The Courage to Change Course – Bishop T.D. Jakes

Until we ask God for the courage to cut, cast out, and challenge our mistakes, we won’t be able to change course. In Genesis 21, Abraham was living with his mistake and miracle in the same house. He had a crossroad decision to make: Cast Ishmael and the bondwoman out now, or arrive short of destiny. Have you been too worried about the disruption change causes that you never cut loose the people who have delayed your destiny? Somebody always gets hurt in the cutting, but if you don’t move, it might end up being you. Don’t rob your destiny of the temporary discomfort of changing course!

[Music]

this morning the holy spirit has spoken

to me i want you to go to genesis 21

4-14

and there you will find the assignment

that the lord has espoused for me to

with you on this sunday morning

genesis chapter 21

verse 4 through 14.

it’s our custom to stand for the reading

of the word

if you’re a visitor and everybody stood

up you thought they were leaving but

they’re not

genesis 21 beginning at verse 4 going

through verse 14

and abraham

circumcised his son isaac

being

eight

days old

as god commanded him how was he

he was eight days old

and abraham was a hundred years old when

his son isaac was born unto him

and sarah said god hath made me to laugh

so that all that here

will laugh with me

and she said who would have said unto

abraham that sarah should have given

children suck for i have borne him a son

in his old age

i don’t know whether that’s so good or

not but

and the child grew and was weaned and

abraham said party

he made a great feast the same day that

isaac was weaned he threw a party

and sarah saw the son of hagar the

egyptian which she had born under

abraham mocking

wherefore she said on abraham

cast out this bondwoman and her son for

the son of this bondwoman shall not be

heir with my son even isaac

and the thing was very grievous

in abraham’s sight

because of his son

and god said on abraham let it not be

grievous in thy sight because of the lad

and because of that bondwoman

in all that sarah have said under thee

hearken unto her voice for in isaac

shall thy seed be called

and also the son of the bondwoman will i

make a nation because he is thy seed

and abraham rose up early in the morning

and took bread

and a bottle of water and gave it unto

hagar putting it on her shoulder

and the child

and sent her away and she departed and

wandered in the wilderness of bear sheba

today i want to talk to you

about the courage

to change course

the courage

to change course

don’t minimize that don’t sleep on that

that’s that’s not easy to do the courage

to change

course

i do sense a prophetic utterance

i do believe that somebody is going to

get a word from the lord

that is going to be cut to the

continuity of your situation

that will begin to liberate strongholds

and yokes in your life

in an area that we seldom touch the

courage

to change course shout hallelujah

spirit of the living god fall fresh

on us today

we don’t want to operate in wednesday’s

anointing or sunday’s anointing we want

a fresh anointing

let fresh oil flow upon us in this

moment in the name of jesus and i thank

you in advance for what you’re going to

do i don’t even have to see you do it

i’ll praise you now you can do it later

have your way in this place

break some yokes in this place

heal some bodies in this place change

some lives in this place

reach out lord through the internet and

let the power of the holy spirit sweep

over the viewing audience that’s

watching us through cyberspace

i thank you jesus

you can cast out a demon online

i thank you jesus you can rebuke a

disease online i thank you jesus

you can give divine direction

do it for your people today

in the name of jesus give him the best

praise of god

[Applause]

amen you may be seated

yes sir

let’s go to work

it has been said

about people that when people know

better

they do better

and that sounds really really

profound

but over the years of my life i wonder

is it true

because everything that sounds good

isn’t always true

when people know better they

do better

i can’t even say that’s always true

in my own life

because there’s a difference between

knowing better

and doing better

i know i don’t have no business with

dessert

i said i was gonna watch my carbs

i know i should get up every morning

early and exercise about 5 30 and jog

about three miles i know better

i know what to eat and what not to eat i

know what is healthy what is not healthy

i have been informed i have been

educated i know

not to eat those oxtail i know

oh y’all not gonna talk to me this

morning i i i know i don’t need those

barbecue ribs and the french fries

the waitress even asks you do you want

salad and i sometimes i just say no

i know not to let them bring bread to

the table because i know if it gets to

the table it’s gonna you know especially

if it’s hot and it’s warm and they’ve

got good but i know not to even risk

bringing it that close to me because i

know i’m not strong enough to resist it

when people know better they say they do

better but it is

possible i know how to do curls i know

how to bench press i i know how to do

lat pulldown i know how to do it i know

the form i know what i ought to be doing

i know i should stretch every morning

it is not the absence of knowledge that

always deters the activity

but the gulf between what we know and

what we do is often a wide gulf and we

don’t always reach across

while it is impossible to do better

if you don’t know better

it’s impossible you can’t do better if

you don’t know better

often we still know better

than we do

the truth of the matter is

doing better

isn’t always easy

sometimes it’s real tough

doing better isn’t always easy

doing better as a husband or wife isn’t

always

easy we know what we should be doing

but we don’t always do it

sometimes we don’t do better until we

get in trouble

sometimes we don’t do better until we’re

under threat

sometimes we don’t do better until we

have competition

oh it’s going to be quiet this morning

jesus

angels y’all shout for me this morning

cause the people gonna be quiet

doing better on the job we know what to

do we used to do it when we first got

the job and we didn’t take it for

granted we knew not to take a two and a

half hour lunch we knew how to be in our

place we knew not to be on the phone and

playing video games in our office we

knew better

yeah

you should wear some strong shoes

because i’m going to step on some toes

today

but whether we know better and what we

do is two different things altogether

especially when you realize that the

people we admired the most were people

who put into action what they knew

who grew and changed and made

corrections

they became our heroes because they had

the courage to change course

all of the people that we highlight in

our country in our history are people

who had the courage to change course

leaders like abraham lincoln had the

courage

to change course it is not not it’s we

always honor people after they’re dead

but in real time speed our heroes were

not popular because they went against

the course and they swam upstream

against the grain and they had to have

courage to change the course

that’s not easily done

dr king had to have courage to change

the court nelson mandela went to jail to

change the court you can get in trouble

to change the course

corrections can often have

severe consequences

corrections

can often have

severe consequences

getting it right can have

severe consequences because see you you

you make a decision at one stage in your

life

and then later you know better

but you’re already in the situation

i never will forget i was teaching a

bible class one time and i was doing q a

right here at this church and a young

man said something to me i will never

forget he said i am the world’s best at

getting into situations and the world’s

worse at getting out

and i think the reason it becomes so

difficult to get out

is because sometimes it’s become so

complicated

it requires humility that some people

lack the ability

to quiet their ego enough to achieve

the ability of change because sometimes

you have to go against what you said at

this stage

[Applause]

to correct where you are at that stage

and so until you become strong enough to

admit yes i said it but i was wrong

you can’t bring about change and

sometimes your ego will make you be

loyal to a mistake

i’m wondering if there’s anybody in here

who’s ever been loyal

to a mistake and you it was a mistake

and you knew it was a mistake but you

counted up the cost to fix it and you

decided you would just take the easy way

out and live with it

our decisions you see to correct our

mistakes can create disruption and not

only disruption for us disruption for

other people and when you look at what

it’s going to take to straighten it out

sometimes you just don’t do it and when

you don’t do it you become trapped

in a nightmare of regret

you’d be surprised how long you can live

in the prison of your problems

[Applause]

you’d be surprised how long you can live

a life where you clap like you’re free

you talk like you free you move like

you’re free but you’re really not free

at all because you are trapped in a

complicated situation you can’t get out

and you can’t get in you’re just stuck

and so you clap stuck and you sing stuck

and you go to choir rehearsal stuck and

you go to work stuck and you come home

stuck and you go to church stuck and yes

you get your dancing every now and then

but you go back to a situation that’s

stuck because dancing doesn’t bring

about change

i don’t care how much you praise the

lord until you correct your past

decisions you are not going to get the

breakthrough that you need

and still use until you stop using

shopping for therapy you’re never going

to have the credit rating that you

should have no matter how much he’s

jehovah’s job or he can’t be jehovah

jihad to you because as fast as he pours

it in you leak it out

and god is too much of a businessman to

keep investing in a bankrupt system

and you know what it takes to fix it and

you know the discipline that’s required

to get your life together but it’s not

always true that people who know better

do better

and not doing better

simply

leaves you

stuck

people often like the stomach for it i

think

to risk the pain

of changing course

the uncertainty

of what would life be like

outside of the bubble

of my normal

i hate my normal

but i’m afraid of change

so i’d rather stick with the devil i

know

oh y’all not gonna talk to me this

morning

have you ever grown up and rethought

your choices

have you ever got more information and

rethought your choices have you ever

looked back at your life in retrospect

and found yourself in situations that

were based on bad information immature

decisions selfishness emotionalism pride

discontentment and restlessness and now

you’re more mature and you’re wiser and

you wonder what you could have been had

you started earlier on the right road i

wish i maybe it’s somebody that’s

streaming that needs what i’m talking

about and you lay down at night and live

with the frustration wonder what would

have happened had i not got myself stuck

[Applause]

we’re almost like the woman in the

commercial help i’ve fallen

[Applause]

and i can’t

get up

i change churches and i can’t get up

i change spouses and i can’t get up

i change jobs and i can’t get up i

change my major and i can’t get up i

change my hairstyle and i can’t get up i

change the way i dress and i can’t get

up it doesn’t matter what i got on it

doesn’t matter what i look like i cannot

seem to get up

so you give up

when you can’t get up

and you decide to yourself

maybe i just have to make the best

of a bad situation

i guess i’m really talking about making

a decision

to live with

regret

and you’d be surprised how many people

in this room

are living with

regret

that they could clean up that they could

fix it they could change it they could

alter

but sometimes the dilemma is

is it easier to live with regret

or live without it

and cause the disruption

that is necessary in my normal

to see the growth

that i long to see in my life

[Applause]

are you hearing what i’m saying about

either way you go have you ever been in

a situation

where either the season you made is

gonna cause pain

where am i real people at

have you ever been weighing the pain

you know when i got ready to have back

surgery i wouldn’t have had back surgery

if i wasn’t in pain

but i had to weigh the pain that i had

before the surgery against the pain of

having the surgery and it took me a long

time to make up my mind to have the

surgery because either way i went

it was going to be pain and i had to

decide i ultimately decided that i would

rather live with the pain of recovery

rather than to live with the pain of

ambivalence and indifference and the

pain of ignoring and the pain of looking

the other way and the pain i never will

forget i was in washington dc and i was

in the hotel room and i was walking

across the hotel room and fell and hit a

glass coffee table and shattered the

table and i said that’s it i got to go i

got to do something about this this is

unbearable i have been laying on the

floor in the back before i went out to

speak each night at the new year’s

revival because my back was in such pain

that i couldn’t hardly take it one time

i sat down in the service and i couldn’t

get up and my security had to come get

me up out of the seat and i was in front

of people and little by little by little

by little i thought this pain is too

much the pain of ignoring it the pain of

looking the other way the pain of making

the best out of a bad situation the pain

of not wanting to make any way the pain

of dealing with my inability

to walk into the unfamiliar

to walk into the unknown i had never had

surgery i couldn’t imagine what it would

be like it didn’t sound good when they

described it to me they said we’re gonna

cut into your back four inches i thought

not mine you know

[Applause]

you’re not going to cut me up like

you’re slicing ribs at a barbecue the

devil is alive but the pain

the pain you’re wearing pain i wasn’t

wearing promises i wasn’t wearing

miracles i wasn’t weighing god’s purpose

i wasn’t wearing what god was going to

do in my life i was trying to go the way

of least resistance

the real truth of the matter is we get

trapped

we get trapped

we get trapped in our relationships we

get trapped in our health

we get trapped in the argument mask no

mass vaccine no vaccine i heard this i

heard that i heard another we get

trapped

until being trapped makes us sick

and somewhere with a respirator in our

mouth

don’t don’t don’t tell me because we’re

the ones that bury people so we know

we know we talk to the families we deal

with the people

who didn’t have the courage

to change course in fact you have to

have

the the adaptability in life

to be able to change course it’s not

like you get it right and it stays the

way you left it life keeps changing and

as life keeps changing and seasons keeps

changing and circumstances keep changing

you got to be flexible enough to change

on a dime and switch this way and turn

back this way and if you don’t make the

right switch at the right time you find

yourself stuck

[Applause]

and you wake up one morning and you

realize i’m getting older and i don’t

know what it feels like to have lived my

best life

i i i’m not lived my best life i’ve not

lived at the top of what my potential

was i’ve not reached the zenith of

possibilities of what i could be i’ve

not fulfilled my purpose i’ve not

finished my core i don’t get any crown

for me

because i wasn’t living my best life i

was surviving

my old life

i know it’s hard to shout this morning

but just keep breathing

and rather than to be free we peer

through the bars of depression

watching others move forward

where we are stuck

going in circles

our text today

we step into the text

that reads

like a dream come true

a dream deferred

and finally realized

that abraham in his old age

would finally have a son

it is absolutely

amazing

it’s exciting it’s invigorating

that this old man whose body was as good

as dead

and his wife with her wrinkled knees

has got in the birth position and

delivered him a baby

at a season in her life that it was

illogical

i don’t know who i’m preaching to

but whoever i’m preaching to today what

is at stake in this message is that god

wants to give you a blessing that

doesn’t even fit the season of life

you’re in

he’s going to give you a blessing out of

season he’s going to give you a blessing

that’s out of step he’s going to give

you a blessing that’s going to make

people laugh when they hear it because

nobody’s going to believe that a person

like you could be in a position in fact

some of you right now are in a position

that would blow people’s mind because

you haven’t always been ill to flip-flop

and you haven’t always been deacon

wonderful and you haven’t always been

missionary price and if your old friends

could see you now

yeah yeah yeah

somebody shout it’s late but it happened

typing on the line it’s late but it

happened it’s late but it happened it

didn’t come when i thought it would it

didn’t come through who i would like for

it to come through it didn’t even come

how i would like for it to come don’t

let me say it like the old folks do he

may not come when you want him oh

but he’s

[Applause]

we’re talking about a family moment here

we’re talking about a family moment

we’re talking about a family moment that

happened to a man that’s a hundred years

old

he has waited a long time

when you have waited a long time for a

blessing it will make you give god the

praise see some of y’all get stuff too

easy and you get it too quick but after

you suffered a while when god comes

through for you it’ll make you want to

[Applause]

i want those of you that have been

waiting on a blessing to get this word

from god it’s still going to happen

oh y’all don’t believe it

but the lord said it’s still going to

happen

just because it didn’t happen when you

plan for it to happen doesn’t mean that

god’s not gonna do it it’s still gonna

happen tell your wrinkle needs it’s

still gonna happen tell your birthdays

it’s still gonna happen tell your

situation it’s still gonna happen go

back into that raggedy house and say

it’s still gonna happen

i’m gonna give about 15 seconds for

somebody to praise him like you’ve got a

determination that it’s not too late

[Applause]

it’s still going to happen

it still won’t happen

it still don’t happen

it’s still gonna happen

[Applause]

it’s still gonna happen

it’s still going to happen

you need to get your faith out of jail

and say it’s still going to happen

look at somebody say it’s still going to

happen

typing on the line it’s still going to

happen

yes

sir yes

[Applause]

make you want to celebrate

make you want to cop your hands make you

want to do your dancing make you want to

turn around in a circle make you want to

do the shuffle make your water cheap and

shout make you want to run all about

it’s still going to happen

[Applause]

yes

that’s right sister praise him up there

praise him you don’t need no music you

don’t need no handcuff sometimes you got

to throw your own party cause god

just spoke to you he spoke in your

spirit he spoke in your belly he spoke

in your heart it’s still gonna happen

[Applause]

so look here sit with me a minute so

sarah

is having a party

because she said who would

[Laughter]

who would believe

that god would do it for me

that i would give abraham a child

in his old age

she said god

had made me to laugh

she said who would have thought that at

this stage in my life god would make me

to laugh

and all that hear it

will laugh

with me

and while she’s laughing abraham is

going through the ritual of circumcising

his son

pay attention to that i’m going to deal

with that a little bit more in a minute

abraham

according to

the customers of the time

circumcised his son

as god had commanded him to do

when he was eight days old

okay

eight days old

i told you last week eight is the number

of new beginnings

this is a happy moment

he’s eight days old and abraham

circumcises him

and he finally gets to circumcise

his son

born of his wife

in his house

and he’s eight days old when he did it

and i was studying it and i was thinking

about it being his his first

son

by sarah

and it was eight and he was eight days

old

and i thought about this being the

eighth month

and the first day of the eighth month

and we’re in it today and god gave me

this word for this day at this time

eight days old first son eight one god

is about to oh y’all don’t hear what i’m

saying

[Applause]

tell everybody around you something’s

gonna happen in here this morning

it’s the eighth month

is the first day

is the eighth month

it’s the first day

something is going to happen in here

today and when the child was eight days

old

abraham

circumcised his son

and the interesting thing said i’m just

talking to you the interesting thing

the interesting thing about the text is

when it when you read the text it reads

it as if it is all one occasion but

there’s a time lapse here

because we know that isaac is eight days

old

when abraham circumcises him

and then we read

that when he was weaned

god

abraham

threw a party

okay

and we know he wasn’t weaned at eight

days

so there’s a time lapse in the text

so the writer is only

gleaning highlights

of significant moments

in the life of abraham

and that’s all life is

is significant moments

it’s not hours

or days or weeks or months

all that matters

is significant moment from eight days

old when he circumcised it to however he

old he was when he weaned him

nothing significant happened

but when he when he was weaned

abraham throws a party

and it was

an amazing

party

he threw the party no doubt

a quite a distance from

when he circumcised his son

now circumcision

is the cutting away

of the part of the flesh

on a man

that was originally a religious

sign

of being a hebrew

it is not the covenant that god made

with abraham

but it is the sign of the covenant

so god made a promise to him

and then used a sign of circumcision to

indicate that he had a contract with god

the circumcision

put blood on it

[Music]

i was doing some real estate business

with some investors and they asked me do

you have any skin in the game

god wanted you god’s gonna do the work

but he wants you to have

some skin in the game

oh y’all don’t hear what i’m saying

because when you got some skin in the

game you don’t violate the covenant when

things get tough because you got some

skin in the game and god says i’m going

to do it for you but i want you to have

some

uh oh y’all ain’t gonna talk to me yeah

yeah yeah yeah cause you won’t quit when

you got some skin in the game you won’t

just walk away easy when you got some

skin again when you don’t have nothing

invested it’s easy to walk away

when there is no

[Applause]

no skin in the game

this circumcision that starts the text

permeates the text itself

i’m going to pick it up later

and weave it into

the text to show you

that the text is all about circumcision

the text is all

about circumcision the courage to change

course

is all about circumcision

and i’m going to tell all the women

so you don’t so you can know and i’m

saying this circumcision hurts

not a little bit

a whole

lot

yeah circumcision

hurts

change

i love him

i’ve been waiting on him to come back to

church i need him

changing course

hurts

there’s no way for you to make

significant change

and not hurt

cause you gotta have some

[Music]

he did it on the eighth day

and then

he begins

to celebrate

and he throws a party and things

couldn’t be better

he got his promised seed

his wife is happy

life is good

it’s hard for life to be good when y’all

girls ain’t happy

it’s not that we’re not happy but when

y’all are not happy it’s contagious

an unhappy woman is worse than kovid

because you can vaccinate for kobe and

father unhappy woman they still in the

laboratory trying to fix something to

make it easier to live with an unhappy

woman you can be happy but when you come

home and she’s not happy all of a sudden

[Applause]

i know you can’t say amen because you’re

sitting beside it but just wiggle your

toe and i will hear it i will hear the

vibrations on the rug

it couldn’t be better sarah is happy

she laughing

ain’t nothing like the laughter of a

happy woman

she’s laughing

he’s got his son

his promised seed he’s got it in his old

age

god has strengthened his loins

[Music]

i don’t blame him for throwing a party

anytime you’re that old

no cialis no

it’s time to get the popcorn out roast

you some hot dogs

have you a barbecue blow a whistle it is

a happy moment

[Applause]

everything is going wonderful

and then sarah the bible says looked out

and saw

ishmael

hagar’s son

by abraham

mocking isaac

and the party was over

she stopped laughing

put the cake back

take the hot dogs off the grill

put the party hat away stop the music

she mad again

what you mad about now i looked out the

window

and do you not know what i saw

that woman’s

son

was mocking my child now if you want to

make a woman mad

i mean even them little quiet nice

dainty little women who walk around with

lace on their toes and and got their

fingernails with glitter on it they turn

into guerilla warfare if you mess with

one of them kids

sarah said put the cake up

something’s got to be done

this girl have lost her mind her boy is

out there mocking my boy you got to do

something what you gonna do what you

gonna do i just wanna know what you’re

gonna do about this what you gonna do

about this i tell no i’m gonna tell you

what you’re gonna do let me tell you

what you are going to do about this

[Applause]

i don’t care where they’re gonna stay i

don’t care where they gonna live but she

gonna get up

[Applause]

i ebonized it just a little bit but

[Applause]

and all of a sudden

all of a sudden

he has gone

from cutting

to casting

he’s he has

gone from cutting

to being asked to cast out

the upon woman

and her son

which incidentally is

his son

when sarah says it she says cast out the

bondwoman and her son

but she knows that’s his son

but sad don’t have no skin in the game

[Applause]

and when you don’t have no sin and

against skin in the game it’s easy to

tell people what they ought to do about

their situation cause you don’t have no

skin

in the game

now if this would have been me

this text would have been longer

because when she said

cast out the bond woman and her son i

would have got right back up in her face

and said she wouldn’t have been here in

the first place if you had no brother in

here

it ain’t like i asked you for this woman

this was your idea in the first place

and now you want me to fix what you

wanted me to

you see hager was never abraham’s idea

[Applause]

it was sarah’s idea cause she thought it

wasn’t gonna happen

and when she thought it wasn’t gonna

happen

god’s way

she said i’ll do it my way

henceforth israel becomes a child of the

flesh

how many things have been born in your

house out of the flesh

out of your unwillingness to wait

out of your impatience out of your

frustration how many decisions did you

make without god

[Applause]

and by the way wouldn’t you hate to live

in this house

you got two women in this house

yeah yeah i can stop right there that’s

the end of it right there i got two

women in the house

they don’t like each other

and i got two sons in the house

one is born in the flesh and one of them

is born of the promise

and this just sounds like

a mess

but abraham lived with it

because sometimes change

creates such disruption

that you just make the best

of a bad

et cetera how does abraham go from

throwing a party

for his son

to the biggest fight with his wife ever

recorded

the fight was so big they didn’t have to

call the police god had to come

now you know that’s domestic violence

when god has to come y’all are really

fighting when the only one who can break

up the argument is god

because sarah has asked him

to cast out the bondwoman

and her son and i believe that abraham

was born to the bondwoman

bondwoman actually means that she was

a servant a slave

but i want you to understand that you

can’t spend that much time with somebody

you can’t spend that many nights with

somebody listening at them talking about

their dreams and their hopes of what

happened to them when they were seven

and when i was 12 my dog died and all of

that and after a while there’s a bond to

what you bond with you become bond too

there’s only 12 that could say man

the rest of them is using that mask as

an excuse

because as long as you got your mask

over your mouth you don’t have to say

nothing you can say i said it under my

breath

what you bond with you become bond too

and and hangar

had become

unnecessary flesh

she was attached

ishmael was his flesh

and god is now doing

to him

what he started out doing to his son

for to cast out the bondwoman and her

son

is circumcision

[Applause]

and abraham

is good at giving it

but now

he’s got to receive it

oh he’s been circumcised in his body but

but not in his relationships

and there is no way

to get out of this without blood

this is going to hurt

and yet in order to get his house

together

he had to have the courage

to change course

in fact in all fairness i have to give

sarah some credit sarah

is making a correction

because she is no longer the woman she

was

before

i want to talk to some people who are no

longer the woman you were

before

and yet you’ve got kids angry with you

about what you did

[Music]

[Applause]

before you you’ve got spouses angry with

you over what you did before that ain’t

just for women let’s talk to some men

who have got some wives that are angry

with you over what you did before and

the kids don’t like you over who you

were before the problem is

people never give people

room to change

to grow

to evolve and even though we are

christians we are the world’s best at

alienating people

over what they did

before

and it takes courage

to correct

or to change

course

because if he changes course

what will become of hagar

where will hager go

where has the ring of isaac’s flesh gone

hangar is cast into the wilderness

and when god comes down god does not

talk like sarah

see sometimes sisters

you can be right about what you said

but wrong about how you said it

you said cast out the woman the bomb

woman and her son

god comes down and says

i know ishmael is your seed

understanding

is important

to bring about change

you can’t just look at it from your

perspective just because you don’t have

no skin in the game abraham has

skin in the game ismail is his son too

ishmael is his son

but ismail is your mistake

stay with me stay with me stay with me

stay with me i’m going somewhere i’m

gonna get it back to you in a minute

because everybody in here has ishmael

everybody in here male or female has

nothing to do with gender has has

something that you would bond to

because you bond with

that created a problem that you live

with

whether it’s baby mama drama or whatever

it is or baby daddy drama

you you went out with him

he a dog you went out with a dog

you picked the dog you liked the dog you

brought the dog home you went to bed

with the dog you had a baby with the dog

now

all you can see is he a dog well what

does that make you

[Applause]

i guess you’re a dog lover

because save he raped you

see until we take responsibility

for the mistakes we made

we cannot change course as long as you

push it off and act like it was just

them

and you tell the story where you are

always the hero this woman would have

never been in abraham’s life you brought

the woman into his life you came up with

the strategy of them sleeping together

you told him to have a baby you made

this woman a your slave and made her

sleep with a man that she never picked

to sleep with and now it’s all blown up

in your face and you want to act like

it’s his fault

[Music]

but what is amazing about the text is

god comes down and says to abraham

hearken unto the voice of your wife’s

arrive

because a woman is right

even though she said it wrong

she is

right and what is happening here

is correction

now i’m almost finished

in order to have correction

you have to have the challenging

responsibility

of trusting god to handle our mistakes

god says to abraham

leave hagar to me

i know ishmael is your son

i will make of him a great nation

but you can’t take your mistake

and your miracle and put them all in the

same house

and make it work

there has to come

a cutting away

you can’t change course

if you can’t cut

you can’t change course

if you can’t cast out

and the challenge is to trust me with

the collateral damage

who am i preaching to

trust

that i don’t need you

to take care of israel

god says

my grace

is sufficient

[Applause]

for your mistakes

my grace

my grace is sufficient you don’t have to

live

in this

chaos

your spirit has been in a state of

constant disruption

because you won’t change course

and i don’t want you to live

in this constant chaotic

stressful environment of full ornament

because your mistakes and your miracles

are cohabitating in the same space

all i need from you is the courage

to change

course

[Applause]

if you don’t change course

you’re gonna mess up your destiny

if you don’t change course you’re gonna

mess up your future if you don’t change

course you’re not gonna be in the place

you need to be to become who i created

you to be if you don’t change course

you’re going to spend the latter years

miserable because you won’t own up to

your mistakes and acknowledge that you

were wrong and you won’t fix it

and all the dancing and all the shouting

and all the giving you do over top of it

will not take away from the fact

that you still need the courage

to change

of course who who

who in here

needs the courage

to change course

you know what they say

the definition of lunacy

is to continue to do the same thing

expecting a different result

you can’t be

the woman you want to be

and the woman you used to be at the same

time

you cannot be

the man you were created to be

and the man you used to be at the same

time and you know that now

but the problem is you just can’t bring

yourself to change course

because of all the people

that it would hurt

for you to change

and how long will you make those people

more important

than your destiny

god said

turn them over to me

oh god i’m talking to somebody i’m

talking to somebody i don’t know who it

i’m see the lord sent me here to lose

somebody this morning to liberate

somebody this morning you’ve been in

bondage you can’t even be your best self

you can’t do your best work you can’t be

who you were created to be because

you’re stuck in a situation that you

help to create and you’re guilty

and you feel guilty and you

overcompensate because you’re guilty and

you’re in this situation because you’re

guilty and you’re stuck because you’re

either way you move somebody’s gonna get

hurt and if you don’t move

it’s gonna be you

lift your hands up and say god give me

the courage

to change course

that means i might not get to say

everything i want to say

that means i got to hold my peace

sometimes

that means sometimes i got to bite my

lip that means sometimes i’ve got to

learn another discipline that means

sometimes i gotta bleed

but if i have to bleed to be better

i’m willing to bleed

a little while

to be better for a long time

see i realized that if i didn’t have the

surgery

the pain would never go away

and if i had the surgery i would have

pain for a little while

but eventually the pain of recovery

will go away

see circumcision hurts real bad but it

doesn’t hurt real long

putting out the bomb woman hurt real bad

[Music]

but it didn’t hurt real long

and you got to decide

are you willing to have a little

momentary discomfort

to be where you are called to be

or are you so concerned

about the

disruption that your change creates

that you’re willing

to be a prisoner in your own life

the rest of your life

that’s what this text says to me

that’s what i get out of this text

that’s why this text is important to me

because every time i ever made a change

somebody got hurt

when god called me to come to dallas

somebody got hurt in west virginia

there are people who don’t like me now

i’ve been here 25 years and they still

mad

there are other people that accept it

and they’re glad about it they see it

they get it but there are some people

that just simply refuse to get over

and i had to decide am i going to spend

the rest of my life

honoring your expectations of me

or do i get to live my life the way god

called me to live my life

you leave when you want to leave you

come when you want to come you miss

church when you feel like missing but if

i’m not here you say

i came to church and you wasn’t there

don’t i get to be a person too i’m gonna

break your chain today the chain that

ties you to living up to other people’s

expectations all of your life the chain

that circumvents you from reaching your

destiny and your purpose so you can go

ahead and fulfill what god created you

to fulfill

[Applause]

we are going into a week of change

we’re going to change course

we’re going to change direction we’re

going to change our focus we’re going to

change our attitude we i don’t care

whether we get to have

worship or preaching or whether we just

come in here and lay flat out on the

floor i want a gulley washing holy ghost

anointed supernatural revival revival is

to wake up what’s bad to bring back to

life that that has gone away to restore

to bring back the luster of really

knowing god i don’t want to pass the

church people i want to pass the saints

real believers who are washed in the

blood of the lamb who really want to

serve god

i’m i don’t want to pass the people who

just want to take god on a weekly date

on sunday some of you all don’t love god

you date him

y’all got a weekly date on sunday

but monday tuesday wednesday thursday

friday saturday belong to you

and if it’s not sunday

you don’t have no skin in the game

and you’re asking god for a seven-day

blessing

with a one-day commitment

and you’ve lost your ability

and god sent me to say to you

that in order for him to do

what you have been praying about

you are gonna have to be disciplined

enough

to put some skin in the game

if you don’t put any skin in the game

god cannot do what he wants to do in

your life

but if you present your body

a living sacrifice before god

god said i

will do

a new thing in you and the former things

in your life will be passed away

i hear god talking to somebody i don’t

know who it is

but if you’re ready for change

give him 30 seconds

of crazy praise

yes

yes yes

yes again

yes

yes lord

elbow somebody tell them i want change

i want change

i need change i need change on the

inside i need change on the outside i

need change in my heart i need change in

my spirit

give me my anointing back

give me my power back

give me my consecration back i gotta

have some change

for the devil that i’m fighting right

now

i need a real holy ghost change

i can’t hear you praising god

[Applause]

i can’t hear you

i can’t hear you i can’t hear you

i can’t hear you

see the problem with the church

we want to have a good service but we

don’t want to put any skin in the game

open your mouth and praise him till you

got skin in the game

[Music]

i’m gonna put some skin in the game

for the breakthrough i’ve been praying

for i’m willing to put some skin in the

game i’m willing to invest in it i’m

willing to sow into it i’m willing to

work on it

i’m willing to labor for it i’m willing

to hurt for it

lord here i am

just as i am

i put skin in the game

open your mouth and give god some praise

[Music]

yes

it costs 20 costs it costs 20 costs

it costs 20 costs

whatever it takes

[Applause]

[Music]

this is how bad i want it

this is how bad i want it i rearrange my

schedule

i’ll move if i gotta move

i’ll change if i gotta change whatever

it takes

i’ll apologize

i’ll lay on the face

but whatever it takes

i want change

somebody holler

with all your might

[Applause]

god

tell eight people i’m getting ready to

change course

go to eight people tell her i’m getting

ready to change court i’m gonna change

course i’m going to change course before

the week is over i’m going to change

course

before the week is over

i’m going to change course before the

week is over before this week

before this week

before this weekend

[Applause]

i’m gonna change

i’m gonna change it i’m gonna change it

i’m gonna break that chain i’m gonna

break that yoke i’m gonna change

[Applause]

i gotta change it

look at somebody say i gotta change it i

got it i gotta change it i got it the

angels ain’t gonna change it the prophet

ain’t gonna change it the bishop ain’t

gonna change it the choir ain’t gonna

change it the partner’s house ain’t

gonna change it i gotta change it i’m

gonna change it i’m gonna change it i’m

gonna change it if you don’t change

the rocks will cross

if you don’t change

the rocks will crowd

change change it

change it

change it change it change it if i

change it change it in my life

change

a change

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

a change

yeah

it’s coming

change is coming it’s coming

change is coming

changed

change is coming

change

[Applause]

yes

make the change

change

[Music]

you’re ready

change

into balcony

change

change has come

[Music]

[Applause]

oh yeah

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

i don’t want anybody to do this

before i do

i want to

ate one

a new beginning

a season of change

take 81 out of there

i don’t want anybody to do it before i

do it

i dedicate

this week to god

[Applause]

august the first

eight one

the baby was eight days old

decree

and declare

there will be change

[Applause]

there will be a cutting away

there will be a casting out

there will be a singleness of heart

a wholeness in spirit

i’m not just talking about you i’m gonna

do this for myself

i want the courage the courage

the courage

to change

the courage to change

i’m running out of time

i don’t have time to play games

the courage to change

you’re watching online

join me if you want to

you’re in the building

join me if you will

but i send this up this little seat

ain’t much as a little seed

a little seed offering to god

i offer up a sacrifice

there will

be change

i decree and declare

a new beginning

i decree and declare

a new beginning

in the midst of all of this chaos

and political antics

and racial indifference

in the midst of all of this turbulence

in the midst of this pandemic i decree

and declare

a change

in the name of jesus

this is my garden of gethsemane

this is a place where i make up my mind

not my will but thine be done this is a

place that i cast out the bondwoman this

is a place that i cut away the flesh

this is a place where i put some skin in

the game

this is a place where i decree and

declare

for discipline

how many of you struggle to be

disciplined

i decree and declare

for a greater discipline in your life

in your business

in your affairs

in your finances

in your relationships

you’re going to stop being guided by

your emotions

and you’re going to be guided by the

promise of god

[Applause]

no more guilt

[Applause]

no more shame

no more incarceration to your past

no more nursing people’s feelings that

shouldn’t even be in the house

[Music]

cast out the bondwoman

[Music]

i want to be new

i want to you the pastor what you

talking about you want to be new yes

pastors need to be renewed

singers need to be renewed

you can’t keep giving out to people and

not become depleted you need to be

renewed

deacons need to be renewed

the elders need to be renewed the saints

online need to be renewed the people in

this building need to be renewed

we need a renewal

somebody shout yes

and it’s just a little seed

but i’m gonna sow it

as a sign

that i’m committed

to the discipline

that’s necessary

[Music]

i’m gonna stop running a nursery

for everybody else’s feelings but mine

[Applause]

[Music]

today god liberates us from people

from the bondage of their expectations

from the fear of their criticisms

from the pain of their mar their remarks

today we come into a new place

of alignment

admittedly we’ve made some bad choices

admittedly we’ve made some poor

judgments

but now that we know better

knowing better don’t mean a thing if you

don’t do better

knowing that you should eat right ain’t

eating right

knowing that you should save ain’t

saving

knowing that you should shut your mouth

don’t shut your mouth

it don’t count till you do it

how many are making a commitment i’m

gonna do this thing

i’m gonna do this

thing eight one

a new beginning and in fact in fact

today

in fact as other people are sowing and

as they’re giving

if there’s a person in this room

and you need newness jesus came

to make us new

and he put skin in the game

he went to calvary and he put skin

in the game

but if you don’t put yours in

you can’t have new life

i cannot dwell

in the tent with the wicked

today

whether you’re online

whether you’re watching in

houston

or atlanta

new york

or desoto

whether you’re in south dakota

or south africa

whether you’re in nigeria

or birmingham alabama

i decree and declare there will be

change

there will be change

i’m not waiting on nobody to come save

i’m not waiting on nobody to come get me

i decree and declare

[Music]

there will be change

it may it may hurt a while

while i get the discipline

to commit my way unto the lord

but whatever it takes

there will be change

if there’s a person in this room

the only one i know

[Music]

who can help you to really change your

life is jesus

abraham and sarah argued all the way

until god came in the tent

when god came down and came in the tent

he straightened everything out

he put everything in order

he moved the flesh out

he moved the spirit in

the flesh out

and the promise came in

[Music]

and he gave abraham

the thing that you can’t buy in a store

and you can’t get with a degree

he gave him focus

when the eye is single the whole body is

full of light

but a house divided against itself shall

not stand

we praise you with singleness of heart

we’ve had too many distractions

trying to keep this one and please that

one and please that one and satisfy that

one and and and not make waves and and

trying to compensate and

overcompensate over doing it

giving out a guilt

but today we make a change

friend if you’re in this room and you

don’t know jesus

if you’re in this room

and you’ve said new year’s resolutions

and you’ve had moments where you felt

guilty and cried

but you’re tied to an addiction and

you’re tied to a problem and you’re tied

to a way of living and a way of thinking

and a way of doing things

that’s just dragging you down

you got to decide which pool is stronger

the pull of the holy spirit or the pull

of your flesh

[Music]

it is a gift to come to god the bible

says nobody can come to god say the

spirit draw them

it’s a spirit if you are here and you

are unbeliever or a backslider and the

spirit is calling you home hold your

hand up right where you are

hold your hand up i see you i see you i

see you where else i see you i see you

i see you hold it up high don’t be

ashamed hold it up i see you all the way

in the back i see you i see you i see

you if the holy ghost is saying change

your life hold your hand up i see you

i see you the spirit of god sees you i

want you to leave put the other hand up

with it

means i surrender

the fight is over

i give up

and i want to pray with you with both

your hands up father you see those

raised hands

you see the ones that are online

you see the ones that i cannot see

you know that their hearts are open and

they need a touch from you

and right now in the name of jesus in

the middle of a pandemic

in the middle of a world gone crazy in

the middle of tough times and personal

problems and past pain and trauma and

abuse and all types of things

[Music]

we confess ourselves we’ve been wrong

we’ve made some bad choices

we’ve done some dumb things

some of this trouble wasn’t saying some

of it was us but be that as it may

we come clean right now

come into their hearts

we believe that you died for our sins

and that you rose for our justification

and right now right where i stand with

my hands up i invite you into my life

into my crazy house into my chaotic

situation into my contradictory

circumstances i invite you in right now

with my whole heart

i say yes to you

i say yes to your will and yes to your

word i say yes to you

i say yes to your way

[Music]

and whether i’m weak or whether i’m

strong or whether i’m right or whether

i’m wrong i commit to you right here and

now i’m gonna walk with you

all the way back home

lord it sure feels good to have

a new beginning

this is my eighth day this is my new

beginning this is my fresh start this is

the day that i cut away my flesh and my

fleshly choices

this is the day i say yes to god now i

want you to praise him right where you

are and accept what he did in your life

in jesus name

[Music]

you

The Courage to Change Course – Bishop T.D. Jakes

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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