307 ~ AT THE MOVIES - Part 1

We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast.

We are a church based out of Chennai, India.

We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will

be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.

Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of

purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.

This summer we are going deeper into heartwarming movies to find

gospel gems and Kingdom truths for our everyday life.

As you listen in, we hope that through these familiar

characters and sweet stories, you have a fresh revelation of

the victorious life we have in Christ.

We begin a brand new series called Actor Movies and what is

the series about where we're just going to take a couple of

movies through the summer. We are probably we're looking at

taking 2 movies over the next two months and justice looking

at what God wants to speak to us through these movies because,

you know, everything on the earth has redemptive potential.

Everything on the earth has some glimmers of the gospel story.

And sometimes the world twists it around for their benefit to,

you know, make a culture look better or to establish a

certain, you know, a new cultural norm.

But we look at it when we look at it through the gospel of

Jesus, when we put our gospel lens on, it changes how we

perceive things. And the movie we're going to be

reviewing over the next three weeks and studying from and

gleaning gospel truths from is the movie Zootopia Part 2, the

sequel. So Zootopia sequel, the Part 2

came out just last year and it was a beautiful movie because

it's interesting. Zootopia always has a villain

was very unlikely. And this time they had a villain

who was actually a cat, a lynx cat, a wild cat, but what

seemingly looked like the villain was not.

And so the the hero of the show was actually a most beautiful

blue coloured pit wiper. OK, heat seeking pit wiper.

And when I was watching it with my kids a month back, I remember

I hate snakes. Just to give you a background, I

hate snakes, absolutely hate them.

Even when I go to the zoo, I avoid the snake enclosure.

I can't handle snake carvings. I just I don't like at all.

And most of my kids are like that as well.

My husband, on the other hand, is a bit more brave than us, but

snakes are a no no. And so I was watching this movie

with my kids. And as I was watching, I'm

sitting on the couch with my two younger ones.

We were watching a movie and I kept exclaiming surprisingly.

Oh my gosh, what a cute snake. What a cute snake.

Look at it or the way you would do when you look at a little

baby. That was my expression because

they had done the snake so beautifully.

The eyes, as always an animation nowadays, the eyes got your

attention adorable. The voice was sweet.

The demeanor was sweet. He was so he caught your

attention because, you know, he seemed so pleading in the way he

was fighting for a just cause and and he was the the hero of

the of the story. He gets everyone to rally behind

him and save his land, right? And restore things to the way he

had his grandmother, great grandmother had desired.

So that's how the story evolved. And as we were watching it, my

husband came out of his work room.

He was just standing in the corner and watching it for a

while. And I happened to tell him he

did you see how cute the snake looks?

And he said, oh, wow. So basically they have

accomplished normalizing a Viper as a good guy.

They basically made it. They've dumbed down the whole

snake idea for children. So he said that and he walked

away. And that just didn't leave me.

So that night over dinner, when I was talking to my three

children, I was talking to them and saying, hey, guys, I know we

saw this movie. I know that, you know, the snake

looked really cute and it, it was doing all the right things.

But I just want to tell you that a snake, the serpent as per

Scripture, is a symbolism of the enemy.

He is the devil Incarnate, OK. And so I want you to be careful

because God a lot of times uses that symbolism in dreams and

visions to us to alert you to an attack coming or to some sort of

witchcraft or some kind of demonic oppression that you may

currently be facing. And so I was explaining this to

them. And as I was saying it, two of

my three children stopped me and said, what are you saying?

I said when will the snake that when we do, we thought this one

looked cute is not really that spiritually it symbolizes A

darker power. And the minute I said that both

our sons stopped me and said mom, you won't believe it.

We had bad dreams recently. Snakes were featured in it and

they went on to tell me their dreams.

We went on to praying about the things they were talking about

very relevant to our season. And that's when I realized what

Geshom had said was almost like a prophetic warning that many

times what we see in a movie being portrayed can become a

reality. And the enemy so subtly comes in

to numb our reality, to to embellish what doesn't need to

be embellished. Here in this story, the snake is

portrayed as a sweet little charming, cute character who is

fighting for the right. But in reality, the enemy never

fights fair. And so today we're going to be

talking about how snakes are not cute.

So whatever you have pictured, whatever you have imagined about

if you want Zootopia to, you know what I'm talking about.

But if you notice towards the end of the movie, this Viper,

which started out small and inconspicuous, in the last scene

when he's back in his grandmother's house, you should

see how big he looks. He looks really big.

And that is almost a symbolism to us of just how sneakily the

enemy enters our lives but leaves a big mark.

He never stays the same. His influence in our life grows

and grows and grows if we are not careful.

So my question to you is this, since when did a snake become a

good guy? Since when did a snake sound and

act adorable? Because the original snake was

found in the Garden of Eden and in Genesis chapter 2 and three

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

talks about the fall of man caused by the serpent.

The enemy in the form of a serpent came and lured the woman

away from her destiny, causing both of them to lose communion

with God. He's been doing it for the

longest time. And even today you and I

experienced the, the poison of the enemy.

How do we experience the poison? How can his bite still affect

us? He's when we talk about the

snake, we're talking about a metaphysical thing between, you

know, the, the, the, the demon of hell, the, the, so the guy

who runs hell, we're talking about him in terms of the

serpent. How does he bite as well?

Let me give you a couple of scriptures to give you reference

to context. Psalm 140, verses one to three.

It says, O Lord, rescue me from evil people, protect me from

those who are violent, those who plot evil in their hearts and

stir up trouble all day long. Their tongue sting like a snake.

The venom of a wiper drips from their lips.

I'm reading Psalm 58, verses 1 to 4.

Psalms 58:1–4

Justice. Do you rulers know the meaning

of your word? Do you judge the people fairly?

No. You plot injustice in your

hearts. You spread violence throughout

the land. These wicked people are born

sinners. Even from birth they have lied

and gone their own way. They spit venom like deadly

snakes. They are like cobras that refuse

to listen. Doesn't that sound familiar?

Reading Romans chapter 3 verses 10 to 18 As the scriptures say,

Romans 3:10–18

no one is righteous, not even one.

No one is truly wise. No one is seeking God.

All have turned away. All have become useless.

No one does good, not a single one.

Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with lies.

Snake venom drips from their lips.

Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always

follow them. They don't know where to find

peace. They have No Fear of God at all.

What did we just look at? We looked at the sources of

poison in our lives. The enemy will many times use

people's slander, people's malice, people's rage, people's

wickedness, people's injustice, their corruption to inject

poison into our lives. Many times you and I ourselves,

on a weaker day, have given room for the enemy to use our lips to

inject poison into someone else. When that one unjust thing you

did at office actually possibly injected poison into someone.

The enemy many times uses us and has used others to inject his

venom into our lives. It has corrupted parts of our

life. It has corrupted our hearts.

It has messed up our minds many times.

We are wondering, when did I become such an overthinker?

When did I become so suspicious of people?

Why is my heart so darkened towards this particular person

or thing or or issue? It is possible that there's

poison that has entered somewhere and yet you know the

kindness of God, the graciousness of God is that He

provides us an antidote. He provides us anti venom and

I'll get to that at the end. But right now I want to say you

and I don't have to be afraid of the serpent.

You know why? In Psalm 91 he says you will

tread on the lion and the serpent.

You will trample upon the lion and the cobra.

He has given us power, and in Genesis itself, when the fall

happened, when the serpent caused the fall, he tells the

woman and the man that under your heel you will crush the

serpent's head. He will strike your ankle, yes,

but he is under your feet. It was forecast even then that

he's a defeated 4. And even today, if you are going

to, as you walk through this 40 minutes, you might start to

recognize symptoms of snake bites in your life.

You will start to recognize where venom has seeped in, but

you have power over all, the power of the enemy, and nothing

by no means will hurt you. That is what Mark chapter 16

Mark 16:15–18

verses 15 to 18 says. This is a different version of

the same Great Commission. It is again spoken by Jesus, but

this is recorded by Mark and this is what it said.

He said to them, Go into all the world, preach the gospel to all

creation. Whoever believes and is baptized

will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned,

and these signs will accompany them who believe in my name.

They will drive out demons, they will speak in you tongues, they

will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink

deadly poison it will not hurt them at all.

They will place their hands on sick people and they will get

well. Isn't that amazing?

God knew that you and I would be victims of snake bites while on

earth. He knew that God that that we

would be hit by the venom of the enemy through different sources

and he's provided a way out. He said you can handle these

snakes in the name of Jesus. Their poison will not harm you.

So we already have the promise of victory.

So you and I are fighting from victory, not for victory.

We got the victory. We celebrated Resurrection

Sunday to celebrate the victory we have in Jesus over all parts

of the enemy. But The thing is, the enemy does

not fight fair in recent times. My mate just came back from her

village and she was telling me she lost her cousin to suicide.

Asked her what happened. The cousin was just in her late

30s. She had three children, the

first one in college, the next one doing her +2 and the

youngest 1 is in school. Family problems got too much,

she consumed poison and killed herself.

And you know, my maid is a mum of two.

I'm a mum and both of us were grieving combined with this

woman who gave up prematurely. She has missed seeing out,

seeing on what her children were going to accomplish.

She's missed out on seeing them grow and and into amazing

individuals and, you know, accomplish things and have

families of their own all because life got too much.

And as I was sitting there contemplating, my maid was

telling me, she said I couldn't handle standing at this burial,

at this at this cremation. She said watching the children

cry, I couldn't take it. And recently, another friend of

ours said they lost a neighbor to suicide.

The person had been so severely, severely depressed, she couldn't

take it anymore. And she ended her life.

And I remember her friends coming and telling all of us

about this in our leadership. And all of us carried grief with

them. Because you know what?

So many times we miss out on identifying the poison that has

seeped into our soul. Many times we have missed on

what has entered and corrupted our hearts.

We think it's hopeless. We think, you know what, there's

no hope for me. There is no nothing is going to

change my situation. This is how I am.

I'm drowning in my thoughts. No one wants me, no one loves

me. The lies mount up until I lose

my vision, I lose my hearing. I can't hear God, I can't see

hope. I can't see the future and I

decide life is over. That is the power of poison in

our lives. That is the power of poison.

When I was reading up on these pit wipers, on cobras and other

things, their poisons, their poisons are capable of

completely paralyzing people. They're capable of completely

bleeding dry. A person, especially the pit

wiper, when it bites someone, it's called a hemotoxin.

What it releases, it breaks down blood vessels.

The person loses blood and dies. They hemorrhage, they bleed

internally, and they die. Cobras, on the other hand,

release neurotoxins, and when they release it, it completely

causes muscle paralysis. The person's respiratory system

stops and they die. What is actually happening on

the internal on a spiritual level, when the enemy hits us

with poison, is my heart gets blocked off.

I'm unable to love God the way I need to because I don't trust

God. I'm unable to trust people

because people let me down. I'm unable to function as I

ought to. I wake up and go through the

motions with no hope for tomorrow, with no hope that

things will change, because my vision is starting to go I

Without vision, people cast off restraint.

Without vision, people fail. I'm unable to look ahead.

I'm unable to look past my current despair.

I think you know what? Nobody cares for me.

Nobody loves me. One thing one person says, it

triggers off old poison and it piles up.

Recently, a friend came home and he lives in the north of

Chennai. And he was just telling my

husband and I how he has this Pretty Little house there in the

north of Chennai. And they had recently cleared

out some bamboo, and they hadn't really thrown it out.

It was still in the garden when they found a cobra in the midst

of the rubble. And the cobra had come out of a

hole to, you know, hunt for the rats.

And he said he called the forest officer.

They came on the second attempt. They caught the snake.

But when he caught the snake, he put it in a bag and he was about

to take it. And so our friend said, hey,

aren't you going to kill it? This is a poisonous snake.

And he said, well, you know what?

If you had killed it on your own watch, without me around, you

would have been safe. But the minute you involved me,

both of us are not allowed to kill the snake.

We have to capture it. We have to return it to the

officials, the forest officials, because there are laws

protecting the snake. He says, you and I will have to

pay a huge fine into the tune of LAX.

And if we kill it and someone observes it, we are caught for

manslaughter. We have to actually be put in

jail for a bit. And so as he was telling me

this, I said, oh, my goodness. Are you saying that snakes are

more protected in this land than humans, that our justice system

protects a serpent over people? There are so many people

languishing without justice. There's so many people who are

waiting for their case to be heard.

So many people have suffered injustices and justice has not

been served. And yet a snake gets so much

protection. And I realize there's a

spiritual reality to this, that the enemy doesn't fight fair.

When he hits your life, he is above reproach.

He will do whatever he wants, He will poison you, He will

suffocate you. But he gets away Scott free

because he has many more to go and hunt down and we are left

bogged down in the poisonous trap that he has left us in.

We are left here reeling from the after effects of the venom

that he has injected into our souls.

The good thing is, in the Kingdom of God, justice is real.

The enemy is defeated. The enemy is wiped out.

His poison has been been made ineffective, but it's up to you

and me to live like we belong to the Kingdom of God, to live like

our King is the victorious one Who said I have triumphed over

every act of darkness? I have made a public spectacle

of them. I have taken the sting of death

away. I have to believe it.

I have to appropriate it in my life.

And I want to ask you today before we go further, can you

identify poison in your life? Can you identify poison in your

soul? How do you know?

Many times poison in our soul shows up by the things we're

triggered by, by the things that cause a knee jerk reaction of

anger, cause a knee jerk reaction of heat of of apathy.

Tremendous disregard for someone else's feelings or opinions is

usually something inside you which is triggering it.

And you know, psychologist can name it a whole bunch of things,

but on a spiritual front, it is usually because there was an

exposure to poison at some point.

The enemy, through someone else, has done something.

It could be abuse, it could be trauma, it could be abandonment.

It could be neglect. It could be straight up abuse,

verbal abuse. It could have been the maligning

of your name, the slander, or the backstabbing that put poison

in for no fault of yours. You didn't deserve it.

Or maybe you deserved it, but you didn't deserve it at this

extent. So what do we do?

Maybe you're feeling constantly discouraged.

Maybe you're just unable to get up and and run at the with a

passion for, you know, God for yourself.

People are talking about doing this for the Kingdom that for

God. And you're just like, I can't

even get by. I can't get through the day.

I feel like I'm bogged down. It is possible that you've been

poisoned. It is possible that some venom

remains. And today we're going to be

looking at how we can actually live in victory over it.

And here's the truth, even if you think you don't have poison,

if you look deeper, you will find that somehow, somewhere

there was a leakage, a trickle of venom that got into your

bloodstream. That has affected maybe a part

of your marriage, that affects a part of your parenting, that

maybe affects the way you work, your work ethic.

It affects your relationships. You have a tendency to self

sabotage. That's possibly some poison in

the bloodstream. Maybe there's a way in which you

speak that completely puts people off, and maybe you have

to take that and say, Lord, what's the source of this

poison? And I can tell you who the

source is. It's the worst person in the

world, the accuser of the brethren, the one who rules the

underworld. But thanks be to God, because of

him we walk as overcomers. We walk as victor, victors and

conquerors in Christ Jesus. So what is the remedy?

Everyone of us have been touched by this poison in some way or

the other. What is our remedy?

And I want to direct us to Acts chapter 28 verses 1 to 10 where

Acts 28:1–10

Paul has a similar experience with another Viper, but not as

cute. OK Acts chapter 28 verses 1 to

Acts 28:1–10

10 it says. Fall ashore on Malta.

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called

Malta. The Islander showed us unusual

kindness. They built a fire and welcomed

us all because it was raining and cold.

Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on

the fire, a Viper, driven out by the heat fastened itself on his

hand. When the Islanders saw the snake

hanging from his hand, they said to each other, This man must be

a murderer, for though he escaped from the sea, the

goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.

But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no

I'll effects. The people expected him to swell

up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and

seeing nothing unusual happened to him, they changed their minds

and said he was a God. There was an estate nearby that

belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island.

He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality.

For three days. His father was sick in bed,

suffering from fever and dysentery.

Paul went in to see him and after prayer, placed his hands

on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest

of the sick on the island came and were cured.

They honored us in many ways, and when we were ready to sail,

they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

What just happened? Paul had come through a

shipwreck, barely made it out with the skin on his back, comes

onto the land they're making. They don't.

They just figured out this is the island called Malta.

And then they're just putting together a fire.

A snake clasps on. And this is a bad omen in these

kind of circles. And yet he couldn't be bothered.

He just brushed it off into the fire.

And I want to ask us, Are you ready for the fire of God?

Because only the fire of God will drive out the serpent from

your life. Only the fire of God.

And what is this fire of God? In the Bible we have heard many

times about, we've seen the fire of God demonstrated in different

ways. For example, Moses went up on

the mountain, he saw a burning Bush where the fire of God had

completely lit the Bush, but it was not consumed.

And then we saw Elijah when he had gone up onto Mount Carmel

and he was going to challenge the prophets of Baal and Ashara.

He, he's told Jezebel, bring your prophets and we'll see who

the true God is. And the one who answers by fire

is the true God, he says, and he creates this altar, pours tons

of water on it, calls down on Yahoo, on Yahweh God, and he

answers by fire. This fire literally licks up the

water that is soaking the altar, right?

We've seen how Aaron's sons in the wilderness offered

unauthorized fire and fire from the altar consumed them,

charring them, leaving nothing. So we know that our God is a

consuming fire. Hebrews 12/29 says that worship

him with awe and reverence because our God is an awe.

He's a all consuming fire, right?

So we know this. So how do I appropriate this

fire of God in my life so that every serpent that has latched

on with its venom, with its fangs can be shaken off into how

do I do it two ways. I'm just going to leave two ways

with you. The first thing is that you

would enter and enjoy the presence of God.

You would enter and enjoy the presence of God, because if God

himself is fire, the best way to, you know, experience the

fire is to be in His presence. But the problem is, for most of

us, entering and enjoying His presence seems to be the last

thing on our minds. We wake up, we have our alarms

which go off. Some of us work out, some of us

get our kids ready, send them off, maybe sit for a quick time

with the Lord, and then we get into our work.

Evenings are even worse. We're just running from pillar

to post. We come back home.

We're so tired, but I want to ask you, when was the last time

you enjoyed the presence of God? You just didn't, you know, enter

it and get out of it just cursory out of, you know, a

need, a mandated need to do it. But when did was the when was

the last time you just enjoyed his presence?

You worshipped him. You sat and relished his

presence with you. Isaiah 66 verse 15 says, see the

Isaiah 66:15

Lord is coming with fire when his Chariots are like a

whirlwind. He will bring down his anger

with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire.

This is the God that we have read about South much God who

came, He led with a pillar of fire, a pillar of cloud.

He led his people. But the beautiful thing about

this fiery God is that the fire does not consume you, it

consumes the things that are consuming you.

So my question is, what is consuming you?

If the things of God are consuming you, if the rebuilding

of his thrown on the earth, if it's bringing of Kingdom to

earth, Kingdom of heaven to earth, then if that consumes

you, the fire of God enables you to do more.

But if the fire of God finds out that there are certain things

which are devouring you, the fire of God will devour those

things. What are those things?

It could be certain addictions, it could be certain fancies, it

could be certain preconceived notions.

The things that drive your life, the passions, the ambitions, the

desires, the things that entice you.

One Peter chapter 4 verses one to five and verse 7 and the

Passion translation says this. Since Christ, though innocence

suffered in his flesh for you, now you also must be a prepared

soldier, having the same mindset.

For whoever's died and his body is done with sin.

So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with

human desires, but consumed with what brings pleasure to God.

For you have already spent enough time doing what

unbelievers love to do, living in debauchery, sensuality,

partying, drunkenness while drinking, parties and the

worship of demons. They marvel that you no longer

rush to join them in the excesses of their corrupt

lifestyles and so they vilify you.

But one day they will have to give an account to the one who's

destined to judge the living and the dead.

Since we are approaching the end of all things, be intentional,

purposeful self-control so that you can be given to prayer.

And this is not a, a sermon about prayer.

It's a, it's a sermon about enjoying the presence of God so

much. You are consumed by him.

You are consumed, consumed by thoughts of him.

You're consumed by thoughts of his Kingdom and advancing his

purposes on the earth. You're consumed by living for

him. And if you're you're in a family

setup you desire, you're consumed with Lord.

How do I bring my children along and on alongside so that they

serve your kingdom's purposes, so that we live by Kingdom

values? Is that what consumes you or are

you consumed by debauchery, sensuality, partying,

drunkenness, wild drinking parties, and the worship of

demons? What is it that consumes you?

The Spirit of God, the fire of God, it says, I think it's in in

the book of Luke chapter 3. It says I baptize you.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

John says, John the Baptist says I'll baptize you with water, but

after me is coming one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit

and fire. So this fire of God is what will

literally kind of soak, gets us soaked into him when I'm in his

presence. He's revealing to me the things

that I said that morning to my spouse, which were ungodly.

He's reminding me of that expression on my face of

contempt that didn't please his heart.

The fire of God will never leave me the same because anything the

fire touches, it will change. The fire of God when it touches

me, begins to heat me up with a passion for His name.

I can't leave his presence the same way I went and I I leave it

thinking, God, I want to do more for you.

How can I, how can I demonstrate my love for you Lord?

But it all begins when I enter and enjoy His presence.

So that's the primary thing. How do I enjoy the fire of God

in my life? So that every serpent that has

come near me, that has clashed onto me will have to go.

I first enjoy the presence of God.

The second thing is that I need to open up and allow God, God's

people to enter in. So I have to first of all enter

and experience the enjoy the presence of God.

Now I have to open up and allow the people of God in the thing

that the poison does. You know that that the enemy

unleashes through the wicked, through the harmful, through the

petty. These are humans that he

actually operates through, right?

Some of these people may have been in a church for you.

Some of the people who hurt you the deepest may have been in a

church, may have been leaders themselves.

And the, the interesting thing is that the fire of God, the

method of that healing that we experience in the presence of

God is then translated into community, right?

And in the body of Christ, we are not perfect, but we have

been sanctified. We are continually being

sanctified into the likeness of Christ.

So when you allow people in right fellow people who are

being filled with the Spirit of God, who are also being baptized

with fire, there's something radically different that begins

to happen. Let's read Acts chapter 4 verse

Acts 4:31

31. It says as they prayed, the

earth shook beneath them, causing the building they were

in to tremble. Each one of them was filled with

the Holy Spirit and they proclaimed the word of God with

unrestrained boldness. Now, why have I picked this

verse? So this Acts chapter 4, this is

Acts 4 · chapter mention

happening after they have been threatened, couple of the

disciples were taken into custody and said listen, you

can't preach about Jesus. And then they I think they

flogged them and they sent them home.

They came back rejoicing and said we are so happy that we're

getting persecuted for the name of Jesus is the least we can do

to tell them how grateful we are for saving us.

And so they come back and the whole crowd of disciples begin

to pray and worship and they're asking God give us more of you.

And you know, the Spirit of God doesn't disappoint.

He comes, fills all of them up. The place is shaken.

Signs and wonders are done. And it's interesting.

It says they proclaim the word of God with unrestrained

boldness. Now I always thought when it

said that, that they were ready to share more of the gospel, but

the actual word for boldness in the original text in Greek is

parasis. Parasis actually is not just

speaking out the word of God. It is actually more than

boldness. It is free flowing, unrestrained

boldness, meaning it cannot be held back.

There is no filter on it. There is no tampering with it to

speak something that someone likes.

Many times it will be something that you don't like because it

will actually touch a nerve, right?

And it is meant for public speaking.

It is meant to indicate speech that is not tailored to make

everyone happy, but is necessary because it will be speaking the

truth and love. The motivation will be love.

The what is being delivered will be the truth because in this, in

Jesus, there is no falsity. The Holy Spirit is called the

Spirit of truth. So when he moves people to speak

in peresis, he's actually going to make them speak exactly what

is on his heart. It will hurt a bit because the

truth hurts, am I right? And so this word was actually in

its original context, was reserved by for use only by high

high-ranking Greek officials. But it's brought into this

context because here, when the Holy Spirit gave utterance, it

enabled people to speak to each other.

The word of God. This is the word of God to you.

God is calling you out from this, this net that you find

yourself and he's calling you into freedom.

God is saying he loves you so deeply.

Why are you entrapped in that? That was what it looked like.

These are not people who were saying what somebody's itching

ears wanted them to hear, but they were speaking the truth and

love. Recently, I think it was just a

week back, we were out for dinner with a couple of friends,

couple friends like us, pastors as well.

So we were all out. We came back home.

Geshom and I were driving. As we were driving, there's an

apartment close to our house and we saw two Watchmen standing

outside. And the interesting thing is

usually I'm the one who's, you know, usually just sightseeing

and stopping at the, the sight of lambs and, you know, dogs and

things like that. Geshom doesn't do that.

But that night it was very interesting.

These two Watchmen were standing outside.

One of the Watchmen held a long stick at the end of which

something was hanging. And the other watchman was had

lit a bag on fire. He seems to have doused it with

kerosene and he's lit it. So it was a blazing fire.

And then when we went, as we drove closer, we knew what they

were doing. So they seemed to have hit the

snake on the head. So the snake was what was on the

snake catcher's rod, and it was a limp and hanging there.

And this man lit his bag up completely on fire.

And after it was blazing, he kept down on the on the floor.

It was muddy. The, the road was muddy.

He laid it down and the man carrying the snake took it and

placed it on the fire. And at first, I think it was

just, you know, immobilized. It was not a dead snake.

The snake was riding like crazy and then eventually caught on

fire. And I watched it.

I'm thinking the whole time this weird.

Why should we have seen that? I don't like snakes.

It didn't look nice to look at. But both of us were standing and

watching it for a bit in the car.

We were seated. Those men, after lighting it up,

finishing their job, looked at us weirdly.

They're like, what? What's going on?

But I realized as I was watching it that we were seeing something

that was very, very important. It's a reality we need to pick

up on that you and I cannot do the snake catching alone.

We need each other. We need the body of Christ.

One held the snake, the other lit the fire.

And together in teamwork, they demolished this creature that

was going to cause harm to someone else.

Many times we are trying to deal with the issues in our life

privately, secretly keeping it under wraps or trying that one

method, doing this particular trick or going for this kind of

counseling. We're doing all these things,

but they In the episodes, you will hear the apostles talk a

lot about confessing to one another, laying hands on one

another, praying for each other, loving each other.

Don't fall in sin because of what the other confesses.

Pray for them, uphold them. We are not meant to do this

alone. You and I are called to proclaim

the word of God boldly to each other and this is not some sort

of feeling based thing here. I feel like I should tell you

today, stop lying. That's what I feel like I should

tell you. That's not what it is because

that has been misused so much. I pray that we are so soaked in

the fire of God in the presence of God ourselves that when we

come into connection with others, the Holy Spirit nudges

and says just tell them how much I love them.

They're feelings so unloved, but tell them how much I love them

because this the the testimony of Jesus spirit of prophecy is

the testimony of Jesus. When you prophecy over someone,

when you speak a word of knowledge, you are actually

giving testimony to Jesus and Jesus is the way he's the truth.

He's the life. Your words will bring life to

someone else. It may not be what they need to

hear. They may not need to know if the

poison operating in your life, but if you can say, hey, I just

want to tell you how much you are loved and how much God wants

to speak to you in this moment. Many of us are checking

ourselves out of community, checking ourselves out of church

because oh that person said this.

This person said some of us are so easily offendable.

Oh I will not talk to them because they said this.

What if you needed to hear that hard truth?

What if you needed to be reminded of that?

I love that in our lives and get room in my life.

Even in our own church, we have older, younger, same age people

who call it like it is, who say, you know what, I think that

thing you said may not have been necessary.

You know that thing you're talking about, that's an old

thing. Why are you still thinking about

it? It will hurt at the time, but

it's the anti venom we need. And so I want to ask you, are

you OK with someone in the body of Christ who themselves have

come from the presence of God, filled with the fire of God to

come alongside you and say, hey, let's get rid of that poison,

Let's pray, let's believe God is setting you free.

Can I just encourage you today? Will you be that kind of person?

Will you allow someone like that in?

Because you first have to enter and enjoy the presence of God

and then you have to allow the people of God in so that

together you get rid of the serpent's attack.

As I close, like I was saying, snake venoms are hemotoxins,

then neurotoxins and the Viper that we were looking at in the

beginning, Gary, the wiper in this movie, adorable to look at,

but he's a heat seeking wiper. And there's this one scene where

he says hug, can I hug you? And he comes to the the

protagonist, the hero, and he hugs her and he gets warmer

because of her. And well, it's a very sweet and

heart warming image. It's a very disturbing reality

for many of us. For many of you, you have

allowed the enemy to wrap you in a hug, fill you with this venom.

You don't even know it. All you know is that you're

feeling progressively more desperate.

You feel lifeless. You feel like you don't have

much to go on. You feel exhausted most of the

time. Praying is something that is a

distant reality. You've almost given up on life.

There's a word that is associated with snake venom.

It's called exanguination. It basically means that when

these wipers strike someone, they bleed the person, right?

Because the blood vessels, the hemotoxin, it breaks down the

blood vessels and they just bleed out. 50% blood loss in

certain terrible cases. How will the person survive if

50% of their blood has been lost?

And many of us are running on 50% blood loss, successive hits

by people. You lost a marriage, You lost a

child. Grief upon grief, hope deford

delays. You're at your last rung of the

ladder. You're saying I'm just hanging

on by a thread. God, I'm ready to give up on

life. I'm ready to give up on this

marriage. I'm ready to give up on this

child. I'm ready to give up on this

friendship. This job may not be it because I

don't think I'm ever going to get a better job.

You are at the end of your rope. And when you feel completely

exanguinated, I want to remind you that you have a blood donor,

a blood donor who's a perfect sacrifice.

His blood. His blood washes us clean.

His blood neutralizes every toxin because it's the blood of

Jesus. The most powerful weapon in our

arsenal is the blood of Jesus. And so today I want to lead us

in a time of appropriating that blood over our hearts, over our

minds, the parts that the toxin has gone and hit most.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine.

Both of us are overthinkers. So we've been joking about how

our husbands have to deal with our overthinking and they have

to put a pause button. And I realized I was telling

her. I said, you know what, babe?

We both need to become thinkers. We don't have to be

overthinkers. Many times the enemy floods our

mind with thoughts that literally drag us down.

Most of the battles are lost in our head.

We don't even have to go into any kind of action.

It just it happens here. Dreams die there, envisioning

stops, fear takes over, clouds us, we lose vision.

But today we're going to ask God, Lord, will your will you

bring your blood and just kind of wash my mind clean?

Will you wash my broken heart with your blood?

Because the poison of the enemy through people would have

touched your heart, the very base seat of your affections, of

your emotions, your will. Everything gets corrupted when

poison floods the system for many of us, offence upon offence

is, you know, kept piling up till all we can look at people

and think they're the enemy. They're not the enemy.

The enemy is the enemy. God has set people in our lives

to be the ones who stand beside us and hold that bag with fire

and say you're not able to pray, I'll pray with you.

You're not able to worship, I'll hold your hands up while you

can't. But we're going to get rid of

this thing together. And I want to ask you today.

As your heart stop burning with the fire for Jesus, I want to

ask if you will once more choose to enter and enjoy the presence

of God. Can you imagine?

The presence of God is where you don't need to perform, you don't

need to know an instrument, nothing.

You just go as you are. You can sit on the floor of your

living room. His presence floods the place.

You can sit down at the floor of your kitchen.

You can meltdown in your bedroom.

He his presence floods the place and for you to just sit there

and say, Lord, I'm going to enjoy you.

No performance. I don't have to do anything to

earn your love because you love me so much.

I was worth dying for. And as you do that, I'm going to

ask you to lay your hand upon your heart right now.

And Lord Heavenly Father, we just pray that as we are

listening to this, I'm sure Spirit of God, you were working

overtime to reveal areas of poisonous infiltration in our

lives. You are revealing the venom that

was injected into our soul. And Lord, I pray for those who

because of the poison in their soul, their bodies are

suffering. We speak, release upon them in

Jesus name. And I pray the blood of Jesus

will sanctify us this morning. I pray the blood of Jesus will

touch us right now. I pray it'll wash our

consciences, clean our minds, will not overthink the blood of

Jesus has washed us from all unrighteousness.

I pray that our hearts will be purified by your precious blood.

We pray, Lord, that bodies, spirits and souls will be set

free by the blood of Jesus. I pray for those who have not

enjoyed your presence thus far. I pray from this moment, this

moment, they will begin to enjoy your presence.

I pray for those who have cut off friends who carry the fire

of God in them, that they will invite them back in, say the

Lord. They will have people who walk

with them, who journey with them, who pray with them, who

laugh with them, who hold them accountable, who lift them up

when they've fallen. 2 are better than one.

Your word says, Lord, forgive us for getting rid of those people

that matter the most. We thank you, We invite you,

God, we invite you. I pray for those who are running

on blood loss because of the level of venom in their lives,

those who've gone through childhood traumas and those who

have walked through neglect and abandonment, those who have

walked through abuse and marriages.

Lord, those who have lost parents, Lord, who have grown up

orphans, for every poison that has seeped into their soul, I

pray that Lord, they will right now appropriate the blood of

Jesus into their hearts, into their soul.

And that Lord, you will bring a release.

You will bring healing. We thank you for what Jesus

promised us, that we will handle serpents and no harm will befall

us, that we will consume poison. It will not harm us.

I pray for those who are struggling with suicidal

ideation right now. In the name of Jesus.

Every thought will that is being held captive by poison and

toxins will be released by the blood of Jesus so that they will

realize how valuable they are to you.

I pray for those who are thinking their life is

meaningless, that those lies will be completely diluted by

the blood of Jesus flowing through their minds and their

bodies. I pray for those who are

struggling with chronic pain in different joints, who are

thinking of giving up on life because the pain is too much.

God, I asked for a blood covering and washing over their

bodies right now at a cellular level.

I pray for healing, Lord. And we believe that you are

going to do it. We believe that your blood, the

blood that was shed on the cross, by your stripes, we are

healed. We are believing that.

And so we thank you. We ask all of this in your

mighty name, Jesus, Amen. Amen.

God bless you even as you get into this week.

Would you every day, every day, enjoy the presence of God?

Would you on the weekends, if you're a person who works

constantly, make your way into the body of Christ on a Sunday?

Don't do it alone. You can have 10 excuses why you

can't be in church, but you need to find your way to a church.

Plant yourself there, grow with the rest of the body of Christ.

No church is perfect. The minute we enter it, it

becomes imperfect. But the one who called us, the

one who is the returning bridegroom of the church, he is

perfect and He is perfecting His church every single minute.

So I would urge you that you will not try to do this alone.

You cannot. You need others.

You need the community of believers to hold you up.

Remember this that whoever finds Jesus finds life.

Have an amazing week, God bless you.

We hope you enjoyed today's message and we're blessed.

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Most importantly, remember that whoever finds Jesus finds life.