Dharius Daniels - There's Something I Need to Say

I want to tag a title to this text and speak on this subject during our time together. There’s something I need to say: clap your hands in here and drop some fire in the chat if you’re ready for God’s word. Last week, family, we started our Advent series that we affectionately titled «Greater.» Somebody say «greater.» We articulated that the word «Advent» comes from the Latin word «Adventus,» which means «coming.» So, the Advent season, the Christmas season, is a time when people of faith celebrate and appreciate the coming of Jesus. Easter Resurrection weekend is when we celebrate His rising; the Christmas or Advent season is when we celebrate His coming down. I want to remind you of something worthy of repetition: the coming, or the Incarnation, of Jesus introduces the possibility of greatness. In other words, Jesus didn’t just come to show us what He could do; He also came to show us what we could do. As a matter of fact, in one conversation with His apprentices, His mentees, His disciples, He said to them, «Greater works shall you do, over and beyond what I have done, because I go to the Father. I and the Father will send the Spirit that empowered Me for greatness to live on the inside of you.» John then puts it this way: because the Spirit that empowered Him for greatness now lives inside of you, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. He didn’t just come to show us what He could do; He also came to show us what we could do. He got up from His grave; we can rise from dead situations. He bounced back from His Judas; we can bounce back from our betrayals and emerge from betrayal better, not bitter. He bounced back—excuse me—he handled His haters to show us that we can handle ours. He overcame His temptations to demonstrate that we can overcome ours. He is a picture of possibility for the believer; he is an example for us—not just ethically but also in the area of possibility. He shows us a powerful picture of greatness, and I am telling you, I am arguing, I am certain that God has not only given us the ability for greatness; He’s also given us the responsibility for it. In Genesis 12:2, God says to Abraham, «I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great.» Watch this: when I do that, you will be a blessing, meaning that your ability to bless others will be determined by your willingness to accept and pursue greatness. Come on! He says, «I’m going to bless you, ” and the blessing—watch this—implanted in you will contribute to your becoming a person of influence. Greatness will be used as a conduit for being a blessing to others. We are not just called to be people of ethics; we are, but we are also called to be people of contribution. God Almighty! We are not just called to live right; we are also called to make the world better. Am I making sense? The enemy is aware of this reality, so he attempts to rob us of the gift of clarity and places us in a jail cell called confusion. He wants us confused and conflicted to the point that we can’t understand that we have been uniquely designed, and our differences are not deficiencies. Our idiosyncrasies are actually assets, and some of our traits are not random or reflective of our wounds but the result of an amazing Creator who customized and crafted us in a certain way because He knows—watch this—what we were made for. Therefore, you need to be careful and conscious about how much credence you give to criticism regarding how you were created when it comes from people who don’t know what you were made for. Did you hear what I just said? We must be careful and conscious about accepting criticism from those who don’t understand our purpose. People don’t have enough information about you to judge you. Some say you are too strong, unaware that what you were made for requires strength. Others say you are too loving, not realizing that your purpose requires you to have unique mercy and empathy, allowing you to enter into the pain and suffering of others. Some of you are accepting judgment from people who did not create you, did not call you, and are not aware of the reason God crafted you the way He did. We must learn to respond to such criticism like David did in Psalm 139:14 when he said, „I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.“ See? You’re not ready! I’m trying to get you delivered from false humility. Yep, I’m trying to get you delivered from religious humility so you can step into true biblical humility. Because right here, religious humility might say this is arrogance; this isn’t God speaking about David.