Dharius Daniels - Let's Make a Deal

So we’re excited about Matthew chapter 26, verse 27. It says, «Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, you will not drink from the fruit of this vine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.'» When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

I want to conclude this series of teachings at Faith University with this subject and our time together today, family. Here it is: Let’s make a deal! Clap your hands in this house if you’re ready for the word. Family, I want to leap into this lesson today with a question. It’s really a question for your reflection. Here it is: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you agreed to do something in the past, but if you honestly and objectively audited your feelings in the present, you would admit you had hesitancy about executing that agreement? Maybe the people online will be more honest and authentic with me.

In other words, have you ever agreed to do something, be somewhere, or contribute something, and then, when it came time to carry out your commitment, your present self looked at your past self, had an intervention with you, and interrogated you, asking, «What was I thinking?» Okay, I feel some love in this section right here. Have you ever asked yourself, «Why did I say I was going to do this?» You find yourself secretly and silently anticipating some event that will give you a legitimate excuse to back out. «Look, my tire needs a little air.» «Look at your kids, babe. Did you cough? I think you coughed. I’m not going to be able to make it; my baby is coming down with something.»

Listen to me; let me neutralize this notion that if you’ve ever wrestled with that reality, you’re evil. That doesn’t make you evil; it makes you human. It is simply an indication that you are not an eternal God who knows all things, who operates with omnipotence, and who can do all things. Although we should do our best to make our 'yes' mean 'yes' and our 'no' mean 'no, ' and although, as people of faith, we should do our best to keep our commitments, we must also operate within the confines of the revelation and the reality that, as pure as my intentions are at times, and as genuine as I was when I made this commitment, there are some commitments that I make that I can’t keep. Did you hear what I just said?

It doesn’t mean that an individual is indecisive or unreliable; it simply means that there was a degree and dimension of information that I had when I made this commitment in my past that I did not have as I walked into my present. As a consequence of this, are y’all all right? Sometimes humans make commitments they can’t keep. God, on the other hand, does operate with omniscience and omnipotence, so He only says what He means, and He always means what He says. Because He possesses all power, He has the ability to always execute what He agrees on. In other words, while you and I sometimes make commitments we can’t keep, God never makes a commitment that He can’t keep.

We need to remember this revelation when we are wrestling with tough times. Family, watch this. We must find comfort in the consistency and capability of God. We need to regularly remind ourselves of what God can do. We need to remind ourselves, like the Bible teaches, that He’s able to make water come from a rock. What does that mean? It means that, initially, when you observe a rock, it doesn’t look like it contains water. But God is able to get stuff from some things that you didn’t even realize had that potential. He’s able to give you unusual provision from unexpected places. Has anybody ever been in a season of your life when God sent you some water from a rock? He sent you provision from unexpected places.

Yeah, the Bible teaches us He can bring water from a rock. The Bible teaches us He can turn water into wine. What does that mean? It means that He’s able to do something different without giving you something new. I’m going to say that one more time: He’s able to do something different without giving you something new. It means He can do a new thing at an old job. He can do a new thing with the same spouse. Come on now! You can have a different marriage without having to have a different partner. Did you hear what I just said? You can have different impact with the same ability because some of us are underutilizing and underestimating the capability that has been divinely deposited inside of us.

Some of us are like Moses, standing by a Red Sea, feeling overwhelmed and disadvantaged, wanting God to divinely intervene by adding something to us, and God’s like, «I don’t even have to give you anything new to give you a breakthrough, Moses. What’s in your hand?» I’m going to show you how to use something you’ve been walking with and show you how to use it to part Red Seas. I don’t know who this is for today. I wish somebody would talk back to me. But I want you to know that God can do a new thing with an old stick. We should…