For the Shade | Sarah Jakes Roberts

hey family i’m pastor torre

i’m pastor sarah and listen you’re

getting ready to hear an incredible word

for the lord i believe it’s going to

bless you

i believe it’s going to be timely do me

a favor

share the message if it moves you share

the message and then also you have an

opportunity to be a part of

not only helping to spread this message

but to be a part of our outreaches

we’re doing a lot of practical things to

be a blessing to someone so feel free if

god so moves you

to use the information here in the video

to support what we’re doing we’re being

a blessing not just people spiritually

we’re being blessed to people

practically we love you get into this

message

gonna change your life

happy sunday family this is my favorite

day of the week

and that worship song is one of the

reasons why i love this day of the week

so much

because it’s an opportunity for us to be

intentional about inviting god into the

presence of our lives into the presence

of our homes and atmospheres

god has given me a word that falls so in

line with this worship song and i want

to get

right into it if you guys are taking

notes i want you to

write down our scriptures for today in

this subject this is something that i

just want you to be thinking on

as we die into the war as we dive into

the word

die to the word i like that sometimes

you got to die to the word come on

somebody

we’re going to be in john 10 verse 17

through 18 and my subject for today is

for the shade

for the shade it’ll make sense when i’m

finished but just jot that down if

you’re taking notes

my text begins it’s the new king james

version it’s jesus talking

and he’s trying to educate us on his

relationship

with god and he gives us this analogy

about sheep

but at the end of the analogy he kind of

lets us in on the fact that he’s talking

about his relationship with god

and it says therefore my father loves me

because i lay down my life that i may

take it again

no one takes it from me but i lay it

down

of myself i have power to lay it down

and i have power to take it again

this command i have received from my

father

spirit of the living god

come and move father we’ve made room for

you

wherever we are in this moment some of

us watching from home some of us

watching in the car

some of us watching from work wherever

we are this is our way of making room

for you and so father we simply say

come and move have your way in our life

great god that you are

father you breathed on this word and so

i’m asking that you would release it in

just the way they need to receive it

that there will be none of me and all of

you may i decrease father

that you may increase and i ask that you

would make my mind so

sharp and my words so clear that these

words seek past

our excuses and our fears and

trepidation and that it take

roots in the soul of our spirit father

and that it produces rich

rich fruit that feeds our family for

generations after generations let this

be

one of those moments that we mark as

never the same

again in jesus name i pray

amen amen if you said amen i want you to

type amen in the comments

i need a man corner you’re you’re my a

man corner in the chat room today

i was studying about trends and

some of the trends that are important in

marketing and social media

because i’m always interested in how

things evolve over time

and there is this period in social media

history that forever changed the way

that we would

engage with one another on social media

and that was called

instagram do y’all remember when

instagram came out like we were all

on twitter or on facebook and i can

remember thinking instagram’s not going

to be that much fun because all you can

do is like post

pictures right and come to find out

though that that is actually what makes

instagram unique

in its delivery as it relates to other

social media

platforms because images

are literally worth a thousand words

that with one picture you can say more

than you could in a long

facebook note or a long tweet that

there’s something about

imagery during the racial unrest of an

officer and a young girl hugging one

another that says something about the

state of our nation when

we started seeing nurses in mass with

scars on their face from working all day

and grocery clerks in the store there

wasn’t this huge article

but there was something about that image

that helped us realize that our

essential workers were more heroic than

we even realized

images are worth a thousand words

images are so important that research is

beginning to show

that by the year 2021 that’s just next

year that almost a

third of all social media users will be

on instagram maybe that doesn’t seem

like

a large number but that breaks down to

928 million users

all over images

science proves that a mind is able to

process

images in 13 milliseconds have you ever

read something

and needed all day to digest and

marinate what you read

but that one picture sticks with you and

you understood everything that was

happening in that moment

because our mind processes images very

quickly

so what does that mean then when we hear

something like we are made in the

image of god

but we don’t have an image

of god if i’m honest i think that that’s

one of

the most challenging parts of being a

believer sometimes

it’s trying to become an image we’ve

never seen

genesis 1 and 26 says then god said

let us make man in our image in our

image according to

our likeness let them have dominion over

the fish

of the sea over the birds of the air and

over the cattle over all the earth and

over every creeping thing that

creeps on the earth

but when god says this he says this

before a time where there are

photographs where he could just

hang the picture up and say this is your

goal there is an

essence that he’s trying to convey that

he made humanity in

but humanity is unaware of what that

image

is you see if you give me an image i

know what i can become that’s why role

models are so important in communities

because

if i have an image if i have something i

can point towards

then i know what direction i should be

heading in and that’s when we don’t have

images we end up suffering because we

end up telling people you can do this

and you can do that but they’ve never

seen anyone who looks like them or acts

like them or talks like them

actually become that person and so we’re

telling them that it’s possible but they

don’t have an

image that’s when i realized

that i needed to really further dissect

this word to understand what is it that

god is saying

when he’s telling us that we’re made in

his image but we don’t have that visual

representation

at the time that he gives this statement

the hebrew of the word shows that that

word image doesn’t mean

visual in the way that we’re used to

seeing it but it means

shade we’re made in the

shade of god if pt was here he would say

are you tracking with me because i feel

like

i need you to keep with me during this

because i want you to understand

how important it is for you to realize

that i was made

not just in the image as in the visual

representation of god but i was made

to live in the shade of god let us make

man in our

shade god says man’s ability to thrive

on the earth is going to come down to

them being able to live in my shade

if you live in the shade of god you feel

the warmth of what’s taking place but

you don’t feel the heat of it

god says i want to take the heat so they

can live in the shade

i don’t want them to have to suffer i

don’t want them to feel

pain i don’t want them to have to go

through death and so what i’m going to

do

is i’m gonna make men in my shade i’m

gonna show them how to live in the earth

i’m gonna show them how to have dominion

i’m gonna set everything up

so they can live in my shade

and then he says let us make man in our

image and our

likeness so i’m going to make them to

live in my

shade with that reality that they can

also become

shade they’re going to be made in my

shade but they can also become in my

likeness

because when we live in this shade of

god if we do this thing properly

then we become shade for someone else

i felt that for somebody you need to

tell somebody you better watch out when

you’re messing with me i’m shady i’m

shady but not

shady in the way that you’re used to i’m

saying that if you get up underneath my

cover and i’m going to

protect you if you get up underneath my

covering i’m going to make sure that you

grow when you become

there’s a certain level of protection

that comes when you are connected with

someone can you provide

shade my husband and i when we first

started dating i was doing what i could

to provide

shade for my two children and i knew

that if we were going to come together

that we could come together and we could

produce more shade for our entire family

we believed in something that was bigger

than us and we recognize that there is

always

war against what god is trying to

protect and so my responsibility

if you are in my life is to partner with

god to protect you i feel god’s saying

that when god brings someone into your

life that part of your responsibility

is to provide shade for them there is

some heat they shouldn’t have to take

because you’ve already gone ahead of

them or because you already have wisdom

and lessons

that you’re able to provide for them i

had to learn how to be shaded that’s the

greatest lesson

that so many of us could stand to learn

is to learn

how to live in the shade

isn’t that after all what messes up adam

and eve in the garden

is they didn’t realize how protected

they were

by living in the shade of god

and so what the enemy wants more than

anything is he wants to

disrupt that protection

he wants to disrupt that protection so

that you’re no longer living in the

shade of god and you start to be burned

in certain areas

and you start to feel like maybe i

shouldn’t have done this and and i’m

rejected and i’m abandoned and my pride

is in the way i’m starting to get burned

because i’m not living

in the shade anymore that’s what the

enemy wanted from the very beginning

when the serpent tries to lure adam and

eve into eating the fruit

his ultimate plan is to get them from

underneath the shade

but he didn’t know that god was going to

come back in he may have burned them but

he couldn’t kill them because they

invited god back into the shade

i don’t know who you’re who you are or

what you’ve gone through

but i hear god saying you may have been

burned but god has shade that can keep

you from being burned again

that just because you have been burned

doesn’t mean that you have to continue

to live outside of the shade of god

that adam and eve the most powerful

thing that they did

is they started engaging with god after

they had been burned

and after you have been burned sometimes

we don’t want to engage with god

because we don’t trust ourselves anymore

and sometimes we don’t trust

that god will understand that it

happened on accident or we don’t trust

god

because we feel like he may do us the

way other people did us

but i hear god saying that just the way

he got down in the heat of things with

adam and eve

that he will get down in the heat of

things with you and all of a sudden the

enemy could have burned you but god says

my shade can still cover that

there are some people in this room that

the only reason why certain things

didn’t happen to you

that happened to other people around you

is because you were living in the shade

of god

i wish i had about five seconds and ten

church people

who didn’t mind cutting up on the

internet real quick and having a praise

break because they recognized that the

only reason why i didn’t go through what

some other people went through

is because i was living in the shade of

god that it wasn’t just my grandmother

that there was the shade of god hovering

over me

it doesn’t mean i didn’t get burnt

sometimes it’s just that the burns

couldn’t stay because i was living in

the shade of god

that’s why the bullets couldn’t kill me

that’s why the divorce couldn’t

take me out that’s why the suicide

attempt didn’t work

because i was living in the shade of god

i want you to take 10 seconds

and to just say thank you god for

allowing me to live in the shade

thank you god for allowing me to live in

your covering it doesn’t mean that

everything went the right way

it doesn’t mean that everything for me

has been no crystal stairs

but what it does mean is that when the

sun came out and it started to scorch

my skin that i messed around and got

down on my knees

and said god if your presence would get

down in the midst of this

god if you would send your glory in the

midst of my pain

then i could handle it if i’m in your

shade god you don’t have to move the sun

just bring your shade god you don’t have

to take me out of this situation

just let me know that you’re in it

because if i sense that you’re in it

i can withstand the heat

[Music]

how can withstand the heat i just want

to be

in the shade of god i just want to live

in the shade of god i feel like

i’m supposed to move past that but

there’s something down in my soul

that wants to thank god that in the

midst of a pandemic

and in the midst of racial unrest and in

the midst of what it seems like the

world has fallen apart that he still got

me in his shade

that i’m still connected to him he still

kept me in his shade

i’ve seen other people had to bury some

loved ones i’ve seen other people who

lost their minds but god you kept me in

your shade

god she kept pulling me up when i was

trying to sink down

god i wanted to be depressed but you

sent someone to call me

god i didn’t want to watch the message

but something kept pulling on me could

it be that it has been shade all of this

time

could it be that the reason it didn’t

happen to me wasn’t because i was so

smart

and it wasn’t because i was so talented

but it was because

[Music]

of your shade and so now

now i walk differently

and i talk differently because i

recognize

that my words have to stay in the shade

and my actions have to stay in the shade

i gotta live in the shade

of god i made in the

image of god i made in the shade of god

so that i can

become shade i’m trying to cast a shadow

i’m trying to cast a shadow that’s

bigger than me and i can’t do it

unless i’m connected to someone who’s

casted a shadow that’s bigger than me

shade beget shade literally

shade be get shade when you’ve been

covered you know how to be

covering that’s why you gotta get up

underneath some covering you gotta say i

need to understand how to create

a shadow some of you have generational

blessings that you know are assigned to

your name

but you don’t know how to get from point

a to point b and i hear god saying that

you need to get under some covering

because when you get under some covering

god shows you how to create shade

i show you how to act in the meetings

i’ll show you how to act when you’ve

been promoted

because i teach you how to be shade

and so when god sends

jesus he sends jesus because humanity

doesn’t understand that being made in

the image of god they need a

visual representation they don’t

understand how to live

in the shade

and so we know that

what happened in the garden means that

the serpent

in many ways removed the shade

and so now we have to work harder for

what was supposed to come naturally

we have to work harder to live in the

shade than we were

originally created to have to work for

because of what happened in the garden

so god says i need to send someone to

come down to teach them

how to live in my image but be

on the earth you see i don’t know about

you but sometimes i feel like

there’s a great divide between where i

am and the

image i’ve been made in

sometimes we gotta work for the image

we’re made in the image of god to

ultimately become

like god on earth but it feels like

there’s such a big difference between

where i

am and where god is you see sometimes we

spend

so much time focusing on what we think

the image is supposed to be that we

don’t recognize the work connected to

creating the image god help me

it’s my parents have been married for 38

years

and all i saw my whole life was the

image of their marriage

but i didn’t realize how much work it

took to produce the image

i see so many successful business people

and now as a business owner i see that

you don’t just become successful because

you reach for an image

but that there is work required to get

to that image

i don’t know if you got well of course

you all remember this but you know it

wasn’t always as easy as

taking a picture and printing it out on

your printer remember when you really

had to develop photos to go into the

dark room and

to shake the cans and to allow the light

to be exposed so that you could finally

get that image

i hear god saying that if you are going

to become like him

that you can’t focus so much on how far

you are from being made in the

image of god but rather ask god what is

the work that i am doing to produce that

image

this is where this word comes in that we

don’t always like to hear but it is so

important in producing the image of god

when we talk about being made in the

image of god

we talk about things like having god’s

authority and having god’s power because

those things are

sexy and they make us feel strong and

they make us feel wise

but we don’t understand that one of the

most powerful things about being made in

god’s image

has nothing to do with those powerful

treading on serpents and casting out

demons though

that is amazing one of god’s most

profound love languages is sacrifice

john 3 and 16 tells us for god so loved

the world that he

gave god

says that if you’re really going to be

made in my image

then i want to know what you’re

sacrificing

i think it’s important for us to

identify the difference between

sacrifice

and struggle you see struggle is

involuntary

we don’t necessarily sign up for the

struggle we find ourselves

in the struggle and the stronghold ends

up teaching us and we become better as a

result of struggle

but sacrifice is what builds you

struggle teaches you

but sacrifice multiplies you

sacrifice is god’s way of saying i’m

sending my son to the earth

not just so that i can give my son but

so that whosoever believes in him shall

not perish but have everlasting life

i’m sending my son i’m making the

sacrifice for multiplication

struggle is trying to make ends meet

sacrifice is saying that i’m going to

pull back my spending so that i can have

a future to plan for

if we don’t understand the difference

between struggle and sacrifice we will

think that we’re struggling in the name

of god

but god is saying i want to see what

you’ll sacrifice for my name

not just what you’re willing to endure

some of us don’t have a choice in us

ending up struggling but god says what

will you choose to lay down

what will you choose to give up in order

to be made in my image

god says some things were stripped away

from you and i’m sorry those things were

stripped away from you but that’s just

the way life was

but there’s something about you taking

power and ownership over what you know

is keeping you from being made in the

image of god

and saying this is the thing that i’m

willing to lay down

i’m willing to lay down this

relationship i’m willing to lay down

this habit i’m willing to lay down this

addiction i’m willing to

lay down this pride i’m willing to lay

down my laziness why

because i want to become that image i

want to get closer to living in that

shadow of god so that i can create a

shadow

this isn’t about surviving struggle

anymore we’re not talking about

surviving the pandemic anymore

we’re not talking about surviving the

earth anymore we’re talking about what

we can take ownership in

sacrificing for the sake of becoming

more

like god i’m living for the shade

sacrifice is one of god’s love languages

it’s why when we were all in church we

say let’s hear the sound of cheerful

giving

because a cheerful giver understands

that sacrifice is a part of god’s love

language

and when i sacrifice for what he’s doing

in the earth

it proves that i’m not just asking god

to give me give me give me

but i’m willing to sacrifice in order

for us to become

there’s nothing like the person who has

the list of what they want in the

partner

but they never mention who they’re going

to be to the partner because that’s a

give me give me give me mentality

but when you understand sacrifice it

says i’m not going to ask you to be all

of these things

while i stay the same here’s what i’m

going to sacrifice in order for us to

become

god understands sacrifice that’s why

over and over again we see

prophets building an altar and we see

god constructing tabernacles because he

says

i want my people to be willing to

understand the power of sacrifice

the most toxic relationships are the

ones where there are no

sacrifice when you’re not willing to

give up anything so that we can become

something when you’re not willing to

give up anything then i don’t give up

anything and we don’t become anything

because no one was willing to sacrifice

but when you have two people who are

willing to sacrifice

because they recognize what is ahead of

us is bigger than where we are right now

then god says i can bless that

relationship because they’re willing to

give up their own desires

and their own flesh so that they can

become one

in me sacrifice

is powerful i dare say more powerful

than struggle

and jesus shows us this in his text

because in john 10

17-18 he tells us that part of the

reason why his father loves him

is because i lay down my life there’s

that sacrifice language again

he says my father loves me i’m going to

break this down but for the sake of

where we are right now

therefore my father loves me because i

sacrifice can i ask you a question

when is the last time you can

legitimately say

i chose to lay this down

for the glory of god

not struggle not the things you lost

along the way that you didn’t choose to

give up but you survived anyway

but when is the last time you were

intentional about your sacrifice

that you gave a sacrificial praise

that you gave a sacrificial seed that

you said i know it’s tight for me right

now

but i want it so even greater because i

want to show god that i’m willing to

sacrifice

because sacrifice for us is not this one

time thing where i sacrificed last year

or sacrificed a decade ago

i’m talking about living in the mindset

of sacrifice my husband and i were

married we’re raising children

every aspect of our life requires some

level of sacrifice

and for some reason my children don’t

care that i already sacrificed to put

shoes on their feet last year

their feet are still growing and i need

to make another sacrifice to buy them

more shoes

i have to continue to sacrifice so that

i can prove that i’m not just wanting

you to stay on this level but i want to

grow with you i wish i could say that

the way it came to me

but sacrifice says i want to grow with

you sacrifice says that i’m not just

doing it so that we can stay married

this year

i’m doing it so that we can stay married

for the lifetime i’m

signing up for a lifetime of sacrifice

when i got into relationship with god

my relationship with god dictated that i

was going to have moments in my life

where i allowed him to search me so that

he could show me

what i need to give up now god what do i

need to give up in order to stay in your

shade in this season

god in the midst of me asking you to

protect me and to keep me whole and to

keep me healed

i forgot to ask you father what can i

lay down

in my own life with my own power

because what’s more important to me than

what you can do for me

is that i show that i am worthy and i

show that i am

grateful to be in relationship with you

jesus says therefore

my father loves me because i

lay down my life you know i had to

study that word lay

in the greek that word lay down

it literally means advise

appoint bow commit conceive

it says therefore my father loves me

because i

appoint my life

does your life have an appointment

or are we just randomly floating around

you see because this scripture goes on

to say it says no one

takes it from me which helped me to

understand for the first time when i saw

this scripture

that if my life doesn’t have an

appointment that my life can be randomly

taken from me

if i’m not laying my life down that my

life can be taken

from me but see when i recognize that my

life has an appointment

i am intentional about laying it down

and where i lay it down

because i recognize that this is not

just any old life that i’m laying down

that this life has been instilled with

the breath of god

that i was made in the image of god so i

don’t just allow my life to be randomly

out here being appointed to whoever’s

will and whoever’s purpose

i have to qualify where i’m laying my

life down because i recognize the power

connected to my life

jesus recognized the power connected to

his life

and he says i’m not just laying my life

down so that this world can become

better i’m doing it because it is an

appointment

it is a part of my divine identity and i

am going to stay in the shade of god

even if it means that i am shaded to

death

even if it means that the shade follows

me into the tomb

and three days later the shade is going

to resurrect me again

you see when you live in the shade of

god it doesn’t matter where the shade

takes you

because you recognize that if i’m laying

my life down in the shade

then there’s a resurrection connected to

this shade as well you see there is no

death in the shade of god

there is no pain in the shade of god so

even if i experience it temporarily if i

stay in the shade i’m going to see the

victory connected to the other side of

it

because i’ve learned the power of living

in the shade

so jesus says in this text

that he lays his life down

that i may take it again and no one

takes it from me

i want to challenge you to take

inventory of your life

and to begin to ask yourself when is the

last time

i woke up and appointed and committed my

life

in the direction of what god is doing

when is the last time that i said to

myself i need to sacrifice this because

it’s keeping me from where i know i need

to be

in god because like i said before

if you don’t appoint your life then

someone may disappoint your life

if i don’t appoint it then someone can

disappoint it

but if i stay where god has placed me

and i trust that this is where god has

called me to be because i understand

that i laid my life down for his

purposes

then there will always be a level of

resurrection

connected to it jesus has appointed his

life

to establishing the kingdom of heaven

that is the ultimate appointment that

any of us can have

the ultimate appointment the ultimate

thing that we can lay our lives down for

is for establishing the kingdom

now this is important for us to

understand because the culture has a

different narrative

and the world and business and and

professional circles have a different

narrative about the greatest appointment

we can have they’ll have us thinking

that the greatest appointment we can

have is meeting with the ceo

or the greatest appointment we can have

is getting a certain amount of money in

our bank account

and if we fall for that then we will

miss that the greatest appointment that

any of us can have

is to be willing to establish the

kingdom of god in any season

by any means necessary whether he does

what i ask him to do or not i’m still

going to establish the kingdom because i

want to live in the shade of god

i feel like that’s somebody’s word right

now that you’ve been feeling

disappointed because life got thrown off

track

and you’ve been thinking to yourself i

may not get to there and i hear god

saying there never mattered the only

thing that really mattered was here

and i want to know what you’re going to

do with here i want to know what

appointments you’re going to make with

your life from here

i hear god saying that you could start

your ministry now i hear god saying that

you could establish the kingdom right

where you are

i hear god saying that i want the

kingdom to come to your house

you want a bank account but i want the

kingdom to come to the grocery store

i want the kingdom to show up anywhere

you tread your feet so i put the world

on paws

so that my real workers could roll up

their sleeves and start asking god how

we gonna do this thing on the internet

how we gonna do this thing in the

grocery store cause my job my

responsibility

is to lay down my life in any season god

i don’t want the job if i can’t

establish your kingdom

i don’t want the conference if i can’t

establish a kingdom i don’t want the

church if i can’t establish a kingdom

i’ll lay my life down i’ll move out of

this city

i’ll move out of this house i’ll do

whatever is necessary

because what is more important to me is

not getting there

what is most important to me is

establishing

that i will lay down my life

[Applause]

to live in your shade

and i want you to know i feel this for

you prophetically

god sees where you lay your life down

[Music]

get that down in your spirit you’ve laid

your life down

and you’re wondering if god sees it and

jesus is telling us right here in this

text

that the reason why god loves me is

because i laid my life down

wherever you lay your life down i want

you to know that god marked the spot

and it may be five years down the road

and it may be

10 years down the road but i want you to

know that god

remembers where you laid your life down

he remembers where you let go of the

bitterness

he remembers where you let go of the

pride he remembers where you let go of

the winds

so that you could get in a position

where you were low again

where you were hurting again where you

were wondering again

and god said i marked the spot

where you laid your life down

and if you can remember where you laid

your life down

i’ll show you how to take it up again

[Music]

god says i’ll give you power to take it

up again when you lay it down

i looked up that word take and it means

to accept

and be amazed

that means i laid my life down to go

where you sent me

i laid down my pride i laid down my ego

i laid down my bitterness i laid down my

pain i laid down my grief

and it hurt me to do it because i wanted

to stay bitter

and i wanted to stay confused and i

didn’t want to trust you again

and i didn’t want to try the church

thing again and i didn’t want to do the

business thing again

but i laid down my life

and god says because you appointed your

life

when you take it up again you’re going

to be able to

accept your life and be amazed

god how could i have known that when i

laid my life down that when i picked it

back up

that you would restore to me a woman i

didn’t even recognize a man i didn’t

even understand

that when i laid my life down that when

i picked it back up

that you were going to multiply what i

laid down i hear god

saying i’m multiplying what you laid

down you sacrificed and you gave your

whole life to something

and i hear god saying i mark this spot

and when it’s time for you to pick it

back up again

that you’re going to be amazed at what i

did with your sacrifice if that’s your

word i want you to say that’s me that’s

me that’s me that’s me

that’s me i want you to type it in the

comments type it in the comments

that’s me that’s me that’s me i laid my

life down and i thought god forgot

i thought god wasn’t going to remember

but i hear god saying

that i put a mark on that grave i put a

mark where that thing died

i put a mark where that vision of yours

died

and you’re gonna take it up again

and it’s not gonna look like anything

that you laid down

jesus lays his life down

to the grave but who he becomes when

it’s time for him to take it back up

again

i mean he came in rolling on clouds

i mean the glory was so evident in him

that you could see the scars from when

he laid his life down

but the scars were already healed as if

it had never happened

god says there’s a version of you that i

want to prove to you exists

but you can’t see it unless you’re

willing to sacrifice for the shade

you can’t see it unless you’re willing

to lay down for the shade i hear god

saying that you can take the heat

because you’re going to be in my shade

that you can take the disappointment

because you’re going to be in my shade

you can take the betrayal because you’re

going to be in my shade

you can take the abuse because you’re

going to be in my shade then when it

gets finished and it’s all said and done

that you will sacrifice nothing that i

don’t see and when the time is right

you may have to wait three days to be

resurrected

you may have to wait eight years to be

resurrected

but i hear god saying i kept tabs on

everything you were giving up

i hear guys saying my books are always

tight my books are always

solid that i know exactly what she gave

up

and all we have to do

is come to the place

where we see like jesus sees

that i’m willing to sacrifice

that’s the word god kept telling me over

and over again

is that we’ve been so busy struggling

that we forgot the power of sacrifice

i hear god saying that sacrifice changes

things

sacrifice shifts things sacrifice is our

way of putting seed in the ground

you got so caught up in this struggle

and how could you not

the whole world has been a struggle

lately but i hear god saying your power

is in your sacrifice

[Music]

you want to feel empowered again

it’s not about the world going back to

normal

it’s about you finding a way to

lay your life down

[Music]

and so family

i had one assignment and one assignment

only

and that was to bring us back in the

consciousness

of sacrificing for the shade

[Music]

i want to be made in the

image of god the shade of god

so there are some things i got to lay

down

in order to stay in that shade

but i don’t have to keep it there

forever

i just have to keep it there long enough

for god to turn it

into us into acceptance and amazement

hear god saying as i was studying this

message we’re in august

eight new beginnings

god told me as i was praying over this

message

that i’m calling my people back into my

shadows

that i’m calling them back into my shade

that i’m calling them to dwell in the

secret place of the most high

i’m calling them to live underneath my

shadow again

and i want to know who’s willing to

sacrifice for that new beginning

if i’m honest i’ve been waiting for

december 31st because i would like to

try

again but i hear guys saying if you’re

waiting on the calendar

then you miss that i gave you

power to change your situation through

sacrifice

i don’t know what it is that you need to

sacrifice what

fast you need to go on what may be seed

you need to place into the kingdom i

don’t know what your sacrifice is that’s

between you and god

but i hear god saying that there is a

special anointing on the month

of august that specifically this number

eight this specifically this new

beginning

season that there is a special blessing

on it

and that for the month of august if you

would commit to sacrificing on the next

level

that if you would commit to moving

beyond struggle and saying god

i want to sacrifice on a new level all

throughout the month of august

that god says i’m going to show you how

to pick your life back up again

i don’t know whose word that is i don’t

know whose word that is but i hear god

saying

that you feel like you’ve lost your life

i hear god saying lay it down

completely stop holding on to it i hear

god saying

that someone’s been trying to hold on to

their life and try and convince god that

you’re laying it down at the same time

i hear god saying let it die

your will your plans your way your

disappointment your grief

your pain i hear god saying i’m not

saying it wasn’t real i’m not saying it

didn’t hurt but i’m telling you to lay

it down

and for one full month particularly this

month of august

i want you to try something different

i want you to try sacrificing

intentional sacrifice

and i cannot wait i want you to send us

your praise reports

i want you to let us know your testimony

because i know that this word

is from god god gave it to me and he

told me there was something

about this month in which his people are

going to get back under his shadow

and we’re going to see a shift in the

world mark my

words the world is going to shift

because of the people of god who get

back

underneath his shadow and make a

commitment to sacrifice to see things

turn around

and when we begin to sacrifice god is

true to his word and jesus is the

perfect example

of how when we come into alignment with

him

that he takes what we lay down and he

teaches us to take it up again

i want to pray with you

you’ve been listening to this message

and you know that there are some things

in your life you need to lay down

[Music]

you need to lay those things down you

need to lay that relationship down you

need to lay that mindset down i don’t

know

what your thing is that’s holding your

life up

but you need to lay it down and you’re

ready to make a commitment

this is all i want you to type in the

comments is i commit

i commit i commit i commit i commit

you don’t even know what you’re

committing to beyond the fact that i am

committing to get underneath the shade

of god

i’m committing to the shade i’m

committing to the shade i’m committing

to getting back in the shade of god

and then for some practical steps i want

you to be intentional about whatever it

is you need to sacrifice what is it that

i need to give up this month

what level of giving do i need to tap

into this month whatever that thing is

i want you to be intentional i want you

to write it down and hold yourself

accountable

31 days we have in august and we’re

going to start today

the most important thing i’m going to

pray is that god would teach you

and show you and reveal to you through

this word and through this prayer

that the most powerful thing you can do

is live for him

which means that you may have to die to

self

jesus knew the difference between his

life and his self

he knew that i’m laying my life down

there was a separation between

jesus and his life in which he knew my

spirit has this role

my spirit has this opportunity to to

come into alignment with god but

my flesh is going to have to die in

order for me to come into alignment with

god

that may be your testimony

that you have to separate your desires

and your flesh so that you can lay it

down

so that god’s spirit can be manifested

in you

i speak multiplication over your life

that as you give your life to god

and as you accept that jesus is the

ultimate goal and the ultimate model

on how to walk this thing out that he’s

going to multiply

your life in ways you could have never

imagined i don’t mean just financially

because that’s low-level blessing for

god

i mean in ways that generational

blessings bring up

the generational curses are broken that

doors are open that no man can shut and

doors are closed that no man can open

that’s the type of thing that happens to

us when we come into alignment with god

and so if you can i want you to cup your

hands like you’re receiving something if

you can i just want you to open your

heart

father god we’re laying our life down

father we lift our hands and surrender

and we say at the end of the day father

what we want more than anything

is to live in your shade so god i’m

asking that you would highlight areas

right now

where my brothers and sisters your sons

and daughters

know that they need to lay something

down father maybe they’re curious about

what it is

father highlight ways that they can

sacrifice in a fresh new way

show them how you want them to fast in

this season how you want them to dig in

deeper with their word

whatever that thing is father what

they’re serving or giving whatever it is

father highlighted

because we’re ready to sacrifice in a

new way father

god i thank you that as we open our

hearts and bring ourselves into

alignment

that you are not a man that you shall

lie that you already have

our life on reserve beyond this moment

and so father help us to become the

person

who understands that the greatest gift

that we can give you

is our sacrifice of our life and of

our flesh father i ask that you would

bless this word

that it would be on repeat in the minds

of your sons and daughters

that every time they sacrificed it they

would remember that jesus went ahead of

them and that his glory was manifested

so they never have to worry about

whether or not

you see their sacrifice seal this word

father

steal it and let nothing come and uproot

it

no person no situation no experience

let it not come up against this word but

father let it take

root and may it build us father not just

make us feel good

may it build us up into the type of

people you had in mind when you first

created humanity in the first place

we want to be built in your image under

your shade

in your likeness so that we can take up

space for the kingdom of god

and may when they see us may they only

see the kingdom

in jesus name i pray amen

and amen again can you type amen can you

help me

seal this word you said you’d be my amen

corner can you say amen in the comments

listen we love you so so much and we

have such an

incredible week you know how we do we’re

going to be connecting with you get on

our social media get on youtube

we’re going to do this growth and

sacrifice together and so we want to

make sure that you have a community of

believers on this journey with you

make sure you’re plugged in we’re going

to be walking this thing out with you

we love you and we’ll see you this week

[Music]

hey family i’m brenda palmer and my name

is todd headley and we would like to

welcome you to

the breakdown family before we hop into

the conversation

you have to hop in the comments and tell

us where you want to live

in the shade in the shade todd how about

you

only live in the shade in the shade in

the shade put the shade in the comments

family absolutely guys we have two very

special guests with us today

yes we i would like to introduce to you

my girl ashley amy hey y’all she’s a

small group’s colleague and we are happy

to have her in the breakdown

and we got pastor ebenezer with us you

all know pastor ebb

he’s our pastor one of our campus

pastors we love pastor ann yeah he’s

going all family

we are so excited i don’t know where

should we begin guys actually ashley

how about you like we are used to

hearing shade as like a negative term

but

how transformative was learning that

shade is actually the covering of god

yeah that for me was like huge because

when you think about shay

obviously from like a cultural

standpoint it’s like it’s a bad thing

right but to hear it under the

context of like shade is the way that

like god covers

us and like no matter what we go through

like no matter how hot it is no matter

how challenging it is

god’s say is what helps us to withstand

the heat so it

blew my mind no it’s so good i think a

good point for me that stood out was how

we sometimes

run from covering because of past things

that we’ve experienced

and i know for me that was a huge thing

it’s like when we experience a hurt in a

certain place we don’t even want to

enter into that place again for instance

like church hurt

it’s like we experience church hurt

somewhere and then it’s like i’m really

timid or i’m

apprehensive about getting into that

situation again but it’s like we don’t

trust the people we trust the covering

of god

that wherever we go he covers us as we

go absolutely i think that was super

powerful

and pastor ebb i think it’s really

amazing to know that

god’s image is also synonymous with the

shade that he is our covering that he

covers over us could you talk about

maybe a little bit about how you’ve seen

moments where

you’ve stepped out of maybe the shade of

god’s image where you stepped out of

that image and how

you’ve actually been burned by it and

you’ve experienced that before

can you share a little bit about that i

mean i can stepped out of

for me in my walk i started outside of

wow

and so i’m very well aware of what it is

like to have an entire life of feeling

like you’re being

burned without the covering of god

because i can

i can very clearly see a huge portion of

my life where that covering was not

there

and the difference between now walking

under the covering of god and then no

like noticing the difference in degrees

because the more you abide in his shade

the more

accustomed to that shade you you are and

so it’s like your your

your your skin gets used to it your

thinking gets used to it your way of

living gets used to it

because how you live when there’s

intense heat is completely different

from how you’re living when you know you

are completely protected and covered by

an eternal presence

so that just resonated with me right

there absolutely i know i think that’s

extremely powerful

because if you really think about it

like that is the sacrifice because if

you realize the sacrifice is actually

something that is

exchanged in order to get you into that

shape it’s the exchange of sacrifice

that pastor sarah was talking about

that really brings us into that place of

being like god’s image which we know

now is that covering i wonder how many

of you guys in the comments are in our

that are watching right now who you can

relate to pastor ed maybe you’ve stepped

out of the will of god maybe you’ve

stepped out of alignment with that image

that he’s spoken over your life that

he’s declared over you and we just want

to take a second really for you just to

put in the comments that that i’m

willing to sacrifice

like just right now just put in the

comments i’m willing to sacrifice i’m

willing to sacrifice

and brenda i know that that really

resonated with you about the sacrifice

i’d love to

maybe hear a little bit about what what

points in that sacrifice

for you can can really resonate like no

i think that’s the sacrifice part really

got me because

she also broke down like what it means

to lay down in this

whole idea of like appointments right

and so i think for me

it’s just like understanding that i’m

like sacrifice generally means

laying down my thoughts my plans what i

like how i saw it how i pictured it and

taking on guys but understanding that if

if

if i wanted it to go this way i’m saying

okay i’ll lay it down for what god

planned and understanding that it’s to

multiply it

like it like because sometimes we have

to lay down the way we want things to go

it feels like a

loss yeah and so it’s like to know that

no when i’m laying it down and

sacrificing it for god that in the end

i’ll

have more than i ever would have had

i’ve gone about it my way

absolutely yeah like actually yeah and i

yeah

for sure and i think too like even with

the sacrifice of it all like the thing

is not only getting that multiplication

but understanding that god will require

greater sacrifice along the way

yeah so the first thing might be like

okay god i’m laying down this one thing

that seems really small and then god is

going to keep like asking us like look

we got to level up

and if we level it up then that’s just

you got to lay down more things along

the way

and so that’s just the walk with god but

the beauty is what’s on the other side

of what we have already laid down

that’s so real because and i’m glad you

brought that out because sometimes we

don’t have the expectation and we end up

in disappointment

because we like no god just i just laid

this down like you said you want

something else and he’s like yeah

yeah like to your points like to level

up so we go higher and higher but it

requires more like the higher we go

what’s really cool too is is how pastor

sarah was speaking about how

jesus’s ultimate life like his whole

goal of his life his appointment

was sacrifice and if we all on this walk

as believers know that we’re to be like

jesus

that means we have to expect the

sacrifice we have to actually

change our minds around to say sacrifice

isn’t this bad thing

it’s not like she said what is it a

struggle versus a sacrifice

it’s not a struggle when you realize

that it is actually for your benefit

and that what you go through the trials

that you might face or the fires that

you might get close to aren’t actually

gonna burn you when you’re under that

shade but it’s gonna refine you and make

you

more like that image or covered by that

shade

no that’s so good because also it makes

me think about how sacrifice

is synonymous with love if you think

about god

his ultimate sacrifice was to give us

jesus but that was also his greatest act

of love

and so it’s like it helps me to know

that if i have to sacrifice

it’s really my display of how much i

love god it means that i love him more

than the thing that i’m sacrificing

but it’s like the sacrifices love being

synonymous is mind-blowing because i

think it helps us get

it helps us do it easier just like

i’m just following in god’s footsteps

like he made a sacrifice for me i

i could how could i not and i think it’s

also

what i loved that that that first lady

broke down was the intention behind it

that is the because right now with the

way the world is

we’ve all been called to to give things

up yeah but

there’s a difference between having to

give something up because external

circumstances requires us to versus

something on the inside of us

the spirit on the inside of us saying

you need to lay that thing down

yeah and so especially with the backdrop

of a pandemic it’s like

now i can qualify right this is really a

sacrifice

because if this pandemic wasn’t here i’d

give it up anyway

that’s so good and so when she broke

down how struggle

was violent was involuntary but

sacrifice was voluntary i said

i need that yeah because we’ll mistake

the two and say the lord i sacrificed it

he’s like

you didn’t really sacrifice it the

situation made you give it up

and you want to tuck this in under the

sacrifice lane and get blessed by it and

we’ll try it

and and first lady broke that all the

way down was like no you need to have

your heart

you have to set that thing down from the

spirit on the inside of you

absolutely and guys we want to even take

a second to really tell you

like and not even tell you but ask you

and really prompt you to ask the lord

what is it that you need to to sacrifice

what is it that you need to lay down

you know the lord like i feel like he

spoke to all of us in this

in this room and in this moment when we

got to watch this and

there were things inside of us that

maybe he told us to lay down or maybe he

put on our hearts and and we’re

wondering

did he do that for you and and maybe

that didn’t happen in this moment but

take the time

after this to really get in the prayer

closet take time to

to sit with god and say what is it that

you want me to sacrifice i’m willing to

give you the sacrifice after i’ve heard

all this

i know that it’s for my good i know that

it’s for my benefit

no that’s so good ty and i know that

we’ve been in because of the pandemic a

lot of us have experienced seasons of

struggle

but actually what has a sacrifice looks

like for you during the season yeah

on a practical level like i was like

okay financially you don’t know how

things are going to be in this season so

i need to create a budget

but that sacrifice it felt like lack for

me essentially because i was like god

like i can’t use

like you’re telling me to put this aside

and this is money that i have

but once i looked at just like the

future of like i’m putting this money to

the side i’m sacrificing now so for what

i need later

but it was the thing of like i don’t

want to struggle i don’t want to live

paycheck to paycheck so let me put that

aside and sacrifice and so that’s been

just like a practical way

of me being like no like everything that

i’m doing is really for

not just for my good but for the glory

of god as well yeah

no that is so good family and i think

it’s a perfect place for us to end

maybe you’re identifying what your

sacrifice is or maybe you are in a

season of sacrifice

and i just want you to be encouraged to

know that your sacrifice will yield

fruit

just like pastor sarah mentioned where

you sacrifice god

mark the spot and you will see the fruit

of your sacrifice

absolutely and and the the spot being

marked she did say that

he’s got a tight book so god still has

his record yeah he’s still got record of

every sacrifice that you’ve ever made

the sacrifice with your budgeting

maybe it’s going to bring much more

fruit and it’s going to set you up for

something you might not know that but

that’s what god can do with the

sacrifice

and for you pastor whatever sacrifices

you may have had to made from

transitioning from a life that wasn’t

really in the shade

to now living in the shade and walking

in the shade

you can you can really attest to that

sacrifice and guys we want you to know

that there’s a tight book

every sacrifice that you’ve made god has

seen it and he has a record of it in his

book

yes and so family in the book right now

in the comments i need you to mark the

spot and say

i am committed to living in the shade in

the shade

and family make sure you stay connected

during this time you know follow us on

social media

subscribe to our youtube channel turn on

your post notifications

because you don’t want to miss a thing

and we would just like to thank our

co-host today come on ashley thank you

guys so much family we’ll be right back

here for activating midweek this week

holla peace

you