Sarah Jakes Roberts and Steven Furtick: Motivation to Move Forward in Faith

Sarah Jakes Roberts and Steven Furtick share powerful messages about pushing through life’s obstacles, and moving forward in faith to find freedom from the enemy!

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You say greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
But if you don’t put that greatness in a position to be great, then how can you ever understand that greatness is working on your behalf.
You gotta push through.
People can only help you so much.
I’m telling you in this season, you can read books, but books can only do so much.
Is a season where you need the author.
The sin was not that they were opened.
The sin was what they did when they were open.
That’s why when David says search my heart, I don’t really know who I am when I’m open.
Maybe I’m bitter. Maybe I am hard to be connected with.
I don’t really know who I am when I’m open.
And the thing is about being open is that sometimes that stress breaks this open.
Sometimes disappointment breaks this open. We gotta understand those areas in our lives where we experience those separations because when the enemy exploits it, we think often that the problem with what happened with Eve in the garden is when she ate from the fruit, and that is not what the problem is.
The problem started, and she told us out of her own mouth in Genesis she says, the serpent deceived me, and then I ate.
The serpent found an opening, and he did not give her a command.
He gave her a thought I don’t have to tell you to sin I don’t have to tell you to betray yourself.
I don’t have to tell you to give up on your destiny.
The serpent doesn’t even have to tell you to kill yourself.
He just has to give you a thought that this world would be better without you winning.
I just have to give you a thought your taught life.
It’s more powerful sometimes than even your prayer life because your thought life, if you don’t get a hold of it real good, then you’ll end up in a situation where the phone of the enemy have taken root and produced fruit in your life.
And then when you recognize that your fault life is under attack, you go into your prayer closet with a different strategy.
God, I don’t need you to change. I need you to help me get my head together, Calvin.
I’m about to walk away from the very thing to call me too because something got in my head.
I gotta be careful in certain seasons because you in my head. Oh god.
The one place you cannot be is in my head because I’m trying to be transformed in my mind.
If I let you in my head, my mind is so malleable that it could turn in the direction of destiny or it could turn in the direction of and all of a sudden I’ll go from thinking I’m called and anointed to thinking that there is no use for my voice in the world.
All of a sudden, think that I can do this, but because you got in my head, get out of their head.
Get out of their mind. God, we claim it back. We lay it at the altar.
Sometimes I gotta lay my spirit out. Sometimes I to lay my mind out.
My mind is telling me that I’m not fearfully and wonderfully made.
My mind is telling me that the weapons has prospered.
My mind is trying to tell me that there is no use for me, but Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.
Satan, I served you in a fiction notice. We don’t have to wait till the end of a sermon.
To get you an ultra call. I hear god saying I’ll call out your mind right now.
I wanna talk to somebody whose mind has been playing tricks on you.
I wanna talk to somebody whose mind has been making you think that you are not called and anointed for your destiny.
Your mind is making you believe that the gift doesn’t matter.
Your mind is making you believe that you cannot pray the generational curse, but I came here to tell you.
Let this mind be in you. That was also in Christ Jesus.
I feel like going to war in this place.
I got on this dress, and I’m try to be printed, but I feel like going to war with the mind of Songhai.
Baby. Scripps says that the what are not carnal, but they are mighty through god for the pulling down of strongholds That word’s stronghold actually means a fortified argument.
That means that the weapons of our warfare are not carved but they are mighty through god for the pulling down of fortified arguments ever since she was little.
They’ve been in your head. That argument is so fortified, but I came here to tell you, I got a weapon stronger than the argument.
I got a weapon stronger than the what they say.
I got a weapon for that.
I gotta worship for that. I gotta Jesus for that.
I know what you said about me, but do you know what Jesus in for me.
Jesus said something that has all paid undo. Jesus said something.
See.
Warfare.
Warfare.
Jesus. Jesus. Okay.
Oh, god. That’s why the serpent has to get in your head.
Because if he gets in your head, he can separate you.
And if he can separate you from god, he can separate you from you.
You don’t even know who you are.
That’s why I had to attack your mind when you were young, because if I started when you’re young, you may not ever find out who you really are, but I thank god that he still closed his doors.
Because even though you got me, when I was young, gusses, I’m a close the door.
But then I’m a open the door so I can show them anyway.
I’m a show them with an open door who they are.
I’m a show you in an open door. What I think about you?
You’re pussing not my fault, and I thank god for that. Do wait for not out west.
Alright.
That’s what happens. Right?
The serpent Separated them.
The enemy separated you. With one thought.
2 thoughts echoed by people who had their own thoughts.
I still got a long way to go, so I don’t I didn’t even are in the garden, and it’s been separated.
And what they do with this separation is what so many of us do.
They move into and avoid an attachment.
They say to themselves, I’m a just keep pushing through.
I’m a avoid who I should have been I’m gonna avoid what I should have done, and I’m a just push through.
What they call pushing through is actually pushing away.
They got their fig leaves, but when god is walking through the cool of the garden and he asks, where are you?
It lets us know that they were avoiding having to be in relationship with god, but they were not avoiding being in the place that god had put them.
I wish I could say that.
You see some of you are patting yourself on the back because you’re still in the vicinity, even though you aren’t in position.
I’m attached, but I’m not connected the way I once was.
I’m in the marriage, but I’m not connected the way I’m just pushing through.
In the business, but I’m not connected.
I’m just pushing through, but you’re not pushing through.
You’re actually pushing away because pushing through requires an element of confrontation.
And if you think pushing through is how can I avoid it, or how can I punish it?
Then you never are offered the opportunity to be secure again.
He showed me that until we’re willing to have a confrontation with what happened to us when we were separated, that we cannot become secure enough to be in position.
Man, Everyone talks about how Martha was so busy that she couldn’t serve Jesus.
Well, Martha was so busy that she couldn’t receive from Jesus. So busy serving that she couldn’t receive.
They don’t give her enough credit, however, for when her brother was dead.
And she was the first one to come up to Jesus.
And she said to him, had you been here? My brother would not have died.
She got confrontational with Jesus because it is better to be confrontational than to avoid him altogether.
You see some of us are in here, not because everything is going the way we want it to.
We’re in here because I need to have a confrontation because I trusted you, and I wanna understand.
Can you bring this thing back to life? I wanna understand what your next plan is for me.
Some of
us came in here to celebrate.
Others of came in here to have a confrontation because Martha says I gotta push through what I’m feeling right now so that I can have a confrontation.
With Jesus. She’s confronting him.
Because connection is more important than separation.
And god cannot comfort what you will not confront.
Can’t fix it in the marriage.
I can’t fix it in your mindset. I can’t fix it.
And the kids, if you don’t confront it, I can’t comfort it.
I know you’re insecure, and I know you want everyone think that you have it all together, but I’m telling you I cannot comfort it if you are not willing to confront it because that same Jesus told Martha that your brother is going to live.
And she says, no, he’s not alive, but he could have been alive.
I know that you’re still able, and he says, listen, you jumped the gun.
If you just stay in this tension with me, you’ll see that I have a plan outside of this.
This element of confrontation requires that we push through instead of pushing away.
No one got anything done in the Bible without pushing through.
Not avoiding it, going right up the gut of it. That’s so country.
You gotta go right at the gut of this thing.
You gotta face it head on.
You say greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, But if you don’t put that greatness in a position to be great, then how can you ever understand that greatness is working on your behalf?
You gotta push through. The woman with the issue of blood had to push through.
Blind bought a maze had to push through.
There are people in this room who’ve had to push through and push through.
It wasn’t that it was easy, but I pushed my way through. I had to lose a few friends.
I had to have some hard conversations, but I pushed through because I believe that on the other side of my push was a miracle.
I believe that on the other side of my push was god’s presence.
I believe that on the other side of that push was a new violation of my identity and who I am and god.
I didn’t just get up here. I pushed my way through.
Somebody else may have strayed, but god, I’m pushing my way. I’m pressing my way towards the market.
It’s not easy for me to do it, but I’m pushing.
Not just for what I want, but what I’m pushing for is connected to god’s presence.
When we find Jesus in the text, he is pushed through.
Jesus. He was twelve years old in the temple.
But Luke tells us that when Mary had Jesus, that he grew in wisdom and stature in favor with god and men, You don’t get wisdom and stature in favor with god and men unless you push through some things.
I have to tell you I find this fascinating because I think we have done such a good job at exalting the divinity of Jesus.
That we miss out on what makes him our kinsman redeemer, that he like you had to grow with wisdom and stature and favor with god and men.
He had to push through some immaturity. Mary had to go back and get him.
He had to push through text of the world, he had to push through 18 years of something before he could even be used.
He had to push through some things.
And yet, when we find him in the text, this push is different.
This push is a defining push. I believe God gave me this message.
Because there is someone, and maybe it’s just me.
Standing at one of the most pivotal pushes. In their life.
They’re having to push through in a way that they’ve never had to push through before.
This push is different because if Jesus pushes through this moment, it’s gonna break open a damn.
If Jesus pushes through this moment, is gonna establish his ministry.
This is not the same push of a twelve year old boy.
This is a push of a thirty year old man.
This is a push that will determine whether or not he can be the savior.
This is the push that will determine whether or not he’s qualified for the call.
This is the push that will determine the devil that got Adam and Eve will be the devil that got him.
This is the push that will break the generational curse
This is the push.
I don’t know who you are, but I wanted to let you know that this is the push that’s gonna define your family.
This is the push that is gonna define
how you can and how you engage this this push. Oh, god.
Adam and Eve, are in the garden with the serpent in Genesis.
Jesus is in the wilderness with Satan and Matthew.
From the outside looking in, the scene probably looks the same.
But before Jesus could step into his call, he had to fight a devil that wasn’t even his own.
Because he had to let the devil know that you cannot use the same trick on me that you use on them.
I’m not gonna let you in my head Some of you are not even fighting your own temple.
Some of you are fighting the devil of those who came before you, but I hear God’s hand.
You had to fight them so that when I release you, that devil would know as she took your first step that this is not the same kind of woman.
This is the same kind of man.
I gotta use something different because I’m not gonna let the same thing that took them out.
It’s not the same. You can’t step into Destiny.
Until you pass the test of defeating a devil that don’t even belong to you.
You cannot step into destiny. Until you pass the test of recognizing what this is.
This is not about you. This is about devils that were here before you, but maybe when they ran into you, they ran into a prop.
Yes. When Satan when Satan ran up on Jesus.
Jesus was armed because he already knew the devil’s tricks.
He already knew he wanted in his hand. He already knew he wanted him to stop.
Oh, you better study that generational curse you wanna break.
If you don’t study it, you don’t know where the openings are Have you
ever had something that happened in your life?
Let’s get real practical where you saw it one way while it was going down and you saw it a completely different way.
When you look back on it, raise your hand. I need to make sure y’all are awake.
I’m doing some heavy old testament teaching today. You ever had that happen before?
Where you look back on it later and said, oh, that was actually not a blessing.
That was a trap. Or can go the other way too.
Oh, that wasn’t actually a tragedy. That was a blessing. And it can happen both ways.
And 2 things change the story and one is time.
Time changes the way you see the story.
That’s why I always like to encourage you, don’t give your testimony too soon.
I mean, you can tell people Jesus died for me and I accepted him in my heart that part of it, but don’t tell your testimony too soon because you might leave out the part that god is getting to that you don’t know about yet.
He’s the author and the finisher of your faith.
Don’t close the Bible in Leviticus and say this book is weird. Uh-uh.
There’s so much more to the story. Don’t close your heart. Don’t close your mind.
Don’t come out of the prayer closet. Don’t come out of faith.
Don’t come out of the waters of change because god is still writing your story. Say it.
God is still writing my story. You got it.
God is still writing my story, but Moses is gone.
Some of the characters are gonna exit. Some of the realities are going to change.
And that’s why I’m thankful that we serve a generation of god We tend to have situational faith.
When everything feels a certain way, we can really move in it.
Oh, when everything’s just like this, how many people have I heard?
I’m gonna start being more generous when I get a better job with better pay. That is situational faith.
How many people have I heard say, well, I’m gonna be nice to her when she starts respecting me more.
That is situational faith. That is not the love of god. That is not the spirit of god.
The spirit of god calls things that be not as though they were because he’s a generational god.
He was god of a nation when he only had one man named Abraham.
And I promise you everything under Abraham’s hood was not working right.
And even if it was Sarah’s womb was dead, so he had no chance, but god did it because he’s a generational god.
He’s a generational god in the sense that what he started in the beginning with Adam, he recreated in Christ who is the 2nd Adam because we could not do it by the works of the law.
So god took that book that stood against us put it on Jesus who knew no sin.
Can I preach the gospel for 10 seconds?
And he made him who knew no sin to be sin that we might become the righteousness of god.
So don’t ever say this little church phrase. I’m just a sinner saved by grace.
You ain’t just nothing, but somebody that Jesus thought was worth dying for.
You ain’t just nothing. But a new creation, a masterpiece.
He’s still writing your story. Moses died, but god didn’t.
They walked out, but god didn’t. You got fired, but god didn’t.
He still got the same job he had before you ever got to earth. He runs stuff.
I need us to praise god that he runs stuff.
Hey, man.
I promise. I tried to run stuff, and I ran out of strength to do it.
So then I had to lift my eye to the hills and remember where my help comes from.
I got a god who runs stuff.
God doesn’t check forecast to see if it’s a good time for him to do it or to move.
God runs stuff. God doesn’t consult human agendas or political offices to see if it would be a good time to demonstrate his power.
He doesn’t check your age or your height or your weight or your experience. God runs stuff.
He is god. He’s generational.
In the sense that his faithfulness continues through generations, And in the sense that he generates, he starts, he’s the source of your life.
And Moses, my servant is dead. I’m almost ready to preach now.
Wasn’t that a good introduction y’all clap for my introduction?
In a book, they have in a book, they have the the forward the forward, but it’s not spelled like going forward.
It’s spelled with w o r d because it’s the word that comes before.
The book in the beginning was the word.
Y’all need to read y’all’s Bible more because y’all should be preaching this with me.
And the word was with god and the word was god. And what does he do?
He runs stuff. So the lord said I’m closing down Moses Incorporated, and I’m establishing a new enterprise called Joshua Incorporated.
I thought something would come.
You have no idea how many things I start to say and hope something comes to me while I’m in the middle of saying it.
You does, but that time it didn’t. And and you know what?
I’m actually gonna use that to preach.
This, what I’m telling you, is that I have to go forward not finished.
After I have studied everything I can study after I have written everything that I can write.
I have to stand up here. Now, I’m not preaching about preaching. I’m preaching about life and purpose.
After I have done all that I can, I have to stand there for and trust that god is enough?
And so do you. Oh man, when I get my act together, I wonder how many of y’all were thinking about leading an egroup this last semester.
And you thought, well, man, I don’t know if I’m willing to lead an e group.
It’s not like I really know the Bible that good. Well, that’s how you’re gonna learn it.
You need something to study for it.
And if people are coming over to your house Tuesday at 6:30, you’re gonna have to pick it up.
I don’t like to admit this, but I don’t even know if I’d live right if I didn’t have to preach every Sunday.
That’s a a horrible thing to admit.
I wanna do it just because I love Jesus and he loves me and great is his love and his mercy and all the little children of the world.
But there’s a part of me that knows, like, I gotta look at y’all, and it’s a lot of y’all every 7 days.
I gotta say something. And it keeps me close to god.
Or it keeps me from going too far before he yanks me back.
And I think you need the same thing in your life.
Something that you’re moving toward. Forward.
I know you got a lot of money now. Aren’t you cute?
You got 401 k’s and all of that stuff and 2 houses. And you think you’re done?
How dumb are you, dude? You need to reread Luke 12.
The man had so much grain. He’s like, what do I do now?
Well, let me help you figure it out. You got too much money. I can help you with that money.
I can help you. I can alleviate that problem.
He said, I think I’ll build bigger barn store more up for myself, and he was never conscious of god.
And the lord said, you fool. You think you’re done? Just because you have stuff?
If your goal is to be done, you need to die.
You know, we do goal setting in the new year.
I’m a run a goal setting workshop. I just wanna be done. I wanna be finished.
I just wanna be done with all of this. Okay. Here is your task list. Die.
Will you be done? But until then, there’s more. There’s more to your story.
I like to listen to these motivational speakers because motivation mo preachers need motivation too.
And one guy was saying, you know, the most expensive piece of real estate. Have you ever heard this before?
The most valuable piece of real estate in the world is not in Manhattan.
Not in Singapore, not in Dubai.
The most valuable piece of real estate in the world is the cemetery.
Because there you will find buried symphonies that were unfinished, works that were undone.
Cures that were undiscovered because Moses died still seeing still strong.
And god said if you don’t trust me enough to go forward, I can’t bring you into what you won’t believe me for.
Let me say that again. That was annoying.
God can’t bring you into what you won’t believe him for.
If he did, what good would it do you? You wouldn’t believe him for it.
So you’d give it up, so you’d mess it up, so you’d walk away.
And Moses is dead and he’s not. He always comes back. I’m sure he’ll come back.
He’ll come back and he’ll be wearing the veil over his face, but he’ll come back. He always comes back.
It’s gonna turn around any day now, and they wait. And they wait.
The Bible says 30 days they waited for Moses.
The typical waiting period was 1 week, but this is Moses.
Moses gets at least a month, right? How many agree? Let’s put it to a church vote.
How many think that Moses, the one who led the nation 40 years should get at least a month of mourning before they move on.
And and they they they agreed 30 days.
Now I’m gonna speculate that while they were crying over Moses, they were also looking for him.
Don’t you think? Reason with me, reason with me, millions of people in the wilderness, only one person that’s ever been able to call on food and feed them.
Only one person that’s ever been able to show them how to atone for their sin. There’s only one Moses.
One Moses 1 month. 1 Moses 1 month.
And and and I think they probably sent out search parties. I do.
Use my sanctified imagination to break this Bible verse down real quick. I think they were like, alright.
You go look for him over there and you go look for him over there, Cassie.
We don’t typically have as much of a ritualistic culture about these these these moments of transition but to these people, the burial ceremony was tightly prescribed.
I mean, the way that they did it was central to their need for closure and their processing of grief.
How do you grieve a body that you can’t find the grave for?
How do you grieve the loss of a hope you can’t really articulate.
I just feel like something’s missing.
How do you grieve the fact I don’t know where the grave is, but somewhere along the way, I start talking myself out of seeing miracles.
And I can’t find the grave. I don’t know what day it happened.
I can’t tell you. It was 9:37 AM. I can’t tell you any of that.
And I’m grieving over something that I can’t find the grave for.
I don’t know why I don’t trust people anymore, but I just don’t.
I don’t know why I won’t let anybody new in my life, but I just won’t.
I don’t know why I don’t even talk back to the devil when he starts telling me I’m worthless, but now I just agree with him to get him to quit.
I’ll know when I stop thinking, you know, at some point, I am gonna get through this because because maybe it was the 3rd time or 4th time I went to rehab, but but there’s There’s there’s something I’m grieving and I can’t show you the grade.
I wanna tell you god knows where the grave is.
Yeah. Yeah. And only god knows where the grave is.
And that’s why in this season, people can only help you so much.
I’m telling you in this season, you can read books, but books can only do so much.
This is a season where you need the author.
This is a season where you need the generator.
This is a season where you need
the god of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob Who knows where you laid your hope?
Who knows where you lost your faith? Who knows where you gave up your end?
Who knows where you surrendered to the addiction? Who knows where you gave up the glory?
Because of the grief. It’s over now. He’s not coming back.
We’ve looked everywhere for him. It’s over now. We gotta move on. It’s over now.
What will we do without him? I don’t know, but it’s over now.
We send everybody everywhere we could apparently god is just as good at hiding as he is seeking.
Cause we got millions of people in 1 Moses, and we’ve been looking 1 month.
I don’t know who this is for, but the lord said it’s been a month.
It’s been a month.
And the the oh, the architecture of this verse is just as important as the application.
So please bear with me as I try to get it to you like god gave it to me because it was so important how how they said it.
It said in verse 8, the Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab 1 month.
Moses, Moab Month. Moses Moab month to leave Moab and to go forward into Canon.
They had to accept the death of Moses.
And they warned him 1 month.
Until watch this, Oh, yeah. They got it up there.
I’m so glad they got it up there. Yeah. Don’t bring y’all’s bibles.
And I don’t want you on your phone while I’m preaching.
I don’t want you having that distraction factory right there in front of your face while I’m preaching because somebody’s gonna text you that’s gonna tear you out of this message and the lord’s trying to preach and it’s gonna distract you and you can’t multitask as good as you think you can.
I don’t care if you are a woman.
So put your eyes on the screen.
They grieved in the plains of Moab 1 month. 1 Moses, 1 month.
Until the time of weeping and mourning.
Is over.
He didn’t say the feeling of mourning.
Was over, but he said it’s time to move forward.
But I don’t feel like moving forward.
I’m not preaching about feelings today. I’m preaching about faith.
To move forward when you’re not finished, to move forward when it still doesn’t make sense to move forward when you still have questions.
And the questions are now not only unanswered, but the questions have had baby questions, and you can’t figure any of it out And the lord says, the feeling wasn’t over, but the period of mourning was over.
You’ve got to move now. If it’s for three people, god sent me to preach this to.
I’m preaching to you right now.
If you’re not even in the room with me, I’m preaching it to you right now. It’s over.
No. No. No. You heard that like crew. I don’t mean it crew.
You heard it like, stop crying or don’t go to therapy.
Or don’t tell anybody or just act like it didn’t happen. I did not say any of that.
I’m just saying that the time for you staying in Moab looking for a Moses who isn’t coming back looking for a season of your life that was awesome, but it’s over.
Looking for somebody to apologize. State already moved to Cancun. It’s over. Scrolling through Facebook.
Wondering what are they up to now? It’s over.
Delete the app and live your life.