Transcription
Matthew chapter 14 verse number 18 says this: "Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. And so, taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves and then gave them to his disciples. And the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 basket full, 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. And the number of those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
I want to talk from this topic in our time together today. This is installment three of our series, "Jaywalking." And I want to tag this title to this text: Family, I want to talk about a gratitude adjustment. A gratitude adjustment. I, I want to begin our time together, family, by articulating this the following axiom. Listen to me, please. The evidence of walking with and walking like Jesus is not just seen in the transformation of our ethics. It's also seen in the transformation of our emotions. In other words, walking like Jesus not only helps us get right, it helps us get well. Somebody say "or put well" in the chat. Come on.
See, and so I'm encouraging, I'm affirming, um, announcing to someone that maybe God wants to shift you from simply focusing on, watch this, just getting right, to actually getting well. Jesus puts it this way in John 10:10. He says, "The thief comes but to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." When Jesus uses, watch this, when Jesus uses the word "I've come that they may have life," he's not referring to the quantity of time. He's referring to the quality of time. He's saying, "Whenever I come into your life, I improve the quality of your time, not just the quantity of your time." The word here that is used that Jesus uses here to describe life is a word called "zoe," and it means life as God intended. And watch this, the largest contributor to the quality of your life is your emotional well-being. In other words, the quality of your life is not just tied to the condition, listen to me, of your bank account. It is tied to the condition of your heart.
This is why Solomon, the wise man, says this: "He says, 'Guard your heart with all diligence.'" Be intentional. Be assertive. Be active when it comes to guarding your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. In other words, if something gets your heart, it's got your life. I want to know, is there anyone honest enough to audit your life and look back over it and say, "Yeah, that's true"? Because there are some times that I've been in one place and my heart's been on the other side of town. And when something gets my heart, past it, it's got my attention. And when it gets my heart, it's got my focus. Let me see if I can find some honest people. If it's got my heart, it'll get my appetite. If it gets my heart, it'll take my sleep. The largest contributor to the quality of a person's life is the condition of their heart.
There's a word that the Bible uses, come here, to describe the condition of the hearts of those that follow Jesus. And the word is joy. I'm going to say it one more time. There's a word that the Bible uses to describe the dominant disposition of the hearts of those that actually jaywalk, not the hearts of those that go to church, but the hearts of those that actually walk like Jesus. It says that, watch this, the emotional condition of their life changes and is dominated by this word called joy.
In John 15:11, Jesus said this: "I told you this so that my joy might be in you and that your joy may be complete." Don't miss this. Notice now what he says. He says, "I told you this that my joy might be in you and that your joy might be complete." So he makes a distinction between your joy and His joy. Come on. He's saying, "What I'm going to give you is not emotional in nature, it's spiritual in nature, but it affects you emotionally." And the joy you have is incomplete without the joy I have to give. He said, "So I need to put my joy in you because until my joy get in you, your joy is incomplete. It's temporary. It's fleeting. It's fragile." Watch this. This is important, family. He says, "My joy," meaning you only get this joy with Jesus, not necessarily religion. Did you hear what I just said? He says, "My joy," meaning you only get this when you get me. This is the only promise I'm making to you. When you run into me, you run into this. He says, "You can run in church and not run into me. You can run a church and not run into me." He says, "But when you're actually run into me and you start living life my way, your heart starts experiencing something that cannot be explained, something that cannot be articulated, something that defies reason and rationale." Your heart starts experiencing what Peter calls "joy unspeakable and full of glory."
What's that? It is a joy I can't articulate, but it's a joy that's full of the glory of God. It means that God gets glory out of that kind of joy. Did you hear what I said? That when we walk in, live with, exude, and express joy, it gives glory to God. God says, "Look at my children with a smile on their face in the middle of a global pandemic. Look at my children who are certain in me in the midst of some uncertainty. Look at my children after all the adversary is tossing and throwing in their direction, they woke up this morning saying, 'This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad.' Look at my children with a praise on their lips." Because praise is the language of joy. Joy sounds like praise. I'ma say that one more time. I said, "Joy sounds like praise." And every time you praise, you're releasing joy. And every time you release joy, you're confusing the adversary because he can't understand, "How is it that you are so excited in the midst of so much adversity?" But he doesn't know that this joy I have, "the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away."
Joy is the dominant disposition of the hearts of those who are living the King's way. In other words, listen to me, family, as the fruit of the Spirit, it is the outcome, it is the emotional outcome of those whose lives are governed by the practices and the principles, not of religion, but of Jesus. I don't get this by turning around three times and doing a cartwheel and high-fiving my neighbor. The longevity of the joy is evidence of the authenticity of it. If the joy leaves when I left church, it was my joy, but not His joy. Because joy, as a fruit of the Spirit, is the, the emotional outcome of those whose lives are governed by the practices and the principles of Jesus. It is an indication, listen to me, of the transformation of my soul. Hallelujah. I know you're holy, but are you happy? I'm gonna go over here because I need to ask that one more time. I know you are living holy, that's important, but here's another question: Are you happy? Joy, because that is an indication, not the only, but it is an indication that you're living the King's way.
You got Bible passages? I do. No problem. Romans 14:17: Paul says, "The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." It's not in my bank account, it's in the Holy Spirit. Please listen to me, family, because if the enemy robs me of a revelation of this principle, I will never release faith to possess it. See, this is why being taught is important because part of what the teaching of the gospel does is it exposes you to what has been bequeathed to you through Christ's death. See, the New Testament is a will. Jesus was an estate planner, and he said, "When I die, I want everything in this New Testament to go to my brothers and sisters." Hello, brothers and sisters, are you hearing me? But I cannot pursue what is in the will for me if I am not aware that it belongs to me. And I want to tell you that you left something at the estate planner's office. You need to go back and pick up. You left your joy. You got your salvation, but you left your joy. You got revelation, but you left your joy.
Jesus here emphasizes that His joy is to be in us and that our joy might be complete. This joy, what is it, Pastor Darius? It's a sense of jubilation based on a revelation that my welfare and well-being rest securely in the hands of a God who's producing a favorable outcome for me. Did that make you want to shout? I said, "That it is a sense of jubilation that's based on a revelation that my well-being rests securely in the hands of..." Don't mess with me. Securely in the hands of a God who is producing a favorable outcome for me. It means it doesn't matter what it looks like in the immediacy of my situation, God is producing a favorable outcome for me. So I got a sense of jubilation based on a revelation. So people who don't have my revelation don't understand my jubilation. Did you hear what I just said? I said, "People who don't have your revelation don't understand your jubilation." Because your jubilation is tied to your revelation that your well-being rests securely in the hands of a God, not an economy, not a boss, not friends, not enemies, a God who is producing a favorable outcome for me.
Joy, and since Jesus was a man of joy, walking like Jesus means walking in joy. Walking like Jesus means walking in joy. Are you feeling me? So joy, ladies and gentlemen, is a trait of Jesus, and it should be a trait of those of us who are walking with and walking like Him. Religion does not give you joy. Did you hear what I just said? When you think of, and I'm not anti-religion, the Bible's not anti-religion. The Bible says, "Pure religion, undefiled." So the question is not whether or not a person's religious, is whether or not their religion is pure or is it polluted and perverted by culture. Don't, don't miss this, family. Don't miss this. Walking with Jesus means walking in joy.
Remember though, when we use the word "jaywalking," we say walking like Jesus would mean choosing and deciding like Jesus, right? So joy, let me, let me help you here. Joy, family, is not a feeling. It's a choice. The amount of joy we experience at the end of a day is the exact amount we choose. Pastor Darius, what do you mean? I thought you said it was a sense of jubilation based on a revelation that my well-being rests securely in the hands of God who's producing a favorable outcome for me. How can I choose that? You choose joy by choosing the thing that produces it. Did you hear what I just said? Joy is an outcome. So the, the way you choose joy is by choosing the thing that produces it. And this text we just read here in Matthew reveals what one of those choices should be. Choosing joy means choosing to live with gratitude. And being grateful is a decision. Come on. Two people can receive the same thing, one be grateful, and another not, because one chose to. Is that Bible? Is that supported by the Bible? Yeah.
Did, did Jesus not in one instance heal 10 men who had a skin disease called leprosy? Told them to go and show yourself to the priest so that they could be declared ceremonially free of that disease, which was contagious. And as they are walking to the priests, the Bible says they were healed as they went. That's a, that's a completely different sermon there. They were healed. They weren't healed before they left, but as they obeyed, they were healed. Here it is, and it says that they were healed, and one of them stopped. And he recognized, "I'm not itching anymore." And he turned around, ran back to Jesus, and said, "I just want to say thank you." And Jesus said, "Were there not 10 of you?" He says, "Yes." He says, "Where are the other nine?" Because 10 of you got the same thing, but one of you made a decision not to forget what it felt like to itch. And the reason some people do not live with gratitude is because they forgot what it feels like to itch. You forgot what the condition felt like before God intervened and pulled you out and brought you through. You forgot the emotional state you were in when you said, "God, if you just come through for me this one last time, I promise you I'll serve you with fervor for the rest of my life." Gratitude is a choice.
But here it is, family. The text teaches us, the text teaches us that Jesus not only expects this, Jesus is an example of this. Many of us may be familiar with one of His most notable miracles with the two fish and five loaves of bread. Oh, there's so much we can talk about here. Oh, there's so much we can talk about here. But I think y'all know y'all want me to. Yo, I want to move on, but y'all messing with me. It's, it's, it's so. You see, Jesus have been teaching these people all day, they get hungry. The disciples want to send them away. They represent Christians. The disciples say, "All right, it's all right, all right, praise God, go head on now. We'll have, we don't have any food to be feeding y'all." And Jesus looked at the disciples, the same ones, because Jesus specializes in comprehensive care, not compartmentalized care. See, y'all missed it. Yeah. Come on. He said, "I'm not just gonna deal with your sin, I'ma deal with your stomach too." Because when I come in your life, I fix everything that's broke. If you don't want everything fixed, don't invite me in. Because when I come in here, I'm gonna fix your relationships, and then when I get through with that, I'm gonna fix your attitude, and then when I get through with that, I'm gonna fix your mind, and when I get through with that, I'ma fix whatever's broke. Jesus said, "I can't compartmentalize my care." Y'all want me to teach you these people all day and then send them away hungry? I love it.
And he made the same disciples who said, "Send them away." You know what Jesus said? Uh, I love it. Jesus said, "You get them something to eat. You get them something to eat. You do it." Listen to this. He says this to the disciples, knowing that the disciples did not have the means to feed thousands of people. But if God gives you instruction, it must be because He's already made provision. Y'all missed it. You got me. Watch this. He knew there was somebody in the crowd that had two fish and five loaves. Watch this. That should have been selfish. Should have been, "I got enough for me and my family. Y'all gotta figure it out." No, no, no, no. But he knew, "I got somebody, and I'ma touch their heart, and when I touch their heart, they gotta give it up." Did you hear what I said? He said, "I got somebody in the crowd that's got what you need, and at the right time, I'ma touch their heart, and they gotta give it up." They might want to keep it, but they're going to have to give it up. And they may want to close the door, I'ma make them open it. And they may want to keep you in one place, I'ma make them invite you in. Because when I give you instruction, it's because I've already made provision. And if you'll walk to the mountain Abraham that I showed you, I'ma show you there's a ram already tied up in the thickest. I don't know, but I'm getting ready to encourage somebody today with this statement: They getting ready to give it up.
Don't miss this. He takes two fish and five loaves, but there's this one detail that we often overlook. I gotta share this with you, and I'm gone. Here it is. Look at the text, y'all. We often focus on Jesus multiplying what was given to Him. I want to show you what He did before He multiplied. Look at it now. It's in the text. Verse 19 says, "He directed the people to sit down on the grass and taking the five loaves and two fish, looking up to heaven." Don't miss it. He gave thanks. [Music] The very thing some people would have been upset about, "You expect me to feed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves?" The very thing some people would have been complaining about, He made a choice to be grateful for. Because appreciation will produce multiplication. Don't miss this. He didn't look down at the bread. That's not the text. The text says He looked up to heaven. Because if He looks down at the bread, He sees not enough. But if He looks up toward heaven, He sees more than enough. And maybe you are down emotionally because you're looking down. I'ma say it one more time. Maybe you're down emotionally because you're looking down at the bread. But if you will shift from looking down at the bread and looking up toward heaven, you go from, watch this, being upset and entitled to appreciative and grateful. Because gratitude comes from what you choose to look at. Looking down at the bread or looking up toward God is a choice. So I can look at, "Did I lose income?" Or I can look at, "Did I keep my mind?" You see that? Come on, come on, come on. I, I can look at, "Did I lose two dates or contracts?" Or I can look at, "He kept me whole and I'm still eating." Come on, church. Because you cannot look like Jesus if we don't look like Jesus. Somebody got it. Somebody got it. The reason we're not looking like Jesus is because we're not looking like Jesus. To look like Jesus, I've got to look like Jesus. And I came today to change your look. And when I say "your look," I'm not talking about your outfit, and I'm not talking about your shoes. I'm talking about your eyes. I'm talking about your focus. Because as long as you're looking down at the bread, you're gonna feel entitled. But if you look up toward God, you're going to feel grateful. And when you choose gratitude, you choose joy.
Jesus made a choice. This isn't an isolated incident in the life of Jesus. In John chapter number 11, verse 41, before He performed this miracle with, with the resurrection of a gentleman named Lazarus, who'd been dead four days, before He said, "Lazarus, come forth." Don't miss it. Don't miss it. It's in the text. He said, "So they took the stone away. And Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank You.'" Y'all are about to make me run. He said, "I thank You that You have heard me." Before He performed the resurrection, before He asked the question, He thanked the Father. Y'all come on. He did what Paul told the church at Philippi to do: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God." See, some of you have missed the power of praise in your prayer. When you pray, you've got to learn how to put a praise on it. Church tells you to put a praise on it on the back end, but Jesus teaches you, put a praise on it on the front end. "Lord, I thank You that it's already done." And I want to know, is there anybody believing God for some resurrections in your life? I want to tell you, don't wait to the back end to thank Him, but pause right now and thank Him before it even happens.
When He had His last supper with the disciples, the Bible says in Matthew 26:26, "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave to His disciples." Gratitude is not an action that's a result of a feeling. Gratitude is the decision to make it a habit. He did it in every instance because He made it a habit. So I'm gonna make it a habit, hey, to be grateful. And the choice to make that a habit produces an emotional outcome called joy. Because gratitude requires you to do math that's not impacted by your emotions. See, when you get in adversity, we get emotional, and the emotions affect our ability to add. So you start adding up your problems and subtracting your blessings. But when you really do math objectively, y'all, y'all, I'm telling you, I feel like running or something. Yeah, y'all know I grew up a little old school and new school. Come on now. I got a little bit of James Cleveland and Hillsong. I'm just, I'm not this or that, I'm this and that. When I look around and think things over, I told you all of my good days outweigh my bad days. I won't complain. I'm done, Derek. I'm done. We must retrain the brain to be oriented toward gratitude. It's a habit. And when I choose this habit, I'm actually choosing joy. It's a lot you can look at in this season, but you got to make a choice not to look down at the bread, but to look up to a heaven. [Music] And if, Lord, all I got is two fish and five loaves, you getting ready to show me that my help is never in the bread. It's always been in You. [Music]
Gratitude. Gratitude. Why? Power is stronger than willpower. Family, gratitude does a few things. One, it improves your evangelism. It's difficult to be an effective witness if we are emotionally unattractive. I'm going to say it again. It's difficult to be an effective witness for Jesus if we are emotionally unattractive. Joy makes you attractive. Even the fruit of the Spirit is primarily emotionally emotional. Number two, gratitude opens up our imagination. Jesus multiplied after He appreciated. Appreciation for what you have becomes the womb that gives birth to what you don't have. Jesus would not have experienced a creative miracle if He was cynical about what He had. So when you're grateful, God starts showing you how to use what you got. Did you hear what I said? This is a creative miracle. It's not a miracle of addition, it's a miracle of multiplication. God says, "I'ma help you." In this text, He helps Jesus have more without giving Him more. He says, "You can have more without Me giving you more. I can give you a creative miracle." But appreciation, gratitude, opens up your imagination. You start seeing things you didn't see before. You can get creative. And some people can look at what you have and say, "I can't do nothing with that." Cynicism. But if you like God, "I thank You with this. I thank You that You gave me this." He started showing you how to work miracles with your two fish and five loaves of bread. Number three, gratitude insulates us from unnecessary anxiety. It's a weapon against your worry because you recognize that the past faithfulness of God can create confidence for your future. Number four, gratitude increases our opportunities. This is what I learned: Favor finds the grateful. You very rarely see people walking in new doors who aren't grateful for their old ones. I'm done. Number five, gratitude is the seed for more. It is the seed for more. When you're grateful, you're sowing seed that produces a harvest of more in your life.
Walking like Jesus means walking in joy. But but experiencing joy is choosing to live a life of gratitude. It doesn't mean I don't ever feel entitled. That's human. It doesn't mean I don't ever get disappointed. That's human. But it means that when I see those feelings rising up, I don't allow them to stay and govern the condition of my heart. I choose to stop looking at the bread and start looking toward heaven. And I'm encouraging you today to look toward heaven, to make a decision. I will choose the spiritual habit of being grateful. And maybe somebody watching needs to say, "Hey, Pastor Darius, you taught me last week not to feel bad about repentance. I'm repenting in this moment because my heart hadn't been oriented toward gratitude. I've been doing bad math and I've been counting my burdens and subtracting my blessings. I need to repent and say, 'God, refill me with spiritual energy and spiritual power so that I can reestablish this new habit of being grateful, 'cause You've really been good to me.'" [Music] You really, you really have. And may this next season of your life be a season where your heart, no matter what's happening externally, but internally, where your heart is filled, covered, blessed with the joy of the Lord. I want to pray for you. Father, I thank You right now for even for the repentance, for the u-turns that are happening as as You are establishing in people a heart of joy. I pray right now that You will, that You would teach us how to look like You so we can look like You. May we be emotionally attractive to the world we're trying to reach for the glory of Your name. In Jesus' name, amen. Clap your hands in this house.