Shield Of Faith

When I was younger, I used to think it was weird how much Christians and church talked about blood. I was like, is this a cult or a church? What are we doing? And it's because I had a limited view of what it actually represented for my life. You see, the Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. Who hates it when somebody that's guilty gets off and goes free? Drunk driver kills a kid, somebody commits atrocities, you're like, how did they get off? Like a crime should fit the punishment. The punishment should fit the crime. Yeah. And what's interesting is that we feel that way about others, but we always want to avoid that when it comes to ourselves. We hate being the villain in our own stories. And so the reality is, is based on our sins, based on our mistakes, where I'm not as bad as so-and-so, that's because you don't understand how bad you are. We try to measure ourselves against the worst of humanity instead of understanding that we are the worst. And the reason the blood matters is because God is just. He is not just fair. He is just, he is perfect. And he understands that he looks at sin as equal, meaning we all equally deserve the same crime or the same punishment. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus speaks a better word. The blood of Jesus is our lawyer. The blood of Jesus is what stands in the gap for us. It's what covers us so that when God sees us in his holiness, in his perfection, in his righteousness, he doesn't see us, he sees himself. That's why the blood matters.

You want the blood of Jesus flowing through your veins, not the blood of your, your ancestors and the DNA and the sin and the, no, no, no. You want Jesus covering you. And the blood says that I claim them as my own and God cannot punish himself. So Jesus takes the punishment that we all deserve. And because his blood is enough, we don't have to pay what we rightly owe as consequences for our actions, behaviors, beliefs, et cetera, words. And that's why I love when it says, does anyone want to be, anybody want to be holy or righteous? It's only by the blood. It's only when you accept that I couldn't pay this debt. I'm grateful that Jesus paid it for me. It's when you understand that my relationship with God is predicated on me being covered in the grace, mercy, and love of his son, Jesus. It's only by the blood. And so I pray today that you come in here, not with the spirit of self-righteousness, but a humility that says, I'm grateful for the blood of Jesus. I accept the finished work of the cross of Jesus. I understand that it deserved to be, I deserve to be the one hanging on that cross, but Jesus took my place only by the blood. And since the blood was poured out as a, as an atonement for our sins, that is what allows us and qualifies us to lead lives worthy of our calling. Bible says the blood speaks a better word. He calls out to us in the way we get to respond to that is by how we lead our lives. So if you're new here, we've been quoting this verse for the past eight months, Ephesians chapter four, verse one, would you, would you say it with me? Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God. The blood calls you, the blood calls you righteous, the blood calls you forgiven, the blood calls you saved. I want to give you another passage today that, um, I want us to think about and process and

it's found in Mark chapter 12. And these are the words of Jesus. And in Mark chapter 12, thank you so much. He, he's speaking to his disciples and the people gathered around them and he gives them this instruction. He says this, and you must love the Lord, your God, with all your heart. We say all, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. He says, that's the greatest commandment. Then he says, the second is equally as important. Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these. And you know, he meant business because he was hood with, he was like, no greater commandment. No other commandment is greater than these instead of no greater commandments are like he didn't care about the pronunciation. He said what he said. And what he was communicating, articulating is that God does not want part of you, he wants all of you. Why? Because he loved with his all. And he's saying, I need you to match this energy. Like, all of my love was poured out to you. And if you're gonna love me, I need your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. What's interesting about that verse is we all interpret it differently based on our experiences, based on our wiring, all the things. And I wasn't here last week, but I know it was amazing. I had to watch it. Were you guys here last week? I thought John did a phenomenal job. But I recognize that maybe you're new to Legacy, or you're newer, or maybe you've been distant for whatever reason, and you're choosing to come back. And I'm grateful for that. So I just want to get us all on the same playing field, okay? Make sure we're all understanding the same thing. So the mission of Legacy Church is to love,

live, and lead like Jesus. Now, it sounds simple, it's quotable, but it's actually a lot of complexities to that. Because again, depending on our perspective, we can interpret that differently for our own lives. And the danger of that is that if we do not have a solid foundation for what it means to love, live, and lead like Jesus, we will recreate a version of Jesus that instead of us growing more like Him, He starts to look a lot more like us. And so in this individualized culture where everyone wants to be unique and independent and do it my way, and this is how I feel, the beauty of Legacy Church is even though we're diverse, not just in ethnicity, but in thought, and background, and experiences, and current circumstances, we make a decision collectively to leave our individuality at the door and come into this place as sacred and holy ground, where all we require is one thing, humility. Because if we walk in here with humility instead of arrogance or individuality, Ooh, that sounds spiritual. That was cool. If we walk in here with humility, that one thing, one act of humility allows us to do two things. It allows us to submit and surrender. It allows us to submit our will to God's will. And it allows us to surrender our tendency to be in charge to the one who is actually Lord and Creator. And we submit to the authority of His words. And once we do that, all of a sudden, our mind, our heart, our soul, our mind and strength come into alignment with the calling that He's placed on each and every one of us in His plan for our lives. And so the goal of being a part of this community is that every week we gather and every day that we remind ourselves the Word of God,

we start to look more like Jesus and less like us. So I want to invite you to partner with us for these next few moments. And I just need one thing from you. And it's the same thing I have to give myself and choose to walk in. We just need humility, a spirit of humility that allows the Spirit of God to transform us from the inside out. Are you with that? You okay with that? And we pray for you. Holy Spirit, help. Because humility is hard when we've sat on the throne of our lives for so long. So help us supernaturally to surrender and to submit to the Spirit of God and to the Word of God. And let us operate like sons and daughters, not like orphans. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Before you get seated, can we welcome everybody that's watching online from all over the world? Everybody that's in the auxiliary room and the overflow room. Thank you. You can be seated. My wife and I, we've been traveling a lot the past two weeks. We haven't been home for 14 days. We just got back home yesterday. And most recently we were in Alaska and Canada. And anytime we go anywhere, you want to take pictures and things. But my wife, she never lets me take pictures. She says, I don't understand the lighting. My lighting is bad. She says my camera's too fudgy. So she will find a stranger who doesn't even speak English and put a phone in their hand and be like, can you take our picture? She trusts anyone more than me with a phone and a camera. But so then, because I'm competitive, I'm trying to always prove that I can capture quality content. And so just the other day, we were on a boat and i was determined to capture quality content and this is what i this is what i saw or got yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah keep watching that's not ai that is my iphone six and a half wait for it wait for it look at the splash that's crazy all right that's enough that's

enough that's enough but yeah so anybody wants me to be their videographer for their wedding i'm i'm available taking her but um but yeah while we were while we were out there we also had an opportunity to hear from the president or the former president of a prominent uh research company called barna and he was giving us some interesting information he said that in the past 10 years our society has completely transformed from the normal generational process of how we view the world and how we view ourselves and the the the driving factor in all of this is social media social media has completely changed how we view ourselves and how we view others traditionally across all societies we always had echo chambers where you know if you're from you know the middle of nowhere area y'all all think the same y'all talk the same but once you get out of that bubble your mind is exposed to new things new thoughts and or someone from outside can come in and you're open to learning and growing and so just because you start there doesn't mean you stay there that all changed because with social media we all have platforms and we all want to be heard and we we we've now exalted ourselves as the the the leading authority of anything and everything even though we have partial information but it's not just that we now are surrounded in these echo chambers where anyone that does not think like us uh feel like us we then demonize them or distance ourselves from them and the algorithm keeps that going so what it's done is it's there's four levels of humanity that we all share it's first is identity who i am right then it's uh beliefs what i believe then it's practices like what i do and then it's people where i belong and so traditionally if i once i know who i am it's rooted in what i believe about myself and about the world and then i start to practice my practices reinforce my beliefs and my identity and my people are those are my people but with social media and with this just this this generation and it's it's multiple generations you got the everybody you got facebook you got an opinion right well what happens now is so societists sociologists they say there's this decoupling and what does that look like within the church well for christians it means that i can self-identify as a christian even if i don't believe all of the words of jesus so jesus is like i need you to love the lord your god with all your heart all your mind all your strength you're like i'll give them sundays from 11 30 to one uh with all your mind all your strength ooh the whole like my body my time my money my choice and and we think that's normal not only that you'll you'll you'll you'll have a practice where you say um i don't need to go to church because i am the church so you no longer have a people but you believe you're okay because

that's what you practice so do you see how it's so disconnected like it it almost doesn't make sense but we made it make sense and so the challenge that we have is how do i love god with my all when i'm so used to treating him like a side piece how do i fully commit to jesus not just being my savior but being my lord if jesus is in the passenger not the driver's seat of my life honestly he's in the back seat but that's the beauty i guess said of legacy church because if you would just choose to walk in humility you can actually allow the spirit of god to recouple you and recouple your identity and recouple your beliefs and recouple your practices and your people to where you no longer have trust issues in the authority of god but you fully trust you have that belt of truth that you know who's forming you you're not allowing the algorithm to form you you're not allowing your personal experiences to form you you're not allowing your preferences to form you but you're allowing the truth of god's word to be the thing that makes you secure, and you're allowing the righteousness of God to protect you from becoming self-righteous with the people that agree with you on the YouTube comments. And so, in the beginning of the year, we made it a, I just felt a conviction, like, we gotta learn how to practically love God with our all, because it is not normal anymore. And so, we went through a process of, first, what does it mean to love God with all of our heart? And so, that's why we did this series that's relational. That's why we did the Get Your Ship Together series in the beginning of the year. It was intentional of, like, how do we actually relate to love our neighbor as ourself when I'm still used to just loving myself and demonizing my neighbor if they don't fit my preferences or my standards? How do I actually have healthy, God-honoring relationships? That's why we did the Get Your Ship Together series.

But then he says, don't just love me with all your heart, I need you to love me with all your mind. I'm sorry, no, he goes soul, soul, soul. Heart, soul, what is soul? Your will and emotions. And we were like, well, that's tough, because some of us are emotional. And if we're gonna love God with all, we better get ready, it's tough. That's why we did the Grit series. And then, not just our soul, but our mind. Like, how do I allow the mind of Christ to be inside of me? And that's why we're going through spiritual warfare right now, because I believe, all the time, the greatest war is right here. Because your view of reality often dictates your view of spirituality. And so, that's why we're in this series. And then next, we'll talk about how to love God with our strength. That's our time, talent, treasures, and temple. And so, all these things are designed to allow us to, again, not allow the culture or the algorithm to form us, but for us to be formed into the image of Christ. And it's tough, that's why we're staying in the spiritual warfare series, piece by piece. So, we're in Ephesians, because that's where it breaks it down. And Ephesians is interesting,

because the letter of Ephesians is written by Paul to the church of Ephesus. It's this place near Greece, and actually, we're gonna go there next summer. If you wanna go, you can go on our website and get more information. But he writes this letter to the church of Ephesus, and in Ephesians chapter one, the first part of the letter, he's just talking about the spiritual blessings of knowing Christ. Like, if you just know, if you could know Christ, your whole life would change. It's such a blessing to know him. And then, in chapter two, he talks about how we were born dead into sin, but we're actually made alive through Christ Jesus. And it's this thought that you can be successful on an earthly level, but there will always be something missing in your life because God made you that way. God intentionally designed you to where nothing in the entire world will fully satisfy you like he will. And Jesus said that, like, apart from me, you can do nothing, meaning, like, you are literally dead. You're like, no, I'm living my best life. No, you're living a dead life. You just don't know it.

And he says, I came that you may have life and have it to the full. So Paul talks about that in Ephesians chapter two. But then in Ephesians chapter three, he talks about, like, the mysteries of God. Like, there's so much that we don't understand, but a lot of it, God wants to reveal to his sons and daughters that are in relationship with him and that allows us to boldly come into his presence. And then he talks about how we don't have to be timid or intimidated, but he just wants us to grow. And then, in Ephesians chapter four, he talks about what you said. He begs us to lead a life worthy of our calling. But then, the rest of that chapter, he actually talks about leading a life worthy of your calling means that you're bringing unity to the body of Christ. So you're not super spiritual because you can critique how other people aren't that Christian. That's actually the antichrist spirit that's operating in and through you. You're super spiritual when you can bring unity to the body, not divide it. You gotta learn to agree to disagree for the sake of unity. Now, that's in Ephesians chapter four. And then, in Ephesians chapter five,

he says that we need to just imitate God in everything we do. And he talks about how to live led by the spirit's power and how to have spirit-guided relationships and marriages and how wives should submit to their husbands and their husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church, which is being sacrificial. And he talks about all these things. And then, in Ephesians chapter six, he talks about how children need to obey their parents. And that's the verse I'm trying to get my kids to memorize and get tattooed on themselves. But then, he also talks about how adults need to submit to those in authority over them. And that's the part for you where it's like, oh, I hate my boss, you don't know my boss. And like, I do know your boss's name is Jesus and you're disrespecting Jesus when you have that group chat talking crap about your boss because I hope you talk to me in the overflow room because they are quiet up in here, up in here. Well, you don't know my boss and you don't know what I gotta do. He's dealing with you. And read Ephesians five. But then, in Ephesians chapter six, actually, that's actually a part of Ephesians chapter six, but that's how he starts it. But then, he pivots it a little bit. In Ephesians chapter six, verse 10,

this is what he says, a final word, be strong in the Lord and in. His mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, or your boss, or supervisor, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the piece that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Okay, if I'm in the church of Ephesus, I'm feeling really good in the first five chapters of this letter. It's like God loves you, God knows you, God wants to bless you and your relationships and your marriage, and he wants your kids to listen to you and there to be peace, and you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Paul's like, plot twist, and he wants you to fight the devil. You're like, who? And then it gets better, and the devil is going to shoot fiery arrows at you, and you get a shield of faith. Anybody ever play pretend? You remember when you're little, you play pretty, you play with your kids, they got your imagination. Remember when you were playing pretend with your cousins, your siblings, you start play fighting, and you hit them, and they hit you, and you hit them a little harder, and then they just knock you out, and you're like, you play too much, man. My son is in that area. He's not violent. We don't speak that. He's just aggressive, okay. So anytime I walk in the house, he's like, dad, let's fight. And so I'm like, yeah, play fight with him a little bit, and then, you know, we'll be hitting each other, but then he'll go to his room and pull out a lightsaber and just start swinging on me, and I'm just like, hey, like you can poke my eye, he's just aggressive. So then I'll grab the lightsaber, and I'll just, in his stomach, and then he goes and cries to his mom, and like, dad, dad, he hit me. I'm like, why are you acting light-skinned, bro? You gotta, all the Jaden's are offended in the church. They're like, what does that even mean? You know what I mean. That's what we can, you want a public school when you get out of preschool. You want, you can't be doing that. Start, don't start no stuff, won't be no stuff, you know. I'm just

kidding. I love our Jaden's. Don't you love the diversity of legacy? I go in the lobby sometimes, I grab the wrong kid. I'm like, oh, wrong beige kid, my bad, that's not mine, not mine. Just kidding. So my son, he'll want to play fight till he really get hit in the stomach, and all of a sudden he want to cry about it, and I was thinking about him, because I was thinking about you, because you're my spiritual sons and daughters, and I'm so tired of getting the emails about, I don't understand why the devil is attacking me, and I don't understand what's happening. It's because you've been play fighting for too long, and you think this is a game, and not a spiritual warfare, and you think you can just walk. Well, I thought he loved me, and I thought she was the one, and like, no, no, no, you didn't commit to understanding that this is not a flesh and blood thing. This is a spiritual thing, and there are spiritual principalities that you have to actually understand that you are fighting, not tolerating, not playing with, not just being loose, like, like, like, this is a what? Saying practice. I'm talking about practice. So, so, so here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to do. I want to, I want to be, you know, a dark Paul, and try to help equip you to understand how the shield of faith is not imaginary. This is not God setting you up for failure, like, well, he got real arrows, and I'm over here. No, no, no. The shield of faith is actually the most, not just protective, but proactive weapon you can use in this war. Matter of fact, the Bible would say that the things that are unseen are more real than the things that you see. You see the effect, not the cause, and so Paul is trying to equip the church of Ephesus to understand that the shield of faith is essential, and faith is not a coping mechanism because you can't deal with reality. Faith is not something you go to once life gets hard and you hit rock bottom. Faith is the thing that you actually use to effectively fight. It's not passive. It's very aggressive, and so when Paul is saying this, first of all, let's think about the word faith. Let's get on the same page as that. Faith is used 247 times in Scripture, roughly, and 245 of those times are in the New Testament, and the two-thirds of the New Testament is written by Paul. So Paul takes faith very seriously. Not only that, but Paul is Hebrew. He's Jewish, but he's speaking to a church in a Greek culture, and he's looking at a real Roman soldier wearing armor, and when he uses, he describes faith, he's using a Greek word that means trust. Conviction, persuasion, faithfulness, and allegiance. If you're to summarize all that,

you can almost say he's using faith as a description of loyalty. Like, I pledge my allegiance to this. I put my full trust into this. But again, he's Hebrew, and the Hebrew interpretation of faith, which we see at least twice in the Old Testament, isn't just about loyalty. It's also about steadiness. It's stability. And so Paul is essentially combining the words to say, I need you to have a loyal stability. Now, that is a choice. That is not an emotion. That is not a feeling, which is good, because he's actually taking the pressure off of you, like, well, I don't have faith because I don't feel it. No, no, faith is more than a feeling. Matter of fact, we often say in Christendom that the opposite of faith is fear. Well, at Legacy, we disagree, because when I look at Peter walking on water, thinking he's following a ghost, but hoping it's Jesus, he was scared. He was full of fear, but he still walked in faith. The thing that actually caused him to sink was when the Bible says he saw the wind, and then he became more certain that what he was on was unstable because he saw some unstable things around him.

What is my point? The opposite of faith is a fear, it's certainty, because once I'm certain, I no longer need faith. And maybe, maybe, just maybe, I don't wanna project this on you, but I wanna ask you this. Have you been fighting faithless? I'm not saying you don't believe in God. I'm not saying you don't love God. I'm not saying that you're not trying. I'm just asking, are you fighting based on things that bring you stability, or that you're comfortable with, or that look stable, or that feel stable, and you don't recognize that you're actually leading your life faithless, even though you claim to be a person of faith? And maybe the reason that those arrows are hitting you are because you're not holding up a shield of faith. You're actually holding a shield of whatever you find security in. What's interesting about the shield that Paul just beautifully takes faith and then incorporates it to a shield is that when he's defining the shield, the definition he uses of shield isn't this. You see, this is what we would call a buckler. It's a type of shield, for sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's handy, but when it's not, but when Paul refers to a shield,

he's actually referring to a Greek word, which is scutum. And this is what a scutum looks like. You see the difference? Just a little bit longer, a little bit wider, a little bit more secure. And what's really cool about the scutum is Roman soldiers, they would take them, and before war, they would dip them in water. They would find a lake or stream or ocean, body of water, a sea, and they would saturate their shield in water, which made it heavier, but then they would carry it in a battle. And they weren't doing it to be superstitious or just out of a ceremony. It was actually a strategy because the enemies they were fighting, they would shoot arrows of fire at them, and they would have tar and pitch on the end of those arrows. And if a Roman soldier just put up a shield, the arrow would either pierce the shield or it would set the shield on fire, causing the Roman soldier to drop the shield so they weren't overwhelmed by the flame. Sometimes the devil doesn't need to kill you. He just needs you to drop your shield. He just needs to overwhelm you. He just needs to make you feel like, oh, this isn't really working, so let me drop that. I thought I had faith, but I'm feeling overwhelmed now,

so I'm gonna drop the shield because it's on fire. No, no, no, no. That's why Paul started in Ephesians chapter five, and he said, husbands, wash your wives by the washing of the water of the word. He was already knowing where he was gonna go with that. He was saying they need a shield, but there's arrows that are coming at them all the time when you're away or even when you're at home that you don't know about, and they don't just need a shield of faith. They need it washed in the water. They need to hear you praying for them. They need to hear you reading the Bible. They need to see you praying over. Why? That causes their faith to be saturated in the water of the word to where faith isn't no longer ethereal or historical from what my grandma heard, but I'm constantly bathing it in Scripture, in the presence of God. in the holy spirit so now my shield has power and it's not just if i get hit no no it's saying no weapon formed against me you can shoot the arrows as much as you want but they're falling off because they can't stick just because it shoots to you it can't stick to you when you've been saturated in the water of the word so i just love the shields but y'all don't want to talk okay so paul gives this beautiful illustration of what faith actually looks like aggressively and how it protects us but then i find it interesting that in ephesians chapter 6 when you go through that passage of scripture he he's trying to help he uses a lot of words like you're like that could kind of be sure no no but he's very intentional and i want to show us the four

things that paul communicates in scripture that allow us to effectively hold up our shield because i don't know what arrows are being shot at you i don't know what you're dealing with mentally emotionally relationally but but i do know this the shield works you just need to learn how to hold it the first thing that paul talks about in ephesians 6 he says in verse 10 a final word be strong and then he says put on all the armor so that you will be able to stand firm and then he talks about we're not fighting insulation blood and all these things but then in verse 13 he says put on every piece of god's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy and then he says for shoes verse 15 put on the piece that comes from god so that you will be fully prepared anybody ever felt like you were unprepared for what you were dealing with how how how intentional of paul before he tells you how to fight he tells you how to be he tells us that we need to be even before we do i um if i'm honest i have a hard time with that i i we were i was talking to my therapist the licensed one that i pay for not the one i live with um and she was you know hearing about my just the internal things i was trying to navigate and things like that and she kind of interested me she says you know justin you're at your best when you're rested and i was like well no duh if i get a good nap and then yeah and then she said your wife is at her best when she's playing and i was like no no you don't understand that no i'm at my best she says no because you are so wired to just do and to build and to be driven and to go and you want this mama mentality she's like that's cute that's good but you don't know how to just be the seasoned saints used to say be still and way to show your age but i didn't know how to do that because maybe you're like me where anytime i'm just being i feel a thing about all the things i should be so i can be on vacation and pull out my phone now it's a work trip because i'm going through emails i'm trying to respond to people oh but they and i and i justify because i'm like but they need me i can't leave legacy church alone for a week they need me and she she's reminding me what the scripture says that no more than you need me i need him can i free some of you high performance individuals some of you leaders you entrepreneurs you you you strong will just builders learn to just be and the beauty of that quote that the that the wisdom of the saints know of be still and know is it's not some like kumbaya like you just need to like go to alaska and sit in the woods and be with god no no this is actually the context of that that scripture it's in psalms chapter 46 it says this come see the glorious

works of the lord see how he brings destruction upon the world he causes wars to end throughout the earth he breaks the bow and snaps the spear he burns the shields with fire be still and know that i am god i will be honored by every nation i will be honored throughout the world the lord of heaven's army is here among us the god of israel is our fortress do you understand the beauty of that i want to talk to someone that's had to carry the weight and the responsibility from a young age of looking out for everybody else god wants to look out for you but sometimes you're in the way of what god wants to do you're trying to fight battles that god wants has already won for you because you don't know how to just be still because once you in psalms learn how to be still then paul says then you will be able and then you will be fully prepared and then you will be able to fight but until you before you go out fighting start by being that's why spending time with god and prioritizing just being with him before you do anything for him before you do all the things that he's entrusted you with just learn how to be the best strategic tactic you can have when fighting the enemy is unknowing which battles you're called to fight and which battles god just wants to fight for you somebody say just be but also you gotta fight because he says we have to fight matter of fact in in second corinthians chapter 10 he says for though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world on the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds i like to have my grandma used to say the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through god through the pulling down of strongholds if you really saved you memorize king james version that's the anointing think about that god is not telling you to be passive god is not telling you to be a doormat and allow the enemy to walk all over you and your family no no he's just saying i just need you to fight different he's saying i know how your mom and daddy fought and i know the passive aggressiveness that you learned and i know how you can manipulate situations i know how you can ignore i know you can cut off i know how you can cut deep with your words or your eye like i know you know how to fight that way but that's the world's way and you know what the world gets you when you fight the world's way you get the world's results dysfunction pain generational cycles of trauma and and chaos but he says i want you to fight i want you to be violent and aggressive for my sake

but i need you to fight my way what does that look like it means that i have to be with god so i can hear god's voice and respond god's way to the wars that i'm in and also i need the discernment of god to know what to pull out in this situation and some of us if we're honest we have so many voices coming at us that we can't differentiate god's voice from our therapist's voice from our parents voice from our chat gbt like we can't and this isn't new this has been happening forever you know we sang the song about you're my champion giants fall that's all about david and goliath you guys know a lot of you know the story david and goliath this teenager uh it sees this giant and says i'm gonna go fight him well the backstory is that that wasn't david's fight originally that was the giant was calling out the king saw but saw was so fearful of losing the fight against the giant that he just ignored all child labor laws and allowed a teenager to go fight a grown man but then this is where it gets interesting even though he doesn't want to fight goliath he still has an opinion for how david should fight him and he says put on my armor jonathan touched on this last week but i want to dig deeper because i wonder how many of you are fighting faithless because you're listening to the voice of a soul that is putting on armor on you that does not fit your assignment and here's what's dangerous about that you are listening to voices that have no history of victory in their resume and have no vision of hope for their future so they're using you to fight the things that they won't deal with for themselves so you're out here as david fighting goliath solves wars solves ways and you're losing well if they were my kid i don't know if this is the right parenting as you're being a little harsh you're listening to people whose kids are wilding out you're about to take parenting advice from them i've seen your fruit well if that was my marriage i wouldn't let my man talk to me like that or i wouldn't let my woman talk to me like that they they single not by choice because nobody else want to deal with them like you won't listen to them well she need to submit no you need to submit to god and then she can follow and yes how about you pray wash her with the washing of the word don't call her crazy don't call her controlling call her a daughter of the king who needs the identity of the father to wash over her because she has an orphan spirit that's been hurt and traumatized but you're fighting goliath solves ways and that's why i love david because david was a savage that's why we're starting a leadership

college because we're going after young people that's why we have student ministry because we're going after young people that you know the disciples were just teenagers that was just a glorified youth group that changed the world and so i love what david said david said i can't fight in this it doesn't fit me he didn't say i can't fight he just said i can't fight in this because it doesn't fit me why because he knew he knew that saul's perspective saul's mind was formed by fear but david's mind was formed by faith. That's why he says, I don't need your armor and I don't need an army. I just need a rock because the rock got me through the lion. The rock got me through a bear. And if the rock got me through that, the rock can get me through this. And that's why my season saints say, on Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is come on somebody. Here's the beauty of fighting with things that fit you because then you stop listening to people that can't defeat the giant in front of you anyway. I got my own giant. I can't listen to someone speaking to my marriage that doesn't have a history of faith and commitment in theirs. I can't let somebody speak into my children that doesn't have a voice of faith that for their lives themselves. I'm not going to let you speak death over my, no, no, no. I'm not going to even let you speak into my leadership. Like just because you got this trauma, you got these insecurities. No, no, I need a history of victories and a vision of faith for the future. I can't listen to souls when I know that God put this giant in front of me, but he also equipped me with the tools I need to defeat it. So after you learn how to be, after you fight, then you got to make a decision to, everybody say stand. And this is important because Paul says, after the battle, I love that. After the battle, you'll still be standing. I want to talk to someone that you're having a, you're having trouble standing, staying, remaining in your marriage because you've lost faith in your spouse. And right now you're, you're on the brink of walking away. Matter of fact, you, you might live in the same home, but you're in different rooms. You're not, you're not in the same house. You're not in the same room. You're not in the same house. You're in different rooms. You're not, you're, you're standing in it, but you're not staying in it. You're there physically, but you're not there emotionally. You're not there mentally. You're not there relationally. Why? Because you've lost faith that they can actually change. And then I want to talk to someone that has a, God gave you a clear dream for your life, for the future, and you've given up on it. Not because, not because you don't see it,

but because since it hasn't working out and you don't see a way for it to work out, you, you're just like, well, I guess it wasn't God. No, no, no. Here's the two things God wanted me to tell you. One, stop putting faith in your spouse. Start putting faith in the one who brought you two together. Secondly, stop putting faith in the dream. Start putting faith in the dream giver. Your faith is not wrong. It's just misplaced. Oh, because you can't stand unless you have the right things holding you up. That's my last thing. You need faith to be, you need faith to fight, you need faith to stand, and you need faith to hold. Everybody say hold. Because that's what he says in Ephesians chapter six, verse 16. He says, in addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. What does that mean? Okay. The way you respond in a fight is predicated on the voice and source you trust the most. What does that mean? Some of you are overwhelmed because you don't know how financially you can get through this situation. Why? Because your faith is in your finances. Some of you are discouraged because you put all your eggs and hopes into this person, and since they didn't work out or it's not working out, you think something's wrong with you. And it is. You put faith in a failing person. Isn't it crazy how we'll be more loyal to things that consistently fail us than we'll be loyal to the one that's faithful? We will keep going back to a broken situation. Well, maybe this time. Well, maybe that time. That's the definition of insanity. That's why I don't understand how people like, I just, the faith thing, and that's for people that, no, no. It takes more faith to believe that this just exploded and worked out than it does to believe that there's a perfect creator that intentionally did it. It takes more faith to put your faith in humanity than the one in divinity. When has humanity ever created a utopia? When has a person ever not failed someone else? So, the shield of faith is actually protecting us from us, because if we don't hold on to faith, we will lean on things that will fail us. And so, he says, I want you to hold up your shield. Now, I want to give, not a way out, but I want to address the people that maybe you're like, I do want to be a person of faith, but some stuff just doesn't make sense to me. And I need things to make sense to me, because I'm just a rational person. I'm a logical person. I just need to understand. You raise your hand. Control freaks. Go ahead. Just say it. If you're a thinker, you're like, I get in my own head a lot. I'm not even being negative. Like, you're just like, I just, it's hard for me to commit to something if I don't understand. I need

to know the process. You're systematic. You're an engineer. You're a thinker. Here's what I need to know about faith. Faith is not asking or requiring you to dumb down. turn off your mind. This isn't a blind faith. That's ineffective faith. Matter of fact, faith actually brings clarity, not delusion. I always thought this was interesting. It wasn't until Peter had the faith to walk on water because he saw Jesus that the Bible says, then he saw the wind. And people try to, well, he felt the wind. No, no, no. You can believe he could walk on water, but you can't believe he could see wind. Here's the problem. We try to belittle God into what we can rationalize instead of understanding God isn't afraid of your questions. God isn't afraid of your rational. He wired you that way. He needed a thinker on the ship, but you need to always submit your rationalizations to an experience with God because got your rationalizations and your logic can't hold God. He's bigger than you. And here's the beauty of faith is that there's going to be a moment in my life that I did not prepare for or that I did not see coming or that I did not plan for. And the temptation is to believe I'm overwhelmed and I'm going to give up and about, I'm going to bow out. But that's why, that's why you got to lead with faith, not with logic, not with emotions. Like you have to lead your life walking by faith, not by sight. And you're doing that because you understand that he's faithful, meaning that everything can be chaotic, but I've made a decision to be loyal and stable in who I trust in. You know, uh, last week, Jonathan was confessing his, uh, suspect parenting techniques with his two-year-old and how when she prays, uh, for God to turn the TV on or Jesus turns me on, he'll plug the TV in. And I'm just like, yeah, they're playing Jesus. One day you can unplug that thing. And he goes, you know what I mean? Like just to get you back. But I was thinking about baby Ryan, because I was like, we got so much in common. Like I just, I'll pray for anything. And, uh, I, I think that's actually a good thing. You know, I think there is a difference between growing older and growing up. And some of us have gotten older. We just haven't gotten more mature and wiser, which is sad, but I do think that there's something sacred and needed about maintaining a childlike faith. That's what Jesus said. Jesus said, unless you come to me as a child, you can't inherit the kingdom of God. What is he talking about? Humility and faith. And this past week, you know, just a little context real quick, me and my family, we're, we're not nature people, but we're a little disturbed. Like we just like seeing the raw parts of nature,

like nature gone wild. Like we want to see lion fights and animal attacks and things. So anyway, I say that because we, we go whale watching because we want to see a killer whale, like eat a seal or a dolphin in the middle of the ocean. Like that's our thing. So we're always, anytime we go on a vacation that has water, we're like, we want to do the whale watching and people like, you want to see seals and humpbacks? Like, nah, I want to see free Willy eat something. Okay. And so we do this everywhere. We go Hawaii, Mexico, California. We're always like, we'll do the whale watching. So we did it in Alaska and you saw, we got to see something crazy. That was, that was supernatural. Everybody on the boat was like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. The, the guides were like, this never happens. Like, I was like, well, I came on a boat and God's with me. And so you're welcome. I just expect great things. But, but if I'm honest, like I was grateful, like I was like, that was cool. That sounded like a whale. Like I, I was like, I expect great things. But so, so, so the whole time we're on the boat every day, I'm like, God, today's going to be there. I'm going to see free Willy. I'm going to see a orca. I'm going to see it. And I wouldn't see it. And then even on Thursday, when we saw like the humpback whales, just, you know, just going bonkers, like, and everybody's like, oh my gosh, this is like, there is a God. I'm like, this is cool. And I'm grateful. But I was like, but God, I really just want to see a killer whale. And I want to speak to someone who you're feeling this, this tension, because the people around you are shaming you for wanting more. And they're like, you already got the great house. You have a great job. And you're like, no, I am grateful, but my heart just wants something different. Like, I want to speak to someone that it's not that you're not content with God. It's just that you just, there's something that you're just really believing for. And it just hasn't happened yet. And, and you're just, there's something in your heart. And because I think sometimes we demonize ambition, and we demonize, we demonize faith for more. Because we're surrounded by souls that settle for less. Or we're, faith is also a gift, and we're surrounded by people that don't have the same gift as us. And so I'm saying all that because every single day I was praying for a whale. And then on the last day, I'm like, man, God, it's the last day. And I'm just kind of walking on the top. And, and I wasn't supposed to be at the spot that I was at, but I walked to the side. the ship and I want you to see what I saw. Come on, come on, come on, do it again, do it again, do it again. That is a killer whale or a shark. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, Jesus. Jesus is real. Guys, Jesus is real. Let me pray. Guys, you see the eye? You see the eye?

You saw the white mark? That was Willie. I showed my son. He was so hyped. You're like, why is this grown man? That wasn't even the worst, but I got multiple videos. I started chasing that thing. I'm running through the deck. I'm throwing kids overboard. Like, I got to see the whale. I'm just like, who is this? I'm sorry. Like, I just, I get excited. But, but some of you are like, I don't get it. Let me tell you why that matters. Because the majority of my life is not spent on cruises in the open ocean. The majority of my life is spent like this, where I'm constantly feeling like there's arrows being shot at me. I'm constantly feeling like the enemy is attacking me. And maybe you can relate to that to where you're, you feel like you're under fire right now. And that's why you need an Orca moment. That's why you need a killer whale moment where you can remember and remind yourself that God cares about the little things in my life. God cares about the deep desires of my heart. Like, like, like, if God can show me an Orca, and here's the thing about Orcas, they travel in pods. There was no pod. Like, I just want you to understand how miraculous this was. There was no other Orcas. I've been on that ship every day. Every day, my binoculars, I'm like, every day, I asked my wife, it was like, hey, we should go. I'm like, no, it could happen. It could happen. So that, that matters because there was no pod. There was no like, well, like all the money I wasted on whale watching couldn't save just by being at the right place where God wanted me in the right time. But you know what I never lost? I never lost faith that he could do it. And now, next week or tomorrow, when there's an arrow shooting at me and I feel overwhelmed, I can remind myself, but he's the God of the Orcas. He'll bring an Orca to the middle of my ship in the middle of Canada or wherever we were at the month. Like if he'll do that, I can trust like, what? Why? Because he sees me. You just need the faith of a child to hold up a shield because you know, God sees you. Now, now, now here's what I also want to add. Did you put the video back up? I think this is important because what you're seeing right now is the testudo formation. Do you see how they're holding the shields up? What you can't see is they're also holding the shields in front. And that happens because when Paul is talking to the church and he's saying, you need to put on every piece of God's armor, he's not just talking to you. I know you think you're special. I know God loves you. You're God's favorite. You go on boats and Orcas pop up. I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it. But the Roman soldiers understood that every shield was designed to fit into another shield next to it. And so the testudo formation is

actually the original design of the shields that it would form this turtle formation that would cover them top, side, side, and front. But you can't do that on your own. That's why a faith community matters because there's going to come a moment in your life where you don't honestly have the faith to hold up your shield and you need a praying mama to come hold up the shield for you. There's going to come a moment in your life where you're struggling in your marriage, you're struggling in your finances, you're struggling with your kids, you're struggling with your emotions, you're struggling with your identity, and you need to know that I'm in an army. I'm not just a soldier but I'm in the army of God and there are other people that will hold up my shield or their shields when the enemy is trying to get me and single me out. And that's why every man, I need you to come to the men's advance because you need to, September 17th, you need to be a part of an army of men that lets you know you are not alone. You are not figuring it out by yourself. God has not forgotten you. God has not given up on you. It's not too late. Like you have brothers that will go to war with you but we can't go to war with you if you won't stand with us. And that's why we're starting a college so we can raise a whole generation. This isn't to be some cute internship. We're raising an army out here. Multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-socio-economical that can go into all the worlds. Not as do you know that Jesus loves you but do you know that Jesus will fight for you? Do you know that Jesus died for you? Do you know that Jesus rose for you? Do you know that Jesus has armor available for you? Stand up to your feet. Stand up to your feet. Don't make me land. Here's what I want you to ask yourself in this moment. What areas of my life do I need to raise and hold my faith? Think about it. Matter of fact, ask Holy Spirit that right now. That's not rhetorical. Ask God, what areas of my life do I need to raise and hold my faith? He'll show you. He'll tell you. And even as he's revealing it to you, you have to respond. You have to make a decision. This cannot be an emotional thing. This has to be a stable allegiance, a loyalty. Like I'm committing to exchange control, stability, and comfortability for a greater trust and dependence on God.

And you know the beautiful thing about it? You don't have to wait until you're in the middle of a war or storm. You're always in a war, but you might be on cruise mode right now. That's a perfect time to raise your level of faith. Don't settle for good. Go after God. And I'm excited for you. Do you know, I could have stayed in Canada last. I could have chased orcas somewhere, but I came all the way back to hell. I mean, Arizona, just to tell you that I am for you, not just me, but there is an army of people. We are for you. We came back to torment whatever's tormenting you. We came back to let depression know that you're still standing. We came back to let the addiction know you can't have the final say over your life. We came back all the way from above because we wanted to know that we're in the battle with you. And I need you to know that if you're a part of Legacy Church, I need you to remind yourself what the word of God says over you, that the very fact you woke up this morning means the devil already messed up. He should have took you out last year. He should have took you out last month. He should have took you out last week, but the moment you woke up, that means God's mercy is renewed for your life. That means he still has a plan and a purpose for you. And every time you open your Bible, that means your faith is growing because the voice of God is getting louder and the voice of the algorithm is getting smaller. And every time you lift your hands in worship, you are actually holding a shield of faith that says my identity and my beliefs and my practices and my people will be covered by the word of God.

And even if the arrow comes at me, it can't get into my heart. It can't get into my mind. It can't get into my spirit. Why? Because greater is he that is in me than him that are in the world. And I just wonder if we could take a few moments to let out a war cry of worship that reminds the enemy that we're still standing, that we're still here, that we're still fighting, that we're not moving. Hey, if you're still watching at this point, I believe that it's not an accident. I believe that if you're feeling something in your spirit, that is God trying to get your attention and invite you into a deeper relationship with him. And so if you're ready to take that step, I want to walk you through what that looks like. It's simple. We're going to say a prayer together, and it's just you acknowledging that you believe that Jesus is who he says he is and that you're willing to commit your life to following him and learning what it means to be a son or daughter of God. So repeat after me if you can, Jesus, here I am. I believe that you love me, that you died for me, and that you want a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I need a savior, and I'm committing to learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If I mess up, I will not quit because you've never quit on me. I invite your Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me in your truth from today on. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, we're proud of you. That's a huge decision, and we don't want you to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own from this point. We have a value and legacy that says we follow Jesus for ourselves but not by ourselves. So I would invite you to text the number below, follow the instructions, and we're going to

send you resources so you can learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and be on this journey of faith. Congratulations. Your life will never be the same. Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed the online experience. Hey, if this message impacted you, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share it with a friend so we can continue to share the gospel. Hey, here at Legacy, prayer is our priority. If you have any prayer needs, you can send them to prayer at legacyaz.church. If you'd like to financially partner with Legacy, you can text any dollar amount to 84321. You can also download the Church Center app, visit our website at legacyaz.church, click on Ways to Give. You'll find links to support Legacy Church. You can find us on social media, otherwise, go out and love, live, and be like Jesus. We'll see you next week.