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Who's Really Ruling Your Life? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness, Happy Thursday. Today is the day that we are
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  closing out the book of First John.
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  And honestly, John ends this letter with a really strong
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  challenge for all of us. We're gonna be reading First
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  John chapter 5, verses 18 to 21, and we're gonna go through
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  talking about repentance, idols, sin for what it is and what it
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  actually means to follow Jesus right now, not just someday.
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  So let's go ahead and read it together.
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  We are convinced that everyone fathered by God does not make
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  sinning a way of life, because the Son of God protects the
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  child of God, and the evil 1 cannot touch him.
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  We know that we are God's children and that the whole
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  world lies under the misery and influence of the evil. 1 And we
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  know that the Son of God has made our understanding come
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  alive, so that we can know by experience the one who is true,
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  and we are in him who is true, God's Son, Jesus Christ, the
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  true God in eternal life. So little children, guard
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  yourselves from worshiping anything but Him.
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  OK, there is so much that I would love to talk about, but
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  the first thing I want to begin with is that there is no middle
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  ground. John makes it abundantly clear
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  throughout this letter that followers of Jesus, true
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  children of God, cannot make peace with sin.
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  It's not because believers all of a sudden become perfect, but
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  because genuine faith produces A conviction that leads to
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  repentance and a desire to obey God.
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  There is a difference between struggling with sin or settling
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  into sin. Now the world treats sin
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  casually, but y'all sin is destructive.
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  It separates us from intimacy with God, it hardens our hearts,
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  and it numbs conviction. So you cannot continually feed
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  the flesh while expecting to be close with the spirit.
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  I think culture has normalized things that are so spiritually
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  destructive and oftentimes we don't even realize it.
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  Things like getting drunk repeatedly or being in an impure
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  relationship. Whether you are dating someone
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  or just doing it casually. Living consumed by lust, making
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  lying a way of life, obsessing over your appearance, living for
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  approval and validation online. Eventually guys, what's
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  dangerous starts to look normal because everyone around us is
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  doing it and celebrating it. But sin is not harmless.
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  Sin is an illness and it keeps you sick.
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  Repentance is at the core of the Christian life.
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  It is not just a one time moment at salvation.
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  It is an ongoing posture of turning from sin and toward God.
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  Jesus commanded us to deny ourselves, take up our cross
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  daily, and to follow Him daily. So following Jesus requires
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  ongoing surrender. And then John closes the entire
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  book by essentially saying protect yourselves from idols.
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  An idol is anything that takes God's place at the center of
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  your life. And modern idols are a lot of
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  the times socially acceptable. It could be money, possessions,
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  a relationship, or a status, your own appearance.
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  But think about it how it is evolved from maybe a marble
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  statue at times in the Bible to now our physical body.
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  It could look like attention, your schedule, your validation
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  control, anything that you depend on more than God for
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  identity and security can become an idol, and idols usually grow
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  quietly. Overtime.
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  Prayer can weaken, conviction softens, and compromise starts
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  to get easier to justify. Eventually you look back and you
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  have moved so far, and Jesus becomes a part of your life
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  instead of being the point, instead of being the Lord over
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  it. Culture will celebrate many of
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  the very things that are pulling you away from God.
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  But just because it is quote UN quote normal does not mean that
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  it's healthy. Just because it's popular does
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  not mean that it is holy. Now let's go through the good
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  news because a lot of that can feel heavy.
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  The good news is that Jesus did not come only to forgive your
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  sins. Someday when you get to heaven,
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  He came to free you from slavery to it.
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  Right now, as Christians, sin is no longer your master.
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  Yes, we will still face temptation and a crossroads of
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  what we're going to choose, but we are no longer bound to live
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  under the control of our flesh or of the world.
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  That is why this passage is so significant.
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  John is reminding believers who they truly belong to.
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  So ask yourself this question. Who is Jesus to you really?
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  Who is he to you? If he really is Lord, that
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  changes how you live. The gospel is not just about
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  being saved from judgment and receiving salvation.
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  It is an invitation to something so much greater and to surrender
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  that leads to freedom and transformation.
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  Not later, not once life slows down and it's convenient for
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  you, but today, right now, maybe today is an invite to honestly
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  examine your heart before God. Is there something that you've
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  been excusing that He's asking you to surrender?
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  Is there an idol in your life that is consuming more of your
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  mind than thinking about the Lord and how you can honor Him
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  that is competing for your affection?
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  Have you grown comfortable with sin instead of fighting it?
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  Y'all, Jesus loves you far too much to leave you trapped in the
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  things that are destroying your soul.
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  Repentance is not rejection from God.
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  It is the invite that is so near and dear to God's heart that
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  draws us back into closeness with Him.
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  He is so worthy of our full surrender.
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  And I believe that once you say yes to going all in with Jesus,
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  you just can't even comprehend what is on the other side of
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  that surrender, that breakthrough, that freedom, that
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  healing mentally, emotionally, or even physically.
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  So my encouragement to you guys is don't entertain the idea that
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  this world entertains. That you can ride the fence
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  spiritually, that you can love Jesus but still hold on to the
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  things that are killing you. That you can claim intimacy with
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  God the Father while willingly staying in what separates you
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  from Him. Remember that true followers of
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  Jesus do not make peace with sin.
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  That is the bottom line. Sin no longer owns you.
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  We are not called to stay stuck. We are not called to casually
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  coexist in darkness. We are called to walk in the
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  light. So be a child of the light.
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  Live as a authentic, true child of God.
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  OK with all of that, let's go ahead and end this in prayer.
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  Dear Jesus, thank you for this word.
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  Thank you for the book of first John that we have gotten to walk
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  through together and just learn more about your heart that you
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  are truth, you are love God, you are life.
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  You are where full abundant life is found.
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  So I just pray that every listener who is listening to
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  this podcast, that they would encounter you in new ways.
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  I pray that they would feel emboldened, empowered to live
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  differently in this world, to flee from sin, to run from
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  temptations that lead them into sin.
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  God, would you make us more aware of what is holy and pure
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  and what is not? Your scripture is clear.
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  God, I pray that we would not entertain sin, that we would not
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  try to manage it or control it, but that we would pursue a life
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  that is righteous, that is holy, that is pure, that honors you
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  and pleases you. God, we are here for you.
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  It is in you, through you, and for You that all things are made
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  and exist. So our bodies, our breath, our
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  energy, our opportunities that you give us, Lord.
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  They are meant to exalt your name.
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  So I just ask that we would be bold ambassadors of Christ, that
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  we would carry the good news wherever we go, and that we
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  would just exemplify your love in the way that we speak, in the
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  way that we think, in the way that we act toward others.
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  Thank you, Lord, thank you for your sacrifice.
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  Jesus, we praise you, we give you this day, we surrender our
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  hearts to you and your name. We pray Jesus, Amen.
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  OK y'all. Well, that is today's podcast
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  episode. I loved going through this book
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  on this podcast. I'm thinking I will go into
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  second John and 3rd John and then be praying about what is
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  after that. But I hope you all have a great
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  rest of your day and I will see y'all on the next episode.