Fixate PHX

John 13:1–15 — 31–35

How to walk in the broken, bleeding, and washing love of Jesus

1 – Love washes what you never could, breaks and pours itself out in a way you could never repay, and then turns around and tests you to see if you have fully understood that you are called to do the same. Love in its fullness is not just the receiving of the gift of Jesus, it is the washing of the grime of sin. Trusting our Saviour wants us to know he doesn’t just pay the cost, he removes that which makes us feel unworthy of the cost he paid. Don’t lift the bread to your lips if you won’t let the water touch your wounds. We take communion, and we are washed.

2 – The spectrum of people in this story shows a love that transcends barriers, exceptions, and stereotypes we place on it. He washes Judas’ feet right before his betrayal… he washes Peter’s feet right before his denial… he washes the disciples’ feet and takes communion right before all abandon him except John. Meaning it doesn’t matter if you betrayed, denied, or abandoned… there’s a God who washes, and a God who invites you into communion with him. He didn’t just wash the “faithful few”; he washed the ones who would fail him by morning. Your failures… can. be. washed.

3 – “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” It’s impossible to walk in the love of Christ if that love is not allowed to wash away all the things we don’t love about ourselves, all the ways people robbed us of love, all the misconceptions and failed promises we have about love, and all the times love has failed. When love washes you, it washes the way that you love others, forcing you to act in a way contrary to the flesh and only credited to his Spirit… a washed love washes us and will not allow us to not wash others.

Lament

1. Pray this prayer: “Jesus, I admit I have often believed your cross paid for me, but still lived like the parts of me I hate are beyond your washing. I’ve taken communion while secretly agreeing with shame, acting as if I’m too much, too dirty, or too broken for real, daily love. Teach me today the love of your washing grace in the dirty parts of my humanity. Teach me to come to the one who longs to forgive and to cleanse.” Take a minute or two and in a silent whisper name the things you are giving to Jesus today to cleanse. After you give him those things and run out of things to name, center yourself and slowly repeat the phrase, “show me your ways of love and washing today” for another minute or two.
2. Pray this prayer: “Jesus, I confess I have chosen ‘safe’ people to love while you knelt before a betrayer, a denier, and friends who would abandon you by morning. I’ve held a towel in my hands but kept score in my heart, deciding who is worth my time instead of loving as one who’s been washed. Teach me the gift of being washed of my dirt is the grace, forgiveness, and ability to wash others of theirs.” Take a minute or two in silent reflection and whisper the names of people you are choosing to forgive and wash their feet. After a moment of silence, ask the Lord if further behavior is being asked of you as a sign and symbol that you have been washed and are willing to wash others.

2 Samuel 9:1–8

2 Samuel 4:4–6

How to Belong Even If You’re Questioning Your Place

1 — The Baggage Your Name Carries Does Not Mean You Don’t Belong His father and grandfather were the failed kings of Israel. His name and image were forever tarnished before he ever stepped into independent personhood. God can redeem what you lost and bring you into being found by only His goodness and His grace. It’s so much easier to hold onto why you don’t think you have a place than to trust that God will bring you into a place that only His power could. Belonging is rooted in what you believe about yourself before you are ever invited to sit at the King’s table.

2 — Your Deformities and Deficiencies Do Not Mean You Don’t Belong The areas in which people have hurt you that weren’t your fault can easily become the reason we never re-engage with life in God and with others—because we think it’s easier to be alone and protected than in a group and exposed. No one gets to dictate whether you belong or not besides you. There is always a seat open at the King’s table; you have to decide if you’re okay with it having others sitting around it. Stay in the pack. Run towards the roar.

3 — You Don’t Have to Believe What Your Circumstances Have Said Over Your Life Belonging is all about having faith that He works all things for your good. The thing he wasn’t proud of (his family) was the very thing that gained him access. His name meant “from the mouth of shame.” He described himself as a “dead dog,” yet in one single day he found himself at the King’s table—with his fortune, title, and status restored. Don’t let the outside defeat the inside, because God can change the outside faster than He can change your inside.

Genesis 32:22-32

HOW TO FIND SAFETY FOR YOUR SOUL

1- SAFETY FIRST COMES WHEN I REALIZE I CAN ONLY GET IT FROM GOD. OFTENTIMES IT IS AFTER YOU HAVE WRESTLED WITH EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE THAT YOU START TO SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING ALL ALONG TO KEEP YOU SAFE. When God wrestles you, it’s not to destroy you — it’s to drain you of everything that’s been pretending to be Him, and then reveal who he has been all along.

2. Safety is understanding what Godly protection is.. That we all will walk through wounding as a way to reveal that thinking we can win without him will always produce losing over the long haul. We must learn that our safety will never come from our power, only his. I’d rather walk with a limp and know who I am, than run fast and not know who I am or where I am going. Safety is about staying close to the one who has the power to protect, sustain, strengthen, and bring peace.

3. Safety is the trading in of the old name you built, for the new name Jesus blood purchased. God can’t rename and redefine what you won’t acknowledge and give to him. Jacob didn't need new circumstances; he needed a new identity. Oftentimes we pray for God to change our situation, but God first starts with who we are and what we believe internally, before he handles the circumstances of what we face externally.

4- You can limp your way into peace if God’s walking with you.. and the wound that hurts you can also become the evidence that He held you, and protected you. The limps and scars are the safety of a God who seeks to show you; he alone is your salvation.. And for a life with a testimony of you wrestled, you survived, and you found safety in God.. this is where true fruit comes from.

Lament time

1- WHERE HAVE I SOUGHT PRETEND SAFETY INSTEAD OF GOD?

What have I grabbed for—control, success, image, relationships, money—to feel safe? What do I fear losing that secretly rules me?

Prayer: “Lord, drain me of every counterfeit refuge. You alone are my safety.” Breathe in: “God is my refuge.” Breathe out: “I release control.”

2- WHAT WOUND / LIMP AM I RESISTING THAT GOD IS USING TO PROTECT ME?

Where has He “touched my hip”—shut a door, slowed my pace, humbled my strength—so I’ll stay close? How have I been trying to run again instead of rest again?

Prayer: “Jesus, I receive the mercy of my limp. I would rather walk slowly with You than sprint without You.”

— Lay your hand on the place that hurts. If its mind or heart touch your head or chest.. and pray for his healing power to restore you.

1- I GIVE NOT BECAUSE GOD NEEDS FROM ME, BUT RATHER TO SAY THROUGH MY SACRIFICE, “I TRUST YOU GOD..”

2- I give as a reminder im the steward of the masters talents, not the master of my own fate.

3- I GIVE FOR THE ROOT OF SELFISHNESS AND GREED TO BE DESTROYED IN MY HEART… AND FOR IT TO BE DESTROYED IN THOSE WHO ARE TO COME FROM ME AND AFTER ME.

4- I give because if he does not have the attention of my money, he does not have the full attention of my heart.

5- I GIVE BECAUSE THE NEEDS OF GODS HOUSE ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THOSE WHO PROFESS TO BE GOD'S PEOPLE

Proverbs 3:5-6

MATTHEW 23:23

MATTHEW 19:16-22

NEHEMIAH 10:28-39

John 9:1-11

4 main points and takeaways from this passage

1. God didn’t just pull me out of the dirt. He used the dirt to make me see.

• (John 9:6)

2. Before I ever tried to find Jesus. He found me first

• (John 9:1)

3. Sight comes after the surrender

• (John 9:6-7)

4. When God changes how you see, it changes how you live

• (John 9:8-9)

LUKE 21:1-4

Luke 12:15-21

LUKE 16:10-13

COLOSSIANS 3:23-24

4 thoughts on a poverty mindset rooted in need

1- We judge what others have because if we don't have it we think others don't deserve it.

2- We have a rational reason to not be generous and that rational reasoning takes the place of a faith we declare we profess.

3- WE LOOK UPON THOSE WHO WE THINK OUR “RICH”, AND THINK THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO GIVE MORE TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I CANNOT. NOT REALIZING THAT WITHHOLDING FROM GOD IS JUST ANOTHER LAYER OF GREED WE TRY TO TELL OURSELVES IT ISN'T… NEED CAN PRODUCE GREED JUST AS MUCH AS GREED PRODUCES MORE GREED.

4- We only view the world through our need… and WE SEEK to position ourselves relationally and personally to try to in our own strength to produce more to comfort our situation, USING AND LEVERAGING OTHERS FOR GAIN.. When we are generous we are saying you meet my needs, you have all the power, you are my identity, and you have the greatest influence in my life.

4 thoughts on a prosperity mindset rooted in greed

1- Is accumulating money for my glory or is it rhythmically and routine partnered in generosity for his glory? You can't say he gets the glory if the only thing you use your finances on is to produce your own..

2- Do I have contentment and gratitude for what I have currently? Or does a feeling of lack, rooted in comparison and coveting, fuel my lifestyle to always have more?

3- As my life is elevated, is my generosity elevated? YOU CAN GIVE AND STILL BE GREEDY.. Bare minimum effort and activity gets bare minimum fruit, just as no effort or activity gets no fruit..

4- Greed is foundationally about power and control. We inadvertently become our own God not realizing we have gained the whole word and lost our souls… we are not in control.. And we do not have ultimate power.. Generosity is about submitting your thirst for power and your need to control to God in trust that he will bring the fulfillment I truly seek.

4 THOUGHTS ON BIG-PICTURE STEWARDSHIP

1- I HAVE RIGID ROUTINE IN MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE THAT CIRCUMSTANCES DONT DICTATE DEVIATIONS FROM.

2- I OWN THE LITTLE OF THINGS RELATED TO MY TIME, ATTENTION, AND RESOURCE BECAUSE I KNOW IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

3-THE STEWARDSHIP OF MY TIME, ATTENTION, RESOURCE IS ALL UNTO GREATER SENSITIVITY AND DEEPER DISCERNMENT.

4- ONCE I START IN THE STEWARDSHIP JOURNEY THERE IS STRONG RESISTANCE AT FIRST.. THAT SLOWLY GIVES WAY TO A REALIZATION THAT I CANNOT STOP…. AS I FEEL FUELD DAILY BY MY LIFE IN GOD AND TANGIBLE SENSE A COMMUNIONING WITH HIM.

Matthew 25:14-29 –

How to live in the multiplied and not buried talents.

1- Tithing is a floor not a ceiling. Test Him and see.

2- Spiritual maturity is when my life has rhythmic, routine, regular, boring, secret, and consistent generosity. We live in a day and age of knowing the words to say to pass the Christian eye test… but it is the rhythmic activity of the heart showing lordship… that God is able to see how we are using the talents He has given us.

3- Money is not bad, but our views of it, worship of it, fixation of it and withholding of it; is. You're either a hand that’s releasing it or a hand burying it, and you're not robbing God, you're robbing God of an opportunity to show you He's more in control than you could ever realize.

4- Giving under the pretense of getting only produces death, and giving that seeks to dictate to its passion points only robs faith of the reward of its secret work. Trust, believe, and let it go.

Luke 2:25–40

How a Remnant of People Walk in a Sensitive and Discerning way

1 – We live righteous and holy in order to see what others can’t, and say what others won’t. Simeon and Anna were on a different wavelength not because they were born Levites or trained to be Pharisees and Sadducees, but rather because they took seriously the call to devote their lives to God. Full ownership given to the Spirit in your life gets full access to the Spirit and the life it brings. Every part of you must serve, and be submitted and surrendered, to every part of Him.

2 – Righteousness and holiness must start in your life with what is unholy and unhealthy being brought to the light of His Spirit in repentance and in a posture to be transformed. It is an ownership over your patterns, disciplines, habits, and desirous appetites that becomes the seedbed for a life in the Spirit to take root and thrive. You will never step into discerning and sensing the Spirit for others if you cannot and will not discern and follow the Spirit for yourself first. Before Anna and Simeon discerned baby Jesus in front of them by the Spirit of God, they had decades of faithfulness to discerning and sensing that Spirit in the devotion of how they lived—in righteousness, in prayer, in worship, and in the frequency of life in the temple of God. We start small in order to live big.

3 – The challenge and new course direction of Fixate on its third-year anniversary is to become a house of Annas and Simeons—devoted to righteousness and holiness in such a way that we would discern the Spirit of God before the concept was even realized, carry a message from God when their status in life said they couldn’t, see the image of God in the midst of those who—even when trained to see—were blind to find it, and live a life of remembrance because they did something before anyone else ever did. Righteousness, holiness, sensitivity, discernment; this is who we are becoming.

Daniel 1:3–9

Daniel 6:10–13, 16-23

How to Become a Person Defined By Holy Habits

1. Holy habits are God-focused patterns that sow seed in the soil of daily life that yield fruit of a relationship of intimacy and proximity in the life of tomorrow. Holy habits are not activities; they are disciplines that submit and surrender unholy appetites and unhealthy desires, that then allow God to resurrect you in spiritual health and wholeness. In the beginning it is more training your appetites to say no and drawing the lines of what you don’t do, before those appetites rewire you into living in a way you were never meant to live.
2. Have you come to be defined as one who constantly serves God? What got Daniel in trouble was that he constantly served God. But in even greater detail, the king over all the land doesn’t even know the God Daniel serves by name, only that his life is lived in such a way that he constantly serves Him. Renewing your life, focus, and functionality is what determines if the title rests on you of a constant servant of God. If you will take seriously the call of constant service, the blessing is discovering and sensing a God with you, around you, and inside of you, in every season and aspect of your life.
3. Even the smallest patterns of renewal in this day and age can be the very resistance needed for a shift in the climate of the world around you. Daniel started with prayer three times a day in quiet resistance to the modern order and by the end had a king passing a decree in which everyone was mandated to worship the God Daniel served. The king’s first decree went from worship me to worship Him. And this is the first step—turning the attention from worship of self, to worship of Him. His first decree missed the mark and the second decree corrected it. The king wanted to worship something; he just needed someone to show him, through how he lived, who was worthy to be worshiped.

Formulaic Process of Renewal – Holy Discontentment + Preparation (in secret) + Contending (in prayer) + Holy patterns + Remnant = A Region Renewed in the Spirit of God

2 Kings 18:1–6 2

Kings 20:1–10

What Defines a Life of Contending Prayer

1. Hezekiah’s first response when he is faced with discouraging news. “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” (20:3) Meaning, to develop a life of response from Heaven, I must produce these characteristics as a descriptor of who I am: someone who is walking with God in truthfulness, giving Him the whole of my heart, and knowing from this place I will produce good in His sight.
2. How deep does prayer really go for you? Contending prayer is a prayer that fights, wrestles, and grapples for the revelation of God in the areas I’m seeking Him. God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer? “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.” (20:5) God hearing prayers and seeing tears are two different things. Communication with no emotion is not healthy communication. Prayer with the depths of our souls comes out in the weeping bitterly and the praying pointedly, that then turns the Father heart towards His children. We contend in righteous awareness, vulnerability, and transparency, and the Spirit will respond. Be real, be raw, or don’t be anything.
3. Contending prayer doesn’t just believe for messages. It demands signs and miracles. “Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me?’” (20:8) Abnormality is embraced and even expected when we enter into a deeper understanding of what contending prayer is supposed to produce. Hezekiah shifted the shadows of the sun to confirm a word from a prophet. What ways do you need to shift your mindset to start to expect that God wants to reveal signs of His goodness, grace, and miraculous power in your everyday walk with Him?