This message is about not taking back all the negativity that Jesus died to set us free from.
Graham Cooke - Give Jesus Back His Stuff! 12/7/12
These are brilliant days.
So much is against us it’s beginning to be wonderful.
If God is for us, come on seriously who can be against us.
When the enemy turns up the gas, God gets bigger.
The enemy hasn’t figured that out.
He didn’t figure out he was created to serve God’s purposes.
All he does only makes the Lord more brilliant towards His people.
We have to believe in who we are in Jesus.
Graham hopes we are people who want to be warriors, champions, in our culture, etc.
You cannot be in Christ and be ordinary.
That’s illegal behavior.
You cannot be mediocre.
We’re learning about the power of the One with the One.
Learning how to receive under pressure.
How to rise above our circumstances.
How to trust and be overwhelmed by joy.
How to live in the presence of God.
That’s who we are.
We’re learning not to live below the line of our privilege.
Seated with Christ in heavenly places.
Things above, not the things on the earth.
We are citizens of heaven living here on earth.
We’re not vulnerable to this world but to the sovereignty of heaven.
On earth as it is in heaven.
We have access to a domain that is outside this world that gives us a perspective that nothing to do with the world around us.
It’s not logical, reasonable, rational, intellectual – that’s of man.
It’s rooted in the wisdom of God.
We learn how to partner with extraordinary revelation that lifts us out of our circumstances so we are condemned to victory.
God wants to put us in a place where we have a good fight.
That means you win.
We are learning to be lifted in our circumstances; not downgraded.
A higher place of spirituality so we can know God’s sovereignty in all circumstances.God speaks to each of us to confirm how we are known in heaven.
Gabriel shows up to Zachariah to give him a prophecy for his unborn son John the Baptist.
He isn’t even born yet.
When God gives you a prophetic word He is telling you this is how you are known in heaven.
God doesn’t use scripture the way we do.
The bible is the story of God walking with man.
It’s tells of the possible encounters.
The range of experiences you can have.
How God likes to warfare.
How God loves to give each of us impossible callings.
And he’s really happy about that.
He hasn’t called you to do reasonable, possible or attainable.
You want to say “Here I am Lord, send him”.
Send Aaron, he’s good.
There are clues as to what God is doing.
It’s an immense book of promises.
God is a promise maker and a promise keeper.
Promises is God’s love language.
Everything in heaven is geared towards bringing that promise to pass.
One day the Lord spoke to Graham while he was meditating about joy.
Joy is who God is.
Joy is the atmosphere of heaven.
That’s the environment God creates wherever He goes.
Only one way to live life in the spirit – joyfully.
James the apostle interrupts the debate and says why don’t we just count it all joy.
John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
God’s a smiler
He’s a grinner.
He’s a belly laugher.
We’re an endless source of amusement to Him.
God looks at you and breaks out into a grin.
When God speaks to us it’s to put a smile on our face.
To let us know where we stand in His affection.
A rhema word is an inheritance word.
Everything in that passage now belongs to you.
Any promises in that passage are yours.
If there’s a name in that passage you can have the same experience that person had.
God gave Graham Numbers about Caleb being a man of a different spirit.
Not afraid of anything, not afraid of a good fight.
God said have that same relationship with me that Caleb had.
When God gives you verse He’s allowing you to go up several levels in your relationship.
1st time Graham read Psalm 91 God wanted to talk to him about who he is and how God sees him.
Psalm91
When you’re studying your prophetic scripture you’re looking for keywords, promises.
You’re discovering what God wants to do in you and through you and for you.
Buy a journal for every prophecy that you have.
The prophecy of scripture stops you from being afflicted by things from the past in your present.
God wants you to become present future in your relationship with Him.
He gives you a present, future outlook.
Our pastoral system needs to be present past because we need to cut people off from things that have been debilitating.
They need to be set free, take specific actions, etc.
Once that has happened then the individual should go to the ministry portion that is prophetic.
First they get a word from the Lord.
We are not counseling you about your old nature because it’s dead.
We are not resurrecting the old man.
Jesus isn’t into behavior modification.
He died to give us a divine exchange.
He gave us a new man.
Pastoral ministry pastors the new man.
Teaching us to walk in newness of life.
Prophecy gives you an outcome.
So you know you’re going to survive the process.
David could face Goliath because he had a prophecy that he would be king one day.
He could see a future beyond that battle.
He’s giving you an inheritance word because He’s teaching you how to prosper.
For where I want to take you I need you to be the living embodiment of Psalm 91.
I need you to wage war and not be afraid.
I need you to know how to live in the secret place.
I need you to know how to take refuge in me.
I need you to live a life unafraid.
I want you to have breakthroughs where no one else can get it.
Be a Man of war.
Lover of God – man of War.
The Lord puts words in our lives so He can be the fulfillment of them in all our circumstances.
It enables you to understand the pathway that you’re walking down.
When the disciples had to replace Judas they drew straws.
Choosing apostles by drawing lots.
God wrote scripture so He could do this stuff in your life.
A message for your life that will make you take off on your journey.
You’ll know when you have the right passage because your heart will leap, etc.
Read scripture the way God wrote it.
To give you a future and a hope.
To tell you that He is with you.
To give you an understanding of your destiny.
God loves to confirm things and repeat Himself.
To reinforce how He sees you.
He is not content with you living a life below the line of your privilege.
It’s important that you allow yourself to be caught.
Jesus had dove descend then was led into the wilderness.
The wilderness is a place that God takes you when He is happy with you.
It’s not a place of punishment but of no distraction.
So He has you to Himself.
God captivates our heart, draws us into the wilderness to speak kindly to us.
God begins to define who you are.
He deals with the rough edges.
All your negativity has to be dealt with in the wilderness.
Jesus went into the wilderness to deal with the devil’s negativity.
You have a book with all the answers so you can cheat anytime you like.
And He gave you the Holy Spirit a brilliant helper so you can cheat in your circumstances and get an "A".
You can’t fail any of the tests of God.
You get to take it again...
Until you pass.
That’s kind.
God wants you to get it, to have it, to enjoy it, to give it away…
The Lord gives you words because He has intentions towards you.
Your whole life runs on the intentionality of God.
Now we’re partnering with intent.
Graham knows God wants him to embody Psalm 91 so he practices it.
Your story gets an upgrade.
Your journey takes a new twist.
We stop viewing our life from the world and circumstances.
The Word takes you to a higher place.
The high calling of God occurs when you understand how you are known in heaven.
God will use that passage to prevent all that stops that word from coming to pass.
God gives us revelation.
Most of us think we’re going straight up from current place to manifestation.
You can’t take a direct route, it doesn’t work that way.
You go down; He plunges you into a place of confrontation.
He has to deal with everything in you that will stop that word from coming to pass.
3 stages
How many had a prophetic word then your life went in the opposite direction?Suddenly the trap door opens and you plunge down.
When the Lord gave you that prophecy he had a list of all the things He had to deal with in order for that word to come to pass.
Exodus 3:6
It’s an ordinary day when Moses sees a bush burst into flames.
Dude take your shoes off, it’s holy ground.
God calls him to be a deliverer.
What happens first?
All his negativity rises to the surface.
Aaron is better, etc.
When God gives you a call all your negativity rises to the surface.
Prophecy is a magnet for all the negativity lodged in there to come out.
Gideon: I’m the lowest, I can’t do it…
The Lord totally ignores you.
It’s like you never said anything.
The Lord is so full of Himself.
So confident.
I AM God and I can do anything.
If I needed to be confident in a man I wouldn’t have chosen you.
I like people with issues, and low self-esteem.
I love all that.
I want to change them to become confident.
I AM going around the world looking for the worst people so I can change them.
The world says how are those people doing that; it’s got to be God.
Graham was voted the person most likely to spend life in prison.
But here he is.
When God gets hold of you, He gets hold of all of you.
He sifts what He doesn’t like.
Graham’s dad tried to kill him twice.
God chooses people who have issues.
That have things that we think disqualifies them.
It all comes under grace.
God chose you because of who He is and because of who you are not.
And He is going to make you like Him.
He gives the calling and has to deal with all the negative things on the list that stop you from rising up and becoming the person that He sees.
So you go from revelation to confrontation.
Not confrontation with God because God is gentle and loving.
God has rebuked Graham on Tuesday but he didn’t figure it out until Thursday.
He’s so full of grace and kindness that even when He tells you off you don’t always realize it.
He absolutely adores you and won’t consider being separated from you.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Everything God is doing is to make you brilliant so He can receive glory.
It’s about Him turning weak people into astonishing people.
Who really love the journey.
He wants to change your story and put you on a different journey.
Some of you would be playing an extra in your own life.
Other people are dominating you and controlling you, etc.
Anyone who controls people has no passion for freedom.
Some of us are playing a bit part in the story of our own life.
He wants to get into your head and heart and change things that empower you to become like Him in the process.
You learn to live with a big smile on your face because you work for the one who never stops smiling.
And I’ll give you peace.
God doesn’t want clones or robots.
Real people who become like Him in our personality.
We will all have a chiropractic adjustment.
If you’re an Eeyore you’ll become a Piglet or a Tigger.
As He is so are we in this world.
There is nothing ordinary about you.
You can go beyond all the expectations of people around you.
Graham’s family is still in a life of crime.
He’s the first white sheep in the family.
His 2 sons are the only males who haven’t committed a crime going all the way back to the 11th century.
They’re in the police force.
Graham was in his hometown and his family came to a meeting (1st time).
All seated in the back row.
The crowd cheered for Graham.
Graham spoke and you could feel the Holy Spirit sweeping thru the auditorium.
People were cheering for 10 minutes, Graham could barely get off the platform.
After, Graham’s family gathered around him and his nasty uncle said “Who are you?”
His cousin said “He’s a man of God and he’s in our family”
"How did you become this? You were the best thief of us all."
Graham could sneak in your house and steal your DVD while you were watching the movie.
He went into homes when people were still up and hid.
Graham’s father recognized Graham’s new identity.
The confrontation with God is never a boxing match.
God loves every interaction between your flesh and the Spirit.
He loves being your deliverer.
He’s not embarrassed about anything about you.
He is intrigued about your journey and He loves it.
He totally understands you and really gets you as a person.
The Holy Spirit thinks he has the best job in the godhead.
All Graham’s DVDs in heaven are in the comedy section, under Mr. Bean.
I love the joy of heaven.
I love the smile of God.
I love the intentionality of heaven.
He gives you this brilliant word of revelation.
Then He puts you in a place of loving confrontation so He can do transformation.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT BECAUSE THIS IS WHO YOU ARE.
He’s not dealing with your old man or sin nature.
He’s dealing with your sin habit.
Everything that was wrong about you He already nailed to a tree.
Jesus carried it to the grave.
God isn’t double minded.
God sees what’s missing from your experience with Him and He is totally committed to giving you that encounter.
God is pointing to your next miracle.
Ever see those people who say the Lord is changing me?
Then why the constipated look?
Or the people who say "I resisted God for 3 months and then I surrendered".
That’s your testimony? You pelican!
The transformation can be as joyful as you want it to be.
That’s the truth that will set you free.
When God gives you a prophecy He’s giving you an outcome somewhere in the future.
Revelation keeps you on the road.
What kind of person do I need to become in order to see this word fulfilled?
You and the Holy Spirit have to take care of your identity (based on God’s Word to you)
If we were going to set a million people free we’d send an army full of tanks.
God send one old boy with a stick and a stutter.
Exodus 7:1
Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron will be your prophet.
Pharaoh was treated as a deity within his own culture.
This will be some gig.
Graham came in to this meeting hoping to find a bunch of people who want to be like God and no longer like themselves.
How to speak, walk, talk, connect with the world differently.
I AM going to make you as God to_____.
That’s His agenda from the beginning.
To make man in His own image.
You get to stop whining and complaining and having pity parties.
You can’t be in Christ, becoming a worshipper and still have this weird language about yourself.
That’s not kosher.
Out of your mouth can’t come sweet water and bitter.
You need to talk about yourself the way God talks about you.
God is saying we’re not having any of these things that will stop your inheritance.
I am dealing with all that stuff.
Because it prevents your revelation from being realized.
I will transform your personality.
I am going to make you joyful.
And peaceful, loving, kind, grateful…
We call it process.
A series of steps that takes us from where we are to where we want to go.
Graham shared about his dreams of Jesus.
Usually Jesus is coming up the hill followed by a throng of people, smiling and waving at Graham.
Then Jesus sits with him and shares wisdom, etc.
Graham has written books based on those conversations.
But one dream Jesus was stomping up the hill alone shouting “Give Me back My stuff!”
Graham was afraid but couldn’t move.
He didn’t know what Jesus meant.
Jesus demanded His stuff back: anxiety, fear…
I paid a price for it, give Me back My stuff.
I died for it, you can’t have it.
I was thrilled to hang on a cross to take all that stuff from you.
I was delighted to do it because I saw you free.
And here you are living in all that stuff I died to take away from you.
If you keep all that stuff I can’t give you all the stuff I want to give you.
If you keep all that fear you’ll never learn perfect love.
Some of you walked in here with His stuff.
[Graham prayed for us]
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