Why Your Plan to Fix Your Life Keeps Failing

We're glad you're here. We've got some people that are here for the first time. Thanks for being here. If you've got a cell phone, there's a little tap tag thing in front of you. You want to do that and get information about us, but we're just glad you're here. We want you to make yourself at home. We've got a couple of people in the back here. So thanks for joining us. It's super relaxed here, which is nothing unicorn about that. We just want you to know that you can come and be relaxed. We're going to put a premium and a reverence on God's Word. And we're going to do our very best to make it as relevant for you in your life where you're at. Because the Word was sent to heal us and deliver us from our distractions. And so we need to learn what it is. We need to get a grip, grasp on it, and get it in our heart. And then we need to understand how to apply it in our life. And what does it look like in real time? And let me tell you something. I say it all the time, but I get up in these moments like that in music. And I know it can start to feel.

I use the term last year like Church cheerleading, but it's not. It's just I'm trying to lead you to what you're longing for in your heart. And I cannot say it enough times that it is action. It is an open verbal stance. It is hearing yourself say it is. I'm telling you, this is not a special, so it's not a spectator sport. You can't sit here and watch the show. You can't, this life we live is a life of faith. And you've got to be verbal and you've got to be active and you've got to engage and you've got to grab hold of it and make it yours for your life. And so that's what those moments are. It's the moment where man, the music is ministering to you. The words are ministering to you. Your faith is being encouraged. Man, maybe things are being exposed in your heart. Maybe the need is pressing. And in that moment, this is where you can find that freedom. And I say it all the time. It's not just in those moments. You can find it in your living room tomorrow morning. You can find it at Bible study with the guys and girls on Tuesday Thursday.

You can find it before you go to bed at night. I'm telling you, when the moment, when the weight of the world feels like it's overwhelming you, is the moment that you have the opportunity to go boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace in the time of need. When do we find grace in the time of need? I got a hunch. Everybody here needs it at some point. And when we need it, that's when we're like, well, I'm just waiting for these circumstances to line up. What? Why don't you go to God? Why don't you go to the throne of grace where you can find his favor, his power and his strength in the time of need when you need it? That's the lift that we have in our heart that's available to us. The Bible does not ever mention problems and solutions. It never talks about challenges and solutions. We're not looking at it like that, like there's a formula in there. This is just a life of faith that we live. If you look at every character in the Bible, every biblical history, person in biblical history, they dealt with problems. And what we glean from them is their response of faith in that problem. And the problems that we have are everywhere. The world is full of problems. And there's all kinds of different types of problems. And there's financial problems and physical problems and relational problems.

And problems all around us in the world. There's always been problems. There always will be problems in the world. And all the solutions will still be the same. It'll still be Jesus. It'll still be the Truth. It'll still be the Word. And it's not because it's going to make all the problems go to go away. It helps you to rise above the problem. It helps you to navigate the problem. It helps prevent a lot of problems. And it helps you give wisdom to address the problem in front of you. The world's not going to stop throwing you problems. The world's not going to stop throwing you resistance. The world's not going to stop challenging you. The world is broken. And the shrapnel of people's sin in their life is a problem for us in a lot of different ways. And sometimes it's problems, surface-y problems. It's hot outside. It's raining outside.

We got a leak. We got this. They're physical problems. And sometimes it's people. And sometimes it's all the different challenges that the world can throw us. But the solution is always the same. And people go, well, what do I mean? It sounds so narrow-minded. It's so shortsighted. I get it. But when we understand that Jesus, it's not the story of religion. It's not your physical Church attendance. It's the Truth of the message of the Word of the Creator. And when the Devil came in and corrupted the world, he's still the Truth and he's still the Creator. And we've got to come out of the corruption and get on a different playing field so that we can address and handle the world that we're living in until he returns. And we look for his second coming. There's been a first coming. We are now sitting and waiting and longing and looking for the second coming of Christ. When he returns. But this is the life we live.

Faith is a way of life. We live. It's how we live. And here's what's crazy. And I've said this so many times. You're operating in a measure of faith. It just might be in the wrong way. I say there's so many different times. There's so many different ways. But I'm giving you a message of Truth, a message of the Gospel, a message of the love of God, a message of how valuable you are. And you will still believe a message from a third grade bully or whatever it is or from an expanse or from something. And you will let that message drive your life. It's become your faith. You expect it to work out bad. You expect it to not work out. And we say things so casually trying to be funny. It's like just my luck. That's faith. When you talk like that, that is your expectation. You're not expecting God to prevail.

You're expecting it to not go well. Well, you got a little run of good luck. So there's going to be some bad luck around the corner. Yes, the world's broken. It's not going to stop. You're going to keep getting problems. So instead of cheapening and celebrating, the great thing that God's doing in your life and recognizing he's building something great. We're so focused on all the micro stuff. It's like it didn't go my way today. What do you think it was going to happen today? Let me help you what's going to happen today. Something bad's going to happen today. But what else? God's going to be God today. And he's already triumphed over the bad today. So my focus and my attention is on the Truth. Jesus is the answer for all of it. The message of the Gospel, the price that was paid. That is the redemption that brings us back into alignment with God to navigate this stuff. And we have to simply believe that he is.

I cannot explain to you how he exists. He's the Creator on the creation. But we simply believe that he is. And now I have to discipline myself to trust him. That's it. I trust his way is better. I trust his words about me more than somebody else's words about me. I trust him with my life, my hope and my heart belong in him. I have my hope as in him, not on anyone or anything else. And so Hebrews 11 and 6 is very clear that tells us we simply believe that God is. And he's a rewarder. He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The emphasis there is diligently. We diligently are looking for him. We're diligently following him every day consistently. We're trying to grow in our relationship with him. We're trying to pursue him. We want to learn from him. Jesus said follow me and learn to me. They called him rabbi.

Why? They were practicing. They were his disciples practicing his disciplines. I used that verse last week. We're practicing Truth. The Truth has been revealed to you now. We practice it every day. Doctors are practicing medicine. Why would you put your trust in a doctor who's practicing medicine versus the one who created a solution that they're discovering and practice his Truth in your life? We're practicing all these other talents and skills. I use this a lot with the, I don't know where I've said to who we're now. But like we came to this world, Bucknakin. Like you were born. That little baby Beckett came in this world. There he was there. Free as a bird, right? And when he goes out someday, when we go out someday, you're taking nothing with you. We know you can't take a you hall to Heaven, right Tom? Can't take a you hall to Heaven. So you're going out.

I mean in your casket with clothes on, but Bucknakin, okay? Here's my point. Why would we fall in love with anything in between? You came in this world with nothing. You're going to leave this world with nothing. And yet we fall in love with things here. And we let those things become the governing voice in our life. It doesn't make any sense. So we're dealing with it. And there's nothing wrong with enjoying in the of it. God created it for our pleasure. And it's his pleasure to prosper you and see you grow. But my life and the governance of my life has to elevate out of the corruption and live with the mindset and the mentality of a believer. It's a belief system that's in your life. The belief system with which you operate your life within this world. How do the things in this world? It's based on your belief system. You believe that it's going to go this way. You believe that whatever's out there that's anti-Truth. You believe it's a belief system that you operate.

Look, everybody in your has one. And I'm not trying to turn you to religion. I'm introducing you to the Truth. Now, you can see how you want to see it. I'm not trying to, I have not bound and gagged anybody and made them come to Church yet. There's a couple people who come real close just to try to help them. I'm trying to help them, Carla. Okay? I'm just listening. Just getting the trunk and you're going to appreciate me later, pal. Okay? That's how it feels. I'm doing your favor, okay? But the bottom line is it's a belief system that we're operating with. And so what do ? How do it? Because you're identity. How do yourself? I'm trying to get to it like summer sermon series. And I don't know if I will.

I mean, I really do want to talk to you about what I'm going to call the people who say, what's the doctrine of the house? What's the doctrine of the house? The doctrine is the names of God. If God's the healer, then we believe in healing. If God's the provider, then we believe in His provision. If God's righteousness, then we believe in righteousness. If God's sanctification, then we believe in sanctification. If God is victory in the champion, then we believe in the victory He's one for us. That's the doctrine of the house. But I want to show it to you that's His name. And it's His name that He introduced us. He introduced Himself to us. And I'm getting ahead of myself because I want to start introducing this, but I want to come back to something. Your identity. How do yourself? Do yourself the way God sees you? Do yourself? Listen, because you don't. Not consistently. You'll have this moment of like, and you'll see yourself and feel loved, and all the feels will be there.

And then you'll walk out the door and just see yourself back as a lump of coal walking out through the streets. And it's like, man, God's values you. God celebrates you. God champions you. The Bible says God rejoices over you. That's crazy. He's rejoicing over you. You're the apple of his eye. He's enamored with you. He just thinks about you. And he wants to rescue you. And he wants to help you. And he wants to heal you. And he wants to champion things in your life. He wants to pull out the giftings he's put in you. He wants to develop. He wants to heal things. He wants to break things off. He wants to increase your life. But we have to like, I mean, this is so silly, but so accurate.

We just have to let him. It sounds so silly, but we just have to let him. Trust him, follow him, follow his leadership, and let him lead you to Truth, which is liberty, which is freedom. Follow it, submit to it. Let him lead you. It's not just a better version of who you are. You're a new creation in Christ now. And we keep thinking, like we interpret, I'm pleased, catch this. If y'all don't write stuff down, you should. Write it down because then like on Tuesday, you're like, what do you say? And Lattayal, tell me stuff I said that's not true. You're like, never when you said that, I'm like, I don't think I said that, like that. But maybe the Lord wants you here in a certain way, okay? The point is, write stuff down. It's healthy, it's good for you. You can go back and read it and study on it all week, okay? But you're a new creation in Christ. And the way we think is that like, God's trying to salvage things in your life. God's trying to, God's trying to like, just rescue the little pieces of scraps that you have left and just kind of, tie it not and it hang on till we die. No, listen to me.

You're a whole new creation. The moment Jesus came into your heart. And if you look at it through your eyes, you don't look any different. On the surface, it doesn't look any different. But who you are, the position of who you are is now hidden in Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. You are now in right standing with God seated with him. So it's not just this like behavioral modification program. We're not just trying to improve some success things so the world sees that we're more successful. I don't care if you're more successful in the world. I'm not in love with anything that the world offers. Go enjoy it. Take some trips. Go to Mexico. Don't get a tan. Do the things, right? Like go do it all. But don't fall in love with it more and understand something that whether you go or don't go or that you have or don't have doesn't change your position. Your position is not marked by your worldly success by your athleticism, by your economic status. Your value and your position is set by God that he valued you enough to rescue you. He valued you enough to die on a cross for you.

And I've said this before but it's like we talk about him dying on the cross like we say well I'm not worthy of that. No, think about it. He thinks you're worthy of that. Did you catch it? He thinks you are worthy of it. That's how valuable you are to him that he would do that. And so we often get stewardship and we often get stewardship and position like intermingled. Confused. We think differently. We talk differently. We expect differently. And because of the position that encourages us to think, talk and expectantly, now there's a different attitude in stewardship. Now there's a conviction about our behaviors. Now there's an evidence of what God's doing in my heart and my knowledge and understanding of who I am that values myself differently. So I'm not going to let people talk to me that way anymore. I'm not going to stay in this room or this culture anymore. I'm not going to listen to that anymore. I'm not going to go with those people anymore. It's not personal. I'm not condemning anybody.

But my position and my heart's changed. So now the desires have changed. So now my stewardship is the result of my positioning. You get it? But we keep thinking we're going to steward this thing and make it better. The stewardship is just your opportunity to follow his leadership. So God can do things in your life. If God can increase your finances, then you have a little bit of margin to give to every good work, to bless people. If God improves your health and heals your health, you got a little more strength and energy to serve and help people. If God does things in your marriage, you got a victory to overcome to encourage other people that might be going through a tough situation. Like God wants to heal your life so that you could be a vessel of healing for other people. God wants to elevate and increase your life so there's margin in your life to help be a blessing to other people. But we have to see the position in our life. Albert Einstein said this, you can't solve a problem on the same level that was created. Now if Einstein was a believer, he was pretty smart cookie. And I think you deduce, finally, there's something out here that put all these numbers together, right? But here's a deal. You can't solve a problem on the same level that was created. Meaning what he's implying there. And what I'm implying by quoting him, who's not in the Bible, but what I'm implying here is like, man, the world is a playing field that problems are created.

But to overcome the problem or to solve the problem or find the solution is to get above the problem. I can't think down here where the problem was created and think I'm going to come up with a better solution. Let me go to God in my private time, in my personal time. Let me inquire of the wisdom of God when he said, ask of me and don't regret it. Don't be nervous or embarrassed about it because it's my desire to give you wisdom. Let me go to the wisdom of the Creator of how to navigate this situation, circumstance, or problem that's in front of me. God wants to lead you by the Spirit of Truth with the wisdom of the Creator to navigate your circumstances. But we just want to keep solving problems down here and keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, or what we had done here is the value. The value is you have access to God. And if you move to Africa tomorrow, you have access to God. If you decide you're going to run a marathon and commit to training for rhythm, you have access to God. And if you decide to start your own business tomorrow, you have access to God. And if you decide to leave your job tomorrow, you have access to God. And if you decide to do anything, you have access to the wisdom of the Creator who is Truth, who wants to heal you, who wants to love you, who wants to provide for you, who wants to shepherd you. Word dumb sheep and sheep have a shepherd for the benefit of their protection and the shepherd leads them to what? Still waters and green grass. He wants to shepherd you to health. He wants to shepherd you to strength. He wants to shepherd you to the life that listen. He has saved you for today.

But we look at it in the natural, like, well, I've spent 40 years being an idiot, so I got to have 40 years of redeeming. No, you're a new creation. Those whole 40 years have been washed under the blood. It's marvelous. Now, you might still have some dumb thinking. You might barely be, like, best professionals said, like, you might barely be house broke. You may not be a public social risk. In public places still. But those are the things that can be refined. But those are not the things that dictate your value. Are you listening to what I'm trying to say to you tonight? You have been redeemed. You're in right standing with God. Even the message just when I was listening to best people was talking about, I have to catch new vision, new mission, new values that come from the Word. The vision that's in your heart will be developed and refined by the Word. The mission of your life will be developed and refined by the Word. The values in your life, the things that you value and begin to cherish will be refined and developed from the Word, from Truth. When you begin to discover who you are and what God's doing in your life, and many of you all know the story of how the Israelites were led out of Egypt. They were in slavery for 400 years, and God rescued him, and it leads Moses in there, and he brings him out, and he crosses the red sea. And his whole purpose, listen to me, God's whole agenda was to take them to a land that was theirs, where he could prosper them, where they could have their own identity in him, and he could bless them, and through this nation of people make himself famous to the world.

And what was supposed to be 9, 10, 11 days, a couple of weeks in the wilderness was 40 years in a wilderness, and an entire generation of people have died. Why? Because God delivered them out of Egypt, but they never got Egypt out of their heart and their mind. They never got who they were out of their mind to become who they could be, that God saved them for. And so the renewing of our mind, why is that so important? Why is the Word so important? Why? Because it's washing out that old creation, that old mindset, that old mentality, and it's replacing it, it's renewing it, it's refreshing it, it's re-aligning it with who I was created to be. Because I go back, you didn't pick being born. God picked you, and he created you for purpose, he valued you, he saw you, and so the redemption is that it washes out that old stuff, the things that people have said that have hurt you, the old behaviors, the old disciplines, the old addictions, watch, the old belief system. He's washing it out with the Word, and there's a new Truth in your life. There's the now-vee Truth in your life, and it's of so important, Psalms 84, 4. This is so cool what God wants to do in our life, and this is the new living translation, it's not worded the way I wanted to be worded, but the new King James has learned it and wrote it down. But it says this right here, it says they will continue to grow stronger. You are they. Those who joy is the Lord find strength, and it says they will continue to grow stronger. Each one of them will appear before God, and Jerusalem, what that means, what I wanted to highlight from, it says they go from strength to strength. That's why it says the moon says we'll grow stronger. Everybody say strength to strength. Go ahead and ride it down, because you've got a new King James version, you got different translation, you can go read it, strength to strength, strength to strength.

God wants to take you from the strength you're in today to another strength for tomorrow, and another strength for the next season you're in, and another strength for next year. Right now, the mobile Church era of covenant Church is dead. Right? Three years of being a mobile Church is over. We're now in this new building era, and this is the season we're in, and they're strength for this day in our life, and next year we better be further along, and when we are there's going to be strength for that season, because there's going to be more people, and more things to manage, and more need for volunteers, and more things to have, and we're going to need more strength, and this is what God does. He's growing your strength and elevating you. He goes from strength to strength. Look at Romans 117 says, and the new King James says, faith to faith, write it down. We go from faith to faith, but this is the new living translation, and I wanted to say true, so that's why I stayed with it right here, because this is what I always preached from, but the good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. From start to finish, what the new King James says, we go from faith to faith. The just live by faith. See, you've been justified when Jesus died on the cross. That was the penalty for your payment, or the payment for your penalty, right? That justifies you. You were guilty, but now you're justified. The just, that's us live now, from now on, from this day forward by faith. This is how we live, and so we better get our belief system, right? We better get the Truth, right? We better get the Word, because we live by this faith, all of our hope anchors in the finished work of Jesus, and now we live the future, the rest of it, from that place by faith.

Yes, the atonement is where all my hope is, but because of the atonement, now I have opportunity for transformation. Now I have opportunity for change and growth. Now I have opportunity to go from strength to strength, and I live from faith to faith. It took faith for some of you to get here tonight. It's taking faith for you to navigate the situation that you trusted God with in the song tonight. And tomorrow, when you get up, you're going to have to have faith for that tomorrow. You got to have faith to raise a newborn baby, and then you're going to have to have faith to raise a toddler. You're going to have to have faith to raise a teenager. You're going to have faith to go into retirement, or, whatever us older people are starting to do, right? You're going to have to have faith for the next season of your life. You're going to have to have faith to buy building. You're going to have to have faith to keep building it out. You're going to have to have faith to buy, you're going to have to go from faith to faith to faith to faith, from strength to strength to strength to strength, and this is what God wants to do. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. Hurry up, Regina. Just kidding. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. Listen, I want you to catch what that just said. If you've seen the Truth of the message of Jesus, the veil's been removed. So now I'm not only do that God loves you, I can see it.

Whoa, the veil's removed. I can see God. I can see the Truth. I can see His love. I can see I'm valued. I can see He loves me. I can see He healed me. I can see He saved me. So now because I can see it. Watch, watch, watch. I can reflect it. I can see it. And as in a mirror, I can now reflect it. People look at you dealing with the same problems they're dealing with, but you deal with them differently. Why? Because you're going from strength to strength. You're going from faith to faith. And this verse in the New King James says, watch, you're going from glory to glory. Write this down. My life is advancing.

My life is growing. God's taking you from this strength to the next strength. God's taking you from this faith to the next faith. God's taking you from this glory to the next glory. And you're reflecting Him as you grow, the veil's been removed. So now you can see Him, which means I can learn. I can grow. I can follow. I can reflect. I can mimic. I can imitate. I can learn from and reflect the glory. Lord and the Lord who is the Spirit, which we've been talking about for the last several weeks, look, makes us more and more. Write that one down. More and more. Faith to faith. Glory to glory. Strength to strength. More and more. You weren't ready for that, Peter.

Okay. Makes us more and more like Him as we are changed, as we are changed, as we are changed, Ryan, as we are changed into his glorious image. Strength for today. Tomorrow, strength for today. Today, faith to go forward. Tomorrow, faith to go forward. Today, I reflect His glory. Tomorrow, I reflect more of His glory. I'm growing. I'm growing. More strength. More faith. More glory. More strength. More faith. More glory. Because I see Him. And the only reason that you will not grow is because you will reject Him. That's it. And the only reason you'll reject Him is for our own pride.

You can't kill Him. He proved that. You can't kill the Truth because it's coming back in three days. So you can reject the Truth, which is what they did. It says that they rejected Him. You can reject this message. You can reject the Truth, but you can't kill it. Your eventually going to surrender to it or you're going to be so hard-hearted, you're going to stay with a middle finger to it. There's no way in between. And so here's what I want you to see. The glory to glory that we become more changed into His glorious image. I'm going to leave you at this verse, 2nd Peter, chapter 1, verse 4. I did not even get to the names of God, which is great. 2nd Peter, 1, 4. Look what it says. And because of His glory, pause. This is why I came to this verse. I'd just stand over here so you'll stop reading. Okay? Because of His glory, which is what .

Don't you look on my shoulder, Peter. That's what . His glory now. Him. the Truth. And we reflect it. And we grow in it. So we go from glory to glory. So watch what happens. And because of His glory and because of His excellence, He has given us, He has given us great and precious promises. That's another Word for Truth. That's another Word. Listen, these promises, God's going to keep His promise. I use His example of the Academy one day, talking about our hope. We hope in these promises. See our worldly vernacular, we have reduced the strength of the Word hope when I hope they show up tonight. Man, I hope we have chicken Marsala tonight. I don't know what that is. I hope we, I hope we, I hope it's sunny tomorrow. And what we've done is we've taken all the power and all the weight out of that Word.

See, let me tell you what hope is. Hope is, it's a, we have a living hope. Yes? A living hope. Let me give you the best little silly example I can think of that worked with the Academy kids. Okay? If Nina says tonight at six o'clock, she tells me the kids that tonight, we're going to have some, some, some chicken salad for dinner or whatever. Okay? And that's our favorite thing to eat. It's not mine. It's our favorite thing to eat. Okay? Listen, we're excited about she says tonight dinners at six o'clock, we're having chicken salad. It's currently noon, Peter, I don't, I don't have the chicken salad. But she told me that we're going to have it at six o'clock. So what my expectation is at 12 o'clock? At six o'clock, I'm eating that salad like a champ. At six o'clock, it's going to be here. Listen, she promised to me. And if she were God, which she is not.

But if she was, her Word can never return void. So as he promised things to you, yes. Now my hope is in that promise prevailing. That's why I told you we don't pray our preferences. We pray God's promise. We declare God's promise. I don't look to the circumstances. I'm not moved by left and right. I'm not moved by like, man, that didn't go my way. I thought we'd be there soon, or I thought it was going to happen. And I get shook and I lose my faith. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not moved. I don't get shook. I'm not moved. I'm immovable. That's what Scripture says. I don't get shook by things. I just simply press forward. I stay, I stay on go and I expect God's promise to prevail in my life.

I stay surrendered. Listen to me. And I stay committed. Don't garner. I had a thing this week where I was just like, if people would just be committed to their job, to their spouse, to some attendance at Church, it's just a commitment. If we would just commit to following him, he's going to lead you. His promises will prevail. And there's a living hope in you that says, I don't have it at this second, but that joker's coming because he promised me. And I have an expectation. That's hope. I have hope. I'm living with hope that it's six o'clock reading that meal. It's only 12, but she promised. And there's a hope. Now I'm not saying, now watch. I don't say I hope we have chicken salad tonight for dinner. I know we're having chicken salad for dinner. I'm living with hope right now while I'm waiting for it. It's a confident expectation. All right.

Here we go. He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises. Watch. This is what it does. This promise, this Truth. It enables you. It strengthens you. It encourages you. It inspires you. It lifts your head out of the muck in the mire to see and have vision for the future. The promises enable you to share in his divine nature. They enable you to walk with him and to share them. Why? Because I'm looking for them. I get up every day looking for them going from strength to strength, faith to faith, glory to glory, seeing him following him, looking for his promises. That enables me to share with him, to walk with him, to dine with him, to listen to him, commune with him. It's me and him. We're like this because I've accepted and received at which he's given me. He proved his love.

Do you understand this? He proved it. It doesn't say in the Bible clearly says that he demonstrated. God demonstrated his love for you. He didn't just say it. He demonstrated it. And with that demonstration, I have a confident assurance about his promises too. Did you get it? Because of what he's already done, if it's true, and you got inside in your heart, if you believe it or not, because if it's true, why would you shelf it? If it's true, then that means all of these are true. And if all of these are true, this is what enables you to elevate out of the muck and mire in your life. I'm not denying the facts. I'm not denying the muck and the mire. I'm not denying the problems. I started this sermon with problems. I'm not denying the challenges. I'm not denying the adversity. I'm not denying the effort that's required. But the effort that is really ultimately required is that in the moment when it's overwhelming to step back, rest and say, I trust you and focus on these promises. And there's a renewed energy and strength that enables me to press forward.

It enables me to share. Watch his divine nature and escape. Everybody say escape. The world's corruption caused by human desires. So I go full circle to finish this up. The world is corrupted. Everything that God's created, the Devil's corrupted. The world's mentality, not the beauty of creation. The world's mentality that's innately selfish and prideful and rebellious and fearful and anxious and worried. It's corrupted. It's fear-based. It's pride-based. It's all about me. It's all about us and it's broken. It's corrupted. But when I discover his heart that was demonstrated in Jesus and I see his precious promises, it enables me to walk with him and I get to be seated in Heavenly places and I get to be repositioned with him and I get to look and see the circumstances differently and it allows me to escape the corruption of it. I'm in it but I'm not of it. I'm in the corrupted world but I don't function like the corrupted world. That's where the joy is. It's up here.

This is where the peace is. This is where the Truth is and all I've got to do is go yes Lord. All I've got to do is get with him but the only reason I won't is because I'm lazy. I'm selfish. I don't feel like it or I reject it but it is always available. He is always available. He is always there which is one of the names of God. He is always present. Jesus said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I'll never turn my back on you especially as his children but even more so, the moment you cry out, he will be available. He is waiting for you and as I said, he is long suffering but he is not forever suffering and this is not a twist or a turn to pressure you. I'm just simply letting he's waiting for you but there is a time when the time will run out and all I'm asking you is why in the world would you wait? Why would we wait when we can escape the world's corruptions? When we can live above the rift raft of the world, when we cannot get sucked up and caught up with all the stuff that the world throws us that wants to suppress your life, I've said it from week one that I can remember. There's an oppression in the world. It wants to suppress and hold you down which is crazy because that's what we're talking about is the elevation of renewing and reminding myself and renewing my mind of the position that I'm in. I see the circumstances and I feel buried but the Truth is I'm above it. The discipline is for you to see it the way he sees you and to see yourself the way you are to get the understanding that you now have after tonight that you are now seated in Heavenly places with him. So now when the circumstances line up and it looks and feels like you're buried you have to in that moment come out of it come boldly to the throne of grace where you obtain mercy and find grace and time of need and remind yourself of who you are. That's in your heart.

That's who you are and now I go to work and now I come home to the fan and now I go deal with the bank and now I go to the gym and now I come to Church. It's the Truth that's always available for you to build your life on. Strength to strength, faith to faith, glory to glory, more and more elevation, growth, increase why? Because God wants you to enjoy him and that makes you available for now you have margin to be a blessing through you to bring healing to other people. Give yourself a high five. There's a lot of high fives. I like that. Good job, Suzanne. Good job. Good job. Father, we love you and we thank you for the privilege it is to be in your house. God we recognize your Truth. We recognize your Word. We recognize your promise and God we see your heart in here. They God you're elevating and growing us. They God is your desire to make us stronger. It's your desire to build our faith stronger in you and the Truth of your Word. It's your desire to bring us from glory to glory to glory more and more reflection of who you are, more knowledge, more wisdom, more understanding that we can reflect more of who you are to the people around us. God we see you for the goodness that you are. Man, if you're sitting in the room tonight and you need to make Jesus the Lord of your life, you do it right where you're sitting and you're sitting there and you're saying, man, I want more of that strength.

I want more of that faith. I want more of that glory. I want more of what God's made available to me. Man, you may be sitting on the edge and going, I don't know. It sounds pretty good, but I don't know if that's really for me. Well, I say, try him. I say, I say, I say, commit to him. See what happens. You make Jesus the Lord of your life. It's the acknowledgement that he was the penalty for your sin. That simply means that God's Holy and you're not and you need a Savior. And he's the redemption. He's the bridge. He's the one that qualifies you and makes you Holy. And we believe that he was God and we believe that he conquered death, that penalty on the cross was for our sin, but that resurrection is the victory that we live in. You get to live. Listen to me. You get to live in the victory. You're not a victim because of the cross. That's how much he loves you.

You're a victor because of the resurrection. And that's what's available to you to live in the victory that he's won for you. So if you're sitting in here tonight, right, where you're sitting, you can just make it clear to him, say, Jesus, I make you Lord of my life. In fact, we don't do this very often, but everybody say this after me. Say it with me. Say, God, I believe that you're committed to me, that you love me, that you rescued me, that you saved me. And I see your heart. It's obvious that you love me. Thank you for the price you paid, for what Jesus did to cover me. I choose tonight to make Jesus the Lord of my life. You're the Truth. And I will let your Truth govern my heart from now on. God, thank you for saving my soul in Jesus name. Amen.