Take Care of Yourself Mom

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“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

— Isaiah 26:3

Why Your Children Need You Healthy, Grounded, and Anchored in Christ

Mother’s Day messages can be difficult for me because I never want to simply give people sentimental encouragement and move on. My heart as a pastor is always to help people grow, heal, and become more grounded in Christ. I want believers thriving in their relationship with the Lord and displaying the fruit and character of God in ways that impact their homes, their children, and the people around them.

This year, the phrase that stayed in my heart was simple: “Take care of yourself, mom.”

At first glance, that almost sounds selfish. Mothers spend so much of their lives sacrificing for their children that even saying something like that out loud can feel uncomfortable. But one of the greatest things you can do for your children is become the healthiest version of yourself spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

As parents, we constantly put our kids first. We want them happy. We want them healthy. We want them protected from pain and suffering. Every parent understands that feeling. But what many mothers forget is that their children want those same things for them too. They may not communicate it well, especially as teenagers, but they care deeply about their parents.

I joked during the message that having a teenager can feel “like having a relationship with somebody that you’re not that into.” You knock on their door and say, “Hey, some of us are having dinner down here if you want to come,” and they just kind of snarl at you. But underneath all of that awkwardness and emotional immaturity, children care about their parents more than they often know how to express.

Your children want you healthy. They want you happy. They need you stable.

One of the greatest mistakes parents make is slowly losing themselves in the process of raising children. Somewhere along the way, identity becomes entirely wrapped up in motherhood or fatherhood, and eventually there is no longer any investment in personal emotional health, spiritual growth, healing, purpose, or calling. But your purpose is not your children. Your purpose is Christ. Your children fit into that purpose, but they were never meant to become the source of your peace, identity, or emotional stability.

That’s why I challenged the mothers in the room to say, “I’ll put myself first.” Honestly, it was hard for many people to even say it out loud because mothers are often taught that the Christian life means total neglect of self. But taking care of yourself is not selfish when it allows you to show up healthier for the people you love.

If you are emotionally exhausted, fearful, anxious, unstable, or overwhelmed, you will inevitably bring that atmosphere into your relationship with your children. I talked about how parents often magnify situations because of their own internal struggles. If you are already insecure or afraid and then your child goes through some kind of difficulty, you “10X that thing” in your mind. Their struggle suddenly becomes catastrophic because of what is already happening inside of you. Instead of becoming a steady anchor, fear makes us unstable.

2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Many translations connect the phrase “sound mind” with self-discipline. The original Greek carries the idea that a sound mind is produced through spiritual discipline. Not harsh striving, but intentionally turning your thoughts and focus toward Christ. A peaceful mind does not happen accidentally. You have to continually bring your attention back to the Lord. You have to remind yourself who He is and who you are in Him. You have to resist the temptation to let fear define the atmosphere of your heart.

So many mothers live with an internal shaking because their emotional world rises and falls with what their children are doing. If the child is struggling, the mother becomes inwardly unstable. If the child makes bad decisions, the mother’s identity collapses into shame or panic. But your children’s safety is not where your peace comes from. Your peace comes from the Lord.

Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength.”

When your child is struggling, when they make bad choices, when they seem distant, or when you do not know what to do, turn your mind toward the Lord. That sounds simple, but it is deeply practical. Sometimes you have to step back internally and say, “I’m going to get my mind right. I’m going to get my mind stable. I’m not going to let their choices define me inwardly. I’m going to approach them from a place of peace.”

Children need parents who are emotionally anchored. They do not need parents who emotionally collapse every time something goes wrong.

I say that with compassion because I understand where a lot of this comes from. One of the most vulnerable parts of the message was talking about my own mother. I loved my mom deeply. We had a good relationship. She was sweet, trusting, loving, funny, and would do anything for anybody. But she also carried deep insecurity and fear, especially after my father left when I was young.

There were seasons where fear emotionally paralyzed her. I remember times as a child when she would stay in bed for days at a time because she was overwhelmed emotionally. Eventually, my brother and I just learned to function around it. We got ourselves up, went to school, came home, and learned how to survive.

As a child, you don’t fully understand what’s happening in moments like that. But later in life, I realized something uncomfortable about myself: I had developed resentment toward her weakness. I realized as an adult that I sometimes became irritated with her because of the insecurity she displayed. Even simple things would trigger impatience in me. I hated recognizing that in myself, but it was there.

I know many people experience this same dynamic in families. Children are deeply affected by the emotional atmosphere of the home. That does not mean parents must be perfect, and it does not mean mothers never struggle. But emotional health matters more than many people realize.

One of the greatest things you can do for your kids is be the healthiest version of yourself — spirit, soul, and body.

Your children are learning emotional patterns from you constantly. When they watch you respond to stress, conflict, disappointment, fear, or insecurity, they are absorbing those patterns. If every emotional moment becomes panic, anger, anxiety, or emotional withdrawal, children begin walking on eggshells around their parents. But when parents are grounded in Christ, emotionally aware, and secure in God’s love, children experience something completely different. That kind of stability becomes safety.

This is why mothers must continue investing in themselves spiritually and emotionally. I asked the question directly during the message: “What are you doing to regularly invest in yourself?” That could mean prayer, Bible study, counseling, honest conversations, healing old wounds, building healthy relationships, or learning emotional maturity. Whatever you cultivate internally is eventually going to bear fruit externally.

I used the picture of a fruit tree during the sermon: “You’re a fruit tree and your kids need to be able to pick some fruit off and eat it.” If fear, anxiety, insecurity, bitterness, or exhaustion are constantly growing internally, eventually that fruit shows up in the atmosphere of the home. But when the love of God transforms you personally, the environment around your children changes.

That’s why I emphasized this passage:

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.

God cares about the health of your soul. Not just your behavior. Not just appearances. Not just survival. He wants you internally whole.

One of the biggest breakthroughs mothers can have is realizing that they are allowed to continue growing as individuals even while raising children. Don’t put your life and your purpose completely on hold for your kids. That doesn’t mean neglecting them. It means refusing to lose yourself entirely inside of parenting.

I said during the message, “Don’t put your life and your purpose on hold to raise your children.” Many mothers become so consumed with their children that when those children become adults, the mother no longer knows who she is apart from them. Children were never meant to carry the emotional weight of being your purpose. Your identity is who you are in Christ, and that identity remains steady whether your children are thriving or struggling.

Honestly, that truth creates healthier relationships for everyone involved. Children should not feel responsible for maintaining a parent’s emotional stability. When parents become emotionally grounded in Christ, they stop reacting from panic and start responding from love.

That’s where I ended the message: love never fails.

When you are personally aware of God’s love for you, it changes the atmosphere of your heart. You stop parenting from fear, shame, anger, insecurity, or self-condemnation. You become more patient, more present, more stable, and more peaceful. That doesn’t mean you become passive. It means your responses are no longer rooted in fear.

The truth is every parent feels the pressure of wondering if they are messing up their kids. I joked about bringing our first child home from the hospital and sitting there thinking, “Oh man… I hope I don’t kill it.” Every parent understands that feeling. You suddenly realize how deeply you love this tiny human being and how vulnerable that love makes you feel.

But love grows healthiest when it is rooted in Christ rather than fear. If your child’s struggles instantly create inward panic and anxiety, it may be revealing that your identity has become too entangled with their outcomes. Your identity cannot rest on their choices. Your identity rests in Christ. When you live from that place, you become a steadier source of love and wisdom for your children.

I closed the message by praying for healing in families, restoration in broken relationships, wisdom for difficult situations, and peace for those who have had to establish healthy boundaries with unhealthy family members. Family relationships are complicated. Some people listening had beautiful childhoods while others experienced deep pain. Some need reconciliation. Others need boundaries. But wherever you find yourself today, God’s grace is available to help heal, restore, strengthen, and guide you.

Family was God’s design, and one of the greatest gifts we can give our families is becoming emotionally healthy, spiritually grounded people who know how deeply loved we are by God.

Take care of yourself, mom. Not because you matter more than everyone else, but because the healthier you become in Christ, the more peace, stability, wisdom, and love overflow into the lives of the people you love most.

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Chosen & Loved

Healing for the Hurting, Rejected, and Overlooked

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Rethinking Trials - God’s Role in What You’re Facing

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“No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.”

— James 1:13

How you see God directly affects how you pray. If you think God is controlling everything happening in your life—every hardship, every difficulty, every trial—then your prayer life is going to be filled with confusion. You’ll hesitate. You’ll question. You’ll wonder what He’s doing instead of knowing who He is.

In this message, I want to bring you to a place where you trust God, where you’re not confused by life’s circumstances, where you know His will in general, and you can pray according to that will with confidence.

Because here’s the key point we have to settle in our hearts:

Trials will come—but they are not from God.

James tells us this directly.

James 1:2 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”
And then just a few verses later, James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

Now this is where original language study becomes incredibly valuable.

The word translated “trials” in verse 2 and “tempted” in verse 13 is the same Greek word—peirasmos.

So James is saying: You’re going to face trials. Count it all joy when they come. Endure. Grow. Let your faith be strengthened.

But don’t you dare say those trials came from God.

That changes everything.

The Problem: We’ve Blamed God for What He Never Sent

A lot of us have been raised with a subtle mindset that says, “God is in control of everything.” And what that often turns into is this: if something is happening, God must have either caused it or allowed it for some reason.

So when hardship comes, we start asking questions like:

• “Why is God doing this to me?”

• “What is He trying to teach me?”

• “Why would He allow this?”

And underneath all of that is something deeper:
“Can I really trust Him?”

That’s the same question the serpent asked in the garden.

“Did God really say?”

From the very beginning, the enemy has tried to distort God’s character—to make you question whether He’s actually good, whether He’s actually trustworthy.

And that same thinking shows up today when we look at the brokenness of life and quietly wonder if God is behind it.

But let me be very clear:

God is not orchestrating hardship in your life to teach you a lesson.

Things happen. We live in a world where people make real choices, and those choices have real consequences. Sometimes the hardship we face is the result of living in a fallen world. Sometimes it’s the result of decisions—our own or others’.

But it is not God sitting behind the scenes, pulling strings, designing pain for your growth.

If that were true, you’d never fully trust Him.

Tests vs. Trials: A Critical Distinction

We tend to lump them together, but they’re not the same.

God tests the heart inwardly.
Trials happen externally.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 says, “God… tests our hearts.”

That word “tests” in the Greek is dokimazo. It means to examine, to prove, to approve—to see if something is genuine.

This is not God putting you through difficulty to see if you’ll survive it.

This is God working in your heart—relationally.

He’s leading you. He’s convicting you. He’s strengthening you. He’s drawing out faith. He’s bringing you into alignment with who you already are in Christ.

Think about Abraham.

God asked him to sacrifice Isaac—but did Abraham actually kill his son? No. God provided. This was an internal gut check to see if Abraham was in faith enough to cut a covenant with him.

That was not about external suffering. That was about internal trust.

God tests inwardly. He works in your heart.

But trials? That’s something different.

What Trials Actually Are

1 Peter 1:6 says, “You have been grieved by various trials.”

That word “trials” is peirasmos—the same word James uses.

Trials are external pressures.

They show up in your life as:

• Difficulty

• Opposition

• Suffering

• Temptation

• Confusion

And here’s what they do:

They test your faith—but they are not sent by God.

That’s why James can say:

• Count it all joy when they come

• Let patience have its work

• Endure

But also say clearly—don’t say they’re from God.

You have to hold both of those truths at the same time.

“God Won’t Put More on You Than You Can Bear”… Or Will He?

There’s a phrase people quote all the time:
“God won’t put more on you than you can bear.”

That’s not actually what the Bible says.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

That word “temptation”? Same word again—peirasmos.

Here’s what the verse is actually saying:

• Trials will come

• They are common to humanity

• God is not the source of them

• But He will always provide a way out

This is not a statement about God putting pressure on you.

This is a promise about God helping you through pressure you’re already facing.

And that should bring relief to your heart.

You don’t have to sit in hardship wondering what God is doing.
You can stand in the middle of it knowing He’s helping you out of it.

God Is Only the Source of Good

James doesn’t leave any room for confusion.

After telling us not to say trials come from God, he says this:

James 1:16–17
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”

Don’t be deceived.

That means it’s possible to be deceived about this.

It’s possible to look at something destructive—something painful—and somehow attribute it to God.

But James draws a clear line:

If it’s good, it’s from God.
If it’s not good, it’s not from Him.

So when people say things like:

• “This sickness is from God”

• “This hardship is God teaching me something”

You have to bring that back to the cross.

What did Jesus do about sickness?
What did Jesus do about sin?
What did Jesus do about brokenness?

He bore it. He paid for it. He defeated it.

Jesus didn’t go around putting sickness on people.
He went around healing people.

That tells you everything you need to know about the heart of God.

Stop Embracing the Suffering That Jesus Already Paid For

One of the biggest practical shifts this brings is how you respond to hardship.

A lot of Christians have been taught to just accept things:

• Accept the fear

• Accept the confusion

• Accept the sickness

• Accept the struggle

And call it “carrying your cross.”

But if you’re going to bring the cross into it, then you need to look at what Jesus actually did there.

He bore your sin.
He bore your sickness.
He overcame death.

So instead of embracing everything that comes your way, you need to learn to push back against the things that don’t align with what He accomplished.

That doesn’t mean you deny reality. It means you interpret reality through the finished work of Jesus—not the other way around.

You’re Not a Confused Servant—You’re a Son

Part of the confusion comes from how we see ourselves in relation to God.

Jesus said in John 15:15 that we’re not servants—we’re friends.

A servant doesn’t know what his master is doing.
But a friend does.

You’ve been given the Spirit of God.
You have the mind of Christ.
You’ve been brought into relationship.

So instead of standing back and saying, “God, what are you doing?”

You can step forward and say, “I know who You are. I trust You. Help me walk this out.”

You’re not meant to live confused.
You’re meant to live confident.

The Bottom Line

Trials will come. That’s reality.

But they are not from God.

And once you settle that in your heart, everything changes:

• You stop blaming Him

• You stop questioning His goodness

• You stop wondering if He’s behind your pain

• You start trusting Him

• You start praying with clarity

• You start expecting help

Because now you know:

God is not sending trials into your life.
He’s making a way out of them.

And that’s who He has always been.

So the next time you face something difficult, don’t ask, “Why is God doing this?”

Instead, anchor yourself in truth:

• God is good

• God is for me

• God is with me

• And God will help me through this

And from that place, you can pray with confidence, stand in faith, and walk forward in the freedom Jesus paid for.

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Resurrected with Christ

Part 1

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Part 2

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:21

We recently celebrated the greatest event in human history, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I want to take you somewhere deeper than just a celebration today. Not just remembering what Jesus did—but experiencing it, personally. Because if you don’t experience what He went through for you, you’ll never fully live in what He’s offering to you. That’s really the heart of this message.

A Personal Gospel, Not a Distant One

I was thinking back to my own salvation experience. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I didn’t have a framework for the gospel. I had exposure to New Age ideas, different philosophies, but not the truth of Jesus. I went through a season of demonic darkness—substance abuse, confusion, what I would call a kind of spiritual fog.

I remember coming to a place where I knew—I knew—that I was headed toward eternal separation from God. What struck me was this: I didn’t argue with it. I knew it was just. I knew it was the result of my life.

But then I met Jesus.

There was a moment I’ll never forget. Sitting on my couch, I had what I can only describe as a vision. I saw Jesus, back in time, on the cross—and somehow, He could see me in the future. And what He communicated to me was this:

“I would have done this if you were the only one.”

That changed everything. The gospel became personal. In that moment, everything made sense and I could feel salvation and cleansing of darkness working in me. And that’s what I want for you—not just theology, not just knowledge, but a personal encounter with what Christ suffered for you. You might not have a vision, but you can have a heart connection and an inner revelation of His presence.

Why the World Is Still Missing It

Here’s the reality: a lot of people, even Christians, know the basic gospel message. They know God loves them, that they’re sinners, that Jesus died and rose again, and that if they say yes, they’re saved. But they don’t know the effect of the gospel.

They don’t know that they’ve been washed, given a new nature, made one with God, and established in righteousness. As I said in the message, “They know the gospel of salvation… but they don’t know that He’s washed you and cleansed you… that He’s made Himself one with you.”

Because of that, they don’t live free. The world is starving, not just for truth, but for a revelation of how good God actually is. And the doorway into that is understanding what He went through for you.

Jesus Knew What Was Coming

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, what we celebrate as Palm Sunday, He knew exactly what was ahead. He wasn’t caught off guard. Within days, He would pray, “Father, if there’s any way, let this cup pass from me… nevertheless not my will, but your will.”

He knew the cross wasn’t just physical suffering. It was something far deeper.

The Moment of Darkness — Matthew 27:45–46

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

From noon to 3 PM, darkness covered the land. And Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” That’s not just a quote—it’s an experience.

“He ain’t just quoting scripture here. This is happening.”

At that moment, Jesus became sin. God made Him to be sin and poured His judgment against sin into Christ. Why? “He was forsaken so you could be accepted.”

This is substitution. He became like you so you could become like Him.

Psalm 22 — The Emotional Reality of the Cross

When Jesus cried out those words, He was living out Psalm 22. This is not just a psalm, it is a prophetic window into what Christ experienced on the cross. We get an accurate historical record, with some insight of Christ’s experince on the cross, from the Gospels. But we get a look into His mind and emotional state from the Psalms. This is where we move from history to heart-level revelation.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me?”

He felt separation, distance, silence. He entered into the very thing we fear most, so we would never have to live there.

“All those who see Me ridicule Me… He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him…”

He was mocked, shamed, and publicly humiliated.

“They pierced My hands and My feet… I can count all My bones… My heart is like wax…”

This is not poetic exaggeration, it is prophetic detail. 1000 years before Jesus, David describes the cross.

“Many bulls have surrounded Me… They gape at Me like a roaring lion…”

This wasn’t just human suffering. It was spiritual. Demonic, hellish opposition pressing in.

When this becomes real to you, sin loses its grip, fear loses its voice, and condemnation loses its power. This is where grace becomes real empowerment.

Even in suffering, He sees the outcome. He sees redemption. He sees you. And hope begins to rise.

From the Cross to the Resurrection

Jesus didn’t stay in that place. He went into the grave—and then He rose. That brings us to the second part of this message.

In Psalm 22, something shifts. Jesus begins to remember. He begins to declare, “I will declare Your name to My brethren.”

Hebrews 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Jesus didn’t just die for you—He died as you. So that you were crucified with Him, buried with Him, and raised with Him. You have already been raised from the dead spiritually.

Now His life is in you. “The life of Christ is in you. Literally.”

Jesus didn’t just come back to life and open the door to Heaven, He entered the heavenly Holy of Holies with His own blood and secured eternal redemption. Once. For all who will believe.

Living from Resurrection Power

This is your reality now. You are not trying to stay saved or become righteous or get close to God. You are already united with Him, sustained by Him, and empowered by His Spirit.

“Your works add nothing to it… your works are just the fruit.”

This isn’t just about heaven someday—it’s about life right now. Healing in your body, freedom in your mind, peace in your soul, confidence in your identity.

Final Thought

If you want to live free, go back and read Matthew 27, Psalm 22, and Psalm 18. Read them slowly and personally. Let the Holy Spirit show you what Jesus experienced for you, what He accomplished for you, and what now lives in you.

“Let the Word echo back to you who you are and what He’s done for you.”

The resurrection is not just something we celebrate once a year. It is the life we now live from. Jesus entered your darkness so you could live in His light. He took your death so you could walk in His life, and now His Spirit lives in you—live from it!

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Timing and the Will of God

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“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

— 1 Corinthians 2:12

What’s Mine in Christ? Rethinking Prayer Through Identity, Not Circumstance

Prayer is often approached as a response to problems. Something happens, pressure builds, and the instinct is to go to God and ask Him to intervene. But when prayer begins from that place—reaction, anxiety, or uncertainty—it often leads to more confusion than clarity. There is a different starting point, and it changes everything.

Jesus didn’t teach prayer as a reaction to need—He taught it as an expression of relationship. “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” That opening is alignment. It centers the heart in connection before anything is asked. Prayer begins not with the problem, but with awareness—awareness of God, awareness of relationship, and awareness of who we are in Him.

Most people enter prayer mentally active and emotionally stirred, focused on circumstances. But there is power in slowing down and becoming settled. Even naturally, when the body relaxes, it shifts out of stress and into a state where healing functions more effectively. Now combine that with Proverbs 4—that God’s Word brings health to the whole body—and it becomes clear that prayer is meant to be anchored in peace, not driven by anxiety.

From that place, attention shifts from what is wrong externally to what is already true internally. Scripture describes this simply: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Hope is a confident expectation of good. Glory—the Greek word doxa—means view or opinion. So the glory of God is His perspective becoming reality.

That reframes prayer. It is not primarily about asking God to do something—it is about aligning with how He already sees something.

This is where tension arises, because what God says and what we see do not always match. We’ve been trained to think logically—if nothing changes, then it must not have been God’s will. Over time, that leads to familiar conclusions like “God is in control” or “everything happens for a reason.” Those ideas often come from experience, not from what scripture clearly reveals.

This tension goes back to the beginning. Humanity was given two options—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. The tree of knowledge represents determining truth through observation and reasoning. The tree of life represents living from what God has said, even when it doesn’t match what is visible.

The real question becomes: will truth be defined by experience, or by revelation?

That’s why prayer must return to this central question: what has already been given in Christ?

1 Corinthians 2:12 makes this clear: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” Prayer is not about persuading God—it is about knowing what has already been provided.

Take healing. Isaiah 53 declares it, and Peter reaffirms it: “by His stripes we are healed.” That provision is not partial—it includes spirit, soul, and body. The issue is not whether God is willing, but whether what has been provided is being recognized and received.

This is where many struggle, especially when it comes to suffering. When people experience hardship, it’s natural to search for meaning. Growth that comes through difficulty is often attributed directly to God. But scripture distinguishes between suffering for the sake of the gospel and suffering that results from living in a broken world.

When suffering that contradicts God’s revealed character is attributed to His will, it creates confusion about who He is. It forms a framework where outcomes that oppose His promises are seen as intentional, and that ultimately undermines faith.

Faith itself is often misunderstood here. It is treated as something that convinces God to act. But scripture shows that faith receives.

The woman with the issue of blood heard about Jesus, believed, and acted. She did not persuade Him—she accessed what was already available. That is what faith does. It draws from what has been provided.

This also clarifies how we understand God’s will in prayer. Some things are already settled—healing, wisdom, identity, righteousness. These are established through the finished work of Christ. Other areas—like direction and timing—require guidance.

Acts 18:21 reflects this: “I will return to you again, God willing.” Paul is not uncertain about God’s provision—he is acknowledging God’s leading. Understanding this difference removes confusion and brings clarity to prayer.

This also reshapes how decisions are made. Many rely on circumstances—open doors or closed doors—to determine God’s will. But Acts 16 shows something deeper. Paul and his companions were led by the Holy Spirit—restricted in one direction, redirected in another. The leading was relational, not circumstantial.

God leads His people. That leadership may come through peace, through wisdom, or through direct guidance, but it is always rooted in relationship.

A passage often misunderstood in this context is 2 Corinthians 12:8–10. Paul speaks of a “thorn in the flesh,” identified as a messenger of Satan, and writes: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” This is often interpreted as God denying Paul’s request. But the response is not denial—it is provision.

Grace is not merely mercy; it is power. Strength is supplied in the place of weakness. The emphasis is not on remaining in difficulty, but on accessing what has been made available within it.

This brings everything back to the defining question of prayer: what is mine in Christ in this situation? The answer will always align with what has been revealed—His Word, His character, the New Covenant, and identity in Him. When that is established, prayer moves from uncertainty to confidence.

There will be moments when the Word challenges experience. What has been seen may not align with what scripture declares. In those moments, truth can be adjusted to fit experience, or experience can be challenged by truth. Transformation happens when the Word is held firmly enough to reshape what we believe.

Prayer is not about lowering expectations to match life. It is about elevating expectation to align with what has been made available. The Spirit of God is not limited in its ability to work, and the Word of God is not restricted in what it can produce. There is no area—physical, mental, relational, or circumstantial—that is beyond its reach.

The question is not whether it is possible.

The question is whether it will be believed.

And that is where prayer truly begins.

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The Missing Piece in Your Prayer Life

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“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword… and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

— Hebrews 4:12

Prayer is often treated like bringing a request to a distant God and then waiting to see if He decides to respond. But that is not the picture Scripture gives us. Prayer is not meant to be an anxious attempt to convince God to care. It is meant to flow from relationship, from the Word, and from a heart that is becoming persuaded of who God is, what He has said, what Jesus accomplished, and who we are in Christ.

In this message, I wanted to challenge the way many believers pray. I said, “There’s a lot more certainty than we can have in prayer than maybe we’re comfortable assuming.” Too often, we pray from confusion, fear, anxiety, and lack. We reach for familiar religious phrases like “if it be Thy will,” “in His timing,” or “God’s in control,” when in many cases we have not actually stopped to ask:

• What does the Word say?

• What has God revealed about His character?

• What does the new covenant say?

• Who am I in Christ?

Those questions matter because prayer is shaped by what you believe about God. If you think He is distant, reluctant, unpredictable, or irritated with you, you will pray one way. If you know Him as Father, provider, healer, righteousness, peace, and the One who has already acted in Christ, you will pray another way.

Prayer Begins with What God Has Already Revealed

The first foundation of prayer is not your need. It is God’s nature. If He has revealed Himself as healer, provider, righteousness, sanctification, and peace, then that is who He should be expected to be in your situation. And the new covenant matters here. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly for us so that we could live in His righteousness before the Father. That does not mean grace gives us permission to continue in sin. As I said in the message, “Should we continue in sin? No. God forbid.” But it does mean that prayer is no longer the cry of someone trying to earn acceptance. It is the response of someone who has already been accepted in Christ.

That is why I keep returning to this thought: we need to understand the Word, God’s character, the new covenant, and our identity in Christ. Those things are not side notes. They are what give prayer its confidence.

When the Word Meets Real Fear

One of the clearest parts of this message came through the testimonies shared at the beginning. Lisa shared that during a Wednesday night exercise, she wrote down exactly what she needed prayer for: “fear and dread.” She also said something many people would never admit out loud: “I had a relationship with fear.”

That fear had been cultivated over years. Her husband had served as a helicopter pilot and test pilot in the Army, and she had lived in constant anxiety over what might happen to him. Later, when her son served in the Marines during the Iraq war, she had to fight that same fear all over again. This time the trigger was her grandson, who wants to join the Navy and become a SEAL. The old fear returned, and she admitted, “I’ve been not fighting it. I’ve been entertaining it.”

But then she brought in the Word. She stood on Philippians 1:2: “May the blessings of divine grace and supernatural peace that flow from God, our wonderful Father, and our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, be upon your lives.” She began to meditate on grace as God’s ability at work in her, and peace as the wholeness He gives. Then she said that after that exercise, “When I got up the next morning, all that fear and dread was gone.”

She also began praying Psalm 91:1–2 over her grandson: “When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God most high.” That language of being hidden led her into a powerful memory from years earlier, when she had hidden her young son in a box during hide-and-seek. He sat there quietly and rested because she had hidden him, and he trusted her. That memory became an illustration of the Word for her. She concluded, “I am hidden in the strength of the Lord Most High. I am resting. I’m not fearing. I’m not dreading.”

That is what it looks like when the Word becomes living. It moves from being a verse on a page to becoming a reality in the heart.

When the Word Exposes Lies

Dinah’s testimony showed another side of the same truth. She woke up one morning overwhelmed by life. She had PhD work, ministry responsibilities, a business, a garden to tend, and internal pressure mounting in every direction. She almost skipped the women’s meeting and admitted that inside she felt like falling apart. In her words, “All I really wanted to do was lay on my belly, kick my feet, beat my fist against the floor and go, wah.”

At the meeting, she wrote down all of her thoughts and said she filled up the paper “front and back.” Then she started looking at Scriptures that answered those thoughts. She used Psalm 142:3, “When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, you knew my path,” Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in time and trouble,” Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest,” and Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth, I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

As she read those verses, something broke open. She said, “The overwhelming love of God started to pour into my heart.” Then came the realization: “All those things that I was thinking in my heart that morning, I realized they were all lies. They were all lies. Not a one of them was true.” She thought she was alone, unsupported, maybe even off-course. But the Word exposed the lie and brought her back to reality. As she said, “It was the word that pulled me up and out.”

That is exactly what Hebrews 4:12 describes: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword… and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word does not just encourage us in a vague way. It discerns what is going on inside us. It separates truth from falsehood in the heart.

The Word Must Become Living

That is why I said in the message, “It can’t just be information. It can’t just be a good idea. It can’t just be something that you agree with. It has to be this living element that you’re actually feeding on.” Many people know verses, agree with doctrine, and still live under fear, dread, shame, and anxiety because the Word has not yet become living in that area of the heart.

Sometimes the heart is most exposed first thing in the morning or as you are going to sleep at night. Fear, regret, heaviness, shame, and anxious thoughts try to surface in those moments. And often what we do is avoid hearing ourselves. We distract. We fill the silence. We keep from hearing what is actually going on inside. But if the Word is going to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart, we have to let it meet us there.

That is why Proverbs 4 is so important. Proverbs 4:1–4 says, “Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father… Let your heart take hold of my words.” And Proverbs 4:20–23 says, “Pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings… Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them and healing to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” That is not passive Christianity. That is intentional attention. Hear it. See it. Hold it. Guard the heart with it.

Jesus Reveals How the Father Sees You

This is where Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6 becomes so important. In the same passage where He teaches on prayer, He says, “Your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him.” That changes everything. Prayer is not informing God. It is not persuading Him to notice. It starts with relationship: “Our Father.”

Then Jesus says in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air… your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” And in Matthew 6:30, “Will He not much more clothe you?” Jesus, the living Word, is taking time to tell us how God thinks about us. You are valuable to Him.

That matters because if you do not know your value to the Father, you will pray from uncertainty. You will feel like you have to convince Him to care. You will interpret delay, difficulty, or pain through the lens of rejection. That is why I said, “Before you tell God what you want, what you need, make sure you’re aware of your value to Him, first.” If you are not settled in His love and care, fear and anxiety will shape your prayers.

Faith Is Being Persuaded by Who He Is

That leads right into the subject of faith. I wanted to make this clear: faith is not what you do to get God to respond. Faith is not spiritual effort aimed at moving heaven. Faith is your response to who God says He is.

Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Faith is born as the heart hears and receives what God has spoken. If God says, “I am the Lord your provider,” the question becomes whether that is settled in your heart. If He reveals Himself as healer, is that who you know Him to be regardless of what circumstances say?

That is why I pointed to Sarah in Hebrews 11. God had already spoken His intention. The promise was already there. Galatians 3 shows us that the blessing promised through Abraham ultimately points to Christ. But Hebrews 11 says Sarah “judged God faithful,” and when she did, she received strength. The issue was not whether God was willing. The issue was whether she would become persuaded of His faithfulness.

That is how prayer works. It is not “God, let me convince You to do this.” It is “I am going to go to Your Word, see what You have spoken, and let my heart be persuaded.”

The Word in the Heart Must Be Protected

The final major picture in the message came from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:18–23 and Mark 4:21–25. The Word is seed sown into the heart. But the condition of the heart determines whether it bears fruit.

Jesus says some seed is lost quickly. Some have shallow roots. Some is choked by thorns. And what are those thorns? “The anxiety of the world” and “the deceitfulness of wealth.” That means the Word can be true, powerful, and full of life, and still become unfruitful in a believer’s life because of what they continue to entertain. Fear, anxiety, distraction, worldly desire, and even ongoing sin can harden the heart and choke the seed.

I asked whether we are willing to take responsibility for the possibility that fear and anxiety are rendering the Word unfruitful in our lives. Jesus says in Mark 4:24, “Take care what you listen to.” What you keep hearing, hosting, and focusing on becomes the measure that comes back to you. If the Word is hosted, it bears fruit. If fear is hosted, it chokes fruitfulness.

So when it comes to prayer, the issue is not figuring out how to be more clever or more intense in what you say to God. The issue is whether the Word is alive in your heart. Are you listening to fear, or are you listening to Him? Are you entertaining dread, or are you letting your heart take hold of His words?

A Better Way to Pray

This is the heart of the message: you do not need to convince God to act. You need to let His Word persuade your heart. Believe what the Word says. Believe who He is. Understand the new covenant. Know who you are in Christ. Let those things shape how you pray.

Read the Bible slowly. Take it personally. Let it affect how you think. Let it affect how you pray. Because when the Word becomes living in you, prayer stops being a fearful religious exercise and becomes what it was always meant to be: the confident response of a heart persuaded by the Father’s love, the Son’s finished work, and the living power of His Word.

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How to Eliminate Uncertainty from prayer

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“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

— 1 John 5:14–15

As we move toward Easter, I want to spend some time talking about prayer. Prayer is one of the most important parts of the Christian life, yet it’s also one of the areas where believers often feel the most confusion. Many of us were taught to think of prayer primarily as asking God for things—bringing Him our needs, making requests, and then waiting to see whether He decides to respond.

But when you begin to understand the New Covenant through the lens of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, your perspective on prayer begins to change. When you realize that Christ has already accomplished so much on our behalf, you start asking new questions. If Jesus already finished the work, how should we pray? Should we ask God to do something, or should we declare what He has already done? Should we wait for Him to act, or should we exercise the authority He has given us in Christ?

The deeper we understand the finished work of Jesus, the more we realize that prayer is not about convincing God to act. Prayer is about aligning our hearts with what God has already revealed.

As I said in the message:

“Prayer is not asking a distant God to fulfill a request, and then sitting wondering if He’s going to answer it.”

Prayer begins by persuading our own hearts of what God has already said—what Scripture reveals about His character, what His promises declare, what Jesus accomplished at the cross, and who we are now in Christ. When we become persuaded of those things, we speak and pray from a place of intimate relationship with Him.

Prayer Through the Lens of the Finished Work

Once you begin to frame your faith around the finished work of Christ, you realize that the promises of God are not uncertain possibilities. They are secured realities in Jesus.

2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.

Through Christ, God has already provided everything necessary for life and godliness. The Christian life is not about trying to convince God to give us something He is reluctant to give. Instead, it’s about learning to recognize what He has already provided.

The New Testament reinforces this truth again and again.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

When we pray, we are not approaching a hesitant God. We are approaching a Father whose promises are already “yes” in Christ.

This realization changes how we approach prayer. It shifts our focus away from uncertainty and toward confidence. If we know God’s character, if we know His Word, and if we understand what Jesus accomplished, then in many situations we already know the will of God.

Most of the things people pray about fall into a few categories: health, provision, wisdom, peace, direction, and blessing for others. Scripture speaks clearly about these areas. God has revealed His heart in these matters. The challenge for us is learning to pray from that revelation rather than from uncertainty.

Prayer Begins With Relationship

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He did not begin with requests. He began with relationship.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

The very first thing Jesus teaches us about prayer is that God is our Father.

That truth alone changes everything.

Too often believers approach prayer as if they are speaking to a distant authority figure whose attitude toward them is uncertain. But Jesus reveals that God is not distant. He is Father. He is near. He is relational.

Prayer begins by acknowledging who He is. Before we ever ask for anything, we remember that we are speaking to the One who loves us and who has already demonstrated His goodness toward us through Christ.

Let God’s Character Inform Your Prayer

One of the most powerful ways to shape our prayer life is to let God’s character inform our expectations.

Throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself through His names—names that reflect His nature and His heart toward His people. He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He is Jehovah Shalom, our peace.

These names are not temporary titles. They reveal the nature of God.

And God does not change.

When Jesus came to the earth, He revealed the Father perfectly. If we want to understand what God is like, we look at Jesus.

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Notice what this verse says. Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

Jesus never made anyone sick. He never harmed anyone. He never inflicted suffering to teach someone a lesson. Everywhere He went, He brought healing, restoration, and freedom.

This is why we must be careful not to build our theology on circumstances. If we look at a situation and say, “Well, this person didn’t get healed, so God must not want to heal,” we are allowing experience to redefine God’s character.

But the only authority we have to determine what God is like is Scripture and the life of Jesus.

And Jesus reveals a God who is good.

Faith Is Persuasion of God’s Faithfulness

The story of Sarah in Hebrews provides a beautiful example of how faith works in relation to God’s promises.

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

God had already spoken His promise. The promise existed long before Sarah saw any physical evidence of it. What changed was not God’s will—it was Sarah’s persuasion.

She judged God faithful.

That phrase is incredibly important. Faith is not about forcing something to happen. Faith is about becoming persuaded of who God is and what He has promised.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith grows as we hear and receive the Word of God. As we allow Scripture to shape our thinking, our hearts become persuaded of God’s faithfulness.

And from that persuasion, prayer flows naturally.

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Prayer

God has not left us to figure these things out on our own. He has given us the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

The Holy Spirit reveals what belongs to us in Christ. He reminds us of God’s promises. He brings wisdom and clarity in specific situations.

Sometimes He may even reveal personal insights or confirmations that help open our hearts to receive what God has already said.

But the foundation always remains the same: Christ and His Word.

The Holy Spirit always leads us back to the finished work of Jesus and the promises of God.

Prayer Requires Moving From Fear to Peace

One of the most important disciplines in prayer is learning to move from anxiety to peace.

Often our minds are filled with competing thoughts when we approach God. Fear begins to speak. Doubt begins to whisper. Circumstances begin to argue against the promises of God.

But Scripture reminds us that fear does not come from God.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Before we speak in prayer, we should take time to become aware of God’s presence, to remember His character, and to rest in the finished work of Christ.

In the message I said it this way:

“Don’t even pray until you’re aware of Him… aware of who He is, aware of what Jesus has done… until you have peace. Then you speak.”

When our hearts settle into that place of peace, prayer begins to flow from faith instead of fear.

Hope That Is Rooted in Christ

Another important distinction we must understand is the difference between worldly hope and biblical hope.

In everyday language, hope often means uncertainty. People say, “I hope things work out,” when they really mean they are unsure.

But Scripture defines hope very differently.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Biblical hope is a confident expectation of good based on the promises of God.

It is not wishful thinking. It is a settled confidence rooted in what Jesus accomplished at the cross and through His resurrection.

Prayer Is Not About Saying the Right Words

Jesus also addressed another misunderstanding about prayer.

Matthew 6:7 And when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Many believers think prayer is about saying the right words in the right order. They feel pressure to pray long prayers or use certain phrases.

But Jesus teaches something different.

Prayer is about heart connection with God.

Sometimes a few simple words spoken in faith carry more power than a long speech that lacks genuine connection.

God Already Knows Your Needs

Perhaps the most freeing truth Jesus taught about prayer is this:

Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

God already knows what you need.

Prayer is not informing Him about your situation.

Prayer is not persuading Him to care.

Prayer is about aligning your heart with His heart.

Humanity Still Has Responsibility

From the beginning, God gave humanity authority in the earth.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…

God did not design the world so that He would override human responsibility at every moment. Instead, He works through people.

Even Jesus modeled this while He walked the earth. He did not heal every person on the planet or fix every societal problem. He ministered to those who came to Him in faith.

God still works through His people today.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.

Believers are ambassadors of heaven. We represent Christ in the earth. Our prayers are not passive requests—they are part of how God’s will is expressed through His people.

Prayer Is Like Tending a Garden

Prayer often works more like tending a garden than flipping a switch.

Seeds must be planted. They must be watered. They must be given time to grow.

Jesus described the kingdom this way:

Mark 4:26–27 So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

Our role is not to make the seed grow. Our role is to plant it, nurture it, and trust God with the process.

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Finally, one of the most powerful reasons we pray is because people around us are hurting.

Many people we know are facing sickness, grief, emotional wounds, and overwhelming challenges.

Prayer allows us to carry the heart of God toward them.

Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Sometimes the most powerful prayer we can pray is simply that someone would experience the peace of God and the love of Christ in the middle of their circumstances.

Prayer as Intimate Partnership With God

When we understand prayer through the lens of the New Covenant, it stops feeling like a religious ritual and starts becoming what it was always meant to be: a relationship.

Prayer is not asking a distant God to fulfill a request and waiting to see what happens.

Prayer is persuading our hearts of who God has already revealed Himself to be, what His Word promises, what Jesus accomplished, and who we are in Him.

From that place of persuasion and peace, we speak.

Jesus Himself said something remarkable about our relationship with Him.

John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants… but I have called you friends.

We are not merely servants making requests.

We are friends of God.

And from that friendship, prayer becomes a powerful partnership with Him—speaking His heart into the world and bringing His love, peace, and kingdom into the lives of others.

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Perfect Love and the End of Fear

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“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

— 1 John 4:18

The Battlefield of Family

If we are honest, the greatest testing ground of love is not the church lobby or the Sunday handshake. It is the family table. It is marriage. It is parenting. It is strained conversations with adult children. It is the unresolved tension between siblings. It is the memory you still carry from something said—or not said—twenty years ago.

Jesus said we would be known by our love for one another. Nowhere is that love more visible—or more challenged—than in our homes.

And it is no coincidence that family is where the enemy applies the most pressure.

Because if fear, resentment, self-protection, and offense can take root in our closest relationships, then love never reaches maturity. We learn to survive instead of connect. We protect instead of prefer. We justify distance instead of pursuing reconciliation.

Sometimes the next step toward healing feels like the “make amends” step in recovery. It is uncomfortable. It feels exposing. You might think, You don’t understand what happened to me. And you may be right—real pain exists. Real betrayal exists. Real abuse exists.

But the gospel does not leave you defined by what happened to you.

It invites you into wholeness.

Perfect Love Defined

The foundation for this conversation is found in 1 John:

1 John 4:18 (KJV)
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Most of us read that and immediately think, God loves me. And that is true. But John is not describing flawless love. The word “perfect” here means complete, mature, brought to fullness. Like fruit that has ripened on the vine.

When God’s love reaches maturity in you, fear loses its oxygen.

Fear has torment attached to it. Anxiety. Shame. Defensiveness. Self-protection. The constant low-grade hum of fight-or-flight. Many believers are walking with Jesus and still living in survival mode.

Temptation cycles torment us. Relational wounds torment us. Anxiety about the future torments us. Even the thought of standing before God one day can quietly produce fear.

John says fear reveals something: love has not yet matured in that area.

That is not condemnation. That is diagnostic.

Love Begins with Him

John anchors this entire discussion in the revelation of Christ:

1 John 4:9–10 (KJV)
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Love did not begin with your response. It began with His initiative.

God manifested—made visible—His love in Christ. Jesus entered our broken world and dealt decisively with sin and death. The cross was not about soothing a temperamental Father; it was about breaking the dominion of sin and death over humanity.

You are not fighting for love. You are living from it.

And when that revelation becomes more than doctrine—when it becomes personal—fear begins to loosen its grip.

Identity and Authority

Part of maturing in love is understanding your identity in Christ. Scripture says:

James 4:7 (KJV)
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Deliverance is not about dramatic rituals or endless spiritual warfare techniques. It is about identity. When you know who you are in Christ, the enemy has nothing to exploit.

Jesus said:

John 14:30 (KJV)
“For the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”

Wholeness removes footholds. Trauma, fear, and resentment create cracks where lies can settle. But when love matures, those cracks close. The enemy may come—but he finds nothing to grab.

Boldness in the Day of Judgment

John takes this even deeper:

1 John 4:17 (KJV)
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”

This is one of the most profound statements in the New Testament.

The maturity of love is revealed in this: boldness in the day of judgment.

If the thought of standing before Christ produces anxiety, then His love has not yet reached maturity in that part of your heart.

Scripture says:

Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

For the believer, this is not a judgment of condemnation but of evaluation. Paul explains:

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 (KJV)
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

If you are in Christ, your sin was judged at the cross. The foundation is secure. Mature love produces boldness, not dread.

Imagine walking into your Father’s house with joy, not hesitation. Not groveling. Not bracing for disappointment. But belonging.

That security changes everything.

Where Love Becomes Practical

John concludes:

1 John 4:19 (KJV)
“We love him, because he first loved us.”

Love flows from revelation. You cannot sustainably love others from obligation. You love because you have been loved.

This is where the conversation becomes uncomfortable.

Romans 12 calls us to prefer one another. If you read it slowly—not as a checklist, but as identity—it confronts defensiveness. Brokenness says, If I prefer them, they’ll take advantage of me. Wholeness says, I am secure enough to love.

Many of our relational struggles are not about the other person’s behavior but about our unresolved fear. We drag past pain into present conversations. We interpret neutral moments through old wounds. We protect ourselves before anyone even attacks.

But what if love matured?

What if you thought about that painful memory and the wall did not go up? What if the automatic defensive response was gone? What if you could say, “Lord, if I’m the problem here, show me,” without fear?

That requires security.

And security comes from being rooted in love.

Rooted and Grounded in Love

Paul prayed this over the church:

Ephesians 3:16–19 (KJV)
“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Strength in the inner man. Rooted and grounded in love. Experiencing the love of Christ beyond intellectual knowledge.

This is not theory. This is encounter.

You can pause in the middle of fear, temptation, or relational tension and draw from His love. You can let Him strengthen you inwardly. You can let Him expose resentment. You can let Him heal trauma.

The Holy Spirit is constantly, subtly inviting you toward wholeness. Not with force. Not with condemnation. But with gentle prompts:

• Release the offense.

• Send the text.

• Admit your part.

• Choose gentleness.

• Let the wall down.

The question is not whether God is willing. The question is whether you will let Him love you into wholeness.

The Miracle of Maturity

We often pray for revival, miracles, and visible demonstrations of power. Those matter. But what if the greater miracle is a believer who carries no resentment? A Christian impervious to the lies of the enemy because fear has been displaced by mature love?

Perfect love casts out fear.

Not by denial.
Not by pretending wounds do not exist.
But by ripening.

When His love reaches maturity in you:

• Fear of judgment fades.

• Fear of rejection weakens.

• Defensive self-protection relaxes.

• Relational courage rises.

You become whole.

And whole people love well.

An Invitation

Take inventory. Where does fear still have a voice? Where does resentment still rise? Where do you feel the need to protect yourself?

Bring that area to Him.

Say, “Lord, I trust You. Love me into wholeness here.”

Because when His love reaches maturity in you, fear has no place left to stand.

And when fear loses its place, love finally becomes who you are.

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Offices, Gifts, and Fruit - Correcting the Five Fold Authoritative Mindset

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“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

— 1 Corinthians 12:11

Bear Fruit: The Anointing That Abides, the Same Spirit in All, and the End of Spiritual Striving

I want church to be meaningful to you. I want it to add value to your life—real value—where when you take the time to show up, participate, give, serve, open your home, and do life with people, it isn’t just religious obligation. You aren’t doing “Christian things because Christians do Christian things.” You’re being strengthened, nurtured, and encouraged to bear fruit where God has planted you. Because the world doesn’t need more productive religious organizations—it needs to see a healthy family of God on the planet. Not just visions accomplished. Not just ministry boxes filled. A healthy body. A living church.

And here’s the thing: so many believers aren’t being strengthened to bear fruit where they actually live. Instead, they’re being trained to come “catch the vision,” then figure out what box they can stand in to help accomplish an organization’s goals. There’s a place for structure. There’s a place for organization. I’m not trying to dismantle everything about church. I’m saying we’ve often flipped the order. We’ve made people serve systems instead of making the church serve people—serve their growth, their healing, their clarity, and their fruitfulness.

That’s why I’m saying something that will set you free if you let it: quit worrying so much about what your calling is. Quit worrying about what you think God wants you to do. And just bear fruit.

Say it plainly: bear fruit.

Because once fruit starts showing up, the fruit itself tells a story. You don’t have to chase labels. You don’t have to chase titles. Fruit will become visible, and at some point someone can look at it and say, “That fruit looks like shepherding.” Or, “That fruit looks like evangelism.” Or, “That fruit looks like teaching.” But if you chase the label first, you end up with a lot of people trying to be something, trying to “get into ministry,” trying to climb, trying to qualify, trying to measure up—while everyday life passes by fruitless.

Most Christians don’t need a grand blueprint. They need a fruit-bearing life.

Daily life looks like this: you wake up and ask, “How can I be a life-bringer today? How can I bear fruit today?” And if the fruit that naturally comes out of your life eventually demands some structure around it—fine. If it doesn’t—who cares? Be part of the body and bear fruit. A fruitful believer is already participating with the Holy Spirit’s work in the earth.

Hearing God Isn’t Spooky: It’s the Spirit in You

One of the biggest reasons people get stuck is because they’re waiting. Waiting for God to “tell them what to do.” Waiting for the church to start something so they can join it. Waiting for permission. Waiting for clarity. Waiting for some moment where the heavens open and they finally “hear God.”

But the Holy Spirit is not trying to train you into spiritual uncertainty. He is trying to saturate you with sonship confidence.

Sara shared a simple testimony that I love because it’s not spooky—it’s practical. During worship, she realized God had been leading her in health decisions in a way that felt almost effortless. She started taking a liver supplement before tests ever came back. She started making sourdough bread—something she normally would have avoided—yet sensed peace about it. She bought new pans and stopped cooking with cast iron, and later, the blood panel confirmed she needed to reduce iron intake. Then a trainer and nutritionist told her she needed more carbs for lifting and hormones—confirming what she’d already been leaning into.

Here’s the point: this wasn’t a dramatic prophetic moment with religious language and fanfare. It was an organic, intuitive walk with God. The Spirit leaned into daily life and she responded with simple steps. That’s what it looks like when you know God is good, when you know He is for you, when you know He has placed His Spirit within you. Your inner life starts agreeing with His wisdom so naturally that obedience doesn’t feel like pressure—it feels like harmony.

And that’s why identity matters. That’s why the character of God matters. When you know God is good, when you know you’re a new creature, when you know the Spirit is in you, you stop panicking about whether you’re hearing Him. The Spirit’s leadership from within becomes an organic collaborative process—His wisdom leaning into you, and you responding.

This is also why it’s less about constantly crying, “Speak to me!” and more about praying, “Help me see You clearly.” Because as I see You, I become like You. When your vision of God is clear, the fear-driven uncertainty starts to break. The exhausting loop of, “Is that God? Is it not God?” begins to fade. And that’s a sweet spot—when you trust His nature, trust your new creation identity, and live without constant suspicion.

Sara said it plainly: if you’re always doubting that inner voice, lean into learning who God is. You’ve got to know He is for you, that He is good, that He wants good for you—your health, your family, your work, your finances—He is good. And that confidence grows through daily connection: gratitude, conversation, prayer, awareness.

That’s not just “hearing God.” That’s becoming persuaded.

The Church Works Like Family, Not Like a Ladder

Then Bob shared something that puts language to what so many people carry quietly. He’s been saved around fifty years. For decades he lived in organized church systems with obvious hierarchy. The unspoken message was: if you’re really walking with God, you end up in “the ministry.” And ministry meant authority. It meant being “anointed above others.” It meant climbing. Striving. Measuring up.

And what did that produce? Stress. Performance. A sense of never quite measuring up. And it also produced something else: people on pedestals. Not because Bob is power-hungry. He’s a kind, sincere man. It’s just the system trains you into a way of thinking that doesn’t match the kingdom.

So he asked the honest question: if church isn’t hierarchical, what is it?

And the answer is simple: brothers and sisters.

That’s it. Family.

Not climbing. Not competing. Not striving for rank. Not trying to get close enough to God that you can have authority over other people. Bob said it: “That’s totally whacked out,” because Jesus cut that mentality off at the knees from the beginning. James and John wanted seats of power—right and left hand—and Jesus told them plainly that His kingdom doesn’t work like Gentile systems of domination.

If your model of church requires people to climb, then the most “spiritual” people become the ones who win the ladder game. But Jesus didn’t build a ladder—He built a family. And when family is restored, fruit becomes normal. Peace becomes normal. Love becomes normal. People stop disqualifying themselves and start living.

Offices, Gifts, Fruit: Real—But Flowing From the Spirit Within

Now, to balance it clearly: the offices are real, the gifts are real, the fruit is real. But they are not “special anointings.” They are outgrowths—expressions—of the Spirit who is already within you.

Jesus said:

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

That’s the assignment. Not “go find a title.” Not “go qualify yourself.” Not “go discover the secret will of God.” Go and bear fruit.

And the basis of this friendship-centered life is here:

John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

And the Spirit’s role in this friendship is not gatekeeping. It is declaring.

John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

So what does that look like in the body? It looks like the Spirit revealing Christ through you, then weaving you together with others as you naturally bear fruit.

Offices (Ephesians 4) — Administration for Service

Ephesians 4:11–12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Offices are for equipping. For building up. For helping the saints do the work of ministry—not for controlling them.

And the end result is maturity and stability:

Ephesians 4:14–16 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth… maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

That line matters: “every joint supplieth.” Not a few joints. Not the “anointed class.” Every joint. Every part. Every believer.

Gifts (1 Corinthians 12) — No Competition in the Spirit

Paul is relentless about one theme: the same Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Every man. Profit withal. Not performance. Not competition. Not hierarchy.

And Paul keeps repeating the point:

1 Corinthians 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

That’s why you don’t look at someone flowing in prophecy and decide you’re “less than.” That mindset comes from a ladder-based church model, not from the Spirit of Christ.

And this is where we have to correct an Old Covenant misunderstanding. Under the Old Covenant, the Spirit came upon people for specific tasks—king, prophet, judge—and those anointings were portioned and could be transferable. That’s why Elisha could ask Elijah for a double portion. Elijah did not have the fullness.

But under the New Covenant, the anointing is not a portion resting upon a few. The anointing is an indwelling reality for all believers.

The Anointing That Abides: No More Double Portion Mentality

Here is the New Covenant anchor:

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you… and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

It abides in you.

That’s why you don’t need to chase “special anointings.”
That’s why you don’t need to chase “impartation” like you’re missing something.
That’s why you don’t need to live under “covering” systems that treat the Spirit like it is portioned out through spiritual elites.

The Spirit is not distributed through people. The Spirit is given to people.

And here is the revealed mystery that stabilizes it all:

Colossians 1:26–27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

That’s the mystery.

Christ in you.

So yes: offices, gifts, and fruit are real. But they grow out of this root: Christ within, revealing Himself outward.

Be a Fruit Farmer: Simplify the Whole Thing

If you want a picture for this, think like a farmer. A farmer doesn’t wake up every day in confusion asking, “What is my calling?” A farmer wakes up with intention. He knows what fruit he wants. He knows what grows where he is. He commits to the process. He works the ground. He waters. He nurtures. And he trusts that seed has life in it.

So the question becomes simple: what kind of fruit do you want to see?

Do you want to see the lost saved?
Do you want to see religious people recover from trauma and control and performance-mindedness?
Do you want to see single moms helped?
Do you want to see healing increase?
Do you want personal fruit—more health, more kindness, less anger?

Then be intentional to sow where you are planted. Engage what strengthens you. Participate in ways that bring life. And stop disqualifying yourself because you don’t have a title or a spotlight.

A lot of people aren’t comfortable being themselves because they don’t know who they are in Christ. They’ve been forced into models where they feel like they have to become something else. They enter a church and, without saying it out loud, they’re asking, “Who do I need to be here?” That is not freedom. That is not family. That is not the gospel.

The gospel says: I know who I am, and I can be me in Christ. If we can work together, great. If not, I still bear fruit. I still love. I still live in union with Jesus.

Homework: Read These Chapters and Let Them Rewire You

Here’s the homework from the message, highlighted and clarified:

1. Read Ephesians 4 (slowly).
   Focus on why Jesus gave offices: “for the perfecting of the saints… for the edifying of the body.” Pay attention to this: “every joint supplieth.” Ask the Lord: What fruit are You bearing through my “joint” in the body?

2. Read 1 Corinthians 12 (slowly).
   Mark every time you see “the same Spirit.” Let it dismantle comparison and competition. Ask: Where have I believed I’m “less than” because of someone else’s gift expression?

3. Meditate on 1 John 2:27 and Colossians 1:26–27.
   Say it out loud until it doesn’t just sound true—it feels true:
   “The anointing… abideth in me.”
   “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”
   Let the Spirit persuade you that you are not lacking.

The Conclusion: Persuade the Heart of God’s Love Until Fear Has No Place

Now let me land where this really ends—because fruitfulness, freedom, gifts, and maturity all come back to one internal issue: fear.

Fear is the engine under religious striving.
Fear is what makes people chase titles.
Fear is what makes people crave hierarchy and “covering.”
Fear is what makes people doubt every inner impression and constantly wonder, “Is that God?”

And fear does not leave because you get more information. Fear leaves when the heart becomes persuaded of love.

You don’t overcome fear by trying harder.
You overcome fear by being convinced—deep in the heart—of God’s goodness and love for you in Christ.

That’s why the most powerful prayer isn’t always “Speak to me.”
It’s: “Help me see You clearly.”
Because as you see Him, you become like Him. And as you see His love, fear loses its argument.

So here’s how you persuade the heart:

• You saturate in who God is.

• You return to the revealed mystery: Christ in you.

• You practice daily connection: gratitude, conversation, prayer, awareness.

• You act on the impressions of wisdom without constantly second-guessing.

• You bear fruit where you are, trusting the Spirit to weave you into the body.

And as you do, something happens: uncertainty fades. Performance loses power. Comparison breaks. And love becomes the environment you live in—not something you occasionally visit.

When the heart is persuaded of God’s love, you stop living like a slave trying to qualify, and you start living like a friend who trusts the Father. You stop being driven by fear, and you start being led by the Spirit. You stop obsessing over what you are “supposed to be,” and you simply become what you already are: a branch in the Vine, bearing fruit naturally.

You lack nothing.

Christ is in you.

Now go bear fruit.

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What the Modern Prophetic Movement Gets Wrong About Spiritual Authority

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“But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.”

— Mark 10:42-43

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about what it means to be a friend of God. Not casually. Not arrogantly. But biblically.

Jesus said in John 15:15,

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

We’ve been unpacking that. Friendship means shared purpose. A servant doesn’t know what the master is doing. A friend does. And Jesus said, “All things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

We also looked at John 16:15,

“All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

The Holy Spirit declares what belongs to Jesus — and Jesus is heir of all things. That means the Spirit is not hiding truth from you. He is not teasing you with mystery. He declares plainly.

We’ve talked about how Jesus became like us, as Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 2, suffering fully, entering death fully — “He was dead. He died our death.” We’ve looked at the Psalms prophesying the Messiah: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” We’ve seen how even “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” was not poetic exaggeration but prophetic fulfillment.

And we looked at how Jesus gained authority — not by seizing power — but by becoming the servant of all.

That brings us to the heart of this message.

The Authority Problem in the Modern Prophetic Movement

In many circles today, there is an emphasis on “apostolic authority.” The idea is that God is restoring apostles to lead the church with spiritual authority over other believers. In some expressions, this teaching goes even further.

It suggests that this restored apostolic structure is necessary to cleanse or prepare the body of Christ for the return of Jesus. That Jesus is coming back for a spotless bride — and if the bride is not spotless enough, He will delay His return.

That is where we must slow down.

Yes, Scripture speaks of a spotless bride. But the leap from “He is coming back for a spotless bride” to “He is not coming back until the bride is spotless” is an extrapolation — and that extrapolation creates room for control.

Because once you teach that the return of Christ depends on the church being spiritually mature enough, then someone has to manage that maturity. Someone has to enforce it. Someone has to become the gatekeeper.

And that is where corruption enters.

I love the church. I love the charismatic church. I love the gift of prophecy. But we cannot elevate one gift — and then sweep corruption under the rug to protect a movement built around that gift, as we saw with those who didn’t expose Shawn Bolz.

We are seeing the fallout of that right now.

When authority is positioned above identity, abuse follows. When movements are built around gifts instead of Christ, leaders become untouchable. When apostles are framed as spiritual governors necessary to prepare the bride, people begin to believe they must align under the right covering in order to be spiritually safe.

That is not the gospel.

Jesus Rebuked the Authority Mindset

James and John once asked Jesus for positions of power. They wanted to sit at His right and left hand. That was not about intimacy — it was about authority.

And Jesus answered in Mark 10:42–45:

“You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

He did not say authority doesn’t exist. He said it does not function that way.

“It shall not be so among you.”

Jesus reframed the entire concept.

Jesus has all authority in His kingdom and He shares it with us. It expresses itself through service. It is not positional dominance; it is sacrificial love.

When the disciples sought power, Jesus corrected them. When the enemy tempted Him with authority over the kingdoms of the world in the wilderness, He refused. That third temptation — bow and receive the kingdoms — was a fast track to what was already promised: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

But Jesus would not gain authority apart from the cross. He would not seize what was promised through force. He chose servanthood. Any system that elevates authority over service has drifted from the pattern of Christ.

The Fivefold Is for Equipping, Not Control

The fivefold ministry mentioned in Ephesians exists to equip and mature believers. It is not a ladder of power. It is not a chain of command. It is not a cleansing structure to make the church worthy of Christ’s return.

Jesus is not waiting for apostles to perfect the bride.

The Father will send the Son at His appointed time.

The idea that apostolic alignment accelerates or delays the Second Coming places weight on leaders that Scripture does not place there. It also pressures believers into submission under fear-based urgency.

And fear-based urgency is fertile ground for manipulation.

I am not attacking people. I am confronting a structure.

Because once you believe that your spiritual safety, maturity, or readiness for Christ depends on proximity to a particular leader, you have surrendered confidence in the Holy Spirit within you.

You Can Hear God for Yourself

Jesus said in John 16:15 that the Holy Spirit will take what belongs to Him and “declare it to you,” and in John 16:25–27 He promised to speak “plainly about the Father,” because the Father Himself loves you—plainly, not mystically, not through layers of spiritual hierarchy. John confirms this in 1 John 2:20, 27, saying you have an anointing from the Holy One and that the anointing abides in you, which does not eliminate teachers but eliminates dependency and gatekeeping. So prophecy should confirm what God is already speaking in you, not replace your discernment—because you are not a servant in the dark, you are a friend, indwelt by the Spirit, and you can hear God for yourself.

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God's Presence Manifests in the Atmosphere of Love

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“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

— John 14:21

When you read the teachings of Jesus, you have a choice.

You can hear Him as a servant, or you can hear Him as a friend.

That choice matters more than we often realize—because how you hear Him determines how you apply what He says, how you experience God’s presence, and whether the Christian life feels relational and empowering or heavy and legalistic.

Jesus Himself makes this distinction explicit. In John 15:15, He says, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

That statement is not poetic filler. It is a deliberate redefinition of our relationship with God. And it sits right in the middle of one of the most important stretches of teaching Jesus ever gave—John chapters 14 through 17—where He prepares His disciples for life after His physical departure.

In those chapters, Jesus is not merely teaching theology. He is charging His friends with the work they are going to continue once He leaves. He is explaining how the Spirit will live in them, guide them, empower them, and reveal truth to them. And at the same time, He repeatedly emphasizes the importance of keeping His commandments.

That combination—Spirit empowerment and obedience—has often been misunderstood. When heard through the ears of a servant, Jesus’ words can sound like conditions, requirements, or spiritual hoops we must jump through to access God. But when heard through the ears of a friend, something very different emerges.

And that difference is the heart of this message.

The Gap Between Belief and Experience

One of the most common struggles among believers is not a lack of belief—it’s a lack of experience.

We believe God loves us.
We believe Christ died for us.
We believe grace is available.
We believe the Spirit lives in us.

Yet many people quietly live with a disconnect between what they believe is true and what they actually experience in daily life.

This isn’t about hypocrisy. It’s about real people dealing with real pressures—fear, anxiety, disappointment, insecurity, relational tension, unresolved pain—and wondering how the gospel actually applies when “the rubber meets the road.”

We know what Scripture says. But we also know what our experience feels like. And too often, those two things don’t line up.

That gap is where frustration grows. It’s where people begin to think God is distant, withholding, or unpredictable. And it’s often where people slip into a servant mindset—believing that God loves them, but still feeling like they’re at His mercy.

Servant Thinking Produces Confusion

Jesus directly addresses this issue when He says in John 15:15, “A servant does not know what his master is doing.”

That line explains so much.

When you think like a servant, confusion feels normal. You’re always trying to discern what God might be doing, why something happened, or whether He’s pleased with you. You’re left interpreting circumstances, emotions, and outcomes as signs of God’s will.

I said it plainly in the sermon: “If you’re confused, you’re thinking like a servant.”

Jesus does not want His followers living in confusion. He doesn’t want us guessing. He doesn’t want us reading tea leaves in world events or personal circumstances to try to decipher His intentions.

That’s why He follows that statement with something astonishing: “But I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.”

God is not hiding from you. He is not withholding information. He is not interested in keeping you in the dark.

We Don’t Interpret God Through Circumstances

One of the dangers of servant thinking is that it tries to understand God by interpreting physical events.

I shared an example in the message of someone claiming that an ice storm was a form of God’s justice because the word “justice” contains the word “ice.” As strange as that may sound, that kind of thinking is more common than we realize.

We look at disasters, sickness, political turmoil, or personal hardship and assume God must be communicating something through them.

But that thinking is backwards.

As I said in the sermon, “You don’t understand the spirit by a physical circumstance. You look at God, you extrapolate truth from Him based on His Word, then you look at the circumstance.”

The brokenness in the world is not a message from God—it is the result of sin entering creation. Death, decay, storms, sickness, and disorder are not divine communication tools. They are evidence of a world not functioning as God intended.

Jesus didn’t interpret storms to understand the Father—He spoke to them.

The Holy Spirit Declares What Belongs to Jesus

In John 16:13–15, Jesus explains the role of the Holy Spirit after His departure. He says the Spirit will guide us into truth, and then He adds something critical: “He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

That phrase tells us exactly what the Spirit does.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t exist to create mystery, confusion, or dependence on spiritual elites. He exists to declare what belongs to Jesus.

And what belongs to Jesus?

Everything He has authority over.

As I said in the message, “What belongs to Jesus is what He has authority over—and that’s everything.”

That means when the Spirit speaks, reveals, or moves, He is testifying to Christ’s finished work—His victory, His authority, His righteousness, His peace, His life—and making those realities known to us.

This is why genuine prophecy always points back to Jesus. It doesn’t elevate fear. It doesn’t make people dependent. It doesn’t leave you confused. It testifies to what Christ has accomplished and invites you into expectation.

Love Is the Environment Where God Manifests

Throughout John 14–17, Jesus repeatedly connects the manifestation of God’s presence to one specific thing: keeping His commandments.

This happens at least four or five times.

In John 14:15–17, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper… the Spirit of truth… for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

In John 14:21, He says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them… I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

In John 14:23, He adds, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word… and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

And again in John 15:9–11, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love… that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

If you hear those statements as a servant, they sound conditional and legalistic. They sound like rules you must obey to earn God’s presence.

But Jesus is not speaking as a lawgiver. He is speaking as a friend.

His Commandments Are Love

Jesus is careful to define His commandments clearly.

In John 13:34–35, He says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you… By this all will know that you are My disciples.”

And the foundation of that love is revealed in 1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He first loved us.”

That verse changes everything.

We don’t love God to get Him to love us. We love Him because He already does.

Obedience is not a prerequisite for relationship—it is a response to it.

As I said in the sermon, “You can’t love Him unless you know He loves you first.”

When you hear Jesus’ commandments as a servant, they feel like pressure. When you hear them as a friend, they feel like an invitation into alignment.

Love Is Not Permissive—It Is Transformative

Jesus’ love was never permissive. It never ignored sin. But it also never shamed or condemned people into transformation.

Love rescues. Love strengthens. Love matures.

I reflected in the message on how Jesus loved His disciples before the cross—rough fishermen, a tax collector, flawed men who didn’t fully understand Him. He walked with them. He was patient. He was kind. He didn’t excuse sin, but He also didn’t relate to them through condemnation.

Love doesn’t let sin stay—it empowers you to leave it behind.

As I said, “The more I feel and know His love for me, the less I even desire those things.”

This is why love is not sentimental. It is powerful. It grounds us. It stabilizes us. It changes who we are from the inside out.

Joy, Peace, and Stability Flow From Love

In John 15:11, Jesus says He spoke these things “that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Joy is not something we chase. It’s something that remains when we abide in love.

And this is where the kingdom becomes tangible. Scripture tells us that “the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.” When peace is ruling your heart, you are experiencing the kingdom now.

This is why Jesus’ words are not about hype, revival moments, or emotional highs. They’re about a steady, anchored life—one that produces fruit over time.

Unity and Love Are the Church’s Witness

In John 17:20–26, Jesus prays not only for His disciples, but for us—for all who would believe through their word.

And what does He pray for?

Unity.

“That they all may be one… that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Jesus does not say the world will believe because of miracles alone. He says the world will believe when they see love-fueled unity.

Love is evangelistic.

It reveals the reality of Christ to a watching world.

Hearing Jesus as a Friend Changes Everything

When you hear Jesus as a servant, you strive.
When you hear Him as a friend, you respond.

When you hear Him as a servant, obedience feels heavy.
When you hear Him as a friend, obedience flows naturally.

When you hear Him as a servant, you fear failure.
When you hear Him as a friend, you run toward Him when you fall.

This is why Jesus says plainly, “I no longer call you servants… I have called you friends.”

And this is why love must become more than a concept. It must become a way of life.

As I said at the end of the message, “When you let Him love you, He’ll speak to you.”

That is the invitation.

Let Him love you—especially when it’s hard.

That’s where His Spirit works most powerfully.

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