Put Him On

I appreciate the Lord's faithfulness, and I know that He is indeed with us. We have the victory, and the Lord wants us to learn how to live out that victory, and that's where the challenges come in all of our lives. And I suspect one or two of others have had some battles this week, and we're just learning how to fight the battle, not in our own strength, not because of who we are, but because of who He is and what He's done, but I appreciate His faithfulness. I've had some thoughts that have come to me from time to time this week. They're very much connected with what things the Lord has said lately, and some of it's repetitious, but I need it, and I know I'm not the only one, but I'm going to go ahead and turn to a passage at the end of Romans chapter 13. I think most of us who are familiar with the scriptures are aware of how Paul tended to write, that he would spend the first part of most of his books talking about all the awesome things God has done, and then of course you get to the point of, okay, now what? And then it becomes, what about us, and how do we live here, and why are we here, and all of those kinds of questions. And so this is part of that section of the book where Paul is saying, continuing the thought really that he began in chapter 12 where he said, you know, present yourselves as a living sacrifice, let him change your thinking, and then here's how that thinking plays out in our lives. So he is, in chapter 13, he's fleshing some of that out. He begins by talking about how we live as citizens. We're not rebels. We obey the law, we're good citizens, we pay our debts, we work, and all of those kinds of things. But anyway, he comes down and he emphasizes also the centrality of love, and you see that everywhere in the Scriptures about how love really is the essence of everything. You boil down every command, it comes down to loving your neighbor as yourself, and that's the nature that God is seeking to reproduce in us. Now that fleshes itself out in real life events and how we relate to one another, but God is seeking to reproduce Himself in us, all right?

And the passage beginning in verse 11 is where I was thinking, and do this, understanding the present time. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. That's pretty good. That's Christianity 101, isn't it? It's Christian Living 101. That's not necessarily the title, but I have kind of another one in mind as we get to it. But here we've got Paul answering a number of questions about, okay, now what? And one of the first emphases is do this, understanding the present time. Now, that word do is kind of important, isn't it? It highlights the simple fact that while Christ has absolutely laid a perfect, complete foundation, we have everything we need, yet God's plan is not that we just, okay, do it, Lord, rather there is a doing on our part as a result. And so always it's now what do we do, okay? So the first thing is understanding. Do we really live with the understanding of what this life is about? We've said this many times recently, but I'll tell you, we have a problem with our thinking because thinking tends to be a matter of habit. We make choices, don't we? You know, sometimes my mind goes back to that first Kendrick movie, and it was the one before they became famous, Flywheel. I think we showed it here at church one time. And the man who was the main character, played by Alex Kendrick himself, was a crooked car

salesman, car dealer. But the Lord was dealing with him, and he turned on the TV one day, and he heard a preacher. And I don't remember all the preacher said, I remember about two things that he said. And they were this, you're in the shape you are today because of the choices you have made. Your marriage is in the shape that it's in because of the choices that you have made. And the reality is, as I've said many times recently, I think, God created us with a will. Created us with minds to think, wills to choose. And if we're going to grow up to be His sons, we need to learn how to exercise those things that He has given us. And that means the choices in our lives make a difference. We just don't muddle through. We don't sign on a dotted line and accept Jesus and then just live our lives and that's it. There's a reason why God has left us here and not taken us home. And so that's what He's getting to. And we need to understand the shortness of life, the reality. We've seen it recently. We've seen the passing of some that we've loved. But we know that it's not just a sad time, it's a celebration time because we know where this ends up. We know why we're here and we know God is with us. But we need to live with a greater consciousness of that. And of course, you don't do that. I mean, like I said, we form habits in our thinking where we don't think about stuff anymore. We just do and we act and we react. But I'll tell you, God is wanting to teach me and every one of us to make new habits, to be conscious, to make choices to be conscious of these things until they become the habit. And an understanding who we are and why we're here is central to it. And the fact that it's a short time and God means to accomplish things in our lives, okay? Paul obviously understood this in a great measure. And it wasn't just, oh, I've got a ministry to carry out. It's God's changing me and I want everything He's got. Is He worthy? I mean, all that He did was simply to hand us a completed, perfect work. What we do with it has consequences or don't do. And so this is where Paul was trying to get people's attention. Wake up! Don't get so lost in everyday life that you forget why you're here and what it's about. Time to wake up. And, you know, you look at this and say, oh, well, this is, you know, he was thinking about the coming of Jesus. Well, he was thinking about the shortness of life because this was almost 2,000 years ago. But the reality of it is God has shown us, and I don't think you have to have some special revelation to know this, we're in the last hour. Things are winding down. Satan has been loosed and he's taking over this present world. And this is the world we are called

to live in. And it takes divine power to do that. I don't have what it takes. And yet here we are. But God wants us, first of all, to always live with a consciousness of why we're here. Yes, we do our, we carry out our earthly responsibilities, but there's this overriding sense, I'm here for a reason. Lord, help me to live in the reality of that. And he says this because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Now, we've mentioned several times recently that a lot of people's concept of salvation is an event when we are saved. That is like signing on that dotted line. But salvation is more than that. It's also a lifelong process by which we are rescued from what we were and changed into what God intends us to be. So there is a process of being delivered. Is there anybody here that's arrived? See, I mean, you know, Paul said that we have, that all have sinned and all fall short. So you don't quite get that from the King James, even though the word is right. We all have sinned and we come short, but we come short now. It means everybody has failed in the past, but the problem is we still aren't there. There's not one of us who could say, yes, I have arrived. I am in the full glory of my heavenly Father. I'm perfect. I'm shining, glorious. No, we got to run a journey. How many of you believe that God's people are going to be that when God is through? What an incredible salvation to take people like us with all the weaknesses that we have and change us into sons and daughters of God who can shine with the glory of heaven one day. To Him be the glory. Praise God. So here's Paul, not only looking at salvation as a beginning and as a process, but there's an end. When salvation is fully, you know, our salvation is nearer now than when we believe. So Paul says we, including himself, there's a salvation, it's nearer, we're getting there. Now I want to just undermine anything the devil's going to try to do with this. Because he's going to tell somebody, oh, that means that salvation is not really certain. I've got to live up to it or else. We're sort of saved by, you know, on approval. And then if we really hang in there and we get there and we do it right, then okay, we'll find a, yes, I made it. Is that what this is talking about? Or is this looking at it from God's point of view? Boy, thank God.

I'll tell you, when we put our faith, we surrender, we repent, we hand our lives over to Him, we put our faith in His saving power. We confess Him as Lord and we're sealed by His Spirit. There's something that started the devil cannot stop. Yes, I'm not there yet. I mean, we've used the illustration many times about a baby being born. Well, that's wonderful. But the purpose of the baby being born ultimately is to have a responsible adult. And that, so even in the middle of the process, they get to their teenage years, God help them, but they get to their teenage years, they're still not there, but yet it's coming. You just learn at every stage of the game. We are learning. We are growing. That's what God wants. But how do we grow if we're not paying attention, if we're not listening and learning? I'll tell you, I want to do that. And I sense, I see my need more and more. I mean, I've lived a few years longer than a lot of you. Not everybody. But boy, the more I go, the more I realize, Lord, how many things are there that are still hanging on that I still need deliverance from? I need to exercise. I need to believe you more. I need to grow. I need to learn. And so this is where Paul is saying, yeah, you're on the way, but don't sit back and go to sleep. And especially in this hour, I don't know how long this last hour is. God does, and it's going to be just right. But we're in it. And even if we're not here to see the actual arrival of the Lord in the air that He promised,

one day we're going to be, this life is going to come to an end. And the Lord wants us to grow up and learn from Him. Okay? Praise God. I had several ideas, and I just want to ask the Lord to guide what comes when. All right. The night is over. The day is almost here. Let us, so now what are we supposed to do? There are two things he says right here. Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. So now you've got the armor again. He doesn't give all of the pieces of armor, but obviously there's stuff that we need to get rid of. Every one of us has stuff in our lives that's not part of God's plan that isn't like Him. And we need to make choices, learn how to recognize those things, make choices, and then put on that armor so we've got some protection from the enemy. Now, one thing that I thought about in connection with this is, well, I guess my mind went to the armor first of all. I made a connection between this scripture and the armor because one of the pieces of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. And I believe God wants me and all of us to get this in a deeper way. Because the breastplate of righteousness, first of all, is a legal thing, isn't it? It gives me a way to answer the devil when he accuses me because I can, instead of taking, instead of it being about me, I can point to the blood and I can point to the cross and say, that was paid for. I have an answer for the devil. I can look him in the eye and say, he has forgiven me. That is a defensive weapon. But God is wanting this to be more than just a piece of defense.

What good is it if my record is clean in heaven but I'm not living that out? Because the breastplate is something that you see, isn't it? It's right out there. What do people see? I'm kind of getting ahead a little in some respects of the thoughts that are here. But God is wanting to deliver us in ways that we all need deliverance. And praise God, the order in which I'm thinking of these thoughts. Lord, just help us. Help me right now to be able to order my thoughts. But right now we have to realize there is a world that is ruled by darkness, there's a kingdom of light. God wants to bring us in. So we have a choice every day. There are things that want to take control and express themselves that are part of the old nature. Do I have the right to say no? Has God given me the authority to rule over this guy? And when it wants to do the wrong thing, do I have the authority to say, wait a minute, no, you don't have any power over me. Do I also have the ability, the strength to say that? That's the key. God has given me everything I need. And when He talks about the armor and all of those things, we talked about that last week. It's one thing for a soldier to be issued the best armor that could possibly be issued, an instruction manual on what's going on, what the enemy looks like, and what he works on, and how he works, and how we use the weapons. But if we just don't pay much attention to that, and if we leave the weapons in the closet, that doesn't do much good. I won't ask for anybody who's failed to consciously take up the armor and put it on after we talked

about it last week. I won't ask for a show of hands of how many people remember that every single day and all the time. Lord, I need the armor. God, thank you for the helmet of salvation. Thank you for all these wonderful things you've given me. Lord, by faith I put them on. I'm facing another day, but I'm not facing it alone. I'm not facing it defenseless. But do you see by the very fact that we don't always think about that, we've got some changing, we've got new habits that have to be developed? Yeah, but the Lord's helping us. It is a journey. Praise God. Thank God there's a destination. It's awesome. So anyway, we've got a salvation that's nearer now than when we believed. I'm going to go ahead and turn to a scripture that kind of confirms some of that. And that's in 1 Peter, beginning of 1 Peter, I believe, uses the same language. Verse three, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by his great mercy. He has given us new birth. Thank God I didn't have to earn that. He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and all of my good, wait a minute, not that at all. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. Devil can't touch that, can he? It's safe. All right?

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power. How long? Until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You know when that's going to be revealed? When he comes and we're transformed in the twinkling of an eye and we'll stand there in that glory that he's promised. But is my hope safe until then? Is this still in doubt? No, that's the whole point of this. Praise God. All right? So now, what do we do? In this we greatly rejoice. Oh, praise God. Just coast all the way, don't we? Although now for a little while, that's the time Paul was talking about, wasn't it? For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold ... Don't you chase gold. I need faith. I need my faith to grow. God can give me what I need. I don't need a bigger bank account. I need more faith. So do you. ... of greater worth than gold, which perishes ... Even though refined by fire may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible

and glorious joy. For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. See there he's got salvation as the ongoing process, doesn't he? Concerning, and anyway, he talks about, he goes on and talks about how there's still yet to come, there's the glorious end of salvation is yet to come, alright? So what happens back in Romans when we recognize that what's really going on and we begin to say, alright, God wants me to recognize the stuff in me that isn't right, okay? He wants me to be free from that and to start recognizing and say, wait a minute, that comes out of my old nature, I have the right and the power to say no. But I also have the right to take on the armor and stand there and be clothed with everything that I need. I can take it, I can put it on, is what we said last week, okay? Now he's going to get into some of the details, okay? Let us behave decently. I have to throw this in. Every time I see the word behave, I tend to think of an old cartoon I saw one time, and it was a mama talking to her little boy and saying, behave! He looks up and says, I'm being as have as I can. Sorry, I'm a bit of a punster, so I had to appreciate that. But behave means how we live. How do we actually live on a day-to-day basis? Do we get up and what people see is Jesus or is it something else, alright? Let us behave decently is the word it is here, appropriately, rightly. As in the daytime, okay, the daytime, you tend to think of darkness as a place where sin thrives. And I'll ask some difficult questions. When no one is around you, are you the same person that you are sitting here this morning? It's an uncomfortable question sometimes, isn't it? If you were by yourself a thousand miles from here and nobody knew you, what kind of a person would you be?

Would you be the same person that you are, that you present yourself as when you're around God's people? Or I'll ask another question. Are you the same person when you're out with your earthly friends and acquaintances who don't know the Lord and have other interests, obviously, that's their focus, are you the same person here and there? Or do you become what you really probably are in your heart? That's a sobering question. Sometimes that means people need the Lord, period. Because they're not really, they're putting on a Christian mask when they're around Christian people. We don't need a Christian mask. We need what's real, and God longs to give what's real. He paid the ultimate price to give us what's real. But the thing is, even though someone may know the Lord, it's awful easy for the old thinking and the old habits to still have a degree of a hold, isn't it? And that's where the Lord, I believe, is helping us. We've had some teaching and some learning recently that has focused on, you know, getting rid of strongholds, getting rid of holes that the devil has in our lives, and those are things where we have kind of, maybe even unknowingly, invited the devil to have a hold in our lives. We've believed lies, we've made choices, whatever it is, we've somehow agreed with the devil and he has gotten a hold, and the Lord's beginning to shine the light so we can say, wait a minute, you have to get out of here, I don't want that anymore. I repent of whatever I need to repent of. I demand that you get out of here in Jesus' name. God's helped us, and He's helping us, and He will. There's still many needs in this area, aren't there? But God's helping us. But here's one thing I wanted to say. by way of information and encouragement.

Sometimes we go through seasons where we are focused, the Lord focuses us on a real particular need in our lives. And we realize, oh my God, there's something that's had a hold on me. I've thought this way, I've acted this way, and God help me. And it's been a battle. And we come to a point sometimes where praise God, that battle was won. And we're experiencing a degree of victory over it, and all of a sudden we're going through a day, hey, I'm not feeling that. Thank God that's over. And of course, those of you who've walked with the Lord at length of time know, that isn't always it, all of it is it. Sometimes the devil departs like he did from Jesus for a season. He's going back and saying, hmm, I gotta think about this. What am I gonna do? But you know, even when, and we learned this, even when the devil loses his place in our lives, the strongholds, the footholds, whatever they may be, that's gone. That doesn't mean you're never gonna have another attack. It may come from out here, but I'm not gonna ask for any show of hands, but how many of this week have suddenly had something arise back in your mind and your heart that you thought, oh, praise God, that was gone.

What's wrong? And I know the enemy is gonna jump on that sea. I told you, I'm still around. You're just a loser. No matter what happens, I'm still gonna always, and he will jump in with all fours or whatever he's got. And the Lord wants us to understand as long as we're here, your human nature is gonna be making noise and crying out and wanting to have its way. The thing is, what do we do with that? Do we make the right choice at the time? Do we actually rest upon what Jesus did, or do we just, oh well, that's just me. There's so many ways. And the thing is, you can easily be discouraged by that. I thought I'd beaten that issue. I thought I was the victor. Finally, I got rid of that thing. I got free from that. What's going on? Why am I suddenly feeling this way again? And the Lord's wanting us to learn how to fight and to take our stand. Didn't Peter also say later on in that first book, don't be surprised by the fiery trials which are sent to test you. If Jesus was sent into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to fast for 40 days and to be tempted by the devil himself, do you suppose we might just have to face a few things in our lives and learn how to stand?

That just maybe that's part of becoming what God wants us to become? Praise God. Not spoiled children, but warriors who know how to stand up and fight when we have to. Praise God. There's somebody here today besides me who's had to battle discouragement, questions, stuff has come back to your mind and your heart that you thought you were done with, and there it is, trying to come back. And sometimes that happens because you get tired and you get worn out. The devil knows how to get you in a place where, okay, now I'm kind of weak, and then all of a sudden the arrows start coming in, and we don't even feel like lifting up the seal of faith. God wants us to learn how, that that's part of the Christian life, is having seasons when we're gonna have to trust God and lift up and stand in faith and recognize. It doesn't mean I've lost. It doesn't mean that God's word has failed. It doesn't mean anything or that Christ has not done all that's necessary. He's just wanting me to learn how to handle this as his child and to reckon on what he did. And sometimes we have to go against what we feel, what we think, everything that is how it looks. We're gonna have to learn how to take a stand

on what God said and absolutely When we feel nothing, say, Devil, it is written. Do you suppose Jesus had feelings to rely on when He was in the wilderness? He had one thing to rely on. He knew the truth. He knew what God said, and no matter what the devil said, this is what I'm going by. God is going to honor His Word. And I'll tell you, at the proper time, angels came to strengthen Him. I'll tell you, when we stand, God is going to help us. Remember, what was the scripture that Paul said, but praise God, 1 Corinthians 10, I better look at it. I know you know what I'm talking about. Praise the Lord. Well, okay, anyway, oh yeah. So, no temptation, no test, it's all the same word, by the way, no temptation or test has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. So that's it? No. And God is faithful. God is faithful. Don't you ever forget when you're in the middle of something, God remains faithful. He's faithful. You have never been abandoned. We're not, Christ isn't present just because we feel something. We're here because He's promised never, ever to leave us or forsake us, all right? God is faithful. All right, how does that faithfulness express itself? He will not let you be tested or tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Oh God, make this go away.

No, I sent it so you could learn how to endure it. How do I do that? Get your armor on. I gave you everything you need. You need to pick it up and use it. Take that armor out of the closet. You're in a war. Don't forget that. Does it sound familiar? But is it sounding like something we need because we don't think that way a lot of the time? I certainly do, but I'll tell you, God is faithful, isn't He? All right? So some of the things that He talks about here are simply the essence of human nature, carousing and drunkenness, just finding pleasure and just letting go and whatever you feel like doing, doing it. Not in sexual immorality and debauchery. That's the world we live in, folks. That's just the plain reality that God invented sex, but He didn't invent it to be used any old way. He absolutely ordained marriage in the beginning and He honors it. Praise God. Let's look to Him and just do things His way and honor Him. Thank God I know that there are all kinds of people that are guilty of all of these kinds of things. I thank God for the blood that was shed. We don't have to live under the umbrella of guilt. We can come to Him and be set free, but we need to start letting Him conform us into His way of life. Okay?

All right, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. So now you're getting into personal relationships. God alone can give us the grace to rise above human nature and start recognizing what's going on and making choices. There are a lot of folks that aren't guilty of some of these other gross fleshly sins that are very, very guilty of these things. Do we need God's grace and God's help to let go of self? Say, Lord, it's not about me and what I think, it's about You. God help me to have Christ as the center of everything. All right? Now, here's ... Verse 14 is kind of where my mind went when I thought about this scripture because I thought about, again, the breastplate of righteousness is wonderful as a defensive weapon, but God wants it to be more than defensive. We're not here just to survive all the attacks of the enemy and somehow make it to heaven. We're here to learn how to express His life. So now it's not just put it on. I think other translations say, put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. Close. ourselves, I need to put Him on. How about that for a crazy title? Put Him on. This is another thing I need to do before, when I get up in the morning, it's not just thank you for the helmet, thank you for all these things, Jesus come and clothe me. In my relationships today, I want people to see you, because that's that's an outward thing, isn't it? Is God interested in what we are in terms of how we relate to others and what they see in us? Yeah, praise God. And I guess you get into this kind of a subject and you got to deal with the reality of how the devil works. If you were the devil, how would you try to undermine this? Well, this doesn't really apply to you, you're just so this or so that. Oh my God, Jesus died to save sinners. We all qualify. Praise God, it's not based upon that. Okay, well he's let me in, now I've got to do it. How's that working out? I thank God that's not the Christian life. Thank God that part of the clothing is not

just the appearance. This is not an act that we put on. Clothing with Jesus is not, okay, I'm gonna be religious today. It has nothing to do with that. This is, Lord, I am being called to a supernatural life. I don't have the power to do or be that, but that's what I know you want them, you want everybody to see. So come. What I need is not just things, it's not principles, it's not pieces of armor, it's Jesus. Didn't we kind of hear that in that in that letter this morning? Victory has a name, his name is Jesus. And so I need to realize that I have the authority, I have the right as God's child to say, Lord, clothe me with yourself today. It's another way of saying what Paul said elsewhere, it's no longer I that live, but it's Christ who lives in me. Praise God. That's the key to everything is not just, okay, I'm signed on the dotted line, I'm trying hard, and I'm trying not to do this and trying to do that, and somehow maybe that'll make me acceptable. Oh God, he has accepted me through Jesus Christ and given me the ability. Now I just need to use that. I need to believe that in the arena of real action. When we're faced with stuff, do we really believe that we have the power to say no? Is that what he promised or not? Did Paul mean it when he said, stop saying no to the old nature and start saying yes to the right one? I'm dead to this, I'm alive to him. Read Romans 6 sometime again. Praise God. So the ability to do it comes entirely from him. And if the devil wants to defeat you, he's going to put all the responsibility on you, and you're going to forget about how to do it. And then you're going to feel condemned, and then you're going to give up, and you're going to sink right back into his influence. God wants us to learn how to reckon on the reality that we have the authority and the ability to live for him, not because of who we are and what we are, but because of what he has done. Praise God. I've had a song come back to me lately that was an old, must be a very old hymn. We used to sing it in college a lot. And I think I can remember, I can't remember the verses, I can remember the chorus though. Very simple one, because it's founded upon the reality of what Jesus did. I need no other confidence. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,

and that he died for me. That's a pretty simple truth, but what a truth that is. I need no other confidence, or I have no, I need no other confidence. I have, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Do you really believe that he died for you? That what he did on that cross was actually for you? Right now, where you're at, with whatever needs you've become aware of, do you believe that? It starts by making choices when you don't feel like you believe in it. It starts by saying, Lord, I'm going to stand on what you said, and I'm going to answer that devil. Because there is a powerful ... principle here that is in two parts, is what you do and what you don't do. Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, that's where I get the power to be anything other than what I am naturally, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. How many of you recognize that when we do something that is wrong, you fall into something you know is wrong and you commit us in? Did it start with that? No, it doesn't start with that, does it? It starts with something happening in your mind, in your consciousness, you're just, you're being careless, you're, and it could be as simple as where you go, what you allow to happen in your mind, because that's how the thing got started in the first place. That's how the devil works. That's what I got conscious of the other day, all of a sudden, wait a minute, I've been doing fine in that area, and all of a sudden, these thoughts and imaginations start happening. What are we supposed to do? Oh, I've just got to put up with it. No, that's part of, my mind, again, is part of my property. The devil does not have the right to come in and trample on my property without my agreement with him, and that's what we're being warned about. Don't let the, the things that lead to sin, don't just put up with them, all right? Don't think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. The devil is going to constantly use habitual ways, habitual thinking.

Anything that's become a part of what we call a besetting sin, a weakness in your life, he's going to keep trying to push your buttons, and we need the grace to wake up, to learn how to recognize what's going on, and stop it before it gets to a deed. Say, wait a minute, I don't have to start down that path. And of course, I've used, I've referred to this several times, and I'll just briefly refer to it again. The brother who gave a long, wrote a book, a testimony of a tremendous deliverance out of a very sinful life, and the sin that he had been guilty of, the sinful life, was connected to a certain street in a certain city. And he had occasion to be there sometime after he was really brought to faith. And some of those old feelings started to crowd in. And he said, Lord, what's wrong? What do I, how am I supposed to handle this? Every time I go down this street, I feel this. Lord, what do I do? Don't go down that street. You know, there are times when it's that simple. There are things that we, there are places that we go, people that we're around, and how we act, and things that we allow to come into our minds that nobody else sees. But they're there, and you know they're there, and you know where they lead if you kind of give in to that. And the Lord is wanting us to learn how to recognize that and shut it down. And if it means not going to a certain place, not being around somebody, whatever it, whatever's necessary to get the, to gain the strength, to grow stronger. I mean, you might get to the place where you could go down the street and it wouldn't bother you at all, but there's a time for everything. And the Lord is going to teach us how to recognize every kind of attack of the enemy. And say, wait a minute, I recognize that. I know where that thought pattern leads. And I have the right right now to say no, and I, by faith I do.

And I'm not alone in saying that because Jesus has promised to be with me. By faith I put Him on. I am leaning upon strength that I do not possess in myself, but I believe in what He has done. I am going to build everything in my life upon the finished work of Christ. I'm going to take, because that's the, that's our part. God wants us to take what He has given us and put it into practice and learn how to live out His life. I'm going to go to one of the scriptures that I did think about. And I guess this is the time to do it because there is a place, there's a responsibility that we have, again, that I say to take what He has done and put it into practice in our real lives. And our choices have consequences. Not everybody chooses the same way. Not everybody is in Paul's category who does one thing and presses forward to the prize. Sadly, there are others who just kind of muddle through and don't quite take hold. People, I'm talking about cases where people are genuinely born again, but they don't, they live pretty defeated lives. Is that what the Lord wants? Whose fault is that? That's where we're just simply not walking in with the things that Paul is talking about. Is there any lack on his part? You see where we have a responsibility to actually reach out. Alright, his divine power, we've read this part many times in verse 3 of 2 Peter 1. His divine power has given us everything we need for godliness through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world by evil desires. Now let's go on this time. For this reason, because of what I've just said, he's given you everything.

For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness and to godliness mutual affection and to mutual affection love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure so that you see the growth aspect of that. If that's the case, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do you think every Christian is going to be the same on that side or is it going to have a lot to do with how we lived here? I'm not talking about works to earn. I'm talking about living out the things that he has given to us that we didn't earn and don't deserve. But if we live careless lives, we're not going to be very effective here, are we? We're not going to be those lights shining in the world that God wants us to be. We're not going to really have Jesus be the one that they see, the clothing that we're meant to put on in the morning and wear all day. And I realize again that it's a process, but I believe God is teaching us right here. I believe right now there are people that, like I say, you've had thought patterns and action patterns and habits that have just kind of baked into your character. You've learned how to think a certain way and it leads down a bad path. God wants you to recognize what's going on and learn how to say, wait a minute, I recognize that. I don't have to do that because Jesus died in my place and he's with me right here. It's not me trying to be a better Christian, it's Jesus living in me and I believe in him. God is going to lead us to greater areas of victory and greater areas of effectiveness

if we'll let him, if we'll actually believe the simple words of that song, that Jesus died. I believe that Jesus died and that he died for me. Praise God. He died for you. If you don't know him, you have the opportunity to open your heart to him right this moment and say, yes, Lord, I surrender, I put my hope and my trust in you. You are my Lord and I'm hoping in you. But the rest of us, every one of us, God wants to lead you to a better life, a more effective Christian life and to overcome the things that the enemy has used to hold you in captivity or just to influence you on an ongoing basis. We have a right to recognize those things and to say no. Well, again, I haven't said anything we haven't heard in a way, but isn't it interesting? It's not just put on the armor, it's put on Jesus. It's an interesting thought, isn't it? How about we learn to do that? I believe God will be glorified. I believe we'll grow. And just think, today is one day closer to the glorious end that he has planned for us. And he's promised to take us there and go with us all the way. To him be glory. Praise God.