Fixate PHX

Matthew 21:1-11John 12:18-19How 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;7-8Three Tips from a “Recovering” Cynic1- 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 18:21-35How to Let Go of the Memories of What's Been Done to You1- 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 2:13–14Knowing the Difference Between Toxic and Righteous Anger1- 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 & 4How to Make Sure You Have the Right Shoes On1- 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 18:3-11How to Pass the Test of True Boldness for God1- 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 Jesus2- 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 4:6–8How to Live a Faith That Engages the Far and Dark MarginsSelf-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 14:14Luke 10:35–37 Luke 18:38–42 Luke 17:11–14 Mark 9:20–23 Matthew 5:7 Luke 7:12–15 John 11:35Three Thoughts on the Mission of Compassion and MercyYour 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 20:19–29How to stand back up if your evangelism has been sitting downLongevity 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, 30Philippians 4:6-9, 11-13How to Walk in the Power of Thanksgiving:1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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.5. 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 NLTProverbs 17:3 NLT1. With God, Nothing is ever wasted2. The promises from Gods word must be taken personally to Bring stability.3. God is still speaking but in order to hear Him, I must get quiet.4. Remember what God has said and do it.5. My choices will make my situation better or worse.( prolong or promote)6. It will always require Trust ( Faith ).7. Have Seasonally experienced people in my life.8. Don’t quit!! It’s the way to maturity.

John 13: 36-38 ESVMatthew 16:13-19 ESVLuke 22: 54-62 ESVMark 8: 35-38 ESVJohn 21:2-3 ESV1. 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.2. 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.3. 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 ESVMatthew 16:13-17Psalm 24John 19:17-27Matthew 5:8

Matthew 1:18–25; 2:1–12 Isaiah 47:13–15How to Find the Love of Jesus in the Searching of Daily LifeGod 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 2:6–18How to Return to Joy This Christmas SeasonJesus’ 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 NIVMark 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 2:7Finding Purpose in the Spirit of God1 – 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.”Laments1 – 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 — 31–35How to walk in the broken, bleeding, and washing love of Jesus1 – 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.LamentPray 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 4:4–6How to Belong Even If You’re Questioning Your Place1 — 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 32:22-32HOW TO FIND SAFETY FOR YOUR SOUL1- 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. 2. 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. 3. 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 time1- 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 PEOPLEProverbs 3:5-6MATTHEW 23:23MATTHEW 19:16-22NEHEMIAH 10:28-39

John 9:1-114 main points and takeaways from this passage 1. God didn’t just pull me out of the dirt. He used the dirt to make me see. (John 9:6)2. Before I ever tried to find Jesus. He found me first (John 9:1)3. Sight comes after the surrender (John 9:6-7)4. When God changes how you see, it changes how you live (John 9:8-9)

LUKE 21:1-4Luke 12:15-21LUKE 16:10-13 COLOSSIANS 3:23-24 4 thoughts on a poverty mindset rooted in need1- 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 greed1- 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 2:25–40How a Remnant of People Walk in a Sensitive and Discerning way1 – 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, 16-23How to Become a Person Defined By Holy HabitsHoly 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 God2 Kings 18:1–6 2 Kings 20:1–10What Defines a Life of Contending PrayerHezekiah’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 God1 Sam 17:20-23 /// 31-40How 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; 11-20Process 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 1:20-25Cross References for further study: On divisions & building yourselves up: Romans 16:17-20 Hebrews 10:24-252 Peter 1:3-11Ephesians 2:20On having mercy on others: 2 Cor 5:11; 20 -Zechariah 3On Him who is able: Daniel 3 (16-18 specifically) Isaiah 43:2Philippians 2:13Hebrews 10:14

John 14:27 Isaiah 42:16 Matthew 16:19Matthew 5:17Hebrews 12:24Isaiah 45 :2-3Lord, I Wanna SeeI Wanna Be UnshakeableI Wanna Receive the Treasures Hidden in Darkness

Jude 1:10-16Genesis 4; 1-83 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. 6:14-15Matt 18:21-22Rom. 12:17-19Prov. 28:13Heb. 12:13-14Definitions: 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: 1. Uncovering 2. Decision 3. Work4. 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 ‭NLT‬‬What 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 NLTJose: James 1:5-8 (NIV)Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)Amy: Zechariah 4: 6Psalm 143:10-12 Romans 12:11 Peter 2:9Colossians 1:16Daniel 2:22

I Cor, 1:1-25.Daniel 1: 1-51. Power Cord - different cords for different appliances. But all are meant to provide power/electric power from a source to a specific item.2. 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 2:2Romans 5:17-21Leviticus 14:1-7

Genesis 3:1-13The 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 2:14-17Matthew 9:9-13Luke 5:27-32Walking 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 19:1-18How 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 7:11-18-28Luke 22:31-32Hebrews 4:12-13What 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.

Matthew26:36-463 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.