FOUNDATION STATEMENT: To see change in our lives we must play our part by changing what we believe. – Matthew 12:33
I. Make the tree good. (Matthew 12:33).
A. There’s a tree or belief on the inside of all of us that’s producing fruit or the results in our lives
1. The fruit matches the tree, the results match the belief
a. You’re not going to have an apple tree that produces oranges
2. If you want to change the fruit you’re getting you have to get a new tree
a. If want to change the results in your life, you have to change what you believe
3. Make the tree good – Not make it happen
a. If you make the tree good, the fruit has no choice but to be good
b. God made the system like this, your circumstances have no choice, but to line up with your belief
B. We need to be focused on making the tree good
1. Jesus puts his focus on the tree, not the fruit; he puts his focus on the belief not the results
a. Jesus didn’t say make the fruit good; He said make the tree good
1) Whatever you make the tree, the fruit will be
b. He’s revealing to us to focus on the belief that’s in our hearts
2. Don’t be distracted away from the process of making the tree good, by what’s not happening in the natural
a. Don’t be distracted away from the process by negative reports, bad circumstances, or things not changing; be consumed with the process; be consumed with making the tree good
b. Don’t be results-minded, be process-minded. If you mind the process of making the tree good, the results will be there; If you do this the results will take care of themselves
c. What’s it matter what the doctor is saying? If you make the tree good, the doctor’s report will change and get in line with that tree?
3. We have to stop being so focused on what’s not happening on the outside and start being focused on what should be happening inside.
a. What should be happening on the inside is that my faith tree should be developing and growing daily. I should be watering that tree with the Word and giving light to that tree with the Word.
b. Let’s not be focused on the fruit that we have, but don’t want. Let’s be focused on the tree because if we change the faith tree, the fruit will change.
4. Let’s be so consumed and focused on growing and developing the right tree that we don’t even pay attention to the outside circumstances in life
a. Let’s be possessed by the seed-promise and the process that it has to go through
b. Let’s stop focusing on what’s not changing on the outside and start focusing on what is changing on the inside fully-knowing that when your faith-tree gets fully developed fruit and harvest will be the result
II. In the Kingdom of God system if we want change outside in life, then we must first of all start that process by changing what we believe in our hearts (Matthew 23:25-26)
A. We’ve made the outside faith, but inside is unbelief
1. We know the right things to say and the right faces to make when we are around believers, but what’s coming out when the pressure is of?
B. We have to acknowledge that in the Kingdom of God system the process of change works from the inside out
1. Any area where we are desiring to see change outside, we must first change our heart-belief inside
a. What the farmer has in the ground determines what he has out of the ground and if he wants to change what’s coming out of the ground he needs to change what he’s putting in the ground (Mark 4:26-30)
C.As believers we’ve been too flesh-minded in that too often we look to the outside at what’s not changing and what’s not happening and it distracts away from what should be happening inside
1. We got to fix our focus on making the tree good and changing the inside
a. I’m working the system and the system says if I make the tree good, the fruit will be good
D. The process of change takes place from the inside out. The only way to see change in your life is by first of all changing what’s in your heart. You don’t qualify for change outside if you aren’t willing to engage the process of changing what’s inside.
III. Your battle is not a physical battle (2 Corinthians 10:3)
A. Our battle is not in the realm of the flesh
1. You don’t have figure out how it’s going to happen or do something to make it happen (Mark 4:26-28)
a. The farmer’s battle was not to figure out how a harvest was going to come or to even make the harvest come. His battle was to take the seed out of the bag, put it in the ground, develop it, and if he did that he would see the harvest.
b. Our battle is not to figure out how the manifestation is going to come or to make the manifestation come. Our battle is to take the word-seed out of the bag, put it into the ground of our hearts, develop it into faith, and if we do that we’ll see the harvest.
2. The she shall be made whole will be the result of you fearing not and believing only (Luke 8:49)
B. Our battle is in the realm of the spirit and it’s to make the tree good
1. David’s battle with Goliath wasn’t about slingshots, rocks, and swords
a. David’s battle was about the faith in his heart and he won the battle in his heart
2. You’re not battling sickness and disease, you’re not battling depression, you’re not battling financial lack Jesus is Lord over sickness, disease, depression, and financial lack. He defeated those things and put them under your feet. (Ephesians 1:19)
a. Your battle is about what you believe in your heart.
C.Your fight is the fight of faith and that fight takes place in the heart (1 Timothy 6:12)
1. Fight the good fight of the faith tree
a. Fight – Used in both military and athletic endeavors to describe the concentration, discipline, and extreme effort needed to win
2. There’s a conflict going on and there’s somebody out there trying to stop you (Luke 8:12)
a. Satan’s trying to stop you from making the tree good
1) There’s going to be opposition to you making the tree good
3. Your fight is to make the tree good/to make your belief good because if you make the tree good the fruit will be good
a. What choice does the fruit have, if the tree is an apple tree? No choice, the fruit has to be apples.
b. My battle is to develop that tree of belief in my heart