Me VS Me | Dr. Matthew Stevenson | The Circle

we're in a series call me versus me and I have been teaching our people the importance of making yourself your own competition and it is a very very very important thing that you make it your habit to do it this has to be the Bible of a mother in Zion these words are so large that I don't need I'm tears because I can see okay tell you praise our Lord but we've been in a series called me versus me and this is a very very very important teaching and it is important from the angle that God is trying to get you in a position to outdo your last self and to outdo your greatest record okay we're in a very competitive culture a culture where ambitions are always colliding but I want to pull you out of the temptation to be competitive with anybody else you have to compete against yourself if you are so focused then there is a realm of productivity you have to have if you compete against yourself say that is so I'll be preaching something today and preaching something this in the later morning that is going to help you but it has been wearing me out I mean and very seldom do preachers preach what preachers live I am living this thing out and it is messing with me to compete against yourself and to focus on what the Lord is doing with you let's go to acts the 14th chapter I'm gonna give you some verses and I'll put out of the top segment of it and then I'm gonna give you some verses out of the lower part of it here is our context when you're in acts 14 say I'm there if you're not there say wait on me another particularity of this translation I'm gonna read it to you in KJV but I really want to preach it to you from a translation called is V is the International Standard Version there is some language here that is going to be very important for you when I'm done in acts 14 1 and says and it came to pass and Iconium that they both went both together into the synagogue the Jews and so spake that a great multitude of the Jews and also the Greeks believed but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles in that interesting that folk you don't even like you'll join together with against somebody else you don't like is so interesting and may their minds evil affected against a brethren long time therefore a bold vain speaking boldly in the Lord which gave testimony unto the word of His grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the multitude of the city was divided in part hail Jew part hailed with the Jews and the other part were with the Apostles and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers to use them despitefully and to stone them they were aware of it and fled unto lystra and derbe the cities of Laconia unto the region that lieth round about them and there they preached the gospel let's go all the way to verse 19 and there came to the certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people and having stoned Paul they drew him out of the city because he were dead howbeit as the disciples stood round about him he rose up came into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby baba thank you for your word in Jesus name a man let's see what we can do one of the most complex issues of every leader every visionary every decider every influencer every designer anybody that is the head of anything is going to struggle at cabinet-level your nation is led by one man who is influenced by several men any leader has always at the forefront of their concern do I have the right people around me and if that's not your concern it should be because many of you are impeded in your progress because of your cabinet and I don't think that cabinets are just for people who are recognized leaders I believe there is such thing as a life cabinet I think there's a such thing as an investment cabinet there are cabinets that belong to your life and I love seeing the templates and the examples in the book of Acts and what it teaches us and but it's easy while studying the book of Acts to miss some of the rich wisdom in it if you only see the miracles and the movement and the momentum one of the things that you see very consistently from Acts 4-ohm back is the power of covenant you see covenant relationship you see covenant approach you see company communication and and even a part of company communication is covenant conflict you find where Paul and Peter had very strong disagreements and they never came to a resolve they moved on if it is real covenant it ought to be able to recover from conflict if it cannot recover from conflict don't call it a coven its top-line look at somebody say stop line conflict does not mean the end of a thing it means that after conflict you should be tighter than what you was before and I would caution many of you who have friends that you can't argue it and be restored from let's move on God is doing something in this church hear me prophetically around the subject of covenant it'll help you understand in a minute he's doing it in two marriages he's doing it with the friends he's doing it at the discipleship level now in order for you to understand what I'm about to holler at you about I want you to know that God wants you to live a crucified life yeah for whatever reason they won't go I said God wants you to live a crucified life you are meant to live crucified it'll get rich in a minute you're supposed to love crucified you're supposed to get up in the morning and what do it Paul said which is bring your body under subjection and if God's model for you hey trip is to live the crucified life and I want you to think and consider the cross okay this is all going to support my theory if you consider the cross there are three dimensions there it has an upward a lateral and a vertical connection right this means that if your life is supposed to be crucified you bare-minimum need relationship at three levels okay I'm gonna unfold this mystery to you simply number one you need accountability to something over you Jesus said I only do what I see my father do if you don't have anybody in your life that you say yes sir - you are not a soldier everybody at every realm of influence needs somebody that is a superior if you are your own superior then you have no real authority authority is not something that's taken it's something that's granted and further in the year I'm gonna have to go on a rant about the dangers of an unsubmitted people Jesus was a submitted man and so the top of that is something over you I run my ideas by you I run my thinking by you and I give you permission to give me healthy sparring if I am considering doing something this way help me know that it's the right way by being the advocate of the resistance if you are my superior then I give you permission to give me pushback is this graphic dumb is this business really a business should I go to this city what is more appropriate if you don't have healthy pushback on an idea you should not trust it somebody should be able to ping pong back and forth with you about what you're about to invest in that's number one and then at the cross you have piers you have something that stretches out this way it'll make sense in a minute which means that you need ball that don't need you near elationship and you need accountability at the brother/sister level I'm just warming up you need people who are not so busy being impressed with what you do well that they can help you improve and every dimension of you now many of you only do well in relationship at this next level which is those that are beneath me and not beneath me in value but in a function jesus had it in three worms he had those that he had God he had the people he poured into and then he had those that were beneath them you need that for the Crucified life a superior appear and an investment okay those are the three dynamics of relationship the danger and not having an investment is that you become self-centered if you're not pouring you're full of yourself and what will happen is if you start to pour at whatever level you can you realize that your life is not as bad as what you think be very cautious of a non pouring Christian because what happens is they enter into self worship into self-loathing and sometimes if you need to break the spirit of heaviness or regret or where I am in my life put yourself in somebody else's life and what will happen is you'll get perspective in this example of covenant all of the Apostles function this way right Jesus Christ was their superior even from the grave they had a tandem Council hi Victoria in Jerusalem that was led by James II elder brother and then each of them had a different audience that they poured into a very tailored very specific market in this season of your life I feel like this preach is prophetic you are about to master your market a part of what's going on right now even for those of us that have professional aspirations are we launching a lot of the same services and products to the same market and you cannot prosper in an oversaturated market if everybody's starting a chicken you need to open a shrimp sack the problem with us is that we don't learn the market now with this wonderful as you are I feel good and what as beautiful as you are and what is excellent as you are you are not that anointed there's going to be a market that you kept out that your effectiveness has nothing to do with how many people hear you your effectiveness has to do with who responds to you like they respond to nobody else so by mathematic deduction you are only as effective as you are in your market you to learn the market who do I appeal to who and there's some people I know taste already know there's a lot of folk that watch me just for the sake of watching and I tell them on time turn the channel I'm gonna say something that's gonna make you mad you're not my market so they're people that can live without what I have to say right but there are other people where it's beyond the palate it's a purpose thing and even if they don't like the way I see it they can control what's going on in than what I'm talking I know my market the effectiveness fond of the Apostles was not just how they were trained it was who they were sent to in this particular chapter you see an apostolic team you see Paul and a companion and very common or simple or unique to how Paul would travel he could not go anywhere alone because people were always after him I always feel somebody's watch he had real live stalkers and he had stalkers because his progress was offensive please write that down do not make the mistake of thinking that there will not be resistance to progress progress is a very offensive thing there are people that will be offended as you decide to evolve progress is not something that's just a natural life goal progress is a spiritual phenomena when you progress or when you evolve what you've done is you've departed one realm you've departed one dimension and you've also departed one identity because you do not go forward that's the same person all of that as that is when we see the progress in the book of Acts we understand why the war is what it is if you don't like warfare you will stagnate warfare and progress is synonymous if you don't learn how to push against resistance you're going to stop moving in the book of Acts we've got this theme a consistent momentum if you diligently study from chapter to chapter they're doing more than what they peed in the last chapter we land upon access fourteenth chapter and here we are in this mixed environment remember what I told you there are some that are supporters there are some that are students and there's some that are critics and there's some that are murderers you got this one environment and all throughout this chapter Paul is doing what Paul does but this momentum segment was different because now his market was changing okay he was once appealing to one crowd now he's appealing to another crowd he's in the middle of this shift of audience and you find that there are unbelieving Jews who should have been listening to him that have now partnered with Gentiles now think about the hypocrisy of that Jew and Gentile could not socially even coexist but now because we got a common target you won't help me now because we've got a common strategist and a syndra point even though we don't like each other we can join together to try to stop you if you are making progress you better hear what I'm telling you you got some folk that don't like each other that are going to join to stop what you about to do they don't love each other they talk about each other behind a back but if you fool around and made too much progress your enemies enemies will start to be friends to choose unbelieving Jews and the Gentiles create this tandem partnership to stop progress we have to stop this but whenever an assignment of God is progressing at some point it's going to go from natural progress to supernatural progress our chapter shows a progression Paul starts off teaching and boldly declaring and then there's a segment of scriptures before we land at verse 20 that says the message now started to become miraculous in in the science of progress you'll only be able to do so much naturally at some point it's going to turn miraculous God's gonna start to emboss hallelujah and indoors what he validated out the spirit through miraculous things so they were fine as long as Paul was at the vocal level once it started happening at the supernatural level they came up with a strong strong desire not to hurt him not to offend him not to lie on him but to kill him there like this we're not gonna do this anymore we just came out of us see we got Jesus okay now we're not gonna sit here and relive through these political implications these civil implications we've got to kill him we got to make sure we stop him so the Bible says that after Paul did some miracles that here gonna be same mixed market with stones in their hands and the Bible said that there was no angel no CPR no ambulance God let Paul died we had never considered that Paul was stoned to death the wrong margin or the right market or the market that didn't realize they were the right market kill them because here's the other thing about your assignment not all of your assignment know that they're your assignment God called me last year the inoculant and he told me he said one of the things I'm using you to do is give the body of Christ shots and not a basketball shot but a real needle okay it's one of those things but you know you need it you just don't like it you understand everything that you're assigned to it's not gonna celebrate you at first for the majority of the people you'll call too you'll be a hero once you're not available no more I bet you dr. King would love to know we love him I bet you Malcolm X would love to know that we honor him but during their era they were not received until they could be revealed and they could only be revealed when they pulled back and was no longer here so everything you assigned to is not gonna know what here is my real message what do you do when your adversary or your opponent is effective at killing you and you can't help yourself I show you a mystery what you would have done that's one of your leaders appears fall dead I would've immediately probably went into tongues it's just my go-to for everything okay it stopped me from customs so I just pray in the spirit a whole lot some of you would have done CPR others of you would have tried to text somebody or phone for help you know what the Bible pattern of this was it is always amazed me what happened we have a Death Zone come here Ryan come here Robert come here Michael come here Jordan glory to God all right you ready BAM Paul they're just that [Applause] now y'all grieve just agreed to start crying like no law bring Aretha back come on breathe I haven't given you the title of my message yet Paul died they threw rocks at him killed him he was dead he was graveyard dead witness the next verse saying but the believers that were there made a circle make a circle make a circle make a circle make a shaker they made a circle in the the name of my message I feel like I talk to you please be seated thank you this is a season of the circle when you get successful listen to the circles gotta get small you don't have the same allowances that you used to when you make more money the circle has to get smaller when you've got more influence the circle has to get smaller when you about to consecrate the circle must get smaller and in the last season of your life the war was in your circle trying to figure out who belonged where what their role was if they were there for the right motives if nothing in your life is tight that circle must be and when you start to interview people for the circle because these are people you are entrusting with the right to give you life what do you want I need to know do you want to be me you I don't want to have Church are you angry at me because you can't celebrate me if you want to be I want to know why also wanna know who sent you you gotta be careful Kenny uh people just want to appear in your life just introduced himself and then Bogart all of your boundaries to make you see them and trust them when you are examining the circle of critical conversations need to happen I just told you outside of the circle you're a dead man but in the circle you come alive [Applause] [Music] Jesus had a circle and there were things that he would do and say in the circle that he would not do outside of the circle Oh bless his powerful man blessed is the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and they shall be filled that was a message for a broad market there's nothing really deep mysterio Mittman mysterious about that the kingdom of God is like unto a man who gave his pearl to a field to the public he gave one message the Beatitudes before the masses the twelve were the recipient of the parable the twelve needed to have the kingdom of God unveiled to them in a way that they could figure it out he did not speak plainly when he was teaching the twelve he had to teach them so that he could grow them the kingdom of God is like unto the kingdom of God is like unto be not therefore like unto them for they think they will be heard for their much speaking but human you pray go into your closet and close your door and when you fast put some all on your face get your little skinny's in and moisturize yourself don't walk around here looking for sympathy when you're fast that was for the twelve eat my flesh drink my blood did you see the different toll of these three conversations - three different audiences the twelve were not mature enough to hear something about blood drinking and body eating on the mountain the twelve went to sleep took a nap Jesus was like I'm trying to teach you Negros how to pray three of the twelve didn't go to sleep three of them was scrolling just up watching them Jesus she's a mountain of fall and he goes up to the mountain and those three follow him he gets to the top of the mountain and they literally watched him become trained some of our takes on a fool that allows them to see through him it's called a Mount of Transfiguration the cycle to see through him didn't take the twelve to the top of the mountain buta James and John and when they saw him through him then they saw Moses then they saw Elijah and they wanted to build a memorial there pay attention they they wanted to make an agreement and an arrangement around their transparency and Jesus said don't do that why what I've allowed you to see through me it's for your benefit I want you to use discretion I don't want you building a tabernacle around this because I don't want other people to see it the circle needs to be the people that you trust to see through you and keep it with them help me the circle means to be the place where everything is allowable in the circle there's nothing we don't talk about and I don't want you to build something off of what you just saw in me so that the public can gain access to it this is between me and you this is my life zone in my life zone I don't make you figure me out the mind games is for the 12 if the devil's going to hurt you or you or you or you it's not coming from row 20 it's not gonna come from somebody on internet land if the devil really wants to bring war in your life you're gonna do something in the hearts of one of them people in the circle this is why what makes the circle tight is transfiguration transformation' transparency it means being able to go in and out from seeing me one way to see me another way listen to me sugar I wish I had happened somebody needs to know what's under there but it can't be everybody some stuff is poor this circle grab somebody say it's for the circle it's for the circle this is how people end up dead by rocks they have nobody to form a circle you have the right to appoint people Jason they not helping me today you have the right to appoint people I don't think you should play magical mythical mind games I think you have the right to appoint them when I'm giving circle considerations I go to the table with a truth that is shocking so I because I I'm not full of myself when I want you in my circle I go to the table and say hey I'm crazy I'm not gonna always return your text messages I'm Moody oh you don't want to have anything Mondays I don't feel like it Tuesdays I may feel like it I don't push you out and then hug you and then kiss you on your forehead call it bipolar or whatever you are everybody's got a battle this is who I am if you can't handle that I can't have you hear your father have you can't handle the real me but not anointed me but not gifted me you can put is just me but you gotta get away from me I need in me versus me you have got to examine I don't believe in default relationships that's my girl that's my homie we grew up together we went to the same school and we come from the same church that's great but I don't believe in moving into a new apartment and keeping the same furniture some stuff some stuff has got to be different for the new space that lap was real good in the studio but I'm over here in mansion bill fam and I need some stuff that can work this room don't make the mistake I'm thinking that everybody in the same room is in your corner some people that can't wait to find you out but when the cycle is tight I said when the cycle is tight you know who gets killed by persecution people with a weak circle you know just distracted by what the adversary say people with the wrong circle with your enemies are allowed your friends I've got to be louder that's the reason you quit it's not the devil it's your [Applause] some stuffy Poston belongs in the circle some stop you tweeting belongs in the circle some stuff you bleeding about you can please just do it in here don't bleed out there and let them cackle in hyenas smell your weakness and your vulnerability you've got to get the circle rights if you're going to a life of progress your assignment before you go forward adjust that circle if you broke in a circle give me my circle back all of the other gods they are the works of men you are the Most High God there is no one like you all of them other gods they are the works of men you are the Most High God there is no one like you all of the other guns they are the works of men you are the most hang on there is no one like Yugi over you are the most man you are the Most High God G / you are the most high you are the most high G of eyes you are the bolsa you are the most high god G oh come on and find your parts a G offers you you are the Most High God Giovana [Music] most of all [Music] you're seated at the right hand of the Father [Music] look the reason [Music] gee you sacrifice your life for all humanity let's just do it you alone these are my words you alone deserves my prayers I'm making a point and we [Music] gee ho ho we live to her [Music] you are [Music] all the mud [Music] it demands up here's the point I'm making you are the most huh you are the most Chanukah Jeff over you are brother Moses had done dying again come on keep that play get a circle around them I'm gonna show you a mystery without the right circle it's going to be hard to lift Jesus if you don't have the right life support you are limited in how high you can lift him Jesus on the cross was lifted by three people the level of your glorifying God is limited without the right circle here is what I'm gonna give you move so this is book of ecclesiastes who's so great gift ahead Jordan fall out I mean walk away don't don't gather just just keep it just like that whoso break at the hedge the serpent wheel but that's your Bible many of you are suffering unnecessary attacks because of a rope if the front door is locked I'm going to try the back door if the back door is locked I'll try the window your adversary is coming and he's looking for entry points to your life if you broker psycho and didn't do what need to be done to fix it or repair it you're one minute away from a snake bite someone you need to repair broken circles and and humility admit where you messed up yo I'm sorry and here's why I was in Mexico land the Spirit of God whispered something to me so profound we're going worship in a minute I was before God on just life stuff and he said to me son the problem is your covenants are not as deep as your warfare you have a level of warfare that is so deep that you have to have covenant that exceeds your level of warfare it made me start looking at the depth not the number but the depth of the people around me to wonder what I could do to make it deeper if I'm going to get attacked by darkness I need some deep relationships you need more than people to shop with you need people to cry with you need more than people to laugh with you need people to vacation with well you can take your title off take your job off and just be you if you don't have that warfare it's going to swallow you [Music] it's nobody higher than you I'm gonna give you about we're done but I want you to lift the Lord over your relationship life for many of you that's the one area of your life that's not submitted your social your so get your circle and your friendship choices and some of you are missing out on real jewels because y'all don't have nothing in common but when you're in covenant we don't have to have things in common people always say well how you gonna tell me how to be divorced if you ain't never been divorced it's the same way Jesus was able to heal diseases he never had she I don't have to have been where you've been to want to be there it's your job to give me a space no we don't have the same journey but if I'm willing to be there let me you are the most lift your hands and I want you to allow the Lord to do something your heart and I want you to allow him to work on your heart so that all of your relationship fears your relationship inhibitions your relationship paranoia's are gone come on well I have so many fears I trusted people before I loved people before but I'm scared this scares me okay I'm teaching you right now how to get deeper so you can have relationships lift the Lord above your fears that's why I started singing you got to lift the Lord above your concerns I know that there are risks but you got to learn to lift him above the wrists and in his exalted he will do yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] Oh ha [Music] ha you're so much bigger than what I'm afraid of come on at your house but before the mountains were brought forth who can stand against you do I yeah and will [Music] you are the Messiah in closing in my life anytime something has happened that was aimed to kill me I felt dead until I was in the circle and I know there's a lot of phobias fears attached to it but you have to get over yourself it's dangerous for the Lord to prosper you without the right circle it's dangerous for you to see all you're going to see until you start making adjustments in that life cabinet maybe you've broken a circle or haven't fully been transparent with one maybe you just don't have one at all you have got to make this a priority the worst part of this is without worship relationship is tiresome especially if you comfortable with yourself and want to be around yourself but when you're worshipper it keeps your heart so pliable that you're willing to put in the work that relationship requires relationship takes work you've got to learn how you talk I gotta learn how you hear I'm gonna learn what's important to you I've got to learn what's not obvious about you in order to be what we need to be we've got to have crucial conversation to make sure that I'm Manning the circle well please hear me this is a matter of warfare the long circle could expose you to pointless attack but in the right circle this is my life so do you ever need to come alive get in the circle Paul was resurrected from the dead cuz people formed a circle around him my godfather I'm praying and I'm interceding for every person that hears this be exalted in how they do relationship be exalted in their lives and convict them concerning covenant breaking Holy Spirit of God highlight what needs to be dismissed and then highlight what needs to be added if there is something wrong in the circle exposure if there is somebody that's been ordained for the circle that's not there draw then like God and help them to understand that this is the foundation of all of the momentum that you destined for them and we give your name the priests that you don't want us doing life alone two is better than one help us to identify that covenant circle if you're trusting the Lord for healthy relationships go ahead give them some praise in faith William come on give us a present you need this come on even you know you crazy just celebrate God he what we're leaving up but I I want to do something that I mean I never really do how many of you can relate to having your circle be breached now I'm not talk about that God send some stuff away I'm talking about it there was just a miss whatever we missed each other we one is available we judged it listen there is no room for judgment in that circle even if you get it wrong I'm not gonna help that I'm not going to be Satan's spoke person for you I'll identify it but my job is to be the life song they said some of us are so judgmental and then some of us are so rejected we pre reject people to make sure that you beat them to the job so you complicate it so that they cannot get in so you can say I told you so and remain on hold [Music] I challenge you if you know you've breached here we go a circle in here take your mind out of who was right or wrong I challenge you or if you committed to being a part of a circle and did not do as best you could because here's another thing I don't have the time to teach you God great you won't friction [Music] you don't like that gospel they will know Jesus said that you are meat mine by how y'all love each other y'all suck if I was the world watching how y'all knew each other I would never get saved by this they'll know that you're my disciples not cuz you doing victory laps and not cuz you dance but how you love each other motion you have no long-suffering love you can't have it cuz you're full of fear so you think having endurance in your love exposes you but it doesn't the worst-case scenario would all hurt is that he has to heal you this your worst case why are you not relating for feeling hurt let your hand if you ever been hurt before [Music] Jan down lift your hands if you're currently dead if you're in a grave right there's life after hurt you will live pot is the same even when people change if they hurt you hold on the rock if they disappoint you pull on the rock and when you pull on the rock he's gonna give you responsibility and you could appear differently you got to trust God to trust people I want some restoration in this room get up don't find you a circle if they're here come on get up all over the rope do it and if you breached one go find them too [Music] find your circle now if you're sleeping with them don't go to her I'm gonna expose you today I feel prophetic because you know that's where the spirit of seduction tries to get to Einstein you devil come on find your circle do it now if y'all ain't got no circle nowhere we need an altar call for deliverance you are the Most High now if you breach one I challenge you to repent this is the life zone [Music] I'm so proud of y'all I know sir I'm sorry some of y'all got three hands up top so bless all right you are the Most High now look I want everybody to look around real quick look around and see how many people don't have life squats now I'm gonna assume that most of y'all oh my god most yeah the most I'll have life squads that are not here that's fine but that can't be all y'all some of y'all just don't have it you okay we're doing it by yourself if you broke covenant if you have not been active in one and at all nations I know what y'all do y'all say are we building but then you don't check the temperature or the tempo or the rhythm of that building you need a circle all right now I want you in that circle if you're not doing as good as you could admit it right now come on admit it man up drama your suck leg you come on [Music] now if y'all doing good and y'all you know y'all working on it or whatever I want you to make a stronger commitment do it now wait a minute I thought to say i'ma give you about 10 seconds to make a commitment I haven't been praying for you as much as I should I've not been prioritizing friend time I wasn't honest about my attack come on own it own it listen to me a powerful area for the circle is condemnation put some regret in there tell them I got some regrets that's why I'm doing this talk [Music] I mean who has a whole small sail group in a miniature to now if you don't have a circle get one sick of it you are the Most High [Music] g-hold uh all right now hug them real tight real real real tight real real real tight real real real tight tight tight tight tight tight come on hug your circle all right now go back to your seat I'm opening doors to the church now [Music] I do you [Music] all right

Channel: All Nations Chicago

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Length: 55min 8sec (3308 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 20 2019