Summary: This is part one in a two part sermon dealing with the hardships of family, dysfunctionalysm, and learning to forgive even your most unlikely enemies, your own blood.

Matthew 10:34-42

You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Verse 36 in the text says, "And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household." "A man’s enemies will be those of his own household." Mmmm, mmm I feel God in here already. (Sigh) This word on today is by no means going to be an easy one and I sure don’t expect a lot of amens because truthfully I didn’t amen a whole lot off of this word when I got it, and so I hope you got your shout in already because if you didn’t you may have very well missed it until next week. But I hope this word will get somebody delivered and set free today in Jesus name and encourage somebody in a mind change. I want to talk for a little bit of time as the Holy Ghost shall lead and guide from the subject of, "Unlikely Enemies". "Unlikely Enemies." Mmmm, this is going to be tough.(Sigh)

My Brothers and my Sisters, if I could keep it real with you on today for just a little while, I am convinced today beyond a shadow of a doubt that families are one of if not the hardest and most deep-seeded issues and groups of people to deal with. I said they’re hard to deal with. And I believe on today that what has the potential to be an even harder thing to deal with when it comes to families is relationships between saved and unsaved members of the family. I believe that they are hardest to deal with because you’ve got unequal people that are seemingly forced to be bonded together for life by a bloodline and they don’t see eye to eye. We all know what the word says when it says that "We should not be unequally yoked!!" And some of the confrontations that we have between saved and unsaved family members should reveal to us why we really shouldn’t be unequally yoked!!! But not only that, another relationship in families that is hard to deal with is the relationship of an on-fire, holy ghost filled, fire baptized, passionate, and burning for the Lord Christian and one who has backslid and fallen back into the things of this old world. And that’s almost like dealing with a believer and an unbeliever depending on how far backslid the individual is!!! And I think that the last relationship that is so hard to deal with in families is, and this is the one that gets me the most, when you have family members at entirely different levels of spirituality attempting to interact!! Or people with completely different gifts in the spirit realm who just can’t seem to come together in one accord on the same wave length...And that’s difficult because far too often the 2 are not seeing God the same way & in the same light, and if not careful it can bring one of the two down even further...Can I make it plain for you? It’s like God has revealed some things to you in the spirit that have just absoloutely blown your mind about some things that are about to come to pass in your life and you try to share those with your saved loved ones and they immediately say, "Well, there’s no way that can happen because of this, that, & the other and so, and so" And this plants seeds of doubt in your mind concerning that which God has just told you!!!! And so they become dream crashers because they try to crush the spirit of the prophecy for which God has given you...

And so dealing with family members can be a hard thing, and i’m mainly talking about blood line family members but this can also apply to those in the body of Christ, can I get an amen?

And so now that I’ve defined for you the different relationships and complexities that can bring about hardships in the family and create a great divide I feel the need to go a little bit deeper and now begin to press my point by uncovering some truths that God has revealed to me from the text. Yeah, I said it’s in the text.The first thing that the text says that God has come to bring is a sword of division. And if I may define division for a minute division in the Biblical sense means, "Disunion, discord, variance, or disagreeance". God has come that there might be a great divide, and the division seats on the issue of will you accept Christ and follow him fully, or will you just go on by the wasteside and follow the things of the world. And it is going to be the sword of the word of God that is ultimately going to bring this division. God wants to seperate the "Wheat from the teer" and to see who is really committed to following him. Somebody oughta say division. Look at verse 35, "For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a father-in-law against a son in law, and a mother-in-law against a daughter-in-law. He wants people to be ultimately committed to him, and so it causes a great divide.

But not only that, God also came to bring decision, look at verse number 37, "Any man who loves his Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me." God wants us to be in a place where we have got to make a decision and to prioritize. Will we love God above all else? Even over our own famalies when they just don’t understand? Even when we may feel like we have more love from our famalies then we do from God? Even when it will cause divisions and rifts with those whom we love the most? You see the truth of the matter is, as much as you may not want to hear it, as long as you stand for God and his principles you are going to make some enemies naturally. Jesus says in the word that, "Even a prohet is not recieved in his own hometown!!!" Ohhhh, I wish I had somebody to help me up in here!!! HE WANTS YOU TO MAKE A DECISION!!!!!!!!!!! So what does it mean to make a decision? The Bible defines decision as, "To come to a conclusion, to determine, to end".God wants us to make decisions and choices in our lives that reflect God and that set Godly priorities. Who or what will you serve? Who will you put first? Y’all ain’t liking me, I know, I know, but by the end just stick with me and I feel deliverance in the house!!!

And so God came to bring division, he came to bring decision, and finally he came to bring Determination. Somebody oughta say "Determination!" Look at verse number 38, "And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me!!" God wants us to be determined to follow him NO MATTER WHAT!!!!! Well what does it mean to be determined? Determination in the Biblical context means, "Having a firm and fixed purpose to follow after something." God wants us to be determined to follow him, to love him, to worship him, to praise him, to honor him, and to serve him, no matter what may get in the way, ha, and I don’t know how you, ha, feel about it right now, ha, but I’d rather have Jesus, ha, y’all ain’t hearin’ me, ha, oooohhhhh, I gotta keep it real, ha, because I feel like preaching awhile now, ha, can I go ahead and keep it real for a minute, ha, as I was saying, ha, before I got all caught up, ha, I’d rather have Jesus, ha, then silver or Gold. I’d rather have Jesus than my momma. I’d rather have Jesus then my Daddy. I’d rather have Jesus then my Brother or my Sister. I’d rather have Jesus then my Husband or my wife. they might be real good to me, but they still DON’T BEAT GOD!!!!!!!! Can I get a witness? Can’t nobody do me like Jesus. Can’t nobody, do me like the Lord!!! I’ve tried my momma, and I know she loves me. I’ve tried my daddy, and I know he cares. But there’s something about that man Jesus!!! Jesus!!!!! Jesus!!!!!!!! Jesus!!!!!!! Well now, I’m going back to my seat, can I have about 5 more minutes, to keep it real, and then I’m outta your way, because I know y’all got stuff to do. Look at the text, Matthew 10, Jesus is giving instructions to the twelve as he prepares to send them out, and we get to verse 35, and he says, "Do not suppose, that I have come to bring peace, but a sword!" I got stumped right there, and so I asked the Holy Ghost, "Holy Ghost, the word says that you are, the prince of peace, so why are you saying, I have not come to bring peace?" And the Holy Ghost told me, "Look deeper" you see there’s two kinds of peace, there’s worldly peace, which we see as no war, no famine, no desiase, no hardship, no shake ups, no trials, and no tribulations, everything, is peachy keeny, that’s not the peace ha, that Jesus is talking about when he says that I am the prince of peace, that’s the peace, that he wants to disrupt, because he doesn’t want us, to be comfortable, on this earth, because we have a home, in heavean, can I get a witness? So preacher, what is he talking about, when he says he is "The prince of peace?" Well I asked the Holy Ghost, that very question, and he said "I’m the prince, of INNER peace, I said inner!" That means, that when all hell is brweaking loose, around you, that God will, I said he will, give you, inner peace, so that you can say "It is well, it is well, with my soul!" If you got that kinda peace, I dare you, shout "Thank you JESUS!!!!!!" Well, I kept on reading, and jesus says, "I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a father against his son in law, and a daughter against her mother in law", that speaks of division, and division causes strife, and strife causes envy, and a whole lotta other stuff. That’s why we got so many, dysfunctional people, and dysfunctional famalies running around today, BECAUSE WE’RE DIVIDED, AND WE CAN’T GET ON ONE ACCORD!!!!!!!!!!

Oooohhh, I gotta keep it real, Jesus says, "That a house divided against itsself, cannot and WILL NOT stand!" Well, i’m going back to my seat, but look at verse 36, it says "A man’s enemies will be those of his own household!" I need to pump my brakes, and park right there for a minute, this has been true throughout time, because it was Judas, Jesus’ own beloved, who turned his back on him, and i’m sure that if you look back over your life, your greatest enemies were not so much those, that didn’t like you, but it was those, that were closest to you, your own mother, your own father, your own sister, your own brother, put you through more hell, more torment, more hurt, more pain, more heartache, more breakup, more shakeup, more mess, more sleepless nights, more lonely nights, more crying, more deciet, more lies, am I helping somebody up in here?, more manipulation, more stuff, more valleys, more hardships, and more tribulations, I know, because I’VE BEEN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Family can hurt you, more than ANYBODY else, because IT’S YOUR BLOOD!!!!!!!! IT’S YOUR BLOOD!!!!!!!! It’S YOUR BLOOD, AND BLOOD RUNS, THICKER THAN WATER!!!!!!!!! i DON’T THINK I’M GONNA FINISH, BECAUSE I FEEL A MOVE, OF THE HOLY GHOST, UP IN THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!! CAN I HELP SOMEBODY RIGHT NOW? YOU’RE SITTING THERE, AND YOU’VE STARTED THINKING, OF EVERYTHING, THAT YOUR OWN BLOOD, HAS EVER DONE, TO HURT YOU, AND YOU’RE GETTING BITTER, YOU’RE ANGRY, YOU’RE RESENTFUL, YOU’RE RAGEFUL, YOU’RE VENGEFUL, AND I CAN TELL, BECAUSE I’M A PROPHET OF THE LORD, AND I SEE IT, IN THE SPIRIT, GOD HAD ME STOP BY TODAY, TO TELL YOU, IT’S OKAY, THAT YOU FEEL LIKE THAT, BUT YOU CAN’T STAY THERE!!!!!!!! YOU CAN’T STAY THERE!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE TO FORGIVE, YOU HAVE TO FORGIVE, YOU HAVE TO FORGIVE!!!!!!!!!!! AND I KNOW Y’ALL DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT BUT I GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YA, IF YOU FORGIVE, FORGIVENESS HAS A SPIRIT OF LIBERATION AND FREEDOM, THAT COMES WITH IT!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN STOP CRYING, STOP HURTING, AND STOP TOSSING AND TURNING AT NIGHT, IF YOU’D ONLY FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE AND BE SET FREE!!!!! I DARE SOMEBODY, IF YOU WANNA BE FREE FROM THE HURT, FREE FROM THE PAIN, FREE FROM THE HEARTACHE, FREE FROM THE JUNK, FREE FROM YOUR EMOTIONS, FREE FROM THE BONDAGE, OF WHAT YOUR OWN BLOOD HAS DONE TO YOU IN THE PAST, I DARE YOU, GO HOME, PICK UP THE PHONE, AND SAY "mOMMA, DADDY, I KNOW I HAVEN’T REALLY TALKED TO YOU, CAUSE I’VE BEEN HURTING, FROM WHAT YOU DID TO ME, IN THE PAST, AND I JUST COULDN’T BARE IT, AND I KNOW, WE HAVEN’T HAD THE BEST OF RELATIONSHIP, BUT I FORGIVE YOU, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, GOD BLESS YOU, I LOVE YOU, AND I’M PRAYING FOR YOU AND WATCH HOW A SPIRIT OF FREEDOM WILL BEGIN TO COME OVER YOU, WHEN YOU HANG UP THE PHONE, YOU’LL FEEL BETTER, YOU’LL FEEL FREE, AND WHOM THE SON SETS FREE, IS FREE INDEED!!!!!!!! YES THE WORD FOR TODAY IS FORGIVE!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY OUGHTA SHOUT FORGIVE!!!!!!!!!1 AND WHEN YOU FORGIVE, DEEP DOWN IN YOUR HEART, GOD WILL GIVE YOU PEACE, THAT SURPASSES, AAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL UNDERSTANDING!!!!!!!!!! I’M GOING BACK TO MY SEAT, I’M NOT GOING TO FINISH THIS THING, BUT I DARE YOU, IF YOU WANNA BE SET FREE, THAN FORGIVE, AND THEN LET THE PEACE OF gOD REIGN IN YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!! I’M CLOSING THE BOOK, BUT IF YOU THANK GOD FOR PEACE, SHABACK THE LORD, GIVE HIM PRAISE GIVE HIM GLORY!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU GOD FOR PEACE!!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD FOR PEACE!!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD FOR PEACE!!!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTT YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iI’m going back to my seat..... Whew!!!!!!!! I feel deliverance in the house!!!!!!! Thank you Jesus! I see broken relationships being mended already. WHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!! HA HA HA!!!!!!!! Yeah, y’all got it, y’all got it....But as hard as it may be, the Lord says, you’ve got to forgive. Even your enemies. Even your own family. God isn’t playing with this forgiveness thing. It is the one thing in the Bible he says to do at least 700 times!!!! WOW!!!!!!!! Well, i’m going to stop right there for now... God said that’s enough. We can’t handle anymore right now. I’ll come back & finish up on next week.. There may be someone here...