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hey family i’m pastor toray welcome to

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there and let’s get into this powerful

amazing word god bless you

family welcome to activate i’m so

excited for today and i’m so excited for

the word that god has for each and every

one of us you know first of all these

days are just so special in its own way

because it’s the middle of the week and

we’re just seeking god and it speaks

really to our posture that lord we are

after you every day of our lives and so

welcome to activate

you know we are in a new month like

isn’t that crazy how like the year just

started but a month has already gone by

and as i’m you know just coming into

this new month i keep holding on to a

word that the lord gave me in the

beginning of this year and was really a

phrase really about embracing the shift

and when he told me about embracing the

shift there were three things

specifically into that and it’s a shift

in authority that will take place in

this new season a shift in ownership and

a shift in identity and when we think

about a shift in authority is that

there’s going to be new almost like the

rising of the underdogs right where god

is going to shift people into new

positions but also a shift in in

ownership right taking responsibilities

for the things that we will just see as

problems and talk about but actually

recognizing that your you recognize it

to be a problem and it burdens you so

much because god has actually called you

as a solution and so a shift in

responsibility not just waiting you know

for someone to come and and just help

the moment but saying that you know what

lord i’m gonna address this and i’m

gonna by your hand and by your spirit

and by your might that you would use me

to be a solution and a shift in identity

right embracing what god says about us

embracing the new layers of identity

being revealed by his spirit you know a

lot of times when we look at the areas

in our lives where we settled for less

it was really because we didn’t know we

were more and so when god begins to

unpack and reveal to you that there is

so much more to you it’s for you to

embrace that and when he talked to me

about this he highlighted a man named

david right and david is a man who and

we have a david

here with us but david is a man who

embraced the shift in all aspects of his

life right when you think about david

david embraced the shift in identity

david was a shepherd boy and when the

lord was looking for who he would anoint

as the new king even though there was a

king already at the time but he had

rejected him there was a king named saul

in israel and he had rejected him the

lord said you know what david is my man.

but david had no idea of the

conversation god was having with a

prophet named samuel david is just

taking care of sheep his diligent right

where he is and god is having a

conversation about him and then this

prophet goes to the house and he anoints

david to be king and it was a shift in

identity because it was a moment for

david to recognize that the whole time

you are a shepherd that that was only a

seed to the harvest of your calling

that you are taking care of sheep but

what god had god had in mind for you all

along was that you would take care of a

nation

but he began to train you as a shepherd

right david had a he experienced a shift

in responsibility

you know during that time there was a

problem by the name of goliath and when

goliath showed up he’s oppressing the

people and david is like i’m not just

gonna wait around for someone to rise up

and and and fight this man i mean you

would think that the king at the time

would say hey let me take this one for

the team right no

but david a boy who was not even in the

army he said look god has been with me

as a shepherd and you know i’ve killed

the bear have killed a lion and this

goliath would be nothing less and so

david embraced the responsibility he saw

the problem and he took ownership of it

right and then david also had a shift in

authority right we see how david

eventually in his life we will see that

it would take i mean it took some time

right but david would eventually become

king over israel

right that he would that from being a

shepherd boy he would step into the

position as king and you know the king

saul at the time you know later on he

died and there’s a whole story behind

that but we’re not going to talk about

king saul today but david experienced a

shift in all these areas and as

beautiful as this story is right because

when you hear it when you just hear like

the the highlight it’s like wow david

was a shepherd and then god anointed him

and then he became king and it’s just

like this easy breezy maybe you call

this a cover boy

story but the reality

i don’t know where these things come

from

[Laughter]

but i’m sure god has some you know dry

jokes sometimes dry humor but the

reality of the story

is that from the moment david was

anointed to be king

to actually walking in the full

manifestation of being king

it was around 22 years

you see

a lot of theologians believe that david

was around 15 when he was anointed

and at 30 david became king but he was

only ruling over the house of judah so

when you think about the house of judah

just think about the promise being

fulfilled in a partial way

and then it took another seven and a

half years before david actually began

reigning over all of jerusalem all over

all of israel and judah and that is a

promise being fulfilled according to the

word of the lord

so by by the time he was anointed to

becoming king in the way that he was

anointed for

22 years we’re in the year 2022 but i’m

not going to talk about any coincidences

but i just find it interesting right but

20 20 20 22 years

and in our lives there’s always

something that the lord speaks to us

about there’s always a promise there’s

always a desire that we have for

something but we find ourselves going

through the waiting period

and this is what the lord has put on my

heart to discuss with you today because

what i’m learning in how god moves is

that when we talk about embracing the

shift it first starts as an internal

process

that god begins to do a work within us

before we experience it externally

and so to embrace the shift there’s

something happening within you and it

brings you into this waiting season

but the waiting season can sometimes

feel like the most confusing it could

feel like god has rejected you god has

abandoned you if you don’t understand

the why behind it what is supposed to be

a beautiful experience what is supposed

to bring you into a place of resting and

trusting in god if we are ignorant of

why god uses a waiting season then we

will never work with it

the years that we’re supposed to be

aligning with god we are fighting we are

rejecting we are complaining we’re

looking for another way out and this is

where the enemy comes in

this is when the enemy begins to offer

alternatives

this is when the enemy begins to offer

you like hey i got a way out for you you

don’t need to wait this long and you

don’t realize that what he’s offering is

to cause you to settle and leave things

on the table

but when we recognize and understand the

purpose of the weight

then we can partner with god in it and

so that’s what i’m going to be talking

about today and so when we think about

waiting right the waiting season really

brings us into the promise of what god

has for us the waiting season is an

indicator that there’s a turning point

coming in your story

and there are three things that god

showed me and spoke to me about about

why he uses the waiting season because

in that season he prunes us

he prepares us and he positions us

he prunes us he prepares us and he

positions us and why does god need to do

all of this

because everything that is assigned to

your life

everything that is called to your life

god is sending you to it

and in order for you to have impact and

be fruitful you have to be pruned

prepared and positioned

you see there is a scripture right

in matthew 28 um it’s the like the last

verses of that scripture it’s when we

read about the great commission right

and jesus says to the disciples

go

go into all the nations and make

disciples right

go into all the nations but when jesus

speaks you you have to do when the word

speaks like he is the word made flesh

every word carries weight

when jesus says go

then into all nations and make disciples

there is a manner he has called you to

go

you’re thinking that being a mother is

just a desire but it’s a manner that

you’re called to go

being a husband is just a desire but

it’s a manner in which you go

being a business owner being a rider

being a dancer being a photographer this

is the vehicle in which you go

because it becomes the vehicle to we all

are assigned to the same thing the great

commission is the commission to every

single person

if you ever had a problem wondering what

your purpose is it’s in the great

commission make disciples of all nations

but what we are confused about is not

purpose it is what is the vehicle that

god has called to use in manifesting his

mission

and so when jesus says go

everything that you think is just a

desire

and anything that you think is just a

way of god to bless you to make you

happy is actually an assignment that he

is sending you for

god is sending you as a parent god is

sending you as a business owner god is

sending you as a volunteer god is

sending you as an employee because this

is the manner in which you go

it’s not just random titles

when you’re in a city god sent you to

that city

but we have to understand this when we

when we when we recognize that i’m not

just living a random life i’m not just

in a city because the rent was cheaper

definitely not this city

right i’m not just here because i like

the weather

god sent me here

i just don’t desire this thing because

you know i like how it would look on me

there are things that we desire that we

just feel like okay this is just part of

you know god i just want to live more

fulfilled but you have to recognize it

is the manner in which you go

and here is what we learn about being

sent

in isaiah 6 verse 8 right it says this

and this is the prophet isaiah speaking

he said also i heard the voice of the

lord saying

whom shall i send

and who will go

for us

then i said

here i am

send me

when we read this we read it so quickly

we’re just like god said who shall i

send and it’s like oh here i am send me

but here i am there’s a pause

send me

here i am lord i’m willing i i desire

this i’m ready for the job

and then something happens

then we get to the place of

send me

here i am god

i can’t wait to start this business

whom shall i send and who will go for us

do you know that there are things that

were already agreed that we came into

agreement with god before we ever got

here

that when we’re saying that when the

lord is looking for okay we are in this

new generation

right we came from a time where you know

the the cavemen were trying to figure

out fire they found fire right

and then things start happening and

people start discovering technology and

god is looking at the error that we are

in and he’s like whom shall i send

and who will go for us there’s a manner

in which i need you to go and then we’re

just like oh here i am lord

send me

and what we agreed before we got here

when we are here it now translates as

our desires

and now it’s like i can’t shake off this

desire

because this is the manner in which you

go

we the lord understands every era that

we’re we even the errors that we have

not seen right now you know if you’re

having you know coveted babies they’re

about to enter an era of the metaverse

right where they’re going to be hanging

out with their friends in the metaverse

going to church in the metaverse we’ll

see you right at one in the meta

[Laughter]

we don’t even understand the experiences

they’re going to have in their own

generation but god has already seen it

he has seen the people that needs to be

sent in technology the people that needs

to be sent in tech and when we come into

this realm we begin to have desires even

as children

my nephew is two years old but he is

fascinated about building things

he already has an idea of of what it is

that he is inclined to it’s so amazing

because i remember hearing um bishop

jakes talk about everything that you’re

doing right now you actually it has

always been with you

since you were a kid that has always

been with you desires are the way that

we translate the things that we already

came in agreement with god about before

this time

that is what i can do the way i desire a

thing you see i would never desire you

know i was talking to kim who’s with us

and kim you know gets me right she does

my makeup

and one time kim was like stephanie i’m

gonna teach you how to do your eyelashes

as a kim that is not

i don’t desire that at all because if i

try to do my lashes i will end up doing

the bottom ones not the top ones there

are things that i don’t even have a

desire i don’t even want it because

my my hands don’t work that way right my

creativity does not work with makeup

but there are things that we desire and

we don’t know why we can’t shake it off

because we already came in an agreement

with god whom shall i send and who shall

go for us

and we said here i am god

i will go for you in this manner

and then when we are prepared send me

you see the waiting season is a time

when we come into alignment

for god to prepare us for what has

already been established for us

but

here i am

and send me there is a pause in between

that i also learned the first time i

ever heard this phrase called the

pregnant pause i heard it from bishop

bishop jakes

and when i looked into it i found out

that this was a phrase that kind of like

was originated from the 15th century i

mean it goes way back

right and it gives us the idea that

something so significant is about to

happen

but when i think about this pregnant

pause i really think about the waiting

season

because the the time lapse the time

difference between here i am

and send me

is a waiting season

because here i am god i’m ready for this

but then god brings us through a waiting

period

so that we would be able to be sent and

make impact in a way that we will be

fruitful for the assignment

because every single thing is an

assignment

everything

there are things that we do and we think

it’s just for fun but it’s the vehicle

through which we make disciples

and so when we think about that right

there is pruning there is god preparing

you and god wanting to position you

but then we go through this season and

and i think that

connected to this journey of life i was

thinking about how often times in the

scriptures we read about people’s

journeys

rather than just reading about how

things manifested

when you think about abraham right

abraham always wanted a son

but the first thing we’re introduced to

with abraham’s story is god saying

abraham i’m going to send you

to a place that i will show you

but abraham was he desired to be a

father but he was sent to be a father of

many nations

right you think about joseph

joseph had a dream as a kid he didn’t

need to have that dream at that time but

he had a dream as a kid that he was

going to be in leadership

and joseph is just like he’s excited you

know he’s just innocent he’s telling his

brothers i mean joseph was really naive

you know joseph and this time he’s

they’ll be like joseph you don’t know

the streets right because you just

little naive right now you know joseph

went to his brothers hey guys i’m gonna

rule over you isn’t that exciting oh my

gosh like what

so

joseph had this dream

but the next thing we learned about

joseph’s story is him being sent to

egypt

now he was sent by the way of slavery

but we understand this idea of god

sending you for the manifestation of his

promise

same thing with the israelites

they were in in they were captured in

slavery

it was not just about them being free

they thought it was just about freedom

but god was sending them to the promised

land

and in that process we see that god

god’s purpose was being revealed

same thing with david

when you read about the story of david

it’s a journey

david’s lives has so many ups and downs

but he’s going he’s moving from one

place to the next to the next to the

next until he comes to the point of

manifestation

and so i want you to just if i just put

in the comments right now i am sense

i am sent you’re you’re not random you

are sent i’m not just in the la i was

sent here

you’re not just in the city that you’re

you’re in you were sent there and in the

same manner god could send you to

another place that position you’re after

you are sent for it it’s not just this

random desire that maybe you will make

more money with god sent you there are

rooms that god has put you in you think

you went into the room for business but

all of a sudden you went into the room

for the mission because it was through

something that you said

somebody wanted to know jesus

there are things that you have actually

said that you don’t even recognize were

seeds in the time because it was someone

else that god used to water the seed

there are many lives it’s only when we

get to heaven

that we would begin to recognize

how random acts of kindness

based on how we were

that you thought you were just the

photographer in the room of the makeup

artist in the room but you have no you

do you don’t even realize that there was

a conversation you had in that room

that transformed an entire

entire family line lineage

you don’t even know what happened

because you see the bible says that

there is one who plants there’s another

who waters but at the end of the day is

god that causes it to grow

but god will still use you to either

plant or water

and so you have no clue that just the

thing you were doing that you thought

was random that there was something that

you did that the holy spirit used either

as seed or as water

and eventually god used it to grow we

all have the same purpose

make disciples of all nations

so let’s talk about this waiting season

because when we recognize

that we are sent then we recognize the

need for the process

that god here i am but i need to go

through process in order for you to send

me

right so the first thing god does god

does with the and this might not be in

the same order only god knows but these

are three key things that he highlighted

to me right and so the first thing he

highlighted was that he prunes us

and i want to read this scripture from

john 15 verse 2 when it says this every

branch in me that does not bear fruit he

takes away

and every branch that bears fruit he

prunes that it may bear more fruit

the beautiful thing here is that first

of all god is saying that you’re already

fruitful

i don’t prune you because you know your

life is not making sense i’m pruning you

because already where i’ve placed you

you have been a good steward over that

but as i’m planning to expand you as i’m

planning to expand your capacity as i’m

planning to take you to the next season

of your life in order to be more

fruitful i must prune you

and here’s the thing pruning i started

studying um pruning because when when

god is speaking about this he’s speaking

about the process of pruning a tree

right so when i studied about pruning it

says this right that pruning is the

process to remove damaged

or

let me see this damaged competing or

dead branches

pruning is the process that the you know

they removed damaged dead or competing

branches i find these words so

fascinating first of all because when i

read things like competing

right

and these are and this is like when you

study it i was like wait is did he just

say that this is a branch that is a

competing branch but damaged dead and

competing branches so when we think

about the first thing god does in

pruning he takes us through a process

that confronts the pain and traumas from

our past

because the pains and traumas from your

past it leaves dead and damaged branches

can you imagine let’s talk about david

right

david experienced rejection as a kid

how do we know this when when the

prophet saw came to the home to anoint

david

david is taking care of sheep the father

does not even find him worthy

to call him into the lineup he has all

his sons lined up

did not even think about wait what about

david he did not even think he was

worthy

for what the prophet was going to do

that already tells you so much about the

relationship david had with his father

and then we see that even as david

continues for some reason

how god

when god wants to confront an issue that

you want to hide he will take you

through the same thing in a different

way

so david continues to experience

rejection

because on one moment david kills

goliath saul loved him

but when david was being praised more

than saul

saul is now trying to kill david so

first of all the first father figure

david has in his life rejects him

the second fatherly figure because saul

would then become i mean he was excited

he killed goliath you know there was a

soul already announced there will be a

prize that hey the person who kills

goliath you know they would marry them

the king’s daughter so saul was going to

be the second fatherly figure

because this would now become david’s

father-in-law

all of a sudden the second person

is now trying to kill him

and a lot of times even just using david

as an example what does this now speak

to you start looking at god

who is supposed to be now your spiritual

father

okay if all the fatherly figures in my

life are treating me this way then maybe

god is pretty much the same god will

sometimes use the same thing i call it

when god pokes at you

because what he’s poking is to bring to

your awareness that there’s something

that hurts that you have been hiding

so that he can bring it to the surface

and heal it because the last thing you

want is a king who is dealing with

rejection issues

because the power that god would give

him he would abuse it for his validation

oh let me show y’all

you know yesterday’s price is not

today’s price

in the worst way not in a good way right

david would have been like oh who’s king

now

right you know gather up all my brothers

and my father to bring him let him be

the shepherd for me

so god has to prune us

because the reality is that in life this

world is broken it is christ that makes

it whole

but it’s broken with broken people

and broken people break other people

and so when if you’ve lived for any

amount of years

at some point in your life you would

have a story laced with pain

and god knows this

and so he says in order for me to send

you

to what we have already been in

agreement with i need to remove from you

what the brokenness that has been sold

into your life

i need to take you through a process

through a healing process

that is why sometimes when you find

yourself dealing with the same thing

that wounded you over and over again in

different forms it’s not that god

doesn’t see you but maybe he’s trying to

poke at you

that there’s an issue and i need you to

bring it to me so we can heal i can heal

this thing

you keep trying to hide it you’re mad at

god but then you come into worship oh

lord i just give you all the glory

god does not need fake worship and god

does not need your works if it will

leave you damaged

god is after your wholeness

and so sometimes god will poke at you

because he’s like look we need to

revisit

this thing that hurt you so that i can

show you first of all how i would use it

for your good it doesn’t mean i approved

of it to happen the way it did but i am

a god who causes all things to work

together for good

and you need to open up to me so i can

give you my perspective about this

situation i want to heal you from the

root

and what that healing process looks like

is pruning

god removing the broken the damaged and

dead branches away from your life

the things that have no business for you

to be holding on to but you keep holding

on to it and god is like why won’t you

let me in

you see when you think about the story

of a man named judas

it’s so fascinating that judas who was a

thief and had a money problem

would be the person that jesus would

entrust with a money back he was poking

at him

because first of all you have to know

the heart of god to recognize what judas

really represented

judas was not a disciple or appointed to

be an apostle just so he could be upon

in god’s ultimate plan

that does not speak to god’s heart

jesus before judas was appointed as an

apostle there were many people that

followed jesus

jesus was in prayer it wasn’t no it

wasn’t a random selection jesus the

bible tells us that he was in the

mountain

in prayer so that god would give him

revelation so that the father would give

him revelation about who should be the

the apostles this was taking it deeper

apostles are not people you joke with

these are people the bible calls them

they steward over the mysteries of god

they’re they’re people that establish

you know even when it talks about the

church apostles and prophets lay the

foundation of the church so god is not

going to appoint you into an office just

to use you as a pawn

and judas was appointed as an apostle

and with his money problem

god said you know what

i have the best position for you i’m

gonna put you in charge of the money bag

what

like god how does that make sense he’s

poking at him

judas i already know you still

but i need you to let me know that you

still

come to me with the issue

and say that look like lord you don’t

want me to be in charge of this

because i i sometimes come into thievery

and jesus that would have been a moment

for judas to open himself up

and jesus would have done such a

beautiful healing work

peter had peter had some anger issues

but then jesus would choose peter to be

his like almost like his right hand man

knowing that peter is going to cut

somebody’s ear

but peter was submitted

that’s why he would cut the ear in front

of jesus he didn’t hide it

you see the difference between peter and

judas judas hid his problems

peter showed it to the lord

he said lord i got an anger issue

and this person comes at you funny i’m

cutting his ear off and when he does

that jesus can be an example to peter

and say peter this is not how we respond

to problems

jesus knew like you see before jesus

went about his day he knew what he was

about to encounter

he knew exactly what was going to happen

and in his wisdom he would have he could

have chosen to not take peter

but jesus says come on everybody we’re

all going into this

he knew exactly that that particular day

god gave him jesus will say things like

i only do what i see the father do jesus

had revelation and insight of his day

but he took peter with him so that peter

can expose his own brokenness

and jesus could teach him a better way

peter we don’t respond to problems like

this

we don’t cut people’s ears off because

we’re angry so in front of peter peter

is cutting off somebody’s ear for jesus

and jesus heals the man’s ear

now if peter was going to act like judas

what peter would have done he would have

watched the problem

been silent

when jesus was asleep peter shows up and

turns up so y’all think you could just

talk to my master like that

but god wants us to open up ourselves to

him

the reason why jesus will give judas the

money back and i’m sure there are many

things that the scriptures don’t write

to us but i’m sure maybe they were going

to a store i mean they didn’t have

stores back then but you know walking

along the road

somebody was selling something right

and maybe jesus was jesus knowing how

much is in the money bag will be like um

judas can you pay this man

judas may have said oh man the money

fell out

we don’t have enough money but what

jesus would have wanted is judas to say

i spent some of it

and that would be a moment of jesus to

now say you know what let me show you a

better way

judas i know what you did i know you

steal from this bag

but let me teach you a better way you

could just ask

you don’t need to steal what for what is

already yours

because judas didn’t realize

jesus trusting him with the money back

is saying everything that is mine is

yours

you’re stealing from what i’ve actually

given you

you don’t need to act like a thief when

you are when the house belongs to you

why are you stealing from yourself

that would have been a moment for jesus

to cheat judas teach judas a better way

what i’m saying this is that the pruning

process god allows your deepest pain and

traumas to come to the surface

so that he can heal it

because whatever is hidden satan has

authority over

when it comes to the surface the light

of god can shine and heal it

but you see pruning also talks about i

was watching this man pruning his tree

and it talks about removing competing

branches

so in a tree there is a central branch

which is known as almost like the the

leader

and sometimes other branches want to

show out

they start growing in a manner that they

start trying to overtake the main branch

and what they call it is that it is

pulling they have to cut the competing

branch because it is pulling energy

that’s supposed to go to the central

bench it is stealing energy source to

this competing branch and so in order

for the tree to be as fruitful as it can

be all the energy needs to be focused on

the central branch

this is also what happens in our lives

because we easily get distracted by new

ideas

we easily get distracted by the things

that were birthed from the place of

comparison and envy

and we easily get distracted so although

we love to talk about a god who opens

doors that no one can shut he is also a

god that shuts doors that no one can

open

and so the pruning season can look like

when god is shutting doors in your life

and it’s not for you to mourn what the

lord has killed

is for you to recognize that could it be

that this door has been taking energy

and investment away from where god has

actually called me to put this in

one of the things our pastor would

always teach on is that you have a

limited amount of resources you have a

limited amount of energy you cannot just

waste it in any way

you see one of the things you know um

covet

when it happened the omicron variants it

got everybody including me

but when it hit me because at first i

said oh my how dare you

but it taught me a great lesson it

really taught me a lesson on

how how how everything in life requires

energy

because when you are so fatigued you

become aware that even picking up the

phone and getting on this call right now

is taking energy from me

every for everything you need to do in

life there is amount of energy that is

allocated to that the same thing with

the spiritual realm

the woman with the issue of blood when

she touched jesus the hem of his garment

the bible says that he knew because

power left him so there was a measure of

power that was assigned to heal this

woman

everything requires a sudden measure

the beauty with jesus is that he had the

power of the holy spirit to the overflow

so he never ran out of power but he

could still feel it leave him

the same way that throughout your day

everything you do energy is leaving you

that’s why sometimes you just find

yourself exhausted you can’t even talk

you’re like lord i just need to take a

nap

why because the energy you had for that

day has been completely depleted

so there are doors in your life that god

will say i need to shut them

so that you would be focused and you

would have the appropriate amount of

energy for where i’m taking you

so we cannot fight against closed doors

because that is what the pruning season

also looks like that if there’s anything

competing for the god thing god can shut

it right then also the waiting season

prepares us right there’s a scripture

that says in hebrews 11 7 it says by

faith noah being divinely warned of

things not yet seen moved with godly

fear prepared an ark for the saving of

his

household this is so beautiful because

noah was able to prepare because god

prepared him

and when the lord was talking to me

about this he showed me that he prepares

us by giving us a vision

you see when noah built the ark he

didn’t build it out of a thought

the lord gave him a vision the bible

actually records that the lord said to

him noah build the ark according to the

pattern that i will show you

he gave him instructions about the ark

in the waiting season god gives you

vision

and it’s not for you to build when you

get there

it’s for you to start building now

because what you build will take you

there

and so in the waiting season that is

when you start to partner with god god

what is the vision of my life in this

time

because it’s because of the vision he’s

planted in you that he has brought you

through the weight

and the vision may not always be this

something that feels glamorous

the vision could be in this season i

want you to go to therapy

it could literally be something like

that

it could be as going to therapy to

starting the business

it could be going to therapy to taking

the job

it could be going to therapy to start to

become a mother

but god will give you a vision for what

this new season of your life holds and

it’s for you to start it now

you don’t wait until you know you can’t

you can’t walk into uh you can’t you can

go into a business meeting and say oh my

gosh you know i want all of you to

invest in something and not have a

product

you build the product then you say hey

this product is going to change

how we do things this product is going

to be whatever your it is that you want

to build but this product is the thing

this app is the thing this idea when

people can see it on a plan then they’re

like okay we can let’s let’s think about

how much we want to invest in this

no one invests in good intentions

because you can have good intentions

like when people say like man if i had a

million dollars you know i just wanna i

wanna bless my mom i wanna pay off her

home i wanna you know what

just no homeless people in the world

it’s a good intention

but without a plan it will never happen

so there is a vision that god gives you

in order to execute the i the intentions

in your heart

you can have a good intention that lord

i just i i don’t want to see this ever

again whatever is played in our

community i never want to see this

but you can’t walk into a meeting and

just have good intentions who is going

to back it up

what what what structure do you have in

place what processes do you have in

place in order to execute this

and so whatever vision god has given you

you start building in the waiting season

that is why the bible the first thing

that scripture said is by faith

noah

and there are things that you’re called

to do and it’s not based on what you see

but it’s gonna be by faith

and search your name there

right even right now in the chat i want

you to put by faith and put your name

and put whatever it is that god has been

putting on your heart to do by faith is

how it’s going to be built

because it’s not going to be based on

what you see there things that you’re

going to invest in according to the

vision that god has given you and you

can’t delay it

right now in this in this waiting season

god also positions us

and there’s a scripture in john 15 5 it

says this i am the vine and you are the

branches he who abides in me and i in

him bears much fruit for without me you

can do nothing

when the lord says without me you can do

nothing he’s speaking to the very thing

you are called to do that in order to be

fruitful in what i’ve called you to do

not just in random things you can find

success to cultural standards in

anything

but the thing that god has called you to

do you cannot execute it without him

and that’s why i love this word abide

because the lord is saying that if you

remain in me

if you continue in me this is the pos

the posture and position that you’re

supposed to live your life from in me

in me is a place where we are

surrendered in me is a place where we we

deepen our roots in christ we have a a

deep and a deepened intimacy with christ

because you see when you come to jesus

when you you know the moment of

salvation right

you you’re something you encounter in

christ

and it draws you to him you say yes lord

take over i want to surrender i want to

submit my life to you but that is us and

having an encounter in a seed form again

everything starts with seed before it

becomes harvest even your encounter with

the holy spirit he comes into your life

in seed form and it is the reason why

you know sometimes if a person does not

cultivate their walk with christ

then they are literally one heartbreak

away from denying him

their one disappointment away from

saying i’m not sure about this

christianity thing anymore because we

see it today in culture we see that

there are people who are like you know

what talking about their faith this

jesus i love you jesus this and all of a

sudden there’s a shift

they’re like yeah i’m not sure about

this faith thing there’s some things i

don’t understand you know like if god

was really good why would he do this

because if that was not cultivated if we

did not remain in him if we did not

deepen ourselves in his word and his

wisdom and his understanding then we can

easily be tossed to and fro

that is why even the bible talks about

how there is a time that would come that

even the elect would be deceived so it

does not mean that it’s just because

you’re a new believer or you’re a

seasoned believer if you don’t remain in

christ

satan can easily uproot you

and to remain in him is to recognize

that i am always a student to the holy

spirit

because there was something that will

always come up to challenge what you

know

but when you remain in christ because

first of all god we’re talking about god

who is eternal and to us who are limited

and and and finite beings there are many

things that we would never understand

about god but the more we remain in him

that’s when he begins to unfold and

unfold and unfold different sides of

himself

you can’t just say that hey you know i

gave my life to jesus and you don’t

cultivate it you’re not intentional

about it and so even in the waiting

season it’s a time where god positions

you to go deeper in your faith

deeper in your walk with him deeper in

understanding this is a season where

there are questions that will start

bothering you

and it’s okay to have questions for god

he he can’t be the the way the truth and

the life if he has nothing to respond to

so you can have questions so that he can

reveal the truth

because one of the things that the lord

taught me is that every side to him is a

way that pulls people deeper into him

some of us encountered god because of

his love others because of his wisdom

there are people that know without a

doubt that god is real and that he

exists but they are

there’s there’s a distance between them

and god because they have questions that

have not been answered

so it’s not just for them it’s not

enough to know that yeah i know jesus

died for us but if he died for us then

why does this happen x y and z there’s

some people that it is the wisdom of god

that brings them into a deeper level of

intimacy

and so when the lord says he’s going to

position us he wants to bring us deeper

into himself

because at the end of the day

manifestation of a promise does not mean

that you would remain

but you need to remain in order to keep

what is there

because there are things that will come

to challenge you

their principalities and powers the

enemy does not want you to walk out what

god knows about you

and if you’re thinking it’s all about

getting to the promised land

then that’s the biggest lie

because in the promised land is why

satan will test you in all kinds of ways

and the same way that people don’t

respond to good intentions

principalities don’t respond to good

intentions they respond to power

and the position of your power and

authority is found in christ

that is the place that you can call in

his name and they have to bow

you can’t just be in a place because

when obstacles and things begin to

challenge you your power is in christ

and so when jesus says during this

season of the waiting

remain in me

learn about me

don’t ever feel like you have graduated

the class of christianity

because then that means you have become

the elect that can be deceived that has

been deceived

we are always babes before the lord

and so he uses the language come to me

as children

he didn’t say come to me as adults

come to me as children because there are

many things you still are yet to know

and so to remain in christ

is that lord even in this season

that in this waiting season before you

send me

for what you’ve already prepared for me

before you send me there deep in my

roots

because you’re being sent for the great

commission

and if your roots are uprooted then

you’re just going to be sent to waste

away

then the influence that god gives you

doesn’t mean anything anymore

because you’re being sent you see that

it was said about abraham many people

would wonder why we know all of all the

people why did god just randomly choose

abraham to be the father of many nations

did god just randomly select him the

bible gives us a beautiful message about

abraham that god knew that abraham will

command his children in his ways

god was not just looking for someone who

would say yes but god was looking for

someone who can go

and fulfill the great commission abraham

i’m gonna send you as a father

because as a father you would command

your children to be disciples of me

and not command like you know if you

don’t do it you’re gonna get a whooping

no

but he will teach them the ways of the

lord

the doors that god is opening for you

the things that god is bringing into

your life

it’s all to fulfill this great

commission

make disciples of all nations but there

is a manner in which you’re supposed to

go

and in order to go and be impactful and

be fruitful god has to prune you

he has to prepare you and he has to

position you

because you have no idea

the temptation you have no idea the

challenges that await you you have no

idea you don’t even know what can seduce

you yet

so god begins to prepare you now

and position you in his ways because you

see to abide in the lord

the scripture also talks about it means

to abide in his word

when the word of god is hidden in your

heart when you’re studying and under and

learning what what is what is god’s

principles

what are his ways

because so that when something creeps up

on you you have the word as a weapon

that’s what jesus used

when satan tempted him in the wilderness

he had the word he is the word and he

had the word

and so

why i’m saying this is because in this

waiting season if if any of you and your

you feel like you’re just in this

waiting season maybe it’s been a year

two years 20 years two months one month

and you’re wondering god what do i do

while i wait it’s simple you submit to

the process

you submit to god pruning you

you submit to god preparing you and you

submit to god positioning you

you just submit to the process stop

fighting what is for you

but embrace it

and you have to recognize

that the waiting season is actually a

sign of god’s love

it’s not a sign of his abandonment or

rejection or he’s forgotten you or

everybody else he’s just blessing

everybody else and he just forgot this

thing about you no it’s a sign of his

love

because that very thing

it’s bigger than just making you happy

it’s bigger than just like god you know

your plans and and what is on your

expectation you know and what and the

things that you’ve put on your vision

board and you know vis i love visible i

have a vision board

but it’s bigger than that

god is an assignment godhead is sending

you

in that manner

he said go

and make disciples

and maybe you’re going as a wife

or you’re going as a father or you’re

going as a business owner or you’re

going as an architect but you’re going

and god wants to make sure that you are

everything

that you need to be so you don’t miss

what the mission is all about

so i want to pray for you

i want to pray for you i just i thank

god because i believe

that whether you’re in a waiting season

now you would encounter one soon

because waiting seasons again are

markers of turning points in our lives

and there is always going to be eternity

there’s several turning points before we

finally leave this earth because there

are several ways that god will call us

to th there are several vehicles that

god would have us in to fulfill that

great commission

to fulfill what he has what the ultimate

purpose at the end of the day there’s

several ways that he will call us to do

it right and so the waiting season is a

part of life it is to be expected not

rejected right that rhymes that’s so

beautiful um

but i want to pray for you because i

believe that god is going to do such a

beautiful work in your heart you know

maybe you’ve been looking at the things

that you’re waiting on and you feel like

god you promised me this but it just

looks like everything in my life is

looking like the opposite

funny enough one of the things that the

lord was showing me was this idea about

i can’t even i don’t know how to explain

the vision to you but ultimately it

showed that what you’re waiting on is

much closer than you think

but the more you reject the process

you’re actually pushing out the timeline

and so submit to the process

let god do what he he has intended to do

with you

right understand that it is bigger than

you

what god is giving you is bigger than

just your needs and your wants and your

desire the desire is actually speaking

to what has always been agreed upon

how god is going to send you

and so let us pray

whatever it is that it’s in your heart

that you know that god has given you as

a promise

i want you to just bring that before him

and say god i am going to surrender to

this waiting process i’m going to

surrender that while i’m waiting i’m

submitting while i’m waiting i’m

submitting to this process because

you’re gonna do such a powerful work in

me for what you’ve called to do through

me

right and maybe you’re watching this and

you don’t know jesus or or perhaps i

haven’t talked about you right and

you’ve met him you’ve encountered him

but your faith has been back and forth

back and forth because you have not

positioned yourself in him you have not

about you’re not abiding in him and i

will say this to you first of all you

know we’re going to put i’ll make sure

we have some information about community

groups on the screen you have to be

intentional about cultivating your faith

you cannot grow in christ accidentally

you have to be intentional about it and

one of the ways that we offer to serve

that in your life is also through

community groups

that you can get plugged in with a group

of believers and you all can sharpen

each other right and so because the

bible says as iron sharpens iron that’s

how one who sharpens another so you have

to have a you need to be around a circle

of people you can say that you have

given your life to jesus and your circle

that nothing about your circle change

that spoke to what took you away from

him in the first place

you have to be intentional about

cultivating your faith and maybe you

know what you’re just like well i

haven’t i haven’t given my life to

christ because maybe i have questions

maybe there’s a side of him i have not

yet experienced and it has pulled me

away from him i want to tell you that

when you make a decision

to say god i want you to come into my

heart to come into my life and when

you’re intentional about that god will

reveal himself to you in fresh ways

that will begin to answer and i will

take you into a place of a deeper

relationship i have had questions for

jesus child

from when i was a kid i had questions

about why my father you know was was

murdered when i was a baby i had all

kinds of questions there were some

things that he answered in the way that

i when i said the way that i expected

because i really wanted understanding

and there were some things he answered

by showing me to trust

him that the answer didn’t come the way

i i wanted but i was open enough to

receive that what he’s telling me right

now concerning this matter is trust me

but there’s a difference when jesus says

trust me and when man says trust me it

comes with a piece that you can’t even

explain

that even though i didn’t have my

answers i recognize that you are with me

and that’s everything

but you have to open up your heart to

him

in order for you to experience him

in ways that would change and radically

transform your life

and so if you want to know jesus if you

want to just surrender and really be

intentional about just cr developing an

intimacy with him right now in the chat

just put here i am

and the lord sees you

and if you have been just back and forth

back and forth you know like a you know

jumping jack right i’m not sure if

that’s a back and forth thing but you

get the point i hope

but you need to be rooted in him i want

you to also write here i am

it’s always there’s never a wrong time

to recommit your life

to recognize that you know what maybe i

walked away from god simply because i

didn’t have roots

not because he changed

but i was not rooted

i i encountered him in seed form and i

never cultivated to understand him

deeper so maybe i simply did not have

roots lord i want to know you

submit to being a student to the holy

spirit

but let us pray

heavenly father we thank you so much

lord for your love we thank you for this

word that has gone forth lord

we thank you for the manner in which you

have called us to go

and lord we embrace this waiting season

we’re not gonna fight it

lord we’re going to submit to it

and we thank you for what will come out

of it as a result

we thank you lord god that you love us

so much

that you bring us into it

and lord i pray for anyone that has been

wavering in their faith

and they’ve been wavering in their faith

simply because they were not rooted in

you

and i thank you lord that as they make a

commitment to be intentional

about cultivating their faith

that they would have encounters with you

that would deepen their roots

and i thank you for those that are

saying for the first time jesus come

into my heart

come into make my heart your home i want

to know you

and i’m going to be intentional about it

i pray holy spirit you are the greatest

teacher

and as they make room for you

that you would build them up

and that you would develop roots in them

lord that will go so deep in you that

they will not be easily shaken

and so lord we love you

we trust what you are doing in this

season and we say thank you

we say thank you lord for the doors that

you have closed because it means that

you’re going to open the right ones

thank you lord that you are so committed

to us

that you are not after us just do it

working just to do things

because you’re committed to our love our

wholeness our identity

and so we thank you for being the god

that sees us in truth

we thank you for your patience how

patient you are with us that

you actually just a gentleman you’re

waiting for us to say dad i’m hurting in

this area

this thing broke me i don’t know where

you were

so you can heal us from the root

have your way

through it all

in jesus mighty name amen