Just stand | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

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I want us to read the word of the Lord together as a community.

You know, and the church traditions, particularly in the early church, when the people of God would gather, as we now refer to as a church service, there would be a moment when there would be a public reading of scripture.

And what was important was it wasn't meant for just the orator to get up and read to you, but it was one that was meant for us all to read together because there's power and our ability to read God's word together and declare it out loud and to hear ourselves speak to the power of God's word.

And so I want to pull on that practice today.

We're going to be reading from Ephesians chapter number six, is where we're going to be reading.

And if you've been with us for the past couple of weeks, you you may know that we've been in a series called All Hands.

It's our annual series that we talk about stewardship and stewardship in many different ways, but for us specifically, we've been talking about financial stewardship and partnership with the church.

As I shared earlier, we're believing God for permanent location.

So every year we talk about the vision of our church, what God's doing and how we can partner with it.

And so this week we had intended on talking about what does it mean to be content.

It was a message that I was really, really excited to preach on, talking about contentment and how to fight greed, because you'd be amazed at how quickly it sneaks into all of our lives.

And so that is what I anticipated on speaking on.

But but I felt like God shifted something as we began to recognize the storm that was coming and everything that was happening.

And so I felt like it would be a missed opportunity to not preach on the reality not only of the practical storm, but the spiritual ones that we may be facing.

So God shifted what we're going to be speaking on this week.

And so we'll continue and conclude our all hand series next week.

But I wanted to speak what we call a Rhema word, a right now word, a word that God wants to speak to us.

And so you're not here by accident.

I believe that everyone that's here, whether you're watching online or in this room with me, um, that there's a divine appointment that God has for us.

And so collectively, I want us to read God's word together.

Now, here's what I want to prepare us for.

If you came with your Bibles, um, I'm gonna be reading from the CSB translation.

So if you have that on your digital platforms, you can switch to that Christian Standard Bible translation.

Um if not, then it's gonna come up on the screen because what I want us to do is I want us all to read this together in unison.

We're gonna be reading about eight verses together in unison, but I think we can do it.

Y'all think we can do it?

Okay, and so all together, I'm gonna count down from three, and we want to start at verse number 10 of Ephesians 6, and I just want us all to read this together as a community and let these words really minister to our spirits.

Three, two, one.

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

Put on a full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist the evil day, and having prepared everything to take your stand.

Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandal with the readiness for the gospel of peace.

In every situation, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray all times in the spirit with every prayer and request.

Stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

Can we give God a hand clap of praise for us getting through that?

Paul is writing these letters or this letter to the Church of Ephesus in preparation to give them perspective that they were dealing with some opposition.

They were dealing with some challenges, very practical, everyday challenges that probably look very similar to some of the things that we experience.

And so he wanted to give them a glimpse into what's happening in the unseen realm.

Because what can happen a lot of times, we could be so quick to react to what's happening in the world that we don't have an adequate response for what's happening in the spirit.

So today we want to talk a little bit about this cosmic tug of war that we find ourselves in, but the victory that we have in Christ Jesus.

So if you're taking notes, and I hope that you are, um we've entitled today's message Just Stand.

Just stand.

Somebody turn to somebody and say, just stand.

Turn to the person that you ignored and say to them, Yeah, like, I hope I don't gotta talk to this person.

It'll be weird.

Nope, we're gonna make it weird.

Turn to them and say, just stand.

Let's pray, and then you can take your seats.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for your favor and just which you would make available to us for us to gather together as a community to engage your word, to engage you in worship, to engage one another, and to be strengthened and empowered by your spirit.

So, Lord, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes that we can see you and only you.

Lord, I also pray that you give us open ears that we can hear your truth above all else.

And Lord, I pray for open hearts that as the seed of your truth is being deposited into our spirits, that it is protected so that it can take root and bring about radical transformation.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

God bless you guys.

You can go ahead and take your seats at this time.

You know, it's it's hard to believe, at least for for me.

I've been thinking a lot about um how long my my wife and I, how long we have lived um here in Florida.

We came to Jacksonville um about 18 years ago and spent about 12 years there, two years in DC, so we broke it up and then we came and we've been here for five years.

But but collectively, we've we've been living in Florida um for about 18 years, and it's it's it's wild how much we've adjusted to that.

Now, I I want to be very clear for anyone who's on the fence on this.

Um, I'm originally from the Northeast.

I was um I was born in in Wilmington, Delaware, which is right outside of Philadelphia.

So this is why I have on my Eagles Green.

Um so if you guys where's security at?

I thought Larry's supposed to have this undercover.

Bro, where are you at?

So so I I just want to be very clear that we're an Eagles Church, and so I'm looking out into our community, and and I see that there is a Browns fan, but he's not wearing his jersey because he knows it's a terrible team.

Um I do see some Jag shirts over here, and I'll accept Jags because I lived in Jacksonville for 12 years, so that's like my second AFC team.

But I also see a Cowboys jersey over there, um, and I'm gonna say security, get him out of here.

But so one of the things that we had to adjust to with moving down to Florida from the Northeast is getting used to the humidity, which is the devil.

Like having to get adjusted to that is just awful.

And so that was one thing we had to get used to.

The second thing we had to get used to is just coming to the consensus that every body of water has an alligator in it.

If you can, if you can just come to that reality, you'll find that you'll be at peace.

I remember when I went out with some of my friends and we went out like on uh on like these inner tubes, they took me all out, and I'm like, okay, I don't know.

We're swimming in the water, it's great.

And and then as we're heading back to to my friend's home, I see alligators all parked up like on the side, and I'm like, bro, there's alligators in this water?

He's like, Yeah, this is Florida.

And and they looked at me so casually, like, man, they're not gonna bother you if you don't bother them.

I'm like, bro, I don't wanna be one of those rare instances.

I don't know, these alligators might like dart meat.

Don't put me in that position ever again.

Haven't talked to him since.

The the other thing that I had to learn that's just a part of being in Florida is that we're gonna have to deal with tropical storms and hurricanes.

It's just it's just what it is.

And now living outside of Florida, when you see these things on the news, it's just like, hey, the world's coming to an end, it's an all-out apocalypse.

But but when you begin to live here and you're you're trying to pay attention to where the storm is gonna come, are you in a flood zone, storm surges, you begin to kind of recognize these moments that it's possible for you to live here and navigate through it.

But when I first moved here, I didn't know that was a reality.

So when I first had my job, I was working at the school district in Jacksonville, and the first major storm was coming, and I was really surprised at how calm everybody was.

I was like, do you guys not recognize that the end is nigh?

Like, why aren't you guys more afraid?

Why isn't everybody making adjustments and moving away?

And then he introduced me to a term that was completely unfamiliar to me.

They said, Hey, we're just gonna hunker down.

I said, I don't know what that means.

I've never heard that term up north.

I don't know what hunkering means.

So I ripped to the dictionary to ask, what is hunkering?

And and what it said, it just literally means to bow down.

It just means to get get low.

So I'm thinking to myself, like, are we just supposed to get low?

Is that how we is that how we survive?

Is that how we survive this storm?

But then finally, someone came to me and said, No, hunkering down means this.

It means recognizing that the storm is going to come, it can't be avoided, but if you make adequate preparations, you can survive it.

It's just recognizing that storms are gonna come and it can't be avoided.

But if you prepare and if you have the right things in place, that it's possible to survive the storm.

That's what it means to hunker.

Hunker means I'm not running from the storm, I'm gonna be prepared to endure it when it comes.

He he didn't realize that 15 years ago he was preaching to my soul.

Because what I recognize is in the same way as we live in Florida and we know that storms are gonna come and we have to be prepared to weather them, is the same way that it is in real life.

Jesus even tells us in John chapter 16 in this world you will have trouble.

John 16 · chapter mention

In this world you will have storms, in this world you will have job loss, in this world you're gonna have setbacks, in this world you're gonna lose loved ones.

In this world, things are not gonna always work out the way that you think that they should work out.

But take heart, I have overcome the world.

I believe that what has seen emerge over the past 20 to 30 years, particularly in the in American Christianity, is this consumeristic approach to, hey, if I do this for God, God's gonna do this for me.

And then what can happen is when I do find myself facing hardship, I can be disappointed that God didn't come through on his version of the agreement and then I'm out.

But what Jesus has continuously try to remind us of, is like, hey, we live in a fallen and broken world.

And we can't always control the behaviors of other people.

We can't always know how we're gonna how people are gonna respond.

But what I can tell you is that you have victory in me, so just stay close to me even in a storm.

I just need you to hunker down.

Just stay close to me.

And it may be uncomfortable, and the winds are gonna blow, and you're gonna hear the sounds, and it's gonna seem like everything around you is gonna collapse.

But but if your house is built on me and if you stay close enough to me, you will survive this, you will overcome this, you will endure this.

This is a message for somebody right now that may be going through the most crazy storm that you never imagined that you will go through.

And maybe your presence here today is literally your Hail Mary effort in saying that if I don't hear a word from God, I don't know how I'm gonna make it through the next week.

This is the word from the Lord.

You will survive this, but you gotta stay close to Jesus.

You will overcome this if you would just stay close to Him and hunker down.

There is still hope.

But but for some of us, we may be asking ourselves, what exactly is the source of this conflict?

Why does it exist?

When we talk about spiritual war, what exactly are we talking about?

And I think that this is an opportunity for us to get a better scope of what we are experiencing that is sometimes going on beyond our eyes' view.

Scripture would refer to it as spiritual warfare.

And maybe these are things that we've heard mentioned before in church, like, hey, I'm going through spiritual war, I'm going, but but what practically does that mean?

I want to take a couple of minutes to give you a glimpse beyond the veil so that you can understand exactly the opposition that we are facing.

The Bible tells us that in the very beginning that God created the heavens, and when he created the heavens, he populated with these crazy, amazing, beautiful beings that were meant to be varying expressions of his power and of his glory.

And they each had different responsibilities.

We would often refer to them as angels, but that's a little bit of an oversimplification.

They were actually seraphims and cherubims and these different classifications of these powerful beings that were meant to be an expression of God.

Like there's literally been angels that were created whose only responsibility is just to declare the holiness of God.

That's their job.

Holy, holy, holy.

Holy is the Lord God Almighty.

They never get tired.

They were created to worship the glory of God.

And they they literally worship and set the atmosphere in heaven by just declaring that God is holy.

There are other angelic beings that were given a responsibility of being God's messengers, of representing his word and his will and communicating it to people.

So we see these varying expressions of these incredible beings that were created.

Michael the archangel is one of the highest ranking ones that were there, but there was also a parallel to him, and that was a being called Lucifer.

Lucifer was a created being.

And what the Bible describes him as, when we read it in the book of Ezekiel, is it says that he was so beautiful and precious that literally God is describing him and saying that every precious stone was literally your creation.

You were beautiful in all of your ways.

And when they break down the description, it literally defines his body as if he was a walking instrument.

So many people have come to the conclusion that Lucifer was the first worship angel.

And so his very breathing created sounds that brought glory and honor to God.

But the Bible says that God makes a shift.

He said, You were beautiful in all of your ways until pride was found in your heart.

You lost sight that you were created for a purpose and you thought that you deserved the worship of the Creator.

This is why God has such a broken heart for pride and arrogance.

You can see through scripture over and over again, pride comes before the fall.

Don't let that get into your heart, don't let that get into your head.

Because that is the first sin that we see in scripture that led to the first rebellion.

Lucifer began to believe that because I am an instrument that brings glory to God, I should be the one receiving the glory.

It should be pointed towards me.

And as a result of that, he was kicked out of heaven.

Michael the archangel kicked him out of heaven, and then he was reduced to come down here on earth, and then God created man his own image and had the nerve to put Lucifer under his feet.

So you can understand the anger and frustration of this being that simply wanted to receive the glory from God and now sees men who are lesser than angels, but yet we are carriers of God's presence.

So his anger and frustration caused him to be transformed into a serpent.

And he goes up to Adam and Eve and he begins to just reel in a real sny and conniving way says, Did God really tell you that you shouldn't touch or eat or even look at that fruit?

The first thing that we see the enemy does as it relates to spiritual warfare is he causes the people of God to question the validity of God's word.

Are you sure are you sure that's what are you sure that's what the Bible really says?

You do know that that's a book that was written thousands of years ago.

It's no longer relevant.

Are you sure you're supposed to really be doing that?

You know that was written by people who don't even function that way.

You know that was a cultural thing.

Are you sure the enemy's number one entry point into our faith is to get us to become people who are callers of Christ, but we won't want to live by his word.

As a result of that, man found himself saying, I would rather define what's right and wrong on my own terms instead of trusting God with that truth.

And as a result of that, it ushered in the brokenness that we now experience.

Fast forward now to Genesis chapter number six.

If you're keeping count, God created everything in Genesis 1.

By chapter number three, everything fell apart.

Two pages later, just giving you a context of like man has an ability to always cause chaos.

It's just the way that we are.

So now we get over to Genesis chapter number six.

And the Bible tells us about another rebellion that takes place in the heavens, another group of angels.

They departed from their rightful state of being these heavenly hosts, and they literally come down here on earth and they start sleeping with women.

The Bible talks about it.

And so, as a consequence of that, God says, I'm gonna wipe this whole thing out.

Noah's Ark, the flood, it was all a consequence of them giving birth to these beings called Nephilims, these giants.

So God said, Nope, not gonna have that.

We're gonna wipe the slate clean and start all over again.

And then after that takes place, we get to Genesis number 11.

And once again, we see this space where man makes this deadly declaration, we are gonna make a name for ourselves.

Once again, pride and ego and arrogance enters into the hearts of men.

And so the Bible says, God comes down, he confuses the language which gives us the birth of all these different nations.

And he says, I'm gonna keep Israel as my own.

Israel is gonna be my chosen people, and then through them, I'm gonna allow a Messiah to come who will be born, who will live a perfect life, die to death that all mankind could never endure, and redeem all mankind on my behalf.

God was working a master plan called his redemptive plan.

I hope you guys are ready.

I didn't know y'all was coming to get some theology today, but we're gonna shout in a minute.

Just give me a couple more minutes.

This is how spiritual warfare started.

And so now these other nations were released to go and worship all of these false gods.

This is why when we travel to different parts of the world, you'll see that there's different strongholds, there's different entry points and different belief systems.

Those were all fallen demonic spirits that had been released to run loose in the land.

But then God said, But through my people of Israel, the Messiah is going to come.

The embodiment of God's redemptive plan came through Jesus, but it took people like Moses, it took people like Abraham, it took people like David to be faithful, and then through that bloodline, Jesus was born.

And when Jesus was born, the Bible says that he claimed everything that the enemy had tried to take.

When the Bible says that Jesus went to the cross, that they had no idea that they had crucified the Lord of glory.

In other words, he was unmatched in his own spiritual warfare.

But the Bible says the enemy didn't have a clue of what Jesus' full purpose was going to be.

So when he crucified Jesus, he didn't realize that he was actually elevating him and allowing all redemption to come forth.

What I want you to understand is the enemy is not as smart as he thinks he is.

The enemy doesn't have as much power as he thinks he is.

So we need to stop being people that give the enemy so much credit and influence in our life because he is a defeated foe.

He has been a foe that has been defanged and declawed.

He can make a lot of noise.

He's like a roaring lion, but he has no bite.

But we got to make sure that we stay close to the source.

The Bible tells us that now, even though the enemy has been defeated, that he's very active in trying to distract the people of God.

Because now that we had victory as a result of our faith in Christ, all we have to do is stay close to Jesus and we can begin to live this life of abundance that Jesus talks about in John chapter 10, verse number 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

But the beginning part of that verse, Jesus does tell us that the enemy is still very active.

In fact, he gives us the enemy's job description.

And what he says is the enemy has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

To steal your hope, to steal your peace, to steal your joy, to kill any sense of ambition and drive that you may have, and to destroy any vision or version of your life where you can glorify God.

That is all he's trying to do.

So he's looking for every opportunity in our life.

How can I steal this from them?

How can I kill this desire from them?

How can I destroy this to make it make sure that it doesn't allow it to flourish into what God would have it to become?

To steal, to kill, and to destroy, but we have victory in Christ Jesus.

And the way that we're able to enact that victory is by recognizing the weapons that God makes available to us.

He did not leave us here as soldiers on the battlefield with us being ill-equipped.

He's given us everything that we need as it relates to life and godliness.

And one of the most powerful weapons that he makes available to us is our ability to worship.

Because there are going to be some times that I don't have the words to articulate.

There are going to be some times that I can't find the scripture quick enough that's going to help me to feel better.

There's going to be times where a word of encouragement from a friend, while well-meaning, won't transform anything.

But there's something to be said about when I can, in spite of all of my pain, still decide that I'm going to throw up my hands and give glory and praise and honor to God, even in spite of it.

The reason why this is so significant is because the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people.

That means that wherever there is worship, that becomes a throne for God and it transforms the environment into the throne room of heaven.

So whenever I lift up my hands, whenever I lift up my voice, it invites the literal presence of God into that situation, which then means that the enemy who is the prince of the power of the air, as long as I begin to worship God and allow my praise to invade the enemy's airspace, he cannot occupy my home anymore because this home is now has an atmosphere.

Of worship, of prayer, of praise, and God inhabits it and it completely shifts the atmosphere.

This is why when we come to church, the enemy wants us to keep our hands in our pockets.

This is why the enemy wants us to keep our mouths closed.

But if we can only understand that my worship is a weapon, that when I have an opportunity to declare the name of Jesus, it shifts the atmosphere.

I may not see him, I may not feel him, but something is to be said about when I declare the name of Jesus, that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess because I have victory in him.

That when I can say hallelujah, that it shifts the atmosphere because every time I give God praise, he begins to invade that space.

So there's been times in my life when I was going through all hell in my life and I didn't know what words to say.

But I said, God, I'm gonna give you praise.

I'm praising you over my family, I'm praising you over my finances, I'm praising you over my mind.

I don't know what to say, but what I can say is hallelujah.

God, I'm inviting you into this situation, I'm inviting you into this burden, I'm inviting you into this fear, I'm inviting you into this anxiety, I'm inviting you into this brokenness, I'm inviting you into this sickness, and I'm trusting that you're going to move on my behalf because I've invited you in with my praise.

This is what happens when we give God praise.

It literally shifts the atmosphere.

It gives us victory that is found only in the finished work of Christ.

But I believe with all the weapons He makes available to us, there's something about hunkering down and recognizing that we can survive this storm.

We can endure this, that no matter what I'm facing, I will overcome this because Jesus has overcome it.

But there's some practical things that I can do.

And there's three things that I want to encourage us with that I hope that you can take with you and that you can make this an anchor for your soul.

And the first thing it is, is we got to stand on God's word.

We have to be people that stand on God's word.

Notice I said stand on God's word, not not the word of opinion, not not the words of my feelings, even though they're valid, not not the words of politicians, not not the words of influencers, but I have to stand on God's word.

We we live in a world of so many opinions, we live in a world of so many ideas and and so many different things that it can sometimes be overwhelming for us to really get a sense of what God is saying about this specific situation.

And so now what has happened is that the truth has become so diluted that we don't even understand if there is truth.

Because the truth of the matter is we all have a version of truth, and so now we've even popularized the phrase of, I'm just speaking my truth.

I understand the heart behind it, I understand that we have a lived experience that we need to be able to declare and give voice to.

I'm all in agreement for that, but I also believe that my truth has to be surrendered under the one who is the truth.

Because if I don't, I will allow my truth to become a fact, and when that fact becomes the way that I orient my life, I can be living with a lid.

Let me let me give you an example.

That we understand that we live in a world with a lot of hard facts.

The fact of the matter is, is that there may be a sickness in your family.

The fact of the matter is you may be dealing with some struggles at home.

The fact of the matter is your finances may not be where you want them to be at.

That's a fact.

But the truth of God's word says that healing is available to those who are sick.

The truth of God's word says that He is your provider.

So even if you don't have what you need, you will have everything because God is your provider.

The truth of God's word always transcends the facts of our lived experience.

But if we don't engage God's word, we can make the mistake of allowing the facts to become the gospel, and we're no longer walking in the powerment of God's truth.

We have to be people that recognize the power of standing on God's unchanging word.

Scripture tells us that Jesus says in John 17, 17, Lord, I want you to sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is the truth.

Your facts may describe the circumstances, but the truth defines a higher reality that God's sovereignty will reign over.

Hebrews chapter 4, 12 tells us that the word of God is living and effective and is sharper than any two-edged sword.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

That means that when I read God's word, because it was written under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that I can read a scripture today and it can speak to one situation.

I can read that same scripture a month from now and it can speak to another situation.

It's because the living Spirit of God dwells in this word and it has the ability to give me a fresh interpretation of how I need to apply it to my life.

That is the significance of us engaging God's word.

But it's not just enough to read it, it's not just enough to memorize it, it's not enough to have a devo plan that we check off.

We have to embody it and live it out.

I was thinking a little bit about when I was preparing for the hurricane that just came.

And what I recognize is that I've seen varying forms of hurricanes take place.

Um, but this was one of the first ones that as I was watching the news and it was like, hey, this one, this one is really coming.

You guys really need to prepare.

So I sound like a typical Floridian when my parents are like, Are you gonna flee?

I'm like, No, we're gonna hunker down.

They're like, What are you talking about?

Like, I sound just as crazy to them as my friends sounded to me 20 years ago.

But I said, No, we're we're gonna hunker down.

I believe we're gonna be okay, but we have to make adequate preparation.

So, what I began to do is I said, Okay, so what does preparing for a storm look like?

I I went to the websites, I could talk to some friends, and then I got a list of things that was necessary for me to have in my household.

You gotta make sure that you have plenty of water.

You gotta have some dry food available in case you lose power.

You you also want to make sure that that you have um some plenty of of batteries and flashlights and things that can help you to keep things illuminated.

There's a list of things when we needed to do.

Like I lowered the temperature in my house in case we lost power that we wouldn't be working from 80 degrees.

Like I our house was like the Arctic Circle.

Like it was like, I told my family, like, hey, we gotta prepare for the storm, we might lose power.

So for the next three days, I'm gonna drop the temperature more and more.

By the time the storm hit, we were at like 60 degrees in our house.

We could have had a cadaver in our house and it would have been perfectly fine.

We're walking around with hoodies and sweatshirts on, but I was just preparing.

I wanted to be ready.

So we had everything set.

And then I remember like them saying, Go to the grocery store, get these resources available.

So watch this.

I'm looking at the instructions from people who are experts and they're telling me how to prepare for the storm.

It's not enough for me to say, like, hey, on paper, they say that I should have toilet tissue and that I should have water and that I should do these things.

I know it, but I'm not going to do it.

No, I had to physically go out and do those things because I trusted the voice of the experts that were telling me this is how you prepare for a storm.

If I can prepare for a storm by listening to meteorologists and people who are experts but at the same time are fallible, why would I not give that same value and intentionality to God's word that has the ability to literally shape my eternal destination?

I believe that far off too often we're so willing to give weight to other people and we want to minimize the influence of God's word.

We we give weight to social media influencers, but we want to minimize God's word.

We give weight to politicians.

Let me step into this water real deep.

I wish we would give God's word as much weight as we give President Trump.

I wish we would give God's word as much weight as we give President Biden.

I'll step on Democrat, Republican toes, it don't matter who you are.

I wish that we would give God's word as much weight as we give Fox News.

I wish we would give God's word as much weight as we give CNN.

The challenge that I'm issuing to us is can we stop giving all of the weight to people of the world and start looking at what God's word says about the situation?

Allow that to be the truth that we anchor ourselves in.

Allow that to be the thing that we stand on.

Politicians are gonna come and go.

Systems are gonna come and go, policies are gonna come and go, but God's word will endure forever.

And he's trying to instruct us on this is how you can survive the storm that may be coming your way.

This is how you can survive the storm that you may find yourself in.

This is how you come out of the storm that you have just survived, making sure that we are finding ourselves standing on the truth of God's word.

The Bible tells us in Psalm chapter 19, verse 105, that God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path.

The thing about a lamp is this it doesn't illuminate an entire room, but it gives you enough light to take your next step.

Walking by faith and not by sight.

That means that when I'm living my life by God's word, it's this uncomfortable place of having enough visibility to know that God is ordering my steps, but also building my faith enough to know that I may not see the final destination.

When he came to Abraham and said, Leave your land to the land that I'm going to show you.

Lord, I don't know what that looks like, but I'm gonna follow you.

And I'm gonna follow your word, and I'm gonna walk by faith and not by sight.

And I may be seeing some things that are uncomfortable, but I'm going to trust you.

I don't know how I ended up here, but you led me here.

So that means I have an assignment here, so I'm going to trust you, and I'm going to continue to trust you, and I'm going to continue to walk this thing out, and I'm going to allow you to get the glory out of my life, but we gotta be people that are standing on God's word.

Here's a second thing that we have to be: we have to be people that stand with the people of God.

We have to stand with God's people.

There is so much strength and unity, especially in the body of Christ.

We are called literally to support one another.

Ecclesiastes 4, 9 through 10 says that two are better than one.

Because what reward does one person have if in all of their efforts?

If one falls down, who is going to help him to get up?

The book of Acts gives us this beautiful image of the early church where the Bible says there was not a single need amongst them that everybody had everything in common.

You know what's been really beautiful over the past week has been seeing how the community has rallied together to help one another.

It's been really, really beautiful.

My wife and I, we have like the Ring app and this neighborhood app, and it's been really fascinating to just see the way that people have been speaking and sharing things in there.

Hey, anybody, if if anybody needs any water, I lucked up and got an extra case, somebody can come and pick it up.

Hey, hey, if anybody needs any batteries or anything, I got some over here.

Hey, the gas station over here still has gas in it.

No, if anybody, hey, the public's over here is still open, and they're gonna like just the ability of watching people gather together and genuinely are trying to help strangers that they don't know, but there's this common good that we began to see.

And I was like, this is so beautiful.

It's a it's a shame that it's a tragedy, that's the accelerant for it.

But nonetheless, it's beautiful to see when people can begin to not think just of themselves and they're working together, but but it requires us to participate.

We we have to be we have to be connected to others.

That the Bible tells us that the enemy's strategy is to get us isolated and to be alone.

Scripture tells us over and over again that the enemy wants to he wants to sift us out like wheat, he wants to separate us from community, get us isolated.

You know, the Bible says that the enemy is like a roaring lion.

And one of the things we recognize about lions is that what they love to do is to separate the weak one from the herd.

It makes it much easier for them to pounce on them.

So the enemy loves to separate us from the community, and he'll use things like offense, he'll use things like disappointment, he'll use a variety of strategies, but all of it is an effort to get us separated from community so that we can't find ourselves connected and strengthened with one another.

But we are so much better together, and sometimes it requires us to step out of our comfort zone and engage people beyond our personality, but there's a blessing that comes from it.

A couple days ago, Megan and I we went to the grocery store, and and the reason why that's something that's noteworthy is because nine times out of ten, I never want her to go to a grocery store with me.

Here's why.

If you know my personality and my temperament, you know that when I go into the store, I have a mission.

I know which aisles I need to go into.

I get in, I get out.

I'm like, I'm like a sniper.

Get in and get out.

You won't even know I was there.

That's how I function.

Megan, on the other hand, she has a personality that says, like, hey, I know we came here to get paper towels, but let's go and see what cookies they got on sale.

I'm like, we didn't, we didn't come here for that.

That's not why we came here.

So when we go to the grocery store, she says, Hey, I want to come with you.

And I'm like, Lord God help me.

So here we are, we walk into the grocery store, and again, I'm thinking, okay, we got to go to aisle seven, maybe we'll stop by aisle nine, then we're getting out.

As soon as we're walking over, she goes over to the far right.

I'm like, why are you walking over here?

There's nothing on our list over here.

I just want to see, and then we got donuts and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Like, it just it just happens.

And and and sometimes I'm down with it because I'm like, man, I could have used a donut.

The Spirit of the Lord brought her over here.

So it all works out when it needs to.

I'm not that rigid about it.

But we walk around, and when we get there, we just missed the truck dropping off all the water for this week.

And so we're seeing people that are walking around a store, they got their cases of water.

We didn't get it.

The pallet was completely empty.

So I'm thinking to myself, like, okay, we we missed our opportunity.

We got water at home, but we don't have the abundance that I believe the Lord wants us to have.

I said, so I have to try to find the next store.

So immediately I'm beginning to research and see where the next water spot is.

But my wife and her loud personality, it's like, I know there's gotta be more water around here somewhere.

I'm like, no, the pallet's empty.

The water's gone, we're getting out of here.

It's like, no, let me let me just walk around.

I'm like, listen, there's no more water left.

Let's go on.

So she still insists on being all bubbly and smiling and talking to people, just being a life-giving person.

When I'm sitting there with a mean face on, like, hey, they say you're only supposed to have two cases of water.

Why do you got three?

Like, I'm I'm that guy.

I wish I was joking.

So now I'm like, Megan, they like we're checking out.

Like, we're leaving or you're getting a ride home.

Something's gotta happen.

I gotta get home.

So we get into the line, and there's a lady that's at the register that we've gotten to be fairly friendly with.

And when I say we've gotten to be friendly with, Megan and her are best friends.

So, so so Megan is talking with her.

She's like, hey, did y'all get everything y'all need, babies?

And I was like, nah, I was like, it's fine.

We we we got everything we came here for.

And Megan was like, you know what?

We didn't.

She said, You didn't?

She said, No, we did not.

She said, Well, what did you not get?

She said, We came here to get water, and apparently we missed the truck.

She said, You missed a truck.

She's like, Yeah, I think we missed the truck.

She's like, hold on one minute.

I'm gonna go see if I can go find and rustle up y'all some water, rustle up.

I don't know what that means, but I'm gonna see if I can rustle up y'all some water.

And so again, I'm thinking to myself, why are we still here?

I would be home by now.

Just let me get home.

I get it.

We got water, we're fine.

It's not the end of the world, we're gonna be okay.

But the lady's like, I'll be right back.

Y'all, y'all just wait one second right here.

So we're standing there, everything in me is screaming.

Like, what are you doing?

And Megan's just sitting there smiling, looking at her phone, just living her best life.

And I'm meanwhile, I'm thinking of every moment I could be doing something else.

And then legitimately, eight seconds later, the manager comes out with these two boxes of water and says, Hey, these were in the back, these are the last two we had, but she came and told us and said that you are her dear friends and y'all needed these waters.

Here, we want y'all to have it.

So now I have lost the ability to speak anything into my wife's life.

Nothing.

They don't have no more water, huh?

I'm like, all right, man, listen, just take your win and keep moving.

But but watch this.

Here's what I want, here's what I want y'all to capture.

If it was up to me and my personality, it would have been so easy for me to walk into an environment, see that it doesn't have what I need, and move on.

But when you have a communication and a community relationship, you're looking for opportunities to engage people, and you just never know how it can transform your life.

My point is this so many times in the church context, we're saying that we look for community.

But sadly, some of us have the posture that I have: walk in, case the environment, and move on.

But what if we walked in and really became people who engaged and looked out for one another?

Imagine the transformation that could take place with that.

Here's the third thing that I want to encourage us with, and we're gonna go into some time of worship.

We stand with our community, but we stand against the enemy.

Paul reminds us that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, that we are in the midst of severe and serious spiritual warfare.

When you get an opportunity, I want you to go and read Daniel chapter number 10, starting at verse number 10.

Because what it gives us is a glimpse into the spiritual warfare that takes place that we don't even know is happening.

I'll give you the spoiler version of it.

Daniel is in the midst of praying and fasting to get clarity on this vision.

21 days he's been praying and fasting.

On the 21st day, an angel appears before him and says to him, Literally, from the first day that you started praying, God heard your prayer and was responding to it.

I was a messenger that was sent to respond to your prayer request.

But I got caught up in spiritual warfare for 21 days, and I couldn't get free until Michael the archangel had to come and get involved so I can come and deliver this message.

This is what's happening every time we seek God's face.

That we don't even recognize we're praying, we're fasting, we're seeking God, we're wondering why we haven't got our breakthrough.

It's been 21 days, it's been three months, it's been six months, why we have not gotten our breakthrough.

Could it be because in the heavens, beyond our view, there's an enemy that's trying to stop us from getting our breakthrough?

But what Paul tells us is in those moments we don't stop praying.

In those moments, we don't stop believing.

In those moments, we don't stop fasting because as we are praying, it is building faith and it is empowering God and his angels to move in a way that can bring breakthrough in our lives.

Your prayers matter, your worship matters, you're reading God's word, it matters.

Your surrender, it absolutely matters.

Don't you dare give up just because you haven't seen it yet.

You keep on praying, you keep on pressing, you keep on asking, you keep on seeking, you keep on searching.

Your breakthrough is around the corner.

So Paul says, Listen, as you are praying and seeking and standing against the activity of the enemy, make sure you do it with your belt of truth on.

You keep it all together.

Make sure you guard your heart because there's going to be a lot of things that are going to be trying to offend you and distract you, but guard your heart and don't let anything take the joy from you.

Make sure you keep on your helmet of salvation because the enemy loves to attack your mind and to make you feel like you're not good enough and to make you feel like you're not valued.

But when you have on that helmet of salvation, you recognize I am the righteousness of God and I am in right standing with God, and I can have hope, and I can have vision and I can have faith and I can have peace because my mind is protected.

He also says to put on the shield to make sure that even though the enemy is forming these weapons, but God's word, they may form, but they will not prosper against us.

But we gotta have our shield of faith that deflects it.

This is how we build up our faith by worshiping, by reading, by engaging God's presence.

We build our faith up so that even when the enemy is hitting us with his best shots, it is deflected by the faith that we have found that's rooted in Christ Jesus.

He says, We be prepared to share the gospel everywhere we go, that everywhere we plant our feet, it's an opportunity for us to demonstrate the love of Jesus.

And then he says, make sure we keep the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It's the literal only offensive weapon that we have against the enemy.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus was being tempted, when he was just came out of his moment of baptism and about to enter into ministry, the enemy came to him on three different accounts, all trying to feed the ego or pride, the original sin going back to Lucifer.

But the Bible says that every temptation that Jesus' response was the word of God.

Every time the enemy says something, this is what God's word says.

What I want us to understand is that we're in a warfare that is beyond our intellect, that is beyond our strategy.

But if we can be intentional with engaging the resources that God makes available for us, it has the ability to change everything.

Everything.

But we got to put on our whole armor and we got to stand against the activity of the enemy.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to lead us into a moment and then I want to invite us just to a quick moment of worship.

Maybe you're in here right now, and you're in the middle of a storm.

And maybe that storm is a significant gut punch, and maybe it's just a light brush, but nonetheless, it's something that has caused you to stumble.

It is something that has caused you to stagger, something that you just need the hand and the power and the presence of God to get involved in.

If that's you, I want to invite you to just raise your hand really quick.

I want to invite us to pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

You can put those hands down.

We're going to go into a time of worship.

And what I want to invite us to do in this moment is respond.

If you're one of the ones that lifted your hands up, I want to invite you to come down to this altar where we're going to have our prayer partners and leaders that would love to just touch and agree and pray with you.

The altar is simply the place where we surrender to God.

It's an invitation for God to move.

We're going to continue to worship by lifting our hands and singing songs.

But if that's you, this is not a place of condemnation.

Or shame or guilt or Amanda, you got a storm?

I'm in a storm.

We all have versions of storms that we're in, we just came out of, or we're about to enter into.

It's a part of our life.

But it's in these moments that we can be empowered by the Spirit of God.

And I believe there's nothing, there's nothing more powerful than a surrendered moment in the presence of God because it can change everything.

So let me get everyone to stand on our feet.

And as we prepare to go into this time of worship, I would love for you to meet me and our prayer team down at this altar so that we can simply touch and agree and pray and declare God's word, his truth over your situation.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your presence.

And even as our people are making themselves down to the altar, I pray, God, that you come against every form of hesitation, every form of anxiety and fear.

You guys come on in.

Every form of doubt, of any shame.

God, this is a safe place that we're simply laying it down at the altar, recognizing that though we are in a storm, you have made a promise to us that we shall overcome it.

So we come to this altar with a posture of surrender and an expectation that your word reminds us that we can lay down our burdens and pick up your peace.

So, Father, right now in the name of Jesus, I link faith with all of our precious family members right now.

We touch and agree right now in the name of Jesus.

I want to get some of our prayer leaders up here to come and touch and agree.

We touch and agree right now, Father, for every burden, for every fear, for every anxiety, for every struggle, for every burden, Father, for every storm that the enemy has allowed to be manifested in our lives, Father.

We bind and rebuke it right now in the name of Jesus.

And I command that you will come out of this storm.

You will see victory.

You will see deliverance, you will see the miracle on the other side.

Just continue to fast, continue to pray, continue to trust, continue to press them.

We rebuke the activity of the enemy in the name of Jesus.

We plead the blood of Jesus over every single situation.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds.

So, Father, we command for every chain to be broken in the name of Jesus.

We command victory over their lives, Father.

We ask, Father, that you move on their behalf and anything that's not like you, God, remove it from their lives, Father.

We pray for fresh jobs, we pray for fresh perspective, we pray for breakthrough, we pray for provision in the name of Jesus.

Begin to fill your people with your spirit.

Allow breakthrough to take place, allow transformation to take place, and we'll forever give you the glory, the honor, and the praise.

So, Father, move and do what only you can do in Jesus' name.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.