 Hey, hey, thank you so much for joining me for another Sunday sermon. We will call this today I want to talk to you about a concept that I've spoken about before and I call it separation before elevation separation before elevation and this is so important because when you think about the journey and Or you think about the climb You have to realize that you will have to separate yourself from certain people and That there will be seasons where you will have to be Alone which may mean you and your spouse or you and your child or your children Just your inner circle It may mean not even your best friend Because your best friend even has flaws. Yes, he or she is your best friend But when you really look at them objectively you look at from the outside, you'll see where they may be Doubting Dan, you know like doubting Thomas doubting Tom or negative Nancy or Bitterberry and You'll think of those conversations to where you threw a dream out there You threw an idea out there that you felt really strongly about in your spirit and they shut it down They swatted it out of the air because they are full of fear and they don't want to pursue their dreams So they try to you know discourage you from pursuing yours at the same time Separation before elevation may mean Separating from people who are doing things or into things that you know is not healthy for life So if you want to stop smoking if you want to stop drinking if you want to stop living in fornication or in adultery You may have to separate yourself from those friends who are doing those things Because when you look at the long-term effects and you say if I continue to do what I'm doing What is going to come of life? eventually Eventually you will get hurt Eventually you will get exposed Eventually it will catch up to you and you will be charged a price That you can't afford to pay so I want you to understand that you may have to separate From the people who are doing the things that you're trying to get away from that you're trying to you know be different you're trying to grow and never forget You know the the story about the eagles and turkeys and how an eagle soars alone a Eagle soars alone and a turkey flocks to its death There is a turkey on a dinner plate every day on a lunch sandwich every day Let me ask you when have you had a piece of eagle? When have you tasted eagle and know Where in the world even in Africa where they kill almost every kind of animal hunting trips Even in Africa eagles are off limits You can't kill an eagle anywhere. It's an untouchable bird but turkey chickens Can kill them everywhere? So I want you to ask yourself who are you gonna be are you gonna soar at heights that you become Untouchable or are you going to flock to your destruction? And so start thinking about that because who you hang around and then also what you do with your time Are you doing with your time? What the masses do if you're doing what the masses do then you'll always feel Overwhelming sense of poverty. You'll always feel paycheck to paycheck. You'll always feel Broken broke busted and disgusted as we called it where I'm from you'll always feel that way because you're doing what the masses do So if the masses are being programmed so to speak and not It may not be Deliberate I think it is but However, you view it, but when you look at our television when you look at our reality TV It's kind of creating so much chaos and confusion so It's creating this false sense of reality and it's not real. I somebody asked me. What do you think about? you know love at first sight as a reality show or 90-day Fiancee or married in 90 days or something like that and it's these shows and so what happens you're watching these shows and then you go in Life and you're moving at the speed of light You're having sex on the first night, you know, you're head over heels on the first night You're chaining your Facebook profile on the first day you meet somebody to in a relationship You know y'all just started talking a week ago because of what you've been listening to what you've been watching Watching think about the music that you're listening to so separation before elevation may come in Many different forms many different aspects of life. It may mean separating from the television or the music It may mean separating from the lover the intimate relationship It may mean separating from the the quote-unquote friendship, you know the fake friend So identifying your life where you are being held back at And what you need to let go it may mean being separated from habits So if you have a habit that is hindering you or that could become harmful to you, you know myself I was talking to a guy and and he was saying he struggled with pornography And he asked me have you ever struggled with pornography and I'm like no, I've never struggled with pornography I've never even really watched pornography But what I did struggle with was the real deal, you know being promiscuous in real life So I had to separate from that behavior in order to elevate in my life I had to change literally in my real life so that I can elevate and be better and be different so think about this and be very very mindful and sit down today and Write down Areas in your life that you struggle right down areas of contention right down areas of you know dissatisfaction Write down a list of your associates and your friends that you deal with and what they bring to your life And when you look at these people really ask yourself is this person bringing strength or are they bringing stress? this person bringing peace or are they bringing pain and if they are bringing something that is you know a it's a maladaptive behavior. It's something that is a Diversion from your path. It's slowing you down. It's it's taking you out It's sending you down another road if it is hindering you then you have to demote that person remember my quote floating around that says Evaluate your life today then promote Demote or terminate Because you are the CEO of your life So understand that and realize that and understand that you will have to go through a Season of separation before elevation. Yes, you will need people Yes, people will be sent into your life But that does not mean it will be everybody that does not mean it will be a lot of people It may be one person and there are seasons where it will be no one and that is your wilderness season Where it's just you and God and you can hear clearly the message that is Intended for your life the message for your mission the vision for your mission So understand that be okay with that Do the work do the interview meaning? Looking within do the interview and be real with the results. Hey, this Tony Gaskins. Thank you so much for joining me We'll talk soon