The Power of a Transformed Life

Are you excited to hear the word this morning? I'm excited to hear the word this morning as well.

Many of you don't know this, but Jeannie Burgess is prepared every Sunday to bring a word.

I tell her, who knows what could happen, you know?

We got some videos if something were to happen to me and I couldn't show up a Sunday.

But we also have Jeannie. I said, every Sunday, prepare a message. And so I test her.

I said, did you, do you got a message? What were you going to talk about today if I didn't show up?

And she said, Pastor, I got this message. This is what I was going to do.

I said, okay, I just want to make sure you're ready because,

hey, we're going to be prepared, right?

I mean, who knows? I might get called and have to go to the White House and

get some people saved up in Congress.

You never know. Jeannie got to be here and minister the word to you. Amen.

And so Jeannie's been married for 20 years. Amen. man.

Same husband. Praise the Lord.

Two children, business owner.

She's an amazing woman. Had an opportunity. The Lord told me,

I'll never forget, several years ago in my prayer time, the Lord said,

get Jeannie ready to preach.

I heard that in my heart. Get Jeannie. And so I told her, she's like,

Pastor, I don't preach. I said, I don't. I hear from God.

God said, get Jeannie ready to preach.

And so we were meeting on Zoom early in the mornings, weren't we?

Something like 6 30 in the morning. The early bird gets the worm. Amen.

6 30 in the morning, we were meeting on Zoom and just preparing her heart to

know how to hear from God and deliver a message.

So she's been sitting on some good messages.

And I was praying a couple weeks ago and I told her on December 8th,

I want you to bring that message. Will you welcome Jeannie Burgess to the platform?

Come on up here, Jeannie.

Amen. I'm excited. Have your way. Have fun today.

I want to make sure I'm on. Thank you, Paul, for helping with the lights.

I glow a little bit up here.

I try to tan in the summer, but I glow when I come up here.

So I just thank you guys, first of all, that you didn't leave when pastors said

that I was coming up to teach.

No, if you have to leave early, it's okay. I do appreciate you guys trusting

that I can bring forth a word from God.

I just thank pastor. Pastor and Stacey for trusting me to come up here and deliver

a word to you guys that he trusts that I do get before the Lord.

I take it super serious. I can't do this on my own.

I joke with Sierra a lot and Paul and I say if I come up and the Lord doesn't

give me something, I'm just going to walk right back off and you guys sing or do something.

But God gave me a word for you guys for this morning.

I've actually had this message for a while, but I think this is the due season.

This is the time that God wants you to hear this word.

The title of this this morning is The Power of a Transformed Life.

I really believe that God is doing some transformation in your life, in my life.

I believe that we're not the same that we were just a year ago.

And I believe that we're not going to be the same in a year from now.

And so I do want to start with prayer. Father, we come before you in the name

of Jesus. We just honor you this morning.

We thank you, Lord, that your presence is here, Father.

I thank you, Lord, that the people will hear less of me and more of you.

Let your word, the will of God.

Through my mouth into the hearts of the people here in the building,

the people that are watching online, those that will watch replays,

that your word will take root and produce such fruit in your people's life.

And I just thank you, Father, for your anointing, the Holy Spirit flowing here

today in Jesus' name. Amen.

So open your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Meet me in verse 14. It says, do everything without complaining and arguing

so that no one can criticize you.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in

a world full of crooked and perverse people.

During this time that Paul is writing this letter, he is in prison.

This is a man that is in prison, and he is writing a letter talking about not

complaining and not arguing, but to be a bright light.

He is in darkness, spiritually around him in the culture,

physically in a prison, and he's talking about letting your light shine bright

in the midst of the darkness.

And he's saying, don't complain and argue. I say that a lot to my kids,

but knowing that, you know, I complain too. We all complain.

Here, Paul is saying, don't complain. Don't argue. you be different than that

darkness that's around you take a look at Philippians chapter 3 in verse 18.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Here Paul is saying, for I've told you often before, and I say it again with

tears in my eyes, that there are

many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.

They are headed for destruction. Their God is their appetite.

They brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

But we, we are citizens of heaven.

Where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.

He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like

His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control.

In these two passages, Paul is teaching us that God wants us to change from

one condition to another.

And we can try to do that in our own strength, but we'll never amount to anything.

It's when the power of Jesus, that resurrection power that's living in you, transforms your life.

That is when you experience success in life.

That's when you experience fulfillment. when you're thriving in life it's when

you're allowing the power of Jesus to transform your life let's take a look

at Romans chapter 12 verse 2.

Romans 12:2

And before I read it, I want to remind you, when you're transformed from something,

it means you're different.

We should look different than those in the world.

We should look different than how we were before we accepted Christ.

If I say I'm a Christian, but the people that used to know me are watching me,

and they're like, she's no different.

She acts just the same. We're not letting that bright light of Jesus shine to them.

So Romans 12 verse 2, it says, Do not be conformed to this world.

Romans 12:2

But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let's leave that verse up there for a moment. When I see the word conformed,

because I work with children, and I work in pediatrics, I can't help but to

think of like Play-Doh and like a cookie cutter.

And I think about how kids will mold that Play-Doh and they'll pick whichever

little cutter they want.

It might be a gingerbread man. It might be a house, whatever they want.

And they push it into that Play-Doh. And then I always tell them, what do we do next?

And they say, we have to tear the rest of that Play-Doh off.

They're tearing away something.

That is what I think about when God tells us

don't be conformed to this world tear away

all that junk if we're thinking of like a little gingerbread cutter and that's

the image of Jesus with no disrespect but if we use that and we think that we

are conforming to the image of Christ we have to cut away all that extra junk

that the world has and it says how are we transformed.

We're transformed by renewing our mind.

When you were saved, Jesus came in. I mean, he saved and transformed your spirit man.

But your soul area, your mind, your will, and your emotions, they have to be renewed.

You're still in this world. You're still hearing things that the world has to say.

Your mind has to be renewed. You get to choose what you use to renew it.

You can use the news. You can use your best friend, your spouse.

But if you want to be conformed to God, you have to use the Word of God.

And here it says that the Word of God is the will of God.

So many people will pray and pray and say, I want to know the will of God in

this situation. Open your Bible.

It's right there. The will of God is the Word of God. And it says,

then you will be able to know what is good and acceptable, the perfect will of God.

Let's take a look at Galatians. Now, Galatians chapter 5, this is a little bit

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

long, but I really want you guys to look at this and see a comparison.

Here, Paul did an amazing job by the Holy Spirit comparing what the works of

the flesh is and the fruits of the Spirit.

And he shows us here, if we are called to be different.

How the world acts, and how we should act.

So in Galatians 5, starting in verse 16, it says, I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.

Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.

And how many of us know there are times that I know I need to keep my mouth shut?

But man, I really want to get that last word. I really want to say it.

Because I know exactly what to say to hurt that person.

Here, it's just part of the sinful nature. It says that that's what the sinful nature craves.

Verse 17, it says the sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite

of what the Spirit wants.

And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to

carry out your good intentions. Think about when you're sitting here in the

building and you feel the Holy Spirit moving.

And pastor's up here and he's dancing, he's shouting, he's filled with the Spirit.

He starts to run around the building and you're like, yes, I want to do it.

But they're watching me.

That flesh, that flesh nature's like, no, they're watching you.

Don't give in to it. Don't give in to the Spirit.

It's always warring against each other and you're not alone.

It happens to everybody.

So now verse 18 it says, But when you are directed by the Spirit,

you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. And here in verse 19...

In my Bible, I put, I separate it. I put, these are the works of the flesh.

These are the things that I may have done in the past, but now that I have that

resurrection power of Jesus working in me, that's my old nature.

I'm not gonna be like this anymore. I'm not gonna partake of the things that I see are listed here.

It says, when you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear.

There's sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, adultery,

sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy,

outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy,

drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

Sometimes we could think about, that sounds like a family gathering.

But let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of

life will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So remember, those are the works of the flesh. We can put those down with the help of Jesus.

But in verse 22, it says the Holy Spirit, he produces this kind of fruit in

our lives. This is what you have.

You are a new nature, and you have love. You have joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There is no law against these things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have

nailed the passion and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

And since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

Let us not become conceited or provoke one another or be jealous of one another.

Transformed, the definition of transformed, is a significant change,

an alteration in form, presence,

appearance, character, or nature.

It's a significant change, and it implies that something has been completely

or drastically modified and improved to become something different.

Living a transformed life means you are drastically changed.

And the good news is, is you don't have to do it yourself.

Just spending time in the Word of God, spending time in His presence,

worshiping Him, praying in the Spirit, that transforms you.

You are allowing the Holy Spirit to literally change you from the inside out.

Because there should be a display. There should be a difference.

People should look at you and just say there's something different about you.

You know, we sing that song, when Jesus walks into a room, all sickness flees.

When Jesus walks into a room, all demons tremble at his presence.

When Jesus walks into the room, all mental anguish, depression,

fear, anxiety, it all calms down and it leaves.

And it's the same when you walk into a room. Have we thought about that?

That's not being prideful. That's not saying, I think that I'm better than God.

No. I'm honoring that my Savior hung on a cross and what He went through for me.

I'm honoring Him by saying, when I walk into a room, I take the presence of Jesus.

When I walk into a room, I can hear the voice of God say, pray for that person.

I may not know that person. I may not even know what they need prayer for,

but thank God the Holy Spirit does.

When I walk into a room, when you walk into a room, sickness should start to

tremble and want to flee from your presence.

When you lay hands on people and you release your faith, things change.

And that is the power of a transformed life. That is what you carry in you.

Now, I do want to share a very transparent story.

This happened close to nine years ago. So don't judge me too strictly.

It was nine years ago. Thank God I'm not where I used to be.

And this is a story where I

am going to be vulnerable and say I was wrong so those

that are listening those that are watching online if the teens listen back later

Miss Jeannie was wrong I did the wrong thing here so I'm gonna just set the

story up we had just had Desmond so I was about,

I was probably three months postpartum, and it was the day of our daughter Rachel,

who would have been six at the time.

It was the day of her recital, her dance recital, and if you don't have children

that are in sports and all the things, you know, there is a schedule.

You've got to be there on time, and I'm a person. I don't like to be late,

and it was in the afternoon, and Josh was like, you know what?

I'm going to go get the oil changed in the car.

I'm going to run some errands. So I was like, okay, but be back at this time.

We've got to be there on time. He told me, he said, now don't paint me to be

a horrible person. Get the story right. And I'm not. He's nervous.

But I'm not going to paint him in a bad light. It's not about him.

So I'm sitting there, you know, feeding Desmond. We're getting ready.

And Josh calls. And he says, I have a little bit of a problem.

And I said, no, there can't be a problem. We have to be somewhere.

He said, so I got the oil changed.

Everything was fine. And I left and went right across the street to the gas

station to fill your car up with gas.

And as I was putting the nozzle into the gas tank, I noticed all this oil running out from under your car.

And it was my car, which I was so thankful that he was doing that for me.

It was my car. And we had just paid the car off.

And at that time, like, we, I needed that car paid off. You know,

I'm believing God for food on our table.

And I was like, well, what does that mean? He's like, I've got to call the people.

So I hang up the phone, and he calls me back.

And he's like, two of the mechanics came over. They looked at everything.

Now, I'm not a cars person, but what happened was, I guess, when they changed

the oil, there was this nut or bolt that they were supposed to put back in,

and he didn't. And he said, I was wrong.

He knew he was losing his job.

Like he didn't put it in, and it blew my engine.

The car would not crank. They couldn't move it.

Josh calls me, and he's like, I don't think I'm going to make it. I said, what do you mean?

And he was like, the engine's destroyed.

It's blown up. Like it's not work. Like you can't drive it. is totaled. And.

The just the flesh it just everything in me the works of the flesh that we read came up,

and he's like they're gonna give me a ride home and so i'm trying like genie

like oh my goodness this guy's gonna lose his job it'd be nice and then the

mom i called my mom and i was like mom rachel can't miss the recital what are

we gonna do i'll come get rachel we'll take her to the recital, all this.

So she picks Rachel up, and she says as she walks out the door,

now Jeannie, you remember that you need to be an example.

But I wasn't. A car pulled up in the driveway, and Josh is getting out, and so is the guy.

And I have a three-month-old baby in my hands, and I'm postpartum,

so I'm looking kind of crazy. And I came out there, and the guy's like, ma'am, I am so sorry.

And I will skip over some portions because I made the guy cry.

And Josh, he never gets mad.

Josh never gets mad. And he looked at me, and he said, that is enough.

You made a man cry. And I was like, with my baby walking right back in.

That was not an example of walking in the fruits of the Spirit. I was so wrong.

And then to make matters worse, thank God, God's protection and grace was on

even my ignorance that day because we, here I am, thankfully,

God blesses, we had another car.

You know, sometimes we have such first world problems.

So we jumped in Josh's car and we go to the recital.

Now where we were at, it's a local high school and there's a parking lot here.

The school is over on the other side and there's four lanes.

So you know there's two it's a school so we're

I'm late and we're getting close to it and I tell Josh

Josh just stop just stop and let me get out I'm gonna

run in because I really didn't want to miss her performance let me run in and

he says I need to park there's traffic everywhere and I said stop the car let

me out so he says okay he stopped the car and in that moment of just fear really

You know, that's really what it boils down to.

Sometimes we think we're in anger, but we're fearful.

I was fearful and not trusting that God could provide me another car.

I was fearful that I was going to miss an event, a memory for my child, and what? Be a bad mom.

It wasn't really anger. It was fear.

And that's exactly what Satan does to us all the time.

He puts fear in our life to make us to react suddenly to something.

That a lot of times we regret later.

Same thing in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve.

They were fearful that they were missing out on being like God.

They were afraid that God was keeping something from them.

So I jumped out of the car, and I was wrong.

I did not even pay attention, and I got out, and I ran in front of the car that

Josh was driving across the street, and a car was coming and slammed on the brakes.

It was a miracle from God that man did not hit me.

And then something happened that is even worse than making a man cry.

He yelled out of that car a colorful adjective at me, which he blew the horn,

called me some really colorful names, and in that moment, and I have never done

this again in my life, please,

But the spirit of stupidity came upon me, and I took my fist,

and I turned around, and I hit that man's hood of his car, and I pointed at

him, and I said, don't you ever call me that again.

And then I just ran into the school.

Josh was like, God, this woman you have given me is crazy.

I walked in, and I sat down, and my mom was like, are you okay? I was like, I'm fine.

And in my head, I'm thinking, what have I just done?

That was wrong. That was not being led by the Spirit of God.

And now before you sit there and think, how could pastor have somebody like that teach?

I want us to turn in our Bibles to a great story of a man of God who did the same thing that I did.

So we're going to talk about Moses for a minute.

And we're going to look at Numbers chapter 20.

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

And in chapter 20, meet me in verse 7, and it says, And the Lord said to Moses,

You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community.

As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its

water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.

God has told him the instructions to do. He's told him, trust me,

I am about to provide for you a miracle in front of all these people.

And in verse 9, it says, so Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from

the place where it was kept before the Lord.

And then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. and then.

He said, listen, you rebels, he shouted.

May we bring you water from this rock?

Then he raised his hand and he struck the rock twice. That represents Jesus

and Jesus only died for us once.

And water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock, they drank their field.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me,

it wasn't anger, it was fear.

Because you didn't trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people

of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I'm giving you.

How many times do we let fear cause us to get in disobedience and we miss out on what God has for us.

And, you know, I used to feel really sorry for Moses.

I mean, this story used to really bother me, like really bad, actually.

I would say, like, God, I feel sorry for Moses.

You know, when you called him, he didn't really want to be called.

He was self-conscious about a speech issue he had. And here's God saying,

I'm going to use you to speak to all these people. So I kind of felt sorry for him.

And then, you know, he's going to use them as a mouthpiece. He doesn't really want to talk.

And then he is leading these people through the wilderness for 40 years.

And some commentary says it was actually an 11-day trip. I'm thinking 11 days and 40 years.

That's practically, that's my lifetime. that he's walking with these people

through the wilderness and the character of the Israelites throughout that time were ungrateful.

Many times they were provided food and water miraculously, and they would complain,

and they would say, Moses, did you bring us out here to kill us?

I should have stayed back in Egypt as a slave and died there.

How many of us look back over our life sometimes when we are uncomfortable and

we're being stretched a little bit, and sometimes we want to blame it on the

enemy when really it's God stretching us because he's ready to promote us to something better?

And he's wanting to use us, but we get uncomfortable and we say, I want to go back.

I want to go back. I don't want to step into this newness because this newness

I'm not comfortable with and I really don't know what's going to happen,

so I'm just going to go back to where I'm comfortable.

People do it in relationships all the time. They do it in jobs where God's told

them to step out and do something that, you know, maybe is a higher position,

but they don't feel they're qualified.

So they shrink back. And so, you know, I was feeling sorry for Moses with,

I was like, you know, I kind of feel sorry for him.

Now he can't even go into the promised land. And then I had kids.

And I was like, you know, I tell my kids very clearly, this is what is expected.

If we're walking into the store or we're walking into church.

This is what is expected this is how I want you to act I am prepping you because

I've been here before and I know a good outcome I'm setting you up for success

God does the same thing with us.

And they get a choice. That moment comes that they get to decide,

are they going to keep it together and they're going to act right?

Or are they, you know, are they going to just act however way they want to act?

And then I tell them. They come and they say, well, it's because this,

this, and this. I said, no, no, no. You knew the expectations.

And now you're getting the consequences.

And they sometimes will say, but, you know, they'll get mad at you for the consequences.

Kind of like this. I was kind of not mad at God, but like, that's not fair, God.

Like Moses did all of that. Now he can't even enter the promised land because

of those people. And that's what my kids sound like when they come to me.

But I tell them, no, you knew what to do. And I'm a good mom.

Even though you don't like how it feels when you are disciplined, you asked for it.

You chose it. And it's the same thing here.

Moses, God told him, you're going to speak to this rock.

He did not tell them or him to speak to the people.

He looked at those people, and

that anger built up, and then he just lost it. And we do the same thing.

God gives you a word, or you're reading your word, and you see something that

the Holy Spirit puts in you, like this is something that you should do.

And we do the same thing where we're like, is this really God? Do I really obey him?

Do I really step out? and we start to shrink back from what God has for us.

And so I want to take a look at another verse before I share something else.

Let me see where I want to go right quick.

Let's look at Philippians 3. And meet me in verse 12.

It says, I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that

I have already reached perfection,

but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I've not achieved it, but I focus on this one

thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

When we think about these stories and we compare ourselves with the Word of

God, it's like a mirror when we look in it.

We're able to really examine areas in our life.

We don't want to look at it from a side of shame or, oh, I'm really not where I need to be.

Just yesterday I said this to this person or treated this person wrongly.

It's not about that you have to

be perfect it's about that you are

progressing towards the perfection that jesus died for you um and also transformed

a transformed life you have to look at it is a transformed life is a powerful

life it's a life of excellence now if i had not got into fear,

I could have demonstrated power in that situation about my car.

I'm just going to use that as an example.

Some people in the world, they look at the loudest person as powerful.

The person that's cussing the loudest, saying the meanest things,

the person that's in your face and

they have all the body language is the powerful person, but that's not.

You've conformed to them. You're no better than them. You're the same.

There's no distinction.

But what power is, is when a situation like that takes place, you're slow to react.

Jesus stepped back. When they came to him, they were really wanting to test

Jesus with a lady that was caught in adultery.

Jesus just stepped back a minute. I believe he was drawing in the dirt because

he was listening for the voice of his father.

What do I say? I know they're trying to trap me, so what do I say?

We can step back and we can take a moment.

If someone is in your face and there's strife and there's division and they're coming at you,

it is okay to tell someone, you know what, I can't have this conversation with you right now.

I'm going to take some time and when we both have calmed down,

then we can come back and we can have a discussion.

And then you can turn around and walk off. That's power.

Power is not always the loudest. Power is not always lifting our fist.

It is using that power that's within you to take authority over a situation.

And there are times that you are not fighting flesh and blood.

There are things that are operating in other people that you have to get in

the Word of God and take your authority spiritually. We know that people can

be influenced by evil spirits.

And you trying to talk to them in those moments is not going to change anything.

But when you get before the Word of God and you begin to confess the Word of

God, it changes everything.

So I do want you to hold on to that and to remember that.

There is not a verse that's going to be up there, but I do want to share it. It's Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And in verse 13, Matthew 5, 13, it says, You are the salt of the earth,

but what good is salt if it has lost flavor? Can you make it salty again?

It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot. It's worthless.

Verse 14 goes on to say, just like in Philippians, it says, You are the light

of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

I mean, think about that. like when you're at a Mexican restaurant and you're

eating all the salsa and the chips, if somebody gave you a basket full of chips

and you took a bite and it had no salt on it, it was just plain,

you would probably ask for another batch.

And what this is saying is when people are around you, if you're the salt of

the earth, when people get around you, that salt makes people thirsty.

People should be thirsty. There's something about you that when I am in your

presence, I should say, I want to be in her presence more.

I want to be in his presence more.

There's something that they have that I want. I want to be around them.

That is the presence of Jesus.

When it talks about the light, this beautiful Christmas tree,

we wouldn't take this Christmas tree and just cover it up for you guys not to see. It's on display.

What an example of God's love for him to say, you're my beloved and you're on display.

I put my light in you and I am displaying you to all the world.

That's how you should look at yourself in the morning. And I'm guilty of this

too, where I can be negative about myself or, you know, like Pastor was talking

about on Midweek Boost, about getting in just a funk.

I'm like, does it really matter if I do this today?

No, when we wake up in the morning, encourage yourself, like Pastor said.

You look in that mirror and you say, I have the light of Jesus in me.

I have something that the world needs, and I'm on display today.

And that helps us to be people of integrity. It helps us to be people of excellence.

And so this coming year, you know, a lot of people make goals,

but you can make goals every day.

You can change every day. It's not just when we flip the calendar.

But God's really been saying this to me lately about going deeper.

Being more mature in the Word of God.

So when we start flowing in the fruits of the Spirit versus the flesh, it's about maturity.

So in the past, that was immaturity.

But to be a powerful person of excellence, you have a maturity about you because

you've spent time in the presence of God.

So this coming year, I feel like God has been saying, I want my people, keep progressing.

If you mess up and you repent, he doesn't remember your sins anymore, keep progressing.

Keep going forward. If you have a bad day, if you have a bad moment, you have another day.

Keep moving forward.

Keep expecting. That is so important.

And I know a pastor feels this. I feel this.

When we get up to deliver the word of God, you can sense when people are releasing their faith.

There's just something in the atmosphere. The presence of God taps into where people are expecting.

Don't just show up just to sit there. Expect that God has a word for you that's

going to change your life.

Every day you open your Bible. Don't open your Bible and just think,

okay, what do I read today?

No, God, you're going to speak to me and it's going to change my life and then

I'm going to go out and change somebody else's life.

And then keep seeking God.

Seeking God in the rough times, but God has told me, be very cautious.

Make sure you're seeking him in the good times. When you're in a season where

you're like everything is going smooth, you get complacent.

You can become lazy.

Keep honoring him. When things get where it's running smooth,

we almost get into pride like, I can handle this now.

But we always need to rely upon God.

And then as I get ready to close, there was something that Terry Savelle Foy said.

She's the daughter of Jerry Savelle, who went home to be with the Lord this year. And she said this,

And it really just opened my eyes to how I need to change things in my life.

She was praying one day, and God gave her a word, and it said,

don't be average, and your life won't be average.

And I stopped to think about that, and I was like, Lord, that's very impactful.

Don't be average, and your life won't be average.

And what does that mean? That means God's wanting to take you higher and higher

to get mighty things done.

So when I look at that, I look at it as don't let your life be. Don't be average.

Don't be average in the way that you come to church.

The average people show up to church twice a year.

They come at Easter. They come at Christmas. They come when they feel like it.

Don't be average. And your life won't be average. Don't be average in how you read your Bible.

What was that statistics that people can't sit still for even seven minutes?

Seven minutes. Don't be average. And your life won't be average.

In your relationships, if you are in a relationship that is filled with strife

and division, don't be average. Don't be like them.

We have a handbook of how we can act. Even when you're like,

it's not fair, God, I feel like I'm taking advantage of.

Don't be average. Do what God is telling you, and your life won't be average.

He will promote you. He will close doors that need to be closed,

and he'll open doors that need to be open.

And God also said, I want you to go even deeper in this.

About your health the average person has about three to four diseases disorders in their body,

i don't even know what the average person the amount of medication that they're

taking not that medication is bad but god says i've got something better don't

be average and your life won't be average so we have to treat our bodies as

the temple of god what are we putting into it How are we moving it?

And then he said, you're giving. You're tithing and you're giving.

If you are in a situation where you are standing for God to just provide for

you miraculously, if you are believing for things that you know God has put

upon your heart and in your giving,

don't give like the average person.

Don't be average and your life

will not be average god spoke that to me as i

was reading one of her books and it changed

how i get up in the morning and how i conduct myself i'm like god i don't get

it right every time but i'm striving to go deeper with you to move forward with

you i am ready to step into a newness that we that i have never experienced

before and I know that God has that for you all too.