Dharius Daniels - I'll Be Back

So good to see you! So good to be back in the house! I feel like Faith Church is my church; I’m an honorary member here. What a great house! I love this house! What an incredible house, and what great leaders! God’s greatest gifts walk into our lives on two legs. Can we make some major noise for Pastors David and Nicole? We honor them and celebrate all that they are and what they mean to me, my family, and to the world.

Well, there’s something on my heart that I want to get right into today. I want us to read a scripture together found in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 9, beginning at verse 27. I’m going to read a few verses there, and I will be reading from the New International Version. It says, «As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David.' When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this? ' 'Yes, Lord, ' they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, 'According to your faith, let it be done to you, ' and their sight was restored.»

I like to tag titles to texts to give us a mental framework to think around, and I want to talk from this subject today. The subject is a simple statement: «I need it back.» Family, I have been recently wrestling with this concept I have affectionately entitled «a theology of achievement.» This concept rests on the revelation that I believe God desires for us to not only steward our time and our treasure but also to be good stewards of our talents. In other words, I am arguing that it is the intention of our God that you and I make full use of the gifts, talents, and acquired skills that He has graciously given to each and every one of us. Not to do so is, in essence, to say to God, «You could have taken what You’ve given me and given some of that to someone else who would have made full use of it.» Not to do so is essentially making a decision that I am NOT going to live in the fullness of the potential that God has given me.

You and I have untapped potential; we have redemptive potential. What does that mean? It simply means that when you and I get redeemed, our potential changes. Now that we are redeemed, we are out of the hands of the enemy and into the hands of God, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Now that we’ve been redeemed, now that God has His hands on us, we can go places we couldn’t go before, do things we couldn’t do before, and have things we couldn’t have before. Your potential has been upgraded. The potential that God gives us is for the purpose for which He created us. Your potential helps you carry out your purpose, and your purpose will require all of your potential.

So, when I am NOT making full use of the gifts, talents, abilities, and acquired skills that God has graciously given me, I am not fulfilling my purpose. Because purpose is always an answer to a problem, when purpose isn’t accomplished, it means I die and leave the earth with some problems that should have been solved because I lived.

I have been wrestling with this whole concept of potential, purpose, and achievement, and I have been using the Bible as a case study to see what distinguishes those who had extraordinary exploits from those who didn’t. What separates those who stepped into the fullness of God’s promises from those who didn’t? What distinguishes the extraordinary from the ordinary? There is one word that consistently comes up; one characteristic that stands head and shoulders above all the rest, separating those who reach their redemptive potential from those who do not. That one word, ladies and gentlemen, is courage.

I argue that the greatest exploits in Scripture were not accomplished by people who were the most gifted; they were accomplished by people who were the most courageous. There is an Old Testament character named Joshua who was the successor to Moses. When Joshua assumed leadership responsibilities over Israel, God did not tell him to be gifted; He did not tell Joshua to be anointed, because Joshua was already gifted, already anointed, and already capable. God told Joshua to be strong and to have courage because it doesn’t matter how gifted you are if you lack the courage to use your gift. It also doesn’t matter how capable you are if you don’t have the courage to use your capability.

God gave those words to Joshua for several reasons, but one reason was that he was stepping into some very big shoes. People had become accustomed to Moses: the way Moses talked, hugged them, spoke to them, and did things. Now they would have all of these expectations upon Joshua; they were probably expecting him to be a younger version of Moses. However, Joshua was wired differently; he was created differently. God doesn’t do duplicates; you are unique!