The Bumpy Road To Better – Bishop T.D. Jakes

For every flourishing, there’s a famine that finds us. But life’s famines don’t define us; we do. We can choose how to react on the road to better, even when others have more, even when others mess us over, and even when we feel afraid of where to step. But God put a special gift in each of us that awakens when we face adversity — ascending us to a new level of power, praise, and perseverance!

[Music]

but it’s ministry time as we turn our

attention and our hearts to the word of

the lord uh i won’t be pretentious i was

inspired i was watching something that

really uh got my attention and it drove

me to the 42nd chapter of the book of

genesis and i just started reading uh

and decided to share with you i almost

didn’t title it at all i just wanted to

go through the entire chapter and i’m

going to move as quickly as i can but if

i don’t get finished i’ll come back

wednesday night and do it i’m going to

talk the bumpy road to better

the bumpy road

to better

a lot of people

teach about better as if it were magic

as if it would happen simply or easily

you could come up for prayer and

somebody could anoint you with oil or

lay hands on you and convey their spirit

upon you without going through the

process that they went through but in

reality it’s not that simple

as i’ve traveled around the world and

many other times that i’ve had people

come up and say i want a double portion

of your spirit and i say do you want a

double portion of my trouble

because you can’t get a double portion

of my spirit until you can stand a

double portion of my trouble

that was the problem with elijah’s

request he was asking for a simple

solution to a journey long-term issue

that elijah said if you can take this

journey and see me when i’m taken up

i’ll give you the double portion but i

can’t give a double portion to somebody

that’s not going to walk this thing out

say man somebody

so we’re going tonight uh last sunday i

was talking to you about the patriarchs

and the role that they played in the

foundation of uh the judaistic

understanding of faith and the jehovah’s

understanding of faith the hebrew

understanding of faith itself is built

upon abraham isaac and

jacob

i talk quite a bit about isaac as he is

often underserved and tonight we’re

going to talk about jacob jacob and his

family and we’re going to talk about it

in the 42nd chapter of the book of

genesis uh you need not stand because

we’ve got too many verses to read you’ll

be standing a long long time but when

you have it say amen

look at somebody and say the bumpy road

to better

now i’m going to reach straight through

it and then i’m going to come apart back

and pick it apart i want to pay

particularly a close attention uh to

certain aspects of it and we’ll go back

to the top after i read the whole

chapter now when jacob saw

that there was no corn in egypt jacob

said unto his sons why do you look one

upon another

and he said behold i have heard that

there is corn in egypt get you down

dither and buy for us from thence that

we may live and not die

and joseph’s ten brethren went down to

buy corn in egypt what did they go for

they went to buy corn in egypt they were

going to buy it but benjamin joseph’s

brother

jacob sent not with his brethren

the old man didn’t send benjamin for he

said lest for adventure mischief befall

him

and the sons of israel came to buy corn

among those that came for the famine was

in the land of canaan

and joseph was the governor over the

land and he it was that sold to all the

people of the land and joseph’s brethren

came and bowed down themselves before

him with their faces to the earth

oh it’s getting prophetic now and joseph

saw his brethren and he knew them but

made himself strange unto them and spake

roughly unto them and he said unto them

whence come ye and they said from the

land of canaan to buy food

and joseph knew his brethren but they

knew him not

and joseph remembered the dreams which

he dreamed of them and said unto them ye

are spies to see the nakedness of the

land yet come

and they said unto him they my lord but

to buy food

are thy servants come

we are all one man’s sons

we are true men

thy servants are no spies

let’s go back to this uh

and and take it from the top

uh

i’m kind of confused because i think

there’s a little bit more to that i

wanted did we get to the end of the

chapter

i don’t think we got to the end of the

chapter so let’s let’s let’s go on down

uh and he said unto them name but to see

the nakedness of the land here come i’ll

pick up there keep going verse 13 and

they said thy servants are twelve

brethren the sons of one man in the land

of canaan and behold the youngest is

this day with our father and one is

not

yeah they didn’t know they were standing

in front of him but one

is not and joseph said unto them

that is it that i speak unto you ye are

spies

hereby ye shall be proved by the life of

pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence

except your youngest brother come bitter

send one of you and let him fetch your

brother and ye shall be kept in prison

that your words may be proved whether

there be any truth in you or else by the

life of pharaoh surely ye are spies

and he put them all together into ward

three days locked them up in prison and

joseph said unto them the third day the

third day this do and live for i fear

god

if ye be true men let one of your

brethren be bound in the house of your

prison

go ye carry corn for the famine of your

houses

but bring your youngest brother unto me

so shall your words be

verified and ye shall not die and they

did so

and they said one to another we are

verily guilty concerning our brother in

that we saw the anguish of his soul when

we be when he besought us and we would

not hear

therefore is this distress come upon us

in other words we’re getting what we

deserve because of the evil we had done

when we were younger

and reuben answered them saying spake i

not unto you saying do not sin against

the child and ye would not hear

therefore behold also his blood is

required

and they knew not that joseph understood

them

for he spake unto them by an interpreter

yeah

and he turned himself and he turned

himself about from them and wept and

returned to them again

and communed with them and took from

them simeon

and bound him before their eyes

then joseph commanded to fill their

sacks with corn and to restore every

man’s money into his sack and to give

them provisions for the way

and thus did he unto them

and they laid it their asses with the

corn and departed thence

and as one of them opened his sack to

give his ass prevender in the end

he spied his money

for behold it was in his sacks mouth

and he said unto his brethren my money

is restored and lo it is even in my

sight and their hearts failed him and

they were afraid saying one to another

what is this that god hath done unto us

they had gone to buy

and they had got what they bought but

they also got their money back

which means it could have looked like

they stole it

and they were afraid

that this might be an international

crisis

between

between egypt and israel

and they came unto jacob their father

unto the land of canaan for it had not

yet been called israel

the land had not and told him all that

befell unto them saying

the man who is the lord of the land

spake roughly to us and took us for

spies of the country

and we said unto him we are true men we

are no spies

we be twelve brethren sons of our father

one is not and the youngest is this day

with our father in the land of canaan

and the man and the man the lord of the

country said unto us hereby shall i know

that ye are true men leave one of your

brethren here with me and take for food

for the famine of your households and be

gone

and bring your youngest brother unto me

then shall i know that ye are no spies

but that ye are true men so will i

deliver you your brother and ye shall

traffic in the land

and it came to pass

and it came to pass

and it came to pass

as they emptied their sacks that behold

every man’s bundle of money was in his

sacks

and when both they and their fathers saw

the bundles of money they were

afraid

and jacob their father said unto them me

have ye bereaved of my children now i

want you to listen closely at what jacob

says jacob says me have ye bereaved

bereavement grieved of my children

joseph is not he’s already

dead

and simeon is not you left him in egypt

and ye will take benjamin away

all these things

are against me

and we would spake unto his father

saying slay my two sons if i bring him

not to thee deliver him into my hand and

i will bring him to thee again

and he said my son shall not go down

with you for his brother is dead and he

is left alone

if mischief befall him by the way in the

which ye go

then shall ye bring down

my gray hairs

with sorrow

to the grave

the bumpy road to better

now we are entering into this text at a

time in jacob’s life

that this is not a comprehensive

discussion of jacob because we are

introduced to jacob in the womb of his

mother

he is struggling in the womb of his

mother we watch him as he grows as a boy

and and cheats esau out of his

birthright we watch him mature into a

young man and on a mountain called

pineal wrestles with god we watch jacob

find a place called bethel the house of

god and then later come back and call it

el bethel the god of the house and we

watch him grow but he is now

an old man

his sons have grown to manhood

they have had a family that has

withstood much sorrow

they have had tests and trials along the

way

jacob has married the love of his life

and he has also been married to leah

leah was the way he was tricked

by laban

and he has

birthed children by both leah and rachel

and a concubine and he has 12

sons he is

he has lost

those women they are gone

he has lost

rachel the love of his life

he has lost

joseph

they have brought back the bloody coats

of cnn from the coat of many colors that

he has made for his beloved son

and he has lost him

you don’t get old without having

suffered loss

yeah

you you every year brings some sort of

challenge with it

uh there is a certain sobriety that

comes upon you with age

because as you go along the way

you you gain some things

and you lose some things

you win some battles

and you

lose some battles

and wisdom develops in the life of those

who have capitalized on their pain to

draw conclusions

and young people are amazed at your

wisdom but if you keep living

if you keep living wisdom will teach you

a few things it will it will speak to

you about some things it will it will

cost you to understand some things now

jacob is an old man and if what is left

of his family he has managed to hold

them together

and they still respect him though they

are grown men with children themselves

and when we enter into the text here

series of famine in the land

and jacob has told his sons

you will not defeat the famine looking

at each other

did you hear what i’m saying

watch how jacob handles the famine

because my my first point is the famine

and until you can deal with the famine

you will never get to better

because the famine is a part of your

journey

how you react to the famine determines

whether you make it

to the food

you you you’ve got to be aggressive you

can’t just pray

against the famine you’ve got to do

something jacob says you can’t just pray

against it you can’t just look at each

other you can’t stay in the same spot

and do the same things that you’ve

always done and expect to get a

different result because we’re in a

famine and you’ve got to take action

and we don’t understand that today

we don’t understand the human

requirement in the miracles of god

as much as we have read about the

miracles of god we walk away with praise

to god but absolve ourselves of human

responsibility

as if god were going to act outside of

human effort when god has created us to

be collaborative in the miraculous

oh i’m talking already he wants us to be

collaborative in the miraculous that we

have a responsibility to take action and

to be aggressive about resolving issues

just because you’re spiritual doesn’t

mean you get to pray for a job and stay

at home

i’m just going to pray if the lord wants

me to have the job he’ll give me a job

i’m just gonna watch tv and hit the

remote control and believe god for

better you’ll you’ll never get to better

if you don’t get on the road you gotta

you gotta you gotta get on the road in

the middle of famine they’re traveling

in the middle of a famine

now traveling is not fun anytime but

traveling in the middle of a famine is a

very difficult time because the famine

is so severe that jacob says if you

don’t move you’re going to die

now i don’t know who i’m talking to

tonight but there are some pressures

that come so strong that if you don’t

move you’re going to die how could you

let me die and i’m a child of god you

didn’t move

i told you to move

and when god tells you to move you got

to move and don’t act like god has

failed you when you have failed to move

[Applause]

when god says move you have to take

action whether you’re the prodigal son

who came to himself but he still had to

go home

or whether you’re the woman with the

issue of blood who believed that jesus

could heal her but she still had to

crawl or whether you’re blind by the man

standing by the highway side begging he

still had to come out of his coat and go

toward jesus there is a human

responsibility in spite of the famine

so you gotta move in the middle of a

famine in the middle of a need in the

middle of a storm in the middle of a

crisis and he sends his voice to go

from canaan to egypt because jacob heard

where there was food

don’t hate on people who have even when

you don’t have

because he didn’t hate on egypt he said

i’m going to egypt

see we sit back and hate on people as if

them having is our demise when it’s not

them having that is our enemy it’s us

not moving that is our enemy and the

bible says that though they didn’t have

any corn they had money

uh yeah and people don’t quote it too

much but the bible also it says that

money is the answer to all things it’s

the answer to all things if it’s a thing

money can buy it there are there are

some issues that cannot be resolved by

things but money answereth all

things so jacob told the boys he gave

them some money and said go down to

egypt and don’t go down there begging

we came down here to do business

yeah yeah we’re spiritual people but we

know how to do business

uh we praised jehovah but we still know

how to do business oh y’all not saying

nothing to me tonight see you the church

has failed its parishioners because we

have been real heavy on the praise and

real light on the business

so we told them to praise your way out

and dance your way out and spin around

three times and you’re going to come out

and sow a seed and you’re going to get

out but we don’t tell them that you’ve

got

that the blessings are transactional

that there’s a business element required

in it and we got to go back and lay some

foundation to understand that jacob does

not go down to egypt to beg he goes down

there to do business

and he sends his sons down there to do

business but wait a minute

you you have to realize as we begin to

talk about the famine we have to

understand that the famine is so severe

that it pushes them to egypt

now the second thing i want you to see

about the famine is that god will use a

famine to move you

it doesn’t have to be a fairman for food

it can be a famine for love

it can be a famine for peace but in

everybody’s life listening at me whether

online or in the room you have

experienced some kind of famine

the famine of fatherhood the famine of

family the famine of a mother’s

affection the famine of a good job the

famine of a nice house all of us have

our famines you might not be able to see

it because we might dress nice and and

spray cologne over top of it but all of

us live with some level of famine in our

lives famine makes you pray and famine

makes you seek god and famine makes you

cry out and famine will make you move

and oftentimes god will use famine as an

instrument to force you out of your

comfort zone

it is more comfortable to stay in canaan

but the famine will drive you out it’ll

make you move it’ll make you get outside

of your comfort zone it’ll make you

travel it’ll put you on the road

somebody say i’m on the road

i’m not on the road for a field trip i’m

not on the road joy riding i’m on the

road to better i’m on the road to better

there’s something i’m after there’s

something i want to see done in my

lifetime and i’m tired of sitting around

assessing the same old troubles and

crying about the same old problems and

going through the same old things i’m

tired of complaining one to another back

and forth oh ain’t it bad yeah child

it’s real bad it’s so bad i got to move

from here deliver me from people who

will not take action in the famine and

god says action is required on you you

got to get on the road and that’s

anytime you can’t rebuke it with a

prayer anytime you plead the blood and

it doesn’t go away any time you call on

god and it still stays there then god is

using the famine as an instrument to

move you from one place to the other if

it was the devil i could rebuke it if it

were demonic warfare i could overcome it

but when god sends a famine to make you

move it is something in his providence

that cannot be performed where you are

and you’ve got to move in order to get

it and god knows that some of us won’t

move if we’re too comfortable

now y’all aren’t going to talk to me

tonight

and so god uses the famine to force them

to move and they go down to egypt to do

business now it is interesting to note

that though there is a famine in canaan

there is also a famine in this family

so my second point deals with the family

you have to understand that this text

brings out

subtly ever so subtly in the text that i

want to point it out to you first thing

that it tells us about jacob is that

jacob sent his sons down to egypt to buy

but then it mentions that he did not

send benjamin

lest he fall into mischief

and this is just a hidden subtle

reminder that that jacob doesn’t totally

trust his own sons

now where did this this distrust

come up in the culture of this family

this distrust comes up into the culture

of the family and you can act like you

don’t know what i’m talking about but

all of us have different little things

that we know about our family that that

when when cousins so and so comes over

you kind of look at them out the corner

of your eye because because you’ve been

through some things where you’ve learned

some things and this culture has risen

up in the family that the family is not

fruitful and the canaan is not fruitful

and there is not the comfortable loving

environment of trust that would cost the

family to be a nurturing place because

jacob remembers what happened to joseph

last time jacob sent one of his sons out

with the rest of the sons he turned up

missing

and there’s a residue of distrust in the

old man with his sons and he says i’m

going to keep benjamin now the reason

he’s holding on to benjamin and he let

the rest of them go is that joseph and

benjamin were born to him by rachel and

rachel was the love of his life

and the reason he’s holding on to

benjamin is because that’s all he’s got

left of rachel

and he says if i lose benjamin i lose

all i have left of the best days in my

life and sometimes we hold on to things

because we’ve been through so much pain

that we become possessive

oh y’all don’t hear what i’m saying

there’s a reason you hold on to what you

hold on whether it’s money or people or

things there’s a reason you hold on to

there’s a reason that certain things

make you mad there’s a reason that you

overreact in certain ways there’s a

reason that if we hit certain pulse

points you respond differently than

other people because until you

understand what i’ve been through back

here you won’t understand why i’m

holding on to this right here what do

you hold on to because of what you’ve

been through

what do you hold on to because of what

you’ve been through for jacob the old

man is holding on to the last smell of

rachel

[Music]

when he holds benjamin it’s the last

reminder

of a happier moment in his life

and he is so

afraid of losing

benjamin

because rachel the barren woman has

birth two sons unto him and one of them

jacob thinks is dead and benjamin is all

he got left any time you think this is

all you got left you will hold on real

tight

[Applause]

whether it is true or not you will hold

on real tight if you think that this is

the last person that will ever love you

you will take stuff that you wouldn’t

normally take

you will go through things you would

normally go through and your girlfriends

will tell you if i was you i wouldn’t

take that and your mama told you you

need to get away from there but you keep

holding on to it because you’ve been

hurt before and anytime you’ve been hurt

before you hold on to something when you

think you won’t get any more i wonder

tonight how many people are holding on

to some sort of benjamin in your life

holding on to it out of fear not out of

love he’s not clutching him out of love

he’s clutching him out of fear be

careful what fear will make you do

fear will convince you that this is your

last chance your last opportunity your

last moment of love your last tastes and

fragrance of life fear will make you

respond in this this uh

disoriented ways fear will cause you to

react in a way that other people don’t

understand and it is the first hint that

the family is dysfunctional

so while we have a famine on the outside

there is a degree of famine on the

inside it has affected the culture of

the family because there are certain

incidents that once they happen in the

family it changes the trajectory of the

entire family i wonder if there’s

anybody in here who understands the

words that are coming out of my mouth

there are certain incidents that once

they happen in the family they keep

coming up again

you say you forgave me but you keep

bringing it up again you say it’s over

but you keep bringing it up again you

say you’re not gonna say no but you even

told the kids about it you said you

weren’t gonna do anything about it and

it comes up in the way you look at me

and it comes up at the dinner table

whenever you get mad you reach back and

get it because it has changed that the

family has been through such a traumatic

crisis that it has affected the culture

of the family itself and even though

they are still together they are not

together have you ever been together but

not been together have you ever been

with somebody but still not quite with

them have you ever been with somebody

you had to watch

oh y’all not going to talk to me tonight

see see see the old man has got his eye

on him and

the neighbors it looks good to the

people across the street it looks good

but if you get in the house and you

start looking real close you will see

some residue from what happened to

joseph all of those years ago when they

threw joseph in the pit and they came

home with his bloody coat his coat of

many colors and laid it out before

jacob had told him that joseph

was dead

as a father i would rather cut off my

leg than lose my child

losing a child is a painful thing to do

he’d lost a child he loved

he lost

rachel’s baby

and it broke him

and benjamin is all he has left

now he gives his sons

his ten sons because joseph in jacob’s

mind is dead

and he’s holding benjamin back

in case he doesn’t have anything left he

says you won’t get this

and he sends his 10 sons down there to

transact business to buy corn

now when they get down there to buy corn

they have a conversation with joseph

now joseph’s name means

he will add

he will add and so when they named him

they said joseph he will add it’s almost

prophetic because jacob has joseph has

arisen for their posterity

there are certain people

that rise up out of a group of people

that are meant to be exceptionally

blessed

that through them the blessing will add

to other people that’s why you shouldn’t

hate on people because you might be

hating on somebody that god is going to

use to bless you y’all don’t hear what

i’m saying yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

yeah yeah yeah they they hated on joseph

but they did not know that joseph was

blessed for them

there is a greater responsibility to him

whom much is given much is required and

jacob has been blessed for joseph has

been blessed for them

but they hated him and they they almost

murdered him

they almost murdered him they almost

murdered him but instead they threw him

in a pit and let him be sold into

slavery because joseph is also a type of

christ

who is rejected of his own brethren

who goes into a pit and rises up out of

a pit like christ who was sold for 20

pieces of silver and christ was sold for

30 pieces of silver joseph is an old

testament shadow of jesus christ are you

following what i’m teaching now now i’m

going to work this text are you going to

work with me

now joseph means he will add but joseph

jacob has joseph has gone through so

much in his life he’s been in the pit

he’s been in potiphar’s house he’s been

in the prison and finally his gift his

gift was bigger than his environment

everything they put him in he got out of

it

somebody excited i’m gifted

right on the line i’m gifted

you got to be careful how you handle

people that are gifted because when

somebody’s gifted i don’t care what kind

of pit you put them in they’ll get out

of it i don’t care what kind of lie you

tell on them they’ll get out of them i

don’t care what kind of prison you put

it in they’ll get out of it i want to

talk to some people that have gotten out

of some stuff

that people put you in and thought you’d

never get out of it but because of the

level of the gift that’s down inside of

you i don’t care how deep the pit was

sooner or later god would get you out of

it i don’t care how the eyes that have

been told on you pretty soon god will

get you out of it i don’t care if they

put you in prison after a while you’ll

be running the prison because you’re

gifted one thing you can do you can take

my coat but you can’t take my gift you

can take my clothes but you can’t take

my gift here you can have my watch but

you can’t take my gift my gift is not in

my watch my gift is not in my shoes my

gift is not in my clothes my gift is not

in my car this gift that i have the

world didn’t give it to the world can’t

take it away i want to talk to some

gifted people tonight who knows that god

has kissed you with a gift that no

matter what health threw at you you kept

getting back up again because you were

gifted take 30 seconds and give him a

praise for the gift

the bible says that your gift will bring

you before great men

so your gift will bring you into places

that that you could have never been able

to access if you didn’t have the gift

that’s why you ought to keep your gift

any kind of gift i don’t care what it is

whether it’s a speaking gift a teaching

gift whether it’s a gifted type a gift

to write a gift to do anything a gift to

draw i don’t care what it is a gift to

cook a gift to do makeup i don’t care

what god will use any gift he gave you

to bring you into places you couldn’t

get anywhere that’s why the devil tries

to convince you that you don’t have no

gift but i came to tell you just cause

your brothers hate you don’t mean you

lost your gift

just because they stripped your clothes

that mean you lost your gift just

because they lied on you and you had to

run out of your coat doesn’t mean you

don’t have your gift just because you’ve

been in prison doesn’t mean you don’t

have your gift as long as you got your

gift your gift will always bring you

back up again no somebody tell them i’ll

be back

yeah i’ll be back you’ve not seen the

last of me i’ll be back i’ll be back i

don’t care what you said about me i

don’t care how you said i was dead i’ll

be back because there’s something down

inside of me that i just find a way to

keep getting back up again oh you don’t

hear the words that are coming out of my

mouth the powerful words that are coming

out of my mind they put him in the

prison and they threw away the kill but

he was still gifted in prison a gift in

incarceration

a gift in intimidation a gifted and

embarrassing situation a gift that is

stripped of royalty and majesty and

honor and recognition but even in the

bottom of the prison he’s still gifted

when you get this you’re just gifted

when you got it you just got it when you

can do it oh let me stop

somebody shout i’m gifted

you gotta start talking to yourself in

the right language and stop talking to

yourself about what folks did to you and

start talking to yourself about what god

put in you

because what god put in you will always

overcome what people do to you shout i’m

gifted

oh yeah

yeah we get we get too much recognition

and too much of our tongue is spent

talking about who threw us in the pit

you need to use your tongue to validate

your gift and look yourself in the

mirror and encourage yourself in the

lord and say i’m still gifted i’ve been

through some pain but i’m still gifted

i’ve buried some loved ones but i’m

still gifted i’ve had some setbacks but

i’m still gifted

[Applause]

when you’re gifted sometimes you’ll be

gifted in a way that your situation

hasn’t caught up with your gift

joseph was gifted as a child and he had

a dream that one day his brothers were

going to kneel before him and they

laughed and they mocked him but let me

tell you just because people laugh at

your prophecy doesn’t mean that it’s not

going to come to pass god will use a

famine to make it come to pass god has

sent a win to make it come to pass god

has sent an earthquake to make it come

to man don’t worry about how high they

are god will bring them down to their

knees

now joseph has come to a place

in the prison that his gift brought him

out before pharaoh

and when he told pharaoh

what

what his dream was

pharaoh renamed him zephaniah paneer

zephaniah paneer is the egyptian name

that is given to joseph

zappanapaniya means one who discovers

hidden things

glory to god

so his brothers don’t come into the room

looking for joseph

they come and they’re asking for

zaphonal

and they don’t even recognize him

because he is dressed up as a prince of

egypt

[Applause]

won’t god turn it around

last time they saw him he was naked and

bloody in the bottom of the pit and this

time they see him he’s dressed in

majesty and honor and incidentally he’s

in charge of the corn in egypt and the

harvest in egypt and the increase in

egypt and they can’t get anything till

they go back to the one they cursed

god is not unjust to forget your labor

of love you don’t have to get even with

people god will make them bow down and

have to come back and admit that they

were wrong don’t worry about it it may

not happen today but sooner or later

oh sooner or later god will bring them

down to their new soda or later god will

make them humble themselves

and the brothers have come into the room

and they run into zaphanov paneer

and they don’t know that it’s joseph

zappanov paneer is speaking to them

in egyptian

he’s speaking to them in the egyptian

language

and so they are talking amongst

themselves

in hebrew

and joseph doesn’t let on

that he understands

what they are saying

because sometimes you have to feign

yourself a fool

sometimes you can’t let people know that

you know what you know sometimes you

can’t act like you’re as smart as you

are sometimes you gotta act like you

don’t get it sometimes you see that’s

where you’ve been messing up every time

you know something you gotta say

something but sometimes you gotta know

something and hold your peace

zafina paneer held his peace

and did not let on that he spoke hebrew

and as they spoke amongst themselves

they said watch this

and this is important this is very

important they were

they were bowing down and they were

having difficulty getting the corn that

the whole man had sent them to buy

and they were murmuring you know how

brothers do they were arguing amongst

themselves we brought this on ourselves

i told you not to do anything to that

boy

look at how long these brothers

have carried the pain

of what they did

they are in pain

because they are guilty

over what they did to joseph and they

don’t even know that this man is joseph

and yet they are talking about joseph

because they have never been able to

escape

this injury

this trauma

the the the the colloquy of their

conversation has taken on a nature that

lets you know that they are still

reliving

the guilt and the agony of what they

went through this is important because

we often talk about

uh joseph as the victim

but we don’t talk about the pain of the

perpetrator

you need to hear this because the person

who hurts you didn’t get away clean

y’all don’t hear what i’m saying to you

you think you’re the only one that had

any pain because you went in the pit but

the one who threw you in the pit has to

live with the guilt

that you never did a thing to hurt them

and god is too just to let them get away

without suffering they may not have gone

in a prison that you can see

but these boys are in a prison as much

as joseph has ever been

because they have never been able to

escape how in the world can you go to

buy coin and bring up something that

happened when you were children

that means that one incident has been

with them all their life they’re still

arguing about it in the palace

and they said one to another we are

verily guilty concerning our brother and

that we saw the anguish of his soul when

we when he besought us and we would not

hear therefore is this distress come

upon us this is the agony of the guilty

this is why you can’t carry the pain of

what they did inside of you

because the only reason for you to carry

the pain is to think that they got away

clean

but this text teaches us that when there

is trauma no one escapes its reach

i wanted to sink real deep down in your

soul because the holy spirit is talking

to you about some real heavy stuff

nobody got away clean

there is no winner in this story

joseph goes into a pit

they go into a place of pain

and both of them are living their lives

still at the place

where they did what they did like they

did when they did it

and all of your life you’ve been

thinking

that they got away clean

but this text comes to teach us

that the culture of the family has

suffered

tragically

that these boys are sitting up having a

conversation about something that has

happened years ago

and they are really they are living it

in real time as if it were happening now

you

if you can receive this

you can let that pain

go i don’t care what kind of car they’re

driving i don’t care what kind of house

they’re living in

they remember

i don’t care how how they live or drink

or party or dance

they remember

some of the reasons that they get as

drunk as they do and as high as they do

is because

they remember y’all ain’t gonna help me

you’re not gonna help me but i know i’m

on to something i know i’m on to

something you you you have to understand

that god is a just god

he’s an

equalizer he will make sure the bible

said vengeance is mine saith the lord i

will repay you mess up when you try to

get even if you just step back and let

god get even god can get even better

than you can

and he and the scene opens up with the

family and now the boys are on their

knees down there and they’re down on

their knees in front of joseph and

joseph can determine whether they live

or die oh

are you hearing what i’m saying to you

let me tell you

the tale is gonna become the head

the last is gonna become first

the stone that the builders rejected god

is going to make the chief cornerstone

type on the line it ain’t over it ain’t

over it ain’t over it ain’t over it

ain’t over it ain’t over i might be down

right now but it ain’t no way it ain’t

over don’t count me out just yet it

ain’t over it ain’t over god’s gonna

turn the whole thing all the way around

that’s why i want to bring this text to

you tonight

and they don’t even recognize

that joseph lives to see

the reverse of the curse

[Applause]

in your lifetime

you will see

the reverse

of the curse

[Applause]

do you hear me in your lifetime you will

see the reverse of the curse

i never will forgive my mother-in-law

telling me about the young man that shot

her son

and how angry she was and how painful

she was he killed it

he killed it

and she was angry and she had so much

pain and so much hurt and as the years

went on a few years went by and he got

cancer

and mother had to go to the hospital to

see him

and there he is eating up with cancer

now when he shot her son he died

instantly

you don’t understand the words that are

coming out of my mouth

but the one who shot him he died slowly

and

painfully and as he’s dying he has to

look into the eyes of the mother

of the child

that he had killed

god is a just god

[Applause]

god is a just god

god is so such a just god that you’ll

find yourself praying for the person you

used to hate

oh y’all not gonna talk to me you’re not

gonna talk to me but stay here with me

y’all are not gonna talk to me you’ll

find yourself praying for the bible says

that when job prayed for his friends

god restored everything that he had lost

when your heart becomes soft enough that

god can trust you with power

glory to god that you’ll be merciful and

not filled with hate and envy and strife

you got to get your heart right

because we got to change the culture in

this family we gotta break it

[Applause]

god is using the family the famine to

heal the family

he is using the famine

to heal

the family

and the ten boys have been brought to

their knees

and it is important that you understand

that they are in the presence

of their brother

and they do not recognize him

because their brother is a type of

christ

who came unto his own

and his own received him not

and they did not recognize that he was

the messiah

that they were waiting on are y’all

following me can i can i teach like this

can i go like this can can you handle

this kind of teaching can i drop it on

you can i drop it on you i’m gonna drop

it like it’s hot tonight i’m gonna drop

it like it’s hot tonight something’s

gonna happen in here tonight a yoke is

going to break it here tonight a

breakthrough is going to happen in here

tonight everything happens for a reason

and god is using what happened to

jacob’s family as a prophetic prediction

of what he’s going to do through jesus

he’s brought his enemies down to his

knee and every knee shall bow and every

tongue shall confess that jesus is lord

to the glory

of god

glory to god oh glory to god oh glory to

god you don’t have to bring them to

their knees god will bring them to their

knees god will bring them down to their

knees

if your heart is soft enough

that you won’t be glad

[Applause]

can god trust your heart

to be empty out enough

that when he does bring them down

you won’t be glad

see the reason that joseph got blessed

in the first place is because of the

pliability of his heart

he never held a grudge

later on he will tell them when he does

reveal himself you meant it for evil but

god made it good he he said don’t worry

about it brothers he he absolves them of

their guilt because he said i made it

anyway as soon as you figure out that

you made it anyway then your hate will

have nothing to hold on to

[Applause]

oh you don’t understand in order for

hate

to grab your heart it needs something to

hold on to and as long as you allow hate

to grip your heart it means that some

kind of way you believe what they did

stopped you

as soon as you get enough faith to

believe i got there anyway then hate

will lose its grip and have to turn you

a loose

he said don’t worry about it you meant

it for evil but it’s okay god paid it

god made it good god paid me for my

suffering god paid me for my agony god

paid me for the things i’ve been through

everything you did to me god made it up

to me i’m good

it was good for me that i was afflicted

had i not been afflicted i wouldn’t be

standing here all dressed up right now

oh i’m glad you did it for me because

had you not afflicted me i would be the

one needing the corn and not giving the

cord it’s more blessed to give than any

oh y’all don’t hear what i’m saying

[Applause]

now the real love affair

is between joseph

and his father

and joseph

and benjamin

so joseph leverages the power of his

position

because he has not seen benjamin his

full-blooded brother

or his father

so he puts him in jail for three days

and then says i tell you what in order

to get free you have to bring

benjamin back to me to prove

that what you told me was true

while in reality the truth of the matter

is

joseph was blessed watch this

but he was in a famine for his family

[Applause]

he was blessed

but he was in a famine

for his family see when we preach about

it we make his family the enemy but the

truth of the matter is in spite of

everything they did to him he still

loved his family

and he he is using his power to get them

back

oh you have to be a big person to

receive this kind of message because

everybody who lives on evil street can’t

get this message but there are some

people in this room that know how you

can love somebody who hurts you

[Laughter]

oh i wish i had some people in this room

who had lived long enough to understand

that you can be hurt and loved at the

same time

that you can lay somebody out and still

feed them

i’m gonna knock you upside in your head

come on in here and get something to eat

have you ever had those two

contradictory things going on at the

same time i want to talk to some real

people tonight i want to keep it 100

tonight i want to keep it real tonight i

want you to understand

that that joseph creates this fallacy

and he makes out that he thinks that

they are spies

[Music]

even though he knows they are family

he creates this fallacy that suggests

that they are spies to force him to go

back

and bring his brother

and he says i will not release you

till you bring my brother so i’m holding

simeon

hostage

see i’m holding him hostage

as a down payment on your deliverance

now the boys have gone back home to tell

their father about the fallacy of what

befalled them when they went to have a

transactional

relationship

see the problem with this age is that

all we know how to do is have

transactional relationships if you give

me this i’ll give you that if you do

this for me i’ll do that for you and as

long as you have transactional uh

relationships those aren’t real

relationships

and and they went up there to

transactional to do a transactional

relationship and some of you don’t even

know what i’m talking about because all

you’ve ever seen

was these swap shop relationships

you don’t do nothing for me i don’t do

nothing for you if you help me i’ll help

you if you give me this i’ll give you

that you don’t know how to love beyond

transaction

but every now and then you got to test

the love

to see if it’s just

transactional do you love me as long as

i put you in the house do you love me as

long as i let you drive the car if i

take the car will i lose you because

transactional relationships do not last

and they have gone up there to do a

transaction but joseph hungers for

relationship

so when they gave joseph the money

he told the servants give him the corn

and the money

that’s a powerful man right there he

said give him the coin and the money

he was so good to them

that it scared them

he he was so good to them that they

thought it was a trick

he would see evil people always think

evil

until the pure all things appear but

unto the evil all things are evil and

they were suspicious that ain’t no way

he could have blessed us like this

and so when they when they got down to

feed uh the the the the oxen and the

cattle and so forth they opened up the

bag to get the corn and they ran into

the money and the boy dropped the bag

and it scared him so bad because he

wasn’t used to getting it all

see in a transactional relationship you

have to always earn everything

but but in a real relationship i don’t

love you because you do this i just love

you because i love you i did to love you

if you don’t do it i love you if you

can’t do it i love you if you got oxygen

tank i love you if you’re on a kidney

machine i love you if you got one eye i

love you if you you lose your lid so

y’all don’t know what i’m talking about

that’s why you’ve been married for a

time but if you get to the point that

you get beyond transactional

all y’all don’t hear swap it out pawn

shop relationships and learn how to love

people irregardless now you set yourself

up for real power god don’t give real

power to people who are just

transactional god doesn’t give real

authority to people who are just

swapping out

you come to my anniversary i’ll come to

your anniversary you give a hundred

dollars i’ll give a hundred dollars

transactional relationship well we’re

just even

the blessing comes when you bless

somebody who has nothing to give you

back

[Applause]

and you you got to study this because i

want you to see why joseph was preferred

because god could trust him

god won’t give favor to people he can’t

trust

and god cannot trust people who are

always transactional

can i teach this thing tonight some of

you all you’ve ever seen in your family

in your friends in your church in your

life and your business is transaction

and that’s all you know

in the moment you meet somebody you got

your scales out trying to see how you

can get something

and that’s why you always end up

miserable

because you’re not having a relationship

you’re doing business

jacob gave him the corn

joseph gave him the corn and the money

and they come back and they tell jacob

now they have to go back

and tell jacob

and i’m looking at it jacob is an old

man and the older you get

the more

precious everything becomes

and and jacob is holding on to benjamin

and he’s saying

joseph

is not

and now simeon

is not

you ain’t taking my benjamin

i’m wondering what you’re

squeezing too tight

what are you

squeezing out of fear

see jacob isn’t squeezing benjamin

out of faith

he’s squeezing him

out of fear

he’s squeezing him like it’s the last

thing he’s going to ever get

you you you can’t grow

when you squeeze something like it’s the

last thing you’re going to ever get even

if it’s squeezing money

like it’s the last you’ll ever get

then you have prophesied against

yourself

you have used faith in reverse fear is

faith in reverse to have confidence that

that thing that you don’t want is going

to happen to you

he’s holding the boy out of fear

and god is manipulating all of these

circumstances to bring this family back

together

he is wooing them back to a place so he

can heal them

and wouldn’t it be better to be healed

than to be mad

and jacob says to him

if i lose benjamin

let me quote it just like he said and he

said my son shall not go down with you

for his brother is dead

and he is left alone

and if mischief befall him by the way

see see how jacob is still

in a place where he don’t trust them

they’re his children

and he don’t trust him and he has good

reason not to trust him

he said

you’re not going to get him let’s

mischief befall him by the way

in the which ego

he says if i go through with benjamin

what i went through with joseph

your my gray hairs are going to turn

into sorrow and bring me to the grave

see

you get to a point in life that you’ve

reached at age that you can’t take no

more pain

and he says i can’t afford

to live through this again

and god is really behind it all

trying to pry

benjamin out of jacob’s hands

because what jacob doesn’t understand

yes the road’s been bumpy

and yes the road’s been tough and yes

the road’s been difficult and yes you’ve

shed some tears and yes you’ve endured

some pain

but it is the bumpy road

to better

it is

bumpy

road

to better

i don’t i don’t i know a lot of people

that are doing better than me and have

more stuff and more money and more

recognition and more fame and more

whatever you want to count it by than me

but none of them that i know

have got there without a bumpy road

the road to better

it’s bumpy

so if you’re on a bumpy road

i’m telling you you’re headed to better

[Applause]

do you hear the words

that are coming out of my mouth

you can’t get to better without bumping

you can’t get to better without pain you

can’t get to better without tears you

can’t be all buff if you don’t work out

you can’t lose weight if you don’t push

the food away you can’t get to better

without bumping there is no pill you can

take there is no simple solution it is

the bumpiness of the road that leads you

to better ultimately jacob will end up

having to go

to egypt

and when when joseph

sees his father

[Music]

[Applause]

when when

when joseph sees

his father all of these years

he’s been living

without the touch of his

father

and all of a sudden

he reveals himself

and he shows him who he is

the bible says that one day

those who rejected jesus

are going to look on him whom they have

pierced

and a nation shall be saved in a day

this day in the life of joseph

is a prophetic prediction of what will

happen between

jesus and israel

when all of a sudden they will look on

him whom they have pierced and finally

recognize

he was the messiah

he is the lamb of god

he is the i am

he is the true vine

he is the living bread

he is the manner that came down out of

heaven he is it wasn’t alive it wasn’t a

joke it wasn’t a fallacy and the family

will be reunited again and all of a

sudden they beheld him whom they had

thrown away

and they fell down and said oh joseph

and they now realize that joseph

everything he went through was to

position him

to bless

them

are y’all hearing what i’m saying

the reason god doesn’t bless some people

because you’re selfish

the reason god didn’t bless some people

is because you’re only interested in you

because you hate too long and you’re too

angry and you’re too bitter to be

trusted with that much power

god blesses people whose hearts are

tender

and and it was only when i saw

joseph’s heart

that i understood joseph’s blessing

because joseph was the son that could be

trusted with favor

because he would not use his favor to

get even

he would not use his favor for revenge

he would use his favor

to bring them into better

and so joseph brings the family

to better

the whole family dwells together in

better and not only does he bring them

to better

he releases the guilt

from the guilty

it’s one thing to absorb the innocent

but it’s another thing to acquit the

guilty

he he absolved the guilty

because he was big enough

to be blessed like that

he he was big enough to be blessed like

that he he he was strong enough to be

blessed like that and that’s why he was

chosen from the very beginning that god

trusted him with trouble god trusted him

with rejection god trusted him with pain

god trusted him with agony because god

knew his heart that when push came to

shove that love would always went out

over revenge god knew his heart that

there was something down inside of him

that was better than that

and if you want the favor of god in your

life you have to be prepared to ask

yourself can god trust you

with favor

can god trust you with power

can god trust you with honor

because until that answer is a

resounding yes

[Applause]

the doors of your blessing will be

closed

they’re closed because you are too angry

and too bitter

and too vindictive

and god can’t give you favor

because you’ll use it like witchcraft to

bring crushes

on those who hatch you

and you’ll know you’re getting bigger

when you start getting better

you’ve been praying to be bigger you

should have been praying to be better

there’s somebody watching me right now

there’s no reason in the world that

somebody is talented to you as you are

shouldn’t be further than you are

you have the talent

to go all the way to the top

but every time you try to go to the top

something blocks you

and god sent me to tell you it’s not

what’s on the outside that’s blocking

you

it’s the stuff you carry on the inside

that always blocks you because you’re so

slick

[Applause]

and god has to keep showing you that you

ain’t as slick as you think you are

and your blessing has been delayed and

you wandered in the wilderness of almost

getting there and never being able to

get there because you’ve never been able

to get your heart to the place that you

could be trusted

[Music]

god gives favor

to people

he can trust

[Applause]

but you are so transactional

everything is a way

for you to manipulate

and so you never get better

the bible says none but the pure in

heart shall see god

the word pure in the greek is where we

get the word catheter

and there is no way for you to see god

until you put a catheter into your heart

and get rid of the bitterness that is

blocking you from your blessing

i’m still talking about the bumpy road

to better

as i close tonight

i challenge you to look at genesis 42

and even go on into genesis 43 and watch

god

bring

jacob

and his boys

into a state of blessings

that does not fade away

and they lived their lives out

in abundance

and all their needs were met

and joseph never went through another

downturn again

because god had reconciled the family

and what really mattered was better

you got to fix this stuff in your family

you got to forgive

you got to

love

even when you were right

you can be right and still be wrong

[Applause]

and i am telling you there is a

wholeness that you will not capture

until you stop holding your father

hostage

until you drop the charges on your

mother

the curse will pass from generation to

generation

until your heart gets big enough

to accept the imperfections in other

people

then you’ll never be able to accept the

imperfections in yourself

some people would call joseph a fool

but i think he was a wise wise man

because he used the bumps in the road

to make him better

and i’m wondering tonight if there’s

anybody listening at me

in this room

or in your house

are you going to use the bumpy road to

be more bumpy

[Music]

to make you feel with more trickery

to make you more cynical

more vindictive and more respectful

can you be trusted

with access

can you be trusted

with capital can you be trusted with

advantage yes

if the bumpy road

doesn’t make you better

then you will die in the wilderness

and god will raise up yet another

generation

and try it again

the reason israel stayed in the

wilderness so long

in a journey that was so short that

their ancestors had gone back and forth

to egypt like it was going up and down

the street

why did their children wander in the

wilderness 40 years

is because they could not get over

themselves

you’re going to make your life harder

than it should be

and longer than it was supposed to be

if you don’t use the bumpy road

to be better stand on your feet i’m

closing

[Applause]

i took you

from the famine

and showed you how the famine

was used

to pull the family

through the fallacy

and pass the fear

[Music]

and finally

god put them in the place

where the food was

and they sat down at the table

tonight i’m telling you that god is

preparing a table

before you

in the presence of your enemies

[Music]

that god has

god has

set a table before you

in spite of what you went through

in spite of your pain and your trauma

and your agony and your injustice

and jacob i’m telling you

you can’t become so fearful

that you squeeze benjamin to death

[Music]

i find hosting people are not evil

they’re scared

[Music]

they’ve been so traumatized that they

think that if they

give without getting

transaction

that they’re never going to get anymore

[Music]

or they’ll spend money as long as they

get something back

but they won’t give to ministry because

they don’t see a quick return

they won’t make investments

because they don’t see a return

[Music]

they’ll spend their money

in perishable

assets

it doesn’t matter that is losing value

while i’m driving it off the parking lot

i just need to get something back

because i’m

scared that if i give anything away

it won’t come back i found out that

people

who don’t love are not evil

they’re scared

that if i if i if i let you know that i

love you

like i love you

then maybe you won’t react the way i

thought you would react

and so

i would rather hate you

and love you

they love you at the risk of being at a

disadvantage of being vulnerable

because i’m scared of my own emotions

and i’m holding benjamin

even though i know you need him

and i’m challenging you tonight

to let go of what you’ve been holding on

to

and i know you have good reason to hold

on to it

even if you’re holding on to your gift

[Music]

or your ministry

or your friend

or your compassion

there are people in this room that are

really loving people

that hate that they are loving people

[Music]

there are people in here that have the

gift of giving

but they hate that they have it because

they have given and been hurt

and now they are scared to give again

but as long as you expect to get it back

from where you gave it

you’re gonna always get hurt

god did not promise to give it back to

you where you gave it

he only promised to give it back to you

[Music]

give and it shall be given unto you

good measure pressed down shaken

together and running over shall men give

unto that but he didn’t say which one

you don’t get to control who god uses to

bless you

[Applause]

so if you didn’t get it back from where

you thought you should get it back from

that doesn’t mean you’re not going to

get it back

bow your heads with me it’s been a bumpy

road

[Music]

somebody watching me right now

it’s been a bumpy road

and god is trying to get you to better

but you took a detour

into bitter

[Music]

and tonight the holy spirit is wooing

you back

and i just want to pray with you on this

wednesday night before we close

that you would get a catheter and put it

in your heart and let bitter start

praying out

lest you die in the wilderness

[Music]

i want you to trust god to take you to

better

and it begins with getting rid of your

cynical ways

because god

blesses people

he can trust

and he can’t trust you because you’re

slick

you’re a player

and you’re slick because you’ve been

hurt

but you’re being hurt is god’s business

and god knows how to handle

your hurt

and i want you to give it to him right

now

in the name of jesus

father as i pray over this room and pray

over people i don’t know and pray over

people in different time zones and pray

over mothers and fathers and sons and

daughters and children

the enemy is trying

to trick us out of better

[Music]

and give us bitter

but the devil is alive

this road has been too bumpy

for me to settle for bitter

when you called me the better

i know what you told me at the house

lord

you told me at the house

that the good old days

are ahead of us

and i pray that somebody tonight would

receive

that their best days are ahead of them

and not behind them

that the power of the holy ghost

would move in a supernatural way

untouched

and healed

[Music]

and deliver

it’s been a very winding road

[Music]

and lots of hills to climb

but the closer we get to home

[Music]

the more we recognize

that you’ve been gone all the while

in every bumpy place

father as i close tonight

let the words of our mouth

and the meditations of our heart

be acceptable in thy sight

oh

lord

my strength

and my redeemer

[Music]

ladies and gentlemen brothers and

sisters

the bumpy road

to better

god bless you

[Music]

you