“God Won’t Forgive Me"

I have people say that over and over again. Oh, I've done too much for God to forgive me. How could he ever forgive me for what I've done? See, that's a lie from the pit of hell 'cause the devil knows God has forgiven you no matter what you've done. (audience applauding) And all we have to do is receive it and walk in and act on it and tell him, "God, thank you for forgiving me." Listen, we're in a series called Battle Ready. The title of this message is, "Just because you think it doesn't make it true." And one of the biggest battlefields in our life, if not the biggest, is not out here with other people. It's in here when our thinking. So let me ask you a question. You ready? How many thoughts have you had today? (audience laughing) I said to have quite a few people say, "Well, I don't know if I thought anything all day." (audience laughing) One, just now you made me think. Researchers say that the average person has thousands and thousands of thoughts every single day, thousands. Some of them are good. Some of them are harmless. What's for lunch? Did I lock the car?

But some of them are harmful. Some of them come in quiet, they don't knock. They just sit down in your living room like they own the place. Things like thoughts like, "You're not enough." You'll never change. God is disappointed in you. Nobody really cares. And here's the problem. Most of us never question those thoughts. We just believe them because they showed up in our own head in our own voice and that's important in your own voice. And we figure they must be true. That's what the world is teaching our kids. If you think it, that must be what you are. And it's a lie. And so we need to understand and recognize and start questioning thoughts. And just because you think something doesn't make it true. Say that with me if you would. Just because I think it doesn't make it true. The apostle Paul understood this. He knew the real fight in the life of a believer isn't always out there somewhere. A lot of times it's right up in here. Second Corinthians 10, three through five. We are human. How many I know you're human. When I lived in Roswell, that was always a question mark. (congregation laughing)

Because you know you might have been from Mars or Venus or wherever. But we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. He says false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. We have to capture our thoughts and teach them and teach our minds to obey Christ. Did you catch that? We capture their rebellious thoughts. Thoughts can rebel. And Paul says we don't just put up with them. We don't negotiate with them. We don't make them comfortable. We capture them. We take them captive and make them bow to Jesus. You know, someone said this one time that most people don't think because thinking is hard. And then when you think what's even harder than that is to rethink how many know what I'm talking about. I don't know, I haven't, I haven't, I have these thoughts and I'm gonna do this and then I get to do something else and I'm like, what was I thinking? So now I'm gonna start writing things down

because rethinking is harder than thinking but most people don't think because it's difficult. And God is asking us to think. Think about what's coming in your brain. Think about the thoughts. Think about them and when you have these thoughts it sounds like you because even when God speaks to us sometimes the thought that comes to our brain will sound like you. It won't sound like your neighbor. It won't sound like your wife or your husband or your kids, it'll sound like you. That's why we get confused and don't understand them. So what do we have to do? We have to go back to the word of God and we have to say is this from God or not from God? So point number one, your mind is the battlefield. Paul uses the word strongholds. A stronghold is a fortress. It's a place the enemy has built up and dug in that it's almost impenor to pull. And you think about it, and here's how stronghold gets built. It doesn't happen in a day. It happens one thought at a time over and over and over again. You think it once, then you think it again, then you start agreeing with it, then you start living like it's true. And before long, you've got a fortress in your mind that the enemy is running things from.

And it's hard to get out of it. How many of you know people you tell you know, they think, I'm no good, I'm not this, I'm not that. And you say, no, you got lots of gifts. You got lots of talent. You're actually a good person, they said, oh no, 'cause they built up a fortress that won't allow them to believe anything different than what's been fortified in their thinking. So it takes a strong word to break a stronghold. And you do it by chipping at it one day at a time. You've told me I'm no good, in Jesus name I cast you down. God says, I'm okay. You say I'm worthless, God says I'm worth something. We've got to learn to fight these thoughts and to capture them. And so that's why you can be saved, you can love Jesus, come to church every week and still be bound up in fear. Still be bound up in shame. Still be bound up in anger. Still be bound up in lust. Still be convinced that God loves everybody but you. And people think that all the time, I've heard it for years and years. I know God loves him, but I don't think he loves me. Well, really, he says he does. Yeah, but I don't think so. Because folks, everything you think is not true. And we have to come to a place where we recognize that.

Not because Jesus didn't set you free with these things I just said, but because somewhere along the way you started believing a lie and you never took that thought captive and it's steering the whole ship. Listen, where your thoughts go, your life eventually follows. You show me what a person thinks about all day and I'll show you where their life is headed. So this isn't just about feeling better. This is about where are you going? Where are you going? Where do you wanna go? That's why people say, you know, with sincere hearts, "I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that." And then they go home and there's thoughts come and they say, "Yeah, I'll never change." You're right, it'll never happen. God really won't do anything for me. He'll do it for them, but not for me. Those are all lies from the pit of hell. And we have to recognize them. So recognize the thought. The first thing you have to do is recognize the thought. You can't capture what you won't admit is there. And you have to understand where some of these thoughts come from. Go all the way back to the garden. Listen to this, Genesis 3-1.

The serpent, the devil, Lucifer was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God made. One day he asked the woman, did God really say that, say that you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? Did he not say that? Listen, notice the very first attack on humanity wasn't a sword, it was a thought. Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? He never said that, he said you can eat of all the trees but one. And notice it wasn't a sword, it wasn't a club, it was a thought. Did God really say? And here's the thought that comes to us, did God really mean it? Is God real? Some of you may be having thoughts, do I don't know if I believe in God today? That's the devil, that's not God. That's the enemy and then you believe it's just you. The enemy didn't show up with a pitchfork, he showed up with a suggestion. He planted a question about God's goodness and he picked it up and carried it around until she acted on it. And he still works the same way today. He doesn't need new tricks, the old ones still work well enough.

Did God really say he'd provide for you? Did God really say you're forgiven? Did God really say he never? Jesus called the devil the father of life. Think about those thoughts or those questions I just asked you. I know people say, I don't believe God can forgive me. See, that's a lie from the pit of hell. Here's how it comes. God will never forgive you. And then we would repeat it back as, I don't think God will forgive me. Then it becomes personal. And once the enemy hears was personal, he keeps doing it and we keep saying it. We'll never say, I don't know if God will forgive me. We might say that, but not in another person. We won't say, the thought comes in, God won't forgive you. And then what we repeat is, I don't believe God will forgive me. And we make it personal. And that's what the enemy wants. That's how he gets into your brain. That's why we're losing a lot of fights we should be winning. If we could ever get this and start thinking about it, meditate on it and act on it, we'd be different people. So Jesus called the devil the father of lies. That means lying is his native language. He's fluent in lying. And here's what makes it dangerous.

He's smart enough to talk you in first person. He doesn't say, you are worthless. He gets to say, I am worthless. He doesn't say, God has given up on you. He gets to say, God's probably given up on me. See, that's how we repeat it. It sounds like you, your own voice. It feels like you, but it didn't come from you and it sure didn't come from God. And that's why we have to think about what comes into our brain. How many of you have thought this? Seriously. When I get around them, I'm going to kill them. How many have thought that? Come on, be honest. It's church. Some of you didn't raise your hand, but you know you thought it. Or when I get around that person, I'm going to beat the crud out of them. Yeah, I got to pick up a rock, pick up a bat. I'm going to beat them. But how many of you said, and don't answer as we did, how many of you have thought that, but you never did it? Yeah. There's a lot of you that didn't raise your hand. (congregation laughing) It was as fast as I had to thought, I just did it. (congregation laughing)

But that's how you were. (congregation laughing) Our church is so wild. I'm glad I'm back, 'cause I missed this. We're just... (congregation applauding) Okay, let me go back to kill, 'cause most of us hadn't killed anybody. (congregation laughing) But we think it, but we don't do it, because we think that's a terrible thought. But why aren't the other thoughts terrible too? - Preach it. - I mean, we should deal with them the same way. God won't forgive you. God won't forgive me. I have people say that over and over again. Oh, I've done too much for God to forgive me. How could he ever forgive me for what I've done? See, that's a lie from the pit of hell, 'cause the devil knows God has forgiven you no matter what you've done. (congregation applauding) And all we have to do is receive it and walk in and act on it and tell him, "God, thank you for forgiving me." He gets to say, "God's probably given up on me." And again, it sounds like you. So when thoughts show up, I want you to start asking it some questions, okay?

Where did you come from? Does this line up with the word of God? That's why we have to get to the word. We have to know, does this line up with the word? People tell me all kinds of things. You know, we've been bought into a thing in our culture that family trumps commitment, family trumps loyalty, that kind of family trumps everything. Now, when I was a kid growing up, if we were committed to something where we had to do something, my parents wouldn't let me ever get out of it. Even when I cried and went like, "I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna go to practice. "Get your butt up, boy, you're going to practice." And you better have a good attitude when you get there, 'cause if you don't, I will check your attitude. But people today say, "Well, that's mean, is it?" I didn't think it was, it taught me something. Be committed. We have all kinds of things we let into our brain because of the culture, we have to start questioning them. Is that God? Is family important? Yes. Is it the most important? No. God and his family are the most important. And that's why, like when I got saved, my mom didn't want me in church.

She thought I was in a cold. My dad just freaked out, like, what the heck? Like, what's wrong with you? But I still serve the Lord, even though I love my family. And now, you know, my whole family's safe. I'm just telling you guys, you have to decide, and I wasn't a preacher, I wasn't anything. I was just a young guy that said, I need to get right with God. And I struggle with all these thoughts. I struggle with God doesn't like me forever. I know he loves me because the Bible says, but the Bible doesn't say he likes me. My wife tells me that. My wife's watching, "Hello, Cynthia." She'll say, "You know I love you, but I don't like you today." And I have to respond, "Well, I don't like me today either." So that's two of us. And I struggle with it. It was really a discouragement to me. I almost walked away from the Lord because of it. Or, I feel left out. God bless everybody, what about me? I went to see it somebody and we prayed. And from that day to this, I've never had that thought again. It was a stronghold in my brain somehow that developed, became, even when I was unsaved, it was there. And then when I got saved, it stayed there. And I had to recognize it. Finally, I got to the point, I said, "This is wrong.

"I can't, I don't like feeling like this. "So you had something good happen to you, "and I'm really excited for it." Like, "I rejoice. "God, thank you for blessing them." Then I'll walk away and say, "I wonder why you don't bless me "like that." Not that I want to take anything away from them, but that's how I felt. Then I had to realize it was a stronghold that I'd build up in my thinking that discouraged me, made me feel bad about me, like, "Why are you thinking this? "I don't know what happened in my life that it did, "but we prayed about it. "I got set free from it. "Let me tell you something. "I've never really, I've never had that thought again." It just left, like vanished because we broke down that fortress, but it's because finally, after a lot of years, I was pastoring. I finally admitted that's not right. The hardest thing for us to do is admit that something's not right in here. I'm thinking wrong. I'm thinking I deserve everything, just because I showed up, 'cause I was born. You deserve to be loved when you were born. You deserve to be cared for, and some of us weren't. So then when we get right with God, we're like, "My family's gonna be different

"and it becomes everything, "but it can't be before your walk with God." Families are important, folks, don't give me wrong. I love my family, but I love this family. I really do, I love the body of Christ. I love the family God's giving me, the friends that I've had over the years that have befriended me. And I'm not always that spiritual either with them. People think, "Well, how do you get around him? "He's gonna be sticky and stuck up "and like holier than now, and I'm less than all of that." I like to laugh and I like to have fun. Sometimes it may go too far and I'm like, "Oh, dang, I walk home and say, "God, forgive me, "but that was funny." I'm like, "So ask yourself, where did it come from? "Does this line up with the word of God? "Is this producing faith in me or fear? "Is this drawing me toward Jesus or pulling me away from him? "Because not every thought that comes through your mind "gets a vote." Some thoughts just need to be shown the door. Like, "Woo, get out." Number three, bring it to Jesus. Now, here's where a lot of people miss it. They recognize the thought and then they try to fight it in their own strength. I'm just not going to think about that anymore. How's that working for some of you?

That's like telling yourself not to think about the leftover cake in the fridge. I do, I think about it. My wife buys me these chocolate cakes. I don't know where she gets them from. Someone asked me today and I don't even know where she gets them from, but they're good chocolate cake. In fact, I told her, quit buying me those. She said, "Why?" And I said, "Because I eat them." And it's not anything fancy, it's not the fancy names, it's just chocolate cake. So what I do to try to pace myself, I'll get it and it's a pretty big piece and I'll eat a little bit of it then I'll go put it up and then the rest of the night I'm thinking, "Dang, I should just go "get some more of that cake and eat it." How many know what I'm talking about? Now I like to put my Reese Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge, I like to put Snickers bars in the fridge but then I realize they're pretty hard to eat so I gotta warm them up but they're still cold. And I think about it, last night I sat there for a long time I said, "I should go get a Snickers." And then I said, "No." I didn't do it because I thought, yeah, I'm not gonna do it, but that doesn't work real well. Now it's all you can think about is that. It consumes your thoughts. You can't white knuckle your way out of it,

either, to a renewed mind. You cannot white knuckle yourself to a renewed mind. And every one of us is called to renew our minds to get more in line with God's word than how we've lived, what we thought, the lies that we believe and have believed. Paul said we captured the thought and teach it to obey Christ. You don't just push it away, you bring it to Jesus. You drag that thought before the throne and you make it answer to him. When fear shows up, you bring it to the Lord, Lord. Here we go. And let me say this to you. You gotta learn to cast these thoughts down. Casting down vain imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the name of the word of God. We've gotta learn to understand what that thought is, is it drawing me closer away? God won't forgive you. You served him, he didn't forgive you. Oh, you served him and he never did anything for me. I've been serving, giving, whatever, going to church. And what have you done for me God? He saved your life from eternal death. But that's how the devil works. That's how the enemy works. Look at Cain and Abel. Their parents were Adam and Eve,

the ones who walked with God. And still one of them was jealous. And here's the jealousy that still happens today in our church culture. Abel honored God. He gave him the best of his flock. He gave him the best. Cain gave God the leftovers and God accepted Abel's offering but didn't accept Cain's and Cain got mad. He goes, why are you angry? If you'll do right, I'll bless yours too. Some of us wonder why God didn't do more 'cause we only give him our leftovers. And God says, I want you to know I'm first. And if you'll put me first, I'll bless you. It's not God's fault. If God really loved me, that's a thought from the enemy. Every time, I don't care what you're thinking about. If God really loved me, this wouldn't happen. That's a thought from the enemy. You have to question your thoughts. You have to deal with them and admit them. That's not from God. That doesn't line up with the word of God. Then you have to say, I cast you down. I'm not gonna think about you. I cast you down. And eventually, you'll break that and you won't even think about it anymore.

You'll be like, man, I haven't thought that way in years or months or whatever because you've learned a question what comes into your brain. So you cannot white knuckle your way to a renewed mind. You can't do it. When fear shows up, bring it to the Lord. When anger shows up, lust, worry, you bring it shows up in two in the morning, you bring it to the Lord. You know, we owe a lot of money. And when I started borrowing money to build the kingdom, that it started freaking me out. I called Pastor Willie George, who's been my pastor for over 30 years. I said, hey, man, you got a minute? Man, something's working me. And he said, what? And we borrowed five million on this and then two and a half or whatever million on the children's area. And I said, when I owed five, it didn't bother me much. It bothered me 'cause I'm thinking, I'm laughing like, they loan me five million dollars. Like, if they knew me, they wouldn't loan me a penny. But then somehow when it got to over seven, it freaked my brain out. I never in my life imagined I'd be dealing with those kind of numbers in any way. So I called him and I'm like really asking him

for counsel like, Pastor, I don't know what to do. This is bothering me, da da da. And then he got real quiet the way he does. He gets real quiet and you just kind of sit on the phone like, and the elevator music starts flying, da da da. And then he said, well, do you know what I do? See, smotherman? I said, no, why? He goes, I just don't think about it. I'm like, what? I literally said to him, is that your counsel to me? And he goes, yeah, at the time he goes, I owe 24 million. I don't think about it, I'm like, what? And he goes, because I can't pay it back anyway. If God doesn't move, it's not getting paid back. So you know how many times I've told that to my pastor, friends? Now when I think about how much money we owe, I said, nope, I'm not gonna think about that. Nope, I can't pay any of it back anyway. So why think about it? Some things you just don't think about, you stop. Stop it, stop thinking about it. Well, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. We worry about things that almost never happen. And that's what the enemy wants to do, get you distracted. ever did wrong, you bring that to the Lord, too. And when you bring condemnation to Jesus, here's what he says about it. When you bring it to Jesus, you find out what the Word says, Romans 8-1. So now there is, no, everybody say no, condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

No condemnation, no condemnation on your, you know, it's like not condemnation on your bad days only. There's none. When you belong to Christ, He never condemns you. If you don't believe in Jesus, one day you will be condemned. To hell, Hades, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now listen to this, conviction and condemnation are not the same thing. The Holy Spirit convicts and conviction always leads you toward God. It says that was, that's wrong, come back, I'll restore you. Condemnation always moves you away from God. I'm not good enough, I'm not worthy enough. I don't know why God mess with me anyway. See the enemy, he condemns. And condemnation always pushes you away from God. It says you blew it, you're done, don't ever bother praying again. So if a thought is driving you away from Jesus, you already know it, who sent it. In relationships, you start dating some of this not born again, it's not saved. Then you allow your feelings to get involved and you start to really care for them or love them. And then when it comes to, well, should I marry them or not, but I love them and I marry them even though I know the Bible says don't. Do you know how many times of the years that people have said that to me? And then what it does, it drives them away from God, they don't come back. They put that person over God and you can't have anything before the Lord. Well, God understands, no he doesn't, he told you no. Not to hurt you, but to bless you. I hate to be told no, I mean, women just have that word down, right? You want to do this, no. Can I do that, no. I think people need to learn to say yes a little bit more.

Just a little bit, just come on. I'm going to stop because I know my wife's watching. Yes, she said no, no. I could see her look at me like when you get home boy. So replace the thought with the truth, that's how you bring it to the Lord. Here's the part that changes everything. You don't just remove the lie, you replace it. And Jesus showed us the example how to do it. When he was in the wilderness and the devil came at him, Jesus didn't argue. He didn't debate. He didn't get emotional. And he just quoted the word. During that time, the devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." But Jesus told him, "No," dang. The scriptures say people do not live by bread alone. What he say, the scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Three times the devil came at him. Three times Jesus answered him with what God had already said, "It is written. It is written. It is written." If Jesus used the word to answer a lie, what makes us think we can do it with anything else or anything less? You don't be to lie with a feeling. You be to lie with the truth. And that's why Paul tells us what to feel our minds with. Some of us are just paranoid. And what's funny is you're paranoid and you're not even smoking dough. See, I see people in here that I know that you can smell it on them, and then they run

out of here so they can go to all-subs and get an all-subs burrito with taco stuff. They're sitting there telling whoever they're with. I'm hungry. Yeah, I know. You got the munchies. I get it. The only way I know that's because someone told me that's what happens. Here we go. Philippians, chapter 4. See, that thought I should have thought about it said, "Don't say it. Don't. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. One final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me. Everything you heard from me and saw me doing, then God, the God of peace will be with you. You got to practice, practice, practice, practice. Nope, I know that thought. That thought has been plaguing me my whole life. In Jesus' name, I'm not going to-- I cast you down. He said, Pastor, how many times do I have to do that? I don't know. Until you recognize one day you wake up or you have a few days or weeks and you say, and I've not had that thought again, because you've captured it. You've said what is written and you start acting on the Word

of God. Notice that Paul doesn't simply tell us what to stop thinking about. He tells us what to think about. Because taking thought's captive isn't just about rejecting what is false. It's about filling our minds with what is true. You know, when I first got saved, all I heard was, you're no good, you're no good. God really doesn't love you. I heard that so much. And I believed it. I still went to church, but I believed it, and it plagued me. In fact, I don't know how many times it's told that I'm done. I'm not doing this. I don't even know if this is real. And I don't remember having those thoughts like that until I came to Christ. And then one day I recognized, that's a lie. That's not true. The Bible doesn't say that. So I had to renew my mind to what God said. He says, Steve, you're not worthy in your own strength. You're worthy because of what I did for you. You're not valuable because you just did something great. You're valuable because I sent my son to die for you. I had to think through that. And I'm old now. I've been doing this a long time. And I still have to think.

I still have to question thoughts. It's just like people that get successful. For the longest time they're told, you'll never make it. You'll never make it, you'll never make it. And here's what's so sad is when you make it, you start having thoughts, you'll never keep it. You'll never keep it, you never keep it. And I said, those are lives. You can't leave the house empty. If you clean out the lie and don't put the truth in its place, the lie will come back and the Bible says, bring some friends. So let's practice. When the thought says you'll never get out of this, you answer with the word Philippians 4, 13. Are you ready? I'm going to give you some. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. When the thought says you're too far gone, you answer with the word. This means 2 Corinthians 5, 17. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life has gone, a new life has begun. And for some of you, the loudest lie in your head right now is loneliness. It sounds like this, God has forgotten about me. Let me give you the word Isaiah 49, 15, never can a mother forget her nursing child. Can she feel no love for the child she has born? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you. I'm on my own, Hebrews 13.5, don't love money. Be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, I will never fail you and I will never abandon you. I'll never leave you nor will I forsake you.

That's how you fight, not with willpower, with the word. The lie says one thing, God says another, and God gets the last word. My last point here, keep doing it. Now here's what I want everyone to understand. You may have to do this again tomorrow. You may have to do it again tonight. You may have to do it the next day and the next day. You may have to remind yourself of these same truths over and over and over and over and over again. And that doesn't mean you failed. That means you're in a fight. And people who are in a fight don't quit after the first round. Just think about Rocky all the time. Done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done. And how we get up, Rocky, get up. Yo, Adrian, I did it. We got all this stuff. He just kept getting up and he didn't care about it. Did he win the battle? He said, I stayed the whole 15 rounds. [BLANK_AUDIO] You may have some scars. You may have some bruises. But if you keep doing what God says, you'll win this fight. Whatever it is you fight with. Some of you are different, and we're all different. But it didn't mean you failed. That means you're in a fight. And people who are in a fight don't quit after the first round.

Paul talks about being transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's a process, too. It isn't a one-time thing. It's a daily. I have to keep training and renewing my thinking to the Word of God so I can begin to believe that and act like it. It's like cutting a new trail through the woods. The first time is hard. The old path is right there, worn down and easy. But you keep walking the new one day after day, and eventually the new trail becomes the easy one, and the old one gets grown over. So here's what I want us to do this week. Take a card, take your phone, take a piece of paper, whatever you got, and write down the one thought that has been beating you up the most. Then write down the verse that answers it. So I don't know the verse. Get on Google. Says there's a verse that deals with this, and they'll give you verses. And every time that thought shows up this week, you pull out that card and you read the truth out loud. Nope, here's what God says. Nope, here's what God says. Out loud, the enemy can plan a thought in your mind, but he has to hear the word come out of your mouth. It doesn't mean you'll never feel anxious again. It doesn't mean you'll never feel lonely again

or angry again or tempted again. But it does mean that when those feelings start convincing you of things that aren't true, you know where to turn. We turn to Jesus. I want to leave you with what Paul said to Timothy near the end of his life. Second Timothy 4, 16 and 17. The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. All of his friends, all the people said they love them, they left, and then he says to the Lord, don't let it be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I may preach the good news in its entirety. For all the Gentiles to hear, and he rescued me from certain death. Paul was in chains facing death. Every one of his friends gone. If anybody has a reason to believe the lies it was Paul, God left you, you wasted your life, it's over. But Paul didn't let his circumstances write his theology. Everyone abandoned me, but the Lord stood with me. He didn't deny what was happening. He just refused to let what was happening to determine what he believed about God. And neither should we. Whenever the lie is in your life tonight, whatever life is in your life tonight,

fear, shame, anger, lust, loneliness, your feelings are real, they're real. But your feelings are not your Lord. Your circumstances are real, but your circumstances don't get the final word, Jesus does. So here it is. Just because you think something doesn't mean it's true. Recognize the thought, bring it to the Lord, replace what is false with what God has said, and don't let what you're feeling determine what you believe about God. Jesus is Lord, even over our thoughts. Father in Jesus name, I thank you for being with us, I thank you for teaching us, I thank you for helping us. I thank you that we'll all take this, not just people, but me, myself, everybody. We'll take this and begin to act on and practice it. And it'll change everything. It will because as we get more in line with your word, your word is life to all our flesh. So Father in the powerful name of Jesus, thank you for your grace, thank you for your mercy, your mercies are new every day, we sing about that. Thank you that you never leave us, no forsake us, no matter what we've done, you're there. And once we've called upon the name of the Lord, you take that seriously. But Father, we have to renew our thinking, and it's a process, it'll take the rest of our life,

just to get our thought life in more in line with your word. And Father, that's when we'll start thriving as a Christian. We'll start doing so much better, we'll think better. We won't take things that's so hard. When people reject us, we won't get so angry. We'll deal with the thought of loneliness 'cause loneliness is a thought, it's a feeling. (dramatic music) Let us realize it's an emotion, it's a thought, it's a feeling, but it's not true. Because I know people, Father, that have lots of people around them that love them and they still feel alone. And I know people that don't have a lot of people around them and they never feel alone. Why? Because we know you'll never leave us nor forsake us. As Paul said, all of his friends abandoned him, but the Lord stood with me. When we believe in the Lord, he's always right there. Thank you, God, for always being kind and gracious to your people. We're very grateful in Jesus' name. If you're here with every headbound, you say, "Preacher, would you pray with me?" Pastor, I really need to get my life right. Here's what the enemy will say, "Oh, you're okay. Oh, don't do this. Don't do that. You know what? I don't know why they're doing this." Whatever. And you got to recognize that thought and say, "No, that's not from God. God is the voice in you that sounds like your voice saying it's time to get right. It's time to know that I'm right. It's time to ask Jesus to be Lord of my life. Because I know through this whole message the Holy Spirit's been prompting people. He's been calling you to Himself. And we can think thoughts like, "I'm not worthy enough. Why would God ever love me?" Those are thoughts from the pit of hell. You got to cast them down and say, "No, I'm going to come to Christ and God's going to help you." So if you walk with Him, walk the way. I want to pray with you. If you never ask Him, be Lord of your life. I would like to pray with you and introduce you to Jesus. This church can't save you. Nobody can save you, but the Lord Jesus. And if that's you right where you're seated in Jesus' name with no hesitation, here's another thought. What will people think? Who cares? Because people are going to think thoughts anyway, no matter what. Well, if I act like this, what will people think? Well, they already think that. And you ain't even act like that yet.

Why do we worry so much about that? All it does is steal from you. If that's you right where you're seated today and we're online, you say, "Pastor, include me in your prayer." Would you right where you're seated without any hesitation? Just lift up your hand all over this place and say, "Pray for me. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you." I'm looking around. God bless you. God bless you. I'm just looking around. You put up your hand, put it on. God bless you. It's not a time to draw back as it's trying to go forward. But pastor, you don't know everything I've done. I don't need to know. God does. God bless you and He's still calling you. He's the voice in you saying, "Get right." Ask me, Lord. God bless you. I'm going to look across the top one more time and see if there's anybody up there. God bless you. Is there anybody else? God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Here's what you got to know. God cares. I don't know how to express that. For the longest time, I didn't think He cared about me ever. But in the last few years, I've gotten to recognize more and more of His grace and mercy. I always thought if I don't do this, God will dislike me. If I don't do this, then bad things are going to happen. That's not the way it works, folks. Yes, sometimes we'll do bad things and the consequences are pretty tough. But a lot of things we do, there's not a consequence just with us and God and our walk. But I don't know why He'd ever love a person like me because He died for you. Anybody else will be close and say, "Okay, preacher." Why do you want me to lift my hand anyway? Because you're saying, "God, I want you in my life," and I don't care what anybody else thinks. I don't care how I feel right now, I want you in my life. Anybody else I'm going to look across one more time is a pastor including me in your prayer. Thank you. God bless you. Father, in the powerful name of Jesus, I thank you for all the hands that were raised in this house today. I thank you for the lives you're changing. I thank you for your help that you're always willing to help. Thank you for blessing each one in Jesus' name. If you lifted your hand, I want you to pray this prayer aloud to me right where you're seated. If you're right with God, I want you to join us in Kenyon with the support of these folks. And I say this a lot because I really mean it. Maybe you didn't lift your hand, but you know you should have. For whatever reason, let me introduce you to Jesus. And that's what I'm going to do right now. Introduce you to the only

Savior of the world. Would you pray this prayer with me aloud? Would you pray God? I choose to believe in your son Jesus. And I believe he's your only son. And that you raised him from the dead. I believe that in my heart. And now I willingly confess, with my mouth, Jesus be Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for never leaving me or for taking me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen and amen. Well, let's thank the Lord.