Make a Move - Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

1:36 God's given me a message I want to share with you. I'm excited about it. I believe it's going to be a blessing. But this atmosphere has already been a blessing. So we go deeper. I am in Genesis 12, verses 12 through 19. I'm going to be preaching about Abram, whom will later be named Abraham.

2:11 And for context, for those of you who are not familiar with this story, Abram is minding his business. He wasn't bothering nobody. We don't know nothing about him. We don't know why God chose him. And for some reason in Genesis 12, God has an encounter with Abram, and he says that I'm going to make you a promise. It starts in Genesis 12 and 1, and some of you may have heard it. He says, get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house to a land I will show you. He gives him all of these promises. And Abram responds to this promise in agreement. He does exactly what God told him is required in order for him to step into the covenant. I want to focus on verse 12, though, because verse 12 shows us a side of Abram that we don't often speak about. We talk about him being willing to sacrifice his son.

3:11 We talk about him believing God and it being counted to him as righteousness in Genesis 15. But in Genesis 12, verse 12, we see something happen with Moses. there's a famine in the land. He gets out of his father's house. God shows him the land that he's going to give to him, and there's a famine in the land that God promised him, and so Abraham goes, I'm going to get out of here until it looks like what you told me it's supposed to look like. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation like that where God makes you a promise, but the promise don't look like what God said he was going to do, so you decide, I'm going to move around a little bit until you can figure out, you know, because this don't, this ain't what you said. This ain't what I signed up for. And just sometimes you think God must be busy working on somebody else's stuff, so I'm just going to wait until he get back to me. Maybe my life is on intermission. So Abram takes matters into his own hands. There's a famine in the land. He goes to Egypt, but he's got this beautiful wife named Sarah, and he tells Sarah, when we get to Egypt, though, I'm going to need you to lie a little bit.

4:19 There are no little lies, but I'm going to need you to lie a little bit because when the Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife and they will kill me, but they will let you live. So please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake and that I may live because of you. So it was when Abram came into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys and camels. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai and Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you have done to me?

5:20 Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister? I might have taken her as my wife. Now, therefore, here's your wife. Take her. Grab your bags. Get your donkeys.

5:41 Get your camels. You ain't got to go home. But you got to get up out of here. How is this the man that God would allow us to call the father of faith? My subject is make a move.

6:03 Holy Spirit, I need you. I trust you. I surrender to what you want to do in this room. God, I'm asking for demonstrations of your power that are undeniable, that you would breathe in this room and release your glory, your vision, your power, your strength, that our faith would be renewed, that our eyes would be cleared, and that our heart will be steady for the mission that is at hand. God, please settle me into this word. Allow me to release any nerves, any anxieties that I would not make this about me in any way. May I decrease that you may increase. Partner with me, God, that your sons and daughters would be fed and edified and then released to make a move in the earth.

6:59 We love you, God. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Say something nice to somebody as you sit down. Yes. My husband's birthday tomorrow. His birthday tomorrow. Hey. Oh, come on. Thank you. Can y'all love on my man for a minute?

7:25 My man's birthday tomorrow. It's your birthday tomorrow. There's so much I could say about you, but I will keep it brief so that I may preach and minister the gospel. But what I will say is that your life has been one of the most beautiful chapters of the gospel that I have ever read. Your love, your life has made every heartbreak, every tear I ever cried worth it. And I thank God for the day that you were born. I love you with all of my heart. Happy birthday, baby. Hey. Hey.

8:16 All right, y'all stay focused. We got to get chicken and waffles after this. Okay, Mark 9, verses 21 through 24, tell an incredible story of a man who was at the end of his rope. He says, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. This is the response of a man who's had an encounter with Jesus, but Jesus has challenged him to have faith in an area where he has experienced defeat.

8:58 Jesus challenges him to have faith. All you need in this moment is to have more faith. If you can have more faith, then anything can happen. But this man says to him, it's not that I don't have faith. I have some, but mixed in with my faith is some unbelief.

9:19 And to be fair, this man has reason to have some unbelief. His son since birth has been inflicted with a mute spirit. and in addition to having this mute spirit, this spirit, it seizes him. It throws him down. He foams at the mouth. It causes him to gnash his teeth and he becomes rigid and this has been happening since the boy was born. We can assume that he's gone from doctor to physician and nobody knows what's happening with this boy and he finally brings his son to these disciples, these disciples that have been anointed these disciples who have been dispatched by this man named Jesus and they are creating healing in other people and they're casting out devils in other people but when he brings his son to them he all 12 of them lined up and can't nobody do anything with this boy and he has to be thinking to himself I must have to suffer with this issue forever So when Jesus finally comes over to this man and he asks the man what the problem is, he tells him the problem.

10:33 He says, and I brought them to your disciples and they couldn't do anything. And then he says, so if you can, he's talking to Jesus. And he says to Jesus, if you can do anything, have compassion on us. and some of us who are reading this text and some of us who have relationship with Jesus may be thinking to ourselves how do you tell Jesus if you can As if we've never been in a situation before where we haven't questioned ourselves whether or not Jesus could do something. It's so easy when we're on the other side of certain situations and certain circumstances to walk with boldness and faith as if we always knew that Jesus could do it. But if we were to be honest in this room, we would admit that there have been some moments in our lives where we didn't know if Jesus could.

11:29 I know that makes us a little uncomfortable in church because we know that our job is to always be faithful and to always be sure of who Jesus is. But to be honest, there are some things I only know now that Jesus can do because I was first in a moment where I didn't know he could do that.

11:53 I didn't know that he could heal my broken heart. I didn't know that he could restore me. I didn't know but now that I know now I know that Jesus can do anything I don't just say that because I heard it in church you see God doesn't have grandchildren and sometimes you don't know until you know for sure but there are some people in this room who can testify that Jesus can do what literally no other person can do I didn't know that he could be a lawyer in the courtroom I thought y'all was just singing that song until I needed someone to help me understand how to navigate a court system. Then I understood that Jesus would quite literally show up in the middle of a doctor's room. I didn't know he could be a doctor in the sick room, but now I know that he can do that. I hear God saying that sometimes I'm walking with you so that you can see what all I can do. I wish you would cast your cares onto me so that I can show you what all I can do. Let that be a word for somebody in this room. Don't sleep on Jesus. There are some things that he can do that he needs you to go to sleep so that he can get it done.

13:00 God can't do it because you're in the way. But if you would get out of the way, God will show you while you rest, I can move. While you silence, I can defend you. While you do you, I can do me. Can't nobody do me like Jesus. Can't nobody take care of my heart like Jesus. I didn't know you could help me raise these children. I didn't know you could help me write this book. I didn't know you could help me get to sleep. I didn't know you could wake me up in the morning. I didn't know that you could help me get through the divorce. I didn't know you could help me rebuild my identity. God can do some things that I did not know he could do. He's not just a Sunday morning kind of God. He's a Monday evening kind of God. He's a late in the midnight hour kind of God. My God can do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could ask for.

13:51 He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. he can do it he can do it he can make a way out of nowhere I seen him do it he can do it he can do it he can make addiction leave your body I seen him do it he can help you get your mind on straight I know I didn't know he could do it but I know he could do it now he could back shame up off of me that's my God oh no my God can do some things no no no I'm not just one of those people who go to church out of religion I go to church to give God a praise because God did some think could Did God do anything for you this week that you didn't even know God could do? I mean wisdom on the spot. I mean provision out of nowhere. My God did that. I didn't know you cared about that. God can do it. God can do it. God did it and God can do it. See, when you get on the other side of God did it, you're no longer afraid when you're in a situation when you don't know whether or not God could do it because I know for sure that I didn't know he could do that. So now I'm sitting back waiting to see what he gonna do again.

14:57 God can. When I can't, God can. What the pastor couldn't do, what the disciples couldn't do, me and Jesus got in my prayer closet, and God did what no one else could do. I'm supposed to move on to the next topic, but I feel like somebody needs to first receive in your spirit that you serve a God who's got a can-do spirit about him. He's got all power in his hand. He's everywhere all at the same time. That's how he could be in my house and he can be in your house. You serve a God who could be here. He can be in Brazil. The same God at the potter's house. It's the same God in South Africa. I can sit on your problem and sit in your future. And that's why I can tell you, I got a feeling everything's going to be all right because I know what my God can do. I got a feeling that no weapon formed against you will prosper because I got a feeling.

15:59 Because I know what my God can do. Some things don't scare me because I know what my God can do. Some things don't pump me out of my position because I know what my God can do. I don't let you just talk to me any kind of way because I know what my God can do. You can hold on to your doubt. You can hold on to your fear. My God can do anything that he said. So if he said he gonna save it, my God can do it. If he said he's gonna do it. I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to worship a God who can do anything. You can do the impossible. You can make a way out of nowhere.

16:53 You can dig me out of this grave. You can set my mind up. I'm gonna give you 10 seconds. God can do it, God can do it, God can do it, God can do it, God can do it, not by my power, but by my spirit, says God. Yeah, I came to increase somebody's faith. I came to help you get your faith for what God can do. Yeah, I'm going to... It's about five people that's going to carry this room. Because they're going to get a breakthrough about what God can do. You're going to be glad you came to church today.

17:47 Because when them five people get their breakthrough, it's going to be overflow in this room. This man. He doesn't know what all Jesus can do. This is not just something that people get emotionalism about. Jesus can quite literally change your life.

18:34 Change the way you think. But this man, he don't know that. He believes, but he's got unbelief. And so what Jesus says to him in response to, if you can have compassion on us, Jesus says, if you can believe. It's not a matter of whether or not I can.

19:09 This is going to come down to whether or not you can believe. If you can believe all things are possible to him who believes. That word can comes from a Greek word that means dunamai. If it sounds familiar for those of you who studied the original manuscript, you know that dunamis means power. That word can means dunamai. It means to be able or possible, be able, may, or be of power. What Jesus says to him is, if you have the power to believe,

19:50 if you have the power to believe, all things are possible. Let's let that sink in for a minute. We talk about having faith like it comes easy, like believing is just something you stumble into, which is why we end up losing some people because they think belief should come easy. But this text suggests to us that it takes power to believe. This is a word for someone who's having a hard time just believing. That it takes power to believe that faith is not just a consciousness. It is not just something we possess. That it requires power. If you want to believe differently than everyone in your family has ever believed.

20:48 You can't just wait for that belief. You're going to have to understand that it is going to take power to believe what God believes about you. It's going to take power to believe differently than everyone in your culture. It's going to take power for you to believe that you are more than what you have gone through. It's going to take power for you to believe that that is not just an idea, that it is a weapon that God will use to destroy a generational curse. It's going to take power for you to believe it. belief will not come easy why will belief not come easy because if you believe all things are possible for him who believes why would the enemy make it easy for you to believe If I make it easy for you to believe, then anything will be possible. So I'm going to make you question what you believe.

21:44 So it will be hard for you to achieve. because if you don't believe it you can't achieve it you got to believe what God says if you're going to step into what God did because it's already done in heaven so when he speaks the word is settled in heaven all you got to do is believe that what is settled in heaven can show up in the earth because faith is the evidence of things unseen. It's going to take power for you to believe this. I don't know what God has called you to do in this season. I don't know how God is transforming the way that you show up in your identity. But I want you to understand that you have to do more than believe. You got to make sure that you have the power required to believe.

22:39 Because when you have the power necessary to believe, it will change your action. Oh, God help me. That's why it takes power to believe because power is now going to be the modem. It's going to be the engine that God gives you to walk out what you believe. That woman with the issue of blood, she didn't just have faith like the way we have faith. She had the power to believe. That's how she pushed through the crowd because she had the power to believe that Jesus had something for her. That's why when she touched the hem of his garment, he said, who touched me? They said, there's thousands of people around you. How could you ask who touched me? No, whoever touched me touched me with a different kind of belief. They touched me like they understood who I am and what I could do. She had the power to believe that if I just touched the hem of his garment.

23:34 She had the power to believe that he was worth pressing through the crowds for. She had the power to believe that what the doctors couldn't do, he could do. She had the power to believe that just because she'd been plagued for years didn't mean she'd have to spend the next few decades with the same issue. She had the power to believe. Oh, you're going to need power to believe. For what God's called you to do, you're going to need push through the crowd power. For what God has called you to do, you're going to need, if I could just touch the hem of his garment kind of power. I believe on a different level. My belief is not just some cute little thing that I tuck away whenever I pull it out. My belief has built the life that I live in. My belief is going to build my destiny. My belief is going to break a generational curse. My belief is going to set up generational blessing. And the crazy thing about it is I'm crazy enough to have the power to believe it.

24:33 Oh, oh. I told you it's going to be about eight of us who get this. And let me tell you, the rest of us are going to live in the overflow of what God does at the eight people in this room. Because somebody is going to get power to believe what God said. Somebody is going to get power to believe. And it's going to change their actions. And this is why. Jesus makes sure the woman knows. It was not the touch that did it.

25:07 Everyone talks about it being the touch. It wasn't the touch that did it. It was the way you activated your faith. I'm sorry I feel like preaching, and I didn't feel like preaching since Friday. so if I get happy y'all just let me get happy because I feel like God's building my faith in a different direction that God's given me the power to believe on some crazy things I don't know who you are in this room but nothing in your world suggested you should believe on the level you believe I hear God saying that that belief didn't even come from you that God gave you that belief from his spirit because he understood that for what he's called you to do that you're going to need power that doesn't come from this world. You're going to need power that comes from heaven. I'm going to put all of heaven's resources behind you. Power, power, power, power, power, wonder working power, power, power, power, shut up in your bones, power on every idea, power on every thought, power on every word, power to prophesy, power to build, power to destroy the yoke of the enemy. Power to call out principalities. Power to tear down strongholds. Power to break chains. I got power to believe that God's not finished with me. I got power to believe that I haven't seen my best day yet. I got power to believe that he that began to work in me will complete it until the day. I got power to believe.

26:36 and I celebrate having power to believe because I used to have so much power in my depression I used to have so much power in my shame that I would never get up here and declare the works of the Lord but I messed around and started believing what God believed about me and it gave me power Power, power.

27:05 Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I had to get that out. So for me... The question is never if God can, because I know he can. I got power to believe that he can. The question is if God will. It's not whether or not he can.

28:01 That's why I think what he tells this man is so important. He says, if you can believe, all things are possible. That's real good to me. Not just the one thing you want. All things. Oh, if I say this right, it's going to help somebody. Because sometimes we only have faith for that one thing to be possible. So when that one thing doesn't happen, we lose all faith. But if you have real faith, God says all things are possible. That means that he could not answer in the way that you want, but it can still end up good when it's all said and done. I don't need to know whether or not you're going to do it my way.

28:57 I just need to believe that even if you don't do it my way, you're going to make a way. And I sing too much. Things not go my way. And I'm here to testify to you that even when things don't go your way, God has a way of making sure they go his way. And can I tell you real quick, like the church girl I am, his way is better than my way. He did more than I would have ever known to do. He made a way I would have known, never known to ask for. His way has always been better than my way. So you gotta have faith, not just for your one thing, but for all things to be possible. That even if it doesn't work the way I want it to work, it doesn't mean it won't work in the end. All things are possible if you can believe, not for the thing, but in the one who causes all things to work together.

30:09 This level of faith, where you begin to believe that all things are possible, it requires power. The kind of power that you don't just stumble upon. I believe that in Acts, when Jesus tells the apostles, he says, don't go just shed. I want you to wait here because you're going to receive power from the Holy Ghost. And I grew up and I thought that having power from the Holy Ghost meant that you would learn how to dance.

30:59 And I got the Holy Ghost, but my feet, it stopped at my ankles. Or the knees, I don't know where the shout comes from. I thought it was just about speaking in tongues. but when he says I'm going to give you power so that you can go into all the earth the power is not just for casting out the devils though it can do that it's not just for speaking in tongues though it can do that but the bible tells us in first corinthians verses two four through five No, no, no. Oh, that's good, though. 1 Corinthians 12, verses 7 through 11, that the manifestation of the Spirit, there are nine of them.

31:51 This means that when you receive power from the Holy Ghost, oh, God, help me, that it is not just so that you can do the miracles and the wonders. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. Let's talk about the manifestation of the Spirit. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit. The power of the Holy Ghost is not just for casting out devils. It can give you wisdom through the Spirit. Come on, somebody. The Holy Spirit doesn't just stop there. Another manifestation of the Spirit is the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. Otherwise, you will know things that you're not even supposed to know because the Holy Spirit told me. Some of you have been filled with the Holy Ghost and you thought because you didn't have the church manifestation that you didn't have the Holy Ghost. But I hear God saying that my Holy Spirit has different manifestations.

32:50 and depending on what you need in any given moment, I'll give you exactly what you need. Oh, I wish I could say that real good. The manifestation of the Spirit means in one minute, I may need wisdom. In another minute, I may need a word of knowledge. In another minute, I may need my tongues. In another minute, I may need miracles. The Spirit can manifest in whatever I need for any given moment. That's why I need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit beyond Sunday. I need the Holy Spirit every single day because it gives me power. And depending on what kind of power I need, it's how the spirit shows up. But then it says, to another, faith.

33:32 By the same spirit. You mean to tell me that God doesn't just ask us to believe. He says, I'm going to give you my Holy Spirit. And my Holy Spirit will give you faith. Oh, come on, somebody. What you cannot believe in your own strength. What you cannot believe in your own power. Lord, I believe it helped my unbelief.

34:03 Those areas where you have unbelief. My Bible is telling me that the spirit can have a manifestation that gives you faith. So when we're asking for the Holy Spirit, we got to know exactly what we're asking for. In a time in our lives where we need faith to activate in our lives, and we're all out of faith, and therefore we think we're all out of options, we have an opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to manifest through faith. Oh, Holy Spirit, I need your wisdom. Oh, I'll be talking to my kids, and they'll be talking to me, and I'll be saying, Holy Spirit, I need your wisdom. Holy Spirit, I need knowledge. God, I'm walking into this room, and I don't know who's going to be in this room, and I didn't go to school for what's—come on, somebody, for something.

35:00 God's got something for you to do, and you didn't go to school for it. Y'all can act like you degreed up in this room, but there are some things God has called you to do that don't have nothing to do with what you went to school for or something you forgot when you were in school, but God keeps calling you anyway. Why would God keep calling you when there's a gap of knowledge? Because God says, I can fill in the gap. Why would God keep asking you to do something when you don't have the experience? Because God says, I can give you the wisdom where you did not have experience. I can give you the faith for the dream I'm calling you to. God's given you a vision so big that you don't know how to have faith for it. God says, that's all right. I'll give you my faith for the thing that I've called you to do in the world. earth, that is another manifestation of his spirit. So when God is getting ready to make a move in the earth, he needs people who are willing to activate their faith. he needs people who have the power to believe or know how to ask the Holy Spirit to give me faith for the thing that is ahead of me oh I'm gonna let that rest in the room for a minute to let you have a personal moment of encounter with God, where you ask God to give you faith for the thing that is in front of you, to meet you in the area where you have some unbelief. The Holy Spirit says, I want to meet you right there. Can I be that partner?

36:44 Can I be that leader? Can I be that spouse? The Holy Spirit says, where you have unbelief, my spirit wants to rest on you.

38:07 I'll give you faith for the next that I'm calling you to. I'll give you bold faith, audacious faith, crazy faith where you don't think it's strange. I hear God saying, I want to say this prophetically, that you don't feel worthy enough to ask something from God. So you can't even ask in faith because you have a worthiness problem. And I hear God saying, just because you don't feel worthy doesn't mean that I don't think that you're worthy. What you think about your worth don't have anything to do with what God thinks about your worth.

38:45 So can you ask in faith? Because I already call you worthy. If we are going to do what God has called us to do in the earth, it will require faith. That's the word that God gave me for this group of people. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you have going on. Maybe you're watching online. God told me that this is going to come down to you properly understanding what it means to have faith. And too often we have reduced faith to just what we believe instead of faith being a verb. Faith should have action connected to it. that your faith shouldn't be static or stagnant. Your faith has to know how to make a move. Oh.

39:40 Some of us can't have our faith increased because the faith that we have right now hasn't made a move. God says, I'll multiply your faith when you multiply your steps. If you would take the first step of faith, I'll show you the next step of faith. But you haven't moved because you don't know the full plan, which means you don't have enough faith for who I am. Because if you really trusted who I am, you would know that I wouldn't just call you into something and leave you there. So you got to make a move. So when God got ready to make a move in the earth in Genesis 12, he gets a man named Abram. And one thing about Abram is that Abram knew how to make a move.

40:35 Genesis 12 tells us the first thing God tells him is get out of your father's house get out of your country get out of your land to a place that I will show you now wait a minute that means in order for me to tap into the next part of what God says I'm going to have to do the first part he says I will make you a great nation He says, I will bless you and I will make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Here is the promise that God is laying out. But in order to tap into the promise, he has to get out of his country.

41:30 You're going to have to make a move. And Abraham had enough faith to make a move. And this is who God has decided would be the father of our faith, is a man who knew how to make a move. And we all want the blessing of Abraham, but we have to be willing to have the faith of Abraham. I want to have an emphasis on the words that God says in Genesis 12, 1 through 5 to Abraham. He says, I will make you a nation. I will make his name great. He didn't say right now in this present condition that you are a nation. But if you move, I can make you. Oh. If you move, I will make you into what I've promised. I don't know who this word is for, but baby, it's for me.

42:25 I'll tell you, I'll be honest. God says if you want me to make you you got to do something that moves in the direction of what I told you and Abram starts packing things up because I don't know where I'm headed but I got to make a move I know that I got to do something with what God told me right now instantly I got to make a move let me tell you something and he starts gathering people with him because when you make a move it's not just for you there are some people who will only move when you move there are some people who will only get breakthrough because you made a move there are some people who will never see a different life until you make a move there are some people in your family who won't see different until you make a move so he starts moving things along I remember I used I grew up in church and we would have these moments where God spoke to somebody and it looks like it happened in here and they would come and they would put something on the altar and that was that way of saying God I hear you speaking to me and I want to sow into what you just said because I recognize that I just can't sit down on what you told me I got to make sure that I invest in the word that you gave me there is something to be said about people who make a move instantly the moment that God speaks to you, the moment that God gives you vision, the moment that God speaks a word, that you make a move instantly. You know why? Because it sends hell notice that I'm not just going to sit on what God told me anymore. I'm going to move in the direction of what God said. I don't care if it makes other people uncomfortable. I don't care if it breaks up the way things have always been done in my country.

44:07 God has made me a promise that if I move that he'll meet me on the move. I don't know who you are, but I hear God saying, you're looking for God. God's waiting for you at the next step. God's waiting for you at the next destination. God says, when I spoke the word, I moved on. I waited for you to reach up to where I am. I see you. I see you. I will put in on that too. I will get in on that too. If God is speaking to you in this moment, it may be unfamiliar. It may be uncommon, but if you're getting ready to make a move, I dare you to grab a seed and put it at the altar as a sign to heaven that I hear what you said to me and when I leave out of this place I got seed in the ground on this word I got vision in my mind for what you're going to do in my life and I got the faith to back it up Abram Abram starts moving and when he starts moving he brings others with him. You can come while I'm speaking. Galatians 3, 7 through 9 tells us that in order for us to understand our faith, oh God help me. I'm going to say this. If you're sowing, because you know that God's doing something and you can make a move, I hear heaven rejoicing, but I'm going to say something. Even if you sow with your phone, I dare you to come tap your phone on the altar just so that we're all in agreement about what's happening here.

45:32 Just so we're all in agreement about the moves we're about to make.