Take Another Look - Sarah Jakes Roberts

2:15 I'm in Genesis chapter 3, verses 5 through 7. I have to tell you, I gave them a different text this morning at 7 a.m. Then at 8.30 a.m., God gave me something different.

2:39 And under normal circumstances, that would stress me out. But I only got four hours of sleep, and sometimes you got to choose between stress and standing up to it. So we're going to stand up to it. God's been speaking to me about this and I think I think it may actually be a series but I'm going to see what happens in the time that I've been given this morning but God's been speaking to me specifically about identity and I know it has a lot to do with what I am experiencing on the identity level but I've looked at it from so many different angles New Testament, Old Testament. So I'm going to just ask that you all would pray with me as I attempt to articulate what God has placed in my heart as it relates to our identities. For those of you who take notes, my subject is take another look. Take another look. I'm going to start in Genesis 3.

3:42 I know many of you have digital Bibles or we have the screens there that will display the text, But if you have your physical Bible and you're turning to Genesis 3, it should be relatively easy to find. Genesis 3. At this point in the text, God has created the heavens and the earth. He has created humanity. And now humanity is living out what God set in motion. And there is a serpent that invades God's plans. he's trying to attempt to detour what God has set in motion and he does so by talking to a woman who would later be named Eve but when we enter the text the serpent is trying to convince her to eat from a forbidden fruit on the tree he's trying to attempt her to do this and I want to take a look at how he uses his plan to detour the words that he uses in order to try and attempt her to eat from the fruit. Verse 5 says that the serpent tells this woman that it's not that she can't eat from the fruit and that she'll die, that the real thing is that God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

5:15 So the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise. She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Spirit of the living God, I need you. I'm grateful that I have you. I ask God that you would allow me to rest in you, that you would allow this word to flow through me without any barriers, no nerves, no fear, no anxiety. God, I thank you for the gift of prophecy, for wisdom, for revelation, that even now you are filling me with your spirit because you love these, your sons and daughters so much. God, I hope that you would help me to translate these truths into a new identity for them to step into, that you would be made clearer for them as a result of what goes forth here. So God, remove any distractions, any limitations, and I thank you, God, that what happens in this space won't just impact this room, but it will impact the world. Throw your weight around as only you can do. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, amen. Let's go to work.

6:53 Hallelujah. I am, many of you know that I've gone back to school to get my bachelor's, but I'm also taking a certificate program at a seminary school. And one of the things that I love, and I've gone through FISM, but I'm taking this program at the seminary school because I just love learning more and more about God's Word. And I have my own personal study and my own personal devotion, but I'm a little bit of a nerd and I like historical context and to just have access to perspectives that I may not have just in reading my Word. So if it's okay with you, I want to nerd out a little bit to help set the scene. I want you to consider going back in time a little bit. And to be the original intended audience of Genesis 1.

7:55 In order to be the original intended audience, you have to realize that you exist at a time and culture in the ancient Near East where there are many gods. this is before books and readings not like everyone had access to a bible this is a time where word of mouth and what someone said was the only revelation that you could receive and so in this setting in the ancient near east there are all of these different mythologies about the different types of god and the different ways of believing and many of these gods were associated with different domains of reality. If any of you all are familiar even with what happens in the New Testament, which is thousands of years past the ancient Near East era where there's Zeus and the God of this and the God of that is very similar to what takes place in the ancient Near East. And the reason why I want you to understand this context is because when God, when the God of our Bible, when the Hebrew God reveals himself, he's revealing himself against a backdrop of polytheism. Let me say it real good. So, when God reveals himself, he's not just revealing his identity to a people, he's also revealing his distinction to these people.

9:18 so in a world where it's not uncommon to have many different gods god our god Yahweh is showing us how he's different than any other type of god that we have been exposed to and in the ancient near east this is a big deal because there are all of these different types of god that they see as punitive and these gods are volatile and they're not morally predictable they could do any type of They could be angry, and that's why it's raining. They could be this. People exist to try and appease these gods. And most of humanity at this time believe that their role is to do the labor of those gods. Humanity exists just to perform the work of the gods. The only people who are actually made in the image of God are those who are royal. So if you're not royalty, you're not made in the image of God.

10:14 You exist to just do the work of those gods. That's what makes Genesis 1, 26 through 27 so revolutionary. It's because it's not just that our God has presented himself to us. It's that he's also showing us who we are in the context of who he is. In Genesis 1, verses 26 through 27, it says, Then God said, let us make man in our image. Let us make humanity, that word man means humanity, in our image. Not just royalty. Not just people who are of a certain wealth, of a certain class. This is a God who says every single being has been made in our image. That is a revolutionary concept for this time.

11:11 That every person, regardless of their station in life, regardless of their gender, regardless of who they were born or their ethnicity, is made in the image of God. Our God says, I'm not like the other gods where only certain people can be made in my image. I'm not like the other gods where only certain people can look like me. I made every single person a resemblance of who I am. each of us are image bearers of God that's why we can't allow culture and we can't allow the different systems to make us believe that some people get to bear the image of God and others don't as a matter of fact in order for oppression to even work there has to be a certain level of dehumanization. Oppression hinges on dehumanization because I cannot see you as fully human and treat you any kind of way.

12:15 So in order for oppression to be successful, I have to make you less than human. If we had time, I'd take you back into history. I'd take you to the western coast of Africa. And I would talk to you about how colonizers at the time had to come up with this idea of the Africans to make them feel less than, to make them seem as less than human in order to then pillage their continent and bring them over to America because if they saw them as human they couldn't do it they had to dehumanize them in order to put them in chains they had to see them as less than to put them in chains but there are some people who refuse to allow someone else's perception of their humanity to become their reality.

13:13 I said there are some people who refuse to believe that your perception of their humanity is their reality. That means regardless of how other people see me, it doesn't change the fact that I'm still made in the image of God. You may dehumanize me with your perception, but your perception doesn't change God's reality. I'm made in the image of God whether you like it or not. And when I embody that reality, it changes how I show up in the world. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is not falling for the bait of your dehumanization. I'm not just talking about oppression now. I'm talking about living within cultures and contexts where they say people who do certain things or say certain things are no longer as equal as other people.

14:14 Oh, I wish I could say that real good. You were made in the image of God before you ever did anything that looks like God. Can I tell you about your God? He didn't wait to see if you could produce the image and then say you were made in the image He set the bar here. You're made in the image of God. Yeah, but what about this? You're still made in the image of God. Yeah, but I'm a team. Yeah, but you're still made see I set the bar It wasn't about your work It's about who I said you are and who I said you are takes precedent over what you did That's why he makes them in his image before they ever do anything thing. Oh, if I say that real good, you're going to get a real good revelation. Every human made in the image of God. Black made in the image of God. White made in the image of God. Brown made in the image of God. Woman made in the image of God. And if we can embrace that each of us are made in the image of God, it should change the way that we engage with one another. Because when I look at you, I don't just see you. I see God in you. Even if you're not living up to what God knows about you, you're still made in the image of God. That's why we've got people who can go and serve the unhoused and treat them like they're kings. Because I don't look at you based off of your circumstance.

15:46 I look at you the way that God looks at you. Y'all not talking to me in this room. We're all made in the image of God. Oh, God, help me. I'm still made in the image. Oh, I'm still made in the image. I'm sorry, I'm just thinking about the moments in my life where I didn't reflect the image.

16:16 So I didn't think that I was made in the image anymore. But you're still made in the image of God even when you don't reflect the image. We're going to talk about it. Don't worry, I'm going to go deeper. I'm going to talk about what it takes to reflect. But I need you to know as a fundamental baseline about who you are, that God wanted everyone to know, regardless of what you've gone through, regardless of who you've been with, regardless of what you've done in your past, regardless of what you're going to do in your future. When I created you, I had me in mind.

16:53 That's why some of you can create the way you create, because I'm made in the image of God. That's why some of you can show up the way that you show up. It's not something that you do in your own strength. It's because you're made in the image of God. There are some things that I can do because I'm just made in the image of God. I'm different than anything God created. I'm nothing like the elephant. I'm nothing like the sun. I'm nothing like the trees. I'm made in the image of God. That is my distinction. I've got a perception and senses. I'm made in the image of God. God created the earth, and he said, I'm going to put you on the earth, and you are going to reflect my image. Here's an analogy. We all bear the image of God, but even though we bear the image of God as our baseline, it does not necessarily mean that we all reflect the image. The best way I can explain it is this.

17:52 When an individual joins the military, they receive a uniform. And they now bear the uniform that connects them to the branch of service that they are connected to. But just because they don the uniform, it doesn't mean that they have fully embodied what it means to reflect what it means to be a part of that military branch. Oh, that means I can be made in the image of God, but not fully reflect what that means yet. So that's my baseline. I'm made in the image of God. My work is to reflect what it means to bear that image.

18:40 When you begin to, one, embrace that your identity is that you're made in the image of God, your next step then is how do I make sure that I am positioned to reflect what I bear, to embody this uniform that I have been given. And in order to do that, that is where discipleship comes in.

19:06 Discipleship is how I go from being made in the image of God to reflecting the image of God. I really feel like that soldier analogy is the best one that I could come up with because when an individual enters into the army, there are all types of mentalities that they have to learn. There are all types of fighting and battle that they must learn. There are all types of different equipment and artillery that they have to learn to use. I have on the uniform, but I haven't fully learned how to embody what it means to walk around in this uniform. And that's why many of us are made in the image of God but don't look anything like God because I haven't done the work to figure out what it means to bear this image. Instead, what I am doing is I am reflecting where I've come from.

20:03 I'm made in the image of God. But many times what I reflect is not his image. What I reflect is what I've gone through. What I reflect is where I've come from. this is the difference between those who are made in the image of God and those who are pursuing a lifestyle of making sure that I look like what I was made for I wish I could say this so good I want you to understand that when we begin to reflect where we've come from that we're made in the image of God but we're not reflecting him in the earth the way that we should so in Genesis 3 when the woman eats from the fruit it tells us that it started with her attention okay here we go Genesis 3 starts with her attention and it says that when she saw the fruit her eyes shifted based off of the imagery that the enemy painted when her focus shifted from stepping into the assignment that god had given her and begin to shift towards what the enemy said it changed what she reflected in the earth if i say this real good we're gonna really have good time in here what happens in our life is that we have experiences and encounters that shift our focus and you cannot be made in the image of God reflect the image of God without looking at him if you are not intentional about what has your attention then you will start reflecting anything that gets your attention at a time when you need to be focused on trying to look like what you were made for oh i wish i could say that real good

22:10 that's why the enemy tries to get your attention at a young age because if I can get your attention I can shift your reflection and you won't reflect that you were made in the image of God you will reflect that you came from the community you will reflect that you came from shame you will reflect that you came from brokenness and that is why generational curses continue to exist because we keep looking at the curse when instead we need to look at the Creator. We need to look at the one who can break the curse. I can't afford to focus on the generational curse. My focus is on the curse breaker. The curse will break when I focus on the curse breaker. So if the enemy can get your attention, he can change what you reflect. Have you ever been in church clapping?

23:09 And you thought she was clapping on beat. That's my testimony. And then you look at somebody, and before you know it, you clapping like they clapping. Because what has our attention determines our action What has our attention we reflect So when shame has our attention We begin to reflect what shame tells us to do Shame says be quiet Shame says you can't do that Shame says you'll never be good enough And little do you know it you start backing up you start getting smaller because the more I stare at my shame, the more I begin to reflect what shame says about me. That's why I can't get free because I'm trying to look at the shame and ask shame to let me be free. But you can't look at shame and tell shame to let you be free.

24:06 You got to take shame into the presence of God. Shame, I want you to take a look at who my God is. Shame, I want you to take a look at what God does with broken pieces. shame I want you to take a look at what God has done with girls like me in the past you got to learn to take what has taken your attention and shift it towards the presence yeah take another look take another look take another look not at what you've been through take another look at the one who wanted your attention to begin with take another look at the one who said I made you in my image take another look at the one who said you're fearfully and wonderfully You got to take another look. that's what I say gratitude can help to ease the tension of depression have you ever started spiraling I was worried about one thing and the more that I worried about that one thing and gave it my attention the more I started finding other things to worry about the bible talks about giving the sacrifice of praise why is praise a sacrifice because praise requires that i shift my attention from what it is drawn to lay it down and instead at a time i don't always feel like praising them i don't always feel like worshiping sometimes i want to worry But I offer God the sacrifice of praise because I recognize that if I can lay down what I'm focused on and shift my attention to the one who causes all things to work together, I may not get all the answers.

25:51 But what I may get in exchange is a reflection that helps me to look more like him. the enemy wants to hijack your attention so that you can reflect your doubt so that you can reflect fear so that you can wonder and worry whether or not God's going to come through for you and the more that you are reflecting what the enemy has placed inside of you The less capable you are of reflecting the image of God in the earth That's the enemy's plan To get your attention Because if I have your attention you're not in position I was if I have your attention and all you're worried about is you and what you lack and where you're coming up short and your shame in your history if all you're worried about you you'll never do what God called you to do the enemy distracted the man and the woman with themselves and you're so worried about you that you can't do what God has called you to do which is perfect for the enemy and a tragedy for a generation because we need people who are more concerned about embodying what it means to reflect the image of God than to reflect their own pride their own ambition their own shame imagine who you would be if you didn't worship your fear if you didn't worship your shame and And instead you worship the God who says, I can clean you up.

27:37 I can make you white as snow. I can help you walk into a new version of who you are. being made in the image of God and reflecting that image requires us to shift our focus so that we can embody the call of Genesis 1 26 through 27 I want to put it on the screen for me I want to read it to you says then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea okay so wait a minute let's pause there so i am made in the image of god on earth and i am made in his likeness on earth not just so that i can have a god complex not just so that i can feel big and bad but because in order for me to do what god has called me to do, I cannot do it in my own image.

28:48 in order for me to have dominion, in order for me to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cat, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Then it goes on in verse 27. He created man in his own image. He talks about subduing. You've got to read all of Genesis 1. In order for me to step into that, it hinges on my ability to fully embody what it means to be made in the image of God. There are some things that you want to do in the earth that allows you to have dominion. But in order for you to successfully have dominion, you have to first master reflection. Oh, I wish I could say this. when I master reflection I do not have to worry about staying on top when I master reflection I don't have to worry about who's for me or who's against me when I master reflection I don't have to beg anybody to give me anything when I master reflection there is nothing that can be withheld from me because God has already placed it in my hand. When I master reflection, you can like me or not like me.

30:02 I'll be okay either way because I've mastered reflection. You got to master reflection. And if you're going to master reflection, you have to take the time to stare at who your God is. I don't mean come to church. I mean, you got to stare at him until you love what you see.

30:30 Some of us only stare at God long enough to get what we need. And if it doesn't look like he's going to give us what we need, we shift our attention to something else. but there is something powerful to be said about learning to behold who God is oh because when we behold him oh god hallelujah hallelujah when we behold him nothing can take our attention away see the psalmist said I've tasted and seen oh to behold God is to look at how he has shown up and to draw a conclusion about who he is I call him holy cause I saw him remain holy even when I was filthy I call him patient because I saw the way he waited on me.

31:38 You got to behold who your God is. You can't just hear about him. You got to behold him for yourself. Moses says, show me your glory. I want to see you for myself, which requires us to not have transactional relationships with God. I just want to know who you are. I just want to experience your kindness. I just want to experience your love. I just want to see you for myself That level of hunger God cannot resist That's why in the New Testament Jesus is blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled That level of hunger when you just want to know who he is Where you just want to behold him it transforms you Now all of a sudden I'm staring at his holiness and I become holy. God says be ye holy for I am holy when you stare at God and you see the characteristics of who he is you cannot help but to be transformed into what you're staring at let's go to second Corinthians 3 and 18 this isn't unfamiliar but it talks about what happens when we with unveiled faces Oh unveiled faces. I took the mask off

33:10 And I came into his presence with no mask on and I came into his presence with no pretenses And I came into his presence without pretending like I'm the strong friend that has everything together An unveiled face is not a perfect face an unveiled face may be a face that has some questions It may be a face that has some depression and maybe a face that has some anxiety But I still took that anxiety into the presence of God because I want to behold him I want to meet God where I really am not where I think I should be and if I'm gonna meet God where I really am I can't afford to pretend I came in here I pretend for you all when I get into the presence of God. I got to take the veil off I got to let them know where my brokenness really is why because I'm gonna be transformed in the area I'm willing to expose. And if you're not willing to expose where your brokenness really is, you will never be transformed.

34:07 But if you come into the presence of God with an unveiled face, I'm not saying that that area where you have depression isn't real. I'm just saying, have you tried having a face-off with the glory of God? Sometimes you'll get in the presence of God and all of a sudden you believe in counseling because you was in the presence of God. And God said, you better get some help for that depression before you end up somewhere you don't want to be when you come into the presence with an unveiled face he looks you over not to judge you not to condemn you but because I want to make you over I can't afford to come to God pretending so when I was going through my struggle I didn't pretend that I didn't have anxiety I said here I am God I can't pretend that this don't hurt me I can't attend that pretend that this isn't breaking me but here I am with an unveiled face and I want to behold you from here see I want to talk to some people who've had to behold God in some dark places it's easy to behold him when you're on the mountaintop but there's about five people in this room who could tell you about beholding God in a dark place in a dark season where no one else could find me and no one else could see me all of a sudden his presence showed up and I saw God when I was at my lowest I want to tell you about a woman caught in the act of adultery thinking to herself there's no way he could show up for me in the middle of this sin in the middle of this brokenness but here comes Jesus allowing himself to be seen in a dark season of your life and he told this woman I know exactly who you are and I know exactly what you did but you can still look at me anyway who told you that you had to put your head down now i can walk boldly into the throne of grace not because i'm perfect but because he that got on that cross for me made a way for me to bring my raggedy ratchet attentive promiscuous i'm not perfect

36:15 but I can behold them anyway. Oh, can we take a minute and have a little bit of a praise break? That I can still behold them even when I'm in filthy rags. That I can still behold them even when I don't have it all together. That I can still behold them even when I've gone through hell and I don't know how I'm going to get back. David said if I make my bed in hell you'll be with me because I serve a God who'll go down to the depths of hell to bring me back to the place where I'm supposed to stand Take a minute and behold your God. Take a minute and behold him. Look at him. Look at him.

37:07 Isn't he faithful? Isn't he perfect? Isn't he holy? Isn't he strategic? Isn't he kind? Isn't he patient? Isn't he wonderful? Isn't he excellent? Isn't he faithful? Isn't he dependable? Isn't he a way maker? Isn't he a provider? provider isn't he a healer is he not a healer is he not joy is he not peace behold him behold him the king of kings is here something's going to shift when you shift your attention you better stare him down I got some things I need to change I don't need a mentor I don't need a professor. I don't need a pastor. I just need to behold them. You can behold them by yourself. You can behold them with no music. You can behold them with no worship song. Behold, behold, behold, behold, behold.

38:18 Look at me. God said, just look at me. I'm still working. Look at me. I'm still moving. I'm the same now that I was back then. Just behold me.

40:01 People so casually say that they're made in the image of God without full recognition of who their God is. If we do not take the time to understand who our God is, then being made in the image of God doesn't bear the power that it should. But when you know who your God is, you know the privilege it is to be made in his image. And you become hungry to reflect that image. You got to look at them.

40:59 Not just when you need something. But you got to look at them until you love what you see. Oh. I've been going back from the very beginning in Genesis. And I keep asking myself the same question over and over again. God, who are you? God, who are you? There is a level of critical thinking required when reading the text. That's why you cannot read scripture without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

41:34 Because the Holy Spirit is going to help you interpret what you're reading. I'm a little bit of a Bible thumper now. But before I was a Bible thumper, I would get a little bored when I read. Can I say that? It said. it has been said. I'd get a little bit bored when I read the Bible because it just felt like old stories that I couldn't relate to and is it a myth or is it a favor? I didn't understand it. But when I started asking the Holy Spirit to help me interpret what I'm reading, you want to ask yourself this question repeatedly. When I read something about who God is, I need to then be able to draw a conclusion about his character. So I'm not just reading how he shows up in scripture.

42:29 I'm drawing a conclusion about who he is based on what I read. And when I draw a conclusion about who he is based on what I read, it then sets a bar for me on how I need to show up. because being made in the image of God and reflecting the image of God the bridge between reflecting what you were made for comes through you beholding who God is as much as being made in the image of God has to do with our inner spiritual formation it is also a part of God taking territory on the earth Thank you. Okay.

43:16 So this being made in the image, that word image in the Hebrew, is the same word that is used for statues and idols in Numbers and Amos. And so I was looking at the historical context of what it meant to have imagery at that time. And in order for a king to conquer a territory that he could not physically occupy at that time, he would create an image to occupy that territory. That's how he marked the spot. Though he wasn't physically in that space, he had an image of him in that space to claim that territory. We are made in the image of God. to reflect the image of God so that we can represent the image of God. Oh, I wish I could say that real good.

44:14 That means my job is not just the spiritual formation part, that there is a territory assigned to my ability to reflect the image. This is kingdom language. He then says, let them have dominion. that's kingdom language so we are an extension of God's expression on earth made in the image of God so I am an extension of his authority on earth that was his original intention is I want you to be on earth an extension of who I am that's why I have to look like him that's why I can't look like what I've gone through I gotta look like where I came from Because I have a territory assigned to that version of who I am Oh God help me I feel this prophetically for somebody And maybe it is just for myself So I will let you into my own personal devotion This has been a season of shedding identity Not every identity that you shed is one that you don't love.

45:32 When we first become believers, we shed all types of identities because we feel conviction about them. And we know that they can't go with us where we're going. but there does come a time where God asks us to shed an identity that we love because it's keeping us from fully reflecting his image I wish I could say this Come on. Hallelujah. This has been a season of God perfecting your ability to reflect him in the earth. because for the territory assigned to your image you cannot look like what came before you oh I wish I could say this real good oh Holy Spirit help me I hear the Lord saying that this next expression of God's glory because it's not about you.

46:43 I almost said this next dimension of who you are, but it's not about who you are. It is the next expression of God's glory. God says, I want to do a new thing in the earth. and the next expression of my glory is going to require that you'll be willing to lay down a life that you love come on New Testament you're gonna have to be willing to lay down a version of yourself that you may enjoy a version of yourself that may bring you pleasure in order to release my glory that's why you got to behold him because if you behold him properly you will be hungry for his glory to invade the earth but if all you behold is yourself you'll be hungry for more of you but when you get hungry for more of him you won't care what part of you you have to lose if it means more of him can invade the earth we have some principalities in this earth that cannot be overthrown by your feel-good message about who you are. There is a principality in the earth assigned to your family, assigned to your community that will only be overthrown by the glory of God invading the earth. How will the glory of God invade the earth? It's going to happen through you. It's going to happen through you bearing the image of who God is. And I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that as long as we are distracted with ourselves and our reputations and our fears and our insecurities and our inadequacies that we cannot reflect who he is oh I wasn't going to do it okay I'm going to do it when John 21 Jesus goes and finds Peter

48:50 and he goes to find Peter who's gone back fishing if I can give you the abbreviated version Peter's a disciple of Jesus he was one of his fiercest disciples he said if everybody else fades away I'm still gonna be here he's ten toes down Peter is that boy he cut off the soldier's ear like who ran up on Jesus not on my watch he was that dude that's literally in the Bible who ran up don't ask me what's translation that's literally what it means in the Greek is who ran up on my boy that's literally what it says Who wanted with a boss is what I saw in the Greek. I don't know, okay? Peter's riding for Jesus. And Jesus says to Peter, you're going to deny me three times. And Peter's like, never, could never be me. He denies him.

49:42 And in his denial, he starts reflecting the shame and the embarrassment of not being who he thought he would be. See what happens to us Is sometimes it's not that we are unwilling To try and reflect the image of God It's just that in our pursuit of reflecting the image of God Sometimes we mess up Sometimes we get discouraged Sometimes we get disappointed And we go back To not trying at all Thank you. and in John 21, Jesus has 40 short days on the earth, and he's got to be very strategic about what he does during that time, and he goes to find Peter, who says, I'm going to go back fishing, and he had six other disciples that went with him, which goes to show us that even when we try to not be who we are, that you can't help but be who God has called you to be.

51:02 Because he was still leading, even though he was discouraged. He still had influence. What God gave him was still in use. He just wasn't using it in the right direction. I don't know who you are, but you don't get to just stop being who God created you to be. Once you step into it, that's who you are. That is now your identity. You may get discouraged. You may mess up, but you can't undo who God has called you to be. I feel like that's somebody's word and I want to give you 10 seconds. You cannot undo the work that God has done on the inside of you. I know you may mess up. I know you may not always get it right. But God says we don't start from scratch. We pick up where we left off. So he goes to see Peter. Because I won't leave you where you're willing to quit. I got to lead you back to where you're supposed to be.

51:52 He goes to get Peter. And listen, I'm such a nerd. When I'm reading this text, you got to read John 21. It's beautiful. Jesus approaches Peter and he calls him Simon. That's critical. Because in the previous chapters, he named him Peter. But we know he's gone backwards and he's living in an old identity. But you serve a Jesus who will meet you wherever you are. I know you went back. I know exactly where you are. Everybody else is still calling him Peter. But Jesus says, Simon, because I know you're trying to retreat. And I know you're trying to regress. But you can't go back to who you used to be. Do you love me, he says. Look how Jesus helps Peter reclaim his identity.

52:49 He doesn't say, I told you you was going to mess up. He doesn't say, how could you go back fishing? He doesn't worry about any of those things that maybe people would say when they find out you messed up. Can I apologize on behalf of people who mishandled you?

53:10 in the moments where you went backwards. Sometimes when we mishandle people when they go backwards, we make it easier for them to stay stuck. Because why would I want to come back if everyone's gonna judge me for the way I back slid? That's not who Jesus is. Jesus doesn't bring up the way he messed up. he's not a voice of condemnation or a voice of shame replaying what he should have done what he could have done I told you I told you I told you he don't beat you up who would I could take me out he doesn't beat you up when you go backwards he meets you and he says to Peter Peter do you love me Can you still love me the way that you loved me before you experienced this discouragement?

54:15 Do you love me? Love. Love puts him in a place of beholding. Because you've got to think about who Jesus is. Some people love what Jesus did. But Peter loved who he was. Peter saw Jesus when he wasn't performing miracles.

54:41 Peter saw Jesus when he went to his mother-in-law's house to help heal his sick mother-in-law. Peter saw Jesus when he was hungry. Peter saw Jesus get down on his knees and wash feet. He saw a version of Jesus that no one else saw. And so when he says, do you love me? He's asking him to look back on what you know about me. And tell me, can you still love me? because you being who I called you to be had nothing to do with your performance. and everything to do with you filling the gap where my image needed to be expressed. Peter thinks that because he can't live up to it, that he shouldn't try it all. but Jesus says, I knew that that was in you, and I still gave you a new name.

55:45 Man, I don't know who this is for, but maybe you've been going through a season of discouragement, and the enemy has been trying to convince you to quit, and you have been replaying your own failures over and over again, and like Peter, you are now reflecting in the way that you act, the way that you think, the way that you dream, the failure you experienced. When Jesus shifts Peter's focus to him loving him, he repositions him to a place of acting on his behalf. He says, do you love me? Feed my sheep.

56:24 Do you love me? Tend my sheep. Do you love me? Feed three times. he denies Jesus three times and when the Lord comes to restore him back to his identity three times by a coal of fires just like where he denied him he goes this is the same environment where you messed up but I'm going to create a different circumstance a different situation and this time the only thing you have to do is you don't have to promise me that I won't mess up next time and if you give me another chance God says you don't have to beg me to be you I just need you to step into who you're called to be I need you to be so convinced that who you are in the earth is necessary for my kingdom That you'll look past your own mistakes You'll look past your own shortcomings and step into it anyway Not because you're perfect, but because you believe so much in who God is in the earth