Switch

what up zion church it's so great to be back with y'all zion would bridge them zion anywhere in them design land over them lying green belting them for washington them all y'all i love all of you and i'm so grateful to have this opportunity and i'm so grateful for all of the preachers who have shared the word of god with us over these weeks whether they're guests or our own team what great content we've received to help us in our spiritual journey to help apply to our lives it's just been awesome and on behalf of vicki and i i we want to thank you all each of you who's tuned in today those of you who support our ministry with your prayers with your finances with your service as you volunteer or even if you're compensated for your service it all matters everything you do to contribute to our ministry fuels it makes it successful and i was just thinking as we were on this first weekend of the first of the first week in march that it was a year ago on this weekend that we had our final service together in a gathering where we didn't have limitations because after that first sunday in march 2020 a worldwide pandemic hit our world hit our country and we have not gathered without a limitation since that time and it's been a whole year and and by the grace of god um if you're listening to me right now we're all we've all survived thus far and we're grateful for the grace of god that has sustained us and we're grateful for brighter days that are ahead so to god be the glory for that let me get into the word of god right now with you i'm going to be in the new testament book of romans chapter 12 and i'm going to look at the first two verses in romans chapter 12 together with you as i serve today and so if you have a bible and you'd like to look along with me or you'd like to use your app i want you to turn to romans chapter 12 because i think it will be helpful to see what god has said you know there's a scripture in the book of psalms that says lord open our eyes that we might behold wonderful things out of your word and so i think there's a blessing to see what god has said and you don't have to have your own copy of the scriptures or your own device you can look on the screen the scriptures will be provided for you there and i'm doing a switch today i'm going to switch translations uh type somebody type in the chat or say the word switch just say switch for me that's going to be an important word today i'm switching translations i usually use the new living translation but today i'm going to use the new international version of the bible and for those of you who are niv people there's more than one new international version there's a 1984 version i'm using the 2011 version of the new international version it's the most modern the most recent version of the niv and that's where i'm going to read the first two verses out of that translation in romans 12. so if you're ready let's go there now it says therefore verse 1 i urge you brothers and sisters therefore i urge you brothers and sisters in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to god this this is your true and proper worship that you would offer your bodies a living sacrifice holy and pleasing god this is your true worship verse two do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you will be able to test and approve what god's will is his good pleasing and perfect will i'm gonna read verse two again the first part of verse two again do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind i wanna stop right there and use as a subject today switch switch yeah switch switch switch i i feel like god gave me this word because there are a lot of people in the midst of a switch stuff is switching it's switching i got to make a switch i got to make a switch yeah my offense is not scoring enough points i got to make a switch my defense can't stop the other team i got to make a switch this job ain't working for me no more i got to make a switch i'm not feeling comfortable in the situation i'm in right now i got to make a switch i'm not losing weight the way i want to i got to make a switch yeah i feel like there are people who understand what switch is about today is it's interesting on my way here today is the power of a switch i i got in my car on the way here today to come and share this message with you and when i got in my car it was in the off position the car wasn't running and therefore it wasn't moving in order to get here he had to run and move and in order for it to move it had to be running in order for it to be running i had to turn a switch it's an ignition switch one switch got me here one switch can get you somewhere one switch can change the direction of your life even while i was driving the car even while i was driving the car there are times when i have to back out i had to back out of a certain space to get going forward i didn't go forward the whole way here i had to go in reverse sometimes in order to change direction i had to make a switch i had to switch gears one switch can change the direction of your life somebody say switch somebody in here is switching right now you're switching neighborhoods and you're switching jobs and you're switching schools and you might even be switching churches so you understand what it's like to switch and there's power in a switch i want to pray for you as we go into this word right now father please speak to us in ways that are transforming feed us challenge us bless us i give myself to you so that your truth might be communicated in a way that is helpful to people and serves their best interests in jesus name amen when you think of the word switch by definition switch connotatively is a change it is usually a change that is opposite in nature and switches are very powerful they're very powerful they can change environments and contexts for example if i'm in a room that is dark i can change the environment of the room if i can find the switch i can wake up a room with light or i can make a room prepared for rest as we make it dark i can change the whole mood of a room with one switch one switch can change an environment one switch can change a room many of you know what it's like to switch you switch hair styles and you you switch barbers and some of your switch switch cell phone providers and you you switch cable providers and and you switch the nail polish colors that you wear and you switch neighborhoods and and you switch majors in collagen and you switch lanes as you drive down the road and and and here's the thing about switches switches are necessary for progress and success sometimes switches are even necessary for safety for it is true that sometimes to avoid danger to avoid toxicity to avoid trouble you may have to switch your circle you may have to get move out you may have to replace one group of friends with a with another group of peers who are aligned in the way you want to live now and who are moving the direction you want to go now and who are about some of the things you're about now because that used to be what you're about but when you switched it changed who you needed to be around and the reason why i'm so glad that all of us can relate to switches whatever the switch may be in our life is because this passage actually brings about three switches that i want to raise to you today the first switch is in verse one and the other two switches in verse two and they're switches that are critical to our spiritual progress and by the way these switches are not just for some of you listening to me today and it's not just for some of us it's for all of us myself included because every single person listening to this message right now is in need of spiritual improvement there is nobody who's perfect there's nobody who've reached the pinnacle no matter where you are on the spiritual totem pole you need to do some kind of switch in your life to help you progress along your spiritual journey and paul starts off in verse one and before i give you the first switch i gotta tell you what's happening in the passage he opens up the passage by saying therefore now therefore or and so or whatever you it opens up your verse is a look what he's doing is he's connecting what he's about to say to everything he's just said not what he just said in chapter 11 to everything he's just said he's about to ask the believers in rome to make a switch in verse 1. but he's going to ask it based on therefore on based on everything i just told you that are in summation the mercies of god based on everything i just wrote to you therefore i'm about to ask you to make this switch now watch what he what leads into this therefore i want to go back i don't want to bore you but let me just read some highlights of what he said it would be beautiful if in your own time if you read the entire book of romans all the way up to chapter 12 it will bless your life and have a greater appreciation for the mercies of god but i'll just read a couple of highlights in this chapter for example in chapter 1 and verse 6 it says and you also are among those gentiles who are called to belong to jesus christ verse 7 to all in rome who are loved by god and called to be his holy people that's a blessing right there then in chapter 2 verse 4 he says or do you show contempt for the richness of his kindness talking about god's kindness his forbearance his patience not realizing that god's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance listen to the love of god and his patience and his kindness towards us in chapter 3 when it says in verse 10 as it is written there is no one who is righteous not even one there is no one verse 11 says who understands there is no one who seeks god all have turned away they have together become worthless there's no one who does good not even one verse 12 says then verse 13 verse 23 comes along and says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by christ jesus all of us are messed up and all of us have been redeemed by the grace that came from jesus christ what a blessing it is chapter four he says in verse four now to the one who works wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation you're forced to be paid if you work however to the one who does not work but trust god who justifies the godly their faith is credited as righteousness and what he's saying there is that we didn't even work for this grace we didn't even work for this mercy we just trusted god and it was put on our account she's righteous he's righteous he's favored he's blessed she's blessed then he says in chapter five verse one therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with god pastor jeff that's what passage just favorite verse we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ and then verse three says not only so but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame because god loves us his love has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us listen to the manifold goodness of god in chapter 6 he tells us more about his mercies when he says the wages of sin is death we all deserve to god die but the gift of god is eternal life through christ jesus our lord and then listen to this conflict in chapter 7 verses 18 and follow him for i know that good i know that good itself does not dwell in me paul says that is in my sinful nation for i have the desire to do what is good but i cannot carry it out for i do not do the good that i want to do but the evil that i don't want to do this i keep on doing now if i do what i do not want to do it is no longer i to do it but it is sin living in me that does it so i find this law at work although i want to do good evil is right there with me for in my inner being i delight in god's law but i see another law at work in me waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in me listen to this he says what a wretched man i am who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death then he says in verse 25 thanks be to god who delivers me through jesus christ our lord listen to these mercies of god that's why it says in chapter 8 verse 1 therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus i hope you all enjoy this is the this is the word of god verse 18 to chapter 8 i consider that the present sufferings that we're going through are not worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed to us chapter verse chapter 8 verse 28 and we know that all things work together for the good of them that love god and are called according to his purpose did you know all of this was in the book of romans and then how about this one verse 31 of chapter day what then shall we say to these things if god is for us who can be against us verse 35 who shall separate us from the love of christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we face death all day long we are considered a sheep to the slaughter knowing all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for i am convinced that neither death nor life angels or principalities no things present no things to come no height nor death nor any other creature shall ever ever be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord in chapter 9 verse 15 he says god says i will have mercy on whom i will have mercy i will have compassion on whom i will have compassion chapter 10 verse 9 says if you confess with your mouth the lord jesus christ and you believe in your heart that god raised you from the dead you shall be saved i know i i got to wrap this up then in chapter 11 verse 36 he says for from him and through him and for him are all things to him be glory forever amen and he comes up to chapter 12 verse 1 it says now in light of all that in light of all these mercies that god has shown us based on the mercy that he's given us i'm asking you i'm urging you i'm begging you to make a shift to make a switch and i'm doing it based on the mercy of god so my question to you today and i got several questions i want to ask you my question to you today is a simple question and that question is have you received mercy from god in your life you has god been merciful to you has he been merciful to you i i know that's a rhetorical question i i know i know i i know i didn't ask you the question because i don't know the answer to it because i already know the answer is yes i ask you the question so that you be reminded of his mercy in your life so you take a moment to be grateful for it in fact if you're a chatter if you're a chatter right now or even if you're at home taking notes i just want you to write down one thing right now just one thing that you know was a sign of the mercy of god in your life just don't you don't get the details because we don't nobody come looking for you but just one thing that you know that was the mercy of god right there with my life now if i gave you time you could come up with two if i gave you my microphone right now and gave you the stage you'd have a list of things but i just want you to come up with one thing that you can say that was the mercy of god in my life that was the mercy of god in my life that was a mercy god does anybody understand how good it is to have received mercy from god in fact this is a good spot right now for you to interrupt this message and give god some gratitude and some praise for the mercy that he's given you in your life because you didn't deserve it i know you got it because you wouldn't be here to talk about it right now if you hadn't got it the very first the very fact that we're here right now reveals the fact that we're the recipients of the mercy of god but i want you to take a moment right now just to give them praise for mercy yeah i could have been dead but mercy i should have been i should have been out of i should have been out of here but mercy i could have got caught yeah i could have got caught by mercy i could have got exposed but i wonder if anybody listening to me that ever did something that don't nobody know that you did it yet but god knew it and he kept the secret and covered y'all i know y'all laying there we're gonna do that kind of testifying because ain't nobody stupid enough to testify about something that god got you covered on but his mercy covered you and you owe him praise for that i should have went the other way i should have did time i should be in trouble right now but mercy i don't even deserve to be here right now but it was mercy and god right now i thank you that you had mercy on me i thank you that you had mercy on little old me your mercy and it ain't even oh what i want to tell you about the mercies of god right here in romans chapter 12 they have not run drive they have not run out they're not old mercies lamentation says they're new every morning great is your faithfulness somebody give god praise for fresh mercy fresh mercy i got fresh mercy i got new mercy and in fact in fact i want to do a shift right here if you know if you got enough sense to know that you have been showered with the mercy of god excuse me for a moment i want you to move from praise to a prayer real quick i want to do a generational shift real quick because some of us have received the mercy of god on our lives and we're old enough to appreciate it but we got some kids in our life and we got some grandkids that don't understand the mercy of god so i want you to shift for a moment and say god since you poured mercy on me would it have let it have a generational effect put mercy on my kids put mercy on my grandchildren put mercy on my seed when they get in the car and start driving the car put mercy on them when they go to school and hang around their friends and i can't see where they are put mercy on them when they have where they mask and they have social distance put mercy on it mercy on my children god mercy on my generations cover them with your mercy when they're in danger and they're in environments where they shouldn't be let your mercy cover them just like it covered me mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy see you got to have kids to express you got to have kids to understand what i just said some of y'all don't understand what i just said but if you got some children in your life that are old enough to get in trouble and old enough to get lost and old enough to get hurt that mercy prayer matters god if you did it for me you're the same yesterday today and forever put mercy on my children put mercy on my seed excuse me excuse me let me get back to this passage paul says i'm urging you based on the mercy of god to make a sh to make a switch a switch yeah i want you to make a switch what's the switch paul i want you to make i want you to give an offering well that don't sound like a switch that sounds like typical preaching right there all y'all preachers ask for offerings yeah and so that don't sound like a swiss what's the switch what's the switch uh uh i want you to get an offering but it's not i don't want you reaching your wallet this time and i want you to grab your purse and i don't want you to grab your offering envelope and i don't want you to go to the cash app and i want you to go to any kind of giving platform i want you to switch this time and i want you to give yourself offer your body to god lord help me slow down and teach this uh oh wait wait wait see see see the reason why you don't know how to react to that is because we're in the 21st century and this was said in the first century see if you were in the audience when the apostle paul said offer your body a living sacrifice that's pleasing holy and acceptable to god when you were in the first century you understood sacrifices you understood a holy and pleasing and acceptable sacrifice before god you knew what it was like to watch the head of the household walk into the family yard and walk into the flock because it was it was a day of atonement it was a day when sacrifices were given you knew what it was like to watch one of your cherished animals be picked out by the head of the household and you knew how sacred and somber that moment was as you would never see that animal again and that animal was taken out of the flock not to be consumed by the family not to be used for fur or for milk or for nutrition that animal was going to be worshipped was going to be used to worship and honor god they knew what a sacrifice was they knew what it was like to gather together as a family to walk towards the tabernacle with the offering in tow because nobody came to god empty-handed back then we come to god all kinds of ways now they never approached god empty-handed they had such a reverence for god they didn't even call his name they didn't even say his name jehovah they would call him yahweh they were afraid to say his whole name they abbreviated they couldn't even spell out the whole name of god because there was such veneration for who he was and they knew what it was like to walk up into the tabernacle and stand in the outer court awaiting to sacrifice what had been valuable to them because you couldn't just bring any sacrifice you had to bring your best there they stand waiting on their turn as their own animal starts getting antsy and agitated because the animal starts figuring out what's going on as there's blood everywhere as this burning of flesh as their severing of of animal bodies as as god is honored like that because without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin and god didn't do it because he was brutal he was doing it so that his children will see a picture of the lamb of god who's on the way to be slain for the sins of the world i'm giving you a picture of what i'm going to do one time y'all ain't ready for this i'm giving you a picture of it and as they stood there and as they walk from the outer court into the inner court to sacrifice that animal they knew that they would not return home with everything they left home with because sacrifice will always cost you sacrifice is a worship that will always cost you and they would go home with less than they came with and paul says he turned the script on him and he says now i'm asking you to switch it i don't want your animal i don't want your car i don't want you to designate and and dedicate your building to god i don't want you to dedicate your house to the lord if people want to do house dedication health blessing i don't want you to dedicate your your child to the lord i want you to dedicate yourself it's you i'm after god says it's you america i don't just want your house what good is it i have you i i got your house and i don't have you what good is it if you offer me your business and i don't have the ceo what good is it if you offer me here's my car here my fleet of cars and i don't have the driver switch your offering switch your offering switch your offering i want you i want you i want you i want you and i want all of you i want everything you got him everything you got belongs to me and i want all of you what a picture he paints the picture he paints is of a sacrifice because animals were sacrificed they did not live but he says i want you to be a living sacrifice which means oh god this is so good i want you i want your whole life to be a form of worship i want you to i want you to live for me totally i want you to understand that when you when you really sacrifice to me you will never return like you came you will never be the way you were and i wanted all i want all of you i want all of you i want on me check this out there's a voice that cries out the silence searching for a heart that will love him longing for a child that will give and they rock it all he wants it all and there's a god that walks over the earth he's searching for a heart that is desperate and longing for a child that will give rocket he wants it all and he says love me love me with your whole heart he wants it all today serve me serve me with your life now he wants it all today bow down let go of your eyes he wants it all today he wants it all today he wants it all today he wants it all [Music] there's a god that walks over the earth he's searching for a heart that is desperate he's longing for a child that will give it up he wants it all and he said love me love me with your whole heart he wants it all today serve me serve [Music] he wants it all today he wants it all today he wants it all today [Music] [Music] so give it all there's a voice that cries out in the sights searching for a heart that will love him he's longing for a child that will give [Music] he wants it all all of it all of you all of me he wants it all let me ask you a question let me ask you a question how much do you owe god i just i want you to try to in your mind calculate run the numbers crunch the numbers and tabulate what your bill is with god tally that up now again that's a rhetorical question i know it's a rhetorical question it's an insult right because i don't know anybody listening to me that doesn't have enough sin to say i own everything oh god everything and if i owe god everything is there anything he can ask from me that's too much he wants it all see the first the first switch the first switch is to switch from traditional animal sacrifices to personal devotional sacrifice devotional personal sacrifice he says i don't want the animals anymore i want you i want you i want you to come to the altar and never leave like you see see that's first century you understand that's first century see we we've changed the altar so much that now in the 21st century you come to the altar to get a blessing you come to the altar to ask for stuff you're coming at all to get a husband you can get a wife a dog you can get a car you can get a job at the altar you can get healed to cancel at the altar you come to the altar gets to get the baptism the holy ghost you get everything at all it's like the offer the altar now is a grocery store in the bible the altar was a place of crucible you died at the altar you gave you you came to god saying here am i and i'm not saying you don't get to come and pray and bring all your petitions to god and pray for healing and pray for miracles and pray for houses and pray for blessings i'm just saying but at some point when do you come and say god here am i you want me and he says i want your body i want your body and my body is that important then it must be important enough to take care of it if he's going to use me on earth in time then i got to take care of this body because one of the things about the body of christ that makes it unhealthy is the unhealthy bodies that are moving around in the body so we got to take care of the body that we serve them in and these are the interesting first corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 says your body is the temple oh listen to the allegory your body is a temple a sacred space it's the temple of god you are not your own you've been bought with a price your body your temple should be holy and the more holy it is the more acceptable it is to god and by the way by the way when he gets to this when he gets to this next point he says he says he says when you do this this is true in pure worship he says this is the this is real real worship right here this is where we are and i've heard all kinds of words but there's liturgical worship there's non-liturgical worship there's worship through communion there's worship through services worship through preaching there's worship through giving there's worship through devotion there's all kinds of worship but but who would have thought that you can worship god by giving him your body your soul your life completely he says that's the spiritual act of worship right there then the next thing i gotta hurry because i'm running out of time then the next thing he says is he says also do not be conformed to this world don't conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove test and approve god's will his perfect his good is pleasing and perfect will now watch this y'all watch this he says don't do something don't conform to the pattern of this world and in the greek language it's written in a way that means stop doing that stop continuing to be conformed to this world so there's a stop then he says there's a start but be transformed by the renewing your mind so stop being conformed start being transformed then you will discover the good pleasing perfect will of god let me do that again stop being conformed to the world start letting god change the way you think then you'll discover the good pleasing perfect will of god stop start then stop start then hmm isn't that how all change happens isn't it how old you never get to your then which is good until you stop something i got to stop this and then i can't just stop it because it's a switch stopping something isn't a switch you have to you have to replace it i have to stop doing this stop being conformed start being transformed that's a switch then this will happen that's in every area of life i gotta stop eating what i've been eating and then i gotta start eating something i switch the diet up i gotta stop working out the same workout got to switch that up and start doing something different to reach the goals i got every change that's progressive that gets me to the then always starts with a stop let me ask you a question i don't mean to get in your business today what do you need to stop what do you need to stop in your life right now and let me i got to go deeper because you can't just stop you can't just end with a stop what do you need to replace the thing you're stopping with because people who just stop stuff man i need to stop this most people know we need to stop man i need to stop that man i need to stop tripping i need to stop doing that i need to stop nah you know it's a list right you can put it in the chat right now what kind of stuff people need to stop go ahead and put it in there because it's designed church it's going to be it's going to be ratchet the list is gonna be straight ratchet right right so we all know we need to stop but let me say something if you only stop you will be vulnerable you'll just have an empty space that's now vulnerable for worse stuff to come in and you might be in a worse place doing something worse than you were doing did you stop you can't just stop something you got to start something and you have to start something that replace it's a switch see the first switch was moving from animal sacrifices to now dedicating myself here's the second switch the second the second switch is moving from bad behavior to better behavior see this is about incremental changes i move from doing the wrong thing to start doing the right thing and then this is what will happen to me i can't get to this because watch this whatever i'm doing over here that's wrong has a then too everything has a then if i keep doing this eventually then i'll end up over here this could be depression this could be confusion this could be darkness this could be shame this could be disconnection this could be loneliness what paul says is if you stop being conformed to this world start being transformed by the renewing of your mind then you'll know the beautiful perfect pleasing good will of god you end up in a good place but you have to stop doing that because his his hit is this is how you can know what you're supposed to stop whatever you're doing is bad always ends up in a then every time i do i don't like it here i like this behavior i don't like the then it gets y'all ain't ready i don't like where it ends me up you know what i'm saying i don't like the shame i don't like being scared i don't have to watch in my back all the time underwear i don't like worrying about somebody catching me i don't like having to hide my phone and blocking to erase all the text and i i didn't mean too many people business i don't like that i like this so so here's the thing you already know what you're supposed to stop because what you're doing is contributing to your then but you can't just stop this you got to start doing this and then it'll change your then am i making sense to you so what do you need to stop and what do you need to replace it with because now the second switch is is a transformation from bad behavior to new behavior and paul says if you stop conforming to this world and you're transformed by the renewing of your mind the renewing of your mind that word renew is a greek word let me read it for you i don't want to mess it up the greek word is anakonosis anakonosis is the greek word and it means to renovate he says i want to renovate your mind whenever there's a renovation done in the house it is because something old needs to be replaced you don't do renovation by putting new stuff on top of old stuff you have to stop holding on to old stuff get rid of it there needs to be a removal and a replacement that's called a switch we switched out we switched that information out we switched that old stuff out the old furniture out the old carpeting out the old flooring out the old tile out and and and now we've made room for a new renovation god says i want to renovate your mind i want to renovate your thinking somebody say lord help me help help me think better yeah get get my mind right listen to this listen to this in romans chapter eight verses five and six listen to this listen to this it says those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires but those who live according uh in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires it's really simple right the mind governed by the flesh is death the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace most of the stuff we keep our mind on don't bring us any life and peace so we already know i gotta have a shift in my thinking i gotta have a i gotta switch up what i think about so in the switch in my brain there needs to be this this it is i either gotta remove the thought or i gotta i gotta revise the thought it may be something i can't stop thinking about because it's a part of my life it's a part of my concern it's a part of my responsibility but the way i view it god help me to stop okay check this out if you like me have thought attacks and you have things that you think about that make you feel sad to take away your joy that make you feel depressed that make you feel anxious to take you to a then you don't want to go to i'm saying some of those thoughts need to be removed and say you know what they ain't none of my business i don't need to be thinking about that or they need to be revised i need to think about it but i need to think about it differently so god okay how do i know i'm thinking about something the wrong way because whenever i think about it i feel depressed who understands what i'm talking about like like show me some love in the chat say i'm with you pastor i'm following you i feel depressed i feel down i feel hopeless i feel like like like i don't want to continue anymore like every time i think about that you ever you ever been happy or you know kind of okay feeling pretty good and that and you remember that thing and everything is like it's like somebody just let all the airs out of your tire i'm saying if that's something you are supposed to think about you can't remove the thought which you can revise and say god how can i start thinking about that in a way that doesn't flatten me renovate my mind renovate my mind help me to think better help me to switch the way i think about it see if you have thoughts that depress some of us can think ourselves depressed it's not even it's not even it's not even a chemical imbalance it's it's the way we think we have a thinking pattern that takes us down right then i gotta eat a half a gallon ice cream and drink some soda to go to sleep because i come from myself oh i gotta smoke something i gotta drink something or whatever it may be and and so god would you please revise my thinking so that my thinking doesn't have me in a place that i don't want to be my thinking can take me to a place i don't want to be switch my thinking switch my thinking switch my thinking and he says when that happens when my thinking is switched and god renovates my mind here's what happens is you'll discover god's good pleasing and perfect will every translation i looked at had those three words in that order good pleasing perfect good acceptable perfect good pleasing perfect and i believe they're that way because they're not on a part of equality there is something good about the will of god there's something that pleases him there's a level of pleasure there's a level of of the will of god that brings in pleasure and then there's a level of the will of god that is absolutely perfect and i believe we have the capacity to do good and even better than that we have the capacity to actually please god not just do good but we also have the capacity to do something perfect and i think it's connected to how much we have sacrificed and surrendered our lives to him and how much he has renovated our thinking if my thinking is renovated and my body and life is surrendered i have a higher capacity to operate at a higher level to perform at a higher level the best way i can describe it to you is a coach a coach or a trainer has a client they have a student they have an athlete they have a player and they work with that athlete or their player or their student and the student or the player to athlete or the client does an action or a movement and the trainer says that was good good job the same client the same athlete the same student does a similar exercise and and and it does it at a higher level and the trainer or the coach says that was very good um you made me proud right there that was good good job but that right there that was that you made me proud right there that same client that same student that same athlete can do the same movement or a better move and do it at such a high level that the coach or the trainer themselves says that was perfect perfect i was watching the fight last week and it was canelo alvarez fighting the guy everybody knew he was going to be they asked canelo alvarez before the fight he said what do you want to do tonight he says i want to be perfect and when i tell you he perfectly beat that man perfectly beat him like i but he's dedicated to his craft i'm saying perfect action perfect obedience to god is not accidental you have to sacrifice and here's my question if god wants it all how much of you does he have because many of us have compartment compartmentalize our lives so much that we control the narrative in most spaces we still have held back our time and schedule from god we still control our relationships we still control our free time we still control our money we still control most of it but we say we love god but he's not in control and we spend most of our lives trying to preserve our control and our lordship over our life and i'm saying the level of surrender the level of sacrifice will determine the level of how you experience pleasing god and doing his will you're not going to do it by accident here's my final switch final question and finals was i got one more question one more switch the fifth question is what's on your mind a lot what's on your mind a lot think of one thing that's not a good thought for you it doesn't end well for you think of that and just try to fix that one thought don't try to fix everything don't try to fix all bad behavior and change it don't try to go from average to perfect over let's work on one thing i'm gonna work on this behavior i'm gonna work on this thought every time i had this thought it ends up in a bad space work on one thought let's switch out one thought for the right thought philippians 4 8 says whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are pure what sort of things are honorable and praiseworthy think on these things like lord swap this thought out for the right way show me the right way of thinking about this because the way i think about it now makes me angry makes me upset you understand that i don't feel safe when i think about that get my mind right what do you think about a lot that's the thought if it's unhealthy that needs to be switched the third switch in the passage is this here it is replacing replacing bad thoughts with better thoughts replacing bad thoughts with better thoughts i'ma stop right there i want to talk to somebody specifically today before we go i've been trying to talk to everybody specifically but i was some of y'all i want to talk to specifically specifically specifically right now and i want to talk to you those of you who who who would actually say pastor keith my life is headed in the wrong direction i am not going in the right direction and i want to tell you first of all some good news the good news is is that you're aware of it that you even know that you're headed in the wrong direction and here's the other good news that god has given you enough time to switch directions one switch can change your direction he's giving you time so here's what you do you can just say to god god i've been messing up i've been doing things my way but i want to give you control of my life right now in fact i want you to pray that i want to join you in this prayer right now once you say that to god right now just say that father say god i've been messing up i've been doing things my way i've made a mess of things please forgive me and lord i want you to take control of my life i give my life to you i want to be a sacrifice as i give my life to you as broken as it is as messed up as is it as it is i'm sorry for the mess i give you but i give it to you right now and i thank you lord say that to him i thank you lord for this moment i thank you for this opportunity i thank you for this time you've given me to make things right with you and lord maybe from my as my heart is racing in his mind as tears well up in my eye i give my life to you you said in your word that if i confess with my mouth that jesus is lord and i believe in my heart that he didn't just die but you you raised them from the dead your word says i'm saved so right now i confess jesus as lord with my mouth and i believe in my heart that he didn't just die he rose from the dead and i thank you based on your word a god who cannot lie that i'm saved amen that's a shift wow what a moment and i'm so grateful that god gave me this opportunity to share this moment with you so here's what i want you to do if any of you pray that prayer i i don't know where you are i don't know where you are at this point but here's what i want you to do i want you to email me it's k battle zionchurch.org if you prayed that prayer email me kbattle zionchurch.org i want to help you with your next steps and tell you what to do now so that you can grow in your relationship with jesus christ whether you prayed that for the first time or was the tenth time i want you to be sure sure shorter day if you can't do that uh go tell somebody that you know who already knows the lord who's in the who's a person of faith let them know what you've done so that we can help you on your spiritual journey that you can make progress in your life amen god bless you hey i love y'all it was great being with y'all and we'll see you again right here next time

Channel: Keith Battle

Views: 2,604

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

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Id: lcYnHQWZYPY

Length: 50min 27sec (3027 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 08 2021