I wrote down a lot of T.D. Jakes quotes from his latest sermon titled ‘No Room For Distractions’ because it moved me so much. It was one of those sermons that make you want to get up, do good things, be better, and live the life you should be living. It was a sermon I really needed to hear because I can honestly say that I think the lessons in it are going to change my life. I’m assuming there are other people out there who need to hear it too. Following are a few of the quotes from T.D. Jakes that I wrote down while I was watching this incredible sermon.
1. It’s Time To Set Your Face Towards What You Want
Do you know when it’s your hour? The point and stage where things become valuable to you and become important enough to you that you can not afford distractions?
T.D. Jakes said that in order to step into the life you want, you have to set your face towards what you want. You have to focus on what you want.
I’ve heard this said in many different ways before, but he made everything clear as he talked in his sermon.
This is one of the big reasons I don’t feel like I’m moving towards the life I want. I haven’t set my face towards it. I’m looking left, I’m looking right, and worse – I’m often looking backward. How can I get to where I’m going if I’m looking backward?
For now on, I’m going to work on setting my face towards where I’m going.
2. Get All The Way In The Bed
Maybe the reason you keep falling out is because you’ve never gotten all the way in.
T.D. Jakes told a story of a kid (I think it’s a kid) who keeps falling out of bed and doesn’t know why. The person he asks (maybe his mother… I wasn’t listening to the details obviously) tells him it’s probably because he never gets all the way in.
Oh, man, that’s a good visual for why we aren’t getting what we want to get. We aren’t getting all the way in.
Distractions like fear, uncertainty, procrastination, and inability to decide are keeping one foot out and one foot in. How we can have true power in our vision if we are only half in?
The lesson I got: If you keep falling out of where you want to be, maybe it’s time to get ALL the way in – mind, body, and soul.
3. Don’t Waste Time And Energy On Little Battles That Will Distract You From The Ultimate Win
Sometimes the enemy will draw you into a fight that has nothing to do with your destiny and purpose.
This was a huge lesson! The biggest thing I took from it was that fighting little battles can soak up a lot of your time and keep you from looking ahead and doing what you need to do to achieve the life you want.
T.D. Jakes also said:
Some of you are so busy trying to prove you’re tough enough to win the battle, you lose the war.
My husband had a really good point about this. He pointed out that when someone doesn’t want you to progress or move forward towards a win, they will engage you in some little battle that keeps your attention and causes you to stray from what you were doing. (Big leaders seem to be doing this more and more.) Then, while you are busy fighting the battle, they find a way to win the war.
4. Walk In Faith That All Good Things Are Coming
Your anger is a manifestation of unbelief.
When T.D. Jakes said this, something opened up in my brain. It seemed clear all of a sudden. All the stress, anger, and worry I was feeling were caused simply from a lack of faith.
When bad things happen, it can feel devastating – like your whole world has crumbled. That devastation can keep you stuck on what went wrong, why it shouldn’t have gone wrong, and how you wish it would have gone.
With faith, you can move past the failures and struggles – let them go and keep your focus forward – because you believe that something better is coming.
What’s interesting is that my friend sent me a message after this sermon and sent me a picture of a planner she was thinking about buying. The cover said, ‘Walk In Faith’. She doesn’t watch T.D. Jakes, so she wouldn’t have heard his sermon and been thinking about his message. I took it is a sign that this was something very important for me to work on moving forward.
5. You Can’t Act As If, You Got To Be
People who focus on doing often end up with wrong spirits because our faith is not so much about doing as it is about being.
Another powerful T.D. Jakes quote that will change my life forever.
Here’s what I got out of it: I am a good person. When it comes to ethics and doing what feels right for me, I can be that person all day long. I’ve transformed myself into that person. But I am not ‘being’ when it comes to faith, my work, and some other things. I’m doing. I’m showing up here and there, but it’s not built into who I am. And that puts my spirit in the wrong place, so I’m unable to walk in faith, keep my focus, and create the ultimate life I want to create.
6. When Doors Shut, Keep The Faith
Whenever somebody shuts a door, it’s always a sign that God’s about to open a door.
This quote is a great reminder that when opportunities get shut down and things don’t work out the way I thought they were going to work out, that just means that there is something better coming along. Another door will be opened. Somebody else will open it for me. And it’s a door that I’m supposed to be going through.
Note: I highly recommend watching this sermon for yourself. It’s a good one! If you come here the week I write this article, you can check out the Sunday sermon on The Potters House by clicking ‘Watch Online’ then ‘Watch Rebroadcast’ then ‘Sunday Replay’. But, you may also find it online somewhere by searching for ‘No Room For Distractions by T.D. Jakes’.
