- 5 months ago
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00:00their truth but there is a standard an objective standard that has to be the guideline for our
00:07lives and here's the thing y'all you can be in church every sunday and still not be a person
00:14who is girded in truth you can be in bible study every tuesday and wednesday but but never be a
00:20person that is girded in truth you can have been at all let's see about 14 hours of revival we've
00:26had over the past few days and have celebrated all the messages and all that good singing and
00:31still not be somebody who is girded in truth still be somebody that the enemy can just run roughshod
00:37over your life because you have not made a choice and here's what it means to be girded in truth
00:42to make sure that god's standard is the compass for your life that no matter what politics says
00:49and no matter what is politically correct or not no matter what the other ideals and values and
00:55morals are that everybody else in your office or in your university has you have decided like
00:59joshua as for me and my house what we gonna do is we gonna serve the lord we're gonna follow god
01:07when you make that choice which is only a choice you know whether or not you have made in your heart
01:13and your mind it does not matter how i feel it doesn't matter what sounds rational to me it doesn't
01:18matter what my friends think it doesn't matter i'm going to always ask my god what is your opinion
01:24and then i'm going to align my behavior to that opinion that means you're girded in truth
01:29y'all let me tell you why this is critical and that that is the first uh the first um stop for the
01:37enemy in your life because his mo the enemy's mo is deception that's his mo okay
01:48and here's the tragedy and the hard thing about deception y'all embedded embedded within deception
01:57is a blinding agent so that the person being deceived doesn't know it see that's what's so hard
02:05about deception you're on the edge of the cliff but you don't know you're on the edge of the cliff
02:10you think you can take another step now the people around you they can tell you're on the edge
02:16they can tell you're about to fall off the bridge they can tell that relationship is no good for you
02:21they can tell that's not the job you're supposed to take they can tell you don't need to live on that
02:26side of town in that house they can tell the contract you're about to sign has some fine print
02:31that you have not quite read yet everybody else can see it clearly except the one being deceived
02:37oh y'all the enemy is a master illusionist he causes you to think things are there that are not
02:49he causes you to hear things that are not as they really are he causes your perceptions to be
02:55misaligned so that they are skewed just enough to take you off to the left or to the right of what is
03:00God's will and his standard for you he is counting on you trusting in your own feelings leaning to your
03:07own understanding because then he knows he can take you on a ride but for a person that is girded
03:12in truth that always checks back with the compass of God's word he knows he's been blocked before
03:18he's even really begun
03:19so there's this movie named uh called inception do you remember that from several years ago
03:29leo dicaprio is the star in inception i will tell you that i have not seen that movie
03:35because when i go to the movies i want to see something that requires no brain capability at
03:40all that's the kind of movies i like anybody know what i'm talking about i want some hot salty buttery
03:45popcorn i want a good coke and a smile i want to enjoy myself and relax i ain't trying to think and
03:51have to figure stuff out so dad told me about about inception he said for sale leo dicaprio's character
03:59uh is in reality but often when he's asleep he'll have a dream that takes him to an altered state of
04:05reality he's in a dream but everything is so real in his dream that he thinks he's in reality he has
04:13no way of knowing whether or not where he is is real or if it's a dream he said so if that's not
04:19confusing enough sometimes he's in a dream and has another level of dreaming so now he's not just in a
04:25dream he's in a dream that is within a dream that was within his reality but in the dream everything
04:30looks like it's real so he's making choices and decisions as if he's in the real world when
04:36actuality he's not in the real world so those choices are getting him in trouble he said but
04:40priscilla if that's not confusing enough sometimes when he's in that second layer of dreaming he has
04:44another dream so now he's three layers deep in dreaming and he cannot tell what is real and what
04:50it is not and he's trusted in his own understanding he has trusted what he can see and what he can hear
04:55and what he can feel and it has gotten him into trouble i just wonder if anybody's feelings have
04:59ever gotten them into some trouble
05:00i mean you thought it was real when you said yes but it ended up being being not what you thought it
05:08was but it felt good to you and your feelings said go and your feelings said yes your understanding
05:14your perceptions to you made you think you were in walking in the truth when actuality there was
05:20fine print on that contract you signed and you didn't know it until it was too late
05:23so leo's character has this spinning top he takes it with him wherever he goes and he spins the top on
05:35a tabletop and he watches it if it spins and endlessly and never responds to gravity it never
05:42slows it never topple over topples over he knows he's in a dream because he can't do that in real
05:48life he knows if he spins it and it ends up falling okay i'm home i'm in the real world what he does not do
05:56is trust in his own perceptions he has something outside of himself that he can look to to determine
06:04whether or not where he is is real or not who the enemy hopes that you will not have an objective
06:10standard something that you go to and say wait a minute this looks like a good opportunity this
06:15looks like a good relationship this looks like where i should go and what i should do and how i
06:19should be feeling but before i make a decision as to whether this is a dream or reality i'm going to
06:25pass it through the objective standard of god's word
06:28that's how you gird yourself in truth you make a choice not just to be in church on sunday i hope
06:39you are not just to be in bible study on wednesday i hope you are not just to be at the new year's
06:43revival i hope you will be next year but i'm so praying that in your life on monday through friday
06:48you've made a decision that has for me in my house this is the compass
06:55paul says
07:02after you gird yourself with truth verse 14 he says you need a breastplate
07:09and your breastplate is called righteousness
07:14jerry and i live with um live in a fairly rural part of dallas fort worth we like it that way kind
07:23of out in the country it's close enough to the city 10 15 minutes we can get to everything we need
07:28really easily the barnes and noble and the starbucks and the super target and all that stuff it's
07:32it's all right there but we feel like we're worlds away we just kind of drive back on this little
07:37two-lane road we live on a little quiet two-lane road and somebody got horses over there and there's
07:43some cows over there and i have a neighbor across the street who is one of my closest friends and
07:48she has a pond on her property i think the last time i was here i told you guys that i like to
07:53go fishing with my boys on this pond we have a couple of fishing poles that we bought on sale at
08:00the local super walmart have a tackle box i also found on sale one day there's some extra hooks in
08:06there because we always seem to need extra hooks and we have extra bobber things because we always
08:10lose those little bobbers and we need more i also have gloves in that box because y'all know i don't
08:14mind going fishing but i ain't finna touch no fish so we take all of that i send one of the boys over to
08:21the refrigerator to get whatever leftover hot dog meat there is from the week that's our bait
08:26and we go and we stand on the edge of the shore most of the time of the pond and we put the line in
08:32and fish but beside us on the pond my neighbors also have a little rowboat it's a metal old boat
08:41they found on craigslist no big deal it's just a shell really you could just sit inside and push out
08:46when you want to and fish from the middle of the pond every now and then when i'm feeling particularly
08:51adventurous that is what we will do i will see that boat there and i'll say boys let's get in the
08:55boat today and go fish in the middle of the pond the boat is always turned upside down
09:00the owners leave it that way and it makes sense because if there is water that had collected
09:05during the last time it was out it needs to be drained and also if they left it upright and it
09:09rained it would just fill up so it makes sense they leave it up ended that poses a problem for me
09:16because in order to get in it i've got to turn it over
09:19i know that since the environment created underneath that upturned boat is damp and moist and cool and
09:30shady i know that when i turn it over they're on the edge of a pond something is either going to hop
09:37out from underneath it something's going to waddle out from underneath it or worst of all something's gonna
09:44y'all know so i scoot to the very very back of the boat i let the boys get the sides i stand
09:53way back on the edge of the boat we flip it over and inevitably something comes out from underneath the boat
09:59i am always amazed that i have never once had to send out a clarion call into the brush nearby
10:07to tell the critters we have arrived and that they are welcome to join us
10:10i have never had to write out an invitation a golden sealed invitation and send it into the
10:16woods so that they know that they can come and join us on our fishing trip i've never had to do it
10:20all that has to happen is the environment has to be created and the environment is invitation enough
10:28righteousness is right side up living
10:36that invites the favor and the peace and the presence of god
10:40unrighteousness is upside down behavior that creates an environment that invites demonic activity
10:48into your life
10:49listen you don't have to invite satan into your mind and your heart and your marriage
10:58you don't have to send a clarion call or a golden sealed invitation to the demons to come and make
11:04themselves at home you just have to choose unholiness you have to decide that you are not
11:09going to align your behavior with the truth of god when you walk in unrighteousness you have created an
11:15environment that not only invites the demons but tells them to stay and make themselves at home
11:21which means
11:24y'all this means we can be praying and rebuking the devil and casting out demons and all that from one
11:33side of our mouth but if in the other side of our life we are living in unholiness we have wasted our
11:38time in prayer
11:48righteousness is your breastplate when you make a choice in your attitudes and your actions to just
11:56live in a way that honors god not to gain his approval you already have that
12:00it's because you want to invite his favor and because you don't want to make a place for the
12:06demons to fester in your life
12:08so righteousness becomes a breastplate
12:14the
12:16roman soldier
12:17no matter how strong he was
12:20no matter how much
12:21um
12:21training he'd had no matter how smart and wise he was regarding the tactics
12:26uh that they had planned against the enemy no matter any of that
12:29one blow
12:31to the heart
12:32and he'd be taken out
12:34didn't matter how smart he was how well trained he was
12:37didn't matter how many classes he'd been to on being a soldier none of that matter
12:40one blow to the heart
12:41and he'd be out
12:43what the physical heart is to the physical body
12:48y'all with me
12:48the spiritual heart is to your spiritual body
12:52your spiritual life
12:53all of the vitality that you need to function victoriously in your spiritual life is connected to your heart
13:00which is why the writer of the proverbs said in proverbs 4 23
13:03guard your heart
13:05for from it flows the well springs of your life
13:09i have often always wondered what in the world does the proverb writer mean guard your heart
13:14how do i do that
13:16the apostle paul comes along in ephesians and he tells you how
13:19he says you live right you turn that boat over you live in a way that aligns with the truth of god
13:24and you have put a breastplate over your heart so that the enemy
13:28does not have access to a full frontal attack in your life
13:32listen this is 12 o'clock service so i have a few more minutes y'all all right
13:38listen
13:38hang with me hang with me listen
13:45your heart is the centerpiece of your soul
13:50it's the center it's the hub of your soul
13:52listen
13:52your soul you know this in this bible teaching church
13:55i know your pastor has taught you this we were just talking about it last night
13:58your soul is comprised of
14:01your mind
14:02how you think
14:03your will
14:04what you've purposed to do
14:05your emotions
14:07how you feel
14:08and also
14:09your conscience
14:11your conscience is that thing
14:13when your mama told you growing up if you get somewhere with your friends
14:15and you just don't feel good about being there
14:18you don't have to be able to explain it
14:20it's just something in you goes
14:21my mama would say girl
14:24you don't have to explain it just call me i'll come get you from wherever you are
14:27she was saying you have a conscience
14:29right
14:30your conscience is not the voice of god
14:33your conscience though
14:35is the microphone
14:36that the holy spirit uses to help you hear the voice of god
14:42okay
14:44which is why
14:47if i were your enemy
14:49more than anything i would be after your heart
14:53because if i get your heart
14:55that means i have already crippled your ability to think clearly
14:59i have already tampered with your ability to function in emotional health
15:04i have already stripped from you
15:05the opportunity to walk in the will and the purposes of god
15:08and more importantly i have short circuited the wires that allow the holy spirit
15:13to be able to speak to you clearly so that you can hear the voice of god
15:18so now
15:19not only can you not think clearly and not only do you not have emotional health
15:23you also can't even hear a word from the mouth of god
15:26so now you're in your quiet time
15:28and you're sitting there trying to read
15:30you're wondering if god ever has anything to say to you
15:32but all it is to you is ink on a page
15:34that's because the enemy has short circuited the wires
15:38so now you can't hear god
15:43oh the enemy don't want you hearing god
15:46he wants your spiritual ear to be so dull
15:49that you can't hear when god says go
15:51that you can't hear him when god prompts you to say
15:54to forgive that person or to give that gift
15:56or to offer yourself or to stop doing something
15:59to separate yourself
16:00he wants it so that we can't hear god
16:02so he poses a full frontal attack against your heart
16:06because when he's got your heart
16:08he's got everything else connected to it
16:09so paul says
16:13you want to align of defense against the enemy
16:17you gird yourself with truth
16:19but then
16:19if you do affirm the truth of god
16:22that's girding yourself with truth
16:24affirming the truth of god
16:25the breastplate then is
16:27aligning your behavior to the truth that you say you affirm
16:32it's straight up
16:35old school
16:37holiness
16:38that's what it is
16:40that's what old preachers used to say y'all
16:43they just talked about being holy
16:44just living right
16:45just making choices that honor god
16:48the armor
16:51y'all it was heavy
16:5370 pounds about
16:55can you imagine trying to be nimble and quick
16:59in warfare
17:01and you got 70 extra pounds on you
17:03that was a lot of weight
17:04most of the weight that they carried
17:07was in that breastplate
17:09all of that weight on their shoulders
17:12dragging them down
17:14not allowing them to be as nimble and quick
17:17and effective as they needed to be
17:18tired before they've even really begun
17:21the weight of the breastplate
17:24the good thing about the belt is not only did it stabilize their core
17:28but it also helped to take some of the weight of the breastplate off their shoulders
17:33it bore the weight so that they didn't have to carry it on their own
17:38the truth took some of the weight of righteousness off of their own shoulders
17:43listen if you're trying to be righteous in your own state in your own power and in your own strength
17:51that thing is going to weigh you down so that you cannot function on a daily basis
17:56the enemy will even use righteousness on your own shoulders
17:59to cripple you with perfectionism so that you're trying to be the perfect one
18:05he doesn't want you to remember that the perfect one has already come
18:09we don't need another perfect one
18:11but listen y'all
18:16the truth of our great God
18:18takes that weight off of your shoulders
18:21and the truth is that when you place faith in Jesus Christ
18:24you already are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
18:27that the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you
18:31and he's doing the work of righteousness in you
18:34did you realize that?
18:372 Thessalonians 2.13 says
18:39he is sanctifying you
18:41that means he's molding you into the image of Jesus Christ
18:44so that you can think like Jesus and talk like Jesus and walk like Jesus
18:47that means you don't have to do the work yourself
18:50you just have to cooperate with him
18:52because he's doing it for you
18:54so as you cooperate with him
18:59it takes the weight off
19:00so that you can be free
19:04perfectionism is too heavy a weight to bear
19:11Paul says you need a breastplate called righteousness
19:14and he says shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace
19:20he says you need peace
19:23and they're like shoes for your feet
19:26the Roman soldier's shoes
19:28had many distinguishing characteristics
19:30but most notably
19:31there were prongs
19:32steel prongs
19:34at the bottom of the boots
19:35so that if they were on slick terrain
19:38or rocky ground
19:39and they were trying to endure over a long march
19:42they had something they could dig into the ground
19:45so that they would not be able to slip
19:47and be able to fall
19:49and trip easily
19:50they were able to dig themselves in
19:52and stand up
19:53no matter what kind of terrain
19:55they were traversing
19:56in this world
19:58Jesus said you will have trouble
20:00you don't have to go looking for trouble
20:02just keep living
20:03trouble's gonna come
20:04and it's gonna find you
20:05and on slick and rocky terrain like that
20:08unless you have an anchor that holds you steady
20:11you will be so easily felled over
20:14and pushed down
20:15and tripped up
20:16the enemy wants you without peace
20:17but it's the gospel
20:19Paul says
20:20that gives you an anchor in your soul
20:21in September
20:28my grandmother
20:29on my mother's side
20:30went home to be with Jesus
20:31we
20:33knew it was going to happen
20:35she was very very healthy
20:37and then she had a little
20:38minor stroke
20:39that just started a very quick decline
20:41the nurses let us know
20:42that was what was going to happen
20:43she was
20:4397 years old
20:45had lived a beautiful
20:47healthy
20:47life
20:49the day before it happened
20:50she had been holding her great grandkids
20:53and playing with them
20:54healthy woman
20:55so we were shocked when it happened
20:57I found out on a text message
20:58while sitting on an airplane
20:59just about to take off to St. Louis
21:01the kind agents let me get off the plane
21:04so that I could rush to my grandmother's house
21:06and I went there
21:07I walked in
21:08and when I saw her
21:09I realized everything had changed
21:12she couldn't smile at me anymore
21:15she had the day before
21:16her eyes could not really find me
21:19I had to bring my head to her
21:21my face to her so she could see me
21:23she couldn't speak
21:25what a difference a day makes
21:30so we put her in her bed
21:33and for the next four days
21:35her children
21:37eight of them
21:38her grandchildren
21:39no telling how many of us
21:41her great-grandchildren
21:42no telling how many
21:44crowded into this little
21:45three-bedroom
21:46two-bath house
21:47we snuggled up with her
21:49we had slumber parties
21:50we were all in our pajamas
21:51sleeping on the floor
21:52singing to her
21:53talking to her
21:54and I watched her
21:56as she could barely make any sounds
21:58but I watched her
21:59smile just a bit
22:00just curl up one side of her mouth
22:02let us know
22:03that she knew we were there
22:04she
22:06we lifted up
22:07great-grandchildren's hands
22:09little newborns
22:10so that they could touch her cheek
22:11and she could feel it
22:12and I watched my grandmama
22:15for four days
22:17I watched my grandmother slip away
22:19and as I watched her
22:21and just sat in the pool
22:23of my people
22:24my people
22:24all around me
22:25for four days
22:26and the grandkids
22:27when they get restless
22:28the great-grandkids
22:29they were out in her backyard
22:30and of all the games
22:31they decided to play
22:32y'all
22:33they played lots of things
22:33tag and stuff
22:34but they spent a lot of time
22:35playing church
22:36they appointed a pastor
22:39they appointed a praise and worship leader
22:41so while their great-grandmother
22:45was on her way to meet Jesus
22:47the great-grandchildren
22:49were outside
22:50celebrating Jesus
22:51and I watched her cheek curl up
23:02even knowing she was on her deathbed
23:06I watched the side of her cheek curl up
23:09and the knowledge that
23:11even though things aren't so great right now
23:14there is a peace in my soul
23:16a peace that has enabled me
23:20to live so well
23:21through trials and tribulations
23:23over the past nine decades
23:25that I've been able to sow good fruit
23:27into my children
23:28and grandchildren
23:29and great-grandchildren
23:30so much so
23:31that now they're all surrounding me
23:33and my great-grandchildren
23:34are singing the praises of God
23:36in my hearing
23:37so that I can hear them
23:38and I know I'm on my way to meet Him
23:40but this is good
23:41this is good
23:41and when I watched that y'all
23:46when I watched that
23:47I said to myself
23:48now that's peace right there
23:49and I said Lord
23:56would you give me a peace like that
23:57a peace that the world can't take away
24:00a peace that death can't take away
24:03a peace so that when I'm on my dying bed
24:06even if I can no longer talk
24:08there is a smile that can curl itself
24:10onto my lips
24:11in the knowledge
24:13that I've got an anchor in my soul
24:15that makes all of this okay
24:17the Holy Spirit would offer anybody
24:26in this room today
24:27peace
24:28I'm saying to the person
24:31that has not slept well
24:33in as long as you can remember
24:34to the person whose mind
24:37is so tormented
24:38whose heart is so broken
24:40there is an anchor
24:42that can keep you smiling
24:45even when things are bad
24:47if there is anybody in this room
24:58and you don't have a peace like that
25:01if there's anybody in this room
25:04you do not know what it is
25:05to go through stuff
25:06but still be able to give even
25:08the hints of a smirk
25:10because you know God's got this
25:11if the enemy has been running
25:14roughshod over you
25:15and you want victory
25:17and freedom once and for all
25:19I cannot wait to invite you
25:21to come to Jesus
25:22and so if that's you
25:23under the sound of my voice
25:25and you want to meet Jesus today
25:27and have the opportunity
25:28to walk in freedom
25:30and walk in victory
25:31this is your day
25:32would you please not walk
25:34run down to this altar
25:36so that together
25:37we can pray
25:38for salvation
25:40in the name of Jesus
25:41anybody
25:42come on
25:42you can have peace
25:46like a river today
25:47anybody need to place
25:52faith in Jesus today
25:53this is your day
25:54this is your opportunity
25:56come on
25:59I know there's someone
26:00who needs to
26:00even if it's just one
26:01we will wait for you
26:03yes sir
26:05come on
26:05come on
26:09the enemy doesn't have
26:11a chance
26:12you've made a choice
26:15for Jesus
26:16yes sir
26:23a couple coming
26:24good
26:24come on
26:25even from the balcony
26:27y'all
26:27come on
26:27if you need to meet Jesus
26:29anybody in the balcony
26:36we'll wait for you
26:37just come on down
26:38come on sis
26:42come on y'all
26:51come on sis
26:55I see you
26:55come on
26:56it's a good day
26:58for freedom
26:58it's a good day
27:00for victory
27:00there's so much power
27:04in Jesus name
27:05anybody else
27:14anybody else
27:28up
27:29who's
28:17Just look at the person next to you and say, do you need to go? I'll go with you. Just ask them. Do you have peace? Do you need it? I will go with you if you need me to go with you. Tell them you'll come.
28:47Hallelujah. Roll it to Jesus.
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