Participants: Joshua Nelson (Host), Dajanae Maxwell, James Brandon, Jeremy Anderson, Kimberly Pearson
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000055
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that 00:04 some material may be too candid for younger children. 00:39 Hello, and welcome again 00:40 to another edition of Pure Choices. 00:42 I'm your host Pastor Joshua Nelson. 00:45 And I'm so excited 00:46 and glad you decided to join us again. 00:48 We are having another amazing topic today. 00:51 We're talking about self-destruction, 00:54 self-denial really, and we're really going to get 00:57 into this topic of dying to self. 00:59 And so before we begin to introduce the panel, 01:02 let's just bow for a moment of prayer. 01:05 Dear heavenly Father, we just ask again that 01:07 you would allow us to die to ourselves 01:10 even as we begin to discuss this topic, 01:13 in Jesus' name we pray. 01:14 Amen. Amen. 01:16 All right, to my left, I have Kimberly Pearson 01:19 who is the Associate Chaplain 01:21 at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. 01:24 Yes, yes. 01:25 Then I have Jeremy Anderson 01:26 who is an author and a speaker in Madison, Alabama. 01:31 And actually, he is the author of this book 01:34 which we are using our title from 01:36 which is called "Self-Destruction". 01:38 So we're really happy to have him today 01:41 to talk to us a little more about this book. 01:43 Of course, it says "How to die to self 01:45 and live in the Spirit of God, Self-Destruction". 01:49 Happy having Jeremy Anderson here, 01:51 the author of this book. 01:52 And next we also have Dajanae Maxwell, 01:56 who is a Oakwood university Theology student. 02:00 Amen. All right, all right. 02:01 Representer for the ladies. 02:02 That's right, that's right. 02:04 And then we have James Brandon, 02:06 who is a university campus chaplain 02:09 in Tampa, Florida. 02:10 So we have a great, great panel, 02:12 and we're going to get into this subject. 02:15 All right, so let's start talking about this topic 02:17 of self-destruction, self-denial. 02:19 But first, we just got to answer the question, 02:21 what is self-destruction 02:22 because a lot of people may be wondering, 02:24 "Well, what is that all about?" 02:25 I mean, what are you talking about. 02:26 We're not talking about anything else 02:28 but we're talking... 02:29 But spiritual suicide, spiritual denial. 02:32 You know, a destruction of your spiritual self. 02:34 We're not talking about real suicide, 02:35 just make sure that's clear. 02:36 Right. 02:38 So expand on that a little bit, Jeremy, 02:39 what is this really all about? 02:41 You know, I've been a Christian for 33 years like all my life. 02:44 You know, I've been in the church, 02:46 and I'm just recently understanding this concept 02:48 of self-destruction, self-denial. 02:50 And so one would say, 02:52 "I've truly just began to truly live." 02:53 Right? 02:55 If we look at the Biblical reference 02:56 of what Jesus said in Luke 9:23, 02:58 He gave His disciples very clear instructions 03:01 on what to do and how to live 03:03 if they are to be disciples. 03:05 Christians, right? 03:06 He said, "There's three things you must do, 03:08 deny yourself, pick up your cross, 03:09 and follow me." 03:11 And it's evident, we can't pick up our cross, 03:12 we can't follow God if we don't deny ourselves. 03:15 So for me, denial of self 03:17 is getting to a point where we say, 03:18 "Lord, not my will but Your will be done." 03:21 And everything we do, we're looking to please God. 03:23 Wow. Mm-hm. 03:24 All right, I like that. 03:26 I think, I think what's so rich about this topic 03:29 is that the self-denial thing is major 03:31 because it's really kind of cool 03:33 because it's a call to die 03:35 but at the same time, it's a call to live. 03:37 Yes. 03:39 So you're dying but 03:41 in that act of dying actually 03:42 you're resurrecting a new person. 03:44 Mm-hm. And the thing about that so... 03:47 There's a tension that we all struggle with our hearts 03:49 and our minds are always warring against each other. 03:52 Our hearts are passionate 03:53 and it wants to indulge and everything. 03:54 It wants to take, take, take, 03:56 but our hearts have to kind of try to convince our minds 04:00 to live out that thing, to play out that thing. 04:02 So our minds has to be connected with God 04:04 so that we can counteract 04:06 what we really want to indulge in 04:08 and learn how to deny, and kind of sit back, 04:10 and die so that our spiritual self can live. 04:15 Okay. 04:16 You know, what I also think, 04:18 self-denial or destruction of self is anti... 04:24 It's antisocial, you know, 04:26 it goes against the grain of pop culture 04:30 and popular social thought, and popular, 04:34 you know, belief systems of, you know, protect myself. 04:37 Mm-hm. 04:38 Do everything possible to make sure that I'm okay, 04:40 I live, do you? 04:42 I'ma do me, get yours, I'ma get mine. 04:45 And that's the kind of the mentality we have 04:46 while denying self is opposite of that. 04:50 It means I'm going to do you. Mm-hm. 04:52 I'm going to do what's best for you. 04:54 I'm going to make sure that everybody has. 04:57 I'm going to put down everything that I want 05:00 and take up what God has for me 05:02 in the best interests of my spiritual life 05:04 and the life of my fellow man. 05:06 Yeah. 05:07 So as you're saying that, I just wanna, I mean, 05:09 it's only we watching and wondering 05:10 and I'm even asking, "Why even do this?" 05:12 You know, why even take the time to, you know, 05:15 just focus on somebody else or focus on God 05:18 and not focus on myself. 05:20 I mean it's really isn't... It's my life. 05:23 You know, so I've got to work about, 05:24 worry about myself, you know. 05:25 So why should I even do this? Why should I do this? 05:27 It's the fact that God created you. 05:30 God created me. 05:31 God created everyone listening and with that, 05:35 with that fact, understanding that God, 05:39 in the sense, denied himself, 05:41 not in the sense, but very practically, 05:43 when he was here on earth as Jesus Christ, 05:46 He denied his feelings. 05:48 And so what makes us think we don't have to. 05:50 And in denying your feeling of not wanting to suffer 05:55 and you denying your feeling of, 05:57 "Oh, I want to get that despite 06:00 who may be affected and how they will be affected." 06:03 It's very... 06:04 It's I want to be like Christ. 06:08 So I will do the things that He did, 06:11 even though it hurts my flesh. 06:15 But it will grow my spirit, so that's why I do it. 06:18 Mm-hm, okay. 06:20 And, you know, what happens, you know, 06:21 that's the way she said that was so perfect. 06:23 You know, what Christ did here was He lived a life of service. 06:26 Everything He did was anti-self, 06:28 you never saw cars floating 06:30 from town to the next, He walked. 06:32 You never saw Him using His powers for His self. 06:34 He used it to serve others. 06:36 He denied himself to a point where He even gave His life. 06:39 So I think there's something deeper here, 06:41 at if we can't get to the root of self-denial, it's sin. 06:46 Self like our sinful selfish natures... 06:47 There you go. 06:49 Is like that's what we're wired to. 06:50 Yeah. 06:52 And if we look at what Isaiah says, 06:53 the enemy Satan when he was in heaven. 06:55 Lucifer at that time, He said that, 06:57 "I would exalt myself above the heavens." 06:59 You know, he was made and created to worship God, 07:02 just like we all are. 07:03 We're created to worship God. He was a covering cherub. 07:06 He was over the "praise team" with the choirs. 07:08 But His focus took off of where from God to his self. 07:12 Yeah. How he's beautiful. 07:14 How he can sing. 07:15 And he began to worship himself and that... 07:16 And it says, the Bible says that, 07:18 "Iniquity was found in his heart." 07:19 And so this is what we're battling here. 07:21 Yeah. 07:22 We're battling self, our will versus God's will. 07:24 And that's what I really want to touch on 07:26 because that is the root, that is... 07:27 I mean, we have to understand that our self is not like God, 07:31 that we are against God. 07:33 You know, so that's really... 07:35 You know, when we're on this, 07:37 this program right now trying to talk about this, 07:39 you know, we're recognizing that we... 07:42 It's not about us, you know, 07:43 we don't want it to be about us because we know who we are. 07:45 We know that we are faulty and we're bad. 07:48 So we need to be about somebody else 07:49 other than us, you know. 07:53 James, you anything to add to that? 07:54 Because, you know, 07:55 in really looking at this thing, 07:57 still people may be wondering, 07:58 well, what does it look like? 07:59 You know, what is... 08:01 What does self-destruction look like? 08:02 I mean, do I... 08:03 Is there a moment when I just 08:05 put myself to bed and say, "I'm done"? 08:07 You know, how does that... What do I do? 08:08 How does that really come about? 08:10 Yeah. Good question. 08:12 I think that's something that 08:13 we all struggle with who we are, 08:15 try to, try to find out how that can really work, 08:17 you know, especially because 08:18 as was mentioned the pop culture, 08:21 that the current on with the world that we live in, 08:23 everything is saying indulge. 08:25 Mm-hm. 08:26 I think how that looks is truly asking God to baptize us 08:32 with the Holy Spirit. 08:33 Mm-hm. 08:35 And that really... 08:36 It makes sense because 08:37 when Christ was baptized with water 08:39 after He got up from the baptism of water, He... 08:43 The skies opened up and in, you know, 08:46 "This is my son who I'm well pleased," 08:47 and He got a firm 08:48 and He got anointed with the Holy Spirit. 08:50 And once he was anointed with this Holy Spirit, 08:51 then He was able to go in the wilderness, 08:54 which He was tempted by the Devil for 40 days. 08:56 And I think that, 08:58 that's where we are, we're like, 08:59 well, how do we then go into this wilderness, 09:01 where everything is being 09:04 just compassed about us in all this sin, 09:07 all these temptations of being around us, 09:08 how do we then stand firm? 09:10 And how do we live? Right. 09:12 And as truly being in the morning like, 09:14 in the morning really like Christ, 09:16 following Christ's example getting up, 09:18 "God, I'm giving myself to you, my desires, my plans, 09:22 I'm putting me at Your feet," 09:23 and just asking the Holy Spirit to live inside you 09:27 so that your desires, 09:29 your heart that's deceitfully wicked, 09:31 it gets recreated. 09:34 An example for that to me would be, 09:37 through this process of sanctification, you know, 09:40 I used to, I mean... 09:41 Well, before you go on that side, 09:42 what is sanctification? 09:44 Just kind of... Yeah, yeah. 09:45 Sanctification is basically a settling in holiness, 09:48 kind of, moving from where you are 09:51 to daily getting to, kind of, 09:55 we being reflecting more of the image of God. 09:56 So... Day-to-day basis, yeah. 09:58 Yeah, exactly. 09:59 So as the Holy Spirit infills you, 10:00 your desires are more inclined to Godly desires. 10:03 Yeah. 10:05 And you don't, you know, things that are sinful, 10:07 they kind of, they seem off to you. 10:10 Whereas, you used to like to indulge and used to, 10:13 you know, be comfortable around those things. 10:15 Those things kind of become like... 10:18 You don't feel comfort, your spirit is not settled 10:20 because it's not your spirit. 10:21 It's not yourself. 10:22 It's the Holy Spirit that's in you. 10:24 So things like music and things that you hear, 10:27 I mean, one thing for me like cursing 10:28 when people curse it's like my... 10:30 I'm just like, you know, it's just, it feels so off, 10:33 it feels so wrong, where before 10:35 it didn't really used to matter. 10:36 So it is a daily 10:38 asking of the infilling of your Holy Spirit. 10:40 That's kind of how it looks like. 10:41 I don't wanna get you off your point 10:42 because you're making example of something but... 10:44 I don't wanna... 10:46 You're good. We good? Okay, go ahead. 10:47 The story that he... 10:48 Well, not the story but the... 10:50 Okay, so Christ was baptized. 10:51 Okay. 10:53 And then the Spirit fell on Him. 10:55 God acknowledged, "This is My son 10:58 who I am well pleased." 10:59 And then He was able to go 11:01 through the wilderness experience. 11:02 And then He was able to deny himself, 11:04 so He is fasting, right? 11:07 So Christ is fasting 11:08 and the tempter is coming to Him 11:11 and challenging Him to boast. 11:15 Challenging Him to show all the power that He has. 11:19 But Christ denies that because He know He can. 11:22 And He knows who He is because His Father said, 11:26 "You are My son. 11:27 So I don't have to prove it to you." 11:29 Right. 11:30 I can deny myself in all that I know I can do 11:33 because I know who I am, and I know where I stand. 11:36 And, you know, it's so interesting that 11:37 both can talk about 'cause I was, 11:39 as we were talking, I was thinking that very thing 11:41 about part of the reason is self-destruction 11:44 ties into value systems and identity. 11:47 When I know who I am, who I belong to, 11:50 and who I come from, 11:51 I don't have to prove anything to anybody 11:53 but it also equips me to serve other people. 11:57 And so we have a huge issue with value system and identity. 12:00 If I don't value you, who cares if I kill you, 12:03 who cares if cuss you out, 12:04 who cares if I sleep with you, because I don't value you. 12:07 But when I learned about who I am, God said to Jesus, 12:11 "This is My son." 12:12 And so when Satan tempted Him and said, "Who are you?" 12:15 He already knew who He was. Yeah. 12:16 So when someone says, "Yo, jump, do something," 12:19 you know, temptation. 12:21 Well, you ain't a man unless you sleep with me 12:22 or you're not that... 12:24 I don't have to prove anything to you 12:25 'cause I know who I am and I'm valued. 12:28 And so dying to self ties into identity. 12:31 I can remain strong because of who I belong to 12:35 and who God is. 12:36 And it's not easy. 12:37 Paul's struggle, in the Bible, Paul says, 12:39 "That which I want to do..." Yeah. 12:40 "I don't do, the thing that I don't want to do. 12:42 Those are the very same things that I do." 12:44 So it's a daily struggle. 12:46 But when I know who I am, 12:48 I know where I can go to get power 12:51 to keep going when I mess up. 12:52 Mm-hm. Mm-hm. 12:54 That power, that power point is really rich 12:57 because I believe that Christ made, of course, 12:59 the ultimate sacrifice, when He went to Calvary. 13:02 But before He went and allowed them 13:04 to put Him on that cross, He had some time in the garden. 13:07 And when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, 13:09 it was a really rough time He was having. 13:11 And He went to the garden 13:12 three different times to pray to God. 13:14 And each time He said, "Lord, is there any way 13:16 that this cup can pass from me?" 13:18 But He said, "No, not my will but Thy will be done." 13:21 Three different times, I mean, 13:22 that was a really painful or deal 13:24 that He was going through. 13:25 So realistically, the process of self-denial 13:28 is a painful process. 13:29 We have to move past what we want and we say, 13:31 "You know, what God, not my will 13:33 but Thy will be done. 13:34 So the someone watching looking in the real practical place, 13:37 I would say that throughout the day, 13:39 your grocery shopping to what school you go to, 13:42 to who you date, you're just saying, 13:43 "God, what is that you want from me?" 13:45 Yeah. 13:46 As supposed to me operating in a carnal mind, 13:48 the flesh like the worldly desires what I want, 13:50 just taking a pause and say, 13:52 "Okay, God, what do you want?" 13:53 It's the decision I'm about to make, 13:55 glorify you or am I going to glorify myself? 13:57 And so and that only works if we have the infilling 14:00 of the Holy Spirit within our minds. 14:02 Yeah, and you know, 14:03 that's what you said too about it being painful... 14:05 Mm-hm. 14:06 Is the real part of it, you know, 14:08 we want people to realize that this is a... 14:09 It's a hard process is that, 14:11 as you said sanctification process 14:12 is not an easy process, it is painful. 14:15 And Paul even likens it on to crucifixion. 14:17 To crucify myself so crucifixion, 14:20 it's pretty painful, you know, 14:21 it's not something easy, 14:23 and we watch and we follow Jesus' path 14:25 through the crucifixion. 14:27 We can, you know, we see how He... 14:28 The passion because He goes through to the cross, 14:30 and He's, you know, wearing the cross, 14:33 He's nailed to the cross. 14:34 I mean, those are painful things and so. 14:36 Especially talking about pure choices, 14:38 you're going to have to go through a time in your life 14:40 when it's going to be very painful, I mean. 14:42 So let's talk about the pain a little bit. 14:43 Let's talk about our journey and maybe how it really feels 14:47 and process because it's not easy. 14:48 I mean, from my experience, it's not, it's not easy. 14:50 It's hard, it's a fight. 14:51 You can be in tears sometimes 14:53 because you want to do certain things 14:54 but you just say, 14:55 "Ah, God, please trade me in a clean heart," you know. 14:57 We want a blessing without the burden. 14:59 Yeah, yeah. It's right. 15:01 We never wanna go through the tough times. 15:02 And you don't get the blessing without the burning. 15:05 And when we talk about giving us a clean heart 15:07 in the purification process, purity, right, 15:10 everything we're talking about here follows a line. 15:12 And so I believe that God wants us to get to a point 15:14 where he's able to purify our characters, right? 15:17 And so we're going to the fire, 15:18 just as the fire purifies the goal. 15:20 And so there are a things... 15:21 Anything that purifies goes through 15:22 the destruction process. 15:24 That's right, that's right. 15:25 And so sometimes God will put us in that fire 15:27 and allow us to get to a form, 15:28 where we can listen to His Holy Spirit, 15:29 we can deny ourselves because at that time 15:31 we're adopting the character of Christ. 15:33 And then we're able to deny ourselves. 15:35 We're able to pick up our cross and embrace the persecution 15:38 and we're able to follow Christ. 15:39 But yeah, that's the next level sacrifice 15:41 He's calling us to make. 15:42 There's always as with the expectation in the surety 15:45 that there's glory at the end of the day. 15:47 Oh, come on, talk about it. So with the kind... 15:49 With the fact that Christ had to endure 15:52 and that He had to deny himself 15:53 that He was on the cross, 15:54 He had in mind the purpose at the end of the day. 15:58 So for us personally, where we go through things 16:02 we have to deny ourselves versus, 16:03 you know, you're so impulsive, 16:04 you say whatever, you do whatever, 16:06 you're all over the place. 16:07 But then once you're in Christ, 16:09 you realize that you need 16:10 to be a little bit more together, 16:12 that you need to say, "Okay, Father, can I? 16:15 God, is this what you want me to do?" 16:17 And then it hurts, It's not necessarily 16:20 what I want to do, but it's what I know I should. 16:24 And the purpose behind it is what drives it. 16:27 Well, the Bible talks about, you know, pressing. 16:31 And it says, "Not that I have already attained, 16:34 not that I've already made it, but this is what I do. 16:36 I press towards the mark." 16:38 Now in order to press, what does that mean? 16:40 There's resistance. Yeah. 16:42 There is so that pressing, that pushing process 16:45 involves coming against some resistance. 16:48 There is going to be flesh resistance 16:50 to what you're trying to do. 16:51 If you have normally been very sexually active 16:54 and you decide that 16:55 you're going to commit your life to God, 16:57 and you aren't going to satisfy the desires 16:59 of your flesh of yourself, you want to put that to death, 17:04 that means be done with it. 17:05 Mm-hm. 17:06 That involves pressing against that desire, 17:09 pressing against those late-night temptations, 17:11 pressing against those texts, suggestive text messages. 17:15 And that's what it is as, 17:17 so as you press it involves resistance. 17:19 But what happens when, you know, when you workout, 17:21 what happens when you do resistance? 17:23 You get stronger. You get stronger. 17:24 You get stronger. 17:26 So that's kind of how I see it. 17:27 You press against the resistance 17:29 until you get strong enough to move forward. 17:31 And that really is paying the picture of 17:33 the great controversy 17:34 that is happening to all of us, you know, 17:36 because not only are we, you know, 17:38 we're drawn away by our own lust, 17:40 you know, but we're also fighting 17:42 spiritual battles, spiritual warfare 17:43 who's you know the Devil adversary 17:45 is trying to tell us, "Don't die to self." 17:46 You know, "Don't let Christ leaving you." 17:48 So in what you said too goes into a couple of points 17:50 I want to bring out 17:52 and want us to discuss little more 17:53 about your spirit versus your flesh 17:55 and how then feeding those two 17:58 is going to help you gain the victory 18:00 in this pursuit toward self-denial. 18:02 So I'll let you go with that one. 18:04 Yeah, yeah, that's that whole heart 18:06 and the mind thing that heart and mind connection. 18:10 And so many times we're thinking, 18:13 we think that we can't indulge and we... 18:18 Sometimes we label things as sacrifices so okay, you know, 18:22 "I want to go and you know, 18:24 have sex with this girl or whatever." 18:25 And then you're saying. 18:27 Well, you know, 18:30 that's what I want to do and I want to do it. 18:32 But I think that if you sacrifice something 18:36 or if you give up something of lesser value 18:41 and you get something greater, it's not a sacrifice, 18:45 it's an investment. 18:46 Okay. 18:48 Give something of a lesser, so now you're saying, okay. 18:50 If you're living in the Spirit of God 18:51 and that's your temptation you're saying, 18:52 "You know what, 18:54 I'm going to put this thing right now 18:56 of gratification right now, 18:58 this is of a lesser value than I would get 19:02 if I put that on the side 19:03 and save all of that from my wife, 19:05 save all of that for my husband." 19:07 And that's the ultimate satisfaction. 19:09 So you're not really sacrificing. 19:10 That's right, yeah. 19:12 You're really making an investment. 19:13 I like that. 19:14 And there's so many other things, you know, 19:16 when people come to Christ and Christ has requirements. 19:19 You know, living a Christian life 19:20 is not necessarily rosy 19:22 but at the end of the day... 19:24 That's right. 19:25 The things that you are saying, 19:26 "Okay, I'm putting this aside because they're of lesser value 19:29 and I'm getting what's greater." 19:30 You know, music or you know, 19:32 watching different movies and being in certain circles 19:36 and indulging in lust and all these different things. 19:38 Those things are... 19:40 You're not sacrificing those things, 19:41 Christ is given the ultimate sacrifice. 19:43 Right. 19:44 And He came down and He was, He's God 19:46 and He's, and He's... 19:48 That was a sacrifice. 19:49 So if He sacrificed for us, yeah, 19:51 how much should we value ourselves? 19:53 Yeah. 19:54 It's like, wow, God made an investment in us, you know, 19:57 He sacrificed... 19:58 Yeah, He for a sacrifice for us. 20:00 So just making those decisions based on not simple 20:04 and not what's going on now, 20:05 but what we can see in the future 20:07 is definitely key to trying to wrestle with that. 20:11 Yeah, you know, just looking at, you know, 20:14 in another practical way of dying of for self 20:18 and living in the Spirit of God, 20:20 the Lord gave me this concept a few years ago of, 20:24 you know, starving the flesh and feeding the spirit. 20:27 And so, you know, we all have a flesh, 20:29 a sinful of carnal side, 20:30 we want to do what we want to do. 20:32 We want to do what pleases us 20:34 and then we have this spiritual side 20:35 that tends to, you know, 20:37 what God is trying to connect with us 20:38 and be in tune with him. 20:39 And so I let people know, if you have two boxers, right, 20:42 they're the same height, the same stature, 20:44 the same weight, the same arm length, 20:46 and, you know, both of them are fit, 20:48 you know, the same. 20:50 When this comes time to box, 20:51 it's going to be a good back 20:52 some as they can go back and forth, 20:54 back and forth. 20:55 But if you take one boxer and you start the boxer 20:57 for a whole week before the boxing match, 20:59 you can imagine who is going to win the one, that's fed. 21:01 And it's the same way in our spiritual life. 21:03 If we can get to a point 21:04 where we can starve the flesh, right, 21:06 watching the stuff we listen to, 21:08 the music, watching what we watch on TV, 21:10 what we put into our bodies different toxicants. 21:13 When we seize on that, 21:14 but we begin to feel the Spirit of God 21:16 within us prayer, 21:17 Bible study, fasting, worship, service, 21:20 you know what I'm saying, that's how we feed the spirit, 21:23 and that's how we'll continually grow 21:25 moving forward the mark of righteousness. 21:26 Yeah, and I'm very happy you said that because, you know, 21:29 self-destruction can't happen 21:31 without also filling yourself with something... 21:34 That's right. That's right. 21:35 Because if you're just removing everything, 21:37 you know what the Bible says, and you know, 21:38 then a bunch of more demons are gonna come inside of you. 21:40 You have to be able to fill yourself, 21:42 so let's talk a little bit about the filling of yourself. 21:45 And really in the process of 21:46 a sanctification again of Christ 21:48 trying to do this work in you 21:50 because again let's make sure we talk about this too 21:52 because it's not about you just... 21:54 Again if your self-destruction has happened, 21:57 you can't say, "I'm doing this myself." 21:59 You know, it's still Christ in you, 22:00 giving you the will to even do His good pleasure. 22:02 You know, so in doing, in doing this thing, 22:06 in doing this self-destruction thing, 22:08 what are some practical things that we can do 22:10 to kind of begin the process and kind of get ourselves 22:12 or feed that boxer, if you're saying like that, 22:15 you know, I mean getting us in the right place. 22:17 Well, I think one of the first things 22:19 we need to do is be honest with ourselves. 22:20 A lot of times we try to deny the things we wrestle with. 22:24 "Oh, I only drink casually, socially, 22:28 or I'll only have sex in a committed relationship." 22:31 You know what I mean? And so we pacify our sins. 22:34 We have this little pet sins that we like, 22:36 we keep in our back pocket, it's not that bad. 22:38 When... 22:40 If most people can be honest with themselves, we know, 22:43 you know that it's not right, it's something in it 22:46 that makes you feel like I shouldn't be doing this. 22:49 Acknowledging those things with God and saying, 22:51 "God, I wrestle with this, I struggle with this." 22:53 And then also understanding things that are generational. 22:57 Stuff that I have wrestled with that, 22:58 my momma wrestled with, my daddy wrestled with, 23:00 my great granddaddy wrestled with, 23:02 and being honest and saying, 23:04 "This is something I struggle with, 23:05 God, I need you to give me the victory over it." 23:08 So I think first being honest 23:09 and then developing safe accountability system. 23:11 Yeah. Okay. 23:13 You know what I mean, 23:14 putting ourselves in relationship with people 23:16 who are able to say, 23:17 "No, no, sister, come, come with me. 23:20 Let's, let's, let's pray together, 23:21 less wrestle with this together, 23:23 let's, let's talk about it together." 23:25 Not to indulge together 23:27 or not to make each other feel good 23:29 about what you're doing but to say, 23:31 "I'm going to hold you accountable 23:33 for dying to that thing, that flesh, that self." 23:36 So honesty and accountability 23:37 that I think are two very important things 23:40 in moving forward. 23:41 Yeah, yeah, and you know, 23:43 and also in saying that 23:44 you have to be really real to yourself, you know, 23:46 because in many situations especially, in the church, 23:49 I'm talking about in the church now, you know, 23:51 a lot of people are not honest with themselves 23:53 and not honest with what they're really going through 23:55 and how bad things really are, you know. 23:57 So I don't know if someone... 23:59 You wanna say something on that? 24:00 That honesty part, you know, 24:03 in the first chapter of the book, 24:06 I explained to the reader a process 24:09 that God took me through. 24:11 And that was a painful process. 24:12 I reached a certain point in my ministry, 24:14 I was traveling all over the world, 24:15 and I began to feel myself. 24:17 I mean that book came from a dark place. 24:19 Like God, and God saying... 24:21 I was praying to God saying, 24:22 "God, take me to the next level." 24:23 He said, "I'll take you to the next level. 24:25 But Ima first show you where you currently are." 24:27 And He showed me how selfish and self-centered 24:30 I could be even in ministry 24:32 and that blew my mind and broke me all the way down. 24:35 And I mean, it took me physically down through there. 24:37 And to let me see how much of an issue 24:41 self could be, even in ministry. 24:44 And so it was eye opener so what Chaplain Pearson 24:47 is saying is so keen. 24:48 We have to recognize where we are with God 24:50 in order for us to move forward. 24:52 Yeah. Yeah. 24:53 And talking about this, this suffering, right? 24:58 Talking about this but suffering with the purpose, 25:01 I think about 2 Corinthians, right, 25:03 from chapter 1 to chapter 12. 25:05 Yeah. 25:07 That just focuses on that this suffering is for a purpose 25:10 and this suffering is a lot. 25:12 Everybody right here 25:13 and people that are listening 25:15 can understand that good fruits have come out of suffering, 25:19 that if I didn't go through that, 25:20 then I would never understand what I understand today. 25:23 So it's not just, just because. 25:25 But if I... 25:26 But if I make pure choices within these tough situations. 25:31 Then I can better understand God's heart. 25:33 I can better understand my purpose, 25:35 and the reason why I can make these pure choices 25:38 is 'cause I already know who I am. 25:40 So now that I know, okay, I'm a daughter of God, 25:42 what does that mean in my every day life? 25:44 What is that, what does that look like? 25:46 There's a, there's the fact that the Queen of England, 25:50 she holds herself in a certain manner. 25:52 There's things that she does 25:53 and there's things that she doesn't do. 25:55 So in that concept that I'm the king of the most high God 25:59 that even though I'm suffering though... 26:02 How Christ did 26:03 and I have to partake in that suffering 26:05 that He did. 26:06 And even in Hebrew speaks about, 26:08 what child doesn't get disciplined by his, 26:11 by their father that the fact that I'm going through this 26:15 and is purposeful 26:17 and it's a denying of the flesh 26:19 that it shows that God does love me 26:20 and He is purifying my character. 26:22 Amen. Yeah, yeah. 26:24 I think that's so important to keep that, 26:25 the end result in mind, you know, 26:27 because it is going to be tough, you know, 26:29 it is going to be tough. 26:30 But you've got to keep the reason 26:31 why you doing this, you know, and the blessing. 26:33 So I mean, just real quick, I mean, 26:34 we have few more seconds here 26:35 but what are some benefits from self-denial? 26:37 What are some benefits that you can expect to have? 26:41 I believe we get close to the God. 26:43 And then we have a better understanding 26:45 of the sacrifice that He made. 26:47 And at the end we're getting our characters 26:49 to a point where God is like, 26:51 "Now you can reside in heaven with me." 26:53 That's what, that's what... 26:54 We're living our lives here on this earth 26:56 to hear God say, "Well done." 26:58 And so He's trying to get our characters right. 26:59 We're not really going 27:00 to the Kingdom of Heaven right now, you know. 27:02 And you know what else, it puts us in a position 27:04 to serve other people. 27:05 Yes. 27:07 When I recognize I'm going through something, 27:08 then I'm not too high up to help you 27:10 'cause you're going through something. 27:11 That's right. Praise God. 27:12 And in our churches especially, 27:14 as young adults and as young people, 27:15 and you know, for those viewing, 27:17 you know, creating safe communities 27:20 where people know that I'm going through it, 27:22 you're going through it, 27:24 so let's go through it together, 27:25 let's talk together, and let's serve each other. 27:28 And that creates the kind of community 27:30 where the Holy Spirit can dwell 27:33 and just produce all kinds of change. 27:35 Amen. 27:36 Well, that about sums it up for us, 27:38 we're just going to wrap it up 27:40 with this verse from Galatians 2:20, Paul says, 27:43 "I have been crucified with Christ, 27:45 and I no longer live but Christ lives in me." 27:49 Amen. Wow. 27:50 What a powerful testimony, 27:51 and thank you all for your input. 27:53 Remember always to make pure choices. |
Revised 2017-01-30