Don't Forget to Lean In | James 1:12-18 | 10-5-2025

Our our study today is we're going to continue in the book of

James and it's don't neglect to lean in and it's really kind of

fun. Between her Elizabeth Elliott

quote and Aunt Sherry and Spencer's worship today, there's

so much that we were worshipping about just enduring and that God

won't give us stuff that isn't going to improve us for his

work. That just God's always working

right? And he is working on each and

every one of us every day in the good and the bad in our life.

James, we're going to be verses 12 through 18 going on in

chapter 1. Blessed is the man who remains

steadfast under trials, for when he has stood the test he will

receive a crown of life which God has promised to those who

love who love him. Let no one say when he is

tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with

evil, and he himself tempts no one.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his

own desires. And then desire, when it is

conceived, give birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown,

brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my brother

or my beloved brothers, Every good gift and every perfect gift

is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom

there is no variation or shadow due to change of His own will.

He brought forth. He brought us forth by the word

of truth that we, we should be a kind of firstfruits of His

creation. And Lord, I just, I lift up this

time and everybody here and just all that you've done for us,

Lord, and all that you're continuing to do every day,

Lord, that you would be with us here now, Lord, but you would

also be with us when we leave here.

That you would be speaking to our hearts that you would be

guiding and directing us or that you'd be putting appointments in

front of us to witness to our friends and family and Co

workers and the bank clerk, the grocery store cashier, Lord,

that we would just be a light for you, but not because we're

trying, Lord, but because we're just reflecting what you pour

into US or and that you would just continue to work in our

hearts in Jesus name, Amen. So verse 12 is blessed is the

man who remains steadfast under trials for when he is when he

has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which

God has promised to those who love him.

And steadfast just means to endure, to last, to continue in

the same state without perishing.

Enduring is not coasting. It's not, hey, I got saved and

now I'm just going to live life and coast through it.

It is recognizing the struggle and giving the battle to the

Lord, Remembering that trials or testing is a tool God uses to

build us into the tools he needs.

And the tools he needs are tools to go out and reach the lost,

right? I mean, that's the thing you

have to remember about everything that we do here on

earth. After the day I gave my life to

the Lord, the reason I am here is so that he can use me to

reflect his life to to reach the lost and dying of this world.

Hebrews 12 verses one and two goes on and says, Therefore,

since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us

also lay aside every weight and sin which clings too closely,

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who

for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising

the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.

As life comes at us, do we lean into Him and His plan, or do we

whine and complain about what's going on?

So then this is when I get to throw myself under the bus.

Faye was talking about setting up a website.

There is, there is setting up a website.

There's figuring out tithing. There's dealing with bankers and

dealing with our landlord and the lawyers and all the things.

And there are so many things as I go through this, as Faye and I

go through this that I don't even know the questions to ask,

right? I mean, when we, we set this up,

you know, I, we've done everything we can to be as

forward thinking as we can. So, you know, we had a firm set

up the nonprofit so that that he, that's just what that group

does. So that's going to be right.

And you know, we, we went to sub splash, which is a church based

website giver that sets those up right.

But there's so much stuff that we don't know how to do and it's

not Carl's great at his part of it, but it's it's learning,

right? And I am not a tech guy and I'm

not a law guy. So things keep coming up and,

and I get frustrated and I know that's shocking, right?

We never, none of us get frustrated.

So as I'm whining, I have, I have a helpmate right over here.

And as I'm whining because I forget what the what the thing

was, I'm like this just getting ridiculous.

I'm sick of this and my helpmate says, so are you letting are you

letting the devil have this 10 shut up.

But but that's the, but that's really, I mean, and that's us,

right? When we're as a, as a body, we

should be, we should be encouraging everybody in that,

right, that that God is using everything that's going on in

our lives to draw us closer to him and to build, to build the

tools he needs. You know, for something like

that, as I'm going through it, right?

When we get to the other side of this, and we will get to the

other side of it and everything will run as it's supposed to.

And, and like I tell Carl and Spencer and Andrew every week,

we haven't made any major mistakes yet, right?

We, we seem to, oh, the lights are still on, You know, all the,

that YouTube still run. So we've, we've, we've stumbled

through the process. And when we get to the other

side, there will be learnings that we will have to help help

somebody that's going out to start a new church, right?

We'll have those, those learnings.

And there's other, there's also going to be other learnings that

have nothing to do with specifically what we're doing,

but things that we learn to endure through.

And and it's leaning in right that my, my title is don't

neglect to lean in. But it's do we lean in to the

struggle? Hebrews goes on to in in verse 3

of chapter 12 and says, consider him who endured from sinners

such hostility against himself so that you may not grow weary

or faint hearted in your struggle against sin.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addressed you

as sons? My son, do not regard lightly

the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when he reproved by

him, for the Lord disciplines the ones He loves and chastises

every son whom he receives in all moments.

Do we come at the Lord like that?

Do we? Do we understand who He is and

how big He is in our lives and how, how in charge He is of my

life? Do I trust Him in that?

You know, and, and I mean Faye. Faye is a witness.

I am really good over the years at saying the Lord's got it.

I will tell you this, this season and and there's a

spiritual side of that that I am sure right this season is is God

testing me to kind of put my money where my mouth is, if that

makes sense of I know the right things to say, but I have

opportunities like Friday morning getting an e-mail and

going. Are you kidding me?

You know, I have those, but I have the opportunities in those

moments to put that back and say, hey, Lord, you've got this.

You are in charge. My hands open, right?

It's it's those testings and then recognizing them.

The Lord is always working on those he loves, right?

He's chasing us. He is never willing to say that

that's good enough. You're, you're close enough to

me. He wants us to be closer to him

every day. He wants us to be more in his

light today than we were yesterday.

There's a, a YouTube guy that says it's not about big changes.

It's be 1% better today than you were yesterday.

Well, if that works for a guy on YouTube, I'm sure that works for

Jesus, right? The goal is to just be closer to

him today. Spend a little more time with

him. Go a little deeper.

Don't, don't tie a knot. Attempt to hold on.

He is never willing to let us do that.

He will. He will Cut the Rope so that you

have to cling to Him. God wants to give us crowns of

life. He wants to give us strength in

our weakness. He wants to give us practice

following His plan to stay to stand steadfast knowing He is

building the perfect tool for what He has planned in my life.

James goes on in verse 13 and says, let no one say when he is

tempted, I am being tempted by God.

For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no

one. On a side note there the

question comes up, if God can't be tempted, then when Jesus is

tempted, how does that work? And Jesus is tempted in the

wilderness, but because he was 100% man and 100% God, he can

understand the struggles we go through.

Now I will explain exactly how Jesus was 100% God and 100% man

right after the rapture. We can meet up.

You can, I'll give you all the, all the insurance and outs with

that. But but that's so don't get hung

up on that, that I just don't want you to get hung up on that.

He can't be tempted, right? Jesus was tempted in the

wilderness and he does understand what that is.

But God can't be tempted. He is.

He is good. And there is a difference

between testing and temptations. When we are in a testing or a

difficult time in our relationships, at work, or in

our money, we we will very often have choices to make.

God allows them to build us into the tools he needs to do the

work He has for us. Very often, though, temptations

are very often given us a way to avoid the trial, avoid the, the

testing. You know, it's, it's doing

making a mistake at work and, and you have a choice owning up

to the mistake, going in and throwing yourself under the bus,

taking ownership of it or lying about it, right.

There's a there's a temptation there.

You know, your flesh wants to just cover it up.

That's having those moments of temptation.

I mean, there's, there's, there's temptation in sin,

right? There's temptation to, to be

where you're not supposed to be looking at what you're not

supposed to be looking at. There is there are those

temptations and they are serious and God wants to deliver you

from them. But very often our temptations

are really superficial. They are US trying to just

protect me and I get to do what I want to do.

And I I get to be selfish. I get to be prideful.

I get to. I always say in America, we're

really good at the. Yeah, but attitude, which is.

Yeah, but it's different now. Lord, you know, I mean,

Americans are really, really good.

Sorry, this is off notes. We're really, really good at

being a free country. Did you know that we are a free

country? We have liberty.

Did you know that we are and we do come in that we, we, we have

blessed to be born in this country.

God doesn't talk about our liberty.

He talks about our servanthood. He talks about he talks about

being slaves and we are slaves one way or another.

We are either slaves to him or slaves to sin, right?

There is no there is no middle ground.

We are on one side or the other. And as Americans, we want to

have our our day in the you know, I'm in charge of my life

and it's something we were raised with, right?

It's really hard to think that that I'm a slave to anybody

because I'm an American. I have liberty to God-given

right, but the liberty is a God-given right to follow Him.

But each person, and this is verse 14, but each person is

tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.

So guys, we blame the enemy for a lot of things, but the enemy

does not have to read minds or be outside of time to

effectively tempt us, right? He is.

We are weak and simple outside of Christ.

We're not if we are not slaves to Christ, if we are not in him,

Satan just gets to spin us and turn us and do whatever he

wants. Romans 82 says For the law of

the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the

law of sin and death. So we're under one of the two

laws. We are under the law of under

the law or in Christ. In Christ we can withstand

temptation, but outside of his grace and his power, we cannot.

I don't have it in me. I talked last week about about

when I, when I quit you in Copenhagen, I knew I didn't have

it in me. There are things in this room

right now you know you can't beat, but there are other things

in this room that you think that I can beat, that I am good

enough and know that you can't outside of Christ.

You are unable to win this battle unless you submit it to

the Lord. 1st Corinthians 1013 says no temptation has overtaken

you. That is not common to man.

God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your

ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide

the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

So how often do we set ourselves up to sin?

How often do we set ourselves up in a temptation?

I, the one I, I'm sure you guys have heard the illustration of

two teenagers that come to their their pastor and they're like,

we keep falling to our we're sexual sin like, well, the

pastor says, OK, So what? What?

Give me, give me an idea what you're doing.

And you know, well, you know, the other night we were, we were

up on Lookout Mountain and in our car and it was dark and we

were alone and we just, we flipped into sand.

There might have been some steps to get there, right.

And we do that. We do that on all kinds of

things. We set ourselves up.

So what he's saying in the no temptations overtaking you

except which is common to man, but he will not let you be

tempted to run. It's really simple.

Get out, open the door and get out of the car.

Run first of all, don't go to Lookout Mountain in the dark,

but but if you find yourself in a situation, if you're it will

will use alcoholism. If you're an alcoholic and you

find yourself in a bar, run. If you're an alcoholic and you

bought a six pack of beer on the way home, throw it out of the

window right you you haven't sinned until you sin.

Be willing to to run, be willing to escape.

That's what he's saying is there?

There is always an option. And then once you've sinned,

what do you do? Run back to him.

And I always, I always tell people that no matter how far

you've gone, the return trip is one step.

Turn around. He's right there when I come up

with a reason to not follow what the Lord has plainly stated it

will go badly. This is the funny part about how

big our God is is God uses it to train me through the suck right?

All my choices, all my choices as a believer when I am tempted

to choose sin. Even if I choose sin, God will

use it right. It's, it is something that he

will continually, if you're going to try and lie, he's going

to expose it because you're on his side, right?

You're, you're on his team and he isn't willing to let you.

He isn't willing to let you get away with it.

You know, it's, it's the embezzlers of the world, the,

the, the adulterers of the world, all the people that are

believers in churches that are on the other side doing things

that are completely obvious sin there.

It's going to come out. It's going to come out because

God's not willing. He's not willing to let you

wander through life, running it in, in whatever sin you want to

run it in or whatever sin I want to run it in and let you just

wander through ruining your life and others, right.

He's going to, he's going to, he's going to confront it,

right? No different than a father would

confront his children, right? Galatians 6-7 and eight says do

not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever

one sows that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own

flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows

to the Spirit, will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

When I choose to sin and not turn to God, I reap corruption.

There have been, there have been numerous times in my life.

I've got many stories, but one in particular that was brutal,

brutal heart shack stuff that was just, Lord, please don't

make me do this. I don't want.

And we're at work out at Hanford and it's me and me and another

foreman. And I was rolling next to the

building with a little peanut roller.

And as we were trying to finish up on a on a Thursday afternoon

and I hit a bump and the cage of the Pennant peanut roller

touched the building. Now it didn't dent the building

did put a mark on the building like a, a black mark.

It didn't dent the building. And me and my, me and me and

Jason, my, my other foreman, we talked about it and mark my, the

Superintendent, he was off site. So if I called him.

And this was our conversation. If I called him, he was going to

tell me to go report it. If I reported it, this was, this

was a shut the job down for three days, epic big deal.

And it really wasn't right. We touched the building with a

little paint on it. We can get the paint off.

It's not a big deal. We're just going to, we're just

going to move through it. It's it's really nothing.

If Mark was here, he would look at it and go, we're good.

So we didn't say anything and, and I talked myself into it like

we're good. We don't have to say anything.

And, and I, my, my, I conned myself.

So that was Thursday or Friday and I conned myself until Sunday

morning and God said, so you need to tell Mark and I'm like,

no, we're not going to do that. So that's a, that's a bad idea.

And so I'd love to say, and on Monday morning, I went and told

Mark, no, I mean, me and the Lord, we went back and forth and

Wednesday, Wednesday and I'm, I'm like at this point, I'm not

sleeping at night. Me and me and the Lord are

having long conversations about why I don't have to do this

Lord. And at Wednesday at work, I have

a kid and I'm standing behind the trench box, my pipe layer.

He goes down in the trench box. He steps on a rock and rolls his

ankle. And so we're we're on for the

Hanford sites. You got to report everything.

So I'm like, we'll just go report it.

It's you know, you didn't, didn't die, but it's what they

want us to do. So go report it.

So we went and reported it. So he's gone the rest of the day

dealing with that stuff. And I get a call from Mark at

home that night and he goes, what happened today?

And that we'd only got like 200 feet of pipe and we should be

getting about 500 feet of pipe. So I thought he was talking

about that. And I'm like, well, we had this

and that. And if no, what what happened to

Tyson? And I'm like, well, he rolled it

and he stepped down on a ladder and rolled his ankle.

He goes, why did he say he did it walking across the job site?

I'm like, I have no idea because that isn't what happened.

Well, the back story, Mark knew the Mark knew the truth.

Mark listened to Tyson's story. And then I had to come in on

Thursday morning and sign an affidavit that that's what

happened, that he was walking across the job site, his friend

and ankle and Mark. Mark stood in a room for Nick.

Ain't signing that. That's a lie.

Because Mark knew that I don't lie.

Mark knew that I wouldn't lie. What was I arguing with the Lord

about? And you, Yeah, let's just add

conviction on top of conviction, right?

That was just like, so now I have to go tell Mark that I did

lie because I didn't tell him. I mean, I didn't, I didn't

verbally lie, but I held truth back, which is a lie.

And he's standing up for me, telling me, telling everybody

how I'm this stand in right places guy.

Yeah. So like I said, the Lord is not

willing. Now the, the fun thing with that

is so I'm not sleeping at night. This is a whole big thing.

I get to Mark, I finally get him and I explained the whole thing.

I said if you got to give me 3 days off, give me 3 days off,

give me whatever you need to do. Just do that.

And he goes, Nick, don't worry about it.

It it was so you're fine. So to him, it was absolutely no

big deal and I wasted a week of my life on it, right?

And so, but, but the Lord wasn't going to let that rest.

That wasn't something that I was going to.

I had a like I talked about last week, I was going to come to a

impasse where either I was going to do what the Lord wanted me to

do, or I was going to quit listening all together.

And that wasn't because the Lord changed.

It was going to be my heart, right?

I was either going to listen or I was going to be done right.

I was going to harden my heart if I didn't decide to listen.

And that's where we are all the time, right?

The Lord's speaking to you. If he stops speaking to you, you

need to be worried, right? If that, if that would have went

blank and all of a sudden the Lord isn't talking to me about

that, I wouldn't have felt like I won the conversation.

I didn't know him what happened, right?

I didn't know him that I know what I'm supposed to do when I

need to go do it. The when we get in trouble, it's

like hiding from the suck, right?

I mean, that was me trying to hide from the suck of telling

Mark it's it's hiding from the discipline of the Lord when I

choose to. And then and what happens is I

choose to walk farther and farther away from the Lord when

that happens, if I'm trying to hide from it and then and that

makes me a slave to sin. And that's Romans 16 through 18.

And you guys have heard, I've heard, sorry, Romans 616 through

18. And I've used this a lot.

But do you not know that if you present yourself to anyone as

obedient slaves, you are a slave of the one whom you obey, either

of sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to

righteousness? But thanks be to God that you

were once slaves of sin, having become obedient from the heart

to the standard of teaching which you were committed, and

having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of

righteousness. And that's the day you gave your

life to Jesus. He gave you the ability to

follow Him. That's that.

That's the thing about being a slave to Christ is that you're a

slave to Christ, but what you're a slave to is, is being willing

to follow Him. And He's going to give you the

power to do it, but you have to be willing.

And the day we gave our life to Christ and called Him Lord, we

agreed to be his slave and follow him.

You were forgiven and all things became new that day. 2nd

Corinthians 517 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation. Old has passed away and behold

the new has come. But like all new things, if not

care for what happens to him. Had a friend's daughter, was

given a brand new Honda Civic and she came over to my house.

I was where I was working on lots of, I was doing youth group

stuff, so lots of cars and stuff.

And her dad, the divorced family.

So the dad had bought her this car and maybe it wasn't brand

new, but it was, it was newer. And I bought her this car and,

you know, dropped it off and she lived at her mom's house and it

had a noise. So in the time she had owned the

car, she didn't know how to pop the hood.

She'd had it like a year and a half.

If you have the car for a year and a half and you haven't

pumped the hood, could be some, could be some neglect going on,

right? Maybe some maintenance is

needed. She burned that car up for lack

of oil, and that's neglect. That doesn't mean it wasn't a

new car. Doesn't mean it wasn't a nice

car, but it was neglected. I was actually talking to Uncle

Pat on the way. We were joking about him being a

teacher and not being a teacher and that stuff.

And something I've learned from him over the years.

You know what you want to do in your life.

Want to be in the Word. Want to be in the word every

day. Just just open it.

I mean, if you don't have time to read chapters and chapters,

just be in it. Read today.

Ask the Lord to speak to you, right?

He'll show you stuff. Don't neglect that.

Be in prayer, don't neglect that.

And Hebrews 2-3 says, how shall we escape if we neglect such a

great salvation? It was declared at first by the

Lord and it was attested to by those who heard.

And neglect just means to fail to do something, either by

accident or on purpose. So the girl that didn't pop her

hood, that was an accident. She didn't know.

She literally didn't know there was all I mean should no no

knowledge of how a car runs. You just turn the key on it can

involve responsibilities not using available available

resources or choosing not to take action when you should.

So how much of that is is marks our Christian life not using

available resources. You know Peter Peter when he was

sinking shortest prayer in the Bible.

Lord save me, you know that's that's something we need to get

good at is when I'm about to fail.

Lord save me from me a lot. The when we ignore our

salvation, when we ignore what the Lord has done, it always

reminds me truly does the funniest dentist office like

little picture on the wall said don't brush your teeth, don't

floss your teeth. Just ignore them.

They'll go away and right. And that is that is truth and

and that has to do with our relationship with the Lord.

He's not willing to yell. He's not willing to scream at

us. You know, as parents, a lot of

times when our kids aren't listen, listening, we get louder

and we scream and yell and the Lord is he.

He's going to put things in your path that make you turn to him.

He's not going to yell at you. There's going to be a louder

voice in your ear. It's just going to be that he

loves you and he wants the best for you and you need to turn.

It's I don't want to neglect my relationship with his son.

The gift of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

If there's anything in my life I allow to create a create a

shadow in my life, you know it. It's am I being lured and

enticed by my own desires because sin will finish its work

if I don't repent. If we don't repent, God is not

willing to let let you or me go quietly into the night.

He will, He will chasten you. He wants you to turn.

But if we don't turn James in verse 15 says, then desire, when

it is on, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin and sin when

it is full grown, bring forth death.

That's where it ends up not not unlike not putting oil in a car.

Sooner or later the car just quits.

As a believer, we must always remember we are not up for the

fight. We're not up for the fight

against temptation or sin. I don't have it in me to win

that battle. We will miss.

It will happen. The closer you get in your

relationship with Jesus, the more you will be able to see.

The farther from the mark we've reached right the the the

dirtier I see myself, the closer I get to the Lord, I can see

like some of my motivations, some of my just quiet sin that I

didn't even recognize was sin when I first became a believer.

Paul talks about it or sorry in first Timothy says this is a

trustworthy saying and deserves of deserving of full acceptance

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I

am the foremost right. Paul recognized his position.

Paul doesn't say, oh, well, this is just how God may be.

You know, Adam in the garden said the woman you gave me

because it was God's fault. There's nothing in nothing that

no sin in my life that I can turn and say, Lord, this is how

you made me. It's me.

Me and Faye were talking about some of the the sins out there.

You know, some of the addictions out there and what we call them

is addictions of disease. There's a lot of addictions out

there that that so we we fund at a a lot, we advertise for the

disease, right. Alcoholism is a disease that is

a multi million dollar, $100 million a week business that we

fund, right. So maybe it's not a disease,

maybe it's just sin and we're free built for it.

But that's because we're pre built for sin.

We're either on we're either in Christ or in sin.

So it's it's not something that Paul at any point points at God

and says, and God made me this way so I can't be changed.

Romans 718 and 19 and this is Paul and I'm sure you guys know

this this part. For I know that nothing good

dwells in me that is in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to

carry it out. For I do not do the good I want

to, but the evil I do not want to do what is what I keep on

doing. And everybody says Amen and

that's me. But if you go on to verse 24,

Paul says wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this

body of death. Thanks be to God through Christ

Jesus our Lord. So when I myself serve the law

of God with my mind but my flesh, I serve the law of sin.

The point is, the only way we win is in Christ our position.

And I I listen to a guy that that his his congregation when

he handed you guys don't do this, but his congregation

whenever he says what is your position, they say in Christ,

because if we're in Christ, we are protected.

We we move like he moves. We're shielded from what the

enemy can do. The enemy can do nothing to me

in Christ, just like the rain can't get me wet in the

building. And but Paul completely

understood his need, his need for grace.

The more time Paul spent with Jesus, the more he understood

his need for more time with Jesus.

Do we understand that, that there's never a point, like I

said at the beginning, there's never a point that we just tie a

knot and say, I'm close enough. You know, that we did when I did

high school ministry, high schoolers very often.

And, and I think they're just more honest about it very often

want to know how far can I, how close can I get to sin before

it's sin? That is never the question

because we are sinners saved by grace.

And it's how close can I get to Jesus because I'm already a

Sinner. So it's not a matter of well,

how far until I'm sinning? Well, you're already a Sinner.

You need Jesus and you need what he does in your life.

We never arrive. We're always moving towards

Christ or away from Christ this side of the grave.

We will have a choice until the day we die because our our free

will was so important to our Lord and Savior that he died on

a cross for you guys get that that when we talk about liberty

and and I have rights. He did give us liberty and

rights because if I'm God and I am not my attitude, my son died

for you, you will accept him, period.

There isn't a conversation. We're not, I'm not letting you

choose. He died for you.

You will accept that because that's what's best for you,

right? To accept that.

That's what's best for you. And he did the work.

So now accept it. And that's not what the Lord

does. It's a it's a choice we get to

make. When we think Christianity is a

rule book, we don't understand what what Jesus did on the

cross. When we think that I have to

follow a set of rules instead of coming to the Lord and having a

relationship with Him, I used marriage the other day.

Marriage is not a set of rules that you follow.

It's a relationship with your spouse.

Right now, there are there rules in marriage.

Yeah, but that isn't what makes the marriage good.

It's a relationship that you're not cheating on one another is

just a well, that kind of a byproduct, right, of loving one

another. And but it's I don't, I don't

concentrate every day on following the rules of marriage.

I concentrate on loving my wife. I concentrate on that

relationship and that's the relationship we're supposed to

have with Jesus. Concentrating on the

relationship. So Jesus says come and rest and

Satan says go to work, right? Satan wants you to focus on the

rules. He wants to make Christianity a

religion and not not a relationship.

Ephesians 610 says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his

strength, or in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand

against the schemes of the devil.

And then remember, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against rulers and against authorities and against cosmic

powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual

forces of evil in this heavenly and, and to remember that that

we are unable. I mean, I, I will continue to

say this about leaning in to what Christ does in our life and

how we do that is having a better relationship with him

today than I did yesterday. Because if at any point I think

I can stand the enemy, the enemy starts in like at a Little

League game. Imagine I haven't been to a

Little League game in probably a decade plus.

But especially a middle school game.

Does everybody remember what happens when the batter's up and

the pitcher's getting ready to pitch all the, all the, the

whole outfield in the infield saying hey, bata, bata, Bata,

Bata, swing Bata and then laughing when he misses, Right.

Well, the enemy is, is doing very similar to us.

He's, he's tempting, tempting, tempting, tempting.

And then there's sin and they're laughing.

And then he then he says, hide it, hide it, don't tell anybody.

And then, then, then he's got you where he wants you.

And he just says Sinner, you're just a Sinner.

God, give up. You're a loser.

God doesn't use losers, you're useless.

Die. That's his method, right?

His method is to tempt you to get you to sin, to get you

alone, to get you separated, to make you walk away.

So how do we, how do we defend against that?

How do we defend against sin? First John 19 and I do tell you

go, go to 1st John. Read, read the chapter.

But verse 9 says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and

just forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. Get along with the Lord.

Talk to him about where you're at, if there's anything, if

there's any shadow in your life. This is something I do on a

daily basis. That is Lord, is there anything

between me and you keeping short accounts.

That's that's when you keep short accounts.

The enemy gets out of your ear. He he has nothing to whisper.

We're we are unable to fight the battle right without the Lord.

It is an unwinnable battle. I've I've used the the other day

when I was here, I was using the story about a three-year old

fighting a grown man, but it's actually a three-year old

fighting a a middle school bully.

Does a three-year old stand a chance?

But if Bob his dad is here, does the middle schooler stand a

chance? That's Jesus, right?

Is Jesus, the middle school bully got no, nothing on him,

right? He just takes him out.

But if the three-year old puts up his fists and decides he's

going to fight the the bully, how's that go?

Right? And that can be a tough

three-year old and it doesn't matter.

He loses every time. We are that we.

That's where we're at in this battle.

Verse 16 says do not be deceived, my brothers, my

beloved brothers, as soon as Satan gets us in a conversation

about you or someone else, we have already lost.

If you think about if you think about conversations with Satan

in the Bible, Michael the Archangel didn't even spend time

talking to Satan. He simply said the Lord rebuke

you. And Jude 19, it says, but when

when the Archangel Michael contended with the devil was

disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to

pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said the Lord

rebuke you. So that's, that's Michael the

Archangel. But the one I love that I found

the other day and I just it's it's better than Michael the

Archangel. The Lord won't even discuss you

with Satan. Zechariah 3 starting in verse

one, it says then he showed me to Joshua the high priest

standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his

right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, the

Lord rebuke you, O Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem

rebuke you. Is not this a brand plucked from

the fire? Now Joshua was standing before

the Angel clothed with filthy garments.

And the Angel said to those who were standing before him, remove

the filthy garments. And to him he said, behold, I

have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you

with pure vestment, which just means priestly robes.

This is God telling Satan to hush it.

You have no, you have no standing here to talk.

You have no standing to accuse. You have no standing if we're in

Christ. That is the conversation.

The Lord, the Lord doesn't have to debate with Satan.

He just says shut up, he's mine, shut up, she's mine.

And our contribution to that Jonathan Edwards, another old

dead guy, you contribute nothing to your to your salvation.

Accept the sin that made it necessary.

And this is that this is that picture Joshua.

Joshua has Joshua's not Joshua's in the room, but he's not in the

conversation. Josh was clothed and filthy

garments, but he's not even in the conversation.

Zach goes on in verse 5 and says, And I said, let let them

put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on

his head and clothed him with garments.

And the Angel of the Lord was standing by. 17 and 18.

And James says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from

above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom

there is no variation or shadow due to change of his own will.

He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a

kind of firstfruits of his creation.

And today they were talking one of the songs they were talking

about that we were like scarlet. And that's Isaiah 118 says, come

now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins

are like scarlet, they shall be made white as snow.

They are red like Crimson, they shall become like wool.

And and like with Joshua, this is not God saying do this and

get that God has a free cleaning plan.

Thank you. I think I've talked about it

before, but when GA Jesus didn't die for my sins, I love saying

that because it makes everybody look up.

He did pay for him, but he threw him as far as E is from the

West. He died from me he died.

He died so me and him could have a relationship.

No, no different than if I buy, if I buy a car and it's filthy,

I didn't buy the dirt on the car.

I did pay for the dirt on the car, but I'm going to clean the

car and I'm not going to save the dirt.

That's that's what Jesus did for us and he did it.

He did it because of what he did on the cross, not because of

what I do, right? I don't contribute anything to

that part of it. And back in Zechariah verses 6

and seven, it says in the Angel of the Lord, solemn, solemnly

assured Joshua. Thus says the Lord of hosts, if

you will walk in my ways, keep my charge, then you shall rule

my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the

right of access among those who are standing here.

So look at that difference. Do we notice what God, what

God's promise isn't? It isn't.

God is not telling Joshua, if you do these things, I will save

you. He's already saved Joshua.

What he's telling Joshua, If you do these things, if you, if you

follow me, if you listen to my commandments, I will give you, I

will give you power over those principalities and powers.

I will give you the ability to go out and change the world.

I will. I will make you a judge, a

leader of my court, but that's out of obedience that's that's

out of leaning in and not neglecting the salvation right

of of really accepting that it's about that relationship with the

Lord. John 1421 And you guys hear, you

guys will hear this redundantly because it is a it is, it is

really the picture that I love of the Lord, whoever has my

commandments and keeps them. It is he who loves me and he who

loves me. We loved by the Father and I

will love him and manifest myself to him.

If I listen to the Lord, if I follow his, his convictions and

I I move the direction he wants me to move, he will show himself

in my life. He will become more real every

day and it is that simple. And I don't, I don't know where

everybody is here today. I don't know if where.

I don't know if you're in sin. I don't know if you're if you're

walking with the Lord. I know a bunch of you are.

I know a bunch of you love him with all your heart, but have

that conversation. There's only one way and Jesus

says I'm the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the

Father except through him. And that means I don't get to go

outside of Christ and spend time with him.

I only get to spend time in I get to spend time with Jesus in

Christ in Jesus, right. It is a I'm either surrendered

or I'm not. There's a, a Psalm in the Old

Testament that tells you that if you're not a believer, if you're

not following Jesus, your prayers are bouncing off the

ceiling because then you're listening.

And that is the prayer he's listening to is Lord, save me,

Lord, come in and fill me. I'm a Sinner.

That's the prayer he's listening to.

Like Joshua, there is nothing we bring except filth.

But he will clean us and give us new clothes.

All we have to do is ask, believing he is able.

Romans 10/9 says because if you confess with your mouth that

Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be saved.

It is that simple. So not not giving a call today,

but I am asking you to talk to the Lord where you at?

Where's your heart at? And and that's you've been a

believer for 20 years. You've been a believer for 50

years or you have no idea that what Jesus has done in your

life. It's this simple, Lord, what do

you have? What do you want me to do?

Speak to my heart. And Lord, I just I lift up

everybody here and I lift up just the the fact that you do

cleanse us, Lord, that you do fill us with your spirit that

you clean us, that you wash us white as snow.

Lord, be with us today. Be with us in the conversations

and the fellowship we have, but Lord also be be with us in the

world, be with us in the community.

That we would be that light for you Lord, that we would reflect

what you have for us, and that you give us appointments and

pray. All this in Jesus name, Amen.