Rock Life! In a Fix - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Isn't God good? How many of

you have felt his presence? I don't know if you

were feeling back there, but we were feeling

up here. We could feel his presence. I just want

to say a word for those of you who lifted your

hand, who raised your hand. Dixie asked for those

that needed to meet the Lord in some way, and

they raised their hand. I want to let you know

that's an act of faith. When we do something

like that, when we step out, we lift our hand,

it's an act of faith. And God always meets an

act of faith towards him. If you've got faith

in God, you've got faith enough to raise your

hand, God's going to meet you there. I just need

to tell you that, let you know that. Write that

down. Mark it down for the day. I see writing

going on right down here in the front. Love it.

Somebody taking notes. I encourage you when you

come to the house of the Lord, bring your Bible,

bring a notepad. Maybe you just do it electronically

like I do on my pad. But take notes because you

never know when God's going to speak to you about

something. You never know in a moment in time

a word's going to come across just for you. And

you want to write that thing down because how

many know you'll get three hours later and you're

like, God said something awesome and I can't

remember what it was. Amen? It's true. Write

it down. Mark it down. Get in the habit of doing

that as you've got your Bible and your pen. That's

not part of my message, but I just feel like

you need to hear this. Man, God wants to speak

to you. Just know that. He wants to speak to

you. He wants to share with you. So be ready.

Be ready and listen. Well, I want to share a

little story. I read this. This week, and it

said in December of 1995, American Airlines Flight

965 departed from Miami on a regular scheduled

trip to Cali, Columbia. On the landing approach,

the pilot of the 757 needed to select the next

radio navigation fix. Say fix. Named Rosso. Apparently

they named their fixes, right? A fix is an aeronautical

term. It's a letter that's pronounceable code

that specifies like a geographical location for

a plane or navigation system to take a plane

to. And the pilot entered an R into his navigation

computer. The computer returned a list of nearby

navigation fixes, starting with the letter R.

And the pilot selected the first one of these,

whose latitude and longitude seemed to be correct.

Unfortunately, instead of Razo, the pilot selected

Romeo. The destination point, 132 miles to the

northeast. The jet was southbound, descending

into the valley that runs north to south, and

any lateral deviation was dangerous. Following

indications on the flight computer, the pilot

began an easterly turn and slammed into a granite

peak 10 ,000 feet in the air. 152 passengers

and all eight crew members aboard perished. Four

passengers survived with serious injuries. The

National Transportation Safety Board investigated

this and declared that the problem was human

error. The navigation aid that the pilots were

following was valid. but not for the landing

procedure for where they were supposed to be

headed, Calio. The error, the pilot selected

the wrong fix on the navigation system. The front

panel of the airplane's navigation computer showed

they currently selected navigation fix and a

course deviation indicator, and when the plane

is on course, the needle is centered, but the

needle gives no indication whatsoever about the

correctness of the selected radio location. The

gauge looks pretty much the same before landing,

whether you're landing or you're crashing. The

computer told the pilot he was tracking precisely

to the destination that he picked, that he selected.

Unfortunately, it neglected to tell them that

the fix he selected was a fatal choice. He picked

the wrong fix. The wrong fix can mess up the

flight plan. The wrong fix can get you to the

wrong destination. This can happen spiritually

as well as physically. The wrong fix in life

will return a whole bunch of nothing in the next

life if you don't get it right. If you got your

Bible this morning, I want you to turn to Matthew

6. We're going to start at verse 19. And as you

turn, I'm going to pray over our ears to hear

and our hearts to receive and these invitations

that have gone out. for people to come to God's

house or to come to God. Father, we thank you

today, God, for your word. I thank you, God,

for the presence we felt, that sweet presence

of the Holy Spirit already here today. God, I

pray that you would just guide us and direct

us as we take in your word. God, write it on

the recesses of our heart. God, let our ears

be open to hear. And God, as we pray, God, for

that, we ask, Lord, that the invitations that

are represented on this stage, Lord, by these

green balls, Lord, that you would reach out to

the people that those invitations have touched.

Lord God, that you would move them closer to

you, closer to the house of the Lord, closer

to the word of God, closer to an individual that

will tell them about Jesus. And Lord, we just

give you praise and we give you glory and honor

in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, amen.

Well, in Matthew 6, 19, Jesus is preaching on

the mountainside near Capernaum, close to the

Sea of Galilee. And Jesus is preaching to a large

crowd in this particular setting. And he gives

them some instruction on getting the right, fix

in this life, getting the right spiritual coordinates

for us to put into our spiritual navigation systems

in our lives, right? In an effort to get us going

the right direction post -salvation. Once you

come to Jesus and you're following Jesus by faith,

right? Getting the right fix, the right heading,

the right direction. Because without that, we're

going to not produce what the Word of God says

we should produce. We're not going to have something

that's going to last, something that's eternal

to lay down before Christ one day. I don't know

about you, and before I read this passage of

Scripture, I've got to say this. I don't know

how you feel about this, but one day when I walk

into heaven, what I don't want to hear is I don't

want to hear these words. I don't want the Father

to come up to me and say, Hey, Kip, you made

it. By the blood of my son, Jesus Christ, he

covered your sin. Now, I do want to hear that

part, right? And you made it. But did you get

saved at age 12? I'd be like, yeah. I was around

12 years old when I got saved. Well, it looks

like you didn't do a whole lot for the kingdom,

right? What you been doing that whole time? What

have you been producing for the kingdom? That's

not what I want to hear when I get to heaven

one day. I'm saved by the grace and faith in

Jesus and the grace that he's extended and by

the blood of Christ. But one day when I walk

into the halls of heaven, one day when this life

is done and I go to the next, I want to have

something to lay at the feet of Jesus. I want

him to know that I was busy, right, that I was

occupied, that I was about the Father's business

while I was still here. And to do that, you've

got to have the right fix in life. And Jesus

said this in Matthew 6, 19. He said, My treasure

or the treasure. What my heart is fixed on will

determine the treasure. In fact, I'll add to

this, what my heart is fixed on will determine

the treasure, and what I treasure will give a

clear indication of what my heart's fixed on.

It's kind of reciprocal. All of these lead me

somewhere. My heart can be fixed on a thousand

different things, a thousand different destinations

in life. It really can be. Maybe you're planning

a vacation coming up. Maybe it's this year, right?

It's kind of vacation season's over. Maybe it's

for next year. Maybe you're going to do a winter

vacation. Maybe you've got a destination in mind.

You've got a fix, right, in your head, a location

that you want to get to. Some of you might be

thinking about Italy this morning. I know the

Casdas are. They're sitting right here in the

front. They're always thinking about Italy. First

of all, they love the food in Italy. Who doesn't,

right? But they've got a heart to do missions

work. in Italy. And they're praying about that.

They're working through that. Maybe you're thinking

about going to Scotland. Maybe a kilt and some

bagpipes are your thing, right? That's your fix.

Maybe you're thinking about going to Australia

and doing whatever you do down under. I don't

even know what you do down there, right? Or maybe

it's more local. Maybe it's Maryland or Florida

or New Mexico. Maybe it's a destination point

within a state, a Grand Canyon, an Estee Park.

Maybe it's the only Hershey Park, right? You're

fixed and you're looking. But Jesus indicates

while there are a thousand choices in our head,

spiritually, there are only two destinations

in your heart. There's only two places you can

fix your heart. One is heaven and the other is

earth. You know that? Two destinations, that's

it. In the word of God, he tells us our hearts

can be fixed on heaven or our hearts can be fixed

on earth. That can be your fix, one of the two,

depending on which one you're coming from will

determine. And what your heart is fixed on will

determine the treasure that ends up in your heart

and the treasure that is produced out of that

fix. My heart can be fixed on earth. And it will

yield a treasure where moth and rust will affect

it or corrupt it, right, where thieves can break

in and steal. It'll be temporal. That's what

the Word of God is saying here. If my heart is

fixed on earthly things, whatever production,

whatever treasure comes out of that, it's going

to be a treasure that can be taken away. It's

gonna be temporal in nature. Everything you see

around you is temporal in nature. It's here today,

it's gone tomorrow. If you were standing here

a thousand years ago, I can guarantee you what

you're seeing right now wasn't here. It comes

and it goes. But if your heart is fixed on heaven,

my heart will yield an incorruptible treasure,

a treasure where neither moth or rust destroys,

where thieves cannot break in and steal, it'll

be eternal. Treasure that counts for something

eternally. Treasure that is going to be something

that we can lay at the feet of Jesus, something

that's going to make a difference as I live rock

life following Jesus Christ. And Jesus gave complete

clarity on punching in the right fix into your

life's navigation system, into your head, into

your heart. He said, do not lay up for yourselves

treasures on this earth. Man, shoot for heaven.

Shoot for heaven. Fix your heart on the incorruptible

and not the corruptible. And I don't think I've

fully appreciated this scripture as much as I

did this time around on it. I've read this scripture

a thousand times. And I know this time, the more

I looked at this, the longer I began to dwell

on this, the more I began to peel this back,

I started understanding the raw power of what

my heart is fixed on, what my head is fixed on,

what my fix is in life. Is it heaven or is it

earth? Is it heaven? Or is it my fix impacts

what I invest my time, my energy, my resources

in, my life, right? My essence of who I am. My

fix is what I treasure and what determines the

treasure that I produce in life. The fix is what

I lay up one day in heaven and not what I'm laying

up down here. My fix will make things matter

for eternity. And not just matter for the moment.

We get so caught up in the moment, don't we?

We get so caught up in the moment. This will

make, if you change your fix to something called

heaven, called Jesus Christ, you'll see all of

life through a different lens. Everything. Your

job. You expend time and energy. If you've got

a job, whether that job is a career or a job

at a location somewhere, or your job is taking

care of children or your family or whatever that

is, you'll have a different outlook on your job,

whatever that is, whatever you're putting your

hands, mind, and heart to, if your heart is fixed

on heaven versus fixed on earth. You'll tackle

it different. You'll work for the king and you

won't work just to get stuff, right? You'll work

with a heart to make kingdom difference in whatever

you're doing. And some of you might be thinking,

well, I can't do that in what I do. Yes, you

can. It doesn't matter what you're doing. It

matters how you're doing it and who you're doing

it for. It really does. If you're doing it for

the king, it changes it. It becomes just an earthly

thing. It becomes a heavenly thing. There starts

to be eternal impact that comes along with it.

In one, you're laying up treasures in heaven.

In the other one, you're just getting a paycheck,

hoping you pay the bills for the week, the day,

the month, or the year. What about your relationships?

Think about your relationships. If your fix is

heaven or your fix is earth, you're going to

handle your relationships completely different.

And one, if it's an earthly look, an earthly

fix that you're coming from with your relationships,

we're normally looking for what we're going to

get out of the relationship. What's in it for

me? What's going to be good about this relationship

for me? If it is a heavenly fix that you have

in your head and your heart, your fix is going

to be what's good for them. How can I lead them

to the one who will change their life? How can

I show them the one that will change everything

in who they are and what their future destination

is and the inheritance that they're going to

have? It makes a difference. It changes everything.

Heaven or earth, what's your fix? In friendship,

marriage, in parenting? Is it heaven or is it

earth? In friendship, marriage, parenting, do

I have a heavenly fix with parenting? Does everything

that I do for my kids lead them to a future that

has to do with heaven and not just with what's

going on on earth? Can I give you the number

one key to success for your child? Can I do that

this morning? Anybody interested in that? No,

I'm not gonna give it to you. I'll just keep

it to myself, all right? The number one key to

success for your child. has the name Jesus. There

is no one more powerful than Jesus Christ. There

is no one that can pick your child up and get

him from here to over here. other than Jesus

Christ. I know you love your kids, mom and dad.

I know you've got great influence in their life.

I know you think you're gonna fix all their problems

for them. That might be true when they're this

big, but when they get older, you're not gonna

have the goods. You're not gonna have what they

need. And I'm here to tell you, if you can give

them Jesus Christ, if you can get their minds

and their hearts and their heads fixed on heaven

instead of just the things of the earth, there's

nothing that God can't do in their life. I have

watched this happen. over and over and over again.

I worked with youth for a decade and then watched

youth beyond that for decades as a pastor. I've

watched God literally pick a kid up and move

them to something that they should have never

even got to because it's God's hand on their

life. Lead your kids, get them to have a heavenly

view and not an earthly, right? Get their fix,

their spiritual navigation locked on to Jesus

because it's going to change. everything in their

life. Otherwise, you're going to teach them what

the world teaches us, and the world teaches us

just temporal things. You can give them gold

or you can give them dust because dust flies

away and gold stays. It remains, right? It makes

it through the fire. You want the silver bullet

of success? How many know everybody's looking

for the silver bullet of success? Get online.

You can chase that down all day long. They're

looking for the silver bullet of success. They're

looking for what's going to make, what's the

magic pill that I can take to give me success

in health? What's the diet that I can dive into,

right? For whatever your need is, you want the

magic bullet? Get your fix right. This is this

powerful. Get your fix on heaven and not on earth.

While I'm on the subject, because I'm preaching,

while I'm on the subject, listen to what Jesus

says in the next two verses. He gives a little

more instruction on what works in conjunction

with what I keep in my heart, whether it's heaven

or listen to what it says. In the very next verses,

Jesus says this, and it sounds unrelated when

you're reading it, but it isn't at all. Matthew

6, 22 says, the eye is the lamp of the body.

So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will

be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your

whole body will be full of darkness. If then

the light in you is darkness, How great is that

darkness? Can I tell you what I fix my eyes on

will be what my heart is fixed on, and what my

heart is fixed on will direct my eyes. Many times

we think that our heart and our eyes are two

separate things. But they're not. They're interrelated.

They're independent. They're not independent.

They're interrelated to one another. My heart

works in congruence with my eyes, and my eyes

in harmony with my heart. They work in conjunction.

They work mutually. They work together. Matter

of fact, they feed on one another. What I continually

look towards... will fill my heart, heaven or

earth, right? Whatever I continually look towards,

what I treasure will actually, and what I treasure

in my heart will actually direct my eyes out

and about. It's true. This is why people that

do advertising pay to have commercials put on

TV. They pay a lot of money to put commercials

on TV. And I don't know if you've ever noticed

when you're watching a TV program, but the same

commercial keeps running back over and over,

right? I'm gonna get irritated at that, amen?

Am I not the only one, right? I'm like, I got

it the first time. They bring it back. Do you

know why they're doing that? Because they know

that the eyes and the heart are connected. They

know if they can get something in your eyes,

if it's catchy enough, right? If they can catch

your eyes enough times going in your eyes. What

will happen is they know that it's going to go

in there and process. And depending on what's

in your heart, you might gravitate towards that

thing in your heart. And you might begin to desire

what they're advertising. It will go in your

eyes and to your heart. So they just play it

over and over with something that's catchy, something

that's quick, right? And here's the thing. Once

that thing lodges in your heart, once it becomes

a treasure, Why don't you take ownership of that

thing? Guess what it begins to do? It begins

to direct your eyes. What's in your heart will

begin to direct your eyes. You'll get away from

that thing. You won't see the commercial anymore.

But all of a sudden, what's in your heart, you

start looking for that thing. You're like, I

need one of those, man. You're looking that up

online, right? That shiny car, I'd look good

in that car. Right? Because what's in your heart

starts to direct your eyes. And what comes in

your eyes begins to fill up your heart. They're

connected. And if you're looking at heavenly

things, it's going to start to settle in your

heart. And in your heart, you're going to start

to look for heavenly things out and about. You're

going to start looking for God. But if you start

bringing in those things, right? Scrolling on

your phone, come on. You scroll on your phone,

that catchy thing clicks, right? It's going in,

and you park on that thing for a while, and it

starts to settle in your heart. And if it stays

in your heart, and if you start to treasure that

thing, the heart starts to direct your eyes.

Jesus said it. The eye is the lamp of the body.

So if your eye is healthy, right, if it's stuck

on heavenly things, your whole body will be full

of light. But if your eye is bad, earthly, your

whole body will be full of darkness. If then

the light is in you is darkness, how great is

that darkness? Keep what's going in your eye

heavenly. Keep it heavenly so your treasure is

light. Keep what's going in your eye righteous

so righteous desire begins to well up with you.

Keep your eyes feeding on the right things. Keep

it on what's holy. Keep it on what's rock life,

right? Keep it on those things. Keep it off of

evil. Don't stare. Psalms 127 .37 says this.

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things.

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things

and give me life in your ways. The good Lord

gave us the ability to move our eyes. Amen? You

can open your eyes and you can close your eyes.

You can go ahead and do it right now. You can

turn your eyes to the left. You can turn your

eyes to the right. You're going to get dizzy.

You can turn your eyes up. You can turn them

down. You can turn your head. God did not place

your head on your body, right, and lock it forward

so you can't turn your head to the left and right.

He didn't put two holes in your skull and say,

you don't have any eyelids. You can't close your

eyes. You're just going to have to take in whatever's

out in front of you and process it. He doesn't

do that. You got control of it. Take a look at

your neighbor right now. Go ahead and look over

to the left. I told you you have control, right?

Huh, we have control over our eyes. The word

of God tells us, what are we looking at? What

are we taking in? What's building treasure in

our hearts? This is why, can I tell you, this

is why we struggle sometimes. You know, the last

portion of that scripture said, if then the light

in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?

And that sounds like opposites, right? Sounds

like it doesn't match, but this is the struggle

that goes on inside of us. Our heart is to follow

after God. We're following Jesus. But the evil

comes into our eyes. And we start watching this

thing, and it keeps coming in our eyes. And it

starts to settle in our heart. And we get into

struggle. The Holy Spirit's directing us. He's

saying, look on the holy thing. Turn away from

that thing. And you keep looking at that thing.

And all of a sudden, you're in the war inside

your body. Paul talks about this in Romans 7

21. He says, so I find it to be a law that when

I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

For I delight in the law of God in my inner being,

but I see in my members another law waging war

against the law of my mind and making me captive

to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from

this body of death? Thanks be to God through

Jesus Christ our Lord. So when I myself serve

the law of God with my mind, but with the flesh,

I serve the law of sin. He's talking about that

struggle that can take place because the eyes

and the heart are connected. You get the earthly

things coming in, right? Because we live on this

earth. And then you're trying to get your eyes

fixed on it and that struggle. And Paul goes

on to say in 8 .5, for those who live according

to the flesh, that's an earthly fix, by the way,

right? It's an earthly fix. But for those who

live according to the flesh, set their minds

on things that are flesh. But those who live

according to the Spirit, that's a heavenly fix,

set their mind on the things of the Spirit. For

to set the mind on the flesh is death. Dust,

man, death. But to set the mind on the Spirit

is life and peace. It's right there. What's my

heart fixed on? What's my heart fixed on? What

are my eyes fixed on? Heaven or earth? Righteousness

or evil? Jesus or my next desire? Which is it?

Worship team, if you'd come. Jesus said one final

thing about my fix, my heart, the treasure. He

said my fix will impact my serve. It will impact

my serve. I'm giving you scriptures that Jesus

spoke right in a row in Matthew chapter 6 when

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

he was on that hillside in Capernaum preaching

the Sermon on the Mount. He said these scriptures

right in a row. Matthew 6, 24 says, no one can

serve two masters, for either he will hate the

one and love the other, or he will be devoted

to the one and despise the other. You cannot

serve God and money. Some translations will say

mammon, which is money, translates money. What

is Jesus saying about my spiritual fix, right?

How will this impact my serve? Jesus said there's

only two serve options here, right? Do you notice

that? Only two. I'm not sure if you picked up

on the pattern in these scriptures as you read

down through, but there's a pattern of two, each

one of them. In Matthew 6, 19 and 21, Jesus said

that my heart will either be fixed on heaven

or on earth. In Matthew 6, 22 and 23, that my

eyes will either be fixed on light or darkness.

And in Matthew 6, 24, Jesus says that you will

serve one of two masters. It will either be God

or it will be money, one of the two. Two, heaven

and earth, light and darkness, God or money.

Now, right about now, you might be thinking,

well, pastor, don't we need both in this life,

right? We need God, but we also need money. I

know, you know, I went into the grocery store

just a couple of days ago, and I'm pretty sure,

I'm not sure totally, but I've never tried this.

But if I would have got a cart full of groceries,

I'd have got to the checkout counter and I'd

have said, listen, I don't choose money, I choose

God. So I'll be leaving now. I probably would

have got to meet some people that wear blue uniforms,

have a shiny badge, and little red and blue lights

on their cars, right? It's true. We need money,

right? We need money to live. We need money to

sustain life. We need money to provide for our

family, money to give to others. We need money

for ministry. Absolutely. Be the first one to

tell you that. So why did Jesus say that my fix

cannot be God and money? Did he say that we cannot

make money to serve our families and to serve

the purposes of God? Jesus said you cannot serve,

serve God and money. Whoever or whatever I serve

is my master. You will serve one another. Whatever

I serve, there can only be one master in our

lives. It can only be one fix, Jesus. No one

can serve two masters for either hate the one

and love the other, or he will devote it to the

one and despise the other. We only have two masters,

only two in our circle. Which one is God calling

you to? See, money is something. that God gives

us to manage. It's nothing more than a tool that

God gives us for his kingdom and for his purposes.

God allows us the opportunity to make money so

we can provide for our families. That's biblical,

by the way, to provide for your family. But it

is also to do the purposes of God and the plan

of God. There's a difference between me serving

my money and my money serving me and God, or

maybe God and me is the right order there. Amen.

We pray that you were impacted powerfully by

this message. If you have been personally affected

by our ministry and you would like to partner

with us as we love God, love people every day,

visit our website at www .lifehousecog .com.