Phil: What a dangerous prayer it is when we say, Lord, I want higher ground. Lord, I want you to use me. Lord, I want you to make a difference in the Kingdom through my life, I want... I think you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
Some of you prayed that, and you said, Oh, Lord, I didn’t know it meant this. But the thing is, if God doesn’t deal with this old nature, our lives, what John calls our lives in Revelation 12, that we’re loving so much and we’re still attached to more than we know. If God doesn’t break those connections, how effective are we gonna be?
I mean, Paul recognized that it’s kind of like an athlete. Now, the earthly athletes, they’re going for a prize. You know, they’re disciplining their body and they’re doing all these things because they want a prize. Well, I want a prize too, but it’s not that, okay? I wanna go for the ones the Lord offers. He’s called me to seek after something that’s eternal. But how can I do that if there isn’t some self-discipline?
And so he actually, in the Greek, it says, I beat my body, or I keep it under, in one translation, or basically, I’m in charge, my body isn’t. I keep that under. I recognize that there’s impulses that come from my flesh, that if I just let ‘em go, if I somehow say, Well, that’s okay, it’s all taken care of. And the Lord’s wanting to deliver, and the Lord’s wanting to actually break that hold and break that tie.
Paul says, I beat my body and I make it my slave, I think in this translation. I bring it under subjection. I make it my slave. Is your body and its impulses your slave to serve God? Are you in charge or is it in charge? And the Lord’s gonna bring us into circumstances that kind of help us to see.
And in every instance is the Lord’s purpose to defeat us and to cause, make us feel discouraged? I think you know that’s not the case. But I just pray that God will help us in these areas. Because many times overcoming does mean, I need to be free from that. It’s a weight that I need to lay aside, as Hebrews 12 says. It’s something that has attached, that’s so attached to me that I can’t run freely. I can’t do what, I can’t be what the Lord wants me to be because that’s holding onto me. And I need the Lord to cut that chain. So overcoming in that context means to get rid of that thing and to be able to say, I have the victory.
Now, does that mean that in every case you’re gonna have this grand experience and suddenly it’s gonna be gone? No, more often than not, it’s going to be a step by step, day by day looking to God and winning the victory. I’ve heard I don’t know how many testimonies of somebody that’s been brought out of a terrible lifestyle. And there were aspects of that that kept trying to intrude. And over time, sometimes over years, the Lord gave more and more victory and there was less and less of a hold.
I believe God wants to get us to the point where we’re looking ahead and we’re looking up every time. We know we’ve got a place to go. Thank God! Amen. If we’re struggling and there’s something that’s still got a hold, and we mess up, thank God for the blood. Thank God for the cross. If we have a sin, if we sin, we have a place we can go. But there’s a heart in that instance that, in that situation, that is an agreement with God. It says, God, I don’t want to do this. Help me.
But you know how the Lord helps us? Does He help us by just taking the thing away and we’d never feel the temptation again? No, He wants to build something in us that can withstand that. Does that mean He’s gonna, we’re gonna have to dig down deep and find the resources to do that? Or does He say, No, you’re gonna have to come to me. It’s gonna be My grace. I’ll give you what you need, but you’re gonna have to let go of your attachment to that thing. You’re gonna have to recognize it for what it is.
You know, there’s so many things that connected with this. One of the things I wrestle with is that sometimes I’ll preach on a subject and it just covers the whole gamut. And I’m always asking, Lord, what’s the focus here?
Well, I think the focus really has to come down to where you and I are at individually. We are in a certain place in our journey. And the Lord is going to let adversity in some fashion come against you, and He’s called us to overcome, to be overcomers, okay? And I just gave an instance of something where overcoming means, That’s not part of my life anymore because God has given me the victory.
It could be drugs, it could be alcohol, it could be pornography, it could a lot of things, but God wants us to have a freedom from that. And so, I guess where I was about to go with that is this: When the Lord was encouraging the churches, it wasn’t just to him that overcomes, but it says, Let him that has ears to hear.
Do you have ears to hear? Is there something in you that says, Regardless of what my circumstances are, I know that I need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches? It’s not enough just to know the Bible. I’ve got to hear His voice because I’m in a particular place in my journey. And just as the Lord’s message to these churches was specific to their particular need, God has words that are specific to your need and to mine, if we’re tuned in and ready to listen.
Now, it’s all often easy, when we hear that, to say, Oh, I know what that’s about. That means, when I’m in a battle, God’s gonna give me a promise. Well, thank God that’s part of it. Because God’s gonna remind me of His promises of grace, and strength, and help, and so forth. That’s part of it.
But do you know there’s another part? Do you know we need a deeper understanding of why the problem exists in the first place? Do you think God maybe needs to give us a little bit more of an insight into what’s going on, what the real situation is down here? A lot of us deal with the oppression of the enemy, this recurring issue that I have, or I feel sorry for myself, or I feel, you know, whatever, whatever it is, and we get focused on that.
But the problem is, why. God needs to, we need to have a heart that allows the Lord to reach down into the depths of our being and show us those kinds of things and to have an honest heart about it. ‘Cause I need that, don’t you? And so the Lord is wanting an honesty that looks to Him and says, Oh, God, give me more understanding. Give me more wisdom in this thing.
Think about David and how many times that he would come to the Lord. And there was an honesty about him, wasn’t there? How many times does he begin a psalm, and the psalm is, Oh, God, where are you? Oh God, I’m in a bad place. I’m struggling. This is going on. There was an honest heart. I don’t see any place where the Lord rebuked him for that.
Wouldn’t that be a good place to start? I guess what I started to say a minute ago is, a lot of times when we are experiencing some of these things, our tendency is to kind of, I’m okay. Everything’s fine, hope you are. And we’re just, you know, we just paste on a smile and pretend, when God wants to get down to the issues that are really operating in our lives and give us a degree of freedom that we haven’t had.
And that’s why I appreciated what Scott said the other night, because there was an openness about it. And it’s not that we have to get up here and everybody confess all these things necessarily, but we need to quit pretending. We can come to the Lord and say, Lord, this is what I’m feeling. This is what I’m going through, and I need help.
And depending on the situation, you know, like I say, if it’s a besetting sin, we need the Lord to go down in there and find out why, what happened, what’s going on that we need to bring out, and just bring it out and say, Lord, this is the way it is, and I need You to give me victory in this area.
So yes, it’s the voice of God to give me the promises, but sometimes it’s the voice of God to tell me the truth about myself. Wouldn’t it be good to listen to that? Can we not trust somebody, who loves us as much as He’s demonstrated, to know that He has our best interest at heart? Oh, how pride keeps us prisoners when the Lord wants to give us a degree of freedom.
And of course, the other thing that... Well, like I say, it isn’t always making the thing go away. Sometimes it’s simply strength to stand, okay? Isn’t that how it was in many….? Well, in Paul’s case, the Lord didn’t take that spirit away, didn’t chase him away. But rather, You need this at this particular time. There’s a spiritual need in your life that I want to deal with. You have a tendency to get proud, and I’m gonna put you in a place where you just don’t have the ability to be proud. You recognize your weakness. But don’t worry, I’ll give you the strength. So for him, overcoming was standing and continuing to believe God and continuing to trust God, okay?
You know, I thought of a scripture, there’s so many scriptures, but I just thought of one that somebody may well have thought of, but it’s in 1 John chapter 5, where John says, Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Now, where do we get faith from? Yeah, He’s very willing to share that with us and to give us what we need. But faith is not simply, I believe this, and I believe that, a mental thing, this is, God’s gonna give me something that I can do, some way that I can express that faith.
Now, if I’m in a place where, let’s say I’m depressed. The enemy is just oppressing my mind with all, This is wrong, that’s wrong, and somebody did this to me, you know, and, I feel bad, and on and on. We all experience those things from time to time, but if I’m sitting there... I can’t even remember what I was starting to say. But anyway, praise God.
There has to be a place where we’re just not focused on that. Isn’t that the natural human tendency? If I’m in a battle, my whole focus is the battle. Oh, poor me, I’m in a battle. Why me? Why me? Well, we know why, because the Lord wants us to be overcomers. But if I’m focused on the battle, how is that helping me? There has to come a point where, yes, I need to be honest about the battle. That’s wonderful. That’s exactly right. I need to be honest about what’s going on, but then I need to be able to turn to Him and find the strength that I need to meet that situation.
See, faith doesn’t just look at that and say, Huh, poor me. Faith has to say, God has brought this to my, to here, brought me to this place, and His purpose for me is to do something in me that isn’t gonna happen any other way. And I need to rise up, and I need to exercise the faith, the strength that He gives me, to look beyond that and to see enough about what it’s about.
What I’m supposed to do here is be thankful, for example, to praise Him, to look to Him, to have an expectation towards Him. Praise God! If I’m anxious, if I’m just overwhelmed with anxiety about all the things that might happen, oh, God, yeah, we know we can pray, that’s absolutely part of it, but think about scriptures that talk about casting our care upon Him, for He cares.
But there’s a scripture in Psalm 55: Cast your cares upon God, and He will sustain you, uphold you. Different translations. Anybody here need to be sustained? Yeah. So if somebody’s doing that, what are they focused on? Are they focused on the problems? Oh my God, no. Okay, I got it. Here it is, Lord. I’m looking to You to give me the strength to continue trusting in You, believing in You, knowing that it’s gonna be okay, that I have all the strength that I need because it comes from You and You love me.
You know, it’s kind of almost become a joke, I guess, but, you know, the message I preached about getting your “buts” in the right place enters into it here, because there’s a pattern again that you see in David where he is being honest in bringing his troubles to the Lord. The enemy has got him in a bad place, and he knows it. And he’s just... And some of it’s because he recognizes there’s things in him where he needs help, but over and over, but over and over, that word, “but,” comes into it, and you find his attention shifting and saying, But I trust You, but I praise You, but I thank You. There’s this turning of our attention to the Lord.
Undoubtedly, there’s people here today, that you’re in a place where you’re here, you’re singing, and you’re smiling, and I believe you believe it, but yet, you’re being oppressed right now. You’re in that place where you’re feeling it. And God wants me and every one of us to be able to get our but in the right place when it comes to this, these things.
There’s a place for recognizing needs. They need to be left on the other side of but. Because whatever follows but is what’s really in charge. And if we ever find ourselves saying, like the one psalmist did, Surely God is good to Israel, but as for me, then we are in a bad place. You see, God wants us to get to that place where we can absolutely get our buts in the right place and put, leave all of these things on the other side of it, but turn our attention to Him and to His faithfulness and His promises.
To God be the glory. God wants to be present, not just in convention time, but all the time. Amen. God wants us to enjoy His presence, but we cannot focus on the problem and on the battle to the point where we get our eyes off of Him and the victory that He’s already won at the cross.
That doesn’t always mean the problem’s gonna go away, it means we have strength to bear it. Like he says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, is it? There’s strength to bear it, to bear up under it. I don’t have to rely on my own weakness and my own strength ‘cause that’s gonna lead me in a bad place. Thank God. Amen.
Well, I thought of one other scripture that probably needs to be put in here, and it’s in Joshua chapter 1, because the Israelites were facing some real challenges. I mean, you think about looking at a land, and there were some walled cities and big armies. And among those armies, there were some giants mixed in. And they were facing some things that, from a human standpoint, were pretty scary.
I don’t know how many of you have seen that wonderful video of Asher acting out this verse. If you haven’t, that’s precious. Praise the Lord. But anyway, verse 9: Have not I commanded You, ‘Be strong and courageous’? So that’s what we’re supposed to be. Where do I get that from? See, that’s a way of, that’s my mental approach. That’s how I see a situation. I don’t look at the walls, and the giants, and the armies and say, Oh my God, I’m in trouble. I look at that, and I stand there, and I say, Yes, but God’s with me. Okay?
Be strong and and courageous. Now, here’s the other side, what you don’t want to be: Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged. Anybody, I won’t ask you for a show of hands, but if anybody’s discouraged this morning because of what you’re feeling and what you’re going through right now, God doesn’t want that for His children. If He has put you in a place where there is an oppression going on in your life, whatever form it takes, whatever the issue is, because we’re all different, in one sense we’re all different, God wants His people to lift up their eyes, to look to Him to find the strength that we need to be able to be courageous and to face something, to do the same thing that David did when he recognized the battle is the Lord’s.
And there he was in a humanly impossible situation, facing a giant, and God gave him the victory. Praise God! Praise God! Amen. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Why? For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. That’s what the Lord is looking for from His people.
Do you see, there’s two things that you go back to the letters to the churches. God wants me to have a hearing ear. I don’t need a religion to be handed down to me that I’m just supposed to observe. He wants me to have a relationship with God, Who’s doing specific things in my life, dealing with needs, shaping me for His purposes. I need to be hearing what He’s saying right now to me. I’m glad for what He said, but I need the, I don’t live by bread only. I live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And He’s gonna help me to understand what’s going on in my life.
Do you believe God wants you to understand, at least in whatever measure is right for His purpose? He wants you to have an understanding in me, so that we can respond in the way He’s told us to respond. So praise God!
But then what He’s looking for, regardless of what the situation is, whether it’s overcoming or repenting from a sin, or whether it’s standing in persecution, or whether it’s just holding onto what you have until I come to, don’t you dare turn from that ‘cause I’m gonna be with you. Whatever the particular issue is in our lives, God wants one thing from us is to overcome, to be victorious. And He will give us what we need to simply stand fast and believe Him. The faith that He gives us will give us the victory. That just means continually.
Now, what is my faith in? My faith is in my terrible circumstances. I’m so, things are so bad. Oh my God, my faith is in all. No, our faith is not in the storm or the problem. Our faith needs to be lifted to Him and say, God, you have got me here for a reason, and I love You, and I trust You. And I know that whatever I need to be an overcomer in this circumstance, You will give me. Whether it’s to make the thing go away or whether it’s to stand fast in spite of the thing, God wants to get us ready, not just for a convention, but for everything. Amen. So that we can stand fast and be united.
And you know, when you’re focused upon you, you’re not exactly focused on anybody else. One thing that would be good to remember is when we find ourselves in a place of oppression, we’re just conscious of it. Oh my God, the devil’s just pressing in on me. You’re not the only one. It’s like I said the other night, I was so conscious of that. Every person, every honest person there could have said the same thing.
When I experience that, you are experiencing it, and I need to get my eyes off of myself and do some praying for you. Yes. Guess what, if I’m really, from my heart, praying for you, there’s life coming from God into me and out of me to you. That’s kind of a good thing for me too, isn’t it? ‘Cause I’m getting washed with some of that same water of life that God wants to pour.
So I believe the Lord wants to encourage His people today. What He’s looking for is to be an overcomer. I don’t know what the particular issue is. You have every right to go to the Lord and ask wisdom. Yes. Yes, amen. Let Him look wherever He needs to look in your heart. Don’t cling to anything from your own life, because if you hang onto that, the devil’s always got a place he can grab a hold of and bring you down. And God has absolutely delivered us through the cross, but He sure wants our participation, doesn’t He? He is faithful.
So God is, we’re called to be overcomers. I guess that’s probably as good a title as any, A Call to Be Overcomers. Hadn’t really thought too much about a title, but... There’s nothing new that I have said this morning, but somehow I felt like this was needed right now. I think the Lord knew that. Amen.
Because no matter what we know up here, it’s what we are experiencing in our actual, practical, everyday lives that really matters. What good is what we know in our heads if it doesn’t make a difference in our lives? But I’ll tell you, God is faithful. Amen.
We’re okay. We just need to start where we’re at and look to Him. Don’t need to beat ourselves up about where we’re not, just, this is where I’m at. And, Lord, You’ve brought me here, and You’re gonna take me on, and You’ll love me enough to talk to me, to help me to understand, to help me to reach up and find the help that we need. So to God be the glory.
