Matthew 3:16-17

Hyper-independence is the compulsive refusal to acknowledge the need for help and the tendency to reject it when it is offered. It is the impulse to treat support as optional, when it’s actually essential.

The overwhelming of our nervous system. The undermining of God’s intention for our life. Leads to exhaustion and eventually self-destruction.

Having needs vs. Being needy:

-Neediness is the inability to function without exclusive reassurance, validation, or support from others. It is an expression of emotional immaturity and form of dependency that has become dysfunctional.

-Having needs is the natural condition of a creature who was never meant to be self-sufficient. It is not immaturity; it is divine architecture. It is not a flaw; it is a design feature. It is the recognition that you are finite, that you are human, and that you were designed to receive as well as to give.

Hyper-independence may not be taught, it may have been caught through life experiences. Instead of seeing let down we experience be a season, we turn it into a state of mind that says- “I can never depend on anyone.”

Adaptive Deprivation- what happens when you have been deprived of a legitimate need for so long that you adapt to its absence.

The danger is that the need doesn’t disappear, your awareness does.

Adaptive deprivation often leads to dysfunction. It causes you to look for what you think you need in other places to fulfill the actual need.

The danger is that the need doesn’t disappear, your awareness does.

Adaptive deprivation often leads to dysfunction. It causes you to look for what you think you need in other places to fulfill the actual need.

Root Behavior Theology- suggests that almost all dysfunctional behavior is an illegitimate attempt to meet a legitimate need. It is when people pursue something they do not need in order to get something they do need.

Fruit vs. Root

Actions vs. Reasons

True liberation comes from addressing the reason or the root.

Jesus dealt with root behavior.

He didn’t deal with sicknesses, He dealt with the spirit.

Biblical Examples:

-The man on the roof that couldn’t walk. Jesus forgave him of His sins.

-Acts 3

Until we expose and address the root of our deprivation, what’s driving our dysfunction, we will continue to live in a cycle of temporary victory and prolonged defeat.

3 Root Needs From the Text:

Vs.17- “This is My son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”

Chapter 3 prepared Him for the battle in Chapter 4.

He went 40 days without food and the enemy tempted Him saying- “turn these stones into bread” aka “get what you’re hungry for by misusing what you have access to.”

The enemy will weaponize your hunger for what you’ve been deprived of.

The enemy came at the end of the fast- when He had been without food for a long time, 40 days. Notice the strategy.

40-Represents season ; a season of deprivation

Temptation is intensified when there’s deprivation.

Even when I’m deprived of something and I have a legitimate impulse, spirituality helps me practice restraint or self-control [Fruit of the Spirit].

• Affirmation- “This is My son” ; Is being His Son not enough? -Oop!

The affirmation of your identity needs to come from God. When it doesn’t come from God, it can only come from other people.

This leads to people pleasing.

People pleasing- the Bible calls it fear of man. Proverbs 29:25- “Fear of man will prove to be a snare” ; snare-a trap ; so we become trapped in a cycle of our decisions being governed by other people’s opinions, rather than conviction. This leads to a performative life. We start to outsource our identities to people who don’t even know who they are. - Oop!

OR it leads to clout chasing, or what the Bible calls vain glory.

Philippians 2:3- “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility valuing others above yourselves.”

Kenodoxia- Essentially this means empty glory or glory that is empty of God.

A life where you get your value from your visibility-

Clout chasers are always caught up in comparison.

• Affection- “whom I love” ; He’s done nothing to receive affection. He is loved without transaction. We need that!

People who don’t receive love without working for it become “love performers.” Example- Leah, who kept having babies claiming “surely Jacob will love me now...”

Pregnancy = production

• Approval- “with him I am well pleased” ; Jesus is starting ministry from a place where He has nothing to prove. What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to prove wrong? You have nothing to prove!- Harp on this thought for the week!

Seeking approval turns us into 1/3 types of people:

1.The Abandoner- the person who can’t finish anything. You start strong then you abandon it before completion, which removes the ability to evaluate a thing. I can’t reject what I don’t evaluate.

2.The Perfectionist- sees perfectionism as a personality type, when in reality it is a protection strategy, thus lives in a permanent state of inadequacy bc you’re always aware of the gap between what you produce and the impossible standard you’ve set to protect yourself from disappointment.

3.The Achiever- The person who finishes everything, but feels nothing.

Biblical Example-Martha

What’s driving your production?

What if the greatest source of disappointment in our lives is not what happened to us, but what we expected God to do for us?

The pain of discipline vs. The pain of disappointment-

Discipline can be painful, but the pain of discipline prevents you from having regret in the future.

Many of us are not struggling in our walk with God because we stopped loving Him, but because we stopped understanding Him.

Christianity is not the absence of pain, but the addition of promise.

Most of us never get to promise because we quit in the process.

Be mindful of being surrounded by unprocessed people.

What if God never planned to meet your expectations, but to exceed your expectations? -This is what we see in the text.

God is faithful, even when He’s not fast. -A Word!

Sometimes we aren’t struggling with God’s character, sometimes we’re struggling with His timing.

God’s delays are not proof of His absence, but often preparation for our abundance.

What if God is using the delay for your development?

Sometimes the delay reveals dysfunction in you.

Martha approached God out of entitlement, not faith.

Just because God didn’t do what you expected, doesn’t mean He won’t do more than you imagined.

Worrying doesn’t move Jesus, but worship does.

Sometimes God allows what we expected, to die, so that He can introduce us to something we never expected to live.

1. Release your disappointment- Are you the strong friend or the numb friend?

2. Remove your stones- vs.39 ; Forgiveness is the process of removing stones. Don’t have a hardened heart by carrying stones.

3. Revive your expectations- vs.43 ; What is your Lazarus? What do you need to call out by name that Jesus needs to resurrect in your life? Be specific.

4. Release your residue- vs.44 ; “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” ; we can’t walk into the future, wearing the past. Release your old mindset! Shake the dust from your feet- don’t take old dust into new seasons.

Lazarus reveals to us that God doesn’t just resurrect people, He resurrects perspectives. He can revive the way we see a thing.

It’s the pain of being you that creates the power of being you.

God does not waste the weight of your life- the parts of you that felt like a burden, may actually be a place where God wants to build authority.

Weakness isn’t the opposite of power, independence is.

Weakness = Lord help me

Indepence = I got this

Weakness is not the absence of power, it is often the birthplace of God’s power. Pride is what keeps us from experiencing it.

Pain creates capacity. Capacity prepares you for power. Power is perfected in weakness. Pride is what prevents you from receiving it.

The pain qualified you. The process shaped you. The pressure produced you.

You cannot come out better if you avoid the pain, run from the process, and can’t handle pressure.

The season that stretched you is the season that produced you. -A Word!

You can’t make it to “it’s a lot” without going thru “it’s too much!”

The rejection gives you discernment.

The betrayal gave you boundaries.

The pressure gave you endurance.

The delay gave you patience.

The loneliness gave you intimacy with God.

We will all go thru a series of adversity and hardships that shape who we become, but it is how well we handle adversity that shapes our identity.

James 1:2- ‘Count it all joy whenever you face trials of many kinds”

Vs.2-Teaches me that problems will come, how I perceive my problem determines if I’m promoted to vs.3.

Vs.3-“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”

Perseverance leads you to vs.4

Vs.4-“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Adversity is the price we pay for advancement.

Stop seeing adversity as proof that you are behind. Sometimes adversity if proof that you are being prepared.

Sometimes God develops me by “whooping” me.

External Adversity vs. Internal Adversity

External Adversity- Me vs. my enemies ; the opposition is around me ; “Can you survive what is coming against you?” ; David vs. Goliath

Internal Adversity- Me vs. myself ; fear, doubt, insecurity, trauma, pride, my need to be liked, my tendency to quit ; Moses vs. his insecurity ; Elijah vs. exhaustion

Sometimes God will not remove the external enemy until He develops the internal man.

I have to win against what is fighting me AND I have to defeat what’s forming in me.

If I defeat my enemies, but never defeat my ego, I’m still dangerous.

We have to stop avoiding short-term external conflict, because it will create long-term internal conflict.

When you refuse to deal with what’s happening around you, you eventually have to live with what it does inside of you.

Sometimes the conversation you keep avoiding is the anxiety you continue to carry.

Theologically, peace is not the absence of confrontation. Peace is the presence of order.

He’s the Prince of Peace, but He checked people in love and truth.

What we see as adversity, God sees as opportunity.

The adversity of Goliath turned David into a King.

Question- Am I missing opportunities bc I keep avoiding adversity?

Jesus tells them to “take heart”- an idiom that means to become confident or courageous during a difficult situation.

John 16:33- “I have told you these things, so that IN ME, You may have peace.” IN THIS world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Problems will come, they are inevitable. In Him, we have peace.

You will- future tense

I have- past tense- it’s already done!

“Take heart” - You either take it or lose it. Where have you allowed adversity to take your heart?

Things That Can Take Your Heart:

1. Dealing With People’s Opinion - Don’t have the mindset that everything critical is an attack. There are two types of criticism- constructive and condemning. We lose heart when we mishandle people’s opinions. Constructive criticism corrects without crushing you. Condemning criticism attacks you without helping you. Constructive- “This could be better” Condemning-“You’re not good enough” ; You cannot be so insecure that correction feels like rejection or so open that condemnation gets access to your soul.

Proverbs 27:6- A real friend may tell you something that hurts your feelings, but heals your life. An enemy may flatter you just to keep you

comfortable, blind, or stuck.

Be humble enough to be corrected, but healed enough not to be controlled.

Discern the intent of a person.

“Is this person trying to build me or break me?”

“Is their truth in this even if their tone is wrong?”

“Is this correction about my growth or their grievance?”

“Do they have fruit in the area they’re trying to correct me in?”

Becoming the authentic you requires a strong filter.

You do not ignore or absorb every opinion. You discern every opinion!

The goal is not to become criticism-proof, but to become criticism-wise.

Proverbs 29:25- “The fear of human opinions disables; trusting in God protects you from that”

The fear of human opinions disables where God is able.

1 Galatians 1:10- “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?”

‘Every human that is serious about their spiritual formation, must be discipled on how to handle seasons where God will not give an explanation about their situation.’

What do we do when God decided that answers we prefer are not answers we need?

He promised to reveal Himself, but He’s not obligated to explain Himself.

He’s committed to making Hisself known, not making His decisions understood.

The enemy uses the absence of answers to open the door to disappoint-the gap between what you expect God to do and what He actually does.

Disappointment leads to doubt.

Literal conditions in the Bible represent spiritual conditions.

Paralysis = To be stuck

Blindness represents our inability to see things the way God sees them.

Sight affects your speed; so not only did he lack vision, he was unable to move quickly, he lost speed when he lost his sight.

You go further when you’re clearer.

His sanity was also affected by his lack of sight.

His safety was also affected by his lack of sight. He wasn’t able to discern opportunity, he had to depend on other people.

He had one problem that produced three other problems.

He couldn’t see, so he had a speed problem, a sanity problem, and a safety problem.

Vs.2-They call Him Rabbi. Rabbi = a teacher that shows us how to live on Earth.

Don’t just save me, teach me.

They see an issue, so they’re seeking an explanation. They assume that bc there is suffering there must be sin.

He may not always give you an answer, but He’ll always give you a solution.

We can dwell on not getting the answer, or be grateful for the solution. It’s ok to do a little of both.

Trust is only needed when an answer is absent.

Whenever there’s a gap between what you understand and what God is doing, you have to choose.

Will the gap lead to spiritual deformation or spiritual development?

God and the enemy want to use your blindness, you decide who you’ll let use it.

We have to trust:

1. THE WAY GOD IS GOING TO DO IT.

God used dirt and spit. It was muddy and it was messy. But spit contained his DNA. And dirt is what He formed Adam from. The man had to obey with a promise of an outcome. His obedience wasn’t attached to an outcome.

Sometimes we are going to wish God would do it in a cleaner way, but we have to trust that He can use the mess.

2. WHERE GOD WAS GOING TO DO IT.

He sent him to the Pool of Siloam-which means sent.

3. WHEN GOD WAS GOING TO DO IT.

Because of how long it had been, he was ready to accept an outcome God didn’t say he had to accept. God’s timing is His kindness.

Blind since birth= a metaphor for “since you can remember.”

Relationships move at the speed of trust.

Whenever trust is low, advancement is slow.

Whatever we trust determines the direction of our life.

Whatever we fear the most, we trust the least.

Trust issues are the fruit, fear is the root.

You will live your life either in trust or in trauma.

Whenever trust is absent, stubbornness is present.

Stubbornness is to worship your own opinion.

Your opinion becomes an idol.

The Bible calls it “stiff-necked.”

To be stubborn is to be unteachable.

An unteachable person is an unmovable person.

The fruit is stubbornness, the root is pride.

Pride is fighting to be right instead of being well.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode in on a donkey-

In the Bible, a donkey is a representation of our flesh- a wild, stubborn nature that refuses to be tamed.

When Jesus sits on the donkey, He tames the untamable.

God doesn’t specialize in ‘better,’ He specializes in new.

Wherever there’s a need, God has a name.

There’s no way I should be where I am based off of who I am.

Jehovah Rohi is a:

1.Present God- “The Lord is”

2.Personal God- “my shepherd”

3.Providing God- “I shall not want”

When you allow Him to lead you in every area, lack is not an option.

vs.2- “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”

Sometimes we’re too busy to get better. Sometimes He has to make us lie down.

In order for Him to bless us, He has to first stop us.

Quiet is external, still is internal.

To be still is to rest. He leads us to still waters so that we can see ourselves the way He sees us. Still waters = able to see a reflection.

Vs.3- He restores my soul.

In order to deal with the trust issues that you have:

1. You must trust God’s pace.

Sometimes He has to use experience to draw us back to Him. The breakup, the betrayal, the hurt-He didn’t cause it, but He will use it.

1. Trust God’s path. “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”-vs.3 ; vs.6- He will make your paths straight. A straight path is a shorter path. When you trust God with your path you don’t have to make unnecessary turns.

God’s response to our prayer is divine direction.

Admitting you’re wrong is just admitting you took the wrong path.

1. Trust God’s protection.

Vs.4- Even though you’re going through it, you won’t be stopped by it. “I will fear no evil ; for You are with me.”

Vs.5-“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ; You anoint my head with old ; my cup runs over.”

God will never expect you to take old oil into new seasons. When He anoints us it’s indication that He’s taking you into new places.

Sometimes it’s a lot is favor. The same God who brought you through a lot, can bless you with a lot!

It’s a lot- the moment you realize God was never trying to meet your expectations; He was getting ready to exceed your expectations.

Ephesians 3:20

God’s ability is bigger than my request. His power requires my participation.

John 21:3- Peter says, “I’m going fishing”

-Fishing was his hobby, he was a fisherman when Jesus found him.

Uncertainty often tempts us to retreat to familiarity. When we don’t know what God is doing next, we often run back to what feels safe. When life gets crazy and we’re unsure, we return to old habits, mindsets, coping mechanisms.

Going backwards doesn’t feel natural. How do I know when I’m outside of the will of God? When what I’m doing doesn’t feel natural.

The danger isn’t always rebellion. Sometimes the danger is regression.

Failure will make you question your future.

Peter is regressing in the text.

Many people don’t quit because God rejected them. They quit because they rejected themselves.

Peter felt as if “he blew it.”

What you do when you’re disappointed, reveals what you trust.

Where do you go when your faith gets frustrated?

Peter is seeking stability in a season of emotional chaos.

Peter going fishing may not be regression, it may be regulation. His mind was searching for peace.

Sometimes when your soul is overwhelmed, you reach for ‘routine.’ Routine gives your mind somewhere to rest.

Sometimes people are not running from God, they are reaching for rhythm because chaos has exhausted their capacity to think clearly.- A Word!

-What if he went back to fishing not bc he forgot Jesus, but bc that’s where he first heard from Him?

The boat was a place of encounter.

Failure is not always failure; sometimes it’s divine interference.

Divine interference is God blocking what is familiar so He can birth what’s next.

When Peter returned to what was familiar-fishing- his net came back empty.

Sometimes emptiness is not the result of incompetence, sometimes it’s the evidence that God is interrupting a cycle.

John 21:4- “At dawn” .. or at the last moment… Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was…

Vs.6-“So they did” ; they didn’t know it was Jesus speaking to them, but still they did. They received the word even though it was from “a stranger”

They were failing on the left- overflow was on their right.

Some of us are one instruction away from the overflow we’re praying for.- A Word!

John 21:7- “It’s the Lord!”

We are most prone to our greatest dysfunction when we are wrestling and walking in seasons where we have our greatest depletion.

We are more prone to act unwisely during seasons where we are more empty.

The enemy weaponizes this reality as an act of spiritual warfare.

Spiritual warfare is not just the enemy’s attempt to take us down, it is also his attempt to wear us out.

Matthew 4:1-

Tempt- to prove or strengthen or corrupt or destroy

In Chapter 3, Jesus is baptized and the Holy Spirit affirms Him.

He’s led to be tested in Chapter 4.

Every temptation was an identity test.

He won’t lead you into sin, but He will lead you into struggle. Struggle is often a test, He uses struggle as school. - Whew!

He’s strengthening me by teaching me experientially

The wilderness represents a season of transition.

The wilderness represents a time when God disrupts the familiar, without disclosing the future. - CURRENTLY :) haha God.

Transition requires trust when you don’t have answers. You’ve got to live through it to look back and und erstand it.

The wilderness represents a season of preparation.

Book of Deuteronomy- Book of conversations about a place they hadn’t made it to yet. Deut. 8:11-18 ; He’s talking to them about not forgetting, even before they have it.

God is getting you ready spiritually and mentally for what He’s getting ready to do. He takes you there mind first.

The wilderness represents a place of separation.

Sometimes the separation is about appetite - there may be misalignment with the appetites. All separations aren’t evil.

They were delaying the inevitable. This is what happens when we hang on to things God is trying to protect us from. There is still a misalignment on appetites.

Separation is attitudes and mindsets-

Giants can represent adversities.

They saw themselves as grasshoppers. They thought the problem was the giants, but the problem was how they saw themselves.

They missed out on a winning a fixed fight.

The wilderness represents a time of temptation.

Exodus 32:1-

“Come make us gods who will go before us”

Their unmanaged anxiousness became a doorway to idolatry. Let me create something that makes me comfortable, because you took something that made me comfortable.

Vs.11- The angels still had to tend to Him because He was still human! He was depleted physically, emotionally spent, and relationally isolated- He experienced spiritual warfare. Even winning can wear you down.

Winning is expensive.

Jesus models a reality for every human: Every human will deal with a degree of depletion. Even Jesus had to have angels attend to Him.

Samson = Progressive Depletion

Jonah = Progressive Depletion ; Refer to Chapter 4, what was his condition after surviving?

The enemy is after your energy.

How Do We Experience the Renewing Ministry of the Holy Spirit?

1. Acknowledge- Acknowledge the need, acknowledge the capacity you’re at. Pride leads to pretending. Stop masking the emptiness. This is all I have, not all I have access to.

2. Ask- We have not because we ask not. Are we asking for the right things? Asking aligns your expectations. Some of our disappointment in people comes from having expectations of them that I can only get from God.

3. Accept- Acceptance refers to what the Spirit will lead you to.

“We’re not that close” is the recognition that what looks like intimacy is actually a connection based on intersecting schedules and interests.

Sometimes what we call closeness is really just convenience.

One of the most dangerous mistakes is giving permanent access to people who only had a temporary assignment.

You can never lead where you fit. Stop complaining when you don’t fit- you were called to LEAD!

Discernment matters because if we mistake intersection for intimacy, we will build loyalty were God only intended learning.

Sometimes what we call loyalty, God is calling obedience. Separation isn’t always betrayal, sometimes it’s stewardship. Stewardship management-

Abram x Lot had a season of fruit inspection.

Near does not always mean necessary.

Sometimes God lets pressure reveal that a relationship was built more on environment than alignment.

Faithful boundaries are necessary. You cannot be everything to everybody. -A Word!

A mature response should not be bitterness, but clarity. -A WORD!

“We were close in one season, but based on my calling.. we’re not that close. I love you but I gotta let you go.”

Vs.8- “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me”

Genesis 12:1- Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house”

Lot was his nephew-

He was partially obedient.

Your calling with often be a disruption- God will disrupt what’s comfortable and familiar.

Who we fail to separate from now, may cause unnecessary setbacks in our later.

What do you do when God favors you so much He has to shift your focus to new ppl?

Commitment vs Co-Dependency

A sign that it’s time to set new boundaries is when you lack motivation to keep saving old connections.

Vs.14-15: The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him…”Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and the west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever”

-He got clarity once he separated from Lot.

Lot- can be a person, place, or thing

Sometimes God has to force us into uncomfortable seasons because we don’t know how to rely on Him in comfortable seasons.

Divine Separation =

1.Discern the connection-Abram had to realize Lot’s connection was familiar but it was no longer fruitful.

2.Define the boundary- Sometimes distance prevents destruction.

3.Discover the next season- After Lot left, God spoke. When God speaks, things change. Abram became Abraham when God spoke. God is getting ready to change your name and your status, He’s getting ready to speak.- A Word!

Forced Multipliers- God-used pressures that accelerate development, reveal capacity, and push you into levels you would not have reached through comfort alone. Pressures, systems, or decisions that make growth happen faster than comfort would allow. Any pressure, disruption, or responsibility that removes that option to stay the same.

Sometimes pressure calls for retrospective reflection- looking back at yesterday to determine what God is about to do today.

The Forced Multiplier in this text = COMMUNITY

The first thing that God said was not good in the Bible was not sin, it was when Adam was alone.

Genesis 1-The Creation Narrative

He creates the world, but never lifts a finger. He spoke it into existence.

Good = Functional

The snake didn’t show up when Adam was alone. Because the devil understands the power of partnership.

The enemy doesn’t fear you having relationships, he fears you having strong relationships.

Sometimes loneliness is proof that something is missing in my community.

You can be surrounded by purpose and still suffer from isolation.

The first “not good” in the Bible was not about sin, but about solitude.

Adam’s isolation did not make him weak, but it was dysfunctional. Being alone may be manageable, but it is not sustainable.

God never designed assignment to be carried in isolation. Function requires connection.

God’s answer to isolation was not more work, it was meaningful connection.

At some point life will test you in an area that you cannot fix by yourself.

Support is subjective to the one that’s being supported.

It’s one thing to be surrounded, it’s another thing to be supported.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two people are better than one”

Falling is inevitable, but staying down is optional when you have the right support.

Proverbs 27:17- Iron sharpens iron…

The right people don’t just stand beside you, they sharpen you.

Acts 14:8- “At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked”

Feet represent foundation.

Vs.9-This man was listening to Paul as he spoke…

Where this is taking place, there is no church. How is Paul preaching if there is no church?

Paul is simply speaking.

Romans 10:17 MSG Version- “The point is, Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there is nothing to listen to.”

When the devil can’t get your heart, he gets your ear. Your ear is the birth canal to your spirit. - Oop!

Some people have a desire for it, some who are hungry, and some who are determined to get it. But some of us are convicted that it’s our’s already.

Interest-I think it would be nice ; shows up when it’s convenient

Desire- I really want this ; feels good until discipline is required

Hunger- I need this ; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled - Matthew 5:6

Whenever hunger shows up in the Bible, there is a direct understanding that it will come to pass. [For I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, not His see begging for bread.]

Obsession- I can’t stop thinking about this

Conviction- This is who I’m called to be ; wanting it isn’t enough, God I know this is who you called me to be.

Discipline- I will do it whether I feel like it or not

Desperation- If God doesn’t move, I don’t know what happens next

Vs.10- And he leaped up and began to walk ; vs.8- “he never walked” ; God said that because of his faith, he would skip some steps- A Word!

Stop being shocked when things you’ve never done become easy to you. You may be in a Divine Leap Year. God, I welcome it!

Divine Urgency- When your spirit says it’s time, but your mind doesn’t know it yet.

He never verbally requested a miracle, his spirit demanded a miracle. His body language said “do it for me.”

vs.15- God says who can I promote that will still give Me the praise?

Who tried to kill Paul? The crowd. Who resurrected him? His community.

Crowd = Quantity of people

Crew/Community = Quality of people

Many times things are allowed to trigger us to give us an opportunity to prove God is within us.- Oop!

Each trigger is attached to a trauma. Until we deal with the trauma, we will never transform.

Unaddressed triggers usually lead to a crashout.

Crashout- When a person can be suddenly, uncontrollably angry and act impulsively. Potentially leading to negative consequences. This many times shows up as emotional or physical shutdown, usually from burnout, overstimulation, or being overwhelmed. The act of surrendering all reasonable control of your emotions and response in order to react to how you are currently feeling. It could be a strong indicator that they are struggling with their mental health and need support.

God doesn’t waste anything. Romas 8:28- “ALL things…”

Simon was a crash out. He is impulsive and moves out of emotion.

Matthew 26:50-53

Vs.52-Jesus corrects him in the middle of his emotional crash out.

Vs.54- “It must happen this way” ; We look for alternatives, but Jesus says “it must happen this way.”

Saul has a crash out in 1 Samuel 13:8-14

Be careful making quick decisions in the middle of crisis.

Proverbs 3:5- Acknowledge God in all your ways and He will direct your path.

When you’re in confusion, you’re not seeing clearly.

Focus. Kill the distractions. You’re confused in a season where you should be sure.

Are you receiving the correction He’s throwing your way? - Oop!

When He’s correcting us, He’s developing our character.

He’s building my confidence.

He’s making me more Christ-like.

1. Catch the Correction- He will correct you in the middle of your crash out. Provers 3:12-“For the Lord corrects those that He loves.” The investment of correction is proof of a future. Hands of humility- 1 Peter 5:6. Correction without love creates rebellion not repentance.

2. Comply with the Command- You don’t have to understand to obey. It takes faith to follow Christ’s command even when it feels contrary. When you don’t obey, you’re always forfeiting something God has for you . 1 Samuel 5:10- 22

3. Choose to Continue After the Confrontation-

“You have too much wisdom to keep disobeying me.” - A Word!

Rebellion is as much of a sin as witchcraft.

Disobedience doesn’t look demonic, but it’s the invitation to your destruction.

You have no idea what’s on the other side of your obedience.

Acts 9:3-4

Before God can use you publicly, He has to process you privately.

Hidden Seasons- When God is actively working on your character, capacity, and clarity without external validation, visibility, or applause.

Some of what you’ve been calling interruption is really a ‘forced multiplier.’

Forced Multiplier- God-used pressures that accelerate development, reveal capacity, and push you into levels you would not have reached thru your comfort zone.

Pressures, systems, or decisions that make growth happen faster than your comfort would allow.- A Word.

Some of the decisions I made in my past are holding me hostage in my present, making my future seem unattainable.

Forced multipliers refuse to let you stay the same.

Acts- Acts of the Holy Spirit

We’re introduced to the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.

What was the forced multiplier that God used to convert Saul to Paul?

Divine Interruption- Heaven’s way of correcting your direction without canceling your destiny

God will sound an alarm in your life when something deeper needs your attention.- A Word!

God does not operate in time, He operates outside of time.

We operate in real-time- chronos-Man’s time

God is the beginning, the middle, and the end.

God says, “Do I let them self-destruct or do I divinely interrupt?”

Proverbs 16:9- “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

Old Testament- Hebrew

New Testament- Greek

• Plans- Hebrew= chashab ; to think, calculate, design, strategize ; It implies intentional effort or intelligence.

Intelligence= Intel- Who are we to think that we have more intel than God?

• Determines-Hebrew=kun ; to establish, secure, make firm, direct ; It carries the idea of ordering something so it stands.

• Steps-Not the whole journey ; the details, movements, timing, and sequence

Solomon is the writer of Proverbs. Solomon is known for his wisdom.

He’s not attacking planning in vs.9, he’s correcting pride in planning.

God is not against planning, He’s against self-sufficient planning.

You can have the plan, but He determines the steps.

God doesn’t just care about your destination , He governs your process.

You are responsible for your plans, but God is responsible for your path.

Interruption feels live disruption before it feels like direction. Why does God interrupt my plans?

If God doesn’t interrupt you, you might succeed in the wrong assignment.

Divine Interruption- when God stops what you won’t stop!

Jonah 1:1-4 - The storm wasn’t to destroy Jonah, it was to disrupt his disobedience.

The interruption in your life is never about you, it’s about the you you’re about to become.

God divinely interrupts those who are gateways to others.

The Cost of Obedience vs. The Cost of Avoidance

Jonah 1:2- Get up and go..

Vs.3-But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction…

Partial obedience is not obedience.

Report Card:

Prayer Life: __

Loving People: __

Tithing: __

Living Right: __

Abstaining: __

With God, it’s either pass or fail.

Vs.3-“He bought a ticket”

He’s paying in disobedience, what would have been free in obedience.

You will either invest in obedience or finance your disobedience.

Provision is often built into obedience.

Provision- God supplying what is needed to fulfill His will; God giving you what’s necessary for your assignment.

The word “provision” comes from the idea of “to see ahead.” God provides because He sees before you get there.

God going ahead of you, making a way for you.

Genesis 22:24- “The Lord will see it” -Yahweh Jireh

The it is interchanagable- my it isn’t your it.

Provision is not just supply, its divine foresight turned into timely supply. - A Word!

Provision is when what you need shows up, when you need it, in the way God chooses, for what He assigned.

God doesn’t fund comfort, He funds calling.

Provision is designed to pull you forward, not let you settle

Interruption creates divine encounters.

Example: The woman at the well- Her day was interrupted, but her life was changed.

Interruption requires response.

Exodus: 3:2-4

God didn’t speak to Moses until he made a move. Because interruptions require a response.

Your next instruction is sometimes hidden in your response to the interruption.

Divine Interruptions Do 4 Things:

1. They reveal what God is doing.

2. They redirect where you are going.

3. They refine who you’re becoming.

4. They release you into purpose.

Divine Restriction- When God limits your ability to persevere your spiritual assignment ; protection through limitation.

Acts 9:4-8- What Saul could do naturally was threatening what God wanted to do spiritually.

Why would God take his sight? God restricted his sight to realign his vision.

God interrupted his functionality. You can be fully functional and completely misaligned.

Blindness isn’t the end for Saul, it was the bridge.

Sight = What’s physical, immediate, familiar

Vision = What’s spiritual, future, divine

A person who cannot see the future will be a slave to the immediate.

How Does God Restrict Us?

• He restricts opportunities. Doors don’t open, things stall, invites stop coming. Acts 16:6-7 ; Closed doors are often divine directions.

• He restricts resources. Money gets tight, support becomes limited, access gets reduced. He does this so you don’t confuse His provision with your independence. Exodus 16:4-5 “for that day” ; God will reduce supply to increase dependence.

• He restricts relationships. People leave, circles shrink, support systems change. Genesis 13:8 ; Sometimes peace requires distance. Some separations are strategic, not emotional.

• He restricts momentum. Things slow down, progress feels delayed, you feel stuck. Slowing down forces you to reflect, recalibrate, and realign.

• He restricts ability. Confidence is shaken, skills feel ineffective, what used to work stops working. God is upgrading you and your old methods won’t fit your next assignment.

• He restricts clarity. You don’t see the full picture, you can’t plan everything. This forces you to walk by faith and not by sight. Genesis 12:1 ; God gives direction, not always explanation.

Divine restriction is God protecting your future from your present self.

God is not stopping you from moving, He’s stopping you from missing it.

Most of our problems are not activity problems, they’re identity problems.

When we try to fix activity problems we fix the fruit, when we fix identity we’re dealing with the ‘root.’
We will always behave in a way that aligns with how we see ourselves.- A Word

Ephesians 1:18-23

Your greatest problem may not be what you don’t have; it may be what you don’t see.

Faith comes by hearing. What are you listening to? Who are you listening to?

“There are times that our problem is not a provision problem, but a perception problem.”

Prayer should be strategic.

Your prayer targets what you see the enemy targeting.

The enemy wants us to operate in cloudy vision.

Vs.18-I’m praying that the eyes of your heart be flooded with light. Light helps you see what already exists.

• vs.18- “You may know the hope to which He has called you” -The rope of your hope

Biblical Hope is confident expectation based on covenant. Faith believes God to be true, hope is the confident expectation that God will perform what I believe to be true.

Isaiah 54:17-“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against you shall be condemned. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants-“ It’s His history, His heritage, of keeping His word.

Testament- agreement or covenant

I have an expectation for peace- If I don’t have it, something needs to be aligned.

I shouldn’t be here.

You have been called to live in this type of hope. This isn’t just available to you, you have been divinely summoned to live in the reality of this hope.

Hebrews 10:23- Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful

Hope is what you have to hold onto between proclamation and manifestation.

Hope is the rope- it’s your confident expectation, It keeps you from drifting.

• Vs.18-“The riches of your inheritance”

There is something God has for you, and some of what He has for you, He put in other people. He’s addressing unhealthy hyper-indepence.

“Honor is a key that unlocks the blessings that God placed in other people’s lives for you.”

Sometimes we miss our blessings by passing by honor.

Mark 6-

They’re someone else waiting on what others took for granted.

1 Corinthians 12-14 [also written by Paul]- all about spirituals gifts and interdependence.

As gifted as you are, He didn’t give all the gifts to you.

For you to do what He’s called you to do, you’re going to need things He didn’t give you, He put it in other people.

Now you have to be able to discern and honor that to be able to pull it out of them.

• Vs.19-23- The Revelation of His Incomparable Power

Paul uses 4 different Greek words for Power throughout these 4 verses.

Redemptive Potential- the potential you posses when God possess you. It’s the increase of your capacity before you get converted.

We live inside of constraints:

• Time limits

• Money limits

• Energy limits

• Emotional limits

The danger is when we project our limits onto God.

Isaiah 55:8- 9

“My ways are not your ways… My thoughts are higher than your thoughts..”

God doesn’t think within our boundaries. He doesn’t operate inside our restrictions.

Many of us aren’t defeated by the devil, we’re defeated by conclusions.

Faith refuses to sign off on hopeless verdicts. I serve a God that specializes in working beyond my limitations.

Luke 1:37- “For nothing will be impossible with God”

When you truly understand His capacity, your impossibilities start looking temporary.

God can:

• Make a way where there seems to be no way..

Isaiah 43:19-“For I am about to do something new..”

God creates solutions, not just exits.

Most people pray for escape, but God often answers with strategy.

An exit removes you while a strategy will transform you.

He won’t remove you from something that He can develop you in.

Some solutions come disguised as process.

Me- Fix something…

God- *takes me thru something*

If it doesn’t meet a need, it must be a seed.

Strategy is the why and the what. Process is the how.

Strategy is about direction and decisions. Simply put, strategy is about choice.

Strategy sets directions, priorities, and trade-offs.

Process is execution + consistency.

Process is the action. Process creates structure, repeatability, and clarity.

Joshua - Jericho

What’s the Strategy?

• God told Israel to march around Jericho once a day for 6 days, 7x on the 7th day…

What’s the Process?

• The miracle didn’t happen on day 1, it happened after the process..

Strategy shows you what God will do, process shows God who will stay faithful while He does it.

The solution is not always external, sometimes it’s internal.

God agrees…

God was more concerned with reformation than relocation.

Exodus 14:14- “The Lord Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

They expected a door, God gave them a divided Red Sea.

God is giving you a solution that requires faith, movement, and obedience.

Sometimes God doesn’t open a door because He’s teaching you to walk through impossibilities.

If God only gave us exits, you’d stay dependent. Solutions develop capacity.

God wants to increase your capacity.

Most people pray for solutions, God often responds with development.

He won’t take you out of a storm He can develop you in.

The goal isn’t to make the problem disappear, the real goal is you becoming.

Problems expose limitations. Solutions build strength.

James 1:2-4-

When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

Endurance is long faith. Faith is short faith.

Without the tension, there is no expansion.

Immediate rescue can delay long-term growth.

David was bold enough to face Goliath, because God didn’t rescue him from the lion, bears, and his father and brothers.

If God removed every difficulty from you instantly, you would relieved, but you would remain unchanged.

“Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope”- Romans 5:4

God often changes:

• Perspective- the way you interpret what you’re experiencing ; God changes how you see the problem before He changes the problem itself. See attack as development, delay as preparation, rejection as direction. God changes your perspective in order to get you to a place in your life while you don’t just endure it, you understand it.

• Patience- The ability to remain steady while God works unseen. God stretches your capacity to wait without doubting, panicking, or forcing outcomes. Isaiah 40:31- “They get fresh strength”

• Discipline- The willingness to do what’s right, not what’s easy. Many prayers are not answered by miracles alone, but by habits, boundaries, and stewardship.-A Word! ; Discipline protects what blessings provide. Hebrews 12:11-“No discipline is enjoyable while it’s happening-it’s painful. But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest.”-A Word! Blessings don’t grow wild, they grow tended.

• Resilience- The ability to recover, adapt, and keep moving after pressure or pain. You’re not just surviving hardships, but refusing to be defined by then. Micah 7:8-“For though I fall, I will rise again!” Sometimes God does’t remove the pressure, He upgrades the person under it. God is not just bringing you out, He’s building you up.- A Word!

Let them does not mean God does everything. It means you stop trying to control what God has already assigned.

For some of us, it may be a season where God is waiting on us to do it ourselves.

Do it yourself isn’t a statement of independence from God, but rather a detachment from the spirit of entitlement of assistance.

It’s the idea that God won’t do everything for you, you have to participate.

Biblical faith was never meant to freeze us while we wait on God.

Practical Understanding

_____________________

Something you’ve believed in God for? Providing even while I was unemployed. This is FAITH.

Many of us believe God for something and then ‘freeze’ while we wait.

Partnership means God provides the promise and we provide the participation. Paralysis assumes God will do what He already empowered us to do.

God isn’t offended by your effort, He’s offended by your presumption.

God never rebuked people for trying , He corrected them for assuming.

Faith doesn’t cancel effort; partnership asks “what step is mine?”

Obedience from an old season, doesn’t translate into obedience in a new season.

Biblical References:

• Moses assumed that past permission guaranteed future approval.

• Saul assumed that urgency excused disobedience.

God will not do for you what requires your faith to move.

Mark 5:25- “A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding”

• A woman- In the OT you were known for your gift, in the NT you were known for your issue

• In the crowd- in company with no companion; let them surround you, but don’t let them define you

• Constant- Chronic = constant, for 4236 days

• 4-Number of Earth, up/down, North/South

• 2-Number of witness and agreement

• 3-Signature of God

• 6-Number of man

The woman going thru represents what we will come out of.

I am a chronic _______________________.

Vs.26-She had suffered a great deal, from many doctors…

1.She’s physically sick..

2.She’s financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually depleted as well…

Doing it yourself and ‘letting them’ will require wisdom & discernment.

Many ppl fail bc they haven’t deciphered if they’re ignorant, arrogant, or impotent.

Ignorant- You don’t know enough

Arrogant- You don’t know what you think you know

Impotent- You’re simply incapable, it’s beyond your power

She’s coping with pain.

The 4 Door of the Mind:

• Sleep- a retreat from the world and all its pain. It gives us distance from the thing that has hurt us.

• Forgetting- Some wounds are too deep to heal or heal quickly. Time heals most wounds, the rest stay hidden.

• Madness- There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity.

• Death-

Stop believing that God can’t because ‘they’ didn’t.

Stop believing that their opinion is greater than God’s promise.

Vs.5:27- “Since she had heard about Jesus”

To know what she heard, we have to go back to Mark Chapt.1-vs.29,vs.40, Chapt.2, Chapt.4, Chapt.5 vs.1-20.

If you’re going to do it yourself, you have to have the ability to catch what others missed.

Some things aren’t taught, they’re caught.

Our lives are built around what we think is true about life. Maybe you’ve been receiving the wrong information.

Be in the right company to heard the Word you need.

Mark 5:27- she came from behind and touched His clothes…

She bust a faith move that didn’t make sense!

Everyone else was waiting on Jesus to lay hands on them. The word ‘touched’ means “to cling or to adhere.” She held on to Him until she got what she needed.

Mark 5:28-The Power of Desperation

“For she thought to herself, if I can just touch His robe I will be healed”

Vs.27-She DID

Vs.28-She THOUGHT

Her action was the result of her idea. It was an inside job.

Vs.28- I WILL BE!

How far we go and how much we grow is greatly dependent upon how we handle being mishandled.

Being mishandled is inevitable- we should be prepared on how to handle it.

Being naive makes you vulnerable.

Matthew 10:16-

God is warning us that we will encounter people who have wolf-life and predatory behavior.

“I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

You have to maintain the standard.

“People are going to people-But God is going to do, what God is going to do and He will override, overrule, redirect, and redeem what people do.”-PD

Genesis 16-

He will make sure I’m good, even when people aren’t good to me. -A Word!

Genesis 16:2-

He created expectation in her when He gave her a Word-

Delay created desperation, desperation influenced [drove] the decision.

The desperation she’s feeling came from what she was telling herself about her situation.

“Some of our worst decisions are made in anxiousness, impulsiveness, and impatience tied to me forgetting that Yahweh keeps His word.”-PD

Middle seasons are mirrors that expose issues that stay hidden when you get what you want.

Middle seasons are schools that shape us into versions of ourself that we couldn’t become without that season. Genesis 16:3-4

Vs.3-4- Slavery and polygamy are shown in this verse; however, we need to understand Biblical context and what God is in agreement with.

Genesis 16:6-9

Vs.7-9: There are some realities that you cannot run from. You’ll never be able to eliminate people’s tendency to handle you unjustly.

Hagar represents:

• Those of us who have been victims of exploitation- when people got things they wanted out of you, without consideration of you.

• She represents under appreciation- When people feel entitled to what you have done even tho you were never obligated.

• Manipulation- when someone uses their power or position to pivot you in a direction that benefits them and not you.

Hard times lead us to revelation and new encounters with God.

Vs.13-El Roi- The God who sees ; He will see to it that I am good.

You can’t be used by God, without being used by people. We can’t avoid wolves.

Genesis 22:13-14

A Theology of Limitation- Suggests that God ordained limitations are not design flaws, they’re divine features, graciously granted to us by a generous God who wants to use our limitations to give us a revelation of Him we can’t get any other way

Self-imposed limitations create barriers. God ordained limitations lead to breakthroughs.

At some point, every developing Disciple will need a revelation of their limitations.

“I can’t do this by myself” is a realization we all reach.

God shows up when our limitations reveal themselves.

Divine favor is unearned, unexplainable, uncommon treatment.

The primary use of favor is attached to purpose. God uses favor to get us what He wants us to have, to put us where we need to be.

Genesis 12:1-2-

A great nation will come thru you.

I will bless you- divine empowerment to succeed, not things, but what He puts on you

I will make your name great- I’m going to elevate your name for the purpose of elevating My name. God said, My introduction to some people will be thru your name.

“I’m the God of Abraham, of Issac, and of Joseph-“

Joseph’s coat was stripped from him, but the favor remained on him.

Genesis 12:4-

God knows how to assess your readiness for a word.

A prophetic promise is God announcing His intention that is certain but not immediate.

Genesis 17:15-17

He’s 75 when he gets the word; 100 when it’s performed.

The time on announcement wasn’t the time of fulfillment. But do I have faith strong enough to believe God in the middle?

Abraham and Sarah couldn’t handle the middle, they started being impatient and doubting. God’s word was particular- “I’ll give you a son thru Sarah.”

Abraham x Sarah used Haggard as a surrogate to produce a child-a son named Ishmael.

Ishmael represents the blessing we try to make, bc we feel like God is taking too long on what He promised. He is a metaphor for what our impatient actions produce.

God is so gracious that Ishmael didn’t cancel the promise, he just made the process a little more difficult.

Abraham x Sarah have a son named Issac-means laughter.

Genesis 22:1-3

God tells Abraham to offer his son as an offering…

Abraham, in vs.3, gets up early to obey God. He wants to give God his yes, while he has it in him, while he’s strong enough to give it to him.

Donkey is a metaphor for the flesh.

He saddled the donkey-

Flesh- the nature inside of us that rebells against divine design

Ox-represents the spiritual nature

To be unequally yoked- flesh vs. spirit

vs.5-“we will worship and we will come back to you”

Abraham spoke as if he knew he was coming back with Issac-

I don’t know how, but I trust God will work it out.

He looked up and saw a ram who’s horn had gotten stuck in some bushes-

What God has for me, is for me, He’ll make my ram get stuck!

Abraham named that place Yahweh Jehovah Jireh- The Lord covenants to provide. He will perform in a way that is consistent with His nature.

The root word ra’ah primarily means “to see.” He is the Lord that will see to it that you are provided for. -A Word!

Yahweh Jehovah Jireh- I lack nothing bc God is all these things.

If I don’t have what I need yet, I’m just not in my Chapter 22 yet.

Jireh Will Provide. What will He provide?

__________________________________

• He will provide everything you need, not everything you think you need.

• He will provide everything when you need it, not when you think you need it.

• He will provide everything you need in the way you need it, not the way you think you need it.

Not only does He provide, He has a nature that provides.

Job 13:5- Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Trust is always connected to the consistency of a person’s character.

The more you know Him, the more you trust Him.

My trust is anchored in who He is, His consistency.

The Book of Job is a book of questions. It contains over 330 questions in the Book of Job.

-Satan asks God questions. God asks Satan questions.

-Job asks God questions.

-Job asks himself questions.

We don’t know who wrote the Book of Job.

Job lives in the land of Uz.

He is blameless, upright, he fears God and he shuns evil. He has 7 sons and 3 daughters. Job is wealthy. - What a mannn?

Job had some stuff, but stuff didn’t him. He is wealthy, but doesn’t lack integrity.

The enemy was attempting to attack Job, so he was aware that God had a hedge of protection around him.

Hedge- Shepards built thorny bushes around sheep to keep predators from getting in and to keep the sheep from getting out

This is why I’m thankful for the hedge. It stops me from going out.

Satan was convinced that Job didn’t love God bc He was God, but bc of the ‘outcomes,’ the ‘stuff.’

He attacks the sincerity of Job’s love for God, the same trick he used on Adam and Eve in the garden.

Are you walking by faith or formula?

Formula says:

A + B = C

Actions + Behavior = Consequences [blessings, the raise, the car,etc.]

The enemy told God to break the formula and see if Job still loved him…

The formula may be broken, not to break you, but to show you that you can love God and still suffer and that doesn’t mean He loves you any less or you did anything wrong…

And He will still work it for your good.

God set a boundary on how far the enemy could go with Job. “This is as far as you can go…”

Job then lost everything- his money, his children, his sheep- everything gone in a day!

He lost everything in Chapter 1, but in Chapter 13 he said- “Though he slay me, yet I will trust Him.” -A Word!

Maybe you’re still in Chapter 1, but remember Chapter 13 is coming…

Job 1:20-He got up, tore his rob, shaved his head, and then fell down in worship.

Tore his rob- What he was going through was tearing him apart

Shaved his head-He was vulnerable

Fell down in worship- You can grieve and still be in worship!-A Word.

My worship isn’t to escape my grief, I can hold both at the same time.

Job 1:21-Naked I came and naked I shall return… The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away ; Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job recognized that it was never his ‘stuff’ to begin with. Everything he had was because of God.

I’m not the owner of anything, but the steward of everything he places in my hands. I know where it comes from.

Kingdom says:

I start with C- the Cross…

While I was stuck in my sin, God loved me so much that He was willing to live the life I was supposed to live and die the death I was supposed to die.

C + B = A

Consequences + Behavior = Actions and Attitude

Become Series- PMJ

Galatians 1:10

Let Them by Mel Robins-

“Peace doesn’t come from controlling outcomes, it comes from releasing people and trusting God with the results.”

Proverbs 3:5- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lead not on your own understanding”

Trust- not predict

Lead- not manage

Outcomes belong to God. Reactions belong to us.

Surrender is not passive it’s disciplined.

Surrender your reactions to God. Meaning I don’t let disappoint decide my demeanor.

I don’t let offense shape my obedience.

I don’t let delay define my devotion.

“Not my will, but Your’s be done”- Luke 22:42

Become is not about controlling outcomes, it’s about surrendering reactions.

You don’t become by force, you become by formation. God doesn’t force you into becoming, He waits to see if you will get into alignment so that He can form you.

Formation = Formed

Force tries to change your outcomes. Formation changes your nature. Force says do better, formation says be made new.

Force says work on your behavior, formation says work on your heart.

God rarely rushes transformation, He shapes it.

Biblical Examples:

• Moses wasn’t forced into leadership, he was formed in obscurity .

• David wasn’t forced onto the throne, he was formed in the fields.

He doesn’t force, He forms. He forms you through-

• Proximity-shapes you ; the Disciples didn’t just believe in Jesus, they stayed close to Him. Formation starts with closeness. Forming only happens when you’re in the right proximity. Who you walk with shapes how you think, what you value, and what you normalize. Distance weakens discernment. Proximity sharpens in.

• Process-stretches you ; Jesus didn’t rush their maturity. He allowed them to fail. Process is where impatience dies and character develops. You do not skip process without weakening purpose. Favor doesn’t mean that there is something special about you, it means there’s something on you.

• Practice-seals you ; They didn’t just listen to Jesus, they tried. Practice turns revelation into rhythm. What you repeatedly do becomes who you eventually become.

This is how you BECOME.

Many of us fail bc we make distant decisions. Now I’m deciding without God.

I am at my best when I’m close to God. - A Word!

Sin is not the only thing that pulls you apart from God. Sometimes it’s competing covenants.

Prayer:

_______

5 Things I’m Grateful For

3 Ppl I’m Grateful For

3 Things You Want God to Do for Those 3 Ppl

3 Things You Want God to Block for Those Ppl

3 Things You Want God to Do For You

3 Things You’re Struggling With

John 15:4- “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

Remain- stay close

• The shows that becoming flows from staying connected, not striving harder.

Philippians 1:6-

God does not rush what He intends to last. He wants to ensure that when you get it, you don’t lose it.

Proximity gives you access.

Process gives you depth.

Practice gives you consistency.

Sometimes the fastest way to BECOME who God designed, is to stop fighting who people choose to be.

Let them and let God-

Most of our frustration with life is not with God, but with people not acting the way we expected.

We burn emotional energy trying to manage reactions, opinions, loyalty, applause, timing, and understanding. God never asked you to manage people. He asked you to manage obedience. Galatians 1:10- Paul draws a clean line between approval and assignment!

People’s approval demand adjustment. God’s approval demands alignment.

You can’t chase affirmation and still carry authority. The moment you let applause become the goal, obedience stops being the standard.

Servanthood and people pleasing cannot co-exist. One answers to opinions and one answers to obedience.

The tension will be deciding whose approval you are being formed by.

Approval is a moving target-

Obedience is a sold foundation.

Who Gets the Final Stay?

1. Let Them Walk-Who leaves reveals who you are becoming… Filtration- God often thins before He sends. When people walk away, it often feels personal, but it’s often protective. Filtration is God removing what cannot go where He is taking you. God never wants your gift dependent on people. God is filtering distractions, dependencies, and even relations that would diluter what He is forming in you. God never subtracts without intention.

2. Let Them Misunderstand You- John 6:66 ; Because clarity comes after calling, not before it.

Selective Understanding- when people hear your calling through the filter of their comfort. They understand the part of you that benefits them.

You do not owe explanations to people who are not assigned to your becoming.

Sometimes people reduce you to the version of you they met when they first met you, they struggle to realize who God is forming you to become.

Clarity often produces conflict.

If it’s not God- it’s over!- Motto for 2026

Word for 2026: Become

Become- the intentional evolution of spirit, character, and calling; the journey from who you have been, to who God already sees

What is your mission?

• Who I am

• Who I’m BECOMING

What is your vision?

• Where I’m going

• What I’m PURSUING

You don’t abandon mission to chase vision. You fulfill vision by staying faithful to the mission.

Biblical Context:

• God makes it very clear to him before He gives him his assignment- “that chapter is closed.”

• Joshua is hurting; he is seeking affirmation. THE TAKEAWAY- There are moments when God will not explain the loss, He will simply acknowledge it

• Joshua could never become Joshua while trying to be a continuation of Moses.

• Becoming demanded separation.

“The inability to end something that is over, is the number one reason people stay stuck.”-Henry Cloud; Growth always requires an ending.

Delayed endings create prolonged dysfunction.

Endings are not about loss-they are about capacity. Ending the wrong thing creates room for the right thing. God ends things so that He can make room for more. All endings are not demonic or evil.

We tend to ‘deify’ or ‘demonize’-

-When someone is good to us, we deem them a god.

-When someone is bad to us, we make them a demon.

We tend to fear detaching from things out of fear of rejection; however, we should learn to see rejection as projection.

• Joshua is experiencing a form of rejection.

• God gives Joshua 30 days to grieve before He commands him to “get going,” NASB- to “arise”. Arise in Hebrew = Qum to stand up. To arise implies that something shifts internally before it does externally.

• Arise is the hinge between the promise [what He said] and possession [what He gave]. You cannot possess what you refuse to rise into.

• OT-Hebrew | NT-Greek**

This is your szn to assume responsibility.

Moses represents 3 things:

1. Dead or Expired Strategies- What Moses did would get the people out of Egypt, but it wouldn’t get the Egypt out of people. What he did worked. The problem- What delivered you, may not develop you. Deliverance removes external bondage, development confronts internal bondage.

2. Dead Seasons- The enemy stalls us with unprocessed grief. If you don’t process it, you carry it. What doesn’t get healed, gets handed down.

3. Dead Squads- I’ll never arrive in the right place, while holding on to the wrong people.

Deliverance is loud. Development is slow.

He’s in a position of power, with no health.

Herod lacked spiritual and emotional health

Herod has unbridled ambition- ambition without a governor.-Wow!

He also has unaddressed insecurity-

Herod sees a baby as a threat, he’s in competition with someone who’s not in competition with him.

No outward achievement will ever fill a hole that fills a person’s soul.

Biblical Context:

• God knew about Herod’s plan to kill every Jewish baby boy that was born.

• God commands Joseph-get up-take Mary and the baby to Egypt. This logically, doesn’t make sense- it was further away than Nazareth and Jerusalem.

• Takeaway-When we are under threat, it is our natural instinct to run to what feels safest, the quickest. We seek quick relief to avoid being under threat longer.

• Egypt wasn’t under Herod’s jurisdiction. God knew where to place Jesus, Joseph, and Mary so that the enemy couldn’t attach them. -A Word!

• The longest route, but the safest route. He wasn’t putting them in a place of convenience, but a place of covering.

• Thought[?]- What if Joseph chose to pick his own Egypt instead of going where God directed him? Where are we tempted to run to? We often to rush to the ‘thing’ that gives us the quickest relief.

• Egypt represents the place God sends us when we experience Herod like situation is an escape. Escape is a divinely designed pathway out of danger that protects destiny without destroying our development.

• “Your purpose is a book that has chapters, you must be willing to say yes when God is ready to turn the page.”- PD The season you stop saying yes is the season you stop walking in your purpose.

• Destiny requires development.

• God’s escapes move us out of danger without moving us out of His will.- Thank You God!

• When we attempt to create our own escapes, it leads to escapism. Escapism is a self-constructed pathway away from pain that offers temporary relief but leads to long term bondage. - A Word! | We don’t break chains, we trade them. Its avoidance- Escapism robs us of development.

• Herod represents adversity- adversity brings stress- When you are stressed.. what do you run to the quickest? Prayer, which is God’s pathway, aka Egypt, might feel like it takes longer… Oop!

When I’m dealing with adversity from individuals- what do I run to?

We often run to:

-Patterns of self-destructive behavior

-People

-Plants

Prayer takes longer, but it develops the stamina and resilience that destiny requires. If you crumble under the weight of pressure, you will be destroyed by the weight of your purpose.

If you think not having what God is about to give you is pressure- wait until you get it! -A Word!

Sometimes what we run to isn’t sin, it’s just a question of why we chose to run to that?- [Reflect]

Is it safe?

We are instructed to do everything in moderation-

Are you scared to slow down?- Oop.

It’s takes longer for you to learn to live at God’s pace, to trust Him even when we’re resting…

It’s the longest route, but it’s the safest route.

You are human enough to get yourself into it, but He’s God enough to get you out of it.

Drama-

God’s Egypt is:

• Wise Withdrawal-choosing to create intentional distance from chaos so you can hear God clearly and move wisely. It’s not avoidance. It’s not fear. It’s Holy restraint that produces Biblical boundaries. Luke 5:15 ; Drama feeds on access.

• Disappointment- Disappointment often leads up to feelings of despair. When we are dealing with despair, Egypt feels too far. Prophetic lament is the Spirit-guided, truth-centered expression of grief, loss, and pain that leads up towards healing, not hardness. Lament-take what you’re really feeling to a God who can handle what you are really feeling. He consumes what we put on the altar!- A Word!

• Disruption- Instead of going home, God sent him to Egypt. He disrupted his plans. How we respond to disruption reveals how addicted we are to control. Sacred yielding is releasing control without carrying resentment. It’s allowing God to reorder your steps even when you don’t understand the route.

God is the God who orchestrates escapes, even when I can’t see a way, He is making one.