TD Jakes - Come Into Focus
The preacher teaches that to fulfill God's purpose and enter new seasons, believers must set their face like Jesus toward Jerusalem—focusing intently on their priorities, refusing distractions from others' actions or opinions, and progressing through stages from miracles to message to intimate moments with God.
Setting Your Face Like Jesus
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 am 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 have 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 into the focus. Touch three people and say get into focus. Get into focus. Get into focus.
The Urgency of 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 are going. As for me, my wife and I were talking about the other day, I am too old to be out of focus. I do not have time to be out of focus. I come with the years I got left, there are certain things I am cutting off the list. I cannot worry about that, I cannot worry about that. Already trying to fix that. Did all I could do to help that.
Now I have got to 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 have already been, help who I already helped, pour into who I already poured into. If I did not 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 are not my friend by now. If you do not love me by now. If we have not gotten anywhere by now. I do not know who I am preaching to today.
Refusing Distractions
But the Lord sent you to go down to the Potter's House because I am going to 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 to the preachers talking about me. They said I was stealing members. How you going to steal a person? I can steal a watch, how you going to 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 Watchmen. Their ministry was to point out who is right and who is not right. Oh, he did not put a comma right there. Oh, that was not Philippians, that was Philemon. Oh, he said this, he should have said that. You can hear them on TV all the time. Just fussing, just fussing, just fussing, just fussing. They are 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 do not care where Samaria lets me in or not. I have already been there. I have 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 have got to focus.
Limited Resources Demand Focus
I do not have enough strength to do everything. I do not have enough money to do everything. I do not have enough time to do everything. I do not have enough mind to do everything. I have 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 am teaching today is important to people who are bent on being progressive, who refuse 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 have got to 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?
Paul's Example of Focus
It is really what Abraham says in Genesis 22, do not go to it. I am going to 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 am getting ready to go, I cannot take a whole crowd of stuff with me. If you do not want to go, do not play hard to get because if you play hard to get, you are going to get left behind. I got to go and stay with the asses, me and the lads are going yonder. Oh, you all do not hear what I am talking about. I am talking about focus this morning. Touch your neighbor, say get into focus.
Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 1 verse 15. You are watching on, you e-members, you get this down, this is for you. God has got you watching this message for a reason. He is getting ready to do something supernatural in your life and you are 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 are 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 are preaching Jesus, I do not have time to worry about their motives. Whether they are sincere, whether they are real, whether they are for me, whether they are against me. He said, whether they do it for contention or not. As long as they preach Christ. I therein do rejoice and I will rejoice.
Rejoice and Stay Focused
Touch your neighbor, say, I will rejoice. Whether you are sincere or not sincere. Whether you meant it or did not mean it. Whether you are holy or not holy. As long as the gospel is preached, I do not have time to get out of focus. I am not called to fix you. Oh, that is 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 is going to work for my good, even though they are preaching it for contention, even though they are not sincere, even though they are false, he said, I know it is going to work for my good because I refuse the option to be distracted by somebody else's behavior.
Run around with I just do not believe he real. I just do not believe it is of God. I just do not... I do not have time, I do not have no opinion about it. It takes all of my time to focus on my business. I do not have time to focus on your business. If that boy turns that lens too wide, I will go out of focus. The moment he turns it too wide, I go out of focus. Is your lens too wide? That is what is 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 did not have it on the inside, I had to buy it on the outside because focus is too important to be compromised.
Seasons of Miracles, Message, and Moments
Watch this, Jesus said now you are going to usher in my season of miracles. Once I start showing them miracles, they are going to 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 are in your heyday, when you are doing your thing. People love you when you are 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 are only serving me, Jesus said, you are only serving me for the fish and the loaves. So in the first stage of his life he gave them 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.
From Miracles to Message
That is why they make you take vows better or worse, richer and poorer, 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.
The Real Test of Commitment
That is why as a pastor, you cannot preach to the side of the congregation. You cannot let the congregation manipulate you over divine orders. That is why when somebody comes, I am leaving your church because you preach about this too much, bye. But I cannot let you have a remote control and me be the TV. You do not switch me like you are 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 is wonderful, everything is new. I am a Christian. I am a Christian. I pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and it was a cross.
The Moment Stage: Intimacy with God
I am seeing Jesus in everything. I see Jesus in you. I see Jesus in me. I see, yeah, the miracle stage, serving God because he healed grandma. I prayed over grandma, I told Lord, if you heal grandma, I will 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 are mad at God about taking somebody he was going to take anyway. You are mad because it was not 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 am disappointed he did not do what I wanted him to do. I have been there. I know what that is like but the real test is if I take the hedge from around Job, he will change. The real test is even when I do not get what I want, even when you do not do what I wanted you to do. Even when it did not happen like I wanted it to happen. I am not serving you for the fish and the loaves. Sooner or later, you got to prove your commitment through loving me when you do not like me. Oh, can you love me? You are not ready. Can you love me when you do not like me? Anybody can love you when they like you. Can you love me when you do not like me?
From the miracle stage then he goes to the message stage and it is a certain kind of person who is drawn to the message. Okay, they are 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 would hang out and we would go to lunch. We are not going to lunch in... He said almost a year and a half. If he was just following me for the lunch, he would be gone. But if you are still coming to get the message without the lunch. Mhm. We are talking about focus, focus, wrong focus.
Having Moments with God
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 do not go. They come to get the message, but they are 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 are driving the car. It can be when you are 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 am 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. Did not know what in the world he was going to 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 was not 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 to 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 reigned with him. You have to have laughed and cried with him. You have to have laid out on the altar before him. You had been in the bathtub talking about Lord. You know you the only thing that is holding my head together. If it was not 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 cannot make me doubt him. I know too much about him. You cannot tell me there is no God. I have had a moment with God. I have 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 has had a moment with God, give him some praise like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Do not be ashamed. Do not 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 could not see him. Sometimes I could not understand him. But every now and then I have 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.