Getting There Isn't Guaranteed

How's everybody doing?

Did you have a great Christmas?

Would it be okay if I welcomed you all the way and welcome everybody back in Scottsdale?

Would that be alright with you?

Good.

This is how I welcome everybody in Scottsdale.

Good morning, everyone.

How about them cowboys?

You have no idea what it's like to be in a cowboy in Cardinal Country.

Except I would describe it like this: it's hell for the Cardinals.

Because I remind them on a weekly basis of two things that they need alter ministry, and God is with us.

I don't even know if that's in the Bible or not, but I believe it with all of my heart.

I want to welcome everybody here at the South Lake campus.

I want to welcome everybody at all of our extension campuses around the DFW Metroplex.

I want to welcome everybody watching online by all the various streams.

And of course, I want to welcome Gateway Scottsdale.

And I would never forget you, Timpee.

I want to welcome our new campus in Arizona, Gateway Tempe.

Welcome everybody.

Hope you're having a great end of new end of year.

If you got a Bible, I want you to turn to two spots.

Open up to 1 Kings chapter 19 and put a marker in Genesis chapter 32.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention Genesis 32 · chapter mention

We'll get to these passages later in the message, but while you're turning there, let me kind of calibrate your thinking a little bit before we get into this message.

This is not a message that you're used to, all right?

Many of you by the end of this message, when comparing it to Pastor Robert's messages, will say, this message seems like ADD on steroids.

Well, that's basically what the book of Proverbs is.

You know, every verse is just different, and that's kind of how this message is.

This is what I would call an off-topic message.

And my goal is not for all four of the points to necessarily hit home.

My prayer has been that the Holy Spirit would take at least one of the points and would really ring your bell and set it in your spirit as you wrap up this year and go into 2019.

At this time of year, most everybody is thinking about the new year and thinking about where they want to go in the new year and setting new goals for the new year, and all of that is great.

Some have even gotten prophetic words about where God desires to lead them in 2019, and that's awesome.

But it would be a mistake to assume that just because God desires us to go to a new place in 2019, it would be a mistake to assume that we're automatically gonna get there.

And the title of this message is Getting There Isn't Guaranteed.

Getting there isn't guaranteed.

There are going to be some things required of you to be able to go to the place God is calling you to go in this new year.

So I'm gonna give you four things, and I want you to take notes.

If you're not taking notes because you don't have a writing utensil, let me just give you a little tip.

Reach into the purse of the lady sitting next to you, even if you don't know her, and steal a pen.

All right?

But be ready to hear the Holy Spirit speak to you and to write down whatever you're hearing, all right?

Here's the first thing that I believe is gonna be required out of all of us to be able to go where God's calling us to go in this new year.

Point number one, fail like someone who cannot fall.

Fail like someone who cannot fall.

Here's a more simple way to say it.

You're gonna need to fail a lot this next year to go where God's calling you to go.

One of my concerns in the church world with believers is that too many believers equate failing with missing God.

Failing is not the equivalent of missing God, it is merely missing a shot.

I grew up playing basketball, and so that's kind of how I think.

And here's how I see failure.

It's not losing the game.

The game has already been decided.

Failing is simply missing a shot.

Now, when I get to heaven, I would like to win an award that no one else wins.

I'm competitive.

I don't know if we get awards in heaven, but I would like one.

All right?

Are you are you listening, Jesus?

When I get to heaven, this is the award I want.

The guy who missed the most shots.

Now, hear me, I'm not saying I want to go down as the world's worst shooter.

What I'm saying is I want to be known as someone who misses a lot of shots.

Because here's what that means: it means I'm taking a lot of shots.

See, one of the things I pray over Gateway Church here in Dallas is that we would never think we're too big to fail.

Remember back in 2008, many said of the banks, too big to fail?

I pray over our staff here at all of our campuses that there would never be a fear of failing just because we're one of the biggest churches in the country.

We need to miss some shots.

Listen, if if we make every shot we take, because you might be thinking, well, Preston, I haven't missed a shot in a long time.

Can I explain to you why you haven't missed a shot in a long time?

Because all you're shooting is layups.

And you need to be reminded you have divine shooters' DNA inside of you.

You need to jack up some half-court shots in 2019.

Because when we shoot layups, we don't rely on God to make layups.

But when he asks us to take a half-court shot, we beg him to help us.

Now, here's what you need to know about failure.

It's just not that big of a deal.

And if you battle a fear of failure, let me show you a couple scriptures to kind of help get this off of you.

Listen to what God says to Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 8, verse 4.

Jeremiah 8:4

Jeremiah say to the people, this is what the Lord says.

When people fall down, don't they just get up again?

So simple.

He says, when they discover they're on the wrong road, don't they just turn back?

Failing is not that big of a deal.

So if you are afraid to fail, get that off of you.

Some of the best entrepreneurs in the world will tell you they fail a thousand times before they even succeed once in a big way.

Failing is no big deal.

Now, the point was worded, fail like someone who cannot fall.

Let me show you why in Psalm chapter 37, verse 23.

Psalms 37:23

The Lord directs the steps of the godly, he delights in every detail of their lives.

Though they stumble, they will never fall.

They'll never fall.

For the Lord holds them by the hand.

Here's the picture.

It's like a father teaching his three-year-old child how to swim.

And he sets the child on the ledge of the pool and says, Okay, jump to me, honey.

The three-year-old says, But daddy, I don't know how to swim.

I'll drown, I'll go to the bottom of the pool.

Please don't make me jump.

Just trust me.

Jump to me.

And after mustering up enough bravery and courage, finally the three-year-old sheepishly jumps into the pool.

The daddy lets the child go down under the water a little bit and kick and make a few strokes and then sweeps up the child and squeezes on to that three-year-old.

And here's what I think happens in the heart of every child in that moment.

They go like this.

Oh, that felt good.

I like it when daddy grabs me like that.

I like it when daddy holds me.

Listen to me.

When you get a revelation that your heavenly father has promised to catch you every time you jump, you become addicted to jumping.

You need to jump more in 2019.

Because your father will always catch you because he's got you.

Here's point number two.

The second thing I think we're gonna need to do a lot more of.

You're gonna have to fuel up twice as much as you think you need.

You're gonna have to fuel up twice as much as you think you need.

I have what my wife calls a personal problem as it relates to filling up our vehicles with fuel.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but my problem is this going all the way back to college, I never put more than$20 in a tank.

Never.

And usually I put about 12 bucks.

That's my happy number.

But the problem is I always let it go to E.

So in my truck, I never get past a quarter of a tank.

Which means I pretty much spend the greater part of my life at gas stations.

But when I was in college making six bucks an hour, when I would fill up my car, I felt like I was broke.

Because I was broke.

And it's just a habit that's kept.

And one day I was driving home from the office, and the Lord goes, Preston, I am extremely concerned.

And I just happened to be at the gas station and I had just put 12 bucks in the tank.

And I go, You sound like my wife right now.

What are you concerned about?

He said, Son, you are consistently too close to E in your own tank.

And my concern is that you're not going to be able to go where I need you to go because you don't have near enough fuel to get there.

And I said, Lord, well, how much fuel do I need?

He said, twice as much as you think.

And he sent me to 1 Kings 19.

Now, before we read it, let me give you a little background.

Elijah has just experienced one of the greatest victories in Scripture.

I mean, he he had a showdown with the prophets of Baal and Asherah, and I mean dominated them.

But now Queen Jezebel has threatened him and said, I'm going to kill you, and he is on the run.

And it's obvious Elijah is running on empty because he finds himself stopping beneath a tree and he says to God, just kill me now.

Just kill me now.

Okay, question.

When a car runs out of fuel, what happens?

It stops, right?

When a human runs out of fuel, they don't stop, they crash.

Cars stop, humans crash when they run out of fuel.

And Elijah is running out of fuel.

And in this moment, underneath this tree, I believe God taught Elijah how essential fuel was for the journey.

Look at what happens in verse 5 of 1 Kings chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

Then Elijah lay down and slept under the broom tree.

But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, Get up and eat.

He looked around, and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stone and a jar of water.

So he ate and drank and he lay down again.

Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, Get up and eat some more.

Another way to say this is, you didn't get enough the first time.

Get up and eat some more.

Watch the why, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.

If you don't have enough fuel, this journey will be too much for you.

So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him just enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

Here's one of the dangerous lies that you can believe about fueling yourself up.

That it's selfish.

That fueling up personally is selfish.

It's not selfish, it's stewardship.

You will not be able to go where God is leading you to go on an empty tank.

And furthermore, it is impossible to enjoy the abundant life Christ died to give you on an empty tank.

It requires fuel and twice as much as you think you need.

Now, you might be asking, okay, Preston, well, what kind of fuel are we talking about?

Well, I did a series on this a year or two ago in Scottsdale called Needy by Design.

I don't have enough time to walk through it, but I broke down the different compartments of your fuel tank as a human being.

Let me give you four of the big ones.

You have the spiritual part of your tank, you have the physical part of your tank, the emotional, and the relational.

Okay?

Here would be a great exercise for you to go through before you step into the new year.

Sit down, write out those four categories, and answer this question.

What do I personally need in each of these four areas of my life on a weekly basis to feel like I'm at the top of my game so that I can do anything and everything God asks me to do?

What do I need?

So let's let's I'll give you a few examples.

Let's walk through these areas.

The spiritual.

I've learned at 40 years old that for me personally, I need 10 chapters a day of God's word.

Doesn't mean I get 10 every day.

Don't be impressed by that.

There are people who do a lot more than that.

But for me, I can tell a difference in my tank spiritually when I get two chapters compared to when I get 10.

I'm running on full fuel when I get at least 10 chapters in my time with the Lord.

Physically, I've learned I need to be in the gym four to five days a week.

And some of you are going, get thee behind me, Satan, right now.

You just pray about it.

Remember, this is not the temple of Satan, this is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

All right?

So steward it as such.

You would think that after going to the gym and wearing myself down, that I would be more drained.

Here's what I've learned when I'm done, my physical tank is more filled up than it was before I worked out.

I believe that's the way God created the body to work.

How about emotional?

And emotional, let me help you understand something.

I think when God tells us to do something, too many of us look at it as a, hey, get it done now demand.

Rather than a fill yourself up opportunity.

I'll give you an example.

A while back, I felt the Lord say, Preston, I want you to take your daughter on a daddy-daughter date.

I was like, Lord, that's great.

Uh, but I haven't had a month a night to myself in a month.

I loved her and let's do it, but I I need some downtime.

He said, I want you to do it Friday night.

Go.

I was looking at it as kind of a get it done now demand.

I take Riley.

And something happened that night in our date.

One sentence was spoken.

She said, Daddy, do you know one of the best parts about being me is you.

That one sentence filled up every one of my tanks.

I walked out of that restaurant like I was the king of humanity.

That I could scale any mountain, jump over every obstacle.

Why?

Because I was full.

And I learned something that night.

That oftentimes when God says, Hey, I need you to do this, it's less about getting it done for him and more about how it's going to fill you up.

We've got too many followers of Jesus Christ limping around on this earth.

And the reason has nothing to do with their walk being weak and everything to do with their tank being empty.

You need to get to a place where you refuse to let a lack of fuel be a reason that you cannot go where God is calling you to go.

Steward yourself, fill yourself up.

You need to know what this vehicle runs on so that you can go everywhere God's calling you to go.

That leads us to point number three.

Forget every one of your fake names.

I told you it's like ADD, right?

Forget every one of your fake names.

If you're gonna go where God's calling you to go, and I know this point is not for everyone, but I'm certain it's for someone.

The devil has a cheap shot he likes to throw at us.

And it involves calling us by a fake name.

Remember, God said of our enemy the devil, he is a liar, and in him there is no truth at all.

Okay, so here's what that means.

When the devil calls you any name, it's a lie.

Let me just walk through some examples.

When he calls you a liar, when he calls you a failure, when he calls you an addict, when he calls you a loser, when he calls you alone, when the devil calls you whatever he calls you, you have to be reminded, no matter your past, Jesus didn't just die to give you a new life, he died to make sure you had a new name, that you were no longer associated with that old way of doing things.

But the enemy loves to call you by the fake name.

For me, he calls me liar.

Because when I was younger, I was one of the world's greatest liars.

I I knew it started to get a little obvious that one of the things God might have made me to do was to lead, but the problem was I lied while I led.

And so the two were synonymous.

And so even at 40 years old, from time to time, the devil will try and stop me in my tracks while I'm leading by yelling at me this fake name.

You liar! I don't know what your fake name is, but for some of you, the biggest obstacle you will face in this new year is getting that fake ID out of your wallet.

I've learned that as a pastor, probably close to half of our time is spent recognizing and calling out fake IDs and reassuring and reaffirming their identity in Christ rather than the lying fake ID that the enemy is trying to put on them.

Now, in Genesis chapter 32, I want to show you in the life of Jacob, and some of you know this story, but I want to show you what happens when God jumps in and changes the name.

Genesis 32 · chapter mention

Jacob's name, Yaqab, means heel grabber.

But an interesting thing happens.

If you were to just change one letter in his name, it goes from Yacab to Yaqav.

And Yaqav means liar and deceiver.

And when you read through Jacob's story, you see that many of his family members called him liar and deceiver.

And you'll find something interesting happens when you let someone call you by a fake name, you will always end up living up to it.

Jacob was a lying deceiver.

But watch what happens in Genesis chapter 32, verse 24, when God steps in to change it.

Genesis 32:24

Then Jacob was left alone.

And a man, an angel of the Lord, wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

Now when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip.

And the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him.

And the angel said to him, Let me go, for the day breaks.

But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me.

So the angel said to him, What is your name?

He said, Yaqab.

The angel said, No, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.

God changed his name, freed him from thinking he had to live up to that old name.

Listen, the devil might be calling you an addict every morning of your life.

You may have battled addiction for the last 40 years.

That does not make you an addict for all eternity.

And if the only reason I came into town was to look you, sir, or you, ma'am, in the eye and say, that's not your name, you don't have to live up to that any longer.

It was worth the price of admission.

Now listen, an amazing thing happens when God changes your name and you stop living up to the old name.

Go down a couple chapters and to Genesis 35.

Israel's wife, Rachel, is now having their second baby boy.

And the labor is so vigorous that it becomes obvious this labor is going to cost Rachel her life.

Watch what she does with her last breath.

Verse 18 of Genesis 35 says, Rachel was about to die.

But with her last breath, she named the baby Benoni, which means son of my sorrow.

But the baby's father, however, called him Ben Hamin, which means son of my right hand.

It's easy just to read over a verse like that and think, oh, that's great.

Dad changed the name.

No, no, no, you need to understand what happened.

Rachel is looking at this little baby boy, and some of you might feel like this little baby boy where a mother or father pronounced a curse on you early on in life.

You need to read this story well.

Rachel looks at this baby boy that was costing her her life, and she says, I wish I would have never given birth to you.

You are son of my sorrow.

And it's like Israel pops up and it goes, Wait a minute.

Been here before.

This is the hall of fake names.

And he looks at this baby boy and he says, That is not your name.

Your name is not Benoni, son of her sorrow.

Your name is Ben Hamin, son of my strength, son of my right hand.

I refuse to let you live by a fake name for one day of your life, son.

Why?

Because Israel had gone by Jacob for longer than he wanted to.

He didn't want to be the liar and the deceiver.

He knew the power of walking in that new name.

Listen, some of us are gonna have to get off of ourselves that fake ID in order to go further and into that new place God is trying to take us.

Listen, you cannot live at a new address still adopting an old way of thinking.

Do yourself a favor and get it off of you before you go there.

That leads us to the fourth and final point.

If you're gonna go there, point number four, you're gonna have to fight more aggressively than ever.

You're gonna have to fight more aggressively than ever.

I know that we love for victories to be handed to us.

But this victory, while it's been decided, still has to be fought for.

Here's why.

The Bible does not say that the devil, your enemy, comes to shake, to kiss, or to dance.

The Bible clearly states that the devil, your enemy, comes to steal, to kill, and destroy.

Here's what that means: the devil is coming at you aggressively.

Furthermore, that means that if the devil, your enemy, is coming at you aggressively, you will never be able to enforce victory over him passively.

You need to get some righteous anger up in you.

You need to get bothered by your enemy.

You need to hate this enemy.

Well, precedent in the Bible says that we should get rid of all anger.

Yes, that's talking about between you and me, not between you and your enemy.

Let me just show you a couple of passages that will help you understand this.

Proverbs chapter 8, verse 13 says, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

Proverbs 8:13

Romans chapter 12, verse 9 says, abore, viciously, violently, detest that which is evil.

Romans 12:9

We must hate this enemy of ours.

For if we do not hate him, we will be tempted to tolerate him.

And when we tolerate this enemy, he wreaks havoc in our lives.

Now, the Bible says that we don't fight or war against flesh and blood enemies, but against powers and principalities in the unseen world.

So, what does fighting aggressively look like?

Well, I could take you through the armor of God, which all of us as believers in Jesus understand the essential nature of daily arming ourselves with the armor of God.

Rather than go through the armor, I want to give you two things, and these are the last things I want to tell you before I send you back out for the next round of the fight, for the next lap of the race.

There are two things I think we need to do before we arm ourselves with the armor of God so that we wear that outfit the way God divinely created us to.

And here's the first one: you need to walk in authority.

You need to walk in authority.

Luke chapter 10, verse 19, Jesus says, Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all, not some, over all, the power of the enemy.

Luke 10:19

And nothing shall by any means hurt you.

This word authority that Jesus said he's given you means a state of control over something or someone.

The right to command or control.

You need to walk in authority.

Jesus said, My Father has given me all authority in heaven and on earth.

And then Jesus says to his disciples, and now I give you all authority over all the power of the enemy.

Got too many believers walking around like this.

I hope I don't get beat up on.

No! We need to stand up tall, pin our shoulders back, and we need to get after it.

He's given us all authority over all the power of the enemy.

We need to walk like it.

Listen, the devil's activity is not a movie you were designed to sit back and watch.

The devil's activity is a move God called you to stand up and stop.

And Jesus said, I'm giving you the authority to do it.

Don't stand in your authority, stand in his.

But what does that look like?

And here's the biggie.

Before you put on that armor, if you're gonna fight aggressively, I think every son and daughter of God needs to do this one one thing.

You need to walk with some swagger.

You need to walk with some swagger.

Preston, that sounds like walking in pride.

No?

Let me help you understand the difference.

Pride is the result of becoming impressed with your own power.

Swagger is the result of holding hands with the God who has all power.

Swagger it up a little bit.

This is what David did.

David walks out to Goliath and everybody else is cowering before him in fear.

And David, he swaggers out there and he goes, Listen, cupcake.

He goes, I've taken out lions and I've taken out bears, and I'm gonna see my God take you out today.

Well, okay then, sunshine.

Listen, that's how we should walk.

We should walk like that.

David wasn't bragging about his resume.

What David was saying is this is what God and I do together.

We win.

And we're gonna win over you, Goliath.

Now, let me read you two very short, what I call swagger scriptures.

Okay?

Because I want you to walk with us.

I believe you're designed to.

Here's the first in Romans 8, verse 11.

Romans 8:11

It says, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you.

That is nasty.

That's nasty.

Don't fall asleep when you read that verse.

Here's what that means.

The next time the devil tries to pick on you, you need to interrupt his programming.

And you need to say, Satan, I regret to inform you that while you're trying to pick on me, that the spirit of the God of the universe has been deposited inside of me, and that therefore means when you pick on me, you pick on him.

So go ahead and try.

Swagger, listen.

The God of the universe deposited his spirit on the inside of you.

Act like it.

1 John chapter 4, verse 4 says, the spirit, capital S, who lives in you is greater than the Spirit who lives in the world.

1 John 4:4

Victory has already been decided.

And I know some of us have experienced many losses.

A, that doesn't make us a loser.

And B, that doesn't make a that doesn't disqualify us from being victors.

We gotta walk in victory.

And when you walk in victory, you walk with a godly swagger.

Not comparing yourself to your peers.

But how do you think you have the confidence to step on the throat of the enemy the way God created you to?

You gotta have some swagger.

And listen, this fight doesn't come down to your strength.

It comes down to your strength.

And it's an unfair fight.

And somebody just needed to remind you that the devil is deathly afraid of you standing up this year and pinning your shoulders back and going, get off me.

Get away from my children, get out of this house.

I take authority of you over you in the name of Jesus Christ because that authority has been given to me.

Listen, I would never, ever, ever bet against you and God.

You do whatever you have to do this year, making sure you go wherever he goes.

Because the two of you together were made to win.

I don't think what God desires of us going into this new year is to set bigger goals or to hope for the experience of more success.

What I think God is calling us to do is to take more ground and save more souls.

Let that be said of you.

Let that be said of me.

Let that be said of us.

Oh God, let it be so in 2019 and beyond.

And in this moment, at every campus, I want you to ask the Holy Spirit this question.

Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me through this message?

Let the Holy Spirit point out which of these points represents the biggest obstacle for you in this new year.

Let the Holy Spirit point out which of these may have served as your Achilles heel for far too many years.

In a moment, I'm gonna pray, and when I'm done praying, I'm gonna have everybody stand at every campus.

And as we stand, our altar ministry team is gonna come to the front of every room.

And if you feel the Holy Spirit speaking to you about one of these areas, don't go into the new year hoping it will get better.

Do business with God today.

Let God do business in you today.

Maybe you're crippled by a fear of failure.

Come pray with somebody.

Get that off of you.

Maybe you you struggle like I do to fill up your tank on a consistent basis.

Come pray with somebody.

Maybe you've been going by a fake name for far too long.

You want to leave that fake idea at this altar and burn it up so as to never see it again.

Come do it.

Maybe you've been passive spiritually for a little too long.

Feel the Holy Spirit saying, Come on, let's go.

Let's re-engage in this fight.

Let's go take back more ground than ever.

Come pray with somebody.

Maybe you're here.

You have a prayer knee that has nothing to do with the message.

If you need prayer for anything at all, please come pray with somebody before you leave today.

Make sure you go into this new year covered in prayer.

We all need it.

Holy Spirit, I pray right now for every person who can hear the sound of my voice right now.

I pray that you would speak to them.

I pray that you would lead them and guide them in this new year.

I don't just pray that you would bless them in 2019.

I pray that you would anoint them in a way you have never anointed them before.

I pray that a spirit of aggressiveness would come upon them and they would stand up and pin their shoulders back and say, I am going forward with the God of the universe.

God, thank you for not making us do this alone.

Thank you for partnering with us and letting us partner with you.

May this be the most dominant kingdom year we have all experienced at this point in our lives.

In Christ's mighty name.

Amen.