Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): You've tuned in to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast. We’re so glad to have you join us today as Pastor Paul Cannings concludes his message on our series, A Sincere Passion for Christ.

Through the passage in John chapter 12, Pastor Cannings shares how Mary does not appear to be self-conscious about those around her as she expressed her love for the Lord. It was an overflow from her heart. Here Pastor Cannings shares about Jesus's response in today's message titled, "Alone." Let's listen.

Dr. Paul Cannings: A long time ago, I was listening to an interview that was being done by a sports professional, a person playing professional sports. A person says to him, "How do you deal with all of the people who, when you do good, they are excited and they think you are wonderful, and then when you do bad, they are all negative and wish you would trade you, or all these things?" He says, "I choose not to focus on the information that is going across all of the social media channels and all that's happening in different sports radio networks and television networks. I just focus on what I've got to do."

"I focus on getting better. I look at the film, I see the mistakes that were made, and I fine-tune my skill, and I continue to fine-tune those skills. There's games that just doesn't go as planned, but because you're the key player, I focus on fine-tuning my skills." And many times the noise drowns out our focus, and instead of staying focused, we acclimate to the noise that is around us. And there’s going to always be noise.

That noise messes up our devotion. It affects our worship with God, our adoration, our worship with God. It affects our willingness to sacrifice because the noise makes us want to preserve ourselves, makes us want to protect ourselves, makes us want to do what we feel that we need to do in order to maintain our integrity before everybody and all of those type of things. Well, when we look at a story here in John chapter 12 that we spent all week on, focusing on passion, what our passion for God that we need to keep stirred up. Our passion for God, our love for God that we need to keep fresh and to keep our drive for God moving forward.

Like you would see with many great people in the Bible, Paul would say, "I'm pressing towards the mark, not that I have attained it already. I'm committed to that goal, and I'll press towards the mark of the high calling." So Paul says it cost me to sacrifice again, just like we talked about this week. I had to count it all loss. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees, Hebrew of Hebrews, but I had to count it all loss so that I could focus on what God is calling for me to do.

He talks about this, his commitment to worship, his adoration of God, keeping God high. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I no longer live, it is Christ that lives in me. I've learned whatever is good, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, to keep my eyes fixed on those things so the God of peace will be with me. I'm anxious for nothing, but I'm going to meet that anxiety with prayer and supplication. And that's why Paul finished his race well.

In our journey with God, in order to keep our love and passion for God, and the noise of life gets loud, Christ teaches us in this passage how to stay focused in what God has called us to do and to be. You see, in the midst of all that Mary's doing, she became the center of attention. Why? The room is filled with the odor, so that's number one. Number two, she just took her hair loose, and then she's washing Jesus's feet with this expensive perfume and drying it with her hair.

When you see this expensive perfume being just put on His feet, and His feet is not pretty to look at. It's bruised, and that's why she anointed it. It's got scratches on it. And then He's going to get right up with those same sandals and walk to Jerusalem. This could be a waste. With the room being filled with the odor and the expensive nature of this perfume, it could definitely be a distraction.

So she became the center of attention. You would think what would be the center of attention would be her devotion to Christ and the fact that she is appreciative of Him raising her brother from the dead after four days when she hopelessly cried in missing her brother. You would think that they would say she is so grateful, she is so appreciative of what Christ did for the family. You would think that her commitment to Christ and the fact that she is understanding that He is going to die and she wants to bless Him while He's living would be a sense of, "Yeah, she's getting it."

He's going down to Jerusalem. He's going to pass away and raise from the dead and He's going to suffer many things like He's been telling us. No, that's not where they are. They're trying to figure out who's going to be on the left, who's going to be on the right. They're running alongside a donkey not too long from now, and they want to know who's going to be in this great kingdom that Christ is going to establish. They're not there.

So this lady, you would think they would appreciate her sacrifice or worship of God. No, they're distracted by the fact that they're just going down to Jerusalem to take over, and they're nervous because they said this in John chapter 11 that they would try to kill You. So they've got all this on their mind, noise. So they don't even see the passion, the love, the gratitude this woman has for Jesus Christ and the fact that she got the message. He's going to die, and I'm preparing Him for His burial. They couldn't see any of this.

And as a result of that, the noise distracted them, and Christ has to refocus them. And that's what we find in verse four. He says, "Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, 'Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief." Judas is just talking, and they think he's a wonderful guy keeping the money. If you're keeping the money, then you're trusted.

Is the person speaking up in the room attached to Christ's message, attached to what the Word of God is teaching, or this person is receiving respect because of how we view them? It's kind of like Samuel going to the house of Jesse and saying, "This must be the king because he's tall and strapping, a soldier," not this little short, curly-haired guy that is taking care of sheep. God says, "I'm not into this stature. I'm into their heart."

We tend to go towards what the world says and how we relate and look at people and listen to who we're listening to. Christ is saying, "No, listen to Me." So one of the things that we have to recognize in order to keep the noise out and to focus on what God is calling us to do, and to be like Mary in our worship, in our devotion, and our sacrifice as we serve the Lord God, is who are we listening to? And are they lined up with Jesus Christ?

The only person that we must fix our eyes on is Jesus and run that race. And that's why He says in verse seven, and then Jesus—let them talk, let Judas talk, let him go ahead and say what he had to say. They're sitting around a table. It's not like Judas is outside. Jesus Christ is right there when he's saying what he's saying, like He doesn't know. That's what happens when you're the son of perdition; you walk in darkness, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4.

He's walking in darkness thinking he's the light, and he's speaking what he's saying to a person who knows everything, and he knows this. But no matter how many times he's seen Jesus walk on water or say "peace be still" on the water or raise the dead after four days, it doesn't matter because when we're blind, we're blind. Can't see nothing. That's how when we live in sin, that's how dark it is. Then said Jesus, "Let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this."

She knows exactly what she's doing. Y'all don't. Don't interfere with her worship. Y'all just need to stay back. That's the beautiful thing about when we walk with God, is our quiet time with Him. Jesus Christ doesn't speak very loud. If we're going to listen to Him, we have to still our place and our focus with Him. Holy Spirit is the voice that is the helper of Jesus Christ to illuminate the scriptures and guide us.

So when we want to hear from God, block the noise out and just focus on Him alone. That's what He is saying. He's preserving her worship and telling this noisy people that want to be on the left, on the right, and go down to Jerusalem and looking at the money bag and all these different things, "Just leave her alone." I'd like to end on that note. Many times when you walk with the Lord, people are saying whatever they're saying.

Just remember there's times it's just good, like Jesus Christ modeled for us. I've studied how many times He went away. As Jesus, fully God, had the full ability of God, would go away alone to talk with the Lord God. I love that in my ministry life, sometimes just going away alone, just sitting there reading the scriptures, praying, fasting. "Lord, I need to hear from You." It's good to turn off the noise and not worry about what people are saying about this or saying about that.

You know the facts. You know what you're dealing with. You know where God has you. You know what God is doing in your life. So you stay there and let God speak to you alone. Those times, Mary didn't get this time back. It was gone. But she had this time despite all these people around. Her time with Jesus was alone. So sometimes you could have all these people around you. You could have all that is taking place.

But in the midst of that message being preached by your pastor, and sometimes in the midst of you singing a song in worship, sometimes in the midst of your devotional life, it's just good to focus on being fully devoted to Him, having a passion to love Him, to walk with Him, to surrender your life to Him, to let Him become all that you want Him to be in your life. Like Paul would say—and I've quoted several times this week—"For me to live is Christ. I no longer live, it is Christ that lives in me." No matter what may be going on, even if the church service is loud, your song you sing those words as to what they mean to you alone. Don't worry about the noise. Focus on Christ alone. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. What an amazing gesture, and it's recorded for all time in God's Word. Jesus rebukes Judas and commends Mary for such a pure and deeply felt gesture towards one who she knew was the long-awaited Messiah. Friends, if you'd like to find out more about Power Walk Ministries or order any of our resources, you'll find them at powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org. Or write us at Power Walk Ministries, P.O. Box 920517, Houston, Texas 77092.

Guest (Female): Hi, my name is Sircatou. I'm here from Houston, Texas, Iglesia Fe y Poder. I'm a pastor's wife and also our women's director at our church. And I'm so glad I came. I'm taking valuable tools on growth of church, personal discipleship and growing myself, and then, of course, realizing that we're all doing this together in the kingdom of Christ and we're not walking alone.

Dr. Paul Cannings: I am so excited about the conference coming up April the 23rd through the 25th. I really am ecstatic about it. Pastors have come together on a committee helping with the process moving forward. Excited about our first conference last year, but this conference this year is going to be greater. There's like about 40 classes here. Let me give you a taste.

The Pastor and Deacons Functioning Under the Leadership of Christ, A Biblical Approach to Resolving Conflict in the Church, Traits of Successful Biblical Leaders, Cultivating a Healthy and Productive Team Environment, Overcoming the Stagnation in the Church, Discipling Leaders, Dealing With How Do We Grow People and Do Evangelism at the Same Time. Despite all the difficulties churches are facing, we can find a powerful, effective way forward. A lot of teachers are coming to teach. They're well-trained, well-educated, practicing these principles within their church. Come be a part of April the 23rd through the 25th. Go to powerwalkministries.org, powerwalkministries.org so that we could move forward together for God's glory. Look forward to seeing you. You will not be in any way disappointed at this conference.

Guest (Male): And if you live in the Houston area, you're invited to attend Living Word Fellowship Church, where Pastor Cannings serves as senior pastor. The church is located at 7350 TC Jester Boulevard in Houston. Sunday services are at 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM. We hope you'll join us this weekend. And finally, remember, as we just heard, both Mary and Paul were so committed that their own situations, reputations, and lives did not matter to them. They were consumed with worshipping, pleasing, and serving God. So let's have that mindset and go and do likewise.