Dharius Daniels - Appetite Adjustment

Man, I’m so excited to have you worshiping with us tonight! This is our virtual Ash Wednesday service. If we were congregating in person, we would be putting ashes on your foreheads, but we believe—watch this, I want you to catch this—that all ashes are a symbol. As long as the Spirit of God is where you are, you don’t need a symbol; you have the substance, you have the real thing—that’s the Spirit of God and the anointing of God. I’m excited about tonight! Well, listen, family, I want to take a few minutes, and I’m going to take my time tonight. I want to teach. I preached on Sunday and I’m preaching this Sunday, but tonight, I really want to explain and spend some time teaching because power is stronger than willpower. If there’s going to be sustained change, a person has to know why. So, I want to make my case a little bit, but then I want to spend time unpacking and really explaining what we’re going to be doing together as a spiritual and extended family over these next 40 days.

Alright, there’s a scripture; this scripture is kind of the foundational scripture of Lent. Lent was introduced probably in the second or third century, and this is the scripture they talked about a bit at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Matthew chapter 4, verse 1, this is what it says: «Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'»

I want to give a subject to this scripture, and I want to teach from this topic tonight: an appetite adjustment. Family, this passage exposes us to an experience that possesses a powerful principle, and I want to articulate this axiom. You may have heard the phrase, «Your attitude determines your altitude.» That’s significant and important, but I thought of a phrase that’s a cousin to that one: «Not only does your attitude determine your altitude, your appetite—don’t miss this—determines your advancement.» Your attitude, listen to me, determines your altitude, but your appetite determines your advancement. Watch this: it also affects your assignment. Listen to this family, the truth of this statement is seen in this story with Jesus.

Now, Matthew 4 begins with a very interesting introduction. It says the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil—that’s the text. Now, this is prior to Jesus’s public ministry. God leads him into a season of preparation. Now watch this; this is really important because the text says the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This is Matthew’s recording of this story. I want you to catch this. But watch this: what Satan was about to use to try to tempt Jesus, God was using to train Jesus. Let’s say that one more time: what Satan was using to tempt Jesus, God was using to train Jesus.

See, there are certain things God allows when he sees that what he allows is going to be an asset in your life. Catch this: God only allows assets. So, if he allows it, it’s because he wants to use it to add value to your life in a way that didn’t exist before you went through it. Now, sometimes it takes living in it and living through it long enough to see the value that it adds, but if he allows it, it’s because he intends to use it as an asset. Did you hear what I just said?

Now, I want you to catch this. So he leads him into this wilderness for 40 days. For 40 days, Jesus has not opened one blind eye; he hasn’t built his team, and he hasn’t taught the Beatitudes. Jesus, the Son of God, goes into the wilderness for 40 days prior to public ministry. God prepares him, trains him, because God is obsessed with preparation. He’s obsessed with it because he knows preparation is our protection.

He says, «You want to get there quick; I want to get you there ready.» He says, «Even though the preparation may cause some agitation, I want you to have the revelation that preparation is for your protection. Because you think you want to get there fast, but what you really want to do is get there ready. If you get there fast and you’re not ready, you won’t stay. But if you get there ready, not only will you get there, you’ll stay there, you’ll thrive there, you’ll prosper there, you’ll be blessed there.» Because getting to God’s intended purpose unprepared turns blessings into burdens. You do know blessings can feel like burdens when you’re not ready!

And I want you to catch this: what we think we need to be ready for is what we can see. Stay with me; I’m preaching the text. What God is getting us ready for is what we can’t see. That’s why we and God often have two different assessments of when we’re ready.