The Element of Surprise | Sarah Jakes Roberts

hey family i'm pastor toray pastor sarah we just want to greet you before you get ready to watch this powerful message we believe it's going to change your life we've been praying for you and we also want you to partner with us in changing the lives of others as you know we invested a lot into technology so that we could continue to bring the word to you in innovative and creative ways but we don't just stop there we also believe in blessing people in a more pragmatic way that's right you're about to watch this video that is going to tremendously bless you but what you don't get to see is how we're blessing people off of the pulpit there are families that are being fed there are women who are being saved from human trafficking there are so many organizations that we are able to support thanks to your generosity so we want to invite you to be a part of changing the world with us yeah we've been very intentional in this season to to partner with organizations and support them financially that are making a difference considering a crisis so we just thank you they're giving instructions on the screen here partner with us now let's get into this word i can't tell you how excited i am to get into this word i've been praying i've been studying i've been praying and studying some more and i've been thinking and fasting and i just believe that god has something so special to say to you and i'm so honored that he chose me to do it so i'm going to be in matthew 11 i'm going to start in verse 11. it's not too late to invite your friends say hey i want to take you to church enter this web address into your browser that's how we go to church these days my subject for tonight is the element of surprise the element of surprise and i am in matthew 11 verse 11. just a little bit of context john the baptist who baptizes jesus and is the forerunner of jesus christ is in prison and he is in prison but jesus ministry is just beginning and he's trying to understand what's happening in this season because it doesn't seem like when jesus comes into the room that he should be in prison it seems like this is really when ministry should begin taking off and so though he baptizes jesus and he literally hears the voice from heaven saying this is my son in whom i'm well pleased when he finds himself in prison he begins to question whether or not he actually heard from god and if jesus was who he said he was and so in matthew 11 he has sent his disciples because he wants to understand are you the coming one or do we look for another john the baptist is in prison and he sends a word through his disciples to jesus and jesus response is you know quite lengthy and informative i want to dissect his response though to verse 11. and this is important because we'll get into it it's so many layers to it that i want to share with you but verse 11 it begins it says assuredly i say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than john the baptist but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he and from the days of john the baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force for all the prophets in the law prophesied until john and if you were willing to receive it he is elijah who is to come he who has ears to hear let him hear father the only reason why we're here is because we have ears to hear from you some of us have stayed up past our bedtime we could be doing a thousand other things but you told us we needed to lock into this word and so father open our ears that we can hear the word that you're sending through this message father not every word may be for us but there is a word i feel that there is going to be one word father that resonates so deeply in our spirit that we take it and it takes root and produces fruit in our lives father let this be one of those moments where we have no choice but to be changed and transformed because we heard from you and we were open to hear from you so father clear our minds no distractions no anxiety no depression no stress father just in this moment let us have an intimate encounter with you where you see past our mask and that you see our soul and you bring us back to life in jesus name i pray amen i was thinking recently about how so often in life we think about what our ultimate objective is in life and our ultimate objective usually has a few parameters a few points in which people say okay that person has finally established themselves they finally have stability there are some markers that sociologically we believe are markers of stability and you know them they ask you questions like are you married yet do you have children did you graduate these are markers that are supposed to indicate whether or not we have stability in our lives and i was really thinking about this because as i was studying about this concept of stability and what it means to be a stable person i realized that stability is a bit of an illusion because even when you're married your marriage goes through changes right you start off newlyweds and then maybe you become parents maybe someone gets laid off the context of marriage itself is supposed to be a place of stability but anyone who has been married recognizes that your marriage itself may be stable but life is always changing and transforming around you and when those changes and transformations take place it has the ability to shake your marriage and so i wonder if we are doing a disservice to people by always asking them about these markers of stability whether we have our degrees whether we have children some kind of way our success is determined by whether or not you've managed to build something stable but as i was saying i really feel like stability is an illusion in a world that promises change so in this moment i want to challenge your notion of striving for stability i think this is really important because we think that there is a destination in mind not realizing that destiny is a journey it is not a destination you don't get married and have the children and all of a sudden the world is stable if you get married and have children it is quite likely that you end up having even more instability because you're managing so many different attitudes and emotions so for a moment i want to relieve you from the pressure of meeting these markers that are supposed to determine where you are in life and i want to challenge you with a notion that i think is more important than finding stability what's more important than finding stability is finding adaptability how well are you able to adapt that is one of the things that i think is the greatest marker of whether or not we can have success in our life is adaptability i was studying and i realized that there are businesses that don't just take into account your iq anymore they don't just take into account your eq your intelligent quotient or your your emotional quota but what they take into account now was your aq your adaptability quotient how well are you able to adapt i will tell you how important adaptability is if you look back at kindergarten at the person who you thought would be your best friend forever they're either still your best friend because they were able to adapt with you or they are no longer your best friend because they could not adapt what if we're trying to have stability when what we really need to be looking at is can you adapt with me can you grow with me can you move with me can we go from compton to calabasas can we go from meeting the president to greeting the homeless people on the street can you adapt or are you only okay if things are stable and if you understand them because if you are only okay when things are stable then you're going to be quite upset when the world does what only the world can do and that is change i want to ask that god would breathe into your life the ability to adapt when life changes to not need something to be a certain way for so long that you miss the opportunity to adapt when we adapt we learn more about ourselves i didn't even know that i could do certain things until i was placed in an environment where i realized if i don't adapt then i can't stay here we talk about your gift making room for you and bringing you into great people's atmospheres and great people's environments but what will keep you in that room is your ability to adapt they don't speak the same language that they speak where you are from in certain rooms if you don't learn to adapt then you're going to stand out and not just for the reasons you think but because they're going to say you must not fit in this room i know sometimes we talk about standing out and how important that is but for a moment i want to challenge that idea because standing out is when your gift stands out when your ability to create stands out but there are some things in you that should not stand out when you are in certain rooms you got to know how to flow in any room you got to know how to function no matter where you are the way i speak to you at activate la may be different than the way i speak at a university it may be different than the way i speak when i am in corporate settings but the difference the substance doesn't change but my delivery changes you got to be able to adapt or you will be frustrated with life because you will wonder why doesn't this delivery work in the atmosphere that i'm in people who learn how to adapt recognize that my number one role in life is not to be a master it is to be a student the more that i am willing to learn the more likely i am to grow because when i go into an environment i don't try to own the room i try to learn the room before i speak because if i speak and i say something that disqualifies me from the room i may never be in the room again but if i take a minute to learn the environment how do they speak how do they dress how do they show up what is my role here what is the food chain here what are the battles that are taking place in this room the most important thing you can do when you have been invited into an environment that is bigger or greater than what you think is in you is not to try and prove that you deserve to be in there but to be silent long enough to learn where you are and if you are silent long enough to learn where you are then god will highlight why you are there sometimes we are so busy trying to prove that we deserve to be in the room that we don't even know why god sent me in the room when i am in a room that i feel disqualified and i don't know why i'm here but i know god sent me i'm silent so god can speak to me god i'm afraid to use the language that got me into this room in this room so god show me how to speak in this room god show me how to speak in this business meeting god show me how to speak when i'm dealing with this banker when i'm negotiating this contract i can't talk to them like they're on the woman evolve podcast and they understand my slang and my lingo i have to raise my language for the environment that i am in i feel that for somebody god is calling you to be connected into some rooms in some environments and industries that you feel disqualified for and i hear god saying it's time to study not speak and when you learn to know the difference you'll never have to wonder what to do when because you studied before you stood up that's the most important part of this the most important part of what happens here at activate is not when we actually start filming this it's what happens before this occurs it's when the band gets together and rehearses it's when i open up my bible and start studying and i start seeking god's face it's not about what happens when it's live it's about what happens that makes it go live i feel that for somebody that wasn't even in my point so i know that god is preparing you i don't know who you are but god is preparing you for the next dimension of where he has taken you and you're wondering why you can't speak the way you usually speak and create the way that you usually create and i hear god saying that it is because now is the time for you to be learning about where i'm taking you you can't just move and function the way that you used to move and function you got to be able to adapt adaptability what is your aq maybe that should be some of the dates that the questions that we ask on first dates what is your aq how have you been able to adapt what is your aq and friendships how have you been able to adapt businesses right now are challenged with their ability to adapt with the times it doesn't even matter what your product is if you cannot adapt to the times in which your consumers can get your products your adaptability quotient is everything and while it is great to have a high adaptability quotient you're able to adjust and adapt to unexpected changes i i want to read that aq is the ability to adjust course product service and strategy in response to unanticipated changes in the market and there are so many of you who have mastered that you know how to go with the flow it may take you a little minute to get started but when it's time to show up you can shift and you can transition you've got a high aq but when i was studying about the art of war and this is important because this text that i've presented to you is ultimately about war this is a war strategy that god lets us in on when i was studying about the art of war what i recognize is that your adaptability is important how you adapt to the surprises that come with life is important but the art of war when you are going to engage in a battle that will yield victory what is most important is that you don't just adapt to surprises but you recognize that you are the surprise sun tzu who wrote the art of war says in conflict direct confrontation will lead to engagement and surprise will lead to victory those who are skilled in producing surprises will win i feel that for somebody those who are skilled in producing surprises will win when this message is over i'm going to give you some tips and some tools on how to produce surprises so that you can win but i think it's important for us to take a minute and recognize that your life is supposed to take life by surprise when we talk about being the element of surprise it's not just you being able to adapt to the surprises of life but it is about you turning the tables and surprising life surprising the statistics surprising what everyone thought you would be and how everyone thought you would turn out and how that generational curse ran into a surprise when it ran into you adaptability is great but when you start turning the tables and realizes that i can adapt to life where i can force life to adapt to my new normal that is when we see the tables begin to turn you are a strategy in god's arsenal he did not send you down here so that you could have a good time so that you could sit up and have stability and never have to fight and never have to worry god sent you down here because you are a strategy when you are a strategy you will be consumed by people and things and obstacles and experiences trying to threaten your ability to be potent but i hear god saying that nothing can diminish the anointing that i place down on the inside of you and at any given moment when you get a revelation that i still have you here because you are still a weapon in my arsenal then you will recognize that you are the element of surprise that this industry has been looking for you are the element of surprise that your family has been looking for everyone thought that it wasn't going to be you no one thought that you would be the one who would actually step into wholeness that you would step into stability that you would step into breakthrough but i hear god saying that you were the surprise i don't know who you are and i don't know what you've gone through but you feel like because life has waged war against you that you can't do anything back in return and i hear god saying that the reason why life has waged war against you is because of what god has placed down on the inside of you you are the element of surprise it's you you're the one we've been looking for you're the one we've been waiting for if that's you i want you to type it in the comments that's me that's me that's me i am an element of surprise you're gonna have to start speaking this even at times when you don't believe it because depression needs to know that you are the element of surprise that when depression ran up on you when anxiety ran up on you that there is a surprise waiting i feel that so prophetically for somebody i feel it down in my bones i feel like jeremiah it's fire shut up in my bones that life came and it took you by surprise and it made you believe that you were going to have to dance to the rhythm of what life was doing and i hear god saying that you can change the rhythm at any given moment that you if you would unleash what god placed down on the inside of you then rivers of living water would start flowing like never before it's you you're the one who's going to do it you're the one who's going to preach it you're the one who's going to sing it you're the one who's going to build it it's going to be a surprise to everyone including you that's what it is that's what god has been saying when god gets finished with your life it's not just going to be a surprise to everyone around you it's going to be a surprise to you god i didn't even know that was in me god i didn't even know that you would bless me to do that i want somebody to say i receive it i receive it i receive it i receive your anointing i receive your identity god says there's a version of you you haven't even tapped in yet and when you finally see what i've been holding back you're gonna recognize why you had to wait for it you're gonna see why you had to cry for it it's you it's you it's you it's you that's why i kept you in the city that's why i pulled you in closer that's why i gave you a mentor when no one else can get through to you because you [Music] you are the element of surprise that that generational curse has been waiting for you are the element of surprise that the music industry has been waiting for you are the element of surprise that ministry has been waiting for you're waiting for someone to understand it baby people don't understand when surprises are happening they just look up and all of a sudden the atmosphere has shifted they look up and all of a sudden what has been produced has changed it's because you are going to take them by surprise i feel that for somebody i need you to allow that to marinate in your spirit for a minute that feels like a sailor moment but i hear god saying that i gave you weight that i gave you strategy that i gave you creativity and i gave it to you because you are the element of surprise god says no one is going to understand it no one is going to get it until it's all said and done they're going to see why you were moving and functioning and operating the way that you were just wait till god gets finished showing you this surprise just wait till god finishes setting the stage so that you can arrive just wait until god gets finished showing the world what he placed down on the inside of you but the first thing you got to do is receive that i am not random i am not a coincidence that when god brought me to the earth he was waiting on the moment for me to unleash what he placed down on the inside of me you better be ready at any given moment god may yell surprise and it's going to be time for you to walk out your destiny it's going to be time for you to walk out that strategy i hear god saying [Music] it's not just going to be a surprise to them it's gonna be a surprise to you there are things that you don't even know you can do yet you're counting on one gift to take you into a room god says you haven't even seen the gift that is gonna offer you breakthrough you're counting on one gift to get you in the city i hear god's saying i use one gift to get you in the city so that i can help you unwrap the actual gift that is going to give you the breakthrough your family has been waiting for that's going to give you the wisdom that you've been waiting on god says keep working that one gift but don't be thinking that that one gift is the limit that one gift is the foundation that i'm going to use to get it started you're more than a pretty face you're more than just a body you're more than just a dancer you're more than just a singer i hear god saying you great generational curses i hear god saying that you changed homelessness i hear that saying that when you walked into this place that there was an element of surprise that he had been working on the whole time i feel this word i know this is your word i can tell that this is your word cause i can't get up off of this point and this doesn't have much to do with my message but it feels like somebody needs to get this new awareness down in their mind don't let the fact that life took you by surprise make you forget that you are the catalyst of change that we've been waiting on and jesus knows this about himself jesus knows that he's god's strategy so when you talk about following jesus it's not just so that you can be connected with him but it's so that what is in him can come out of you as well which means that if jesus functioned as if he knew he was the element of surprise then that's how you should function too even when the kingdom is suffering violence jesus isn't worried and he isn't discouraged because he knows that he serves a god of surprises i'm reminded of adam and eve in the garden and when they're in the garden and the serpent thinks that he has had the final say then god steps in in genesis 3 and 15 and he says you almost had this the final say but i had a surprise waiting for you that the woman is going to produce seed and that seed is going to bruise your head that sounds like the element of surprise i'm reminded of abraham about to sacrifice isaac and right when he's about to sacrifice him he says you don't have to do that and all of a sudden there is a ram in the bush that sounds like the god of surprises to me and right here in this text right here in this text we're about to see how god uses jesus as the element of surprise why is this important because we're in a season right now when god wants you to recognize your identity as the element of surprise that this war cannot win if you stand up and be who god has called you to be that this war cannot win if you take a moment and breathe in the transformation that you so desperately need so that you can breathe out the creativity that we have been waiting for you are the element of surprise and so it is no wonder that john the baptist is a little confused in this moment because he has been waiting for this moment when the element of surprise pops up and the messiah is finally here john the baptist he knows that he is the front runner of jesus he knows he's the frontrunner of the messiah and so he was waiting for this moment for someone else to come in and help him to advance the kingdom and establish the kingdom but in this moment it doesn't look like the kingdom is being established john is in prison and jesus jesus hasn't set it off yet what do you do when you are the element of surprise but you are constricted when you feel restricted when you feel like you can't break out i know i'm the one who's supposed to do it i know that i've been called to do it but for some reason i feel restricted i feel like i can't move i feel like i'm seized in this moment john the baptist teaches us what we must do in these moments when he sends word through his disciples is this the messiah or is there one to come he wants to know if this is god because if this is god then i'm okay but if this isn't god then i know to look for god in another area when you feel restricted and you start to wonder whether or not god is in it at all i want you to go back and see if you can see god anywhere in your world god if i can see you anywhere in my world then i know you're just working your way to me that's what john the baptist knew if jesus is the messiah if he is who god says he is and he is working the way he is supposed to be working even though i am in prison and this prison is not going to be the final say i won't be restricted forever if god is working and he's working his way to me i want to say that the way that i studied it because i think it's important for us to recognize that if i see god working anywhere near me then god is working his way to me you may not have the deliverance you're looking for yet you may not have the breakthrough you're looking for yet you need to get connected to where god is moving because i want to be wherever he is and if i am wherever he is even if i don't have my breakthrough i know i'm positioned properly that's why we talked last week about repentance because you cannot be where god is moving unless you are positioned properly and john the baptist sends word because he wants to know is jesus being affected at being the messiah i didn't give this scripture to them but when the disciples come to john the baptist and they ask him whether or not he is the messiah what he says to him is very simple he says the blind see and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them he doesn't say yes i am the messiah what he says instead is check my results sometimes you can't understand if someone is who they are or who they say they are supposed to be or who they are purporting themselves to be when you don't know whether or not they are who they are purporting themselves to be then check their results my bible says that you'll know a tree by the fruit that it bears jesus says if you really want to test me check my results you cannot let your environment determine whether or not you are effective i feel that for somebody your environment may be lying on you you may be more effective at doing what you have been called to do than you would ever really imagine because you are waiting on the environment to change and i hear god saying that environment may not change but your effectiveness could be working anyway john the baptist thought that when jesus came that his environment would shift and his environment would change and when the environment doesn't change he doesn't get upset he just starts asking god am i still being effective if i'm being effective even if the environment doesn't change then i know the environment will have no choice but to come into alignment with what god is doing and i feel that for you you've been sweating you've been slaving you've been working you've been creating and your environment hasn't changed and you're beginning to question whether or not i'm being effective at all god i heard a word from you but my environment hasn't changed i hear god saying close your eyes to your environment close your eyes to what is around you and instead recognize that you can be effective even when the environment doesn't look like a reflection of the work that you're putting in and john the baptist recognizes that if god is working and jesus is working then he is being effective in who he was called to be and so when we find jesus in this text in verse 11 he says assuredly i say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than john the baptist this is important because he honors who john the baptist is he honors that john the baptist paved the way for him to be standing in the moment that he is in but he also makes his separation because jesus and john had different responsibilities john was supposed to be the front runner but the front runner can only take you but so far there comes a point when he has to surpass the front runner and this is what we're looking at in this moment it's time for jesus to surpass the front runner and part of him surpassing the front runner is drawing a line in the sand between the distinctions of jesus and john john's primary function was to prepare his people for the messiah by having them repent we read in our scriptures all the time john john the baptist says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent repent repent his job was to make room you got to make room because the messiah is coming you got to end that relationship because the messiah is coming you have to address that depression because the messiah is coming who is the messiah the anointed one you're going to have an encounter with the anointed one and when you have an encounter with the anointed one you don't want to be distracted by anything that wasn't the anointed one the antichrist the anti-anointing can be functioning in your life and then when you repent you come into an alignment with the anointed one john's responsibility was to help them make room to help them come into alignment with what god is doing and what god is saying but jesus jesus has a different responsibility jesus responsibility is to equip those who have made room to take territory this is where we get into you being the element of surprise is that when you make room like we did last week when you make room like sunday like pt called us to on sunday it's not just so that you can live with this space but god allows you to make room down on the inside of you so that he can give you strategy and creativity and wisdom for the territory assigned to your name you want territory but you haven't made room i hear god saying that you're going to be bound everywhere until you decide to take territory and make room for god if you're bound in one area you're going to be bound in every area i wish i could say that the way that i hear it in my mind but it's not just one thing that's keeping you bound that one thing keeps you completely bound it's not just the relationship that god can't bring you into purpose until you're in the right relationship god can't bring you into purpose until you have wholeness it's not just the job god can't bring you into the awareness of who he has called you to be until you step into the position you know you're supposed to be in you think that you're just bound in one area and i hear god saying that one area is dictating every area and why is that important because you are an element of surprise and the element of surprise is not just called to be a surprise he's called to take territory you were called to take territory and god says i need you to clear out this space that's in you so that you can take territory somebody has been called to take territory in this season i hear god saying that you're taking territory in the entertainment industry you're going to take territory for your family that wholeness is going to be in your family that breakthrough is going to be a part of your family how is it going to happen it's going to happen because one day i woke up and i realized that if i didn't clean out the junk that was in me then i couldn't lay hold of the blessings that were for me and i don't know about you but i wake up every morning trying to take territory there's an old song they used to sing when i was in church and they say i'm going into the enemy's camp and i'm going to take back what he stole from me you know what he's taken back he's taken back the territory that god had originally assigned to them the enemy has been taking territory in your life for too long the enemy has been taking territory in your mind for too long and i hear god saying that you have the power and ability to take that territory back and it starts with a spiritual awakening and so i want to prophesy over everyone watching this video right now that you would come into a place where you get bold and you get empowered and you start running into the enemy's camp and you start taking back what he stole from you you thought you were gonna take my heart you thought you were gonna take my mind you thought you were gonna take my talent you thought you were gonna take my child well surprise devil you got another thing coming i am a strategy in god's arsenal and you can't take anything from me that god won't give me the power to take back i want to say that again the enemy cannot take anything from you that god will not give you the power to take back your innocence can be taken back your power can be taken back i want you to make a list of everything the enemy ever took from you and i want you to know that it is not gone forever it's just waiting for you to recognize that he gave you power that he gave you authority so that you can take it back take it back take it back take it back take it back i'm taking back my mind i'm taking back my joy i'm taking back my gift i'm taking back my talent i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back hell can't have my child hell can't have my marriage hell can't have me any longer i'm coming back with the offenses i'm coming back like i got nothing left to lose i hear god saying this is for somebody that the enemy took it from the wrong person that he messed around and left you with nothing to lose that he messed around and left you with nothing else to give up and because you've got nothing else to give up you fight a little bit differently you ought to see somebody who's fighting like they got nothing to lose they fight like they don't care whether they live or die when you fight somebody who don't care whether they live or die it shakes things up some of you have faced death and i hear y'all saying you faced death and death had to back up off of you you better start taking back what hell took from you take it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back fear tried to take my faith weapons tried to take my wisdom i'm taking it back i'm taking it back i'm taking it back the divorce tried to take my joy the power of god is working down on the inside of me not just so that i could smile through the pain but so that i could now when i walk through hell's gate i'm coming back for everything you took from my mama and everything you took from my father you're gonna have to see me cause i survived for more than this [Music] i survived for more than this and when you get bold enough to walk up on the devil the kingdom suffers violence and the violence take it by force how we gonna get the kingdom back unless we're willing to get a little violent unless we're willing to kick down the gates of hell and say cancer's got to get off of their body coronavirus has to get out of my country i speak to doctors everywhere father give them insight and wisdom to lift this disease off of people i'm tired of hearing about what hell is doing i wish i had some heaven that would stand up and say i am the element of surprise i pray this thing out of this nation i pray this thing out of this world [Music] oh yeah oh yeah i hear god saying it's time for somebody to start fighting again it's time for somebody to start warring again it's time for somebody to recognize that you are you are the element of surprise and it's time for you to stop sitting back and letting this thing happen in your marriage and happen in your family and happen to your finances and happen to your country you are the element of surprise and you have been called to take territory we repent we make room and then we take territory we take territory that has been marked by depression that has been marked by shame my innocence my my purity my confidence somebody took it from me somebody stripped it from me i hear god saying it doesn't have to be gone forever that believe it or not but i hope you believe it that i can help you to take back everything that has ever been taken from you but you got to stop waiting on somebody else to do it waiting on someone else to fix you waiting on someone else to heal you waiting on someone else to be your miracle when i get married then i'll be whole when i get the job then i'll be okay i hear god saying you're putting too much weight on other people when i put weight on you you're putting too much weight on what you need other people to do in your life how you need other people to show up when i put weight on you i put weight on you i put victory on you i put power on you i put anointing on you i put strategy on you i put wisdom on you i put creativity on you stop waiting on someone else to be your hero and grab your own cape you are the element of surprise you've got this and it starts with coming into alignment with god that i am not random and i don't just have to sit back and take anything god has called me to wreak havoc to wreak heaven on hell and if i don't unleash what's in me if i don't take this territory then my family may never see anything different that my community may never see anything different so i'm here to take my position and jesus jesus takes his position and he says what john did was great there is no one like him but what i have been called to do if you become a part of this then even the least of you those who do the least will be greater than what even john the baptist did god isn't even calling you to do the most he says if you would just do the least amount of work in the kingdom of heaven the things that no one else would do the things that no one thinks are important if you would do the least of those things then you will be greater than the prophet john the baptist and it comes down to being par a part of his kingdom and recognizing that you are his strategy i want to give you four things keep you can keep playing i'm closing four things four things that's going to help you be an element of surprise the first thing is never stop looking for god to show up when life begins to change when life begins to shift it shifts our focus and it makes us start focusing on fear and outcomes and economies and work and money and finances legitimate things but i hear god saying never stop looking for me to show up that i am an element of surprise to they say 18 months to four years for a vaccine i say my i serve a god of surprises they said the economy may be worse than it has been through the great depression i hear god saying that i am a god of surprises i'm looking for god to show up i hear what they're saying but even when i hear what they're saying i'm still looking for god to show up never stop looking for god to show up god i don't trust just what man says i'm waiting for you to show me where you are in the midst of this never stop looking number two surrender to the unpredictable john was forced to surrender to the unpredictable that doesn't mean we don't question it he questions jesus god what what is this but when he recognizes that this isn't going to happen in the way that i thought it would be i'm all right with that i've got to learn to surrender to the unpredictable because once you've done everything you can all you can do is wait and see what god has planned god i did everything i could and the outcome was still unpredictable so now i just have to sit back and see what you have planned number three i think this is the most important my third point this is how we prepare ourselves to be an element of surprise the third one is next is here here h-e-a ear not h-e-r-e here and i chose that because jesus says at the end of this text he who has ears to hear let him hear not everyone is going to have an ear to hear this but those who understand what i'm saying understand that next starts with what you hear that's why we got to make room we can't afford to be tossed to and fro by what's happening in that part of our life and that part of our spirit that we know we need to rectify i need to clear the channel so i can hear from god i need to lay down my will so i can hear from god i need to accept the unacceptable and accept the unpredictable because i need to hear from god i gotta hear what god is doing next and i can't do it if i'm still listening to what was this is what i wanted but now i'm ready for next so speak lord your servant is listening and the last one the last one is seized is not the end jesus says the kingdom suffers violence and the violent take it by force the kingdom is under attack the kingdom is under seas but we know how this story ends seized is not the end friend you're watching this video and you've been feeling seized and you've been thinking this is how it's going to end i'm going to end lonely i'm going to end weak i'm going to end tired i'm going to end abandon i'm going to end this is how it ends i hear god saying seized is not the end that just because you have discouragement the presence of discouragement is not the absence of victory the presence of discouragement is that the absence of victory which means that you can be discouraged in victory still be in your atmosphere at the same time and so you got to know that what i'm feeling right now is natural on the way to victory because in order to be an element of surprise it means that your opponent has to think that they're winning they have to think that they're in the lead until god flips it and god switches it and when god switches it then that seize is not going to be the end i want to pray with you man i feel like as i was preaching this message that somebody's passion to take territory was awakened again and you started thinking to yourself all of these areas in your life in your family and your culture that could benefit from god breathing on it god i wish you would breathe on that generational bitterness i wish you would breathe breathe on that promiscuity i wish you would breathe on that father i need you to breathe on that i want to take territory for every ailment that you can lay there is an opposite to that ailment and we want to take territory from that ailment from that opposition so that we can lay hold of that good and perfect gift connected to it i want you to recognize there is a good and perfect gift connected to every curse there is a blessing for every curse and in order to do it you got to take the territory that the curse has taken you got to take the territory that that brokenness has taken you got to take that territory you can't ask that territory would you please come over here and stop making us bitter would you please come over here and stop breaking our hearts would you please come over here and stop making us live paycheck to paycheck please pretty please whenever you get a chance no you take territory you don't ask hell for permission you go into hell and you tell hell i have authority through jesus christ and i came to take a generational curse and turn it into a generational blessing i came to come in here and get back my family's strength and get back my family's power i came for all of the broken little girls and all of the broken little boys who thought no one would love them i came to take territory back and as you were watching this message you felt to yourself for the first time in a long time maybe the first time in forever that i want to take territory again i want to pray for you that god would bring you into alignment with what he's doing and what he's saying and what he's speaking so that you will never have to take territory by yourself again positive thoughts don't do this affirmations don't need do this you need the power of the holy ghost to take territory from hell you need the power of the holy ghost to run up on depression you need the power of the holy ghost to break a disease you can't positive think your way out of this that positive thinking is cute but it can only take you so far there comes a point where you need something that is greater than anything you read about on instagram you need the power of the holy ghost working down on the inside of you you need rivers of living water flowing from you you need to be able to tap into the source on your own when i come and get a word it's confirmation for what i already received in my own prayer closet because i know who god is i am in relationship with him through the holy spirit and so i'm going to ask that god will pour out his spirit father god you want to do it i hear god saying he's ready and he's willing if you're open i want you to type it in the comments type it in the chat room i'm open i'm open i'm open i'm open i'm open if you can i want you to lift your hands like you're receiving something i want you to lift your hands like you're receiving breakthrough like you're receiving the power of god because i feel like god's saying the windows of heaven are open and i'm pouring out my spirit i hear god saying that it's not a slow drip that you've been functioning off a slow drip of the holy spirit just enough to get you by day by day and i hear god saying i'm in overflow baby and i'm pouring out my spirit for people who have room open up your hands the power of god is coming to you right where you are the spirit of god doesn't care about technology or distance the spirit of god can meet you exactly where you are and i dare you to start making room for him spirit of the living god pour out your spirit oh god pour out your spirit on all flesh the flesh that says i'm weak the flesh that says i'm desperate the flesh that says i'm depressed pour out your spirit on me oh god let it flow let it flow let it flow let it flow let it flow let it flow father give them power for them wisdom father give them strategy that can only come from your spirit [Music] father we repent for making this about us when it's really about you we repent for trying to meet man's markers on where we should be in life and how we should be functioning when we should have just asked you father who are we in any given season father we come into alignment with who you say we are and we repent father and rebuke anything in us that is trying to make us believe anything other than who you say we are father we've sinned we've fallen short we haven't been perfect and so father the first thing we have to do is acknowledge the distance between where we are and who you are god you're so great god you're so mighty father there is truly no one like you father you are our healer you are our redeemer we lift your name on high father there is truly no one else like you father you are the one who created the universe you put air in our lungs father we honor you and we acknowledge that it is an honor to be connected to anything you were doing so father let us be like the person in this text and say father if i could just do one thing in your kingdom you don't have to make me a great name no one has to know that i was the one who was behind it all i just want to serve what you're doing in the earth father because when i serve what you're doing i take territory from the enemy and the enemy has taken too much from me so when i serve you i want to take something back from him father make us content with being the least in the kingdom recognizing that it makes us even greater than anything in the world father nothing this world can offer us can satisfy us and so we just ask for the satisfaction that can come from being connected to you father i feel this so strongly someone's finally receiving peace someone's finally recognizing that they had their priorities wrong you're helping us re-prioritize our life father bless them bless their minds father bless their passion father bless their gifts and their talents made them may they use them for your kingdom and may when they use them father may it chip away and take back everything that the enemy tried to do to damage them father i prophesy restoration and redemption that you will restore us back to who we were when you formed us in our mother's womb that nothing we have had to adapt to or adjust to will define us but what will define us in this moment father is how we allowed ourselves to be used for your kingdom seal this word god allow it to take root allow it to produce fruit allow it to forever change the way we think and the way we show up in the world and father when we have those moments as humans do when our pride and our ego try to make us think that it's about us may we be reminded that you jesus are the center of it all and if we can keep our eyes focused on you then nothing can stand in our way of having the peace that surpasses all understanding in jesus name i pray amen you

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

Views: 259,520

Rating: 4.9281988 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: SezWPA8Uwwg

Length: 55min 35sec (3335 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 30 2020