Latest / The BLAZE (Bible Study) / Morning Devotion from Ephesians: Be Like God
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Good morning, God bless you, family. Welcome back to The
- 0:02Speaker 1: Morning Devo. It's your bro, Sam Lopez, a.k.a. DJ Sam Rock.
- 0:06Speaker 1: Sowinners with a Z dot O-R-G. Live.sowinners with a Z
- 0:11Speaker 1: dot O-R-G.
- 0:12Speaker 2: Those are the two websites I highly recommend you coming
- 0:16Speaker 2: and checking us out on The Morning Devo on.
- 0:18Speaker 1: Social media, of course. You know, social media, we always
- 0:21Speaker 1: social media, amen. And people are so used to these
- 0:24Speaker 1: platforms that I had to jump on there, too.
- 0:26Speaker 2: So here is okay.
- 0:29Speaker 1: But I recommend live.soulwinnerswithaz.org because there is less distractions, right?
- 0:35Speaker 1: You have an interactive Bible. You have a place where
- 0:37Speaker 1: we could do the live chat.
- 0:39Speaker 2: Amen. And it's a safer environment over there. Live.soulwinnerswithaz.org.
- 0:44Speaker 1: And of course, the Celar Radio Network, the Lehigh Valley's
- 0:47Speaker 1: number one urban gospel music station online since 2008.
- 0:51Speaker 2: And we're still here. That's all glory to God. Amen.
- 0:55Speaker 1: The audio only version is there. and also the videos
- 0:58Speaker 1: there as well. So let's go for it. Today, a
- 1:01Speaker 1: shocking title, right? Be Like God. People are going to
- 1:06Speaker 1: be like, okay, there's no way that that's in the Bible,
- 1:09Speaker 1: to be like God. Who said that we could be
- 1:11Speaker 1: like God? God did. Be Like God, we're going to
- 1:14Speaker 1: be in Ephesians chapter number four, verses 22 to 24.
- 1:18Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter number four, verses 22 to 24. Remember me,
- 1:25Speaker 1: pointed scripture amen of course you have to dig deeper
- 1:29Speaker 1: read the whole chapter of ephesians chapter four to get
- 1:32Speaker 1: the full context but this really stuck out to me
- 1:36Speaker 1: when i was going through the scriptures for chapter four
- 1:39Speaker 1: in ephesians so we're going to be in the book
- 1:40Speaker 1: of ephesians until we get to the last chapter amen
- 1:44Speaker 1: chapter by chapter lord willing lord willing of course so
- 1:47Speaker 1: let's pray if you have any questions comments concerns or
- 1:51Speaker 1: any prayer requests don't hesitate to leave those on a
- 1:54Speaker 1: live chat.
- 1:54Speaker 2: That's what we're here for. We'll pray. You can share
- 1:57Speaker 2: this out to as many people as possible.
- 1:59Speaker 1: And then we'll get right into the word for today. Father,
- 2:03Speaker 1: I thank you. I thank you so much for today,
- 2:05Speaker 1: for right now. I thank you, Lord God, for your presence.
- 2:08Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord God, for your spirit. Thank you, Lord God,
- 2:10Speaker 1: for your word. We have your word on it, Lord God.
- 2:14Speaker 1: We don't have to worry about anything not being true
- 2:18Speaker 1: when we read your word. When you speak to us,
- 2:20Speaker 1: Lord God, we know it's true. when your presence is
- 2:24Speaker 1: with us or we're in your presence, we have freedom,
- 2:27Speaker 1: we have liberty, we have everything we need to live
- 2:31Speaker 1: a godly and righteous life. Thank you, Lord God, that
- 2:33Speaker 1: you have called us out of the darkness and into
- 2:36Speaker 1: your marvelous light. So right now, I pray I had
- 2:39Speaker 1: your protection around me, my family, our children, our whole
- 2:44Speaker 1: entire bloodline on both sides of the family, my wife's side,
- 2:46Speaker 1: my side, and every single friend and every single person
- 2:49Speaker 1: that's engaging in with the ministry as well. Also, every
- 2:53Speaker 1: single person who's listening or watching now, Lord God, let
- 2:57Speaker 1: you set forth your angels to protect them as well,
- 3:00Speaker 1: guide them, and show them your glory.
- 3:03Speaker 2: I pray this by faith, knowing that you hear our.
- 3:05Speaker 1: Prayers and you answer them according to your purpose and
- 3:08Speaker 1: your 100% perfect plan for every individual that's connected to
- 3:13Speaker 1: your kingdom or that's in your kingdom. I pray this
- 3:16Speaker 1: by faith, the authority of your powerful name, the name
- 3:18Speaker 1: of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray this by faith
- 3:20Speaker 1: and all those who agree, we say amen to the
- 3:23Speaker 1: amen because he is the amen. So let's go for it.
- 3:27Speaker 1: Let's go put this on the screen for those who
- 3:29Speaker 1: are watching, for those who are listening. We are here
- 3:32Speaker 1: on the Morning Devos weekdays, 530 a.m.
- 3:35Speaker 2: Eastern Standard Time.
- 3:36Speaker 1: And of course, the podcast is evergreen, meaning that you
- 3:38Speaker 1: can listen to it anytime you want.
- 3:41Speaker 2: Amen. That's the good part of tech technology, right? When
- 3:45Speaker 2: it works. So listen, Ephesians.
- 3:47Speaker 1: Chapter 4, verse number 22 to 24, and the scriptures
- 3:53Speaker 1: goes as follows.
- 3:54Speaker 2: Let's see if it switches over. It's giving me a
- 3:57Speaker 2: little warning time here.
- 4:01Speaker 1: So put off your former way of life. Now, it's
- 4:04Speaker 1: starting in the middle of a thought, right? It's starting
- 4:09Speaker 1: in the middle of a thought. That's why it's important
- 4:10Speaker 1: to read a little bit before and a little bit after.
- 4:14Speaker 1: but I always suggest to read the whole chapter. Whatever
- 4:17Speaker 1: chapter we're in, read the whole chapter for yourself. So
- 4:21Speaker 1: put off your former way of life, your old self,
- 4:25Speaker 1: which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be
- 4:30Speaker 1: renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put
- 4:34Speaker 1: on the new self created to be like God. I
- 4:39Speaker 1: should have highlighted that, to be like God in true
- 4:42Speaker 1: righteousness and and holiness.
- 4:45Speaker 2: What we're created to be. What are you created to be?
- 4:48Speaker 1: According to the scripture, created to be like God in
- 4:53Speaker 1: true righteousness and holiness.
- 4:55Speaker 2: When I saw that, I was like, wow. I mean,
- 4:57Speaker 2: I've read this before, but you.
- 4:58Speaker 1: Know, when you read the word, it hits you differently
- 5:01Speaker 1: every time you read it, especially when you have a
- 5:05Speaker 1: sincere heart looking for truth, looking for the word for
- 5:08Speaker 1: your life.
- 5:09Speaker 2: Amen. This hit different.
- 5:12Speaker 1: Created to be like God Yes, created to be like
- 5:16Speaker 1: God and God said it. So that means it's true.
- 5:19Speaker 1: God said it. That means he meant it. God said it,
- 5:21Speaker 1: inspired the apostle to write it. So it's facts, right?
- 5:26Speaker 1: We don't have to worry about anything that's not real
- 5:29Speaker 1: when it comes to the scriptures because the scriptures is
- 5:32Speaker 1: real life. Ever heard somebody say, and I think I
- 5:34Speaker 1: used to say this too, and maybe I still say
- 5:36Speaker 1: it a little bit, but I'm trying to really mark
- 5:39Speaker 1: my words. When people say the scriptures and reading the
- 5:42Speaker 1: Bible is cool, But in real life, you ever heard
- 5:45Speaker 1: somebody say that?
- 5:46Speaker 2: In real life, this is real life. The scriptures are real.
- 5:51Speaker 2: And the scriptures are relevant. And the scriptures apply to
- 5:55Speaker 2: our real time, real life right now. Right? So I know.
- 5:59Speaker 2: I used to say it too, like I said. So
- 6:01Speaker 2: I'm not saying that. I never said that before. But
- 6:05Speaker 2: out of habit, or I guess it's out of just
- 6:07Speaker 2: listening to everybody else say it. Amen. I used to
- 6:10Speaker 2: say it too.
- 6:11Speaker 1: Make sure everything's working on the radio network. This is
- 6:14Speaker 1: what happens when you're a one-man band sometimes.
- 6:16Speaker 2: I need an engineer. Who wants to be my engineer
- 6:20Speaker 2: at five in the morning? Amen. That's a task. But listen.
- 6:25Speaker 2: So we are to be like God.
- 6:27Speaker 1: That means that God has enabled us, enabled me, and
- 6:31Speaker 1: enabled you to be righteous and holy.
- 6:35Speaker 2: I mean, we read about that a little while ago.
- 6:40Speaker 2: Following Jesus... isn't just about changing what you do. This
- 6:45Speaker 2: is not behavioral management.
- 6:47Speaker 1: Although your behavior will change, but it's not just managing
- 6:50Speaker 1: your anger, managing your lust, managing your envy, managing your jealousy,
- 6:56Speaker 1: managing what.
- 6:57Speaker 2: You say that comes out of your mouth. It's not
- 6:59Speaker 2: only about that.
- 7:01Speaker 1: Jesus, when you follow Jesus and you're a Jesus follower, amen,
- 7:06Speaker 1: it's about allowing God to change who you are becoming.
- 7:11Speaker 1: who we are becoming. We're becoming more like him. We're
- 7:15Speaker 1: becoming more like God. Every single time we get into
- 7:20Speaker 1: a serious scripture reading, a Bible study, right? Meditate on
- 7:24Speaker 1: his word day and night. The Bible says when we
- 7:26Speaker 1: connect with one another in these kind of forums or
- 7:29Speaker 1: this kind of forum, amen, whether it's a morning Devo,
- 7:32Speaker 1: whether it's a live stream, a Bible study, a phone call,
- 7:35Speaker 1: which I'm going to go back to soon on the
- 7:37Speaker 1: kingdom call, whether any way that you do that, right?
- 7:42Speaker 1: That means that God is making you more like him,
- 7:46Speaker 1: not forcing you to be like him, but he's allowing
- 7:49Speaker 1: you to experience the love, the grace, the mercy, the
- 7:53Speaker 1: transformation is real, right? So the apostle Paul tells us
- 8:00Speaker 1: here in Ephesians chapter four, right? To put off the
- 8:04Speaker 1: old self, to put off the old self. That means
- 8:08Speaker 1: Letting go of the old attitudes, your stinking thinking, right?
- 8:11Speaker 1: My stinking thinking, let that go. Your old habits, let
- 8:15Speaker 1: that go. Desires that actually are placed by God, but
- 8:19Speaker 1: then there's a distortion going on when the flesh gets
- 8:22Speaker 1: involved in it. You notice that we have strong desires
- 8:25Speaker 1: and strong wills to do certain things, and then the
- 8:28Speaker 1: flesh is like, okay, take that desire and use it
- 8:31Speaker 1: for your own self-pleasure, your own self-desires. Instead of using
- 8:35Speaker 1: that and allowing God to use those desires for our benefit, right?
- 8:39Speaker 1: The desires and the ways of thinking that don't reflect Christ.
- 8:42Speaker 1: Like we all, 100% of us, all are challenged with
- 8:47Speaker 1: our thinking because of this world system throwing everything crazy
- 8:51Speaker 1: at us, right? This world system throws every crazy thing
- 8:54Speaker 1: at us, for real.
- 8:56Speaker 2: Like every single day, I see something crazy. Every day.
- 8:59Speaker 2: Not even looking for it. You just see craziness because
- 9:02Speaker 2: this world is broken.
- 9:04Speaker 1: And it's obvious that this world system is not being
- 9:07Speaker 1: run by the Lord Jesus. This world system is being
- 9:10Speaker 1: run by the devil and his demonic influences. So God
- 9:16Speaker 1: wants us to put off our old self, right? Holy
- 9:19Speaker 1: Spirit is telling us to put off your old self,
- 9:21Speaker 1: your old thinking, your old attitudes, right?
- 9:24Speaker 2: Your old behaviors and put on a new way. Reflect Christ, right?
- 9:32Speaker 2: Be like God.
- 9:34Speaker 1: Then comes the transformation, right? Be renewed, the Bible says,
- 9:40Speaker 1: in the spirit of your minds. Well, now what does
- 9:42Speaker 1: that mean?
- 9:43Speaker 2: Amen. You have to study that out.
- 9:45Speaker 1: But briefly, it means pretty much God doesn't simply want
- 9:50Speaker 1: you to look different externally. And that'll happen too. When
- 9:54Speaker 1: your attitude changes, right? And when your habits change, you
- 9:58Speaker 1: kind of externally look different. People will notice, hey, this
- 10:02Speaker 1: person's not drinking as much. This person's not smoking as much.
- 10:05Speaker 1: This person's not hanging out with us as much.
- 10:08Speaker 2: Get it? And you'll start looking a little different, right?
- 10:11Speaker 2: Because you come out of that situation. I was deep
- 10:13Speaker 2: into the party life.
- 10:15Speaker 1: And when I got out of it, I think God
- 10:17Speaker 1: spared me and added some Added some years to my.
- 10:21Speaker 2: Life, obviously, but amen. Not only that, but.
- 10:26Speaker 1: Less wrinkles, less stress wrinkles, right? Less scars, less bruises, amen,
- 10:32Speaker 1: because of the party life. When you're in that life,
- 10:35Speaker 1: and if you're in that right now, you know what
- 10:36Speaker 1: I'm saying is true. Late nights, right? You're up all
- 10:40Speaker 1: night partying, doing X, Y, Z, and then in the morning,
- 10:44Speaker 1: you're struggling, amen.
- 10:45Speaker 2: I would never... I would never be able to do
- 10:48Speaker 2: these morning devos.
- 10:49Speaker 1: If I was still in a party life, obviously, because
- 10:52Speaker 1: I would have still been up probably from an hour
- 10:55Speaker 1: from now still partying. And to get up, what, at 5,
- 10:58Speaker 1: at 5.15 to get into the studio.
- 11:00Speaker 2: That would have not been possible.
- 11:02Speaker 1: But all glory to God because of his grace, his mercy,
- 11:05Speaker 1: he took me out of that. He could take you
- 11:06Speaker 1: out of that if you're still in a party life
- 11:08Speaker 1: and you're watching or listening.
- 11:09Speaker 2: Amen.
- 11:10Speaker 1: He knows what you're doing and he could change your life.
- 11:13Speaker 1: So here comes the transformation. Be renewed in the spirit
- 11:17Speaker 1: of your minds, right? God doesn't want you just to
- 11:20Speaker 1: look different on the outside. He wants you to renew
- 11:23Speaker 1: your mind from the inside out. This is an inside
- 11:27Speaker 1: job that works his way out through us.
- 11:29Speaker 2: And everybody could.
- 11:30Speaker 1: See the transformative power of the Holy Ghost, right?
- 11:34Speaker 2: Of the Holy Spirit.
- 11:35Speaker 1: Jesus, the God of heaven and earth, knows how to
- 11:39Speaker 1: transform people, knows how to change people. He is the
- 11:42Speaker 1: eternal life giver, amen? And he is the restorer He
- 11:46Speaker 1: is the renewer. He is the savior. He could save
- 11:49Speaker 1: and change our hearts, our lives.
- 11:51Speaker 2: Amen.
- 11:52Speaker 1: As long as we receive what he has for us,
- 11:55Speaker 1: then we'll benefit off of his finished work because he
- 11:58Speaker 1: already did the heavy lifting. He already conquered this world system.
- 12:02Speaker 1: He already conquered sin and death. He has the keys
- 12:04Speaker 1: to life and all eternity. Just get into his way.
- 12:09Speaker 1: Get it in his plan.
- 12:10Speaker 2: Amen.
- 12:11Speaker 1: And watch what happens in your life. You'll be transformed, renewed.
- 12:14Speaker 1: Your mind will change. Your vocabulary will change because your
- 12:17Speaker 1: thinking changes. That means what comes out of your mouth
- 12:20Speaker 1: will start changing. You'll be surprised. You'll be amazed at
- 12:23Speaker 1: how less you'll curse, right? How less you listen to
- 12:28Speaker 1: things that are not pleasing to God.
- 12:31Speaker 2: It's a process.
- 12:32Speaker 1: You'll start noticing. The more serious you are with the Lord,
- 12:35Speaker 1: the more quickly you'll get there. But amen, but it's
- 12:37Speaker 1: not a forced thing. This is not a religion. Christianity
- 12:42Speaker 1: is not a religion. Christianity in its pure form It's
- 12:45Speaker 1: a relationship with Christ the King.
- 12:48Speaker 2: Amen.
- 12:48Speaker 1: And because we have a relationship with him and we're
- 12:50Speaker 1: saved and born again, his spirit comes inside of us,
- 12:54Speaker 1: lives inside of us, dwells inside of us, and helps
- 12:57Speaker 1: us change, man. Day by day. This is not like presto,
- 13:01Speaker 1: not magic. This is not like sorcery or this is
- 13:04Speaker 1: not what people say, brainwashing. People think we're brainwashed. You
- 13:07Speaker 1: literally think I get up every morning and force myself
- 13:11Speaker 1: to get into the scriptures and or go to groups
- 13:13Speaker 1: that force me to go to those groups and I
- 13:16Speaker 1: have to recite whatever they want me to recite or
- 13:18Speaker 1: I have to memorize whatever they want me to memorize.
- 13:22Speaker 2: You think I have time for all of that? I
- 13:23Speaker 2: know I don't have time for that. Amen. I'm willing
- 13:27Speaker 2: to follow the Lord. Amen. How about you?
- 13:29Speaker 1: I'm willing to read the word. What about you? I'm
- 13:32Speaker 1: willing to go to church. What about you? This is
- 13:35Speaker 1: not a forced thing. I've never, other than my kids
- 13:38Speaker 1: in my home, they have to go to church because
- 13:40Speaker 1: they're under our care and we go to church.
- 13:43Speaker 2: Right?
- 13:44Speaker 1: Other than that, if you want to call that forcing,
- 13:46Speaker 1: other than that, ain't nobody forcing nobody to do nothing
- 13:49Speaker 1: in my home.
- 13:49Speaker 2: Amen?
- 13:50Speaker 1: You want to serve the Lord? Go ahead and serve
- 13:52Speaker 1: the Lord. You don't want to serve the Lord? Well,
- 13:54Speaker 1: that's between you and the Lord.
- 13:56Speaker 2: Amen?
- 13:56Speaker 1: All I can do and all we can do here
- 13:59Speaker 1: is love one another and shine the light of Christ
- 14:02Speaker 1: that works through every individual who has Him inside. And
- 14:07Speaker 1: if you have the Lord.
- 14:08Speaker 2: Inside of you, you can't hide either. Amen?
- 14:10Speaker 1: But you also know that you're not forced. to do
- 14:13Speaker 1: anything out of your own will. God loves us so
- 14:16Speaker 1: much that he gives us a choice. If God didn't
- 14:19Speaker 1: love us, he will force us, amen, without choice to
- 14:22Speaker 1: serve him. That's not a loving God. That'll be a dictator.
- 14:27Speaker 1: That'll be someone who's in a religious leader who's forcing
- 14:30Speaker 1: his way into your life. And that's not the Lord
- 14:34Speaker 1: we serve. And then we are called to put on
- 14:37Speaker 1: the new self, right? Put on a new self. Isn't
- 14:41Speaker 1: it cool that we could have a new self?
- 14:44Speaker 2: Amen.
- 14:45Speaker 1: The old self is dead and buried, and now we
- 14:48Speaker 1: have a new self. Now, we carry around a dead man.
- 14:51Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 14:52Speaker 1: We carry around a dead corpse daily. It's called the flesh.
- 14:56Speaker 1: The flesh is not saved. Jesus didn't die on the
- 14:59Speaker 1: cross to save our flesh. Jesus died on the cross
- 15:02Speaker 1: to save our souls. Remember that. If you don't remember
- 15:06Speaker 1: anything about what I say, remember that. Jesus is a
- 15:09Speaker 1: soul winner. the best soul winner ever, and that will
- 15:13Speaker 1: ever be. He didn't come to save the flesh because
- 15:16Speaker 1: the flesh doesn't go into the kingdom of God. We
- 15:19Speaker 1: don't go into the kingdom of God in our flesh.
- 15:22Speaker 2: Amen? So the flesh is going to be corrupted. Mark
- 15:26Speaker 2: my words.
- 15:26Speaker 1: I don't care who you know, including myself, that says
- 15:30Speaker 1: they serve God, and I can never go around saying,
- 15:34Speaker 1: I conquered the flesh.
- 15:35Speaker 2: You're right.
- 15:37Speaker 1: Every day the flesh is hustling, right? Every day the
- 15:41Speaker 1: flesh wants you to do what the flesh wants you
- 15:43Speaker 1: to do. Every day it's a struggle. Every day is
- 15:47Speaker 1: a spiritual war. But we'll start getting better and better
- 15:50Speaker 1: at it once we become more and more like God, right?
- 15:55Speaker 1: The spirit is always at war with the flesh. The
- 15:57Speaker 1: Bible says that. So if somebody's saying the opposite of that, say, oh,
- 16:02Speaker 1: you know, you could do this and fast 40 days.
- 16:05Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe that'll help.
- 16:07Speaker 1: Fasting 40 days to let the flesh know, listen, man,
- 16:10Speaker 1: The Spirit is running the show here, not you. Yeah,
- 16:13Speaker 1: that's a reminder to the flesh. And then when that
- 16:16Speaker 1: wears off, because it will wear off, amen, the flesh
- 16:19Speaker 1: will be like, oh, I have another opportunity, right? Because
- 16:22Speaker 1: the flesh is like, seems like tireless. The flesh is
- 16:25Speaker 1: always doing what the flesh wants to do. Actually, Apostle Paul,
- 16:28Speaker 1: he spoke about it in his own life. So then
- 16:31Speaker 1: God doesn't want you just to look different outside. He
- 16:35Speaker 1: wants you to renew your mind inside, right? The goal
- 16:38Speaker 1: isn't perfection. It's not perfection. If you had to be
- 16:43Speaker 1: perfect to follow Jesus, then Jesus will have no followers, right?
- 16:49Speaker 1: Have you read the gospels? Saw the people who were
- 16:51Speaker 1: following Jesus? Did you see the first disciples?
- 16:55Speaker 2: They weren't perfect. Thank you, Jesus, that we don't got
- 16:57Speaker 2: to be perfect.
- 16:58Speaker 1: Now, you have to be perfect and I have to
- 17:01Speaker 1: be perfect to be in heaven.
- 17:02Speaker 2: That's a whole discussion, but that's what the scripture says.
- 17:06Speaker 2: So that's why we're being perfected now because we're going
- 17:08Speaker 2: to be perfect in heaven. That's right. We're going to
- 17:11Speaker 2: find perfect people in heaven, amen, because they're redeemed, restored,
- 17:15Speaker 2: went through the fire, right? We were tested. We were pruned.
- 17:20Speaker 2: We were challenged. We were mocked. We did all of that.
- 17:25Speaker 1: We went through all of that here on this side
- 17:26Speaker 1: of eternity. But the other side of eternity, amen, at
- 17:29Speaker 1: the finish line, we're going to be with the Lord.
- 17:31Speaker 2: We're going to be perfect.
- 17:32Speaker 1: The Bible says we're going to be just like him
- 17:34Speaker 1: in a way because he's supreme other. But in a way,
- 17:37Speaker 1: we're going to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 17:39Speaker 1: We're going to be more like God. So on this
- 17:42Speaker 1: side of eternity, this is practice. We have one life
- 17:44Speaker 1: to live, though. Make every single day count. I always say,
- 17:48Speaker 1: don't waste days. Don't waste time.
- 17:50Speaker 2: Amen. Make every day count.
- 17:52Speaker 1: Make the decisions that you know that are being inspired
- 17:56Speaker 1: by Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit.
- 17:58Speaker 2: Amen. Follow Him. Follow that voice, the voice of the flesh.
- 18:04Speaker 2: You know it. I know it.
- 18:05Speaker 1: It sounds just like whatever. It has no direction whatsoever.
- 18:10Speaker 1: The flesh just wants you to do whatever tastes good,
- 18:12Speaker 1: smells good, feels good. It wants you to do whatever
- 18:16Speaker 1: pleases it.
- 18:18Speaker 2: Right?
- 18:20Speaker 1: Then we're called to put on a new self. Not
- 18:22Speaker 1: about perfection. The goal is becoming more and more like
- 18:26Speaker 1: the one who saved you. The one who saved me.
- 18:29Speaker 1: We could become more and more like him. Walking in righteousness,
- 18:32Speaker 1: not in ratchetness.
- 18:34Speaker 2: Ratchetness. is easy to do.
- 18:38Speaker 1: Everybody else is doing, not everybody, but the majority of
- 18:41Speaker 1: the people you know, unless you're just like in a
- 18:44Speaker 1: circle of believers, which has its benefits, but then I'm
- 18:48Speaker 1: pretty sure you're not evangelizing that. Because if you're surrounding
- 18:52Speaker 1: yourself by people who believe in Jesus every day, all day,
- 18:55Speaker 1: and you don't have a, that's the only circle, I
- 18:58Speaker 1: don't think you're probably witnessing to other people. Because it's
- 19:01Speaker 1: safe there, right? It's a controlled environment when you're in
- 19:04Speaker 1: the church. Controlled environment When you're in a big congregation,
- 19:08Speaker 1: it's controlled environments when you're surrounding yourself by Christians.
- 19:12Speaker 2: That's cool. But if you don't have outside friends, amen.
- 19:17Speaker 1: To speak the gospel, to teach the gospel, to witness, then,
- 19:21Speaker 1: you know, we have to do the works of evangelism too.
- 19:24Speaker 2: So you have to balance that out, right? You have
- 19:26Speaker 2: to balance that out. Brother Maurice, I see you. Good morning.
- 19:28Speaker 2: Peace and blessings to you as well. Good morning. God
- 19:30Speaker 2: bless you.
- 19:31Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Morning Devo, my bro and my friend.
- 19:34Speaker 1: So the goal is in perfection. The goal is becoming
- 19:36Speaker 1: more like the one who saved you, which is Lord Jesus.
- 19:39Speaker 1: Walking in righteousness.
- 19:41Speaker 2: Listen to this. Holiness. Truth. Right? Don't live in no
- 19:46Speaker 2: lie no more. Live in the truth. Love. Humility. Humility. obedience. Humility, wow.
- 19:52Speaker 1: A lot of people are going around arrogant out there, boy.
- 19:55Speaker 1: They are not humble. They're just being arrogant. I'm this
- 19:59Speaker 1: and I'm that and you better... Nah, that's not it.
- 20:02Speaker 1: Humility and obedience. And obedience, it's a A lot of
- 20:07Speaker 1: people don't like the word obedience. It almost sounds to
- 20:10Speaker 1: people like we're saying you better.
- 20:13Speaker 2: Obedience. You better do this. You better. No.
- 20:15Speaker 1: Obedience is a willing heart to serve the Lord and
- 20:19Speaker 1: obey what he wants us to do. And it's a
- 20:22Speaker 1: beautiful thing because once you're obedient to Jesus, amen, you
- 20:26Speaker 1: start realizing that you're on the right path. You're following
- 20:29Speaker 1: the right one, the true one, the holy one, the
- 20:31Speaker 1: righteous one, the loving one, the merciful one, the graceful one.
- 20:35Speaker 1: You're following the right path. One, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 20:39Speaker 1: So that's cool when you're obedient to the Lord. You're
- 20:42Speaker 1: obedient to his word. You're obedient to the spirit of God.
- 20:46Speaker 2: Amen. It's not a bad situation.
- 20:48Speaker 1: That's actually a good situation and it will lead you
- 20:51Speaker 1: on the right path.
- 20:53Speaker 2: Right. So today we could ask ourselves, like get honest
- 20:56Speaker 2: with yourself. Right. Ask yourself, what do I need to
- 21:01Speaker 2: take off? Like, what is it? And I know I've
- 21:04Speaker 2: done this before through the years. Amen. Amen.
- 21:06Speaker 1: That spiritual inventory. What is it that I need to
- 21:10Speaker 1: take off that doesn't belong?
- 21:12Speaker 2: Amen? You have your things that are popping up in
- 21:15Speaker 2: your head right now. I have my things that are
- 21:16Speaker 2: popping up in my head right now. And just rearrange it, right?
- 21:21Speaker 2: If I walked in my studio and everything was out
- 21:23Speaker 2: of place every single time, I'll be late every single
- 21:26Speaker 2: time trying to rearrange things.
- 21:28Speaker 1: So instead, I put things in its place, right? In
- 21:32Speaker 1: hopes that it would stay in its place and nobody
- 21:34Speaker 1: would touch it, right? And when I come back in
- 21:36Speaker 1: the studio, everything is in its place. So that means
- 21:39Speaker 1: everything should work accordingly. Should work accordingly because we're dealing
- 21:43Speaker 1: with technology here. When it works, it works. But in life,
- 21:48Speaker 1: if you arrange things accordingly, amen, usually it will serve
- 21:53Speaker 1: you well. I put my keys in the same place
- 21:56Speaker 1: every day.
- 21:57Speaker 2: Why? Because I'm getting older and forgetful.
- 22:00Speaker 1: So if I randomly put my keys in different places
- 22:04Speaker 1: every single day, I'm going to be in trouble.
- 22:07Speaker 2: One day I'm not going to remember where I put it.
- 22:09Speaker 2: So what do I do? I made a habit of
- 22:12Speaker 2: putting my keys in the same place every single day
- 22:16Speaker 2: so that way I know where it's at every single day.
- 22:19Speaker 1: How much more in your spiritual life, right? That you
- 22:22Speaker 1: could arrange things, rearrange things. The things that you need
- 22:26Speaker 1: to take off, throw them out. Take them off, throw
- 22:29Speaker 1: them out. And the things that you need to hold
- 22:31Speaker 1: on to, keep them in place. And you see how
- 22:34Speaker 1: life gets easier Amen. So what does God want me
- 22:38Speaker 1: to put on? You know what you have to take off.
- 22:41Speaker 1: So that means if you're taking something off, God wants
- 22:44Speaker 1: us to put something on. What is it that God
- 22:48Speaker 1: wants you and I to put on?
- 22:51Speaker 2: Amen. Don't carry yesterday's stuff into today when it's stuff
- 22:56Speaker 2: that you know you should have left in the garbage
- 22:59Speaker 2: last night. Leave it there. Amen.
- 23:01Speaker 1: It's not going to do you any good anyways. Especially
- 23:04Speaker 1: when you know and I know it's not from the Lord.
- 23:06Speaker 1: Just leave it right where it's at and move on.
- 23:10Speaker 1: Sometimes that even means people and relationships. You know, so-called
- 23:15Speaker 1: Christ followers that stab you in the back, right? That
- 23:18Speaker 1: you helped for years and then all of a sudden
- 23:21Speaker 1: now they want to sue you. They want to blaspheme you.
- 23:25Speaker 1: They want to slander you. They want to put videos
- 23:27Speaker 1: out about you. Leave those things where they belong.
- 23:31Speaker 2: Amen? And keep it moving. There's people who need the
- 23:34Speaker 2: gospel message. Gossip or gospel?
- 23:39Speaker 1: I'd rather do the gospel, man, and let God handle
- 23:43Speaker 1: those others that are outside of the kingdom looking in
- 23:46Speaker 1: and trying to bash people in the kingdom of God
- 23:49Speaker 1: for whatever reason.
- 23:50Speaker 2: It could be money.
- 23:51Speaker 1: It could be jealousy, envy. It could be strife. It
- 23:55Speaker 1: could be pain. It could be mental illness. Whatever the
- 23:58Speaker 1: situation that they're going through, God sees it and God
- 24:00Speaker 1: knows it. So, Don't involve yourself in those things. Involve
- 24:04Speaker 1: yourselves with what the Lord wants you to do.
- 24:06Speaker 2: Amen?
- 24:07Speaker 1: He wants you to take off the old and put
- 24:10Speaker 1: on the new. Don't carry yesterday's stuff. Don't carry yesterday's
- 24:15Speaker 1: identity in today's calling that God has for your life.
- 24:19Speaker 1: You know, everybody's into this identifying thing. I identify as
- 24:23Speaker 1: this and I identify as that. Listen, my identity is
- 24:26Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus.
- 24:27Speaker 2: So if anything, right?
- 24:30Speaker 1: Jesus identifies himself as the Lord Jesus, as God in
- 24:33Speaker 1: the flesh, as the King of kings and the Lord
- 24:35Speaker 1: of lords. People testified about him. The prophets prophesied that
- 24:38Speaker 1: he would do what he said he's going to do.
- 24:41Speaker 2: Amen.
- 24:41Speaker 1: And he fulfilled the prophecies. And Jesus is the one
- 24:44Speaker 1: that's cracking the sky and coming back to judge whoever
- 24:47Speaker 1: is here. So everybody that's playing games right now in
- 24:50Speaker 1: their Christian walk, amen, that's an eternal Russian roulette, I
- 24:55Speaker 1: call it. One day, we don't know when he's going
- 24:58Speaker 1: to come back, but we know he's coming back. So
- 25:00Speaker 1: if you're acting crazy, right, accusing the brethren and doing
- 25:03Speaker 1: all kinds of craziness, if Jesus cracks open the sky
- 25:06Speaker 1: during your activity doing that, be careful. That's not really
- 25:10Speaker 1: going to be a good day for you. And hopefully
- 25:14Speaker 1: it's not going to be a good day for me
- 25:15Speaker 1: if I'm acting crazy too, right? So none of us
- 25:20Speaker 1: are immune to the craziness of life, but we can
- 25:23Speaker 1: take off and put on what God wants us to
- 25:25Speaker 1: put on, right? So I put a declaration on social media.
- 25:31Speaker 1: Five minutes before I went live, right? And this declaration,
- 25:35Speaker 1: I think, could help you, especially going into the weekend.
- 25:38Speaker 1: From the time of this recording, we're getting into the weekend.
- 25:42Speaker 2: And it's like this. You could declare this over yourself.
- 25:45Speaker 2: Don't be ashamed to speak over yourself, especially if it's.
- 25:48Speaker 1: Something that's a declaration that God will be honored and
- 25:52Speaker 1: glorified in it. Because in the meantime, you'll be helping yourself.
- 25:56Speaker 1: I am not who I used to be. Go ahead
- 25:59Speaker 1: and say that. I am not who I used to be.
- 26:02Speaker 1: God is renewing my mind. Transforming my life. And teaching
- 26:10Speaker 1: me to live like him.
- 26:14Speaker 2: We read it.
- 26:15Speaker 1: And to put on the new self created to be
- 26:18Speaker 1: like God. I put off the old and put on
- 26:23Speaker 1: the new. I and becoming more like Christ. And if
- 26:29Speaker 1: you read the scriptures, when you look more like Christ,
- 26:34Speaker 1: people are going to hate you more and more.
- 26:36Speaker 2: Amen.
- 26:37Speaker 1: There's a spirit of antichrist in this world. And sometimes
- 26:40Speaker 1: the spirit of antichrist sneaks in the back door of churches, right?
- 26:45Speaker 1: Sits in your congregation, sits in your home, sits in
- 26:49Speaker 1: your Bible study groups, sits in your prayer groups.
- 26:52Speaker 2: Amen.
- 26:53Speaker 1: And they're just conniving. They're like People who want you
- 26:58Speaker 1: to experience the worst in life. They don't want you
- 27:02Speaker 1: to grow. They don't want you to build. They don't
- 27:05Speaker 1: want you to increase in your faith. They want to
- 27:07Speaker 1: take you to a place that's outside of God's will.
- 27:11Speaker 1: So that way they can say, ha, I got you.
- 27:13Speaker 1: I knew all the time you were just like me. No,
- 27:17Speaker 1: say no to those people. You know, say kind of
- 27:19Speaker 1: like bye in a nice way. Pray for those people
- 27:22Speaker 1: and know the scriptures for yourself. Put on the new self.
- 27:26Speaker 1: This is what we should be doing. Put on a
- 27:27Speaker 1: new self created to be like God and true righteousness
- 27:30Speaker 1: and holiness. All those others, I call them like imposters.
- 27:36Speaker 2: Amen. They're going to have their day.
- 27:38Speaker 1: One day they're going to realize that they were on
- 27:42Speaker 1: the wrong side of the coin.
- 27:44Speaker 2: Unless people repent right now. Amen.
- 27:47Speaker 1: The wrath of God is upon them. And that's not
- 27:51Speaker 1: a game at all. I hope that's not you. And
- 27:54Speaker 1: I hope that's not me.
- 27:56Speaker 2: I'll just continue following the scriptures and continue the works
- 27:59Speaker 2: that the Lord has me to do and stay out
- 28:01Speaker 2: of all the other nonsense. I hope you are blessed. Amen.
- 28:04Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 to 24. Read the whole
- 28:08Speaker 1: chapter for yourself so that way you know what's going
- 28:10Speaker 1: on in context. And I hope you have a blessed weekend.
- 28:14Speaker 2: Amen.
- 28:14Speaker 1: God bless you all. I hope you enjoyed. Today's Morning Devo,
- 28:18Speaker 1: we got into some things, right?
- 28:20Speaker 2: God bless you all. God keep you all.
- 28:22Speaker 1: And remember always that God is good.
- 28:25Speaker 2: Peace.