Mighty Warrior

Woo, woo, look at you all. You all are a beautiful group. How many of you all are digging the rain? No. Is it better than the snow and ice? Really? Can't do a whole lot in the rain except get wet. You can play in the snow. True story. All right, guys, welcome. If this is your very first time, my name is Kat Dees, and I'm a grateful believer in Jesus Christ. Hey, guys. And I celebrate recovery from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and I still struggle. Sometimes I struggle with anger. Who's seen me mad before? Really? Like they're reaching for the roof. Really, y'all? No, over there. It's okay. All right, well, you know what that tells me? That's what I call accountability, and I probably need to work on it. I love y'all, and I love your transparency and honesty. Right, right, right, right. All right, so really quick, I want to welcome our online community. You guys hear me every week say we are streaming

into 743 prisons, y'all, and so we are so glad. Actually, can I share a quick praise report? We had our Culver's fundraiser last night for our 5K. How many of y'all were there and got yourself a burger and some desserts? Yeah, it was awesome. And so randomly, and I don't know if he's in here, a dude walks up to me and he's like, hey, I recognize you from the tablet. And I'm like, oh, really? And I'm thinking, you know, because we also stream in the five local jails, right? Blunt, Monroe, Loudon, and Two and Severe. And he said, no, no, the tablet's in Florida. He was in one of our prisons, and he is now in one of our local programs. Y'all, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Now that made me smile, so I'm very excited for him. I'm excited for us because you know what? It's because of you all that we get to do that, right? It's because of you all. So with all that being said, if it is your very first time, we are a 12-step faith-based program, right? So we only have one higher power, and that is who? Jesus. That's right. That's what I'm talking about. And so we absolutely do respect your confidentiality and anonymity.

And so what that means is we'll have some beautiful folks walking around maybe trying to capture a moment because you know what? We always want to share outside of these four walls what's going on. You all are the living proof that recovery is possible. Amen? Amen. So if for some reason you don't want your picture took, we respect that. Just let us know, and we'll delete the picture. Okay? All right. I'm going to take the silence as an amen. Yes. Okay. So really quick, we're going to have we're going to open in prayer in just a couple minutes, and we're going to have some amazing worship. And then I'm always excited. Our speaker tonight is David Morgan, and he always brings it. Yes. So, and I don't think he would mind me sharing this, but he was a pastor for like what? Over 30 years? Right? As well as he has his own recovery story, and I love that he's willing to share that with us. So I'm always excited when he's here.

So with that being said, is everyone willing to rise? All right. So we start with, no, it's not on there yet, y'all. What are you doing? Whose father? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For that is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen, amen. Y'all are welcome to have a seat for 2.5 seconds. All right. So if you're new, you notice we're under construction. I just want to remind everybody, we do not have access to the lobby, y'all. The fire marshal came in and said, no way, Jose. And so because of all the stuff that hangs from the ceiling, so I'm going to ask y'all, please, if you need to access anything in the building, you want to use the horseshoe around, right? Now, I will say this. If you need to go to the ladies' room, through those double doors, you can still access the ladies' room. Just don't go beyond the stanchions. As well as for the men, same deal.

You can access the men's restroom on this side as well. Also, because the only two constants in life are what? Jesus and change. Right? Jesus and change. And so really quick, our children have moved. How many of y'all have children and were like, whoa, wait a minute, where am I taking my kids? Yes? Okay, we have no children in the house. All right, so really, okay, one lady that's willing to claim her children. Thank you. The rest of y'all need to repent. All right, so really quick. We are not taking our kids over here anymore. This is room I. We are moving them over here to room D, okay? So, and the reason being is that room, they have made it so nice and pretty. And have you met us? We like to have fun. We like to spill things and make a mess. So, we're going to move over to room D where we could sweep things up, mop things up, wipe things down, and it's not an issue. Y'all okay with that? So, children, go over there, all right? When we still check them in at 645.

All right, also, last week, who was here last week when Katie Hawk did that amazing message on forgiveness? Yes, so let me tell you, that was just like scratching the surface. So, the month of February, we're doing a co-ed group, four weeks, on forgiveness. And that group will be meeting in here, right over here, right, Katie? And it's going to be co-ed, so she and her husband are going to co-facilitate that together. So, what that means is, as soon as we're done with chip ceremony, we're going to usher y'all out. Y'all don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Everybody got that? So, we got to, oh, but we can stay here. Miss Katie says she'll just pull you right over to forgiveness group, yes. And so, we'll talk more about the groups, but just so you know, we are going to have a group in here, as well as, tis the season, it's time for the 5K. Y'all look like a bunch of runners. At least walkers, maybe, right? And so, register, you can use the QR codes, or you can meet with Patty, or Melissa, or Andrea, one of the ladies, and we'll get you signed up. What I would really like is, would you be willing to put a team together, and let's do this together. Let's have a good time, even if you're in a program. And if you're in a program, and you're like,

hey, Kat, we want to participate, but we don't have the resources, you let us know, and we'll help you figure it out. Because we want everyone who is willing and able to participate, amen? We want to bring awareness to our community, we want to give hope to our community, and the truth is, that comes from you all, right? All right, such enthusiasm. With that being said, I'm gonna invite some folks up that actually used to be leaders at this CR, and then the Lord called them into their next season, but they're here visiting, so will Doug and Karen come on with the eight principals? Look at them. Hey, Dave, can you give me a yeah? Thank you. Come on up. Yeah, babe. And then, did they tell you the back walk? You can't read it to me yet. Okay. So, should we do a proper introduction, Kat? Hi, guys. My name is Doug. Hey, I celebrate recovery. Goodness gracious, I've got a long list. It started with drugs and alcohol, God delivered me from, and I'm still a work in progress. So, as you can ask my lovely wife here,

we'll testify to that. He's recovering from everything. Hi, my name is Karen, and I celebrate recovery. I celebrate recovery from codependency. We're gonna do the eight principals tonight. If you'll join with us when I do the verse. All right, so, starting with one. There we are. Realize I'm not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing, and that my life is unmanageable. Happy are those who know they're spiritually poor. Matthew 5, three. E, earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to him, and y'all matter to him, and that he has the power to help me recover. Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5, four. C, consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control. Happy are the meek. Matthew 5, five. You guys are doing great. O, openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. Happy are the pure in heart. Matthew 5, eight. V, voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask

him to remove my character defects. Happier are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. Matthew 5 6. E, evaluate all my relationships, offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I've done to others except when to do so would harm them or others. Happy are the merciful. Matthew 5 7. Happy are the peacemakers. Matthew 5 9. R, reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and his will for my life and to gain the power to follow his will. And. Y, yield myself to God to be used to bring this good news to others both by my example and by my words. Happy are those who are persecuted because they do not. Matthew 5 10. Amen. All right, let's give a shout of praise to the Lord tonight. He's worthy. Amen. Amen. Thank the worship team. Let's give them a good hand. What a wonderful job they did tonight. It is so good to be with you here. There truly is no better place to be on a Tuesday night. Amen. You know, one of the reasons I've shared this with you in the past but one of the reasons I really love coming and sharing with you at Celebrate Recovery is I believe these are some of the greatest fighters for the kingdom of God in this room anywhere to be found. Can you say amen to that? And that's kind of what I want to talk about tonight. The title of what I want to share with you this evening is Mighty Warriors. Do we have any mighty warriors in the house tonight? Amen. Look over your neighbor and say, I believe you're a mighty warrior. I believe you're a mighty warrior. I'm looking around here and I've got a feeling some of you have been in a fight once or twice in the past. Anybody in the house been in a fight at some time in the past? Well, I want you to know whether you've been in a fight in the literal, you are in a fight tonight. You are in a battle. The Word of God says that our battle is not like a natural battle. We're not warring against flesh and blood. You know, we know about that kind of fight. I've been meeting with an individual and I believe that he is really, really close to coming to Jesus Christ and he comes from a long life of incarceration and drugs and violence and I mean just he's been down that path. And we were talking a week or so ago and he was sharing a little bit about his past with me. The last time he was

incarcerated, he was arrested by the SWAT team and it was a bad thing. And I asked him about it. You've been in a lot of fights and he said, and he's a big guy like, you know, 6'4 and a big guy. And he goes, no, I was never really a fighter but I was good with a gun. You know, and I'm thinking, okay, we're good right here. Everything's good right here. But you know what? You are in a more serious fight than that. You're in a fight for your eternal soul. And we've got an enemy and his whole task is to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to take from you every good thing that God wants to do in your life. God has a glorious, wonderful plan for you. He wants to use you, every one of you here in this room, for his kingdom. He wants you, he wants to use you to impact other people's lives for the kingdom of God. And we have an enemy that wants you to have no part of that. And I want to tell you something about the enemy that we fight. He cheats. He lies. He plays dirty. He uses every trick in the book to try to get you off that path that God wants you to be on. The last couple weeks or so, I've been reading and studying through the book of Judges. And there's some wonderful things in the book of Judges. And one of the things, kind of right in the middle of Judges, in chapter 6 and chapter 7, is the account of God calling Gideon to raise up an army. For seven years, the children of Israel had been in living in oppression and control. As a matter of fact, the enemy had come in, they had taken all their livestock, they had destroyed all of their land, and the people of Israel were literally hiding in the mountains, in caves, and in strong and what they thought were little safe places because of the fear of the Midianites. Now this man Gideon one day snuck out from the cave, he's hiding behind a winepress trying to get some food for his family and an angel of God appears to him and says something amazing because if you look at this in context, Gideon is in fear for his life. In the very moment that the angel of the Lord appears unto him, he's hiding. And the angel of God appears unto him and said, Gideon, mighty man of valor. You know, if you look at that picture, that doesn't really look like a mighty man of valor. It looks like a guy who's kind of hiding for his life and just trying to survive. And God said, Gideon, you mighty man of valor.

How many of you know that God sees you differently than you see yourselves a whole lot of the time? God sees you differently than other people. Nobody else was saying to Gideon, you're a mighty man. Gideon certainly did not see himself as a mighty man. As a matter of fact, when the angel of the Lord said that to him, Gideon basically said to him, you've got the wrong Gideon. I'm from the smallest family in Israel and I'm the least of my family. I am not a mighty man, but God said he was. God said that you are a mighty warrior. You might not see yourself tonight as a mighty warrior. Others might not even see you, but you know what matters the most? It's how God sees us. And God spoke to Gideon and said, I want you to call an alarm and raise an army together because the Midianites and the oppressors of Israel had an army of over a hundred thousand fighting soldiers. So Gideon calls an alarm. He sounds an alarm and he calls an army together and 32,000 people respond to that call. That's a pretty good response. But if you look at it in context, it was still only about a third of the size of the enemy's army. I mean, you know, if you're going into a fight, you'd like to have better odds than that. They've got a hundred thousand, we've got 32,000. We're going to have to be very strategic to win this war. Well, God still had a different plan. God said to Gideon, you got too many people. Can you imagine what's going through Gideon's head? Too many people. Can you not count? I mean, they're outnumbered us three to one.

And as we look at this story recorded in God's Word of the victory that God brings, God uses some very specific characteristics and qualities in the heart of the men that would defeat the Midianites. The mighty warriors were not mighty warriors by accident. They were mighty warriors because they had something in them that God could use in a powerful way. And the first thing that they had that God wanted to use in them is the very same thing that God wants to use in each and every one of us, and that is courage. God is looking for some courageous men and women to fight for the kingdom of God and live a life of victory every day. God said, call your army together and say to them, if there's anyone here that's fearful or afraid, you can go home. But I kind of picture how Gideon might have said it. He calls his army of 32,000 together, and Gideon stands before him and he said, oh, you courageous warriors, oh, all of you mighty soldiers. If there might be one or two of you that's a little bit afraid, you can go home. Do you know what happened? 2,000 left out of 32,000, 22,000 of them turned around and went home, and now Gideon was only left with 10,000 to go up against an army of over 100,000. This is looking worse by the moment. I mean, how can this possibly be worse? Well, the next thing we see in this is that God says, Gideon, you still got too many men. What do you mean I have too many men? I have said to them, if you're afraid, you can go home. Let me tell you something, it really all starts right there with courage. God is looking for men and women that are full of faith and full of courage. Fear is the opposite of faith. Let me say that again, fear is the opposite of faith. Faith and courage walk hand in hand. You see, if you're going to walk a courageous Christian life, you're going to have to have

faith. Where does faith come? It comes from believing, from hearing and believing the Word of God. That's how God cultivates faith and courage in your life. Twice God said to Joshua as he was preparing to go into the land of promise, twice in Joshua chapter 1, God said to him, He said, be strong and very courageous. Be strong and of good courage. God was looking for a leader that had courage. And I believe tonight that God is looking for men and women that are courageous. Men and women that have courage. I want to tell you something, it takes courage to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Following the Lord Jesus Christ is not something for the weak and the faint of heart. Following the Lord Jesus Christ and walking in obedience to God's Word take courage. It takes courage for you to share your faith with others. How many of you know it takes courage to look at somebody and tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ? Because the enemy is going to be whispering in your ear, sometimes yelling in your ear. Who are you to tell anybody else how they should live? How many of you know we all have our flaws? Amen? I mean, you don't have to look around, but you wouldn't have to look far. We all have our flaws and our failures and our shortcomings, and it's so easy for us to say, well, I'm not good enough. I'm not perfect enough. It's not about your goodness and your perfection, it's about God dwelling within you and working on you. It takes courage to talk to other people about Jesus. It takes courage to do the right thing when the wrong thing is easier. How many of you know that? It takes courage to do the right thing.

You see, the wrong thing is always easier. It's easier to follow the path of least resistance, but it takes courage to stand. You know when it really takes courage? It's when nobody else is standing with you and you have to stand alone. It takes courage to take a stand on your own. I was reading last week through the book of Daniel, and I came across Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How many of you heard of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you know, you look at that passage of Scripture, and you think here all this great crowd of Israelites, they were captive in Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar builds this statue, and he says when the music plays, you have to bow down and worship that statue, the music starts up, and everybody in that whole crowd bows down except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What did that take for them to do it? It took courage. And then Nebuchadnezzar has them called unto him and says, listen, maybe you don't understand. When the music plays, you have to bow down, or we're going to throw you in that fiery furnace. And I love what the Scripture says. One of them spoke up and said, oh king, we don't have to think about this. We are not bowing down. That takes courage. God is looking for men and women that have a heart of courage. The second thing he's looking for is men and women who are careful. God spoke to Gideon, he said, 10,000's too many. You still might take credit for it if you win this battle, 10,000's too many. I want you to take them down to the river, and I want you to watch how they drink. He said, those that pick the water up in their hands and bring it to their mouth, look at those. But those that just stick their head down in the water, send them home. I can imagine Gideon getting ready to take his soldiers down to the river.

He said, we're going to go down and get a drink, get a drink, we're going to go down and get a drink. Are you seeing me right now? We're going to go down and get a drink out of the river. They go down, 9,700 of them stick their face right in the water. They weren't being careful. Do you know what their problem was? They were more interested in satisfying their appetite for water. than they were being watchful. Did you hear what I just said? They were more interested in fulfilling their own desire than they were being on alert. Let me tell you something. You got to have your eyes open following the Lord Jesus Christ, because the enemy sets traps and he sets snares. He wants you to stumble. He wants you to fail. He wants you to become careless. But God has called us to be careful. The Word of God says, be alert, be vigilant. You know, that word, that's a good word, vigilant. What does that mean? It means be on guard, be paying attention. It means be careful. Be careful about what? Be careful about what you're exposing yourself to. Be careful about what you're taking into your mind. Be careful about what you're taking into your spirit. Be careful what your closest circle of associations look like. Be careful. Be on guard.

Gideon is now left with 300 against 100,000. But that 300 had one more thing. Not only were they courageous and cautious, but they were absolutely committed. They were committed to Gideon, and they were committed to God. Let me tell you something. You need to be committed to this. You need to be committed to those who are leading you. You need to be committed to care and oversight. You need to be committed to accountability. You need to be committed to walking out what God tells you to walk out. However, it does, even when it doesn't make sense. And I'm going to tell you, it was about to make the least sense that I can imagine. Gideon is left with 300 men, and he says to God, how is this possible? Gideon is becoming a little fearful. He's becoming a little concerned. And God says, I want you to go down near the enemy camp. So Gideon sneaks down near the enemy camp, and he's hiding behind a big rock. And some of the enemy soldiers come out, and they begin to talk. And one of them says, I had a dream last night about this giant barley loaf rolling down the hill, and it came into our tent and our camp, and it destroyed us. And I know what that dream was. It was Gideon and his army. They're surely going to defeat us. And suddenly Gideon got a little courage back. He got a little fire back in his heart. And then God speaks to him again, and God says, Gideon, I'm going to give you specific instructions on how to defeat the enemy. Now listen to what God said. God said, I want you to put a trumpet in every man's hand. And I want you to put a vase, an empty vase with a light in it.

And I want you to surround the enemy camp in the middle of the night. Now, I've never been in a battle like that. And I don't claim to be the greatest military strategy, but I'm going to be real honest with you. Attacking the enemy with trumpets and basically flashlights does not sound like the greatest strategy in the world to winning a battle. There's 100,000 of them. We got 300 men with trumpets and flashlights. And Gideon says, now we're going to do this at night. Well, that's the only good idea in this whole thing. But then Gideon says, I want you to turn your flashlight on. That's a bad idea. They're going to see 300 people out in the dark with flashlights. And then I want you to blow your trumpets. That's a bad idea. Anybody that doesn't see the flashlight, we're going to wake them up. And then I want you to shout in the sword of the Lord and in the sword of Gideon, we don't have no swords. But you know what? That 300 courageous, cautious, committed men did what Gideon said. They surrounded them in the middle of the night. They turned their flashlights on. They blew their trumpets. They shouted in the sword of the Lord and in the sword of Gideon. They shouted in the sword of the Lord and in the sword of Gideon. And the enemy jumped. Up in such confusion, they began killing themselves, and Gideon's army never had to raise a sword. God gave them the victory. You know what God is looking for right now?

He's looking for some men and women called to be courageous, called to be careful, called to be committed, called to be mighty warriors. In the kingdom of God. God is looking for you, and you, and you, and you, to be a courageous, cautious, committed, mighty warrior in the kingdom. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much this evening for the opportunity to share your word. I pray this word would fall on good soil. Lord, I pray that your spirit, even right now, will raise courage up in the hearts of these men and women, that they'll be cautious. They'll follow you with their eyes open. They won't be led into deception. They won't be led astray, but they're gonna be on guard. They're gonna be alert, and they'll be committed, committed to following the program they need to follow, committed to taking the steps they need to take, and committed to following Jesus Christ with all their hearts, and being mighty warriors. And I pray this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Amen.