Tunnel Vision | Sarah Jakes Roberts

hey family I'm pastor touré 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're invested a lot into technology so that we can continue to bring the word to you and innovative in 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 this yeah we've been very intentional in this season to to partner with organizations and support them financially that are making a difference considering their crisis so we just thank you they're giving instructions on the screen here partner with us and let's get into this word you know family sometimes it can be challenging to believe that the goodness of God is running after us when we find ourselves in difficult weeks if you're like me this has been one of the most challenging weeks that you've maybe had in a long time I want you to be encouraged because in this moment I believe God is going to give you clarity and perspective and vision on the role you can play in creating and producing change and so I want to get right into the word but I want you to know how this word was developed I was going through the go through like we've been going through this weekend and on Saturday I was just praying and I was having my devotion time and I was like God I need you to speak with me I need you to give me some type of wisdom some level of insight and he gave me something so powerful that I knew I had to share it with you and so I want to get right into the word if you're watching it's not too late to text and let them know hey login I believe this word is gonna help us you know who your friends are that have been struggling your family members who have maybe been struggling and just need to hear a word from God and I believe that this is going to be a word that really sets this all up in position for how would I operate and show up in this season so my subject for today's message for those of you who like to take notes is tunnel vision tunnel vision and I'm going to be speaking from Luke 22 verse 49 through 53 I'm excited about this word cuz like I said it it really spoke to me first and I really feel like the most powerful words are the words that come to you and then go through you just a little bit of background at this point in the text Jesus has gone through the Last Supper he's been in the garden and he has come into a place where it is now time for him to transition to the Jesus who heads towards the cross for three years of his ministry we see him doing miracles and we see him healing the sick and preaching and helping the blind to see but we all knew that there was going to come this moment in which he would become the ultimate sacrifice and so I want to study a little bit what happens in this moment this is when Judas betrayed him with a kiss and turns him over to the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin Council who will ultimately be responsible for his persecution and my text begins in verse 49 it says when those around him saw what was going to happen they said to him Lord shall we strike with the sword and one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear gotta get a little gangster with this some times but jesus answered and said permit even this and he touched his ear and healed him then jesus said to the chief priests captains of the temple and the elders who had come to him have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs when I was with you daily in the temple you did not try to seize me but this is your hour and the power of darkness my subject is tunnel vision and so father I just ask that you would allow me to see this moment the way that you see it from heaven that this would not be about the cameras and making sure that we're connecting with the people on the other side of the room but that this would actually be an opportunity for you to stand in the room where people are Father I'm asking that you would make this moment so real and so tangible that there is no doubt that you have been with us Father I'm asking you to erase the distance of technology and that your glory would sit in the room I feel the presence of God on this but it would break strongholds like never before that it would bring breakthrough father but it would echo throughout the earth because the people who are receiving it are not just here to feel good and to have their ears tickled but they are here because you have called them to change the worlds to let every world changer that needs to hear and consume this word remove any distractions walls barriers or excuses that would keep them from allowing it to take root and produce fruit and as for me father no distractions no nerves no anxiety just the nimbleness father of thought mind and speech that your word may flow through me with ease in Jesus name I pray amen you know I am like most of you have found a way to try and create some level of escape I think between the pandemic and then the uprising of the racial and Justices that have existed in this country for a very long time that I have been mentally and emotionally exhausted and one of the ways that my husband and I like to try and unwind when we feel like the world is going cray cray and we can do nothing to stop it is to just turn on a movie for it after we pray in worshipping all of those things we also take a moment to allow ourselves to be entertained and so we love movies but sometimes in the process of picking those movies we watched so many trailers trying to determine what type of movie we want to watch that we just give up on watching television all together part of the problem is that I like to watch rom-coms and feel-good movies and you know I can do action in adventure but one of the movie genres that he likes to watch that I can't really get with our horror films you know I don't play with the devil you know what I mean like I don't just like play with them like well I just want to watch a movie about his works and how he's functioning and stuff so I don't really like to watch horror movies because be scared for what's real life is scary why would I want to watch a movie so that I could be scared it's not my jam but every now and then I tried to compromise you know and so I will watch a scary movie with him as long as it's daylight and I have enough room to really make sure that I'm not going to sleep on those types of movies and so when we're watching these movies I'm waiting for this particular moment in the film when I realized that this could have never happened to me I don't know if you're like me and you watch the movies and you see people do things that you know that you would have never done honey if they did a horror film and I was in it and I was in some of these situations that I see people in it would have been a short film because I'm not trying to beat up the bad guy until the bad guy just has a headache I'm trying to wipe him out I'm trying to help him go see the judge you know what I mean like I'm not just trying to make sure that you're bruised for a little bit I'm trying to take you out of the game at that point in the film I can watch it because the whole time I'm watching the movie I'm thinking to myself this would have never happened to me because I would have checked homeboy at the very beginning when he came knocking on the door I would have never been in this situation and that is what gives me peace when watching scary movies there's this tunnel vision that I have this tunnel vision allows me to face the scary things that are happening in the movie because I haven't shorts that tunnel vision it's the type of tunnel vision that I seek to have in everyday life some of us are experts at having tunnel vision when we're under pressure you know when we're under pressure we can get things done some of us procrastinate knowing that when I am under the pressure that comes with procrastination then I can produce I want to challenge you for a minute to not be one of those people who just have tunnel vision when you're under pressure Jesus teaches us as a boy that he has the type of mental discipline that is synonymous with tunnel vision by how we find him when he's in the temple he's 12 years old and Mary and Joseph are looking for him and when they finally discover him after days of looking for him they asked him where have you been what have you been doing and he says didn't you know that I had to be about my father's business he had tunnel vision even when he wasn't under pressure I don't want to know who you are when you're under pressure I want to know what type of tunnel vision you have when you don't have pressure because that is who you actually are some of us pride ourselves on who we can become under pressure and while there is something to celebrate in that notion I am more curious about who you are when you don't have pressure some of us can be honest when we're under pressure some of us can perform well when we are under pressure but those who are truly going to be who are truly going to be successful learn how to function when I am NOT under pressure I still deliver on the same level there is something to be said I can remember being a little girl and my sister and I would get in trouble and we're only like 11 months apart and so I knew if my parents separated us and started talking to us that the ship was gonna sink because my sister was going to tell the truth immediately me you know I was gonna get there but it was after a certain level of pressure had been applied to me but then I came to this point in my life in my adulthood where I recognize that I cannot be the kind of person who has character under pressure there must be a moment in your existence when you decide who I am under pressure is who I want to be all of the time Who am I when I am under pressure what are those attributes that I want to exist even when I am not experiencing that some of you right now are only watching this video because you're experiencing a certain level of pressure and I hear God saying that if I could get you to connect with me when there is no pressure than when you are in the pressure you will have the type of assurance you need to have tunnel vision to survive it I hear God's saying that now is a time like never before for us to perfect who we want to be when there is no pressure I've been seeing so many allies so many people speaking out about racial injustice and if I'm honest one of my biggest concerns and one of my biggest fears is that when it's no longer in the headlines will you still be this type of person when there is no pressure and I feel like we have to be willing to ask ourselves when I am under pressure am i proud of Who I am in this moment and can I find a way to be this person 24/7 Jesus he perfects this level of tunnel vision tunnel vision without being under pressure I'm about my father's business 24/7 my character and my integrity rises to the level of Honor 24/7 I don't just have to be honest when everyone is accusing me of something when I am honest all of the time there's a certain type of way that I want to show up in the world and I don't want life to force the best out of me all of the time I want to be digging for the best of me even when life isn't putting pressure on me I want to make my rhythm and my pattern for existence to be constantly constantly searching for the best of me god I don't want to figure out that I know how to budget when I'm under pressure god I don't want to figure out that I know how to be patient when I'm under pressure I want to have the type of character that is seeking how can I become better without pressure because when we have from pet from pressure we start acquiescing and we start pulling back and we start to slack in our discipline but I hear God saying that you have to find a way to put pressure on yourself without life putting pressure on you and I don't mean the type of pressure that gives us mental anxiety I mean the type of standard maybe that's what I'm talking about and I'm using the wrong word what is your standard when there is no pressure what is that bar that you're reaching towards when there is no pressure this is who I am it's not just who I am when it gets tough it's not just who I am when I'm running out of time this is the rhythm in which I exist and sometimes there are moments when I have to accelerate but I don't have to go from 0 to 60 because I already live at 45 I feel like spitting some bars for somebody who's been waiting for a sign that it's time for them to get back in the game and to stay in the game consistently instead of waiting on someone to tag you in I hear God's saying that you ought to be anxious for a moment to say I don't need anyone to push me I don't have to have the job loss to force me into creativity I want to learn how to work the job and create I want to learn how to be the husband and show up and be a good friend I don't want to have to change who I am depending on the room that I'm in this is a standard of who I am this is my character this is my integrity this is what you can count on when you get me when you give me you get the same person who's here and you get the same person who's in my kitchen not just because it's something that I know how to turn on and turn off it's because this is who I am and I hear God telling someone to stop selling a false image of who you are and to start allowing the authentic version of who you are to show up in your friendships to show up in your relationships and if they walk away let them because if the only requirement for them staying forces you to pretend then you are going to be too busy performing when you could be activated you're gonna be too busy performing when you could be showing up and changing the world I hear that saying you can be a performer or you can be a world changer you can be someone who puts on this show for the gram or you can be somebody who produces the next gram I hear guys saying that sometimes you can't be both so you got to decide who you're going to be in any given moment and you got to be the same consistently I only do better I don't do backwards I only do growth I don't shrink even when I pull back it's because I believe I'm being shot forward I am Who I am consistently and that requires tunnel vision and that requires the ability to not be distracted by the things that come in and out of our worlds and atmospheres and Jesus somehow he's able to graduate from this level of tunnel vision I love this because it realizes it makes me realize that Jesus really is the model not just for how we function in the world with acute tunnel vision but for how we show up for other people as well because Jesus brings people into his focus mmm that's not even in my notes but I feel that for somebody that sometimes we are so willing to lay down our focus to pick up someone else's focus not recognizing that part of me diving into someone else's focus has to also do with them recognizing what my focus is so that there are clear boundaries for our relationship I don't mind picking you up in and helping you with your with your dreams and your goals and your purpose but I also want to bring you into what I'm working on so you recognize that I'm moving to that I'm growing too and I don't want to have to always silence my growth so that I can help water someone else there are some moments when I want you to know that I'm planting two that I'm dreaming two and don't be afraid to bring people into your process Jesus does this repeatedly he's healing people who are on the side of the road he's preaching to the multitude he's teaching the disciples but he doesn't allow what he's pouring out to make them forget what his ultimate vision is and if we aren't careful we will let people hijack our vision because we were too afraid to open our mouth and let them know where our tunnel vision was focused Jesus perfects this ability to have tunnel vision without pressure some of us are still working in that area and if you're taking notes this isn't about guilt or shame but I want you to start writing down the areas of your life where you know you need to have tunnel vision in order to graduate to the next dimension of who you are I need to have tunnel vision when it comes to discipline here I need to have tunnel vision when it comes to producing my character to having the level of integrity that I need in order for me to show up in relationships as the best version of myself I need to have tunnel vision I want to move from this point but I feel this for somebody it's not just gonna happen you're gonna have to focus we talked last week about setting your mind once your mind has been set you got to have tunnel vision on what you set your mind towards you're not just gonna wake up one day and be the kind of person that attracts the spouse that meets your list in your requirements you're going to have to really work towards the level of communication and transparency that you want to have in order to have a healthy relationship you're not just going to wake up and know how to run a business successfully you've got to be willing to start studying and having tunnel vision and disciplining yourself to turn off the television and get off social media so you can write the business plan the tunnel vision doesn't just happen it is intentional and Jesus shows us that it is intentional and once you graduate from having tunnel vision without pressure I want to be honest with you there's another level of tunnel vision that you must be willing to possess and that tunnel vision is not one that we fully enjoy but it is one that is necessary for us to understand because when we don't have this level of tunnel vision it surprises us I want to get into it so that what I'm saying makes sense when you graduate from having tunnel vision without pressure you get to learn how to have tunnel vision in darkness there's a difference between having tunnel vision without pressure you get to this place in this stage in your life where you're able to to have the integrity where you're able to communicate when you're able to apologize when you're wrong when you're able to forgive and to have empathy and to see things from other people's perspectives and for a moment we believe that that is the destination and then what happens is once we have fully been able to ascertain what it means to have tunnel vision without pressure God says now I can trust you to have tunnel vision in darkness I guess I could say it this way because you perfected tunnel vision in the world I can trust you with tunnel vision in dark places you can be sent into a tunnel you can be graduated from going to glory - glory to glory it happens through a tunnel sometimes we make it seem like you just take these steps and you enter into glory but this moment in our in our text is going to prove to us that Jesus transition from his human / divinity into his full divinity happens through this darkness this hour of darkness as our text calls in so Jesus goes from having tunnel vision on the earth to having to keep that tunnel vision even in the face of darkness this is the part of the text that really stood out to me because I've been feeling like we've been in this tunnel I want to believe that we're making progress I want to believe that we're moving in the direction that we need to move in but I cannot deny that there is a level of darkness that I am experiencing and I kept asking God why God why does it have to happen in darkness God why can't we all just get along God why can't people just under and I don't know about you but there have been moments when I thought that things were okay and then in an instant in a day in an in a week things take a dramatic shift and all of a sudden I was in my rhythm and I had things together but now I feel like I'm in a tunnel some of us are fighting what's happening in this nation but others of us are fighting what's happening in our home what's happening in our mind we have found ourselves in tunnels and we've been saying to ourself god I thought I had it all together I thought I was making progress I thought that I had finally found the way to show up in the world with tunnel vision and I was about my purpose and I was about my wholeness and I was about my friendships and qualifying my finances I was doing well and then I found myself in a tunnel and I hear God's saying that the only way to access that next dimension of glory that I have for you is if you're willing to go into the tone I want to talk to a minute for a minute to people who are in tunnels people who are faced with the darkness of doing things well yeah when we graduate from doing things well in the earth we look for some level of celebration but the truth is when you're really about what God is doing in the earth when you graduate God says I can trust you to go into dark places yeah that's not that's not those cute messages that we like to hear but it is a real message that we need to understand that when you prove to God that I keep that you can be trusted without pressure then what it shows to him is that I can trust you in darkness that you have established a rhythm of who you are and because you have established that rhythm of who you are I can send you into dark places without that darkness getting down on the inside of you I feel that for somebody you've been facing some things I was talking to a young woman who was facing cancer and she says I just have this thing where I like to make people smile and and I enjoy connecting with other people can I get because I can bring them warmth and I can bring them kind and that's why she chose to be a teacher is because she knew there was a light that was down on the inside of her that she felt like was contagious for children but she didn't understand why God had given her cancer or her guy had allowed for cancer to enter her body and while I dare not try to explain the ways of God for I am far too insecure and far too small to even try to stretch my mind to understand what God is doing I just asked her if she was so committed to letting her light shine even if that meant her light had to shine in dark places God helped me to say it the way I feel it some of us have a light that we want the world to see but she only want light to be added to another light that's already taking place God says what really makes light light is lights ability to show up in darkness and some of us have been in tunnels for so long that we don't understand why we've been in these dark seasons while we've been in these dark moments when we have so much joy down on the inside of us and so much peace down on the inside of us and God said I sent you into the tunnel because you are the light I sent you into the tunnel because you carry the breakthrough I sent you into the tunnel because I could trust you to allow my glory to show up even in the middle of darkness and so now I'm looking at this situation a little bit differently because I'm wondering if I'm gonna allow the darkness to make my lights to come to darkness or if I am going to stand up and allow my light to shine even in the middle of darkness there are some of you who have been so discouraged that we have found ourselves in a tunnel season again I have found myself facing some things that I don't want to face again and I hear God saying that I know it's hard that I know it's dark and that's why I sent you into the room that's why I sent you into the industry that's why I placed you in that family not because I wanted you to be afraid of the dark but because I wanted the dark to be afraid of you and if you ever mess around and figure out what it is that God plays down on the inside of you you would stop expecting more from the light than you expect from yourself God say that you are in the middle of that dark situation is because you have proven to me that you can be trusted in tunnels that you have proven to that you know how to go through dark spaces and to come out with even more awareness of Who I am I feel like prophesying right now in this place there's somebody who's been going through a tunnel and you've been thinking to yourself I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this I don't know how I'm gonna break through and I hear guys saying that the breakthrough is down on the inside of you I feel second Timothy one down in my spirit right now I feel like God's saying I not only did I not give you the spirit of fear before we even get to that part about God not giving you the spirit of fear Paul tells Timothy something very important Paul tells Timothy to stir up the gift of God that's done on the inside of you and I feel like that's the message that somebody needs to hear in this moment you have found yourself in a dark space you have found yourself in the tunnel but the tunnel doesn't know who you are the darkness doesn't know what God lays down on the inside of you and I saying that you need to start the gift of God up down on the inside of you stir it up stir up the gift of God that dad sorry you got beer in the mix got anxiety in the mix but you got Holy Ghost in the mix too and sometimes the Holy Ghost settles down in the bottom until you get bold enough to start stirring up the gift of God I feel like somebody's breakthrough is happening right now on this live stream if that's you I want you to set that shoe that's you that's me I'm stirring up to give to god I've been like prophesied and over this livestream allowing too many things you don't drop of that gift of God but stirred-up season I'm trying to start some things up and let you get in the channel so I could separate who's got the gift of God and who's gonna let fear dominate and when they back my people up in the corner that they will start stirring up the gift of God until heaven is released over this place stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up you've been there before you understand what it means to call on the name of Jesus you've been there before you know how to walk into a room of confidence don't let this tart channel make you forget who you are don't let that start trying to make you back down I hear God saying that racism is not bigger than the kingdom I hear God say that the criminal justice system is not bigger than the kingdom I hear God say your depression is not bigger than the kingdom I wish I had some people who didn't might stirring up the gift of God in the face of darkness I'd like to see darkness construct this makes me pull on my Holy Ghost darkness makes me pull on my anointing [Music] on the gift of God that's down on the inside of me I study differently in the face of darkness I play differently in the face of darkness I love differently in the face of darkness we see more people connecting now more than ever before because somebody has been pushed back in the corner and they have to decide will I allow the gift of God to be a start up on the inside of me we'd love to say that God hasn't given us the spirit of fear and that is true but we have to also remember that the scripture that comes before that makes a mandate that we stir up the gift of God God hasn't given us the spirit of fear but you can't even come to that level of consciousness unless unless the gift of God has stirred up down on the inside of you and that's why it's easy to believe that you have fear that you may not have a sound mind that you're losing it that you're breaking that you're forgetting who you are in the process those are all thoughts that happen when the gift of God is and start up on the inside of us and the enemy's greatest greatest wish is that you would forget that there is a gift of God that's done on the inside of you that gift of God was breathed into your body when he created humanity it was here when you first took your first breath and it is with you in every dark season that you go to all you need is a little gift of God God says that I got a surprise and that little gift of God that I play sound on the inside of you all you need is a little bit of faith in me all you need is enough strength to log on and watch the video all you need is enough strength to sit here and let this minister to your spirit let it bypass your fear let it bypass your anxiety let it bypass your Stu says I'm not even talking to you anymore I'm talking to the gift of God that's down on the inside of you I'm not even talking to your parents I'm not even talking to your future I'm talking to the gift of God that's down on the inside of you and what I'm saying is come forth what I'm saying is breakthrough what I'm saying is change must be broken what I'm saying is strongholds gotta come down I'm talking through the gifts of God place them on the inside of you to break everything standing in your way that says greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world I was the racism would I was a good person would make me start stirring up my dip I might start writing producing I might create the night thou makest earth to give [Music] don't make me don't make me start the gift sometimes you gotta let Hell know if you keep messing with me I must stir up the gift i'ma go from being depressed or stirred up the gift i'ma go from being anxious to stirring up thinking don't make me don't make me I save my marriage don't make me don't make me I save my child don't make me don't make me I start being bold as a lion don't make me stir up the gift because there is a God working down on the inside of me and that God is most powerful when I remember that he's in the tunnel with me somebody's watching this message and you've been struggling and I've been struggling and I started getting discouraged and I started getting angry and I started allowing the tunnel to convince me that I was going to be in this tunnel forever that we're never going to see justice that we're never going to see equality I started letting the tunnel speak to me and when I started hearing the tunnel speak louder than my god I had to rekindle the fire that word stir it up that that Timothy is is receiving from Paul that word sturb means to rekindle gotta God I feel like it's working God I feel like the pain is is getting to me I feel like the fear is getting to me I feel like it's working I feel like the pandemic might take me out I feel like this depression might take me out I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind I feel it working I feel it working and I hear God saying you gonna have to rekindle your fire you're gonna have to rekindle your fire how do I rekindle my fighter guy says you got to throw something in the fire you got to give me something to work with you gotta give me a praise when you don't feel like you're you got a logo to the video when you ain't got no hope you gotta turn on the washer pieces when it feels like you don't wanna hear nothing from God right now Ghazi did you give me something to work with I'll give you my spirit if you give me a sacrifice I'll give you my spirit you give me your worries I'll give you my spirit [Music] and I got her I got a rekindle this fire oh god help me I got a rekindle this fire I gotta be on fire to do this again you are most powerful when you are on a fire the enemy is after our fire this is after our passion and God says you can't let it win go to therapy get the help create a support group throw something in the fire we need fire to burn everything that doesn't look like God so that everything that is God can come out as pure gold does this give me something to work with now I understand my Jesus is in the garden and he's saying God not your will but my will be done he's trying to rekindle his fire because I'm going to the cross and I'm being distracted by how I think it's gonna feel and how I think it might hurt him so got me and you gotta have a faceoff in the garden cuz I got a rekindle this fire I can't go to the cross without fire I can't face these enemies without fire you need the fire up the Holy Ghost I feel like Jeremiah when he said that the Spirit of the Lord was like fire shut up in his votes that he had to release it by any means necessary then fire gets set up in your bones again Wow you wanna do a serve why you wanna do is change Wow you wanna do is transform them I need the fire I need the fire especially one digit up on fire fire fire I dare you to type fire in the comment section until somebody on the other side of the globe catches fire you gotta be careful Oh in fact metal wood fire you get next to baby you might burn baby burn you might burn baby burn I'm on fire for the Holy Ghost again fight fire firefighter I just want to see fire in the chat room I just want to see fire in the comments-section fire fire fire fire fire fire fire fire fire fire fire over your marriage by your over your finances by your over your dreams by your over your mind the kind of fire that makes demons tremble the kind of fires that big hail back up out for you the kind of fire that starts producing gold Jesus it's so on a fire in the middle of a dark season that when Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest soldier he says permit even this there are some things that you can let happen when you are on fire because you recognize that meat fixing this is a distraction for what I'm really called to do you can you can withstand them talking about you when you're on a fire you can withstand the disagreements in your comment section when you're on fire you don't need people's validation when you're on fire you start saying things to yourself like permit even this allow this to even happen because if I start digging into this it might take away from my fire you got to protect your fire Jesus he's got this tunnel vision and he's not just staring at death anymore he's staring at glory I only see glory now I only see what God wants to do through me now I only see who I must become not just so that I can get on the cross but so that I can be resurrected permit even this because when I'm resurrected what I do on the cross is gonna fix what's happening in this moment imagine if we had that mentality where I didn't need to fix this fight because the ultimate battle that I'm fighting will fix this fight - why would I argue in my comments when if I continue to fight the high-level fight then those arguments in the comments would be beneath me life is gonna prove that what I'm saying is true me being allowing my steps to be ordered is going to prove what I'm saying is true so Jesus has this tunnel vision even in the middle of a tunnel and Peter Peter got thrust in this tunnel Jesus knew he knew this moment was coming he knew that Judas was betraying him but Peter didn't know Peter said here I'll cut his ear off I I'll get them off of you Peter didn't understand what this was sometimes we're thrust into tunnels before we have the opportunity to even stir up the gift of God that's down on the inside of us maybe had Peter not been falling asleep when Jesus was praying in the garden he would have been prepared but he wasn't prepared you're watching this video and you were not prepared to be in this tunnel you weren't prepared for the country to be in this tunnel I wasn't prepared to be facing this level of darkness and I don't know what to do the Peter Peter's not in this tunnel by himself [Music] Jesus says you understand Who I am and you understand what this is you just don't know how to respond some of us I'm most confused because we don't know how to respond I understand what's happening I know why the marriage fell apart I know why the kids are acting crazy I understand how I got here I just don't know how to respond and Jesus says I'm going to get in that tunnel with you you got threats in this tunnel but I'm gonna teach you even in the middle of the tunnel how to respond some of you you're watching you're speaking out for the first time and and you know you have to you just don't know how you're supposed to respond I hear you guys saying if you keep following Jesus he'll teach you how to respond if you keep following Jesus while you're going through this brokenness he'll teach you how to respond Jesus is saying I didn't just send you into this tunnel by yourself I will always send a teacher to help you in the middle of your tunnel if you've got a teacher that's helping you in the middle of this tunnel I want you to take a minute and celebrate them to thank God that when you didn't know how to stir up the gift of God down on the inside of you that he sent you a teacher that taught you how to do it [Music] and so Peter and Jesus are in this tunnel and while they're in this tunnel Jesus says something that is so peculiar to me and it really stood out in my mind I'm almost finished I promise when Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and the sanhedrin's and all of those who have come out against him he says something to them about how they came at him it was actually a little gangster which I love about my Jesus he says to them when I was with you every day in the temple you never came at me this way in verse 53 I'm going to read it the way New King James Version says it so that I do not open eyes this text it says when I was with you daily in the temple when I was with you shooting in the gym every day in the temple you never tried to come up on me no ok no no no when I was with you daily in the temple you did not try to seize me but this is your hour and the power of darkness Jesus says that darkness will have an hour how is it that Jesus the only begotten Son of God could confirm what we have been thinking and that's what I realized this season has been for our country this centuries long season is evidence that darkness will have an hour I need you to know that because as long as you are trying to avoid darkness and as long as you think darkness has no power you will be caught off guard when it occurs but in this text Jesus tells us that darkness has an hour what do I do with that what do I do with the fact that I am going to face darkness that darkness is going to have seasons in my life pastor tell me what is my response to that supposed to be and I want you to be reminded of what Jesus does in this moment he recognizes that there are moments when darkness must have an hour so that glory can have an eternity that is perspective on the tunnel that is vision for the tunnel that there are some things that you're going to go through that are going to feel dark and they're going to feel lonely and they're going to feel isolating and I cannot protect you from that darkness must have an hour in all of our lives but darkness only has an hour it doesn't have your eternity and Jesus says the only way that I can access this next dimension of glory is if I allow darkness to have this season there is glory connected to your name and darkness is a sign that you are in the right direction to manifest that glory I honestly think the most powerful thing that I see Jesus doing in this text is that he's still performing miracles when underseas they're seizing him and yet he heals the ear of that soldier that servant that came at him because even when you're going through darkness you don't let have to let darkness change who you are don't let darkness change who you are it may mean you have to move it may mean that you have to readjust the way that you function but there is a core of who you are on the inside of you I know how to perform miracles even when under pressure I know how to show up even when under pressure I am Who I am whether I am under pressure or not under pressure and I've been practicing it long enough that I will not allow darkness to take away from my purpose and so Jesus continues to manifest God's anointing on his life even when he's under seas each of you watching this video your anointing your anointing may be different from my anointing and I feel this for you you're weeping right now while even watching this video my heart is breaking with you I know that you're tired of being in this darkness and in retaliation to God because he allowed this season to happen you have stopped releasing your anointing you don't do it with this same heart you don't do it with the same passion because you're angry with God that you're in this dark season and I hear God saying that the thing that is gonna help you get out of this tunnel the thing that is gonna light the way as you go through this tunnel is not what someone else pours into you it's in what you release after that pouring that means you can receive all the word that you can take but if you don't release your anointing how that anointing transformed your gift if you don't release that anointing then your light may not shine bright enough to get you out of this tunnel that means you still may have to produce it you still may have to create it it may be modified it may not be on the level that you have desired but I hear God's saying that you are retaliating against him because of the darkest hour that you've ever faced and God says you're in that darkness not because I wanted this for you this was never God's original intention for Humanity I didn't want you to face darkness that's why he told Adam and Eve don't eat from that tree but now that you cannot avoid darkness I'm gonna give you the power to unleash my glory even in darkness I hear guys saying if you start sowing your gift in the darkness to start sowing your talents in the darkness that it's going to rekindle that fire and that fire is going to reveal God's glory I want to pray with you you know that it's been hard for you to have the type of tunnel vision that allows you to show up with confidence this is not me coming down on you I'm testifying I too was struggling God where are you in the midst of this God how could you allow this to happen I have some questions for God but as I was studying as I was praying and I was just asking God to show me reveal where you are in the midst of this I started filling my Holy Ghost stirring and when I thought the Holy Spirit stirring I felt equipped to wage war with what was standing in front of me I felt equipped that there is a better tomorrow that awaits us I felt empowered that there was glory on the other side of this but I couldn't get that when I started thinking on the level of this earth I guess maybe that's why last week we had to set our mind so maybe what happened in my prayer time is I've just rained my mind in I want to talk to you I want to pray with you because I believe that God's gonna give you back your tunnel vision if that's you I just want you to put that's me that's me that's me that's me I want to make sure that this prayer hits you exactly where you are I want you to be represented when I pray this is the closest thing that we can get to an altar call virtually so if you're watching this I want you to send me some type of smoke signal that you want your house represented in this prayer by this is me it's me it's me it's me it's me I lost focus on who you are I lost focus on how I can change the world I lost focus on how I can show up in this family that's me that's me that's me because I'm gonna pray that you would become like Peter and that you would become teachable in the tunnel that you would become teachable in this moment when you need it the most I remember in the Old Testament they talked about how we've never gone this way before so we have to be careful we've never gone this way before talking to the children of Israel you've never been this way before you've never faced this level of Darkness you're like Peter you don't understand how you're supposed to respond and I hear God's saying I'm going to teach you how to show up be patient with yourself and be patient with me you're not in this on your own father man there truly is no plan like the plan that you have for our lives and we're constantly declaring things like you made a way and that your goodness runs after us but father in some moments it feels like we don't know where you are and yet we call you our way maker we call you our miracle worker we say that you are our provider we say that you are our healer but the only way we can find out that this is true is if we find ourselves in dark moments so what I'm saying father is that we want to know you better father every household every comment represented in this chat section every person responding that's me father we want to have a radical encounter with you where we recognize that your power to meet us in those tunnels is still working and still available and so father we make room for you and we exit you with narrow our vision down not to the fear that exists in this tunnel but to the gift of God that you've placed that on the inside of us father I'm praying that you would highlight the gifts of the people who are connecting to this message right now you didn't even know kindness was a gift but is a gift of God you didn't know patience was a gift but it is a gift from God you didn't know that you could show up and change the world with one smile one thought one idea serving in the way that you serve it is a gift from God you may not be able to sing but you may not be able to write you may not be able to produce but that doesn't mean you don't have a gift probably highlight the gift of God that you have given to each and every last one of the people connecting with this prayer and farther acts that you would not just highlight that gift but that you would feel that gift with the power of the Holy Ghost that right now in this moment father if this is your word if this is your prayer I want you to lift your arms lift your hands like you're receiving something father we receive your spirit father we receive your glory father we receive your ability to rekindle the fire that's down on the inside of us father i baptize them right now in the name of Jesus and with the power of the Holy Ghost father i baptize them in the power of the Holy Ghost until the Britch depression has to stay in the water until disease has to stay in the water until anxiety has to stay in the water God I'm asking that your presence would begin sweeping their rooms sweeping their offices sweeping their cars wherever they're watching father your spirit knows how to reach them your spirit knows how to touch them father let your spirit touch them and let it overflow we repent father for losing sight of who we are to be we repent father for allowing fear to dictate our minds we repent we repeat for not trusting you we repent for putting more faith in ourselves than we did in you Father forgive us of our sins forgive us of our shortcomings forgive us for giving up when you were still working and we exit you would fill us with your spirit so that we can regain our position by the wherever you say to go we'll go wherever you send us we'll stay wherever you position us we'll be planted and it will not be by our strength nor will it be by our power Father but it will be by your Spirit we receive your spirit in every single way in Jesus name I pray amen I want you to type a man's seal this word seal this prayer amen amen amen amen [Music]

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

Views: 287,170

Rating: 4.9218597 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: d-RyrIVeyuM

Length: 53min 28sec (3208 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 04 2020