WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:10.580 Elation Church. This is week number four in our 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:13.859 series we've entitled Self -Control. Now, who's 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:16.940 enjoyed this series so far? Yeah, it's been such 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:19.519 a blessing, right? It's been very powerful. If 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.800 you weren't able to make it with us last week, 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:28.969 man, you missed a doozy. That was, oh, wow. It 00:00:28.969 --> 00:00:31.190 was incredible. It's available on podcasts and 00:00:31.190 --> 00:00:34.909 YouTube. Each Sunday morning builds upon the 00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:37.429 other, like when we're in a series. They do build, 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:40.869 but each Sunday morning is like contained within 00:00:40.869 --> 00:00:43.090 itself. There is a sermon contained. You know, 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:45.350 you don't have to watch the other ones or listen 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:49.009 to the other ones. But it's important that you 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:51.850 do that, like I said, because they build. What 00:00:51.850 --> 00:00:57.329 the word that was given last week. really shaped 00:00:57.329 --> 00:01:00.609 what and the direction we were going to go this 00:01:00.609 --> 00:01:03.369 week. While I was sitting there and we were talking 00:01:03.369 --> 00:01:05.250 about it, we had already sort of planned, like, 00:01:05.269 --> 00:01:07.150 this is what we're going to talk about this week, 00:01:07.170 --> 00:01:08.489 this is what we're going to talk about the next 00:01:08.489 --> 00:01:12.189 week. And while we were sitting there, Dad and 00:01:12.189 --> 00:01:14.250 I both felt, and we knew in our hearts, that, 00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:17.849 like, okay, next Sunday's got to be this and 00:01:17.849 --> 00:01:21.049 go in this different direction. Why is that? 00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:25.629 It's because God knows who was going to be here. 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.870 Now, I don't know, right? Like, I could guess. 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:31.329 I'd be a terrible guesser if I knew who was going 00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:33.530 to be here on any given Sunday, right? Like, 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:35.290 you just never know who's going to walk through 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:39.950 the door. You never know, right? I expect thousands, 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:42.489 but, you know, that typically doesn't turn out, 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:46.409 at least not yet. But you never know who's going 00:01:46.409 --> 00:01:49.109 to walk through the door, but God knows exactly 00:01:49.109 --> 00:01:51.959 who is going to be here today. And you know what? 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:55.540 He has a word. Listen, not just a generic word. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:01.019 He has a specific word for you today. Do you 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:05.939 believe that? Every time God speaks, he speaks 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:09.180 to you specifically. And he has something for 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:14.199 you today. Amen? Because his word is what? Alive. 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.699 It's living. It's sharper than a two -edged sword. 00:02:18.530 --> 00:02:24.050 cutting between soul and spirit, right? So what 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:27.930 a great introduction that was about self -control. 00:02:28.289 --> 00:02:30.349 And it's exactly where we're going today. But 00:02:30.349 --> 00:02:32.689 yes, we are in a series. I'm going to try to 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:36.909 recap a little bit where we are. If you have 00:02:36.909 --> 00:02:39.250 your Bibles, go ahead and turn to 2 Peter 1, 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:42.229 3 through 8. If not, it's on the screen. Read 00:02:42.229 --> 00:02:45.729 out of the New Living Translation. And it says 00:02:45.729 --> 00:02:50.930 this. By his divine power, God has given us everything 00:02:50.930 --> 00:02:55.509 we need for living a godly life. We have received 00:02:55.509 --> 00:02:59.250 all of this by coming to know him, the one who 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:02.689 called us to himself by means of his marvelous 00:03:02.689 --> 00:03:07.289 glory and excellence. Somebody say amen. Amen. 00:03:07.430 --> 00:03:11.270 That is so good. God has given us what? Everything. 00:03:11.469 --> 00:03:14.400 Somebody say everything. He's given us everything 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:20.120 we need for living a godly life. All of our wants, 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:24.419 all of our needs. We have received all of this. 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:31.340 How? How do we receive this? By asking? No, by 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:36.180 coming to know him. Knowing God is the most important 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:40.740 thing. As a believer, you need to be in a relationship 00:03:40.740 --> 00:03:44.449 with him. It's so cliche as we're, you know, 00:03:44.449 --> 00:03:47.349 it's not a religion, it's a relationship. But 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:50.330 really, God wants you to spend personal, intimate, 00:03:50.409 --> 00:03:55.750 quality time with him day in, day out. Because 00:03:55.750 --> 00:03:59.050 what you need is not a self -help seminar. What 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:01.610 you need is not just more and more information. 00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:07.870 You need a word from God. Because one word from 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:13.300 God can change your life. Coming to church ain't 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:15.259 going to change your life. One word from God, 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.920 listen, one word from God is going to change 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:22.839 your life. It can change everything. It can change 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:26.379 your family. It can change your home. It changes 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:32.009 your future. Amen. Everything we need for living 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:34.589 God life, we receive all of this by coming to 00:04:34.589 --> 00:04:37.430 know him, the one who called us to himself by 00:04:37.430 --> 00:04:39.910 means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:43.569 Verse four, and because of his glory and excellence, 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:46.449 he has given us great and precious promises. 00:04:47.129 --> 00:04:49.569 We talk about the promises of God a lot here 00:04:49.569 --> 00:04:51.790 at Elation Church, and he has given us great 00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:55.829 and precious promises. And get this, these promises. 00:04:56.949 --> 00:05:01.290 These are the promises that enable you to share 00:05:01.290 --> 00:05:05.089 His divine nature and escape the world's corruption 00:05:05.089 --> 00:05:08.589 caused by human desires. Everybody say, lack 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:12.410 of self -control. So all the world's corruption 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:16.430 is based on a lack of self -control. It originates 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:18.850 in a lack of self -control. That's why self -control, 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:22.990 personally, is important. It's a big reason why 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:26.810 it's important. But the promises of God, that 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:30.470 we receive by faith, by knowing him, get this, 00:05:30.629 --> 00:05:35.529 they allow us escape. They promise us escape. 00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:38.509 How many of you need some escape sometimes? Yeah. 00:05:39.850 --> 00:05:42.769 They promise us escape from the world's corruption 00:05:42.769 --> 00:05:46.269 caused by human desires. And also it promises 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:52.769 us to share in God's divine nature. Wow. We share 00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:57.230 in the nature of God. That's what it means to 00:05:57.230 --> 00:06:02.310 be in Christ, amen? Verse 5, in view of all of 00:06:02.310 --> 00:06:06.230 this, make every effort to respond. Everybody 00:06:06.230 --> 00:06:09.170 say, make some effort. Everybody say, respond 00:06:09.170 --> 00:06:14.170 to God's promises. And get this, because we're 00:06:14.170 --> 00:06:16.870 talking about faith here, and it says this, that 00:06:16.870 --> 00:06:19.990 we're supposed to supplement your faith, get 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:23.670 this, with a generous provision of moral excellence. 00:06:25.649 --> 00:06:29.910 Morality, the right and the wrong, right? That 00:06:29.910 --> 00:06:32.990 is founded and moral excellence is grounded and 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:36.490 founded in who God is. It's his nature is where 00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:39.589 we find what is right and what is wrong. Anything 00:06:39.589 --> 00:06:45.730 less than the perfect God is unholy, is unrighteous, 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:51.720 right? We're supplementing our faith with a generous 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:54.339 provision of moral excellence. Moral excellence 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:57.519 with knowledge, because we're supposed to know 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.259 him and know about him and know these things. 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:05.079 And knowledge with self -control. And self -control 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.500 with what? Patient endurance. You have to have 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:11.759 some self -control to patiently endure in this 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.860 life. Amen? And patient endurance with godliness. 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:21.350 and godliness with brotherly affection, affection 00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:24.370 and genuine love for your brothers and sisters 00:07:24.370 --> 00:07:28.029 in the faith, for the body of Christ, and also 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:33.310 brotherly affection with love for everyone. So 00:07:33.310 --> 00:07:35.949 it extends outside of the four corners of this 00:07:35.949 --> 00:07:38.910 building. It extends into the world around us 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:42.269 with love, genuine love and affection for everyone 00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:49.040 around us. Amen. Verse 8, the more you grow like 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.199 this, the more productive, everybody say productive, 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:56.699 and the more useful, say useful, useful you will 00:07:56.699 --> 00:08:00.079 be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.139 So self -control, we're supposed to supplement 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:06.439 our faith with it, and when we do, we're able 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.439 to be more productive and more useful in the 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.649 kingdom of God. So we're called here, we're commanded, 00:08:12.889 --> 00:08:15.170 supplement your faith with a generous provision 00:08:15.170 --> 00:08:18.870 of self -control. And this word, as we've seen, 00:08:18.949 --> 00:08:22.529 is in cretea. It means in, in the sphere of, 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:26.569 in cretos, dominion or mastery. And as we've 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:28.350 been talking about, it means dominion within, 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:31.589 self -control. And in the definition of the word, 00:08:31.689 --> 00:08:34.690 it's telling us that it's self -control of our 00:08:34.690 --> 00:08:41.009 actions, thoughts, and feelings. 1 Corinthians 00:08:41.009 --> 00:08:46.450 9, 24 -27 uses this word discipline. And throughout 00:08:46.450 --> 00:08:48.830 your Bible, sometimes when it says discipline, 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:52.090 it's actually the Greek word there is the same. 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:54.789 It's meaning self -control. It's using the same 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:59.169 word here as we've seen. And these verses say 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:01.909 this, Don't you realize that in a race everyone 00:09:01.909 --> 00:09:05.690 runs, but only one person gets the prize. So 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:10.409 run to win. Amen? Run to win. All athletes are 00:09:10.409 --> 00:09:13.309 disciplined and exercise self -control in their 00:09:13.309 --> 00:09:17.490 training. An athlete doesn't train really, really 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:21.090 hard to lose. I don't know of anyone who plays 00:09:21.090 --> 00:09:22.649 a game and they're really trying. They're just 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:27.169 like, I'm going to fail today. I don't think 00:09:27.169 --> 00:09:29.269 anybody who plays in the World Series is going 00:09:29.269 --> 00:09:31.389 to go, you know, I've came all this way, but 00:09:31.389 --> 00:09:36.169 it doesn't matter if I win or lose. Sometimes 00:09:36.169 --> 00:09:38.929 that's the way the world looks. works and looks, 00:09:39.129 --> 00:09:43.409 right? But God's here telling us to run to win 00:09:43.409 --> 00:09:49.470 with, get this, with a vision of a reality of 00:09:49.470 --> 00:09:52.789 you winning and you're running and chasing after 00:09:52.789 --> 00:09:56.509 it. And because of that vision, that, that built 00:09:56.509 --> 00:09:59.289 up imagination of like, you see yourself winning 00:09:59.289 --> 00:10:01.370 the world series. Guess what? You're going to 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:04.970 train and train harder than you've ever trained 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:08.870 before. Right? Because when you have a vision 00:10:08.870 --> 00:10:12.429 in your heart, it creates discipline to take 00:10:12.429 --> 00:10:18.169 you into your future. Okay? We listening? We 00:10:18.169 --> 00:10:22.809 bobbleheading? Yeah? I like it. I like it. So 00:10:22.809 --> 00:10:24.590 run to win. Look to your neighbor and say, run 00:10:24.590 --> 00:10:29.350 to win. It's time to run to win. Next, they do 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:32.190 it to win a prize that will fade away, but we 00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:36.870 do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:41.830 in every step. I'm not just shadowboxing. I discipline 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:44.470 my body. This verse specifically talking about 00:10:44.470 --> 00:10:47.190 self -control of the body. Paul is saying I put 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:50.289 my body under submission, yielding to the Holy 00:10:50.289 --> 00:10:53.129 Spirit within me, right? He's saying I discipline 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:56.490 my body like an athlete, training it to do what 00:10:56.490 --> 00:11:00.049 it should do. Again, that moral excellence, do 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:04.029 what it should do, right? according to God's 00:11:04.029 --> 00:11:07.649 standard, divine standard of who he is. So self 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:09.870 -control then, as we've learned, is essential 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:14.210 to living with purpose and living with victory, 00:11:14.309 --> 00:11:20.190 living in victory. Amen? And we know Galatians 00:11:20.190 --> 00:11:25.710 5, 22 through 23, tells us that the Holy Spirit 00:11:25.710 --> 00:11:29.669 produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, 00:11:29.710 --> 00:11:35.000 joy. peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:38.220 gentleness, and self -control. A lot of times 00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:41.460 we focus on all the other ones, right? And we 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:44.440 kind of leave self -control out because it involves 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:47.240 some effort on our part. And we don't like that. 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.519 We don't like to do any effort. We just want 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.440 God to kind of zap us with whatever he has for 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:58.720 us, right? So our running definition here from 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:02.059 our study is that self -control, it's proceeding 00:12:02.059 --> 00:12:05.779 out from within oneself, but because it's a fruit 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:08.940 of the Holy Spirit, it's not by yourself. It's 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:12.840 not by oneself, right? As we've seen, we have 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:17.120 a helper. We have someone to help us have self 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.720 -control. And then a self -control, if the Holy 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.679 Spirit is involved, guess what? It means that... 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:27.759 My control can go beyond my natural ability. 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:32.320 It means that my circumstance and my situation, 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.519 no matter how dark, no matter how glim, get this, 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:38.779 the Holy Spirit gets involved and I can have 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:44.179 self -control to overcome. What naturally, what 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:48.379 natural self -control cannot do, what the world 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:56.539 says can't be done. God can do through you. He 00:12:56.539 --> 00:13:02.740 is waiting to work through you. He needs our 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:07.779 cooperation, right? And true mastery from within 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:11.200 can really only be accomplished by the power 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:16.720 of the Lord. We need him. We need him each and 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.320 every day. And we've learned we can't control 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:22.549 everything or everyone around us. You can't control 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:25.950 where you were born, the family you grew up in, 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:28.289 the experiences that happened to you, right? 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:31.250 But what you can control and what determines 00:13:31.250 --> 00:13:34.750 your future is your self -control, is controlling 00:13:34.750 --> 00:13:39.690 yourself. You have control by the help of the 00:13:39.690 --> 00:13:44.409 Holy Spirit. So self -control often is just viewed 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:48.129 as abstaining from excess, as we've talked about. 00:13:48.570 --> 00:13:51.669 Most people just view it as just, oh, well, I 00:13:51.669 --> 00:13:54.710 have control over not doing this certain thing, 00:13:54.850 --> 00:13:59.929 right? But for the Christian, it goes a step 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:03.470 beyond that. It involves a positive mastery and 00:14:03.470 --> 00:14:06.370 direction of one's energies and desires, listen, 00:14:06.529 --> 00:14:10.850 towards godly purposes. So we can accomplish 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:14.090 things that in the natural could not otherwise 00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:17.340 be accomplished, right? Because our life has 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:20.320 meaning and purpose when it's found in who God 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.919 is. And when we're chasing and energized and 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:27.120 focused towards, right, directing all of our 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.200 energy, all of our passions towards him, towards 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:33.460 knowing him, that's when our situations begin 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:38.799 to change. Amen? And today, we've kind of talked 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:41.299 about this, and we're kind of leading on this 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:43.899 journey, and this is where God has us today, 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.409 this morning. is this verse. It's very familiar 00:14:48.409 --> 00:14:53.850 to a lot of people, but it's Proverbs 4 .23, 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:57.169 and this will be the basis of today and this 00:14:57.169 --> 00:15:01.909 morning's message. To guard your heart above 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:06.309 all else. When we see above all else, it should 00:15:06.309 --> 00:15:08.769 create a flag in us when we're reading our Bibles. 00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:12.090 When we see these phrases like that, that most 00:15:12.090 --> 00:15:14.350 importantly, it's like, whoop, we need to pay 00:15:14.350 --> 00:15:16.960 attention, right? Our antennas need to go up. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.779 We need to be like, well, what is this? Above 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:24.639 all else, guard your heart, for it, your heart, 00:15:24.700 --> 00:15:32.320 determines the course of your life. That's a 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:38.539 big statement. Guard your heart above all else, 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:44.230 for it determines the course of your life. This 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:48.950 word guard, in Greek, the definitions are to 00:15:48.950 --> 00:15:54.629 keep, to observe, to preserve, protect, maintain, 00:15:54.990 --> 00:16:02.889 watch over, custody over, imprison it. We're 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:06.629 imprisoning our heart. But listen, guard, when 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:08.789 I started thinking about a guard, I'm like... 00:16:09.580 --> 00:16:12.360 What's a good definition beyond that? Like that 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:14.779 kind of gives us a good mental picture of a guard. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.259 And so I just looked it up online, just Googled, 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.960 and Scout Security says this, and I think it's 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:24.019 really good. It says, guards conduct patrol to 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:27.080 identify and mitigate potential threats before 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:31.419 they escalate. So they're walking around, right? 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.919 Whatever they're protecting, whatever they're 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.899 guarding, they're constantly monitoring it, looking 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:42.309 at it. assessing it, evaluating whatever they're 00:16:42.309 --> 00:16:47.470 guarding. And also they enforce, listen, they 00:16:47.470 --> 00:16:52.529 enforce access control. They grant or deny access 00:16:52.529 --> 00:17:01.330 based upon valid identity or authorization. And 00:17:01.330 --> 00:17:03.830 I think this is a really good definition when 00:17:03.830 --> 00:17:05.950 it comes to this word, when we're talking about 00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:11.019 to guard our hearts. We need to evaluate our 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.460 hearts this morning because we're not just here 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:18.700 and we're applying today. God has a word for 00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:23.859 you to change your life. And if we got to identify 00:17:23.859 --> 00:17:27.099 and mitigate potential threats before they escalate, 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:31.720 we got to enforce with the help of the Holy Spirit, 00:17:31.779 --> 00:17:36.039 we enforce what has access to us, to our hearts. 00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:41.269 We grant it, we deny access based upon God's 00:17:41.269 --> 00:17:45.250 moral excellence. So we have a guide. We have 00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:48.690 a light into our path, right? And we grant or 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:52.210 deny access based upon the word of God. Amen? 00:17:52.549 --> 00:17:57.329 And this word for heart, listen, directly translated 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:00.829 as the heart, can also be translated as feelings, 00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:05.250 will, and intellect, the center of everything. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.700 We're not guarding our physical organ, just in 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:11.720 case you're confused. I'm not asking you to walk 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:13.859 around with some big, like, breastplate or something 00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:15.960 like that to guard. I've got to guard it. I've 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:19.740 got to be careful. No. It's guarding our feelings, 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.519 guarding our will, and guarding our intellect, 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:26.819 our center. Everybody say our center. Our center 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:29.740 is what this word is talking about. Our heart. 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:34.160 Did you know? We are a three -part being. We 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.960 are a spirit. We're a spirit being. We have a 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:42.180 soul, and we live in a body, in a flesh suit, 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:46.019 right? And at salvation, the spirit is made new 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:49.839 unto Christ. That's the part of us that is saved, 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:54.039 is our spirits are made new to him by the Holy 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:59.619 Spirit in us. Amen? Makes us new. But what doesn't 00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:02.660 change is our souls. That doesn't immediately 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:06.319 change. Our bodies don't just immediately transfer 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:08.319 into our new body. Wouldn't that be great if 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.279 that happened, you know? All of a sudden, it 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.200 just, boom, and everything's perfect. And that's 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.940 why all throughout Scripture, it talks about 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:21.799 us having effort and working towards, working 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:27.460 towards, right, the transformation of the soul. 00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:32.700 Right? And the renewing of the mind, the transformation 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:37.539 of our bodies, and self -control in our flesh, 00:19:37.859 --> 00:19:43.220 yielding to the Spirit of God, and He helps us 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:47.259 and transforms us into God's image because it's 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:52.740 a process. It's a process for our souls and our 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:56.250 bodies to be... the way God wants in his perfect 00:19:56.250 --> 00:19:59.309 standard, right? That's a process that requires 00:19:59.309 --> 00:20:03.009 effort on our parts. But our spirit at salvation 00:20:03.009 --> 00:20:05.769 is just made new unto him. That's why we're promised 00:20:05.769 --> 00:20:11.670 salvation. Amen? So guard your heart above all 00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:14.710 else. Before I move forward, the definition of 00:20:14.710 --> 00:20:20.309 your soul is your mind. Everybody say mind. Your 00:20:20.309 --> 00:20:25.240 will and your emotions. and your emotions. That's 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:28.539 in line with what this word about heart is, your 00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:31.000 feelings, your will, and your intellect, right? 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:34.359 So it's talking about we're guarding our souls 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:38.799 because what's in your soul, listen, determines 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:44.539 the course of your life. What's in your heart 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:48.279 determines your outcome. determines your end, 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.759 your exit, your issue, your borders, your escapes, 00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:56.079 and what your life produces and springs forth 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.319 from within you. Determines the course of your 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:04.480 life. So what this is saying, see, when the Bible 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.680 says to guard your heart, I love these things, 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:10.509 these commands from God. I love that. Some people 00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:12.309 look at commands and they're like, oh, that's 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:15.130 kind of oppressive a little bit. No, commands 00:21:15.130 --> 00:21:17.549 are really great. You know why? Because if they're 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:21.549 inspired by God, listen, and we read them in 00:21:21.549 --> 00:21:23.849 Scripture, and God tells us to do something, 00:21:23.910 --> 00:21:25.670 He's not going to tell you to do something that 00:21:25.670 --> 00:21:28.789 He hasn't given you the ability to do. So His 00:21:28.789 --> 00:21:32.410 command, His word, therefore gives me the authority 00:21:32.410 --> 00:21:36.730 and the ability to perform whatever action that 00:21:36.730 --> 00:21:41.039 He's called me to. So therefore, he says to guard 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.740 your heart. Therefore, I have the power and the 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:47.400 ability to. I have control over what I allow 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:52.079 into my heart. I have control over what I allow 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:56.640 into my feelings. I have control over what I 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:00.200 allow, my passions, my desires, my will, what 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:04.180 I allow into that. What wakes me up in the morning? 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:09.279 I have control over my intellect, my mind, what 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:15.240 I think about. Amen? And a guard would always 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:21.480 look at the easiest points of entry, right? They 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:24.500 don't stand at the back of the lot. If they're 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:26.039 guarding a house, you know, they wouldn't stand 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.539 in the very back corner, right? They're going 00:22:28.539 --> 00:22:31.240 to stand at the entry point. Because that's where 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:34.240 the greatest threat could come in. That's where 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.440 the access point is. That's the weakest point. 00:22:36.900 --> 00:22:39.740 So that's where the guard stands. So it's important 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:42.140 that if we're guarding our souls, guarding our 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:44.539 hearts, our mind, our will, and our emotions, 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:51.039 that we understand where our access points are. 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:56.299 Our points of entry to guard are our eyes, what 00:22:56.299 --> 00:23:01.690 we see, our ears. What we hear, what we listen 00:23:01.690 --> 00:23:07.529 to, and our thoughts. If you're not aware, not 00:23:07.529 --> 00:23:09.990 every thought that you think comes from within 00:23:09.990 --> 00:23:13.869 you. You know, not every thought. Sometimes the 00:23:13.869 --> 00:23:16.910 enemy can bring a thought into your head. Sometimes 00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:19.170 your past experience can bring a thought into 00:23:19.170 --> 00:23:22.529 your head. Your chemistry can produce a thought 00:23:22.529 --> 00:23:26.150 in you. That weird to think about. And sometimes 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:30.779 God can produce a thought in you. And then you 00:23:30.779 --> 00:23:34.319 have a choice. Who are you going to believe? 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:40.059 What are you going to continue to think on? What 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:44.000 are you going to act towards, right? And it's 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.960 interesting. You know, growing up, my parents 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:52.779 were always very concerned about and they watched 00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:57.799 over for me as a child what I saw. what I watched, 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:02.619 what I was allowed to see. They were concerned 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:04.539 about that. A lot of times these days, and even 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:06.680 a lot of my friends growing up, their parents 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:09.400 just let them do whatever they want to do, right? 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:13.119 And then they were concerned about what I listened 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.619 to. And then they were concerned about what I 00:24:16.619 --> 00:24:19.799 was thinking about. And they guarded over me. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:23.740 But when I got older, when I reached a certain 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:26.670 age, my parents no longer guarded that. They 00:24:26.670 --> 00:24:30.829 could not shield that from me, right? So I had 00:24:30.829 --> 00:24:33.589 to make my own decisions about what I deemed 00:24:33.589 --> 00:24:37.410 was right, what I deemed was wrong, what I wanted 00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:41.589 to allow access into my mind, into my emotions, 00:24:41.690 --> 00:24:48.269 into my wills, right? And that's when things 00:24:48.269 --> 00:24:54.559 get messy. A lot of us believe, and the world 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.319 has told us, that, you know, it don't matter 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.019 what I see. It don't matter what I watch on TV 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:05.759 or watch on the movies. That has no consequence 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:13.559 to me. What I listen to, whether it be music, 00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:16.160 whether it be podcasts, whether it be social 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:20.539 media, you know, now we live in a culture that 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:24.119 just... Anything I see, anything I hear, I just 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:30.619 believe it. We don't check nothing. We just instantly 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:35.480 just, yeah, that's true. And a lot of us, we 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:38.000 can see the consequences of that and the negative 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.119 consequences of that. But what are some of the 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:44.170 other things? What are we listening to? What 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:47.450 are we putting our eyes to consistently and we 00:25:47.450 --> 00:25:50.049 think that there's no consequence to? What are 00:25:50.049 --> 00:25:52.410 we thinking? What are we allowing access into 00:25:52.410 --> 00:26:00.809 our hearts? Don't fool yourself. This is not 00:26:00.809 --> 00:26:03.869 fun to talk about, but it's true. It's a word 00:26:03.869 --> 00:26:06.349 that we all need to hear. We need to be careful. 00:26:06.490 --> 00:26:09.710 We need to be on guard because what you're seeing 00:26:09.710 --> 00:26:12.980 is coming into you. What you're listening to 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:15.700 is coming into you. What you're thinking about, 00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:23.339 come on, has power over you. And it doesn't matter 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:26.200 how powerful you think you are. That's just pride. 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:30.799 And guess what? Pride comes before the fall. 00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:34.859 Every person who ever felt, they felt like, I 00:26:34.859 --> 00:26:38.819 got this under control. This doesn't affect me 00:26:38.819 --> 00:26:43.000 like some of those other people. I'm strong in 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:50.859 my faith. Come on. Anyways, stepping off, moving 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:56.019 on. Today, we're going to be looking at, because 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:58.640 I believe this is a great example that God gives 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:01.799 in his word, and it's a story, and he gives it 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:04.690 as a parable. If you're not familiar what a parable 00:27:04.690 --> 00:27:07.029 is, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly 00:27:07.029 --> 00:27:10.609 meaning. It's an analogy, if you will. And Jesus, 00:27:10.890 --> 00:27:13.029 while he was on earth, he often, when he was 00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:15.670 in a big crowd, he would begin to speak in parables, 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:20.130 just telling these stories. Now, and his disciples, 00:27:20.269 --> 00:27:22.069 his best friends, they would look at him and, 00:27:22.069 --> 00:27:24.670 you know, later on in the day, they would come 00:27:24.670 --> 00:27:27.789 and they'd be like, so what, Jesus, what were 00:27:27.789 --> 00:27:30.539 you talking about? You know, you were telling 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:33.140 this story, and what did it really mean? You 00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:35.680 know, like, I felt like there was something there. 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:41.539 And Jesus looks at him with this one, too, and 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.019 he goes, you know, if you can't understand what 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:47.960 I was saying then, you'll never understand anything 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:51.200 else about the kingdom of God. So this parable 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.940 is pretty important. And it's a parable talking 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:59.089 about a farmer. a person who sows seeds into 00:27:59.089 --> 00:28:01.750 different fields, into different environments, 00:28:01.849 --> 00:28:05.250 into different soils, and the results that is 00:28:05.250 --> 00:28:09.990 produced. And what we're reading today is actually 00:28:09.990 --> 00:28:16.710 Jesus' explanation to his disciples. This parable 00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:19.410 that Jesus gives is recorded in three of the 00:28:19.410 --> 00:28:25.140 four Gospels. The account that we're going to 00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:27.680 read today doesn't specifically mention heart, 00:28:27.859 --> 00:28:31.400 but in Matthew it specifically does. And so I 00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:34.319 want to break it down to you. The farmer, he 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:40.599 plants with his words. And what he speaks, he 00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:44.460 is sowing, and the seed that he is sowing is 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:49.579 God's Word. It's interesting that all throughout 00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:53.170 the Bible, is wrapped in this agricultural language. 00:28:54.589 --> 00:28:58.410 And it's not too peculiar, though, because this 00:28:58.410 --> 00:29:01.630 is the way the world works. And if God created 00:29:01.630 --> 00:29:04.809 the world, and this is how he intended it to 00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:08.309 be, we're going to see that mirrored all in every 00:29:08.309 --> 00:29:11.210 stage, in the spirit and in the physical, right? 00:29:11.869 --> 00:29:16.250 And so we see that the seed that the farmer sows, 00:29:16.250 --> 00:29:20.109 that he speaks, right, is God's word. And when 00:29:20.109 --> 00:29:23.109 you think about a seed, the seed, any seed contains 00:29:23.109 --> 00:29:27.029 the substance and the power within it to bear 00:29:27.029 --> 00:29:33.509 fruit. I plant, we plant okra. I mean, if you've 00:29:33.509 --> 00:29:36.930 ever had okra before, fried okra is good stuff. 00:29:36.930 --> 00:29:39.490 With some ranch, it's good stuff. Go see Robert 00:29:39.490 --> 00:29:41.670 and Alyssa and get some good fried okra. Anyways, 00:29:41.809 --> 00:29:45.970 shameless plug. Okra, when you plant it in the 00:29:45.970 --> 00:29:49.220 ground. Listen, when you plant okra in the ground, 00:29:49.299 --> 00:29:51.339 you just plant one little seed. I mean, it's 00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:54.440 a little tiny thing. And, you know, you give 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:57.839 it a few months, that time goes by, and then 00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:59.980 all of a sudden you have a five -gallon bucket 00:29:59.980 --> 00:30:06.019 of okra off of one plant. It produces a great 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:07.940 harvest, and that's why a lot of people like 00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:10.519 it, right? Some people don't. It's slimy and 00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:12.759 whatever. If you handle it right, it's good. 00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:16.960 But anyways, there's power within a seed. There's 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:21.099 power within it. God's word is powerful to produce 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:24.720 something in our lives, not just spiritual. It's 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:28.259 powerful to produce substance in our lives, to 00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:32.460 bear fruit, to reap a harvest from it, from God's 00:30:32.460 --> 00:30:37.720 word. And the soil is our hearts. It's our hearts. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:41.279 It's our souls. It's our mind. It's our will 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:44.609 and our emotions, right? So now we're going to 00:30:44.609 --> 00:30:48.329 look at four types of soil. In verse 15, it says 00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:51.430 this. So the seed that fell on the footpath, 00:30:51.650 --> 00:30:54.309 everybody say footpath, represents those who 00:30:54.309 --> 00:30:57.809 hear the message only to have Satan come at once 00:30:57.809 --> 00:31:00.809 and take it away. When you think about a footpath, 00:31:00.930 --> 00:31:03.490 you think about the road often traveled, the 00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:06.670 one that everyone goes down, that the act of 00:31:06.670 --> 00:31:09.369 walking that way over and over and over again 00:31:09.369 --> 00:31:14.670 creates tough dirt, tough ground. Because it's 00:31:14.670 --> 00:31:18.109 the way that everyone travels, right? And it 00:31:18.109 --> 00:31:21.069 represents those who hear the word. They hear 00:31:21.069 --> 00:31:27.450 it. They're in an environment to hear it. But 00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:30.190 then Satan is able to take it away because, listen, 00:31:30.250 --> 00:31:33.329 the word can easily be stolen from a heart that's 00:31:33.329 --> 00:31:39.309 too hard to receive. Do you realize Satan can 00:31:39.309 --> 00:31:44.269 steal the word of God from you? It's not enough 00:31:44.269 --> 00:31:48.769 for you to just hear it. God's Word has to be 00:31:48.769 --> 00:31:55.369 in you. It's not enough to just read it and like, 00:31:55.470 --> 00:31:57.670 okay, I did my religious duty today and I've 00:31:57.670 --> 00:32:00.829 read the Word, I've read the Bible, right? I 00:32:00.829 --> 00:32:03.089 finished my reading this week. That's not enough. 00:32:03.210 --> 00:32:06.569 The Word of God has to come alive in you. By 00:32:06.569 --> 00:32:09.829 the Holy Spirit has to reveal it. The light of 00:32:09.829 --> 00:32:15.250 it has to come alive. and transform you. Because 00:32:15.250 --> 00:32:20.410 this is not just an intellectual exercise. The 00:32:20.410 --> 00:32:22.930 Word of God, listen, it has to be planted in 00:32:22.930 --> 00:32:28.009 you in order to produce a harvest out of you. 00:32:29.349 --> 00:32:32.009 The Word can easily be stolen from a heart that's 00:32:32.009 --> 00:32:37.809 too hard to receive. Often, and I would say probably 00:32:37.809 --> 00:32:40.829 the... Probably the biggest thing, the biggest 00:32:40.829 --> 00:32:46.470 mistake that we do as people is we rely so heavily 00:32:46.470 --> 00:32:50.029 on our own understanding of the way the natural 00:32:50.029 --> 00:32:54.789 works and the way everything has been, will always 00:32:54.789 --> 00:32:58.329 be, and there's nothing I can do to change it. 00:32:59.210 --> 00:33:02.690 And whether it be whatever, science, whether 00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:05.910 it be whatever discipline you want to throw in 00:33:05.910 --> 00:33:08.900 front of it, it's like... it shows us that there's 00:33:08.900 --> 00:33:11.599 repeatability and those things are good up to 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.940 a certain extent. But when it comes to the word 00:33:13.940 --> 00:33:16.880 of God, we need something specific to change 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:19.460 our lives. We need something specific to transform 00:33:19.460 --> 00:33:24.240 us. And when that word is given, whether it be 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:27.079 in a service like this, whether it be some preacher 00:33:27.079 --> 00:33:29.000 that you're listening to or just in your own 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:32.079 personal quiet time, when that word is given, 00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:37.630 listen, if you just kind of go, You know, that 00:33:37.630 --> 00:33:40.549 kind of goes against what I've always thought. 00:33:40.789 --> 00:33:43.910 And, you know, I heard someone else talk about 00:33:43.910 --> 00:33:48.569 how I can, you know, fix my problem. And I think 00:33:48.569 --> 00:33:51.349 that's, you know, there's proven results there, 00:33:51.490 --> 00:33:53.670 right? And, you know, I can see that. So if I 00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:58.369 do A, B, I'll always get C. So therefore, you 00:33:58.369 --> 00:34:01.150 know, I know God's Word is saying I can accomplish 00:34:01.150 --> 00:34:04.170 it this way, but in my natural, I can see that 00:34:04.170 --> 00:34:07.400 it'll happen. I can know that it's going to happen 00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:12.099 this way. And so I'm more trusting and I'm leaning 00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:16.760 on giving more weight to my own understanding 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:21.760 than I am the word of God that could take me 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:28.400 to see. Right? It's called pride. And in order 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:32.059 to receive from God, we must humbly accept his 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:40.199 word. We must be receptive. to his word. It's 00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:44.340 not enough to just hear it. Because listen, James 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:47.599 1 .22 says this, but don't just listen to God's 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:50.099 word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you're 00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:54.000 only fooling yourselves. As we saw in week two, 00:34:54.019 --> 00:34:58.420 our actions are based on our beliefs. What you 00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:02.210 do is based on what you really believe. You're 00:35:02.210 --> 00:35:04.929 only fooling yourself if you say, well, I believe 00:35:04.929 --> 00:35:07.530 this, but that's not what I'm doing right now. 00:35:07.610 --> 00:35:11.710 I believe this, but no, what you do in this life, 00:35:11.769 --> 00:35:14.349 you deem more credible, right? It's what you 00:35:14.349 --> 00:35:17.510 genuinely believe. And we're not supposed to 00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:20.070 just listen. We must do what it says. We must 00:35:20.070 --> 00:35:23.809 act on it, right? John 10 .10, I love this verse, 00:35:23.989 --> 00:35:31.079 says the thief's purpose, his purpose. It's very 00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:33.940 simple. A lot of people think it's like very 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:37.179 big and he's got all this activity. He's doing 00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:39.460 a whole lot, but guess what? His whole purpose 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:43.599 and his whole mission is very simple. It's to 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:49.159 steal, it's to kill and to destroy. Did you know 00:35:49.159 --> 00:35:51.960 Satan though doesn't have the power to kill you? 00:35:57.360 --> 00:36:04.159 He doesn't have the power to destroy you. He 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:08.840 has the power, though, to steal from you. Listen. 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:16.340 And if he can steal the word of God out of your 00:36:16.340 --> 00:36:20.800 heart, he will steal the life that God promised 00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:28.289 you. And it will destroy your future. He can't 00:36:28.289 --> 00:36:30.550 kill you. He can't destroy you. But if he steals 00:36:30.550 --> 00:36:37.429 the word of God from you, you're done. God's 00:36:37.429 --> 00:36:39.789 purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying 00:36:39.789 --> 00:36:43.309 life. How is that accomplished? By his word. 00:36:44.769 --> 00:36:49.530 He gives his word. That's what brings rich and 00:36:49.530 --> 00:36:54.130 satisfying life, is his word in you, received. 00:36:54.989 --> 00:36:57.690 Amen? So Satan's purpose is to steal the word 00:36:57.690 --> 00:37:00.550 of God from you. If the enemy can deceive you, 00:37:00.630 --> 00:37:07.050 come on, he can destroy you. He wants to lie 00:37:07.050 --> 00:37:09.570 to you. He wants to tell you that you know better. 00:37:11.050 --> 00:37:13.489 He wants to tell you that the world knows better 00:37:13.489 --> 00:37:15.829 and knows what's best for you and your family 00:37:15.829 --> 00:37:23.969 and how you should do things. Come on. Next heart. 00:37:24.510 --> 00:37:26.889 Found in verse 16, got to keep moving. The seed 00:37:26.889 --> 00:37:29.690 on the rocky soil represents those who hear the 00:37:29.690 --> 00:37:32.550 message and immediately receive it with joy. 00:37:32.710 --> 00:37:41.170 Woo! Woo! We get excited about it, right? Our 00:37:41.170 --> 00:37:43.550 emotions get up. We're just like, man, that was 00:37:43.550 --> 00:37:48.769 a good word today, brother. That was good. Woo! 00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:53.659 Walk out, be high -fiving. It's a good word. 00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:57.639 I heard it. Man, that was what I needed. I got 00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:59.739 it. I'm going to change what I'm doing. I'm going 00:37:59.739 --> 00:38:02.400 to live differently. It impacts everything. You 00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:04.340 know, it was like, this is great. Receive it 00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:07.639 with joy. God, that was just the specific thing 00:38:07.639 --> 00:38:11.139 that I needed. But what happens? But since they 00:38:11.139 --> 00:38:13.880 don't have deep roots, they don't last long. 00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:17.579 They fall away as soon as they have problems 00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:22.400 or are persecuted for believing God's word. Let's 00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:24.699 talk about this for a second. Listen, they don't 00:38:24.699 --> 00:38:29.519 have, it means they don't possess it. It means 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.860 that they heard it, but it means that they're 00:38:32.860 --> 00:38:37.599 not holding on to it by faith. Right? And even 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:40.900 if they do for a season, that don't last long 00:38:40.900 --> 00:38:44.079 means temporary for a season. They might hold 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:46.860 on to it for a season, but as soon as some kind 00:38:46.860 --> 00:38:50.989 of problem or situation comes up, They just immediately 00:38:50.989 --> 00:38:55.150 let go of what God said. The very same word that 00:38:55.150 --> 00:38:57.349 could produce a harvest, that could turn their 00:38:57.349 --> 00:39:00.070 situation around, they just let go of it and 00:39:00.070 --> 00:39:02.449 walk away from it and be like, well, God, this 00:39:02.449 --> 00:39:10.030 is better. So they don't last long. And get this, 00:39:10.110 --> 00:39:12.849 they fall away as soon as they have problems 00:39:12.849 --> 00:39:18.449 or are persecuted for believing God's word. We've 00:39:18.449 --> 00:39:21.309 talked on this a lot. in faith act, but it means 00:39:21.309 --> 00:39:25.269 this word believing is Lego. It means to lay 00:39:25.269 --> 00:39:29.889 forth in words. So it's not just believing, but 00:39:29.889 --> 00:39:32.110 it's actually speaking. When you're persecuted 00:39:32.110 --> 00:39:37.010 for speaking God's word, when declaring over 00:39:37.010 --> 00:39:39.829 your life or your family or your business or 00:39:39.829 --> 00:39:41.530 whatever, when you're speaking that and then 00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:44.570 you're persecuted because of it, and then you 00:39:44.570 --> 00:39:49.710 let go, you discontinue. Because of that persecution. 00:39:51.329 --> 00:39:57.429 You see, seed must mature in the ground. And 00:39:57.429 --> 00:40:00.650 the kingdom of God operates around seed. It operates 00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:08.969 around time and harvest. Caitlin and I, we've 00:40:08.969 --> 00:40:13.849 been working on our grass in the backyard. And 00:40:13.849 --> 00:40:15.769 if you know anything about grass, it's very tricky. 00:40:16.219 --> 00:40:18.320 to like get it established and like get it working, 00:40:18.420 --> 00:40:21.699 right? So she goes, she buys this seed, she throws 00:40:21.699 --> 00:40:28.280 it out. And what happens? Nothing. You know, 00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:29.800 it's like you throw it out there and you just 00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:31.780 say, how many bags of seed have we bought? And 00:40:31.780 --> 00:40:33.039 you just like, you throw it out and you're just 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:41.519 like, all right, grow. Do your thing. And we 00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:44.199 would walk out every single day and look, you 00:40:44.199 --> 00:40:46.980 know, like the next day we planted it. And then 00:40:46.980 --> 00:40:48.559 the day later we open up the door and we're like, 00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:50.179 where's the seed? Do you see anything? Anybody? 00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:52.820 You know, like, where's it there? Because we 00:40:52.820 --> 00:40:56.599 want things instantly, right? And we think God 00:40:56.599 --> 00:40:59.699 just operates in this instantly all the time. 00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:03.099 Now we see God doing some instantaneous things. 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:07.380 But when we look throughout Scripture, the precedence 00:41:07.380 --> 00:41:11.340 is there's always time involved. God gives a 00:41:11.340 --> 00:41:14.300 promise, he gives his word, and then it requires 00:41:14.300 --> 00:41:17.579 self -control to patiently endure for the season. 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:21.900 And your season is, the length of your season, 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:25.559 the duration of it is impacted, what? By your 00:41:25.559 --> 00:41:29.320 faith, by the quality of the soil in your heart, 00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:33.119 and by you aligning your words with God's words 00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:35.480 and speaking those things which be not as though 00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:43.980 they were. Seed must mature in the ground and 00:41:43.980 --> 00:41:47.980 also it must be watered. If I planted grass seed 00:41:47.980 --> 00:41:52.320 out in my yard and I never watered it and I expect 00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:54.880 to produce a harvest of grass, beautiful lush 00:41:54.880 --> 00:42:00.739 grass, they would call me a psycho. Right? I 00:42:00.739 --> 00:42:02.579 have to water it, especially here in Florida. 00:42:02.699 --> 00:42:05.219 I can't just depend. You know, it rains sometimes. 00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:10.230 Occasionally. And it's good, but there's been 00:42:10.230 --> 00:42:14.690 many seasons where it didn't rain, right? Because 00:42:14.690 --> 00:42:22.869 it's not just all up to God. God's not holding 00:42:22.869 --> 00:42:26.530 out on us. He's waiting for us to get involved 00:42:26.530 --> 00:42:30.309 and exert some effort of self -control. And watering, 00:42:30.309 --> 00:42:33.750 therefore, would be laying forth in your words 00:42:33.750 --> 00:42:40.159 what God says. So the word that he's given you 00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:43.440 in your heart, you put your words in agreement 00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:48.119 with it to produce the outcome that is promised 00:42:48.119 --> 00:42:50.679 in his word. And then you got to protect it, 00:42:50.719 --> 00:42:55.239 right? A rocky soul would need to be, you know, 00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.900 raked and need to be prepped. Also, when we get 00:42:58.900 --> 00:43:02.099 into environments where God's word is being spoken, 00:43:02.159 --> 00:43:06.489 we need to prepare our hearts to receive. But 00:43:06.489 --> 00:43:09.050 constantly speaking God's words, allow it to 00:43:09.050 --> 00:43:11.909 grow deep roots into your heart, your mind, your 00:43:11.909 --> 00:43:15.309 will, and your emotions. And self -control, listen, 00:43:15.469 --> 00:43:18.530 self -control means not letting what people say 00:43:18.530 --> 00:43:25.309 keep what God says out of your mouth. Self -control 00:43:25.309 --> 00:43:29.110 means not letting what people say keep what God 00:43:29.110 --> 00:43:39.260 says out of your mouth. If you're not persecuted 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:41.940 for talking, you know, if someone's not coming 00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:43.719 against what you're saying, you're probably not 00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:47.500 speaking the word of God enough. You're not being 00:43:47.500 --> 00:43:51.159 loud enough. The whole world is very loud on 00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:53.219 what they believe and what you should believe, 00:43:53.400 --> 00:43:56.320 telling you what to think and how to think, right? 00:43:57.639 --> 00:44:00.079 As Christians, we need to be speaking just as 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:04.460 loud. Not in a derogatory way or to belittle 00:44:04.460 --> 00:44:08.000 someone, but because we have the truth. We have 00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.900 the power of God. It's the only thing that's 00:44:10.900 --> 00:44:12.760 going to matter. It's the only thing that's going 00:44:12.760 --> 00:44:16.139 to save people's souls. It's the only thing that's 00:44:16.139 --> 00:44:18.639 going to make a difference in four corners. It's 00:44:18.639 --> 00:44:21.760 the word of God. It doesn't matter how many social 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:24.219 media posts. It doesn't matter how many, you 00:44:24.219 --> 00:44:26.239 know, events and all these things. No, it's the 00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:28.820 word of God that's going to transform this area 00:44:28.820 --> 00:44:34.730 for Christ. We got to keep what God is saying 00:44:34.730 --> 00:44:40.329 in our mouths. You know, a good example is this, 00:44:40.349 --> 00:44:42.769 is when someone says, next time someone says, 00:44:42.889 --> 00:44:51.829 you know, the struggle is real. That's a good 00:44:51.829 --> 00:44:54.469 one. Have you ever, you know, someone's just, 00:44:54.530 --> 00:44:56.610 you're talking and they're just like spiraling 00:44:56.610 --> 00:44:58.670 or whatever. And you're just, you're sitting 00:44:58.670 --> 00:45:00.630 there just like, you know, the struggle is real. 00:45:04.750 --> 00:45:09.369 God's word in your mouth looks like this. Looks 00:45:09.369 --> 00:45:14.449 like this. Yeah. The struggle's real, but the 00:45:14.449 --> 00:45:21.130 victory's real. God is real. His presence is 00:45:21.130 --> 00:45:30.059 real. His word is true. I walk in victory. I'm 00:45:30.059 --> 00:45:34.739 not a victim. I have victory in Christ. I am 00:45:34.739 --> 00:45:38.579 in him. He is in me. I'm the head. I'm not the 00:45:38.579 --> 00:45:42.340 tail. I am above. I am not beneath. I'm blessed 00:45:42.340 --> 00:45:45.079 going in. I'm blessed going out. I'm blessed 00:45:45.079 --> 00:45:47.599 when I rise. Come on. I'm blessed when I go to 00:45:47.599 --> 00:45:51.590 sleep. My family is blessed. My house is blessed. 00:45:51.710 --> 00:45:54.469 My animals are blessed. My children are blessed. 00:45:54.530 --> 00:45:56.869 My grandchildren are blessed. Their great -grandchildren 00:45:56.869 --> 00:46:02.969 are blessed. Amen? The struggle is real, but 00:46:02.969 --> 00:46:07.050 the word of God is real too. And we can overcome. 00:46:07.829 --> 00:46:10.750 We can escape the world's corruption. Listen, 00:46:11.030 --> 00:46:14.150 we can escape the world's corruption by standing 00:46:14.150 --> 00:46:18.110 on. Come on, by faith, by standing on the promises 00:46:18.110 --> 00:46:28.590 of God. You start saying that, you'll face some 00:46:28.590 --> 00:46:33.610 persecution. God's word needs to be in your mouth 00:46:33.610 --> 00:46:37.110 in order to impact your life and to produce a 00:46:37.110 --> 00:46:39.090 harvest in your life. And you're not just saying 00:46:39.090 --> 00:46:42.769 it to just say it, but it's because the word 00:46:42.769 --> 00:46:45.369 of God is in you. And you're not going to allow 00:46:45.369 --> 00:46:47.889 that to have access to your heart and to your 00:46:47.889 --> 00:46:49.829 soul when someone says, well, that's just the 00:46:49.829 --> 00:46:54.889 way it is. That's just the way life happens. 00:46:56.210 --> 00:46:57.989 That's what's normal and that's what's acceptable. 00:46:57.989 --> 00:47:00.630 You've got to stand in your heart and say, no, 00:47:00.769 --> 00:47:04.130 that's not the truth. Because only the truth 00:47:04.130 --> 00:47:08.909 of God will set you free. When we take control 00:47:08.909 --> 00:47:11.590 of our words and speak what God says, we become 00:47:11.590 --> 00:47:14.630 like a farmer sowing seed. We're sowing seed 00:47:14.630 --> 00:47:19.090 into our future, and we water that seed by confessing 00:47:19.090 --> 00:47:22.889 his words, by confessing by faith what God has 00:47:22.889 --> 00:47:25.190 already placed in our hearts, not our own imagination. 00:47:26.110 --> 00:47:28.530 of what some kind of thing that we want to happen, 00:47:28.590 --> 00:47:30.730 not our own understanding that we're projecting 00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:34.670 into the manifestation of the cosmos. No, we're 00:47:34.670 --> 00:47:37.449 standing on the word of God. We're confessing 00:47:37.449 --> 00:47:39.849 the word of God in our homes, in our lives, in 00:47:39.849 --> 00:47:42.710 our business, in all those things. And we got 00:47:42.710 --> 00:47:45.289 to do that. If I only watered my grass once a 00:47:45.289 --> 00:47:47.530 day, do you think it would grow? You think if 00:47:47.530 --> 00:47:49.909 I watered it twice a day, am I just going to 00:47:49.909 --> 00:47:52.530 have this beautiful lush yard three times a day, 00:47:52.730 --> 00:47:56.539 four times? I don't know if I could do it, you 00:47:56.539 --> 00:48:02.219 know, 10 times. That'd be too much. That's preposterous. 00:48:02.239 --> 00:48:06.000 I can't do that. If I want seed to grow, though, 00:48:06.179 --> 00:48:10.239 I'm going to have to water it. Consistently, 00:48:10.239 --> 00:48:12.880 even. I got to wake up in the morning and water. 00:48:13.059 --> 00:48:15.579 Before I go to bed, I got to go out there in 00:48:15.579 --> 00:48:18.699 my gym shorts and water the grass. Hope that 00:48:18.699 --> 00:48:23.710 it grows. But I got to water it. And so many 00:48:23.710 --> 00:48:27.630 Christians, we just want to, you know, we receive 00:48:27.630 --> 00:48:29.969 the word with joy and we want to speak it good 00:48:29.969 --> 00:48:33.289 for a week. And when that seed doesn't grow, 00:48:33.369 --> 00:48:38.070 we're out there going, I don't need this. This 00:48:38.070 --> 00:48:44.900 ain't working, God. Come on now. You know, I 00:48:44.900 --> 00:48:48.179 did this. God, I was happy about it. I received 00:48:48.179 --> 00:48:52.059 it. I heard it. I know I believed it. And I did 00:48:52.059 --> 00:48:56.059 everything that you said. And I did it good and 00:48:56.059 --> 00:49:03.960 hard for like a month. It's funny, nothing in 00:49:03.960 --> 00:49:05.980 the world works like that. If you diet for a 00:49:05.980 --> 00:49:08.599 month, guess what? Nothing's going to change. 00:49:08.860 --> 00:49:11.719 You might lose like a pound or something. It's 00:49:11.719 --> 00:49:15.139 going to immediately come back. Come on. It's 00:49:15.139 --> 00:49:17.539 going to come back. Because, listen, what has 00:49:17.539 --> 00:49:20.800 power to change in your life, listen, come on, 00:49:20.840 --> 00:49:23.719 what has power to change your life is not what 00:49:23.719 --> 00:49:26.699 you do occasionally. It's what you do consistently, 00:49:27.079 --> 00:49:30.639 day in, day out. What matters most to you is 00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:33.849 what you wake up passionate about to do. It's 00:49:33.849 --> 00:49:35.989 what brings you joy, what brings you energy. 00:49:36.269 --> 00:49:38.829 If that is not the word of God, you will not 00:49:38.829 --> 00:49:41.429 see the fruit and the rich and satisfying life 00:49:41.429 --> 00:49:44.730 of God evident in your life. You got to water 00:49:44.730 --> 00:49:48.750 that word continually, day in, from when you 00:49:48.750 --> 00:49:51.809 rise to when you go to sleep, your life is honoring 00:49:51.809 --> 00:49:58.269 and watering that seed. Next soil, next heart. 00:49:59.280 --> 00:50:01.659 The seed that fell among the thorns represents 00:50:01.659 --> 00:50:05.019 others who hear God's word, but all too quickly 00:50:05.019 --> 00:50:08.880 the message is crowded out. Do you realize the 00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:13.260 word of God can be crowded out? Crowded out by 00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:16.239 the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, 00:50:16.420 --> 00:50:22.760 and the desire for other things. Anything that 00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:28.239 exalts itself above God in your life. Come on. 00:50:29.159 --> 00:50:32.099 desire for other things. So what? No fruit is 00:50:32.099 --> 00:50:36.719 produced from that seed. Did you know that worry 00:50:36.719 --> 00:50:41.800 can choke out God's word? I think we know that, 00:50:41.880 --> 00:50:46.599 but sometimes the enemy deceives us with worry. 00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:49.460 This is kind of a tricky one specifically because 00:50:49.460 --> 00:50:52.599 sometimes we like to justify our worry with like 00:50:52.599 --> 00:50:55.119 concern. You know, I'm just concerned about it. 00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:57.739 I'm not really worried, just concerned about 00:50:57.739 --> 00:51:01.510 it. Same word, same thing. It's a lie of the 00:51:01.510 --> 00:51:10.789 enemy. If it's causing emotions in you of whatever, 00:51:11.110 --> 00:51:15.869 of fear, that should be an indicator because 00:51:15.869 --> 00:51:18.329 emotions are great indicators, but terrible leaders 00:51:18.329 --> 00:51:22.860 should never be led by your emotions. But emotions 00:51:22.860 --> 00:51:25.559 empower you. Listen, emotions empower you and 00:51:25.559 --> 00:51:28.559 energize you towards godly purposes. And that's 00:51:28.559 --> 00:51:31.039 why you have them in your heart. That's why you 00:51:31.039 --> 00:51:34.960 have them. Because they empower you and propel 00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:37.440 you to take hold of the vision that he's placed 00:51:37.440 --> 00:51:42.219 in your mind and heart. But worry, listen, the 00:51:42.219 --> 00:51:44.159 enemy loves to use worry. One time I was even 00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:46.940 praying about someone. God laid somebody on my 00:51:46.940 --> 00:51:49.960 heart to pray for them. Good thing. Good Christian 00:51:49.960 --> 00:51:53.059 thing to do. So as I'm going to work, I'm praying 00:51:53.059 --> 00:51:54.920 for them. You know, I'm thinking about them. 00:51:55.159 --> 00:51:57.340 That's called intercessory prayer, by the way. 00:51:57.519 --> 00:51:59.659 So you're interceding on someone else's behalf. 00:51:59.960 --> 00:52:02.159 You're praying for them. You're concerned. It's 00:52:02.159 --> 00:52:04.079 like, God, you know, the Holy Spirit just brought 00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:05.440 them up into my heart, and I'm thinking about 00:52:05.440 --> 00:52:06.780 them, praying for them. Don't know what's going 00:52:06.780 --> 00:52:09.760 on. And then the next day, that happens again. 00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:11.760 And so I'm praying, I'm praying. And then all 00:52:11.760 --> 00:52:13.000 of a sudden, it happens again, and I'm praying, 00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:14.719 I'm praying. And then all of a sudden, my prayers 00:52:14.719 --> 00:52:20.300 turn. And I felt it in my spirit. But I didn't 00:52:20.300 --> 00:52:23.039 do anything about it. All of a sudden, I begin 00:52:23.039 --> 00:52:28.000 to be upset because I realized that this person, 00:52:28.139 --> 00:52:31.079 you know, the enemy had painted this picture 00:52:31.079 --> 00:52:33.179 where this person wasn't doing right. They weren't 00:52:33.179 --> 00:52:35.440 living right. They weren't taking hold of what 00:52:35.440 --> 00:52:37.239 they need to, you know, and I'm just like, they're 00:52:37.239 --> 00:52:43.460 just falling away. And I care deeply. So I'm 00:52:43.460 --> 00:52:45.179 praying and I'm praying and I'm praying, trying 00:52:45.179 --> 00:52:48.579 to like. Cause something to change in them and 00:52:48.579 --> 00:52:50.519 turn them. And I'm just, I'm praying, I'm praying, 00:52:50.539 --> 00:52:53.039 I'm concerned, I'm passionate. My emotions are 00:52:53.039 --> 00:52:54.840 now getting involved because now I start getting 00:52:54.840 --> 00:52:59.420 angry. Because I'm like, why isn't things happening? 00:52:59.480 --> 00:53:02.039 Why didn't it change? I'm angry now and I'm kind 00:53:02.039 --> 00:53:04.599 of filled with this rage. Like, why isn't it 00:53:04.599 --> 00:53:10.260 changing my situation and what I see? And all 00:53:10.260 --> 00:53:13.539 of a sudden, the Spirit just kind of like helped 00:53:13.539 --> 00:53:17.090 me see and helped me know. That this praying 00:53:17.090 --> 00:53:22.809 is good. But I had fallen into worry. And the 00:53:22.809 --> 00:53:26.190 enemy had used this to deceive me and to control 00:53:26.190 --> 00:53:30.710 me to take a good thing and make it the worst 00:53:30.710 --> 00:53:35.800 thing. And that can happen. You see it time and 00:53:35.800 --> 00:53:37.639 time again when you're talking to someone and 00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:38.960 all of a sudden they're just about their kids. 00:53:39.199 --> 00:53:41.059 About my kids. I don't know what my kids are 00:53:41.059 --> 00:53:42.699 going to do. I don't know if they're going to 00:53:42.699 --> 00:53:44.679 make it in life. You know, they're just dumb 00:53:44.679 --> 00:53:46.800 and stupid and all, you know, and you just don't. 00:53:47.519 --> 00:53:49.800 Come on, come on. And they're just like, oh my 00:53:49.800 --> 00:53:51.000 gosh, I don't know what they're, they're just 00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:53.300 making all these bad decisions. But I'm praying 00:53:53.300 --> 00:53:55.940 God's word and I know, but I'm just concerned. 00:53:56.039 --> 00:53:58.360 I'm worried. I don't know what's going to happen. 00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:01.119 You know, the life, the world is just so tough 00:54:01.119 --> 00:54:04.599 and everything around is just too hard. You know, 00:54:04.659 --> 00:54:06.780 but God promises his protection. But, you know, 00:54:06.840 --> 00:54:14.460 I'm just I'm praying extra today. It's funny 00:54:14.460 --> 00:54:20.480 because it's true and we do it. Right. Worry 00:54:20.480 --> 00:54:23.769 will choke out God's word. Render it ineffective 00:54:23.769 --> 00:54:26.829 in your life from producing fruit. Don't you 00:54:26.829 --> 00:54:30.010 realize that being consumed by the pursuit of 00:54:30.010 --> 00:54:32.989 money prevents God's word from being established 00:54:32.989 --> 00:54:35.949 in your heart? When you say money in church, 00:54:36.050 --> 00:54:40.469 everybody just, you know, gets all, no, don't 00:54:40.469 --> 00:54:42.570 talk about money. We don't want to talk about 00:54:42.570 --> 00:54:45.150 money, but get this. You know, the people that 00:54:45.150 --> 00:54:47.309 are most consumed with money are typically the 00:54:47.309 --> 00:54:49.739 people who don't have it. The people that are 00:54:49.739 --> 00:54:51.920 trying to chase it each in and morning, you know, 00:54:51.920 --> 00:54:55.199 it consumes them. But sometimes the people who 00:54:55.199 --> 00:54:58.239 have it do and they're consumed by it. But it 00:54:58.239 --> 00:55:01.179 looks a lot different than just chasing money. 00:55:01.380 --> 00:55:05.119 Sometimes it's just the thing that drives everything. 00:55:05.719 --> 00:55:09.949 The deep. affection and passion for the things 00:55:09.949 --> 00:55:13.409 that money can bring you. And instead of relying 00:55:13.409 --> 00:55:17.130 on God's word for fulfillment in your life, you 00:55:17.130 --> 00:55:21.289 rely on, well, down the road when I have money, 00:55:21.389 --> 00:55:24.849 my life will be fulfilled. When I have this house, 00:55:24.929 --> 00:55:27.150 when I have this job, when I have this car, when 00:55:27.150 --> 00:55:29.250 I have this thing, my life will look real good 00:55:29.250 --> 00:55:32.530 and I can serve you and I can give and I can 00:55:32.530 --> 00:55:35.210 do everything. You know, when I get to this place, 00:55:36.030 --> 00:55:40.510 This good place, God, my life will be complete. 00:55:42.309 --> 00:55:44.409 And you're just waking up, constantly striving, 00:55:44.429 --> 00:55:46.650 pursuing, doing all those things. We all do it. 00:55:48.929 --> 00:55:52.869 We all do it. But you got to make a conscious 00:55:52.869 --> 00:55:57.590 decision to have self -control, to not allow 00:55:57.590 --> 00:56:01.559 it control you. Do you understand that when your 00:56:01.559 --> 00:56:03.679 greatest desires and affections are for things 00:56:03.679 --> 00:56:06.559 other than God, his word will not be effective 00:56:06.559 --> 00:56:11.059 in your life? It becomes an idol to you that 00:56:11.059 --> 00:56:12.940 you're bowing down to, that you're submitting 00:56:12.940 --> 00:56:20.360 to. James 1, 14 through 15 says this, Temptation 00:56:20.360 --> 00:56:23.440 comes from our own desires, which entice us and 00:56:23.440 --> 00:56:26.760 drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful 00:56:26.760 --> 00:56:32.130 actions. And listen to this. And when sin is 00:56:32.130 --> 00:56:38.230 allowed to grow, this agricultural language is 00:56:38.230 --> 00:56:40.789 all throughout the Bible. When sin is allowed 00:56:40.789 --> 00:56:44.590 to grow, it gives birth to something in you. 00:56:45.530 --> 00:56:49.289 If it's not taken out, if you're not guarding 00:56:49.289 --> 00:56:53.150 your heart, listen, it births within you. It's 00:56:53.150 --> 00:56:55.829 allowed to grow and it gives birth to death. 00:56:57.960 --> 00:57:03.099 God's word in you gives birth to life. Sin in 00:57:03.099 --> 00:57:06.400 you allowed to grow gives birth to death. So 00:57:06.400 --> 00:57:08.900 get this verse 21. So get rid of all the filth 00:57:08.900 --> 00:57:11.500 and evil in your lives and humbly accept the 00:57:11.500 --> 00:57:16.679 word of God has planted in your hearts for it 00:57:16.679 --> 00:57:25.420 has the power to save your souls. Think about 00:57:25.420 --> 00:57:30.619 it. It's saying souls here. We're not talking 00:57:30.619 --> 00:57:32.639 about salvation. We're talking about the believer 00:57:32.639 --> 00:57:36.079 here. Not allowing sin to grow in the heart and 00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:39.400 life of a believer. Not for your salvation, but 00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:42.500 because it will. It doesn't matter. If God's 00:57:42.500 --> 00:57:44.739 word is not in you and growing, it will not produce 00:57:44.739 --> 00:57:48.320 a harvest. The promises of God won't take effect 00:57:48.320 --> 00:57:55.380 in your life. Our souls. need salvation, need 00:57:55.380 --> 00:58:00.500 to be yielded, submitted to Christ. Our minds 00:58:00.500 --> 00:58:03.039 need to be renewed unto Him. Our emotions need 00:58:03.039 --> 00:58:06.159 to be renewed unto Him and transformed into His 00:58:06.159 --> 00:58:10.280 likeness, into His image. Amen? Just like a farmer 00:58:10.280 --> 00:58:14.019 removes weeds from the garden, because weeds 00:58:14.019 --> 00:58:18.900 take the nutrients from the soil. Just like a 00:58:18.900 --> 00:58:21.340 farmer has to go in and remove the weeds from 00:58:21.340 --> 00:58:24.500 the garden, we must get rid of these weeds. Listen, 00:58:24.679 --> 00:58:31.099 why? Why is it important? To allow the room for 00:58:31.099 --> 00:58:35.400 the word to grow. Don't think that you can just, 00:58:35.500 --> 00:58:38.360 oh, well, I'm getting a word, I'm getting a word, 00:58:38.400 --> 00:58:40.480 I'm getting a word, and maybe you're not seeing, 00:58:40.599 --> 00:58:43.159 you know, it's not getting in you. Maybe it's 00:58:43.159 --> 00:58:46.730 not coming alive to you. Listen, you need to 00:58:46.730 --> 00:58:50.630 evaluate the soil of your heart and what's in 00:58:50.630 --> 00:58:53.849 you already, because what's in you, listen, will 00:58:53.849 --> 00:58:56.670 keep you from experiencing God's best for you, 00:58:56.750 --> 00:59:00.329 right? We have to remove these weeds of worry, 00:59:00.530 --> 00:59:03.769 remove this weed of where everything else matters 00:59:03.769 --> 00:59:07.530 more to us than God, remove this pursuit of money, 00:59:07.829 --> 00:59:10.949 right? That can't be in our lives and expect 00:59:10.949 --> 00:59:14.170 to hear from God. Well, we'll hear from him, 00:59:14.190 --> 00:59:16.730 but we won't receive the word that he's promised, 00:59:16.949 --> 00:59:21.869 right? So we got to be careful. We got to weed 00:59:21.869 --> 00:59:24.469 out. We need self -control to guard our hearts 00:59:24.469 --> 00:59:27.550 from worry, the lure of wealth, and desire for 00:59:27.550 --> 00:59:30.869 other things. And lastly, and I'm done, verse 00:59:30.869 --> 00:59:34.269 20, and the seed that fell on good soil represents 00:59:34.269 --> 00:59:40.349 those who hear and accept God's word and produce. 00:59:41.210 --> 00:59:45.829 and produce a harvest 30, 60, and even 100 times 00:59:45.829 --> 00:59:49.289 as much as been planted. Seed must be planted 00:59:49.289 --> 00:59:51.630 in the ground in order for it to grow and become 00:59:51.630 --> 00:59:54.489 what it's created to be, just like God's Word 00:59:54.489 --> 00:59:57.090 must be planted in your heart before it will 00:59:57.090 --> 01:00:02.469 make a difference in your life. You've got to 01:00:02.469 --> 01:00:05.909 come to God humbly, ready to receive, and empty 01:00:05.909 --> 01:00:10.840 so He can fill you up. That's why fasting is 01:00:10.840 --> 01:00:14.900 so important. So we empty, right? We empty of 01:00:14.900 --> 01:00:18.159 ourselves to fill, to feast on the word of God. 01:00:18.719 --> 01:00:21.679 Because man does not live by bread alone, but 01:00:21.679 --> 01:00:25.320 by the word of God, amen? God's word must be 01:00:25.320 --> 01:00:27.320 planted in your heart before it will make a difference 01:00:27.320 --> 01:00:31.000 in your life. God's word produces a harvest only 01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:36.360 in those that hear and accept it. You and I, 01:00:36.480 --> 01:00:42.389 we have to hear. and accept the Word. Amen? A 01:00:42.389 --> 01:00:47.510 receptive heart accepts, receives, and delights 01:00:47.510 --> 01:00:56.949 in God's Word. Delights in it. Brings the fruit 01:00:56.949 --> 01:01:03.059 of the Spirit. Right? God's word brings, it produces 01:01:03.059 --> 01:01:06.840 that harvest in our lives of love, joy, peace, 01:01:06.920 --> 01:01:10.440 patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and 01:01:10.440 --> 01:01:13.460 self -control. We have to receive it. And then 01:01:13.460 --> 01:01:18.880 we delight in it. We just sit around and just 01:01:18.880 --> 01:01:26.420 think about God's word. We dream about it. It's 01:01:26.420 --> 01:01:31.199 fulfillment in our lives. Amen. We think about 01:01:31.199 --> 01:01:35.380 it and it changes us. Amen. So a guarded heart 01:01:35.380 --> 01:01:40.119 continually receives. And a guarded heart, it 01:01:40.119 --> 01:01:44.880 weeds. It's on patrol like a guard going around 01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:47.619 constantly weeding. And then it's constantly 01:01:47.619 --> 01:01:52.380 feeding on that word. It's bringing that word 01:01:52.380 --> 01:01:55.659 to your remembrance and constantly feeding on 01:01:55.659 --> 01:02:01.110 it. It's watering it with your words. We must 01:02:01.110 --> 01:02:04.889 control what has access. Listen, we must control 01:02:04.889 --> 01:02:09.690 what has access to our hearts. Because what we 01:02:09.690 --> 01:02:13.570 allow in our hearts, what we allow into our mind, 01:02:13.670 --> 01:02:18.710 excuse me, what we allow into our mind, what 01:02:18.710 --> 01:02:21.429 we allow into our wills and our desires, what 01:02:21.429 --> 01:02:24.210 we allow into our emotions, listen, determine 01:02:24.210 --> 01:02:31.550 the course of your life. So above all else, guard 01:02:31.550 --> 01:02:37.369 your heart. God's word is good seed. It has the 01:02:37.369 --> 01:02:40.469 power within it. And it will grow and produce, 01:02:40.630 --> 01:02:50.389 listen, 30, 60, 100 fold. The increase, listen, 01:02:50.550 --> 01:02:57.699 is not dependent on the seed. Its multiplication 01:02:57.699 --> 01:03:00.639 is not dependent on what's in the seed, because 01:03:00.639 --> 01:03:03.780 what's in the seed can produce the same. It's 01:03:03.780 --> 01:03:08.099 dependent, listen, it's dependent on the soil. 01:03:08.639 --> 01:03:11.860 It's dependent on the watering of it. It's dependent 01:03:11.860 --> 01:03:17.820 of your words. Impact the multiplication and 01:03:17.820 --> 01:03:21.019 duration it takes to receive the harvest. Amen. 01:03:21.380 --> 01:03:25.539 So we must allow God's word for us to grow in 01:03:25.539 --> 01:03:29.940 us. and produce a harvest. This online worship 01:03:29.940 --> 01:03:32.440 experience was brought to you by the friends 01:03:32.440 --> 01:03:34.000 and partners of Elation Church.