Turning Toward Freedom | Katie Hauck

Good evening. How's everybody doing? Good, good. I'm sorry if you can't really see this. I don't know if y'all know or not, but we put these lessons into the prisons and so it works a lot better for the camera to see when I'm up here. Is that okay with you guys? I would rather be down there, but we want the 1.2 million inmates that are watching to be able to hear the word, right? We want them because we want them to know that recovery is possible for them too, right? Even when they're sitting in a prison cell, right? The Lord can meet them right where they're at and so we want to walk them through the steps of Celebrate Recovery also so that when they get out they're prepared and maybe can come join us at a meeting sometime, right? So for those of you who don't know me, my name is Katie Hawk. I'm a grateful believer in Jesus Christ and I celebrate recovery from fear and shame and brokenness mainly and tonight I'm going to teach on Lesson 5 of Celebrate Recovery. So how many of you have ever said, I know what I should do, but I just can't? So you know what the right thing is, right? You even want to do the right thing, but something in you keeps choosing the wrong thing, right? Why is that? Well, that's what we're going to talk about today because the answer to that question is the difference between just being saved and actually being free. So Principle 3 says to consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control, but tonight I want to show you how life and will are two different things, okay? When I say life, what I'm talking about is salvation, okay? When you choose to give your life to Christ, you surrender your life, you're saved, you're sealed, you're made righteous, you're on your way to heaven. It's the most important decision you will ever make and I'm going to assume that everyone in this room has already made that decision, but if you haven't, don't leave tonight without doing so, okay? So once you do that and you give your life to the Lord, you have a choice and the choice is to give him your will or not, okay? And I want to tell you a story that taught me the difference between life and will. When I was 16 years old, I started dating a young man. I graduated high school and at 18 stood in front of a pastor and confessed my love for this man. We were married in a

park, not a church because neither of us were believers. We said our vows to each other and do you know how long we promised to love, honor, and cherish one another? Till death do us part, right? So on that day, we gave our lives to each other for better or worse, right? But then it took a turn for the worse. About three years into our marriage, I found out that I was expecting my first child. It was a really exciting day, but just two weeks later, my husband got orders. He was in the military to head to the Iraqi border. The U.S. was about to invade and he was going to be the first line of attack. So for seven months, I did not know if he was dead or alive. I did not know if he was going to come home and meet his son. But ten days before our son was born, he returned. The problem is the person who came home was not the same person who had left. My husband had already dealt with a lot of childhood trauma and abuse and neglect, but nothing could have prepared him for the hell that he endured and the chaos that he experienced while he was overseas. Some of you may know what that is like. He was suffering and he needed to find something to fill his mind and dull his pain. So he had a choice to make. He had to decide if he was going to turn to me as his wife and we were going to walk through this trauma together, or if he was going to turn to the world. Well, he chose the world. So he tried working a lot of hours to occupy his mind and when that didn't work, he tried different substances to try to dull the pain. And when that didn't work, he found other people that he thought might fill the void in his heart. And this went on for several years until one day I came home and he was standing in my living room with his suitcases packed. And he said, I'm giving up. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to be a dad or a husband. And he left. On that day, he took the life that he had given me back. So now I began trying to walk work through my own trauma and my own fears and my own brokenness because I never expected to be a single mom raising two kids at this point on my own working three jobs. But I was. And I thought I was managing pretty well other than the shame that I felt and the insecurity and the fact that I was questioning my value and my worth. And then one day...

My best friend told me about a man and I wasn't really interested but my friend said he really likes you. He said, she said, I think he thinks you're beautiful and he really really wants to get to know you and I hesitated but I finally gave in and before you know it I was standing in front of another pastor confessing my love only this time it wasn't until death do us part this time it was for all of eternity because that man that really wanted to get to know me was Jesus Christ and I was giving him my heart forever I gave him my life and it was the best decision I ever made but just because I gave him my life doesn't mean that on that day life suddenly got easy right there were still some things that I had to work through and here's what the Lord showed me the Lord showed me my first husband committed his life to me but every day he made his own choices he made his own decisions he laid out his own plans for his life and came up with his own ways to work through his trials I was with him but he hadn't committed his will to me and when I first met Jesus Christ I committed my life to him yet every day I still made my own choices I still made my own decisions I still laid out my own plans for my life and came out with my own ways to work through the trauma so God was with me but I hadn't submitted my will to him and one day he whispered to me Katie I want more than just your life I want all of you right so the question is you may have given Jesus your life but have you given him your will so how do we do that right how do we surrender our will to him not just our life and today I want to give you four steps to do that that spell the word turn t-u-r-n because that's what we're gonna do when we commit our will to Christ we're turning away from ourself away from the world and toward Christ okay before you can give something away you need to know what you have okay so I want to start here our God is a triune God you've probably heard me teach on this it's one of my favorite topics okay another word for triune is Trinity this mean God exists as three persons in one divine nature it means there's one God three distinct persons father son Holy Spirit this is a little bit of a difficult concept for us to wrap our brains around okay but I like to think about an egg this isn't perfect but an egg has

three parts to it right it has the yolk it has the white part and it has the shell but it's still one egg right it's kind of like three in one okay Genesis 126 says let us make man in our image so if God is triune and we were made in his image that means we are also triune only we are not father son Holy Spirit we are body soul spirit okay you are a spirit you possess a soul you live in a body your body is the flesh okay the vehicle that gets you around this earth your spirit is the part that goes to heaven or hell and your spirit has a soul which is your mind your will and your emotions when you accept Jesus as your Savior what you're giving him is your spirit 2nd Corinthians 517 says you are a new creation the old has passed away the new life has begun so your spirit is born again and it becomes one with the Lord when you die you're now going to heaven and that is awesome but God is not satisfied because he really wants your soul as well he wants your mind he wants your will he wants your emotions he wants all of you but do you know who else wants your mind your will and your emotions the enemy the enemy especially if he's already lost your spirit so you may not realize this but there is a fight for your soul there's a fight for your mind which are your thoughts there's a fight for your will which are your choices and there's a fight for your emotions which are your feelings okay Galatians 5 16 and 17 says so I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not able to do what you want understanding this changes everything because it shows you that you have a choice and I want to show you what I what I mean here and you've maybe seen this before three volunteers that are going to come up here and you've maybe seen me do this before okay but this is something that I believe is very powerful and it helps you understand this concept when you do it with volunteers okay so they're going to come up here and grab a sign and stand here next to me this represents you your body your soul your spirit okay your body remember is your flesh your soul your mind your will your emotions and your

Here's the thing, your spirit and your body cannot directly communicate with each other. The connection piece is your soul, okay? Your soul is where your thoughts come from, where your choices get made, and where your feelings are processed. And Galatians tells us that the flesh, the body, and the spirit are in conflict with each other. So it is always two against one. When your soul teams up, just stand right, go a little closer, there we go. When your soul teams up with your flesh, your spirit is outvoted. Do you see this? He's over here by himself. She, she's over here by herself. So you're still saved, your spirit is just being ignored. Okay, you're still a Christian, you're just not living like it because you're teamed up with your flesh, okay? When you look like this, what that produces is anger, fear, jealousy, hatred, selfishness, fighting, division, and sinful choices. But now come over here and stand next to the spirit. When your soul is teamed up with your spirit instead, your flesh, your body is outvoted. Same you, different team. And when these two are teamed up, it produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

It will never be three against zero. Your spirit is one with God, so your spirit cannot be corrupted. Your spirit will always vote for godly things, okay? Your flesh was made from the earth, therefore your flesh desires the things of this world. It will always vote for the things of this world, okay? Romans 8, seven says that the flesh is hostile to God. It cannot submit to God's law. It will always try to pull you away. It will always try to take your soul, always. But in 1 Corinthians 9, 27, Paul says, I have to take control of my body and bring it into submission. So when your soul is over here teamed up with your spirit, guess what it can do? It can grab your body and take control of it and make it submit, okay? But your soul is the swing vote every single time. Your soul has to put your flesh in its place. Okay, tell me your names really quick. I'm Jackie, Chase, Autumn. Ladies, you did amazing. Thank you so much, have a seat. So the question is, how do we get our soul to choose the right side? Okay, Romans 12, verses one through two. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. This is how you choose God's will, your spirit over your own will, your flesh. Renew your mind. You need to think differently. You do not need to think as the world thinks. You need to think according to God's will. You don't need to think according to your emotions or your flesh. You need to line those emotions up with your spirit. So how do you renew your mind? Read his word, study, pray, worship, spend time with him. And let me tell you, your flesh isn't going to want to. I promise you, there will be many days that you don't feel like doing these things. You don't feel like going to church. You're tired. You don't wanna stay up and read your Bible. You're angry. You don't want to worship God. You're disappointed. You don't feel like praying, but do you see those words? Feel, want, tired, angry, disappointed. Those are fleshly words, okay? When your soul is teamed up with your body instead of your spirit, those are the words

that are going to come out of your mouth. And when you recognize this, you begin to understand how your flesh is fighting your spirit, how it's being hostile to God. But remember, you can take control of your body and bring it into submission. I heard about this man. He was so tired every night when he'd go to read his Bible and he'd open up his word and he would fall asleep. And one day, do you know what he did? He stood up on the edge of the bathtub to read because he thought if I fall asleep, it's gonna be painful. And do you know what happened? He quit falling asleep while he was reading his Bible. That's right. There will be times you're too tired to read your Bible. Read it anyway. There will be times when you're angry and you don't wanna worship. Worship anyway. Way crank it up the louder the better. I have a friend. She says turn the volume up So loud, you don't hear the enemy's voice anymore, right? There will be times that you're disappointed and you don't want to pray pray Anyway, and start speaking God's promises over your situation And what you're doing is you're choosing your spirit over your flesh You're saying I refuse to conform to the patterns of this world Now when Paul says do not conform that's repentance language guys and Repentance that doesn't just mean feel sorry. It doesn't mean feel bad about what you're doing. It means turn away Repentance means turn away from the patterns of this world. Stop walking in that direction change course

That's the are in turn repentance Guys God's way is the opposite of the world's way The greatest example we have of this is called the Sermon on the mountain Interestingly all eight principles of celebrate recovery come from this teaching This teaching does not deal with salvation. That's the first step. It's already been covered It deals with lining your will up with God's will it shows us what will happen in our lives when we start walking? With the spirit instead of the flesh now, I would love to go through all eight of those with you tonight But we're gonna just go through three Okay, I want to show you three of them that I think hit really close to home, especially for those of us in recovery Okay, number one blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God These are people who know they are nothing without God. They know that they can't do that on their own Does that sound familiar to anybody here? This is step one language admitting that we are powerless Right, but the world the world says it's bad to be a beggar It's bad to rely on someone else pull yourself up figure it out be strong, right? But Jesus says when you admit that you can't do this on your own then I'll give you the kingdom Right number two is blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted These are people who mourn over their sin and this morning leads them to godly repentance. I Think everybody in here knows this morning We mourn what addiction took from us the years the relationships the people we could have been we mourn The pain that we've caused others and the world says don't worry. You're not that bad, right? Everybody makes mistakes moves on and that's true. But Jesus says let yourself grieve and feel the way and Then I will comfort you and I will give you complete forgiveness That's beautiful, the third one is blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth This is the heart of principle three guys. And here's what I've learned You can understand how you're made and you can know that you need to repent But none of it works without this piece of being meek Okay, but what is meek meek can be defined as mild of temper soft Gentle not easily provoked not easily irritated and

surrendering people who are meek before God Submit to his will and conform to his word now the world may tell you that meekness Equals weakness, but that is a lie because let me tell you to fully surrender to God and maintain an attitude of humility and gentleness and Patience and control takes tremendous strength Okay meekness requires Trust and you cannot surrender control to someone that you don't trust Proverbs 3 5 & 6 says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways Submit to him and he will make your path straight So you trust you submit you don't lean on your own understanding that's surrendering your will wrapped up in one verse guys Think about it in marriage You cannot submit to someone that you don't know You need to understand your spouse's character and desires and plans You need to know their innermost thoughts and you need to know them intimately and that's the same with God Once you know him intimately then and only then can you begin to trust his care and his control are so much Better than yours guys. His plan is so much better than yours His path is so much better than yours yet For some reason we still try to hold on the control we go through life trying to manage everything ourselves Because we don't trust someone else to do it, right? We don't trust that it will work out because how many of us have been let down before But the meek they aren't weak They're the people who trust God so deeply that they don't need to fight for control anymore. You know, when I went through my divorce, I had a lot of friends tell me that my suffering, that was just part of God's plan. Guys, they were wrong. We live in a broken world and bad things happen

and people have free will to make choices and their choices don't always line up with God's perfect plan. Their choices can affect what happens to you, but our God is so good that he promises to work all things together for our good if we choose to walk with him. If we choose to allow him to guide us, if we choose to fully submit, then he promises to help us and comfort us and lead us and protect us and renew our strength and answer us and love us and give us peace and fill us with joy and be our refuge and give us hope and walk through our trials with us. He promises to give us abundant life when we yield to God, when we trust his plan, when we conform to his word, when we renew our mind, when we are patient for his perfect timing, when we humble ourselves, accept his will, then we can have joy and gratitude in all circumstances and that brings us life. That's why the meek are happy and that's principle three. That's the T in turn, trust. Trust him enough to let go. Notice that Jesus said in that passage that the meek will inherit the earth, not heaven, earth. Well, we know salvation brings eternal life, but meekness brings life now. Meekness brings abundant life. So when we trust, when we understand,

when we repent, something changes. Romans 12, two says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That word transformed, that's where we get the word metamorphosis. And if you've ever heard Stephen D's talk, he has a really great teaching on metamorphosis, right? It's like a caterpillar who goes through a transformation. He goes through metamorphosis to become a butterfly. When you go through that, you transform into something brand new. So when you surrender your life to Christ, eternal life, but when you surrender your will, abundant life. The Bible says we are the bride of Christ and he promises to be a better husband than any earthly person could ever be because he won't take back what he's given you. It's not until death do you part. He won't leave you with brokenness. He will fill you with his spirit. He will take away your shame. He will give you an identity and he will show you your value. He will lavish his love on you. He will wrap his arms around you tight and never leave your side for all of eternity. So this is what new life looks like. It looks like we're no longer mad at the people who hurt us. We no longer care about revenge. We're no longer tired from trying to do things our own way.

We're no longer looking for a fight. We can find forgiveness and grace, both for ourselves and others. And we begin to see ourselves the way that God made us. When we renew our minds and reflect an attitude of meekness, we can then walk according to the spirit and experience life in abundance. That's the N in turn, new life. Not someday, now. So I'm gonna go back to our original passage in Galatians. Paul makes it clear that the fruit of your life will show which way you're walking, right? If you walk according to the flesh, it'll be obvious because Galatians 5, 19 through 21 tells us the acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. If you think about that list, some of us know that list very well. We've lived there for a long time. But if you walk according to the spirit, it will also be obvious, right? Because it tells us the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It says those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. That list, guys, that's not a fantasy.

That is available to you when your soul and your spirit team up. Now, you might say, that's hard. And tell me how renewing my mind helps my soul and my spirit team up, okay? I want you to think about a tree, okay? If you see an apple tree out in the yard, do you see that apple tree striving to produce fruit? Do you see it out there, crying really, really, really hard to make apples. No, when that tree is grounded and fed, the fruit comes naturally. Guys, that's the same with us. When we are grounded in God's word, and when we are regularly feeding at it, all those fruits of the spirit begin to produce naturally in our lives because our soul and our spirit are teaming up against our flesh. And we cannot do this on our own, and we cannot strive our way there. Before we close, I wanna give you something to take with you today, a phrase that you can pull out when you start feeling the flesh pulling you away, when you know that you're about to make the wrong choice. In that moment, I want you to say, I have a choice, my soul gets to vote. Okay, I have a choice, my soul gets to vote. That is the truth. Your flesh does not get to decide.

Your past does not get to decide. Addiction does not get to decide. Your soul gets to vote. And today, you can choose to vote with your spirit. And you need to, if you need a reminder of what you're doing, say, I'm turning, not earning, okay? Because you're not earning God's love. You're not earning freedom. You're just turning toward him, away from the world, and away from your flesh. Now, if you're like me, you've probably said, I've tried that, and I've surrendered hundreds of times. But here's the thing, guys. Surrender is not a one-time thing. It's a daily turn. It's an hourly turn. Sometimes it's a minute-by-minute turn, right? And that's why we call it turn, because you're gonna probably have to do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and maybe five times the day after that, okay? And that's okay, because the goal is not perfection. The goal is direction, right? You just keep turning. God isn't counting how many times you've had to turn back to him. He's just glad that you keep turning back to him. So this week, I want you to remember those initials, turn. T, trust. Trust God enough to surrender.

Get to know him intimately. Trust that his plan is better than yours. Trust that meekness is not weakness. It's strength under control. U is understand. Understand that you have a choice between your spirit and your flesh, and your soul gets the vote. R is repent. Turn away from the things of this world. Turn away from the world's patterns. Renew your mind and start transforming. And N is new life. Receive the abundant life that he's already prepared for you. Not just eternal life, but life now. So that's how we commit our will to Christ's care and control. I wanna pray with you, but first, if you have not committed your life to Jesus Christ, I just wanna encourage you one more time to do it today. That you can come up here, you can come to the altar and confess your love for him. That's the first step, and there's people here who will pray for you. But if you've done that, if you have committed your life to him, then it's time to give him your will also. It's time to stop making your own choices. It's time to stop laying out your plans and trying to come up with your own ways

to walk through your trials. So if you're ready to turn today, not perfectly, but just willingly, I want you to do something. I want you to picture whatever it is that you're fighting God against. And I want you to imagine that is in your hands right now. And I want you to open your hands in front of you. Can you guys do that? Can you just open your hands up in front of you like this? Guys, this is the posture of surrender. Because guess what? You're not holding onto anything when your palms are open like this. You're not clenching your fists, trying to control your life and the things that have been interfering with your life. You're just open. And with your hands open, it's like you're telling God, I'm letting go. I'm trusting you with my will today. Not just my life, you already have that, but my choices, my direction. I'm turning toward you, God. Lord, thank you so much for who you are. Thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your grace and your mercy, Lord. When we continue to fail over and over and over again, Lord, thank you that you are just waiting there with your arms wide open for us to run right back to you.

Thank you for every person in this room, Lord. God, because I know that you have a plan and a purpose for their life, God. And I know that they're being attacked by the enemy. And I know that they're hearing things of this world. And I know that they're fighting battles in their flesh, Lord, but I pray right now that you give them the power to overcome. Lord, that through the Holy Spirit, that you give their soul the power to make those right voices, the strength to go ahead and make the choices that they need to choice to make, Lord. God, that you help them deny their flesh and bring their body into full submission with your will, because I know when they do that, Lord, you're gonna do mighty things in them and through them, Lord, God. The kingdom is gonna be changed with the. stories that everyone here has to tell. God, I just want to thank you for who you are, for what you've done, and for what you're going to do. We love you. We praise you. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.