Good morning, everybody. It's cold outside, isn't it? My goodness, I thought we lived in Texas. It's not supposed to get like this in Texas. But anyway, we made it to church.
That's the thing that counts. Amen. Praise God.
Welcome, everyone that's watching by live stream. We appreciate you watching. And it's always a joy to know that people are watching our services all over the world. Praise God.
Amen. Carol and I just returned from Florida for a few days of just relaxing and enjoying some of our friends that we've been going on vacation with for about 50 years now. And we're still friends. And had a good time, but it was good to get back home.
Hallelujah. Got your Bibles with you this morning? Let's open them first of all to Matthew chapter 8. And before I begin reading, I've got several comments I want to make.
If you remember the instructions which the Holy Spirit gave us regarding How our 2024 could be a year of progression, advancement, promotion, and highest expectations being fulfilled. Those instructions were, number one, stay in faith. Number two, remain faithful.
focused on the promises of God. And number three, refuse to be distracted by what is happening in the world around us. Now we've talked about each of these points, but I want to, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I want to focus today on being focused, staying focused, being focused and staying focused on the promises of God. Amen. Before I became a man of faith, back in 1969, the Lord said to me, as I was reading the Word one morning, and the first scripture that I saw when I opened my Bible, Carolyn had put a Bible in my shop that I didn't read, and as soon as she left, I hid it, because I didn't want any of my customers seeing a Bible on my desk, you know.
But in 1969, in February of 69, when Brother Copeland came, And I went to the last service. I won't go into all the details there for the sake of time, but that's the night that my life changed. I didn't go forward in the service, but when we got home that night, I couldn't sleep. And I got up and walked into the living room and I said, I don't know, God, why you still want me. I've been running from you all my life, but if you do, I'm here.
I surrender to you. I'll do whatever you want me to do. And I knew I was called to preach, and I didn't want to do that prior to this. particular day, but I said, I'll preach it.
That's what you want me to do. And I received my salvation. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
And then from that moment, I could not get enough of the Word of God. And back in those days, they recorded messages on reel-to-reel tapes. And there was a lady that was part of Carolyn's prayer group at the church that came by that next day. After I'd made that decision, three o'clock in the morning.
And she brought a grocery sack full of reel-to-reel tapes of the meeting that Brother Copeland had done that week at Life Tabernacle. He preached three services a day for about a week. And so she had them all recorded and brought them over to our house and said, Jerry, if you'll listen to these, God told me, it'll change your life. And so I said, well, how am I supposed to listen to them? She said, you don't have a tape player?
I said, no, I don't. She said, I'll be right back. So she went home and brought...
her tape player back and said, the Lord told me to give you this, but I was hoping you already had one. So that's the reason I didn't bring it with me. And she said, but I'm giving you this. And of course, it was a big tape player and it had two speakers that sat on the side.
You didn't carry it around under your arm. You set it on a credenza or a desk and those reel-to-reel tapes. So I began listening to them and I was hearing things I'd never heard before. Of course, I didn't know anything about the Bible. And I'd read, you know, stories, you know, children's stories when I was a little boy in a little Baptist church down on the end of our road.
But as far as knowing anything about the life of faith, I knew nothing. And I remember... Opening my Bible that morning, Brother Copeland said, open your Bibles to the book of John. And he went to another verse, but my eyes fell on a verse that said this.
You'll all recognize it. If you continue in my word, you'll be my disciples indeed, and you'll know the truth, and the truth will make you free. And you've heard me tell this before, but that little word continue jumped off the pages and into my heart. And the Lord said to me, Amen.
You've always been a good starter, but you've never been a good finisher. He said, if you don't develop the art of continuing, you will never be the man I want you to be, you'll never be the father I want you to be, never be the husband I want you to be. to be and you certainly will never be the preacher that I want you to be. So start developing the art of continuing. Stick with it.
Amen. Look at your neighbor and say, stick with it. And so that morning I made a decision. Now I'd heard Brother Copeland in that meeting that I attended the night before. I heard him make this statement, make a quality decision.
And I really did not know what a quality decision was. I'd really never heard that phrase before. I'd heard the word decision, but not quality decision.
And then later, many months later when he came back, I had an opportunity to talk to him. And I said, what did you mean by a quality decision? He said, a decision that you would base your life on and don't change, don't compromise. I said, okay, that's what I did. I just didn't know that's what it meant.
So I made the decision that from this day forward, quitting is not an option. And I will develop the art of continuing. And that's what I've done for 54 years now. I am no longer a quitter.
I'm a winner. Hallelujah. Don't your neighbors say, if you stop being a quitter, you can be a winner. Amen.
So. As I begin to study that verse, if you continue in my word, you'll be my disciples indeed, and you'll know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Okay, so that's talking about consistency. it's talking about continuing it's talking about sticking with it now I never had been good about that in the past I was easily distracted and the Lord was right, He knew me I was a good starter I was always starting something I'm going to start this, I'm going to start that I'm going to start this and I'm going to start that but it wouldn't last very long I remember when I was in junior high, I learned to pole vault.
And I enjoyed pole vaulting, but that was not my best sport. My best sport was baseball. And going into high school, I'd played baseball ever since Little League, and going into high school, track season was at the same time baseball season was. And I had decided my senior year that I'm going to pole vault this year.
And I had decided I can break the high school record. Now, I wasn't a praying man, but that night before the meet, the Woodland Invitational Track meet, by the way, that same year, Terry Bradshaw was a sophomore. He was in the same year that Carolyn was.
They went to school together. And Terry was a javelin thrower, and he broke the national record, and it still stands today. And most of you will never guess who held the record before Terry Bradshaw broke it.
Anybody remember Little Joe on Bonanza? He held the national high school record for javelin throw. And Terry Bradshaw.
Shaw broke it and he flew to Shreveport and congratulated Terry and it's in Carolyn's yearbook. So anyway, just a little trivia there. Terry was the javelin thrower and I was going to Povalt that year and one of my best friends was a high jumper and so we were practicing one day and the baseball field was just a little ways from the track, and the baseball guys were over there playing a game. And I'm over here practicing pole vaulting.
And the night before that meet, I got down on my knees in front of my bed. I said, Lord, if you'll just let me break the high school record pole vaulting, I promise you I'll give you all the praise and I'll serve you. Now you know what happened.
I lied like a dog, you know. And not only did I not break the high school record, I broke my leg. Broke my left leg, right around the calf, just broke my left leg and wound up being in crutches for 13 weeks. I couldn't pole vault and I couldn't play baseball.
And my dad said, son, why didn't you stick to what you were good at? I said, Dad, I just wanted to pole vault. I got distracted. Don't look at me so holy.
Any of you ever been distracted? Now, pole vaulting was my distraction from playing baseball. And then it took me a whole year, you know, actually, I was on crutches for 13 weeks.
And just before I was to get the cast off, I was in the gym and the guys were playing basketball. And somebody saw me walking across the gym and they threw the basketball and said. Do it later, Savelle. And I dropped my crutches and grabbed the ball and went up like this and came down on that leg and rebroke it.
And was in the cast for another 13 weeks. So I was on crutches most of my senior year, you know, and anyway, it ruined my baseball playing. It certainly didn't. That's the last time I ever tried to pole vault.
Okay. And it was the last time I prayed too, until 1969. And I thought, well, maybe God misunderstood. I said, break the record, not break my leg, you know. You have to be specific, you know.
So anyway, Dad kept saying, Son, why didn't you just stick to what you were best at? But I lost focus. I was distracted. That's what distractions are designed to do.
Cause you to lose focus. Amen? And that was kind of the story of my life in those early years. And another thing that would distract me was girls.
That's a good distraction. You know, I'd get to going in a certain direction and boy I was all out and then some pretty girl would distract me. You know, that's what happened to me the first semester of college.
I was going to Louisiana Tech and I was dating a girl before Carol and I started dating. I was dating a girl, she was a senior in high school, same high school Carol and I graduated from. We started going together my senior year in high school and I just thought I was going to marry her and next thing I know I'm dropping out of school and you know planning on marrying her and going to work doing paint and body work that's what my dad taught me to do and anyway it turned out we broke up thank God That would have been a disaster.
If we'd have married, it wouldn't have lasted anyway, but thank God we didn't even go to the altar, okay? We broke up. And then I decided I'd get back in college.
And the reason I decided to get back in college... Vietnam was going on hot and heavy, and I got a letter in the mail, Greetings. Report to your nearest recruiting office.
I said, well, I'd like to serve my country, but I'm not ready to go to Vietnam yet, so I'll just get back in college. But I went to a different college where they didn't know my reputation as a quitter, so I went to Northwestern State College. And the same thing was happening there.
Distractions, distractions. Carolyn and I started going together. And I won't go into all that story, but we started going together. And shortly after that, there was a girl at college. Now, Carolyn's back home in high school.
And there was a girl in college that I knew. And she had been a cheerleader in high school that we graduated from. She was one year behind me. And she and I started going together, dating rather, seeing each other.
But Carolyn had my ring, my class ring. Remember when the girls used to wear your class ring around their neck on a chain? We were going together, and I'm dating this girl at college. It was a distraction. It was distraction.
Can you see the look on her face right now? I was distracted. I was easily distracted, you know. And she wanted me to, she was running for cheerleader at Northwestern.
and wanted me to handle her campaign for winning a spot on the cheerleading squad. Well, my cousin, Wade Porter, he was a commercial artist and I had him to draw up all the posters. And he, I mean, they were amazing. They were the best looking posters on the campus and supporting this girl. And as it turned out, you know, I tried to break up with Carolyn and she wouldn't break up with me.
She wasn't giving my ring back. I said, well, just keep the ring. And so, anyway, this girl, I won't say her name, but this girl won, and she made it on the cheerleading squad. And the moment she made the cheerleading squad, she dumped me like a hot potato. And I come running back to Carolyn.
Because she still had my ring, okay? I was distracted. I was distracted. That was the story of my life.
Easily distracted. And you know what I'm talking about because some of you are still that way. So anyway, it wasn't until I became a man of faith and got into the Word of God that that all changed.
That old man died and a new man came into being. And that new man is still living today, praise God. 54 years later and I am not easily distracted and I'm not a quitter.
I'm a winner, praise God. because I learned how to stay focused. You don't have an international ministry like we have and not be focused.
Because I'm pulled in every direction you can imagine. Every direction you can imagine. And I'm asked to do this, and I'm asked to do that, and I'm asked to support this, and I'm asked to support that.
I'm asked to come here, I'm asked to come there. And if you're not focused on what God's told you to do, you can be easily distracted. and wind up doing a lot of things that God didn't call you to do. And I did that one time. I had a lot of different outreaches that we were doing.
The problem was I saw the need and I didn't see anybody fulfilling it, so I said, well, I'll just step to the plate and fulfill it. But it was taking away from my time, my energy, and my finances from doing what I was really called to do. And so finally I had to, you know, kind of...
bring everything into focus again and let go of some things I was doing and start focusing back on what I'm truly called to do. So you can't do what I do without being extremely focused. And I learned how to become that way many, many years ago.
So I want to talk about the importance of staying focused on the promises of God, because that's part of the instructions that God said. We must follow if we want our 2024 to be a year of progression, advancement, promotion, and our highest expectations being fulfilled. Is anybody interested in that?
All right, now let me say a few things here about focus. Your ability to remain focused on what God has promised will determine if you ever reach the place that God wants you to go. Let me say it again. Your ability to remain focused on what God has promised will determine if you ever reach the place where God wants you to go.
Focus enables you to see what God sees, and remaining focused keeps you moving toward the fulfillment of it. I wrote this down in my notes. It just come up in my spirit as I was writing these notes.
You could say it like this, focus is the vehicle that takes you to the place where you experience God's best for your life. It took a vehicle to get you here to church today. Focus is the vehicle that will take you to the place where you begin to experience God's best in your life. Amen? Then I want to say this, that's why...
You should start your day every day thinking about the promises of God that tell you what you can be, what you can do, and what you can have. Amen. What you can be, what you can do, and what you can have. God's Word is like a compass, a navigational instrument. for leading us into the right direction.
Psalm 119, 105 says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That's a compass. The message translation says, By your words, I can see where I'm going. They throw a beam of light on my dark path. The Passion Translation says, Your Word guides me, listen to this, in my choices and in my decisions.
The revelation of Your Word makes my path clear. So, our focus must be on the Word of God and the promises that we find therein. His Word is a lamp unto our feet. So when you have no idea where God wants to take you, then it becomes very easy for your adversary to distract you.
But when the promises of God that you've learned from His Word create the foundation from which you establish your goals, then remaining focused enables you to achieve them. If you can't maintain your focus, then it's not likely that you'll ever experience the fulfillment of what God has promised. Can you say amen to all of that? You want me to repeat it all? No.
Now, how many of you ever saw the ball game or the movie about For the Love of the Game with Kevin Costner? I love that movie because it's a baseball movie, okay? And Kevin Costner... plays for Detroit in the movie.
And in this game that it's all about, they're playing the New York Yankees. Kevin Costner is the pitcher. He's 40 years old. He's been playing professional ball in this movie for years now.
And he's up to the place where he's considering retirement. But he has this game that he must win. And so...
So... When he goes to the plate, if you remember the movie, the noise in the stadium, there's thousands of people, and the noise in the stadium is the roars, the cheers, the bad language, you know, the cursing hymn, and so forth. You can hear it in the movie.
And he makes a statement before he throws the first pitch. And I have a clip of it I want you to see. It's about focus.
Now what he said was, clear mechanism, clear the mechanism. Clear the mechanism. And when he says that, that's for his purpose, for his mind.
And even though the audience goes silent, that's in his mind. Not in the film. They're still screaming, they're still shouting. There's guys, you know, hoping he messes up the whole game.
And he hears all that, but then he says, mechanism engaged, or mechanism, clear the mechanism. Meaning, remove all distractions. That's what it means.
And then the next thing you see in the movie is, he bends down and focuses on the plate and on the catcher. And he begins to play the game. It turns out, he pitches a no-hitter.
And then he retires. Okay? But I love that part.
I wish I'd have known that when I was playing baseball. I didn't know clear the mechanism, but I did know you can't pay attention to the crowd except the ones that are cheering you, you know. And my dad never missed a game I ever played, and he was the one who shouted the loudest, strike him out Bubba. I could hear him above everybody, strike him out Bubba.
And that was his way of removing all the distractions. And then when he got ready to throw that first pitch, he looked at the plate and he looked at the catcher and nothing else. Amen.
How many of you, or is there anyone in here that is a pilot or gone through flight training of any kind? Okay. When you go through flight training, and I did many, many years ago, And part of your flight training is you learn about instrument flying, which means you're flying by the instruments.
You're not flying visible. You're not looking out the window, you're not looking for markers and so forth out the window. You're strictly flying by the instruments, okay?
And what they do in order to teach you how to be focused on the instruments is they put a hood on you, okay? Now watch this. See that hood on the front of the pilot there? That's to keep that person from looking out the window, looking out the side.
It's not visible. Flight training, it's instrument flight training. And that instrument, that panel there, is the instruments.
And he's listening to an air traffic controller for headings. And he's got to put those instruments on that heading and focus on those instruments. And if he gets off one degree by being distracted.
He's going to wind up somewhere that he didn't want to go. Okay, now, what is so important about instrument training is that the flying conditions are not always perfect. Is that right, Richard?
They're not always conducive for just a fun flight. You're in the clouds. You're in storms sometimes, or storms around you.
I remember one time when I was flying to... Fresno, California, and I had hired my flight trainer. After I'd gone through about 20, 25 hours of training, and I asked him what he was planning on doing in the future.
He said, well, I'd like to fly for somebody instead of being a flight instructor. I said, would you like to fly for me? He said, I'd love to. And so I hired him, and so he would fly right seat so I could log time in the left seat.
And we were flying to Fresno, California. And in those days I had a little Cessna 310 and we landed in El Paso to refuel, then we landed in Las Vegas to refuel, and then we were headed to Fresno, California. Brother Copeland's already there waiting for me.
I was doing a meeting with him. And when we left Las Vegas, the... There was no weather to speak of in our path, but along the path, we got into a hailstorm, and it was not reported at first. And it just came up. And we're in that plane in the clouds, can't see a thing, and now...
And of course I'm glad, I'm so glad that I had the instructor in the right seat because it's not likely I would have made it through there because I didn't have enough training. But my instructor was in the right seat and he was telling me what to do. Thank God. He said, stay focused on the instruments.
I'll tell you what the heading. You stay focused on flying. Brother Copeland said his instructor, when he was learning IFR training, he said, son, you better fly or you're going to die. Fly or you'll die.
Well, man, you want to fly, you don't want to die, you know. And so Charlie Burns, who was my flight instructor and then worked for me, he said, Jerry, stay focused on the instruments. Stay focused on the instruments. I'll tell you what the air traffic controller says, and I'll change the panel for you.
And then you're done. instruments for you and you just stay focused on the instruments. Well, we did. And we got out of that hailstorm. And miraculously, when we landed in Fresno, now an airplane in a hailstorm is like flying a 10 barn.
I mean, it was, it was, you could hardly hear us talking to each other. And that storm was bouncing us around the sky, and we had updrafts and downdrafts. It took us up a thousand feet, and then it dropped us a thousand feet. Some of the luggage broke off the straps in the back and come up and hit Charlie in the back of the head. Thank God it didn't knock him out.
I'd have been up the creek without a paddle. So anyway, when we landed, oh, I was so glad to get out of that airplane. When I landed, I got down on my knees and thanked God, and prayed in tongues, and prayed in tongues, and hallelujahs, and glory to God.
I almost kissed Charlie. I mean, I was glad to get on the ground. But then, when I got to the meeting that night, I realized I had vertigo.
I didn't know which way was up. And Brother Copeland, I didn't know he was going to do this. He said, Jerry, why don't you open the meeting?
You preach tonight. I thought, dear Lord, I don't even know where I am. And I walked up to the podium, and I closed my eyes and told the people, let's pray. And when I started praying, I felt like my wings were dropping.
And so I was going to correct it. And when I got through praying, I was leaning over like this. I thought, well, I've got to straighten up.
I had vertigo. Brother Copeland recognized me. He said, boy, you had vertigo, didn't you?
I said, yeah. And I told him what I'd been through. He said, oh, I know the feeling. So notice that hood is to teach you how to stay focused on the instruments. Now, I have preachers all the time saying, Brother Jerry, agree with me.
I'm believing for an airplane. I say, well, number one. If you're going to believe for the airplane, believe God for the money to maintain it properly.
Because just owning an airplane is not where it ends. That's just where it begins. Okay?
And you want to make sure you have good avionics. That's one of the first things we did with one of the airplanes that we owned. A partner of mine in Australia sold a business and sent our ministry.
A half a million dollars to go into the aviation department and I took every bit of it and upgraded all the avionics in that airplane so they'd be state of the art. Now I don't fly anymore but I have two full-time pilots that they are extremely brilliant in the art of flying hallelujah. They both have military flight experience, they've flown in everything, they've been type rated and everything and they do the job well and we are.
Completely safe and secure in everywhere we go. I never did get that far in my training. The Lord said, you can preach or fly, take your choice.
I said, that's not fair. Brother Copeland gets to do both. He said, you're not Brother Copeland. I said, well, Charles Capps gets to do both. He said, you're not Charles Capps.
I said, why can't I do both? He said, I know you. This will be a distraction to your ministry.
You'll get so caught up in flying. that it'll take away from your ministry. And he was right.
And so I was sitting in an assimilator out at Meacham Field when he said this to me. The instructor just shut the door. And the Lord said, you can take your choice, fly or preach.
And after I questioned him about it, I said, okay, I believe I preach better than I fly, so I'll choose preaching. And I knocked on the window and I said, let me out of here. He said, you just started. I said, no, I'm done.
I'm done. I'm through flat. I have never sat in the cockpit of any other airplane I've owned since then. I enjoy the ride and I don't miss the flying at all.
In fact, some of my pilots have tried to get me to come up in the cockpit. I don't want to. That's not part of me anymore. That's what I hired you for.
I'm going to read my Bible. Get ready to preach when I get there. Praise God. Amen. So, notice once again, that hood, as they call it, is designed to teach you how to become focused.
It might be a good idea that some of you buy a hood, so you can put it on every day. And put it to where it's low enough where you can't see CNN. And some of them have some, you know, some sides where it comes down low enough where you can't see to the right or the left. And maybe that's a good idea because you couldn't be able to look at people that are trying to talk you out of what you're believing for.
Amen? Maybe we need to, maybe we need to invent. This would be a good project for you, Eric.
Invent Holy Ghost hoods. Amen. And I get the tithe from it if it works, okay?
So notice... How important it is to stay focused. Once again, the Word of God is our compass.
It's designed by God to lead us to the place that He wants to take us. Amen. By your word, Psalm 119, 105. The message translation says, by your words, I can see where I'm going.
They throw a beam of light on my dark path. The passion translation, once again, your word guides me in my choices and my decisions. The revelation of your word makes my path clear.
Amen. Always allow God's word to be final authority. Be like the centurion who told Jesus about his servant being grievously tormented. And this is where we pick up the story in Matthew chapter 8. If you go there with me.
Matthew chapter 8. Allowing the Word to be final authority in your life. Let's begin reading in verse 5. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy grievously tormented. Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come unto my roof. Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. If you haven't underlined that or highlighted it, Do it right now so every time you pass by Matthew 8, it just jumps out at you. Speak the word only. Say that with me.
Speak the word only. Then he said, I am a man under authority, having soldiers unto me. And I say to this man, go and he goeth, and to another come and he cometh, and to my servant do this and he doeth it.
Now, what he's saying is, I recognize authority because I am a man with authority and I am a man under authority. I also recognize authoritative words. He says, When I say to a man, go, he goes.
Just because of the word that comes out of my mouth. My words carry authority. When I tell a man to come, he comes because my words carry authority.
When I tell a man to do this, he does it because my words carry authority. That's the reason why he said to Jesus, Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. Because he recognized that Jesus'words carried authority. authority.
And the Bible says in the next verse, Jesus marveled at this man's faith. He said, I'm not seeing faith like this, not even in Israel. In other words, what he's saying is where I should have been seeing faith like this was in God's people.
Now, this is a Roman centurion. The Jews considered them Gentiles, dogs, lower than a dog, you know, and yet a Gentile. who didn't have a covenant with God, had more faith than God's people did, because he recognized authority.
He recognized the power in authoritative words. And that's why he said, speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. And as the story, if you, as you continue reading the story, that's exactly what happened. Now, that's the same thing that happened with Mary when the angel appeared to her and said that she would have a child without the aid of a man.
And she was puzzled by that at first. And then she made this statement, Be it unto me according to your word. In other words, I'm going to let the word be final authority.
And the Bible goes on to say, and eventually the Bible says, And the word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. So she accepted the Word as being final authority. Even though in the natural it's impossible to have a child, it's impossible to conceive without the aid of a man, the man carries the Word. Where is the seed?
And yet she said, Be it unto me according to your word. In other words, I'm going to allow the word of God to be final authority. And that's exactly what happened in giving birth to Jesus.
Amen? Now, the Bible says in Romans 10, 17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hearing by the word of God.
Faith is grown by hearing and consistently hearing. The Word of God. It didn't say faith came by having heard. It says faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing. That's one of the great things that God has done for our generation is the ability to record the messages where you can hear them again and again and again.
Amen? I carry in my Bible briefcase, and you've heard me say this before, a little iPod, that I have sermons that I heard Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland-Oil wrote about. Robert Steele Osborne, John Osteen, and Fred Price preach back there when I first started.
And I still carry them with me today. And there's hardly a day goes by, particularly when I'm traveling, that I'm not listening to a Kenneth Hagin message. And I can preach it word for word. I know where he's going with this. I know all the stories.
I've listened so much to Kenneth Hagin, I feel like I was born in McKinney, Texas. But I never get tired of hearing them, and especially when I'm getting ready to go into a meeting where we're believing God for a move of the Holy Spirit. That's what I'll do in my room while I'm praying in the Spirit, and while I'm going over my notes and walking the floor just praying. I've got somebody preaching faith to me in the background.
Amen. I charge the atmosphere in my room with faith. I don't know what was going on in that room before I got there.
And I don't know what kind of people were in there before I got there. And I don't know what kind of conversation were going on before I got there. So that's how I clear the atmosphere, is I turn on that little iPod and let Kenneth Hagin preach, or Oral Roberts preach, or John Osteen preach, or Kenneth Copeland preach.
and just clear the atmosphere, praise God. Amen. And by the time I get ready to go to the service, when I leave that room, I'm ready. I'm ready.
My faith is high, hallelujah. I'm expecting God to do something. Glory to God. Amen. So faith cometh by hearing and hearing, consistently hearing.
Now, let's look at an example in Acts chapter 14. Acts chapter 14 in verse 8, And there sat a certain man at Lystra impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked. And the same heard Paul speak. Now, what was Paul speaking?
He wasn't talking about three points in a poem he found out of Reader's Digest. He was speaking the Word. Paul himself said, we preach the Word of Faith.
So he's preaching the Word of Faith. And the man is sitting there listening to him. It says, the same heard Paul speak. and who steadfastly beholding him, speaking of Paul, beholding this man, he perceived that he had faith to be healed.
Where did he get this faith to be healed? By hearing Paul preach. Amen. That's what should happen in every service here. Because we don't have people that stand behind this pulpit that don't preach faith.
Amen. If we invite somebody to stand in this pulpit, we know that they are preachers of faith. Amen. We don't have unbelief come out of this pulpit. We don't have religious tradition come out of this pulpit.
It's faith, faith, faith, faith. Hallelujah. Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith.
Hallelujah. And this sweet young lady right here, you all know her, she's been here almost from the beginning. Have you ever heard anything come out of this pulpit other than faith?
Has it helped you? Amen. Thank you. I'll pay you later.
No, I know. I mean, she's been here almost from the beginning. Every service nearly.
I heard you give him the testimony on the little broadcast here last week. And that's what we do here. It's what we do, man. It's what we do. We preach faith.
And it should be that when you walk out of here, you have faith for. He had faith to be healed. When you walk out of here, you should have faith for a 2024 being a year of progression, advancement, promotion, and your highest expectations being fulfilled. Why?
Because that's what we're preaching about. That's what we're preaching about. And if you're hearing it, then faith is arising, praise God.
And faith and focus go hand in hand. Faith and focus go hand in hand. So once again, notice this man heard Paul preach the Word of Faith.
Paul perceived that he had faith to be healed. And then he told the man, stand up and upright on your feet. And he leaped and he walked.
Notice, faith came by hearing, amen, the Word of Faith. And the results came as a result of it, or the healing came as a result of it. So notice the man had faith, received faith as Paul was preaching. That's what I'm believing is going to happen.
to you today as I'm sharing with you the power of focus is that faith will come and that you will become completely focused on what God has told us about what he wants our 2024 to be like. Now, Psalm 119, 130 says this, the entrance of thy word giveth light. The entrance of your word giveth light.
The Passion Translation says, Break open your word within me until revelation light shines out. Those, listen to this, those with open hearts are given insight into your plans. Those with open hearts are given insights into your plans. Are there any open hearts in the building today?
Then expect to receive insight into His plans, hallelujah. That's what I'm endeavoring to bring out, hallelujah. So, if you have an open heart... then you ought to be in a shouting mode because God is going to open his plans to you, praise God. Don't waste your time focusing on what you don't want.
Spend your time focusing on what you do want. Anybody want what God wants for you? Then that's what you should be focusing on. Focus on what he says you can do. Focus on what he says you can be and focus on what he says you can have.
Dare to look ahead and then expect God to make it happen for you. Dare to look ahead and then expect God to make it happen for you. You've heard me use this example before. But each time that we have outgrown the aircraft that God has supplied for the ministry and we start believing for our next one, Then one of the first things I do is I sew the one I'm flying at the time into another ministry, find another ministry that that's the airplane that meets their need. Okay.
And so it into their ministry. And I'd love to say, and the. moment I saw it, zowie, my next airplane showed up in the hangar without us even knowing it. No, that's not the way it's been.
Most of the time it's been days, weeks, months, even years before the next one manifested. But what I do is, the one I believe that God wants me to have, I have a model made of it. I even paint the N number on the tail that I want when I get it. Sometimes I even have them paint a little character in the window and that's me.
And I set that model on my desk right in front of me. Whenever I go into my office, I've got that model setting there. And I lay my hands on it, and I thank God for it.
What am I doing? I'm focusing. Because faith and focus go hand in hand. Faith and focus go hand in hand.
I'm focusing on what I'm believing for. I'm not focusing on what I don't have, I'm focusing on what I'm believing for. Amen.
And then once that airplane manifests and I fly it for however long, sometimes a year, sometimes 10 years, one airplane I flew for 12 years before I sold it into another ministry. And once I start the next aviation project, then I take that model and I put it on a shelf in my office along with all the other models that have manifested over the years. Okay?
as a testimony. I've had preachers come to my office and they say, what are all these model airplanes for, brother? I said, that's the first one I believe for.
That's the second one I believe for. That's the third one I believe for. That's the fourth one I believe for. And the one that's on my desk is what I'm believing for now. There are 10 airplanes on that shelf.
Amen. That God has blessed this ministry with over the years. Now, there's also a stealth on that shelf. A stealth.
And one of the preachers that came in there said, Brother Jerry, you have a stealth? We didn't know you had a stealth. I've never seen it.
I said, that's why they call it a stealth. I said, no, somebody blessed me with a model of it, praise God. And I just liked looking at it.
Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me someday Brother Copeland says, Jerry, you know, there are people out in outer space that need a Believer's Convention. You going with me? I said, well, if you're going, I'm going.
There's never been a Believer's Convention without me. How are we going to get there? Believing for a stealth.
Well, I've already got an image of it on my desk. Just joking. So, notice how important focus is.
Terry, my daughter Terry, teaches people about vision board. Vision board. That shouldn't be something that is new to the body of Christ. God's been talking about that in His Word for thousands of years. Write the vision.
Make it plain. So when you read it, You run with it, hallelujah, motivation, and it's to keep you focused, write the vision, make it plain. Somebody said, well, I've tried that and it's never worked for me. No, why it didn't work for you is because you gave up on it.
Let me try this side of the toilet. The reason it didn't work for you is you gave up on it. You know, if you're going to take the time to write the vision and then in two weeks, you're just going to give up on it. In fact, I read an article last night. I read an article that said, talking about the new year, they said, and obviously this is the time of year when people start making resolutions and they start making and setting new goals.
He said, most people who do that, and most people do, they make resolutions and set new goals, he said, but most people who do that, it lasts for two and a half weeks. And then he said, January the 19th is about the time they lose focus and become distracted, and he said, and January the 19th has become... named the quitting day.
January the 19th is now known as the quitting day. Let's say what's today? Yeah, look at your neighbor and say no quit here.
So, you've almost made it. Get past the 19th, praise God, and maybe you won't quit, alright? Isn't that amazing? People love making resolutions, people love setting goals, but most people give up on them within two and a half weeks.
And now they are calling January the 19th the quitting day, because so many people quit around that time. They don't last more than two and a half weeks. But you're not that people. I said, you're not that people.
Can you say amen? Hallelujah. I believe that one of the major reasons that people give up so quickly is simply because they lose focus. I'll say it again. Focus is the vehicle that will take you to where God wants you to go.
It's the vehicle that will take you to where God wants you to go. So, in your studying the Bible, let me just give you a suggestion. Make note of the various times that God uses the words, see and look.
See and look. Because most of the time, when God says see or look, it is a reference to Him endeavoring to get His people focused on something that He desires for them to experience. An example, Genesis chapter 13, go there with me.
Genesis chapter 13. Everybody still here? Are you receiving? Genesis chapter 13 and let's look at verse 14. And God said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, lift up thine eyes and look. Everybody say look. He says look from the place where thou art.
Northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, notice in these two verses, both those words are found. Look and see.
Look and see. Say it with me. Look and see.
What is God telling Abraham? I'm endeavoring to create a vision for you that I need for you to focus on. Look from beyond where you are right now.
Now that's probably one of the hardest things for people to do. Is get past where they are right now. Because where they are right now tries to restrain them and hold them back. You know, maybe you didn't have as good a 2023 as you would have liked to have had.
And you're still, you know... A little disappointed about that, and maybe a little upset with God that things didn't happen. Paul said, leaving those things which are behind. So, one of the hardest things for a lot of people to do is to look beyond where they are right now.
Amen. Driving over there this morning, you've heard me say this before, Carolyn was driving, I'm sitting in the passenger seat. It's less stressful to do that. Hallelujah. And I'm saying no more about that, okay?
So I'm just sitting in the passenger side driving from our house to here. Our house is just around the corner. All the trash in the ditch between our road and the church.
The first thing I think is the people who do that will gripe for the rest of their life because they have nothing. Because they don't take care of what they got. If you're faithful in little, you'll be made ruler over much. Amen. And the next thing I think is, why don't the county come and clean it up from time to time?
What we've had to do nearly every time is I tell Justin, can you get the youth to get out and clean the road up, the ditch up? I'll pay them if they'll just get out there and pick up all the trash. Now, in the natural, that could be a distraction from people coming to our church. Dear God, look how junk it is around here. Has anybody ever cleaned up the trash on the road around here?
You know, people want to feel comfortable when they come to church. They want a comfortable church. And I want to provide it, provide it for them.
You know, but I'm not going in debt to do it. Amen. Because I don't know from one week to the next who's going to be here.
And all of you can get up and leave and leave me with a debt. And go find a pretty church where there's no trash on the road. Amen.
So I'm not, you know, I love you, but I'm not going to debt for you. Not only that, God's already proven to me that you can make it debt free. Praise God.
We have offices all over the world and we don't have any dead in any of them, hallelujah. Glory to God. Amen.
So yeah, it's a distraction. It's a distraction. But if I allowed it to take control, then I'd say, Carolyn, just turn around and go back to the house.
I'm tired of looking at all this trash on the road. Let's go home. I'll preach to you. You preach to me. No.
It's like the guy woke up one morning and said, I'm not going to church. I refuse to go to church. Those people don't like me and I don't like them. His wife said, sweetheart, you have to go.
I said, he said, I said, not I said. He said, I almost messed up. He said, why do I have to go? She said, because you're the pastor.
Amen. But, see, I'm looking beyond this. That's what I have to do.
I've got to put my Holy Ghost hood on, look past the trashy road. And look down the road across the front of the house, in front of the ministry headquarters, and see new construction, and new buildings, and new sanctuary, and pretty flowers, and no trash on the road, and we're in control. You know? So, I've got to keep my hood on.
So, when you drive down this road, on your way to Heritage of Faith, when you get about a block down the road, put your hood on. and say it's worth the drive because we're going to hear the word of faith praise God amen John Osteen used to tell his people back when he was in a had one time a feed store where he started the church He said, people will find us, even though we're in the worst part of Houston, people will find us because we serve a good meal. Amen.
And they did, and they did, and they did, and they did. First time I preached for him, he was in that former feed store. Next time I preached for him, huge building.
Next time I preached for him, a dome. I haven't preached in the auditorium that Joel is in now, but I preached in the one that was just before that. Amen.
So they kept serving good meals and the people kept coming. Amen. So notice he says, lift up your eyes. And look from the place where you are now.
So, look at somebody and tell them. Step one to experiencing God's best for 2024 is look beyond where you are now. There's more in store.
Go for it. Amen. Hallelujah. So notice, look and see.
That's just one of the examples. But you take the time in your personal Bible study and look up various times where the words look and see are used by God because usually he's endeavoring to get a vision planted in them so that they will become focused and will eventually reach it. I heard one preacher say one time, and I can't improve on it, so I'll just borrow it.
He said, the problem with most Christians is that they are nearsighted. They can't see beyond where they are right now. They're nearsighted.
Some even say, this is how it's going to be for the rest of my life, or it looks like I'm stuck here forever, or who am I to think that this could happen to me? See, they can't look beyond where they are right now. If God says you can be something, then you can be that.
If God says you can do something, then you can do it. If God says you can have something, then you can have it. So stop settling for less than God's best because of nearsightedness.
As in the story of Abraham that we just read, we didn't take the time to read the whole story, but if you do read the whole story, then you'll notice that what God promised him did not come without confrontation, did not come without distractions, and it didn't come easy. But remaining focused made the difference. Amen. And to help Abraham remain focused, God constantly reminded him of his covenant.
Amen. When Satan attempts to distract us, God will always lead us back to what he's promised. In Hebrews chapter 6, verse 13 through 15. When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it.
This is the message translation. He backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, I promise I'll bless you with everything I have. Bless and bless and bless.
Abraham stuck it out. Everybody say, stuck it out. I added in my notes, remained focused.
And he got everything that had been promised to him. He stuck it out. He remained focused and he got everything that had been promised to him.
And if you look back at verse 12 in Hebrews chapter 6, it tells us to be followers of them who through faith and patience, and I added this, remain focused, inherit the promises. Follow those who through faith and patience and remain focused, inherit the promises. The message translation says, Be like those who stayed the course, and I added, remained focused, with committed faith, and then get everything promised to them.
So that shows us just how powerful focus is. Remaining focused. Amen. In Romans chapter 1 verse 17, the Apostle Paul says, The just shall live by faith.
It's repeated in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38, the just shall live by faith and obviously the life of faith requires discipline and being focused is one of the major characteristics of being disciplined, a disciplined life, a focused life. So you could say once again that faith and focus go hand in hand and Paul being the one who's teaching us on the subject of faith here in Romans and most have already say that they believe that Paul also wrote the book of Hebrews. So he's talking about faith and probably no other author in the Bible talk more about faith than Jesus himself.
And Paul says that being focused demands that we get to the place in our lives that we can say in the midst of any and all adversity, none of these things move me. Max chapter 20 verse 24. None of these things moved me. No matter what came Paul's way, he remained focused and he declares this by saying, I will finish my course.
I will finish my course. At the end of his life, he said, I have finished my course. I kept the faith. So he remained focused.
throughout his ministry and nobody, nobody has ever had more reasons to lose focus than the Apostle Paul. Amen. But he didn't. He's remained focused throughout his ministry. Amen.
So in other words, I will experience all that God wants me to experience and I will have everything God wants me to have if I'm determined to remain focused. Does this describe your attitude today? If not, then get back in the book. Faith cometh. Faith cometh.
Faith cometh. The book of Proverbs, as you know, is also known as the book of wisdom. And it tells us this regarding being focused.
In Proverbs 4, 25, and once again, I'm reading from the message translation. Keep your eyes straight ahead. Ignore all distractions.
Watch your step. Look neither right nor left. That's talking about focus. Amen. Focus.
So notice, keep your eyes straight ahead. Ignore all distractions. Watch your footing.
In the Message Translation, it says keep your eyes on... Actually, I'm reading from... Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 keep your eyes on Jesus study how he did it because he never lost sight of where he was headed keep your eyes on Jesus focus keep your eyes on Jesus study how he did it because he never lost sight of where he was headed amen he was focused the passion translation says you We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation on Jesus, who birthed faith within us. Amen.
So, you know that being focused on Jesus would also include being focused on His Word, and that would also include being focused on His promises. And that's one of the instructions the Lord gave us for 2024. Stay in faith, remain focused on the promises, and don't let anything in the world around you distract you. Everybody say, study how He did it. Study how he did it.
Go back and study the ministry of Jesus again. Study how he did it. I mean, right at the beginning of his ministry, right at the beginning of his ministry, he stood up and said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And they wanted to push him off a cliff and kill him.
And the Bible says, and he turned and walked through the midst of them and no man touched him. And he went to Capernaum and preached the same message and they begged him not to leave. Amen.
Notice his ministry could have ended the day it started if he'd have lost focus. Study how he did it. That's good for young preachers in here. Study how he did it.
Excuse me. Luke chapter 9. Got a little more time. Excuse me.
Luke 9 51. Excuse me. See, I'm staying focused. My throat hurts, but I'm staying focused.
I'm not done yet. And my voice will get stronger as I keep staying focused. Look at verse 51, speaking of Jesus, and it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Listen to that phrase, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Years ago, back in the 90s, When the Lord impressed upon us to begin a Bible school, we had no building or no place to house it.
And one morning, Carolyn was going somewhere, and I got on my motorcycle, and I rode from my house right out here in front of this building. I knew it was a church, a Baptist church. I'd never met the pastor, didn't know anything about him or the congregation or anything about any of this. And as I rode by here, The Lord said to me, there's the building I have planned for you.
There was no for sale sign out there. I had never heard anybody talking about it might be for sale. I just heard the Lord say, there's the building I've prepared for you. So when I got back, I called Joe and I said, call the pastor of that church there and see what's going on with that building.
He called the pastor. Pastor said, well, Why are you inquiring? He said, well, Brother Savelle, our founder of our ministry, was riding by there, and he said, the Lord told him, that's the building that I've prepared for you. He said, well, that's amazing.
He said, Friday night, now this is Saturday morning that I come riding by there. He said, Friday night, I had a special meeting with our congregation. And he said, I told them that we'd been given some more property on another side of town.
And I wasn't sure if God wanted us to stay here or He wanted us to move to the new property. And he said, so we're going to pray and whichever one sells first, we'll just believe that we're supposed to be in the other property. Now, he told the congregation that Friday night, I come riding by here Saturday morning, and he said, he's heard from God. And Joe said, well, what do you want for the place? And he told him.
And he said, well, my boss said, tell him. Tell you, if you're selling it, he will pay cash for it. He said, okay. So they started to draw up a contract.
We didn't have cash to pay for it. But what's new in the life of faith? So we're believing God because the school is opening soon.
And we got to come in here and rearrange things, knock out some walls and different things. And so it's coming right on up to closing. And I got a call and someone was wanting to sow into our ministry the majority of what it took to purchase this building and pay cash. So the majority came in, okay, but we still have some remaining. And we said we'd pay cash.
So it's getting closer and closer to... Closing time. Well, Jesse and Kathy came to spend a few days with us, and we're in our car, and we're getting ready to take them to lunch. And we back out of the garage, and we get on the driveway, and Jesse says to me, Jerry, in case that money doesn't come by the closing, have you made arrangements to get it some other way?
And he was sitting in the back with Kathy and Carol and I were up in the front, and I turned to him and I said, Jesse, there is no plan B. And he looked at me and he said, I saw the look of faith in Jerry Savelle's eyes. And then we went into the Believers'Convention. That's what he preached on, the look of faith.
There's a look of faith. And I had it that day. The look of faith, hallelujah. He said, when Jerry turned to me and said, Jesse, there is no plan B.
He said, I saw the look of faith, steadfastly, a steadfast look of faith. That's what Jesus had when his own disciples tried to talk him out of going into Jerusalem. But he said he had a steadfast look of faith.
Nothing was going to distract him. Amen. And he went to Jerusalem and thank God he did.
He stayed focused and he did so all because you and I were on his mind. Hallelujah. Can you say amen? Give the Lord a shout if you believe it, praise God.
And the day before closing, the rest of the money came in and we paid cash for this place, praise God. Amen. So do you have a steadfast look of faith? Regarding 2024, regarding promotion, advancement, progression, highest expectations being fulfilled, show me your steadfast look.
Amen. All right, now, listen to this. The Passion Translation says, Jesus let nothing distract Him from departing for Jerusalem. Because the time for him to be lifted up had drawn near. He let nothing distract him.
I love that. He let nothing distract him. How many of you want God's best for year 2024?
It requires focus. It requires refusing to be distracted. It requires staying in faith.
Amen. And we're going to keep talking about it until you get it. Praise God.
Hallelujah. Because I want everybody in here, by the time we reach the end of 2024, we're going to have so many astounding testimonies of promotion and advancement and progression and highest expectations being fulfilled. Hallelujah. Go ahead and give the Lord your best shout in advance. Amen.
Praise God. Stand with me for a moment, please. Lay your hands on the person next to you.
Father, I pray for every person within the sound of my voice, both in this auditorium and those watching by live stream, or YouTube, or however they may be seeing this service. And I pray in Jesus'name that the words that have been spoken will be just like the words that Paul preached that day when he saw That look of faith in that man's eyes, he perceived he had faith to be healed. I'm praying in Jesus'name that everyone who's heard the words that I've spoken today will have the look of faith when they leave this building.
That steadfast look of faith like Jesus had and not allowing anything to distract them. And we give you praise that you are presently Even while we're in here in this building right now, wherever people might be that are watching, you are working behind the scenes. You are arranging things. You're causing things that looked impossible to become possible.
You're causing financial breakthroughs. You're causing people to reach levels they never dreamed they would ever reach. Hallelujah.
You're working. You're working. You're always working.
Even when we can't see it. Even when we can't feel it. You're working. Hallelujah.
And we give you praise for it. In the mighty name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Turn to at least three people and tell them, don't ever give up.
God is working in your behalf. Amen. Hallelujah.
Be seated for just a moment, please.