Sermon

Author & Finisher - Kingdom Faith with Pastor Marci

Anchor Faith Church

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  1. Hallelujah. So we're going to start in

  2. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 because this year, you know, and

    Hebrews 12 chapter mention

  3. if you have been in our corporate prayer, the Holy

  4. Spirit gave me these scriptures in corporate prayer last week

  5. and I believe it was the week before.

  6. And so I know that this is something that He gave us

  7. corporately through prayer so that the body can grab hold of

  8. it and you need it for this year.

  9. And so because I believe that he does want to do some new things.

  10. He wants to do some new things in the new year, wants to do

  11. some new things in the new year. And it's going to take faith.

  12. It's going to take faith to get it done, to get those things

  13. done that he wants to see in our life and get into places that we

  14. have just been complacent with. Well, it is what it is.

  15. Just like she said, you know if this don't change this year,

  16. it's not up to God. God wants a new thing to change

  17. in your life. Scripture clearly says it.

  18. It's not up to God for those things to change.

  19. It's up for us to believe Him and navigate in what it is that

  20. He sees we need to do to accomplish the change.

  21. Amen. You know, everybody sets their

  22. goals for the year and everybody.

  23. And I'm going to tell you change is happening.

  24. Change is happening, period. And I'm going to tell you every

  25. time God is trying to take people, His people into new

  26. territory. Sometimes people can't change

  27. and go in. And so change is happening all

  28. around us. But we need to determine, are we

  29. going to walk in the change and be together and doing what God

  30. wants us to do together? Or are we going to step out and

  31. do change on our own? Because change this way looks a

  32. little bit bit different. And any times there's change, it

  33. is a perfect opportunity for the enemy to come in and try to get

  34. people because it's during transition when people are.

  35. And we've been there, done that, seen it, and I'm telling you, we

  36. are upon it again. And so we need to be locked in

  37. into the throne room so that we can hear what the Spirit is

  38. truly saying during change that is happening in each and every

  39. one of our lives. Because change is inevitable.

  40. Anything growing must be changing.

  41. If you're not growing, you're not changing and things will

  42. begin to die. OK, So we need to recognize, I

  43. love what Pastor had been saying and teaching about the end times

  44. these last few weeks at the end of the year is that we need to

  45. recognize the time and the season that we're in, right?

  46. They did not recognize their appointed time.

  47. So even when there's change, when things are, we need to

  48. recognize the time and the season and the things that God

  49. is doing spiritually among his body, spiritually in the world.

  50. It's not just recognizing the time and the season we're in

  51. with what he's doing and wrapping this thing up, but what

  52. is the time and the season of what's happening in the body of

  53. Christ spiritually among us? Because if you don't recognize

  54. the time and the season that you're in spiritually, this is

  55. when the enemy will come in and get you off and get you

  56. distracted and get you in a place lost in transition.

  57. Lost in transition. And so this is this is a

  58. prophetic atmosphere. And I'm not just saying this,

  59. I'm telling you this by unction of the Holy Spirit.

  60. So we need to be ever more diligent to pay attention to

  61. what we are doing in this season of change.

  62. Amen. So that we're not going to get

  63. lost in the transition and that we're not going to get out of

  64. place, but we're going to be right where God needs us to be

  65. during it all. And then we're going to yield to

  66. him. And whatever it is that he needs

  67. us to yield to, to change, to grow, and to walk into the next

  68. season, that's going to be upon us as believers.

  69. Amen. Hallelujah.

  70. So yes, I believe he is doing a new thing and wants to do a new

  71. thing, but I do know that it won't happen outside of faith.

  72. OK. And in Hebrews 12/2 it says

  73. this, Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of what

  74. faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,

  75. despising the shame, He sat down at the right hand of the throne

  76. of God. He's at the right hand of the

  77. throne of God. And guess who seats, sits with

  78. him in that seat on the right hand?

  79. We are already in the throne room.

  80. We are in a fixed position. Come on, in Christ he, we are

  81. seated, Ephesians says, right, We are seated with him in

  82. heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are already seated in the

  83. throne room and have full access.

  84. Hallelujah, Glory to God, glory to God.

  85. But he says here, let's look at the Scripture.

  86. It says fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and

  87. perfector of our faith. And when we were in corporate

  88. prayer a few weeks ago, he said to us this that there are some

  89. things that he wants to author in faith in your life this year.

  90. What is author means there is some faith that he wants to

  91. create within your life this year.

  92. He wants to author it. He wants to authorize it.

  93. Come on, glory to God. He wants to create a space in

  94. you for faith to arise like never before.

  95. Come on, what is the scripture said when the the the disciples

  96. talked to Jesus, he they said to him increase our faith.

  97. And there are some things that God wants to increase in our

  98. faith this year. He wants to offer a new place of

  99. faith to for us to walk into, for us to walk into.

  100. Come on, so that's what that word author means.

  101. Guess what else it means when you look it up in the Greek?

  102. It is the beginner. There is some things by faith

  103. that he wants to begin in you. We have not already obtained.

  104. There's some faith, some new things that he wants to begin in

  105. you. But if you're holding on to all

  106. the other old things, come on, and you've not actually allowed

  107. Him to complete in you some old faith projects, come on.

  108. Because we are to go from what? Faith to faith, grace upon

  109. grace, glory to glory. Come on.

  110. That means there is a new place of faith that He wants to take

  111. us corporately and individually. Hallelujah.

  112. And so He wants to create that new space of faith within your

  113. life. So that's what that means,

  114. Author. He's the beginner.

  115. You know what else it means? It means he's the originator of

  116. your faith. He's the originator of your

  117. faith. We've all been given the measure

  118. of faith and measures can increase.

  119. And so he's the originator of our faith.

  120. But guess what? He also wants to continue to

  121. increase our faith and our walk in the Kingdom of God.

  122. And so it also means this author, he's the chief leader.

  123. He's the chief leader of your faith.

  124. Is he the chief leader? That means he's the one that is

  125. allowed to lead me by faith into places that are uncomfortable,

  126. come on, Places that I think I would never be able to walk into

  127. by faith. But he's trying to create a

  128. space within you, come on, to increase your capacity of faith,

  129. to enlarge you into new territory.

  130. Hallelujah. But we have to let him be the

  131. leader, the chief leader in our life.

  132. It also means the captain. All right, Lord, you're wanting

  133. me to step out of the boat, come home by faith.

  134. He's the captain. He's the captain of our faith.

  135. It also means to steer. He's the one that's steering our

  136. faith. So do we trust Him to be the

  137. chief leader and the captain of our faith?

  138. To steer us into a place of unknown or a place to create a

  139. space of increase within our faith life?

  140. Or are we just satisfied with where we're at?

  141. We have enough faith just to believe God that when I die, I

  142. get to go to heaven and believe. Come on.

  143. Is that all the faith you have? No.

  144. So he's the author. He's the one that wants to

  145. increase and create a new space of faith for us to walk into in

  146. this year. And then he says this the

  147. perfector. He's the perfector of our faith.

  148. So there are some things that God wants to do new within us

  149. and create a new space for faith to arise within us.

  150. But there's also a place with Him being the perfector that He

  151. wants completed. That means enough is enough.

  152. Let's finish what I started 10 years ago within your life.

  153. Let's get some things completed that that's not going to keep

  154. you bound anymore. Come on.

  155. Or that addiction is not going to continue to rule over you

  156. anymore. Or that mentality or attitude is

  157. not going to reign in your life anymore.

  158. That I'm actually going to allow God to complete within me the

  159. things that need to be done once and for all so that I can move

  160. into the new. But if you don't allow the old

  161. to be completed, there will be no place for the new to arrive.

  162. So there's some things He wants to complete or perfect within

  163. you to say, listen, I started some things in you by faith, and

  164. you're not allowing me as the chief leader to complete some

  165. projects within your life. So the perfector is broken down

  166. in this Greek word means completer, trans.

  167. Some translation says he's the author and the completer, the

  168. another Greek word is, how about this finisher, finisher.

  169. One translation says he's the finisher, and the Greek says it

  170. too, that there's some things that he wants finished in your

  171. life. He wants you finished with this.

  172. He don't want you to, you know, drag this on into 10 more years.

  173. He wants it finished once and for all within your life.

  174. He's the finisher. He is the one that can bring

  175. something to its conclusion. Can we finally just get to a

  176. conclusion in your life concerning this situation or

  177. that situation because you've allowed God to just complete it

  178. within you and bring to a conclusion.

  179. I'm done with that. I'm never going back.

  180. Goodbye yesterday. Come on.

  181. And then it says this Hallelujah, the perfector.

  182. He's the one that creates and sustains our faith from God, so

  183. that Perfector is the one that's creating and sustaining.

  184. So that means we should never be in a place that we're not in

  185. faith. Because the minute He completes

  186. something in you, there's going to be new room for Him to create

  187. another space of faith. Hallelujah, the author and the

  188. perfector of our faith, of our faith, and the way we're going

  189. to do that is recognize, listen, that there are new things that

  190. God wants to do in our life this year.

  191. Isaiah 42, nine and 10. Indeed, the former things have

  192. come to pass. Now I declare new things, new

  193. things before they spring forth, I will proclaim them to you.

  194. And then of course, if you were in our corporate prayer, I read

  195. verse 10 because it says sing to the Lord a new song.

  196. And I said he wants to do a new thing in your life and he wants

  197. to put a new song in your mouth for this year.

  198. He wants to do something new, and when he wants to do

  199. something new, it can feel uncomfortable, it can feel

  200. shaky. And what I've seen in the 30

  201. years of pastoring people is that when God is trying to

  202. complete something in someone and take them to a space where

  203. he can create something new, that sliver of moment, people

  204. begin to start getting shaky. And I like to call wiggy, they

  205. start wigging out because this is the process.

  206. OK, let's think about what Raphael said about the seed.

  207. The seed has to what be planted has to die, and then it has to

  208. what? Shoot forth?

  209. What starts happening to the dirt when that little thing is

  210. trying to pop forth? Come on, you start seeing the

  211. the the dirt start moving. I mean, have you ever actually

  212. been in a field and watched some new seeds start coming up?

  213. You can literally start seeing the ground start to shake.

  214. What is happening? The ground is shaking.

  215. Your foundation is shaking and stirring.

  216. Come on. Because God is trying to birth

  217. something up out of you new. But it's in that shaking and in

  218. that pushing through. People get lost and they get

  219. distracted. They get distracted and because

  220. they're not handling the, the anxiousness or the change,

  221. something doesn't feel stable in my life.

  222. That is God trying to do something in you.

  223. That doesn't mean you've got to to, you know, quit doing what

  224. you're doing and do something new because I'm going to tell

  225. you if you start doing something that God is not asking you to

  226. do. You can thwart or hinder that

  227. new baby thing from growing up. You can abort it.

  228. So that's why things don't get completed in you because you

  229. can't handle the change of the process that God is doing within

  230. you. And so you think I, I need to go

  231. somewhere else. I need to get a new word.

  232. I need you. And it's the worst time you

  233. could ever, ever separate. It's the worst time because

  234. that's how the enemy can come in and get you off and get you in a

  235. wrong direction. During this time of uneasiness

  236. or you know, a rocky stability in your life of not knowing

  237. where you're supposed to go, you shouldn't move until you've

  238. heard God. And through a a multitude of

  239. wise counsel, Amen. Because that's going to keep you

  240. safe in the midst of what God is trying to do within your life to

  241. make sure that you're moving in the right direction and doing

  242. the right things. And so anyway, so he says here

  243. we're talking about indeed, I'm, I'm ready to do a new thing and

  244. it's ready, right to spring forth.

  245. But that's important in this timing when he's trying to do a

  246. new thing within you. Again, we're going to have to

  247. make sure we stay settled and set where we're at so that

  248. everything that God needs to do within us during that process

  249. and during that uneasiness and during that feeling of change or

  250. whatever it is that God's doing within our heart.

  251. How about this one where you just don't know, You can't

  252. explain how you're feeling inside?

  253. It's the worst time that you could ever do something

  254. different. I've seen too many people get

  255. off in that timing. No, you need to wait till you

  256. have complete peace and let that thing get perfected within you

  257. so that nothing gets uprooted outside of God's timing of what

  258. He's trying to complete or birth new within you.

  259. Amen. That's a word for some people,

  260. if you'll receive it. Isaiah 43.

  261. I had this down. Isaiah 43, which I think is the

  262. scripture that Matt read. 18 and 19 do not remember the former

  263. things. And again, this is where the

  264. enemy wants to keep you trapped. He wants to remind you of all

  265. the past, remind you you can't move forward because of all the

  266. things you've done in the past. No, goodbye yesterday.

  267. Come on, I'm moving in. Don't buy the lie.

  268. Don't buy the lie from the enemy that you cannot move forward.

  269. It says do not remember the former things.

  270. Oh, ponder the things of the past.

  271. Or ponder the things of the past that you know what that means.

  272. Don't meditate on the things of the past.

  273. Don't continue to think about the past and how the past was.

  274. Don't continue to ponder on it. No, for you to move forward,

  275. you're going to have to quit pondering and thinking on former

  276. things or past things for you to move into a new place that God

  277. has for you. So he says this, listen

  278. carefully. See, during this time you need

  279. to listen carefully. And what are we listening to His

  280. word? What are we listening to His

  281. Spirit? What are we listening to the

  282. counsel of the Lord that God has put you up underneath to keep

  283. you safe in this space. And during this time, listen

  284. carefully. I'm about to do a new thing and

  285. now it will spring forth. Will you not be aware of it?

  286. This is why I'm telling you there's some shakiness happening

  287. among people in this body. Will you not be aware of what

  288. God is actually trying to do? Be aware of it, listen

  289. carefully. You see this and I will even put

  290. a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

  291. That means he is going to make a way where you feel like you are

  292. in the wilderness right now. Come on, He is going to make a

  293. way for you if you'll listen carefully.

  294. Come on, if you'll listen carefully to what the Spirit of

  295. the Lord is saying and, and if you will allow him to do that

  296. new thing, he's going to put you on a road.

  297. He's going to make a road for you in the wilderness.

  298. Well, you know what? You can just look back at the

  299. children of Israel and think about the wilderness.

  300. What is the the wilderness is where they were for 40 years.

  301. And he's saying some of you have been in a wilderness position

  302. spiritually for years. Going around what?

  303. You know what Joyce Meyers used to say going around that

  304. mountain every year. Here it is again.

  305. Here it is again, here it is again.

  306. Why? Because we're not allowing him

  307. to complete and perfect to take us into the promised land, the

  308. new thing, the new thing. And so again, he wants to make a

  309. road in the wilderness, but we have to be the ones that are

  310. going to listen carefully during this time.

  311. And then rivers in the desert. What does this represent?

  312. A dry time. Maybe 2024 has been a dry season

  313. spiritually for you. You've just felt dry.

  314. You know what he's saying. I'm ready to give you rivers of

  315. living water again. I'm ready to refresh you like

  316. never before. I'm ready to spring up.

  317. Come on some new fresh water from the Holy Spirit within your

  318. life. Listen.

  319. And the good thing is, is that if we are all filled with the

  320. Spirit of God, we can just make a determination.

  321. I'm going to stir up those whales.

  322. Come on, I'm going to tap into that well.

  323. I'm going to go deeper into stirring myself up in the Spirit

  324. of God because the water had seemed stagnant, but you've got

  325. a new fresh well of rivers of living water flowing, and I'm

  326. going to jump in. Come on, I'm going to dive into

  327. the river and of walking into a freshness of the Spirit of God.

  328. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. What is he saying?

  329. Even though we have to do it, He's saying I'll be there to

  330. give it. I'll be there to give you fresh

  331. water if you'll just tap into it.

  332. If you'll just tap into it, I'll give you some fresh water for

  333. this season that it seemed as if it was dry.

  334. If it's you've been living in a desert, come on for the last

  335. year. But he's got some fresh new

  336. water for you to tap into. Hallelujah.

  337. And do you remember when you are so hot and thirsty and you're

  338. out, you know, outside, say, and you take that first sip of fresh

  339. water? Now, I don't know about you, but

  340. I like ice water. I don't really care for room

  341. temperature water because I feel like that's not as refreshing as

  342. ice when you're in a desert, right?

  343. I want ice water. And you drink that first glass

  344. of refreshing ice water. I mean, just think it's

  345. refreshing. And you know what?

  346. Something else, a tradition which I'm giving away with my

  347. family because my husband reminded me yesterday that

  348. nobody said anything about it at the new year.

  349. My kids and him always had a, what is that called tradition to

  350. be the first one in the ocean for the new year.

  351. And I hadn't heard, not one person say they've done it

  352. because it's been a little cold this new Year, hadn't it?

  353. Not like, you know, past New Year's in Florida, but it's been

  354. extremely cold this New Year. And he reminded me yesterday, he

  355. said I might go jump in that ocean because I hadn't heard one

  356. of my kids text me and say they got in the ocean before me.

  357. But when you jump in, you know, and y'all know, now they're

  358. doing those, you know, the ice baths that really are popular,

  359. you know, jumping in the ice. What is that called?

  360. No. Yeah, the ice baths, it's really

  361. popular now. It's but you're supposed to jump

  362. in it. It's supposed to be shock your,

  363. your nervous system, be good for your immunities and all this

  364. stuff. And so, you know, go jump in an

  365. ice bath to remind you of the refreshing that God wants to do

  366. within you. Go jump in the Florida Ocean

  367. over here. And you know how it feels when

  368. you jump in and you come out and it's freezing cold and freezing

  369. cold for me in May, right? And you jump out.

  370. I mean, you feel, you know, when I give my dog a bath and I do it

  371. with cold water, she gets all excited, you know, from that

  372. cold water starts running around like a spring chicken, you know,

  373. and she's 11 years old, but she'll take off and run around

  374. the yard because it does something, it refreshes you.

  375. It come on it, it wakes you up. And God wants to wake us up.

  376. He wants to do a new refreshing thing within our life this year.

  377. But we are going to have to do it by faith.

  378. We're going to have to lock in and engage our faith to say I'm

  379. going to grab hold of mine. I'm going to get mine right.

  380. And so we are going to have to be those that will by faith

  381. receive what it is that God wants to do.

  382. So He's the author and perfector of our faith.

  383. Psalms 138 and verse 8 says this.

  384. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.

  385. He will perfect or complete that which concerns me.

  386. And that ought to be your faith this year and your confession

  387. this year that God, whatever needs to finally be complete

  388. within me, you will see it come to pass.

  389. The Lord will perfect the thing that is concerning me, whatever

  390. needs to be perfected within me. I am going to trust the Lord

  391. that He will do it, that He will bring it into completion within

  392. my life because He is all about completing something to take you

  393. into another place, to take you in to another place.

  394. And how are we going to be able to though during this time,

  395. during this time for Him to get this accomplished within our

  396. lives, we are going to have to fix our eyes.

  397. He tells us the answer. We're going to have to fix our

  398. eyes on Jesus. That means we're not going to

  399. fix our eyes on what our circumstance looks like.

  400. We're not going to fix our eyes on what reminds us of the past

  401. or how maybe you're having marriage issues and you see the

  402. same behavior. What do you do?

  403. You see the same behavior, so you think there's no change.

  404. So what are you doing? You're fixing your eyes on the

  405. unchanged behavior instead of fixing your eyes.

  406. Oh, Jesus, who is the author and finisher, my faith that I'm

  407. going to be in faith that this thing is going to change within

  408. my marriage. This thing is going to change

  409. within my within this individual's life.

  410. Now I'm no longer going to look at this.

  411. I'm going to look at this and I'm going to stay in faith.

  412. We have to be people that will fix our eyes on Jesus because He

  413. lets us know in Second Corinthians chapter 5 that we

    2 Corinthians 5 chapter mention

  414. are to what for we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

  415. We're going to have to fix our eyes on what the word of God

  416. says, on what the Spirit of God has said.

  417. We're going to have to fix our eyes, right?

  418. We're going to have to say no. What?

  419. I'm going to look at it, at Jesus.

  420. I'm going to look towards his word.

  421. I'm going to look towards what he has said because I am not

  422. going to look at this situation in this circumstance and get

  423. focused on it. I'm going to focus on Jesus.

  424. Hebrews 12/2 in the Amplified. I want to read it, it says

  425. looking away from all that will distract us.

  426. Wow. And that's the problem is that

  427. we get our eyes on the distractions.

  428. We get our eyes focusing on the wrong things during situations

  429. that are going on in our life instead of no fixing my eyes,

  430. focusing on it, not getting distracted about these

  431. situations and circumstances and the things that I see going on.

  432. No, I'm going to lock in. I'm going to fix my eyes on

  433. Jesus. Come on, I'm going to look at

  434. him and I'm not going to be distracted.

  435. So he says looking away from all that will distract us, focusing

  436. our eyes on Jesus. So focus, think about that.

  437. If you have a camera, if you have a telescope, right, what

  438. are some other things you can look through?

  439. When I go to the eye doctor, I have to look through those

  440. things. And he's what?

  441. Tweaking all those little things so that I can focus, right?

  442. I'm going to have to tweak my lenses so that I can stay in

  443. focus with my eyes on what the prize is or what it is that he

  444. says. Instead of focusing on all these

  445. other things that are just trying to pop up to distract us

  446. and get us unfocused, get us distracted, get us on things

  447. that we don't need to be focused on.

  448. We need to focus our faith on Jesus, who is the author and

  449. perfector of our faith. Amen.

  450. Focusing so that we don't get distracted walking by faith and

  451. not by sight. What is faith?

  452. I want to remind you, I think it was, I don't even remember, I

  453. did a whole four or five week session on faith and maybe it

  454. was over the summer. I would encourage you to go back

  455. on iTunes or whatever it's on whatever platform and go back

  456. and re listen to all 66 teachings on faith because he's

  457. telling us to get our focus on faith this year on faith.

  458. So Hebrews 11/1 now. Faith is the substance of

  459. things. What hope for the evidence of

  460. things not seen. This is why he tells us to keep

  461. our focus and to fix our eyes because when we are people in

  462. faith, it's not seen. It doesn't look like what it's

  463. supposed to look like. It's not changing and doing what

  464. it's supposed to be doing during this time that I am now, what

  465. exercise in my faith says it's going to be the opposite of what

  466. it looks like. So faith, we want to remind you,

  467. is a firm persuasion. It's a confident expectation.

  468. This is how you know that you're in faith.

  469. I'm firmly persuaded that this situation is going to change.

  470. Period. It has to change.

  471. It has to change because I'm going to stay in a position of

  472. faith. I'm going to stay fixed and

  473. looking to Jesus. Come on, who is the author and

  474. finisher of my faith in this situation?

  475. It's not just a one and done faith.

  476. Faith is something we are to keep activated, to live by, to

  477. obtain the promises of God within our life.

  478. And we will never obtain all the promises of God in our life if

  479. we are not actively walking by faith in every scenario or

  480. situation that we're encountering.

  481. So we have to ask ourselves, is our faith activated?

  482. Are we firmly persuaded that what God has said concerning

  483. this situation or that circumstance will come to pass?

  484. Amen. So we are going to have to

  485. continue to fix ourselves, fix ourselves in a position of faith

  486. and fix ourselves, our eyes on the prize.

  487. Isaiah 26 and three says this. You will keep him in perfect

  488. peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

  489. So where he says that we are to fix our eyes or get our eyes

  490. focused also this means to turn our mind towards.

  491. So it's not just about focusing your eyes, it's about resetting

  492. your mind to turn it towards what God says instead of what

  493. you're hearing in your mind. So we're going to have to turn,

  494. not just fix, not just our eyes, but we're going to have to turn

  495. our mind set on Him. Our mindset, Come on, we're

  496. going to have to turn our mindset on Him because it's

  497. where this is the enemy's playground.

  498. Remember, He's going to tell you in your mind the opposite of

  499. what you are believing God for. He's going to give you a picture

  500. in your mind that it's not going to work.

  501. That's how the enemy works. He comes to your mind to get you

  502. anxious and overwhelmed and worried, but He's letting us

  503. know we're going to have to fix our eyes.

  504. And then we're going to have to turn our mindset and get it set

  505. on what He has said and what He is doing and what cast down

  506. every thought that's tried to come to our mind and line it up

  507. with the Word of God, right? Corinthians, Second Corinthians,

  508. I believe it is. Take every thought captive and

  509. line it up to what the Word of God says.

  510. And this is how we keep ourselves fixed.

  511. We meditate in the Word, we read the Word, we see what the Word

  512. is saying, and then we set our mind to meditate on it day and

  513. night. Come on day and night, that's

  514. what I'm going to focus on. I'm going to meditate on it, and

  515. then I'm going to have perfect peace in the situation that I'm

  516. standing upon. You know why I'm going to have

  517. perfect peace with my mind stayed on what God has said.

  518. It's because then my faith is activated, and where there's

  519. activation of faith, there's rest, rest, peace.

  520. I don't have to be anxious. I don't have to be worried.

  521. I don't have to care what everybody else thinks.

  522. I don't have to be concerned if they are in agreement with me or

  523. not. Come on, I'm in faith myself.

  524. I'm at peace. I'm at rest.

  525. I don't care, you know, about all these other things.

  526. I'm going to keep my mind set and I'm going to keep my eyes

  527. focused and fixed, right? Because that literally means

  528. when it says whose mind is stayed on you, it means to lean

  529. upon and to rest on committed and focused.

  530. I'm committed to this thing to see it through by faith.

  531. I'm committed to this thing to see it through.

  532. But I'm only going to be able to see it through if I'm in faith,

  533. resting and leaning on him, keeping my eyes fixed and

  534. keeping my mind set. Amen.

  535. I'm going to read US1 more scripture.

  536. Hallelujah. Colossians chapter 3 Colossians

    Colossians 3 chapter mention Colossians 3 chapter mention

  537. chapter 3 and verse 2 says this. Set your mind.

  538. That's what that means. Set, get it set, get it in a

  539. position and don't let it waver. Don't let it move.

  540. Set your mind and keep focused. I'm reading out of the

  541. amplified. So your mind and your your eyes

  542. are one, so to speak. You're set in your mind and your

  543. focus, your eyes as one. And so he says, set your mind

  544. and keep focused habitually on the things above, the heavenly

  545. things, not on things of this earth which are only temporal or

  546. temporary or amplifies as temporal value.

  547. So again, he lets us know we're going to have to set our minds

  548. on the things above. We're going to have to fix our

  549. eyes on Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

  550. We're going to have to be people that by faith, if we are going

  551. to walk into the new things that he has for us, we are going to

  552. have to be people that will actually set ourselves like

  553. Flint. We're not going to be moved.

  554. We're not going to come off of it.

  555. I was sharing this in corporate prayer this morning, and I want

  556. to encourage you. You should be in corporate

  557. prayer. 9:30 We pray for 30 minutes.

  558. Be in here. Do you believe that our answers

  559. come through prayer? Be here because God is always,

  560. you know, here speaking to us, showing us things, giving us a

  561. course, directions and things by the Spirit of God in prayer.

  562. You know, I've had so many people come to me and say I

  563. never knew how to pray until I came to corporate prayer and

  564. started learning how to pray. Come to prayer, people of faith,

  565. actually pray, not just about coming and hearing the word.

  566. Why don't you come and activate your life of faith through

  567. prayer and believe God for some things.

  568. Amen. And so I encourage you with

  569. that. Anyway, let me see what

  570. scripture I'm going to talk about here and then we'll close.

  571. I want to read James chapter 2 Faith, being firmly persuaded

    James 2 chapter mention

  572. that God is the author and perfector of our faith and that

  573. there are some things that need to be completed within our lives

  574. so that we can move forward. We're never going to move

  575. forward if we don't allow Him to get some things completed in our

  576. lives once and for all. And so James chapter 2 and verse

    James 2 chapter mention

  577. 17 through 22 says this. And the amplified so to faith,

  578. if it does not have works to back it up, is by itself dead

  579. and inoperative and ineffective. I never want to be in a position

  580. that my faith is inoperative and ineffective.

  581. And it can be if we don't keep it activated.

  582. And we have to be intentional about that.

  583. It says, but someone may say you claim to have faith and I have

  584. good works. Show me your alleged faith

  585. without the works if you can, and I'll show you my faith by

  586. works, That is, by what I do. So faith is not us just

  587. believing that God died and God raised him from the dead, that

  588. Jesus died and God raised him from the dead.

  589. Faith is not just that. Faith has action.

  590. We are resting in faith in the finished work of Christ, but it

  591. will be inoperative in our life if we don't do something with

  592. it, if we don't do something with it.

  593. And so we must be people that are going to activate our faith

  594. and actually do something with it.

  595. He says I'm going to show you my faith by my works.

  596. That is by what I do. And then he goes on to say you

  597. believe that God is 1. You do well to believe that the

  598. demons also believe that in shudder, in all feared terror,

  599. they have seen his wrath. But are you willing to

  600. recognize, you foolish, spiritually shallow person, that

  601. faith without good works is useless?

  602. Was our father Abraham not shown to be justified by his works of

  603. obedience which expressed his faith when he offered Isaac his

  604. son on the altar as the sacrifice to God?

  605. Verse 22 you see that his faith was working together with his

  606. works, and as a result of the works, his faith was what?

  607. Reaching to it's what maturity when he expressed his faith

  608. through what faith without works or obedience to what God is

  609. saying to do in your situation or your circumstance is dead and

  610. inoperative. And so He cannot complete some

  611. things within us if there's no action behind us doing what it

  612. is that we're hearing to do in the situation, to see it come to

  613. pass in our life. If we're not going to be

  614. obedient to do what He's telling us to do, we can fix our eyes

  615. all day long. Oh Jesus, I love Jesus, I love

  616. you. I love you.

  617. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

  618. Come on, you can sing. I love you to Jesus all day long

  619. and not have obedient works of faith.

  620. You can come to the altar every service and tell Jesus you love

  621. him and cry, but if you walk out and do nothing that he is

  622. telling you to do, it is ineffective.

  623. It's dead. I didn't say it.

  624. James said it by the inspiration of God.

  625. So we cannot fool ourselves or deceive our own selves that

  626. God's done it all and there's nothing we have to do.

  627. That is not faith. It's not grace.

  628. We have to activate faith to live by it every day.

  629. And by living by it every day, that means that we are actually

  630. going to be obedient to what God is telling us to do in whatever

  631. situation we are in. And we're never going to come

  632. on, we're never going to go into a new place of faith if we're

  633. not allowing this other place of faith to ever be completed

  634. within our lives. Of what does that mean?

  635. Things that you know, he's already spoken to you to do.

  636. And if we don't do it, faith is not active.

  637. And so therefore he can't complete a thing within you to

  638. create a new space to move you into, to increase you, because

  639. you refuse to do the very thing he's told us to do in the first

  640. place in obedience. Because faith works by

  641. obedience, works by obedience. Hallelujah.

  642. Not just being able to quote the Scripture.

  643. It's what is it that He's saying to me?

  644. I'm going to obey that I'm going to do it by faith, even though

  645. it may be seemingly difficult. Because nothing's too hard for

  646. God. Nothing's too hard when we tap

  647. into His strength, His ability, His grace to empower us to be

  648. able to do the very things that he's requiring of us to do by

  649. faith, then his grace is there empowering us to be able to

  650. accomplish the very things that he needs.

  651. I'm telling you, God wants to do some new things within some

  652. people's lives, but He's ready to bring some completion to some

  653. things. That's you just been taken to

  654. yourself year after year after year after year.

  655. And you're never allowing God to perfect those things within you

  656. and complete them. And He's saying once and for

  657. all, let's get these things complete within you so that I

  658. can take you into new territory. Come on, so that I can take you

  659. into a new song this year. Come on, so that I can take you

  660. into some new refreshing water this year that I have for you.

  661. Come on, so that I can take you into a place of increase in your

  662. life. Hallelujah.