Michael Todd - God Still Speaks
Oh, come on! Wherever you are, can we give God a big shout of praise? He’s worthy! Oh, y’all are not saying that, and you’re looking at me right now, but let’s give God a huge shout of praise! Glory to God! Is anybody excited to be in the house of the Lord today? Y’all missed it! I said, «the house of the Lord» because wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but right where you are, God is there. Somebody say, «Here is holy!» You missed it. See, some of you are in a situation right now that does not seem like a good thing, but God says if I am there with you right in that moment, you might be going through a divorce, but here is holy.
You might be on the verge of making some decisions that change your entire friend group, but right here is holy. Somebody say, «Here is holy!» And I need you to hear that because all of this year, I’ve been really asking God to take me from events that bring you glory. We’re missing the worship nights and the big conferences, and I said, «God, take me from the events that bring you glory and give me a life that brings you glory.» What His response to me was is that every step that you take is holy. Like in the frustration, holy; in the pain, it’s still God’s sovereignty. He’s still good, and I just want somebody to know that’s watching that the fact that you’re in this moment right now watching this, this is a holy moment because God, through something, is going to speak to you. He might speak through something I say; He’s gonna definitely speak through His word. He may speak through the person sitting next to you who makes a side comment while you’re going. Open up your ears to hear that God is still speaking.
And so today, we just want to give God an opportunity to do what nothing else has been able to do all week. Satisfy. Your job didn’t satisfy you this week. You might have gotten a paycheck, but it didn’t satisfy you; it didn’t fill you up. Your marriage—some of y’all think—is going to satisfy you, but they are just to help be a conduit to point you towards God. But the only thing that can satisfy is God, and today, that’s what we want to do. We want to give you the word. So, I don’t know where you’re watching from right now, but I’m excited to hear! Is anybody excited to be in the actual building, and is anybody excited to be in the virtual building right now? Hey, I need to know where you’re watching from! If you’re watching from somewhere, I need you to type it in the chat.
Come on! I need you to do that as you get your Bibles. Everybody may be seated in the room. I need to get right into preaching because I have a bunch to say. I see people watching from Florida, and there are people watching from overseas. There are people watching from Maryland and Minnesota, and there are people watching from Chicago and New York. I am so glad that our church, in the middle of a pandemic, has grown! Anytime the enemy tries to suppress something, it spreads out, and God does a lot of amazing work, and I’m just grateful that you would allow me and my wife to pastor you through one of the hardest seasons in human history. I don’t take it lightly, and I count it as a privilege that you tune in every Sunday; that many of you partner financially; that many of you share and send this to your friends and evangelize your family, and really are the ministers in the area that you are.
I believe 2021, as a church, is going to be our best year ever, and I believe that’s because we are going to be aware of what God wants to do through our lives. Somebody say, «My life is His!» Now, for some of you, you just lied because your life is committed to your preference and not His purpose. But I heard God say, «If you’re going to commit to My purpose this year, then you’re going to have to become,» everybody shout at me, «Anchored!» Shout it like you mean it; say it with your chest! This year, we will be anchored! And I do believe that the prophetic word that God gives us every year in a vision type of way is something that marks our lives and refines us.
So today, I thought what I would do as I come into week two of this series about being anchored, and y’all, I’m so excited to preach this message right now! I thought I would walk us through how I got here. Okay, so we are officially starting. Get your notepads ready, get your smartphones and your dumb phones, get everything that you got ready because we are in week two of a series we’re calling «Help Me Anchor.» All right, now this is going to be a series that shapes your whole year. Yeah, yeah! So I want you to plan right now on coming back to this series every month—how many notebooks do you have filled with notes, and how many things do you have on your phone and emails that you have of notes that you never use? God is saying if you’re going to be anchored, you have to remember My words. Mark My words; that’s what we talked about last week. He’s saying remember them so that in a season that you didn’t know you needed it, I already gave you the answer!
I dare say to some people right now, the very answer you’re looking for, God already gave you. Just for God, this is one of the things that God is challenging us to do: not just be consumers, but be studiers of His word. And in this series, I think it is my position to not just come as the man of God and say God gave me this word, you know how people do, and they act like they’re the only ones hearing from God, and they don’t sleep on an actual bed and don’t use an actual toilet—somehow, it just comes out of them and they’re purified, and like it’s just all these things, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth. I want you to know I am a human being submitted to God, and anything that happens in my life can happen in your life if you make the same type of sacrifices and dedicatory devotions. Take your vote away: «God, I don’t want to do that, but I’m devoted.»
I don’t have a vote anymore; I don’t want to do prayer and fasting, but I’m devoted; I’m going to take my vote away, and you can see these outcomes in your life! So today, I wanted to start this whole thing by telling you how I got to the word «anchored.» I don’t like the word «anchored.» Let’s start there. When God gives you a word, He does not consult your feelings. When God speaks prophetically, He doesn’t look at what you want; He looks at what you need. And God, somehow, stepped outside of eternity and saw Transformation Church in this year and said the word they need to center around, gather their faith around, give around, is the word «anchor.»
So let me start off by saying this is not my favorite word. I would have preferred tons of other words: explosion, blow up, the next level—any of those could have worked, God! And I pray about it because when God starts to show me something or hear something, and the reason I’m walking us through this is because I saw a couple of comments and I got a few emails that raised my pastor up this week that said, «God doesn’t be speaking to people like that.» Whoa! You see, he’s just over here talking about how God talks to him. There’s nowhere in the Bible that it talks about God speaking to people? Really? So I thought today that I’m not just going to give you fish; I’m gonna teach you how to fish and let you know that God is still speaking, and He wants to do something so special in your life.
So every summer, if you’ve been around Transformation Church, there’s about a month and a half that me and Pastor Natalie disappear from the scene, and I go on sabbatical. From the very first year of me being in ministry, we take this time, and on that sabbatical, I intentionally make space for God to speak to me. So I literally go to a random hotel where only my security and my wife know where I’m at, and I sit there and I just pray and ask God what I’m supposed to do and pace around the room and admit I don’t know anything. I ask God, «Why did You choose me? There’s a whole nother year that people are going to come every Sunday, and you know the funny thing about Sundays, they come every Sunday, and I don’t know what to do.»
And I just lay before God and I ask Him for vision and direction. Every year when I make this space, God meets me in these times. And what ends up happening is out of that time, I bring the word to the year to our staff first, and I usually share it with them in September or October at staff advance because it’s hard to lead someone to a place you’ve never gone before. And so this team, we pray and we fast and we talk about the word of the year. So this staff and this team, the reason why «anchored» is coming off so smoothly to us is because we’ve been walking this thing out for about four or five months. And then at the beginning of the year, I share it with our church because it’s not just for this house, the organization; it’s for somebody say, «My house!»
God does not speak anything in this house that He does not want duplicated in your house. He doesn’t want this church blessed and your marriage not blessed; He doesn’t want this church to be influential, and you not be influential. God uses this church as an example of what He wants to do. Everybody say, «Through me!» And so when I went on sabbatical, the main thing that I write down in my journal is, «God, I want to hear You; I want to hear You,» and God, I will listen. When I said that to somebody this week talking to them about how God still speaks, God told me, He said, «Michael, people are deceived. Hearing My voice is normal for the believer.» He said, «If you don’t hear Me, who are you hearing? If you’re not hearing Me, somebody’s speaking to you. Can I prove it to you? Because in John 10:4-5, He said that My sheep follow Me; they know My voice, and a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they know not the voice of a stranger. Whoever is talking to you, if it ain’t God, who is it?»
And I really begin to think about that because God said, «I’m still speaking, but culture’s speaking too; finances are speaking too; your favorite motivational speaker is speaking too. And you’ve confused their good idea with My voice, and the problem that’s happening right now is because it takes a sacrifice to get into the presence of God—a sacrifice to live a life that’s holy enough—a sacrifice. So many of y’all would rather take a cheap counterfeit than actually have the authentic voice of God speaking in your life. I’m already doing too much right now! Michael, woo-sah! But 2021 will not be the year that you will be able to blame God for not speaking to you. 2021 will not be the year that you talk about how He’s just so far away from you. No, no, no, no! Your ears are closed and you’re walking around like…and God says, „I’m speaking, but you can’t hear Me because you’re listening to the stranger’s voice.“
We talk about stranger things. Let me tell you about stranger things. Stranger things is hearing from people who do not have Heaven’s mind for your life. Stranger things is listening to a friend group that feels like they’re more successful than you, so maybe I should listen to them. They don’t know the purpose of God for your life; they don’t know the plan that God has for your marriage; they do not know what God has already ordained for you. You better stop listening to the stranger’s voice! I have small children right now that love answering the door. They love banging on it, they ah, knock, knock. They love answering the door.
But the one thing that I’ve had to teach my daughters and my son is when somebody’s at the door, the first thing they ask is, „Who is it?“ And the problem is, so much stuff has been showing up at the door of your life, and you’ve stopped asking, „Who is it?“ You’re just opening the door! Some of y’all took the door off the hinges, and they can come in and go as they please! But today, it’s time—oh, I feel this thing! —it’s time to put a barrier back up. And when you hear something, you need to ask, „Who is it?“ And the only way I know who it is is if they speak. Their voice authenticates who they are. And very, very easily now my daughter says, „Who is it?“ and I say, „It’s your daddy.“ She stays! Her reaction? „Who is it? It’s Charles.“ „Oh, Uncle Charles. Who is it? It’s Auntie Bree.“
She knows how to give access to people she’s familiar with their voice. But when she says, „Who is it?“ and it’s a stranger’s voice, she doesn’t respond audibly. She says, „Daddy, somebody’s at the door, and I’m unfamiliar with their voice.“ „Daddy, are you expecting somebody? Are you expecting this relationship? Are you expecting this business deal?“ See, daddy should be talked to either way; it’s either him at the door or I’m running to him because of the stranger, I didn’t even send this message, but all I’m saying to you today is that God is speaking, and many of us are missing Him because we’ve been conned by the stranger.
I don’t know what the strange voice is that has been speaking to you—the strange voice of insecurity, the strange voice of comparison, the strange voice of depression and anxiety, and perversion. They have been speaking to you, and God’s saying, „Hey, my sheep know my voice, and a stranger they will not adhere to; they won’t listen; they will not submit.“ God’s saying, „I’m speaking!“ Somebody say, „God speaks!“ I want you to say it like you mean it: „God speaks!“ And now make it personal: „God will speak to me!“ I’m declaring that over your life. If you’ve never thought so, well, my old denomination didn’t believe that. Welcome, baby, to the full gospel of Jesus Christ! Somebody needs to know that God will speak to me! He’ll give you direction about the business; he’ll give you direction about… Let me stop. I think I just need to do it. Charles, can I just tell them how God speaks?
The first thing I need to let you know is that Malachi 3:6 tells us the character of God. It shows that He’s an anchor; it shows that He’s reliable and dependable. It says, „For I am the Lord, and I do not change.“ So the first thing you’ve got to understand is that God is an anchor that does not change. He is consistent and has been the same, and He will be the same. If God spoke in the Bible days and He said He doesn’t change, He’s still speaking today. So let me tell you 11 ways. I just need to flow through this; I might have to do an Instagram Live or something on this later because I really feel that people need to hear this. But God speaks! Somebody shout with me: „God speaks!“
God speaks in an audible voice. Now, this is getting rarer, but this is how God has spoken, and I do believe this is how God still speaks to some people in certain situations. From Adam and Eve to Moses in the burning bush, the reason that God speaks in an audible voice is to get somebody’s full attention. This has never happened to me, but I’m not saying that because it hasn’t happened to me, it hasn’t happened at all.
Some of us are so prideful to think that because you haven’t experienced something, somehow that limits God. He’s God, whether you believe it or not. There’s a word in the Bible that is a cuss word for some, but this is the thing that really gives God an unexplainable title: He’s sovereign. He does what He wants, when He wants to. I know that’s not appealing language in 2021 because we want everything to make sense and have a reason, and be able to logically understand it. God says you can want all that, but I don’t have to do all that; I’m sovereign. I believe that God still speaks in an audible voice; that’s why Hebrews 13:8 says, „Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.“
So that’s one way that God speaks. Let me give you a second way that God speaks: through angelic visitations. Now I know this is way beyond a lot of your pay grades, but the way that Mary knew she was pregnant with Jesus is that an angel came to her. This is the thing—I really do believe that angelic hosts, which we talk about, can sing „Holy, Holy, Holy“ all around the throne, but we don’t believe they can fight for us. But I look at it—there are different types of angels: there are ministering angels, guardian angels, and warring angels. Some of you have put your angels at bay because you don’t believe these things are real, but God speaks through angelic visitation.
I can’t even go to number three: He speaks through dreams and visions. This is the one we want all the time, but this is not how He comes all the time. But this is a way that He speaks; He also speaks through signs and miracles. God will speak to someone who does not believe; He will speak to them. That’s what He says: the miracles are for the unbelievers. When someone who was skeptical sees this person healed, they’ll be like, „Hold on now, tell me again how that happened?“ God said that the reason miracles have to come into 2021 is because the world is getting dimmer, and they can’t believe. But when they see my light, when they see cancer dry up on the inside of someone, when they see somebody who was addicted and couldn’t function without pills and alcohol—oh, I feel my help coming on—it is a miracle for the unbeliever, and God speaks through signs and miracles! I believe that God speaks through coincidences.
I heard Albert Einstein say that coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous. It was a coincidence that I ran into you; that was God. Oh, it’s such a coincidence that I had a dream about this, and then somebody started singing the song in the office. That happened this week! Coincidence? Somebody said, „That’s God; He’s speaking,“ when you thought it was just a coincidence. Have you ever been somewhere and thought, „Something told me to stop?“ That something has a name; His name is Jesus. Oh, okay! I don’t know why I feel so preachy today. Whoa, it must be this lime green shirt. I don’t know which one I like! Okay, so God speaks through coincidence; He speaks through His written word.
This is in Greek called the logos, the Bible. It is the main way—listen to what I’m saying—this is the main way that God speaks to us. The problem is that if you do not open up the Bible, you are void of the main way that God speaks to people. There have been time after time that I needed an answer for something happening in my everyday life, and I opened my Bible for devotion. Man, not wanting to read—can I be honest with you? The pastor doesn’t always want to read his Bible! I don’t want to, „Ah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.“ Yeah, but as I open up the living word, God starts reading me. You see, because the Bible is the only book that you read, but it also reads you back. My attitude is off, and God says, „Yeah, right there. That’s why I’m going to get you.“
And this is why I want you to understand that in 2021, for you to be anchored, you cannot be anchored without the Word of God. Your Instagram post scripture is not studying the Word of God. Nobody’s going to say it, so I have to say it. Yes, you posted it with lilies and flowers, and it works with your aesthetic, but it did not go to your heart. It went on your page but missed your heart. And what God is saying to you right now is, „You gotta hide yourself in My Word, because I’ll speak to you.“ Somebody said God speaks in six ways. The other way He speaks is through the living Word. Jesus says in John 6:63, „The words, or the rhema, that’s the right now word that I speak to you, are spirit,“ meaning there’s something in them, and they are life.
See, this is the thing that you have to understand: I don’t understand how people live without the Holy Spirit functioning in their lives because that is the living Word. Jesus literally says, „It’s better for my disciples if you let Me go.“ Because if I go and do my Father’s business, I’m going to send you the Holy Spirit, and when I send you the Holy Spirit, He’s going to be your Comforter. He is going to walk with you, talk with you, and lead you into all truth. Everybody say, „Truth.“ The fact is that there are a lot of lies going on right now, and we need truth. God’s saying that when I give My word through the Holy Spirit, it’s a specific word for a specific time for a specific need. And when you live like this, God speaks.
Everybody say, „God speaks!“ This is the one you’re not going to like: God speaks to other people. That’s good! Dang! See, we wish we could judge the type of people that God allows to speak through, but the person you don’t like, God can speak through them. The person who’s been on your nerves at work? The problem is some of your enemies have been speaking the most truth to you, but because you won’t even listen to see if God has anything to say amidst that, you have now shut off the answer to the very thing you’ve been praying for. Somebody shout at me, „God speaks!“ I could go all day on this topic! God speaks through media. God literally will speak; the Bible talks about Him declaring things to all nations.
How does that happen? Right now, it’s through media, social media, and television. God is using media right now to speak. Okay, some of y’all got really religious. Not the media! How would you be hearing the word of God right now unless God was using technology and media? I honestly believe—and I say this—that we have never been fully positioned as the body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission: to go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. How can I do that and still keep up with what God says about being the man of the house, stewarding in First Timothy, being a leader, and having it all together? How can I do that and take care of my home unless there’s a vehicle that God divinely uses to spread the Gospel, and I can give my kids baths at night? How can I still be? God’s saying, „I’m giving you a tool that I speak through.“
Somebody say, „God speaks!“ God speaks through creation and nature. You want to know if God is real? Go outside! Just go outside and look up! Yeah, yeah, go! If you’re near an ocean—we are landlocked in Tulsa; we only have ponds that don’t even have full water in them—but if you’re by an ocean, go look at it and tell me that God does not speak through creation. When I tell you, we watch each season—no matter the economic downfall or rise, the flowers still bloom. It doesn’t matter who’s in office or out of office; the birds and the bees still pollinate. No matter what’s happening, through every age and every kingdom rising, every empire falls, bears still hibernate. God is speaking! And the last way I’m going to talk about that God speaks is through our conscience. There are things that my body is about to do that my conscience says, „No, don’t do it.“
Now, I’m already in the act; my flesh has already decided, and then the Holy Spirit invades my conscience and says, „This is going to delay you; it’s a setback.“ Have you ever walked into a place about to put money down and thought, „No, this isn’t your house; this isn’t your mate?“ At the engagement party, you ain’t getting that money back, but you’ll have your life! I’m telling you right now, God is trying to help somebody: do not ignore when the Holy Spirit jumps into your conscience; He’s trying to speak. Somebody say, „God speaks!“ And the key is we have to learn how to recognize His voice because sometimes, as the Bible tells us, He speaks in a still, small voice, and some of us are too busy to hear the small voice of God.
I want to normalize silence. I need you to know you don’t always have to have something going on. I want to normalize meditation—not in a weird way! The Bible says that all these other religions are borrowing ideas from it. This is not new; He says meditate on my word day and night. This is what I need you to do. Some of us are so busy setting atmospheres that we don’t hear answers. The candle’s lit, the mood’s right, I have my mood music, and the vibe is good. I’ve done all this, and God’s saying, „Just sit down!“
Just spend that extra five minutes in the car. Turn the radio off; turn Instagram off. One of the most spiritual things you may do is turn your notifications off on your phone. I had to do this three years ago; I’m trying to be very practical. I don’t get a ding every time somebody hits my social media because it was my invitation for interruption. God could be speaking to me. You don’t think the enemy will help somebody text me? You don’t think he’ll prevent somebody from sending it right now at the moment God’s about to give a word? I don’t know what all your sounds are, but they start happening, and even if I ignore them, they have taken up space. I didn’t answer it, but now it’s still taking up room. If you’re going to be anchored this year, you’ve got to make space for God to speak, and I believe there are puzzle pieces to this. This is the one thing about how I got to the word „anchored“ this year, and I just feel like teaching. I feel like being your pastor this morning. I feel like just giving you practical things that will help you be anchored.
If you want to be anchored in your life, anchored in your spiritual life, I told you all a few weeks ago this will be your best year ever if it is your best year spiritually. That was not for likes or comments; that is a true statement that is going to take you having to sacrifice some things to get the best thing, and the best thing you can get is a word from God! Somebody shout at me, „God speaks!“ And this is how you get those puzzle pieces to come together. The first thing that happens when I seek vision—and this is how I got to „anchored"—is I get in God’s presence. You never get a word from God without Him actually being there. His presence; it’s not a gift He sends in the mail, it’s a gift He gives as He’s there with you. It is His presence.
My wife loves gifts that I get her, but she would trade back every purse, every pair of shoes, and every gift I would ever give for my actual presence. I feel like the church has been so enamored with gifts—well, they seem good, the gifts preach good—that they have settled for gifts instead of His presence. If the note is off and He’s there, it’s all good! You see, they don’t want that one because at the minute, we might sacrifice excellence, but we get His presence. Do you know some of the most amazing times I’ve had with God had no LED screens attached to them? There was no good sound. The times when God checked me and changed me and transformed me? I wasn’t in a Ritz-Carlton; I was at a Best Western for $79.99. You understand?
I’m just trying to say that if you do not put value on His presence, you’re missing a piece of the puzzle. For you to be anchored this year, you’re going to have to get in His presence. That’s why we’re spending 21 days praying and fasting, and I’m encouraging everybody who is still tuned in because some of the people have tuned out because their appetite went up. We just went from McDonald’s to Ruth Chris, and some of y’all have had a spiritual appetite for fast food, and what God is saying is, «I’m about to change your palate! I’m about to bring you up to steak, potatoes, shrimp, and lobster!»
Some people can’t eat that all the time because they’ve been used to eating things that are processed, but I’m coming to give you the actual, organic word of God! What God has for you will not come without His presence. Honestly, you should be honest enough to say, «I’m not good enough without His presence!» If your presence is not with me, I won’t go! Let me stop. I’m encouraging somebody in these last seven days of praying and fasting to join us. 170,000-plus people have downloaded this YouVersion Bible app, but 170,000 people haven’t done it. I can bet that. I’ll bet my own life on it because we would rather have the appearance of God doing something in our life than actually His power moving in our life. The only way that changes is through His—I want everybody to say «presence!» So when I went away and I got in God’s presence, this is the second thing you need for the puzzle piece: a pattern.
See, I want to be super practical right now. A lot of people get in His presence, but they have not made it a pattern yet. So it’s so sporadic that God’s trying to get on your calendar: «Can I get time? No, I blessed him too much; he doesn’t have time for me.» Okay, um—"Oh no, it’s just no relationship.» Okay, so I was going to say, «If you do not make it a pattern to spend time with God, then you miss the nuances of the pattern that God wants to give you.» The reason my staff and my team know that we’re going to have a word every year is that since 2015, it has been a pattern! Why does Pastor Mike go away for a month, or a month and a half? Because he has a pattern with God! The rest of our year is different because he keeps to the pattern!
Some of you in your marriage need to have a pattern of a date night. Your children are suffering because the love in your house has been sucked out—they’re only business partners now. God says it’s because you do it without My presence and you lost the pattern! I’m just asking you, practically, where are the areas in your life that you have drifted away from the pattern? Remember 2020 is the year of the anti-drift, and I’m going to talk about that next week, but I’ve got to lay this foundation. We need His presence, but we need a pattern. As I go away for that week and just ask God what He’s trying to say, I have another pattern that’s part of my pattern of going away: I always ask God for wisdom. This is one of the things that I don’t care who you are, and if you just joined the faith today, that God says that as you are one of His children, you can ask for wisdom! James 1:5-6 says, «If any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God—not Google!» Wrong!
Some of y’all are so quick to ask the wrong questions about your situation. It says, «Ask God.» Watch this—who is faster than a search engine and gives generously to all without reproach. He doesn’t factor in your past; He doesn’t factor in the last time you didn’t listen to Him. He doesn’t factor in any of that. He says He’ll give it willingly without reproach, and it will be given to Him. But let him ask—there’s a caveat: with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave. Ooh, sounds like they need an anchor. The one who asks and doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. God is saying, if you’re going to ask Me, drop your anchor in faith, and know that if you ask Me for wisdom, I’ll give you wisdom for your marriage. I’ll give you wisdom for the business. I’ll give you wisdom for what house and neighborhood to live in.
Yes, it looks depreciated right now, but you don’t know the city’s talking about redoing this area. The reason I told you to buy the house now, even though it seems cheaper than what you want, is because it’ll be three times that two years from now if you would just listen. I’m telling you, I’ll give you wisdom, but wisdom comes from His presence and a pattern. So as I went to that hotel this year and I asked God for wisdom, I want to give you the third puzzle piece to really getting a word from God—a vision from God and getting anchored in your own life: it will be practical. God does not live in this ethereal realm; He says, «I work in the details of My children’s lives.» His presence creates a pattern that will come out practically. I know this is not the teaching style of every pastor because every pastor wants you to feel like they are smarter than you.
Let me tell you very clearly, I’m not smarter than you all. Many of you have more actual knowledge—more things in your head—than I ever will. The one thing most people can’t mess with me on is that I am practically looking for God everywhere. You might know about Him, but I know Him. I can see Him at IHOP. I can see Him as I’m walking down the street. I can see Him in a homeless person; I can see Him in a beat; I can see Him in a movie; I can see Him in a camera. I can see Him. The whole earth is the Lord’s, and most of you look for Him on Sunday, while I see Him in everything. When God gave me His presence and I had a pattern, God spoke to me. He said, «Michael, open your eyes and look. I’m going to speak something into your conscience.»
I thought it would be better today to show you how we’re here and what God wants to do than just to talk to you about it. It was on August 7th that I woke up and pulled out my phone; I just typed this down. I’d never seen this before, but God spoke to me because I had made room in His presence. I had a pattern, and then He made it really practical. This is all He said: «The word for 2021 is anchored.» On August 8th, 2020, at 1:52, this is my real phone. I literally, practically— I need everybody to understand this is not mystical or spooky. I hit the word «anchored,» and there’s a thing on the iPhone that says «look up word,» and I looked up the definition of anchor. It said: «a person or thing that provides stability and confidence in an otherwise unpredictable situation.» And God whispered this one sentence to me, and I marked His word: «What you are tied to is more important than where.»
Then I left it up here just like this because I was supposed to say «where you are,» but it was unfinished because I got distracted. «What you are tied to is more important than where.» My goal—that’s personality—what you are tied to is more important than where. I left this up here to let you know that even the people who are supposed to be closest to God have the opportunity to become distracted. But what God had me do is go back to His presence, and I had a pattern, and He finished this word for me, and that’s why I can finish it for you: «What you are tied to is more important than where you currently are.» That was a practical thing. I said, «Okay, God, so what are you telling me?» He said, «Michael, any time you do anything, get in My presence, get the pattern; I’ll make it practical.»
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, «Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.» I did not understand why He wanted it to be anchored; I did not understand what 2021 would hold because I didn’t have God’s view on it, but He did. So He said «anchored,» and He said, «In all your ways acknowledge Me.» That’s why I had the audacity to put it in my phone, because I acknowledged this wasn’t me; this was God. And He said, «If you do that, I will direct your path.» I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but I’m giving you practical ways to hear God for your family and how to be anchored this year. You’ve got to get the puzzle piece of His presence and His pattern, and it has to be practical.
And this is the thing I love about God: when God speaks something, He will be persistent. Do you know how many times I tried to change the word—tried to maybe think this was what God was saying? And God is saying, «I gave it to you, and if you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter. The truth is not affected by your opinion.» Your opinion of what God is doing has nothing to do with the truth of what He’s doing. He said, «Whether you tell the church or not, in 2021 you need to be anchored.» He said, «And I’ll give you confirmation.»
This is the beautiful thing about walking and talking with God, knowing that God speaks: you will begin to gain confidence that God will provide confirmation. I expect confirmation! My life is too much in the balance to not hear God say this is definitely it. And let me give somebody freedom right now—God is not offended by you asking for confirmation. Can you go to Judges 6:36? I want to show you a small story about Gideon. Gideon was the least of the least from the worst tribe. Nobody knew anything about him; he was scary. I mean, Gideon was the weakest person you can think of. God, through an angel, spoke to him and said, «Mighty man of valor.» Gideon was like, «Who are you talking to?»
Then later on, Gideon’s experiences in the presence have come to be practical; he says to God, «Um, hey God, this has been great—all the signs that You’ve done, but if You are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as You promised… now I didn’t want this; this wasn’t part of my plan. I just wanted some bread and that’s why I was doing this at the bottom of the threshing floor… but if You want me to rescue them as You promised… I don’t know how to say this, but prove it to me.» And then he said, «Okay, He might smite me, but I need to know. Could You not just prove it to me, but prove it to me in this specific way?»
So this is what he said: «I’m going to put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight, and if the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground around it is dry, then I will know.» He already said that, but Gideon was bold enough to ask for confirmation. I think sometimes we play God like He’s intimidated by our requests. He literally asked, «Can you prove it to me in this specific way?» And look what it said: «And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and rung out a whole bowl full of water.» Gideon said to God, «You know what? That was great. Wow! I mean, did you all see that? Whoa! Only God could do that! But just one more thing. Just real quick—please don’t be angry with me. My life is in the balance! I can’t—this is deciding who I marry! Even if we get divorced, they take a piece of me! There’s children in the balance, there’s generational wealth in the balance, there’s my heart in the balance!
God, don’t be angry with me, but let me make just one more request. Let me use the fleece in one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.» That night, God did as Gideon asked, and the fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. Do you know how big our God is that when He speaks it to you and you believe it in faith, then He’ll confirm it? He’ll confirm it over and over and over again. What ended up happening as I figured out that this was the word for this year was I was like, «God, anchored? I don’t even know okay, that’s what you want to do?» And He said, «Yeah, I’ll prove it to you.»
So me, my wife, and a couple of our friends went on vacation in August. On August 25th, we’re going to… I am one of those people that when I go on vacation, especially in a different country, the first place I want to go is to the grocery store. I want to know how American this place is. I want to know, can I find Doritos, can I find Oreos, and can I find some Sprite? Because if anything goes wrong, I’ll be able to survive on those. I don’t know—judge me if you want, but this is how I do when I go to other countries. And so we’re on our way, walking from this nice hotel to like the hood corner store, and as I’m looking over my back to see if I’m going to have to shank somebody, I walk up on this picture that I want to show you right here—that God said He would confirm His word to me. I’m walking, and out of nowhere comes this 12-foot anchor. I literally look at this anchor and I’m like, «What in the world is that?»
You just told me that the word is anchored, and now, I don’t even think it was 19 days later, He presents to me an anchor. When I saw this, it stopped me in my tracks because it was God practically confirming what He told me privately. I want to let you know that God will confirm publicly and practically what He told you. Everybody say privately. I know some of you are like, «Well, I’ve already got everything figured out, and all this other stuff,» but God literally put a 12-foot anchor in my view and said, «I’m speaking!» I’m asking you, what has God put in your view that you thought was just scenery? God is speaking. He’s trying to show you; He’s trying to develop you; He’s trying to engage you right now.
Somebody say, «God speaks!» I see this 12-foot anchor, August 25th, 2020. Here it is. My wife is like, «What are you doing?» I said, «I’ve got to go take a picture of this! I haven’t even told Natalie yet.» I just took a picture of the anchor, and I’m like, «Alright, God.» But remember that story in Judges when Gideon asked twice? «Don’t be mad at me, but if I’m about to tell hundreds of thousands of people that we’re supposed to anchor, this can’t be cute, because I’ll have people telling me I’m a false prophet. I might have people disconnected from the church, and I don’t want the problems; I just want to hear from You.» And God said, «I’ll confirm it.» Later on, we get on the boat and go to this little private beach area where we’ve been for like two or three days, with little flamingos walking around.
When I want to hear God, I go to the beach. Y’all hear me? I just sit there, letting all my cellulite hang out and everything. We’re working on it; we’re about to get anchored in the name of Jesus. But I was sitting there, and we were about to catch the boat back when God whispered, «Look to your right.» I looked to my right and saw nothing, but God said, «Yes, it is.» This is what was to my right. Could you please put it on the screen? A 30-foot anchor! I said, «Oh, like, you really…» Now this is the funny thing—I asked my wife and my sister, who went on the trip with us, «Did y’all see this anchor every day?» They said, «We haven’t seen it one day!» But because we passed it over and over, it was there the whole time. When I looked, God whispered to my heart, and I then saw a confirmation of what God had already said.
He told me privately that he wanted me to know he was with me publicly. So, I took a picture next to this big anchor, and I said, «God, I’m going to teach anchored this year.» That was back in August. You know how, when time goes by from when God says something to you, it can feel a little shaky? I don’t mean to say I’ve seen a lot of things; maybe the word for this year is forgive because we did the whole FU series, and God was like, «I didn’t change. I didn’t lose my spot. I gave you what I wanted you to do, and now I need you to obey me.»
I’m just trying to help somebody anchor, so I went back to Him one more time and said, «Hey Lord, it’s the end of the year. Could you please just confirm? I’ve been in Your presence. I got a pattern; You made it really practical, and You’ve been persistent in telling me this is exactly what You want me to do. But I just want to know You’re still with me.» I don’t think that God looks at that as a bad thing when you ask Him in faith because my concern is I don’t want to do anything without Him. I don’t want to cross this line if He’s not over the line. And God said, «I’ve got you, son.»
Natalie and I went to a restaurant for breakfast, and this has never happened to me before. On December 30th, take a look at your screen. I can’t make this stuff up! At the bottom of my cup—look at that—is a… what? Oh, they need to clean this cup! But it’s an anchor at the bottom of my cup! Oh, God is speaking, TC; He’s speaking, and you look good! Glory to God! I went to take a sip, and I looked at the bottom of my cup. I never look at the bottom of my cup, and God placed an anchor there. So if anyone has a question about what the word of the year is for TC, go find another church. But one thing I know is that when God spoke, we were supposed to be anchored. Because I got into His presence, I found a pattern—it was practical. He was persistent.
The thing I get to do next year at this time is prove it. See, the last part of God doing what He does is that it’s proven. The reason I stand in confidence today is that I don’t have to make this word come to pass; I just have to obey it every step of the way, and it’s proven. It was proven when God told us to maintain and sustain; it was proven when He said to go beyond. It was proven when He said to stride; it was proven when He said it was the year of release. It was proven last year when He said we would get stronger, and now it will be proven because you and I are going to get…
I thought it was important to demystify how God speaks. Luke 7:35 says, «Yet wisdom is proven right by its results.» Stop calling people wise just because they know things. Call people wise when they can prove things. Everybody’s a pastor, everybody’s a prophet with Instagram, Facebook, and all that other stuff. Say it if you want, but show me the proof! Because wisdom is proven by its results.
So, our word this year is to be anchored. Let me give you the definition, and then we’ll close because I have too much more to preach. I think somebody this week needs to practically be able to be anchored in knowing God speaks. Because I’m not going to do all the things God has called me to do—I’m not going to sign the record contract if I don’t know that God spoke to me. Oh, I forgot, you’re into opportunities instead of assignments. Oh, that’s what culture sells us on—"Oh, if they call…» I never thought they would call. Okay, they did. Did God say to do it? If your dream job called and God said no, would you obey? If the person you want to date said they want to date you but God says He doesn’t want you in that relationship at this time, would you obey? If you have the money for the house, and God says no house this whole year—well, my credit is approved and I have the down payment, and I know this is the neighborhood I want to live in—but God says not yet. Would you obey?
Now, I forgot, you’re about opportunity and not assignment. The thing about God’s kingdom is when you start walking in the favor and blessing of God, there will be opportunities around you all day. The thing you have to delineate is: What did God say and what do I want? Whenever you figure out that what you want doesn’t line up with what God says, you have to let it go. But there is a beautiful place where God can align your desires with His desires, and what you want and what He wants can be the same thing. It begins to create beautiful harmony. Harmony is when two separate things work together to create something very beautiful. What God wants to do with you in 2021 is for you and His will for your life to be in harmony. He wants you to walk with people so that when you talk about things, the notes aren’t clashing—they’re not producing different sounds or ideas. He wants it to be in harmony. And the only way it’s in harmony is if you hear from Him.
Today, being anchored to God’s word is more important than anyone else’s words. I have so much more to preach, and like Charles is looking at my notes right now—I’m still on page one—but I feel like there’s a holy moment right here. God speaks. If you’ve ever doubted, maybe your prayer for the rest of these seven days of prayer and fasting should be, «God, speak to me.» Just say it out loud, «God, speak to me.» Now, don’t look for Him to speak in the way you desire; look for Him to speak. I gave you 11 ways God speaks. Some of you, He’s speaking to you right now. Some of you He used a person to speak to you, and now this is the most beautiful thing—any way that God speaks, He wants to clarify it for you too. But what do you have to do? Go back to His presence.
Do you have a pattern of getting in His presence? Do you have a pattern of being with God? Is it such a pattern that it can happen in practical places like the shower, in your car, while you’re talking to your husband or wife, or while you’re making some vegan tacos? That’s how practical it is! More than anything, I desire for you not to be connected to a ministry or a man. I desire for you to be connected to the God who speaks. Some of you this year have been tossed to and fro because you didn’t have an anchor of God’s word—what He has said in the Bible, what He said through your pastor or your leader, what He said to your friends in your community. You need an anchor.
Today I’m going to pray for the entire congregation of Transformation Nation that this week God would speak. I feel it; I had a plan, but God literally interrupted that plan to let you know He wants to speak to you. Speak to my heart, Lord. Give me Your holy word. If I can’t hear from You, then I won’t know what to do. «I won’t go; I’m not stepping without You. I’ll never go on my own. Just let Your spirit go.» He’s speaking!
Let Your word say that: «Speak to my heart.» Come on, lift your hands everywhere and say, «Give me Your holy word.» If I can’t hear from You, then I’ll know what to do. Say, «I won’t go; I’m not going into this job. I’m not going into this relationship because I can’t go on my own. Just let Your spirit guide.» We’re going to sing that one more time. Will you stand up and just say, «Speak to my heart?» Somebody say, «Give me Your holy word.» God, we need to hear from You!
If I can just let Your spirit guide and let Your word say «Speak to my heart.» Somebody say, «Speak to my heart.» That’s what God wants to do. That’s what He wants to do in every area. Speak for my career, for my business; speak directly to my feelings. I feel that God wants to speak to you—not through the mic. Let me clarify, I am just a servant of someone who is way better than me. There are so many people; I like the way President Dresden talks.
Let me help you: Tomorrow I might not have all my faculties; this may shut down, but the thing that has lasted in every season—the Bible says it like this: «The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever.» If you want God to speak to you, I feel this strongly. If you want God to speak to you, would you just lift your hands all over? Just say, «God, I want it. I need clarity; I need You in every situation of my life.» Now, I’m going to pray for you right now, not doubting in faith that the God of the universe is so omnipresent that He can speak to me, speak to Amberly, speak to Will, speak to Dylan, and speak to everyone under the sound of my voice. We’re declaring it this week:
Father, I praise You because You’re a good Father, and You said, «If we need wisdom for anything, we can boldly come and ask.» Father God, You gave our church a word to be anchored, but You are a living word. That means You are continuing to speak for whatever we need, whenever we need it, at whatever time we need it. So, Holy Spirit, I’m asking You, I’m putting Your reputation on the line, and I’m asking You to be a big God and speak to Your children. Father, I’m praying for the skeptic and the doubter. I’m praying for the person who was raised steeped in religion and who used God speaking as manipulation. I tear that down in the name of Jesus, and I declare and believe, Father God, that there is about to be a revival, a resurgence of people hearing Your voice, and a stranger they will not listen to.
Father, how will we be anchored if we don’t have a word that withstands? Speak to our hearts, Lord, and I’m asking You right now that the testimonies I hear will start ringing out. God will begin to confirm His word. He’s going to be persistent. I even hear God saying, «The old things—the things you thought were dead—I’m going to speak to you again. I’m going to show you; I’m so good. I’ll confirm it. Look for Me,» God says. Today, we are honored to remember that You aren’t just a God who did it; You are a God who does it. Somebody say, «God speaks.» He’s not just a God who did it; He’s a God who does it.
Speak to my heart. I feel that. Just one more time. I’m sitting in this moment; you’re in His presence right now. You better ask Him about your marriage, about your fiancé, about your kids, about their schooling, about your future, about your retirement. God, I need You to speak. You’re welcome here, Lord; You’re welcome here. Holy Spirit, You are welcome! Come fill this place and my friendships. You’re welcome everywhere! God, we want to see You. You are still speaking, God! Anchor not the words of men or others; let us become aware, God! Let us see what’s already there. Let us see what You’re trying to do.
Father, how will we be anchored if we don’t have a word that withstands? Speak to our hearts, Lord, and I’m asking You right now that the testimonies I hear will start ringing out. God will begin to confirm His word. He’s going to be persistent. I even hear God saying, «The old things—the things you thought were dead—I’m going to speak to you again. I’m going to show you; I’m so good. I’ll confirm it. Look for Me,» God says. Today, we are honored to remember that You aren’t just a God who did it; You are a God who does it. Somebody say, «God speaks.» He’s not just a God who did it; He’s a God who does it.
Speak to my heart. I feel that. Just one more time. I’m sitting in this moment; you’re in His presence right now. You better ask Him about your marriage, about your fiancé, about your kids, about their schooling, about your future, about your retirement. God, I need You to speak. You’re welcome here, Lord; You’re welcome here. Holy Spirit, You are welcome! Come fill this place and my friendships. You’re welcome everywhere! God, we want to see You. You are still speaking, God! Anchor not the words of men or others; let us become aware, God! Let us see what’s already there. Let us see what You’re trying to do.
I want to talk to everybody that needs to tie your anchor to Jesus. See, I’ll talk about it more next week, but an anchor is not about something that looks good; it’s about something that saves you in a storm. The reason you need an anchor is that in the midst of the storm, it saves you. A lot of people want something fancy from God—they want a blessing, a miracle. They want you to enlarge their territory. Yeah, all that’s good, but the first thing that an anchor does is save you.
Today, there’s somebody watching who has not tied their anchor to something steady, and the rock of our salvation is Jesus. Today, I want to give you the opportunity to tie your life to someone who will never fail you. Your anchor has a name, and His name is Jesus. It’s so incredible; I have to show you this. As I was looking at a picture of an anchor this week, I was studying it and God said, «I am your anchor, Michael. I sent Jesus.» Be your anchor, and I kept looking at this cross, saying, «God, what are You trying to show me?» Just out of the blue, it popped up, and I saw that the anchor is the very symbol of what our Savior stretched out His arms on the cross for. It is an anchor because Jesus is our anchor.
Today, if Jesus is not your anchor, I don’t want you to go another day alone. I don’t want you to face this week without Jesus being your anchor. I don’t want you to try to be nice to people because, in yourself, you can’t do it. I need you to have Jesus as your anchor. It’s so simple—according to Romans 10:9, some of you on the third Sunday of 2021 are about to dedicate your life and anchor to Jesus. I’m telling you, all of heaven is sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for this moment to happen. Everything in your life has led to this moment. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but if you’re watching this by accident, God says nothing is by accident; this is me. I’ve been planning this moment your whole life, and today you’re going to receive me.
I know religion tells you that you need to change this, do that, and become something else. Yet Jesus says, «That’s not what I’m asking you to do. All I need you to do is believe that Jesus, My Son, came to die for you and rose again with all power so that you could be redeemed.» In this moment right now, I’m telling you the power of God is coming to your household, to you on the track, to you on the call right now. Somebody’s even going to rededicate their life and say, «I want to be anchored not to my business, not to my career, not to this relationship, but I want to be anchored to Jesus.» Today, I’m telling you, in just a moment, we’re going to pray. This will be the greatest decision you ever make. It’s the decision that took me from being a liar, someone who was addicted to pornography, someone who was manipulative in everything I did, and it brought light into my heart. It didn’t make me a perfect man, but it made me a progressing man.
Today, God, because of what He did as our anchor on the cross, I’m never going to forget this picture that allows me to see my anchor. My hope is in Jesus, and today I want to offer that to you. I have good news: everything that has happened in your life, Jesus came to redeem, restore, and revive, but all you have to do is accept Him. If that’s you, whether you’re in this building, watching online, or watching on rebroadcast, today is the day of salvation. God is saying you don’t have to go alone. I’ll speak to you. If that’s you, on the count of three, I want you to boldly raise your hand in the air. I don’t care who’s around you. I don’t care who you came with. I don’t care if your girlfriend or boyfriend is present, or what you did. Listen, I don’t care about any of that. Today, right now, this moment is your moment of salvation.
One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two, I’m proud of you, but forget that; God is so proud of you. Three, just slip your hand up in the air right now. Come on, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hands going up all over the world. You can put your hand down. I’m not going to ask you to confess to me because God was there when it happened. You don’t have to jump through hoops to prove you deserve this. I said all have sinned and fallen short of the glory, but today you’re making a decision to make Jesus your anchor. You will be saved. Transformation Church, you know how we do this. We’re all about to pray together because eternity is turning around right now, and we’re praying for the benefit of those coming to Christ. All together, can we say out loud:
God, thank You for sending Jesus as our anchor. Today I believe He lived, died, and rose again with all power just for me. Today I repent. I surrender my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.