When Self Becomes God - Stephanie Okafor

The enemy wants self to be at the highest priority of your life. But Jesus says, if you want to follow me, this is priority. If you're going to turn your affection to me, then deny self.

Hallelujah. [music] Just in that posture, let us pray. As we had been worshiping, I knew that tonight [music] was going to be such a special night.

But I didn't know the gravity of what this night would represent. [music] And while we were worshiping in the realm of the spirit, this building has no ceiling. >> [music] >> It is almost as though what is taking place tonight is an altar being raised up in [music] Los Angeles for the kingdom of the Lord, [music] for the will of God to be established.

And I I don't even have the words fully for what the Lord is showing me, but I believe as we go through the night, the Lord will just manifest himself. Amen. >> And so, heavenly father, we thank you.

>> We thank you, Lord, because it's not about our plans or agenda. It's about you. And Lord, tonight you saw it fit that what is taking place in this moment is an altar being raised in this city.

An altar that will speak [music] in alignment with the will of the Lord. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that this moment is much more graded and beyond us. But I pray that you begin to give us language, Holy Spirit, to comprehend and understand what you're doing even from this night in Jesus name.

[music] Amen. Amen. Amen.

Can we celebrate Jesus? [applause] Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord.

Thank you Lord. You may be seated. I believe that there's something that the Lord has put on my heart to share and I'm not going to be I believe it it's going to be pretty brief because I believe the Lord wants us to spend really time in just worship and prayer.

First of all, can we just acknowledge Esther? Um if you were here and you in earlier on from Zoe International um and if you if you were not here in the beginning we'll have everything she shared available just on our social media channels and YouTube channel but Zoe International is doing some incredible work in the fight against child trafficking and Esther came up this earlier in in the service to really share about the work they are doing and you know we are committed to partnering with them. Uh because what we're learning is that not every anti-human trafficking organization is actually about the kids.

There are some organizations that would actually put victims back into the system. And so when you find an organization that is really doing the work, really expressing the love of Jesus, um we are committed. We're committed behind it.

This is what being a child of God looks like, right? And so even today, I encourage you that even when you do give, everything that is given today is going to be put towards Zoe International. Um, and I just love that so much because often times, you know, we get so caught up in our needs and what we want to do, but when the Holy Spirit made that so clear because we are also trying to represent, you know, everything we're doing takes sacrifice, right?

every single thing, you know, to host these gatherings is costly. But when you're doing something for the kingdom, it's not about you, it's about Jesus. And so, because of that, we are dedicating every offering, every giving today.

We're going to dedicate it fully to Zoe International. And so, let us celebrate them in the name of Jesus. Celebrate the work they're doing.

[applause] Today I'm going to be sharing just a few things the Lord put on my heart. And if I could title this message, it would be get over yourself. >> You know, even as we talk about child trafficking in our city, child trafficking that is happening globally, you know, trafficking of victims, sex trafficking is literally earlier Mariah was sharing it's a billion dollar industry, right?

But child trafficking can only thrive in a society that is governed by self. When self becomes the god of man. When the appetites and the desires of self becomes what governs people, then someone c can you imagine that a lot of the people that traffic these children, they have families.

They go back to their families. But when profit is put over people, human beings are not seen anymore. They're seen for profit.

And then when we see Los Angeles, you know, the the place of, you know, Hollywood glitz and glam and all these things, but not realizing that in your neighborhoods, children are being trafficked. And these things will not happen if self is not governing the people. I don't know how many of you have seen on social media the like this social experiment that people have been doing and they film it and people don't even realize they're being filmed and they would have you know obviously the the child is acting but the environment the people in the environment don't know that but they would play it out way a child is being abducted and people are just walking by they look and they keep walking There are times that even maybe a couple is walking and one wants to go help the child and the other one pulls them back.

That is where we are in society that we are so concerned about our plans, what is on our agenda, our safety that we stop caring for our brother and sister. You will see these experiments. They've done it with children.

And they've done it with young women who are like literally playing out that they're being kidnapped and people just go about their way. And then let's bring it down to us. How many times do we get Amber alerts and it's actually more annoying than something to pay attention to.

You get an Amber Alert when you're watching a movie and all you hear is the alarm and you just want to swipe it and keep doing what you're doing. How often do we pause to actually read what is taking place? Because an Amber Alert is alerting us there's an emergency that happened in your community that a child just got abducted and it's coming up on your phone.

Lord, how often do we actually pause to pray for that child to begin to intercede for that child that Lord plea like get let be the intelligence of the police department. Put the spirit of wisdom in that child to know how to escape. How often have we stopped for a moment to actually read what was going on?

Or do we just go about our day? You see, these things are subtle, but there's something so pivotal that the scripture says that we must dig into. In 2 Timothy 3 verse 1:5, the Apostle Paul is warning Timothy about society and what many people will become in the last days.

The last days that we are in, right? Because the last days refers to the period that is literally between the coming of Christ and the return of Christ. But as we get closer to the return of our Lord Jesus, these things would increase.

And look at what the scripture says. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, hardy, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away.

Now what is interesting in this scripture is that first of all it's telling us that you know what in these last days the times will be perilous. The apostle Paul is not saying that in the last days the danger is going to be war or famine or outbreaks of diseases. That's not going to be the danger.

The danger is going to be the condition of the hearts of people. You see, we have been, you know, there's a lot of speculation about another pandemic that might be on the way, that we may be facing another global pandemic. And before these speculations came about, there have been many prophetic words that came before it, that it's not really a pandemic, but it's a planemic.

that this was something planned by wicked and corrupt people for their own agenda and for their own gain. The apostle Paul is speaking about these times that your problem is not that the times are evil. The problem is that in the last days the people will become more wicked and it's because of their wickedness that the times will be will have greater capacity for evil.

You see what is so interesting is that the scripture, there's something the scripture teaches us about how like demonic spirits operate, right? It talks about when the spirit is casted out of a man, it goes into the dry places. It's wandering and then it finds no place for rest.

And then it says, you know what? I'm going to return back to my home. So, it's calling the individual its home.

But it's not just going back to its home. It says then it would go back with spirits more wicked than him. Look at that.

Let's actually go to Matthew 12:45. It returns with more wicked spirits than itself. So there are different levels of wickedness even in the demonic.

And then the apostle Paul is telling us that in these last days because even when we look at that word when when we're we're talking about the times would be per um perilous it's like times that are so difficult to bear times that spiritually it will be hard to endure. And it's because of what people became lovers of self. And so you're saying that the height of wickedness would be connected to people enthroning self that in order for these wicked, you know, a a level of wickedness on the earth, because for demons to even work with people, for demonic spirit, a wicked spirit to partner with people, there must be a level of agreement.

And the level of agreement the kingdom of darkness is looking for are people who would enthrone self. That is what opens the door for all manners of lawlessness and demonic activity in the land. A marker of the end times.

It's not just that the times would be wicked. The people would be wicked. And what causes the people to be wicked is that they have made self their god.

They have made self of more importance than others. And it's interesting because even right now we're living in a culture where we're so selfforward, right? We're so self-focused.

And it's not a bad thing to love yourself, but you have to know the order in which it comes. Because the scripture starts with love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And then love your neighbor as you love yourself.

But we have made loving self this this emphasis this and it's it's subtle. It's happening in a subtle way where there decisions that we're making out of the idea of protecting my peace. When the first of all Jesus says the peace that I give you.

So if you're really in Christ, it's not about your peace, it's his peace that he gives you. We see a trend that is growing about no contact amongst families because I'm just protecting my peace. There are all these things happening.

You know, setting boundaries is a beautiful thing, but when anything that affects your idea of, you know what, I just want to protect my peace and it's against the ways of the Lord Jesus. self is slowly becoming God. What we desire, how we feel, the reason that we would argue with the Lord when he gives us an instruction is self.

The reason we would delay obedience is self. The reason that we have this fake humility, right, when it's like the Lord gives you an instruction, the Lord tells you something about who you truly are in him and then you're fighting enough like, "Lord, no, that's not me." Self, we have to get over ourselves. It was so interesting.

I was in Greece and I was having a conversation about how because the the land is so embedded with the worship of idols. It's just embedded in it. You go to a store and then on the wall is Medusa.

And I literally asked him I said, "What is she doing there? Why is Medusa like five, you know, figures of her, images of her on the wall? And they were like, you know, this is our like mythology, Greek mythology and all these things.

And I'm like, it's not a myth. And she is a false deity. And we start talking about Jesus.

And then he switches his tone. He goes from, "Oh, this is just our Greek mythology." He says, "Well, they these were our gods before Jesus." I said, "Oh, no. But it's so embedded in everything.

And I for a moment I was just like, Lord, how how would they get rid get rid of these idols? The so is it someone that has to be in government? What does it look like for these idols to come down?

And the Lord answered me in such a humble way. As we were walking and just looking at different things, you know, different historical areas in Greece, I ran across a lady who had, you know, who recognized me due to like she listens to teaches and all of that. And you know, she came over and then we were praying for her.

And while we were praying for her, she worked on the grounds. And the Lord opens my eyes that this woman doesn't work here just because she needs a job. I positioned her here to be an intercessor to call these idols down.

That was one woman with a regular job. But how heaven sees her is mighty. >> We have to get over ourselves.

I'm over here thinking that this is going to require, you know, some political movement. And the Lord says there's a woman. It doesn't require as much as you think.

It requires a woman to rise up in her identity. She's already working there. She's one of the first people to get there.

She's walking the grounds. And the Lord began to reveal, I positioned her there. That as she walks the ground, she would begin to tear down the idolatry in the area.

You have to see yourself the way the Lord sees you because we are so filled with self. This is why we have a generation that doesn't even want to have children anymore because oh, it's it's in the way of my purpose and my plans. We have a generation that doesn't even care about marriage and families in anymore because of our selfishness.

We have a generation that talks about abortion like it's lunch, like it's choosing what to eat because of self. Look at this scripture. When the apostle Paul begins to speak to Timothy, he goes in a cadence that is by intention.

He says, "For men," verse two, "for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient of parents, unthankful, unholy." You see, Paul did not begin by saying men will be lovers of money or men will be proud or men will be disobedient to parents. He begins by what is the foundation that births everything else. That when people become lovers of themsel because what you love shapes who you become.

When people become lovers of themselves, what is birth is then greed. So it it's it he's showing you how it's springing forth. But that word is so interesting when you say lovers of themselves because as I looked into it, it talked about this idea, this narcissistic selfc centeredness, this idea of self affection.

It is not about a healthy stewardship of caring for yourself. But it is this narcissistic view where the center of your world is you. If it's not comfortable for you, if it's too much for you, if it's too jarring for you, if it's not something that just makes you feel at peace, because there is a there is a peace the world gives which is based on circumstances.

We find excuses out of it. If it's not something that directly in in in our perception affects us, the reason that a child would be kidnapped and people just keep walking by. The reason that there is children literally being trafficked in front of us in our neighborhoods, but we lost touch.

Why? Many of us don't even know our neighbors. So, we don't even know if the house next door to us is a house used to traffic children or there are people that actually live there.

We stopped caring as [clears throat] a community. We stopped wondering what is going on down the street that when something looks suspicious, did we pause to actually pay attention? Did we try to pull someone to the side to say, "Hey, are you okay?" How many times would we walk into an airport, someone is sitting by themselves on the floor and they look distraught, but we're so focused on catching our flight that we don't take a moment to stop and say, "Are you do are you okay?

Is everything going well with you self?" And we must repent of this. lovers of self. When self is enthroned, this is about when we become so obsessed with us.

When self-preservation begins to rise above truth, we start creating all kinds of philosophy and doctrine that goes against the ways of God just to preserve self. When we're living for personal gratification, when people become the tools of our desire, this is what births a movement of child trafficking because they see children not as children but as profit. And in many ways, you see what I began to learn, it's not just about traffickers that fail these children.

Society as a whole has failed them. We have to stand in the place of responsibility. You didn't choose a family you will be born into.

It's easier for some of us to wake up in the morning, make some coffee, go work out, run some errands, go to work, do all these things. But if you were born in the family they were born into, it would be a very different situation. Mariah was sharing with me how there are some of these women that literally are not even allowed to see sunlight.

They're trafficked. They're abused and they can't even see the sun. They're kept in this perpetual state of darkness.

What if you were born into that? Wouldn't you want someone else to cure? What if that the house next door to you, the basement was not just a storage for food, but it was where children when when you know we we prayed together as a team and I remember one day we were praying and the Lord opened my eyes and I began to see children in basement chained to the walls.

Just normal neighborhoods. neighborhoods you wouldn't even suspect was where children were being trafficked. And this is information that even through Zoe International, they can confirm it.

Then in regular everyday neighborhoods, these things are happening. What if we slowed down enough to look at others, to look around? What will the Holy Spirit give us the sensitivity to see, to make known?

We have to begin to see these children. Esther talked about it not as their children, not as you know what, that's what's happening in that side of the world, but as ourselves. And I believe that the reason why there is such a strong emphasis on the eyes of the Lord upon tonight is because the Lord is calling us to return not just as a people but as the body of Christ to return back to the place of being our brother and sister's keeper.

to return back to the place. You see, sometimes we walk into an atmosphere like this and all we want to hear is how God is going to do it for us self. And it's a it's not a bad thing that you need a blessing, you need a touch from God, you need a breakthrough.

It's not a bad thing. But when you enthrone that over the purposes of God, then it becomes your chain because all you can hear is you and you can't see another. When you look at the model of Christ there, there there's a graphic I want them to show.

You see this direct contrast between what the apostle Paul is saying about the last days that men will be lovers of self. But then Jesus, what does he say in Mark 8:34? He says, "Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself." But the agenda of Satan is love yourself.

The agenda of the kingdom of heaven is deny yourself. Deny yourself is not to say that you don't care about yourself. Understand this.

But this is about the priority you put self in. The enemy wants self to be at the highest priority of your life. But Jesus says if you want to follow me, this is priority.

If you're going to turn your affection to me, then deny self because your love would come towards me first. And it's the safest place for your love to go. You see, one of the things I started learning from the Holy Spirit is this idea we have around be yourself is one of the greatest scams that happen to humanity.

Because in order to understand a thing when a thing begins to malfun malfunction is to understand its original design. You were created to be an image bearer. That is your design.

There is no such thing as yourself. Who you were created and designed to be. The Lord said, "Let us make man in our own image according to our likeness." The purpose of your existence is to reflect him.

When the fall of man happened, you were still an image bearer, but now you are reflecting the image and the nature of Satan. That is why when Cain killed his brother, there was no external forces. It's not as though there was murder in the world.

This was the first murder on earth between humanity. It was not that there were external factors, you know, there were other people that were acting crazy. What influenced him?

The nature he had taken on. That is why later on when Jesus would walk the earth, he would say to people, you are of your father, the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning. So when Cain killed his brother, there was an image he was reflecting, the image of the enemy.

We are called to reflect something. And often times what we think is so unique about us is what we've been programmed to believe. It's a crazy thing when you realize that your choices are not really your choices.

It's a crazy thing when you realize that your choices are based on how you were discipled. That we are all students of something. You come into this world like a sponge and the media begins to educate you on who you should be.

Environment, culture begins to educate you on the kind of person you should become. This is why even in the place of media, kingdom people are needed, not just Christians. Because you can make a Christian movie and it's still compromised if you don't understand kingdom.

If you don't understand that this is about the culture of a kingdom being reflected, it's not just about saying we did a movie, we said Jesus, God be praised. But when you look at the totality of the film, it is still teaching the ways of darkness. There is something that shaped your life.

And that is why Jesus, even when you're saved, what does the Bible say? be re be transformed by the renewal of your mind because you have been a student to something for so long that even though you have come into the family of God your mind is has been a student of the world and if you're going to have the mind that was in Christ you have to be transformed by renewing your mind meditating on the word of God. You see, when I started to look at the statistics of how much time people actually spend in the word of God, it was alarming as opposed to how much time we spend consuming media.

It talked about how the average person spends 12 hours a day consuming media, social media, just screen time in general, 12 hours a day. And the average Christian who reads their Bible, that's the disclaimer, who reads their Bible, spends 20 minutes a day. How do you compare 20 20 minutes with 12 hours?

So even if you're faithful every day with your 20 minutes, you're still a disciple of the world. Often times we wonder why is it that many churches is looking more like the world, sounding more like the world because it is the world that is discipling them, not the Lord. So Jesus would say, "Make disciples of me." Because he realizes you're already a disciple of something.

And the worst kind of student is one that doesn't know they're a student when you don't know you're already a disciple. It's dangerous because you don't realize that something is shaping and forming your decisions. Something is shaping and forming your habits.

Because if it doesn't reflect Jesus, it's not your personality. It's the way the enemy wants to inform you to live. There are many things we'll just say, you know what, that's I'm just this kind of person.

I'm just that. Does it reflect Jesus? If what you call your personality or your way of life cannot be captured in what Jesus modeled for us when he walked the earth, it's not your personality.

It's what you've been programmed to believe. It's what you've been indoctrinated in. Is what you've been discipled.

How you've been discipled to see life. This is why studying the word of God is not just about religious activity. It's not just to act like a good student before the Lord to say, "Lord, I read my Bible." It is how we become disciples of him.

It is where true transformation takes place because outside of that something else is governing and dis discipling our lives. Lovers of self. So look at this progression in in from verse two to three.

It says how men will be lovers of self and then it progresses into lovers of money because again whenever self is enthroned greed would follow then it progresses into boasters right when there's just empty self-promotion right it's a boaster is trying to seek glory outside of the hand of God so they're trying to tell you what I did you know I just did this I did that is empty. But the whole idea is self- glorification. Then it progresses into pride, right?

They become proud. And so boasting is what they're doing outwardly. Pride is the condition of their heart inwardly.

So now they begin to see themselves as bigger than life. They begin to see themselves of more importance than the other. When when we look at a homeless person and immediately we judge Oh, I'm not going to give them money.

They're going to use it for drugs. How do you know? Did you have a conversation with them?

How do you know? It's different if someone just looks, you know, just gone. But often times, even the person that looks sane, we will judge them.

And in a subtle way it is pride because you've you're so inflated with this idea of being better than others. You don't call it that because pride hides itself. I remember when the Lord, you know, it was an invitation to be stripped off of everything because I willingly obeyed the, you know, the the wilderness process.

And the Lord put me through a time in my life that I was literally stripped off of resources. And the first time I got into the bus and I was just like, Lord, what am I doing here? Why am I in this bus?

And I didn't know I had pride. I thought I was so humble. And the Lord used that stripping season to expose the pride in my heart.

Because then he says, if you don't think you should be in the bus, then how do you see the people in the bus? If there are things that happen to you like, Lord, why am I here? Then how do you view the people who are there?

What is your perspective of them? You see, pride hides itself. I would never walk around to say, you know what, people who ride the bus, I see them less than.

Cuz I would never think that. But your actions, they said, the heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it?

There are things in your heart, you will not even know it's in your heart until a circumstance reveals and exposes it. So the Lord put me through a season to kill the pride in my heart that if you ever think you're better than another, I can't use you because you will be more inclined to a type of people than others rather than being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And all of this centers on self.

Then it goes into how they will be blasphemers. This is when people lose reverence for God to the point that they begin to say, "God said things that he never did because it's about self-preservation over accountability and you have no reverence for God that it's not even about the truth of the word. People begin to put things on the Lord that you know is even in contradiction to his word just to preserve self.

It's subtle. Whenever we get angry about something not going our way and we don't want to come out of the idea that maybe I was wrong. No, we stand 10 toes down.

But God said, "Have you ever paused to say, what if I discerned it wrong?" That's humility. To say that, you know what? Maybe I was wrong about the way I saw that relationship.

Maybe I was wrong about the way I viewed that person. Maybe I was wrong in my discernment in how I treated this situation. No, we want to put it on God to preserve self.

And it's so easy for us to put it on God because in truth, we've lost reverence. And so, it's so easy to say, "God said, do you know the weight of God said, and then you're going to put something on God that is outside of his character." When people will say things like, "Oh, God told me this person is jealous of me." I said, "How would God what what is the profit that God has?" What does it profit the Lord to tell you that someone is jealous of you when the fruit of what it's producing in you is not of him? Because the fruit of what you just said that came from God is actually causing division amongst people.

The fruit of this is causing dissension. It's causing gossip. So what in this glorified the Lord?

But it's so easy for us to attach his name to anything because in truth we've lost reverence. And in truth, we're functioning from pride without knowing it. Why I'm saying this is that this is a progression that the Apostle Paul is revealing because before he goes into people that are blasphemers, he says they're proud and a pride, a prideful heart begins to lie with the name of the Lord and not even know.

And then from there it talks about disobedient to parents. In scripture, you see that it is very foundational that when children and their parents have a healthy relationship, it directly reflects the health of society. And so disobedience to parents, so now there's no regard for their elders.

There's no regard for people in authority. This leads to lawlessness. And then it goes on unthankful, unholy.

Why I'm sharing this is that this is a progression. And what is at the foundation? Lovers of self.

That men will be lovers of themselves. And this is something we must break in little ways. Because you see, the enemy does not work with sharp turns, but it's subtle.

You wouldn't realize when you've made a departure. It's subtle. And I believe there are ways that the Holy Spirit will begin to bring to our memory, will begin to bring to our understanding of where we are so full of self.

And the Lord is literally saying, "Get over yourself." You see, this is so key because even in the scripture, we see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. And Sodom and Gomorrah is a perfect picture of when self becomes, you know, the God of the people. One thing I've learned throughout the Bible is that there's certain events that are actually codes.

They're revealing something in Christ. There's a there's a story they're revealing about, you know, how the Lord responds to certain things. How how you know like for example when you think about the Israelites coming out of Egypt that was a picture of salvation the Exodus because right before the Exodus the last plague that took place was about the firstborn sons being killed and the instruction to the Israelites was to put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost.

The blood of the lamb was representing the blood of Jesus. It was a shadow of the blood of Jesus that would bring deliverance that will cause us to come out of bondage to the place where we can have fellowship with the Lord. And so that was the final thing that actually allowed their release.

And so their children were preserved. When the children of the Egyptians died, finally the Pharaoh is like, "Please get out of here." And then the wilderness again is a picture of soul transformation because in the wilderness that's the place where the Lord was trying to get Egypt out of them. This is the place for the renewal of the mind.

It's a picture. And the sad part is that not everyone is willing to do the work to renew their mind. Some people have become so comfortable with bondage that they called it home that even though they said yes to Jesus, they want to stay in their old ways.

They want to stay in their old lifestyle and they cover it up with, "No, the Lord knows my heart." And we see how that played out to those Israelites when they would murmur and complain about, "Oh, but there was food in Egypt. There was this in Egypt." And they forget there was also bondage in Egypt. Not everyone who made it in the wilderness actually made it to the promised land.

Many people died in the wilderness because they resisted transformation. And so we see the Israelites coming out of Egypt as a picture of salvation. But Sodom and Gomorrah is a picture of self when self becomes God.

And let's look into it. Look at Genesis 18. We're going to read a few verses.

Genesis 18:20-21. It says, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done allto together according to the outcry against it as against it that has come to me." When you talk about outcry, you're talking about a cry of injustice, a cry of oppression. So the people, the outcry, look, look at the scripture.

The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah, what was happening in that nation was literally afflicting. There were people who were oppressed by the lawlessness that they were crying out to God that can you save us from what is happening? You see, often times when we think of Sodom and Gomorra, we we always just think of homosexuality, right?

Homosexuality is a private sin. How they were living their lives in their bedrooms, this was not about private sin. This was about what was happening to a corporate people.

And so the people are crying. They're not crying out because of what Johnson is doing in his house. That was part of the issue.

But that is not why they're crying out. They're crying out because there was such lawlessness in the land that the people were being afflicted and tormented by this lack of restraint that whatever anyone desired, whatever anyone just whatever was their pleasure, they had their way with life. And people were victims.

people suffered at the hand of what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. And so there was an outcry that Lord will you save us from this people. Look at how far gone they were.

So this is Genesis 18. Now study Genesis 19 in your own time. Many of you may have studied it but read it again slowly because there are many things that we see in Genesis 19.

Now, first of all, the you know, prior to this, the the Lord has come to Abraham that he's going to go destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. But the Lord knows that Abraham's nephew is in that region. And so Abraham is trying to intercede for his nephew Lot and his family.

But even in the intercession, it's not really working because Lot is not really a man after God's heart. We're going to see that Lot is not really a righteous man, but you could see the love of God. And because of the covenant that God has with Abraham, you know what?

The angels are sent to Sodom and Gomorrah and they were going to Lot's house so that Lot and his family can get out because the Lord has already made up his mind that whatever the outcry was against the city is true and that the city was going to be burned down. It was going to be totally destroyed. So the angels of the Lord come over to the house of Lot.

Now understand this. Lot is not a spiritual man. Lot is a very carnal man.

So when he sees the angels and discern them, it it is more there's more accuracy to believe that the angels had a presence because one of the things about the ministry of angels is that they can take on human form. Right? That's why the Bible says that there are times that you have actually had interactions with angels and you did not know it.

The reason you did not know it is because they took on a human form. They have the ability to shape shift. But in this scenario, I don't think they took on human form.

I believe they had a form that made it known that these were not just natural beings because Lot is not a spiritual man. Lot is not a man that was spiritually sensitive to the things of God. So, and I'm I'm I'm going somewhere with this because when Lot sees the angels, he invites them.

He's like, "Oh, my Lord, please come into my home. I'm going to cook for you. I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do that." The angels are like, "Hey, no, that's not what we came here for." He still, you know, he invites them to their home. They follow him to their home. And then the Bible says that the men of the city, old and young, gathered themselves to Lot house to rape the angels.

They said, "Those men that came with you, we want them. We want to know them carnally." Now, you would think that Lot, if he was a spiritual man, a righteous man, he would just respond like, "Hey, let's not do this." And if he was spiritually discerning, he would ask the Lord to help or he would know that these angels are mighty people. They can stop this whole show.

You know what Lot did? He said, "Hey, I have two daughters. They are virgins.

do with them whatever you will. Believe this man, Lot literally was trying to traffic his daughters to men, a great amount of men that came at that door, young and old. This was a carnalminded person.

But see how depraved the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were in Genesis 19. While Lot is having this whole fake showdown, the angels are looking at him and you know what? They just drag him inside and they caused all the men to be blind.

But this is the part that is actually I it would it's it pauses you. The angel causes the men to be blind, but the Bible says they were still looking for the door. They were so taken by their appetites that even in the face of judgment, they still wanted to please self.

How is it that a group of people are struck with blindness all at the same time? Nobody pauses to repent. No one pauses to say, "Please have mercy on us.

We were wrong. In their blindness, they were still looking for the door to sleep with those men. They had given themselves over to the pleasures of the flesh.

Self became their god. And it's so interesting because even when the angel instructs them, hey, gather all your family and leave this place. And he says, "Do not turn back." Because what is there to turn back to?

That level of lawlessness that you are even willing to give your daughters to be raped because that's what it is. And so they're leaving. and the woman who birthed those children.

You have to see the picture when you're reading the Bible. You know, understand that this is a historical book. It's not like a story time.

What is alarming to me is that Lot's wife, the children you carried, the children you you you gave birth to that could have been trafficked to these men, that is the society and that is the nation you turn to. So when she turns back, what is she turning back to? What are you longing for in that kind of environment?

If it was not just because the environment was a place where you do as you wish, live as you may, self is God. And what happens to her? She turns into a pillar of salt.

She becomes a memorial of what we are called to be. The Bible says that you are the salt of the earth. But if self is enthroned, you lose your flavor.

It becomes useless and ineffective. She turns into the thing that if she represented what it meant to be the salt of the earth, that family could have transformed that city. Instead, they became like the people >> slowly but surely.

It it wasn't a it wasn't a sharp thing because if you ever study about Lot and his family, they didn't actually start by living in Sodom and Gomorrah. They started by pitching their tent near the gate and then all of a sudden they're full-blown living in that environment. It's subtle.

And wherever it shows up in your life, in our lives, we must kill it. And sometimes it shows up in the in the things we say we will never do. It shows up when people start putting their pets above children.

It's subtle. There are words that people in this room has said with their own mouth and cursed their wombs. because you looked at it as a burden.

In a time of prayer, we have to take those things back because it starts as a subtle departure. Then look at Jude 17 one um verse one chapter 7 I mean chapter 1 verse7 it says having given themselves this is talking about Sodom having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh and set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. When it says having given themselves again, this means that it's an abandonment to desire, they abandon themselves to the desire of their flesh.

They gave themselves over to it. Even when the scripture talks about strange flesh, you know, a lot of theologians believe it was the appetite for angels because they have reached the height of all types of sexual immorality. Now they have the appetite for something else.

They they want to try something else. So when the angels show up, they think in their minds they could corner them. Then look at ex in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 16. And this is really where I want us to hone in. Ezekiel 16:49 to 50.

It says, "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

And they were hottaughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away as I saw fit. Do you see that the Lord did not just destroy Sodom just because of sexual immorality?

Look at what is also included. They abandoned the poor and the needy. The Lord cares about how we treat people and how we care for the vulnerable in the society.

But let's even take a deep dive into it. Pride, right? I don't need God.

I live for myself. But pride would not, you would not ever say that with your mouth. But it's how you live.

You live for yourself. They had pride. They had fullness of food.

They consumed with pleasure. They had no restraint. There was no restraint.

Anything they desired, they did it. Self, the abundance of idleness. They were complacent.

They were unbothered. They didn't care about the evil in the land as long as they were comfortable. They didn't care about what was going on in their neighborhoods as long as they were comfortable.

They didn't care about the people that were being violated as long as they were comfortable. Sodom was a place where there was an outcry to the Lord. People were crying out to the Lord against them.

But people did not care. As long as they could go to work, pay their bills, love on their spouses, love on their friends, take trips, they didn't care about the neighborhoods. We have to return back to being our brother and sister's keeper.

We have to return back to surrender, full surrender to what the Lord desires of us and not living as though we don't have a master, we don't have a king. Look at this. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

The vulnerable were left exposed. The vulnerable were left to be victimized and abused. This is what attracted judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

The combination of all these things and what produced it, a foundation of being lovers of self. You see, the Lord is not just looking at the things we do, but he's also looking at the things we don't do, the things we ignore. And my challenge to you is this.

In little ways, it's not about like this big sharp, you know, drastic change you have to make, but in little ways, commit to being selfless in little ways. If there are organizations that are trusted like Zoe International or or other organizations that you study, you research, you know about, partner with them financially in the times that you can give of yourself. Volunteer with them.

Find out how can you go into, you know, just different things. How can you meet people where they are? Be intentional that when you see a homeless person on the street, even if it's once a week of intentionality to just pause, stop and say, "Hey, how are you doing?

Do you know Jesus? Take some time." When I was heading back into the States, we were on the flight literally we're deep, you know, deplaning. I think that's the word.

And you know, we have our kids bags. It's a whole like, you know, military operation. You know, who gets this back?

Who's getting that back? Who's getting this kid? [laughter] And so in that moment, you're literally just focused on you on like, okay, what we have to do because we need to get off this plane.

And I remember and I turned and I see a lady and the Holy Spirit says, "Share Jesus with her." She was a stewardist on the flight. And while I'm turning to her and the Lord is talking to me about her, I start over hearing my husband talking to another stewardist about Jesus. And so I paused everything, put my bags on the seat, and I walked over to her and I said, "Do you know Jesus?" And it shocked me her response.

She said, "No." I said, "Have you ever heard about him?" She said, "No." [music] I never knew I could meet someone who would say they have never heard about Jesus. [music] And I said, "Can I share him with you?" And I began to [music] share the gospel with her. And you her eyes literally was filled with tears.

And I said, "He wants to [music] know you." And I and the Lord just started opening up things to me about her that she's someone who doesn't believe in anything. [music] So she didn't have to share with me. I was able to just echo it back.

I said, "I know you don't believe in anything, but there is a God." And as I began to share with her, you know, she looked at me and she says, "Thank you for sharing. Thank you for sharing, Jesus." And on the other side, my husband is talking to another stewardist. And I loved what he said when he says to my husband, he says, "I've I know him." And he says, "How long have you known him?" I I love the response because sometimes when we talk about Christianity, we think it's just about a religion, but it's a person.

[music] And it's not just that I'm a Christian. He said, I know him. How long have you known him?

It's not that I was born into it. There was [music] a day that I shifted my life to know him. Oh, I feel the presence of God.

It's not just what I do. [music] It's not just my routine. It's not just that I read the Bible.

It's not just that I worship because that's what we do. You see, there are many religions that have practices. They sing, they meditate, but it's empty because it's just a routine.

And unfortunately for many Christians is empty because we learned it rather than we we rather than birthing it. [music] It was learned behavior rather than something born out of intimacy. [music] We saw people clapping.

It's just like when we look at kids and it's a beautiful thing because yes, [music] train a child in the way they should go. When we spend time in the home and we're worshiping and we're praying, my daughter will lift up her hands and she would worship. And if you tell [music] her, "Pray for me," she will lay her hand on you and she will speak in her own version of tongues.

[music] And I and I love it and I admire it. But I still pray for her that this would not just be learned behavior, but that one day when she's asked, "How long have you known him?" >> [music] >> It wouldn't just be that I was born into a Christian home that she would share the day that she made a decision to follow him. You see, when you start thinking about it from the place of how long have you known him, then you don't just fast because it's [music] routine.

You fast because you want to draw closer to him. You don't just fast because you [music] want a breakthrough. You fast because you want to hear his voice.

You're not just praying because that's what people told you to do. You're praying because you want to be in his presence. You don't just worship because that's just what we do.

It makes you feel better. You worship because you want to feel closer to him. It's about him.

You don't just study the word because you have a Bible plan. Read the Bible in a year. Atheists read the Bible.

Satan knows the Bible much better than many Christians. [music] You read it to encounter him, to see him. And when it's about him, it changes how you live.

[music] It changes your decisions. It changes what shapes and molds your life. Because now as you behold him, you become.

It goes back to the original design [music] that we were called to be imagebearers. I sense in this room that there are people who never even wanted children. And I don't know, there's a particular lady and I see you, but actually the Lord has actually been calling you to adopt and you're actually going to still have children, but you've been rejecting it and you've been having dreams of your home filled with kids.

Get over yourself. Get over yourself. Acknowledge the fact that there was a pain, there was a wound in the soul that informed your decisions.

It's not because that's just you and it's your personality. [music] It's a wound speaking. It's something unressed that has taken it has has has morphed itself into your identity, but it's not you.

The real you reflects Christ. [music] Stand with me in prayer. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. [music] After this service, I want you to take time with the Lord [music] and ask the Holy Spirit, "In what ways can I get over myself? [music] In what ways can I serve others?" Some of those others are in your family.

They're close to you. Get over yourself. [music] Let the light of Jesus be revealed through you.

The crazy thing is that what we are running from is actually what will heal us. Is what will bring us to [music] the place of stepping into our true identity. Don't [music] settle for routine, just the basic routine.

[music] Desire to reflect him. It doesn't mean that we're going to we're no, no one has this thing by the book. It's not about that, oh, we're trying to get to this place of perfection.

[music] No, we we want to behold him because as we do, change begins to happen. Transformation takes place. [music] It's not about being married to the old wine skin, [music] your old way of doing life.

Understand that you before Jesus, [music] evil and corruption discipled you. It was not your personality. It was not your identity.

There was something that was actively shaping and informing your life. So Jesus says, "Be [music] transformed by the renewing of your mind." Because he's already revealing something about how you think is already corrupted. [music] And just because you said yes to me doesn't change it overnight.

You came into my kingdom with a corrupted way of thinking. And what will sustain you to walk with me is if you're willing to give yourself to my word [music] so that it will transform you. Can we just [music] take a moment in prayer?

You may pray in the spirit or pray in your understanding [music] because literally [music] like I said earlier in the realm of the spirit there is no ceiling over this place. There is something that the Lord wants to establish [music] in your hearts tonight. There is something Lord wants to shift in you [music] tonight.

There is that which the Lord is raising up in this city as a result of what has taken [music] place that as hearts begin to turn from the place of selfc centeredness [music] as we humble ourselves to say Lord [music] you know what that's me in some ways will you help me begin [music] to pray that the Holy Spirit should cast down every idol of self in our lives. [music] The [music] excuses you have made that really just speaks of self. [music] Begin to pray.

Heavenly [music] Father, we come before you as a collective voice. We come [music] before you. We stand even as representatives in this city [music] that Lord where self has become the idol Lord will you tear it down [music] whatever it looks like in our individual lives Lord Jesus will you tear it down [music] where there is this narcissistic selfcenteredness oh God [music] that has filled our lives lives.

We see it in other people before we see it in ourselves. But Lord, right now, we focus on us. [music] And we use ourselves as a point of contact to this [music] city.

Then Lord, would you tear down the image of self [music] where self has been enthroned above God? where self [music] has been enthroned above Jesus. Lord, we repent of it and we ask you to help us.

[music] Spirit of the living God, will you begin to render our hearts before you? [music] Uproot the lies in our minds, oh God. uproot the strongholds in our minds [music] that made us believe that we are certain way.

But if it doesn't reflect you, [music] then it's not who we are. Will you help us? [music] Lord, I see women in this room, even as we talk about children that have been trafficked in this very city and abused.

[music] And I see a particular gentleman and it felt triggering for them [music] because of what they have experienced. Lord, will you touch them [music] now? Would your love touch them?

[music] Will your healing power clothe them? >> [music] >> that they would not give the enemy another day of their [music] lives because the weapon was formed against their identity. The weapon was formed to keep the true version of them in a cage.

[music] But Lord, I pray that even in this moment [music] that your hand of deliverance will come upon them because you came to set the captives free and you came to heal the brokenhearted. >> Lord, would you begin to touch the brokenhearted in this room? where the places that should have been the places of safety [music] became the places of pain.

[music] Because these wounds that were left unattended formed an identity where self became God. So Lord, we go to the root issue now. Lord, would you do spiritual surgery and target it from the root?

Where identities have been imprisoned, we loose them in the name of Jesus. Lord, by your hand, would you restore? >> Would you release them from this cage, oh God?

Would you release them from every captivity that the enemy has placed them in >> where they are performing through life but they are not free. Oh we thank you Jesus. We thank you Jesus.