Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210052S
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00:29 Hello, my name is Shelley Quinn
00:30 and we welcome you to this Worship Hour. 00:34 In Psalm 129:4, 00:36 the psalmist says, "The Lord is righteous. 00:40 He has cut me free 00:43 from the cords of the wicked." 00:47 Let me ask you something. 00:48 What is binding you? 00:52 Is there cords of the wicked that is binding you? 00:56 I'm gonna tell you that generally speaking, 01:00 the thing that binds us the most 01:02 is the way we see ourselves. 01:05 You know, when God looked down at Sarah. 01:08 People saw a barren woman, 01:11 but what God saw was the mother of all nations. 01:16 When people looked at David, they saw a poor shepherd. 01:20 God saw a mighty king of Israel. 01:24 And when people looked at Joseph, what did they see? 01:29 They saw a prisoner, 01:31 but God saw a power minister 01:35 of Egypt. 01:38 This list can go on forever. 01:40 When people look at the murderous Saul 01:44 of Tarsus, what did God see? 01:47 He saw the ambassador of grace. 01:49 He saw a man 01:51 that He was going to use to reach all the nations. 01:55 So the point of this is, 01:58 quit worrying about what others think about you. 02:02 Quit thinking negative thoughts about yourself, 02:07 and let's understand 02:11 that God has a plan for your life. 02:14 Do you believe that your loving heavenly Father 02:18 has a plan for your life? 02:20 How do you think God sees you? 02:23 Are you shaking your head? 02:25 You don't know. 02:26 You know, none of these people knew how 02:28 God saw them either 02:30 until His plan for their life started unfolding. 02:35 But the one thing they had in common 02:38 was a trust in God 02:41 and faith in the words that He spoke. 02:45 They all identified with His Word. 02:50 In Hebrews 4:12. 02:53 The author says 02:55 that God's word is alive and active. 03:00 It is sharper than a two-edged sword." 03:04 You know, I'm gonna come back to that. 03:06 I'm gonna save it for just a second, 03:08 but the Word of God is alive and active. 03:13 And we need to know 03:16 that this word can change our lives 03:20 absolutely completely. 03:22 In John 8:31-32, "Jesus said, 03:27 'If you abide in My word, 03:31 you shall know the truth, 03:33 and the truth shall set you free." 03:36 You can be freed from making wrong choices. 03:42 God can cut the cord of the wickedness binding you. 03:46 You can be free from whatever is binding you. 03:50 What is it? 03:51 A poor self image. 03:53 Maybe it's, you've gained weight 03:56 and you don't feel good about yourself. 03:58 Maybe what's binding you is lust or pornography. 04:02 Whatever it is, when we have something binding us, 04:08 what happens is we begin to have 04:11 a negative internal narrative. 04:16 In other words, we rehearse it again and again. 04:21 And we're saying, this is who I am, 04:24 but that's not what God says. 04:26 By the power of the Holy Spirit, 04:30 by the power of God's Word, 04:33 He can cut you free from the cords 04:37 that are binding you. 04:39 We must learn not to lean 04:43 on our own understanding. 04:45 In Proverbs 3:5-6. 04:49 It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 04:53 lean not on your own understanding." 04:56 What are we gonna lean on? 04:57 If we're not leaning on human reasoning, 05:01 what is God saying to us? 05:03 He is saying, "Lean on what My Word says." 05:08 And then it goes on. 05:09 And it says that if you will acknowledge Him 05:14 in all your ways, He will direct your paths. 05:19 So what we've got to do today 05:23 is lean on what the Word of God says. 05:27 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that, "All of God's promises 05:33 are yes and amen in Christ Jesus." 05:38 Wow. 05:39 Do you realize if you're a Christian, 05:41 if you're in Christ, 05:43 everything that the Bible says 05:48 about you is true? 05:51 And if you want to know who you are as a Christian, 05:53 you have to get in the Word, 05:55 and see what God has to say about you, 05:59 who you are, 06:00 because that's what this Word does 06:02 is it shows us a picture of who we are in Christ. 06:07 And you know what? 06:09 Some of the promises seem too good to be true. 06:12 I mean, sometimes we read God's promises 06:15 and we say, "Oh, I can't, that's not me." 06:20 But you know what 1 John 5:10 says. 06:24 It says, "He who does not believe 06:28 the testimony of God is regarding Him 06:33 as a liar." 06:36 Are you regarding God as a liar? 06:39 Do you read in His Word something that says, 06:42 this is who you are in Christ? 06:45 You have an anointing and the anointing is real, 06:48 but you say, "Oh no, not me. 06:50 I don't have an anointing." 06:52 We've got to get into God's Word. 06:55 And we have to remember this. 06:58 Romans 4:17 says that "God is the God 07:02 who gives life to the dead and He calls things 07:07 that are not as though they already were." 07:11 How can that be? 07:12 Well, Isaiah 46:10 says 07:16 that "God sees the end from the beginning." 07:20 So He knows that when you come to Him, 07:25 you are going to be what He says you are. 07:30 Romans 8:28. 07:32 You probably know this one. 07:33 It says, "All things work together for good, 07:37 for those who love the Lord 07:39 and are called according to His purpose." 07:42 Now, if I stopped there, you might be asking me, 07:47 how could what's happening in my life be for my good, 07:51 in fact, I remember when I was in England once, 07:53 I was teaching a large crowd 07:58 and I stopped at Romans 8:28. 08:02 And I said, you know, we've got to be so careful 08:06 how we address people who are going through problems, 08:10 because let's say 08:11 that a woman had just lost her husband and her child 08:15 in a car accident. 08:16 And you come up 08:18 and you're mishandling the Word of God. 08:21 And you say to her, "Oh, honey, all things work together 08:25 for good for those who love the Lord 08:27 and are called according to His purpose." 08:30 And I said, what would you do if you were that woman? 08:35 How would you feel? 08:36 You would want to suck 08:38 that person right in the kisser. 08:42 So we can't separate Romans 8:28 08:46 from Romans 8:29. 08:49 Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good 08:52 for those who love the Lord 08:54 and are called according His purpose for..." 08:57 Now, it's gonna explain it in Romans 8:29. 09:02 He says, "For those God foreknew, 09:05 He predestined 09:08 to become like His Son Jesus." 09:13 See, your hope is that God works all things together 09:19 to fulfill your destiny, 09:21 which is to become like Jesus. 09:23 So even when we're going through difficult times, 09:26 no matter how bad the times are, 09:29 God can use them for our benefit. 09:33 You know, sometimes we worry about how others see us. 09:38 What I like is Paul said too, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, 09:44 he says, "I am what I am 09:49 by the grace of God." 09:52 And that's what I can say as well. 09:54 Can you say that too? 09:56 I am what I am 10:00 by the grace of God. 10:04 Grace is something that people so misunderstand. 10:07 I wanna tell you what I believe 10:09 are the three greatest gifts of grace, 10:12 Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Word. 10:17 And when you look 10:18 at these great underserved gifts 10:21 that God has given us, 10:23 you realize that the effects of grace 10:27 is it's God's divine assistance 10:31 and super natural power unto salvation. 10:37 And so when Paul says, 10:38 "I am what I am by the grace of God, 10:41 and God's grace was not toward me in vain." 10:46 He is saying, "It doesn't matter 10:48 who you think I am. 10:50 It doesn't matter who I think I am. 10:53 I am who God says I am." 10:57 In Jeremiah 1:12, "The Lord told Jeremiah, 11:02 'Oh, you have seen correctly." 11:05 He said, "I am watching over My Word 11:11 to perform it." 11:13 In Isaiah 55:11, God says, 11:18 "My Word does not return to me void, 11:21 but it accomplishes every purpose 11:25 for which I sent it." 11:26 So God's Word when He spoke it, 11:30 He's saying when it returns to me, 11:34 I'm watching over it to perform it. 11:37 God is not a man that He can lie. 11:40 And so what we've got to do 11:43 and what we're going to do today, 11:46 as soon as I pray, 11:48 we need to learn to speak the Word of God over our life. 11:54 We need to return His Word 11:57 in prayer with thanksgiving. 12:00 And that's what we're gonna learn to do today. 12:02 Let's pray. 12:04 Heavenly Father, we come in the name of Jesus. 12:07 Oh Lord, I pray that You would just get me out of the way 12:11 and speak through me today. 12:14 Lord, I ask in the name of Jesus for everyone 12:18 who is listening to my voice, 12:20 that You would send 12:21 Your Holy Spirit to be the teacher 12:24 and, Lord, that You would help us to grasp 12:28 how important Your Word is to us in Jesus' name. 12:32 Amen. 12:35 Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:13, 12:41 he says as... How does it start? 12:44 Let's see. 12:46 He said, "Since we have 12:49 the same spirit of faith as it is written." 12:54 So now he's gonna quote, what is the spirit of faith? 12:58 Since we have the same spirit of faith, 13:01 as it is written, 13:04 "I believed and therefore I spoke." 13:10 So he is saying the spirit of faith 13:13 is I believed and therefore I spoke. 13:18 And then he goes on to say, 13:21 "We also believe and therefore speak." 13:26 To speak God's Word is so important 13:30 because what it does is it gets the Word from here, 13:36 from our head into our heart. 13:38 You know, I know people, I know a lot of people 13:42 who know a lot about the Word of God. 13:45 They may be memorized a lot of the Word. 13:48 Think of this. 13:49 The Pharisees memorized 13:52 the entire law of Moses. 13:55 That would be Genesis, Exodus, 13:57 Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 13:59 They had it all memorized, but it was head knowledge, 14:05 not heart knowledge. 14:07 So what speaking God's Word does for us 14:12 is it gets it from our head into our heart. 14:16 And I'm gonna tell you 14:18 that you can feel like a hypocrite sometimes 14:22 when you first start speaking this. 14:25 I gave someone some affirmations 14:29 just a couple of months ago, and I told her, 14:32 speak these over your life daily. 14:34 Pray them back to the Lord. 14:36 And a couple of weeks later, she said, 14:39 "I feel like such a hypocrite when I say this." 14:42 I said, "Just keep on doing it, keep on doing it." 14:46 And finally there was the breakthrough. 14:49 She feels now her feelings are lining up 14:54 with God's truth. 14:56 So remember I said while ago, 14:59 God's Word is alive and active. 15:04 And the Scripture says 15:05 it is sharper than any two-edged sword. 15:08 Well, let me tell you something. 15:10 The first, 15:11 in the Greek two-edged is distomon, 15:16 and the literal translation would be like 15:19 a two mouthed river. 15:22 So if God's Word is like a two mouthed river, 15:28 a double edged sword, 15:31 the first edge struck when He spoke it, 15:35 the second edge strikes when we speak it, 15:39 and God's Word can cut us free 15:42 from the cord of the wicked that is binding us. 15:46 Let's now get into 15:49 some affirmations from Scripture. 15:52 What I'm going to recommend rather than flipping 15:56 through your Bible trying to keep up with me. 15:59 I hope you've got a pen and a paper, 16:02 and you can write down these scripture references, 16:07 but more than anything, 16:08 I hope you will follow the exercise of faith 16:14 and speak them over your life. 16:17 Listen with your heart and speak with your mouth. 16:21 In Deuteronomy 32:46-47, "God said to them, 16:27 'Set your hearts on all the words 16:30 which I testify among you today, 16:31 which you shall command your children 16:34 to be careful to observe all the words of this law. 16:37 For it is not a futile thing to you, 16:41 because it is your life." 16:45 God's Word is our life. 16:48 And He says, "By this word, you shall prolong your days 16:52 in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." 16:58 What does that say to your head? 17:00 I'm just gonna... 17:01 We're gonna make an affirmation from that whole long thing. 17:05 And this is Deuteronomy 32:47 17:09 is that God's words 17:13 are not idle to us. 17:16 They are our life. 17:18 Please repeat that up. 17:20 I know this is gonna seem strange, 17:23 but I want you to say this, 17:25 God's Word is not idle to me, 17:29 but it is my life. 17:33 You know, when God taught me to do this, 17:38 I had gone through a period, 17:41 it lasted a whole year of vertigo. 17:44 Do you know what vertigo is? 17:46 It's like your world is spinning like a top. 17:50 And it was going around, 17:51 everything was like going around 17:52 at 120 revolutions per minute. 17:55 It lasted a whole year, 24/7. 17:58 I saw every doctor. 18:00 I saw the doctors that the astronauts went to. 18:03 They were gonna clip, 18:05 they suggested clipping the nerves behind my ears. 18:08 And they said, well, you'll be deaf, 18:11 but you won't be constantly nauseated. 18:14 You won't, you'll be able to function. 18:16 Vertigo is a horrible thing. 18:19 And one night I was lying in bed. 18:22 And at this time I was taking care of a mother-in-law 18:26 who had colon cancer, 18:27 a father-in-law in early Alzheimer's, 18:30 a 13 room farm house, and a rebellious teenage niece. 18:35 And I am doing everything I can 18:38 just to stand up straight. 18:39 I couldn't read, I couldn't watch TV 18:45 because my world was spinning. 18:47 So one night as I was lying in bed, 18:50 I had this thought 18:52 and I actually said it out loud. 18:55 Now I know why you did it, mama. 18:58 Now let me explain what I meant. 19:00 My mother attempted suicide. 19:05 My father was killed when I was six. 19:08 I was 13 when my mother tried this. 19:11 My little sister was only nine. 19:15 And it's like, 19:16 why would a loving mother attempt suicide 19:21 and leave her daughters behind without a father, 19:26 without anyone in the world. 19:28 And that night as I lay in bed, 19:31 I wasn't thinking about suicide, 19:34 but I had an emotional identification 19:39 with the why of it. 19:42 And the why of it is simply this 19:44 that people get to that point 19:47 where they feel hopeless. 19:51 And when you feel hopeless, 19:54 then it's easier that people think 19:58 that, "Oh, I'll be less of a burden to everyone 20:01 if I'm out of the way." 20:03 Well, the next day, I mean, 20:05 I didn't sleep the rest of the night 20:06 because that was a frightening feeling. 20:09 And the next day I was praying and the Lord, 20:14 ah, the still, it wasn't an audible voice, 20:18 but the still small voice of the Lord said this to me. 20:22 I set before you life and death, choose life. 20:26 Well, I was at my ropes end and you know what I said? 20:30 I have chosen life, Father, Jesus is my savior. 20:34 If you mean anything more than this, 20:36 you've got to explain it to me 20:38 because I'm in no shape, 20:42 no condition to figure this out. 20:45 And our loving God is so precious. 20:49 He said to me, 20:52 "My Word is life to you. 20:57 Choose My Word." 20:59 And I felt that He was impressing me. 21:02 And you know what I'm talking about when I say, 21:04 He said, you've had those thoughts 21:06 that come to your mind, 21:08 you know, it's a still small voice of the Holy Spirit. 21:12 But anyway, what He said to me was to get into the Word 21:17 and find the scriptures 21:19 on healing and pray them back to Him. 21:22 Well, I did. 21:23 And I mean, I didn't have a thesaurus. 21:27 I could barely read. 21:28 So I'm like this going through, 21:30 trying to remember 21:32 where some of these scriptures are. 21:34 And I began, I wrote them out in a handed, 21:38 I mean boy that you talk about a hand scratch, 21:42 but I wrote them out 21:43 and I'm praying Him every night. 21:45 I'm thanking God. 21:46 Oh, thank You, Lord, that You sent Your Word to heal me. 21:48 Thank You that by His stripes, I'm healed. 21:51 Thank You this, thank You that, and you know what? 21:54 Two weeks into it, it was like, Lord why am I doing this? 22:00 I didn't have the faith to believe it. 22:03 But that's when the Lord led me 22:07 to Isaiah 55:11 saying, 22:11 "My Word does not return to me void, 22:14 but it accomplishes every purpose for which I sent it." 22:17 And I realized I'm returning His Word to Him. 22:21 And Jeremiah 1:12, 22:23 "I'm watching over My Word to perform it." 22:25 And Romans 4:17 22:28 that "He gives life to the dead and calls things 22:31 that are not as though they already were." 22:34 And 2 Corinthians 4:13, 22:36 that the spirit of faith is to say, 22:38 "I believe and therefore I speak." 22:43 So I want you to have that same experience. 22:47 In Psalm 129:4, we began with this. 22:52 It says, "The Lord is righteous,. 22:54 He has cut me free from the cords of the wicked." 22:59 God declares the end from the beginning. 23:01 So let's speak 23:02 that with the same spirit of faith. 23:05 And we can say, 23:06 Father, thank You that You are righteous. 23:09 You have cut me free from the cords of the wicked 23:13 that's trying to bind me. 23:15 Say that with me. 23:17 Don't just sit there. 23:18 You need to exercise your faith. 23:21 You may feel like you're all bound up, 23:24 but God says He will cut you free. 23:28 So say it, the Lord is righteous, 23:32 He has cut me free from the cords of the wicked 23:36 that bind me. 23:38 And then let's string two scriptures together. 23:43 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, 23:46 "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus." 23:52 Hallelujah. 23:54 And Romans 8:37 says, "Yet in all these things, 23:59 we are more than conquerors 24:03 through Him who loved us." 24:07 So let's take those two scriptures. 24:11 We're gonna put them together 24:13 and we're gonna pray them back to the Lord. 24:15 And it would sound like this. 24:18 Thank You, Father, 24:20 for giving me the victory in Christ Jesus. 24:23 Thank You, Father, 24:25 that I am more than a conqueror in Christ. 24:30 What is binding you? 24:32 Thank You, Father, for giving me 24:35 the victory over my food addiction, over smoking. 24:39 Thank You, Father, for giving me 24:41 the victory over pornography. 24:44 Thank You, Father, 24:45 for giving me the victory over lust. 24:48 What is it that is binding you? 24:51 You can thank God who will give you the victory in Christ. 24:56 Jesus. 24:57 He will make you more than a conqueror. 25:02 Now let's look at Romans 12:1. 25:07 This is a great... 25:09 Romans 12:1-2 are great scriptures. 25:13 So write those references down. 25:15 Romans 12:1-2. 25:17 In Romans 12:1, he says, 25:19 "I beseech you therefore brethren 25:22 by the mercies of God 25:24 that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, 25:28 holy accepted both to God, 25:31 which is your reasonable service 25:34 or your reasonable form of worship." 25:38 Huh. 25:39 Present your bodies a living sacrifice. 25:43 You know what the problem is with a living sacrifice? 25:47 It's always crawling off the altar. 25:51 But what we can do here 25:54 is we're going to start speaking this. 25:57 And when you speak it, 26:00 when you hear it with your living voice, 26:03 as you say it, it's gonna go from your head to your heart. 26:08 Romans 12:2 says, 26:10 "Do not be conformed to the world, 26:13 but be transformed by the renewing 26:18 of your mind." 26:20 How do we renew our minds? 26:23 Instead of rehearsing 26:25 the same old thing over and over again, 26:28 all the negative narrative that we talk to ourselves, 26:32 what we're going to do is speak God's Word. 26:36 And then He says, you'll be transformed. 26:39 This is the word metamorphose. 26:42 It's like when a butterfly 26:45 or when you've got the cocoon stage. 26:48 And then all of a sudden there's the transformation 26:51 to this winged and beautiful creature. 26:54 So let's put those together and let's speak 26:59 that as an affirmation to say, God, 27:02 we believe that You can do this. 27:06 We believe that 27:07 You're gonna complete the good work 27:09 You've begun in me. 27:10 And we can say this. 27:12 "I present my body 27:15 as a living sacrifice to you 27:19 the God of my salvation. 27:21 I am transformed by the renewing of my mind 27:27 through Your Word." 27:30 Will you say that with me? 27:32 Will you say, oh Lord, 27:35 I present my body as a living sacrifice to you? 27:41 And thank You, Lord, that You are renewing my mind 27:46 through Your Word. 27:49 In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says, 27:54 "Do you not know 27:57 that you're the temple of God?" 28:01 Think about that. 28:03 You are the temple of God 28:05 and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. 28:10 Well, that's what Jesus said in John 14:7. 28:13 He said," Spirit will be with you. 28:15 He will dwell in you." 28:17 Ephesians 3:16-17. 28:20 Paul says, "Oh, I pray that 28:22 you may be strengthened with might, 28:25 with dynamite power of God 28:30 by the spirit in your inner man 28:34 through whom Christ lives in your heart by faith." 28:38 So here, when it says 28:41 we are the temple of the living God, 28:45 do you realize that the Spirit of God dwells in us? 28:51 Oh, that would change us, I think that would help us 28:53 present our bodies as a living sacrifice. 28:57 So here's what I want you to say with me. 29:01 I am the temple of the living God. 29:07 Boy, that makes you feel funny when you first say 29:09 that, but you can say 29:12 His Spirit lives in me. 29:15 That's from 1 Corinthians 3:16. 29:18 And I'll tell you that speaking this 29:23 is what makes it real to you. 29:25 You can read the Bible 29:27 and you can see all these scriptures 29:29 that say this, but when you start speaking it, 29:34 it will be life changing to you 29:38 because it'll get it from your head 29:41 and into your heart. 29:43 In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. 29:48 Paul says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 29:52 but they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." 29:58 Let me ask you, do you realize 30:01 that you are in a spiritual battle? 30:04 I am really quick to recognize when someone calls me 30:07 and they're asking for prayer. 30:09 I'm quick to recognize. 30:12 Yep, they got a spiritual battle going on. 30:16 But you know what's funny? 30:17 Sometimes I will agonize over something for days 30:22 and I'm thinking, and I don't know 30:25 if you've ever said this, but this is what I do. 30:28 Oh, what's wrong with me, Lord. 30:30 Why am I like this? 30:33 And all of a sudden, I realize, I'm in a spiritual battle. 30:39 And I've got weapons here in His, in the Bible. 30:44 He tells us in Ephesians Chapter 6, 30:47 what these weapons are, the helmet of salvation, 30:51 the shield of faith, the belt of truth, 30:53 shutting our feet with the gospel of peace 30:56 and picking up the shield of faith 30:59 and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. 31:05 Well, Paul says, our weapons are mighty 31:09 for pulling down strongholds. 31:12 Where do you suppose those strongholds are? 31:15 What the devil does 31:18 is he plants a thought in your mind. 31:22 Let me tell you, your mind is the battleground. 31:27 Listen to what I'm saying. 31:29 He will plant a thought in your mind, 31:34 and this is why you need God's weapons 31:39 to overcome these strongholds. 31:43 Paul goes on to say, 31:45 "These weapons are mighty for pulling down strongholds, 31:48 casting down arguments, and every high thing 31:54 that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." 31:58 If you don't know who you are in Christ, 32:02 if you're not speaking God's Word over your life, 32:06 speaking God's Word into your children's life. 32:09 If you're not praying the Word back, guess what? 32:14 You can't do what Paul says 32:17 in the next part of this sentence. 32:20 He says, "Casting down arguments 32:23 and every high thing 32:24 that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, 32:27 bringing every thought into captivity, 32:32 to the obedience of Christ." 32:36 Wow. 32:37 Do you remember? 32:39 Maybe you're too young to remember. 32:42 When I was a girl, 32:43 there was a program called Zorro. 32:45 He was this masked nobleman 32:48 and he went around saving all the peasants. 32:52 And when he would finish his work, 32:55 he would always draw out a sword and he'd take 32:58 that sword and he'd make his mark, 33:01 which was a Z in three bold swipes. 33:06 He'd cut a Z into the fence of the gate 33:12 to the town or something. 33:13 See, this is what we've got to do 33:15 with the sword of the Spirit. 33:17 We have to pull it out. 33:20 And when the devil tries to tell us 33:23 that we are worthless, 33:26 we've got to, three bold swipes, 33:30 "It is written." 33:33 "God loved me so much, 33:35 He send His Son to die for me while I was yet a sinner." 33:39 That's Romans 5:8. 33:40 We've got to have this weapon 33:45 to pull down the strongholds 33:48 that the devil tries to create in our mind. 33:53 Now here's one that always gets people. 33:59 And this is 2 Corinthians 5:17. 34:04 In 2 Corinthians 5:17. 34:07 Paul writes, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, 34:11 he is a new creation. 34:14 Old things have passed away, behold, 34:19 all things have become new." 34:21 So if we make this 2 Corinthians 5:17 34:27 into an affirmation, 34:29 and we say aloud with our living voice, 34:33 I am a new creation in Christ. 34:35 The old has gone and the new has come. 34:37 Guess what happens as soon as you say that? 34:42 As soon as you say it, the thought comes, 34:47 oh, the old isn't really gone, 34:49 it keeps rearing its ugly head. 34:54 I don't know that I am a new creation. 34:57 See, we have to embrace what God says by faith. 35:03 This is God's testimony of who you are in Christ. 35:06 So by faith, you have to say, 35:09 "I am a new creation in Christ Jesus." 35:12 The old is gone, the new has come 35:15 and maybe you're doing what Romans 4:17 says 35:18 that God does. 35:20 We're calling things 35:21 that are not as though they already were. 35:26 See, this is God's destiny for your life. 35:29 So when you start speaking and saying, 35:34 I am a new creation, 35:35 the old is gone, the new has come. 35:38 You may feel a little hypocritical at first, 35:41 but you just have to say, Lord, I know I'm doing what you do. 35:44 I'm calling things that are not as though they yet were. 35:47 You know the end from the beginning. 35:50 You promised You would complete the good work You began in me. 35:53 So I accept it by faith. 35:58 Isaiah 43:19. 36:02 I love this scripture. 36:04 God says, "Behold, I will do a new thing." 36:09 Actually verse 18 starts off. 36:11 And God's saying, "Don't dwell on the past." 36:15 You know, I know I'm not a prophet 36:18 or the daughter of a prophet, 36:20 but I know as many people are watching me. 36:24 There are people who hear my voice right now, 36:30 who are stuck in the past. 36:34 You rehearse the same thing. 36:36 My mama did this to me. 36:38 My daddy didn't love me. 36:39 Mama, this happened, that happened. 36:41 Or maybe you have done something in the past yourself 36:47 and you can't forgive yourself. 36:50 You know the Bible says in 1 John 9, 36:53 "If we confess our sins to God, 36:56 He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins 37:00 and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 37:03 So God is saying, don't dwell on the past 37:05 and listen to what He says. 37:06 Isaiah 43:19, 37:09 "Behold, I will do a new thing, 37:13 now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? 37:18 I will even make a road in the wilderness 37:23 and rivers in the desert." 37:26 So you can take that. 37:29 That's a promise of God. 37:31 And you can say back to the Lord, 37:33 I do not dwell on my past mistakes. 37:36 I do not dwell on the thing that happened to me 37:39 when I was a child. 37:41 God is doing a new thing in me 37:44 and it will suddenly spring forward. 37:50 Isn't that good news? 37:52 But you know what? 37:53 It can't spring forward if you're not accepting 37:58 the testimony of God 38:03 and of who He says you are in Christ Jesus. 38:08 God was serious when He says, 38:10 you are a new creation in Christ. 38:12 You are. 38:14 If you're in Christ, God is gonna make sure 38:19 as He takes you on this walk, 38:22 this continuing journey of Christianity, 38:25 He's gonna make sure that the old things are gone. 38:30 Now let's look at Philippians 2:13. 38:44 is a text I use to prove 38:49 that even obedience is by God's grace. 38:54 I love this scripture. 38:57 And let me kind of set this up. 39:00 Philippians 2:12 says, "Work out your own salvation 39:04 with fear and trembling." 39:08 Being distrustful of yourself. 39:10 I used to not get beyond Philippians 2:12. 39:14 I'd read that and I think, oh, my knees would be knocking. 39:18 You talk about fear and trembling. 39:20 I had fear and trembling thinking, 39:23 I've got to work out my own salvation 39:25 'cause I didn't understand God's covenant. 39:28 I didn't understand God's plan. 39:31 And one day as I'm reading through Philippians, 39:34 it was like the next verse 39:37 just lit up like a neon sign. 39:41 And He's saying not in your own strength though. 39:45 Yeah. 39:47 We gotta cooperate with God to work out our salvation. 39:50 But He says, "It is God who works in you 39:56 both to will and to do 40:00 His good pleasure." 40:02 You want me to tell you how that works? 40:05 We come to God and we say, "Lord, 40:11 I'm willing to do Your will." 40:15 And I remember once I was praying this, 40:17 this was years before I even became a Seventh-day Adventist. 40:21 I said, "Lord, I'm willing to do Your will." 40:24 And you know what? 40:26 I heard that still small voice, "No, you're not." 40:31 And I was, "Well Lord, 40:32 at least I'm willing to be made willing." 40:36 See, we go to the Lord and we say, Father, 40:41 help me to want to do Your will. 40:45 You can't even do that in your own strength. 40:49 As you pray that, what God does is He begins to line up 40:54 your desires with His desires. 40:58 He makes you want what He wants, 41:03 but He's not gonna force you to act. 41:06 He will start changing. 41:07 I remember I was watching 3ABN, 41:12 an exercise program. 41:15 And I'd sit in my lazy chair, 41:17 my lazy boy recliner. 41:21 And I thought, boy, 41:23 I really do need to start exercising. 41:26 I really do. 41:27 God was putting that desire in my heart, 41:31 but He wasn't gonna force me out of that chair 41:34 with a pinprick and make me get up and exercise. 41:37 See what happens is He works in us to will. 41:43 And then what we've got to do when He changes our will, 41:47 when we want to do what He says, 41:50 we've got to take one step of faith. 41:54 And when we step out in faith, 41:57 the power of the Holy Spirit shows up 42:00 and God works in us to do. 42:05 So let's speak that in the spirit of faith. 42:10 Father, thank You 42:14 that You are working in me to change my will. 42:18 Thank You, Lord, 42:20 that You are going to give me the victory 42:24 'cause You work in me 42:26 to do Your good pleasure 42:30 and, you know, God really does have a plan for your life. 42:35 You may feel like the barren Sarah 42:38 that people were laughing at, 42:40 but God looked down 42:42 and He saw her as the mother of Israel. 42:45 And God's got a specific plan for your life. 42:49 So what you have to do is just thanking Lord. 42:52 Thank You that You're working in me 42:55 to will and to do 42:59 Your good pleasure. 43:02 Jesus said 43:06 in John 15:5, 43:10 "I am the vine, you are the branches." 43:14 He is the living vine. 43:17 "He who abides in Me 43:19 and I in him bears much fruit." 43:23 Then He goes on and He says, 43:25 "Without Me, you can't do nothing." 43:30 Nada, zip, zilch. 43:35 What does He mean? 43:37 You can't do anything of eternal value 43:43 without Jesus. 43:45 He is the vine. 43:47 We are to abide in Him. 43:50 And, you know, the sap that comes from the vine, 43:55 the S-A-P is the spirit's anointing power. 44:00 As we abide in Jesus, 44:02 the Holy Spirit flows through us 44:05 and He abides in our hearts by faith. 44:08 And then Paul says, "I could do all things 44:13 through Christ who strengthens me." 44:16 That's Philippians 4:13. 44:19 It's not that I can do some things. 44:22 I can do all things through Christ 44:26 who strengthens me. 44:27 So let's put those 44:29 two verses together. 44:33 He says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. 44:38 Apart from Me, you can do nothing. 44:40 Paul says, yeah, but connected to You, 44:43 I can do everything. 44:44 So this is what we're going to say. 44:48 We're gonna pray back to the Lord. 44:50 John 15:5, 44:52 "Lord I know apart from You, 44:56 I can do nothing." 45:01 Nothing. 45:03 Nothing of eternal value. 45:06 I can do nothing to save myself. 45:09 Salvation is a gift of grace. 45:15 Salvation is something we receive. 45:19 Then God begins to work in us 45:21 to will and to do His good pleasure. 45:23 And then He motivates us by love 45:27 to follow His commandments and be loyal to Him. 45:30 So we can say, "Lord, I know apart from You, 45:32 I can do nothing." 45:35 But let's add Philippians 4:13, 45:38 "Oh, but thank you Jesus that through You, 45:41 I can do all things 45:45 because You impart 45:48 your strength to me." 45:51 And you know what? 45:53 Jesus said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, 45:57 He's talking to Paul and you know 46:00 what He says to Paul? 46:02 "My grace is sufficient 46:06 for you, 46:08 for My power is made perfect in weakness." 46:14 Grace is what it's all about. 46:18 Grace, the undeserved gifts from God, 46:23 the gift of Jesus Christ, 46:26 the gift of Him paying the penalty for our sins. 46:31 The gift of the Holy Spirit. 46:35 He even says, we have the mind of Christ is what Paul wrote. 46:40 And by the Holy Spirit, 46:42 and by getting this Word in your mind, 46:45 it will change your mind. 46:47 You will have the mind of Christ, 46:50 so we can say, "Oh, thank You, Lord Jesus, 46:54 that Your grace is sufficient. 46:56 Thank You 46:58 that Your power is made perfect in my weakness." 47:02 You know, Paul said, 47:03 "I will therefore gladly boast in my weaknesses 47:08 that Christ's power may rest on me." 47:11 You see what He does 47:14 and this is the beauty of God's plan of salvation. 47:20 He justifies us. 47:23 He looks at it, that's a forensic term. 47:28 It's a legal term. 47:29 It means, you've been declared not guilty. 47:33 He justifies us by the blood of Jesus. 47:36 Jesus died to pay our penalty and when we confess our sins, 47:41 God would say, "Not guilty." 47:44 But then He sanctifies us 47:49 through Jesus. 47:50 So, not only is Jesus' record 47:54 covering our past sins, but He imparts, 48:00 He imputes His righteousness to us. 48:04 He infuses us with power. 48:08 He infuses us with strength. 48:12 That's what this is all about. 48:16 It's God's divine assistance 48:20 and supernatural power for salvation. 48:24 So you can take 2 Corinthians 12:9, 48:30 and you can say, "Lord, 48:32 I thank You that Your grace is sufficient. 48:35 Lord, I thank You 48:38 that Your power is made perfect in my weakness." 48:42 And you know what? 48:43 He will see that it happens. 48:47 I have a friend right now, 48:51 a young friend, the mother of two young children. 48:56 She's been hospitalized for six months and her husband 49:00 has been amazing. 49:05 He's a strong Christian, but he's trying to take her, 49:09 they're in a city that's not even where their home is. 49:13 He spends half a day at the hospital with her, 49:17 then he still trying to run his work business. 49:21 And he's taking care of two kids. 49:24 And sometimes he feels overwhelmed. 49:27 But you know what he's saying? 49:29 Thank You, Lord, that Your grace is sufficient. 49:32 Thank You that Your power 49:35 is made perfect in my weakness." 49:38 And God is proving it to be true. 49:41 Now in Luke 9:23, 49:48 Jesus said to them all, 49:51 "If anyone desires to come after Me, 49:56 let him deny himself 49:59 and pick up his cross daily 50:04 and follow Me." 50:06 You know, I just cringe when I hear people say, 50:11 oh, we've all got our cross to bear. 50:14 Bless your heart. 50:16 That no good husband of her left her 50:17 with those three children and blah, blah, blah. 50:21 When Jesus said pick up your cross, 50:24 He's not talking about a burden. 50:27 The people to whom He was speaking, 50:29 understood exactly what He meant. 50:33 He was, when someone picked up their cross, 50:37 they were going to be crucified. 50:41 So Jesus is saying, pick up your cross, 50:44 deny yourself, pick up your cross daily. 50:49 In other words, 50:51 He's gonna crucify and I'll tell you, 50:55 it takes a daily crucifixion. 50:59 He crucifies that old flesh nature, 51:02 that old sin nature. 51:05 Actually that's the nature was nailed to the cross, 51:10 but He is saying, deny yourself, 51:13 pick up your cross daily, 51:15 be ready to die to selfish desires, 51:19 be ready to follow Me. 51:22 So we can say as an affirmation, 51:26 oh Lord, 51:28 and this is how I pray. 51:32 Cause me to pick up my cross today. 51:36 Cause me to deny myself in selfish pleasures. 51:42 Cause me, oh Lord, to follow in Your footsteps. 51:48 It's something that, you know, Paul said, 51:53 "I am crucified to the world and the world to me." 52:00 We have to, he said, I die daily brothers. 52:04 I mean it. 52:06 It is so amazing. 52:08 And let me, I think, yeah, I've got one more of that. 52:12 Let me go ahead and give you this one, 52:14 because you can't even do that in your own strength. 52:19 In Romans 8:13, Paul said, 52:24 "If you live according to the flesh, you will die." 52:29 Now he's talking about the second eternal death here. 52:33 If you live according to the flesh, 52:36 which means you're not living according to God's will at all, 52:40 you will die. 52:44 But He says, 52:46 "If by the spirit 52:50 you put to death the misdeeds of the body, 52:55 you will live." 52:56 Did you catch that? 52:58 Paul's saying live according to the flesh, 53:01 second death is what you're looking forward to. 53:04 But if by the spirit, so there's the power, 53:09 you put to death the misdeeds of your flesh, you will live. 53:14 See the Holy Spirit 53:18 isn't going to force you. 53:21 The Holy Spirit is going to empower you 53:26 to do this work. 53:28 What we see here, 53:30 if by the spirit you put to death, 53:33 it's working this cooperative work 53:37 that you're saying, Lord, 53:38 I am willing to work with Your Holy Spirit. 53:42 So we can turn this into an affirmation and say, 53:45 "Oh, Lord, cause me 53:48 to put to death the misdeeds of my flesh. 53:51 Cause me to do this by the power of Your Spirit, 53:55 oh fill me, Lord. 53:58 In Luke 11:9-10, 54:03 Jesus said, "I say to you, 'Ask, 54:08 and it will be given, seek, and you will find, 54:13 knock and the door will be opened up to you.'" 54:17 These are in the Greek linear verbs. 54:21 So what he's saying is ask and keep on asking, 54:25 seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. 54:30 And then in verse 13, Luke 11:13, 54:34 he tells us what he's asking us to ask for. 54:39 He says, "If you being evil know 54:41 how to give good gifts to your children, 54:43 how much more will your heavenly Father 54:47 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask 54:53 and keep on asking?" 54:56 See, we're not just filled one time 55:01 with the Holy Spirit. 55:03 When we accept Christ, 55:05 the Holy Spirit resides in our heart, 55:07 but he can only, we can only be filled 55:10 with the Holy Spirit to the degree 55:12 that we're empty of self. 55:14 So we can, the Bible says grieve the Holy Spirit. 55:19 We can resist the Holy Spirit. 55:22 We can even quench the Holy Spirit. 55:25 So I want you to make this your daily prayer 55:30 from the Scripture. 55:32 Pray every morning. 55:34 I pray it several times throughout the day. 55:37 I say, oh Lord, 55:39 I am asking and seeking to be filled 55:45 with Your Holy Spirit today. 55:49 Thank You, Lord. 55:51 Thank You, Lord, 55:53 that You are more willing to give this to me 55:57 than any good parent 55:59 would give their children good gifts. 56:03 Now let's wind this up 56:06 with Psalm 143:10, 56:11 beautiful scripture. 56:13 The Psalmist writes in Psalm 143:10, 56:18 "Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. 56:23 Your Spirit is good. 56:26 Lead me in the land of uprightness." 56:31 That means, you're walking in God's way. 56:35 So I want you to pray Psalm 143:10. 56:40 And say, "Lord, teach me to do Your will. 56:45 Lead me by Your Holy Spirit. 56:48 I pray Your perfect will 56:51 will be done in my life today." 56:54 Do you see that you can be freed 56:59 by the power of God's Word. 57:02 God can cut you free from the cord of the wicked 57:05 that is binding you. 57:07 All you have to do is get into His Word. 57:11 Trust what the Lord says. 57:13 No, He's calling things that are not 57:15 as though they already were return His Word to Him, 57:19 IT will not return void. 57:21 But God is watching over His Word 57:25 to perform it in your life and in mine. 57:30 God bless. |
Revised 2021-07-01