The Wilderness Mindset. P2. | Sunday Series. Open Doors. Part 11.

Join Pastor Chance as he continues to talk about how to get rid of mindsets that keep us stuck from moving into the promises God helps us.  

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Amen. Amen. Good morning. Good morning. How's everybody doing? Good. Cool. So glad you guys are here. We are in our series open doors. We are on week 11, and we just have just another week, maybe two. And I feel like uh what we've been talking about is how we leave the door open for the devil. Like he doesn't just come in full force kicking it down, right? What normally typically happens is he plants a little seed, a little thought, and then we run with it. We play that on repeat over and over in our minds. Let's go. There we go. And and then next thing you know, he's got us trapped, right? He doesn't force his way into our lives. We normally keep the door open and let him in. So if you think about that for a second, Paul says it this way. He doesn't say, keep the devil out. Paul actually says in Ephesians 4 27, do not give the devil a foothold. Which would imply you have the ability to give the devil a foothold. So do not, is what he says. And so the way that he gets a foothold through open doors is the compromise that I mean you think no one sees, or the sin that we just keep justifying, or the wrong influences we keep inviting into our homes and our houses, and it's 100% also the lies that we continue to believe that he tells us. And so this is how open doors are how the enemy gets access into our life through the cracks that he slips through, right? And so footholds that end up starting as a little thing camp out, we dwell on, and uh we allow him that opportunity to just kind of kind of stand and remain in that spot. And so until we choose to believe one of his lies, you know, like you're not good enough, or you're too far gone. I think we got like three phone calls this week that they said just like that. I'm too far gone, Pastor. You can't pray for me, the Lord doesn't want me. Uh it's like, wow, what what Bible you read, man? We gotta get you a new Bible because that's not the word of the Lord, and you know, we're essentially looking up and saying, Come on in, devil, and make yourself at home, right? We believe those lies. And so the thing about the enemy is he absolutely will take you up on that every single time. So, what what happens next? That little foothold that he has turns into what's called a stronghold, right? It's a trap, it's a fortress of lies built by the enemy, not like a physical trap, but it's a mental trap. And the real battleground that what we discovered is it's not actually your circumstances, even though we like to look at things and see in front of us and think, oh, if I could just get rid of that, that's really not it. It's the battle in your mind, right? That's where he really attacks us. Um it's what's going there. His lies are designed to trip you up, to wear you out, and ultimately render you useless to the will of God for your life and the purpose that he has for you. He wants you addicted, angry, afraid, self-focused, isolated. And so we started talking about um last week the wilderness mindset, and and we're taking that based off the Israelites. Y'all all probably know the story. They were rescued out of Egypt, and the journey to the Promised Land was actually only an 11-day trip. And what happened? It took them 40 years. That's ridiculous, detour. Um, and uh, and uh they literally wandered around the same mountain for four decades. It reminded me of the time we got stuck, we got stuck in Canyon City. Uh we got stuck in the snow, we got we got highplane in Brooke's forerunner, and the only thing I could remember is, oh, we saw that house, that last house we saw. We were we were on the boonies. I was like, it's not far. Bo come with me, and we left Tate with the uh Brooke and Maddie, and it turned out being a lot farther than we thought. Um, and you know, we're walking this path and we're trying to get cell service, and we got it for two seconds, and then we lost it, and we couldn't get anybody. I'm like, man, how far is this house? And then next thing you know, Bo's calling out, uh, Dad, are those paw prints getting bigger? No, no, no, no, no. Not those aren't even paw prints, those deer. Um, and and so, you know, I like this this journey we we embark on. Um, sometimes we get detoured and we get stuck, and it takes a lot longer than we think. And they circled that mountain for four decades. And here's the truth the devil has not come up with any new tricks. He's using the same junk he was using then to keep us wandering as far away as possible from the plan for your life. And so uh we looked at five mindsets last week that keep us circling that mountain. One is my future is determined by my past or my present. In other words, we're stuck in an event. Um, two, someone else should do it for me. I don't want the responsibility, right? Number three, complaining is just who I am. And complaining is the gratitude killer. Or number four, I want it now. Um, that commercial. Uh it's my money, I want it now. Sorry, I just um it now I'm seeing the commercial. Which is impatience, and then number five, it's not my fault. We play the blame game. And so if we want to get out of that loop, um, we have to start looking at these things and attacking them one by one and taking care of them. And so this week, I want to look at a few more mindsets that the enemy uses to keep us wandering. Um, before we do, let's pray. Father God, I just thank you for uh the time we have to spend in your word. I pray for uh just that you would help us. Your Holy Spirit would help us to understand and receive the word today, Lord. I pray that you would clear our minds and our hearts of any distractions, Lord, that we could uh truly focus on your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, number six, the uh statement for number six is my life is miserable. If you look at the uh ancient Israelites, they're not that different from us, to be honest with you. They're walking out of Egypt, which is an amazing miracle. And the the way that that happened was there were all the plagues, right? And then Pharaoh said, I can't take it anymore. Get out. I don't even want you here. You're just a problem. And then suddenly all the small problems feel like the end of the world to the Israelites, right? It takes a little bit longer than they thought. A lot longer. Takes a little bit longer than they thought, and there's self-pity. You know, there's a minor inconvenience, and there's self-pity. Um, they become world-class experts at turning every little bump in the road to an excuse or or what we call a pity party. Um, and they acted like victims when they were in fact incredibly blessed. God did miracle after miracle after miracle in their lives, and yet they played the victim card. So the problem is you cannot throw a pity party and walk in God's power at the same time. Those two can't coexist. It just doesn't work that way. And so the minute that you embrace that victim mindset, you start focusing on what you don't have or maybe what you deserve, right? And you actually cut the circuit on the power of God to be available to you. So if you want to walk through your week well, or your marriage, or your career with power, um, you have to choose to stop entertaining the thought, um, the woe is me thought. And you have to decide to shut down the pity party. Because the power God has for you can't be delivered to a person that is too busy feeling sorry for themselves. Philippians 2 4 says, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interest, but each of you to the interest of the others. So, how do we take that focus off? Sometimes it's simply put the thoughts on someone else. Think of others. Um, we can get caught in the trap of self-pity uh where the whole world just shrinks down to what I see only happening to me, right? And sometimes we exhaust ourselves trying to get people to feel sorry for us or hoping they'll validate your miserable situation, right? I just need I uh what is that saying? Misery loves company, thank you. I couldn't think of it, so I didn't write it down, but I was like, I know there's a saying. Um, and and that's the truth, right? When you're down, yeah, you want to be with someone who's done. You don't want to be with the cheery guy, right? You're not like, oh man, I'm having a rough day. Well, man, my day just started perfect. I just woke up with so much energy and I had all these things, and I'm just knocking them off one bar. I was like, loser, get away, get out, stay away from me, right? And so we get caught in that trap of self-pity where the whole world just kind of just isolates and shrieks now to us. And sometimes we get so exhausted in this work. Um, we're trying to leverage a negative experience for positive um attention, and it's just really not just a bad mood, it's way more than that. It actually can become an addiction.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Some people are just, you know, I don't know if you've ever said this or or know someone or have ever heard somebody say this. Hopefully, it wasn't about you, but um, oh, they're just drawn to the drama, right? And so it can become an addiction. An addiction is actually just a learned behavior, it's an automatic response to something difficult, right? You get a raw deal, you face a disappointment, and your brain just uh defaults to the victim routine. It's one of Satan's favorite little tools to keep you stuck, and it keeps you just roaming in the same spot, just kind of running that circle there over and over, and you're lost and you're focused on, well, that's what I deserve. I deserve what they got, right? I deserve what they have. And for us, those who follow Jesus, we should have a different option. We don't have to stay stuck in that pattern. We don't have to get trapped there and stay stuck in that. We might have lost the job or the relationship, but now we have the privilege of saying something like, the chapter is closed. I'm choosing to accept the new beginning God has for me. Right? Your language and your response to things is is gonna shape how your brain is gonna work in that situation, right? You have the ability to control the outcome of your response. And so Romans 8 28 says, We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So self-pity is a short-sighted game. And we need to remember that God has not forgotten us. Although we might be going through a difficult situation, God can turn it around to accomplish a greater good in your life. Second Corinthians 4, verse 17 says, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes on what is seen, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And so it immediately speaks to when you're stuck in a problem. Whatever you're dealing with, even though it's overwhelming, Paul says that it's light and momentary, right? It's temporary. Yeah, it's it's eventually gonna fade. I had a I had a business for a little while, and then I've I've worked in several churches, and and when doing like consulting or talking with friends that are in ministry, they're always like, How do you deal with like someone that you gotta you gotta they need to get off of your ministry team, right? That you they've got a lot of things going on, and right now it's not a really good team. I was like, crazy thing is in my business I've never had to fire anybody, and I've never had to remove anybody from a position. God normally takes care of that. And what I normally do is just spend time prayer that God, you will take care of this battle for me. I'm not gonna take care of that battle. I'm gonna let you handle it. And what I have normally heard people say, at least in my experience, is hey, I'm going through some stuff, I'm just gonna take a step back, right? Like they eventually, God shows it to them in their own time, and they realize, hey, I just need to take a little season. And what I normally say is, hey, in a month, why don't we get together, we got to lunch or something, and let's let's talk about it. And it normally works itself out. They normally go, I made a way bigger deal of it than I thought it was. I was all in my fields, and I thought you were all mad at me about this, and I thought this was going on, but I realized like I didn't show up to work three days in a row, and so that was probably a problem that I needed that I needed to fix. Awesome. I'm glad you realized that, you know, and God dealt with that for me. Um, and so it's basically saying that we need to change the way we're looking at uh the situation because the trial actually might be in God's plan, might actually work out for you, then work against you. Um and so self-pity can be rooted in a feeling of being like deprived, which is the opposite of contentment. Philippians 4, 11, 13 says, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do all things through him who gives me strength. So contentment is not a personality trait. It's not just what you see in other people and go, oh, they were just blessed with that. It's a it's a learned discipline. It is something that you work on. And Paul pretty much says, Listen, I've been low and I've been high, I've learned to be happy with both. Whatever the circumstance, because I realize that my strength does not come from my own abilities and my own situation, it comes from Jesus Christ. And so the Bible encourages believers to adopt an attitude of gratitude and trust. 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, give thanks in every circumstance. Every circumstance. Right? For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I have heard people over and over and over, I just don't know what the will of God for me is. Well, 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus, give thanks in every circumstance. What happens when you do that in every circumstance? What happens when you do that in work? Everybody else notices. What happens when you do that in your home? The whole family notices. Everybody is impacted, everybody. People are drawn to the light in you because you're willing to give thanks in circumstances that they would not be willing to, right? And so it is actually a testimony that can be used to bring people to Jesus. And so God can and will provide for you. Sometimes we need to just take our eyes off ourselves and rest in his promises, right? Declare his word and stand on his word. So a number six mentality was my life is miserable. Number seven, I don't deserve God's blessing. This is a really hard one, right? The Israelites come to the end of 40-year wandering. Joshua leads them across the Jordan River into the promised land. There was something God needed to do before they conquered their first city, which was Jericho. And what does he do? He orders that all the Israelite males to be circumcised. Yah. Which is a sign of obedience and symbolizes them being willing to turn away from the world, from fleshly, worldly ways, and start living for him. Joshua 5 9, it says, Then the Lord said to Joshua, This day I have rolled away the reproach, derision, ridicule of Egypt from you. So the name of that place is called Gilgal, which is rolling to hit to this day. So why did the reproach have to be rolled and what does that mean? Reproach means blame, shame, or disgrace. And so this makes a significant transition from the old life, their old life of bondage of slavery, to a new life in the promised land. So the act of rolling away is actually a symbol of a fresh start. It's the fulfillment of God's promises in their life. And so the problem is a lot of us are living with a deep sense of shame or or regret or conviction and or guilt that our past sins don't qualify us. And we think that if people really knew what I did, right, what we thought or what we've been carrying, they would judge us more. And more importantly, that God would judge us, right? And the thing he's saying here is actually very relevant. God has rolled away the reproach. And so for us, what does that mean? It means that we have the ability to personally receive forgiveness for our sins, for our past mistakes, whatever it may be, right? It's it's not, oh, we forgive these four sins, but the rest of them, good luck. Right? He forgives all. And you can't just like nod your head, oh yeah, I get forgiveness. Um, you actually have to take the gift of forgiveness and walk in it. Um, and so he forgave everything, and you are not responsible for repunishing yourself. Number two, you have to stop the well, what I deserve talk. Right? Um, this is kind of where we tend to get stuck. We think if I'm really good, I'll be worthy of his blessing. And if that's how it worked, then we wouldn't have needed Jesus. And so we can't earn it and we don't deserve it. So we have to stop trying to be worthy. Our response to God's goodness shouldn't be striving uh to be deserving, it should just be humble acceptance and genuine awe.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:17

And his grace is not a reward for your performance. You don't receive his grace because you were good enough, right? He doesn't say, you know, well done, thou good and faithful servant, because look at all these great things you did. Right? It's because you believed on him and you accepted what he gave you. That's what he welcomes you for. It's a gift because of his absolute goodness and unconditional love. And so he has literally what it's saying is he has rolled away the shame, the disgrace, and the blame. And so the only reason that we're able to be given God's forgiveness is because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Uh Romans 8 17 says the Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our Spirit, assuring us that we believers are children of God. And if we are his children, then we are his heirs, also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing his spiritual blessing and inheritance. If indeed we share in his suffering so that we may also share in his glory. So Jesus paid the full price for our sins. He didn't just chip in a little bit and we did the rest, he did the whole thing so that we could have an entire inheritance. And he earned the blessing, he earned the access, the freedom and the favor, because we put faith in him, we're now legally bound and declared a joint heir with Christ. That's a big deal. That is a really big deal. It means you don't just get the leftovers. What it means is you have the same excess, the same standing, and the same power as Jesus Christ. That's a huge deal. And it doesn't mean when you get to heaven, because what the Bible also said is your citizenship in heaven is now. Once you believe on him, right, you receive that citizenship. And so all these things are available to you now. Why? Because you can live like an heir. Galatians 4 7 says, Therefore you are no longer a slave or a bondservant, but a son. And if a son, then also an heir through the gracious act of God through Christ. So here's the question: Do you live as a son? Do you live as a slave? And the way that you answer that or the way that you view that is actually gonna define and determine your relationship with God. Right? And a lot of Christians are still living like slaves or bondservants. They're grinding it out, trying to keep every little rule to be perfect, so um following every religious law, hoping that they, if they give enough effort, um they'll finally qualify to get God's approval. Right? And the Bible calls that wearisome, it's exhausting, but the better truth is they just be the son, just be the daughter, right? An heir, a son or daughter, receives everything not because of what they do, but because of who they are, because of relationship. And so an heir gets the inheritance for one reason and one reason only, because they're in the family.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Right? The the prodigal son, how many of you guys know the story of the prodigal son? You all read that story. So the prodigal son leaves because I want my inheritance now, right? I'm tired of working for you, Pops, and I know we're loaded, so just let me have my peace. Right? He takes and he he goes and lives wild, right? He goes clubbing, you know, 24-7. He's just living the life, ends up in the pig pen, and he's like, Well, at least at least they got some food, you know, so I'll live with them. And then he started thinking, Well, what if I just went home and I became a worker for my dad? They live pretty okay. I mean, they still get you know their three square meals and somewhere to lay their head down, so that's not a horrible life. And he starts going home, and on his way back home, the father sees him, which would imply the father was looking for him.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

And he sees him and he goes and he runs, he throws his robe around him, he goes, get the ring, get the fattened calf. We're about to have a party. Why? Because my son is home. So it's not based on uh all you've done here, you only get this piece of this robe, and let's let's melt that ring down and just give him like a little corner. No, you get the full restoration of what you were. My son.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

You're a part of the family, you didn't earn it, you didn't deserve it, you just inherit it. And so if you're following Jesus, um you are no longer a bond servant to the law. Right? Now it doesn't mean the law disappears, and we don't have to be someone that has integrity and character and we can just murder whoever we want. That's not what that means. What it means is because you follow those things does not mean you get into heaven. Those are just things that you start doing because the Holy Spirit starts encouraging you to live that way, right? But it's not be the thing that's gonna accept you and get you into righteousness or are into heaven, but you are a recipient of a gift that was passed down through the will and testament of the new covenant with Jesus Christ. So, number eight is that the mentality is everyone else is doing better than me. I'm pretty sure we've all had that thought at some point in our life. Just me? Okay, sorry. Um, so John 21, verse 21 says, When Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him? Jesus answered, If I want him to remain alive until our return, what is that to you? You must follow me. And so comparison is a trap. It's the fastest way to derail your current assignment. If you look at Peter, what's actually going on here is God gives him a clear, powerful vision for his future. Path that's gonna be he's telling him it's gonna be a little bit difficult, right? Um, leading to a glorious end. But it's one of the most significant moments in Peter's life. And what happens? As soon as Jesus outlines Peter's rough road ahead, Peter turns around and sees John, and immediately he goes, Yeah, but what about him? Is he gonna go through the same junk I had to go through? I don't go by myself, right? And he was saying, you know, if I'm going to have to go through it, I need to make sure someone else is going to have to live through this too, right? Not going by myself. And so that right there is the wilderness mentality. It's the moment you shift your focus from your mission to someone else's circumstances. Right? And uh Jesus' response to Peter is actually one of the most direct statements that Jesus delivers to the disciples. He says, If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Just follow me. Don't worry about anybody else, Peter. Do what I tell you to do. Right? And so it was a polite way of saying, hey, mind your own business. And so stop comparing your current struggle, your current blessings, or your current assignment to everyone else's. Jealousy and envy are just symptoms of having your mindset on the wrong person's story. And each and every one of us has a unique and distinct calling, right? You have unique talents and gifts that God has given you, and your path might not look like someone else's. And to be honest with you, you don't want to be on someone else's path. You don't know what they're going to have to go through. You don't know what their path is going to entail. And so we follow Jesus based on what he asks us to do individually, not what everyone else is doing. Proverbs 14:30 says, A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body. Jealousy is like cancer in the bones. Jealousy and envy will cause you to not act like yourself. If you look at the story of Joseph, this is a direct example. His brothers hated him. Hated him. It says it several times that they hated him because their father loved him so much. Oh, he's the favorite, so we all hate him. And that's not the only reason. Genesis 37, verse 5. We're going to read a lot of this, so follow along with us. Verse 5 through 11. One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. Listen to this dream, he said. It was almost kind of like it's almost kind of like, ha ha. Let me tell you this story, buddy. We were out in the field tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine. That's what you want to hear. His brothers responded, So you think you will be our king? Do you? He said, Do you actually think you will reign over us? And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. Listen, I've had another dream, he said. Oh, great. The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me. This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers. But his father scolded him. What kind of dream is that? He asked. Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you? But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant. And then we get to see the brother's response. Genesis 37, 19. Here comes the dreamer, they said. Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father a wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams. But it doesn't stop there. Verse 21. But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph's rescue. Let's not kill him, he said. Why should we shed any blood? Let's just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he'll die without our laying a hand on him. Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return to his father. So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty, there was no water in it. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, bomb, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, What will we gain by killing our brother? We'd have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let's sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother. Oh, well that's kind of you. Um our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were the Midianite traitors, came by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver, and the traitors took him to Egypt. They let jealousy get the best of them. Right? And it consumed them. They couldn't stand it, and it drove them to complete and utter craziness, right? And then we also get to see an example in the disciples. Uh Luke twenty-two, verse twenty-four says, Now a dispute also rose among them as to which of them was regarded to be the greatest. Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not to be this way with you. On the contrary, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest and least privileged, and the one who is the leader like the servant. Just look at these disciples. They get to spend three years walking with Jesus, seeing all the miracles, seeing the amazing things, the amazing things that he does for them. And what's their what's their response? Well, wait a second, Lord. Which one of us is the favorite? Which is the best? Because I've been doing a lot of stuff. I think I should get to sit at your right hand, right? And so the Son of God is preparing for the cross, and his closest followers are arguing this petty argument, which one of us is the best. It shows us that something critical about the human nature, right? Our human nature, the world, your flesh, it says, get to the top spot, be recognized, demand respect, right? Be the best. And so Jesus was teaching them that the kingdom of God is actually different. Mark 10, 31 says, But many who are first will be last, and the last first. And then Luke 15, 6 through 9 says, uh he goes home, then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have lost my I have found my lost coin. In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. God is looking at your heart. Not what you can do for him. He's looking at your heart. That's what he wants. Matthew 5, 43, it's a pretty bold statement. He says, You have heard it that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. If you don't know the story, the Jews, they were they're there's no other way to say it, they're pretty racist. And so if you weren't fully Jewish, you aren't part of the team, right? And they talked really bad. They called them like dog dogs. They called them, I mean, they treat them like absolute dirt. And so for him to come and say, hey, hey, not not am I only saying that you know you need to love your neighbor, um, but I'm saying you need to love your enemy. Yeah, that's a big deal. Yeah, that's a big deal. And so uh the world's operating system tells us that we have to get ahead, right? And it doesn't matter how you get there, if you're on a career track, building a business, or or even sometimes volunteering and some things, the the pull is always to I gotta be at the top spot. I need the recognition, right? Makes us feel good. And to win at all costs, get to the head of line. It doesn't matter what you have to do to get there or or who you have to step on in the path. You just gotta get there. And so the world system is built on competition. Yeah, it turns your neighbor, your colleagues, your friend, your family members, and even your spouse into an actual rival, someone you're competing against. And that system will never bring you peace. It you'll never have peace in that system because you'll always want more. Yeah, right? And so uh you trade peace for constant anxiety of comparison, and the Bible has a radical alternative. It teaches that you will never experience real lasting peace until you are delivered from the need to compete with other people in your life. Yeah, when you just are content with your status, when you're happy where you're at, right, and what God has blessed you with. Your value is not determined by your rank, your assignment is not a competition. God has plenty of favor to go around. You don't have to fight other people for it, we don't have to wrestle for position, and we experience freedom when we realize that our path is just our path, right? And our success is not dependent upon someone else's failure. I don't need to kick Bo to receive the love of Jesus Christ and put him down, or I don't need to go to God and go, well, you saw what Bo did yesterday, right? At least I didn't do that, Lord. Right? That's not the goal, that's not the point. God loves you for you, and he desires even to bless you more than you yourself desire to be blessed. Third John, it's verse 2, but it's chapter 1, verse 2. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. We spend our days worrying and hustling and trying to secure blessings for ourselves and our families, and we come up with best case scenarios and all these schemes, and um, we desperately need God to do all these things right in our lives. But the scripture points to a God who is not just willing to bless you, but is he he's actually eager to bless you. He is looking for ways to bless you, and his capacity for generosity is beyond what you could even come up with in your own mind. So his heart for you is bigger than your heart for you. He's not neglecting you, he hasn't forgotten you, um, you're not in competition with anyone else for his love. The bottom line is he loves you. Yeah, that's the bottom line. And then the last mentality I want to look at is is uh probably one we see a lot. It's my way or the highway. The reason the Israelites were lost in the wilderness is comes down to their stubbornness and rebellion. Right? The pattern is is pretty mind-boggling. The Old Testament records so many times that like we can't even see that it's true how many times they go against what God says. But the cycle that they get stuck in is this cycle we probably see pretty regularly in our lives is we hit a wall, right? Um, things get hard. For them, they got hungry or they faced an enemy, and then we cry out to God, they're desperate, ready to obey. For now, God delivers or rescues them. He parts the sea, he sends the manna, he provides water from a rug, so they obey, and then things start to get a little bit better. We got the water, so we're a little bit happier, and the crisis is over, the media pressure is gone, and what happens? We go right back to rebellion, right? We forget the miracle, we forget the promise, and we go back to doing what we were doing anyway, right? And so we can learn from their mistakes. Stubbornness is actually what killed them. It wasn't the heat, it wasn't the hunger, it wasn't their unwillingness, uh, it was their unwillingness to stick with obedience into against what God was asking for them. And so they spent their lives only doing the right thing just long enough to get relief, but not long enough to get the to the destination. Um, there's a song on the radio, and and I'm not judging this guy, I don't know him personally, but the song drives me nuts. And the first line of it just angers me. I only talk to God when I need a favor, and I immediately have to change it. That's exactly this mentality. I only go to God when I need God.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:36

And if you don't break that cycle, if you only obey God when you're in a mess, you'll spend your life like the Israelites, just wandering around the same problem over and over. Um, you you'll see glimpses of the promised land, but you'll never actually step into the future in the promise he has for you. And so don't let stubbornness keep us in the wilderness. Obedience is not just the way out of trouble, it's actually the way to our destiny. Ecclesiastes 12 13 says, When all has been heard, the end of the matter is fear God, worship him with all-filled reverence, knowing that he is Almighty God, and keep his commandments, for this applies to every person. Obedience and disobedience have consequences. Both of them. Romans 5 19, for just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, talking about Adam. So also through the obedience of the one man, many will be made righteous, talking about Jesus. Right? And so your choice to obey or disobey is never just about you. Right? We're constantly making decisions in a vacuum thinking that uh the impact stops with me. And but if we look at the Israelites, they wandered for 40 years because of the one generation was leading the way. And if you think about it, those adults, they chose rebellion and ended up dying in the wilderness, but it didn't end there because their children, the next generation, that came out of Egypt, had to spend their entire childhood. Yeah, 40 years. They grew up wandering in the wilderness, watching mom and dad miss the point, miss the mark, right? And they would not submit to God's ways. And so the ripple effect of disobedience is it flows downstream. Um, it directly impacts your spouse, your kids, your business, and everyone depending on you. It has impact. And if that first generation had just said, uh, yeah, God, we trust you, we'll go, then their children would have actually been raised in the promised land instead of the wilderness, right? And their lives would have been supremely better. Um, but your choices are creating the environment for the next generation.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Right? And so if we take that and personalize that, what we're saying is some of the decisions we make are gonna impact our children, right? And so um we have to look at that when we make decisions. Obeying God isn't just your personal holiness, it's about securing the future for the people that you love. You can't force your children to follow God, right? But you can sure model it, right? You can sure show them a good picture of a of a God-fearing person, right? The the goal is that when they leave your home, you've trained them in the way, the path that God has for them. It's their decision after that to follow it or deny it, right? And most of the time, they're gonna follow the patterns of mom and dad, right? Most of the time. Sometimes they're just gonna, there's just gonna be one little weirdo that just kind of strays, right? It's gonna happen. We all had our time where we're just like, ugh, I'm so tired of saying I can't do anything, so I'm gonna go do everything, right? We we all have our moments, but most of the time, the people that were raised in a Christian home with good, God-fearing parents will eventually return to follow God and fear Him themselves, right? That's the goal, that's the plan. The promise is not, hey, if you take them to church every Sunday, they'll follow God for the rest of their life. That's not the promise. The promise is if you do what you're supposed to do, they will return because they will know what the real truth is for their life. And so we have to bring every thought into our captivity to be the example. Second Corinthians 10 verses 4 through 6 says, The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience once your obedience is complete. So our thoughts, we know we all are aware our thoughts can get us into trouble, right? Isaiah 55.8 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways. So we have to submit our thoughts and our ways to God's ways and his thoughts, right? He left us the Bible as a guide for our lives, and when we have thoughts, what we do is we line it up against the word of God. That's what we do. Some people go, Oh, I'm so confused. Well, that's crazy because confusion is from the devil. Yeah, not from God. He's a God of order. So if you are confused in that, sit and wait. Sit and wait. That's the whole waiting on the Lord. The Moses said it best. I think we said it last week. Moses said best, I don't want to go where you're not.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

I don't want to walk into the promised land if you're not going with us, God. I don't want that. And that should be our same stance. The real battle, the real war zone ends up being in our minds. And we can get into a dangerous type of self-destruction. Um, this loop where we convince ourselves that our way or our reasoning or or our experience or our own flawed thinking are superior. We figured it out, right? We've arrived. And people living in the vanity of their own mind don't just destroy themselves, they actually also destroy the people around them, right? It doesn't just impact you, you take down everybody in your house. And so you might think your bad habits or your poor choices or your closed-off attitude are only hurting you. Not true. Destruction is not contained to just you, it impacts your family, your team, and your friends. And so the mind in the battlefield is where Satan launches his full assault on us, right? Because the the reality is he doesn't need to control our whole body if he can control our thought life.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

Right? That control our whole body, that's a big game. But if I can just get get in our head a little bit, yeah, right? You you I don't know if you've ever seen it. The guys that do the interviews for boxers or uh now UFC is real popular, they what what they do is they do the pre-fight talks, and it's just a bunch of trash talking. Why? They might not even know this guy, but it's a butt-why? I'm trying to get in his head. If I can get him off just a little bit, I got an advantage. Devil plays the same game. Yeah, I just need to throw you off for a few seconds. And then once you get off, then you start believing that little thing and you keep walking, next thing you know, you're so far from the path. Right? You've wandered and you're so far from the path it's gonna take you forever to get back over there. Right? And that's the trap. And so we have to take every thought captive and submit it to Christ. We have to recognize that the the thoughts that we entertain determine the direction of our life and the destiny of those that we lead. So win the battle in your mind, and you will change your future. Right? So last week and this week, we went through actually nine ways that the enemy uses the wilderness mindset to keep us stuck, circling the mountain that we should have been off years years ago, right? And that cycle is pretty destructive. You get delivered, you get comfortable, and you get rebellious, and then you get stuck again. And we just do it over and do it over and do it over. And the enemy strategy is based on just let me in just a little bit, let me get this little foothold, right? And every one of those mindsets, self-pity, unworthiness, comparison, stubbornness, they're open doors for his attacks. And we have the divine power to demolish strongholds by taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. And so we don't have to fight those uh strongholds by fighting circumstances, we we fight it by denying the lie that the devil's telling us, right? We don't accept it. And so this week you have a choice: you can keep entertaining the thoughts that keep us wandering in the rut, or you can finally close the door on the enemy's tactics. So we don't want to let the life God designed for you be turned determined by the lies that we refuse to conquer. So stop entertaining the enemy and start conquering. Amen? Amen. David, come pray for us.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Amen. How old is your oldest prayer shoes? Oh boy. How worn out are they? I had some linen shoes that I had had for a while, and I was like, man, they still look great, they still feel super comfortable. And I got on the treadmill one day, and like, well, actually, I didn't even make it to the treadmill. I was walking down the hallway and like, oh, what did I step on? And it was um the sole of my shoe. Oh, yeah, I flipped over, right? But see, God wants you and one of the Israelites out of the desert so badly that their shoes didn't wear out. Their shoes never wore out. Why? Because he wanted them to keep going. Yeah, get out of where you are. Your shoes are not worn out today. You have the power of God. You know, maybe, maybe our mindset, we're not able to see all the big things God is doing. I see there's the there's there's the fire by night and the cloud by day. See, there's the Red Sea, there's all these things that God did, these big, huge things. You know, the water from a rock, but your shoes didn't we're out? How small is that? We don't think about that either. So maybe it's time for us to also recognize the small things that God is doing in our lives. Because he's trying to get you some point. Last week we talked about man that's let it go, move forward. If we move forward, we won't die in the desert. This week it's like, man, let's God is wanting us out of that. Why does he want us out of the desert into the promised land? Because he's trying to build a kingdom, he's trying to build his kingdom, and he wants you to be a part of that army to build a kingdom. So let's take our rightful place today. Let's let's let's let's recognize who God is in our lives and stop listening to the lies. Stop taking those lies together and stop complaining about the big things, the small things, and all the things in between. Because that's what messes me up. See, the devil knows he can't get me with adultery, he knows he can't get me with alcohol, he knows there's a million and one things he can't get me with, all the big stuff, but man, does he trip me out with you know frustration? Man, does he trip me up with all the small things? Let's pay attention to the small things. Let's go back to what Pastor Brooks said and let's be grateful. Let's have a heart of gratitude. Because that'll help with that as well. The prayer team is gonna be up here, guys, for anything that we might need. If if it's if it's I can't see what God is doing in my life, all I can see is what he's doing in somebody else's life. God is here to open your eyes today. Jesus is here to open the eyes of the blind. So, whatever it is today, if that's it, if it's a brand new mindset, God is here for that. Because he came to give you a sound mind. All right, but the prayer team will be up here for that to pray for anything that you might have need for today. We're gonna have a few announcements. I'm gonna pray to dismiss first. Well, we thank you today. We give you glory for your word. It is always on time. And Lord, when we apply your word, Father, it changes us before it changes our situation. We thank you, Lord, that you came, Jesus, to die so that we could have life and life more abundantly and we could live in the promise of who you said we are, that we are joint heirs with you and not slaves. Thank you, Lord, for breaking us today out of a slave mentality, out of a wilderness mentality, Lord. We thank you for all that you continue to do in our lives, that you've strengthened us, Lord, so that we can go forth and strengthen someone else and continue to build your kingdom for you. Not our own kingdoms, but build your kingdom by reaching those around us, Father. We thank you, Lord, for all you continue to do in our lives. We love you, Jesus, in your name. Amen.