SAVE YOUR STRENGTH | Gates of Change | Pastor Steven Furtick

[Music] we are very excited about what God is speaking to us in this new series the series is called gates of change and we started last week just taking responsibility for our own relationship with God and and we made a decision that we will not be perfect this year but we will be present we will be present and we will show up we will show up for the celebrations and the struggles and we will take our seat in the gate and what we're saying is we're gonna be where we belong this year and so touch your neighbor say I'm back I am back I'm really excited to share the scripture with you today that I ended on from Isaiah 28 verses 5 and 6 this is where I stopped last week and I want to pick up here very powerful Old Testament prophecy in that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate only to scriptures so I like to repeat it again because we have plenty of time in that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment a source of strength to those who turned back the battle at the gate look at your neighbor say save your strength I want to speak to you today about save your strength for the battles that really matter to have a prioritized life so that you don't waste time chasing down stuff that ought to be running from you to save your energy for your real life instead of your imaginary battles that you may not ever even have to fight but the devil wants to keep you up all night with so you're sleepy when you go to work the next morning save your strength for the relationships that God wants you to invest in so you don't keep going back to people who continue to abuse you in ways that you should have seen coming save your strength so you don't do in the flesh what can only be done by might and power and the Spirit of the Lord save your strength and some of you are behind you miss last week so I told them catch everybody up in 90 seconds sit down let's go to the movies real quick and I'll start this second installment the greatest trouble in David's life came when he became passive or you might say disengaged I don't think there's ever been a time in the world where we've been more engaged on the surface and more disengaged in our souls I'm disengaged not because I don't care but just because I'm afraid I don't know if I have what it takes David was shaken and everything changed for David when he did something so simple the King got up left his chamber and took his seat in a game and with the enemy comes with his accusations and has excuses I want you to look I'm square in the eye before the year even gets started good and tell him devil this seat is taken this is the place of responsibility this is the place of owning your story but it begins with the decision for you to take your place in the game we're gonna start getting intentional about our thoughts so that we win the battle between the gates I thought I'd start my sermon where I ended it last time you know I thought I would take a moment and just illustrate how sometimes where something shows up is not where it started at this sermon that you hear today came from a note that I made last year and sometimes where something shows up isn't where it starts by the time you hear the sermon it's already been hopefully in the process of me thinking about it for a long time because I don't want to just think of something Saturday and say it on Sunday I even realized that about about your life like you you showed up today and I'll see you but I don't really see what it took for you to get here or you know what if what is affecting your mind as I preach sometimes people would say that's the best sermon you had for preach don't say oh it's just the best you ever listened why not good but the sermon starts before it starts always tell the parking team like hey help me out when people are coming in smile Adam wave at him put him in a good mood it'll make my job easier cuz the sermon starts before it stars it starts before it starts it starts you checking in your kids or starting something so make sure make sure that you get as good of a start as possible and this time of year we're so focused on new beginnings but the longer you live the less you really believe in new beginnings and the cliches don't really comfort you in the same way or inspire you at the same level any more new you new you know no I didn't grow three inches you see me you can't really get a new start to your story what you can do is change the ending and the only real way for you to affect the ending is to understand a starting place it's very important that we understand the scripture that I read in the context of the times because there would have been an outside gate the outer wall of the city with a gate for entrance and inner gate as a line of defense and then this space between the gate where justice was supposed to be served negotiations happened and people would buy and sell and that was the space between the gates where the negotiations of life and the deliberations took place but between the gates where we're talking in this series about that space between the gates the realm of your decisions the realm of your thought process the space between what you see with your eyes and what you do in your life what you hear with your ears and how you act when you go home that's space that's where the battle is won and lost now by the time the battle is won there has already been significant work done nobody wins the Olympics at the race they won the Olympics in the dark at 4:30 where their success showed up is not where their success started and usually if you see an issue in somebody's life where it showed up is not where it started it's the same with victories that it is with defeat I told a story last week about my dad and the reason I like to tell so many stories about my dad is because he's not here to correct them it can tell him how I want want to tell him the one I told about him last week made him made him sound kind of bad but I thought I would tell her a good one about him my dad was a good dad especially if you compare him to the standard that he didn't have a dad to show him how to do it and he was making it up when he was doing it he was just kind of he was winging it and I have mad respect for that because it's hard enough to be a dad when you've seen a dad but he had to make it up and so some of his tactics were not fda-approved some of his tactics were kind of street tactics one time I told my mom I wanted to kill him yeah not my finest moment I'll kill him I want to kill him and when he picked me up from school that day early dismissal picked me up from school and said he had two guns in the back of the truck yeah I was gonna get one and he was gonna get one cuz he heard I wanted to kill him and if I didn't shoot he was going to I mean that is not necessarily the type of parenting you hear about I'm focused on the family but he's doing Bessy good and he didn't actually do it he let me cry for ten minutes and think that he was gonna do it but I never said it again um one of his finest moments though I don't know where he got the idea to do this was when he began to talk to me about addiction he began to talk to me about addiction because his father committed suicide and had been a very mean drunk his father's father had been an alcoholic and somewhere along the line he made the decision that I can't go back and rewrite how this story started in our bloodline but I'm gonna impart a vision to my son so that he might be the one to write a different ending you can't create a new beginning but you can write a new ending that's what I'm trying to say you can't change who wasn't there for you but but you can write a new ending and maybe we should start this year not as an expectation of new beginnings but new endings that from this point forward I said from this point forward Paul said I press toward the mark this one thing I do forgetting what is behind me there is no strength in what's behind me I stretch toward what's ahead I saw my dad he would pull me aside even from like a really young age like I was eight years old and he would pull me aside and start talking to me about the dangers of alcoholism eight years old and he would tell me I my dad was a drunk and his dad was a drunk and his dog was don't you say you could be the first verdict it wasn't an alcoholic he put it out there like a challenge to me like like you could go to the moon you could be the first Verde that kind of like that I was only eight I was eight I don't know what he thought the kids were bringing to school in their juice boxes like what temptation he thought I was under you'd be the first verdict and it got through to me even when I got a little older I could be the first four this is not a sermon about don't drink by the way okay I said don't you get all nervous like that like I'm one of those preachers because I have noticed a lot of the preachers who preach don't drink or eighty pounds overweight so apparently they skipped all the verses about gluttony and okay oh you didn't come for all that let's get back to the scripture Isaiah said that he will be is anybody leaving I can't see very well back to here huh oh so they're okay okay a source of strength to him who turns back the battle at the gate in other words God will strengthen the will of the one who makes the decision it stops here I'm taking my place in the gate to say that I cannot affect how the story started but my dad said if you really want to be the first verdict to beat this you got to beat it in your blood because if you taste it you're gonna like it so I want to challenge you just don't ever fight it he was trying to get me to see that sometimes the best place to fight the battle is before it ever begins to draw a line and say I'm not even going there I'm not even playing with this this is not going to be a part of my children's legacy I can't control what it's been until now but from this day forward by the grace of God I am a new creation in Christ and I'm gonna beat it in the bloodline I'm gonna make a stand for the next generation there are going to be some changes at the game the place to beat it is before it begins because if you let it in you've already let it win it's like this in marriage by the time you let resentment in you've already let bitterness win it's it's like this in our thought process by the time we let worry in we've already let anxiety win and this is the year we no longer fight the devil on his level because I say I said there is a strategy you can turn back the battle at the gate it's a powerful thought sometimes people make fun of me we go out to eat they say oh yeah I forgot you don't drink fine I'm judging you drink what you want to drink I drink 14 Diet Mountain Dew a day I got a little judgment for your liquid consumption I've got a different drug what I'm saying is this is a decision I made it is a standard that I have said and the problem in Isaiah is they is that the leaders who should have been setting the standard for the people have lowered the standard and let the people vulnerable this has no relevance to our modern day of course the Bible is an ancient book in fact Isaiah says he gives a picture of it he says that the leaders who are supposed to be sitting in their seat of judgment rendering decisions of virtue and justice verse seven he says they stagger from wine and reel from beer the priests and the prophets when this make church more interesting the priests and the prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine y'all I have a hard enough time making sense when I'm up here sober can you imagine what I would sound like if I had a view he said they stagger when seeing visions they cannot see correctly so how can they lead correctly they stumble when rendering decisions they are the ones who are supposed to calibrate the calling of the nation and yet they are so drunk maybe it's a metaphor maybe it's not just that they're drunk on alcohol maybe they're drunk on pride maybe they're intoxicated with power maybe a self aggrandizement that has caused the leaders of this day to begin to weigh self-interest in a different scale than the best interest of the people and yet Isaiah says something that rings true today that God will be a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate notice he says that no matter who sits in the gate God is still the source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate it would be worth answering the question who is the source of your strength you haven't decided it by now you need to decide it really quickly because if the source of your strength is who you're sitting beside you will live a very disappointed life if the source of your strength is a number at the bottom of your balance sheet something will hit your life so hard that you can't buy your way out of it and you will find out really quickly that net worth is a terrible place to put your sense of self value if the source of your strength is how people look at you or treat you or think about you if the source of your strength on any given day is the condition of your health you will always be susceptible to the elements and so Isaiah says he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment and a source of strength of those who turn back the battle at the gate to make God the source of your strength means that you depend on him as one psalmist said you lift your eyes to the hills from whence cometh your help your help cometh from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth and he will not suffer your foot to be moved the Lord which keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade upon your right hand and there's someone that smite thee by day nor the moon by night he will preserve your soul even forevermore to know that all your help comes from God that all your hope is in Jesus that all of your help comes not from the right not from the left not from the north not from the south not from the economy not from the job touch somebody's saying not you God is my source now go ahead and clap right now if you know God's got your back if I stand up on your feet and shout about it if God is your source in every season of your life in every famine I have a friend named Jesus [Applause] [Music] he is my source I am so tempted to preach on this part of the verse then I almost forgot what came before it I say I said in that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people now what is the wreath and what is a remnant besides a Christmas decoration a wreath symbolizes victory and he is preaching victory to people who are about to experience defeat he's preaching of course about the impending Assyrian evasion to the to the northern territory of Samaria the crown jewel of the Northern Kingdom of Israel said on a fertile valley he's speaking to them about their their potential and he's telling them how their protection is gone and so now they're going to face a season of defeat and in the same breath that he promises to be a source of strength he warns them of a coming defeat but yet he speaks about victory in the context of defeat he says in that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people God said he will be a wreath for the remnant the wreaths symbolize this victory the remnant represents what's left God always has a remnant no matter what you've lost in your life or who walked away from you God always leaves a remnant no matter how wicked this world gets or how dark the times that we live in may seem to be God always has a remnant and every office god has a remnant in every Church God has a remnant in every city and every generation God has a remnant God always has a remnant there's always a little bit of oil in the house even if you feel like you're starving to death God always has a remnant there's always a little boy with the lunch if you call him for it and put it in the hands of the master it will multiply because God always has a remnant no matter how many leave Gideon there will always be 300 and God is able to win with the remnant God said I'm gonna bless what's left I will not be limited by what you lost I will be a wreath for the remnant I'm gonna bless what's left I'm gonna bless what's left stop weeping over what's lost I'm gonna bless what's left I want you to shout right now over what you've got left I want you to shout right now over the gift you have the strength you have the friends you have the opportunities you have the time you have God said I'm gonna bless what you got left if you will not stay stuck in what walked away I'm gonna bless what you got left you can win with what you got left feel like preaching I feel like preaching to the remnant where's the remnant at where are the ones who win through the firing and a bless what's left no matter what happens at the leadership level I'm looking for someone who will turn back the battle at the gate and in that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people and then he mentions two different spirits watch this in verse 6 can we study the Bible he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment that's the first one and a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate so you've got the spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment and the source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate studied that text all week and I thought I was talking about two different things but the more I read it the more I realized that this is two functions of the same spirit he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate the first part of the verse is about standards he will be a spirit of justice he will decide what is wrong and write to the one who sits in judgment he will be a spirit of justice and a source of strength to the one who turns back the battle at the gate so the same God that is the source of our strength is to also be the source of our standards and here's the question that I came to ask today how can I expect God's strength if I do not embrace God's standards I'm about to throw this my brother see how can i how can I call God the source of my strength if I have not made him the source of my standards he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment now if I have left that seat open and I have left culture to tell me what's right and wrong how can I look to culture for my standards and then look to God for my strength how can I look for the world to tell me how to live and then expect God to give me strength for a standard that was not his how can I call God the source of my strength if he is not the source of my standards how can I expect his strength and resist his standards it's good right that's why I feel weak sometimes because I'm asking God to strengthen me but I have given away my strength because I have lowered my standard and then the enemy comes in like a flood but I don't have a standard then I ask God to give me joy you know and your president feels the joy joy the Lord is my strength and I want his strength I want his joy but if I have not applied his standard to my thought life and I let my mind think whatever it wants to think and I go to God for strength but I did not go to him for standards I am asking him to violate the very nature of our relationship how can he be the source of my strength if I won't let him be the source of my standards who set your standards who who set your standards what was it was it was it God that set your standards I was talking to one guy the other day became very apparent to me pretty quickly that he sets his own standards for right and wrong and I admire him for that cuz I don't trust myself that much I mean he must be really perfect to have his own standard for right and wrong see I need a God I need a god who's bigger than me wiser than me who's been around longer than me I need a God who can see around the next corner and know how this decision is going to affect my destiny I don't want to occupy that seat I need a God and sometimes we're so crazy as Christians we will allow the world to set our standards as a church and tell us what the church ought to be and not be and put us in a box and call us by a denomination but I will not be standardized by a dysfunctional world I have a higher standard we are a Chosen People a royal priesthood a holy nation to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness black preachin come preaching like this might be my last time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] whyyou presort one of my friends said you know you preached too hard he said I hollered too much then he said you know you could take a little bit extra time and for yourself and not prepare so hard and people wouldn't even know the difference I shouldn't tell you he was a pastor you see what happens when leaders lower the standard because to be honest with you I don't preach to your standard the only question I have when I get done with this sermon is God did I get it right and if I got it right I don't care how many likes clicks shares downloads I don't care who did something walks out in the middle of it cuz I made them uncomfortable or they wanted to watch a football game I don't care if they last stand up and clap I'm not preaching for them [Applause] what one preacher one time said I don't preach for the praise of men amen amen who set your standard have you ever thought about it or did you just inherit it who set your standard you look into celebrities for your standard really them the ones who are so miserable they can only be happy when they have attention really that's your standard who say your standard who said who said your standard of what you will and will not listen to who say your standard oh you think you're better than us that's what they'll say when you start living with standards oh you think you're better than us no it's just that I know how much I need a source that is not me because I am weak without him in fact of nothing without him so excuse me but the battle that I'm in is too real for me to play around and live my life with exposed places and low standards so I gotta get this right this year I like that I like that boy right there he looks like a teenager with standards right sitting there leaning in in church some kids will be texting in church but not you you look like you want something from God boy you look like you got a mission you look like God might use you don't you live down to the level of your friends your friends don't know anything yet God is taking you places stand up on your feet right now yeah you stand up right now raise the standard don't lower it when you show up Oh God walks through the halls we can show up in schools the presence of God move raise the standard you're really gonna let your unmarried friends tell you how to do your marriage I'll tell you if I had a wife I wouldn't uh-huh you said all I needed to hear in that if I had a wife part I wanted what you had I'd do what you're doing but I want something better [Applause] hmm just standard sometimes our standards need to be lowered something yeah yeah no sometimes they do because sometimes it takes too much to make us happy go set the standard for what it takes to make you happy who set the standard for what it takes to have a good day I'm bad about this one bad meeting and I had a bad day no no no it's like that old man told me that time I said how you doing he said I'm alive I thought what you didn't answer me and then I realized yes he did because for him to be alive he woke up it's a good day he woke up it's a good day you set your standards I mean when did we come to the point when kids had to watch a movie in the car Tripta target I used to have to drive right for hours with a crayon and a book and now you need Elsa to get the harris-teeter go set this standard go what time I was complaining I preached on the Saturday night my friend came he's on staff in another church and I was apologizing to him because the crowd was a little down because I was used to being packed out an elevation on Saturday night I said I'm sorry man it was kind of it was kind of down today he said your down day would be my revival I needed that because sometimes you let your standard get out of control sometimes as the church we want to put a standard on the world that we ourselves don't even exemplify we can't even figure out racial reconciliation within the context of the community of faith but then we want to judge it when it's in the world the guy's got a remnant God always has a remnant I believe God is raising up elevation church as a remnant in this day to raise the standard of what church can be and how broad this message really is we're here to raise the standard I wonder who set your standards see how can you expect God to be your strength if he didn't set your standards how can I expect success if I don't have a standard of excellence if I have not established a standard of excellence in my life why would I expect God to bless my blemished offerings you could take a little time off your sermons you know nobody would notice but why would I ask God to bless something that my whole heart wasn't in it's hard to preach this in church because in church people think that if it's for God it doesn't have to be good church can become a place where we just bring God any old thing we show up on time for something we buy a ticket for but we thirty-five minutes late to get to church and it doesn't matter cuz it's like the preliminary stuff or something like that just bring God any old thing and listen I am NOT talking about keeping God's standards so that you'll earn his love this is not about keeping rules so that God will love you it's because living right because he does [Applause] not living up to a standard but living out of a standard Christ in you the hope of glory or as Romans says that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who walk not after the flesh but the Spirit for years I read it that the righteous requirements of the law might be met by us now I realize it's not something God wants from me is something that he wants for me he has given me a standard he has called me his child and to live beneath that is to be like Eve and to speak to something that you should be stepping on [Applause] but a lot of times we have an expectation with no standard a standard of excellence means doing the best with what you have and until I've done the best with what I have I don't feel like I should ask God to do what he can do if I haven't done what I can do and then you run into all kinds of problems with this you know even from early in the church early in the church I wanted to have a standard you know and we didn't have money but I wanted a standard and we didn't have equipment but I we I wanted a standard so I was the worship leader when we started the standard was really lower than it is now I got in at a good time okay I was the only one available and and so so I had to organize the band and I bought in this this guitar player for one of our first rehearsals and he came in and he didn't practice he said I got busy this week I didn't practice this week but I'm good so I let him practice with us then after practice I pulled him aside because I don't want embarrassing I said hey man we won't be needing you Sunday cuz you didn't practice he said really he said you're gonna kick me out the church cuz I didn't practice I know you come to church you just can't come with a guitar on and stand on the stage I come to church all you want I saved your seat Champlain and I gave him a $50 a gas card I said here you go man and but but you're not playing he said your standards are too high nobody he said nobody's gonna want to be a part of this ministry because the standards are too high and he was right nobody this whole thing just I heard a story listens I heard a story last night from an e group in our church the couple that came a couple years ago they were sharing their story how they got here they said we hated it when we first came and I was waiting for the for the twist you know cuz we're here now and you came years ago they said we came in and somebody at the door said we couldn't bring our Starbucks in church and we had just spent five dollars each on our Starbucks and I sat through the first part of the sermon all mad about my Starbucks and but then in the middle of the sermon I started crying and then when we left the church we were getting in our in our car and somebody chased us down the same person that told us we couldn't have our Starbucks in Church said while you were in service we went and got you a Starbucks gift card and chased them down with the Starbucks gift card and it went even my sermon that welcome to Christ there was Starbucks but it was a standard see because I feel like why should I ask people to tithe to this ministry and then have lazy staff members who don't even want to practice why should I expect you to invite your friends to church and not have a standard of excellence on this stage why should I expect God to bless something that I am NOT invested in why should we expect God to bless our lives with success when we have not established a standard of excellence this is my year to bring my best to God to bring him a worthy offering I will not offer the Lord that which cost me nothing how can I expect God to bless me with success when I have no standard of excellence how can I expect God to bless me with abundance when I have no standard of stewardship the standard comes before the strength he will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment and a source of strength to him who turns back the battle at the gate the standard then the strength the standard then the strength so if I want God to be my provider I have to make a plan why would God give me provision if I don't have a plan for it why would God bless me with more when I'm not even generous with what I have why would he pour out of his resources into closed hands I need a standard that's why I give the first 10% to God that's my standard he's first this is off limits it's not for negotiation this is my standard God comes first your children shouldn't even have to ask you are we going to church this week unless you got the flu of course we're going to church it's our standard I don't care who's playing it's our standard I don't care who's preaching is our standard I don't care how bad the parking lot is it's our standard and God is worth it I'll sit in traffic he's God I got standards I got standards see and that's that's where my strength comes from my standards I don't have to waste time making decisions about standards that I should have said a long time ago I don't have to negotiate between the gates I have standards how can I expect God to give me stability if I don't have a standard of integrity a lot of times we ask God to help us feel better but sometimes we're not gonna feel better until we do better when you're managing secrets that you won't bring before God and confess to him so that he can begin the process of healing you will always feel off inside God can't be the source of your strength if he's not the source of your standards how can I expect God to give me influence if I will not embrace the standard of sacrifice that influence requires I want the influence not the sacrifice I want the resurrection but not the crucifixion will set your standards how can I expect to live in freedom if I do not embrace God's standard of forgiveness if I hold on to every offence and let it all in the gate and don't turn back the battle I'm looking for reasons to be offended looking for reasons to be angry I should not be surprised when I find myself in a low emotional state how can I be free from what I let walk right through my front door how can I expect to walk in freedom if I have not chosen to walk in forgiveness it is the standard of forgiveness that enables me to live in freedom I don't forgive you for you I forgive you because I want to be free how can I expect God's God's peace in my life if I don't control my meditation how can I receive strength that God is trying to give me if I just let any thought in how can I expect to live in a state of joyful celebration of my progress if I allow myself to constantly complain and sometimes I'm I'm complaining or or criticized I can be real critical cuz I got that excellent thing and the flipside of excellence is judgmental when I try to put my standard on youth which is always wrong which is always wrong and so now I've opened my mouth and I thought I was complaining or I thought I was criticizing and I told myself I'm just letting it out no I'm letting it in I left my gate wide open to the enemy because I have no standard but when I set a standard for my speech and my thoughts I turned back the battle at the gate and now I'm not in the stranglehold of a system of thought that I allowed myself to flirt with and now I'm living in a state of joy and I'm living at a level above the serpent and he's under my feet and I am NOT negotiating with what God called me to trample oh I said I'm not gonna conversate what with what God has given me the ability to crush taking my stand and I'm setting my standard how can I expect God's strength if I do not embrace God's standard how can we expect God to give our nation unity if we do not embrace his standard of equality [Music] [Applause] we will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment and when we allow inequality and prejudice and stereotypes and oppression to go unchecked and then ask God to make us one we are violating the very principle that will create unity [Applause] and then we come up on the weekend and we celebrate dr. King rightfully but we celebrate him at the wrong level because we celebrate his speeches dr. King's life was not about speeches it was about standards and I'm so afraid that we want God we want God to be our mascot we want God to be like one of those little you know those little stuffed animals that the ones that talk when you pull the string and we got our little Jesus doll that we pull out and we pull the string and Jesus has about three little things that he says you know love your neighbor and love your enemies and we pull the string we pull the string and he just says these little sayings and we don't want his standards we just want his sayings and we'll listen to speeches we'll we'll listen to I have a dream but a dream without action and a dream without process and a dream without justice is a delusion so we can't erase the standard and declare that some things are not alright [Music] there has to be a standard we are the people of God our standard we can't wait for anybody else to set our standard we are the church we are the light of the world we are the ones in the cake it's us and he cannot be the source of our strength if he is not the source of our standards we cannot poison the well and then complain about the water do you hear what I'm trying to say we've got to stop it at the source to draw a blood line in the name of Jesus and say this stops here these are my standards I will not apologize I will not always live up to them but I am pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling I got a high calling and I will not live with low spin [Music] God is looking for somebody to turn back the battle at the gate at the gate at the very beginning of the year you know most people want to get out of the gate strong we want to get in the gate strong take ownership and responsibility for our attitudes and he will be spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment sources strength to the one who turns back to battle at the game if you want to be one of those that he speaks about who will turn back the battle at the gate I want you to stand to your feet right now on every campus [Music] because I believe God has given us an opportunity the gates of change start with our standards I kind of wish we could sit down after this kind of wish we could take a moment and look at areas of your life where you're feeling weak and you need strength because in the area where you need strength that's where you need standards I'm not talking about 20 rules for you to keep that you tried to keep last year I'm not talking about that kind of religious spirit that builds a ladder for you to climb to God I'm talking about a ladder that came down to you and the first step of these changes is standards standards what are your standards who set them who set the standard for you of what it means to be a man who set the standard for you of what it means to be a Christian just to pray a prayer one time show up to church when it's convenient try not to cuss too much the devil is a liar there's a higher standard this thing is meant to consume all of my life it changes the way I see the way I speak the way I think the way I treat my brother the way I treat my sister I got a new standard here God is looking for people at the beginning of this year who will race the standard beautiful thing about it is that he is not going to cause you to have to reach the standard he's only calling you to raise it and he will give you the grace to draw a line and say stops here are there some things in your life today that you need to say stops here I'm not gonna talk that way think that way live that way I'm not gonna just allow unrestricted access to everything that wants to come into my space or my spirit to dominate my life and sabotage [Applause] I'm raising the standard and when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against him he will be a spirit of Justice a wreath for the remnant to him who turns back the battle at the gate lift your hands father we we lift our hands to let the enemy know that he can only go so far and in our lives whatever's left we offered to you right now as a living sacrifice holy acceptable to you and as our reasonable act of worship father I thank you for your holy spirit that lives in us and calls us to a higher standard this week in our lives help us to identify those places where we have negotiated with what you have spoken and have allowed access to the enemy we draw a line right here we declare that the blood of Jesus is against everything that has opposed our lives and has opposed our families and has opposed our communities and we are here today to be your remnant to be crowned with your strength and enabled by your spirit to do exploits for your kingdom your kingdom you will be done on earth as it is in heaven thanks so much for joining us today if God has impacting your life in any way through this ministry we'd love to hear about it take just a second and email us at Amen at elevation church org and if you would like to continue to receive additional inspirational content from pastor Stephen or elevation Church you can click the subscribe button or just click this video to continue watching additional content also if you'd like you can partner with us financially by clicking the give Now button to your right in order to help us continue to reach people thanks so much for joining us today

Channel: Elevation Church

Views: 775,757

Rating: 4.8919168 out of 5

Keywords: Tags: Elevation Church, Pastor, Steven Furtick, Sermon, How to find strength, weakness, addiction, alcoholism, standards, source, leader, leadership, thought patterns, how to change your thinking, support, equality, forgiveness, freedom, how to have a better ending, new beginnings

Id: jEodrtxcqB0

Length: 52min 18sec (3138 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2018