Participants: Joshua Nelson (Host), Dajanae Maxwell, James Brandon, Kimberly Pearson, Kyle Scarlett
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000062
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:39 Hello and welcome to Pure Choices. 00:41 I'm your host Pastor Joshua Nelson 00:43 and we have an exciting episode 00:45 for you today. 00:46 We are talking about Victory, "Victory is mine". 00:48 We're talking about how to gain victory 00:51 over the sexual addictions, 00:53 over anything you've been going to 00:54 when it comes to fornication or anything. 00:56 How to gain victory? 00:58 And this is an exciting one we wanna talk about today. 01:00 Before we get into this exiting topic, 01:02 let's just bow our heads for our prayer. 01:05 Dear heavenly Father, 01:07 we just ask and we ask you to bless us as we discuss. 01:10 We just thank you, God, for victory that we can have 01:12 and find in Jesus. 01:14 We thank you, Father. And in your name we pray. 01:16 Amen. All right. Amen. 01:17 Well, before we get into let's introduce our panel. 01:21 To my left I have Kimberly Pearson 01:22 who is the associate chaplain at Oakwood University 01:25 in Huntsville, Alabama. 01:26 Good to have her with us. 01:28 And we also have James Brandon who is also a chaplain, 01:30 chaplain of University there in Tampa, Florida, 01:33 so good to have him with us, also Dajanae Maxwell 01:36 who is an Oakwood University theology student, 01:39 happy to have her here. 01:40 And next to her is another Oakwood theology student, 01:44 Kyle Scarlett so happy that he is here with us today. 01:47 We have a great panel. 01:48 And this is the topic this is it, 01:51 talking about victory. 01:52 And lot of people who have been watching these programs 01:56 and have been wanting to make pure choices in their lives, 02:00 may still be saying "Well, it's hard, it is tough, 02:03 I've been trying but I just can't seem to get pass, 02:06 I just can't seem to stop". 02:08 You know, and, of course, we're not sitting here saying 02:09 that we have the authority 02:10 and we've attained some high level 02:12 we, of course, are still being sanctified, 02:14 still going to the process that every single day is a fight 02:16 to make pure choices. 02:18 But what kind of things can we say to people 02:20 who are trying to get victory? 02:21 We're gonna talk about that. 02:22 But the first question I wanna ask is about 02:24 our identity in Christ. 02:26 And so, the question then is, 02:28 why do many young people and in people in general, 02:32 why is it that we do not know who we are? 02:34 Let's start with that. 02:36 I think that we don't know who we are 02:39 because we allow whatever anyone says 02:44 that we are to become what we are. 02:47 We embrace people pushing different identities 02:50 upon ourselves. 02:52 Okay. 02:53 And we buy into them, you know, you have media saying that 02:56 "You are this. 02:57 You're a certain demographic 02:58 so this is how you should be." 03:00 You have, you know, parents or people around you saying, 03:04 okay, you know, for example that, you know, 03:07 when you picked up a basket ball when you're little, 03:09 "You're gonna be a basket ball player". 03:10 You know what I'm saying? 03:11 Or a different things and it's kind of like 03:13 that's in your mind and you kind of play 03:14 that thing out, kind of, subconsciously. 03:17 So I think a lot of the times that we kind of get away from 03:21 who we really are in Christ is 03:22 because we buy into the other things 03:25 that society around us tells us who we are. 03:28 I definitely agree with that. 03:30 I know one of my Oakwood sister Serena Golden 03:33 just preached a sermon this past weekend 03:35 and she brought out the point of the women 03:39 caught in adultery is identified 03:42 as the women caught in her vice. 03:46 And so many times we take one the identity 03:50 of what our vices are instead of the identity 03:54 that Christ gave her. 03:56 Because at the end of that thing 03:57 Christ called her to Himself and said "Sin no more, 04:02 so your vice no longer has the victory over you". 04:05 So it's that, it's that accepting the wrong 04:08 instead of accepting the victory 04:10 that Christ has given us. 04:11 That's so, that's so powerful, what you both said. 04:13 Because in reality you have to find 04:16 who you are in Jesus, you know. 04:18 Yeah. 04:19 I was gonna say that, you know, I think part of these 04:21 and we struggle with identity is 04:22 because our filters are broken. 04:24 You know, you know, if you go into a house, 04:26 most houses or most homes have air filters. 04:29 So that things toxins, things of that atmosphere 04:33 don't just come in through your vent, 04:35 and intake of your house, and pollute your home. 04:38 And so we have to, our filters in society are broken 04:43 so anything that comes at us there is nothing blocking 04:46 and there is nothing shifting through those images 04:49 those subconscious, you know, 04:52 types that say you should be like this, if you are, 04:56 you know, light skin and long hair, 04:57 you're beautiful, if you're dark skin 04:59 and short hair you're not. 05:00 If you come from this family, you're good. 05:02 If you go to this school, you're not. 05:04 And so we take on all those filters. 05:06 So I think a part of that we do struggle with that daily, 05:08 is because we don't have the right filters 05:11 and so we need to filter our identity through Jesus. 05:14 We've to find it in Jesus 05:16 and then allow Jesus to be that one 05:18 that's take the images and says, yes, yes, that's you, 05:22 or, no, no, that's not you, you're my daughter, 05:24 or you're my son. 05:27 So again, so let's to make that clear then, 05:29 what is or who it is Jesus say that we are, 05:31 you know, we're in Him? 05:33 We all, He says, we're His children, first off. 05:37 That we are redeemed and He draws Him, 05:43 draws us onto Himself, you know, 05:45 and He takes us as His own and we are not the sins 05:49 that we commit because He has died for our sins. 05:53 And so a lot of times what ends up happening is 05:56 that a lot of people don't know that Jesus died for their sins 05:59 and that they're not the sins that they commit, 06:01 and so they identify, like she said, 06:03 with those sins instead of knowing 06:06 that God has called them to be something different. 06:09 So I think that's where the identity thing 06:12 kind of gets confused. 06:13 Yeah. 06:15 You know what I love what you said about identity? 06:17 Because it's so true and we can learn from Jesus' example 06:21 of how God gave Him His identity 06:23 before Jesus ever went into ministry. 06:26 God told him who He was, He said, 06:28 this is my son and whom I'm well pleased. 06:30 So as He began his ministry, even though, you know, 06:33 He was attacked by, you know, His community, His home town, 06:38 you know, people in the church, people around Him 06:42 and then even His own disciples and friends, 06:44 He still know who He was. 06:46 And so the blessing is that God's tells us who we are. 06:50 I needed you in your mothers womb, 06:52 I created you from then, so you're my child, 06:54 you're my son, you're my daughter, 06:57 and so there is beauty in being able to identify 07:00 that in that way. 07:01 And then if you've messed up, if, you know, 07:04 you haven't always identify 07:05 what the identity Christ gives you, 07:07 the Bible says in Isaiah 53, 07:09 that He was bruised for our iniquity, that He was, 07:13 you know, crucified for our transgression 07:15 so then He takes on our negative identity, 07:19 nails that to the cross, 07:20 and give us a new identity in Him. 07:23 Yeah. 07:24 I think what's so cool about knowing your identity 07:26 in Christ is you don't have to prove that to anybody. 07:32 You know who you are, you know, Jesus Christ was tempted in 07:35 and Satan tried to tell him, you know, you can do this, 07:38 you can do this, and he was like, 07:39 "No, no, no, wait. 07:40 I don't have to do that because I know who I am". 07:42 So He's really free and He's liberating. 07:45 You know, people think when you are a Christian, 07:47 you know, it's so constrained and, you know, 07:49 you can't this or that. 07:50 No, no, you're free, you're liberating, 07:52 you can do whatever you wanna do. 07:54 But you choose not, you know, because you know who you are 07:57 and you know what makes your creator happy 07:59 and what make you happy subsequently. 08:01 Right. Right. 08:02 Now I do wanna go back to what it really looks like 08:04 to be in Christ. 08:05 And before that I do wanna also just wanna the question 08:07 about purpose, though. 08:08 What does, having, what is, you know, 08:12 having your identity be in Christ, 08:13 what kind of purpose that gives you now to your life? 08:16 I wanna ask Scarlett. Talk about that. 08:18 Once you realize and, I guess I'll put it this way. 08:21 Jesus like she said, got His identity for God, 08:25 and He had a sense of confidence in His identity, 08:30 not a worldly confidence that we have but a God confidence. 08:35 He knew what His mission was, what He came to do, 08:37 what He was set out to do, and so the... 08:40 What would normally, not that He was a human 08:43 because He was human but not, 08:45 but what would normally trip up someone else, 08:49 He knew His identity in God, in His father 08:52 and so He didn't have to go out and prove anything. 08:54 Okay. 08:55 He already knew what it was that He needed to do. 08:57 And so I think that word, the sense of purpose, 09:01 like she said, comes from God giving you that identity 09:04 and from that identity you understand 09:05 what your mission is, what's your purpose is, 09:07 and you set out to do that. 09:08 Amen. 09:10 And adding on purpose just, you know, 09:11 as creatures from God who created us, 09:13 we are His children our purpose is to worship Him. 09:15 You know, our purpose is here to glorify His name, you know, 09:18 and that begins to, again, 09:20 reshape the reason you do everything, 09:22 and that shapes your choices and your decisions, 09:25 and everything kind of comes out of that, 09:26 and even gives you, then God can kind of hone in 09:28 and then give you directed purpose for your specific life 09:30 and what you have to do for Him. 09:32 Exactly. 09:33 In that and once again, Christ, our ultimate example, 09:36 did that when He was speaking, when Pilate was speaking to Him 09:40 and challenging Him to show who He is and to speak on 09:45 who He was. 09:46 There was no need for Him to prove anything to anybody. 09:50 Christ said that He did not, 09:51 His life is not being taken from Him but He lay it down. 09:54 And so when Pilate was like, "If you don't, 09:58 if you don't speak to me 09:59 I have the power to crucify you". 10:02 And then Christ speaks and says, "You have no power, 10:05 unless my Father has given it to you." 10:07 So once again He is identifying that my God, 10:11 that my Father has a purpose for my life and the things 10:14 that I'm going through, no matter how painful, 10:16 no matter how hard, no matter how difficult, 10:18 physical bruises, spiritual bruises, 10:21 mental bruises, 10:23 I may have to go through those things 10:25 and it's not God that's put in the affliction on me 10:28 but Christ has a purpose do it all, 10:30 even Desire of Ages 10:32 the first chapter speaks about it. 10:33 And it first quotes that chapter Isaiah 53 10:38 and then it goes into say that, okay, so men failed 10:43 and we were first created by God 10:45 so we're His creatures, right, we're His creation. 10:47 But because of the fault, 10:49 Christ knew that was going to happen 10:51 and so since Christ came down as man 10:55 and became one with humanity, 10:57 we are now more joined together with God, 11:00 then we would have been, 11:01 if we were to just being His creations. 11:02 So I am now a Royal Priesthood, 11:05 I'm now an heir of the throne in heaven, 11:08 I am in Christ and Christ is sitting 11:11 at the right hand of God, that's my position. 11:13 Amen, and in that, also before you said that because, 11:16 you know, just God, Jesus knowing who He was, 11:19 who He is, then they refer Pilate, 11:21 knowing His purpose now. 11:23 Now He is able to have self-denial. 11:25 You know, He isn't able to deny self 11:27 because He knows that, 11:28 He knows what the end result is going to be, 11:30 and that's how it kind of ties back into our lives when we, 11:33 you know, face various temptations 11:35 or wanting to make a choice that we may feel like, 11:38 if I make this pure choice, 11:39 I'm gonna let or forgo something else that I wanna do. 11:42 Oh, look if you know who you are, 11:43 if you know you're identity, if you know where you're going, 11:45 then it's okay to do that 11:46 because you know that's your head is in Christ, 11:48 you know you have something better, 11:49 something greater that He has repaired 11:51 and then stored for you. 11:52 And so now you can live a confident, restored, 11:54 and victorious life because you have now a purpose, 11:57 you know where you're going, you know, 11:59 you don't have to be sidetracked by the thing 12:03 that our Christ is using to trip us up. 12:05 You know I like what you said. 12:06 But, you know, sometimes even if you don't know 12:09 where you're going, you know who is leading 12:11 or directing the trip. 12:13 Yes. 12:14 And so, you know, I look at my life, and I'm, 12:16 you know, associate chaplain at Oakwood University. 12:19 You know, I didn't get a degree in theology from Oakwood. 12:22 I started out as a teacher, 12:24 teaching first and second graders, 12:25 and now I'm able to minister to my college, 12:29 to these college students and minister in a way 12:32 that I never would have imagined. 12:33 But when I was a teenager, when I was, you know, 12:36 going through things and, you know, 12:38 and wrestling with making pure choices, 12:41 I never imagined that God would take me to a place 12:43 where He would be able to use the testimony 12:45 from those choices to be able to, to be able to empower 12:49 and help other young people. 12:50 And the hurt that I experienced, 12:52 the pain that I may have experienced, 12:55 those trials and tribulations all prepared me 12:57 for where I am now 12:59 and wherever else God is gonna take me. 13:01 And that is what makes things beautiful. 13:04 And the Bible says, "All things work together 13:05 for the good of them that love the Lord." 13:07 It's not just all good things it's everything, 13:10 everything you've been through, 13:12 no matter what you've been through, 13:13 even if you've been sexually impure, 13:15 even if you may have been a victim of rape, 13:18 even if you may have been 13:20 the perpetrator of some of these things. 13:23 There is a newness, a restoration in God 13:26 that will take to an expected end 13:29 which is beautiful in God's, you know, hands. 13:31 Amen, amen, 13:33 that's just awesome, so beautiful. 13:35 So someone is watching and they wanna know 13:38 what does it look like, though, you know. 13:40 I mean, how have we, you know, experiences 13:44 and what is it look like to really have a life 13:46 that has a victorious life that is hid in Christ. 13:50 What should they expect? 13:52 I mean expect hardship. 13:55 Expect wrestling with the flesh. 14:00 Expect temptation 14:02 because now you have openly chosen Christ. 14:07 So now the devil wasn't happy. He's not pleased. 14:10 So he's gonna come at you harder even before 14:13 because before when you were in your stuff, 14:16 you know, you would do it and Satan had you. 14:19 But now you are like you're identifying 14:22 that as something 14:23 that I no longer wanna take part of, 14:25 something that I no longer wanna participate in, 14:27 but I wanna live for Christ. 14:29 So when you're in the mist of temptation, 14:34 when there is people around you, 14:35 if there is just something is simple 14:37 as someone get know your nose, and you use to cuss them out, 14:39 or you use the fight or whatever it is, 14:42 you have to in your mind identify who you are. 14:46 When the queen or the prince 14:48 or the princess of country gets upset, 14:52 they can't just cuss somebody out. 14:54 You know, they can't just, you know, 14:56 just react but they may still respond. 15:00 You still have the right to respond if necessary. 15:03 But now the way that 15:05 I respond is a little bit more collected in together, 15:08 and may be you can't talk to me like that, 15:11 that's not all right because you know who you are, 15:13 or don't touch me like that, keep your hands over there, 15:17 over, you know, my sister, when something happened, 15:22 okay, I'm gonna take a breather 15:24 and then I'm gonna come back to you, 15:25 and we're gonna sit down and talk about this thing. 15:27 Because I know who I am now, 15:29 I don't have to prove it to you, 15:31 but now it's gonna be displayed by how I talk to you 15:35 and I interact with you. 15:37 I think that... 15:38 Yes, that is the aspect of it, the struggle the wrestling. 15:42 But on the flipside, it's beautiful like 15:45 it's so liberating to be hidden in Christ. 15:47 Yeah. Very true. 15:49 I mean and so many times, you know, people from the, 15:53 you say the word or people 15:55 who may not be living a Christian agenda, 15:57 you know, they say, you know what do you do, you know, 15:59 you must beautiful, you know, 16:01 sitting around reading the Bible a day, 16:02 like that's not true. 16:03 The think about it is, 16:05 they think that we're like slaves, 16:08 you know, that we're like put in a box like in a cage 16:12 like we're just, you know, 16:13 and yeah, and we have to do that in order to behold your 16:17 or taketh to heaven. 16:18 But I think about it is, you really have to look 16:21 and see what are the characteristics of a slave. 16:24 You know what I'm saying? 16:25 Like we're free so they're saying, 16:28 okay, you know, let's do this, you know, let's go to the club 16:30 or, you know, let's go over, you know, 16:32 let's go over this girl's house or whatever 16:33 and it's like before when you're not hidden in Christ 16:36 you're kind of like, okay, let's do that, 16:38 you're kind of imposture to do that. 16:39 Yeah, to go along. 16:40 But now it's kind of like you're free to not do it. 16:43 I don't have to do that. You know what I'm saying? 16:45 There's so many people to actually slave 16:47 that's Satan's plan, you know, 16:49 to keep us in slavery and to trying... 16:55 To trip us up? 16:56 Yeah, and try and make us believe that we are free. 16:59 Yeah. Yeah. 17:00 And then God is like, "No, no you're free in me" 17:02 so, I mean it's cool, like, it's fun. 17:07 You know? 17:09 Yeah, it also mean your relationships are better, 17:10 you know, across the... 17:12 I mean the life is all about relationships so, you know, 17:14 you feel more free, you have a better connection with God, 17:17 your relationships are better 17:19 they're more meaningful, you now think. 17:20 Not superficial. 17:22 Yeah, not superficial, you know, 17:23 that's such a beautiful thing, you know, to have that. 17:25 And then when you try to go and get married at one night, 17:28 you have freedom to do that, 17:29 you have freedom to really enjoy 17:30 that person get to know them without any distractions 17:32 and what not. 17:34 You know it's beautiful, beautiful. 17:35 'Cause even the purpose of going to a club 17:37 is to socialize, right? 17:39 You to get to know people and all of that but that's not, 17:42 I don't need to do that, 17:44 I don't need to put myself in the bad environment 17:47 in order to socialize, in order to speak with people, 17:49 in order to meet and greet people. 17:51 So now there is different events that, 17:53 you know, at Oakwood camp that you can go 17:56 and you can socialize with people on and off campus. 17:59 And little things like this, you know, it's more chill, 18:01 people would be laying down on the floor or on the couch, 18:04 but we'll just be talking. 18:05 Just talking about the different things 18:07 we're going through, laughing about the things 18:09 that Christ has pulled us through that 18:11 we didn't really expect to happen, like, 18:13 and there is joy, and the bonds, 18:16 the bonds are so much stronger, 18:19 through having these just kick bag conversations, 18:22 meeting people in save environments to 18:25 where I have my sister sitting next to me 18:27 or my big brother, you know, sitting across from me 18:30 and there is no going into the back room. 18:32 "Uh-uh, where you going? Come back." 18:34 And so there is, it's still fun, 18:36 but it's not I can now have fun in a safe place. 18:40 Yeah, and there is some we need to also talk about, 18:42 you know, I don't know if we have time really now 18:44 to talk about some what are some environments 18:46 that we can do these type of things 18:48 and, you know, like what are some things 18:50 that only churches can do 18:52 to kind of create these environments. 18:53 Because you're at Oakwood and Oakwood is, you know, 18:55 lot of people, lot of resources, 18:56 but someone else who may not be in a situation like that, 18:59 maybe kind of tough, you know, for them to find things to do. 19:01 So what are some things so that we could do, you know, 19:04 that are positive to keep our minds pure? 19:07 Well, I was gonna say that to, you know, 19:12 go off of what she was saying, kind of tie this together, 19:15 is that Jesus lived a exciting life. 19:18 If you think about it, He healed the sick, 19:20 He met thousands and thousands of people 19:22 and then fed them, you know, out of one, 19:25 you know, meal that was meant for person 19:27 and it's liberating. 19:29 So I wanna say that people should understand 19:32 that ministry isn't a strictning limitated... 19:38 limited better word, thing, it's open, it's free, 19:43 it's something where you just you get to travel sometimes 19:48 or you get to meet new people through it, 19:51 you get to understand other people's experiences, 19:53 and it leaves things open, you know, you just not, 19:58 it's not a closed thing. 20:00 So just reading, not a lot of people read the Bible, 20:04 but if you practically, you know, 20:08 look at Jesus' whole life, and what His mission was, 20:12 you see that everything that happened, 20:14 happened for a reason and let up to his purpose, 20:17 and not only that but it wasn't boring. 20:20 You know, He had friends He had His disciples 20:22 who were His friends for three years. 20:23 Right. 20:24 And He experienced so many different things 20:27 and along the way, people noticed 20:32 there was a difference about Him, right. 20:35 And at one point were He was like, you know, 20:38 "Peter, John, you guys get the boat just in case 20:41 we need to hop on and, you know, get off" 20:43 'cause people were following him everywhere, 20:44 you know, to the mountains tops, 20:46 down to the lower to low river or whatever 20:48 and they were going all over the place 20:50 so, I think it's just letting people know 20:55 that ministry itself is a fun thing to do. 20:58 Yeah, there was never a dull moment with Jesus, right? 21:00 Oh, yeah. 21:01 You really get all sorts of adventures 21:03 and stuff going on to Him. 21:04 He's just the demoniac, I'll think about running 21:06 towards them and stuff, 21:07 and just all different things He went to, 21:08 He went to social gatherings, you know, 21:10 He had fun, so, yeah, yeah. 21:11 And I wanna say practically, I mean, one, that's my job, 21:15 that's part of my job description 21:17 at Oakwood as chaplain, 21:18 is to plan practical things for my students to do 21:22 that can be enjoyable and so we're social creatures 21:26 so we can have social gatherings 21:28 and save spaces. 21:29 You know, you can do things, you know, 21:30 Wednesday night prayer meeting and make it a rap session. 21:33 You know, getting involved service 21:35 is such a key component of getting involved 21:39 in gaining victory. 21:41 Seeing other people, being able to interact 21:43 with other people, 21:44 being able to serve somebody else in a situation 21:47 and seeing God work transformationally 21:51 through those different situations 21:52 so join a youth group, go on a mission trip, 21:55 you know, get involved with people 21:57 who share your gifts and talent. 21:58 If you sign and somebody else signs, 22:01 form a sign language group. 22:02 If you like, you know, children get involved 22:04 with vacation Bible school. 22:06 Find ways to get involved in safe communities. 22:08 And if your church doesn't have a save community, 22:11 you create a save community, 22:13 you say "Hey, why don't we get some food together 22:15 and a bunch of us just stay after church, 22:17 may be we can watch Pure Choices, 22:19 we have a dialogue after wards about what we, you know, 22:22 what we see, our how we're feeling" 22:24 so, really God is a God of creativity in vision. 22:27 And God can give you visions 22:29 and God can put you in situations 22:30 so that you can gain victory through social settings 22:33 and adventure with Jesus and through service. 22:36 Yeah. Yeah. 22:37 I agree and there is also with Oakwood 22:39 and the different programs that are there. 22:42 You know, there is a poetry group, 22:44 there is an art group, 22:46 they're gonna start a preaching group, 22:49 there is a whole bunch of different things 22:51 that you can do 22:52 and it doesn't just have to happen 22:53 on Oakwood's campus network get to know people like 22:56 you said, that have the same interest 22:58 and it's not limited to the things that we discuss. 23:01 What is your talent, what do you love to do 23:03 and how can you use that for the Lord, 23:04 find other people that wanna do that too. 23:06 Yeah. 23:07 Yeah, I mean you got to do whatever you got to do. 23:09 And I'm just gonna speak to the viewers. 23:10 You have to do whatever you can do 23:12 to get on this path with Jesus 23:13 because this is the best decision you have to make. 23:16 Whatever you gotta, you know, like she said, 23:18 find things to do, you know, start groups or whatever, 23:22 you've got to do something right now 23:24 because this is life and death. 23:25 You know? 23:26 And so I wanna now have the panel and to discuss 23:28 and talk about, to the viewers, talk about, how do you start, 23:33 how do you begin, how do you get on that right path 23:35 to get the victory because someone may be saying, 23:37 'I just don't know what to start'? 23:39 Yeah. I'll touch on that. 23:42 Okay, go with your point before. 23:43 Yeah, yeah. Before? Yeah, that's fine. 23:46 Oh, yeah, well, I was gonna say to the point 23:48 before that every time I heard of Christ, 23:51 and how Christ exciting, how He grew, 23:53 and He grew on four points, it says at Luke 2:52 23:56 He grew in wisdom, stature, in favor with the God and man. 23:59 Amen. 24:01 So you have the intellectual growth, 24:03 you know, that you can cultivate with the group. 24:06 You can talk about things and read different things, 24:08 you have the physical. 24:11 You know, you got asking get fit together. 24:12 Hey, let's go play a game of basket ball, you know, 24:15 midnight basket ball 24:16 or even like watch a game of basket ball, 24:18 you know, I guess that's not specifically that physical 24:20 but I guess I'll go towards the social peace at the end. 24:23 So socially, you know, hang out, you know, 24:25 have a game night, just chill out, laugh. 24:28 I mean that's that laughing is just being together 24:31 with good people, good conversation, 24:33 good food, I mean. 24:35 Laughter is a good medicine. 24:36 It's good medicine, medicine for the soul, right? 24:39 And then the spiritual component. 24:41 You know, get together and grow spiritually, 24:42 and have that connection. 24:45 So I think you can grow in all those four ways 24:47 and be a complete man or women. 24:49 Okay. 24:51 To your second question, victory, man, 24:53 victory is amazing and God has promised us victory 24:57 and He sees outline how we can have victory over sin. 25:01 And I think it starts really with believing who we are. 25:05 We are righteous by faith and nothing else, 25:08 and nothing else, 25:09 we are righteous faith and faith alone. 25:11 So we don't have to worry about where we stand with the Christ 25:13 because our identity is found in Him. 25:15 So our identity is we are made righteous. 25:18 And a thing about that is, when temptation comes, 25:22 'cause that will come, you know, 25:24 how can we have victory over that thing? 25:25 Well, how I understood that victory is 25:27 whenever that temptation comes to you, 25:28 first of all, it's not a sin to have temptation 25:31 to come to you, 25:33 but endorsing in that sin will lead to you sinning 25:36 or endorsing that temptations, 25:38 excuse me, will lead to you sinning. 25:39 So when that thing comes, you say a less, you know, 25:41 you see a girl or some comes to you. 25:44 Now you have an option, but as we spoke earlier 25:48 we're free so we don't have to indulge. 25:50 So we say, "God, thank you for dying on the cross, 25:53 thank you for making me free from lust" in your mind, 25:55 and then you say, "God, give me your pure spirit, 25:58 let me change my lustful spirit for your purity, 26:02 and then receive and to say thank you, God, 26:04 for giving me that thing" and just keep moving. 26:07 And overtime when you start understand, 26:09 like, man I'm not, I'm not in chains anymore, 26:11 I don't have to do that. 26:13 Wow! You know what I'm saying? 26:14 I don't have to do that, I'm free, I'm raised by faith, 26:17 then overtime you'll get that victory 26:19 and that thing is so liberating. 26:20 When you finally have victory over sin, 26:22 you realize why you're a Christian. 26:24 Because so many people who do not have victory over sin 26:27 and they go over the same thing over, and over, and over again 26:30 anything some how, 26:31 some way I'm just gonna be in this and I guess, you know, 26:34 because I'm a Christian I'm gonna be saved or whatever. 26:36 No, no, no God has given us tools 26:38 so that we can have victory 26:40 and He wants us to have victory, 26:41 He wants us to indulge in that freedom that He gives us. 26:43 Wow, that's serious. I love that I love that. 26:46 Kimberly, real quick talk to us 26:47 through those that were been abused 26:49 and those who are trying to start. 26:50 Well, I just wanna talk directly to our viewers, 26:54 and I wanna talk directly 26:56 anybody who has been a victim of abuse, 26:59 rape, molestation, incest 27:02 or any other type of sexual issue. 27:06 I want to let you know that, you can have victory in Jesus 27:10 that no matter what has been done to you 27:14 or no matter what you have done 27:16 that God can give you a new heart of clean spirit, 27:20 and God restores not just halfway but totally. 27:24 So if that is you, please reach out to someone 27:27 who can assist you, a counselor, a friend, 27:29 a parent, a Church member, seek help 27:32 and then go to God with everything letting Him know 27:35 what you've been through and knowing that God 27:38 can clean you up and make you right again. 27:40 Amen, that's how we end it. 27:42 Romans 8: 37 in all of these things 27:44 we're more than conquerors. 27:46 Amen. Yes. 27:48 Amen, through Jesus Christ and so we can have victory, 27:50 start on that path, see what God is gonna do in your life 27:53 because you have victory in Christ. 27:55 Make pure choices. God bless. |
Revised 2017-06-05