Fixate PHX

by Fixate Phoenix

Christianity Spirituality Religion

Baptism Pt 1 - Affirmation, Illuminations, and the Gift of Baptism

Matthew 3:1-17 Understanding the Affirmation, Illumination, and Gift of Baptism 1 - You have been reconciled through the baptism into peace, purity, holiness, and innocence. To not believe you walk in these things is to miss the symbolism of the dove's descent onto Jesus. It is life in the Holy Spirit that brings about peace, purity, holiness, and innocence; man has never and will never be able to produce these things with pure effort. The dove descending from heaven is a reminder of the gift that we will ascend to it one day, and can live in its power every day. 2 - The life lived from baptism is fastened and attached to my pursuit of the knowledge of illumination that can only be found in Jesus' example and the Word of God. In baptism we are made aware of the Spirit and the light, and in our choices and lifestyle after we discover if we believe that light is worth the fight of pursuit. Choosing this life and light brings about a holiness in you that can and will experience a heaven on earth; choose it, don't lose it. 3- The gift and illumination of the Spirit of God in baptism is designed for you to receive and understand the affirmation and love you have from your Father in heaven. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”.. In baptism anything that comes against beloved and well pleased is washed away. Any narrative you feel has had the power to write a story of you being anything other than beloved or well pleased is erased. In the kingdom economy prodigals are still sons, fishermen become priests, prostitutes become worship leaders, persecutors become apostles, and baptism isn't just a tee shirt and a photo op. It's the realization you have a father that loves you, and is pleased with you. And you are affirmed, illuminated, and gifted with his Spirit.

The When?

Exodus 13:17 NLT Deuteronomy 7:21-22 NLT Psalms 37:23 NLT Proverbs 4:18 NLT Galatians 6:9 AMPC Galatians 4:4 NLT Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT 1 Timothy 1:12 AMP Colossians 3:23-24 AMP 1. Do I understand how much Faithfulness affects Gods plan for my life ? 2. The deepest roots of my Expectations must be in God and His word. 3. Believe I’m Excelling where I’m at, even when I don’t like where I’m at. 4. Cultivate Honesty and Humility without self condemnation. 5. When I get knocked down.. get back up. 6. Keep the main deal the main deal.

Enemy of Longevity Pt 8: Diamond Hands

2 Kings 2:1-10 James 1:2-4– Hebrews 13:5-6 Deuteronomy 31:6-8 How to Develop Diamond Hands in Your Personal Relationship with Jesus: 1 - The depths of your experience with, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" comes from the depths of your commitment to not leaving or forsaking Him. There is a one way promise found in Jesus, but the two way street is commitment to relationship no matter how high or how low. You will be tested everyday with the choice to turn away... can you say with certainty "as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." 2 - The double portion we seek to find in God is typically tied to endurance we have in our journey alongside God. Faithful obedience over the long haul has a way of weeding out the unfaithful parts of ourselves that hinder us from walking in the power/proximity He longs to entrust us with. We must learn to see the joy in the journey and switch our thinking from a disease we think we can only be cured from when a destination we have in mind is reached. 3 - There are identifying factors of those who have diamond hands over the long haul. A unique character that is developed, a distinct authority that is walked in, a deeper understanding that is seen, an endurance that almost makes them seem perfect and complete, a way of life in which nothing can stop them, and the waters of opposition part in response to the faith they have developed. This is the mantle we take hold of with the Spirit of God, that has been purchased and now is freely given.

Enemy of Longevity Pt. 7: The Cherry Picking Truth

John 8:1-11 Leviticus 20:10 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 How To Know If Your Faith Is Cherry Picking or Not: 1- If we believe Grace is for a select few, but not the many. We cherry pickin’. 2- If we believe love is just for the ones close to us, or the people we like, but not our neighbor, We cherry pickin'. 3- If we believe we can judge others and not invite in the judgment of the church body, along with a hefty dose of self awareness within ourselves, We cherry pickin'. 4- If we don't believe hope and a second chance is for everyone, we cherry pickin'. When we have lost all hope, and believe we have no chance left, is when we fall at the feet of the one who is hope, and who is a second chance. Your life should be a testament of bringing hope and second changes to those around you.

Needs, Seeds, and Weeds

Hebrews 12:1 AMPC Matthew 13:24-30 NLT Proverbs 19:3 NLT 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT 1. Satans strategy is to plant Weed seeds among the Good Seeds. 2. Satan almost always plants them at Night or Difficult Dark seasons when we’re not as alert. 3. Satan is the source even if He uses someone else’s face. 4. Learn from weeds but don’t get consumed with them. 5. My Humility and honesty must exceed the autopilot of pain.

Enemy of Longevity Pt. 6: Unsubmitted Desire

Luke 15:11-24 How to Walk in a Lifestyle of Fulfilled Desire: 1- It is the proximity to my Father that determines the flourishing of my personhood. Money is not the pinnacle of human fulfillment, Sex is not the peak of human intimacy, and food is not the summit of human bodily satisfaction. When the son ran out of all of these things he returned to the one who had given him the means to experience these things; the father. A prodigal is just one who runs away from the father to try to experience the promises only proximity to the father can produce and fulfill. 2 - Your desires must be submitted before your heart ever can be. The proper containers for our desires allow the limits to be healthy, and the experiences holy. If you cannot contain your desires, your desires will remake you Into an uncontrollable and impulsive person. For every action of fallen desire, there is a re-action that brings it into Kingdom alignment. 3 - Our desires are either running towards the Father or away. In this story, the prodigal ran from the father when he got what he wanted, only to find out that with the father he had all that he needed, so he returned. What you think you want isn't always what you need, and what you need sometimes is the last thing your flesh wants. But sometimes it takes a son begging to be a slave after squandering all he had, for the father to remind the son the worth, value, and love he has from his father always... a robe, a ring, and sandals.

True Riches: The Great Gain of Godly Contentment

Luke 12:13-21 1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19 Philippians 4:11-13 Matthew 6:26-30 Ephesians 6:7-8 2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Enemy of Longevity Pt 5; Coveting Comparison

Acts 4:32-37; 5:1-11 How to Avoid the Destruction of Coveting and Comparison: 1- Comparison is trying to be someone you're not to gain what was never meant for you. If your eyes are on any other person besides Jesus, there will be destruction in your future. When you crave titles, accolades, recognition, and riches over righteousness, obedience, and devotion to God you set yourself up to build your house on a sandy foundation. You were made unique in the image of God, don’t get caught up in the pursuit of the fallen image of man. He must increase, we must decrease. 2- The opposite of coveting is contentment. Oftentimes our lack of contentment is rooted in our coveting of what everyone else has that we think means we are less than. If you are struggling to find peace in your life I challenge you to shrink your exposure to what you don’t have in order to maximize your ability to see what you do have. It's hard to focus on what is in God’s hands when we crave what is produced by man’s. It’s hard to be happy with the BLESSOR if the blessing is never enough. 3- God cannot bless what you willingly withhold. Wishing for what others have leads to life that feels as though we are locked out of promises and fulfillment with God, unless HE produces/gives a lifestyle that has more than everyone else, and better than everyone else. If you have a scorecard of material blessing attached to your salvation, you will have a coffin attached to your christianity. There is only one who gives good and perfect gifts, and our lives must be postured on his kingdom above to see them.

Enemy of Longevity Pt 4; Impatience and Control

1 Samuel L 13:1-14 How To Win the War of Trusting God's Timing and Control. 1- The test of timing takes place before the gift of God given ability and blessing. If the timing is off the ability will be off, and the blessing will be off... a man after His own heart, puts God's heart and commands above the needs of my own heart and plans and learns to trust His timing above mine... and in this action and disposition; the kingdom you seek to build He will make sure endures. 2- The tired and trembling is healed by walking the straight path. My impatience and control are rooted in a fear of improper timing and inadequate ability. There is freedom when we realize it's His timing, not ours, and it is His ability, not ours. We must make the choice to lift tired hands and strengthen weak knees, and trust that on the straight path of holiness there is healing for our brokenness. 3- God not showing up when you wanted is not Him not following through, it's Him confronting the idols of control and impatience. Impatience and control are rooted in us wanting specific outcomes, and not having faith in God and His plan. It is our responsibility to build an altar of a life that honors the commands of God, not one that rewrites them to our feelings and needs when they aren't met how we want, in the timeframes we want. We don't serve a genie in a bottle, we serve a king on a cross.

Enemy of Longevity Pt 3; A Faith That Can Walk Blind

John 4:46-53 4 Tips on How to Walk Blind with the Words of Jesus: 1- Your asking for interventions is the easiest part of the journey, Your persistence in what you do with that ask is what determines the comfort (or terror) level of the blind walk of faith. What are you saying to yourself and finding out about yourself on the way from the ask to the miracle you seek? 2- We need to be willing to pray for God to shut the wrong doors as much as we pray for Him to open the right ones. You sometimes learn more from the doors you thought you were going to walk through, than the ones you actually have walked through. 3 - A crack in the door deserves a kick to see if we can get it open... sometimes we are too passive, too non-committal, too cost-averse and comfort seeking, to seek out a life that forces God to open doors of healing, wholeness, and opportunity for us. His journey to find Jesus for his son was 28 miles, uphill, in a desert... sometimes we forget there is no testimony, without the word "test". 4- Would you have trusted the 4 words, or only trusted if he physically stood next to you and made the 28 mile hike back? Oftentimes it is what we think Jesus should do for us that is hindering what He is actually wanting to do for us.

9 of 22