Real joy is not dependent on circumstances. It
can be a steady source of strength, no matter
what you're facing. Discover how joy is more
than a feeling, it's a way of life. Order your
copy of The Strength of Joy by Dean and Jeffrey
Forrest, now available on Amazon and Kindle.
Welcome to week number three in our series on
spiritual growth. Everyone say spiritual growth.
Let's jump right in. 1 Corinthians 2 .14 says
this, the natural man... does not receive the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him, nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. Everybody say, natural
man. 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 3 says this,
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual
people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk and not with solid food,
for until now... you were not able to receive
it. And even now, you are still not able. For
you are still carnal. For where there are envy,
strife, and divisions among you, are you not
carnal? Behaving like mere men, or we could even
say behaving like natural men, right there. So
in these verses, we see that there are three
types of people, and these three... Types cover
everybody in the room, everybody surrounding
us. There are only three types of people. First
one described is a natural person. A natural
person is someone who is not born again. They're
unrenewed. They're led by their sensual nature.
Or we could say they're flesh. That's all they
have to follow. They have nothing else. Right?
That verse, the first verse that we read. It
says they can't receive the things of God because
they're only spiritually discerned. So this is
a person without Christ. All they have to live
by as their guide is by what feels good to them
or by what seems right in their own eyes. That's
the only way they have to live. Now, a carnal
person is a Christian. Because Paul was talking
to the believers in Corinth when he was talking
about being carnal, being babes, not being able
to handle meat, not even handling the milk very
well. A carnal person is a Christian, but they're
still living their lives like a natural person.
They're still living according to their flesh.
They're immature. They live on a childhood level
because they will not feed on the Word of God
and grow. Then we see a spiritual person. Everybody
say spiritual. A spiritual person is a Christian
who is led by the Spirit of God. We're supposed
to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit
of God. That is part of our inheritance in Christ.
So a spiritual person is a person who is led
by the Spirit of God, who's serious about the
Word of God, because the Word of God is going
to make sure By knowing the Word, we're going
to make sure that we're on the right track. Because
the Spirit of God will never lead you to do something
that is contrary to the Word of God. So a spiritual
person is someone who's growing. Look to the
person beside you and tell them it's a process.
It's a process. And we're all, all of us, including
the preacher, we're all in this same process.
of spiritual growth. But to be spiritual, we've
got to be regularly receiving the Word of God.
You've got to be daily walking in relationship
with God Himself, the Holy Spirit who is inside
of us. The same Holy Spirit who took us from
being in sin and moved us to being in Christ.
He's in us. Know you not that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit? If you're in Christ,
God lives in you. We're supposed to be connected
with Him. A carnal person just visits God every
once in a while. A spiritual person is connected
to God on a regular basis. So where does this
spiritual growth come from? Where does it come
from? Are you ready for another three? Had three
types of people. Right? Here's another three.
1 Thessalonians 5 .23 says this, Now may the
God of peace... Everybody say, I'm thankful that
I have a God of peace. Now may the God of peace
make you holy in every way. Everybody say, set
apart. May the God of peace make you set apart
wholly in every way. May your whole spirit and
soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christ comes again. Do you see that we're
made of three parts? Can you see it right there?
Some people might debate you on this, but I think
it's very clear here in 1 Thessalonians. May
your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So we
are three -part beings. When I say man, when
I use man, I'm talking about mankind, I'm talking
about humanity. So you are a three -part being.
You are a spirit. Everybody say, I am a spirit.
I know we've talked about this every week so
far in the series, but we need to know this.
You are a spirit. You have a soul. And you live
in a body. It's very important that you know
that you are a spirit because we are created.
in the very image of God, you being a spirit
is what separates you from every other living
thing on this earth. We're created in the image
of God, who is spirit. He's a spirit class, we
could say, of being. There are different classes
of beings. Right? There's the plant kingdom.
Got some living plants outside. There's an animal
kingdom. I've got a wonderful grand puppy, Labradoodle,
weighs almost 80 pounds, and she thinks she weighs
about 10. And then there's a spiritual kingdom.
Now, your biology teacher might just tell you
that there's a plant kingdom and an animal kingdom,
but there's another kingdom. There's a spiritual
kingdom. Three types of beings. Living natural
beings in this world. Three types. So, we are
a spirit and we have a soul. We have a soul.
And we live in a body. Everybody pinch yourself.
That's your body that goes out. Alright. So our
spirit comes alive at salvation. Comes alive
unto God at salvation. Do you remember in the
garden in Genesis where God says, hey, everything
is yours except this one tree. Do not eat from
this tree because the day you eat of it, you
will surely die. How many of you know Adam and
Eve ate from the tree? How many of you know that
they didn't have a massive heart attack and die
on the spot? But they died. Their spirit, who
they were, became detached from God. Detached
from God. Talking about spiritual death, not
just physical death. Now they began the process
physically of dying. That sin brought all that,
the physical death, but immediately there was
a separation from God that took place. Things
were different. Now, when we come into a relationship
with Christ, when we are born again, our spirit
is now united with Christ. That means we're born
again. Everybody say born again. So our spirit
is now alive unto God. And at that moment, this
is good. At that moment, you are clothed in the
righteousness of Jesus. you will never be any
more right with God than the day that you came
into a relationship with Jesus. Because His righteousness
became your righteousness. His life became your
life. His victory became your victory. So, our
spirit man comes alive at salvation. We become
righteous and complete. Fit for heaven. Right
at that point. But our souls, how we've been
living our lives up until that point, because
our spirits were dead to God, we had to just
make it on our own until we come into a relationship
with Christ. And we're just soul beings. I'm
a soul man. Alright. I'm glad some of you woke
up. We just live by our souls. What is your soul?
Well, your soul is comprised of three more things.
Everybody say three more. It's comprised of your
mind, your will, and your emotions. Let's break
it down so we can understand it even more. Your
soul is comprised of your thought life. You're
always thinking something. That's in the soulish
realm. Your thought life, your desires, you're
always wanting something too. And your feelings.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, feelings. And we can have some
great feelings and emotions. We can have some
God feelings and emotions. But every feeling
and emotion that we experience is not a God feeling
or emotion. Sometimes our emotions and our feelings,
if we decide that we're going to live by our
emotions and feelings instead of living by our
spirit, we're going to have a rough life. But
see, that's all we know to live in until we...
Find out those things that are from the Spirit
that are only spiritually discerned. And the
Holy Spirit always calls us to come up higher.
Always. Always. So the difference between a carnal
person and a spiritual person is the spiritual
growth of the soul or the lack thereof. The spiritual
growth of our thought life. The spiritual growth
of our desires. The spiritual growth of our emotions
and feelings. Do you know all those things can
grow spiritually? When they're led by the Spirit.
When the Spirit of God who is... completely connected
with you as you are a spirit, then when He helps
us and empowers us and shows us and brings revelation
to us, then it can begin to impact and take charge
over our soul. And as that happens, Our flesh
is even going to start getting in line. Hello?
How many of you would agree with me that your
flesh could be a little bit more in line than
it is right now? How many of you agree with me
that your soul, your thought life could be a
little bit more in line? Your desires could be
a little bit... Your emotions and feelings could
be a little bit... Some people think that spiritual
maturity is measured by how long you've been
a Christian. That's not the case. Because time,
unlike physical growth, time makes no difference
whether you grow spiritually or not. You could
be a Christian for one year and be more spiritually
mature than everybody in this room, including
the preacher. So spiritual maturity is not measured
by how long you've been a Christian, how often
you attend worship services. Boy, I'm mature
because I go to church every week. I ain't going
to say it. Spiritual maturity is not measured
by how loud you worship. What kind of show you
put on when you're worshiping? Spiritual maturity
is not even measured by how much scripture you
can quote. We went around the room and said,
okay, give me all the Bible verses you know.
And we couldn't say that the person who knew
the most Bible verses was the most spiritual
in the room. Because you can know a lot of Bible
verses and still be mean. Has anybody ever met
some mean person in a church somewhere? Has anybody
ever met a sour person in church? It's no matter
how much you go to church or how many scriptures
you can quote. That's not spiritual maturity.
How is spiritual maturity measured? Luke 6, 43.
And 44 says this, A good tree does not bear bad
fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For
every tree is known by its own fruit. So spiritual
growth, then, is measured by spiritual fruit.
And you know that you're growing if the fruit
of the Spirit is constantly increasing. You know
that you're spiritually growing if the fruit
of the Spirit is evidenced in your life, in your
daily walk, not just in the time on Sunday morning
or at life group. Not just in those times. I'm
talking about when you're at work. I'm talking
about when you're at school. I'm talking about
when you're home. Is the fruit of the Spirit
evidenced in your life? And here's the deal.
We're not having this series so that you can
look at your family member, your husband, your
wife, your kids, your parents. We're not having
this series so that you can look at somebody
else and say, well, you're not being very spiritual.
This whole thing is about a self -examination.
Let's examine our own hearts. Let's examine our
own lives. I've said this before in this series,
but I'm going to say it again. You know, if I
ask myself, How spiritual I am? My answer is
almost always, if not always, always going to
be, I think I'm a whole lot more spiritual than
I am. That's going to be my answer. Oh, I'm going
to be real spiritual because I'm the preacher.
Listen, it don't matter what I think. What matters?
is if the fruit of the Spirit is increasing and
evident in my life. And I would say that I'm
like every single one of us. There are times
when it's not very evident. Come on, somebody.
Don't shout me down while I'm preaching good.
Because we face circumstances and situations
and then all of a sudden, All of a sudden, love
is not evidenced in my life. All of a sudden,
joy is not evidenced in my life. And today, all
of a sudden, peace is not evident in my life.
Week number three, so we're going to be talking
about peace. Everybody say peace. Galatians 5,
22 and 23, there's a list of the fruit of the
Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Everybody
say love. Joy and peace. Fruit of the Spirit.
Things in our life that should be growing and
should be evident all the time. Somebody say
all the time. All the time. No matter what we
face. No matter what we encounter. Because if
we lose it, here's what that means. If it's not
evidenced in our lives when we face a challenging
situation, if love is not evidenced, if joy is
not evidenced, if peace is not evidenced, then
we're depending on natural love, joy, and peace.
But spiritual love, joy, and peace is something
supernatural. So we're supposed to have a whole
different level. When we're in Christ, when we
are growing spiritually, oh, we need to be at
a whole different level. A supernatural level
of love and joy and peace. That's what's available
to us. See, and I'm not saying that you've got
to work it up in the flesh. Because some people
can listen to what I'm talking about and all
of a sudden they can start feeling guilty and
condemned. That's not what's happening here.
I'm telling you that there's something supernatural
available to you that's fruit of the Holy Spirit
that's going to flow. Everybody say flow. It's
something that's going to flow from your spirit
to your soul to your flesh to the world. It's
going to flow. And I'll go ahead and throw it
in. That's another way to tell if you've got
the supernatural kind or not. Because it's going
to flow. And people around you are going to notice
it and see it. And it becomes a testimony of
the goodness of God. And that's where we need
to live. In the flow. Whoo! The word peace. Here's
the Greek word, reine. Peace, and in the strongest
concordance, has this quietness, rest, to set
at one. How many of you know if you're just all
scattered and crazy that you're not having peace?
I mean, that's just like, it's all just wow.
Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside.
Does your inside ever go wow? Too much overload.
Set at one. And then I pulled this word from
the New American Standard Concordance. Because
I think it will help us understand a little bit
more. Peace is being undisturbed. You like that?
I liked it. Undisturbed. I want you to let that
sink in this week. Because if you have supernatural
peace, you're going to be undisturbed. How many
of you know there's going to be some things that's
going to happen today or this week? that are
going to try to take you out of being undisturbed
and make you very disturbed. If you're alive
in this world, right? But this supernatural peace
that I'm talking about is just living your life
undisturbed. It's available. It's available.
In Christ, it's available. See, we're living
in a world filled with chaos. Everybody around
us is anxious. Everybody's fearful. Everybody's
overwhelmed. Everybody's mentally exhausted.
Sometimes it's us. See, anybody can have natural
peace. Anyone can be peaceful when their bank
account's full. Anyone can be peaceful when their
doctor's report is good. Anybody can be peaceful
when all their relationships are just going really
well. Anyone can be peaceful when their future
seems bright. It's like, boy, sunny horizon ahead.
But that's just natural peace. Natural peace.
The Bible says that God has given us everything
we need. He's already given it. Somebody say,
He's already given it. He's given us everything
we need for life and godliness. He's already
given it. It's already yours. If you're in Christ,
it's already yours. Everything you need for life
and godliness, it's yours. You don't have to
beg for it. You just have to receive it. God
has given us everything we need to keep us steady.
Even when our lives and the situations around
us begin to feel unstable, God has already given
you everything you need to keep you steady. If
your mind just said, oh, I wish, he's already
given it. You just have to receive it. Let's...
Talk about it a little bit deeper. Look at the
person beside you and say, go deeper. Go deep.
Your peace, or lack thereof, begins in your mind.
That's where it begins. It doesn't begin with
the things that are going on around you. You
might think it begins there, but it doesn't.
Because two people can see the same thing, go
through the same experience. Hello? See the same
thing, go through the same experience. And one
can have peace, and one can be tore up. Your
peace begins in your mind. Your lack of peace
begins in your mind. Now, if you were here for
our last series, Jeffrey gave an illustration
that there's always birds flying over your head.
Thoughts. Everybody say thoughts. Birds represent
thoughts. So there's always birds flying over
your head. You can't control. Whether the birds
are flying over your head or not. But you can
control which one of them builds a nest in your
hair. You can control what you set your mind
on. You can control how you process. See, your
mind controls how you process what you see, what
you experience. You process it in your thought
life. Here's what God says. Isaiah 26, verse
3. Does anybody want more peace than you have
today? Somebody help me out. I'm telling you
how to get it. I don't know if you saw my post
this morning, but I said, if you're searching
for peace, come to church today, and I'm going
to tell you where to find it. Isaiah 26, 3. God
will keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him
and all whose thoughts, everybody say thoughts,
all whose thoughts are fixed on Him. You as God.
God, you will keep in perfect peace. everyone
who trusts in you, you will keep them in perfect
peace. If they keep their thoughts fixed on you,
you will keep them in perfect peace. Everybody
say expectation. See, when you know the truth,
you have to let it affect your expectation. Maybe
you need to write this down and say this, this
afternoon when you leave church. God, my thoughts
are fixed on you. God, I trust you. So I expect
you to keep me in perfect peace. That's setting
your words in agreement with God. Romans 8, 5
and 6. Listen to this. Those who are dominated
by the sinful nature think about sinful things.
Everybody say natural. Everybody say carnal.
Natural people and carnal people are dominated
by their sinful nature and they think about sinful
things. They set their minds on things that are
contrary to what God has provided, what God has
promised. natural and carnal people. People who
aren't being transformed by the Holy Spirit through
the Word of God. Let's continue. Romans 8, 5
and 6. Those who are dominated by the sinful
nature think about sinful things, but those who
are controlled by the Holy Spirit, everybody
say spiritual people, those who are controlled
by the Holy Spirit think about things that please
the Spirit. Is worry natural or spiritual? Hello?
We're just putting it down where the rubber meets
the road. Setting your mind on something that
brings worry is natural. As a matter of fact,
Jesus said that's the way carnal people think.
That's the way natural people think. Remember
from our last series? I mean, I don't have it
up here, but where Jesus said, you know, don't
worry about what you're going to eat, what you're
going to wear. He said, look at the birds. Consider
the birds. Here's what He's telling us. We may
look and see lack of food or clothes. That's
natural. But Jesus said, don't look at that.
He said, look at the birds. Look at the flowers.
Look at the faithfulness of God is ultimately
what He's saying. Look at the faithfulness of
God. Consider the faithfulness of God. Think
about the faithfulness of God. Don't think about
the lack. Think about the goodness and faithfulness
of God. You might say, well, what's that going
to do? It's going to open up the gate to God's
supernatural ability and power to work in your
life. That's what it's going to do. Those who
are dominated by the sinful nature think about
sinful things, but those who are controlled by
the Spirit think about things that please the
Spirit. Letting your sinful nature control your
mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control
your mind leads to life and peace. Somebody say
peace. Peace. You might say, well, how do I let
the Spirit control my mind? You've got to acknowledge
Him. You've got to consult Him. You've got to
walk with Him. You've got to know what the Word
of God says about your peace. You've got to side
with what God says instead of what situations
and circumstances in this world says. Everybody
say thought life. If you're not experiencing
peace, chances are your thought life has to change.
Talked about the birds, but you can think of
it this way. You know, at MCO, there's a control
tower. At the Orlando International Airport,
there's a control tower. And the control tower's
in charge. Hello? Don't try to read ahead. Look
at me. The control tower is in charge of who's
going to land and when they're going to land.
They're in charge. Your mind functions like the
control tower of your life. Listen, whatever
you allow into your thinking, whatever you set
your mind on, See, different thoughts are going
to come. Different planes are going to try to
land. You know, it's coming in, but whatever
you allow into your thinking begins landing in
your emotions. And if the wrong planes start
landing in your emotions, you're going to start
walking and living by your emotions. and by your
feelings, and you're going to be on a crazy roller
coaster because it's going to be up and down
and up and down and up and down and up and down
and spin and turn and woo, up and down and down
and up. Supernatural peace of God is not affected
by natural circumstances. There is a peace that
is higher. Than natural peace. A peace that is
unaffected. Here's an example. Mark 4, verse
35 through 41. As evening came, Jesus came to
his disciples. Let's cross to the other side
of the lake. So they took Jesus in the boat and
started out, leaving the crowds behind, although
other boats followed. But soon, a fierce storm
came up. High waves were breaking into the boat.
It began to fill with water. Somebody say, oh
no. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat
with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke
him up shouting, teacher, don't you care that
we're going to drown? Does that seem like us
sometimes? Hey Jesus, don't you care that this
is about to kill me? Don't you care about what's
going on in my life? Don't you care about what
I'm facing? Jesus, don't you care? My son tells
me I'm not supposed to say stupid anymore, but
that's stupid. I mean, I didn't grow up with
stupid being a cuss word. So I'm not cussing.
If you think I just cussed, I didn't cuss. Who
are we to say and question that Jesus cares about
us or not? What kind of thought is that? A wrong
thought. Jesus, don't you care? Of course Jesus
cares. He always cares. There's nothing that
comes into your life that He's not concerned
about, that He don't care about. And there's
nothing that comes into your life that, listen,
He hasn't already provided the way of escape.
He's already provided everything you need for
life. He's already done it. He did it on the
cross. Teacher, don't you care what I'm going
through right now? Jesus, don't you care? Of
course he cares. When Jesus woke up, see, he
was sleeping through the storm because he had
supernatural peace. The disciples were saying,
don't you care? We're about to die. They were
in panic. They were in fear. Well, they only
had natural peace. When Jesus woke up, He rebuked
the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still.
Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great
calm. Then He asked them, Hey guys, why are you
afraid? Do you still have no faith? Do you still
have no faith? Why are you so afraid? And that's
the same thing Jesus asked me and you when we
go into a situation and we have no peace because
all we have is natural peace and he's given us
supernatural peace and he's like, wait a minute.
Why are you afraid? Where's your faith? So faith
is involved in having the peace of God. Listen,
supernatural peace is not the absence of storms.
It's the constant and complete confidence. That's
a lot of C's together. It's the constant and
complete confidence in God during the storms.
Should I say it again? Supernatural peace is
not the absence of storms. It is the constant
and complete confidence in God during the storms.
Peace grows where trust grows. It's one thing
to sing, I trust in God, right? It's another
thing to really trust Him in everyday life. And
peace will grow where trust grows. Are you a
thermostat or a thermometer? Everybody's done
right ahead. I'm going to quit putting it up
there and just have notes up here for me to read.
God is calling us to be thermostats, not thermometers.
A thermometer just reacts to the environment
around it. But a thermostat changes the environment.
I thought it was good too. John 14, 27. You might
say, well, you know, you keep saying that Jesus
gave me this supernatural peace. Can you show
me? Can you tell me when he did this? Well, he
did it before he even went back to heaven, before
he even died on the cross. John 14, 27, he says,
I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and
heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world
cannot give. The world cannot give you supernatural
peace. But Jesus has already given you this supernatural
peace. And then he says this. So, since I've
given you this supernatural peace, don't be troubled.
It's a choice. Don't be afraid. Don't be troubled.
You might say, do you really think I can live
my life without being troubled, without being
afraid? Me personally, I don't know if you can
or not, but Jesus said you can. Is that not what
it says? I didn't write this. This is the Bible.
When are we going to start believing the Bible?
Hallelujah. Peace is a gift that must be received.
How many of you know that you have to receive
salvation? Jesus died on the cross for your sin,
for my sin. Just because He died on the cross,
does that mean that everybody who's ever lived
and ever will live will be forgiven? No. Was
his sacrifice enough on the cross? Yes. It's
available for everyone. The Bible says, God said,
it's not my will that any should perish, but
that all should come to faith. But salvation
is a gift, but it has to be received. And listen,
everything that God has for you works just like
that. Just like that. It's a grace gift from
God. Peace is a grace gift from God. Joy is a
grace gift from God. We talked about joy last
week. All these things are grace gifts from God.
But we have to receive them. Philippians 4, 6
-7. Here's some more verses. Don't worry about
anything. Could it get any more direct or plain
than that? Don't worry about anything. Instead,
pray about everything. And I'm not talking about
just begging God. I'm talking about declaring
heavenly realities in your prayer. Pray about
everything. Listen, tell God what you need and
thank Him for all He has done. Then. When is
then? Well, you've got to not worry about anything.
You've got to pray about everything. And then
you've got to talk to God about what you need
and you've got to thank Him. You've got to do
these things first before the then happens. Then
you will experience God's peace which exceeds
anything we can understand naturally or humanly.
His peace. will guard your heart. His peace will
guard your mind as you live in Christ Jesus.
It's powerful. Powerful. Living in Christ. refusing
to worry about anything, praying and keeping
an open communication with God, being thankful
for all He has given and all He's done and all
He's provided, just being thankful and grateful.
Supernatural peace begins to flow. And it's not
like the world's peace, because the world's peace
depends on what's going on around you. Supernatural
peace. Doesn't matter what's going on around
you. You can have it. You can have it. It'll
guard your heart and mind. There's the Greek
word. Pharreo. It means to guard, it means to
protect, it means to keep watch over your heart
and your mind. Romans 14, 17, we quote this verse
a lot around here. The kingdom of God is not
about eating and drinking. It's not about the
rules. I spent so many years in my Christian
experience thinking that there was a set of rules
that I had to keep and do things that I do, things
that I don't do, and it was all just about me
and my performance. But that's not what the kingdom
of God is about. The kingdom of God is not about
eating and drinking. It's about righteousness.
It's about being right with God through what
Jesus did on the cross. It's about righteousness.
It's about peace. Everybody say peace. It's about
joy in the Holy Spirit. Those are the markers
of whether we're on the right track or not, spiritually.
Not living in guilt and shame and condemnation.
Living in the righteousness of God in Christ
Jesus. Having the peace of God that surpasses
all human understanding. Having the joy of the
Lord as our strength in the Holy Spirit. Those
are markers. Those are markers. In this verse
we see that peace is one of the predominant expressions
of the kingdom of God. Oh, please receive this.
How many people are living in the kingdom of
God? Just me and Kate. Okay, some hands are late.
Some of your hands are real late. It's okay.
How many of you want to live in the kingdom of
God? In the eternal rule and reign of God? Who
wants to live there? Peace is one of the predominant
expressions of people who are rightly connected
to God, connected to Christ. He's the vine. We're
the branches. When we remain connected, when
we abide, we will bear much fruit. Listen, here's
the sad part. You can hear Bible verses until
your ears are full. Does anybody, your ears just
get full? That's a saying that, I don't know,
I think I got it from Gayna's family out in North
Carolina. But it's like, my ears are full. Anybody
know what I'm talking about? You've heard so
much that your ears are full. See, we read a
lot of Bible verses about peace, and you can
hear Bible verses until your ears are full. Preacher,
be quiet. My ears are full. My butt's tired and
my ears are full. See, it doesn't matter. I mean,
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God, but you can hear, hear, hear, hear, hear,
hear, hear. But listen, I've discovered something.
There will be no transformation until what you
hear becomes alive in you. Until the Word becomes
alive in you. I've seen people... that have no
peace, no evidence of peace in their life, and
somebody else has no peace, and then they start
quoting verses. The person who is not walking
in peace and has no peace, they start quoting
verses about peace to somebody else who needs
the peace of God. And they know all the verses,
but they hadn't become alive. How do those verses
become alive? I'm glad you asked. John 16, 13,
but when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will
guide you into all truth. He will not speak on
His own. He will speak only what He hears, and
He will tell you what is yet to come. He will
glorify me. This is Jesus talking about the Holy
Spirit, unless you haven't figured that out.
He will glorify me because it is from me that
He will receive what He will make known to you.
All that belongs to the Father is mine. That
is why I said the Spirit will receive from me
and He will make known to you. The Holy Spirit,
God the Holy Spirit, takes hold of the promises
and the provisions of God and then He declares
them, He intensifies them to us and in us. He's
the one who connects. He's the one who brings
this revelation, which is something that can
transform your life instead of just increasing
your intellect. We're talking about transforming.
Having the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
is spiritual transformation happening in the
face of trouble or circumstances. This is why
love, joy, and peace are called the fruit of
the Spirit. I had that aha moment in between
last week and this week. It's like, aha! It's
not just knowing the verses or hearing the verses.
It's the Holy Spirit taking the things of God,
the promises of God, the gifts of God. My peace,
I... Leave with you. My peace I give to you.
Not as a world peace. The Holy Spirit, He's the
one who takes that and says, this is for you.
And when you read it, it's like, it's for me.
It's for me. It moves from, boy, I sure would
like it, to it's mine. It's mine. I receive it.
Jesus wasn't just spouting a bunch of words.
He was talking to me. It's mine. These thoughts,
I'm kicking them out. No vacancy anymore because
I have the truth. I'm established in what God
has promised, in what God has said. I am now
established that I have the peace of God. My
mind is stayed on him. He's going to keep me
in perfect peace. 1 Corinthians 2, 14. Remember,
we started with this. A natural man doesn't receive
the things of the Spirit of God. We could say
the carnal man, the born -again believer who's
not walking in the Spirit. Who's not in the Word
of God. They're not going to receive the things
of the Spirit of God. Pieces of the Spirit of
God. Some people could listen to everything I
say and say, that's just foolishness, Dean. That's
foolishness. You don't know what I'm going through.
You don't know what I've been through. What you're
talking is just a bunch of foolishness. I'm sorry.
Sorry that you can't know them. Sorry that you
can't know it, that you can't have it, that you
can't get it, because it's spiritually discerned.
Spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit connects
us to the promises. And then our faith, by faith
we receive the promises. We hear that empowered
word, that anointed word. That now word from
God. You can memorize a Bible verse and it still
not be a now word from God for you. Then we have
to believe it. Have to wholeheartedly believe
it. Have confidence. Then we need to start aligning
our words and our thoughts with what God says.
It's not going to be just like poof. It's going
to take some work. I know everybody in the room
would just like to come up here and me just touch
you on the head and you just be just flooded
with the peace of God. Because we just want the
easy way. We just want the easy way. I'll pray
for anybody who wants to be prayed for. But I'm
telling you, if you're going to walk in the peace
of God that surpasses understanding, you're going
to have to put in some work yourself. You're
going to have to take over your thoughts. You're
going to have to decide what's going to land
in your mind and land in your emotions. You're
going to have to participate. And if you're sitting
there saying, well, it won't work for me, bless
your heart, it won't. It won't work for you.
If you say it won't work for you, I'm just going
to go ahead and tell you it won't work for you.
But I think I've just established that that's
what God wants for you. That's what God has given
for you. It is available for you. But if your
thought life says you can't have it, then you
can't have it. Last slide. Somebody say hallelujah,
he's done. Look. I want us to walk in peace.
I want you to walk in peace. Bigger than that,
God wants you to walk in peace. This will change
your life. I'm not interested in it changing
your intellect. I'm interested in it transforming
your life. The Word of God will transform your
life. And the measure of your peace on bad days,
on difficult days, the measure of your peace
We'll let you know the measure of your spiritual
maturity. Don't be condemned. Because the Holy
Spirit is calling you to rise up. The Holy Spirit
is calling you to receive. He's calling you to
rise up. Not to be condemned. Not to start beating
yourself up. That's not from God. So if that's
the thoughts that are hitting your head, you
say, nope, that's not from God. Nope, that's
not from God. God doesn't bring me shame and
condemnation. God brings me life. This online
worship experience was brought to you by the
friends and partners of Elation Church.