The Empowering Spirit

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning.

Okay, that's better.

If you don't know me, I'm Bernard,

and I'm one of the members at Watermark.

I'm not on the staff,

so you are unfortunately having amateur night,

attending amateur night.

What we're going to talk about today, though,

is we're rounding out,

we've been going through for the last month,

we're rounding out a series on the Holy Spirit.

Okay.

And today we're going to talk about

the empowering Holy Spirit.

Okay.

So what does it mean to be filled,

and what does it mean to be empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Okay.

So we're going to look at this topic,

we're going to tackle it under three headings.

The need for the Holy Spirit in 2017.

Right?

Why do we need the Holy Spirit?

The signs of what a Spirit-filled life looks like in 2017.

And how.

The last is the application.

How can you be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Okay.

So let's start with the beginning.

The need for the Holy Spirit in 2017.

Why do we even need the Holy Spirit in 2017?

Right?

We can meet everybody we want on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Right?

We can get all our answers that we ever want to ask on Google.

And we can buy anything we want on Amazon or Taobao.

Right?

So why do we need the Holy Spirit?

At no time in history are we more connected to one another

through messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat and Snapchat.

Right?

Last, just three days ago on Friday in the New York Times,

David Brooks, one of the journalists in the New York Times,

had an article called,

Just How Evil Is Tech?

Okay?

Just How Evil Is Tech?

By the way, I'm in the technology industry,

so this could be a little contrarian when you listen to me.

But he said in it,

we have more control over our social interactions,

but it leads to thinner interactions.

Okay?

Technology.

We have more control over our social interaction,

but it leads to thinner interactions.

And he gave some scary statistics,

and I want to share those with you.

He said,

A study shows that 13-year-olds

who spend 10 hours plus a week,

a week, okay?

Not a day.

10 hours plus a week on social media

increase their risk of depression by 27%.

Okay?

10 hours is actually not that much a week on social media.

This is for 13-year-olds.

Teens who spend three or more hours a day

on electronic devices,

smartphones,

you know, tablets,

are 35% more likely to have risk of suicide-like making plans

on how to do it.

Girls especially are hard hit

and have experienced a 50% increase in depression symptoms

since the advent of mobile technology.

These statistics

are showing us one thing,

that you know what?

Our technology is not the solution to loneliness,

but on the contrary,

it's actually,

it amplifies our loneliness.

Okay?

So on the knowledge front,

and I talked about,

you know,

we can get all our answers from Google, right?

I mean,

well,

there's probably one of you out there using Bing,

so using Yahoo,

diehards,

but most of us are probably Google people.

So you can get everything you want to know on Google,

and then if you want to know a little bit more on Wikipedia,

and if you're challenging,

you know,

you're reading challenge,

you probably use YouTube,

right?

But are we better informed?

You know,

as a society,

as a group,

as an individual,

are we better informed?

Are we more educated?

Or are we just more confused?

And,

and is,

you know,

there's,

there's a lot of talk recently

that hack is actually

emphasizing our bias,

and there's a lot of talk about

this echo chamber effect.

You know,

you only Google the things that agree with you.

So,

I think one of the keys,

the other,

the other thing that's just come up recently

is,

is what is fake and what is real,

right?

I mean,

you saw in the US elections,

you know,

there's a lot of talk about fake news and all that,

and,

and I'll just spend a little bit of talk about that.

But,

you know,

Paul,

funny enough,

Paul,

writing to the Ephesians,

had some advice for us.

Okay?

Now,

the city of Ephesus

in,

in the first century,

is actually not that different to Hong Kong.

It was a kind of a commerce hub for the Roman Empire.

It was a trading center.

Not so different to Hong Kong being,

you know,

a commerce and trading center for China,

right?

Right?

So,

the Christians at Ephesus was also being overwhelmed by their,

the demands on their modern world,

their first century modern world,

right?

So,

what,

what,

what,

what,

what,

what,

what,

and,

and they too wanted to find a way to get back a bit of control into their lives.

They feel like they're,

they're,

you know,

Ephesians are feeling like,

you know what,

my life is kind of spinning out of control.

And,

and,

and,

and Paul's,

Paul's writing a letter to say,

hey,

here's a way you get a bit of control into your life.

Okay?

And,

what he said is,

do not get drunk with wine,

for that is the poetry,

but to be filled by the Spirit.

So,

Paul's advice to the Ephesians on how to cope with the challenges they have in their lives

is to be filled with the Spirit.

And he,

and he explains what this filling of the Spirit is.

what it means by contrasting it with,

with the experience of being drunk on wine.

Okay?

I know none of you have ever been drunk in your life.

None of you have had one too many.

So,

you just got to stick with me and think through this in a purely theoretical sense.

Okay?

Because experientially,

it is all foreign to you.

Okay?

So,

what he said is,

you know,

one,

one of the reasons people drink a bit too much is they're having challenges in their lives.

Okay?

If you're having challenges,

you've got a horrible boss,

and you've got a horrible lecturer,

or something like that.

Well,

maybe not,

you know,

you want to,

like,

have extra bear.

Why?

Because you want to kind of forget about the challenges that you're facing.

Right?

So,

what alcohol does,

physiologically,

is it's a depressant.

Okay?

It kind of lowers,

it lowers the tempo in your life.

It reduces your ability to tell what is real and what is not.

Okay?

It lowers your inhibitions.

So,

you know,

people who are drunk love,

believe that they all should be on America's Got Talent.

Right?

They love to sing,

and,

you know,

and they have this perception that they can do anything they want.

Like,

jump,

you know,

a thousand,

you know,

jump up a building like Superman.

And you see when people are drunk,

they are,

they're very bold.

Okay?

But they have no perception of what is real,

and their own abilities.

So,

but the opposite of that is spirit-filled,

Paul said.

So,

what a spirit-filled gives you?

Being spirit-filled,

what Paul is saying is,

it gives you clarity.

It gives you a higher perception of reality.

And it enhances your control.

Okay?

So,

what it means to be spirit-filled is you see more of reality.

Okay?

Not just the reality before your eyes.

Okay?

I'm a little bit older than a lot of you.

So,

one thing you learn as you get older is,

reality is not just what is before your eyes,

but the context of what is happening.

Okay?

The context of what is happening.

So,

context is as important to tell what is reality

than exactly just what you see.

So,

I'll talk a little bit more about that.

And then,

to get,

you have more control over your life.

I don't know,

can I ask a show of hands,

who has more to do?

Wait,

I have a problem finishing off my to-do list.

Okay?

Both at work and at home.

By the end of the day,

I always have things left in my to-do list.

Can I just have a show of hands?

Who has a problem,

who has more to do in a day

than they can get done?

Anybody?

Okay.

That's pretty,

pretty good,

right?

I mean,

that's,

it's a common problem.

We all have more to do in a day

than we have time to do.

Here's the problem.

If you believe God,

it's all-loving,

all-powerful,

and all-knowing God,

He would not give you more things to do in a day

than you can do.

Agree with that?

If God is all-powerful,

so He can control everything,

all-knowing,

and all-loving,

He would not give you more to do in a day

than you can get done.

He would not set you up to fail,

in other words,

right?

Because He's all-loving.

So just,

I'm just,

just logic here,

okay?

So,

but the fact is,

all of us have more to do in a day

than we can deal with.

So what does that mean?

So,

logically speaking,

what it's saying is,

there are things that we are trying to do

and we're striving for in a day

that God did not put in our day

and are not good for us.

But we are working really hard

to try to get those things done,

and it's causing stress in all our lives,

okay?

Wouldn't you like the wisdom

and the discernment

to tell the difference

of what are the things

that are good for you

that God wants you to do

and what are the things

that are just urgent

but not important?

You know,

we've got to separate

the urgent but not important.

So,

what Paul is saying

to Ephesians is,

guys,

I've got some advice for you.

The key to discerning

what is the difference

between urgent and important

is actually to be spirit-filled.

Now,

all of us

feel overwhelmed.

I don't know.

I'm feeling more overwhelmed

this year

than I did last year

than I did the year before that.

And there's a,

there was a really good book

early on this year

written by

another New York Times journalist,

Thomas Freeman,

okay?

Thomas Freeman,

long-time New York Times journalist,

writes about big issues

and the book is called

Thank You for Being Late,

okay?

And the whole reason for,

it's a strange name,

Thank You for Being Late.

Why is it called

Thank You for Being Late?

Well,

the third song

we just sang before

said,

God is in the waiting.

You know,

if I had a postscript

to that book,

it'll be,

Thank You for Being Late,

God is in the waiting.

We all need,

what he's arguing is

we need to take some time

to push pause

on our lives

and hear

what,

hear the voice

in our waiting.

Now,

he's not a Christian writer.

So,

what he's saying is

the reason why

we're all so frazzled

is the rate of change

caused by three things,

technology,

globalization,

and environmental impact

is accelerating,

okay,

exponentially.

the changes in our lives

to the point that

this is the first time

in human history

that the change

that we're experiencing,

it's outpacing

our ability

to adapt to the change,

okay?

So,

the change

that is happening

around us

caused by globalization,

technology,

and environmental changes

is outpacing

our ability,

our human ability

to adapt to the change.

So,

that's why we're frazzled.

This kind of change

kind of happened,

started to happen,

he argued,

in the 70s,

okay?

Now,

in the 80s and 90s,

we had,

our solution

to adapting to change

was this concept

of time management.

There were all sorts of,

you know,

some of you are nodding your head,

some of you are like,

I wasn't even born yet.

Anyway,

there were all sorts

of companies

that sprung up

that gave,

that made all these

specialized,

patented diaries,

you know,

like,

like Franklin Covey

and Philofax,

and you pay

hundreds of dollars

for these diaries

for a very specialized

patented process

of how to do

your to-do list better,

and how do you

check off your to-do list.

So,

our solution

in the 80s and 90s

to this

faster pace of change

was to write

better to-do lists.

That didn't really work,

okay?

So,

in the late 90s,

technology started creeping in,

and companies like,

you know,

Palm,

Palm Pilot,

you know,

most of you are like,

what's Palm Pilot,

okay?

And BlackBerry,

you know,

most,

some of you may have heard

of BlackBerry,

but,

you know,

what was kind of created

in the late 90s,

and that wasn't going

to solve our problems,

okay?

I can see a lot

of blank faces out there,

especially when I mention

Palm Pilot.

Half of you don't know

what it is,

the other half is nodding,

it's like having flashbacks

of holding your palm trio,

and listening to

Britney Spears,

you know,

oops,

I did it again.

But that's the error,

okay?

But,

anyway,

they're kind of like

early poor versions

of iPhone,

if you can imagine that.

2007,

Steve Jobs made the iPhone,

right?

And then he said,

this is a revolutionary device

that's going to change everything.

I think he was right,

okay?

But it's actually changed

a lot of things

he didn't intend to change.

So,

and we also,

at that same time,

we had the advent

of cloud computing,

okay?

I won't go too techy

into this,

but the fact is,

social media was birthed

from cloud computing,

okay?

So,

2007,

this is my life

in 2007.

Well,

you know,

does it look like

a little bit of your life

as well?

Social media,

okay,

was meant to help us connect.

Instagram,

Facebook,

and LinkedIn,

and later Snapchat,

was helped to connect

with one another.

But,

the problem,

as David Brooks said,

it created thinner relationships,

okay?

He said,

online,

it's great,

it's a great place

for human contact,

but not internet.

intimacy.

Online,

it's a great place

for information,

but not reflection,

okay?

So,

you know,

you can't,

most of our messaging,

we may be messaging

tens of people,

I don't know,

some of you may be messaging

hundreds of people

per day,

but you're not having

deep relationships.

I mean,

how deep can

your relationship be

if there's no words,

but just emoji,

or selfies

with dog filters,

okay?

So,

I'm not,

giving you a hard time

with the selfie

with the dog filter,

but I'm saying,

that is not

a relationship.

That is something,

I don't know what it is,

but it's actually

not a relationship,

okay?

So,

cut down on the

selfie with the dog filter.

A couple weeks ago,

I was in Hongxiao,

visiting my youngest daughter,

Lizzie,

and,

you know,

Hongxiao is the home

for Alibaba,

and I just happened

to be there

on November 11th.

You know,

anybody know,

Singles Day,

right?

1-1-1-1,

right?

I don't know.

Who made this thing up?

Okay?

Singles Day,

biggest shopping day

in China.

And we were there

on Saturday morning,

and we drove out

to look at some sites,

and there was no traffic

on the road.

And the tour guide said,

the reason there's no traffic

on the road is

everybody was up all night

from midnight

to 4 a.m.

trying to get

the best bargains.

So,

everybody's sleeping

in this morning,

right?

So,

and there was

this sense of pride.

By the end of that day,

you know,

China had bought

$25 billion

worth of stuff.

I don't know,

stocked up on toilet paper

for three years,

or something.

$25 billion

right?

Which is like twice

Black Friday,

Cyber Monday,

whatever it is.

But the fact is,

there was a national pride

in how much we have spent

on buying stuff

that we don't need.

Okay?

It was like

China won the World Cup

when it crossed

the $25 billion mark.

So,

there's something

going on there,

and we're spending,

you know,

Taobao and Amazon

was meant to save us time.

But we're actually

spending a lot of time,

I don't know about you,

you know,

I get hooked.

I'm spending a lot of time

going on these online shots,

buying stuff

that you don't need.

Okay?

You're not actually,

if you're honest with us,

not really saving us

a lot of time.

So,

and here's the

dirty little secret,

okay?

I work in the technology industry.

Tech companies

are not interested

at all

in saving you time.

They have zero interest,

okay,

of all saving you time.

what they want

is for you

to spend more time

on their platforms.

It could be

on their devices,

on their social media platform.

Why?

The more time you spend there,

the more value there is

for advertisers

who advertise to you

for you to buy more stuff,

which can be delivered

from the SF

tomorrow,

right?

So,

the fact here is

technology,

you know,

we say,

well,

technology is going to

save so much time.

Tech companies

are not interested,

okay?

And you say,

wow,

that's very evil,

very conspiracy theory,

okay?

Give you a couple examples.

Snapchat.

Who uses Snapchat?

Okay,

you don't have to be ashamed of it.

I didn't say,

who uses Snapchat

only using dog filters?

Okay.

Snapchat.

Okay.

Okay.

Snapchat has latest,

latest,

not the latest,

the big thing,

Snapchat is Snapstreak,

right?

For those of you

who don't know

what Snapstreak is,

you know,

it's basically,

you're Snapchatting a friend

and you need to Snapchat

each other every day

to keep that streak going.

And people have

one year,

two year,

really long streaks,

hundreds of days,

right?

And you feel a lot of pressure

on,

I got to snap something

to my friend,

and otherwise,

I'm going to break

the streak.

Okay?

That,

in marketing,

is called

a compulsive loop.

Okay?

Or hijacking technology.

So,

what is happening

is technologies,

tech companies

are building

systems

into,

to keep you on

the system.

Okay?

Newsfeeds.

If you look at how

newsfeeds are read,

you go into

CNN,

BBC,

see,

it doesn't matter,

any,

having,

whatever,

the news stories

actually go down

in a spiral.

It's a bottomless bowl

and it leads you

to a next story,

next story,

next story,

next story.

Okay?

Because there's always

a different colour

click-through

to go to the next story.

Okay?

And,

that's to keep you

on the news site

for longer.

Okay?

Online gaming,

if you're a gamer,

there are incentives

for you.

In fact,

there are penalties.

If you don't play

every day,

there are penalties.

You drop down

the league table

and so forth.

Right?

I mean,

for those of you

who spend a lot of time

on the platform,

you know this.

And worse than,

well,

I wouldn't say worse.

Most of all,

social media platforms

are very,

very smart

and they give

irregular time rewards

because then

you have to check it,

check your Facebook

and check Instagram

all the time

to get this burst

of social affirmation.

What is social affirmation?

Your likes,

your followers.

Okay?

Trust me,

those likes

don't appear immediately.

Okay?

There's timing involved.

So,

social affirmation

is a dangerous thing

and most of you know

you can actually go

on certain sites

to buy likes

which is,

you know,

kind of weird

but anyway,

you can buy likes

so suddenly

your post has got

more likes

than actually there was

people who liked it.

But what social affirmation

is leading to?

You know,

a month ago

I had to do

a little study

on a subject

I have no knowledge of

and that's cosmetics

because I was talking

to a client

who makes cosmetics

and I was trying

to talk to him

about technology

so I thought

I better learn

about cosmetics

otherwise I'm going

to look like

a right Philistine

in the cosmetic industry.

So,

I studied

the cosmetic industry

for a few days

and one thing

I found was

cosmetic industry

has been going

through a boom

in the last five years.

Exponential boom.

Selling more

than ever.

Okay?

And the boom

was driven

by this one concept

social beauty.

Okay?

And what is

social beauty?

You can probably guess

right?

It's look good

on your selfies

on your Instagram

or on your

whatever you're posting

you're doing.

Okay?

Social beauty

is driving a boom

in the cosmetic industry

especially with foundation

and lipstick

and eyeliner

less so with nail products

because I figured

if you can see

nail products

in your selfie

that means your fingers

actually covering

the camera

so this

just around the face.

Okay?

That's the boom.

Do not

this is not booming.

So

but on top of that

I also found out

about this app

Me Too.

Now

there's a lot of people

in denial

out there saying

I don't know

what Me Too is.

I never used it

before in my life.

It's the number one

selfie filter app

in China.

Okay?

I see some nodding heads.

So you take a picture

you don't have to do

your makeup.

Okay?

You take a picture

and then you put in

these filters

and basically

by the time you post it

you can't even

recognize yourself.

You look so good.

Right?

The problem

and by the way

this is not like

50,000 downloads.

There's over

a billion downloads

of Me Too.

Okay?

It's a multi-billion dollar company.

I say a billion downloads.

That's a lot of downloads.

Okay?

Of the app.

So

you know

if I

confiscate everybody's

smartphone right now

and see who has

the Me Too app

you know

there will be

a good bunch of people here

with the Me Too app.

Okay?

I'm just saying

so

one of the problems is

we are blurring

the line between reality

and

and

and

and what is fake.

And we got a lot of pressure.

We as a society

have put a lot of pressure

on people

and put on

on ourselves

on this

social affirmation

and this

social beauty.

technology

ain't the solve

for our

razzled

out of control life.

Okay?

And

last and certainly

not least

a lot of

a lot of

news articles

out

and Economist

Front cover

two weeks ago

said

the social

the quote was

social media's

threat to democracy

and basically

it was the story

about

Facebook

and

and Russian

fake news

and dissemination

of that.

so

we live in a more

complex society

with this technology.

We have a lot more

new pressure

that the Ephesians

didn't have

but you know

but

but also

the problem

that solution

is still the same.

Paul's

advice to the Ephesians

works for us today.

What

Paul is saying is

only

if you have

the spirit

active in your life

that you're going

to see more

of reality

and you're going

to have more

control

in your life.

Okay.

The recognition

that actually

2,000 years ago

on a hill

in Calvary

that Christ

died on the cross

for us

have given us

that victory

frees us

from that

social

affirmation

seeking

tendency.

Frees us

from that

social beauty

seeking

tendency.

We won't

feel so

enslaved

by that.

So

does that

mean

the challenges

that we face

before us

are all

not real?

No.

It doesn't.

We all face

real challenges

in our lives

but what

having a spirit

filled life

means

is that

we will not

be crushed

by those

challenges.

We will see

a reality

that is

deeper

and that is

more

real.

Now I'll give you

an example.

In the Old Testament

do you remember

that there's a story

of Elisha?

Elisha was

in a place

called Dothran

and he was

there with his

servant

and the king

of Syria

wanted to

kill Elisha

so what he did

is sent an army

with chariots

and soldiers

and in the

morning

Elisha and

the servant

woke up

and he looks

over the wall

and he sees

oh we're

surrounded by

thousands of

Syrian soldiers

okay with

their chariots

and the servant

runs down

and says

to Elisha

we're in

trouble

we are

dead

the Syrian

king

has sent

an army

and we're

going to

capture

and we're

going to

get killed

and Elisha

said

let's get

drunk

no he didn't

of course he

didn't get

to say that

he said

the contract

he said

he said

let us

pray

and what

did Elisha

pray about

Elisha

prayed that

God will

open the

servant's

eyes

Elisha

didn't say

send down

lightning bolt

and destroy

the Syrian

army

he said

God will

open the

servant's

eyes

and when

the servant

went back

up on the

wall

all the

Syrian

army was

still there

if you

remember

but what

he saw

behind them

were the

chariots of

fire

okay

so you

know

so I'm

not saying

by having

a spirit

filled life

that you

know

all your

problems

are going

to go

away

but what

you will

have

is a

perspective

that you

can see

more of

reality

you get

able to

see

past

the

problems

that is

right in

front of

you

you know

one of

the

one of

the challenges

we have

you know

we live

in a

spiritual

battle

okay

in Ephesians

where we're

told our

battle is not

just in flesh

and blood

but our

battle is

in the

cosmic

realms

and one

of the

things the

enemy want

us and

want all

of us to

be focused

on is

the problems

in our

lives

and he

wants those

problems to

amplify

and you know

we're all

pessimists

when it comes

to problems

we think

oh this is

just going to

turn into

this this

is going to

turn into

this

you know

my kid

did not

get into

that play

group

therefore

he is not

going to get

into that

kindergarten

therefore he's

not going to

get into

that primary

school

and that

high school

and that

university

and he's

going to

sleep under

a bridge

it's a

big leap

you know

but you know

what we all

do this

because when

we see a

problem in

our life

we focus

on that

and the

enemy want

us to be

overwhelmed

by that

problem

okay

and what

the Holy

Spirit does

it clarifies

that for you

and it's

say look

at this

in the

perspective

of what

Christ has

already done

for us

you have

the victory

you don't

need to be

crushed by

this problem

okay

so that's

I think

you know

the essence

of that

clarity

of what

the Holy

Spirit can

give us

the other

thing

within that

verse

in Ephesians

5

is it

talks about

what are

some of

the other

signs

of being

a

spirit-filled

life

and you know

this

this I

really like

firstly

it clearly

talks about

it

maybe go

back up

one slide

to the

previous slide

it clearly

talks about

addressing

one another

in psalms

and hymns

and spiritual

songs

okay

not all of

us can

hold a tune

I can't

hold a tune

I'm terrible

music wise

but when

you're spirit

filled

you want

to sing

praise to

God

not in

tune

always

but the

fact that

you want

to be able

to praise

God

why

music

and songs

allows us

to express

things that

are in our

heart

that prose

and words

cannot

okay

there's

something

magic

that happens

when we

sing

even out

of tune

okay

that we

can express

a praise

and a

gratitude

that words

when you're

just reading

and writing

doesn't happen

okay

so that's

that's one

second thing

of signs

of a spirit

filled life

is somebody

you can see

it back here

giving thanks

always

somebody

who lives

a life of

gratitude

okay

we

we've all

known

what's the

opposite

of gratitude

complaining

and

C.S. Lewis

used the word

grumbling

that's probably

a more

old English

word

but

complaining

right

things are

never right

it's always

somebody else's

fault

this is no

good

you know

so and so

doesn't

my boss

doesn't

understand

my

talents

and my

desires

and how

great

I'm going

to make

this company

and he

keeps on

asking me

to do

these things

where I

should be

doing

strategy

you know

that's

you know

the fact

here is

grumbling

is a sign

that you

don't have

spiritual life

C.S. Lewis

wrote about

this in

his book

The Great

Divorce

and he

said

in it

he said

in all

of us

he said

hell begins

with a

grumbling

mood

always complaining

and always

blaming others

if you

and what

he's saying

is if you

don't deal

with it

soon

you have

nothing

but a

grumble

and finally

he said

but in

each of

us

there's

something

growing

which

will be

hell

unless

we nip

it in

the bud

that sense

of grumbling

that sense

of ingratitude

to God

is

growing

in all

of us

we always

want to

look around

and see

hey

you know

what

so and so

doesn't

really

understand

and you

know

so and so

is not

really

recognizing

me

but the

fact is

if you're

spirit filled

you don't

need that

maybe the

opposite of

gratitude

is neediness

you know

we all know

people that are

super needy

okay

I call them

emotional vampires

okay

and you can

have a coffee

with them

next minute

turns into

four hours

of why

life is not

good for me

and why

it's not

my fault

and it

is draining

that's why

it's an

emotional vampire

right

so

but the

fact here

is if

you're

spirit filled

you're not

going to

be an

emotional

vampire

okay

if you

want to

break out

of your

emotional

vampire-ness

spirit filled

is the

answer

we've

also known

people that

are always

full of joy

despite their

circumstances

right

they have

this sense

of optimism

about them

they're poised

that you

know

probably not

a word we

use a lot

nowadays

they're poised

and they're

in control

and when

bad things

happen in

their life

they have

emotional

ballast

you know

what a

ballast is

is things

that in a

boat that

keeps you

afloat

right

so they

have this

emotional

ballast

that they

can stay

afloat

in stormy

situations

okay

so don't

we all

want that

don't we all

want kind of

poised

emotional

ballast

and a

joy

that is

absent

from

that

you're

independent

I mean

from

our

circumstances

so the

last and

certainly

key piece

is how

do we get

to be

spirit filled

okay

so here's the

application

how do we

and

we're told

there are three

things we've got to do

okay

as I search the

scripture

one is

to do

and two

is things

to watch

out for

the first

thing is

Romans

8 13

said

if you live

according to the

flesh you will

die

but if the

spirit

but by the

spirit you put

to death

the deeds

of the body

what this is

saying is

put to death

sin

that

sounds like

a seriously

difficult

task

what does

put to death

sin in our

lives mean

okay

now I'm going

to give you

a step by

step

it's actually

it's not

one big

thing

it's a

journey

and it's a

constant

small things

that we do

okay

so

put to death

is more

than repentance

it's more

than just

asking for

forgiveness

so normally

you know

we do

something

we know

sin

we come

to God

and say

God

we're really

sorry

I shouldn't

have done

that

I'm facing

the consequence

now

but you know

what

I'm asking

for forgiveness

and we are

assured

of forgiveness

because of

what Christ

has done

on the cross

for us

and then

we move

on

and then

we sin

again

and then

we go

into repentance

stage two

right

and we move

on

what put to

death means

here

and the

King James

version

used an old

word called

mortification

but put to

death as being

proactive in

dealing with

our sins

how do we

proactively deal

with our sins

okay

firstly

the first thing

you have to do

is I highly

recommend a

journal

I highly

recommend you

get a book

a notebook

and write

this down

something happens

magically

when you write

something down

it becomes

much more real

and you process

it in a different

way

okay

don't even use

notes in your

iPhone or your

Samsung and type

it

get a piece of

paper and write

this thing down

identify the sin

that you're trying

to deal with

not all the sins

in your life

okay

just pick one

I'm angry

with so and

so

so and so

said something