An Invitation to Mastery - Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

11:16AM Jan 18, 2023

Speakers:

Keywords:

masterful

journey

god

mastery

master

people

destination

jesus

familiar

foreign

holy spirit

hear

disciples

peace

spirit

world

resolutions

tap

recognize

position

As I was praying, God gave me a subject about mastery, My subject is an invitation to mastery. And if God does what I believe he's going into, when we leave this place, will have more vision, more focus, more clarity about who we are, and how God has positioned as for such a time as this, to move into the forefront. My text is John 14,

verse 25,

I don't think we're going to be here very long. In this text, the disciples and Jesus are having a conversation. Jesus is preparing them for what will ultimately happen through His death, resurrection and ascension. And he recognizes in order for them to be fully prepared, that he needs to tell them beforehand, what to expect after the fact. So I love that about the God that we serve, is that he doesn't just put us in positions that he often tells us beforehand, if we're intentional enough to listen, there's always a clue for what we're standing in. Now, I hope this makes sense when I get finished. But I feel like someone understands that there are some moments that only seem foreign, because I haven't done the work of fully looking at how everything in my life has prepared me for the foreign moment that I'm standing in right now. And so Jesus is preparing the disciples. And he's gone through so many things in this chapter of what they can expect and who he is, and how the world is going to change. And then he gets down to the end. And he says to them, These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Verse 27, continues and it says Peace, I leave with you. My peace, not this isn't just any kind of peace. I'm leaving you my peace, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. So let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, I'm going to the Father, for my Father is greater than nine. And now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe I will no longer talk much with you. For the ruler of this world is coming. And he has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father. And as the Father gave me commandment, so why do arise? Let us go from here. Spirit of the Living God.

Thank you for your spirit. Thank you for keeping us. Thank you for sustaining us. And thank you for positioning us for next.

God, I feel like there are some people in this room who are unsure about next. Maybe they're wondering how they're supposed to show up and whether or not they'll have what it takes for the road ahead. God you've given me a word that I believe is going to meet them right where that insecurity keeps whispering that's going to meet them, right when that demon keeps trying to trick them into believing that there's nothing left. And Father It is my prayer that you would take this message and that you would do that which only you can do. Make it personal.

Make it relevant, make it effective, and anointed. I offer myself father, humble as I can be. Use me in ways that only you can. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah.

I was trying to get my mindset together for 2023. And if I can be honest, I know that so many of us look forward to the new year because it represents a fresh start and opportunity for us to start over and to do things diff Recently, but for some reason I couldn't find the happy in the new year had a little anxiety about the new year, maybe it's because for the last few years, these years just been coming up in here reckless, like, I don't even know what to expect from you we in a pandemic, the world is shut down, people are losing their minds, I'm being betrayed, I'm going through depression, I'm a little nervous to enter into this next year, because I didn't really know what to expect. And so I did what I think most people do when they try to really take control of the new year. And they decide within themselves, I'm going to have a resolution, I'm going into the new year, with a vision and a strategy. I'm not going to wait for the year to happen, I'm going to happen to the year. So I started thinking to myself, what are some of the resolutions that you want to make? Then the devil reminded me about the mother resolutions I've made? In the few years in the past, and, you know, and how about come? February, I felt the Lord releasing me from those resolutions.

Like who needs

to lose 20 pounds? Maybe you just need to embrace who you are right now. Have you ever had God help you get out of the resolution, I don't even know if this started with the Lord. Maybe it's about vanity. And I just need to be who God has called me to be. I've lost some resolutions. I looked up the definition of resolution because now I'm in a bit of a hut. And the definition for resolution says a firm decision to do or not to do something. Suddenly, I realized why only 16% of people are able to keep their resolution. The key word is firm. My resolutions aren't like firm enough. My resolutions are a little bit more flexible than maybe they should be. And that's why I'm not able to maintain them. Resolutions are often based on destinations. I want to lose 20 pounds, I want to save money for a house, there's always this end goal in mind. And I feel like that is part of the reason why we end up losing out on our resolutions and we lose the momentum in order to actually make them happen. Because if it is only based on a destination, then you can change your mind. That's why people who would benefit when you decided to go on a diet, say it's not about a diet, it's about a lifestyle. And you know, it's about a lifestyle, but it's also going to have to take a diet to kick me into the lifestyle. But the mentality of a lifestyle is so important, because it helps you to recognize that you could lose the 20 pounds. But if you go back to eating the way that you once did, they're gonna come back, I'm talking to testimony right now, this is my testimony. But when you decide that it is a lifestyle, that it is a journey and not a destination, then it changes the way you set your goals. Now all of a sudden, I don't want to talk about just losing weight. I want to talk about honoring my body in every way possible. And I want to just talk about finances and saving up for a thing I want to talk about being a good steward so that generational wealth doesn't just happen because I have overflow. But because we changed the mentality of how we deal with money and my family, there's something different that happens when you look at your goals or objective as a journey and not a destination. To be honest, a destination mindset is really more cultural, than it is kingdom. Everything in our culture, why here's us to think that it's about a destination. So you graduate and you go from class to class and you're like now the next destination is the 12th grade. The destination after that is college and we are wired to think that the destination is marriage, we're wired to think that the destination is family, the destination is a job, the destination is a degree and then we get those things and we're frustrated because we realize that it's not enough to just have them you gotta walk this marriage out. It's not enough to just have the kids you got to be willing to go on a journey with this child. If many of us recognize the journey instead of the destination, we would be more selective about where we wanted to arrive. Because when I get to that arrival, the ribbon gets pushed back. I wish I had some people in this house who recognized that I thought that the degree would help me arrive. I got the degree but the ribbon pushed back because now I need a job. The ribbon keeps getting pushed back because At the end of the day, it is about a journey and not a destination. And if you are not interested in the journey, you should stop asking God for blessings. Because blessings are not a one off, when God gives you a blessing, you not have to walk something out. And walking that out is going to be a journey. God, if you give me a blessing, I don't have room enough to receive, I'm going to have to renovate and renovation is going to be a journey. But because I have decided I'm not going to lose what you've given me, I'm going to make room for the blessing, I'm going to make room for it in my mind, I'm going to make room for it in my friendships, I'm gonna make room for it in my language, I'm going to make room for it in my entertainment. Because God if you give me the blessing, I'm going to make sure that I take the journey to hang on to the blessing, some of us have had blessings fall through our hands. And because it's fallen through our hands, we say God, if you give me another chance, I'll do the work necessary to make sure I don't lose it this time. Y'all can act like 2022 Didn't happen if you want to. But there were a few things that you missed out on, because you didn't know how to make room. But I hear God saying in 2023, that there are going to be some people who know how to build and make room for what God wants to do. They know how to build and make room so that there is space.

Maybe that's why the shear doesn't have vision yet. It doesn't have specific vision for someone yet. Because if you focus on the destination, you will think that you can just skip to the destination. Maybe the first part of this year is about renovation, I hear God saying that the blessing is on reserve. I hear God saying that I kept you alive. And I let you miss it the last time so that you can be more alert this time. And because you're more alert this time, you've already started making the proper renovations so that when it does come, it doesn't have any choice. But to make sure it hits the mark, when it does come in won't have any other choice. But to make sure that it comes that it takes root. Somebody's getting the ground ready for somebody is go time for somebody else. It's ground time, it's time for me to get the ground ready. Because if he drops the seed into the soil of my heart, I don't want to push it out with my own fear. I don't want to push it out for my own rejection. So no one's not be slowed season. For me. It's been mold season for me, I'm trying to be who God said I can be. I'm trying to be the kind of person worthy of the blessing I'm praying for. I'm trying to be the kind of person who can step into a moment I'm trying to be before I beast I'm trying to be before I beast, because baby when it's time to beast, I'm going to be so certain I'm going to be so powerful. I'm going to be so anointed, I'm going to be so confident I'm going to be so ready that I've already got everything it takes

for BEAST MODE

telling you

tell you my own testimony. I'm staring down this woman evolve. The you know it's got real when you start putting them in front of this. This the the woman evolve, I'm staring it down. Because God moved it so much faster than I thought it was gonna move it. And I keep envisioning in my mind what its gonna be like to be in a room with 50,000 Women who have trusted the anointing that's on my life. And I'm not thinking about what I'm going to preach. And I'm not thinking about what I'm going to wear. Right now I'm thinking about who I need to be to step into that moment, so that I can make sure I am who God has called me to be. For the moment I'm going to step in cannot prophesy for a minute and 2023 I hear God's saying that you're going to step into some foreign territory. And when you step into the foreign Terry foreign territory, and they'll all be unfamiliar, but one thing that will be familiar is the work that led you up to this moment, you'll start saying crazy things like I'm built for this. You'll start saying crazy things like God created me for such a time is this. You're gonna start I don't know who you are. But I hear God saying that your languages would have paved the way If God doesn't just give you a promise and hand it to you, there's always a journey connected to it. I'm going to bring the children of Egypt into a promised land, but it's not going to happen overnight, they're going to have to take a journey to get there, David, you're going to be king, I've anointed you as king. But you don't get to just go sit on the throne. There's a journey that has to take place, Mary, you're going to get pregnant, and he is going to be the ruler of the king. He's going to be the king of all kings. But there's going to be a journey that takes place, God speaks in the language of journey. Because if he just gave it to you, when he spoke it, you would miss out on the education that can only happen through the journey.

The journey is when you learn,

no weapon formed against you will prosper. I didn't learn that because I arrived. I learned that on the journey, that I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor there see, but I didn't learn that when I got there. I learned that in the journey, the destination is only beautiful because of the journey it took to get there. That's why people who are really blessed, don't just put their head up and say, Honey, I earned this. They start saying, Lord, it shouldn't be me. Because if you knew what it took for me to get in this position, if you knew the journey, you would understand that it's not supposed to be me, you would understand that it wasn't by word, nor was it by power. But it was by the Spirit of God that this happened. The Journey did it the journey did it the journey, perfected my worship, the journey perfected my praise, the journey perfected my faithfulness, that journey is what taught me that I can be broken and still effective. The journey is what taught me that you could walk away and I can still breathe. The journey is what taught me how to take care of the next thing. It wasn't the journey that made the difference, the journey, the journey.

The journey made the difference.

So you're in a journey right now. And you wish you could just get there. But if you accelerate this, you'll get there and lose there. The journey is what gives you stay in power. The journey is what gives you weight. The journey is how you can keep on talking, even while they're talking. Because he saw some things that let you know, they talked about me in the past, but they couldn't take away from what God was doing in my life. The Journey taught me that the journey is trying to teach you every tongue that rises up against you He will condemn the journey is trying to teach you that this power and being focused the journey is trying to teach you that silence is golden the journey.

The journey is trying to teach you thank you, God. Thank you God for the journey.

God I know it's crazy cuz this journey had heartbreak. And this journey has scars. And this journey had bruises. And I know most people wouldn't thank God for what they went through. Some people curse God and went through the same thing. But because I went through the journey, and it taught me you'll get down in the weeds with me. I went through the charity and follow me you're never late to the charity. And it showed me who my friends were. I went through that charity. And it showed me boy what it was that gets me happening. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes, a journey. But to not by yourself. It's gonna be hard, but you're not gonna be in it by yourself. I hear God saying that if I'm going to go ahead of you and make your crooked path straight. That means that I've already been on this journey. And I went ahead of you. Oh God, I didn't like preachers in this place. And if you would trust me, you would know that the snakes won't get you that the scars won't let you bleed out

I gotta find a way

to honor this journey. It's hard.

There's disappointment. I can't take another unexpected.

But yet, this is the journey. Trying to raise this family, I

don't know what I got to pull from. But this is my journey. I'm in it. Now sometimes I just tell myself, well, you went and now I was over there thinking, I don't know if I should be preaching, but I'm in it now. So God, if I'm gonna be in it, I'm gonna need you to show up. Because I don't have nothing but you, but you are all my need for the journey. And all I have is you, I want to thank God for a minute for being the one thing I can count on in the middle of a scary journey in the middle.

Jesus

Jesus says, to the disciples, follow me. Come on and journey with me.

And then I'll make you then I'll make you fishers of men, follow me. Follow me get on this journey with me. Walk with me. Talk with me. And then I'll make you who have always known you could

be. I love this. About the way

we gain wisdom from walking with Jesus.

Because it reveals to me that in order to follow Jesus, the master that I got to first observe

the master working.

And if I can observe the master at work, then maybe just maybe I could become masterful.

Full of the master

so when Jesus says to them, follow me. And I will make you fishers of men. It is an invitation

to mastery.

It is an opportunity for disciples This isn't for churchy people. This isn't for church goers and people who just want to come to church. These are for people who want to be disciples.

I want to be like Jesus. I want to be masterful. And so Jesus first has them observe what it means to be masterful.

What it means to come under attack and still be effective. What it means to literally cast out a devil. I want to show you what it means to be masterful. Why why why does Jesus say I have to show you before I can activate you.

Proverbs 30 tells us that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

So if I show you how a master works,

it can invade your soul. Oh god.

Most of us struggle at being masterful because we're already full from what's in our soul. Fearful. So I can't be masterful,

shameful. So I can't be masterful, painful. So I can't be masterful.

Jesus says in order for me to really make the disciples masterful, I got to show them master strength. And if I show them mastery,

then it'll change what's in there. So I felt like this was important to say because some of you will have been exposed to mastery. Mastery and marriage master mastery in ministry.

And if you're honest, there are moments where you're wondering am I exposed so that I can be reminded of how much I don't have But looking at the text in this concept reveals to me that you're being exposed, so that you can become masterful at the thing that you see. If I really say this, right, it'll help you to reconcile that every time you take note of someone being masterful, that it is God trying to reveal to you what is possible for within you, you will no longer be jealous of someone else being masterful at what they do, you will stop comparing yourself, and you'll start making sure that you're in position to see someone be masterful, I'll be in the back of the room, if I have to, I just want to see it. Because if I can see it, I can make room for it. And if I can make room for it, then I can become it. You got to watch what God allows you to be exposed to. Oh, I don't know who this is for. But I hear God's saying, you've been thinking that you wouldn't be disqualified, because you didn't hear from someone because you didn't hear it from an educator, because you didn't hear it from a parent, because you didn't hear it from a mentor. And I hear guys saying that you're worried about your ears. But I want you to recognize what I have allowed you to see the very fact that you want it, the very fact that you have been exposed to it is a sign that you can become masterful at it. I want to talk to somebody who was on a journey of becoming home, I want to talk to someone who was on a journey of gaining their confidence back after trauma. And I want you to know that the very reason why the taste is in your mouth is because the appetite is going to be coming from your belly. And I hear God saying that if you open your mouth, I'm gonna fill in. But I had to put you in a position where you would hunger for the right thing where you would hunger. Everyone else can be popular. I want to be masterful. Everyone else can just have a partner. I want to be a masterful wife. I want to be a masterful mother. I want to be a masterful minister. I want to be masterful at everything I do. And it is not too tall of an order. Because God allowed me to see it. And if God allowed me to see it, it doesn't matter who else believes it. Forward. I know master when I see him. I know when the master is calling me higher. And I feel like in 2023 that God says there are some masters in the making some people

masterful I want to be masterful. I study because I want to be masterful. I'm in therapy because I want to be masterful. I'm listening instead of talking because I want to be masterful. I don't want to just be in your world. I want to be masterful at serving you. I want to be masterful at saying yes, I want to be masterful God with everything you give me, make me more full of the Master

then I am on my paths

Am I crave?

Masterful.

So when my texts,

the disciples

are moving from observation of mastery to the forefront of mastery.

you've observed long enough. Jesus says

you've seen enough of who I am. You've seen enough of what I do. You've seen enough of how to communicate, you've seen enough. Now it's time for you to step into the moment. I'm going to be honest with you. This is the moment where most church people start shouting

because it's your time

until it's actually your time. Then you'd be like

I'm nervous. Because I take it seriously.

And I want to be masterful. I'm afraid of people who get too excited. At something that requires mastery has to meet sometimes it communicates that you count on you to show up when it's finally time for the disciples to move into mastery. These are not people who were celebrating. And trying to figure out how they can make the announcement.

These are people who were so low. So empty, so humble, because they want to get it right. I submit to you, that part of your anxiety, maybe I'm just preaching to myself. That's okay, if I am

part of the anxiety and moving into next is the desire to really want to do it right. It's important for you to know that, because sometimes you'll think that the anxiety is a sign that you shouldn't do it at all. When in reality, the fact that I'm nervous about this thing because I want to be masterful, not at doing what someone else did. I don't want to be a masterful imitator. I don't want to be a master for duplicator. I want to be masterful at stepping into who God says I can be. Which means that God has stepped out of who I think I am. This is the moment I don't know who you are. But I heard God saying to me so clearly that in 2023, some people are going to step into their moment. And there is a perspective for the moment that will keep you in the game. When you get afraid. There is a perspective on this moment, that will keep your head in and even when your heart get becomes afraid there's a perspective that I found in this text that I want to share with you. In order for this new perspective to be effective, I want to let you know that you have to relocate the way that you have positioned your goals, your ideas of success and achievement, they have to be repositioned. To not be just about arriving to a destination, you have to be repositioned at an intersection of the foreign and the familiar, the foreign and the familiar, I'm gonna build, we're gonna go home, we're gonna be eating french toast in a minute. In order for you to really accept this invitation into mastery,

there is a positioning

that cannot be swayed based on

your circumstance.

I call this intersection, the intersection of the foreign and the familiar.

Most of us stay in the familiar because we are afraid of what's foreign.

And because we are afraid of what's for a foreign, we decided to not activate. And the areas where we know we could be utilized in the places where we know we are actually anointed to bring change because we are unsure of what's on the other side of our familiar.

And then there are other people who are addicted to what's foreign.

And just want to do something new, constantly escaping, I got to leave the familiar and move into something forward. Because what worked out there that I didn't like the results of it. So I'm just going to move away from it instead of learning from it. Nobody in this room just people we know move from thing to thing to thing because they weren't validated by the thing they thought would bring them validation. So they move to the next thing thinking that that'll bring them validation that doesn't bring them validation. So they move to the next book. Wait, hold on that blue, I mean thing, because there's not talking about

people in this room, other people, people who didn't come to church today are those people. Jesus is the master

of living at the intersection of the foreign and the familiar.

I prove it to you Philippians two verse five, through 11. Let this mind let this perspective be in you.

Which was also in Christ Jesus. That's enough right there. Because this proves the whole invitation to master. There's a perspective that you need to have this mind that you have it needs to be the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Let's be that what that man did. And for six, it continues, it says, who being in the form of God familiar with God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. He was familiar with God, he came from the Holies of Holies. He knows what it's like to be in heaven and to hear the angels worshipping 24/7. That is what he was familiar with. But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. And coming in the likeness of men, wait a minute, Jesus left the familiar and then moved into foreign. Why did he do this, because in order for him to be effective at what God needed him to do in the earth, he had to get out of the familiar and move into the forest. But he could not forget the familiar when he was in the forest, or he would not be effective in the forest element. If I preach this right, you're going to understand that the very thing you are running from is the very thing that is preparing you for the place that God has called you. If Jesus forgets that he was one with God, and moves into the earth, then we're going to miss out on what he came to do. If you forget where you come from, you will not make the most of where you were headed. Because where you are heading only works if you remember where you came from. And I wanted someone to understand that you've been trying to let go of the past. And I hear God saying no baby hang on to it, I'm going to use it, if you hang on to where you came from, I'll show you how to throw it and where I'm pointing you, I'll tell you how to point it in the direction of where you can be most effective.

So I gotta live at this intersection of the foreign and the familiar. That means you know me, but you don't know me.

That means there's not one particular frame group that can handle all of who I am. Because in this room, I'm familiar. But in the same room, I'm also a little bit foreign, if I can say it the way that they say it in the music that I listen to, they will say I'm on something different. I know that I'm in the world, but I'm not up the world, I'm on something different. It is familiar to you. But there's also another part of me, that is so far, and it would blow your mind that I could cast a demon out of you. There is another part of me that is so forth, that it would radically change your life, if you understood the way that I could communicate, I hear God saying that I'm getting ready to make you foreign and the place where you were once familiar. Oh, yeah, that's somebody's word. And they granted that somebody's word. I don't know who you came in with. But I have a feeling before you leave, that that's a different person, they're gonna be a little foreign. I tell you, one of the things I'm learning about marriage is never to get too familiar. Because the more that my husband grows, the more he becomes foreign to me. But because I have decided that being married to him means that I'm going to be positioned at the intersection of foreign and familiar if he learned some new baby I'm reading because what you're not gonna do is become so foreign to me that we are no longer familiar, what you're not going to do is move in such a way that I can no longer lay hold of you, I'm going to stay right here at the intersection of who are not familiar hold these people to stay the same. Unless you have decided that you are not going to grow. I don't know about you. But in 2023 I want to be connected to people who are deciding I'm gonna be familiar, but I'm also gonna be forward. We can talk about what we used to talk about. But maybe let's start talking about technology. Let's start talking about building this business. Let's start talking about building this nonprofit. It's gonna sound foreign. But that's where I've lived now. If you're going to be in my neighborhood, you better get you a house at the intersection of foreign and familiar or otherwise you'll be surprised when God starts moving me

from the familiar

and into the foreign

Jesus if you can embrace the symbiotic relationship between the foreign and the familiar you won't feel that you have to choose don't have to choose. I don't have to choose.

I can be rapping in one day. Speaking in tongues the other Paul said to the Jew, I became as the Jew. It was foreign until God needed me to use that. And when God needed me to use it, I became what God needed me to become. And I'm well versed in both both of them

because I've been educated on the journey. Six things I'm done.

Six strategies for mastery.

Once you have embraced

it, this intersection is where you must live.

This text gives us six strategies,

I'm going to breeze through them.

Six strategies for mastery. John 1425, says

that Jesus was telling the disciples, these things I've spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all the things that I said to you. It's foreign now. But it's going to be familiar when you need it. I'm going to bring it back to your remembrance. Oh, god, Oh, I'm gonna sidetrack for one minute, then we'll get back to my strategies. I hear God's saying that I'm going to bring back to your remembrance

words and prophecies

that were spoken over you that even you forgot about. I'm going to bring it back to you remember, it's right when it's time for it to be activated. I hear God's saying that you almost needed to forget it, so that you wouldn't be tormented and wondering when it was going to happen. But I hear God saying that in 2023, someone's going to step into a moment and at first it's going to feel foreign. But then you gotta realize, wait a minute, this was prophesied over me. Maybe that's already happened. And you're in this room. And God is doing something in your life, and to everyone else, it looks new. But you have no doubt in your soul, that ever since you were a little child, that God had prophesied that I was going to put you in the rooms bigger than you that I was going to allow you to do something different than anyone in your family has ever done. And I hear God saying that you forgot it. But I remembered and you forgot it, but I kept a record of it. You forgot it. But I'm going to show you I was faithful to the liver, when it's all said and done.

Gonna bring it back to your remembrance. One thing a master knows how to do. If you're taking notes, write this down. A master knows how to tap in when they want to tap out.

Tap out,

be so close.

Tapping out or quit tapping out, I won't even try. Tapping out I give up. A master understands that if you're going to be effective, you got to know when to tap in instead of tapping out. I got this from the text. Because when Jesus says the help of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all the things that I said to you. He says this because he then goes on to tell them, Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. Remember, this is a prophecy preparing them to step into becoming like the master. And he tells them in advance. Don't let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. But if you can remember that the helper is on the way the helper will bring to your remembrance who you need to be and the moments where you feel the most afraid. You see, sometimes in church, we talk about being full of the Holy Ghost and being full of the Holy Spirit. And I believe that you ought to be full of the Holy Ghost and you ought to be full of the Holy Spirit. But we also need to add to that conversation that you also need to be spirit led, because what good is it for you to be able to speak in tongues, but you don't know which direction you need to take when it comes to raising your children. I don't want to just be full of the Holy Ghost. I also want to be spirit led, the helpers going to come and the helpers going to show you how to be spirit led. So if you tap in See this is why some people we lose some people in church, when we tell them just pray about it and just go to church because they think that just praying about it means that we are dealing with it. They don't realize When I pray about it, I'm tapping in instead of tapping down. And when I tap in, I receive strategy. And God brings back to my remembrance. The promises are yes and amen. God reminds me when I tap in that no weapon formed against me shall prosper, there were some revelations you cannot get, unless you are willing to tap in

instead of tapping out. So Jesus tells the disciples, The Holy Spirit is going to teach you and bring back to your remembrance. So don't tap out. Number two, a master knows when, and how to ask, slash receive help. The Holy Spirit the helper is coming, he'll be available to help you.

But a master cannot be so consumed with their pride and their ego.

That they don't know how to ask for help. When they're in over their head.

I just want to tell you all this for you, people who are like me, and are so independent, that you have no problem asking God for help. You just don't want him to use people to be the answer for to help God. If you got an angel on layaway, if you could just send him my way. Because Lord, if I have to actually open up my mouth and be vulnerable to someone else, that I don't know that I have what it takes to do that. But I'm letting you know right now that the Holy Spirit uses people to help accomplish His work in the earth. So while you're waiting for the sky to crack open, you may miss that Your help is sitting right next to you. You may miss that your help has not come in and package that you desire. But it's got all of the resources that you need, you're going to have to be open to becoming a master. By asking God, what is the strategy for the people you've placed around me?

A master knows when and how to ask, and then receive help.

Number three, a master has peace in trouble. Six strategies for Master.

Jesus says, Peace I leave with you. But to be clear, it's my peace. The world offers peace.

The world offers opportunities. The world offers connection that feels like peace in some moments, but that peace is temporary. Jesus says to the disciples that I'm going to leave you with my peace. Because trouble is going to come. And if you're really going to be a master, you're going to need my peace. In times of trouble. You can have the world's peace and times of victory in times of celebration. That's cheap peace. Anybody can get that. But a Masters peace, a masters peace only comes when you recognize that trouble is working for me and not against me. I'm not saying I'm not tired. I'm not saying I'm not concerned. But I have peace in the midst of it all. Because I know if that devil is in my life, it is on assignment to bring out what God has put on the inside of me. I trust the crushing. So I have peace in the midst of trouble. I gotta give you the kind of pizza. That's what I was wondering, what kind of peace does Jesus have? Jesus has the kind of peace that he could be on the cross and say forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. That means you can be both hurting and still have peace because I know some of you think you got to choose the struggle. We don't have to choose struggles anymore. So 2000 and late in this day and age, we don't choose struggle, we recognize that I can be in struggle, and also be in strength, because my struggle is not a reflection of his strength. And my struggle is not depending on my strategy, my struggle is submitted to the master strategist. And as the master strategist has allowed it, then even this trouble is working on my behalf. You were bad somebody when you start believing that even trouble is working on your behalf. Oh, I wish I could testify for a minute about when the enemy tried to make me think that the trouble was trying to take me out. And I messed around and tapped in instead of tapping out. And God said if I allowed this fight into your life, it's because I want to show you that I can protect you in every season. And if I allowed this fight to destroy your family, it's because it needed to be destroyed so that I could rebuild the right thing. So that's a different kind of piece that most people don't have. You want to kind of piece it says don't slay me at all. I want to kind of He says, Though He slay me, yet shall I trust him. Because if he slaying me, there was something in me, that wasn't going to serve Me. And yes, he had to beat it out of me because I loved it. But once he got it out of me, I had enough victory to pull somebody else out of it.

I know he's a deliverer, because He delivered me, I know that he's able, because I was unable, I know that he's got victory in his hand, because I had pain in my head, and he turned pain into purpose. I got peace, my peace is different than your peace. My Peace doesn't need everything to go well, this year, my peace are the main for me that to get the job, my peace of the man, I have to get the house. My Peace is that whatever happens in 2023, it's happening for me, and not against me, whatever happens this year, is running up on somebody who's on an invitation to become a master. I'm gonna be a master at this.

And I know that God wants to pull mastery out of me. Which means he's got to dig around some of these other things. My piece

is in the strategy

of the master, who was pulling mastery out of me, Oh, God. I hear God saying that when I get finished with you, you're gonna be masterful at building a business. When I get finished with you. That's how you're going to break the generational curse. You're going to break the generational curse, because you're going to become masterful at introducing generational wholeness, you're going to break the generational curse, because you're going to become masterful at submitting to the Holy Spirit. And then being obedient to what God says do, you're not going to become masterful, because you arrived, you're not going to become masterful, because you got the chance. You're going to become masterful.

Because God took you on a journey.

Master has peace in trouble three more.

A master chooses rejoicing, over rejection. Jesus says to the disciples, I'm going back to my father.

You can be sad if you want to.

You can feel abandoned if you want to. But if you really love me, and you really trust me, you would rejoice instead of feeling rejected. Because when you rejoice instead of feeling rejected, it shows that you trust that whatever has left me, whatever walked away from me, I must not need any longer. And so yes, it sounds crazy. But I'm glad you left me I know it sounds crazy, because I got tears streaming down my eyes. But baby, these are happy tears, because that the drought of the way you made room for the real me to emerge. These are happy tears. I may look sad. But these are happy tears. Because I recognize that though you're no longer here, I can still pull from the lessons you left me. I'm making a choice. I could feel rejected. I'm prophesying over somebody in this room, and you got rejection issues. And every time someone says no, you think it's a reflection of your worth and your value, but I want to prophesy that the next time you experience rejection, that you will throw yourself a party because you recognize that that rejection is reason to rejoice. It was protection from what God was trying to make sure you didn't do so that you could become

he knows you're it hurt. But I'm glad it happened. Because now I know where the weaknesses in our marriage.

It hurt. But I'm glad it happened. Because now I know where the weaknesses in my character and I can build from here.

A master chooses rejoicing over rejection. It's a choice.

That's what Jesus says if you love me, if you really love me, you would rejoice. You get to choose what you do.

I'm gonna choose to rejoice

to this weekend turns to joy till this morning turns to dancing

hallelujah.

I'm sorry, I just feel like somebody's making that choice right now that somebody decided that I'm not going to keep carrying this rejection around and allow it to continue to dictate what's possible for my destiny, I'm gonna have to find a way to rejoice. And the rejoicing is going to be in the trusting, and the trusting is going to be in the strategy, and the strategy is going to be in the hands of the master. And because I trust the master, would not do this would not get me this far to leave me, I trust that God wouldn't just torment me, I trust that God means for everything to get to a place of good, I'm going to rejoice even when I'm covered in darkness. And then Spirit of God is just hovering, but I can access it, because I know

who's in control.

Master

six strategies, this is number five, the master knows what's in him is more dangerous than what's outside of Him. Jesus says in my text, that he's not going to talk much more about this, because the ruler of this world is coming. The enemy is coming.

But the enemy will only be effective at ruling this world.

Because Jesus says he has nothing in me.

If he had something in me, I'd be afraid. Because if I don't know what's in me, and the ruler of this world comes, then the ruler may pull on what's in me that I didn't know was in me. And then my gifts and my talents and my mentality and my spirit will be subjected to the ruler of this world, and not the ruler of my destiny. If you don't take inventory of what's in you, then you're going to continue to sabotage your destiny. Because what's in us is not about what's outside of you. You're worried about an external enemy. Bishop said this last night, it's the inner me

that Jesus says that I'm

not afraid. Because he doesn't have anything in me. Which means that he could tempt me, but he can't pull me off track. Because he didn't have anything in me. I'm so full

of the Spirit of God, Oh, God.

I should be better. But I'm so full of the Spirit of God. I should be angry, but I'm so full of faith I should give up. But I'm so full of who I'm so full of mastery. I'm so masterful, that even when the enemy comes, he doesn't govern Me. Because He has nothing in me. I see you devil. I see you trying to come from my family, I see you devil. I see you trying to come from my mind. I see you devil trying to come from my dream. But you don't have anything in me. Because I'm so full of who God has called me to be. I'm so full of the power of God that you can take this thing over. The enemy can come but you can't take over. You can come but you can rule. You can come but you can't have your way because I'm finding the middle of letting God have his way. And because I've made a decision to let God have his way. I gotta keep my circle tight. I got to know what's in me and who's around me because I don't want to be the gateway that allows the enemy access to someone else. You need some people in your life who were diligent about what they allowed themselves access to because if they don't access them it can access you. I'm sorry but I need a little distance because I'm trying to stay

masterful.

Last point we're going home Jesus in this conversation, this portion of the conversation with the disciples by saying but that the world may know

that I love the Father.

And as the Father gave me commandments, so I do. That brings me to my last point. You can stand when Leaving. A master doesn't just have a message. A master is a message

there will be moments in your life while you're waiting to speak up,

waiting to release your message waiting for God to give you a message God give me something to say, God, give me something to do. God, what is my purpose? God, who am I? That's not master. A man master recognizes that I'm preaching when I have no microphone. That I'm preaching when I deal with someone who I don't even think that I need. My whole life is a message. If you think that the best part of who I am happens when I'm speaking, and you've missed out on the true quality of who I am. Because I have a master mentality. And that master mentality tells me that I'm a message everywhere I go.

Jesus says, Jesus says

that the world may know that I love that my whole mission is to be a message to the world.

That I love the Father.

I wanted to share with you these six strategies of mastery.

Because I felt like

it was challenging for many of us to decide what are my goals for this year? What Who am I supposed to be? What am I supposed to do? I felt God say if you only think about what you're going to do this year, you'll miss out on the vision I have for your life. Your life is an invitation to mastery. And so we must be willing to ask ourselves family. How do I become a master? Think about all of the things that you do?

The people you serve?

Those who are in relationship with

your jobs, your health? Don't just make a resolution. Ask yourself, what would

the message what would the goal look like? If the objective was to become a master? Not just a winner. There's a woman Her name is Sarah Elizabeth Lewis. She's a professor at Harvard. And she talks about mastery in her book The rise. And in it she suggest that most people have a definition of mastery. That is incorrect. Because they think mastery is about success. And success is a one off generally isolated win. But mastery is a pursuit.

Occur constant pursuit.

That means that at this season of our lives, we have an opportunity to ask God,

God, how do I become a master?

At who I am and what I'm doing? How do I make sure that by the way that I show up? People know that I am doing it as unto the Lord.

mastery in your relationships, mastery in your finances, Master, I want to be masterful. And the only way that I can become masterful is if I allow the Holy Spirit to teach me to help me

and to bring to my remembrance,

how hungry I was, how eager I was to just be connected to the master. And there will be moments where life feels nothing but familiar.

And then there will be other moments where it's completely foreign that all you want to do is go back to what you did no. I hear God said I'm gonna use it all this year. So lean into the familiar. Learn everything you need to learn from it. Observe it allow yourself to be exposed to it. Look at the patterns in the path ologies of what has become familiar to you. Because you're going to need it for when you move into the form. These disciples are moving into the forefront. Jesus is going to ascend in just a short time after this message. And because he is ascending, that means that they're moving into position. Family, I believe now more than ever, that we are moving into the forefront of what this generation, what this culture, and what church needs in the world.

I believe that.

And I don't mean we just like we up here, I mean, all of us collectively are going to be called to move into the forefront. And God wants us to have stability when we get there. And God wants us to recognize that we won't be there by ourselves, but that there will be help on the way I want to pray with you. I want to pray with you. And I think traditionally, we would do an altar call, but I'm going to be honest, I believe we're all being invited into master. Because it's a pursuit, not a destination. And if you tell me you're already masterful, and you you don't need to have any mastery in any other area in your life, I just want you to know hell is real. And it's hard. I heard it's very hot, hotter than a Texas summer.

All of us have an area of our lives where we get to choose whether or not we will just be basic, do just enough to get by, or if we will become masterful.

And the pursuit of mastery changes the way you show up.

You don't need to win. You just need to learn and become better.

Because you know you're gonna have another chance. I don't need to win. I just need to learn. I don't have to do it perfectly. I won't do it perfectly masteries a journey. I just need to be humble enough to learn when I get it wrong.

So Holy Spirit, we call you help her Holy Spirit.

Thank you for being our comforter. Thank you for being with us. Even when we didn't even know that you were there.

On the very first Sunday of 2023. We say Holy Spirit you are welcomed here.

Not in this church. But in our being in our building this body, this temple, Holy Spirit. take up space. Holy Spirit. We don't know what this year holds. But one thing we do know is that we're going to need you. Holy Spirit, I'm going to need your wisdom. Holy Spirit, I'm going to need your strength, Holy Spirit. I'm going to need your power, Holy

Spirit. I'm

going to need your focus Holy Spirit. I'm going to need your clarity Holy Spirit, we welcome you to journey with us on an invitation to mastery, Holy Spirit wherever there is something else spilling up space where the master should be taking up residence. God I pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to fall over their place right now.

A divine confrontation with shame.

A divine confrontation with anxiety, a divine confrontation with fear, Holy Spirit, hover,

Holy Spirit, break. Holy Spirit, take root Holy Spirit uproot and take root Holy Spirit do that thing which only you can do. When we open our hearts and say, I just want to become more like Jesus.

May we hunger for the right things this year. May we rejoice instead of being rejected?

Holy Spirit, may we discover peace. Not because the circumstances going well. But because we trust that the end will be good. Bring our hearts our mind, our mouths into alignment with what you have already purposed this year to be and Holy Spirit while you're dwelling within us. God, I pray that you would stir up the gift of guidance out of every person in this room. That you would stir it up in a way that produces overflow like never before. God, I thank you that this is just a new beginning. But it is the same journey that we would become masterful in every way. We receive your spirit. We receive your love. We allow it to lead us to guide us and to go ahead of us in every way. In Jesus name I pray Amen.