Dharius Daniels - There's Levels to This

Alright, so Matthew chapter 13, beginning at verse 53. I’m going to read a few verses there, and we’re going to use this as a launching pad to leap into our lesson today. Matthew chapter 13, beginning at verse 53, and this is what it says: «When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there, and coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, 'Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother’s name Mary, and are not his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not all his sisters with us? Where, then, did this man get all these things? ' And they took offense at him.» Have you ever experienced people being offended by you trying to assist? But Jesus said to them, «A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home,» and he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

I want to tag a title to this text in our time together today. I want to talk from this subject: «There Are Levels to This.» Family, I’m not sure if you are aware, but I want to inform some and remind others that our God is a God of progression. In other words, I’m simply suggesting that he intentionally orchestrates all the affairs of human existence in a way that everything is advancing toward his ultimate intended end for all our lives. He’s a God of progression. Everybody say «forward.» I believe his people, you and I, are people of progression. That intrinsically, on the inside of all of us, is a desire for progress. I believe this is the case because if we honestly assess our lives, many of us can admit that when there is an absence of progression, there is a presence of frustration. There’s something on the inside of us, a knowing within us, that says, «I am not built to be stuck. I am not made to keep meandering through a maze of mediocrity.» I would argue that for many of us in this room, we get frustrated, irritated, and agitated when we find ourselves in situations where there are cycles and not advancements. I wish I had an «Amen» right there!

This is why I’m going to see which section sounds the loudest here. I believe this is important, and this is what I’m praying for some of us. It’s important for God to show us some forward-thinking friends. Yeah, we need friends and people in our lives who will do more than reminisce about the past. We need some friends who have prophetic insight and can see things in our future. I need some friends who can do more than just hang out with me. Where’s my church? I need some friends who will see with me and say, «I see God wants to take you to some places,» and I want to be a forward-thinking friend. Somebody say «forward»! Yeah, I believe this is God’s intention for his people—to think this way. As a matter of fact, one of the most prominent, productive, and impactful leaders in the New Testament, a man named Paul, said this about himself. This is what he said in the book of Philippians: «I do not count myself to have apprehended.» He was writing letters that would, unbeknownst to him, eventually become part of the Bible. He was saying about himself, «I’m not saying that I’ve already arrived.» He continues, «But this one thing I do: forgetting those things that are behind me.» He doesn’t mean he doesn’t remember; he means he refuses to allow what happened in his past to determine what will happen in his future. He’s saying that he won’t let his past be a prison. Instead, he’ll make his past a school. It won’t be a prison that confines me; it’ll be a school that educates me, and I’m going to take the lessons and turn them into blessings.

He says, «This one thing I do: forgetting those things that are behind me and reaching for those things that are ahead of me, I press.» Everybody say «forward.» Say «progress.» Here it is, family: when we embrace this reality, I believe there’s a word that can describe the spaces and stages we occupy when moving forward, and that word is «levels.» Here it is for my note-takers, for those watching me online, and for my note-takers in this room: God will let you live on whatever level you settle for. It’s not enough for God to want it for us; we must want it for ourselves. So, here it is. In this thing called life, I believe there are three spaces we can occupy—three levels that we can live on—and I want to unpack them in our time together today. Are you ready? Here it is: Level one is a space outside the will of God. This is the lowest level of living. This is a state of existence where a person consciously or unconsciously decides, «I’m going to live my life making decisions that are guided and governed by my own will and my own wishes,» and they will consult God only when they need him to help them realize their own desires.