Greetings in the invincible name of Jesus Christ our King. I’m so excited and delighted to have this opportunity to share the word of God with you. We’ve got a message today that I really believe is going to penetrate your soul in a definite and powerful way. The message is called “The Grace to be Grounded”. There is a grace that God gives us that stabilizes us, and no matter what we encounter, there are certain values and certain ideas and concepts we never move away from. Let’s get ready to go to the Word of God and watch this.
I’m blessed. Can we settle on that? I’m blessed. Say that. I’m blessed. See, a lot of people can’t settle on that. They think that being blessed is a condition, when in fact, it is a position. I’m blessed. See, if you don’t understand that, there is a grace that God gives you to live, to move, to function. There’s a grace that God gives you. Sometimes there were other people that should’ve gotten the job you got, should’ve gotten the position you got, should’ve got the house she was trying to get, should’ve got the car he was trying to get, should’ve got the man you was trying to get. There are other people who were more qualified to be where you are then where you are right now. But there’s a grace that God has given you that you stepped into a situation.
You got a grace over your life. That’s what blessed means. I’ve got a grace over my life. It makes crooked paths straight, opens up doors, makes ways, is grace over my life. There’s grace over my life. Grace brought me here. Grace brought me to Texas. When the Bible says bless, blessed and grace are interchangeable. Noah was blessed but the Bible says it this way. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. How many of you know you’re walking in grace?
The presence of trouble does not destroy the potential for trials. You have to triumph in the presence of evil and craziness and confusion and all hell breaking loose, and they’re barking at you and they’re trying to destroy you. But because of your focus, I’m still walking in the grace. There’ll be seasons in your life that you’ll show the grace of God by the things he did for you, the doors he opened, the ways he made.
There will be seasons in your life that God’s grace will be proven by the fire you went through. You will prove that there’s a grace over your life because you walked through something that was seven times harder than it ought to have been. In fact, the people who tried to pull you in got burned up in the fire, and there you are walking around in something that should’ve totally incinerated everything around you. Anybody else would’ve lost their mind. Anybody else would’ve had a nervous breakdown. Anybody else would’ve have thrown in the towel. Anybody else would’ve blown their brains out.
And it’s not that you didn’t feel it and it’s not that you didn’t think about it, and it’s not that the enemy didn’t talk to you about it, but every time the enemy was trying to burn you, grace got all around you. Grace got all around you. Grace covered you up. Grace protected you. You are walking in a grace. The fire is everywhere. The bills are everywhere. The sickness is everywhere. The pain is everywhere. But you’re still walking around in it, and you’re walking around in it because you’re walking in the grace of God. Somebody holler, “I’m blessed”. I’m blessed in this fire. I’m blessed in this mess. I’m blessed in this craziness. I’m blessed in this storm.
There are spirits hovering over the top of you trying to attack you right now. And when you speak back and you say, “Blessed is the man”. They’re standing over the top of you with all kinds of conditions. That’s why you can’t live in your condition. You’ve gotta step over into your position and say, “I’m still blessed”. Somebody holler, “Blessed is the man”. So we know that there’s a grace over your life. That’s one thing I want you to know.
Second thing I want you to know is there has to be a guard over that grace. That just because you’re graced doesn’t mean you have to be guarded. You still have to be guarded. The first thing it tells the blessed man is what not to do. It doesn’t tell him what to do before it tells him what not to do. Everybody wants to hear what blessed people do, but the real power is what you don’t do. Grace must be guarded. Say that with me. Grace must be guarded. You’re going into a year where your grace must be guarded. You don’t let everybody into it. You don’t try to pull everybody into it. You don’t try to make them see it. You don’t even tell everybody about it.
Your grace for 2018 has to be guarded. In other words, God said for what he’s getting ready to do in your life, you’re going to have to shut your mouth. Ah, y’all aren’t going to talk to me. I know that’s kind of crude. I know that’s kind of rough. But I got to give it to you just like God has given it to me. Your grace must be guarded. As God begins to open up doors, you can’t say anything. You can’t pick up the phone and call nobody. You can’t put it on Facebook. You can’t put it on Twitter. You can’t put it on Instagram. God is getting ready to open up a secret for you. He’s getting ready to make a way for you. Your grace must be guarded.
Let me prove it to you. Peter was trying to protect Jesus from being crucified. He was ready to fight to protect Jesus from going to the cross. Judas had sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. Peter was trying to save Jesus’ life. Jesus calls Judas his friend. Jesus calls Judas his friend because what Judas did escalated his purpose. Jesus called Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan”. Even though you’re doing a good thing and it feels good to you, it is the counsel of the ungodly because what you’re trying to do does not line me up with my purpose.
So stop telling me what you would do if you were me. You are not me. You could mean well and steer me wrong. For this season in my life, the grace over my life must be guarded. You end up walking in the counsel of the ungodly because the ungodly are often walking in the robe of friendship. I’m going to say it again. The ungodly are often walking in the robe of friendship. They mean well. They’re trying to save you from something that God is trying to take you into, because God doesn’t just use good things to bless you. God often uses storms to bless you. Are y’all hearing what I’m saying today? Sometimes you don’t need to be comforted. Sometimes you don’t need somebody to work it out. Sometimes you don’t need anybody to protect you. Sometimes you just got to get on in the fire and say, “Though he slay me, yet shall I trust him”.
God said, “I don’t want you to walk in the counsel of the ungodly”. I don’t want you to stand in the way of sinners. I don’t want your weakness to be something the devil uses for other people to trip over. Oh, I lost them on that, Jesus. I don’t want you to stand in the way of sinners. Look at somebody and say, “It’s time to clean it up”. Your lifestyle, your character, your tongue, your mood, it’s time to clean it up.
Some of the reasons you’re having a difficult time getting your children to be saved is because they saw too much out of you. The reason the pastor has lost his influence with them, because the kids heard you talking about him. Now they’re in trouble, you want the man of God to pray for him. The kid is confused because they heard you on the phone saying that he was slick and he wasn’t no good. But now they’re in jail, and you want the sleek preacher to come down and pray for. Your habits are standing in the way of sinners. You got to be more disciplined than that.
Whatever you got to do, whoever you got to forgive, whatever you got to climb over, for where God’s getting ready to take you, you can’t afford to be bitter. You can’t afford to be scornful. You can’t afford to get even. You can’t afford to get back at ’em. Just tell the devil it ain’t worth it. Don’t even worry about it. It’s all good. Somebody just wipe your hands like this. Say, “It ain’t worth it”. I gotta wash my hands. I gotta wash my hair. It ain’t worth it. It’s not worth it.
“Blessed is a man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night”. And then he says, “And he shall be like a tree planted”. I’ve got to get this into you. He says, “For what I’m getting ready to do in your life, you must be grounded”. You got to stop trying this, and then trying that, and then trying the other. And then trying this over here, and trying this over here. And then if that don’t work in three months, I’m going to try this over here. Your moving around is canceling your blessing.
The Lord told me to tell you, I’m to tell you whether you get it or not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You’re gonna have to be grounded. You’re gonna have to be grounded in your faith, grounded in your Christian behavior, grounded in the Word of God. You’re gonna have to be grounded. Touch somebody and say, “You got to be grounded”. You’re coming into a season that you got to just stand there and be grounded. You can’t get out of it just ’cause it rains. You can’t get out of it just ’cause it snows. You got to be grounded good times, bad times, winter, spring, summer, or fall. You got to say, “God put me here and I’m not moving anywhere”.
If you’re grounded, give God a praise right now. Run over and tell somebody, “I’m gonna stand right here”. I’m gonna stand right here till the clouds burst. I’m gonna stand right here till the seasons change. I’m gonna stand right here till God opens up the door. I’m gonna stand right here till the prophecy is fulfilled. I’m gonna stand right here till mercy and truth catch up with me. I’m gonna stand right here till my blood pressure goes down. I’m gonna stand right here till my diabetes gets better. I’m gonna stand right here till the yoke is broken. Tell every witch, tell every warlock, tell every spelltor, tell every demon, tell every hex, I didn’t come here to be moved. I’m gonna stand right.
Get somebody by the arm and pull on their arm and say, “You gotta be grounded”. They gonna try to shift you this year. They gonna try to shake you this year. They gonna try to break you this year. They gonna try to move you this year. But this is the year that God said, “All you got to do is be grounded”. Stand there till the door opens. Stand there till the way is made. Stand there till the yoke is broken. This is the grace, the grace, to be grounded. No longer tossed to and fro. Somebody holler, “I ain’t going nowhere”. I came here to get my blessing. I’m not gonna leave till I get my blessing I’m not gonna let you go till you bless my soul. If we got to wrestle all night, if we got to cry, if we got to crawl, I won’t let you go until you bless my soul. I’m grounded.
God said, for being grounded alone, if your feet are “planted in the house of the Lord”. Put that scripture up there. “If my feet are planted in the house of the Lord, God said you will flourish in the courts of our God”. Oh, my God. They don’t hear me. If you’re planted, you’re gonna flourish. If you’re grounded, you’re gonna grow. If you just stand still, God’s going to make it happen. Shake your neighbor and say, “Be still”. Just by being grounded. Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Just be grounded.
Look at somebody and say, “Just be grounded”. Now look at this, I’m almost finished. I’m almost finished because I’m just starting into it, but I’m almost finished of what I’m going to give you tonight. The enemy is trying to fight you off of your ground. He’s after your ground. When the Bible says, “Neither give place to the devil,” it literally means neither give territory to the devil. It literally means stand your ground. He’s after your ground. That means on the deed, it’s yours. Oh, my God. The deed says it’s yours.
Listen to what God told the children of Israel. “I have given you the land to possess it”. Now, if you’ve given me the land, why do I have to possess it? God said, “I have decreed it to you on the deed. It is yours in heaven. You will have to take it in the Earth realm. And the reason you won’t be able to take it in the Earth realm is because it’s yours in the heavenlies”. Oh, you don’t hear what I’m saying to you. Get your faith on, and run over to somebody and tell them, “God, it’s already mine”. The devil don’t know it, but it’s already mine. And the enemy is after your ground. Stand your ground. That’s your son. Stand your ground. That’s your wife. Stand your ground. That’s your business. Stand your ground. That’s your promise. Just because you got conflict doesn’t mean it’s not yours. Just because you got trouble with it doesn’t mean it’s not yours. Just because you’re under attack doesn’t mean it’s not yours. Just because all hell is breaking loose doesn’t mean it’s not yours.
If you’re going to be victorious in 2018, you better hear me real good. God said he’s given you things that don’t even look like they’re yours. There’s gonna to be all kind of enemies gathered around them, trying to convince you that it’s not yours. But the devil is a liar. God said, “Stand your ground”. Slap somebody and say, “Stand your ground”. Let’s confess and say, “Neighbor, I got the grace to be grounded. The enemy tried to shake me. My emotions tried to shake me. My fear tried to shake me. But I got the grace to be grounded. 2018 is my year to possess the land, to possess the promises of God, to possess my blessing”. I wish I had somebody with faith in this place. Open up your mouth and give God a praise.
Listen, regardless of what you’re going through, God wants you to stand your ground. There is a grace that God has given you, and it’s grace to be grounded. God’s grace over your life means you are blessed. Being blessed is not a reflection of your condition, but it is a reflection of your position. Never forget you are a child of the King. This is your season and your fruit.