Welcome to Supernatural Saturday.
I'm so glad that you joined us today.
And this is the time of the week where we all gather, regardless of whether you're in
phase one, two, three, whether you're in some other type of program with us.
This is where we all gather together on Saturdays to look to the Lord.
What are we looking to the Lord for?
We're wanting to know what's going on in that other dimension that we call heaven.
I know a lot of people think heaven is just up and it is beautiful up there.
Look up there and see the clouds.
And you know, when I was a kid, I always thought heaven was the cloud world, right?
I wasn't particularly religious.
I wasn't being raised in faith.
And I looked up and I knew I'd heard of heaven, obviously.
And you look up and you see the clouds, especially on a beautiful blue sky day with just some
white fluffers.
And you're like, oh, hey, yes, that's heaven.
Heaven's up there.
And, you know, sitting on a cloud all day for eternity did not sound like a good time
to me.
So I wasn't particularly trying to go to heaven because it sounded kind of boring.
But now we know, because we're older and we're people of faith, that heaven isn't up.
It's actually all around.
It's all around you.
Heaven is in a dimension that's just out of sight for a lot of people.
I do know people who get little glimpses into that other realm, into that other dimension.
I myself have taken a sneak peek every so often it happens, whether it's in a dream,
whether it's in a vision.
You know, the Bible says that we will have dreams and we will see visions.
I'm just following Holy Spirit right now because this is not what Supernatural Saturday is
going to be about today.
But I do think that God wants us to be more aware of the supernatural.
I think that we dumb ourselves down.
We live so much of our life in our fleshly bodies.
I mean, obviously we're in our bodies, but we live so much of our life after our flesh.
Let's talk about that concept for a second.
The Bible says that life in the spirit is peace, right?
If you live your life after the spirit, that's where you're going to find peace.
That's shalom peace, that peace that devours chaos.
But when we live our life just carnally in the natural, and there are some things that
you're going to do carnally in the natural every single day.
I know people that try to be in the spirit all day long, and there's some weirdos, okay?
Gotta bless them, love them.
Being around them is really hard though, because they over-spiritualize everything, everything,
you know?
It's like, they're like, oh, and I'm like, nah, I don't think that was anything spiritual
from my friend.
He's like, look at that bird.
I'm like, yep, it's a bird.
It's a bird.
I do have a funny story about a bird though.
You guys, this is a supernatural story, thank you, Holy Spirit.
So we live in a country, we live on a long winding road that just leads to the concrete
jungle.
There's a city one mile away, but it feels like you're in the country out here, and it
is a long winding country road that leads to our house.
And sometimes that road takes forever, because it's so windy, and you feel like you're never
gonna make it up to the main street to get to the city.
And on that long and windy road, David and I are driving, just a few days ago, there's
a cardinal.
There's, you guys, we have lots of cardinals out here in Austin, Texas, lots of cardinals
by where we live.
And there's a cardinal, and he's just sitting, just as pretty as you please, in the middle
of the road, just sitting there.
And as we get closer, and my husband's big F-150, it doesn't move, and I'm like, oh no,
oh no.
And so David will attest to you that every time we are together on this long winding
country road, this road's longer than a mile that goes to our house, I always say to him,
please be careful, please drive slower, please do not run over any teenage squirrels, please.
These teenagers are out in the road, they're playing in the road, you know, do not run
over anything, because I just cannot live, I will pass away if we hit an animal, okay?
You can't do it.
And so this red cardinal is just sitting in the road.
So David, he, you know, he puts his wheels of the truck, like, on either side of it,
and just, he runs over it, but, you know, it's in the middle of the wheel bed.
So it doesn't, I look back in the rear view, and it's still just sitting there.
And I'm like, what the heck?
I was like, that bird must not be alive.
So we go home, we were going home to get something, we're leaving again, we come back by maybe
30 minutes later, it's still there.
And no one else has squished it either.
And so I'm like, oh, and then I just prayed this prayer, you guys, because I cannot handle
smushed animals.
I'm like, Lord, when we get back, please let that bird be gone.
Please do not.
let it be a pancake on the road.
I don't know what's wrong with it.
Maybe it's already dead.
Maybe it's, you know, turned to stone.
I don't know what's going on with it.
So I pray this prayer.
When we come back on the road later on,
couple hours later, it's gone.
But you guys, I heard the other part of the story yesterday
from my niece.
My niece lives here now.
You know, we have a couple rentals on our property
and they're all rented out by sweet, young Christian girls.
One of them happens to be my niece.
So my niece is with us last night
and I don't know how it comes up,
but somehow this bird in the road comes up.
She says, oh yeah, there was a red bird in the road.
And I was like, yeah.
I was like, did you see that?
She goes, no, but Laura, this other girl that runs for me,
she said, Laura told me a story about this bird.
And I was just like, what story did she tell you?
She said, she said she was driving down our road
and she saw this red bird in the road
and she didn't know what was wrong with it.
So she got out of her car and she said,
she pled the blood of Jesus over it
and commanded it to be healed in Jesus' name
and it flew away.
You guys, in between my prayer of God,
don't let that bird get squished.
Please God, when we get back here, let that bird be gone.
Laura comes, she comes down the road,
she sees the bird, she gets out,
she takes it one step further
and she prays for the bird in Jesus' name
and the bird flies away.
Guys, this is a true story.
You can't make this stuff up.
How much is happening in the spirit realm all around us
and we really don't even know about it?
I would have never found out about that.
All I knew was the bird was gone.
For all I knew, it really was dead
and a hawk just swooped down and got it
and just ate it and took it off
because there's so many hawks out here.
But no, God let me find out the rest of the story.
And so I just declaring that over us this morning,
this is not where I intended to go on Supernatural Saturday
but that's what makes Saturday supernatural.
I want God to help all of you see the rest of the story.
What's the rest of the story?
What is it?
What is the rest of the story?
I want him to open your eyes
like that story in the Bible of the prophet
who was surrounded by the enemy.
You guys, the enemy had surrounded the prophet
because they were coming after him.
You know that, right?
The enemy had surrounded the city
because they were coming after the prophet.
Have you read this story?
The king had sent his armies to surround the city
to get the prophet and the prophet sends his servant.
No, the prophet asks for God to open the eyes of his servant
because his servant is scared.
Dude is weak in the knees.
He's shaken in his boots as most of us would be.
The reason why the prophet wasn't shaking in his boots
is because he could see
that what had him surrounded was surrounded.
The army that was surrounding him
was nothing compared to the army that was surrounding it
sent by God to protect him.
How far will God go to protect one person?
I will say this, God has said to me many a time
and unfortunately I still don't believe him
because I'm continuing to try to have faith for this.
I'm continuing to try to believe that God loves me this way.
You guys, this is a journey, okay?
It's not a situation where you're just gonna wake up one day
fully acclimated, fully actualized in your faith.
Your faith is tried.
Our faith is stretched.
That's how it becomes gold.
That's how it becomes precious.
So anyway, God says to me frequently,
he said, oh, Jackie, I just wish you knew.
I wish you knew how protected you were
because you guys, I deal with a lot of stuff.
A lot of stuff happens and then I start worrying about it.
I started going down all those little rabbit bunny trails
of all the bad things that can happen,
all the bad what ifs and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.
And God's just like, oh, I just really wish you knew
how safe you are, how protected you are, right?
But this prophet knew, this prophet knew
because he could see.
He could see what God sent to protect him.
But you know who couldn't see?
His servant, his servant, his servant.
His servant couldn't see.
And so he prayed for his servant
that God would open his eyes and he did.
And he opened his eyes and he showed the servant,
the great hosts of heaven,
the armies and chariots of fire
that were surrounding the armies of man that had come.
come to do the prophet harm.
And so Father, I just pray that prayer over your people, over
myself right now, that you would open our eyes and we would be
able to see your protection.
We'd be able to see your provision, Lord.
We would be able to see that there are more with us than
there are with them.
We declare that right now.
We receive that right now.
We believe that right now, Lord, in Jesus name.
So how many times, friends, how many times has something
supernatural been happening alongside the natural thing
that you think is happening?
I think there's a bird in the street, but alongside of that,
there is a supernatural miracle that kind of took place, right?
With one of our, not housemates, but landmates, one of the
people that lives over here on the property.
And I think that that's just an incredible story.
And I do know this for sure.
When you're looking for the supernatural, you will find it.
When you're open to something beyond just what's happening
in this fleshly, carnal, two-dimensional world, you will
find it.
You will.
There's always a why behind the what.
Don't you believe that?
There's always a why behind the what.
And I think what happens, and you guys, I experienced this
as a young woman, when I was in my 20s and I met Jesus and
I had that radical conversion experience, I was then placed
in a church.
God then led me to a church to, you know, get rooted and grounded
and get discipled.
But I was so on fire, as they say, for God.
I was so excited about the kingdom.
I was so excited about the message.
I was such an evangelist.
I was so excited about the love of Jesus.
And I couldn't understand why all of the older people, people
that would be the age I am now,
why they just seem so bored.
I got to be honest with you.
I wasn't in judgment of them, but I was confused.
Why aren't you excited?
You're so excited.
This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to us.
Wow, Jesus, the greatest thing that's ever happened to us.
And I was so excited about the kingdom and I was so excited
about bringing people into the kingdom and I was such a soul
winner.
I was such a soul winner.
Guys, I think just even that summer that I received Jesus,
I won like 11 to 13 people to the Lord.
Just that summer.
And I don't consider myself particularly an evangelist, like
in the office of an evangelist.
But you know, you talk about what you're excited about.
You talk about what you love, right?
And you guys know I can talk.
So, and I will tell you that at least eight or nine of those
people were homeless people.
You're like, what?
Because I worked at the homeless shelter.
That's where I worked.
And so I would drive the church van over and pick up a bunch
of homeless people and bring them to church.
And you know, some of those homeless people got lots of
deliverance from different things that were happening in
their lives and got back on the right track.
Lots of exciting things happened.
But the main point of what I'm trying to say is that I wondered
why the other people, the people that were 25 years older than
me, which is how old I am now, the people in their 40s and
50s and 60s, why they seemed, you know, not so excited.
And the reason why is because life happens fast, doesn't it?
You get bogged down by what is the Bible talk about?
The cares of life.
If you read the parable of the sower, which all of you should
have read in my book, The Heart Work.
If you didn't read it in the Bible, then you should have read
it in my book, The Heart Work, when you did your heart work
in this program.
That story, that parable, really changed my life because you
see that the seed is always good.
The Word of God is always good.
There's nothing wrong with the seed.
The seed has everything that it needs to bear great fruit in
your life, in my life, right?
And what is the seed?
The seed is the good news.
The seed is the gospel.
The seed is the finished work of Christ.
That's what it is.
You guys, the seed is not the Greek and Hebrew.
The seed is not something that's above your pay grade.
The seed is not something that you cannot understand, that only
theologians can understand.
That is not the seed.
The seed is Jesus.
The seed is Christ and him crucified and rose again for you
and as you, and as you.
That's important.
You guys, yes, he died for you and as you, but he also rose
again for you and as you.
Please get a hold of the rose again part.
Please get a hold of that.
The Bible says, it says in Scripture that if we're willing
to die with him, then we will die with him.
will also be resurrected with him.
And that doesn't mean someday in heaven.
That if we suffer with him,
we can also be glorified with him.
Do you hear me?
Do you hear what I'm saying?
A lot of people are willing to suffer,
but they're not willing to be glorified.
Can we meddle a little bit this morning?
We're willing to suffer with Christ.
We're like, oh, this life is suffering.
And you know what?
There is a lot for sure.
Some of it we just bring upon ourselves though.
Like we're suffering needlessly.
We're suffering.
We're suffering because we've chosen to suffer,
because we've chosen to be negative,
because we've chosen to be a victim and all the things.
I don't wanna get into that right now,
but glorified with him.
So that's the seed.
The seed is the understanding of that.
The seed is the revelation of that.
And it says that the sower has gone out to sow the seed.
And in the parable,
it talks about different types of ground
that the seed falls on.
And that ground is likened in the parable to our hearts,
to our hearts, to the hearts of humankind.
And it says that some seed falls out of the margins.
It falls on the wayside,
falls on the hard and fallow ground.
And it just doesn't penetrate.
It gets trampled.
What's it getting trampled by?
It's getting trampled by life.
Right?
It's getting trampled by life.
And then other seed falls on some soil that,
you know, it's okay.
It gets in, but it's kind of rocky soil.
And so the roots don't get in deep.
These are kind of those beliefs
about the finished work of the cross
that don't get in deep.
They can't take deep root.
You kind of believe them.
You kind of don't believe them.
You believe them on a good day.
You don't believe them on a bad day.
This rocky soil got rocks in our hearts.
What's the rocks come from?
Hurt, disappointment, bad experiences.
We kind of believe we're back and forth,
we're back and forth, we're double-minded.
And then there's the thorny soil,
the soil where, you know, it gets in,
but then these other things grow up alongside of it
and choke it out.
And that's the cares of life soil.
That's where it is overcome with cares of life,
with all of the cares of this life.
And this life has many cares.
And that's why Jesus said,
cast your care upon me because I care for you.
And that's what your Jesus Cares Board is all about.
Did you guys know that we did some renovations here
last year?
I'm ashamed to admit this,
but we did some renovations here last year.
When I turned 50, my kids bought me,
my family bought me a sauna, okay?
And there's a little alcove in my house
where the sauna fit perfectly.
So we've stuck it in that little hole.
The problem was, is that little hole
was where I did some praying
and that's where my Jesus Cares Board lived.
It lived on the wall there.
And so during that renovation,
the Jesus Cares Board got rolled up and it got put away.
And then I forgot to bring it back out.
I forgot to bring it back out.
So for over a year, you guys,
my Jesus Cares Board has been out of sight and out of mind.
But can I tell you that I found it the other day?
I had company coming for my son's wedding.
I was doing some cleaning.
I was doing some organizing
and I found my Jesus Cares Board.
I'm like, oh, my Jesus Cares Board.
And I opened it up
and I looked at all the Post-it notes that were on it.
And do you guys know that there were at least
three or four Post-it notes that I can take off of it now
because God has resolved those things.
And one of the Post-it notes that was on there
just said, Willow.
I had been praying for my niece
because she had been really struggling
and really having a hard time and really crashing out.
She's 20 years old.
And guess who now lives on my property
underneath my wing in my care and in our community,
my niece, Willow, of her own volition.
That wasn't even on the radar a year ago
when I put her on my Jesus Cares Board.
And that's something that has happened.
So I want to let you know
that casting your care upon Him works,
continuing to allow Him to work in these situations
in your life that you cannot fix.
So back to the ground.
The thorns, the cares of life, they come.
The weeds, they come.
And they choke out.
They choke out the fruit.
They choke it out.
They don't choke out the belief.
The belief is there.
They're choking out the fruit of that belief
because that belief isn't able to grow up
and mature inside of you.
And then there's the good ground.
The good ground that is, you know why it's good?
Because it's.
being taken care of.
That place in your heart where you're doing your heart work,
you're taking care of the rocks of the disappointments,
the discouragement, you're casting the cares upon Jesus.
You're getting rid of the thorns and the weeds.
That's the reason why it's good.
A lot of times people might read a parable like that
and be like, oh, my heart's just not good.
You know, I've got good soil, I'm not good soil.
No, you don't get good soil.
All of you that are gardeners, you know this.
You don't just get good soil, you make it good.
You don't.
You go outside and you pick a patch and you till it
and you plow it and you prune it.
Do you not?
I'm not a gardener, but I've seen people garden
and I know that that's what they do.
So you can have good soil, you can be good ground or seed.
And here's what should excite you
about what I'm saying right now.
Because remember, this is not even
what Supernatural Saturday was gonna be about.
Holy Spirit hijacked us and I love it when he does this.
I love it.
Because we know that we're getting a ray of my word
from heaven.
We're getting something hot off the press right now.
We're getting something hot out of the oven right now.
Bread of life out of the oven.
But what should excite us about this
is that the seed is the seed.
It's not, oh, there's seed for me and there's seed for you
and our seed is different.
Oh, you got the better seed and I got the lesser seed.
I got the inferior seed.
No, the seed is the seed.
It is about the quality of the heart.
It's about the ability to receive.
That's what it's about.
The seed is the seed.
There's scripture in the Bible and I write about it
in the heart work.
Out of the quality of your heart
will come the quality of your life.
Right?
So how much bigger could we be living?
How much better could we be living
if we will just mind our hearts?
How much of the deceptive heart are we still living in?
How much of the broken hearts,
how much of the unredeemed hearts
still runs the show in our lives?
Cause Jeremiah says the unredeemed heart can't be trusted.
It's wicked.
And I don't mean you guys like,
oh, sinful when you're out doing only fans or I don't,
listen, I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about, it is opposed to God.
You remember how mind, will, and emotions
is interchangeable with the idea of heart in the Bible?
Well, the Bible says that the carnal mind,
so you can put heart there,
the carnal heart is the enemy of God.
It's the enemy of the supernatural.
So how much of our boring carnal lives
that are full of care and full of worry
and full of problems
are just a product of us not surrendering to heart work?
Cause we can't do it on our own, you guys.
You can't just get out like you can
outside on a patch of ground.
Can't just get out the rotor tiller.
I remember growing up,
going out to the country in Tennessee
to visit my grandparents for the summer.
And my grandpa would always be out bush hogging.
Bush hogging, all right?
My grandparents, they're both in heaven right now,
but I'm telling you what,
old country folk are the best.
The food's the best.
The language is the best.
I mean, these people were from straight up California,
straight up, OC California.
But as soon as they moved to Tennessee in midlife,
they become as country as a turnip green.
How?
I don't know.
How can you be from California
and move to Shelberville, Tennessee
and turn into a country bumpkin?
I don't know, but they did.
I promise you, I get on the phone with them.
I talk with them on the phone.
I get off the phone and I was full blown country.
Their accents were so strong that I was getting off
and talking about going down to the yawn board
and talking about going down to the yawn board.
Getting off and talking about going down to the yonder
and doing this and doing that.
How do you get an accent that quick?
Right?
My grandpa used to always say,
shoo, wait, shoo, wait.
But he was always out bush hogging.
And I wish that we could do that.
to our hearts. I wish we could just run a bush hog. If you don't know what that is,
it's like a plow and till and tractor thing that just takes out all the rough places out there.
You know, we can't. But we could ask Holy Spirit to come and bush hog us.
Come on. You guys, it's spring right before summer. This is pruning season.
Isn't it? Isn't this time, depending on where you live geographically and what the weather's like,
this is the time when people are preparing to plant. Some people already have because it's
warmer and it's been ready. But other people just coming out of the rainy season, coming
into the season where it's time to plant. It's time to prepare the ground and plant.
And so, Lord, we just thank you, God, that you have great things for us.
And we cannot fix our hearts ourselves. But you can highlight, you can reveal and heal
things that need to be released, things that need to be forgiven, things that need to be let go of.
You can do that because we want to have fruitful lives. We want to have fruitful summer. We want
to have a fall harvest of peace and joy and love and provision and all the things, Lord, that are
contained at the finished work of the cross that you're not holding out on us. You've never been
holding out on us. We've just not really been able to receive it, really been able to conceive it,
Lord. We haven't been able to conceive it, have you conceive it inside of us and allow it to
develop and be birthed. And so, Lord, we're asking whatever's cutting it off, whatever's
aborting it, Lord, whatever's happening in that process, we're asking God that you would heal us,
that you would help us. Whatever's keeping us in the carnal and not living in the supernatural,
where there's life and peace, Lord, we're asking that you would help us, Lord.
Don't let us be old and jaded. Don't let us be more focused on disappointment.
Don't let us be focused more on the natural than the supernatural, Lord. Help us to understand
that we are spirits living in bodies. We are spirits, Lord. First and foremost, we are spirits,
Lord, not bodies. So help us to live after the spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, friends, that was a really great little detour this morning. You have noticed a
lot of negativity. I've noticed a lot of negativity, and I know it's so easy, you guys, I'm
not judging. It's so easy. I have to catch myself. I've had a few things happen. I told you guys that
it seemed like it's just one thing after another. Right now, all of the pipes in my first house are
backed up, the showers, the sinks. We have no idea what's happening. The plumber's coming.
A few days earlier, there was a lot of rain here, and because it does not rain like this in Texas,
we've gotten very unusual rain this year. The house started leaking everywhere. Leaks everywhere,
you guys. Leaks in the ceiling. The windows started leaking. Everything started leaking.
Now, this week, the pipes are all backed up in the house where the girls live.
It's like, it's easy to say, ugh, right? Get negative. Man, this always happens,
just one thing after another. I don't understand. I'm such a good person. I help other people. I do
stuff for people all the time. Why does this always happen to me? This isn't fair. You can
say all kinds of crazy stuff, right? Here's the good news, friends. For those of you that do a
lot of things for other people, you're not earning your blessings. God doesn't owe you
just because you help others. I know because I help a lot of people.
He doesn't owe us. He doesn't. That's not how it works.
But I believe what you help make happen for others, God does for you,
because it's just a reciprocation. The Bible says,
Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down and shaken together,
will men give it into your bosom. And you guys, at some point in time,
we just have to decide that we believe the Word of God.
We just have to decide that we believe the Word of God. We just come into alignment with the Word
of God. We come into agreement with the Word of God. Everyday circumstances, everyday things
that are happening that you don't like are going to be vying for your agreement.
your agreement in what in that oh poor little you right your agreement and oh
nothing's ever gonna change your agreement of I just can't do this
anymore and I just don't understand and why does this always happen to me and I
just give up right these are all familiar and I've seen a lot of you
posting this kind of stuff I've seen you posting it in our groups I've seen you
posting it on your personal pages I've seen you posting it on my Instagram in
the comments
I've seen it and that's why I wanted to focus this morning before Holy Spirit
took us a whole different direction and I'm so glad he did because friends part
of part of what's happening is we're living in the natural and not the
supernatural we're forgetting that all around us because in the natural you're
not liking what's going on right things are not going your way things are not
going according to your plan in the natural and I get it I live there too
you guys but all around us there's another dimension there's another
reality and this is what Supernatural Saturday is all about there's another
reality so when this stuff is happening in the natural what we should be doing
and what we always forget to do is ask God okay God I see what's happening here
but what are you doing what are you doing what's happening in this other
realm that I cannot see except every once in a while little glimpses of what
are you doing and you might get a direct answer you might have a dream I have a
vision you might have a knowing you might have a thought or you might just
have peace it's alright I got you it's okay it's gonna be okay you don't got to
worry about this remember what God told me at the beginning of the year he said
Jackie he said I don't want you worrying this year he said if you can control it
control it and if you can't give it to me I would love to tell you that I've
done this this year this year is half over I'd love to tell you that that's
what I've done but I can tell you what I've done is I've worried about every
single thing that I haven't been able to control why did God tell me that at
the beginning of the year because he knows me do you guys know how much more
I could have accomplished by June of 2026 had I not spent so much time and
energy and bandwidth on worry
I mean I'm a doer I could have gotten a lot done
but I couldn't get a lot done because I was draining my battery with worry about
things that I cannot control anyway anyone else rode that boat anyone else
anybody had just me I thought it was a female thing for the most part but
right you guys the heart has to get not only into alignment but it has to get
into a place of protection one thing I've said a lot and I don't think a lot
of people listen to me but I'm gonna say it again if you're a deeply feeling
person if you're an empathic or empathetic person that is your nature
you cannot take on the cares of this world not yours and not other people's
and I'm specifically talking about social media one scroll will show you
all kinds of people suffering and hurting and all kinds of calamity
happening and all kinds of stuff yesterday last night I was scrolling
mindlessly and I immediately came upon some girl in Nashville Tennessee where I
don't even live asking for people to be looking out for her cousin who went to
the Bonnaroo music fest and now has come up missing y'all this is not on my
watch it isn't just cuz I'm a Christian just cuz I'm an intercessor of course I
did say a prayer for him but the thing is is that it really affected my nervous
system why because I have young people in my life this young man's age I have
children all three of my children my son-in-law's my daughter-in-law all the
people my nieces my nephews what does it cause me to do it caused me to worry
about something I can't control
Am I right?
Who should see that girl's post?
The people in her community, the people in her family, the people that this affects,
the people that can actually come alongside this family in real life.
I'm not saying you never, ever pray for people that you don't know, but if you are scrolling
social media, you will very soon be overwhelmed if you're an empath or an intercessor by the
needs and by the trials and tribulations and catastrophes and afflictions of others.
And the problem is, is that once you start clicking on stuff like that, that's all your
algorithm is going to show you.
Just pray.
Pray for people that you don't know as God lays them on your heart.
But in this situation, all it was doing was creating havoc in my nervous system, right?
So the heart, as it's healing, as we're allowing God to reveal it and heal it, as we're doing
heart work, as we're getting to a place where we are able to really get it prepped with
the help of Holy Spirit for that good seed to get in there, to get in there deep, to
get deep roots and to bear fruit, we got to protect it.
Does she protect your garden?
I know my mother-in-law does.
My mother-in-law sitting with a shotgun on her front porch, ready to kill any varmint
that tries to get in her garden.
I've never seen a woman hate animals as much as my mother-in-law because she does not want
them eating her garden, her flowers, her stuff that she has spent so much time planting and
nurturing and growing.
But we do, we build fences around our gardens, right?
We put boundaries and borders around our gardens.
Same with your heart.
If you know something's not good for your heart, if you know something causes you a
lot of pain and a lot of stress because of the way that you're built, because of the
way that you're made up, stop doing it.
Stop doing it.
You're valuable.
Your heart is valuable.
Stop giving your heart to people who are just stomping on it, to immature people, people
who cannot value you.
Stop giving your heart to those people.
That's a word for someone.
And I'm not just talking about in romance, I'm talking about in friendship.
Just so you know, Supernatural Saturday today was going to be a hybrid about praise and
friendship and now we're all over the place and that's fine with me.
But a lot of you, you either don't have friends because you don't know how to make friends.
You're not friendly.
You don't understand friendship.
You've never really had true friends in your life or the people that you did have in your
life betrayed you, hurt you, left you, abandoned you, whatever.
And now you just really don't trust people.
One of those things is true.
And then others of you have a lot of good time friends, people that are there when you're
laughing and you're fun, but are never there for you when you're going through anything.
You're a giver, maybe a toxic giver that has surrounded yourself with lots of takers because
that's what happens.
Givers attract takers.
That's a true story.
And if you don't have boundaries, you're going to look up in your life and see that you are
surrounded by a lot of people that expect you to overfunction.
They expect you to do everything.
You're the person initiating.
You're the person calling them.
You're the person making plans.
You're the person that's holding the friendship, if you want to call it that, together.
Just so you know, by definition, that is not what a friend is.
That's an acquaintance.
That's an associate.
We used to say that back in the day.
Back in my street days, we used to say, that's not my friend.
That's an associate of mine.
As if we all had small businesses on the street.
I think it's a drug dealer term, honestly.
And because of the foster care situations that I lived in, I was around a lot of folks
like that.
I know it's hard to picture me, Jackie D., in those environments.
But trust me, I was there.
I was there.
But even the street folk, they know the difference between a friend and an associate.
And you know why they know the difference?
Because friends will take a bullet for each other in that economy, in that environment.
You don't just give someone the label of friend lightly.
A friend is someone who's got your back for real, for real.
You hear me?
And it's important that we know that because that should be our definition of friends too.
Yes, we're not in gangs, we're not on the street.
I got it.
That's fine.
But if gangs on the street know this, then we should know this too, that a friend is
someone who's got your back for real, for real.
And you're probably not going to have a lot of those people in the course of your life.
That type of friendship, it's not abundant.
You don't need quantity, you need quality.
And here's the thing, even if you have a friend like that, maybe someone you've known all
your life, we call them your ride or die, you know, that person, maybe two people at
the most, three, went to grade school, high school, college together, you know, you've
been friends, not just in theory, but in real life, you've done life together.
That's beautiful.
That's amazing.
And most of the times we meet those people for a reason during a certain season, right?
And those are the people that can cause us the worst treason too.
That person, if one of those people betrays you, that's hard to get over.
If one of those people does you dirty, stabs you in the back, is a Judas, that's going
to be hard.
But friendships are for reasons and seasons and treasons, and you will have those.
And just because it happens doesn't mean that you're exempt from friendships, that you don't
have to make friends anymore, that you don't have to trust anybody anymore.
Because I'm going to tell you right now, I've noticed that a lot of you are waiting for
your quote unquote person to show up, your spouse, your spirit mate.
And as soon as they show up, you just think you guys are just going to go down a hole
together and just be happy for the rest of your lives, just fat, dumb and happy for the
rest of your lives.
And that's just not the way this works.
God did not create you for a person, he created you for people.
And so for those of you that are waiting for your person because you're lonely, it's not
going to solve that problem.
One person cannot fulfill all of your relationship needs.
Please write that down.
I'm going to say that till I'm blue in the face.
I've said it before, I'm going to say it again.
One person, I don't care if they're the best spouse, the best partner, they cannot fulfill
all of your relationship needs.
They cannot.
And if you expect them to, you're going to overwhelm them.
It's going to be a toxically codependent relationship where one or both of you are going to feel
like you're not getting what you need and be very unhappy.
Do you got me?
You listening?
So even if you have one of those ride or dies, in different seasons of your life, that person
is not all you need.
I know that they're your best friend from childhood.
I know that they know you better than anybody else, but they might not have the tools or
the information or the wisdom to help you navigate whatever you're going through right
now.
You know who God may bring on the scene for that?
A new friend.
And if you're so loyal to old friendships just because they've been around the longest
and because they've been there for you, you're going to shoot yourself in the foot.
Because they don't have what you need.
They don't have what you need.
There's new people that have what you need.
Oh, but, but, but, but, I just have a best friend and I don't, you know, I'm loyal to
my best friend.
Well, that's silly.
You used to be friends with your best friend.
If they're not holding you back, here's the other problem.
For people who have had, you know, relationships that happened for reasons and seasons, like
say you were both moms or dads when your kids were playing t-ball or something and you became
friends and now you're still trying to drag them with you where you're going in life even
though they're going a different direction.
Your paths have diverged.
Yes, you walk together during a season because you're on the same road, but now you're on
a different road and you continue to try to drag them over to your road or vice versa
and you guys, that's not the way to do it.
The way to do it is to bless that season of your life, to be thankful for that friendship
and for all the good things that you shared during that season and to make new friends.
I moved away from Ohio.
I don't live there anymore.
I haven't lived there in eight years.
Guess where my best friend lives in Ohio.
I still love her.
We still talk occasionally on the phone, but it would be a mistake for us to try to be
each other's person, each other's best friend in this season of life because she needs people
in person that are in proximity to her.
Now if things really go south and it's bad...
situation, you know, she knows that I'm going to be there for her.
She knows that she can call me.
I'm her friend that she can call, that's going to pray for her, the friend that knows her
really well, that's going to give her really wise advice if she gets herself backed into
a corner and vice versa.
We know that we're that person for each other.
But I'm not her 2 a.m. friend.
I can't come running at 2 a.m.
I don't live in Ohio.
I'm not her every day have fun, go shopping, laugh, fun friend because I don't live there.
Do you see what I'm saying?
God wants you to have friends.
He wants you to have friends.
It's important that you have friends.
And so instead of this just being a summer of love, I want this to be a summer of friendship.
I want this to be a summer where you're making new friends, where you're meeting new people,
people that really enjoy you, not people that tolerate you.
A lot of you are like, yeah, I don't make any friends because people don't understand
me.
Somebody understands you out there.
Somebody would enjoy you.
You're just not in the right places.
All right.
Now if your face always looks like you just sit in there smelling dog poop, then that's
another reason why you don't have any friends.
All right.
Let's fix your face because when you meet new people, that's what they're going to meet.
They're going to meet a version of you that they don't know.
They don't know you yet.
And so if you're hard to get to know because you're standoffish or, you know, you got a
scowl on your face or you're not friendly, the Bible says the best way to get friends
is to be friendly.
Did it say that you know what else people don't like unless they're like this too?
And then this is not the kind of friend that you need.
People don't like people who sit around and complain all the time.
People don't like to be around negative people that gossip all the time, that complain all
the time, that are bellyaching all the time.
They also don't like needy people.
As soon as they meet you, now you're asking them for stuff.
You're asking them for help.
You're asking them for favors.
They don't even barely know you.
You're calling in favors.
What in the world?
I know that we need a friend sometimes.
I know we need some help sometimes, but you need to ask the Lord to send people into your
life to help you with that.
You can't just be calling new people and being like needy, like, can I have a ride?
Can I have this?
Can I have that?
No, that's exhausting, okay?
That's exhausting.
You have to have good boundaries.
That's another thing that you need to have.
If you want to have solid friendships, good friendships, good friendships flourish when
there's good boundaries.
You're not asking someone brand new that you just met all kinds of personal questions.
You shouldn't do this on a date.
You shouldn't do this when you're meeting a new friend, just asking them all kinds of
inappropriate questions.
You guys, I was just on a podcast, true story.
I was just a guest on a podcast, and it was supposed to be about the Austin dating scene.
Right out the gate, this girl starts asking me about my experience with immigration.
I couldn't figure it out.
I got off the podcast, and I was like, I think that she thinks I'm an immigrant because you
guys know that I'm pretty tan.
I was like, I think this girl, because I looked at her account, and I looked at her podcast.
There's a lot of her interviewing immigrants and stuff, and I was just like, so you guys,
I'm so silly.
She's asked what my experience with immigration is, and then I start talking about my family,
family coming from Luxembourg 100 years ago to Pennsylvania.
I don't freaking know what she's talking about.
It went over my head, but anyway, right after that, she starts asking about my childhood
and about all kinds of really deep things, and you guys, no, I'm not afraid to share
my story, but it seemed really out of place.
It seemed inappropriate.
It seemed inappropriate, and so I just want to say to you guys, don't be inappropriate
with new people in your life.
Don't ask them, okay?
Don't ask them.
I hate it when someone posts on Facebook and says that, oh, my family member, please pray
for us.
We lost a family member, and then in the comments, people are like, how did it happen?
How'd they die?
It's just like, why are you so inappropriate?
You should just be saying, praying for you, so sorry for your loss, but no, people want
the details.
You've been watching too much true crime.
You guys, no.
Be boundaried when you meet new folks, will you?
And you're like, well, Jackie, I don't know how to be that way.
I'm an intense personality.
Well, that's why you don't got no friends.
It's easy.
We found it.
We found the problem, Houston.
All right.
Can we take a walk?
Hallelujah.
I want to end this call today.
God has friends for you.
God says that he takes a solitaire and he places them in family.
It doesn't say he places them in just marriage or romantic relationship.
Not just that, family.
He doesn't just have community for you.
He has family for you.
He has friends that stick closer than a brother.
Remember what Jesus said?
I'm the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
He said, you got a friend in me, right?
He said that way before Woody said that in Toy Story.
Jesus said that.
Jesus is the example.
And so you want friends.
You're not going to have a bunch of friends that stick closer than family, but you're
going to have some friends that do.
You don't need a bunch.
You just need good ones.
And you need to understand that you're going to have to release them in certain seasons
because they have to move on and so do you.
But when you do that and you make space, God will replace.
So let's talk about praise really quickly, just at the end here.
You know, when I woke up this morning, I had that song in my head.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving.
Enter his courts with praise.
You guys know that song?
We'll say this is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice for he has made us glad.
Those are two different scriptures.
Psalm 104, enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
And Psalm 118, 24, this is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
And what these scriptures have in common besides a really good understanding of theology,
you do enter God's places of influence, his gates with thanksgiving.
That's how you get in, y'all.
That's the password.
Remember those old cartoons where the little door opens within the door, the little eye
slot opens and they're knocking on the door and they're just like, what's the password?
You know, the password is thanksgiving.
It's not because God's trying to keep you out, but it's because when you set your mind
on the things above and not beneath, it's what ushers you in.
You're the person that's keeping yourself out.
God's not keeping you out.
It's not an exclusive club, members only.
You are a member.
You have all access.
The problem is, is the way that you yourself access the gates of heaven is through thanksgiving.
It's through your mindset shift.
Remember, if we're in the carnal mind, it's death, but if we're in the spiritual mind,
it's life and peace.
And you can really only get into the spiritual mind when you get into a place, a posture
of thanksgiving.
And then we enter his courts, his inner courts, you guys, his presence with praise.
The Bible says in his presence, there's fullness of joy, at his right hand, there's pleasures
forevermore.
What I do like about both of these scriptures is they're both in the book of Psalms, and
I did look this up, but I bet you that David is the author of both of these.
David had this thing about thanksgiving and praising, even in the midst of calamity.
You notice that about David?
He had a lot of visitation.
He had a lot of victory.
He had a lot of supernatural provision and help that came his way, and it's because he
was opening the door for it.
He wasn't earning it.
He wasn't deserving it, but he was looking for it.
Remember the scripture that says, I'm in big trouble.
Where's my help going to come from?
It's not going to come from the hills.
That was a typology of human help.
It's going to come from what?
It's going to come from God, the maker of heaven and earth.
He had a whole different perspective.
So friends, I just want to say something today that sounds simple, okay?
It's very simple, but just recently when I've been overwhelmed, I had to purposely force
myself to start thinking about God's goodness and to start thanking him for his goodness.
And immediately the fear that was on me disappeared and just worship came over me and joy and peace
came over me.
So I really, really want to just remind you, even when things are bad, even when things
are hard, all you have to do is just look at what God's already done and just thank
him for it.
Thank you, God, for the prayers that you've answered in my life.
Thank you for the times that you've carried me through.
Because Thanksgiving is kind of remembrance, right?
That's what we're being thankful for.
We can be thankful for things that haven't even happened.
Up and yet, for sure.
I'm not going to get in the difference between Thanksgiving and praise,
because I don't have time, just have a few minutes left.
But we praise God because he's a good God.
And I love it that Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber theology kind of is taking
up where David the psalmist left off, because there's a new song out
and the new song is just praising God for the simplest of things.
You can praise God that you woke up this morning, that you opened your eyes this
morning, that your coffee tasted good this morning.
And his song is just called Hallelujah.
And the lyrics are just like, take a walk.
Hallelujah.
The sun is out.
Hallelujah.
The flowers are blooming.
Hallelujah. You got breath in your lungs.
Hallelujah.
You made it through another week.
Hallelujah.
Right.
Because if you let one in, it pushes the other one out.
Praise will shift your attention.
It will shift your perspective.
It will shift you to a place of expectation.
And it's so quick, you guys, that really happens.
There's a supernatural shift that happens when you do this.
And no, you don't have to feel like it.
I will tell you that my experience
with complainers is that they're remainers, complain and remain.
If you use that beautiful gift of sound,
that beautiful gift of agreement, that beautiful gift inside your face,
that little hole in your face right there of creation,
because you've been made in the image of God,
if you use it to come into agreement with what's wrong,
because all praise is doing praise is not denying what's wrong.
Praise is just remembering what's still right.
If you do that, then you're going to notice more and more things that are wrong.
In fact, your entire perspective is going
to change and it's going to see more and more and more and more and more things.
Right.
Because it magnifies those things.
You're basically putting a magnifier.
On what's bad, what's out of place, what's wrong.
And then you're going to get even even more overwhelmed.
So if you want to feel at peace,
even in the midst of the storm and even the midst of circumstances that feel
like they won't budge, we have to shift our perspective.
We have to.
And you guys, we have to live after the spirit,
so do some more work on that.
How many of you feel like, hey, we could use a couple of sessions
on what does it look like practically to walk after the spirit
in our lives, to live supernatural lives?
I promise you that your love story is supernatural.
However, God is bringing you into your love story.
It's going to be supernatural.
It is. There's a natural part that you play
as you prepare for it, as you do what only you can do.
But there is a part that only God can do.
And doesn't mean because he's only picked one person.
And it doesn't mean that he has a special person set aside for you.
And that's the only person.
And he's just trying to get them ready and get them positioned and get them.
No, that's not what it's about.
It's about when we get to a place where our perspective is changed because we are
looking at God and not ourselves and not society and not whatever timeline you've
been looking at and we get to a place where we are willing to accept God's best
for us.
Then he'll do the rest.
So many people could be married right now, but they still want what they want,
even though it's not good or healthy for them.
And here's the here's the thing that you need to understand.
God's not keeping you from that wrecked up thing that you want.
He's not. I mean, lest you've asked him to.
He's not. You have free will.
You can go out and make any kind of cockamamie decision you want to make.
The difference is, is that you are not
receiving because you're not believing, you're not conceiving the seed in the
grass, you know, the seed in the ground that we just talked about, you're not
conceiving.
These are the things that are happening, you guys, if we get this into alignment,
you're not going to just I hate the word manifest, but I don't really know what
other word to use, you're not just going to manifest the marriage.
But there's a lot of other things that you
would like to see improved in your life, wouldn't you?
Guys, this all comes from walking in the spirit.
I have a friend right now that's a realtor.
I just want to say this for one minute over, I don't care.
She's a realtor, you guys.
And you know how many realtors there are out there?
There's a bazillion realtors.
She's been a realtor for like 15 years.
And I know I'm sure you've heard the housing market's not that great.
Right.
And it's a really hard business to be in right now
because the buyer's market and not a lot of people are buying.
A lot of people are selling, but not a lot of people are buying.
And it's a really crazy market out there.
I can tell you story after story, after story, after story, after story,
after story about just this one friend.
And I know her really well.
She's one of my good friends.
good friends, how she doesn't bother doing things the way other realtors do it.
She doesn't advertise.
You know what she does?
She goes into her prayer closet every morning and she worships the Lord.
She praises God.
She gets her mind into alignment with his abundance and his goodness.
She remembers that she's not her own, that she's been bought with a price.
She remembers that he is her provider, that he feeds the sparrows, and if he feeds them,
how much more will he take care of her?
That's what she does in the morning.
And you know what she does when she comes out of her prayer closet?
She gets deals.
She goes out, she meets new people, and she's in the right place at the right time with
the right heart.
You don't think that can happen for your love life?
You don't think that that can happen for your business?
You don't think that that can happen for whatever it is that you do?
I meet single people all the time.
I meet divine connections all the time.
I have opportunities that I do not earn all the time.
You guys, we have to stop trying to do this on our own.
We've got to walk after the Spirit.
And so, Father God, I thank you for your goodness and your love to us.
I thank you that you've created us to be dependent on you, not to be dependent on ourselves.
You've given us choice.
You've given us free will, but you've also given us the ability and the invitation to
cast our will, cast our cares, cast our way, our direction on you, and let you to direct
our paths.
Let you, let your will prevail in our lives.
And so, Lord, your will is that we would be healthy, that we would be wealthy, that we
would be happy and content, Lord, that we would be givers and lenders, Lord.
That's your will.
Your will says that we would prosper, that we would have joy and peace and righteousness,
Lord.
And so, God, we want your will.
We don't need our will.
Yes, we're strong-willed children sometimes, but we don't need our will.
We need your will, Lord.
And so, we surrender our will to your will.
We ask God that you would remind us every day that we don't have to do this on our own.
And if we feel like we can't do it anymore, good, because we never had to do it on our
own in the first place.
To surrender to you, and then as we do whatever little part we can, Lord, you continue to
multiply that.
You continue to magnify that.
You continue to give us supernatural harvest, Lord.
And we're asking all of this in Jesus' name, amen.
Love y'all.