Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / April 17, 2019 | Patty Diliberto - Called To Surrender - Session 6

Transcript

April 17, 2019 | Patty Diliberto - Called To Surrender - Session 6 · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray as we as we start here today.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you so very much for what we're going to see today.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that that it is important to you that we know about our enemy and it's obvious because you put it in your word in so many places in so many ways.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so we we praise you for that.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you have equipped us and Lord, just be with our time today.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and Father, just give each one of us what we need today, exactly what we need, because you are great and you are awesome and you are powerful.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the past two weeks we have looked at how God builds our trust through detours, through some detours, and how He desires love-born obedience rather than obedience-born love.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So trust and obedience are two essential elements that either enhance our walk of faith or and surrender or detract from our faith and our surrender.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: This week we're going to look at another obstacle, like we've been looking at, and that is the that impacts our faith and our surrender by looking at our enemy and the spiritual battle that we're engaged in.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know that you've looked at, we've looked at some of that in this previous week's teaching, but we're going to look at it a bit more today, because there's so much to know about this, and we'll barely scratch the surface even then.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I know this information that we will will be review for some of you because some of you know this very, very well, but for some of you it'll be new information.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so wherever you are in that spectrum, I really pray that it just blesses you and that you get something that you can walk away with that will help you in your walk of faith.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: We all have that innate sense that there is more going on than meets the eye, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And nowhere is that more true than in the spiritual unseen realm where much is going on.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: We don't see those things that are going on, but if we believe scripture, and we do, right, we know that there's more going on than we could ever imagine that's going on.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: That spiritual unseen realm is filled with activity.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we would never know what that activity was or what it looked like if we didn't have the word of God to tell us what it is, to show us what it is.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's super important that we see and and really know what God wants us to know about that.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Those who don't know Christ and who who don't know his word are not aware of the battle that is going on in the spiritual realm.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: They discount it, they don't believe that it's happening.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And two extremes occur whenever we talk about the spiritual battle that we're in.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Those two extremes are over-emphasis or underemphasis.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Some people blame every sin, every illness, every conflict, every every everything on the on demons, on the demonic activity, on Satan.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Some people completely ignore the spiritual realm, even believers completely ignore the spiritual realm and the fact that the Bible tells us that we're in a battle against the spiritual powers of darkness.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And some people don't give it any credence at all.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: They don't think it is applicable to us.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the best approach is, of course, the approach that Jesus used, because he's always our example in everything.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he cast out demons from people, and sometimes he healed people without any mention of demonic activity.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so you see that balance with him.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Beautifully, you see it with Jesus.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because our enemy is so insidious and the attack can be so personal.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: There are times that if we don't watch ourselves, we will just be waving the white flag of surrender to our enemy rather than surrendering to our God.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that because I've done that many, many times.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Wave that white flag of surrender to the enemy.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to be looking at our enemy, our battle, and our victory.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, first, our enemy.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Here are some titles of authority that the New Testament gives Satan.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: John 12, 31.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now is the time for judgment on this world.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now the prince of this world will be driven out.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Connie, did you need that?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go back.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 11 4.4.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 2.2, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And no wonder, for Satan himself maskers masquerades as an angel of light.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that they will come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians eleven three.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: First John three, eight.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's works.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And Ephesians 6 12.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: So what are the names of and and titles of Satan from some of these verses?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: The prince of this world, the God of this age, the ruler of the kingdom of the air, an angel of light, the devil, the serpent, a ruler of the demonic host.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: He has authority, powers of this dark world, spiritual forces of evil.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then other names that we see in Scripture.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2.2.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: In Revelation 12, 9, he is the dragon.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: In Job 1, through chapters 1 through 3, we see him as the adversary.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's called the adversary.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then in 2 Corinthians 4 4, the God of this world.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Satan started out as a guardian cherub angel that God created.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: His name was Lucifer.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he probably was a part of a trinity of angels with Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: He was created by God and but he turned against God.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And he wanted God's glory and he wanted God's authority.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you can read about it in Job chapters 1 through 3, Isaiah 14, 12 through 15, and Ezekiel 28.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: All of those are really great passages to give us some of this information that I'm sharing with you today.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because of pride, Lucifer wanted that glory that is God's alone.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in his rebellion, he was cast out of heaven, and a third of the angels left heaven to go with him.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Those are now the demonic host who obey Satan's Lucifer's will and do his will here on this earth.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: The reasons we think that there were a trinity of angels is because a third of the angels left with Lucifer whenever he fell and was cast out of heaven.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: All of this had to have taken place before creation.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we know that?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because we see him as the serpent in the Garden of Eden after God has created all of this beauty.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: He has already fallen, he is already cast out of heaven.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: His power, both in the heavenly realm and on earth, is great, and it shouldn't be underestimated.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: However, while Satan and his forces are very formidable foes for us and enemies, Jesus Christ has crushed Satan's power, fulfilling that the first messianic prophecy that is of Christ in the Bible, which is in Genesis 3.15.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 3.15 says, and I, God says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: We learn many, many, many things from the book of Job about Satan, especially those first three chapters.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't have time to talk about all of this, how I wish we did, but we don't.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: In the chronological study, I have one whole one whole session that is on Job.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you if you want to hear that, then you can you I can email me and I can point you the way to hear that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um I'm also in January going to start the chronological study again, and so you can take it then.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: But God um it's truly fascinating what goes on between Satan and God in those first three chapters of Job.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: God obviously wants us to be totally aware of our enemy and equipped to fight him.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: If God didn't intend for us to fight him and to do some warfare against him, then he wouldn't have included it in his word and to the degree that he includes it in his word.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here are some of the verses that tell us what Satan's activity looks like, his what his activity looks like.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: 1 John 5 19, we know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation 12 9.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent, the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: He was hurled to the earth and his and his angels with him.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians 4 4, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Be alert and sober minded.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Mark four fifteen.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Luke thirteen, sixteen.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be freed on the Sabbath day from what bound her?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Luke twenty two, thirty-one.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Simon Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians seven five.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I forgot to turn it.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, since through God, through since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways, we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: In this verse, we see the two S's and the two D's of Sat that Satan uses: deception and distortion, secrecy and shame.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Deception and distortion, secrecy and shame.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you look at circumstances that you are dealing with currently or that you have dealt with in the past, and you are you are analyzing those circumstances, and if you see secrecy and shame or deception and distortion or any number of those, you can be sure that that the fingerprints of Satan are all over that that circumstance or that.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm counseling with women, I'm listening, I'm listening carefully to them.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever I hear things like I felt like I had to keep it a secret, or I had so much shame about that, or I was just really, I guess I was just deceived or misled.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: In my brain, I'm going ding, ding, ding, ding, and then help them understand this is the enemy, and this is how he has worked with you.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Satan from from these verses, the verses that we just previously looked at, we can see the that demonic activity.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: The demons have blinded the minds of unbelievers.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: They are at work in the disobedient.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: They masquerade or use subterfuge to for with deception, for deception.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: They have taken people captive to do Satan's will.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's an example of someone who was used to take to pay to take people captive to do Satan's will?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hitler.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we could go on naming and naming and naming because this is so true.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody who shot a gun in a school, same thing.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: They have led minds astray.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: They have been sinning since the beginning.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: We can see from these verses that there's a lot of activity.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of activity that Satan and his demonic forces are inflicting in the world in general and on Christians specifically.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Satan has some God-given authority and power.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: He does.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: But it is a limited power and authority.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Satan is still under submission and under the authority of God.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: And he will stay under submission and authority to God until the very end.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Why God gives Satan some limited power, we don't know because Scripture doesn't tell us why God did that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously, from the verses that we've already seen, we can say, yes, he does have some authority.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the most interesting things that we learn from the book of Job is that when God sets the limit, and in Job's case is it was on the man himself, you cannot lay a hand, do not lay a finger.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: When God sets that limit, Satan can't go beyond that limit.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And in scripture, we don't even see him attempting to go beyond it, because he knows he can't, because his power and authority are limited.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: He has some, but when God says no more, he doesn't even attempt to go beyond it, which is really good news for us, right?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's much we can know, and there's much that we can't, because there is still mystery where all of this is concerned.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Two passages of scripture that give us great insight into the enemy are found in Genesis chapter 3 with the temptation of Adam and Eve, and in Matthew 4 with the temptation of Jesus.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: In Genesis 3, we see Satan disguised as a speaking serpent who puts doubt about God's goodness in the mind of first Eve and then Adam.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: He turns the word of God around on them and uses it against them and against God.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: He says to them, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Do you hear how he misrepresented it?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because God said, You can't eat from that tree, not any tree.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 4, Satan misuses scripture against Jesus.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: How dumb does he have to be to use scripture against Jesus, really?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: In both of those temptations, Satan misrepresents what God has said, and he will do the same in our lives every time.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: If he did it with them, he will do it with us.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: In our testings and temptations, he will use misrepresentation of scripture.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: So what does that tell us?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to know scripture.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to know scripture.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna fight, you've got to know what God's word says and what it doesn't say.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the reasons that it is imperative that we know scripture is so that we don't fall prey when Satan misuses scriptural principles against us, because he will.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: He will.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: If Satan can get you to think that God is cruel or uncaring, or that he's harsh and doesn't love you, then he has you exactly where he wants you.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: With Jesus' temptation, Satan used three alluring things.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: He used the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: If this is how Satan tempted Jesus, then we can be absolutely sure that he's gonna test us and tempt us with lust and with pride, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: We got to know that we're susceptible to pride and to lust.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Keith Green, a Christian songwriter from the 80s, a really good Christian songwriter from the 80s, wrote this these lyrics.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: I, Satan, used to have to sneak around, but now they just open their doors.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: No one's looking for my tricks because no one believes in me anymore.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: True words.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: True words.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: The world in general doesn't believe in Satan anymore.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: The unbelieving world will one day know for absolute certain that he exists.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: And they will spend an eternity with him in hell, not where he will be the ruler with the pitchfork and the red suit, but where he will be tormented along with them forever and ever and ever.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Those who believe in Christ know that Satan is real and that he is active, as active as he was in Genesis all the way through scripture and all for the whole last 2,000 years of the church age.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: He is the prince of this world for sure.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's the prince of this world.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: But one day, King Jesus is gonna come and he is going to divest him of his kingdom whenever he brings his kingdom down to earth.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: We have an enemy, and that enemy necessitates the battle that we are in.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: The spiritual battle we are in is for the heart, for the heart, and for the mind, and for the will of believers and unbelievers.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: The battle is fierce, and it will only get fiercer as the days come closer to the end before the rapture and before the end times.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest, one of our biggest battles in this is the battle, is the battle for the mind.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we read about it in Romans 8, 6 through 7.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: It does not submit to God's laws, nor can it do so.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 11 3.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the Spirit's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, one of the ways that the enemy most impacts us is through deception.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was one of the two D's deception and distortion.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Deception is an incorrect thinking pattern.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Based on a believed lie.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's an incorrect thinking pattern based on a believed lie.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is so important.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the words pattern and lie there.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when we believe a lie, the effects of that lie become a pattern of coping with the untruth of that lie.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Look at it again when I read it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: When we believe a lie, the effects of that lie become a pattern of coping with the untruth of the lie.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: In the past, I believed many, many, many, many, many lies by the enemy with a background of sexual abuse.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a given that I was going to believe a lot of lies, and I did.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Bottom hook, line, and sinker.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: We can count on Satan taking advantage of dysfunctional environments every single time.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: He will do it every single time.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he will press his advantage and he will never have mercy because mercy is not one of his attributes.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: He cannot have mercy and show mercy because he doesn't possess mercy to give.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: The lies I believed felt like truth.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: They felt like truth.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: The lies you have believed feel like truth because they became a pattern of thought for me, a pattern of thought.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: We are all much more deceived than we even can imagine.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: The faulty thought patterns we have are what we need to do battle with.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: These thought patterns are most often described in Scripture as strongholds, strongholds of the enemy.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Strongholds are based on lies from the devil.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: They come in the form of deception, which we have seen, and accusations.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Accusations always leave you feeling guilt and with feelings of unworthiness.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: These feelings weigh you down and they make you ineffective, which is Satan's intent on make on bringing the accusation.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: How this plays out in my life is something will happen, or I'll have a conflict with somebody, or or somebody will misjudge me or misunderstand something, and and it feels like an accusation.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: It actually probably is an accusation that the enemy's bringing against me.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I end up feeling accused and misunderstood.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that when and that's when I start having thoughts of unworthiness.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, how should I be doing anything worthwhile for God at all?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: I should, I'm just the most despicable person alive.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I just need to quit.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see where it leads me?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Can you relate to that?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it just takes you down the toilet.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is whenever you know that you've been accused of the enemy, is whenever you just your mind just starts going and I'm terrible.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't do that, I shouldn't do nothing for God.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Satan knows which lies or untruth we have believed because he sees the pattern of that lie.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: The untruth and the deception that we believe has left has left a trail that Satan picks up on and he sees and he knows what we have believed, the lies that we have believed.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: The enemy has fed us lies that we have believed, and the way to battle those lies and the patterns of those lies is with truth.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: We all have ground that we need to take back from Satan, all of us.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that ground represents the strongholds that he has gained ground in all of our lives.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a tactic for how I really like to, I like to employ this tactic to take back some of the ground that the enemy has gained in my life.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I've done this for years and have overcome a lot of things and a lot of bad thought patterns and lies that I have dealt with through using this tactic.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: When you are reading the Bible, when you're you're reading the scriptures, and all of a sudden you look at that and you think, oh, that's truth.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or there's something that nudges you to take a deeper look at it, and it's the Holy Spirit who's doing that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is illuminating or bringing light to something in Scripture.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: Have you had that situation?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've all had that situation.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when that happens, train yourself to just stop right that minute, right that minute, and just say, God, if this is truth and I believe that it is, and it's just hitting my heart as truth for the very first time, then what is the lie I have believed?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if you will do that, and to the extent that you will do that, you will take back ground that the enemy has gained.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because in my life, what I do is I when I say that, when I stop myself and I say, if this is truth and I know it is, what have I believed?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a matter of seconds before he brings to my mind what the lie is.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, every time it is just moments before he brings to my mind what the lie is.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as he brings it to my mind, I say, okay, I completely agree with you, I have believed this lie.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: And not only have I believed that lie, but I have walked that lie.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and that lie has kind of taken on a life of its own.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: It has a tentacles that go out to here because I've done that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've thought this way, and it's led me to think this way.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I analyze that lie, and I sit there and I just and I just you with the Holy Spirit and say, what else?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: What else did that lie produce in my life?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as when He when He brings something to my mind, I I name it and I said, Yes, he He it that lie did that.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm I'm really analyzing it, and I'll sit there as long as I need to to analyze that.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: So then I do the next part.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: When the truth is is when the truth is revealed and the lie is exposed, is where the battle happens.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where the the battle to maintain the truth also takes place.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's the battle to take care of the lie, but then you have to maintain so you don't go back into the same pattern, right?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're all on the same page.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing I do is I've been praying, but I pray some more and I say, Lord, I need your conviction on this because this pattern and this lie has become a default to me.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just do it, I don't think about it, it's just second nature to me, and I do it.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so I say, please convict me.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I need your conviction.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: The nanosecond I do this or this or this that's that's um attached to that lie, convict me.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then the second part of it is when you convict me, I'm I'm going to receive it with gratefulness and thankfulness.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to agree with you, and I'm going to be grateful that you didn't let me get away with it.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so ten minutes later, after I after I pray this, and the lie rears its ugly head, and the Holy Spirit taps me on the shoulder to remind me I just did it, I'm like, thank you.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to, I don't want to live this way because I want to walk in the truth, not in that lie.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I just go on with what I was doing.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Ten minutes later, when he taps me again, and it sometimes it feels that, sometimes it's been that way, honestly.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I'll say the same thing.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be that way.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: The next day, same thing.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I feel the Holy Spirit's conviction, thank you.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do that.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to walk in the truth, convict me the very next time.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he is so faithful to convict.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever I'm responding in gratefulness, I don't feel condemnation.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: I feel I feel loved.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I feel cared for because he's taking care of that for me.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so after a while, like two weeks will go by, and all of a sudden I'll feel the conviction again.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I know that I've been overcoming it with the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: The thing that I love about this tactic is that it is all dependent upon God, not upon me.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because we can we can try to figure that stuff out all day long, but we won't be able to because it is such a default for us.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so it is dependent on God to reveal it to me, to uncover it.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's my responsibility.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: The first responsibility is pray, ask for his conviction.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: The second responsibility is say thank you and align your will with his will.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to walk in the truth, not in the lie.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 10, 3 through 5 says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: The propaganda of our enemy consists of ideas that run counter to the truth and to scripture.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: They are speculations and arguments, and they contrast with revelations from God.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: So they contradict the revelation is what we are seeing.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we know that God is greater than the deception.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: God is greater than the deception He is trying to heap upon us.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: 1 John 2, 15 through 16, do not love the world or anything in the world.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: For everything in the world, the lust of the eyes, I mean the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sonic Light says, the lust of the flesh is the desire to do something apart from the will of God.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: It includes all corrupt bodily desires and every sinful activity that appeals to the hearts, sinful hearts of people.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: The lust of the eyes is the desire to have something apart from the will of God.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever is appealing to our senses but is not properly ours to desire or obtain fall under this category.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the pride of life is the desire to be something apart from the will of God.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: It refers to boastful pretension in earthly matters.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: The first desire appeals mainly to the body, the second appeals to the soul or mind or intellect, and the third to the spirit.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: When are we most vulnerable to the enemy's attack?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: When we are taking significant steps to grow in our faith or in our knowledge of God, we're susceptible.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want us to do it.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: When we invade the enemy's territory doing something, some activity that like evangelism or mission trips or something where we're reaching the unsaved or the unchurched.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: When we are exposing Satan and his host for who they are, who they really are, like this lesson.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: When we feel the need to repent and to get free from some entrenched sin pattern or unhealthy relationship, we're gonna have a battle.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: When God is equipping us for a specific ministry that he might be calling us to, or when we are attempting to surrender everything to God.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's very likely that the unseen spiritual realm and world, angels and demons and know things that are going to happen before they happen.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they know them or they know them right before they know them before we do.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's put it that way.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the reasons the attacks come before you do something significant.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're watching, they know what we're good what we're doing, what we're attempting to do.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: God knows what the attacks are, He knows where they are coming from, and He knows the answer to the prayer that you are going to pray and the answer that He is going to give.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: He knows it all.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: He knows it all.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: Through Jesus Christ, praise God, we have the victory.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Through Jesus, the power and the authority of Satan has been dealt a fatal blow.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: The incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension has weakened the power and the authority of Satan.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it didn't annihilate it yet.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yet.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: That will come, that will come when Jesus Christ completes his work of redemption in this world and he brings heaven down to earth.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's when it will be annihilated completely.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the work of Christ, victory is one.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: And because we are in Christ, we too have the victory.
• 36:15
  unknown: Poor baby.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is our reality here in this world.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's this is our reality.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: We have the victory.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's imperative to our freedom to know and to believe that that is truth.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because it is.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: Our victory is dependent on God in every single way.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us his word, scripture, so that we would know what the enemy's activities are, what he's up to, and how to fight him.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us his armor and instruction on how to wage war against the enemy.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he gave us his spirit who empowers our spiritual battle.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: So his word, his armor, his spirit, all for equipping us in the battle.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all from God.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: First, his word.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the word of God, we know that we have the victory.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let nothing move you.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the word of God, we know we have knowledge about our enemy that we would never have otherwise.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: First Peter 5, 8 and 10.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings, and the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: James 4, 7.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: We also know how to defeat the enemy by submitting ourselves to God, resisting Satan, and to stand firm.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the Word of God, we know how to escape the trap.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2, 25 through 26.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: Opponents must be gently instructed in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: When you are thinking better, you're not going to fall prey.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's why the attack is to our minds.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the word of God, we know even if we have to endure persecution, it is under God's control.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he has the ability and the desire to reward his people.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation 2.12.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for 10 days.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Be faithful even to the point of death, and you will, I will give you life as your victor's crown.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: Even to the point of death.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: People around this world, around this world are doing this.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: They are being faithful even to the point of death right now.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the word of God, we know that the ultimate end of our enemy is eternal torment.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation 20, 10.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: Revelation 12, 11.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much more we can know about the enemy and his activities because we have the complete word of God.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord, we know all of this because we have the word.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not only do we have his word, but we have his armor.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: He has equipped us with his armor.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: The two verses that I go to most for doing battle with the with the enemy is Ephesians 6, 11 through 17 and James 4.7.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: First Ephesians, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: And after you have done everything to stand, stand.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, which with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: If I am struggling with something, um, this is my go-to to arm myself, right?
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure it's it's many of our go-tos in this.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I and I don't have it memorized, but I but I talk through it.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I start with the helmet because that's a really important piece because it protects your mind.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so I start and just say, God, just put the helmet of salvation on to make my thoughts what you want them to be and and give me pure thoughts, thoughts that are are will bring you glory.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then put on my feet the gospel, ready my feet for the gospel of shalom.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to walk in peace with you and in peace with with others, and then put the belt of truth around my waist so that so that you bring truth to my mind, keep bringing truth out.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm clinging to your truth, and then put on me the breastplate of righteousness to protect my heart and my emotions, because I know that I'm vulnerable in those areas.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: Then give me the shield of faith so that it will protect me.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and I ask that the shield just go completely all the way around me to protect me.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then, Lord, put in my hand the sword of the Spirit, your word, bring your word to my mind over and over and over today so that I can stand firm in who you are.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's so easy.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what did that take me?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: A minute to pray that over myself.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if someone asks me for prayer, this is the very first thing I'm gonna do.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray the armor on them.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: If if you know you're heading toward a difficult um meeting or or or challenge, pray the armor over yourself.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you are struggling with one of your children, pray the armor over them and on them.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: We trained our kids to put the armor on every day.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so when they were leaving the house, we'd say, Did you put your armor on?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they would stand at the door and go, and then they'd run out the door.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: But um it's important if someone has hurt you in some way, let the armor be the first thing that you put that you put on yourself.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you battle something like depression or anxiety, pray the armor.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Over yourself every single day and as often as you need to.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: The other verse that I go to for this is James 4.7.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: We've already seen it, but it says, submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: What's the first thing we're supposed to do according to that verse?
• 44:17
  unknown: Submit ourselves.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: Submit ourselves.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: Submit ourselves.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sonic Light says, to submit means making what is of importance to God important to us, ordering our priorities in harmony with God's priorities.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: It means not living to fulfill our personal ambitions, but using our lives to fulfill his desires.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: Submission is not identified, identical to obedience.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Submission involves the surrender of the will, which also which allows for obedience.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have to resist Satan.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: This kind of goes back to what we saw before in Job, that whenever God set the limits, Satan doesn't even try.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: I really believe that God has said to Satan, if one of my children resists you, you have to flee.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: You have no choice.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is so much power in that.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because anytime that you stand up to the enemy and you say, I resist you, he doesn't have a choice.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: When we stand up to him and we say that and make that declaration, he has to leave.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: What is Satan trying to accomplish and get us to do with in the temptations?
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: He wants to make us doubt, deny, disregard, and disobey God's word.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's what he's trying to get us to do.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: We resist the devil by refusing to deny or deny or doubt or disregard or disobey God's word.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we resist the devil by refusing to do that.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I'm not gonna doubt you.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna disregard what you've just told me.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I'm going to obey you.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Satan's trying to get us to do.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, he gave us his spirit.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Praise Jesus.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing that God gave us a part of himself, his spirit, the third person in the Trinity to come and live inside of us.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's what the verses that we're going to look at.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're sealed with the Spirit.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that means that He's not coming out and that nothing else, like demons, are going to come in.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: We are sealed.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's not leaving, and nothing else is getting in to us.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: He anointed us, set a seal of ownership on us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Spirit is God's guarantee of heaven.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: What's to come, heaven.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: And because we have the Spirit, we we enjoy heaven on earth right now.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is greater than Satan.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: 1 John 4.4.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: You are from God, from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit strengthens us.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 3 16.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Thessalonians 3.3, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit brings us life.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: John 6 63.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_00: The Spirit gives life.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: The flesh counts for nothing.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: The words I have spoken to you, they are full of the Spirit and life.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 8.11.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: Two weeks ago we saw that the detours that God brings us through and takes us on are opportunities for growth, right?
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're opportunities.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: Last week we saw that that God gives us an opportunity to show our love for Him in obedience, love-born obedience.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: And today we see that God gives us the opportunity.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have an enemy, and so the opportunity is to see God's strength in the battle.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's what our opportunity is this week.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: We don't always see these things, detours, obedience, and spiritual warfare as opportunities.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: But wouldn't it be good if we did?
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be a change of mind if we saw these things as opportunities for our faith to grow and our love for Jesus to increase?
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they are, opportunities.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_00: Why is God giving us all these opportunities?
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that we know him better, so that we get to experience more of his power, so that we love him more, to make him known, and shout out his praise, to teach us to surrender to a God who is greater than us.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's for all of those purposes and so much more.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: Ephesians.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 5, 15 and 17.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: I hope and pray that through this study it is helping you live a more careful life.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's what God wants us to do, to live a careful life.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be wise, you have to use the wisdom that God has given, and you have to take every opportunity that God brings along and gives you to understand what the will of God is for you in your life.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because the days are evil, the days are short.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: And we say, Come Lord Jesus.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, thank you so much for um revealing so much in Scripture about our enemy.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you are greater than our enemy.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you have all authority in heaven and on earth.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that that Satan's authority and power is limited.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know why you gave it to him, but we trust you, God.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: We trust you that there is a reason and that there's a plan.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that we are not in this race and in this in this life alone.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: But you have given us your word, you have given us your armor, you have given us your spirit so that we can live a life of godliness and can be surrendered to you.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord God.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's in the name of the overcomer, the Lord Jesus, that we pray and give thanks to you.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.