#255: Don't Die on This Level

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thanks for listening to the Revival Today podcast with Evangelist Adolf Shuttleswork. To stay connected, check us out on Facebook and Instagram or online at RevivalToday.com. Now, here's Evangelist Adolist.

SPEAKER_06 0:16

Why don't you lift your hands here this morning for our Texas campus? I love you. Thank you for joining us. You lift your hands over there as well. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I thank you for today. I thank you with uh for an encounter with your word that'll change every heart, every mind here today. Father, we thank you for a change of level in Jesus' name. And all God's people said Amen. Well, I want to um save some time after the service um to pray for each and every one of you. And so we're gonna take the offering at the very front of the service. And so, Pastor Mike and Sherry, just take note of that. We're getting ready to lay hands on anybody who wants hands laid on them. Uh, first, I want you to turn with me to 2 Timothy uh 3, verses 1 through 5, and I'm gonna start there with the offering. But understand this that in the last days will come set in perilous times of great stress and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear. It's really uplifting. Can I have that in the New King James Version? Because this is just getting wordy, and I don't need we don't need to be more sad today. Uh, but know this that in the last days, perilous times will come. Okay, two. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, and from such people turn away. And so I want to emphasize this because it's interesting. Paul was incarcerated for most of his time writing the word, you know, and and he died a really gruesome death. And so he's warning us that we're gonna have it a lot worse in the last days. But I find it interesting in his description, not one thing was said about persecution. So we have to understand in these last days, it's gonna be really difficult to be a believer. And why is that? Look at the reflection in the mirror. That's why it's gonna be a really tough time to be a believer in the last days. Because men, their hearts are gonna grow cold, the Bible says. Look at all the things that he said, they'll be boastful, they'll be proud, they'll be lovers of themselves and their money, and that's where I really want to emphasize this morning. Because in order for us to not become a proud individual, it starts there first, loving yourself above God. And can I tell you that's exactly what greed is? Greed is putting yourself in the center, in the place where God should be. And I can tell you one of the secrets to our success is that in the beginning of our ministry 20 years ago in September, I remember uh, you know, not loving the offering. I actually hated it. And uh, whenever they would take like a really intense one, I would like roll my eyes and be like, listen, God knows my heart. He knows I love him, he doesn't need money. And so I'd convince myself of these stupid things, you know. And then I started reading the Bible and I started understanding that where your heart is, that's where your treasure is. And so I thought, well, if I treasure God, if I treasure what he's done for my life, then by golly, I should reflect it in what I'm giving and what I'm doing. It's not just what I'm doing, what I'm saying, it's what I'm giving to him. And so I I'm telling you right now, the the one of the the the if Jonathan was here, he'd be interrupting me left and right. And he would tell me, he would tell you that that was one of the things that we learned in the very beginning. People would mock us when we drive up with a with a with a beat up vehicle, and they would lease a Mercedes because it was all about the optics, right? And so everybody wanted they they they they put themselves first, and it was the same people that started off in the ministry, just like Jonathan and I, with the same amount of money in the bank account, but they wanted to keep themselves as the number one priority, and you know what? For years and years and years, it looked like they were doing much better than we were. We would be living in these crack houses. Don't tell Jonathan that because he tried his best. And we were living in in Virginia Beach at the time in this like run-down, you know, uh little apartment, and I would open up the um the cabinet doors after a trip, and I'd see cockroaches. Now, what you gotta understand about a Puerto Rican from Boston, do not show me a cockroach, okay? So I was immediately grossed out, and so he would sit down and talk to me and say, This is normal. These are palmetto bugs, these aren't cockroaches, this is just part of being in Virginia Beach. Turn to your neighbor and say, Got him. Because that was a lie, it was a cockroach, okay? A palmetto bug. Don't try to be so diplomatic. But here's the thing I would much rather invest in the ministry that had God had given us, and we did. We invested in the ministry that God gave us, and then we put ourselves as secondary, maybe not even secondary. There were times where we'd have to go without because I wanted a camera. We'd have to go without, we'd have to go out, you know, without the the steak dinner so that I could get a DVD put up in in the back of the uh table that we'd have for merch. It's like I'd rather do that, I'd rather put the ministry first. And at first it seemed like everybody is going higher, and then it's just Jonathan and I, just like, oh, we're really struggling. And everybody would look at us and say, Oh, they must be struggling. You should do it this way. You should just take out that loan. But we refuse to do it that way. And now we are by far, far, uh, far above where we could have ever hoped for or imagined. And why is it? Because we prioritized God first. Can you say hallelujah? This is the secret to unusual blessings. This is why most people have not had the tangible blessing manifested in their life, like Jonathan and I. And it's not because we are God's favorite, although I like to believe that sometimes. Just like I'm my mom's favorite. I tell her all the time in front of my other siblings. I said, I'm your favorite, I'm a God, I might be God's favorite. But here's the thing: I I I I put my money where my mouth is, I've kept him a priority all 20 years that I've known Jonathan, all 20 years of our ministry. And now we're reaping this compounded blessing, and no man can get the credit for it because the things that have happened in our lives have been a supernatural endeavor. I can't take the credit for it. No single individual can take the credit for it. God takes the credit for it. Proverbs 3, verse 9. Turn there with me. It says, honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruit. I want you to see something here. The first fruit is the very first, it's the very first of the the the production in your life. It's not an afterthought, it's the first and the best. And if you treat the tithe, if you treat giving to God as something that you're just gonna get to when there's left over, you've got it wrong. That's why you're continually in the same uh level. Because we're gonna be talking about something that's really near and dear to my heart, and that's moving to another level. So, how do we move to different levels? By prioritizing what God says to prioritize in his word, it says, honor the Lord with your possessions. That's not, I mean, if you don't like the prosperity message, apparently you don't like the Bible because it's in there. This is not a Dolus's paraphrase, this is the new uh King James Version. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruit of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty. See, that's the order. Honor will always come first, and then the overflow. So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Can you say hallelujah? So, what is it? What's our part to play in this equation? Our part to play is to give God our first fruit, is to prioritize them in a way where we're honoring him with everything that we are, everything that represents us. It's not just you winning the lottery and someday you'll give to the church. No, it starts with where you're at now. Can you say hallelujah? Because in those in those first days, I thought a hundred dollars, I was like martyr status. I might as well have been floating around on a cloud. I'm like, y'all, I gave a hundred dollars. And and I was I was 22 years old at the time. A hundred dollars at 22 years old. My daughter is 12 and she's given away a thousand dollars. Do you see what I'm saying? And so you see the the trajectory, you see the increase in your life when this becomes a reality. And I I was thinking, you know, I'm doing something big for the Lord and it's a hundred dollars, and now I'm looking at it and I'm like, what? But it was in those really difficult seasons where $200 was all we had in the account. That was a big that was a big trade-off. But I trusted God with everything, we trusted God with everything, and now that it's easy to give, now that there's abundance, all the much more I've got to prioritize God because what was hard then is is pretty easy now, and so what do I do? I challenge myself to continue to give. I challenge myself to continue. I mean, Jonathan has cleared out our bank account three times over this year, and so there's a blessing in that. Can you say hallelujah? You don't overcome greed by feeling generous, you overcome greed by practicing generosity, and this is what you're doing today. It's not just about being generous, it's about understanding God. I trust you, I honor you, I love you, and this is what I have to represent this kind of love. Have you guys ever seen Michael Scott's? I hate to bring this. Michael Scott, and then it was the um elephant, the what is it, the white elephant episode? Anyone where he said, I love you this many dollars. And the cap off was supposed to be 50, but he got somebody in uh what was it, an iPod? An iPod. I I'm reminded uh of that, but he had there's some there's some truth to that because if you really love God, there should be a priority for his kingdom, there should be a priority for what he wants established on this earth. Does he want any to perish? No, he wants everybody to be saved, but there can't be anybody saved if we don't send them out, and this is what you're doing when you're sowing to the kingdom of God, you're enabling the kingdom of God to advance, you're making Jesus' dreams come true. Can you say hallelujah? Say this: I have a part to play in making God's dream a reality, and you do that by sewing, but but before even that, you do it because you love God. Can you say hallelujah? So uh go ahead and put up the ways to give. And I want you to understand, you are giving to an international ministry, you are giving to a global ministry with global impact. Jonathan came back from Slovakia, he came back from uh London, or he's coming back from from the UK. And uh, I want you to see before you write your checks out what your money is doing all around the world. Go ahead and play those videos.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

If you get the Bible in your heart and declare it out of your mouth, every demon in hell, cash the demon's pekla, every demon out of hell, every witch, and Satan himself, a Satan sam osobně have no plan against the Christian who knows God's word and speaks it. Nie maš žiadny plan proti Kresťanovi, który pozná slova Prehabar! Word is living in your heart! You're gonna put the gates of hell down! A titasz brani pekatole! If you believe in shout, amen!

SPEAKER_04 15:03

You should make up your mind, Devil! You've already hit me with your best shot, and it's not even enough to keep me from shouting on a Saturday night in London. I tell you right now, in hell, they're gonna hear a sound in London that they haven't heard in a long time. And that is thousands of God's people lifting up holy hands unto God without wrath or doubting and shouting forth his praise. When this praise breaks loose, I see every obstacle, every barricade that's blocking your blessing, being bulldozed by the power of God tonight. If you receive it, can you say amen?

SPEAKER_06 15:41

Can you say hallelujah? That's your pastor, y'all. Turn to your neighbor and say, We global, baby. I want you to know that in that uh church in Slovakia, uh Slovakia, the pastor was believing for 250 people to come out, and more than 500 people attended those meetings. Yep. So it was fantastic, and I encourage you to watch um the meetings out in London because he blew that place up. It was so delicious. Uh, you would be very proud of him. Uh, these are the ways to give. I want you to think big. We're our reach is global, everybody. It's not just contains to the states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Texas, and uh Ontario. We go past that. And so I want you to think big here this Sunday. You can give through Zell, Venmo, PayPal. You can uh scan that QR code. Um, and then when you're ready, I want you to stand up on your feet. I'm gonna praise the Lord in song, and then we're gonna get right into the message. I'd like Pastor Luke to pray for the offering.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

I thank you for every seed sown today. I thank you that every seed sown towards you is not only precious, but that you watch over it, that you ensure that we have a blessing attached to it, that it would be pressed down, shaken together, and running over to come back to us. Father, I thank you that we don't have to sow aimlessly, that we can name it and claim it, that we can mark it, we can do all the things that we have heard, that we can believe in your word that you are the God of the harvest, that you are the God of increase, that you are the God of multiplication, and we are expectant and excited to see that multiplication back in our lives. In Jesus' mighty name, and we all said amen.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Oh, it's your season to be blessed. It's just season.

SPEAKER_05 20:01

And you may be seated.

SPEAKER_06 20:28

So if you are taking notes, I want you to really take notes because I do believe that this teaching has the power to uh change your life if you would allow it to. Uh, turn with me to Deuteronomy 1, verses 6 through 8. We'll start our reading there. The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey and go to the mountain of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowlands, in the south and on the sea coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them and their descendants after them. Listen, here's the thing about moving forward, moving up, changing levels as a Christian. You can only go as far as you know. And so I want to really talk about today's uh uh in today's message about the mindset that we carry because your mindset impacts everything. Turn to your neighbor and say, everything. This is why, before God can uh change your circumstances, He has to change your perspective, and once your thinking aligns with that of His Word, then life will begin to flow in the direction that God has created. And we understand in the word, God never calls you to lesser, He never calls you to just camp out in the valley of the shadow of death. He says, walk through it. And so I want you to understand, God can only bless you as far as you want, as far as you might desire. Look at what Romans uh 5.17 says. Romans 5.17, turn there with me. For if by the one man's offering death reigned through the one man, much more those who have received uh uh have received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through that one. Much more those who receive abundance of grace. You've got to receive the abundance of grace, you've gotta be open to receive God's grace, you've got to be open to receive God's promises, you've got to be open to receive the blessing that God has in store for you. But if you are not open to receive it, then you will never have it. Why are things not happening the way you want them to? Why is this happening when when I've been doing this and you feel stuck and you feel like you've plateaued? What are ways that we what are some of the things that we've got to do in order to change levels here this morning? And I want to tell you in in 2 Corinthians 3 18 what it says. It says, But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of God. That word transformed in in its original context is and it means metamorphosis, so that is something that we have to uh make room for in our lives. If you want transforming uh level changes, then it starts with you being willing to look at yourself and say, what are the limiting factors in my life right now? What are the mindsets that are keeping me from the blessing of God in my life? I opened up this this uh the the scriptures today as I spit everywhere. It's gonna happen a lot. Uh in Deuteronomy 1. Uh, not Deuteronomy 1, what was it? 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 3. I started off the offering about what's the biggest challenge in the last days, and the biggest challenge is you. The biggest challenge that you've got in your life right now is your perspective. And if you allow that perspective to remain the same, then that's the same level that you'll always be at. But we understand if we want transformation, then it starts with our understanding, it starts with us and our mindset. Romans 1:17 says, For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Here's a thing. You guys want to go from glory to glory? You want to go from faith to faith, then something is required of each and every one of us. Can you say hallelujah? If you don't listen to God's words, then change can't come. The way you think is ridiculously important to God. And today, God, that's what God is seeking for each and every one of us. It's for us to change our minds, to change our mindset, to change our perspective. Can you say hallelujah? I want you to show a picture of me when I was 17. 16? 16, 17. This is me. Wow. This is what bring it back here. This is what we call a digital camera. Not a digital camera, one of those like uh uh throwaway cameras, film. Was that film or was that like back in the day a digital camera? I think that might have been a digital camera, and we thought we had made it with the digital camera, but you don't see because it's all pixelated. I look like an avatar, but I'm the one over uh to the left, Mags has the green hat. We went on a trip to Mount Washington. If you're anywhere in the New England area, you've heard of it, it's famous. How tall is Mount Washington in Mount in uh New Hampshire? Is it in New Hampshire? Okay, it is. How tall is it? Because I I gotta we we gotta figure this out, okay? Say it when you got it. How tall, ask Chad, 6,288 feet. Okay, so what you don't see in this picture is that we came with probably 20 teenagers, and uh we all climbed Mount Washington, and we all thought on our halfway point, our behinds were gonna backtrack back down to the bus, grab some lunch, go to the gift shop, and be done with it. But that man over here in the red, that's my youth pastor, Pastor Max. He had something else in mind, okay? He was a bully, that man. He was a daggone bully. This man right here, Pastor Max, said, You know what? I think we can go higher. And I said, I don't want to go higher, Pastor Max. I want to go to the gift shop and have myself a Snickers. How about that? Because halfway was halfway, it was still really difficult. And you know, people were huffing and puffing. I was getting lightheaded as we were like, you know, climbing up the mountain. And he looked at me and he said, It's gonna change your life, Adolis. And I looked at him and I felt like I don't want to burst your bubble, but I don't really care if my life changes right now. Because he was like trying to make it a moment, you know, like youth pastor to to student. And so I was like, okay, yeah, all right. And so he's like, I believe you can do it. And I was like, oh. And so he he used that one, you know, I believe you can do it. So I was like, all right, fine. And so it was me, it was Max, it was who was that kid's name again? Paul, not Paul case, Joel, and then Joseph. Was his name Joseph? His name was Joseph. So we all of us had no idea what we we were getting into. But Pastor Max, the bully, he knew exactly what he was doing. And so we started climbing this mountain, and little did we know that this thing was gonna be this. We were rock climbing at this point. I look at my outfit. I had jeans and a sweatshirt on with sneakers. I was not prepared for this. I didn't have a backpack, I didn't have water, I didn't have snacks. You know, I'm about to climb this mountain, and I'm just totally unprepared. And as we we progressed, the the further we climbed, the worse off I felt. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was gonna pass out, and then I heard the sonic boom. Do you remember that, Megs? So we were cresting up. This is just a side thing. So uh we were cresting up the mountain all of a sudden. Have you guys ever heard of a sonic boom, a jet come in? It was literally explosive. And so I thought the aliens have come, somebody's killing us, this mountain is exploding, there's lava. I don't know what this was. And then I looked back and they had fighter jets practicing their rounds on the mountain. And so uh it scared the the the the the crap out of me. And so anyway, that was one of those experiences that I'm like, what in the world is happening here? And so as I crested, it just got worse and worse, and then I thought, I can't do this anymore. And I wanted to cry. Like, very few times in my life have I been there, you know. I have I I've I've I've I've tried something, I hate it so much, and now I just want to give up and cry, you know? And I was thinking, like, is there a helicopter that can take us up out of here? Because I can't move on a single inch from here. But but that man, the bully, Pastor Max, he would just constantly encourage us. And he said, This is gonna change your life. Just keep at it, one foot in front of the other. And then we'd have hikers coming back down and they'd say, You're almost there. They were lying to me. They were lying because we were there for another two daggone hours. And so all of a sudden the wind started picking up, and I'm like, you know, praying in the Holy Ghost. I'm like, no, Puerto Rican should be up on this mountain. Kind of Puerto Rican is this? And as I continued to climb, I started to look around. And I said, Oh my gosh, these views are absolutely incredible. And then I climbed more, and then I paid less mind to the pain and the hardship that I was uh uh going through, and then I just started to enjoy the scenery. And finally, we were up on the on the tip of that mountain, and I remember looking around, and Pastor Max just grabbed my shoulders and he said, You did that. Isn't it worth it? And I said, Oh, it's worth it. And so the wind was blowing, I was choking on the wind up there, but I was just so amazed that I actually scaled a 6,000-foot mountain or whatever it was. And I was thinking to myself, if I could do this, what else can I do? And and I this I I I love this picture because this is a moment in my life. I was 17 years old at the time. This is a picture where everything changed for me because I I confronted what I didn't want to do for the first time in my life. Because I'm the youngest, we were twins, we're the youngest of of eight in our family, so we got whatever we wanted. I didn't have to work for anything, you know, it was just like whatever. And then I was confronted with this hardship of having to climb this dag on mountain that I didn't want to climb, and then I did it and I felt so good. And I'll tell you what, on that mountain, everything changed for me that day. My perspective completely transformed. Because I thought to myself, if I could do this, what else can I do that seems impossible? And that was the beginning of the first of many things that I would have to face, face to face, and confront head on, and think to myself, I don't know if I could do it, but I could do it. And and it's a change of perspective when you're on the mountaintop. I would not have had that perspective staying back with the rest of the crew. Mind you, there's only five of us out of the 20, uh 25 students that were there, and and it changed my life because when you scale a mountain, it changes your perspective. You see things differently when you're on top of that mountain, you see things that you could never see at the bottom of the mountain when you're on the top of the mountain. Can you say hallelujah? So as you climb higher, the views have to change. That's just simply how it is. Your perspective in the valley is very different when uh uh uh as uh like the one that the uh on the mountaintop. You get what I'm saying? See, because if you aren't constantly thinking about the blessing of God and you're you're fixed on limitation, and you're fixed on poverty, and you're and your mind is fixed on on on the curse, well, that's all you're gonna see. That's all you're gonna produce. If you've got a sick mindset, a sick mentality, that's what is gonna happen. You're gonna just produce sickness. If you have a selfish mindset, that's all you're gonna produce is selfishness. If you've got a sad and bitter mindset, that's all that you're ever gonna produce. So you need to level up, you need to go up that mountain. You've had enough time. Look at uh Deuteronomy uh 1, 6 again. You've been here long enough, it's time to move, and that's the word of the Lord for each and every one of you. You've been here long enough, it's time to get your butt up and move, just like Pastor Max was Max was uh telling me that day, however many years ago, ten years ago. Shut up. But that's what he was saying. He was saying, No, you don't belong with the rest of these people, you've got something in you, and mind you, he didn't tell everybody to come up that mountain, he didn't tell everybody to to to follow him up that mountain. He said, You follow me up, you can do it. And I said, No, I can't, and he said, Yes, you can. And it starts with an individual telling you that you can do it. It starts with somebody who has belief in you enough to say, you belong here, up on that mountain. Get out of the valley. I sang that song at what no I has seen. We're going to another level. Do you guys remember that? We're not gonna sing it again. Because if you weren't there, you missed it. Okay? That was the bonus for what no I has seen. Addie, wave your hand. She thought I wrote the song. She legitimately was like, listen, I uh this isn't a word from the Lord, but I believe that you should record that song. I'm like, well, lucky for you, Israel has already wrote that song. The song's already been sang. But everybody talks about the change of level, everybody sings about the change of level, but what does it entail for you and I? What does that require for you and I? And so I want you to understand something here today today. Romans 12, 2. Your mindset is the birthplace for your faith. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable, acceptable and the will of God. So notice the progression here. It's you've got to renew your mind, then your thinking changes, then your life changes. You will never be able to consistently believe what your mind has already accepted as fact. If your mind has accepted failure, then your belief system stops at that failure. Before faith ever sees an action, it has to be formed in your thinking. So your thinking matters. Your thinking is everything. I want you to see something here. Uh go with me to uh Mark four. No, not Mark four. Where is it where um Peter walks on water? Go there. Go there.

SPEAKER_05 38:59

Peter walks on water.

SPEAKER_06 39:06

Matthew fourteen, that's what I was gonna say. Go back to the twenty-six. Go back to the twenty-five. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a ghost, and they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But, turn to your neighbor and say, But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? Last week I talked about uh the importance of understanding the logos versus the Rhema word and how a Rhema word makes the dream come true. The Rhema word is what actually produces for your life. But here's the reality when it comes to us we allow our circumstances and what we see to dictate to us our reality and us moving forward. See, at that time Peter stepped out in faith on that Rhema word, Peter walked out on that water, but then the Bible says he began to sink, so it's very interesting to me the reality that you can sink right even in the presence of Almighty God, and why is that because your perspective shifts. Why is it that people can come in here year after year and nothing has changed? Because it doesn't really matter if God is in your life. Peter was in front of the the Son of God himself. Why was he sinking? Because he paid attention to the boisterous winds and waves, and at first his mindset was that of faith. If you really are that person, I want you to bid me to come. And you know what Jesus said? Come. And it wasn't for everybody in that boat, it was for Peter. That word was created just for Peter, and he stepped out in faith. And look how quickly the turn of events happened. And why is that? It tells us why, because he started looking around instead of keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus, he began to see the winds and the waves, and then fear gripped him, and he was about to die, he was about to sink, so much so that Jesus had to scoop him right up out of the water. Well, why does it happen? I'm a believer, and I don't know why things happen like this. I can tell you why. It happened to Peter, right in the presence of Jesus Himself, he starts to sink. So, what you have to understand is that Jesus' power couldn't even uh uh uh change that that that reality for Peter, he created that reality for himself. Jesus said, Come, I want you to walk on water, there's a better way of doing it. And Peter did just that, he walked on the water, but then came the mindset, then came that perspective that's so full of fear, and it snuffed out Peter's potential, and that's the case with most people in the body of Christ. God has so much potential for you, but your mindset is is is is troubled. Your mindset is just functioning off of what you see and what you feel, and I'll tell you, if you want to change levels, then you've gotta put that perspective away for good. You've got to renew your mind. Being transformed, I want my life to be transformed. Okay, great. If you want your life to be transformed, then it starts with your mind being transformed. And then your thinking changes. If you start thinking good thoughts, if you think start thinking faith-filled thoughts, then all of a sudden your confession also starts to change, and then your reality starts changing. That's the progression. Can you say hallelujah? Faith is agreeing with God's perspective instead of your circumstances. And that's what Peter didn't understand. Hebrews 11:1 says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is not denying reality, it's choosing God's reality over your present reality. Well, I've got a tumor. So what? Well, I feel broken. So what? What does the Bible say? Let the weak say I am. By his stripes, I was. Well, it's just my asthma and my arthritis. You took ownership of that? I don't want ownership of that crap. I'll take ownership of vehicles, boats, homes, land. I'm not taking uh ownership of no arthritis. Can you say hallelujah? See, the the mindset that you carry is always asking, what are you seeing? But faith's mindset says, What has God said? And that's the difference. Because if you're constantly looking for things to just be perfect, they're not gonna be perfect. You gotta start looking for the word. You gotta start seeing the word because that's how faith works. Can you say hallelujah? Caleb and Joshua they saw the same dag on giants as everybody else. All the other spies that were were walking around in the promised land. But what was the difference? Joshua and Caleb, their mindsets were different. Nothing changed based on what they saw with their physical eyes, but they had a different mindset, their thought process was different than the rest of them, and that's why they got to enter the promised land because your thought life matters, your mindset matters. Can you say hallelujah? How can you say, God, you've given us this land? God literally said, Go, take up that land, it's yours, I've given it to you from the sea to the river. Read it for yourself. But he said, I've given you this entire land, it's for you. And so Joshua and Caleb was like, That's the word of the Lord. How many of you guys have received the word of the Lord, but you've not seen it come to pass? Why is it in your thoughts? Maybe. Maybe let's let's interest let's be introspective a little bit. Because a lot of us, what Christians do, uh uh the the best is they blame it on individuals, they blame it on your grandmother, blame it on the pastors, blame it on this person. When is it gonna be your turn? When are you gonna start seeing? Wait, I should change the way that I view this. This isn't a difficulty thing, this is an easy thing for God. When did this become a mountain when he said I could speak to the mountain and see it removed? So I'm I've got I've got a responsibility, I've got an onus. Can you say hallelujah? Proverbs 23:7 for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Your thoughts become your beliefs, your beliefs become your expectation. Your expectations become decisions, your decisions then become habits, and then your habits become the very destiny that you're walking in. Faith cannot consistently rise above the ceiling your mindset has built. So you've got to change your mindset. Can you say hallelujah? Turn with me to Isaiah 118. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Here's the interesting thing about leveling up. Come up, God is speaking to some people here. Come on up. So if he's calling you up, there is something that is required of you and I, and that's to get in his presence. That's to get in his word, that's to understand his perspective because that's the transaction that needs to be made in order for us to change levels. Can you say hallelujah? God is not simply inviting us into a conversation, he's inviting us into his way of thinking. Come let us reason together. Let me change your mindset on certain things. Because that's what's required for you to move into this next level. Until you think where God thinks, you can't go where God is going. Every new level begins with a new conversation from God. I was telling my my uh my my my team this on Friday. Every person that you see in the Word of God always had this encounter with God, a rhema word from God. But the very first thing you see about these certain individuals like Moses and Gideon and Joshua, even Isaiah, who we just read about, Peter, even, there had to be a change in the way they saw things. Gideon, you mighty man of valor, all the while he was hiding. All the while, anybody, what anybody saw about Gideon were were cowardly characteristics. But God said saw a mighty man of valor. Can you say hallelujah? See, you have to have an encounter, you've got to have uh a conversation with God that'll change your perspective. In in the book of Joshua, he said, be uh strong and courageous. You're about to do things with your 80-year-old body that you didn't think would happen, but here we are, because I've given you a promise. So be strong and courageous. That had to shift on the inside of that 80-year-old man, Peter even bid me to come to you. Come, come. That was a word. It had to, okay, so then I can come. That means I can step out of the boat and launch. Can you say hallelujah? Before there's any kind of movement, there has to be revelation found in the word of God. Romans 12, 2 again. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You've got to understand, once we change our mindset, then we change levels because it's all about our perspective. Reasoning with God means that we are exchanging our perspective for His. Most people are praying, God, if you could just please bless my plans. And God says, No, come, reason with me, I'll give you a better plan. And when you follow that plan, then you start seeing monumental miracles happen in your life. Can you say hallelujah? Advancement begins the moment you stop trying to convince God to agree with your plans and your mindset. I don't understand why this is going this way. I just come come up here and reason with me. Let's talk about it. Let me change your mind on some things. Can you say hallelujah? And God's invitation is always upwards, it's never downward. God is never ever gonna call you to a place where where it's you're you're in sickness, in poverty, in disease. No, a shifting mindset is always moving forward. Can you say hallelujah? Notice the wording, come. So that means you can stay if you want. But I want you, my desire is for you to come up and reason with me. Abraham, come out of that place. Go into this new place that I've called you. Peter, come walk on that water. John, come up here. Let me show you some things. See, it always starts with a shift in in a mindset in your perspective. Can you say hallelujah? You can't advance with your old thinking. There are certain things in my life that I cannot continue to do because of the growth in my life. I can't run revival today ministries the same way I ran it back when it was just me and my twin sister. I'd be in trouble if we did that. So as we increase, things have to grow, things have to change. Can you say hallelujah? Think about Israel. Israel couldn't, they couldn't just go into the promised land because there had to be a change in the way they perceive things. God had to do a work in them before they would be able to level up. So I want you to understand the reality of how important it is for you to change your mindset. For a very long time, I thought that I was struggling. We're struggling, we're young, I'm 21 years old getting married to this 25-year-old guy, and and we're living in uh this nursing home that they turned into uh an apartment complex because apparently everybody died. And so what was in the bathroom, they had the big giant, it was an ADA bathroom, so it was like the um shower was here, the toilet was here, and then there was like 50 feet of big like space that we could have easily used for something else. But anyway, and then there was um as you would sit on the can, there would be a um uh a metal thing, a rope that came out of the wall for emergencies, and so uh and then it had like the oxygen thing, like it was just like a very bizarre first apartment. It really was. But we made the best of it. But I just was thinking, like, well, this is part of us just being madly in love and and and and getting married young. This comes with the territory, so who cares? You know, and then we started traveling, and then I started meeting people that were much older than we were, and they were saying the same things that we were saying. Uh uh, we're struggling, but it's just because you know we're in our 60s and we're living off of government assistance and ministry's hard. And I thought to myself, I started making the connections here that we're not gonna grow out of this simply because we're older. Wisdom doesn't come with age, is what I soon found out from a lot of things in my life, actually. And then I thought to myself, okay, at some point we've gotta, we've gotta face the reality here. We're stuck. I couldn't make an advancement, I couldn't, I couldn't pay the bills. Do you do you know how many times they shut off the the light and I had to lie to Jonathan and say that I forgot to pay the bills? It's forgiven, it's under the blood. It was for his mindset, you know, just better. But anyway, so I was like, oh my gosh, like this this can't keep going the same way. We we can't just continue to just go from church to church. It was like year after year, and we're not seeing any kind of breakthrough. So, what's it gonna take? Because I'm not seeing what I want to see. And I remember like throwing our uh myself, and then we'd drive everywhere because we couldn't afford the airfare. So we'd drive everywhere and we'd just play um Leroy Thompson and we'd play all these other people, um Oral Roberts with the the the seed time and harvest, and we just started changing our mindset on prosperity and money. And did it happen right away? No, absolutely not. But something did begin to shift, and it was like it felt like it was that that one of those same moments when I was up on that mountain when I thought to myself, I could do hard things, I could, I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to do. Something like broke off. There's that limitation broke off uh uh of me that day. Well, when we started talking uh or or listening to the preaching of prosperity, all of a sudden I could feel the limitations being broken off, and it's very strange. And if you've been there, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Nothing has changed on the outward, but everything started to change on the inward, and so all of a sudden, I wasn't just confessing what everybody would confess at my age that we're a young married couple and we're just struggling in finances and struggling in ministry. I refused to align myself up with that stupid nonsense anymore. So we'd say we're blessed, and even though we didn't see the blessing, it wasn't I was lying, I was I had I had had breath in my lungs. So I was blessed. So I just started to to recite the word of God because now it was permeating on the inside of us, and now it was like, okay, now there's there's there's a responsibility. See, because here's the thing Rhema word gives you an action. If you want God to speak in your life, most of the time He's gonna call you to do something, and that's where the the the fruit comes out, that's where the fruit manifests. It's the moment that you not only hear the voice of God, but you do it. Moses heard the voice of God, but he could have easily talked himself out of it. He tried actually, but he had to fulfill it, he had to do it. So you've got to understand how important it is to not just receive a word of God, but activate it by your actions, by the things that you do. There's a lot of you guys that did just that here in this campus and in Texas and all over. You had to leave what was comfortable, and you had to come here. Wasn't so comfortable. You don't have family members here, family members, you didn't have a job, you just had the word of the Lord concerning your life. So if there's a lot of people though out there that have had the word of God, but what is the difference? The difference is the obedience aspect of it. You've got to obey the voice of God in your life. Can you say hallelujah? And so that's where it all changed for Jonathan and I. And all of a sudden we're we're blessed and highly favored. That's what we would say. There's more where this came from as I was driving away, giving my $20 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The last $20 that I had. There's more where that came from because I refused to side with fear. I refused to uh uh have my mouth speak anything that was anti-the word of God. Can you say hallelujah? So it started to change our reality, but did it happen right away? No, it didn't. We have to keep watering that plant, keep thinking about it. But I'll tell you what, where I was in the beginning of the marriage compared to where I am right now, it's they're not even the same person. I've changed levels many times over, and that's not to brag, that's because of the help of God in my life. Because I would have stayed the same, we still would have been struggling out in Bangor, Maine, as a married couple with however many kids, had we not decided to change our mindset in our perspective. Perspective is everything, perspective is going to allow you to get into that promised land instead of viewing yourselves as little grasshoppers. Can you say hallelujah? Perspective will will have you fight the giants instead of run away from them and hide. Perspective is everything. Your perspective of God is more important than what the word of God has to say about God Himself. Believe it or not. How you view God is gonna be your reality. The word of God can say that he is El Shaddai. The word of God can say that he's your healer, that he's your provider, that he's your peace, that he's your redeemer, that he's your rock, that he's your sustainer, the lifter of your head. But if you don't believe it, you'll never have it. So your perspective really does matter. How you view yourself matters. I viewed myself as a poor, struggling, 22-year-old Puerto Rican. And uh for a while after that, forget about the the poverty, for a while after that, I viewed myself as as as as as as a loser. A Puerto Rican who who by luck got married to some white boy from from Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. I lucked out, but I don't belong here, and that's exactly what I produced for 10 years of ministry. I would not approach the pulpit in any way because I was so just you know bombarded with this mindset that I'm too scared, that I'm too dumb, that I don't have it together, that I don't have anything to offer, and that's exactly what that produced in my life. Absolutely nothing. And so I want you to understand if you want a change of levels, I'm going to another level. Stop. Don't start. Ben, come up. I want to, I want to go into another level. Well, do you even know what you're talking about? Because that's gonna require effort, that's gonna require intentionality, that's gonna require you getting along with God and seeing, hey, maybe this mindset that I'm carrying isn't gonna take me to where you want me to go. So I'm willing to sit here and make this transaction. I'm willing for me uh to sit at your feet and listen to what you have to say about my life. And I'll be happy to make that transaction, I'll be happy to change my mindset because that's what's required for a change of level. It's the same way with your body. If you don't see yourself healed, if you don't understand that all of the blessings for God in your life are yes and amen. Every one of the promises for God in your life are yes and amen. But if you somehow talk your way out of it, you'll never experience it for yourself. You don't have to struggle another day in your life. I wish more people would understand that reality. I wish more people would understand that you have all power, all dominion because Christ lives on the inside of you. Why are you struggling? Why have you plateaued when Christ lives on the inside of you? I'm not gonna get to heaven and wonder why. You know, I was talking to Olivia and she said, I wonder if when we get to heaven, we we can ask God or or people are gonna ask God why things happen the way they happen. I'm like, no, there's not gonna be time for. For that. Because in heaven, you're gonna see your potential. You're gonna see the power that you could have enabled. You could have uh uh uh what is that word? Not propitiate, but um stepped into that's not the word that I'm looking for, but you could have stepped into that power, you could have stepped into that dominion, but you didn't. Why? You scared because of fear, because the devil said you're gonna die? You've got to be able to think like the word, you've gotta be able to uh exchange your old mindset for something new. The Bible even talks about God is doing a new thing. Can't you perceive it? Can't you tell that there's uh a spring that's bubbling up? See, because if you don't perceive it, you're never gonna have it. So our job is to remain at a place where God is continuing to speak to us so that we can perceive the reality of what's happening all around us. And what's happening all around us that comes from here inside. It's not in the natural what you see manifesting uh because of your pains and your aches. No, you've got to see eternal life comes from within me. I can have access to eternal life right now. I don't have to be oppressed, I don't have to be depressed, I don't have to be broken and in trouble. All I have to do is tap into the source of life that's found on the inside of me. And when I tap into that source, it changes everything. Can you say hallelujah? Stand up on your feet. Come, come higher, come closer, come and think like I think, come and see what I see. You I was I was listening to Pastor Chris. He says, you can never consistently live above the level of your revelation. So you need this divine revelation to come alive on the inside of you. You've got to change your perspective. Your stinking thinking has to stop, it has to end today. If you want to move into the next level of what God is doing for your life, if you want to put away all the old garbage, all the old crap that you've been struggling with for years and years and years, it's time for you to change your mindset. Your perspective perspective is everything. If you think you're gonna die of this cancer, that's what's gonna happen. You're gonna die of that cancer. If you think nothing is gonna change, that's exactly what you're gonna get. Nothing is gonna change. But until the faith comes alive on the inside of you through the word, and then you say, Lord, I gotta change the way that I think. I wanna do it your way. Show me your way, and let me tell you, His way is the best way, it's the easiest way. And so once you make that exchange, I'm telling you right now, you'll be soaring with the eagles. You don't have to stay plateaued for the rest of your life, you don't have to die at the level that you're in. The kingdom of God is based on increase. So we should be increasing, we should be moving from faith to faith, from glory to glory. And if we haven't seen it yet, then it's time for us to shift our perspective. Can you say hallelujah?