Bishop T.D. Jakes - Divine Connections

Divine Connections

1 Corinthians 12 (KJV)

14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

- Positionally placed in the body of Christ; baptized by the Holy Spirit

- Condition does not determine position

- Prodigal Son

o Conditions: like swine; in the pit

o “He came to himself” – he remembered who he was; his position

- God has placed us in the body that we might collectively we become the Body of Christ in the world

o We are many members of the body i.e. all the bones in the body, the organs, etc- distinctive, and differential in purpose

o Work together to get things done (function) effectively

- The church building is not the place where the work is done, it is a gas station where refueling is done

o Come in hungry to get someone to pour into you like you are pouring into someone else

o The only number that doesn’t add to the sum total is zero

o You were not saved to sit and watch and listen and be entertained

o “Are you a zero?”

- The church is a corporate body of believers

o Should be interconnected and interdependent; concerted effort

o Many people that come to church never worked well with others

§ They’re spirit is reborn, but their mind has not been renewed

§ They don’t seek how they fit in the body, they want to see how the body can fit them

o You have to conceive your own agenda for corporate use

- House: all stones have individual shapes, colors

o The mason must cut them down so they will fit together

o In the church: individualism, egoism, self-indulgency, cut down to fit on the wall of corporate ministry

o People who can’t get along could not be used: Can sing the paint off the wall, but just as hateful as a pregnant gorilla

- Dysfunctional because they can’t fit in a team

o Personality that refuses to change

§ A cause for marriages to end in divorce – goes real good until they try to be a team; no one is willing to cut off some of their past behavior for corporate results

o Have to willing to be interconnected: fitting means you are going to have to give up something

- You did not come to church to watch; not here to entertain

o You came to get your marching orders, to fill your tank with gas

o You have gone as far as you can go by yourself

o We are better together than we are apart

o You have great facts, but I have the charisma

- Divine connections are important

o “Hook me up, Lord”

- Ezekiel 37 – The Valley of the Dry Bones

o Dysfunctional ßà disconnected

o You cannot function as a wall when you are thinking like a bag of rocks

37:7 - So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

o You got to make some noise – you’re not a politician, say something

o You don’t need me to save somebody. God saved you.

§ You save them then you can bring them to church to be trained and taught

o “The ministry is in the pews – it’s not in the pulpit”

o We need a shaking- we need to stir something up

§ You keep waiting for someone to do something. You are the somebody now.

§ “You the man!”

- Connectivity through relativity

o Bone to his bone – natural flow

o You cannot connect to something you can’t relate to

o You cannot withdrawal where there has been no deposit

§ God will not ask you to deliver something that he has not put in you

o Adam said he didn’t see anything that was meant for him to hook up with, so God put him to sleep and reached into him and drew out

§ “That’s my bone”

- When something is out of place, it produces pain

o Dislocation – you were designed to fit a spot

o The reason you are struggling with your weakness is because you are focused on your weakness. If you find your correct place/purpose, you will focus on something else – that which you were called to do.

- Jesus called busy people – everyone was doing something

o If you are really a Christian, you can’t prove you are a Christian by going to church. You have to function.

o Your gift makes room for you

- God did not send you for me – he sent me for you

- Eph 4

4:11 - And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

o He gave pastors to the people

§ That makes you more important than me, because I am sent to serve you

4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

o My role is to build you up and get you better and stronger, growing

§ It doesn’t matter whether I sweat, spit, jump

§ I don’t have to connect with you culturally to connect with you spiritually

o I wonder who you are that God would give me to you. He took what I had and made it a gift to what you had.

o There are many member in one body: You don’t see them, but they are functioning.

- Your faith is not lived out in this room (the church)

- The enemy knows that we are better together than we are apart

o One can chase a thousand, but two can chase ten thousand

§ He promises exponential growth

- Psalms 133

o “Something’s about to happen in here”

133:1 - Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together ^F364 in unity!

133:2 - It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

o When Aaron was anointed, the oil was poured over him. Linen garments did not absorb the oil.

o God fixed the body like a linen garment because that which fell upon the head would slide onto the body

§ “Let it slide!”

o If you get in your place, everything that God has in store for you is coming your way

133:3 - As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

o God commands a blessing where there is unity; two or three touching and agreeing, God will command a blessing

- It’s not that they don’t have the strength – it’s that the body does not have agreement

o If you don’t commit, you won’t connect

- For all that God has done for you, what have you given back?