Michele Jackson - Sep 11 - 3:30 pm

0:00Hi everybody, welcome back. This is like in the overflow on your host, Michelle Jackson, and I'm super honored to host you in this time of homes and healing. We are in the year 5785, which is the Hibriak year where we are experiencing multiplied craze. And so today we're going to be talking about no more masks. I think all of us can say that in one time or another, we were concerned about what people thought about us, right? Whether it was in school, in the workplace, and there is a place for that, right? We want to make sure that we're received well, but there comes a line where we are more concerned about what people think about us, or their opinion of us, and trying to meet the expectations of man or even ourselves, then we are about meeting God's standard. And so Galatians 110 tells us that pure man is a snare. And so I can

1:07remember when I had to ask myself the question, am I trying to please myself, am I trying to please others, or am I trying to please God? And as far as saying yes to everything, that becomes very dangerous, especially if you're in a position like mine, you can't say yes to every ministering engagement or every speaking event or everything, because you'll be exhausted, but you'll also be doing good things, but then the God things that you're supposed to do. And so sometimes we say yes because we're afraid about disappointing people, their expectations or availability, and what should be a place of obedience for us becomes a place of bondage. I remember I was reading this book that was inviting us to implement healthy spirituality. And it was talking us about Sabbath. And I remember listening to some of the examples in the book, and I just thought they

2:08were outlandish. Because at the time I was training for ministry, I wasn't in full-time ministry, I wasn't a pastor, I didn't have a church, I didn't have a staff, I didn't have the demands that the examples were talking about. But in the book, I was talking about two pastors, one, the pastor slept with her phone because she was so concerned and ridden with anxiety that someone would have a crisis and that she wouldn't answer her phone. So she slept with her phone because how could people get help if it weren't from her. And I remember because I was working out, I was on the electrical machine, I was thinking, they called Jesus, like they, if they can't get you, they called Jesus, right? And then the second example was a pastor who was a missionary in another country, and he and his wife lived a distance from one another, like a 12-hour journey or something like that. And the only transportation was a train. And so he would travel to see his wife on his off-time,

3:09and most of his time, his two or three off days would be spent traveling this train. And so they had a young toddler, and the toddler was like overcome with emotion that their dad was going back, right, to the place he was living because he wasn't living with the family. And the dad said to the son, get the behind me, say, 10. And it's like, to a toddler, I'm thinking, what is this? What is going on? But I didn't understand how we can get so wrapped up in the doing of an assignment and trying to be perfect that we miss that we are not pleasing God. We are caught up on what people think of us, our image, trying to be perfect, trying to provide something to people that only God can provide to them. And in the time that I was reading that book about practicing Sabbath and creating mortgaging in your life, I didn't have all the responsibilities I have now. And so now I could understand from those pastors' perspectives that were talked about as examples in the book, that all of us in business

4:14ministry, we have to create margin in our lives so that we give our best to God. And from the overflow of what he pours into us, that we're able to be present for the assignments that he gives us, for the people that he calls us to minister to. And so I just want to remind us today that fear of man is a snare. It will cause us to be to fall into a trap. And the trap is pleasing people instead of pleasing God. And so we have to be willing to give our complete yes to God. But what that is is like giving our heart and our schedule and our dreams and our desires, availability for God to use us, right? And so it's important because in giving him our yes, we're saying no to a lot of other things. Well, we know that because we can't say yes to everything, although we want to be at every graduation party, right? In the summer months, when we come into the summer, it's like every schedule in high school, everybody's graduating from college, their family gatherings,

5:19family reunions. And we want to be everywhere, but we can't. And so sometimes we have this desire to please people. And we don't want to say no. And we can't show up for everybody. I mean, I don't know about you, but I can't give everybody a cash gift, right? I would love to give everybody a cash gift, the best gift for their graduation, their high school thing, or you know, my friends' kids and all that. But like, I can't say yes to that because what if the Lord needs me to so into somebody else's life? And I did it based off of what I thought the money was for. Some make sense. So we have to be very careful in how we're looking at what God's given us to learn to make sure that how things flow through our lives is really originating from our yes to God in every area versus just our yes to our own desires, our own thoughts, or people's thoughts about what we should be doing. And you know, it can be challenging as a leader because sometimes,

6:22you know, your staff or your team will have ideas of how something should go. And so for me, I take all of that to prayer. All the input, all the ideas, I take all of it to prayer. And I'm like, God, you got to help me sort through all this because at the end of the day, I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss if you're speaking through somebody to me, but I also don't want to be so caught up in what people think about what I should be doing or how I should be handling something that I miss that you were speaking to me. And so I just want to give that to you as an opportunity in this time of multiply grace to step into that place of knowing that you can be fully authentic to who God's created you to be and still stiff through the fact that we still want to be liked. You know, that's the whole deal. You know, we were designed for love. We were designed in love. And so God knows the real us. Some 139, one through four talks about how he knows us. He knew us when we were

7:29formed in our mother's womb. He knew us. He designed us for love. And so I think one of the most freeing moments I think for me is recognizing that, yeah, that's true. I do want to be liked and I'm wired for that. I'm wired for that. But who is the audience that I'm receiving that from, right? And so once we recognize those moments where that's really what it is, it's like I really want to be affirmed. I really want to receive love in this moment of concerning this insecurity or this challenge or something that I have to step into. Once I know that, then I can position myself in the right posture to receive that from the Lord or say, notice something else or someone else without feeling like I have to over explain something because at the end of the day, the world is not going to end when we say no to people, right? But we have to have peace if that's been a place in which we've operated, right? I've shared before about being a pastor's kid and having

8:35expect living with people's expectations and stuff like that. And people can manipulate you with their expectations. And so even as a pastor, I have to really be hearing, hearing God in where I'm supposed to pour my time, hearing God and who I'm actually assigned to minister to, a versus just being guided by people's needs or wants because everything that could be good is not actually what I should be doing that's ordained for me to do. And so that's why I love that we have such a huge team in the hope healing house and the different teens and ministry here at the church because people can receive a consistent experience and receive great ministry, but it doesn't have to be that I did it. And I think sometimes that can be a crutch if we're struggling with this need to be validated through what we do, right? When we haven't need to be validated through the ministry we do, the business we have, then it's hard for us to train up others, raise up

9:39others, validate them in their call or their ability and release to them appropriate levels of authority or delegation for them to be able to operate and be a source of help for us, right? So I think that's a good place for us to recognize that what if we're going to be authentic and whole as leaders as ministers that there's a place that we come into into wholeness, that now because we can see that God knows us and we're receiving the affirmation that we need, not because of the things we do, but who we are in Christ, then we're able to, we're able to step into a lens that lets us see others for who God made them to be and develop, help to develop them in the ways that are appropriate if you're a mentor, a coach, a disciple or a small group leader, prayer team leader, whatever that sphere of authority God's given, then in that metron of authority

10:39you're able to help coach others, raise others up, right? And so authenticity is a place of overcoming. I remember when I first started doing podcasting, I did podcasting out of obedience. I felt like the Lord was leading me to start a podcast and I was like, okay, what am I going to be talking about on this podcast God? And the Lord was like, you're going to share scripture, you're going to equip the body, it's going to be practical, you know, and so in that moment I had a lot of input at that time and it was like, well, people aren't going to listen to that and it's not, you know, you should do this, you should do that and it's a lot of input. But I'm so grateful that I never put on, I never pretended because if you pretend it's exhausting because now you have to be that character, right? You have to keep pretending. That's why lying becomes a stronghold because the moment that we lie, then we got to lie again to keep up that lie, right? And it

11:42gets exhausting. But when you're standing in the truth, the truth of God's word, what he said over you, the enemy actually loses access to you. And so places where he was able to bring torment or trigger either fear or anxiety, but when you're standing in the truth of what God has said and who he is in your life and you are being totally authentic before God and there's no blunt, there's no, nothing hidden. Then this becomes a place of overcoming for you because truth guards our heart, truth guards our dreams, truth guards our nointing. And so it's really important that we know how to walk in the truth of who we are. And it's okay if we have a struggle right now because God's not going to leave us in a place where we're going to be constantly struggling. His best for us is that we grow weapons in the image of Christ. And so as we bring our struggles to him, we are able to receive his strength. And so I just want to encourage you in that today because a lot of times

12:43part of the people pleasing trap in the mask that we're wearing is that we're the strength that we're relying on, right? And so we don't have to seek anyone's approval other than God. I mean, that's just freedom right there, right? Because so many people have opinions and thoughts and I remember when I first started pastoring and stuff, people had opinions about my clothes, you know, my inner circle, my family, they know I like nice clothes, but like at the end of the day, it's like it's an outfit, right? It's not this, it does suit doesn't make the man, right? The man makes the suit or the woman makes the dress. But so many times we can get caught up on the packaging of a thing of what it looks that we don't go deep to make sure that our lives are full of the substance of God, of the substance of his word. And so I want to I just want to encourage you that, you know, you may have to fast from apologizing for saying no, or for having certain boundaries as you grow out of people being

13:54the focus, right? Because we are called to be servants of God. We actually, what it means to be a minister is to one to do his errands, to one to do his bidding, right? And so I know that in this in this time, being a minister, being a prophet, being an apostle, being a pastor is really popular, but to be a minister really means that we serve the errands of the king of kings, right? And so if we think that ministry is about our identity, then we have a work to view of what serving in the kingdom is really about, right? And so we might have to apologize, we might have to fast from apologizing because they're when you're standing in truth, you know, it exposes lies, it exposes wounds, right? It exposes broken places. And that's not bad, right? Those are the places now where God can be going to come in and fortify us and strengthen us. And so I want to encourage you that exposure,

15:00exposure is not bad. When things get exposed and the light of truth shines on it, it actually gives us an opportunity to gain ground in our life, right? And so the last place you should ever feel ashamed for exposed is in the presence of God, right? Because when he's exposing something, when he's bringing something to your attention, it's for you to be healed, for you to be restored, for things to be corrected, right? And for there to be a better outcome in the future, because he gives us, and this is a scripture that sometimes is misconstrued or misinterpreted, he gives us the desire and the will to do of his good pleasure, right? And so people say, we'll tell you, do you just delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart? Well, he's going to give you a heart, the desires of things he desires for you. Because he knew you from the foundational world, he knew you before you were knitting your mother's womb, he knew the

16:05plans that he had for you then, and he released you into the family that you were released into from from the heavens, from God's imagination, right? And he released you into the family that you were in, and he knew the challenges that you would have, and he knew that the things that you would face, but his plan, his ideas, they are not negated by what you've walked through. And so as you delight yourself in him, he'll cause your enemies to be at peace with you as you do right. By him, he'll fight your battles for you. And then he's also going to change your heart where you begin to desire the things that he desires for you. So this is why Jesus didn't perform for the crowds. We see that in Mark chapter one where he goes away, he goes away from the crowd. They heal. He has all these healing crusades and moments in the high ministry, even where he healed Peter's mother-in-law. And even

17:07when he fed the 5,000, his posture after those miraculous mountain top moments is to get in the secret place, to go into the place of prayer, to find out what he's supposed to do next. He moved with purpose. And even when the disciples came to him after he performed the miracle, Peter's mother-in-law, the healing there, all the people that came there and got healed, that were delivered from oppression and all the things, he still went to the place to get discernment and direction from the place of prayer. And the disciples, they came to him and they were like, hey, they're all these people they want to receive from you. But guess what he knew? He knew that it was time for him to go preaching the 10 towns. He knew the will of his father. And he was able to redirect what the people thought his peers team thought he should do from a from a place of conviction, from a place of approval with the father and being on track with

18:10God's plan for his life. So I just want to encourage you that you may lean in into that like this week, you know, you may just want to say, okay, from now until next week this time, I'm going to fast apologizing for what God's asked me to do. I'm just going to do simple obedience and I'm going to see what changes and like journal about it, journal about like the friction that maybe you feel internally, journal about what's hard about that or journal about wow, I didn't know this wasn't influence in my life. This was influencing the arc of my decisions. I didn't know that this pressure was here or that pressure. I just believe that we're in a time where we have to be those wise virgins that are going after our own oil. And one of the things that's going to deplete the oil in your life is people pleasing and being caught up in what people desire for you in this season versus being totally sold out to the purposes of God. So just want to pray for you

19:13and not Lord Jesus, we just thank you for everybody who's listening today, who's had an opportunity to recognize the trap of the fear of man. God, I thank you that even as we go from glory to glory and strength, the strength and as you're growing us up into the image of your dear son, Jesus Christ, I thank you that we confront different fears at different levels. God, I thank you for the last breakthrough. I thank you for the things you've already freed us from and that we're walking in a level of freedom. But as we step up and we step into what you're saying for today, God, I pray your grace for us to be honest for your grace for us to be authentic and your grace for us to be obedient to you. Those things that you ask us to do, God, I pray that you would give us holy boldness to do your will that we would just be willing to say the hard things. And Jesus, same, amen. I want to share this with you. I just feel like to share this with you as we close out today. You know, there are times even as a leader, because pretty much I'm wired as an introvert,

20:19the introvert type person. And so confrontation can kind of sometimes be hard for me. But as a prophetic voice, as an apostolic voice, we're called to shape, equip the body. And one of the things I've had to learn is how to confront and how to bring correction in a godly way that builds people up that doesn't tear people down. And so sometimes you just have to stop talking. You're going to have to learn how to say what needs to be said and back out of it before you undo what God told you to do, right? Or you muddy the message. And so I want to just encourage you in that because sometimes we we put the mask on because we want to take back what we said because we want to fix it for them, right? And so you were born in the image of the Lord. You are set in His kingdom. He's giving you influence. He's giving you favor to radiate and shine the Father's glory to live from a place of

21:21love, but also to be real, to be authentic and to live in the overflow. So I hope this is a blessing to you. I would love for you to join my weekly email list. And you can do that by going to Michelle Jackson.com and signing up there. And we can continue in this sharpening and equipping relationship that the Lord is inviting you into. And I would be my honor to be a voice of counsel and wisdom and you walking the mindfulness of what God has. I pray that you continue to live in the overflow.