Can You See the Promise.

God has given you an imagination. And here's the thing, we have the choice of whether we're going to use it for a bad road or a good road, right? See, when you're speaking Jesus, when you're speaking the Word of God, that sword is coming out and it's striking down those things that try to oppress you, those things that are trying to overcome you. Oh, they can't have the power. They don't get the victory. What gets the victory is the Word of God. What gets the victory is the power of that sword coming out of your mouth. Hello, welcome. I am so glad that you are joining me today. Today, the Word of God is going to grow you. You are more than an overcomer in Christ Jesus. Very excited about this message today. We're going to continue on the subject of meditating, meditating on God's Word. But today, really what I'm focusing on is rewriting the inner picture. Rewriting the inner picture means letting the Word of God replace fear-based images, those limiting things in your life that are in your soul with God's vision of who you are and who He has created you to be. Because whatever you see constantly going on in your heart and in your mind, you will eventually see happen, come to pass in your life. It will begin to shape how you believe. It will begin to shape how you feel. And it will shape what you will step into, into your life. So last week, what we really went through is meditating determines your peace. It's going to determine your joy. It's going to determine your faith. It's going to determine whether the promises of God actually come to pass in your life. Meditation, this is such an amazing tool that we have with our imagination. God has given you an imagination. And here's the thing. We have the choice of whether we're going to use it for a bad road or a good road, right? And so we went with this scripture the last time I was with you. Psalm 1, 1 through 3, and it says, Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who, what? Meditates on it day and night. Watch, that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers. So meditation is how the Word of God moves from just being information in your head to transformation in your heart. That's what happens. You read a scripture, and at first it's information. But as you meditate on it, and as you begin to see yourself in this scripture, that's what we're really going to talk about today. It's not just saying it, but there's another step that we take in our faith is that we have to see it. So meditation moves from being information in your heart to revelation in your heart. And when we have revelation, that's when we're going to start seeing fruit happen, and it's going to produce in your life. And I gave the example, we've all, all of us out there have planned some sort of party, some sort of get together. Maybe it's Easter. Easter's coming up for you, and you're thinking through the menu, and you're thinking through maybe the decorations or how you're going to bring out an Easter egg hunt or something. Maybe you have grandkids. You know, all this stuff starts with what? A thought. And you begin to rehearse it in your mind, and you begin to think through the different elements. Oh, can we do this? If meditation has the power for us to come up with something as simple as an Easter party, imagine how much more powerful if we meditate on God's Word, if we meditate on His promises, right? And we talked about also that the Word of God is seed. And you take that seed, and you plant it in the good soil of your heart. And when that's planted in your heart, that's where that meditation, that's where that revelation, that's where that manifestation starts to take place. And then it's going to produce after its own kind. It's going to produce in your life. Because here's something we know. We're all meditating on something. Every one of us are meditating on something. So the question isn't if you're meditating. The question is what. What are you meditating on? So today I want to take this just one step further in this conversation. We don't just live from information. We live from an inner picture. All different situations, you have an inner picture of yourself. You have an inner picture of what you look like in your family. You have an inner picture of what you look like in your workplace, in your job, in your friends, in your friendships, in the things that you're trying to accomplish and do in your life. We all carry this inner picture. But the problem that I'm addressing today is so many people paint the wrong picture on the inside of themselves. They imagine themselves getting worse. They imagine themselves being alone forever. They imagine themselves always struggling financially. They could hear a scripture on the prosperity of God. That God has given them all these beautiful and wonderful things. But because in their mind they can't see that, they only see struggle. They'll live in struggle all their life. See these thoughts, they paint inner images, inner pictures. It's like a movie played out before you. And it rehearses it over and over and it plays out in your mind. And you know what it starts to do? It stirs emotions on the inside of you. Have you ever been to a movie? And you go to a movie and you're sitting in the movie and all of a sudden you're crying. Or all of a sudden something happens and you jump. You're shocked. You're scared. You know, that's the power of our imagination. That's all fake. You're sitting in a movie. That's fake stuff going on. But yet it triggers an emotional thing on the inside of you. Being able to imagine and meditate is a gift from God. Why? Because we all can replace the images that are wrong with the right images that come from God and His Word. Amen? So I want to ask you today. Imagine for a moment. Imagine what life would look like if you were financially free. What does that look like to you? Imagine what it would look like if you were healed. If you were healthy. If you were whole. If you didn't have that illness in your body. Imagine what your life would look like if you met that certain person and you began to start a family with them. Here's the issue. We can all have the right promise, but we can carry the wrong picture. We could all be saying the right things. Anybody can say the right things, but are they thinking the right things? You can quote scripture. You can be quoting scripture. You could have a whole list of things, but you could be imagining the very worst outcome in your mind. You could say God is my healer, but you see yourself sick. And what you keep seeing on the inside, and this is the issue I want to get to today, is that the things that you keep seeing on the inside will eventually shape what you experience on the outside. So Proverbs 20, 3, 7. Watch this. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Simple scripture, but this word heart here is not just talking about your mind. It's the Hebrew word nefesh. And what nefesh means is it carries the meaning of your inner being, of your soul. Your soul is composed of your mind, your will, and your emotions. So we could really read the scripture like this. For as a man thinks in his soul, so is he. Your soul is composed of your inner world. It's constantly forming pictures based on the things that you have thought about. It's constantly creating images based on what you have processed through your mind. Based on also what people have said to you. You can have conversations and opinions come from people, and it begins to play out in your mind, and it creates this image on the inside of you. For as a man thinks in his soul, so is he. And you carry these images in all your situations. These images, they create what your future is going to look like. They create what possibilities could look like in your world. And you carry these inner images with you wherever you go. They're formed from, like I said, experiences that you've had. They're formed from opinions or conversations maybe that you've had with people in your life. They're formed from victories that you've had, and they're also formed by defeats that you have faced. And you carry these images, you carry these movies with you in every situation in life, into every season. So the question is not, are you carrying an image? The question is, what image are you carrying? And so this is kind of the type of teaching or talk that we're having here today, that we're really just going to get very proactive on where is our mind going? Where's your mind go? Because God clearly defines to us who we are in the Word. He tells you who you are. He says that you are more than an overcomer in Christ Jesus. He calls you blessed. He calls you victorious. But these things can all be said to you, and you still carry with you defeat. You still carry with you, you know, the Word says that He has given you not a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. But you may say to me, Pastor Kelly, I walk around with a confused mind. I walk around with an overwhelmed mind. But listen to me. What God's Word says trumps what anything that you have gone through, anything that the enemy has ever said to you, brought to you, people's opinions, all that goes, all that shatters away and off of your life. When you grab a hold of the truth, the incorruptible seed of the Word of God planted in your heart, meditated on, can break the power of that confusion off your life. Amen. David shows us what it looks like to take on God's picture. He says this. He said this in Psalm 139. He said, I praise you. Look, look, let's let's just imagine what David's doing right here. Maybe he's in a cave. I don't know where he's at. He could be in his palace. And he's saying, I praise you, God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works. And that my, watch this, soul knows very well that that word soul is nefesh. It's the same word that's in Proverbs 23, 7. What was God doing here? See what God did. I want you to see. He painted a picture for David and David stepped into it. And he said, you're right. I am marvelous. I'm beautifully and wonderfully made. And that my soul. He's talking to his soul and says, you soul know this very well. You know this. And what was God doing? He was painting that picture on the inside of David because David had to have the courage to do the things that God called him to do in his life. And I'm what I'm saying to you today is that as you take the word of God, just as David did, and you say to yourself, I am beautifully and I am wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works. And that my soul knows very well. What are you saying? I'm painting that picture on the inside, Lord. I get rid of all the junk, all the things that people have said to me, all the things people have put on me. I take that all off and I receive the word that you have for me today that my soul knows very well. Oh, that is powerful. David allowed what God said to him to shape his thoughts, to shape his inner image. Now, watch this. Not everyone did what David did. You know, God always brings us the word. The word is always going to be flowing out to you. It's always going to be presented to you. Think about the Israelites. The word of the Lord comes to the Israelites. And God told these people, I'm going to be taking you into another land. This is what I have here, a land flowing with milk and honey. So they're carrying the very promise of God with them. And God did miraculous things for them. God delivered these people from 400 years of bondage. God parted the Red Sea. He fed them in the desert. He led them by a cloud by day and a fire by night. And all the while, they're carrying this promise with them. They had to have talked. Moses talked about this promise with his people. But God has given us a whole different land. He's given us a promised land. He's given us a land filled with milk and honey. So let's fast forward now. We're in Numbers in chapter 13. And they're right on the edge of inheriting this promised land. And Moses says, okay, I'm going to send out 12 of you. And you're going to go spy out the land. The 12 come back. They go in. They see the land. They come back and say, it's everything. Moses, it's everything that God said it would be. In fact, they brought back fruit. They brought back all this. But then they said, but there's giants. There's giants in the land. And we're like grasshoppers in our own sight. They said, all the people we saw there, this is in Numbers 13, all the people we saw there of great size. And we seem like grasshoppers in our own sight. The problem wasn't just what they saw on the outside. The problem was what they carried with them on the inside. That picture. They had God's promise. They had his word. They were literally standing on the edge of attaining what God had for them. They didn't lack the promise. What they lacked was the right image in their mind, the right image in their soul. Because God already told them who he was. God already showed them all the major miracles. They knew their God was with them. But because they lacked that image on the inside, because they carried that inner image, that slave mentality, which they had been carrying for 400 years, that generation did not get to go into the promised land. Now watch this. Joshua and Caleb, they were part of that 12. They came back. We know this story. They came back with entirely different message, right? They came back and said, we are more than able to overcome. While the others were saying grasshoppers, that's what they were saying. Now, what's the difference? The 10 spies, they allowed the problem to shape their picture. Joshua and Caleb, they allowed the promise. They allowed the promise to shape their picture. We, in the same way, we need to be Joshua and Caleb's. We need to allow the promise, not the problem. There's going to be a lot of problems that come up in our lives. There are going to be a lot of issues that you have to deal with as you're taking the promises of God. But you cannot look at that problem. You cannot look at that issue and allow that. You will become an Israelite. I'm just going to say it to you straight. You're never going to go into that promised land unless you are a Joshua and a Caleb who decided, I see the giants, but I'm going to stick to the promise. I'm going to stick to my promise maker, my God. In him will I trust. But look what God tells him. I just think this is, this was just like the icing. I don't, the cherry on top of whatever. Whatever, however you say it. Joshua 1, 7. Watch this. Look at what God says to him. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left. That you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law. Watch this. Keep this book of the law on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. God, what was God doing? He was making sure Joshua had the right inner picture. The right image on the inside. Because God knew that Joshua and Caleb themselves, they were going to face those giants as well. He's like, you need to be strong. You need to be very courageous. And you need to meditate on my word day and night. You need to get the right inner image, the right picture, the right things going on on the inside of you. So I just want to take a moment right here. What image do you think of? Or what image do you have of yourself? Are you your worst critic? You know, we have to, again, like I said earlier, this is more of like, this is a teaching that's like, okay, there's going to be some action on here, right? We have to be proactive. We have to begin to repaint those images. If you're going to step into the promises of God and things that he has for you in your life, you're going to face giants. You're going to face mountains and obstacles. But just like how God said to Joshua, you need to be very strong and very courageous. And you need to get that word planted on the inside of you. And as you begin to meditate on it, it's going to produce fruit in your life. You know, you can't afford one day of calling yourself dumb, ugly, fat, not useful in this world. We have to be like David. We have to say that. We have to say, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works. And I meditate on it day and night. And that my soul knows very well, right? You may say to me, Pastor Kelly, I've been speaking the word. I've been, and I hear this a lot. Pastor Kelly, I've been quoting. I've been declaring. I've been saying the right things, but nothing has changed in my life. And I would say to you, that's good. What you're doing is good. You keep saying those scriptures. You keep confessing. You keep declaring. You are on the right road. But don't stop there. We speak. We declare the promises. We take His word. We do this. But you also have to see it. You have to see it. You have to get your faith eye. You have to get your faith picture going on out here. Because faith is not just words in your mouth. It's also a picture in your heart. It's not just words that we speak. I know this to be true. I'm walking through a very difficult time in my life. The past two years, my husband was, well, it's been the past four years. But in the past two years, a definite diagnosis on my husband's life. A disease. And I have a choice. What picture am I going to carry? What am I going to carry with me? I'm saying all the right things. I'm declaring each promise of God, healing. And in the natural, what am I seeing every day? Sometimes I see decline. Sometimes I don't see things that I think should be better. I want to invite you to stay connected with me during the week. I want you to visit PastorKelleyAnderson.com. And what you're going to find is a list of devotionals that will go along with the podcast or the TV show that you watch. They're about two minutes long. And they're designed to help you grow even more in the message that I taught on that week. You'll also find powerful audio resources focused on healing, on wealth, and personal growth. And it's very easy to access past episodes as well. If you need prayer at all, you can submit a request right there from the homepage. I would be so honored for you to join me. And I'd be honored to stand with you in your journey. Everything there is to help support you in your walk and help you grow in your life. Go to PastorKelleyAnderson.com. I know. I know all the healing scriptures. I can speak them all day long to you. I can sit you down in a conversation, and I can say, these are all the scriptures that you should do. But guess what? You don't stop there. You have to go here, and you have to begin to paint what that looks like. And so when the worst-case scenario was happening in my life, I had to take the Word, but I also had to take control of my thoughts, the movies, the images that were playing out in my mind. And I had to repaint the inner image. I had to begin to see my husband running up and down. There's these steps at the beach that we like to go to. And I began to see him running up and down these steps with no hesitation, easily running up and down the steps. I see him running on the beach. And as of just a couple weeks ago, the Lord gave me this amazing picture. Now watch this, and I might get emotional. But I see him running outside my back door and jumping into the pool. And my little granddaughter Esther is there, and she's like, Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa. The kids are cheering him on. I get emotional because that's exactly where we want to get. We want to get to a point where it creates an emotion. Your soul is composed of your mind, your will, the things that you're doing in your life, and your emotions. See, when you're in that movie and you get to emotion, that's what we're talking about. That's where we want to get to. As you're speaking the Word of God, you're picturing it to the point where you have an emotional connection to it, that you know what is it. You have revelation. You have the manifestation happening on the inside of you. Grandpa Jason's going to be running in that backyard. I don't just say it. I see it, and I see it until it affects how I feel. You say it, and you see it, and you say it until you feel it. Does that make sense? Faith is not just words in your mouth. It's a picture in your heart. So I want to ask you this. What does it look like when you're healthy and healed? As we're finishing up here today, what's it look like when you wake up in the morning full of strength, full of energy, full of power? Father God, Lord, I just pray for those out there that are watching today. Lord, those who are carrying heaviness in their day, those who are struggling in some kind of situation with maybe an illness in their body, maybe a drama going on in their family, Lord, I call those things off of them now in the name of Jesus. Lord, I praise you and thank you that you're teaching us how to rewrite the inner picture. Lord, if there's people today who have had years of movies and images in their minds that are dark and depressing, I call those off of those people now in the name of Jesus. And Lord, I ask that you would give them the word. Holy Spirit, direct them to the word that they need to hear, the scripture that they need to stand on, and that they need to meditate on. And I pray that it produces fruit in your life and becomes who you are in Christ Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, thank you so much for joining me here today. I do have a prayer team, and they love to pray with you. 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