The Enemy Is After Your Potential

Since God hasn't removed these chains, since God hasn't fixed

the situation, since God hasn't fixed the relationship, since God

hasn't given me the breakthrough yet, since I'm still dealing

with the addiction, since it won't just go away like

they told me it would. And I prayed that one time,

and I still went home addicted. And they told me

that if I prayed this that the change would fall off.

But the chains are still there. And since and since

God won't remove the chains, I'm gonna ask him to

use the chains.

That's my choice. What shall I choose? You have a choice.

To me, you always do the greatest gift God can

give you as a choice. He said, I'm in chains

for Christ. Christ didn't put these chains on me. But

now that these chains are on me, I'm gonna let

him use them. He didn't bring the disease, He didn't

bring the I wouldn't choose it. But if I can't

change it, God, will you use these chains to change me,

change others, make me an example.

Of your grace. That's your choice.

And God's not the only one who gives you a choice.

This is what I was trying to explain to the youth,

and I really think I was talking to my sixteen

year old self. That's where I made the choice to

follow Christ. Well, actually he made the choice. He chose me.

I didn't choose him theologically speaking, but it was the

moment that I became aware of his prevenient grace of

my life and surrendered to what he was already doing.

Yeah, that sounds better.

And I was trying to get them to see how

you know, over five hundred of them gave their lives

to Christ.

During youth, acts most important choice they'll ever make.

But the moment they come to that choice, the devil

comes with little choices because the enemy sees their potential,

and sometimes the enemy believes in your potential more than

you do. And so you get around some friends and

you're young, thirteen, fourteen, and they're looking at porn.

It's just a little porn, it's just one time porn, and.

They're calling you gay and weird if you don't look

at it. So you look at it. It's just a choice.

And they're drinking, they're smoking, they're vaping. So it's a choice.

It's not going to send you to hell. God's grace

has got you covered. But it's just a choice. What

you don't know until you know is that choices don't

stay choices. They become habits. It's just one choice, just

a little you turn up one time and then it's like, well,

maybe I'll do it again. And I lied to my

parents one time. So you know, y'all think this is

a youth sermon. If somebody would have preached this to

a lot of us earlier, we could have seen the

choice for what it was, but.

We didn't know what mattered.

Then we couldn't know what mattered then, you know.

So it's just a little thing.

But then it becomes a habit, and now you kind

of you keep doing it and it doesn't quite hit

It doesn't quite get you as high as it did.

The last time. You could do more of it. Now

it takes a little more, to more things you can

handle us good.

Then it becomes a habit, and now you know it's

not just a glass of wine to relax. And oh,

by the way, I always get scared when I do

this part because it's not just sex and drinking that

I'm talking about.

Some of us gossip so bad.

It would be better off if we were alcoholics. I

mean The damage we do with our mouths is way

worse than what a bottle can do.

Okay, so I'm not.

Just talking about whatever specific sin you don't happen to

struggle with. Some of us are so angry, just mad ah,

And we used to get mad with good reason. It

was a choice, but then it became a habit, and

now it's automatic. You don't even choose anymore. Now it's

the default setting. Now it's just what you do to

get your way, and you hate yourself after you do.

It, but it got you what you wanted, so you

do it again.

And it's kind of like one time Paul was saying,

I don't.

Do what I want to do. I do what I want,

don't want to do.

Who will deliver me from this body of death? And

he wasn't saying this before he met Christ. He was

saying this as a Christ follower. I made some choices.

The choice became a habit. I didn't know it was

a big deal at the time.

It didn't seem like a big deal.

I didn't forgive one person, and I let the bitterness

get a hold of me, and then the bitterness.

Was no longer just one person.

I started getting mad at everybody, and I started blaming everybody, and.

Now was my habit. And now when.

Something doesn't go my way, my first response is to

blame all the people who weren't there for me, or

if they would have, or if she would have. I

started complaining. I made the choice to complain. And I

used to just complain when things.

Were really bad. But now now it's.

Instead of instead of his praise will continually be on

my mouth. Now it's complaint is continually on myself. It's

a habit. It's automatic. It's my first instinct. I can't

even see what's right. I walk in the room and

all I see is what's wrong.

It's automatic, and before long, it's not just what I do.

It becomes my identity. Now it's who I am. I'm

a slave to fear. I'm a child of God, but

I feel like a slave to sin. I made a choice,

the game, a habit became automatic. That's what the Bible

says when it says, don't walk in the flesh, the

habits of the old life, the patterns of your perspective

pre Christ, and just keep doing it. It's pulling on you.

This pulls you back into it. You don't tell your

e group about that stuff.

You can't.

These these these these chains aren't the kind of change

that you wear around your neck. These changes, the choices

that become habits. Now it's automatic. You didn't even want

to do it anymore, but you think it's who you are.

I think it's your nature.

You see that I'm trying to show you.

And I hope that you'll discuss this with your kids

after church, and I hope that you'll discuss this with

some people in your life that you can trust about

the choices that became habits, that became automatic.

I'm just offended all the time. Now. I made the

choice to be offended.

The person hurt me, and I chose to let that

hurt on the inside, and.

I didn't let it heal.

And now I'm pushing good people away because of who

hurt me back then.

And I want you to see how today's choices come

tomorrow's chains. Hey, thank you for watching.

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