Lisa Bevere shares a powerful message out of her book “Girls With Swords: How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero” at the 2015 Desperation Conference.
you guys doing okay I’m so excited to be
here with you guys I can just tell you
are leaning in and you are ready I’m
going to talk really fast because I’ve
had a lot of caffeine so if you can
listen fast this will work okay all
right I’m going to open up with my
family because I need you to know a
little bit about me I have four sons and
so we’re going to put a picture up of
them I believe they’re all coming up if
not that’s just my shoulder there we go
okay so I live with a lot of men so my
youngest son right there is in the front
his name is art and he is 20 years of
age and he leaves actually tomorrow for
Hillsong Sydney he’s going to go for a
year a Bible College there so we’re so
excited about that and then behind him
is my oldest son Addison he is 29 years
of age then there is my husband of 33
years John Bevere who will be speaking
tonight he is my favorite minister not
because of how he preaches but who he is
in private and then behind him is my
second son Austin he is 26 and then my
son Alec who is 24 and then my grandson
Asher and I’m going to show you a
picture of Asher a little bit closer I
think all grandchildren should be
celebrated okay
he has a gouge on his face and I picked
its picture for a reason I did all of
the Hillsong color world conferences
last year I did two weeks in Sydney one
week in Cape Town one week in London and
when I came home art of Asher came over
I need the scratch on his face and I am
a half Sicilian grandmother and so when
somebody hurts my grandchildren
something inside of me gets upset and I
was like Asher who in the world did this
to you do I need to go to daycare and
have a talk with somebody but before he
could even answer me I saw a hand go up
and it was my granddaughter Sophia
Sophia had scratched Asher Sophia is the
first female born to my family in more
than 50 years I was the last one she is
fiercer than all of the bull
he’s put together we expected a little
butterfly to float into our world but
you know there is a generation of
daughters coming on the face of the
earth right now that understand they are
designed for a purpose
and they are going to come alongside the
men in strength and in fierceness but
they also need to be saved
one of things I Sophia does is when I
put her in her car seat she begins to
yell I need Jesus I need Jesus and what
she’s actually asking for is for me to
put on you make me brave
but we need Sophia to get saved before
she is brave because right now she’s
just me and then I have a mother
granddaughter her name is Lizzie and
yeah everybody has a sweet reaction to
Lizzie and you should because Lizzie is
sweet so I’m going to show all three of
them together and then you get a better
image of what this looks like in real
life so I am a grandmother and that’s
exciting because grandmothers are
understanding something that mothers
don’t understand and that is something
called perspective I believe that
grandmothers want something truly grand
for the next generation and so even
though I might have a problem seeing
small print what I see in the distance
is a glory uprising for the Church of
Jesus Christ I believe we’re going to
end your days of sons and daughters and
mothers and fathers standing on the face
of the earth and releasing the words of
heaven I’m also going to show you two
more pictures I’m going to show you
something called the Tough Mudder I
don’t know if you know what this is but
it is basically a special-ops race and
one of my sons entered the Tough Mudder
and I have decided since I genetically
produced him that I am a tough mother I
don’t know if you are familiar with this
but this is for people that like to be
electrocuted
swim through ice and run for ten miles
at 12,000 feet above sea level so I’m
like okay I am genetically superior if I
had wanted to be in that race I would
have won it and so last year when I came
home
Hilsum my son pick me up from the
airport he’d win in another race it’s
called the Spartan Race and I think
we’re going to show the picture of the
Spartan Race and I wanted to know had we
won I was like Alec did we win the race
he was like no mom you did not win this
race he said we didn’t win he said but I
discovered something it’s actually more
fun helping other people over obstacles
than it is crossing the finish line
alone and I don’t know if you know this
or not but you have a course to run you
have a race to run and we are not
competing against one another but I am
here today to make sure that you cross
that finish line I’m going to do a
couple of things I’m going to give a
couple of things away and I’m going to
need some help here so I have what’s
your name again Kayla okay so I’m going
to give away a curriculum suck I want a
leader I want a leader here who traveled
what Ledo traveled the farthest you have
to be outside of Colorado okay where did
you travel from you need to be loud what
Puerto Rico okay but do you speak
English is that your first language okay
the Nazca I’ll give you a Spanish girls
with swords okay I need a curriculum
somebody that traveled not quite as far
as Puerto Rico but I’ll give you guys
something from from the US that is a
leader can you give us away to them find
out find out who wins you got to give
this to them just give it to them I
trust you okay and then I’m going to
also and so that’s the curriculum we’re
going to have out there we believe that
people find out who they are in the
company of other people and I’m going to
tell you a little bit of a story because
a lot of times women do not know how
crucial they are to this mix with God I
think the guys know hey it’s okay for us
to be strong it’s okay for us to be bold
but the truth is that God needs strong
sons and strong daughters and so I’m
going to tell you a little bit of a
story on something that I’m going to be
preaching a teeny bit on I’m actually
mixing two things but basically I wrote
a book called lioness arising
and I was about women waking up and
discovering who they were and you know
this is embarrassing but sometimes my
life is so busy that I do things as
afterthoughts and so my book was already
out and published in five languages and
I’m driving in my car and I was like
okay Jesus um I forgot to tell you I
published a book called lioness arising
I hope that’s okay with you I know that
you’re independent of time so I can ask
you something afterwards and you can
work with me and I’m like I would just
like a confirmation that that was all
right and so that night I was in the
throes of a school project with my
youngest son I had you know found out at
8 o’clock at night that he had a school
project due the very next day I was like
are you serious I tore apart the three
older boys school projects brought him
the poster board he was like no this is
the wrong poster board so then I braved
a blizzard to go out and get the correct
poster board and I paid the other boys
money to cut out pictures and to let him
you know dictate his paper to them and
when I came home all of this was
happening in my house when my husband
did something he likes to do on a
regular basis he called me now that’s
not bad but what he actually does when
he calls me is he puts me on the phone
with random strangers I have tried to
tell him I don’t want to talk to these
people these people don’t want to talk
to me I don’t know if it’s an exit
strategy for John when he’s in a
conversation that he wants to be over he
just dials my phone and hands them to
people but my husband was like hey I
have somebody I want to talk you want
you to talk to and I said absolutely not
I am in the throes of a school project
you don’t understand this because you
have never done this John but I need to
be involved with this and he’s like
listen the guy you don’t he talked him
right now I gave me your cell phone
he’s going to call you back just like
who does that to their wife and so when
the guy called me back I tried to sound
exhausted he I was like hello and he’s
like is this is this Lisa Bevere I was
like yes he said well your husband held
up your book tonight lioness arising and
he said lions are the best killers but
lionesses are the best hunter
and I said well of course he would say
that that’s all he knows he doesn’t read
my books he said well I’m calling you to
tell you why your book is important he
said let me tell you what I do here at
Fort Bragg he said I am in charge of
special ops team he said I don’t know if
you know but we are not winning the war
in Afghanistan I said I actually do know
that he said do you want to know why we
are not winning the war I said yes in
the middle of my son’s school project I
must know why we are not winning the war
in Afghanistan he said well one of the
reasons we’re not winning the war is we
can’t speak to their women and he said
if he can’t speak to the women you can’t
flip the culture and if you can’t flip a
culture you can’t win the war he said up
unto this point we have been sending in
special operative teams of men he said
but now we’re sending in special
operative women and they’re going to
tell the Afghan women they have boys and
valued they’re going to tell them why
democracy will serve their sons and
daughters well they’re going to take
care of their minor medical needs and
deliver their babies he said and the
name of this group is team lioness
they’re about ready to be a deployed may
I have a copy of your book for all of
them and so I got to outfit team lioness
before it went out of Fort Bragg then I
got to outfit team lioness before it
went out of camp lejeune
why am I telling you this because if the
US military understands that without the
involvement of women you will fight but
you will not win then it is time that
the Church of Jesus Christ understands
that God has always made it about one
man and one woman with one heart
standing together and that is a vision a
promise whether we realize it or not the
church is Jesus’s bride and we are
supposed to be one accord with our Lord
so I’m going to show you what the enemy
is afraid of I’ve got a picture of two
lions he is afraid that the men and the
women will stand side by side face to
face that they will remember that they
are intimate allies and not
and so to that end I’m going to talk to
you about some stuff and you know you
can go back to your seat you’re awesome
okay so basically we’re in a generation
at the time that is shifting so quickly
and when I look at your generation I
have to be honest with you I see nothing
but promise I’m not afraid for you you
were created for this time but you need
the strength you need the tools and so
when I wrote lioness arising it was a
wake-up call and when I wrote girls with
swords it was a weapon but I’m going to
actually position you with something
you’re going to need to go forward it’s
something that they have done all these
studies it is called grit they have
found out that people who have gritty
behaviors or the grit factor will
actually succeed more than people that
are intelligent more than people that
are rich the idea of people that have
this tenacious I will not quit I will
not be distracted I will not be deterred
those kind of people have the hood spot
that they need to make it but if you’re
going to have a grit factor that is not
just this world’s grit factor but a
spiritual grit factor then you’re going
to have to operate by faith and you’re
going to have to know who you are and
you’re going to have to know how God
prepares you so I’m going to open up
with Hebrews 11 33 it says through acts
of faith not gods to faith through acts
of faith they toppled kingdoms may
justice work and took the promises for
themselves
you have to lay hold of every promise in
God’s Word it will not just fall on your
head you need to be able to when you
hear a scripture or you’re singing a
song to understand that if something
begins to stir inside of you you say
that is for me you need to take hold of
whatever you need to be equipped for
this day and this age and what you need
to be equipped for this day and age may
be very different than what your parents
needed so you might have a little
of wildness you might have a little bit
of fierceness to you but that’s okay I
need you to be dangerous and I need you
to be fully awake to this season one of
my favorite scriptures and again I do
when I talk about things in the Bible to
have a feminine term I want you to think
of it as a church is Micah 4:13 this is
on your feet daughter of Zion be
threshed of chaff be refined of dross
for I am remaking you a people
invincible for a long time we have been
a people invisible there’s a lot of
people that are just waiting for the
rapture to come and they can disappear
but that is not what you were created
for you were created to rise up in these
last days
invincible you are not created for
anything you have seen you are creative
or something more than you have ever
seen with your natural eyes there is
something inside of you that says there
is something more than you have ever
seen and that is why you would be here
on a morning at the desperation
conference after you stayed up really
late but this is a preparation process
and to kind of set this story up I’m
going to tell you a ridiculous story
about me I actually travel a lot to
Australia and I was going to actually
plan at shakers on this particular trip
and I don’t know if they are kind of
like hey we spent so much money to fly
you down here you’re gonna have to speak
75 times but basically when I landed it
was like hey we got a pre leaders
meeting before the leaders meeting
before the lunch and I mean like at the
end of my time there I didn’t know who I
was I didn’t know if I was coming or
going what is my point with that I want
you to know I was vulnerable I was
exhausted
I don’t do jet lag well some people do I
don’t and so basically the very last
night that I was there we all gathered
at pastor Sam Evans house it was all
girls it was all quiet and I was sitting
there and a woman came up to me and she
said I have been watching you all
weekend and I finally figured out who it
is you remind me of and I said please
don’t say Paul Abdulle please – she was
like no no no it’s not an American Idol
judge she said
you remind me of the original Sarah
Connor and I went wait a minute
wasn’t she blonde and she said oh no no
it wasn’t her hair it was her buffness
my heart began to beat fast you know if
you tell a woman who is over 50 that she
is buff she don’t know it’s a lie but
she’ll want to believe you and I was
like oh okay why I’ve never heard that
before I got on a jet plane I flew home
I grabbed my son Alexander I said
Alexander I need you to find me some
pictures of Sarah Connor from Terminator
2 because I’m a Christian I’ve never
watched that movie I’m like can you just
show me some pictures well he did better
than pictures he sent some video clips
and so I began to watch these video
clips and my heart began to race again
basically I’ll tell you what I saw I saw
Sarah Connor I guess she was in some
kind of like prison sanitarium or
something and she had taken the twin bed
and she had put it up against the wall
and she was doing pull-ups on the
underside of her bed and I asked why
would she be doing this and they
explained to me that she understand that
she needed to use a season of captivity
to develop strength because she would
not always be in prison and she wanted
to come out of that season in strength
so that she could rescue her son then
they had another image of her and she’s
like talking a gun with one arm well I
have a 16-point buck on the wall of my
house that I dropped with one shot and
then there was another picture of her
and she’s writing her Ducati which
looked like my black ninja so now all of
a sudden I’m feeling spiritually
connected with Sarah I’m feeling
skillfully connected with Sarah and I
made the leap of perhaps I was
physically connected with Sarah and I
did something I had never done I called
Gold’s Gym
I called Gold’s Gym and I said hey I
want that trainer that shaves his head I
don’t know what his name is
but he looks really fierce and they’re
like okay so the
I answers the phone I’m like Hello
Robert I know you don’t know who I am
but I am possibly one training session
away from Sarah Connor and I am going to
let you be my physical trainer and so
I’m gonna come in I’m gonna meet you and
he you know he kind of was like we’ll
we’re going to do an assessment first
and when he said that I should have
taken a deep breath and asked myself a
couple questions like have you ever done
a pull-up Lisa and the answer would be
no I actually haven’t
the other question I should have asked
was with Sarah Connor maybe 20 in her
20s in that movie and you’re in your 50s
that would have been another important
question but I didn’t I made an
appointment I called to my boys I’m like
hey guys mom is going to the gym who
wants to come with me they’re like we
will make you a clean pumpup mix we are
all coming to see this sign and Wonder
so I walked into the gym I was like
bouncing my head at that point my boys
are like scattering they’re like we’re
acting like we don’t know you now
because you’re acting like you can dance
when I made eye contact with Robert I
expected him to be a little bit more
excited than he was when he saw me he
had a clipboard he takes me into the
center of gold gym and he said drop and
give me ten push-ups and I said wait you
mean the girl kind right you can drop
and get me down I was like wait what he
said stop sorry I’m like began to panic
so I dropped and I gave Robert ten
horribly formed push-ups I hadn’t done
them since high school and then he said
get up
he said now do twenty-five jumping jacks
the way he said I couldn’t remember what
a jumping jack was I was like dude I had
stretch at the top he’s like god I’m
like oh my gosh and so I didn’t want him
to say I was cheating so I started
clapping and my boys were like ah oh my
gosh
look at our mother she can’t even do a
jumping jack correctly and I have to be
honest with you that was the best thing
I did that morning it went from bad to
awful to ridiculous and then Robert
brought me to the cubicle to share the
bad news with me I already knew I had
flunked the assessment but he had one
more test he was going to do he handed
me something that looked kind of like a
controller and he said I need you to put
this out in your hands and just like
hold it and push a button it’s going to
measure your fat percentage so I pushed
it and it shot an electrical current
through my body measured my fat
percentage
Robert was shocked by how high my fat
percentage was I was not as surprised as
Robert and I said well maybe I did hold
it right or maybe I’m dehydrated from
jet lag so I did it again and it went up
a percentage point at that point Robert
began to point out some larger sisters
at the gym and explained to me that I
was fatter than them he said you see
that person you have a higher fat
percentage than her you see that person
you have a higher fat percentage than
her now at this point I’ve just about
had it
I mean I’m humiliated I’m like I can’t
believe I’m here and so I said you need
to stop it right now
I am NOT a lazy person I am a busy
person he said oh I know that
he said you’re something we call skinny
fat what is that
he said you’re busy and because you’re
busy you burn muscle rather than build
it and he said if you want to be strong
you can’t be busy you need to begin to
be able to bear some weight and that day
when I left the gym I thought how much
of the church is skinny fat
oh yeah we’re busy but when it comes to
bearing some weight to stand up under
some pressure we came and if you think
trainer Robert was mean you should
listen to trainer Jesus revelation three
verses one through three says I see
right through your work you have a
reputation for vigor and zest but you’re
dead stone dead up on your feet take a
deep breath maybe there’s life and you
yet but I wouldn’t know it by looking at
all your busy work nothing about God’s
work has been completed your condition
is desperate think of the gift you
once had in your hands the message you
heard with your ears grasp it again and
turn back to God if you pull the covers
back over your head and sleep on
oblivious to God I’ll return when you
least expect it and break into your life
like a thief in the night
spiritual busyness does not build
strengthen I bet a lot of you already
know that Jesus values very different
things than this world values he doesn’t
value how many Facebook friends you have
he doesn’t value how many Twitter
followers or Instagram followers he
doesn’t value other people see you he
sees the real you and you need to be
very careful in this day of social media
that you are not so busy listening to
what everybody else says about you that
you forget who you truly are
Jesus saw through the works of this
church the very next church so in the
Book of Revelations which is a book in
the Bible he saw right through them he
said I know you inside it out and fight
little to my liking
you’re not cold you’re not hot far
better to be either cold or hot or stale
you’re stagnant you make me want to
vomit you brag I’m rich I’ve got it made
and I need nothing from anyone it sounds
like America oblivious that in fact you
are a pitiful blind beggar threadbare
and homeless here’s what I want you to
do buy gold from me gold that’s been
through the refiners fire then you’ll be
rich buy your clothes from me clothes
designed in heaven you’ve gone around
half-naked long enough and buy medicine
for your eyes from me so you can see
really see I believe the younger
generation has the ability to see some
things that the older generation has
lost sight of but in your strength you
need our wisdom and God wants to marry
all of these things but when you hear
these two accounts you might think man
Jesus is just harsh he’s just mean I
thought he’s like mr. Shepherd Jesus
well why would he talk like that we’ll
next verse revelations 3
the people I love I call to account prod
and correct and guide so that they will
live life at their best up on your feet
then about-face and run after God God is
plotting you guys not because he is
disappointed but because he said there
is something so much more on you than
you have ever imagined there is
something so much more on you than this
world has seen and I need you to move
beyond your ability your limits into
what I have put in your heart he is
prodding us he is correcting us so that
we can live life at our best
which brings us actually back to where
we began micah 4:10 says God will give
you new life again
he’ll redeem you from your enemies but
for right now they’re ganged up against
you I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s
been going on in this culture right now
but there are many godless people saying
to the church kick her when she’s down
they think we just lost something well
you know God didn’t fall off this room
God is God he was not taken surprised by
everything but I do think it needs to be
a wake-up call for us and it says these
blasphemers have no idea what God is
thinking and doing in this they don’t
know that this is the making of God’s
people that they are weat being thrashed
and gold being refined hardship is what
refines you hardship is when you find
out what you are made of hardship is
when you find out where you are strong
and where you’re a weak and we are
people to whom much has been given and
when much has been given to us much is
required of us and most people think of
that as a grumpy thing I don’t want you
to think about that as a grumpy thing I
want you to think about it as an
entrustment I want you to take it as God
believes that there is something inside
of me that he has given me some
but because we live in this day in time
the enemy in our nation acts very
different than he does in other nations
you go over to other nations they’re
beheading Christians one of our on-site
people and the Middle East was just
killed on purpose by a shelling attack
they couldn’t even recover his body
because it was in pieces what is Isis
call us what did they call us
does they me know what they call us they
don’t call us Christians what did they
call us they calls people of the cross
and sometimes I think Isis remembers who
we are more than we remember who we are
we are not Christians it is not some
Club we are people of the cross and the
cross represents our ultimate strength
and our ultimate power and so we need to
remember what actually has been
entrusted to us and if God needs to use
our enemies to remind us of who we are
then so be it in the US culture the
enemy’s number one goal is to distract
you he will distract you with
entertainment he will distract you with
the unreal and the unimportant if he
can’t distract you then what he will do
like if if any of you happen to say like
while I’m talking wait a minute I feel
like something is stirring inside of me
I just might be a hero he’ll say excuse
me who do you think you are he’ll try to
diminish you he’ll try to say oh your
way I know who your parents are
I know who you have been in the past
well if you heard my opening it is not
about who you’ve been in the past
because every single attack on your life
up until now is actually about who you
might be in the future not who you have
been in the past the enemy is always
attacking who you might be he really
doesn’t care about who you have been so
you need to get that mindset that if you
have gone through hell that there is
something inside of you that he is
afraid of and so you need to get a
little bit of an attitude of what is so
frightening about me
that the enemy distracts and diminishes
God’s assignment on my life and then if
you can’t distract or diminish he
divides oh the church has been divided
for so long we have that the men on one
side the women on the other side the
Baptist’s on one side the Assembly of
God on the other side we need to stop it
will never come into the unity of
doctrine but we will come into the unity
of faith and all of us have put our
faith in Jesus Christ and so if we have
put our faith in Jesus Christ then we
are brothers and sisters and we need to
stop being divided and if he can’t
distract diminish or divide he just
destroys which is what we’re seeing
happen in the Middle East it’s what
we’re seeing happening with so many
women right now there are a hundred and
sixty-three million women missing off
the globe right now it’s something
called gendercide see the enemy knows
that Jesus is coming back for a bride
before the birth of Moses and before the
birth of Jesus he was killing the baby
boys now he’s killing the baby girls
because it’s about the women now he
doesn’t want the women to come alongside
the men and lend their strength and lend
their voice and remember who they are so
he is causing division he is causing
distraction he is causing diminishing
and he is causing death doesn’t happen
here let me just tell you something what
happens over there we should feel over
here because we are all one and what we
tolerate for others will come into our
own life if we are not careful Exodus
15:3 says the Lord is a man of war the
Lord is his name
your father is aware he’s not a
part-time warrior and a part-time father
he is a man of war he’s not enlisted for
a season he is a man of war and if you
are a son and a daughter of the Most
High God then this is a personal battle
and you need to fight until
every enemy has been put under his feet
and that is the Church of Jesus Christ
the last one of those being death so I
want to talk to you about what you have
in your hand you know I I am have God
talked to me a lot at 2:00 a.m. in the
morning
that’s not my go-to choice that’s not my
first choice for when you should talk to
me but he seems to catch me as I’m
falling asleep or waking up and whisper
things to me and you know what I need I
need you to hear this God actually wants
to talk to you more than you want to
hear from him so if you’re not making
room to hear from him don’t be surprised
if you don’t hear from him but I will
say if you give them permission to speak
to you in the night watches if you give
him permission to speak to you first
thing in the morning sometimes you’ll
wake up and you’ll hear a song a song in
your spirit you need to begin to sing it
sometimes you’ll wake up in the morning
you’re here as scripture you need to
write it down you need to seize those
moments but at 2:00 a.m. in the morning
one particular morning I was up early
late have been the caregiver for my mom
for six weeks she’d had a stroke lost
the movement on her left side of her
body so I was up late every night early
every morning one night as I was just
falling asleep I heard the Holy Spirit
ask me this question
he said Lisa what does it mean to carry
your cross now I have written like 12
books I traveled the world as a speaker
of Christian things and I said okay it
means to lay down my life and he was
like no that is step one we’re good
about Matthew 16:24 up so you can see
this and I think we’re pretty all sure
that Matthew 16:24 is Christianity 101
do we all agree it says then Jesus told
his disciples do you know everybody here
is the disciple okay if it’s a matter of
you’re a pastor or not a banner woman
this is gender-neutral you are disciple
then Jesus told his disciples if anyone
would come after me let him deny himself
take up his cross and follow me and so
he said no he said lay down your life is
step1 deny
yourself and so I said okay it means to
sacrifice mommy said again Lisa that is
step one and he said it’s an order not
an ornament why can’t you answer me
I remember thinking all right I’m not
going to get this right
but that didn’t stop the questions he
said to me where do you keep your cross
Lisa how do you know when you’re
carrying it how do you know when you’ve
left it at home what does it weigh at
that point I decided for my bed and I
said I have absolutely no idea I have no
idea and he’s like exactly and he said
now go get your list earlier that day I
had drawn on the deep well of wisdom of
Twitter and Facebook and I had asked
what one word does the cross mean to you
I got over 400 responses they broke down
to 36 categories I was actually looking
for a word that nobody gave me I went
out into John’s office got my list began
to write it down realized wait I can’t
read this typed it into my iPad and when
I got to the very last word I heard the
Holy Spirit say behold the cross they’re
going to put up that image for you it is
all of these different words and this is
what Jesus said to me he said all the
the cross provided for you is what you
carry out into your everyday ordinary
world and you do it by following me I
was looking for the word that’s on the
bottom there I was looking for the word
weapon because there is no greater
weapon than a life laid down and we need
to be a people who are willing to give
all if that is what is necessary I had a
realization that the cross actually
looks like a sword with the point in the
ground Ephesians tells us that through
the cross God put to death the enmity
that was between
heaven and earth everything that the
Cross has provided for you and me is
what we should actually be laying holed
up in our life but when you only preach
a portion of the crosses benefits you
only see a portion of the crosses power
but we’re living in a day in an age
where we must preach all of the gospel
even the things that we do not
understand because God is not going to
give us a map when he has spoken a
mystery and we must be a people who are
willing to look up to go for it so I
want to talk to you about what it might
look like for you to begin to carry your
cost Romans 12 verses 1 through 2 this
is in the message version it says so
here’s what I want you to do God helping
you take your everyday ordinary life
your sleeping eating going to work
walking around life and place it before
God as an offering embracing what God
does for you that’s the cross embracing
all that God has done for you is the
best thing you can do for him don’t
become so well-adjusted to your culture
that you fit in without even thinking
instead fix your attention on God you’ll
be changed from the inside out readily
recognize what he wants from you and
quickly respond to it you know Isis
quickly because so many times God or
drop something to you and if you don’t
do it quickly you begin to second-guess
it you begin to doubt it maybe that
wasn’t God maybe God didn’t tell me to
give that person five dollars maybe God
didn’t tell me to go over there and
share Jesus with somebody quickly
remember Arden telling me a story from
when he was in high school he told me
this story he said um there was this
girl that nobody liked he said and he
said she was she was just weird
he said she was just weird mom she was
really dark and he said but I felt like
the Holy Spirit said I want you to talk
to her and he’s like I you know I’m
again can we just be really honest he
was like first of all if I talk to her
I’m where she’s gonna think I’m flirting
with her or she’ll think I like her and
that’ll be me
interpreted or other people will think
that like I’m BFFs with her and he he
hold on Holy Spirit say who do you serve
man or me I told you to talk to her so
he said all right I’m gonna go talk to
her so he he went over and he talked to
this girl and he just said something
nice to her it wasn’t massive it wasn’t
deep it wasn’t Jesus loves you and
you’re going to hell it wasn’t anything
weird it was just something kind and
when Arden talked to her she burst into
tears and she said I said God if you’re
real and you don’t want me to kill
myself tonight have one person be kind
to me today have just one person be kind
there might be just one person that
needs you to be kind to them
says you’ll be changed from the inside
out readily recognize what God wants
from you and quickly respond to it
unlike the culture around you always
dragging you down to its level of
immaturity God brings out the best in
you
develops well form maturity in you so I
kind of want to locate what you carry on
your life I don’t know how many of you
would know my background at all but
basically 50 years ago when I was 5
years of age I lost an eye to cancer
this eye right here is plastic I lived
all of my elementary days all of my
junior high days all of my high school
and college days hiding facedown afraid
never wanting anybody to notice that I
might have one eye
why because kids are mean I grew up
being called Cyclops I grew up being
called one eye and I carried myself like
a handicapped one-eyed person always the
victim always hiding never a cheerleader
this doing this would have been akin to
my greatest nightmare when I was in high
school you had to take either speech or
debate to graduate I was like I am NOT
getting up in front of people and
arguing it’s going to be awkward enough
to get up in front of people so I’m
going to just do the speech class I
remember preparing / preparing had the
little 3 by 5 cards get up to speak and
one of the boys in the back of my class
says what’s wrong Cyclops just mouthed
it and I froze and the teacher was like
if you want to go out of the room and
come back in you can so I went out of
the room came back in and there was
laughing and they were like making faces
and covering one eye and all of a sudden
I ran out of the room it’s a guidance
counselor and as I can’t do this
I can’t do this I cannot do speech it is
impossible for me I have one
and they said you know what you’re right
you’re right you’re handicapped you
should never be made to get up in front
of people I said thank you they said
we’re gonna waive the requirement for
speech for you I said awesome and then
they said now there’s another class I’m
having a really hard time in and they
said what’s that
I said typing typing is impossible for
me back then we had a typewriter in
front of us and we had to look to their
side like I was like I might have other
kids I couldn’t even see my hands you
people are not even existing in these
two rows I only see here in here because
I have limited lines of sight they said
you’ll never be typing things for a
living will you I’m like never
they said well you could probably pay
other people to type your papers in
college I said I can so the two things
speech and typing that I got out of it
15 I thought I am so free God was
laughing he’s like look at her the two
areas that she’s afraid of I’m gonna
make her face one day because see God
understands that when you face what you
fear you become fearless and so God will
intentionally position your life to face
off with that one thing that you are so
afraid of and then he will bring it
through see God does not anoint the
areas of your life where you are song
and see him is unnecessary God annoys
the areas of your life where you are
weak so he can show himself strong
second Timothy vs. 167 this is why I
remind you I’m reminding you this
because there’s something on your life
this is why I remind you to fan into a
flame the spiritual gift God gave you
that I when I laid hands on you for God
has not given you a spirit of fear and
timidity but of power love and a sound
mind you know that they said that Jesus
was different than all of the Pharisees
you know why because he spoke as one who
had Authority he didn’t even mean he
said different things but he actually
knew he actually had lived what he said
and so many people study the Bible they
know about the Word of God but there’s
an area on your life that you carry the
Word of God because you don’t know about
it you know him in that area so I’m
going to locate that area because that
is an area that you carry the anointing
of God in your life in I’m gonna ask a
question who here is known Jesus as
healer if you have known Jesus as healer
I need you to stand to your feet right
now if you’ve known Jesus as healer
awesome
Jesus is healer why do we only preach
him as Savior are we trying to protect
his reputation what if people don’t get
healed well what if they do again I told
to you that if we don’t preach all that
he is he does not come on the scene who
here is known Jesus as the friend that
sticks closer to it than a brother stand
to your feet right now who here has
known him as the Prince of Peace who
here has known him as wisdom and counsel
when you didn’t have any way or
Direction he whispered something to you
who here has known him as Lord and
Savior
who here has known him as the anointed
God Most High
I need you to stand on your feet look
around this room look around of this
room whatever he has been to you he
wants to be to others
you carry the anointing of the Holy One
you carry something on your life and it
is time that you make room for it so
we’re gonna pay a simple prayer don’t
you lift up your hands and I want you to
say after me say Heavenly Father may all
that the cross purchase for me gain full
expression in my life I am ready for
signs and wonders and miracles I am
tired
I’ll being busy I am ready to be buff I
will stand up under pressure I will
build some muscle you can come to me
will you need somebody to step up and
not step back now I’m going to pray over
you you are the generation that will see
up close what other generations have
only seen in the distance you will speak
out loud for the generations before only
dared to whisper you will lay hold up
with your hands what we only handled in
prayer you are for signs and wonders and
miracles you are not for death and
destruction all that God lays
your heart do it with fierce joy with
strength with faith you are hero
destined to be remade and to a people
invincible in Jesus name and everybody
agrees say Amen and amen
I’m going to close with this scripture
I’m gonna close with this get sure I
want you to see this as I say this
things are changing I don’t know if you
see this blade it looks like a flame the
flame blade is what was turning all the
different directions in the book of
Genesis on its own keeping them out of
the Garden of Eden but when we begin to
worship the atmosphere changes and this
actually looks like a sound wave and we
begin to sing swords into the atmosphere
may begin to sing the Word of God over
our lives we are not people that use
swords to kill people we use the word of
God to set people free not beat them up
domina I’m gonna preach a scripture over
you Zachariah 9 12 through 13 it says
come home hopeful prisoners you’re not
going home the same way you came you’re
going home a prisoner of hope this very
day I am declaring a double bonus over
you everything you lost return twice
over Judah is now my weapon the bow all
poles setting f3m as an arrow to the
string I’ll wake your son’s a Zion to
counter your son’s Oh briefs from now on
people are my swords
you are sword in God can
just choose to live your life as a
living sacrifice holy and acceptable to
God in Jesus name Amen and amen