Participants: Pr. Joshua Nelson (Host), Jeanne Mogusu, Kean Baxter, Kory P. Douglas, Marquis Jackson
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000025
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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. 00:41 Hello, and welcome to Pure Choices. 00:42 I'm your host Pastor Joshua Nelson. 00:44 And I'm so glad you decided to join us. 00:46 We have another great program for you today. 00:50 We are talking about lust 00:52 and the title is three little words 00:55 "I lust you." 00:56 Yeah, "I lust you." 00:58 So, we're gonna talk about that. 00:59 But before we get into it, 01:00 I want to introduce our panel once again. 01:02 I'll start with brother to my left, Kean Baxter, 01:05 who is, again, our scholar here, 01:08 who is the recent graduate 01:10 of the Andrews University Theological Seminary, 01:12 MD of graduate. 01:14 We also have Pastor Kory Douglas, 01:18 who is a pastor 01:19 in the Central States Conference. 01:21 And we also have Jeanne Mogusu, 01:25 who is currently a seminary student 01:28 and also a PhD recipient or... 01:32 Candidate. Candidate. 01:34 Thank you, candidate. 01:35 So yeah, we'll make sure we let everyone know about that. 01:37 We also have Pastor Marquis Jackson, 01:41 who is a pastor in my conference, 01:43 the South Atlantic Conference, over there Sumter. 01:46 And I'm Pastor Nelson from the Lake city, 01:50 and Marion district in South Carolina. 01:53 So, we're just excited to be here, 01:55 and to really discuss this 01:57 important discussion topic today. 02:00 So, we're just gonna jump right into it. 02:02 We're talking about 'Lust'. 02:05 Okay, something that we all struggle with. 02:08 You got be honest, we all struggle with lust. 02:11 And especially, even in, so far, you could say 02:14 some of us, many of us, have had porn or sex addictions. 02:19 Okay. 02:20 So now we want to just talk... 02:21 let's talk about first up, what is lust? 02:23 Or the core of what is lust? 02:25 And compare that to what is love? 02:27 I will say, lust and love have similar connection, 02:31 seemingly the same, but the difference 02:34 is I will say love is where we got to say in John 3:16, 02:37 "For God so loved the world, 02:39 that He gave us his only begotten Son." 02:41 And lust... and love is an aspect 02:43 of giving to someone. 02:45 Lust is more so on the reverse. 02:47 See, they're both of four letters, 02:48 they both start with the letter L. 02:50 But lust more so, kind of, specifically says, 02:52 what can you do for me? 02:53 What can you give me? 02:54 While love says I'm gonna give to you, 02:56 lust says I need you to do this for me. 02:58 Okay. 03:00 So it goes back to self gratification 03:01 and merely just getting what you want. 03:04 Right. I have it, okay. 03:05 And we recognize a lot of people in relationships now, 03:07 are not really loving their lusting. 03:10 A lot of them are infatuated with someone 03:12 or just because they saw this on TV, 03:14 this is what they want, an ideal in a mate, 03:16 or this is a man or woman, 03:17 they desire that, not necessarily trying to give. 03:19 So just want to get something for themselves. 03:21 I want to just continue that thought. 03:25 It actually... 03:27 encrypt that word, actually means desire, 03:30 wanting something. 03:32 And it's actually wanting... I like to think of it this way, 03:37 sinners meeting a legitimate need in a illegitimate way. 03:42 So, we have sexual desires, we've ready-- 03:46 We've already establish that God gave us sexual desires. 03:50 Lust is desiring to fulfill those needs in a way 03:55 that God did not intend. 03:58 So lust is one thing something 04:00 that God did not intend for you. 04:01 Okay. 04:02 So, now lets look at this issue of lust 04:05 according to what Jesus says, 04:06 because this verse, in Mathew 5:28, 04:08 is really alarming to many of us, 04:10 because it says "But I tell you that anyone 04:12 who looks at a women lustfully 04:13 has already committed adultery with her in his heart." 04:16 You can flip that around for a woman 04:18 who looks at something, you know, lust. 04:19 So, that's taking it pretty extreme. 04:21 You know would you, would you not-- I mean, 04:23 how is that really possible? 04:24 We, as men, we're just thought, as a man, 04:26 I'll say, it's hard, you know, I'm getting married, 04:30 you know, you see another lady or someone who looks good. 04:33 Doesn't it-- naturally your mind just kind of goes there. 04:35 Yeah. 04:36 So, what is, what is Jesus really talking about? 04:39 I don't know that I would even isolate it to just man 04:42 because even women, 04:43 we're always talking about the Brad Pitts and the-- 04:46 you know, the Idris Elbas, 04:49 you know, which ever your persuasion is. 04:52 And you look at this, you have lots of people 04:55 who are looking at this man and you, 04:57 you know, going the Channing Tatums, 04:59 you know, any time the man takes off his shirt, 05:01 everyone is literally screaming their heads off. 05:05 And it, kind of, gives this idea of that 05:08 is what we should be looking for. 05:09 You know, it's the person 05:11 who is going to make everybody else's heads turn, 05:14 and not necessarily go beyond that, 05:17 so it's more of a lust, 05:18 kind of, gives more of a physical connotation. 05:21 It has to be more physical, it's not about who you are? 05:24 It's about what you look like. Yes. 05:27 Well, you know, I would... 05:28 I wouldn't find lust as 05:30 'cause, men, we defined our love 05:32 and marriage and sex 05:33 in the context of being in God's image. 05:35 And I believe that when you look at somebody, 05:37 that's how you should look at them, 05:39 as if they are in God's image. 05:40 And when you approach or make an attempt at love, 05:43 outside of the image of God 05:45 or outside of looking at that person that way, 05:47 that what you are doing is you are lusting, 05:49 because you have removed God's image from the equation. 05:52 And I think that what Jesus is getting at 05:54 and it's actually beautiful in the context, 05:55 because He is talking to those people 05:57 who have taken His word 05:59 and have taken the spirit of the word out of it, 06:01 who have taken the Lord 06:02 and have taken the spirit of the Lord out of it. 06:04 And now concentrate only on the physicality of the Lord 06:07 that which we see only outside. 06:09 And so, you know, 06:10 when Jesus is making the statement 06:11 of looking at the woman 06:13 and lusting in it to happen in your heart. 06:14 He is saying, it's not about necessarily what you do 06:17 with your hands only, 06:19 but it's about your intension, your heart. 06:21 And if God is not at the centre of what you are doing 06:24 even in regards to something like trying to be holy 06:28 or trying to be pure, or clean, 06:29 you know, if God is not at the centre of it, 06:31 then you know, you have already lusted. 06:34 And, you know, and I don't want to get preachery, 06:36 but some of us lust after being Christians. 06:38 You know, but well, that's another conversation 06:40 for another day. 06:41 Okay, so look at this thing now. 06:42 We are lusting in-- we were lusting in our hearts, right? 06:48 That's what God is trying to really make it stay. 06:50 Okay, look it's-- you're sinning by doing it, 06:53 is that's not folks always on a legalistic matter of it 06:56 Thou shall not do this and you're okay. 06:58 But let's focus on also now 07:00 what's happening inside of your mind? 07:01 What are you thinking about? 07:02 Okay, and that's really where sin is birthed. 07:05 Right. 07:06 I think, you are bringing that up, 07:08 that quote from Jesus in Mathew 5 is important, 07:11 if you look at a women to lust at, 07:14 after in your heart you've committed adultery, 07:16 because some people see it, 07:18 may be he was just speaking in hyperbole, 07:20 because it's-- I mean, 07:22 is it possible to not sin even in thought. 07:26 You know, it's like, the standard is too high. 07:28 And because we... like you said, Kory, 07:31 we've taken the sprit out of the commandments. 07:34 We've lowered the standard. 07:36 And we try to live up to it based on our own efforts. 07:41 And we kind of make excuses, and we've say, 07:43 okay, this is, you know, this is sin and this is not. 07:46 So I can do this and not the other. 07:48 But understanding the sprit and understanding 07:51 that Jesus did not sin in thought or action. 07:56 So-- 07:58 So lets really tackle that, because, 08:00 you know, that's serious what you're saying. 08:01 Because, in reality, what Jesus presents, 08:04 what He shows and tells us what to do 08:06 and what He is telling to the Pharisees, 08:08 they are alarmed, because it's pretty much impossible. 08:11 Now, does anyone have a problem with me saying 08:14 that "It's impossible to be perfect"? 08:16 No. 08:17 Some people will. Yeah, very well. 08:19 Yeah. Yeah. 08:21 I know, for example, being honest. 08:24 You know, as I'm growing up in, you know, 08:27 how could Jesus ever be perfect, 08:29 in aspect of, you know, growing up 08:30 and, you know, children, you know, make-- 08:32 Mary did a great job in helping her raising her son, 08:35 and Joseph did as well. 08:36 I remember when I was seven years old, 08:38 I remember I was going 08:40 to one of my mom's friend's places. 08:42 And she used to go visit her friend. 08:44 And her friend has a daughter. 08:45 We were around the same age. 08:47 And she took me to downstairs 08:49 and she took to me to this basement area. 08:52 And in the basement area, there was magazines. 08:55 And there was magazine of a naked woman. 08:57 And at the age of seven, even in that, 09:01 I still see those that... 09:02 those images they are seared in my mind. 09:05 It's amazing how Christ in his situation 09:07 as growing up, was raised so well, that he-- 09:10 that he was able to veer from any of those situation. 09:13 He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. 09:16 And so, with Christ living a perfect life, it is hard, 09:20 because I made mistakes, I've been exposed to things. 09:22 But I do you have to ask Christ to continue to deliver me 09:25 to take those things out and win that, 09:27 situations always popping up in my head, 09:29 to ask God that nail it, 09:30 no hit it on the head to set it down, 09:32 because If I don't it will to continue to build up. 09:34 So what you are saying is you cannot do it though because- 09:36 I can't do it. 09:38 This story is with the Christ really doing it through you. 09:41 Right. 09:43 Well, Let me let me-- 09:44 I think it is important to find perfection. 09:46 You know, if we gonna move forward. 09:48 And it's interesting that we go here, 09:49 because just the other week I was talking to, 09:51 at one of my churches, about this prayer meeting. 09:53 You know, in Matthew 5, 09:54 Jesus in the sermon on the mounts says 09:56 "Be ye perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect." 09:59 Of course, quoting when God says to Abraham, 10:01 "Be ye thou perfect on to the Lord." 10:04 And it's interesting that we take that verse 10:06 and then we say, well, 10:07 we should just do everything right. 10:08 And we define perfection is no flaws, 10:10 look shiny all the time, 10:12 you know, everything is gonna be all right. 10:14 You know, but do your best to be this way. 10:16 And it's interesting that the context 10:18 in which Jesus gives this verse, 10:19 He is talking about relationship. 10:21 He talks about how you treat one another. 10:24 How you treat your enemy and even-- Like I said, 10:26 God says to Moses "Be thou perfect onto me." 10:29 Talking more about relationship, 10:31 which I think is interesting, 10:32 because we are talking about sex and relationship. 10:34 And that God establishes perfection, 10:37 based on our relationship with Him. 10:39 And so, when God says, 10:41 "in Jesus be perfect," it's like saying, 10:42 be thou in perfect relationship with me. 10:45 Always strive to be in that connection with me. 10:48 And that's where we mess up sometimes 10:50 because that is the base and the foundation 10:53 out of which all of what we are talking about grows. 10:55 Yeah, that's-- Go ahead, go ahead. 10:56 Relationship with God and with each other, 10:59 its goes both ways. 11:00 And it's one-- And the thing is you can't-- 11:02 It's one and the same. Yeah. Exactly. 11:03 Yeah, it can't-- it's like the cross, 11:05 there is an upward beam and then there's a horizontal. 11:07 So you are saying the reality is based to that 11:09 is as hard as I may try 11:10 not to look at that pornography, 11:12 as hard as I may try to stop my addiction 11:13 that basically, the solution is not in me. 11:17 As hard as I may try, 11:18 I'm not gonna be able to stop it. 11:19 Is that what you telling me? 11:21 Well, we are not saying not to try, 11:22 that's not we are saying. 11:24 We are not saying pray and then watch pornography, 11:27 and pray and hope that eventually 11:28 God will magically touch your chin 11:30 and turn it away from the television screen 11:32 or the computer. 11:33 What we're saying is that, 11:35 it's not watching the pornography and not... 11:38 and trying hard not to do these things 11:39 is not would makes you pure. 11:42 Christ makes you pure 11:43 and you honor the process of Christ purifying you, 11:46 by not polluting your mind with the things 11:49 that will corrupt you. 11:50 Okay, go ahead. 11:53 Luke Chapter 15 speaks about a story about a man. 11:56 He cleaned and he cleaned the spirit out, 11:59 putting nothing in it, just vacuum. 12:01 But again still that spirit looked around 12:03 and saw him and nothing in it. 12:04 And he said just want me do, 12:05 I'm gonna come back in his place 12:07 and I'll bring seven of my boys with me. 12:08 And this person will be in a worse situation 12:10 than he was before. 12:11 If we think that we can do this of our own strength 12:14 and we do not put Jesus Christ in us, 12:16 it's kind of like saying when we put Christ in us 12:19 and we ask Him to live a life through us 12:20 so it can be imparted out. 12:22 That's what we can do, 12:23 because if not those demons will come in and may... 12:26 I may have looked at one magazine, 12:28 but if I have not put Christ in me, 12:29 I'm gonna look at worse more, more intense magazine 12:32 triple, quadruple X magazines, watch the TV shows 12:35 and pay the money. 12:37 And then do all those things. 12:38 And if we don't put Christ in us, 12:39 that's the dangerous thing. 12:41 I think that's... 12:42 Yeah, and, and more so, 12:44 because Marquis literally took the words out of my mouth. 12:47 One thing we have to understand 12:49 is that we're not trying, we're not saying that-- 12:52 when we, when we-- 12:53 most people believe that when we tell them-- 12:56 that we need God expects for us to live a holy life, 12:59 that you just need to stop doing what you're doing. 13:02 That is an important part of it, 13:04 but however it is not the source, 13:08 that is just treating a symptom. 13:10 You know, when you go to the doctor, 13:12 if I have a cold, 13:14 I can be given medicine for my fever, 13:17 I can be given everything else. 13:18 But if the doctor is not treating my-- 13:21 the cause for it, you know, the virus, 13:23 then I'm gonna be sick all over again. 13:26 And that's-- And that's how we, 13:28 that's how we tend to treat sin in our lives. 13:32 I'm a liar, so I'm gonna stop lying. 13:35 I'm a-- you know I am, I steal, 13:38 you know, so I need to stop stealing. 13:41 And so you're concentrating so much on what not to do, 13:45 that you forget that there is so much more 13:47 that you ought to do. 13:48 And that's the thing. 13:50 This-- I love this analogy, 13:52 someone-- a friend of mine said this, 13:54 you know, it's like going into a room of darkness, 13:57 you know, and getting a bucket, 13:59 because you want that-- 14:00 you know, you want some light in it, 14:02 so you get a bucket and try to carry out 14:05 all the darkness out of it. 14:07 Instead of just turning on the light switch, you know. 14:10 And so-- 14:12 and that analogy of the man with the demons is so great, 14:16 and that's why it's in the Bible, 14:18 because we are trying to take things out of our life, 14:21 but we don't recognize that there is something 14:23 that needs to come into our lives. 14:25 Exactly. 14:27 And it's not until it comes into our lives 14:28 that you get the ability, sort of, an-- 14:31 that which comes in is what pushes out 14:34 that the rest of the things. 14:35 Okay, I want to talk about the how. 14:36 Are you gonna say something, in regards to this? 14:38 Along with what Marquis said, 14:40 I'm thinking of a more current example of the demon, 14:45 he said, demons are leaving and they are coming back. 14:48 I was watching a talk show, 14:49 and a lady had a stomach bypass, I think. 14:56 Yeah, 'cause want to lose that weight 14:58 and-- gastric bypass, right. 15:01 So she had it, she lost a lot of weight, of course. 15:04 You are not able to fit as much food in your stomach. 15:06 So you eat more 15:08 but you not able to-- You're not as-- 15:11 You don't-- You eat more frequently- 15:13 Because your capacity is shrunken. 15:14 Small. Smaller. 15:16 And so you lose a lot more weight. 15:18 So she was fine, as far as the weight was concerned, 15:22 but she became an alcoholic. 15:24 Because the fact of the matter was, she was addicted to food. 15:29 She treated this symptom 15:31 and addiction popped up in another aspect. 15:35 Wow. 15:37 I've said this to my church. And it may sound weird. 15:41 The problem is not sin, the problem is sin. 15:46 The problem is not sin-- Christ defeated sin. 15:49 The problem is the fact that we had not allowed Christ 15:51 to come into us, and get that sin out. 15:54 I have a house. 15:55 I have yard, but my yard has weeds. 15:57 And I-- I get weed killer and I'll spray it in, 16:00 those things will top up a little bit 16:01 or they don't do anything. 16:03 Because I haven't gotten to the root. 16:04 And so we don't get into the root of the issue 16:07 and allow Christ to come in and pull that root out, 16:10 we're gonna continue had the same symptoms over again. 16:12 Okay, I love it. 16:13 I love that you all been saying. 16:14 Let's now talk about some ways to do it, 16:16 because you know lot of people watching may say, 16:18 well, how did you do it? How did you really do that? 16:21 I mean, I heard you're saying about having Christ in you, 16:24 we have, we talk about die in a self, but, you know, 16:26 how does that really take place? 16:28 What am I doing? 16:29 You know, I'm here, I'm trying to stop watching things. 16:31 What do I really do? 16:33 What is the first step that I take? 16:34 How can I hear God's voice? 16:35 Well, what would you say to them? 16:37 Well I don't want to be-- 16:42 I don't want to be cliche, you know. 16:44 But we're on Pure Choices. 16:45 We're talking about relationship, 16:46 and relating to each other, intimacy. 16:49 And, you know, 16:50 it's a relationship that God asks us to. 16:52 You know, the Bible refers to Abraham as a friend of God, 16:55 at the end of the day. 16:56 It's what God seeks, is friendship. 16:58 And will you, when you, kind of, 17:00 when you talk like, this is why I say it work so hard 17:01 at destroying our view of relationship, 17:04 is because God has invited us to intimacy, 17:07 and what does that mean? 17:08 That means that, yeah, read your Bible, pray every day, 17:11 make time for Him, spend time, 17:12 just as you would with someone you wanted to date. 17:15 But that also means that it's not easy. 17:17 That also means that when you start out, 17:19 it's gonna be a little bit of, you know, you know, 17:21 I'm a little nervous because I don't really know what to do. 17:24 You know, I hate-- As you develop, 17:29 as you talk to Him more and more every day. 17:32 And I'm telling you this from experience, you know, 17:34 you begin-- you get, you get closer to Him, 17:36 where now-- And this may sound, you know, 17:38 a little a contemporary, 17:40 but sometimes when I pray to God, 17:42 it's not even about your head and get solemn. 17:44 It's like, God, I need to get where I'm going today. 17:46 I know you got it, could you please, 17:47 while I'm from going into the call. 17:49 You know, because I'm on a basis with him now 17:51 where we're intimate, you know. 17:53 And I understand, I know what he's talking. 17:55 And it doesn't have to come in meditation 17:57 as it did three or four years ago. 17:59 When I had to really sit down in a dark-- in a quiet room. 18:02 But as I have grown with God, our relationship has grown. 18:05 And also, I don't if I'm getting ahead, 18:06 and I'm sorry, 18:08 but I talked about this on the interview, our program. 18:11 But what we do is we present relationship with Christ 18:14 and becoming pure without presenting the struggle of it. 18:18 We act like, from day one, as soon as you turn around 18:21 and decide to go the other direction, 18:22 that everything is gonna be easy, but there's a struggle. 18:26 You know, every day we got to wrestle 18:28 with the fact that our flesh doesn't want to talk to God. 18:31 And sometimes we got to have-- it has to be a decision 18:35 before it is a feeling. 18:36 We have to decide, this is what I'm gonna do, 18:38 even though I don't feel like it today. 18:40 And the same thing is important in-- making up pure choices. 18:44 Today, I might not want to make a pure choice. 18:46 And it's not gonna be easy, but as I continue to do it, 18:49 knowing that Christ is working to clean me up, 18:52 it begins to get easier and easier as I go. 18:54 Okay, and you know, but I want you also to address, 18:57 you know, the struggle, 18:58 how do you really fight through it? 19:00 And it was, that's exactly where I was going, 19:03 it's kind of like love. 19:05 I love the analogy of love, 19:07 because it's so-- it's a perfect example. 19:11 God love-- when you are in love with someone, 19:15 you want to spend all the time in the world with them. 19:19 You can't, literally, 19:20 you cannot bear being apart from them. 19:23 And so-- but in order to get to the point 19:25 where you're in love with someone, 19:27 you really have to get to know that person. 19:29 And so, at the beginning, you know, it may be like, 19:32 you know, Kory said, it may be kind of awkward like, hey. 19:35 Yeah. 19:37 You know, and you're wondering what do I say next, will they, 19:40 will they like me, you know, 19:42 just that we if I tell them-- if I show them who I am. 19:45 And so, it is the same way with God. 19:48 You know, you have to get past the idea 19:50 that he will not like you just the way you are, 19:54 because guess what, He already knows you 19:56 and He loves you. My lord. 19:58 He is seeking to have a relationship with you. 20:00 He wants to spend time with you. 20:02 He's already there, you know, 20:04 waiting for you to spend time with you. 20:06 He's pursuing you, all the time, constantly. 20:10 I mean, don't make me preach now. 20:12 Yeah, it's kind of very hot in here. 20:14 My lord. 20:15 But, but, that is the ultimate love story, 20:17 you know. That's it. 20:19 That is the ultimate love story, like seriously, 20:21 nobody can love you, like He can. 20:24 You know, I mean, God, you know, 20:26 because it's only until you get to the place 20:28 where you recognize, 20:29 you are valued in His, in His, in His eyes, 20:33 that you have the ultimate value. 20:35 He, He loved you so much, He made you in His own image. 20:39 So that He could have an experience with you. 20:41 You know, a relational experience with you. 20:44 And, and, and that, once we recognize that, 20:47 once you recognize your value, 20:49 then it becomes so much easier to, 20:51 to be like, "Hey, God," you know, "I'm here, today, 20:55 it's rough, I really don't feel like talking to you. 20:59 But guess what? I want to get to know You. 21:03 I want to, um, I want to spend time with you. 21:06 Show me how to spend time with you." 21:08 I love, I love telling people that I meet, 21:11 who are just starting out in their relationship. 21:14 If you can't wake up in the morning 21:16 to spend time with God, just tell Him. 21:18 Tell Him, "Lord, this is what I want to do. 21:21 I want to spend time with you, but you know me and sleep. 21:24 We love, we love each other," you know. 21:27 So if you want to spend, I have done this, 21:30 where I have gone to bed dog tired. 21:32 And I'm telling God, 21:34 "Lord, if you want to spend time with me, 21:36 wake me up." Wake me up. 21:37 And guess what, I could be in bed by three at night, 21:41 studying all, you know, and I will wake up at five. 21:44 And I will wake up so refreshed. 21:46 And once I spend time with him, 21:48 I'll be able to run through all day, 21:50 not sleeping, nothing, you know. 21:53 Just vibrant, because He has woken me up, 21:56 and He has refreshed my, 21:58 you know, my time with Him, has just been so refreshing 22:01 that I'm not even exhausted any more. 22:04 Wow sister, you said a lot there, 22:05 some valuable things and valuable thing there. 22:09 I mean, that's really what I say. 22:10 And that's where we find the desire of purity, 22:14 when you recognize who you are in Him 22:16 and that He loves you so much. 22:17 You know, that He really desires to have, 22:19 let you have that gift of sex, when it's time, 22:22 because it's beautiful, because He created it. 22:24 And when we don't, we cheap in ourselves, we cheap in, 22:26 what He is really trying to do in us and for us. 22:29 That's right. Yeah. 22:31 In my experience 22:34 I was born and raised in the church. 22:36 And I had to get to the point, God brought me to the point 22:42 where I had to despair of myself, 22:45 I had to give up on myself. 22:48 And the thing is, 22:49 and I don't know if I'm the only one. 22:51 May be I'm very stubborn or very slow. 22:53 But I would try, I would fail, I would try I would fail. 22:55 No, you're not by yourself. 22:56 And I said when you don't-- when you give up on yourself, 22:59 I just had a lot of faith in myself for some reason. 23:02 But God brought me to a point where I realized in-- 23:05 looking at my life that you're not, 23:08 you're not gonna get this, 23:10 as a matter of fact, you are getting worse. 23:14 God has, you have, we have to get to the point 23:16 where we give up on ourselves, "can't do it". 23:19 We cannot keep the commandments. 23:20 If you think you're keeping the commandments, you're not. 23:22 Yeah, yeah. 23:24 That was the Pharisees problem. Exactly. 23:26 And this what Jesus says, you know, 23:28 you say don't commit adultery, but you're thinking about it. 23:31 You don't, you don't kill your brother, 23:33 but you hate him in your heart. Yeah. 23:35 So Jesus was raising the bar, so you guys don't have it. 23:40 So when you despair of yourself, 23:42 he's like, what do I do? 23:43 And then Jesus presents Himself, I got it. 23:45 I'm your savior. Amen. Amen. 23:47 Die with me and I'll bring you, 23:51 I will do for you what you can't do for yourself. 23:53 It's not God helping you, 23:55 it's God doing it. It's God doing it. 23:57 It's God doing it. Yes, yes. 23:59 And-- what you're all saying is so true. 24:01 And I think probably one thing 24:03 is we have to be very careful of 24:05 is not to mirror our walk to someone else's walk. 24:08 Because, you know, 24:10 as we looking at the show Pure Choices, 24:12 probably the context-- 24:13 the people are gonna be watching this 24:15 or gonna people, young adults, teenagers, 24:17 may be there's some people little our age or some older. 24:21 But the challenge is, is that if I mirror myself 24:25 or how someone else is walking or how someone else is walking, 24:28 I'm finding myself at a problem, 24:29 because like the old story of running in a lane. 24:32 If you're running in that lane and you-- 24:34 I remember when I was in high school, I was racing, 24:37 people didn't think I could run, 24:38 but back in the day, I was little fast, you know. 24:41 I'm certainly run a little more 24:42 but you say it'll take little more time 24:44 to get myself ready. 24:46 But I would, I would, I would run and there's-- 24:49 I beat these guys and then there's one guy 24:50 who everybody telling was gonna toast me. 24:53 I race against this person and we were neck to neck. 24:55 But my problem was I looked to my right, so I get some. 24:59 And at the end of it, 25:00 we both probably get to end of the line 25:02 and get there together, but they gave it to him 25:04 because they thought he was faster. 25:06 Now none of it's-- none a case but if I would have just kept, 25:09 if I would have just kept focus, 25:11 I probably could have beaten him. 25:13 But the problem is, 25:14 unfortunately, that was a church, 25:16 we have put-- 25:17 we have merit people in there walk compared to ours, 25:20 it makes it hard for a person, 25:22 and as a young people, in this young generation, 25:24 we just need to be open honest, it is a struggle. 25:27 It is. 25:28 And we have to say listen, 25:29 there's times where I'm gonna fall and slip, 25:31 but just like the Bible says, 25:32 "A just man fall seven times, but gets back up." 25:34 Well, you know, one of the-- I mean, I love the Bible-- 25:37 I'm sorry. 25:39 You know, when Jesus-- 25:40 Oh, man, I really do. 25:43 It's like it gets me excited. 25:47 When the rich young ruler comes to Christ, 25:49 and, you know, he says I've done all the stuff, 25:51 you know, what else shall I do. 25:52 Christ tells him, "follow me", you know. 25:54 Right. Yeah. 25:55 And our problem is that we can't control "follow me". 26:00 Yeah. 26:01 We can't set benchmarkers for "follow me". 26:04 Because when you're following Christ, 26:05 we want to be able to tell people, 26:07 well, after five months, you should look like this. 26:09 You should sound like that, you know, 26:11 if you're gonna be making pure choices, 26:13 after six months, 26:14 you should be able be just look him in the face 26:15 and say no sex. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 26:17 You know what I'm saying? 26:18 We want to tell people, you know, 26:20 after a little while you got to do that, 26:21 but Christ just says "follow me." 26:22 You know, and the thing is 26:24 yeah, we gonna bump, we're gonna hit bumps, 26:26 you know, the roads gonna turn, 26:27 it's gonna, we gonna go over the mountains, valleys 26:29 but our thing is "follow me" and you don't like, 26:32 I don't need to bring up by Abraham again, 26:33 but what the Bible says 26:35 Abraham didn't do anything special, 26:36 he didn't work miracles. Yeah. 26:38 He didn't found any land. 26:40 He didn't even see the land 26:41 that God promised him before he died, 26:43 he didn't get hold it. Write anything-- 26:44 But the Bible says that he-- 26:46 but what he did was he kept on getting up every morning 26:49 and wherever God told him to go, he went there. 26:51 And the bible says that the faith 26:53 that it took him to do that, 26:54 it was accounted to him for righteousness, 26:57 for perfection. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 26:59 And that's really important, 27:00 because if you look at the Bible 27:02 from the beginning to end 27:03 is always this great three-words, 27:06 He walked-- well for, He walked with God. 27:09 You know, Enoch walked with God, Noah walked with God, 27:11 they were counted righteous because they walked with God. 27:15 Walking entails so much but it's like all-- 27:18 that's all I have to do is walk with you, 27:19 it doesn't say running just says walk. 27:21 Yeah. Wow. 27:22 Powerful discussion, we may have to do, 27:24 talk some more about-- 27:26 But this is how we're gonna end it out here, you know, 27:29 in Colossians, Paul talks about the mystery of God, 27:31 which is Christ in you 27:33 "The Hope of Glory." "The Hope of Glory." 27:35 Praise God. 27:36 That's really what it's all about. 27:37 If you can just focus on that 27:39 allowing Christ to really permeate your life, 27:40 allowing Christ to really come in, 27:41 whatever you have to do, listen to your pastor, 27:43 listen to-- go talk to your parents, 27:45 whatever you have to do, focus on Jesus 27:47 and that relationship you need to have with Him. 27:50 Well, that's our program. 27:52 Until next time, make pure choices. |
Revised 2016-02-11