Dharius Daniels - Get Out of the Way

Here’s the topic of today’s teaching: «Get Out of the Way.» Would somebody put that in the chat right now? Get out of the way! Get out of the way! You know, before I leap into this lesson tonight, before I articulate the essence of what’s on my heart for us, I just want to share something with you that recently interrupted my thoughts. I was reflecting on and preparing for this Thrive teaching, and then this thought hit me. I want to see if it resonates with some of you. Here it is: Family, they will not be passionate about pursuing the path if they are not convinced of the promise. You see, in this series, we’re discussing paths to what we call the blessed life, right? Last week, we talked about the importance of discerning and dismissing counsel, advice, or influence that may come from good people but is simply not godly. Got me? Okay, if you’re following me, say yes. Here it is; we’re going to cover some other areas tonight, but I had this epiphany, and I feel like it warrants my faithfulness to it, leaning into it, and drilling down on it, family. Here it is: We can talk about all of the paths, all the things we should do, and all the things we shouldn’t do. But here it is: People will not passionately pursue the path if they are not convinced of the promise. Before I leap into the essence of what I’m trying to articulate tonight, I need to ensure we are convinced of the legitimacy of what God promises. In Psalms 1, verse 1, the first word is «blessed.» Now watch this; I need you to lean in here because I am convinced that many are not sure that God desires for His people not just to receive sporadic expressions of generosity—not that we’re just blessed periodically. It is, I believe, God’s divine design that His people live in a blessed state. Did you hear what I just said? It is one thing to have a blessed season; it’s another thing to have a blessed state. It is one thing to experience blessing periodically; it’s another thing to walk in blessing consistently. I think, in an attempt for believers to avoid falling into greed, to avoid self-worship, and to avoid self-centeredness, they have swung the pendulum all the way over to the other side. We say things like, «It’s not about the blessing.» Of course, it’s not about the blessing, yet at the same time, if God uses the word «blessed» to describe the state He designed His people to live in, I want it. I want to know: Am I talking to anyone right now tonight, or if you’re watching this whenever you choose, who wants what God wants for you? If that’s you, put in the chat, «I want it now!» Come on! So, I’m telling you there are two groups of people right now who are listening to what I’m saying. One group is saying, «Dr. Darius, I’m pretty much convinced of this. I think I’m convinced of it biblically; I see it theologically.» But then there are others who might be attempting to overcome some ideological or theological hurdles here because you have issues with accepting the fact that God wants to bless. Did you hear what I just said? See, I need you to get that. I want that to be a conviction on the inside of you. I’m going to tell you what happened. I taught a little bit about this on Sunday. What happens in Christian spaces very often is that many Christians live in extremes. That’s what happens. Many Christians' belief systems are simply formed in reaction to an extreme. They see something that’s extreme in some area, and then they form a belief system or construct a theology that reacts to that and end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Come on, right? So you have one extreme—what we will call prosperity theology—and some people, in reaction to that, swing the pendulum all the way to the other side and operate in poverty theology. When something is biblical, for the most part, there’s going to be a degree of nuance and balance. Somebody put «balance» in the chat: balance! I think when you consider the ultimate expression of godliness in human form—a man named Jesus—that’s what He was: He was balanced. So here’s the truth: You cannot read Scripture objectively. It doesn’t matter what teacher you don’t like; it doesn’t matter what assumptions a person may make about what you believe based on this reality. You cannot read the Bible objectively and not clearly see that God desires to bless His people. Let me prove it to you. I’m going to prove it to you. You remember I taught you something before called the law of first mention, right? So let’s look at the book of Genesis, and we will see God’s interaction with His creation. In Genesis chapter one, verse 22, you’re going to see something extremely significant. Family, watch this now: this is God’s interaction with the first human beings, Adam and Eve. So this is right after creation, or during the creation narrative. This is one of the first things God does with them after He creates them. Genesis 1:22—I want you to see this.