John Hagee - The Power Of Your Mind
You change your thoughts and you change your world. Action is the foundation key to all success. Get this concept in your mind. The church was established by action. Jesus gave the 12 disciples a command. It's called "The great commission". "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel". He didn't say, "Sit around in a committee of 12 people and talk it to death until it dies". If you're looking for 12 people to agree on anything, you will die with old age before you accomplish anything. Don't wait until the printing press is invented. Don't wait until the radio comes along, or television, or color television is in every house of America, or the dictator called "The Cell Phone" is dominating the world. You're not going to have to wait to that. Jesus said, go right now.
"Go into all the world". Go with the message that I have given you. Go in the power of my name. Go to heal the sick. Go and cast out demon spirits. Go with the power of the word. Be anointed with the Holy Spirit, and you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. America has powerless churches because we've kicked God, and the word, and the authority of the word out of the house of God. Let it come to us! Let it come back to America! We desperately need to find our moral compass! Can I get an amen from that?
So how do I renew my mind? First, you accept the fact that failure is an event: it's not a person: that yesterday really did end last night, and today is a brand new day. God divided your life into 24-hour modules, because that's all you could stand. Optimism is the foundation of success. Say that with me. Optimism is the foundation of success. Back to the statement, "If you think you can, you can. If you think you won't, you really won't". Secondly, you need to understand that you are what you are and where you are, because you think like you think. When you change your thinking, you change your actions. And when you change your actions, you change your future. Change your thought life and you change your world.
So the question is, what are you putting into your mind? The old computer phrase, "Garbage in: garbage out". Stop watching eight hours of toxic television. Fake news, why do you want to torment yourself with that garbage? Why? Pick up the good news. Feed your mind on the peace of God. Feed your mind on what this book says, "The joy of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow". Joy in the Bible is a powerful thing. The pain of the past is forgotten in the presence of God. Joy is where heaven comes down and fills your soul.
Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel. They had been beaten bloody with whips, and they were singing in the midnight hour. God sent angels down there to vibrate that jail off of its foundation. And they walked out of that jail with the keys in one hand and a convert in the other, because the power of joy conquered their circumstance and conquered their physical pain! Give the Lord praise!
Now for one of the most powerful verses in all of the Word of God, the prophet Isaiah speaks to every person here and those of you who are watching television across America and around the world. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the Gospel and to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to comfort those who mourn, to give beauty for the ashes of sorrow, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness". "The spirit of heaviness" is depression. It's gloominess. God says, I want to give you the garment of praise. And with the power of praise, you absolutely throw off the garment of depression, and you begin to experience joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.
I know that some of you in this audience and many of you watching by television are going through a very dark, trying time in your life, in your marriage, in your business, with your children. It's been a long time since you've really, really been happy. So for 60 seconds, I'm going to give you just a little therapeutic session of heaven. I want you to lift your hands and thank God for the victory that he's about to give you. Lord, we thank you for the victory that's coming. We thank you for the chains that are being broken. You pray. You talk to God about your situation. We thank you because you're going to bring peace that surpasses understanding. You're going to bring the oil of joy to my marriage. You're going to bring our family unity back together again. You're going to give financial provision that I cannot see. The things that are broken in my life, you're going to heal it. Keep that going! And let the joy of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow flood your heart and fill your mind. Now give the Lord praise in his house!
Think about who you are. You are royalty. The royal blood of heaven flows through your veins. God, your Father, has taken from you poverty and given you the riches of Abraham. He's taking from you rags and adopted you as his own. You are sons and daughters of the Most High God. He has taken your sickness and your suffering and given you divine health. He has taken your heartache and given you joy that's unspeakable and full of glory. What satan takes from you, he will make him give it back to you many times over. He has given you the power of his word. He has given you the power of his name. He has given you the power of his blood. Give him praise for what he has given you!
The way you see yourself today will affect your performance tomorrow. Nothing will ever be attempted at all if every possible objection has to be overcome. "Things, which are impossible with men, are possible with God". Listen. Everything is impossible until someone does it. Think about that. Men couldn't fly for centuries until the Wright brothers, in 1903, completed the first controlled all-powered flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. And they flew for about one minute in a contraption that no one would get in today. But because they broke the thought barrier, now you can fly around the world on any airplane you want to. The horseless carriage was something that generations thought could never happen. And then Henry Ford changed that.
"You can't possibly build a protestant evangelical church in San Antonio", I was told, "To seat 5.000 people and fill it". But with God's help, we did it, because nothing is impossible with God. God's limitation is us! When you get your mind stretched with this one verse, "Nothing is impossible with God", and "Whatsoever you ask in the authority of my name, I will do it". You put those two sentences together, and God has given you a blank check to be what you want to be, to go where you want to go, to do what you want to do. No one can defeat you! Get up and get moving!
"Preacher, you can't possibly believe in the impossible. You can't believe that there's going to be the rapture of the church where people just suddenly disappear. That's impossible". In the natural, you might see that. But when you believe the Bible, it's already happened several times. A man by the name of Enoch went for a walk. And the Bible said, "He was not: for God took him". Poof! He just went to heaven. He's been gone for 3.000 years and he's coming back. Elijah was taken into heaven on chariots of fire. He's still there. He's coming back in the Book of Revelations to tell the people and the nations of the world that Messiah is on the way.
The last person the Jewish people are told to look for in the last verses of the Old Testament, "I'm going to send you Elijah, the prophet. And he is going to tell you about me". Soon and very soon, the trump of God is going to sound. The dead in Christ are going to rise. And we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up to be with the Lord in the air! It's going to happen! Believe it or not, nothing is impossible with God! There's going to be a meeting in the air when the church of Jesus Christ sees the king of glory face to face! Give him praise in the house of God!
Your thought life is the advanced man of your true self. Its roots are hidden but the fruit is visible. I can tell what you're thinking about when I just listen to you talk. I've had people tell me over the years, "When you get into a group of people, you don't talk much". Because you can't learn anything talking. But if you listen, I can tell you what people are thinking just by listening. And when I go home, I know where they are. They don't know where I'm at, but I know where they are. The roots are hidden but the fruit is visible. It's your best friend or your worst enemy. Your attitude draws people to you or repels people from you. It's never content until it is expressed. It determines your success or failure. It does not depend on your circumstance: it depends on your choice. It's a rock-rib confidence that endures no matter what the circumstances may be.
There is no victory in life without a fight. There is no sunrise without a night. There is no purchase without a cross. And there is no crown without a cost. Your life embraces faith. And if you wallow in doubt, you will never celebrate victory. Satan attacks every person that God is getting ready to promote. That's a Bible principle. Look at Joseph. One day, he's in jail. Twelve years of reversal, he is now in an Egyptian jail. The next day, he is in the palace of Pharaoh. He went from the jailhouse to the penthouse in 24 hours. When God gets ready to promote you, no one can keep you down. Keep your head up. Keep your eyes focused. Turn it on the cross. Focus on the word. Take this, put it in your mouth, speak it, and believe it! And you you'll achieve the impossible dream! Give the Lord praise in this house!
Stop saying, "I can't". I started to put the sign of a huge tombstone in that screen and put, "I can't, buried this day at Cornerstone Church". Get it out of your mouth. Get it out of your mind. There is nothing you cannot do. If you and God are doing a righteous thing, the impossible can be done! It can be done! It can be done! Stop saying "If". Say, "I will, by God's grace". Stop saying, "It's impossible". Nothing is impossible to those that believe, nothing! Stop saying, "I don't know the right people". You know God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those people have lots of power. Master the art of forgetting the past. Paul says, "Forgetting those things, which are past, and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press toward the prize of the calling of Christ Jesus the Lord".
Let me teach you a therapeutic phrase that can turn your life around. Now I've used this for this congregation for many years. There are thousands of people watching this on television that have never heard it, so listen. The phrase is, "Get over it". All of my children have that chiseled in their brain. Let's practice. Someone starts talking about every miserable experience you've had for the past ten years, start thinking about things that are full of emotional poison. Let me say this: have you been hurt? Get over it. Say it. Get over it. Have you been criticized? Get over it. Have you been rejected? Get over it. Have you been betrayed? Get over it. Have you failed? Get over it. Get over it. Today is a new day. This day is a new day. Act like it! Talk like it! Quit waiting around in the misery of your old boneyard. Give it up! It would be impossible to estimate the number of jobs lost, promotions missed, sales not made, marriages ruined, churches destroyed by whiny, thumb-sucking, pity-pot, Bible-thumping cry babies without grit, focus or fortitude. Did I get all that? Get over it!
One of the my favorite quotations is from president Calvin Coolidge. And that simple phrase is, "Press on". "Press on". Nothing in the world can take the place of divine persistence. Talent will not. Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Persistence and determination alone will reach the goal. Life is like a wheelbarrow. You get nowhere until you start pushing. Press on. Press on. Press on! You fall down? Get up! Try again! You fail? Forget the failure! Failure is a great teacher! Wash it off and keep moving until you reach the objective. Adversity exposes your thought life toward God. Adversity comes to all men.
The brightest crowns that are worn in heaven have been polished and glorified through the furnace of tribulation and adversity. Gold is tried in fire. And the righteous are tried in the furnace of adversity. Adversity does not make a man either weak or strong. But it reveals what you are. Proverbs 24:10, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small". 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My strength is made perfect in weakness". Why? Because you're not doing it in your strength: you're doing it in his! Deuteronomy 33:25, I like this. "As your days are, so shall your strength be". That means the last day and the last hour you live, you can do good things through the power of God. God's strength will be with you.
Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid". Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble". Who is the help in the time of trouble? God is your refuge and your strength. He is our fortress. He is our high tower. God is our shelter in the time of the storm. He is our shield in the day of battle. He is the rock of our salvation in the time of storm.
Our God is greater than the greatest. He's wiser than the wisest. He's higher than the highest. He's the great physician. Our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is your provider. He is the light in the darkest hour. He is the power to protect and deliver you from powers and principalities of darkness. He gives you wisdom for those who ask. He is the all-seeing eye. His eye is on the sparrow and his eye is on you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you. God has not misplaced you! He has numbered the hairs on your head! He loves you! He is your defender! Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! Give him praise in the house of God!
Two illustrations and I close. With a mind of Christ, never submit to intimidation. Don't ever yield to intimidation from anybody. When Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the garden, 500 soldiers came from the Antonian Fortress. And they said, "We seek Jesus of Nazareth". He said, "I am he". There's nothing frightening about that. Those guys, who were trained in combat, fell on the ground, shaking like children. Who is in charge there? The carpenter's son. He had real power. He did not yield to the intimidation of Rome.
A small businessman's clothing store was threatened with extinction by a national chain store that bought all the property on that block around that little store. And they went to the man, who owned the little store, and said, "We want you to sell out to us". He said, "No. This has been my shop. It was my daddy's shop before me. We're going to keep this store". "If you don't sell out, we're going to build completely around you and drive you out of business". He said, "I'm still not selling". The mega corporation, true to its threat, built a massive store around all four sides of the little store that was right in the middle. Mega store, on opening day, put up a sign, "Grand opening". The little merchant that was right in the middle stretched a banner from one side of his store to the other, "Main entrance".
A mother had given her nine-year-old son piano lessons and it was going nowhere. How many of you've given your children piano lessons, and all they can play is chopsticks after four years? You're going enjoy this story, this true story. In desperation, she bought two tickets for her son and herself to go hear Paderewski in concert. They walked in the theater, sat down, and the mother started talking to a woman next to her. Her nine-year-old son saw the massive ebony Steinway on the platform. He walked up on the stage, sat down, and started playing chopstic. The crowd was mortified and started saying, "Stop! Stop"!
Paderewski was back stage behind the curtain. He heard the crowd. He walked out on the stage. He saw what was happening. He told the boy: he said, "Don't quit". And he sat down beside the boy. And he started composing a masterful concerto that blended with this little feeble effort of chopsticks. And it was a masterful, beautiful, musical presentation until the crowd stood and applauded when it was over. So how does that relate to you? Sometimes when you've done the very best you can, it sounds like chopsticks. And you feel like, I have really just fumbled the ball here. I just am getting nowhere here. God says, "Move over. Let me sit beside you. Let you and I play this out together. I can make this ugly mess beautiful. I'm going to show you what real music from heaven sounds like". God will sit there and make your simplest efforts a masterful work of beauty. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Stand to your feet. How many of you in this room can say, pastor Hagee, in my mind today, I have the habit of remembering old things that turn my thoughts to poison and ruin my peace of mind. It ruins my fellowship with the people in my family or the fellowship with other believers. There are hateful things, painful things, that I want to truly bury and get away from that destroy the quality of my life, my marriage, whatever. If that describes you, would you slip your hand up? And I want to have prayer with you. Hundreds of you raising your hand. Those of you watching by television, I want you to join us in this prayer right now. Would you all just raise your hand? Pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, I approach your throne, in the precious name of Jesus Christ, and I surrender my thought life to you. I want to sacrifice everything in me that reaches for envy and malice: that feeds on rage and abuse: that feeds on abuse and trial. And from this day forward, I want my mind to be cleansed of all of this emotional toxic poison: that I can have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Let it flood my heart, soul, mind, and body until it affects every relationship in my life, in Jesus' name. Amen.