IT'S IN YOU - ROBERT MADU

"That’s why I love God, because He can see my gift and my dirt and love me anyway."

~ Robert Madu

Sunday, August 31, 2014
Message delivered at Lakewood Church from visiting pastor Robert Madu from Dallas, Texas.

Nobody starts from the bottom.
We stand on the shoulders of the spiritual giants who’ve gone before us.
Once you get a revelation of what God has put in you it will revolutionize everything around you.
Key Scriptures:
2 Timothy 1:1-7
Genesis 2:7

2 Timothy 1:1-7
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,  greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,  when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.  Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. #DontBeScared



It’s In You
Everything you need, to do what God’s called you to do is in you.
How many were raised in church?
The life of a church kid is different.
There are trials and tribulations and situations others aren’t even apprised of.
Robert was always in church as a child.
One Sunday Robert told his African father he wasn’t going to church.
Father said you have 2 options:
1. Get out of bed and go to church or
2. I will kill you; and we’ll go to church for your funeral.
Had to identify a favorite scripture before every meal.
Have you ever considered what your least favorite scripture is?
Genesis 2:7 gave Robert problems.
God created man from dirt.
If you’re ever tempted to be saved and stuck up it would behoove you to read this verse.
Every person came from dirt.
Every person is a dirt bag.
We came from nothing but dirt.
Think about all we do for our dirt.
We put nice clothes on our dirt.
Manicures, and pedicures for our dirt.
Putting pictures of your dirt on Facebook and twitter.
It’s not a selfie it’s a dirty, because you came from dirt.
Dirt has never had a positive connotation in society.
You have a dirty mouth, cheap as dirt…
Everything God does is beautiful, opulent, splendor…
God is the interior designer of heaven.
He did the streets in gold and the gates in pearl.
But for the ones He sent His son to die for He used dirt.
God said Robert don’t get mad, get glad.
You ought to praise God because He’s holy but He’s not afraid to work with things that are dirty.
You serve a God who is awesome but yet He works with things that are awful.
When others don’t want to deal with your dirt God says bring it to Me.
I’ll put my hand on that dirt. I will shape that dirt. I will breathe into that dirt.
God can work with dirt.
You don’t need a perfect situation for God to get the glory out of it.
Dirt is the only environment that is conducive for a seed.
You can’t put a seed in gold or a diamond.
God is a great gardener.
Although you came from dirt there is a seed of greatness in you.
God is waiting for you to figure out what God’s put in you.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels.
Paul is writing to his spiritual son Timothy.
Paul knew how to stir up the gift of God that was in him.
He knew how to take a licking and keep on ticking.
They wanted to kill him because he was so effective in his game.
Understand the context.
2 Timothy is the last thing Paul wrote.
He’s on death row.
There’s something about a consciousness of death that will clarify what's really important in your life.
Of all the things Paul could say in his last moments he said stir up what God put in you.
That’s all that life is about.
What did you do with your gift?
Did you stir up the gift that I put in you?
Are you exhaling what I inhaled inside of you before the foundation of the earth?
Robert is scared of dogs, heights, snakes, but most of all that God will one day show him what he did versus what he could have done.
“The treasury of life is not death; but rather what we let die inside of us.”
In Dallas his parents have a peach tree.
Robert got down to the seed and and asked his father about it.
Father said that seed will make a peach tree if you plant it in the ground.
After planting it Robert looked for a peach tree the next day.
Everyday he checked and by the 7th day he was upset and crying.
He accused his father of lying to him.
His father said "Have you done anything with this since you planted it?"
Water it daily. Water what we planted.
So many believers are crying and think God lied about what He’d manifest in your life.
But you have got to do something.
You’ve got to stir up what God put in you.
Stir it up!
God wants to do something new in your life.
Others don’t have to see greatness in you.
They didn’t put it in you; God put it in you.
Eyes have not seen…
There is a gift on the inside of you.
It’s in you but God’s waiting for you to stir it up.
Every person in this room has a gift.
Everybody.
Something God has given you to bring glory to Him.
Your real birthday is when you figure out why you were born.
You have something God has given you.
Some can lead worship.
John Gray is a great gift to the body of Christ.
You’ve got something too.
What’s your gift?
For some of you your personality is a gift.
Your smile can be your gift.
For some of you, your gift is you look good.
Not everybody has that gift.
Some of us are wonderfully made, and some of us are fearfully made – Just playing LOL
Many may think they don’t have a gift because the church highlights stage gifts.
I can’t preach like pastor Joel or sing like the worship team.
It’s your gift in the market place that God wants to use to bring glory to Him.
You’re not just a school teacher, you’re God’s representative in the classroom.
You’re showing the students Jesus.
You’re not just a student, you’re God’s representative to the campus, to show what Jesus looks like when He shows up on time.
You’re not just a hair stylist, you’re God’s representative when He shows what it looks like when He puts weave in somebody’s hair.
Questions to ask yourself.
1. What do you like to do?
Often our gifts are hidden within our passions.
2. What would you do for free? If nobody paid you to do it?
Some are working for a paycheck instead of a passion.
A career is what you are paid to do; a calling is what you were made to do.
3. What do other people see in you?
Often others see things in you that you don’t see in yourself.
Robert wanted to be an actor.
Others said he had a great teaching gift and would be a preacher.
4. What comes easily to you that is difficult for others?
Warning: the day you identify your gift get ready for all hell to break loose.
The enemy hates people who have identified their gift.
The enemy knows the gifts God put in you.
1. God wants your gift.
2. The enemy wants your gift.
3. Other people want your gift.
God wants a return on what He invested in your life.
God’s the One that knows everything about you.
Bring your gift to God so He can show you why you went through things and how to use it.
The enemy wants to rob you of your gift.
He wants you to use your gift just for you.
You can’t handle your gift.
Your gift left just to you will leave you crazy.
Every good and perfect gift comes down from God.
You’ve got to give it back to the creator.
Others want your gift.
When you come into a relationship you don’t just get their gift, you also get their dirt.
People can handle your gift but not a lot of people can handle your dirt.
You’ve got some dirt too.
My gift causes me to walk in power but my dirt causes me some problems.
Most people love to show our gifts but hide our dirt.
Dating is easier than marriage because you just deal with the gift.
When you get married then you deal with the dirt.
How do I balance my gift with my dirt?
The human heart desires someone who can see our dirt and love us anyway.
That’s why I love God, because He can see my gift and my dirt and love me anyway.
In the bible God shows us the gifts and the dirt of people.
David was a worshipper and a warrior – he was gifted.
Same David had dirt.
Saw Bathsheba on the rooftop bathing.
Committed murder and adultery.
Moses was gifted – let my people go.
That same Moses committed murder trying to accomplish the plan of God in his own strength.
You can look at your own life and see a gift and so much dirt.
Most of us struggle for balance; with the dichotomy of the Kryptonite that seeks to destroy the gift that God has put in us.
Do you know why most of us can’t handle it?
Because we’re trying to handle it.
You were never meant to handle it.
Get it into the hands of the One that created you.
That’s when liberty comes.
God I give You my gift.
I give You my dirt.
So You can do something with it.
It all depends upon whose hands you put it in.
Basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands versus a novice is very different.
Life begins when you put it in His hands.
True freedom is when you take your gift and your dirt and say God I put it in Your hands.
He’s got the whole world in His hands.
That’s a blessed life.
It’s in you, you’ve just got to stir it up and put it in His hands.

Watch online at http://www.lakewoodchurch.com/pages/watch-online.aspx