STARVE the Flesh; FEED the Spirit | Pastor Drew

Hey man, good Sunday morning. How are we

doing?

>> How are we doing? Let's go. Oh, if it

isn't obvious to you yet, the creator of

the entire universe

really, really, really wants to meet and

to connect and to talk with you right

now. Isn't that crazy?

>> Like that just that blows my mind. I was

just having a time with the Lord this

week that it just blows my mind that

this this God

who breathed galaxies

would even care about this planet, let

alone this this continent or this state

or this little city and then this little

church meeting inside of this city and

each individual here. And yet, not only

does he, but he desperately wants to

connect with you today.

I believe every single time that we come

together where two or three are

gathered, there he is also. And I kind

of take this principle of uh what I want

to do is I want to make sure that we're

going to get a good word from the word,

right? A good word from the Bible. I'm

going to be able to learn. I promise you

guys, you're going to be able to receive

today. And then I also believe that

approximately 1% because Jesus says, I

leave the 99 for the one. Approximately

1% is a God, a divine Holy Spirit could

not be orchestrated by man moment for

you.

And that there's going to be something.

And what it what what changes that and

what shapes that is me being willing to

listen.

So God wants to speak. I know he's going

to bring a good word. I know it's going

to be a good word. And I encourage you,

listen for the God word. Listen for what

he is speaking to you directly right

now. Heavenly Father, I pray would you

minister in this moment? Would you speak

to our hearts?

Holy Spirit, we give this to you.

All the agenda,

all the plans that we have, we just lay

them down

and we ask God,

would you speak whatever you want?

Would you convict me? Would you convict

us wherever you want?

I'm ready to receive your words.

And Lord, would you help me to respond

in honor and obedience in the mighty

name of Jesus we pray?

Amen. Amen. Let's go. So today we're

talking about hunting Phoenix in this

series and it's all about defeating

these sins, these strongholds that keep

on coming back. Because the reality is

whether you've got an addiction that

you're fighting right now or not, the

reality is the sin that you're dealing

with right now. Who here raise your hand

if you're dealing with sin, right? If

you got sin in your life, come on. There

you go. If your hand's not up, shame

yourself right now cuz I'mma do it

first. Right? If I'm if I'm alive, if

I'm breathing, I'm dealing with sin. But

here's the reality. The sin I'm dealing

with on October 4th, 2026 better be

different than the sin I was dealing

with on October 4th, 2025. At some

point, I've got to get over the sins

that I've been dealing with throughout

my whole life. I want to have all of us

stepping in from glory to glory, from

victory to to victory, from freedom to

greater freedom, from land to more. Like

to seeing the territory of the Lord

increase in our hearts, in our minds, in

our lives. I believe it. And so that's

where I I want to encourage us to to

start moving like sometimes I think when

we look at sin, we think of it as like

don't do bad things, which yes, that is

the case. But I want to encourage you to

begin to transition this thought from

moving from sins of omission to I'm

always going to deal with sins and so

I'm I I'd rather deal with the problem

of sins of commission. Right? SINS OF

OMISSION IS STOP DOING THAT STUPID

STUFF. RIGHT? THAT'S what that is.

Right? I got I got to kick this thing

these things out of my life. Sometimes

we think once I do that I don't think

I'm going to have any sin to deal with

anymore. I might I I got to keep like

what am I going to have after that? I

promise you we're going to be talking

about that. Like there is just this

extraordinary

beautiful life that comes. We got to

move past the sins of omission to the

sins of commission. Oh Lord, I should

have joined with you in this. I missed

an opportunity. What was I thinking? How

did I miss this moment that was with my

the like I I see this? I I I I don't

know, God. I I stepped into that thing

and my kid and I was arguing and I and I

shouldn't have done that and and man,

there was just such a teachable moment,

but I don't I still don't know what I

would say or how I would use that to

make this conflict into a connection.

How do I do that, right? Like instead of

omission, I got to cut this stuff out.

It's commission. How do I walk with you?

Right? How do I walk with you more

accurately, more more passionately, more

perfectly according to the way that

Jesus has modeled in us? We will not in

this church, we will not coddle sin.

We will not allow like this is this is

not something that I want for any of us

to be finding ourselves where we're

like, ah, you know what, sin like it's

it's fine. It's not like I want to hate

my sin. I want to love the Lord and I

want to come with an extraordinary grace

for a whole bunch of really imperfect

people that all just confess I got sin

I'm dealing with in my life. Right? And

so that's where uh I I I really believe

if we want to go where the Lord wants to

take us,

we have to overcome the battles, the

giants, and the mountains that he's got

before us individually right now. So,

this is what we've been going through as

we go through this series. We've talked

about this idea of come broken. And I

haven't I haven't been we I I want to

encourage you if you want to see true

victory in your life, I promise you

there are lies that you're dealing with

that you are believing. There are

agreements that you have made with the

enemy that we need to overcome. This is

how we go through it. Right? First, I

got to come broken. I go to go to Jesus

because I recognize this is a spiritual

battle. This is a spiritual problem and

I have no capacity to deal with this

within my own strength. So I come broken

and then I identify these problems,

these cues that the enemy is using and

and not just the surface sin but the

lies hitting behind them and I confess

them and I invite someone else not just

confess to the Lord. I invite someone

else into this problem, into this

battle. It's extremely uncomfortable.

It's extremely vulnerable. But I do it

because that is where I begin to take

away the power that sin has. A lot of

it, a lot of the power of sin is in fear

and in shame. And when I come to someone

and I confess it all and they say, "I

love you so much. We're going to battle

this thing." Guess what that does? It

casts out all fear and it removes the

shame that I was so afraid of and makes

me realize I'm not alone in this.

That's actually what we see in in uh in

this next step. So the homework for

number two was take a personal

inventory. When I start to see triggers,

right? When I see the sin, when it's

really tempting to me, what's going on

inside of my heart? I take a personal

inventory of the lies and then their

counterruuth. What's the reality of the

truth that the Lord is speaking? Share

this with an ally. And then I've got to

avoid the sin. I got to run from it. And

then I got to battle it when it's time

to actually battle it. Our homework last

week was build a list of the weak points

and the boundaries that I need to set up

in my life to protect me so I'm avoiding

sin. And then I need to share those with

my ally so that I treat those as my own

personal conviction sins that I am not

going to step into. I please I encourage

you if you missed a message in this

please dive into it. Uh look back online

at uh you on YouTube. We got a lot. But

here's something that I wanted to say. I

missed this last week and I wanted to

make sure we hit on this. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10:13

10:13.

Don't you worry. The temptations in your

life are no different from what others

experience. Did you know you're not

alone?

The enemy wants to say, "Ah, you are.

You're a mess. You are alone in your

mess. You're the biggest problem there

is in there." Right? They don't know how

to deal with you. God doesn't know how

to deal with you. Right? That's that's

what's going on. He says, "The

temptations in your life are no

different. You're not alone. But God is

faithful. He will not allow temptation

to be more than what you can stand.

Isn't that like hopeful and like, "Oh,

shoot. You're telling me every single

one that I've given into, like I I I was

given a way of escape. When you're

tempted, he will show you a way out so

that you can endure." Yes.

I have no excuse for a sin in my life

that's just bigger than the God that

lives inside of me.

>> Amen.

The reality is

you have victory alive inside of you.

>> We've got to take hold of it. We got to

kill this thing. We got to hate this

thing. You don't hate your sin enough. I

promise you. But then

what we see is uh a next battle that we

see today and what we're talking about

is about is it's called starve the enemy

and feed starve the flesh feed the

spirit we got to shift our focus in uh

Mark chapter 9 verse 28. You don't have

Mark 9:28

to open this up. We're going to be in

Galatians chapter 5 if you want to open

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

up your Bibles there. But I'm going to

quick address this one. Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

Jesus, right after he gets down from the

transfiguration, Peter, James, and John,

they're having this amazing moment. He

gets down, all the other disciples are

trying to cast a demon out of this

child. And they're like, "We don't know.

We can't do it." And they're like,

"What's going on? Why?" And uh then

Jesus cast out this demon. And then

later his disciples, he comes into the

house. His disciples ask him privately,

"Hey, why could we why why weren't we

able to have the victory over that that

demonic entity that we've had before

over these other things? What's going

And he said to them, "This kind can only

come out by nothing but prayer and

fasting.

This is not just like we got to he what

he's showing them is that there's

different ways to battle spiritually,

right? There's the declare the authority

of the Lord and then there's this like

faithful prayer like a killing of the

flesh. I fast, I pray, I spend time and

with him and then that is where I

actually get the authority to be able to

conquer the next battle before me. So in

the same way

there are different ways that we battle

different strongholds or even different

strategies we use to b battle the same

stronghold. That's what I want to talk

about today. Starve the flesh, feed the

spirit.

See, Galatians chapter 5 16-18

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

uh really 16-2 is what we're going to be

going through. But this is verse first

couple verses here. It says, "But I say,

this is the Apostle Paul writing to the

church in town called Galatia, the city

of Galatia. But I say, walk by the

spirit

and you will not gratify the desires of

the flesh. For the desires of the flesh

are contrary, are against the spirit,

and the desires of the spirit are

against the flesh. For these are opposed

to each other to keep you from doing the

things you want to do. Right? Remember

that passage we talked about a couple

weeks ago. I keep doing the things I

don't want to do and I keep not doing

the things I do want to do. Right? It's

the heart of hearts. It's not the like

sinful desire like I do kind I I do want

to do sin but I don't want to do sin.

Right? You know what I'm talking about?

is this idea of like I I want to do

this. I I want to chase after the Lord

wholeheartedly and this sin in my life,

this flesh in me keeps me from doing the

things I want to do. But if you are led

by the spirit, you are not under the

law. So this is a especially verse 16,

it's an if then statement. I say if you

walk by the spirit, then you will not

gratify the desires of the flesh. Here's

the first thing I want to say in terms

of starve the flesh and feed the spirit

that we need to shift our focus.

Shift your focus. And I got an

illustration here. If we can get bring

out the illustration real quick uh to to

kind of highlight this.

It's kind of like shifting your focus is

kind of like the the old picture, you

know, of having a uh uh a a little devil

on one shoulder and a little angel on

the other. You know what I'm talking

about? Am I crazy here? Right. Th this

whole concept. Here we go. I'll take

care of that. It'll fall down a thousand

times. Thank you. Let's go. Can we give

a hand? Let's go. That's serving.

this whole idea of having this this like

there's two parts of me, my flesh and my

spirit. I got this sinful nature inside

of me. And a lot of times I think I'm

like I'm spending my time on Sunday and

I'm like, "Holy Spirit, you're so good."

And I got this spirit inside of me that

I love and that I'm investing in and I'm

spending time in worship and I'm

spending time in the word and it's like,

okay, that's good. And then Monday comes

and Tuesday comes and Wednesday and

Thursday and Friday and all the things I

got going on in my life and all the

things I'm worried about and all the

problems that I have. And then I'm get I

got this my pastor. You know what he's

doing? He's talking about sin for a

whole series. It's terrible. I can't

believe it. Why is he doing this? And so

what has it got me doing? IT'S GOT ME

GOING, AH, I GOT TO STOP looking at

those websites. I got to stop smoking

that stuff. I GOT TO STOP DRINKING THAT

STUFF. I GOT TO STOP SPENDING TIME WITH

THOSE RELATIONSHIPS. I GOT TO GET AWAY

FROM ALL THIS SIN. And I I find this is

a lot more powerful than I thought it

was. Pastor Drew, you don't understand.

Let me see if I can fix this here. You

don't understand how big and strong

the enemy in my life looks. I know you

say that God's bigger. I know you say

that he's stronger. I know you say that

he's mightier. But I got to be honest,

it doesn't feel all that inspiring.

When I go to that spiritual side of me,

it feels really weak.

And for some reason, my sin feels so

strong. this sinful nature. Why? Because

I keep focusing over here and I've got

this sin issue and I've got this sin

problem and it just gets bigger and

bigger and bigger and the more I focus

on it, the worse it gets. The thing you

resist actually will persist. You go,

"THIS IS WHY THIS FEELS SO powerful and

strong inside of my life because I'm

focused over here." In the same way, did

you know that mountain skiers, like

really good skiers, when they're going

down a mountain, they don't look at the

obstacles in them. They're like,

"There's a tree there, there's a rock

there, there's a whole like I don't know

what is going a bear over there." They

they're taught if you look at the

problem you're going to be facing,

what's going to happen as I'm skiing,

I'm going to end up saying, "Avoid that

tree. Avoid that rock. Avoid that thing.

Avoid that cliff." I'm going to end up

hitting him every single time

because I'm created, our minds were not

made to think in the negative. Instead,

I'm created to look for the path that I

see in front of me. And I say, "This is

the good thing. This is the sh this is

where I need to shift my focus away from

the enemy." And now I'm not just

spending time with him on Sunday

mornings. Now I'm spending time with him

Monday, Tuesday. And guess what? the

music. I'm changing the music I'm

listening to. I'm beginning to listen to

worship more. I'm beginning like, "Oh

man, I don't have it in me. I'm just so

mentally tired. I can't I don't know if

I can have have the mental energy to

read right now." So instead, I'm going

to listen to the word. I'm going to

listen to a sermon. I'm going to I'm

going to listen to a good like a godly

podcast. I'm going to spend some time

with the right friends. I'm going to

remember who he's created me to be. I'm

going to start to see that the things in

my life of who he's made for me are

actually who he's created me to be. And

beginning I pretty soon I'm avoiding the

sin in my life. Not because I'm

constantly fighting it, BUT NOW THIS

LOOKS A LOT STRONGER than this. Isn't

that amazing?

The whole idea is I gota I GOT TO SHIFT

MY focus away from the constant battle

with sin and with darkness and with

evil. And I've got to feed

the spirit.

This

is the reality. I'm never going to get

rid of this in my life.

As long as I'm on this earth until I get

to meet Jesus in heaven. I'm going to

have this sinful nature, this flesh,

this idea

that you're not going to just like, oh,

you know what? I conquered that sin and

it's gone. It doesn't exist anymore.

The reality is

this is always going to be present. How

strong? How much do I feed the enemy

and the flesh and the sin? How much do I

feed forgiveness and love and grace and

encouragement of other people? Right?

How much do I feed the identity of who

God has created me to be? That is what

I'm created for.

Right? It's not it I The more I focus on

my sin,

the more I'm going to be focused on my

sin,

>> right? Anybody ever done that?

>> Right? Like the whole idea of like, man,

I just really don't want to look at that

stuff. Right? I talked about this that I

would I'd sneak out of my room at night

and I knew where the family computer was

and I knew, listen, I'm not gonna I'm

not going to look at those websites. I'm

going to I'm going to battle this thing.

I'm going to say and what am I doing? Am

I praying? No, I ain't praying. Right.

I'm just I'm just going to I'm just

going to browse a couple websites. I'm

just going to Nothing major. Oh, look at

that picture. Oh, look at this. Oh, and

I find myself so overfocused on sin. And

then that's the powerful thing in my

life. And my spirit is weak

and I'm so caught in this. And so this

is this is where Galatians 5 19

continues on.

It's the idea of now the works of the

flesh are evident. Sexual immorality,

impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife,

jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,

dissensions, divisions, envy,

drunkenness, orgies, and things like

these. I warn you, as I warned you

before, that those who do such things

will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And then it says, "But the fruit of the

spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control. Against

such things, there is no law." Here's

the reality. When I look at this list of

sin and and fruits, works of the flesh,

some of these I'm like, "Oh, man.

Sorcery. I mean, I don't h I don't deal

with that. Like, that's like some of

these are just so vile, so evil, so

relatively easy to avoid, right? I'm not

sitting in my house all by myself eating

some food and all of a sudden like the

orgies, right? Like I don't look AROUND

AND GO, "WHAT'S GOING ON? WHERE'D MY

CLOTHES GO?" RIGHT? LIKE I DON'T DO

THAT. DOESN'T HAPPEN. RELATIVELY easy to

avoid. Okay. Right. This whole concept

of And then there's OTHER ONES THAT ARE

like envy. And I'm like,

"Yeah, that was probably like 3 minutes

ago." Uh, right. Like I have these other

things that are like dissensions,

rivalries, the this idea of rivalries is

like just having a a an a frustration

towards someone that I just continue to

carry in my heart. It's very much an

internal thing. In fact, half of these

sinful these works of the flesh are

actual inner sins and problems that I

have going on inside of me. Now, all of

the fruits of the spirit are things that

begin inside and overflow out of me. And

so, I've got these the the reality is

that I have to look at this as an inward

battle. And I've got to begin to number

two, not just shift my focus, but then

once I'm over here, I got to renew my

mind.

Renew your mind. Uh Romans chapter 12

Romans 12 · chapter mention

talks about this says do not conform to

the patterns of this world right do not

look at this here here's the reality

conforming it's like liquid when I pour

it into a a whatever vessel it takes on

the shape of that thing I am being

conformed whenever I am constantly

taking in the content I'm looking at

videos I am even if it's not appropriate

like all the shows I watch are secular

all the movies I watch ah Yeah, they got

some of those things. They got some of

that stuff that probably ain't good for

my soul. I'm all the music I'm listening

to, right? And I I've got this I got

this stuff inside of me where it's

causing me to conform and be shaped into

the patterns of this world.

But do not do that. Instead, be

transformed.

It's an intentional shifting

where how do you how how do I get

transformed? Right? We want to be

transformed. What does it say? How do I

get transformed? By what? Rene of your

mind,

>> renewing of your mind.

Did you know your brain was created by

God?

And the way our brain operates is

supported by scripture that's thousands

of years old. And we're finding this out

today as we're watching bra neurons in

the brain connect and begin to form

highways and passages as we learn new

things. And it's this incredibly

powerful thing. But the reality is is

that neurons are slow.

And what happens is I build these

pathways in my brain that when I'm

stressed, when I'm angry, when I'm

worried, when that person like hurt me,

when I when things trigger me and I have

these these ways that I've always

operated and I come right back to this

thing and I come right back to this sin,

this problem that I've had in my life

and I I know how to deal with it. I know

where I get my where where I get my

relief. If I know what I fall back on

and I've built these highways in my mind

that only know how to operate in one

way. Why after I get baptized? Why after

I spend time with Jesus is suddenly my

mind still doing the same thing? Because

I've only ever operated in one way. And

I've got to learn how to shift this

thing and renew my mind and begin to

build these new neurological highways in

my brain that actually when I come to

stress, I don't go to whatever the idol

is. I don't care if it's acceptable to

this world or not. I don't care if it's

doing drugs or scrolling on your phone,

right? I don't care what it is. If I

respond to stress and need and I don't

know what to do with this problem in my

life and I go to something of this world

instead of turning to Jesus, I've got a

better option that's available

>> and I'm building an idol out of

something that actually was created to

point me to my need for Christ. So, I've

got to renew my mind. Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8

says, "Now, dear brothers and sisters,

one final thing. Fix your thoughts.

Change the way you think." What do I fix

my thoughts on? I shift. I renew my

mind. I fix my thoughts on whatever is

true. I look at truth. I'm not I don't

look at lies. I'm not looking for AI.

I'm looking for what is true, right?

Whatever is honorable, whatever is

right, pure, right? Beautiful, pure

things, innocent things, whatever is

lovely, whatever is admirable. Think

about things that are excellent, right?

Think about things that are worthy of

praise. and I'll begin to shift the way

my brain actually operates.

This is how I renew my mind.

And then 1 Timothy, I love it. I I we

talked about this last week. 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11

6:11,

Paul says to his son in the faith,

Timothy, they got a powerful, beautiful

relationship. And he says, "As for you,

oh man of God,

flee these things." Remember how WE

TALKED ABOUT RUN AWAY, RIGHT? I GOTTA

RUN AWAY. But it doesn't stop there. I

don't just try to run away. You don't

get a neurological pathway in your brain

and just go stop.

It doesn't work like that. I just I just

I I you know what? I was stressed and

then I boom wasn't.

Doesn't work like that. Right. Flee

these things. Pursue

righteousness,

godliness,

faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

I shift and I begin to change the way I

think and I renew my mind. But pay

attention to that center right at the

top middle right there. That's free. No,

no, no. Go back to that. Oh man of God,

>> remember who you are. Remember

who you are.

You were not created

to be a person that s that that is

submissive to the slavery of sin.

Right? THIS IS IN FACT THIS CONCEPT

REMEMBER who you are is one OF THE

BIGGEST MOST DEFINING PARTS OF A

SUCCESSFUL accountability relationship.

If you're an ally, THIS IS YOUR JOB.

DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE? DON'T

YOU REMEMBER WHO CHRIST MADE YOU TO BE?

DON'T YOU REMEMBER HOW HE'S CALLED YOU

UP? DON'T YOU REMEMBER HE'S GOT A HIGHER

CALLING FOR YOU THAN WHAT you're living

IN RIGHT NOW? DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE

marriage that YOU COMMITTED TO? DON'T

YOU REMEMBER THE POWER AND THE BEAUTY IN

THE BEGINNING OF THAT AND WHAT YOU SAW

GOD CAPABLE OF? DON'T YOU remember that

he's got a ministry for you? Don't you

remember what he spoke to you that one

time during that one worship session

when you were just like, "Oh man, it

tears were coming down and you

remember." Don't you remember?

You,

a man of God, you, a woman of God,

remember who you are. Flee these things.

Pursue righteousness, and you will begin

to see it start to fall off. First 2

2 Corinthians 5:17

Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. The old

has passed away. The new has come." The

problem a lot of times as I'm dealing

with these sins is I've got a battle

inside of here that I'm losing at

because I believe what the world and

what my flesh says about me over what

God says about me.

You are a new creation.

You have been given victory

that this thing doesn't conquer you. You

are created

with a power inside of you greater than

you and greater than the sin. So the

question I got to ask is who's right? My

thoughts about me or God's thoughts

about me.

Right? You got to believe the word over

your own thoughts. And you got to get

into the word a little more than you're

getting into your own head. Amen.

So then last the the here's the here's

the big idea of renew your mind.

Internal renewal brings external

revival. If I want to see revival

outside of me, I've got to start in

here. I've got to start right here. And

then what happens is it begins to shift.

Uh uh what where where are we at? Hold

on. Philippians 4:8. Philippians 4:8.

Philippians 4:8 Philippians 4:8

Pull that one up. 48 and 9. We got that

one. There it is. Remember we talked

about that whatever's lovely, whatever's

excellent, whatever is praiseworthy,

that's what you think about. Then he

goes on, keep putting into practice.

Start putting this into practice.

Galatians 5:24-2,

it says, "Those who belong to Christ

have crucified the flesh with its

passions and its desires."

This is if we live by the spirit, let's

also keep in step with the spirit. It's

going to start to get really comfortable

to go, oh, this is just an internal

battle. And when I sin, it's just a

result of this thing going on. So, I'm

just going to renew this and I don't

have to fix anything outside. This is

where we get to step number three,

right? First, we got to shift my focus.

Second, renew my mind. Third, replace

your habits.

This is that neurological change. When

start things start to hit, when stress

starts to hit, I'm going to come over

here. I'm going to go, Lord, this is

bigger than me. God, I'm so afraid.

Lord, help me out. I got to change my

habits. Instead of going to whatever I

want to go to, instead of like, I'm

going to go I'm going to punch something

cuz I'm angry, right? I'm going to go

and my knees are going to hit the

ground. And I'm going to wrestle with

the Lord instead of wrestling with my

flesh, instead of wrestling with sin,

and I'm going to go to him. I'm going to

remember who I am. And I'm going to

start to build a habit where literally I

may have to find a specific place in my

house that I go to tell myself, "No, I

AM CHANGING THE WAY I'M not doing this

anymore. I am changing my habits. I'm

starting my day with him instead of

starting my day on social media and

scrolling. I'm going to spend my time.

The last thing I do is going to be

praying instead of spending time on my

phone. the thing when when I spend time

and I'm and I got issues and I got anger

and I got unforgiveness, I'm gonna I'm

gonna set in my habits right now that

I'm going to fix this before I get to

bed. And it doesn't have to restore the

relationship, but I'm changing my

habits. And then pretty soon, after a

while, my habits just start to keep this

thing staying alive on its own because

I'm keeping in step with the spirit. My

habits no longer just one Sunday, one

one day a week. Pretty soon, my habits

are strong. Their time in the word,

their time with friends, their time in

on listening to sermons and podcasts,

their time journaling, their time

encouraging someone else. Right? I got

this and now I'm just I feel so strong.

Not because I'VE HAD THIS BATTLE THAT I

FOUGHT AND I'VE CONQUERED THIS GIANT,

but I have just been faithful to see the

Lord move in my heart day after day

after day.

If we can stand up in here,

I want to get back to Galatians chapter

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

5

16-1 17.

It says here, "Walk by the spirit

and you will not, if you walk by the

spirit, you will not gratify the desires

of the flesh. For the desires of the

flesh are against the spirit, the

desires of the spirit are against the

flesh." Pretty soon,

after a while, we'll find the weight

that once held me up,

that once was my support, that kept me

going when times are hard. What do I

fall back on is just not that powerful

anymore. And I can lean on him instead.

>> The more I feed this, the weaker this

gets.

Do we see that? Do we see it can't it

can't it's not powerful enough in my

heart and in my life anymore. And so

here's what here's what I want to do. I

want to replace the habit. One of the

things I a lot of this is pulled from uh

the the book Steps by John Ortberg. It's

all about taking these same concepts in

12step groups AA things like that. And

and one of the things that we find is in

replacing habits there's a lot of people

in AA that are now runners. Why? Because

when they want to drink, they choose to

run.

Now, running is amazing.

But it can become an IDOL IN YOUR LIFE

AS WELL. SO, shifting my focus

to where it it I find a new habit that

then actually draws me closer to Christ.

And it can be running for me. When I

need like I need to wrestle with stuff

in life, when I need to process things

and I need to talk to the Lord, I go for

a run. But it's not just to go for a

run. It's not just to conquer a

challenge. It's like I need to I need to

talk to the Lord. And it's become a

spiritual habit. Exercise becomes a

spiritual habit for me where I get to

pray. I get to process and my body gets

to be busy so that my mind can focus on

the Lord. Right? This is this is where

where I want us to shift our habits.

Find find the habits in your life that

are pulling you towards sin. Replace

them. Find a keystone habit. Something

that'll that that'll kick everything

else off and begin to start your day in

the right way. Right. Right when you get

home from work, whatever it may be.

things like that that can end up getting

this steady process of just being

faithful.

So this is what I want us to do. Our

homework today is build a list of

identity prayers based on who you are in

Christ. Remember who you are. Remember

this is renewal of the mind. Share these

with your ally. Here's an example of

this. We got a uh Can we get the full

slide? There we go. This is these are

mine.

These are things that for me when I've

got when I've got flesh, when I've got

issues, when I got weakness, when I got

problems, when I got anxiety, whatever

it may be, these are the things that for

me I'm like, I these are my prayers that

I cry out to the Lord and I remember who

I am because I've lost it.

And this is this comes from, guys, this

comes from years of battling and failing

and having these problems and having

these weaknesses. And so now I go, "No,

no, no, Lord. I live from a place of

overflow. I'm so madly in love and sold

out for you that this unquenchable

passion naturally extends to those who

are around me. That's my goal. That's my

heart. When I'm not there. I'm outside

of who God's created me to be. I am

confident.

I want to be confident. When I lose

confidence, I go, MAN, WHAT'S GOING ON?

I AM CONFIDENT, BUT NOT IN my ability.

In your unlimited capacity.

I want, man. I I I got a lot of wants. I

got a lot of desires. I got a lot of

flesh. I want your will to be done, not

mine. Walking together to see the

miraculous. I'm afraid

when fear stirs up in my heart, I fear.

Can we go to the next slide? This one's

a little bit bigger. Here we go. Next

slide. Uh, there you go. I fear only

you. Caring only about what you think

about me, not what the world thinks. Do

you see how it's an identity statement

that's in the form of a prayer? That's

your goal. These are mine. They're

rooted in scripture, but they aren't

scripture. They're deeply powerful for

me. They get me focused back on who

Christ is. You can steal some of these.

I encourage you to build your own. Work

through the process of building your own

statements

so that I'm not stuck in pride, but I

actually boast and rejoice in my

weaknesses. I don't try to hide them.

Remember, because I do I do want to hide

them. I don't want to. No, no, I was

wrong. I wasn't wrong there. I was I was

right. Right? No. My imperfection

displays your glory all the more.

These are all things that I want to I

want to shape inside of my heart and

inside of my life. Build your own. Work

with your ally.

The prayers that you cry out of who you

are in Christ that are rooted in

scripture and get can build up the

spirit within you. Okay. So, here's what

I want to do. If our altar team can come

up, what I want to do is I just want to

take some time right here.

If you're in this place, and this is I I

want to encourage us to respond. If

you're going right now, I will choose to

shift my focus.

And I'm not going to be perfect at it. I

got a lot of habits that are pushing me

in the wrong direction. But I'm going to

choose to shift my focus,

renew my mind, and begin to build some

new habits, replace the old habits. And

I'm going to shift this and I'm going to

begin to feed into here. Starve my

flesh. Make this thing weak, wimpy, so

that carries no power within my heart

anymore. Feed the spirit so I can go

hallelujah.

I feel strong in my spirit because my

habits, my relationship with him, my

friends, they all s support me and build

me up in not becoming more of me, but

less of me, more of him. So, what I want

to do is I want to take time and I just

want to pray. If that's you, if you say,

"Okay, I'm ready. I'm going to battle

this thing. I'm going to shift my focus.

I want to invite you up and I want to

declare. I just want to pray over you. I

want a prayer team." If you want to come

up and it's just you and the Lord, just

sidestep these the our our prayer team,

our altar team here, okay? You can come

up. You can find a place up here and

this is your time to just Lord, would

you shift my focus? Can we get the three

points up there real quick? Would you

shift my focus? Would you help me to

renew my mind? Change the way I think

about me. And then would you help me to

replace my habits? Begin to write down

the right notes. Begin to change your

identity statements so that you can know

I am his. He is mine. I am not a child

of the enemy. I am a child of God. Come

on. If you need prayer, come on up here.

If you just want to meet with the Lord,

come on up in the middle over on the

sides. Heavenly Father, I pray as people

are responding, Lord, we are ready. We

are ready to see you move. I commit that

I will begin to shift the way I think.

I'll begin TO STARVE THE FLESH. AND IT'S

A LONG BATTLE as I kill this stuff

inside of me. as I decrease the power

that it has within me. Lord, and I

commit, I will begin. Lord, I pray every

single person here, may we find

ourselves feeding our flesh. May we find

ourselves wholeheartedly living in new

habits, in new rhythms, in new ways

where it is not just practiced. It is

actually our very heart that is involved

in this. And Father God, I pray, would

this be a day of breakthrough? Would

this be a day breakthrough? No more

focused on sin. No more focus on the on

the problems, but focus on who we've

been created to be. Lord, I pray for

accountability relationships to be built

up in a way that encourages people to

remember who they are in Christ. In the

mighty name of Jesus, I pray let there

be spiritual victory in this place over

the victory of the enemy. Lord, in Jesus

name we pray. Amen.

>> Amen. Come on. Can we give a hand for

the word of the Lord?