RICHARD: I had to process it a little bit and I said, ‘You know what? I’ve been sleeping like a baby and my family is safe, and we are blessed and this place is cursed.’ And I’d been around [Ed Servosa ??] I love what he says, he says: ‘In the celestial poker game of life’ û I’m not going to try his accent, I can do it but I won’t do that for you û But [Ed says], ‘In the celestial poker game of life a blessing trumps a curse every time.’
AUDIENCE: [CLAPS] It does! That’s right! Yes, Sir!
RICHARD: And I began to preach to the witchdoctors, and I began to talk about how I sleep at night, and how I have only dreams from come from God and from heaven and how beautiful they are and how my family is blessed and my children are blessed, and I said I feel really sorry for all of you, because I know I’ve been around witchcraft enough, I’ve dealt with people coming out of witchcraft, and I know how tormented their sleep is, I know how tormented their finances are, I know how tormented just about everything in their life is. And I said, ‘I come with the blessings from heaven, I come with the blessings of a Father who loves. And you come with a curse and it just comes back on you!’ And that night we had witchdoctors coming in their robes giving their life to Christ and idol worshippers coming and giving their life to Christ.
AUDIENCE: [CLAPS]
RICHARD: Perfect love casts out fear. Now the part of this passage that jumped out at me one day-
RICHARD: [READS 1 JOHN 4: 16-17]
RICHARD: I thought boldness in the Day of Judgment. Judgment, it’s always been one of those heavy words. Like-Judgment [breathes out]. You got to always feel heavy when you say it. And I got a whole new picture. ‘It’s judgment day, Daddy’s coming to take us to be with him. Can I set up the chairs? Is there anything I can do to help?’ I’ve been looking forward to this day because I don’t have anything to be afraid of. Because my Daddy loves me, I can have boldness on that day because my Daddy loves me. He loves you. And He sings over you. Don’t you wish you could hear those songs? I believe tonight some of you are going to hear Him singing over you. I believe He wants me to sing-but I believe after that you are going to have an encounter with God. You’re going to hear what He thinks about you. I think some of you are going to hear the songs that He sings, and the song He might sing for you is different that the song He might sing for me. One of the things that people often wrestle with when they begin to hear God, begin to encounter God is they’re going to hear him say, ‘My daughter you are so precious. I love you so much.’ And the first thought is, ‘That’s what I want to hear but that’s probably not what he would say to me.’ And we reject the very words that He speaks over us. And we think we’re making it up. And usually I ask people, ‘Is that the way you think about yourself?’ And [they say], ‘Oh, no.’ Often our spirit blocks the blessings from God. How many of you, men and women, someone gives you a compliment and you deflect it. You make a comment to kind of deflect it. Because your spirit isn’t receiving. You don’t receive an embrace from your spouse. You don’t receive, ‘Honey, you’re beautiful.’ You don’t receive it ’cause your spirit is so used to listening to the lies of the enemy. That even when Father God speaks to you, you don’t receive it. I want to pray before I sing to you, before you hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to you, before you encounter his voice tonight, that those blocks to your spirit would be torn down. That you wouldn’t reject His voice, you wouldn’t reject His message that He speaks to you. In order to do that I want to ask you tonight to forgive yourself. Receive His forgiveness. Before we do anything else, I want to ask you to search your heart, if there’s areas in your heart that you go, ‘I’ve never been able to receive God’s forgiveness for something. I’ve asked for it but I knew I didn’t deserve it’ [then] I want right now, [with] your head bowed, your eyes closed-I know there’s people in here that have never been able to receive his forgiveness. And I want you first of all just to ask, ‘God help me. Help me to receive your forgiveness.’ It’s been a lie from the enemy that’s told you that you don’t deserve it, so you shouldn’t receive it, you can’t receive it. But I want you right now just to say, ‘God, do you really forgive me?’ And listen to what His spirit says. I know what His spirit says. And now I want you to just say, ‘Lord, I receive Your forgiveness.’ I want you to just join him now, those things you’ve said: ‘I could never forgive myself for’-the enemy uses them and brings them back to your mind to keep you [from] walking in the fullness of your destiny, to keep you from believing that God can really use you to your fullest. I want you right now just to say, ‘I agree with You, God, and I forgive myself. I want to be like You. Help me to forgive myself, and I do, I forgive myself.’ I want to pray for great sleep. Great rest. That Your children would experience what it’s like to curl up in Your arms and know that You have them. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
[MUSIC]
AUDIENCE: [CLAPS]
