Steven Furtick - Seeking Significance And Security
This is an excerpt from: Kingdom Clout
If we will get honest about it, when he said, "What do you want"? we really all want the same things. There are only two things we really want. There are a lot of ways we try to get them. Some try drugs, some try sex, but that's not really what you want. Whether you drink something or eat something, that's not really what you want. What you want is significance. What you want is security. Here's what I want to say under the unction of the Spirit of God. Somebody share this message online right now, because what I'm about to say is going to set somebody free. When you attach your significance to status or when you attach your security to stuff, it's never enough.
So if it's four figures, five figures, six figures, seven figures, eight figures… If you get it, you'll be worried about losing it if you have to have it to make you somebody. I'm not mad. I have an Instagram account too. Post on it and swipe up about it and share with a friend, but if I need that to be me, it's just a matter of time. I'll prove it to you. Out of all of the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus chose four. Out of those four, he had a favorite three. Andrew didn't even make the three. He's the one who brought Peter to Jesus.
Some of us will be defined not by what we do but what we empower others to do, and it will be the greatest contribution of our lives. You don't even know how God is using you. That parking dude out there this morning, jumping up and down, made me so happy to preach to you. He didn't even know. He was doing all this stuff, throwing stuff. I didn't know what he was doing, but it made me happy. It helped me preach. But you don't know, because the kingdom of this world only celebrates what is seen. Out of the four, he had a favorite three: Peter, James, and John. But it's never enough. Out of all of the people he could have chosen, he chose twelve. They were two of the Twelve. Out of the twelve he chose, there were three. They were two of the three. But it's not enough. It's never enough.
So they come to him, and they're like, "Uh, Mom, you do it". You know all of the ways we use to mask our real motives. "Mom…" It's not so much what they asked; it's when they asked it. He had just told them, "I'm going to the cross". I used to think they were selfish. They weren't selfish; they were scared. When you are scared, when you are fearful, when you secretly think you don't have what it takes, it causes you to do crazy stuff to get attention. It's not really attention you want; it's intimacy. It's not really to be noticed; it's to be known. That's what we really want.
It takes you a lot of your life to figure out what you really want before you realize, "What I really want is to be connected to God". When they came to him, they came to him honestly. I need to illustrate this. Come here, JJ. Who wants to help me preach? We'll just act it out really quickly. I'm going to leave you with this, because it's powerful. It's the way my mind imagines the Scriptures and the way I see things. I want you to be thinking about this this week. Somebody say, "I've already got it". The kingdom of this world is all about arrival; the kingdom of heaven is all about awareness. The kingdoms of this world are all about achievement.
"When I get that, when I have that, when I get there, when I lose that, when I gain that…" That is the world's definition of greatness. When will we stop allowing the world to define what God created? God makes you great…God's approval, God's authority, God's seal, God's ownership. You are not a nobody. He didn't die for nobody. He didn't shed his lifeblood for nobody. He didn't go to the cross for a nobody. The way I saw it… You be over here. You be Jesus. Just for this illustration. Don't go home with this. Just be Jesus for three minutes. Can I show you something? It was powerful to me how I read it. Both of you come here. You be James. You stay there, Jesus. (That felt weird saying that. You know what I mean, Lord.)
Matthew recorded it like this. He said this mother (I'll be the mom; you be the boys) brought her sons to Jesus. She knelt; they stood. She said, "I need you to do something for me. My deepest desire is that these boys will be okay. In your kingdom that you've been preaching about and demonstrating that you came to establish, I need you to make sure that one gets at your right, one gets at your left". I read the text so many times before realizing that at the moment she asked for this…
She brought her boys to Jesus, and when she said, "Will you grant that my boys can stand at your right and your left?" at the moment she asked that, they were already there. Could it be that you're already there and you don't even know it? You could be chosen and not even know it. To be so focused on the future, to be so focused on there that you miss it here. When he came to preach, he preached, "The kingdom of heaven is here".
I want us to take just a moment, and every grateful person, I want you to celebrate where God already brought you from and where he already brought you to. Just to get a picture that "I'm already there. He already loves me. He already accepts me. He already chose me. He already knows me. He already called my name". Come on, that's not a big enough praise. You need to get down and humble yourself and say, "Thank you, Lord, for what you gave me, for what you made me". He's doing it right now. The kingdom is at hand. The kingdom is here. The kingdom is now. The kingdom is within you.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. If you never do anything else, you did so much for me. I believe greater things are ahead, but I thank you for where I am right now. I've already got it. It's mine right now. I'm accepted right now. I'm validated right now. Put your approval on them, God. Put your "yes" on them. Put your favor on them. Put your chesed. Divine mercy be upon them in this year. Would you just lift your hands like this, like you're receiving something? God, I've searched so hard for what I already had, and I just want to stop in your presence and thank you today that you called who you wanted and you wanted me. I thank you that I'm already at the right hand where there are pleasures forevermore, fullness of joy in your presence. We know the past has its issues, and we know the future has its uncertainties, but in your presence is fullness of joy, right here, right now. I thank you that these, your children, are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, belonging to a kingdom that can never be shaken. We give you praise, for your name is great. In Jesus' name, amen.