— Brother Phil Enlow: Boy, we need the Lord to invade our lives, don’t we? But when He does, it means a one-eighty, from living for the world and trying to find our happiness and our meaning, our purpose here, and turning around and saying, I can let all of that go. If they take me and line me up against a wall and shoot me right now, I’m not a loser because I’ve let anything here go, I’m a winner, and that just sets me free. Praise God!
What a glorious hope He has opened up! This is not where it’s at! We cannot allow our hearts to find a home here. And you think of all the things that Abraham had to go through in his life. He came to that point, he’s 99 years old, and he’d already come up with a way of his own to have a son, but that wasn’t the one. And the Lord promised him, in a year you’re gonna have a son.
Well, he was married to a woman who couldn’t have children. Now, he didn’t have the Bible he could look back to like we do. He had a God he walked with, that he had learned to trust. There was something in him that just trusted when God told him something. He didn’t have to explain it, didn’t have to discuss it. He just said, I know the One who told me, and He has the power to do anything He says. And so, he just believed it. And a year later, there was a baby that was born.
And a few years later, the Lord said, I want you to sacrifice him. You talk about a test of faith, and about a willingness to let go. How many of us are willing to let go of our children? You understand what I’m saying, not responsibility while they’re young, but I’m talking about letting God do what He has to do.
This is true in every area…in every relationship we have. We can get concerned about people, and we should. But you know where that concern has to play out? In prayer. Because only God can change a heart. Only God can change somebody’s heart and somebody’s life. But boy, He can do it when the time comes. He can invade somebody’s life. If He can save Paul, or Saul, the Jew, and turn him into Paul the Apostle, He can do anything!
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He can do anything! Thank God! And He’s the only one that can! Man, if we fix them, they’re gonna be broken!
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You can make somebody religious, but you haven’t helped them a bit if Christ hasn’t come into their heart and taken hold of their lives. I’ll tell you, they’ve got to come to that point of surrender. But the minute they do, and He comes in, they’re gonna have a different heart. And I’ll tell you, these tangled things that come into our lives that hold us captive…in such captivity, we’re gonna find that by His strength we can let them go, and find freedom in Him. That’s the only freedom that will ever be.
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But what a test that was for Abraham. Lord, You promised. All the things that You said were gonna come to pass, and now the one through whom You said they were gonna come, you’re telling me to take him out, lay him on an altar and kill him, as a sacrifice! And the Lord just…he didn’t get an answer, so he said, okay.
So, he went, and he was to the point where he had raised the knife. You think about the trust. And I don’t know what was in his mind, the Word says in one place in the New Testament, that he trusted that God could raise him from the dead. Maybe that was the answer. Maybe he said, well, all right, God wants me to do this for a reason. But when I do it, He’s gonna raise him back from the dead and that’s how it’s going to work out. Well, that isn’t how it worked out, was it?
But ultimately, God stopped him, put a substitute lamb on that altar, a ram, whatever it was, and they went on. But God said, I see that you are the kind of person who will trust Me and obey. And so, the promises of God…we’re walking in the promises right now, that God gave to him. Thank God! The ramifications of people who are willing to let go and let God…just go on and on and on because…then all of a sudden, you’ve got somebody who can become a channel, not of human desire and human life that attaches itself to every little thing, but you’ve somebody that God can live in.
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There’s a power that’s released into the world and people see His life and they come into contact with it and they find out there’s something more than all the things that they are attached to here.
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What are you attached to? What did Jesus say in…several places, but I’m thinking of Matthew 10, I guess is one of them. Anyone…well, verse 34. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth?” (NIV).
I mean, there are a lot of people that are so invested in this world and what happens in politics and world affairs. I don’t mind doing my duty as a citizen and all of that, but my hope is not here, especially the way things are going! We better have something that doesn’t depend on how society works out here, because it ain’t gonna stay this way.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth? I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” There is an absolute division that is happening in humanity. It’s not that we’re going to war against somebody, but this is a division between those who cling to the world and those that say, I’m walking away from it, I’m with Jesus!
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That’s the sword that He has come to bring. “For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
That’s pretty straight talk, isn’t it? But do you see the issues? Do you see how Jesus, at every point, says He was tempted just like we are? But at every point, He chose to say, my heart is not in this or that, that my flesh might want to gravitate to, I’m here to do God’s will! And even though I might, my flesh might feel deprived at a certain point, I’m free! The Devil has no hold on me.
Does the Devil have a hold in your life right now? Does he have an influence that’s not good? Are we as free as God wants us to be? I believe we can look to the Lord and say, God, show me why, show me what the issue is?
And you know, we’re inclined, when we think about this, to think about something external. But the truth is, it’s, even in the external things, it’s the spiritual side of it that makes it what it is. But our problem is not just that gold or silver or dollars or houses or lands or all those things are so in of themselves important, it’s how we feel about them and how we see them. And so, it’s the emotions and the desires, and all these instincts that come from human nature that absolutely keep our hand in that gourd. We will not let go!
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Because somehow, we have fallen prey to the lie that my security, my happiness, my meaning in life, it depends upon this, and I cannot let it go! Don’t you dare tell me I can’t have Jesus without letting this go. Well, Jesus said, that’s the way it is.
And the thing is, God might let some people be rich. There’s nothing evil about those things. But if somebody’s heart is locked up in those things, then it becomes evil. I mean, think about Paul’s testimony. “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am…to be content.” (KJV). Now what was he talking about? He was talking about times when he really had nothing. He was in poor condition. Economically he was just, you know, God had to help him with every meal.
And other times he was comfortable, living in a nice house with people who had money, and everything was great. He didn’t have to worry about any of that stuff. And Paul learned how to handle it, either way, without his heart getting invested in those issues. Lord, you choose, you arrange my circumstances. Praise God!
There’s got to be a letting go wherever our hearts are attached to things, like that, or we’re not really free to let them go and say, God, I just want Your will. I don’t care whether I have, don’t have it, or what happens. Lord, I am not coming to You to serve You on a condition that You’ll do stuff my way. There’s a lot of religion like that out there.
Well, I’ll show you one issue. In Psalm 37, there’s a pretty good scripture to go with, because it touches on some other issues. And this is an experience of David, because now he’s dealing with the reality that there are evil people who succeed in the world. And they’re crooks, they’re evil, they do things the wrong way, and yet they succeed! How do you handle that? What do you do with that?
And he says, “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong…” (NIV). You know, there are a lot of folks that just can’t take that! Oh my God, that’s just wrong! Somebody cheated, somebody lied! They lied about me! That’s even worse! And they were believed, and they succeeded in what they were trying to do! God, that’s not right!
How would Jesus have reacted to that? Father, I just put myself in Your hands. You’re the judge. I’m not the judge. Let it go. “…For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”
This was the verse that reminded me of this passage. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Well, we better put that in its context in the scripture. Let’s not misread that, and say, if I get religious, and I sing happy songs and I go through all the form of delighting myself in the Lord, He’s gonna give me whatever my flesh desires…no. If you really delight yourself in the Lord, from the heart, your desires will be changed by that. You will desire things that He wants, and He will bless, and He will lead you in His path, not in yours.
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” If you’ve been in a situation where you’ve been really, really wronged, you’re not the judge, God’s the judge. Just humble yourself and let God sort it out. Do you really think on the Judgement Day, God’s not gonna get that straight? Wait a minute, Lord, You forgot this. Seriously? God knows what He’s doing.
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“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret…” Don’t worry. “…It leads only to evil.”
Let’s put this into perspective. “For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.” God will let you and me go through all kinds of things in this world to discover where our hearts are at.
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And there’s one area that we keep coming back to, but it’s a very real one, because we can think, as I said, in terms of externals. But what about the wounds of life? We see the wounds in our bodies. We see the lack of health if there’s an issue. But what about the ones that are in the spirit? What do we do about those things?
They’re there. And the Devil will have a stronghold over any life that nurses, and covers, and just tries to pretend those wounds are not there. And it doesn’t fix it. We’re gonna have to come to the place, and only God can help us to do it, where we let God into the deepest places of our hearts, the deepest wounds we have ever experienced in our lives, and say, Lord, I just lay it before You. If I was done wrong, Lord, by Your grace, I forgive, I let it go.
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I am not going to nurse those feelings, those wounds anymore! There are so many people that there’s a stronghold in their life, but that’s the root of it. It’s not a question of, can I stop this or stop that. It’s the question of, God, You’ve got to heal my heart.
You’re gonna have to bring me to a place where I’m willing to let that go…and not let this sense that I’ve been wronged, I’ve been hurt, I’ve been wounded, I’m justified in feeling like I have, it’s not been…God, you didn’t do right. God, you know…and a thousand and one ways that we cling to it, and refuse to let God in there and heal it. We cannot, we just will not let it go, is what it comes down to. Because God is the healer…
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…Of broken hearts. But He’s got to have our heart before He can heal it. What would it do if you had a bad physical wound and it got infected, and you just…I can’t let people see it, I can’t let people know, I’m going to cover it up, bury it? We know what happens when that happens.
But it’s even worse down in here. And sooner or later, this is going to interact with our health, and our health is gonna be destroyed because of something that’s in here. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” (KJV).
Isn’t that something, how we’re so interconnected, that what happens in our spirits can destroy health, can destroy so much? And thank God, because of Jesus, none of this has to be that way. There is a way of victory. There is a way of deliverance!
But it’s coming and laying every issue at His feet and saying, Lord, break the hold that this has on my heart! Give me the power to take my hand, my paw, out of that gourd and let that stupid stone go! It means nothing! The only power the Devil has over any single one of us is what we give him.
And I just feel like the Lord longs to make this truth fresh and real because every one of us has areas…it might just involve fear. We’re afraid of what might happen, or what could happen, or what did happen, or our inadequacies, and God wants to set people free! Let it go! Trust in Him! Give Him the issue! Be real with Him! He loves you, with a love you can’t even imagine. And He longs to wrap His arms around you and give you the peace that Jesus walked with.
You think of the things that were against Him. Man, if we were in His shoes…how dare you, don’t you know who I am? And just, you know, if they said something bad, we’d be railing at them, we’d be telling them, trying to straighten them out, we’d be doing all kinds of stuff.
And the Lord just humbled himself and when they accused Him, at the end…how many times did they say…and He just said nothing? Even the heathen ruler, aren’t you gonna say anything? Do you hear all this stuff they’re saying? Aren’t you gonna say anything? And He just…completely humbled into His Father’s hands.
Like I say, when you and I come to our death bed, what are you gonna do to hang onto everything then? You know, an awful lot of being ready to go is reaching that point, the person who goes, reaching that point where, okay, Lord, into Your hands, Father, I commit my spirit.
Boy I’ll tell you, for those who don’t know the Lord, that’s a terrible, terrible moment, because they’re plunging into what they don’t know. But you know, it’s for the people that stay behind, too. How many situations have there been when someone has come to that death bed, and part of it is the person who is left behind being willing to let go?
This principle touches everything that has to do with our life, serving God in this world, because there’s nothing in this world you can hang onto! How foolish is it that we do it, but we all do it! Only God can shine the light and say, this has got you in bondage because you can’t let it go. God wants us to find our happiness, our sense of who we are, our wellbeing, to get it from Him!
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Regardless of the circumstances around us! How is it that Paul and Silas, fastened and beaten like they were, and having their feet fastened in stocks, at midnight were able to praise God? Now some of us could imagine, well, they’d have a prayer meeting. Oh God, please help. No! They were praising God!
Where do you find that? How does a human being behave like that? We’re gonna have to have Him in us! But we’re gonna have to let go, and yield to Him, and say, God, I want Your will and not mine. Father, I’m in Your hands. You are the one directing my steps, and You’re going to bring me through and You’re gonna use everything I experience to get me ready for what’s coming.
My only purpose in life is just to serve You. What I have or don’t have, or what happens to me or doesn’t happen to me, all these things, Lord, I let them go. Or what somebody did, 30 years ago, or 5 minutes ago, let it go. And the Devil will have no hold over you. And he’ll be looking for something else.
But at every point, this is the key to freedom in the Lord…that we are willing to let go of those things that hold us captive and attach us to this world. So, just let it go! Praise God! Isn’t God good to us?
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Jesus is the One who’s made all this possible! To His name be the glory! Praise God!
