Creflo Dollar - How to Live in the Supernatural - Part 7
If you have your Bibles, go with me to the Book of Mark chapter 6, verse 45 through 52. This has been our key passage for the last several weeks. I am gonna try to get a little further along down the line. But we've been talking about how to live in the supernatural, how to live in it, not just living in the supernatural, but giving instructions on some of the things you have to do to actually see that come to pass in your life. Now today, we're gonna focus on the cure for a hardened heart because, you know, we found some things out.
So, let's go ahead and read this and pick up from where we left off last week. And I encourage you to get the last couple of weeks so you can kind of pick up from where we left off. Mark chapter 6, verse 45. "And straightway he constrained his disciples, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when evening was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land". So, Jesus was on the land, and the disciples were in a boat and on the sea. "And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh under them walking upon the sea, and he would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit," or another translation says "phantom," or we're familiar with the term "a ghost".
So, they saw Jesus walking on water, and they thought it was a ghost, and they cried out. And then he says, "For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and he saith unto them". Watch this very strange phrase. He said, "Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid". So, there are a couple of things going on. They're in the midst of a situation that appeared like it was a great storm in the boat. The wind was blowing, it was rocking the boat all over the place. They thought that they would die. And on top of that, they see, not knowing it was Jesus, they thought they saw a ghost walking on the water coming towards them. And so, Jesus showed up and he says this, in the middle of all the trouble he says, "Be of good cheer". Literally he said, from this perspective, "You should be of good cheer. Why is it that you're not of good cheer"? And then he says, "All right, let's get rid of the issue here. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. It is I," okay? "And then he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: And they were so amazed and themselves beyond measure, and they wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves".
All of this going on, the fear, them being amazed at what was happening, them wondering at what was happening. He said, "They considered not the miracle of the loaves". And then he said, "Here's the issue, here's why they didn't see supernatural things". They could have stopped that storm. They didn't have to be full of fear. What happens in our lives when things are happening and he's already given us the supernatural means by which to handle the situation but for some reason, we don't handle it? What's the issue? The issue is, what is it that you're thinking on? What are you considering more than the miracles that he's already done in your life? Here he says, "For they considered not the miracle of the loaves". They just left the situation where thousands were fed with two pieces of fish and five loaves of bread. They were right in the middle of a supernatural happening. They were right in the middle of a miracle, but they started considering the natural circumstances and completely forgot about the supernatural issue. "They considered not the miracle of the loaves".
And here's what he calls it when you consider the natural more than you consider the supernatural. He calls it a hardened heart. He says, "For their heart was hardened". Now, if there is any one thing that can stop the supernatural from manifesting itself in your life, it would be a hardened heart. That one thing that will stop, you see, you live in the natural realm and yet, there's a supernatural world that goes the same time that this natural world goes. And so, when you don't have any hope in this natural world, you can access the supernatural world and do like Abraham, hope against hope. But there are a lot of Christians, they don't do that. They're just Christians by name and Christian by T-shirt, but they ignore the fact that they have access to a supernatural higher level of living. But they won't consider that. They consider the natural and what they can see more than they consider the supernatural world and those things that they cannot see.
And so, I said to you last week that hardness of heart is not just rebellion towards God. That's not what we're talking about here. Hardness of heart, in it's simplest sense, is relating more easily to the natural realm than you do the supernatural realm. And most Christians I know relate more easily to the natural realm. They consider what they can see more real than what they cannot see. You see, we're more moved by what we see than anything. And for a Christian, that becomes a problem. You're more moved by what you can see than anything. And so, you're limited. In other words, you only believe what you see. You're only moved by what you see. And God has provided for us a higher level of existence, but we will never tap into it, and we'll never see it operate in our life consistently because we only believe what we can see. Therefore our heart is hardened against the things we can't see, against the supernatural world. If you understand what I just said, say, "amen".
We should be moved more about what God says. We should be moved more about what God says than by what the news says. And right now, you're living in a situation and you're being moved more by what the news says and ain't paying no attention to what God has already said. I think some of y'all need to shut it off. I say, I say, I say, I say, I think some of y'all need to shut it down, shut it off because you are giving more attention to what the world is saying, and you're not even giving attention to what God has already promised you. Having a hard heart is defined as being deprived of wisdom, deprived of judgment, deprived of understanding. When your heart is hardened, you have no wisdom, no judgment, no understanding. Look at Mark chapter 8, verse 17 through 21. Oh, man, this is gonna be such a blessing to you. Somebody says, "Well, you start teaching yet"? No, I'm just laying the foundation so we can all get on the same place.
All right now, check this out. Mark chapter 8, verse 17 through 21. We'll read that. He says, "And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because you have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have your heart yet hardened"? You see what Jesus is saying? He says, "We're in a situation here where they have no bread, and you're considering, you're giving your attention to having no bread, and you have not yet been able to perceive that there are things that can operate on a higher level. And the lack of bread won't be no problem if you'll give attention to my provision". Oh, my God. Then Jesus goes around and Jesus says this, he says, "You have eyes, but you see not? You have ears, but you hear not? And do you not remember what you've already seen"?
See, there's something about when God does something in your life, and it's supernatural, and you can't explain it, and you don't know how it happened; you know it was God. There's something about not forgetting it. And when the challenges of life show up, you need to have a flashback and remember what he's already done, hallelujah. Because if you did it once, come on, somebody, he'll do it again. He says, "Don't you remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand," he said, "How many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that you do not understand"?
Jesus said, "Twice you saw the invasion of the supernatural show up and do something that wasn't supposed to happen in the natural. Twice you were a part of it. How is it that you don't understand? How is it that you don't understand when God healed you one time that when sickness came back, how is it that you don't understand that he can do it again? How is it that you don't understand when your baby need a pair of shoes and all your money's spent and rent was due and something supernatural happened, how is it that you don't understand that the same God that did what he did for you that time is ready to do it now"?
I'll tell you how: because you find that you get yourself so focused on what you can see. And see, when you're focused more on what you can see, your heart has been hardened against what you can't see. Are you listening to what I'm saying now? So, the way your heart becomes hardened is by what you do not consider. Your heart becomes hardened because of what you do not consider. You don't consider the Word, you don't consider the promise, and you don't even consider what has already happened in your life. And so, what happens? You are a Christian coming to church saying, "Praise the Lord" with a hardened heart. "Praise the Lord, Lord, help me feel better, I'm just so depressed, all this stuff going on in the world, and this and that, and oh, I'm scared and"... No, no, no, no, I ain't got time for none of that. When my heart gets like that, I know where to go. I know what to start thinking. I'm not gonna sit up there and let the television dictate to me where my attention goes. Honey, I'm looking at a realm that is higher than where I am right now.
You remember Elijah's servant when he saw the Syrian armies around him, and he thought they were doomed? And Elijah prayed, "Lord, open the boy's eyes so he can see what's really going on". And his spiritual eyes were open, and he looked around and surrounding the Syrian army were a host of angels and chariots of fire surrounding them. I'm telling you right now, you can look at stuff that's going on in the natural world but, honey, there's something greater going on in that supernatural world. God's got your back.
All right, now watch this now. This is so important. The third word I'm about to mention in this sentence, this is where our focus is gonna be. What you focus, now, this is the word here, What you focus your attention on, you will be sensitive to. If you focus your attention on the troubles of the world, you're gonna develop a sensitivity to that. What you focus your attention on, here's how this whole thing's working. Satan is after the attention of believers. He not after the attention of somebody, listen, he's already gotten unsaved folks' attention. He wants to get your attention. He want all y'all locked up at home scurred, giving all your attention, all your attention to whatever. Just don't give it to God, just don't give it to his promises and don't consider the supernatural. Focus your attention. That's what he wants. What you focus your attention on, you'll be sensitive to. What you neglect, you will be hardened to. What you focus your attention on, you will be sensitive to. What you neglect, you will be hardened to.
Are you neglecting what God promised? Are you neglecting the miracles that he's already done? Are you neglecting what he can provide and do for you through the supernatural? To neglect those things, to just decide, "Well, I came to church". To come here for an hour or so and then leave and then go back to giving your attention somewhere else, dude, you're wasting your time. You might as well just stay home and look at CNN all night. Where's your attention going? What trouble in your life that you're giving your attention to? When trouble shows up in your life, you got to immediately grab the attention from that trouble and go find a promise. Do you know you can go through the Bible and select your victory? What victory do you want in your life? Give attention to that. Praise God. The Bible says, "Attend to my Word". Glory be to God.
Give attention to it. This is kind of like a chess game. You gotta know how to play this game, or the devil's gonna wipe you out. See, before you could play church a little bit, you understand? But this is serious right now. This is serious now. People dying right now. You better learn how to play this game right and the way you play this game is, first of all, realizing, greater is he that is on the inside of me than he that's in the world. Secondly, realizing that I got a book of promises that God, who cannot lie, is ready to bring to pass. And thirdly, you begin to realize to turn this thing all on, I've got the key called my attention. And now I will now focus my attention on God's Word no matter what I see, no matter what I hear, no matter what I feel. I'm not moved by what I feel. I'm not moved by what I hear. I'm not moved by what I see. I'm moved by the promises of God. And that's where my attention is gonna go. And so, now you turn things on.
Now, see, you can sit back and say, "Well, I don't think it take all that," fine, whatever. But after a while when you get tired of all the hell visiting you every day and you begin to realize, "Wait a minute, maybe I need to go on and do what the pastor say do". See, 'cause we ain't playin'. We've spent 20, 30 years learning how to do church that we failed to learn how to do life. It's time to learn how to do life now. It's time to learn how to do life. You've been doing church, playing at church, shouting at church, "Hey"! You know how to do all that stuff at. Well, that ain't gonna do nothing for you, baby. You gotta get that attention on the promises and the Word of God so that you can come out victorious every day of your life. Oh, my goodness.
So, focus your attention on what God's Word says and neglect trouble. Your heart should be hardened towards the trouble, hardened towards the attack of the enemy. I've never seen, you know the most dangerous man, one of the most dangerous men in the world is one who's full of fear. I ain't buyin' it, mm-mm. I ain't buyin' it. Nope. I will not wake up in the morning anxious, shaken, running to the TV to see what was happening, what's gonna happen, and full of fear. I ain't doing it. I ain't doing it. I invite you to join me in a fast from bad news. "Yeah, but Brother Dollar, if we don't ever look at news, we ain't gonna know what's going on". God will tell you. The only thing you need to know going on is what God tell you. He'll tell you what's going on. Hey, Lord, what's going on? "It's all good, just stay focused". What's going on, Lord? "I'm getting ready to come back, get ready. Stay ready 'cause you'll have no warning. You won't have a second worth of warning".
There are things happening on this planet has never happened before, and the whole world's recognized it. They're blaming it on global warming instead of understanding it as a global warning. Oh, he coming back. For everybody that didn't believe it, he on his way back. I don't know when, I don't know where. Somebody says, "Well, how we gonna leave here"? It don't make me no mind if he want to swing low a sweet chariot, I'll catch it. If he want to send the morning train, I'll be glad to get on it. If he want to send the old ship of Zion, I have no problem checking it. But I tell you what, I ain't staying here, praise the Lord. He is on his way back! Jesus is coming back! Lord, I'm feeling kind of Baptist up here this morning. Whoo! See, most people have neglected the things of God and paid attention to the things of the world. It's not like the first time but see, now that it matters the most, now you're seeing what happens when you neglect that kind of stuff.
You know, stress will amplify anything that's going on with your body. Stress will amplify stuff that's going on with your body. Now, the cure for a hardened heart is a total commitment to keep our mind stayed on the Lord. The cure for a hardened heart, Isaiah 26:3 and Psalms 4:8-9. The cure for a hardened heart is to keep or to have a total commitment to keep our minds. There's a game, the war, the battle is up here. You're gonna win it or lose it up here. The key is to keep your minds stayed on the Lord, a commitment to do that, a commitment to do that, which means it's not one of these things that I'mma try to do if I have time. It's one of these things that I am setting myself to discipline myself to do because I see how vital it is. I see now how important it is. This requires me to commit myself to this. It's not some little religious thing I go home and just forget about.
Now my mind, I've got to commit myself. At the end of the day, if I take a sum total, you know sometimes at the end of the week, your phone sends the amount of screen time that you have spent on the phone? And if you were to take a total of the amount of time you spent where your thoughts and your attention, hopefully it will say that you spent most of the time thinking and attending to the things of God and the Word. But you and I both know that's not true with a lot of Christians. We have turned this thing into a drive-by, okay? We drive by on Sunday or drive by on the internet and, you know, drive by and stream by and go by, and then return to the things that are defeating us because we're not making a commitment to discipline ourselves where our mind is concerned, where our thinking is concerned. Follow me very carefully.
Isaiah 26:3 says this: "Thou will keep him in perfect peace". Perfect peace, first of all, peace is security in the midst of turmoil. Peace is security in the midst of turmoil. And he says, "I'm gonna keep you in perfect peace". So, I declare over everybody at the sound of my voice, the blessing of peace be over you right now. Peace is a blessing, all right? "Thou will keep him in perfect peace," who? Who's he gonna keep in perfect peace? Who is he gonna keep in perfect peace? Whose mind is what? Stayed on thee. Now, why would I even want to discipline myself to get my mind stayed on God and stayed on his Word? Because I trust him. So, this is now the authentication of your belief, really, your trust in God. You know, if I really trust him, first of all, if I trust him, I'm gonna keep my mind on him. If I keep my mind on him, I'm gonna stay in peace. But you gotta settle this issue. "Do I trust God more than everybody else"?