HOUSEKEEPING PT. 2 | PASTOR TRAVIS GREENE | FORWARD CITY CHURCH

Hey family, man. Thank you so much for checking out this week's message. It means the world. To me, um we have been praying, we've been fasting, we've been believing God uh for revival this year. Our theme of the year is winds of revival. And so, we were going to shift into a a different topic, but the Lord gave us a word to stay right here um speaking about revival and what is necessary for revival.

And so, we're in a a series now called uh home invasion. And I pray your hearts are open to receive this word from God for you. Uh but this is the way to get revival. Listen, can't just steward revival in God's house. You also got to steward it in your house.

And so, um I pray your hearts are open. You're ready to receive a word from God. I'll see you at the end. Love you. Hey, we're in a series called Home Invasion. Shout it with me. Home Invasion. >> Home invasion. >> We're talking about hidden idols and high places that we house.

Listen, in order to steward revival in God's house, we must first steward revival in our house. And our series this year, our theme for the year IS WINDS OF WHAT? >> REVIVAL. >> WINDS of revival comes from Ezekiel 37 where the Lord placed him in the valley and commands him to prophesy to dry bones.

And he told him to speak to the four winds and command the breath to come. Four winds, north, south, east, and the west. And the Lord gave us a winds of revival declaration. And we're going to say it together, but there's only one way to say it. You got to >> You got to shout it.

If you whisper, hush. >> Are you ready? >> Come on. We're all standing. LET'S SAY IT TOGETHER. THIS IS MY REVIVAL YEAR. >> THIS IS MY REVIVAL YEAR. >> EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO SHIFT. >> EVERYTHING IS >> I PROPHESY. >> I PROPHESY. >> To the north, >> south, >> east, >> and west, fresh wind >> is blowing blowing >> on every dead and dry place.

Dead dreams live again. Dead gifts LIVE AGAIN. DEAD FAITH live again. Lord, breathe on my mind, my heart, my health, my family, my anointing, my church, my city, my relationships, and my finances. This is my year FOR DIVINE ALIGNMENT. WHAT WAS SCATTERED must come back together. What was broken will be restored.

Heaven's version of me is ready to rise. I WILL NOT FIGHT AGAINST THE WIND. Wherever it blows, I will go. Come on. Use me. USE ME TO DO WHATEVER, HOWEVER, WHENEVER. This is my year TO PRAY MORE PASSIONATELY, FAST MORE FERVENTLY, AND BE MORE devoted daily. Here we go.

I renounce every lie. I rebuke every idol. I rebuke EVERY IDOL. AND I REPENT FOR DOING THINGS MY WAY. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. Take everything and give me you. My worship is my strongest place. And your response to surrender is revival. I receive I receive I RECEIVE THE WINDS OF revival in every area of my life in Jesus name.

Amen. I need the soldiers. Lift your voice and give them praise. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on. I said lift your voice. Dian, come on. Lift your voice. Give them praise in the room. High five somebody. Tell them, "It's my revival year. It's my revival year." Ooh, I just felt this.

I don't want to lose the service. I need you to find your praise partner. Grab them and shake them real quick. Tell them, "Get ready for the wind." Come on. Tell them, "GET READY FOR THE WIND. BLOW, WIND, blow in EVERY AREA OF MY LIFE. BLOW WIND, BLOW, BLOW ON MY CHILDREN.

BLOW ON MY MARRIAGE. BLOW ON MY MONEY. Blow in Colia. Blow wind blowing. IF YOU'RE EXCITED FOR THE WIND of God, give him a great job. But >> in order >> to steward the wind here, >> we must interrogate, >> inspect, >> what's happening in our homes. >> This is a home invasion.

Lean on somebody. Tell them it's a home invasion. >> You have to understand that the Holy Spirit desires complete access. Turn in your Bibles to Judges 6. Revival cannot live where God is just a guest. >> I've been teaching you that the enemy can't fight God's win, but his win won't fight you. >> So, you have to surrender.

Man, his response to surrender is revival. >> And like your favorite hotel, your name may be on the room, but his name is on the building. The Bible says the earth is the Lord's man, the fullness thereof. God is the owner. We got to remember that God is in charge. >> But Revelation SAYS, "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK.

HE WON'T BARGE INTO YOUR ROOM. >> He'll wait for you to open up and give him access." SO, WE'RE NOT JUST PRAYING that God moves. >> Because moves can be temporary. We're praying that God moves in >> not for visitation but for habitation. >> And so the priority I'm going ahead and set the framework for where we going cuz we're going somewhere today.

It's going to be tight in here. >> The priority must shift. Here we go. From our comfort to his. I had a frat bro text me. This is sensitive subject. Sensitive for who? >> Sensitive to our flesh or sensitive to God? >> See, the priority got to shift, man.

The priority got to shift. It got to shift. Come on, tell your neighbor. It got to shift. >> It got to shift. It got to shift >> to his comfort. >> His comfort over mine. >> His comfort over my preference. >> His comfort over my lust. >> See, God is a jealous God. >> HE'S NOT JEALOUS BECAUSE HE'S INSECURE.

HE'S JEALOUS because he's holy. >> And as the architect of our soul, he understands that you have limited capacity. So in order for God to move in, something has to move out. The question, oh I feel like preaching. THE QUESTION IS HOW BAD DO you want him? >> See your flesh want him and that >> but your spirit understands that God requires exclusive rights. >> He is not to be shared.

We treat God like divorce couples, giving them visiting hours. >> And God, you can come on Sundays, but Monday through Fridays belong to me. >> And if God only has access to you partially, you'll only be used partially. I'm already preaching. Judges 6. I feel the Holy Ghost.

I said I feel the Holy Ghost. >> Lord, would you correct us? >> I didn't I didn't ask for God to shift me in this direction, y'all. >> But I did tell him wherever the wind blows, I'll go. >> And the Lord is bringing order >> to his house and to our homes. >> We have become too tolerant.

Judges chapter 6 verse one. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midionites for seven years because of their evil. You know you can't rebuke consequences, right? Verse 11. The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak of Afera that belonged to Joaz the ais where his son Gideon was dressed in wheat.

Watch the Bible. And a wine press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Jump down to verse 25, if you will. That same night, the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old.

TEAR DOWN YOUR FATHER'S ALTAR to bail and cut down the pole beside it." I see everything. >> THEN BUILD A PROPER KIND OF ALTAR. WOO! >> There's a proper altar, y'all. to the Lord your God on top of this height using the same wood the wood of the assur pole that you cut down offer the second bull as an burnt offering so Gideon took 10 of his servants and did as the Lord told him but because he WAS AFRAID OF HIS family look at this he was afraid of his family and the town's people he did it at night rather than in the daytime in the morning when the people of the town got up.

There was Belle's altar demolished. Thank you, Lord. With the asshop pole beside it, cut down and the second bullet sacrificed on the newly built altar. For this move to happen, y'all, something got to move out. >> For God to build the new altar, we must tear down the old altars.

I'mma preach part two of a message I started last Sunday called Housekeeping. Tell your neighbor, it's time for housekeeping. Hey, before I jump in this word, would you just for one moment um just pray and intercede? Would you invest intercession because I believe that we're about to do spiritual warfare in this room.

Come on, begin praying in the Holy Ghost just for a moment. Do what you want to, God. Tear down every high place. Expose every idol. We won't back down. Give us boldness. Give us empathy. Give us courage. Give us sensitivity. Blow in. Blow in. Blow win. If you show it to me, give me the courage to kill it in Jesus name.

If you're excited for the word of God, give him a great praise on your way down. THE BIBLE SAYS IN JUDGES 6:1, we're going to go ahead and jump right in. Y'all ready? I I can tell, man, there's a hunger in this room. I can feel it. I can feel it.

I can feel you didn't just come to church casually. You came for something. Come on, look at your neighbor. Tell them I'm here on purpose. I'm here on purpose. THE BIBLE SAYS IN JUDGES 6:1, "THE ISRAELITES DID EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. FOR SEVEN YEARS, he gave them into the hands of the Midianites."

It's interesting to ME THAT GOD REQUESTED A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD BULL TO BE SACRIFICED. >> There was seven YEARS OF OPPRESSION AND NOW HE asked for a seven-year-old sacrifice for each year. Here's why. Because God is not just into removing altars. He's also into redeeming timelines. >> You serve the kind of God that's not just after a momentary deliverance, but he is the kind of God who wants to shift seasons.

Man, I love this. He says, "I want this bull that's been alive as long as you've been oppressed TO BE SACRIFICED. AND WHEN YOU SACRIFICE this offering to me, I am closing the chapter on a seven-year cycle. >> I was praying for you last night and the Lord told me to tell you, next week is not a casual week.

It's not a passive week. Next week is an intentional week. We're having a big gift. And I really felt this in my spirit. I felt this in my spirit. My wife and I, we already gave radically. We already gave um five figures and then God instructed us to give another five figures uh this upcoming week.

And so this isn't casual for us, but we're giving God a big gift. We're bringing him a bit sacrifice. Here's why. The Lord says, "When you bring me a sacrifice, when sacrifice meets obedience, >> oppression must lift." >> Here's the word of the Lord. There's some things that have been pressing on you >> that's waiting for your obedience to be released. >> And I believe this.

I believe that when we bring God our big gift next week, he's going to close the chapter and he's going to change the wind in your life. Amen. >> The Lord told me, he said, "Man, Travis, start stirring my people for housekeeping. This is a burden, I believe, for God."

I want you to hear me. I'm not speaking on my own accord. I'm not speaking for popularity. I'm not speaking to fit in. I'm not speaking uh for performative measures. I am just a submitted servant to God. And in my prayer time and in my fasting, the Lord stirred my heart and he told me that his people, his people have been entertaining idols.

I'm going to make this as practical as I can because I don't want you to think I'm talking about pagans. The Bible wasn't written for pagans. >> 2 Chronicles 7:14, >> God visits Solomon in his sleep. >> As they're celebrating the temple and God because he's Alpha and Omega, he sees hundreds of years later that though they're celebrating today, they will turn.

And he said, he gives this warning. It's a remedy. It is the recipe. It is the cheat code for revival. He said, "If my people," >> this is conditional. If my people who are called by my name, watch this. He's talking to my people will humble themselves, pray, watch this, turn from, >> ooh, >> you mean I can belong to you and still have wicked ways? >> UNTIL WE recognize that we need to repent, >> we'll never operate in the revival winds that God has for us.

AND THIS IS GIDEON. BEFORE GIDEON EVER WON ON THE BATTLEFIELD, HE HAD TO win the war at home. >> I thought about this last night. I HAD TO FACT CHECK it because it blow blew my mind when the Holy Spirit told me that David never lost a battle. >> THERE'S NO RECORDED SCRIPTURE OF DAVID GOING TO WAR AND LOSING EVER. >> MATTER OF FACT, THE BIBLE SAYS EXPLICITLY, I BELIEVE IT'S IN 2 SAMUEL, THAT BECAUSE GOD'S HAND WAS ON HIM, EVERYWHERE HE WENT, HE HAD FAVOR AND he won. >> HOW COULD A MAN WIN SO MANY BATTLES OUTSIDE?

BUT CONSISTENTLY LOSE BATTLES IN HIS HOME. >> Here's why. HERE'S WHY. BECAUSE PRIVATE COMPROMISE ALWAYS PRECEDES public collapse. >> SEE, THERE THERE IS NO FALL THAT IS SUDDEN. >> When we see people fall from grace and we see people fall, IT'S LIKE, OH MAN, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

HELL AND HEAVEN IS NOT SHOCKED BECAUSE NO FALL IS SUDDEN. FALL. A FALL IS LITERALLY IT COMPRISED OF A COLLECTION OF TRIPS. >> So you stumble into a fall. >> IN OTHER WORDS, SOMETHING STARTED AS a small demon and it grew into a big stronghold. >> Listen to me.

PLEASE LISTEN TO ME. IT'S WAY EASIER to brush away seed than it is to uproot something. >> So in the grace of God, he'll expose something to you early. It was the first date when God told you to leave. Come on. >> AND BECAUSE YOU IGNORED THEM, NOW YOU GOT SOUL TIES.

AND NOW YOU GOT TO COME TO the altar, get oil poured on you, and go on a 50-day fast just to get delivered from somebody God told you to walk away from 6 months ago. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. COME ON. REVIVAL CANNOT LIVE WHERE COMPROMISE IS MAINTAINED. >> If you're a notetaker, hopefully you are.

Write in all caps, quit compromising. SEE, THE WIND IS LOOKING FOR SURRENDER. The evil one is looking for compromise. >> I'm talking about THE LITTLE THINGS. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS THAT YOU TOLERATE. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE CONVERSATIONS YOU TOLERATE. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS YOU JUSTIFY. >> SEE, GOD WANTS TO SHIFT US FROM JUST HAVING REVIVAL TO carrying revival.

But it requires housekeeping. >> I'm I'm so MY MY MY HEART IS BURNING WITH THIS, MAN. I'M doing a pastor's gathering in May. They're flying in literally from all over the country. I invited just a few, a handful of them to come and I'm just going to pour into them, my wife and I, and we're going to pour into couples.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS I I I told him even in my invitation to him IS THAT MY HEART IS BURDENED BECAUSE I BELIEVE WE'VE been majoring on the minor and minoring on the major. >> WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THINGS in here that hell don't care about. >> That's good.

SEE, IF REVIVAL ONLY SHOWS UP IN HERE, >> LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THAT'S AN EXPERIENCE. THAT'S NOT IMPACT. >> IF YOUR WORSHIP ONLY SHOWS UP IN HERE, THAT IS THAT IS A PRESENTATION. THAT'S NOT POSTURE. >> This is why THE BIBLE SAYS, "PRESENT YOUR BODY AS A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE."

THIS IS YOUR REASONABLE ACT OF WORSHIP. WORSHIP IS NOT A SONG. WORSHIP IS A SURRENDERED HEART. >> And the proof that God's hand is ON IT IS THAT YOU don't have control. And this is the tension of revival. This is the tension of revival. This is the tension of revival because God don't care about your image and your reputation as much as you do.

As a matter of fact, scripture says you should make yourself of no reputation. >> Ezekiel was called dramatic because he preached revival. Jeremiah was thrown into a pit because he preached revival. John the Baptist head got chopped off because he preached revival. Steven was stoned because he preached revival.

Jesus was crucified because he preached revival. Question. Question. Question. Question question question. >> Why are you so accepted? >> IF THE FOUNDERS OF OUR FAITH WAS PERSECUTED, why are you so scared of culture counseling you? >> I started, man, I started rejoicing in persecution. >> I remember stuff start coming at me. people start posting stuff.

I said yes. It was weird. I honestly I was like I know I had to be close with God and I even had pastor friends like from all over the world like man you good. You good. I'm like I'm amazing. Thousand fall at my left, 10,000 on my right.

It can't come near me. I'm amazing for thou Lord are shield around me. YOU ARE MY FORTRESS. YOU'RE THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD. I'M AMAZING. NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME WILL PROSPER. EVERY TONGUE THAT RISE AGAINST WILL BE CONDEMNED. I'M AMAZING NOT IN MY OWN STRENGTH, but he gives me PEACE THAT SURPASSES UNDERSTANDING AND IT GUARDS MY HEART AND MY MIND IN CHRIST JESUS.

I CELEBRATE IN PERSECUTION >> BECAUSE I'D RATHER BE ACCEPTED BY GOD. >> JESUS SAID, "IF YOU'RE ASHAMED OF ME HERE, >> I'll be ashamed of you there. Before correction can be given outward, >> we got to we got to have a home invasion. >> Come on, look at somebody.

Tell them, "Get your house in order." >> Come on, tell somebody else, "Get your house in order. Get your house in order." Here's Gideon, ladies and gentlemen. Here's Gideon. And Gideon WAS DISCOVERED. HE WAS FOUND HIDING IN A wine press. The angel comes to him and he calls HIM A MIGHTY WARRIOR WHILE HE'S HIDING.

The irony. >> Let me give you a few things to write down. Write this down. God sees more. I love that about God. Second Kings chapter 6, the Bible says Elisha, he's there and a servant runs out and say, "Oh man, we f to die." There's a whole army or army surrounding the city of Dothan.

And Elisha prays a simple prayer. He don't take long with it. He don't have musicians. He don't do a whole tearing service. He just look down and look back up. He said, "Lord, open his eyes." >> Bible said the servant look tell your neighbor, "Look again." M >> the Bible says when the servant looked again, he saw that there was an an there was an army of angels of fire surrounding the armies of flesh.

You don't know who's backing you. >> You have anxiety because you don't know who's backing you. You have fear because you don't know WHO'S BACKING YOU. YOU'VE BEEN WORRYING because you don't know all of heaven. IF HELL IS AGAINST YOU, IT TOOK AN ARMY TO COME GET ONE MAN, BUT THERE WAS AN ARMY FROM HEAVEN.

IT MAY LOOK LIKE I'M SURROUNDED, BUT I'M ACTUALLY SURROUNDED. by the unseen realm and you're overwhelmed because your spiritual eyes have been closed. Good God. And your spiritual eyes have been closed because the eyes of your flesh have been glued on the wrong thing. I'm going to get there in a second. >> God sees more.

You see an army, but God sees more. You see your qualifications, but God sees more. You see your trauma, but God sees more. You see your family tree, but God sees more. You see your education, but God sees more. You see the post against you, but God sees more.

You see your children tripping, but God sees more. God sees more. But not only does God sees more, God sees before. The Bible says, he told Jeremiah, "Before I formed you, my God, in your mother's womb, God was the one who created you. Get your mama something for Mother's Day."

But she didn't make you. God made you. HE SAID, "BEFORE I formed you, in your mother's womb, I knew you." That means you and God had a relationship before you had breath. Here we go. Y'all had an agreement before you had oxygen. He said, "I knew you. I sanctified you and I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

BEFORE YOU WERE EVER EVEN BORN, GOD SEES BEFORE. BEFORE DAVID EVER HAD A THRONE, GOD SAW HIM as a king. Before Abraham ever had a child, God saw him as a father of many nations. BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE GIDEON EVER HELD A SWORD, GOD saw him as A MIGHTY WARRIOR.

GOD SEES BEFORE. WOULD YOU PLEASE, PLEASE, please quit trying to explain to God >> why he called the wrong one. >> GOD SEES BEFORE. GOD SEES TOO MUCH TO BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE. >> And this is how Gideon's army grew from 32,000 to 300. >> Because what man calls failure, GOD CALLS PRUNING.

WHAT IF? What if God was the one who was behind >> the separation? >> He tells Gideon this. He says, "You have too much help." What? >> 32,000 against 120,000. Too much. The way my money, the way my savings is too much, >> God, I'm just trying to get this business off the ground.

If I had more, you got too much. >> Oh, y'all tired? Y'all right. >> He says, "What you call help is actually taking up vacancy. >> So, I got to move them out because you're depending on them." Ah, >> and God says, "If I let you win like this," this is what he told Gideon, "Y'all will take the credit for it." >> So, he had to allow the help he thought he needed to walk away. >> Here's the next thing I need you to write down.

Because public victory never begins publicly. Goliath wasn't David's first battle. >> He fought wild animals. >> The kingdom wasn't his first time in leadership. Sheep were. >> Every season has a lesson. >> The question is, what is God trying to show you here? Listen, if you fail to learn the lesson in this season, you'll forfeit the mantle of the next season.

Is this is this too much? Are we all right? >> We're going somewhere. We're going somewhere. We're going to run. The Lord told me to tell you this. Don't rush this. Some of us are, it's so funny. My son be like, "I can't wait to grow up." We be like, "Boy, you don't have to do nothing."

But put on deodorant. You don't get to determine what you eat. >> YOU AIN'T GOT NO DOOR DASH BILL, GAS. I can't wait to grow up, boy. Enjoy your childhood. But that's how we be with God. I can't wait. >> And God said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't rush this season." Because the difference between a blessing and a burden is preparation. The question is, are you ready for what you've been praying for? See, I love my 11-year-old Jace. I love him too much to give him the car keys that he want >> because what he would call a blessing would lead to his destruction because he's not ready for it.

And you keep asking for a man. I mean, you keep asking. >> It's Valentine's. I knew that would get you. I knew that would get you. I knew that would get you. You said, "God sent my boo." And God said, "I'm trying to work on you." THERE'S A LESSON IN THE VALLEY.

THERE'S A LESSON IN THE VALLEY. THERE'S A LESSON IN THE WINE PRESS. >> My son got in the car the other day and he was like, "Man, I ain't do good on my quiz." Now, he knew I didn't care. But he was trying to practice on me before he went to the one that really care.

He know mama don't play about them grades. He get my car. I didn't. You know, I don't care about this quiz, bro. Let's go play Halo. I'm just trying to chill, man. Trying to hang out. LET'S GO PLAY. DON'T TELL MOM SO WE CAN PLAY TONIGHT. I'm kidding.

I want to hang out, man. You can you can stop the act. Oh, I ain't do good, bro. Come on. You know I don't care. You try to practice with me cuz you knew he going to have to face mama. He said, "Man, the quiz, he ain't even had the stuff from the study guide."

And I know you don't you love when your kids do this. He said everybody was Everybody was like, "Man, what are you doing?" I SAID, "EVERYBODY WAS LIKE, MAN, TEACHER, you tripping." Everybody Everybody fell, right? Everybody fell. I said, "So, if your mama email I live, if your mama email your if your mama email your teacher, cuz I don't even know her email address, BUT IF YOUR MAMA EMAIL YOUR TEACHER, she going to say that."

He was like, "I don't know, man." But I didn't ask him about if he memorized the study guide or not. I asked him if he was daydreaming in class. Because many times God has us in a classroom. You call it a valley, it's a classroom. >> You call it marital strife, it's a classroom. >> You call it financial stress, >> it's a classroom. >> You call it a hospital room, it's a classroom.

And often times God has you in this classroom because he's trying to teach you a lesson, but you're in such a rush to get out of it that you find yourself being held back. And now you hated on people on Instagram who were able to graduate. And you're wondering why you're still in And the season that you're in is because you haven't learned the lesson.

Look at somebody. Tell them, "Learn the lesson." Learn the lesson. Learn the lesson. There's a le There's a lesson in the wine press. Watch this. We're going somewhere. We're going, y'all. All right. We're going somewhere. There's a There's a lesson in the wine press. He's in the wine press.

And you can't just read the Bible. You got to >> read. >> I like you. You got to read the Bible. THE BIBLE SAYS HE'S THRESHING wheat in a wine press. Now, you don't know what Thresher Weed is cuz you go to Piggly Wiggly, the Publix, to Aldi's.

Is that the name of that place? >> Listen y'all, the Greens don't grocery shop. We don't I ain't going to lie to Kick It. I go to the grocery store once a quarter and and when I go, I see the whole church in there. My god. Stay away from Publix.

That's another campus. I went on Super Bowl. I'm just trying to get some drinks and stuff. I'm in there trying to get some Coca-Cola and Sprite. Let me explain cuz some of y'all like clock it and do and don't. I'm trying to get some Sprite. I mean, it's a whole prayer line on a hour four.

PT, I've been going. LISTEN, I'M OFF WORK. LEAVE ME ALONE. GRANDMAMA, SIR, I got to go. I am not trying to. And don't be in public with me cuz I'll set you up. And Jamal with me. I'll be like, Jamal, THEY WANT TO TALK to you real quick.

I'll be gone. Demar got a Uber. I done left him downtown praying for people. Clock it. HE'S IN THE WINE PRESS TRYING TO THRESH WHEAT. AND IN ORDER TO THRESH WHEAT, YOU HAD TO GO TO THE HILLSIDE, throw the wheat up in the air, and the WIND WOULD DO THE WORK.

WHAT THE WIND WOULD DO IS SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF. >> Now you may be wondering WHAT IS CHAFF. CHAFF WAS A SHELL ON THE WHEAT. AND THE REASON THE CHAFF HAD TO FALL BECAUSE THE WIND EXPOSED WHAT WAS CONNECTED and weightless. >> SEE IF PASTOR JIM GAVE ME A LEAF BLOWER RIGHT NOW AND I WENT UP and down every aisle.

Some of y'all BE LIKE, "HOLD ON, HOLD ON." NO. White people laughing. They like, "I don't get it." What? Hold on. The wind separates weightless attachments. And perhaps >> you've been trying to hold on >> to people >> to habits to mindsets >> that are actually weightless. >> They're shells, >> which mean you see them first, BUT THEY'RE DON'T EVEN THEY'RE NOT EVEN WORTH ANYTHING. >> It's fig leaves.

It's on the outside. AND GOD SAYS, "I SEND REVIVAL WINDS TO EXPOSE AND TO DETACH YOU FROM weightless attachments." My God. AND MANY OF US ARE PRAYING FOR MORE. AND GOD SAYS, "TO BE QUALIFIED FOR THE MORE I WANT TO GIVE YOU, FIRST YOU GOT TO REMOVE EXCESS.

ARE YOU LEAN enough for elevation?" How many of y'all travel? You know, you can't take any and everything on a plane. You can only have a carry-on. And some of us are are trying to go higher. >> SOME OF US LIKE, "USE ME, GOD, BUT YOU TRYING TO TAKE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE WITH YOU."

AND GOD SAID, "OOH, IT GOT TO be there is certain things THAT HAVE TO BE QUALIFIED FOR WHERE YOU'RE GOING." CAN I EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HAVING TO WALK AWAY? IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THE NEXT SEASON THERE. OH MY GOD. THE NEXT SEASON QUALIFIES. THE NEXT DOOR QUALIFIES.

YOU'RE NOT BEING BOUGIE. YOU'RE NOT BEING ARROGANT. YOU'RE NOT CHANGING. YOU'RE NOT COLD SWITCHING. THERE IS SOMEWHERE GOD'S TAKING YOU THAT THEY CAN'T GO. I NEED EVERYBODY TO KNOW THAT GOD IS the one behind the separation and give him a praise. I love this BECAUSE IT'S IN THE WINE PRESS.

IT'S IN THE WINE PRESS THAT GIDEON HAD TO learn the gift of separation. >> Don't miss the lesson. >> The gift of he didn't lose soldiers. He sold the excess. The gift is separation is a gift. >> Before elevation, there's separation. >> Before a lift, there's a shift.

This is why Abraham gets to the mountain, Genesis chapter 22, and he tells the two guys with him, "Y'all got to stay here. I got to go higher." Because whenever God calls you higher, HE ALWAYS CALLS YOU TO SAY bye >> to people who may have helped you get to the foot of the mountain >> but can't go up.

And the reason you're stuck IS BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING TO DRAG PEOPLE. Here we go. YOU'RE TRYING TO DRAG PEOPLE WHO ARE CONTENT ON THEIR LEVEL. THEY LIKE being broke. >> They like being dysfunctional. >> Ah, separation is a seed. >> The way you treat seed determines if you get harvest or not. >> Seed is more valuable than fruit.

I know you don't think that because fruit look good >> but seed is more valuable. Oh, don't say that Travis. >> Your problem is you keep choosing fruity relationships. >> My wife looked better today than she did when we got married. >> And she was fine in our marriage, but she was skinty. >> Y'all saw our Valentine pictures. >> We both look just like feed the hungry.

Like we just struggling. We look oh simplified before it even came out. And some of us keep choosing fruit instead of seed. >> Wow. >> This is why if you watch sports, they always draft potential more than they draft people who've already maxed out. >> See, I need somebody that can GROW WITH ME.

DO Y'ALL HEAR WHAT I'M TELLING YOU? I need I I don't need SOMEONE WHO JUST GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY TODAY. I NEED YOU TO BE SEED ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO GROW WITH ME IN MY FUTURE. My God, AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T MARRY YOUR PROM DATE? THAT IS PROOF THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. >> Some of y'all did just look straight ahead.

You like, "God dog it. Dang it. Bang it. Seed. Gideon was disregarded because he was in seed form. >> He was in seed form. Lord, you got to be careful how you treat people when they're in seed form. >> Got to be careful how you treat people. TELL SOMEBODY, "BE careful how you treat me." >> I like you.

There was a there was a keyboard player in college. He just sit back here playing on the keyboard. And then one day he was just messing around singing and playing and the pastor walked by. This true story pastor walked by said, "Man, you can sing a little bit.

You going to leave worship next week?" And the guy said, "I ain't never leave worship in my life." He said, "Will you leave worship next week?" He was a seed. Nine years later, the same keyboard player wrote a song called Made Away. See, so you got to be careful how you treat people.

That's why that's why I love that girl cuz before I WAS DR. TRAVIS, BEFORE I WAS PT, before I had awards, I was a seed. And she said, "I see something. HE CAN'T DRESS, BUT I SEE SOMETHING. HE'S SO MATCHY, BUT I SEE SOMETHING. HE A LITTLE RECKLESS, BUT I SEE SOMETHING.

HE BROKE, BUT I SEE SOMETHING. GRAB YOUR NEIGHBOR AND TELL THEM, "FIND YOU A SEED. FIND YOU somebody who fits your future." YOU CAN'T DISREGARD THE SEED. YOU CAN'T disregard the seed. We're going somewhere. Let's talk. Gideon. So, here's Gideon, ladies and gentlemen. And he's IN A WINE PRESS.

GOD TEACH HIM SEPARATION. AND HE GOES, HE GOES FROM 32,000 TO 300. HE GROWS. COME ON, TELL. OH, SAY THIS. GOD IS GROWING ME. >> God is growing me. AND THIS LEADS ME TO MY LAST POINT. YOU GOT TO INSPECT WHAT'S PLANTED AROUND YOU. >> SEE, NOT EVERY SEED IS SOWN by God. >> The Bible says the wheat and the tear GROW TOGETHER. >> MATTER OF FACT, JESUS SPOKE TO PETER.

HE SAYS, "MAN, THE DEVIL, THE ENEMY, the evil one wished to sift YOU AS WHEAT, BUT I PRAYED FOR YOU THAT YOUR FAITH FAILED YOU NOT." THE ENEMY WILL ALWAYS TRY TO SIFT SOMEONE BEFORE GOD shifts them. Hear me. Hear me. Hear me. Hear me. The enemy according to the Bible.

HE SAID HE FELL LIKE LIGHTNING. >> WE KNOW the story. Lucifer was in heaven. It is believed that he was the worship leader. >> He was in HEAVEN AND HE STARTED A REBELLION AGAINST GOD AND HE AND A THIRD OF THE angels fell. So if this is good news, if a third fell that mean they outnumbered anyway.

BUT EVEN IF ALL THE ANGELS FELL, THEY STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN outnumbered because God by himself is the majority. >> But the ENEMY FELL AFTER SPENDING TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, WHICH TELLS ME, JULIUS, THAT he can sense when God is near. >> What I'm ABOUT TO SAY IS PROBABLY THE MOST POWERFUL THING YOU'VE EVER HEARD IN your life. >> The attack on your life wasn't accidental.

It was affirmation. >> Hear me. Your whole life the devil's been watching you. >> Cuz he sensed the hand of God. >> That's why you couldn't fit in. Cuz he sensed the hand of God. >> That's why the abuse happened because he sense the hand of God. And if he can get offense in your heart early enough, >> IF HE CAN PLANT THINGS IN YOUR LIFE early enough, >> if he can HAVE YOU MAKE ENOUGH MISTAKES IN YOUR 20S THAT YOU GOT TO SPEND your 30s recovering, >> come on. >> THEN PERHAPS HE CAN ROB YOU of your assignment.

But the devil is a liar. Because if God BEFORE YOU, GOD SEES MORE AND GOD SEES BEFORE. THAT MEAN BEFORE YOU HAD A PROBLEM, God had a plan. That mean before you had a situation, GOD HAD A STRATEGY. AND AS LONG AS THE DEVIL'S BEEN WATCHING YOU, GOD'S BEEN WATCHING YOU EVEN LONGER.

And God says, "I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU. I'VE been keeping you. I've been protecting you." Here we go. I've been sustaining you, >> Gideon. So, the enemy sent something on Gideon early. Like Moses, we got to kill all the baby boys. Something's happening. >> Like Jesus, we got to kill all the babies.

Something is happening. So, here's Gideon. Because I CAN'T KILL HIM AS A BABY. Watch this. I'll try to pollute him. >> How do I pollute him? I get his dad to agree to plant an idol >> at the house. So every day Gideon would wake up, eat his oatmeal, put on his book bag, and before he went to school, he passed by the altar.

Every day the assure pole. Every day. Every day he seen the high place. Every day he saw the idol. The hardest idols to get rid of are the ones that are embedded in your bloodline. >> The ones that your dad, your grandfather, your uncle, your aunt, your grandmother, the ones that they justified and embraced. >> One thing that's harder to fight than demons and DNA.

So the So the enemy >> Oh my God. >> He's been working >> on you before you got here. >> Wow. >> Wow. >> This ain't a new battle. >> I believe your parents went through what they went through because you were on the devil's radar. >> Come on.

I'm talking to the Gideonss. I'm talking to the Gideonss in the room. I'm talking to the Gideonss in the room. He was trying to destroy you, JACOB, BEFORE YOU EVEN got here. >> How does he do it? He plants high places and altars. Are you ready? We're done.

High places idols. This is very important what I'm about to tell you. Idols are carried. High places are built. high places. Every high place has an altar. Why? Because the purpose of the altar is for commitment. It's for devotion. It's for sacrifice. It is for worship. Altars reveals allegiance. >> And idols are anything you are unwilling to release.

Even better. And idols is anything you can't release. You can be willing but can't >> because as long as you entertain it, you strengthen it. >> And so THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD GET DELIVERED, come on, is that a force stronger than you come and relieves you from it. >> Idols aren't innocent and harmless.

This is very important. I PREACHED THIS WHOLE MESSAGE FOR THE PAST TWO weeks for this ONE POINT. THE PRESENCE OF THE IDOL GRANTS access to the enemy. I want that to marinate. THE MERE PRESENCE OF THE idol >> gives the enemy access. This is why 20 years ago, the Lord instructed me when he gave me a revelation of the access.

That's what this whole thing was about. I was praying. I SAID, "GOD, WHY AM I BATTLING PRIDE AND PERVERSION so much?" He said, "You gave the enemy access." I said, "How?" He says because of the pledges you made over yourself. >> That's right, sir. >> This is why Greek organizations, many have altars that you have to go through for initiation. >> It's the truth. >> And we're young and you're 18 and you're 19.

You're not thinking about it. >> But the enemy is thinking about it. >> So he plants it even in your pursuit of education >> in order. The enemy is after access. Do you hear what I'm TELLING YOU? >> HE'S AT THE ACCESS. You have to be aware of the entryways. >> SO GOD SAYS, "TRAVIS, GO HOME, DESTROY THE ALTAR, >> take every paraphernelia, everything you got, PUT IT IN TWO TRASH BAGS, TAKE IT TO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DUMPSTER, AND GET RID OF IT BECAUSE I HAVE TO CLOSE THE PORTAL THAT HAS GIVEN THE access to the enemy in your life.

Deliverance. My God. My God. >> DELIVERANCE IS ALWAYS TEMPORARY if the enemy still has access. church and you feel HIS POWER AND YOU CRY, BUT YOU KEEP stumbling over the same thing and you ask why. It's because the enemy still HAS ACCESS. IF Y'ALL BROKE UP, WHY HIS STUFF STILL AT YOUR HOUSE? >> ACCESS. >> ACCESS.

If y'all HAVE BEEN INTIMATE BEFORE, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE A SOUL TIE. IT MEANS REGARDLESS IF YOU WANT TO OR NOT, YOU HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL. >> WHY HAVEN'T THEY BEEN BLOCKED YET? EXES. >> IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT LIVING FOR GOD AND THEY'RE NOT, WHY ARE Y'ALL DATING? >> YOU'RE NOT THEIR SAVIOR. >> SEE, SEE, I know I know this is I know this hurt, but it's ONLY HURTING YOUR FLESH.

YOUR SPIRIT IS REJOICING RIGHT NOW. YOUR SPIRIT MAN IS LIKE, "THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU THIS. I'VE BEEN WHISPERING IN YOUR EAR AT NIGHT. I BET. THAT'S WHY IT DON'T FEEL GOOD TO YOU. THAT'S WHY THAT'S WHY THAT'S WHY YOU CAN'T GET COMFORTABLE.

I KNOW YOUR FLESH IS FIGHTING BUT YOUR SPIRIT IS REJOICING BECAUSE GOD IS EXPOSING THE EXCESS OF THE enemy housekeeping. >> IF ALCOHOLISM RUNS IN YOUR FAMILY, >> why do you drink socially? >> You're playing Russian roulette >> with destiny. AND THE REASON YOU DON'T THINK it's a big deal is because you think you're the only one attached to the obedience. >> Hear me.

HEAR ME. THE DEVIL DON'T CARE NOTHING ABOUT YOU. HE AFTER THE PEOPLE CONNECTED TO YOU CUZ HE KNOWS IF GOD ONLY HAS HALF OF YOU, THEN ONLY HALF THE PEOPLE ATTACHED TO YOU GOING TO GET SAVED. I'm almost done, but I got to give you this. is perhaps the most important message I'm gonna preach this year. >> We have TO EXPOSE THE IDOLS AND DEMOLISH THEM. >> IF PORN IS A PROBLEM, WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT? >> All your business need is LinkedIn. >> You trying to No, no, for real.

I know what you're saying. No, I got a BUSINESS TO GROW. BUT YOU also see all these different people >> access. >> God says, "Tell my people it's time to clean up >> housekeeping. It's time to clean up and detach from weightless attachments." I'm about to come down your road right now.

And I'm telling you, this is not up from a place of judgment. I'm just a watchman. And I got to give a warning. The job of a watchman, Ezekiel was called to be a watchman. >> The job of a watchman is to look beyond the kingdom outside and see any threat, >> whether that was a wild beast >> or whether that was a spy. >> And the watchman WOULD SAY, "HEY EVERYBODY, I SEE SOMETHING LURKING IN THE distance >> and God has anointed me.

I can't apologize for it. God has appointed me to be a watchman and he's exposing things to me that I didn't ask. Ezekiel never asked for it. >> AND GOD SAYS, TRAVIS, THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS HE TOLD ME. HE SAID, "TELL MY people to watch what they watch." >> Hear me.

Hear me. Hear me. I don't I don't even want you to clap cuz I'm talking to you, the clappers. You the one I'm talking to. >> There are certain TV shows that need to be sacrificed. one of God. You're praying for your husband to get delivered from porn, but you watch scandal.

It's self porn. It's the same thing. Here's a question. Here's a question. Here's a question. Why are you okay being entertained by adultery? access >> and then you're wondering why temptations. >> Come on. Come on. Come on. Oh, show up. What's the name of the other show? Bridget. >> Bridgetton. >> Come on.

Come on. Yeah. A quiet spirit just swept all the way through the back. They're like, "DON'T COME FOR BRIDGETTON." YES, I AM. HEY, THIS IS AN HONEST QUESTION. THIS AN HONEST QUESTION. THIS IS AN HONEST QUESTION. >> What is it in you >> that is finding enjoyment >> IN THE PORTRAIT OF SIN. >> SEE, IT'S NOT HARMLESS.

IT'S ACCESS. >> And see, now you're wondering, you can't even come to church. COME ON. AND WALK THROUGH THE LOBBY WITHOUT UNDRESSING SOMEBODY. Come on. I know you're in the room and I'm NOT HERE TO JUDGE YOU. I'M HERE TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY HOW THE DEVIL HAS ACCESS.

LISTEN, it is NOT NORMAL. IT'S NOT NORMAL. YOU WENT THROUGH PUBERTY 40 YEARS AGO. IT'S NOT NORMAL TO STILL BE HAVING THOSE DREAMS. >> You waking up in a mess. >> It's funny. It's funny until you recognize that there's demons >> that you're playing with >> in your dream.

How access >> demons, y'all. THIS STUFF IS REAL. >> THEY HAVE ACCESS THROUGH PORTALS. IT'S NOT CASUAL. >> YOUR EAR GATE, WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? YOUR EYE GATES. WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING? >> And you're GIVING THE DEVIL. WHY WOULD YOU TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WATCH wicked >> if YOU DON'T WANT THEM TO BE A WITCH?

COME ON. YOUR FLESH, YOUR FLESH IS FEELING IT. YOUR FLESH is feeling it. >> HOW YOU ANOINTED WORSHIP LEADER AND YOU WATCH SINNERS. How you don't know no scriptures, >> BUT YOU KNEW EVERY SPANISH WORD FROM BAD BUNNY LAST WEEKEND. HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY. ACCESS. >> Why does this matter, Travis?

It's not that big of a deal. It matters. It matters because you're supposed to have more power than you do right now. >> Oh, man. Good to see you, bro. >> You're supposed to have more power. >> Think There should be no one unsaved on your job. >> That should bother you. >> There should be no ONE IN YOUR FAMILY GOING TO HELL.

THAT SHOULD BOTHER YOU. >> There shouldn't be sick people around YOU WHEN THERE'S A PROMISE GIVEN BY JESUS THAT SAID YOU'LL LAY HANDS on the sick AND THEY WILL RECOVER. THAT SHOULD BOTHER YOU, CHURCH. COME ON. I'm done. But we have to turn FROM OUR WICKED WAYS. AND HERE'S THE WORD OF THE LORD.

He says, "I want to elevate you." I feel this. I feel this. Would you stand with me? I'mma land the plane. I feel this. The Lord says he wants to elevate you. But scripture makes it plain in Psalm. It says, "Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord and who can stand in his MOST HOLY PLACE?"

HEAR MY WORDS, LADIES and gentlemen. The Bible says, "Only those with clean hands >> and a pure heart." >> Clean hands. I'm praying about this and I always PRAY. PRAY. I SAID, "GOD, make it plain for me. I got a generation that needs they need it to be practical."

I said, "How do our hands get dirty?" He said, "Easy. Remotes and phones." My baby boy was getting his haircut. And one of the deacons in the church came over, cut his hair. That's what deacons do. They cut They do a lot of stuff. They came over, cut his hair, and he sprayed it with something.

And my son scratched his hair, and then he rubbed his eye. and he started going CRAZY >> and most of the time I'm like go to your mama cuz I don't know what to do but mama was in a meeting upstairs so I just drowned him under some water I was like get under the water and it dawned on me that unclean hands led to unclean eyes. >> Listen, the Lord says I want to take you higher.

I I want this to provoke YOU. I WANT LISTEN, I WANT AN unsettling in your spirit. IT'S TIME OUT FOR YOU COMING TO CHURCH AND JUST LEAVING FEELING GOOD >> about being normal. >> You you you excited cuz you got saved. That's that's >> base level. >> Congratulations. >> It's time for you to be powerful. >> And God says the reason you're not operating in the power you're supposed to because you're trying to share my space with idols. >> What good is it to lay it down here if you're going to pick it up at home? >> Y'all told me to tell you, kill it here and kill it there. >> What does this look like, Travis?

We're out. Listen, this looks like you're making a decision. Ah, thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Radical obedience cannot be delayed. Hear me. When you delay, you will always negotiate with an instruction. >> I never forget, I was I was 20. I was in my early 20s, early 20s.

I was walking. I was at 6 a.m. prayer at the church and I was dating a girl. Everybody thought we was going to get married. I thought we was going to get married. I was dating her and the Lord said, "Pull the brakes on the relationship." I said, "Whoa, what?

THE GIRL'S DOPE." She was a praise dancer. Put the brakes on the relationship. Literally immediately I was like, "Yo, I'm sorry. God told me we had to end it." She's like, "What are you saying? We breaking up? What are you saying?" She had this whole breakdown. It was bad.

It was a bad situation. 2007. I want to say it was around like July 2007. October 2007, I met Jackie. See, you don't know what's on the other side of your obedience. And the devil is trying to convince you that you're losing something by letting go. THESE PEOPLE WANTED TO KILL GIDEON, NOT KNOWING THAT THE IDOLS THEY WERE KEEPING WAS GIVEN ACCESS TO THE MIDIANITES.

THE MIDIANITES DIDN'T HAVE POWER. THE IDOL DID. >> AND WHEN THE IDOLS FELL, THEIR POWER FELL. WHEN THE IDOLS FELL, THEN THE ANGEL ARMY SHOWED UP. THAT'S HOW 300 WAS ABLE TO DEFEAT 120,000 BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T fighting alone. But they would have been. And the Lord told me to tell you, you're losing battles that you're supposed to be winning >> because of the idols, >> come on, >> that you won't release. >> Your heart is beating.

God's speaking to you. It's time to let that person go. >> You don't know who place they're taken up. Here's culture wanted to counsel Gideon. The very man who was sent by God to help liberate them. >> But there's a greater Gideon. His name is Jesus. Gideon was in a wine press threshing wheat.

And he was trying to do manually what the wind would have done naturally. >> But there was a greater Gideon. The first miracle. Jesus turned water to wine. At his last supper, he tells them that the wine represents his blood. And at Calvary, he pours his blood out for us.

And then in Acts chapter 2, the Bible says he sent what sounded like a rushing mighty wind. >> The power of the Holy Spirit. Listen. Listen. You will not be able to release and walk away without his power. >> Yes. >> I know you want to. You got a good heart.

A good heart ain't strong enough to kill an idol. Yeah, >> you got to have the Holy Ghost. >> True. >> The Holy Ghost will be a bouncer for you. >> Once you kick it out, he'll stand for you >> and tell her you can't come back here. >> Telling the Holy Ghost can do so much power that the person who want to text you won't even be able to text you. >> The Holy Ghost can keep temptation from you and keep you from temptation. >> You need his power.

The wind of God. Would you lift your hands for a moment? Thank you, Holy Spirit. And I want you I want you just for a moment to ask him to show you what is it that needs to move out. Who is it that need to move out? Man, oh man.

I warned you. I warned you. This is a move. Hopefully, you took notes. Hopefully, your heart was open to receive a word from God. Listen, something stirred your heart and today you're saying, you know what? I want to give my heart to Jesus. I want to pray a prayer with you.

Very simple prayer. Repeat after me. Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross for my sins. And I believe you got up so I don't have to stay down. Today I receive you as my Lord and my Savior. Change me. I surrender my life to you. I don't just want to be saved by you.

I want to be used by you. And I don't just want to be used by you. I want to be known by you. So you are my Lord. You are King. take over in Jesus name. Amen. I love you. Hey, thank you so much. If you need additional prayer, there are links below.

If you want to give and sew into what God is doing here at Forward City Church, there are links below as well. Um and if you're listening to podcast, you can go to forwardcity.com. forward city.com to be involved with what God's doing here. I love you. We'll see you soon.

God bless you.