TD Jakes - Come Into Focus
Jesus says I am not focused on what that other guy is doing. I have now, I am about to go into my ascension. I have now set my priorities. The Bible says it this way. He has set his face to go to Jerusalem. What have you set your face on? How are you out of focus? Take me out of focus. You can tell I'm out of focus because when he takes me out of focus, I blur. The more out of focus I am, the more blurred I become. Is your life blurred? And you've been blaming devils and demons and witches and mama and daddy and ex husbands and ex wives, when you have the power to bring your life. Bring me back. Bring me back. This is what church does for you. This is what Word does for you. This is what teaching does for you. This is what mentoring does for you. It brings you back in the focus.
Touch three people and say get into focus. Get into focus. Get into focus. I want to work this thing this morning. I want to work this thing this morning. I want to work this thing this morning because for where God is about to take you, you have got to get your life into focus. You have got to put all of your energies on where you're going. As for me, my wife and I were talking about the other day, I am too old to be out of focus. I don't have time to be out of focus. I come with the years I got left, there are certain things I'm cutting off the list. I can't worry about that, I can't worry about that. Already trying to fix that. Did all I could do to help that.
Now I gotta focus. Who am I preaching to in here today? Let me tell you, I refuse to get to my age and to continue to go where I've already been, help who already helped, pour into who I already poured into. If I didn't win Samaria by now... You ought to hear the rest of that sentence. If Samaria is not saved by now. If Samaria is not saved by now. If you're not my friend by now. If you don't love me by now. If we haven't gotten anywhere by now. I don't know who I'm preaching to today. But the Lord sent you to go down to the Potter's House because I'm gonna give you your focus back. Give God three minutes of praise, any kind of praise. I never will forget when I first came to Dallas, I would drive to church on Sunday morning listening at the preacher's talking about me. They said I was stealing members.
How you gonna steal a person? I can steal a watch, how you gonna steal a person? Let alone 30,000 people. People go where they want to go. Then there were all these people who had all of these ministries who called themselves watchdogs and Watchman. Their ministry was to point out who's right and who's not right. Oh, he didn't put a comma right there. Oh, that was that wasn't Philippians, that was Philemon. Oh, he said this, he should have said that. You can hear 'em on TV all the time. Just fussin', just fussin', just fussin', just fussin.' They're all upset about Samaria not taking them in. Jesus has spent a whole day in Samaria, sitting down by the well, waiting for the woman to come to the well, waiting for her to go get the men and say, come see a man. He said I poured into Samaria, I don't care where Samaria lets me in or not.
I've already been there. I've already done that in this season of my life. You are coming into a season of your life in the... touch your neighbor, say in this season of my life, I've got to focus. I don't have enough strength to do everything. I don't have enough money to do everything. I don't have enough time to do everything. I don't have enough mind to do everything. I've got to... So Jesus seems aloof about this other ministry because he refuses to get out of focus. I found something interesting in Philippians, Paul goes through the same thing and Paul says some startling things. I want you to take a look at this in Philippians. This is good.
Philippians chapter 1 verse 15 through 19. Oh, this is good. Glory to God. This message that I'm teaching today is important to people who are bent on being progressive, who refused to be repetitive. To all of you who just are satisfied to go around and around in the wilderness, this is not your Sunday to receive the Word of God. This is for people who have to make it count. I gotta make every step count. I got to forget those things which are behind and reach to those things which are before. I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Where are my decision makers? It's really what Abraham says in Genesis 22, don't go to it.
I'm gonna keep you in Philippians. But in Genesis 22, Abraham has gone as far as he could go with the servants. And he says to the servants, Stay here with the asses. Me and the lads are going yonder to worship. Where I'm getting ready to go, I can't take a whole crowd of stuff with me. If you don't want to go, don't play hard to get because if you play hard to get, you're gonna get left behind. I got to go and stay with the asses, me and the lads are going yonder. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm talking about. I'm talking about focus this morning. Touch your neighbor, say get into focus. Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 1 verse 15. You're watching on, you e-members, you get this down, this is for you. God's got you watching this message for a reason. He's getting ready to do something supernatural in your life and you're putting too much energy into things that are not profitable.
Paul says, look at this, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some do it of good will". He said, "The one preach Christ, just to stir up stuff. Not sincerely, supposing to add afflictions to my bonds". They're just preaching, trying to cause trouble, "but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel. What then notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached". He said, long as they're preaching, Jesus, I don't have time to worry about their motives. Whether they're sincere, whether they're real, whether they're for me, whether they're against me. He said, whether they do it for contention or not. As long as they preach Christ. I dare and do rejoice and I will rejoice.
Touch your neighbor, say, I will rejoice. Whether you're sincere or not sincere. Whether you meant it or didn't mean it. Whether you're holy or not holy. As long as the gospel is preached, I don't have time to get out of focus. I am not called to fix you. Oh, that's good. "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ". He said, I know it's gonna work for my good, even though they're preaching it for contention, even though they are not sincere, even though they are false, he said, I know it's gonna work for my good because I refuse the option to be distracted by somebody else's behavior. Run around with I just don't believe he real.
I just don't believe it's of God. I just don't... I don't have time, I don't have no opinion about it. It takes all of my time to focus on my business. I don't have time to focus on your business. If that boy turns that lens too wide, I'll go out of focus. The moment he turns it too wide, I go out of focus. Is your lens too wide? That's what's wrong with my eyes. My eyes. If I take my glasses off, I can see you but you get blurred because the muscle in my eye that pulls everything into focus with age has gotten weaker. So I had to buy me some strength. If I didn't have it on the inside, I had to buy it on the outside because focus is too important to be compromised.
Watch this, Jesus said now you're gonna usher in my season of miracles. Once I start showing them miracles, they're gonna be drawn to my season of miracles. People are drawn to your season of miracles. Love your season of miracles. You can make it happen. Love your season of miracles. You did your thing on the football field, love your season of miracles. People are drawn to your season of miracles when you're in your heyday, when you're doing your thing. People love you when you're in your season of miracles. The question is will they love you out of season? That is the question. Anybody will love you in your season of miracles, but will you endure the season of miracles? Oh you're only serving me, Jesus said, you're only serving me for the fish and the loaves.
So in the first stage of his life he gave him the season of miracles. The 5000 came. The multitude came to his season of miracles. Everybody loves you when you make it magic. He got the magic touch. Just love him. He got the magic touch, girl. Until he got on dialysis. That's why they make you take vows better or worse, richer and poor sickness and health because see we date and we dress up in our season of miracles. So Jesus starts with his season of miracles, phase one and then he went into his season of message. He sat on the mountaintop, he goes to the mountaintop, and on the Mount of Olives he begins to give message Beatitudes. He began to give message. He moved from the season of miracles. Healing the sick and raising the dead and turning water into wine to the season of message.
And when he started moving into the season of message in the first stage of the season, the message that all blessed is he, blessed is a man, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. They like the message. But as the message went on, unless you drink my blood and eat my flesh, you will have no part with me. Then as the message got tough, it begins, the crowd began to go down. As long as he was doing miracles, the crowd was up. As long as he was handing out blessings, the crowd was up. But when he started talking to them about discipline, the crowd went down. That's why as a pastor, you can't preach to the side of the congregation. You can't let the congregation manipulate you over divine orders. That's why when somebody comes, I'm leaving your church because you preach about this too much, bye.
But I can't let you have a remote control and me be the TV. You don't switch me like you're at home sitting on the couch. The devil is a liar. I see it. I see it. The real test of commitment is to go through the different seasons. So at one miracle stage he does real good and then he goes to the message stage and it gets a little tougher, okay. Now every stage requires a little bit more from you. In the message stage they start to say this is a hard message. Who can bear it? See this is hard message, who can bear it? And then it comes down to the moment stage, these are the various stages of your walk with God. The miracle stage, you first got saved. Oh my God, everything's wonderful, everything's new. I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian. I pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and it was a cross.
I'm seeing Jesus in everything. I see Jesus in you. I see Jesus in me. I see, yeah, the miracle stage, serving God cause he healed grandma. I prayed over grandma, I told Lord, if you heal grandma, I'll serve you. And grandma got up and started walking hallelujah. She walking. What happens when she dies later? Everybody Jesus healed still died. Are we majoring on the minor? You're mad at God about taking somebody he was gonna take anyway. You're mad because it wasn't your date. If he healed them, they would have still died. Are you following him for the miracles? Or are you following him for the message? I'm disappointed he didn't do what I wanted him to do. I've been there. I know what that's like but the real test is if I take the hedge from around Job, he'll change.
The real test is even when I don't get what I want, even when you don't do what I wanted you to do. Even when it didn't happen like I wanted it to happen. I'm not serving you for the fish and the loaves. Sooner or later, you got to prove your commitment through loving me when you don't like me. Oh, can you love me? You're not ready. Can you love me when you don't like me? Anybody can love you when they like you. Can you love me when you don't like me? From the miracle stage then he goes to the message stage and it's a certain kind of person who is drawn to the message. Okay, they're drawn to the message. The word that I speak unto you is spirit and is life. The words that I speak unto you. Me and him and every now and then we'd hang out and we'd go to lunch. We ain't going to lunch in... He said almost a year and a half.
If he was just following me for the lunch, he'd be gone. But if you're still coming to get the message without the lunch. Mhm. We're talking about focus, focus, wrong focus. Now they go through the message stage. Then they go in the third stage. The third stage to the walk with God is the moment stage. The moment stage is when you have consecration enough. And this is where, this is where a lot of church people don't go. They come to get the message, but they're not consecrated enough to have moments with God. You get the message in church, but you have the moments at home.
Has anybody in here ever had a moment with God? It could be at the beauty shop. It could be while you're driving the car. It can be when you're at your wit's end and all of a sudden you just had a moment with God. The kids come in, Mama, what you crying about? I'm okay child. I just had a moment with God. Anybody ever had a moment with God, where he set everything in order, where he showed up in your life? They had moments with God. They were out there on the boat one night, waiting on Jesus to come. Didn't know what in the world he was gonna do. And here they had a moment with God. Here he comes, walking on the water. You said you should have made that a miracle. No, that was a moment. It wasn't about healing anything or changing anything. It was a moment based on your closeness with him. Because you have consecration with him. You had moments with God.
Now, see you see how the emails went down. They were highest when I was talking about miracles. They were still pretty good when I started talking about message. When it got down the moments, it got quieter because there are more people who had miracles than there are who have had moments. There are more people who enjoy message because in order to have a moment with God, you have to pay the price. You have to have been through some stuff. You have to have suffered and reign with him. You have to have laughed and cried with him. You have to laid out on the altar before him. You had been in the bathtub talking about Lord. You know you the only thing that's holding my head together. If it wasn't for you, I would have lost my mind. That level of intimacy, where you have moments with God.
Touch your neighbor and say I had a moment with God. You can't make me doubt him. I know too much about him. You can't tell me there is no God. I've had a moment with God. I've had some moments where he stepped into my living room, found me in the backyard, spoke to me while I was driving to work. I had a moment. Everybody that's had a moment with God, give him some praise like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed. I know they call you a fanatic. I know they laugh at you. I know your relatives laugh at you and the people at work laugh at you. But you know that you know that you know that you know you had a moment with God.
If you had a sure enough moment with God, a transformative moment. A life changing moment. A soul stirring moment. A thirst quenching moment. Give God 60 seconds of crazy, ridiculous, Holy Ghost praise. I had a moment! Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Tell your neighbor I had a moment with God. I had a moment with God. Sometimes I couldn't see him. Sometimes I couldn't understand him. But every now and then I've had a moment, just a moment. The devil would have killed me, but I had a moment. I almost gave up, but I had a moment.