Stronger Than The Struggle | Havilah Cunnington | Expression 58

I want to thank expression and your team Jennifer and you and the rest of you for having us here we love it here and we're so proud of you I know la is a unique community and it's really the hub of where really the nation goes is in this city and what comes out of the city and I know that you guys a lot of you even to come here and be a part of a community that wants to make Jesus famous is important it's so important and I know that it costs you to really really fight to be a part of a community in a place like this I went to high school in Pasadena and I'm junior high in Arcadia so I know a little bit about LA except I never paid my bills here so it's not really that fair so let's pray and open and you can open your Bibles to John 10:10 and we will get started so lord help amen so John 10:10 is really a clear a clear passage that Jesus gives us as believers this is a foundational verse and it says this the thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy but I've come that you may have a life and have it abundantly the thief comes to kill and to steal and to destroy but I've come that you may have life and not just life but abundant life overflowing life you know it doesn't take much to realize that we are in a spiritual battle in fact it's one of the things that we have to learn about early on in our walk with Christ because it's impossible for us to really serve God without realizing the price that was paid for us to have the opportunity to serve Him but also the war that we live within and and really have on the earth that we have to we have to navigate you know the Bible says that the enemy is under our feet but just because the enemy is under our feet doesn't mean we don't have to deal with him and I want to explain to you what that looks like but I first want it I love the quote what TD jakes says he says this you must understand your enemy for you cannot defeat what you do not understand you must understand your enemy for you cannot defeat what you do not understand today my message is entitled stronger than this struggle and I want to talk about and I want to help and complicate the spiritual battle that you face today now some of us are very much aware of it others of us are just coming into knowledge of what's happening and I think one of the greatest challenges we face as believers is the battle that I'm facing myself is it God teaching me a lesson or is it the enemy coming against me and that question alone if we don't know we can often feel defeated in the battle right from the get-go because we don't want to risk this God if he's trying to teach us something and we definitely don't empower the enemy and we also don't want to blame either of them if it's just us and so today I want to unpack and I want to give you some characteristics of what your your spiritual your soul enemy looks like you know I want to give you a quick synopsis of what I guess a theological understanding of when we talk about the enemy it looks like because we talk about the devil or we talk about things but we don't often realize we have to go back to the beginning to understand what's happening you know it's not God and the devil as to gods fighting each other the devil was an angel with a god complex there's not two gods warring it's one God and it's a scrawny little angel that thinks he has some power but really he doesn't and he won't have very much longer you see in the Bible Jesus not Jesus he wasn't he was in the Bible yes but not in heaven in heaven the enemy lived there and Lucifer was an angel he was a created being and he was actually the Bible says he was made of instruments and he led worship he was a vital part of heaven and at one point he saw that God was getting glory and he thought I'd like some of that and God said no now God wasn't being narcissistic or somehow saying no I'm the only one and I'm not giving it to you you see God knows and his sovereignty that none of his created beings are created to hold glory glory destroys the human soul glory destroys a created being because we're not made only God is created to receive glory and praise and adoration and and allegiance only God is created it's actually part of who he is and so let me ask you this there's some places in the world where people have received some glory and it's destroyed them do you possibly know some people where they've gotten a little bit of praise than man and it hasn't been a good thing for them it's destroyed their soul the way they think about their life the way they feel about their life the decisions that they make they make it towards pleasing people are feeling affirmed or adequate by who thinks they're amazing come on and it actually destroys their inner being they let you actually don't gain confidence by praise a man no matter what we think some of the most praised people are the most insecure people it's it's not one plus one equals two in the world that doesn't just because you have a title or an education or an income or something does not validate or does not somehow solidify the fact that you are a confident person confidence comes from an identity and identity must be grounded into how we were created why we were created and what we're called to do and our identity gets grounded in our purpose and purpose is only found in the one that kritis the only person listening you cannot find your design and what you were created unless you find the one who created it come on whoever created the car you have to go to Wow okay tell me the features of the car we don't go don't like our six yoga Haley what do you think the features are this new Tesla he's not gonna know why he didn't create it and sometimes we'll go to the places in the world and say tell me what you think of me tell you tell me my value tell me what I was called to and and don't be educational places well you need this academic and you need this master's degree and you need this and then you'll be worthy no no no they did not create that well this is beauty you have to be this thin you got to look like this here and we'll go and we'll worry about this place and go okay tell me and they'll say this is how you're gonna feel confident this is how you're gonna feel worthy and you'll realize gosh I I don't feel much more worthy or more confident why because they didn't create you they don't know what's gonna fill your soul they don't know they don't know what the right thing is for you only God the God of the universe who made you designed you fashioned you framed you knows exactly how you think how you process your personality everything about you God is not confused he's not disappointed he's not like wow that's a bummer angels pray very hard no no listen we all have a suite we have we our soul which is our mind will and emotions the way we think about life the way we feel about life and the way we make determinations and decisions are all unique and it could actually all of that pulls together becomes our personality and that's why we need to have relation with the Holy Spirit because he's helping renew our soul and and acknowledge what God is saying about us and we're partnering with truth but we've got to understand it's not your truth there is a truth that we partner with people go I just need to find myself you don't want to find yourself you're gonna get to the end of the rainbow and realize you are the same person that you started out with you want to find the one who created you to help define you that's the value of finding God and so that was some good preaching I'm just gonna Amen myself so it says this in John 10:10 the thief comes to steal kill and destroy but I've come that you may have life when I started to unpack this kind of idea of spiritual warfare because I don't know about you the church is very confused by sewage warfare come on once under the church is like we never talk about it we're never gonna talk about spiritual warfare it's very scary if somebody acts a little weird we're gonna take them in the back with sister so and so they're gonna be delivered there might be some vomiting but we don't know it's over there and we're positive there's something at Ouija board involved we're not sure but we think it's over there right and and there's churches that will never talk about it it's like it's scary don't be weird I don't want to talk about it and and we're not sure then there's other parts of the church that are like here devil there a devil everywhere a devil devil come on it's like they sing about it they pray about it they preach about it it's like if you don't if you forget to look at the devil he'll slip right from out from under your feet and get you you run out of gas the devil check your gas right remember thinking like it does the devil have time to siphon our gas is that what he's doing on the earth it's the seamy gas I mean I don't know it's you sneeze in front of them and they're like be released like I just a sneeze no it was more it was there are there's environments where it's like if we are not on high alert we're gonna miss everything and I understand that there are personalities and gift mixes that lend itself to more of a mystic and more of a spiritual experience but I'm like listen I have to go to the Word of God and I've got to figure out number one we are all called to do battle God calls each of us a warrior God calls each of us a soldier God calls each of us to be fully armed so that's not a personality or gift mix or some kind of spiritual title he doesn't say pastors wear the armor of God the rest of you good luck come on he calls all of us to be part of the army of God which spiritual warfare is not a title it's not a gift mix it's not an intercession thing we're all supposed to participate in it but can we please have a little spiritual warfare without being weird can I get an amen and what I realized is that it's biblical but also is supposed to be really practical not just either/or so in order for us to acknowledge our enemy we've got to understand him I love how teeny Jakes does it he says you must understand your enemy or you cannot defeat what you do not understand you must understand your enemy before you cannot defeat what you do not understand the way that we understand is we look in the word and when the word says this the thief comes that word in the Greek is a very simple word thief is the word klepto it's where we get the word kleptomaniac it's where we get in the English language that word and what is describing if you go deeper into that word in John 10:10 you'll find that it's related to being a pickpocket an embezzler someone who takes not because they need it listen listen because they want it you see this is very important sometimes we'll say what does it really matter I'm not a pastor what's it really matter I'm 17 why am i dangerous for the kingdom of God like seriously I'm not doing anything I'm just trying to pay my bills and hang out I don't know how could I be dangerous the kingdom of God you see you have to understand it's not it's not how much you possess it's what you possess it's not like oh you know I know it evens go so far to say it's not even what you possess it's who you are you say you're a child of God and every time you acknowledge you're a child of God it reminds the enemy that he no longer has a position he'll no longer fill that role and he knows everything you have access to and it drives him crazy he hates that about you he doesn't want you to go to heaven he just want you to be with God he lives on the earth i'ma give I didn't say all of this but the enemy lived in heaven he was a worship leader he looked at God asked for the glory God said no there was a war that broke out in heaven Lucifer was cast down to the earth cone Satan and a third of the Angels went with him and they're now called demons they live on the earth and they believe anyone listen who's on the earth is fair game which means as long as you haven't accepted Christ and are following him and living your life for him then he has an opportunity to deceive you and take from you and take you with him and he is very excited about the fact and it's a mirage because the war has been won and it's a matter of time before he is eternally damned he's already has he's already eternally damned but actually doesn't have any more power to take any any more souls with him and he is in a fight for his life to take as many of us with him now the good news is the war has been won and the good news is we're going to eternity in heaven if we serve Christ and we believe what he is who he says he isn't he divet he said he would do and we begin to live following him then our eternity is set but we still have to realize there's a war that rages for the souls of men there is a war that rages for the souls of men and we have to be alert the Bible says we have to be alert so it's very important as we look at this the enemy is he loves to take you get a little bit of joy enemies coming after it get a little bit of peace he wants the peace you get a little bit of healing a little bit of purity a little bit of confidence the enemy's coming after it why because he just compulsively wants it it doesn't matter if you think it's much value or not he wants to take it from you and let me say he wants to take it and then create the lie that says it was never really there come on if you ever had that were you all of a sudden you go I thought I had peace now maybe that was smooth it really happened I thought it was healed but maybe didn't really happen listen if the enemy can get you to believe a lie you will empower him in your life but the moment you actually partner with truth is the moment you stay powerful in your life and so this is very important the Bible says that thief comes to steal and to kill that word kill in the Greek is the word Thoreau which actually means sacrifice so this is what it comes down to what the enemy cannot take from you he will convince you to give away what the enemy cannot take from you he will convince you it has no value your life has no value your purity has no value your confidence in God has no value and he'll begin to take it from you and I understand this because that was my story you see I was a church kid my dad was a traveling evangelist my dad traveled out on the road for eight months out of the year and I have an identical twin sister and we and my mom traveled with my dad six months out of the year growing up and I was very much trying to hide in church and I was trying to hide because I dealt with a deep sense of self shame and self-hatred because I had learning issues I didn't even realize I had learning is just tell about fifth grade is when I really began to realize when they would take me out and begin to test me and I would realize that other students were getting things a lot faster than I was her I would study all night and pull a C and then not sitting at all and pull a C and then I began to realize that I didn't just start getting lost in school I remember not knowing anywhere that I was we go into a class and I wouldn't know what anybody was talking about and in high school I could not even read out loud and I could not read my own handwriting no one could read my own handwriting which was difficult because I was not going to medical school and so at 17 we used to joke about this but people would say what do you do with your life I'd say my transistor is gonna go to nursing school and I would say I'm going to live off my parents and I would joke but deep down inside it was hiding a part of me that was terrified that I wasn't gonna be enough I came from a very high academic educated family my grandfather was a congressman as an Italian immigrant came over on the on Staten Island lived in a one-bedroom apartment with five of his siblings and became a five-term congressman we have pictures in the house of him with Kennedy and the Pope and different people I've a lot of my cousin's went to Ivy League schools and we're very high academic and I was the girl that was barely making it so I thought I'd hide and I went into the car one night to go to a party with some guys and as we're driving to this party the music is playing 90s R&B it's hard to beat I think yeah little Bobby Brown and we're sitting there and all of a sudden I hear the voice of God like I don't hear it but I face since it's speaking to me he says hobbly what are you doing you can't live like this I've called you more than this you can't can't be here and I felt this compelling voice it's a compelling presence to do something I didn't know what to do I'm 17 I'm very awkward hiding in the backseat of this Mustang hoping that no one ever sees what's going on and as I I feel this I know I have to say something so I make a decision I'm gonna say something so I asked the guy in the front can you turn the music down and the guy turns the music down and I say this because I didn't have a planned out when I'm 17 I say I have a call of God on my life it's extremely awkward it wasn't like anything every was like some pastors like that's right sweetheart we love you like nothing just no music nothing and when I say it I'm instantly emotional because I know I'm I'm coming listen when we go public with what we really believe it's a powerful moment we say I'm gonna go public with those people that's gonna cost me the most with so I'm going public in the backseat of this car and that sounds weird but anyway I don't think I'm ever gonna say that again anyway it sounds for first I'm sure it's not perverse but maybe it is I don't know I don't know what teenagers are saying it's tough it's not like okay so I'll look on an urban dictionary later so I lean over and I'm beginning to cry I'll invert my twin sister have an identical transistor we are mere twins so I'm left-handed she's right-handed we look a lot a lot a lot alike like we are we were married six months apart our first babies are nine days apart our second babies are three weeks apart and our third babies are three months apart and they all have the same dad no they don't lay down they go that's inappropriate but no really her husband is is he Britt he's a British guy he's like 6 foot 3 but we looked so much like our husbands get us mixed up and her husband has hiked me and I have literally said I am NOT your wife you need to let go of me he's just like I'm like Dan I can't I get pregnant very quickly you need to back away like this is not a good thing so so he so as I'm saying this in the backseat of the car I'm going public I say this because I'm filled with compassion for my friends I say you're welcome to come with me if you like but I'm gonna serve god this is what I'm gonna do and they didn't say anything it wasn't like an instantaneous revival in this car no one says anything it's more awkward than ever I'm crying my sister's crying and we look out we realize that the guys had taken his home without asking that's how awkward it was so I'm like okay here's her exit so we get out of the car and we walk into the house it's dark my parents are asleep and we go into the bedroom one of our bedrooms we kneel down by the bed we say this out loud God I'm not much I'm young 17 I'm a girl and I have no special gifts or graces on my life that I can ever think about giving you that would wow you but if you can use anyone you're welcome to use me and you know if you first set a prayer like that and you kind of wish God would open the heavens or at least like give you an angel just to solidify what it was but you know I didn't have it an encounter that night I said the prayer said with my whole heart set it out loud turn out the lights I went to bed but I learned a really valuable lesson I learned that if you mean it in your heart you believe it in your heart and you say it with your mouth it's as good as done and heaven begins to move on your behalf and I will learn that night that everything counts and sometimes God will not give us an emotional experience because he wants us to actually have an intelligent come on and then tell the Bible says to love the Lord your God with all your heart all your mind and all your heart that I say that heart mind heart heart mind soul thank you it was like not two hearts we're not who has two hearts wails what is it doctor hey who is this a TV show or we're talking about an animal here okay okay so you're just gonna throw out some TV show at me okay so heart I actually mind in that verse means intellect so says we're to love God with all of our intellects they're awesome that means we as believers don't have to leave our brains behind praise God but we can actually think about what we're doing and offer God the intelligence and the faith and mixing that together and saying I see you I believe in you and outside of what I know of you I'm with you huge so I learned that night that the enemy is coming to steal from us but that word kill means to sacrifice and so what I learned in my own life is what the enemy cannot take from you he will convince you to give away and that's what I was doing with my confidence not sir I was doing with the call of my life that's what I was doing with my free time I was giving it away because I assumed it didn't hold any value my value wasn't with what I had to offer my value came because I was a child of God and I had access to everything your value does not come by your education or by who likes you or how much is in your bank account or whatever your value comes because you are a child of God and you have access to everything so how do we fight the enemy I'm gonna give you a quick practical way that we fight the enemy Apostle Paul teaches this foundational verse in Ephesians chapter 6 and if you do any kind of studying on spiritual warfare you'll read this but he goes in and he says listen you guys are gonna need an armor to protect yourself and if you read the whole chapter you'll get more of the whole picture but it begins to go through each element of the armor of God to protect us but when you jump down to verse 16 you'll find that he gives us some insight into fighting the enemy he says in addition all of this take up the shield of faith with which to extinguish the flame the flaming arrows of the evil one which is interesting the shield of faith back in the day Roman soldiers used to oil up their shields so that when a flaming arrow came it would slip right off and oil is related to the presence of God and it's interesting the way that we protect ourselves from the enemy is to have oiled shields of faith our faith needs to be oiled up with a live presence an active presence than when the enemy comes it extinguishes it that was free that was a part of the message but then it says this take up take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit everyone say the sword of the Spirit which is what the Word of God now when we hear word of God how many of you grew up in church just wave at me from it okay so a lot of us so when we said word of God we fought Bible how many of you have been taught that the Word of God is your Bible okay good you've been taught right and so there is two definitions that the author would have written or used in the Greek now Word of God gets translated the same in English but in the Greek there are two different definitions for the same word one of those is called logos logos means entire written word so this is my logos if I said am i my husband he can't be my logos he cam my Bible in fact there's a Bible Software for pastors out there called logo software and it's basically identifying the whole word but Apostle Paul does not say take up your logos he doesn't say that he doesn't say take up below your logo which is the Word of God he says it this way he takes the sword my which is the logos he uses an entirely different word he uses the word Rhema and Rhema means for all my note takers it means a quick and specific word from the spirit so he says this when you are dealing with the enemy get your Rhema word and deal with him now this would not have a lot of context until I teach you what a Roman soldier would have imagined see these guys were part of the Roman culture and they would have understood when he was talking about an our armor and you know we're just disconnected in California it's it's not that often we see people like our soldiers walking around with armor you know it says there's a disconnect I mean it's like okay that's interesting helmet okay I get it but in there historically in the historical place they would have understood what this meant because they had soldiers walking around them all the time and what they would have imagined is a soldier used to carry around a large sword right now we see movies that are that have kind of back in that back a time frame and we would see them with large sorts how many of you guys have seen movies that are gladiator but have you seen the gladiator just wave okay put your hand send you're in church don't ever admit that but you don't like they're like bloodbath huge swords and lots of slashing and cutting and but that's actually not true historically when it's talking like this you see Roman soldiers would have carried around a very large sword in fact it would have been twice the weight of a regular sword that they used in battle and they would have actually walked around with the sword to build endurance and strength and they would have practiced twice a day they had a regimen of twice a day yielding that sword and and building strength endurance but when it came to battle it did not look like that in fact it looked more like this it was more of the size of a dagger or a switchblade might be a large display but you know I'm saying like and it was they were actually top theologians will tell you they were taught to only I see to never cut and slash cuz that will waste their energy they were taught to stab and they were taught to look at their opponent there their enemy and see where they were most vulnerable and to only stab and do it as quick and as precise as possible to save energy for the battle and they said only usually had to go in two inches to kill him so when it came to that what pasal Paul is saying in this passage he's saying take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God he's not saying take up the sword that you've been building endurance and strength with he's saying take up the sword that's the quickest fastest most articulate thing that you've been trained in and use it quickly and get on with the battle this is very key so it's very important that we understand that the Word of God listen this is your pantry but you got to make meals out of your pantry so what will happen often is we're in the Word of God on a daily basis and we're listening to podcasts and we're singing theology and we're going to come in a church on a Sunday morning and seeing a really really emerges blonde preacher or were um it's very inappropriate um or were you know we're getting around the word and we're building endurance and strength and we're memorizing and we're doing devotionals and we're we're building a pantry but when it comes to the battle the reason we get endurance and strength and we build our pantry is when the enemy comes to lie to you you have to go into your pantry and the Holy Spirit will illuminate a word to you and that word is anointed to deal with your enemy the reason you are battling and exhausted is because you don't know the word you don't have anything and so you're like I better go to expressions 58 and maybe Pastor Jennifer will give me something from her pantry now she can for a little bit but the truth is the Bible says there's been a season when you've been drinking milk but now it's time to eat some and what I find is people get done with church when they don't do the work themselves and they feel like what the what the pastor's serving is milk it's like yeah you think because you're not created to get your Rhema word from your pastor every week you're creating to get your Rhema word from your history and God from your history and the word from growing you can you know I'm just a young guy listen if you're a teen God sees you as an adult this isn't like well you know I'm still living with my parents I don't care God doesn't care you're an adult you're a grown man you're a grown woman and when it comes to spiritual life you've got to grow up you got to stop waiting well when I get married then I'll get serious when I can't no you won't no you won't because marriage doesn't change people babies doesn't change people come on you know that's true so my parents understand that life does not change people people change because they make choices and when we start to put power into decisions or someone else's hands is the moment we actually become powerless the moment we decide to part the Holy Spirit and say I have the power to change and be who I'm called to be come on so I used to be intense I won't take you there but Luke chapter 4 Jesus is bet by the enemy and the enemy comes to him and he says hey I know you've been fasting for 40 days turn those rocks into bread and Jesus doesn't look at the enemy and he doesn't fight the enemy by saying I'm so loved I'm the son of God he doesn't say do you don't happen to be the last chapter chapter 3 like I walked through the desert and God like I was baptized and the heavens open and my father shouted out over all of the earth this is my beloved son I'm so loved let me tell you about my encounters I'm in time over Fettig words I'm it's like Jesus did not fight the enemy by explaining to the devil what he's referring destiny was he actually gave us a strategy that would empower us four thousand years later in Glendale California 2018 he would say I'm gonna give you a strategy could I have dealt with the devil and shut him up absolutely could I have gotten rid of him absolutely I have power you do not have but Jesus always did things that we could use later when he wasn't on the earth to duplicate and use he was empowering us because he knew we would be on the earth now and we would need a strategy that needed to be used generation after generation come on people go after people group it would not lose the power and so he was strategizing into that in in Luke chapter four and he says this to the enemy it is written and the enemy every single time in fact the second time the devil quotes scripture to Jesus this is interesting sometimes the enemy will quote scripture to us to keep us in bondage oh how do you know that cuz it's in the Bible Luke chapter four you see when we're religious will you scripture to keep people doing the right thing but that's not the raiment word the Rhema word sets us free sets us free and so what happens in Luke chapter four is Jesus keeps saying it is written it is written it is written and he's telling us listen there's a power when we put every time we know what's written he's putting a weapon in our hands and he's saying say it again say it again say it again your Rhema word is not your favorite bible verse I understand that you have loved your Bible verse and but that's thirty years old God wants to give you fresh a fresh Rhema word for 2018 what came begins - in 2017 that you need to be armed for in 2018 what's the thing that every time you come into an environment like this your anxiety goes up when you begin to think about something what happens when you come into environments and and all of a sudden you start to feel empowered and you feel disempowered what is that one moment why is that maybe it's because God wants to put a Rhema word and you deal with him now I understand this again I remember when I was seventeen I began to travel I'm gonna finish with this story seventeen beginning to travel seventeen and a half and we end up going to our first his tree night was in Utah was beautiful God just showed up and I'm time to tell the whole story but it was it was a pretty profound night I thought I had ministry down I was like all right we can do ministry no big deal so the next month we go to Arizona to do the same thing we're gonna preach the youth group we're gonna pray we're gonna have an altar call we're gonna prophesize what we're gonna do and at the middle of the altar call the youth pastor shuts the whole service down grabs the mic takes it through a whole nother like direction and then shuts it down and it was a little bit odd but again we're new to this we're not sure what's happening so that night we go out to dinner and I say to the youth pastor so what did you think of tonight and he said do you really want to know now I would like to give you a secret in life if somebody asks you if you really want to know you should say no and you should walk away cuz that's a warning that's like a warning sign like that's that's the warning shot it's like the clicking of the gun okay so I said yeah I'd like to know he said well I don't believe in anything you did tonight I don't believe in women doing what you just did I don't believe in what you spoke about the message you brought and if I had known which she would bring I would have never had you beautiful night and have you ever had someone say something to you where you feel like you wish you had had to come back but because you were so utterly shocked you didn't know what to say you just walked away and when I I don't have any words for that so I remember going to my parents hotel room and they were asleep my dad was preaching another Church in the area we woke them up I'm crying and my dad says something to me that's forever mark my life he said well I guess you get to decide if man called you or God called you it's powerful love it use it hear it and I would love to say that from that moment on what my dad said broke off everything that man said and I've been free ever since but in all honesty for years every time I would get it to preach which I did I clean houses during the week to pay for gas to preach to up and down the California coast for many many years I would hear what that man said and I would get up to preach and I would hear him say if they knew what they were gonna get they would never have you but go ahead they you should get up there and preach but there's a lot of people in here that don't believe in women doing what you're doing you can get up and preach but it's not the message they want to hear and at times when I was young and immature I'd be like oh shut up devil you know and just poor shot but I'm just gonna praise my way through it but it got so bad you ever had this in your life where it gets so bad you almost don't want to step out because you know the battle it's gonna be in your heart to do it and so I would think like if I go to preach I don't want to battle with that guy's words so I had anxiety because I knew it's coming the battle is coming cuz I'm about to do what I don't want to do and I battle him and so there's just this kind of weird cycle that happens when we have things like that and it wasn't until one day I'm in my word and I'm telling you I again just because I got saved and love God doesn't mean I immediately knew how to read and immediately could write well and immediately I mean everything has been a battle everything has had had to work through the Holy Spirit takes me to first Timothy Apostle Paul's talking to Timothy a young leader and he says this don't let anyone look down on you because you are young but be an example to all believers in what you say and the way you live in your life in your faith and in your purity and when he says this I felt like the Holy Spirit put a weapon in my hand and he said don't let anyone look down on you again because you're called us at an example and I've called you and I've set you apart I put you there so ever be ashamed of where you are or what you're called to do and I got up the next time to preach and I had the same demonic mind thing going on I've just lies and embarrassment a shame and you know I'm about to make a fool of myself and and and try to prayed my way through it or prophesy my way out of it and I just chaos and the Holy Spirit put this on my hand I said enemy I am called to set an example and if you hang out a little longer I'll make an example of you and when I said that and I quoted the whole scripture I felt like what had been holding me back for years lost all its power I didn't forget about what the man said it just lost its power and what I think in our lives is there are things that have been set over us this last year opportunities that have happened relationships that have been broken things that we are battling right now and it's a whirlwind and we're trying to prop us our way out of it and pray our way out of it and preach our way out of it and God goes would you just allow me to put a weapon in your hand and let's deal with it because it's wearing you out you're getting overwhelmed you're wearing your friends out your spouse loves you but stop it it's time for you to get the well made weapon that's fashioned for you to deal with it and go after it and I'm talking about getting aggressive you go how do I get aggressive you're gonna have to open your mouth and you're gonna have to say it is written enemy and there are times when I've had that quote by Rhema word was I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ it is not I to live but he that lives in me so get over here devil I want to put some clothes on you come on you begin to get the Word of God I can't use Timothy I'm not young anymore but you have to use things that are yours your reward is not my River word I don't know what you've been through but God does and God has everything you need in here but sometimes you're not gonna find it because all you're looking for the scraps and I'm saying build your pantry get your pantry so full that the Spirit of God goes and that's what I'm highlighting that's what I'm acknowledging that's what I want in your life listen the Holy Spirit wants you to know that you are stronger than your struggle but that got the Holy Spirit lives within you and the same power that raised Christ from the dead is now dwelling within you how come you have problems when you have the Holy Spirit how many of you have problems I have problems okay the reason you have problems is not because you didn't receive the fullness of God which is what the enemy wants you to believe the enemy wants you to believe that something's wrong with you most of us hear the enemy say there's something wrong with you everybody else is getting it there's something wrong you've always had something wrong with you come on there's you are there's something you didn't get it didn't stick it's stuck with everybody else but not you something's off with you come on and what if that is is see your mind is where your thoughts come from your emotions are where your feelings come from right your feelings and emotions and your will is where your determination and your decisions come from and all of that requires a renewing and a surrendering you renew your thoughts Bible says by putting it under the authority of Jesus Christ and actually taking each thought captive which means you gotta take each thought and hold it up and say I believe I was made wrong what do you think about that God I believe that you're gonna abandon me what do you think about that God I believe that I'm too old for it to matter and you begin to hold them up and you sit with it encouraged and you let the Spirit of God dismantle what the enemy has held against you that's some good preaching right there you're gonna get that a little bit you're gonna get that in a little bit I'm saying this not because it sounds good I'm saying this because it's exactly what I have done with my own life I'm preaching out of my process and I'm seeing this and we've seen this with thousands of people around the world this is a real thing and why what happens with your will got you don't renew your will you surrender your will meet this doesn't mean weakness you don't have to wear a turtleneck to be meek meekness means strength under submission so sometimes we want God I want this job I want this opportunity of what this woman I want this whatever it is listen listen but not my will your will be done we don't act like we don't have a will just whatever God once I'm this here sir god I'm just so I just I'm so holy stop it even Jesus didn't do in the garden Jesus said listen my will is I don't want to go to cross I would love it if we could just pass on this my vote is I would like to not do this but he said this not my will but yours be done you get the final vote you get the veto vote in my life you are the one that leads me you are the one that protects me you are the one that knows what's best and I'm with you some of you you have a strong will and you want to know why God won't violate your free will to make you humble the God God doesn't say I will humble you he's humble yourself humble yourself before God and then your emotion some of you are so led by emotions it's like it's you never know how you're gonna do today it depends on what feelings you feel you know what your feelings are not supposed to be Lord of your life your feelings give you insight to what you believe and so if your emotions are dominating you go deeper and figure out what you believe and your emotions will begin to connect with truth so I want to pray for you and then we'll go you can close your eyes if you want mostly just want you to cut out distraction for a minute I want us to take a minute to respond to this word I feel like there's a breakthrough anointing in the room for this and so I want to I want to ask you some of you in the room you'd say you know have a live I hear you preaching I'm starting to feel like there's a breakthrough but quite honestly I feel like the enemy just keeps taking from me every time I get a little bit of confidence a little bit of peace a little bit of joy a little bit of clarity I feel like the enemy comes and he takes it from me and I'm done I'm calling them out on this and I'm not gonna let him take from me anymore 2018 is gonna be a year that I hold on to truth if that should just wave at me say that's me and I'm gonna place good lots and lots and lots hands some of you today you would say you know have a life it's nice not taking it from me I keep giving it away because I don't see the value of it and I keep thinking when I feel powerful then I'll hold on to it and right now I'm realizing that the enemy has been lying to me and I keep giving away my confidence of me being a child of God and I'm done I'm not gonna give it away anymore in 2018 I want to come in strong with courage to believe what he says about me if that's you wave at me that's me good lots of hands I want to pray for you today Lord I thank you for these men and women Lord I understand that some of these things go so deep it started at childhood but I ask you God that you would put a weapon in each of their hands this year lord I just prophesied that they will receive a Rhema word the next couple couple days and that words gonna be their word for the year and they're gonna walk in it and they're gonna stay with it and they're gonna see breakthrough like never before what their dad said about them what their mom said about them what a friend said about them what a co-worker what it what the industry say whatever it is it's gonna be dismantled and truth is gonna prevail so I blessed them and I thank you for their lives in Jesus name in Jesus name everyone said amen

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 56,790

Rating: 4.9057493 out of 5

Keywords: expression58, expression 58, e58, los angeles, glendale, jen toledo, jona toledo, shawn bolz, stronger than the struggle, bethel church, redding, havilah cunnington, ben cunnington

Id: cBbdfms-qaY

Length: 49min 17sec (2957 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2018