I'm Running on Empty // Human-ology Part. 6 // Dr. Dharius Daniels

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for not just coming on the day of Pentecost. Thank you for continuing to come and to being with us right now. We welcome you in this place, and thank you for being among us. With this offering of worship and thanksgiving, we offer it in Jesus' name, amen. Clap your hands, 1230. So incredibly honored to be in God's house today, and as we celebrate as a church family, a significant day on the Christian liturgical calendar known as Pentecost, and we celebrate the outpouring, the coming, the dispensing, the releasing of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and we're in a series here called Humanology, and I want to have a conversation about Him, the Holy Spirit. Every human needs Him, can't be fully human as God intended without Him, and I think there is a—as He has worked among us, even in this worship gathering, in ways that we don't know about, there is a specific way I want to remind some of you of and that He wants to work, and I want to introduce some of you to. As a church family, I want us to be open to the comprehensive contribution that the Holy Spirit wants to make in all of our lives, and that is not just a rebirth and a refilling, but a renewal. And so, in Matthew chapter 4, verses 10 through 11, I want to have a conversation. I want to use verses 10 and 11 as a launcher pad to leap into a conversation that I want to have relatively quickly. I actually want to lead us to a prayer. There's something I think the Holy Spirit wants to do for those of us that need it, and we all need Him, but we need Him in different ways, in different seasons, but it's my sense that there's a significant portion of us in this place and online that need this kind of work, and some of us need it immediately. The Bible says in verse 10, Jesus said to him, away from me, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. And verse 11 says, then the devil left him, and angels came and attended to him. I want to use this text to teach this topic today. I'm running on empty.

Come on 1230, let's clap our hands in anticipation of what God's going to do. I'm running on empty. There's a term that is often floated around frequently in congregations and Christian communities that have what we would call a continuationist, a charismatic, or a Pentecostal leaning or bends. That phrase, that term, although it is not explicitly stated in Scripture, it is blatantly supported by Scripture. It's a term called spiritual warfare. And this term, like, evokes a number of different emotions. Some people automatically assume extremism, hyper-emotionalism, exorcisms. And although that may be some people's response to spiritual warfare, it may be some people's interpretation of spiritual warfare, it is not the essence of spiritual warfare as we see it described in Scripture. Spiritual warfare can be summarized as the enemy's attempt to undermine God's deepest desires for your life. That's not what I want, media. Bring it down. I said, I'm off script today. Spiritual warfare can be seen or described as the enemy's attempt to undermine God's deepest desires for your life. I need you to know God who designed you has some desires for you. I'm going to say that one more time. The God who designed you, not accidentally, not haphazardly, but strategically and intentionally. We can say this with confidence because in Jeremiah 1, he tells Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. This is intelligent design. Zion scene, not just in the creation of the world, but in the creation of people. Watch what he says, I formed you. Your parents made you, but I formed you. The only thing your parents had control over is engaging in the act to conceive you.

They didn't even have control over conception. But what you turned out like, your strengths and your capabilities and your talents and your temperament and your personality, they made you, but I formed you. Therefore there are aspects of your existence that may not make sense to you now, but if you keep walking with me and growing with me and becoming who I called and created you to be, you will see that even some of the slightest details that you have been dismissing have been intentionally placed in the ecosystem of your existence by me, because I gave you some things that you're going to use later, and I hadn't told you why you're going to use them later or how you're going to use them later, but you're going to step into a season where I help you make sense out of who you actually are. God has some deep desires, and spiritual warfare, if we could just simplify it, is the enemy's multifaceted attempts to undermine whatever that desire is. He has — God has desires for you, meaning — watch this — what He wants to do in you, the kind of person He wants you to become, and desires in terms of what He wants to do through you, and that is the contribution that He wants you to make. And so spiritual warfare, simplified, isn't just exorcisms, extreme emotionalism. Spiritual warfare, simplified, can be the enemy's attempt to undermine God's deepest desires for our life. You following me? I said, you following me? Therefore, if His avenues for undermining God's deepest desires for our life are multifaceted and not singular, then I feel comfortable in making this statement that is an anchor axiom for what I'm about to share with you today, and that is — now media, let's go back — and that is spiritual warfare is not just the enemy's attempt to take us down, it is also His attempt to wear us out. In other words, one of the weapons of His warfare isn't just demons, it's depletion. Because He knows we are more prone to dysfunction and self-destructive behavior when we're depleted. So He will at times intentionally orchestrate or exploit experiences that we go through for the purpose of sapping and siphoning from us the energy we need to be who God's called us to be and to do what God has called us to do.

And I want to know, am I ever — am I talking to anyone who knows what it feels like to walk through a season where you're depleted, where you're worn down, where you're worn out, but your responsibility is so great and so significant you can't even afford to acknowledge your depletion? So since you don't have the luxury of being depleted, you have to learn how to function in the midst of depletion, because everybody is using you as an asset, and therefore you have become a liability to yourself. I'm helping everybody, but who is helping me? So the enemy doesn't just weaponize demons, the enemy weaponizes depletion. And depletion is an inevitable reality for every human. It means that no matter how prudent you are, and how prayerful you are, and how perceptive you are, you will step into seasons that place a disproportionate demand on your supply of spiritual and emotional energy. And the next thing you know, watch this, the next thing you know, you will find yourself in a season and in a situation, watch this, where you won, but you still worn down. Am I talking to anybody that knows what it feels like to say, I won, but it wore me down. I bounced back, but it wore me down. Pastor, I got the degree, but it wore me down. And I recovered from the breakup, but it wore me down. And I built back what they stole from me, but it wore me down. And I bounced back from my own missteps, but it wore me down. I'm winning, but I'm worn. Am I talking to anybody?

And so that you don't feel like this is an expression of weakness, or you don't feel like this is unique or germane to just you, I want you to take a walk with me to the gospel of Matthew, because there is another individual that is presented to us in Matthew four, who knows what it feels like to win and be worn down. Yeah, if you go with me to the gospel of Matthew, you'll see Matthew offers us some insight and some exposure into an experience that an individual had, where he won, but he was worn down. Right here in the text, Matthew four, verse number one says these words, this is the man I'm talking about, Jesus. Jesus. Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It didn't say then Jesus was led by the devil. It says then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It didn't say the devil was leading, the spirit was leading, and Jesus wasn't led to the devil. He was led to the wilderness, because that's where the devil likes to meet you at. Did you hear what I just said? I said the devil likes to meet you in the wilderness. Pastor, what do you mean he likes to meet me in the wilderness?

Well, the wilderness in the Old and in the New Testament is a metaphor for certain types of seasons we go through in our lives. That's what the wilderness can represent. Am I making sense? Yeah, you'll see the wilderness showing up in the Old Testament with Israel coming out of Egypt, and you see the wilderness showing up here in the New Testament with Jesus. And the wilderness is a metaphor for certain kinds of seasons we may go through in our life. So a wilderness season can be what's called a transition season. Because in the Old Testament, when Israel came out of Egypt, out of Egypt, they didn't immediately go into Canaan. They went into what was called the wilderness. So the wilderness represents this transitional space where you're not where you were, but you're not where you're going. Come on. Things are not as bad as they used to be, but they're not as good as they're going to be. You know you're not going back there. But you're still trying to figure out what here looks like. It's the season of conflicting emotions. Watch this. Where you are cautious and optimistic at the same time. I'm far enough out of Egypt to be glad I'm out, but I'm close enough to it

to still remember what it felt like. Am I talking to anybody that knows what it's like to be in transition? It's when God disrupts what's familiar, but doesn't fully disclose the future. So it's like, God, I'm excited and I'm also anxious. I'm glad that you showed me something, but I'm waiting on you to show me a little bit more. Season of transition, the Spirit will lead us into seasons of transition. To be tested by the devil. You missed it. The Spirit leads into wilderness. And God and Satan want to use the wilderness two different ways. You determine who get to use it. But it's Pentecostal Sunday, so I'm going to take about 13 seconds for my Pentecostal members to say this with some Pentecostal authority, he can't have it. You think I'm going to go through all of this and let the devil get what he wants out of this? You think I'm going to do all of this crying and let Satan have his way? I'm going to get something out of this. He can't have it, he can't have it, he can't have it. I'm not doing all of this crying for nothing, he can't have it. I'm not doing all of this praying for nothing, he can't have it. I'm not fighting all of these negative emotions for nothing, he can't have it. Can't have it, can't have it. I don't know all the answers, I don't know what's happening tomorrow, I just know I'm not going back to yesterday, that's all I know. He can't have it, because the enemy wants to use cynicism—wants to use transition to create cynicism. God wants to use transition to create trust.

And trust is what, is what you need when God refuses to give you an explanation. When you have an explanation, you don't need trust. Trust is what you need when you've got to trust a reason that God refuses to give you. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It represents a time of separation. It also represents a time of preparation, preparation. Somebody say preparation. When we look at this in the Old Testament, we will see that when Israel gets in the wilderness, there are books of the Bible like Deuteronomy, which is written to them, it is the retelling of the law to a generation in the wilderness in preparation for the promised land. So this is when, this is what's interesting about this in the Old Testament. God is having conversations with them, and I need my Pentecostal members, don't y'all tear this carpet up when I make this point? You can't, you can't guarantee that? Okay, alright. It is when God starts having conversations that don't match your location. You remember in Deuteronomy 8 when he says, when you get wells you didn't dig, vineyards you didn't plant, houses you didn't build, you shall remember the Lord your God? That's in Deuteronomy. He's talking to them about that when they're in the wilderness. They don't have wells. They don't have vineyards. There are no houses, but he's talking to them about how to handle what they don't even have yet before they get it, so that when they get it, they don't lose Him. And some of you may be confused, because you feel like God's either having conversations or giving you aspirations that don't match your location. And you're like, God, how do I have the audacity to want this, and I can't even do that? Why am I dreaming about this when I need to be fixing that? That's because God will have Deuteronomy-like conversations with you, because He knows He can only get you to the next level, mine first.

So He will get your mind there, and then He'll take your life. And I need all my members now to say, I'm on my way. Yeah, cause God's been having some conversations with me and he's been giving me some aspirations that don't even make sense. I am too cautious to be dreaming this big and I am too calculated to be thinking this illogical. God must be putting something in my heart because he wants to put it in my hands. It's the season of preparation. And the devil wants to meet you in that season of preparation because preparation requires delay. It requires delay. Preparation requires delay. It is you good enough here, but you're not developed enough there. So I'm gonna delay even though you better at this than somebody who are already there. But they got the grapes and they lost God. And I'm not gonna let you do that. So even though I've gifted you in ways that I did not gift them, I'm putting you on a timetable I didn't put them on because there's a certain degree of accountability and stewardship I'm expecting from you. So I'm gonna make sure that you don't get the grapes and lose the God. So we're gonna slow walk this. This desert is for your development.

And you don't see what needs to be developed yet. So I need to let you sit in the season long enough to show you Moses, you still not through with your anger issues. I gotta let you stay here long enough to unearth some stuff in you. And then when you see what it unearths, you'll understand why I say wait. Are we okay? And the spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. God wants to use the transition to develop you. The devil wants to use it to destroy you. God wants to use the time of preparation to develop you. The devil wants to use it to destroy you. But the wilderness season can also represent a season, a separation. Because in the Old Testament, everybody that went out of Egypt into the wilderness did not go into Canaan. That was separation. And the separation isn't always about evil. The separation sometimes is about appetite. Because the tension many of them were dealing with is that some people that came out of Egypt, watch this, were so glad to be out of Egypt that they were not willing to pay the price to go to Canaan. So it's not just about whether or not they're evil. It's about whether or not they have an appetite to keep progressing when your destiny requires you to do so.

Y'all got a minute? So if you read this narrative in the Old Testament, what you'll see is you'll see Moses having this unique conversation with God. When God informs Moses, he says, "'Listen, I made these people. "'I have assessed these people's appetite accurately. "'You're trying to force them to go "'where they don't want to go. "'They want to be with you, "'but they don't want to go where I'm taking you, "'and they don't know the difference. "'So they think they want to go where I'm taking you "'when actually they just want to be with you "'because you're better than Pharaoh. "'And if they knew you like I know you, "'they would actually want to be with me.'" Wow. Am I making sense? But they've developed this degree of, and I'm gonna show you this in a minute, they've developed this degree of codependence on you because you're the safest thing they felt since Pharaoh. I got Bible. How many of you have heard? the golden calf. Do you guys know why they created that golden calf? I'm going to show you why. I'm going to show you why they created the golden calf. I got Bible. Watch this. In Exodus chapter 32, look at verse 1. It says, when the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, come make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt,

we don't know what has happened to him. So Moses is on the mountain communing with God. But because he's been gone longer than what makes them comfortable. Because the only thing they've experienced is abusive leadership. Their trauma now, because the only leader they know is Pharaoh. So watch this. So are y'all okay? So the experiences they've had with authority is exploitive and abusive. So now that becomes the lens through which they see another leader's actions. So now he's actually gone so he can come back to them and give them something that they need. So he's gone to be an asset for them. But because they're interpreting his actions through the lens of exploited and abused individuals, they interpret his absence as abandonment. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? They're waiting because they've only been done wrong by Pharaoh. They can't wrap their head around somebody who actually loves them who isn't going to use them. Are y'all okay? So they create this calf because they had unconsciously become codependent on Moses. And Moses is not God. Say, let us create something that's going to comfort us because I feel like you're abandoning us. So what they really wanted was Moses, not Canaan. All right. Y'all okay? So sometimes God leads into the wilderness because he's got to orchestrate a separation, not because there's evil, but because there's appetite. Because God told Moses, I've got to raise up another generation that actually has an appetite. And Moses prays this prayer and asks God not to do so. And historically, when this is taught, we preach and teach, I think appropriately, how God honored Moses' intercession. But if you stop there, you miss the richness of the narrative. Because after God said, okay, Moses, you said, you said, you asked me to intervene and not to remove this generation, so I won't. But here's what I want you to see. They're still not going. So here's the way I'm honoring your request. I'm delaying the inevitable. They don't want it. And you think if they had more time, they would want it. And you think if they had more exposure, they would want it. And if you think that if they had more teaching, they would want it. They don't want it. And so here's what happens. Moses doesn't allow God to orchestrate the separation. And because he didn't allow God to orchestrate the separation, it led to the accumulation of agitation. So when God tells Moses to speak to the rock, he doesn't speak to it. He strikes it twice. And God's like, now that's why I tried to separate y'all. Because now your impulsive actions has undermined your influence and credibility. You did not manage and model

healthy leadership the way you need to in order to steward your influence with them. So now the same people that you missed it for are people who aren't going, and now you're going to miss it too. And the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Because the wilderness also represents the season of temptation. It's when my anxiousness with the unfamiliar prompts me to engage in activity that is unwise, unhealthy, unbiblical, but makes me feel comfortable. And the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. I took you through this Old Testament parallel because Israel in the Old Testament failed every test. They didn't manage the transition well, they didn't manage preparation well, they didn't manage separation well, and they didn't manage temptation well. Am I right about it? Jesus now goes into the wilderness, 40 days, he passed every test. He managed transition well, preparation, are y'all following me? Okay. And in verse 11, the text says something. It says, and the devil left him and angels came and attended to him. I said all that to get us here, and I'm getting ready to pray. Why would angels need to come and attend to him when the devil left? Israel failed every test in the wilderness. He passed every test in the wilderness. Why does he need angels to come and attend to him when he won? Because even when you win, winning will wear you down. And am I talking to anybody that has been through a season of transition lately? Am I talking to anybody that's been through a season of preparation lately? Am I talking to anybody that's been through a season of separation lately? Am I talking to anybody that's been through a season of temptation lately? Even when you win, it'll wear you down. Fast I won, but if you push me in a corner and ask me to be honest, I'm worn. Jesus was physically depleted, fasted 40 days.

He's emotionally exhausted. He's spiritually battle-worn, constantly resisting temptation. And the angels came and ministered to him. Watch this, because chapter 4, not the end of the story. Watch this. He hadn't even done public ministry yet. So the restoration isn't just for his formation, it's for his function, it's for his assignment. What if I told you the wilderness isn't even the work? It's what gets you ready for the work. You're just in chapter 4, you're just in chapter 4. I said, Lord, all right. So if Jesus had to be attended to because he was spiritually battle-worn and emotionally depleted and physically depleted, if he needed to be tended to, how are you carrying everything you're carrying and you don't have a 411 strategy? Here it is. I'm done. I just want to pray. Here's what I saw. What Jesus needed is what we need, because we're regularly going through seasons of transition, of preparation, separation, and temptation. But what the angels did for him, the Holy Spirit does for us. Am I making sense? So what I am pushing us toward... is expanding our understanding of the contributions that the Holy Spirit actually wants to make to his people. Because very often, the contribution of the Holy Spirit is limited to Titus 1, 5, talks about rebirth. And that is not incorrect. He does empower us to be, he does regenerate us. He does make us new creatures.

But Titus not only talks about the rebirth in terms of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Titus also talks about the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. He says the Holy Spirit not only orchestrates rebirth, he orchestrates renewal. That when I'm running on empty, which I will, because there will be seasons that place disproportionate demands on me emotionally and spiritually and physically, period. Life is not linear. There is no equal distribution of pressure throughout the year. You might have three months and everything's going amazing. And then you'll have six months and the whole body is like, wait a minute, this is six and three, not three and three. And the Holy Spirit is like a tag team wrestler standing outside the corner, watching life beat us up saying, I wish you just, I wish you just tagged me in. Because I have a renewing ministry. I refill, I refuel you with what you need. When the disproportionate demands of life sap the spiritual and the emotional energy and strength that you need to be who I'm calling you to be and do what I'm calling you to do because your assignment and your evolution requires energy. I'm gonna see if I can get some real people here. I am not at my best character wise when I don't have

so you just full of kindness when you're tired. Depletion is one of the revelations of your human limitations. And it is intended to create a degree of dependence on an inexhaustible source and supply found in God and not in you. He says, yes, you're gonna get to the end of your rope so that you know the end isn't the end. Yes, it's gonna feel like you can't carry no more. You can't. Yes, it's gonna feel like you can't do anymore. You can't. But I can. And I will renew you. And I will refill you. And I will replenish you. And I will dispense unto you the spiritual virtue that you need to carry you until the time of your next refill. And today on this Pentecost Sunday, I didn't wanna, or I didn't feel led to just talk to us about how the Spirit will distribute gifts to us, how the Spirit will empower us. I wanted to reintroduce us to the renewing ministry of the Holy Spirit, who when you feel depleted and done, I'm talking about done with a capital D-O-N-E, three exclamation points. Anybody ever been done? If you don't think you are, you're deceived

because even some of the most influential biblical characters like Jeremiah said, I'm done. Is that what he says? I'm done. But his word was within me. Like a. burning fire, shed up in my bones. And he says, I grew weary of holding it back. He's a renewer. I said, he's a renewer. I said, he's a renewer. And some of you, you're carrying, you're in a season where there are disproportionate demands. Let's not act like this is not a lot. This is a lot. And so you expect to carry all of this as a human. As a human. Without help. And he's like, I'm outside the ring. I just need you to tag me in. This requires you acknowledging, you acknowledging. I've been over-relying on my own strength. The things that people have been bragging to me about, about me, has actually become, watch this, a liability to me because I've started believing what they've been affirming. When some of the stuff they've been affirming is something God wanted me to adjust. They've been talking about how much I carry and I assume I'm supposed to carry this.

And God's like, I told you to cast. I told you to cast. People say, you're so strong and God's like, I never intended for you to be. I told you to be strong in the Lord. Hi-ya-ya-ya-ya. And in the power of his might. I tell you to put all of that on you. Amen. And the Holy Spirit wants to renew. This a lot. Some of you in the season, you're trying to make life decisions. This a lot. And you're depleted. And it's got you showing up in ways you're gonna regret. Amen. Oh gosh, I wish I had to. You're gonna look back on this season. There's a day coming. You're gonna wish you'd managed this time differently. I know we don't talk like this in church anymore, but there's a day coming where you're gonna wish you squeezed everything out of these moments that you could. Amen. You can't keep trying to do this by yourself. Jesus spent three years discipling and teaching his mentees, three years. And three years, after three years with him, he said, still, don't you do a thing

until you get power from on high. Because you're gonna have three years worth of notes that you will not be able to put into practice because I'm giving you my person to redeem you. I'm giving you my principles to give you revelation, but you're gonna need the comforter, the paraclete. You're gonna need the Holy Spirit to actually put into practice what I am sharing with you. You need him. And so he saved you. He's filled you. But are you allowing him to regularly renew you? Lord, I acknowledge I'm not God. I'm tired of being the strong friend. And I ask regularly for you to renew me. What if your daily bread, see, some of you, you're not in a season where your daily bread is bread. You have food. So what is your daily bread? It's what you lack in the season you're in. So for some of you, you're in a season where your daily bread is, Lord, I need strength every day. I'm done. Acknowledge, ask, and accept. I really need to do a series on spiritual warfare without talking about any demon casting out because that's not 99% of people's problems. And I know some of us in Pentecostal circles like everything's a demon.

No, some of this is wounds that God, that the enemy has orchestrated in a season of your life. And those wounds, watch this, those wounds. have shown up not in the form of pain, but they've shown up in the form of personality traits. And you've carried those personality traits so long, you've now attached them to your identity. And you don't even know his work is embedded in a personality he's created for you that you've accepted as your own. So he don't have to keep whooping you, you whoop yourself. And so some of us have dealt with such a little bit of support and such a little help. Not only do you know how to receive, not only do you struggle to receive it from humans, you don't know how to receive it from God. So a childlike helpless dependency is something you can't even relate to because sociologically in your background, you never had a chance to be one. Amen. So when the Bible says, enter the kingdom like a child, you can't relate because you didn't get to be one. But for some of you who raised children, you know. You know what it means to watch somebody want to do something for themselves and can't, and you're longing to help them. The Holy Spirit is longing to help you. So on this Pentecost Sunday, I'm gonna pray.

No dancing today. We're walking different. Because some of you are tired. And you're not tired with the kind of fatigue that a nap can fix. You need the renewing ministry of the Holy Spirit. Look at Pastor, you did it. You won. You survived, you recovered, you built it. You did good. But it's wearing on you. You won, but you're worn. But he's got to renew you because you're still just in chapter four. It's work to do. You said, you won't make sweeping statements like, you need to stop being so hyper-independent. She had to raise her mom. I said it right. Why are you so independent? She raised her mom. Her mom didn't raise her. She had to be the adult when she was a child. If she wasn't independent, she wouldn't survive. Now you've got to give the Holy Spirit time to re-parent her and to show her how to actually be a daughter of God because she didn't get to be a daughter of her mama. Let me stop, y'all ready to go. Father, I lift up your people. Exhaustion, depletion, disappointment,

discouragement, fatigue. You said, if we wait on you, you would renew our strength. So Holy Spirit, would you do that? Would you do for us what the angels did for Jesus? I lift every person up to you now. I do this in Jesus' name. Strength for today, strength for tomorrow, strength for the days and the weeks to come. Strength to endure the sickness, strength to care for the parent, strength to build the thing you've called them to build, strength to repair what's broken, strength to make the change, strength to resist and fight the temptation. Holy Spirit, raise her up. new and restore. Do it today. Do it tomorrow. In Jesus name. Amen. See you next week.