What are you looking for?

The transcription emphasizes the importance of seeking God and His kingdom first, believing in His promises, and finding joy, peace, and hope in Christ. It encourages focusing on reading the Bible, praying, and meditating on God's word amidst distractions. It highlights the power of Jesus to overcome sin, darkness, and burdens in our lives. The message conveys that God offers healing, joy, peace, and freedom from bondage and fear to those who trust in Him wholeheartedly. The key takeaway is to look to Jesus for strength, hope, and transformation in all aspects of life. What are you looking for? Are you looking for joy? Are you looking for peace in your mind? Are you looking for wealth and fame? What are you looking for? And when we look at that word, looking for, it means to seek, to pursue, to strive after. And we know that in the Bible, according to Matthew 633, it says, what we should be looking for is the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We should be seeking to do the will of God in our lives, the purpose of God. We should be seeking His peace and His joy. And He has given us all these things because He loves us. And then all those other things that we're looking for, those will be added things. The material things, the wealth, success, finances, that new house, that car, the right man in your life, the right woman in your life to marry. All these things will be added if you seek God first and His kingdom first. Jeremiah 29, 13 says, seek me and you will find me. And that's when you seek God with all of your heart. And what does that mean? That means putting all other things aside and just looking to Jesus, seeking His face, seeking His fragrance and His beauty, submitting to His will and to His way. And then watch God work in your lives. Meditate on the word. Sometimes we don't have the time that we should give to reading God's word and studying and meditating on it. So many distractions in this world. Social media, television, communicating on our cell phones, reading books and going to the movies, talking with our friends. So many things take the place of the time that we can spend in seeking God's face, reading His word and praying. And I don't mean just a ritual once a day or during your mealtime, but sincerely giving all of your attention to God and asking Him what His will is for your life, praying and asking for revelation when you read His word and just having open communication. And that's one thing that generations past they had. They had time to seek God. And they kept knocking and praying until breakthrough happens. And that's what we need to do, my brother and my sister. John 1 and 4 says, in Him is life. And I know some of us, that's what we want. We just want the best that life can offer. But John says, in Him, in Christ is life. And the life that Christ gives is the light that He pours into our hearts and our minds. And we go a little further in the fifth verse. It says, the light shines and He gives us the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can't even overcome it. And yes, we need light in this dark world. Amen. Evil is like a Pandora's box open from the top down. It just seems like everything is happening. I had a news app, one way of keeping track of what's going on in the world. And I had to delete it because of so much darkness being discussed. And there was nothing really positive. And we need to pour into our lives, those things that are of good report. Those things that brings us hope and peace and joy. And God can give us those things. If we believe His word and stand on His word and trust Him. Amen. The light shines in the darkness, that's the light He gives us. And the darkness can't even overcome it. And the enemy tries his best to put out the light, to make us feel we don't need to be a light. But we need to be a light to our friends, to our coworkers, our family members. To let them know that there's joy and peace and hope in Christ. Because it radiates from our being. It radiates from our inner man. Praise the Lord. John 1 and 12 says, So in other words, if you believe in God, believe His word, trust in the plan of salvation. Give your life as a living sacrifice to God. He will bring it to pass. He will give you all that you need. He will give you the power to become the sons of God. Just by believing in His word and believing His promises. John further states, Look to Jesus. He will give you power to become sons and daughters of God. Now, we can't do it on our own. But we have to look to Jesus, the mediator. The one that bridges the gap between man and God. Because of sin, separation took place. But because of God's love, He made a way for us to be reconciled back to Him. What a good father. Not only that, Jesus will give you the power to overcome sin with the Holy Spirit in your life. To overcome darkness when darkness tries to come and overshadow you. Or tries to overtake you by the power of your past or the power of influence. God can give you His spirit, His indwelling Holy Spirit. Where you're able to overcome those things in your life. He will give you power to become more like Him. And that's our goal, is to be more like Jesus. To have His mind. Amen. Praise God. For Him to take out that heart of stone and give us a heart of love and joy and peace. That's what Jesus did. He made a way for us to escape eternal damnation. Because of the love of God. Amen. Amen. And the beauty of it all, He calls us by name. He calls to each one of us. Come, all you that are heavy laden. Or just cumbered with sin. Or you have a heavy weight on your back. Or on your ankles. He said, just come to me and just bring it to me. There's nothing too hard for God to do. He says, come to me. If you're wearied, exhausted by life's struggles and burdens. He calls us again personally by name. He says, let go of the past. Let go of those things that pull you down. That miry clay. That darkness that overshadows. Just let it go. And give it to me. And I will give you rest. Just like he did Lazarus. Lazarus had been dead, according to his sisters, for four days. And when they saw Jesus, the first thing they said, he should have came a few days ago, Jesus. Lazarus, our brother, has been dead for four days and he stinks now. There's nothing you can do. But Jesus probably just shook his head and just says, I am the resurrection. I am the one that could bring you from darkness to light. From the grave to resurrection. Just trust me. So what did Jesus do? He called Lazarus by name. From out of the grave. And we know what the scripture said, how Lazarus came forth. He had all kind of, I guess, the wrapping still on him. And what Jesus says is, go over there and let him loose. Cut off those wrappings around him so that he's free. And so that's what Jesus does for each and every one of us. He tells us to come forth no matter how long you've been in the situation that you're in. No matter how long you've been a certain way or sin has been in your life. Or you've had drug addiction or alcohol, problems with alcoholism. It doesn't matter. Jesus says, I can make you a new man. I can make you a new woman. I can lift that heavy burden. My yoke is easy. And what I give you is very light. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So yes, we can shake off tight bondage, the tight bondage of sin, death, and the grave. Just trust God. And then John, in another scripture, I believe it's around the 8th chapter in the 36th verse, it says, Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. So when Jesus sets you free, if you give Him everything, let it go, He will set you free indeed. Praise the Lord. He will set you free from the bondage of sin. He will set you free from guilt. And most of all, from spiritual death. He gives us eternal life. Praise the Lord. We know that the enemy of our soul is a liar. He puts on our physical being, our emotional state, our mental state, chains of bondage. But God can set you free. Praise the Lord. Just look to Jesus. He will deliver you from strongholds and works of darkness, from the simple nature, even a rebellious attitude that you might have. He will heal your mental illness, calm your unnatural fears and anxieties. Praise God. There is nothing too hard for you, nothing too hard for God to do. So what are you looking for? Are you looking for healing? God can do that. Are you looking for joy? God can give you His joy. Are you looking for peace, a peace of mind? God can give you His peace. He's just waiting on you. He's calling you by name. Can you hear Him? John 1, 16 says, In Christ is fullness. So that means everything that we need is in Him. Grace, mercy, truth. The Bible says that you will know truth, and this truth will set you free. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We just have to believe that, my friend. Everything that you need, God has it for you. He's the way to newness of life. He will make you a new man, a new woman. He will give you a clean heart, that heart of stone. He could clean it up and make it a heart of love and joy and peace. He can give you a new mind. Some people are walking around in their mind. It's just laden with sin and with disillusionment and guilt and shame. But God can give you His mind. He can give you a new mind, a new heart, a new mind. In Christ is the fullness of joy, according to the scripture. So goodbye, depression. When you come to God, He has everything that you need. If you have fear and anxiety, the promise is that the joy of the Lord will give you strength. If you're looking for hope, say bye to depression. God will give us His joy, fullness of joy. Fear and anxiety will flee because the joy of the Lord will give you strength to go forward in Him. Yes, in Him we have hope, according to scripture. I think that's found in Hebrews 13 and 5. His promise is to never leave us or forsake us. I know sometimes the greatest fear of some people is being left alone, being isolated. But God promises that if you embrace Him and that you stabilize your life in Him, He will never leave you or forsake you. He'll never let go of your hand. That's a promise. In Isaiah 41 and 10, I believe that's where it's found. It says, fear not. I am with you. Don't be discouraged or dismayed for I am your God. This was a promise to His people. I will strengthen you. I will help you. And I will uphold you with my right hand. I know sometimes we feel weak. So much is going on. And sometimes we feel like we just can't move forward because there's so much negativism. But God said, look to me, the author and the finisher of your fate. I will hold you up with my righteous right hand. And we know again that in Him is fullness of peace. No place for confusion and chaos and unrest and distraction and rebellion. We, my brother and sister, are blessed. When we give our lives totally over to Him, we are blessed. We belong to His household. We are His child. We belong to Him. We are in His family. Praise the Lord. In Him, we can experience His unfailing love and faithfulness. We lack nothing when we abide in Him and He abides in us. In Philippians 4, 11 and 13, the writer was saying, I've learned to be content and thankful no matter what circumstance or situation that I'm in. Why? Because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This writer knew that in him, in Christ, that he could overcome trials and tribulations, challenges and difficult situations. Even in the midst of the storm, you could have peace that surpasses human understanding. So yes, trust in God. He gives you joy. He gives you strength. And again, He'll never leave you or forsake you. You could run this race. You could run it, my friend. And know that God will give you the strength to run it and give you the endurance to run it. Amen. Even though there's times you might feel weary, God will not allow you to just faint. He will be there for you and lift you up. He'll give you that ability and that strength to keep going forward in Him. In Him, we could rise up above turmoil. There's a lot of turmoil and confusion right now. Doubt and fear. We look at the news and we walk away and just feel like, oh, my God. It just seems so hopeless. But that's the time we need to even more look to the hills from which cometh our help. Our help cometh from God. He will empower you and He will empower me to resist and overcome evil and to avoid works of evil. Praise the Lord. So, my friend, I'm challenging you. I'm encouraging you to open your heart. Open your soul and submit your will to God. Submit your way to the Holy Spirit. God has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us, to encourage us and to bring revelation. When we read the Scripture, we'll be able to understand it and apply it to our lives. That's with the Holy Spirit. That's the function of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will bring clarity. The Holy Spirit will strengthen the inner man. So, let go and let God and allow Him to fill you with more of Him. John 1 in 44 says, follow me. That's what Christ is saying. He's saying, follow me. Who are you looking for? He says, I have come that you might have life and that much more abundantly. What you're looking for, I have it. Come to me. John 1 in 29. Look to the Lamb of God, the Chosen One who gave Himself a living sacrifice for our sins. Look to Jesus, the way, the bridge to the Father, the way to abundant life. Look to Jesus, the way to salvation, the way to eternal life. Jesus, the truth. Jesus loves you. Yes, He loves you. And you know what? All authority belongs to Him. There is power in the name of Jesus. He's our rock. He's our fortress. He's our deliverer. He's our refuge and our strength. He is the life. And He empowers the believer to live a life of righteousness, peace, and joy. So look and live. My brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. It's recorded in the Word of God. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Dear God, we come to You. We thank You for blessing us this afternoon. We thank You for Your joy, Your peace, Your righteousness. We thank You, dear Father, that You have outstretched hands. No matter what condition that we're in, You could make us new again. You can give us a new heart, a new mind, a new way of life. Help us to trust You, O God. Help us to believe Your Word. There's so much going on. And, Father, we know that You love us and You'll never, never, never let us down if we trust in You with our whole heart and our mind. Now, bless this day. Those who need You, dear Father, let them know You in a very real way. Let them know that You would take those burdens and lift them and bring the joy of the Lord into their hearts and minds. Thank You for dying on the cross for us. Thank You for taking away our sin. Thank You for loving us, O God. Thank You, dear God. Thank You, Lord, for the forgiveness that we have when we trust You and we give it all to You, all of our sins and our way of life. And we give our heart to You. We thank You, dear God. We thank You, dear Father. We praise You, dear God. We believe You. We trust You, O God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.