upon me. It was God's love. And I knew it was real. And it touched me. It touched me so that he's anointed me to do what I'm doing right here today, to come to you, to come to people that he sends me to throughout the world to remind them that there is one who's in your corner. There is one who knows what's exactly on your mind. There is one who has the power to help you overcome and be victorious over that thing that's keeping you stuck, that thing that won't allow you to step out and shine and be the shining star that God has chosen you and anointed you to be, my young brothers and sisters. And we're gonna talk about some of those things today. You see, because this is not about me, this is not about your parents, this is not about the devil, this is not about the world and the tricks and the traps that it has set. This is about you and God's love for you. And because God has love for you, with God nothing shall be impossible, the scripture says in Luke 137. For with God, that means partnership, that means relationship, that means fellowship. When you have all those things, then all you can say is victory, because that's what's gonna happen. You're gonna experience victory after victory after victory after victory. But in those victories, there are tough times. There's highs, there's lows, there's confusion, there's misunderstanding, there's separation, there's addition. But the end is you win. And you in turn get to be anointed and appointed a chosen vessel of God to go on and do what we were all saved to do, to be witnesses for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to just go out and tell the story, to not worry about who believes it, who doubts it, who comes against it. That's between them and God. Your job, my job, is to lift each other up, to love each other, to be there for each other, to share our victories as well as our defeats, to share when God blesses us with a breakthrough of understanding so that we can feed it to someone else and they too can experience that same victory without going through those exact same horrible circumstances. I'm talking to you right now, and I'm talking to you out of love. I'm talking to you as your big brother. Yeah, I'm a minister, yeah, I'm a former professional athlete, but all those things mean nothing to me. You can see me and never have to call me either one of them. You can call me Unk, you can call me A B. You know, I have a saying because I am an African-American man with young uh African-American boys, a lot of times to empower them in the color of their skin in a world that tries to make them feel bad about the color of their skin. I'll just walk up and I'll say, What's up, black man? And I'll say it in an affirmative, uh, a very assertive, very aggressive, but a very loving tone, because I know I'm imparting something in them to give them permission to walk in who God chose them to be, not the world, not them, not their mom, not their dad. God chose their ethnicity, God chose their race, God chose the boundary in which they would be born and raised and reared in, just like you. And with that, if God went through such great detail and great length to organize everything on the front end, just think about it, Generation Z, why would he leave you out there in the middle? Why wouldn't God complete that which he has started, which his word says he will? The Bible says, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. That's God speaking to you, letting you know that when he starts something in your life, and it started, if you're alive and you're listening to the sound of my voice, and you're breathing, and there's warm blood running through your veins, and you can move the members of your body, or even if you can't move the members of your body because Satan or life or something has come in and robbed you of that, there's good news. And the good news is God still sits on the throne. The good news is God has given his son Jesus who died for us, so that we can be reconciled, meaning reconnected to him, that we can be restored. So there's nothing missing in your life that cannot be restored because of Jesus and where he's seated at the right hand of the throne of God, and in that seat, the Bible says all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. Now, we don't want to go too deep into that because I don't want to get too excited about talking about that, because we believe President Trump or mayors or aldermen or rappers or NBA star players or NFL players or influences have all power. I'm sorry to disappoint Generation Z. They have some power, and whatever power they have, it's been given to them by the Lord. And since it's been given to him by the Lord, he can take it. The Bible says in Psalm 75, 6, and 7, and you better get this. You better get it because this is for you. This is that first nugget I'm gonna give you before we go deeper, deeper, deeper, and deeper. We're in a submarine and we are headed to the bottom of the things of God for your life. And I hope you get excited about it because today can be the best day of your life that leads to the greatest day of your life of experiencing what Jesus Christ has in mind just for you. Hallelujah. Psalm 75, 6 and 7. It says, For promotion comes not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge. He put it down one and he setteth up another. This is the God you serve. Promotion, we know that's exaltation. We know that means rising higher. That means going to another level. You know, that means being equipped, called, chosen, appointed, allowed to do something that your circumstances, your finances, your situation, who your parents are, where you live, all of it may completely contradict. Your circumstances may say you either you are never going anywhere. You're never gonna be nothing, that nothing good can come out of the situation you find yourself in, the friends you have, the limited amount of clothes you have, the food in your refrigerator, your lack of education. Nobody in the family has credit. Come on with it now. Got brothers in jail. Dad went to jail, mom is an alcoholic, dad is a drunk or a drug dealer or gang member. Hallelujah. Come on, add some stuff in there because I know it's some more. It's some stuff that the Holy Spirit is not allowing me to see right now, but he's speaking because he wants you to know he's speaking directly to you, my young brothers and sisters in Generation Z, that you are loved, that you are powerful, that you are mighty, that the plan God has for you is amazing. Not the plan that uh Stamford University or St. Louis University or Oxford University or Colorado State University or any university you're thinking of. By all means, if God opens the door, go, go, go, go, go. You should exercise your brain. It is a muscle that must be exercised, hallelujah, and filled with information so that it can be expanded. But you better know that's a small step on the ladder of what God has in store for you. Because we're talking about divine instructions that come by revelation. These instructions are not necessarily studied, even though we do study the Bible to show ourselves to be approved. These instructions are divinely imparted within your heart. They bypass your mind. So they go directly to your heart from your God, and he'll make it make sense in your mind because that is the point of expression. That's the point where everything is filtered and broken down and given to us in terms that we can understand. You know, we have a divine mind. That's why the Bible tells us in the book of Philippians, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. God gives us a mind that is so powerful that it would blow all universities. If they were all connected and all gave one universal degree, the wisdom of God would trumpet. It wouldn't even be close in the name of Jesus. So we want to get into talking about divine instructions now that we've had that little prelude and we had a little time to kick it up and get to know each other, and you can see that unc is kind of cool, and you can come hang out with me and uh hear some of the things God is sharing through my heart for you and this generation, and prayerfully, there'll be a platform created where you can talk to me and share what you get out of some of this because truly God saved my life and blessed my life so that I can be a part of your life. I'm not on the other end of this microphone just to be talking at you. I want to talk to you and with you. I want to get out there and see you face to face. I want to touch you. I want to give you a hug. I want to give you a high five. I want to look in your eyes. I want you to know that God is real and I'm not just sitting on the other side making up stuff. I'm walking you through my testimony that God's love is real, that it can overcome anything, anyone that's against the plan he has for your life. But all you need to do is do your part. Your part is to seek him while he may be found. Hallelujah. Your job is to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in due time. Because in the low places where the divine instructions flow, in the low place where he separates you from the world, from his foolishness, from the craziness that your friends may be involved in, some of the choices they're making that God already knows are going to have a horrible end if they don't repent and return and stop and take a look and consider that there's something more, something greater. Hallelujah, in the name of Jesus. Divine instructions. So when we talk about divine instructions, we're talking about instructions that relate to God's nature, the attributes of God, the actions of God. We're talking about heavenly initiative, God-like movement, divine. They're exactly what they're sound like. They're above our understanding. But it's only through our intentional search, our intentional seeking, our intentional hunger, our intentional thirst for those instructions that we're allowed to receive them. And they determine the degree to which we can receive the instructions, that God may move us along the path of life, as He's already prepared the places that He wants to send you. He's already prepared the great things he has for you. He's already prepared the platforms that he has for you. Some of those platforms are above and beyond anything you can ask or think, like it says in Ephesians 3 and 20. Some of you will be standing in the White House, some of you will be standing in Buckingham Palace, some of you will be standing on Wall Street, ringing the bell. Some of you will be standing, sitting in the office as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys or the Dallas Mavericks or the Golden State Warriors. Some of you will walk the sidelines of an NBA, sideline as a coach or the NFL. Some of you will be great accountants. Some of you will be amazing school teachers. Some of you will be a new wave of kingdom-minded law enforcement offers. Some of you will be mayors, hallelujah. Some of you, many of you will be divine parents, teaching your kids those things of the kingdom of God. There is no limit with God. There's only limited men's. They are not. They are as far from each other as the east is from the west, as night is from day, as the heavens are from the earth. God is divine. God is not the author of confusion. God does not operate in corruption or chaos. The Bible says that God is perfect. Okay? The Bible says that God is righteous. Hallelujah. That God is just. None of those attributes you will find in this world consistently. God has to impart that into people and renew their mind and restore their walk and their journey with him in order for that to be a part of our lives and our nature. We're talking about divine instructions. So as we talk about divine instructions, then let's talk specifically about what those instructions are for. Because God didn't just give them to you just to haphazardly have you have them and not know what they are for. They are for a purpose. When God begins to speak with you and do things in your life to transform you, to mature you, to woo you, and bring you back into your uh predestined state of being a son or daughter of the Most High God, my generation's ears. As God loves for you, He never wants you to think you're forgotten about because you're not forgotten about. You're not. He's with you right now as we speak, as you listen. God said, I'll never leave you or forsake you. That means whether you're in a relationship with him yet or not, if you come into the grace and knowledge of who he is yet or not, whether you go to church or you do not go to church, does not matter at this moment. At this moment, you're where you're supposed to be, and God is doing what he promised to do. He's coming for you. Hallelujah. He's reaching out to you, he's giving you an invitation. These divine instructions are instructions that lead you into the kingdom of God. God's kingdom is a kingdom that is not of this world. Jesus Christ did not come to be president, he did not come to be king in the earth. He came to introduce a new kingdom. It's a spiritual kingdom, which you can find over in Romans chapter 14 and 17. When he talks about the kingdom of God is not in food and drink or meat, but it's in righteousness and joy and peace of the Holy Ghost. It's a spiritual kingdom that allows you to overcome everything natural in the world. It allows you to overcome your enemies, whatever enemies you have. If that enemy is doubt, if that enemy is sickness, if that enemy is debt or financial lack, if it's a physical enemy, someone trying to end your life or destroy the plan God has for your life, he deals with that too in his kingdom. There's nothing unlimited or off uh off that God can't fix in his kingdom order, but you have to become a kingdom citizen. Divine instructions allow you to walk in divine order, it allows you to make higher levels of choices. Choices that are going to be a benefit to you, to mankind, to your family, to everyone you have influence over. When you're walking in divine order, just you showing up is a blessing to everybody involved. If that's one person or one million people, when you walk in the arena, everything has changed because you're that guy, you're that girl that God has anointed, He's appointed, He's chosen, He's assigned. So you walk in the grace and knowledge of that, knowing that all of heaven backs you and your word up. Because you're in divine order, you don't just use your words loosely, you don't just start popping off at the mouth, being disrespectful and crazy and out of order. You understand that you've been sent by one, one whom you imitate, one who you walk with, one who you're being groomed with to be just like. So you understand the responsibilities that come with the divine order, and you do not take that lightly. You hold that in high esteem. You feel honored. You know that you have to love, even be unlovable. You know that you have to show grace to those that are out of order, who have no self-control. You do this because you love God because God first loved you. And you said yes to walk with him. You're saying yes to be different in your generation. You're saying yes, God placed me in Generation Z as a Xennial, but not to be a Xennial who just settles for everything that everyone else is settling for. You know, I'm more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves me. I'm a king, I'm a priest, I'm a queen, I'm an ambassador, I'm a son or daughter of the Most High God. I walk in power, I walk in authority. All things are mine because they belong to my daddy. You always remind yourself of this and you continue to blow these seeds up in you because those are divine mandates, they're divine instructions, they're divine uh uh reminders that you have order steps, my young brothers and sisters. You're following Jesus, you're following the shepherd, you're operating in the government of God. Hallelujah. And in that government, you're always receiving guidance and training. You can never forget this. You're always receiving guidance and training. And you have to always be open to this guidance and training, my brothers and sisters, because when you resist, then you can go off track. You get off the path, you go astray. You open the door for one of your young brothers and sisters, or some other person that God has placed in your path to destroy. Not, let me take that back. I said that wrong. Not the God you and I serve, or the God you're coming in the knowledge to serve. We're talking about the God of this world, Satan, better known as the devil, Lucifer, before he was kicked and cast out of heaven. That God of this fallen world will place people in your path to try and get you off track. As you grow in the grace and knowledge of God and develop a love for the God, and you go to verse John 10 and 10, it says, the thief comes but to kill, steal, and destroy. That's who we're talking about, Satan, the wicked one. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He'll steal your joy, he'll steal your purpose, he'll steal your vitality, he'll steal your health, he'll steal your finances, he'll steal your relationships with your family, your friends, siblings, anything. All because of your disobedience and your ignorance and your desire to want to be in control and make choices that you're not yet fully capable of counting the cost and understanding the long-term consequences for. He comes to kill. He'll kill your health. He will steal your life. He'll hell you. He will encourage you to jump in a car with teens who are drinking and driving or smoking or vaping or going out in the woods doing something or having parties at their parents' house while their parents are on vacation, and they've entrusted them with the responsibility of being responsible in the house while they're gone, and they get crazy and forget uh the divine order or the instructions, hallelujah, to operate in integrity and in honor in the absence of their parents or any adult supervision, knowing they know better and they've been taught better. But if they have not, then they will act in accordance to that which they know. So he comes to steal, kill, and lastly he comes to destroy. He'll destroy your dreams. He'll destroy the life God has given you that's supposed to be a blessed life that glorifies God, and that is also a blessing to humanity. To go forth and operate in purpose, to rise to heights that have never been seen in your family lineage. God said he'll do something for you that he's never done for anybody else if you'll just love him, if you'll open up your arms, if you'll turn from the waves of this world and get your eyes off of the entertainers, the athletes, uh and the influences on the internet, and any other person who's not operating accordingly according to divine instructions. You'll know who's operating in divine instructions by the way they speak, by the way they carry themselves, by the way they operate, by what they stand for. Uh, where are they pointing you to? Who are they leading you to? Do they want you to follow them or do they want you to follow Jesus? Do they want you to join a church or do they want you to join yourself to Christ? Do they want you to bow down and pray to the Lord, or do they want you to bow down and pray to them? All these things matter, my young brothers and sisters. Aunt would not lead you astray. You see, because one of the great attributes of your generation, not only you the only generation or second generation now, probably, to grow up with the internet and smartphones and social media. But you guys are very adaptable. We're able to adapt and shift and make changes on a dime. We're other generations because they were so much slower and they didn't have as much information and as many options. Time and adaptability took a little bit longer because we were really fearful of the future and stuck in our ways a little bit more because we didn't have as many options. Because God has blessed you to have so many options. You can hear something today and then tomorrow you're already on to the next thing. And that's a gift of God because he knew you would need that to do what he wants you to do in this generation that he has called and place you into. So as we're talking about divine instructions, let us never remember that there was one man that God used outside of Jesus who gave the most amazing divine instructions as a vessel. It was the Holy Spirit speaking through him. And I'm talking about Solomon. If you know who I'm talking about, just say amen, right where you are. Solomon was the wisest man ever lived. God bless this man to write so much wisdom that is still relevant to every generation that it is astounding. He says something that you need to be very aware of at all times because it'll be it will be your keeper, it will be your pointer to help you keep your eyes on Jesus Christ as you journey. That when things come into your life that are contradictory to what you know to be true, you won't even have a doubt or a second thought about which way you should go. And he says it twice. He says it in Proverbs 14 and 12, and he says it in Proverbs 16 and 25. And I'm turning it for you right now, and I'll suggest as we do these things that you keep your sword with you. The Bible is a sword. It is a sword. It is a weapon. That's why it's called your sword or your sword. It is a weapon, it is your supernatural weapon to conquer and rise in a natural, fallen, dark world that is full of lies, full of trickery, full of the devil still, killing, and destroying, sending people the wrong way, using them, causing them to forfeit their anointing and the purpose God has for their life. You gotta have your Bible with you at all times. And though it's not even physically impossible to keep it with you at all times, because you may not be there yet and mature enough to understand what that looks like, how you can keep it in your backpack, your book bag, you can keep it in the backseat of your car, you can keep it in your locker, you can incorporate it with your books. There are many ways to do it, but ultimately you get to the point where you do it the way God wants you to do it because you have a renewed mind and you begin to write it on the tablet of your heart and you bind it around your neck, and it just comes off your tongue because you spend so much time with the Lord. So in Proverbs 14 and 12 and 16 and 25, Solomon tells us, he says, There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Now, I can't get into the in-depthness of this at this moment because that is not what this GGG podcast is about. Young brothers and sisters, but believe me, we're gonna get there because we're like that with each other. We're gonna get there. Uh, God's gonna bless us to go deeper and deeper and deeper because he's raising you up for something amazing. I'm not talking to you because you're normal. I'm talking to you because you're abnormal, abnormal in that God has a supernatural plan for your life. Abnormal in that God is gonna use you to be a blessing to the multitudes and billions of people around the world. I speak it right now in the name of Jesus that you are God's chosen ones. You are anointed vessels. That no, people shouldn't want to be around you. People don't like you. You're not gonna get picked to do natural things in the world because you're in the world, you're not of it. God's favor is on your life. And believe me, the enemy knows his favor is on your life. So he's gonna make sure that you experience confusion and chaos and some of the other things because he wants you to feel bad. He wants you to quit, he wants you to give up, he wants you to make you think you're nothing, huh? But I'm telling you right now, uh-uh, it's not so. You're gods, you're a diamond in the rough, and the best diamonds are found in the deepest, darkest, uh hardest places to reach. You understand? And when they're found, they never look like what they are. Oh, you gotta get that. Come on now, Generation Z. Y'all at least 15 years old. I know y'all can vibe and rock with me on that. When they are found, they do not look like what they are. Man, what you're going through, what you're gonna go through, what you have been through, it's not what you are. It's part of your cleanup process. Can you get that? It's part of your cleanup process. God all this time has been using things that you had no idea about. People that you think that were picking on you because you got cut from the team, you got kicked out of a school, you lost a job, your parents had to move, a boy or a girl broke up with you. Man, God was using all that for your good. God was using all that for your good. Because the amazing thing about them is even when we don't know God, we are known by God. Isn't that amazing? That even though some of you right now have not come into the grace and knowledge and understanding of who God is, his love has still been there for you. It supersedes your ignorance, my ignorance, our irresponsibility, our not going to church, our not paying attention when God sends people of God to knock on our door or witness to us on a corner or in a grass, a gas station, or when someone comes to our school and speaks, or if we're at Christian schools and we're falling asleep in mass or in chapel or we're not reading our Bible, God's grace covers all that. The blood of Jesus has covered all that because he has such love for you, he has an appointed time for you to come into the kingdom, back into the family. So Solomon says there is a way that seems right unto a man. But the end thereof are the ways of death. That's a promise, that's a warning, that's an alert, that's a divine instruction, it's everything we need in order to succeed and win, and to guard ourselves against the world we live in. Especially your generation. Especially because you are on the internet so much, you are on social media so much, you are so adaptable. The enemy will use those channels to try and come into your room at night, to come into your classroom while you're sitting on your phone or your computer, while you're in the rest room, while you're sitting in the locker room. He can enter. But see, the great thing about it is when you know who he is and you know his tactics, then you can rebuke him. And just like Jesus said, when he was tempted and led up into the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights to be tempted, uh the devil. He simply said, Get me behind me, Satan. You can talk to Satan and tell him to beat it. Get lost. Just in that language, God knows exactly what you're saying because you have the power. You just tell them to beat it. And you have to tell them to beat it because when you lean towards your own understanding and you get off track and you follow people, especially the enemy, or do things that are contrary or contradictory or totally against God's divine order and his will and his instructions, it never ends well. It never ends well. I'm in prison ministry. Been in prison many for prison ministry for 17 years now. I've visited a lot of detention, juvenile detention center, boys and girls, a lot of prisons, medium and maximum security, and recently was blessed to even be on death row with 33 inmates who are sentenced to die for their crimes. And it always breaks my heart to see the men have to communicate through glass to touch their wives' hands or their children, that they can be no physical touch. It always breaks my heart to see the young people in the jubi centers whose judgment and emotional development is still nowhere near where it's going to be in their youth as they approach young adulthood in juvenile, crying, lost, confused, wondering how they got there. It was because they didn't have divine instructions. And if they did, they did not heed them. Maybe they don't have an unk. Maybe they don't have someone speaking into their life. Maybe they don't have a mom and dad who is stable enough to be there for them to recognize the signs and the red flags and the signal of trouble that are normally very relevant and clear if you're paying attention to your child. And they got lost in the shuffle, they got lost in a struggle. Now life for them will never be the same. It has taken a course that seems irreversible. But see, there's even good news for them, my brothers and sisters. That's the great thing about the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You can get excited with me right now if you want to. That is the great news about the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It can turn any situation around. Hallelujah. And it can turn it around quick, or God, in his infinite wisdom, can let us grow up in it so we get to know him and learn to love him and trust him and rely completely on him, and then he'll fix it at an appointed time. But wherever the word of God is, there's victory, there's change, there's transformation, there's humbling, there's breaking. Hallelujah. There's a cleansing because that's who he is. He's omnipotent, he's all powerful, he's omnipresent. He's everywhere at one time, at the same time. Hallelujah. That's God. And you got to get to know this God because the world wants you to think she's just a God that's bound by being a Baptist, a Methodist, a Muslim, an atheist, a Mormon. These are all man-made denominations to create confusion, to create separation from God out in the world, from people who have to make a choice to one of these denominations, and then making a choice. A lot of them don't know that they uh have gotten even further away from God because they're now indoctrinated with another doctrine of a man and not getting this raw kingdom word that you're getting, where all you need to know is Jesus loves you. And he wants to have time with you, but he wants you to intentionally initiate that time because he's with you all the time. He's just waiting on you to say something to him or to reach out to him or to interact with him or sit down and go, God, speak to me, God, touch me, God, help me, God, blow me up, blow me up for your glory. Blow me up just for your glory. Cleanse my heart so that when that glory comes, or while you're doing what you're doing, I know it's not me, that it's not about me, that I'm doing it for your kingdom, for the advancement of your people, to point a lost generation back to you, that my life might have value, not just any value, great value. That's your identity in Christ Jesus, my young brothers and sisters, that you walk in divine instructions. And in those divine instructions, it won't be there is a way that seems right unto a man. No, it'll be the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, which is over in Psalms 37, 23. Your steps will be ordered by the Lord. And if God is ordering your steps, then you're headed exactly in the direction you're supposed to be headed in. You're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing in this time, in at this day, at this exact moment. And if you're doing what God has assigned and orders you to do, and being where God has assigned and orders you to be, everything else takes care of yourself, young brothers and sisters. So we talked about your identity. Let's talk about something else in your generation, and other generations that sometimes goes without being addressed, and that is attention to detail. You know, paying attention to detail allows great things to happen. Attention to detail is like a builder who builds a house and he sets the steps in order to prepare the foundation to make sure that the height, the width, the weight of the house can withstand the foundation that it's gonna be built on. When you pay attention to God's detail, which are given in divine instructions, you are saying I am allowing God to build my life on solid principles, a solid foundation that's gonna allow him to trust me and use me to do great and mighty things above and beyond with any university, any other human being, any talent, any gift that I have in and of myself, which he gave me anyway, to be used by him for his glory. Attention to detail. See, these details, though boring, though tedious, need to be done faithfully and daily. Because what you're doing is you're training yourself to be disciplined in natural things so that God can bless you to be fruitful in spiritual things. If you're not faithful over little things, God can't trust you with much. That's right there in the Bible, my brothers and sisters. Let's turn to it. How about Luke? Let me see, Luke chapter 16 and 10, I believe it is, where God gives us the mandate about being fruitful or faithful. He says over here, he says, He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust in the much. So what is God telling us? That means if you can't handle $5, why would God trust you with $50 or $500? And if you can't handle $500, why would God trust you with $5,000 or $500,000? If you can't handle $500,000, why would God trust you with $5 million? And we're only using money because we know money gets people attention. But let's take it to something more practical in our everyday life that all of us can do each and every day, between this age range we find ourselves right now, between 15 and 25, and what you should be doing. You're student athlete. We should be making up our bed in the morning. And I know there's something a lot of people go, it ain't no big deal, it's a huge deal. It gives you the power of accomplishment in the morning. It gives you the power of order, of showing God that I will be faithful over a few things so that you can make me ruler over many. It allows you to come home at the end of a day to a made-up bed, which makes you feel good when you fall on it. It allows your mom and dad to know that they did a great job in raising you, that many of the seeds of discipline, the things they've taught you, have taken root in you. It gives them comfort that you're gonna be okay when it's their time to transition because you've learned the things that they've tried to teach you. It says that if someone comes over your house and you're not home and they look in your room because they're visiting mom or dad or somebody else, and they just happen to look in your room, they go, Man, this is amazing. I wish my kid was like this. It gives your mom and dad a sense of accomplishment. Again, that they've done a good job raising you. But more importantly, it shows God that you're gonna be a good steward, a good steward, that you're gonna take care of kingdom business, that you're gonna operate in divine order, that you were a good choice. Hallelujah. And that's what it's all about. It's about being pleasing unto God, faithful in few things. You're an athlete, you get on a basketball court, you're only playing three minutes. Coach, you've been working on defense all week about taking the charge. You get in and in three minutes, you take that charge. Bam! Next game you play five minutes, next game is 15 minutes, next game is 25 minutes. Why? You've been faithful. You're showing the coach that it matters, that what he's teaching, what he's instructing is not in vain, that it's valuable. God sees that. He goes, This one I can trust. Because if they have, if they'll do that with natural things, already know what they're gonna do with the divine instructions I'm gonna give them. I can elevate them to unseen heights and levels. If you're a student, you've been doing regular daily work all semester long. Now it's time to take the semester exam or midterm exam. But you've been diligent. You've been asking questions, you've been attending class, you've been doing your homework, you study when you need to. At other times you avail yourself and study even when you don't need to, because you're just trying to grow in this area and this subject and be the very best you can be. So you're preparing yourself for the midterm exam. It won't catch you by surprise. You ask the teachers questions, you approach them after class, you monitor your progress. How am I doing? What else can I do to get extra credit? How can I be better at this? This is all pleasing unto God. These are the people that God will uh intervene in their circumstances and situations quite often because they're using their gifts to glorify Him and be the very best they can. They're not being unfaithful students, stewards, and just doing just enough to get along or to get by. They're doing more than enough. Hallelujah. Because they understand that they are the child of a king. Yes, and that they have a great responsibility. Attention to detail, faithfulness in that which is least. So you can also be rewarded, and God can trust you in much. There's another verse of scripture that I want to share with you that also talks about, excuse me, being faithful. Because our faithfulness also stems out of the fact that we work for the Lord. Everything we do is to give God glory. It's not for our glory. You score five touchdowns, that's not about you or for you. You score 34 points, that's not about you or for you. You're a straight A student, hallelujah, God bless you. You don't get the glory for that. You score 1,600 on an SAT. Amen. Let's go out and get some cake, let's go to Applebee's, eat some wings, let's do all that. But that's not for your glory, that's for God's glory. The Bible asks a question, and I'll get to it in a second. But he says, I mean, I'll get to it more directly when he says, What have you that you have not received of the Lord? Like, if you're smart, you ain't smart because you chose to be smart. Stop that. If you can shoot the basketball or jump high and dunk and block shots and all that, that's amazing. But stop it. You didn't do that. God did. Yeah, you might have jumped, rope, went to the weight room, and all that. So you activated and you've been faithful in making sure that it increases, but you didn't give that to yourself. Everything we received, we've received of the Lord. Your eye color. If you 6-6 or 5-6, God did it. Yeah. If you are uh Asian or African-American or Italian or Jewish or whatever, you didn't do that, God did it. If you got one brother, ten brothers or no brothers, five sisters, three sisters or no sisters, you didn't do that. God did it. If you grew up with a mommy and daddy, God bless you, God did it. If you just had a mother, praise her and thank her, God allowed it. If you just got a daddy, hallelujah, give him praise, God did it. You got somebody. If you grew up with your grandmother and not your parents, hallelujah, God did it. Nothing catches him by surprise. The bad things that the enemy tries to throw upon you in your young life as you're trying to find your way, God intervenes on your behalf. He makes a way out of no way. If you're in a school that you know you shouldn't be in, that your parents didn't qualify financially and you academically and you're in there, you better give him some praise right now. Yes, if you're on a team that you know you shouldn't be on, you're at a college scholarship when you didn't know how. Give them praise. If you don't won championships in volleyball, in lacrosse, in soccer, in flag football, let's praise him right now and tell them thank you because God did it. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. He chose you, he picked you. Yes, it's all about him. It's never about you and I. It is all about Jesus all of the time. In Colossians 3 and 23, it says, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. You are serving God, young people. Yeah, you got a coach. He could be crazy or he could be competent and be a very good, godly man. Either way, if you're on that team, when you win, lose, or draw, you give God glory, not him. The coach might only get down or want to celebrate when you win. But you get down and celebrate even when it looks like you're losing because you haven't lost, because God allows you to play a game that you love. And every game you play, whether you score two points or 42 points or 22 points, God is glorified because you're using his gift for his glory. So when people see you doing well, they see a child of God doing well. And when they ask you why you're doing well or how you're doing well, you boldly say it's all because of my daddy, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. That's the way we get down, Generation Z. We want to be bold for the Lord. We want to turn up in this generation. We want to turn up so Jesus can take over. We want to be the vessels of the takeover. Yes. Yeah, I'm getting hyped now. You know, you know it. But it's all good. That's how Uncle Get Down. And as you get to know me and I get to know you, man, it's gonna be it's going to be amazing because uh I desire to be a blessing to you, and your growth, your growth in Jesus Christ would be the greatest blessing to me that uh I've experienced in my life. I'm 1000% certain because God pours into others that they can pour into others and bring forth fruit. Amen. That's what that is. So we talked about attention to detail. Let's move on to something else, another topic while we still have a little time. Let's talk about honor and respect. We know this is a big one for your generation two, generation Z, because we don't really uh, well, I demand it still, but I've seen in your generation where a lot of parents don't really demand and understand the blessing of respect and how God honors respect. The Bible is very clear that children are to honor and respect their parents. It commands you to do that, to honor and respect your parents and hold them in high esteem because God's order in bringing you in the world was through a mother and a father. Whether they're married or not, it's not in a topic of this uh podcast we're on right now, and it's not the issue. You have a mother and a father, the majority of you. Now we know that there are some new techniques and things going on in the world because science and technology has improved. We are not speaking about those things. We're speaking about things that are of the kingdom of God, that are of divine order and divine instructions, and then they are listed in the word of God that is your sword. It is inside of that book. If it's not in that book, I really don't even want to have too much conversation about it because then we get into debates and discussions and arguments, and it leads to places that we don't want to go. Remember what Solomon said in 14, 12, 16, and 25. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Hallelujah. So we don't want to get into all those arguments, we want to stick strictly to what God has said and what God has commanded, because only He, after all, is the creator of heaven and earth. Everything in it, under it, and of it, God did it. Hallelujah. So in the book of Ephesians, in the sixth chapter, we are told, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. How powerful is that? This is the Apostle Paul. He says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Now he's telling you that you obey your mom and dad, just like you obey everybody else who's in authority over you, teachers, coaches, pastors, whatever it is. People that have authority over you that are older. God is saying you obey them in the Lord, meaning, and this is very important, that they're governing you and treating you and holding you accountable in a just way, not unjust, and asking you and commanding you to do things that are outside of the will of God or that are unjust or that are ungodly or that are downright wrong. God says you don't have to obey them. You obey your mom and dad and those who've been given authority over you in the Lord. Like coaches don't get to curse you out, call you soft, you're crazy, use profanity and all that, and you have to go and practice or play in the game or deal with that. No, you're free to remove yourself, but you do that in a very respectful way. You just let them know, coach, I appreciate you and I respect you, and God demands that I uh uh respect you and honor you, but I am going to respectfully just tell you that it is not proper the way you're speaking with me. I'm gonna report this to my mom and dad and the other authorities, and I will not be playing on this team anymore until this is corrected. Boom, boom, boom, and you leave it alone. Obey your parents in the Lord. It's the same thing. Mom and dad have to operate and raise you in the way God has commanded and empowered them. They can't just treat you any kind of way. They can't lock you in a room and not beat you three days. They can't beat you like you coming out of Israel as a slave and act like that's okay. No, there's an order and there are divine instructions for mom and dad. Just like there's heads and tails, it's the same thing in the kingdom of God. There's God's way and there's man's way. And man's way will always lose when God's way comes in to intervene. He says, honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with promise. A commandment is God's divine order, it's a divine instruction. It's a mandate. It's a spiritual principle. He said, if you do this, he says that it's going to be well with you, meaning God's going to bless you in your life. It's going to be well with you. God's going to make sure your life turns out right because you did the first thing he told you to do. He didn't say go to college. He didn't say go to the NBA. He didn't say go to the NFL. He didn't say get a record deal. He didn't say walk the runway for a victorious secret. He didn't say get a nose job. He didn't say go to the gym and get buffed up and blowed up. He didn't say any of that. He didn't say win the lottery. He said, honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you. Hallelujah. God is going to bless you just for honoring your mother and father. And thou mayest live long on the earth, meaning you can extend your life. But I can't tell you a number of young people who don't honor their mother and father and wonder why things don't go wrong. I mean things don't go right for them in their life. Or why so many young people are perishing before their mother and father. Because the whole world is upside down. And there's a way that seems right unto a man. Everybody thinks they know the way, but they're missing the divine instruction. Come on, Generation G, rock with me now. Come on, we're getting into the deep, deep part of it now. And we're gonna go on a little bit more because I want you to eat. You might not be able to digest it all in the first setting, but uh on a good holiday, Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'll tell you a secret because I know you do it too. You might eat at 11, 12, 1 or 2. Sit back, watch some games, football, basketball. You back again at it, four or five. And then maybe by now, 10 o'clock, you might get a little bit more snack. That's the way this is, you see. But the good thing about the spiritual food is you won't get fat, you'll never be overweight, but you'll definitely get full in the name of Jesus. Obeying your parents. That is honor and respect. Let's talk about separating from the crowd a little bit. I think this is very important in your generation. To separate from the crowd. Now, when we're talking about separation, we're not talking about isolation. Like you just being a monk, uh going uh lock yourself in a room or you're in school and you don't talk to nobody, you ain't got no friends. No, no, no, no. We're talking about getting in the Lord, developing spiritual discernment and having spiritual distinction. Okay, being uh uh uh spiritually separated so you can discern kids who you are not to have fellowship with in great uh uh uh uh uh in great degrees. Yeah, you're not. So you don't focus on avoiding uh them, but your spiritual discernment, because you're separated by your spirit, will allow you to avoid worldly corruption and will allow you to align yourself with God's will for your life. And that is so important because when you operate outside of God's will, hanging with people that you know who don't love God and who get in anything and everything at the drop of a dime, then you're setting yourself up to walk down a path and experience some stuff that God did not uh ordain for your life, and you're gonna experience heartache and pain that God didn't ordain for your life. And a lot of times, yeah, you can get out of it, but it'll take 10 or 15 years, like you got to pay the cost or the consequences for the actions that you chose because the Bible tells us uh that we are to be obedient. Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice. That when we know better, we do better. The Bible says, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child. But when I became a man, meaning more mature, more developed, more uh refined and understood of these divine instructions, I put away childish things. Childish things are human instructions that I'm gonna lean toward my own understanding, even though I know God has given me a different uh perspective and requir something different in this situation. I'm gonna do what God requires and not what I think or what I feel, because what I think or feel is now null and void. It doesn't exist anymore. I've been bought with a price. I'm God's prisoner, I'm his servant, I'm his property. Hallelujah. I'm gonna walk with the Lord and allow him to bless me, and I'm gonna glorify his name and I'm gonna yell it from the rooftop, the building top. It doesn't matter where he puts me, I am God's voice now in the land. So if we look at Romans 12 and 2, it says, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Your mind has to be renewed and not renewed with new natural information. It's not another course in physics, it's not another course, not another course in social studies, it's not another degree. Yeah, you got a bachelor's, you don't necessarily have to have a master's, you don't have to go to law school, you don't have to go to medical school. You can if that's where you think God is sending you. Amen. But go to school and get those degrees and take Jesus with you. Make your degree always be subservient or underneath the divine instructions of God. But there are too many people who have the degrees, and God is underneath the degrees. Yes, they believe they love God to their level of understanding, but they don't obey God in their workplace. How many people witness the patients in the hospital? How many people pray for the people on the other side of their desk and their lawyers? Hallelujah. How many people, when they selling you them $300 shoes, say, Man, I hope you know the Lord loves you and He's gonna bless you. And as you walk in these $300 shoes, may you walk in righteousness. Hallelujah. That's what we need. The whole world is waiting on the manifestations of the Sons of God. They're waiting on people who serve God, who love God, who glorify him, who lift up his name. That's what is needed in the world. Let me give you one more promise about um separating from the crowd because this one is really, really important. It's in Matthew chapter 7, and it's verses 13 and 14. And we kind of touched on a little bit earlier about the foundation, but we didn't go into detail. But when you separate from the crowds, you save yourself from uh losing your inheritance that God has afforded those who love him and who follow him and who give their lives to him. It's a guaranteed inheritance. Guaranteed. Matthew 7, 13 and 14. Enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broader is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few there be that find it. So let's look at that. Two gates, two entrances. One is straight and wide, the other one is straight and narrow. The first one is straight, wide, and broad, is the way that the majority of people in Generation Z and every generation that's ever existed is taken. That's chasing the American dream. Trying to be rich, trying to be famous, wanting to be socially accepted, beautiful, popular, uh, all of that. That's that gate. That's that straight gate, that's that wide gate, that's that broad gate. And it says that gate most certainly leads to destruction. And it says, many there be which go in there. Many, many, countless. It's unit's innumerable. Most people want that because that's what's sold on television, that's what's popular, that's what's known, that's what's passed down from generation to generation, that's what the devil sells, that's what he tried to give Jesus out in the wilderness to go into the gate of destruction. But Jesus and divine instructions offer the second gate in verse 14. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. So you have to get the revelation of what he's talking about. He's not talking about your natural life that you're experiencing right now. No, you got to have natural life to enter into eternal life. And eternal life is not you transitioning and going to heaven. Eternal life is relationship, knowing who God is, who his son Jesus is, what the blood has afforded you, what your inheritance is, what your promises are, what your power is, who God says you are, inclining your ears to hear his divine instructions, using your tongue to speak those promises, being humble, being available, being meek, being in peace, being able to love your neighbor, being able to forget, being able to forgive. All these things are foreign to most people. They're surely not right now readily operating in Generation Z, but they shall be in the name of Jesus. They shall be. You shall be the first in the name of Jesus. Yes, walking in power, walking in authority, walking in love, doing all things that are needed to elevate your Heavenly Father and your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Setting godly standards. You know, godly standards are just what they sound like. Operating in the will of God according to the love of God. What does God require of me? What does God require of me? God has standards, and the majority of those standards have already been given to you in the Bible. It's in the Word of God. If you want to know what God's standards are, you can pick up the book and let it fall open if you must need be. Do that. And it will show you every godly standard that there is in there. One of my favorite verses regarding godly standards is in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. It puts it very clear for you, me, and everybody else. It says, all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. That is just broken down perfectly. That all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. Even though God used men and women to write it or to preach it, it's all from God. The men and women are just vessels. So, no, can you trust them? No, but these men and women were divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. They were under the power of God when they wrote this. Has it been altered throughout some generations? Absolutely. Men have interpreted there are all kinds of new Bibles out there in the market. Nonetheless, that does not take away from the fact that these are God's words. And that when you read them and study them and you spend time with Him, God is so powerful He can get you the revelation of what He initially intended from the beginning. Even if the Bible says something else, God will give you a revelation of what needs to be said. That's what's so powerful about the Holy Spirit. Is that yeah, you can read one thing, but God can say a totally different thing. Because God created the mind of men, and he talks to those children that are his in his language because you now have the mind of Christ. Remember Romans 12 and 2, be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. When you come to Christ, you get a new mind. You lose your mind. Hallelujah. If I got some athletes on here, I hope y'all know what it's like to lose your mind on that basketball court. Unc was blessed to lose his mind many nights at every level on the basketball court. It can be Googled. So Unc ain't just sitting here making stuff up. Some people are gonna say stuff to you and they can't be Googled. Hallelujah. And I say that humbly. But you gotta say it humbly because everything reproduces after its own kind. You have people trying to give you testimonies of things they did not do. I pray that the Lord will never allow me to be in that situation. And I know he won't because it won't be him that will try and lead me that way. It will be the enemy to try and get you to operate in pride. But we don't operate in pride. We operate in glorifying our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I thank him for all my experiences because then they all can be used to reach someone like one of you genius on the other end of the phone. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and it's profitable for doctrine. Doctrine being the word of God, the order of God, the divine instructions of God, that is doctrine. Reproof. Reproof is correction. That's when God bestows his love upon you in the highest form and begins to chasten you and break you free from habits, behaviors that are not kingdom behavior, that are not acceptable, that will lead to your opening the door for the enemy to come in, steal, kill, and destroy. For correction. We know what correction is. Your mom and dad take your phone because you've been out here clowning. That's correction. You can't go to basketball practice for three days. Coach kick you off the team. That's correction. You in school disrupting the classroom, you get suspended two days, and you got detention on Saturdays. That is correction. The flesh responds to correction. Especially if you're 15 or 25, you need correction quite often. Because we all did. But it's all good. Take it in stride, learn from it, don't repeat it. Start seeking God, get his divine instructions and begin to walk the winning path. So you can be who God says you can be, and you can be more than all you can be. Hallelujah. Because you know you have power that is greater than your own for instructions in righteousness. We all need instructions in righteousness because we were born in unrighteousness. We have no idea what righteousness is, let alone talking about walking in it and the instructions of it. We have to incline our ear unto God and divine men and women of God to help us learn what is righteous and what is not righteous. Then we have to put it in our heart. Then we have to do the real hard thing. We have to have the courage to walk in it. And that allows us to separate from the crowd, to operate in honor and respect, to pay attention to detail, and to embrace my divine identity. Hallelujah. That's what we're striving for being pleasing unto God. Yes, setting godly standards. And then lastly, as we wind down this episode of the Gospel Game and the Glory podcast for my new heartfelt Generation Z, Poxy, crew, soldiers for the Lord, warriors, let's talk about walking in purpose and on purpose. You know, this is big. Because you have people say all the time, well, my purpose is to be a basketball coach, or God put me here to deal with professional athletes, or God put me here to teach children, or God put me here to do many other things, to be a police officer. I get it. I get it. But what I don't get is if God puts you here to do any of those things, God would give you God's power, God's personality, God's wisdom to do those things in such a manner that people will know you doing it for God. Because you've been put there by God. And God equipped you to do it in a manner that's not common, that's not normal, in a way that many of the people you interact with would know is something different because they've had another experience already with a police officer, with a teacher, with a basketball coach. That what God has given you would be so different, so influential, so impactful, that they'd be moved. Hallelujah. Walk on purpose. How do we walk on purpose? Because again, we live in a world that tells you that you can be whatever you want to be, and you can do whatever you want to do, like you actually have that power to choose how God's gonna bless you and what doors you can walk through, and who He's going to touch to bless you and help you get where you're going. We do not, you cannot be what you want to be. The scripture says that, and here's why. Verses 19 and 20, and this is for the believer that when you come into the grace and knowledge of who Jesus Christ is, and you say yes, and you deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow him, and you want to study the word of God, you really want to fall deeper in love with God, then this is for you. It says, What? This is 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20. What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own. Did you get it? You are not your own once you say yes to Jesus. You're not even your own if you don't say yes to Jesus. It's just that your mind and the instructions that you get from your flesh and from your fallen mind makes you think you're your own. But all you got to do is look back at some of the choices you make that don't turn out the way you think they was gonna turn out, and tell me you're your own, and that you don't want some help, and that you don't want to seek the Lord while he may be found, so that you can get divine instructions and avoid a lot of the stuff that is happening to people in your generation who may never even get another chance to walk this thing out or take advantage of this opportunity God is affording all of you right now, at this hour, in this moment, is to just say yes to the call on your life. To say, yes, God, I want more, I'll seek you more, I want to hear more, I want to be more. I dare to be different. I will do those things that Unk has talked about in the podcast. I want to walk in purpose, I want to live on purpose, I want it to be for your glory, I want to turn your light up in the world, I want to be a blessing to people. I don't want to do common, ordinary things that everybody in my generation does. I want a special assignment because I'm on special assignment here in the earth, which is why I am here. Verse 20 for you are bought with a price. Did you get it? God has paid for your life. Yeah, there may be a hospital bill when you were born, probably. If your parents didn't have insurance, it was probably a hospital bill that had to be paid for your delivery. That's not what he's talking about. You're here on earth and alive, you made it through. You're breathing and standing upright because God paid for you. He hasn't allowed the enemy to kill you, shorten your lifespan, or do anything to you because he has plans for you. So, since he's done that, the next part of the verse tells you what you should do. Therefore, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. He's saying, Because God paid for you, because he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross and shed his blood, to reconcile us, to redeem us, to restore us back into perfect stonship and fellowship with God who reigns from above. That he bought us, which means he took back possession and ownership of you, young brothers and sisters, and of me. And because he's taken ownership, we have the responsibility to glorify God in our body and our spirit, which are God's. Meaning, I can't just lay down with anybody or do anything. Oh, yeah, we're going there right now in the name of Jesus, because marriage is God's ordained way for people to do a lot of the things that are being done in this world that are not of God, with young people, old people, and many people. Hallelujah. We ain't got to go deeper into that right now. That's not what this podcast is about. Plus, you already know what I'm talking about because you have been enlightened in those instructions and not the divine instructions, because if you knew the divine instructions, you wouldn't engage in that behavior knowing that you've been bought with a price and what the penalty is for doing it the way the world tells you to do it. There's a penalty for doing it that way, and it's not a good penalty. Hallelujah, hallelujah, in the name of Jesus. We want the good inheritance because we do it the divine way. So let me read this whole verse again, then I'm gonna wrap it all up and we're gonna be on our way. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own. For you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's man. Powerful. Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, meaning feed your spirit. You can't feed your spirit reading magazines of the world. You can't feed your spirit scrolling on the internet. You cannot feed your spirit binge watching TV. You cannot feed your spirit just hanging out with your friends all the time. You feed your spirit by a reading the word of God, which is spiritual food, and b attending Bible study, youth fellowship, fellowship of Christian athletes, whatever it is that's offered in your area, so you can grow in the knowledge and faith of who Jesus Christ is and begin to allow the word of God to be implanted in your heart and shed more light, eliminate the darkness, give you power, give you peace, give you purpose. Hallelujah. That you can be found faithful as a steward of all the things that God's going to entrust in your care. I thank you right now, in the name of Jesus, for this hour today, O Heavenly Father, not a literal hour, but this hour as at this point in time, that we're able to come forth with this podcast and produce things that we know are going to be life-changing for this generation that you've placed on our hearts to speak to, O Heavenly Father. Let this be a blessing to the hearers of this word. That yes, it's reproof, it's correction, but more importantly, it's a divine instruction. It's an opportunity to step out and step up and operate in the place that you've preordained and predestined for this generation's life. I thank you for your anointing. I thank you for the people that are behind the scenes, oh Heavenly Father. I thank you for all that you've done and all that you're doing and all of the glory, all of the honor, and all of the power is no one else's but yours. In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, y'all know how y'all say it. We used to say I'm outy 5,000. It's kind of the same thing. Y'all try and make it a little bit more swagger and a little bit more slicker in y'all's generation, but that's okay. But uncle outy 5,000, because I've done what the Lord has commanded me and blessed me to do, and I don't need to do anything else. So until we meet again, y'all peace out and stay rooted and grounded in Jesus. Amen.