Sharing good news of great joy to all people,
Elation Church. This is week number three in
our series entitled The Door. Everyone say The
Door. We're going to do a little bit of recap,
but I can't preach all two messages here this
morning. Everybody goes, Amen. I'm glad you can.
But we will do a little bit to recap. Ephesians
1 .19, I'm reading out of the New Living Translation,
unless otherwise noted. And it says this, I also
pray that you will understand the incredible
greatness of God's power for us who believe him.
Now, this is right there in the middle of the
Ephesians 1 prayer. And in that prayer, Paul
is just... crying out to God saying, God, enlighten
my understanding. Help me to see all that you
have and all that you are. Because if you're
aware, we need to hear from God. Amen? We need
to hear him. We're supposed to be led by him.
So therefore, we need to hear him. We need to
know him and acknowledge him in all things. Amen?
Amen. So he's saying, enlighten my understanding,
reveal yourself to me, O God. And here he's asking
for understanding for a specific thing, the incredible
greatness of God's power. Incredible greatness
of God's power. And what it's saying here is
that when we invest our belief in God's word,
our understanding of God's power builds within
us. If you invest your money in... systems, right?
You invest it in the stock market, for instance,
because you deem it valuable. You honor it. You
want it to grow within you. Faith is your investment
of your belief in the Word of God and allowing
the greatness and that revelation power to grow
on the inside of you. Because it's the most valuable
thing to you. Amen? So when we invest our belief
in God's Word, we see and we understand With
His revelation, the power that He has, what?
For the believer. It's not just generic. He's
not saying that God's power is just, oh, He's
powerful. But He's saying that His power is for
His people to accomplish His will in the earth.
Amen? It's directed. It has a purpose for you.
Point to yourself, it has a purpose for me. It's
directed towards me for us to accomplish things
and to build his kingdom in the earth. That's
why in the Lord's Prayer, it's his will. Let
your will be done, O God, on earth as it is in
heaven. Amen. That's his will. On earth as it
is in heaven. Let that sink in. Let that saturate
your mind this morning. On earth. as it is in
heaven. That's the will of God. Amen. And then
we turn now to Genesis 28. We're reading a passage
in the Old Testament that reveals a New Testament
reality. And this is the story of Jacob's ladder,
if you're familiar with it. But verse 11 says
this, Jacob found a stone to rest his head against
and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed
of a stairway that reached from the earth up
to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going
up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway
stood the Lord. And then Jacob awoke from his
sleep. If I saw the Lord, I'd awake from my sleep
too, right? I'd be like, whoa. So he awakes from
his sleep and he says, surely the Lord is in
this place. What an awesome place this is. It
is none other than the house of God. Everybody
say house of God. None other than the very gateway
to heaven. Everybody say gateway to heaven. And
as we've seen these words, house of God is Hebrew,
it means house, household, temple, or dwelling
place. And that word gate there is shahar, meaning
opening gate or door. So what it's saying is
there's a door. There's the dwelling place of
God, but then there's a door, there's a gate,
there's an opening between heaven and earth,
between the spiritual and natural realms. There's
an opening. And where is this opening located?
Jacob saw angels. He's moving from this temple
dwelling place through a door to accomplish his
work in the earth. But when we turn now to Revelation,
in Revelation 4, 1 through 2, John says, Then
as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven.
And instantly, I was in the Spirit. And I saw
a throne in heaven and someone, I included this
because he's talking about God here, God sitting
on it. In church, it's important for you to understand
that why is all this written out in so much description?
When he looked, he saw something. You will not
see what you're not looking for. God says to
seek and you will find. Knock and the door will
be opened to you. We have to focus our attention,
as we saw last week, we have to focus our attention
on heavenly things in order to experience heavenly
realities. And instantly, sometimes we want the
instantly things. We pray for the instantly things,
but we're not looking. Instantly, he was where?
In the Spirit. And in the Spirit is where he
sees heaven in all its glory, the throne room
of eternity. Amen? That's good. 1 Corinthians
3 .16 reminds us that do you not know? That means
there's something that you should know. As a
believer in Christ, you should know this, that
you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwells in you. Amen. So, and then I want
us to turn now, I included this, Revelation 3
.20, when God is talking to the church of Laodicea,
He says this, Look, I stand at the door and knock.
If you hear my voice, If you hear my still small
voice, and if you open the door, I will come
in. That's a promise. If you hear my voice, if
you open the door, I will come in. And we will
share a meal together as friends. Somebody needs
to get excited about this. This is good. Amen.
God's word is good. We need to get a hold of
this. Amen? It's not just information. It can
no longer just be information to us. It's got
to be more than that. God wants to come in. He
wants to share with you. Amen. He's knocking
at the door. So God is in heaven. He is in you.
What does it say? God is eagerly waiting on you
to open your door to Him. And that's what we've
been talking about. We open our door so that
His power can flow through us. Amen? It can flow
through you today. It's for you to accomplish
His will in the earth. And that's why this series
is called The Door. So we realize the door between
heaven and earth lies within us. And then we
read here in Matthew 16. 13 through 19 is our
main passage. And it says this, tells us a story
about, picking up in verse 13, when Jesus came
into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples saying, who do men say that I,
the son of man, am? Who do men say that I am?
So they said, some say John the Baptist, some
say Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, are one of
the prophets. And then Jesus looked at him and
said, he said to them, but who do you say that
I am? Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter
answered and said, you are the Christ, the son
of the living God. Jesus answered and said to
him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it. And as we've seen, Peter's flesh,
even though there's a large portion of the Christian
body that likes to... Think that Peter is the
foundation. His physical bones are the foundation
that the church is built on. He wasn't saying
Peter the person, but he was saying Peter what
happened, what he said. This revelation that
came to him that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of the living God. The rock is the rock of the...
The prophecy being fulfilled in Jesus that he
is the coming one, the Savior, amen? And then
it's the method of how he received this news,
this grand revelation. It was the method. Where
did it come from? He said, Jesus says, look,
Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you. This did not come from your own head,
your own imagination. Where did it come from?
It didn't come from someone else. It came from
the Father in heaven. And there's things that
the Father in heaven wants to show you. Peter's
door, we see, we could say Peter's door is open
to God's power. And then divine truth flows out
of Peter to accomplish God's purpose in the earth.
This is written so that we understand, but it's
like he's speaking in a crowd and a group of
other people, and all of a sudden, This is a
bold statement that Jesus, you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. I mean, this is huge.
This had impact. This truth is flowing out to
accomplish God's purpose in the earth. And then
a little bit later, he gives an interesting key,
we could say. He says, I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again,
we're talking about that through you is a door
that you can open or close to spiritual realities.
This is not just talking about heaven, the abode
of God. This word heaven here in the original
language is talking about the heaven realm. It's
talking about the heavens. And he's saying that
it's you. He's given you the authority to open.
He's given you the authority to keep close, to
bind, to lose spiritual influence in the earth.
God gives us the keys, meaning the method, the
ability, the authority to open and close the
door. But he lets us decide. He's a great gentleman.
You are a moral free agent. You have free will.
That means that he respects your decisions. He
lets you decide what influence. He doesn't just
rush in and force, push his way through. He lets
you decide. Continue reading verse 21. From that
time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that
he must go. Notice that it says he showed them.
Did he pull out a flannel graph? Has anybody
ever seen one of those flannel boards where they
stick the little things? Did he show them some
kind of image? What is he talking about here?
He showed them something. He's telling them words
filled with graphic imagery. He's showing them
something to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed
and be raised the third day. He was telling them
something, a future, showing them what the future
would look like. Okay? Then Peter, listen, Peter,
verse 22, Peter took him aside. Why do you think
that happened? He takes him aside. He's probably
because that image that Jesus just showed, listen,
was different. than Peter's image that he had
already built up and preconceived. It contradicted
it. It was not what he thought. It's not the
way he thought life should be. And Jesus' future
would be. Even though Jesus had constantly told
and told and told them this is not the first
time, but they didn't believe it. They were still
struggling, still trying to figure it out. And
they're like, Jesus, what do you mean? Quit,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. grabs Peter, pulls him
to the side, and then rebukes him, scolds him,
saying, far be it from you, Lord. This, what
is that? The word, the spoken word, the prophetic
word that Jesus just delivered, this shall not
happen to you. It's never innocent, as we've
seen, it's never innocent to say that God's word
will not happen. It's demonic. It's from Satan.
And Jesus reveals this in verse 23. He says,
Now, did Peter turn into Satan? No, Peter didn't
turn into Satan. But he opened his door to Satan's
power. And we see that this manipulation and
deception, this... Misunderstanding flows out
because he questions what God says, the vision
of the future. Why did this happen? Well, Jesus
tells us, as we've seen in verse 23, it says,
For you, Peter, are not mindful, everybody say
mindful, mindful of the things of God, but the
things of men. And this Greek word here means
to think, to set one's mind on, to have a mindset
of. So we see in one instance, his mind was on
the things of God, and God was able to accomplish
his purpose, and his power flows through Peter
in that moment. And then in a moment's turnaround,
we see the opposite happening. His mind is focused
on what he thought, his own understanding, and
instantly Satan... flows through the door of
his mind, flows through his mouth, and starts
saying that God's word will not come to pass.
So the door is in us, but it's specifically in
our minds. We have to choose who we open our
door to, who we keep our door closed to, who
we permit or deny access, right? And as we've
seen, because, listen, the truth that we've seen
in this passage is that you are empowered by
what you set your mind on. This is not just a
good saying. This is the truth of God's Word
being revealed. You are empowered by. There's
more going on than just you thinking a thought.
No thought is neutral. You are empowered by what
you set your mind on. And like Peter, what you
are mindful of then determines what influence
the door of your mind is open to. And we've looked
at Romans 12 too. It says this, and do not be
conformed, means in the likeness, in the fashion
of this world. Don't mirror it. Don't conform
to it. But be transformed. by the renewing of
your mind. This word transform is the Greek word
metamorpho. It's where we get our English word
metamorphosis, exactly. And it means to transform
or to change form. Like a caterpillar to a butterfly,
there's natural change involved. And as we saw
in week one, this is the same word at the transfiguration
of Christ. It's used there too. So it goes, transformation
is... Beyond just natural things, it's supernatural
things. It's heavenly realities becoming real
in the heart of man. Coming down to earth. That's
the transformation God is offering. But listen,
does it just happen because you want it to happen?
How does this transformation take place? Who's
with me? Who's tracking? It says, but be transformed.
Because God is all -powerful. And God has a will
that He wants to accomplish in your life. No.
It says, be transformed. How? By the renewing
of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. What does this mean? To escape
the natural consequences of a sin -corrupted
world? And to see God's transforming power change
us? Into something brand new? It's up to us to
renew our minds. It's up to us. We must renew
our minds. We saw last week Romans 8, 6 says,
For to be carnally minded, listen, is death.
But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
This is the reality to you, to a renewed mind.
If you're spiritually minded, it's a life in
peace. It brings life to your body. It brings
peace. This carnally means carnal flesh or the
earth. It's merely of human origin or empowerment.
But often in my life, I've thought of renewing
your mind as simply just reading Scripture verses.
How many of you have ever thought that before
or think that? It's just like, oh, well, I've
got to renew my mind to the Word of God, so if
I'm in a tight spot or I'm in a circumstance
or just when I feel like it, I'm going to open
up the Bible and I'm going to read passages that
specifically deal with my thing. And I'm just
going to keep my eyes and read and read and reread
and reread and reread. And the problem is you
do that and you don't experience the power of
God. You don't see change in your circumstance.
And that's what we're talking about today is
to see the power of God. real in your life, to
transform, to change the natural. And look, you
can rehearse Scripture all day, you can teach
a bird to repeat words after you, and it will
not change the bird's life. It will not be free
from the cage. Because the words are not the
power. It's just information. It's always been
a vehicle for the power. Now the Word, when we
put our eyes on it, it builds faith within us.
We see it. We understand it. It grows in us.
But we need the Word to transform us into His
image, into His likeness. Change, make our earth
and our present circumstance look like heaven.
So we've been talking about what does it mean
to renew our minds. Because as these verses taught
us, what you set your mind on, listen, determines
your experience in this life. So we can say it
like this too. You can look at your experience
as an indicator for what your mind is set on.
When we finish this verse, listen. Listen to
what it says. So do not be conformed to this
world. Be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Listen, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Did you know that the will of God is not just
one? It's like He has a perfect will. You can
live in His perfect will. That's the will that
He projects from Scripture. That's His plans,
His purposes that He shows you. But He knows
that, hey, there's things, you know, we're going
to mess up. We live in a fallen world. Things
are going to happen. And you can live in God's
acceptable will. You can live in His good will.
For instance, a good example of this would be
the Israelites. God's perfect will was for them
to be without a human king. Right? That's what
he told them. That's what his desire was. Oh,
I desire for you not to have a king, for me to
be your king and your leader. And what did they
do? They chose. They said, no, we don't want
that. We don't want that. Give us a human king
like all the other people of the world. I want
it to look like them. I don't want it to be what
you look like. And God honors their decision.
And he gives them Saul. Saul accomplished a lot
of great things when he was operating in God's
will. But was that God's perfect will for his
people? No. Everybody say no. It wasn't his perfect
will. And listen, when you think about it, they
faced a lot of unnecessary problems and circumstances
due to their decision. Not because God wanted
them to go through it. That wasn't His desire.
That wasn't His will. But because they chose,
they lived in a good will instead of the perfect
will. And that road was tough. Kept leading to
more and more tough circumstances. But God was
always there. He always saw them through. And
no matter what decision happened, He was always
directing them, leading them back. And if they
would just set their focus, if they would just
keep their attention on what He showed them,
listen, they could always enter back in. They
could always go back towards him, run towards
him, and God opened his arms, poured out his
blessing on them. Years of peace, plenty, provision.
Soon as they got their eyes off of him, though,
they would step out from his perfect will. They
would just wander around. Now, there was still
some good things that happened, right? Manna
would still come. The quail would be on the ground.
There's all these good blessings from God. But
they could have had so much more. God wants so
much more for you. Your experience in this life
then proves if your mind is on the good, on the
acceptable, in the perfect will of God. This
is the way it works for us. We can limit. our
experience of heaven if we just say, if we limit
God to just perform certain things in our life.
The lady with the issue of blood, for instance,
right? She built with her words the limitations
on how God was going to heal her when his perfect
will for her was for her never to be sick. His
perfect will for each one of us is to not face
the difficulty and the sin and all those things.
That's his perfect will. But she built with her
words. She said, if I touch the hem of his garment,
I will. be healed. She heard that he was the
Messiah, and listen, what happened? She built
that up in her, that faith began to grow, and
as soon as she performed the action, she received
the transforming power of God to restore, to
make her whole. So the question is, and what
all of us need to know then, is how do we renew
our minds? How do we renew our minds? As we learned
last week, one of the key contributors to renewing
our mind is focus. We must focus. Colossians
3, 1 -2 says this, If then you were raised with
Christ, seek, everybody say focus, focus those
things which are above where Christ is, sitting
at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things
above, not on. things of earth. We have to set
our minds. We focus and then we set our minds.
Seeing ourselves above, right? Not the things
of earth, not experiencing the things of earth.
We set our minds on heavenly realities and we
refuse to focus on any thought. As we learned
last week, we must refuse. Just because thoughts
fly around, we don't let them make a nest in
our hair. You know, just birds, we don't let
it make a nest in our hair, we said. Just because
you think a thought doesn't mean that, you know,
you got to meditate on it. You got to stay stuck
with it. Spiral. Let it ruin your whole evening.
Because some thought hits you that you weren't
expecting. We have to focus. Not on the temporal
condition. We have to focus on who God is. We
have to keep our focus on our position in Him
and what we have in Christ. And what you focus
on, what your focus is directed at, helps you
see clearer. It helps you see. So you focus to
get a clear image, right? Like the other day,
I can't remember what day it was. A couple weeks
ago, we were driving back from Myrtle Beach.
My wife and I, we were up there visiting her
dad and grandparents. And, you know, it's late
at night. We're talking about something that
was serious, and we were talking about it way
too seriously. And as we're driving, all of a
sudden, like, I miss, I was on the toll road
of 429. I was supposed to turn on 192. And we're
talking and I'm driving and I'm focused on that.
And I just blow right past the exit. And if you've
ever been on that road, like you got to drive
to the next place to turn around to get back,
you know, and I'm just like, I'm sitting there
and I'm just driving. I passed it even. And I
was like, oh, and we're just talking and I'm
just focused on what we're talking about. And
I just completely didn't see what was happening.
And here I am blazing past and Caitlin goes.
Don't you think that was where we were supposed
to turn? What are we supposed to turn back? Yeah,
yeah. What you focus on is what you're going
to be attentive to. What you focus on is magnified
to you and grabs your attention because you're
seeking it. You're not just looking and something's
hitting you in the face, you know, even though
there was a giant sign telling me to turn off
the road, right? But I wasn't paying attention
to it. I wasn't focusing on it. And that's why
I didn't see it. And that's why it's important.
Listen, we have to focus our imagination. We
have to focus our minds. We have to focus on
what we see because that's a key contributor
to renewing your mind. It's not just focusing,
but we need to know what we are focusing on.
I can't just drive down the highway looking at
every sign. But I've got to know. I've got to
have a vision of me turning off in the right
place. And I'm going to be like, oh, I'm getting
close. So I need to pay attention to the road
signs. Right? I need to pay attention to them.
So, imagination. What am I describing that as?
I believe God's Word reveals that it's a God
-given. creative ability to mentally picture
something. It's God -given. That means that when
he created us, he gave each one of us this ability,
this ability to see with our mind's eye. That's
why everyone can operate in this, in these principles,
because that's how he created us, okay? And there's
four image sources. Everybody say, four image
sources. There's four image sources. In a peer
-reviewed, credited couple of articles that I
read, I combined these thoughts into one sentence
that just communicates their message, and it
says this. The mind converts external signals
from the eyes into visual information, which
forms our perception. Okay? So we see things.
And it comes through our minds, comes through
our eyes, and then we receive it in our minds,
right? That's how we experience the world around
us. That's how we perceive the natural world.
But it can also create similar neural image patterns
without any external input. And it's interesting
that in the article, it was trying to say that,
like, Our perception, our mind views like the
natural world and the things that we create in
our minds, it views it and it experiences it
in the same way. Think about like when you dream
at night, it feels real. It impacts your body.
If you have like a nightmare or something, all
of a sudden you wake up, I'm sweated wet. You
know, I'm like breathing heavy, like I've done
something, right? Our mind is that powerful.
It doesn't know the difference between the physical
world and this created world of your mind. It
experiences it the same way. This says that you
can see images with your eyes, but you can also
create images with your mind. You can create
an image with your mind. It's our ability to
create. This is how God created things. Remember,
he wasn't looking at this perfect created world
and building things together. No, what he was
looking at was formless and void. Where did all
this exist? In the mind of God. And when he acted
upon that vision of what he saw, boom, it came
to be. He saw light, then there was light. You
can see images with your eyes. You can create
images with your mind. One thing that these articles
left out is that there's two more image sources
because the Word teaches us that images can also
be received through the Spirit, by Satan, and
God. Satan and God can reveal images in your
mind to you. So why is imagination important?
Everybody ask why. Why? Why is this so important?
Back to what we've been talking about, because
what you focus on is the direction you move towards.
What you focus on in this life is the direction
your life will move towards. I'm not the first
person to say this. There's many... motivational
speakers that talk about this all the time because,
listen, this is a God -given creative ability
of man that we all have. Each one of us has.
If you focus your direction, focus your mind
on your goals, your achievements, those things,
you can move towards that direction. You see
a child wanting to be, oh, I want to be a veterinarian
one day, right? And from that moment, even a
little child will start. cultivating things about
being a veterinarian. They're seeing themselves.
They'll buy toys directed that way, right? They'll
do little mock shows. They're experiencing something
before it ever happens. They're moving their
life towards a direction from what they envision
their life should be or what they want it to
be from their desire. Because the image you focus
on, you just, you move towards it. Creates momentum
and direction in your life. So it's important
to know and to distinguish where's the image
coming from that we should focus on, right? Where
is it coming from? Because that moves you towards
it. So let's look now at some examples in the
Word that show us different things about what
we see and how we react to them. and how God's
people did. In Numbers, we see that we know from
Scripture, I don't have time to read the whole
thing, but God leads his people out of captivity.
He gives them a vision of, you know, the promised
land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Remember
how many times he's showing them this? Remember
how many times he's giving them a mental image
of where he wants to take them, where his perfect
will was for them? It was a land. It was a place.
It was in their perfect will. It was in God's
perfect will for them. And when they get there,
it took them way too long, but when they finally
get to the edge, everybody look this way, it's
okay. When they finally get to the edge, Of walking
in and stepping in to the promise, to the thing
that God showed them was theirs. Things that
God had already made available to them. They
questioned it. They questioned it. Instead of
just entering in, doing what God said, what'd
they do? They waited back. They built camp right
outside and they said, let's send spies in. Check
it out first. Oh, God help us. We do this in
our own lives all the time, you know. We get
to the border of the transformation, the power
of God, and we just stop and we say, now, what?
Did God really say that? Is that really true?
And so we want to go back in and question it.
And it's funny because that's the thing that
we've been praying for. That's the thing that
we've been believing God for. And then all of
a sudden we get to it and we go, I don't know,
God. It seems a little too good. I don't know.
I don't know if I deserve this. Seems too much.
Or it seems unachievable. All of a sudden it's
like God had led them all the way there, but
then now it's their responsibility to take the
land? Makes no sense, right? But they get to
the border of it. They're waiting out. They send
spies into the land. You know, the spies that
come back. Some of them give a good report, but
I want us to see this. Because this is the report
that they focused on. The land we traveled through
and explored will devour anyone who goes to live
there. All the people we saw were huge. Massive.
We even saw giants there. Isn't that how you
describe big people? They really wanted to emphasize
it. I mean, these people were giants. Descendants
of Anak. Next to them, listen, we felt. Next
to them, we felt like grasshoppers. And that's
what they thought too. So now they knew what
the giants thought. They've made up this whole
thing. I want you to notice here. Notice that
my computer's freaking out. Get away. Notice
the image of defeat. They had already lost before
they ever walked in. Was that what God wanted?
Was that his perfect will? But what they looked
at, they said, we can't have. We will surely
die. No future, no hope, no promise. We will
die. They will devour us. And the feelings that
set in, anxiety. I don't think we should. I don't
know, you know, that uneasiness, that dividedness
within them, fear. Why? Because they're looking
at a picture. They're looking at their natural
surroundings through the eyes of their own understanding.
They see their inadequacy to take the land. And
they believe that image. Over the image, God
said that this is your land. They could have
looked at it and said, those giants are on your
land. God gave it to me so I can take it. And
that's what some of the spies said, right? But
the Israelites focused on their ability, their
effort. It's kind of like when we focus on religion
and our effort to achieve salvation. Same thing.
And what did they do? They created this fantasy.
Created this fantasy. They see us as grasshoppers
and they look at us as grasshoppers. I want you
to notice something. There's a difference between
what is real and the truth. Things can be real.
These were real possibilities, real giants, real
obstacles. And everything that they said was
a real possibility of what could happen. And
I guarantee you, if they would have entered in
and not seen, not looked at what their eyes,
you know, if they would have entered in just
filled with fear, with doubt, with worry, guess
what? Them giants would have taken them out.
You will have exactly what you think. You will
have... What your mind is pictured on. That will
be your reality. It was real possibilities that
they were looking at. It wasn't made up. But
it was void of the truth of God's Word. And that's
the difference between what is real and what
is true. Because there's only one truth. There's
only one way. This reveals that if your focus
is on just the natural, every negative circumstance,
you will only imagine a future following natural
results and progressions. Their mind was not
thinking that God would see them through. Their
mind was thinking that God has taken us this
far and has left us in the desert, and now he
led us out of Egypt. I should have been better
at Egypt. Where they had spices and stuff. My
life would have been better in captivity than
it is in God's promise. And their life was just
going to be what it always, you know, what anyone
else would view it to be. That they wouldn't
have the victory. That they would be defeated.
They would be devoured. And listen, just like
it kept the Israelites out of the promised land.
this type of thinking, focusing on the natural,
seeing the natural as your reality, it will keep
you out of God's perfect will. It'll keep you
from the place of promise He has for you. God's
not holding out on you. It's not up to God. You
have to choose. Am I going to believe the image
and the promise of God and I'm going to move
on that, move in that direction? Or am I going
to believe my own imagination, my own what's
made up in my head of my earthly experience and
the world around me and I'm going to let that
lead me and determine my decisions? Because listen,
you are either moving in God's will or away from
God's will. There's no neutral ground. Now, another
source, like I said, was Satan. Satan can give
us images in our minds, and he uses truth. Now,
this is a lot different than like our natural
just imaginations of how we think the world is
going to work. He likes to be a little bit more
suspicious and sneaky. Because if you don't know
the truth, you can't spot the lie. So he likes
to use and manipulate good things, good moral
things that sound good, that feel right. I think
this, you know, and God, he likes to use godly
things. It's like he protects good, right, beneficial.
Oh, well, it's beneficial for my life, for my
family, for my future, spiritual even. Oh, this
seems right. I got a verse or something, you
know, and I'm moving in that direction. Oh, this
looks good. It feels good. It matches my desires
of how I see what God has for me. He's the father
of lies. He's the God of this world. He's constantly
wanting to steal the truth. What is the truth?
The truth is the image of a future probability
that's based on God's perfect will. So if he
can steal that from you, if he can say that that
image is not for you, if he can say that, oh,
he actually means it like this, he can steal
the future from you. He manipulates the truth.
Think about this. who was later named Paul, we've
been looking at this in our life group, he truly
thought, he was zealous even, spent his life
following God's plans. He's like, I got this
figured out. I know what I'm supposed to do.
This seems right. Where did that come from? And
this goes to show you that no... No matter how
godly you think you're going in, the direction
of it, no matter how much you feel, it's the
right thing. If it's not God -given, it's not
of Him. Saul, on the road to Damascus, he received
this great revelation, and God goes, Saul, why
are you persecuting me? Can you imagine what
that was like when a person who had devoted his
life to the things of God, to the works of God,
to his religious system that he was born into,
and he's like, I am so zealous, I'm the best
at this thing. The Pharisee of Pharisees, right?
He was the best, the most devoted, the most devout,
accomplishing God's will, God's work in the earth.
And God says, Why are you persecuting me? God
is on earth. God's moving, doing all these things,
and he's constantly against Jesus and those connected
to Jesus, tracking people down, hunting them
down, carrying the coats as they stoned Stephen.
All in the name of God. It shows us that even
things perceived to be good, godly endeavors,
plans, goals, etc., if they are born from our
own understanding, they are outside of God's
perfect will. Now, the world looks at this in
a little bit different ways because it says that,
okay, well, I want to be... I want to be in a
better health condition. I want a better situation.
So they set their minds and they realize this
because that's a God -given ability that everyone
shares, right? It's like people realize this.
I can do my vision. for the year, for the five
years, for the ten years, and I have these plans,
and this is good for my future, for my family,
for my everything. And they can be good things.
They can move you towards really good things
and good outcomes. Listen, because that's the
way God designed it. But there's only one perfect
will of God. And unless you're seeking Him, and
allowing Him to determine your future and your
direction, listen, you'll experience less than
what He wants for you. You might experience some
good things. Why? Maybe because you're in Christ
and there's things promised to you that are good.
His blessing, favor, all these things. You can
experience those things. And you might just think,
I'm good. But you can be so wrong, and God has
so much better. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, just, man,
I always, I just always come back to this. Trust
in the Lord with all your heart. Often this word
heart means your mind. It's your sphere of existence.
It's talking about your beliefs, your mind, your
will, your soul in that sense. It says do not
depend on your own understanding. Do not live
by your own understanding. Get this, seek His
will. Just in spiritual things? Seek his will.
Just for the spiritual direction of your life?
Seek his will just on Sunday morning. Seek his
will in all you do, in everything. Seek His will.
And He will what? Show you. And my friends, you
have to seek in order to see. Don't move unless
you see. Don't step ahead in your own understanding.
Come on. We must seek His will. Be Spirit -led
people in everything, in every arena. We have
to, must to, seek His will. It can't just be
what we think His will is. It has to be His will.
Because He shows you which path to take. He shows
it to you. He reveals it to you. The things,
like we saw last week, the Holy Spirit takes
the things of God and declares them to you. He
makes them known to you, right? Because listen,
you do not want your life to mirror the image
your mind creates. You don't want that. My mind
changes. From day to day, I'll move and I'll
waver and I get tossed and turned. My mind creates
all these negative possibilities and things that
could happen. Should they be? Should they not
be? Listen, you don't want your life to mirror
the image your mind creates. Your focus and our
focus. Today and from this day forward, listen,
must be a God -given revealed image. That's the
only way we're going to walk in the God -given
divine plan and experience the divine transformation.
It's available. 1 Corinthians 2 .9 It says, no
eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has
imagined what God has prepared for those who
love Him. The plans He has for you are so much
greater than the plans you have for yourself.
He wants so much more for you. It's more than
your mind can imagine, and I can imagine a lot.
It's more than I've ever heard. Of someone else's
experience. It's more than I've ever seen. The
plans. The places. For those who love him. He's
got it all figured out. He's got it figured out.
But we have to be spirit led. People of God.
And I'm almost done. God's word. Listen. is not
only for you to hear and read, it is for you
to see and act on. We must see His Word. That's
why there's so much imagery in the Word of God.
See yourself in Him. See yourself seated with
Him in heavenly places. See your life. You have
to see it. Not from the circumstance or the situation.
You have to see it as God's words already completed.
God's work is already finished. You have to see
it. Think about Joseph. God's the revealer of
visions and dreams, right? He gave him a direction
from an early age saying, you're going to be
a king. The hay bales bowing down, the whole
universe bowing down to him at a young age. David,
it's like, you're going to be the king. A future,
plan, purpose. And they had to stay focused on
that. But I tell you what, as soon as that happened,
the enemy was trying to rob him of that. Everything
that could happen, the people they were involved
around, all those things. Satan was using all
those things to keep both of them from being
in the promise to getting to the future that
God had for them. But the gates of hell cannot
stand against. Those who hear the word of God
renew their minds and open their door for God's
power to transform their natural temporal world.
If you see it, you got to see it. You got to
see who God is through who he has been. That's
when we read our Bibles, we're seeing who he
has been. So we can rely on His faithfulness.
We see who He is and who He will be at the end.
It's an image to see yourself in Him, seated
with Him, and your life, listen, your life aligned
with His perfect will. Hebrews 11, 1, Now faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Hope, as you know, if you've
been in a Lation church for a while, for any
amount of time, you know that we talk about hope
a lot as being a confident expectation. What
is that? It's seeing the future with certainty
that God's will has already been accomplished.
And that's what brings faith, because we hear
it, we believe it, and then we act on the truth,
not on the circumstance. Not on the reality that
we face. We act on the truth of what we know.
Not on what we see. Not on what we feel. Not
on what our minds have imagined. We act on what
we know. The truth of God's word is higher. Means
more. Carries more weight. I'm going to invest
my belief in that. That's what I'm going to take
to the bank. That's what can't be taken away
from me is the vision that God has for me, despite
of my situation, despite of the hardship. God
didn't promise you not to go through hardship.
He promised that he gives you a vision of hope
and future that no one can steal. Unless you
open the door of your mind to Satan, unless you
get your mind on the circumstance, on the symptom,
on the lack. Come on. As soon as you get a sniffle,
if you turn to WebMD, they're going to have you
in the hospital somewhere. You're going to be
planning out my insurance policy. And what are
my kids going to do? Why? Because it's Satan
using an image to get you to see a future. It
might be real. It might have potential. But listen,
it's not the truth of God's Word. His promises
and plans are not just for you to know, but for
you to mentally image yourself, your life, and
your world according to them. And this is the
key component to renewing your mind. This is
what opens the door to divine transformation,
for God's power to flow through and to change
your natural and temporal circumstance. You've
got to believe more strongly in what the Word
says. than what the temporal circumstances say.
And that's when faith, listen, faith then is
the bridge for the power of God to flow through
the door of your mind and produce the transformation.
Faith does not bring the power. Your mind being
renewed opens the door for God's power that you
know, that you're certain of, flows through.
So that means for us today, and I'm done, we
have to refuse to accept any image of yourself,
of your family, any future thing. We have to
refuse anything that contradicts who God is,
who you are in Christ, and what you have in Christ.
Got to refuse it. We don't allow our imagination
to run wild based on fantasies. Real probabilities
with no truth. You've got to direct your imagination
to see your future based on God's promises. Renewing
your mind daily, as we've said, is taking control
of your focus. It's directing our imaginations.
And next week, we're talking about aligning our
words to God's reality. The mind is the door.
Everybody say the door. Spiritual powers. And
the image you focus on determines which power
influences your life, the lives of those around
you, and your sphere of influence in the earth.
It's your choice. This online worship experience
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