Absolute honor to bring the word to you. Reedy Creek, hey? What a great campus. What a great church. Uh what a great school. Um and for those of you who didn’t catch it, there’s water baptisms as part of this service and what’s pretty cool about water baptisms and also me speaking here at Reedy Creek is I didn’t graduate from Kings Christian College but I graduated from Somerset College.
I am a Gold Coast boy, born here, raised here and I know some are set. I’m saying this online as well, Somerset is not as good as King’s Christian College but it was a great school. Amen. Uh but I I did not grow up in a Christian home and so what’s cool about water baptism is being part of this 1030 service this morning is that I love seeing people get water baptized because you know, it it reminds me of even my own story of redemption that God did for me. Like a little little bit of an insight before we get into the word was that I didn’t grow up in a Christian home and so when I graduated from Somerset College I actually went over to the US for a year for a gap year as an exchange student.
I was sponsored by Rotary. Many of you have probably heard of Rotary. And ah but my application went in late. So rather than being able to apply through my dad’s Rotary Club which was based in Southport. I had to apply through Tweed Heads.
And ah but the funny thing not being a Christian and going overseas and making some poor choices. There were four Ds that you weren’t allowed to do as a rotary exchange student. Quickly, let me tell you, the four Ds were no drinking, no driving, no dating, and no drugs. And within that year I broke all the four Ds and so they sent me home early. And unfortunately by being sent home early most exchanges never get sent home early.
But I did and so it was a bit of you know a bit of shame on my family. My dad representing it was a shame for the Tweed Heads Rotary Club particularly because I was representing them for Rotary Around the World. But how cool is God? You know a couple of years went by and continued to make bad choices. I got stuck into drugs and I got into a place where I couldn’t get out of it in my own strength. And so I call on the name of Jesus.
God powerfully saved. and how ironic. Guess where I got water baptised? In the Tweed Heads River. How cool is God’s redemption story for all of us? You know the very where you know it was a story of Shame was the very place where I came out of the that river and I was a new creation. And so I just want to first of all let you know be excited about the water baptisms.
Because it’s a representation of the power and the transformation of God in people’s lives. Uh and so to jump into the word you know the reality is whether we’re saved or not saved, Christian, non-Christian, who knows that life can still be messy. It can be difficult. It can be life, you know, sometimes we can have setbacks, we can have obstacles and so my message today is I want to first start with a little bit of the reality that Jesus said to us even as Christians, not if trials come but when trials come, how we were, how we’re to respond through the power of God and so, sometimes life is difficult. Yeah.
I want to start with this thought, this reality that life sometimes is still challenging even with Jesus. Uh I don’t know if you’ve ever been to an airport you’ve seen that Travellator. You know, when you step on the Travellator and it makes you walk quicker, how cool is that? But have you ever been tempted to jump on a travelator that’s going in the opposite direction than what you wanted you want to do? I know I have and I’ve gotten on that travel ladder. You know, when you feel the travelator going in the opposite direction underneath your feet and you feel the resistance and I want to acknowledge sometimes the difficulty of life even sometimes with God is that we’re in a particular season but it’s not where we want to be. And there’s a difference or there’s a gap between where we are currently compared to where we want to be.
And that gap needs to be bridged. It needs to be crossed over. And a lot of times we need to call out to God to help us to bridge that gap. But there’s a very real tension between sometimes when we’re in seasons where we’re somewhere. But we know we need to break through.
Who knows that this is a breakthrough season. We’ve just launched the breakthrough offering as a corporate body. We leaving for breakthrough. But there’s a very real tension sometimes with where we are compared to where we believe God is taking us. And we need to rely on the power of God and the word of God and put our faith and hope in Jesus.
That he’s going to be the bridge of that gap. He’s going to help us to crossover. And so my key scripture today in this message is from the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. Chapter 14 verse twenty-four. And it says but because my Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.
I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it. The title of my message today is called A Different Spirit. Let’s pray. Father I thank you Lord for this word. I pray for open minds and open hearts to receive the keys you would release through this word today in Jesus name.
And everyone said amen. So let’s set the scene. I want to first set this scene before go further into the word here about Caleb’s spirit. God said it was a different spirit. But to set the scene I want to talk about that there are two crossings in life.
There are two spiritual crossings in life. The first one ah is at the obvious one. It’s salvation. Ah we make a crossing to give our life to Jesus and to come from a place of bondage. A place where we’re a slave to sin into freedom.
But the Old Testament also expresses about this example of a first crossing, a first spiritual crossing and we know when the people of God were locked in Egypt as slaves, God rose up Moses, part of the Red Sea and Mira actually helped the people to crossover into the other place where they were set free. They were no longer slaves in Egypt and so the same is true for us in the New Testament example When we give our life to Jesus, we get deshackled from the slavery of sin and death in our life. We get set for from our past and we get launched into a life of grace and a life of freedom. Who here has experienced that? Amen. It’s awesome.
The first spiritual crossing and it’s a finished work. It’s a crossing that happens and it’s an amazing thing. But I want us to bring our attention today to the fact that there is a spiritual ah a second spiritual crossing that particularly in a season of breakthrough we have to be aware of. If we look at the Old Testament example we know that not only did God want to bring the people out of Egypt but once he brought them out of Egypt they were wandering in the wilderness for more than 40 years. And so he wanted to establish them out of the wilderness and cross over the Jordan into the promised land.
The same is true in the New Testament example. Even though we are saved and we give our life to Jesus. Who knows that he is our saviour but he’s also our king of kings. And he wants to take us into all that the kingdom has for us. He wants us to go in the fullness of our inheritance.
He’s got more us from level to level, glory to glory. Come on now. And so he doesn’t want us just to be saved and then walking around in the same circumstances and situations year year upon year. But he wants us to be people of breakthrough. He wants us to go into the promises of God.
And that second crossing that second crossing as a Christian happens season upon season. There’s many times where we have to crossover from where we are now to where God has for us next. And so with the reality of these two crossings want to encourage us that God calls us to be promised possessors not wilderness warriors. Not wilderness wanderers wandering around in the wilderness but we’re called to be promised possessors. So, with that in mind, let’s unpack the three characteristics of a different different spirit.
What was it about Caleb’s spirit that God called that and said, because of this spirit on Caleb, he’s going to cross over into the promised land and the people of God are going to inherit the promises. Who he wants to know? What were the three characteristics of that different spirit? Amen. So the first difference about the Caleb spirit was a different perspective. Caleb had a different perspective. And when we look at the word perspective it’s defined as a particular attitude, a way of seeing something, a point of view.
And in numbers 1327 to 29, it talks about that Moses gave an account where ah where where sorry not Moses but the people of God were giving an account to Moses and ah the the the spies were giving an account when they went to spy out the land but there was a negative account there was a negative perspective and this is what they said this is the majority of the spies Caleb and Joshua were part of the twelve but the other ten first gave a negative perspective about the promised land and negative perspective about the future they said this we went to the land to which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit. But so it was a but perspective. But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. And then the next verse in verse thirty then Caleb responds.
Caleb responds with a different perspective. First of all he silences the people. Then Caleb silenced the people. Numbers thirteen verse thirty. Then Caleb the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and take possession of the land for we are well able to overcome it.
We are well able to overcome it. But what’s interesting is then, the people respond again in verses thirty-one to 3three but the men who had gone up with him said, we seemed like grasshoppers in our eyes and we also looked the same to them. So, what’s interesting here in numbers is that first of all, there is a complaint about the Giants are too big but then Caleb says no. I don’t see that way. I see it differently.
You know what? We are able to overcome. We can go in. We can possess the land and then the people responded again negatively. So there was something different about how Caleb saw his future. How he saw the promised land.
Let’s quickly unpack this a little bit more. The majority the ten out of 12 saw in the natural likely defeat. They believed that their land had no future. The tenant the twelve utterly ignored that God was in the perspective. They didn’t even refer to God when they were complaining about the promised land.
They had a grasshopper complex. What’s a grasshopper complex? It’s when you choose to focus and fixate your thinking on the problems. That’s what a grasshopper complex does and it prevents us from going into the promises of God. In fact, they have what I call or they had what I call stinking thinking. Does anyone here had stinking thinking I know in my life at times have had stinking thinking.
And so the majority had what we call stinking thinking. In fact if you think about this negative perspective before we look at Caleb’s different perspective, I want you to think for a moment, a great way to describe the perspective of the spies, the majority of spies who were giving a negative report in a way they were looking at it like a zebra surrounded by lions. Just from and think about what does it feel like to be a zebra surrounded by lions. You are overwhelmed, you are freaking out, you are paralyzed thinking, what am I supposed to do? And everything looks pretty defeated. Who believes that? If you’re a zebra surrounded by lions, you are feeling defeated.
But Caleb had a different perspective. Come on now. Caleb had a different confession. Caleb saw in the spirit. He saw the victory.
Caleb had a perspective like a lion surrounded by zebras. Let’s think about that lion surrounded by zebras rather than feeling overwhelmed, it’s like this is amazing. This is full of opportunity. What am I going to take on first? What am I going to take down first? So, Caleb had a different perspective. He had a different lens.
He had a different view. There was something about him that saw the promises of God that saw the promised land. That saw the future in a different way. You know, when I think about a different perspective, just recently, my two young girls and Savannah. We were going up to Mount Tambourine and they wanted some lollies and so we walked into one of those stores and they ended up buying this box of candy called Bean Boozled.
Have you ever heard of that before? It’s made by the Jelly Beans brand and Bean Boozled. What it does is they pair jelly beans up. A whole different bunch of pairs that look exactly the same but they taste very very different and it turns into the yuck or the yum game. Is it going to be yuck? Is it going to be yum? And let me share a couple of the flavours. Right? That they were trying out.
Is it dead fish? Or is it strawberry banana smoothie? Is it rotten egg? Or is it buttered popcorn? Is it canned dog food? Or is it chocolate pudding? In fact I had a go and the two that I picked up it was is it Tutti Frutti or is it like vomit? It’s supposed to taste like vomit. It’s pretty gross this game right? And guess what? I lucked out and I chose the one that tastes like vomit. I had to run to the bathroom. It was that gross. But what was interesting watching Zara and Savannah play this game was after a couple of goes they started to be double minded.
They started started to second guess going. But what if it’s yuck? What if it’s not yum? What if it’s bad? What if it’s not good? What if it’s the disastrous tasting one that I’m really afraid of? And because they started to second guess because their perception of well is it going to be yuck or yum? Yuck and they started to dance in their mind. They even stopped even playing the game. They no longer wanted to participate. They no longer even wanted to step out and have a go because they were too afraid of actually getting a yuck jelly bean.
And you know what can happen to us spiritually sometimes is the same thing. Sometimes you know when we self evaluate just in this moment sometimes our perspective about our future. About the next thing can not necessarily be through a lens of faith. But maybe a lens of fear or lens of doubt. And I want to encourage you church.
This is a season of breakthrough. And in terms of having a different perspective. This was a key that helped Caleb to go from a place where the people of God had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. And Caleb was there was something about him that was different. And God said that he had a different perspective.
He saw the promised land with faith. And there was an expectation that God you are going to do something. And you know what? God? Even though there are giants in the land, we are able and you know what? We are going to go in and we’re going to take this land. I see it differently, God. I don’t listen to the voices of the world or the voices of doubt and I want to encourage you in this season, in this breakthrough season.
We need to silence the voice of doubt. We need to silence the voice of those worldly principles. They would say, you know what? It’s too hard. It’s going to be too difficult. Don’t get your hopes up enough because you’re just going to get disappointed.
I want to say to you in this season, no, believe again. This is a time but God’s saying I’m looking for my people to rise up and to look at their future through the lens of faith. A different perspective. Caleb had a different perspective The second key to the Caleb’s spirit was a different pathway. There was a different pathway.
There was a different positioning. There was a different posturing of Caleb as a person of God. Again, if we define path or path way. It’s the course. It’s the direction.
It’s the positioning. It’s the posturing in which a person or thing is facing focused on and takes. And in numbers fourteen verses six to eight. Again in this part of scripture, we learn something interesting about the different pathway, the different positioning of Caleb. It says here, Joshua and Caleb, who were among those who had explored the land, their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, the land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. A land flowing with milk and honey and will give it to us. Now, what’s interesting Is that this kind of pathway, this positioning towards, you know what? It’s great. We’re going to go there. Let’s do this.
It was in response to something that had happened just before. In numbers fourteen one to 5, just before Caleb and Joshua had this focus on the future, the people of God were absolutely complaining. Do you know what they were saying? They were saying, we are so sick and tired of being stuck here in the present, going around and around, and around. You know what? Maybe just maybe We should go back Egypt. Stuff this.
Like maybe was it was it really that bad? I mean I know we were slaves but at least we’re being fed. And this is what was happening. This is why it was happening with the people of God that they were so frustrated with being stuck in the circumstances of the present rather than having a pathway focusing on the excitement of the future. They were started starting to be pulled back. So, rather than leaning towards the future, they were leaning away and sudden get pulled back by actually comparing their present to the past.
I don’t know if that’s ever happened to you before but I know it’s happened to me at times and so what’s interesting here is Caleb was different. In fact, when they started to do this, when they started to bring up Egypt and maybe we should go back to Egypt, something within Caleb and Joshua was like, what? So, they tore their clothes. They ripped their clothes off. One to get everyone’s attention probably but also to symbolically say, enough is enough. No, we’re not going to focus on the past.
No, we’re not going to be locked into the circumstances of our present. Enough and we’re going to tear off these closed. They represent the season that we’re in. They represent the past and know we’re moving forward. It’s a new pathway forward.
We’re going to be future focused. And so a spirit that says, come on church, in a season of breakthrough, a spirit that says, I am determined to move forward. I am a promised possessor, not a wilderness wanderer. Caleb had a next spirit. This this pathway, this focus, this positioning, this this kind of a sense of, you know, what, I am really going to lean in to my future.
I’m going forward. It really created what I call a next spirit. Caleb was looking at his present circumstance and looking at the past and going, you know what? Next, next, we’re moving forward. I’m not going to focus here. Next and so, he had a next spirit.
Caleb understood his mission and purpose that he was a person to take dominion. Caleb have looked back at the slavery of the past but his spirit said, next, Caleb might have been in the problem of the present but his spirit said, next, Caleb might have been going through the difficulties but he knew that difficulties were not his destiny. He said, next, You know what’s cool? Do you know what was cool about his pathway, his positioning, his posturing, being focused on the future, being focused on the forward, not being drawn back to the attractiveness or the comfort zone of the past? What was so cool? Was that when Caleb and the people who followed him actually stepped into the promised land? On day one, that they stepped in. The Bible teach something fascinating happened. It was the first day and it continued.
It was the first day that manna from heaven did not fall. I want you to catch this. See when we go around and around and around in the wilderness, sometimes, we’re just surviving. Sometimes, we actually have to rely on a miracle. Let it literally every day.
Oh God. Oh God and it’s good to align miracles. Absolutely but you know what? God has a place in our life where he wants to move us into a place where we’re not just surviving but we are We are not just surviving but we are thriving. And it’s good to have moments where we cry to God and say God I need a miracle. But you know what? God has not designed your life post salvation.
To always have to cry out to God. To depend on a miracle. Just to survive the day. Because he wants to build a generational blessing and inheritance that builds a leverage point where you don’t have to have spiritual manner falling from heaven every single day. And what’s interesting when I think about a different pathway like this aspect of Caleb.
I had the privilege. I got to speak in in Dubai at a conference as part of our business in February. I’d never been to Dubai before. So when I got off the plane I realised it was about a twenty-four hour window I had to explore this fascinating city called Dubai. And if you’ve ever been there you know what I’m talking about.
And so to to to kind of catch all that Dubai had to offer. I thought you know what? Best way is I’m going to buy a ticket on one of those hop on hop off double decker buses. And I’m just going to go check out Dubai. And what was fascinating is the map had two routes. There was one route where you went and explored old Dubai and there was another route where you went and explored new Dubai.
And when you went to old Dubai it was like going back in time. It was like time stood still. Uh you had just it was like you had the the spice markets. Everything was totally old school. It was like you’re on a film set of Aladdin.
It really was that cool. Had what they call the sooks which are like the the spice markets and you had the little boats in the canal and everything just looked like time had been suspended. It was like wow. This is just so old. And ancient.
It’s cool. But it was also just so comfortable. And then you went on the other route. And then the bus takes you into this completely other whole different side of Dubai. And it was amazing.
Like I was up there. The second level of the bus. There was pretty much noone. Uh I think it was on Mondays. There was you know noone on the top level and I’m there right at the front with the glass panel and we’re going into the new Dubai and it’s like skyscrapers on steroids.
Like it’s just innovation max. Like everything is just wow. Like this is futuristic. This is not now. This is like years into the future type of looking city in Phil and it was breathtaking.
But it in a way it it’s interesting when you think about these two different parts of Dubai because when you think about this different pathway when we think about Caleb, when think about the fact that Caleb understood that there was something in that moment after the people of God had gone around around the wilderness. It was something important. There was a catalyst. There was a key where Caleb knew enough is enough. I can no longer be pulled towards the comfort of the past.
Or I can no longer keep focusing my energy and my fixation on my frustration of the present. No enough is enough. My pathway must be forward focused. Must be future focus must be focused on the new thing that God has for me and our people. A different pathway did Caleb have.
I want to encourage you. You know just as you as you think about practically applying that second one, you know, who knows that there’s a natural drift sometimes in our own lives to be defined from where we came from. Or to be stuck in the frustration of the present circumstance. But can I you, you are called to be an eagle and not to be a chicken. When we think about pathway, literally, when you study the vertebrae of a chicken versus an eagle, a chicken when it becomes an adult and it’s a vertebrae unfold after being a little baby out of the egg.
The vertebrae actually shows the biological design of a chicken that pretty much a chicken is designed most of its life just to focus where. And peck. And it’s immediate circumstances. But the eagle’s vertebrae and therefore its destiny is different. As the eagle grows up he realizes that it’s vertebrae.
Naturally, its default positioning, its natural default focus is to look up beyond the horizon. And so that when it looks up beyond the horizon, it gets stimulated to actually flap its wings, take win, and to fly and to reach beyond the horizon. I want to tell you in this season, in this breakthrough season, God’s saying, you know what? Your pathway forward, you are an eagle. Your family are eagles. You have an eagle’s it’s time to focus on the forward.
The third and the final key difference of the Caleb spirit that I want to share with you is he had a different passion. He had a different capacity to have a passion of God. And when we talk about the word passion obviously it’s defined as an intense desire or enthusiasm and intense desire or enthusiasm for something. We go to the scriptures in Numbers chapter fourteen verse nine. This is Caleb.
And he’s saying only do not rebel the Lord nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread, meaning the enemy in the promised land, they’re our bread. They are toast. This is how passionate he was. And then he goes on and he says, their protection has departed from them. And the Lord is with us.
Do not fear them because the Lord is with us. Caleb knew that the Lord was with him. Wanna know why he had such passion? Because he had a great awareness of the presence of God. Caleb had an awareness that the presence of God surrounded him. That God was with him.
Why? Well we know that Caleb was was a member of the tribe of Judah. And so he was a member of the family of God that specialised in praise and worship. And in ushering in the presence of God and allowing the presence of God to lead his people. And so Caleb had a great awareness of the presence of God. And because he had an awareness of the presence of God and he knew that God was all around him and that is with him, it really elevated Caleb’s passion.
He had a spirit that was war like. That was like, you know what? We should not fear because God is with us. If God is with us, well, who can be against us? That was the edge of Caleb’s passion. And even in Numbers 14 twenty-four, where God says, there’s something different about the Caleb spirit. God also goes on and says, and he followed me wholeheartedly.
Not kind of when it suited him. No, Caleb follows me wholeheartedly. He is all in. He is passionate about me. And that’s the reason.
That’s the key why Caleb is going to enter in to the promised land. Yeah. Amen. You know when I think about passion yes, I think about God but I also think about food, unfortunately. You know, my wife, Sarah, is an amazing cook.
Oh, she cooks a killer lasagna. I tell ya. She knows how to make that lasagna taste really good and when Sarah tells me that she’s, we’re going to have for dinner. I get really passionate because when she cooks a lasagna, I actually say to Sarah, hey, make sure the oven’s just that little bit hotter because I don’t know about you but I don’t like the cheese on or in a lasagna just barely melted. I like it so melted that it’s kind of embedding into the lasagna and on top it gets kind of like that little bit of crispiness.
You know what I’m talking about? And when that when that lasagna is is bacon in our kitchen and she brings it out of the oven and the aromas fill the house. I you. I get passionate because I start to salivate Probably, you can tell I get a little bit too passionate for Sarah’s lasagna. What’s interesting is about three or four days after and you know you’ve just got that little corner piece in the tray. It’s leftovers.
And you know I think oh well maybe I could have that for lunch. And it’s three or four days after when I first had it fresh. And so it’s not fresh lasagna. It’s just leftovers. And yes you know I put in the microwave and I nuke it.
But when I take it out and I start to eat it. I’m nowhere near as passionate because it’s leftovers. I’m kind of more lukewarm when it comes to lasagna. In fact when I think about leftover lasagna I think about the a emoji. You know the myrrh? Emoji which pretty much is described as the expressionless face.
You know you’re not passionate. You’re not excited. But you’re not overly turned off. Either. You’re just like no.
Well that’s how I feel about three or four day old lasagna that’s nuked in the microwave. It’s leftovers. It’s well it’s okay. It’ll do. I hope it’s not too old and it doesn’t make me sick right? I’ll have it.
I’ll finish it off. And who knows sometimes spiritually? Come on now. When you’re when you’re focusing on a present circumstance. A situation that just doesn’t seem like it’s shifting. Doesn’t feel like it’s budging.
Sometimes you feel like you’re living on spiritual leftovers. Sometimes you feel like you know what? My passion for God you’re not overly turned off but you’re not on fire. The temperance is not the spiritual temperature ain’t really that hot cooking temperature. It’s kind of like you know and I don’t know about you but I know that this is a season where God’s saying it’s time for us to lift the spiritual temperature. It’s time for us to get our praise on.
It’s time to get our worship on. This is a season where God’s saying, you know what? I’m looking for people to set on fire because if I can elevate your passion, God’s saying that I I know it’s a key for you breaking through into the new thing that I have for you and so it’s time for us to up that spiritual temperature To get our praise on. And you know what’s interesting about getting your praise on and getting your passion burning at a high temperature. Where you start to salivate your thinking at an intense enthusiastic level about the things of God. And you’re aware of his presence.
Because you’ve been hanging out with him and you’ve been walking and you’ve been talking with the Lord and and you got this sense of oh my spiritual passion is shared because I know God is with me. There’s something in that moment that bursts a warrior spirit. It bursts you. A spirit that says, you know what? If God is with me, well, who can be against me? I have the bravery. I have the confidence in Christ to take on this new season, to enter in without the fear of what may happen because I know God is with me and I want to share with you.
There’s something interesting about the warrior spirit, the passion where it bursts that fighting, overcoming, death-defying, curse, conquering, spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit inside of you. It’s like it turns into like a roar of a lion spiritually. And what’s fascinating about the roar of a lion is there’s been studies. Studies of biologists going into the jungles. Going into the plains of Africa and recording the roar of a lion.
And as they recorded and as they study it and as they watch the impact that the roar of a lion has on the other animals in the animal kingdom around in that territory. They noticed there were three very specific things. That happens when the roar of a lion in a particular lion pride goes forth. The first thing that the roar of a lion does in the animal kingdom is it sends a message to not only other animals but also particularly it sends a message to the rogue lions. There are rogue lions that usually will try to come and kill, steal, and destroy the established pride of lions.
Particularly we’ll try to come in and kill the head of that pride and so the headline will send out a roar for three main reasons. For all the animals to hear but also for the rogue line to hear and the roar of a lion is studied to say these three things. Number one, this is my land. This is my land. This is my territory.
Number two, this is my family. And so the line is not just saying this is my land. The lion is also saying and this is my family that I’ve established. This is my community and I am protecting this family. I’m protecting this community.
And the third thing that the Roar of Alliance says. And the enemy must flee. This is my land. This is my family. And the enemy must flee.
Can I tell you that the Caleb spirit had a different passion. He had a war like spirit on the inside and he was aware of the presence of God. And he would praise and he would worship. And a key for him going into the promise and having other people follow him was because God knew, you know what? Caleb not only knows how to praise me. Caleb isn’t only just aware of my presence but Caleb has a war-like spirit on the inside of him that says, this is my land.
I’m taking this territory. This is not just for me but this is for my family. This is my for my children’s children. This is for a generational blessing. I’m advancing the kingdom of God not just for myself but for the generations to come and guess what, enemy, you flee.
No giant, no enemy, no intimidating thing in the new season, in the promises of God is going to tell me that I can’t do it because I’ve got God and nothing is impossible with my God. Nothing is impossible with my God. And so I want you to as we close, I’m going to ask the the music team to come. Thank you guys. This third aspect of Caleb different passion I want you to think about Are you have you been or are you potentially, have you been living on spiritual leftovers? I don’t know about you but sometimes, I’ve historically been relying on revelation that I got two years ago from a conference.
And I haven’t got fresh revelation in my heart. I’ve had seasons like that. Or have you been relying on an older understanding of the presence of God but you haven’t positioned yourself with a new sense of spiritual passion that you want a fresh touch. Come on now. You want a fresh sense, a fresh awareness of the presence of God on your life.
Knowing that when God is with me, I can do all things maybe you know that’s been a while since you’ve had a real battle cry. In your heart. It’s been a while that you’ve actually had a real, real spiritual fight warrior thing in your spirit like the roar of a lion. And in a moment, we’re going to have a time to pray and encourage people to respond. To these three things of the Caleb spirit.
A different spirit. But before we do that I mentioned before there were two crossings. I was being speaking a lot about the second crossing. Entering into the promised land. But I just want to see there’s an opportunity here where we’ve got some people and maybe you’ve never made that first spiritual crossing.
Maybe you’ve never had an opportunity to invite Jesus into your heart. And so you know what God I need something bigger than myself. I need you. Maybe there are some people here and and you know there’s been some mistakes that you’ve made and you you want to the heaviness or the frustration of the past to be broken off your life and you want to experience the grace and the freedom of Jesus Christ. Or maybe you’ve One’s given your heart to Jesus but you know in this moment, in this season of breakthrough Jesus is inviting you to recommit your heart to him and say, Jesus again, I declare you are my Lord, you are my savior.
So, as we close our heads and bow our eyes just to create a moment of privacy. Just in this moment, if that’s you, if you’re here, say, hey, Brad. Can you pray for me? I need, I need God. I want Jesus. Just in the privacy of this moment or maybe you know it’s time to recommit.
I just want you to simply raise your hand. I’m not going to embarrass you but I just know who to pray for. As look across this auditorium, we thank you. Thank you. To anyone else.
Thank you. I see that hand. Don’t be embarrassed. God is a gentleman. He gently invites Anyone else? Thank you.
I see that hand. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I see that hand.
Wonderful. You know, it’s moments like this that we should never underestimate. Like I did this, 25 years ago, giving my heart to Jesus. I’ve never looked back. So, as we’ve still got our eyes closed and our heads bowed, For those people who put up their hand whether it’s a first time or a a recommittal, I want to encourage everyone on the auditorium just to repeat this prayer after me.
Dear Jesus, I believe That you are the son of God. And I believe that you died on the cross for me. And I believe that you rose again on the third day. Jesus, wash all my sin away Forgive me of my past. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.
Make me brand new. And allow me and help me. To follow you. All the days of my life. Today, I am a follower of Jesus.
Awesome. Let all those people around of applause. Let’s throw out. That’s great to see so many people give the hearts of Jesus a recommit. Just before we do one last thing, if you did say that prayer for the first time where you recommitted, we’ve got a great team at the Hello Hub after the service who can give you some information and help you on your journey.
Again, can I encourage you the decision that you’ve made today in response to that salvation prayer, that first spiritual crossing. It’s the most important decision you can make. So, I want to encourage you to reach out. The team at the Hello Hub. Before we close, I’m going to ask everyone to stand and I want to give everyone in this place an opportunity to respond to the word.
These three things about the Caleb spirit and today, if you know in this moment, there’s something, even if it’s just a percentage of this word, there’s something maybe about a different perspective, maybe there’s something about how you see your future, that you want to say, God, help me today, shift my ability to see the possibilities, help me to have a faith lens or maybe you’re here today, you say, you know what, God, that that forward focus, that different pathway, God have been focusing too much in the past or fixated on present God. No, I want to posture myself towards the future. I want to be going forward. I want to move forward or maybe. today you’re like, you know, God, I, I really, I really, it really resonate with me about a different passion.
There’s something where I need, I can’t be lukewarm anymore. I need something on the inside to to kind of birth and and I need something on the inside to say, you know what? I can walk with you God and I’m aware of your presence. And so wherever you are today, if that’s you, auditorium. I just want you to lift your hands. If you know in this moment, you’re saying, God, I want some aspects of the Caleb spirit.
God, I want you to help me, guide me, birth within me. Lord, a different spirit that helps me to enter into this new season. That helps me to be a person of breakthrough. Father, right now, Lord, as we lift, as we lifting our hands, father, as we’re positioning ourselves, we’re saying, God, you are the God, you are the creator of all things, you are the alpha and the omega, you are the and the last. You are the author of our lives and father we pray.
Lord that you would activate. Lord, a different spirit. Lord, you would give us the keys to the kingdom. Lord, that we are dominion taking. We are advancing.
We are moving into the new thing and I declare Lord, Lord that you would release a breakthrough spirit. There were a people of breakthrough. We’re a people who are moving forward. We’re a people who are advancing and I thank you father that not on the individually but Lord in this moment corporately, I declare that this house, that this church is advancing and this church is moving forward and this church is expanding and this schools are expanding and I declare that King’s Church father is in a season and I declare Lord that there’s something different there’s something there’s something more special Lord, we declare it and we and everyone said, amen.
