Keep The Faith- Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

Don’t waste your time constantly begging God for miracles. When facing immense challenges, just think back on the circumstances that He has already brought you through. The miracles He previously performed on your behalf are like money in the bank! He’s already shown you that He’ll move mountains for you. So, remember to draw from this knowledge during trying times to help bolster your faith! Stay sincere in your worship, go forward in joy, and trust that God is always with you. Subscribe to the official T.D. Jakes Ministries channel to stream our latest messages, your favorite sermons from over the years, and much more.

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I have to tell you, I had been I didn’t know that I was speaking until a little earlier this week, but this text god has been giving me since the top of the year he gave it to me.
And, um, I’ve been trying to make sense of it, and I think I finally did.
But I solicit your prayers as I thrived to lay hold of that, which I have been apprehended for.
I am in John 9 verse 30 through 39. I’m in the new King James version.
And this text, I guess, for context, I should tell you that Jesus in the beginning of chat 9 has just come off the heels of having an interaction with the pharisees where he’s beginning to get under their skin.
Which is what he knew would happen as he began to work in power and move with authority that god has given him.
And so the disciples are yet studying exactly what it means to be watching this fisher of men, this messiah.
What does it mean? How should we be looking at the world? And they see this blind man.
At the beginning of John 9.
And they asked Jesus, who sent this man or his parents that he has been blind from birth.
Because at this time, they believe that if someone was born blind from birth that there must have been sin involved.
And Jesus responds to them, and he says, neither this man nor his parents sin, but he is in this condition so that the works of god may be revealed in him.
Jesus heals this man with Clay.
And the moment that he begins to see again, the Pharisees and those who knew him are isn’t this the man who once was blind, but now sees?
And the pharisees bring him in. They interrogate him. They ask him all kinds of questions.
They’re trying to figure out exactly who this Jesus is.
And the man answered and said to them why this is a marvelous thing that you do not know where he is from, yet he has opened my eyes.
Now we know that god does not hear sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of god and does his will, he hears them.
Since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
If this man were not from god, he could do nothing.
They answered and said to him, you were completely born in sin.
And are you teaching us, and they cast him out?
Jesus heard that they had cast him out.
And when he had found him, he said to him, do you believe in the son of god?
He answered and said, Who is he lord that I may believe in him?
And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him, And it is he who was talking with you, then he said, lord, I believe, and he worshiped him.
And Jesus said, for judgment, I have come into this world that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.
Spirit of the living god, breathe in this room.
God only, you know, the divine appointment that you have set with us.
And god, I pray that you would use whatever you deemed us necessary, to bring about healing and restoration.
God, I thank you that you’re gonna give me pace, that you’re gonna give me rhythm, that you’re gonna give me sensitivity, that I may hear your voice.
God, I just wanna see you up here. No faces. No nerves. No anxiety.
Just a girl on a mission to see god’s face and project what it is that heaven has said to me.
God, I offer up my heart to you and I say, have you away.
And I also offer up these, your beautiful people, to you god.
And I would say remove any barriers that would keep them from receiving the word, open their hearts, that whatever is in this message for them would take root and produce fruit in Jesus’ name, I pray.
Amen. Hey, man. Amen. Let’s go. Okay.
There was a coin phrased in 1931 by James Trustlow Adams.
And this phrase was called the American dream.
The American dream is a dream of social order.
In which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable and be recognized by others for what they are regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.
We didn’t necessarily know that this was the full definition of the American dream, but we took from it this reality that the American dream is ultimate about a few main principles and characters.
Maybe there’s marriage and partnership, a part of the American dream, education, a part of the American dream.
Perhaps there’s a dog, a part of the American dream, although I have to tell you I tried that I wanna love a dog, but that Scott hasn’t given me that ministry yet.
I want to. It always looks like a really good idea, but I just I think I got too many kids to love adult to.
I think I’m at my limit. Homeownership as well was a part of this American dream.
And while it may have sounded really good in the thirties, especially coming off the heels of the great depression and into the forties and fifties and sixties seventies, the present condition of our world and economy has revealed to us that the American dream is not as accessible for some as it is for others.
As we begin to see the fluctuating prices in the housing market and how affordable housing is just almost unattainable for some.
And the interest rates are crazy, and the cost of living is so in stream that the idea of saving up for a house can’t even compare to just trying to make it from day to day today.
We are currently living in a generation where many people are questioning whether the American dream was actually an illusion.
A figment of our imagination.
How is it possible that this American dream is available to all?
And yet there are many kits and proponents for financial wellness that are still trying to encourage people to not give up on the idea of at minimum home own ownership.
I was reading an article by clever Girl in clever Girl Finance, the blog by an African American woman, And this article written by Foe Alexander said that your home is your main vehicle for building wealth and increasing your net worth.
And yet we know that minorities specifically have some of the lowest rates of net worth.
One way to close this racial wealth gap she says is by investing in real estate because you can build home equity that will allow you to pay off debt increase your savings and interests.
So when we buy home ownership, it’s not necessarily about having the house itself It’s about making that house work for you.
Sure. It’s somewhere that you lay your head.
In some instances, it may be cheaper than paying rent but the real value of home ownership is what you can do as that value of the home increases.
I was twenty four years old when I bought my first house in Grand Prairie, and Mira Lago, so you gotta be from Texas and Grand Prairie to really understand.
I bought that house for maybe $290,000. I’d gone through a divorce.
I stayed home with my parents. I saved. I had the event. Can y’all stop kicking kids out at 18?
It’s hard out here. Listen. Give us a minute to get our legs up underneath us.
And then when we get knocked down, can we come back home, please?
Can we be rent free for just a little bit while we just child y’all out here’s the land, lord.
Jesus. We’ll put 5 on it, but do we have to put 500 on it? Okay.
My parents My parents let me come home.
Me and my 2 kids after my divorce, and I got my credit together, and I bought this house in Mira Lagos, and I was so happy I bought it for $290,000.
I met my husband. I moved to LA.
And at the time, I I wanted homeownership, but I just didn’t see the point in having the property.
I sold it. The profit was maybe 60 or $70,000 3 years later.
I looked it up yesterday, and that house is now worth $600,000.
That’s how we pay for our kids’ education.
That’s how we say for retirement. That’s how we have investment.
It wasn’t ever really about the house if you’re in a position where you can try and get the home than pursue the home because that home could eventually work for you.
And I have to tell you, just for those of you who are wondering, I didn’t even get a traditional Morgan.
I got a FHA loan. I only had to put 3 to 5% down on my house, so I wasn’t saving 20% of the house.
I think I had to put is maybe $30,000 down in order to get into the house.
When I was looking at this example of why we need to leverage our assets.
For the sake of equity, it was the only way that I could wrap my mind around a relatable way of translating what it means when god does a miracle.
When god performs a miracle in our life, The miracle is not necessarily about what he did.
The miracle is for us to build equity in our faith.
So the mistake that many of us make is when we call him the god of miracles, we leave him at just that.
And we start training ourselves to just lust after miracle after miracle after miracle.
Instead of getting in relationship with God.
Because the way that he performed the miracle changed the way that we see god, and now he has equity when he asked us to do something that seemed impossible before.
I wish I could break this down. That was the only analogy that I could think of.
When god does a miracle, he’s front loading us in the present for what he’s gonna ask from us in the future so that when he ask it for us in the future, we don’t say I don’t have what it takes.
We can pull from the equity of what he did in the past.
And say, God, I don’t know how you’re gonna do it, but you got equity with me because I’ve seen you do the impossible before.
I’ve seen you show up in some ways that made no sense. You got equity with me.
There were some of us we walked by faith because that faith was a deposit from what god did in the past.
I didn’t just take the miracle and say, okay, I’ll wait for the next miracle.
No, I’ll wait for the next because I recognize if god performed a miracle that the miracle was the starting place.
He’s gonna pull from the equity of that miracle.
Moses sees a burning bush in the middle of the wilderness.
This was a miracle.
This was a sign making it emphatically clear that god has spoken to him, but then god made a request from him.
Because your exposure to the miracle ought to build your equity for when I ask you to do something.
I believe that he sent the plagues as much for Egypt as he did for the children of Israel.
Yes, I want Egypt to let you go.
But I also want you to understand what you’re walking into because if I can make frogs fall out of the sky, when I tell you that I’m gonna lead you into the wilderness you ought to trust me because I got equity from what I did in the past.
He’s got equity with me. I get nervous.
I get afraid. But when I get nervous and I get afraid, I just pull from the miracle that I’m standing in presently because he’s got equity with me.
I don’t know how God is gonna solve things with my children.
I don’t know how God is gonna do things in my ministry, but one thing I know for sure is that I shouldn’t even have a ministry but the miracle of me having a ministry helps me to understand that there’s equity.
There’s no reason why I should be in this position, but god has equity with me because he opened doors that I shouldn’t have even been standing in front of.
Oh, that’s good to me. Yeah.
Most of us miss out on the beauty of what it means to be in relationship with god, because we didn’t let the miracle change the way we see.
Man. So, god, protected you in the car accident.
But did you let that change the way that you see god?
And his love towards you, that I went ahead of you, that I slowed you down, that I made you late on purpose, that I let the car be damaged, but you walk away unscathed because I just Did you let it change the way that you see god?
So when you’re walking in the unknown territory, you don’t act like you’re brand new in this thing because I know God is protecting me.
See, when God shoes. Sometimes we act like he did it on accident, and he may not do it again.
But when you understand the faithfulness of god, you understand that I performed that miracle, not just so that you feel good and go back to thinking the way you want stuff.
I performed that miracle so that it could change the way that you look at me.
And change what you expect from me, and change how you speak about me, and change how you speak about yourself, and change how you speak about your possibilities.
The miracle are to shake some things up in your life. You’re right. They weren’t happy for you.
You needed that miracle to shake some things up in your life.
Sometimes you don’t know who your friends are until you see the miracle.
Sometimes you don’t know what your potential is until you see the miracle.
And some people Don’t allow the miracle to change your sight And the old testament, they had us beat with this.
Whenever there was a miracle in the old testament, they marked the spot of the miracle.
Abraham, I said, I’m gonna call this place Jaira because this is the place he provided.
How dare you drive by that intersection that should have taken you out and not take a minute and say, I call this place protection.
Because this is the place. How dare you walk into that house and not give god a praise because this is the place that he You gotta mark the spot.
Some of you got a little too comfortable with your miracles.
How dare you not look at that child crazy as they are?
Wayward as they and not remind yourself that I
prayed for this child. I asked god to help me raise this child.
This thing started as a miracle.
Isaac said, I called this place.
We’re hoping For now, the lord has made room for us.
He was looking for a whale. And he couldn’t find a well.
And anytime he found a well, somebody else said that this was my well, but he finally found his spot He finally found his place.
And when he finally found his place, he didn’t act like he had been there.
I don’t care what they say on Instagram. If you act like you’ve been there for you crazy.
You need to act like I didn’t have no business being here. There was no way I should be here.
And so, yes, I may be crazy, but I’m still thanking god for something he did 15 years ago.
I’m still thinking god. Somebody told me I wish you would stop talking about your trauma.
How dare I stop talking about my trauma?
Do you understand that there was no reason why I should even be whoever it that I am.
But for some reason, I went back and marked that spot that the enemy missed
it for evil, but god missed
it for good.
And you make me sadder because he did something for me. He
did something for me a long time ago.
I know some of you are praying that god would do something now, but can we take about 5 seconds?
And thank god for something he did a long time ago.
God, I got dreams. I got a vision, but god let me take you for something you did.
20 years ago, your statement, 15 years ago, you helped me to keep my mind.
Don’t let your miracle get stale.
Cause if your miracle gets stale, your faith will get stale.
But if you can keep that miracle fresh in your mind, you have fresh oil to pull from.
I wanna give you a minute to bring some CPR into a miracle that you let
tie on your watch because we got a proof paid from what he’s already done for where he’s
calling us to. I thank you. I thank you God.
I thank you. I thank you that I didn’t lack. I thank you that the rejection wasn’t the end.
I you, god, that the divorce wasn’t the end.
I thank you that I really do believe that I’m fearfully and wonderfully men. I thank you for grandparent.
I think, yeah, I’m mad
that you took him, god,
but I gotta be honest, that I’m thankful that you even let me have it.
God, I thank you that you saved me from the bullet. God I’m thankful that you kept my mind.
God I’m faithful. I know I look good, and maybe I smell good, but don’t let this food taste fool you.
I remember where I came from.
Oh, god.
Over and over again. We see god saying scripture.
I am the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why does he keep saying that?
Because when he mentions their name, He understands that there was issues connected to their journey, but because he was their god and saw them through the other side, sometimes you just need a reminder that you were not just serving an ordinary god.
This is your grandmother’s god.
Uh, this is your grandmother’s god. Who got on knees with arthritis?
Because she believed in the power of prayer. This ain’t no ordinary god.
He didn’t just get here. You just got here, but this god was here yesterday.
He was here 50 years ago. These are our ancestors, god, when they was out in the
field, saying, god, I you to help me get through the day, and I know I can get through today because the god that saw them through.
Yeah.
If you don’t let the miracle change you, Then you’ll be begging god for another miracle.
Because you don’t trust him.
God got upset with Israel because he had done so much in the past.
That they should have had no reason to doubt them.
Man are falling from the sky. Red sea split open.
And we still in this wilderness going round and round because you don’t trust me.
Yeah. Can we be honest?
Somebody on your own is struggling to trust god now.
With their body, with their family, with the stage of their life.
The same god. The same god that protected them, the same god, that did it for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that same god.
I don’t know if he could do it for me.
And so now I want god to show up strong again and again and again and again.
Instead of asking my faith to increase.
And rise to the level of his faithfulness.
I need my faith.
To rise to the level of his faithfulness.
Isn’t that what got Israel in trouble, their fear that he would change his mind.
Maybe he would bring me this far.
And then not take me any further than here.
Maybe my best days are behind me, settling when god still called you to journey, settling when god says I still wanna order your steps.
Suddenlink, maybe I can’t be no more healed than this. Maybe I can’t break.
Maybe I can’t shift it for my generation.
Maybe I’m settling into an identity because it requires too much faith to believe that god is working all things for my good.
Jesus.
I think that part of the reason why god allowed for David to become king.
It’s not because he was perfect.
It’s not because he knew how to work a sling shot.
God allowed David to become king.
Samuel tells us because he was a man after god’s own heart.
David knew how to see god.
And when he couldn’t see him, David knew how to search for god.
Sometimes we don’t see god because we’re not searching for him.
But David knew how to take the time to search for god.
Shall I go up, he would say, before engaging in battle, I gotta search for god.
So we sang it even when I don’t see it. You’re working, and that’s true.
But sometimes we don’t see god working because we’re so busy working things out our way that we are to focus on our hands instead of his hands.
I love Hebrews 11 and 6.
I think it encapsulates what it means to be a man after god’s own heart or a woman after god’s own heart.
Yes. One man. Come on now. Hebrews 116. It’s not unfamiliar.
You said, but without faith, it is impossible to please god.
For he who comes to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, seek him.
That’s eyes. That’s what I’m searching for.
How that word in the Greek it means to search out.
And we could upset And we say things like the enemies after my finances.
The enemies after my marriage, He’s after my business. He’s after my confidence.
I wanna propose something to you. Maybe the only thing the enemy is really after is your sight.
Because if he can change what you’re looking at, if he can change what you’re searching for, then everything else will just happen on its own.
Because whatever you get attention, give attention to is what is magnified in your life.
That’s why something says, come on and magnify the lord with me.
That means we gotta shift our focus and magnify the lord with me because if I’m not magnifying the lord, whatever I am giving attention to is what I am magnifying.
So you wonder why you keep experiencing rejection after rejection.
Are you experiencing it, or are you searching out for it?
Are you experiencing pain after pain, or are you searching out for it?
Because wherever you set your eyes, you’re gonna experience magnification.
And so sometimes the only way that you can begin to restore your faith is if you restore your sight.
I gotta start searching for God. That’s what I started doing a few weeks ago.
I was searching for this thing and searching for that thing.
I was trying to figure this out and trying to come up with the strategy.
And I said, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna just start searching for God.
God, if you show up in any way at all today, I don’t care if it’s somebody who said, girl, I like your dress.
I’m a say, god, I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, because I am so spirit to see god show up in my life that I am willing to move through the mess and the mire of what is happening in my world so that I can lay hold if I know that thing came from god.
I hear god saying seeking you’ll find me.
If you start searching for me, I don’t care how dark it is.
I don’t care how obscure your situation is. If you start searching, I’m gonna show up.
2nd chronicles tells us that when his people were in a situation, He said, you don’t have to worry about how you can get out of this.
There is one solution if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and seek my face.
If you would stop seeking everything else and take a minute to seek my face, if they turn their wicked ways and seek my face.
I’m gonna show up not because they were so perfect, but because they started searching for me in the midst of it all, god, if you’re here, I want you to know that I’m searching.
Somebody’s gonna go home searching for god.
Somebody’s gonna go to the job instead of searching for someone to piss you off searching for something.
If they say one thing to me, I’m a go off on here. I’m a start searching for god.
Matter of fact, I’m a bring god into the mist.
So when someone starts searching for god, they’ll run into me.
I know you thought that was gonna get under my feathers, but I gotta refill the holy ghost.
And so now when you start searching for me, you actually ran into god.
I wanna be so hidden in Christ. That when he is raised up, I’m raised up too.
Yeah. I hear god saying somebody searching for god.
They don’t realize that they’re actually searching for you.
Somebody’s searching for god but what they’re really searching for is for the god and you to stand up and become a light in the dark world.
And god says as long as everybody’s searching and nobody’s becoming then we’re gonna end up in this secular situation where nobody can get hope, but all it takes is one person who is willing to say You know what?
I found god, and I won’t keep it to myself.
So I’m gonna throw everything that god has given me in the circle of my influence so that when anybody is searching for god, they don’t have to search hard.
How god’s gonna do it in the marriage. I hear god saying start searching for him in the marriage.
How god’s gonna do it in the business is when somebody starts searching not for more of the same damage, not for more of the same pain, not for more money, more zeros, more contracts, more followers seek you first the kingdom.
Here, god’s saying, this has been a terrifying year, and we ain’t even out of January yet.
But the enemy is after your focus. The enemy is after your attention.
The enemy is after your fight.
And then a situation from the department until she saw that the fruit was appealing to the eyes.
It tells us that when the enemy got her eyes with a woman, saw that the tree was good for her food.
She saw it with her eyes and the enemy was after her focus is in addition.
I saw that the people look good from food, and that was pleasant to the eyes.
And then she parks to cook it because the enemy wants your attention Keep waiting on.
I’m gonna mess up. Wait. This ain’t gonna work out either.
He’s got your attention.
And I hear not saying the only way we make it to the other side.
Uh, this is possible. It’s not by strategizing on how to attack our enemy.
It’s asking not to restore will focus on him because if he restores our focus on him, it’ll be in my faith.
May, what you really need is something different to look at.
May, what you really need? Is it a miracle? Oh, god. Help me.
Jesus will form all these miracles.
And only a few of them are documented.
And yet the multitudes were drawn towards him because you don’t necessarily need a miracle to into you for a miracle to change you.
Sometimes all you need is the exposure of a miracle.
To help you build your faith for what god can do in your life.
That’s what Jesus is performing all of these signs and what because I wanna expose them to a miracle that changes the way that they see themselves, the way that they see god.
The way that they see this relationship between humanity and Vivendi.
And, oh, Jesus didn’t touch every single person in the multitude by hand.
But he touched about what he allowed them to see.
Is there anybody in this room that’d be honest enough to say?
I need to shift my focus away, Benny. Yeah. Is anybody in this room?
Who can be honest enough to say? My faith is taking a hit this year.
My faith for my body, my faith for my marriage, my faith for my finances.
It’s taking the hit. Can we do something? Okay. Okay.
Gotta help me.
If you’re in this room and you have seen god.
Perform miracles in your business.
You’ve seen that literally take nothing and turn it into something.
I want you to say that. Just say that real quick. Okay. Now y’all stay safe.
Stay safe. Stay safe. Now if you’re in this room, and you’re believing god for a miracle in your business.
I want you to take a look at what’s happening in this room, and I want you to say, god, I see that.
Say it again. God, I see that. Say that again. Say, god, I see that.
Cause we’re gonna build your faith based off of what you are exposed to.
I want you to say it again. God, I see that. God, I see that.
I see what you did in their lives. I see that you performed a miracle in their world.
God, I see that for my own business. I receive that for my own faith. Okay. Y’all sit down.
Y’all sit down. Let’s do. If you’re in this room and god’s done a wonder in your family, you know that you know that you know that y’all shouldn’t even be talking.
We shouldn’t even be able to get together, but some kind of way, god restored a marriage.
He restored a relationship with the child. I want you to stand up real quick.
Because we’re going to have testimony service. We are megachurch, and we’re gonna have megach testimony service.
Not everybody’s gonna get the microphone everybody’s gonna get the increase of faith.
Now, if you’re waiting on god to do something in your family, you’re waiting on god to show up for your children I want you to look around this room and say, god, I see that.
God, I see that. If you could touch them, I touch them.
If you can get close to them, I just touch them because that same god that did it for them.
Can do it for you too.
I want you to build your faith up again if god’s performed a miracle in your body, and you know that you know that you know that the doctor said one thing, but god said another thing.
Get up off of your feet real quick because I need your faith for my mother.
Need your faith for my family.
I wanna see what god did in your body so that I can be reminded of what’s possible for what reason would we come together if we’re not gonna overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.
Now I want us to take 10 seconds and thank god that he’s still doing miracles, to thank god that he let me see that he’s still working, to build your faith up.
God, I less your name o god. I thank you for who you are.
God, I believe, but help my unbelief God. Keep exposing me to your wonder.
Keep exposing me to your power. Keep exposing me to your crease. God, I’m ready to shift my focus.
Know what the doctor said, but I don’t wanna talk to the doctor anymore.
I need to talk to a healer.
I know what the bank said, but I don’t need to talk to pay. I wanna talk to a provider.
I wanna talk to Jairah. I wanna talk to Elohim. I to talk to Yahweh.
I wanna talk to the great I am. I wanna talk to my defender.
Let me talk to my lawyer. Father, may I approach the bitch?
Take it serve the gift of god that’s on the inside of you.
I hear god saying it’s settled down at the bottom, but it ain’t called yet.
Faith.
I profit some fresh faith in this room.
I prophesy of fresh anointing in this room. I prophesy
of signs and wonders in this room. I prophesy of fresh anointing over your house.
I prophesy a breakthrough over your body. I prophesy his power.
So we got strong on the end out of you. Great. God. Thanks. You are.
Have your way is only you can do.
I got paid for this thing.
I got paid for this thing.
The enemies after your faith And if the enemy can have your faith, you can keep working and working and working, but nothing you do will ever really work because you don’t really have no faith backing up that work.
I hear god saying hustle season is over. It’s time for you to fake this thing going through.
It’s time you to put your faith where your work is. You’re working but pulled back.
So you’re not disappointed, but I hear god saying if it’s gonna get done in 2024, you won’t have to put your back into it.
You won’t have to put your faith into it.
I got faith for this.
I got faith for that child. I got paid for this business.
I got paid for this ministry. I got paid for this 19th. I got paid for this marriage.
I don’t have the money, but I got the faith. I don’t have the plan, but I got the faith.
I don’t have the friends, but I the faith. They walked away, but they didn’t take my faith.
They waged war, but they couldn’t have my faith. I’m protecting my faith.
I’m in the fight of my life because this fight is over my faith if I don’t have faith.
Faith.
Hey.
No more doubt.
No more second guessing.
You on your own cannot do it.
Without faith, it is impossible to please god.
But if you just have, mustard seed.
You could say to this mountain. Move.
You’re trying to figure out how to scale a mountain.
With your own hands.
And Kasage, what you really need is an infusion of faith.
Your faith is gonna make the difference.
And you have a reason to feel like I don’t know if he can do it.
Because when you look around you, the odds look like they were against you.
But if you look up oh, oh, god.
I hear god saying you looking around you, but you need to look within you because greater is he that is within you, than he that is within the world, maybe what I really need is to make sure that I’m magnifying the greater that is within me.
God told me.
I want you to talk to my people about faith because if faith is under attack, based off of what they see.