Welcome to Faith
Chapel, I'm Tom Waters with
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Restoration International
and I'm excited today,
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we're gonna be
talking about something that
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effects every one of
us especially if we are
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striving in the
Christian experience.
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We're gonna talk about
the greatest battle that
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we face as
Christians, the greatest battle.
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The one that every
one of us deals with,
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if we're honest
about serving out Lord
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and Savior. Our greatest battle,
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the battle that
every man must face,
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the greatest
battle ever fought by man,
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is the surrender of
self to the will of God,
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that is our greatest
battle. I want you think
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about this for a
moment, our greatest battle
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is not self. Our
greatest battle is the surrender
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of self to the will
of God, you know there
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is an old favorite hymn,
and in that hymn it says:
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Have thine own way,
Lord! Have thine own way!
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Thou art the
potter, I am the clay. Now,
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that's a very classic
picture, potter and the
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clay and where do we fit
in this verse of the song.
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God is the potter
and we are the clay.
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And of course we would
naturally agree with that,
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that's the position
we would wanna be in as
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Christians. But
the difficulty is that
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we may start the day
and I hope that's where
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we start the day
choosing of the master that
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we're going to serve.
Chose you this day whom
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you will serve, as for
me and my house we will
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serve the Lord.
That's where we need to be
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starting everyday
in our greatest battle.
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The reality of it is
that for many of us I know
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for myself for many
years as a, as a striving
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professing Christian.
That the first place that
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I met the battle was
in the morning, because
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I didn't feel
like getting up. Now,
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who is the potter
and who is the clay?
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My God is calling to
me, my son he's calling
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to me and he's
asking me to get up.
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He's asking me to do
something that he can't do
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for me and that
is to make a choice,
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now my battle is,
will I chose to surrender
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my self, my tired self,
will I chose to surrender
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myself to the will
of my heavenly Father
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that he might do
for me when I cannot
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do for myself?
That's the greatest battle
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if we wanna start at
right at the beginning
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of the day, but the
difficulty is if we start
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the battle in the right
place and we connect our
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weakness with his
strength at the beginning
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of the day is that
it, is the battle over.
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The rest of the day
we've made all of our choices,
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one choice in the
morning takes us all through
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the day. Absolutely
not, because our greatest
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battle, each one of us
faces it over and over.
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And when do we face
it? Well, we face it when
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we get into our day we
face it when self wants
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to do it my way.
When we say no thank you
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very much I wanna
handle this myself,
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I will take this
into my own hands Lord.
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Now, do we say
it that way? Rarely.
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What generally
happens is when someone or
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some
circumstance crosses our will?
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When something
doesn't go my way,
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the self begins to
rise in us and every one of
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us knows what that
feels like. And it's then that
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we're in our greatest
battle and it's then at
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that moment that we
have a choice to make.
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Our greatest battle
in that moment of time,
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when someone cuts
us off in traffic,
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when my wife misunderstands me,
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when my child isn't
doing quick enough the thing
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I want them to do.
It's in that moment when
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self begins to
rise that we are in our
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greatest battle. The
question is who will win,
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will self win the
battle, will God win the battle
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working in me to willing
to do of his good pleasure,
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it's at that moment
and at that moment the
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choice is mine,
the choice is yours.
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Who will win the
battle? If I justify myself and
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these are the two
basic reactions that each
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of us has, now there maybe more,
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many more variations.
But I tell you the two
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basic reactions
as I looked at my own
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experience for
many years and how I was
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failing in the Christian walk.
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The two basic
reactions that I had and
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as I've talked to
people all over the world, the
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first is this, when
self begins to rise these
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circumstances, these feelings,
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these are mine and now
I'm going to justify why
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I wanna honk my horn
at the person that cuts
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me off. I wanna
justify why I'm irritated when
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they cut me off, I
wanna justify the words
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that I wanna speak
to my wife when she
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misunderstands me. I
wanna justify why I need
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to tell my child in
the wrong tone of voice.
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That self reaction
wants to be justified.
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And if we justify
self and we carry through
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the very actions that
self wants to carry through,
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we then find
ourselves in remorse saying as
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I said many, many
times in my experience.
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Why did I do that,
I'm not gonna do that,
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I'm tired of doing
that and then we move to the
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other side and I know
many sincere people have
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experienced the
other side, the other basic
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reaction is that
when self is crossed
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we say I'm not
gonna go there this time,
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I'm not gonna do it,
I'm not gonna let myself
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get angry this time,
I'm not gonna do this
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if it kills me. And so
we try to pull ourselves
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up by our bootstraps,
we try to do it in our
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own strength
because we know what the
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verses say, we know
that if we wanna be in the
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kingdom of heaven. We
can't live like devils
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down here, we
know all these things,
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but we still lack
the power and so I would
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think you know I've
got strong will power
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and I'm not
gonna let this happen,
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I'll make a new years
resolution and this time
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you know I thank God
that he does not allow us
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to do it in our own strength.
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We can't do it
and he knows that,
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the devil sometimes
lays off when we try to do
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it on our own
strength, when we try to,
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to grit our teeth
and I'm gonna do it as if
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he kills me. And the
devil sometimes backs off
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and makes us think
we're doing pretty good
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and then all of a
sudden he just comes along
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and kicks our feet
rid off from under us.
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I tell you friends
today what a joy it is to know
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where lies the victory
in our greatest battle.
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And I wanna tell
you today I understand
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is something that it
took me years to understand
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that when we face temptation,
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when we face our
greatest battle we needn't
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go first to our
justifications, we needn't
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go to our living
it in our own strength
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what we need to go
to the very first choice
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in temptation. The
very first place we need
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to go when we face
our greatest battle
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is to submit ourselves
under our heavenly Father.
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Now if we've done that
at the beginning of the day
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and if we're
maintaining that through the day
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then when that
temptation comes all it is,
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is a reconfirmation
of that commitment
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to God to stay
connected to his divine power.
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But when that
temptation and self begins
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to rise we have that
choice and that choice
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must first be to either
maintain that connection
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with God, that
power outside of ourselves
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or get
reconnected to that power.
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Because without
maintaining or getting
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reconnected we will
not have the power and
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we will end up justifying self,
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losing our way or we will end up
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trying to do it
on our own strength.
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When we try to do
it on our own strength,
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what happens to us?
When we try to do it
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my way it never
works and this is what
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I began to see.
Now, I want you to turn
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with me, there's a very
precious verse in James,
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get your Bibles,
open with me to James.
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We're gonna be
looking there at the,
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the 4th chapter of
James and we're gonna
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be looking first at
verse 7, it says there.
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Submit
yourselves therefore to God.
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Now, notice this the
first thing it says is submit
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yourself to God,
Then resist the devil,
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and he will what?
Then he will flee from you.
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Now this is very
important, I missed this even
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though I knew
this for many years.
00:10:08.65\00:10:12.27
I actually had this
scripture memorized,
00:10:12.98\00:10:15.54
but here's what I was missing.
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When temptation would
come and if I rationalized
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and justified myself,
was I submitting to God?
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No, I was
justifying self, lost my way,
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the devil had me.
Well, if I recognized that
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I didn't want to do
that, I didn't wanna justify
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myself and I
wanted to do God's will,
00:10:36.37\00:10:39.37
I try to do it in my
own strength and so what
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I did is I tried
hard to resist the devil.
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Because I knew if
I could resist him,
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he's gonna flee from
me. The problem is I missed
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the very important part
of this text that I needed
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to first submit myself
to God and I tell you when
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we first submit that
means surrender ourselves
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to God. When I first
do that I have never lost
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a battle is because the
Lord shall fight for you.
00:11:06.55\00:11:10.19
And ye shall hold your
peace, that is the promise
00:11:10.81\00:11:13.42
of the Lord. If
we are surrendered,
00:11:13.43\00:11:16.11
if we first submit to
God it is the strength
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of God that
conquers the temptation,
00:11:18.61\00:11:21.87
working out his will in
us, to will and to do of
00:11:21.88\00:11:25.81
his good pleasure. It's
us that makes the choice,
00:11:25.82\00:11:28.72
it's us that makes the
choice to connect to God,
00:11:29.89\00:11:32.27
it's us to make
the choice to submit,
00:11:32.82\00:11:34.50
to surrender to God.
It is God that works in us
00:11:34.51\00:11:37.54
as we make the
choice to resist the devil,
00:11:37.55\00:11:40.18
to resist the temptation
and he will flee from us.
00:11:40.82\00:11:44.21
Now, it's interesting,
if you have your Bibles
00:11:44.93\00:11:46.83
there continue on with verse 8,
00:11:46.84\00:11:50.11
I like verse 8 because
it really is a continuation
00:11:51.02\00:11:54.77
of verse 7 it
saying in a different way.
00:11:55.48\00:11:57.36
Draw nigh to
God, and he will what?
00:11:57.37\00:11:59.78
Draw night to you
that are the emphasis to
00:12:00.44\00:12:02.92
that verse. That I
wanna focus on for a moment.
00:12:02.93\00:12:06.02
If we will, in verse 7
submit, in verse 8 draw
00:12:06.98\00:12:12.79
nigh, notice that in
both of those God is asking us
00:12:12.80\00:12:16.27
to do something to
get close to him in
00:12:16.28\00:12:19.69
order to overcome temptation.
00:12:19.70\00:12:22.15
The beautiful part of
this is that as God sees
00:12:23.84\00:12:27.30
our weakness, he
gives us two verses that
00:12:27.31\00:12:31.70
say the same thing
because he knows the
00:12:31.71\00:12:33.71
dullness of our minds.
That's whats I love about
00:12:33.72\00:12:36.25
the gospels, Jesus
didn't just write one gospel,
00:12:36.26\00:12:39.89
he let us have
four different gospels.
00:12:40.65\00:12:42.96
And he wanted to show
us in so many different
00:12:44.01\00:12:46.80
ways how to reach
our hearts and to show
00:12:46.81\00:12:50.06
himself to us.
So, we didn't miss it,
00:12:50.07\00:12:51.90
so in verse 7 he
says submit yourselves,
00:12:52.72\00:12:55.33
surrender yourselves, in
verse 8 he says draw nigh.
00:12:56.26\00:12:59.39
If we draw night to
God, he promises that when
00:12:59.95\00:13:03.26
we make that choice
that he's gonna draw
00:13:03.27\00:13:05.46
nigh to us. The
result is we are going to win
00:13:05.47\00:13:08.81
the greatest battle
that we face and that battle
00:13:09.84\00:13:12.78
is the surrender of
self to the will of God.
00:13:12.79\00:13:15.34
I wanna share an
illustration with you,
00:13:16.14\00:13:17.49
I was on an airplane, I
had completed an seminar.
00:13:18.62\00:13:21.17
A weekend of
meetings in the church,
00:13:21.90\00:13:23.84
it was Sunday in morning. Now,
00:13:25.41\00:13:28.62
usually in my family
or my wife in a portion
00:13:28.63\00:13:32.28
of my family
because our ministry is a
00:13:32.29\00:13:34.33
family ministry we
often travel together.
00:13:34.34\00:13:36.28
But this one particular
weekend I was by myself,
00:13:36.29\00:13:39.26
Sunday morning I
was exhausted and I was
00:13:40.79\00:13:44.55
sitting there, it was in Dallas.
00:13:44.56\00:13:46.80
Before I was
sitting on the airplane
00:13:47.72\00:13:48.88
I was sitting on
the side of the airplane
00:13:49.92\00:13:52.18
had three seats. I
was sitting by the window;
00:13:52.19\00:13:55.29
there was vacant
seat in the middle.
00:13:55.96\00:13:57.95
And then there was a
nicely dressed gentlemen
00:13:58.53\00:14:01.38
sitting in the aisle
seat. As I was sitting there
00:14:01.39\00:14:05.13
waiting for the plane
to prepare for take off,
00:14:05.14\00:14:09.10
I was just relaxing and I
saw the in-flight magazine
00:14:10.21\00:14:13.78
in the seat pocket
the seat ahead of me.
00:14:15.14\00:14:17.26
And as I was reaching
for that in-flight magazine,
00:14:18.85\00:14:22.49
the Lord called to me.
No, audible voice that still
00:14:23.65\00:14:28.45
small voice, the Lord
called to me in quietness
00:14:28.46\00:14:33.93
of that moment.
And as I was reaching
00:14:33.94\00:14:35.94
for the in-flight
magazine, the Lord called to me
00:14:35.95\00:14:38.76
to take out my Bible.
Now, I'm gonna be very honest
00:14:39.59\00:14:42.41
with you, because this
is how our greatest battle
00:14:42.42\00:14:44.14
works and this is why
I'm using this illustration.
00:14:44.15\00:14:45.98
This is real life and
this is how it works for
00:14:46.73\00:14:49.14
everyone who struggles
with being a real living
00:14:49.15\00:14:52.66
Christian. And that
moment all I wanted to do was
00:14:52.67\00:14:56.78
relax, is there
anything wrong with relaxing?
00:14:56.79\00:14:59.46
No, the Lord wants us
to come apart and rest,
00:15:00.39\00:15:02.97
but I will tell you
what the Lord does not want.
00:15:03.62\00:15:05.91
He does not want us
to relax or hold upon
00:15:05.92\00:15:09.94
divine power and
there I was reaching for the
00:15:09.95\00:15:13.68
in-flight magazine
and the Lord said take out
00:15:13.69\00:15:16.65
your Bible and I
began to argue with the Lord
00:15:16.66\00:15:18.73
like we often do. I
began to justify that
00:15:18.74\00:15:22.00
I was tired, Lord, I'm
tired. The Lord it's been
00:15:22.01\00:15:25.55
a long weekend,
my mind is so weird.
00:15:25.56\00:15:28.13
I just wanna relax.
The Lord brought this
00:15:28.14\00:15:32.59
thought to me, I don't
need to hear your excuses,
00:15:32.60\00:15:37.29
what I need to know is my son.
00:15:38.61\00:15:40.49
Will you give me your
heart? Immediately that
00:15:42.16\00:15:46.40
brought that verse to my mind,
00:15:46.41\00:15:48.11
my son give me that heart.
00:15:49.57\00:15:50.96
Proverbs the 23rd
chapter and the 26th verse:
00:15:50.97\00:15:55.36
"My son, give me thine heart,
00:15:56.75\00:15:59.21
now the question is
are we really willing when
00:16:00.40\00:16:06.00
we wanna do my way,
are we really willing
00:16:06.01\00:16:09.30
to give him? This
is to submit yourselves
00:16:09.31\00:16:11.95
therefore, this is the
surrender in this moment.
00:16:11.96\00:16:15.83
It's not whether we're
willing to do it at the
00:16:15.84\00:16:17.34
beginning of the day,
right now my son are you
00:16:17.35\00:16:19.97
willing to give me
your heart in these
00:16:19.98\00:16:23.68
circumstances. You
see God doesn't need our
00:16:23.69\00:16:25.62
excuses, God doesn't
need to know all of why
00:16:25.63\00:16:30.09
we're tired, he
knows all these things.
00:16:30.70\00:16:32.23
Yes, we can tell
him, he loves to hear but
00:16:32.82\00:16:35.12
he doesn't want us
to excuse not staying
00:16:35.13\00:16:38.42
in his will. God was
calling me to stay in his
00:16:38.43\00:16:42.30
present will, so
there is my greatest battle.
00:16:42.31\00:16:47.19
The greatest
battle that you face,
00:16:47.88\00:16:49.15
the greatest battle
that I face everyday
00:16:49.77\00:16:52.16
often moment by
moment is will I go my way
00:16:52.17\00:16:55.43
or will I yield to
the potter who says,
00:16:56.28\00:16:58.18
I am the potter
you are the clay.
00:16:58.71\00:17:01.20
Will the clay
strive with the potter;
00:17:01.75\00:17:04.84
will we strive
with our maker? Oh!
00:17:06.16\00:17:08.60
We often do and
there I was in my
00:17:08.61\00:17:10.43
greatest battle and I
sat therefore you know
00:17:10.44\00:17:13.62
this happened in split seconds.
00:17:13.63\00:17:15.51
And I'm thankful to
say when the Lord called
00:17:16.39\00:17:18.03
to my heart and
reminded me that all he needed
00:17:18.04\00:17:20.86
was my heart and not my excuses.
00:17:20.87\00:17:22.42
I, re-surrendered
myself and I took out my Bible.
00:17:23.08\00:17:27.58
And I said Lord what
do you want me to do?
00:17:28.55\00:17:29.67
And I opened my
Bible and it fell open to
00:17:30.35\00:17:32.23
Ecclesiastes the third chapter.
00:17:32.24\00:17:35.18
And I began to read,
that I hadn't read there
00:17:36.21\00:17:37.67
and it's, to
everything there is a season you
00:17:38.39\00:17:40.10
know the verses and
the plane began to take off
00:17:40.11\00:17:45.55
on the runway. And as
we were going up through
00:17:46.17\00:17:49.28
the clouds within
moments we were in one of the
00:17:49.29\00:17:52.37
most violent
thunderstorms I have
00:17:52.38\00:17:54.75
ever been in my life.
The plane, a big plane,
00:17:54.76\00:17:58.98
it was buffed, it
was racked, was tossed.
00:17:58.99\00:18:01.74
And I tell you before
we had been off the ground
00:18:02.52\00:18:07.02
for less then three
minutes, suddenly out my
00:18:07.55\00:18:11.47
window, out the left
side of the aircraft,
00:18:12.24\00:18:13.48
I was sitting so I
could look right down the
00:18:13.49\00:18:16.53
leading edge of the
wing. Suddenly there was
00:18:16.54\00:18:20.43
a flag there, fire
lightning struck the wing
00:18:20.44\00:18:25.48
of the airplane. And
rolled into a huge ball of fire,
00:18:25.49\00:18:29.63
now I wish for a
moment you could have been
00:18:30.27\00:18:33.44
on that airplane with
me and heard the sounds
00:18:33.45\00:18:36.90
of dignified people.
Sounds that you wouldn't
00:18:36.91\00:18:41.31
expect from some people,
but that plane came alive
00:18:41.32\00:18:44.24
with very
interesting sounds and quickly
00:18:44.25\00:18:47.30
there after the
captain came out and he said
00:18:47.31\00:18:50.05
this is your captain.
He said we've just had
00:18:50.06\00:18:52.86
a direct strike from lightning,
00:18:52.87\00:18:54.26
everything is okay,
but it always curls my skin
00:18:54.87\00:18:58.42
he said. I tell you it
curled a lot of people's
00:18:58.43\00:19:01.43
skin that morning on
that flight. But I wanna tell
00:19:02.00\00:19:05.05
you that I had chosen
by faith to be in the will
00:19:06.04\00:19:08.82
of my heavenly Father.
I'd chosen to not reach
00:19:09.44\00:19:13.30
for the in-flight
magazine, does that mean that
00:19:13.31\00:19:14.74
I don't ever read
an in-flight magazine?
00:19:15.10\00:19:16.46
No, that's not the
point, the point is this,
00:19:16.47\00:19:18.72
in that moment of
time God wanted me to reach
00:19:19.38\00:19:21.80
for my Bible. He had
something else in mind and
00:19:22.37\00:19:25.95
very shortly after the
captain went off the air
00:19:25.96\00:19:27.82
the man who was sitting
in the aisle seat turned
00:19:28.46\00:19:32.69
to me and he said
I noticed that you're
00:19:32.70\00:19:36.20
reading in Ecclesiastes
the third chapter when
00:19:36.21\00:19:38.71
the lightening
hit the plane. Wow,
00:19:38.72\00:19:40.92
very observant, he said
I also noticed that you did
00:19:40.93\00:19:44.26
not have the kind of
reaction that so many
00:19:44.27\00:19:46.65
people had on
this airplane. He said,
00:19:46.66\00:19:49.73
tell me about it, tell
me about what is making
00:19:49.74\00:19:53.89
the difference in
your life right now?
00:19:53.90\00:19:56.73
Oh! What an
opportunity for the next 20
00:19:57.90\00:20:00.05
or 25 minutes, God
gave me an opportunity to
00:20:00.06\00:20:03.32
share this simple
gospel of Jesus Christ and how
00:20:03.33\00:20:07.20
it works in the
individual connection with God
00:20:07.21\00:20:11.03
in our greatest
battle and then he asked me,
00:20:11.04\00:20:14.13
how does it work
in your marriage?
00:20:14.14\00:20:15.54
And I began to share
with him that it works
00:20:16.85\00:20:19.18
first in our
marriage because as we connect
00:20:19.19\00:20:21.51
ourselves with God
and we experience real
00:20:21.52\00:20:23.44
power that our wife
will be the first one that
00:20:23.45\00:20:26.48
will be the
recipient of that good news,
00:20:26.49\00:20:28.71
that we're
experiencing. And he said,
00:20:29.29\00:20:31.28
and how does it work in
parenting situations and,
00:20:31.29\00:20:33.96
we just talked for
20 or 25 minutes and
00:20:34.89\00:20:37.71
then the Lord gave me
the opportunity to ask him
00:20:37.72\00:20:41.16
a question. I
said so what you do?
00:20:41.17\00:20:44.68
He said I'm
Associate Professor of Marriage
00:20:46.79\00:20:49.46
and the Family at
Brigham Young University.
00:20:49.47\00:20:52.23
And I said praise
the Lord, quietly,
00:20:53.80\00:20:55.65
praise the Lord that
I did not do what self
00:20:57.02\00:21:02.31
wanted to do, not because
of the in-flight magazine,
00:21:02.32\00:21:06.05
but because God
had a bigger plan,
00:21:06.06\00:21:07.67
God had a soul
there. And that man asked me
00:21:08.12\00:21:11.30
for all the things
that our ministry produces
00:21:11.31\00:21:13.74
on the personal walk,
asked for the things that
00:21:14.47\00:21:17.40
we produce on the
marriage, on the family.
00:21:17.41\00:21:19.91
What an
opportunity, I didn't know,
00:21:21.08\00:21:23.35
but I wanna tell
you something today
00:21:24.25\00:21:25.46
very simply and
very practically that if
00:21:26.61\00:21:28.68
I would have argued
against God and self would
00:21:28.69\00:21:31.82
have won out and I got
the in-flight magazine out,
00:21:31.83\00:21:35.11
I got my way and I left
my Bible in my briefcase.
00:21:35.67\00:21:38.93
I tell you that
opportunity would never
00:21:39.46\00:21:41.68
have happened for that
man, because God wanted
00:21:41.69\00:21:46.78
to reach into that
man's heart. Oh! Friends,
00:21:46.79\00:21:51.01
there is a bigger
picture in the salvation of man
00:21:52.10\00:21:54.69
then just myself.
There is a bigger picture,
00:21:55.35\00:21:58.39
God wants to reveal
himself hurting humanity,
00:21:58.40\00:22:03.87
people that have
needs. You have needs today,
00:22:04.41\00:22:08.83
just like I do, I know
my need more day by day
00:22:09.52\00:22:14.16
because I recognize
that without the Lord
00:22:14.17\00:22:17.29
regardless of what
I've done yesterday,
00:22:17.87\00:22:19.28
regardless of how much
good I might have done.
00:22:19.83\00:22:22.60
There was someone last
week under the influence
00:22:23.71\00:22:28.13
and power of God
that today is a new day.
00:22:28.14\00:22:30.98
And I need to meet
the battles of today
00:22:31.67\00:22:33.91
in the strength of
Jesus Christ that I cannot
00:22:34.79\00:22:38.20
fight those battles
justifying myself and doing
00:22:38.21\00:22:40.92
what I wanna do. And I
cannot win those battles,
00:22:40.93\00:22:44.44
by trying to do it
in my own strength.
00:22:44.45\00:22:47.62
It's only as we give
ourselves wholeheartedly,
00:22:48.75\00:22:52.47
you see for many
years I didn't understand
00:22:54.00\00:22:57.33
my greatest
battle. For many years
00:22:57.34\00:23:00.11
I thought that I had a
strong will you see what
00:23:00.12\00:23:04.31
I came to understand
is that will power and
00:23:04.32\00:23:08.49
divine power are very separate.
00:23:08.50\00:23:11.72
Many people that I've
need confuse will power
00:23:12.27\00:23:15.11
with divine power, they
think if they have strong
00:23:15.12\00:23:18.13
will power, if they have
power to do what is right.
00:23:18.14\00:23:21.08
And I tell you will
power is for one thing
00:23:21.65\00:23:25.39
only friends,
for one thing, will
00:23:25.40\00:23:27.77
power is choice power.
Will power is the power
00:23:28.53\00:23:34.47
that God gives to every
man, woman and child, just
00:23:34.48\00:23:36.78
like he gives to
every woman, man, child,
00:23:37.46\00:23:40.45
youth, a measure of
faith will power is given
00:23:40.46\00:23:44.04
to make choices.
And those choices either
00:23:45.05\00:23:48.22
connect our weakness
to his enduring might
00:23:48.23\00:23:52.34
or those choices hold
on to our selfishness and
00:23:53.10\00:23:56.67
we play out our sinful
self to the hurt of the
00:23:56.68\00:24:01.07
cause of God and to
the hurt of ourselves
00:24:01.08\00:24:03.38
and those that we
love. So, will power
00:24:03.39\00:24:06.99
is choice power,
will power is the choice
00:24:08.29\00:24:12.19
to connect us with
God, it is not the power
00:24:12.20\00:24:16.95
to overcome sin. When I
began to understand this,
00:24:16.96\00:24:20.40
I recognized this is
the difference I've been
00:24:20.41\00:24:25.05
missing, when
temptation comes instead
00:24:25.06\00:24:28.51
of thinking
about the temptation,
00:24:28.52\00:24:31.16
how good it looks,
how good it smells,
00:24:31.17\00:24:33.07
how good it feels.
Instead of focusing on all
00:24:33.08\00:24:36.73
those things like Eve
did at the tree of the
00:24:36.74\00:24:39.37
knowledge of good and
evil. She focused on all the
00:24:39.38\00:24:42.04
things that met her
senses and she lost her focus
00:24:42.05\00:24:48.20
upon God. She lost
her submission to God,
00:24:48.21\00:24:51.22
she lost being
drawn nigh to God,
00:24:51.87\00:24:54.31
she began to
question God, she began to
00:24:54.89\00:24:57.14
rationalize herself.
And this is what we do
00:24:57.15\00:24:59.14
and so when
temptation comes friends
00:25:00.25\00:25:01.95
I wanna encourage
you that when it comes,
00:25:01.96\00:25:04.56
instead of focusing on
what's in the refrigerator.
00:25:05.16\00:25:07.21
Instead of focusing
now what I wanna say
00:25:07.70\00:25:09.64
to my wife when she
doesn't agree with me,
00:25:09.65\00:25:11.52
instead of focusing upon
the irritation that you're
00:25:11.53\00:25:14.83
starting to feel
when someone cuts you off.
00:25:14.84\00:25:18.31
The first work that
we have in our greatest
00:25:19.65\00:25:21.89
battle is to
connect our weakness,
00:25:21.90\00:25:25.22
to make a choice,
to use my will power,
00:25:25.96\00:25:28.77
to connect my
weakness, to make a choice,
00:25:29.78\00:25:33.11
to say Lord if all
you can say and I've said
00:25:33.73\00:25:36.13
it before. If all
you can say is Lord,
00:25:36.14\00:25:39.18
save me and you
connect your power,
00:25:39.77\00:25:43.62
you're weakened
for your power to the
00:25:44.57\00:25:47.09
enduring power of Jesus Christ,
00:25:47.10\00:25:50.54
you will win in
your greatest battle.
00:25:50.55\00:25:53.42
You will have power to
rise above the difficulties
00:25:54.36\00:25:58.84
that we face day by
day, our choice needs
00:25:59.67\00:26:04.81
to be first to connect with God.
00:26:04.82\00:26:07.76
As we connect with God
the temptation begins to
00:26:08.71\00:26:12.43
lose it's strength, as
we look at the temptation
00:26:12.44\00:26:16.81
it gets bigger it
smells better, it looms larger.
00:26:16.82\00:26:20.03
But as we say Lord I
submit myself to you,
00:26:20.60\00:26:24.48
Lord Keep me, keep my weakness,
00:26:25.05\00:26:27.16
keep my frailty.
Lord, I give myself to you,
00:26:27.17\00:26:31.70
then we connect to his strength,
00:26:32.49\00:26:36.78
we need that strength
to be victorious in our
00:26:37.67\00:26:41.14
greatest battle.
And I wanted to take
00:26:41.15\00:26:43.84
a moment right now
before we close, because
00:26:43.85\00:26:45.81
I feel such a need
myself for the power,
00:26:45.82\00:26:49.75
the life changing
power of God to win my
00:26:49.76\00:26:52.47
greatest battle.
I want you to pray
00:26:52.48\00:26:53.94
with us right now, will you
00:26:53.95\00:26:55.64
bow with me where you are?
00:26:55.65\00:26:56.74
Father, we come to
you because we know
00:26:57.65\00:26:59.32
that you have the
strength and the power
00:26:59.33\00:27:01.86
and the mighty to
give us the victory in our
00:27:01.87\00:27:04.60
greatest battle. And
Lord, we give ourselves
00:27:04.61\00:27:08.03
to you that we use
our power of choice to
00:27:08.04\00:27:10.60
connect our
weakness with your strength.
00:27:10.61\00:27:12.84
That in the
strength of Jesus Christ
00:27:13.65\00:27:15.01
we can win in our
greatest battle against self,
00:27:15.02\00:27:17.72
that we will
surrender self to your
00:27:17.73\00:27:19.22
will in Jesus name Amen.
00:27:19.23\00:27:22.60
You know I wanna
encourage you today, that
00:27:25.02\00:27:26.46
you can be
victorious, if you've never been
00:27:28.31\00:27:32.65
victorious before, if
you've had a floundering
00:27:32.66\00:27:36.28
experience. Surrender
yourself unconditionally
00:27:36.29\00:27:40.06
to Jesus Christ
today and you will have the
00:27:40.07\00:27:44.18
power of God to win
in your greatest battle.
00:27:44.19\00:27:47.43
You're greatest
battle; you're greatest battle
00:27:48.18\00:27:51.05
will be the
difference that Jesus can make.
00:27:51.06\00:27:54.68