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Part 4 of 19COURAGE TO COMMIT VOL. 2
Understanding the Keys: Principles, Not Just Promises
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Part 4 of 19COURAGE TO COMMIT VOL. 2
Understanding the Keys: Principles, Not Just Promises
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
In this series, Pastor Mike introduced us to the keys of the kingdom—what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom." The keys represent principles. When we say "I got the keys," we're saying "I got the principle."
Here's what's crucial: for every principle, there's a promise. Yet many of us are believing God to deliver promises in our lives while applying principles we have not yet embraced. We've learned to shout over promises, but in this season, we must learn to shout over principle.
Flipping isn't just a real estate concept—it's a faith skill. House flipping refers to buyers who purchase distressed, broken-down, worthless properties; fix them up; and resell them for profit. But here's the deeper truth: heart flipping refers to God purchasing distressed people, fixing them up, and redeeming them for a purpose.
Flipping is the ability to take what others overlook and make it overflow. Some people have more money than you but don't have more favor. They may have a greater title at work, but you have more influence. Why? Because you're a flipper.
Jesus flipped your life on the cross. He flipped you from living eternally in one place to another. He flipped you from depression into joy, from pain into power, from frustration into favor. God took the pain of your past, erased the evidence, and made you look like a new person. Because God is a flipper.
If we were created in God's image, and He is a flipper, then you're a flipper too.
It's okay to not be okay, but it's not okay to stay that way. Why? Because you're a flipper.
In this series, Pastor Mike introduced the principle of generosity and the mindset principle. Today's introduction is the principle of multiplication: God did not simply create us to maintain, but to multiply.
In Genesis 1:28, God blessed us and commanded—not asked, but commanded—us to be fruitful and multiply. God said: "I created you and I know that I created the ability and capacity within you to not settle for addition. I created you for multiplication."
Your identity carries the responsibility to multiply. When you show up, multiplication shows up. Someone brings you groceries, and you make a whole meal. Someone brings you an idea, and you have a whole business plan. That's the flipping anointing.
The Bible uses the word redeemer to describe God as a flipper. To redeem means to buy back something that has lost its value, fix it up, and increase its value beyond what it could ever be. When God saved you, He redeemed your potential.
You need two types of teams in your life:
Not everyone you build with can help build you up. A redeemed team grounds you. They anchor you. They keep you honest. They say, "I love you, but you're drifting the wrong way." That's why you connect to a local church—not just for your ambition, but for your anchor.
Jesus taught about three individuals who received talents. Two multiplied theirs; one maintained his. God called the one who maintained his talent wicked—not because he was immoral or had bad behavior, but because he settled for maintaining instead of multiplying.
When God looks you over at the end of your life, will He see things you left the same way He gave them to you? He gave you a child—He expects an adult. He gave you an anointing—He expects authority and power.
Everything in your life that's comfortable staying the same, you must make uncomfortable and say: "God did not create me to just maintain. He created me to multiply."
You cannot have multiplication without intimacy. Just as children cannot be birthed without intimacy, you cannot become all God has called you to be without intimacy with Him.
The greatest enemy to the life God created you to live is not the enemy—it's isolation. When you've been hurt, you say, "That's why I don't do people." You get frustrated at one job, so you get a new one and just go to work and go home. You go to church and go home. You won't get involved.
But here's the truth: the pain of isolation is heaviness. You end up carrying things by yourself that God didn't equip you to carry alone.
In Luke 9:12, late in the afternoon, the twelve disciples came to Jesus and said, "Send the crowd away. Send them to the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place."
They'd been walking with Jesus. He'd been preaching, laying hands on people. Church was good. But it was getting late, and they wanted Jesus to send everyone away so they could rest. How do you tell the Creator of time that it's getting late?
The disciples were being realistic. But here's what Jesus does: He tells hungry men to feed hungry people. "You give them something to eat."
Ain't it just like God to stretch your faith into making you give something to other people that you're praying for Him to give to you?
This message is for people who know what it's like to not have it all together, but you're still being a blessing to those around you. You're probably going through everything others are going through, but you're looking over what you need to give what they need.
You don't know how far you can go until you've had to go far hungry. You don't know how much you can do until you've had to do it broke. You don't know how much you can do until you've had to do it frustrated.
Just because you feel tired doesn't mean you can't serve people. People are hungry, and Jesus says: feed them. You're hurting, you're frustrated, you feel depressed—but go encourage somebody else. Your child is driving you crazy—but go speak life into a young person and tell them what God did in your life.
Because sometimes the greatest way to receive a blessing is to become a blessing.
When you have flipping faith, you don't just have faith in Jesus—you have faith like Jesus. Faith in Jesus says, "Jesus, come get me out of this storm." But faith like Jesus will start walking on water and tell other people to come on out.
It's a mindset flip. Your conversation shifts from "God, I need you to do something" to "God, if you can use anything, You can use me. Help me to meet the need."
After Jesus told them to feed the crowd, the disciples came back and said, "We only have two fish and five loaves of bread."
Be careful how the people around you talk to you. Sometimes elimination is birthed out of wrong conversations. The disciples looked at Jesus with limited resources and said, "We only have..." not realizing all He could do.
While they were being realistic, God needed faith. Some people are blocking their breakthrough because they're being too realistic. Faith is beyond logic. We walk by faith, not by sight. The enemy of your faith is not doubt—it's sight. What you can see can be the biggest lie in your life.
Faith is not foolishness. Faith is saying: "I have confidence in God's word in spite of the present situation. The ultimate solution will be a different story."
Yes, we only have two fish and five loaves. But the conversation can't stop there. The conjunction is: But my God is able to do exceedingly abundantly.
As long as the fish and bread were in the disciples' hands, they were only two fish and five loaves. But the moment they gave them to Jesus, everything changed.
As long as the fish and bread remained in the disciples' hands, they were only two fish and five loaves. But when they gave them to Jesus, everything changed. When you put the right things in the right hands, God will start breathing on stuff you didn't see coming. He'll make one video go viral that changes your whole business. He'll make one person change your whole life and invest in your dream. But as long as it's in your hands, you will always have not enough.
In John 6, there's a similar account where a young boy gave two fish and five loaves of barley bread. Barley bread was known as the poor man's bread—he gave out of his lack. He essentially said, "God, I trust you with this. I really don't have anything else left. If I give you this, my family might not eat."
Living faith isn't always easy, even in church where we preach it. But here's the truth: little becomes much when I put it in the right hands. Whatever you're struggling with, wherever there's lack, if you put it all in his hands, he can do in 10 days what you couldn't do in 10 years.
Jesus looked up and blessed the bread and fish. He took what was not enough and blessed it. The Bible literally says he blessed it. How did he bless it? He began thanking God.
Sometimes we only thank God for the big blessings, but I've learned how to thank God over the little stuff. Because if you can be grateful over the little bit, he can trust you with a whole lot more. Thank him for a roof over your head. Thank him for clothes on your back. Thank him for breath in your body.
You may not have the job you want, but thank God for the job you have. You might not have the car you want yet, but thank you for the car that you do have. You may not have it all figured out yet, but thank him for where he brought you from. God would not have opened the Valley location door for Rock City Church if we didn't thank him for Forestdale.
The text literally says he blessed it, then he broke it. I'm not talking about the bread or the fish—he blessed you, then he broke you. Many of us can handle the blessing, but in this season, God is trying to see if you can handle the breaking.
You will often find your purpose on the backside of your greatest pain. God will take your misery and turn it into your ministry. He breaks it because as long as the two fish stayed together, it was limited. As long as you try to act like you got it all together, you're limited and can't be used.
Jesus didn't allow anybody else to break it—only he was responsible for breaking it. When I was growing up, my grandmother Lucille had a house in Fountain Heights with a pecan tree and garden. One day I saw her pruning the flowers and plants, so I went outside and said, "I'm about to get some of this breaking action." She made me go find a switch and whooped me with it.
I said, "I just did what I saw you do." She replied, "Yep, I know where to cut. Your cut was leading to destruction. My cut was leading to development."
In this season, everybody ain't anointed to handle you in your breaking season. Some people will destroy you because they're not anointed to handle the broken pieces. The fact that he blessed you first before he broke you means that you're equipped with what you need to handle the breaking process.
Praise God for the breaking—what didn't kill you made you stronger. It made you wiser. It made you better. How would you know who you are if people didn't play you wrong?
He looked up. When I say focus, it's not just your eyes, it's your ears and your mouth. Everything needs to be focused in the right direction.
Anxiety is when you focus too much on the future. Depression is when you focus too much on the past. You need to flip what you have now. Flip this moment. This is your moment. You won't get this moment back.
With the breaking process, sometimes your heart will stay in bondage. Who do you need to forgive that broke your heart? Giving opens heaven, but forgiving opens hearts. Many of us are praying for an open heaven with a closed heart.
Jesus is the king of hearts, not the king of habits. He wants your heart. When you give, that's from your heart, not from your hand. Tithing is the heart test. Giving is a heart test. For where your treasure lies, that's where your heart will also be.
When you have focus in the head and freedom in the heart, it will lead to favored hands. I'm declaring over your life, whatever you touch will prosper. God is anointing your hands to prosper professionally and personally in your family.
Just like the disciples, they may have come with one basket but left with 12. I speak multiplication over your life. When you trust God and put it all in his hands, he'll begin to flip your life.
God, I ask that you breathe on places that we may be overlooking. Open our eyes to see what we may be overlooking that will unlock our overflow.
Wherever there were glass ceilings and limits, God is giving you a breaker's anointing to advance where you felt held up. Wherever your family was stuck in the cycle, you are generational curse breakers. God will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that's at work in us. It will work when we work it.
In this series, Pastor Mike introduced us to the keys of the kingdom—what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom." The keys represent principles. When we say "I got the keys," we're saying "I got the principle."
Here's what's crucial: for every principle, there's a promise. Yet many of us are believing God to deliver promises in our lives while applying principles we have not yet embraced. We've learned to shout over promises, but in this season, we must learn to shout over principle.
Flipping isn't just a real estate concept—it's a faith skill. House flipping refers to buyers who purchase distressed, broken-down, worthless properties; fix them up; and resell them for profit. But here's the deeper truth: heart flipping refers to God purchasing distressed people, fixing them up, and redeeming them for a purpose.
Flipping is the ability to take what others overlook and make it overflow. Some people have more money than you but don't have more favor. They may have a greater title at work, but you have more influence. Why? Because you're a flipper.
Jesus flipped your life on the cross. He flipped you from living eternally in one place to another. He flipped you from depression into joy, from pain into power, from frustration into favor. God took the pain of your past, erased the evidence, and made you look like a new person. Because God is a flipper.
If we were created in God's image, and He is a flipper, then you're a flipper too.
It's okay to not be okay, but it's not okay to stay that way. Why? Because you're a flipper.
In this series, Pastor Mike introduced the principle of generosity and the mindset principle. Today's introduction is the principle of multiplication: God did not simply create us to maintain, but to multiply.
In Genesis 1:28, God blessed us and commanded—not asked, but commanded—us to be fruitful and multiply. God said: "I created you and I know that I created the ability and capacity within you to not settle for addition. I created you for multiplication."
Your identity carries the responsibility to multiply. When you show up, multiplication shows up. Someone brings you groceries, and you make a whole meal. Someone brings you an idea, and you have a whole business plan. That's the flipping anointing.
The Bible uses the word redeemer to describe God as a flipper. To redeem means to buy back something that has lost its value, fix it up, and increase its value beyond what it could ever be. When God saved you, He redeemed your potential.
You need two types of teams in your life:
Not everyone you build with can help build you up. A redeemed team grounds you. They anchor you. They keep you honest. They say, "I love you, but you're drifting the wrong way." That's why you connect to a local church—not just for your ambition, but for your anchor.
Jesus taught about three individuals who received talents. Two multiplied theirs; one maintained his. God called the one who maintained his talent wicked—not because he was immoral or had bad behavior, but because he settled for maintaining instead of multiplying.
When God looks you over at the end of your life, will He see things you left the same way He gave them to you? He gave you a child—He expects an adult. He gave you an anointing—He expects authority and power.
Everything in your life that's comfortable staying the same, you must make uncomfortable and say: "God did not create me to just maintain. He created me to multiply."
You cannot have multiplication without intimacy. Just as children cannot be birthed without intimacy, you cannot become all God has called you to be without intimacy with Him.
The greatest enemy to the life God created you to live is not the enemy—it's isolation. When you've been hurt, you say, "That's why I don't do people." You get frustrated at one job, so you get a new one and just go to work and go home. You go to church and go home. You won't get involved.
But here's the truth: the pain of isolation is heaviness. You end up carrying things by yourself that God didn't equip you to carry alone.
In Luke 9:12, late in the afternoon, the twelve disciples came to Jesus and said, "Send the crowd away. Send them to the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place."
They'd been walking with Jesus. He'd been preaching, laying hands on people. Church was good. But it was getting late, and they wanted Jesus to send everyone away so they could rest. How do you tell the Creator of time that it's getting late?
The disciples were being realistic. But here's what Jesus does: He tells hungry men to feed hungry people. "You give them something to eat."
Ain't it just like God to stretch your faith into making you give something to other people that you're praying for Him to give to you?
This message is for people who know what it's like to not have it all together, but you're still being a blessing to those around you. You're probably going through everything others are going through, but you're looking over what you need to give what they need.
You don't know how far you can go until you've had to go far hungry. You don't know how much you can do until you've had to do it broke. You don't know how much you can do until you've had to do it frustrated.
Just because you feel tired doesn't mean you can't serve people. People are hungry, and Jesus says: feed them. You're hurting, you're frustrated, you feel depressed—but go encourage somebody else. Your child is driving you crazy—but go speak life into a young person and tell them what God did in your life.
Because sometimes the greatest way to receive a blessing is to become a blessing.
When you have flipping faith, you don't just have faith in Jesus—you have faith like Jesus. Faith in Jesus says, "Jesus, come get me out of this storm." But faith like Jesus will start walking on water and tell other people to come on out.
It's a mindset flip. Your conversation shifts from "God, I need you to do something" to "God, if you can use anything, You can use me. Help me to meet the need."
After Jesus told them to feed the crowd, the disciples came back and said, "We only have two fish and five loaves of bread."
Be careful how the people around you talk to you. Sometimes elimination is birthed out of wrong conversations. The disciples looked at Jesus with limited resources and said, "We only have..." not realizing all He could do.
While they were being realistic, God needed faith. Some people are blocking their breakthrough because they're being too realistic. Faith is beyond logic. We walk by faith, not by sight. The enemy of your faith is not doubt—it's sight. What you can see can be the biggest lie in your life.
Faith is not foolishness. Faith is saying: "I have confidence in God's word in spite of the present situation. The ultimate solution will be a different story."
Yes, we only have two fish and five loaves. But the conversation can't stop there. The conjunction is: But my God is able to do exceedingly abundantly.
As long as the fish and bread were in the disciples' hands, they were only two fish and five loaves. But the moment they gave them to Jesus, everything changed.
As long as the fish and bread remained in the disciples' hands, they were only two fish and five loaves. But when they gave them to Jesus, everything changed. When you put the right things in the right hands, God will start breathing on stuff you didn't see coming. He'll make one video go viral that changes your whole business. He'll make one person change your whole life and invest in your dream. But as long as it's in your hands, you will always have not enough.
In John 6, there's a similar account where a young boy gave two fish and five loaves of barley bread. Barley bread was known as the poor man's bread—he gave out of his lack. He essentially said, "God, I trust you with this. I really don't have anything else left. If I give you this, my family might not eat."
Living faith isn't always easy, even in church where we preach it. But here's the truth: little becomes much when I put it in the right hands. Whatever you're struggling with, wherever there's lack, if you put it all in his hands, he can do in 10 days what you couldn't do in 10 years.
Jesus looked up and blessed the bread and fish. He took what was not enough and blessed it. The Bible literally says he blessed it. How did he bless it? He began thanking God.
Sometimes we only thank God for the big blessings, but I've learned how to thank God over the little stuff. Because if you can be grateful over the little bit, he can trust you with a whole lot more. Thank him for a roof over your head. Thank him for clothes on your back. Thank him for breath in your body.
You may not have the job you want, but thank God for the job you have. You might not have the car you want yet, but thank you for the car that you do have. You may not have it all figured out yet, but thank him for where he brought you from. God would not have opened the Valley location door for Rock City Church if we didn't thank him for Forestdale.
The text literally says he blessed it, then he broke it. I'm not talking about the bread or the fish—he blessed you, then he broke you. Many of us can handle the blessing, but in this season, God is trying to see if you can handle the breaking.
You will often find your purpose on the backside of your greatest pain. God will take your misery and turn it into your ministry. He breaks it because as long as the two fish stayed together, it was limited. As long as you try to act like you got it all together, you're limited and can't be used.
Jesus didn't allow anybody else to break it—only he was responsible for breaking it. When I was growing up, my grandmother Lucille had a house in Fountain Heights with a pecan tree and garden. One day I saw her pruning the flowers and plants, so I went outside and said, "I'm about to get some of this breaking action." She made me go find a switch and whooped me with it.
I said, "I just did what I saw you do." She replied, "Yep, I know where to cut. Your cut was leading to destruction. My cut was leading to development."
In this season, everybody ain't anointed to handle you in your breaking season. Some people will destroy you because they're not anointed to handle the broken pieces. The fact that he blessed you first before he broke you means that you're equipped with what you need to handle the breaking process.
Praise God for the breaking—what didn't kill you made you stronger. It made you wiser. It made you better. How would you know who you are if people didn't play you wrong?
He looked up. When I say focus, it's not just your eyes, it's your ears and your mouth. Everything needs to be focused in the right direction.
Anxiety is when you focus too much on the future. Depression is when you focus too much on the past. You need to flip what you have now. Flip this moment. This is your moment. You won't get this moment back.
With the breaking process, sometimes your heart will stay in bondage. Who do you need to forgive that broke your heart? Giving opens heaven, but forgiving opens hearts. Many of us are praying for an open heaven with a closed heart.
Jesus is the king of hearts, not the king of habits. He wants your heart. When you give, that's from your heart, not from your hand. Tithing is the heart test. Giving is a heart test. For where your treasure lies, that's where your heart will also be.
When you have focus in the head and freedom in the heart, it will lead to favored hands. I'm declaring over your life, whatever you touch will prosper. God is anointing your hands to prosper professionally and personally in your family.
Just like the disciples, they may have come with one basket but left with 12. I speak multiplication over your life. When you trust God and put it all in his hands, he'll begin to flip your life.
God, I ask that you breathe on places that we may be overlooking. Open our eyes to see what we may be overlooking that will unlock our overflow.
Wherever there were glass ceilings and limits, God is giving you a breaker's anointing to advance where you felt held up. Wherever your family was stuck in the cycle, you are generational curse breakers. God will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that's at work in us. It will work when we work it.
