An Avoidance Strategy

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ No terrorists and darkness ♪ ♪ No heroes by day ♪ ♪ Could make our hearts tremble ♪ ♪ Or make our faith shake ♪ ♪ 'Cause they'll come a morning ♪ ♪ When all will be made right ♪ ♪ We will not waver ♪ ♪ We know that our savior ♪ ♪ We're all back tonight ♪ ♪ So we keep our eyes on the light that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside us ♪ ♪ Oh we stand on those that your mercs rise into fire ♪ ♪ Oh we keep our eyes on the light that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh there may be sorrow ♪ ♪ Oh there may be tears ♪ ♪ So be a good coming ♪ ♪ Oh he'll cannot reign ♪ ♪ The promise he made that he'll save us so greatly ♪ ♪ We watch and we wait ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside us ♪ ♪ Oh we stand on those that your mercs rise into fire ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside us ♪ ♪ We stand amazed at your mercy ♪

♪ Rise into fire ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh we keep our eyes on the light that's over horizer ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Come, come Lord ♪ ♪ Even so much Jesus ♪ ♪ Even so much Jesus, come ♪ ♪ Our eyes are on you, Lord, yeah ♪ ♪ Even so much Jesus ♪ ♪ Even so much Jesus, come ♪ ♪ Our eyes are on you, Lord ♪ ♪ So we keep our eyes over our eyes ♪ ♪ Over our eyes, over our eyes ♪ ♪ Oh, we will take all of our hearts ♪ ♪ And dig down inside of us ♪ ♪ Spare the waves, there's no words ♪ ♪ I'm rising too far ♪ ♪ Oh we keep our eyes on the light ♪ ♪ All our horizon ♪ ♪ Oh we keep our eyes on the light ♪ ♪ All our horizon ♪ ♪ All our living so beautiful ♪ ♪ We've been long before ♪ ♪ We've been long before ♪ ♪ We've been long before ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh, baby ♪ ♪ Oh, baby, it's so right ♪

♪ Oh, baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh, baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh, baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪

♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪

♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪

♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ It's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ ♪ Oh baby, it's so right ♪ Thank you for coming to church today. The passion I have this morning comes from some news that I received this week about yet another pastor who fell into sexual immorality, who has lost his church, and now his efforts ought to try to save his family. That bothers me greatly. And then to find out that it's been going on for years, it wasn't just a one-time thing, years. And I ask myself, and as I'm talking to you, I feel like I have sandpaper in my hands. and are called to pray without ceasing and lead people and preach righteousness and holiness, I don't know how you can do that kind of thing and continue to walk to a pulpit. It's a troubling, troubling thing to me and then I realize again it could happen to me. And it could happen to you. There was not a person under the sound of my voice that could not fall into grievous sin because we're not home yet and we're in a battle and Satan is vicious and he knows your weakness is better than you do.

And so I'm here preaching today with a sense of a godly fear that we are all under attack and nobody can take a vacation. Nobody can relax. And so I want to ask you a question. Everybody just look at me and give me your attention, please. Do you have a plan? Now the whole world runs on plans and you can say today, yeah, I got a plan, but what kind of plan are you talking about? There's a business plan, there are family plans. Everybody here today has already planned where you're going to eat or what you're going to eat today. Some of you have already made your plans for the next cruise, the next visit. Plans are just part of it, but I'm not talking about that. I'm asking you, do you have a plan, a plan to avoid sin, to avoid it? We hear lots today about exit strategy. What you're going to do when you get in it? How are you going to get out of it when you are in it? I'm not talking about an exit strategy. It's already too late then. I'm talking about a plan to avoid sin, not even to get into a sinful situation, but to be so spiritually adept and alert that you plan ahead and you see the danger ahead and you are not caught off guard. I read from God's word about a young man named Daniel, we all know that Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego were teenagers when the Babylonians came and raised the city of Jerusalem and took many of these Jews, the best Jews, the smartest Jews, to Babylonia, to serve in the king's court. They were considered the cream of the crop, the top, if you will. Daniel was a teenager. Think of what I'm about to tell you. He was a teenager. And the Bible says that the king brought them in and said, "For three years we're going to train you. You will eat from my table. You will drink my wine. You will have all of the king's delicacies." And that involved, of course, idolatry, worshiping the king's gods, etc. It involved loose living and sensual activity. Here's what the Bible says. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. This teenager was so aware that there was a God in heaven, and so aware of the dangers of sin, that he sat in his room before they came to get him to go to the first banquet, and he said, "They are not my people, and I will not." Think of it, defile, make myself dirty, compromise my convictions. I'm a Jew. There's only one true and living God, he is my God.

And this does not allow me to participate in any of these functions of this King. Everybody listen to me, everybody. This is Family First Sunday, we have lots of young people with us, their own instruments, they're in the choir, they're sitting out here, they're watching me there. I'm preaching to everybody, not just young people, I'm preaching to grandpa. You are never too old to hear this message today. You are not too young to hear this message today. You have to have such an awareness of the filth of this world and the danger of its invitations, of who you are, of God who sits in glory and looks down upon you, you have to be so aware of where you are and with whom you are interacting, you have to sit alone sometimes and you plan not to sin. You know it's coming, you know who's there, you know how they're going to act, you know they're going to try to get you to act that way, but you plan, you determine, you decide before you even get there. That's not me and I will not defile myself with the offerings of this wicked world. There was another fellow named David and David prayed to God. He said, "Lord, I can't even understand my own errors in my life. I have secret faults. I have weaknesses and I have tendencies, O Lord, and I'm praying to you, keep back your servant.

I am your servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and I will not commit great transgression." And he said after he prayed, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." He was afraid to say it. He did not want to offend a holy God. So he prayed and he put God's word in his heart. Then there was another young man. These are all young men named Joseph. Everybody knows the story. I won't go into great detail. But Joseph moved up in Potiphar's house and Joseph was handsome. And Potiphar's wife wanted him to commit adultery with her. And when the time was right and the building was empty, I've heard preacher say, "You know, he could have gotten away with this. You better hear me today. You don't ever get away with it." I'm not even talking about a God who sees you. Women talk. They can't keep secrets like that. Sir, are you fool? You better listen to me when they say it's just me and you. Just me and you. Nobody will ever know. Oh, it's just a matter of time before it hits the press. And I'm not trying to be funny about this.

Not at all. This is serious business. Oh, he could have gotten away with it. He didn't want to get away with it. And when she came and grabbed his garment and said, come lie with me, he ran away. But let me tell you what he said first. Ma'am, there's no one greater in this house except the king than I. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? You hear that? You say David, or Daniel planned not to sin. David prayed not to sin. Joseph just ran away. He said, I will not sin. What did they have in common? They loved God. They were aware of a holy God in heaven. They weren't trying to find new areas. They weren't exploring life. They weren't so... and there is a God who's watching over me, and I would rather suffer than to bring reproach against his name or hurt his holy heart." They loved God. And that's the thing we have to get back into thinking today. And young people, we've got to instill in you that there is a God in heaven. He watches everything we do. He loves us, but He does not want sin in our lives. He sent the Holy Spirit to help you. He sent His Word to inform you. He's given you a church to strengthen you. And now He's got a preacher up here warning you. God doesn't want sin in your life. Let me tell you something about sin. You can commit it, and you can confess it to God, and God will forgive it. But Satan will never let you forget it. And you will live with it the rest

of your life who heard what I just said. God's mercy and the blood of Jesus washes it all away. It's not even on your record, but Satan brings it up every time you get spiritually weak or discouraged or tragedy happens to you. He brings it up every time and reminds you of what you did. So I come today with a warning. It's a gentle warning. I may be screaming, but I'm gently warning you that you pay for sin the rest of your life in your mind, because Satan will not let you forget it. So I say to all of you today, not just young people, why I've known preachers it. I'm thinking of one now. It was almost 70 years old who threw it all away, because he was sad one day. He was lonely one day, and the right woman showed up at the right time. Oh, I feel it. Let me be careful here. Everybody look at me and listen to me very carefully. I promise you. If your marriage is on the rocks, if you are tired of each other, if the romance is gone, if the commitment is thin, I promise you. Satan has a hand-picked person waiting just around the corner to say the thing you've always wanted to hear your spouse say. Did everybody listen to me right then? I promise you. Somebody's waiting to help solve your temporary need, but it will be more than temporary pain. You'll have to live with it for the rest of your life. That's why I read in the scriptures. Guard your heart. Keep your heart with all diligence. That's what it says. With everything you have, you guard your heart, your eyes, your life. With all the energy you get up with every morning, make sure that it goes to guarding and keeping your heart from this invasive world, where when you walk out the door, it's loud vulgar music and loud vulgar people. I was in a hotel the other day. I'll tell you why later. Sandra and I were there for a conference at, I think, 6.30 in the morning. I said, "I'm going down to the lobby, third floor, and do a little reading." I left her in the room to read her Bible. I said, "I'll go down." I went down and the music was so loud, you would think it was a rock concert. I said, "I can't stay down here. There's nowhere to go because everywhere you go the devil has his stuff pounding you, attacking you. You can't get away from it." The only safety you have is to guard your heart with the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up. That's the reason that Paul said in Romans 13, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh." just like He said, "You get up and put on Jesus." Just like you get up every morning

and eat something 'cause you need strength. You get up every morning and you eat the word of God 'cause you need spiritual strength. Just like you get up every day and brush your teeth and prepare to appear in public. You get up, you wash up with the word, you dress up with Jesus and you walk out with the whole armor of God on you and you say, "No matter what the devil assails me with, "I'm ready because I've prepared myself. "I've guarded my heart and I make no provision for the flesh." (audience applauding) Don't give the flesh anything to work with. That's what he said. You know what really matters, what you hear first in the morning. First thing, did you hear me? Now some of you like Fox, first thing, and some of you like CNN, first thing. And some of you wind up some kind of music, first thing. Well, you've just set your course for the day. I will, we will not allow any music. We don't turn the television on until we've spent hours, I said hours in this book, but you're the preacher and he's she's your wife. All right, find an excuse if you want to. Lay it all on me if you want to, but you're human just like I am. I don't have the strength to do this. Without the word of God, without the spirit of God,

you don't have the strength to do it. I'm too afraid of who Lorraine Livingston is. I'm too worried about what he might do if he's not full of the Holy Ghost and fire. You ought to be afraid. That's why you ought to set your course early every morning with the word of God on your knees. Can I get a name in from somebody? Don't give the flesh anything to work with. Paul said to the Thessalonians, flee every appearance of evil. If it looks like trouble, plan to stay away from it. If she or he or they appear to be doing something ungodly that could ill affect you, run, flee things that even appear to be evil. Did you notice the word that he's using here? Flea, avoid, run, this is serious business. And then I hear Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter six. He says, everybody listening? Flea, sexual immorality, three words. Flea, run, from sexual immorality. The music industry is demonic. Sports has become demonic. There's a lot of demon activity in the music industry. And when our young girls and young men see these thuggish guys, tattered up, earrings, nose rings and everything else, there's a luster about it. So they start buying the same jeans they wear. Or wearing the same t-shirt.

And they want to get tattered up too. And when our young girls see these filthy female entertainers, almost naked, covered in tattoos, foul language, foul music lyrics. Sometimes at the light, you hear the booming of thumping of something and you hear something going on. I've been known to let the wind go down a little bit to see if I could hear what they were saying. You better run it back up. Because it's filthy. And people are sitting in their cars, vaping and smoking and doing weed and listening to that. And I won't tell you young ladies and you young men, 'cause I don't think your mama's gonna try to dress like Taylor Swift, but you might. All of that is geared to draw you into sexual immorality. Why? If Satan can get you into a sexually immoral lifestyle, he knows he can scar you for the rest of your life. Flea, sexual immorality. Biblically, no one is allowed to have any sexual contact outside of the covenant of marriage. You can justify it all you want to, but it won't be right. This book says, flea it, and if it goes past that, it is adultery, it is fornication. But listen to this, every sin that a man does is outside the body. Think of that, think of all the sins. He says it's outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality, sins against his own body.

Isn't that interesting? This is not just a teenage fleeing we're talking about here. We're talking about emotional damage, moral destruction, spiritual wounds. You see, Paul didn't say that sexual immorality was worse than any other sin. He says it has a totally different effect. You see, the Lord designed that relationship, that male, female relationship, that's the only kind there is. So that it represents Christ and his church. So when I get saved, I become one with the Lord. That's what he said right here. He that is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him. He designed marriage to show us the oneness of marriage. And so when that act takes place, nobody can really explain it. A unity takes, also takes place. And when that is separated, when it's just a fling, or when it's multiple, every time you give away some of your emotions, you give away some of your self-respect. And I could go on and on. It affects you psychologically. It affects you physiologically. It will affect you when you really do decide to settle down and get married with somebody. Because I told you before, the devil's gonna bring it up. You're gonna feel guilty. And everything that goes wrong in your marriage,

you'll say, I wonder if it's because I did that, then here's what he said. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? God lives in you. God dwells in us. Jesus said, when a man hears my words, the Father and I will come and dwell in him, and the Holy Spirit will too. And I become the dwelling place of God. I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit. How can I then defile the Holy Spirit with such horrible acts of sin? You are not your own. For you were bought at a price. What was the price? The very life of Jesus Christ. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods? Young man, young lady. Old man, old lady. You don't belong to you. You're a slave of Christ. You're a servant of the Lord. You're a child of heaven. You can't do whatever your body wants you to do. You have to kill it. Stump it. Crucify it. Mame it.

Put it on the cross every day. If anything matters, if the beauty of being the temple of the Holy Spirit matters, then you've got to learn how to crucify the flesh. Here's something else we seldom think about. In 1 John 5, John said, In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul said, flee idolatry. You see all the flee in here? The running? He said flee idolatry. What is idolatry? It's anything that gets between me and the Lord. It might be a person, it might be a goal, a habit. You name it, but if it takes more of my time than I'm able to give to the Lord, that is an idol in my life. Has anybody ever heard this preaching before? Oh my goodness, there's another one. First John even says, what's this? Stay away from greedy people. If you run with people and all they wanna do is get more money and get rich, you better run away from these people. They are killing themselves for nothing. They are ill-affecting you. Read it for yourself in 1 John. Run away from people whose goal in life is to make more money and have more things.

It calls it will affect you. I hear Peter saying something like this. Brothers and sisters, I beg you. Look at that word, I beg you as soul-journers and pilgrims on the earth abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Oh my, we all know that feeling, the war that goes on. You know, when we look too long, stay too long, talk too much, get too down, don't read enough, don't pray. And you know what I mean by the war, don't you? Should I do this? Is this right? I don't know. And suddenly there's a way, there doesn't have to be one. See if we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and if we have a plan not to sin and if we pray and if we are gutsy enough to see it and say, I don't even wanna deal with it and run, then we don't have to deal with that war in our soul. Brothers and sisters, lines have to be drawn, decisions have to be made. I hate that war in my soul. I find that when I am not walking close with Jesus, that war begins to rage. And all of a sudden I had these passing thoughts that maybe one time or maybe the Lord will understand but one time won't be the only time and the Lord doesn't understand. He expects me to present my body

as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto him, which is my reasonable service. And I cannot be conformed of this world. I must be transformed by the renewing of my mind that I can prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. (congregation applauding) Here it is. It is easier to avoid temptation than to fight it. Just don't go. Just make a decision. You know what's happening. We all know it. The other day, as I said, Sandra and I were in Atlanta, we're doing podcads. I'm sorry, podcasts for our denomination. And we were at a dinner, a hotel. No, we weren't in a hotel. We were at a restaurant. One of my, our very good friends was hosting us and he sat there and Sandra and I sat here and the waiter comes out and said, "May I get you a beverage?" I said, "I'll have unsweet tea with splinda." Sandra said, "I'll have unsweet tea." My friend said, "My usual, I want some bubbly water "with lime." And we kept talking. And when he came back with the drinks, he gave my friend a glass that looked like a liquor glass

or they have different glasses, don't they? Can't you help me with this? His didn't look so good. It looked questionable. And the waiter sat it down in front of him and he said, "Oh, excuse me, bring me another glass, please." He was saying, "My reputation is at stake." You see, this was a church convention thing. There were lots of church people there. He was saying, "I don't want to bring a reproach on the church, on the body of Christ. I won't do this. I don't want anybody to question me. And I don't want to be in a questionable situation." Many years ago, Ross Rhodes, anybody remember Ross Rhodes? He's the pastor that built this very building. He and I became friends. And we were talking one day. He said, "Laren, I get invited to a lot of social functions in Charlotte." He said, "I go to some of them." And he said, "When I get there, they're all doing their thing. They're drinking and carrying on." He said, "I order a coke, and I say, 'Bring it to me in the can.'" Because he didn't want his integrity questioned. Brothers, sisters, if you're that concerned that you're willing to compromise to fit in, you're the very one I'm preaching to this morning. Pastor, you don't understand, my business depends on my interaction with all these people. I understand that, but you don't have to act like them. And you can let them know that you don't belong. I may have been invited to the king's table, and I may have had the king's meat set in front of me. And I may have the king's wine in front of me, but I don't have to do it.

I can say, "I don't drink. I don't talk that way. I don't laugh at your nasty jokes. I'm a child of God." You say, "Now, would you do that? You better do that." Because at some point, you've got to put a difference between you and the world. And the whole problem with so many Christians today is that when they get out there, you can't tell the difference between them and the center. I'm going to close with this, maybe. Last Sunday, I was preaching. And I talked again about people who come here from nominal churches, liberal churches. Some people come here. They go to churches where they actually marry gay people, right here in this city. But they come over here, they say, "We like to hear Lorraine preach. We like to hear the choir sing. We come over and get fed, and then we go back to our church." And remember, I said, "I don't understand that." But here's what I want to say, and I want it to be understood. I have come to the conclusion. And especially when people say, "Well, I'm staying there as a witness. I'm trying to make a difference." Listen to me. I have come to the conclusion in my life that the best witness you can give is to leave. (Applause) I mean what I'm saying. Look here, I don't have a whole lot of time left on this earth. Either I'm going to die or Jesus is coming. I'm in press mode right now. I'm pressing toward the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus.

It really doesn't matter to me what everybody thinks about me. Except what Christ thinks about me. That's why I'm preaching the way I'm preaching. I'm in press mode. Stand with me, please. So what is your plan? When I leave the house in the mornings, I say to Sandra, "I'm going to the church." And that's exactly where I go. And then when I get to the church and I have whatever we do in the office, we have a good time. I'll text her and say, "I am leaving the office now, I'm on my way home." She knows where I am all the time. And there are people that would say, "No, I need my freedom." Really? You didn't hear a word I said this morning, did you? Your freedom will become your bondage. Your freedom will just be who you are. I can't be tied down. I can't have a woman ask me where I've been all the time. the time, I won't her to ask me where I've been. well done. I want to make it to heaven. I don't want to give the devil a chance. I want to live a good life for Christ. Can you say amen this morning? We pray that today as you watch Pastor Livingston's message, you will be encouraged and ready to dig deeper into a life with Jesus. To help you on this journey, Central has two resources for you. First, you can sign up to receive Central's jail and prison correspondence course through the mail by writing to Central Church, jail and prison ministry's discipleship center, 5143 Sardis Road, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28270. Second, by using Central's app and clicking on the button below, you can read a short daily devotional that will encourage you to read and pray daily as you draw closer to Jesus. Thank you for watching.