Jentezen Franklin - What's Your "I Must"? - Part 1
Hello, I'm Jentezen Franklin and I wanna thank you for joining me on this program today. I'm so glad that you're viewing because I believe the message is so important that I'm about to preach. "What's Your 'I Must'". What is an I must? It's a passion, it's a calling, it's a purpose. It's what will give your life great meaning. It's what you give your money, your time, your energy to. It determines who you hang out with, it determines where you go and even how you pray. It gives you purpose. So gather your family, grab some coffee and your Bible and let's go right into the service at Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia. I believe this message is gonna speak directly to you.
If you have your Bibles I would like for you to open them with me as we go to the book of Luke 2. And I wanna speak to you for a few moments this morning. And I'm calling this sermon, "What is Your 'I Must'". What's your 'I must?' What's your one thing you must do that you know God has laid on your heart to do? In Luke 2, "Now so it was after three days they found Him," Speaking of Jesus at the age of 12, "In the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them," He's 12 years of age it says this Earlier in the passage, and He's sitting in the temple with the scholars and they saw Him and they were amazed. And He's in the midst of the teachers both listening to them and asking them questions that were, the questions were so complex, deep, and well thought that they baffled the minds of the theologians of that day.
The scholars, the rabbis. "And all who heard Him were astonished," At a 12 year old, at His understanding and answers. "And when they saw Him, they were amazed. And His mother said to Him," I love this. She's ticked. She is ticked at her 12 year old boy. "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have been seeking You anxiously". And she doesn't say it right here but it says that He was lost from 'em for three days, He had been gone. "And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me?'" Ou, He's on dangerous grounds. "Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?' And they did not understand the statement which He spoke".
What's your I must? Jesus at the age of 12 had His parents terribly upset which brings me great joy to know that even the parents of Jesus when their child was turning a teenager was already driving them crazy. We're not that far. He truly was a human. And Jesus, in this text, said, "I must. Mom, dad, I must be about my Father's business". We're good at taking care of our business, but He said, "I must be about my Father's business". If you ever learned this secret, if you'll be about the father's business and put Him first God will always take care of your business. "I must be about my Father's business".
In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul said, "By the grace of God I am what I am," What a powerful verse. Many times before I go to a pulpit I will think of that verse and I've even caught myself saying it, especially in intimidating circumstances. "By the grace of God I am what I am". 'Cause life will put you in situations where you feel insufficient, you feel not good enough, but by the grace of God I am what I am. God told Moses, "I am that I am and I'm not confused about who I am as God".
So the point that I'm making is this, the first revelation that you get from God is who you are. If you will spend time with God He will show you photographs and glimpses of who you really are. You are not a drug addict, you're not an alcoholic the rest of your life. You're not a failure, you're not a loser. If you spend time with God He knows who He is and He knows who He created you to be. And the first thing that happens is you get an I am from God. And the I am establishes your identity, but then there's something that goes equally with that that God can give you it's called an I must. And an I must establishes your purpose. I am therefore I must do this. I know who I am, I've got my identity from God, I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and when I'm weak His grace is sufficient for me.
I am what I am by the grace of God hence, and then secondly I must because God has dropped the must into my spirit. John 10:14 Jesus said, "I am the good Shepherd". And then in verse 16 He said, "I must bring them together as one flock with one shepherd". I want you to see it. He said, "I am," and then He said, "I must". I have my identity and I have my must. When you have an I must from God and every one of you, every one of you if you will begin to come to a church like this on a regular basis and get in the Bible and start reading it for yourself, God will clearly make to you known your I must. Who you are and what you must do before you leave this planet. An I must moves you from being to doing. An I must will move you from complacency to being compelled.
When I say I must I'm in the grip of something that is greater than myself. When an I must that God sets down in your spirit it begins to consume you. I am not on this planet just to eat and drink and pay bills. I am a person of purpose. An I must means you're overcome by something. An I must means that you've eliminated some things in your life that are not part of the purpose that God has for your life. When I say I must it means I'm not living out of convenience anymore, I'm living out of conviction. I must do some things and therefore anything I have to eliminate that will hinder me, I've gotta get rid of it. I must fulfill the purpose God has for my life. There are certain non-negotiables in my life because I have an I must. My life has a purpose beyond myself, I must.
There's a difference between an opportunity and an I must. You'll get a lot of opportunities and if you don't watch it you'll waste a lot of your life just doing opportunities. But then there are the I must that God says, "This is my plan for you. Focus on this and this will get you to everything you're supposed to, every other thing will come out of this I must". There's a difference, as I said, between and opportunity and an I must. An I must, listen carefully, releases a certain order into your life. There are things that are less important because when you discover your I must they're just distractions. They are things that are most important when you find your I must. My I must tells me what I must give my money to. My I must tells me what I give my time to. My I must tells me what I use my energy for in life.
In Numbers 22:38 Balaam said, "The word of God was put in my mouth that I must speak". Job had three friends and they talked a lot and then finally in Job 32 he said, "I must open my lips and answer". The power of an I must will help you decide when you need to talk, when you have to speak up. Jeremiah said, "It's like a fire shut up in bones and I wanted to quit but my I must wouldn't let me quit, I had to speak up and I had to say something and I couldn't hold back". That's what's wrong with your preacher when I get on issues that are controversial. I read the Bible and when I get Him in me I must get up and preach what God tells me to do. And sometimes you, you know, it's amazing when you begin to touch on somebody's I must... notice this in your children, they may be solid about this and that but then you hit that one thing it's a clue to their destiny when they have to talk about it. That's their I must speaking.
You see, there are times when you should be silent and there are times when you should speak. I must help you decide what kind of people you need to be close to. Jesus in Luke 19:5 said, "Zacchaeus come out of that tree," And then He said, "For I must come to your house today". When you have an I must on your life you understand that not everybody belongs in your inner circle. It's not that you're ugly or you're superior or your better, it's just that there are certain people that are supposed to be close to you and you understand that. I must help you choose the places that you go, choose the people that you hang out with. An I must helps you understand the things that you're supposed to talk about. In John 4 Jesus said to His disciples on the way to Jerusalem, "I must, I needs be, I must. I've got to this. I must go to Samaria".
Let me tell you something about an I must that every Christian under the sound of my voice needs to get. Jesus when He made that statement He said, "The boy", they said, "Why are we going to", they started arguing with Him, "Why are we going over there? We don't have any business, we don't mix with those people, they're not our kind of people. We're Jews, they're Samaritans. We don't wanna have nothing to do with them". But Jesus had an "I must" that made Him go to places that other people wouldn't go. Why? Because He had a soul on his radar, the woman at the well who had been married five times and was living, shacking up, with number six. But Jesus had an I must assignment to get a burden for a woman, God almighty in the flesh had an "I must" on Him that He said, "We're walking 16 miles out of the way by passing and you guys go get some lunch", 'cause they were whining, "We're hungry".
When they finally got there He said, "go get lunch I don't need you, just go get you something to eat". And while He sat there He waited because He knew that woman was coming. I wish that everyone of us would get... Lord help me. I wish everyone of us would get an I must for one lost person in our life and get 'em on our radar and say it, "Before this year is over I must get them saved. I must get them in a service or I must witness to them. I'mma start it with prayer but I must, I must see my child, my son, my husband, my friend, the person I work with every day. As lost as they can be, I must see them saved". "I must go to Samaria". In Acts 18 the Apostle Paul was warned by a prophet. He came and he said, he tied himself up as an illustrated sermon, the prophet did, and he said, "Don't go. Don't go where you're going. Don't do it, if you do they're gonna bind you up, they're gonna torture you, they're gonna hurt you, Paul".
But listen to what he said when they asked him not to go he said, "I must keep the feast in Jerusalem. God told me to go to Jerusalem, and if it costs me it costs me.'" Acts 19:21, "I must also see Rome". He said. In Luke 4:43 Jesus said, "I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities". And then He makes this statement, "For this purpose I have been sent". Notice that. An I must connects you to your purpose. An I must ties together with purpose. Paul was on the road to Damascus and he was as lost as he could be and Jesus, in His resurrected body, appeared to Him and he was blinded. And then, in Acts 9, Jesus said to him, "Arise, go into the city and you will be told what you must do". Isn't that something?
What are you pouring your life into? Jesus prayed until His sweat became drops of blood, why? Because there's a difference between I want to and I must. Jesus was wrestling in the garden with what He wanted to do with His life versus what He knew the Father said you must do with your life. And He said, "If it's possible I don't want to go this way I wanna go that way". He wrestled with it in prayer until His I must won. Jesus understood I'm not gonna sacrifice my I must for an I want. What's your I must? You've got one. It may be delayed, it may be hindered, it may be denied, but it is still intact and you have one. Something on the inside that compels, something on the inside that drives you, something on the inside that is a mandate from God.
When God called me to preach it was an I must that... it's really when He gave me, one of the first sermon I ever preached was this sermon because I could not shake it. I could not get away from it. I would read this Bible 40 chapters a day, I don't do that anymore I need to start it again. But I used to read 40 chapters a day and I would read it and I would wet it with tears because my I must, I left my friends. I used to have friends and all that. Before that season of my life my I must just said, "Separate from all of that and I've got a plan for your life". But you, "It's not guaranteed. You gotta seek me. I know who you are and I wanna show you your identity and I wanna give you an I must. I am therefore I must".
It's worth it, it's worth it to fast and pray. And that's when I started fasting. I started going on fast. The first one I ever went on I was a crazy guy. I went on a 21 day fast and I've never fasted. No food for 21 days, what would compel you to do that? I must. Something in my heart said I didn't know where it would lead me. I didn't know what God would do but something in me said I must fulfill this call. I don't even know how to preach, I'm terrified. But I must. An I must will overcome your fear. Hallelujah. An I must doesn't care. There's no such thing... Oh, I feel like preaching. There's no such thing as, "I don't have enough money," If you have an I must. If you have an I must the money will line up. If you have an I must the doors will open. If you have an I must and you seek God nothing can stop an I must. Clap your hands and shout just a minute.