Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / April 24, 2019 | Patty Diliberto - Called To Surrender - Session 7

Transcript

April 24, 2019 | Patty Diliberto - Called To Surrender - Session 7 · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's pray together.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Father God, thank you so much for bringing us here together today.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: And we offer up this time to you.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: We want to know the things that you want us to know and see in your word and and to understand.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, we ask your Holy Spirit to just bring that upon us and let us hear what we need to hear and take in, take that in and believe it and make some changes in our lives.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, we need you desperately to do that.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: So we offer up this time to you in the name of Jesus.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm just gonna apologize like right up front if I'm stepping on any of your cute little toes today, because um I'm probably stepping on mine too.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: So um, but today we're talking about control.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: Control.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's why I apologize.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Because none of us have control issues, I'm sure.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: But control is another one of those things that we have to look at, like the things that we have been looking at that keep us from living a surrendered life.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: And so it's important for us to face this topic.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: In their book, Love Focused Living.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait, let me find it.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Love Focused Living, um, Bob and Judy Hughes say giving up the belief that we have any control over the people and events in our lives is a frightening reality that many are unwilling to face.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Rather than trusting God with our vulnerability, we would rather try to control.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: And that last sentence I think is so important.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Rather than trusting God with our vulnerability, we'd rather try to control.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but that it was applicable to my life.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: I pray that as you have gone through this study, that you really have been able to be vulnerable with God, that you have, that you have opened yourself up to God, to the Holy Spirit, and um that you've let him take stock of the condition of your life and your heart and the things that you need to deal with.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: I pray that that has happened.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: I think many people see God kind of as the cosmic killjoy in the sky, and they think that they erroneously think that um he's a very controlling, limiting God.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: I hope we challenge that today.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Instead of God controlling us, we try to control him, and one of the ways we try to control him is by holding him off at a distance.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: That is not vulnerability, that's just the opposite.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: And so anytime that we are holding him off at a distance, it's because we're trying to control him and and because we're afraid, out of fear, usually.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: Keeping God at a distance keeps us in control, or so we think.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: That's what we think.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: So let's see where our tendency for control began.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And of course, it began at the beginning with Adam and Eve, and um, that's no surprise at all.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Before Adam and Eve sinned, they they they had no problem relying on God, right?
3:24
SPEAKER_00: They were in 100% union with God, they walked in oneness with him, they they loved and were loved by God deeply, and they knew that.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: And they knew and there were no problems between them.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Their reliance was on God alone, and he didn't disappoint them.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: They had autonomy and they had responsibility, and it was that responsibility that comes with the freedom to choose, and that's what they experienced with him.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 2, 15 through 20.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Listen, listen as you as I read these verses, listen to how the uh the autonomy and the responsibility kind of meet here.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: He brought them to the man to see what he would name them.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: And whatever the man called each living creature, that was his name.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Do you hear the freedom and the responsibility there?
4:43
SPEAKER_00: He's giving him a job to do, to um, in the garden.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: The Garden of Eden was wasn't a restrictive place.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a restrictive place.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: There was freedom in the garden with God.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: And then the serpent came slithering into that environment where there was unity and oneness with God.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And and that unity and oneness had existed for we don't even know how long.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: We don't know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden with God before Satan comes slithering into that environment.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: But the lie that he brought to them was that they were not complete without more autonomy and without greater control.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: That was the lie that he wanted them to believe.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 3, 4 and 5.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: Being like God was what serpent, the serpent, Satan, Lucifer, wanted, right?
5:55
SPEAKER_00: That's what we see in Isaiah 14.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: God says to Satan, Lucifer, you said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the Mount of Assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zophon, I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: The need to control, to be like God, was what got Satan expelled from heaven, and the desire to have more control and autonomy is what got Adam and Eve expelled from the garden.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Being self-sufficient rather than God reliant was born in the Garden of Eden.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: That's what was born right there.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: And the battle for control and the battle for self has been raging ever since, right?
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Ever since we have had this problem.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: And it will it will increase in intensity here in the last days.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: More and more.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: This battle for self and for control is only going to get worse.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: God was not and is not content to let us stay in that position and be deceived and controlled.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: And so with Adam and Eve, he took action.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we read here in Genesis 3.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you?
7:28
SPEAKER_00: He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Who told you you were naked?
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
7:40
SPEAKER_00: The man said, The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done?
7:49
SPEAKER_00: The serpent, the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve's acquiescence to Satan's invitation to eat motivated them to blame, to justify, to isolate, and rationalize.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Look at those words again.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: To blame, to justify, to isolate, and to rationalize.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Those are all defense mechanisms that people use.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: When they are threatened, when they fear feel fearful, when they are backed into a corner, they're gonna do one of these things and a whole list of others.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: There's a ton, a huge list of defense mechanisms.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: And we fall into that too, don't we?
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever blamed anybody?
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever justified your reactions?
8:41
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever isolated from others or rationalized?
8:45
SPEAKER_00: We've all done it, right?
8:47
SPEAKER_00: All of us have done it.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: So giving in to the devil and temptation led them to those defensive reactions and it reduced them to fear.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Adam says, I was afraid.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: This is the first time Adam's ever been afraid of God.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: The first time he's lived in complete unity with him.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Fear is an outcome.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Fear is an outcome of the fall.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Defensiveness and control are outcomes of the fall.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: And when we fear, our natural tendency is to control.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that?
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Do you agree with that?
9:21
SPEAKER_00: When you are fearful, you're gonna take some kind of control over your search, your circumstances, your situation, whatever it is.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: You want control.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: And it's hard not to control when you fear feel fearful.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: God came to Adam and God came to Adam desiring an honest admission of guilt.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: We have sinned against you, and that would have represented trust, and it would have represented repentance.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: We've sinned.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: God, we've sinned against you.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: But instead, instead, he gets, instead of vulnerability and repentance, God got excuses and defensiveness.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: They didn't trust God enough to be open and honest about their sin.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: Instead, they justified their behavior.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: And we've been justifying ourselves ever since.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: But God isn't daunted with their defensiveness at all.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: And in his loving kindness, he puts forth the solution, and it's found in Genesis 3.15.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers, and he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: The first promise in scripture given about the Messiah and what he would come to do, crush Satan's head.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: And the sin of everyone who's ever committed any sin, which we all have for all of history.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: How amazing is that! It's amazing that after he has gone to such great lengths to prove his trustworthiness to us, by sending Messiah, by having Messiah Jesus die on the cross for our sins, that we we turn it around and we say, Thank you so much.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing that for me.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Now let me control my life.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: Now let me now now I'll serve you.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Let me do that.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: Do we do that?
11:37
SPEAKER_00: We do it.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: We do it.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: We say thank you so much, and we mean it from the bottom of our hearts, and then we turn around and we take control or we try to.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely amazing.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: We don't actually say the words to him, we don't say those words, but we show him by our actions and how what we're communicating to him that that's exactly what we're doing.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: And we hold a death grip on it.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: God makes it clear in scripture that he is in control.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: He makes it crystal clear.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 19 21.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: Many are the plans of a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purposes that prevail.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 1 11.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Job says of God in Job 42, too, I know that you can do all things, no purpose of yours will be thwarted.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: Second Chronicles 20, verse 6.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: The Lord, the God of our ancestors, you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: First Chronicles 29, 11, yours, Lord, is the kingdom.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: You are exalted as head over all.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: You are the ruler of all things.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: We have a king, he sits on a throne.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: He is the sovereign of the universe.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: That is our spiritual reality, and that reality is the greatest reality that there is.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: It is the supreme reality.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: We don't often consider that, or we do, but we don't because because we we we don't see the unseen realm.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: We don't see it, and so we don't know how absolutely true that that is the greatest reality.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: But one day we will absolutely know that it was and is the greatest reality.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: God is in control, we are not.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: If control is not one of the things we bring to the party, then what do we bring to the party?
13:46
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things we bring is influence.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: Influence is defined by the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: How can we tell if we're attempting to control or simply trying to influence?
14:08
SPEAKER_00: An influencer sees herself as an instrument of God, a controller sees herself as God.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: Control is any attempt to bring about a needed outcome.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: Influence is any attempt to bring about a desired outcome.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Do we need things to be a certain way or do we desire things to be a certain way?
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Do you see the difference?
14:36
SPEAKER_00: When we try to control the outcome, it's because we need the outcome for our benefit, for our sake, for our sanity, for us to be able to cope, or so we think.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: We need it for us.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: When we try to influence the outcome, it's because we want the outcome for the benefit of somebody else, for other people.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: That's why we're doing that.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: Control looks inward, influence looks outward.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: Control locks us into ourselves, influence frees us to love others and to influence the way God influences.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: God can do both.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: God can influence and control, and he does them both perfectly and beautifully.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: We are not God.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: We cannot control.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: God was using Adam's influence in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it, and then to name all the animals and the livestock and the birds.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: He was God's helper in the garden and he had influence, he had leadership there.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: The struggle to control is real, right?
15:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is real.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: And you've, if you've ever been in an extreme circumstance, or you've been with a loved one in a very difficult circumstance, you know how fierce the battle is to control.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: I've been there, I know that.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: I've also noticed, though, um, that um when you are in that difficult circumstance and you are trying to control it, that the overwhelming sense that you are not in control suddenly at some point crashes in.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: At some point, praise God, it crashes in and you go, you know what, I don't have any control.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: I I can't do anything about this circumstance, I can't do anything about this cancer, I can't do anything about, you know, I have to give over the control to God.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: And and that that brings us that that that tension brings us to surrender and to give over control.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: What I've noticed is that um those who have some of the biggest control peop control issues are usually very competent people.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: They're very competent people.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: Um I've noticed that they that they have had life circumstances that made them feel probably completely out of control.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: And to and to to cope with that uncomfortable, chaotic state, they take control of their environment and their circumstances because they do it out of necessity, because they have to.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: It makes sense that if we are in control, if we are in an out-of-control situation, um, we will fight to take the control.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: I did the same thing.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: When I was a child and in an abusive situation, I controlled and I manipulated.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: I could not have told you that that's what I was doing.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't have said those words, but I knew exactly what I was doing.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: I knew I can remember specific circumstances when I controlled and manipulated so that I was not, so that I would be in a safe place.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: That was my most definitive coping mechanism was map manipulation and control.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: It was a default for me.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: And and and it still occasionally rears its ugly head, and it will probably be something that I have to fight for the rest of my life because I started fighting it at such a young age.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I but I tune into it pretty quickly most times, usually now.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe not.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: But I think that's one of the reasons that surrender is such a profound concept to me, is because I've had to be vulnerable with God.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: I've had to be vulnerable and have Him deal with my deceptions and the lies that I believed, with the victimization, with the defaults that led me to be controlling.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: I've had to do that work.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: How do I know that they are dealt with?
18:54
SPEAKER_00: Because instead of being defensive about the control that sometimes still creeps in, I repent.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: I repent immediately whenever the Holy Spirit identifies it to me.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: And instead, instead of hiding and denying it, I ask for forgiveness and then I cry out to God and say, Restore me to that place where I'm not manipulating and controlling anymore.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: It's the battle.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: But I know that I have some victory because of my responses.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: And if you are responding in the same way, then you know you're getting some victory in this thing.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I think most people come to control from pretty legitimate places.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: We don't just one day think, hmm, I think I'll be a controlling individual and then set out to do that.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: We don't.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: It it just um we don't do it intentionally, but we do it by default.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Another legitimate way I think some can naturally be or seem controlling would be a person's occupation.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: If it means that they have to make immediate decisions and take action, you know, think ER doctor, then it kind of sets them up to be a controlling person.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And then they take that home to their to their families as well.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I think we turn to it because of deception, and the enemy, of course, wants us to think that we have some control.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Why?
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what's that's what Lucifer wanted.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: He wanted the control.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Lucifer learned that he couldn't control God, and now he has control over the armies, the demonic forces that are here on this earth, and he wants to have control over all of us.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: And he he will continue to try to do that until he has control and has deceived the nations.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: We don't start out wanting to be deceived, but if we're not careful, we end up that way.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: A controlling person tends to isolate themselves, even we see that in the garden.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve are hiding.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Why?
21:00
SPEAKER_00: They're isolating themselves from God.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: We tend to isolate whenever we're too controlling.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, one no one likes to be controlled, and nobody likes to be around a controlling person.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: And so that means that the person who is the controlling one just tends to isolate more and more and more into themselves.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: So people just naturally want to stay away from them.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: What's at the bedrock of all of this?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Fear.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: Fear is at the bedrock of control.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: Fear is always a tool of the enemy, and when Satan gets a foothold in us through fear, there is going, there are going to be some negative consequences, and and um control is one of them.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: I've taken many, many women through the Neil Anderson strip steps to freedom, and one section in that is to identify the things that you are fearful of.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: And when we get to that section, there's a whole ton of Things that we could be fearful of.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: And the ladies will mark the ones that they're fearful of, and then almost without fail, they will they will look up from the paper and they'll go, I had no idea I was afraid of that many things, or that I was fearful of those those things.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: Um it's just an aha moment for them.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: What are the things that were kinds of things that we fear?
22:25
SPEAKER_00: We fear people, failure, being a disappointment, fear of disapproval, fear of being hurt, criticized, or bullied, not having our needs met, fear of financial problems, fear of not being loved by God, fear of victimization, of not finding a husband, of finding a husband, not having kids, having kids that you're afraid for as they're growing up, fear of divorce, you know, you name it, you name it, and we're we're fearful of it.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: What often escapes our uh attention is that God does not want us to live in fear, but we have a very fearful environment that we are living in.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: We have a very fear-filled world that we are navigating ourselves through.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: The bottom line is that God will give us all that we need to live in this fearful, fear-filled world.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: He will, he will.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: He has told us that he will, and he will.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: He simply quietly asks us to trust him.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: And that's hard.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't demand, although he could demand, but then he would be a tyrant and we would be afraid of him even more.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: He patiently waits for us to get to that point where we are ready to trust rather than control and to be vulnerable rather than being fearful.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: And when we get to that place of honesty with God, he's ready and he is willing to take over the control.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: We have been deceived by the enemy, ladies.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: We think that God having more control over our lives will be a restrictive thing.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: But it's not.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: But it is not.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: We think that it will be very restrictive.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Here's where the deception is.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Instead of limiting us, his control frees us.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Our dependence on God gives us more autonomy, not less.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: This is such a big deception.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: We think we are going to be limited if we give control over to God, and the opposite is true.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: You give control over to God, and there is more, not less.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: There's more autonomy, not less.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: There's more freedom.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 5:1 says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of by a yoke of slavery.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: The yoke of slavery that Paul is referring here to is the law given through Moses.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: And it's actually legalism of the law to be specific, is what he's talking about.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Legalism can give the appearance of maturity.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: It can give the appearance of be having it all together and being very self-assured.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: But the lack of freedom in legalism is counterintuitive to the gospel, and it's counterintuitive to the freedom that Christ gives us.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: Christ comes to give us freedom.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Through Christ, we have that freedom, not legalism and the strict adherence to the law.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: That gives us only bondage and slavery.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Control is like legalism.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Control is like legalism and bondage.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: It's slavery.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: And look at the responsibility in that verse.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: Do not let yourselves be burdened again.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: Don't let yourselves go back to that burdensome place of slavery.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 5, 3 says, You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: Do not let your freedom to indulge the flesh, rather than, but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Rather, serve one another humbly in love.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: We see in this verse that there's responsibility with the freedom to serve one another humbly.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: I think women have a natural tendency to be controllers.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: Especially if they're mothers.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: Because we generally take on the responsibility to keep our children safe and our homes, you know, functioning well.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: We take that that responsibility seriously.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: It takes control for a time.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: But the responsibility for our children just just just kind of naturally makes taking control an issue for us because of wanting to protect them.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: A good mother will take the job seriously.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: And um, but after a while, the potential is to continue to have the control.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: And when a when a mother or a parent cannot let go of their children and give them more autonomy, what do we call them?
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Helicopter.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Yep, helicopter parent, right.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: Because we're not, we're not, we have to have the control.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Going back to the Hughes book, it says the principle is simple.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: The person who has control is the person who is responsible.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: The more we have control of things, the more responsible we are for the outcome.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: When a person feels responsible for something, it is because they have been, they have an underlying belief that they have control of how things should turn out.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: Even when they do not have control, if they think they do, they will feel responsible for the outcome.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Because many people believe they have control over things they really don't have control over.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: They feel responsible for more things than they should.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: Bam.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: Right?
28:40
SPEAKER_00: This is what creates the unnecessary stress and pressure that causes us to feel overwhelmed.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Because we think we have more control than we actually have, and therefore more responsibility.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: We're overwhelmed by it.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Can anybody relate to that?
28:58
SPEAKER_00: Individuals who have who are at the extreme level of control are usually the ones with personality disorders.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Right?
29:08
SPEAKER_00: And what does that tell us?
29:09
SPEAKER_00: It tells us that taken to an extreme, control is gonna work against us, not for us.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Am I right, Barb Callahan?
29:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Counselor extraordinaire.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's terrible.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: When it's taken to an extreme, I mean, we see this unfortunately all the time, don't we?
29:32
SPEAKER_00: We see it on the news all the time.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: People who who um are at an extreme and and and in their in their extremeness take control.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: And they damage people, they damage, they damage everything.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: Families are dissolved because of this kind of control.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's rampant.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: If we were more focused, focused on seeing how God is working in situations rather than controlling those situations, we would probably experience more peace.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Right?
30:04
SPEAKER_00: That's where peace would come in.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Hughes says, when I think I have control, I do not need God.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: If I have control, I wrongly think I can guarantee things will turn out my way.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: To the degree I think I have control, to that degree I do not need God.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: However, when I accept that I do not have control, trying to control things doesn't not make sense.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: When I accept that I do not have control, trusting God makes sense.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: That's why this is such a big issue.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: Because God doesn't want us to trust ourselves.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to trust Him and to have that sense.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: We can trust God and we have to trust God.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: If we trust anything more than we trust God, we are going to have problems.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: It's just that simple.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite Tozer quotes is this one everything is safe that we commit to the Lord, and nothing is really safe that is not so committed.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that true?
31:09
SPEAKER_00: We must commit people and situations to the Lord, which is giving God the control that he already has.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: It's just giving it to him.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: It is relinquishing our will to his will, our need to control over his ability to control.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 16, 3 says, commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: The word commit in in the Hebrew literally means to roll.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: It's the idea of rolling something to the Lord in complete dependence upon him.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: You roll it on to him.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: When we commit, what we are doing to the Lord, we are offering it to him completely.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: That's what this word means.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: It means we're we're rolling it there, we're gonna leave it.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Commit represents a sense of finality.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: It's done.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna let this roll back on me, God.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna roll it to you and I'm gonna leave it there.
32:09
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, the heavier the burden, the harder it is to roll, right?
32:14
SPEAKER_00: If this is a if control is a heavy burden for you, then it's gonna be a hard thing for you to roll over and leave on God.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: I know that because I've done that.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: It was a hard, it's a hard thing.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: Oswald Chambers says, true surrender is not simply surrender of our external life, but surrender of our will.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: And once that is done, surrender is complete.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: Yet God never forces a person's will into surrender.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: He never begs, he patiently waits until that person willingly yields to him.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: When I followed God in the process of surrender 25 plus years ago, it was very hard to lay this stuff down.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: I spent hours and hours on my knees and on my face before the Lord, and I cried buckets of tears.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: I did because it was all so hard to lay down and to surrender and to roll over on him and to not pick that up back up.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: But I was miserable enough to do the work because I was so tired of fighting against God.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: The difficulty in laying it all down is one of the greatest motivations to not pick it up again.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: The difficulty in me laying it down was a huge motivation to say, I don't ever want to have to pick that up again, because I don't ever want to have to lay that down again.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: I know how hard it was, and I don't want to go back to that place where I have to do it again.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: If laying it down was easy to do, it wouldn't impact us enough to keep us from going back and doing the same destructive pattern.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: If it was easy, it would we we would go right back to it.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Henry Ironside says, God is looking for broken people, for those who have judged themselves in the light of the cross of Christ.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: When he wants anything done, he takes up men and women who have come to an end of themselves and whose trust and confidence is not in themselves, but in God.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: God wants to do something significant with you.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: He really does.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: He really does.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: That's why he's led you to surrender.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: That's why he's led you to this place.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: He wants to increase your influence, and and that will be accomplished through trust and through confidence in him, not in yourself.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: This is not the this is not the message that we are receiving from our world right now, and today is it?
35:04
SPEAKER_00: The message we are receiving is you can do anything you want to do.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: You just have to put your mind to it and do it.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: Do you see how different this message is?
35:16
SPEAKER_00: We have to surrender to God and let Him do it.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: We don't pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make things happen for ourselves.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: This is not the message we are receiving from our culture.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: Our culture is telling us that we can do whatever we want.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: That it's all about us.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And it is not.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: God's ways are counter-cultural, and they will continue to be more counter-cultural as the days get closer to the second coming.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: Surrender is getting to a place of knowing that if God tells you to do something, you do it without asking questions and without giving excuses.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Even when it's horribly hard to do, you will obey out of love and trust.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: And trust God for the outcome.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Chuck Swindah says, it means your life is in harmony with the Lord.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: What is important to him is important to you.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: What burdens him, burdens you.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: When he says go to the right, you go to the right.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: When he says stop that thing in your life, you stop it.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: When he says, this is wrong and I and I want you to change, you come to terms with it because you have the a heart for God.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: That's bottom line, biblical Christianity, right?
36:33
SPEAKER_00: Rather than looking to ourselves for control, what are what should we do?
36:38
SPEAKER_00: One of the things is obviously the influence, but we should look to God for power.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: We should look to him for power.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 3, 16 through 21 says, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power, that you it through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all God's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within you, within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, forever and ever.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: God is providing the power.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: He is providing that power.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: And that comes from the Holy Spirit, from God, through the Holy Spirit to us in our inner beings.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: He's the energizer bunny, and he's never gonna run out, never gonna run out of juice.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: He's never gonna stop.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: His His influence and power go hand in hand in our Christian life and experience.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: Sonic Light says, Christ indwells every Christian, but it is especially at home.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: He is especially at home, dwells in the lives of those believers who let him be first in their attitudes and actions.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: The ultimate goal of Paul's request was that his readers might be so full of the knowledge of Christ's love and appreciation for God that they might allow Christ to control them fully.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind kind of the key, isn't it?
38:30
SPEAKER_00: To be so full of the knowledge of Christ's love and appreciation for God that we we just give over the control.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: Because why do we want to have it in the first place?
38:42
SPEAKER_00: That we're so captivated with Him that giving it all to Him is just second nature to us.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: When you immerse yourself in God's Word, you can expect to receive the Spirit's power.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: John Piper says, it is almost certain that you will not be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit if you are not filled with the Word of God.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: If you are living the Christian life and you're not experiencing power, then that just should tell you that you need to take some action.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: You need to do some things.
39:14
SPEAKER_00: And here are six ways that we can put ourselves into a position to receive power from God.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: First, we see it in Acts 1.8.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: And that teaches us that power is given for successful witness.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and all Samaria unto the end of the earth.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: We you should experience God's power when you're on mission for Him.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: That should just be a natural outcome of it.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: The second thing, Jesus is the perfect example of power in the Spirit.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: In Luke 4, it says, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he for 40 days was tempted by the devil.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: And then after his temptation, in Luke 4, 14, it says, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus needed the power of the Spirit to do effective ministry, we need it even more.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: I mean, yeah.
40:16
SPEAKER_00: Number three, John 6, 63.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: The words I have spoken to you, Jesus says, they are full of the Spirit and life.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' words hold the life-giving power of the Spirit.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: And so when we have that word, the words of Jesus living inside of us, we're going to receive power.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Number four, we saw last week that God clothes us with his armor and he gives us power to rest to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: There's power when we pray in general, but even more specifically when we pray the armor on ourselves and on other people.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: And then number five, when we are obedient, we will see the Spirit give us power to accomplish what He wants to give, what He gives us to do.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 28.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I command.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: And sixth, you should experience the Spirit's power when you're working in your area of giftedness.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: My top spiritual gift is the gift of wisdom.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: And I can't tell you how incredibly exciting it is whenever I am counseling with someone, and all of a sudden, God, God just gives me the understanding to be able to help that person understand themselves better.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: And and sometimes it's it's so powerful for me that I will just stop them right then.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: I would say, you need to understand that was not from me.
41:53
SPEAKER_00: That was just from the God of the universe who stepped in and gave me the understanding so that you could understand that.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: And you need to understand how powerfully he's working on your behalf.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: It's an astounding thing.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: But it's the power, it's the power that I experience in that scenario and in that situation.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: We all know that we're not supposed to be in control and that we are supposed to give God, give our give the control over to God.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: We all know that, right?
42:26
SPEAKER_00: We've we've all heard that.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: We know it.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: But I hope that you're also seeing the why behind the obedience, and that is so that we can experience more of God's power.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: The why behind giving him control is so that he can use us in powerful ways that he can never use if we are the ones who are controlling and it's all about ourselves.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: When it is all about God and he has control, then he can powerfully work in and through you and accomplish things.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: So we can have be greater influencers in God's kingdom.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: That's the why.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: So he can be greater through us than we could ever be apart from his power.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: Ever.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: Our God is for us.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Our God is more powerful than we will ever know or can experience in this world.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: But when we get to heaven, we will totally, completely understand.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: There is a peace that comes when the battle for control is over.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: There's just an overwhelming peace and sense of rightness when that battle is over.
43:35
SPEAKER_00: There's contentment and there's satisfaction in knowing that God has come out the victor in that battle.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: Peace and contentment is what the world is looking for, but it's really only truly found in Jesus Christ and in giving control over to Him.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to bow your heads and I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to live.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Listen and to think about what I'm going to say.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: If you feel the need to write something, you can, but I will give you a copy of what I am going to say so you don't have to take notes, just listen.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: And then think and respond in your heart and your soul to God.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: What do you truly want to define your life?
44:27
SPEAKER_00: What do you want said at your funeral about you?
44:35
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you are exhibiting now is most likely what you would be remembered for were you to die suddenly.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Is that what you would want to be remembered for?
44:48
SPEAKER_00: What we give our time to and what we think about the most tells God what is most important to us.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: What have you been telling Him is most important by your thoughts and actions?
45:02
SPEAKER_00: What do you want God to see by your thoughts and actions?
45:12
SPEAKER_00: The instant you die, you stand before the God who made you in his image, the God who loved you to death, and the God who had a plan for your life.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: If we have to at that moment give an account for our life, what will you wish you had done?
45:33
SPEAKER_00: We have a choice.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: We get to choose what defines us, what we are remembered for.
45:41
SPEAKER_00: It is important because one day we will stand before our God and we will wish we had done more while we had the opportunity to do so.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: It is imperative that we do now what we will most want one day to lay at his feet as a beautiful offering.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: We have lived life too long, thinking mainly of ourselves and our concerns.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: Your life matters to God.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: We have shortchanged God by thinking that our life is ours to live the way we choose.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: We have been disgruntled with God or others when they imply that we need to change.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: We've taken as a personal affront that we may have, we may be flawed in some way, rather than realizing we are flawed and looking to God to bring healing and wholeness.
46:52
SPEAKER_00: In essence, we have sinned against our holy God, all of us, not just you.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: We have given little when he wants much.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: We have made more of us than making more of him.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: We need to come to the end before our end comes.
47:13
SPEAKER_00: Our striving needs to be what God wants us to strive for and not what we strive for.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Trust, obedience, and surrender is not an option to opt out of because we have felt the breath of his presence.
47:33
SPEAKER_00: We have tasted the goodness of his love, and we have caught a glimpse of his glory, and we are ruined by that experience.
47:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, our our response is the only one that we can give.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: Surrender to your will.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: Surrender to your heart.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: Surrender to your glory, dominion, and power.
48:01
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, you are greater than we first thought.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: You are more wonderful than we could have ever imagined.
48:10
SPEAKER_00: You are beyond description and within reach.
48:15
SPEAKER_00: We are blessed to know you.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: We are anxious to see you.
48:19
SPEAKER_00: We are humbled to serve you.
48:23
SPEAKER_00: Our love for you has grown and our love for ourselves has faded, which tells us we have understood what you wanted us to understand.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: It is in loving you more that we have more love.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: Our love is not used up, our love is built up.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: When we pour out more, you pour in more, and we are learning that your love will never run dry.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: We will not exhaust your abundance, and we will never be separated from the source of it.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: We are more secure than we ever thought possible, and your grip is gentler than we could have ever imagined.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the ways that you have dealt intimately with us, and we trust that you will do so forever.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: Our surrender looks different than we thought it would, and it feels at home in our heart.
49:21
SPEAKER_00: You have seen us, you have heard us, you have led us and loved us, Lord.
49:28
SPEAKER_00: And we are changed.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: If those words are true for you, I want you to quietly in your heart tell God, in your own words, how you feel and what you want.
49:50
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, we love you.
49:54
SPEAKER_00: We love you so much.
49:59
SPEAKER_00: Might we spend the rest of our days basking in your love, boasting in your love, and leading others to love you until you return, Lord Jesus, and we cry out to you come, come, Lord Jesus.
50:27
SPEAKER_00: Amen.