Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
How many of you have been enjoying the, kind of, the last few weeks, enjoying, the celebrations, Christmas, New Year's? You guys how many of us had, enough to eat, to be honest, way more than enough to eat over the last, couple weeks. Right? So we've been celebrating and worshiping and and doing all those things, with feasting, and so I I did just wanted to make a a couple of things when we talk about the 21 days of prayer, because if you've never done it, it's, you know, I I think many times when you start hearing that, I'm excited to to fast and pray. I mean, it's like some of us are thinking, like, wait, what? I'm not excited about that. But, let me just explain a couple things, about that, you know, because some of it is, during the the winter time, during the holidays, just with the busyness of the season, you know, we enjoy all the good things that God has provided. Yet at the same time, you kinda, you know, get a little bit out of, maybe a little bit out of your normal kind of routine. Maybe we get a, we start getting a little bit of a spiritual cobwebs that are in there. And so what we do, what feasting, does is a celebration. What fasting does is kind of a cleansing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:13]:
It's a detox. Right? It's it's this aspect that we shake off the spiritual cobwebs. And if you've never fasted before, there are different kinds of fasts. There's a soul fast, and sometimes it's the things that you abstain from. Sometimes it's social media. It's the things, it's, how many of us have heard of brain rot? That I I just read an article a couple weeks ago that they talk about brain rot. Literally, what they're saying is that because if you're on your phone, the average person is on their phone, I forget how many times, they said that it's it's built into little snippets that break up your concentration. And so that our capacities actually to focus, our capacities to, get things done, have get less and less and less, because they said that basically our phones have programmed us to just be, get that little bit of dopamine from from playing the game, or reading an article, or scrolling through social media, and that kind of a thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:07]:
So if you identify what some of those things are, and that kind of a thing. So if you identify with some of those things, to be honest, one of the most probably strategic things that you could do to fast from would be some of that. Right? If you need your, you know, kind of devices for work and all of those things, we understand that, we understand that, but for some of us, it's the time to put aside that kind of like the non essentials so that we can press into God. And for some of us, the reason why we fast and pray as well, is typically that fasting has involved the willing and the purpose full abstinence from some kind of food, right, some kind of sustenance, things that you need to survive in order so that we can grow stronger in spirit. You know that, Jesus said this when he was fasting, and in the midst of his fast, the devil came, and you might be familiar where he says, if you are the son of God, then why don't you turn these stones, into bread? And what was Jesus's response? He says, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And so some of that is to say that all the things that we depend on all and they're not bad things. Right? It's not bad to eat. Right? It's not bad to eat meat or not bad to, you know, like, eat whatever it is that you eat or have some dessert or whatever it is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:35]:
But he's saying that rather than depending on that for physical strength, that when we depend on God and the spirit, that there is a real strength that comes just as much as eating food. Right? Just as much as this kind of a thing. And so it it, it allows us to kind of detox in that sense. So something that you might be, you know, if you've never done it before, sometimes we we ask people to abstain from things like rich foods, right, that there's different things that you can look on, on that sheet that's in your bulletin, and we're just asking you for three things. To make the most of the fast, remember to answer these three questions. What will you fast from and for how long? We're doing it for 21 days. You don't have to do it for 20 days. We encourage you to do 21 days, but, if if you have a different time frame.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:31]:
For some, it's it's shorter just because of different things that are going on in your life. For some, it's I hear people go longer. But we find in the book of Daniel, he did it for 21 days, and it provided the spiritual breakthrough. The he was heard from the 1st day he prayed. Just like you, you heard the 1st day you prayed. Right? But he said that sometimes, have you ever been in that place? Yes. You've been heard, but things haven't changed. And sometimes we need that breakthrough.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:57]:
And so, that's what this is about. So determine what you'll fast from and for how long. And the second thing is what will you fast for? Where is that place that you're looking for a breakthrough? Where is that thing that you need God to move on your behalf? And then the third thing is this, how will you be strengthened? Kind of having a plan to be spiritually connected, to be having a reading plan, having understanding things that you can pray through, and that's why we do recommend that if you haven't ever gotten our free, Pray First book, it's a booklet that we encourage you to do that. It has a it lists out just basically biblical ways in which you pray. It's the Lord's Prayer. It's a Tabernacle Prayer. It's spiritual warfare prayers. There's all kinds of prayers that sometimes there's a prayer that is very quiet and silent and reverent, that's an important and kind of a meaningful prayer, but not all prayer is supposed to be like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:56]:
Because sometimes when it's a warfare thing, it's supposed to be different. And so there's different ways that you can learn how to pray. We encourage you to it's absolutely free. We partnered with our friends from Church of the Highlands on that, and so we want to encourage you to find that out, because this is a time for us to reset. You know, like, I think, you know, that the aspects, and we took our offering, our tithes and offerings, and sometimes the issue isn't so much the amount that you give, but you just give the first. And so we're starting at the beginning of the year, right. Let's give God our first. Let's give God our best, because when you give God the the first, when you give God the best, then you know what we find? That there's a capacity for Him to bless the rest, right, to bless the rest of the year, to bless the rest of our season.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:45]:
And so, that's what we're doing. And so if that makes sense, you can find out a little bit more, you can talk to us after the service, or, see somebody during the week, or call us, or text, and we'll get back to you about that. But hey, this evening, let's take out our notes, because we're beginning a brand new series, this evening, called the Power to Change. Because my guess is that as you come to this season at the beginning of the year, that we've been thinking about, how many of us have thought about, like, okay, some changes that I want make. I I wanna lose a little weight. For some of us, I wanna gain a little weight. That's very few of us that wanna gain a bit weight. But there's some of us that wanna gain a little bit weight.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:26]:
For some of us, we need to exercise more. For some of us, we're praying about our relationships, or our finances, or we're praying about our future. We're praying about some things that we we wanna, we wanna save more. We wanna get less debt. We want all kinds of things that people are doing. Right? And, but the thing about that is that we kinda don't talk too much about resolutions, in our circle because there's a, there's an old saying that goes, that actually statistics, they say that kind of the the resolutions you made on Wednesday generally get broken by you come to Monday, right. And so, especially if you said, man, I ain't gonna work out every day, right. I'm gonna do something every day, and that's the, and that's kind of the gist of it, that sometimes we find that we break down, people get discouraged, and we wonder like, oh my gosh, I started out well, and then you just kind of threw up your hands.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:21]:
Now that's why we're doing this series, that's why we're doing this series, at the beginning of the year, is because there are some things that you can know that will actually help you in changing, And the reality is, you can change. And the devil wants to tell you, you can't change. You might have been discouraged. For some of us, we realize, yes, we can, and for some of us it feels like, no, we can't. But the scripture talks about the fact that all of us can change, that you can change, and that God is not leaving you to your own devices to somehow figure it out, to somehow get some magic know how to do this, but he it's a divine partnership that he wants to do with us. The word of God informs us that Christ came for us. He's not leaving us on our own. We took communion this evening to remind us of that, but can't supernatural intervention of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:33]:
And to be honest, you can't really change on a lasting level, on the deepest areas that you care about, and the things that you're you're concerned about. You can't change apart from the dynamic of God as well. But there are some things that you can do to help to cooperate with that. So this morning or this evening, what we're going to do is that we're just going to go through a few of these things together, and it just begins with you got to know what God's already given you. Right? You got to know it's what God's already given you. And we're going to begin by reading from 2nd Timothy 1:7. And would you be kind of let's stand. Let's stand in reverence for God and reverence for His word.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:11]:
Ready? Look what it says, and then read God's word together. Ready? Let's read for God, has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline. Now, how many of us have felt fear? How many of us felt timidity? How many of us have felt discouragement? Right? How many of us have felt like I have no self discipline? And we've all felt that at different seasons, but this is what God says. But the spirit that I've given you right? Because he's not given us the spirit of fear and all these things. But he says is what? It's power, love, and self discipline. And so, we may not access all of that all the time, but God's already given it. And some in some ways, what we want to talk about is how do we access that. So before you're seated, do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:04]:
Just turn to your neighbor. Is it just tell your neighbor, God it just tell your neighbor, God's already given you the power. But that power's in him, right? That's not just power in yourself. If you're a follower of Jesus, his very presence has come inside of you the moment you surrendered your life to Christ. The moment you repented and believed in Christ, it says the Spirit of God came in you. When you might you might say, we might have received Christ. We might have asked Jesus into our heart. But it's the Spirit of God who comes inside.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:36]:
God himself, right, lives inside of you. So but the reality is, is that all we do? Is this we receive Christ and then all of a sudden, it's all God that does it? Right? Because that he's given me the power. Actually, there is a partnership we we talked about. Right? That there's more to our faith than salvation, although salvation is a big part of it. But we're called to live out our faith in this physical world that we live in. And and this is what it says as a result of that. Like, how how do we see this? This is what it says in Philippians 2 12 to 13. He goes and he says this, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:19]:
Let's say work out. It doesn't say work for, does it? It says work out. And when you think about working out, how many of us said that's part of what you're thinking about this year? Right? A little bit. Right? Now what what does that mean? It's like you got to kind of get active, right? You you you kind of just you kind of just sit around. Have you guys ever thought, I'm going to exercise in my mind, right? And it's like it doesn't it doesn't really work, right? It's you can think about it, but it involves a little bit sweat equity. Right? Your body actually has to move. And so when he says you gotta work out your salvation with fear and trembling, he's talking about in this life, you gotta do something. Right? In this life, there's a partnership that we have.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:04]:
For it is God, though, who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purposes. And so what he's saying is this, but it's not just you. God's going to help you. And in fact, how many of us have had this change of heart where we go, like, you know, I, you know, I want I used to run from God, now I find myself running toward God. Right? I I used to I used to hate reading the Bible, but now I wanna read, the I wanna know God's word, better. I wanna know what God's heart is at. What is that the sign? It's the sign that God is at work in you. You know, have you ever been in a place where you run into somebody who's a believer and and at work or social setting, and you go, oh, I didn't know you're a Christian, and as soon as you meet maybe you don't even know this person, or maybe maybe, and this it's not like this ever happens in this church.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:57]:
No, but let's just say this, that there's some people that you didn't like. You guys ever met some people that you didn't like, and then you find out, we both became believers. And then you go like, wow, there's something that changes. You know what that's a sign? It's a sign that God is working in you, right. And because it wasn't you that just that just changed, it's God's working in you. But there are things, he says, though he's given us his presence, he's given us his spirit, there are some things that we're responsible for to work this out. And so, he says, I'm working in you, but you've got to work out this part of your life. You've got to keep at it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:38]:
You've got to put some effort into it. Right? How many of us know that exercise actually is good for more than just your body? It's good for your brain. There are all these studies now that, like, it's literally good for brain function. It's one of those things that, kind of puts, dementia, Alzheimer's, kind of puts it on the back burner. It says that because of that. Right? Because we put in action our bodies. But when you put in action your salvation, when you put in action working out the faith that we have in Christ, we give all that we are to God, then he says this, then something changes in you as well. Right? So God's trying to help you to change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:19]:
And and so we've seen it like this in Colossians 3:8 and 10. He says, don't let's read this together. Can we just read this verse together? Ready? Let's read together. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. You guys remember the old, Karate Kid movie, right, mister Miyagi? What was it that was the famous thing that he says, wax on, wax off. Right? And of course, if you're waxing the car, it makes sense. You've got to wax on first, and then you wax off.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:07]:
But this is what the scripture is saying. It's a little bit different. It's saying you've got to you've got to wax off first, and then you wax off. What is he saying? He says, what is the wax off? You gotta strip off your old sinful nature. Right? He's saying that you gotta you gotta, resist that part. You know that the the Hebrews said this, that in our war against sin, you have not yet shed blood. But what does that mean? That there's a part of us that we say, I gotta put away that old part of me. There's a everybody has this old part of us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:44]:
Right? There's an old you in there that's the that was just as wild, just as crazy, just as selfish, just as addicted, just as that we've we all have that. But he's saying this, that we take that off, and that we don't live out of that identity. Instead, we put on what? It says our new nature. Let's say the words, new nature. What does that mean? He says that the moment that Jesus comes into you, He's renewed your heart. He's healed you. It's not the same Glenn anymore. It's a different person, right? It's that the old person actually died, but we can carry that around.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:27]:
And so he says, you've got to be renewed so you can learn to know your creator and become like him. And so this aspect about being renewed, sin is a supernatural force and is a supernatural force and requires a supernatural solution. So this is what he says, right? I'm placing the spirit in you. Now, we surrender that part. Now, we take that off. Now we walk in the new nature. We die to our old self. And we put up that's what we do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:58]:
It's the symbolic aspect of baptism, that we lay the old person in the grave, and that we're raised up new in Christ. That's what we are enacting when we do baptism. So somebody has said this then, so what is it then? Is it, is it all like because it's supernatural, it's all God, or is it, is it all me? And an old saint said this, you've got to trust God like it's all Him, right, but you've got to work and give your energy like it's all you. Because it does take effort. It does take for us to give some focus, some energy, some, some step in that direction. Now some of you, you already know that you've already been thinking this year about places where you want to grow, places where you want to change, places where you you want to give some effort in your life. That if that's you, you've already kind of thought about like, hey, what's some areas I want to grow, what's some places I want to put aside, what's some what's some bad habits I wanna attend to, that you're kind of already ahead of the game, in some sense, if you've already thought about that. And we wanna encourage you that, like, even that 21 days, that this is one of the great things, right, to start praying about those kinds of things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:21]:
But here's the thing, is that for some of us, to be honest, the reason why we don't change is because we don't want to change. Right? Even though you know that there's certain things in your life that's not good for you, that's not healthy. There's certain ways that we relate to certain people that we go, they're not good, right? We know, but we don't want to change. You guys don't know what I mean, right? Because we, just because it's not good doesn't mean that we all instantly don't want to do it. That's the hard part, right, about having an old nature. That's the hard part about sin, and it's deceiving. And so if you find yourself at times, you go like, the issue is I'm pretty comfortable the way that it is, you know. And I know it's not good, I know it's not what God wants for me, but I'm pretty comfortable.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:13]:
If you're in that place, you know, this is one of the reasons why you draw close to God, because He makes you want to be better. He makes you want to be better. You guys ever got that kind of a place where, you know, when you got together with somebody, you know, you started dating, you got engaged, you got married, whatever it is. I remember before the movie came out, I can't remember what movie that is, that there's a movie where I know that somebody said this line, but I remember telling my wife this before the movie came out, was being with you makes me want to be a better man. Right? That when I got to know my wife, when I got to experience, the deeper level of relationship with her, That it made me want to be a better man. And this is one of the reasons why we draw close to God. Because when you understand His grace, you understand His love, you understand His mercy, You don't just go, like, oh, thanks to God, and then I just go on my way. It makes you want to be a better man.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:24]:
Paul said it like this in Philippians. He says, I want to know Christ, right. Did Paul always wanna know Christ? No. He wanted to kill Jesus if he could. Right? He killed followers. What happened with Paul? Paul didn't want to change. He changed when he met Jesus, and God changed his heart. I want to know Christ, he's saying now, and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:51]:
I want to suffer with him. How many of you want to suffer with him? Oh, no takers, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's like, I'll be real honest. I don't really want to suffer the way that Jesus suffered. I'm willing, I'm willing to suffer. I don't want to. I'm not at this point I'm going to say that part. It's not that I want to suffer, but I'm willing to.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:12]:
It says, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection of the dead. And Paul's heart was changed because the closer he moved toward Christ, it made him want to be a better man. And so, you know, for you and I, that we need to draw close to Christ. Because if not, to be honest, sometimes we all know that we've tried to change in the past. I'm guessing here, everybody's tried to change to various levels of success. Right? Because you can change certain surface things, but there's certain things about yourself you just can't change, unless God starts changing your heart. Now, can I just admit this? When I became a believer, there were certain things that I might drink that wouldn't be coffee. There would be certain things I would smoke that wouldn't be a cigarette.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:17]:
Right? There are different things, and I couldn't control myself. I didn't think I needed to. I just thought it was normal, right. And you know, the thing is that I changed when I met Christ. He changed, literally changed my heart. I didn't crave the things that that was just a normal part. And some of us, to be honest, you know what I'm talking about. It's like, you don't do it because it's so super fun and exciting.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:51]:
It's just that that's just normal life. And you don't know how to do it apart from that. And so God can change you, right? But it's not enough to have resolutions. It's not enough at times even to set goals and have details and deadlines, right? Because there's a thought out there that the best way to change is to set a goal, have some deadlines, right, create routines, and all of these things, and there's no better way to get in shape for that, or no better way than to help your relationships to be better, or this is how you build your business, and all of those things. And I'm guessing that it's helpful, but it's not enough to set goals. Right? It's not enough to set goals. Because I've had goals in sports, I've had goals in for business, I've had goals for ministry, and there might have been some successes along the way in that, but to be honest, I've been talking to our staff and just saying, before, from before the holidays, and just saying, you know, that to be honest, goals are good and and and all of those things are are good, but to be honest, sometimes what you have to change is a process. What you have to change is your system.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:09]:
What you have to change is kind of what you've been doing. And, I I wanna give 2, a reference to 2 books that, I encourage you that, that we're kinda I'm using it as a reference in some ways, in this series. And one of those books is called Atomic Change, by James Clear. And, I'm sorry, Atomic Habits, How Tiny Changes Have Remarkable Results. And, the other book, and this is a book about obviously developing good habits and dealing with some of the bad ones, right, and to my knowledge, he's not a believer. But there are some things about change that are very helpful about people who know how to, study these things, right? And, he'll reference, there's another book by this guy Charles Duhegwits, maybe we'll talk about later. But, there's another book though, that I'm also referencing. And if this is a book that if you're struggling with addiction or any kind of, we're we're not talking about just like a bad habit, like I swear every once in a while or whatever, but we're talking about something that, you know, you just haven't been able to do it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:28]:
Then this is the other book. I highly encourage you guys to to get either of these books, but this is one dealing with addiction, called Freedom Starts Today by John Elmore. And, I'm not going to get into too much of that, today, but I do think that that understanding that goals and trying to quit and trying to start new habits, we've all done it before, but maybe to varying levels of success, but not to the degree that we'd like, not to the degree that we need. But you have to understand, if you want to change that partnership that God has with us, He says, I give you the Spirit, and I'm giving you My Spirit, and I will help you. I'll encourage you. I'll change your heart. But you've got to understand the power of your habits. Right? And that we have this aspect of a responsibility.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:23]:
And sometimes we think it's like my performance is the biggest thing. Your performance is not the biggest thing. Your bank balance right now, that's not the biggest problem. Your, you know, your interactive style, that's not the the biggest problem. Is, I'm not, is that not a challenge or is that not a concern? No, it might be, but it's not the biggest thing. Why? Because, to be honest, all of those things are really the result of things from the past. Right? They're just the lagging results of habits that we've had in the past. And what really needs to happen is that your habits will dictate your results.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:09]:
And so some of us, we want to change our performance, but the real thing that we have to do is change our habits, because our habits will determine our performance sometime later in the future. Good habits are not just learned through knowledge, but they're things that we put in practice. And sometimes we underestimate the power of small changes, small habits. Why? Because they don't seem to make any difference in the moment. Right? How many of us that you have, at the beginning of this year, you have already said, I'm gonna eat better. Anybody? Okay. And how many of you, you have, you ate better, like, at least one day? Right. How many of you felt different? Right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:00]:
Yeah. We don't feel okay. Maybe a couple of us felt different. But to be honest, this is the hard part. You eat better that day, but you're still in the same shape. Right? How many of us say, I'm going to exercise. So you exercise, and what happens? You're still just as out of shape or whatever the shape basically that one time. Right? And and so it's that kind of one of those things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:25]:
There's a lag that when you make a change between you notice any kind of a difference. And if you ate good today, you'd weigh the same tomorrow, right, because it doesn't change that way. I mean, it could be water difference, but like, you know, if you if you didn't overspend today or you saved a little bit today, you still might still have debt or you still didn't achieve your goal, right? Like, we understand that's just the way it is. And so this is what we think because of that. We get discouraged, and that's why we quit. Because we don't realize that habits actually compound. It's like interest, right? A little bit of an interest rate. How many of us know a point in an interest rate when you're, higher when you're going to buy a house makes a big difference, right, over time? Because habits compound, and if you changed 1% a day, you may not notice it, to be honest.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:29]:
It might not be that different, right? Your life might probably look pretty much the same, But if you change another percent the next day, 1%. That's it. Might be hardly noticeable. But over a period of time, you'll start to see the difference. Your business would change. Your your your health would change. Your your diet, which your relationships might change. But what would the percentage difference would be is that if you did that over the course of the year, you would be 37 times better, technically, in that area of your life, if you change 1% in whatever every day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:07]:
Something that's so small can compound. But at the same time, it can also degrade, like, if you added bad habits. Right? And you got 1% worse. Because how many of us know that you can get better, but you can also get worse? Right? And so if you got worse 1%, and then you got worse 1%, after the course of 1 year, just like, to be honest, you're 0. Like, you're gonna be at that point, technically. And so we need to understand that your habits compound. Your faith will compound. The exercising your faith, you might grow 1%, let's say, in your faith, but if you stretch yourself, I'm gonna trust God, your faith, you know what you're gonna find? Compounds.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:52]:
You'll believe God for more. Your confidence to go through the storm will get better more for more. Spiritual disciplines compound. What does that mean? Like, that that you're gonna read the scriptures because you wanna read the scripture, because you cannot wait to get to this the scripture. That you're you're gonna pray. Why? Because it's you you have a habit to pray, that you're gonna want to pray, not like somebody making you pray. Right? You're gonna wanna fellowship. Like, it's like you cannot wait to do that thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:22]:
Financial stewardship compounds. These things compound. Positive things compound. And the same is true for bad habits. Because if you get that 1% worse, you know what you can find? Stress compounds. Right? How many of us that we are so glad for the Christmas break because at least that traffic stress, man, you leave 10 minutes before, You got to go sometimes right now. You might have had to leave like 40 minutes before that. If you have to go to town, right, you got to leave an hour and 20 minutes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:59]:
Like right now, you're sailing out in 20 minutes or 30 minutes, right, you're out there. But but stress compounds, worry to make ends meet compounds, parenting stress and responsibilities, your high blood pressure or your your high blood sugar. Right? Like, to be honest, if you don't attend to it, it can compound. Over the years, it can lead to some really serious health issues. Something that's small right now, doesn't even matter right now, unchecked, can lead to some pretty serious health issues. Negative thoughts compound. The more you think I'm dumb or worthless or, you know, I'm no good, I'm ugly, whatever it is, the way you interpret yourself and the way you see yourself will compound. And until you get trapped in this loop, you just can't get out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:54]:
Why? Because I'm not good enough to get out. Right? We start thinking like that. Anger and fear compounds. Some of the worst things that we've seen in the in our last year, it wasn't because one incident. It was anger and fear and jealousy and all this craziness. And then when you see it in the news, you know it didn't start yesterday, right? Because all those things compound. But on the same token then, if those things are true, what is it that the scripture says? So he says it like this in Proverbs 13:4. He says, A slaggard's appetite is never filled, but the desire of the diligent, let's say diligent, are fully satisfied.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:42]:
Right? Diligence, what does that mean? It's talking about creating a habit. James 1/22 says this, but don't just listen to the word of God, you must do what it says. Right? Otherwise, you're only fooling yourselves. And so it's talking about trying to develop a habit, because good habits are not just learned through knowledge, they're developed by putting them into practice regularly. But you can embrace that sometimes we think you've got to go, go big or go home. You guys ever, did anybody ever tell you that? Go big or go home. And so sometimes, you know what some guys do? They go home then. Well, they only try because it's too hard.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:21]:
But to be honest, sometimes starting small is the most important thing you can do. Because it's in starting small that you'll find that the opposite is true. That small things produce big results. Zechariah 4:10 says it like this. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. You know what? It's important just to start.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:00]:
Do me a favor, turn to your neighbor and just tell it, it's just important to start. Right? And what does that mean? You got to change everything. You got to change your whole life upside down. No. You know what? Start with small changes sometimes. Don't focus so much on your performance today. Right? Don't focus so much on your goals, don't just focus about those things, right? Because your state today is really the habits from years past, months past, Right? Your financial picture, all those things. But you gotta understand how small changes actually work.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:42]:
And this is an example, from Atomic Habits, from James Clear's book. If we were to just imagine that we were in a very cold, cold room, where you see your breath billowing and, like smoke, right, and there was an ice cube on the podium. Let's just say, some of you, you don't have to imagine that hard because you guys come with jacket and everything, because I have the church cold, it's so cold sometimes, right, especially Sunday, I hear that a lot. But let's just say this, that let's say it's 26 degrees, and there is an ice cube on the front here, and then you're looking at that ice cube, right, and slowly, it's just totally frosted over, right, it's just totally just solid ice, and slowly we go from 26 degrees to 27 degrees. What happens? Nothing. So we go up one more degree. 28 degrees. What does it look like? Looks the same.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:42]:
29, same. 30, same. 31, same. 32, probably, to be honest, same. Maybe you might notice a little less frostiness on it. 33. Maybe the ice cube starts to look a little shinier. What does that mean? It's actually starting to melt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:09]:
And breakthrough moments are often the result of an accumulation of previous actions that previously seemed to have no real effect. Right? And maybe we think about the sledgehammer and trying to break a rock or try to break reinforced concrete. I've literally tried to break reinforced concrete slabs with a sledgehammer. It's not pleasant. Right? Because you hit it, and it's like all it seems like to bounce off, and you hit it again, it seems to bounce off. You hit it again, and it's like, but you keep hitting it, and then one time what happens? You see this chip fly off, or you see a crack open. Is it all those other ones that happened before, were they meaningless? No. You would never have the crack without all of those other strikes before.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:11]:
You see, that's how breakthrough works. So often, we get discouraged because we think that, gosh, I I I make this change, and I'm supposed to see right away, but so often what it is, it's it's not wasted. The 26 to 27 degrees is not wasted. Why? Because if it stayed at 26 forever, no change would happen. Right? But the one degree change, even though you can't see the change, it's being stored. It's making a difference. Right? It's like the whole story, you guys heard of giant bamboo for 5 years, right? Generally, it looks like nothing. Maybe it breaks the ground.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:58]:
That's about it. But its root system is growing and growing and growing till you hit this tipping point, 5 years, where it can shoot 90 feet in 6 weeks. Right? But you never get to the 90 if you stop at year 4. Right? Never starts. Right? So in the early or middle stages of this quest, there's often, say, a valley of disappointment because you want big changes. How many of us want big changes? Right? It's good to want big changes, it's just you've got to understand how you get big changes. It starts by making small changes. And, you know, it's really the aspect is, if you want to build habits that last, it's not just a goal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:47]:
Because if you think about goals, right, champions and the guys who never have the championship, did they have the same goal? Yeah, probably, right? Like you think about it, every Olympian, when they go, they're all dreaming about standing on that podium. They all have the same goal, but not everyone is up there. Why is that? Because sometimes it was the habits that lead them to stand on the goal. So start with something small. Right. You know, some of you have heard, some of you guys notice, I've noticed people have told me, Glenn, are you getting skinnier? Like, are you still losing weight? And not over the last couple weeks. I can't tell you that much. Right? I've, I put some of it back on.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:38]:
But here's the thing, is that, you know, it was really dealing with, not trying to lose weight. It was watching what I eat, because I needed to watch my blood sugar. Right? And it's watching the blood sugar, just saying, I'm not going to eat all those cookies at 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I'm gonna go into this meeting. It started by saying, there, if you come to my house, to be honest, there's a ton of snacks and junks in our house. Why? Because we have kids. Why? Because we have people over. We have all this stuff. But generally, I don't eat it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:23]:
And it's and it was just saying, you know what, just saying, okay, it started with I'm not going to eat all of those, Spanish rolls, which I want to eat, right? Now, but here's the thing, it's like, you heard me, some of you guys might have heard me talk about it. It's because I watched these videos by this lady who, she goes by the name Glucose Goddess on YouTube, that talked about 5 things you can do to get your blood sugar under control. And it wasn't like you can never eat any more carbs. You can never have dessert. You can just, you know what, having fun? None of that for you. Right, if that was the case, I'd never do it. I did it because it was simple things. Eat vegetables first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:19]:
Start with a savory breakfast. You know, you can drink apple cider vinegar before you eat. These things, these are 5 things he talks about. I did it because I I heard that. I go, like, I can do that. I can do that. It didn't can I have dessert? Yeah. Every once in a while.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:37]:
Can I eat 85 Degree Bakery Pastry? Yeah, every once in a while, right? You know, what I found is certain times, right? There's different things that I've implemented, but I can do it. And as a result, you know what, I lost £25. A little change makes a big difference Over time, it compounds. And for some of us, this is the hard part. It's like, you're gonna make that, did I see the change in my weight in the beginning? No, I didn't. Right. I've been through that kind of season and other things in my life. I've always kind of grew up as an active guy, sports guy, like I'd be in the gym, all of that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:21]:
But when we got married, all of that went out the window. And, it was a busy season. I was working, doing different things, and we're getting ready to start a church. And I wanted to invest in my marriage because I knew I was workaholic a little bit, right. And so I did all those things and I never went to the gym for years until my daughter was born. And I was working 70 hours a week, right. The church was growing, church was doing all these things, but I just realized I cannot all I did was work and spend time with my family. But I realized I'm not gonna last like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:58]:
I gotta take care of myself. I need, something to do with my stress. So I said, I'm gonna go back to the gym. Well, I went back to the gym. I was so discouraged after the 1st day because I was 40 years old, but I found out I was stronger than when I was 16 years old. I was like, I was bummed out. Anybody else know what I'm talking about? Like, when you're a former athlete and you go in and you go, like, you don't expect to be exactly at your peak, but come on, better than 16 when I was 16, right? And so I just all those years though, I kind of stopped and started, and it always came back, just like that. 2 weeks, I mean, 2 times, I feel different, I'm already adding weight, I'm already gaining all this stuff.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:43]:
It's like but this time, 2 weeks doing exactly the same as like when I was 15 years old. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, exactly the same. 2 months, exactly, no changes. I'm telling my wife, I'm so sick of going to the gym, right. If it doesn't change by 3 months, I'm gonna do something else. And so it wasn't until literally the last week of 3rd month that I go like, oh, I think my body is starting to feel a little different, you know. And then the next thing, it goes, all of a sudden it started to change. All of a sudden, it's like, well, I'm like in college days.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:32]:
I'm like in, like, you know, things are changing quickly. And why is that? Because that's the way breakthrough works. You see, it was every time that I went for those 3 months that looked like nothing, that God was building something in me on a cellular level, right, in whatever kind of a nutritional balance that needed to change, and all the stress that I had built up, all the kind of imbalances in my life. And so, if you struggle to build a good habit or break a bad one, you've got to understand that you haven't lost your ability to improve. Just because you start a habit and you don't see an immediate change. That's just the nature of breakthrough. It often, you have to build, and you don't see it till all of a sudden, bang, You know, then you start noticing something that's different. Or maybe other people start noticing something that's different.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:35]:
It says it like this in Joshua 1, 8, 9. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Study this book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command. Be strong and courageous.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:58]:
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Do you think Joshua felt strong and courageous the first time? No. He didn't. But he studied. He read the word. He prayed. He talked to God. When he's facing battles, when he's facing all these things, is he always feeling strong and courageous? No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:25]:
But when did it happen? I don't know. Somewhere along the way. And, and, and that's where we are. So don't complain, you know, or you can complain, but just keep doing it. You know, you can be discouraged at times, but, but it's like complaining about when it's 27 degrees, 28 degrees, 29 degrees, why isn't the ice cube melting? We just, you just got to work the process, right? Habits are like the building blocks of our lives. And something really small, over a period of time, that fundamental unit, will contribute some way to some overall improvement. And at first, tiny little routines that you do, tiny little changes, might seem insignificant, but when done, over time, they're going to start fueling change. And over time, they start multiplying, and they start giving degree by degree of change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:28]:
Now, I was going to end this, message without throwing this part in, but I do want to add this. Some of us, the reason why we cannot focus so much on all the good things is you might be struggling with something that's really debilitating, that's blowing everything else out. And to be honest, that could be like an addiction. It could be a really bad habit that's kind of taking its toll. Now, if that's you, and you've tried to quit before, and, you know, you just give up, or, you know, you're telling yourself, I can quit any time. I just don't want to quit. You can change, and you can start changing today, but this is what you cannot do. You cannot make a decision today to be free from this thing for the rest of your life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:26]:
You cannot make that decision today. You can say you make that decision, but can you actually literally work that out? No, but you can make a decision for today. Can you make a decision for today? Today you made a decision: I am going to be at service. Can you actually say, I make a decision every week I will never miss? You can make that commitment, but you can't actually live it out. Why? Because you have to live it out every week, right? So here's the thing. I do want to talk about this. If you are in this place where you need to be stronger, or you want to quit a habit, you want to start a good habit as well, just do these start with these three things, but it might be four things, if you are really trying to get off a bad habit. You've got to read something.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:19]:
You've got to give your mind fuel. The word of God is fuel for your mind and your soul. It's going to help you to think God's thoughts about yourself, about your circumstances, about your future, about your relationships, about who you are as a person, because if not all you have is some of the things that have been said about you and the things that you you know, sometimes we don't want to even try. And so some of the reasons why we don't want to talk to God, we get like, what's the use? Right? But when you read the Word of God, you realize, oh, God really wants me to talk to him. God likes me. God loves me. He's reaching out to me even now. Right? Read that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:05]:
Right? Right? It says what is that? Write a prayer. Start talking to God. But sometimes write it out. Why? Because you're going to go back and you're going to start reading your prayers after a while. Now, here's the other part I do want you to say. If you're dealing with an addiction and you felt that I cannot change it, I've tried and I failed, you pray, but you ask God you ask God to keep you from this addiction over the next 24 hours. That's it. Just for 24 hours.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:46]:
And then you pray that, God, by your strength, by your strength, the spirit that's in me, I'm gonna trust you to help me over the next 24 hours to be free from this addiction. Just make a decision for a day, And then you text or call a trusted friend who's in the faith, and you tell him what you're gonna quit for the next 24 hours. And if you can't, ask them to pray for you. We're not gonna say, you gotta wait till the end of the series before you start making some changes. No. You can start today. Freedom starts today. And tell them I'm being committed to being sober over the next 20 hour 24 hours.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:42]:
And what you're gonna do is you're gonna call them the next day or text them the next day and tell them how you did. And you know what? If you stayed sober, awesome. Tell them, you know what? Today, I'm going to make another decision, or the next 24 hours, to stay sober. If you failed, you know what you say: I failed. But I'm praying for the strength, and I'm making a commitment to be free over the next 24 hours. It says the righteous man falls 7 times. And what does he do? He rises again. And the thing is, it's not your performance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:32]:
Don't let the devil beat you up over your performance. It's developing the habit that will make the change. That's all I did, to be honest, over the last 7 months or 8 months, whatever it is. Is I'd ask God. God would yell me because I I wanna eat everything I wanna eat. And I lived that way for a long time. I didn't call anybody. You know what I did? I had a different thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:06]:
I poked my finger, and I checked my blood. But I needed an outside help. That make sense? It couldn't just be me. And so we ask God. You involve somebody, and you know what you'll see? See if it changes. It's the start of a habit. And so this morning, we're gonna this evening, we're gonna close. We're gonna close in over to prayer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:31]:
And at the end, we're just gonna ask the prayer team to come up front. And anybody who wants to just be anointed and prayed over. And it could be because there's some habits that you wanna break, and there's some habits that you wanna start. There are some change that you want to commit to God, whatever it is that you want to do, and you just want to be anointed and prayed over, we're going to ask you to come up front. But can we just close this time in a word of prayer? Father, that if we're real honest, this is not the first time that we've thought about some of the changes that we need to make in our life. But I'm thankful that this year I'm reminded, as you've not given me the spirit of fear, or timidity, but You have given me the spirit of power, and love, and of a sound mind. Thank You that You are for me, and You are actually in me. And I can learn, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:37]:
I might not know how to do it. I might not do the best at it, but I am going to learn how to put off my old self, and to put on my new self in Christ. And, God, I admit that I need You to do that. I need power from heaven to build some of these good habits and to break some of these bad habits. And if you hear this right now, there's something specific. God's asking you to make a commitment. If you know what I'm talking about, just just raise your hand. Just say, yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:22]:
I sense God telling me that there's something specific He wants me to commit. And, Father, we can't do it on our own, but in You, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. Help me, Lord, not to look at my performance, but to build a habit that will pay dividends in the future. Small habits that become building blocks for change. In Jesus' name, amen.