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You cannot be something you cannot define. This is the first critical principle. Many of us are trying to walk in grace, victory, or success without properly defining what these things mean to us personally.
Consider success. Some of you are depressed right now because you never defined what success looks like for your own life. Instead, you chase other people's definitions on social media. This is why you're mad about your relationship—you're comparing it to Instagram. This is why you're frustrated with your bank account and your job. You prayed for that job, but before you could define what success looked like there, you started living off someone else's definition.
Pastor Mike's definition of success is impact and influence, not impressive numbers. It's not about 20,000 people in a room who leave saying "that was good" but can't tell you what they heard. Give me seven people who leave and change 7,000 lives. Everyone knows Billy Graham, but nobody knows the person who led him to Christ. While all of you know TD Jakes, none of you know his bishop from West Virginia. Many of us will never walk in what God called us to be because we're too desperate to be known rather than to make an impact.
Here's the key: Before you do anything in 2023, define it. If you don't properly define your goals and desires, you will be depressed over the lack of fruit instead of celebrating the seed you've planted.
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. More importantly, courage is the strength in the face of pain or grief.
Notice the word: courage is. Write this down. Six of you should have shouted at that grammar lesson. When we say something is, we're speaking in present tense, which means it's always active, always available. Faith is. God is. When I talk about courage, courage is. If you're not walking in it right now, the problem isn't that you don't have it—the problem is you're not holding it.
Think about a time you were looking for something you already had. Picture running through an airport, looking for Concourse C when you're already standing between the signs for A and D. You waste seven minutes of your life looking for what you already possess. Don't waste this year looking for what you already have. This year you won't see a new you—you'll see the upgraded, newer version, because if you have to start over every year, that means you're not getting better.
When we think of strength, we think of David and Goliath. But here's the question: Was David physically stronger than Goliath? No. So where did David's strength come from?
David's strength wasn't in his swing. His strength was in his commitment. His ability to throw the rock wasn't what made the difference—his ability to keep showing up when God told him to was the strength. God put power behind his swing because God said, "I don't mind backing the committed." God puts His super on your natural.
This is for those of you with a million-dollar dream on a $100 budget who believe God for things everybody in your circle says are impossible. When they ask, "What makes you think you can do that?" your answer is: "I've been committed. I've been faithful when I felt like being foolish. I've been committed to peace. I've been committed to being righteous over being right." What you walk into in 2023 has nothing to do with your last name, your bank account, or who your hookup is. You are walking into the fruit of your commitments.
We live in a season of people with commitment issues. The question is: Will you admit that you struggle with commitment?
Consider something simple: a barber. Pastor Mike has had one barber for nine years because he's committed to him. The barber depends on that commitment to feed his family. If you can't commit on a simple level, you'll never commit on a larger level. Some of you have six stylists and wonder why you have six different men. You can't commit to one stylist. When she does something you don't like once, you cancel. Instead of having a conversation to solidify your commitment, you abandon them.
Commitment is found when you can converse through the crisis, not counsel them in the midst of crisis. This is critical. You don't find out if someone is committed to you when you're winning, when you're saying yes, when you're always laughing and kicking it together. You find out if they're committed on the days they don't like you, on the days you get on their nerves, on the days you don't do what they want you to do.
Many people have assessed their circle in the wrong season. How do you know someone is truly committed? Not when they raise your hand in victory. True commitment shows up on the nights you're laying on the floor and don't want to get out of bed. True commitment shows up when the bank account says "insufficient funds" and they say, "Don't even worry about that. I was going to eat anyway. If I eat, you eat."
A true commitment doesn't need credit. Credit commitment means, "I'll be good to you today and hope you'll be good to me tomorrow." No. Commitment says, "If you never reciprocate, I'm here because I feel it's my responsibility to be to you what someone may never be to you."
Your praise isn't committed. The only time you shout is when He's opening doors or when you need something. When bills got behind, you tore the church up because you needed God to come through. But God has been committed to you. Let me do a roll call:
If you're committed, you ought to spend thirty seconds and say, "God, like the prophet said, 'Though He slay me, yet will I stay committed.' My commitment is not tied to my paycheck. My commitment says, 'Anyway You bless me, Lord.'" Don't fast just to get what you need. Sometimes fast in appreciation for what He's already done.
If truth be told, it would take you the next three years just to catch up with everything God has already done for you. This is why old school church is missed. They didn't have screens, wireless microphones, or praise teams with their own mics. They had one mic in the corner. But here's what mattered: even if someone was sitting in church disengaged, if somebody else wanted to sit in that row, it forced you to change your posture. One posture-changer per row was enough to influence everyone around them.
When you fear commitment, you constantly change careers. You date casually, not seriously. You downplay teamwork. You start strong, finish weak. You share your goals but lack the grind.
Take the gym, for example. In January, people fill up Planet Fitness, taking up machines they won't use in three months. This is a public service announcement: Don't make announcements about getting better, then disappear. Don't spend forty-five minutes at the gym with twenty of those minutes taking camera videos saying "I told y'all I'm gonna be better this year." The only announcement you should make is when you actually show up—when people say, "Okay, why Pastor Mike?" Because you are committed.
Don't let your outfit cost more than your commitment. If you're on the treadmill at 1 minute, 2 miles, 0.2 speed, the treadmill is telling on you. That's not commitment.
Uncommitted people become unfulfilled people. This is critical. Pastor Mike is so fulfilled right now. He was in Dallas, Texas recently with two shows scheduled. At soundcheck, there was a row of people who had moved to Dallas years ago but stayed connected through the stream. They were wearing old Rock City shirts from years back. When they said, "Pastor Mike, we are rock," it was awkward because he was standing in another church. But they said, "We moved four or five years ago. God's been blessing us. We go to another church, but we always stay connected. We heard you were close and had to show up."
One woman said, "I remember the Sunday you came up with that song, 'Blessed, and there's a blessing out there.' We always said, 'If that boy ever...' We just love how committed you are."
That's the power of commitment—people remember it and want to stay connected to it. When something interferes with primary commitments, the decision is clear. When asked what will stop certain activities, the answer is simple: "When it interferes with my primary commitment. And is it a regular Sunday? Boom. Is my brother available? Boom. Don't let it be Easter or the first Sunday of the year and I'm not standing right here."
Commitment is when you consistently apply the right attitude, actions, and attention to achieve your desired dream, goal, or purpose.
Let's break down these three essential elements:
Many of you won't become what God is calling you to be in this season because of your attitude. If you don't do anything else this year, heal your attitude. This is the foundation.
Your actions will never be consistent if your attitude is not right. There are more downs than ups, but your actions must continue through both.
Can you stay locked in long enough? How is your attention to detail on your desired dream or goal? This is critical.
It is insane to expect God to bless anything you are not willing to fully commit to. Picture someone asking God to bless a business idea: "God, I know without a shadow of a doubt that people are hungry in this world, but they also need shoes. So if You don't mind, I want the shoes to be edible. When they get where they're going, the shoes turn into rice cake patties, and they just take the shoes off and eat them."
That sounds ridiculous when spoken aloud, but that's what partial commitment looks like. You can't halfway commit and fully expect God's blessing.
It is insane to expect God to bless anything you are not willing to fully commit to. When you look at partial commitment, it's ridiculous. Imagine asking God: "God, I know without a shadow of a doubt that people in this world are hungry, but they also need shoes. So if you don't mind, I want the shoes to be edible. When they get where they're going, the shoes turn into rice cake patties, and they just take the shoes off and eat them." That sounds absurd when spoken aloud, but that's what partial commitment looks like. You can't halfway commit and fully expect God's blessing.
When you don't decide to fully commit, God says, "When you decide, I'll commit. I'm not going to bless your indecisiveness." This is a year to get your commitment back—especially for those of us who've been betrayed, disappointed, and unappreciated.
I'm always going to preach balance. Some of us can't stay committed because of past betrayals. It's almost like falling in a swimming pool when you're a kid—now you're an adult and you're still scared of the pool. People who don't know your story run up on you and say, "You need to get over that." They don't know about past trauma.
For many of you, you want to be committed. You want to love. Some of you are thinking, "Do you know how good I could be to you?" But the problem is, do you know how many people have made you feel unappreciated? How many have overlooked you or betrayed you?
Today is not for the complainers. Today is for the committed. There are two types of people sitting on your row: complainers and committers. Which one are you going to be this year? All of us have issues on every level—the same bills you can't pay on your level, somebody can't pay on another level. The same issues you have with your children, I have with mine.
When you truly commit to something, your level of commitment dictates what you're willing to speak into. I'm too committed to sit back and watch toxic behavior without saying something. If I don't address certain things in my children as kids, they're going to disrespect others. If I don't check it now, they could be standing in front of a judge in five years.
Because of the level of my commitment, I am giving you the authority to counsel your quietness. Don't let their toxicity keep you quiet. The level of my commitment dictates that you're going to hear my opinion, because I'm not the type of person who can play games. When you get me, you get all of me.
If you're going to be my friend, I need to know how committed you are, because I'm not going to be putting gas in your car and then the one day I ask you to pick me up, you complain. I need your commitment level to match.
Guess what? God sent me here to tell you: I need your commitment level to match. You might think you're way more invested than God is, but you're not. God is way more invested than you.
What were you doing last night around 3:00 AM? Sleeping? While you slept, God had angels hovering over your bed, making sure death didn't get you. Sleep is the closest you get to death. So while you sleep, death says, "Let me get him," and the angels say, "Touch him if you want to."
You drove here today. You probably had no idea there was a drunk driver from a New Year's party in the lane right next to you who had been swerving for thirty minutes. The whole while they were next to you, God put a hedge of protection all around you.
God says, "I am overcommitted, and you have the nerve to be complaining about what God hasn't done for you yet." If you don't thank God for nothing else on the first Sunday of 2023, thank God for being committed. Thank God for reaching way down and picking you up.
It's going to be so funny when March comes and you look at the person next to you and they're glowing because they've been committed, while you still look the same because you've been complaining. They'll be in here in some sweatpants without even combing their hair, and you're going to be looking them up and down trying to see what they pulled off.
God says this year He's blessing the committed. And He's not just blessing the committed—He's getting ready to show out for everybody who said, "Devil, this is my year to tell God yes."
What's commitment, Pastor Mike? Commitment is when we consistently apply the right attitude, follow through with our actions, and maintain our attention to detail.
Let's say you're fasting. How's your attitude? Okay, great. Now you need to set up your actions—prep your meals, set things in place. Then watch this: you need to set alarms throughout the day because you'll slip up and break your fast. You'll wake up in the morning, eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and think, "I'll start over tomorrow." That's real. You need that attention to detail.
Being born into the kingdom comes from conversion. But experiencing the kingdom comes from commitment. You are in the kingdom of God.
One of the biggest mistakes we've made as preachers, pastors, and teachers is making people think the Bible is a book of stories. The Bible is about a King and His kingdom. The principles in the Bible are the rules and keys to the kingdom. You are not of this world; you're in this world. Which is why if they kill you, they still lose. If they kill me, I'm going home. I hurt, I cry, and I bleed in your world because of the Adamic fall. I lose in your world. But when I get home, there's no more sorrow, no more pain.
You are born into the kingdom through conversion. But how do you experience the kingdom of God? From commitment. This is why most people are saved and stuck, saved but not successful, or saved and sinking.
If you find yourself in any one of these three categories, I want to help you this entire month get out of it.
First: Saved and stuck. You don't know how to get better at this point. You come to church, but nothing ever feels right.
Second: Saved but not successful. I'm going to say something, and I may get in trouble, but I'm going to say it anyway: I don't believe God called you to be saved and broke. I honestly feel like older pastors from the past generation owe the children of this next generation an apology. For years, we saw our grandmothers sow seeds in the church and never help them. So now you have kids who think, "Your God couldn't help you."
Let me tell you the best story I ever heard. There was a woman who didn't have enough money for groceries. Every morning she would intercede and pray: "Lord, if you don't mind, I just need some groceries." Her next-door neighbor was an atheist. He couldn't stand hearing her pray. So he went to the store one evening, bought all these groceries, and set them on her doorstep. He hid in the bushes.
She opened the door and said, "I want to thank you, Jesus, for these groceries."
He jumped out and said, "Aha! God didn't get your groceries. I got your groceries. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in your God. I don't believe in your Jesus. I did it."
She said, "I want to thank you, God, for getting these groceries and letting the devil pay for them."
When you're committed, God will make your enemies bless you. Before the end of April, your enemies are going to be a blessing to you. Your haters are going to be a blessing to you. God's about to make the very folk who talk about you be a blessing to you.
Third: Saved and sinking. I found myself saved and sinking because I mastered communicating something that I was not privately committed to. I would open the Bible to get a message, not to hear a word. I would open my Bible looking for something to preach, not just reading it because I needed to hear from God. Meanwhile, y'all would be in church going hard, seeing me in your stories thinking, "This man knows he's preaching." But I would be at home, saved and stuck, saved and not successful, or even worse, saved and sinking.
But because in our text today we meet people who had the courage to commit, I no longer want to settle for learning about God's promises. I'm committed to living in God's promises.
Look at Matthew 14:23: "After sending them home, he went up to the hills by himself to pray. Night fell when he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away on the land. That strong wind had risen and they were fighting heavy waves."
Here's what I want you to put in your notes: It's hard to stay focused when you're always fatigued. It's hard to be committed when you're tired. I'm going to preach some things this year that I probably never preached because I thought you had to always be at church. One of these weekends, you need to just go somewhere. I'm going to be right here online. One of these weekends, go somewhere and clear your mind. Have somebody watch the kids. I need some meat. Jesus Christ. I can't pour from a broken vessel.
That's for those of you who have everybody pulling on you and you're tired, overwhelmed, and frustrated. When fatigue walks in, focus walks out.
Jesus Christ is all God, all man. He is not half man, half God. He's what we call a hypostatic union—He emptied Himself of His deity, wrapped it in humanity, and called it flesh. Because of that, He's not half man, half God. He's all God, all man. He's God enough to heal it, but also man enough to feel it.
Let me free you real quickly with an illustration. It's like a generator on your house. When the power goes out in your house, the generator cuts everything on. So if Jesus is all God, all man, and we say the God side is like the generator, shouldn't the God side kick in when He gets tired physically? But God is so cold—He denies His power. He says, "Nah, I need to feel this. I need to feel this, and I need you to catch this."
If He's all God, all man, and He says to His disciples, "Get in the boat, go that way. Tell the crowd, 'Leave me alone,'" what makes you think you don't need a break?
You need somebody to tell you three things: number one, I see you. Number two, we appreciate you. Number three, you got more living to do. You're saved, but that doesn't mean you don't need a break. You're a worshiper, but that doesn't mean you don't need to go somewhere and be free where nobody knows you. You can walk around in that "I ain't from here" outfit and just be yourself.
Let me put this in your notes: Isolation is about withdrawing from people. But solitude is about drawing to God. I'm not telling you to isolate and run from people—they're going to be here when you get back. I'm telling you to go into solitude and run to God.
What you need in this season isn't what you're running from. It's what you're running to. Your vacation isn't about you kicking it. It's about you refueling. It's about you hearing God so you can maintain the strength for your commitments.
I have a room in my house downstairs where the electrical breakers are. I had someone sheetrock it, close it, and put a door on it. That room doesn't have a piece of furniture in it. It's just big enough from one speaker to another speaker. But you want to know what that room is for me? Solitude. I go in there and lay on the floor and get lost. There's not a window in it. My kids know not to come in there. All the prayers and goals people give me, I take up the whole wall with them. I lie there with them. That's what I do. I want to be able to stand in the midst of my solitude and just throw anointing oil at the wall.
This is why I'm challenging everyone to commit to 21 days of prayer and fasting right here. This is the first Sunday of the year. These are your marching orders. I'm asking everybody under the sound of my voice to commit to 21 days of fasting.
Why? Let me free you: If you're not committed enough to give God the first of this year, what's going to give you the right in August to ask Him for something? I need you to remember Hezekiah. The prophet told Hezekiah, "You're going to die." Then Hezekiah faced the wall and said, basically, "God, I've kept my commitment. I kept my word. I lived right. You can't do me like this."
What did God do? The prophet came back and said, "God heard your prayers. He's going to honor your commitments."
I'm believing too much for my three big boys. I'm believing too much for my daughter and my baby boy. I'm believing God for too much for you. From the depths of my heart, I never want to be a pastor who was blessed with—where nobody else gets blessed. That ain't my thing. I want my church to be blessed. I want everybody in there blessed. Everybody looks good. Everybody's relationships are healthy. They got good attitudes.
Because solitude is not loneliness. Solitude is the freedom to be alone.
Solitude is not loneliness. It's the freedom to be alone. I have a small room in my house—just a closet space where the breakers are—with no furniture, no windows. I sheetrock it and put a door on it. That room is for solitude. I go in there and lay on the floor and get lost.
Kids know not to come in. I take all the prayers and goals people give me, and I'm going to cover the whole wall with them. I'm going to lay there with them. I want to be able to stand in my solitude and throw anointing oil at the wall and pray. When I run out of things to pray, I read them back: "Father, in Jesus' name..."
In solitude, God doesn't just introduce me to more of Him—He also introduces me to more of me. There's more of me that you need to see. Whoever's trying to leave, go ahead and let them leave. Because if you can't handle the anointing and favor I have now, God's about to do exceeding and abundantly above all I could ever ask, think, dream, or imagine.
Somebody say, "More, more wisdom." Shout, "I receive that." More wisdom, more joy, more peace, more favor, more anointing. More finances, more freedom, more ability to make wise decisions. Some of you should have gotten excited about that because you've been killing it with less.
If you ever get the money to do what you feel in your spirit, if you ever get the resources to accomplish what you said—a thousand folk ought to jump up and shout, "More, more, more!" And that's what God has given to us because of our commitments.
Jesus sends the disciples on the water, and a storm breaks loose. I need you to catch this: we preach about Jesus' public miracles, but we never talk about His private commitments. We only talk about His public miracles. He turned water into wine and we shout. He healed her body and we shout. But we never talk about the fact that privately He was committed to being better.
Before He saves them, He says, "Y'all give me a break." The coldest part of Jesus' life is when He says, "And he went out from among them." Hey disciples, y'all leave me alone. Crowd, leave me alone.
What is Jesus teaching us? We cannot be committed to everything. Listen to your pastor. There are some things you are currently committed to that you're going to have to respectfully cancel. There are some people you're committed to that you're going to have to say, respectfully, in this season, I can't give you the level of commitment you're asking from me.
I have put y'all first for so long. But this 2023, I come first. That is not being selfish. That is me trying to become better, because I can't help you if I'm broken. How am I going to help you if I don't wash my hands? How am I going to help you by putting these dirty hands on you?
In 2023, make your commitment too valuable to spread around loosely. That was heavy and you missed it. In 2023, make your commitment too valuable to spread around loosely.
My commitment costs too much. So the next time they ask you to do something, I want you to pause. "Hold on one second. Are you expecting me to be committed? Let me run something off to you. I got a priority list. This comes, this comes, this comes. Anything that is antithetical to this, I can't commit to."
I preach live on Sunday. By Sunday evening, it's up live. Which means you have from Sunday 5:00 PM till the next Sunday at 10:29 to be committed to a word a week. How in the heck do you go a week without a word? Because you ain't committed.
Jesus tells them, "Y'all get in the boat. Go to the other side." Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from the land. A strong wind had risen and they were frightened. I need you to catch this: while everyone is shouting for a new start, breakthrough is your ability to overcome new storms.
He puts them in a boat and a storm breaks loose. I wonder how many of your lives in 2022 were hit by storms you didn't see coming. You started strong, but a storm struck loose. I'm preaching to five of you who made it through your fast last year and you felt like it was going to be the best year of your life. Then a storm broke loose.
The men in the storm are professional fishermen, yet they're terrified. Sometimes God will place you in a storm that your expertise can't handle, that your background can't handle. I remember when I was with Rod on the road in a restaurant in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was exhausted, and I kept asking, "You okay?" He said, "Yeah, man. It's been going fast." I started noticing a draining on him, only for him to call me and say, "Hey, I'm at the hospital. I got cancer. They want me to do dialysis."
He was hit with a storm. Hit with a storm. Hit with a storm. Don't be arrogant enough to think you can't get hit with a storm. This is why I need you to get committed so you can heal.
Many of you are going to continue making bad decisions because you're sick spiritually. And because you're sick spiritually and emotionally, you keep confusing your triggers with discernment. You keep seeing stuff you ain't delivered from and then saying, "Oh, my discernment said no." No, that ain't discernment. That's a trigger.
When a storm breaks loose, you want to know why you should shout? The Bible says a storm breaks loose, but nowhere in the scripture does it say they turned around. If a storm breaks loose, how many times have you been getting ready to go somewhere, look out the window, you hear thunder, then you hear rain. Then you say, "If it's rain, it ain't." If a storm breaks loose, I'mma stay right here. Which is why you never get to the level God wants you to be.
Committed people don't run from storms. Committed people keep going in the middle of a storm. You ought to shout, "Lord, this year, give me the faith to keep moving in any storm that you throw my way. God, I will not turn around. I will not leave."
Commitment is what determines if a storm breaks you or if you break through.
What if they come home tomorrow and say, "I just don't want to be with you no more"? You're going to stop. Take some time and cry because it's going to hurt. Take some time and say, "I need a minute." Go into solitude. But let me free you: we're not going to stay stuck.
What if you go to work tomorrow and they ask everybody to come to the conference room and every name they call, they say, "We're so sorry, but we got to let you go"? No, we're going to cry because you got real bills. I'm not going to present this idea that you have to end right when it happens. But I trust God.
Sometimes you're going to get hit with a storm. Sometimes you get hit with something you ain't see coming and it's going to mess you up. Part of you might not be the same. Let's be real. Put your raincoat on. Put your rain boots on. Get you an umbrella. If you got to cry and cuss, keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.
The disciples are panicking. Look at verse 24. The storm breaks loose. They're fighting the waves. They're holding the water back. Water in the boat. Dump the water out the boat. Hold on. Man the stations. Man the stations. Man the stations.
Here's what's crazy: the storm wasn't killing them, but the storm did change their behavior. Jesus shows up walking on what's driving them crazy. They see Jesus, but you miss your shout.
In verse 22, Jesus says, "Get in the boat and cross to the other side." In verse 24, they're panicking because the storm came loose. What if they're panicking in 24 because they weren't paying attention in 22? In verse 22, God gave them a prophecy, but they missed it.
Jesus didn't say, "Get in the boat and sink." He said, "Get in the boat and cross to the other side." I don't care if a storm breaks loose. If He gave me a word before the storm, the same word He gave me before the storm is the word He's going to give me in the storm. And the word God told me to tell you: you ain't seen nothing yet. God did not bring you this far just to bring you this far. Stay committed.
They see Jesus and they yell, "It's a ghost!" Courage to commit will require you to pivot while others panic.
Let's say a storm breaks loose and you get laid off tomorrow. Don't panic. Just pivot. Question number one: How do I get a severance? Question number two: Will y'all write a recommendation for where I'm going because this clearly wasn't my issue? Step number three: What's my next move?
Peter had to pivot by realizing that if I do what everybody else is doing, I'ma get what everybody else has gotten. Peter's on the boat. Everybody's panicking. Jesus comes walking up and they shout, "It's a ghost!" And Peter says, "I'm committed. Is that you, Jesus? Is that you?"
While everyone was afraid and talking about the storm, Peter started talking to the one who controlled the storm. The next time somebody calls you and says, "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" I'm sorry. You don't control the storm. Realistically, I don't owe that to you. After I talk to you, your track record has proven you're not going to do nothing but say, "Man, that ain't right."
In 2023, if you can't control the storm or if you can't at least put me in a bunker till it stops, the courage to commitment will require you to purge away from boat folk mentality. We got too many boat folk people around us. Before Peter could walk on water, he had to first walk away from people.
We're always so ready to shout about him walking on water. No, he walked away from his partners. The first walk he made was away. I want to ask you a question. In 2023, this is a very important question: Who's on your boat? Some of your boats too big. Are you connected to committed people? Are you connected to courageous people?
I am going to be so aggressive in my push for you to go get it this year. Even if you fail, let me be honest. Even if you fail, even if you fail, I'mma push you to go get it. And when I fail, I'm gonna start putting it on the screen, and we all going to laugh.
The other day on Facebook, I felt the Holy Spirit lead me to share how I had a night of anxiety. I wrestled with anxiety. By the time I looked up, the sun was out. I'm sitting here and I finally had gotten myself together, and the Holy Spirit said, "Share that because you weren't the only one up."
I'm in the den having a conversation with the Holy Spirit. I'm the pastor. I can't be coming off all perfect. He said, "No, that's transparency." I probably had a thousand inboxes saying, "Pastor, thank you. I feel like I ain't slept in six months."
If I'm going to be committed to you guys, I can't just show y'all success stories. I got to be able to stand here and say, "Hey, you ain't crazy. My kids got issues too." I ain't got it all together either. I messed up this week. Just want to let y'all know I messed up this week.
I made every plan to tell the people I love, "Hey, God bless you. You know I love you, right?" And they just kept talking. They met Mike from Inland. So you see anything on Instagram like, "Y'all pastor cussed me out"—it was true. I did it. They kept pushing my buttons. But they deserve to see a real pastor, not a fake one.
You want to know one of the coldest things about Jesus and the twelve disciples? They had no shoes. They just walk. Can you imagine their feet walking all throughout the whole Bible? They're walking on dirt. There's no cement roads. It's dirt. Which is why the text says when you come into the house, shake the dust off your feet.
The gospel was transported by dirty feet. Which is why when He comes into Mary's house, she washes His feet. One of the greatest ministry moments in the Bible is a dirty situation. Yet we become a church full of people who only show clean stuff.
One of my staff members got pregnant, and I could just tell they were terrified to tell me. You know how church people are: "You're going to get set down. You're going to get fired. You're going to make the church look bad." No. Look at me, girl. Come here. That's life. Come here. I love you. What do you need? Are you okay?
We ain't your family when you're up. We find out if you're committed. No. I turn my back on nobody. I don't care how nobody feels about it. One of the most loving, kind, blessed people I ever seen in my life—no, we your family. We in this. You ain't sat down. You ain't passed my will.
We need to have some type of standard of holiness. But the church is only concerned about discretion over deliverance. We want you to keep it quiet. If you can keep it quiet, you're cool. No. All have sinned, falling short of the glory of God. If we don't stop throwing people away, who we going to help?
This is why Jesus shows up when they're about to stone this girl for doing something. He started writing stuff in the dirt. Then He said, "He who is without sin cast the first stone." And the Bible said they left from the oldest to the youngest. I believe the oldest left because they had been living long enough and had way more dirt than the young boys. Before He would write my mess on His page—if He had a Facebook, before He put it on his page—let me go and leave this situation.
How much does your commitment cost?
Peter looks at Jesus and says, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you on the water." Verse 29: "Yes, come," Jesus said to Peter. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on water.
I want to fix something that I've always said wrong. I've always preached it how I saw it, but I've been seeing things differently. Watch this. "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you to walk on water." Jesus says in verse 29 the same thing He says to Lazarus: "Come."
When He was in the graveyard, He said, "Lazarus, come forth." Because had He not said Lazarus' name, everything dead would have gotten up. Had He just said, "Come forth," everything dead would have gotten up. So that word was specific to Lazarus.
But when I look at this particular scripture, verse 29, all it says is "yes, come." Jesus said—period. Which means what? The invitation to get out the boat was an open invitation. They stayed on the boat because they didn't have a certain level of commitment. They rather fight the storm than be with the one who can control it.
Peter was committed to obedience, not the outcome. We often shout that this is my season to walk on water as if Peter walking on water was about accomplishing a goal. When in fact, Peter walked on water only because he wanted to be closer to God. Peter didn't even want to get out of the storm. He saw Jesus. He says, "If I'm going to die, I'mma be with you."
I preached this sermon before and said I'm a water walker. I need to go back and explain it because that's not the right take. The point isn't about walking on water. It's about being close to God, whatever the cost.
Peter was committed to obedience, not the outcome. We often shout that this is our season to walk on water as if Peter walking on water was about accomplishing a goal. When in fact, Peter walked on water only because he wanted to be closer to God. Peter didn't even want to get out of the storm—he saw Jesus and said, "If I'm going to die, I'mma be with you."
The point isn't about walking on water. It's about being close to God, whatever the cost. Being a water walker doesn't mean watch me start this business or go to another level. It means watch me show God how committed I am.
My commitment level to you will make me say I'm wrong. I want to be very clear with you. I love you, but I'm wrong. You right. You had every right to be upset with me and pride wouldn't let me. But I want to lose you.
My commitment level says, "God, here I am broken." I don't like me when I drink. I don't like me when I smoke. I don't like me when I fight. I don't like me when I'm outside your will. Whatever your issue is, at what point do you get real with God and say, "God, this year I want to be committed to being better"? Give me somebody who don't want nothing from me, who just want to help me stay committed. That's what we need.
That's why we do devotional energy. Do you know how tired they be in the morning time? They have to get up at 5:21 to get on there, but they're committed to it. Somebody watching me online, somebody in this room—the one thing that could flip your whole life this year is a commitment.
What if you committed to say, "No, I'm going just walk for 10 minutes"? That 10 turns into 15. That 15 will turn into 20. Drop back. But it might jump back up to 24. But I'm committed.
This morning, I laid in the bed when my alarm went off and I felt like a truck hit me. To the point where I laid there and tears came out. I said, "I'm tired." When that 4:14 went off, I jumped up and I told everybody, "That was the only battle I wanted to win today. If I don't preach good, I'll make it up next week. If I ain't do my best today, that's fine. The only battle I wanted to win this day today was if I could just get up when it go off." I was so proud of myself. I washed my face, jumped in the shower. I was so excited because on the first day of this year, I did what I said I was going to do.
I said I was going to eat right today. I'm positive I'm not going to do that. I ain't gonna lie. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I haven't eaten a day either. So I've been moving. I'm messing something up soon as I leave here. We're going to do that on the second. That's my goal for the second. But as far as getting up—see how funny that is? Then why are you so serious with yourself? Be real with you.
The devil knows that the power of the believer isn't in unity with other believers. Wait, let me say it again. The devil knows that the power of the believer is in unity with other believers. The devil knows that the power of the individual believer is in his unity with his brothers and sisters in Christ.
So what does he do? He manipulates us into making separate commitments. That's what he do.
On January one, as your pastor—if it's anything there between us for the first time since you've been knowing me, I'm not asking. I'm saying if you're going to be in my life, give God 21 days starting on the 8th. That's what I'm saying.
If you would commit, a lot of the stuff you asking me to pray for, we wouldn't even have to pray for if you would commit. I'm going to do things this year. We're doing our commitment board parties. You're going to start doing live popups. I'm bringing in financial people who's gonna sit down and talk about the 10/10 and how to budget. And if it's only nine people on that, I'm like, "Hey, next time you come to this altar and say, 'Pray for this,' I'm ask, 'Have you been committed to what you told God? Do you need that many shoes? Do you have to drive XYZ?'"
Most people don't mind starting over. We hate being seen as starting over. It ain't the start over that hurt us. It's folks seeing us start over. What happened to your will? Well, you know, I had... What if you can do something today so you can do something people can't do tomorrow? It starts with commitment.
On the first Sunday of the year, I'm not going to do an altar call. I pray that God gives you the strength to honor your commitments. God, I pray that in this moment, if it's a commitment to their relationship, if it's a commitment to a career, if it's a commitment to an idea, a commitment to be better—I don't know what it is that's between you and them. God, I don't want to be a tour guide. I don't want to be a travel agent, somebody who books them flights to go somewhere that they'll never go with them. I want to be a tour guide this year. I want to go in the jungle and show them the different things that can kill their commitment.
To every man in this room, God, give him the strength to remain committed. Let him be the best man he can be first. Because God, a father is a role. Husband is a role. Who he is, is a man. And so many people are expecting us to play roles that we don't know how to play because we were never taught how to really just be men.
God, I pray right now for any man who's having a fight to be in his child's life. Give them the courage to be committed. Give them the courage. God, I ask that you give them the courage even if it takes them humbling themselves and just saying, "Hey, you know, that was wrong. I just want to see my daughter. I just want to see my son."
I've seen personally the impact of a good father. God, I went through years where people came at me on social media, especially in my city. Every week I was going viral. I would have killed myself on certain days had not I had a daddy who was constantly telling me who I was. God, what kept me alive was my daddy saying, "Mike, I got you now. Listen to me. What I told you when you was 12, you going to change the world?"
On those dark nights when I sat there with pill bottles, when I would just sit in my driveway because I didn't want to go in the house—sometimes my kids would see that stuff. I felt weak that I wasn't clapping back and my sons and daughters would see that stuff. It was the words of my father that kept me sane. Truth is I never believed in me. I believed in his belief in me.
God, I pray for every father in this room—give them the ability to be just that. Not a daddy but a father.
God, I pray for every woman in this room. God, every woman, let her be everything that you called her to be. A Proverbs 31 woman. God, I pray right now because sadly so many of them have had to wear so many hats and carry so much weight. So many of them have never had a season where they could just breathe.
Every season of their life has been recovering from this and fighting for this and holding this down and fixing this and repairing this and healing from this. God, I speak peace over their life. God, I speak a peace that surpasses all understanding. God, give them that peace that guards their heart and mind.
If it's any anger, if it's any hurt, if it's any necessary resentment—because God, sometimes that resentment is real. God, I believe sometimes you even give us a small dose of resentment as a reminder on what not to touch again. So God, in this season, I pray right now that you would do a work on them, not from the outside in.
So many of them spend so much money and time on the outside. So much money at a salon, so much money for a wig, so much money for a purse, so much money for some clothes, so much money for makeup, so much money for shoes. No investment on their spirit. God, we'll sit in a salon to get braids for 10 hours, but can't sit through a two-hour Bible study.
God, help us to be committed because God, the truth of the matter is we commit to what we want to commit to. God, we're not going to play that game this year to make it seem like it's hard to commit. No. When we need a cut, we commit. When we hungry, even if we dog sick, we cook because we committed to eating. God, we pay bills because we committed to keeping our stuff.
God, I speak by faith. You will stop. You will no longer be the last one on my list of commitments. Help them be a mother, God. Help them be the best wife you called them to be. God, help us be your children.
God, I thank you for all you did in 2022. God, you showed out in some of our lives. The older I get, I thank you for the "no's" you gave me. I had opportunities to act and opportunities to go other places. I thank you for the "no" because even when I look back at it now, had I said yes, I would have missed half of the season. Sometimes I would have missed my son winning a championship.
God, I can see to the point you see around the point. So God in this moment I thank you for the "no's." I thank you for the closed doors. I thank you for the valleys.
God, teach us to understand that the true transformation don't come on the mountain top. True transformation comes in the valley. If true transformation came on the mountain, we wouldn't have to bury seeds. Transformation happens in dark places. Grapes turn into wine in dark places. Seeds turn into plants in dark places. Film gets developed in dark places.
God, right now, give me the strength to stop running to just the light. Give me the strength to stay committed in dark places so we will be all that you've called us to be. Not by power, not by might, but by your spirit, saith the Lord.
God, as we prepare for an incredible 2023, I see you is on for the committed. You going to knock down doors. You going to open barriers. You're about to move in ways we never dreamed. Testimonies are coming where cancer will be healed. Children are coming home. Families will be united, reunited.
God, I speak by faith. You're going to do exceeding and abundant above all we even asked you. God, I'm crazy enough to speak in this moment that whatever prayer they prayed, you going to triple that. That God, you going to give them stuff that they didn't even pray for. You going to open doors that they didn't even knock on. You're going to keep doing what only you know how to do.
But God, I pray a special prayer because you're going to do it. Don't let it break our commitment. The devil is slick. If the devil thinks a blessing will trump our commitment, he'll move out the way so we can get blessed.
The devil will let us get a new car because he can look at our past habits and tell a new car, you'll wash it on Sunday instead of worshiping on Sunday. The devil will let them have a man. Let them have a woman because he knows you rather kick it with them than get back in your word.
So God, don't let the stuff we praying for be a commitment blocker. Let us stay focused and locked on you. It is in Jesus name I pray.
You cannot be something you cannot define. This is the first critical principle. Many of us are trying to walk in grace, victory, or success without properly defining what these things mean to us personally.
Consider success. Some of you are depressed right now because you never defined what success looks like for your own life. Instead, you chase other people's definitions on social media. This is why you're mad about your relationship—you're comparing it to Instagram. This is why you're frustrated with your bank account and your job. You prayed for that job, but before you could define what success looked like there, you started living off someone else's definition.
Pastor Mike's definition of success is impact and influence, not impressive numbers. It's not about 20,000 people in a room who leave saying "that was good" but can't tell you what they heard. Give me seven people who leave and change 7,000 lives. Everyone knows Billy Graham, but nobody knows the person who led him to Christ. While all of you know TD Jakes, none of you know his bishop from West Virginia. Many of us will never walk in what God called us to be because we're too desperate to be known rather than to make an impact.
Here's the key: Before you do anything in 2023, define it. If you don't properly define your goals and desires, you will be depressed over the lack of fruit instead of celebrating the seed you've planted.
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. More importantly, courage is the strength in the face of pain or grief.
Notice the word: courage is. Write this down. Six of you should have shouted at that grammar lesson. When we say something is, we're speaking in present tense, which means it's always active, always available. Faith is. God is. When I talk about courage, courage is. If you're not walking in it right now, the problem isn't that you don't have it—the problem is you're not holding it.
Think about a time you were looking for something you already had. Picture running through an airport, looking for Concourse C when you're already standing between the signs for A and D. You waste seven minutes of your life looking for what you already possess. Don't waste this year looking for what you already have. This year you won't see a new you—you'll see the upgraded, newer version, because if you have to start over every year, that means you're not getting better.
When we think of strength, we think of David and Goliath. But here's the question: Was David physically stronger than Goliath? No. So where did David's strength come from?
David's strength wasn't in his swing. His strength was in his commitment. His ability to throw the rock wasn't what made the difference—his ability to keep showing up when God told him to was the strength. God put power behind his swing because God said, "I don't mind backing the committed." God puts His super on your natural.
This is for those of you with a million-dollar dream on a $100 budget who believe God for things everybody in your circle says are impossible. When they ask, "What makes you think you can do that?" your answer is: "I've been committed. I've been faithful when I felt like being foolish. I've been committed to peace. I've been committed to being righteous over being right." What you walk into in 2023 has nothing to do with your last name, your bank account, or who your hookup is. You are walking into the fruit of your commitments.
We live in a season of people with commitment issues. The question is: Will you admit that you struggle with commitment?
Consider something simple: a barber. Pastor Mike has had one barber for nine years because he's committed to him. The barber depends on that commitment to feed his family. If you can't commit on a simple level, you'll never commit on a larger level. Some of you have six stylists and wonder why you have six different men. You can't commit to one stylist. When she does something you don't like once, you cancel. Instead of having a conversation to solidify your commitment, you abandon them.
Commitment is found when you can converse through the crisis, not counsel them in the midst of crisis. This is critical. You don't find out if someone is committed to you when you're winning, when you're saying yes, when you're always laughing and kicking it together. You find out if they're committed on the days they don't like you, on the days you get on their nerves, on the days you don't do what they want you to do.
Many people have assessed their circle in the wrong season. How do you know someone is truly committed? Not when they raise your hand in victory. True commitment shows up on the nights you're laying on the floor and don't want to get out of bed. True commitment shows up when the bank account says "insufficient funds" and they say, "Don't even worry about that. I was going to eat anyway. If I eat, you eat."
A true commitment doesn't need credit. Credit commitment means, "I'll be good to you today and hope you'll be good to me tomorrow." No. Commitment says, "If you never reciprocate, I'm here because I feel it's my responsibility to be to you what someone may never be to you."
Your praise isn't committed. The only time you shout is when He's opening doors or when you need something. When bills got behind, you tore the church up because you needed God to come through. But God has been committed to you. Let me do a roll call:
If you're committed, you ought to spend thirty seconds and say, "God, like the prophet said, 'Though He slay me, yet will I stay committed.' My commitment is not tied to my paycheck. My commitment says, 'Anyway You bless me, Lord.'" Don't fast just to get what you need. Sometimes fast in appreciation for what He's already done.
If truth be told, it would take you the next three years just to catch up with everything God has already done for you. This is why old school church is missed. They didn't have screens, wireless microphones, or praise teams with their own mics. They had one mic in the corner. But here's what mattered: even if someone was sitting in church disengaged, if somebody else wanted to sit in that row, it forced you to change your posture. One posture-changer per row was enough to influence everyone around them.
When you fear commitment, you constantly change careers. You date casually, not seriously. You downplay teamwork. You start strong, finish weak. You share your goals but lack the grind.
Take the gym, for example. In January, people fill up Planet Fitness, taking up machines they won't use in three months. This is a public service announcement: Don't make announcements about getting better, then disappear. Don't spend forty-five minutes at the gym with twenty of those minutes taking camera videos saying "I told y'all I'm gonna be better this year." The only announcement you should make is when you actually show up—when people say, "Okay, why Pastor Mike?" Because you are committed.
Don't let your outfit cost more than your commitment. If you're on the treadmill at 1 minute, 2 miles, 0.2 speed, the treadmill is telling on you. That's not commitment.
Uncommitted people become unfulfilled people. This is critical. Pastor Mike is so fulfilled right now. He was in Dallas, Texas recently with two shows scheduled. At soundcheck, there was a row of people who had moved to Dallas years ago but stayed connected through the stream. They were wearing old Rock City shirts from years back. When they said, "Pastor Mike, we are rock," it was awkward because he was standing in another church. But they said, "We moved four or five years ago. God's been blessing us. We go to another church, but we always stay connected. We heard you were close and had to show up."
One woman said, "I remember the Sunday you came up with that song, 'Blessed, and there's a blessing out there.' We always said, 'If that boy ever...' We just love how committed you are."
That's the power of commitment—people remember it and want to stay connected to it. When something interferes with primary commitments, the decision is clear. When asked what will stop certain activities, the answer is simple: "When it interferes with my primary commitment. And is it a regular Sunday? Boom. Is my brother available? Boom. Don't let it be Easter or the first Sunday of the year and I'm not standing right here."
Commitment is when you consistently apply the right attitude, actions, and attention to achieve your desired dream, goal, or purpose.
Let's break down these three essential elements:
Many of you won't become what God is calling you to be in this season because of your attitude. If you don't do anything else this year, heal your attitude. This is the foundation.
Your actions will never be consistent if your attitude is not right. There are more downs than ups, but your actions must continue through both.
Can you stay locked in long enough? How is your attention to detail on your desired dream or goal? This is critical.
It is insane to expect God to bless anything you are not willing to fully commit to. Picture someone asking God to bless a business idea: "God, I know without a shadow of a doubt that people are hungry in this world, but they also need shoes. So if You don't mind, I want the shoes to be edible. When they get where they're going, the shoes turn into rice cake patties, and they just take the shoes off and eat them."
That sounds ridiculous when spoken aloud, but that's what partial commitment looks like. You can't halfway commit and fully expect God's blessing.
It is insane to expect God to bless anything you are not willing to fully commit to. When you look at partial commitment, it's ridiculous. Imagine asking God: "God, I know without a shadow of a doubt that people in this world are hungry, but they also need shoes. So if you don't mind, I want the shoes to be edible. When they get where they're going, the shoes turn into rice cake patties, and they just take the shoes off and eat them." That sounds absurd when spoken aloud, but that's what partial commitment looks like. You can't halfway commit and fully expect God's blessing.
When you don't decide to fully commit, God says, "When you decide, I'll commit. I'm not going to bless your indecisiveness." This is a year to get your commitment back—especially for those of us who've been betrayed, disappointed, and unappreciated.
I'm always going to preach balance. Some of us can't stay committed because of past betrayals. It's almost like falling in a swimming pool when you're a kid—now you're an adult and you're still scared of the pool. People who don't know your story run up on you and say, "You need to get over that." They don't know about past trauma.
For many of you, you want to be committed. You want to love. Some of you are thinking, "Do you know how good I could be to you?" But the problem is, do you know how many people have made you feel unappreciated? How many have overlooked you or betrayed you?
Today is not for the complainers. Today is for the committed. There are two types of people sitting on your row: complainers and committers. Which one are you going to be this year? All of us have issues on every level—the same bills you can't pay on your level, somebody can't pay on another level. The same issues you have with your children, I have with mine.
When you truly commit to something, your level of commitment dictates what you're willing to speak into. I'm too committed to sit back and watch toxic behavior without saying something. If I don't address certain things in my children as kids, they're going to disrespect others. If I don't check it now, they could be standing in front of a judge in five years.
Because of the level of my commitment, I am giving you the authority to counsel your quietness. Don't let their toxicity keep you quiet. The level of my commitment dictates that you're going to hear my opinion, because I'm not the type of person who can play games. When you get me, you get all of me.
If you're going to be my friend, I need to know how committed you are, because I'm not going to be putting gas in your car and then the one day I ask you to pick me up, you complain. I need your commitment level to match.
Guess what? God sent me here to tell you: I need your commitment level to match. You might think you're way more invested than God is, but you're not. God is way more invested than you.
What were you doing last night around 3:00 AM? Sleeping? While you slept, God had angels hovering over your bed, making sure death didn't get you. Sleep is the closest you get to death. So while you sleep, death says, "Let me get him," and the angels say, "Touch him if you want to."
You drove here today. You probably had no idea there was a drunk driver from a New Year's party in the lane right next to you who had been swerving for thirty minutes. The whole while they were next to you, God put a hedge of protection all around you.
God says, "I am overcommitted, and you have the nerve to be complaining about what God hasn't done for you yet." If you don't thank God for nothing else on the first Sunday of 2023, thank God for being committed. Thank God for reaching way down and picking you up.
It's going to be so funny when March comes and you look at the person next to you and they're glowing because they've been committed, while you still look the same because you've been complaining. They'll be in here in some sweatpants without even combing their hair, and you're going to be looking them up and down trying to see what they pulled off.
God says this year He's blessing the committed. And He's not just blessing the committed—He's getting ready to show out for everybody who said, "Devil, this is my year to tell God yes."
What's commitment, Pastor Mike? Commitment is when we consistently apply the right attitude, follow through with our actions, and maintain our attention to detail.
Let's say you're fasting. How's your attitude? Okay, great. Now you need to set up your actions—prep your meals, set things in place. Then watch this: you need to set alarms throughout the day because you'll slip up and break your fast. You'll wake up in the morning, eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and think, "I'll start over tomorrow." That's real. You need that attention to detail.
Being born into the kingdom comes from conversion. But experiencing the kingdom comes from commitment. You are in the kingdom of God.
One of the biggest mistakes we've made as preachers, pastors, and teachers is making people think the Bible is a book of stories. The Bible is about a King and His kingdom. The principles in the Bible are the rules and keys to the kingdom. You are not of this world; you're in this world. Which is why if they kill you, they still lose. If they kill me, I'm going home. I hurt, I cry, and I bleed in your world because of the Adamic fall. I lose in your world. But when I get home, there's no more sorrow, no more pain.
You are born into the kingdom through conversion. But how do you experience the kingdom of God? From commitment. This is why most people are saved and stuck, saved but not successful, or saved and sinking.
If you find yourself in any one of these three categories, I want to help you this entire month get out of it.
First: Saved and stuck. You don't know how to get better at this point. You come to church, but nothing ever feels right.
Second: Saved but not successful. I'm going to say something, and I may get in trouble, but I'm going to say it anyway: I don't believe God called you to be saved and broke. I honestly feel like older pastors from the past generation owe the children of this next generation an apology. For years, we saw our grandmothers sow seeds in the church and never help them. So now you have kids who think, "Your God couldn't help you."
Let me tell you the best story I ever heard. There was a woman who didn't have enough money for groceries. Every morning she would intercede and pray: "Lord, if you don't mind, I just need some groceries." Her next-door neighbor was an atheist. He couldn't stand hearing her pray. So he went to the store one evening, bought all these groceries, and set them on her doorstep. He hid in the bushes.
She opened the door and said, "I want to thank you, Jesus, for these groceries."
He jumped out and said, "Aha! God didn't get your groceries. I got your groceries. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in your God. I don't believe in your Jesus. I did it."
She said, "I want to thank you, God, for getting these groceries and letting the devil pay for them."
When you're committed, God will make your enemies bless you. Before the end of April, your enemies are going to be a blessing to you. Your haters are going to be a blessing to you. God's about to make the very folk who talk about you be a blessing to you.
Third: Saved and sinking. I found myself saved and sinking because I mastered communicating something that I was not privately committed to. I would open the Bible to get a message, not to hear a word. I would open my Bible looking for something to preach, not just reading it because I needed to hear from God. Meanwhile, y'all would be in church going hard, seeing me in your stories thinking, "This man knows he's preaching." But I would be at home, saved and stuck, saved and not successful, or even worse, saved and sinking.
But because in our text today we meet people who had the courage to commit, I no longer want to settle for learning about God's promises. I'm committed to living in God's promises.
Look at Matthew 14:23: "After sending them home, he went up to the hills by himself to pray. Night fell when he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away on the land. That strong wind had risen and they were fighting heavy waves."
Here's what I want you to put in your notes: It's hard to stay focused when you're always fatigued. It's hard to be committed when you're tired. I'm going to preach some things this year that I probably never preached because I thought you had to always be at church. One of these weekends, you need to just go somewhere. I'm going to be right here online. One of these weekends, go somewhere and clear your mind. Have somebody watch the kids. I need some meat. Jesus Christ. I can't pour from a broken vessel.
That's for those of you who have everybody pulling on you and you're tired, overwhelmed, and frustrated. When fatigue walks in, focus walks out.
Jesus Christ is all God, all man. He is not half man, half God. He's what we call a hypostatic union—He emptied Himself of His deity, wrapped it in humanity, and called it flesh. Because of that, He's not half man, half God. He's all God, all man. He's God enough to heal it, but also man enough to feel it.
Let me free you real quickly with an illustration. It's like a generator on your house. When the power goes out in your house, the generator cuts everything on. So if Jesus is all God, all man, and we say the God side is like the generator, shouldn't the God side kick in when He gets tired physically? But God is so cold—He denies His power. He says, "Nah, I need to feel this. I need to feel this, and I need you to catch this."
If He's all God, all man, and He says to His disciples, "Get in the boat, go that way. Tell the crowd, 'Leave me alone,'" what makes you think you don't need a break?
You need somebody to tell you three things: number one, I see you. Number two, we appreciate you. Number three, you got more living to do. You're saved, but that doesn't mean you don't need a break. You're a worshiper, but that doesn't mean you don't need to go somewhere and be free where nobody knows you. You can walk around in that "I ain't from here" outfit and just be yourself.
Let me put this in your notes: Isolation is about withdrawing from people. But solitude is about drawing to God. I'm not telling you to isolate and run from people—they're going to be here when you get back. I'm telling you to go into solitude and run to God.
What you need in this season isn't what you're running from. It's what you're running to. Your vacation isn't about you kicking it. It's about you refueling. It's about you hearing God so you can maintain the strength for your commitments.
I have a room in my house downstairs where the electrical breakers are. I had someone sheetrock it, close it, and put a door on it. That room doesn't have a piece of furniture in it. It's just big enough from one speaker to another speaker. But you want to know what that room is for me? Solitude. I go in there and lay on the floor and get lost. There's not a window in it. My kids know not to come in there. All the prayers and goals people give me, I take up the whole wall with them. I lie there with them. That's what I do. I want to be able to stand in the midst of my solitude and just throw anointing oil at the wall.
This is why I'm challenging everyone to commit to 21 days of prayer and fasting right here. This is the first Sunday of the year. These are your marching orders. I'm asking everybody under the sound of my voice to commit to 21 days of fasting.
Why? Let me free you: If you're not committed enough to give God the first of this year, what's going to give you the right in August to ask Him for something? I need you to remember Hezekiah. The prophet told Hezekiah, "You're going to die." Then Hezekiah faced the wall and said, basically, "God, I've kept my commitment. I kept my word. I lived right. You can't do me like this."
What did God do? The prophet came back and said, "God heard your prayers. He's going to honor your commitments."
I'm believing too much for my three big boys. I'm believing too much for my daughter and my baby boy. I'm believing God for too much for you. From the depths of my heart, I never want to be a pastor who was blessed with—where nobody else gets blessed. That ain't my thing. I want my church to be blessed. I want everybody in there blessed. Everybody looks good. Everybody's relationships are healthy. They got good attitudes.
Because solitude is not loneliness. Solitude is the freedom to be alone.
Solitude is not loneliness. It's the freedom to be alone. I have a small room in my house—just a closet space where the breakers are—with no furniture, no windows. I sheetrock it and put a door on it. That room is for solitude. I go in there and lay on the floor and get lost.
Kids know not to come in. I take all the prayers and goals people give me, and I'm going to cover the whole wall with them. I'm going to lay there with them. I want to be able to stand in my solitude and throw anointing oil at the wall and pray. When I run out of things to pray, I read them back: "Father, in Jesus' name..."
In solitude, God doesn't just introduce me to more of Him—He also introduces me to more of me. There's more of me that you need to see. Whoever's trying to leave, go ahead and let them leave. Because if you can't handle the anointing and favor I have now, God's about to do exceeding and abundantly above all I could ever ask, think, dream, or imagine.
Somebody say, "More, more wisdom." Shout, "I receive that." More wisdom, more joy, more peace, more favor, more anointing. More finances, more freedom, more ability to make wise decisions. Some of you should have gotten excited about that because you've been killing it with less.
If you ever get the money to do what you feel in your spirit, if you ever get the resources to accomplish what you said—a thousand folk ought to jump up and shout, "More, more, more!" And that's what God has given to us because of our commitments.
Jesus sends the disciples on the water, and a storm breaks loose. I need you to catch this: we preach about Jesus' public miracles, but we never talk about His private commitments. We only talk about His public miracles. He turned water into wine and we shout. He healed her body and we shout. But we never talk about the fact that privately He was committed to being better.
Before He saves them, He says, "Y'all give me a break." The coldest part of Jesus' life is when He says, "And he went out from among them." Hey disciples, y'all leave me alone. Crowd, leave me alone.
What is Jesus teaching us? We cannot be committed to everything. Listen to your pastor. There are some things you are currently committed to that you're going to have to respectfully cancel. There are some people you're committed to that you're going to have to say, respectfully, in this season, I can't give you the level of commitment you're asking from me.
I have put y'all first for so long. But this 2023, I come first. That is not being selfish. That is me trying to become better, because I can't help you if I'm broken. How am I going to help you if I don't wash my hands? How am I going to help you by putting these dirty hands on you?
In 2023, make your commitment too valuable to spread around loosely. That was heavy and you missed it. In 2023, make your commitment too valuable to spread around loosely.
My commitment costs too much. So the next time they ask you to do something, I want you to pause. "Hold on one second. Are you expecting me to be committed? Let me run something off to you. I got a priority list. This comes, this comes, this comes. Anything that is antithetical to this, I can't commit to."
I preach live on Sunday. By Sunday evening, it's up live. Which means you have from Sunday 5:00 PM till the next Sunday at 10:29 to be committed to a word a week. How in the heck do you go a week without a word? Because you ain't committed.
Jesus tells them, "Y'all get in the boat. Go to the other side." Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from the land. A strong wind had risen and they were frightened. I need you to catch this: while everyone is shouting for a new start, breakthrough is your ability to overcome new storms.
He puts them in a boat and a storm breaks loose. I wonder how many of your lives in 2022 were hit by storms you didn't see coming. You started strong, but a storm struck loose. I'm preaching to five of you who made it through your fast last year and you felt like it was going to be the best year of your life. Then a storm broke loose.
The men in the storm are professional fishermen, yet they're terrified. Sometimes God will place you in a storm that your expertise can't handle, that your background can't handle. I remember when I was with Rod on the road in a restaurant in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was exhausted, and I kept asking, "You okay?" He said, "Yeah, man. It's been going fast." I started noticing a draining on him, only for him to call me and say, "Hey, I'm at the hospital. I got cancer. They want me to do dialysis."
He was hit with a storm. Hit with a storm. Hit with a storm. Don't be arrogant enough to think you can't get hit with a storm. This is why I need you to get committed so you can heal.
Many of you are going to continue making bad decisions because you're sick spiritually. And because you're sick spiritually and emotionally, you keep confusing your triggers with discernment. You keep seeing stuff you ain't delivered from and then saying, "Oh, my discernment said no." No, that ain't discernment. That's a trigger.
When a storm breaks loose, you want to know why you should shout? The Bible says a storm breaks loose, but nowhere in the scripture does it say they turned around. If a storm breaks loose, how many times have you been getting ready to go somewhere, look out the window, you hear thunder, then you hear rain. Then you say, "If it's rain, it ain't." If a storm breaks loose, I'mma stay right here. Which is why you never get to the level God wants you to be.
Committed people don't run from storms. Committed people keep going in the middle of a storm. You ought to shout, "Lord, this year, give me the faith to keep moving in any storm that you throw my way. God, I will not turn around. I will not leave."
Commitment is what determines if a storm breaks you or if you break through.
What if they come home tomorrow and say, "I just don't want to be with you no more"? You're going to stop. Take some time and cry because it's going to hurt. Take some time and say, "I need a minute." Go into solitude. But let me free you: we're not going to stay stuck.
What if you go to work tomorrow and they ask everybody to come to the conference room and every name they call, they say, "We're so sorry, but we got to let you go"? No, we're going to cry because you got real bills. I'm not going to present this idea that you have to end right when it happens. But I trust God.
Sometimes you're going to get hit with a storm. Sometimes you get hit with something you ain't see coming and it's going to mess you up. Part of you might not be the same. Let's be real. Put your raincoat on. Put your rain boots on. Get you an umbrella. If you got to cry and cuss, keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.
The disciples are panicking. Look at verse 24. The storm breaks loose. They're fighting the waves. They're holding the water back. Water in the boat. Dump the water out the boat. Hold on. Man the stations. Man the stations. Man the stations.
Here's what's crazy: the storm wasn't killing them, but the storm did change their behavior. Jesus shows up walking on what's driving them crazy. They see Jesus, but you miss your shout.
In verse 22, Jesus says, "Get in the boat and cross to the other side." In verse 24, they're panicking because the storm came loose. What if they're panicking in 24 because they weren't paying attention in 22? In verse 22, God gave them a prophecy, but they missed it.
Jesus didn't say, "Get in the boat and sink." He said, "Get in the boat and cross to the other side." I don't care if a storm breaks loose. If He gave me a word before the storm, the same word He gave me before the storm is the word He's going to give me in the storm. And the word God told me to tell you: you ain't seen nothing yet. God did not bring you this far just to bring you this far. Stay committed.
They see Jesus and they yell, "It's a ghost!" Courage to commit will require you to pivot while others panic.
Let's say a storm breaks loose and you get laid off tomorrow. Don't panic. Just pivot. Question number one: How do I get a severance? Question number two: Will y'all write a recommendation for where I'm going because this clearly wasn't my issue? Step number three: What's my next move?
Peter had to pivot by realizing that if I do what everybody else is doing, I'ma get what everybody else has gotten. Peter's on the boat. Everybody's panicking. Jesus comes walking up and they shout, "It's a ghost!" And Peter says, "I'm committed. Is that you, Jesus? Is that you?"
While everyone was afraid and talking about the storm, Peter started talking to the one who controlled the storm. The next time somebody calls you and says, "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" I'm sorry. You don't control the storm. Realistically, I don't owe that to you. After I talk to you, your track record has proven you're not going to do nothing but say, "Man, that ain't right."
In 2023, if you can't control the storm or if you can't at least put me in a bunker till it stops, the courage to commitment will require you to purge away from boat folk mentality. We got too many boat folk people around us. Before Peter could walk on water, he had to first walk away from people.
We're always so ready to shout about him walking on water. No, he walked away from his partners. The first walk he made was away. I want to ask you a question. In 2023, this is a very important question: Who's on your boat? Some of your boats too big. Are you connected to committed people? Are you connected to courageous people?
I am going to be so aggressive in my push for you to go get it this year. Even if you fail, let me be honest. Even if you fail, even if you fail, I'mma push you to go get it. And when I fail, I'm gonna start putting it on the screen, and we all going to laugh.
The other day on Facebook, I felt the Holy Spirit lead me to share how I had a night of anxiety. I wrestled with anxiety. By the time I looked up, the sun was out. I'm sitting here and I finally had gotten myself together, and the Holy Spirit said, "Share that because you weren't the only one up."
I'm in the den having a conversation with the Holy Spirit. I'm the pastor. I can't be coming off all perfect. He said, "No, that's transparency." I probably had a thousand inboxes saying, "Pastor, thank you. I feel like I ain't slept in six months."
If I'm going to be committed to you guys, I can't just show y'all success stories. I got to be able to stand here and say, "Hey, you ain't crazy. My kids got issues too." I ain't got it all together either. I messed up this week. Just want to let y'all know I messed up this week.
I made every plan to tell the people I love, "Hey, God bless you. You know I love you, right?" And they just kept talking. They met Mike from Inland. So you see anything on Instagram like, "Y'all pastor cussed me out"—it was true. I did it. They kept pushing my buttons. But they deserve to see a real pastor, not a fake one.
You want to know one of the coldest things about Jesus and the twelve disciples? They had no shoes. They just walk. Can you imagine their feet walking all throughout the whole Bible? They're walking on dirt. There's no cement roads. It's dirt. Which is why the text says when you come into the house, shake the dust off your feet.
The gospel was transported by dirty feet. Which is why when He comes into Mary's house, she washes His feet. One of the greatest ministry moments in the Bible is a dirty situation. Yet we become a church full of people who only show clean stuff.
One of my staff members got pregnant, and I could just tell they were terrified to tell me. You know how church people are: "You're going to get set down. You're going to get fired. You're going to make the church look bad." No. Look at me, girl. Come here. That's life. Come here. I love you. What do you need? Are you okay?
We ain't your family when you're up. We find out if you're committed. No. I turn my back on nobody. I don't care how nobody feels about it. One of the most loving, kind, blessed people I ever seen in my life—no, we your family. We in this. You ain't sat down. You ain't passed my will.
We need to have some type of standard of holiness. But the church is only concerned about discretion over deliverance. We want you to keep it quiet. If you can keep it quiet, you're cool. No. All have sinned, falling short of the glory of God. If we don't stop throwing people away, who we going to help?
This is why Jesus shows up when they're about to stone this girl for doing something. He started writing stuff in the dirt. Then He said, "He who is without sin cast the first stone." And the Bible said they left from the oldest to the youngest. I believe the oldest left because they had been living long enough and had way more dirt than the young boys. Before He would write my mess on His page—if He had a Facebook, before He put it on his page—let me go and leave this situation.
How much does your commitment cost?
Peter looks at Jesus and says, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you on the water." Verse 29: "Yes, come," Jesus said to Peter. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on water.
I want to fix something that I've always said wrong. I've always preached it how I saw it, but I've been seeing things differently. Watch this. "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you to walk on water." Jesus says in verse 29 the same thing He says to Lazarus: "Come."
When He was in the graveyard, He said, "Lazarus, come forth." Because had He not said Lazarus' name, everything dead would have gotten up. Had He just said, "Come forth," everything dead would have gotten up. So that word was specific to Lazarus.
But when I look at this particular scripture, verse 29, all it says is "yes, come." Jesus said—period. Which means what? The invitation to get out the boat was an open invitation. They stayed on the boat because they didn't have a certain level of commitment. They rather fight the storm than be with the one who can control it.
Peter was committed to obedience, not the outcome. We often shout that this is my season to walk on water as if Peter walking on water was about accomplishing a goal. When in fact, Peter walked on water only because he wanted to be closer to God. Peter didn't even want to get out of the storm. He saw Jesus. He says, "If I'm going to die, I'mma be with you."
I preached this sermon before and said I'm a water walker. I need to go back and explain it because that's not the right take. The point isn't about walking on water. It's about being close to God, whatever the cost.
Peter was committed to obedience, not the outcome. We often shout that this is our season to walk on water as if Peter walking on water was about accomplishing a goal. When in fact, Peter walked on water only because he wanted to be closer to God. Peter didn't even want to get out of the storm—he saw Jesus and said, "If I'm going to die, I'mma be with you."
The point isn't about walking on water. It's about being close to God, whatever the cost. Being a water walker doesn't mean watch me start this business or go to another level. It means watch me show God how committed I am.
My commitment level to you will make me say I'm wrong. I want to be very clear with you. I love you, but I'm wrong. You right. You had every right to be upset with me and pride wouldn't let me. But I want to lose you.
My commitment level says, "God, here I am broken." I don't like me when I drink. I don't like me when I smoke. I don't like me when I fight. I don't like me when I'm outside your will. Whatever your issue is, at what point do you get real with God and say, "God, this year I want to be committed to being better"? Give me somebody who don't want nothing from me, who just want to help me stay committed. That's what we need.
That's why we do devotional energy. Do you know how tired they be in the morning time? They have to get up at 5:21 to get on there, but they're committed to it. Somebody watching me online, somebody in this room—the one thing that could flip your whole life this year is a commitment.
What if you committed to say, "No, I'm going just walk for 10 minutes"? That 10 turns into 15. That 15 will turn into 20. Drop back. But it might jump back up to 24. But I'm committed.
This morning, I laid in the bed when my alarm went off and I felt like a truck hit me. To the point where I laid there and tears came out. I said, "I'm tired." When that 4:14 went off, I jumped up and I told everybody, "That was the only battle I wanted to win today. If I don't preach good, I'll make it up next week. If I ain't do my best today, that's fine. The only battle I wanted to win this day today was if I could just get up when it go off." I was so proud of myself. I washed my face, jumped in the shower. I was so excited because on the first day of this year, I did what I said I was going to do.
I said I was going to eat right today. I'm positive I'm not going to do that. I ain't gonna lie. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I haven't eaten a day either. So I've been moving. I'm messing something up soon as I leave here. We're going to do that on the second. That's my goal for the second. But as far as getting up—see how funny that is? Then why are you so serious with yourself? Be real with you.
The devil knows that the power of the believer isn't in unity with other believers. Wait, let me say it again. The devil knows that the power of the believer is in unity with other believers. The devil knows that the power of the individual believer is in his unity with his brothers and sisters in Christ.
So what does he do? He manipulates us into making separate commitments. That's what he do.
On January one, as your pastor—if it's anything there between us for the first time since you've been knowing me, I'm not asking. I'm saying if you're going to be in my life, give God 21 days starting on the 8th. That's what I'm saying.
If you would commit, a lot of the stuff you asking me to pray for, we wouldn't even have to pray for if you would commit. I'm going to do things this year. We're doing our commitment board parties. You're going to start doing live popups. I'm bringing in financial people who's gonna sit down and talk about the 10/10 and how to budget. And if it's only nine people on that, I'm like, "Hey, next time you come to this altar and say, 'Pray for this,' I'm ask, 'Have you been committed to what you told God? Do you need that many shoes? Do you have to drive XYZ?'"
Most people don't mind starting over. We hate being seen as starting over. It ain't the start over that hurt us. It's folks seeing us start over. What happened to your will? Well, you know, I had... What if you can do something today so you can do something people can't do tomorrow? It starts with commitment.
On the first Sunday of the year, I'm not going to do an altar call. I pray that God gives you the strength to honor your commitments. God, I pray that in this moment, if it's a commitment to their relationship, if it's a commitment to a career, if it's a commitment to an idea, a commitment to be better—I don't know what it is that's between you and them. God, I don't want to be a tour guide. I don't want to be a travel agent, somebody who books them flights to go somewhere that they'll never go with them. I want to be a tour guide this year. I want to go in the jungle and show them the different things that can kill their commitment.
To every man in this room, God, give him the strength to remain committed. Let him be the best man he can be first. Because God, a father is a role. Husband is a role. Who he is, is a man. And so many people are expecting us to play roles that we don't know how to play because we were never taught how to really just be men.
God, I pray right now for any man who's having a fight to be in his child's life. Give them the courage to be committed. Give them the courage. God, I ask that you give them the courage even if it takes them humbling themselves and just saying, "Hey, you know, that was wrong. I just want to see my daughter. I just want to see my son."
I've seen personally the impact of a good father. God, I went through years where people came at me on social media, especially in my city. Every week I was going viral. I would have killed myself on certain days had not I had a daddy who was constantly telling me who I was. God, what kept me alive was my daddy saying, "Mike, I got you now. Listen to me. What I told you when you was 12, you going to change the world?"
On those dark nights when I sat there with pill bottles, when I would just sit in my driveway because I didn't want to go in the house—sometimes my kids would see that stuff. I felt weak that I wasn't clapping back and my sons and daughters would see that stuff. It was the words of my father that kept me sane. Truth is I never believed in me. I believed in his belief in me.
God, I pray for every father in this room—give them the ability to be just that. Not a daddy but a father.
God, I pray for every woman in this room. God, every woman, let her be everything that you called her to be. A Proverbs 31 woman. God, I pray right now because sadly so many of them have had to wear so many hats and carry so much weight. So many of them have never had a season where they could just breathe.
Every season of their life has been recovering from this and fighting for this and holding this down and fixing this and repairing this and healing from this. God, I speak peace over their life. God, I speak a peace that surpasses all understanding. God, give them that peace that guards their heart and mind.
If it's any anger, if it's any hurt, if it's any necessary resentment—because God, sometimes that resentment is real. God, I believe sometimes you even give us a small dose of resentment as a reminder on what not to touch again. So God, in this season, I pray right now that you would do a work on them, not from the outside in.
So many of them spend so much money and time on the outside. So much money at a salon, so much money for a wig, so much money for a purse, so much money for some clothes, so much money for makeup, so much money for shoes. No investment on their spirit. God, we'll sit in a salon to get braids for 10 hours, but can't sit through a two-hour Bible study.
God, help us to be committed because God, the truth of the matter is we commit to what we want to commit to. God, we're not going to play that game this year to make it seem like it's hard to commit. No. When we need a cut, we commit. When we hungry, even if we dog sick, we cook because we committed to eating. God, we pay bills because we committed to keeping our stuff.
God, I speak by faith. You will stop. You will no longer be the last one on my list of commitments. Help them be a mother, God. Help them be the best wife you called them to be. God, help us be your children.
God, I thank you for all you did in 2022. God, you showed out in some of our lives. The older I get, I thank you for the "no's" you gave me. I had opportunities to act and opportunities to go other places. I thank you for the "no" because even when I look back at it now, had I said yes, I would have missed half of the season. Sometimes I would have missed my son winning a championship.
God, I can see to the point you see around the point. So God in this moment I thank you for the "no's." I thank you for the closed doors. I thank you for the valleys.
God, teach us to understand that the true transformation don't come on the mountain top. True transformation comes in the valley. If true transformation came on the mountain, we wouldn't have to bury seeds. Transformation happens in dark places. Grapes turn into wine in dark places. Seeds turn into plants in dark places. Film gets developed in dark places.
God, right now, give me the strength to stop running to just the light. Give me the strength to stay committed in dark places so we will be all that you've called us to be. Not by power, not by might, but by your spirit, saith the Lord.
God, as we prepare for an incredible 2023, I see you is on for the committed. You going to knock down doors. You going to open barriers. You're about to move in ways we never dreamed. Testimonies are coming where cancer will be healed. Children are coming home. Families will be united, reunited.
God, I speak by faith. You're going to do exceeding and abundant above all we even asked you. God, I'm crazy enough to speak in this moment that whatever prayer they prayed, you going to triple that. That God, you going to give them stuff that they didn't even pray for. You going to open doors that they didn't even knock on. You're going to keep doing what only you know how to do.
But God, I pray a special prayer because you're going to do it. Don't let it break our commitment. The devil is slick. If the devil thinks a blessing will trump our commitment, he'll move out the way so we can get blessed.
The devil will let us get a new car because he can look at our past habits and tell a new car, you'll wash it on Sunday instead of worshiping on Sunday. The devil will let them have a man. Let them have a woman because he knows you rather kick it with them than get back in your word.
So God, don't let the stuff we praying for be a commitment blocker. Let us stay focused and locked on you. It is in Jesus name I pray.
