Starting Over Part 2 | The Power of Clarity - Touré Roberts

hey family i'm pastor torre i'm pastor sarah and listen you're getting ready to hear an incredible word for the lord i believe it's going to bless you i believe it's going to be timely do me a favor share the message if it moves you share the message and then also you have an opportunity to be a part of not only helping to spread this message but to be a part of our outreaches we're doing a lot of practical things to be a blessing to someone so feel free if god so moves you to use the information here in the video to support what we're doing we're being a blessing not just people spiritually we're being a blessing to people practically we love you get into this message and change your life god bless you well i'm excited it's word time anybody excited for the word of god it's a lamp into our feet it's a light into our path and you know i was thinking as we were worshiping i am so glad to be a part of god's family aren't you glad to be a part of the family of god aren't you glad that you are not subject to things of the earth you're not subject to to to the laws of man and and aren't you glad that you're a part of a royal priesthood a divine family you're partakers of the divine nature as the scripture puts it which means that we've got so much going for us we've got so much behind us and when you align your life with god and the purposes of god all of heaven's resources back you up and i just believe that i want to talk to somebody who's called and i want to talk to somebody who is committed to the lord i want to talk to somebody who's laid down their life i want to tell you right now that heaven knows your name i feel that and you might be frustrated and you're trying to get your influence up and you're trying to do this but here is the thing the most important community to know your name is the community of heaven i'm telling you and i just thank god in fact if you know heaven knows your name just put it right there in the comments heaven knows my name come on come on where are my people who love god where are my people who are sold out for the things of god where are my people who have paid the price that you have laid your life down for the things of god because you have tasted and you have seen that god is good and there's nobody like him if that's you put it in the comments there's nobody like god hallelujah and you're seen and you're known and you're loved in the heavenly places and every once in a while if you will listen you will hear the great cloud of witnesses cheering you on every once in a while if you will pause and get into the presence of god and listen you'll hear those who have gone ahead of you saying run your race do that thing don't stop you're almost there and i want to be that voice to you right now in this moment do your thing run your race don't you stop because god knows the plans he has for you i'm excited i'm excited to continue in the series that we started last week the series called starting over and and i always like to do a little bit of a recap and and i gave you some homework last week we prayed that you were good students uh and uh we're gonna see in a minute but we were looking at haggai the second chapter in the ninth verse and it reads the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former says the lord of hosts and in this place i will give peace in this place i feel that is a prophetic promise for america that is a prophetic promise for the world in this place i will give peace says the lord of hosts we'll get into that and as i mentioned last week i believe that we are in a time of rebuilding and and i believe that that god has has called you and i to be a part of the new thing that he is building and i believe that the new thing that he is building is not equal to the former thing as the scripture says the latter is going to be greater than the former and i talked about last week how in order to do so because there's so many crazy things that are happening in our world we're going to have to navigate the mourning of what was and the morning of things being normal or the way they used to be with the excitement about the future because they're going to be moments where you're going to have a longing for yesterday and you're going to have to navigate that and you have to balance that and be more committed to the excitement about what god has in store for us tomorrow are you tracking with me i'm just giving you a little bit of recap for for from where we were last week and i also believe that that in this moment in the season we're going to have to seize we're going to have to seize opportunities that are out there see when you whenever you see instability whenever you see things that are out of balance there's always an opportunity god is asking the question who can i send who will stand up who will rise up watch this who will step into position during times like this and so we talked about that this is not the time to be timid this is not the time to be procrastinating there are spots to be filled and i believe that god is calling his sons and his daughters who carry his heart his mission his purpose to fill those spots i feel that there's a spot for you just do me a favor put it right there in the in the feed and just say there's a spot for me there's a spot for me prophesy to your own self right now there's a spot for me there's a spot for me and the spot for you is bigger than you i believe that what god is building in this season as he's building temples even that's what haggai is referring to he's referring to the rebuilding of the temple a bigger and better temple the former temple had been destroyed because of misalignment and i believe that we're called to build temples i talked about last week we're called to build two temples god's temple we're excited about building god's kingdom and then at the same time i believe that god's going to be building our temple and as we build our temple as we become more whole as we begin to look more like what god ordained for us to look like we're going to reflect the glory of god's temple better there's so much that if you weren't here last week i i encourage you to go back go back to last week and listen to this because we got a lot of ground to cover and there's some things that i want to talk to you about today and i'm going to be very vulnerable and transparent as i actually go through those eight questions that i put on you i'm going to give you some of my answers because i believe there's something to understand there but it's also i believe going to help you to to do your answers to answer those reflection questions that we're talking about and as i mentioned last week i believe that god is building a leaner and more effective and impactful church i believe that with all of my heart i believe that he's also building a leaner and more aligned you this is what god is doing we're recapping we're recapping but before we can run on and do what we believe that god has called us to do what we were called to do last week was to reflect was to have a time of reflection and as i mentioned last week you know it's not wise to just run out in a new thing because just because you're running doesn't mean you're going anywhere and so we talked about the importance of reflection we need to reflect because reflection is the doorway to perspective and and we need perspective moving forward and i believe that that the former season was designed to give us a a better perspective about those things that are to come and here is the thing if we don't take time to reflect we will keep repeating the same class over and over and over again we'll be in the classroom but not learning isn't that something did you know that you can can have a learning experience or be in a learning environment but not learn and i believe that 2020 and and and i believe even now coming into 2021 and this and for you maybe it was the past decade of your life it was a classroom but not everyone in the classroom passes not everyone in the classroom graduates you have to be present you have to reflect you have to learn and that's why i believe before we do anything before we did anything before we step boldly into 2021 i believe that it was advantageous that it was critical for you and i to take time and to reflect and so last week i gave you eight reflection questions and the reason why i did that is because i believe that i knew as i sought the lord i believed that if you were to dig into these questions you would come out of these questions with perspective with a new perspective and i believe some clarity in fact today's installment of the series starting over is the power of clarity and so what i want to do is i want to bring you into my experience i wasn't going to give you a homework assignment and i didn't do it myself and so i want to bring you into my head and to my heart and to my journal and to my experience as i took these eight questions and begin to reflect and i believe that there's going to be something in it for you thank you so much for playing and so let's dig right into it i want to let you into my journey you're coming into pt's head so what were the questions there were eight questions what did i learn what did i gain what did i lose what did i love and did it love me back where did i find personal value and was it healthy what were my priorities and were they profitable who am i now and then what do i need to do daily to maintain that identity to live out that destiny so so uh what did i learn and maybe our answers would be similar maybe there will be a line what did i learn i learned that god can provide for sustain and prosper me in any season and say it again i learned a lot of things but let me but this is one of the biggest things that i've learned i learned that our god can provide for me can sustain me and prosper me in any season this is such a valuable lesson we serve a god who is not restricted by circumstances somebody needs to know that that god can put his favor on you in the middle of the famine that he can protect you in the midst of a protest that god can cover you that he can prosper you that he can advance you in a time of great disadvantage this is what i learned about god i learned that god operates outside of my feelings i learned that god operates outside of my circumstances i learned that god is so much i feel that and that's why there might be someone watching right now and and you're going through some things and everything outside of you looks like it's bigger than you there's nothing around you that looks like it is it is dovetailing into what god promised you and i hear god saying that i am getting ready to show you that i cannot be limited by circumstance i want to teach you i want to teach you how to praise me in the difficult times i want to teach you how to find joy even in the midst of sorrow because i will do what i say i'm going to do and there is no devil there is no struggle there is no opposition there is no bad leader there is nobody nothing no one that can stop me when i have determined to bless you if that's your word put it there in the comments that's for me pt i receive it i learned that thing because god wants to to he wants to to have us come off of the emotional rollercoaster that is predicated by circumstance you're up one day you're down the next you're full of faith one day man you don't know if you're going to make it the next god wants to stabilize you and stabilize me and oftentimes in order to get us to that place of stability he has to allow the storms to come he has to allow the winds to blow he has to allow the hurricane so that he can show you that you're built to last do me a favor put it right there in the comments i'm built to last baby and so i learned that about god i learned that god can can can can bring forth water out of a rock i learned that that god can produce manna from heaven i learn that that i am not sustained by circumstance i learned that i'm sustained by god and his word over my life somebody needs to hear that so that's the biggest thing that i learned second question is your question too is what did i gain and i had to think about that what did i gain and although i gained a lot the biggest thing that i gained was an appreciation for the things that matter most come on that's some of your testimony as well some of you you're in the same position didn't you gain an appreciation for the things that matter most it's interesting for me things that formerly matter more now matter less and things that formerly mattered less now matter more so i gained perspective there are things that that were my everything there were things activities and various things and and even relationships and dynamics that i felt like yo these things i really really need and i realize see god got me down to bare bones when you get down to bare bones you realize what's important you realize what matters most and you realize that oftentimes the things that matter the least are the things that you give the greatest attention to are you tracking with me but i know you learned that too what did i lose that was a good one what did i lose i had to think about that i think i lost what most people lost i lost normal normal went bye-bye i was thinking about that what i lose i lost normal i lost a friend but but i gained a witness what do you mean by that no i lost a friend and i lost the way that i connect with the particular friend but now i connect with that friend in a different way that the relationship now is has been fully and completely sanctified it's a divine relationship now it's amazing and i won't get into that because that's my story but but i i did lose a friend i lost normal and here's something that's interesting that i lost and i think this isn't this is really important and i think it it it may speak to you deeply i lost i lost what i would have never willingly surrendered oh god i feel like preaching and teaching in in this season i believe that this is true for many of us god allowed us to lose something that had to go or things that had to go that we would not have been willing to surrender i would not have signed up for 2020. and yet there were some things in 2020 that could not remain the same watch this and i fulfill my calling my purpose and my destiny oh god there are things that that see one of the reasons why god has to allow things to shake up in our lives and oftentimes for those things to be removed is because there are things that we are unwilling unwilling to let go and it's not that we are aware of those things and make a conscious decision to not relinquish those things there are things that are just a part of the rhythm of who we are things that we don't even know that cannot go with us cannot fit our future cannot fit our destiny and so god oftentimes causes us to lose things that we would not be willing to lose a surrender on our own if you track a let me just put it in the comments if you track them do you understand what i'm saying say i i get what you're saying i get what you're saying pt see see god loves you so much watch this that that he will sacrifice things on the altar for you you you won't do it because because you can't see life without it you won't do it because your identity you have established yours your own identity in these particular things that that must go and so god says no no no you don't know who you are you got to remember before i formed you in your mother's womb i knew you that means that god knows of you that you don't know that means that god and not only does god know the you that you don't know but god knows the environment that will manifest and produce that you and so we're operating blindly many times and as a result of that blindness we won't give up any we won't give up things we won't make the moves i feel this we are creatures of habit we are creatures of the familiar we like things to be where where we put them last but god is saying i am doing a new thing with you i'm doing a new thing with the nation i'm doing a new thing with the earth and with the world and i need you sometimes to trust me when i take something from you because there are spots in your life you've only got so many places in your life you've only got so many opportunities in your life and sometimes when i need to move in your life and sometimes when i need to do something that is bigger than your perspective i've got to cause you to lose something if you understand what i'm saying put it in the feed right now i get what you're saying bt i get what you're saying pt and i also hear the lord saying it's time for you to have a funeral see the wonderful thing about a funeral and and you know it's not the most fun thing i understand it but in the funeral you are there to say goodbye and i feel the holy ghost there are some of you and you're trying to bring what you lost back into the present and god is saying let it go let it go let it go you got to say may the lord bless and keep you may he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you may he lift up his countenance over you some of you are going to have to say goodbye to the things that god has said goodbye because as long as you're mourning for the past you cannot get excited about the future i don't know who i am talking to on today but i'm telling you you have got to have a funeral you need to bury that thing once and for all and step into everything that god has for you are you hearing what i'm saying are you hearing the words that are coming out of my mouth because when you say goodbye your future's gonna say hello and things are gonna open up for you unlike ever before if that's your word hit me up in the comments right now [Music] hallelujah i feel the lord what did i lose i lost normal but i'm so much better because of it i lost normal watch watch this watch this what this might be hard to grasp but hear what i'm saying here what i'm saying normal wasn't good enough for you yeah uh pt you know that's in you're being insensitive you know what i just i can't believe you said that i just i just want to get paid everything has just been upside down since i hear you but i believe that in the process of time life is going to prove to you that what you used to call normal was not fit for your future and if you would receive that by faith right now and you would take what has been left and you would get a revelation and you would say okay god i trust you i'm not dead which means that there's more for me and this is what i have left and i'm gonna stop mourning over what was and i'm gonna get excited about what i have left and all of a sudden my creativity is going to come alive because when i'm mourning for yesterday i can't i can't see clearly my my eyes are too watered to see clearly and when i stop mourning for that i'm going to look at what's in my hand and the holy spirit is going to breathe fresh creativity and you're going to build something that was so much greater than what you praised in the past what did i lose i lost normal what did i love and didn't love me back i'm just letting you into my journal i uh i chose me in 2020 yeah i i i loved i decided to lose my to love myself a little bit i got into motorcycling yeah tt to motorcyclist and and i've had a blast and it it loved me back yeah what was your new love so you're going to go through these things too but what was what did you decide to love this year and did it love you back i i loved me a little better i carved out a little piece of of life for me and i think it's blessed me in every other era what did i learn what did i what did i gain what did i lose what did i love where did i find value and was it healthy can i let you into my journal is that okay i'll let you into my process and we got some some we got ground to cover but i won't let you into this process and so where did i find value was it healthy um we'll decide together um i found value in and this is where i typically find value in being a provider you know from a family a protector a leader uh and an executor what i mean by being an executor just someone who gets stuff done someone who sets a vision someone sets goals and where i find my value is in those things being accomplished and uh and so to a certain degree this meant that i found my value in my character which is a great thing was it healthy it was a great thing but there is a i'm still digging a thought out as it relates to this a lot of what i describe provider protector leader executor a lot of those things had to do with what i do they're do based things and so character is about being but a lot of those things are qualified by what i do and so i'm i'm really i believe that it's healthy but i'm digging into that more because we don't ever want the our highest sense of value to be based upon what we do and so i have to be careful to make certain that that my value system is not based on performance because the perfect way the the absolutely perfect way to find your value is in that you are loved that you're loved because one thing i learned about god is that is that god reveals value by what god loves right and that's why to experience to truly experience the love of god is to truly begin to love yourself because if god who is perfect loves me and values me then how could i not value myself god is not loving me and valuing me ignorantly he's loving me and valuing me with with with supreme intelligence and so what god loves is what we should value and so so although i think that you know and i'm talking about as i looked at what i valued or where i found value last year although although those things were meredith's i'm still very careful i have to be careful that that um that the highest value for myself is not based on me providing and being a protector and being a leader and being you know a boss that gets stuff done but ultimately first and foremost it is that god loves me and because god loves me and i know that god loves me then that and that alone if i did nothing else if i were able to provide if i weren't able to protect if i weren't able to lead if i weren't able to do any of those things to execute to make things happen and all those things happen this year right i have to also make certain that if none of those things took place i would still find value and worth simply in knowing that god loves me are you tracking with me i'm just letting you into my journey okay and number six what were my priorities and were they profitable for me my priorities as i mentioned 2020 i prioritize self i prioritize family the ministry and especially because of what was going on i prioritized the hurting and were they profitable absolutely i mentioned you know taking time for me was a blessing my family and i marriage everything grew even closer than i even thought it could be the ministry has done exceptionally well we pivoted well we established new things we're being a blessing and the hurting we were able to do um just exponentially awesome exponentially more than we did before awesome things in the lives of others so yeah i prioritized properly and it was profitable i feel good about that and there's going to be more of that as we continue to build bridges in 2020 in 2021 rather and then this is a serious question who am i now and uh and i'm just going to tell you maya i'm not going to get into that because it's really personal but but you have to know who you are and i'm going to talk about why that's important in just a second but toure that's who i am to ray the son of god and and i'm called to be a light to my wife my children and to all that i encounter and then beyond that i am this is me an anointed architect of creation structures and systems that produce good things and most importantly god things so that's who i am and then this last question what do i need to do daily to maintain that identity and live out that destiny of course i wrote that out for myself i have a daily thing that maybe i'll let you in on next week but i think that question number eight is specific to your identity and so we'll skip that for now and i want us to really understand what was going on with these questions um these particular questions were designed to watch this to define you they were designed to define you with intentionality and shape you watch this so that you have context in every second of this new season why did i make you go through this exercise and why did i put myself through it i put myself through it because i don't want you to step into this new season without intentionality but i want you to have context for every second in the season and the biggest question on that list if you didn't do any of the other questions but you only did one the biggest question on that list is who am i now who am i now talking about identity now why is that important why is identity important why do i need to answer the question who am i now and what do you mean by who am i now well let me back up for a second who am i now has to do with who am i based on what i learned based on what i experienced i'm not the same person i was when i entered into last year i had a set of experiences learnings trials triumphs all these sort of things i had a lot going on and all of those things are part of the shaping of who you are and and i'm not asking you who you are or who you were two years ago you and i have to perpetually ask ourselves the question who am i now and if you are not able to define that for yourself then life will define it for you and that's not good there's so many things that are vying to define you the definition of who you are is the most important thing that you and i can ever know who am i for real because your identity determines everything if you're taking notes i want you to write this down your identity is the portal through which you enter life oh god i feel it your identity is the poor tool through which you enter life it is who you show up in life as how i see myself determines how i show up in life and that's why and you have an identity and that's why it behooves you and i to take control over the narrative of that identity less that which is lesser beat us to the punch because there are things out there and there's circumstances and situations out there that are aiming to define you don't you realize how significant and how important it is to be self-defined god i feel it are you tracking with me you have to take you have to be able to answer that question who are you are you tracking with me and you need to know who you are so succinctly that if anyone asks you who you are you can easily say boom oh i am this can we go further because if you cannot do that watch this then someone is going to put an identity on you and life is going to put an identity on you and your surroundings will try to put an identity on you no the number one question that you have to answer is who am i now are you tracking with me and i believe that those questions are going to help you to get there and then watch this then once you have established yourself and your specific identity the next thing that you must do is see yourself as an investor towards that identity that has been revealed oh god can i teach today i want to really let me help you to understand my heart for this series i don't want to preach you up necessarily i want to change you i want to give you tools that you can use because i believe that this is such an important time in the earth and i don't want you to just be you know just going with the flow and going with the crowd i truly believe that some who were the tails are getting ready to be the heads but it's going to necessitate a sensitivity to the spirit a sensitivity to truth to sensitivity to timing unlike ever before and you've got to know who you are because they're going to be so much noise coming at you and there's going to be so many voices coming at you and i'm trying to raise up some great people i'm not trying to raise up some christians who are just saying play the same thing in the crowd same place i'm trying to raise up some world changers i'm trying to raise up some people who walk in a mighty anointing i'm trying to raise up some people who have their feet on the ground but their heads in the heavens i'm trying to raise up some people who are walking succinctly with god and perfectly with god because now is the time yeah and so self-definition is at the end it's actually the beginning it's your starting point and from there watch this you have to invest into the future of that identity and here is the thing your investment resources are limited they're limited and here's a caveat i just want to run alongside you must be self-validated and self-motivated in the identity that god reveals to you man i can stay right here a lot of ground recovery but i want to hover right here you got to know who you are you and god have to work that thing out when you are in the process of asking those questions and seeking those questions and analyzing the answers you and god gonna have to work out god wants to show you who you truly are but when that happens you have to understand that you may not get a lot a lot of external support concerning that identity because here is the truth let me just tell you the truth i'm not gonna jive you let me tell you the truth you won't have many people that fully see it i'm talking about your identity watch this because most people are late to the party see see most people they only go by fruit but god goes by seed you know that passive scripture it says man looks at the outward appearance what has already happened it says but god looks at the heart that seed that is inward so when god is looking at you he knows what he has created you to be and he knows the heart that he's given to you so he can define you not by what you have done but by what you will do and so you cannot allow your identity to be validated by those who are outside of you because they're late to the party i feel the holy ghost i wasn't anointed when the people said to raise anointed sarah wasn't anointed when the people said sarah was anointed they were late to the party god knew it before he put me in my mother's womb and so here is the thing you are gonna have to be self-validated you're gonna have to be god-validated you cannot allow your validation to come from man to be honest with you i don't even trust man's validation because if you look at what man is validating some of it is are you tracking with me and so and so so god watch this sees orchards where the undiscerning only see an empty field and so you cannot you cannot you cannot be validated or base your validation on those that are outside of you it has to be what you and god have worked out are you tracking with me now as i mentioned your lit your resources are limited you have a limited amount of resources to invest in the dream the vision and the identity that god has given to you because remember knowing who you are is just the beginning it's your starting point it's how you show up stepping into who you are necessitates daily investments now i'm gonna give you five things five areas of resource that that you have to invest in and i'm gonna leave off one and i'm gonna leave off money and the reason why i'm leaving off money is because although money is extremely important it is something that if you lose you can get it back right and some of the things on this list you can't so these things in my estimation are actually more important than money and and you have to pay attention to so let's just talk about the resources that you and i have to invest this is so important this is i'm talking about 2021 i'm talking about how we have to move how we have to operate how we have to see ourselves and we have to recognize our resources and these resources god will use to produce and to manifest who god says that we are and what we're called to do but these are limited resources and if you don't manage these resources right you will look up and 2021 looks like 2019. and so the first thing that you have to wisely manage and wisely invest is your attention and your focus and your attention and your focus i've said this often i'll say it again your your intent your your attention is expensive corporations spend billions of dollars simply to get your attention everything is after your attention everything is after your focus and i get it because if i can draw your focus unto what i want you to be thinking about then instead of building who you are you will build who i desire or what i desire you to build are you tracking with me why do corporations pay top dollar for your attention because the person who has the attention is the person who gets their vision fulfilled are you tracking with me so if i'm a corporation and my vision is to increase my margins and to increase my bottom line to increase my profits by 28 right that's my vision and so in order for that to happen i need you to be looking at what i want you to look at and that's why i think it's interesting it's called pay attention because people pay for attention and you will pay if you don't manage your own attention are you tracking with me and so so what am i looking at every day what am i what do i find myself randomly doing here's a challenge with the phone this is one of the things that i run into personally with my cell phone is everything is on it so i can be on my cell phone getting ready to to write down a thought for a book that i'm writing or something i'm producing or a business negotiation that i'm in or what have you and i go and i grab my phone to jot that thought down and there is a text message there oh let me see what this is or there's an email that pops up oh there's some sort of notification that shows up and what just happened what did i just lose i just lost my attention so it would behoove us to set aside time can i talk to you like this it would behoove us to set aside time to do those things those things are important emails are important text messages are important uh maybe if you want to take a gander on your your social media feed to get an understanding those things are important but but they are not to be those things that rob you of attention so you have to schedule time for those things and when it's not time for those things you have to some sort of way remove yourself from the possibility of having your attention taken from you are you tracking with me because your attention is everything right the first resource that you have to manage that you have to own and manage is your attention the second one and man this might be the most important one it is your time now here is the thing time is something that you don't get back once it is gone it is gone here right now check this out every one of us have seconds assigned to our lives literally our lives right now can be broken down to the sec to seconds what i mean what that means for is that there is going to come a time in your life where all you have is one second left and then you're gone so that means that every second is precious and so time my time is my greatest resource and i cannot you know i i gotta just tell you like sometimes like people talk slow and i'm patient shall be patient but if you ever see me nodding real fast it's because i think i pretty much have an idea of what you're saying it might take you a great amount of time to express it but i can typically perceive it in a shorter amount of time so if you ever see me because in my head i'm thinking time is ticking time it's taking time it's taking time it's ticking are you tracking with me you you you can i would rather you waste my money than my time and so we have to value our time doesn't mean that you're stingy with your time you don't give time to things that matter the most but look at it look at the qualifier you give your time to things that matter the most if you're on social media for five hours a day not trying to cut nobody move on pt move on pt i will i shall show your attention your focus your time i'm talking about when you have clarity how powerful it can be if you manage that clear vision properly with your attention with your time and with your energy now what i mean by your energy i mean i mean i mean your spirit like like your wind you're when i wake up in the morning i've got a certain amount of energy for the day and i got to manage it i can't allow negative stuff to consume my energy i can't allow i've only got a little bit of breath right when i give i've only got and then you know at a certain time i'm going to bed so every day there is wind and there's energy and there is strength assigned to me for that day give us this day our daily bread so daily i have a daily amount god doesn't give me everything for the year in one day he gives me in that day everything i need and that includes energy creativity wind breath and i recognize that so now as someone who recognizes that i got to be about my father's business i have got to manage that energy i cannot let somebody come in and steal energy i cannot allow my energy to be diverted because i only have a certain amount to get accomplished in that day what i need to get accomplished are you tracking with me so you got to pay attention to what you're paying attention to you got to pay attention to your time you got to pay attention to your energy now here's one that's kind of interesting you also have to manage your resource of concern of concern now this could almost feel like unchristian because you know shouldn't you be concerned about everything after all wasn't jesus concerned about everything no there are times if you study jesus in the scripture there were times where they would come to jesus and say jesus jesus everyone is seeking you let us stay here jesus would say let us go into the next town it wasn't that he didn't love the people that kind of stuff but he knew that he had to manage his concern because he had to be about his father's business and he had a short amount of time to get it accomplished you have to learn how to manage what you care about oh i feel the spirit of god there's a book i think is still on the new york times bestsellers list and it's called the subtle art the subtle art of not caring they use a different kind of you know way of saying it and before you judge that book think about it if you are concerned about everything you can get nothing accomplished so you got to learn how to all you know i i wish that that weren't happening but i'm praying but i cannot watch this here's a phrase i cannot allow someone else's emergency to become my crisis every single time you have to learn what is a crisis and what is not and so you have to manage your concern i don't mean that you should uh forego being love-filled no we're going to be loved we're going to love people but everything is not my concern i'll pray about it maybe i'll write a check i'll do something but at the end of the day i have to focus on what i am called to focus on i have to invest my time my energy i have to invest all of that because i've only there's only one me and watch this i am not called to solve every problem can i talk to you like this so we we have to we have to manage our attention we have to manage our time we have to manage our energy our spirit we have to manage our concern and this is the one i'll leave you on you have to manage what i call these our resources are pearls i've got to manage my pearls right there's a passage of scripture that talks about how not casting your pearls before the swine what i mean what what are your pearls your pearls are your gifts your talents and your anointing i i don't just just throw my gift everywhere i don't just i don't just my my wisdom let me tell you something and you know if i'm talking to you and you cut me off once i'll let it slide if you come to me for wisdom and advice and i'm talking and i'm sharing wisdom advice i've heard you right because i'm empathetic i'm gonna listen to you i'm gonna try to understand where you're at and once but once i start getting into wisdom dispensing you've got about one time to cut me off because i'm not going to keep putting my pearls out before that which doesn't matter and here's another thing if i give you the wisdom you've only got about one more time to come back to me asking me the same question because i'm not going to repeat myself i'm careful about my pearls because there is somebody who is hungry and thirsty for the gift for the talent and the anointing and they're not going to to take what i said and then run off and then come back you know and need another session because it's almost like crack no they're gonna take what i said apply it to their life be prospered by their life and i am committed to not just be casting my pearls out there randomly because i've only got a certain amount of time a certain amount of wisdom a certain amount of energy to give and if because you're not willing to listen or because you're not willing to learn or because you're not willing to apply you cut me off and you shut me down then i have to lovingly take my pearls and take my my marbles and take my toys put them in my pocket and move on until i find somebody worthy of who i am preachers this this is something for preachers you have to understand that there will always be someone or some people assigned to your voice and and you can't make somebody i want to say this right you can't you can't force somebody or force your anointing your grace your special into any and every environment i remember when god called me to plant the church in north hollywood i didn't i had no idea why god was calling me to plant the church in north hollywood churches in south l.a but i obeyed god right in fact and when i was in south delhi the church it it didn't grow we were there for two years and we grew to a whopping 30 people okay and then god said planet in north hollywood and i'm like okay i don't really understand why this makes sense what's there i don't know but when i got there guess what there was a people assigned to my voice and the church started growing rapidly just like that just like that and you know i mean okay i'm sure i grew a little bit in my content i grew a little bit you know my subject matter or whatever but in a short period of time it wasn't that it was the reality that not everyone is connected to your pearls and that can be in ministry that can be in a relationship that can be in a in a communal setting or whatever and you can't be mad at it right sometimes god has to show you what's not for you to motivate you to get to what is for you because when you are aligned with what you're supposed to do in the places you're supposed to do it you're going to see fruitfulness both inwardly and outwardly are you tracking with me and so and so we're talking about investing now that that that that i've discovered who i am now i have to invest in that and these are the things these are the resources that we that we invest with right and no one invests to not get a return see see your vision being manifest is your return and that will happen if you manage these things properly you're going to get your vision manifest and everything that you invest these things in must be connected they must be connected to the vision so it all starts with the vision who am i who does god say that i am now before we wrap this thing up and i want to challenge you and i want to give you another another exercise is i do want to point out the chief thief in your life because there's going to be a chief the thief that that will try to throw you off from these things that you must invest and that chief thief is distraction simply put is distraction distraction is witty you gotta understand distraction makes no announcements saying hey i'm getting ready to distract you here i come i am distraction getting ready to distract you you better watch out i'm coming no we don't even realize that we've been distracted until after the fact oh man i got distracted when was the last time most of the time you don't see distractions coming you just look up and you're like oh shoot man i got distracted wow i spent three hours here and i only meant to spend five minutes here etc right so distraction is mostly realized in hindsight which means that you and i we must have a proactive strategy for it and here is antidote if you take notes write this down the antidote to distraction is a relentless focus and commitment to the plan say it again the antidote for distraction is a relentless focus and commitment to the plan you got to be like a like a like a guard dog when it comes to the plan you got to be like no i mean you have to be so you have to be like just just beyond committed you have to and and do this lovingly but you have to see this like i get mad when distractions come like when i'm trying to get something done and all of a sudden the phone starts ringing or all of a sudden somebody's buzzing at the door or whatever or all of a sudden something's coming across i realize what it is and i take it personally because you you're standing in the way of what i'm trying to produce and i realize that i was created to birth things and i was created to produce things and so you have to become i feel god i'm trying to help somebody birth something you have to be relentless relentlessly focused and committed to the plan now here's your exercise for this week we're getting ready to pray in a second i didn't get into the eighth question because the eighth question is based on the seventh question being who am i now and when you can answer the question who am i now what is my identity then you can answer the eighth question which is what do i need to do daily to maintain that identity and live out that destiny and that's what i want you to work on this week i'm going to show you my daily list next week i want you to have a plan i i don't want family we're going to do this thing this year we're going to be everything that god has called us to be this year we're we're going to walk in some you didn't go through the year that you went through and the season that you went through to be the same you you didn't go through 2020 and shed those tears and have to adjust and contort and go through all that kind of stuff and get strength for nothing the the worst thing that we can do in 2021 is not walk in what we have become and it's going to take focus and it's going to take discipline and it's going to take intentionality and you've got to have a plan and so i want you to define what daily success looks like for you i want you to write out your identity statement i read you mine write it out and then what will you do daily to live out that life and that calling anybody serious about about your life family i i i want to just hype you up i want you to have an understanding and practical tools destiny and purpose being rich in god and rich in your identity in the lord that you don't hype your way into that you you create a winning system for yourself you have to master you because distraction is there and issues are there you know i i didn't share it but but i'm gonna say it you also see the reason why these questions are important is because you also have to be willing to face the ugly to face the ugly what did i love and did it love me back where did i find value and let's keep it 100. i didn't go in there saying hey i had all this stuff together i said you know what man i kind of found value in you know and that i i can provide for my family and and that i protect my family and that i get i get stuff done but but i don't know if that's all the way healthy i'm digging into that more because what if four seasons i wasn't able to do it does that mean that i don't have value is that the best place to find value no i want you to face the ugly and i also want you to face the beautiful and the beautiful is who god has created you to be and once we lock in on that that i want us to think about man what do i have to do every single day to maintain that because my identity is the portal by which i enter life as i mentioned before when you come up with it it might seem big and and maybe that people you share it with and they laugh at you but you got to remember most people on the outside are late to the party they only can recognize it at manifestation which means that they're late manifestation is just the evidence it's just the proof of what was there but it starts when you know it's there are you tracking with me i love you i want to pray for you the power of clarity i want you to get clear it's a crazy season it's a crazy time so much talk and so many opinions and so much going on clarity is everything and so i want to pray for you and i believe that god's going to bring you into a time of clarity and i believe that he's going to give you a strategy for that clarity and he's going to show you how to win daily father i thank you so much for your love for your children i thank you god for your hand that's upon their life i thank you for the plans that you have for them father i thank you that as you work through these questions with them as they take another pass maybe some didn't do it or some did or but as they take another pass i thank you that the question that they'll be able to answer from all of it is who they are now and then god give them strategy to show them how to structure their lives broken down to the day to invest in that identity until they see it come fully to fruition i thank you i bless them in jesus name amen amen family i love you i'm praying for you we're going to continue this next week and i believe that god has given you tools that will sharpen you and you will be beyond anything that you ever thought possible god loves you and so do i you

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

Views: 48,700

Rating: 4.9447002 out of 5

Keywords: LA Churches, TPH, The Potters House, TPH LA, The Potters House LA, One LA, Toure Roberts, Sarah Jakes Roberts, tphla

Id: d9IlsFYmFww

Length: 61min 35sec (3695 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 10 2021