Steven Furtick - Find Your Flow (01/28/2026)
This New Year's Eve sermon from Genesis 26:12-18 announces that in 2015 you will "find your flow." Using Isaac's story of reopening his father Abraham's stopped-up wells, the preacher explains that God's blessing and fulfillment come not from seeking new things, but from digging out the "foreign objects" like complaining, regret, and complacency that block the flow of the Holy Spirit already within us.
An Announcement for the New Year
I want to preach to you now. That'd be okay. You're stuck here until next year. You may as well give your attention to the Word of God. I want to share with you a scripture that I've been holding on to for several months. Something that's been so exciting in me. I've been exploding internally since the last time I saw you on Christmas Eve. And I want to share with you a word. Last year's New Year's Eve sermon stayed on my mirror. The scripture that the Lord gave me stayed on my mirror all year until today. And what God put in my heart for us. I believe it'll carry through the whole year. I believe it will. And I believe it'll set a great direction for your attitude in this coming year.
But I covered up the old scriptures with the new ones because this is something that, well, on the surface, you might not see it. But if you give me a few minutes to work it out, I want to preach to you from Genesis 26. I'll read a couple verses for you, but I have one particular thought. That I want to drill down on tonight. And we welcome all of our locations. Man, it's so great to be linked up all over the city. Welcome those of you watching online. Welcome those of you on Trinity Broadcasting Network. Watching locally on television. Genesis chapter 26, verses 12 through 18. I'm going to read it without context. And then I'll backfill the context in a moment.
The scripture says that Isaac planted crops in that land. And the same year reaped a hundredfold because the Lord had blessed him. Now, if anything good happened to you in your life this year, I want you to know the cause of it was right there in verse 12. I don't know if you missed part B. It said he he reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him. If you had all your needs met this year, if you didn't lose your mind this year, if you didn't have a nervous breakdown this year, or if you did and then you got back together, if you still got your family around you this year, there's only one reason. Don't get it twisted. It's because the Lord blessed you.
That's why we came to church at the end of the year. You're gonna have to bring it down a notch. That's only the first verse, and I'm reading all the way to 18. Tell somebody next to you, "what had happened was, the Lord blessed you." That's why you're here. You're not smart enough to make it this far. You're not cute enough to make it this far. You're not sufficient in and of yourself to make it this far, but if the blessing of God is on you, it'll carry you through some tough times, and some dark days. Verse 13, the man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
I hope you don't think that God's riches just simply revolve around worldly wealth. Because the scripture says that, that he'll make you rich and he'll add no sorrow to it. So he'll make you rich in ways where you'll have everything that you need, not just on the outside, but on the inside. We want to be rich in love, joy, peace, Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And he got so blessed, look at verse 14. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the Wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with the earth.
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "move away from us, you have become too powerful for us." So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the valley of Jerar, where he settled. Verse 18 is my focal point. "Isaac reopened the Wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave them the same names his father had given them." I don't so much have a sermon title for this occasion as I have an announcement. So I need you to turn to your neighbor and make the announcement for me, because I can't get around the whole church. I wish I could. But at every location, turn to your neighbor and tell them, "neighbor, in 2015, you're going to find your flow."
Yeah, that's the announcement. How do you like that? That's what God brought you here to tell you. In 2015, now find 14 other people and tell them "you're going to find your flow." You're going to find your flow. Come on, tell them you're going to find your flow. You're going to find your flow. You're going to find your flow. This year. Come on, we're flowing into 15. 2015 is the year of flow. We are going to flow. We are going to flow. We are going to flow. You are going to find your flow. Help me thank the worship team, the production team, the Parker team, all the teams, the Dream Team. Well, let's take our seats and find our flow. Let's find our flow tonight.
The Joy of Living in the Flow
There is nothing more fun in life than when you are in the flow. In the flow. Usually, that's a psychological term. You often hear "in the flow" or "in the zone." It might be a more common way that you hear it said, but I want to talk in terms of finding your flow from a theological as well as a psychological standpoint tonight because there's nothing more fun and fulfilling than when you find your flow and living in the flow. It's an amazing, amazing sensation. We each picked a word for our year-end offering that we wanted to see embodied in our life this year. One word. Wanted to focus on one word.
It's funny because on Saturday night when I was leading the congregation to bring their offering and to choose one word, I had not selected my word yet. And when I was up talking in front of the whole church, I just felt the word just come out of my mouth like a projectile, like just came out of my mouth. And I said the word before I even knew what I was saying. I was like watching myself say it. Fulfillment. And I just said that word and it felt so right that that's what my focus needed to be in 2015 is fulfillment. And I really believe that it's going to be a word for our church in this year, fulfillment. And we'll see how the Lord unpacks that. I don't want to tell him how to do his job.
But I really sense this word fulfillment has a deep meaning for us because fulfillment is not a state of affairs. A lot of us think of fulfillment like a fulfillment center on Amazon where they fulfill your order and bring it to your doorstep. But fulfillment is really a state of mind while God's promises are in process in your life. And so I want to live in a state of fulfillment as I'm waiting for God to bring his promises to pass. Anyway, fulfillment begins with flow. Fulfillment begins with flow. And so you're getting a head start on all the weekend only people. Because by the time they get here this weekend for this brand new series, you're going to already be in the flow of what God is speaking.
Now, when athletes get in their flow, they play like they're from another planet. And they're able to succeed really above and beyond their natural skill level when they find their flow. There's a lot of sports psychology that tries to study what makes flow happen. One definition I read said, and I want to get it exactly right, I jotted it down. It says that the flow as we mean it, don't try to write all this, is a mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment in the process of the activity. So I want to live in that place as much as I can.
If you remember, you know, a time in your life where you were in the flow, certain stuff came easily to you. And sometimes it seems like you're watching yourself. It's just a weird thing, and I see it a lot of times when I'm preaching. Like I'm studying, and I'm trying to get something, and I'll study for days, and nothing will really make sense. Then all of a sudden, it'll just start coming at me, kind of like this message did. Just study, study, study, nothing, and then boom, you're in the flow. So even sometimes in the act of preaching, I'll get in a flow where I don't know what I'm going to say next. And I'm hoping that it makes sense that all the syllables get out. But when you're in that flow, it's a really powerful feeling.
Creative people know how much you need flow to do what you do. But it's not just creative people. All of us need cash flow. Hello, somebody. All kinds of flow. Life is better with cash flow. It doesn't matter how good your prayer life is. There are certain things you can't do in the world without positive cash flow. Life is better with flow. Tell somebody next to you, "life is better with flow." Tell the person on the other side of you, "hip-hop is better with flow." Everything is better with flow. Sometimes when I try to exercise, the first few reps are the hardest in the morning because I need to get my blood flowing. Right. I'm just working this word for a minute before we move back to the text.
Because there's nothing more fun than being in a flow. A state of energized, focused, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process where you're really fulfilled in the flow. Not just accomplishing the task, but enjoying the activity because you're in the flow. And producing more than you could by yourself. I don't think this has its roots in modern psychology or Eastern mysticism, however. I find the concept of flow very present in all of scripture. And I'll show you just one example where Jesus said in John chapter 7, verse 37 through 39. On the last and greatest day of the festival, he stood up and said in a loud voice. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood up and said, on the last and greatest day.
I wonder if on the last day of 2014, there's something that Jesus wants to shout and announce to our church before we leave this year. He said, "whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will... Will what? Will what Lake Norman? Will what Matthews? Will what Blakeney? Will what those of you in Blakeney overflow? Good. Rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit. We were singing about the Spirit a minute ago. The Spirit of the Lord is here. Up until this time, the Spirit was coming. But now we live in an age where the Spirit of the Lord is here. God's Spirit is on tap and available to freely flow in the life of anyone who will open their heart to his purpose and his promise.
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time, as I just mentioned, the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. But now he has been glorified and he's forever glorified. And his Spirit can flow in your life. If there's nothing more fun and exciting than being in the flow, I would suggest that there's nothing more frustrating than when you can't get your flow. I mean just in your daily life here. I'm not talking about some complicated, nuanced textual level here related to the pneumatology of the Holy Spirit. I'm just saying in daily life when there's no flow or when your flow gets interrupted.
Isaac's Interrupted Flow
In the text I read you in Genesis 26, Isaac's flow has been interrupted and he has every right to be frustrated. His flow has been interrupted by a famine. If you noticed in verse 12, it says "Isaac planted crops in that land." Well, what land are we speaking of? It says "in that land", but it wasn't his homeland. It wasn't the land where he had been comfortable and settled. Look at Genesis 26 verse 1. Is it okay if we study a little bit tonight? Okay, we're going to shout by the end, but let's study so we'll have something to shout about. If you want to shout and not know what you're shouting about, that won't help you find your flow. It would be fun, but it won't help your flow. And I want the word to flow into your life and flow into your Monday and your Tuesday and your Wednesday. And after the holidays, I want this word to flow. So we've got to study a little bit.
It says in Genesis 26 verse 1, "Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine in Abraham's time," because famine is a part of every generation. Every generation has its own struggles. Every person has individual challenges. And it says, This is a different time than Abraham, Isaac's father, experienced. "And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar." And that's where the Lord told him, I want you to go camp out in this certain place for a while. And so Isaac, in a place that he didn't plan to be, starts sowing in a time of famine, and God produces great wealth. I want to say something, though, about this before we move into a new year, before we find our flow. Please write this down. You can't fulfill your calling in your comfort zone.
Okay, I'll say that again. She requested it. I'm a gentleman. A lady with a big bow on her head asks you to say something again. I think you say it again, if you have the opportunity. And I've got it written right down here, so I can say it just like I said it the first time. Then you can write it down, and you can say it to yourself as many times as you want in 2015. It's a good reminder. You can't fulfill your calling in your comfort zone. So it's interesting to me how God will use certain famines in our lives or in our emotions. in order to force us out of our comfort zones. I bet there's something that you didn't get this year that you wanted, that you thought you needed, that you prayed for.
But notice in the scripture, God is always guiding not only by what he provides, but as my pastor, Pastor Craig Groeschel, who told me he was going to watch online tonight. What's up, Pastor Craig? As he often so wisely says, not only does God guide by what he provides, but he often guides by what he withholds. And so if something didn't happen in your life this year, that's okay. Because you'll always be in the flow if you know how to sow. That even right there, that line had some flow to it. I don't know if you picked up on it or not. It's rather profound though. You will never have your flow broken by circumstances if you've learned how to sow in your life.
And one thing that Isaac knew how to do, he knew how to obey the voice of God, to obey the instruction of God, to follow the lead and the pace of his God, and to go where God sent him, and to sow out of what God had given him. And so he sowed in a place where he had been pushed out. Now, it's important that you know this because sometimes life will come along and push you out of a place where you were really comfortable. Push you out of a place where you had put down roots. And so what God will do is he'll often increase your capacity by causing confrontation. Okay? Write this down, lady with a bow. You can't increase capacity without confrontation.
So if you want God to enlarge an area of your life, it will require a confrontation of some sort. Let's read it again in verse 13. It says, "The man became rich, his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy." God's giving him more influence. God's giving him more territory. God's giving him more income. God's giving him more notoriety. But as his capacity increases, so do his challenges. And I wish somebody would have told me this before the church started growing. Because I wanted God to grow our capacity, but I didn't want to confront the challenges that I had to confront for the capacity of the church to be increased.
And so when we say we want God to do greater things in our lives in a new year, you've got to understand that God can't increase your capacity without a confrontation. Look at it. It's in the text. It says, verse 14, "He has so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied them." The Philistines were a seafaring people who were often hired out as mercenaries. They became some of Israel's greatest enemies in Scripture. And these enemies of God's people began to notice how much God had blessed Isaac, who was carrying God's promise. And they come to him and they say, you've got to get out of here. Look at verse 15. They stopped up all the Wells that Abraham had dug, filling them with earth. And then, verse 16, Abimelech said to Isaac, "move away from us. You have become too powerful for us."
When God Pushes You Out to Pull You In
Okay, here's what happens in our lives. When we grow in our love, in our compassion, in our faith, when we grow in our knowledge of God, in our intimacy with God, when we become more passionate about the things of God, when we grow, we get too big for certain places where we've settled. We get too big for certain relationships that don't fit us anymore. We get too big for certain habits that we're really comfortable with. And so the calling of God comes. And the calling of God, not only will it force you out of your comfort zone, but it will increase your capacity. However, as your capacity increases, so do your challenges. And then the enemy will start pushing you. That's what happened to Isaac. He got pushed out of the place where he was.
But I wanted you to know, and for whoever this is for, you can shout when I say it, that while the enemy was pushing you out of the last place you were, God was using that challenge, that enemy, watch this, to pull you in to his purpose for your life. That's for Dunkelman. Watch this. While the enemy was pushing against you, trying to push you out, because some of you felt like 2014, you're getting pushed around by circumstances, and pushed around by insecurities, and pushed around by people who don't appreciate you, and pushed around by economic realities, and pushed around by health problems, and pushed around by parenting challenges, and pushed around by God says, while the enemy's pushing, I'm pulling, because I know where I'm taking you, and I'll use what he's using to push on you, to prepare you for your purpose.
Push somebody next to you, say, "you're going to find your flow." And so God will often push you out of your comfort zone, so you can find your flow. See, your real flow is not in your comfort zone. Your real flow, where you're really going to be fulfilled. Your real flow, where you're really going to know I'm doing what God called me to do. Your real flow, where you're fulfilling God's purpose for your life, is not going to come in the places where you're comfortable. No. Because that will require your focus. So, God allows famine in our life. God allows loneliness. And God allows some failure. I thought he said the Lord blessed him. Yeah, sometimes he blesses you with failure. Because he knows that pride comes before a fall. So to keep you from falling, ultimately, he'll let you fail temporarily. So he can keep leading you to the place where he's bringing you eventually.
Tell somebody next to you "I failed but I didn't fall." In other words, I'm still standing. In other words, everything that the enemy did to try to push me out of the place where I thought I needed to be, I'm believing that this year I'm going to see how God was using what the devil meant for evil to accomplish something good. I'm about to find my flow. I'm about to find my flow. And I'm not going to find my flow in my comfort zone. So, this year I believe God wants to challenge your capacity. He wants to challenge your capacity. That is, he wants to push against your preconceived notions of what is possible through your life. I believe he wants to challenge the capacity of our church this year. I believe he wants to stretch us. Stretching is uncomfortable, but you can't fulfill your calling from your comfort zone.
Y'all, some preachers on New Year's Eve, they're going on and on about the blessing God wants to give, but if you don't define the blessing, people won't recognize the blessing when it shows up looking like a burden. And as long as you think that the blessing of God comes to make you comfortable, as long as you think the blessing of God comes to coddle you, you won't recognize the blessing of God when it shows up to challenge you. God says, I want to enlarge you, but understand you're going to be too big for some stuff that you're very comfortable with. Isaac gets forced out of the land that God led him to. What do you do when God takes you somewhere and tells you to go somewhere, and then you get pushed out of the place where you thought God promised?
The Enemy's Strategy: Blocking Your Flow
You see, when the Bible says "the land", it's talking about the promised land that God promised Abraham. He said to Abraham, to you and your descendants, I'll give this land forever and ever. He said, count the stars and number the sand, and I'll give you as many descendants as you can see in the sky and on the sand. He said, I'm going to give you the land on which you are lying. And he promised it to Abraham. That's Isaac's dad. And now Isaac is living off of his father's promise, and he's in that same land, and he's traveling through. And as he begins to settle, as he begins to prosper, and as it begins to go well, an enemy of challenge forces him out.
Now, not only that, I don't know if you noticed this, but it said they did something pretty dirty. The Philistines, look at verse 15. They took all the Wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, and they stopped them up, filling them with earth. In other words, they blocked his flow. To put it in a modern term, they blocked his flow. In antiquity, digging a well in an area was claiming that territory. So when you dig a well in an area, it's a way of saying, this land is my land. That land is your land. This land is my land. Stay off my land. And it was a way of staking claim. Added to that that this Valley of Gerar was on the edge of a desert, a very desolate and dry place.
So in this area where we're studying, water was in many ways more precious than gold. And so to fill somebody's well with dirt was much more than an act of vandalism. It was actually an act of war. An act of terrorism. It was declaring war. And so the Philistines, maybe the Philistines represent whatever enemies of God you and I face. Our own flesh. And even the devil. And all the stuff that aligns itself against us to keep us from fulfilling God's purpose. And flowing in God's purpose for our life. And the Philistines see that God is with Isaac and God's blessing Isaac. And there's nothing they can do to take away the blessing. But maybe if they block the place that the blessing comes from. So it doesn't matter how much seed you sow if you don't have any water to water that seed with.
And so water, Jesus said in John 7, remember, is like the Spirit. He said, "whoever thirsts, come and drink from me." And John gives us the interpretation. He says, he said this, indicating his Spirit, which those who would believe in him were later to receive. So Jesus is using an analogy. He's saying, my Spirit is like water. And just like the seed can't grow without water, you can't grow without my Spirit. Not really grow. Not really grow. Now, there's nothing that the enemy can do to you as a child of God to take God's promise away. To take God's blessing away. But if he can block the place where the promise and the blessing flows from, he can keep it from being effective in your life. So the Philistines declare war on Isaac and Isaac's children and Isaac's descendants and God's promise by filling up the Wells, by stopping up the Wells with earth, by blocking the flow with dirt.
I wonder... Now, this is a question about you. What's blocking your flow as one year ends and another begins? I wonder, what kind of dirt has the enemy put in the well to try to block your blessing? Now, see, he can't take your blessing, but he can block you from experiencing it. He can't take away God's favor from your life. God's favor is for a lifetime. But you know, he can block the source where you receive the resource. He can block your blessing. I thought about calling this whole sermon, "What's Stopping You?" Because it said the Philistines stopped up the Wells. And I realize a lot of people ending this year are stopped up too. Not in your sinuses. Holly's been sniffing and coughing like a dying woman for the last four weeks. Y'all pray for her just all the time. She's still pretty snorting and everything. But I'm saying, just like the body can become stopped up... Watch this. Foreign objects block flow. Foreign objects block flow.
So, the Philistines take some dirt from the ground and put a foreign object in the well. I believe there are some foreign objects in your spirit that are blocking your flow that we need to dig out before this clock hits midnight in 24 minutes. We got 24 minutes to start digging. We got 24 minutes to unstop you. We got 24 minutes to unclog you. We got 24 minutes to find out what's filling up the well where the water is supposed to be flowing. Because some of y'all are stopped up. And your flow is blocked. And when your flow is blocked, you can't pray like you want to pray. When you got foreign objects in your well, you can't connect with God like you want to connect with God.
When you're looking at pornography on the same phone that you're trying to read the YouVersion Bible reading plan, it's kind of hard to get something out of it. I got too real. Everybody just changed their whole facial expression. But what's blocking your flow? Oh, look at porn. But you talk about people so ugly, you'd probably be better off looking at some porn than running your mouth the way you do. Come on, let's bring the band back. A miracle can happen. I want to sing about a miracle. I don't actually want to dig out the dirt that's going to produce the opportunity for a miracle to happen. No, no. I want the miracle to fall from the sky, Lord. A miracle can happen now. And God said, no, no, no. The miracle is in the well that's filled up with stuff that doesn't belong there. And if you go into this year looking up for something to flow from God, you're going to miss it. Because the blessing is not flowing from heaven to earth. The blessing is going to flow from within, from a heart that is surrendered to the purpose of God. But we have to unblock our flow. We have to unblock, unstop the well.
Digging in the Valley: Isaac's Action
Look what Isaac did. I love it. He takes action. Verse 17. He moved away from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar where he settled. Oh, I'm so glad it was in a valley. Because I wanted you to know that if you'll dig the dirt out, God can bring water to a desert place. The scripture says, "the Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want." So it doesn't matter if you're in a valley. It doesn't matter the place where you are. It matters the purpose for which God put you there. And if you'll start digging in the valley, I found out the water flows best and the grass is greenest in some of the lowest places where I decide to dig anyway. Come on, I'm discouraged, but I'm digging anyway. I'm down, but I'm digging anyway. I'm dysfunctional, but I'm going to start digging one scoop at a time. And it's about to flow in my life. Tell your neighbor "you better find your flow. You better find your flow." If you don't find your flow this year, it's going to be dry and unproductive. But if you find your flow, even in a time of famine, you won't starve because you found your flow.
So Isaac moved on, went to the valley, and settled in the valley. He said, you know, I found out about the blessing of God. The blessing of God doesn't reside in one place, one job, one person, one opportunity. Wherever I go, God is with me. So I'll be blessed on the mountain, I'll be blessed in the valley. I'll be blessed loaded, I'll be blessed broke. I'll be blessed in the winter, I'll be blessed in the summer. I'll be blessed in a Hyundai, I'll be blessed in a Maybach. I'll be blessed, I'll be blessed. It doesn't matter, I'll be blessed. It doesn't matter, I'll be blessed. It doesn't matter, because it's not flowing from a material place. Not the flow that I want. The flow that I want is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Listen to what he did. This is what we're going to do. We've got 19 minutes to do it. Verse 18. "Isaac reopened the Wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave them the same names his father had given them." He brought us here tonight, I believe, to excavate. I know the name of our church is Elevation, but if you ever watch a building that gets built high, they can't build high until they dig deep. So what do we need to dig out? What's the foreign object? A foreign object is simply anything that doesn't belong in that place. And there's some foreign objects that are blocking your flow this year. Blocking your blessing. We sang in the church growing up. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above the heavenly host. Praise Father, Father, Son. Praise Father, Son. Praise Father, Son. And Holy Ghost." Praise God from whom all blessings flow. It's true all blessings flow from Him, but they flow through you.
Guarding the Wellspring of Your Heart
And here's where it gets personal. Here's where it gets personal. The writer of Proverbs said, in Proverbs 4. 23, he said, "above all else," what's the most important thing for you to do this year? "Guard your heart." Why? "For it is the well spring of life." So the enemy can't take away God's promise, but he can stop up your heart to where you can't receive it and believe it and act on it. I'm telling you, we got to unstop your heart. If we get foreign objects in your heart, you're going to live 2015 in a state of cardiac arrest, and you won't be able to flow like you need to flow. It doesn't matter how strong you are spiritually, if you get so depressed emotionally in 2015, you won't be able to apply every spiritual blessing that God has given you, and you'll be dry on the inside when there's so much water in the ground. There was never a shortage of water. There was just something stopping the well. And some of you felt in 2014 like God wasn't blessing you, but he was. But your heart was stopped up, and the heart is the well spring of life. And when you're living with a stopped up heart, you can't think like you want to think. And you can't worship like you ought to worship. And you can't dream like you used to dream. And you can't have vision like you're supposed to have vision. When a foreign object gets in your eye, you can't see straight. When a foreign object gets in your heart, you can't flow correctly. You can't live. You can't even breathe. You got to block flow in your heart. So what are we going to excavate tonight?
What Needs to Be Dug Out?
Well, first thing we're going to get out of our life going into 2015, we're going to get all the complaining out. We got to dig it out. We got to. We got to dig it all out. We got to dig it all out. It's going to contaminate. Here's what, a foreign object will contaminate your flow. And so I don't know how many days this year I wasted because I put an atmosphere of grumbling in my heart. And my heart got stopped up before the day even got started good. And you do it with little phrases. So we're going to have to dig. We have to dig. And what are those phrases? And what are those attitudes? And what are those outlooks? And what are those little things? What are the complaining places in our life? We got to dig them out. We got to dig them out.
I mean, if we really want to flow this year, if we really want to enjoy the goodness of God, if we really want to see his goodness in the land of the living, if we really want to bless At all times and His praise continue to be in our mouth. If we really want to flow, if we really want to flow, if we really want to drink, if we don't want to be thirsty, if we don't want to be dehydrated, if we really want the well to spring up within us, if we really don't want it to be stopped up but we want it to spring up, if we really want to go from stopped up to springing up, if we really want rivers of living water to flow through us, if we really want to have water for a thirsty world, if we really want to make a difference in the places where we work, if we really want to touch our classmates in our school, if we really want to make a difference in our community, we've got to dig out some stuff. There is no problem with the resource, God is unlimited, but there is contamination in the source and we can't get to His goodness because we are complaining.
We also got to dig out all our regrets. You can't go into this year with a heart stopped up with regret of things that you didn't accomplish last year. Yesterday is gone, can't get it back. The only regret that is productive is the one that is converted into wisdom for your future. So we got to dig out useless regrets. But I could have, but you didn't. And now you won't again if you don't dig that out. So we got to dig it out. I know, I know, I know you missed some stuff last year, but that's why... Man, I'm really... I don't want to say this because you might not find it very pastoral. So I'm not a huge fan of Christmas like a lot of people are. I like Christmas. I love Jesus as a baby, as a grown man. I love Him in all forms. As a glorified King of Kings reigning on the throne, as a warrior coming back on a white horse. I love all the versions of Jesus. So it's great to celebrate Him. I love my family. But this to me, this moment pastorally is the best opportunity. That's why I wanted to stop sitting at my house on New Year's Eve and bring everybody in that wanted to come, that was hungry, that was thirsty, that said, you know what? I want to end my year praising God and I want to spend the next year praising God. So right at that transition point, I want to be in the presence of God. And I want God to unearth all the things that are blocking my flow.
And so I love New Year's Eve more than I love Christmas these days. I know it's kind of weird, but it's just a moment for me to say, you know, there's some stuff on the list that didn't happen this year and some of it was my fault and some of it wasn't. But I don't have room in my heart because it's the wellspring of life. I don't have room in my heart for regret about what I didn't do or bitterness for what somebody else didn't do. I have no room for regret, no room for resentment. It's blocking my flow. It's blocking my flow. We got to get all the excuses out, church. The excuses are not going to help you find your flow. Oh, no, no, mm-mm, mm-mm. I was doing good losing weight till hurt my knee, mm-mm, mm-mm, not this year. You have to find something to do that don't involve your knee, mm-mm. We got to unearth. We have to unearth, we have to unearth, we have to unearth, we have to unearth, and you know what? You might not get the well open with just one shovel full. Some of you, it took you 46 years to get as stopped up as you are. You think I'm going to fix it in 46 minutes? You have to dig all year. This might just be a whole year of digging for you before you see the first drop, but you have to start somewhere.
Anyway, anyway, we have to get rid of complacency. We've got to do it. Isaac could have made excuses. It's a famine in the land. He could have had regrets and bitterness and disappointments. They forced me out. He could have complained about the situation, but instead he took action and he said, I didn't fill this well with dirt, but this is not a time for the blame game. This is not a time. It says that he settled in a new land. A lot of times we settle in all the wrong ways. We settle in all the wrong ways. We settle with stopped up Wells and we settle for impure hearts. This is just the way I am. We settle for addictions and foreign objects are all up in our well. They contaminate our communication with others and they contaminate our communication with God. It says that he took the well.
A New Flow from an Old Well
What was fascinating to me about it, and I don't know if you noticed this detail when I passed by it, this is one of those scriptures that I haven't ever heard a sermon on it. So when I came to it, I came to it like a child, and I wanted to understand the details of the text. I have been studying this text for about four months, just trying to feel it, and I only get to preach it once. Usually, if the first one doesn't go too well, I have two more to get it right and put it online. But you are my only shot tonight. This is the part I wanted to show you. This is the part that meant so much to me. The Wells were there all along. So often we think that finding our flow. is about something new that we need in our lives. But how many know that you can find a new flow from an old well?
The series I'm starting this weekend will pick up on this theme that it's in some of the Wells that you've abandoned. Some of the some of the places that you walked away from. That's where some of them. See, God does want you to find a new flow. I believe God wants to do a greater thing in your life this year. But maybe he wants to bring a new flow from an old well. What are you trying to say? Okay, I mean it like this. The wisdom that you need for the challenges you're going to face this year is probably in a word that you've already heard from God in church last year. See, it's a new flow from an old well. I had a church growth crisis a few years ago. I hit a plateau in my leadership and I wanted to get past it.
A friend of mine gave me a book. I put the book on my shelf where books belong, to be looked at, to be absorbed by osmosis. I put the book on the shelf. Three months later, I called my friend. I said, hey, man, I want to talk to you a little bit more about that problem. He said, did you read the book? I said, no, I didn't get to the book yet. He said, uh-huh. He said, the solution is on your bookshelf. In other words, he said, you want me to tell you something new, but you haven't even read. what I already put in your hands to read. You just want to talk about this again. You just want a new well. And I'm going to tell you what some of you have been messing up and you're not going to do it this year. 2015 is going to be different. It's going to be a different year. You're not going to do this anymore. You just keep trying to dig new Wells. in all these different places. And God says, how in the world can you dig a new well. when the old ones are stopped up with dirt and you won't even uncover those? Come away till the love comes from the back of the room. Look here. No, no. I told you, you got to challenge your capacity.
Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Some of you, the love that you're longing for is in a relationship that you already have. But you're not unearthing what's in that well. See, so you keep running around making new friends. And then when those Wells get stopped up because you don't take care of your relationships and you don't take care, you don't ever appreciate anybody, you don't ever do anything for anybody. So you just go over here and start digging a new well. But it said that Isaac opened up the old Wells and a fresh flow came from an old well. Some of you think you need a new woman. You don't need a new woman. You just need to treat the woman you have right. And if you'll stop being such a... Some new love might flow from an old well. You might find some stuff happen in year 28 of marriage. If you get the dirt out, the contamination out, the neglect out, it's an old well. But God brings living waters from old Wells. God brings living waters from old... God brings living waters from old Wells.
Reclaiming What Your Father Paid For
So here's the announcement. In 2015, you're going to find your flow, but you don't necessarily need a new well. You're going to find your flow, but you don't necessarily need a new job. You just need more passion in the position that you're in. How's God going to give you a new position if you don't even have any passion for the position you're in? How's God going to give you water from a new well when you haven't even taken care of the well you have? How's God going to give you a new well? And when he did, they started to flow again. See, because the Philistines declared war. They said, we want you off our land. And the enemy is always trying to run you off the land that God has promised to you. But Isaac knew, my father made a claim to this land. Now I want to preach about your heavenly father. See, he made a claim to every place that the sole of your foot will... He made a claim to every part of you, to every nook and cranny of your heart, to every dark secret place of you. He made a claim to your heart. And it's time to reclaim what your father already paid for. Come on, and reopen some Wells. It's time to love again. It's time to dream again. It's time to hope again. It's time to flow again. Come on, we're flowing into 15. We're flowing. We're flowing. We're flowing. We're flowing. Tell somebody next to you, say, "flow with me. Flow with me. I can't stay here. Flow with me. I can't stay the same. Flow with me."
The well is not something that's coming. The well is already here. And I just need to dig out what God put in. I want to let you know everything you need to be successful in this new year is already in you. You just gotta dig it out. Come on, let's dig it out right now. Let's praise Him till some stuff gets set free. Come on, some of you have been too depressed too long. Open your mouth right now. Open your heart right now. Do y'all remember John chapter 4? Remember where Jesus sat down on a well to meet with a woman? I preached about this at Easter. Nod your head like you still got it on the top of your mind. And I said this Easter, He was a well sitting on a well. Come on, we're gonna find our flow. We're gonna find our flow. Jesus talked to this woman. He said, hey girl, give me a drink. She said, this ain't happy hour. I don't even know you like that. He said, but I know you. You done have many, many husbands and you're shacking with the next one. Now give me something to drink. She said, sir, I perceive you are a prophet. She said, sir, I perceive you are a prophet. And he said, that's good you see that, but you're missing the point. Not only am I a prophet, I'm a well.
See, sometimes we don't flow like we wanna flow. Cause we go from well to well to well to well. Every time she went to a new man, what was she doing? Trying to start a new well, a new well, a new well. God said, this year, this year, I wanna start with your heart. I wanna start with, I'm glad you got goals, but let's start in your heart. I'm glad you got goals. But if you don't get grateful for where you are, you won't appreciate your goals. Or even though you reached them, when you reached them, it starts in your heart. Now, Jesus said, we got two minutes and 44 seconds to get the Wells dug out, okay? Two minutes and 43 seconds, I'm running out of time. Jesus said in John 4, 13, he said, "everyone who drinks this water" pointing to the well. That's the natural ways that we try to satisfy ourselves. That's the natural ways that we try to succeed. That's the natural ways that we try to get our needs met without God. That's the natural way.
He said, "everyone who drinks this water", it's the nature of trying to find your own flow, "is going to be thirsty again." Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. But if you really want to live in the flow, if you want to find your flow this year, he said, "whoever drinks the water, I give them." See, that cracked me up when I read it. Because I realize that the well that Abraham dug in Genesis 26 is meant to point to the well that Jesus dug on the cross. The well that he dug when he laid down his life. The well that he dug when he got up out of the ground. And he said, "indeed, the water I give them will become in them." In them.
Come on. The well is in you. It's in you. It's in you. It's time to flow. It's time to flow. You've been looking for flow in all the wrong places. It's been in you all along. He said, "it will become a spring of water." Watch it. "Welling up." Welling up. Welling up. I feel joy tonight. Welling up. I feel praise tonight. Welling up. I feel purpose tonight. Welling up. Come on. We got one minute. We got one minute. I feel something welling up. Come on. You can't drop it now. We gotta dig out some dysfunction, dig out some doubt. Dig out some discouragement. Come on, I feel something welling up. Come on, it's welling up. It's welling up. Can you feel it? Can you feel it? In your heart. In your soul, it's time to flow. It's time to flow. It's time to flow. Come on, favor is flowing. Goodness is flowing. Love is flowing. Deliverance is flowing.
Count with me. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. Happy New Year! Spring up, oh well. Come on, hug somebody. Say, this year, you're going to find your flow. This year. Come on, it's flowing now. Come on, it's flowing now. Come on, it's flowing. Flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow. Let it flow! Let it flow! Let it flow! Let it flow... let it flow... let it flow. Let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... now everybody clap like this. I got a new flow. Let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow... let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow.
Come on, come on, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Everybody drop like this. Let it flow. Let it flow. Let it flow. Joy is flowing, peace is flowing. Let it flow. I want you to find 15 people, tell them, I think you found your flow. I think you found it. I think you found it. I think you found what you came for. Come on, I think you found an abundant source that'll never run. I think you found your flow. I think you found your flow. I think you might not get fixed overnight. But I declare, shoot it, flow it. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow. Everybody dance now. What I love about it... is the same well... the same well... the same well... that your salvation came from... is the same well... That is going to sustain you through this year and the next year and the next year... Hold up.
The Well That Never Runs Dry
Because if Jesus is the well, if He is the well, if He is the well who sat on the well, if He is the one that it flows from and it flows from Him through us to the world, watch this. If He's the will, Colossians 2, 6 says, "just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord," how did you receive Him? By grace. How did you receive Him? By opening up your heart and saying, here I am, Lord. I need You. I can't live without You. "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him. Rooted. Built up. Strengthened in the faith." And watch this, watch this. "Overflowing with thankfulness."
So, we'll go in a minute. We'll go in a minute. But I gotta make sure that you flow into 15. You can't go into 15 trying to force it. You just gotta flow with it. You can't go into 15 trying to force it. Everything's not gonna go the way we want it to go. We know that already. We can't fulfill our calling in our comfort zone. But we got an old well. But we got an old well. I said, we got an old well. We got an old well. The same well that saved me. The same well that washed my sins away. The same well that brought me this far. The same well that saved my soul. The same well is working in me. And I'm about to overflow. In 2015... Let it flow! Let it flow! Let it flow! Let it flow, let it flow. Let it flow, let it flow! Let it go, let it flow! Everybody's figuring out... Let it flow, let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... We're living in the overflow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Let it flow... Come on, hey, hey! We're living in the overflow. Living in the overflow. Let's go, let's go. Let's go, let's go. Let's go, let's go! And you're about to flow. Now flow with it! Flow it! Flow it! Flow it! It's in you! Let it flow! Let it flow!