RECALIBRATE Phase 3, Bible Study 5.6.20

Posted on May 8, 2020 by growintheword

Reorientation

Synopsis of Bible Study May 6, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.


James 1:22-24 KJV “22but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”- One of the most difficult things in life is getting our mind to match our new reality.

  • The reality is to try and shift your mind around this new reality or new way of doing things.
  • There is this idea, you have this mentality of what you should do vs what I will do.
  • Whatever change you are bringing into your life is birth out of something. New beginnings are part of life.
  • This change that God wants you to make is for the best.
  • Question may be, “Well now I’m done, now what?” or “What do I value the most at this point?” or “What is my new measurable?”
    • This can be overwhelming, self-deflating, or even defeating to change all the facets of your life.
    • This is why you have to focus on one.
    • Then you have to find motivation to upgrade areas of your life. There will be ripple affects from this.

     I.            THREE AREAS OF REORIENTATION

  1. Orientation of yourself. – Lets reflect over last few months of our life. I have to reassess. I meditate on where I’ve been vs where I going.
  2. How I do I align with this new direction or new space.
  3. We have to get to a point in our life where we can do this. I can reorientate myself.
  4. You have the capacity to reorientate ourselves to this new normal.
    1. In the Bible, Jesus takes these men who were Fisherman and reorientates them to be Fishermen of Men. This is a new normal for them.
    2. God will help you reorientate yourself.
  5. Orientation to others – Everyone can’t go with you.
  6. You have to examine who needs to go vs who needs to stay.
    1. In the bible, David talks to God about who needed to go into war with. Some had to stay behind, because they were too tired. You have to discern who can stay and who go.
    2. You have to eliminate dead weight. You can’t consider people’s feelings about this either. Some people can only go so far with you.
  7. Orientation of time – You’re going to have some ups and downs in your life.
  8. Never feel like you are out of time. There is blessing in the in between spaces. You can see light at the end of the tunnel. Work towards the light, don’t stay in the tunnel.

II.            KEYS TO ORIENTATION

  1. Know When To Let Go And When To Hang On
  2. Either make moves or make room.
  3. Change is not a straight forth path. You must learn to let go. To change, you have to do things different.
  4. We have to learn to let go of certain things, so that we can do God things.
    1. Some of the things that we need to let go are things like, doubt and procrastination.
    2. When you decide to let these things go, you can achieve what God wants you to achieve.
    3. Scripture tells us to lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.
  5. Develop A New Level Of Persistence
  6. Persistence is key in this season. What is your metric for growth?
    1. It’s not enough to just hang on. We are not just trying to survive; we are trying to thrive.
  7. Let go of self-doubt. Doubt will kill your dream.
  8. You’ve got to learn to keep going when change is all around you or when things don’t look like its working out.
  9. Persistence means I won’t let go. Remember the scripture says knock, and the door shall be opened.
    1. Remember, they were praying for Peter who was locked up and Peter shows up at the door? There is something about persistence.

Luke 18:1-8 NIV – 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”- This woman was do persistent, she made an unjust judge give her time. This is persistence.

  1. You have to get to a point that your persistence is strong.
  1. Find Congenial Spirits/Relationships
  2. You need people around you that bring something to the relationship. Relationships in this season should be reciprocal.
  3. We don’t know all the answers, so God puts people in our paths that no more than we do. These people bring value to our relationships.
  4. Build relationships with people that matter. Meet new people. Invest in yourself.
  5. Have you ever considered the relationship between Moses and Aaron?
    1. Exodus 6:26-30 (NKJV) 26 These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”[a] 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron. 28 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am [b]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”
  6. Every time we study Moses, we read, “Moses said to Pharaoh”. Moses has a speech impediment and God gives him an assignment that involves talking.
  7. Aaron is there because he can speak and articulate what Moses can’t. God will give you help.
  • You don’t have to do this all by yourself. We are not intimidated with people that know much more than we do. We need people that can help us achieve what God wants us to achieve.

III.            HOW TO LIVE AS A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST

A.     Face Your New Reality

  1. Part of reorientation is your old stuff has got to go. In this season, the Old You has to go. We have to let go of all the beef we’ve had from the past, all the old way of thinking, has got to go.
  2. Transition requires a clean break. We have to be led by our spirit and not our flesh.

James 1:2-4 NIV – “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”- Lacking not.

Romans 8:29 NIV – “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”- When I reorientate, I learn how to encounter joy.

  1. We give God glory in it, because we know it is producing something in our lives.
  2. God has formed us to represent him in the earth.
    1. As a result, we are adopted into God’s family. Romans 8:15 NIV – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”-
  3. We are given a new kingdom citizenship. Philippians 3:20 NIV – “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,”- A lot of people say that they are saved, because they have been baptized. This is just the outward show of the life we have chosen to live.
    1. It’s only part of it. You can go down as a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – This is the season that God wants us to claim our new identity.

B.     Claim Your New Identity

  1. You have to own it. You are not going back. Claim your new identity!

John 1:12-13 NIV – “12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – You have direct access now to the Father.

Galatians 5:16-26 NIV – “16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”- If you going to be in the flesh, then you got to understand what the flesh is. All the stuff your flesh desires, will keep you in a place where you can’t reorientate yourself and go to the place where God is taking you.

  1. Even a snake sheds its skin for a new season. A believer has to be willing to shed his Old Self and walk in the Spirit of God in the Fruit of the Spirit.
  2. Your flesh will keep you in a place where you can’t reorientate yourself to where God wants you to be.

C.     Pray Like A Child

  1. Pray out of sincerity or purity.

Ephesians 5:1 NIV – “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children”

  1. Example, son comes down the hallway. He wants to brush his teeth, because his Dad is. The point is, he imitates his dad
    1. We must become imitators of Christ. If we have bad behavior, so will our children and so with the generations that follow behind us.
  2. Prayer is critical

Mark 1:35 NIV – “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”- Jesus thought it necessary for him to pray early in the morning and remove himself from everyone else.

  1. We have to develop the good habit of prayer. Sometimes it may mean finding a moment to get away from everything.

Matthew 6:9 NIV – “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,”- We honor God in our prayers.

Hebrews 10:19-20 NIV – “19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,” – We don’t have to have anyone pray for us. God shed his blood and the veil was rent in two, now we can go to the throne of God for ourselves.

Romans 8:26 NIV – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”- Don’t just ask God for stuff. Ask God for control of your life so that we can walk in God’s will.

D.     Walk Humbly

  1. When you reorientate to your new reality, when your new creature in Christ, then you get to a place where you realize humility is the key. You realize that in a moment, something can make equals of us all.
  2. Humility is what God is looking for in this season.
  3. God is calling us to a new life. He wants to reorientate us.
    1. We might lose our way, but God is still working in us.
    2. Philippians 2:13 NIV – “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”- God is still moving and working in you. This is the whole idea of reorientation.
  4. Reorientate yourself to match God’s mission for your life. Begin with relationship with Jesus Christ. God loves you so much.

 

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MANAGING THE MOMENT Part 1:

Posted on May 6, 2020 by growintheword

Don’t Let It Change You

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Synopsis of Sermon May 3, 2020

Genesis 50:20 NIV – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. All of us must be aware that we are kingdom representatives. We are God’s ambassadors in the earth. When God allows us to walk in a particular space, it’s because he trusts us in those spaces.
    1. Often, Influence is given to us, not because we deserve it, but because it is a gratuitous gift to us.
  2. We have to manage these seasons. Influence has a way of influencing our character. Our faith means nothing if we don’t properly manage our Influences and our Moments.
    1. It is Influence that puts us into these positions.
    2. How you deal with certain moments, speaks to your character and your relationship with God.
  3. This season is filled with uncertainty. It is uncomfortable. You have the unique opportunity to manage this season.
  4. Why did God give this word today to us? It is because God wants us to manage our Influence and our Season.
  5. Look at the life of Joseph. Like Joseph, our life has a lot to do with how we manage Moments. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his relationship with their father.
    1. Joseph has visions or dreams. When he shares his dreams with his brothers and they began to hate him for what the dreams said. As a result, they try and stage Joseph’s death. They place him in the pit to die.
    2. Joseph is found by Potiphar and as a result, he goes to Potiphar’s house, goes to prison, and there his gift is revealed. Joseph is then sent to Potiphar and he is elevated in the house of Potiphar. This causes him to be put into a position to save the Egyptian Nation.
    3. Joseph’s success and failures were all tied to how he managed the moment.
  1. Every stage of Joseph’s life, there was success. There will be moments where you and I will get tests like Joseph and you will have to manage that moment. Whatever happens in life, don’t let it change you.

 

II.            DON’T BE CARELESS WITH YOUR VISION, LEARN TO EXERCISE CONFIDENTIALITY

Dreams are given to prepare you for something up the road.

Dreams were not given to you carelessly, so you can’t share them carelessly. This is why you have to value confidentiality, because without it, you’ll create problems that you least expect.

A.     Everybody Can’t Handle Your Vision

  1. Joseph shared his vision with his brothers and on the surface, it seemed harmless.
    1. Often your vision will expose the insecurities of other people.
  2. Insecurities of others can hurt you. Be careful not to share too much. You have to learn to keep your mouth closed.
    1. Joseph’s brothers didn’t celebrate him. They became jealous of him.

B.     Discretion Will Keep You Out Of Ditches

  1. Joseph’s own bothers put him into a ditch to die. Joseph shared his dreams, too soon. You can’t share your dreams with everyone, because this will make you a target.

Proverbs 2:11 NIV – “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.”- You can’t quote silence.

  1. Loose lips sink ships. You have to learn in some moments to keep your mouth closed.

III.            DEMONSTRATE CREDIBILITY AND CHARACTER

Character is behavior on display. Potiphar sees a guy in a ditch and rescues him, then he lets him work in his house. Joseph doesn’t let his status change who he is.

A.     Serve With Excellence Regardless Of The Situation

  1. Can you serve with excellence regardless of your situation? Joseph is used to having a coat with many colors and he’s used to favor, but now he’s a servant in the house of Potiphar. Joseph keeps serving with excellence.
    1. If you are faithful over a few things, God will make you ruler over much. If you can serve God during your little, He will bless you with much!

B.     No Matter The Cost Refuse To Compromise

  1. The bible says why Joseph is being elevated in house of Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife shows up. She makes an advance on Joseph. Watch his character. Character is who you are when no one is looking.
    1. Joseph doesn’t allow n 1 hour thrill to mess up the destiny that God over his life. Joseph realizes that what God is doing over his life is bigger than the attack that is about to come at him.
    2. When you experience some of the things that Joseph experiences, you are going through these seasons.
  2. Some of these seasons are:
    1. Conjured Up Accusations
      1. People will make up things on you.
    2. Character Assassination
      1. The devil will try to kill your character.
    3. Career Alterations
      1. The devil wants to mess up your destiny.
    4. Keep being what God called you to be. Your calling cannot be contained.

IV.            OUR CALLING CANNOT BE CONTAINED

Joseph ends up in prison, though he stood on his character. Prison doesn’t have to be just a physical place. It can also be a state of mind. You can be in prison on your job, in your home, or even in your church.

A.     You Can Be Effective In A Negative Situation

  1. Joseph meets the Butler and the Baker in prison. Joseph interprets their dreams.
  2. Joseph realizes that he can still be positive in a negative situation. Joseph figures out how to be effective in a negative situation.
  3. You can put a child of God in a negative situation and they will still give God the glory.

B.     Your Gift Will Always Make Room For You

  1. God will put you into a situation where your gift is needed. God will put you where people will need what you have. All you have to do is walk in where God told you to.
  2. In t
  3. In this season, your gift will shine like it never has before.

 

V.            REMAIN CONSISTENT WITH YOUR CONVICTIONS WHEN YOUR STATUS CHANGES

  1. One thing that blows our mind is when God elevates people and they change. We have to learn no matter where we are in life, it remains all about God.
  2. Joseph was in an interesting place. God will place you where people need what you have.
    1. Joseph told the Butler, “Just remember me”, when they were in prison together and the Butler was about to get out. God has some stuff that is about to find you, even in this crazy season. Even in this crazy situation, God has some resources that is about to find you.
  3. Pharaoh has a dream, and no one is able to figure it out. The Butler informs Pharaoh that he has someone in his prison that interprets dreams. Joseph, just like that, was brought out of prison and placed in front of Pharaoh.
    1. Joseph interprets the dream. He determines that the dream meant that this region would have 7 years of harvest and 7 years of famine. As a result, Joseph told Pharaoh that he needed to store in the time of great harvest, so that they could live off of what they had stored up during the famine.
  4. Pharaoh elevates Joseph and leaves him in charge of distributing the bread or in other words, what they stored up. God is about to elevate you and you’re about to be a God is about to make you a blessing to others.

A.     God Didn’t Raise You Up To Be Bitter, He Did It For You To Be A Blessing

  1. We look over the things that happen to us that was bad, but we are not supposed to be bitter.
  2. Joseph’s brothers who threw him in the pit, ultimately needed him during the famine. God showed this vision to Joseph early and Joseph shared it too early. Youthfulness will make you think it is all about you, when it’s really all about God.
    1. When God showed Joseph the vision, it wasn’t about them all bowing down to Joseph. It was about everyone.
    2. God allowed Joseph to be put into the pit, to show him humility and that the vision was about God.
    3. When Joseph’s brother’s come, they were nervous. They knew that Joseph had every right to refuse bread to them during the famine.

B.     It Wasn’t Just My Work, But It Was God At Work Through Me

  1. Here is a season God says he is trying to show you something. God allowed you to go through so he could teach you humility.
  2. The bible says when Joseph’s brothers come, he has a right to deny them or get even. In Gen 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. – If you take the bait of bitterness and let it change you with hate and resentment, there are people that are trying to bless by what you are doing and what you’ve gone through.
    1. Joseph realized that it was never about him, it was always about God and his glory. You need to know that it is about to change for you. You’re about to walk through every season of your life.
    2. When God gives you influence, you have to manage the moment. Don’t be bitter, just pass out the bread. Don’t be bitter to the people that did you wrong.
  3. Sometimes you’ve got to pass out bread to the people that did you wrong, but God will get the glory. Can God trust you when He blesses you? Don’t let it change you, when he blesses.
  4. All things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. If Joseph had never been hated on, he would have never been in pit. If he had never been in the pit, then Joseph wouldn’t have ended up in Potiphar’s house. If Joseph had never been in Potiphar’s house, then he would have never been lied on. If Joseph hadn’t been lied on, he wouldn’t have ended up in prison. If Joseph had not been put into prison, then he wouldn’t have met the people that knew Pharaoh, that when Pharaoh had a problem, his gift wouldn’t have come to the forefront. If that hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have gotten to this place to manage the Moment for God’s glory.
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RECALIBRATE PHASE 2: , Bible Study 4.29.20

Posted on May 1, 2020 by growintheword

Realignment

Synopsis of Bible Study April 29, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.


2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified.

  1. Realignment is the act of restoring something to its former or original state. To become intimately connected and actually engaged with God.
  2. Getting out alignment with God, does not happen overnight. For example, when you bought your car and drove it off the lot, it was not out of alignment. After hitting potholes and bumps, over time, the car inevitably gets out of alignment. As a result, you have to take the car somewhere where they will jack the car up and realign it. After the realignment, car won’t be as difficult to steer.
    1. Maybe the bumps, potholes, hills, and valleys you’ve gone through in life, have thrown you out of alignment. God is trying to get everything in your life, back into alignment.
  3. Alignment is the ultimate balance. Spiritual alignment centers around 3 fundamental laws of attraction. They are thoughts, emotions, and
  4. Your thoughts involve feelings that lead to certain actions. So as a man thinketh, so is he. When you are out of alignment with God, it hampers your ability to effectively do the work that God has called you to do.

I.            PRACTICAL SIGNS THAT YOU ARE OUT OF ALIGNMENT

Most of us don’t know how to identify the symptoms of misalignment. Some symptoms of misalignment are:

  1. You feel like something is off. -This is a hint that you could be out of alignment. Something is nagging you when you wake up. Something just isn’t right and you can’t put your figure on it.
  2. You’re still disconnected. – This often happens to a lot of people. You don’t hear or recognize God’s voice anymore. You don’t have the passion for Christ you used to have or maybe you don’t recognize God speaking anymore.
  3. External reality does not match what you desire. – What things in your life don’t look like you expect? For example, you desire one thing, but you are getting another thing. How you view this could be an indication of your misalignment.
    1. If you’re not getting what you want over and over again, it could be you.
  4. You feel stuck. – You’re connected to the One that has the blueprint and instructions for your life, but you still feel stuck. For example, we can’t produce, we can’t create, and can’t fulfill our tasks. You can’t produce if you are out of alignment!
  5. Tired and uninspired. Being tired is a point of life. Just because you are tired, doesn’t mean that you are out of alignment with God. You can have an overwhelming sense of weariness that hits your life or it could be that you are ignoring the desires of God to fill you up, build you up, or fill you up.
    1. Holding back part of your true self, is draining.
    2. The majority of people will stumble through their lives without noticing that they are out of alignment with God.
    3. It’s time to recalibrate. We can no longer just go through the motion where our worship is weak and our praise is poor.
    4. Our relationship with God is one who is living and breathing. One that is growing.

II.            HOW THE ENEMY SEEKS TO KEEP YOU OUT OF ALIGNMENT

A.      War Between Flesh And Spirit

  1. Its spiritual warfare. – The only connection your spirit has to the world is your mind, your will, and your emotions. You may start your will at the beginning of the day wanting to invite Jesus into your every moment, but the distractions of our day to day, pull us away. We are drawn to the desires of the world; therefore, Jesus has no space in your life.
  2. The enemy puts conflict against the Will of God vs the Will of Satan. You could be going through spiritual warfare and have no idea that you are dealing with that.
  3. It’s warfare.
    1. The desires of the enemy are trying to overtake the desires of your spirit.

  4. Not Sensitive To God’s Presence

  5. God could be moving and you don’t even notice. You’re in worship service and you just can’t feel anything. You don’t notice when God’s presence is around.
    1. In the beginning, Satan hated worship, because worship went back to God.
    2. Satan does not want you to acknowledge the presence of God.
  6. We’ve got to get to point where we recognize what God is doing and not what Satan is trying to do.

  7. Your Words
  8. Watch your mouth. You have to invite God over the enemy into the conversation. The power of life and death is in the power of the tongue. If you are not careful, your soul will throw a temper tantrum.
    1. Just like a small child, you tell them what to do and they rebel against it. Our flesh does the same thing. When God tells it what we should do, we rebel against it.
      1. Your flesh will have a fit when you bring your flesh into alignment with God.
    2. We have to watch complaining about our situation. When we speak negatively about things into the atmosphere, we receive negative results.

James 4:13-16 NIV – “13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”- Let God have lordship over your lips. When we do this, what comes out of your mouth is God’s will for your life.

  1. You’ve got to get yourself out of the way.

Luke 9:23-24 NIV – “23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke 22:31-34 NIV – “31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” – Satan is always trying to get you out of alignment. Satan is trying to pursue people that have purpose on their lives.

III.            HOW TO ACHIEVE SPIRITUAL REALIGNMENT

A.      Spiritual Meditation

  1. The best way to clear you mind is to discover your vision.
    1. In prayer our desire gradually become God’s desire and our will aligns with God’s will.

1 John 5:14-15 NIV – “14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

Hebrews 4:16 NIV – “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – The necessity of prayer is powerful. We have to go to God and ask for what we need.

  1. You have to get to a place where you are willing to just talk to the Lord.
    1. Just talking to God is where the reconnect happens.
  2. Prayer changes our attitude to thankfulness.

Romans 8:26 NIV – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

B.       Practice Gratitude

  1. After everything you became and all that God has done for you, we have to pause and thank God for everything He has ever done for us. This is realignment.
    1. Philippians 1:3-11 NIV – “3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”- Paul said he was thankful for God and all he had done in his life.
  2. What God started in you, the year 2020 is not going to cancel.
  3. You have to have gratitude.

Philippians 1:6 NIV – “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”- By grace I will be confident of this word. Remember, in the 7th month things will turn around.

C.       Diet And Exercise

  1. Take care of your mind, spirit, and body. You’ve got to be in spiritual shape in order to receive what God has for you.
  2. You can’t operate in what God has for you, if you are not healthy enough to work in it.

D.      Be Committed To The Best Version Of Yourself

  1. You’ve got to use your God given gifts. You have to be committed to be the best version of yourself.
  2. Let’s stop talking about it and start being about it.

 

  1. THREE NECESSARY EXAMINATIONS FOR PROPER ALIGNMENT

  2. The Signs -Learn how to examine the signs. Sometimes we get in routines that have nothing to do with our passion and our true love for God.
  3. When we come back in our churches, you won’t ever be a spectator again. You will come back being a participator of what God has for your life. Examine the signs.
  4. Are we so busy that we don’t have time for God anymore? It’s to realign ourselves.
    1. We have to get up and pray, rather than getting up checking our timeline.
  5. Is the only time we pray during the prayer over the food?
  6. How You Got Out Of Alignment – Us being out of alignment has nothing to do with what is current.
  7. It is important for us to get back to the root issue. We have to ask where did we get off track? Where did we go wrong?
  8. Find out why you are open to be pulled away from God? Remember Jesus at the cemetery after getting off the boat. The man says, “Lord have mercy on me.” The man was hanging out in the cemetery. The demon possessed man was hanging around things that were dead. Jesus asks what his name is. He says, “Legion” which means many.
    1. The man had an issue. It wasn’t just his mental wellbeing. The root of his issue was he had demons inside of him.
  9. Your Technique Vs. Timing
  10. As you grow in your walk with Christ, you will discover that there may be a different routes that God uses, that will be far better than what you set out to use.
  11. Better does not always mean faster. Check the timeline that you create for yourself, and you will begin to realize that you don’t want anything outside of his timing.
    1. In this season, we want to make sure we are operating in God’ timing. You don’t want to rush the process.
    2. We want to be sure that every aspect of our life is a part of His timing.
  12. When a thing is in alignment, the blood flows properly. When your arm is pushed out of alignment, your whole body feels it. Though it is just your arm out of alignment, your body feels the pain from it. In like manner, when you are out of alignment, the Church Body feels it.
    1. When your arm is out of realignment, your doctor has to reset your arm. They have to stabilize it and keep it still, so it can heal.
      1. God is resetting you so that He can realign you. It is painful, just like the arm, but it is necessary. God is putting you where you need to be, though it is painful.
    2. God is trying to get you into realignment. When you seek God first and get into alignment, all things will be added unto you.

 

 

 

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RECALIBRATE Phase 1:, bible Study 04/22/20

Posted on April 28, 2020 by growintheword

Reassessment

Synopsis of Bible Study 4/22/20

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Lamentations 3:40 NKJV – “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord;”

  • Reassessment is looking at things differently.
    • Lamentations 3:40 NKJV – “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord;”
  • Reassessment. It means to reappraise or reevaluate
  • Life now causes us to look at every decision and every situation differently. We have to reassess everything in life for recalibration to take place. When you don’t do this, you end up in a state of mediocrity. We need to ask questions like how can I be more efficient in my life?
  • For some, reassessment says something different has to happen in your life. Even down to how we have been doing church.
  • Life shouldn’t be a business as usual process.

I.            HOW DOES ONE APPROACH REASSESSMENT?

A.     Search Yourself

  1. Let’s look closely at our own lives. Most people don’t even realize adjustments need to be made in their lives.

B.     Ask Someone You Trust

  1. There is safety in the company of many counselors. In this season, you need people that will push you, counsel you, and tell you the truth.
  2. You have to trust that God sent these people in your life to tell you the truth. You can’t be offended by what they say when they counsel you.

C.     Seek God

  1. If you are obedient in your heart, God will show you. If you will turn your attention to God and ask Him to show you the areas you need to reassess, he will show you.

Galatians 5:16-17 NIV – “16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”-There is a war going on. You got to be a spiritual person, around spiritual people, talking to God, asking Him to feed your spirit, so that you don’t fulfill the desires of your flesh.

  1. My flesh wants to be content and it wants to harbor disfunction and abnormality, but my spirit wants us to walk in liberty and freedom and fulfill the purposes by which God placed me on the earth.

 

  1. You have to spend time with God.
  2. THREE COMMON DEFEATIST MINDSETS

A.     The Delusional

  1. The person that doesn’t find value in this process. They think it is just fluff. They think they are too good to reevaluate their lives.
    1. We often run from people that want to reevaluate their lives. This makes you delusional. Stay away from delusional people. All of us have areas in our lives where we need to grow.

B.     The Reactive

  1. I don’t have time. I can barely keep up with life as it is. This type of person is working for God, but not working with God.
  2. Sometimes God will make you lie down in green pastures to make you take the time you need to reevaluate your life.
    1. For some of us, this is the stillest you have been in your entire life.
    2. Now you realize things that need to be fixed. For example, you find yourself throwing out stuff you never should have kept in the first place. You were just that busy.

C.     The Hypertensive

  1. This is the person too busy living life, doing worthwhile things. They are so focused on doing things for others, they don’t do the things necessary for them to get to the next level.

III.            THE IMPORTANCE OF REASSESSMENT

A.       Recognize where your time and effort is being spent.

1.       It gives you the chance to figure out where you have been spending your time?

  1. It gives you a sense of the importance of slowing down.
    1. 365 days of the year, you have this amazing time to slow down, be still, and think through where your time has been going. It makes you really process, where have you been spending your time?
  2. Where have you been spending your time, that has caused you not to be able to catch up on your favorite shows or read your favorite book. Has life gotten so hectic for you that you haven’t been living life, instead life has been living you?
    1. For some, you have been spending time with your children and you have begun to notice small things about them that you like, such as how much they need you.

 

B.     Recognize where your effort is poorly spent.

  1. What did I shift my energy to that did not produce results or fruit?
  2. What people did I invest in and pour into that did not bring a harvest back to me? When you reassess and think on these things, you begin to realize that you don’t have that kind of time or energy to be sitting on the phone, talking to people, wasting your time, and yielding nothing.
  3. Now you have a time, to reassess, because time must be viewed as a commodity. Time is currency and you don’t have it to waste.
    1. When you begin to look at it from this perspective, you begin to reevaluate, where did I poorly spend my time?

C.     Recognize Indicators of Progression and Regression

  1. Take an analytical look at your goals and see how you are progressing. Look at your goal and where you are at, and ask, “Why aren’t I there yet?”
    1. You can never reach your goal, until you understand what is hindering you from achieving it.
  2. To reach your goal, stay in your God given assignment. Like the scripture says, we forget those things which are behind us and we press towards the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus.

D.     Reenjoy Your Best Moments.

  1. Be intentional about living. Have some do overs. You have to live. You can’t be sitting around moping. Everybody is going through this Pandemic.
    1. Take time to sit down, pop popcorn, put on a funny movie, and laugh. Life gets so serious, but sometimes we’ve got to just sit back and laugh.

E.     Retain Life’s Lessons

  1. This a great time to say, what did I learn by going through going through what I had to go through?
    1. Confucius Quotes. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

1 John 2:27 (NKJV) 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you [a]will abide in Him. – There are some things the Holy Spirit will teach you. They are lessons you should learn about who to trust and who not to trust, what to do with your money, and what’s really important?

IV.            HOW SHOULD I ASSESS MY LIFE?

A.     Re-Examine Your Why

  1. Before you start back up, go back to your “why”. Look at your mission and your life goals and ask what is your motive?
  2. As you grow and change, your priorities will change too. Your goals will have to be adjusted accordingly and so will your priorities.

Luke 22:27 NIV – “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” – Go back an examine your original goals. What was the thing you were passionate about? What was your why. What was your motive?

  1. Colossians 3:23 NIV – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” – Do it from your heart. Don’t be a people pleaser. You have to do it for the glory of God.

 

Philippians 3:13-14 NIV – “13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – In moments like this, to lead through this type of season, your motive has to be right.

  1. You can’t let other people’s circumstances (or what they are doing) cause you to lose your why. Don’t let their what, cause you to miss your why.
  2. When you know the why, you don’t worry about the what. God handles the why, the what, and the when.

Colossians 3:23-25 (NKJV) 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. – You can’t please people, because people will change on you.

 

  1. Is your why having everyone to like you.

Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV) 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [a]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.- The goal is my why. You have to examine your why? Is your why in what God asked you to do.

B.     Re-Establish Your Priorities

  1. Examine your priorities. Do not let your life try to match somebody else’s. This sets you up for failure.

Luke 12:29-31 NIV – “29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” – Don’t worry about what you are going to eat. Do not have an anxious mind.

  1. This is what the people that are not in the body of Christ do. They don’t have the coping mechanism that you do.
  1. Just focus on God. If He’s been taking care of you all this time, why wouldn’t He now. God’s got you.

C.     Re-Assess Your Commitments

  1. Don’t push away your new normal. If there anything we are learning in this season, from the church to the world, we are learning what is essential.

Colossians 1:10 NIV – “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,”- I don’t want to do anything that is not going to produce fruit.

  1. If it doesn’t produce fruit or bless somebody else, why are we doing it?

V.            THREE SIGNS IT’S TIME TO CHANGE DIRECTION

A.     You’re Forcing and Nothing is Happening.

1.      If you’re pushing something and its not working, then you need to step back and ask the Lord why.

  1. If it is not happening, it may be a sign from God that it’s not supposed to happen.

Isaiah 48:17 NIV – “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”- God is not going to lead you to something that will be a dead end or endless rotation.

  1. Isaiah 58:11 NIV – “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”- When I get up, my son gets up. In the same manner, we as a child of God, ought to want to go where God goes. We want to be where our Daddy is going.
  2. If you need help knowing where to go, see the next scripture:

James 1:5-6 NIV – “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

  1. Things are falling apart around you.
  2. When things are falling apart around you, this is probably a sign that you need to reassess. God is not going to bless your mess. You have to ask the Lord to show you what’s wrong.
  3. We are recalibrating, because we are trying to get things back in proper order.
  4. Continual Signs From God.
  5. When you keep hearing the same word from different sources and it keeps piercing your heart, God is trying to talk to you. Everyone needs to reassess your life.
  6. This is a season where we need to reassess our way.

Lamentations 3:40 (NKJV) 40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord; – Don’t waste this crisis thinking you will go back to the way things have always been.

  1. Its time to reevaluate the things around you, so that you can recalibrate. You starting to reassess, then you start putting value on things that matter. It’s not about the things that money can buy, it’s instead about the things money can’t buy. Now you know what a good night sleep feels like.
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