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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000175S
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00:05 #S092 - “ Don't Wait Till The Last Minute” (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to The Breath of 00:21 Life television miniseries broadcast with Pastor Snell. 00:25 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue 00:28 the powerful message. 00:29 “Don't Wait Till The Last Minute”. 00:32 Now let's go deeper into the word of God. 00:35 First, John, chapter two and verse 19. 00:37 But one of the things I've learned from the man 00:39 is that if somebody walks away from God, it's because they were 00:42 never really he is in the first place. 00:45 Now I know you're going 00:46 to be in your feelings, but look at the word says. 00:47 The Bible says, actually, let's look at verse 18. 00:51 Little children, it is the white last hour. 00:54 And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming 00:56 and even now Antichrist have come by, which we know 00:59 it is the last hour. 01:01 Some of us are waiting for the Antichrist to come. 01:04 But I need you to know the spirit 01:05 of Antichrist has already been at work in the world. 01:09 Are you out here in the world today? 01:11 And he says that they went out from where? 01:15 From us. 01:16 But they were not. What of us? 01:20 For if they had been of us, they would have continued 01:24 with us. 01:26 But they went out that they might be manifest, are revealed. 01:30 That none of them were of us. 01:32 You missed that today. 01:34 In other words, if somebody departs from the faith, 01:39 it is simply an announcement that they were never truly 01:42 routed in the first place. 01:45 I don't hear what I'm saying today. 01:47 In other words, you'll see some folk turn away 01:50 and sometimes it makes you nervous 01:51 that it could somehow be you. 01:53 But the word says, 01:54 if they went out from us, it's because they were never really 01:57 with us. 01:58 Because if they were with us, then they would have remained 02:03 out here in the World Today Church. 02:05 And so let me just say this this way. 02:07 I remember not long ago, 02:08 a young guy came into my office and he was all distraught 02:11 because his girlfriend left him for somebody else. 02:13 And he was ready to go out and fight this other dude 02:16 because he was mad, because this guy 02:17 took the other girl and I had to let him stay. 02:19 Hold up for you. Get killed up here. 02:22 I had let him know if he was able 02:24 to take her from you. 02:27 That just means she wasn't yours in the first place. 02:31 Because if she was yours, can nobody take her away from you? 02:37 Y'all not hear me? 02:38 In other words, my girl is right over here. 02:40 She is mine. 02:41 I am hers. 02:43 But because she's mine. 02:45 Hey, no other do take her from me. 02:48 The only way he can take her is if I neglect her. 02:52 So if he's trying at the same time I'm trying. 02:56 He ain't got no chance cause she got my seal on her. 02:58 Y'all not here in the past. Here today. 03:01 And what I'm saying is that when you've been sealed by God, 03:05 there is nobody that can take you out of his hand and say, 03:08 I just want to assure somebody that as we face the last days, 03:13 that if you've been settled, if you've been sealed, 03:17 if you've been submitted, then guess what? 03:18 You are to be secure. 03:20 That it is his responsibility to provide and protect 03:26 and get you settled on the other side. 03:29 I need somebody to stop watching the BS. 03:32 Stop focusing on the Prophet. 03:33 Stop looking at the dragon and keep your eyes on the lamb 03:39 that's going see us through to the other side. 03:42 See, the problem with some of us is 03:43 we see the last days like an episode out of Survivor. 03:48 We think it's about our wilderness skills. 03:51 We think it's about our fire making. 03:53 We think it's about our tent erecting. 03:56 But the last days is not about how you keep yourself. 04:01 It's about how God keeps you and protects you and provides 04:06 for you and fights for you and shows up for you. 04:10 And he's coming again 04:15 to receive you unto himself. 04:18 Y'all hear me today, church? 04:21 So the Bible say it's friends of mine that Jesus 04:23 stands up and rebukes the wind and the sea. 04:27 And the Bible says there was great calm 04:29 and notice reads that after he comes to sea, 04:33 he does not speak calmly to the disciples, 04:35 but he rebukes them for having no faith. 04:38 He is angry at the manner in which they call. 04:41 But the second thing 04:42 I've come to believe is that Jesus is not mad that they call. 04:47 He's mad that they wait till the last minute to call. 04:52 Okay. 04:54 In other words, church. 04:55 He's not mad that they call. 04:58 He's trying to teach us. 05:00 Just don't always wait 05:04 till the last minute. 05:07 Now, friends, 05:10 you've got to see this thing in your mind's eye. 05:13 The Bible says 05:14 that they take him as he works 05:17 and they situate him in the boat. 05:20 And what it speaks to friends 05:21 is the assertiveness of the disciples in this moment. 05:26 Essentially, friends, what they do is they situate 05:30 Jesus in the stern of the boat 05:33 and they put themselves in the captain's seat 05:37 and say, you got to see this thing 05:38 because their pride is beginning to swell, because they stand 05:43 next to Jesus as his popularity begins to crest. 05:48 They are second and third in command, and they're at a place 05:53 where the ego is getting a little bit out of control. 05:56 And one of the things that you will notice, even 05:58 by their own admission after the miracle 06:02 that they didn't really know who Jesus was. 06:07 In other words, they act in all dumbfounded and surprised. 06:10 What manner of man is this 06:14 that even the winds and the waves obey him? 06:18 In fact, the servant of the Lord says up 06:20 to a point that they don't treat Jesus like a Lord. 06:24 They treat him like a peer. 06:28 In other words, you realize that Jesus was not some older 06:31 sage gentleman that required respect. 06:35 He was actually about the same age as the disciples, 06:39 as he was there in his early thirties. 06:41 And understand 06:42 that Jesus did not come from the great part of town. 06:47 But He came from the ghetto of Nazareth 06:50 when nothing good came out of Nazareth. 06:53 And understand that Isaiah 53 says that there was no form 06:58 nor completeness, no beauty, that we should desire him. 07:01 So there is no earthly display 07:04 that would point to who the Messiah actually was. 07:08 So that if Jesus walked in here in human form, 07:11 He would not stand out. 07:13 We would not be impressed. 07:14 He would look just like another dude from the hood. 07:19 And so you 07:21 got to see this thing as they get themselves in the boat. 07:24 They don't ask Jesus, which way should we go? 07:27 They don't ask Him, which way should we take? 07:31 Because in their minds, Jesus is just a carpenter. 07:36 But most of us are fishers by trade, 07:40 so he knows what to do on the land. 07:43 But he can't tell us what to do out here. 07:47 He's the master of the terra firma. 07:50 But out here on the sea, this is our habitat. 07:54 And because they've got some nautical expertize, 07:58 they plant Jesus in the stern 08:01 and they sit in the captain seat 08:04 and understand church that this squall 08:07 that comes upon them, it winds up as a tent. 08:12 But like all storms, it doesn't start out as a tent. 08:15 There is a build to it. 08:19 And understand this, 08:20 that when the elements first start to shift, 08:25 they don't see no need to wake up Jesus 08:28 because they've been through weather like this before. 08:31 As the storm moves to a level to 08:35 guess what they are able to navigate it 08:38 with their nautical expertize and their expertize 08:43 actually informs their arrogance because they're able to 08:46 handle it when it's at level two 08:49 and even when it is a level four, they still don't wake up 08:53 Jesus because they know how to manage this situation 08:58 better than the Master or Jesus does. 09:01 And even when it's a level six, 09:04 because they have made their way through some storms 09:08 without Jesus, I can see Peter and Andrew 09:11 saying, Remember in 1988 when we had to control the stern 09:16 and you emptied water from the back, 09:18 how we got through it 09:19 of our own accord and their own sense of their experience 09:24 keeps them from waking up. Jesus. 09:26 And even when it's a level eight, 09:28 they try to maneuver it and try to handle it. 09:32 But the problem is that by the time it reaches a level ten, 09:37 things have already spiraled way out of control. 09:41 And understand what makes this storm great 09:43 is not just 09:44 the strength of the storm, it's the endurance of the storm. 09:49 You see, if this storm had 09:51 just come and passed over, they could have managed it. 09:55 But this storm does not pass. 09:58 It is as if it actually settles 10:01 exactly where the boat is moving. 10:04 And understand that even though 10:06 they have survived some things before, 10:09 they are in a storm now, that their experience 10:12 cannot solve, that their skills cannot handle, 10:17 that their qualifications are not able to sustain their man. 10:21 And can I suggest freeze that every now and then 10:25 we will come to a storm that our self sufficiency 10:29 proves void to be able to handle 10:32 because, like the disciples, 10:34 we struggle with our own sense of self sufficiency. 10:39 But am I preaching to anybody that's lived long enough 10:42 to know that there's going to come a storm? 10:44 That experience has not seen that your reason cannot solve, 10:51 that your money cannot bribe, that your charisma 10:55 cannot charm, natural ability cannot handle. 10:58 Sometimes there's going to come a storm 11:01 that's going to knock you flat on your back 11:03 so that you can look to the hills 11:05 from whence, come with your help 11:06 and realize that our help comes from God. 11:12 Are you all here? 11:13 What I'm saying today, friends and understand friends that day 11:17 are in a panic because now they sense an impending doom. 11:21 There is more water coming into the boat 11:24 than they're able to get out of the boat 11:25 and understand that they didn't wake up Jesus all that time. 11:30 But you got to see the frenzy as panic grips them 11:33 so that as now they cry out to Jesus and Full 11:37 Throat may be taking him physically awake. 11:41 And now, after all this time, they finally say, Master, 11:46 don't you care 11:49 that we perish? 11:52 And friends of mine, I need you to understand that 11:54 Jesus rebukes them. 11:56 Are you all still with me? 11:57 Church for their unbelief. 12:00 Now somebody is asking, What's the evidence of unbelief? 12:04 You see, the proof of unbelief is not doubt. 12:07 The proof of unbelief itself, sufficiency. 12:12 The sign of unbelief is not doubt, because what faith 12:16 is, is moving in obedience, even when there is some doubt. 12:21 But the greatest sign of faith 12:22 is not that every now and then I'm nervous or unafraid. 12:27 The greatest sign of unbelief is the belief 12:29 that I can make it without God. 12:34 Okay, so we all don't still believe. 12:35 Look at this quote with me here and this desire of ages. 12:39 Page 336 I need you to see this and why it is 12:42 that Jesus gets so frustrated with me today. 12:44 Church 12:46 absorbed in their efforts to save themselves. 12:50 They forgot Jesus was on board. 12:54 Oh, God. 12:56 Are you all catching this church now? 12:58 Seeing their labor in vain and only death before them? 13:03 They remember at whose command they set out to cross the sea, 13:06 and Jesus was their only hope and in their helplessness 13:10 and despair they cried master, 13:13 master, in their efforts to save themselves. 13:17 They forgot Jesus, and it was only 13:20 when in despair of self disbanded, 13:24 they turned to him who could give them their help. 13:27 This is our catch. This 13:28 sea is there so busy 13:31 trying to save themselves 13:36 that they forgot Jesus was on board. 13:40 They're so busy trying to master the sea that they forgot 13:44 the master of the sea was in the boat with him 13:51 and she is crazy because they don't consult him. 13:54 They don't ask him for guidance. 13:55 They don't wake him, they don't bother him. 13:59 They only come to him once it reaches a crisis situation. 14:03 And you know what? 14:04 I start to wonder, Lois, with the storm 14:08 have even gotten to attend. 14:11 If they just called on Jesus when it was the one. 14:14 Oh, God. 14:17 In other words, what? 14:19 Jesus had to show up as a life raft 14:23 if we just consulted him in the navigation phase. 14:26 All quiet on me today. 14:28 And I guess I'm wondering, could it be 14:32 that Jesus stayed sleep just a little longer 14:36 until all 14:37 this steel and strength ran out? 14:40 Could it be that he let the panic linger 14:45 so that this fear could leave a lasting impression 14:50 and to help them understand that the only hope we have in 14:54 the world is Jesus Christ. 14:59 And my question is, would 15:01 certain storms even get to the next level 15:05 if we turned it over to Jesus at the first level? 15:11 In other words, if you had committed 15:13 the marriage to Jesus when it was drizzling, 15:18 would the marriage ever reach a typhoon situation? 15:22 Students If you seek God's wisdom 15:25 when you first struggling in the class, would 15:27 you need a miracle to help you pass the class? 15:32 If you let God guide you at the beginning of the relationship, 15:37 would you need a miracle to get you out of the entangled met? 15:41 If we stopped God at the beginning of the battle, 15:45 would we need a miracle now that we are losing the battle? 15:49 And this is friends. 15:50 I got to rebuke the lie that we too often tell on God, 15:55 because what we say is that God waits 15:58 till the last minute to come through the devil is a lie. 16:02 Is it that God wait till the last minute to come through, 16:06 or do we wait till the last minute to turn the 16:08 situation over to the Messiah 16:13 and see? 16:15 The problem is with some of us, you know what it is? 16:18 We've got to take Jesus out of crisis capacity. 16:23 See, Jesus is on our case manager, 16:25 he's our crisis manager. 16:28 And some of us feel like we pay just enough time 16:31 to keep Jesus on retainer 16:36 so that he's obligated 16:38 to show up in our moment of desperation. 16:41 And the word to somebody is, you got to get him 16:43 out of crisis capacity. 16:45 Some of you've heard me say a thousand times over, 16:48 Jesus has to be your first response. 16:51 He should always be your last resort. 16:53 See, the problem with Psalm is that we've made Jesus 16:55 the seatbelt. 16:56 Instead of making him the steering wheel, 16:59 we've made him the helmet. 17:01 Instead of making him the handlebars, 17:04 we've made him the fireman. 17:05 Instead of making him the smoke detector, 17:09 we've made him the repair man 17:10 instead of making him the builder of the house. 17:14 Too many of us have made him 911 instead of 411. 17:20 And this is the word for somebody today. 17:23 If you trust him to be the God of your crisis, 17:27 why can't you trust him to be the God of your calm 17:33 so you don't 17:34 just let him be the God of crisis? 17:37 You've got to let him be the God of the calm 17:40 moments of your life. 17:41 You are hear me today, Church. 17:43 You're so funny because, man, there's some stuff 17:46 you seeing and hear in church as a child. 17:47 And it don't really make no sense. 17:49 You but you grow up 17:50 and after a while there are some things that 17:53 seem foreign and strange, but after a while 17:54 it resonates with you in a whole way, different way. 17:57 I remember as a young child, they were singing that old hymn, 18:00 Lord, I need the Oh, I need thee every hour. 18:04 I need the blessed me now myself I come to thee. 18:09 And it's funny because as a child, 18:10 it was just words to a song. 18:12 But now it is the prayer of my soul. 18:16 Because I realized every second, every moment, 18:19 every hour of the day. 18:20 I don't know about you, but I realize I need Jesus in my life. 18:27 And I need you to know that window. 18:28 The longer you walk with God, what the more dependent you are. 18:33 Even in the scenarios where there is calm. 18:36 In other words, if you are not there yet, keep on living. 18:38 You will catch up with me. 18:39 There's going to come a time 18:41 where you not going to start praying after you get the job, 18:45 but you're going to start praying when they offer the job. 18:47 And you're going to say, Lord, guide me 18:48 so that if the job ain't for me, 18:52 I want you to lead me in a different direction. 18:54 There's going to come a time in your life 18:56 where you don't start praying on the seventh day, 18:58 but you're going to start praying 18:59 before you take the first day 19:01 because you don't want to 19:02 get in too deep without a word from the most high God. 19:07 There's going to come a time in your life 19:08 where you don't start praying after they take the test. 19:11 You won't start praying 19:12 when they first draw blood 19:14 or taking a swab out of your nostrils 19:17 because you realize you need God to be the governor 19:21 of every single component of your life. 19:25 I hear me today, 19:26 and what I'm saying is, don't wait until it is a crisis. 19:30 You ought to seek God while it is still calm 19:33 and what it means to seek God in your calm. 19:35 It means to take God 19:38 into every aspect of your life. 19:41 What it means to have Him as the God of your calm. 19:44 Is this because it is? 19:46 One of the things I've learned 19:47 is that when God is not the God of your calm, 19:51 it means that you are sitting on the throne of your heart 19:54 in calm. 19:55 And the only reason God allows some storm 19:59 is to dethrone you from your own heart. 20:01 Because it is only in crisis 20:04 that we realize that he is king of all kings 20:08 and Lord of our laws, and that he alone is our help. 20:13 As he brings to mind this 20:14 what it means to make Jesus the God of your calm. 20:16 Proverbs three and verse five with his trust in the Lord 20:20 with all your heart and lead not to your own understanding, 20:24 but in all your ways. 20:25 Acknowledge him and he will direct your path. 20:30 How many of us know that you can't lead on your own devices? 20:32 And guess what? 20:33 I rebuke the spirit of common sense 20:37 and say, We run around here, we don't really need to pray. 20:41 You know, we got common sense. 20:42 Whose common sense are you talking about? 20:44 The world 20:45 literally says don't lead on to your own understanding 20:50 because there are things that God can see that 20:52 your common sense cannot detect. 20:56 So you see what it means to rise like this. 20:58 You know, as I share with you before, 20:59 I remember here in the morning, 21:01 I take my kids from home to Oakwood Academy. 21:04 I drive there each and every day, 21:05 but I do something strange. 21:07 Malcolm 21:07 When I'm taking my kids to school, 21:09 even though I know how to get there. 21:12 You know what I do sometimes? 21:14 Actually, every day is I'll turn my song. 21:18 Now, you probably 21:19 say, Pastor, why would you turn on your G.P.S. 21:22 to get somewhere where you've already been? 21:25 But see, the problem is, sometimes in the morning 21:28 there may be traffic on the path I'm going. 21:32 Sometimes they may be doing construction on the path I'm 21:35 going. 21:36 Sometimes there may be an accident on the path I'm going. 21:40 And the reason I ask the GPS is because 21:43 I can only see about a half mile in front of me. 21:46 But Gloria, the G.P.S. 21:47 sits high and it looks down low and it knows where 21:51 the traffic is. 21:52 It knows where the accidents are, 21:55 it knows where the construction is. 21:58 And the reason I consult the GPS is because it sees 22:01 what it cannot see, 22:03 and it helps me avoid the traffic and the crashes 22:07 and the roadwork. 22:08 And what I'm saying is that even when you think you know 22:11 which way you go, 22:12 you ought to look to the God that sits high and look slow, 22:17 and he sees what you can't see and he'll guide you 22:21 down the right path and hear me today. Search. 22:25 Third reason Jesus gets upset with him. 22:26 Stay with me is he gets angry 22:31 because they don't 22:33 understand their value. 22:36 Yeah. 22:38 Okay. 22:41 Jesus gets upset with them. 22:43 This is it. 22:45 Because they don't understand their own value. 22:48 Notice friends of mine how they even make Jesus up. 22:52 They don't approach him in calm, but in a full throated holler. 22:56 Maybe we're shaking. 22:57 And no, this friend of mine, even what they ask, so 23:00 that Jesus is not just upset that they wake up his nap, 23:04 but there's a part of him 23:05 that objected to the form of the question. 23:08 Notice what these children asked their father. 23:11 They say, Don't you care 23:16 that we are perishing a lot worse? 23:19 Friends of mine, I can see in this moment where Jesus wakes up 23:25 and as He listens and process is what has been said. 23:28 I can see him even in a boat 23:31 that is being swayed and belted and boogied about. 23:34 There's a part of him 23:35 that's got to fold his arms while the lightning 23:39 is still flashing. 23:40 And there's something on his face that says, Is this 23:44 what we're doing today? 23:47 That there's a part of the Messiah 23:51 that has told them why he has come. 23:54 He has told them what his mission is. 23:58 He has told them what his ultimate goal is. 24:02 And there's a part of him 24:03 that's got to be thinking to himself, 24:06 do you actually have the go 24:10 to question whether or not 24:12 I care? 24:16 In fact, every now and then, my 24:17 my youngest son, sometimes when he's working here 24:20 with me at the office 24:21 or maybe 24:22 we're doing something at home 24:23 and and maybe he gets a little bit tired, 24:25 he won't just come and say, Daddy, I'm hungry. 24:29 You know, he'll come in and he'll come and say, Daddy, 24:31 are we going to eat anything today? 24:35 And I'm going like, I understand he's hungry. 24:37 If you just say I'm hungry, I'm good. 24:39 But when you ask, Am I going to do today? 24:44 As if I don't have that on my agenda, 24:48 there's a part of me that's like in your ten years of life, 24:51 have you ever missed a meal? 24:53 I hear what I'm saying. 24:55 How you to question 24:57 whether or not I have your needs on my agenda? 25:01 Are you all with me today? Church 25:04 and see what somebody needs understand 25:06 is that your faith is going to always be unstable 25:09 if you don't understand your worth, see, understand 25:18 that your faith doesn't live or die with your understanding 25:22 of the Bible. 25:23 Your faith is going to rise or it's going to collapse 25:27 based upon your understanding 25:28 of how valuable you ultimately are to God 25:33 so that you will never believe that God will supply. 25:37 If you don't understand who you are in Him. 25:42 What's good family? 25:44 Joe 228 says that in the last days 25:47 I'm going to pour out my spirit on all of this. 25:50 Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 25:53 your young men will dream dreams, 25:55 and your old men are going to see visions. 25:58 I want you to know firmly that we are living 26:00 in the age of visions and dreams. 26:04 That's why I would invite you to our second annual Breath 26:07 of Life Vision and Dreamers conference last year. 26:11 Hundreds of came from all over the country 26:15 and we had a great time of instruction and inspiration. 26:18 But this year we're going to do it even bigger. 26:21 Make sure you save the date 26:23 for November the seventh through the ninth 26:26 for this year's Vision and Dreamers conference. 26:28 We're going to be blessed 26:29 by the Awesome Ministry of the hip hop preacher. Dr. 26:33 Eric Thomas is going to be here. 26:35 We're going to hear from the leading leadership 26:37 voice of our generation, author John Maxwell. 26:42 Then we're going to also be blessed 26:43 by the Ministry of Entrepreneur and visionary Tabitha Brown, 26:49 and I'll be here to assist along the way. 26:52 If you're an entrepreneur, a content creator, a speaker 26:56 and author, I need you to know that this conference is for you. 27:00 It's going to be the biggest conference 27:03 to ever hit the city of Huntsville, 27:04 and it's going to be one of 27:05 the most impactful occurrences of your life. 27:09 So if you want to register, I want to encourage you to do it 27:11 right now. 27:13 Get the early bird special. 27:16 You can register to come in and be in person, 27:19 or you can register to attend the event online. 27:22 But there's a 27:23 limited amount of space for those in-person attendees. 27:28 So go right now to our website and register 27:30 at www.BreathofLife.TV 27:35 is going to be in amidst time of instruction, food, 27:39 fellowship, networking, and your visions and dreams 27:43 will be empowered to be moved from just a concept 27:46 to a truth and reality. 27:48 God bless. 27:49 I look forward to seeing you there. |
Revised 2025-06-09