Don't Rock the Boat

Hey, I'm Dr. Ray and I appreciate you again downloading this episode of Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. Today's show, I think, is going to be very interesting. I call it Don't Rock the Boat, and I'm going to be talking about a very specific principle that's happened to me, m– me many times - and probably to you - and that is what happens when God's trying to move you to a new level but the people around you just cannot understand it. It happens a lot more than you realize and can even be demonic in nature but God is constantly changing and constantly growing us and moving us. This episode is going to help you overcome this obstacle and move to the next level that God has for you. I thank you so much for being a part of this show. Don't forget to check out the links that are in the show description. There's links to purchase my book, there's links to go to the website - that's where you can subscribe - and please, please, please share this episode with as many people as possible. Don't forget to um, email me if you have questions or suggestions at drrayself@gmail.com. d r r a y s e l f @gmail.com. I appreciate you so much for listening to another episode of Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self. God bless you.

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Okay, here we go with Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self– that would be me. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this time together and for everyone listening to this show. I pray for your anointing for your Holy Spirit just to fall on us. Anoint us, anoint our ears to hear, our hearts to receive what you have for us today. We give you praise, we give you honor, and we just love you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. 

So this show is called Don't Rock the Boat. What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain that principle. You're in a boat. Right now, all of you are in a boat so to speak. What is that boat? Well, a boat is a container that contains you, your family, your friends, um, and it's kind of… it's a place where everybody is - it's a position for everybody - and everybody sort of has a place to sit in that boat. Another way to look at it is you are playing a role in a play, okay? And you know, when– if you ever watched a play, a live play at a theater, everybody has a specific role to play. Well, whether… you whether you want this or not, most people are assigned various roles by their family, by their friends… everybody has a role. 

Um, you know I had different roles, you know, growing up in my family which was - I love my family,- but it was pretty dysfunctional. My role was to be seen and not heard. I was The invisible child and I played that role for, for many years until I got free. The Holy Spirit set me free, that was actually never not even close to God's will. But right now, wherever you are, you are surrounded by– you have close friends, you have family, you have church family, you have people that are close to you, they're they're sitting in the boat with you so to speak. You know these people very well, they know you very well. But all of a sudden, there comes a season in your life when it's time to make a change. God has called you to something new. Maybe a door has opened for you, an opportunity has opened for you in the kingdom of God and… or it could be something a little more natural. It could be a new job, a new uh, a new home, a new place to live. But it's a, a new season. You know what I'm talking about. We go through these seasons and with God, every season is like a stepping stone. It's a step up with God, God's always moving us up, showing us something more, showing us something greater as we mature and grow. And it's wonderful and it's just a wonderful experience to move up, you know, with God and everybody does this and… But what happens is when God wants to move you to a new level - and this could be manifest in a lot of different ways - um, maybe you're, you’re accepting a call to ministry, maybe you're… maybe it's a new job, maybe it's a new home, maybe it's a new church or, or whatever it is that God's called you to that's new and it's different, there will be people in your life who will support you and there will be people close to you in your life that will shoot darts at you and try to make you stay where you are. And they come up with all kinds of reasoning why you should not be moving, why you should not take this opportunity. 

Normally, typically what the reason for this is you are rocking their boat. You see, you have played a role in their life, very, very long, and you're saying “I no longer will play this part, God's called me to something different. I'm sorry, I don't want to rock your boat but I'm going to have to rock your boat. I'm not going to play that role, I'm moving on with God.” And so the person that feels threatened by that… many times they feel a little insecure and, and maybe there's some inner jealousy because here they are at this level, how dare you move on to another level. I see this principle a lot in my bible college. You know, I'm very blessed to be president of the International College of Ministry. So many times when students enroll in my college, uh, they get resistance. Sometimes from family and friends. You know, by enrolling in a co– in my college and seeking, say a degree in Christian counseling or a degree in ministry, what they're saying is, “I'm moving up, I'm going to something new and better. I'm, I'm in the– I've got an increase going on in my life.” And there'll be people that might say, “What are you… what are you going to college for? You don't you don't need that stuff, you're fine just where you are,” you know. “You could– you don't need an education like that,” you know, “you got the anointing, you're fine where you are.” And what's really going on, the people who are hindering you are actually feeling threatened by you. You're moving on in a successful way makes them unaware … or makes, excuse me, makes them aware of their failure. It makes them aware of their lack of success. Here you are, achieving success. It exposes them and they don't like that, they do not want to be exposed. They feel threatened, they feel jealous, and they will do things to discourage you, to shoot darts at you, you know, flaming arrows. And sometimes it's people close to you, sometimes it's friends, family members, church members, um, you know, relationships. And it's a very sad, sad thing but the principle is you've been playing a part in that person's life and how dare you refuse to play that role anymore and you go on into something better.

Now, another example of this would be a person living in an abusive relationship and they have played the role of the abused spouse for years. They're the one that has taken it on the chin for years. Then one day they say “I'm not going to do this anymore. I am out of here.” Well, the perpetrator of course is going to attack, “how dare you. How dare you move out of here. How dare you say no to me. How dare you do that.” What you’re doing is, you're actually moving to another level, a better place with the Lord because it's never God's will for someone to be in an abusive relationship and be abused. It's not God's will. God loves us too much for that. But sometimes it's just– it could be taking a new job, it could be moving to a new neighborhood, it can be… maybe the Lord's called you to another church, maybe it's time to switch churches, you know. That's… you have to do that very carefully obviously, and please do that in order. Go to your pastor and tell them what you feel the Lord's called you to do and hopefully, he'll bless you. Sometimes they won't, but do it in order. I often say this to people: leave in order to the best of your ability so you can arrive in order. If you leave out of order, you will arrive out of order. I don't know why people fail to see that principle, you know, so much. 

But rocking the boat means you have a group of people and you have played a specific role and you have played your role very well, and it could have been for years. All of a sudden, you're going, “I'm not going to play this role anymore. I'm moving on to something better that God has for me.” And when you do that, you get resistance. And I want to show you, I want to read to you a Bible verse - a Bible story - that demonstrates this just perfectly. Anything about Jesus is going to be just perfect. So, this comes from the gospel of Matthew, okay, and so Matthew 12:46, talking about Jesus, “While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him.” So Jesus is speaking to a crowd, okay? and his mother and brother are standing outside. So the implication is that they were in some form of a building, okay? Maybe a large home or something, but his mother and brothers, and brothers it says, plural, were standing outside wanting to speak to him. “Someone said,” verse 47, Matthew 12, “Someone said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.’” Verse 48, “But Jesus answered the ones who were telling him and said, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’” That's a strange question Jesus asked. Jesus always asks things for a reason, listen to the question. “Jesus said, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Behold, my mother and my brothers.’” Verse 50, “‘For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’”

Now, the principle here is for you - those that are in the will of God - for you, okay? Those that understand and are in agreement with the will of God for you are actually your family. Now, they may not be your natural family but they are your family in Christ. Jesus said his family was those that do the will of the Father, and so that can translate those who understand God's will for you and are in agreement with God's will for you and they support God's will for you and encourage you. This is your family - spiritual family. And unfortunately, and, and I say this carefully, sometimes your own family has no understanding. Your own natural family does not get what you're doing. I have that experience right now and I have a, um, several family members that are absolutely clu– could not even tell you what I do, and it's very sad and it hurts me, okay? But I do have, I have friends, I have brothers and sisters in Christ who understand me. They know what I'm about, they know what I do, they support me and I have a family around me and… they're here. Now, I rock the boat of a lot of people, as many of… you know, I'm from Memphis, Tennessee. I lived there for 50 years let me tell you something. When I laid down my church in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to Orlando, Florida, I rocked the boat of a lot of people. Now, there were people who had heard from the Lord and had prophetic words for me who knew it was God's will for me to move to Florida, but there were other people that were like, “How dare you.” I mean, close friends and some family members, “How dare you, Ray Self, how dare you move to Florida.” Well, I rocked their boat. 

See, I was playing the role of the, of the good old Ray Self, local pastor and, and bible college founder, and this is what Ray Self did. He ministered to the, to… in the area of Memphis, and that's what I did. That was a good thing. It was a good thing. But when God called me to something more, some people resisted me because I rocked their boat. And it's really interesting, when God moved me to Orlando, I cannot even describe to you how many doors opened up for me and opportunities opened up for me. When I lived in the Memphis area, I, I mean, it was a great ministry, I had a fantastic church, I had a great bible college and was doing, doing very well, okay? And, and I ministered all over um, little Eastern Arkansas, sometimes in, in South, North Mississippi and West Tennessee, in that area. When I moved to Orlando, all of a sudden supernaturally doors opened up for me in New York and Pittsburgh and, and New Orleans, in uh, North Carolina, in Missouri and Texas, and, and then Sumatra, yes, Sumatra, find that one on the map. Sumatra, the Philippines, Spain, um, I mean… Guatemala… just things you cannot imagine. Met a guy who was determined to build me a website and he built a 2,000-page, 2,000-page website exceedingly, abundantly more than I can ever think or imagine. 2,000 page website. Who does that? Who can possibly do that? My friend, Steve Whitman, did it. And now with students all over the– United States and in– in– international. Right now we have students in France and England, um, and I've got, ‘course, a college, a college in Peru, we have a, an ICM College in Southern India and it's just uh, it's just amazing. It's, it's beyond, it's beyond belief. But when I rocked the boat for my Memphis folks, some of them shot arrows at me but, but the principle that Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sisters and mother.” There were people who understood God's will for me and they became my new family, and I have wonderful family down here. I have brothers and sisters in Christ that are just incredible, amazing, but I did rock the boat and I made people uncomfortable.

See, when a boat starts to rock, you get uncomfortable. When I rocked the boat of the people in Memphis, there are people that got uncomfortable and criticized me and discouraged me, but there were others who understood what God was doing and blessed me. And that's a principle I think that plays out for a lot of people. Any time you make a move with the Lord, they're going to rock the boat of some people, but you're going to have others who understand the will of God for your life. They're going to encourage you but there will be some who will try to discourage you, even criticize you. Let me tell you something, people who are failing will always criticize people who are succeeding. Now, I'm not saying everybody who attacks you is a failure, but I will tell you this: when you become successful in the Lord to go to another level, it will create some jealousy and envy and criticism because you see, the way an insecure person tries to feel secure about themself is by attacking people who are succeeding, okay? And by– therefore by doing so, they can justify more their position of quote, failure. Now, this principle does not always happen but it, it can be expected. And when you do have to step aside from family and friends and people that you love and move on with what God has for you, you have to trust and know that God not only has something more for you, but he also has family waiting for, for you. He has a new family in Christ. I've got people in my church in the ministry here that are more of a brother and I have some ladies, you know, females in the ministry that are more of a sister and I have friends that are more of a brother than, than I've ever had in my family. And it's just an incredible feeling because God has a new family for us. And so Jesus in Matthew 12 was saying, whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my family. He's my brother, sisters, and mother. So find people who are in the will of God for you. Find people who understand what God is doing and the support. And, and pray for those who attack you, pray for those who are jealous of what you're doing and uh, they want to criticize, you know, shoot little arrows - flaming arrows - in your back. Pray for them, you know, bless them, but don't be surprised by them. 

Jesus warned us about this. His family - his natural mother and brothers - were seeking him and he had to tell them, “my real family are those who do the will of God.” Those that do the will of God and understand the will of God for you is your spiritual family and we need that support and we need that help. We need to be– we're not to be alone, ever. We're not to be an island, we're to be a fortress with a lot of people inside the fort with us, amen. 

So I hope this has blessed you and I appreciate you listening again to another episode of Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self. I want to pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank you, Lord, that sometimes when you call us to something it can make other people uncomfortable sometimes. Lord, honestly, it makes us uncomfortable too, but Lord, I know you always have something that is greater than we could ever imagine, exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever ask for. I know that your thoughts and your ways are greater than our thoughts and our ways. And Lord, we just praise you. We thank you, Father. And Lord, those people who have criticized us when we move on with you, Lord bless them, Lord open up their eyes, and Lord, help them come– go to their new level as well, Father. Lord, I speak a blessing and an anointing - a special anointing - on everyone listening to this podcast. I thank you for this opportunity Father, through technology, to touch lives for Christ. I give you praise and honor. Lord, we thank you. Holy Spirit, touch them right now. Spirit of the Living God, touch everyone listening to me right now. Let the anointing fall on you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, touch them, Holy Spirit, touch them. Let them feel your presence, let them feel your presence now in Jesus' name, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. Amen, amen. God bless you, folks.

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Well, okie dokie. You have listened to another episode of Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self. Can you believe it? 158 episodes. Please tell your friends about this, share this on social media. Also, if you go to the website and give us a rating or a review, that really helps us reach more people for the Lord. I thank you for listening. Look at all the resources I have on the under the show notes. There's free lessons, we have access to books, access to uh, to various types of products. Also, there's a donate link. If the Holy Spirit tells you or encourages you or leads you to donate, we would appreciate it very much. It does help us a lot. I'm very, very grateful for that. Don't forget, maybe um, email me if you got an idea for a show or a question an idea or a topic for the show. Email drrayself@gmail.com. d-r-r-a-y-s-e-l-f, that's all one word, at gmail.com. Again, thank you for listening to another episode of, of Self Talk. And I just pray and proclaim and believe the blessings and favor of God over everyone who listens to this show. Thank you, Jesus. Amen and amen.