Michael Todd - Anchored: Mark My Words
Oh, come on! If you’re excited about what God is doing today, oh, come on! Wherever you’re watching from, let’s give God—the God of the universe, the God who is still good—a big shout of praise in this place! Hallelujah! God, You’re worthy!
Hey, listen, this is my first Sunday preaching in 2021, and I feel something special is going to happen. I didn’t know I was going to be dressed like an angel in heaven today, but I believe God is doing something; heaven is coming to earth. And not just in this arena, but He’s coming to your house. I’m excited about what God has for us today. If you’re excited, will you do me a favor—on your couch, in your home, wherever you are—run on track! Will you put your hands together and give God a shout of praise? I said, will you put your hands together and give God a shout of praise? Hallelujah!
See, this year we’re going to figure out who the people are that just came to watch and spectate and who the people are that are going to participate with God this year. I’m just grateful for a church who has decided—everybody say, «I decided"—that we weren’t going to let a pandemic, a presidential election, or whatever is going on keep us from the one thing that rules over all things, which is our relationship with God.
This year I feel a special… um, like, I don’t know what else to say. It’s just like there’s another level of confidence that I feel. Our church is right where we’re supposed to be at the exact time we’re supposed to be, doing exactly what God has called us to do, and I’m just grateful you are joining us today, wherever you’re at.
I need to see where you are right now in the chat. I need you to tell me, where are you watching from today? Because I believe God has given me a word. And y’all know what? So God has been speaking to me for six months about what I’m about to share with you today. Now, I don’t know about you, but some people can cook, but other people cook with love. Y’all know when they start the night before or two nights before, and there’s stuff that’s just simmering and sitting there? This word that God has given me, the word for 2021, has been literally simmering in my spirit for over six months, and I’m so excited to share it with you.
But today I don’t want to share something that your heart is closed to. Yeah, the right seed on the wrong ground never produces fruit. So before we start sharing anything on the first Sunday that your pastor is preaching in 2021, could we just take a sign of humility? Would everybody just lift your hands? I know this may be a little strange, and not just lift them like this—I want you to lift them like you’re ready to receive something. Yep! Because I don’t have what you want, but God does. I want you to know that I’m just a vehicle. This is just an atmosphere; we are just a vessel. But the God of the universe wants to give you something, speak to you. The Holy Spirit is ready. We’ve been praying, y’all! Last night, we were in seven days of prayer and fasting, and last night something broke off in here! We went off the live stream, and for a whole nother hour we were praying, and miracles, signs, and wonders! We were praying for your family. I’m telling you, God is ready to do something, but are you ready to receive?
Somebody in faith say, «God, I’m ready to receive!» Some of you are waiting for something else to happen, but when you say, «God, I’m ready to receive,» then you gotta wait on it. The very thing—the very healing, the very confirmation, the security that you need—it’s not coming in what I’m preaching; it’s coming from God. Somebody just say it again: «God, I’m ready to receive!»
Whatever that means for 2021, I thank You, Father! As a church, we’re ready to receive. I stand, Father God, as the lead servant of this house, saying I’m ready to receive. God, I know what You’ve told me, but I’m ready to receive whatever addition or adaptation that You have. God, I’m ready to receive. Father God, I know that many of us have made our plans, but today we’re saying we’re ready to receive whatever You want to do, whatever You want to change, whatever You want to take out, whatever You want to correct. Whatever was our flesh, whatever, Father God, is supposed to produce fruit, we’re ready to receive. Father, we’re ready to receive—not just the blessings but the correction. We’re ready to receive.
Oh, y’all want to really pray right now—God, we’re ready to receive! We’re ready to receive, Father God, everything that You have for us! Father God, You’re the only one that knows not just what we want, but what we need. So today, Father God, as a community, we stand, and I stand, and we give this church back to You—it’s Yours! We give our families back to You—they’re Yours! We give our purpose and our careers back to You—they are Yours! And we are ready to receive whatever You have for us. Have Your way in this place today, Father!
Holy Spirit, I can’t do this without You. Tag keen back again; I need You to come into this place and overrun us with Your presence. God, for every person who’s watching that hasn’t been to church in a long time and is skeptical, I thank You that Your love is wrapping all around them right now. Thank You, Father, that we are ready to receive. In Jesus' name, we agree!
Oh, y’all want to really pray right now—God, we’re ready to receive! We’re ready to receive, Father God, everything that You have for us! Father God, You’re the only one that knows not just what we want, but what we need. So today, Father God, as a community, we stand, and I stand, and we give this church back to You—it’s Yours! We give our families back to You—they’re Yours! We give our purpose and our careers back to You—they are Yours! And we are ready to receive whatever You have for us. Have Your way in this place today, Father!
Holy Spirit, I can’t do this without You. Tag keen back again; I need You to come into this place and overrun us with Your presence. God, for every person who’s watching that hasn’t been to church in a long time and is skeptical, I thank You that Your love is wrapping all around them right now. Thank You, Father, that we are ready to receive. In Jesus' name, we agree!
If you believe it, will you give God one big shout? Come on, clap your hands! Shout unto God with the voice of triumph! Yo, all right, let’s go! We are starting part one of a series that we are calling… I can’t tell you yet because I have to really walk you to the word of the year. This year, I have to walk you to it because sometimes, one thing that I’ve noticed—I’ll start like this—one thing that I’ve noticed is that when you don’t have a value for something, your reception of it is not what it should be.
Let me give you a prime example. I have three beautiful children and one on the way—shout out to my baby mama—cooking our last baby! You look good, girl! I’ve noticed that my oldest daughter, Isabella, needs help receiving the level of gift that she is getting. Let me help you. At Christmas time, she doesn’t know how much things cost. She has no concept of how many people I had to fight to get the toy, how I put my life in danger from coronavirus just to wait in line! She has no idea of what it is, and so many times when we go to give her something that she has no clue of the value of, she does not appreciate it in the way that it should be appreciated because she has no value attached to her gift.
What I’ve found is that even though I put a lot into it, if there’s not an understanding of what it is and where it came from and how much it cost, you can treat it as something very common. I have seen my daughter treat the $250 toy the same way she treats the Dollar Tree toy! Now all my parents know what I’m talking about, which makes me want to just go to the Dollar Tree and only give her those things. But until I set her up to understand, «No, no, no, baby, we don’t leave that outside because this costs too much to leave outside,» or, «No, we don’t spill putty; we don’t paint on this. You can paint on that, but you must put some value on this because it’s worth more than what you think it is.»
One of the things that I’ve found is when God gives vision, many of us are treating it as cheap suggestions. We’ve not governed ourselves to understand, «No, no, no, I don’t share that with everybody because everybody doesn’t know how to treat this. I cannot allow what God showed me to be put up as a suggestion; I have to value it as something that is going to happen, that God gave me a glimpse of, something I have to work in the middle of, that I’ve got to stay committed to no matter if anybody else stays committed to it.» I need to bring you value of vision today because I might drop a word on you and say it’s from God, but if you think it’s the same thing as the motivational speaker that you scroll up to on Instagram, you’ll miss what God’s trying to do. I’m not talking about something for marketing; I’m talking about something for a miracle. I’m not talking about something that makes you feel good; I’m talking about something that makes your faith move.
Let me calm down; I’m already getting a little too hyped. When you bring value to vision, it changes the way you treat it. At Transformation Church, God has told me as the lead pastor—I didn’t have many qualifications. I could talk a lot; I understood a lot of stuff once it was shown to me, but I didn’t have any innate abilities to do a lot of things. The one thing that I will say that I have done from the very beginning, or before I became a lead pastor, is I would mark down the words that God said. That’s why I called today «Mark My Words.»
Because one of the things that God would tell me to do is write this down, and I would have no idea how it would happen, when it would happen, where it would happen, or even why it would happen, but for some reason God would give me these glimpses of things and He would say, «Mark My words—put it down.» I put that on me! Y’all remember when you were in elementary school—I might be dating myself—or middle school, and you wanted to say something? «Bro, I got the new Jordans!» They’d be like, «No, you didn’t get the new Jordans!» They’d say, «Put that on something!» Yeah! And then they’d be like, «I put that on everything!» And it was like, «No, no, no, put that on something!» And then you know it was next level when they said, «I put that on my mama!» Y’all know what I’m talking about; I put that on my mama! And then they would take it to the—"I put that on me!»
What God began to tell me was He said, «Mark My words,» and I said, «God, how is this going to happen?» He said, «I’ll put it on Me. This is not about your qualifications; this is not about what you think you can get done. This is something that I’m telling you, and I will bring you through so that I can get glory. Put it on Me!» Everybody say, «Mark My words!» My question to you today is, what are the things that God has shown you? What are the visions He’s given you for your family, for your marriage, for your business that you marked down—not that you’re hoping will happen. I’m not talking about wishing; I’m not talking about hopeful and positive thinking. I’m talking about where you have had enough to not just get a vision from God, but you believed it enough to write it down, to share it with somebody, to say it out of your mouth. Somebody say, «Mark My words!»
It makes me go back to the pattern of God. See, God has a pattern. When I look at Moses and the children of Israel, when God wanted to lead them, He wanted to give them some directions on how to do something. So Moses went up to the top of the mountain, and he got with God through prayer, our conversation, and God gave Moses some things, and He said, «Mark My words down.» That’s where we get the Ten Commandments from. It was one man spending time with God, getting vision from God, and believing it enough to mark it down, and he marked it down. Thousands of years later, my daughters are learning the Ten Commandments because somebody marked his words.
What I’m trying to encourage you is that marking God’s words is not about you; it’s about legacy. It’s about God doing something past you! Yeah, see, the spoken word lives only for a moment, but when you write that thing down, it lives forever! We’re reading books from people who aren’t here anymore! Yeah! But did you mark down what God said, or are you trying to protect God’s reputation? Well, I don’t want to mark it down; I don’t want to say it; I don’t want to do something because just in case it doesn’t happen. God has never needed you to defend Him, and He doesn’t need it today. He’s saying, «I’m looking all around! Can I find somebody who would actually believe Me to mark My words?»
Somebody say, «Mark My words!» Okay, let me get back. The pattern of marking God’s word happens like this: It happens through praying, hearing, listening, receiving, believing. One more time: praying, hearing, listening, receiving, and believing. That’s why we do 21 days of prayer at the beginning of every year: because we’re making space for God to give us what we need so we can mark His words. How do we do it, Pastor Mike? I’m glad you asked! By praying! What is prayer? Talking to God! I love prayer because whatever your personality is, that’s how God wants to hear you pray. Yo, «God, this is trash! What’s happening in my life right now?»
And Father, I need You to come and do something! Or I’m about to shake things up, God, I need You to move in my mind because I’m thinking all kinds of wild thoughts right now and, shorty, is looking good to me. God, I want to lay hands and pray for her in bed. Father, I need You to help me keep my way. He doesn’t care how it sounds to anybody else; Your personality is anointed to communicate with God. Somebody needs to hear me say that God is not offended by what you say or what you don’t say. He’s big enough to handle every inflection, every thought, and every hurt. God, I can’t do this anymore. I don’t have words to pray, and that last stillborn baby has taken away my last good thing to say. So today, I’m going to sit in Your presence, but You’re going to have to hear my heart.
Do you know the Bible tells us that He understands the moan, the groan, the utterance, the sound? All I’m telling you is that if you’re going to see the things that God wants you to see, you’ve got to go to Him first. So you go in praying, and then you have to hear. And this is one of the things that I said—hearing and then listening. I know some of you who are really analytical might think that’s the same thing. No, no, no, no. Hearing is just awareness. Right now, I’m hearing a lot of things. I’m hearing somebody walk away right now. Y’all are hearing your kids on an iPad; you might be hearing the washing machine going in the background right now. You’re hearing; you’re aware that God is in the midst. You’re aware that God is around. You’re aware when you’re listening to music, and God wants us to be aware, but then, He wants us to actually listen.
Hearing God and listening to God are two totally different things because you can be around the atmosphere of God, hearing Him and being aware of Him. But when you listen, you intentionally focus. That’s why 21 days of prayer and fasting is something that you have to do, because it gives you the space, the time, and the ability not just to hear God but to listen to Him, to focus, to quiet yourself long enough to allow all your talking to stop in your mind, and to be able to see what is the still small voice God is speaking in. And then you go from praying, hearing, listening, to receiving. That’s what we were doing at the beginning. God, I want to receive from You. What do You want to receive?
Every year, we got to receive vision. Everybody say vision. Because without vision, a lot of people do dumb stuff. Let me be very clear: without vision, you are not your best self. Nobody’s ever become their greatest version by accident. Nobody has ever tripped into championships; nobody has ever accidentally had a great marriage; nobody has ever subsequently built a Fortune 500 company. It was—everybody shout at me—vision! And that’s why we want to receive vision from God. But it’s not enough just to receive it; then you’ve got to believe it—believe what God is saying. Today, I think that we need to take a journey through understanding how important vision is as I prepare at the end of this message to share what I believe God has prophetically given me and confirmed over and over for the past six months: what Transformation Church is supposed to grab hold of this year, which is going to play out in every area of your life. But I’m telling you right now, God is always speaking.
The question is, will you mark His words? Somebody say, «Mark my words.» Let me give you this as an additive: you never mark God’s words by facts; you can only mark God’s words by faith. God never gives a word to you that is already accomplished. So if your marriage is jacked up and God says your marriage is going to be a marriage other couples will learn from, do not fight that. Mark the word; let God show you by faith. If you’re sitting here counting your last few pennies, but God says, «This time next year, you’re going to be giving away money,» you better mark His words. You better mark His words because you do not mark His words by facts. You mark His words by faith. If you had it, you wouldn’t need faith. But God is saying, «I’m trying to give you a receipt today for something that will arrive in a later season.»
And it’s not until we mark God’s words that we get to see everything that God is saying. This is so real to me because, as a young pastor—we’re about to celebrate six years very soon—one of the things—oh yeah, we can celebrate; we made it! So Jesus be offense. But as I celebrate that, I remember sitting in meetings with our finance team, and when I started off, I hated finance meetings. I hated that—number one, because we had no money. A finance meeting with no money is torture! I hated thinking of all the pluses and minuses and what would happen. And I remember our person that was over finances at the time, who is now overseeing all business in our church, Tammy, and we would sit in those meetings, and Brie would be in those meetings.
I would get this unction that God would say, «Just say something bold; just say what I’m telling you right now.» Just say something that does not look like what you’re going through. I said one day, «Mark my words.» I stood up and told them, «Mark my words, we’re going to be able to give to other churches.» They looked at me like, «Yay, Pastor, speaking by faith!» But I was like, «No, no, no, no. You don’t hear me. Mark my words; we’re going to be able to stand up and be a difference-maker in our city.» When we were just in the hood of north Tulsa and not 250 people were coming to the service, I said, «Mark my words; there are going to be more white people that come to our church.»
I would just begin to say stuff out loud. It was almost like heaven was saying, «He believes Me.» Wow! I’ve been trying to speak this to a bunch of people. And He’s like, «Gabriel, Michael, y’all look over there in the hood. They actually know a lot!» We know a lot of people read the Bible, but is he writing it down? Is he sharing that with people? Is he actually putting seed towards what he believes is going to happen? We gotta do it; we gotta make sure that the word I showed him in the dark comes to fruition in the light. And the reason I can stand here so confidently, I don’t need any notes today; I’m talking from my life. I can stand here boldly and tell you that when you mark the words that God says, you can take it to the bank. When you mark the way, it may not come when you think you need it; it may not come in the form and the version that you wanted it. But I’m telling you, when God begins to give you vision, you can mark His words.
I’m standing here because it is our routine. It is our ritual to take the first month of the year and say, «God, what are You saying?» Because if You don’t say it, we’re not going. The problem is many of you are off and running in 2021, and you have false-started because you never got clearance. I’m talking to somebody right now. You’ve already told everybody on Instagram what your plan is, and God says, «Go ahead and run with that, but I’ll be back here,» because until you come and get vision from Me, all of that is in vain. Vision without God is in vain. But once you get a vision from God, you can begin to run with it.
And that’s why, as we start off on this Vision Sunday, this is the start of a vision month. You cannot give me one Sunday to talk about vision; it’s all in my bones! It’s like Jeremiah, shut up in my bones. I’m going to bring you to a place where you value vision so much that many of you are going to stop listening to external voices that have good ideas because a good idea is not a vision. It has to be a God idea for your life. And when you get that God idea, then you can move. So Transformation Church, every year I want you to know whether you just started with us or you’ve been with us; vision is more important than anything else in your life, and it’s more important than anything in this church because I want you to understand that it is important to God.
Look at Proverbs 29:18, and I want you to take this simple scripture, memorize it, tattoo it on your heart. Make sure that you’re repeating it and saying it to yourself all the time: «Where there is no vision, the people perish.» Whatever area is dying in your life is a result of no vision. Your relationships keep dying; you have no vision for them. Your business keeps flailing; it’s because where there is no vision—another translation says «where there is no prophetic declaration"—where there is nothing that God said to show you what’s happening in the future. When you don’t see yourself the way God sees you—where there is no vision, the people perish. Another translation says they «cast off restraint.» That means the vision keeps you in your lane; the vision keeps you in restraint.
And when you don’t have a vision, that’s how you can go this way, end up with that person, or start this business. It’s because when there is no vision, you stop caring, and the result you are living in today is partly because many of us have no vision, no prophetic word from God—nothing that you can say, «I don’t know about all of this, but I know God said this.» What is the one thing that you know that God told you to do? I’m not saying a million things, but what do you know? And I’m telling you, if you don’t know anything, it’s not because God’s not speaking. It’s because you haven’t made time to listen. Why do y’all meet for 21 days every night, stopping eating, and doing all this other stuff? Because vision!
Write this point down: vision is most valuable. Vision is more valuable than money. You missed it! Look at me: vision is more valuable than money. Vision is more valuable than your marriage. Vision is most valuable! Why do you say that? Because without that vision for the money, the marriage, or the business, it will perish. Some of y’all’s friendship groups are so jacked up because you don’t have a vision for your friendships. Wow! I’m going to leave that right now, but you always talk about how depressed and lonely you are. It’s because you will not get a vision for your friendships. I’m talking about stuff that nobody wants to talk about, but the reason you’re overweight is that you don’t have a vision for health. You’ll never see! And this is what I’m telling you. Until you get a vision, until it becomes the most valuable thing, you will always continue to wander. You’ll always continue to let what happens, happen. Some of y’all are so traumatized, and you post about trauma and talk about mental health, but you don’t have a vision of counseling.
Now, you just spent $500 on a PlayStation 5 for a baby daddy that’s going to leave you next week, but you won’t get a vision for your own mental health. Vision is most valuable, and let me help you understand this: vision is valuable whether you believe in God or not. It’s a principle of the earth. Let me help you understand: vision takes man to the moon. Somebody had to sit in their room and say, «Let me get a vision of going to the moon.» God dropped a vision. Vision makes man go to the moon. Vision makes an airplane be built in a bicycle shop.
Vision makes a man take off from the free-throw line. Nobody told him to do that. That was not something that had been done, but something he saw before it was seen! Something he saw before it was seen! Vision makes you build a car with no motor. We’re talking about Tesla being the most valuable car company; that came from somebody’s vision before it was ever seen! Vision makes a man build an ark when it’s never rained. Ask my boy Noah. Vision makes you put your baby in a basket when they’re killing every baby two and under. Vision allows you to still be able to raise him. Vision makes you leave your successful fishing business and follow a man that claims to be the Christ. Vision will make you sit in a room at 7:30 in the morning and write down all these outlandish things that God tells you and mark the date in your daughter’s room.
That’s what vision will do! Vision will give you the audacity to climb up on a cross and die for people who may not even receive you, «For the joy that was set before me; for the vision that I saw that none of y’all saw! Father, please forgive them, because they didn’t see the vision!» Somebody shout at me: «Vision!» It is most valuable! And the problem with many of us is, vision isn’t that valuable to you. That’s the truth of the matter. You don’t really care about vision; you just go with whatever comes, or you see the next opportunity, and you just see the next thing that is a trend. God’s saying, «That ain’t how I operate! I will give you a glimpse from heaven into the future and ask you to hold and obey and stand and be steadfast and be consistent.»
Everything else doesn’t look like it’s going to come to pass. That’s what I do; I give vision. But this is the crazy thing about vision: being valuable. Something can be valuable and still not be your value. Okay, there’s when we say valuable—everybody can recognize the price of something. But when I say it’s your value, that’s the priority that you set on it. So there’s a difference between vision being valuable (yeah, we need vision) and vision being your actual value. It’s the difference between worth and you actually thinking it’s worthy of your time, worthy of your effort. And what I’m telling you is, as we walk on this journey this year as a church, I’m not trying to raise just milk-fed Christians that only need the little tidbits to make their week feel better. I’m talking about—let me stop—I’m trying to raise some people that, come hell or high water, if they shut it down, if they tell me I can’t, that I have something on the inside of me that’s holding me. It’s worth what God has told me to do.
Somebody shout at me one more time: vision! And that’s why I need everybody to understand that vision doesn’t just need to be recognized as valuable; vision needs to become your value. Your value. Everybody recognizes in 2021 that health is valuable, but it has not become everybody’s value. Wow, health is valuable! Yeah, but right after this fast, some of y’all are going to do worse things to your body than you did leading up to it. Because what’s valuable does not equal your value. And what I’m begging you, church, is let’s in 2021 make vision your value. I will have vision for my family. I will have vision for my wife. I will have vision for my husband. I will have vision for the children we’re going to raise. I will have vision for my singleness. I will have vision for my finances. I will have vision for my future. Somebody shout at me: vision!
All right, so vision is most valuable, but vision must be a value. Okay, and, «Tester, how do I get vision?» I’m glad you asked! Write this point down: vision is always vertical. You can never get a vision horizontally. Friends don’t bring vision. I need everybody to hear me say this: friends don’t bring vision. Can you hear me very clearly? Friends don’t bring vision. My company doesn’t bring vision. Vision has to be vertical. Vision comes from God. God is the source of my vision. Now, I know this goes against a lot of stuff that people will tell you, but what I’m telling you right now is your vision has to come from God. One of the things that I think about all the time is that if a vision doesn’t come from God, it is void, because God is the source of all vision. Look at Colossians chapter 1, verse 16. It says, «For in Him"—that’s in God—"all things were created.» Everything!
Everything was created in God—things in heaven. I love this scripture! —and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. Can I help you understand that anything God wants to get done in the earth, He’s going to give vision? And vision always comes from God. Can I help you? The most inadequate object is supposed to give God glory. So He gave somebody a vision for this, and He asked them to allow it to be released on the earth. And when this washcloth is functioning in its greatest capacity, it gives God glory. The bees, when they buzz, they’re giving God glory. Everything that has ever been created—y’all read the verse, right? —everything in heaven and earth was created from God.
What I’m trying to say is that God has no lack of vision; He has a lack of vessels. It’s already created in heaven, and He’s waiting for a place to deposit it on earth so it can actually come to pass. You don’t have to go searching all around to this motivational speaker and that thought and this thing to find vision. All you have to do is get in His presence. You don’t believe me? And that’s why I said it like this: when I said that out loud, I was preparing, and I said, «Well, Charles said,» «Oh, that’s good!» I said, «God is—He’s showing me something I’ve never seen before.» Watch this; write this point down: vision is God’s investment. When God gives somebody on earth a vision, it’s God’s investment from heaven. And He says, «Yeah, I can trust Bri with that. I’m going to go ahead and give her this idea, and I’m going to invest.» And nobody invests not to see a return on their investment.
This is not a gift; it’s got to come into me multiplied. I’ve got to work it, and I’ve got to release it in the earth. And I’m telling somebody right now that God is looking for people in 2021 that heaven is full of vision that has not been released on the earth. You’ve never heard the best song because it’s yet to be made. You’ve never seen the best graphic because it’s yet to be made. Your favorite movie isn’t going to be your favorite movie because there’s something that is still to come. And God is weighed down with vision, waiting to invest it. My question is, are you a good investment? Can God give you a glimpse of what He wants to do in the earth, Brentham, and you would be willing to pray it through, to sow into it, to give up other stuff for it, to be steadfast around it, to be able to believe when nobody else is believing? Are you a good investment? And I came to tell God today, with about 30,000 other people, «Here we are, God! Whatever you want to do in me, Transformation Church is a good investment. Michael Todd is a good investment. My family is a good investment. If you want to give vision to the earth, you can do it through me.»
Somebody put that in the chat: «I’m a good investment.» Why can’t God give you the next Uber? You missed it! «Well, it’s too much, and I don’t have a computer background, and I don’t know.» And God said, «You’re a weak investment. I was going to give you the idea, and you tried to figure out how it was going to happen. All I needed you to do was be the conduit that I use.» Why can’t you? How is the kingdom of God going to advance until God can start dropping vision on us, and we are faithful enough to not just keep it to me and my little family, but say, «God, if you want me to release this to the world, if you want me to represent it to the whole world, I will do it; I’m a good investment»?
The next Amazon is watching right now; they don’t even believe it enough to say amen. The next idea—the thing you’re giving your money and your resources to—the cure is in you if you are available to let God give you vision. All marriages could be healed through a tip that God gives to your marriage, but you’re a bad investment when He gives it to you. You won’t even write it down. He’ll give it to you in prayer, and you’ll chalk it up to, «It’s just you,» and God’s saying, «I keep dropping heavenly investments, and I can’t find people who will watch over them to see them actually happen in the earth.» Vision is God’s heavenly investment for an earthly return. I don’t know why God does this, but He doesn’t do anything in the earth without using a person. The sad truth is God’s first stop to get all vision into the earth is His church. But many times, because He can’t find faith, He has to look at the church and say, «They’re not ready.»
And He has to go to somebody else who doesn’t. Y’all, I’m telling you what happens. Why do all these ideas happen outside of the kingdom if God wants to expand the kingdom? Because they have the ability to take the idea or the wind of God. It said all things come from God. Everything was created in heaven and earth because they had the audacity to believe. And you have the audacity to ask somebody to pray with you to see if maybe God had something kind to say. Don’t you talk to Him; don’t you claim to hear it. And what I’m asking us—I don’t know; there’s just something in me that is saying that we have to stop cowering in the face of what we see. God told me that this would be the greatest year of the church. Now, I can look at what’s happening in society right now and be like, «Oh God, what’s going to happen?»
I do not look at sight; I look at vision. Vision is what I see with my eyes closed. Sight is what I see with my eyes open. Close your eyes. Where do you live next year? Some of y’all saw your same room. Close your eyes. Where is all your family three years from now? Are they saved, healed, denouncing old lifestyles? Come on, I’m telling you this is vision—what I’m talking about. Where do you see your ability to bless others six weeks from now? Oh, see, y’all wanted it to be six years from now, but I serve a God that can do something like that. Y’all missed it! God does not need a bunch of time. It only took Him three days to conquer death, hell, and the grave. What can He resurrect in your life if He could find faith? Luke 8:18, the second part, says, «But the Son of Man, when He returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?»
Faith that a vision cannot be here today but be here tomorrow? See, the thing I found out is that God wants to invest His vision in somebody, and every vision—write this down—needs a vehicle. Vision needs a vehicle. God is trying to ask you, «Will you be the place I can sit to make this thing happen?» Vision needs a vehicle. In my mind, what kind of vehicle would you be? No, no, for real, like today after this, I want you to post what kind of vehicle you would be. And before you post the Ferrari, no, no, no, no; I want you to think about it. Because some of us are hoopties for the vision of God. We break down at every obstacle. Come on, we don’t want anybody to see us in public; we don’t want it to be on front street. Come on, some of us are hoopties when it comes to God’s vision. God will show us something, and we don’t want anybody to ride with us; we won’t put enough oil on it. I’m asking what type of vehicle will you be this year?
This is the beautiful thing: at the start of 2021, you get a chance to choose something different. It doesn’t matter what you were; I’m challenging you to bring value to vision today so you can choose differently. God is saying to be the Ferrari of the vision. Let me sit in something, and when I sit in you, you have no limitations; you can go fast, you can stop, you can do whatever I ask you to do. What type of vehicle will you be? Vision always needs a vehicle, and when you get the vision of God, then Habakkuk 2:2 comes into play. This is why I’m taking this much time to bring you to the word of the year: because I want you to value it. We’re not just about to tell you a word and then talk about it next year. No, no, no. Every sermon series, every decision we make, and every dollar we spend must be centered around this prophetic word that God gives us because we value vision most here. If you start valuing the vision of God for your family, your house, and your life, I’m telling you there is no limit to what God wants to do.
Look at what Habakkuk 2:2 says: «Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.'» Another translation, the Message version, puts it beautifully: «And then God answered: 'Write this. Write what you see. Not with your eyes open, but with your eyes closed. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.'» What is coming? Why I’m so passionate about this is because I stand here today because I wrote it down. I wrote it in big block letters so that people who saw it on Instagram and those who received it in a message from a cousin could understand. Some of you all are a product of somebody sending this to you, or sending you something from Relationship Goals.
Come on, put «I» in the comments if that’s you! You’re a product of it because the vision God gave me, when nobody was around, was a vision I had enough faith to write down. When I wrote the vision down, it became something God could now back on the earth. I’m asking you right now not to just write down your idea. I need you to write it down because you got into God’s presence, and it came from something vertical; it came from God. He’s the source of our vision. But when you write down that vision, I want you to know that you don’t have to make it happen; you have to work with God to allow Him to make it happen through you. You just missed a huge point, and that’s why so much of this self-help grind, hustle, make-it-happen mentality has worn people out with no results. You keep listening to them; you can do this, and you wake up with nothing but determination and self-will.
God says, «It’s not by might and it’s not by power, but it will be by My spirit.» Y’all, I’m telling you I’m talking kingdom talk while you’re listening to motivation. I’m speaking what Jesus says, and you’re looking at what Jesse said, but I’m telling you, one of these will last. I’m a living witness that when you allow the spirit of God to begin to give you a vision and help you do the things while staying consistent, you can mark God’s words. I think about it all the time that when I wrote down that vision, I wrote down all of these things. The vision of Transformation Church is very simple: it’s representing God to the lost and found for one reason. What is it? Transformation. I’m going to say it one more time: representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ—that’s why we exist. But do you know when I got that vision?
This point will help somebody tremendously: God gives vision in the valley. I need everybody to hear me say this clearly: God doesn’t give vision on mountaintops; He gives vision in valleys. Do you know when God gave me «representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ»? Nobody came to the church. I had people tell me that God made the right decision with me being the pastor but the wrong decision for their family, and they walked out of the church. When God gave me that vision, Bishop, we didn’t know who was going to stay and who was going to go. Everybody was unsure of what God was doing. Nobody saw; we didn’t have one LED light. Our cell phone lights weren’t LED either—there was nothing.
What that proves is that God never gives vision in the spotlight. God never gives vision on the mountaintop. God is going to give you vision in the valleys. This should be good news for somebody right now because of how you’re feeling, how 2020 left you feeling, and what’s been going on in your finances. This is the perfect time for you to shut everything down, get quiet with God, and join us for the next 14 days of this prayer and fasting. If you’re watching this later, just take three or four days and allow God to speak to you because God is saying, «I will give you vision in the valley.»
That’s where God speaks because it brings Him glory. When He gave it to you while you were low, He can take credit for it when you’re high. There’s no way you got here by your will, your ideas, or your connections. God said it had to be Him. I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but you feel like you’re at your lowest moment. You feel like your marriage is on its last leg, your kids will never be back together, and everything you lost in the last bankruptcy has taken everything. God is saying to you today: «If you listen, I’ll give you vision in the valley. I’ll make what the enemy told you was a setback into a setup. I’ll take every test and turn it into your testimony. You can be a miracle in motion if you get vision in the valley.»
Do you know one of the things that happened, Bishop, when I got vision in the valley? Write this point down: vision must be visible and vision must be vocal. I didn’t just get the vision; I wrote it down and I said something. Some of us are so scared to say what God has said. Why? Why are you so scared that what God showed you would actually come to pass? I made a decision a long time ago: if God said it, I’ll believe it. If I believe it, I’m going to say it. If I say it and it doesn’t come to pass, I can point back to Him. What do I lose? Why am I scared? If God said it, I’m going to believe it, and I’m going to say it. If it doesn’t happen, I guess God wanted to do something different. I guess God had a different plan. I guess God is sovereign. But that doesn’t stop me from believing.
What happens so many times is people think: «God said it and it didn’t happen.» And they feel embarrassed and doubt whether they can believe God again. I’m saying, «What if it didn’t happen as you thought it would?» It was for your good. If it did not happen as you thought it would, it is still for your good. We praise Him all the time for what He does; we don’t praise Him all the time for what He didn’t do. We don’t know what would have happened if He had allowed it. Somebody needs to take five seconds right there and give God praise for what you didn’t know. No, no, no! Y’all are acting too cute right now, but in the chat, I dare you to praise God for the things that He didn’t allow to work out. Your feelings got hurt, but it was still for your good. Wow!
I dare you to say it! I dare you to tell your husband where you all will be next year! Bonus point: vision always makes you vulnerable. When I stood up here on the first day of us being a church in the transition and said that we would be a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multiplying, multi-campus church, I was vulnerable because we were none of those things. It felt like I was standing there buck naked—just exposed! Let me help you: that’s what true vision makes you feel like. Do you know how Noah must have felt just telling his wife, «I’m about to spend the next couple of decades. I know what I said about vacation next summer, but I got a vision from God, and so I’m going to be spending it.»
Honestly, «I need our sons, and matter of fact, everyone you birthed, I need everybody to help me because somebody’s going to have to go rile up the animals, and then somebody’s going to have to help me with this wood.» Imagine how vulnerable it must have been for Abraham to walk back to Sarah and say, «Um, hey baby, can you hear me? Here you go. Oh, no, no, let me get your catheter right. Okay, here you go, baby.» Because she was old; she was dusty. «Baby, hold on; let me move your wheelchair. Okay, let me tell you what God told me. He gave me a vision and said, 'Look up into the stars and number them if you can. That’s how many descendants I’m going to give you.' So I just came to tell you, I’m going to put it down and you’re going to get pregnant.» Do you know how vulnerable that must have felt?
I just need everyone to see this. When God gives you a real vision, if you don’t feel vulnerable just a little bit, it might be invalid. Wherever your marriage is—and I just keep coming back to this because I feel like somebody’s marriage is on the rocks right now—where your marriage is, it would be vulnerable to say, «My marriage is going to succeed, and I’m going to enjoy being in this home.» To say that out loud may have you feeling vulnerable. Some of you are going to be saying, «Me and my mother’s relationship is going to be healed, and we’re going to enjoy spending time together.»
That’s a vision; it might make some of you vulnerable. We’re not just talking about houses and cars—forget that! That’s stuff that comes and goes. I’m talking about things that affect the soul, the mind, the will, and the emotions. God is saying it might be a little vulnerable, but I want you to be vocal about it. I dare you to say it. I dare you to believe me for it. I could keep talking about this, but I’d rather show you. I’m going to show you a time when I was scared to say what God had shown me, but I said it anyway. This was January 2016 in a vision series called «Beyond,» and what I’m standing in today is what I said back then because God gave me a vision. I want you to take a look at this real quick.
When I talk about vision, I’m not just talking about this church; I’m talking about your life. He wants you to see something with your eyes closed. See, you have sight, but you only regurgitate what you actually see. When I look out at this audience, I don’t see you all. You’re beautiful; you’re wonderful, but I don’t see this. I close my eyes, and I see the auditorium filled with 10,000 people per service coming into this experience. I see it, and that’s why I give everything. I don’t come up here and say, «Oh, there are only a few people.»
I preach the same for my staff; you could ask them. You know, on Wednesdays, I’d be sweating at staff chapel. Why? Because I don’t see what I see; I see what He’s shown me. If you could open your eyes of faith, not to be limited by sight, but be able to get a vision and see that I am standing in a place that I did not have sight for but that God gave me vision for. Y’all have to help me understand this: what I’m saying, Pastor Mike, is if you don’t get anything else from this message, I want you to understand how important your vision is, because God gives vision in the valley. That, for me, was my valley. I don’t know where your valley is, but when you get a vision from God, write this point down: vision is God’s view.
The reason why God wants to give you vision is that when it comes to your career, this is what I see. I don’t see inside of it; I don’t see on top of it; I don’t see it all. But I just see a piece, a portion of what God wants to do, and honestly, it’s bigger than me; honestly, it’s something that I can’t fully understand the weight of what’s happening, but when God allows you to receive a vision, remember not only what you see with your eyes open but also what God shows you with your eyes closed. What He does is this: come up a little higher. Yes, I know you don’t know what to do with your career, but I’m going to make you a successful business person, and you’re going to be able to bless the people in the community you came from. All I need you to do is not chase after the opportunities that are available, but instead, stay faithful to the assignment, because this is what will help you learn the character you need to lead at the next level.
Follow My view, and then what God does is He doesn’t let you stay here. We don’t live in vision; He gives you a vision—God’s view, the way He sees into it, over it, and around it. Then He asks you to come down and live as if that vision were very vivid. Some of you have been asking God what you are supposed to do with your career: get into 21 days of prayer and fasting, and receive God’s view on it. Get up here and let God show you where you’re supposed to be, what city you should be in, and how you ought to proceed. Get God’s view on it, and then come down here with diligence.
See, right here is where we try to forget what we saw; this is where the enemy tries to make us feel like there’s no way this will happen. This is why God tells us to write the vision down—write what you see up here! Write down what you see so that when you come down here, you don’t forget that God showed me this; He showed me that our church would impact the world. He showed me that my family and my marriage would be whole. He showed me—and that’s why I got it written down and made it plain. Now, when I come down here, I’m not going to be distracted by the ignorance that comes from different people because I’ve got God’s view on it. Some of you, it’s not your career that’s the problem; here it is: it’s your family. Yes, your family is what you need God’s view on.
What are you saying? The vision is valuable. Go to God in prayer. God, for the next 14 days, all I’m going to do is cry out to You and ask for vision. Show me my marriage healed. Show me, show me my daughter not running from boy to boy to fill the void of her daddy not being here. Show me, Father God. Come on; you can pray real prayers. Remember, God wants you to pray in your own personality. God, show me my family being able to bless other families. God, give me a vision, and when He gives you the vision, write it down. Say it out loud; be vocal about it. God told me that my family would be able to impact the earth. My dad always told us from a young age, «Michael, the toddler name is going to leave a legacy on the earth.» He said, «This name has weight.»
When we were believing God for groceries, when my dad stepped out in ministry full-time, leaving State Farm, to become itinerant ministers, he would always remind us that our last name—our family—was significant. God showed me a vision of you impacting the world. God gave me a vision of you and your brothers making a difference, and today, as I stand here—impacting 10 or 15 different countries around the world—it was what my daddy saw from God’s view that allowed me to get a vision. Down here, I’m living out «as it is in heaven, let it be here on earth.» What God is saying to someone is that it’s not just about your family; it’s everything—it’s my whole future. God, what is my future? He said it’s already prepared in heaven; there’s no lack, no shortage. «But God, I want to do what’s trending.»
God said that won’t last. «I want to do what’s popular now.» He replied: that’s not what I intended. I have a future planned for you. Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, I knew you; I planned something for you. So why don’t you seek vision—God’s view—on what you have for my future? I’m in the music field, so I guess you’re going to do something with music, right? Yes, I’m going to give you a vision of you impacting people through music. Yes, I’m going to give you a vision of impacting people while using all your gifts to bring me glory after Grammys.
See, that’s why the Bible says we see in part, hear in part, and prophesy in part. When you get a vision, you simply get God’s view on it. I had enough faith to know I was going to be great. I didn’t have all the details—I didn’t—but I knew enough to obey what He said. That’s why I want to give you this last point: vision has versions. I’m just trying to help you understand that God had a plan for my future, but I had to keep coming back to Him to get His view on it. During the seasons I’m in, there are different versions of the vision, and that’s why it comes down to this: whatever you want to put in the blank—this is your square. Go ahead and take a picture of that.
Where do you need God’s view? When I approach this year, I need God’s view for something more important than anything material. I need God’s view in my life for my son. Forget everything else; God showed me as we sit here taking him to therapy, trying to understand what he’s saying as he celebrates his fifth birthday. God, would You just give me Your view of his healing? Just give me, give me Your view of what the future looks like. I can handle whatever it is; I just need a vision from You. I just need to know what You’re saying. I need to know that You’re a part of this so that I can go down here and help my wife and encourage other families with children on the spectrum. If You would just give me Your view—and I don’t know what your «MJ» is, and I don’t know what you’ve been trying to believe without God—but the reason you need a vision is because vision is God’s view, and vision has versions.
Let me tell you something real quick: as I approach 2021 and think about what God is doing in our church, this is not new; He’s simply revealing the 2021 version of representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. The reason I say it’s the 2021 version is because every year since we started this church, I seek God for His view on our ministry. Can I prove it to you? In 2015, Natalie and I took over as the lead pastors of Transformation Church, and that year, God gave me a personal word that might sound super spiritual to many of you: survive. I literally had people telling me to my face that I wasn’t qualified. I literally had people tell me I was too young—"What can you teach me about God’s word?»
I mean, literal church people, Christians, people who claimed Jesus, wore the cross, honked if they loved Him. Those people—I’d sometimes sit in my car before going into meetings and think, God, this couldn’t have been Your will for my life. You’re better than this; there’s no way! He said, but you can’t focus on what you see right now. You have to remember what I said and hold on to the vision. So, in 2016, we survived 2015. In 2016, I thought the word would be something a little more uplifting, but the personal word God gave me was maintain. What the heck? Survive and maintain—two years of being planted, but it felt like I was buried. Two years of week after week having people tell me they were leaving the church. This image shows a few of them: staff and some volunteer leaders. Some folks shouldn’t even be in the picture, but we just threw them in there to make it look like we had more people.
See, this was like a volunteer rally or something—the leaders of Transformation Church. What an imaginative moment! Maintain it because I showed you a glimpse. I told you before that this thing was going to multiply. I told you it would be multi-generational; you all know there are almost all Black people in this picture. He told me on the first day it would be multi-ethnic, but for two years, I had to hold on to God’s view. In 2017, we got a breakthrough. He said, «Michael, the word I’m going to give you, when we were looking like this, is beyond.» He said, «I’m going to take you beyond everything you thought I could do. I’m going to take you beyond.» And y’all, we began to believe God.
Families started coming to the church; people began getting saved and baptized. We spoke that word out loud; we declared it. We put it on shirts. I held a staff advance where everyone yelled, «Beyond!» In 2017, at the end of the year, when we looked back, we saw that it was our prophetic declaration—our belief in the vision—that produced the result at the end of the year that took us beyond. Four hundred families joined the church in that year. Nobody could have told me otherwise; that was the best year of ministry for me because God did what He said. I marked this word before it happened! In 2018, God did something even more unbelievable. At the height of «beyond,» more was happening, and greater was coming. Then God gave me a word I’d never used before in my vocabulary—this is how you know it had to be God. He said, «Stride.» He said, «You’re running, but I want you to walk. Find the pace of grace.»
No way! Not at the moment we were getting breakthrough would You want us to slow down and do less. Take things off the calendar? Not be as productive? God said that if you do less, I’ll do more. I remember us going into meetings, cutting stuff. We decided we couldn’t do that because that’s not striding; that’s striving—using all our effort and energy to make it happen. God said, «If you obey Me, watch what I do.» In 2018, y’all, that’s when everything exploded. The «Relationship Goals» series went viral. Our church grew from one service to five services. People were coming from everywhere. There were times you needed to arrive two hours early because traffic was backed up on the highway. I said, «God, what are you doing?» He replied, «I’m being true to My word. You got the vision at the beginning of the year!»
What if I thought the word was more in 2018? God said «stride,» and I would have forfeited the blessing of obedience. There are so many people trying to make sense of things, but kingdom math doesn’t always add up; it creates miracles. God said, «Do less.» I obeyed, and God did more; it became a miracle. Then in 2019, I got excited. God said, «Michael, now it’s My time. I’m about to release you into the world. I’m about to release you from certain things, and I’m about to release My power to you.» And y’all, that’s my mom up there. Looking good, Mom! Didn’t she preach so well last week? That’s my mom!
We preached «stride,» and then we preached «release.» That year, I don’t know what happened, but there was a boldness that arose in our church. That was the year God released this building I’m standing in right now. Many of you don’t understand that we are in the process of soundproofing our entire lobby and auditorium. We’re having church right now in the lobby of our church! There’s no way we could have done this in our old location, but God said, «I’m about to release 192,000 square feet to you. I will pay for it. I will do all these things. I’m going to release you—gifted and talented leaders from all over the world.»
People started moving from California and Florida, saying, «I don’t have a job. I don’t have anything, but God told me to be here.» He started releasing people from their last assignments and sending them to this one. God did what He said because we marked His word. Then in 2020, God told us at the beginning of last year, «The word for the year is stronger.» Now, who could have known that literally two months after I declared this was the word God gave me after praying and fasting, we would hit a global pandemic? Who could have known it would become the most televised season of racial tension and injustice known that we would have been right in the middle of elections and all these different things, and God said, «Yeah, this year I’m going to make the church stronger. Do you have faith to believe me that this is what I’m going to do?» I said, «God, I guess we’re going to have to believe. You’ve done it before, and you did it again and again and again, so why would I not believe you now?»
If you look at your life and just reflect on what God has done, you could turn around and say, «He did it before, and He’s done it again and again.» So why would you give up on God? This year, God spoke again. «Yes, are you ready?» God told me back in August, «Michael, every word I said has come to pass.» He said, «I’ve done it in a way that matched what happened spiritually and numerically.» No, because I almost was not going to do it, but I need somebody to see this because for some of you, it doesn’t click until it makes sense. What I’m saying, since it involves dollars and cents, let me help you: There has never been an ounce of manipulation. We don’t believe in the prosperity gospel; we don’t believe in any of that stuff. All we do is put God’s word out there, we believe in people, we’re generous, and then we let God do what He’s going to do.
So, all these years, I want to show you something very clearly that happened financially because we’re transparent at Transformation Church. We keep everything. I started like this, and I want to continue to move like this. When we moved in, in the survival year before 2014, 1.2 million dollars came in. That was everything that was given that year, and the year God said to survive, He kept His word. Where most transitions see finances and attendance go down, God allowed it to be 1.2 million dollars again. Then when we got to maintain, I thought He would exceed it just a little, but He didn’t; He stayed true to His word and maintained it at 1.2 million again. Then God gave a word, saying He would go beyond. When He went beyond, we grew by 400 families and 400 thousand, reaching 1.6 million dollars. But then God said to stride and do less, and He would do more.
Now watch this: When you obey God, He does not do addition, He does multiplication. God’s favorite math for your life as a believer is multiplication. We went from 1.6 million dollars, did less, and then God took it to 7.2 million dollars. I need everybody to understand this is about the results of obedience, and this is not just what God wants to do for this house; He wants to do it for your house. I’m telling you this is a result of obedience and following the vision. Where there is a vision, people stay in their lane, people finish the course, and people do what God says. Where there is no vision, they cast off restraint. We are going to follow the vision, and in the year that God said release, are you ready for this? We went from 7.2 million dollars coming in to 22.5 million. You’ve never led anything, so you may not understand what happens because of your faithfulness and generosity. We were able to move into this building and pay it off in seven months. We owe no man anything but to love them.
Ah, you want to pray about the word; we want to be about the word. We were able to help people; we gave away money. We gave away so much because we followed—everybody say, «the vision.» Can I tell you what God did this past year? If He doesn’t ever do it again, nobody can tell me. When I was back here believing God when I only could get a vision of it, God said, «Michael, five years from now, I’m going to show you in real life what I showed you in your daughter’s bedroom.» And literally, we went from surviving to maintaining to going beyond to striving to release. Then God said, «I want you to get stronger in the midst of a pandemic.» Because of your faithfulness and generosity, the largest end-of-the-year giving we’ve ever had came in; people gave from countries that I can’t even pronounce. Not huge gifts, but committed gifts from a multitude of people saying, «God, I’m putting my faith in you.»
In 2020, when everything was closing up, we got stronger. Transformation Church raised 51 million dollars. I’ll shout by myself! Glory to God! Do you hear me? Vision from 1.2 million to 51 million! Vision from nobody coming to not knowing how many people are watching! Vision from being insecure about what God called you to do; so if nobody comes, I’m secure in what God has called me to do. Somebody shout at me, «Vision!» The word for this year, God spoke it to me so clearly: in 2021, it is time for Transformation Church to be anchored. Somebody give God praise! Oh, I feel this! This is the year we’re about to be anchored. This is the year our marriages get anchored, our finances get anchored, our minds are anchored. God told me so clearly, «Michael, I have built this church for such a time as this, and now I’m going to make you anchored.» I said, «God, what does that mean?» He said, «An anchor is something with weight that drops and connects so that whatever it’s connected to does not drift.»
I feel this all over me: God told me prophetically that 2021 is the year we get anchored. It is the year of the anti-drift; every area in your life where you’ve been drifting—your marriage has been drifting, your purity has been drifting, your faith has been drifting, the vision for your life—it will be anchored. Your health is going to be anchored this year; I’m prophetically speaking to someone that your family and your relationships are getting anchored. Somebody shout at me, «Anchored!» Say, «I will be anchored!» Say it again, «I will be anchored!» I want you to think of the areas in your life that you’re about to be anchored. For some of you, things that have been flowing are generational drifting. Oh, I felt that. It’s been generational drifting! You’ve had habits, hobbies, and addictions, and God says this year it’s time to get anchored. I’m going to allow you to become a steady force—something that can withstand and endure no matter what storm comes, no matter what is presented to you; you will be anchored. Yep.
Some of you are thinking, «Anchored?» God is saying that you will last, you will make it through, you will be dependable, and you will be consistent. There’s going to be weight when you’re involved. I have received more confirmations that this is the word God wants us to live out this year, and for the next four weeks, I’m going to preach and deliver this message the way God has given it to me. You do not want to miss one week! The reason I had to build all this up is to make sure you understand this is not a suggestion for us; this is vision. This is God’s view of what He wants for us in 2021.
Now, my question to you as you say, «I will be anchored» this week, your assignment is to write down the areas of your life that you know you’ve been drifting. And we’re going to get real about the areas you want God to anchor you. I want you to wear what God tells you as a badge of His faithfulness. We will speak it in January 2021, and we will prove it in January 2022. You missed it! We’re gonna speak it in January 2021, and just like every other word, we will stand here and say, «Look at what the Lord has done!» Hands lifted everywhere.
Thank you, Jesus. That’s our version this year of vision. Vision has versions, and this year the version is anchored. Father, I pray for every person under the sound of my voice. God, I thank you that this word that I spoke brought value to vision. Father, even in the next 14 days of prayer and fasting, you’re going to allow all of us to seek you and ask for the vision to get your view. Father God, on what you want for us this year, as you’ve spoken for our house, you don’t want anything for this house that you’re not specifically speaking for each one of our homes. I declare that in 2021, we will be anchored. Every area of our life, our families will be anchored, our minds will be anchored, our hope will be anchored in you, Jesus. God, I’m thanking you that we are going to be anchored, and you’re going to allow us not to drift—not to drift with the doctrine, or the thoughts, or our feelings, or our flesh. But I thank you this year, Father, you’re going to anchor this church. You’re going to anchor every partner, every listener, every child of God. The kingdom will be bigger and stronger because it will be anchored to the only thing that never changes, and that’s you, Jesus. Today, for the areas where people have been drifting, I thank you that you’re speaking into their future right now. I declare they’re getting a vision today of everything being lined up in the name of Jesus. I speak life over every person right now, and I thank you, Father, that you’re chasing after us right now. I feel that so strongly: you’re chasing after us! God, thank you that you’re rescuing us to anchor us back to you. Father God, I thank you right now that you’re doing it by Your spirit.
Listen to me. As we end this moment, I really do believe that God gives vision for victory. When I think about every pain, every hurt, and every addiction I had, I think about God sending Jesus. Jesus had to have a vision, and it was a vision for victory. He said, «If there’s any other way that this can happen, can we figure out something else?» But it said that He had a vision of the joy that was set before Him, and because He had a vision, He endured the cross so that every mess-up you would make, every pain you would have, all the shame, the guilt, and condemnation, Jesus could win victory over it. What am I saying? God’s vision for Jesus was for your victory. Today, I don’t know where you are or what is broken or hurting in you, but today God wants to give you the opportunity to receive the victory that was paid for by Jesus Christ.
If you want to ensure that your eternity is secure today, I want you to receive Jesus. He is the anchor for our soul; He is the only thing that can keep you from drifting. There are tons of people under the sound of my voice who are saying, «I’ve been looking and begging for something different.» The way to get a vision from God for something new is by accepting Him today. Right now, I need everybody in this room and everyone around the world to begin to pray because there’s a war going on right now for people’s salvation, for their eternity and present. But right now, by the power of God, we believe that the presence of God is invading your space right now. He’s invading your home, your apartment, and He’s coming to say, «Receive me!»
The Holy Spirit is drawing you by His love right now. When you accept Jesus, it’s the only thing that can take you from being like me—addicted to pornography, a liar, a manipulator who thought I could do it on my own with all my good will—to being somebody that submitted their entire life to Him. I didn’t become a perfect person, but now I’m a progressing person. What God is saying is that I have that available for you today. I want to give that to you right now. According to Romans 10:9, all you have to do is believe and confess that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again just for you, and you are saved. If you’re one of those listening, this is not for your friend, or your boyfriend, or your mom, or your father, or whoever is with you; this is just for you. You can’t stand before God with a committee, but today you can stand to make a decision that will change your life forever.
If you want to be included in this prayer, on the count of three, I want you to lift your hand and identify, «Yes, Pastor, include me in that prayer. I’ve been far from God; I’ve been drifting. I haven’t had a vision for my life, but today mark my words, I want to live for you.» If that’s you, just slip your hands in the air on the count of three. One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life; two, I’m so proud of you, but forget all of that—God is so proud of you! Three, just slip your hand up in the air right now. There are people all over the world lifting their hands with you right now. I’m telling you, Heaven is beginning to rejoice right now! Now listen, put your hand down; we’re about to pray. At Transformation Church, nobody prays alone; we all pray together. So I want us to say this out loud for the benefit of those coming to Christ, say:
God, Thank you for sending Jesus just for me. Thank you for the vision of my salvation. I believe Jesus lived, He died, and He rose again for my freedom, and today, mark my words, I’m going to live for Him. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours, in Jesus' name, Amen.