July 2024

But now listen, before we jump into this, I want to remind you that I know some of you are very familiar with this. I have this personal coaching program that I call Ultimate Impact. Ultimate Impact is where I do live coaching, and people who participate in this every Saturday are part of a live event where they can ask questions, share testimonies, and interact with people from all over the world who are making the same journey they are making.

We’re getting ready to start the new workshop called Identity, Self-Image, and Self-Worth. I have seen more lives transformed by teaching identity, self-image, and self-worth than any other message I’ve taught in over half a century. That says something because I have preached thousands of messages over the last 52 years. So, if you’re interested in jumping in this, be sure to go to impactministries.com or check for a link below to go check out Ultimate Impact. Become a part of it. You will love it. I’m telling you, it’s interactive. Like I said, I teach directly, answer questions, and allow people to share and communicate with each other. All these people who are making the same journey encourage each other and keep everybody going.

One last thing I want to say about that: you need to realize that the beliefs of your heart establish boundaries in your life. And those boundaries established in your life encompass the totality of your self-worth. The truth is that you will not let anything greater than your self-worth happen. Now and then, we rise above our self-worth, and it gets slightly better. But if we don’t change our beliefs, it always falls apart. And so I want to show you how to expand the beliefs of your heart, how to step into self-worth where you don’t have doubt, condemnation, and guilt plaguing you all the time, and where you feel good about who you are in Jesus.

Today, I will be talking about something that I believe is incredibly important because Jesus was the perfect model for how we live life. The Bible says He was tempted in every way, just like we are. Now remember, temptation starts with the feeling of lack. When there’s a need that needs to be met, or maybe even a desire that needs to be fulfilled, the first thing that happens is we wonder where to turn to fulfill that desire. The desire may not be wrong, but we can turn in the wrong direction. We can turn to the world system, or we can turn to God. There are a lot of ways that we can go here.

I’m going to share some things with you that will help you simplify and realize how easy it is to follow God in your prayers and your life’s destiny. But listen, before I do that, I want to say: You can share these messages with your friends for free. It doesn’t cost anything. You can forward them to your friends. We want to bless as many people as we possibly can, so any of these messages that you think would help somebody that you care about, send this to them.

Again, before we jump into this, let me remind you that I have a weekly personal coaching program. We have people all over the world who participate in it. Every Saturday, we have a live coaching session, and you can be a part of it. We only open enrollment for a very short time, so enrollment will be open for about another week or so. You might want to check it out. Go to my website, impactministries.com, look under Ultimate Impact, and jump in there. We don’t know how long it will last, but it goes every week until we finish it. This will be on identity, self-image, and self-worth.

We will only allow God to do what fits into our scope of self-worth.

There has never been anything I have taught in my 52 years of ministry that has had such a profound effect on people as this subject: identity, self-image, and self-worth. I will give you an incredible secret and then jump into the message I’ve got for you. We will only allow God to do what fits into our scope of self-worth. In other words, we won’t let things happen in our lives that are better than we think we deserve. If we don’t resolve that and deal with those beliefs in our hearts, then the truth is we will reach a place where, according to the Bible, we establish boundaries from our hearts. We can never move past those boundaries until we deal with those beliefs. So, listen, be sure to check it out. I’m sure you’ll get something out of it, and it’ll be a blessing to you and your friends.

Alright, we’re going to be talking today about recovering sight. Now, hang in here with me because this will be simple and important. Sometimes, we know what to do and even do it properly, but we do it out of sequence. It’s like tying your shoes before you try to put them on. Tying your shoes before you try to put them on isn’t a sin; it’s not bad; there’s nothing wrong with that, and it doesn’t mean you can’t get your shoes on. But it means it might be challenging to get your shoes on.

I started noticing years ago that as you read through the Bible, there will be times when Jesus will say do this first or before you do that, and you start realizing that priority in doing certain things is very important. Not to God so much, it’s not that we must impress God or try to live up to what God needs us to do. Sequences sometimes make a difference in our ability to believe and walk these things out.

Sometimes, if we know what to do first, then from that point on, we clearly understand how to move forward. Today, that’s what you’re going to discover. In recovering sight, you’ll discover some things you need to do first. Now, in Luke chapter 4:16, this is when Jesus began His public ministry. Of course, everybody is pretty familiar with this. He says that He’s quoting from the book of Isaiah here. He starts in verse 18, saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to recover sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are bruised and oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

I would love to go through all these and what they mean. Looking at the original language and the places they were quoted from in the Old Testament opens the scope of this. But I want to deal with one line out of this: recovering sight to the blind. Now, I know blind people get healed. I have seen blind people get healed all over the world. When I used to have jungle crusades in different countries, I saw every kind of miracle you can imagine. So, I’m not against miracles when I say this.

But I’m saying when Jesus was talking about this, He wasn’t talking about healing the physically blind. Now, we know that he healed the blind. That’s not an issue. But in the context of talking about why the Holy Spirit had come on Him and how this phrase is used in the New Testament, you go, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.” There’s something even bigger than healing the physically blind here. And I want us to look at it, understand what it is, and understand how essential it is to walk out our faith, walk into a miracle, get our prayers answered, and all those kinds of things.

In the book of Mark, Mark 6:41, we have this account of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Now, if 5,000 men were there, and all of them were married, that would be 10,000 people. If all of them had, on average, two kids, that would be another 10,000 people. So, we’re talking about a group of 20,000 people. In Mark 6, you can read this for yourself. Jesus turns to His disciples, saying, “You need to feed these people.” And they’re like, “What? What do you mean?” They scramble around and find a kid with a couple of baskets, a couple of fish, and a couple of loaves of bread. But that’s all they have.

I’m sure that when Jesus asked them to do that, He had a life lesson. He wanted to show them how to deal with their struggle. When you look at the need, in this case, the need was enough food to feed as many as 20,000 people. When you look at the need, and then at your resources, they had enough to feed maybe two or four people, depending on the size of the fish and loaves of bread. We face life head-on all the time. When you’re standing in a hospital room, looking at someone you love who is suffering or dying, you suddenly realize this need is bigger than the resources you must have to help this person you love. Sometimes, when dealing with financial issues, you sit down with all your bills on the table. Trust me, I’ve been there. You count how much you need to pay out, then look into your bank account, count how much you have, and think, “Oh man, the need is way bigger than my resources.”

That is where we generally get bogged down. That’s where we start calculating, scheming, planning, and figuring out a way to take care of this that leaves God out. Sometimes, it seems like it will be easier to leave God out, but it is never easier to leave God out.

If Jesus was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin, I can tell you exactly what He was feeling or His temptation when He was standing there. I have scripture to prove it. He was standing there looking at the need, realizing that He didn’t have the resources on hand to meet this need and feed all these people. Remember, temptation is not sin. Temptation says there’s a desire here. Why would there be a desire? Maybe you have a sense of lack, or you see that you don’t have the resources to take care of the need. But don’t think that you’re already in sin just because you have a temptation. You’re not; you haven’t discovered a way to fulfill that need using God’s power.

Interestingly, the word power in the Greek New Testament comes from the Greek word “dunamis.” It’s the word from which we get “dynamite,” representing power. We also get the word “dynamo,” which can give off a charge equal to itself without losing its inherent energy. It’s a very interesting word. When you look up the word “miracle” in Greek, you’ll find two words for miracle. One of them means something that’s a supernatural event, a sign, or a wonder. But most of the time, when you see the word miracle in Greek, the word “dunamis” refers to power. It’s talking about an explosive power, a supernatural power like a dynamo, which can give off a charge equal to itself without losing its inherent power. That’s what we have in God.

The gift of miracles is technically the gift of power. When facing situations that are more powerful than our natural strength, feeling overwhelmed is very easy. You might think, “I’ve got to scheme, plan, I need to find someone to help me,” or even consider dishonesty to meet the need. This sense of need drives you, and whether you turn to something evil or good depends on who you trust—God or the world system.

Jesus looked to Heaven to open His eyes because
the overwhelming need blinded him.

You might trust the world system and feel confident in your schemes, but just because you’re tempted or entertaining an idea doesn’t mean you’ve sinned. Mark 6:41 says that when Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to Heaven and blessed and broke the bread. This isn’t just a prayer over a meal. In the original (Greek) language, the phrase “looked up to Heaven” is the exact phrase he quoted when reading from the book of Isaiah about opening the eyes of the blind. Jesus looked to Heaven to open His eyes because the overwhelming need blinded him.

I’ve been in situations like that, feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and unsure of how to solve problems. I was swallowed in anxiety at times with the dread that I would never be able to solve the problem. Every miracle Jesus worked, according to the New Testament, was not with His inherent power as the Son of God. Jesus did everything He did as the son of man. Acts 10:38 says Jesus healed all who the devil oppressed because the Holy Spirit was with Him. He functioned, in every way, exactly like we would have to function. He modeled something that day that said, “I will do this with the same limitations that you have as a human being and I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do when you are facing situations where the need outweighs the resources.

Miracle – when the Holy Spirit shows up and brings the power of God into a situation that’s far greater than anything we could ever do.

Before Jesus tried to work any miracle or do anything, he didn’t say, “God, help me. God, multiply this.” He said and did exactly what we are supposed to do when faced with overwhelming needs. We’re supposed to use our authority and trust that the Holy Spirit is going to bring the power. That is what a miracle is – when the Holy Spirit shows up and brings the power of God into a situation that’s far greater than anything we could ever do. So basically, Jesus was looking at the resources, looking at the need, and He looked to Heaven and he recovered His sight. When the need seems so overwhelming, you basically go blind. Spiritually blind. But as long as you go back to God and what His Word says about it, you see what is already settled in heaven.

I love Psalm 118:89, “Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven.”

The amazing thing is that Jesus didn’t have just barely enough to get by. That’s how a lot of us think God gives – just enough to get by. No. Mark 6:42 says that they all ate, were filled, and they took up 12 baskets full of fragments and a fish. Man, that is phenomenal. Everything settled in Heaven is because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross through His death, burial, and resurrection. On the cross, He took all of our sin, so we don’t have to carry it. Forgiveness is already given; we need to enter into it and accept that it really is true. When He went into the grave, He suffered all of the cures of the law, and that’s why we are delivered from the curse of the law. If we believe and accept it, even though we can look back at our past and see the horrible things we’ve done, we can know we are forgiven. The blood of Jesus has made us clean. We are forgiven. Jesus has already paid the price so we don’t have to pay the price again. That’s double jeopardy – you can’t pay the price twice.

Then, Jesus used His faith to be raised from the dead, and we were raised up with Him. That’s where we received His righteousness – through His resurrection.

So, based on what Jesus accomplished, every promise God has ever made is YES because we are in Jesus and we share in His death, burial, and resurrection. And all of the curse of the law is NO for me because Jesus paid for that. And having the oppression of sin, I am free from it, because He made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become my sin so that I might be the righteousness of God in Christ.

So, in the New Covenant, recovering sight is really when we remind ourselves of what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection, what Jesus brought about through the supernatural power of God.

Jesus did not bless the bread; He didn’t try to work the miracle until He first recovered sight. So many times, we are praying for the miracle, and the real truth is we don’t even see it in our hearts. We don’t even know for sure that Jesus solved this problem on the cross. We don’t know for sure what God’s answer is.

I have a great series showing right now in our CyberChurch program – “The God of Yes!” If you struggle with wondering what God’s answer is to your problem, if God’s Word is still good, if He is still willing to do this, if He is for you or against you, you need to listen to this. It’s a free series. It would be a great series to use for a small group meeting or weekly Bible study type of program.

Once I recover sight or see things from God’s perspective, then faith comes alive in my heart.

Once I recover sight or see things from God’s perspective, then faith comes alive in my heart. Then, you multiply the fish and bread. Then, you lay hands on the sick. Then, you pray the prayer of faith. But if we jump out of sequence and try to do all of those things before we have settled in our hearts that thing that is settled in heaven, then the real truth is that we aren’t going to see very good results.

Alright, guys, I hope you enjoyed that message. Let me mention this: if you want to help people but you’re uncomfortable, you don’t know what to say, you’re not a teacher, and you’re uncomfortable in that situation, send these videos to people. Forward these videos; it’s amazing how you can help. Or do you know something else you could do? You could say, “Hey, come over to my house this week, eat dinner with me, and we’re going to watch a video together.” Watch it, talk about it, ask each other questions, share it. I’m telling you, it becomes a powerful way to help friends.

And don’t forget, at impactministries.com, I’ve got over 2,000 free videos that you can share with people that you know are struggling. You can go in and look up the topics and names of the videos, and you will be able to help your friends. You can use this for small group ministry. Some churches have used these for their Sunday night or midweek service. There are all kinds of ways that you can use them, and I want you to use them. That’s why I put them out there for free.

You know what, as World Changers, as people who financially support this ministry, all the literally hundreds of thousands of people who watch these videos, watch our CyberChurch broadcasts, participate in all the things that we do, and read all the books that we put out, man, you are the ones who make that possible. I want to thank you so very, very much, and I want to encourage you.

We are stepping up, and it won’t be long before we invite people back into Impact International School of Ministry. Those who feel called to the ministry and those who want to get a very sound biblical foundation and biblical education. We still have some students taking courses, but we are updating almost all classes, so they’ll be fresh and new and the videos clear. We’re updating the way you take your tests. So, those of you who want to take it for credit, you take it online, and it will happen. It will be smooth as silk. So, watch for that.

And don’t forget Ultimate Impact. If you’re interested in enrolling, the enrollment window is open now. Be sure to go to our website, impactministries.com, click on Ultimate Impact, or look at the link in the description below—blessings to you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Listen, we really are changing the way the world sees God.

I sat down with a guy the other night that I hadn’t seen in quite a long time. He has always loved witnessing to people, but as he talked, he had a new confidence, something different about him. And I said, “Man, what’s going on with you?” He said, “Well, you know, I’ve been going through this thing for the last little while about my identity, about who I really am.” And I said, “Man, that’s amazing because the last time I saw you, you were pretty negative about yourself.” He said, “Well, you were the one that helped me.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “You were the one that helped me get on track with my identity in Jesus, and it’s changed everything in my life.” Everything in your life changes when you see yourself the way God sees you. So, you might want to check out Ultimate Impact. It’s a live coaching session. You will love every minute of it. Alright, blessings to you. I will be talking to you again soon.

Blessings,