Look For It – Bishop T.D. Jakes
Look For It – Bishop T.D. Jakes
When life’s circumstances have you feeling outnumbered and overwhelmed, you must block out the noise and focus! It’s okay if things get messy while you’re working it all out. Think about Elijah. When everything went wild around him, he went back to where he last experienced God and made quiet time to listen to His voice. Faith comes by hearing. So when you’re under attack from all sides, remember to get still, clear your mind of distractions, and LISTEN to what God is telling you! He can strengthen you to overcome anything.
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[Music] I want to make an announcement to remind you of our leadership conference is coming up we’re leading in one of the most interesting times in history one of the most difficult times in history and one of the most opportunity times in history for us to do things that we’ve never been able to do before techn teolog has made it possible for us to reach people that we’ve never been able to reach before times are changing up under our feet you cannot fight today’s battle with yesterday’s bread come on
that’s why the Bible said give us this day our daily bread I don’t want to eat the in fact the Bible wouldn’t allow you to eat yesterday’s bread it would mow you can’t eat old bread we got fresh bread in the house this morning come on talk to me somebody if you’re looking for the dates are March 21st through the 23rd it’s going to be here in Dallas Texas not at the church but downtown at the K Bailey Hutcherson Center we’re inviting you uh to get your registration in as quickly
as possible as we wrap up the final details of getting ready if you haven’t got your hotel room you ought to get your hotel room cuz you your aunt na ne don’t want to keep you in on the couch uh get your own space and hurry up go to our website you can get information how you can get a room some are saying that there are no rooms there are rooms available if you go to our website you can get the information that will help you to get to the next level can you say Amen somebody in the book of First Kings
chapter number 18 verse number 42 yeah I forgot that’s how anxious I am to get to this today PMT Serve the People of God anytime you got a preacher that forget the offering that’s a preacher right there come on talk to me somebody Hallelujah I’ve been talking to God and God has been talking to me and I trust that God has the right people in the right place at the right time to hear what the spirit of the Lord is saying to the church whether you’re online or in this building this is a rama word from God for you shout yes
somebody I’m going to take my time I’m going to build it I’m going to explore it I’m going to saturate it I’m going to obliterate it I’m going to exet it I’m going to uh make it relevant to where we are right now uh talk to me somebody First Kings 18: 42-46 we it’s our custom if you’re able to stand for the reading of the word if you’d respect that we would appreciate it after that you can sit the whole rest of the Ser you ain’t got to get up again till it’s over when it’s
over it’s over are you with me first Kings 1842 through 43 I’m reading out of The Message Bible Ahab did it got up and ate and drink I’m going tell you more about Ahab in a minute meanwhile Elijah climbed to the top of carel you remember Mount carel he went to the top of Carmel bowed deeply in bowed deeply in prayer his face between his knees that’s deep his face between his knees he couldn’t have had no stomach his face I’m just saying I’m I’m just saying see when I read word I see pictures you
know but I’d have done better trying to bring my knees up to my anyway he bowed deeply in prayer his face between his knees then he said to his young servant on your feet now look toward look toward look toward the sea he went looked and report it back I don’t see a thing this is one keep [Music] [Applause] looking somebody holler keep looking keep look said Elijah seven times if necessary and sure enough not the first not the second not the third not the fourth not the fifth not the sixth but the seventh time he said oh yes
[Applause] a cloud but it’s very small no bigger than someone’s hand rising out of the sea quickly then on your way tell Ahab saddle up and get down from the mountain before the rain stops you good God things happen fast wo this word don’t need no preaching it’ll understand all by itself things happened fast look at somebody say things happened fast the sky grew black with wind driven clouds and then a huge Cloud burst of rain with Ahab High tailing it in his Chariot for jesrael and God what watch this and God
strengthened Elijah mightily pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist Elijah ran in front of ahab’s Chariot until they reached jezrael somebody shout yes yes look at the person on the left and the right and just tell them look for it look Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on the word while it is yet being explained and explored let us exasperate this text in such a way that it begins to drip with the nectar of what we need for the times that we’re in I believe you’re going to do Supernatural things have your way in
the midst of your people great God that you are I believe you for miracles in Jesus name with your loud voice shout amen you may be seated [Applause] yeah now we must realize and understand that King Ahab uh has been dubbed the worst king of Israel we have to understand also that Israel has been divided now into the northern kingdom and the southern Kingdom this is the northern kingdom which was the larger Kingdom that is up under the rule of Ahab the problem with Ahab is that he is filled with a lust for power I can stay there for a
while first he sold himself to do Evil by marrying Jezebel he had no business marrying Jezebel in the first place Jezebel was a Phoenician they worshiped baale they had another God and in his aligning with her it was politically expeditious but it was religiously devastating by him marrying her it joined connections between two kingdoms because it led all the way out to the Sea where the ports were and he would have more power by marrying her but he also had more problems by marrying her this is a warning to folks who about to
get married you see the power but you don’t see the problem and and and and so we understand that Ahab did more evil than any other man before him in the position he was in he was corrupt and he married a woman who was even more corrupt now Jezebel was also a problem she was a problem she was a problem in his life third he behaved in the Bess manner he led the the whole nation into apostasy away from God the famine began to come as a result of the way he led the people and the famine became so strong that the people
began to suffer as God’s judgment on Ahab and this was because Elijah had prophesied that if you don’t stop God is going to judge you and God judged Ahab and there is a famine in the land okay there is a so we got a kingdom that’s divided north to south we’ve got a kingdom that is conjoined Jehovah Yahweh with bale we have a kingdom that has prophets of Israel and the prophets of baale and we have a queen who is killing the prophets of Israel there are people that come along that are anointed to try to kill
the prophets of Israel they are really after Elijah at this time they’re on the hunt Ahab is on the hunt for Elijah and yet God has built a fence around Elijah and Elijah is able to stand are you hearing what I’m saying you you understand that Ahab was so powerful that he had extended his kingdom to omry and to Moab he was taken over territories throughout history there have been various moments where Nations have not been satisfied to be Nations but extended themselves to take over as much territory as they could
because territory represented influence economy and power such was Ahab he could take the land but he couldn’t make it rain God has a way of stopping the Unstoppable you might think that your boss is the boss but your boss has a boss you might think that your king is a king but your King has a king you might think you’re at the mercy of a person but if God before you he is more than the world against you say Amen somebody now Jezebel needs no explanation she’s Infamous in her own right she she has
become synonymous with trickery debauchery and lust and it is because she was the mother of it she exemplified it she exuded it she was a scheming devious woman she was not satisfied until she had brought the prophets of Baal into Israel and they were taking over and Elijah was standing up against him he’s outnumbered there are 450 prophets of Baal there is one Prophet standing against 450 now God has 7,000 in the cut you you need to understand that there are times and moments in your life that it feels like you’re standing by
yourself but you’re never really by yourself cuz God’s got 7,000 prophets that have not bowed to bail nor kiss a nasty image but Elijah has been chosen to fight this fight with the odds against him and trouble everywhere God has chosen him to fight this fight in the Bible story Jezebel was Infamous for several things not only did she bring Baal into Israel but she also went on to do all types of uh Grievious things that really made her name now synonymous with debauchery whatever it took to get her way she was willing to do
it this text comes after the noisy pestilence of Mount Carmel where Elijah confronts the prophets of baale and he stands one against 450 I I’m want to talk to somebody that feels outnumbered and the odds are against you and it it doesn’t seem to make any sense that you could stand there in that office by yourself with everybody hating on you and God still bring you through and yet God brings you through it doesn’t make sense that you could move in that neighborhood and nobody be speaking to you and God yet sustain you
you’re outnumbered anybody ever felt outnumbered in the place and yet in spite of that you know the story and I won’t spend time on it how God sent fire down from heaven in the face of 450 prophets of Baal who could not get Baal to perform in the nation of Israel there are some places where hell cannot perform the Bible didn’t say that they wouldn’t form weapons against you but he said the weapons will not Prosper God will break it down in such a way that you have the victory anyway and so Elijah calls down fire from heaven on
Mount Carmel and the fire licked up the wood and the stones and the water and the trenches and it destroyed absolutely everything by the word of his mouth and while they were screaming and yelling and making jokes God was still operating in his behalf and he was operating in the midst of noise now you have to decide in your life how you’re going to handle those moments in your life where you are outnumbered there’s all kinds of noise and there’s pestilence and God still wants to do something amazing in your
life Steve the late Steve Jobs says something that I wanted to pull a quote from he says there’s has been one of my mantras focus and simplicity focus and simplicity somebody say focus and simplicity and simp simple can be harder than complex he goes on to say you have to work hard to get your thinking your thinking clean to make it simple you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple but it’s worth it in the end because once you get there you can move mountains oh my God what I the reason I wanted to use
this quote it said you have to work hard to make your thinking clear you don’t have to work hard to get it done you have to work hard to get your thinking clear because as a man thinketh in his heart so is he so if I was the devil and I was going to try to do something I would try to make it difficult for you to get your thinking clear this morning somebody’s going to get their thinking clear and when you get your thinking clear God is going to do some amazing things in your life but we are living in the midst of a lot of
noise we’re living we are living in the mo in the most noisy time in the history of the planet number one there are more people almost 8 billion people on the planet number two there is more technology than we have ever seen before never in the history of the world have you had so many people’s mouth in your life through your phone an opinion about everything opinions have replaced truth and it is noise but it’s not just coming from your phone or your iPad or your computer is coming on the news when I
grew up there were three stations three and you’re out if you could find something to watch within three stations it was over and you better find it before 11:00 because when they start singing the star spangle Banner it was over y’all don’t y’all don’t understand what I’m talking about y’all don’t understand now you got over 300 stations to pick from all kind of noise if you want to learn how to buy a house if you want to learn how to remodel a house if you want to learn how to bake uh peach
flamb Bay if you want to learn the latest news if you want to learn the stock market if you want to have the latest movie if you want to have the latest situation all of this contributes to the noise that is coming into your house and then there’s the noise of the people in your life who have access to you through text through email through telephone who are always invading your space and then there’s the robo callers who are calling you and you don’t know who they are and you there you are got your hands in biscuit dough and they’re
ringing you up every time you turn around we got noise people murders and killings destruction and strife shootings in schools drama everywhere we are living in the midst of noise it is almost inescapable to get your thinking clear in the noise that saturates us every day I walked past the TV and it was talking about murders down the street from where I live I go in the kitchen and do something I come back and they’re talking about 10 year olds killing in elementary school and then there’s war all over the world there’s war in
Ukraine there’s war going on in Israel there’s war going on in Palestine and I know that don’t have nothing to do with me directly but it’s just noise it’s noise and I find myself worried about stuff that I can’t do anything about I find myself being filled with stress and I ain’t the president I’m not the general I’m not a five-star general but I’m sitting up here trying to think oh is this going to lead to that and if that leads to that it’s going to turn to the other because if your thinking gets
bogged down in the noise it distracts you from your focus and we are coming into a season where it is hard to focus you must realize that without anything going wrong and if you’re breathing something is going wrong somewhere in your life in your personal life without anything going wrong in your head and if you’re a thinking person sometimes the most noise is not on the outside it’s the noise on the inside have you ever laid down to sleep and you couldn’t get the voices to shut up in your own head what about this
and what about that and wonder where Johnny is and wonder where Mary is and wonder how Susie is doing and wonder what we’re going to do about next week and wonder how much how much longer I’m going to have hot water the hot water tank is going out do I have enough money to pay for it all these conversations lips not moving but the the noise has got in your head now Elijah is functioning in the midst of noise he performs miracles in the midst of noise he performs the power of God in the midst of noise and the
fire fell down but it became very difficult for him to continue to function in noise and I want to challenge you this morning to stop the noise I am just now realizing that just because my phone rings now my my wife should really preach this cuz she has no problem with this but but just because my phone rings doesn’t mean I have to stop everything and answer it and I’m learning uh how to go through who I look at the phone and see who who it is and see if I feel like dealing with that kind of energy right
now cuz some people bring a energy of disruption with them it’s not that you don’t like them but they just have so much drama that you you got to be in the mood to say yes to that phone call and sometimes it’s not the right time to have that noise is it just me or is there somebody else that’s dealing with a noise environment and it takes its toll on you it creates stress stress stress is a silent killer stress affects your mind and your emotions stress affects your body and your organs stress affects your blood pressure and
your blood sugar stress affects everything about you stress is a silent killer it creates things like anxiety it creates all kinds of anxiety anxiety is to be anxious about something that hasn’t even happened to worry about the possibility to have faith in negativity to believe to rehearse in your mind what if this happens and what if that happens and it’s coming from the noise it’s coming from the noise it’s coming from the noise because the enemy knows that if you ever Focus you’re going to be
unstoppable so he sends all these distractions in your life and the greater the mission in your life the greater the distraction comes in your life now Elijah has already called far down from heaven he has taken the prophets of Baal down to the Sea and drowned them and buried them in the sea it was Bloody it was noisy it was loud it was messy and now we’re finding him not on the first trip which is often preached about but now he’s on his second trip he goes back to the place where he last experienced
God whenever you’re under attack go back to the place where you last experience God we see Elijah going back on the mountain bloody and messy tired from fighting in conflict in anxiety in stress and pressure and he goes to the top of the mountain with nothing but his servant and this time he goes to stop the noise see there is noise that is in your life and in my life and in our lives and in your life that are watching right now there’s noise there are certain noises that have been sent just to distract you
from the Commandment that God gave you because when there is noise in your life when there is noise in your life it’s it becomes more and more difficult to discern exactly what God is saying because you got so much noise going around you that you can’t tell what is God and what is not God you can’t tell whether you should go right or whether you should go left you can’t tell whether this is a friend or a foe you can’t tell whether this is an enemy or a friend you can’t tell whether you should
fight or be still you can’t tell whether to be quiet as and then all of a sudden you got to stop shake your neighbor and say take control of the noise stop it shut it down bring it to an end bring it to an end you have the power within yourself to stop the noise you have the power within yourself by God’s grace to stop the noise God didn’t stop the noise Elijah stopped stop the noise Elijah stopped The Noise by putting his head in between his knees he must realize that in order to perform this next Miracle he must be able to
focus Steve Jobs said you have to work to get your thinking clear most people will not put in the work to get their thinking clear now when I heard that Elijah put his head between his knees I did a little exercise and I found out that it is quite difficult maybe not for you but it’s it’s it’s quite difficult to get your your head in between your knees it might be a little easier to bring your knees up to your head but that was kind of tough too what is the Bible saying to us to get to a place of peace and
Tranquility you have to work at it it won’t just happen because you need it you have to work at getting your thinking clear otherwise you make decision in noise that is not discernable if you notice while I was talking it became increasingly difficult to hear what I was saying though I was speaking you couldn’t hear it because of the noise you think God is not talking God is talking but the noise is a distraction for you to hear that’s the Bible said let him that have an ear hear what the spirit is
saying to the church but that will not happen if you do not stop the noise Elijah goes up on the mountain and he has to do this his servant cannot do it his Entourage cannot do it his retinue cannot do it his associates cannot do it his church cannot do it you have to make a decision who you let invade your space get in your head Cloud your judgment and influence your thinking somebody say stop it stop it I have lived all my life just about all my life around railroad tracks when I was a little boy I don’t
know if they do it now but when I was a little boy when you got to a railroad crossing there would be a sign that says stop look and listen stop look and listen this text is all about stop look and listen are you hearing what I’m saying to you in order to stop the noise Elijah comes to the Mountaintop and puts his head in between his knees and there he begins to shift his thinking saying I must hear what is within me I can’t go by what’s in you because if I’m going to get the victory I have to have the ability to
clear my thinking some of the most successful people I know whether they’re athletes or CEOs start their morning with meditation or Stillness or calmness just a few minutes of Tranquility no radio no music no news no headlines no social media just clearing your head getting alone with yourself so you can find yourself what do you really think what do you really believe what do you really expect what are you willing to fight for who are you really what is God saying to you what will God do for you you got to stop it or you’ll never find
it if you don’t stop it the noise will influence the decision if you don’t stop it the noise will distract you from what is the victory you’ll start going after the noise rather than going after God you have to not go after the noise you have to go after God if you go after the noise you won’t get anything done and in order to do it he has to do what the quote said from Steve Job he has to work to get his thinking clear introspection introspection one of the questions that always arrest me is how are you
doing or or how are you feeling I I I think Lord I don’t know I have to wait a minute give me a minute let me think about it you know because I’m so focused on what I’m doing that sometimes I forget how I am feeling and I don’t check with myself to get still enough to find out where am I not only where am I what’s in me I cannot produce your food fruit so never be jealous and apple tree cannot produce a pear a grape vine cannot produce a strawberry I can only produce what’s in me but I spend so much time around
people that I don’t get to examine the Integrity of what God placed inside of me and if you’re not careful you’ll become addicted to the voices of men more than the voices of God if you’re not careful I’m talking to somebody I don’t know who it is look at somebody say focus focus focus you you’re coming into a season that you’ve got to focus focus focus 2024 is going to require Focus you’re not going to be able to do it with all the noise you’re going to have to slay the prophets and shut them
down so you can hear what the spirit of the Lord is saying to the church look at somebody and say kill it kill it but Elijah was a prophet but he still had to kill it but Elijah was a man of God but he still had to kill it that means that God didn’t kill it for him he had to kill it stop praying that the noise will stop but you’ve got to take authority and kill it cut it off shut it down don’t answer it cut the TV off get some peace stop inviting people around who are cluttering your head with all of
their problems who think you are an answer machine and all they do is call you up for the answer all the time let me put it in biblical language be still and know that I am God be still and know that I am God but you’re a prophet be still and know you’re a musician be still and know that I you’re a realtor be still and know that you’re an accountant be still and know that you’re a business be still and know you’re a janitor be still and know you can’t know if you won’t [Applause]
be be still now he called fire down down from heaven but he did it with his voice what brings Fire won’t bring water the real problem is not just the prophets of bell they had to be stopped but the real problem that that is causing the suffering is the drought that’s in the land he cannot fight and break the drought out the same way he called down the fire tradition is a wonderful thing until it stops progress it the tool that you use to bring you here will not be the tool that you use to take you there that’s why you got to
have the flexibility to change understanding that this is a different kind of fight type that on the line this is a different kind of fight this is a different kind of fight you’re not going to be able to casually do this this is a different kind of fight you’re going to have to focus to win this fight you can’t expend energy trying to drag people who don’t want to go trying to convince people who refuse to be convinced trying to be heal people who are hypochondriacs and they enjoy being sick
and they call you up and dump their sickness all over you because they have an attention deficit they want your attention which breaks your focus and because you are an empath you are always taking care of them and not taking care of you but I want you to make a commitment with me this morning I’m going to stop it I’m going to stop it I’m going to stop it because I am in a season in my life that requires that I focus that means I have to stop I have to listen and I have to look I have to stop I have to listen now when
I say listen he is not listening for what is going on around him he is listening for what is going on inside of him because if there are not olives inside of him there will not be olives around him if there is not peace on the inside there won’t be peace on the outside it is no mistake that Jesus was sleep in this in the boat in the storm and said peace be still the reason Jesus could speak peace is because he you can’t speak peace from a place of noise Jesus was the only one who was sleep enough to wake up and speak peace
in the middle of the storm yet everybody around you is trying to drag you into their noise not just your noise they’re trying to drag you into their no noise and if you’re not careful you will give up and in the name of ministry find yourself drugged into a noise that is actually a distraction that doesn’t have anything to do with you I I want the people to holler at me who have people in your life that keep trying to drag you into their noise Hala stop stop I’m going to stop allowing you to drag me into your noise
into your miserableness into your hostility into your anger I’m going to stop allowing you to drag me into your foolishness I’m going to stop allowing you to drag me I will give you some advice I will speak to it I will tell you how to handle it but as far as getting me over into the middle of it I refuse to Forfeit my peace so that you can have companionship in your pain stop dragging me I’m not coming somebody holler stop I want you to holler like you’re yelling at your kids yeah that’s the way you got to say
it that’s the way you got to say it that’s the way you got to say it because the volume is up so loud on the noise the volume is up so loud on the noise you got to holler the volume is up so loud on the noise the volume is up so loud on the noise that sometimes the noise doesn’t respect your boy now holla [Applause] stop that’s what’s about to happen in your life what just happened in this room that’s what’s about to happen in your life that’s what’s about to happen in your life the noise the craziness
maybe I’m not good enough maybe I’m not smart enough maybe I miss my chance maybe I waited too late maybe I’m cursed maybe God is judging me all of that is [Music] noise holla stop Jesus said my peace I give unto you not the Peace of the world but the peace that passes all understanding I’m going to stop allowing you to drag me into your [Applause] issues I’m talking to somebody I don’t even know who it is the noise is always a distraction from the greater assignment it is designed to get you off
track it is designed to stop you from focusing it is designed to stop you from getting your mind clear your head straight your thoughts together your inner voice so that God can speak to you on a different level we we often talk about the notion of five senses can I take my time and when we talk about five senses is really our sensory perception that is coming through the various organs and attributes of which God has allowed us to have the acrt that accessorize our Human Experience like ears and mouth and nose and eyes are
Gates through which our senses are able to make contact with the world you walk in a room you can smell something you you you you’re sitting at a table you can hear something and you you nudge your husband in the middle of the night and say honey I heard something it is through your ear gate that you are able to contact the world it is through the I smell gas did you cut off the stove it keeps you in contact with the world it comes through your senses I I saw something what said in the shadows I saw something move your