Winning the War Within - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - Levi Lusko

[Music] really really grateful to be here Calvary love you guys so much we love this church love all of your beautiful faces and our drivers licenses might say Montana but our taste buds are still New Mexican so we're really glad to be here thrilled we think that heaven is going to be catered by Sadie's and maybe some appetizers off the el Pinto menu as well that fried green Chili's pretty phenomenal but we're thrilled by what God is doing to this church celebrate with you the West Campus come on let's thank God for a tremendous opening and all that he's doing there happy Mother's Day I what a joy what a mission what a calling it is is how the grace to get to be a mom adopted mom foster mom grandmom just that's a wonderful thing and we really do celebrate the calling that it takes the courage that it takes the commitment required to be a mom so thank you thank you thank you from all of us who benefit from your love and your warmth so thank you come on let's celebrate those moms again Lenya is my god mom and pastor skip of course they've just they have been like another set of parents to us we're so grateful for them I'm thankful for my mom sky and my wife who's a tremendous mom to our to our children and so what a fun thing to get to celebrate with you and to preach with this incredibly cool cloud behind me yes that's a first I like it I don't understand it but I like it the that's art though right so in our time this weekend we've been throughout these services that have been going on I've been kind of speaking out of a message that God's given to us to carry and in this season we've been just really feeling just a great sense of calling to preach this message and it's wrapped up in my new book I declare war four keys to winning the battle with yourself so if this booking if what you hear today in this message encourages you in any way then consider what you're hearing just the Costco size to sample and the chimichangas are on aisle 7 so there's there's more where this comes from of course 240 pages squeezing it down into a talk not difficult to do but their study guides to take it further video curriculum and and all of that that you can you can access it anywhere where books are sold I would tell you to go to your books are here at the church but it's sold out really quickly so you could go to of course Amazon Barnes Sonoma or whatever but four keys to winning the battle with yourself why would I write such a book why would I speak such a message here's why because you are at war whether you admit it or not and that's true on a number of different levels I mean we could talk about the devil I mean we could talk about the world both of which bring complexity into our lives the Bible says you have an enemy and he is he's your adversary he's a liar he's a thief he's a murderer just like God wants to bless you and God wants to use you the devil wants to destroy you the devil wants you to not enter into everything God has for you so that's true the world brings complexity because when we choose to follow Jesus the Bible says we will face tribulation in this world tribulation that happens just because of natural disasters and crime and car accidents and that kind of stuff but also specifically if you're a Jesus follower don't forget the world crucified Jesus and if you follow him there's going to come push back on you but that's not the the conflict I'm talking about I'm not talking about spiritual opposition with the devil and I'm not really even talking about difficulty you faced persecution in this world what I'm talking about is your most danger opponent your most deceptive opponent and that my friends is you I've found in this life my three biggest problems are as follows me myself and I I believe in a devil what kind of a pastor would it be if I didn't and I believe that there can be hardship that comes your way because of following Jesus in this fallen world I've experienced all of that but I also got is opened my eyes up to see that I'm capable of creating more problems for myself than just about anybody and I think a lot of times we blame we blame the enemy for things he didn't even do it's like that was the devil he's like actually that was I was all you that was I was I was somewhere else that was a saint you bow I mean I was gonna mess with you but then I just saw that I just leave you alone you're in a lot of ways you're more dangerous to yourself than the devil how does that work well he has to check with God before he can bring a trial into your life read the book of Job the Bible says that the devil asked God's permission to afflict Jobe and what did Jesus say to Simon Peter on the night of his arrest Satan has asked for you someone once said even the devil is God's devil he's on a leash sometimes from our perspective it seems like that leash is a little bit too long but I like how one theologian put it when he said that God ever only ever gives the devil enough rope so that he could hang himself so at the end of the day what he asked permission come on does that encourage you a little bit that whatever the devil was stupid enough to ask God's permission to do in your life God intends for to boomerang around so that what he wanted to accomplish his thwarted and God's agenda get served ultimately and if you want any proof of that just look at the cross where the devil was pumping his fist in victory until he realized it wasn't his victory that day it was his defeat that day and I really believe that and so that that's that's that's how you have to to look at it but when we look at the devil asking God's permission to mess with you don't forget this you don't have to check in with anybody before you make a of your life you're capable of sabotaging yourself and the I declare war message is all about getting out of your own way I was reminded of this in fall of 2018 when Street artist Banksy from the UK committed one of his his most well for sure most talked-about stunts he's ever pulled he's famous for painting things on the side of buildings to make statements about consumerism and you know commercialism and all that stuff and and so he arranged for one of his paintings girl with balloon to get auctioned by South the bees in in London and while all these people were milling around drinking champagne and eating caviar here's this painting on the wall and there are come yes my bid for that and eventually the bidding got listened to the bidding up to 1.4 million dollars then the auctioneer said sold to the highest bidder and just as he did Banksy somehow or another activated a shredder a paper shredder that he had installed into the bottom of the frame and at the moment the painting was sold he was able to activate it and the canvas began shredding itself and the work of art was destroyed in front of the watching world here's a little clip he put on his Instagram after the fact you could tee at the end of the clip the security guards are rushing the painting away to safety now why were there security guards on hand that day the answer is they were there to protect the painting from the people but what they didn't know was that the painting needed protection from the painting and so do you and so do I because we are oftentimes masters of self-sabotage oh we talk a big talk about treating ourselves that's a great hashtag treat yourself tom treat yourself Donna should I buy it treat yourself so here's the truth we don't treat ourselves very well in the periodical the annals of inner medicine a study was done about how well we do at taking medicine our doctors tell us to take they found that in the United States if a hundred people are prescribed a medication one-third of them will never pick it up at the pharmacy one-third will just never get it at all of the 67 who do take it home half of them will not take it correctly meaning they'll miss doses they'll take it at different times of the day when they should be taking it at a consistent time each day or some will never take it at all now this is true even when those medications are anti-rejection medicines after organ transplant surgery this exact same numbers bear out but what the study did find that was alarming was that the only time it was defying the statistics is when the prescription was from your vet for your pet then we don't miss a dose with Tim here fight out or anything we just come no no no you've got no stop we have to go home we have to get the dog it's medicine what does it say of our inner self-loathing when we treat our dogs better than we treat ourselves yeah we're good at treating ourselves we're good at treating ourselves badly we are often our own worst enemy and I can't tell you how many times in life I feel just like Banksy's painting I feel like there's a shredder and I've put myself through it I've done things I'm like why don't I do that have you ever driven home from a day at work and you just realized I had the wrong tone about me all day Oh in a bad mood or as I described it in the book a bad mood is really being held hostage by the version of you that you don't want to be I even gave the moody version of Levi a name because Levi can be rearranged to spell evil I call the version of me I don't want to be evil Levi and I feel like in naming him I can take him off the guest list like that fool is not invited he's not welcome to the party and I literally sometimes will even think about it driving into work or going into a time with my wife I actually say you know I'm gonna be the version of me that saved forgiven he'll hole fill with God's Spirit I don't want to be the touchy triggered self-centered you know self-absorbed impatient version of me that that creates situations that I myself then don't like after the fact with half of the tattered fragments of my painting sticking out the bottom and people just like running for cover or you know and I'm saying oh I want to be a joy to be around I want to enjoy the evening with my wife I don't want to end up in a fight and and realize there I was spoiling for a fight you know I think sometimes were capable of just kind of waiting to get wounded hoping to get her looking to see whether or not we were invited or tagged in that photo that got posted you didn't tag me uh right it's like okay come on listen who wants to walk in freedom I just say for freedom Christ has set us free that's why it's time to declare war and win the war within now you might not relate to me on on those struggles for you it might not be you know like some of my struggles I've gone through in the past like a social media obsession or addiction or or sometimes if I'm honest retail therapy is my go-to I'm feeling low but not anymore I bought something on Amazon right it's like it's just that go to like the dopamine hit that you get from just well it's cup something's coming and just the mindless shopping or YouTube video watching or Netflix binging which they've linked to depression by the way and I think it's because of that ten-second countdown the place at the end of the episode that's the problem right there you take that away because you're like that's it okay great we know what happened all right wait ten nine eight quick act stop because there's that fleeting moment where you realize I need to get dressed I need to eat something and to go talk to my children probably should do some work but then the next one started and like well I can't stop it now God wouldn't honor that if we finish what we started this family you know st. and the real when I really hit rock bottom I found myself saying the words just one more season and then I'll stop wait what not one more episode I'm just to watch one more season it's like 4:00 in the morning I have a 6:00 a.m. flight this can't end well anyhow you might not relate to that at all or some of the other issues I've gone through anxiety struggling with bad dreams waking up at 3:00 in the morning in a in a cold sweat just terrified afraid just my mind racing I I don't know what the war is you need to declare maybe for you it's numbing maybe your your instant response to stress is 2 3 Jack and cokes and you know all of a sudden you've numbed those feelings or you know xanax and you know red wine there but whatever it is for you but maybe numbing through gambling maybe maybe it is that the dopamine hit of social media you know feeling low and so now you got those likes coming in and you're feeling you're feeling worth you're allowing your yourself image to come from what other people say about you or or speak over you or living out of your insecurities the truth is it's really easy to come to a place where we rely on a mask we put on to feel like we're enough in this world the mask of what how big our boat is or square footage of our home or how powerful we feel it's easy to put these masks on but what I discovered was that when you put a mask on you mask yourself off from God's blessings because paint can't get on what you've masked off so what the mask covers up God can't bless he can't bless who you pretending to be just who you actually are it takes that authenticity vulnerability and humility of being authentically who you are and not posturing and pretending and one-upping and name-dropping and networking and constantly trying to assess your your place on the totem pole in this situation and who can help you get to it that's just as exhausting and the only thing more fatiguing than being around an insecure person is being that insecure person and I just think it's time for us whatever our struggles are however holding ourselves back from who were meant to be that we declare war and engage in this fight in the book I give space for you to write out a declaration of war I declare war on blank because these things are holding me back and no more am I gonna rationalize or justify or explain away my bad behavior explain away my selfish sinful behavior on the basis of some painful thing I've been through well you don't know you can't judge me you don't know what I've been through kind of a thing or you know everyone in my family's like this I have a temporary well sure I'm Irish you know but it well that's the things we say or in our minds think of someone who's worse than we are therefore we feel ok the worst example would be well I'm no Hitler yeah well well done we're very proud of you I'm no Hitler you think really you're gonna get to heaven the one question is gonna be did you ever murder 8 million people nope come on in right oh I'm no Hitler right what are we even talking about here but instead of excusing and rationalizing and justifying and tolerated because that's what we really we tolerate the dysfunction so long that we become blind to it we're all blind to the dysfunction we tolerate I realized this the other day when we were we were talking to alexa as all good story start alexis is such a weird thing I was realizing the other day my son may be mature a little boy almost 2 he's never gonna not know life without Alexa in the room in that weird but do you ever feel like you're cheating on Siri with Alexa the other day I said hey Siri and I tried to activate her even though she's so hard of hearing Alexis so good hey Siri she's like what she and then I started talking to her she was you've been with her again haven't you right like no you're the only digital assistant for me right but so we were talking to alexa and we've kind of worked alexa into our home was like she can turn off the lights and lock the front door and arm the security system and turn on the patio lights and and at one point she could control our christmas tree because we had a Christmas tree I'm not a pagan right and it was fake because I'm allergic to Christmas trees and so it was in the corner and you know we had Alexa turned her off and on and but then you know the Christmas tree went away because I'm a Christian and the Christmas tree goes away he's like Thanksgiving is when you start listening to Christmas music New Year's Day the Christmas tree comes down and I will not hear anything else so I know it's like a house divided issue but my feelings on this subject so the Christmas tree is gone but we took the little Alexa plug and we plugged a floor lamp into it somehow but we never went in the app and changed what it's called and so we just it you'll hear randomly forever in our house like one of the kids are big Alexa turn on the Christmas tree and a floor lamp turns on and we've just notice it but if someone's in the house the other day and my wife yelled Alexa turn on the Christmas tree and they were very confused by everything that happened because they were looking around they couldn't see a Christmas tree anywhere why is that floor lamp on and why does nobody think this is strange but we were just tolerating this dysfunctional behavior because it was normal to us to some degree or another all of us are habituated to our dysfunction to the degree that we don't even see it anymore and we're not experiencing the levels of freedom that we actually could be walking in because we're blind to our own blind spots and we all need heaven and the people around us the community are honest to help us to see the ways that we're falling short of what life could actually look like if we would just engage now like I said I don't know what your battle is or what your battles are but I do know this if you'll choose to fight towards them run towards them and engage in them with the power of God in your heart instead of running back from them and staying in the shallow end of life I believe the power like a wolf will rise up in your heart now you look confused let me explain July 1st 1898 it's Cuba spanish-american war Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders are there to take the hill called San Juan San Juan Hill and as they begin to take the hill bullets start coming now Teddy Roosevelt is just a legend what did I I love love love love love Teddy Roosevelt he's my second favorite US president I'm so many things about his life fascinate me he's also one in the same with Robin Williams forever because of night at the museum like I cannot not picture Robin Williams when I think of Teddy Roosevelt but but he he was the first president to ever lead the country while in office went to visit the Panama Canal first president to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize the Medal of Honor the first US presidents ever entertained an african-american in the White House the first u.s. president to ever have a telephone installed in his home or own an automobile so a lot of accomplishments but of course he also was his complicated character who spent time in the Dakotas cattle ranching and and making friends with this crazy group of cowboys and Indians that he would form into the Rough Riders along with his Harvard classmates when they volunteered to go as civilians and fight in this war that was breaking out in his entire life he had idealized the idea the ethos of being a soldier but now he's actually in a battle and there's bullets involved he's like when I was planning the uniforms on Pinterest I didn't think about the bullets that would be flying and so he found himself kind of falling back and and as the story goes he was there and they were kind of crouched low at the base of this hill and he found himself on the other side from the battle by a piece of barbed-wire fence and he was kind of fixating on the other he was on the other side of the barbed wire it's interesting the things you'll fixate on in a crisis and he's seen this barbed wire fence in the ground but what essentially represented for him was a point of no return a crossing the Rubicon type of a moment because man if I go across this barbed wire I'm exposed we're committed and it's do or die now on the other side of this I could I could go I could stay safe here I could stay alive here technically he hadn't even get been given formal permission to issue the charge that day so no one would have batted an eye if he would have stayed where it was safe now I think to some degree or another we're all on this side of the barbed wire in some way where we're like the children of Israel we're meant to cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land we've come out of the Red Sea we've come out of Egypt that represents baptism and salvation but how much of the promised land whether we go forward and take the peace and take the joy and interr into the relational harmony and the emotional intelligence and the self-management these things that God wants us to take the Giants that need to be driven out that's all up to us so we're here on this side of the barbed-wire fence and what will happen if we if we rush forward and take the hill here's the here's the answer honest answer I don't know you might die it could kill you I can't tell you what's gonna happen if you rush forward to have the marriage to have the the spirit to have the habits that God wants you to have I can't tell you what's gonna happen if you go but I can tell you what's gonna happen if you stay where you are if you keep doing what you've always done you'll keep getting what you've always got and that day Teddy Roosevelt he looked at his men and he said let's go he charged them forward and they rushed out across the barbed wire fence they rushed forward and his men said the moment he crossed that fence he became the most glorious soldier they had ever seen and he did not stop leading the men for for he took a shot at a shot off part of his earlobe a pair of glasses got shot off his head but he did not stop urging them for it until they had taken the hill and it was the decisive moment and the turning point in the entire spanish-american war because he crossed the barbed wire fence and for the rest of Teddy's life he would refer to that day July 1st 1898 as the single greatest day of his life because he experienced he said the power like a wolf rising up in his heart that's why that fool got to become president because that's the kind of stuff he wrote in his journal they're gonna read my journal one day and it's gonna say how to smoothie totally going to spin class next and then they're gonna read his and it's like power like a wolf rose in my heart and it's like yeah make him president yeah anyhow journaling is great by the way let me just personally just give her just a quick infomercial for journaling and how important that is Teddy Roosevelt wrote his journal every day even the day his mom and his wife died on the same day February 14th Valentine's Day 1884 he wrote one sentence that day the light has gone out of my life but it was that darkness that caused him to plunge into the cattle ranching operation in the Dakotas that eventually toughened him up and made him into the man that he would be but even in those dark moments just writing down a guide as I journal I come across what I wrote last year on this day yeah I have a five year journal where you see every day over day and so I'm able to see what I was praying through what I was struggling through is fighting through and I'm able to go God answer that prayer God did that this is not as bad as it was back I can't believe back then I thought this was gonna take me out or sometimes I look at something go it's worse now that it was then need to pray more he seemed to say it's not always great but but it's really a wonderful thing this this discipline of writing things down and having a record the truth is I believe you and I are living history so why not let there be a record of the things that are being done and the things that are being said when you write these things down it forces you to question is that what I wanted to have done they say even just the act of writing down what you eat will cause you to eat better writing down how you behaved if you let yourself down or you know if you want to do something better it's just a wonderful discipline so so anyhow the power of a wolf I wonder if there's not one or two of you who are like you know it's good that you brought that up the wolf thing because I don't actually want to be a wolf also while we're on the subject this is the worst Mother's Day sermon I've ever heard what are you even doing well let me just say too that the regular guy will be back next week not only is he taller but he's better so do come back but also let me suggest that maybe the reason you don't really give yourself over to the idea of being a wolf is because in your head Wolf's are three things they're big they're bad and they like to blow houses down right and maybe it's not even the fairy tales that have scared you off of the idea of a wolf maybe you're like it's because I've read the Bible and you should do some time pastor guy because in the Bible the devil likes the wolf and God likes the shepherd so we should not be on the wolf side that is not okay how like the enemy to cause you to completely write-off a creature with attributes you desperately need to possess the Bible says that the devil likes to run around pretending he's a lion our Lions bad oh no we kind of like them too we've a double standard then because snakes are bad right the devil is a serpent of old but he's also we're told we're told one who masquerades as an angel of light now take the line that the devil likes the Bible says the righteous can be as bold as a lion and the snake that the devil likes and the Bible says that Jesus specifically commands us to be as cunning as serpents living in this perverse generation that we live in so we should be like a snake we should be like a lion and I submit to you there's nothing wrong with seeing in the wolf things that we should want to have in our lives in other words the devil's interest in something should cause us to be tipped off to something powerful about them and as I've investigated the wolf I've of course found what we all think about we think about this powerful warrior spirit there's nothing like a wolf up there's nothing like the power of a wolf you know that that sound when you're out in the wild hearing it I mean it'll raise the hair on the back of your neck for sure where I live out in Montana there's some big old wolves and and you think I mean it's it's a serious they're an apex predator a wolf pack they can take down animals that weigh a lot more than they do it's it's an incredible thing there are a fierce warrior and that's what we think about and we should but that's not all because wolves also have a softer side they're incredibly complex relationships they're pack animals they care for each other tenderly look after one another's concerns within the wolf pack wolves are known to exhibit guilt comedy they let their laughter they've a sense of humor they play with one another they're also an animal that's known to grieve they've been exhibited the tent they'll come back to where one of their own has fallen and there's a sense of honor and appreciation almost sadness that they they exhibit where where someone they loved has died it's incredible to study the nuances of life within the Wolf Pack there's a course hierarchy like there should be in any thing that's successful the team sport church for business family it's there should be hierarchy and people having different positions but that doesn't mean that there's there's a lack of importance where there's Authority right there's alpha male wolf but there's also an alpha female wolf there's beta wolf there's there's Omega wolf there's Luke tenants and Generals we're told as I've read into it that wolves all bow low in the presence of the Alpha in that cool when they enter the the Wolf's den there's a sense of honor and humility where they humbled himself before the Alpha well hey guess what Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega he's the first and the last and we all should bow low in the presence of the Alpha he's the head he's the head of this Wolfpack called the church and and the strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf hey right there's there's there something to it and and and yet you also have in wolves a high level of empathy they say that wolves are one of the only creatures outside of humanity known to be susceptible to contagious yawning now picture the word yawn in your head real quick yep yep even the word now oh that was a good one that will ripple throughout the room for the next six or seven minutes because we are susceptible to contagious yawning why because we have the ability to empathize we read each other and the your ability to ratchet up your level of empathy and your emotional intelligence will drastically impact your life they say your EQ that's as opposed to your IQ which is what we traditionally focus on what's your IQ bro do you even lift what's your SAT right we think this smarts is what's what really matters they actually say your EQ accounts for as much as 56 percent of your success in any career and if you can raise your EQ by every point you raise it you will impact your annual take-home salary by as much as $1,300 so what's your EQ this is your ability to read people to be self-aware to keep your foot out of your mouth to not be the cringy person you know there's always that cringey person's like everything say like Oh cringe cringe cringe they come up cringe right just reading the room knowing the right thing to say comfortable in their own skin not always they're like the top or guy Oh y'all went somewhere I went somewhere better cool thanks for being here right like the the level to which you cannot be that guy it's gonna drastically impact your life it's going to impact your relation shifts it's gonna impact how you do in this world it's this how to win friends and influence people that ultimately goes down to being a good listener knowing how to choose a complimentary response when you sense stress in someone it's knowing how to help people de-escalate conflict and and they get their all triggered right there I'll boat up you've we've all been there I didn't get my table I've been here longer they go through and that person is like what do you want it's busy in here what are they were a da ting back the stress that you broadcasted which only causes you to bow up even more but man have you ever been in a customer service situation where they're like a Jedi Ninja on crack and it's like almost like they say the exact right thing there sounds to me like you're too stressed out let me go check in that right now that's not right we wouldn't want that we wanted to carry you yes it's wonderful thank you you're amazing she should be promoted what they do jujitsu right hey they took that booty ha ha ha and you're like uh yeah you'd even know what's happening what are they they're self-aware they're emotionally intelligent they're emphasizing like a wolf so so to recap a wolf is a powerful warrior but it's also a loving nurturer and that is your destiny and to the degree that you can walk in both those things that power and strength but also that tenderness and and reading people knowing how to respond to people care for people communicate to people those two things will make you actually become like Jesus who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah but also at the same time is the lamb slain but from before the foundation of the world majesty mixed with weakness power but in weakness this is our God and this should be us as well to be fierce like a wolf but that loving caring heart now if you have a Bible I want to read to you a passage where Paul the Apostle gives us some of his war strategy at second Corinthians 10 and I love this text so much because Paul who also went through his own personal conflict I mean here here's a guy who wrote thirteen books of the New Testament planted churches all over the world preached to kings we're just reading his resume got to go to heaven one time but just for the day he said I know a man forgot to go to heaven this is in second Corinthians he goes this is the funniest thing in the Bible he goes I don't want to mention any names because you know I don't want to brag but it was me and what I experienced this is Paul what I experienced there I don't I can't even tell you about it because I would ruin it it was so epic if I tried to explain it it would ruin it so you just gotta wait trust me though it's amazing right or is to use my wife's sermon from yesterday wait there's more and so Paul has been through a lot that's great but also in Romans 7 he says what I don't want to do I do when I do I don't want to do so he's also complicated in other words he's just like you or me and he gives us some of his war strategy in 2nd Corinthians 10 starting in verse 3 I'm reading out of the NIR V I do live in the world but I don't find my battles the way that people of the world do the weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses in fact it's just the opposite my weapons come on someone say my weapons but say it with some sass my weapons are not the weapons the world uses in fact it's just the opposite my weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy underline that word camps of the enemy verse 5 I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps you from knowing God I keep every thought underlined that every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ are you blessed by the reading of Scripture come on do you love the Bible don't you just feel grateful just even how you feel different after reading that you never get finished reading the Bible I wish I hadn't done that all right so it's just always just lifts you up to a higher level I want to give you three quick takeaway truths as we begin to try and put some of this into doggie bags that will help us hopefully to to live on a higher level and the first thing I want you write down is the phrase mind your head mind your head that's the other way of saying watch your head like in England when you go to England they say mind instead of watch which is you know most things that they say in England are wrong like you know they don't call it you know they don't call it french fries they call them chips and they don't call it an apartment they call it a flat and they don't call it an elevator they call it a lift and they don't call it a stroller they call it a push trolley and they don't call it a trashcan they call it a bin and so they don't call it a trash bag they call it a bin liner right it's just hashtag we won and stuff but they don't even drive on the right side of the road what is it with these people so when I was in England last I I did notice one thing they do that's a little bit better than how we do it that is to say that when when there's like a low overhang you're gonna walk under we would put the sign that says like watch your head they would say mind your head mind your head and I got to thinking about it and I was like that's actually better because you can't watch your head because your eyes are mounted on your head so unless there's like a mirror involved you cannot watch your head it's like physically impossible you you never can watch your head try but be mindful of your head that's good advice mind your head so so in that way I say it mind your head because this battle that you're winning that you're gonna win before the Battle of fist comes battle of mind Kung Fu Panda taught me that y'all right that's that's because I got kids I see that movie a bunch of times right so so so mind your head that's why Paul said in the text to destroy the camps of the enemy I keep every thought under control how'd you underline them I wanted to Troy the camps to the enemy so I got to keep my thoughts under control the strongholds the enemy gets to take hold in our lives for so many of us they take place in our mind why well proverbs 23 verse 7 puts it this way as a man thinks in his heart so he is that is to say you are what you think the camps of the enemy always refers to is just a strategic stronghold and anybody who's got military experience you understand that the high ground is key to controlling the outcome of any battle you think of Normandy you think of well the battle for San Juan Hill and the spanish-american war the space race was the to make quest to control the high ground why do we invest all this into our drones and to into the ability to launch fire from on high it's because we can control the high ground and thus control the outcome of any situation well there's no higher ground in your life than your head your head is your life's high ground and if I'm your enemy and I can control your thought life I know that I can control all of your life which was is why Paul says if I want to get these strongholds out I've got to learn to think differently that's that's this key that you understand this because you can't live right if you won't think right where your head goes your body will ultimately and inevitably follow and so let me ask you this question what is the polarity of your thought life like are you constantly allowing negativity to dominate the way you think figures always goes that way yeah so you got the promotion sure of course well that's good Rainie always rainy on my birthday I hate it right since we're such negativity this cloud that follows you around right now you're saying oh okay so where you get into this you know positivity you know you know New Age thing on me you're gonna tell me the power of positive thinking no I'm not suggesting positivity as a replacement for God I'm talking about positivity as a response to God that because you believe God is good and because you believe God cares for you because you believe God is is the one who's gone before you to set things up and watches you from the back watches your six is your rear guard as the Bible would put it because you believe that he is gonna make a table before you in the presence of your enemies anoint your head with oil causes your cup to overflow yeah man that that's that right there should key you off to something half glass glass half-full half-empty neither my glass is overflowing y'all that's how I feel it because God's gonna be good even when life is bad and that kind of thinking will not allow there to be the kind of negativity that so often creeps in studies have been done they found that the average American has 500 negative thoughts per day lasting on average 14 seconds in length which if you add that up that's about one point eight hours per day we give over to fear to worry too fishness - just just thoughts that aren't productive at all now you don't is just this is some permission time ready I'm gonna give you permission slip this is your permission slip you don't have to think everything you feel a thought can show up and you can like Paul said take that thought captive keep that thought in control install a TSA checkpoint in your mind oh I'm sorry jealous thoughts aren't allowed in here today it's Tuesday jealous thoughts on a lot on Tuesday come back on never right that's that's the kind of power we have to exercise over our minds your flesh wants you to think that you have to do everything you you feel like doing but you don't and freedom comes when you can have a thought pop in your head and go not today devil Jesus is in charge of this mine we're under new management and you're gonna not allow anything that's not good acceptable praiseworthy noble kind to allow itself to stay in your mind the reward for negativity is just more negativity it just cycles because whatever you're searching for you're gonna see more of and so if you're always walking around hoping to get hurt and waiting to get wounded and you know I can't on the figures right oh my husband's so selfish and then she does something selfish see you were out you were you were waiting for him to do that you already convicted him on crime didn't even commit yet so of course you're gonna see the slightest tone of negativity but if you retrain your mind to not search for those things but to be looking for the good look look for any reason to praise your kids however small it might be all right that's great right we moved towards the toilet right it's a good job Billy right it's like whatever but when you're looking for the right things you're gonna find those things and it's gonna lead to a life you love instead of one you loathe well there's a second second thing I want you jot down is use your words use your words why would I say that because you can't be a wolf if you won't tip your head back and howl a you have to use your words you think about a wolf's howl and how impressive it is they can be heard from up to ten miles away well you can't do that but you speak 5,000 words per day that's pretty powerful and you think about the power God's given to human speech we're told in proverbs 18 words can kill or words can give life they're either poison or fruit you choose I love the ending of that verse you choose you know the god you know that God created the world by speaking he's spoken it was and he's made you in His image and so to some degree you have the power of creation as you open up your mouth and whether you create life or death is entirely up to you now of course this is true in the in the you know the way you speak to your wife the way you speak to your kids the way you text the way you Facebook all that all that all that yeah but did you know your words also make an impact on you your words create certain atmospheres in your heart your words create certain situations and the Bible talks specifically about certain situations Jesus walked into where he could do no mighty miracles he could do no mighty work because there wasn't gratitude honor and faith present and so let me ask you this question are your words inadvertently creating situations where God cannot do the kind of things he wants to do because your words lack hope and faith and honor and gratitude and love or are your words creating the Fertile conditions under which God can do the kind of mighty miracles that he's longing to do in your day it's up to you you choose I think sometimes to myself that every time we end up you know there's those fortune cookie things you're supposed to do I got the ndv fortune cookie you add on well you just you know what you add on there's different things and that are appropriate for church but but I wonder if if every time you speak or say something if you could almost hear heaven say if you say so as you wish if you say so as you wish for example let's say you mind if I sit down there's such a beautiful environment it would be a shame for no one to enjoy it today let's say you're you're driving to work and you're just saying to yourself can't believe this traffic in this stupid City I can't believe this car barely oszkár so me Mercedes going by oh yeah sure Wow they probably love it you know and my husband and you know this this is son kids in the carpool Aust my salvation talking to them today and you know oh and all my boss and just have listerine much and gosh his breath is awful and he thinks he's so funny and uh and and you're driving imagine having going if you say so because the power God gave you are allowing your words to create so all you're gonna see today is your your cramped car your terrible apartment your rude coworkers you're gonna see your your city's gonna shrink down in upon you because you created a route a reality for yourself on the other hand if if you choose to say you know what I believe I'm gonna see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living today I resolved in my hearts today I'm gonna honor God with the way I think honor God with the way I speak I'm gonna seek to be a blessing not need a blessing I'm gonna seek to notice people and not wait for someone to notice me and today I'm gonna quest I'm gonna quest to bless people Tama I'm on a quest to live out the will of God and so now driving I choose to say God you know I think you did this car that's barely hanging on for dear life thank you that I have a car and you know what I'm not walking down the side of the road thank you that I'm healthy today thank you that I live in this great country Thank You Vera have a great church thank you that you saved my soul thank you that I'm headed to heaven thank you that I have a job thank you so much for opportunities even in adversity I think with a twinkle in his eye you're gonna hear God's saying if you say so and now all of a sudden life's gonna transform around you into a place bursting with possibility and opportunity and blessing even in the midst of adversity come on let's use our words to do good and not evil is anybody with me that's willing to give God a good amen all right use your words lastly certainly not least yeah you got to you got to speak softly for sure for sure but you also got to carry a big stick come on come on Roosevelt you got to carry a big stick and that is to say there's got to be some power you're relying upon yes do all the things that you can do but never forget the power of God that can bring what you can never bring to a situation to quote verses three again in the passion translation look at this he says we don't wait a military campaign employing just human weapons our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power yes think about positive thoughts yes speak life-giving words but at the end of the day we are not to wage war just with human techniques that is to say we need to be energized from above with the Holy Spirit of God that descended upon Jesus like a dove that's waiting to descend upon you just as they gave little flames of fire and power to the disciples who were preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth God wants to fill you with his spirit to love the unlovable he wants to fill you with his spirit to deal with the difficulties in your co-working arrangement and the difficulties at life let me tell you every impossible thing needs power because the enemy wants to burn you up with trial burn you up with temptation some people in your life are just trying to poke you poke you poke you so you finally snap in they go see I knew it you're like what in the butt you know what it's called getting your goat how many times are you gonna get your goat gotten til you tie your goat up somewhere else right you just gotta you got to put one of those panels over the buttons in the elevator right they keep poking the bugs you know I'm gonna put a little little panel here we're gonna move the buttons I just wonder if if there's not some different things we need to do in some in some different ways but at the end of the day some people are just impossible some things are just it just seems like it's impossible we need God's help to do God's work God has given you power to do impossible things it's called the Holy Spirit now I know something like I've had some weird experiences just know this is not a charismatic thing and this is not a denominational thing this is a scriptural thing and Jesus said we need the power of the Holy Spirit to energize our efforts so my encouragement to you would be every single day wake up and say God I need to fill me afresh with your Holy Spirit I need power I'm hurtin this seems hard this is scary this is big I'm overwhelmed I feel shaky even just thinking about doing this thing I feel like I'm gonna go back to one of my numbing things there put one of my old masks back on I want to revert back to some of these old tendencies or go find the barbed wire and hide on the other side of it somebody but instead to say God I need your Holy Spirit to fill me up like fire from above I'm telling you I got up on this platform in the power of the Holy Spirit not in yesterday's anointing not in last week's anointing not in last year's anointing why because I leaked and so do you so we need a fresh anointing for a fresh opportunity a fresh talent you need to carry a big stick and God is prepared to give it to you he's prepared to be strong where you're weak he's prepared to be your covering and to be a hedge about you and to allow you to man up with wings like eagles to run and not grow weary to walk and not faint I'm telling you even to rely on the power of the Holy Ghost and the power of the people to your left and to your right the strength of the wolf is to pack the strength of the pack is the wolf we need each other to be strong where one another are weak to confide in each other how we're struggling so we can pray for each other and have each other's back to quote from the Homer's Odyssey do you have people in your life who will tie you to the mast when when the sirens song causes you to be the version of you that you don't want to be we need we need people in our lives who love us enough to hold us back from making a mess of our lives now this is all good and well and maybe some of you are like man this is this is exactly what I needed to hear this Mother's Day weekend maybe there's a few others of you who are saying yeah this is great but it's it's already too late for me you talk about the painting going through the shredder I've been through the shedder a federal fugitive like this is all really well but I feel like I have so many layers of mistakes and I'm so entrenched in these old habits and this dysfunction is so prevalent in my life that I don't even know where to even start let me just encourage you to look at it perhaps a little differently because I read in the news that art experts estimate that the bank he painting now in its half shredded state is worth far more than it was when it was perfect in fact it's inspired art and obviously conversation here we are talking about it in fact I came across on Etsy a shirt one person was telling us a very creative person who was selling this shirt yeah that's that's opportunity striking right there well done I love that entrepreneurial spirit is this shirt inspired by the half shredded painting why would someone pay more for the painting shredded than when it was whole the answer is to the person who actually appreciates Banksy they understand that the painting was never just the painting that the masterpiece was the whole performance that day the actual work of art was never just the painting in the pretty canvas it was always about the reaction of the room it was about the surprise girl the glass is coming down her nose taking the selfie was about the the posh British auctioneer trying to keep a stiff upper lip when all hell was breaking loose in that moment the art was the story the art was the whole scene and how that was just one aspect of it and here's what I say to you who feel like you've already been through the shredder and you've sabotaged yourself and you've messed up some relationships and you've alienated some people and you've created your own nightmare so to speak in some way or another and here you now sit in this reality going what do I even do here's what I say to you what makes you think that the artist God is surprised by your mess what makes you think that he doesn't have a plan to work the shredded bits of the canvas of your life into a greater masterpiece into a greater story he knew from the beginning that painting was going to get shredded and he knew from the beginning how he was going to work it into what he saw in his mind's eye and your God who sent Jesus to die on the cross before the world was even made already has a plan today to work the tattered remains of your life into something magnificent if you let him our God can make beautiful things out of broken people in Jesus name and father we thank you we thank you that right now we all sit here with pain we all sit here with with with mistakes were all broken people none of us are perfect but you want to work our mistakes our sin our air our tragedy into something bigger with your grace we prayed give us the strength to see that and well with all of us praying with heads bowed and I closed if if you're here today and you would just say I want to respond to this message I want to declare war when I cross that barbed wire fence I want God's power like a wolf to rise up in me if you would be honest enough to say that could I just ask that you would do something bold and raise your hand up in the air by raising your hand up you're saying I want to engage in this battle I want to move forward and all that God has for me thank you Jesus my hand is up man new new levels new Devils every time I feel like I make some progress I see some new area so I'm I'm raising my hand up as well but thank you Jesus for all these who was vulnerability and humility are admitting their weakness and thank you for the ways that you work in our lives when we're honest enough to come to you for help and I pray your blessing on each of these may your faith shine upon them may your spirit work in their hearts and lives in Jesus name you could put your hands down and and as we continue to pray I want to just extend an invitation out to anybody who's here today and you've never said yes to Jesus you know there comes a point all of our lives when the Holy Spirit rings the doorbell inside of us and we all have the space to give our lives to God and if you're here you've never said yes to Jesus you've never turned your life over to him you can the Bible says that God loves you and send Jesus to die for you and if you open your heart up to Jesus he'll come into your life that moment came for me my freshman year of high school right here in New Mexico now the Calvary of Albuquerque summer camp when I realized I was religious but I didn't have a relationship with God and maybe you're here and you need to invite Jesus to come into your life so with all of our heads bowed and eyes closed I'm just gonna ask it if you are aware of your need to give your heart to Christ it's even right now you're under a conviction of your sins you feel like God is calling you to him it's like you need to be forgiven you need to let God in talk to you I'm describing can I ask that while we're all praying you would just raise your hand up in the air just right now just raise it up don't put this off get right with God today respond to his conviction god bless you just put your hands up the balcony church online god bless you right here and the family oh I see anybody else before we pray you're saying include me in this prayer god bless thee hands going up around the room in the back over here God sees all of your hands all of your hearts he knows your name he knows your story you could put your hands down and I'm gonna pray with you a simple short prayer you asking Jesus to come into your heart now I'm asked to church family to pray it with us our way of saying we welcome you into the family say they say dear God I know I'm a sinner I can't fix myself please come into my heart and make me new I give myself to you in Jesus name I pray amen hey come on let's celebrate with all those making this decision god bless you Calvary we hope you enjoyed this special service from Calvary Church we'd love to know how this message impacted you email us at my story at Calvary nm church and just a reminder you can support this ministry with a financial gift at Calvary nm Church slash give thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 12,195

Rating: 4.7623763 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: Ituts1NyU20

Length: 54min 46sec (3286 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019