Hallelujah. I want to launch out from the
book of James today. 5 powerful chapters and James is a
fascinating book. There's four people in the New
Testament named James. One is James, which was a son of
Zebedee and the brother of brother of John.
You can find that in Matthew chapter 4 verse #21 The second
James was the son of Alpheus and he was called the yes Sir, the
the younger or the lesser. That's in Matthew chapter 10
verse #3 then you have James the father of Judas.
You can find that in Luke chapter 6 verse 16.
But the author of this book, James, was the brother of Jesus,
the half brother of Jesus. You can find this in the Gospel
of Mark, the 6th chapter, the third verse.
The interesting thing about James his brother, I was
reflecting on this. He grew up around Jesus.
Jesus had four brothers, at least two sisters.
So he was in the household with Joseph and Mary and Jesus.
Could you imagine being around Jesus all the time as your
sibling? See Law.
The interesting thing while Jesus was doing his ministry in
the earth you realize that realized that James was not a
believer in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
You can find that in John Chapter 7 verses 2 through 8.
It says none of his brothers really believed that he was the
Messiah. So he had a radical conversion
post resurrection because in first Corinthians 15, seven it
says that when Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared to
certain Peter people. First he he appeared to Peter,
then he appeared to the 12, then he appeared to 500 brethren at
once, then he appeared to James's brother, and then he
appeared to Paul. And at that appearance James
committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the great thing we can learn about James as he was a finisher
from the time he was radically converted till he was martyred
in 62AD, which is a run about 33 to 34 years.
He say wholeheartedly devoted and dedicated to God.
And what what a example for us. It's not how you start, but how
you finish. Even if it cost me my life and
martyrdom, I'm not going to renounce or denounce Jesus
Christ. He is my savior, He's my king.
He gave everything for me, so I'm giving everything for him.
And James had that wholehearted conversion.
He was among those that were waiting for the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 1, verses 14.
In Acts chapter one, verse 14, he was waiting for the
outpouring of the Holy Ghost. And you just see the progression
as you're faithful and little God will make you ruler.
And much by the time we get over to Acts chapter 12, when Peter's
released supernaturally from prison, Peter was a a leader at
the Church of Jerusalem. But then it said he departed and
went elsewhere. James took up that mantle of
leadership at the Church of Jerusalem, became the lead
pastor, and you can see him at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts
chapter 15. So God's got a plan and a
purpose for all of us. Let me say it again, God's got a
plan and purpose for all of us, but we can't be wastefully
wondering. We got to be world changers.
That means we have to have conversion and concentration.
James stated You don't despise a day of small beginnings.
You could despise a day of small beginnings.
But James did not. And God took him from where he
was when he got saved to where he needed to be as a leader in
the church. Even Paul in Galatians called
him a pillar to the church. And James?
This is one of the earliest epistles, written sometimes
between between 46 and 50 AD. And James's writing has a
striking resemblance to the teachings of Jesus.
He heard them all those years. He heard them all those years,
He heard them all those years. But he finally surrendered and
submitted. So his teaching was strikingly
resembling Jesus Christ, specifically the Sermon on the
Mount. And like the Proverbs in the Old
Testament, James, in his book deals with practical application
of spiritual truth for everyday situations.
He sets forth the ethical requirements for the life of a
belief. And so he really builds from the
first chapter to the fifth. The first chapter really deals
with your private conduct, but then it starts to spill out over
to your public performance. You can only perform in public
to the degree you're willing to practice in private.
And so when James says count it all joy, right, when you fall,
that's a private thing. Somebody may not know you're
struggling or going through things, but James said count it
all joy. He goes on about listening,
right? Be quick to listen, slow to
speak, slow to anger, right? He's dealing with you.
He said look into the perfect law of liberty, glory to God.
There's a perfect law of liberty that we with that word is like a
mirror and we when we look at it, we see a reflection of who
we really are. And then he gets over in chapter
2 and some of the public things that goes on over in chapter 3
talks about the weight of a teacher and making sure that we
give you the unadulterated word of God because teachers are
going to be judged more strictly for what they minister.
He talks about wisdom to deal with the fears of man versus the
versus the evil wisdom of this world.
He gets over in a chapter 4. He talks about commercial
business. Don't go say I'm going to plan a
business over there when you haven't even asked God what he
wants you to do today. And then he gets over in a
chapter 5 and are really I'm going to launch out from the
last two verses in this book, which is verse 19 and 20.
I'm going to read this from three different translations.
Hallelujah. So we're going to be reading
from three different translations.
It said brother and from the King James Version brother.
And if you do not hear from the truth, if if anyone of you hear
from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which
convert US, the Sinner from the air of his way, shall save a
soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
The Passion translation says it like this.
Finally, as member of God's beloved family, we must go after
the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back for one
who restores the sinning believer back to God from the
air of his way, gives back to his soul and life from the dead,
and covers over countless sins by the demonstration of love.
The message reads it like this. My dear friends, if you know
people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write
them off, Go after them. Get them back and you have
rescued precious lies from destruction and prevented an
epidemic of wandering away from God.
The power of conversion, The power of conversion.
Converting is changing the way we think and there is power in
conversion. When we convert our mind and
change the way we think is when we will stop wandering.
When we convert our mind and change the way we think, that is
when we will stop wandering. Psalms 19 verse #7 The law of
the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul The word of
the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul The truth of
the Lord is perfect, and it converts the soul.
Wandering is a common theme throughout Scripture.
Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
First Corinthians chapter 10, verses 5 through 10 gives us an
example of what they were doing. And they're wandering.
They were full of murmuring and complaining.
They were full of lust, they were full of sex sins.
They were full of idolatry, and they were full of tempting, of
temp, of tempting Christ. And they wandered for an 11 day
journey from the Deliverance in Egypt.
To get where God wanted them to go was 11 days.
But they wastefully wandered for 40 years around the same space.
It was like a merry go round. Wandering is movement without
progress and counseling. We call this a hamster wheel.
That hamster moves a lot, but he doesn't go anywhere.
And that's what a wandering believer is, a lot of movement
without progress. It's possible to have movement
without progress. And this time while they were
wandering, it was full of mourning and death because they
disobeyed God and wandered from his commands.
God said, I, even though my desire, my aim, my goal, my
purpose was to take you out from Egypt through the wilderness.
My desire was to take you into Canaan land.
He promised back in Abraham and Abraham's life, Abraham's life
that I'm taking to, into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Abraham pass it off to his son, who pass it off to his son, who
pass it off to the 12 patriarchs.
Moses still communicates about it in the book of Exodus.
Listen, there's a day he's going to bring you into the land.
And the New Testament reality for us as believers is John
1010, because Canaan land is a sweet life.
John 1010 says it's a thief who comes to steal, kill and
destroy. But it is I who came to give you
life and to give it to you more abundantly.
Canaan land is an abundant life, the wilderness is a barely get
along broken, disgusted life, and Egypt is a life of bondage.
God brought them out to bring them in, but then instead of
taking an 11 day journey they circled around the same place
for 40 years. I don't have 40 years to waste.
I don't want to be wastefully wandering for 40 years.
Could you imagine the amount of funerals that Moses had to
perform? Some scholars estimate there was
a million people that died in the wilderness.
That's a lot of funerals. You can die prematurely if you
wander. You can't.
Is it God's will? No.
But if you wander from the law of God, if you wander from the
local body assembly, if you wander from your devotional
life, it can cost you. Listen, Nebuchadnezzar, in the
Old Testament, he failed to recognize the sovereignty in the
hand of God. And he said it was me that built
this Kingdom. And when he made that
declaration that it's my effort and my work, he lost his mind
for seven years. I don't know about you, but I
don't want to lose my mind for seven years.
That's a long time to be out of your mind.
Eating grass. Yeah.
I want some steak. Followers of Jesus Christ can
wander. Merriam Webster's defines wonder
as this to move about from one place to another aimlessly
without a fixed course, purpose or goal.
Merriam Webster's also says this about the definition it lose.
It means to lose normal mental contact or stray in thought.
For example, his mind wandered, you know, the other day I on, on
Thursday, I was in the office. And so I go back to my office
and you know, I'm, I'm on to the next assignment also.
And I hear Jan and her voice isn't the same.
And I know Jan's voice, 'cause I made a cup of coffee before.
And in her graciousness and her kindness, sometimes my mind will
wander and I forgot I made the cup of coffee.
And she'll say, hey, Pastor Mike, did you make a cup of
coffee? And she'll bring it to me,
which, you know, is awesome because she serves.
She got a heart to serve. But this voice was a little
different. And all of a sudden, what I did
is my mind wondered, I forgot to put a cup under the K-Cup.
Hallelujah. You could say Amen or oh, me.
And so, you know, you realize when you wander from the truth,
it takes up time when you could have been doing God's will.
Do you realize that that took about 1520 minutes to clean up,
which could have been 15 to 20 minutes of something else?
How many have been traveling before and you've missed your
turn or missed your exit? I remember one time Angie and I
are on the highway trying to go somewhere and, and I was the GPS
is on, but I just my mind wandered, I missed the
instruction. And you know, when we're on that
highway, we're on a time constraint too.
It was 8 miles till the next place to turn around.
So we had to go 8 miles up the road to get come 8 miles back to
go 8 miles the same way. So that's about, you know, at
least 25 to 30 minutes right there and we're on a time
constraint. Thank God for his mercy.
You can be restored when you wonder, but how much better is
it just to stay on point and to have Kingdom conversion and
concentration. Some of your mind is have
wondered right now. Maybe a notification went off.
Maybe you have were tempted to look at social media during
church service. Maybe you were tempted to look
at social media during church service.
Some of you thinking about what you're going to eat after
church. Some of you are thinking about
the Super Bowl tonight. Don't let your mind wander when
it comes to attention span as I looked up some statistics on
this A2 year old has an average attention span of four to six
minutes, a four year old 8 to 12 minutes, a six year old 12 to 18
minutes, an 8 year old 16 to 24 minutes, a 10 year old 20 to 30
minutes, a 12 year old 25 to 35 minutes.
A 14 year old has an attention span of 28 to 42 minutes and 16
year old plus 32 to 50 minutes plus.
I've heard, I've also heard another statistic it said you
have a minute of attention per year, you old.
So if you're 1 years old, you got about one minute.
So if if anybody's 100, I got the greatest attention span in
the building right now to go a long time today.
But I believe this, your man, your mind can be converted and
you can't concentrate to think. It's like a muscle.
If you exercise it, it will grow.
You know, the average person picks up their phone about 1500
times a week. That's an average of about once
every 5 1/2 minutes. Maybe part of your conversion
and concentration is not to pick it up.
Amen. I'm not saying to completely put
it down, but you know when it's important and you know when it's
not Amen. I know some people like to
decompress, so they at at night, they like to scroll.
Why don't you read the scroll? I guarantee you're probably
sleep in better peace reading this scroll.
But then some of the stuff that's on the social media
scroll that could stir you up, stir your emotions up.
Hallelujah. So James is not talking about
wicked transgressional transgressional people, but
those in the church that have wandered off from the truth.
Truth. He is Speaking of brothers and
sisters in the Lord that have wandered off path and are
aimlessly roaming without purpose and hopeless.
James isn't talking about evangelism winning a lost soul.
He's talking about rescuing a lost soul.
Ezekiel chapter 34 verse #4 says this.
Ezekiel 34 four. You have not strengthened those
who are weak. You have not healed the sick.
You have not bandaged the cripple.
You have not brack. You have not brought back those
gone astray. You have not looked for the
lost, but you've ruled them with force and violence.
Now if you jump down to the 16th verse of that same chapter, it
says I will seek the lost. I will bring back the scattered,
bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the
sick. But I will destroy the fat and
the strong who have become hard hearted and perverse.
I will feed them with judgment and punishment.
So just like Ezekiel James is saying there are lost people
that or there are saved people that have got off track that
have wandered from the path and they're they're sick and they're
not doing well. What I mean by sick, just not
physically but mentally, emotionally, even spiritually,
they have disease which means they're at dis ease cause
they've wandered from the truth of the word of God and it should
be our heart. When Jesus saw the multitude
over in the Gospel of Matthew, he was moved with compassion and
he said the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers
into his harvest. And I'm telling you, there's a
harvest of those unsaved, but there's also a harvest of those
that are saved but have wandered from the path of truth.
And it should be our compassion, our motivation, our desire to
see all mankind connected with Christ, connected with Christ.
Luke chapter 15, if you read that whole chapter, it talks, it
gives a picture of lostness, it talks about lost sheep, it talks
about lost coins, and it talks about the lost son.
I want to zero in on the lost son.
You know the parable of the prodigal, That is the story of
the lost son. The son was in the father's
house. The Son saw the goodness, the
provision, the love, the purpose of the Father, but yet he chose
to say, give me, give me my share of the inheritance.
He became very selfish and self-centered in his pursuit in
life. And I'll tell you this love
Church always gives at the expense of yourself, and lust
always takes at the expense of somebody else.
God so loved the world that he gave love gives at the expense
of yourself. This son was in lust just like
the children of Israel wandered for 40 years because one of the
things they were in was lust. Well, this son said, give me.
And we know the story. He took off from the Father's
house. And man, when you get separated,
it may all sin. Seems pleasurable in the moment
and I'm sure he had a good time for a while.
Hallelujah. You know, partaking of a benefit
out. I'm keeping this G rated outside
of the marriage covenant. Or if you're single and taking a
benefit that should only be in marriage may seem fun for that
moment. But if a sexual STD, I'll put it
that way, hit your life or the emotional tie and weight of the
guilt, shame and dishonor. So even though this son seemed
like man, I'm going to go have a good time, I'm going to do life
my way. He finally hit rock bottom when
he had spent all the money. You know, sin will take you
further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to
stay, and sin will make you pay more than you wanted to.
And this, this son spent it all. And he, he had to become a slave
in that community. And then he finally came to
himself, though he finally said it was better in my father's
house. And oh, that Anchor Faith Church
will rise up and pray and we say we we have people come back to
the altar. Come back to it was better when
I was connected with that local body church.
It was better, you know, the banana that gets away from the
bunch is the one that gets peeled.
It was better to be grouped together than by myself.
You know, God just revealed this to me this morning.
I was meditating on Abraham. Abraham, his name was Abraham at
that time over in Genesis 14, because that is our mission
statement in 318. So I was thinking about it and
it said that Lot was in Sodom, but that Abraham was down by
Miriam and he was with Isko, the brother of so and so.
And I looked up that word. 1 Miriam meant to strengthen.
So Abraham put around himself, around people that strengthen
him, but the other brother's name meant a cluster.
And it just hit me this morning. We are Better Together because
there's a cluster of believers in this house.
And we are stronger together when we're all doing our part,
our fit, and our assignment in the body of Christ.
Don't be a wasteless wanderer, but be a world changer.
And so the in the prodigal he finally came to himself and
we're praying for people to come to themselves.
Nebuchadnezzar's mind finally was back.
Glory to God. We should rejoice man.
When the father saw the son coming.
You know that, you know, that story went from give me father
and his heart when he was at the bottom.
A bottom was make me. And that was the difference in
the story. We need a bunch of believers
that are pliable in the hands of the Master.
God cannot mow dry clay. The prophet Isaiah said you're
like clay in the hand of the Potter.
And when we have the water in corporate prayer, Angie, I think
it talked about the water of the word and man, we need to let
that water daily saturate us. Why 'cause that's so the
Father's hand could just shape us the way he wants us to be.
And that that Son said make me His heart was right before he
got back in the house. Glory to God, I believe that's a
testimony this year. People are going to come back.
People are going to come back.
People that have strayed, that
have wondered are going to come back.
God's dealing them with them right now by the power of the
Holy Ghost. They said I had an attitude to
give me, but now I have an attitude to make me and we need
to have open arms and say yes, welcome back, welcome back.
We're not going to judge them. We're not going to critique
them. We're not going to consider size
them. We're going to love them and say
get back on the pathway. I know you went 20-4 miles out
of your way. I know you forgot to put the cup
under the the K-Cup. You've wasted some time.
But now, But now, and thank God for my wife and thank God for
Audrey, because they were there when I made the mess.
And I got to that after I heard Jan's voice that sounded
different. There they are sweeping paper
towels out. Amen.
And that's how we want to be. They made a mess, but we're
going to help you clean it up. We're going to give you truth.
We're going to give you the Holy Ghost.
We're going to love you. We're going to encourage you.
We're going to instruct you. We're going to correct you.
We're going to keep you accountable.
Why? Because God has a plan for his
church in the earth today, man. Peter wandered in denial.
The apostle Peter wandered in
denial. Remember when Jesus said you're
going to deny me three times before the rooster crows twice
and Jesus makes his powerful statement to Peter, He said,
you're going to do this. Peter was like, Nah, he said,
but when you're converted, strengthen the brethren.
When you're converted, Peter, strengthen the brethren.
And so then we see in Peter's epistle, the first first
epistle, Peter the 4th chapter, the eighth verse from the
Amplified Bible, first Peter 48. It says above all have fervent
love, above all have fervent and unfailing love for one another,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
It overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for
others. Man Peter wandered and now, but
he got back on the path and thank God for his mercy when we
can get back on the path. In the parable, the prodigal
son. The key to this whole thing is
repentance. Repentance.
If I had, we would go left to right.
If I had, repentance in the center.
That is the pivotal point between reconciliation.
If I don't repent, it's going to lead to rebellion, and rebellion
leads to ruin, which is where the devil wants you.
Complete spoiling and destruction of your life.
But if I repent, I can be reconciled.
You know what reconciliation means in the banking or
financial? It means the account's settled.
Everything's balanced. The blood of Christ, the blood
of Christ. Repentance isn't a one time
event that I did in 1997. I've repented many times over
over the decades. Not a not a gross sin, but when
God deals with you, when God deals with you, when God shows
you some things in John 15, he said if you abide in the word,
the word abides and you'll breathe forth much fruit.
But he said he's going to prune the vine.
He's going to cut off those dead unproductive places in your
life. Those ways of thinking that
aren't lined up with his way of thinking.
The Father's going to instruct you and correct you.
Apostle roll. Read this on on Wednesday in our
service when he said no discipline for the moment seems
fun, but afterwards it it it yields, it yields.
That's another financial term when you yield something you've
got a return on your investment, the peaceable fruit of
righteousness and all. I wouldn't be trained by the
Father, Amen. And then restoration means God
is his heart is always to get mankind back to where he
designed them. So if I repent, I can be
reconciled and I can be restored and restorations like it never
happened. Psalms 103 says he'll remove
your sins as far as the east from the West.
This is why when you go after somebody, it covers a multitude
of sins. It's saying that they're atoned
for, they're redeemed. The blood of Christ has been
applied, that transgression or that wandering has been taken
care of because they have taken responsibility and come before
God and said I am sorry, I don't want to do that again.
Hallelujah. I'm locked in on K cups right
now. Had a pretty good one, pretty
good run I think it was. I think that was my first time
ever. Glory to God, but I'm locked in.
I'm determined not to wander from the K-Cup.
As believers, we need to be fixed, firm, and established.
How can I go after others if I'm not fixed and firm myself?
If I'm wondering how can I go after wonderers, it's time for
judgment to begin in the household of God, is what Peter
said. So an evaluation of your life.
Where are you at with Christ right now?
Are you growing in the things of God?
Are you hungry for the things of God?
Are you affectionate and desiring and pursuing the things
of God in your life? Are you going through the
motions? We need to be fully devoted
disciples of Jesus Christ, fully devoted disciples of Jesus
Christ. So we need to be firm, fixed and
established. Hallelujah to go go after those
that are lost and got off the path.
So we need to cultivate a concentration that's unknown to
most mankind. I think about the life of Jesus,
who's the greatest example we have of leadership in in the on
the face of the planet. He was focused.
His face was set like Flint. We are to be like he was in the
earth. You know, When I go home, I'm
focused. When I'm in my car, I'm focused.
When I'm at work, I'm focused. If I stray, Lord, I'm sorry,
forgive me. I let my thoughts wander.
And you're you're really in moral and thought before you are
indeed. Jesus said this in the Gospel of
Matthew dealing with people wondering.
He said if you even look at a woman to lust after, you've
already committed adultery with you with her in your heart.
If you look at your brother with anger, you've already committed
murder. What was he saying?
Don't let your thoughts wander. We, we need to be whole so we
can help others be whole. I do not want to take advice
from somebody's been divorced 6 times, give me marriage advice.
Thank God for mercy and getting back on the on the path of life.
But I want to know somebody that's doing, has been married
for 40 years and it's not just existing, but they're thriving,
right? So we need to demonstrate this
and live and live this out. Listen, when there's something
broken in life or off course, we need to be builders.
And I was as I was coming into this year praying about 2026, I
had a few things hit my spirit. And to to close this up for this
sermon, I'm going to give you those thoughts and those
impressions that God gave me. But before I cover these two
scriptures, I want to take you to one more, and then we'll
bring this plane in for a landing.
Hallelujah. Hebrews chapter 6, verse #19
says this. This hope we have as an anchor
for the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the
presence behind the veil where the Forerunner has entered
Jesus, have become our High Priest after the Order of
Melchizedek. This hope we have for an anchor
of the soul. Keep your soul anchored in 2026.
Keep your soul. It's your responsibility.
Listen, your kids can't do it for you.
Your parents can't do it for you.
Your friends can't do it for you.
Your coworkers can't do it for you.
Your spouse can't do it for you. It's your responsibility.
You are the priest of your own life, basically, and you are.
It's your responsibility to keep your soul anchored.
Don't let your soul wander. What is your soul with?
Your mind, What you think, your will, what you choose, and your
emotions, what you feel. And 2nd Corinthians chapter 10
says to cast down any thought or imagination that tries to exalt
itself against the knowledge of Christ.
What does an anchored soul look like?
I am constantly putting down any kind of thought that doesn't
line up with the Holy Word of God.
And I'm doing one thing with it. I've been called to have
dominion. This is the reigning church.
I put the the thought under my foot and I'm not.
I'm not going to play around with it.
I'm going to kill it. I like King David even though
King David, King David, King David even even though he took
down Goliath, which some of you may think I got Goliath
thoughts. They seem so insurmountable.
God saying throw that sling, sling the slingshot, the sling,
the rock and the at it and it's going to go down.
But David, just to make sure it was dead, he took his sword and
and no weapon form to get you shall prosper.
He took his sword and said I'm just going to decapitate this
guy so doesn't raise back up. This isn't the freaky Jason
movie in that I watched BC where that guy keeps getting back up.
Now I'm going to kill this Joker.
It's dead. I'm a new man.
I'm identified with Christ. I'm a new woman.
I'm identified with Christ. No more stinking thinking for
me. I'm going to have an anchor in
my soul. It's called the word of God.
It's called the leading of the Holy Ghost.
It's called me. It's called me connected with
the local body church fused to go back.
I won't negotiate with the enemy.
I won't live in mediocrity. I'm all in for God.
And because of that I can expect lost people are going to be
saved and wondering believers are going to be restored.
So it's an anchor for my soul. Isaiah 5812 Isaiah 5812 it says
this is from the amplified Bible said and your people will
rebuild the ancient ruins. You will raise up and restore
the age-old foundations of buildings that have been laid
waste. You will be called to repair the
breach. A restore of streets with
dwelling. Let me read that one more time,
just so it sinks down into your heart and is etched in your mind
and your people. Let me say this, Anchor Faith
Church will rebuild ancient ruins.
Anchor Faith Church will raise up and restore the old age
foundations of buildings that have been laced waste.
Anchor Faith Church will be called the repair of the breach.
Anchor Faith Church will be a restorer for streets to dwell
in. Now in this when I, when I got
to restore repair of the breach, God led me to Nehemiah.
And in Nehemiah there were Nehemiah was moved with
compassion when he heard the report, when he heard that the
wall was broken down and the gates were busted, he was moved
with compassion and he said I've got to do something.
So he actually got a release to go back to Jerusalem.
And in that release he helped re establish 10 gates.
But the thing I want you to stick with today is you know
Jesus said I will build my church in the gates of hell,
shall not prevail against the church.
But when he was rebuilding his gates, he went to the sheep
gate, the fish gate, the valley gate, all these different gates
and rebuild it. But one thing that was common
with all the gates has said he set the bars, the doors and the
locks. And that gives a picture of us
being firm and established in the word of God.
A gate allows entrance or access.
Listen, a gate to a city. We had the city gates in Saint
Augustine that that was only one way into the city.
There's only one way, but the gate helps protect.
And when the gates are busted down, anything can come in.
So for your individual life, you need to set your your, your mind
like Flint this year and say, man, I'm going to stay focused
this this year. I'm going to do Ephesians
chapter 6, which is having done all the stand stand there for
I'm going to put on this year. I'm going to put on this year
every day. I'm going to get dressed.
I'm going to put truth around my waist.
I'm going to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
Thank God for the blood of Jesus.
In the Passover, when the blood was applied to the door posted,
the death Angel passed over. I thank God for peace upon my
feet. I don't have to be agitated or
annoyed or disturbed this year, or get into the flesh or get
emotional. No, I got peace upon my feet.
I got the gospel upon my feet. I'm going to take up the shield
of faith whereby I quench every fiery dart of the enemy, every
flaming missile, every attack. I put up that shield of faith.
That's up to you. Put up that shield of faith.
It'll quench it. It'll put it out the same way
you blow out a candle. It's the same way you can blow
out those thoughts. I'm going to put on the helmet
of salvation. I'm going to guard my mind.
I'm going to meditate on the word of God today.
I'm going to be like the person in Psalms one.
I'm not going to walk in the counsel.
The ungodly stand in the way of the Sinner, sit in the seat of
the scornful. My delight this year is going to
be in the law of the Lord and in that law I'm not going to
meditate day and night. And I'm going to be like a tree
planted by the rivers of living water that brings forth fruit in
every season of life. And my and whatever I do, it's
going to prosper. I'm going to take the sword of
the Spirit this year. Any cords of sin that try to
come against me, I'm going to cut it off Why?
Because life is greater than me and my existence is filled with
purpose. Because I want to rescue lost
people and I want to rescue lost believers.