Fixate Phx: Recent Episodes

Fixate Phoenix

We believe in a church that is fixed on Jesus with unwavering attention and focus, that in a day in an age of distraction we fight back with devotion, that a life holistically following the ways of our Creator opens us up to be formed by Him and Him alone. A life of depth that produces fruit that remains, a life of discipline that builds everything we exist to do off of the Cornerstone, a life of sacrifice that shows the greatest love to a world so devoid of it, and a sustainable rhythm that keeps us walking with Him always.

We see a church that loves the least, last, lost, broken, and forgotten. We see a church that turns careers into callings, and conversations into moments where you sense the Holy Spirit. We see a church that seeks to see Jesus and allows the Creator to create with His most prized possession; us.

You're invited to the journey, where we seek first the Kingdom and righteousness, and trust that He can add all things in His time.

Philippians Pt-1; “AM I DOING THIS RIGHT?”

Scripture Reference - Phillippians 1:1-11

HOW TO MAKE SURE I'M NOT TAKING ON WATER EVERYTIME A STORM COMES

1 - My identity must be aligned no matter what my circumstances (good or bad) try to convince me otherwise of. In Paul's first two verses, he introduces himself not as an apostle, deacon, or elder… he says he is a bondservant. This is a major context clue of the calling and identity we take on as a follower of Jesus. If my identity is not aligned with this reality, my freedom feels like drowning, for I'm professing to be a bondservant but not wanting to take seriously the oath that it means to be one: the master, and the master's house, all my days.

2 - The mission of God is not a product we produce, it's a united and partnered people, restoring the kingdom of God in the fallen world. This cannot be done individually and sustained. Jesus models a life of partnership on mission alongside others to restore creation. We don't stop until we see the good work in our lives, and bring others into the good work God has for them, and we embrace everything it takes, through time, circumstance, and cost, for this mission to come to pass. Paul was united to those imprisoned for the gospel, who defended the gospel, confirmed the gospel, and partook in the grace of the gospel, for the gospel was never meant to be carried alone.

3 - Spiritual maturity looks a lot different in Philippians than in 2026. It is love that abounds, knowledge that grows, discernment that is sensitive to the spirit of God, sincerity and blamelessness in how we live, being filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from a life of proximity to following the ways of Jesus. Does our spiritual maturity reflect a life in which we have nailed our freedoms to the doors of God's house, and then began to model and reflect these things? If not, you may miss the deeper part of storms: they have a way of revealing what our foundation cannot support.

Join us as we hear members of our community share testimonies, advice, and wisdom from their personal walks with God.

Ethan - "How to Keep God as the Priority"

Deborah - "How to Trust God's Steadiness"

Sean - "How Power is made Perfect in Weakness"

Discipleship Pastor - Micah Shaw

John 15:1-17

Galatians 5:22-23

How to Walk in the Fullness of a Fruitful Life:

Let Him Tend to the Roots
Become Grafted Into Intimacy
Receive Nourishment That Satisfies
Produce Fruit That Remains

Guest Speaker - Lindsey Bundy

FIXATE & MOVE FORWARD

Joshua 1:1–9 — ESV

Hebrews 11:16 — NKJV

Psalm 27:13 — NKJV

KEEPING OUR EYES ON THE CROSS

Joshua 3:15–17 — NKJV

Deuteronomy 31:6 — NKJV

THIS IS WHO YOU ARE — IDENTITY

Ephesians 5:8 — NKJV

John 10:27 — NKJV

KNOW YOUR IDENTITY — ROOTED BEFORE YOU RISE

Hosea 10:12 — ESV

Joshua 24:13 — ESV

YOUR AUTHORITY IN THE BLOOD

Joshua 1:9 — ESV

Acts 1:8 — ESV

Luke 10:19 — ESV

Luke 4:18 — ESV

James 4:7 — ESV

ARMOR OF GOD — DRESS FOR THE BATTLE

Ephesians 6:10–18 — ESV

DISCERNMENT KEEPS YOU ON THE PATH

Hebrews 5:14 — ESV

LAST & MOST IMPORTANT — FEAR THE LORD, NOT MAN

Joshua 24:14 — ESV

Guest Speaker Jim Tippin shares the beauty of realizing the depth of God "Our Father" and a deeper dive into the portion of the lords prayer.

The phrase “Our Father” is rich with theological meaning. Looking at the original Greek and its Jewish background helps explain why Jesus chose these words.

The Greek

The Greek text reads:

Πάτερ ἡμῶν (Pater hēmōn)

Πάτερ (Pater) – “Father.” It is a warm, personal form of address, expressing a close relationship while still conveying respect and honor.

ἡμῶν (hēmōn) – “our.” This is the plural possessive pronoun, meaning “belonging to us.”

Jesus did not teach His disciples to pray, “My Father,” but “Our Father.”

Why “Our”?

The word “our” emphasizes several truths:

A shared relationship. Everyone who belongs to God approaches Him together as His children. Prayer is personal, but it is never merely individual.

A spiritual family. When we pray, we remember that we are part of God’s people, not isolated believers.

Concern for others. The entire prayer uses plural pronouns: our, us, we, forgive us, lead us, deliver us. Jesus teaches us to pray with the needs of others in mind.

Why “Father”?

For Jesus’ Jewish audience, calling God “Father” would have recalled passages where God is described as the Father of Israel. Yet Jesus made this relationship more intimate by inviting His disciples to address God directly as Father.

Calling God “Father” expresses:

His love and compassion.

His authority and care.

Our dependence on Him.

Our identity as His children through faith.

“In heaven”

Jesus immediately balances intimacy with reverence. God is our Father, but He is also “in heaven”—holy, sovereign, and above all creation. This keeps prayer from becoming either distant or overly casual.

A practical application

Every time you pray “Our Father,” you are acknowledging that:

You belong to God’s family.

Other believers are your brothers and sisters.

God welcomes you as a loving Father.

You approach Him with both confidence and reverence.

This opening phrase sets the tone for the entire Lord’s Prayer: a relationship of loving trust with God, lived out in fellowship with His people.

These names combine Yahweh with another word that reveals a specific work of God.

Elohim — God creates.

Jehovah Jireh. The LORD Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14).

Scripture References

MATTHEW 19:16-22

LUKE 14:16-24

HOW TO MAKE SURE MONEY/POSSESSIONS IS IN A PERIPHERAL PLACE IN OUR MINDS AND NOT THE CENTER FOCUS OF OUR EXISTENCE.

POSSESSIONS PROMISE SECURITY THEY CANNOT DELIVER.. The first man says, “I have bought a field.” In the ancient world, land was retirement, inheritance, wealth, and stability all rolled into one. Jesus isn’t condemning ownership; He’s exposing misplaced trust. The Rich Young Ruler had obeyed the commandments, but when Jesus touched his possessions, his true allegiance was revealed. The question is not whether you own things—the question is whether your things have become the place you run for security instead of God.
POSSESSIONS DEMAND ATTENTION THEY DO NOT DESERVE.. The Rich Young Ruler wasn’t condemned because he was rich; he walked away because he could not imagine life without what he owned. Notice how both the ruler and the man in Luke 14 are distracted by possessions. One must go inspect a field; the other cannot release his wealth to follow Jesus. It is possible for God to have your affection while possessions have your attention. Whatever constantly occupies your mind will eventually shape the direction of your life.
THE KINGDOM REQUIRES SURRENDER, NOT JUST BELIEF.. Both stories involve people who wanted God without releasing control. The Rich Young Ruler wanted eternal life but not at the cost of his possessions. The invited guests wanted the benefits of the feast but prioritized their own agendas when the invitation arrived. Jesus is showing that discipleship is not merely believing the King exists; it is reordering everything beneath His rule. The issue is not how much money you have—it is whether money has a claimed sole focus of your existence.

Submitted and Un-submitted Appetites pt 3: MARSHMALLOWS AND THE CHOICE BETWEEN HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY POWER

Fixate Phx - Pastor Micah Schoeplein June 21st, 2026

Scripture References:

MATTHEW 4:8-11

MARK 10:35-45

ALLEGIANCE DETERMINES THE SOURCE OF POWER. The greatest question about power is not what you can do with it, but where you believe it comes from. Jesus was offered the kingdoms of the world, but refused to gain power at the cost of false allegiance. Earthly power tempts us to compromise for quicker results, greater recognition, or more control by asking us to worship fallen things. Heavenly power begins with surrender, trusting God’s timing and God’s ways. Before God entrusts us with influence, He first tests our allegiance… and the worst thing that can happen is when you have influence but do not know where your allegiance is..
Earthly power produces pride; humility determines how well we handle power. Throughout Scripture, the temptation of power is ultimately the temptation of pride. Whether it was Satan offering Jesus the world, the disciples debating who would be greatest, or rulers believing they were the source of their own authority.. earthly power consistently feeds pride, self-reliance, and arrogance. Heavenly power works in the opposite direction—it produces surrender, dependence, and humility before God. It recognizes that every position, opportunity, and measure of influence is entrusted by God and ultimately belongs to Him.
Trust God’s sovereignty more than human authority. Scripture repeatedly shows that God raises up kings and removes them. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Babylon, and Rome all seemed permanent, yet every earthly power eventually faded. Our hope is not in who sits on an earthly throne, but in the God who rules over every throne. Power is not just about earthly thrones of others we swear allegiance to, it's also about the thrones we seek to build in hopes people swear allegiance to us.. Submitted power is the recognition that any power I have is borrowed from Jesus.

Scripture References:

1 COR 6:12-13; 18-20

PHILLIPIANS 3:17-21

MATTHEW 4:1-4–

LUKE 24:41-43

HOW TO SUBMIT WHAT THE ENEMY TRIES TO EXPLOIT

Appetite Is a Gift but a Terrible God.. God created hunger, desire, and appetite as good gifts. The problem isn’t that we have appetites; it’s when our appetites begin impulsively directing our lives instead of serving God’s purposes. Paul's warning to Philippians is that some people make their appetite their god, allowing cravings and impulses to become their highest authority. Every person serves something, and one of the easiest idols to miss is the one we carry around in our own body. A submitted life asks, “Am I leading my appetites, or are my appetites leading me?”.
What You Feed Grows, What You Starve Weakens. In Matthew 4, Jesus shows us that spiritual strength is forged through physical restraint. The temptation wasn’t merely about bread—it was about whether physical desire would dictate His decisions. Every appetite becomes stronger when constantly indulged and will always weaken when it is only occasionally denied. Fasting is not punishment, nor is it a way to earn God’s favor; it is training our craving to submit. Every time we tell our flesh “not now,” we are teaching our spirit to say “yes” to God.
Your Body Is a Tool for Worship, Not an Object to Worship. Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and were purchased at a great price. The Christian response is neither neglect of the body nor obsession with it, but faithful stewardship. Our culture swings between indulgence and image worship, but Scripture calls us to something better. We care for our bodies not because they define our worth or affirm existence, but because they belong to God. The goal is not a perfect physique; the goal is a life that glorifies God in both spirit and body.

Scripture References:

JUDGES 13:3-5

Judges 13:24-25

Judges 14:1-4-

Judges 16:1-5–

JUDGES 16:15-21

JUDGES 16:18-21

JUDGES 16:22

1 COR 6:12-20

HOW TO DEVELOP WITHIN YOUR HEAD, HEART, AND HABITS A HEALTHY SEXUAL WORLDVIEW

1-WITH YOUR MIND YOU MUST Develop a Theology of Covenant Understanding… Sex was never designed by God as merely a physical act. From the beginning, it was created as a covenant act that joins two lives into one. MEANING THE ACT IS ACTUALLY A CHOICE OF DO I WANT THIS LIFE ATTACHED TO MINE FOREVER?... Samson viewed relationships through the lens of appetite, saying, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me,” rather than through the lens of purpose and covenant. What we believe about sex will ultimately shape how we practice sex. If we see it as consumption, we will use people; if we see it as covenant, we will honor people and God will be faithful to provide for you the intimacy your soul searches for.

2- WITH YOUR HEART YOU MUST Train Your Soul to Desire the Right Things… SEXUALITY IS NOT THE PROBLEM… THE PROBLEM IS AN inability to govern OUR SEXUAL IMPULSES. Every person has appetites, but healthy people learn to submit those appetites to God’s design rather than allowing them to rule their lives. If we only fight behavior without addressing the hunger underneath it, we will continue to struggle. A submitted heart asks not merely, “What do I want?” but “What does God want for me?”.. A surrendered heart recognizes sex is about intimacy, and it's either healthy intimacy for my personhood, or unhealthy, toxic and deadly intimacy my flesh craves.

3- IN YOUR EVERYDAY HABITS WE MUST Train our Bodies to encounter the intimacy of the Holy Spirit… Spiritual maturity is built through repeated acts of submission. Samson developed a pattern of immediately pursuing whatever he desired, and over time that pattern became bondage. Every habit is forming someone, either strengthening your spirit or strengthening your appetite. Habits of Prayer, fasting, confession, accountability, and healthy boundaries are not restrictions; they are training grounds for freedom. When you're living out holiness it's easy to tell what is unholy, ‘no’… when we live out of rhythm with holiness.. It is easy to struggle with that which is unholy.

Scripture References:

Matthew 14:13-21

MATTHEW 15:29-39

EXODUS 16:1-7

HOW TO MAKE SURE THE MORE ISN’T MOLDY

1- YOUR MORE IS CONNECTED TO YOUR PRESENT PROXIMITY TO JESUS, AND IF ITS NOT IT WILL BE MOLDY.

2- YOUR MORE IS CONNECTED TO HIS HANDS, NOT YOURS, AND IF ITS NOT… YOU FINNA BE MOLDY.

3- YOUR MORE IS CONNECTED TO HIS WORDS, AND IF YOU DONT KNOW THEM… DONT BE SURPRISED IF THE MORE ENDS UP MOLDY.

4-ONLY JESUS BRINGS ‘MORE’ THAT SATISIFIES.. A people whose disobedience in the wilderness and sin was rooted in seeking their own satisfaction.. now find in the wilderness, a man providing satisfaction. People who when they tried to gather more, only were met with mold and maggots… Now have leftovers that don't spoil. The difference between MORE THAT SATISFIES AND HAS LEFT OVER versus mold and maggots…. JESUS. Is Jesus my source of more? My trust for more? My ambition filtered through his reasoning for more? My understanding of more surrendered to his more? Because if not… its not more… its maggots and its mold. The difference between MORE THAT SATISFIES and MORE THAT ROTS is JESUS.

Scripture References:

Matthew 20:1-16

HOW TO WALK FREE OF CULTURE'S PRESSURE TO ALWAYS COMPARE.

1- Comparison distorts your view of God. "Is your eye envious because I am generous?"... Comparison makes the generosity of God feel offensive instead of beautiful. The workers were angry that someone received something they didn't think they deserved. Comparison turned worship into murder (Cain and Abel), and be careful that you don’t allow it to do the same in your heart and mind at the expense of relationships and being a light in this world.

2- Comparison distorts your view of facts and view of self. THEY AGREED TO THE DENARIUS (vs 2). They were satisfied until they started looking sideways... and when you start looking sideways at everyone else, your life will get sideways quick. Comparison has a way of convincing you that your life isn't blessed, it's barren. We are trapped in a culture of people building personality while losing identity, everyone constantly hoping to get the blessing of someone else by sacrificing authenticity to become someone else. Whatever your belief for the work of the vineyard in God to become in your life know this: it will not be born of imitation, only a life of consecration.

3- The workers were given what was promised at the end... but instead of the ability to receive and rejoice in the wage, they grumbled and complained. Comparison strips gratitude and turns it to grievance. RELIGION SAYS I WORKED LONGER, BUT GRACE SAYS, I SERVE A GENEROUS MASTER. THE QUESTION BEHIND IT ALL: DO I TRUST IN GOD'S GOODNESS? DO I TRUST THE MASTER TO BE FAIR? MY MIND SCREAMS I'M WORTH MORE, HAVE DONE MORE, AND DESERVE MORE. DO I BELIEVE, AND REST, THAT HE IS GOOD, AND WILL BE GOOD, TO ME. Comparison is the symptom… but distrust is the disease.

Scripture Refrences:

MATTHEW 13:31-34

How to see a Glass Half Full in a world constantly screaming that it is Half Empty

1- THE KINGDOM GROWS INVISIBLY BEFORE IT GROWS VISIBLY, starting internally before working itself to the external world around you. God is often doing the deepest works inside of you before you see visible results. The enemy wants you to despise small beginnings because if you misjudge the seed, you may abort the process before it grows. It takes 10 years to become an overnight success, and just because it is hidden does not mean it is absent.

2- A small beginning doesn't mean you're excluded from a big ending, it most often is a precursor for it. It was the smallest seed, then it was a bush, then it was a tree… it was a lump of dough with some hidden pecks before it was a loaf of nourishment…. And your view of half empty moments will determine the fullness of the reality of God that you walk out in as a person, because heaven calls you a tree even if you feel like there's no way the seed of your life could ever become one. Seeds and pecks can become trees and loaves if your perspective stays half full even if the development makes you feel empty.

3- YOUR PERSPECTIVE DETERMINES YOUR PARTICIPATION. The half empty heart constantly interprets life through what is missing, delayed, hidden, or unfinished. But the half full heart learns to see small things through the lens of believing for God to do something profound in them. The Kingdom is difficult for restless people because restless people only celebrate finished products while God celebrates planted seeds. Some people miss what God is doing because they are waiting for a spectacle while God is waiting for fuller and deeper surrender to him. The perspective you ruminate on will determine whether you abandon the seeds or nurture them, or if a seed transcends the bush, and becomes a tree.

Scripture References:

John 2:1-11 AMP

I Thess. 5:18 NLT

Eph. 5:18-20 NLT

I Corinthians 14:1a (AMPC)

Rom. 12:2 NLT

James 1:21-25 NLT

Josh. 1:8 AMPC

2 Cor. 10:4,5 AMPC

John 2:1-11 AMP

1.)Do what Jesus says to do.

A.) Jesus covers our mistakes/shame and helps us, if we’ll invite Him and do what He says to do.

B.) He takes your not enough, and makes it more than enough, if we’ll do what Jesus says do.

C.) Jesus makes everything Better/ Better quality of Life with Jesus, if we do what He says to do.

Greatest Mindset is to LOVE- never lose sight of the love of God- Aim Higher

Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire this love. (make it your aim; your great quest)...

Thanks and Praise Mindsets- Cultivate these Lifters

Maintain a Humility/Servant Mindset/Childlike Faith

Allow God’s Word to Change the Way you Think. (Do it, Speak it, Pray it) It has the Power to save and deliver you, and God says He will Bless you for it! (Greek Meaning -Supremely Blessed, fortunate, well off, happier)

A stronghold can be a lie that we believe …and we need to replace it with God’s truth

Jesus overcame so you could overcome in every area of your life …Change your mindset and Take up His Word!

2 Samuel 11:1-5; 14-17—

HOW TO BREAK FREE OF RESTLESSNESS THAT DOOM HAS CREATED IN YOUR LIFE

1- PRACTICE THE SELF AWARENESS NECESSARY TO ENACT SACRED LIMITS. WHAT YOU DON’T LIMIT WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD AND REWIRE YOU…. MAYBE THE REASON YOUR PRAYING FOR PEACE FROM GOD IS BECAUSE YOUR CONSTANTLY FEEDING CHAOS WITH YOUR LIFESTYLE OF CONSUMPTION. GET OFF THE ROOFTOP BEFORE IT GET RECKLESS AND CARELESS. REPLACE WHAT HAS BECOME A TOXIC REFLEX WITH A LIFESTYLE RESET… BEFORE YOUR MENTAL ROOFTOPS BECOME SPIRITUAL MURDER SCENES.

2- FIND A BATTLE WORTH FIGHTING EVERYDAY AND YOU WONT BE TEMPTED TO SETTLE FOR A ROOFTOP OF COVETING AND COMFORT. A LIFE ROOTED AND RHYTHMIC IS ONE THAT UNDERSTANDS IM FIGHTING EVERYDAY, AND THOUGH COMFORT IS NICE.. TOO MUCH OF IT IS POISON. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT ABOUT BUILDING YOUR ROOFTOP OF COMFORT, ITS ABOUT YOU ACTIVELY FIGHTING DARKNESS AND APPLYING THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO THE BATTLEFIELD OF A FALLEN WORLD. Before there is sinning, there is sitting out..

3- RESTLESSNESS ON THE ROOFTOP IS AN ENDLESS CYCLE… FROM DAVID TO NOW… ‘I MUST HAVE THIS’... ‘IF I HAD WHAT THEY HAD’.. ‘I NEED THIS OR I'M INCOMPLETE’.. THIS CYCLE STARTS AND NEVER STOPS WHEN YOU ALLOW IT.. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT ONE RELATIONSHIP WON’T STOP THE LUST.. ONE RAISE OR PROMOTION WONT STOP THE GREED OR MATERIALISM.. ONE MORE NIGHT OUT WONT FIX THE EMPTINESS… BECAUSE YOUR ON THE ROOFTOP WHEN YOU CAN’T REST… AND UNTIL YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED, AND SUBMITTED THE RESTLESSNESS TO THE TRUTH OF GOD, YOUR DISTRACTIVE TENDENCIES WILL DOOM YOUR LIFE IN THE SPIRIT.

Scripture Refrences:

Luke 15:11-24

3 things that will get you in a pigsty quickly if you're not careful

1- IMPATIENCE.. YOU MUST FIGHT THIS WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. “Father, give me..” (Luke 15:12).. When our conversations with God become requests and demands for our freedom and fulfillment to be satisfied in our exact timing and exact specifications… be very, very careful. Impatience is the subtle belief that God is too slow to be trusted… and impatience will get you trading your inheritance for your impulses because you have been blinded by your own passions. Most don’t leave God because he’s bad… they leave him when he’s not fast enough.

2- ESCAPE… BECAUSE NO MATTER WHERE YOU RUN, YOU CANNOT OUTRUN YOURSELF. The prodigal son didn't leave in crisis.. He left the boredom of ordinary life.. The father's house was safe and functional… but it didn't feel like enough. The same restlessness you feel will show up in the next job, relationship, city or place you go because you can't fix inside problems with outside solutions. The son didn’t escape; his idea of escape had to lead him to the emptiness of life without the father… and when he “came to his senses” (verse 17), he returned to what had always made the most sense, the father's house and the father's order.

3- DRIFT… because leaving the father was a slow drift into the losing of everything the son had ever known his life to be; social standing, spiritual place, and the identity of being a son to hoping to just survive as a slave. Slow drift drowning is the number one cause of spiritual bankruptcy I see. The small compromises, the cherry picking of God’s word to suit my comforts, the consistency and committedness that is more feeling than function. The son's blessing was the father… when all was stripped away, the realization was that anywhere that wasn’t with the father wasn’t worth being

Scripture Refrences:

Matthew 7:24-27 NLT

Mark 4:35-41 NLT

Navigatng Storms:

Satan's goal is to plant Fear and a Belief that “God doesn’t care”

Psalms 23:6 NLT

What has Jesus said.
Storms on the outside are not unusual, But we must Guard against storms on the inside.
Don’t underestimate the influence that my choices will have on God’s best for my life.
Get up from bad responses to storms and learn from them.

Scripture References:

Acts 6:1–5, 8–15

Acts 11:19–22

How to Step Into the Anointing of the Ordinary

Stop asking for a new assignment if God doesn’t have your full permission. Don’t dream of a different life—push yourself to allow God to take you to a different level of surrender in the life you already have. Stephen started by serving tables before he became a martyr, a mouthpiece, and an initiator of the first great missions movement in Scripture. God doesn’t just want availability in your schedule—He wants access to your whole heart. It starts with surrender.
The anointing is not reserved for the platform—it rests upon the faithful. God will put power on the small to remind you that He can do mighty things with what man thinks is insignificant. Platform doesn’t equal power—surrender and obedience do. Ordinary faithfulness has done more in the pages of history than giftedness. Commit to the road of faithfulness.
Jesus’ death and invitation into life are about ushering in a new era where anyone, anywhere, at any time can be used greatly. The test of it all comes down to the faithfulness of a life that says nothing is off-limits to the Spirit of God. You don’t have to wait for God to change your life—live a life that lets Him invade the one you’re already living, and you may find that your obedience outlives the days you spend on earth.

Mark 16: 1-13

John 20:1-18—

3 Stones We Must Roll Away in Order to See Jesus Clearly

1 - The stone of finality (‘it’s over!’)… the lie that what you see is where it must all end.. Easter is the reminder where life lays you down in death, and defeat…. Jesus wants to bring you into resurrection… the statement “look where they have laid him” is not for one time, but for all time… a subtle promise for all those who would call upon his name.. Some of us don’t need more effort… we need our eyes dilated to see that what we thought was over… God calls it unfinished.

2 - The stone of unbelief (‘I don’t trust it!’)… two times the woman try to tell the disciples he is risen and two times they deny it. What do you need to see for you to trust Jesus fully? What do you need God to do for him to show you he is real? The Easter season is about promises fulfilled, even if you don’t believe they have been… and training your eyes to see what he has done, more than what you wished he had done more of. Unbelief isn’t lack of evidence… it’s ownership of undeveloped vision.

3 - The stone of misrecognition (‘I don’t/can’t see him’). Mary couldn't recognize Jesus because she thought he was a gardner, Cleopas couldn't recognize him because he was a traveler on the road (Luke 24), Thomas doubted him unless he could see the nail marks in the hands and pierced side (John 20). We do not have a compartmentalized Christ, but an ever-present, and ever-near Saviour. We miss him not because he isn’t there… but because our eyes haven’t been trained properly to see him.

A Moment of Dilation-

1 - Repent of any sin… or things in your heart you know hinder God from drawing close.. be specific

2 - Invite the grace and mercy of God to wash over you where you sit. Repeat the phrase slowly “Jesus would you wash me today”

3 - Repeat the phrase “come Holy Spirit”.. and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart today..

4 - Give God permission to lead your life today… that you would walk in truth and conviction and in the ways of his word and will.

Matthew 21:1-11

John 12:18-19

How to not get lost in the sauce of whatever you want God to be that he's not being.

1 - What do you need saved from today? In this story they thought it was Rome, until Jesus made it about greed in the temple. They thought it was an oppressive government until Jesus made it about sacrilegious conduct. They thought he was the second coming of a king on a warhorse with a hammer and an army, until he showed up on a donkey with a bunch of teenage boys.. Your expectations will oftentimes be very different from God’s reality, and it is done to expose the depths of lordship and faith in areas God wants us to go past the surface in.

2 - If you want to celebrate him in the streets but not let him cleanse your spirit you will be in for a rude awakening. Jesus allowed the palm branches to be waved and then walked directly into the temple and cleansed it of anything but the worship it was intended for. External behaviours and performance will never exempt you from internal development of the surrendered and sanctified soul. Celebration is not the same as surrender, and waving a palm branch is not the same as carrying a cross. You can celebrate him publicly while still resisting him privately.

3 - The tipping point of it all… the secret of Palm Sunday that turns from celebration to the slaying of our Savior. A God who has no favorites anymore. Jesus finishes off his final week before crucifixion making space and a place for those who historically had no space, or place in the kingdom of God. We love a Savior who includes us—we struggle with a Savior who includes ‘them’. Jesus will offend your expectations, by including people you wouldn’t… because Jesus will cross lines that religion tries to draw.

Luke 7:18-28

Isaiah 35:3-6.

Revelation 6;7-8

Three Tips from a “Recovering” Cynic

1- Don’t Let What You See Define What You Believe.. If we allow the lens of how we see the world to become unhealthy, we start to point out the unhealthyness of everyone and everything. We often say “seeing is believing,” but the bible says we walk by faith, not by sight. Cynicism creeps in when what I see doesn’t match what I believe, or what I don’t see becomes me walking in unbelief. John saw heaven open, but prison closed his perspective. The question of it all… “will I let my circumstances rewrite my convictions?”

2- You Better Have Jesus’ Perspective Before You Build Yours.. John questions Jesus, but Jesus responds by affirming John—He speaks identity, not insecurity. Cynicism grows when God moves for others but not for me, and I’m left sitting in the tension of unmet expectations. At that moment, I have a choice: harden my heart or keep it tender. Cynicism isn’t just wrong thinking… it's a wounded perspective. If I let my flesh become my lens, don’t be surprised when my spirit starts dying.

3- Where Cynicism Lives, Resurrection Dies.. Cynicism doesn’t just make you negative—it makes you numb, draining the life out of everything. Promise turns into prison, hope into hopelessness, joy into heaviness. That’s why Revelation calls it ashen—grey, pale, stripped of color. Cynicism says nothing changes, no one’s real, and nothing new is coming. But the Gospel says dead things don’t stay dead, so I refuse to let my pain become my lens…I will not let a ‘prison’ season shape my sight.

John 14:6

Luke 24:13–35

ROAD – Even when we don’t recognize Him, Jesus is walking with us.
WORD – Before Jesus opens our eyes, He ignites our hearts.
TABLE – At the table the crucified Christ is revealed.
REVELATION – One moment with Jesus changes how we see everything.
MISSION – When Jesus becomes real our direction changes

Revelation 6:1-6

Matthew 18:21-35

How to Let Go of the Memories of What's Been Done to You

1- Forgiveness is not a feeling, it's a choice… Your life must be lived in a way in which you never forget what Jesus did for you, so that you make the choice to give out freely what you feel like you don't even possess. If you wait for the feeling, your faith will slowly wither, as forgiveness is foundational to what it means to be a child of God.

2- The speed of your forgiveness reveals the depth of your understanding of grace; the quicker you forgive the more it reveals how deep the cross has touched your life... “He who has been forgiven much, forgives much..”.. Some of the reason we struggle to forgive others is because we struggle to receive forgiveness for ourself. We lock people in the prison of shame, guilt and self hatred that we struggle to believe that God has freed us from. If your not free, you cannot give freely.

3- If you do not choose to forgive from the heart, your heart will always go through the torture of unforgiveness…. Waiting for people to pay for something that they could never repay, choking people for what they have done to us… Even when the test isn’t reconciliation, its can we move forward. We must choose to have patience with those who we want to have no part of patience with, and trust that as our sins have been washed, so too God can wash there sin away from our subconscious as well.

Revelation 6:1–4

Mark 11:15–18

John 2:13–14

Knowing the Difference Between Toxic and Righteous Anger

1- The anger of man cannot produce righteousness of God (James 1:20).. but the zeal of sons and daughters for the Father’s will, Word, and His house is the exception to the rule.. Jesus made a whip. You don’t get to. You get a towel and a basin. We do not destroy people in anger, we channel any selfless and righteous anger we have to orient people back to the ways of God, to the justice of God, to the importance of the Word of God.. in order that they may find life in God… and if your anger is not that type of anger.. it's sin.

2- Unsubmitted anger can become an apocalypse of your faith quickly– eroding trust, killing your prayer life, poisoning community, and slowly evacuating the presence and proximity of the Spirit of God from the soul. If your anger shows no tears, no love, or no compassion it is not the righteous anger, it is destructive anger. I burn in anger against darkness… I do not burn in anger losing my light. That anger better be felt and not just heard, acted on, and not just talked about, calling people higher not kicking them down.. or you're in trouble.

3- In an age of agitation, and condescending rage we must become zealous for the righteousness of God to be made visible in the world we live. Greed, business, and power in the place of prayer and sanctuary is what the whip was made for. We must take personally the call to drive darkness from the sanctuary of our hearts and become angry within our own souls at what we have permitted as godliness that is anything but. You either fixate now or fix later.

Revelation 6:1–2

Jonah 3 & 4

How to Make Sure You Have the Right Shoes On

1- Check the Heart. The white horse and crowned rider looks righteous—but anything that hardens your heart to your neighbor, and doesn’t open your heart to your neighbor, is riding against the Kingdom of God. The reason we like bitterness is it makes us feel like we’re right, even when we're wrong… because bitterness is fake purity and false righteousness.

2- Check Your Posture. It’s hard to walk in grace while dragging resentment, and no matter how much you try to dress up unresolved pain as discernment, to a mature person they see a heart of stone. You might think holding on protects you, but it actually gets you numb to what bitterness is doing… slowly unmasking the reason it's so powerful: getting you bitter at God. Jonah's story ends not with just him bitter at Nineveh, but actually the root of the bitterness is toward a God who doesn't do things how he wanted them done.

3- Check It in the Light. If bitterness is keeping you in the dark… alone and in isolation with your thoughts… it's slowly draining you of the healing power of letting things go and allowing God to redeem and restore. I am not worried about the outside; I’m worried about my inside… and no one has power over that space that I first did not hand that power to. I am not God, and I am not the healer… and in that place of humility, I release people to God and hope one day they find the healing they need as I pursue my own.

Matt 26:51-54

Mark 14:45-50

Luke 22:49-51

John 18:3-11

How to Pass the Test of True Boldness for God

1- Respect Over Retaliation. ‘You may be against me, I'm not against you’. This story is about 3 people Jesus has every right to disrespect and doesn’t. Judas the betrayer, Peter the denier, and Malachus the accuser (high priest servant). In all of these we never see disrespect.. Rather a God who exemplifies humility and holiness no matter where the story arc goes. You can swing a sword for Jesus and still miss the heart of Jesus

2- Engagement Over An Escape Route. Jesus engaged in 4 different ways in each of the stories; one story he engaged his disciples, another he engaged the religious leaders, the other the man whose ear was cut off, even allowing affection (a kiss) from his betrayer… in all of them he didn't even need to engage but he did. Your boldness should lead to a life of engagement of all people, inviting them into the relationship that you share, and that they can have, with Jesus.

3- We Must Practice the Sensitivity Necessary to Be Healing Not Harming. In what ways are we engaging the broken and hurting of society and showing them the healer? When the spirit of God meets someone and heals… we then are given an opportunity to disciple into a relationship. If our boldness is cutting off ears and not healing them, we have missed the example of Jesus. Our theology and relationship needs to be strong enough that when we encounter pain we engage that pain with the power and presence of God.

Acts 19:21

Acts 23:11

Acts 28:30–31 2

Timothy 4:6–8

How to Live a Faith That Engages the Far and Dark Margins

Self-preservation hollows out your witness. You cannot save yourself through money, success, influence, or power. Cost-analysis kingdom work will leave you spiritually bankrupt. I bet Paul did not know his journey to Rome would lead not to more churches planted, but to more books written. Rome defined his legacy—but it cost him his life. In all of us, we have to ask the question: What do I want my legacy to be remembered as, even if it costs part of the life I envision?
Self-idolization steals potential and robs people of the Spirit flowing in you. How good you are at something doesn’t mean God is in that something. When you measure everything through the idol of self, you miss the sweetness and fullness of the surrendered life. In what ways do we push against a culture that worships self over the Savior? Our Savior was found among those who needed one—are we?
Self-reliance won’t get you far in chasing Jesus. If His power is made perfect in weakness, we must embrace weakness in order to understand power. So often we are trapped in training: “I don’t know enough, I wasn’t raised in it, it’s not natural to me…” and we forget that what fueled the move of God in the early church was uncommon, uneducated men who had been with Jesus. If you have truly been with Jesus, you become passionate about Him meeting those around you.

Matthew 9:9–13

Matthew 14:14

Luke 10:35–37

Luke 18:38–42

Luke 17:11–14

Mark 9:20–23

Matthew 5:7

Luke 7:12–15

John 11:35

Three Thoughts on the Mission of Compassion and Mercy

Your heart must be moved before your mouth is used. Our hearts must break before our words are used to heal. It all starts with feeling as Jesus did in order to live as Jesus did. The quickest way to spiritual amnesia is to stop feeling how Jesus felt toward the broken world around us. We must fight to feel.
We step into the breach by becoming the net our neighbors fall into. Before they can be caught by Jesus, they must be caught by you. We cross the street, we touch the wound, we sit in the pain, we point the way.
We have to build a life that knows how to catch. Our lives cannot be too busy for the pain of our neighbors. Jesus did not have moments of compassion; he had a life that was willing to be interrupted, and eyes that saw those who needed someone—anyone—to hold onto.

John 11:14–16 John 14:5–6 John 20:19–29

How to stand back up if your evangelism has been sitting down

Longevity is not an excuse for passivity. Proximity isn’t true proximity unless it’s getting others proximate.
You cannot be inwardly formed and not outwardly facing. You cannot be inwardly formed and outwardly silent. Holy moments birth holy sacrifice, holy sacrifice brings holy life, and holy life brings a holy voice—a voice that brings others to the Holy One.
Loving God and not loving neighbors is apostasy.
Most of Jesus’ ministry was seeing the needs of others, meeting the needs of others, and reframing what they think they need (food/water, relationships, health, wealth) into what they actually need (him). We meet the needs of the world while also acknowledging the greatest need is wholeness, contentment, and peace that Jesus brings through his Holy Spirit.

2 Chronicles 20:1-25, 30

Philippians 4:6-9, 11-13

How to Walk in the Power of Thanksgiving:

Lay down your expectations of what He needs to do and how He’s supposed to respond. This is where we give Him permission to do and reveal something even greater.  
Look back on How He’s taken care of you, provided for you, comforted you, blessed you, protected you, and saved you. This is where we begin to remember what He has done for us and promised to us. 
Take the gratitude from your heart and let it flow freely from your lips. This is where the power of thanksgiving begins to impact your reality, declaring that His goodness and faithfulness did not stop where you were, but are waiting to be revealed right where you are. 
If you believe the message that is coming from your heart and flowing from your lips you will not be able to contain your praise. This is where we move from offering thanks for what He’s done for us and step into the glorification and worship of Who He’s become to us.
The byproduct is a constant awareness of His presence around you and a renewed contentment of His peace and joy in you. It is in this transformed reality, with eyes locked on Him, that you’ll walk in the confidence that you have what you need yesterday, today, and forever.

Matthew 7:24-27 NLT

Proverbs 17:3 NLT

With God, Nothing is ever wasted
The promises from Gods word must be taken personally to Bring stability.
God is still speaking but in order to hear Him, I must get quiet.
Remember what God has said and do it.
My choices will make my situation better or worse.( prolong or promote)
It will always require Trust ( Faith ).
Have Seasonally experienced people in my life.
Don’t quit!! It’s the way to maturity.

John 13: 36-38 ESV

Matthew 16:13-19 ESV

Luke 22: 54-62 ESV

Mark 8: 35-38 ESV

John 21:2-3 ESV

After Peter denied Jesus three times, he didn’t know where else to go, so he went back to fishing. Not because it fulfilled him, but because shame always drives us back to what feels familiar. “I’m going fishing,” he said and all night long they caught nothing. The place he ran to couldn’t hold him anymore, once Jesus calls you forward, going backward will always leave you empty. Peter thought starting over meant returning to who he was before the calling, but Jesus didn’t wait for him to fix it or figure it out—He came to him. Jesus met Peter tired, ashamed, and empty-handed, not to condemn him, but to redeem him. And today, that same Jesus is meeting you right where you are. You don’t have to clean it up. You don’t have to explain it away. You don’t have to start over. All you have to do is bring your failure, your regret, and your distance to Him and let Him redeem it. This is your moment to stop running back and start coming forward. Don’t start over, start again, with Jesus.
When Jesus finally speaks directly to Peter, He doesn’t bring up the denial He brings up love.Three times Jesus asks, “Do you love Me?” Not to embarrass Peter, but to heal him. Every question answers a denial. Every affirmation repairs what shame tried to destroy. Jesus doesn’t erase Peter’s failure; He redeems it by walking straight through it with him. The place Peter thought disqualified him becomes the place Jesus restores him. Redemption isn’t Jesus ignoring your past it’s Jesus reclaiming it. And notice this: after every confession of love, Jesus gives Peter an assignment. “Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep.” Grace doesn’t just forgive; it recommissions. Jesus doesn’t say, “You’re forgiven, now sit down.” He says, “You’re restored, now step back into what I called you to do.” That’s redemption—not going back to who you were before the mistake, but being restored into who you were always meant to be. If Jesus can redeem Peter at the place of his denial, He can redeem you at the place of yours.
The same Peter who once denied Jesus in the dark becomes a man God uses openly and boldly in the light. Now Peter isn’t hiding anymore he’s leading, preaching the gospel with authority, strengthening the church, and standing firm in the face of opposition. Acts 5:15 tells us that people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by. That’s the fruit of a life fully surrendered and fully redeemed. Peter’s past didn’t weaken his witness; it deepened it. His failure didn’t disqualify him; it prepared him. The power of the Holy Spirit flowed through Peter not because he was flawless, but because he was forgiven and faithful. Redemption didn’t just bring Peter back it propelled him forward. And that’s the promise for us: when we stop running from our past and let Jesus redeem it, God can use us in ways we never imagined. What once felt like the end becomes the evidence of His grace, and the place of our greatest failure becomes the platform for His greatest glory.

Revelations 4:9-11 ESV

Matthew 16:13-17

Psalm 24

John 19:17-27

Matthew 5:8

Matthew 1:18–25; 2:1–12 Isaiah 47:13–15

How to Find the Love of Jesus in the Searching of Daily Life

God searches for you just as much as you may be searching for Him. If your eyes are open and your heart is open, He speaks profoundly, no matter who you are or how far you are from Him.
From the beginning of time, His purpose has been you. Everything written, remembered, and spoken about is designed to get you to see that it is all for a relationship with you. No matter your background, upbringing, history, or current standing, He draws all things to Himself, and all creation groans for the coming of the Messiah.
There are two kings and two kingdoms in this story, just as there are two kings in your story. These contrast each other as they fight for control of the outcome and for control of the hearts of people. Kings we swear loyalty to in the fallen world will only fail. The choice of following the true King comes down to choosing the manger over the palace, the stable over the crown, the child over the man. These pictures do not make sense, but that is the beauty of it—to choose something that relinquishes control and makes your life a life about Him.

Luke 2:6–18

How to Return to Joy This Christmas Season

Jesus’ birth is about the good news of great joy to all people, regardless of circumstances. The shepherds were in some of the least desirable circumstances, seemingly trapped in an “unholy” lifestyle and distant from God in the eyes of those upholding the laws of religion at that time. Yet Jesus’ life begins with a new era being ushered in—that he would come for all people with news of great joy from heaven. Jesus’ birth is a reminder that God longs to find you and invite you into the joy of knowing him, even if you feel you can’t find him or ever experience joy based on the past or present.
Our shepherd reveals joy at the time we least expect it, in the places we aren’t looking for it, and in the activities of our lives that we think are outside the bounds of what we assume he can engage in. As he comes close, he then invites us in closer. True joy is not just knowing that Jesus brings joy on earth; it is drawing close enough to him to experience the joy of his Spirit in my day-to-day life through relationship. Information leads to transformation when I understand that the promise of Jesus is uncovered in the proximity of my life to his word and Spirit.
Joy is the key to unlocking peace in your life and the goodwill of godly, redemptive purpose that you find yourself in every day. I am freely given and then freely receive the joy of the Spirit of God, walk in the peace it brings, and understand I am now a carrier of goodwill to all people. True maturity is growing in my faith from fearful to joyful, in order to walk in the fruit of peace and goodwill.

Matthew 3:1-12 NIV

Mark 10:17-22, 46-52 NIV

Isaiah 11:1-5 NLT

Luke 15:1–24—

How to Make Sense of Significance That Will Never Make Sense.

1 – Significance is rooted in what you believe and accept as truth about your condition and your foundation. Your conditions will always be changing, but your foundation doesn’t. The coin was lost, then found… the sheep wandered, then was found… the son squandered, and then reclaimed his place. The foundation of your significance in God is not your ability; it’s Jesus’ sacrifice in finding and reclaiming you by His shed blood on the cross. God doesn’t just renovate you—He longs to reveal the value that has been there all along.

2 – Significance is birthed in union with God—not in your performance, behavior, or current state. He lifts wandering sheep, He finds misplaced silver, He restores rebellious sons—and He calls all of it joy. Significance is when you find that no matter your circumstance, you can be found and embraced by God. And when you experience the embrace, there is a joy, love, and celebration of you as being worth whatever it took to bring you back to His arms.

3 – If you have any questions left on being insignificant to God, the prodigal son story is designed to eliminate all doubt. The prodigal isn’t a story about rebellion; it’s a story about revelation. He lost one-third of the estate… but not one second of his Father’s love. Significance is fully discovered when I bring everything that makes me feel insignificant to my Father’s feet and into my Father’s house… and He trades me a robe, ring, sandals, and a fattened calf.

Lament #1 — “The Condition vs. The Foundation”

Pray this: “Jesus, I confess I’ve let my condition tell me who I am instead of the foundation You placed me on. I’ve wandered, been misplaced, or wasted seasons and believed those moments defined me. Today I give You the conditions that convinced me I lost my worth. Remind me again how significant I am to You.”

Make a list of areas you feel you have wandered, misplaced, or squandered your significance to God. When you develop the list, breathe slowly and read out each thing, and after, recite this prayer over each individually: “Remind me of my foundation in You… not my condition rooted in brokenness.”

Lament #2 — “The Father Who Runs”

Pray this: “Jesus, I confess I’ve feared that if I came home dirty, empty, or ashamed, You might hesitate instead of run toward me. I’ve rehearsed unworthy speeches instead of expecting a Father who celebrates me and treats me as significant. Today I give You the distances, the failures, and the fears I’ve carried.”

Make a list of all the reasons why you feel you don’t belong to the Father or in the Father’s house. After you make this list, take a moment, whisper them to Him, then imagine Jesus running to meet you. Develop a picture in your imagination. When you feel Him close, say: “Thank You for running to me again, Jesus… would You teach me to believe in Your love.”

Ezekiel 37:1–14

Genesis 2:7

Finding Purpose in the Spirit of God

1 – No one else and no thing else can breathe upon your heart to bring about the Creator’s miracle-working life except the Spirit of God. Without the breath of the Spirit your life will become dry, and your existence will feel as if it is trapped in a foreign land… for you were meant to co-labor and redeem that which was fallen, and anything apart from this sensitivity in the Spirit of God will be missing what it means to walk as Jesus once walked. Your life is about finding the breath, sensing the wind, and walking in the Spirit.

2 – Your purpose is simple… learn how to be breathed on, and breathe on others. Ezekiel had the breath of God but did not know the power it possessed until the Spirit of God commanded him to breathe it on others. You have to get close enough to the Spirit in order to understand how that Spirit works… and its main uses are to build, strengthen, and call forth others to rise in the Spirit of resurrection life. It’s in all things, it’s for all people… you must train your spirit to breathe His Spirit.

3 – You come to life when the pursuit of His Spirit becomes your life. You find your place when His Spirit occupies the right place in your heart. You walk in your purpose when you recognize that you are but dust if not for His Spirit breathed into your soul. All weakness, hindrance, distraction, darkness, and even death is temporary when you grab hold of the revelation that the power of His Spirit allows you to walk as He did, and do as He has done. “I will put my Spirit within you; you will come to life; I will place you in your own land.”

Laments

1 – Lord, where did I lose the sense that my life has holy purpose? Where did I quietly agree with the valley and start believing I’m just surviving in exile instead of sent as an army filled with your Spirit? Show me the places where my bones feel dry, my calling feels small, my story feels cut off… and teach me to pray, “Ruach of God, breathe on my purpose again.” (Repeat this prayer 10 times slowly while breathing deep.)

2 – Holy Spirit, where have I confused purpose with power, position, influence, or money? Make a list of the places you have chased being important more than being imparted-to; where you have wanted status more than Spirit, increase more than intimacy. Invite the Spirit to expose where you’ve measured your purpose by what you have instead of who you carry. Recite this prayer slowly: “Father, remind me my purpose is to rhythmically allow your Spirit to breathe on my soul… and in this place train and teach me to breathe on the dry and dead parts of others around me.”

John 13:1–15 — 31–35

How to walk in the broken, bleeding, and washing love of Jesus

1 – Love washes what you never could, breaks and pours itself out in a way you could never repay, and then turns around and tests you to see if you have fully understood that you are called to do the same. Love in its fullness is not just the receiving of the gift of Jesus, it is the washing of the grime of sin. Trusting our Saviour wants us to know he doesn’t just pay the cost, he removes that which makes us feel unworthy of the cost he paid. Don’t lift the bread to your lips if you won’t let the water touch your wounds. We take communion, and we are washed.

2 – The spectrum of people in this story shows a love that transcends barriers, exceptions, and stereotypes we place on it. He washes Judas’ feet right before his betrayal… he washes Peter’s feet right before his denial… he washes the disciples’ feet and takes communion right before all abandon him except John. Meaning it doesn’t matter if you betrayed, denied, or abandoned… there’s a God who washes, and a God who invites you into communion with him. He didn’t just wash the “faithful few”; he washed the ones who would fail him by morning. Your failures… can. be. washed.

3 – “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” It’s impossible to walk in the love of Christ if that love is not allowed to wash away all the things we don’t love about ourselves, all the ways people robbed us of love, all the misconceptions and failed promises we have about love, and all the times love has failed. When love washes you, it washes the way that you love others, forcing you to act in a way contrary to the flesh and only credited to his Spirit… a washed love washes us and will not allow us to not wash others.

Lament

Pray this prayer: “Jesus, I admit I have often believed your cross paid for me, but still lived like the parts of me I hate are beyond your washing. I’ve taken communion while secretly agreeing with shame, acting as if I’m too much, too dirty, or too broken for real, daily love. Teach me today the love of your washing grace in the dirty parts of my humanity. Teach me to come to the one who longs to forgive and to cleanse.” Take a minute or two and in a silent whisper name the things you are giving to Jesus today to cleanse. After you give him those things and run out of things to name, center yourself and slowly repeat the phrase, “show me your ways of love and washing today” for another minute or two.
Pray this prayer: “Jesus, I confess I have chosen ‘safe’ people to love while you knelt before a betrayer, a denier, and friends who would abandon you by morning. I’ve held a towel in my hands but kept score in my heart, deciding who is worth my time instead of loving as one who’s been washed. Teach me the gift of being washed of my dirt is the grace, forgiveness, and ability to wash others of theirs.” Take a minute or two in silent reflection and whisper the names of people you are choosing to forgive and wash their feet. After a moment of silence, ask the Lord if further behavior is being asked of you as a sign and symbol that you have been washed and are willing to wash others.

2 Samuel 9:1–8

2 Samuel 4:4–6

How to Belong Even If You’re Questioning Your Place

1 — The Baggage Your Name Carries Does Not Mean You Don’t Belong His father and grandfather were the failed kings of Israel. His name and image were forever tarnished before he ever stepped into independent personhood. God can redeem what you lost and bring you into being found by only His goodness and His grace. It’s so much easier to hold onto why you don’t think you have a place than to trust that God will bring you into a place that only His power could. Belonging is rooted in what you believe about yourself before you are ever invited to sit at the King’s table.

2 — Your Deformities and Deficiencies Do Not Mean You Don’t Belong The areas in which people have hurt you that weren’t your fault can easily become the reason we never re-engage with life in God and with others—because we think it’s easier to be alone and protected than in a group and exposed. No one gets to dictate whether you belong or not besides you. There is always a seat open at the King’s table; you have to decide if you’re okay with it having others sitting around it. Stay in the pack. Run towards the roar.

3 — You Don’t Have to Believe What Your Circumstances Have Said Over Your Life Belonging is all about having faith that He works all things for your good. The thing he wasn’t proud of (his family) was the very thing that gained him access. His name meant “from the mouth of shame.” He described himself as a “dead dog,” yet in one single day he found himself at the King’s table—with his fortune, title, and status restored. Don’t let the outside defeat the inside, because God can change the outside faster than He can change your inside.

Genesis 32:22-32

HOW TO FIND SAFETY FOR YOUR SOUL

1- SAFETY FIRST COMES WHEN I REALIZE I CAN ONLY GET IT FROM GOD. OFTENTIMES IT IS AFTER YOU HAVE WRESTLED WITH EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE THAT YOU START TO SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING ALL ALONG TO KEEP YOU SAFE. When God wrestles you, it’s not to destroy you — it’s to drain you of everything that’s been pretending to be Him, and then reveal who he has been all along.

Safety is understanding what Godly protection is.. That we all will walk through wounding as a way to reveal that thinking we can win without him will always produce losing over the long haul. We must learn that our safety will never come from our power, only his. I’d rather walk with a limp and know who I am, than run fast and not know who I am or where I am going. Safety is about staying close to the one who has the power to protect, sustain, strengthen, and bring peace.
Safety is the trading in of the old name you built, for the new name Jesus blood purchased. God can’t rename and redefine what you won’t acknowledge and give to him. Jacob didn't need new circumstances; he needed a new identity. Oftentimes we pray for God to change our situation, but God first starts with who we are and what we believe internally, before he handles the circumstances of what we face externally.

4- You can limp your way into peace if God’s walking with you.. and the wound that hurts you can also become the evidence that He held you, and protected you. The limps and scars are the safety of a God who seeks to show you; he alone is your salvation.. And for a life with a testimony of you wrestled, you survived, and you found safety in God.. this is where true fruit comes from.

Lament time

1- WHERE HAVE I SOUGHT PRETEND SAFETY INSTEAD OF GOD?

What have I grabbed for—control, success, image, relationships, money—to feel safe? What do I fear losing that secretly rules me?

Prayer: “Lord, drain me of every counterfeit refuge. You alone are my safety.” Breathe in: “God is my refuge.” Breathe out: “I release control.”

2- WHAT WOUND / LIMP AM I RESISTING THAT GOD IS USING TO PROTECT ME?

Where has He “touched my hip”—shut a door, slowed my pace, humbled my strength—so I’ll stay close? How have I been trying to run again instead of rest again?

Prayer: “Jesus, I receive the mercy of my limp. I would rather walk slowly with You than sprint without You.”

— Lay your hand on the place that hurts. If its mind or heart touch your head or chest.. and pray for his healing power to restore you.

1- I GIVE NOT BECAUSE GOD NEEDS FROM ME, BUT RATHER TO SAY THROUGH MY SACRIFICE, “I TRUST YOU GOD..”

2- I give as a reminder im the steward of the masters talents, not the master of my own fate.

3- I GIVE FOR THE ROOT OF SELFISHNESS AND GREED TO BE DESTROYED IN MY HEART… AND FOR IT TO BE DESTROYED IN THOSE WHO ARE TO COME FROM ME AND AFTER ME.

4- I give because if he does not have the attention of my money, he does not have the full attention of my heart.

5- I GIVE BECAUSE THE NEEDS OF GODS HOUSE ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THOSE WHO PROFESS TO BE GOD'S PEOPLE

Proverbs 3:5-6

MATTHEW 23:23

MATTHEW 19:16-22

NEHEMIAH 10:28-39

John 9:1-11

4 main points and takeaways from this passage

God didn’t just pull me out of the dirt. He used the dirt to make me see.
(John 9:6)
Before I ever tried to find Jesus. He found me first
(John 9:1)
Sight comes after the surrender
(John 9:6-7)
When God changes how you see, it changes how you live
(John 9:8-9)

LUKE 21:1-4

Luke 12:15-21

LUKE 16:10-13

COLOSSIANS 3:23-24

4 thoughts on a poverty mindset rooted in need

1- We judge what others have because if we don't have it we think others don't deserve it.

2- We have a rational reason to not be generous and that rational reasoning takes the place of a faith we declare we profess.

3- WE LOOK UPON THOSE WHO WE THINK OUR “RICH”, AND THINK THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO GIVE MORE TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I CANNOT. NOT REALIZING THAT WITHHOLDING FROM GOD IS JUST ANOTHER LAYER OF GREED WE TRY TO TELL OURSELVES IT ISN'T… NEED CAN PRODUCE GREED JUST AS MUCH AS GREED PRODUCES MORE GREED.

4- We only view the world through our need… and WE SEEK to position ourselves relationally and personally to try to in our own strength to produce more to comfort our situation, USING AND LEVERAGING OTHERS FOR GAIN.. When we are generous we are saying you meet my needs, you have all the power, you are my identity, and you have the greatest influence in my life.

4 thoughts on a prosperity mindset rooted in greed

1- Is accumulating money for my glory or is it rhythmically and routine partnered in generosity for his glory? You can't say he gets the glory if the only thing you use your finances on is to produce your own..

2- Do I have contentment and gratitude for what I have currently? Or does a feeling of lack, rooted in comparison and coveting, fuel my lifestyle to always have more?

3- As my life is elevated, is my generosity elevated? YOU CAN GIVE AND STILL BE GREEDY.. Bare minimum effort and activity gets bare minimum fruit, just as no effort or activity gets no fruit..

4- Greed is foundationally about power and control. We inadvertently become our own God not realizing we have gained the whole word and lost our souls… we are not in control.. And we do not have ultimate power.. Generosity is about submitting your thirst for power and your need to control to God in trust that he will bring the fulfillment I truly seek.

4 THOUGHTS ON BIG-PICTURE STEWARDSHIP

1- I HAVE RIGID ROUTINE IN MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE THAT CIRCUMSTANCES DONT DICTATE DEVIATIONS FROM.

2- I OWN THE LITTLE OF THINGS RELATED TO MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE BECAUSE I KNOW IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

3-THE STEWARDSHIP OF MY TIME, ATTENTION, RESOURCE IS ALL UNTO GREATER SENSITIVITY AND DEEPER DISCERNMENT.

4- ONCE I START IN THE STEWARDSHIP JOURNEY THERE IS STRONG RESISTANCE AT FIRST.. THAT SLOWLY GIVES WAY TO A REALIZATION THAT I CANNOT STOP…. AS I FEEL FUELD DAILY BY MY LIFE IN GOD AND TANGIBLE SENSE A COMMUNIONING WITH HIM.

Matthew 25:14-29 –

How to live in the multiplied and not buried talents.

1- Tithing is a floor not a ceiling. Test Him and see.

2- Spiritual maturity is when my life has rhythmic, routine, regular, boring, secret, and consistent generosity. We live in a day and age of knowing the words to say to pass the Christian eye test… but it is the rhythmic activity of the heart showing lordship… that God is able to see how we are using the talents He has given us.

3- Money is not bad, but our views of it, worship of it, fixation of it and withholding of it; is. You're either a hand that’s releasing it or a hand burying it, and you're not robbing God, you're robbing God of an opportunity to show you He's more in control than you could ever realize.

4- Giving under the pretense of getting only produces death, and giving that seeks to dictate to its passion points only robs faith of the reward of its secret work. Trust, believe, and let it go.

Luke 2:25–40

How a Remnant of People Walk in a Sensitive and Discerning way

1 – We live righteous and holy in order to see what others can’t, and say what others won’t. Simeon and Anna were on a different wavelength not because they were born Levites or trained to be Pharisees and Sadducees, but rather because they took seriously the call to devote their lives to God. Full ownership given to the Spirit in your life gets full access to the Spirit and the life it brings. Every part of you must serve, and be submitted and surrendered, to every part of Him.

2 – Righteousness and holiness must start in your life with what is unholy and unhealthy being brought to the light of His Spirit in repentance and in a posture to be transformed. It is an ownership over your patterns, disciplines, habits, and desirous appetites that becomes the seedbed for a life in the Spirit to take root and thrive. You will never step into discerning and sensing the Spirit for others if you cannot and will not discern and follow the Spirit for yourself first. Before Anna and Simeon discerned baby Jesus in front of them by the Spirit of God, they had decades of faithfulness to discerning and sensing that Spirit in the devotion of how they lived—in righteousness, in prayer, in worship, and in the frequency of life in the temple of God. We start small in order to live big.

3 – The challenge and new course direction of Fixate on its third-year anniversary is to become a house of Annas and Simeons—devoted to righteousness and holiness in such a way that we would discern the Spirit of God before the concept was even realized, carry a message from God when their status in life said they couldn’t, see the image of God in the midst of those who—even when trained to see—were blind to find it, and live a life of remembrance because they did something before anyone else ever did. Righteousness, holiness, sensitivity, discernment; this is who we are becoming.

Daniel 1:3–9

Daniel 6:10–13, 16-23

How to Become a Person Defined By Holy Habits

Holy habits are God-focused patterns that sow seed in the soil of daily life that yield fruit of a relationship of intimacy and proximity in the life of tomorrow. Holy habits are not activities; they are disciplines that submit and surrender unholy appetites and unhealthy desires, that then allow God to resurrect you in spiritual health and wholeness. In the beginning it is more training your appetites to say no and drawing the lines of what you don’t do, before those appetites rewire you into living in a way you were never meant to live.
Have you come to be defined as one who constantly serves God? What got Daniel in trouble was that he constantly served God. But in even greater detail, the king over all the land doesn’t even know the God Daniel serves by name, only that his life is lived in such a way that he constantly serves Him. Renewing your life, focus, and functionality is what determines if the title rests on you of a constant servant of God. If you will take seriously the call of constant service, the blessing is discovering and sensing a God with you, around you, and inside of you, in every season and aspect of your life.
Even the smallest patterns of renewal in this day and age can be the very resistance needed for a shift in the climate of the world around you. Daniel started with prayer three times a day in quiet resistance to the modern order and by the end had a king passing a decree in which everyone was mandated to worship the God Daniel served. The king’s first decree went from worship me to worship Him. And this is the first step—turning the attention from worship of self, to worship of Him. His first decree missed the mark and the second decree corrected it. The king wanted to worship something; he just needed someone to show him, through how he lived, who was worthy to be worshiped.

Formulaic Process of Renewal – Holy Discontentment + Preparation (in secret) + Contending (in prayer) + Holy patterns + Remnant = A Region Renewed in the Spirit of God

2 Kings 18:1–6 2

Kings 20:1–10

What Defines a Life of Contending Prayer

Hezekiah’s first response when he is faced with discouraging news. “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” (20:3) Meaning, to develop a life of response from Heaven, I must produce these characteristics as a descriptor of who I am: someone who is walking with God in truthfulness, giving Him the whole of my heart, and knowing from this place I will produce good in His sight.
How deep does prayer really go for you? Contending prayer is a prayer that fights, wrestles, and grapples for the revelation of God in the areas I’m seeking Him. God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer? “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.” (20:5) God hearing prayers and seeing tears are two different things. Communication with no emotion is not healthy communication. Prayer with the depths of our souls comes out in the weeping bitterly and the praying pointedly, that then turns the Father heart towards His children. We contend in righteous awareness, vulnerability, and transparency, and the Spirit will respond. Be real, be raw, or don’t be anything.
Contending prayer doesn’t just believe for messages. It demands signs and miracles. “Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me?’” (20:8) Abnormality is embraced and even expected when we enter into a deeper understanding of what contending prayer is supposed to produce. Hezekiah shifted the shadows of the sun to confirm a word from a prophet. What ways do you need to shift your mindset to start to expect that God wants to reveal signs of His goodness, grace, and miraculous power in your everyday walk with Him?

Process of renewal –– holy discontentment + preparation (in secret) + contending (in prayer) + holy patterns + remnant == a region renewed in the spirit of God

1 Sam 17:20-23 /// 31-40

How to Prepare in Secret in Order to Walk in the Promises of God in Your Life.

1 - You must take out the lions and bears with God in your private life before you can take down the giants with God in your public one. Before you're ever going to win visible battles, you must take ownership of the invisible ones. So often we know the giants we are up against in the obvious ways, but we disregard the lions and bears feeding on the areas of our souls in the non-obvious ways. You must understand that it is the battles we learn to fight when no one is watching that allow us to emerge victorious in faith when people are watching.

2 - We prepare in secret so when the time comes we aren’t tempted to be someone else other than who God called us uniquely to be. Before David was knocking down a giant he was deciding if he believed in the skill of the sling shot over the strength of the king's sword and armor. Oftentimes the reason we're not taking down giants is because we are using everyone else’s strategy to win, uncomfortable and not confident in the gifts our Father has given us. Preparation is about understanding who God has uniquely called me to be, and being willing to look foolish if it means I walk out in the faith I have God is with me. If you lose yourself, you lose it all.

3 - You can hide in the baggage, or head to the battle. Proper preparation is when you handle the baggage before it affects the battle. So often we bring baggage to the battles, not realizing that the gift of fighting the lions and bears when no one is watching is having the skills needed to defeat the giants when everyone is. Preparation is the healthy ownership of my healing journey and gift development that can only be done in the deep cultivation of a life in God. You have to own what's around you in order to win at what's ahead of you

2 Kings 22:1-2; 11-20

Process of Renewal:

Holy discontentment + preparation + contending + holy patterns + remnant = a region renewed in the Spirit of God.

How to Walk in a Holy Discontentment:

1 - The action of hearing the words of God must produce a heart of changing my behavior to reflect the revelation I receive from His Word. All it takes for idols and high places to remain in a heart indifferent to the effects of duplicity. What you behold you become, and if you're not happy with what you're becoming, be mindful of things you might be worshipping that you're not aware you may be kneeling before. Better is one day with Him than a thousand elsewhere is a real time litmus test.

2 - Holy discontentment often starts when my heart is tender to the spirit of God and I become humbled by and to the truth of His Word. We worship in Spirit and in truth; not one at the expense of the other. Holiness is the pursuit of the Spirit and presence of God while also developing a depth of wisdom and awareness with the truth of God's Word. When His Spirit and Word confront the high places and altars of a life contrary to Lordship, we must respond in full surrender and full submission.

3 - Holy discontentment is when His Spirit fills me and constantly highlights areas of idol worship and high places that we may never know actually exist. A true encounter with Jesus leads to a lifestyle of constant awareness of anything not of Him, and a discontentment of anything that I would view above my relationship and intimacy with His Spirit and truth. Removing idols is just His Spirit removing any obstacle or barrier of a life intimate and proximity to Him... righteousness and holiness are not the end goal.... awareness of an intimate God all around you, at all times... is.

Jude 1:20-25

Cross References for further study:

On divisions & building yourselves up:

Romans 16:17-20

Hebrews 10:24-25

2 Peter 1:3-11

Ephesians 2:20

On having mercy on others:

2 Cor 5:11; 20 -

Zechariah 3

On Him who is able:

Daniel 3 (16-18 specifically)

Isaiah 43:2

Philippians 2:13

Hebrews 10:14

John 14:27

Isaiah 42:16

Matthew 16:19

Matthew 5:17

Hebrews 12:24

Isaiah 45 :2-3

Lord, I Wanna See
I Wanna Be Unshakeable
I Wanna Receive the Treasures Hidden in Darkness

Jude 1:10-16

Genesis 4; 1-8

3 tests that reveal roots, fruits, and who not to become in your pursuit of Jesus.

1- The Cain test; ‘They have taken the way of Cain’... Oftentimes it is our withholding from God that hinders our becoming in God. Man has had covetous and competitive desire since Genesis. If not submitted, and not fully released, it can become an angry bitterness at what others have that you do not, that becomes a lifestyle of cutting corners and controlling everything in order to gain what you think will elevate and bring approval from others in your life. Being surrendered, submitted and giving God my ABSOLUTE best, is what elevated Abel above Cain. Being not fully surrendered, not submitted, and not giving God my best, was the place the concept of murder in mankind originated and bore sin from.

2- The Balaam Test; ‘They have rushed for profit into Balaam's error’..

Is the only reason I am pursuing God for a fulfillment of my needs and desires? Or is my devotion to God a deeper surrender and submission that he is the only who knows my needs and desires and in his hands and spirit, is the place my life flourishes most. So often we come to God when we are out of options, seeking a God that would restore my fortunes. We must be sensitive and discerning of a life in God in which he is not there to build my brand and bank account, but to build a heart and life so rooted in him it bears a fruit that remains long after we are gone. He’s not a genie in a bottle, he's a king on the cross, and your dreams placed in the hands of the one who created them, are better than any life you could ever build on your own.

3- The Korah Test; ‘They have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion’..

Your devotion to God is not just found in a sanctified and righteously rhythmic walk. It is also revealed in the levels of self awareness and personal perception of what we need to eliminate in our individual circumstance that steals from the growth God has for my life. The flesh is in constant rebellion to the spirit, and this is most evident in the place of pride, authority, and submission that can be masked even spiritually; to place him on the throne of our hearts means we have to first remove ourselves from that place. Korah had every right as a levite to be a leader, but his character was rooted in jealousy, ambition, and rebellion that ultimately led to his death. We must keep our own jealousy and ambition submitted to God, or it will swallow up the work of the spirit in our lives.

Jude 1:1-10 NIV

Three places where the grace of God shows its true deliverance power, and the same three areas the enemy wants to destroy in before you can experience freedom:

Place number 1:

Your faith must be a disciple of renewal within the whole of your mind/heart/spirit... we must have a faith that practices the hard stuff, even the things I don't want to believe. Faith that only majors on passion points, but never engages pain points, will miss the power that comes from the intersection of Jesus and His Spirit in the deepest part of our souls. My faith must be willing to wrestle in the dark of doubt and weakness, just as much as it grasps for the light and resurrection. My heart must come into alignment, spirit into alignment, mind into alignment, and if one is off... the alignment is off.

Place number 2:

A faith that believes as I am a walking, breathing, and functional temple of the Holy Spirit... what I do with my life everyday is building, strengthening, and mirroring the temple of God. The whole of you must be devoted to the whole of Him. My diet of eating and drinking, the things I allow to comfort me, the sexual desires I must learn to submit over my feelings, the judge-mentalness of people that I won't give space to that I know is wrong, the numbing agents I permit to allow me not to feel... all parts of me must seek sanctification in every area... for in the sanctification there comes sainthood.

Place number 3:

We must have a faith that willingly and humbly submits to the authority of Scripture, the authority of the leadership of the body, and the authority of corrective and accountable relationships.... a faith that will not submit to anyone (person) or anything (Scripture)... a faith that at some point will become shipwrecked upon the pride of oneself, you find protection, when you find submission.

Matt. 6:14-15

Matt 18:21-22

Rom. 12:17-19

Prov. 28:13

Heb. 12:13-14

Definitions: Original Definition: “to give away/to grant”

APA: "Willfully setting aside feelings of resentment toward an individual who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed one in some way"

Forgiveness Institute: "You let go of resentment and the urge to seek revenge."

The Practicals:

Uncovering
Decision
Work
Outcome

Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling

It is meant for my benefit and for the benefit of those around me

I need to wrestle with the actions, emotions, all while choosing to forgive

Our dependence on Jesus for forgiveness

Emmanuel:

Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What does it look like for manna to rain down and you lack nothing, and what would it look like to include someone else in that image?

Megan:

Jeremiah 29 10-14 NLT

Jose:

James 1:5-8 (NIV)

Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)

Amy:

Zechariah 4: 6

Psalm 143:10-12

Romans 12:1

1 Peter 2:9

Colossians 1:16

Daniel 2:22

I Cor, 1:1-25.

Daniel 1: 1-5

Power Cord - different cords for different appliances. But all are meant to provide power/electric power from a source to a specific item.
What's in a Name. How may I know your name? Have you ever searched out the meaning of your name. And I ask who made the decision that your name means such and such.

The name Daniel, of Hebrew origin, means "God is my judge". It is derived from the Hebrew words "dan" (meaning judge) and "el" (meaning God). The name gained prominence through the biblical figure Daniel, known for his wisdom and faith.

The name Hananiah, of Hebrew origin, means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God has favored"

The name Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל) is of Hebrew origin and generally means "who is what God is" or "who is like God?

The name Azariah, of Hebrew origin, generally means "helped by God" or "Yahweh has helped"

Captured by the Babylonians King Nebuchadnezzar had his servant teach them the Babylonians language and gave them a new name.

Belshazzar- the name Belteshazzar, given to Daniel by the Babylonian prince of the eunuchs, means "Protect the life of the king" or "Bel's prince".

the name Shadrach, originally Hananiah, is of Babylonian origin and is interpreted to mean "command of Aku," the moon god.

the Babylonian name Meshach is thought to be related to the Babylonian god Aku of after SHAK a Venus god in Babylon.

The name Abednego, likely means "servant of Nabu" or "servant of Nebo". Nabu (or Nebo) was the Babylonian god of wisdom and writing.

1 Corinthians 2:2

Romans 5:17-21

Leviticus 14:1-7

Genesis 3:1-13

The Test of Delight, Desire, and Provision

1 - The development and sanctification of delight in God is when your spirit can discern and go deeper than the surface layer of pleasure, and has the ability to bypass our flesh's hardwiring for instant gratification. Desire that disobeys is just desire we have allowed to rewire our appetites, impulses, and brain chemistry. It's hard to be a disciple when you're always searching for dopamine. Delaying cheap desire allows you to enter true fulfillment. Our souls don't want instant, they want real. If you do not rewire desire, desire will rewire you.

2 - For every action of fallen desire, there is a reaction to resurrect it through Jesus' life and example. If impulsive food and coping appetites is your desire, fasting becomes your weapon of submission. If coveting, spending, purchasing, and providing the stressor or easy dopamine fix... generosity becomes the rewiring and renewing element of the spirit. If my desire is for sex, a mate or a relationship that gives me meaning... I must first find relational intimacy in God, or I will struggle to find that in another. Your manna becomes moldy the second God becomes a vehicle of accomplishing your desire, and not a relationship of devotion.

3 - Rhythm can and will restore any and all desire if you will guard, tend, and keep it. If you do not live rhythmically close to Jesus, you will always struggle to see Him as the fulfiller of your desire, the one you delight in and who delights in you, and your provider and supplier. Your weakness in His hand of a proximate life, can become strength in due time. You cannot have New Testament promises with Old Testament behaviors. We redeem what is fallen, we don't identify as fallen. How we do this is learning, leaning, and living His Word, Spirit, and Presence through prioritized relationship. Rhythms restore, disciplines disciple, and wholeness only comes from oneness, with Jesus.

Mark 2:14-17

Matthew 9:9-13

Luke 5:27-32

Walking in Activated Advocation:

1 - Advocacy is when we desire to recognize purpose beneath the surface of every person made in the image of God. There is no stereotype, skin color, past-situation, socio-economic class, sin, or mistake that invalidates someone's right to belong. We believe through our written Word of God that the pronouncement of faith and surrendered life brings you into alignment within the family of God. Advocacy is my maturity into activated faith that bridges the gap between heaven to remind people we are all sons and daughters of God (Yahweh). We build bridges, we don't burn them. We will not be a church that offers sacrifice, but does not offer mercy, or we will need a new pastor.

2 - The foundation of advocacy is the foundation of the character of the throne of God; righteousness and justice. Righteousness is the inward challenge of surrendered life, justice is the outward fruit of it. How we walk in advocacy rooted in righteousness and justice is centered on three words: awareness (pursuit of knowledge), empathy (pursuit of proximity), and solidarity (action born of previous two things). Jesus was aware of Matthew's situation, went to his house and got proximate not just to him to others that had been considered outcasts and sinners, and then defended him in solidarity to those who would accuse or condemn him based off his life. Our call is to unite all people into kingdom purposes.

3 - Vasili Arkhipov

1 Kings 19:1-18

How to experience breakthrough from a breakdown.

1- There is a difference between fatigue and failure. Just because you are tired, worn down, scared, questioning, running does not make you a failure. However, fatigue can bring all sorts of failure if you do not properly reorient yourself to God's rest, provision, and voice. Health starts when your pursuit of help does. Your mind, heart, and spirit will always be restless until it finds its rest in Jesus.

2- Spiritual maturity is when your mind starts to switch from just looking for God in the profound; to the one gentle blowing... the powerful; to the low whisper... the extraordinary; to the realization of God as a present person in my ordinary life. Maturity is inviting and learning to see God outside of the arenas I expect to see Him in (the flat and bang of cultural Christianity)... and that He longs to reveal to us a space of hearing the blowing and wisher of his spirit as it affirms, guides, protects, and provides for the deep needs of our souls.

3- The black rat.

Luke 7:11-18-28

Luke 22:31-32

Hebrews 4:12-13

What To Do When What's Happening to Them Isn't Happening to Me:

1- Doubt begins to entomb when the outside circumstances begin to prevail against the internal disposition. When the external reality doesn't match the internal optimism we are taught to have in faith, it is up to us to go to a deeper place, and that's by design. You cannot stay in the spiritual shallows when life gets heavy. When outside is getting loud, the inside better be learning and leaning into the quiet with God. Life can easily become a reaction to the world around me, rather than an overflow of the world I have built within me. We are to be inwardly formed, while outwardly facing.

2 - There is a distinct difference between healthy doubt and deconstruction, and walking away and deconversion. Jesus can go as deep as we want to go, the tension is if we trust Him and His plan with our unknowns... He is with you in the prison, pain, weakness, unmet request, tension of waiting, fear, brokenness, and the main question of it all, "why doesn't He just do for me what He has done for others?"... it is life's great question that we find He does not always give answers, as much as He just becomes the answer, and reinforces who we are, and what we mean to Him.

3 - The Spirit's greatest work in your life is 'sifting'. Sifting either purifies the promise or offends the promisee towards the promiser. Doubt is the sifting of our souls to purify the purposes of our Creator in His creation. To wrestle, to question, to seek more... is an invitation to drink of deeper waters, to find a deeper rest. When His spirit sifts our motives, desires, pursuits, and ambitions, we become the home in which His Spirit dwells in its fullness. Don't allow the offense of what He hasn't done rob you of the faith in what He is going to do.

Matthew26:36-46

3 statements from Jesus designed to stir a sleepy soul awake:

1- “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (vs 39,42,44). Do you trust his will even when the cup you are drinking is one you don’t want to drink, the cup you are drinking doesn't make sense, the cup you are drinking is not your timing or your plan, the cup you are drinking is a cost you absolutely do not want to pay… when the cup is not being taken away, and not being passed off.. Do you trust God and drink? Your willingness to drink from the cup you don't understand is oftentimes the greatest ask of faith in our journey with God. The cup of communion was filled with His blood, the cup of a life in Him may have deep cost associated as well.

2- “Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (vs41)... If you have not trained yourself to watch and pray in night seasons, at some point a dark night of life will come upon you and you will be forced to develop this muscle. "To watch" is practicing discernment and awareness of what is around you... "to pray" is to communicate with God in such a way that you're strengthened by His nearness even if the feeling is weakness. Your spirit must be strengthened to take control of your life, because your foes will always be weak when the temperature of trials rises.

3- “Yet not as I will, but as You will.”(vs 39,42, 44)... the foundation of every argument we have, every question we have, every reason to walk away… my will or His. Peter was falling asleep with his will, before he was using his will power to aggressively deny his walk with Jesus. We don't go from disciple to denial on the surface of our lives without a deep war internally of his will vs ours. Our will must be submitted before his will can sanctify. Our will must be purified, before his will can teach us to abide. This is not a one time test either, rather a life-time of his will or mine is a part of the journey.. But if we put his will above our own, drink from the cup we don’t want to drink, and stay awake and in prayer, there is remembrance of how we lived.

Mark 8:22-26

Luke 9:59-62

How to Get Through the Spit to Experience the Shine:

1- Jesus uses uncomfortable to lead to completion. Meaning if you're looking for comfort you will always be searching for completion. Human nature has a tendency within its desire to drift toward disobedience and call it freedom. Leaning into the sanctification process and refinement of your character is the journey of trusting that the Lord will be faithful to use the ‘spitty’ seasons to shine.

2 - The first step of spit producing a shine is coming to the end of any dishonesty and walking in 100% honesty/transparency. We want our lives to shine but they feel like spit and no one knows... you cannot heal unless you are first honest. This might even mean telling Jesus that it's not working, and pressing into Him again, and again... until you find the healing your soul searches for. Don't stop pursuing the healer, until the healing power flows into your life.

3- If you do not train yourself to look up, you will not get out. We must rhythmically allow Jesus to reposition our spirit to look upon Him in order to receive the leading that has been purchased for us... we want all the benefits of a healthy spiritual life with none of the habits that make it healthy... you must learn your Savior is just as much in the spit as He is in the shine of life.

JOHN 2:1-11—

Your life is not an overlooked detail to God. Your problems are not an overlooked detail to God... your pain is not an overlooked detail to God... your grief is not an overlooked detail to God... your relationships are not an overlooked detail to God... your family is not an overlooked detail to God... your health is not an overlooked detail to God... your desire is not an overlooked detail to God... your finances are not an overlooked detail to God... your dreams are not an overlooked detail to God... if it matters to you it matters to Him.

Mark 11:12-24

How To Make Sure Your Leaves Are Producing Fruit:

1 - No matter what you do externally, Jesus will always seek to purify you internally. How he purifies is by drawing close enough to challenge the leaves to produce fruit. If you're the one who sings/yells 'Hosanna", don't be surprised when the Spirit shows up in the temple of your heart to purify it in order to produce the right fruit of a surrendered spirit. External fruit is born from the internally disciplines life. The internal life must be reoriented, repositioned, and renewed to the heart of Jesus for fruit to be produced.

2 - The fruit of a healthy tree is there to be picked by others.... if people can't see the fruit of a godly lifestyle or don't want to pick the fruit that is present in your life, be careful.... as the roots may be withering. The purpose of fruit being picked is so a tree can produce more in the future. You cannot be a tree that produces fruit if you're too busy being a tree that protects its fruit. Don't be a leaf that turns to a thorn, when you're supposed to be a fig that quenches the needs of the hungry souls of this world.

3 - It's easier to choose leafiness over fruitfulness. Anyone can grow leaves, but it is hard to produce fruit. Leafiness is elementary knowledge of Scripture, but not fruit of the Spirit present in the my life. Leafiness has spiritual activity, but not deep sacrificial dependency. Leafiness knows what to say, fruitfulness learns to listen and discern what the Spirit is saying. Leafiness wants a testimony, but won't embrace the test it takes to produce the fruit of one. You produce leaves first that then produce fruit, but the leaves will never be the same as fruit.

Matthew 17:24-27

How to Fish for the Right Things, and Walk in the Miracle of an Unoffendable Heart of Gold

1- We must change our perspective of those who wrong us. Offensive people are hurting people, possessing wounds that have not healed that infect those around them. When you choose offense oftentimes it is you who adopts the wounds of others. Your spiritual journey is to become thick skinned while having a tender heart, not thin skin with a hard heart. Forgiveness is oxygen, unforgiveness is carbon dioxide. It's your choice what your spirit breathes in everyday.

2- Forgiveness does not mean resolution of all problems. In fact, in some cases there is needed to be protective distance or time that takes place even in the midst of a heart posture that's releasing. Healing is everyone's journey, and the only person you will give an account for is yourself. You cannot control what you want from someone else, or what you feel you deserve from someone else... let that fish off the line.

3- If everything that happens to you is a big deal, your life will have a small impact; as you cannot handle the cost of elevation. Jesus was killed for how He lived, there may be something that has to die for you to fully live in what He has called you to walk in. Spiritual maturity is when you learn not to waste your energy on the small things, and keep your eyes on the prize. If you live in cycles of offense, you build an electric fence around your heart that the Spirit is repelled from getting close enough to transform. You're fishing for gold, not fishing for carp.

Luke 18:31-43 CSB

How to strengthen the vision of your heart when your eyes cannot see:

Recognition of His Nature - He will reveal His abilities/nature as He lifts your eyes off the limitations of your inabilities/circumstances. As you come to Him, He will exchange bitterness and defeat with a restored hope and deep trust in Him. A faith that makes you well comes from a heart that knows Him well.
Submission to His Lordship - Where our means of self-reliance, idols of understanding, and deceptive forms of control are given to Him as a proclamation that He is Lord. It is in this posture He will show you that there is miraculous power available when He’s seated on the throne of your heart.
Invitation to Restore - Bring the desires of your heart to Him as a demonstration that you trust Him. After periods of waiting, the things we desire most quickly become the things we pray for the least. Stemming from fear of disappointment, past rejection, or unmet expectations, we simply stop asking. But He will approach the pure in heart, to restore the desires of their heart, once He is invited.

Mark 16:1-8

John 20:11-17

John 19:25

How to Switch from Fathom to Sonar:

1 - Resurrection life does not come without pain, scars, and a grave... but it always has faith and never lets go of its belief in healing, wholeness and life. The depths of your understanding of Jesus are shown by the depths of belief in His good when everything feels bad, is going wrong, and the reasoning isn't adding up. He was willing to endure the worst humanity had to offer for you, are you willing to endure anything in your pursuit of Him? Resurrection power is not about what got you into the grace, it's about what can take you out of it.

2 - If the cross can change from a symbol of torture to triumph, what in your life is Jesus wanting you to believe His resurrection power can rewrite, reorient, and redefine? Even those close to Him struggled to recognize Him and even doubted Him... but recognition came in the process of time in proximity. Sometimes our relationship with Him is so time sensitive, that He cannot properly train us to make our time sensitive to Him. He is the only one who can roll the stones away from whatever is trying to entomb your life.

3 - Don't tell a father what their child cannot do. This is a Sunday we recognize a father's love, and the father's ability to never leave his song behind. If your understanding of God and His love for you has not reframed your ability and vision of your life, you need a new sonar. Resurrection Sunday is about the Spirit of God now transcending the barrier of a singular body and becoming omnipresent for all people. Every child now has the power of the Father, resurrection life of the Son, to walk in the Spirit. He does not expect too much of you, you expect too little of yourself.

Matthew 21:1-11

John 12:18-19

How to Not Get Left in the Dark, When You're Looking for the Light:

1-

"Your king is coming to you, gently"... the training to understand the ways Jesus comes to you in the gentlest forms is oftentimes the difference between accepting Jesus for being on a donkey or despising Him because He's not on a warhorse. We must see Jesus for who He is and not who we want Him, or wish Him to be. He comes in low, and speaks in gentleness. Meaning, develop a life of lowliness, and learn to see Him in everything.

2 - Salvation and suffering have been hand in hand since the blood purchased the life.. We cannot develop an image of God in which we do not have sacrifice or experience hardship. To take your coat off and put it in the road and wave the palm tree leaf is easy when it's based on your idea of what the schedule of life should be; but God's timing more often than not is different than ours. Waiting has a way of wanting to trade in the palm branch for a nail, and the coat at His feet for a crown of thorns on his head if our timeframes aren’t met. Waiting is trusting, trusting is faith, and faith is the oxygen to a life with Jesus. Your expectations oftentimes are the first obstacles you must overcome to find life in God.

3 - Worship, celebration, and public acts of devotion almost always will be followed by periods of cleansing in God. External behaviors do not excuse you from internal development. Group activities do not replace your personal life's character refinement. Distraction is when you're more focused on others cleansing process than your own. The deeper you go in God, the deeper the work of purification, cleansing, and re-orienting that takes place to see how Jesus sees you, your life, and the world around you.

Rev 3:14-22

How to Know If the Drink of Your Life is Hot, Iced, or Lukewarm:

1 - Our restoration from cold or lukewarm to hot is rooted in cost and sacrifice. "Buying" is transactional cost of valuable commodities. If wealth is what you live for, the gold must be given up and generosity becomes the focus. If appearance is what you live for (robes); then the righteous robes holiness become the new pursuit. If you feel you cannot see, it is the healing ointment of His Word and Spirit that orient us back to a life of wholeness. If we choose to buy from God with things most valuable to us, the promise is "I will make you hot again".

2 - If God shows His love to us in His reproof and discipline, then we show our love back to God by zeal and repentance (verse 19). Zeal is when I burn so hot nothing that cannot stand the heat of a holy life can't be close to me or it is burned up. Repentance is when anything that comes to mind that may try to turn the heat down is cast out or removed. The fire becomes the focus, and the focus is the fire. Self awareness is the gift we open after salvation, that invites us into a sanctified, surrendered, and holy walk with God.

3 - To sit on the throne created for you, you must become an overcomer. Many times we want God to knock on the door, sit and commune with us, but not respond to the areas we know He is challenging us to overcome. If you're not putting your faith to the test, and overcoming the areas of life you're scared to face, you may be sacrificing the throne He intended you to sit on. The true test of overcoming is our relationship with man's gold or God's gold, the robe of a righteous life or the robes of human hands, the eyes that we rhythmically apply the intent of the Spirit to; that we might see as He sees.

John 19:31-37

1 John 5:5-8

Matt 3:11

Acts 2:1-4

Numbers 5:21-22

A Deep Dive on the Blood, Water, and Fire

1 - Faith in the blood of Jesus is the starting place of getting Heaven in you; the baptism waters are the immersion into the realization heaven is all around you; and walking with the fire produced from both reminds us to never lose sight of the access the blood and water has given you, to God. The blood says, "come close". Water says "come up". The fire says, "go out".

2- The blood opens the door to the reality of resurrection power, the water gives us an invitation to walk out the truth of that resurrection power, the fire becomes the unquenchable appetite we develop for resurrection power to always be present in our lives. Resurrection power is the common denominator in which everything is boiled down to.

3- When we question the forgiving power of the blood, doubt the waters' cleansing ability, and become desensitized to the fire of intimacy that longs to be close, there is a grace and space for you in the hands of God. However, life cannot be built again until these foundations become the footings of what we are building. The healing you search for through God oftentimes is the same things we run from in God. For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things... it is well... amen.

Matthew 3:1-17

Understanding the Affirmation, Illumination, and Gift of Baptism

1 - You have been reconciled through the baptism into peace, purity, holiness, and innocence. To not believe you walk in these things is to miss the symbolism of the dove's descent onto Jesus. It is life in the Holy Spirit that brings about peace, purity, holiness, and innocence; man has never and will never be able to produce these things with pure effort. The dove descending from heaven is a reminder of the gift that we will ascend to it one day, and can live in its power every day.

2 - The life lived from baptism is fastened and attached to my pursuit of the knowledge of illumination that can only be found in Jesus' example and the Word of God. In baptism we are made aware of the Spirit and the light, and in our choices and lifestyle after we discover if we believe that light is worth the fight of pursuit. Choosing this life and light brings about a holiness in you that can and will experience a heaven on earth; choose it, don't lose it.

3- The gift and illumination of the Spirit of God in baptism is designed for you to receive and understand the affirmation and love you have from your Father in heaven. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”.. In baptism anything that comes against beloved and well pleased is washed away. Any narrative you feel has had the power to write a story of you being anything other than beloved or well pleased is erased. In the kingdom economy prodigals are still sons, fishermen become priests, prostitutes become worship leaders, persecutors become apostles, and baptism isn't just a tee shirt and a photo op. It's the realization you have a father that loves you, and is pleased with you. And you are affirmed, illuminated, and gifted with his Spirit.

Exodus 13:17 NLT

Deuteronomy 7:21-22 NLT

Psalms 37:23 NLT

Proverbs 4:18 NLT

Galatians 6:9 AMPC

Galatians 4:4 NLT

Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT

1 Timothy 1:12 AMP

Colossians 3:23-24 AMP

Do I understand how much Faithfulness affects Gods plan for my life ?
The deepest roots of my Expectations must be in God and His word.
Believe I’m Excelling where I’m at, even when I don’t like where I’m at.
Cultivate Honesty and Humility without self condemnation.
When I get knocked down.. get back up.
Keep the main deal the main deal.

2 Kings 2:1-10

James 1:2-4–

Hebrews 13:5-6

Deuteronomy 31:6-8

How to Develop Diamond Hands in Your Personal Relationship with Jesus:

1 - The depths of your experience with, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" comes from the depths of your commitment to not leaving or forsaking Him. There is a one way promise found in Jesus, but the two way street is commitment to relationship no matter how high or how low. You will be tested everyday with the choice to turn away... can you say with certainty "as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."

2 - The double portion we seek to find in God is typically tied to endurance we have in our journey alongside God. Faithful obedience over the long haul has a way of weeding out the unfaithful parts of ourselves that hinder us from walking in the power/proximity He longs to entrust us with. We must learn to see the joy in the journey and switch our thinking from a disease we think we can only be cured from when a destination we have in mind is reached.

3 - There are identifying factors of those who have diamond hands over the long haul. A unique character that is developed, a distinct authority that is walked in, a deeper understanding that is seen, an endurance that almost makes them seem perfect and complete, a way of life in which nothing can stop them, and the waters of opposition part in response to the faith they have developed. This is the mantle we take hold of with the Spirit of God, that has been purchased and now is freely given.

John 8:1-11

Leviticus 20:10

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

How To Know If Your Faith Is Cherry Picking or Not:

1- If we believe Grace is for a select few, but not the many. We cherry pickin’.

2- If we believe love is just for the ones close to us, or the people we like, but not our neighbor, We cherry pickin'.

3- If we believe we can judge others and not invite in the judgment of the church body, along with a hefty dose of self awareness within ourselves, We cherry pickin'.

4- If we don't believe hope and a second chance is for everyone, we cherry pickin'. When we have lost all hope, and believe we have no chance left, is when we fall at the feet of the one who is hope, and who is a second chance. Your life should be a testament of bringing hope and second changes to those around you.

Hebrews 12:1 AMPC

Matthew 13:24-30 NLT

Proverbs 19:3 NLT

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT

Satans strategy is to plant Weed seeds among the Good Seeds.
Satan almost always plants them at Night or Difficult Dark seasons when we’re not as alert.
Satan is the source even if He uses someone else’s face.
Learn from weeds but don’t get consumed with them.
My Humility and honesty must exceed the autopilot of pain.

Luke 15:11-24

How to Walk in a Lifestyle of Fulfilled Desire:

1- It is the proximity to my Father that determines the flourishing of my personhood. Money is not the pinnacle of human fulfillment, Sex is not the peak of human intimacy, and food is not the summit of human bodily satisfaction. When the son ran out of all of these things he returned to the one who had given him the means to experience these things; the father. A prodigal is just one who runs away from the father to try to experience the promises only proximity to the father can produce and fulfill.

2 - Your desires must be submitted before your heart ever can be. The proper containers for our desires allow the limits to be healthy, and the experiences holy. If you cannot contain your desires, your desires will remake you Into an uncontrollable and impulsive person. For every action of fallen desire, there is a re-action that brings it into Kingdom alignment.

3 - Our desires are either running towards the Father or away. In this story, the prodigal ran from the father when he got what he wanted, only to find out that with the father he had all that he needed, so he returned. What you think you want isn't always what you need, and what you need sometimes is the last thing your flesh wants. But sometimes it takes a son begging to be a slave after squandering all he had, for the father to remind the son the worth, value, and love he has from his father always... a robe, a ring, and sandals.

Luke 12:13-21

1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19

Philippians 4:11-13

Matthew 6:26-30

Ephesians 6:7-8

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Acts 4:32-37; 5:1-11

How to Avoid the Destruction of Coveting and Comparison:

1- Comparison is trying to be someone you're not to gain what was never meant for you. If your eyes are on any other person besides Jesus, there will be destruction in your future. When you crave titles, accolades, recognition, and riches over righteousness, obedience, and devotion to God you set yourself up to build your house on a sandy foundation. You were made unique in the image of God, don’t get caught up in the pursuit of the fallen image of man. He must increase, we must decrease.

2- The opposite of coveting is contentment. Oftentimes our lack of contentment is rooted in our coveting of what everyone else has that we think means we are less than. If you are struggling to find peace in your life I challenge you to shrink your exposure to what you don’t have in order to maximize your ability to see what you do have. It's hard to focus on what is in God’s hands when we crave what is produced by man’s. It’s hard to be happy with the BLESSOR if the blessing is never enough.

3- God cannot bless what you willingly withhold. Wishing for what others have leads to life that feels as though we are locked out of promises and fulfillment with God, unless HE produces/gives a lifestyle that has more than everyone else, and better than everyone else. If you have a scorecard of material blessing attached to your salvation, you will have a coffin attached to your christianity. There is only one who gives good and perfect gifts, and our lives must be postured on his kingdom above to see them.

1 Samuel L 13:1-14

How To Win the War of Trusting God's Timing and Control.

1- The test of timing takes place before the gift of God given ability and blessing. If the timing is off the ability will be off, and the blessing will be off... a man after His own heart, puts God's heart and commands above the needs of my own heart and plans and learns to trust His timing above mine... and in this action and disposition; the kingdom you seek to build He will make sure endures.

2- The tired and trembling is healed by walking the straight path. My impatience and control are rooted in a fear of improper timing and inadequate ability. There is freedom when we realize it's His timing, not ours, and it is His ability, not ours. We must make the choice to lift tired hands and strengthen weak knees, and trust that on the straight path of holiness there is healing for our brokenness.

3- God not showing up when you wanted is not Him not following through, it's Him confronting the idols of control and impatience. Impatience and control are rooted in us wanting specific outcomes, and not having faith in God and His plan. It is our responsibility to build an altar of a life that honors the commands of God, not one that rewrites them to our feelings and needs when they aren't met how we want, in the timeframes we want. We don't serve a genie in a bottle, we serve a king on a cross.

John 4:46-53

4 Tips on How to Walk Blind with the Words of Jesus:

1- Your asking for interventions is the easiest part of the journey, Your persistence in what you do with that ask is what determines the comfort (or terror) level of the blind walk of faith. What are you saying to yourself and finding out about yourself on the way from the ask to the miracle you seek?

2- We need to be willing to pray for God to shut the wrong doors as much as we pray for Him to open the right ones. You sometimes learn more from the doors you thought you were going to walk through, than the ones you actually have walked through.

3 - A crack in the door deserves a kick to see if we can get it open... sometimes we are too passive, too non-committal, too cost-averse and comfort seeking, to seek out a life that forces God to open doors of healing, wholeness, and opportunity for us. His journey to find Jesus for his son was 28 miles, uphill, in a desert... sometimes we forget there is no testimony, without the word "test".

4- Would you have trusted the 4 words, or only trusted if he physically stood next to you and made the 28 mile hike back? Oftentimes it is what we think Jesus should do for us that is hindering what He is actually wanting to do for us.

2 Kings 5:1-14-

HOW TO FOLLOW THROUGH WHEN EVERYTHING IN YOU SAYS TO QUIT

1 - Your healing is a provision purchased from your healer's broken body for you... however, how He heals is often deeper than our logic interprets healing should happen. Before we walk in the fruit of the external we must prune the branches of the internal... healing through God's hands oftentimes does not come how you think, by who you think, or when you think... but if you're faithful to follow... it is His wish, and His desire.. to heal and restore you.

2 - Your obstacles of follow through most likely will be confronted by the pursuit of affluence and identity. If you are busy building an image of yourself that is separate from God's Word, you will feel the tension of duplicity. It's hard to receive the power of God when we want the power and to be our own God. Every part of you must be surrendered so every part of you can be restored.... your image and affluence are either used for His glory, or for yours.

3 - If you follow through with you walk with Jesus it has a way of restoring more than what you set out to fix to begin with. We come to God seeking healing in a few areas, but He seeks wholeness in all areas. We come to God for our problems to be fixed, He seeks to use us to fix others problems while working on our own. Following through has no finish line, only a starting line. Your restoration is not about you becoming better, it's about you becoming the child of God He created you to be.

Luke 7:11-17

How to Break the Cycles You Need To, To Walk In Who You Were Made To Be:

1- Get a group around your coffin. Honesty is a chemical building block to healing.

2- Find ways to get Jesus' fingerprints on your coffin.

3- Be unoffendable. (Repeat to yourself 1 million times)

4- Switch your thinking; short term sacrifice for longterm reward, and what do I have to lost but what could I possibly gain.

2 Sam. 11:1-5; 14-25

How to Discern If You're Fighting the Right Battles

1- When kings won’t fight they end up in situations they shouldn't have been in, doing things they shouldn't be doing, in relationships with people they shouldn't have given access to… which ultimately leads to consequences they couldn't imagine.

2- When you're not in the fight, but you should be, your eyes drift to something that will get your blood pumping like the battles you should be fighting. Time is not your most valuable currency, attention is.. And the easiest way to be fighting a losing fight is giving your attention to the wrong places. Seasons of IDLE attention are revealing times of the IDOLS of attention in our lives.

3- You prioritize what's important. What's worth the fight. How to drift from God is to not be aware of the fights you should be battling for, and using your energy on things that in the grand scheme of things are not that important. The three most important fights you must prioritize to walk in the royal priesthood that's been purchased for you; your faith, your family, your future.

John 5:1-9

How to choose the love of the Savior, over the love of stirred water.

1- To man love is what you can offer me, to God love is what can I offer you. In a world in which we trample each other if it means our benefit, Jesus stops to show you proximity to him and his power is the only blessing worth having in this world. Our souls are fatigued trying to find a place to be healed and restored, and the only place your soul can be healed and restored is in the hands of Jesus. If we will drink deep of the living water, our life eventually finds what we looked for first in the stirred water.

2- To man belonging is based on appearance, to God belonging is faith and obedience. You do not have a category to God, you are not stereotyped in his eyes. You must fight to keep your eyes upward, because what you're surrounded by is not your condition. Your condition is what you will accept as truth over your life that then you adapt behaviors from. Just because you may feel you're surrounded by the sick, blind, lame, and withered, does not make you sick, blind, lame, and withered. Keep your eyes on the healer, not on whatever it is you think can heal you.

3- You cannot be the love you need, the acceptance you need, the healing you need, and the restoration you need. No promise of ‘stirred waters’ can either.. This is the love of Jesus in this story; for 38 years a man trying but failing to get what he wanted most, and then discovering what he needed most is just a person, who walks right up to him, and brings healing. If our eyes, even if they are weak and defeated, will look towards him and away from what we think brings whatever we think we need, he responds to the needs of our souls, he responds to the needs of his beloved.

2 Samuel 6:13-23 NLT

John 15:11 (NKJV)

Philippians 4:4 (NIV)

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

You can either have Joy or Resentment: You Can’t Have Both
Never Prioritize pride over praise.
The purest form of worship sometimes looks like unrefined joy
Where there is No Joy there is no purpose

Matthew 14:22-27

Mark 4:35-41

How To Sleep and to Walk in Peace That Surpasses All Understanding:

1- Peace is proximation. Rhythmic, habitual, steadfast, centering proximation. Where Jesus is absent there will be distress. If you feel He is sleeping in your storm, it is your job to go to Him, wake Him, and call on His power to change it. Peace comes when the reason for my relationship turns from "rescue me, help me" to "I love you and just want to be close". We learn peace by being so close to the one who produces it that it just becomes us.

2- Walking in peace is your first coming to the realization of where you are not at peace. Don't ask for more if you aren't even aware of the areas it is lacking. "Take courage" can only be uttered with awareness that courage is absent. "Peace be still" can only be uttered after, "don’t you care we are perishing". Jesus has peace and courage. He wants to teach you how to rest in the storm, and to walk in authority on its waves. But your peace is directly tied to the pieces of yourself you need to be honest with him about that you maybe don’t trust him in, or don’t see him in. True peace is the ability to be courageous and restfully still, in the storms of life.

3- Peace comes when we truly come to the end of trying to control the winds and waves of life, and run after with everything the one who created, controls, and calms the them. Peace is not you rowing harder, it's you growing closer. Peace is the person of Jesus, not the condition of our circumstances, surroundings, or past mistakes. No matter how unpeaceful your life is, there is always one who wants to show you that he is all the peace you need.

Psalm 34:8 ESV

Psalm 1:2

John 1:1

John 17:3

John 5:30

Acts 10:38

John 5:19-20

John 6:57

John 15:4-5

Fellowship is the very life of God. It is the eternal nature and infinite being of God. His nature is fellowship. He is a God of loving, joyful, spontaneous, delighted communion. It is through fellowship that we know Him.
Get obsessed with one thing in scripture. Know it. Think about it. Talk about it with your friends. Pray it. Sing it. When you’re bored, pull it up in your mind and turn it over and over, examining it. Apply it when it’s challenging. Return to it in scripture again to read it. Write about it. Do that one thing really well in every day life. This what Biblical meditation on Scripture is. This is what true Biblical knowledge is. This is the beginning of delighting in the Lord and knowing him. This is abiding

Luke 8:4-15

How to Develop Good Soil in Your Soul:

1- Good soil revolves around four movements: hearing, holding, obeying, and persevering. If I'm honest with myself how well do I do these four things?

2- Thankfulness is the weed killer in the garden of your life. We tend to not want to bless those who are ungrateful, and how you know if you're ungrateful is if you focus more on what you don't have than what you do have. Remove the weeds of discontentment, superficiality, and never having enough. The grass is not greener somewhere else, it's greener where you water, and take ownership of anything that has stolen the nutrients necessary for it to grow and thrive.

3- You must take ownership of the condition of the soil of your soul before you can ever produce fruit from the seed of God in your life. Don't be mad the seed isn't producing, practice awareness of asking yourself if there if there is something in the soil of my humanity that's not allowing the seeds of God to grow and into mature fruit. Growing weeds is easy, growing fruit is hard.

Genesis 3:8-10

Exodus 3:2-6

Romans 5:8-10, 5:14-16 & 18, 6:12-14 CSB

How to step out of hiding and walk in the gift of repentance:

Bring Yourself — Trust is revealed by your willingness to come to Him. Maturity does not mean you will need Him less and less, because if you could’ve sanctified yourself, He wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice His son. It’s a gift to need Him.
Be Seen — Face the “risk” and give Him access to your deepest thoughts, doubts, feelings, desires, temptations AND sins. The deeper that’s revealed, the greater He can heal.
Be Known — As He shows you who He is, let Him remind you who you are.
Be Loved — Let Him draw you into deeper relationship.
Yield Fruit — Watch your depth of relationship yield the fruit of His Spirit and change the desires of your heart. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness—His very power being made perfect in You.

Revelation 13:16-18

Romans 12:1-2

Isaiah 8:11-15

1 John 5:21

Luke 4:1-13 NLT

Romans 10:17 NKJV

Proverbs 29:18 AMPC

It’s not about WHAT you know it’s about WHO you know.
Have I heard God’s take on my life or situation?
Rooted, Centered and Strong are always connected to my Rhythm’s, Routines and Relationships.
Everyone has a bad day. I must learn to fall on my KNEES and not my BUTT.

1 Samuel 2:35

Exodus 25:1-9

Exodus 36:4-6

Reminders of What It Means to Build His House

1- When I build His house, He builds my house.

2- When His house endures, my house endures.

3- When His house is strengthened by my hands, my house is strengthened by His hands.

4- When His house is the subject of my faithful generosity, my limited supply is placed into the hands of the one who has unlimited supply.

5- Holy is when people, place, an city merge into one. A holy people, building a holy temple to God, that would redefine existence into a holy city of God. A tent that becomes a temple, a temple that changes a city, an enduring house of God.

2 Kings 4:38-41

Matthew 14:18-20

Matthew 15;35-37

The Process of Restoring the Poison of Greed in the Pot of Our Lives:

1- There is a taking of what is in our hands and a placing of it through direct/repeated action into God's hands.

2- There is an internal shift toward gratefulness and thankful contentment that produces a joy around our practice of generosity.

3- There is a breaking of the view of what it means to have and possess items of this world that leads to a heart that he multiplies from and through.

Join us as we hear from missionary Tyler Connell about his experience with Worship as a Warfare on the mission field.

If you feel led to give to our Tent to Temple initiative happening this month, please visit fixatephx.com/give

Ephesians (5:1-21)

How to Confront Limitations in Your Pursuit of Imitation:

1- If your imitation of Jesus is not making you into a fragrant aroma of sacrifice for those around you, you're gonna smell funky. You cannot claim the name of Jesus and contradict what he lived, and died for. Sacrifice is the aroma of righteousness and sanctification, and we become the aroma of heaven when we imitate the one who brought heaven to earth. We need less axe body spray and more Sauvage by Dior.

2- You exchange the inheritance Jesus purchased for you every time you imitate the fallen mans pursuit of immorality, impurity, covetousness, and idolatry. The pursuit of the aroma of life in God comes from imitating Him in the fullness of all the Bible says, and the Spirit leads. When we choose to partake in a life of fallen living we sacrifice the inheritance we have in our risen Savior. Wherever there is distance there will always be longing.

3- The truth about light is that it is for both discovering and uncovering. We think it is only about the discovery of God, but it is equal parts about uncovering the parts of me that are not in line with God, and His will for my life. Imitation is the goal, but your flesh and character limitation and deficiency is where the starting line is. Salvation is unto sanctification and transformation. But we must confront the old before we can ever walk in the new.

Tent to Temple Offering:

fixate.com/give

Mark 2:1-12

How to Be a Person That Won't Allow Those Around You to Stay the Same:

1 - The Bible says the friends climbed, removed, dug, and let the friend down. There is effort and uncomfortability in the process of seeing a miracle come to pass. If you're not willing to climb over any obstacle, dig out any barrier, and remove any hindrance... your effectancy will be limited, The hard work is often the heart work, and the costs we are willing to pay often deteremine the levels we are able to climb.

2 - Are you a "seeing their faith" person??? Jesus' response was based on the disposition and devotion of the friends who knew what their brother needed... who then made a conscious choice that they would not allow themselves to quit until they exhausted every possible avenue for him to be healed. People who get close to you should not be allowed to remain the same just by your mere presence around them. You're either gas or water, and your habits, disciplines, and rhythmic walking with God are what determines that.

3 - Your souls formation is foundationally connected to miracles taking place... it is the closeness and fullness that we walk in that gives us the strength to remove the obstacles, and carry others to the feet of Jesus. The spirit must be in us, for others to get close through us. My life is an overflow of my time and attention. If he has both those characteristics of my personhood, a byproduct is a person who tears off roofs, and lowers people to the feet of the One that we gaze upon, and rhythmically follow... beholding is becoming and proximity develops potency.

Ephesians 4:17-32

How to Not Be a "Your Zippers Down" Christian:

1- Truth. (Eph. 4:25)

Functioning Properly: We put on and practice truthfulness, and people would describe us as real and authentic.

Functioning Improperly: our words cannot be trusted, we cannot be counted on, and people don't know if they can believe or trust us to follow through on what we say.

2- Anger (Eph. 4:26)

Functioning Properly: We are allowed anger towards sin, not anger that becomes sin

Functioning Improperly: Our anger renders us out of control, and alienates people from us, we cannot control it and it’s outbursts undermine our identity as a follower of God.

3- Delight (Eph. 4:28)

Functioning Properly: We take delight in the work of your hands and that our production within our gifts and talents are used help others

Functioning Improperly: We will do anything to anyone in order to feed unhealthy desires (in this passage references stealing directly).. We look for shortcuts to gain more for our desires, and our pursuit of more typically never involved anyone other than ourselves.

4- Words (Eph. 4:29)

Functioning Properly: The words we choose are to build up and strengthen ourselves/others.

Functioning Improperly: We seldom use our words for anything positive and are known for tearing others down, gossip, slander, and destabilizing people with our presence.

5- Conviction. (Eph. 4:30)

Functioning Properly: We must follow the conviction of the spirit inside us. (vs 30)

Functioning Improperly: We grieve the spirit by not following its voice inside as it leads our life in what we know is biblical and true, and in turn we become a slave to our desires and impulses.

6- Bitterness, Wrath, Malice (Eph. 4:31)

Functioning Properly: We are self-aware of any areas of bitterness, wrath, malice (intention and desire to do evil), and we seek to dispose of before it disposes of us.

Functioning Improperly: Our feelings become our truth, and we rationalize why we are allowed to feel how we feel and will not push ourselves towards a pathway of healing.

7- Tenderhearted (Eph. 4:32)

Functioning Properly: We are kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving, and those around us describe us as so.

Functioning Improperly: We are not kind to others, we do not practice empathy, and we do not forgive or ever ask for forgiveness.

Ephesians 4:1-16

How to Grow in the Right Things So We Are Remembered for the Right Reasons:

1- A life lived worthy of the call of God consists of humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance in love, unity and peace. Can thee words be used to describe me?? We feel empty when these attributes are absent. If you will take serious the process of God's character becoming your character, don't be surprised when God's power becomes your power... you don't need a thousands reps once... you need one rep every day for a thousand days.

2- Jesus' resurrection and ascension was about being able to give the gift of filling all of us with His Spirit... this Spirit is for us to walk in the fullness of Jesus' example, and to equip and to build up others to do the same. Rhythmic exposure to both private and corporate times of the Spirit and Scriptures is what turns a common life into an uncommon one, and makes an uncommon difference within the common activities and interactions of your day to day... equip and build yourself unto equppiing and building others.

3- We are to be built in love. There is no theology apart from love, no tricks of success that can cover the activity of love, or ways of functioning that can replace the action of love. IF those around you question the love you walk in they cannot receive the love you want to give. Love grows us in all aspects at once, and a deformed faith is one that allows you to pick and choose the love you walk and give to others based off your feelings of the day... the who and how of your love has a direct impact on the when and why of God’s will for you.

Ephesians 2:1-22

How to Become New and Stay New:

1 - We must understand grace as the action of Jesus dying in order to make you alive, to raise you up, and to seat you rightly. It is not just a covering of sin, it is the elevation of your personhood to no longer desire it through the process of sanctification. Your choices and thought patterns determine how alive you feel, raised up you walk, and if you truly feel seated with God. His words and Spirit cannot convince you of something you don't want to be convinced of.

2 - You are saved by grace, not works... however we must not lose sight of a byproduct of that grace; good works. God's creative intention for your life is that you would be someone who His grace paves a way forward for good works to follow. The gift of God is the example of Jesus. If you won't follow the example, don't be mad if you don't like the taste of the recipe your choices and behaviors have prepared.

3 - You should be being built up inside personally, apart of building within your career collectively, and in the temple beside all those doing the same corporately. True purpose in God is found when He truly has no limits, and is invited to any and all things we do. Your career is not off limits, your daily lifestyle is not off limits... and if it is there will be a limit to the fullness of God we walk in. Grace is enough to save, only you can decide what that saving produces.

Ephesians 3:1-21

How To Know Our Worth So We Can Find Our Place:

1- Your life has been purchased by His name. No other name can replace that. The greatest lie you can believe is that you are not worthy of what God assigned ultimate worth for; the life of Jesus. A defeated mind cannot bring about a victorious life. The resurrection was granting access to those who never had access before. A saint is just a gentile who grabbed hold and never let go.

2- You will know your worth when you rhythmically get close to the one who assigned it to you. Other people do not determine my faith's validity, my activated behavior of getting close to Jesus does. When do the uncomfortable with God, it becomes our comfort in life. When we choose a comfortable life, we will be uncomfortable in God.

3- The mystery you must solve is believing if you truly have a place.. No one can solve this but you, no one can believe this for you. The love of Jesus purchased you a life in him in which there is no outsider, no label, no stereotype, no bad reputation attached to your name. Only a son or a daughter of God. Your activated faith that then changes your behaviors is what will ultimately find the clues to solve this mystery in your heart.. You have worth, and will always have a place.

Ephesians 1

John 12:32-33

How we must apply adoption and inheritance to the here and now:

1- Adoption is rooted in the "kind intention" of God. You cannot inherit something from a Father you have not adopted. This is why it all starts with your view of Him being your heavenly Father taking root in our core. Embracing this view of Him as heavenly Father is accepting (and in some cases relenting) to the truth He has chosen you, and He has kind intentions for you within His will, and there is redemption and forgiveness in His shed blood.

2- In Jesus' time, inheritance was both a privilege and a responsibility; it meant not only receiving all the Father had; but also caring for the family the Father had left behind now entrusted to you. I pray we don't want the privilege of the Father's abundance without the responsibility of using it to help anyone other than myself... your inheritance is writing a story of redemption for your life, and the lives of those around you by the shed blood of the (First born) Son of God.

3- Adoption and inheritance starts with enlightenment. We must make conscious behaviors and habits to train our mind and will that Jesus has all authority and power and dominion, and is above every name that is named and to be named. If you don’t have an awareness of his power it will be hard to believe and walk in his promises. All things are under his feet, and his body on earth is the living church which has a fullness for all who would choose to be adopted into the inheritance he purchased.

Revelation 2:1-7

Lessons from those who lost sight of what is most important:

1- You can be right, and still be wrong. Your faithful toil, fierce persistence, and hunger to be doctrinally sound can miss the mark if it has not been doused in a deep love for God and your neighbor. Your desire to be right cannot replace your desire to be obedient. Your desire to be right cannot replace your hunger for proximity to God. Your desire to be right cannot replace the first love. There is a difference between being right and righteous.

2- Self inventory, assessment, and alteration is paramount to salvation and sanctification. The deeds you did at first should be the habits that are sustaining your soul, not a phase when you were single and did not have responsibilities. There is no seniority or hierarchy in faith.. Only those who will submit, surrender, and rhythmically place all of their personhood in the hands and at the feet of Jesus.

3- Repenting and returning is accompanied with a promise from God; That you would eat from the tree of life within the paradise of Jesus. First love living results in eating the fruit of life in the spirit. Oftentimes we are ashamed to admit we lost that first love feeling, and are not happy with the fruit our lives are producing. Repent, return, and relearn how to live in Him again. There is life for you, and paradise for you, if you're willing to pay the cost.

Acts 19:18-29; 35-41..

How to take care of the riots, riches, and idols before the bull kicks

1- The idolatry today is syncretism. The idea that Jesus can be merged with any other belief or self expression you feel is right. Whatever you're trying to convince yourself can co exist with God is what God will buck off the throne of your heart first and most likely painfully. Duplicity is the basis of destruction.

2- Exponential growth is most often behind exponential cost. What are the things that cost us most? These are the things that have the potential to grow us the most. If you will not pay a cost, you will not grow, and you will not grow unless you pay the cost of what growth requires. It is that simple. Growth comes from consistent, compounding behavior done over a long period of time.

3 - Life feels out of control and in chaos (a riot) if you do not have an awareness of the power over your relationship with God your personal idols and riches possess. Surrendering Lordship of your life is not partial access to our lives for full time promises from Him. It is God you have my everything, and I will pursue you into your everything for me.

Romans 7:4-6… 7:14-25

How to remind myself it's not about myself..

1- Your war is internal before it ever is external. The flesh’s focus is external while the spirit's focus is internal. One fights for appearances, another for wholeness. If your external fruit and circumstances is not something you are proud of you must double down on the inward development of a life in the spirit following the ways of Jesus.

2- You must create centering anchor habits. Anchoring is designed to keep us stable when the storms come… centering is about the spirit teaching us not to get too high or too low. Your habits will either keep you anchored and centered, or anxious, unsettled, and unrestrained. The goal is union with God, not rule compliance.

3- You cannot seek to be new while holding onto the old. How proactive are you attacking old ways of thinking, behaving, and functioning? This will determine the longevity and life you find walking with God. We carry something different when we profess faith in Jesus and walk his spirit. You cannot carry death and life simultaneously without one consuming the other. It's not just a new creation or an old creation, it's NEW or NOTHING.

Join us as we hear from members of our community!

Mathew 13:44 ESV

People don’t often treasure things that are freely given and not earned. We tend to place higher value on what requires effort and sacrifice.
We often make excuses to hold onto things we know we shouldn’t, unaware that those things are blocking you from the true happiness Gods treasure can bring.
If you struggle giving up past sins to experience more of who who God is, maybe it’s not that the power of that sin is too strong. But rather it’s that you haven’t fully grasped the meaning of being in his presence.

Luke 15:11-31 CSB

The Three Parts to a Reconciled Heart:

1 - Forgiving God for the things He has and hasn't done to restore our view of Him and soften our hearts to receive His worth and love.

2 - Forgiving ourselves for setting a higher bar for worth, identity, and love than God has set for us.

3 - Forgiving others (even if they never apologize) for all the things they've said, done, or haven't done to allow the Spirit to heal you inwardly before bringing restoration outwardly.

Genesis 22:1-14

Exodus 32:1-4

Three Lessons From the First Place of Worship:

1- Abraham did not hesitate to give what was most precious to him. We must learn the art of sacrificing idols promptly, especially when it costs us everything.

2 - Abraham did not argue with God. We must learn to recognize our hesitancies for what they are: idols of understanding

3 - Abraham did not expect someone else to do the sacrificing for him. We must learn how to rhythmically live on the altar and fight our flesh to stay there.

Matthew 18:21-35

3 Conditions Your Soul Will Find Itself In If You Do Not Forgive

1- If you do not forgive you will constantly find yourself choking the life out of others, not realizing you're losing the life of your own faith in the process. If we pursued healing with the same amount of zeal we pursued retribution we would be a much happier people. We must lay down our reasons, to pick up His reasoning. Have mercy, as He had mercy on us.

2- We have been freed from the torture and prison of our sin. Yet we place ourselves back into prison when we choose to harbor unforgiveness and bitterness. The enemy wants you stuck in the past, so you cannot go forward into your future. We must pray for the compassion of God, to release people from their wrongs, and truly walk in forgiveness. Compassion + Releasing = Forgiveness.

3- Only you know if your forgiveness is skin deep or heart deep. To forgive from the heart is a life that has lost count of the wrongs done to us, because we have such joy in the righteousness God has purchased for us. It's hard to be a carrier of the Good News when all you're focused on is bad circumstances of what you have walked through. The power of grace and a clear picture of grace comes into focus when we give grace to tohers when we have every right not to.

Matthew 3:1-2

Mark 1:14-15..

Luke 3:7-9

2 Kings 23:25

4 Quick Thoughts on the Good Fruit of Keeping Repentance:

1- Rhythmic Repentance is a discipline of self awareness and sensitivity to the Spirit of God... oftentimes we won’t allow ourselves to repent and ever experience true forgiveness or surrender our own opinions and ideas enough for true change.

2- Repentance is turning around; and changing your mind. If you're not willing to turn from the direction you're going and change the mindsets you have, it's not repentance, it's just a coping mechanism.

3- The hidden fruits of repentance are humility, sincerity, and authenticity of your personhood.. The greatest place you can find yourself in christ is open handed and open hearted.

4- We will never graduate from a lifestyle of repentance, we will only grow in a heightened awareness of our need for it in day to day life and relationships… The fuel of accelerated growth and renewal, is a life of repentance.

Matthew 25:14-29

1- Your ability starts with how well you carry the commands and character directives of God right now. Stop asking God for more if you cannot carry and steward what's already in your hands. Developing the faith muscles of today is what ensures you have the strength of character to handle the blessings of tomorrow. Do not bury what He has given you, because what you start with is never supposed to be what you finish with.

2- Faithful sacrifice and faithful stewardship is how value is multiplied; there is no other biblical play book for increase. Whatever talent that has been entrusted must be invested in the right source, for it to produce increase. Be careful, God is in the business of confronting your idea of increase with what your character needs to develop. The test of rhythmic stewardship and sacrifice will directly determine the talents your life produces.

3- What the master gives, the master can take away. What the master entrusts the master can retrust to others. How we prepare for the day we see the master again is by producing a life of faith that that the master blesses in order to see others reproduce the life we have lived in Him. You don't get from God to become the God of your life. You get God in order to bring God into others lives.

John 20:19-22

John 13:1-5, 21-30

Join us as we hear missionary Micah Studer share his heart on the Great Commission and the meek and lowly nature of Jesus.

Psalms 89:14

Psalms 97:2

Psalms 103:6

Psalms 33:5

Jeremiah 22:3

Jeremiah 23:5

Isaiah 9:7

Jeremiah 9:24

Isaiah 33:5

Isaiah 16:5

Leviticus 19:9-10

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

Formula of Advocacy:

Attention to issues around us + commitment to self awareness of blind spots/false thinking + creating proximity to marginalized or alienated within day to day life + repeat previous steps over and over until... we have changed behavior and thinking to reflect the thought and intent of God towards all creation = Advocacy

Luke 10:25-37

The Progression of Surrendered Sacrifice

1- We must see, how Jesus sees.

2- We must have compassion, as Jesus would have compassion.

3- We must seek to bring healing, as Jesus brought healing.

4- We must pay a cost, as Jesus paid a cost.

5- We show mercy, as Jesus redefined mercy.

JOHN 13:1-17

1- If you break the bread, and drink the cup... do you also wash feet? To partake in communion and not live out the sacrifice of a life of servanthood for your brothers, sisters, and neighbors is to miss the message of our Messiah. The sacrament is a reminder of sacrifice, invitation to sacrifice, and a promise of blessing that can only be found through sacrifice. We wash, as He washed.

2- Jesus knew what Judas was to do, and washed his feet anyway. The people you think have no right to be washed, actually have every right to be washed... and if that doesn't fit inside your theology, your theology is incorrect. Sacrifice plays no favorites.

1 SAMUEL 1:9-20

HOW TO ASK THAT HAS HIGHER CHANCES OF A RESPONSE.

1- God knows where your heart is, not just where your words are. Pouring your soul out to God is an accelerator of promises from God. We don't think he sees and knows and often times it is what he sees and what he knows that is inside of us that is the blockage from what he can release to us. Pouring out takes place before filling up.

2- Most "asking" from God is for less dependence on Him, less faith in Him. This is not what He wants, therefore the response is not what we want. Do we think he responds to requests that lead AWAY from deeper relationships and intimacy with him? Hannah’s ask was to give me a son, then I will give him to YOU ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE... Don't pray for blessings that you don't want god involved in once they arriveâ€¦ those turn into curses.

3- The process of getting a response; know and take in the words of God, repeat them back to God, change my countenance to reflect faith, and wait on His ability. During this process there will be a confronting and releasing my need to control and removing my selfish nature from the asks of Him. It's not about Him not responding as much as it is our character refining to know what an ask of His will is, not ours.

2 PETER 1:1-11

THE RECIPE OF A RIGHTEOUS LIFE.

1- START WITH DILIGENCE IN FAITH AND DO IT SO MUCH IT PRODUCES MORAL EXCELLENCE… (VERSE 5)

2- AS YOU PURSUE MORAL EXCELLENCE RHYTHMICALLY WATCH AS IT TURNS TO KNOWLEDGE… (VERSE 5)

3- YOUR KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE PRODUCING GREATER SELF CONTROL.. (VERSE 6)

4- SELF CONTROL LEADS TO DEEPER UNDERSTANDING AND ACTION OF PERSEVERANCE.. (VERSE 6)

5- PERSEVERANCE PRODUCES GODLINESS AS THE TESTS ARE EMBRACED AND NOT RAN FROM.. (VERSE 6)

6- GODLINESS PRODUCES BROTHERLY KINDNESS (VERSE 7)

7- BROTHERLY KINDNESS PRODUCES LOVE…. Love is last!!!! WHAT!!!! (VERSE 7)

8- THE FROSTING— NOTICE THIS PROMISE AT THE END…. IF YOU PRACTICE THESE THINGS YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE… GAIN ENTRANCE INTO THE ETERNAL KINGDOM… AND JESUS WILL BE ABUNDANTLY SUPPLIED TO YOU.. THATS A MONSTER PROMISE.. (VERSE 10 AND 11)

BONUS CONTENT- “How do we live it?”

At the conclusion of our practicing the way season of studying the disciplines of an apprentice of Jesus, pastors Micah and Grace gave an overview of how they rhythmically live out a wholistic practice of allowing Jesus into everything they do. Recorded on a Wednesday night formation gathering, this resource is designed as a challenge to the lifestyle of how we live day to day and designed to give people a lifestyle blueprint of what an activated life in the spirit looks like in a hyper practical sense.

Matthew 7:24-29

Psalms 118:22

Isaiah 28:16

Luke 6:46-48

3 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOUR BUILDING ON THE ROCK OR THE SAND

1- “Hearing" gives the illusion of a cornerstone building, but acting on what you're hearing is the true heavy rock work. You cannot act until you hear, however if you do not act upon what you hear, don't be surprised if you feel the rain, the wind, and slams of the storms of life as it destroys the foundation you tried to build that wasn't based on, and placed on, the cornerstone of Jesus.

2- The enemy will allow you to build on a bad foundation without knowing in order to make the fall "great".... His core aspiration is to discredit, distort, or sow dissension and confusion around great falls of once mighty people of faith in a way that tarnishes the name of Jesus to the world he's trying to save. Building on sand is not just something that will affect you, it will most certainly affect those around you, and how they view god.

3- Authority in Christ is when you have heard, acted, and built a life on Jesus in such a way that your voice now carries an authority that gets the world to notice. Authority is hearing, doing, and building. What got people's attention to the ways of Jesus is how he heard, how he spoke, and what he did (the way in which he built the kingdom).. And it transcended any man made title, accomplishment, and authority.

Matthew 7:13-23

Three Thoughts on a Life in the Will of the Father:

1- The right gate is tied to my sight for the small, the ability to discern the straight and narrow, and a spirit that never gives up searching for more of God in my day to day life. The gate we enter to the Kingdom of God is through the life and example of Jesus... and there is a reason it says few will find it. What God has concealed, there is a kings reward for those who will search out and find.

2- Fruit remains is the goal of a rooted life in God. Good fruit is the product of right nutrients, sunlight, and pruning. A tree that does not embrace pruning will end up dead. There is a difference between a cutting back to produce, and a cutting down that results from death. Embrace the sun, get the right nutrients so the roots will grow, and embrace the pruning… this is the playbook of a good tree, with godo fruit … and a fruit that remains.

3- We can know His name, but not know Him. We can do miracles by His name, yet not know Him... we can prophesy by His name... and not know Him. Knowing Him is the rhythmic lifestyle of surrender, and being actively formed by the things He did; which merge us into the identity of Him. There is a difference in knowing the name of Jesus, and living the example of Jesus, and living the example of Jesus. He is the gate we enter that leads to life.

Matthew 7:1-12

3 WAYS TO EVALUATE HOW I TREAT AND VIEW OTHERS

1- If you only notice specks in others and can’t remember the last time you recognized a log in yourself… there will be a “vision for your life” problem. We overestimate how much we can change others and under estimate how much we can change ourselves. Until you have learned to fix yourself with the lord, you won’t be entrusted to fix others for the lord.

2-Stop asking for good things if the only thing that comes out of your mouth about God's creation is bad. Your treatment and view of God's creation has a direct connection to God’s treatment of you. Karma was in the scriptural story before it was ever on an instagram reel, or in an easter religion. How you treat others is how you will be treated.

3- The fulfillment of the old is the foundation of the new. We receive grace to give grace, we receive forgiveness to give forgiveness, we receive love to give love… ‘we love for he first loved us..’. You wont get new revelation if you can’t follow old instructions. We serve a God who wants to deal with the logs of our hearts before we deal with the specks of those around us and the society we live in. The fulfillment of a mature follower is as follows; how well do I give love? How well do I walk in love?

Matthew 6:25-34–

Three Ways to unlock the jaw and drop the RPMS of Stress and Anxiety

1- The bible says not to be worried, however… If you're undisciplined, you should be worried… because YOU WILL end up LIVING WORRIED. The only way we live without worry is to root our lives deeply in the one who clothes, feeds, and provides for our souls. If we do not have discipline, we will have stress, worry and anxiety.

2- Anxiety is an issue of worth. Jesus' response to man's need for food and clothing is to point to the birds and flowers and say, "are you not worth more than they?"... Rooting yourself into the ways of Jesus is designed to remind you of the worth you have in his eyes. If you know who you are to him, you know his capability.. Anxiety comes from a view of our own ability and control… peace comes from a life that knows i'm tied to his ability, and he’s in control.

3- There is a difference between what you seek, and what God knows you need. Our seeking should look different than the worlds seeking, and if it doesn't you may have an anxiety problem. We must realize it is seeking first His kingdom, and His righteousness... that the problem of "all things" is taken from our hands and placed into His. If you want God to take care of all things in your life, but won’t seek first the kingdom and righteousness.. You will have anxiety.

Mark 16: 1-13

Hebrews 12:7-11

4 Details from His Victory to Help Get Your Mind off of Your Defeats.

1- The stone has been rolled away. It is easier to act like the stone is still there than to live like the grave is empty. Only you can decide if you will live like the grave is uncovered… or if you cover the victory of Jesus with the stones of defeat and death you have had to walk through.

2- Where they laid him to die became the place he stands alive. Death has only ever been a symbol of defeat, Jesus makes it a symbol of victory. Are there areas of your life others have laid you to die… or you have even laid yourself to die in… that Jesus wishes to turn into a place you stand in victory.. What are you laying in today that Jesus wants you to leave behind by the power of his spirit, truth, grace and forgiveness?

3- The discipline to develop your beliefs will determine your perspective of God's power available to you, that you then walk in. The rhythms of your behavior will dictate if you live in defeat or walk in victory. Doubt happens when healthy discipline isn't present, and a disciplined life in Christ determines if you see death every time you encounter a grave moment in life, or an opportunity to press into God for victory.

4- If the enemy can get you to think you serve a victorious king with a defeated mind and undisciplined life then he wins and he knows it. Our life in Christ is tied to the victory of the cross and the discipline of following the one who overcame it. A defeated and undisciplined mind and heart to the ways of Jesus rolls the stone in front of the grave, and places ourselves inside a dead existence. He rose, so you too may rise from whatever grave you have found yourself in.

Matthew 21:1-10

John 12:18-19

Matthew 21:12-14.

4 WAYS TO ENSURE YOU'RE NOT A PALM TREE WAVER AND COAT GIVER THAT MISSES THE MESSAGE AND KILLS THE MESSENGER.

1- Don’t forget “your king is coming to you” when you feel like you cannot come to him.. A gentle disposition is his heart for you.. Do you view him this way in your walk?

2- Salvation and suffering have been hand in hand since the blood purchased the life.. If you have a view of God that omits any type of suffering or hardship this is an incorrect view, for our faith is founded upon life, light and beauty that comes from death, darkness and ashes.

3- JESUS IS LORD OF ALL, NOT A POLITICAL HEAD OF STATE. We have too narrow a view of power, and narrower still of how God uses his.. If your heart is connected to an institution or person more than him, don’t be surprised if you're caught in the wrong place after you thought you gave your coat and waved the palm branch.

4- If we wanna wave the palm branches and lay our coats down, we are saying you have permission to reorient and reposition our personhood to the ways of being a faithful follower of only Jesus. Your no strings attached, full hearted trust in Jesus will be tested the moment you wave the branch and drop the coat... press into it.

MATTHEW 6:16-24

LUKE 4:1

LUKE 4:14

HOW TO BE A “DO IT WHEN IT HURTS” FOLLOWER OF JESUS

1- WHATEVER YOUR DEPENDENT ON, GOD WILL TEST. HE LONGS TO SHOW YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU HAVE, RATHER YOU ARE COVERED BY WHO YOU SERVE. FASTING IS ABOUT LOOKING AT THE THINGS WE NEED TO SURVIVE, AND SAYING I NEED TO HEAR GOD'S VOICE EVEN MORE SO. THE REWARD OF A LIFE THAT RHYTHMICALLY FASTS IS A MEMORIAL OF MOUNTAINS CLIMBED, AND BATTLES WON.

2- WHERE MY HEART IS, IS WHERE MY MONEY IS. WHERE MY HEART IS NOT.. IS WHERE MY MONEY IS NOT. IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE. ONLY YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE A VIEW OF GOD AS YOUR SOURCE, SUPPLIER, SUSTAINER, AND PROVIDER... OR IF WE SING IT, AND SAY IT, BUT BACK OFF WHEN IT COSTS US (NO PUN INTENDED).

3- IF YOUR FAITH DOESN'T COST YOU RHYTHMICALLY, I WOULD CHALLENGE THE PERCEPTION OF HOW DEEP YOUR FAITH IS. IF GOD DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MY BANK ACCOUNT, HE DOESN'T HAVE FULL ACCESS TO MY HEART. THE WORS PLACE YOU CAN BE IS DEPENDING ON YOURSELF, THE BEST PLACE YOU CAN BE IS DEPENDING ON GOD... "THROUGH YOU" COMES BEFORE "TO YOU".

Join us as we hear from members of our community share testimonies, advice, and wisdom from their personal walks with God.

Amanda: "Following the Voice of the Holy Spirit"

Parker: "How to Trust the Lord Through Hardships"

Jarell: "How Discipline Helped Me Press In"

Noah: "How to Make It Through Difficulty"

Matthew 6:1-15

3 TESTS OF HIS KINGDOM HIS WILL OR MY KINGDOM MY WILL

1- Your secret relationship with money will determine A LOT about your secret relationship with God. Money is a tangible test of if I believe in building his kingdom, and submitting to his will… or if I’d rather focus on my kingdom and my will. There is a reward for those who will repeatedly do in secret what others do not see, because there is a promise that HE SEES AND HE REWARDS.

2- Your prayer life is not what others see, it’s what you do alone, in the quiet. There is a reward for this quiet, rhythmic, faithful commitment to a life of prayer. If you can remember more acts of sinning in secret than praying in secret there may be a “his kingdom but my will” theology present. Rewards from the secret will always be better than the affirmations of being seen.

3- The war you will fight everyday your eyes open; whose kingdom and whose will do you pursue? If it's his kingdom and his will, we must do the things he commands; both in public and in secret. Committing to the things that bring transformation, and pushing through the tension of sanctifying our flesh with his spirit and word. If it is our kingdom we want to come, and our will we want to be done.. Don’t be surprised if Jesus feels empty, boring, and distant. If we will not practice, he cannot produce.

Matthew 5:21-48

HOW TO RAISE THE BAR ON MOTIVES, DESIRES, AND HEART POSTURES WE MUST CONFRONT ON THE JOURNEY TO KNOWING JESUS.

1- The bar is not too high, your view of yourself is too small. We drop the standards when we view them as unrealistic, not realizing we filter our reasoning through our own lens of what's possible or not, not God’s. The spirit has given you a new ability to become a new creation, it's your choice if you believe the lie of the flesh that says you can't change, this is just who you are.

2- You can fake words and actions; you can't fake motives, desires, and heart postures, this is why Jesus is this direct in this passage. Going through the motions and knowing the words to say doesn't show a changed life... it’s the little things we won't let slide anymore, the development of our desires to match his, developing our motives to not be purely selfish over time… It feels like perfectionism because it's so countercultural; this is the way of Jesus Christ.

3- Perfect is attainable; God wouldn’t set a target if he believed you couldn’t hit it. What we have to realize is the sight we aim through towards the target of perfected living is Jesus. The spirit that leads us in righteous/perfected living, the word that reveals the perfect law of God, and then following Jesus' model as a perfect person… Jesus didn't pay a high price for a low bar.

Matthew 5:13-20

Jeremiah 31:33

Ezekiel 36:27

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PASSAGE

1- Salt can lose saltiness; and light can become darkness. Discipline is when you are regulating what the salt of your personhood tastes like, and if your light shines bright enough to be seen by those around you. You can’t go anywhere if you do not know where you are to start. The key to everything in the beginning is self awareness; becoming aware of what you need, and developing a plan to develop the weakness of the flesh into a strength of the spirit.

2- Good works are the measuring stick of how bright a light shines; those who carry out action that accomplishes something attractively good, inspiring, and beautiful. Would the works of your faith be described in this way?

3- How close you get to God will be no one else's choice but yours. There is no gatekeeper of the spirit, no select few who are allowed to read scripture. The old covenant was selective and controlled… The new rules allow all the right to become a child of God. It will be your choice how faithful you want to be, how deep you want to go, how close you want to get… how fixated you wish to become.

Part 2 - Matthew 5:7-12 NASB

Part 1 - Matthew 5:1-6 NASB

Mark 1:40-45

Leviticus 13:45-46

HOW TO MAKE CHANGES THAT CHANGE

1- There are 4 steps to change: First we must want to change. Second, we must develop goals and intentional framework to change. Third, we consciously and constantly regulate ourselves to maintain change. Four, we practice this cycle over an extended period of time, so much so that the change is done so many times consciously that it becomes an activity we do unconsciously.

2- There is a death to self part of change. A "carry the cross" part of change. A "I'm not looking for self help" type of change. This is a revelation, that it is not change you seek.... it is to be cleansed and made new.

3- Your creator cannot change and cleanse you until you know fully who your creator is; who Jesus is... he is benevolent.

Genesis 24:10-27

Three tests that will determine if you live limited or limitless in Christ...

1- The test of entitlement

2- The test of hospitality

3- The test of boredom

LUKE 8:5-15

HOW TO CULTIVATE GOOD SOIL

1- Good soil starts with plenty of water.

2- Good soil is positioned regularly to receive "Son" light.

3- Good soil requires tending and awareness, and that anything against the growth and sustainability of the plant being uprooted.

4- Good soil is a commitment over a long period of time to steward what is necessary for a seed to grow, it requires focused and meticulous patience.

Mark 10:46-52

THE PRINCIPLES OF A FAITH THAT MAKES IT HAPPEN

1- We all will have a condition in life, a status about our life, and a name unique to our life. How you form your identity will dictate more about your destiny than any other choice you make.

2- Your communication with Jesus must be built on an accurate viewpoint of who he is. He is a Messiah, Lord, Savior, or “Son of David”. But it is not so much the words we call him as much as it is if those are true in the deepest parts of our soul. Lip service is not always what the heart serves.

You cannot pick up the new things of God if you have not put off an old identity of what your life is currently or has been that you are holding on to. He has the power to heal, he has the power to give new purpose and meaning, but there is a tangible step of putting off the old we must undertake before he can ever lead us into new work of restoration, healing, and fulfillment.

4- Your faith has made you well is a reality you can live in as a believer.. The question is are you willing to build a life on Jesus that will make your life well. Through the obstacles, challenges, negativity, time constraints, and discomfort, are you willing to build. You can't have a faith that “makes you well” without a life that revolves around knowing his will, and doing his will.

1 Kings 18:41-46

HOW TO BUILD FIST SIZED FAITH FOR 2024

1- Before you ever see the rains of provision, favor, and promise on your life there will be a test of if you will keep your head in between your knees when the timing feels off. The response of God to the cries of his children rarely meet our timeframes, and that's because he is reframing our existence back to dependency. Faith without dependence is like a car without a transmission. It will run, but it won’t get you anywhere. If the only prayer you are praying is for greater independence, don’t be surprised if the drought persists.

2- God shows up more in the little things than the big. So often we are looking for huge signs, wonders, and miracles that confirm his grace and favor upon us. But when you train your eyes to believe in the ‘fist-sized’ you might come to find out that those become the fondest memories of faith in your life. When you believed something that no one else believed in, when you pursued God even when others said it was a waste… and you experienced a downpour of his presence and promise. This year, train your eyes to the small, and I believe you will experience the almighty.

3- You may need to start sounding stupid and looking foolish in order to see the rain. Press into it. Humility is God's character attribute of choice for those who he uses greatly. Often we want to look like we know it all, have it all, and don’t need anyone or anything… and this is what causes the drought of our souls. In 2024 may we be a people who aren’t afraid of what others will say or think even if we may look foolish. Who knows… it might mean we call a fist sized cloud a monsoon, in the midst of 3 years of no water.

MATTHEW 1:18-25;2:1-12

LUKE 2:1-20

3 REMINDERS OF GIFTS YOU SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT ARE WRAPPED IN THIS STORY

1- If your eyes are open, and your heart is open, he speaks profoundly, no matter who you are, and how far you are from him.

2- From the beginning his purpose has been you. Everything written, remembered, and spoken about is designed to get you to see; that it is all for a relationship with you.

3- There are two kings and kingdoms in this story, just as there are two kings in your story. These contrast each other as they fight for control of the outcome, and fight for control of the hearts of people. Kings we swear loyalty to in the fallen world will only fail. The choice of following the true king comes down to choosing the manger over the palace, the stable over the crown, the child over the man. These pictures do not make sense, but that is the beauty of it, to choose something that relinquishes control.... And makes your life, a life about him.

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 AMP

When it’s harder than I thought, will I stay all in where I’m at.
I must learn to see past and get over the poop and the dirt and stay focused on the right things.
With God my attitude is connected to my latitude.
He was a servant to Elijah.
Avoid the Trap of comparison.

Romans 5:1 NLT Philippians 4:6-7 NIV John 14:27 ESV John 16:7; 33

How to Unwrap the Gift of Peace Daily:

Peace is found in a person
Peace is accessible through prayer
Peace knows there is a purpose
Peace can be extended to other people
Peace is in your pocket

John 11:1-44

Hebrews 4:14-16

He wants to shape you, not hurt you
He can handle what you bring to the table
You're His own & He loves you

Reflection Time:

Ask, Be, Rest

JAMES 5:7-20

3 OUTCOMES OF ROOTED RHYTHMS THAT COME FROM JAMES FINAL VERSES

1- There is an increased measure of compassion, mercy, and blessing for the unwavering and patient person. The most common test we see over and over in scripture is that of patience; God’s timing vs ours. God's heart of blessing in the Bible is more often than not shown to those who have weathered the tests, stayed faithful, and remained planted in him in all seasons. Lordship comes down to control, and the sooner we can release it, and trust it, the sooner the roots found in a life of righteousness will get to work producing a life that knows and walks in the mercy, compassion, and blessing of God.

2- The prayer of a truly righteous person should accomplish much. Your prayers should put you out on the ledge of life, trusting that it is he who keeps you above the waves. Accomplishing much in prayer is when you are standing for neighbors, standing in love, standing for justice... and producing HEALING in this world. Prayer is the canvas that God paints his will and personhood upon, so if you're not praying… he's not painting. In time what we most discover about prayer is it is not what they accomplish externally, as much as what they accomplish internally, that starts to knit in the calling he has for our lives. Your prayers have healing and revelation to accomplish... Do you believe that?

3- When we accept Jesus into our heart, our lives start bending toward finding the lost, and telling them they can be found. Our kingdom-character is bankrupt if we cannot remember the last time we tried to bring our light into someone's darkness through being a healing presence, and revelation of God’s love. We are the mission of God on this earth outside of these doors, that says we don’t have to accept a life of death, and that sin does not have the final say. The enemy wants you to stop trying, so you can start spiritually dying. You're a messenger as long as you have breath inside you. How are you with strays?

James 3:16-4:10

3 ways to know if our pursuit of pleasure is costing us our peace

1- The opposite of jealousy and selfish ambition is peacefulness. You can assess your own selfishness/jealousy and that of those around you by the peace they carry and bring to the environments they enter. Peace is a product of dependance on the prince of peace, rhythmically and in discipline communing with him. Time with the prince of peace in his word and spirit helps us sow peace, then reap peace, and become.. peaceful.

2- We must assess the motives within asking for pleasures.. Many times we are asking for something to complete us that was only intended to complement us. If your search for completion is by what was only intended to complement, don't be upset when God tests the heart and motive, through trials and timing. A peace in him will multiply the pleasure you experience if you can learn and lean into him deeper… and you might find the pleasure you seek might actually be replaced by the peace he brings.

3- Beware the attack of duplicity and double mindedness. God will allow you to go through tests in order to purify the heart's motives. Don’t run from them. The test of duplicity is to think that you are allowed a heavenly mind and way of being, and also a dark side that no one knows about, stemming from an unrenewed mind. If you choose the work of renovation, you will know personally the power you carry to restore, and in restoring your own world, you might find he uses you to restore this world.

James 3:1-12

3 tips on cleaning corrosion and resetting the breakers on how you speak

A TONGUE THAT LACKS CONTROL IS A LIFE THAT LACKS CONTROL. The words we speak are not a product of spiritual maturity as much as it is the evidence that you are spiritually mature. Winning the battle of the words you speak directly influences all the battles you are fighting and will fight. Don’t be mad there isn't any power present in your life if you have allowed the main avenue of power transfer to be corroded. A life in the light or in the darkness just comes down to how often you speak light and how often you speak darkness.
IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR CHOICE WHAT FIRE COMES FORTH FROM YOUR WORDS. THE FIRES OF HEAVEN OR THE FIRES OF HELL. IF YOUR WORDS ARE ONLY CRITICAL, DESTRUCTIVE, FULL OF GOSSIP, SLANDER, COMPLAINTS, WORRY, OR DIVISIVE IT IS YOUR JOB TO TAME THE TONGUE BEFORE THE FIRE DESTROYS THE GOOD WORK PLACED INSIDE OF YOU AND THE GOOD NEWS YOU ARE MADE TO LIVE IN. SOME OF US WANT ‘MORE FIRE’ FROM GOD BUT OUR MOUTH DESTROYS ANYTHING GOOD HE EVER TRIES TO GIVE US.
What is said about you, is usually what people have heard said through you. I challenge you right now to take inventory of how often your words are blessing and how often your words are cursing. Speaking the truth doesn’t give you a free pass on transmitting words of death. Corrosion slowly takes the power away, until one day you have none. There is no coincidence to man’s need for fresh water for survival; both physically and spiritually. Don’t let your spring become so polluted that no one values what you say anymore.

James 2:14-26

3 thoughts on understanding the relationship between faith and works

The mission field is your business field. Your daily Work, works, and witness say more about who you serve than your christian activities involvement. Faith and Works is about the lifestyle you live and the lives it touches of those around you. Faith and Works feel dead and dormant when they have not woven a level of calling into your career. Inviting God into your daily work, may do more for your “works” then you ever imagined.
YOUR “DOING” CAN BE THE GREAT ERASER, EQUALIZER, AND ENERGIZER OF FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST. Your faith gets you access to God, your works develop the proximity to God. Faith becomes perfected when works become regularly enacted. Some of us all our questions, concerns, fears, and paralysis would dissipate if we just thought less, and did a little more. Paralysis is frozen inactivity. If you're active, you never feel frozen.
F YOU WANT WORK THAT HAS WORTH, IT USUALLY INVOLVES A COST THAT WILL SEEM EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO PAY. WHEN WE WILL NOT PAY THE COST OF CONSISTENT AND COSTLY “DOING” OUR SPIRITS WITHER BECAUSE OUR WORKS BECOME DORMANT AND THEN DEAD. THE CROWN HAS A COST REQUIRED TO WEAR IT. Rhythmically dying to self through our doing is way easier than never doing anything in faith and then God taking you through an unforseen test to see if our heart and motives are pure. Paying tolls of doing help us pass the tests within our being.

James 2:1-133 important lessons that we can only learn from what we have labeled as less than. 1. THE EXTENT OF YOUR LOVE TO THE LEAST, SHOWS THE DEPTHS OF WHO YOU FOLLOW THE MOST. The test of who you are when no one is looking usually comes down to your love for those who can give nothing in return. The god we serve usually uses the ones we don’t think we can learn from, to teach us most. A saint with dirty hands, is one whose heart is full. 2. There is no such thing as a personal relationship with Christ that does not require personal care for our neighbors. The poor have just as much a right to the riches of faith as us. Partiality on appearance and superiority must be repented of. If you make your decisions of those who are allowed access to your time and resource by the outward appearance, you will atrophy the spiritual muscles needed for the marathon of following jesus. The neighbor you're called to love is the people God places in your direct path, everyday. 3. I'm convinced that the level of judgment we feel today as followers of Christ comes from a mercy dispensing deficiency in our personal walk. If mercy triumphs over judgment then the invitation is whenever we feel the judgment of man, or even the judgment and blame we cast upon ourselves, we look for ways to apply mercy to our fellow man, preferably the downcast and downtrodden. You might be surprised when you give mercy and grace to someone less fortunate, what it does for your fortunes and your future. Mercy triumphs over judgment, if you practice it, you may find out first hand.

James 1:21-27

James 1:13-203 TUNEUPS TO OUR FAITHS FOUNDATION AND LONGEVITY1- YOU MUST LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TESTS OF GOD AND THE TEMPTATIONS WITHIN MAN'S NATURE. God’s test typically reveals, reorients, and re-routes us onto the path he has for us. Temptation of man centers on unholy/unhealthy desire, and if we will give into these desires, how many times we give in until it becomes normalized, and then the fruit of destruction from that normalization and God trying to restore what was sinful to being viewed as sin once again. Temptations and tests feel the same, but are very different. 2- WHAT YOU PASSIONATELY DESIRE MUST BE PASSIONATELY DESIGNED WITHIN HIM.. Desire produced apart from him produces a slow death, carried away and enticed by the illusion of something good, rather than your father who wants to give you both GOOD AND PERFECT things from above. Your secret desires are what God sees, the question is are you aware of them and the influence they have on everything you do.. 3- THE ANGER YOU ALLOW IN YOUR HEART WILL TAKE UP THE SPACE CREATED FOR LOVE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IF YOU LET IT. Anger is not just an impulsive outburst; it is bitterness, rage, unforgiveness, resentment, cynicism, vengeance, and the wanting to get even. If you can't be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, there may be something under the hood that needs to be taken care of… before it wrecks the worth of the entire work of righteousness you were intended to be.

James 1:2-12HOW WE TRAIN TO LAST 1. The goal of maturity is to become perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The pathway to maturity comes through testing that produces endurance, then allowing this endurance to have a full effect. The terrain in which maturity is built through is facing trials and figuring out how to maintain and count it all joy. Maturity is embracing this cycle for its beauty and not its cost. 2. We must embrace God’s tests as much as God’s gifts, and personal doubts as well as our personal beliefs in order to fully understand the person we have been created to become. Your walk with Jesus will directly address the whole of you as a person, and will be longer than you think, and cost more than you believe you can pay. When we seek first the kingdom and righteousness it’s not just that ‘all things’ are added, rather we find out that the ‘all things’ we sought at the start don’t even come close to knowing him. 3. God’s homework is heart work. We endure from love, for love and by love. The crown of life is not just for someone who endures, rather it comes from the love we have for the one we endured for. We don't endure for blessings, we endure to get closer to the blesser, and trust that he handles when, where, and how to give us the crown. Perseverance without HIS approval is completely pointless.

This week we begin our study through the book of James.James 1:1Reminder of the Bond Servant:

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN WILLINGLY PAYING THE COST OF BEING A SERVANT OF GOD; AND GOING THROUGH UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES. IF LIFE IS DIFFICULT IT DOESN'T MEAN WE FORGET AND THEN WALK AWAY FROM THE COMMITMENT WE MADE, RATHER WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE COMMITMENT HE MADE TO US. WE PIN OUR EARS TO THE DOOR, HE PINNED HIS LIFE TO THE CROSS.
IS BEING A SLAVE OF GOD MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FREEDOM OF MAN? You cannot be both the owner and the bond servant. Don’t get mad at God if he tries to remind you through difficult circumstances who is the master and who is the servant. In your pursuit of freedom from all constraints don’t be surprised at some point if you're eating an apple that has larger consequences than you ever imagined. COMMITTED SERVICE IS GREATER THAN INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS.
THERE IS POWER IN THE PICTURE. OUTSIDE OF THE MASTER WE HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR, OUTSIDE OF THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM WE HAVE NO OTHER EXISTENCE, OUTSIDE OF THE WORK OF GOD WE HAVE NO OTHER REASON OF BEING, AND THAT FROM THIS PLACE WE LIVE. A PINNED EAR IS A PRUNED HEART. WE ARE CALLED TO A LIFE OF A SERVANT, ON BEHALF OF OUR MESSIAH, JESUS. YOUR SERVICE SHOULD HAVE SOME SCARS, HIS DID.

2 Kings 6:8-23HOW TO TRAIN YOUR EYES TO SEE ABOVE IT ALL1- YOUR VISION TEST COMES DOWN TO ONE QUESTION; DO YOU SEE GOD AS THE SOLE SOURCE OF YOUR SALVATION? IF NOT HE WILL ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE TO USE YOUR STRENGTH IN WAYS THAT FAIL.. IN HOPES YOU COME TO THE REALIZATION YOU MUST RUN TOWARDS THE ONE WHO WILL NEVER FAIL YOU..2- PEOPLE CAN GET YOU CLOSE; BUT YOUR HABITS GET YOUR CLOSEST. YOUR ABILITY TO HEAR WILL DIRECTLY INFLUENCE YOUR ABILITY TO SEE. SO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF HABITS OF HEARING, SO YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WALK INTO SEASONS OF SEEING. 3- IF YOU’RE MORE AWARE OF WHAT'S AROUND THAN WHAT'S ABOVE I CHALLENGE YOU TO PLACE YOURSELF IN ENVIRONMENTS THAT FORCE YOUR EYES UPWARD, GET AROUND PEOPLE WHO FORCE YOUR EYES UPWARD, READ THE BIBLE AND BOOKS THAT FORCE YOUR EYES UPWARD, SING SONGS THAT FORCE YOUR EYES UPWARD, AND DO NOT BELIEVE THE LIE THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE ABOVE IT ALL… TO LIVE ABOVE IT ALL, IS WHERE WE ALL WERE CREATED TO BELONG.

Hebrews 12:7-15How we live on the collective mission 1. DEPTH IS DAILY. IT IS TRAINING TO SENSE THE SPIRIT, AND BE ROOTED IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS IS A DAY TO DAY CHOICE WE MUST MAKE; TIME IN THE WORD OF GOD, TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 2. DISCIPLINES PRIORITIZE THE RHYTHMIC PRACTICE OF BEING PRESENT IN THE SANCTUARY; AND A LIFE OF COMMUNITY WHICH ENGAGES AND INVITES OTHER BELIEVERS IN FOR THE JOURNEY WE ARE ALL ON. WE MUST MAKE DIRECT CHOICES TO CONFRONT OUR LIFE AND CHANGE IT IF A LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND COMMITMENT ARE LABELS WE HAVE ATTACHED TO OUR WALK WITH GOD. 3. SACRIFICE IS HOW YOU SERVE OTHERS AND PRACTICE GENEROSITY. THESE ARE BOTH IN THE CHURCH CONSTRUCT BUT ALSO IN YOUR DAY TO DAY WORLD AND LIFE. THESE COST THE MOST TO OUR COMFORT, SO THEREFORE THEY ARE EMBRACED THE LEAST IN OUR CULTURE. 4. SUSTAINABILITY IS WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN PROVED FAITHFUL IN THE LITTLE, AND START TO EXPERIENCE THE MUCH OF GOD. THE “MUCH” TO ME ARE THE SACRED PRACTICES WE DO NOT TALK ENOUGH ABOUT BUT ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO HOW SUSTAINABLE OUR WALK WITH CHRIST BECOMES. THE BIG THREE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES FOR ME ARE SABBATH, SOLITUDE, AND FASTING PRAYER.

Acts 7:54-60Acts 8:1-3Acts 11:19-26HOW TO GET GOING WHEN ITS THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO1. THE MOST INOPPORTUNE TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS IS WHEN GOD TYPICALLY TESTS LORDSHIP. GOD USES INTERRUPTIONS AND REROUTING AS A TOOL OF REFOCUS. YOU’RE CALLED TO “GO” AND THAT “GO” TYPICALLY IS GOING TO LOOK RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN YOU THINK IT DOES. BE OPEN MINDED. 2. THE MAIN CAUSE OF BOREDOM IN FAITH IS INACTIVITY, AND THE MAIN INGREDIENT TO INACTIVITY IS INDIFFERENCE. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IT IS YOU WHO MUST DECIDE IF YOU WILL ACTUALLY BECOME AND PRIORITIZE BEING ACTIVE IN YOUR FAITH OR NOT. IT IS THAT SIMPLE. 3. There will always be someone who does it better than you or is more talented. I truly believe in this day and age we need less qualified and less polished people who admit they don’t have the answers, and people who embrace the gift of unconditional love and relational commitment. People cannot embrace faith as real, unless the person speaking about it is. Your present and real self is enough to make a difference.

Matthew 28:16-20NEW INSTRUCTIONS. NEW DIRECTIONS. AND THE NEW PERSON YOU MUST BECOME ALONG THE WAY. 1. MAKING DISCIPLES IS THE START, BUT WE MUST BE A DISCIPLE TO MAKE DISCIPLES. The pursuit of making disciples should be pushing your boundaries, comfort zone, ability to sacrifice, and self discipline. You cannot help make someone something you are not. Being a true disciple will not allow you to live a lifestyle in which you don’t attract and disciple others. As you gain and grow, you MUST give and pour out. 2. The presence and nearness of the Holy Spirit is thee secret ingredient of the mystery, power, and joy of life in christ. We cannot preach the gospel without prioritizing the presence. Christianity is not self-help; it is the metamorphosis of scripture, Spirit, and sanctification. I’d rather live by the Spirit and be weird for it, than die in a lifeless religion that never knew a fully surrendered reality of faith. 3. DON’T GET SO BUSYING DOING, YOU FORGET ABOUT YOUR BEING. “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” is your painkiller when it feels like we have been fractured by failure, hopelessness, and the futility of trying to be light in the darkness. He died to destroy the lie that the enemy tells you that you're alone, and no one sees you or loves you. He truly is with you always.

Matthew 26:36-46How your prayer life lives on mission today 1. Being present in someone's need, pain, story, struggle, or trauma as someone who “keeps watch” through prayer is love on display. The playbook of missional prayer for others is just sitting, being awake and aware of the needs they have, and giving them to God repeatedly and rigidly for as long as they need us to. Your presentness is your gift. 2. SOMETIMES PRAYER IS ALL WE CAN DO, SHOULD DO, ARE ABLE TO DO, BARELY WANT TO DO, AND FEEL WE ARE EVEN KINDA QUALIFIED TO DO. STILL MAKE IT A HABIT TO DO IT. Bearing one another's burdens sounds like a lot, until you're the one who needs to be carried. Practice carrying. For one day we will all need to be carried. 3. ‘Can I pray for you’ is not a one time commitment. It's a spiritual investment into someone until the need is met or the answer is made. People with little faith learn a lot from people with a lot of faith who choose to not back down from darkness, fear and doubt. To pray without ceasing is just a saint who won’t stop believing that they will see the goodness of God, in the land of the living.

Matthew 9:9-13

How to have Compassion on the Entirety of the Mission

COMPASSION IS ABOUT CONNECTION, IF YOU WANT TO CARE YOU MUST DEEPLY FORM RELATIONSHIPS THAT DON’T FIT INTO TIME LIMITS OR SOCIAL NORMS. WE NEED TO WALK ALONGSIDE PEOPLE, NOT BE TOO BUSY OR HEADY FOR THEM TO GET CLOSE.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS AND HAVING THE RIGHT MOTIVE. YOUR MOTIVES DETERMINE YOUR LIFE'S MOTION. WE CANNOT BE SO FOCUSED ON THE “SACRIFICE” AND “RIGHTEOUSNESS” THAT WE FORGET TO SHOW MERCY TO THE SINNERS.
OUR COMPASSIONS MISSION IS TO RECLAIM AND RENAME. WE DON'T SEE SOMEONE AS FALLEN WE SEE THEM AS NOT RESURRECTED YET. WE DON'T SEE SINNERS WE SEE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T MET JESUS YET. OUR MISSION ON EARTH IS TO RECLAIM WHAT HAS BEEN LOST, AND RENAME IT ONCE FOUND.

Matthew 15:21-28HOW TO SEE THOSE IN FRONT OF YOU, IN ORDER TO LOVE HOW GOD INTENDED YOU TO1. Whatever you have labeled you hate is what God will challenge you to love. If your love has limits so too will your depth of knowing Jesus. He loves “them” just as much as He loves you. 2. You might be surprised the response you get from “crumbs” moments when you see people rightly. The people who are too far gone in your mind might be the ones who respond to faith the fastest if you give them a chance. “Risks” that pay off equal faith that blows up. 3. If your seeing is believing then your doing must be activated. So many profess to wanting to see God do things yet want to do nothing. Your enjoyment of a seat at the table is multiplied when you start making room for more seats. It’s not about your place, but rather the places you make for the “dogs” of this world.

Mark 3:16

1 John 5:13-21What we should know but maybe need reminded.

If we are born of God then we should not be actively, deliberately sinning, as we live under his rule and reign. Idolatry in this form is knowing what God had said but choosing to worship a false god by practicing an action that is disobedient to the life that’s been purchased for you. Idols are not just carved images, they are conflicted hearts, torn between two realities. Lordship is shown not by what you know, but rather what you won’t allow yourself to do anymore after you have encountered Christ’s love.
The enemy wants to get you so mad at the world that you forget you’re called to change it. Being mad at a fallen world for being fallen is just us becoming more aware that we Christian’s haven’t taken the great commission serious enough. I challenge you today to not get mad at a fallen world, but to be challenged to be the light in the darkness that we have been too busy being opposed to, rather than fighting for.
Idolatry all comes down to truth. Do you believe biblical truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth and the conviction of the spirits leading in your heart, the truth you’re a child of God…the list is endless. Or have we believed half truths….that influences the full truth of the gospel…and has stripped a submitted life in Christ of its power and instead started a new battle ground of logic and reason, you must know God’s truth as your truth, so your truth doesn’t rewrite Gods truth.

1 John 5:1-12 Proof proves a viewpoint. Do we have proof of a life that is overcome? Do we have proof of a life that has been changed? It is easy to profess faith but not produce anything that proves faith.

There is absolutely no way around it. A life in Jesus must have an encounter rooted in revelation of the blood that was shed, water baptism of repentance, and a life led of the Holy Spirit and growing in your consciousness of its leading. We can only claim ignorance of these matters so long before it slips into rebellion that leads to lifeless religiosity.
Love and obedience go together they do not fight against each other. The creators instructions on living are perfectly and divinely designed to meet his creations needs. What you love you obey, follow and protect. If you love, and yet do not know the ways of obedience to that love you must immerse yourself in a lifestyle of abiding in his word and his spirit to learn how love is lived.
The things that no one knows are the places His overcoming power wants to touch first. How you grow in faith is when it transforms what was once pain, into a platform for His glory to be shown. If you want to be the proof to the world and to yourself…you must allow the darkest secrets and doubts, and the hidden places of your life to be exposed to the blood, the water and the Spirit…and not carry the burden anymore.

1 John 4:11-21Love for others + the practice of abiding in God - fear = a weirdly perfected faith (love perfected in us)How do we get this equation inside of us for others to see it outside of us 1. THE PRACTICE OF ABIDING IN GOD IS JUST LIKE THE PRACTICE OF ANY OTHER THING THAT REQUIRES PRACTICE TO DEVELOP. USUALLY IT IS AWKWARD AND UNCOMFORTABLE AT FIRST, THAT OVER TIME PRODUCES A CONFIDENCE, PEACE, AND SENSE OF PRIDE AND APPRECIATION FOR WHERE YOU STARTED AND HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME. DON'T BE SO AFRAID OF THE STARTING LINE THAT YOU FORGET YOU WERE BORN TO RUN THIS RACE WITH JESUS. 2. THE COMPOUND INTEREST OF ABIDING IS A DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE.. IF YOU ABIDE BUT DO NOT HAVE THE EVIDENCE OF FRUITS OF SPIRIT OR GREATER AWARENESS OF THE SPIRITS LEADING , YOUR ABIDING MUST COURSE CORRECT BEFORE IT TURNS TO CYNISM, CRITICALNESS, AND A SPIRITUAL SUPERIOR SPIRIT. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE COLOR ADDED IN A BLACK AND WHITE WORLD. 3. IF THE DEVIL CAN’T GET YOU TO SIN HE WILL GET YOU TO LIVE IN FEAR… FEAR CAN TAKE CONTROL AWAY FROM GOD JUST AS MUCH AND AS FAST AS ANY SIN CAN. FEAR TAKES YOUR EYES AWAY FROM THE FATHER AND PLACES THEM ON THE FALLEN. EYES STAY UP SO LIFE STAYS UP.

The infinitely repeated test of loving others

1 JOHN 3:13-24

How we can make the test easier and not harder

YOU EXPERIENCING HATE, BITTERNESS, JUDGMENT, OR UNFORGIVENESS DOES NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO RE-TRANSMIT IT TO OTHERS. YOUR RESURRECTION LIFE IS TIED TO YOUR REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST LOVE IN THE WORLD YOU LIVE IN EVERYDAY. IF YOU WANT LIFE YOU MUST LET GO OF DEATH.
THE DEED AND THE TRUTH IS WHAT SHOWS THE PROOF. YOUR ACTIONS CARRY MUCH MORE WEIGHT THAN YOUR WORDS. TIME WILL SIFT THE WORDS YOU SPEAK TO ENSURE THAT YOUR ACTIONS BACK THEM UP. LOVE IS MUCH MORE THAN LIP SERVICE; THERE IS A PRACTICAL SERVICE REQUIRED.
LOVE IS A CONTINUOUS PRESENT TENSE REALITY TO A FOLLOWER OF JESUS; IT IS THEE EXPRESSED EVIDENCE OF A COMMITMENT OF FAITH. IF YOU WANT TO TRACK YOUR GROWTH AND MATURITY, FOCUS ON YOUR ABILITY TO FORGIVE, SACRIFICE, RELEASE PEOPLE, NOT BE DIVISIVE, LOVE THE BRETHREN, RELATE WITH THOSE YOU HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH, AND ON AND ON IT GOES.. THE CHALLENGE OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE..

How to recognize what is wrong to start walking rightly based off of 1 John 2:15-17; 25-291. lust of the flesh is anything natural that you prioritize, give power to, or pervert above the righteousness of God and His Spirit. The parts that you trust least typically are the ones he wants to prove himself to you most, if you’re open. I’d your feelings dictate your faith, more than your faith dictates your feelings, this one’s for you. 2. Lust of the eyes is the root of “eye-dolatry”. Awareness of the darkness is the first step in seeing the light. Comparison and coveting are quiet killers are the quiet killers of the Christian faith today. I’d you don’t own your eyes, He can’t own your heart. 3. The boastful pride of life is the opposite of the bride of Christ. If we are drinking cultures kool aid we can’t be mad when we don’t experience contentment. Status in the kingdom is suffering well, long obedience in the same direction, resilient discipleship, and being aware of sand castles and what actually matters. There are no comfortable crosses. 4. Your practices of abiding determine the depths of which you will know God. Your habits with will make you holy if you allow your humility to admit where you’re weak and from that place where to start. If we aim for nothing we will be sure to hit it.

Guest Preacher: Sammy Rodriguez

1 John 3 how to get rid of habitual sin (unchanged sin patterns) and stay enrolled in narrow gate access1. A child of God is not one who possesses physical looks and legal guardianship...it's one who has the likeness and character that proves who their Father is. We prove our likeness by our Godliness. 2. Purification is the process of becoming like; if you don't want to live pure you will not become like. You may keep your seat at the table, but you won't be allowed to taste what He has prepared for you. Filled up on the wrong things, craving the right ones. 3. Stop using poison to water seeds. The seed grows in an environment cultivated for growth, habitual sin hijacks an environment of growth and kills any life in Christ that is trying to take root in you. If you're poisoning the roots with sinful behavior don't be mad when you never eat of the fullness of a surrendered life in Christ.

Exploring 1 John 2How to do what we know, so we can grow in what we don’t:1. If your beliefs aren’t changing your behavior; your behavior will rewrite your beliefs. 2. Knowing the commands and doing the commands is what we’re commanded. There should be some rigid routine inside of your relationship with God and scripture. Don’t be mad you’re not full if you’re not eating. 3. If the law and blessing is love; the breaking of the law and curse of doing so is rooted in hate, offense, and bitterness. If you cannot forgive the lights will be getting shut off.

He must be your light rhythmically, before you will ever be His light publicly.
The World is looking for light more than it’s looking for signs.
The more intense the light the more noticeable the blemishes; don’t ask for more if you’re not wanting to deal with what might be revealed.
Confession and self awareness have been the accelerators of taking sinner to Saint since the beginning. If you don’t repent; and you aren’t aware of the sin in your life you struggle with and are actively trying to change it; don’t get mad when life feels like fumbling in darkness.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”3 Thoughts that determine if the paths are straight (and smooth-ish)1- IF YOUR TRUST IS NOT LEADING YOU TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S WORD and WILL FOR YOUR LIFE AND NEIGHBOR; IT'S FALSE HOPE.2- A MADE UP MIND CANNOT BE A MADE NEW PERSON, YOU NEED NEW UNDERSTANDING IN ORDER TO SEE AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM IN NEW WAYS.3- STRAIGHT AND SMOOTH PATHS ARE DEVELOPED BY GOING THROUGH SEASONS OF HAVING TRUST WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO TRUST; UNDERSTANDING WHEN YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO HOLD YOUR OWN VIEW; AND TRAINING YOURSELF TO SEE AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM IN A WORLD THAT IS TRYING TO CONVINCE YOU HE IS HIDDEN.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭4 ways to assess your levels of fear and courage1. Fear is a connection issue. Tighten up your habits and watch your life transmit holiness. 2. Practicing courage are the weights of development you must lift for your spiritual health over the long haul. 3. Fear speaks from personal insufficiency, courage speaks of Christ's sufficiency. You must have a revelation Jesus is sufficient or you will always feel insufficient. 4. Fear is not handled timidly, you must be on the counter-attack of what wants to destroy you.

7 Areas of Perspective from Psalm 231. If the Lord is your Shepherd get ready for your wants to be redefined 2. Don't pray for green pastures and be mad when He makes you lay down in them. 3. Your soul restored comes from drinking deeply in the quiet waters of a relationship as a son/daughter. 4. Before you're trusted to blaze a trail, you better be faithful following the well worn paths of righteousness. 5. Everyone will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it's your choice if you sit and stay longer than God's intended purpose. 6. The rod of correction comes before the staff of comfort, trust the process. 7. How you dwell determines where you sit, what cup you drink from and if goodness and loving kindness will follow you.

We're back again with another well know and frequently used bible verse (Philippians 4:13) and it's intended context. Certainties and perfect circumstances do not dictate contentment; you must learn it to live it. We want the ability to do all things...but have we shown God we can be generous in all things?Rhythms of grateful reflection and response will diffuse a heart of regret and bitterness if you allow it, invite it, and discipline yourself to do it.Gratitude, generosity and contentment show spiritual maturity more than gifting ever could. Choose character development over gifting development. From this place, you can do all things.

John 3:16 the infamous verse of christianity. We agree, it's beautiful and great but most christians walk around with a surface level view of it, it's time to back up and start to understand the whole of perspective regarding it. You can check the boxes of christianity but if you haven't trained your mind and Spirit to see Him in everything you're missing the fullness of Heaven on earth. It's not about KNOWING about Him but SEEING Him.

Bringing context to some of the most popular bible verses that people get tatted, not intended to shake your theology but to help reshape it. This week we dissect Jeremiah 29:11, bringing clarity to the fullness of it's context and what it actually means for our lives. We learn how to make sure our detours in life don't turn from despair into desperation.

We are called to be salt of the earth, but what does that actually mean? How do you know if you have lost your saltiness or if you even had it to begin with!? If your salt isn't providing healing, it's not the right seasoning. Our salt should be thawing icy ground.Salt that has lost it's flavor is just a disciple who has lost their discipline..or never had it. The salt of the Spirit should flavor your life and others should be able to tase it through conversations and personhood.You will be salted with fire, lean in. The results are that or purity and preservation for your walk with God.

to those who have carried the weight of being a disciple, questioning if it is worth it, there is a peace within the puzzle and life of Jesus for you, keep pressing in. to those who are carrying a heavy weight from the world and situation, the Lord may be asking you to ditch it completely, yet there is still a peace within the puzzle and life of Jesus for you. He has a capacity to lift more than we ever could. Here's a truth for you: you can be found within the crucifixion and resurrection story. We acknowledge that women, those who made mistakes, those who experienced unexplainable pain, religious skeptics, those questioning and wrestling with God are all found within this story. There is a place for you. There is a peace for you. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God invites the WHOLE OF HUMANITY IN and says "YOU now have a place in me."

The Jews expected Jesus to come riding in on a warhorse as a liberator from Roman oppression, yet He came lowly, gently, and humbly. One week the Jews welcomed Him with praise, and the next week they were crucifying Him. It came from a place of Jesus doing differently than what they expected Him to do and be. Let us learn from them as we renew our minds and recenter them to make sure the right thing isn't the wrong thing on this Holy Week.

We wrap up our "intention of creation" series by equipping ourselves to make sure our "weighting" seasons are fruitful. Patience (meaning standing under a heavy load unwavering) is about building strength, not wasting time. Both the first historically written books of the Old Testament and New Testament focus on patience. Patience in uncertainty. Patience under trial. Patience under a heavy weight. Patience under fire. Patience in brokenness.

Have you ever woken up with a stiff neck and struggled all day due to it? Yeah, we've been there too, and although it feels pretty terrible, there is a "stiff neck syndrome" that affects us far worse than a common kink in the neck. The term "stiff necked" is used in the Bible (OT and NT) to describe a people, or oxen, that instead of living, bowing or moving in submission, reverence or response to direction, are one who hold a rigid pride and stand unwilling to bow or surrender. Psalm 18:30 reminds us that God's way is perfect, but for some reason both historically in the Bible and today, we as people have a difficult time bowing in submission to the commands and call of God, leading us to have stiff necks toward Him, others and our purpose. Listen to hear how you can ensure you live free from what we are calling "Stiff Neck Syndrome"

Creation was intended to rule, reign and have dominion with God. Yet, throughout time we have begun to desire earthly treasure over heavenly obedience, allowing the treasures of the world to usurp Lordship.

What is the treasure, foundation and focus of your life/being? Let us go back to the intended purpose of Creation of Him being THE treasure of our lives. What you're willing to leave or sacrifice show more about where your riches are than anything else. Which kingdom are you building? Yours or His?

What is sustaining you? What do you put into your heart and soul that strengthens you to run the race in front of you?

We have to find the nourishment in which the spiritual practical needs we have are assessed in the personhood of Christ.

What you consume is what sustains. Be proactive in knowing what you are consuming.

Let's face it, we have good intentions, yet they can somehow still result in bad outcomes. We must renew our mind and commune with the Father daily or we will do and become the very things we hate. What are you doing to have good intentions and good outcomes? How do you live out God's intent for you?

If you don't know where to start, you're listening to the right thing :)

Repentance at it's core is you saying that the Gospel is worth the behavior being changed. Repentance is a habit of commitment to your mind being changed.

When you change your mind of living in this world you start to see a world that is not of it. Repentance is a gift of awareness.

WORSHIP. PRAYER. REPENTANCE. REDUNDANTLY.

Do you have a habit of sharing your faith in your day to day life?

We need to make sure that the great commission is not the great omission in our walk with Him. The crowd/society will always be an obstacle that will validate why you think you can't. We have a great opportunity for the purity of the Gospel to shine through.

Community is the mission. The mission is community.

Due to technical difficulties the first few minutes of the message are not included.

When God comes to prune our lives, it is intentional. He invites us to greater fruit by the removal of the things that don't produce it.

Wounded sons and daughters make bitter mothers and fathers. Fight for healing.

We were born again, not born against. Fight for peace.

The cross comes before the crown. Fight against unmet expectations.

There are things in your life you will sacrifice anything for, is scripture one of them? Are you willing to change your behaviors, do you change your theology so your behavior feels better?

When we do not understand or teach the Bible FULLY we allow culture to fill in the gaps, creating room for people to create offshoot religions and speculations of what the Bible really says. We will be people who believe, pursue, read and stand on the Word of God and transform ourselves through His word!

When the whole of us, is consumed with the whole of Him, we can become holy as He is holy.

May we read the Bible hungry to rid ourselves of the spiritual ignorance that robs us of deeper intimacy in Him. We choose the Bible, for it is the way forward and it points to Him. May His words be the words we speak, know, become and utter when there are no words left to say.

There are so many competing voices, so many denominations, so many distractions, that if we don't have the understanding of Scripture for ourselves, we won't have it long. Join us as we look through the lens of 2 Kings, to gain greater understanding of what it means to hear the word and do. We will be a people of biblical literacy.

Wholistic Habits Resources

fixatephx.com/habits

"Speak, your servant is listening"

May our prayer life not be one that only consists of emergency, consumeristic, comfort driven prayers, but prayers of practicality, power and communion with the Father.

We look through the lens of 1 Samuel 3:1-20, as we go deeper into what it means to walk in the wholisitc habit of prayer. The enemy is okay with you praying comfortable prayers, but if your prayers are only ever comfortable, you are missing out on the fullness of communion we can have with the Lord.

Let us together develop a listening rhythm and lifestyle.

How aware of God, are you? Do you care to know Him more?

What if you could view prayer as a moment of intimacy, experiencing Heaven on earth? There are many opinions and lenses we can look through when it comes to "how to pray", but listen and learn with us as we implement how Jesus commands us to pray in Matthew 6:6-12. May we be a contemplative people, who hear and do.

Do you holistically follow Him in every aspect of your life? Entirely. Fully. Completely. Totally. Absolutely. Thoroughly.

Join us in this collection of messages, as we learn to live a WHOLY life, walking always with the Father.

Christ came for all by showing He came from all.

Have you ever read the Bible and come across a long list of names and get slightly confused and a little overwhelmed? We understand. But trust us, these names have much greater meaning than you may have once thought or understood. The genealogy we find at the very start of the New Testament in Matthew 1 sets the table for who Jesus is, where He came from and where He is going. The beauty of the Christmas story isn't just the miraculous birth, but it is also about that birth establishing a new definition and fighting against the previously ingrained ideas of what/who can and cannot be used.

Remaining steadfast, looks like facing adversity we didn't see coming, and NOT having an identity crisis. Remaining steadfast means filtering your response behaviors through God, and through past provision. Remaining steadfast means preparing for the times when we will be tempted to believe that we are not seen or loved by God. Be encouraged to live a life of steadfastness, in constant pursuit of the Blesser even when we don't see the blessing.

When the thoughts of 'I'm not good enough.' 'I have no future.' 'No one loves or accepts me for who I am.' are believed, it is hard to have a seat at the table of victory when we have a defeated mindset.

Listen along, as we learn how to sit at a the Kings table, even with a limp, through the lens of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel.

Sustainability is not what you do when things are good, it’s who you are when things are bad.

In the purification process, the value of what’s being purified increases. We pray you are encouraged, challenged and strengthened as we talk about how to sustain when you know there will be pain.

Do you believe that God is your sustainer? How do you model sustainability in your life?

Do you live a life that is prepared to brightly burn through the dark days? A life that doesn't lead to being burn out and run down, but one that is holistically healthy. May we not live a life of hyper productivity that leads to barely functioning, in the pursuit of proving ourselves. There is a fullness and a preparedness waiting for us in the intentionality of sustainability. Let's relearn and reshape our lives together.

If you have depth and sacrifice without discipline, you’ll have burnout. If you have discipline and sacrifice without depth, you’ll have legalism. May we live a life of sustainability, through the pursuits of depth in the Spirit, discipline in the ways of Jesus, and a lifestyle of healthy sacrifice in the example of which our Savior set. Fixate is a place in which Heaven touches earth and turns our gaze towards the Creator who longs to create again in our lives.

When we are rooted in the wholeness of the Spirit, sacrifice gets the world's attention. Generosity, sacrifice, giving..all words that may instantly cause your walls to go up, and at time, for valid reasons. Join us in this conversation of understanding the Biblical posture of generosity, how the church has gotten in wrong and what we can do going forward.

Sometimes our anything doesn't feel like anything, but with God it shows that He's in our everything.

When you have depth and discipline you understand that sacrifice is an example we set that shows who is above us. Maybe the word "sacrifice" makes you cringe, or causes your walls to go up, but journey with us as we unfold what sacrifice has become and what it biblically means for all of us.

Sacrifice is dirty humility and messy compassion. We do what is beneath us, to show Who is above us. Compassion is non-conforming, and if your compassion only conforms to your belief system it's not compassion, it's counterfeit. Service is about inner posture not just outer activity, and sacrifice means committing to pay a cost.

Biblical rest is a redefining of God as the Creator and producer. We learn in Hebrews, that we have a call to be diligent to enter into rest.

Being rootless, enflames restlessness. Self help theology, apart from God, can not restore and revive humanity. As you listen to this podcast, allow yourself to go into a time of honest reflection. Our heart is for every believer to find true rest that sustains their pace to finish the race.

Do you think of the Sanctuary as a place of refuge, abiding, covering or safety? Did you know that Jesus' first words recorded in Scripture were regarding His need to be found in the church, consumed with all things God?

Disciplines of the Sanctuary must be in place so when the devastation of detours happen in life, we aren't taken out. We continue our walk through the Formation of the Fixated, by getting very honest and real about the discipline of being rooted in a local body.

Depth is being rooted in Scripture and Spirit. Let's walk and learn together in what it looks like to be formed by the Father as we are fixated on Him. When things don't dictate depth, do you have depth?

Jesus today we come before you, and ask for renewed perspective on desolate seasons. Father would you give us depth, to withstand what feels like fighting for breath, as the waves churn around us. May we be a place where we trust that pursuing You holds our heads above the water, our hearts above the chaos, and our Spirits above the emptiness. Father, would you keep us running towards you, not the comfort of this world.

This week we spent some time talking about being formed by DEPTH with the Father.

We long for the depths of God, the depth of relationship that only comes from intentional time spent with Him. A depth that reshapes and reforms us into His image and likeness. We don't long to just "get" from Him, but to gain the things of Him. Let us, together, return to the times of refreshing that He has for us. From a life of burnout and legalism, to living a life that bears GOOD fruit in all seasons, through the depth of knowing Him.

Restoring us back to what brings peace to our souls, not just peace to our circumstances.

Scripture reference: Judges 4:17-22

key points :

you don't have to be somebody, to be somebody - faith and obedience practiced and lived out is what makes you somebody

when we profess Lordship, He confronts other places that hold that Lordship.

being a follower of Christ is not just faith and action and obedience. It's these things OVER AND OVER AGAIN.