HINDSIGHT: LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD | PART 1 | Your Spiritual Lens

Heat.

Man, we got one back. Come on, Miss

Carla. Hallelujah.

You guys ready for the word of God? You

guys ready for 2026? How did that

happen? Man, here we are standing in a

whole new year and and uh ready to kind

of make some changes in life. Uh if

you're a a guest with us, my name is

Ben. I have the opportunity to serve as

lead pastor here and so thankful you're

with us. Uh man, we're just seeing week

after week uh new guest uh first time

guest, second time guest. Uh and

thankful uh people must like us because

they keep coming back. Ain't that cool?

And uh excited for what God's doing in

Grace Summit Church. Uh, I want to pray

and we're going to dive into the word.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for

revelation today, insight,

understanding, Father, into your

spiritual truth. Father, I thank you,

God, for allowing us, God, the grace and

mercy to serve you well, to be sons and

daughters of the most high God. Father,

to walk in freedom and victory and

power. Father, you've given so much to

us. You've blessed us so well. And so,

Father, in this hour, we bless you with

our attention.

Father, we thank you that all

distractions be removed now in Jesus'

name. Lord, that our eyes and our ears

and our hearts are turned towards

heaven. And Father, we receive your word

for us today in Jesus name. Amen.

So, hey, we're we're standing in a new

year and uh man, I I was hoping that uh

Corny Joke Sunday died last year, but I

but I noticed that Corny Joke snuck into

the 2026.

Man, I was I was uh watching online last

week and I'm like, what are these guys

doing?

Kind of fun, isn't it?

Yeah. standing in a new year and you

know a lot of us use uh new years as

kind of a chance to hit the reset

button. We've already talked briefly

about resolutions and and uh there

there's this kind of sense of hope uh

when it changes years, doesn't it? Uh it

kind of uh feel like we can uh start

some things over again and and uh in a

sense uh you know sometimes our prayer

is uh God let this year be different.

Anyone have that in their spirit, in

their heart, looking for something

different in 2026?

And a lot of times with New Year's

resolutions, we end up with new journals

that are blank. Uh we sometimes put

together, if you're anything like me,

man, I'm a visionary. I'm a visual

visual guy. And I like the vision board.

Now, I use dry erase boards. I like to

get all crazy with it and draw and kind

of cast it out. What What are we going

to do this year? What's it going to look

like? And and so some of you have been

working on a vision board. Uh maybe it's

just me that does crazy stuff like that.

Uh some of you uh maybe renewed your gym

membership.

Some of you need to renew your gym

membership.

New gym bag, new gym shoes, right? We're

going to lose some weight in 2026. We're

going to start eating right. And and uh

some of you kind of reset your budget

and and looking at uh how to spend

differently and in this year to come.

And and really in the middle of all this

new energy

as I bow myself before God and allow God

to speak to me, the uh what I receive in

the spirit

is the word pause. Say pause.

to kind of put the brakes on a little

bit because sometimes we get caught up

in the new energy to move forward before

we even really have received from God

the instructions of where he's taken us.

I want you to say this out loud and let

me just build this for a minute. We're

in a series called hindsight,

looking back to move forward. And I want

you to say this out loud. My past

is not my prison.

It's my weapon.

That's the theme for the day.

My past is not my prison.

It's my weapon. Here's the revelation

for your 2026. The new year doesn't

change your life. A new lens does.

A lot of things in the spiritual realm,

our victory a lot of times is sitting uh

make or break on our perspective.

on our perspective. And I want to give

you a lens today called hindsight. We're

looking back to move forward. But how'd

you guys like the '9s worship, by the

way? Isn't that kind of fun, man? I

didn't even have to hear the lyrics. I

didn't know what all songs you were

doing, but soon as I walked in, I was

like, "Oh, that's trading my sorrows,

baby. What's up?

About to get down." Yes, Lord. Yes, man.

We used to do the Pentecostal. Yes,

Lord. Yes, Lord. Yeah.

getting it in. Then you get the you get

the hard drum stop and it would just be

vocals, man. 90s worship, baby. Bringing

it back.

Yeah,

we're going to do it. I wanted to go

back to the 70s. That would have been

fun,

man. Maybe we should have had Bill

Glover. He's not He was in first

service. We should have had Petra come

back and do a little

Praise the Lord. All right, I'm getting

off my notes. What are we talking about?

Looking back to move forward. You know,

we've all heard the saying, hindsight is

2020. You guys familiar with that? Uh

I've noticed that uh sometimes looking

back can come also with disappointments

or shame

or pain.

Today we're not talking about the

hindsight of regret. We're talking about

the hindsight of Revelation.

You know, I think about Joseph and just

a couple of months ago, we kind of

unpacked the story of Joseph and and uh

it's Genesis 37, I think, through about

chapter 50. And Joseph was sold into

slavery by his brothers. And I kind of

think about this scene. He's in

Poniper's house. He's he's been in

prison. And uh you know I I imagine his

hindsight being kind of a raw footage of

of pain and disappointment uh of

injustice, right? I know that uh it

doesn't sound like a good idea to have

my family sell me off into slavery

and sell me and I'm in prison and and

all these bad things are happening. Have

you guys ever had any bad things happen

to you?

And do you know that bad things have a

tendency to shape our perspective about

the future?

You're a product of your past, not a

prisoner of your past.

But Joseph, when his brothers finally uh

have an opportunity to be face to face

with him in Genesis 50, this is what

Joseph says. He says to his brothers, he

says, "You intended to harm me, but God

intended it for good."

My goodness. Do you guys know that what

the devil meant for evil, God turns and

uses for good. And when we look back on

our story, because all of us have one,

and we have those moments of pain and

hurt and disappointment and all these

different things, we have the

opportunity to have a perspective that

would be raw footage and that would just

continue to pull us down. Or we can look

back and say, "What the devil meant for

evil, God, you're going to turn and use

it for my good because I'm in love with

Jesus." Amen.

That's what Joseph was doing. You

intended to harm me, but God intended it

for good. The events didn't change. His

perception of them did.

The Apostle Paul in the New Testament,

he's praying for the church in Ephesus,

and he didn't pray for their

circumstances to change.

He prayed for their perspective to be

upgraded.

He prayed this in Ephesians 1 verse 18

Ephesians 1:18

that the eyes of your heart may be

enlightened.

The eyes of your heart

may be enlightened.

It's a light bulb moment. He's talking

about spiritual hindsight that you would

be able to see through the revelation of

the spirit what God is actually doing.

what God actually did in that season,

how God actually carried you through and

spared your life and saved you from this

and all of the good things that God did.

Now, the enemy will mess with you.

Oh, you've had that happen, too. The

enemy will attack you and mess with you,

but he has no power over you if your

perspective is God, you're going to use

it for my good.

It's perspective.

Isaiah 30:20

Isaiah 30:20

says this, "And though the Lord give you

the bread of adversity," wait a minute.

I thought God was a good God.

I thought God was a a bless me type God.

Why does it say that God would give us

the bread of adversity? What else does

it say? And the water of affliction.

That's strange. He says, "Yet your

teacher, capital T, will not hide

himself anymore."

Do you know that the Holy Spirit will

guide you into all truth? That the Holy

Spirit is your teacher. And when we

allow the Holy Spirit on the inside of

us to be awakened, it illuminates the

truth about the circumstance you're up

against.

He says, "Your teacher will not hide

himself anymore, but your eyes shall see

your teacher." Listen to verse 21. And

your ears shall hear a word behind you.

Say behind you.

Shall hear a word behind you saying,

"This is the way. Walk in it." When you

turn to the right and when you turn to

the left.

Verse 22 says this, "Then you will

defile your carved idols overlaid with

silver, your goldplated metal images.

You will scatter them as unclean things.

You will say to them, "Be gone.

Hindsight is 2020. We're talking about

spiritual hindsight. The Bible says that

there is a voice behind you saying,

"This is the way. Now walk therein."

There's a voice behind you giving you

perspective on on how you should look at

things and where you should move forward

into. And in this he says when that

voice behind you says walk, this is the

way walk therein. It says, "Now you'll

you'll defile those those idols and

those carved things, those other things

that you worship. You'll look at them

and you'll say, "Be gone."

How many times I've looked back at the

pain in my past and I've allowed it to

hold me in bondage in my present?

Have you been there?

And no matter how bad I knew that it

was, no matter how bad I wanted to break

free from it, I felt powerless

to it. Am I preaching to anyone this

morning?

Absolutely powerless to it.

And this scripture says there's a voice

behind me saying, "This is the way. Walk

therein." There's a voice behind me

saying, "There's a voice behind me.

There's a hindsight spiritual

revelation. Do you guys know that God is

beyond time?

Yeah, I was thinking about this the

other day. Sometimes I just think about

scripture and uh I was thinking about

the mount of transfiguration when Jesus

goes up and Moses and Elijah are there

and I was thinking about, you know,

Moses never made it into the promised

land. I'm just talking to the Christians

for a minute. If you don't know these

stories, hang with me for a minute.

Moses never made it in the promise. Do

you know that he made it into the

promised land on that day? because he's

standing on the mountain with Christ.

And Elijah was there. Now listen, when

Moses went up and Elijah went up, there

was never a break in time. They weren't

in some holding place for a while. When

they went up, Jesus went up and they met

on that mountain together. They

transcended time.

Okay, maybe that was just for me.

Your ears

shall hear a word behind you saying,

"This is the way.

Walk in it."

Before we dive in too far, I want to

talk about the devil for a minute.

Not to glorify him because he's a bum

and an idiot and I think he smells

funny.

Not to glorify him, but to expose him.

I'm going to tell on the devil. If

you're taking notes, write this down. He

doesn't need to destroy you if he can

distract you.

He doesn't need to destroy you if he can

distract you.

He doesn't need to frighten you

if he can blind you.

That's why Paul was praying that the

eyes of your heart may be enlightened

because the enemy is emphatic and

constant and and unrelenting

to blind you to the truth about your

circumstances of life.

Blind you to hindsight.

Blind you to what God has already said.

to blind you to what God has already

done in your life. Blind to the fact

that you already have the victory.

That's the truth.

See, the devil's favorite weapon isn't

fear. It's forgetfulness.

If he can make you forget how God

blessed you in past seasons, he can keep

you from receiving the faith to move

into the next season.

from Genesis to Revelation. I love how

raw and how real the Bible is that we

see uh the hardships. We see people

fail. We see people fall. And it's not

because they lacked power. Often times

it's because they lost perspective.

I think back to the original sin with

Adam and Eve in the garden with the

serpent.

And I look at what the serpent actually

attacked. He didn't attack Eve's hands.

He attacked her memory.

You guys remember this? Did God really

say?

Did Did God really Let me Let me jog

your memory for a minute, Eve. Did Did

God really say all those things? I mean,

did he did he mean it this way or did he

mean it that way? And and so the enemy

comes in, starts questioning you. And

the first sin really was spiritual

amnesia.

She forgot

how good God is. She forgot what God had

said.

And Eve fell for lack of hindsight.

If the devil can make you forget what

God said, he can keep you from what God

has.

And I think one of the worst mistakes we

can make is acting like the devil is

some cartoon in red pajamas with a

pitchfork.

Sometimes we get this idea that that

it's you have Hollywood and all these

different things, but uh we think the

devil is just coming out all evil and

crazy and dark.

But the devil actually comes whispering

in your ear

to challenge your memory of how you see

God.

The devil is strategic.

He's subtle.

He's surgical.

Here's what I found is that the devil

can't defeat

what God has done. So, he makes you

doubt what God has said.

Let me show you how the devil gets you.

James chapter 1 says it like this, that

James 1 · chapter mention

each one is tempted when they are

dragged away by their own desires and

enticed.

tempted when you're dragged away by your

own desires

and enticed.

Temptation is very rarely about what's

in front of you. It starts with what's

inside of you.

Man, you can write that down.

You know, God has brought me a mighty,

mighty long way.

Uh to even be standing on this platform

is a miracle. And I look back on my

testimony, right? And I have I have a

past and my past is probably worse than

yours.

M maybe uh Pastor Dan's the only one

that'll give me a run for the for my

money.

You were you worse than me?

>> Pretty close.

Couple of bums.

If you're new, you may not know this,

but man, I got delivered out of some

wild stuff. crack cocaine and heroin and

and running the streets and in jails and

institutions and and rehabs and and just

an absolute train wreck, right? And and

I can look back on that and I can go,

well, uh, addiction just runs in my

family. I can look back and say, "Wo was

me." And all these different things. Or

I can look back and see how far God has

brought me. Now, I want to share this.

Uh, you guys might not know, but Pastor

Dan and I go back a little ways,

20 years. You know what that means?

You're getting old.

>> But working with him early on in my

ministry experience, uh, there was a

guy, man, and I'm I'm just my my

mentality was this when I first got

saved, it was kind of preached to me

this way that you stay away from people,

places, and things. And so, so, you

know, coming out of my extreme

addiction, I I would feel some feelings

that I didn't like sometimes. And I

remember being out in public and

smelling something that would that would

start to stir up that old addiction. And

I remember standing in public with cold

sweats and it had been months since I

had used anything. And the enemy was

playing off of those desires. And and

man, I remember hearing a song. Matter

of fact, I took a a student to the

doctor and I'm sitting in the waiting

room and I hear this old song from my

old sin life that started stirring all

of those old feelings. And I remember

just feeling like I was still in

bondage, almost like a dry drunk. I

mean, I had been away from the

addiction, but the addiction hadn't got

out of me yet.

Amen.

After serving for a while and really

being serious about pursuing God, Pastor

Dan called me in his office one day and

said, "Hey, uh, so and so is uh, in a

bad way, and I want you to go with me to

rescue him." Sounds good. Let's go. So,

brother So and So is in the worst motel.

You know that motel?

Yeah. the the the really crummy one and

he's been held up in there for days

using and doing all of his crazy sin

life stuff. And so so Pastor Dan and I

are going marching into hell for a

heavenly cause. We're going to deliver

to get this guy out of here and bring

him back to Teen Challenge and and get

him stable. And I remember walking in

there and seeing all of my pasts laying

out

all of the things that would normally

just wreck me. And I remember the Holy

Spirit on the inside of me feeling

grieved about the atmosphere I was in

and seeing my friend which once was a

brother in Christ hurting in such a way

that man I just we just wanted to get

him out of there. But I wasn't tempted.

Can I tell you that the that the

opposition, the temptation is very

little to do with what's on the outside.

It has everything to do with what's on

the inside of you.

That wasn't in my notes. That was free

this morning.

The devil's trying to use your desires

against you. And here's the tricky part.

A lot of times temptation looks like

opportunity.

It doesn't look like evil. Doesn't look

like a guy with a pitchfork and horns.

Sometimes it looks like this. Uh maybe

this will make me happy.

Maybe this will finally prove that I'm

enough.

Maybe this will fix what's broken inside

of me.

I like to look within myself and figure

out the why. Why am I doing what I'm

doing?

And is it from some pain or insecurity

or trying to prove myself?

Or is it under uncction and prompting

and leading of the Holy Spirit? Because

I want to tell you friend, there is a

voice behind you that is saying this is

the way. Now walk therein.

Let me give you the power of hindsight

today. This is my personal game plan on

for 2026.

I'm going to give you three hindsights.

Number one is the hindsight of his word.

The hindsight of his word.

Matthew chapter 4. Many of us are

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

familiar with the story, but that Jesus

is fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.

The Bible says that he's hungry. That's

a gross understatement. After not eating

for 40 days and 40 nights, I would

assume that he's tired. He's out in the

wilderness. And do you know that's right

when the devil shows up to tempt him? Do

you know that the enemy of your life has

strategic timing? He will find you when

you're wore out, when you're weak, when

you're just not in the mood to handle it

right now. Whatever that is, that's when

the enemy will pounce and go, "Oh, oh,

look, she's tired. He's Oh, look, he's

already upset. So, I'm going to I'm

going to pounce on him right now." The

enemy did this to Jesus. When Jesus

hasn't eaten anything for 40 days and 40

nights, and he's hungry and he's tired,

the devil shows up and says, says,

"Jesus, I I can tell you're hungry. Why

don't you just turn those stones into

bread? you'll be just fine.

Playing off of a desire. Jesus has a

desire to eat food after 40 days of

starving himself.

What does Jesus say?

He reaches back into what God has

already said into hindsight.

He says, "It is written, man shall not

live on bread alone, but every word that

proceedth out of the mouth of God.

Take that, devil.

Do you notice that Jesus didn't come up

with some new insight,

some new revelation, some new power?

Do you realize that Jesus, our Lord and

Savior, God in human flesh, reached back

into the written word, hindsight, and

said, "Devil, it is written. It's

already been set. It's already been

established. And the word of God has

power to destroy you. It is written.

Devil doesn't give up because he's an

idiot.

I want you to hear this. The word of God

is not just information. It's

ammunition.

You can write that down for your 2026.

You know, atheists, agnostics, different

ones, historians, archaeologists, they

look at this as just information.

But I got to tell you, it's the sword of

the spirit. This thing is sharp as a

double-edged sword, piercing to the

dividing aunderder of spirit and soul,

joint and marorrow. It's a discerner of

the thoughts and the intents of the

heart. This word is alive. This word is

powerful. And whenever the enemy comes

against me, all I have to do is stand on

it and say, "It is written, devil.

It is established."

The devil goes on verse 6, Matthew 4:6,

Matthew 4:6

he says, "If you are the son of God,

throw yourself down, for it is written,

he will command his angels concerning

you." Do you notice that the devil now

uses the written word against Jesus, the

Savior?

He goes, "Oh, you want to play that

game? I know the word of God, too.

And he says, "Throw yourself down."

Really, what he's saying is, "If God

loves you, prove it.

If God's really for you, he'll take care

of your budget. If God's really for you,

he'll heal you. He doesn't want you to

be in pain. If God actually loved you,

and if you ever had this dialogue going

in on inside of you, if God really loved

me,

maybe God had nothing to do with it.

Maybe it's your own junk and God's

waiting for you to catch perspective, to

receive him, to gain freedom.

If you are the son of God, throw

yourself down.

Jesus says again, "It is written, you

shall not put the Lord your God to the

test."

Jesus doesn't try to prove himself.

He stands on hindsight, the written

word. Listen, validation doesn't come

from proving yourself.

Someone in here needs to hear that. It

comes from positioning yourself in him.

Again, the devil comes in verse 8, he

says again, the devil took him to a very

high mountain and showed him all the

kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, all these I will

give you if you will fall down and

worship me. The devil is such an idiot,

>> ain't he?

>> Fall down and worship you. What an

arrogant, selfish thing to say

when he's a created being.

God's the one to be worshiped, not him.

Verse 10. Then Jesus said to him, "Be

gone, Satan." Catch this. For it is

written, "You shall worship the Lord

your God, and him only shall you serve."

Then the devil left him.

Then the devil left him. Then the devil

will leave you

when we stand on the word. It is

written. Hindsight is 2020.

Then the devil left him and behold

angels came and were ministering to him.

I love it that Jesus doesn't negotiate.

Jesus doesn't debate. He stands on that

it is written.

There's one thing that I want you to get

for your 2026. That's begone Satan. It

is written.

Get the devil off our lives.

Number one is the hindsight of his word.

Number two is the hindsight of his

works. Say works.

Revelation 12:11 says this. And they

Revelation 12:11

overcame him. Overcame the devil by the

blood of the lamb

and by the word of their testimony.

They overcame the devil by the blood of

the lamb and the word of their

testimony. That word testimony in the

original language, I love studying

original coin a Greek for some reason.

It's uh maturia

means evidence.

It's not just your story.

It's the evidence of God in your life.

Evidence. that's used as a legal term in

the first century.

See, when the enemy comes in,

he attempts to build a case against you.

He's much like a spiritual prosecuting

attorney in your trial.

You'll never be good enough.

You'll never break free from this.

You'll never you're not able.

Comes and builds his case against you.

And your testimony is the evidence. It's

ex exhibit A of God's faithfulness, of

God's breakthrough, of freedom in your

life. It's Jesus stepping in as your

defense attorney.

Somebody needs freedom in the house of

God.

Your testimony is sharing the evidence

of what Jesus has done in your life.

God before me, who can be against me? Do

you know that your hindsight is a

weapon?

Freedom. The devil isn't afraid of your

goals for 2026.

He's terrified of your memories of what

God has done in your life.

Oh my goodness. That's the good stuff.

Hindsight of his works.

David, King David in Psalm 77, it's a

psalm that starts out, David's in very

deep distress. Verse 2 and three, he

says this. He says, "My soul refuses to

be comforted." Have you been there?

I remember you, God, and I groaned.

I meditated and my spirit grew faint.

There's the woe is me perspective of

King David. You read it down a little

bit further in verse 11. And he says

this. He says,"I will remember the deeds

of the Lord." In other words, the works

of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your

wonders of old. I will ponder all your

work and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Your way, oh God, is holy.

What God is great like our God.

You are the God who works wonders. You

have made known your might among the

peoples.

David moves from meditating on his pain

to meditating on God's power.

It's what God is calling us to. The Old

Testament, there's a lot of times that

God commands his people to remember. Uh

when we take communion, we remember. God

commands us to remember. Why does God

tell his people to remember?

The Hebrew word for remember

means to bring the past into the

present.

To bring it into present tense.

And so when I look back at how God

brought me through here and how God

brought me through here and I look back

to the written word and I say it is

written, it is said, is established. I'm

pulling all of that into my present

tense. I'm looking back so that I can

move forward. Because how many times

have I looked back and stood gripped

with fear and pain and hurt and been

stuck in bondage.

Spiritual hindsight is 2020. It says

remember bring that power from the past

into your present.

Your testimony is bringing into present

the evidence of God in your life.

Deuteronomy 8 says, ' Remember the Lord

your God, for it is he who gives you

power. Deuteronomy 15:15, you shall

Deuteronomy 15:15

remember that you were a slave in the

land of Egypt, and the Lord your God

redeemed you.

Remember,

remember, it's hindsight

of his works.

It's kind of like showing the devil a

receipt.

It's already been paid for. It's already

been set. It's already been established.

And the enemy will come to you in 2026.

He will come and try to tempt you and

lure you and mess with you.

But when you remember, when you step in

hindsight, it's pulling out that receipt

and saying, "Uh-uh, God seen me through

here, and God will see me through here."

It's your living record of the works of

God. Look at David when he was young.

This young shepherd boy facing the giant

named Goliath. You know, the entire army

was frozen in fear.

But David isn't looking at the giant in

front of him. He's looking at the lion

and the bear behind him.

He tells Saul this. He says, "The Lord

who rescued me from the paw of the lion

and the bear will rescue me from the

hand of this Philistine."

He pulls out the receipt. He says, "Man,

I was out in the wilderness and this

lion tried to kill me and steal all my

sheep. And God, you showed up and I was

able to kill this lion. I was able to

kill that bear under uncction of the

Holy Spirit. And God, I knew that I

couldn't do it on my own strength. You

brought me through and you killed that

lion through me. And I'm standing face

to face with this giant, nasty, stinky

Philistine that's trying to kill me and

all of my people. And I'm not I'm not

looking for something new now. I'm

standing on the God that I know has

carried me through. Amen.

Hindsight is 2020.

Write this down. Your past victory is

the down payment on your future

deliverance.

David didn't have confidence in his

slingshot.

He had evidence in his story.

He's saying, "This giant is just a lion

in different armor."

Here's what we need to remember in 2026.

We're not facing a new problem. We're

facing an old enemy with a new costume.

Hindsight of his word, number one.

Number two is hindsight of his works.

And number three is hindsight of his

wounds.

Revelation 12:11 again says this. And

Revelation 12:11

they overcame him by what?

The blood of the lamb.

The blood of the lamb. And by the word

of their testimony. So we have the

evidence of God working. But can I tell

you that your testimony is only your

story until it's covered with the blood?

It's the receipt that says paid in full.

When the enemy accuses you, comes

against you, you pull out that blood

stained receipt. You look at the devil

and you say, "Case closed. Get out of

here."

Man,

that's good news. That's good news

because the blood of Jesus Christ

completely disarmed all power of the

enemy. He has nothing to use against

you.

No legal rights. On the cross, every

accusation, every ounce of shame and

guilt was destroyed. Every chain, every

bondage shattered. Colossians 2:13 says

Colossians 2:13

this, "And you who were dead in your

trespasses and the uncircumcision of

your flesh, God made alive together with

him, having forgiven us all our

trespasses." Listen to verse 14. and by

cancelling the record of debt that stood

against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the

cross. He disarmed the rulers and

authorities and put them to open shame

by triumphing over them in him.

That's the it is written devil. Amen.

There's no authority, no ruler, no power

of darkness that can overcome you. You

have freedom. You have victory. You have

power in Christ through the blood of

Jesus.

That's the it is written.

The devil's greatest weapon is

accusation. And Jesus's final answer was

crucifixion.

When the enemy comes against you and

digs up your past and hurls accusations,

you don't have to flinch. You don't have

to hide. You just point to the cross.

say the judge already declared me not

guilty.

Awtoer said this. He said refuse to be

intimidated

by the propaganda of the devil. The

blood of Christ is still powerful to

save, to cleanse, to restore,

and to overcome.

You might be in here today carrying some

old accusations, some old labels.

something that calls you failure,

broken, not good enough,

damaged goods.

I'm here to tell you that the cross is

God's receipt.

It's the bloodstained proof that your

freedom has been fully purchased.

As we stand at the starting line of

2026,

let me give you a new resolution to take

with you.

Rehearse the receipts.

Rehearse the receipts

of God showing up in your life.

Write down what God has done.

Journal the victory. Screenshot the

answered prayers. Whatever you got to do

that you remember the goodness of God in

your life. Amen. I wrote this down. It's

it says this. What you rehearse you will

remember and what you remember you will

repeat.

That's good news.

I'm not entering 2026 hoping that God

might do something.

I'm entering 2026 knowing that God has

already done everything that we need.

And we just stand in him.

I want to challenge you as we're

standing at the beginning of a new year

to pray and receive a word from God for

your life.

I'll go first.

Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. Being

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

confident of this very thing, that he

who hath begun a good work in you will

perform it until the day of Jesus

Christ.

I've received that as my word for the

year.

God started a good work in me

and I believe he's going to continue to

perform that until we make it home to

see Jesus face to face.

Stand to your feet with me all over this

house.

If God before you, who can be against

you?

If God before you, who can be against

you?

If God before me, who in the world could

be against me?

We don't have to come up with some new

strategy,

some new idea.

You guys ever get sick of all the

salesmen?

Lose weight with three easy steps.

Financial freedom. Do this. Do this.

Shut up.

I'm not trying to come up with some new

strategy for 2026. I'm standing on the

foundation.

The ancient of days, the alpha and the

omega, the beginning and the last, the

one that transcends time. I'm standing

upon the foundation. I call him Jesus.

I want to speak a declaration over your

life and over your year.

And if you would receive this

declaration, just raise your hands

towards heaven and posture yourself in

prayer before God.

This year 2026,

you will not move forward with spiritual

amnesia.

You will march into your future

with holy hindsight.

The memories the enemy tried to use to

shame you

will become the sermons that you preach

to others.

The tears you cried in the dark

will become the testimony that leads

others to the light.

Your past will not be a weight on your

back

but will be a wind at your back.

You will look at every giant and say,

"My God is a giant slayer."

You will face every red sea and say, "My

God is a way maker."

You will walk through every fire and

say, "My God is the fourth man standing

with me."

2026 is your year of freedom,

of victory,

and power.

If you receive that declaration, say,

"Amen."

>> Amen.

Praise you, Jesus.

I'm going to ask the worship team to

join me up here.

In just a moment, we're going to close

with worship. Our prayer team is going

to be up here. And if you need to

receive prayer for anything, whether

that's a physical healing, an emotional

healing, if it's a blessing prayer over

your 2026,

if it's for an unsaved loved one,

whatever your need is, I want to invite

you to an altar of prayer as we worship

together. Pray with me. Father, we thank

you, Lord, for the spirit of the living

God dwelling on the inside of us. And

Father, we pray that in this season,

your spirit would overwhelm the system,

God. that you would rise up on the

inside of us in this 2026, God, pushing

out all powers of darkness, all powers

of the enemy. Father, we pray that this

would be the year that the lion roars

through us. Father, we thank you for

revival in our personal lives in 2026.

Father, I thank you Lord

for you using our lives that others

might be saved and come to the knowledge

of Jesus Christ be forgiven their sins

and make heaven their home. Father, I

thank you for blessing us in Jesus name.

Amen. The altars are open. Won't you

come?