STILL TRANSFORMING | Part 24 | Manuel Magana

Romans 12, here we go.

We're going to continue on with our transformation thought, transformation series.

I feel my heart we're getting ready to, as I've been praying, we are getting ready here in the next few weeks to start transitioning towards the end of this verse that talks about the will of God because all this ties together with transformation, with the renewing of the mind, leading to what?

What's the result?

The will of God, proving the will of God.

But uh we're gonna hang out today still in Romans 12, 2, in the portion of the verse, being be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Let's read the whole thing.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Focusing these past many weeks on this mind concept, the part of the mind, the need for the mind to have uh change in the way we think, change in the process of our thoughts.

As a man thinketh, so he is.

Uh, understanding that our thinking is vital to the way we live.

It is that center, that center part of us, our thoughts, the mind is that center part of us that's gonna determine how we act, how we speak, the way we think will eventually be seen.

Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits become a lifestyle, things, all these things we've mentioned in the past 24 weeks here that I want to remind you of.

So do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Um, I remind you once again, hear me.

It doesn't matter how old you are or how long you've been saved, we all need transformation in our lives.

Say amen to that.

How many know we pick up bad habits every now and then?

Uh heard somebody say, you know, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

And I say, that's funny because I've seen some old dogs do new things.

And uh in their later years, and I'm like, you're you learned something along the way, right?

Uh so we learn things, we pick up things we shouldn't pick up, we hear things we shouldn't hear, they take root in our heart.

We always gotta be examining ourselves, church.

Always.

And um, I tell you today that as we've been talking on this topic of transformation, uh, I want to just remind you once again, this topic is for everybody.

Uh, if you're the youngest in the room, God's already working in your life, dealing with things in your life, you may not realize it.

Even the youngest person in this room, there's things in your life that probably need to change.

God will help you change it.

So, the oldest person in your room, I'm not gonna ask you to raise hand if you think you're the oldest in the room, but even you, there's things in your life that God wants to address, that God wants to speak to you about.

So, as we continue with transformation, what week are we on here?

Uh, week 24, our uh Kobe week.

And um, we will continue on in Romans 8 here in a moment.

Again, Romans 8 has been leading us to address the mind and get to the part of this mind that that uh that Paul's talking about.

Before I get ahead of myself, let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you, Father, for the seed of your word.

I pray it takes root in the soil of our hearts, and we shall see the fruit of it in our lives.

I pray, according to Acts 2.42, your word is received gladly.

According to Acts 19.20, your word will prevail.

Pray according to Hebrews 4.12, your word is quick and powerful this morning.

I ask you now, Lord, to use these lips of play to speak your word without error and with excellence according to your desire.

We gather to hear the truth of your word and not the opinion of man.

So I pray now, Father God, that every word going forth now falls into good ground, Father.

And I pray, Lord, that you, Father, you watch over your word to perform it in every one of our lives.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So started in Romans 7, a few weeks ago, quite a few weeks ago, where we read about Paul's.

We'll call it almost like his confession.

What I want to do, I don't do, the thing I shouldn't do, that's what I do.

Oh wretched man that I am, I have this battle within me, but I know it's my flesh, it's my sinful nature that I'm at war with.

And he like admitting that that sinful nature, that flesh, talking about that, because we're gonna we're gonna head there in a moment.

That flesh is is this battle, this fight that is never ending.

I war against it.

I know of it, I know it's a battle, I know it's a fight, and Paul is almost admitting, like I lose this fight at times.

And he ends the chapter 7 by reminding us that there's an answer to this.

The answer for sin, the answer for our shortcomings, the answer for our wrongdoings, the answer is Jesus Christ.

He'll give Jesus Christ a hand clap this morning and thank him for being the answer to sin, the answer to our shortcomings.

It's it's Jesus.

And then in Romans 8, verse 1, I'll show you now.

Romans 8:1

Once he realizes or speaks of that answer, so there's no now, now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Thank you, Lord.

That sin is forgiven.

It's not hanging over our heads like uh like a judge we need to go uh pay account to.

We'll stand before the Lord, but but the penalty's been paid, you know, not waiting to see what the judge is gonna sentence.

The the sentence has already been declared and Jesus paid that price.

And then in verse 2, and because you belong to Him, the power, the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

We've talked about all these verses.

If you haven't caught on, we've kind of been really going verse by verse here, if you haven't caught on the past few weeks.

And now, verse three.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.

So God did what the law could not do.

He sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.

And that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins.

He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit.

We talked about that last week, living according to the spirit, living in line with the spirit.

If you didn't see it, if you weren't here, go to Spotify, uh I think uh Apple music, it's all there.

Those who are dominated, now verse 5, those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things.

But those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death, but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

And I want to point out a few things we've been repeating here in our topic of transformation that we need to be aware of.

These past few weeks we've been saying, put on the board, that Jesus did not move us past warfare, but Jesus made warfare possible.

I want to reiterate that week to week because I need to just remind you that we're saved and on our way to heaven.

Thank you, Jesus.

But we still have a battle here on earth.

We're still in a fight here on earth.

And you and I, that battle with sin, that battle with our flesh, look at me.

You you and I were losing it every day.

But when Jesus came into our heart, victory became possible.

And in the name of Jesus, we're walking in victory every day.

Say amen to that.

Tell your neighbor you're walking in victory.

Go ahead and tell your neighbor, you're walking in victory.

You're walking in victory.

Declare it over their life.

You're walking in victory.

Jesus made warfare possible, and we're gonna win this war.

And I tell you once again, one of the reasons we desire a renewed mind is so we can win our battle with sin.

I got time to touch on that a little bit today, but it's not next week.

So I desire a renewed mind because I want to win this battle with sin.

This battle that I'm in requires a renewed mind because what?

The renewed mind leads to transformation, a renewed mind leads to change.

Change the way you think.

Hear me.

Change the way you think, change the way you live.

So, in this battle that we're in, I kind of presented to you last week and that we have this help, this advantage.

We have a, as I like to say sometimes, secret weapon.

We have the Holy Spirit.

He's not so much a secret, though, at least not in this church.

He's a loud weapon that we use.

He's the Holy Spirit that we need.

And church, I remind you, the Holy Spirit's gonna help us win this battle against sin that we're in.

Hear me.

The Holy Spirit desires your transformation even more than you desire it.

He wants it even more than you do.

He wants to see your mind renewed even more than you do.

For every single person here, you have, by the grace of God, by the because of the gift of Jesus Christ that He gave us, decided to give us, we have the Holy Spirit.

And listen to me.

The power of sin influences toward destruction, but the power of the Holy Spirit that's in us influences towards life.

And church, hear me.

Let's just have a little fun.

How many want to walk in obedience?

Raise your hand.

How many want to do your best to live like Jesus?

Raise your hand.

How many want to try to follow every commandment?

Raise your hand.

How many want to try to love the harshest person?

Raise your hand.

Some of y'all didn't raise your hand so quick that time.

And you're like, oh, you got me on that one.

Those are just a few things.

Hear me?

To do all of them, even beyond that, look at me.

We need the Holy Spirit.

We need him.

No ifs, ands, and buts.

We need him.

We absolutely need him.

And Romans 8, 5 directs us towards how the Holy Spirit helps in this battle.

But I don't know if we'll get to that part of the verse because I need to kind of want to emphasize to you today why the need for him is so great and so grand, why it's such a necessity.

So we continue on.

Ivory you're doing great today.

Next slide, Romans 8.5.

Once again, hear me.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires.

We just read it.

But those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires.

There's two ways.

There's two concepts, two ideas, two principles.

There's the living according to the flesh.

We'll talk about that in a second.

And then living in accordance with the spirit.

Your mind, your mind, your mind is set on one or the other.

Last week we talked about the words follow after.

Go next slide.

I believe it's verse four.

So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us.

So now we can obey God's laws if we, can we say it with me today?

Say follow after.

One, two, three.

Follow after.

Those are the key words here.

If we follow after the Spirit, we can now obey God's laws if we follow after the Spirit.

And I told you those words follow after, I'm reminding you, it's it's to live according to or to be in line with.

Simple.

Be in line with or live according to.

I really want to highlight the words live according to.

Follow after.

That is to live according to.

Say those three words with me on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Live according to.

Let's be a better class.

One, two, three.

Live according to.

And I want you to see that because go back now, once again, now move forward to verse five.

Next slide.

Those who live according to the flesh.

We see the words pop up right away.

Those who live according to the flesh.

Those who hear me live in line with the flesh.

Or, how about this?

Another way to say it, we can follow after the flesh.

Live according to it.

Be in line with it.

I want to give you a heads up here in case you've never thought of it.

Put on the board.

The Holy Spirit is not the only one you can follow after.

Romans 8.5.

Those who live according to the flesh, those who are in line with the flesh, those who are following after the flesh.

They have their minds set on what the flesh desires.

Think about that.

You and I can follow after the flesh.

If you were here last week, I I did a three-legged thing with Rick.

I don't know if he's here, Dave, but Rick, but but we were just in line, right?

I don't know if you were here, but we just were doing a three-legged thing.

We were in line.

I represented the Holy Spirit.

Rick represented just Rick.

He was Rick.

Swap that.

I told you, well, I told you this should be us with the Holy Spirit.

But the unfortunate part is, hear me, that is us with the flesh at times.

We are in line with, following after.

We are living according to the flesh.

You remember the flesh, right?

Then don't act like, what's the flesh, Pastor?

I have no idea.

You know the flesh.

I know the flesh.

We know the flesh.

If you don't know, it's that self-centered part of you that only wants what you want.

That self-centered part of you that hear me resist God's way?

That self-centered part of you that says, not God's will, but my will instead?

That self-centered part of you that wants to do things that you shouldn't do, but for some reason, hear me, the craving arises.

You haven't thought about doing a certain thing or acting a certain way for years, but out of nowhere, maybe because of one conversation, one thing you see on TV, one thing you see online, all of a sudden you're reimagining those good old days that you used to have and the way you used to live, and it's like, man, you know, those were some good old times.

Well, those good old times were sending you to hell.

But the flesh will say, remember, hey, that was pretty good, right?

That was pretty nice, right?

That was kind of fun, right?

That's that flesh.

It never dies.

You could be 90 years old on your deathbed, you still have a flesh.

The flesh is present, it is real.

It's that part of you that literally will say, God, not you, all about me.

What I want.

And hear me.

According to Romans 8:5, the flesh has desires, it has wants, it has cravings.

Romans 8:5

And if you're a little unfamiliar with it, I'll show you.

Let's go to Galatians 5, verse 16.

Galatians 5:16

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives, then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.

And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature, the flesh, desires.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

Verse 19.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, in other words for flesh, when you follow the desires, the results are very clear.

Sexual morality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.

It's a strong verse and it's a strong warning.

The desires of the flesh are clear.

There's desires that are real.

Sexual immorality.

Know what that is?

Fornication, adultery, any uh impure act of sexual immorality, of sex.

That's what it is.

Impurity, impure thoughts, thoughts that are not of you, impure words, impure actions.

And hear me real quick.

As I call these out, just don't think to yourself, well, I feel bad for the people who do all those.

You can be saved and still be doing these things.

Say amen to that.

You can be saved and speaking in tongues and still cuss somebody out.

You can be saved and here worshiping with us and leave today and say, Did you see that in Monday?

I can't believe she's there.

I can't believe the way she's there.

Gossiping and causing dissension and division, but you were just here worshiping God.

You could be behind a pulpit preaching.

Uh-oh, here comes Pastor Manuel.

You could be behind a pulpit preaching and then go home and act a fool.

Say amen to that.

I'm guilty of it.

Why?

Because the flesh is real.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures.

I tell you that if a man thinketh in his heart like he has already committed adultery in his heart, lust after a woman, he's already committed adultery in his heart.

Lustful pleasures.

And by the way, I just gotta throw this out there because I heard one pastor say it one time.

I was like, you know what?

It's funny, we never do that.

It always says, for as a man thinketh in his, you know, as a man lust after a woman in his heart, he's already committed adultery.

Well, you know what?

If a woman lust in her heart after a man, she's committed adultery too.

It's two ways.

Some of you ladies are like, oh, he caught me.

Yeah, I caught you.

Lustful impure, lustful pleasures, idolatry.

I don't worship idols.

No, you just raise things that you just make things more important than God.

I'm not bowing down to any idol.

No, you just make it clear through your priorities what is important to you and what your priority is.

You we we raise our husbands above God, we raise our wives above God, we raise our kids above God.

Anything my husband wants, anything my wife wants, whatever my kids want, whatever to keep the peace in my home, that's what we'll do.

No, you will do what God wants because that's what keeps the peace in your home.

You will follow the order of God because that's what keeps the peace in your home.

I'll never forget the day my mom waved her mama finger in my face.

Do you moms have mama fingers?

Do y'all have mama fingers?

She waved the mama finger in my face and she said, I want you to never forget, I fear God more than I fear you.

She was making it clear.

It's the Lord who is the Lord of this house.

You make the job more important, you make the business more important, you make making money more important, you prioritize things above God.

You never miss a day of work, but you never hit your but you will never hit your uh knees on the ground to pray.

You never miss a day of work, but you're never in church to lift up your hands and worship God.

You never miss a day of work, but Pastor sends out a message to the man saying we need help, and I'll hear back from you.

I just gotta get that off my chest.

Why?

Because there is a flesh that is real, and I want everyone to understand.

I'm not mad, I promise I'm not.

I I listen, he said, you sound like it.

I what I get upset about is how the enemy just so so um he he's so uh he's so slick.

He's so slick that what we think is no big deal, you don't realize in that moment it's no big deal.

But is it possible you're following after the flesh?

And I'm called to follow after the spirit, and and it blows me that again, idolatry, like it these little things that can just slip into our lives, sorcery.

Listen, don't you ever be reading your Bible with jewels and gems next to your Bible, don't you ever be trying to worship God and you're you're rubbing crystals by the side of your bed or anything like that.

Throw in the in the name of Jesus, throw those tarot cards away, throw those stones away, throw, throw those things away that you're trying to burn because I want the spirits to go.

You just declare the blood of Jesus and the spirits will go in Jesus' name.

You are a child of God, you have no business talking to witches or sorcerers or psychics.

You are a child of God.

You have no business trying to contact the dead or talk to people passed on.

You have no business trying to seek out things from evil realms.

Hear me! You are a child of God, the flesh will say it's no big deal.

We're just having fun.

You better throw that, Ouija.

Board out the window and say we're not doing that in this house.

Why?

Because it's the flesh thing.

Go for it.

It's no big deal.

We have no business in those things.

Be careful about it.

Somebody gives you a gift for your for for you, and I tell you right now, it looks funny.

Wear this, it'll bring you good luck.

Ah da.

Thank you.

Look at your wife.

It's going in the trash when we get home.

We don't need luck.

We have the Lord by our side.

We're okay.

We don't need luck.

We have the Lord by our side.

But be careful, be watchful.

It's the lust of the flesh.

It's what the flesh wants you to follow after.

Sorcery, hostility.

I'll bundle these up.

Hostility, quarreling.

Like just always arguing, always yelling at each other, always uh always uh picking out the negative in each other, hostility.

I hate that person, I don't like that person.

I'll never like that person.

They're just the scum of the world, they're the scum of the earth.

Okay, I understand maybe they're not the best person in the world, but you better be careful how you talk about them and what you say about them.

And let me ask you this: for as many bad things as you have to say, are you at least praying for them?

Are you at least bringing them before the Lord and saying, God, I don't know what this person's issue is, but I pray for them right now?

Save them, heal them, bless them, bless those who persecute you, pray for your enemies.

But the flesh loves it.

The quarreling, the bickering, the nonstop, uh uh, the nonstop uh uh uh dislike spread between people and crowds, the jealousy, being jealous of one another.

Oh, I can't believe he got that.

Look at him, I can't believe she has that.

Look at hey, the same God who made it happen for them will make it happen for you too.

I don't get mad when God blesses you, I rejoice because the God who blessed you will be the God who blessed me.

I'm not mad about it, I applaud your success.

I'm grateful to God that you're doing well.

Outburst of anger, oh man, we're all guilty of it.

And you said the Bible says don't, you know, it's okay to be angry.

Yeah, but the Bible didn't say don't go kick walls in the room in the door.

The Bible didn't say don't go punch holes in your door.

Bible didn't say uh you start cursing people out and start and start hitting on another person because you're so angry.

And again, look at me.

You say, Why is he talking about this on a Sunday morning?

Because listen to me, the devil would love to see your testimony corrupted.

He would love to see your testimony in shambles.

I've been saved for 35 years, but you talk to your wife like she's nothing.

I've been saved for 45 years, but yet you disrespect your husband in public as if he's just dirt.

I all got quiet, brother.

Come here.

We're all guilty of it.

It happens.

Why?

Because the desires of the flesh are real.

These outbursts of look at me.

I don't listen to the youngest one here, to the oldest one in here.

This anger thing, be careful with it.

Be watchful about it.

If you have battles with anger, bring them before the Lord.

And look at me, I don't mean to be ugly, but here, if you know grandpa battled anger and your dad battled anger, then you better bring yourself before the Lord.

If mom battled anger, grandma battled anger, bring you better bring yourself before the Lord.

If you saw angry, if you saw little arguments all of a sudden turned into the cops being called and they're in the front yard because people can't control themselves, because boy got angry.

Hear me.

It's the flesh.

And the flesh loves to make fools of us.

Satan celebrates when the flesh wins and has victory.

And to every person here, I beseech you, I beg of you, be careful.

All of us, Pastor First and everyone else, let's be careful when the temperature gets turned up.

Let's be watchful when we start to get angry.

Because I understand it happens to all of us, but hear me, even in our anger, we are still trying to keep our testimony.

We are still trying to live righteous and holy lives and obey God.

I understand we have fights and things that happen, but hear me today.

Lift up your hand.

I pray peace over us.

I pray, Father, joy over us.

I pray comfort.

I pray we think before we speak, God.

I pray we think before we act.

I pray, Lord, that anger does not have a hold of our hearts and our minds.

Anger does not have a hold of us, Father, in such a way where it is ruling over us in the name of Jesus.

We will be angry, but sin not in Jesus' name.

And I know that can be difficult, Lord, but as we continue to talk about the help of the Holy Spirit, I pray, Father, we are keeping our testimony even in the harshest of moments.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Give the Lord a hand clap today.

Should we go on?

You're like, I don't know about it.

It's been a lot already.

Selfish ambition.

All about me, what I want.

How many know we all have problems?

Say amen to that.

We all have issues going on in life, same amend of that.

We all do.

You know, one of the I've learned that one of the best times, one of the best times to help others is when you need help.

I just wanted to be free.

Like one of the best times to be a hand to somebody is when you need a hand.

I don't have it.

I don't have right now.

I understand, but is there something you do have where you can help somebody in need?

That that selfish ambition will flood our minds, that it's just about me and my family.

Whatever I have to do for us.

And funny, Jesus lived the most unselfish life we could ever think of.

But the flesh will trick you and tell you it's just about what I want.

Just about me and my family.

Dissension, division.

Huh.

You dissension and division kind of go hand in hand, but it just dissension starts with the, as my, as my pastor would say, El witty witty.

It starts with the witty witties.

Y'all know what witty witty means.

It starts with just the witty witty.

That's the dissension.

Do you see her?

I can't believe it.

Oh my god.

The dissension.

See the way they talk to you?

See the way they act towards you?

I wouldn't have taken that.

The dissension.

And the dissension creates division.

Me against you, us against them.

All desires of the flesh.

Envy.

Talked a little bit about it.

A little bit in line of jealousy, but envy actually doing something to get what somebody else has, doing things that are wrong, corrupt, going the extra mile.

Now, that's not just jealous.

Now I'm envy.

I'm gonna do whatever I can.

Drunkenness, wild parties, other sins like these.

Church, all of it.

All of it.

Desires of the flesh.

And here's as I read this list, what I think about.

But let me first say it like to tell you like this.

We've gone through this list here little by little.

We'll get rewrap this up.

Put on the board.

We will follow after what we set our minds on.

We will follow after what our minds are set on.

That's what we follow after.

And hear me.

The reason we find ourselves following after the flesh, the reason we find ourselves living according to the flesh or being in line with the flesh, hear me.

It's because our minds are set on the desires of the flesh.

And you may say, Pastor, I don't set my mind on those kind of things.

I'm not thinking about those kind of things.

Well, then you're kind of a little cloudy on what it is to set your mind on.

Put on the board.

Put verse 5 first, let me show you.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires.

Minds set on.

Next slide.

Minds set on.

It's simply this: agree together, cherish the same views, be in harmony, to be in the same party, or to side with.

And I think to myself, as I read that list here, Paul is telling me, we're not careful.

We are following after the desires of the flesh because our minds are set on the flesh and its desires.

Our minds are set on it.

What this is saying as we wrap this up, I just feel in my heart, we're gonna close here because I feel in my heart know how we're gonna end this.

God help me.

Paul's saying, the issue is you're doing what the flesh wants you to do because deep down inside there's a part of you that agrees with the flesh.

There's a part of you that actually the views of the flesh, you actually cherish those views.

That's what he's saying.

If you find yourself in the battle with these desires of the flesh and you're falling short, and we all fall short, there's an issue.

You're in harmony with what the flesh wants.

You're, hear me, in the same party with him.

You're dining with him, the flesh.

You're together with it.

You are siding with it.

Pick a side.

Well, I've sided with the flesh.

And I know within us, I hear, and I'm in, and I tell myself this, and this is gonna be a funny word, but just go with me.

It feels a little icky to think, like a little gross to think.

I am agreeing with, I cherish the same views, I'm in harmony with, I'm in the same party with, I'm siding with the flesh.

That long old list of things that were so ugly and horrible, I'm siding with that, I'm cherishing that, I'm in harmony with that.

When we follow after it, that's what's going on.

And as children of God, hear me.

I know it's a weird word, but weird word, but it's kind of icky, gross to think.

I'm just I'm siding with lustful pleasures.

I'm in harmony with dissension and division.

And hear me, I know it's quiet because I want you, and I'm good.

I want you to think.

That's not the side we're called to be on.

We're not called to cherish the same views as the flesh.

We're not called to be in harmony with the flesh, we're not called to these things.

But you know where the issue is, and we'll close.

Our mind has been too polluted with what the flesh desires.

Our life for too long went in line with what the flesh desires.

And now we are in this battle trying to defeat this thing called the flesh.

And church, we can't do it on our own.

We absolutely need the Holy Spirit.

We absolutely need him.

Because don't be mad at me.

I'm gonna call you as we close side flesh, so you're the flesh.

And I'm gonna call you side spirit, so you're the spirit, so you're the good guys, and well, you know, the not so good guys.

And hear me.

When what's my desire in life?

To be on the side of the spirit, to agree with, cherish the same views, be in harmony, be in the same party, to side with the spirit.

We're winning here.

Give the Lord a hand clap, things are going good here.

This is the side I want to be on.

But hear me.

That side is real.

There's real things, real people.

This is real over here.

And every now and then that flesh, that flesh gets a little flirty.

Like, psst winks its eye at you, calls you a little bit.

And I'm like, oh.

Now I'm over here.

Now suddenly I'm not doing what I should do.

I'm not behaving how I should behave.

This isn't good.

Go just do it now.

You have the right to boom me.

Go boo.

Some of y'all did that with a little too happiness, too much happiness.

This is not good.

Where's the issue?

Where's the battle?

Right?

Right here.

So the way I want to end this today, I just felt it in my heart this morning, cutting the message in half.

For two reasons.

One, I think we all have to take a moment this morning and be honest with ourselves.

And say, Lord, I need to admit and confess some lust of the flesh that I'm battling with.

Can I get keys?

I need to take a moment this morning and be honest about some lust of the flesh that I'm battling with.

Some of the desires of the flesh that I know are wrong.

Don't look at me funny.

There's a whole list of them.

God, I'm sorry.

To be in line with, to side with, to live according to that icky, gross, disgusting list of that flesh what it desires.

Father, forgive me for any part of my life that has just been going along thinking it's no big deal.

Church, if it's wrong, we want it out of our lives.

So, Lord, I pray today can be a day where our hearts are honest and we're willing to be honest with the Lord.

And today start to expose things in our lives and in our hearts that we know do not belong.

Because my desire is to have this mind, which we'll talk about next week, set on what the spirit desires.

The flesh has desires, and so does the spirit.

Church, there will be a battle between the two, but we can win this battle.

But today, across this sanctuary, I don't care who you are, there's battles within you.

There's fights within you.

There's struggles within you, within all of us.

Look at me.

We're gonna close.

What is it that you battle?

What is it that you're fighting?

What is it that that tries to draw you back and pull you back?

What have we made idols of?

What are the secret, lustful pleasures that we're thinking on?

What are the impure things we're even doing maybe today, right now?

What what what are uh what where are the areas where we've allowed anger to rule our lives and now we're treating people a certain way because they made us mad, or we we've caused division or dissension somewhere in our family, in our home, amongst friends.

Look at me.

Who have I been talking about?

Who have I been gossiping about?

Who have I been who have I been putting down secretly?

Who am I holding unforgiveness in my heart towards?

All of us here and throughout every church this morning, every person present, there is no one perfect.

Every person has something that they are battling with in their flesh.

And there's good news to every single one of those people today, including you.

You don't have to carry it, you don't have to live with it, you can be set free by the power of Jesus Christ.

You can be healed, you can be restored.

Church, the chains can be broken in your life.

Jesus died not so that we can live in suffering, He died so that we can live in victory every day.

And yes, that victory can be tough and challenging and can be difficult day by day, but you better believe, even if it was a tough battle, if you won it, it was all worth it in the name of Jesus.

And today I'm asking you, do you want to win this battle?

Do you want to win this fight?

Do you want to win this war?

Then it starts with being honest, confessing, repenting.

And even today, you know what?

Some of you may have to go to a person today, maybe someone sitting across the church and even say, Will you forgive me?

Some of you that are gonna be led after service, maybe to pick up the phone and say, I need to apologize to you.

I'm sorry.

Some of you are gonna go home today and get rid of those candles and those beads and those jewels, throw out some things that need to go.

Some of you are gonna go home today and have some honest conversations with your wife, your spouse, your husband, your family, saying, Hey, we let idolatry creep in.

We need to straighten this up.

You know what?

It's all good.

That is being led by the Holy Spirit.

And we're gonna learn more about it next week.

But for today, every head bowed, every eye closed throughout this room, please.

Every head bowed, every eye closed.

Today, be honest.

Who here today would say, Pastor, there is something.

There is something.

I ain't even really get to highlight the whole list.

Drunkenness, wild parties.

Battling that bottle.

I can't, I just I just having this issue with certain drugs in my life, even prescription drugs.

They got a hold of me.

Wild parties.

I go seek out these these these ruckus parties that that there's nothing good happening within them.

They're just encouraging, they're just encouraging sin and foul play.

There's there's there's a whole list here, church, where the flesh desires and desires.

And today, if we're honest, there's areas of our lives that are allowing that desire to be fulfilled.

So if there's at least one area of your life today that you would say, Pastor, I need help in this area.

I need breakthrough in this area, I need change in this area.

There's at least one, I'm gonna ask you to do the old fashioned Will you lift up a hand with me today?

Now, will you lift up your hand?

And I'll be the first to lift up my hand.

I don't know about you.

I'm lifting up two this morning.

Saying God, there's there's more than one God.

Today, Father, I pray for you.

We first say thank you, God.

Your grace is real.

Your mercy is real.

That your compassion is real.

That your love is real, God.

Father, although Father God, my life that need correction and need to be fixed.

I allow pride to come in.

I've allowed hostility to come in.

I'm jealous, God.

I'm dabbling in dabble.

Lord, thank you.

Being so patient with me, God.

You for every day.

Ready?

Renewing your mercies every day.

Renewing your compassions every day.

Living off yesterday's grace.

I'm living because there's grace today.

I'm living because there's mercy for me today.

But Father, we're honest with you today.

Pray right now, Lord.

You hear us?

I pray, Lord, right now.

I pray, Lord, now that chains are broken.

Bondages are broken.

As we confess our sins.

You are faithful enough to forgive our sins.

And Father, right now, I speak, ready?

To the mind of every individual.

The mind that is set on things that shouldn't be set on.

The mind that is set on things that are lusting and that are impure.

That are lustful and impure and the parts of the flesh.

Father, whatever my mind is set on.

That is not right.

Father, I pray that this mind be renewed in Jesus' name.

I don't agree with it.

I don't care.

I'm not in the mind with it.

I don't die with it.

I'm not in the same party of the flesh.

I'm not into the kingdom of God.

I am a child of God.

They're not right.

Oh Lord, forgive me! Help me to do whatever I need to do.

So that I am free, Father God! So that I walk in freedom! Live in freedom! That I do everything in freedom today! For I am no longer about to sin! But I am now a slave to Jesus Christ! So, Father, I ask you today.

Guide your people.

Lead your people.

Convict your people.

And Father, today bring change to our hearts and minds.

Our mind.

Be ready every day.

Follow after the Holy Spirit.

Have a choice to make daily.

Follow after the flesh.

Follow after the spirits.

Today I declare we follow after the spirits.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Give the Lord a hand clap.

I am done.