I'm Not Full Yet

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

So I want to read one verse from one scripture in the Gospel of John, chapter 10, beginning at verse number 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

I mean chapter 10 and verse 10.

And this is what it says from the New International Version of the Scriptures.

It says this the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

So I live in Georgia now, spent some time in Jersey, but I was reared and raised in a small town called Kilmicha, Mississippi.

According to the last census, it's a population of under 500 people.

There were about 32 people in my graduating high school class.

There are no stoplights in my town.

There is one doctor in my town.

And there is, there was, when I grew up, one full-time police officer who covered the day shift, and my bus driver named Dooney covered the night shift.

But I love being reared and raised in that area.

And as a result of that, we I became familiar with and exposed to what we would call Mississippi legends.

And there was a Mississippi influencer from a town not too far from me called Yazoo City, Mississippi.

And his name was Zig Ziglar.

And so, and and I got introduced to some of Zig's work at an early age, and it really piqued my interest, not just in the spiritual development space, but in the personal development space.

And I was recently doing some reading, and I came across this concept that I think is important when it comes to what I'm attempting to articulate tonight, and it is this concept called quantum leaps.

And it is a term that is borrowed from quantum physics, and it describes how a particle of matter can leap from one space into the next space instantaneously.

And when that term or that concept is applied to the reality of growth, what it does is it debunks the notion that all growth has to be incremental.

That some growth will be incremental.

But all growth does not have to be incremental.

Some growth can be exponential.

That the scriptures are clear in communicating that God is a God who orders our steps.

But I want to tell you, not only does God order our steps, God arranges our leaps.

And there are certain spaces in our life where we may have to take steps, but there are other places and spaces in our life where we can take leap.

And I just want to pause and talk to some people who feel like maybe you're behind schedule, who feel like maybe you mismanaged some previous seasons, who feel like maybe you're at an age and a stage in your life that it's going to be impossible for you to reach your redemptive potential and become all that God has called and created you to be.

I want you to know we serve a God that arranges quantum leaps.

That we can make up for lost time.

As a matter of fact, the prophet Joel uh describes God as the Messiah, rather as a redeemer of time.

And this concept of God being a redeemer of time doesn't necessarily mean that God gives us more time.

It means that God buys back time.

In other words, he takes the time that we have left and he does so much in the time that we have left that it makes up for the time we wasted.

It means he can take one year and do so much in one year that it makes up for what didn't happen in five years.

I want to know, am I talking to anybody tonight that's got that kind of faith?

I want to know, am I talking to anyone tonight that has that kind of expectation that everything doesn't have to happen incrementally?

Some things can happen exponentially.

There are some areas where we can experience quantum leaps.

And if we're going to experience some quantum leaps, I think there's some laws, I call them lift laws or leap laws that we need to understand and embrace to properly position ourselves to do so.

If you want a quantum leap in some area of your life this year, wave at me, wave at me, okay?

Here it is.

Where here are three laws for my note takers for those who want to experience and embrace quantum leaps this year.

The first law is a law I've affectionately entitled the law of adjustments.

And this simply says if I am unwilling to adjust, I'll be unable to elevate.

Something that we want to have is often on the other side of an adjustment we've been unwilling to make.

And I believe the adversary specializes in inflexibility.

He doesn't want us to be flexible, he doesn't want us to be open, he doesn't want us to be amenable.

And when I look all throughout scripture, I see examples of people who almost missed out on quantum leaps because they were inflexible.

I could take you and introduce you to a gentleman named Naaman who was a captain in the Syrian army, and he was decorated, he was influential, he was affluent, he was capable, he was erodite, but he had leprosy.

And one of the young women who was serving in his home made a recommendation that he go see a prophet who would be able to aid and assist him of ridding himself of this leprosy.

He goes up to the prophet's house with his entourage and his retinue, and he says, I'm Naaman.

And I came here to see the prophet.

The prophet doesn't even come outside to see Naaman.

He said, Tell him to go dip in the Jordan River seven times.

And Naaman's like, out of all the rivers you told me to dip in, you want me to dip in the Jordan River?

You want me to get clean in a dirty river?

This doesn't make sense.

And the Bible says he's about to leave because he's inflexible.

And one of his servants says, Master, if he'd asked you to do a hard thing, you would have done it.

So his inflexibility almost got in the way of him experiencing what he was believing God to do.

And all I want to share with you this year is be flexible.

I don't know when God's gonna do it, but be flexible.

I don't know how God's gonna do it, but be flexible.

One thing we know is that God can do it, but one thing we don't know is the way he will do it.

We can go through our scriptures and we can see some people got healed because he touched them, and then I can show you where other people got healed because they touched him, and then I can show you other places where people got healed and they didn't touch him.

The woman of the with the issue of blood touched what was touching him.

But I just have a question, and the question is am I talking to anyone at any of the locations at this first conference that says, I want God's will, and I'll let God determine the way.

Any way you want to do it, you can do it any way you bless me.

I'll be satisfied.

It's the law of adjustments.

The second one is simply this.

I call it the law of appetite.

And it simply says, My elevation is determined by my actions, but my actions are a reflection of my appetite.

In other words, our actions aren't just a method to what we want, they are the mirror of what we want.

And our actions may be telling us that we don't want what we say we want the way we want it.

So our actions aren't always an actions issue.

Sometimes our actions are an appetite issue.

Therefore, when God gets ready to elevate or evolve an area of our life, he begins by adjusting our appetites.

And I want to know.

Well, I already know.

I don't need to ask.

I already know you're here.

It's the last night of first conference.

I know I'm talking to a group of hungry people.

I don't have to ask if you're hungry.

Your actions have demonstrated that you are hungry, that you are not dis watch this, you are not ungrateful or dissatisfied with what God has done, but you are still filled with expectation and anticipation about what God is getting ready to do, who's believing for exceedingly and abundantly, and above all, you ask a thing.

But one of the ways God adjusts our appetite is through exposure.

Exposure awakens in us an appetite for something we didn't have an appetite for previously because we didn't know it was a possibility.

Have you ever thought about this?

There's this instance in scripture that records Jesus walking on water to the disciples who are on a boat.

Have you ever thought about this?

That Peter, who was a fisherman by trade, had been in boats on water for the majority of his adult life.

And he'd probably never tried to walk on water.

He probably never thought about walking on water until he got exposed to it.

And once he saw Jesus do it, he said, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.

You see, what the enemy wants us to do is to mismanage exposure.

And mismanage exposure is what we call jealousy.

We become intimidated by or we begin to covet what God is actually trying to use to inspire us, not to inspire us to want what he has for them, but to inspire us to want what he has for us.

You know what gateway does for me?

Exposure.

It awakens in me an appetite, not for what God has for others, but what God has for me.

So here's just a question for your reflection.

Why has God allowed you to be exposed to?

Oh, he's allowed you to be exposed to.

Maybe he's not showing you what he doesn't want to do.

Maybe if he's showing it, he's trying to awaken something on the inside of you.

You know, this is ultimately what the apostle Paul says in Romans when he's describing the old covenant and the narratives and the passages there, when he says those things that are written aforetime are written for our learning, that we through the patience of the scriptures might obtain hope.

He's like, hey, that stuff in there about Abraham and Sarah in just in there so we can know Abraham and Sarah's business.

He says, He says, there's stuff about Sarah being able to have a baby at an old age, in just in there so we can know that Sarah had a baby at an old age.

It is in there as a picture of possibility for us.

It is in there so that we can see that God's got the ability to empower us to give birth to things in a season where other people think it's too late.

And I want to talk to some Sarah's and I want to talk to some Abrahams who will say, I will not allow culture, I will not allow other individuals, I will not allow my own mind to talk me out of what God's talking me into in this season.

If Sarah can give birth to a literal baby, I can give birth to a dream, I can give birth to a vision, I can give birth to a relationship.

One more time.

Can I share it with you?

Here it is, here it is, here it is.

This is interesting.

This is interesting, this is interesting.

Because this third law says this law of agitation.

God will create a divine dissatisfaction with what you have in order to create a desire for what you need.

Did you hear what I just said?

God will make us unsettled in something we previously settled for.

One writer calls this a holy discontent.

It is not a lack of contentment in a literal sense, but it is a divine agitation because your unique agitation is a reflection of your unique assignment.

What does that mean?

It means that your purpose and my purpose is an answer to a problem.

And so God will uniquely agitate you with the problems you've been created to solve.

It means that two of us can walk in a room and see the same problem and it breaks your heart in a way that it doesn't break my heart.

And it doesn't mean I don't have compassion, and it doesn't mean I don't love Jesus.

It may mean, just like we see in the scriptures, that the reason Goliath agitated David in such a unique way, because David was a sign to knock that giant down.

Come on, we remember the story.

I mean, Goliath is insulting all of Israel.

David's like, hey, my dad just gave me some Chick-fil-A to bring to my uh to bring to my brothers on the front line, and David's dropping off the Chick-fil-A, and then he hears this Philistine, and I can see David, he's dropping the foot off and say.

That was a unique education.

Because very often frustration is an indication that God wants us to do something about it.

Listen to me.

On the end every great, on the other side of every great assignment is unique agitation.

That some of the greatest blessings that have been created were the result of burdens that people felt.

If I'm making sense, say yes.

If I want to experience a quantum leap, I've got to understand and embrace the law of adjustments, understand and embrace the law of appetites, understand and embrace the law of agitation.

And this passage that I just read in John 10.10 is a powerful picture of all three of these laws at work.

In John 10.

Our spiritual life is not the only important area of our life, but it is the most important area of our life because it affects every other area that is important.

And so if I'm going to experience a quantum leap anywhere, one of the first areas or the first area I want to experience a quantum leap is in the area of my spirituality.

I want to go from faith to faith, I want to go from fervor to fervor.

I want to go from glory to glory.

I want to go from Jacob to Israel.

I want to go from Abram to Abraham.

I want to go to from Sarai to Sarah.

Come on.

I want a quantum leap.

And this text in John 10:10 is a powerful picture of all three of these laws at work.

John 10:10

We get to eavesdrop on a conversation where Jesus is modeling the law of adjustment, appetite, and agitation.

Listen to what he says.

He says, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

There's a lot to be said about that because he uses the dominant descriptor here, thief, to describe Satan.

He says, The only way he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

But I want you to see what he says on the back end.

He says, But I've come that you may have a life and have it to the full.

Now, this is what makes this profound to me.

It's not just what Jesus said that's profound.

But it's even more profound because of who Jesus said it to.

Can I tell you who he said it to?

We're about to get deep, but don't drown.

Can I tell you who he said it to?

Hold your breath, we're getting ready to go deep.

Alright?

He said it to people who were alive.

Like, that wasn't deep.

I know.

He says, I've come that you might have life and have it to the full.

But he says it to people who aren't dead.

So they're alive already.

They have life, right?

So I said, let me let me do some research here, right?

Because the Old Testament is primarily written in Hebrew, except for a few chapters in Daniel.

They're written in Aramaic, and the New Testament's written primarily in Greek.

So I said, let me do some research here because this is not making sense.

And what I began to see is what I saw in terms of the word that Jesus used, it surprised me because I was looking for a word like bio or bios, right?

Like, I've come that you might have bio about.

It was another word, and that word is zoe.

Life as your creator intended.

Here's the way one writer frames it.

Jesus didn't just come to seek and save those who were lost.

He says Jesus came to seek and save the life that was lost.

That there's a life that the Creator intended for us to live.

And that life makes us the light of the world.

That life makes us the salt of the earth.

That light, that life is what makes Zacchaeus climb a tree.

That life is what makes Nicodemus come to Jesus at night and say, You must come from God, because no one can do the things that you do unless God be with him.

Jesus is emphasizing a life that is not merely about physical existence, but accomplishes a spiritually abundant dimension, a quality of life that cannot be obtained or experienced independent of the leadership in Jesus.

In other words, Jesus is saying to them, You got the bio, but you need a quantum leap to Zoe.

Now, here's what's also interesting.

Are y'all ready for this part?

I didn't understand.

I'm not convinced.

I'm not convinced.

I said, are y'all ready for this part?

Okay.

He not only says this to people who are alive, he's saying this to people who are religious.

He's not talking to Gentiles here.

Am I making sense?

This is this is interesting.

He's saying to people who are probably assuming because I've got spirituality, I'm better off than most.

And they may be right.

Maybe they are better off than most.

But the challenge with that perspective is they're comparing themselves to others as opposed to comparing their state to their potential.

And God never compares us to others or encourages us to compare ourselves to others, but we've got to compare our current state to our potential.

And it is like Jesus is saying, because you have some measure of spirituality or you have you have progressed in your spiritual journey.

Yes, you are better than most, but better than most doesn't mean as good as you can be.

And he says, I came, I came to give you a holy discontent.

I came to agitate you.

I came to adjust your appetite.

I came to let you know there's more.

He said, I came to let you know that you can wake up and say, This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Jesus is basically exposing them to the reality that although they are practicing spirituality, are y'all ready for this?

The way in which they're practicing it has taken them as far as it can take them.

And it is not that what you have been doing in the past is wrong.

The law was given by God for a specific dispensation.

Paul said it was our schoolmaster, our babysitter to babysit us until Jesus came.

But Jesus says to them, Now that I am here, I need you to reimagine the way you've been practicing your spirituality because the way you've been practicing it has taken you as far as it can take you.

Now, are you willing to adjust?

Are you humble enough to admit that possibly there are some small tweaks I can make that will lead to some giant peaks in my life spiritually?

And am I flexible enough to allow God to show me how He can do a new thing with an ancient faith?

I love it.

Because he says, and he says, I what you've been doing is great.

It is served you well.

He says, but there's something that God wants you to have.

I love this part.

Let me see if I can pray me this way.

Let's look at what Jesus didn't say.

He didn't say, I have come that you might have church.

He said, He said, I have come that you might have life.

It is not that church is not important or essential, but what he's saying is the point of life is not church.

The point of church is to give you the life that Jesus purchased for us.

Come on.

He's saying to them, You're better than most.

You're better than you used to be.

But I think he's asking them subliminally a question that he would ask all of us at every location.

He would ask, but are you for?

I'm reading my Bible more than I've ever read it before.

That's important, that's essential, that's necessary.

But are you for?

But no, I've been walking with Jesus.

I've been running for Jesus a long time, and I'm not tired yet.

Faithfulness is to be commended.

That faithfulness will be rewarded.

That faithfulness is an example that should inspire us all to finish well.

What are you for?

Do you feel?

Do you sense?

Are you living with spiritual abundance?

Here's one of the things about me.

My dad loved and hated at the same time.

I remember one time, can I tell what my daddy told me?

This is random.

It has nothing to do with my message, but I just thought about it.

Y'all want to know?

It has nothing to do with my point.

Some of you are gonna be, how's he about to tie this back in the message?

It has nothing to do with what I'm getting ready to talk about.

One time my dad said to me, it was so funny, he was right too.

I was outside helping him work on the car.

And uh I was doing something, I think we were trying to do something simple as an oil change.

I messed that up.

I don't know how I messed that up.

And he said, I'm so glad God made you smart.

I said, why?

He said, because if you had to work with your hands, you wouldn't make it.

Woo! So I've been, I'm just wired in a way that's like analytical.

I'm a I'm a logician.

I'm I'm not like I'm not a follower of Jesus because my family was a follower of Jesus.

That's they exposed me to.

I'm a I'm gonna follow Jesus, not not just because it's the right way, it's the best way.

I'm a follower because I need more than a prophet to tell me what to do.

I need a savior.

Right?

So I I but it also affects the way that I practice my spirituality.

So like I would read this stuff in scripture, like joy unspeakable and full of glory.

And then I would step back and say, I'm not sad, but I don't have that.

I'm not sad at all.

I'm positive, I think I'm full of faith, upbeat, but I would read stuff like that.

I'd say, I don't have that.

I I would read scriptures like peace that passes all understanding.

And I'm thinking, okay, I have, I would say I I had periodic, episodic bouts of peace.

But if but if on the average week you asked Darius, what word would you use to describe your state this week?

Peace, wouldn't it?

I'm saying, okay.

But I'm not stressed, I just don't have that.

So God, either, I'm I'm I'm wrapping up, I'm wrapping up.

Either God, either what you say here is untrue, or what you're saying here is symbolic or metaphorical, or there's a way I am practicing my faith that needs to be re-evaluated and adjusted.

But your word says you are not a man, so you can't lie.

You're not the son of a man, you don't change your mind.

The writer of Hebrews calls you immutable.

You are the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

You were good, you are good, you will be good.

You were faithful, you are faithful, you will be faithful.

You were powerful, you are powerful, you will be powerful.

You were a healer, you are a healer, you will be a healer, you were a door opener, you are a door opener, you will be a door opener, you were a way maker, you are a way maker, you will be a way maker.

So I believe this is true.

I believe this is true because the picture that you gave me to practice as an example to follow was Jesus.

And what you say I can have, he had.

He had a full life, spiritual abundance.

What does that mean practically?

Here it is, really quickly.

When I looked at his life, this is what I saw.

I saw Jesus, number one, had a life that was storm-resistant.

I'm done, guys.

I mean it.

That's the second preacher clothes, but that's I mean that one.

Here it is.

It wasn't storm avoidant because the gospel's not always a gospel of avoidance.

Now, in God's sovereignty, does he orchestrate avoidance like the Passover?

Yes, he does.

But then there are times where God gives us, there are times God gives us victory through avoidance, and then there are times where God gives us victory through overcoming.

You don't avoid the lion's den, you overcome it.

You don't avoid the fire furnace, you overcome it.

And what Jesus shows us is how to be in a storm and sleep.

To be in it, but not to allow it to be in me.

I want that.

That's a full life.

A full life has a sixth sense.

The ability to detect and to sense things beyond the five senses.

Promptings, hunches, restraint.

I want that because some decisions I have to make aren't black and white, they're gray.

It's easy when it's good and bad.

What if it's good and good?

I want that.

He had a life, a full life as supernatural wisdom.

The ability to solve problems.

I mean, one of the manifestations of wisdom is the ability to solve problems, right?

The right, the right application of biblical knowledge, wisdom, it manifests itself in the ability to solve problems.

That when other people will tap out, we tap in.

Say, God's gonna give me a solution.

I don't know what you're facing, but I pray God gives you a solution.

I want that.

A full life gives you sensational relationships.

It gives you people like Peter who aren't perfect.

But when everybody else leaves in John 6 and you ask him, Are you leaving too?

he looks at you and says, Where am I going?

You have the words of eternal life.

A full life gives us strong restraint.

Right?

That even when we're tempted to engage in self-sabotage and behavior that may even flow from emotional brokenness, because I've got spiritual strength, my spiritual strength restrains me and keeps me safe until I get healed.

It helps me restrain so that I don't engage in self-imposed nuisances.

Self-imposed nuisances.

Self-s impose I nuisances in.

And last but not least, a full life helps me successfully handle success.

One of the things I'm most impressed with about Jesus is his naps.

Where is he?

He's taking a nap.

He says, I'm building a kingdom, but that doesn't mean I have to destroy my temple.

I want that.

That's a full life.

And today, my prayers that the Holy Spirit is adjusting our appetite in a way that we don't spiritually settle because we're better than most.

If you came to give me a full spiritual life, I want it all.

So today I'm praying.

I want to pray for us and I want to pray for our hunger.

People settle in a lot of areas.

This area is an area we can't afford to.

Would you increase our appetite for a John 1010 life?

For we realize the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

But you have come that we might have life and have it to the full.

And we say, we are not full yet.

In 2024, fill us until our cup runs over.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.