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hey family
i’m pt pastor toray roberts i’m the lead
pastor of the potter’s house at 1la
and denver on behalf of my wife pastor
sarah and myself we want to welcome you
to our channel and to this word i cannot
wait
for you to hear what god has for you in
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word god bless you
i’ll see you soon
hallelujah family i am so excited to be
with you tonight for activate
you know today is actually very special
for me it’s literally
six years to the date when i started
preaching
you know i remember that day so well
august 5th
[Music]
what was so fascinating about the
moments prior
is you know this was a season of my life
where first of all i had walked away
from what was my comfort
i had walked away from what i had known
and i was in this place of serving i was
serving as an usher many of you know
this story
there was a year of my life that the
lord told me to dedicate literally to
him
in the ministry to serve as an usher um
though
if you’re not familiar with church
culture you’re walking up and down the
aisles and you’re
you know greeting people and giving them
the offering basket or the bag
all that stuff right and so i did that
for one year
and actually i did it for more than a
year but the first year
the lord said to me never miss a service
right first one in
last one out i wasn’t always the first
one and the last one out there was a
lady named gary and she was child
i mean she could just have the award for
coming first
but i talk about this because it means
so much to me when i look back in that
season of my life and i
think about the instructions and how the
lord was leading me
because that was a time in my life i was
literally like god who am i
right i felt unsettled with where i was
and i knew that god was calling me for
more
i knew there was something beyond where
i was in that it was not about financial
security
it was not about what looks glamorous or
anything like that
that the depths of my identity i needed
to discover that
and in asking that question the lord
responds and he’s telling me hey
walk away from everything you know he
leads me to our church
community and he says serve here so i
served for that full year after that
year i continued serving as a
as an usher we called it back then a
gatekeeper right
and i was just being obedient in that
season i wrote a book i did all types of
stuff
and so during that time this is story
time with me right today is going to be
a little different this story time
during that time i had this little i had
two of my very close friends and like
sisters to me
and we used to pray together every
single day one is fatima and the other
one is mariah
they’re still very dear to me till today
and so one day we were praying and i
shared with them something i said hey
guys
um the lord told me something and
they’re like what’s going on i was like
i want
us to pray into this and i said he told
me that i’m going to start preaching
in august and they uh the phone went
silent you know
and they didn’t go silent because you
know the spirit moved
it went silent because they were like
stephanie you’re right
[Music]
like what are you talking about you’re
preaching where i said yeah the lord
told me i’m going to preach my first
message
in august and in my mind right because
all the lord told me was
august that this is what’s going to
happen in august and so i was trying to
negotiate with the lord i said god
um you know if it’s in august can we do
the third week of
august and my friends are listening to
me and they’re like stephanie you sound
cuckoo right and i was like no guys for
real like i know the voice of the lord
and he showed me this and
august is right around the corner it’s
literally in in a few days
and they were like okay we will pray
about this and you know
when people are praying and they’re
questioning you is when their prayer is
also asking the lord to give you wisdom
and so this happened right a few days
from that day i received a message from
our pastor and he asked me he said hey
can you preach august 5th and on you
know in that year
it was that was our midweek service and
i was
panicking because in my mind i said no
i wasn’t panicking about preaching
because i’m like okay god you you showed
me this already
but in my mind i was preparing for the
third week of august
i said god i thought we were in this
together that we’re gonna work together
for this right
and i’m like this is too soon i’m not
ready i’m not ready no no no no no
and but next thing i was like yes of
course i can do that
and that day i preached a message about
you are more prepared than you think
because literally i felt like i wasn’t
and the lord directed me to a chapter in
my book that i wrote during that time
and that chapter was lit was you are
more prepared than you think
and i talked about it and i did all the
things i wanted to do
as a preacher all the things i heard
people do i said turn to your neighbor
maybe five times
i said hey this is for free oh this is
something like that and i realized it’s
all free right
it was all kinds of craziness i wanted
to do everything that i heard people do
but that moment you know looking back at
that moment looking back at that
that young girl who was just so excited
to serve the lord and so excited until
today right
but there was this thing in me like okay
god what is it but one of the things
i’ve learned one of the key
things that all these six years has
taught me
was trusting god and uncertainty
because i had a plan right it’s just
like this idea
there’s a difference right between being
prepared and being ready
right i had been prepared in the ways
that god was shaping me i didn’t even
know what i was preparing for
but unknown to me it prepared i was
prepared for that moment
but i wasn’t ready when the moment came
as soon as it did
right because the idea of readiness says
that and you are ready to go
right now you can do this thing right
now being prepared
gets you it it gets you to the place of
a bit of confidence that okay god
you know what i’m preparing myself for
when the moment comes
but when the moment arrives you may not
have the right outfit you may not feel
like you know you’re in the right state
of mind
your expectation might be different all
kinds of things so i felt like i was in
this state of preparation but i was like
god i’m not ready i don’t know how
they’re going to receive me i don’t know
what’s going to happen i don’t even know
what ready looks like right
but i felt like okay you called me to do
something i’ve been studying i’ve been
in you
i mean this is literally an overflow of
our relationship
right and the moment comes and what
gave me the willingness to get up on
that stage
and teach the word of god from the place
of relationship with god
was the ability to trust god with
uncertainty
i didn’t know how people were going to
receive it i mean i’m coming on the
stage that my pastors are preaching on
and i’m just this little kid that has
like her you know little
haircut going on and all kinds of things
what’s going on i had this color on my
hair that
i’m questioning my life about right now
but
in my head i’m like how am i supposed to
like represent my pastors
but i was able to trust god with the
uncertainty
of that time and of that season you see
i’m learning in life
that it’s the uncertainties of life that
often cripples us
when you think about fear for instance
the reason that people are afraid are is
really connected to what they are
ignorant of the rule of fear is always
tied to some level of ignorance
what you don’t know is often what scares
you
when you hear a report from a doctor
the fear of ah am i gonna recover from
this
this it seems like the doctors don’t
even know how to cure this
the fear of what what is on the other
side of this the uncertainty of the
outcome causes you to feel crippled
sometimes
now in our lives the reality is that
when you are walking with god
you’re going to go through so many
seasons of uncertainty
because in your walk with god you’re
going through a process of discovery
to discover what god knows about you
intimately
and that process there is on shedding
there is unlearning
there is learning now what the truth of
your identity is
and there is so much uncertainty tied to
that
and even as i think about today right i
was like
lord normally i’m just like god what is
it that you want me to share to your
people
and what i have in my notes is really
the scriptures that he gave me not
really the message
and i was like god but but what is the
message
and he said to me stephanie i’m taking
you back to that moment
i’m taking you back to how you felt in
that season
because the reality is that i’m not
defined by my strength
and you are not defined by your strength
i’m defined by who god is you see
sometimes we only feel the confidence to
take on something when we feel 100
ready for it when we feel like 100
confident i know what i’m going to do i
know what i’m going to say i know i’m
going to act i know what to wear
i i know the room i know the people in
the room i had lunch with somebody last
week
but what if that’s not the case and the
reality of life is that the biggest
moments in your life the moments in your
life that will define you
into your destiny into who god has
called you to be
is going to be filled with uncertainty
and we have to tap into the truth that
we are not defined by our realized
strength i am not defined by what i know
because the bible says this it says that
in my weakness
god is my strength and when you think
about that
i want you to look at that beyond just
what you read
on the bible because sometimes you might
say that like who
lord you might be in the gym and you’re
you know you can’t get those
reps going you’re like who in my
weakness god is my strength no
just go beyond go beyond your natural
imagination
if in my weakness god is my strength
then i
need god to realize everything that i am
if the strength of god if not if god is
attracted to weakness
then actually my weakness is a gift
because when god wants to come upon a
person
if he sees strength in you the spirit of
god is going to wait until
it sees weakness because strength means
you’re full
when you say like oh when you’re so
confident in your abilities
i got this i got it going on what it
translates
is that you are full and the bible talks
about they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness will be
filled
by who by god but if you are
only confident in what you find natural
strengthening you will miss it because
what is assigned to your life
requires your weakness i didn’t come
from a background of preachers
no my mom growing up i knew my mom to be
a politician
and a businesswoman right there was
there’s no preacher in my family line
but what i had was a relationship with
god
and i was like god whatever it is that
you say to me i want to walk it out
not because i have 100 confidence in my
ability
but i have confidence in your ability
and it’s interesting six years now six
years later
i see the lord pulling me into new
things that i have no knowledge of
i’m not strong in but he is
just the other day a friend of mine sent
me a message
she was asked to take on a huge project
and to lead something she has no
abilities in
the person behind it just took a liking
to her
and believes in her but that is not her
strength
she reached out to me and she’s like
stephanie what am i supposed to do
they want me to do this and i’m like
this this is beyond me
and i said to her don’t trust in
yourself trust in god
because this project requires creativity
and the holy spirit is the spirit of
creativity
all creativity comes from god and so
it’s not about what you have the ability
to do but it’s what god knows that he
can do
and how he can empower you you see in
the time of moses
there were times when the lord wanted a
certain thing done
and what did he do he put his spirit
in people and the bible will literally
tell us that
and he put the spirit of god in them the
spirit of wisdom
understanding and skills in all manner
of workmanship
that for what god assigned that he
provided the ability
what would life look like if you began
to be defined by the strength of god and
not by your strength
what would your life look like what risk
would you take what
what would you embark upon what are the
things that you will begin to say
yes to if you are not looking at life
through the lens of your ability
but god that because you recognize that
god you
said something to me and i’m not gonna
define myself
but what i find confidence in but i will
define myself
by you uncertainty
it happens to us all when we find
ourselves uncertain about the outcome
it might cause us to feel crippled a
little bit but the lord began to speak
to me about something
that answers how we begin to trust in
the lord
and that is our testimony you see i was
meditating
on second kings chapter one and second
cakes chapter one tells us a very
fascinating story i want you to read it
when you have some time
actually read it tonight okay you know
sometimes when you say that you just
allow the person to wander into eternity
but read it tonight in that scripture
there was a certain king
right and the king i have my bible here
i got this bible when i was ordained it
has my name signed on it is very cool
but second kings chapter one the king
ahaziah he
so he had an accident right he fell and
he was a little confused he was
wondering am i gonna survive this am i
not gonna survive it
and he called his servants he called
some messengers and he told them
to go to the god of ekron and this is a
lesser god this is the god that doesn’t
even exist this is just demonic right
he says go to the god of ekron and
inquire of him
if i would survive this accident if i’ll
survive this fall
when this happened the angel of the lord
reaches out to
a man named elijah the prophet elijah
the angel of the lord talks to elijah
and he says
go and meet the messengers that the king
just sent
and say to them is it because there is
not a god in
israel that you should seek out the god
of ekron
and because you have done this you would
surely die
when the messengers went back to the
king and they were like
look hey king you know this is what
elijah just told us
the king sent for elijah so first he
sends
50 of his men to go and get elijah
elijah is chilling on a hill right with
a pina colada and an angel
he’s sitting on the hill and the men say
hey
if you are a man of god come down right
now
elijah looks at them elijah is like if i
am a man of god let fire come down and
consume you
i mean this prophet’s a gangster right
it sounds all fascinating the bible
can you imagine just chilling on the
hill and you’re like fire
from heaven come down now and basically
fire comes down consumes them kills all
of them i mean this is straight
gangsta right now the king hears about
it he sends another 50 men
they show up they obviously they know
better
they say the same thing they’re like if
you’re a man of god come down
right elijah says he repeats himself he
says well
if i’m a man of god let fire come down
and consume you
so that happens the king sends another
50 men
those 50 they knew better right they
they took uh
maya angelou’s quote seriously when you
know better you do better
and so they come before elijah and they
say sir
please please don’t kill us right we
know what happened to the other people
please spare our lives and in that
moment
the angel said something to elijah that
really shook me
he said go down with them do not be
afraid
now this puzzled me because how is it
that elijah who is hanging out with an
angel of the lord
fire is coming down from heaven to
consume his enemies
but he has the potential of being afraid
matter of fact he was afraid
because when the angel said to him do
not be afraid the angel
recognized what is behind even some of
elijah’s words
elijah you’re afraid of what these
people could do to you but go
down with this group and do not fear and
this was so
fascinating to me why would a man
having a face to face conversation
the angel of the lord and you have
disposal to fire from heaven
but yet you are afraid of going down
with people to go
see a king in the natural and i began
asking this the lord this question why
was
elijah panicking why was he why would he
even have any fear in him
and the lord revealed this to me the
fear of uncertainty
not knowing what would be on the other
side when he goes to see the king
he literally just told the king you’re
going to die this is the word of the
lord
and now you want me to meet him face to
face the uncertainty of what that looked
like but what i love about
elijah is that he did not allow that
fear
to define him he did not allow that fear
to navigate
his next when the angel said to him
do not be afraid go down with them
elijah did
just that you see this is this is what
what it looks like when you are trusting
god
in uncertainty that god i recognize that
i don’t know what’s on the other side of
this
but i’m going to abide i’m going to
trust what you say
and that very word abiding you is what
the lord showed me
is the secret to trusting in the lord
and i want to read this scripture this
scripture is in john 15 from verse 4 to
verse 10
and the scripture says abide in me and i
in you as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself
unless it abides in the vine neither can
you
unless you abide in me i am the vine
you are the branches he who abides in me
and i in him bears much fruit for
without me
you can do nothing i just want to pause
that for a second but we have so much
more to read
how powerful is that god is literally
showing us you see
one of the things that i have realized
very early on in my walk with god
is my need for him right it’s not that
god is having some muppet show party
or perpetual party and he’s trying to
see who he can manipulate no
we were created through him everything
there’s a scripture i love so much my
mother and i we talk
we say the scripture all the time that
in him i
live and move and have my being we were
created to serve the lord
we were created for fellowship with god
because he is the source of our life
and without him we can do nothing
and now nothing to god means nothing in
regards to what he knows your truth to
be
you see sometimes it might look like
your life could be fruitful
but fruitful to what degree because if
it’s
not connecting to what god knows about
you and what god has seen about you and
what god has said about you
it is nothing you see it’s so
interesting right when you look at a
chair
right a chair was designed by the
creator for people to sit in
but imagine someone using a chair as
a a dining table right or or something
something weird
like a toy or whatever now for them it’s
functional to whatever desire they have
but it’s not functional in the eyes of
the creator that’s not what they created
the chair for
so you might be using it for some random
activity right
as a as a cage or something i don’t know
the case that
it won’t even work as a cage you could
use it as an ant farm something weird
right you can use it for whatever weird
activity but if it’s not
used in the intention of why it was
created the creator will literally look
at this and not see it as functional
when god looks at us the whole essence
of well done my good and faithful
servant you may have heard people say
this that when i die i want to hear god
say that to me
that when i die i want god to look at me
and say it was good
that the way you lived your life that i
categorized that as good because i see
that you did
and you you lived in a way according to
what i know is your truth
and what god knows to be your truth is
your truth
it is your reality it produces the most
authentic
version of you and that is why family
you can’t just believe
any hype you can’t just have this idea
that you know i am whoever i choose to
be whenever i choose to be it
because you can be many things and not
be functional to your truth
you can desire to be i mean uh all kinds
of things you can decide to be a bird
you can just
walk around in cocoon i don’t know birth
cocoon but
that we have the liberty right because
we have free will we have the liberty to
say i can be
whoever i choose to be but the the
reality of life
is that there is something that god
knows about you
and why you’re able to trust him is
because he is your creator
he knows the truth of your identity he
knows the truth of your authenticity
and so jesus is saying without me you
can do
nothing and he says that and he means it
he doesn’t he’s not saying that hey if
you don’t serve the lord many people
don’t serve the lord
and they’re out there doing amazing
things that are in our eyes right
they’re doing
all kinds of things in life but when
jesus looks at you he wants to see you
functioning in the authenticity of your
creation
that you are created with a purpose
you’re not random
the way you may have come may seem
random right your prayers got together
one night and you know they didn’t see
each other after that i don’t know it’s
up to them right
but god ordained every step
that led to the coming of you and your
life is not random
and so relationship with jesus is not
about a check
mark off of salvation of i’m going to go
to heaven
is so much beyond that is that lord
my life is hidden in you in order for me
to be effective
in the true nature and identity of who i
am
i need you and that’s what the scripture
is saying right
and so it says he who abides in me bears
much fruit
but without me you can do nothing and it
says if anyone does not abide in me
he is cast out as a branch when you
think about a tree and a branch when a
branch is broken off
the tree it loses fellowship with its
source
it says if you don’t abide in me you
have lost fellowship with your source
and we’re going to talk about this word
abide in just a second right
and so it says he’s cast off as a branch
and he is withered
he has lost the essence of his life
when something withers is no longer what
it’s supposed to represent
this is the beauty of abiding in christ
and abide as i said earlier is the
secret
to trusting in god in the midst of
uncertainty
he says he who does not abide in me is
withered you have
lost the true essence of life it is
possible to be living but without ever
being alive
that you’re doing stuff steve jobs said
something i love so much
he said that life is too short to live
someone else’s life
and many times we’re doing that outside
of what god knows
us to be you see even doing good does
not mean that
good is connected good in the sense of
just like a random
you know not not connected to how our
pastor talked about it just this past
sunday i’m not talking about
the you know from a philanthropic place
i’m talking about when you feel like you
know what
if i if my identity is connected to
anything that is seen
as is termed as good then i must be
doing what god said
but good to what standard good to whose
standard
right is it good in the in the reality
that when your parents said hey
if you do take this degree that is a
good thing for the family that’s what
i’m talking about
cultural standards of good when people
say if you take on this job that is a
good thing
if you take on this identity that is a
good thing when
saul wanted to give david his
armor he thought it was a good thing
that david
you’re about to go fight goliath take on
my armor when david put the armor on he
was like i
i don’t this is not me this is not my
identity
this is somebody else’s i need to take
this off in order for me to live
according to who god has called me to be
that’s that’s the context i’m using in
this message
that not just because your culture says
doing this
is the good thing to do not just because
your environment or social media or the
influences that are coming against you
are telling you hey this is the good
thing to be
no who has god called you to be
because in the true nature of who god
has called you to be
doing good is it is just the fruit of it
right if you haven’t watched my pastor’s
message this past sunday
you need to go watch that right now i
mean not right now but after the message
right
because then you understand the good
that is connected to the identity of
christ
but there is an idea of what culture
calls good
and it might not be good to your
authenticity
and so when we look at this the person
who does not abide in the lord
they are withered they lose the essence
of
life and we’re going to talk about that
right then it says and they gather them
and throw them into the fire and they
are burned when something is burned
there is loss
there is a loss of a reward there is a
loss of something that the lord
has for you that something has been
consumed
this is what happens outside of abiding
then it says if you abide in me and my
words abide in you
you will ask what you desire and it
shall be done for you
by this my father is glorified that you
bear much fruit so you will be my
disciples
as the father loved me and i also have
loved you
abide in my love if you keep my
commandments
you will abide in my love just as i have
kept my father’s commandments
and abide in his love there are three
things that are pointed out here
christ tells us to abide in him abide in
his word
and abide in his love now what is the
connection here with abiding and
trusting in the lord
right because in order to trust in god
in the in the in the midst of
uncertainty
it is the way you get over that hump of
fear
that when fear comes to you when
uncertainties come to you
that your trust in god gets you over
that bridge
that your trust in god actually builds
the bridge to what is on the other side
of it
that you are not crippled by your
weakness you are you are strengthened by
the lord
that you are not defined by your
strength you are defined by what god
by who god is and that makes you a
threat
that makes you a mystery that you can be
figured out by satan
you can’t be figured out by the enemy
you know something the lord was teaching
me when
he began to talk to me about why it is
important
that we are defined by his strength and
not defined by
our strength because when you are
walking
in the strength of your flesh you’ve
lost the battle satan has had
all the time in the world literally
he was there before we even got here
he has had the time to study you
he’s had the time to study human nature
and human behavior and the ways of the
flesh
that even if he didn’t study you he can
understand
the the patterns of your life just by
watching you for one single day
he has had time to master human behavior
he has had time to master you know if
you if by you doing this this this must
mean this
but what satan has not mastered is the
ways of god
because if he had a clue of the true
identity of the god we serve he would
have never tried to rebel against him
the very the very fact that he thought
he could out thrown the lord
tells you about his ignorance concerning
god
tells you that he was not even fully
aware of the god that he even
served and so if you are putting trust
in your own ability you’ve lost the
battle because
you’re going against someone who has
mastered the ways of the flesh
but when you put your trust in god’s
ability you become a mystery
you become a hidden weapon in the hands
of god
that he can place you anywhere and you
will thrive
because you recognize it’s not based on
what i
know you see many times i’ll even give
this example
when god throws you into a new industry
god throws a new project
at you the god puts something in your
heart that you are not strong in
how the how does the enemy get to you
the narrative this internal narrative
that says
you’re not the one for the job how can
you you’re not you’re not qualified
you’re not equipped for it he starts
using words against your experience
he says hey you don’t have experience in
this you’re going to fail you’re going
to make a fool of yourself
how many times have we walked away from
something
because that narrative became our truth
that god that’s not me i i can’t be the
person that’s supposed to do this i
don’t have experience in this
isn’t that what moses said moses
who was called to bring deliverance
moses said
lord i don’t even know how to talk but
he’s talking
he says i have a speech problem but the
lord is understanding him
where did that narrative come from our
pastor said something
i loved so much a few weeks ago and he
said
when did you become against yourself
that’s not you when did you
become your own enemy how is it that the
lord is telling you something and you’re
telling him why you can do it
when did you start speaking against
yourself that voice that message did not
come from you you’re just echoing
something that came from somewhere else
and so when you think about that when
you’re resting in your own strength
the enemy has already won the battle he
says look i’ve mastered human behavior
i know what buttons to push to get you
to fall
i know what buttons to push to make you
weak
but when you put yourself in the
strength of the lord
he doesn’t have he he doesn’t have a
clue how to get at you
you become a hidden threat in everything
and anything god assigns to you
because you realize i’m defined
by the strength of god and so this
concept of abiding first the scripture
tells us
abide in christ jesus is saying
abide in me and i abide in you
that without me you can bear no fruit
without me you can do
nothing what does this word abide it
means to remain
it means to stay and you see when we
think about that right
if you’re someone that you’re saying
like lord i follow you right i love you
jesus of course i’m with you i’m in this
thing
but the lord began to show me that there
are so many things in life and in
culture that is fighting for your
devotion
that is fighting for your for for your
commitment for your surrender that is
fighting
for where you would lay your trust in
and so the problem is not that you don’t
love jesus
or you don’t you’re not saying that
jesus is lord
is the jesus and the other things that
you’re putting your trust
in you see the lord showed me a
scripture that blew my mind i have never
seen this in the bible before
it’s in isaiah 65 11 and listen to this
it says but it will be different for you
that forsake me
who ignores zion my sacred hill and
worship god and many the gods of
luck and faith that’s that’s the part i
want to hit on
in this scripture the lord is basically
talking about people that had forsaken
him
to worship the gods of luck
and the gods of faith that
in this time that the people
like almost personified luck
and this idea of faith that they began
to worship them as gods
it’s so interesting to me because this
captured my attention in such a unique
way
because there are times where you see
people who everything they do in life
they rely on luck and i’ll give you this
example
the idea of when you have a big decision
to make
and you pull out a coin you pull out a
quarter in in the united states
in other countries you know there’s
something you might pull out right
you pull out a coin and you say you know
what heads or tails
if it’s heads i’m gonna do it if it
tails i’m not gonna do it
in that moment you’re putting you the
the idea is that
if it’s if it i flipped the coin and its
heads then i must be lucky today is my
day
and this is just a random example but
what are the things that you have
personified to become a god in your life
what are the things that you run to as a
salvation
one of the things that you might say
okay i i yes i i i you know i’m i
believe in
jesus but i’m putting my trust in all
these other things
too and what does that look like when
there is something in your life that you
believe
is the source for something good to
happen to you
you have made that an idol
and it has pulled you away from the lord
unconsciously
when the when the lord says abide in me
remain
in me you started this journey with me
now remain in me
don’t put your trust in other things
because they will fail you
and they will lead you on a path that i
did not send you on
they will lead you on the path that
might that that the will of god is not
is not a part of
and then we find ourselves in these
cycles when you find yourself
going through cycles where it feels like
nothing is happening
because where have you placed your trust
in what is directing your life
what has a voice in your life is it the
lord that is guiding your steps
or have you given other things to direct
you
and even let’s not even go too big
let’s talk about even the impact of
unforgiveness
because to abide in god to remain in god
is to take on the nature of god
but when things like unforgiveness
bitterness
envy begin to pull us out of who
god is we might think about that it is
just
right and my ways are just before me
this person hurt me this person
um said this about me that is not worth
your heart it is not worth your
relationship with god it is not worth
your truth
that’s why they say forgiveness is not
even about the person it’s about you
what are the things that have the
potential to pull
you away from that place of intimacy
with the lord
this is a time to guard your space
to guard your intimacy to guard your
friendship with god
that lord i want to remain in you
you see there are things in life that
have the ability to pull us
away from god and all of a sudden pride
kicks in
and your ego begins to grow and even
though you’re saying jesus with your
words
but there is no relationship with him
through your life
you see in the bible when the people saw
the disciples
they didn’t even need to see them with
jesus
based on how they acted they said these
are the ones that have been with
jesus because relationship it changes
it begins to it begins to define your
own nature
it changes who you are and that is why
transformation
begins with christ it begins with
relationship with christ it’s not based
on
fear tactics when you’re in relationship
with someone
i remember when after we you know when i
first met my
first lady right pastor sarah in
relationship with her as my pastor as my
mentor and my
spiritual mom you may have heard me say
ciao so many times
and when i want to remix it i say chile
but why is that it’s almost second
nature i say that even to my mom i’m
like ciao
why because a relationship has also had
influence in me the relationship has
influenced me
in a lot of great ways this is just a
funny way right
and so when you have relationship with
the lord when you stay in relationship
with the lord
no one needs to tell you otherwise the
holy spirit begins to convict you
of ways that are not of god but we have
the ability of free will to either
respond and say you know what lord i
repent i’m going to change my ways
or we can shut god out and when we shut
him out what we don’t realize
is that we’re coming out of that place
of abiding
now this is the beauty of abiding first
in christ
because when you start taking on the
nature of christ
what will cause you to feel crippled by
fear
you realize wait i have peace in this
moment
because uncertainty comes and it comes
to disrupt your peace
that oh i don’t feel settled in this but
when you start taking on god’s nature
you realize i bring peace to the party
i don’t look for peace at the party
i bring peace to the storm and the storm
is not going to define
my posture when you start to abide in
christ when you start to take on his
nature
that is why when jesus there’s a
scripture when when there was a storm
and jesus and his disciples were in a
boat but jesus was taking a nap
it was nap time for the lord while the
disciples were panicking
because the lord recognized something he
said look
i am the peace the storm doesn’t come to
disrupt me
i come to give it peace and when he goes
to when he when they wake him up and
they’re like lord
we are drowning he’s like yo chill okay
chill out
and when he says peace be still
you recognize no no no no no you can’t
disrupt my peace
i set the atmosphere
so when something comes to try to
you you recognize like wait no
i’m not defined by this my peace
comes from within me i’m gonna keep
going
so abiding in christ and how do we do
that
first of all recognize what am i putting
my trust in
am i putting my trust in jesus and other
things
or am i putting my trust solely in jesus
second of all how am i guarding my heart
am i allowing is there unforgiveness in
my heart
is there bitterness in my heart is there
jealousy in my heart is there envy in my
heart
because these things pull me out of that
place of abiding
how do i guard my heart you see
forgiveness there’s this saying forgive
and forget i don’t know where that came
from i don’t think it’s in the bible
it might be i’m not sure you know we’ll
look for the bible scholars but
it’s not even if it says forgiven forget
that’s not what it means
how do you forget how do you erase how
do you have selective memory
by will it’s not possible but it is for
your actions to reflect someone who is
not holding on
to someone’s the way that someone
offended you
or the person the way that someone did
something against you
it is that you don’t live from that
place
because even when the lord talks about
your sins are in the seer forgetfulness
and all that stuff and we joke about
it sometimes in christian lingo right
but the lord is knowledge he knows all
things
but the lord does not treat you like
your sin
he doesn’t treat you like your past and
so forgiveness first comes from
recognizing look
this person will not do this to me from
a place of even wisdom
or love but secondly i am not going to
treat you
according to the moment of my pain that
was caused by you
i’m going to think a higher thought
concerning you
i’m going to treat you i’m going to see
you the way god sees you
you have to guard your heart guard your
heart from the things that will try to
contaminate it
and then the lord says this abide in my
word
to abide in the word of god first of all
you have to know the word of god
right to study the word i want to i want
to challenge you with something a simple
practice
every single day read the word
i know when you get to you know um
chapters like numbers
let’s just go there for a second right
there are some chapters that just seem
so irrelevant let’s let me let me pick
one out
actually even the the relevance of it
might seem too long
when it just gives you all these
chronicles of stories and you’re just
like
what is this talking about lord can you
make it make sense to me
read it because the crazy thing
some of the scriptures that i used to
feel like god this is
so irrelevant to my life all of a sudden
the holy spirit
does what feels like a puzzle piece that
something i read
randomly i’m like oh my gosh that is
what it means here
oh this random person like even in when
you go into chronicles and it starts
giving you and he begot he and this but
got that one and that one begot that one
but all of a sudden when you are
committed to studying the word
the holy spirit starts putting it
together like puzzle pieces
every single day and i’ll actually
challenge you start in the book of
proverbs
if reading the word is not something
that you are committed to starting the
book of proverbs
go into the gospels there are bible
plans available on
even like the bible app commit yourself
to reading the word why is this
because you start to understand the ways
and the nature of god
you start to understand there are some
things you don’t have to always pray
about
if you understand the character of god
there are some things that you don’t
have to be confused about and have
anxiety about god is this your will is
that not your will
if you understand his consistency in his
nature
and you get that from reading the word
there are some things you would have
confidence in
that your prayer goes beyond a request
it becomes a declaration
because you know the the nature of the
god that you serve
that god according to your character
you will you would be with me in this
thing
that is why there was a man named joshua
in the bible when he was fighting his
enemies
he was he the bible actually said he
it was like a demand of god that he
requested the sun to stand
still and he did this in front of the
people
he had such a confidence in him that
look
we’re not done fighting this war i need
the sun to stay here
and the bible says and god obeyed his
request
when you start to study the word just
make it a habit it could be five minutes
it could be ten minutes but you will see
that the holy spirit
will begin to open your eyes to the
nature of god
to the ways of god that your life will
have this confidence
when you speak about the things that god
has called you to do
your life will have a confidence when
you call upon help
when you say god i need you to step into
this situation
that you would have you would have this
confident understanding
that god is with me and that is why the
scripture said this
it literally said if you abide in me and
my words abiding you
you will ask what you desire
and it shall be done for you
if you abide in me and my words abide in
you
whatever you ask it will be done why is
that
it’s not a genie situation but it’s the
reality that because i’m abiding in the
words of god
these are these are not just words on on
on pages
that i’m recognizing oh my gosh lord
this is who you are
i can confidently decree a thing
because i it is it is it is the truth
i’m not just speaking from a place of
uncertainty
but god even when uncertainty comes up
against me
when i’m faced by a challenge when a
mountain comes up against me
i can confidently rebuke it that when
something wants to
shake me shake me in a way that you have
not assigned and you have not declared
that i can say this is not the will of
god
and i can begin to speak against
whatever troubles me
you see i remember a time in my life and
this was during the year that god told
when god told me to
walk away from everything i knew and all
that stuff i
left the business i left so much i was
living off my savings
and there was a moment where i couldn’t
pay my rent
and i first of all i would say this
as a disclaimer when there’s a word that
comes from god
that literally turns your life upside
down
behalf make sure it came from the lord
you see before god could give me a word
that disrupted my whole life
i had a journey i had a process
of knowing the voice of god and seeing
the fruit of his instruction
this started when i was nine years old
before god would give you a word that
would disrupt your life
there is a confidence you would have in
recognizing
the word of god and the fruit that comes
from his word
in little things little small things
it could be as random as when you’re
going somewhere and the spirit of the
lord tells you
get off the freeway right now and you
get off the freeway and all of a sudden
there was someone who needed help
that is the lord working and engaging
your senses to strengthen your hearing
and i say this and it’s very critical
because sometimes
a person becomes a new believer and the
next thing they say
is that you know i received this life
shaken message and that could alter your
life in a crazy way
and they believe it came from god and
the fruit of it does not reveal the
source was god
and they start questioning and they’re
doubting that why would god tell me to
do this
and it left me with disappointment and
heartache and all this stuff
one thing i’ve learned about god god is
for you more than you are for yourself
he does not want you to fail at hearing
from him
and so he will train your hearing he
will train you in understanding
now there are special moments and those
special moments
it becomes very supernatural it’s an
undeniable message from the lord and
that is when
maybe an angel will come up to you or it
will not come up to you but
you will show up or the lord will show
up something very
drastic but in many seasons and if not
and many could be 99 the lord trains
your hearing before he tells you
something
that can shake your whole life and so
when i say
this i say this with caution because
the shaking that i experienced needed to
come from a place of confidence
and so when i experienced this time in
my life that i couldn’t pay rent
and it was like three months going on
and
if i had called my parent my mom or my
brothers i’m sure i would have been
solved
but at that time they were confused
about what i was doing
and so i was like god what am i supposed
to do
and so it was like three months i
received an eviction notice and i’m like
god you sent me here
and i’m living off my savings and you
know it’s running out i can’t put this
to us
right now um and i’m like i felt so
defeated right i called a very close
friend of mine
and i called her and i said i don’t know
what to do um
i got an eviction notice today and i
think
i might have to go back like i don’t
know where maybe i have to beg my
brother that i made a mistake
um you know can i could i stay on this
couch
or something and just get my life back
on track that maybe this is not what
it’s supposed to be
and i allow that moment for a second to
to shake me and defeat me i was like
this is not it and my friend you have to
have
strong voices in your life i can never
forget this
and she said stephanie what are you
talking about you don’t leave that place
until you desire to
leave she said god don’t don’t question
don’t question the nature of god because
you’re having a moment
she says remember who you are and speak
to that letter
and speak to the situation you have to
let it come from the depths of you
from the person who heard from the lord
that this is what you’re supposed to do
who
leaves a great source of income to
pursue what is unknown to them
and when she said that i i was filled
with faith
and i said wait i’m tripping you know
sometimes you have to look in the mirror
and say girl you tripping
right or boy you’re tripping you know
whoever somebody’s tripping
right and i took a moment i got off the
phone
and i said wait god you sent me here
you gave me an instruction this is not
gonna shake me
and i looked i literally i looked at
that eviction letter and i spoke to it i
said i am not leaving until i decide to
leave
i said lord wherever resources will come
from send it
if you could put money in in the mouth
of a fish
if you could do if you could feed 5 000
with only a few pieces of bread and fish
then god
you’re going to fix this and it was a
declaration
i wasn’t praying from a place of fear or
anxiety
like oh god i don’t know maybe you’re
hearing me there was something that came
out of me
because of the word that i chose to
abide in
and within a week i got a check in the
from only god knows they had my name on
it that’s what i know
i got a check in the mail and that check
cleared everything
abiding in the word it gives you a
confidence
of who god is that yes the storms will
come the bible literally says
no weapon formed against you shall
prosper
but what it also says is weapons will be
formed against you
but they wouldn’t prosper so when the
weapon is
formed you have a choice
on how to react you can let the weapon
prosper by even
by bowing down to it before it ever hits
you
or you can choose to rise up and say not
today
satan not today you see there was this
movie
i watched i think the name was
breakthrough or something like that
it’s an amazing movie if you research
the story line you’ll find it
a lady who had been praying for a child
she gets this child
and one day the child drowns and the
babe the child dies
but the lady goes into the hospital room
the doctors tell her it’s it’s done this
is
a wrap she said no and she prayed
and at the top of her lung she said holy
spirit
give me back my son
and instantly life came back into this
boy
and he got up and the doctors
i mean what should have been natural
consequences of his body
was not his reality can you imagine
if the woman allowed what looked like a
weapon formed against her
if she forgot what the word of god
told her that this would be a son
the words that god had given her about
that child
if she succumbed to what the situation
looked like
would you we would not have that movie
the movie is inspired by a true life
story that actually happened
but she remembered the word of the lord
and she said not today
holy spirit you give me back my child
and life came back into the boy this is
consistent with jesus
when lazarus died
funny enough while lazarus was still
sick
the word came to the lord and he
actually delayed
four more days because the lord knew
that even though he might die in the
natural
i’m gonna bring him back there’s a plan
for this it’s not what it looks like
the family thought that the weapon
formed against lazarus prospered but
when jesus showed up all he did was
lazarus get out of there and lazarus
came
out after being dead for a period of
time
life came back to him when you abide in
the word
your prayers become declarations
when you abide in the word you begin to
understand
the heart and intention of god you begin
to understand the ways of god
the consistency of god the nature of god
the will of god and when you’re praying
you’re not praying like a beggar
when you’re praying you’re praying like
one who knows who they’re calling upon
abiding in god and why is this important
to trust in god in uncertainty
because when something comes to try to
shake you up you would say not today
satan
this is not what god promised me this is
not what god showed me
and you begin to declare a thing and
some some of you might ask the question
but why
why do we have to go through all of that
because you are formed in the likeness
of your creator
in creation what did god do he spoke
he would have there i mean first of all
you have to understand that and
god is god he could have thought about
it right
the bible could have said and god
thought about the waters and god thought
about light and there was light
but it said and god said let there be
light
and there was light and that word is
light
reveal yourself that you are there
somewhere but you need to reveal
yourself
and you are created in his image and so
by
right there are certain things you would
only experience when you
speak it there are certain things you
would only understand
you would only come into the reality
when you begin to declare it
the same way the lord said in the
beginning
let there be lights you also have to
begin to declare over yourself
and over the things that god has
assigned to you let there be
an investor let there be a book deal
let there be a platform for this let
there be
whatever it is that god is connected to
what god has assigned to you
you begin to proclaim it that day when i
was looking at that eviction paper i
said god
in other words my prayer would have
would have as well said let there be the
finances
because i said god not today i don’t
leave when this letter tells me to
i leave when i choose to you are created
in his likeness
and so by right some things are
experienced on the other side of your
declaration
but that declaration the confidence of
that declaration
comes when you abide in the word of god
and the last thing it says is abide in
my love
jesus said abide in my love and check
this out right he said this
if you keep my commandments you will
abide in my love
if you keep my commandments you will
abide in my love there is a popular
saying that we know
it says that love is a decision right
love is not a feeling
it’s a decision when we identify love as
a feeling we
are you know easily just pulled into
whatever direction
that is why it’s so fascinating when
something good happens in your life
you’re like thank you jesus oh jesus i
love you so much
you feel encouraged to worship you’re
like oh god
and all kinds of things right when
something unexpected happens you’re like
you start questioning your salvation you
start wondering god are you real
why would this happen to me because you
have looked at love as a feeling
you have identified your love
relationship with christ based on a
feeling and feelings
they’re connected to the happenings of
life right
if this happens oh man i sure love me
some jesus
today right i sound very country saying
that for a country
family you know sure love you jesus
today
but the reality is that love is a
decision and that’s what jesus is
showing us
he says if you keep my commandments you
will abide in my love
now first of all there is the awareness
of the love of god right the love of god
says this the when you continue reading
that whole
that chapter it goes on to talk about
when jesus said look
no greater love than the one who would
lay down his life for a friend
jesus is saying i’m not trying to
command you into doing something that is
against you
i’m for you i lay down my life
for you and so he said in the tone
you are attracted to jesus because of
his love
and when i say his love you are
attracted to jesus
because you recognize you are for me
that in you i find my truth in you i i
discovered the authentic nature of who i
am
and through you i can do it all you
realize that god you are not against me
and so to abide in it is not to be
easily swayed by happenings that when
something unexpected happens then you
choose or you
you become you know um you start
wondering maybe today i would i would
follow through
with my integrity for the lord or maybe
not maybe today today doesn’t feel like
a good day to have integrity you know
because i’m upset with jesus what i
expected him to do he did not do so i’m
just going to wild out
right oh you know what god i was praying
for this thing and you did not do it
so why why should i why should i follow
your ways
love is not a feeling it’s a decision
one of the things that i had to settle
in my heart
is that god will never be against me and
what that means is
even when situations seem hard
even when the unexpected happens it
doesn’t
change my commitment to him it doesn’t
change my commitment in what he has
assigned to me
it doesn’t change how i steward what
he’s placed in my hands
it doesn’t change my my posture before
him
i don’t lose my integrity because i’m
upset
i don’t lose my way i don’t lose my head
because i don’t understand
you see there is a process to becoming
you and that process is going to be
challenging
and that process is going to it’s gonna
be unlike what you would have expected
that’s why the lord tells us my ways are
not your ways
but you have to trust the god that you
first encountered
that when i encountered you i
encountered someone who is
for me and now against me someone who is
with me and would never forsake me
and so when it seems like you have
forsaken me
i’m not going to lean into the narrative
of the enemy
i’m going to know that god you are still
with me and so i will
keep my integrity i will keep my
commitment
i will keep walking with you even when
it feels
hard and that is why
the bible talks about the sacrifice of
praise
it’s easy to praise of of course if
everything is going good
if if i just got you know the some of
the things i’ve been waiting on if
someone just dropped it in front of me
the next day i’ll be dancing you know
and emphasizing you know just
emphasizing the dance right
but when things don’t work out the way i
desire
there is a sacrifice of praise but the
sacrifice the willingness to praise god
comes from the reality that god you are
still for me
and for some of you in a moment we’re
gonna worship
for some of you it’s been difficult to
find your worship again
to find your praise to find your shout
because you have allowed the happenings
of life
to cause you to question your
relationship with god
you have allowed the things that are
happening around you to cause you to
wonder god are you still for me
that is a fact that is a foundational
fact and a foundational truth
he is for you he will never leave you
nor forsake you you knew that when you
met him
don’t allow what you don’t understand to
shake you out of that
don’t allow to uproot you out of his
love
because when we choose to lose our way
because we’re questioning god
we are not abiding in his love anymore
we start saying god i i don’t know i
don’t know if you’re real you know
you could pack it all up jesus no
we’re not going to understand everything
and the bible makes it plain
his ways are not our ways it’s that’s
the fact
but he is for you and in order to abide
in his love
is to keep his commandments keep your
integrity
keep your commitment be a good steward
over
everything that god has placed in your
hands don’t start
wilding out because you’re acting now
acting out of hurts acting out of a
fence no
keep keep your heart pure before the
lord
and in this family you would discover
it would be it would be organic to you
that your go-to would be trust
your go-to in the face of uncertainty
would be god me and you we got this
we got this lord jesus by abiding in him
abiding in him abiding in his word
and abiding in his love it’s a game
changer
and so i want to pray for you i believe
that
there are some of you watching and one
you’ve lost your praise
because you connected your praise to
happenings
when something happened in the way that
you liked it you found a shout
you know you’re just you know shouting
you know just who
you know just however you shout i’m not
a shouter
i try to shout sometimes it doesn’t work
i still sound like a little child
but if you had you you connected your
praise to things that were happening in
your life
and in the midst of one of the hardest
times that is when god is requiring
a sacrifice of praise because it’s going
to keep you rooted
it’s going to keep you rooted in the
truth that god is still for you
and even when you don’t understand it’s
working for your good
and so for those of you i want to pray
with you for some of you
you’ve disconnected yourself from the
intimacy of
friendship with jesus because you have
put your trust in so many other things
that there are certain things that you
carry with you and if you’re not holding
it you’re like oh
no i need to get this i need to before
you walk out the door
there’s so many things you’re grabbing
right because you have put your putting
your trust
in them you have idolized it and made it
a god
but get back to the roots
get back to the place of lord i want to
abide in you
i want what what makes me confident in
walking out of the door is that oh i
spent time with you today not what i’m
grabbing and what i can
get my hands on before i get out the
room but knowing that i spent time with
you today
i committed this day before you god we
got this we can do this thing
right and for some of you you know
reading the word is is what you do when
you’re watching a message and they show
the word on the screen
you say oh that’s a good passage right
there
[Music]
i want you to take on this challenge
five minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes every
single day
just open the bible right or go
have a bible app plan just study the
word meditate on the word
it is a game changer for you you’re not
trying to get
um you know uh brownie points before the
lord
right it changes you it makes you
confident in what you’re praying for
it it turns your prayers into
declarations
that you begin to understand god this
not
this does not look like you i reject
that and you can do that in confidence
it turns you from being a beggar to
being one that is
a son and a daughter of the kingdom
abide in the word doesn’t matter start
proverbs start somewhere child
if i just open my bible right now it
says isaiah 64.
oh that you would rent the heavens and
that you will come down that the mount
is my sheikh your presence
so look at that that is so beautiful
right
and you can just read that one verse and
say god what does this mean
oh that you would rend the heavens that
and you will come down and the mountains
will shake at your presence
that is a prayer you can just read that
and say you know what god one of the
mountains in my life this is
this is a a practical um thing right now
application i just opened the word and
it went to isaiah 64
and this is what it says then you begin
to internalize that god
oh that you will come down and whatever
seems to be against me lord shake it let
the
spirit of the lord be in my atmosphere
and
shake everything that works against me
you begin to read this and you begin to
declare it
that is i just opened that right so open
your open your word
now sometimes you might open the word
and you might fall into jeremiah
and it’s going to be a rebuke and you
myself not today lord okay something
else
read it learn about it why did lord
rebuke the people
understand his nature right so let us
pray
let us pray and if you’re watching this
and you’re like lord jesus i want to
know you
i don’t know you i want i wanna i wanna
know who you are
i stumbled upon this message but i wanna
get into
real fellowship with you right it starts
with salvation it starts with
embracing the lord as your savior it
says first
abide in me for without me
you can do nothing i want to pray for
all of you
and if you’re watching that i just want
you if i’m speaking to you just put in
the chat that’s me
that’s me hallelujah heavenly father
we thank you so much for your goodness
we thank you for your love
we thank you o god that you are here
with us
we thank you lord that entrusting you in
the midst of uncertainty
it is to abide in you it is to abide in
you
first of all as our lord and savior to
abide in your word and to abide in your
love
and so lord i pray this for every one of
your sons and daughters who are watching
this message
who were listening to your word that
lord god
that they will begin to take on this
discipline
of what it means to abide the heavenly
father this will be their testimony
and i thank you for the fruit that would
be on the other side of this
the fruit oh god that would speak about
the
wisdom of the lord when we abide in you
the wisdom of the lord lord god what
comes out of abiding
that we begin to take on your nature we
begin to take on your likeness
that we become confident when we speak
to you
that heavenly father i just thank you
that we would be people who are faithful
and not easily swayed by the happenings
of life
and i thank you for those that are
saying that lord i want to commit my
life to you
i want you to be lord and savior in my
life
that lord god i thank you that they are
receiving right now that you are the
lord jesus
the lord you are the one who died on the
cross for their sins
and that when you rose up you rose up
with them
that lord god you buried everything that
could keep them bound
everything that could keep them slaves
that you defeated it on the cross
and lord god as your resurrection speaks
to their resurrection
resurrection from bondage from addiction
oh god
i thank you heavenly father that you are
having your way in the lives of your
children
thank you jesus continue to do a mighty
and powerful work
in and through their lives in jesus
mighty name
amen