Priscilla Shirer: The Importance of Finding Your Identity in Christ

Priscilla Shirer shares an empowering message about the uniqueness of who we are and who God has created us to be. Jesus Christ alone holds the right and authority to define our identity. We are His children, made in His image, and His divine presence is actively at work within us. Discovering our true identity begins with developing an intimate relationship with Him. #priscillashirer #identity #identityinchrist SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/@GoingBeyondM… RESOURCES: https://www.goingbeyond.com/store/ FACEBOOK:   / goingbeyondministries   INSTAGRAM:   / priscillashirer   &   / _goingbeyond   TWITTER:   / priscillashirer   &   / _goingbeyond   Welcome to the Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer YouTube channel! Our ministry is focused on the expository teaching of Scripture. Our desire is not only to see people understand His written Word but for all to experience His Power! Priscilla Shirer has equipped believers through her Bible studies, films and books including Discerning the Voice of God, God is Able, and two New York Times Bestsellers – The Resolution for Women and Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer. Her movies include War Room (2015), I Can Only Imagine (2017), Overcomer (2019), and The Forge (2024). These theatrical releases are tools designed to inspire audiences to walk with Jesus.

when you keep your eyes focused on the

character of God when you refuse to

allow yourself to question who God is

you can ask questions of God without

questioning God do you see the

difference in the little Nuance there

ask your questions I’ve got mine I’m

sure you’ve got yours but you and I can

ask questions about our situation and

about all of these multitudes that we

are facing without questioning the

character of God keep your eyes on

[Music]

Jesus Lord I thank you I thank you that

your word is living active sharper than

any two-edged sword Lord I pray that in

these next few moments you would do what

you do take these simple thoughts drill

them deeply down into our souls make us

different after we hear your voice today

in Jesus name I pray amen amen my niece

is name is Caris we’ve called her Care

Bear since the day that she was born I

you know she’s a grown woman with

children now and I still call her Care

Bear uh but Caris when she was little I

remember on this one occasion she was at

my parents house so her grandparents

house we were all there hanging out and

she was running around in the backyard

and this stray dog came out of nowhere

the dog was barking and in her mind this

dog was incredibly vicious and was

getting ready to attack her we were a

little bit older so we could see that

the dog really wasn’t that big and the

dog really wasn’t going to do any damage

he was probably just hyper and active

and excited to see some humans in the

backyard that day but to Caris at 3

years old really small that dog looked

vicious and so she was running away from

this dog in Terror now you know the more

you run the more the dog thinks you want

to play so the dog is chasing her and

chasing her more frantically and more

feverishly and barking more loudly and

the more all of that escalated the more

fear was rre in kris’s heart so she ran

she ran and my dad her grandfather saw

the chaos outside walked outside onto

the back patio opened up his arms so

that Caris would be able to run directly

into his arms so she ran as fast as she

could ran directly into his arms and he

scooped her up and once he scooped her

up she was now high above the ground

level where the dog was she looked down

at the dog looked back into the face of

her grandfather look back back down at

the dog looked back up into the face of

her grandfather over and over again

tears streaming down her face finally

she was able to compose herself and wipe

them away as the dog continued to bark

and she looked down at the dog finally

and

said because now everything changed cuz

she was in her father’s arms and she was

looking into her grandfather’s face

Everything Changes based on what you are

looking at

that’s the challenge I have for you

today what are you looking at cuz listen

there’s so much to see when you scroll

past your uh Twitter feed when you

scroll through your Instagram feed when

you watch the news whatever Channel you

tend to watch no matter where you are

your vision is centered you’re going to

see and look at things that are vying

for our attention and some of those

things when we give them our attention

they cause discouragement to settle in

on us I mean you can literally feel it

the anxiety like a cloak weighing you

down burdening you keeping you up at

night making the tears fall from your

eyes if you look at your problems too

long in your personal life or the

struggles that we’re facing collectively

in our culture and in our world if you

look at them too long they’re going to

make the tears flow from your eyes

they’re going to make your heart

palpitate they’re going to keep you from

being able to have a sense of stability

emotionally and mentally in your life so

I ask you again what are you looking at

what are you giving your attention to

doesn’t mean avoidance doesn’t mean

denial it doesn’t mean awareness of the

realities that you are facing in your

relationships or in dynamics that we are

facing culturally it doesn’t mean you’re

not aware it just means that you give

not just the same amount of attention

but you give an escalated prioritized

amount of attention that you are looking

at who your God is the promises that he

has has declared and his truth as he has

written it down in his word I’m asking

you where have you been looking what

have you been giving your attention to

maybe so much of the struggles that

we’ve had to have a sense of peace and

stability and ease is because we’ve been

fixing our eyes on the wrong thing the

writer of Hebrews would put it this way

fix your eyes on Jesus he’s the author

he’s the finisher of our faith meaning

he is still Sovereign he is still in

control he’s still Seated on the throne

he still is who he said he is and he can

still do everything that he says that he

can do nothing that is happening in your

personal life or mine in our culture or

yours nothing that is happening is

outside of the control of our great God

but you might forget that if you keep

looking at the chaos swirling around you

you’ve got to be intentional so do I

about meditating on the truths of God

about looking into them and finding out

what are his promises that he declares

to be true about my family about my

health about my son about my daughter

about my church about my country about

my culture that I live in what has he

declared to be true I’m going to

meditate on this more than I meditate on

everything else where have you been

fixing your

eyes there is a story in Scripture that

I’m continually drawn back to I have

been for years

in fact in 2 Chronicles chap 20 if you

still use a Bible you know a Bible with

actual paper pages and you want to turn

back there with me you can otherwise

your iPhone your iPad any manner of

iness that you have available to you you

can get to Second Chronicles it’s in the

Old Testament there’s a first Chronicles

but also a 2 Chronicles and in 2

Chronicles chapter 20 there is a verse

that leaps out at me every time I see it

part of the reason it leaps out at me is

because I’ve underlined it and I

underlined it back in

2010 okay so I have several things that

I’ve underlined throughout um this Bible

that my parents gave me when I was about

17 years old uh different color

highlights different color underlines

and I I just value this Bible so much

because it’s actually like a little bit

of a track record of my relationship

with God back in 2010 for reasons I

don’t know I underlined this verse I

can’t remember what was happening but I

put the the date right beside it it was

December of

2010 about 10 years from where we are

right now 10 years ago and I underlined

this verse it’s a verse that still

speaks to me as poignantly today as it

did back then and listen if you

underline stuff or highlight stuff on

your electronic Bible or your paper

Bible this is a verse that deserves to

be emphasized 2 Chronicles 20 verse 12

King Jehoshaphat prays and says we are

powerless God before this great

multitude who are coming against us we

don’t know what to

do

but our eyes are on you I’mma read it

again Jehoshaphat prays he’s honest and

he says because of this great multitude

we are

powerless and we don’t know what to do

but Lord this is one thing we do know we

do know where we’re setting our eyes our

eyes are on you Jehosaphat was the king

of Judah and he was a good King he was

known for revering God he was known for

leading people into relationship with

God he was known for acting resolutely

and trying to get everyone under his

jurisdiction to honor Yahweh as the one

true God in fact what’s so interesting

is that that is actually what comes

right before this segment of scripture

in chapter 20 where we’re going to find

out what made Jehosaphat have to pray

like that what made this king who had so

much power at his disposal who had

tactical teams at his disposal who had

weapons and armor at his disposal what

is it that would make a king that great

call out to God and say I am powerless

and not only am I powerless I’m planless

this multitude this Army this trouble

that I’m facing is so chaotic and so

overwhelming and so disparaging that I

know I am powerless in the face of this

multitude what would make make a king

pray like that right before chapter 20

where all of that unfolds the last line

of the previous chapter the verse that

came right be before that tells us that

Jehosaphat acted resolutely and he was

upright now listen I think that’s

interesting that the verse that comes

right before all of this chaos unfolds

in chapter 20 is a verse telling us that

this King has made a decision to act

resolutely and to honor God now if this

don’t tell us about the schemes of the

enemy I don’t know what does cuz I can

tell you right now as soon as you make

the decision to honor God in some area

of your life as soon as you decide that

you’re going to be Resolute in your

integrity that you’re going to honor God

in the tithes and offering that you’re

going to offer the Forgiveness that the

spirit of God is telling you to offer

that you are going to lead your family

in the ways of the Lord that you’re

going to honor your commitment to be in

the word of God on a daily basis as soon

as you like the king of Judah determined

to act resolutely you can know that

chapter 20 is on the way and in chapter

20 there is a multitude that is going to

come against you a scheme of the enemy

to try to water down the resolution that

you are making and in this day and age

you need to know that the enemy is

scheming against you and against me

particularly right now as the people of

God because more now than ever our light

needs to shine now more than ever we

need to be salt so that people can taste

and see that our God is good he’s going

to try to water down our resolutions so

Jehoshaphat makes this resolution and

the very next chapter chapter 20 he

finds such a great multitude coming

against him that he admits I feel like

I’m powerless I feel like I don’t even

have a plan to be able to handle this

Army this multitude that has come up

against me but this I do know my eyes

Lord are going to be on you so follow me

back up to the first verse of chapter 20

and you’ll see what was happening in

jehoshaphat’s experience it says now

after this after what jehoshaphat’s

resolution to honor God right after that

resolution it says that the sons of

moabit and Ammon together with the

minites came to make war against

Jehoshaphat now let’s just let that sit

right there for a moment we’ve got not

one Army not two armies but three armies

that have chosen to come up against

Jehoshaphat the moabites the ammonites

and the minion ites now what you should

know is that two of those armies Judah

had faced before two of them weren’t new

the moabites and the ammonites were two

people groups that Judah had faced

previously you can find record of it

throughout the Old Testament those two

particular enemies that had come up

against Judah they had made war against

them before in other words Judah knew

about the strategies of those two

particular enemies they had faced them

before they had probably studied their

tactical P plans they were aware about

these two enemies and so had it just

been these two armies that had come up

against the king of Judah I wonder if

verse 12 would have ever been uttered I

wondered if Jehosaphat would have ever

said Lord I don’t have the power God I

don’t have a plan but my eyes were on

are on you I wonder if it was just those

two would jehoshaphat’s prayer not have

been as fervent as specific I wonder if

he had been as intentional about

focusing on Yahweh and having his eyes

secured to Yahweh if his Circumstances

had not been quite as dire because he’d

faced these two enemies before just like

those enemies you’ve faced before you

know the ones that honestly if you just

pay a little bit of attention you can

see them coming because they’re nothing

new you know the the trouble you had in

your marriage in year two now you’re

dealing with it in year 20 it ain’t

nothing new it’s just an escalated

version of the same difficulties you

were having before or that child now you

know he’s 15 and the stuff you’re

dealing with at 15 really when you think

about it it’s the same stuff you were

dealing with when they were three it’s

just an escalated version of the exact

same issues or the anxiety that you face

this is not a new anxiety it may be

attached to a new scenario but honestly

if you you look back you can see that

this is the same kind of anxiety that

overtakes you about these kinds of

issues and you’ve been dealing with this

for the last decade or so if we are

careful and if we are watchful and if we

are mindful we can actually see that the

enemy ain’t that creative the enemy has

always come to steal to kill and destroy

and if we’ll just take a moment we’ll be

able to detect where his fingerprints

are where he tries to stop us or

discourage us or to cause us to think

that we are defeated even though he

knows he can never defeat us if we are

Sons and Daughters of the most high God

have you paid attention about the

enemies the issues the dilemas the

schemes the tactics that the enemy has

been trying to use against you because

if you and I will look carefully we’ll

see that he’s been trying to trip our

child up in that way for a long time

he’s been trying to trip our marriage up

in that same way in different varied

forms but that same general direction

for a long time he’s been trying to

discourage us in our ministry or in our

careers are on our jobs culturally and

collectively he’s been trying to trip us

up in that same way for a long time

these ain’t new

enemies and when you are facing the same

enemy over and over again that means you

should be girded you and I should be

prepared we should be proactive about

making sure we can stand firm against

that scheme of the enemy I was thinking

about this in relation to my son JC he’s

my second son I have three boys Jackson

is the oldest Jerry Jr is my middle son

we call him JC and then Jude is my

youngest they’ve been with me uh to

Hillsong New York many many times and my

second son had an allergic reaction

early on in his life to the change in

seasons and you know we’re in Texas so

around the fall and coming out of winter

into the spring we could have 40 degrees

one day and then you know 78 degrees the

next day it just fluctuates and goes up

and down and he was having um allergies

in related to that but it seemed to be

more than allergies it was something

with his bronchial tubes his respiratory

system just was not responding well I

took him to the doctor and she said yeah

his bronchial tubes are definitely

inflamed but she said I really don’t

want to label him an asthmatic because I

think it’s something that really we can

get under control but she said Priscilla

here’s what I need you to do I’m going

to give you a breathing system so that

he can have treatments at home you’ll

give you a little a little um antibiotic

that you’ll put inside of this little

breathing system you’ll put it on his

nose and put it in the mask and have him

breathe through it so that he can ingest

this medication and do his bronchial

tubes and she said Priscilla don’t wait

until he’s wheezing to do it do it

proactively meaning if you can see

because the meteorologist is telling you

that the weather is getting ready to

change suddenly we already have enough

years enough track record with JC’s

Health to be able to know in advance

that if the weather’s going to shift

suddenly he’s going to have a bronchial

reaction to it so Priscilla if you as a

responsible parent will be mindful of

the weather changes and will proactively

give him this um preventative medication

beforehand it will keep his lungs or his

bronchial tubes from spasming in the way

they’ve been spasming in the past it

would be irres responsible parenting for

me to know how his bronchial tubes are

going to react and not prepare

proactively think about the ways that

the enemy has been seeking to take

advantage of you in the past think about

the ways he’s tried to make you feel

unstable or he’s tried to infringe upon

the sanctity of your marriage think

about the ways he’s trying to trip your

son or daughter up because of the

weaknesses that they already have in

their flesh or the tendencies that they

may have think about them and pray pray

to that end search the scriptures for

the promises of God in regards to that

specific issue post those promises in

your home so that you can have your

whole family alert to What God Says in

that regard Paul says Ephesians chapter

6 put on the full armor of God so that

you can stand firm against the schemes

of the enemy what are some things that

you were facing that honestly when you

think about it it’s like these two

enemies that Jehoshaphat Judah was

facing there nothing new we’ve faced

these enemies

before so for

Jehosaphat two of these were common

enemies so the reason why in verse

12 Jehosaphat likely says I’m

powerless and I’m planless I can’t even

come up with a plan even if I had the

power I wouldn’t have the Insight the

knowledge the discernment the wisdom to

be able to figure out a plan to stand

against this multitude the reason why he

says it is because of this third Army

it’s the minion ites it’s the alliance

and the merging of all three of these

difficult situations these armies these

multitudes coming against them all at

one

time that’s what causes him to say I’m

powerless that’s what causes him to say

I can’t even come up with a plan

the reality

is that for many of us it’s not just the

pandemic it’s that the pandemic was

piled on to a time in our life where we

already were dealing with our own

problems it’s not just the isolation

it’s the isolation layered on top of the

issues we were already dealing with it’s

not just the virus it’s the virus piled

on to the fact that we felt like we

couldn’t get Victory before any of this

started it’s not just the new Army it’s

that we were already dealing with other

ones when the third one showed up so now

we feel like we’re surrounded on all

sides kind of reminds me lot of the

children of Israel in Exodus chapter 13

right after they’ve been freed from

Egypt they come up against the Red Sea

it’s not just the Red Sea that actually

causes the problem it’s that pharaoh and

the Egyptian Army are coming up behind

them and Scholars say that there would

have been so many thousands of them that

they would have spanned out around the

west and the east side of the children

of Israel as those refugees tried to

escape to the promised land so it wasn’t

just that the Red Sea was in front it’s

that pharaoh and his army were behind

and beside so they were surrounded on

all sides I know that you know how that

feels cuz I know how it feels it’s when

you’ve got a struggle in this part of

your life and then another one pops up

on this side of your life and then just

when you feel like you’ve taken care of

that one then this one pops up and then

just when you got a little bit of a

handle on that one then this one pops up

and then when your personal life is a

little bit settled today then culturally

something strikes up in our country or

in our culture or in our world or in the

life of a friend and all of a sudden

you’re surrounded all over again and in

the face of all of that

surrounding Calamity and Chaos sometimes

we can say exactly like Jehosaphat did

now I can

admit I’m

powerless I do not know what to do but

here’s what we can say even when we are

powerless and even when we are planless

we can say I don’t know what to do but

this I do know my eyes are going to be

fixed on

you fixing your eyes on Jesus when

you’re

surrounded is what I believe is one of

the

benefits it’s one of the

outworkings of God’s purposes when he

allows his children to be surrounded Ed

by difficult

circumstances I always hesitate to say

when God has caused something I’ve heard

folks say maybe that God has been the

cause of some of the negative things

that we’ve been facing in our country

and in our culture and in our world I

always hesitate to say what God is or is

not doing but this I do know everything

that happens in your life in mine in my

country in yours in my culture and in

yours every everything that happens has

to first pass through the fingers of God

before it ever enters in into our

experience so whether or not God caused

it I don’t know but this I can say with

a sure level of certainty he has allowed

it and if he’s allowed it that means

it’s going to be for your good and it’s

going to be for his glory that means

there’s something that is supposed to be

birthed out of it if we’ll just pay

attention and keep our eyes fixed on

Jesus not only will US keeping our eyes

on him like Caris keeping her eyes on

her grandfather was able to give her a

sense of steadiness and security and

stability even though trouble was still

um in her sphere of influence not only

will it keep you stable but it will

allow you to see that there is a good

God who is still Seated on the throne

who has not been displaced from his

position of omniscience and omnipresence

and sovereignty and complete control he

is not surprised by the things that have

surprised us why would he allow them we

may never know on this side of Eternity

but what we can know is that our God is

good that he is faithful and if nothing

else all of the chaos that is swirling

around us and the multitudes that we are

facing in our midst they may make us

afraid as they do with Jehosaphat in 2

Chronicles chapter 20 you’ll see

Jehosaphat say I’m afraid I don’t know

what to do

but you can make the commitment that

your eyes will be on

Jesus change the way you handle this

situation it’ll change the way you face

the difficulty it’ll change the way you

wake up each day instead of being

hopeless like so many others and they

are now questioning their faith and they

are doubting who God is when you keep

your eyes focused on the character of

God when you refuse to allow yourself to

question who God is you can ask

questions of God without questioning God

do you see the difference in the little

Nuance there ask your questions I’ve got

mine I’m sure you’ve got yours but you

and I can ask questions about our

situation and about all of these

multitudes that we are facing without

questioning the character of God keep

your eyes on

Jesus Jehosaphat says my eyes are fixed

on you and if there is one thing that

being surrounded on all sides is

supposed to do in our lives it’s

supposed to refocus our attention so

that since we’ve tried everything else

and since we’ve run to all these other

resources and we’ found them lacking

that there is no solution that they’re

not powerful enough that they’re not

calculated enough that they’re not

diligent enough that they are not able

to stand up against this great multitude

that we are facing finally this kind of

difficulty is the one that makes us drop

to our knees and look to the kills from

whence cometh our help do you realize

this is what he’s been after all along

refocusing our priority our attention

calling us back to him calling us back

to a fervent fresh fiery relationship

with him where we don’t just you know

read a verse a day to keep the devil

away where we don’t just say a casual

prayer because it’s what we’re supposed

to do where we don’t just tune into

online services because it’s what we’re

supposed to do since we can’t go to

actual church anymore that least I can

do is give God this hour of tuned in

fellowship with him on a Sunday it’s got

to be about more than that Jehosaphat

says my eyes daily are now going to be

fixed on you that’s intentional it’s

deliberate it’s proactive it means that

you are making it a priority to meet

with God over the scriptures in a time

when so many people are choosing now to

trust the opinions of everyone else

they’re choosing to hear and lean into

and look to everyone else as the source

of Truth this is the time when the Sons

and Daughters of God fix our eyes back

on the truth of God’s word that we

cultivate friendship with God in prayer

that we remind ourselves that the holy

spirit of God lives on the inside of us

so that we can have insight and

Revelation and walk in wisdom and

discernment and integrity all the days

of our life I don’t know what the Army

is that has surrounded you I don’t know

the multitude that has surrounded you I

could tell you the multitude that’s

surrounding

me and 2 Chronicles 20:2 reminds me that

when I am surrounded when I feel

powerless and when I can’t even come up

with a plan cuz stuff has gotten too

thick for me to even come up with a plan

this is the one thing I can do I can

make sure my eyes are focused on

Jesus I want to be vulnerable with you

for a moment and tell you that since I

last saw you in person uh there has been

so much that has happened in my life

difficult stuff I feel like I’ve been

surrounded on all sides kind of like

Jehosaphat was explaining a few moments

ago surrounded by difficulty obviously

there have been so many things that have

surrounded all of us globally but even

before we got to 2020 can I just tell

you that the 18 months leading up to it

were particularly trying and difficult

for um me and for my family it started a

couple of years ago when my uncle my

dad’s brother passed away and then 6

months later my cousin winter she was

not just my cousin she was my best

friend she suddenly died at 37 years old

left a husband and four young girls she

was fine we were planning to go to the

movies the next day as a matter of fact

I still have the voxes on my phone as we

were boxing each other back and forth

about what movies we were going to go

see together the next day um and then

suddenly she had a malfunction of the

heart and her heart stopped beating and

she died 6 months after that my aunt my

dad’s sister so this is the same side of

the family she passed away 3 months

after she passed away my uncle James her

husband died

we were just trying to catch our breath

reeling from all the losses in our

family when just several months later

another cousin in her 30s passed away

from a mass that they found in her chest

just a couple of weeks after she started

coughing and realized that there was

something that even needed medical

attention she left a husband and two

small

children and then all of this time my

mother’s health had been ailing it was a

diagnosis of cancer a rare and

aggressive form of cancer that had come

out of nowhere my mom was an

extraordinarily healthy 69 at the time

69 year-old woman she still went to the

gym she ate right she was healthy and

active and we had a great relationship

um our whole family and the doctors told

us that there was a cancer that they had

found there was nothing they could do

about it we tried everything that we

could but in December 2019 we could see

that my mother’s health was

rapidly

declining and just about the time when

my mom was getting to her 70th birthday

December 1st of

2019 right around those days as we were

now taking care of my mother pretty much

day and night my sister and I sort of

moved back in we were there during the

nights and there during the day right

about the time that December rolled

around and we were all focused on her my

grandfather my my father’s father who we

affectionately called two Daddy he

passed away at 90 years old and so I

remember right there at the beginning of

December celebrating my mother’s 70th

birthday at the same time I was jumping

on a plane me my husband and I to rush

with my father to go see his father

before two daddy passed away our beloved

grandfather and then having to be there

to funeralized him while half of us

siblings stayed home with my mom to take

care of her and so it was just a

juggling of emotions and hardship and

struggle we felt surrounded on all sides

and then it would only be about 30 days

later on December 30th 2019 that my

mother would slip away to Eternity while

her four children and my dad were all

surrounding

her we funeralized my mother a week

after she died and it would be a week

later that I personally would have to go

into surgery um for them to remove the

upper lobe of my left lung because of

something that they found there that had

to be taken out and the only way to get

it was to remove the whole lobe of my

lung that took us into January of 2020

when I had that surgery and then while

still trying to even get my breath back

reeling from that surgery and then the

losses especially the loss of my own

mother then of course for all of

us the pandemic hit

civil unrest racial unrest bubbled up to

the surface in our country the political

climate became more adversarial the

chaos was swirling around us if there’s

ever a time in my life and I’m sure in

your life as well that we feel like

Jehosaphat where we’re surrounded on all

sides that time is right now and here’s

what I came to tell you that the

solution and the encouragement is tucked

away in in Elijah’s prayer admit that

you are

powerless God I can’t do it I can’t have

emotional stability and security I can’t

even take care of my own physical body I

can do the best that I can but still

even when I’m doing the best that I can

there are inner workings of my physical

frame that only you can tend to so

father even with the best that I can do

in my relationships or in my finances or

uh being an instrument to be used in

culture For Your Glory and to stand up

for righteousness and Justice I can do

the best that I can do but father I

recognize that against an army like this

with everything I see happening on my

Twitter feed and my Instagram feed on

social media on the news channels that

I’m watching with enemies like this I

admit like Jehosaphat did I am powerless

against this great Army and not only am

I powerless but God I am plan lless I

don’t even I don’t even have a

plan the highest

Heights of my wisdom can’t even figure

out how to handle this difficulty I’m

having in my personal private life or in

the culture and Country in which I live

father I am powerless against this great

multitude and I don’t know what to

do but here’s what I can tell you my

eyes my eyes are on

you here’s what I

wonder I wonder if that is what he he’s

been after

anyway a church whose eyes are back on

him not the programs not the buildings

not even the services collectively

Gathering physically like we’ve grown so

used to and of course we’ll come back to

at some point but I wonder if this is

the time where he wanted to shake us

awake out of spiritual complacency and

draw us back to him get your eyes on me

he calls out to the Church to you and to

me let’s look back to Jesus the author

and the finisher of our faith he is

still where our help comes from one of

my favorite movies in recent years was

The Incredibles too I like The

Incredibles the first one and the second

one but I got to tell you if you didn’t

see the second one you must because it

was really good and in this one alasa

girl you know the wife she kind of comes

up to the Forefront just a little bit

and so do the children they are all

using uh Mr Incredible AA girl and their

kids those kids are all using all the

superpowers that they have to stand

against the evils of the day and at one

point alaster girl in True Mother

fashion she’s worried about her kids

there are just too many demands on them

there’s too much they’re having to do

they’re they’re basically having to grow

up real quick and mature in their

superpower skills real quick and she’s

worried about them and she says to her

husband in a sweet moment she says to

him but they’re just kids miss

incredible looks back at Elastic Girl

and says yeah but they’re kids with

power whether or not they choose to use

that power is up to them but they sure

do have access to it listen to me yeah

you’re a child but you’re a child of God

you’re a child with

power and that power is found when Our

Eyes Are Fixed On

Jesus Lord I thank you that you are

worth looking at I thank you that the

answers that we need in our personal

private lives and collectively as a

church and as a globe the answers we

need are found in you father by your

spirit would you give us the tenacity

would you give us the discipline would

you give us the encouragement to look to

you and you alone you are where our help

comes from in Jesus name amen