Stephanie Ike - A Fresh Perspective

So very interesting. You know, when they were worshiping and they're singing, you know, lead me where my trust is without borders, and I'm singing it, and the Hood Spirit check me real quick because every time I come, every time I speak, I love having my notes, you know, that's like my thing. I'm like, I need my notes, you know. And he told me to trash it. I said what, and they're singing it. I'm like, no, no, no, no, not that far, and so you know, I was like, no, that's that's not that's not right. You know, I've rebuked the enemy. But but I had to listen, and so I'm actually excited. I'm I'm really excited because it's so much more. It's more, you know, it's it's better when the Holy Spirit takes over, because like the Word says, not by power, you know, not by my but by my spirit, says the Lord. So I'm gonna have God half his way. Yeah, there were certain passages I was gonna bring up, if you know, God permits me that I did want you to have. But thank God for Google. So if you hear something you like and I can't remember where it is, just google it. So today we're gonna be talking about you know what, I hope I remember the name of this word. That's for the slide up alright, that's the word right there, A fresh perspective. Now, you know, two days where two days away from Christmas. And so when it comes to Christmas, I was talking to my mom and I was telling her the message, and she's like, Stephanie, where is baby Jesus in this message? And the beautiful thing about when we talk about life of Christ is we talk about purpose, right because he was sent on this part for a reason. He wasn't just sent here so that we could talk about him in the manger. He came here for a reason and two things in particular. You see, when he started his ministry, one of the first things he preached about was repent. And repent simply means to renew your mind. So in other words, I need you guys to look at life differently. And so today we're gonna be talking about looking at some old things and some present things in a new way. You see, we're going into a new year, and a lot of times what happens is when we're entering the new year, we're expecting God to do a new thing. But God doesn't wait for a new year to do a new thing. He goes ahead of the year. Okay, so the new thing is already taking place. But the thing is that we need to have a fresh perspective because if we're not aware the present thing that God calls the new thing. You see, there's a passage in the Bible that says, behold, I do a new thing. Do you not perceive it? Right? And so when we are thinking that, okay, Lord, January first is coming up, you know, new Year's resolutions doesn't mean God resolutions or something. You know, He's not waiting for that day to do something. This the shift has already happened, and so we need to see things in a new way. And so another thing, one of the things that Jesus came to do is to reconcile man to the original image. You see when we talk about Adam and Eve. You know, let's mother focus and Adam. You know in the garden we see p two people that had intimacy with Christ. Now there's a passage that tells us that, you know, God said, let us make man in our own image and after our likeness. What's interesting is that that word likeness. When you break it down in the Hebrew text, the root word of that word means dama and that translates to thought. So ultimately God is saying, let man think like us. And one thing I loved about God is that at the end of creation, at the end of six days, it talks about how he looked at all he has done and saw that it was good. So there was you know, even though I mean, God is God, everything he makes is great, but he was perceiving what had he had just created. And ultimately he did the same thing with man. And I want us to go to a scripture. I believe this is in Genesis two or something like that is back there, all right, So I'm gonna let's just let's look at this real quick, right, So God creates man in his image after his thought, and now he's gonna test things out, right, So let's read it. I'm sure you guys have read this pass. It's probably a lot of times. So it says, out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see somebody says, to see what he would call them. That is so interesting. And then it says, and whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. It didn't say that whatever Adam called them that you know then that you know, whatever that was name or at that moment or something, but that became the name, right, it says that was its name. So ultimately we see a picture that God had already named the animals. Okay, it was the name that those names were already given to the animals by God. So God is watching Adam, he's observing Adam. He's like, let me see what you know, let me see what we just created. I hope we got it right. And so ultimately Adam does get it right because whatever he names them, that was its name. And there's something so powerful with what you call a thing. You see, in my culture I'm Nigerian, in a lot of different cultures, we take names very seriously. Even in the Bible, when we see God doing something new with a person, we often see a name change, you know, when we look at Jacob and then changes his name to Israel, because who God was forming Jacob to become no longer fit the name, fit the meaning of that name. And so if you call something wrong, so if Adam for example, you know called the lion a sheep. We're gonna have wild beasts acting stupid right things that we will take away the potential from things when we name it wrongly, and so and so. When when you're able to perceive things, when you're able to perceive what God is doing, when you're able to have a God perspective, you're able to engage with the blessings of God. You're able to receive what God has for you. And so ultimately we name things wrong, and so we're not able to engage what God is doing in this time. So in the spirit of baby Jesus, we can't forget his mother married. Now, it's very interesting that Jesus's first miracle was initiated by his mother. And I want us to read this past it before we go into it. I believe this is in holy spirit. John two, maybe come on, somebody, let's see all right, Hey, come on, So we're gonna read this real quick, okay. So it says on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now, both Jesus and his disciples were invite to the wedding, so real quick. At this point, this is like Jesus is out of the you know, out of the wilderness. He started his ministry, he gathers disciples. So this is the third day and he goes to Cana and it seems as safe. Whoever's having the wedding might be a family, friend of the family, because Jesus is there, the mother is there, his brothers are there, and all that stuff, and so let's continue. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And then let's look at what Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, what does your consent have to deal with me? My hour has not yet come. Okay, it's continued, his mother said to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it. This is very funny because obviously Jesus is like, yo, don't trip, but this is not my time, you know. But Mary, it's very amazing because Jesus has never done a miracle. But Mary did not need to see Jesus do something for her to perceive him as someone that can do it. And so Mary was not bothered. She's like, I don't care if your time hasn't come has whatever, you have the ability to do what I'm asking you, And so you see from a mother perspective. And I'm going to talk about children in two aspects, because we can see children like if you're a mother, you have a child. And even in the spirit. A lot of times, and some of you might have dreams like this when you're about to birth something in the natural, like a project or an idea. Sometimes in a dream you see yourself pregnant and doesn't mean you're gonna be, you know, just knocked up by the spirit of some but but God is showing you that there's something that you're about to birth in the natural. And so on two sides, what do we call our children? You see, Mary was able to call out the authentic side of Jesus. She was able to see him like, you know what, son, I don't care if I've never seen you do this before, but I know you have the ability to and that thing came forth. And so a lot of times, what are we calling the things that we are handling? You know? Do you call it a burden? Do you call it insignificant? Do you call it small? Do you call it this thing? Would never you know, ultimate to something, whatever it is, that's what that thing, you know, that's what you produce. Because although Jesus said, my hour has not yet come, but because the mother called out who he is, he just had to respond. Right, So, let's look at this now there where you know they sat there they sat six water portsicle. Let's go to the next one. We're just looking at how it happened. And Jesus said to them, next one, fill it up the whole mathematics behind this miracle. Let's go to the next one, and y'all can read this on your spare time. Let's go next. Okay, when the when the master so now you know, if they've had the wine and all that stuff. And in this passage, let me even read it to amazing when the master of the feast had tasted the w you know, tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from. But the servants who had drawn the water new. The master of the feast called the bridegroom, and he said to him, every man at the bridegroom sits out, you know, sits out the good wine. And when the guests have what does that When the guests have well drunk. Then then well, when guests have well drunk, then the inferior you have kept the good wine until now, that is just the power of God, because when we're able to seek into what they truly are, they perform better than the things we know. Okay, so let's go to the next and as obvious now the beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana and all their translations talk about the first of signs that he did. So why why we know we bring this up is because there are certain areas that God pressed on my heart to speak today about the places in our lives that we need to have a fresh perspective about. And so there are five things, and thank you Holy Spirit for reminding me of Augus five. And so there are five things in particular, and it begins by with self. Okay. Now, when it comes to self, we look at a man named David for example. Now we know the story of David. David was a shepherd who was anointed as king, but it took David around fifteen years to actually be king. Now, one thing I always ask God is that why do you inform ourself things that are still out there? And what he spoke to me about is that you see, when he tells you about certain positions or certain places that would reveal your authenticity, he's telling you so that you can live according to that. You see a lot of times, you know, when you judge your life by circumstances and you know, trials and all that stuff, we get desperate and we do things out of desperation that ultimately could threaten our authenticity. There ultimately could be a threat because you see when God is calling you to let me say, for example, actually, ladies won't talk about David. You see, there was the time that David him and Saul Sauw was the previous king before him. They had some issues, and so David runs and he lives in the enemy's camp. He lives with the Philistines. But what's interesting is that while David was there, he was still carrying out duties as though he was the king of Israel. He was killing Israel's enemies behind their back. And so if David, out of desperation, gave into the enemy's camp and gave in with the Philistines and said, you know what, I just need to survive, I just need somewhere to live. I'm gonna join them and kill my people. How would he have remained a king if he came back to Israel and said, you know what, the Lord has anointed me king. Now I'm gonna become king. Obviously, yes, the world of God will stand. But they might have killed him because the news would have gone across that this same man murdered our people out of desperation. And so, one thing that God really pressed on my heart for us not to do is do not do things that you don't want to be heard of. Do not step into rooms or take offers that ultimately in life you don't want that thing to be connected to your name. And so and so when you look at yourself, see yourself the way God sees you. You see, there's a gentleman in this church, you know. And what was really incredible there was a particular day we were praying, and at this time of his life, he was homeless, and we're praying and he's talking about a project, and he's here, he knows who I'm talking, he knows himself, and we're praying. He was talking about the project, and so someone else prayed and said, Lord, you know, give him millions. And then he joked and said, no billions. And in that moment, God spoke to me and said he will be a billionaire. I said, what, I never got that word. And the way he told me that, I said, this is definitely from the Lord, you know. And he downloaded to me certain you know the things that God will use him to do. And so he was like, I need you to talk to him to build him up because the enemy wants to attack his identity. But this is who I'm calling him to be because of the things that he would do. Later on, this gentleman, you know, he reached he aproach. He was like, I want to tell you about my vision. I said, oh, you know, tell me the vision. The vision matched exactly with what God told me. I said, God, this thing is for real, this guy. But but what I'm saying is that we have to serve in God. Who what are the things that you've called us to do? Who are we really right? Because if not, the frustrations of life can choke you. Because remember, at this time, this man is homeless. We look at someone like Tyler Perry, we honor who he is today, but we don't know the struggle. When he was living in his car and imagine someone who saw him in that state and could speak to him and build him up and say, look, I know this is where you are, but God is gonna use you to do great and mighty things in this world. And so no matter where you think you are in life, never given because the enemy is gonna bring offers your way. And the truth is, if it does not look like God, it is not God. Okay. Sometimes we try to convince ourselves, and you know, do a lot of convincing. But if these are things that you do not want to come out in your life, back away from it, right, don't wait to like God when it's you know, in that time, I will handle it. Just step away from it. Now. We'll also talk about how we view God, how we view God's love. You see, there's a passage that we're very familiar with, and he talks about Jesus weeping. You know, Jesus wept, and I want to see even looking that, I believe that is John eleven. Come on, somebody, all right now it says now a certain man was sick. Now this is now. If you don't have this story, this is when Lazarus died and Jesus raised him, up. Now, a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore, the sister said to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, the sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. But this is very interesting because he still died. You know, Jesus said, the sickness is not on to death. But when when he's talking about it, he see he knows what it's about to happen. He's like, you know what I see. You know, you guys are panicking. But it's it's gonna glorify God. But for someone receiving this, for someone on the receiving end, you would assume, oh, he's not gonna die, he's gonna be good. You know, if you've ever been in a situation and people tell you it's gonna be good, God got you, you know, But then the very thing that you were worried about still happens. And a lot of times we take it out on God. But let's continue that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So I love this. You know, we're not all English scholars, but we know what SO happens because SO is connected to the last Day. So they're telling us that Jesus loved this people. So when he heard he was sick, he stayed two days. He stays more two days in the place where he was. Now I'm like, Lord, so you love him, So you waited. You waited for the thing that they didn't want to happen, and happens. Right. You see a lot of times in our lives we go through things and it's like, okay, Lord, you know where are you and I need you to come like today, right, And because of his love for you, he's silent, and we don't get that because we're like God, if you, if you really love us, then this thing should happen. Like I don't need to wait to be evicted. I don't need to wait. I don't need to lose somebody in my family before you know, something happens. But we're gonna we're gonna get into some things, right, So they said, because he loved them, he waited, So let's go to the next verse, all right. So when he was sick, you know, two days two, two days two, all right. Then after that he said to he said to disciples, let us go to Judom again. Okay, okay, no, we don't need to go. Let's go to verse I believe it's thirty three to thirty five or so, but oh, thirty two. So now, okay, geez, this is going over there. Now, we're gonna catch up where Jesus arrives there. Right then, when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she fell on. She fell down at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been there, my brother would not have died. How many of us can just be honest and say we felt this way sometime in our lives, right, And it's like, Lord, if you have been there, this thing would not have happened. Lord, if you answered me when I pray to you about this, it would not have happened. Now, before we go into rest of it, something to clarify you. See, Jesus said that this thing will not lead to death, right, but it will glorify God. Now, restoration happens in different ways in this passage. For those of us that know the story, we see that Lazarus came back to life. But for you know, and when he called Lazarus, he's like, you know, Lazarus, get up or something like that, or awake or something right that means wake up. And so one thing that God taught me is that wake up is not always direct to the situation. Wake up could be it could. Let me even use my personal example, as a baby, my father was murdered. For many years, I was like, God, why did you allow this to happen? Like, why did you allow this to happen? And so one day I had a dream and in the dream, it was like a conference room, and so I see a man that I knew to be Jesus, and I see other people in the conference room, and they're having a conversation about why my father had to die. And so one of the things in particular that was mentioned to me a man said, you know, at the age of his death was it is supposed to was supposed to be at fifty four, which would be next year. And then another man said, so there is like a conference room, and I'm just watching, and another man said, but that would have been an age of death in the family. And so I'm like, what does that mean? Age of death? And then someone tells, you know what when you and I was aware that I was in the dream, and someone says, you know, when you're awaken, ask your mind who died at fifty four? I said, okay, But then what the man who represented Jesus said to me was because It's like, because of what happened, the year that he was supposed to die would be a new platform in your family. And so when God was showing me he's that he was gonna tell my father he was gonna say the same thing wake up, but not directly to my father, but to something within us. And so the manifestation of restoration is not always the way we want it to happen. But God is a good God, and he would cause everything to work for your good. You see, when I woke up, I asked my mom. I said, Mom, who died at fifty four? And she told me her oldest brother. I said, oh, wow, you know, I said, you know, I guess that was You know, little things like that God is trying to confirm to you that indeed, he's the one talking to you when he gives you some you know, facts like that. But it was just something to share because we get so upset with God when things don't go on. We get so upset, like God, why did this person have to die? Why did I have to go through this? Why did I have to all these things? But Jesus is saying that I'm gonna say, tell something to wake up. It might not be directly what you want me to say, but there's gonna be something that is for your good and will glorify the Father. Okay, So let's go to the next verse, and it says therefore, when Jesus saw her her weeping, and he okay, okay, And oh and the Jews who came with her weeping, he gathered there he got what was that? He? You know, Jesus, my eyesight is good. He growned in the spirit and was troubled, and he said, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see, and the famous passage Jesus wept. It's so interesting that Jesus would weep even though he knew that a few minutes later he's gonna tell Lazarus to wake up because God is in tune with our pain. And that's what we have to know to know, to know that when you're going through something, it's not because God doesn't want you, know, to answer you or whatnot. He has a plan for you. Here's a plan that's gonna be greater than whatever you could have imagined. But he wants you to know that he's in tune with your pain. Jesus did not have to weep. He knew what was about to happen. He knew that a few minutes from now, this is the very reason that these people are crying. I'm gonna cause it to stop. But in that moment, he was so in touch with us, He was so in tune with Mary and Martha and the rest of the Jews weeping, and he wept as well. Okay, and even talking about love. This is a very personal story. But you know, one of the things growing up, I used to see fathers, you know, when they were like twirled like their girls around and stuff like that, And I was like, Lord, I want to be twirled, but like I just want to be torn, like I saw. I'm not asking for another daddy. I just want to be toiled. And this is one thing that usually s, you know, gets me emotional. And so one day, cause dreams are for me, it's it's a lot of ways that God normally speaks to me. And so one day in a dream, I'm in this garden and this huge man I couldn't really see his face, and he picks me up and starts twirling me around, and I woke up crying. I was crying in the dream. I woke up with the tears in my face. And it's just little ways, and it's not I how God can speak to one person is not always the same way that he may speak to you, but it's always a symbol of his love. It's always a testimony of his love for us. That's something as twirling that God would even give into that and said, I would tour you if if it means that much to you. And also what one of the other things that we also have to have a fresh perspective about is the people amongst us. Right now we talk about there's a man named Moses. Now we know Moses, this is a man that spoke face to face with God. But you see, there was a point where moses father in law, his name was Jethrow. He comes to visit Moses, and Moses is telling him about all these people he has to speak to and he has to judge over their cases. And so at that time, Moses was the only one judging people's cases, no matter how you know, small it was, no matter how big it was. And jeth Throw gives him advice. He's like, this thing you're doing is going to burn you out, basically, and he tells Moses, you know, gather some people who are who do not accept bribe, who are you know who fear the Lord? Teach them you know the commandments of God and all that stuff, and have them judge over the small cases, and you judge the bigger ones. And Moses listened to his advice. You see, It's really interesting because Moses is a man that speaks face to face. He was the man that spoke face to face with God if there was an issue in his camp, if it was us. We're like, you know what God would have told me if I need to do that the way you're telling me to do that when you have an attitude just about nothing. But Moses was humble enough that despite the fact that he could speak to God face to face. He was able to receive advice from a man who I don't know if he ever spoke to God. Because the thing is that we never know the channels that God can speak to us. And that's why we have to always come in humility. We have to always come in a humble mindset. Because when we talk about when we talk from the beginning that Jesus came to reconcile us to the original image, and we talk about Adam, Adam had intimacy with God in those moments, and intimacy leads to revelation. There's some things that in the moment, God will show you something I said, listen to this person, speak to this person, Let this person speak into your life. It's not about status because that always changes. But we live in a world where we're so consumed with the now perception. We're so consumed with presently, who what do you bring to my life? You see, one thing is that never adopt a mantra or a principle that is not divinely inspired. You see a lot of times we say, you know, this one just cracks me up when they talk about you know, if you have five Brooke friends, you're the fifth one. Or you're the sixth one, right, And so if you're the broke friend trying to be in the circle of the rich folks and they have the same mentality, I don't think you're going to belong there either, right. And so when we have when we come up with all these principles and we come up with all these mantras and whatever, is it inspired by the Bible? Right, Obviously you have to be wise. You need to have people around you that have vision, right, But don't be so consumed with a person's present situation that you miss out on someone that God has sent to your life. And another thing, and this is I don't know who this is for, but I know I was like, Lord, I'm not trying to talk about that. But it was so interesting because there are even some people who when it comes to relationships, you know, you're like, I'm just looking for whatever. And it's funny because some of these people are in your corner. Some of these people that you're praying to God about, they're right in front of you, but you just can't see them. And I don't know. Now, this might not be for everybody. Okay, don't let this, don't let the enemy use this against you. But if it's for you, you will feel convicted. If you don't feel convicted, it's not for you. But this is real because you see a lot of times we come before God because you see, God is very in tune with us. The Bible tells us how even when he has numbered the hairs in our head. So he's very in tune with every detail of your life, even when it comes to relationships. And literally there's some people that the problem is because there's a perception, there's an idea that is not of God that you have. There is this false thing that is driven by the world and not of God. You see, truth be told. I remember it to be like, Lord, I need a man, you know, a beard. You know, he has to be this high. And uh, I mean, I give my list to the Lord, I said God. And you know, the funny thing is that we use the Bible to support our stupidity. I said, Lord, you can do all things I can't do offense through Christ. Oh Gosh, nothing is impossible for the Lord. And we start singing, I give my list, and you know, and in that moment, you know, because truly, when you when you have a true relationship with God, he would check you. Not. God is not always going to say yes to your stupidity, you know. And in that moment he told me, he said, I never mentioned that in my word. The only thing in my word is that husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church. And so the person you're looking for is someone that would love you in this I'm not sure if it's gonna have a beard. And so we have these ideas that it's so worldly inspired and God wants to bring us back to his truth. And so in every area of your life, a fresh perspective, a fresh perspective, even over the people that is that are amongst you. And while you're looking elsewhere, the answer might just be within your group, right, and not just relationships in the romantic sense, but even people that you want to work on projects with different things. We're always looking for. Oh, this person is not up to the level yet. But if God is saying that this is the person I've chosen, then that is the most anointed person for the job than any other person. Okay. Now, another thing that was mentioned to me was about location. Now, see we see someone like Abraham right now. Abraham when he reached you know, so obviously we know the story. Got told him move, you know, moved to a land I'm callier and all that stuff, and Abraham brings with him Lot. Now Lot is what we call baggage, right, baggage that the lords never intended you to carry. And so as all along while Abraham is with Lot. The moment they separated, and if you're interested in this, google it. I wanted to give you the scriptures, but it's in the trash. And so Abraham the moment that they separated from each other. Then God tells him, Abraham, look up from where you are for this. You know, this is the land that I would give to you and your descendants. Now in particular the other eras when in particular God even spoke to me about the House of God, the church. You see a lot of times we even come here with worldly baggage. You see, we come here with God. And maybe because a lot of it's a single that's that God keeps focusing on relationships. But sometimes we come here and our worship is not even genuine. We are worshiping so that the person next to us, I hope he sees how I worship Lord. Oh Jeesus. We come into the House of the Lord with baggage. And the truth of the matter is that you cannot receive from God when you're coming with other things, other motives, other intentions, whatever it is, you cannot really receive what God is doing in those moments. And even in this house, for example, we have like the one o'clock service, and now the one o'clock is life streamed right now. For me, that's one of my favorite services because it's you're focusing on what the message is. Now when you know, when some people are like, you know, I just love and you know, pets here and stuff like that, is it the presence or is it when the lights are on? Is it the people you can see? Is it about God or is it about your personal things that you want to do, Because when it's about God, you're coming in here, you're worshiping, you're receiving the world, and you're growing. Right, we cannot bring in so many petty things and all this baggage, because then we cannot even receive what God is doing in our lives. We see, this is not a place. God said that my temple will be called a house of prayer. Right, obviously we know that there will be community and all these great things. And we love that. Right, we come in here, we see each other, we greet each other, we have fun. After church, we all go you know, if you go to eat, you go to eat, or you go home or whatever, and all that stuff is great, but that is not the purpose. He said that this shall be called a house of prayer. And so even when we come to the House of the Lord, let our focus be on the Lord. It should be about anything else. It should not just be You shouldn't even come here if you're just coming here because your friends are here. Honestly, it shouldn't even be about that, because you're missing it. I serve as a gatekeeper, right and I see walking down the aisles and the whole message somebody could be on Instagram. So what was the purpose of you really coming in here? You see, when you come into the House of the Lord, it's a very it's a very powerful thing because you're literally walking into you know, when we talk about you know, Lord, let it rain open the floor gets of heaven and let it rain, you're literally coming into a place that you can deposit your expectations of God as a seed. And when it rains on that seed, something can manifest in your life. You see, you don't even need to wait. You don't need to wait for to be true. You don't even need to wait for an altar call, for example, that calls out for healing, because the moment you come into the House of the Lord, you say, Lord, I have an expectation that you would heal me. Right, and you come in with that expectation, And I'm telling you there are things in the spirit that happens that we cannot see, but you have to just believe it by faith. Because if God is saying that this shall be a house of prayer, then he's saying that no matter what, this is a place where I am listening to you. I am listening to everything you're saying, because I am the one calling it a house of prayer. And so when you come here, come with an expectation, come with something that is between you and God. When you receive the world receive it. Like when that song was going on and we're like, oh, trust without borders, and it really spoke to me because in that moment, I was like, Holy Spirit, I'm still trying to have some borders up here because I'm still trying to rely on my notes and stand behind the poet him and be like, hey, you know what's next? Line two? Right type of thing. But you see, we have to be allowed the spirit to flow through us. Right. We have to come in here and say, God, what is it that you want us to do? What is it that you have for me on this day? And let God use you freely? Right. Not also when it comes to locations, even in your work environments. And this is for some people because it's not about who you don't like in your work environment or who you do like. It's about the purpose that God has placed you there for. You. See, every time we're focusing on people, we're focusing on this person looks at me this way. See. The interesting thing about God is that God will never come down to your level. He always expects you to go to his level. And God is a god of love. And the one thing about love that is very difficult to accept is that love is not self serving. Love is not about you. Love is about what flows through you. And so even when God might put you in a difficult place, the difficulty is not a sign of Lord, maybe it's time for me to go. No, That's why you always have to see confirmation. God, what is it that I'm doing here? What is it that you have me here? For everything in our lives that we question, this is the time to ask God, Lord, I need a fresh perspective about this thing. Need to know how you identify this thing in my life so I know how to proceed about it. Right now, we're gonna talk about. The last thing is ideas, the things that God has put in your hand. You see, when we entered the new year, there's a lot of ideas. There's a lot of things that you're pregnant with. And what God wants you to understand is even through the life of Moses, right, Moses was a man who we see there's an encounter where I'm gonna read a passage. I believe I gave them something connected to that. There's an encounter that God has with Moses and God tell ask him, He said, Moses, what is in your hand? And he says, a staff. And we're gonna talk about that passage in a bit. And he talks about the staff, and then God tells him to do all these things with the stuff. He says, you know, throw the stuff on the ground. The staff turns to a snake, you know, pick it up by the tail the staff, you know, turns back to the staff and all that stuff. So the moment that God had an encounter, it's not an encounterab but we're just gonna cut an encounter the moment that God had encounter. I personally like to say, when God breaths on a thing, it changes the purpose and the function of that thing. You see, Moses has always had that staff, but in the moment where he was in the presence of God, that staff became something else. And in the passage we see that, you know, God tells him, and you shall take the rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs, and it talks about all these amazing signs that Moses would do through the staff in order to deliver the people of you know, the Israelites that were in Egypt. And what God spoke to me about this is that literally, there are ideas and projects that have seemed dormant in your life. These are things you've carried on, you've had for years, and they just look like whatever. But God is gonna breathe on it. And the very thing that seemed like nothing is gonna perform mighty signs in your life. You see, there was an example and I love it that you know, we have you know, musicians here and producers here, but there's an example that came to me and it was about if anyone knows a producer, for example, even when we have harmony. And I remember he mentioned or something. He mentioned what time, and he talked about a certain beat he had created and it took maybe it was six or something years. I can remember what he mentioned before. That beat was actually used by a singer and that music went. It was a hit. And we hear so many stories like this, but what is amazing is that for you to have a certain beat and six years later you still go back to that same beat and you're like, I think this could work. I think this could work, and it works. You have to believe in what you carry. You have to believe in what you have. The time frame does not eliminate that God could breathe on it and cause it to be functional. The time frame does not eliminate that God could take that very thing and cause it to do mighty signs. Moses had always had this staff. It was just you know, maybe he was, you know, just walking with it. I don't know, maybe dancing or something, you know, but God used this staff and turned it to be something else. Even when they encountered the Red Sea, it was that same staff, and God says, you know, raise the staff up, raise your hand up. And then the water parted. And so God is gonna use certain things in your life. There's certain ideas and hold on to these things. There's certain ideas and projects that He's gonna breathe on, and these things are gonna accelerate for you. And so never doubt what is in your hand, never doubt what God has placed within you. Don't be so quick to go to the next thing when they're unfinished businesses that God has to do with you and the things that you already have. Yeah, okay, and to be honest, that might all be it. But but what we want to talk about today, Literally, one thing that God told me about what the Holy Spirit is gonna do on this day is a lot of things that are gonna come to memory, a lot of old ideas, there's a lot of dead things that you just kind of you know what, God, I'm not interested in, you know, I don't think this then has anything. And literally the word that came, or the phrase that came is that God is going to open the eyes of your understanding. And what is so powerful about that is that you begin to see and view things and think the way God sees things, and things are gonna look very random because the place that God is gonna have you pursue is not gonna look like something you should be pursuing because of what the state that is in right now, in the present time. But you see, we have entered a season that things are going to accelerate in your life. Right The things that will normally take years will take months literally, and so we have to be so focused on what God is doing. And that's why this is the time to have to build your relationship with God. That should be your number one focus, intimacy with God, because it's in a place of intimacy that we have revelation and God can speak to you. You see, life is not about Lord. It's not about the hours. It's not about like check in and check out of prayer. You know, God, I checked in at five am. I'm checking out at nine pm. It doesn't work like that because and I said prayer not in the context of conversation, but in the context of when you're just bringing requests to God, like Okay, God, I just need you to do this, and I'm just gonna keep praying for you to do this. But when you have relationship, you see, what is so powerful with relationship is that I can if my let's say a best friend, for example, there are things that because of that relationship, there are things that I could see that she needs and if I have the ability to do it, I will without her asking. And so this is a time more than ever to focus on building that relationship with God, because only him can guide you into the path that He has set before you. Plans and ideas cannot do those things. And that is the place of elevation. That is the place where he starts really actually become your thoughts. That is the place you literally think like him and not thinking like the world. And so now, if that is you and you're like God, and honestly it's probably everybody, it's me including and you're like God, I want the eyes of my understanding to be opened up. Now. Honestly, I didn't even want to do an auto call, but there is something about you identifying that God. I need you, I need your help, and I know that I cannot do this then by myself. I need you to be my hand and I need you to walk with me. So let's all get up. And So if you're in that place of surrender, if they are ideas, if the things that I've spoken today touched your heart in somewhat way, and the whole time, the Holy Spirit has been tugging at you and saying that I need you to believe in yourself again. I need you to believe that you are not your circumstance, You're a not your situation. Remember David was a shepherd and he was anointed king. But even though he was anointed king, it did not manifest for another fifteen years around that. But that did not change who God had called him to be. And so if that is you, and you're like, I have lost hope in myself and but this is quickening you up, and you're like, you know what, I can't believe in myself again, I can believe in the ideas that God has given me. Then come on down. And the beautiful thing is the God is just so amazing because you know that there's a passage. I believe this isn't it Ezekiel or something, and it says, in this time, my world will not delay, but what I speak shall happen. And so it's not gonna delay like you have you might have been used to. They see, there's a time I was talking about how we are accustomed to waiting. We're accustomed to Lord, I'm just waiting on you. There's doing a song about waiting something, waiting on you, Lord, right, but you know I have vocals. Come on, somebody, I'm about to sing up in this place. But but the truth of the matter is that these things are not going to delay. And so if you focus, if you put your focus and commitment to the ideas that God has given you, trust me, it will work. Because this is a season where there's gonna be so much temptation to do the wrong thing. There's gonna be and the wrong thing is gonna come in a way that attracts you. It's gonna come in a way that it looks like the God thing. And that's why this is a time where you need discernment. And that does not come by someone touching you and say receive discernment. It comes with relationship with Jesus. That is how that is the only way when the spirit really moves you and tells you don't go here, you go here. And you know that whole Shenanigan right. And so if y that is you and you're like God, I need you to open the eyes of my understanding, come on down and you see there there's some of you that when we talked about the love of God, it hit you because literally there are situations that you went through and you were like God, I felt like you abandoned me. I felt like you. You know, if you had showed up, if you had done something, Thank you, I see your If you had done something, then it would have been different. But today you are understanding the love of God. And it's not about him not being in tune with your pain or anything like that. But anything God allows in your life, trust that it would serve your good. And we don't understand these things because the Bible tells us that the ways of God is hired in our ways. His thoughts are hide on our thoughts. And so if you've held that grudge, and one in particular, you were not even planning. You have not even been here for a while, but something led you to here today, and you've been holding that grudge against God. But he wants you to know that He loves you and he sees you, and he's gonna turn things around for you. And so if you know I'm speaking to you, come on down. It's really amazing because the two things the enemy is always after is for you to not know how much God loves you and for you to not know the things that He has planned for you. Two things always that's I mean, the majority of his time, and that's what he's after. But God loves us family like it's such a beautiful relationship. There are things we learned culturally or whatever, but God loves us and He's for us, and there's nothing that could ever take away God's love from you. You see, even when the Holy Spirit is telling me throw away your notes, the hesitation is a lack of knowledge of God's love because I have to realize, God, you love me too much for me to fumble, Come on, for me to forget what you're telling me to speak. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will remind us of things right, and so it's always a new level. It's always a new level of trust. And there's some there are a few of you in particular, and trust is a big thing to you. They're literally things that God is telling you to let go of, but you don't know how am I gonna find something better? And someone in particular, it's even in the area of relationship. You're in a relationship that's actually very abusive. Whether it's mentally or whatever, it's really abusive to you. And it's so hard for you to let that thing go because you don't trust that God does God has better for you. And even when I talked about the love that God speaks that a man would have for us, you don't even believe that a man can love you in that manner. And but God wants you to know that He is with you. And sometimes I don't know if there's this picture I always see, and there's this little girl with this little teddy bear, and you know, there's a man that's like Jesus, and he has this big teddy beer and he's hiding it and he's telling the little girl, like give it to me, let it go, and she's panicking, or she looks like she's pancain. This is a picture, right, But it looks like she doesn't want to give it. But behind him is this huge teddy beer and God has so much great things in store for us, but there's certain things that we have to let go of. And so don't even feel don't feel embarrassed or anything like that, because where there, you know, where the presence of the Lord is, there's them right and so if that is you, come on down and and God is going to strengthen you to let that relationship go. He's gonna strengthen you to let that thing go. And the lady knows who I'm talking to. He's gonna strengthen you to let that go because it's not his will that you stay into something. You see ultimately, a man in your life that comes to your life as you know, someone who you know, whatever, it's a romantic relationship that affects a lot of times how you even view God. And so God is not gonna place someone in your life that cannot reflect his love for you. He will he will not do that. You see. This is not even the message, but there's a there's a passage when in the Bible and the people are talking to God about I'm talking to Jesus about divorce, and they're asking him, you know, what do you think about this, and he fun saying what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. He's talking about what God joins together. There are things that we join to that is not what God has for you. And so don't don't stay in something. Don't stay in something family, that is not God's best for you. Because until you say God, I give this to you, I surrendered this, then He can release every other thing. Don't name something that is not what it is what you think it is. Right, we talked about the names. So God is so good. And if there's someone that you're just questioning so much, and I'm not really sure what part of this that has been mentioned, but you're questioning yourself so much. But God just wants you to come down. I don't know who that person is in particular, but you're you're tugging at yourself. I'm not interested. But whoever that is, come on down. We're gonna wait for you. Amen. The biggest thing, family, is that God loves us and He's for us. That is the whole point of the gospel. To know God's love for us. Because such a love you will never run away from, and such a love you will never hide from. Let us pray, Father God, we thank you for your people today. Lord, we thank you that there is a fresh perspective taking place in our lives. We thank you Lord that you, Lord, are you are opening the eyes of our understanding that no longer are we gonna perceive things through the natural, well perceived things the way you see it. Lord, Lord, we thank you, we love you, and we just thank you for your goodness over our lives. We thank you for the things that we do not even know about. We thank you even for the times we complain, not knowing that you have so much great in store for us. Lord, I pray that, and I declare that you strengthen your people to let go of things that have no business in their lives, to let go of relationships and all whatever it is, and certain even forms of addiction. We thank you, Lord, because in your presence there is liberty, and even addictions that have taken years can break in one second. And I declare addictions to be broken over this house in the name of Jesus. I declare that whatever form of addiction, whether it is food, alcohol, drugs, whatever it is, Lord, I declare those things broken. And some people are even addicted to certain people in their lives, and I declare that thing broken and that need shifted unto you, Father God, in the name of Jesus, Lord God, we thank you for everything that you're doing in this house. We thank you that your children have been set free from whatever has been holding them back. Lord God, we break up distractions in this house today. We pray that your children will call a distraction or distraction and they will not be held to pursue the things that you have for them. They would not be held back, Lord God, because this is the time, Father God, this is the time where things will manifest like that. And so we thank you. We thank you. Lord. You say that you have your way in the lives of everyone here, have your way, Father God, and we just give you the glory and thank you Holy e Spirits for taking over this message. Being Jesus known and