Sermon

Bread of Life - Kingdom Pursuit

Anchor Faith Church

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  1. If you have your Bibles, turn over to Matthew chapter 6.

    Matthew 6 chapter mention

  2. Last week we were rolling in to this Kingdom pursuit and it just

  3. came to a place that it seemed like the Holy Ghost said just

  4. save that for next week. And so here we are in this week

  5. still dealing and thinking about this thing called Kingdom

  6. pursuit. I know it's the first of the

  7. year. And so, you know, again,

  8. traditionally a lot of people will put goals down, you know,

  9. their New Year's resolution. And as my, my wife has said,

  10. Apostle Marcy, that there's something even within man that

  11. their willpower can can, can get in involved and they can make

  12. certain changes in their life, develop different habits.

  13. And they can do this independent of God.

  14. But God's giving you something greater than just willpower.

  15. He's giving you the grace to accomplish something bigger than

  16. yourself, something that your personal willpower can never do

  17. without the grace of God in your life.

  18. So when you put your willpower can connected by faith with the

  19. grace of God in your life, it will release a grace in you that

  20. that you'll sit back and say but God but God, but God man the

  21. word of God in the Spirit of God active in us through faith will

  22. cause us to look back on our lives and say but God.

  23. That I could have never of my own self will will this 'cause

  24. this to come to pass. Only God could have done that.

  25. And you want people to have that testimony about your life when

  26. they're looking at you. You want.

  27. Them to be able to say you're a but God person because the

  28. things you're walking into, things you're operating in, the

  29. way you carry yourself, it is only but God.

  30. Aren't you glad that you're a part of God's butt?

  31. In life, but God, while I was dead, in my transgressions of

  32. sin, He died for me. He rose for me, and he saved me

  33. and delivered me, and then I called on his name.

  34. Glory to God. And He moved me into His Kingdom

  35. where He has empowered me. The things that I'm ministering

  36. on these last couple of Sundays. Honestly, if you would just do

  37. this, you would never ever worry one bit ever again.

  38. You would never have another anxious moment and you would

  39. save yourself from a lot of trouble.

  40. I am technically giving you the secrets of life while on the

  41. planet. I literally AM.

  42. And not because I'm saying it. I'm saying what God has said.

  43. But you, you have to trust God with what he has said.

  44. I said you have to trust God with what he has said.

  45. And so we're in Matthew chapter 6.

    Matthew 6 chapter mention

  46. This chapter is the middle of Jesus's famed Sermon on the

  47. Mount, and that covers Matthew chapter 5-6 and seven.

    Matthew 5 chapter mention

  48. And he has a whole lot to say that if we just stayed in these

  49. three chapters until he returns, we would never exhaust the

  50. revelation that is within these three chapters alone.

  51. And so there's some very important things right at the

  52. conclusion of this chapter 6 that he gives the key to life,

  53. the key to to living a life that dominates in the planet.

  54. He gives the key. Now, what he says and applying

  55. that are two different things. They're two different things.

  56. But if he says you can do it and he's saying you should, then he

  57. will grace you, meaning he will empower you to actually

  58. accomplish it. Amen.

  59. And so we started in six verse 31.

  60. He said, do not worry. Say I don't worry, say I don't

  61. worry, do not worry. Then saying what will we eat or

  62. what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing for the

  63. Gentiles eagerly what, what do they eagerly do?

  64. What do they eagerly do? Seek all these things, for your

  65. heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

  66. So our Father knows we need them, but he says don't seek

  67. them. That's not your focus.

  68. You do not wake up in the morning trying to figure out how

  69. you what you're going to eat, drink or where.

  70. In essence, where am I getting the natural provisions to live?

  71. What am I doing so that I can live naturally?

  72. He says that's not your number one priority.

  73. I said that's not your number one priority.

  74. Now it seems like the church has forgotten what first is, but

  75. other sectors of society have not forgotten.

  76. In fact, on on January, I think it's the 19th or I don't know

  77. the exact date, but the the college national championship

  78. game, the reality is at the end of that game, someone's going to

  79. hold a trophy and someone is not someone will be declared first

  80. and someone will not. But because we are in the age of

  81. participation trophies, we at like, well, if we're just at it.

  82. OK, now for all, I don't know of tons of Indiana fans in here.

  83. We have any Indiana fans in here.

  84. OK, I got one. Nice.

  85. I mean, they got quite, they have quite the program happening

  86. right now. How many Miami fan up in here?

  87. All right, we got some youth fans in here.

  88. The rest of us are most. Likely Gator fans.

  89. We don't even acknowledge Florida State at this point.

  90. I'm kidding. The point is is that if you are

  91. a Miami fan and you went to the game and your team won, you

  92. would feel like a champion. But guess what?

  93. You will not get a ring or a trophy.

  94. Now you can say you're #1 but you're not technically number

  95. one. You're there by fanbase only.

  96. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And it's like the church wants

  97. to be #1 by fanbase only. I'll show up and scream, but I

  98. would never put in the work and get on the same field that would

  99. require me to actually win that trophy.

  100. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And so you understand God has

  101. said to us in the church, there's something I need you to

  102. make priority in your life. It needs to be first, first,

  103. first, first, first, first. Let me tell you what he did not

  104. say was first your family. He didn't say your family was

  105. first. He did not say your job was

  106. first. Your career was first.

  107. He didn't say raising your children were first.

  108. Oh, it's getting real quiet. Hallelujah.

  109. Now there is a hierarchy that has been taught in a lot of

  110. places, and that is God, right? Family, Church work.

  111. Well, we have a problem with that list because how can you

  112. separate God from church since Jesus is the head of the church.

  113. So we say God, you're saying church, you're saying that how

  114. can you say now if it's institutionalized where the Holy

  115. Spirit's not there, it's just a list of social programs where

  116. people gather together to to put on the appearance of godliness,

  117. but never transformed their mind.

  118. Then sure, that is like another institution, but that was never

  119. in the heart of God. Concerning church, he says seek

  120. first the Kingdom. God is the king of the Kingdom,

  121. of which in the earth His church represents that Kingdom.

  122. So when we look at the line, it's God, church, then your

  123. family and then your influence in sectors of society.

  124. And if you want your family to be great, then you want the

  125. priority of God to be first. Are you hearing me?

  126. Because inevitably, if you don't watch out, if you make anything

  127. else priority, then God actually becomes optional.

  128. And let me tell you, God the Father who sits on the throne is

  129. not understanding why you cannot participate with what He is

  130. passionate about in the planet as his as his child.

  131. He does not understand that because he says here in verse

  132. 33, but seek, seek what first his Kingdom and his and all

  133. these things will be added to you.

  134. So when people say, well, you know, you got to understand, I

  135. can't, I cannot make it to church because I have to work

  136. the Lord saying that doesn't make sense.

  137. I said if you'll seek me and you will do what I've asked you to

  138. do. Then I'll add that stuff.

  139. Most people wouldn't even consider leaving their job to

  140. make sure they can make it to church.

  141. OK, let me go over here. No, most people would never

  142. consider that, but yet could you say, Lord, I know that first and

  143. foremost your word says seek first the Kingdom of God, which

  144. includes assembling yourself together with other believers

  145. because you're extremely passionate about your church,

  146. the one that you're building, and you're coming for them.

  147. When you return, you're not coming back for the lost.

  148. You're coming back for the church.

  149. You're going to catch up the church together with you, you.

  150. Love your church. You even said through your

  151. apostle Peter that you know what we help the the church or the

  152. world. We do things he said, but he

  153. takes care of the household 1st and that household is not

  154. immediate family. It is those who call on the name

  155. of the Lord to be saved and are doing the will of the Father.

  156. He's talking about the household or the body of Christ, or the.

  157. Church of the Living. God, that's what he's talking

  158. about. And he's saying if you will be

  159. passionate about those things then he will add everything

  160. else. I have never seen a person who

  161. genuinely loves God and are led by their spirit and have kept

  162. First things first ever burn out or ever.

  163. Lose. Their marriage and their total

  164. family. Now side note, you can lose a

  165. spouse and you can lose children when you're doing everything

  166. right for God. Why do we know this?

  167. Because God the Father has never gone wrong and He gave

  168. everything to His Son. He made a planet for him, He

  169. provided for him, He was personally present with him, He

  170. cared for him, gave him instructions that led to life

  171. and godliness and Adam rebelled. So again, typically when someone

  172. says, well look how their children, they just went to

  173. church too much, well, no, they're free will moral agent

  174. just like Adam is. So we're going to blame Adam's

  175. sin on God. No, typically the people making

  176. those statements are those that are carnal.

  177. They're feeding their flesh. They don't want to put that down

  178. and they don't no longer want to do what God's asked them to do

  179. and that is serve. Seek first the Kingdom.

  180. The greatest leader is well the minute you quit serving you

  181. decide you don't want to lead anymore.

  182. Same in anyway. Just smile a lot.

  183. First things first. Now I didn't say it.

  184. Now I get accused, you know, because as an apostle of a

  185. ministry that is advancing God's Kingdom and preaching his word,

  186. you know, well, there's just, they want too much.

  187. I don't want anything but what God wants.

  188. And he said it was first. I didn't.

  189. In fact, if it was up to me, I probably would have made some

  190. concessions. Yeah, I remember hearing this

  191. one minister that I thought was crazy was like, I don't know why

  192. things are what they are. Maybe if I was in the beginning

  193. I would have said something different.

  194. And I'm not. I'll leave it as vague as that.

  195. But in my mind, I'm thinking, bro, you actually think that you

  196. have an idea better than God? As a human that has been well

  197. proficient in rebellion and not doing God's word, I'm sure I

  198. could say, Lord, that's too much.

  199. But I mean, how can I sit, stand in front of the one that I say

  200. is Lord of my life and talk about too much when he would

  201. just say, shall I show you my hands?

  202. You want to look at my feet? Shall I take you back in time

  203. and watch them, let you watch them open up my back, and then

  204. after that still carried that cross, shall I show you the

  205. moment? All of the world's sin came on

  206. me, and you want to talk to me about too much?

  207. I'm like, Lord, what else? When you understand that

  208. revelation, you're like. What else Lord?

  209. What else Lord? What else Lord?

  210. What else, Lord? What else Lord, because you gave

  211. all now people could say well, but you know God could do that.

  212. We couldn't, but we still have a part to play.

  213. He tells us unless we deny ourselves take up our cross and

  214. follow him, then we really not worthy of him.

  215. So he expects some kind of reciprocation.

  216. Once you've called on the name of Jesus this why Jesus said

  217. listen, I understand what you can see.

  218. I understand that everything around here.

  219. Is, is, is. Moved by things, what you need,

  220. what you need, what you need and and you're attached to those

  221. because of the fallen state. But I'm telling you, if you'll

  222. seek the Kingdom first, I'll just add those to you.

  223. I said, I'll just add those to you.

  224. So you know when you're under financial strain.

  225. It's it's not about getting two or three jobs to come out.

  226. It's first going to the Lord and say, how do you want me to come

  227. out of this? Amen.

  228. I said Amen because He has the plan.

  229. The Matthew 633 says yes, but seek, aim at and strive after

  230. first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness, His way of doing

  231. and being right and then all these things taken together will

  232. be given. Besides, I understand this

  233. statement of Sikh is very challenging and 1st is very

  234. challenging. I get that.

  235. I understand why when we minister along these lines, the

  236. air or the oxygen in the room starts to get sucked out because

  237. all of a sudden there's a self examination that starts to go on

  238. by the Holy Ghost and he begins to talk to you and say, am I

  239. first in your life? Do I get the first option in

  240. anything you're going through? Do you come to me first?

  241. Do you seek me first? Do you are you passionate about

  242. my way of handling any situation first?

  243. Do you worse, do you worship and praise me first?

  244. Do you put my priorities first? I understand and you know when

  245. there's so much going on in the world and there's so many things

  246. that we have to address day in and day out.

  247. These are daunting task and in our minds because we lived a way

  248. prior to knowing God, you know and we've had some level of

  249. natural success to all of a sudden hear the Lord say you

  250. know what change that thinking, go after me and me alone and

  251. watch what I do to open up doors for you.

  252. Now that requires 2 things, faith and the big one, trust.

  253. Trust the word seek here means to seek in order to find, to

  254. aim, to strive after, pursue, endeavor to obtain and so in

  255. order. When he says seek first, he is

  256. saying you are to seek in order to find it right?

  257. Seek and you will. He doesn't say seek and man wait

  258. till you get to heaven because that's where it's all at.

  259. Notice he doesn't say in this passage of scripture but seek

  260. 1st heaven. Heaven is what comes with being

  261. born again. It's not the focus of our

  262. attention, it's his Kingdom that's the focus because his

  263. Kingdom is not limited to heaven.

  264. In fact, his Kingdom will manifest in the earth.

  265. That's why Jesus said when you pray, pray this way, let's say

  266. it together. Our Father who art in heaven,

  267. hallowed be your name, your Kingdom, your will be on as it

  268. is. So we're seeking.

  269. God's will, not God's location. Because if all you're doing is

  270. seeking God's location, then you don't care about His will,

  271. because you'll just pass through and take whatever this world has

  272. to throw at you and wait for a place.

  273. But when you seek His Kingdom, you do not have to wait for a

  274. place. You can pull the environment and

  275. the will of that place into the earth.

  276. Through your life, Hallelujah. Now first means this first in

  277. time or place, chief foremost in time, place, order of it, or

  278. import order of importance first of all.

  279. So the order of importance, the first thing you do when you get

  280. out, do you praise the Lord? Do you thank Him for another

  281. day? Do you go into the word and say

  282. Now Lord, what are you saying? Do you have that personal?

  283. Is it first or is it Instagram to see what you missed and who,

  284. what someone did or didn't say or what they posted while you

  285. were asleep? Are you here?

  286. Do you check a game? I checked games.

  287. I just try to make sure. I make sure it's after I've said

  288. thank you, Lord, that I'm awake. It's so good.

  289. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, so and so played last night.

  290. I wonder if they won. That's how connected I am.

  291. I've left a mini a game that was excited because I'm like, you

  292. know what, I've got to get up. I've got things to do with the

  293. Lord and I'll just find out tomorrow.

  294. Amen. I'm interested, but it's not

  295. first. Hallelujah.

  296. I said it's not first. And so we see here that God has

  297. this since it's the first of the year.

  298. Let's make 2026 not where we're seeking after.

  299. And I'm just tell you this with church dynamics.

  300. This has been happening since we planted anchor fee churches and

  301. all of the relationships that I have with other ministers that

  302. oversee churches it it tends to be the exact same.

  303. OK, there are three thrusts or growths that happen in the

  304. church, all right. The first one is in January.

  305. Everybody's thinking about God again, new, you know, you know,

  306. I'm going to commit to God better this year.

  307. So they go looking for a church, they show up or you know what,

  308. I've been out for so long with the holidays.

  309. You know, we were doing so much and we, you know, we need to get

  310. back in church. All right.

  311. So there's this push in January all the way up to about the

  312. first week of February. And then by the time we get to

  313. the mid February, all of a sudden the sound of spring is

  314. calling. Sun starts showing up a little

  315. bit, right? You know, And the next thing you

  316. know, the options kick in. And then especially in Florida,

  317. right? And then obviously we have

  318. spring break. And when spring break hits and

  319. all the parents take their children, they're out of school,

  320. we're out of church, we're out of everything.

  321. And then we're. Kind of out until the next big

  322. day. And what day is that?

  323. Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday?

  324. Why is that day so packed out? Notice he didn't say seek only

  325. at the identified service called Resurrection Sunday.

  326. Hallelujah. But that's a big dance.

  327. And then that's only last two weeks. 2 weeks right there, I'm

  328. telling. You all across.

  329. Pastors, God love them. They post how many people were

  330. in their services on Sun Easter Sunday.

  331. They post how many people got born again.

  332. But the next Sunday. Depending on the size of the

  333. church, if it's already a large church running over 1000, they

  334. may see 3 maybe twice the size to three times the size they

  335. normally see on a Sunday. They'll get Easter Sunday and

  336. the amount of salvations are like wow, crazy.

  337. The very next Sunday, almost back to normal.

  338. What happened to all those people in one week?

  339. What happened to all those salvations?

  340. The people who came out of the domain of darkness into the

  341. Kingdom of his beloved Son, and all of a sudden they came one

  342. service, and then they've never show back up.

  343. Is that lordship? Did they really?

  344. Confess Christ. Same in anyway Hallelujah,

  345. right? Same in anyway the next one.

  346. When school starts, man, when school starts, here we go.

  347. We're piling them in. Why?

  348. Cuz we're back to school. Kids are back in school, let's

  349. start going. And that runs well for about 6

  350. weeks until the middle of all the sports, right?

  351. I love sports. Our school has sports.

  352. I'm all about sports. But sports should never be above

  353. God. And there was a time in our

  354. nation that Wednesday night practice was off limits because

  355. it respected the church. But now it's practice all the

  356. time. And the one number one reason I

  357. do not go to a different time slot on Wednesdays is it keeps

  358. the availability for all my student athletes to finish their

  359. practice and still make it to church.

  360. Which means then the parents can look at them and say, hey,

  361. practice is over, we're going to church.

  362. And there are many parents here that have done that.

  363. But yet in a lot of places it starts to wane.

  364. Why homework, practice, We're out all the time.

  365. We got practice this day, this day, this day, this day.

  366. You have homework, you have this, we have all these.

  367. You know what we're going to miss?

  368. Say it anyway. Say it we're going to miss.

  369. God knows word all week. Ran my kids to practice already

  370. 4 times this week. We're out every night.

  371. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Aren't you glad we do not live

  372. stream? Because I, you know, let's do

  373. some training here. Listen, when something is

  374. ministered and you're like, maybe I should think about that

  375. or you sense a bit of do I do that instead of dwelling on

  376. that? Or having this thought that's a

  377. hard. Saying you're going to hear that

  378. again here in a minute, that's a hard.

  379. Saying just shout Amen. Are you hearing me?

  380. I want to liken that experience to a roller coaster.

  381. OK, I have ridden roller coasters in my life and you

  382. know. As a guy.

  383. Riding a roller coaster, you know, you want to seem tough and

  384. dignified, right? You know, and you're just kind

  385. of like, but on the inside you're like.

  386. I don't feel good. Right, well, I found the trick

  387. to getting rid of this weird sensation.

  388. And that is scream. Just scream.

  389. Everybody else is anyway, just join the praise.

  390. So you're going up? Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,

  391. tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, Right.

  392. You're the anticipation and your heart starts doing this and

  393. you're like, Oh my, my, Oh my Lord, we get religious right at

  394. the top of the top of the thing. Oh God.

  395. Right, we get religious. I remember doing the one in in

  396. Dallas, Six Flags, I can't remember the name of it, but it

  397. went down and it went down in a hole and they came up and then

  398. spiraled upward because it was so fast.

  399. In fact, I had teenagers black out during those moments because

  400. of the G force that was taking place as they were going up.

  401. And you're like looking over the edge of this thing, man.

  402. And all of a sudden you're like, my God.

  403. Right. You want to know you're right.

  404. And then all of a sudden, man, here you go and all these organs

  405. show up right here, right here. There they are.

  406. And and you don't scream because you're afraid you'll drop a, a,

  407. a stomach and your large intestines to start flying out.

  408. And like, what's that going to look like if you trying to put

  409. that back in? But if you scream, it will shut

  410. it back down. It will put every organ back in

  411. place. So you just whoa.

  412. So I just learned to whoa whoa. And every time I did that, I

  413. don't Care now I don't feel the effects, I'm just praising.

  414. So when the lure's moving on you and you got a little, just go.

  415. Whoa, glory to God. Hallelujah.

  416. Now everybody is going to assume you're so right with God, that's

  417. why you're praising. But we'll actually know now that

  418. you're scared because he's talking to you.

  419. Shout, Amen, Amen. We should shout, have a shout of

  420. praise. I understand now, if if an

  421. environment comes where a holy hush comes, great, we're going

  422. to know that. But a lot of times you're

  423. ministering the word. This is all shouting material

  424. because this is your king trying to renew your mind, trying to

  425. open you up, trying to release who you really are, who he knew

  426. you were before the foundations of the world, before you messed

  427. your whole life up, before you tried to do it your way, before

  428. you did an experiment on yourself and found it was an

  429. absolute debacle. But God being rich in his mercy,

  430. well, glory to God, He saved me. He picked me up.

  431. He put me on the seat with Christ.

  432. Yeah. And it was his word that set me

  433. free. And his spirit brought the power

  434. to deliver. Me.

  435. Well, glory to God. Amen.

  436. Let's do some more testing. Sit down.

  437. I'll want all the men to stand up.

  438. I want all the men to stand up. Every man I tell.

  439. I told my wife this just on the couch yesterday or Friday when

  440. Indiana was playing Oregon. I'm like, look, look at those

  441. men. Praise.

  442. Look at all those men standing up with their hands up,

  443. shouting. Look at them praising, I mean

  444. praising. They were like, hey, hey, hey,

  445. they were not on their seat. They were not.

  446. But. That was a good catch.

  447. Do you? What do you think?

  448. Coach played that play right now.

  449. You know. I can't believe he dropped that.

  450. I've never seen no one do that. I see it look like this when

  451. they drop it. Oh my gosh, what?

  452. What are you doing? Catch the ball, man.

  453. Now you understand the athletes probably thinking, why don't you

  454. get down here, run the reps that I'm running, catch as many

  455. passes as I've caught, be in this pressure cooker, and then

  456. talk to me about missing something.

  457. All right, man, let's get a shot of praise.

  458. Say Hallelujah, Say glory to God.

  459. Say Hallelujah, say glory to God.

  460. I'm telling you, there's there are plenty of things on the

  461. planet, yeah, that a man will shout over if he's Lord.

  462. I. Should have to say, gentlemen,

  463. please let me preach. I love you.

  464. Shout of praise. I'm trying to get something out.

  465. And in 20 something years I've never had to do that.

  466. Let's see if we can change it in 2026.

  467. Come on, Can I get an Amen? All right, you can be seated.

  468. Thank you man for being an example.

  469. Hallelujah. And all the women say about

  470. time. Hallelujah.

  471. So Jesus kicks off this message here about seeking first with

  472. this idea. Matthew 5-6 He says this.

  473. He says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for

  474. righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

  475. Now Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom and His

  476. righteousness and he tell he already let them know initially

  477. when he started this message that righteousness is to be

  478. pursued like hunger and thirst. So now he's giving you the

  479. attitude of what he means when he has says seek first the

  480. Kingdom of God and his righteousness, which means you

  481. should be hungry and thirsty about like when you get hungry,

  482. what are you going to do to get to that food?

  483. What are you going to do? When you're thirsty, like I am

  484. right now. What are you going to do to get

  485. to that thirst? What do you do to satisfy that?

  486. What do you do to satisfy that? What do you do to satisfy that

  487. Right? I mean, where do you go?

  488. What it's? What links do you do?

  489. Now in the. Natural We got this new term

  490. called hangry. We're angry 'cause we're hungry.

  491. And if we just get hungry, and I love that one Snickers

  492. commercial that they brought out.

  493. When you know the people are acting like Divas, you know and

  494. that and they like give them a snicker, then they turn into a

  495. regular human being again. It's like, OK, it's satisfied.

  496. Well, you understand you're not, you are you're you're, you're

  497. not going to do what God has designed for you until you seek

  498. His. Kingdom and his righteousness

  499. with that kind of tenacity. It is not a complacent, sit

  500. back, relax. It is a pursuit.

  501. It is intentional. And if you want to arrive at the

  502. highest levels of revelation and wisdom and a walk with God while

  503. you're on the earth, it's going to require a conditioning for

  504. you to go after Him with hunger and thirst.

  505. When we were lost dead in our trespasses of sin, no man went

  506. after God. No, not.

  507. One but once you're born again, the Bible says draw near to God

  508. and he will so you cannot apply exactly you're without Christ

  509. life into your in Christ life and this happens all over the

  510. place with believers is they're applying what how God responded

  511. to them in their sin and when they weren't a part of the

  512. family and they want to keep that same kind of living in the

  513. Kingdom when he's like that guy died.

  514. We left them at the cross. You're another species of being

  515. now. You couldn't pursue me.

  516. You couldn't get to me. You couldn't do anything to

  517. please me. You couldn't even know me.

  518. You know, I was making myself known to you and then I drew you

  519. with my kindness. But once you accepted me, now I

  520. put within you the ability to know me to, to to know I'm

  521. alive. I even put myself on the inside

  522. of you with the Holy Ghost who will wake you up and talk to you

  523. about. And he wants you to now pursue

  524. him. And if you will draw near to

  525. God, he'll draw near to you. And if you're saying where's God

  526. and you're a believer, you are the one who quit the pursuit

  527. because God's like, I brought you in the house, now you're

  528. part of my family. How much do you want?

  529. Come on, how much do you want and you're wanting?

  530. Hallelujah, I'm going to come to it that fault.

  531. John 64848 to 51. Jesus said this.

  532. I am the bread of life. Your father's.

  533. Ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died, right?

  534. This is the bread which comes down, thank you, Lord, down out

  535. of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

  536. Verse 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven.

  537. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

  538. And the bread also, which I give for the life of the world, is my

  539. flesh. So Jesus lets them know I am the

  540. bread of life, I am the bread of life, I am the bread of life, I

  541. am the bread of life. Now why did is he this and what

  542. did he mean by this when he said in verse 49, your father's ate

  543. man in the wilderness and they died.

  544. Look at this in Deuteronomy. 83 It says he humbled you and let

  545. you be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you did not know,

  546. nor did your father's know that he might make you understand why

  547. did. He feed them not to satisfy

  548. their gut. He did not feed them to satisfy

  549. their gut. He said that he might make you

  550. understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man

  551. lives by everything that proceeds.

  552. Out of the mouth of the Lord. So when Jesus said I'm the bread

  553. of life, your Father's ate manna and they died, yet my dad was

  554. trying to teach them do not be receiving the manna just to

  555. satisfy your gut. What I'm doing is not about

  556. things, it's about. My word, it's about

  557. understanding me. It's about knowing me.

  558. It's about me. So I'm going to give you mana,

  559. not so that your gut's satisfied, but so that you'll

  560. know that if you'll hear me. These come automatically.

  561. They follow. They come automatically.

  562. They follow. You said.

  563. Well, how did they follow? He's already had Moses

  564. demonstrate what it looks like to follow the voice of the Lord.

  565. It conquered the whole nation, brought him through the Red Sea

  566. into the wilderness, and here they are receiving man a place

  567. to eat, because they were. Hungry.

  568. And when you're hungry, naturally you do a lot of

  569. complaining until you get satisfied.

  570. Are we doing this spiritually when it comes to righteousness?

  571. Well, what does God really mean when He said this?

  572. And what is God doing here? And how do I handle this?

  573. And my gosh, I am going to get to you and talk to you until I

  574. find out I need some spiritual bread of life.

  575. That there should be within us a hunger to want to know him.

  576. And he's like, you get to know me, I'll show you what comes.

  577. So when he brought him, I said, this is easy.

  578. There's nothing yet. I'm fixing to give you

  579. something, right? I mean, when there's seems like

  580. there's no way to make bread, they don't.

  581. Have the the wheat, the crops, I can get it for you.

  582. God's not limited to just seed thyme and harvest naturally.

  583. You understand, God's functional for principle.

  584. He's already spoken when he told Abraham hundreds of years

  585. earlier, see this land, your descendants are going to get it,

  586. but they won't get it till after they've been in slavery from

  587. another nation for 400 years. But then I'll bring them in,

  588. I'll deliver them, I'll provide for him.

  589. See, he's enacting on something he said spiritually hundreds of

  590. years earlier, and he's allowing it to now reap in this

  591. generation. What has God spoken about our

  592. time from generations before us that they prophesied that we

  593. weren't even around those prophetic moments, but now God

  594. is obligated to His word through them to make it happen in US?

  595. Oh man, when we'll press into God, then we'll find out there's

  596. all kinds of resources, there's all sorts of things made

  597. available. Jesus said it this way in Luke

  598. 4/4. He said in Jesus answered, it is

  599. written, man shall not live on bread alone.

  600. When he was attacked by the enemy, he did not talk about his

  601. Now he didn't say, you think I'm, you think you think I'm

  602. hungry. You think?

  603. I mean, I've been praying, seeking God without food, and

  604. then you're going to come up in here and ask if I'm really of

  605. God and turn this rock into bread.

  606. Now Jesus just said sure. I can do that.

  607. I'll show you. But he didn't do that.

  608. What he did was let me seek him first because I'm being attacked

  609. and my response Because I sure am I.

  610. Mean what's it matter? I mean, really, what's it

  611. matter? I mean, Lord, I can hear you.

  612. Think about. I can hear you.

  613. I mean, I'm born of you. I was born of a virgin.

  614. I am. The Christ, you just said it.

  615. I know. So I'm going to eat.

  616. I'm going to do this bread thing.

  617. Real. Quick and then we going to re

  618. engage. No, what are you saying?

  619. Man shall not live on bread alone, He said.

  620. It is written now. He didn't.

  621. Quote the rest of the verse here in Luke.

  622. But you know Jesus knew the rest of the verse.

  623. But man shall live on every word that proceeds out of the mouth

  624. of my Father. And I'm only going to say what

  625. he said and I'm only going to respond like he responded.

  626. And you know what? At the end of the day, he was

  627. able to then pass all the tests. Look at Satan, say get the I

  628. rebuke you. And I'm going on to the next

  629. assignment. Why?

  630. Because I'm satisfied with the righteousness, God's way of

  631. doing things, and I'm only seeking his Kingdom.

  632. And it was after that moment that the angels came and

  633. ministered to him, which means the things he needed came later.

  634. Then he goes and testifies of the place that brought the

  635. things. Repent for the Kingdom of heaven

  636. as a hand, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

  637. So when Jesus and John chapter 6 says he's the bread of life then

    John 6 chapter mention

  638. and he makes that statement, unless you eat of my flesh.

  639. Right. And then another drink of my

  640. blood, you'll have no part of me.

  641. And these people are saying that's a hard thing.

  642. That's hard. And it goes on to say, and many

  643. of his disciples left, many quit following Jesus.

  644. That message to the crowd that day was to identify who's with

  645. me and who's not, because God knows.

  646. I said God knows, now let's pick it back up in verse 59.

  647. John chapter 6, verse 59. This is new material for today.

    John 6:59

  648. These things he said in the Sonic Synagogue as he taught in

  649. Capernaum. Therefore many of his disciples

  650. when they heard this, said this is a difficult statement.

  651. Who can listen to it? There are many believers today

  652. throughout a lot of churches that when the man or woman of

  653. God ministers the word of God, exactly what he needs for them

  654. to hear so that they will crucify the flesh.

  655. They'll get rid of the sins that so easily beset them.

  656. They will set aside weights that hinder their active faith from

  657. moving forward. He begins to say you're going to

  658. have to change that thinking. I want to elevate when he begins

  659. to prune and say you were. Fruitful in this season, but

  660. we've got to prune this all so the next season could be more

  661. fruitful when those messages go forth.

  662. Every believer's having this thought.

  663. That's a hard say. Up to this one to like we've.

  664. Enjoyed what he says. I want to preach this message,

  665. you know, a little sound clip that comes from the movies,

  666. Jurassic Park. And that's when the guy that's

  667. got the glasses, what's his name?

  668. Jeffrey What? Yeah.

  669. And he's like, goes in the second one and they're, they,

  670. you know, crashed on the island that he doesn't want to be back.

  671. He does not want to go back to that island.

  672. And now he's there. And then they see the dinosaurs

  673. and they're like, oh, ah, And he goes yes.

  674. Oh, and ah, and then there's running and screaming.

  675. And I think that's how many. Believers are is.

  676. Oh, ah, Lord. And then there's running and

  677. screaming because then he says, let me touch you.

  678. Here, let's cut that off. Don't get offended with that.

  679. Now you gonna forgive them? Now I've put it in you, this is

  680. easy. So it was, oh, ah, and then it's

  681. running and screaming. Hallelujah.

  682. I can do this with marriage. I can do this with children.

  683. I can do this with every subject known to man, right?

  684. But he said this is a difficult statement.

  685. A lot of times people are. That's a difficult statement.

  686. When things are being preached, that's a difficult statement,

  687. but the Lord's like saying, hey, I am going to give all so you

  688. can give all. And all that you're giving is in

  689. exchange for all that I'm going to pull out of you.

  690. Your best life ever is if you just do it the way I'm telling

  691. you, because I knew you before you're in your mother's womb.

  692. I knew you before the foundations of the world.

  693. I'm not asking you anything that I I am not willing to do.

  694. In fact I didn't even have to do what I did, but for a word from

  695. God. Are you hearing me verse 61 it

  696. said, but Jesus conscious that his disciples grumbled at this.

  697. You know, I'm conscious when people grumble said to them,

  698. does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of

  699. Man ascending to where he was before?

  700. If the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing, The

  701. words that I have spoken to you are what their spirit and our

  702. life. Don't substitute God's word for

  703. your word and your way of doing it and trying to sound like it's

  704. God saying it. But there are some who do not

  705. believe, he says, For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were

  706. who did not believe and who it was who would betray him.

  707. And he was saying this for the reason that for this reason I

  708. have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been

  709. granted him from the Father. As a result of this many, how

  710. many, how many come on, how many?

  711. And the Bible tells us when the return of Jesus, he says.

  712. That many will fall away from the faith.

  713. So that climates right here and that climates here because the

  714. word of God going forth through the man and woman of God in the

  715. earth, that's declaring as the Kingdom and, and, and tapping in

  716. so that the believer can attain to all that God ordained for

  717. them if they want to maintain something of their own

  718. consciousness, opinion or flesh. It is a difficult saying and you

  719. don't want to be those. That thing that's too difficult,

  720. listen, nothing's impossible for God, so anything he's asking you

  721. to do is not impossible nor actually difficult.

  722. Hallelujah, I said. Hallelujah.

  723. It says as a result, many of his disciples withdrew and we're not

  724. walking with him anymore. And many of you can testify of

  725. people through your tenure on earth that you fellowship either

  726. at this church or other churches that aren't even following God,

  727. not even in church anymore, have substituted how they follow God,

  728. all kinds of things. And he goes on and it says Jesus

  729. said to the 12 verse 67, very powerful he says.

  730. You do not want to go away also, do you?

  731. This is powerful because the Jesus is saying I am going to

  732. fulfill the plan of God. Period.

  733. My emotional attachment to you will not stop me from only doing

  734. it God's way. And He's already ran that test

  735. once with Peter when Peter pulled him aside emotionally and

  736. said, Jesus, may it never happen, we are not going to let

  737. you die. This is not going to happen.

  738. He said, get thee behind me, Satan.

  739. In essence, Jesus said my emotional relationship with you,

  740. of which I have one, I'm connected with you.

  741. I love you. Not emotion, emotionally.

  742. And from a human nature standpoint, He had that kind of

  743. love, connection, a friendship, camaraderie and all that they

  744. had already been through. But all those things do not

  745. supersede the will of my Father, His Word, and I will not

  746. compromise His word just because of our natural relationship.

  747. If our natural relationship cannot stay in the will of the

  748. Father, then I'm going to go with the will of the Father, and

  749. I'm going to have to go in your You may go in a different

  750. direction. Jesus did not run after all of

  751. these that left and begged them to come back.

  752. Did He care for Him? Did he love them?

  753. Was he dying for them? But he sure didn't beg them,

  754. didn't do it. And he looks at his own trusted

  755. 12 that have seen walk did all these things.

  756. And now here they go. Are you going to go too Below

  757. what Peter says? Peter answered.

  758. Peter, you know, he, he can get some revelation in some moments.

  759. He said Lord. To whom shall we go?

  760. You have words of eternal life, I said.

  761. You have words of eternal life. So what was?

  762. That which the Lord gave me a minute ago and I stopped.

  763. He says this, listen to this. I'm going to give you the

  764. thought. Here's a different one.

  765. First these. People were witnesses of him

  766. healing the sick, curing blonde eyes.

  767. The lame were walking. Devils were being cast out.

  768. They saw storms being stopping at a word.

  769. They saw the dead raised, they saw food multiply, they saw all

  770. these things, and yet there was after the food multiplication

  771. that came as a result of God demonstrating what He said in

  772. Matthew 6. If you'll seek first the Kingdom

  773. of God, the rest of this would be added.

  774. And all of a sudden Jesus out and people were coming to hear

  775. his teaching, and He taught for them to them for three days, and

  776. they did not eat. So what did He do?

  777. That's the principle You sought me.

  778. Now I am. Obligated to give you the things

  779. that you weren't seeking. Gentlemen, feed them.

  780. It wasn't just to work a miracle.

  781. It was an obligation to the word that if you'll come after me and

  782. want to hear what I'm saying is sit at my feet and listen to my

  783. teaching and walk in my wisdom. When I'm obligated, man, we are

  784. going to feed these people right now.

  785. The things that they weren't going after, I'm going to give

  786. it to them. They did not say, look, this

  787. meeting is going long enough. I got to get to a place and eat.

  788. I need to eat. So in turn I have to go.

  789. No, they stayed and he said I got to feed them.

  790. I got to feed them. Come on, right?

  791. How many you want some? Bread.

  792. I can get it back there I'm. Working on it, there it is.

  793. Off the wall. I mean, we want the bread of

  794. life, right? Do you want the bread of life?

  795. Come on. Do you want the bread of life?

  796. Kiss it now. Oh, yes.

  797. Wow, do you want the bread of life?

  798. Do you want the bread of life? Come on, do you want it?

  799. Oh, I mean when you want it. You'll do whatever it takes to

  800. go get that stuff right. You'll go after it.

  801. You'll get. I don't know why it keeps

  802. curving. Y'all must be hungry in that one

  803. section. Like the food just keeps coming

  804. to you. I mean, this lady hasn't eaten

  805. for three days. Apparently she has gotten 3

  806. rolls already. My gosh, Hallelujah.

  807. I'm trying to get to this one section over here, but it just

  808. keeps curving. Let me see if I can start a

  809. little earlier. Oh, there it is.

  810. I made it. Now I learned that from golf.

  811. Right, you understand what I'm saying.

  812. It is life. There you go.

  813. Oh, Collin's Trami, he's saying. Can you get it back here?

  814. I mean, I can if the bread would.

  815. Sorry. One more ready.

  816. Oh, Macy, since she made them all, let's thank Macy.

  817. Hallelujah. Do you?

  818. Y'all right? Do you hunger?

  819. Oh, y'all want some scent? Well, nobody in the center.

  820. Really was putting her hand up. Oh, did you OK, I.

  821. Let me see. Here we go.

  822. Here we go. Are you ready?

  823. I need you to catch it. Come on.

  824. Miss Mary's in preschool, so, you know, I got.

  825. She knows how to talk. I'm gonna talk.

  826. You know she's used to it. Come on, Miss Mary.

  827. There it is. Miss Mary.

  828. Miss Mary. Two or three witnesses.

  829. You ready? Are now?

  830. Sometimes you just got to get out of your seat and get more

  831. than enough. Oh, the TV.

  832. Oh, hey, all right. The bread of life.

  833. They saw all this, and yet what did Jesus identify?

  834. So you're. Really only following me for the

  835. things. You're only following me for the

  836. things. See, when you hunger and thirst

  837. for righteousness, God will know the why of your want, because if

  838. all you want and seeking the Kingdom and being in his

  839. presence and sitting at his. Feet is to get the.

  840. Things that come with it, he'll know.

  841. So here was the thought the Lord gave me.

  842. Your wanting cannot be to be known.

  843. A lot of times people, I want to seek Him.

  844. I want to seek His presence. I want to know His power.

  845. I want to I want to know Him and the power of his resurrection.

  846. They want to work in the miraculous because really they

  847. want to be known that they work in the miraculous because they

  848. want the things of healing. They want the things of a word

  849. of knowledge. They want the things of a word

  850. of wisdom. They want the things that come

  851. with the Kingdom. But the Lord's like just you,

  852. you got. To want me and if you get me.

  853. You get it all, I said. You get it all.

  854. And if you. Took some time to just calculate

  855. real quick how much time you are seeking other stuff.

  856. But I want to, I want to help you.

  857. God is not asking you to do whatever you do in the natural

  858. in time. Make sure you're doing the exact

  859. same with Him because in the spirit things are multiplied.

  860. Speed up, it's totally. Different God can do God can

  861. give you a seed and 60 seconds that it would require you

  862. another 10 years to mine out all the revelation again.

  863. It's not oh, I worked out for an hour.

  864. I have to make sure I pray for an hour again.

  865. You're doing it by rote religion.

  866. You're being you're having semantics here, right.

  867. Instead, it's like I want to spend time with him because

  868. wanting is kind of like I can't watch this anymore.

  869. I just heard the Lord. I got to go pray because he's

  870. first. It's not.

  871. Oh, I probably should pray. Well, I'll wait till this show's

  872. over. You see what I'm saying?

  873. It's not the quantity of time, although it will require time.

  874. And again, sometimes if you go into a place, and I've done this

  875. before, I've gone off prayer and fasting, come back.

  876. My wife said would you get anything?

  877. And I was like, no, but I was with him because sometimes I've

  878. had questions that I was asking and did not get an answer, did

  879. not know how to change it yet, did not know how to do.

  880. But I'm say I was with him because at the end of the day,

  881. if I'm with him and I want him, then when the time is right for

  882. whatever needed to take place, my Mama is going to come to

  883. back. Because some of the things that

  884. I'm going through are to develop me and my character to grow me

  885. so that I can endure as a apostle.

  886. Mark she's been preaching is powerful.

  887. OK, let's do a speed round of last verses and we're done.

  888. Are you ready for this Psalms 34 eight old taste and see that the

  889. Lord is whoa, He's good. How blessed is the man who takes

  890. refuge in Him? You're saying the word tastes

  891. good. I said it's good.

  892. In Psalms 1191-O3 it says this. How sweet are your words?

  893. To my taste, Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

  894. Oh my goodness. I mean, do you have this desire

  895. to want to go into the word? And it's satisfied.

  896. It becomes such a taste. And here's the thing I was

  897. talking. About this the other day is

  898. that, you know, during certain holiday seasons, some plates,

  899. some. Items are cooked that are really

  900. good to me. One is a sweet potato casserole.

  901. And so when the sweet potato casserole gets in the house, it

  902. is first. Everyone who's around me knows

  903. that's the first thing I eat, that first.

  904. Not the only time, but first. It's first.

  905. Then when I make my plate, it makes it to the plate.

  906. Then and I know how it tastes, I've already had two plates now

  907. but it's so good. Then when dessert comes, I'll

  908. eat it first, then find a dessert and then when my stomach

  909. really hurts and I should not eat anymore but my taste buds

  910. say. Man, don't you know that you

  911. could taste and see that it is good?

  912. A sweet potato casserole will not last more than 48 hours in

  913. my house, just like a box of cereal will not last more than

  914. 24. That's why I do not buy them,

  915. because I'll make a bowl. This is satisfied, but I.

  916. Think of the taste. See this is the thing, when you

  917. go pursue God, He'll answer, but all of a sudden it'll put a

  918. taste in you. You know, you, you don't have to

  919. eat, but I want to taste it again.

  920. I mean, is God that real to you that Yeah, I did my Bible

  921. reading plan. I read, but man, it tastes so

  922. good to be with him, to fellowship with him, to pray to

  923. him, to, to commune with him, to get down with his word.

  924. You know, I just want another bite.

  925. I just want another bite. I just want another bite because

  926. where am I going to go? He has words of life.

  927. Wow. Last two verses are these

  928. Proverbs 2413 to 14. You said my son, eat honey for

  929. it is good. Yes, the honey from the comb is

  930. sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is thus for

  931. your soul. If you find it, then there will

  932. be a future and a hope will and your hope will not be cut off.

  933. Wow. Last verse comes out of Job.

  934. Job 23. Says this verse 12 he said I

  935. have not departed from the commands of his lips.

  936. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary

  937. food. Question.

  938. How long does it take to be hungry for God?

  939. About 10 seconds don't take long at all.

  940. How long does it take to stay hungry?

  941. Not long at all. My wife will say to me,

  942. sometimes you're getting something to eat.

  943. We just ate well. I just want to taste something

  944. good. And I can do this with a word

  945. all the time. All the time because he's my

  946. first.