January 2, 2019 | CAYA | "Promises I Make to Myself" | Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

you [Music] hey guys my name is Brook Watson and I'm the current director of kiya here at Alfred Street while we're super excited to be celebrating 10 years of kiya we wanted to take a moment to share just how kya got started where we are today and where we hope to go I was personally going through a very low point in my life and at my lowest point that's when God started speaking to me he just showed me visions and I actually heard him telling me to create this service for young adults had to be real topics real issues that I was personally going through and people that I knew were experiencing for young adults who are struggling and serving the Lord consistently struggling with battles that they did not know how to handle it took me about a month and a half to compile all the information then I set up a meeting with pastor Wesley and we sat down and we went through this PowerPoint presentation almost automatically he was on board pastor Wesley and I didn't know what to expect and I specifically remember him telling me hey Mark if we only get 25 people attending this first Wednesday service in January but only one is saved then we did our job so we were going into it just trying to save souls but bring to the public and to the congregation what God had placed on my heart pastor Wesley really went hard and was very transparent from the very beginning and that's why I believe that has continued to sustain itself to this day it's 2018 and Millennials are drifting more and more away from church and somehow someway they keep making their way to Alfred Street on the first Wednesday of every we want to continue to draw them in and so I am motivated to keep them engaged to keep them wanting to come back to keep them wanting to grow more in their walk with God and realize you can be cool and you can be a Christian you can be saved and still have fun you can come to the tire call down and then still come to church on Sunday and praise the Lord you know you don't have to give up one to do the other and I want to continue to have Chaya presenting that option for young adults and Millennials in the area to this day I'm honored and humbled that mark passed the torch on to me and that pastor Wesley trusted me enough to put this ministry in my hands in terms of leading and guiding and taking us to the next step of course under his guidance so you've heard from mark and I about how Chaya got started where we are today let's hear from pastor Wesley about what his vision is for Chaya for the next five to 10 years the next five to ten years I pray a few things for Chaya one that we will expand to different cities as well we have a lot of churches and a lot of cities who connect with us and they're asking about Chaya and not something for myself to do it but to replicate it so the Chaya becomes a name brand but you know wherever you are if you see Chaya you know there's gonna be a real transformative Christian experience number two sad to say but in the next 5-10 years got to start grooming someone to come alongside with me my season be able to teach Kai and delete it in order for that to be successful you need to have a success soar so my prayer is a God will continue to groom and raise up someone who is able to take higher to the next level even when my season is finished so as you can see by the grace of God we've been able to accomplish a lot in the last 10 years but we're super excited about where God is taking us next so buckle up and come along for the ride [Music] you [Music] AMV selection lord i thank you for the opportunity again to stand and not only seek to align my life with your word but help others to do the same Lord we ask you to be present in our hearing and our understanding and most importantly in our living of the word of God thank you Lord for this gathering we all that we say do receive and become be pleasing in your sight in Jesus name we pray amen not not going to be long tonight the Spirit of God wants to move quickly and that's not a Baptist promise that's a true promise but as you come to this new year if you're like me you probably don't go into the new year any more making new year's resolutions I'm not a big fan of these resolutions people making it's not that they aren't good and necessary but my personal thought is that if there's something you need to change in your life why do you have to wait for January 1 to do it all right if you know you need to lose weight start going to the gym right now all right there's no need in holding off but the end of the year in the beginning of a new year it may not be a great time for resolution but I believe it is an awesome time for reflection all of us should come to this moment having had at least some moments looking back at 2018 because the way God works in our lives is God has this way of attaching vision to memory that what God envisions for you is oftentimes connected to what God has already shown you that there's a progressive plan that is playing itself out it's like building upon foundations that one year is always built upon the last one of the things I've been reading in preparation for this paper I'm actually working on is the difference between the Canaanite gods that Israel encountered in the book of Joshua and the God of Israel and one of the authors suggested that the biggest difference is that the Canaanite gods with little G were gods of nature God of the Sun God a fertility god of water but that Israel's God was not a God of nature but a God of history two Canaanite gods revealed themselves in nature our God reveals himself in his action in time and that as you see God working in your life you will see progressively than what God has done is always in preparation for what God is trying to do next in your life and typically what blocks us is that we haven't taken time to learn the lessons of yesterday in preparation for where God is taking us tomorrow so vision is always connected to memory it's amazing of all the ways God creates us of all the ways God made of all the ways God is hardwired us biologically and psychologically the one the greatest gifts God has given us is the gift of memory that we are not creatures who go through experiences and then forget what that experience was but God has enabled us at full capacity to remember the experiences to remember the lessons even to remember some of the pain because all of that serves a purpose and preparing you for the next place God wants to go that's what we read in Isaiah that passage that I read for you just a few moments ago in Isaiah chapter 43 when God is speaking to Israel about moving forward he says to them listen I am the God that has done some things in your past I made ways I brought you out I delivered you I carried you through and many of you you ought to be able to just wink an Amen right there that's all 2018 was God bringing you through one storm after another after another after another and if you can't look back in 2018 and see the hand of God it's because your eyes have been closed there are some things that happen in your life last year that I promise you I'm not even trying to be false prophetic I'm not trying to the Lord told me no I'm just telling you if I know life that we had no life your last year has had some moments where God definitively showed himself to you where God did some things in your life that no one else could have ever done and God says the Israel look I did all of that but here's the challenge don't dwell in that because I'm about to do a new thing that you can be so focused on yesterday that you miss what tomorrow is all about and here's the greatest challenge Marcia the Lord says I'm about to do a new thing can you not perceive it can you see it do you have a sense of it do you have any vision for your life in 2019 that is rooted in the experiences God brought you to hear me I want to get a little deep I'm not asking you do you have some unfulfilled dreams I'm asking you do you have a definitive vision of your life in this next year that is directly connected to something God did last year that something in 18 was simply meant to prepare you for a greater thing in 2019 can you see a progressive movement of something God is doing God says I need you to have vision of that and in the New Year's Eve sermon that I preached on Monday the one thing I tried to press upon those who heard it was that the Lord is serious you've got to have a vision of your life on the other side if you can't see yourself on the other side of a storm you'll never make it through the storm if you can't see yourself on the other side of a breakup you'll never make it through the breakup if you can't see yourself on the other side of this low-paying job you're never gonna get out of this low-paying job you've got to see yourself where you believe the Lord is trying to take you the key to 2019 is to get a vision from the Lord of your life and align yourself with it so one challenge I'm gonna put before you then we're gonna circle back to at the end of kya is what is God's vision for your life for this next year not what you dream of not what you want not what you put on your vision board but what the Lord has in store for you do you have any inkling of what God wants you to be of what God wants you to do of the Lord's assignment on your life this doesn't just dream I'm talking about vision dreams maybe what you want vision is what God has in store for you and the question I want you to ask yourself on the first guy of the second day of this New Year's do I have a sense of God's vision from my life of what I'm trying to achieve in this new year that's where I've been trying to understand that in my own life and as a result I know that not in terms of resolution but more in reflection the Lord has pushed me into a place of making some reflective visions over my own life and I realized that part of the reason I have that is to be able to share with you not not as a way of saying you need to do what I'm doing but more of an example and a way of encouragement my deepest prayer for you tonight is that after we leave you'd be able to sit down and map out some of these visions for your own life and make some promises to yourself of some of the things you need to do to get there that here's our challenge here's what God wants I need to start aligning myself with that so that I can be what God wants me to be and for me mark that has required some promises that God has pressed on my heart that I'm making to myself of some things I want to do for myself in this new year to help me get where God wants me to be and I share them with you maybe one or two will align with you or maybe they'll just encourage you to go home and make your own list of some promises you need to do for you to get to the you God wants you to be there's a you in 2019 God wants you to meet what do you need to get there so I've developed a list I was gonna do ten anyone take that much time the last three were kind of personal and I decided there was none of your business so I just brought you so he started off in Isaiah and the verse i read was 14 through 21 so I want to share with you seven quick promises that I'm making to myself to align myself with God's vision and I hope at least one of them makes you say a man in your own heart of that this is something I want to do for me too all right you ready for him can we get into it let's move fast number one I promise not to be complicit in my own oppression and what I want you to let that sit for a minute I make a promise to myself that I will not be complicit in my own oppression now what that suggests to me is that there there are things in life that oppressed me they're things I can't control they're things that stress me out they're things that weigh me down what I'm trying to do in this new year is not endorse or cosign on the things that are already oppressed me because listen if I ain't looking out for me nobody else truly is if I don't care about my own well-being I cannot expect you to care more about me than I care about me I can't expect you to love me more than I love myself and if I don't I'm not definitive about that I have found out that other people will oppress you in ways that you endorse and cosign and at the end of the day you really have no one to blame but yourself because you allow certain things to happen to you and you gave people permission to do things to you that caused your own self sense of insecurity of burden of stress for me I found that the stresses in life come based on agenda based on priority what are you trying to get done in life and those agendas determine what stress level you are under there are three sets of agendas in your life what you want to do your own desire what others expect you to do that's their desire of you and what you're called to do and that's God's desire for your life three agendas what you want to do yourself what others expect you to do and what you feel called to do of the Lord and if Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 which says seek ye first the kingdom of God and all of its righteousness and everything else will be added unto you if that scripture means anything it means that you ought to start at the bottom that the first priority of your life ought to be to do what God has called you to do and the rest of it takes care of itself if I live the life God wants me to live and my highest priority is pleasing the Lord then really at the end of the day if my seeking to please the Lord doesn't make you happy than that's your problem right because I've made a decision in this new year I'm going to live a call to life and not an expected life I'm gonna live a life fulfilling what I've been called to do and not necessarily what people expect me to do you know what I realize everybody has an agenda for your life the neighbor next to you don't even know your name but they expect something from you everybody and you if you think about some of your greatest tensions in life have been when you didn't live up to somebody else's expectation of what they wanted from you most romantic relationships break up because someone expected from you what you decided you were not going to give think about that for just a second everyone has an expectation and you will kill yourself living up to other people's expectations at the expense of God's calling I'm gonna come back to that in just a moment let me give you a biblical example on New Year's Eve the sermon I preached was about Jesus crossing over with the disciples in mark chapter 4 in the storm people were here your chance but I heard that okay mark for the disciples are crossing over to see a storm comes and what is Jesus doing sleeping see the contrast I wasn't able wasn't able to preach this because the sermon get long the disciples are panicking and Jesus is sleeping there's no greater contrast of behavior than folk running around panicking and somebody's sleeping somebody's worried and somebody's snoring right that that's two different ways they're all in the same storm the disciples are panicking Jesus is sleeping they wake Jesus up and try to get Jesus to panic the same way they are because their expectation is that you ought to deal with this storm the same way we are which is to be panicked and Jesus is sleeping as a way of exemplifying to us a critical lesson what is urgent for other people may not even be immediate for you what other people identify as an emergency that demands attention maybe something you need to sleep through just because it's pressing for you does not mean it has to be pressing for me if this is not what God has called me to deal with I cannot allow your urgency to create a stress in my life I cannot allow what you panic over to cause me stress in my life I cannot allow what you need and what you want most and the feeling you want to feel from me change how I feel God has called me to live I will not be complicit in my own self oppression now if you're serious about this about living a called life and not an expected life it's gonna require excuse me I figure I want to do this one wait no that's not the next slide there it is all right okay if you're serious about living a called life and not an expected life prepare yourself for some difficult conversations with people you cannot fulfill God's agenda without disappointing people there is no way for you to be a people pleaser and a god pleaser by definition when you please God others gonna be disappointed because God will not allow you to be what other people need you to be above what he needs you to be so you're gonna disappoint some people you're gonna have to tell some people no you've got to be comfortable saying this I don't feel called to that I'm giving meant to write that down I don't feel called to that that show new tattoo for 19 right there tell me you're gonna get that one I see you got a new one right here you go get that one too all right hey you dog watching me I love you I love you my little brother you gonna disappoint people and one of the things the Lord pressed upon me an experience after experience after experience last year was that you can't sacrifice your destiny for someone else's emotional well-being you cannot sacrifice your destiny so that someone else is okay with you now let me tell you where this becomes hard because some of us particularly and this is more for I don't get into a lot of the gender stuff but experience has shown this is more for sisters and brothers you don't like hurting people you don't want to offend them you don't wanna leave a bad taste in their mouth you're gonna have to if you're gonna please God some people gonna have to encounter you and not like you and here's how you know you're mature okay there's nothing that says we got to be cool right we don't have to hang out right you don't have to stay in my life there are 500 other sisters in the church you and you ain't got to deal with me right we're not the church y'all stop doing that no I'm tired to have to counsel broken relationships in church but you gotta be okay with somebody not being well because you didn't want to be what they wanted you to be I've got to be what God's called me to be in this year cuz I ain't trying to live 2018 again unless I'm not trying to go through all that again simply trying to please people or not please God just just by weight and how many people are bold enough to say I just want to be what God wants me to be I just want to be what God wants me to be and if that means you and I can't be in right relationship I don't know how to apologize for wanting to be what God wants me to be don't be complicit in your own self oppression live a called life not an expected life number two I promise to protect my spiritual and emotional peace at all costs I made a promise to myself that I am going to protect my peace and hear me this is tough if I perceive you are a threat to my peace don't make me choose between you and being at peace you're not you're not gonna like that you're not gonna like that because I'm tired of losing sleep and being upset and being worn out and my mind happy has your piece ever been so disturbed and here's how you know your piece is deserved have you ever been in a place of prayer and somebody jumped up on your mind and you start thinking about that thing so much that you realize I stopped praying because I'm thinking this thing through what's gonna happen what I should have said I was talking to the Lord and now they they've invaded my prayer so much so that I'm no longer talking to Lord I'm worried about this thing your piece has been invaded one of my favorite scriptures is in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and 7 I rewrote it in the Howard John Wesley translation but but that's alright because I can read Greek and I can do that don't be anxious and worried about anything in all things go to God in prayer make your requests known him and thanking him for everything and he will give you a piece you may not expect or understand that will protect your heart and mind from the things that are troubling you the peace of God guards and protects my heart and my mind you know 2018 taught me there are two gifts God gave you that you cannot let people threaten time and peace but you can mess with my money and I get that back you mess up my credit I can build that back up you can talk about me like a dirty dog and ruin my name I find some other folks but two things that only come from God that you can never get back time and peace time is what God gives me every day is a gift from the Lord and you know this even do a little relationships one the worst thing to get with is someone who wastes your time listen listen if you 20 the same don't mean none to you if you run you ain't got number time if you're 30 you're starting to figure it out if you got 40 behind you you bout to shout right now cuz the one thing you ain't gonna do is waste my time you tell grown folk over 40 that don't waste the time cuz they ask you some questions a date one okay first of all what you trying to do you know you trying to have kids are you done with kids you know are you dating just to have fun you're trying to get married cuz you know what we going on day two if I perceive you are a threat to my time see when you're 20 you take for three years before you figure this out and then say alright but on other side of 40 I ain't got you ain't getting much time to be playin with you and another thing that God gives me is peace peace is a gift from God you can't manufacture it you can't create it you receive it from the Lord Paul says when you pray God gives you a peace that surpasses all understanding a peace you understand isn't really peace it's only peace when you go I don't know why I feel left girl she cussed me out now you care I'm trying to get back I'm fine with it he left me and don't bother me you know that's that's the peace of God and here's what the Lord says and it guards you so here's why I have to protect my peace because my peace protects me and if I let you threaten my peace I have no one to blame but myself how do I protect my peace I protect my peace by making certain that I don't allow toxic things and people into my space you all remember the myth of the Trojan War Troy vs. the achæans who sneaked in and the horse and destroy because they were allowed inside peace is internal when you allow the enemy inside he destroys your peace you know the myth of Dracula autobuyer to miss but you all know the story of Dracula like the myth of Dracula part of the strange thing about the myth of Dracula did you know this Dracula can't enter your house without you giving them permission alright that that's where the story goes that that this entity this evil can not enter your house unless you say come in right then evil can't enter unless you give your permission and one of the things God did in your life in 2018 I believe this is that God showed you what was toxic to your peace God revealed to you what you let in there was nothing but poison just just my wave how many people know you found some of that out you found some toxic stuff you the Lord that you use thought Lord yes yes somebody just popped up in your mind right there yes right there that wasn't right there Lord well if you learn that I want to share with you a dangerous scripture poverty 6:11 as a dog returns to his own vomit and the things that made him sick so does a fool repeat his foolishness of yesterday whatever the Lord shared with you there was toxic don't go back it's the same thing if it made you throw up once and I'm not just talking about people talk about some things some behavior some mistakes we made used to have little shih tzu little shih tzu and it was the boys favorite dog and there was just some things that dog did that they're just nasty to watch like if you're gonna watch a dog lick itself that's just just nasty this shih tzu used to defecate and go back and eat it right just what could be more disgusting than watching a dog vomit and go back and eat it watching a saint go back and do the same thing you did last year you know what you need in your life you need someone who's watching you do this and say girl that's disgusting man you gonna do that again you know what happened last time don't do that again protect your peace I hope I'm blessing some right number three I promise to remember my past but not to live in it there's some things that happened to you you'll never forget but you have to choose not to live in it again you all remember in Genesis 19 when the angels come to Sodom and Gomorrah and God has determined to destroy the city which by the way has nothing to do with homosexuality but that's another story and if you don't believe that I can give you a Bible lesson God comes and tells lot and his wife y'all gonna get out of here alright it's time to leave they hesitate they don't want to go the angel grabs them says listen I'm not playing time is ticking your season to get out is a window obey God's window and when he calmed out the Lord tells them don't look back now you know the story Lot's wife is running and she turns to look back and turns into a pillar of salt the point of it is is that in the Bible to look back at something to see it is almost a sense of still desiring it to live in it and here's the tough part Lot's wife could have kept going and remembered the city without ever looking back it's in your memory but you don't have to desire it anymore you've got to tell yourself I'm not gonna relive that again I'm not gonna keep living and something God has brought me out of if God was gracious and merciful enough to bring you out of it you don't have to keep reliving it right because here's what I promise you I promise you this that I'm a movie theater fast god never delivers you from something without taking you to something else and the problem with Lot's wife is that the Lord has given them a new destination as she turns around to look back as opposed to realizing that's behind you here's where the Lord is in front of you don't keep living in something God has already taken his hand off of right so here's what God says when God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint David in 1st Samuel 16 Saul has failed God and Samuel is crying and in first time he was 16 verse 1 the Lord shows up to Samuel and says how long are you gonna cry about something you know I've rejected how long are you gonna live in something that you know God has said is not for you I know it hurt I know it wasn't Pleasant it didn't go down the way you thought it should but if God has given a new opportunity for a new day to move in a new direction there's something better out there God has and Lord tells us stop living in the past you can remember it and yet choose not to live in it somebody say Amen Oh number 4 I promise to move forward without the need for closure or resolution if it violates promise 1 2 or 3 I promise to move forward without the need for closure a resolution if finding closure and resolution violates promise one two or three so many people are held up in life because you need closure and here I'm I know your therapist will tell you differently but I'm gonna tell you the truth sometimes you are not gonna get it if the devil knows that you need someone to say I'm sorry before you can let it go I promise you he'll make certain they never say I'm sorry if you need them to be contrite and sympathetic to how you feel I promise you they'll be cold hearted as can be because this is the quickest way for the devil to get you stuck and an inevitable experience of life and that is disappointment you've heard me recommend to you a book by John Bevere called the bait of Satan and in that book he argues that offense is the devil's greatest weapon because if the devil can get you to be offended and need someone to apologize for you to let it go he's got you cuz you're carried around and you'll become bitter by this point in life I hope you've learned something and that is everything is not gonna go your way okay the way that pass one nope here's what one no what did y'all mess up my slide oh no here here it is don't let disappointment paralyze you cuz disappointment is inevitable everyone you like is not gonna like you everyone you want is not gonna want you everyone you love is not gonna love you back every vision is not gonna come a reality every dream will not come to fruition you are going to be rejected things are not always gonna go your way disappointment is inevitable real quick can you in your mind remember some of the things your parents used to say to you that you hated like some lessons in to tell you like as long as you live under my roof you can buy by my rules you know my mom had something she's to always say to me that I hated as a child and now I find myself repeating it as an adult to my kids which lets me know I'm getting old my mom used to say you're gonna be told no more than you're gonna be told yes and you better learn to live with it learn to live with noes learn to live with the fact that things are not always gonna go with the way you want them to go in John chapter 11 Lazarus has died and you all know Jesus finally shows up in Bethany four days after he's been dead the Bible says that when he shows up in town Martha gets up and runs to him while she sees him coming down the road but Mary is so disgusted and disappointed she won't even get up out the house her disappointment in the Lord has paralyzed her to the point where she's not even moving anymore she's stuck in a place of disappointment and when Jesus walks with Martha and finally gets in Bethany he tells Martha go tell Mary I'm here and I told her to get up come to me because she can't allow her disappointment to paralyze her when I'm about to take her to the grave and do something amazing if you are paralyzed by the disappointment you will miss the miracle of what the Lord has in store in the future here's the lesson I want to give you two lessons number one learn to take the El everybody understand that that God not need to translate that learn to take the loss okay you're gonna have some loss it's not gonna go the way you want all the time but here's the good news God always has another [Applause] if you really caught that you too said Amen God always has another for every Abel there's a Seth for every Moses there's a Joshua for every Saul there's a David for every Elijah there's an Elijah for every Judas there's a Matthias I'll need to read your Bible for every Barnabas there's a Silas for every John Mark there's a Timothy for every one that rejected there's someone who will accept God always has another what kind of Saint believes that god only has one sister it god only has one brother that God only has one job God always has another another what another whatever you need the only one thing God has is a savior and that's Jesus everything else God's got more than one up his sleeve and the first one didn't work God's got another if they didn't appreciate God's got some more if they let you go God's got another job God always has another so you don't ever have to let disappointment paralyze you if you know there's something else out there and I'm willing to tell you this God's next is always better than God's last [Applause] think about it God never moves you backwards with blessings God never wants you to settle God's next is always better than God's last that's why it's so critical to get yourself lined up with God's will in 2019 because you haven't even in touch what God's best can be for your life until you get yourself right and realize girl when I left behind and even close to what God has in store for me as a matter of fact somebody you know that when you really got what God had for you you look back at what you learned and go girl he was bullying it to begin with his teeth were crooked they were young God brought me something better than [Applause] what you were mourning over God's next is always better than God's last so number three number four learn to say I don't always need closure and I don't always need resolution if seeking closure violates one two and three I'm just moving on I'm not begging anybody to be sorry for what they did to me I'm not gonna sacrifice what God has for me this year because I'm still holding on to what you did for me last year I got to move on number five we're almost done here I promise not to compare my life to others I promise not to compare my life to others by show of hands how many of y'all in your 30s your thirties can keep up keep up keep up hear me you're in the most dangerous season of your life thank you no I'm saying 20 hear me I'm explained 20 you're not worried about certain things that 30s are yet 40 you should have learned some lessons 30 is a dangerous decade because of the decade that you're most likely to compare your life to someone else's 30 is when you get the mistakes and the youthfulness and the frivolity of 20s out of your system and you begin to believe that there ought to be some fruit showing in your life now 30s is dangerous because you begin to see other people paying fruit and you want that so in your 30s is when you're most likely to wonder when am I really gonna get married and here it is in your 20s most times that's really not on your agenda you still try to get some stuff out your system [Applause] 30 is for some people where every wedding you go to just makes you wonder win-win me in your 30s is when you compare yourself with material possessions right is some stuff you couldn't afford in your 20s we're not you're moving in your career in your 30s you begin to see people who are a little bit of wealth here and have more material things it's been statistically proven that other than your collegiate years the most damage done to your credit is probably in your 30s when you're purchasing stuff you really can't afford trying to live lives that other people live let me tell you a real quick story huh mess messed my life up mess my credit up we went out to him Vegas it's me and my boys I was early 30s was me and my boys and grant went with us you know I'll grant Hill's when we were close friends and he we out in Vegas and Grant had just resigned a contract and you know we went out one night and grant paid for everything I mean just pay for everything I wasn't masked my dog you knows my timing we went out you know nah man we went out let you fill in the blank we went out you took everything how was it man this is great it's great but you know I want to use them that's my friend huh you don't want him to pay for everything all the time so next night I got it I got got everything I'm pay for it [Applause] there's certain moments in life when you realize you are not rich Amen you you what that bill came at that Club you ever have to use two credit cards to pay for something oh yeah can you put a couple on this card and then uh a couple on that oh you know you know that when you call them the credit card to find out how much your balance is and y'all ready y'all be right back hold on ya messed me up trying to keep up with an MBA ballplayer right I'm a pastor of a 300 member church I get money like that comparing myself you want to know what one of my biggest pastoral counseling sessions is right now women between 35 and 40 whose maternal clock is ticking and in privacy and in candor some of them will share it's hard just being God mom and Auntie but every time you hold someone else's child it creates this deep desire to have your own and there's nothing inherently evil about that but you got to be careful of comparing your life to someone else's time frame one of the hardest times for me in my life was in my 30s when I was pastoring I was pastoring in Springfield Massachusetts how many people have been in Springfield Massachusetts for those who haven't I'm Michele I'm gonna help you understand Springfield let me show you what's in spring for do me a favor close your eyes close your eyes close your eyes everybody got your eyes closed what do you see nothing that's that's about as good as I can describe Springfield Massachusetts there's some great people there but in terms of some of the other things I want in life there's not much there but is there that Lord was grooming me right so I'm there at that church for 10 years and in my mid-30s I started watching something that frustrated me to no end I started watching my peers and ministry be elevated to large churches in large cities I saw Cosby get to Houston at wheeler Avenue I saw Otis get called to Chicago at Trinity for Jeremiah ray I saw Jamal blow up in Baltimore and these are all cats I used to run with and I'm sitting there going Lord when me better preacher than all them put together that's why I talk I told my son being you know we're artisan kiyah right that's what I told myself look I'm a better preacher than them why are they giving bigger churches before me why they get to go to major cities before me right there was this comparative inside of me and you know what it did it caused me to devalue where I was it caused me to miss it and it took Joe Ratliff a preacher usin giving me some wisdom that held on to he said if you don't know how to blossom where you are planted you will never be transplanted and he said again if you don't know how to blossom where you are planted you will never be transplanted so I decided to be faithful where I was look where I've landed 10 years later at one of the greatest largest National prominent churches and all the United States of America because it just wasn't my time yet [Music] here's what the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12 the Bible says we should not compare ourselves to those who command or brag and boast about themselves when they measure themselves against themselves and compare themselves with themselves they are not being wise here's all the Lord saying stop comparing your life learn to be content with where God has you Jeremiah chapter 29 you know this verse 11 the Lord says I know the thoughts and plans I have for you God has a unique plan watch this and a unique timeline for that plan your marriage may not come at 28 like hers your may come at 42 got somebody [Applause] but but hear me you've known folk that got married early and were miserable because they weren't ready do you want the the privilege of saying you're married only to be miserable or wait and be married and be beautifully happy right God has a plan and a time don't miss that this chapter 29 verse 11 he lied sure I found most people take it out of context because all they want to do is jump on verse 11 when Lord says I know the plans and thought I have for you the verses before it are the Lord giving Israel the Lord has given Israel a warning he says to them don't listen to false prophets and what made the prophets false don't miss this is that he says to them they came to you saying you'd be delivered I do only deliver you but they deceived you about when there were made them false was that they gave you the wrong timeline they had the right plan but they had the wrong timeline that God's work in your life is not just about what he wants to do it's about when the Lord has decided to do it and you can be deceived by time you can be your own false prophet and convinced yourself that something ought to happen at 33 because it happened to her at 33 now realizing God said missingno your time is different trust God's time that doesn't mean you shouldn't want something that don't mean you shouldn't pray for it that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask God to deliver it but trust that God has a time and what you can't do is be unhappy with your life because it doesn't look like there's number six the small ones cannot hear I promised to be my best aunt ik self what's at the core of your Christian character all of us had different personalities what's at the core of your Christian what what's her Christian personality what are you at your best if someone were to get up at your funeral and say he was blank and could just fill it in with one word what would that one word you want it to be she was he was what's at the core your Christian character maybe the core your Christian characters are you joyful and you're just a bubbly person you have me people are just bubbly to get on your nerves tank on it maybe you're bubbly maybe maybe you're just laughable that you find a reason to laugh and smile at everything at the core of your Chris care maybe you're just versed in the word that no matter what you always go to the Word of God maybe you're just a prayer warrior that your first instinct is to pray or get on your knees I believe that the core of my Christian character is generosity and compassion right that's that's why I identify myself as I'm generous I'm a giver right and here's what happened in life once you know what your true Christian character is I believe the enemy of righteousness always tries to put you in situations that want you to abandon that characteristic so if you're like me you're generous you like giving you get surrounded by people who are users who are unappreciative because the devil wants you to reach the place saying you know what I'm never gonna be like that again I'm never going to trust like that again I'm never gonna give like that again I'm never gonna empty myself like that again because now he's changed the core of your Christian character and the determination you've got to make is when I know what the core of my Christian character is Who I am as a child of God I will let nothing make me change who I am I'm gonna live authentic even if it means I got hurt doing that if it means I got used at least I'll be smarter but what I'm not gonna do is go from generous to stingy well I'm not gonna do is go from joyful to sorrowful because I'm not gonna let something or someone change who I fundamentally am who are you in Christ and don't let anyone change that I'm gonna be Howard John this year authentically who are we created to be without apology and without change I know who I am in Christ I'm not gonna let evil make me evil I'm not glad envious make me insecure I'm gonna be Who I am authentically and you ought to be who you are authentically without changing and I promise to listen for and listen to the voice of God in a fully surrendered life y'all my new year's prayer that just you keep hearing God hammer in my ear fully surrendered life fully surrender listen to me and obey me I want to listen for what I want to hear God in every situation my deepest desire is to never reach a place of wondering what God wants me to do but listening for it and not only listen for it but obey it Lord whatever you want me to do that's what I'm gonna do you know what the biggest enemy to number seven is the same the biggest enemy to listening for the voice of God and listening to the voice of God the biggest enemy for you discerning God and obeying God is the same thing your flesh your flesh keeps you from hearing God and it certainly keeps you from obeying God your flesh is your biggest enemy here's what Paul says read Romans chapter 7 when you get home Paul says I'm a wretched man he says in my flesh nothing good dwells and I found out here's a law that whenever I want to do right I wind up doing wrong everybody in here has been there everybody in here has had that moment when you went down in prayer and your prayer started like this Lord now I know I got myself into this and I didn't do what was right but lord I promise you if you get me out of this Jesus Lord if this tests come back negative I promise you I will never never I will never ever Jesus you we've been there right more than once yeah mark our I remember kneeling at the porcelain altar y'all know about the porcelain altar Lord hit the room just stop spinning Jesus please and I swear I'll never drink again and here's the pulse s and you feel that and you want to do right somehow another something in you always pulls you back flesh so you've got to deal with the flesh all of us have a fleshly battle to deal with and the only way to deal with your flesh isn't fasting fasting it's the only way to conquer your flesh because fasting not only weakens the flesh it strengthens the spirit it teaches you that you can discipline this thing it doesn't have to have what it always wants I can say no to myself I'm disciplined enough to see it want it and walk away from it I can be hungry and be all right the problem is especially in contemporary Christianity in North America we don't know how to hunger we know how to be satisfied and to be over full and to be gluttonous but we don't know how to be hungry in flesh and in spirit and in desire we want what we want and we'd find a way to go get it we'll go in debt to get what we want because we don't know how to tell ourselves no fasting hopefully by now you've heard about seek 20:19 and I wanted to bring this Takaya tonight and if you haven't I want you to go online from January 6th to January 26 our church and folk who are connected to us in faith are journeying into a 21-day period of fasting and prayer of committing ourselves to disc our flesh and saying no in three areas one is financial that there's certain things were giving up and the monies we would have spent on that that we're not going frivolously shopping we're not buying anything new in the new year we're holding back and in the last three days we're praying and asking God to speak to us about an offering that we give and all that offering that comes in we're gonna donate it and use it to help someone who's poor in our community we're fasting from social interaction can I tell you what one of God's biggest competitors in your life is one of social media think of how often you wake up and you reach for your phone I bet your phone is closer to you than your Bible I bet it is I bet your phone is plugged up so you can reach it at night and your Bible is in the back seat of your car [Applause] thinking how after we start our day by just getting on social media to see who liked and who posted and who tweeted that's a competitor to God and you and I both know social media is more platform for negativity and righteousness than it is for anything positive so we've learned to feed ourselves with negativity and ratchetness more than we do talking to God so we're fasting on social media alpha street is going black six through twenty six off social media none whatsoever and we're fasting in our physical lives we're asking people to commit to different levels of fasting based upon what you can physically do for some people as fasting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. no food while the Sun is up for some people is giving up certain things that that have control of you alcohol caffeine sugars those are all drugs and that some of us are committing to the Daniel Fast like myself now all this is online I want you to go take a look at it your kiyah crowd you you got it on your phone right now you pull it up the Daniel fast you can read it three different ways hardcore is raw diet raw raw vegetables nuts nothing cooked that's the hardcore that ain't the one I signed up for [Applause] I prayed about it God said no the hard core is the raw the the middle way is the vegan that's what I'm choosing the cutting out of all meats and all dairy it's simply going with grains vegetables nuts the more milder form is just the vegetarian for some people the need for protein grain and grain proteins do not feed enough so some people need eggs or need the dairy but in either case if you're on any one of those Daniel fasts we're asking to give up the meat our flesh longs to hunger for meat and learning to be hungry and to conquer that gives you a spiritual discipline and strength that you're not gonna find anywhere else some of us are giving up television I I've decided I'm giving up ESPN in the morning because it it dominates my day I wake up in the morning and I reach for sports center and then Fox Sports all throughout the morning so I'm cutting that off maybe there's a show you like that you watch like we're asking to just give up some things and learn the discipline and in those moments when you would go to that thing or you do hunger for that thing you join us in prayer and devotion every day a devotion is gonna be pushed out to your app if you don't have the Alpha Street Baptist Church app download it make certain the notifications are active and every morning you'll get our prayer and our scripture when you would hunger you pray your way through it when you would watch SportsCenter you read your Bible instead that we feed our spirit while we starve our flesh and we just believe that on January 26 some amazing things and some amazing people will come out at this time of fasting because we've learned to discipline our flesh as we see God I want to pray with you because my list may not be yours but I do pray that God would give you a list of the things you need to do to align yourself into God's will and to what God has created you to be so after the prayer will dismiss from this place as God gives us credence if you're here today and you came wanting to give your life to Lord or wanting to join our church there'll be some deacons down here with you all to welcome you but for the rest of us can we stand and let's be in prayer for what God is about to do in our lives come on the supreme god I can't truly be grateful that he brought me out of 2018 if I'm prepared to repeat it that gratitude for deliverance means desiring something new Florida's we look back over this last year you taught us some things in every storm you showed yourself strong in every disappointment you opened our eyes to new vision in every heartache you revealed to us who was and who was not called for this journey miss Florida's we stand now on the brink of this new day making our first steps into 2019 lord I pray that you would give me a heart that desires more not more things not more money not more people but more of you and more of what you've created me to be and I'm making a decision God to live a called and not an expected life and there's some decisions I've got to make to get me there some things I've got to make a promise to do Lord whatever my list is put it in my mind even now today tonight let me put pen to paper let me post it all around the bathroom write it down on sticky notes in my car that every day I might remember what I am committed to do and to be that I might align my life with your will there is a me in 2019 that I've got to catch up with there's a me you've shaped and formed that I need to become there's a me I need to grow into Oh God and so I'm determined to leave that which is behind behind and press on towards the me you've called and created me to be God [Music] be with my brother as he grows walk with my sister as she matures be with us Oh God as we reshape ourselves and align ourselves with what you want me to do rent to be and to do it God I've got a discipline this flesh thing in me it wants everything other than you these desires this feeding of my flesh that I've done for so long that I don't even know how not to want it anymore God I'm praying that in this season of fasting that you would break my flesh strengthen my spirit change my heart's desires take me like clay in a Potter's hand and mould me after your image we pray that you would have your way in US and on us and through us and with us in the name of Jesus Christ who came that you might know change is possible and the name of the one who died on the cross and you might know your sins do not incarcerate you in the name of the one who gave His life that you may know that you could live a better life in the name of Jesus Christ we pray and there deemed to the Lord who loved the Lord and waited God's return said amen amen listen kaya go in peace next month we're gonna do something amazing we're going back to the first Chaya it's complicated it was gonna be complicated remixed we talked about relationships next month come on back to Kai as we get into it go on the bridge Scott may the grace God go with you [Music]

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 55,624

Rating: 4.8234611 out of 5

Keywords: CAYA, ALfred Street Baptist Church, New Year's, resolutions, Rev Dr Howard-John Wesley

Id: nvlSq06XQeE

Length: 67min 58sec (4078 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 05 2019