The Cost of Carrying the Brand [Morning Devo]

The mark of a true believer is revealed when life gets tough. Anyone can wear a cross, but only the faithful carry one.

2 Corinthians 13:5

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good morning and by God, bless you, family, God bless you.
Welcome back to the Morning Devo. It's your bro Sam
Lopez aka Dj Sam rock So winners with the z
RG Live dot SO winners with is z org streaming
on social media platforms that allow of stream to go through.
Also streaming our x formerly known as Twitter if that
makes sense to you. If you're on that platform, we're

(00:25):
there as well. Also at SO Winners with is z
o org on the main website. If you go to
the live stream page on the live stream tab, there's
a live chat right underneath the live stream. Also, if
you just want to listen to audio, if you're on
the audio you know, or you gotta just press play.
And we're streaming from the Celebrator Network, the Lee Have
Valley's number one urban gospel music station. We've been online

(00:48):
since two thousand and eight and we're still going because
of the grace of God. Amen. Today, we're going to
continue on the series. It turned into a series Thank
You Kingdom Believers work for sharmon This Morning Devo about
the brand, the brand of being born again, the brand
of Christianity, the brand of being a believer in Christ. Amen.

(01:10):
We're branded already. Actually, Holy Spirit, God has signed us,
sealed us, and delivered us right into the newness of life,
meaning that we don't have to we don't have to
be in the old way of living a man. We
have a newness that's in us. Amen. And because we
have the newness in us, we could live the new

(01:31):
life that God has given us. So I'm calling this
one the cost of carrying the brand. There's a cost
associated we're being a believer. There's a cost associated we're
being branded as a believer. Right. The mark of a
true believer is revealed when life gets tough. Anyone can
wear a cross, but only the faithful carry one. Amen.

(01:54):
Anyone could wear a cross, but only the faithful carry one.
We're gonna be in Second Corinthians, after number thirteen, verse
number five. When times get hard, the brand of your
belief system, the brand of your Christianity, the brand of
a believer that you are, will come out. My hard
times are in front of you. Amen. So wearing across

(02:16):
and branding yourself a Christian by out of weear really
doesn't prove that you're innerwere Amen, is really save born
again and you're living the life God has called you too,
but it's a cost that's associated with that, the cost
of carrying the brand. If you have any questions, comments, concerns,
prayer requests, or anything along those lines, please don't hesitate

(02:38):
to leave it on a live chat. That's what we're
here for. Also, if you're with us on the podcast,
that should be a way to connect with us there
as well from your favorite podcast platforms. If we're not
on your favorite podcast platform, please let a brother know
so that way I could try my best to get
on the platform that you would like to hear us.
We're actually on Amazon Music on places that you probably

(03:01):
don't know. A man, just do a Google search on
the Blaze Biba study, the Blaze Biba study, and it
will show you all the places where we're broadcasting and
podcasting from as well. Peter Zimba, I see you. Good morning,
God bless you. Welcome back to the morning Devote my
friend and my bro. So let's go for it. We're
gonna pray first. After we pray with shuit us out

(03:22):
for like sixty seconds, and then on the other side
of those sixty seconds, we'll get right into our scripture
for this morning. Second Corinthians chapter number thirteen, Verse number five.
Let's pray, Father, I thank you for right now, this moment.
Thank you for sharing your love, your grace, your mercy,
and showing us your glory when times are hard, and

(03:44):
giving us a light when the path seems dark, and
giving us a way where it seems to be no way.
Thank you so much for saving us. Thank you so
much for filling us up with your spirit so we
could live a golly and righteous life no matter what
comes our way. I pray a hedge of protection in
the name of Jesus over all of us, physically, emotionally

(04:07):
and spiritually, over myself, my wife, our children, our grandchildren,
and every single person in our family, from the very
youngest family member to the very oldest family member, and
every single person in between. I pray a hedge of
protection over every single person that's watching or listening right now.
In the powerful name of Jesus. I dispatch areq ween

(04:27):
angels right now under the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Because of God's name and because of God's purpose for
my life and for your life. I pray victory Amen
over your lives, and I dispatch these angels to annihilate
the tactics of the enemy, to push back darkness and
to prove once again that we belong to the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and that our

(04:50):
brand of Christianity, our brand of being a believer, is
resting and is proven. And it is because of the
purpose of God's Word in our lives, in individually and
together corporately. In Jesus Holy Name, I pray it's by
faith with thanksgiving, knowing that God here is our prayers
and he answers according to every single individual situation. And

(05:12):
his word is true. His word is love, his word
is grace, his word is mercy, and His power is
evident in every single person that's branded a believer. In
Jesus Holy Name, I pray it's by faith, and those
who agree with this prayer, we say Amen to the Amen.
Help me share this out sixty seconds. Pray for my us,
say visa. Amen. Okay, Brother Peter will be praying for

(05:35):
your us, Say visa, and that everything will go smoothly
and everything will get where it needs to be, and
that you will be able to receive what you need
as well. Amen. Thank you for sharing your prayer requests.
Help me share this out sixty seconds. When I come back,
We'll get right into today's morning devil. I'll be right back. Man,

(07:11):
We're back. Let's go for it. Let's see in the
Word of God, what we do about the cost of
carrying the brand? What do we do when we're presented
with an issue in our lives that we started realizing
that this is going to cost us. I was telling
a young lady on a lyft right she was leaving
college and going to another city, and she asked me

(07:33):
a question about Halloween, and I thought that was an
interesting question a man, and I was like, what do
you mean? Said, what's your feelings about Halloween? Celebrating Halloween?
And then when she shared what she was sharing, I realized, well,
I asked, are your believer? And she said yes, And
she said her family was a Jehovah witness, like they

(07:55):
will raised Jovah witness, but she was actually a Pentecostal Christian,
which is interesting, I said, And the conversations around the
table must be interesting to say yes to say the least,
by explained to her or I gave her my position
on Halloween as a believer, and I immediately asked, and
I believe this was Holy Spirit. Are you're a part
in your university? Are you part of Crewe? Are you

(08:17):
part of something that's Christian group? She said, yes, Crewe,
she was part of it. And according to her, she
said they celebrate Halloween a man. I said, that's not
doesn't make any sense. And she says, as a matter
of fact, they're giving first prize for the best costume.
So I'm thinking, wow, the cost of carrying the brand

(08:39):
according to the group that she says is Christian in
her university, they're branding themselves one way and then they're
acting another way. But it's a cost for carrying of
carrying the brand. And because their culture sensitive, they want
to reach people and they will even amn do cultural

(09:01):
things that the scripture says not to be involved in.
That's what I mean about the cost of carrying a brand.
Are you willing to go another way when the culture says, oh,
it's all good, you know, it's everybody's doing it no
matter what, just do it? Or are you gonna follow
the word of God, Amen and go the other way?

(09:22):
And because you do that, there's gonna be a cost
of carrying a brand. That's what I mean about that.
Hopefully that wasn't too much or too confusing. It just
came up on my mind that I just had this
conversation and men the other day about a well known
organization on the universities that according to this young ladies,

(09:43):
she said that they're celebrating Halloween and she's gonna speak
up about it, she says when she gets back to
the university. And I said, get ready, there's gonna be
some pushback, and it's gonna be a cost when you
when you come against something or you stand in the
position of righteousness, that's gonna be a cost for that,
the cost of carrying the brand. Let me put this
on the screen for those who are watching, for those

(10:05):
who are listening, only no worries, no problems. You know.
I'm going to read this word for words, so that
way you won't miss what we're seeing on the screen.
So the cost of carrying the brand. On today's morning Devo,
we're coming from tewod Corinthians, chapter number thirteen, verse number five.
Since develovet if I see you, good morning, God bless you.
Welcome back to the morning Devo. My system, my friend,

(10:28):
test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in
the faith and living your lives as committed believers. Examine yourselves,
not me, or do you not recognize this about yourselves
by an ongoing experience, that Jesus Christ is in you,

(10:50):
unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit. Wow.
Also Paul, no hold back nothing man. He says it,
he speaks it, Amen, and I believe it. Test and
evaluate yourselves. So before I could test and evaluate somebody else,
you best believe I'm evaluating myself. That's why I'm a

(11:12):
man of few words. I don't speak out too quick,
a man I observe a real long time. Sometimes some
people probably think I'm too laid back or too quiet
and too silent. It's just that I'm observing, and I'm
also evaluating myself in those areas where I see that

(11:34):
there's issues. Right, it says, see whether you are in
the faith. That's interesting, and that opens up another conversation.
But for time's sake, and because this is a morning devo,
not a full blown Bible study, I'll just leave it
there and live in your lives as committed believers. Now,

(11:55):
if you're a committed believer, you know there's a cost
of carrying the brand what is the cost of being
a believer and you we're living it in real time.
Examine yourselves, not me? Or do you not recognize this
about yourselves? This is the question less. Indeed, you fail
the test and are rejected as a counterfeit. And who

(12:17):
wants to be rejected as a counterfeit? Amen? Can you
imagine one day walking up to somebody and saying or
speaking the Gospel and saying that you're born again, and
it said, now your fake, your counterfeit. Why would somebody,

(12:38):
oh bad pressed avon butter, Why would somebody come up
with an idea that we are counterfeit believers? Right? They
have to have some kind of evidence or they might
have seen some kind of behavior that doesn't line up
with being a believer. The cost of carrying the brand
means that we're actually in a spotlight. As soon as
you say that you're born again, as soon as you

(13:00):
say that you're a believer, as soon as you say
that you trust Jesus, as soon as you say you're
connected to the body of Christ, as soon as you
say that you are against x y Z because the
word is against x y Z. Count the cost of
carrying a brand, Amen, and sometimes the road is lonely,
but it's okay, and God is always with us, and

(13:20):
we can't do this alone. So get with the body
of Christ. Don't be separate, separate, amen, and don't rely
on your feelings all the way through. Don't rely on
your flesh. Definitely, not a man rely on the spirit
of God that's in you. I rely on the spirit
of God that's in me. And together when we come

(13:41):
and we pray, and we join in the Word and
get into the world to vote. Sometime in scripture, we're
gonna know why this brand has a cost attached to it,
because it's the road least traveled. It's a narrow road,
but it's a righteous path. And this righteous path leads
to victory. This righteous path leads to just being humble.

(14:04):
Being saved is a gift from God. Having faith is
a gift from God. Right Praying is a privilege that
we have that we could pray to the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords, and we can speak
to him and we can ask questions, and not only
ask questions, but wait for his response, wait for his answer.
And if you have the word of God, and you

(14:24):
study the word of God, and you read the word
of God. You know that everything that God has said
has been proven, time tested, and it's true, and it's
powerful and relevant in our time. Amen. So we know
these we know these things. Amen. I suggest that you
would test God's word back and forth. Test the word
of God every day, and when you test it, when

(14:45):
you see that God's word is true, apply his truth
in your everyday life and see what happens. See what
happens a man. You have nothing to lose, you have
everything to gain. Since Joey and I see you. Good morning,
God blessed, welcome back to the morning. Be with my system,
my friend, and let me get to my notes. We
can got a little time left, amen. So a daily
self examination. We do this like if our stomach hurts,

(15:07):
if our head hurts, we examine why are these things happening? Right?
We have ideas. We check for fever when we don't
feel good. Right, we take medicine off the shelf when
we don't feel good. So that's a type of self examination,
testing out, examining the symptoms that we have in our body.

(15:29):
And that's an outward thing. So how much more inward
should we be testing and examining ourselves? How much more
in the spirit should we be examining ourselves to see
where we are in our faith. Good morning, brother, Billy,
I see you. Good morning. God bless my bro good morning.
Good to see you in the morning. Devo. My sister Nilsa,
God blessed you. Good morning, God bless you. Welcome all,

(15:49):
Welcome back. Amen. She blesses us all, and we thank
you for your blessing, my sister. So ask yourself every
morning or every day, not in this order, any order
do you want. But you know your relationship with the Lord,
and you know where you are and your work. Ask
these questions. Who am I representing today? Right? Are you
representing the world or the word? Are you representing from

(16:12):
a vantage point of your old self or your new self?
It's okay, nobody has to know that you're asking these questions.
This is between you and the Lord. How about this question?
What message does my attitude, my speech, and my lifestyle
communicate to somebody else? And for the younger generation, the

(16:33):
older generation, we got to be praying because the culture
is trying to rip them in a headlock man and
telling them all, man, don't worry about the Christian stuff.
Don't worry about the cost of the brand. Just do X,
y Z and it's okay. And the culture is actually
trying to corrupt the Word of God by teaching things

(16:56):
that are not even in the Word of God but
sounds so appealing, and because it's inspired by the enemy,
the devil, which knows the word of God but doesn't
speak the word of God the way the Word of
God is supposed to be spoken over us. So we
need to be praying for the younger generation. Our generation

(17:16):
is being attacked as well, but I believe that the
younger generation is being targeted right now whatever reason. We
as more mature believers or older people, more experienced in life,
we should be really stepping in and praying for the
younger generation. They're up against technology. They're up against artificial intelligence,

(17:41):
where AI for us is authentic intelligence. Amen, they have
artificial intelligence, We have authentic intelligence. We came if you're
as old as I am, we were here before internet,
social media and all that stuff that's going on, before
YouTube or all that stuff. So we know we should

(18:02):
know how to think clearly, Amen, because we know the
difference between what they're facing and what we face when
we were growing up. So let's pray for the next generation.
When people see you and when people see me, do
they recognize the brand of Christ or the brand of
the culture? Wow? I mean I walk with a be
bop and people think I'm trying to be cool. It's

(18:24):
not that I'm trying to be cool the way I walk,
That's just the way I walk. I literally have people
tell me, Oh, why you walk like that? If you're
a Christian, why you be bopping? I walk like that.
I've been walking like that since I was a kid. Amen.
But people are watching and people are noticing, X Y Z.
If you're still cursing a new your believer, and you're
still dropping the F bomb and all these other cursing word,

(18:46):
curse words, and then you're trying, you know, to laugh
it off and all this other stuff that proves that
the word is true. Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaks. So we could catch that, correct that
a man bringing to the Lord and ask for forgiving
for the people who hurt us or the people who
hear you say a curse word and they know you're
born again, you're a believer. Amen, But it just came out.

(19:09):
We have the opportunity, right then and there to count
the cost of carrying the brand by axing for forgiveness
or apologizing for the words that came out like that.
It's okay. None of us are perfect with being perfected. Amen.
When people see me, do they recognize the brand of
Christ or the brand of the culture. So that's why

(19:30):
I went to the scripture two Corinthians thirteen to five,
and I said, it says examine yourself. So I said,
I'm gonna examine myself then to see whether you are
in the faith. Test yourself. Test yourself according to the
standards of the Word, not to the standards of this world.
The standards of the world is really low, right. You
could get the standards of the You could get approved

(19:52):
by the world system asap. Doesn't take you long to
be approved by the world. All you have to do
is follow the trends, follow the culture, follow what they're doing,
and you're going to notice that it leads to a
dead end. It doesn't really improve your life. It actually,
you know, weakens your life. It doesn't add to your life,
actually subtracts or takes away from your life. It doesn't

(20:15):
give you life, It actually gives you death. It doesn't
give you purpose or plan, it gives you chaos. Right,
the culture is jacked up, haven't you noticed. So instead
of following the culture of this world, let's be in
the kingdom culture, Let's be in the Kingdom of God.
Let's play our part. Hold our positions. Stand for truth,
stand for love, stand for grace, stand for mercy. Band

(20:38):
together as believers so that way the cost of carrying
a brand won't be too much of a burden to
each individual. But we will carry each other's burdens, just
like the word says a man will carry thus burdens
to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. So every day,
any believer that's branded a believer, every day we should
be checking up on our brand. So one day you

(21:01):
could be Hallelujah, Jesus, I Love you. The next day
you could be rejecting him because we are dealing with
things that we don't want to let go. Am I
rejecting Jesus? Or am I blending in with the world.
That's another question to ask ourselves. Right, if you come
and ask me the question about yourself, you probably won't

(21:21):
get an answer right away. If I don't know how
you're living, right, So I'll pray, but you know for
sure how you're living. I know for sure how I'm living. Amen,
and the areas which I go to God for the
most because I know this area is of my life
as being honest that need improvement. What about you? But

(21:44):
we don't have to cater to the culture to prove
who we are in Christ. In other words, we don't
have to be pointing at everybody and saying you all sinners,
you're all this, you're all that. You don't have to
let the sin of the world right cause you to
sin yourself by calling people out not sharing truth without

(22:05):
love to me as a sin because you're not representing
Jesus the way Jesus would have represented himself. So we
need to be mindful and careful. Right So, being branded
by Christ means there will be seasons of rejection, seasons
of people making fun of us even as adults, and
definitely resistance. Jesus said John fifteen eighteen. He said, if

(22:29):
the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated
me first. So when I see a popular Christian evangelist
or preacher that has the approval of the world, I
observe and I'm like, why does the world love this
preacher or this evangelist so much that when you dig

(22:50):
deeper and you uncover some layers, you start realizing that
the preacher or evangelist, the apostle or the prophet, Amen,
the teacher, it's kind of like worldly and that's why
the world appeals. Right. But when God anoints you and
he draws people to himself through your ministry or through

(23:13):
your life, Amen, that shows Sue. That shows Sue, and
you'll be like, why is this person being followed so much?
He's actually speaking word, she's actually living the gospel out
and she has a big following. How is this so?
And then when you on layer those things, you start
noticing why this person really is anointed by God to

(23:37):
preach the word. He or she is able to communicate
the Gospel in a way that's clear. And now they
have a great following, and because they're directing people to
the one that's worth being followed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we can be mindful of that. Big crowds, big stadiums,
big churches, megachurches, communities of faith that are explosive, and

(24:04):
they looked like, you know, real powerful. They may just
observe what's going on if you have the time for that. Now.
I don't have the time to look at every ministry,
but the ministry that draws my attention, that comes to
my attention. Amen, I look at for the while. I
know I have followed an evangelists. Well, this person calls

(24:25):
themselves an apostle. Followed, I said, man, the message seems good.
Following is amazing. It took me like almost a year
before I realized, oh wow, this person is mm hmm there.
Maybe they started off good and something happened and they
started catering to the culture and then the money bag

(24:47):
started coming around and this person went rogue. And right
now this person is rogue. And not because I'm saying
this person's rogue, is because people are starting to notice
and they're try and starting to leave from under this
person ministry because of some issues that deal with money,
right position and twisting of the scriptures. So those people

(25:11):
need to follow what we just read and examine themselves
to see whether they're in the faith. They need to
test themselves because if you puff me up a little
bit too much and say, Sam, you're amazing, you're x
y Z, that temptation would be for me is to
say yeah, I am, and then kind of like get

(25:31):
into scriptures kind of but like twist them in a
certain way that it will be all about me, and
I'll say some controversial things gain more followers. And because
you gain more followers, sometimes your increasing your income and xyz.
But I'm not into gimmicks. I'm into trends. I'm in
it into ane of that stuff. If you know me,
you know that doesn't impress me. That's not my goal.

(25:53):
My goal is to try to encourage every single person
that comes to these morning DeVos to read the scripture
for yourself, Amen, So that way you will know what
the word can do in your life in real time,
in your situation. And God's word is faithful to God's word.
God is faithful to his word and is faithful to

(26:13):
us John, but the John. God bless you, good morning.
Yes there's a great mourning. God bless you, and thank
you for the love over the community and over the group.
God bless you, my friends. So listen, I'm running out
of time here, but think about it. The cost of
carrying the brand, Amen, there is a cost attached. Now

(26:33):
if you're living the Christian life and you're not coming.
There's no pushback or how you live or anything like that.
You might be thinking, why I want to It's not
that we're asking for chaos or problems, or we're not
asking for a pushback, but it comes along with the territory.
Jesus said, if the world hates you, keep in mind

(26:56):
that had hated me first. So you might be onto
something when the world starts hating your message, hating your life,
hating your community, hating your ministry. Because Jesus is known
to be hated first, and if we're representing Jesus a man,
hate comes along with it. That's why there's a cost
of carrying the brand, the cost of carrying the brand.

(27:18):
So I'm out of here a man. Let's live set
apart for the purposes of God. Salatians five twenty four.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires, and without Holy Spirit God
helping us through that, there will be no way for
us to live a true born again Christian life. We're branded.

(27:40):
The brand has a cost a man. The cost of
carrying our brand is there, and it's a true reality.
But with Christ we could do all things who strengthens us,
and I would think I have to be a pastor
to quote that. So God bless you all, God keep
you all, and remember always that God is good. Peace,