This morning we continue our journey into this new year with a focus on making “Intentional Progress.” I shared with you six steps to intentional progress and I will walk through them over the next few weeks. As a reminder, here are the six steps.
Here are the steps again:
1. Pray/Discern
2. Plan/Prepare
3. Wait/Discern God’s Timing
4. Execute/Measure Progress
5. Wait/Faith & Patience
6. Receive When Harvest Time Comes
We are looking at the first step right now: praying and discerning the will of God. As we are looking to learn from the life of Jesus, we have looked at John chapters 5, 6, and 8. Today we jump over to chapter 12.
(John 12:44-50 ERV)
44 Then Jesus said loudly, “Everyone who believes in me is really believing in the one who sent me.
45 Everyone who sees me is really seeing the one who sent me.
46 I came into this world as a light. I came so that everyone who believes in me will not stay in darkness.
47 “I did not come into the world to judge people. I came to save the people in the world. So I am not the one who judges those who hear my teaching and do not obey.
48 But there is a judge for all those who refuse to believe in me and do not accept what I say. The message I have spoken will judge them on the last day.
49 That is because what I taught was not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach.
50 And I know that whatever he says to do will bring eternal life. So the things I say are exactly what the Father told me to say.”
By John 12, it was becoming clear to many that Jesus was the Messiah. The crowds were getting bigger, the fascination with Jesus was getting stronger, and the irritation of the Jewish religious leaders (the Pharisees and Sadducees) with Jesus was at the boiling point. As more and more people believed on Jesus, the tension between His ministry and the Jewish religious leadership grew, but Jesus did not hold back. Jesus unashamedly attributed His works to the Father and claimed to be ONE with Him. This made the religious leaders want to kill Jesus even the more.
So what does this mean for you today? Let’s take a closer look at this passage and see.
1. One of the things that God’s grace does is put you in a position to operate with fearless confidence because you know you are NOT the one doing the work.
— Jesus was so convinced of who He was in God that He spoke about His status (His divine position) with a level of confidence that was inspiring to the crowds and irritating to the Jewish religious elite. This is a reminder that when you discover who you are in Christ and you start operating in the authenticity of your assignment, some will be inspired by you, but others will despise your confidence. It’s not because you are doing something wrong. It’s just that their insecurities don’t take well when someone else is NOT insecure.
John 12:44
Then Jesus said loudly, “Everyone who believes in me is really believing in the one who sent me.”
— For you to make the most of 2022 and beyond, you will have to get to the point where you operate as your authentic self (authentic to your divine assignment), and you don’t make any excuses for it.
— The reason you can be extremely confident when you are walking in your divine purpose is because your confidence is in the God who lives IN you and who called you to do what you are doing. Your confidence in God will far exceed anything you could ever operate in as a mere human because your confidence will not be based on your humanity.
— When you know you are NOT the one coming up with the words or doing the work, you are free to become a human conduit of the divine. God is free to flow through you at that point, and the results will be supernatural.
— Right before I preach, or right before I pray for someone at the altar, I often remind myself that I am NOT the one doing it. It is the Father who lives in me. He is giving me the words, and He is performing the work. This reminder helps me to get OUT OF THE WAY. Once my humanity is OUT THE THE WAY, God’s divinity is free to flow through me, and the results are life-changing.
— Jesus’ power came from the fact that he did not rely on His humanity at all. His power came from His submission. We can tap into this same power when we die to self.
— The day you die to self will be the day you die to your limits. At that point, our unlimited God will be free to unleash His limitless nature through you! Just know that some will celebrate you for being who you are called to be, and others will despise you for the same reason. So don’t be moved by people. Only be moved by God!
2. Jesus was so convinced that He and the Father were ONE that He claimed that looking at Him was the same as looking at God the Father.
John 12:45
Everyone who sees me is really seeing the one who sent me.
— When you make your life ALL ABOUT the God who lives in you, your life will be naturally supernatural because our God is a supernatural God!
— Jesus was unapologetic about who He was in God. Please don’t make excuses, apologies, or concessions when it comes to being the man/woman you are called to be. Fully embrace the grace to walk in your divine purpose, and don’t allow the praise or poison of others to sway you.
— The key to unshakable confidence is believing what God believes about you!
— The life of faith is not what happens when you convince God. It is what happens when God convinces you! You are not trying to persuade God. He is trying to persuade you. When you get to the point where you are fully persuaded of what you are and what God has called you to do, the world will have to get ready because the power of God will be released in, with, and through your life!
3. When you know who you are and you are operating in your divine calling, you can have the confidence that ALL OF HEAVEN has your back.
— God does not have to back you when you are doing your own thing. He never signed up to back up your words. But God does watch over His Word to perform it on this planet. When you are operating in your divine purpose, He watches over you, and He releases heaven to BACK YOU when you are doing what He called you to do.
— Jesus was so confident in His divine assignment that He openly declared that God the Father would bless anyone who received Him for who He was.
John 12:46
I came into this world as a light. I came so that everyone who believes in me will not stay in darkness.
— God told Abraham that He would bless anyone who blessed him and curse anyone who cursed him. In other words, God wanted Abraham to believe that heaven was backing him as he lived his life. This is the type of confidence Jesus had, and it is the type of confidence we are supposed to have.
— Say things, “I launch out into this day determined to walk in my divine purpose. As I do, ALL OF HEAVEN has my back. God is for me, so He is more than the entire world against me!“
4. When you know you are only saying what God told you to say, you can speak with confidence that far exceeds anything from this world.
John 12:47-50
47 “I did not come into the world to judge people. I came to save the people in the world. So I am not the one who judges those who hear my teaching and do not obey.
48 But there is a judge for all those who refuse to believe in me and do not accept what I say. The message I have spoken will judge them on the last day.
49 That is because what I taught was not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach.
50 And I know that whatever he says to do will bring eternal life. So the things I say are exactly what the Father told me to say.”
— Jesus made it clear that He only said what He was led of the Father to say.
— Jesus did not walk around trying to judge people because He knew that there is a judge who would judge the way others treated Him. His confidence was in God to deal with those who did not deal kindly with Him! This is a major lesson for us today. You don’t have to get people back. God is the God of justice and recompense. He will see to it that others receive a harvest on the seeds (good or bad) that they are sowing in your life.
— Jesus did not take any credit, nor did He take on any pressure. This is one of the key aspects of God’s grace. Not only is God’s grace His unmerited favor, but it is also an empowerment to do what you are called to do. When you know that you are merely a vehicle, vessel, instrument, channel, and conduit of God’s glory on this planet, you don’t take on any pressure to perform, and you don’t foolishly take any of God’s glory when He uses you in a supernatural way. Since you are not the one coming up with the words or performing the work, you refuse to take God’s glory. You are quick to deflect any glory right back to God.
— One of the major life lessons I learned years ago is that God gets the glory, and we get the earthy benefits. I like this arrangement. Whenever I get any accolades, acknowledgment, praise, etc., I am quick to DEFLECT that glory right back to God. As a result, God is glorified on this planet. He receives the praise. He sees His Kingdom advancing through me. So He promotes me, advances me, and increases me again. When He does, I am quick to give Him the glory, and the cycle keeps repeating itself. So if you want to experience PROGRESS in 2022, here is a major key, BE QUICK TO GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY FOR WHAT HE DOES THROUGH YOUR LIFE! He gets the glory; you get the benefits!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for taking the time to teach me about Your willingness to use me by Your undeserved grace. There was a time when I did not feel like I was worthy to be used of You. There was a time when I looked at me, with all of my faults, failures, and flaws, and I disqualified myself from becoming a candidate for Your use. But this message of grace is changing my perspective of You and of myself. I now see myself the way You see me. I now believe what You believe about me. I am now fully persuaded of what You have called me to do and of whom You have called me to be. Therefore, I embrace Your grace, and I walk in fearless confidence. My confidence is NOT in me. My confidence is in You and Your grace towards me. I launch out into this day and every day that follows as an instrument, vehicle, channel, vessel, and conduit of Your glory on this planet. When the accolades come, I am quick to DEFLECT that glory right back to You. You get the glory; I get to enjoy the benefits. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
