The Door: Words

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. This is week number four and

the final week in our series that we've entitled

The Door. Everybody say The Door. Now, anyone

here, who's here today and you haven't been here

the first, the previous three weeks? Raise your

hand if you haven't been here. So, okay. You

haven't. I don't know. Anyway. The good thing

about our series is we give you enough information

so you're not just lost in the dark, all right?

So we're going to catch you up, but you're going

to have to listen fast. Look to the person beside

you and say, listen fast, because the preacher's

got a lot to say today, so you better listen

fast. And let your face tell me that you're listening

fast, because if your face looks real confused

and real puzzled, I'll keep saying the same thing

in different ways until the majority of you get

it. So that just goes to show you that if the

service goes long, it's your fault, not mine.

I want you to get it. Because we're not here

just doing time, are we? I mean, we set aside

this time to listen to God, to hear from God,

amen? And God wants you to get it. And I want

you to get it. So, week number four in our series

entitled The Door. Each week we've started out

by looking at one verse in the Ephesians 1 prayer

where Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus.

And he's praying something. I'm adding a few

more verses in this week to add context. I'm

going to read, what, five verses instead of just

one. Ephesians 1, starting with verse 16. Paul

is saying, I pray for you consistently. How many

of you know if Paul is praying something for

the Ephesians, that he's also praying for everybody

else too? It's not just for them. If it was just

for them, we wouldn't have it. Okay? So God has

preserved His Word that this is for us too. It's

not just for them. And he's saying, I pray for

you constantly. Asking God, the glorious Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you something.

To give you spiritual wisdom and insight. We

all need it. We all need it. To give you spiritual

wisdom and insight so that you might grow. In

your knowledge of God. See, we've got to have

spiritual wisdom and insight before we can grow

in our knowledge of God. It's not just hearing

it. It's getting it. Not just hearing it. It's

getting it. I pray that your hearts will be flooded

with light. So that you can understand the confident

hope. The covenant hope He has given to those

He called. His holy people. Who are His rich

and glorious inheritance. That's who you are.

If you're in Christ, this is who you are. Holy.

Set apart for God. Right? And He wants you. To

understand the confident hope. He wants you to

have a confident expectation. Every time that

word hope shows up in the New Testament, it's

the Greek word elpo, and it's translated a confident

expectation that you can go ahead and get happy

about even before you experience it. That's what

that word means. So he wants you to understand

that. The confident hope he has given to those

he called his holy people. who are His rich and

glorious inheritance. And then this is a verse

we've been focusing in on. I also pray that you

will understand something. That you will understand

the incredible greatness of God's power for us.

We're not just understanding this incredible

greatness of God's power. We're also realizing

that it's for us. For us who believe Him. And

what's that power like? How powerful is that

power? Hey, it's the same mighty power that raised

Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place

of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly

realms. That's powerful. Because in that is where

Jesus accomplished everything for us. In his

resurrection. That's where it was all accomplished.

Hello? Some of you are looking puzzled. I might

have to say it more. Looking a little puzzled.

Jesus purchased it on the cross, but if He wouldn't

have raised from the dead, it wouldn't be available

for us. But now that He's raised from the dead,

it's mine. It's mine. Whoo! All right. So we've

been focusing in for this series on Ephesians

119. I pray, I also pray that you will understand

the incredible greatness of God's power for us.

Who believe in Him. This power, God's power is

for you. Everybody say it's for me. God's power

is for me. Is it just solely for your personal

enjoyment? Well, I want to tell you something.

It should impact your life before it impacts

anybody else's life. It's not going to flow through

you without impacting you. A pipe cannot allow

water to flow through it without getting wet.

God's power is for you. It flows through you

to accomplish God's will in the earth. Remember,

Jesus taught us to pray. God, I want your will

to be done on earth. As it is in heaven. Because

there's so many things going on in this earth.

It's not God's will. It's the product of fallen,

brokenness, sin. See, those things aren't going

to be in heaven. No brokenness is going to be

in heaven, right? So that tells us that brokenness

is not God's will. Are you with me? Some of you

are thinking way too hard. Then we started talking

about the door, because there's a door. Everybody

say, there's a door. Genesis 28, 11 through 13,

Jacob found a stone to rest his head against

and to lay down to sleep. And as he slept, he

had a dream. It was a spiritual dream. It was

a God dream. It wasn't just he had some pizza

right before he went to bed. And had some weird

dreams. This is a God dream. As he slept, he

dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth

up to heaven. You might know it, or have heard

it before, as a ladder. Everybody say, Jacob's

ladder. That's where we get that from. From this

text. He slept and he dreamed of a stairway,

a ladder that reads from earth up to heaven.

And he saw something. Angels of God going up

and down the stairway, up and down the ladder.

So we see that something is happening. There's

a door in heaven and then there's... There's

activity happening from heaven to the earth and

from the earth back to heaven. These are his

messengers. These are his workers. Angels of

God going up and down the stairway. At the top

of the stairway stood the Lord. Then Jacob woke

up. He woke up from his sleep and he said, Surely

the Lord is in this place. Surely the Lord is

in this place. What an awesome place. Anywhere

the Lord is is an awesome place. What an awesome

place this is. It is none other than the house

of God, the very gateway to heaven. House of

God. Everybody say house of God. Everybody say

gateway to heaven. Now, house of God, here's

the Hebrew word. It can be translated and has

been translated house, household, temple, or

dwelling. House of God. Temple of God. Dwelling

of God. And the gate, the gateway, here's the

Hebrew word for that. And it's translated as,

in English, an opening, a gate. Or a door. Everybody

say a door. A door between heaven and earth.

Between spiritual realms and natural realms.

There is a door. There's a door. Here's some

more verses to help you out. Then as I looked,

I saw a door. Everybody say a door. Standing

open in heaven. And instantly I was in the spirit.

And saw the throne in heaven and someone, God,

sitting on it. So there was a door. When God

said to John, come up here, I want to show you

something. He showed him a door. And inside that

door was the temple. It was the throne room of

eternity he was looking into. The house of God.

Heaven. The throne room. Everybody say door.

Everybody say heaven. Everybody say spiritual

realm. See what he saw. He moved from natural

to seeing spiritual. His eyes were open. Here's

another one. Jesus talking to a church. He says,

look, I stand at the door and knock. Everybody

say a door. So Jesus is saying, look, there's

a door, and it's between me and you, and I'm

knocking, and I want you to open up that door

and let me come in, and I will come in. If you

will open up the door, I will come in. We will

share a meal together as friends. Everybody say

a door. So where is God? Look at the person beside

you and say, where is God? 1 Corinthians 3 .16

Do you not know that you are the temple of God?

And that the Spirit of God dwells in you? God

is in heaven. He's still in the throne room of

eternity. But He's also In you. If you're in

Christ, he's in you. We're in him, he's in us.

Right? So wherever the spirit and the spirit

realm is, there is a door of opportunity for

us. There's a door. Of opportunity. Have you

ever gone through a phase where, you know, you

know the Holy Spirit's in you, but you didn't

recognize Him. You didn't honor Him. You didn't

communicate with Him. Right? He's there. He doesn't

leave and come back and leave and come back.

He's there. But you only have fellowship with

Him and encounter. the spiritual realm when you

acknowledge Him. That's when you're going to

experience it. So God is in heaven. We've looked

at those verses. God is in us. And I want to

tell you something today. God is eagerly waiting

on you to open your door to Him so His power

can flow through you. I think that's worth saying

again. Even though you can read it. I'm going

to say it again. God is in heaven and God is

in you and God is eagerly waiting on you. You've

got to open the door. He's waiting on you to

open the door to Him so His power can flow through

you. And when His power flows through you, it's

flowing for you and it's flowing to accomplish

His will in the earth. But you have to open the

door. Here's some illustration of what we're

talking about. Matthew 16, verses 13 through

Matthew 16:13–19

19. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea

Philippi, He asked His disciples something. He

asked them, He said, Who do men say that I, the

Son of Man, am? What's the word on the street?

What are people saying about me? How are they

identifying me? So the disciples began to say

what they had heard, right? Some say John the

Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others, Jeremiah. Or

one of the other prophets. And then Jesus looked

at them and said, but who do you say that I am?

Who do you say that I am? I mean, I've been spending

time with you. You should know me better than

everybody else. We've been spending a lot of

time together. Who do you say that I am? Simon

Peter answered and said, boy, he was known for

sticking his foot in his mouth, but he did good

on this one. Simon Peter answered and said, you

are the Christ, the anointed one, the empowered

one. That's what Christ means. You are the empowered

one, the anointed one. You are the son of the

living God. You're Christ. I know that made Jesus

smile. He just went... In the back of his mind,

he's going, Peter, you said some stupid things,

but... That's good right there. Jesus answered

and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar -Jonah,

for flesh and blood has not revealed this to

you, but my Father who is in heaven. Everybody

say revelation. This was revelation. It didn't

come out of Peter's peanut brain. Here's what

happened. Peter opened the door. Everybody say

the door. Here's what just happened. Peter opened

the door to the spirit realm and received revelation

from God, and then he said it. Flesh and blood

has not revealed this to you, but my Father who

is in heaven. And I also say that you are Peter,

and on this rock I will build my church, and

the gates of Hades shall not prevail against

it. I saw something this week that we haven't

even saw before. Wait a minute. There's gates.

Everybody say gates. There's doors. Everybody

say doors. So there's a door to God's realm,

the spirit realm, but there are also doors of

hell. of demonic. There's also doors to the demonic

and doors to the satanic. And Jesus said, on

this rock, on this revelation of who Jesus is,

that He is the Christ, the Son of the living

God, on this revelation, the mode in which He

received it, by opening His door to the spirit

realm, come on somebody, By opening His door

and receiving revelation from God, the Father,

the Spirit realm, into this earth and speaking

it out. But there are also other people who are

opening up their doors for the purpose of letting

satanic power flow through. But here's the deal.

That will not prevail. It's not like we're in

a close fight, people. We're not in a close fight.

It will not prevail against revelation from God,

from His power. There's no question who wins.

As a matter of fact, Jesus kicked out his teeth

on the cross. He's just a roaring lion now. He

can't even bite you. All he can do is gum you

a little bit. He can mess with batteries, but

he can't. Jeffrey talked to me about changing

the batteries. I said, I don't know. It had a

full bar, so we'll just go with it. So, the gates

that are open from the satanic, demonic realm

for their power to flow through, it will not,

cannot prevail against you when your door is

open to God. Peter's door is open to God's power.

He spoke divine revelation in agreement with

God's will and God's plan. Because that's why

Jesus came. He is the Messiah. When he's saying

the word Christ, I mean, he's basically saying,

I believe that you're the Messiah. You're the

Christ. You're the empowered one. You're the

anointing one from God. You're the Son of God.

That was a powerful statement. Where the spirit

realm, Paul... Peter had opened his door to the

spirit realm and then that flowed through. Look

at the person beside you and tell them it can

happen to you just like that. It can happen in

your life just like that. Let's keep going with

the story. Jesus said, I'll give you the keys.

Of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind

on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you

loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. How

does that happen? By the door being open. You're

binding and you're loosing. God is giving us

the keys. That's the method, the ability, the

authority to open or close the door. That's what

keys do, right? And if you don't have the key,

you can't open it and you can't lock it. You've

got to have the key. Jesus has given the keys.

He's given you the keys to the door, the authority,

the ability to open or close the door of spiritual

influence in the earth, and He lets you decide.

He lets you decide. Keep going. This is just

a few minutes later, right? Everybody just say

a few minutes. A few minutes. From that time,

Jesus began to show 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 again on the third day.

Saint Peter. Everybody say Saint Peter. St. Peter.

Then Peter said, hey, Jesus, come here. I got

to talk to you about something. I ain't going

to let this happen. What you talking about? You're

going to go to Jerusalem. Be crucified. You're

going to be killed. Not on my watch, Jesus. Peter

took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus. Hello?

Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen

to you. Now, wait a minute. What was the will

and the plan of God? Come on, stay with me. What

was the will and the plan of God? For Jesus,

He came to die on the cross, right? He came to

lay down His life. That's the plan and the will

of God that Jesus is telling them about. And

then Peter goes, Nuh -uh. You think that's good?

For Peter to speak against the plan and the will

of God? Where does that come from? What door

is open? Well, Jesus is going to flat out tell

him what door is open. Jesus turned and said

to Peter, get behind me, Satan. Peter didn't

turn to Satan, did he? I mean, he didn't like

the Lord. No, but he opened up the door. He opened

up his door. Jesus said, get behind me, Satan.

You're an offense to me. That's a... That's a

door open to the power and authority of hell.

And you've got to get behind me. You're not going

to stand against the plan and the will of God.

Get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me.

So now Peter's door is open to Satan's power.

Just a few minutes after it was open, and you

know what? Same thing can happen in our lives.

It's up to us. We can open the door. By the way,

the door is your mind. Everybody say your mind.

That's what the door is. You can open the door

to God and the spirit realm and receive revelation

from God or You can open the door to things that

are against God, against His plan, against His

will. That's good preaching right there. Anyway,

why did this happen? Jesus even explained why

it happened. He said, you know what? Here's the

problem, Peter. You're not mindful of the things

of God. That's the problem. That's why you just

said what you said, because you're not mindful

of the things of God, but the things of men.

That word mindful, here's the Greek word, it

means to think, it means to set your mind on,

to have that kind of mindset. His mindset changed

very quickly. Like Peter. What you are mindful

of determines what influence the door of your

mind is open to. Happens the same way in us as

it happens in him. What are you mindful of? Your

mind is a door to spiritual power. Now, we've

talked about two things. We talked about our

mind being the door, and then we talked about

how to transform our mind or renew our mind.

And that happens through focus, and it happens

through your imagination. The object of your

focus, the object of your imagination, opens

the door of your mind to one of two spiritual

flows. And these are the main categories of spiritual

flow. Life and blessing or death and cursing.

See? Everybody look at me. If we can get a hold

of this truth, It'll change our lives. See, I

don't want you to just get it today. Just today

and hold on to it for a few minutes. I mean,

this will change your life. Your life will look

different tomorrow if you can get a hold of this.

It'll look different this afternoon. If you'll

get a hold of this, your life will look different.

I'm not talking about theory. Just something

to give to increase your intellect. If you'll

receive this, it'll change your life. The object

of your focus and imagination, that's what opens

the door. That's what opens your mind, your focus

and your imagination. And it's going to open

it to one of two spiritual flows. I'm going to

give you some verses to support what I just said.

Romans 8 and 6. For to be carnally minded, fleshly

minded, earthly minded. That's the Greek word,

sarx. It's translated all those ways. To be a

meathead. Thank you for laughing. To be carnally

minded, fleshly minded, earthly minded, or merely

of human origin or empowerment minded is death.

But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Everybody say focus. Everybody say imagination.

Because what we focus on is going to turn into

imagination. It's going to turn into a mental

picture of a future probability of what we are

expecting. Deuteronomy 30, 19. God tells His

people, I've set before you life and death, blessing

and cursing. He says, choose life. What if your

teacher at school, what if they gave you a question

and then they gave you the answer? You'd be,

something would be wrong if you picked the wrong

answer when the teacher just told you what the

right answer was. Bless their little hearts.

I have set before you. It's set before you. It

is set before you. Life and blessing, death and

cursing, it's always set before you. And God

says, I want you to choose life. I want you to

choose life. I've done so much for you. To make

it possible for you to choose life and blessing.

I've done so much. But he says, but if you want

to choose death and cursing, that's up to you.

I'm going to respect your decision. I sure do

want you to choose life and blessing. What about

Jeremiah 29, 11? How many of you have memorized

this verse? A time or two. For I know the plans

I have for you, says the Lord. Do you know God

has a plan and a will for you? I know the plans

I have for you, says the Lord. They're plans

for good. Everybody say good. Not for disaster.

To give you a future and a hope. That's God's

plan for you. That's God's will for you. It's

for good. Everybody say good. I don't know. It's

been about a year ago, maybe a year and a half

ago. I looked up that word good. That's translated

good. And guess what I found? I mean, I'm ashamed

to say because I've been preaching for a long

time, but I never actually looked up the Hebrew

word right there. But the Hebrew word there is

shalom. My plan and my will for you. is wrapped

up in who I am because I am Yahweh's shalom.

I am the Lord your peace, and my plan for you

is peace. So if you're not experiencing peace,

you're not in the flow of the plan and the will

of God because your door's open to somebody else.

We're just going to talk when a rubber hits the

road, but that's the way this works. I'm not

going to namby -pamby around. I'm going to tell

you. God's plan and will for you is shalom. It's

for your safety. It's for your well -being. It's

even for your happiness. Choke on that a second.

God wants you happy. I can't tell you how many

preachers have said, God ain't concerned about

your happiness. He's just concerned about your

holiness. He's concerned about both. He wants

you to be happy and holy at the same time. He

don't want his children to walk around and look

like their mama raised them on lime juice in

the bottle. That's not his plan and his will.

God's plan for you is good. His will for you

is good. It's for your safety. It's for your

well -being. It's for your happiness. And then

it even is translated friendly. It's for your

welfare. It's for your health. It's for your

prosperity. It's for your peace. Prosperity is

bigger than stuff and money. It's so much bigger

than that. Because there's a lot of people with

a lot of stuff and a lot of money that they don't

have peace. Commit suicide, don't have peace.

God's not against you. having things either.

I have to say this because I talk to different

people. I mean, if David was a man after God's

own heart, and he gave an offering one day for

the temple, personal money, not the nation's

money, his personal wealth, he gave billions

in one offering. But he's a man after God's own

heart. So God's not against you having some stuff,

some nice stuff. But just having stuff is not

prosperity. Not according to the Word of God.

It's got to be with peace before it's prosperity.

Abraham, Solomon, take your choice. John 10 .10.

I want you to think about this. has a door being

opened into your life. You allowing a door to

be opened. The thief comes, if he gets through

the door, he's coming to steal, to kill, and

destroy. But, if our door is open to Jesus and

to God and the Holy Spirit, He says, I've come

that you may have life and that you may have

it to the fullest, more abundantly. Everybody

say, life and blessing, death and cursing. Old

Testament, New Testament. I mean, it flows straight

through. Listen, God's will and God's plan is

discovered in His words. And His Word establishes

something. I hope I proved it to you. There are

so many more verses that I can give you if you

don't believe what I just told you. But His Word

establishes that His will for you is life and

blessing. Life and blessing. God wants life and

blessing for you. But like I said, He will respect

your choices. Romans 12, 2 tells us this, and

do not be conformed to this world. Don't let

this world smash you into a mold. Do not be conformed

to this world, but be transformed. How are we

transformed? By the renewing of our mind. That

word transform, transform, change form. I want

you to see it as this. God's power flowing in

you and through you to change temporal things.

Because everything natural is temporal. Everything

spiritual is eternal. So how do we renew our

minds? Colossians 3, 1 and 2. If then you were

raised with Christ, who's been raised with Christ?

If you've been raised with Christ, then you need

to focus. You need to seek things which are above

where Christ is. Seated at the right hand of

God. We're supposed to live our lives from being

seated with Christ in heavenly places instead

of thinking, well, one day I might get there.

In Ephesians, it says, we are seated with Christ.

Now, we're seated with Christ in heavenly places.

And it's like, no, I'm not. I'm standing here

in the gymnasium in Davenport. But positionally,

spiritually, I'm seated with Christ. And we're

supposed to live our lives from the flow of heaven.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those

things which are above where Christ is. Sitting

at the right hand of God. What are we supposed

to do? Set our mind. You're in charge of what

your mind is set on. And in this series, we've

talked about something. Thought birds are always

flying. Everybody say, thoughts, birds. Just

picture thoughts as birds. How many of you, all

of a sudden you think something, and you're like,

where did that come from? Where did that thought

come from? All of a sudden, just thought flies

by. Listen, we can't control what birds, what

type of birds fly around our head. But we can

control which one builds a nest in our hair.

So we've talked about it in this series. You

take each thought captive to the obedience of

Christ. That's what the Bible says. If that thought,

picture it as a bird, if that thought wants to

land in your mind, to build a nest in your hair,

to establish... This is what you need to be established

in, basically, if it's building a nest in your

hair. And it's not from God. It doesn't line

up with the plan and the will of God. This thought

that's all of a sudden wanting to build a...

This bird that wants to build a nest in your

head, you're supposed to smack it down. Not today.

Because you can't control the thoughts, but you

can control what you focus on. You can't control

what you meditate on. And if you let it build

a nest in your hair, that's what you're going

to be focusing on, what you're going to be meditating

on. And I'm speaking from experience. Because

I'm no different than you are. A preacher isn't

different than you. I have thoughts. I have thoughts

flying around my head too. I've got to choose

which one builds a nest in my hair. You do too.

I haven't perfected this. I'm just on the same

journey that you're on. But I'm standing here

on the authority of God's Word and telling you

that if you want the flow of God in your life,

the power of God in your life to transform your

temporary circumstances, you've got to open the

door to Him. And close the door that wants to

bring death and cursing and destruction to your

life. You've got to close it. I can't close it

for you. I can only close it for me. I can't

even close it for my wife. She can't close it

for me. It's up to you. Focus is a key contributor

to renewing your mind. Imagination is also. I

thought that was the next slide, so I said it

and then the next slide came up. So focus is

a key contributor to renewing your mind. And

here's what you've got to do. You've got to refuse

to focus on any thought or any temporal condition

that does not agree with who God is or your position

in Christ. Or what has been provided for you

in Christ. You've got to refuse any focus that's

against those things. That's how you walk by

faith and not by sight. I mean, we sing it in

the song. But you're in charge of your focus.

Are you going to focus on what you see? The temporary

condition that you might be going through, is

that what you're going to focus on? Are you going

to focus on the promise of God and who God is

and what He has made available to you and who

you are in Him? That's what you've got to focus

on. Imagination is a key contributor. You have

to direct your imagination. To see future probabilities

in agreement with who God is. Your position in

Christ. What you have in Christ. You've got to

see it. You've got to see it in your imagination

before you're going to see it in your life. I

need to say that again because y 'all are looking

at me like, what in the world did he just say?

You've got to see it. before you see it. The

door has to be open to imagining the future probabilities

in your life that are now aligned, not like the

way you see them right now with your natural

eyes, but you've got to see them. aligned to

who God is, what God has promised, who you are

in Christ, what He has made available to you

in Christ, that's what you've got to see in your

mind's eye. Because as long as you keep seeing

and imagining death, cursing, destruction, as

long as you keep imagining that, that's going

to continue to be the focus and that's going

to open the door. for that reality, the power

of that reality to come into your life. And you

might say, I don't want this much responsibility.

I just want God to zap it. Just zap me and change

my focus and change my imagination. No, He gives

us His Word. Hallelujah. Whatever you're seeing

today, Whatever you're feeling today is subject

to change because it's temporal. And we want,

I hope you want, the power of God to flow through,

the same power that raised Jesus from the dead,

flow through to change this temporal. By the

power of His eternal. Oh God, help us get it.

And all that was just like... Now we're going

to talk about new stuff. I mean, some of this

has been new, right? But here's the other contributors.

There's one more contributor. Everybody say one

more. One more contributor. Beyond focus, beyond

imagination. And you might not see words as being

a part of a renewed mind, of renewing your mind,

but I want you to see it differently today. Because

your words, the words out of your mouth, are

key contributors to renewing your mind. Proverbs

18, 21. Everybody say, death and cursing. Death

and cursing, life and blessing. Oh, look, here's

another verse. The tongue can bring death or

life. Those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

I think I need to read it again. The tongue can

bring. We can look at it this way according to

the series. The tongue can open the door. The

tongue can open the door of your mind to bring

death or life. And those who love to talk will

reap. You don't say might reap. It says we'll

reap the consequences. Boy, y 'all got quiet.

You must not love to talk at the moment. This

works both ways, you know. If you love to talk

about life and blessing and the promises of God,

guess what you're going to reap? Everybody say

life and blessing. If that's what you love to

talk about, the faithfulness of God, the goodness

of God, the promises of God, the provisions of

God, that's what we need to be talking about.

Because if we talk about that, we're going to

see life and blessing. But so many times we want

to talk about what we feel. We want to talk about

what we see. Hello? I'm just like you. But I

want to grow. Does anybody want to grow? I want

to grow. I don't want to be talking about death

and cursing and loss and lack. I won't be talking

about that all the time. Even if I see it, I

don't want to talk about it. I want to talk about

life and blessing. Because whatever we talk about,

Is the Bible true or is the Bible true? Whatever

we talk about the most is what we're going to

reap. And we can sit back and we can blame situations,

we can blame people for what we're experiencing.

But if you want to know what's responsible for

what you're experiencing, go in your bathroom

when you get home, look at yourself in the mirror,

and go. Say, God, why does it seem like I'm experiencing

death and cursing instead of life and blessing?

And then go. And that's your answer. That's what

the Bible says. Your tongue is like a bit in

a horse's mouth. It's like a rudder on a ship.

And it is steering your life towards what you're

talking about. I love you. That's why I'm preaching

hard. Because I don't want anything except for

you to experience in the life and the blessing

of God. It's available. I mean, let's go back

to our story. What's the final step in Peter

releasing this spiritual power through the open

door of his mind? What was the last step in both

instances? Words. You're the Christ, the Son

of the living God. There's the flow. Far be it

from you, Lord. This shall not happen to you.

There's the flow. Hello? And then in week number

two, I focus on this story. But what example

did Jesus give to describe Wrong focus and imagination.

Everybody say, birds and flowers. Birds and flowers.

But pay close attention. Jesus says, don't worry

about these things, and it's not just a head

situation, is it? I don't know, you've probably

read this a thousand times like I have, but all

of a sudden I was reading it, and I was like,

wait a minute. Don't worry about these things

saying. Everybody say words. Don't worry about

these things saying. What will we eat? What will

we drink? What will we wear? These things, listen,

dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. That's

what unbelievers say. That's what unbelievers

set their mind on. And sometimes I look at, I

don't want to be an unbeliever. I don't want

my mind set. I don't want my focus and my imagination

set the way that unbelievers, because I'm a believer.

Somebody smile. Even though it hurts a little

bit, just go ahead and smile. You know, it makes

you feel better if you smile, even when it's

hurting a little bit. Your Heavenly Father already

knows. Listen, the things you say, I'm about

done. I know it don't seem like I'm about done,

but I'm about done. Hold on. The things you say

are important to renew in your mind. Because

your tongue is connected to your brain. Captain

Obvious right there. Your tongue is connected

to your brain. And I want to tell you this. As

I was studying and as I was preparing, I was

like, I believe this is from God. What you hear

from you has more impact over your life than

what you hear from others. So what are you hearing

from you? I mean, we don't want other people

to say things bad to us or around us, but what

you hear from you is going to have more impact

on your life than what you hear from other people.

Words open the door for the spiritual to transform

the temporal. Everybody say words. Proverbs 21,

23. Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut.

And you will stay out of trouble. That's what

the Bible says. Watch your tongue and keep your

mouth shut. Hey. If you're not going to speak

in line with the plans and will of God for your

life, it's better to say nothing. Because a lot

of the trouble in our lives comes from the words

we have said. Because we're reaping what we sowed,

and what we sowed was words. Speaking truth from

the Word of God in alignment with the will of

God and the purposes of God. Listen, that directs

and strengthens your mind's focus. It's part

of renewing the mind. It's not just saying words.

It's renewing your mind. Because when you speak

truth from the Word of God in alignment with

the will and the plans of God, life and blessing,

that directs your focus. That directs your imagination.

It gives substance. It gives something for you

to focus on. It gives focus on something for

you to imagine. It gives substance to that. Because

you're not just creating some fantasy in your

mind. Your imagination that you are directing,

you can use your words to build the picture of

the future probability of God's plan and will

being fulfilled in your life. Life and blessing.

Your words give substance to that when they're

in a line with the plan and will of God and His

purposes. So, that don't make sense, but I know

what I meant to type. Sometimes I change the

way I present it and I forget to delete stuff.

Listen, you can use your words. To capture thoughts.

You can also use your words to change thoughts.

I talked about taking each thought captive to

the obedience of Christ. When that bird flies

and all of a sudden you're hearing something

that's opening up the wrong door, you know what?

Don't just try to fight that battle in your mind.

Speak against it. In line with the will and the

plans of God. Darkness, you're not going to take

me down this time. I'm not going down that road

again. Do you mind if I share just what you shared?

Is that going to embarrass you? Do you mind if

I share? You're in the hospital. And all of a

sudden, you were having hallucinations. And then

you said, no, God, take these away. I know this

is not supposed to be the imagination of my mind.

It's in a place it don't need to be. And you

look to God to take it away and you haven't had

one since. Right? She shared that with me on

Thursday. But I'm telling you, this is real.

What I'm telling you is real. I'm not going there

anymore. Because this is what God says about

me. This is what God wants for me. God wants

life and blessing for me. His Word is very clear

that that is His will and His plans. So I take

that thought captive. I take that imagination

captive. I even stop my words and take those

words captive to the obedience of Christ. I've

got to quit preaching. I told you I was about

done. Works two ways. And I'm not talking about

negative and positive. I'm talking it works two

ways positive. You can speak words to build and

reinforce positive focus and imagination. And

you can speak to capture and redirect wrong focus

and imagination. So we need to be building. Our

focus and our imaginations with our words according

to God's plan and will, life and blessing. And

then if we have a focus or a thought or an imagination

that's death and cursing, then we need to speak

to capture it and redirect it. Keep your words.

In agreement with who God is. You've got to know

who God is. You can get on the podcast. We did

a whole series on the names that God gave us

to tell us who He is and what He wants to do

in our lives. Get on the podcast if you don't

know who God is. Or just Google it. You can get

a lot of verses and explanation on who He is.

How you can put your trust in Him. You have to

put your trust in Him in order to experience

who He is. Keep your words in agreement with

who He is. Keep your words in agreement with

who you are in Christ. Keep your words in agreement

with what you have in Christ. Keep your words

in agreement with that. It helps to renew your

mind. Your mind is the doorway. This is our concluding

statement for the whole series. Your mind is

the doorway that spiritual power flows through.

It's your mind. Keep it closed to the flow of

death and cursing. Keep it closed. Just like

Peter should have kept it closed, he shouldn't

have said, far be it from you that this would

happen. You've got to close that one. Keep it

closed to the flow of death and cursing. Keep

it closed to anything that's against the plans

and the will of God. And keep it open. Look to

the person beside you and say, keep it open.

Keep it open to the flow of life and peace. Keep

it open. And how are you going to keep it open?

How are you going to keep it closed? Same three

ways. By your focus. By what you set your mind

on. By what you meditate on. You're going to

keep it open or closed by your imagination of

future probabilities, where your life is going

from today to tomorrow. And you're going to keep

it open or closed by the words that come out

of your mouth. This online worship experience

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of Elation Church.