January 2018 CAYA, Fix My Life, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

[Music] which about prayer with me Father amazing God we've come to rejoice and to be glad because you've done enough already by January 3rd for us to realize how good you are now Lord if I know life the way I know life there gonna be some ups and downs in this year some challenges we face some crisis we didn't see coming some of us will find ourselves in the midst of tragedy that was unexpected but I pray right now a God that should speak to us in such a way that we would find the strength we need to believe that our God is with us the old sayings used to say I don't know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow so God be with us in this moment and our hearing our thinking and our understanding that all that we say and do would be pleasing in your sight in Jesus name we pray amen before we get started I want to share with you a little bit about how tonight's lesson came to be like many of you coming to the end of the year it's a time of internal reflection time of prayer time of discerning a time of wondering what God has in store and like many of you I come to the end of every year believing that better is in stores a matter of fact that's that's the hope that holds me there's no way in the world I want 2018 to be worse than 2017 if that were the case God could have called me home to glory on New Year's Eve after my last mimosa and we would have had a good time in Jesus name but we always expect and believe and I believe that God is a God of greater things that he says I haven't seen what I have in store Isaiah 43 the God wants to do a new thing but in contemplating that and devotional one of the things I continue to go to in Scripture is the journey of Israel into the Promised Land a you'll recall that they had to wander for 40 years before they walked in and if you begin to ask the question why did God cause them to wander for 40 years the answer is because there was generation within them that did not believe God and they had to die before God sent the second generation in in a real sense the makeup and nature of who they were had to change so while they were wandering God was holding the promised land until they changed so God declares that there are new things I have but they're not for you they're for the new you right that the old you cannot walk into the new things God has so no matter what you believe and pray for and ask God to do in 2018 the reality is is that you're not waiting on God God is waiting on you and the Lord sometimes speaks to me in some real kind of heavy ways and the one thing I heard the Lord continues to say am i hearing as a meditating that was you know even at this stage of life pastor the church the Lord said to me you got to get your stuff together you got to get your act together you got to get your life together that a certain estate you've got to realize you're too old to be making some of the same mistakes you may when you're young David says in Psalm 25 Lord forgive the sins of my youth that there's some sins that are more understandable at 25 than they are at 45 and so hearing the Lord say to me you know you got to get stuff together I went to the coyote man so listen that that's what Louis put on my heart I want to talk about you know get get your life together and they changed the title because we know that that that was too close to another profane way of saying it that that we didn't want getting out and then you ain't that saved you someone didn't hear get your life together someone Harriet you got to get you that's what we've heard people say to us before so they want to change it to fix my life and so that's what we're going to begin our journey if we put the first slide up and I'll take it from there I want to talk about getting things right in 2018 now before we move I want to acknowledge that this is blatantly plagiarized from Yamla Van Zant's show it fixed my life and I want to be clear that that I am NOT purporting to be the honor to have that wisdom that advice I don't like a lot of TV don't like a lot of reality shows in particular I don't like things that highlight the ignorance of black people just it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth and this shows not really like that but I did watch a couple up so it's getting ready for tonight only to realize did a lot of people have a real bad misperception of how you make change because what I firmly believe is that no one can fix you but you and that's not to suggest that that God can't but God doesn't force change on you God will change circumstances until you make a decision that you're gonna change you so hear me I don't come believing that I share anything tonight that's going to help you fix you but you can make a decision that you want to fix you that they're things you want to change in your life one of the very first things that helps you make it decision that you're gonna change is the Lord creates within us our disgust over the current narrative of your life the one the ways God initiates your desire to change you is to let you get sick and tired of where you are to reach a point where you're saying you know what I don't want to do it like this anymore I don't want to go through this anymore it's a matter of fact I believe crisis is one of God's Way of putting a mirror in front of our face to have us examine who we really are and what we claim to be one of the reasons God allows trouble it's really to discuss to you to reach you make you reach a place where you're tired of it Bishop Walter Thomas said something to me once that I've held on to he said sometimes God has to let it get ugly for you to make a decision to get out right that we don't always feel God in the sunshine but we hear God in the rain that we don't make decisions to change under pleasant circumstances we make decisions to change when we feel the heat when we decide that we want to change our lives and there's a quote by Craig Groeschel a Christian writer that led me to really think about my life he said am i living the story god wants to tell about me does the narrative of my life match God's story for who God wants me to be and when you begin to ask yourself that question well most times lead to a place of change when you realize that the way your life is happening is probably not the story God wants to tell and when I realized that I am NOT in that place then I began to discern where and how my life is misaligned with God's will change begins with me understanding that I'm not where God wants me to be and identifying in what areas what stage is what places of my life in my finances and my relationships with my children with my family where are you misaligned with God so after the disgust comes the and then comes the deliberate decision to make changes that's what many of us found ourselves December 31 2017 I'm gonna make some changes in my life I don't want to live like this any longer I realized where things are not in alignment I'm doing well in my career but in my personal life things don't where God wants them to be maybe in finances I'm tracking well but with friends I'm not where am I gonna make some changes and then the final step is to be disciplined with where you feel God has called you to be there will be no change without discipline discipline is one of those words we don't use a lot in contemporary Christianity because it requires sacrifice requires saying no but without discipline there'll be no change in your life that's why we make resolutions on January 1 and before Valentine's Day you're already done with it I saw a funny meme that was on Instagram today it said man messed up already but 2019 is my year I'm claiming 2019 and in Jesus name you know I'm three days in and yeah so I want to rereading you're hearing a pastor scripture that we've looked at several times and just once again reminds us of that reality of what happens when we're undisciplined it's in Romans chapter 7 I'm gonna read verse 15 through 25 you've heard it before Paul says for what I'm doing I don't understand and what I want to do I don't practice but what I hate is what I do if I do what I don't want to do I agree with the law that it is good but it's no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me probably know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good is there I want to do what is good but how to do it I don't find the good that I want to do I don't do but the evil I don't want to do that's what I wind up doing all the time now if I do what I don't want to do it is no longer I who does it but sin that dwells in me I find in a law that evil is with me even when I decided to do good for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man but I see another law in my flesh warring against law of my mind bringing me into captivity of law of sin which is in my members all wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so in the mine I served the law of God with the flesh I served the law of sin here's what Paul testifies to in Romans 7 a reality that all of us know one of the most common experiences about being human and that's the desire to make a change and do right and not be able to do it that somehow having a convicted mind is not always enough to lead to a changed life because I want to change doesn't always mean that I can and all of us in here know what it's like for God to put you in a crisis and a tragedy in a bad spot and your prayer goes a little something like this you've prayed it Lord I need to go front I go act like like I know none wrong but if you get me out of this I will never ever ever ever do this again and that conviction is sincere in that moment and then you find out like Paul in Romans seven and I whined right back up and the very thing I tell anybody ever had that prayer anybody had that experience if your neighbor doesn't have their hand up they are a liar and the truth of God there's nowhere within them we all have that experience that repeated cycle of commitment and failing commitment and failed and conviction and failing conviction and failing and it doesn't mean that you have an addiction it doesn't mean that you have a weakness that we have a problem it means that you're human right and that we struggle with certain things that sometimes get a hold of us and it's easier to say we want to be changed then actually make the change and I'll suggest you that you reach the moment when you feel like life is falling apart when you're determined to make a change commit yourself to it but you repeatedly fail at doing it so this isn't something you experience the first time but when you see yourself repeatedly falling into the same cycle that's when you say I gotta get my life together you know if I slip once and convicted and changed that's one thing but when I find myself stumbling over this same thing time and time and time again you reach that point I said listen I something's got to give I got to make a change the tough part is the longer you're in this cycle of convicted committed fail commit convicted committed fail convicted committed fail the enemy starts to work on you and put you in this dilemma where you're trying to now choose between coping and changing because the longer I'm in it the more the double convinces me that I can't change and when I can't change I try to cope I start to try to live with it I try to find a way to integrate it into my life to hide the dysfunctionality with functionality in other areas and hoping that if I'm good with a through D but I mess up on e but G through Z is alright then everything in my life is fine we try to find ways to cover the dysfunction we try to find ways to live with it we try to find ways to make peace with it and what the devil ultimately does this caused us to lose our spirit of conviction right so that when you've lost the spirit of conviction now the sin the problem the struggle doesn't bother you you're just trying to find ways to integrate it into your life let me give you a prime example more often than not if you're truly trying to grow in your walk with the Lord this isn't for everybody now I'm not advocating this well I'm just talking about what I'm talking about because usually when I go down this road I get emails from from people right when you're growing with the Lord I'm often than not a sexual act with someone will convict you the next day you know what it's like to have that weight of conviction following you immediately see wait look I'm not going to raise hands you we've had the man shouldn't have done that like like God God ain't pleased with that and that conviction is the Holy Spirit's way of leading you to a place of change right so you say to yourself I don't want to feel that way again because we all know a guilty conscience can wear you out amen a guilty conscience will keep you up at night God knows how to get you in the midnight hours when there's nowhere else to run to and make you feel the weight of conviction so what the devil wants you to do is to keep doing it because the longer you do it the less convicted you are and eventually you reach someplace where you're no longer convicted you're no longer changing you're just coping with it and saying this is okay right so it goes from man I feel convicted about fornicating to well I'm making love with someone right the mind has changed like you've labeled it differently and now it's a loving act and not something that God is displeased with so now you're learning to make peace with it and when you learn to make peace with it the enemy's got you because now you're not convicted any longer you're not gonna try to change now you're just gonna try to cover it up and he knows that you're no longer where the Lord want you to be so I came to the conclusion this year looking at my own life that the best resolution to make is not to try and do something new but rather stop doing something old right that the the best change you can make is not gonna make some promise that you're going to the gym not I mean that's good I don't get me wrong you ought to be healthy but for many of us the issue is not adding something new the issue is stopping something old facing what's inside of us and making a change within yourself is one of the most difficult yet rewarding things to do right to stop doing something to reach a place where you can be like Paul and acknowledge there's something I shouldn't do and actually find victory and not doing it any longer but making that change requires that you face what I consider to be the greatest enemy of your life yourself facing the giant of your past of your habits your behavior of your lifestyle and how do you face that giant you know I've never used to like the cliche but it is true the greatest enemy is in me my greatest struggle is really not with you because once I can win the victory over my own self and my own thoughts and my own actions and my own mindset you're easy to deal with right a person who's got their stuff together has no problem dealing with you how do we face the giant within us of who we used to be what we used to do how do you face the giant of who you were since the day you were born - 2017 and three days ago you made a decision you're gonna change that person that's a major obstacle you're facing and although it may seem very Sunday school like the passage that the Lord placed of my heart is one that we've read we've talked about we've looked at as children the Battle of David and Goliath it's about faith Giants about facing problems that are bigger than us about facing things that we cannot handle in our own strength and from David and Goliath which we read by the first time was 16 I want to share with you 10 steps to defeating the giant that's within you and by the giant within you I mean that very thing you know the Lord is calling you to stop doing the you you've looked in the mirror at in 2017 to you you know God is calling you to change how do we defeat the giant that's inside of us how do I walk away from this lifestyle how do I change my mindset about this how do I find victory over who I used to be 10 very quick steps right from the story of David Goliath I'm encourage you to reread it when you get home well the very first things I want to suggest to you is that you've got to see yourself victorious in this battle before it even begins you've got to see yourself as being different even when you're not different yet you've gotta have a vision of yourself that is different watch what happens in the David and Goliath story it's always one of my favorite points David shows up on the battlefield Goliath comes out and makes a challenge and all the men of Israel are afraid they're shaking and they literally are hiding from Goliath when David sees them shaking and hiding and sees Goliath in the valley and here's the challenge he sees the men of Israel afraid and this is what David says what do I get when I beat him and you listen he sees to what the battle is gonna be he sees that some people are afraid and shaking and saying nothing and David's answer is not who's gonna go not how am I gonna win it David says what do I get when I beat him then I've already seen the other side of the battle before it even begins and I know that I am victorious before the battle even begins it starts with me believing that I can make the change no matter how long you've been what you've been no matter how often you've done what you there's an old saying if you think you can't you're right if you think you can you're right it starts with how you see it how you see yourself to be able to declare I'm victorious now to see victory as you face Giants within yourself requires two things number one it requires that you silence the discouraging voices of your past that say you can't because whenever you believe that you can fight something you can change something there's an old you this says girl we've been here before brother this ain't the first time you made that promise this isn't the first time you said you're gonna make a change and you've got to silence those voices and the only way to silence them is with positive confession let me take some you've got to learn in this battle to talk to yourself can I give you a sign or the scripture how many of y'all remember the woman with issue of blood just just act act act like you did that cannon did mark mark five mark five mark five there's a woman with issue a blood right and you know the whole story she reaches out and touches the hem of Jesus garment and her minstrel cycle is dried up and she's made hold immediately but the Bible says while she's moving through the crowd she says to herself if I touches him it's gonna be all right she's talking to herself she's telling herself I got to get to Jesus I know others are telling me I shouldn't be out here others don't want me out here but I'm telling myself if I can do this everything will be all right you have to learn to talk to yourself talking to yourself doesn't make you crazy answering yourself does but talking okay but-but-but there's something about the power of positive confession the Bible tells us in proverbs chapter 23 and verse 7 as I think so am i that what I would I envision what I see what I believe in my heart and in my head determines who I really am and some of us are defeated before we even try to face the giant inside of us because we believe that we can't do it I've been this way so long I've messed up so often I've gone down this road so many times before but now is the day to start saying but I'm gonna be victorious this time no matter how many times I fail how I think determines how I perform I noticed this today with my oldest son he's getting ready applied for high school and he took the SSAT the secondary standardized the secondary school application test whatever it is and he doesn't test well he's not he's not he has test anxiety so he didn't do the best on this exam and so the school that's recruiting it for basketball called and said listen we want you we just needed to get this score up a little bit we're gonna ask you to retake the test so they told me and I knew immediately I was gonna have a problem because the minute I tell him he's got to take the test again I know it's going to happen he's gonna be defeated in his mind and the minute he's defeated in his mind his score is gonna drop no matter what so I was in prayer all afternoon Lord I need you to share with me the best way to get him to see this as an opportunity to face that giant and to know that he's gonna be victorious and so I went into it with a whole different mindset I said hey listen I want you to know your grades are going up everything about you is smarter I know you struggled in math we're gonna help you out with that listen the school called they want you they promised that they would help get you in that we're gonna get some scholarship you're gonna play basketball for them they just need you to get this score up a little bit and they believe if you take it one more time everything's that will go up okay dad ku the point for Dad amen we got it because I realized if you don't see yourself victorious before it begins you've already lost the battle right so no matter what it is no matter how long it's been that way see yourself as victorious number two very important that as you face this battle of the giant inside of you whatever it is God is calling you to stop doing the change you've got to make you've got to let glorifying God be your primary motive then I'm doing this to glorify God look at what David said David comes down in this valley he sees this giant and he says who's this uncircumcised philistine that he would challenge the armies of the Living God then I'm gonna beat him because God has to be glorified then my primary motive in this is not Israel it's not Philistine it is God being glorified that as you go about this the change you're seeking to make it's not simply to make yourself better the change you're trying to make is not to impress your spouse or your boo the change you're trying to make is so that God can be glorified in your life then I tell myself that this is about God I want God to be glorified in the way that my story is told about my life and I'm not going to give up until the Lord is glorified because if you think it's just about you you'll quit easily listen trying to impress someone is not enough motivation to change your life because eventually you'll find someone who just accepts you as you are but what I want to do is glorify God so watch this when David you all know David and Bathsheba right again act like you know that one David and Bathsheba when David is convicted about his sin with Bathsheba he writes a prayer of conviction and repentance in Psalm 51 and in Psalm 51 he says this amazing thing he says against you only God have I said now that's amazing because he violated Jewish law he violated Bathsheba he violated Uriah but when he's convicted he says against God have I sinned because David realizes the primary offense is that God was not glorified and what I've done and until I make God my primary motivation I'll never have enough conviction to really make the change I've got to wake up and tell myself that if I keep doing this God is not glorified if I don't get this right God cannot be honored if I don't let this go God is not evidenced in my life you've got to put God in the midst of this and tell yourself that my primary motivation is that I want the Lord to be go I want the story of my life to honor God that if I keep messing this up the providential plan of God on this earth is hindered by my disobedience then oftentimes I remind myself what's at stake here the devil wants you to be selfish and think that it's just about to the confines of your life and you don't realize God is doing something through you that's so much bigger than you but if you don't get this together God's story is hindered God is using you for something much bigger and I want God to be glorified and that's my primary motive number three remember that you're not fighting alone and then you have access to the power of God through the Holy Spirit you need to know you've got more power than this because if all you're relying on is your own flesh you're gonna say like Paul in Romans 7 o wretched man that I am I keep trying but I can't win this by myself so David steps in the valley against the Giant and this one he says I come to you in the name of the Lord you come to me with a sword and a shield but I'm coming to you accessing the power that God has given me to be victorious and I come calling on the name of the Lord you don't do this by yourself what a shame to have access to the strength you need and never call on it what a shame to have God standing by waiting for you to call on him and ask him to strengthen you in your weakness and you never do you know I'm y'all like anybody ever watched wrestling long time ago right Yeah right long time with a long time right right sure it was I used to love tag-team move a tag-team wrestling you're in the ring and as long as you can make it to your corner and slap high-five with your partner you can get out the ring and they jump in here's what God says about the Giant you're facing inside of you all you've got to do is access Who I am and I will fight you when the Lord says I'll fight your battles that's not just to get show coworkers that's not just to get your cousins that's not just against the enemies and haters in your life when the Lord says I will fight your battle I suggest the Lord means I'll also fight your internal battle I will give you power to access the strength you need to handle this so you know one of my favorite scriptures is that that always reminds me of this 1st Corinthians 10:13 write it down you have to look it up i'ma tell you what it says God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to endure but with every temptation God makes a way to escape that you may bear it you are first corinthians 10:13 says the realsense God always wants you to win God wants you to win this battle God wants to help you come out victorious God does not want to see you defeated God does not want to see you slip and stumble over the same thing time and time and time again God stands ready if you want to access it if you're not ashamed to call on the name of the Lord brothers/sisters there's something about reaching a place we're not ashamed the pause and say lord I need your help God if you don't control my mouth right now God I need you to take this desire from my heart I've prayed for the Lord to let something happen to interfere with the plans I've made when you've made plans in that moment then you felt the Lord could see when you've made plans it's hard to come back and say well God you know it's hard to throw God in it after you after you set it up don't even realize it oh you want to get holy now you know you would you want to hold a last week with you told me to get the ticket you know you set things up and literally I prayed lord I need you to run interference on this I need your help I'm believing witness to tell you God God can mess up your plans hallelujah God God could mess up plans if you're willing to access it and believe that he wants you to win God's not glorified when you're defeated God's glorified when you win number four it's very important in this battle that you identify there's a spiritual component right that they're our spiritual forces that work here this is not just about your mind and your flesh there's a spiritual battle going on that's what made David so strong in that Valley he realized this is not about how big a lieth is this has nothing to do with how many soldiers Israel has or doesn't have this is a spiritual battle and you already know from Ephesians 6 the importance of identifying spiritual warfare Fusion 6 reminds us we wrestle not against flesh and blood right but against principalities and powers because if you identify the wrong enemy you'll fight the wrong way if you identify the wrong enemy you'll fight the wrong way this is a spiritual battle which means that you've got to fight it in spiritual ways here Paul says to the church in Corinth the weapons of our warfare are not carnal the weapons we fight with are not in the flesh this is not just about going to therapy and have a convicted mind and writing 10 things you're gonna do on the wall and look at them at them every day there's got to be some spiritual accessing of power that you need to get through this because this is a spiritual battle and if you think that this is just about your co-worker is this just about that brother the sketch our number that sister that heats you up that you've missed it because the devil if you think it's just about him and if I could just cut him off then I've won you don't know how many hymns the devil got brothers brothers I'm here i'ma testify to this if you turn down the seven he's gonna bring the nine y'all ain't yelling with me yet can you claim a victory over seven thank you Jesus here come nine because it's not the fleshly thing it's the spiritual and and Paul is clear this is a spiritual battle you're fighting right so you can't just win this by thinking you've conquered flesh this requires some prayer some fasting some time in God's Word some worship if the spirit is not strong the flesh is always going to be weak you got to fight this thing in the spirit number five I am I'm about to be a bad preacher I couldn't find number five and David and Goliath but I'm gonna put it up here anyway you need an accountability partner the people who surround you play a critical role and whether you win this battle or not we typically have one of two groups of people around us in a blurs or accountability partners most of us have people who enable what we're trying to stop when in essence you need someone to go to accountable to what God has called you to be a neighbors don't want to offend you enablers want to cover it and keep it quiet enablers are the friends who know you're doing wrong and never call you out on it but help lie to your spouse right those the ones who know it's out of order but I got your back I got you covered and typically we measure faithfulness by how much dirt they want to keep quiet and those are the people who would cause you to sacrifice God's will God's plan of God's destiny for a few moments of pleasure but an accountability partner is someone who sees and believes in what God has called you to be and won't allow you to abort in your destiny over something stupid the kind of building partner will call you out on your stuff and I'll suggest if you're gonna win this battle you need some people someone person in your life who's able to tell you you know that's not what God wants from you think about it for a moment how many people in your life do you have who are bold enough to tell you that's not God's will how many and you know here's a problem those people are typically a little bit holier than we are and so we typically don't reveal our full selves to them because you want to have the appearance of being holy with them you know god is good hallelujah blesses man you don't tell them what you're doing on Friday you catch them at church on Sunday and enable errs are usually at our level or lower so we feel better about who we are because we know that I'm righteous animal Oh wretched but I'm right you got more you know a little bit more righteous than they are and I'm less ratchet than they are so I don't have a problem letting them know an accountability partner someone you can trust enough to know that they won't try to embarrass you or expose you but they will call you out I need someone in my life who reminds me God has a call on your life Howard you can't you can't do that and for a bulk of my life I was surrounded by preachers who enabled and had to walk away from a lot of friends and ministry when I decided there are certain things I'm just not want to do I don't want to call you when we share stories about women right like that that ain't helping me make a change I want to learn more ways to hide my dirt I don't want to do dirt anymore I mean aren't you tired of that you need an accountability partner Oh number six is a good one it's gonna take a minute but it's a good one I want you to make note of what made you stumble in the past and by that I mean what was your pattern that led to the failures hear me David's getting ready to go down in the valley to battle and Saul puts his armor on him and David begins to stumble with it and he says man I can't wear this this stuff makes me stumble he's a where that there's a certain pattern that causes him to stumble because you don't just wake up and lose there was a road that led to it and the smartest thing you can do is identify the signs that you're on that road to a repeated failure that you know the road is the same and you know a destination it leads to so I've got to stop myself before I get on that road okay let me give a real example because some of y'all are gonna at home I was fortunate enough to counsel a brother I'm who can find it in me a few years ago did he struggle with fidelity issues in his marriage that he felt horrible about continuously cheating on his wife and he was convicted by it and he want to make a change and so we began talking about the road to recovery how we're gonna break this and finally it dawned on me in like a third or fourth time together that I had to ask him since this has happened multiple times what triggers it you know how do you find these women and we start talking and this is what we noticed he was always responding to people sliding into his DM you [Music] there was just you know he he posted pictures that attracted certain women and they would send messages on DN like hey how you doing he would allow it next thing he know he scrolled through their page look at all their pictures their DMing back and forth conversation begins you convince yourself it's just cordial and friendly next thing you know you're off diem in your texting right and after the text thing is oh guess what I'm gonna be in Phoenix you want to come and it's happening I said so what we need to do is identify the pattern of the leads to the failure and it starts with the DM which means you need to shut down your Instagram right if we're serious about making the change we got to know where the failure starts yeah a sister who came to me with an issue and I directed her to Judy because I'm uncomfortable dealing with some women around issues of sexuality in conversation as a pastor because I don't always know if that's them trying to get pastor or counselor [Applause] past I just need you to pray for me [Applause] so the sister was having problems with what she thought was an uncontrolled sexuality she identified herself as having an addiction to sex and was convicted and wanted to break away from that lifestyle and when Judy would speak with me about counseling her what I realized was that in order to fight the actual act can we be real for a minute we talked she was masturbating to porn because she felt that that was a safer alternative to actually being with someone I mean to certain degree exactly correct it's much safer alternative but the problem was she thought she was actually controlling the sexuality by masturbating to porn not recognizing that actually in actuality you're feeding the beast right you've not shut it off you've not starved it you know you just giving it an appetizer right and so what we identified is that if you're really going to make a change here what triggers you is the porn and so you've got to get off the porn because the porn is putting it in your mind and then you're weak when the real opportunity comes because no one wants that over the real thing you've never controlled the desire you just control how you act on it you've got to identify what triggers it for many of us we know that drinking late at night triggers things all right you also hold these you do I'm normally sitting in here right okay and one of the things that really helped you know and some of my own challenges faced in melon giant was acknowledge okay weird where's the pattern where does it start what is the first move and if I realized where the pattern starts if I stop the first move I have a better chance of being victorious against it because I know me and I know where this leads if I start doing this it's gonna lead here and if I get here it's gonna lead here so the best thing for me to do is just not to start right there's certain things and places I just need to avoid because what the devil will always try to do is convince you that you're strong enough right that you so here's the line that you're not supposed to cross right the devil tells you get as close as you can and you know it's fine you know y'all y'all can cuddle and snuggle it's fine right okay ain't nothing wrong with sharing a glass of wine and watching Netflix it's fine right but here's what Paul says Paul says when you see the line run Paul says get as far away he says flee run as far as you can because the devil's way is to make you think you can handle it alright get as close as you can and next thing you know it's behind you Paul says flee know when it's starting no one it's about to begin and go in the opposite direction because about the time you get too close to the fire you already burned alright we run the opposite direction what's your pattern number seven at some point you have to make a decision you're just gonna start I'm gonna start making my change right now this isn't something I'm gonna keep contempt contemplating it's not something I'm gonna keep reading about today right now I make a decision to change my life now the frustrating thing with that is that it doesn't happen overnight right who you've been for 30 years it doesn't change all of a sudden but what I do believe is that you only fight and win one battle at a time one day at a time make a decision to start I don't know why people always use New Year's Day as the day to make a decision start I mean if if you got a bad habit you need to break why wait three more months to start now right start start - January 3rd are making a decision I'm gonna stop such--such and I'm gonna win it one ballot tired so here's how this plays out let's say my challenge is smoking right let's say I smoke and I make a decision then ordered glorify god I'm gonna stop smoking now that doesn't mean with that decision that the desire goes away it just means the decisions been made and here's what I promise you you can't it three weeks at a time you can't quit three days at a time you can't quit one day at a time you know how you win this battle one urge at a time so my first step is to say Lord its 855 please get me the 915 if I get to 915 I can make it to 10 then I'm fighting it with small victories because the frustrating thing is that you may have done something for 20 years and all you have is 20 minutes of victory against it and it seems like that's just unfair that doesn't weigh out well you've got to learn number 8 to recall to recite your victories if I made it through one day I'm gonna thank God for it okay we had a co work in the office who was going through a struggle of quitting smoking and she came in and gave testimony and said you know it's been 12 days since I had a cigarette and I mean everybody sent him clap alright right she's gonna smoke it for 30 years and I know in eighteen thirty years and she's miss Smoak free it ain't been thirty months there have been a month it's been 12 days but we're gonna celebrate the small victories because every small victory you celebrate gives you confidence and courage to know that God's give me the power and that if I've come 12 days I can fight the next hour I'm not gonna give up on 12 days of victory for one hour of smoking so the more you celebrate your small victories the more you say Who I made it through that I made through that I didn't call who I ignored his phone call thank you Jesus I made it through one night i'ma start haha hey hey you know you got you but bless his name every small victory counts so David is getting ready to fight Goliath and everybody around us tell me you can't do it he said listen I'd be the lion and a bear now the lion wouldn't Goliath the bear won Goliath but hey I'm not coming to this thing cold I've got some small victories behind me and you're not gonna talk me out of facing Goliath when I know God has already given me victory over a lion and God has already given me victory over bear if God gave me victory over Friday I'm gonna make it to Monday if I got a month behind me I'm gonna make it through two months I am acknowledging that God has given me small victories and you can't discourage or discount my small victories it may not mean a lot to you and the top part is the people who've known you for 30 years are the ones who don't believe you listen you're not doing this to make them believe you you're not doing this to prove to them maybe bump them if they don't believe that you've got victory listen I got to do this one day at a time and if I can't convince you that I've made a change then that's too bad don't be discouraged by people who don't believe you I'm not doing this for you because reality is that this some people will never believe you've changed no matter what you say do remember now how much you try to prove it so stop trying to prove it the only person you need to prove you change to is God and I said to you all in a Christmas sermon when Joseph doesn't believe then Mary got pregnant by the Holy Spirit God showed up and convinced him God will speak to the Joseph's who don't believe and remember this from that sermon if God doesn't speak to Joseph you don't need them if God doesn't persuade them to believe at least in the sincerity of my desire to change then you don't need them because at certain point Mary you can't argue your case to Joseph because Joseph won't understand it Joseph won't believe it you have to leave that with God I'm giving this up if you don't believe me the Lord will have to prove it to you but what I'm not gonna do is be discouraged because you don't believe me amen hurry up let's get out of here pastor let's get out of here number nine right row number nine this goes on with what we were just saying Thank You Holy Spirit be prepared to be prepared to be misunderstood that one of the quickest ways for the devil to discourage you and making a change is surrounds with people they want to mock your intentions so David says I'm going down in the valley everybody around me you can't do that you little boy Goliath moxon you coming at me with some rocks on the sling what are you crazy whenever you are sincere by making a change the glorifies God it's going to cost you something reputation friends people's opinion of you because people find it hard to believe that someone who's been outside the will of God for so long in a certain area now all of a sudden is gonna walk right with God and I bet if I if you've had the experience I have it's hard to go back to someone who you've enjoyed sin with and tell them you're not saved and giving it up that's a hard conversation to have it's hard because you're acknowledging that I wasn't right and if you're still in it it's convicting you right and that's gonna make you uncomfortable for me to say to you God doesn't want me live like this any longer it's gonna cost you something you can't sincerely make a change in your life and keep the same circle of people around you anytime you make a sincere change the list is gonna get cut you're gonna be misunderstood final thing what you believe that every day you get up God is not only giving you a new day God is giving you another chance which means this if I've been that way for 30 years tomorrow's a new day with a new opportunity to be a new me the Bible says that every morning we met we wake up we wake up to new mercies that God has forgiven and God wants to give you another chance on Thursday to do what you couldn't do right on Wednesdays so that's that's why this why I say this because along the road to change you may stumble you may fall off the wagon you may not be perfect don't let the devil keep you there the very next morning is another day and another chance let me give you some scripture to go home on Micah chapter 7 verse 19 says that God takes our iniquities and cast them in the sea he drowns them in the depths of the waters Isaiah 43 and 25 reminds us that God blots out our nick the term blot out it's almost like having ink on a paper and putting whiteout over it we're blotting it out we're removing it we can't see it anymore we won't read it anymore it's been blotted out Psalm 103 12 is one of my favorite scriptures it says as far as the east is from the west so far has God removed our sins from us watch the metaphor East from the West interesting the Bible doesn't say as far as the north is from the south the reason being is because the way the Earth rotates there's a North Pole and the South Pole which means that there is a measurable difference distance between the North and the South North Pole to South Pole there's a distance it can only go so far but there is no limitation of Easter's West no matter how far east you go you still got more West that can go which means that God and infinitely moves our sins away from us and puts them so far from us then we don't have to live and act like we're still the same person because God has taken it and moved it so far to suggest I don't ever want you going back to him that's how merciful God is that's how loving God is then all of my folks which means I really I really don't allow you to guilt me any longer because I know that God has removed it so far from me that you can't make me believe it's still right here next to me so I really don't care what you think I believe I know that I have been forgiven first John 1:9 says this God is faithful and if we confess our sins he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness God is faithful and if we confess our sins he will cleanse us from all on is faithful and he will cleanse us of all unrighteousness so the things I left in 2017 are so far removed from me that I don't have to live like I'm that person anymore he is a faithful and forgiving God and you can fight the giant in you if you make some of these deliberate decisions to declare I will be victorious to get yourself some accountability partners to believe that God is giving you a new day and another chance you don't have to be who you've been so here's what I'm going to do is we close in prayer I want to do exactly that I want to pray and I'm gonna ask a favor in a moment I'm gonna ask all those who want to join in a prayer of fighting the giant inside of you to stand and if that's not you you can remain seated and there's no judgement about those who stand and those who remain seated this is about this private battle that I'm fighting to win against the giant inside of me and make a change in my life if you know that you want to glorify God in your life that you want the narrative of your life to match God's story of your life if you want God to be glorified through your victory over this giant I'm gonna ask you to stand and let's pray everyone who's fighting a battle won't you bow your heads Lord like my sister like my brother I stand tonight because you and I know the giant enemy that is in me you know the area in my life where I've continued to stumble you know my testimony like Paul that every time I desire to do good evil is present in Lord I come before you tonight acknowledging that I can't win this battle simply by being convicted in my mind but that I need some help and so I'm calling upon the Holy Spirit right now as I make a decision this night in this place that I am going to change my life I don't mean that to just be words I don't mean that just to be things that come from a convicted mind but God I mean it to begin a journey where I believe that every day every moment you will help me be victorious for somebody Oh God that victory means Lord just get me through tonight and in bed for somebody means oh god when I wake up tomorrow allow my mindset to be different allow me to know God I am NOT defeated and that on Thursday morning there are new Thursday mercies that are waiting for me to walk in and know that you're giving me another chance and that I can be victorious in Jesus name lord I want to pray that you would silence the discouraging voices that are even inside of me Lord send the right partner to my life to hold me accountable and my walk that I might share with them where I'm weak and know that they will judge me they will pray with me and they will help me to walk upright in your sight Lord I'm tired of living the way I've lived and I'm making a decision right now to start I'm gonna celebrate my victories I'm gonna give you the glory and I'm gonna thank you every chance I get now God walk with us that our lives might give honor and glory to you to the victory we have over this I will defeat you in the name of the Lord I will be victorious in the name of Jesus I am more than a conqueror through him who loved me Lord this is my prayer as I now stand against this giant in the name of Jesus we do pray and they're deemed of God who trusted and believed in God said Amen amen and amen

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 79,242

Rating: 4.6901407 out of 5

Keywords: Alfred Street Baptist Church, 2018, Fix My Life, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, CAYA

Id: RKRs05yyLVs

Length: 63min 21sec (3801 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 05 2018