Fixate PHX

John 9:1-114 main points and takeaways from this passage 1. God didn’t just pull me out of the dirt. He used the dirt to make me see. (John 9:6)2. Before I ever tried to find Jesus. He found me first (John 9:1)3. Sight comes after the surrender (John 9:6-7)4. When God changes how you see, it changes how you live (John 9:8-9)

LUKE 21:1-4Luke 12:15-21LUKE 16:10-13 COLOSSIANS 3:23-24 4 thoughts on a poverty mindset rooted in need1- We judge what others have because if we don't have it we think others don't deserve it. 2- We have a rational reason to not be generous and that rational reasoning takes the place of a faith we declare we profess.3- WE LOOK UPON THOSE WHO WE THINK OUR “RICH”, AND THINK THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO GIVE MORE TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I CANNOT. NOT REALIZING THAT WITHHOLDING FROM GOD IS JUST ANOTHER LAYER OF GREED WE TRY TO TELL OURSELVES IT ISN'T… NEED CAN PRODUCE GREED JUST AS MUCH AS GREED PRODUCES MORE GREED. 4- We only view the world through our need… and WE SEEK to position ourselves relationally and personally to try to in our own strength to produce more to comfort our situation, USING AND LEVERAGING OTHERS FOR GAIN.. When we are generous we are saying you meet my needs, you have all the power, you are my identity, and you have the greatest influence in my life. 4 thoughts on a prosperity mindset rooted in greed1- Is accumulating money for my glory or is it rhythmically and routine partnered in generosity for his glory? You can't say he gets the glory if the only thing you use your finances on is to produce your own.. 2- Do I have contentment and gratitude for what I have currently? Or does a feeling of lack, rooted in comparison and coveting, fuel my lifestyle to always have more?3- As my life is elevated, is my generosity elevated? YOU CAN GIVE AND STILL BE GREEDY.. Bare minimum effort and activity gets bare minimum fruit, just as no effort or activity gets no fruit.. 4- Greed is foundationally about power and control. We inadvertently become our own God not realizing we have gained the whole word and lost our souls… we are not in control.. And we do not have ultimate power.. Generosity is about submitting your thirst for power and your need to control to God in trust that he will bring the fulfillment I truly seek.4 THOUGHTS ON BIG-PICTURE STEWARDSHIP 1- I HAVE RIGID ROUTINE IN MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE THAT CIRCUMSTANCES DONT DICTATE DEVIATIONS FROM.2- I OWN THE LITTLE OF THINGS RELATED TO MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE BECAUSE I KNOW IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE. 3-THE STEWARDSHIP OF MY TIME, ATTENTION, RESOURCE IS ALL UNTO GREATER SENSITIVITY AND DEEPER DISCERNMENT.4- ONCE I START IN THE STEWARDSHIP JOURNEY THERE IS STRONG RESISTANCE AT FIRST.. THAT SLOWLY GIVES WAY TO A REALIZATION THAT I CANNOT STOP…. AS I FEEL FUELD DAILY BY MY LIFE IN GOD AND TANGIBLE SENSE A COMMUNIONING WITH HIM.

Matthew 25:14-29 –How to live in the multiplied and not buried talents.1- Tithing is a floor not a ceiling. Test Him and see.2- Spiritual maturity is when my life has rhythmic, routine, regular, boring, secret, and consistent generosity. We live in a day and age of knowing the words to say to pass the Christian eye test… but it is the rhythmic activity of the heart showing lordship… that God is able to see how we are using the talents He has given us.3- Money is not bad, but our views of it, worship of it, fixation of it and withholding of it; is. You're either a hand that’s releasing it or a hand burying it, and you're not robbing God, you're robbing God of an opportunity to show you He's more in control than you could ever realize.4- Giving under the pretense of getting only produces death, and giving that seeks to dictate to its passion points only robs faith of the reward of its secret work. Trust, believe, and let it go.

Luke 2:25–40How a Remnant of People Walk in a Sensitive and Discerning way1 – We live righteous and holy in order to see what others can’t, and say what others won’t. Simeon and Anna were on a different wavelength not because they were born Levites or trained to be Pharisees and Sadducees, but rather because they took seriously the call to devote their lives to God. Full ownership given to the Spirit in your life gets full access to the Spirit and the life it brings. Every part of you must serve, and be submitted and surrendered, to every part of Him.2 – Righteousness and holiness must start in your life with what is unholy and unhealthy being brought to the light of His Spirit in repentance and in a posture to be transformed. It is an ownership over your patterns, disciplines, habits, and desirous appetites that becomes the seedbed for a life in the Spirit to take root and thrive. You will never step into discerning and sensing the Spirit for others if you cannot and will not discern and follow the Spirit for yourself first. Before Anna and Simeon discerned baby Jesus in front of them by the Spirit of God, they had decades of faithfulness to discerning and sensing that Spirit in the devotion of how they lived—in righteousness, in prayer, in worship, and in the frequency of life in the temple of God. We start small in order to live big.3 – The challenge and new course direction of Fixate on its third-year anniversary is to become a house of Annas and Simeons—devoted to righteousness and holiness in such a way that we would discern the Spirit of God before the concept was even realized, carry a message from God when their status in life said they couldn’t, see the image of God in the midst of those who—even when trained to see—were blind to find it, and live a life of remembrance because they did something before anyone else ever did. Righteousness, holiness, sensitivity, discernment; this is who we are becoming.

Daniel 1:3–9 Daniel 6:10–13, 16-23How to Become a Person Defined By Holy HabitsHoly habits are God-focused patterns that sow seed in the soil of daily life that yield fruit of a relationship of intimacy and proximity in the life of tomorrow. Holy habits are not activities; they are disciplines that submit and surrender unholy appetites and unhealthy desires, that then allow God to resurrect you in spiritual health and wholeness. In the beginning it is more training your appetites to say no and drawing the lines of what you don’t do, before those appetites rewire you into living in a way you were never meant to live.Have you come to be defined as one who constantly serves God? What got Daniel in trouble was that he constantly served God. But in even greater detail, the king over all the land doesn’t even know the God Daniel serves by name, only that his life is lived in such a way that he constantly serves Him. Renewing your life, focus, and functionality is what determines if the title rests on you of a constant servant of God. If you will take seriously the call of constant service, the blessing is discovering and sensing a God with you, around you, and inside of you, in every season and aspect of your life.Even the smallest patterns of renewal in this day and age can be the very resistance needed for a shift in the climate of the world around you. Daniel started with prayer three times a day in quiet resistance to the modern order and by the end had a king passing a decree in which everyone was mandated to worship the God Daniel served. The king’s first decree went from worship me to worship Him. And this is the first step—turning the attention from worship of self, to worship of Him. His first decree missed the mark and the second decree corrected it. The king wanted to worship something; he just needed someone to show him, through how he lived, who was worthy to be worshiped.

Formulaic Process of Renewal – Holy Discontentment + Preparation (in secret) + Contending (in prayer) + Holy patterns + Remnant = A Region Renewed in the Spirit of God2 Kings 18:1–6 2 Kings 20:1–10What Defines a Life of Contending PrayerHezekiah’s first response when he is faced with discouraging news. “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” (20:3) Meaning, to develop a life of response from Heaven, I must produce these characteristics as a descriptor of who I am: someone who is walking with God in truthfulness, giving Him the whole of my heart, and knowing from this place I will produce good in His sight.How deep does prayer really go for you? Contending prayer is a prayer that fights, wrestles, and grapples for the revelation of God in the areas I’m seeking Him. God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer? “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.” (20:5) God hearing prayers and seeing tears are two different things. Communication with no emotion is not healthy communication. Prayer with the depths of our souls comes out in the weeping bitterly and the praying pointedly, that then turns the Father heart towards His children. We contend in righteous awareness, vulnerability, and transparency, and the Spirit will respond. Be real, be raw, or don’t be anything.Contending prayer doesn’t just believe for messages. It demands signs and miracles. “Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me?’” (20:8) Abnormality is embraced and even expected when we enter into a deeper understanding of what contending prayer is supposed to produce. Hezekiah shifted the shadows of the sun to confirm a word from a prophet. What ways do you need to shift your mindset to start to expect that God wants to reveal signs of His goodness, grace, and miraculous power in your everyday walk with Him?

Process of renewal –– holy discontentment + preparation (in secret) + contending (in prayer) + holy patterns + remnant == a region renewed in the spirit of God1 Sam 17:20-23 /// 31-40How to Prepare in Secret in Order to Walk in the Promises of God in Your Life.1 - You must take out the lions and bears with God in your private life before you can take down the giants with God in your public one. Before you're ever going to win visible battles, you must take ownership of the invisible ones. So often we know the giants we are up against in the obvious ways, but we disregard the lions and bears feeding on the areas of our souls in the non-obvious ways. You must understand that it is the battles we learn to fight when no one is watching that allow us to emerge victorious in faith when people are watching.2 - We prepare in secret so when the time comes we aren’t tempted to be someone else other than who God called us uniquely to be. Before David was knocking down a giant he was deciding if he believed in the skill of the sling shot over the strength of the king's sword and armor. Oftentimes the reason we're not taking down giants is because we are using everyone else’s strategy to win, uncomfortable and not confident in the gifts our Father has given us. Preparation is about understanding who God has uniquely called me to be, and being willing to look foolish if it means I walk out in the faith I have God is with me. If you lose yourself, you lose it all.3 - You can hide in the baggage, or head to the battle. Proper preparation is when you handle the baggage before it affects the battle. So often we bring baggage to the battles, not realizing that the gift of fighting the lions and bears when no one is watching is having the skills needed to defeat the giants when everyone is. Preparation is the healthy ownership of my healing journey and gift development that can only be done in the deep cultivation of a life in God. You have to own what's around you in order to win at what's ahead of you

2 Kings 22:1-2; 11-20Process of Renewal: Holy discontentment + preparation + contending + holy patterns + remnant = a region renewed in the Spirit of God. How to Walk in a Holy Discontentment: 1 - The action of hearing the words of God must produce a heart of changing my behavior to reflect the revelation I receive from His Word. All it takes for idols and high places to remain in a heart indifferent to the effects of duplicity. What you behold you become, and if you're not happy with what you're becoming, be mindful of things you might be worshipping that you're not aware you may be kneeling before. Better is one day with Him than a thousand elsewhere is a real time litmus test. 2 - Holy discontentment often starts when my heart is tender to the spirit of God and I become humbled by and to the truth of His Word. We worship in Spirit and in truth; not one at the expense of the other. Holiness is the pursuit of the Spirit and presence of God while also developing a depth of wisdom and awareness with the truth of God's Word. When His Spirit and Word confront the high places and altars of a life contrary to Lordship, we must respond in full surrender and full submission. 3 - Holy discontentment is when His Spirit fills me and constantly highlights areas of idol worship and high places that we may never know actually exist. A true encounter with Jesus leads to a lifestyle of constant awareness of anything not of Him, and a discontentment of anything that I would view above my relationship and intimacy with His Spirit and truth. Removing idols is just His Spirit removing any obstacle or barrier of a life intimate and proximity to Him... righteousness and holiness are not the end goal.... awareness of an intimate God all around you, at all times... is.

Jude 1:20-25Cross References for further study: On divisions & building yourselves up: Romans 16:17-20 Hebrews 10:24-252 Peter 1:3-11Ephesians 2:20On having mercy on others: 2 Cor 5:11; 20 -Zechariah 3On Him who is able: Daniel 3 (16-18 specifically) Isaiah 43:2Philippians 2:13Hebrews 10:14

John 14:27 Isaiah 42:16 Matthew 16:19Matthew 5:17Hebrews 12:24Isaiah 45 :2-3Lord, I Wanna SeeI Wanna Be UnshakeableI Wanna Receive the Treasures Hidden in Darkness

Jude 1:10-16Genesis 4; 1-83 tests that reveal roots, fruits, and who not to become in your pursuit of Jesus.1- The Cain test; ‘They have taken the way of Cain’... Oftentimes it is our withholding from God that hinders our becoming in God. Man has had covetous and competitive desire since Genesis. If not submitted, and not fully released, it can become an angry bitterness at what others have that you do not, that becomes a lifestyle of cutting corners and controlling everything in order to gain what you think will elevate and bring approval from others in your life. Being surrendered, submitted and giving God my ABSOLUTE best, is what elevated Abel above Cain. Being not fully surrendered, not submitted, and not giving God my best, was the place the concept of murder in mankind originated and bore sin from. 2- The Balaam Test; ‘They have rushed for profit into Balaam's error’.. Is the only reason I am pursuing God for a fulfillment of my needs and desires? Or is my devotion to God a deeper surrender and submission that he is the only who knows my needs and desires and in his hands and spirit, is the place my life flourishes most. So often we come to God when we are out of options, seeking a God that would restore my fortunes. We must be sensitive and discerning of a life in God in which he is not there to build my brand and bank account, but to build a heart and life so rooted in him it bears a fruit that remains long after we are gone. He’s not a genie in a bottle, he's a king on the cross, and your dreams placed in the hands of the one who created them, are better than any life you could ever build on your own. 3- The Korah Test; ‘They have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion’.. Your devotion to God is not just found in a sanctified and righteously rhythmic walk. It is also revealed in the levels of self awareness and personal perception of what we need to eliminate in our individual circumstance that steals from the growth God has for my life. The flesh is in constant rebellion to the spirit, and this is most evident in the place of pride, authority, and submission that can be masked even spiritually; to place him on the throne of our hearts means we have to first remove ourselves from that place. Korah had every right as a levite to be a leader, but his character was rooted in jealousy, ambition, and rebellion that ultimately led to his death. We must keep our own jealousy and ambition submitted to God, or it will swallow up the work of the spirit in our lives.

Jude 1:1-10 NIV Three places where the grace of God shows its true deliverance power, and the same three areas the enemy wants to destroy in before you can experience freedom: Place number 1: Your faith must be a disciple of renewal within the whole of your mind/heart/spirit... we must have a faith that practices the hard stuff, even the things I don't want to believe. Faith that only majors on passion points, but never engages pain points, will miss the power that comes from the intersection of Jesus and His Spirit in the deepest part of our souls. My faith must be willing to wrestle in the dark of doubt and weakness, just as much as it grasps for the light and resurrection. My heart must come into alignment, spirit into alignment, mind into alignment, and if one is off... the alignment is off. Place number 2: A faith that believes as I am a walking, breathing, and functional temple of the Holy Spirit... what I do with my life everyday is building, strengthening, and mirroring the temple of God. The whole of you must be devoted to the whole of Him. My diet of eating and drinking, the things I allow to comfort me, the sexual desires I must learn to submit over my feelings, the judge-mentalness of people that I won't give space to that I know is wrong, the numbing agents I permit to allow me not to feel... all parts of me must seek sanctification in every area... for in the sanctification there comes sainthood. Place number 3: We must have a faith that willingly and humbly submits to the authority of Scripture, the authority of the leadership of the body, and the authority of corrective and accountable relationships.... a faith that will not submit to anyone (person) or anything (Scripture)... a faith that at some point will become shipwrecked upon the pride of oneself, you find protection, when you find submission.

Matt. 6:14-15Matt 18:21-22Rom. 12:17-19Prov. 28:13Heb. 12:13-14Definitions: Original Definition: “to give away/to grant”APA: "Willfully setting aside feelings of resentment toward an individual who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed one in some way"Forgiveness Institute: "You let go of resentment and the urge to seek revenge."The Practicals: 1. Uncovering 2. Decision 3. Work4. Outcome Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling It is meant for my benefit and for the benefit of those around me I need to wrestle with the actions, emotions, all while choosing to forgive Our dependence on Jesus for forgiveness

Emmanuel: Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬What does it look like for manna to rain down and you lack nothing, and what would it look like to include someone else in that image?Megan: Jeremiah 29 10-14 NLTJose: James 1:5-8 (NIV)Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)Amy: Zechariah 4: 6Psalm 143:10-12 Romans 12:11 Peter 2:9Colossians 1:16Daniel 2:22

I Cor, 1:1-25.Daniel 1: 1-51. Power Cord - different cords for different appliances. But all are meant to provide power/electric power from a source to a specific item.2. What's in a Name. How may I know your name? Have you ever searched out the meaning of your name. And I ask who made the decision that your name means such and such.The name Daniel, of Hebrew origin, means "God is my judge". It is derived from the Hebrew words "dan" (meaning judge) and "el" (meaning God). The name gained prominence through the biblical figure Daniel, known for his wisdom and faith. The name Hananiah, of Hebrew origin, means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God has favored"The name Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל) is of Hebrew origin and generally means "who is what God is" or "who is like God?The name Azariah, of Hebrew origin, generally means "helped by God" or "Yahweh has helped"Captured by the Babylonians King Nebuchadnezzar had his servant teach them the Babylonians language and gave them a new name.Belshazzar- the name Belteshazzar, given to Daniel by the Babylonian prince of the eunuchs, means "Protect the life of the king" or "Bel's prince".the name Shadrach, originally Hananiah, is of Babylonian origin and is interpreted to mean "command of Aku," the moon god.the Babylonian name Meshach is thought to be related to the Babylonian god Aku of after SHAK a Venus god in Babylon.The name Abednego, likely means "servant of Nabu" or "servant of Nebo". Nabu (or Nebo) was the Babylonian god of wisdom and writing.

1 Corinthians 2:2Romans 5:17-21Leviticus 14:1-7

Genesis 3:1-13The Test of Delight, Desire, and Provision 1 - The development and sanctification of delight in God is when your spirit can discern and go deeper than the surface layer of pleasure, and has the ability to bypass our flesh's hardwiring for instant gratification. Desire that disobeys is just desire we have allowed to rewire our appetites, impulses, and brain chemistry. It's hard to be a disciple when you're always searching for dopamine. Delaying cheap desire allows you to enter true fulfillment. Our souls don't want instant, they want real. If you do not rewire desire, desire will rewire you. 2 - For every action of fallen desire, there is a reaction to resurrect it through Jesus' life and example. If impulsive food and coping appetites is your desire, fasting becomes your weapon of submission. If coveting, spending, purchasing, and providing the stressor or easy dopamine fix... generosity becomes the rewiring and renewing element of the spirit. If my desire is for sex, a mate or a relationship that gives me meaning... I must first find relational intimacy in God, or I will struggle to find that in another. Your manna becomes moldy the second God becomes a vehicle of accomplishing your desire, and not a relationship of devotion. 3 - Rhythm can and will restore any and all desire if you will guard, tend, and keep it. If you do not live rhythmically close to Jesus, you will always struggle to see Him as the fulfiller of your desire, the one you delight in and who delights in you, and your provider and supplier. Your weakness in His hand of a proximate life, can become strength in due time. You cannot have New Testament promises with Old Testament behaviors. We redeem what is fallen, we don't identify as fallen. How we do this is learning, leaning, and living His Word, Spirit, and Presence through prioritized relationship. Rhythms restore, disciplines disciple, and wholeness only comes from oneness, with Jesus.

Mark 2:14-17Matthew 9:9-13Luke 5:27-32Walking in Activated Advocation: 1 - Advocacy is when we desire to recognize purpose beneath the surface of every person made in the image of God. There is no stereotype, skin color, past-situation, socio-economic class, sin, or mistake that invalidates someone's right to belong. We believe through our written Word of God that the pronouncement of faith and surrendered life brings you into alignment within the family of God. Advocacy is my maturity into activated faith that bridges the gap between heaven to remind people we are all sons and daughters of God (Yahweh). We build bridges, we don't burn them. We will not be a church that offers sacrifice, but does not offer mercy, or we will need a new pastor. 2 - The foundation of advocacy is the foundation of the character of the throne of God; righteousness and justice. Righteousness is the inward challenge of surrendered life, justice is the outward fruit of it. How we walk in advocacy rooted in righteousness and justice is centered on three words: awareness (pursuit of knowledge), empathy (pursuit of proximity), and solidarity (action born of previous two things). Jesus was aware of Matthew's situation, went to his house and got proximate not just to him to others that had been considered outcasts and sinners, and then defended him in solidarity to those who would accuse or condemn him based off his life. Our call is to unite all people into kingdom purposes. 3 - Vasili Arkhipov

1 Kings 19:1-18How to experience breakthrough from a breakdown.1- There is a difference between fatigue and failure. Just because you are tired, worn down, scared, questioning, running does not make you a failure. However, fatigue can bring all sorts of failure if you do not properly reorient yourself to God's rest, provision, and voice. Health starts when your pursuit of help does. Your mind, heart, and spirit will always be restless until it finds its rest in Jesus. 2- Spiritual maturity is when your mind starts to switch from just looking for God in the profound; to the one gentle blowing... the powerful; to the low whisper... the extraordinary; to the realization of God as a present person in my ordinary life. Maturity is inviting and learning to see God outside of the arenas I expect to see Him in (the flat and bang of cultural Christianity)... and that He longs to reveal to us a space of hearing the blowing and wisher of his spirit as it affirms, guides, protects, and provides for the deep needs of our souls. 3- The black rat.

Luke 7:11-18-28Luke 22:31-32Hebrews 4:12-13What To Do When What's Happening to Them Isn't Happening to Me: 1- Doubt begins to entomb when the outside circumstances begin to prevail against the internal disposition. When the external reality doesn't match the internal optimism we are taught to have in faith, it is up to us to go to a deeper place, and that's by design. You cannot stay in the spiritual shallows when life gets heavy. When outside is getting loud, the inside better be learning and leaning into the quiet with God. Life can easily become a reaction to the world around me, rather than an overflow of the world I have built within me. We are to be inwardly formed, while outwardly facing. 2 - There is a distinct difference between healthy doubt and deconstruction, and walking away and deconversion. Jesus can go as deep as we want to go, the tension is if we trust Him and His plan with our unknowns... He is with you in the prison, pain, weakness, unmet request, tension of waiting, fear, brokenness, and the main question of it all, "why doesn't He just do for me what He has done for others?"... it is life's great question that we find He does not always give answers, as much as He just becomes the answer, and reinforces who we are, and what we mean to Him. 3 - The Spirit's greatest work in your life is 'sifting'. Sifting either purifies the promise or offends the promisee towards the promiser. Doubt is the sifting of our souls to purify the purposes of our Creator in His creation. To wrestle, to question, to seek more... is an invitation to drink of deeper waters, to find a deeper rest. When His spirit sifts our motives, desires, pursuits, and ambitions, we become the home in which His Spirit dwells in its fullness. Don't allow the offense of what He hasn't done rob you of the faith in what He is going to do.