What Do You See When Opposition Comes? | What Do You See? Week 5

on demain. Well hey, Victory Church. Welcome to all of our campuses. To the OKC Campus, to the Edmund Campus, to the Gregory Campus. Welcome to all of you watching online no matter where you are, maybe you're vacationing, maybe you live out of state, out of the country. Yes, we honor you, we welcome you. We pray that you feel welcome. Welcome home and make yourself welcome. We would love to get to know you better. But we have been in a season called What Do You See for four weeks. This is the fifth and final episode or sermon on this sermon season we've been in. And let's just recap real quick. For those of you who haven't been here, let's recap. If you've missed one of these weeks, it's very easy to go to the website, go back into the archives, and watch them. Week one, we talked about what do you see when you look at yourself? It's a sermon about identity, it's a sermon about who we are. Week two, we talked about what do you see when you look at people? We talked about the fear of man and what it means to be afraid of men, afraid of people more than we're afraid of God.

Week three, we talked about what do you see when nothing seems to be happening? And we looked at the Lord is always watching in every season. And I pray that you have named the season that you're in. That was the challenge of that week, was to name your season. Last week on Father's Day, we wrestled with another question. And the question was, what do you see that needs to be built up or torn down? What do you see that needs to be built up or torn down? All of these that we've been talking about are coming out of the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter one. And we have been looking at the life of Jeremiah and the calling and the anointing that was on his life. But all of the chapters of Jeremiah go to tell us about what he did and what he accomplished and the challenges that he had. But it was in chapter one that God did a deep work inside Jeremiah. And that's what we've been talking about. Asking these questions that are being posed to Jeremiah in a sense, and we're wrestling with them ourselves. And what is the Lord saying to us in this season? I pray it's been a blessing to you. So for our final week, what we're gonna wrestle with, this is the final question we're gonna wrestle with, is what do you see when you look at a battle

or opposition or the enemy? What do you see when life sends you opposition? What do you see when life gets difficult? And I love this text and let's go to Jeremiah chapter one. We've read this every single week of this. And I pray that it's just the more we read it, the more it just gets impressed on your heart. And so we've been reading for the first time in this whole season, I'm not gonna read what we've been reading. We've been reading all of verses four through 12, all of verses four through 12. These are the parts where, if you remember, he says, before you were formed in your mother's womb, I knew you. It talks about, I'll put words in your mouth, things you gotta build up, things you gotta tear down. It says, what do you see, Jeremiah? He says, I see an almond branch. All of the things that we've talked about in this entire season. But something really powerful happens when we scoot down just a couple of verses and we're gonna read verses 17 through 19. It's almost as if God is giving Jeremiah a final charge. This is the final words of chapter one. And then in chapter two, we see him begin his journey and begin his path. And so the final words that the Lord gives Jeremiah before he starts his journey

is what we're gonna read in verses 17 through 19. Here we go. I love this. It's like a locker room speech, all right? The Lord tells Jeremiah, get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them. He tells him again, do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. I just wanna pause there for just a second. Think about what he's saying. He says, you have two choices. You can either not be afraid of them. If you choose to be afraid of them, then I will make you look foolish in front of them. That's pretty harsh, Lord. Verse 18 says this. It says, for see, today, then he begins to affirm him. Today, I have made you strong, like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. You will stand against the whole land, the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah. Listen to this. They will fight you. They will fight you, but they will fail, for I am with you, and I am with you. I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken.

What a powerful passage. What a powerful declaration the Lord is giving Jeremiah. One more passage I want us to read, a supporting text for this topic today. If you flip over to 2 Kings chapter six. 2 Kings chapter six, Elisha has just performed a miracle and there was a floating axe head and this floating axe head that's a miracle, the axe head floats to the surface. And then Elisha and then the servant, his servant, in verse 15 of chapter 16, this is what it says. It says, when the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. Oh, sir, what will we do now? The young man cried to Elisha. Don't be afraid, Elisha told him, for there are more on our side than on theirs. Then Elisha prayed, oh, Lord, open his eyes and let him see, let him see. What do you see? Elisha's prayer to the Lord was, Lord, open his eyes and let him see what I see. The Lord opened the young man's eyes and when he looked, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. And I want us to think about this, the power of perspective.

And I wanna draw your attention to the story that in this story, there are two people. There's Elisha and the servant. There is one opposition, one enemy, one opposition. So even though two people are looking at the same thing, they have two different perspectives. And so Elisha was praying to the Lord, Lord, open his eyes so that he can see. He was using his physical eyes. He saw what he saw. And that's how we live our lives. We see what we see. And what we need to begin to pray and ask the Lord to do is the same prayer that Elisha prayed to heaven. Lord, open my spiritual eyes so that I can see in the spirit. Open my eyes so that I can see what you see. And this is what the Lord is guiding Jeremiah through. And this is what I wanna drill into today is this idea of opposition, opposition. So if you look in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the actual definition of opposition is the act of opposing or resisting, the act of opposing or resisting. And opposition is not always people, okay? Opposition can be many things. Opposition can be criticism. Opposition can be a form of fear. Anything that you're afraid of. Opposition could even be delay.

If you've been wanting something and praying for something and it's just been delay after delay after delay. Opposition can be disappointment. Opposition can be a diagnosis. Opposition can be a closed door. And one of the primary functions of the enemy, of Satan, of the devil in John 10 says that the enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy. To steal, to kill and destroy. That sounds oppositional. That sounds like opposition. But why does this matter? Why does it matter how I see and how I view times in my life when I'm going through a battle, times in my life when there's something coming against me, times in my life where there's some form of opposition? It matters because opposition isn't just trying to stop you today. It's not just trying to stop you today. Opposition is trying to form your tomorrow. Opposition is something that doesn't just come to stop you in your tracks today and to paralyze you today. Opposition is there to reshape the way you think and the way you act and the way you move to not just affect today, but to affect every day of your life and every single battle you will ever face. The opposition of criticism can make you fearful. The opposition of delay can make you doubt. And disappointment can make you cynical.

And any form of resistance can make you quit. That's why opposition matters. Opposition matters. And I hate to break it to you, but opposition is coming. When we become believers, the enemy takes note and we now have an enemy. And it puts a target on our back. And in many ways, opposition doesn't tell us who we are. Opposition doesn't come to tell you who you are and to define you. Opposition, when opposition comes, when opposition presents itself to us, it reveals what is inside of us. It's like a tube of toothpaste. If you wanna know what's inside of it, just squeeze it. And whatever you squeeze, it's gonna come out. It's like a... An x-ray machine. X-ray machines do not cause your broken bone. They reveal it. They reveal it. So in many ways, opposition does not create fear. It reveals fear. When we have opposition that comes our way, it doesn't create insecurity. It reveals insecurity. And opposition doesn't create weak convictions. It reveals the weak convictions inside of me. And opposition is a powerful force. And before Jeremiah ever faced opposition,

before his opposition ever came his way, and if you read through the book of Jeremiah, let me tell you something. Jeremiah faced opposition more or as much as any person in the entire Bible. You heard the Lord say, I'm sending you to confront kings and priests and people. And opposition was coming his way. And before he ever faced opposition, God started talking to him in advance about opposition. In verse 19, he says, the Lord tells Jeremiah, they will fight you. It's a promise. He's saying, the enemy is going to fight you. You're going to have an enemy. You're going to have opposition. And God wanted to give Jeremiah correct perspective about the enemy, about opposition before opposition came. And so it's really important that we wrestle with the question, what do you see when opposition comes? How do we see it? How do we view it? And that's what I want to talk about today. All right, so I got three points. I got three things that opposition reveals in us. All right, so that's what we're gonna talk about. We're gonna talk about three things that opposition reveals. Because remember, opposition doesn't come to tell,

opposition reveals, okay? Opposition reveals what's already in us. And so we're gonna learn from Jeremiah. We're gonna go back through these three verses as all we're gonna cover is three verses. And we're gonna learn the way that Jeremiah learned. All right, let's look at verse 17. Verse 17 says, get up and prepare for action. That's what the instruction is to Jeremiah. And that's what the instruction is for us. This word prepare, it's a really important word. Prepare for something that hasn't arrived yet, but it's coming. He says, go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid, for I will make you foolish in front of them. So the first thing, number one, if you're taking notes, the first thing opposition reveals, opposition reveals our preparation. If you wanna add a little sub note on there, you can say opposition reveals our preparation or our lack thereof, or our lack thereof. When opposition comes, opposition asks us a question. And the question that opposition is revealing in us is are you ready? Are you ready? Are we ready for these moments? And before Jeremiah ever faced opposition, before he ever faced criticism, before he ever faced rejection,

before he ever was threatened by anything, God tells him to get ready for it. Get ready for it. It's kind of funny, in the King James version, I don't know what version, translation of the Bible you're reading. I'm reading out of the NLT. But if you're reading out of the King James version, the King James version says, gird up thy loins. What a strange, what a strange thing to say, right? We would never use this vocabulary in our vernacular today. But in the King James, it says gird up thy loins. And that meant something in those days. So in Jeremiah's days, men would wear these long robes. And so you, I don't know how, I guess it was pretty comfortable. I don't know, it's hot. Maybe it helps them stay cool. I don't know the reason. It was the culture of that day. It was the style of that day. They weren't wearing skinny jeans, I'll tell you that. And they're wearing these long robes. And these long robes were great for standing. They're great for sitting. They're great for walking. But they were not fine for running. They were not fine for work. And they certainly weren't fine for fighting. When they would go into battle,

they would gird up their loins. And basically what that means is they would just reach down and grab the bagginess between their legs there and pull it up and they would tuck it in their cloak or they would gird it, they would fasten it, they would secure it. And the loins, it's kind of an odd word, you know, where your mind goes when we talk about loins. But it's important, all right? So the loins were also considered in that day, the loins were considered the seat of strength. Seat of strength. The loins were the center of stability. It was considered stability. Your loins was your center. It was your stability. It was the seat of strength. It was the place where burdens were carried. If you carry something, you carry it out in front of yourself. And if you try to carry it with your arms, you're going to tire. But if you carry it with your arms straight, you're positioning the weight down into your core, into your midsection. It was the seat of strength. It was the place you carried burdens. It was the place where strength was transferred. And so they would gird up their loins.

And Jeremiah is being prepared to be uncomfortable. He's saying, get ready for opposition. And we don't preach about opposition enough. The church is good. The church is really good at preparing the saints for blessings and to tell you all about how to be blessed and to tell, and none of those things are bad. And I'm not saying we should stop doing that, but the church has not done a good job at preparing the saints for opposition, opposition. And I would say there's not a whole lot of amens right now. And that's why preachers like to preach about blessings, but we don't preach about opposition because opposition is coming. So today, church, gird up thy loins, gird up thy loins. Because whether we like it or not, opposition is coming. And my question is, what do you see when opposition comes? And the Lord wants to prepare us for this. And there's lots of examples in scripture of things to prepare for. So this phrase in the King James version of gird up thy loins, it is used time and time again throughout the Bible. Old Testament and even in the New Testament, it's mentioned in the King James version. Let me give you just a couple of examples, okay? Depending on what season you're in, depending on what you're walking through, depending on what you may be needing to prepare for. So in Exodus chapter 12,

they're told to gird up their loins to prepare to leave Egypt, okay? So this could be a season of change. So the Lord may be telling you, hey, gird up your loins, prepare for a season of change that's coming. Preparation. Elijah, when he was on Mount Carmel, it says that he girded up his loins, he tucked his cloak and he ran, he ran. So it was like a season of busyness is coming, all right? A season of sprinting is coming. And there may be a season coming your way where you're gonna have to sprint, you're gonna be in a season of busyness. And the Lord may be saying to you, prepare, prepare for this, prepare for the opposition of busyness. For Jeremiah, he was girding up your loins to prepare to speak boldly. Don't be afraid to be a witness, to be prophetic. And some of you carry prophetic gifts and fear has controlled you. A fear of man has controlled you. You need to witness to your neighbor, but you have been fearful to do so. And the Lord says, gird up thy loins, prepare yourself, be courageous against the opposition that's trying to keep you from fulfilling the calling that God has on your life. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus uses these words, gird up thy loins, to let your waist be girded

and your lamp burning, is what he says. Let your waist be girded and your lamp be burning. In the NLT in Luke 12, it says, be dressed for service. So in this context, this idea of girding up your loins is to prepare to serve, prepare to serve. And sometimes the Lord wants to prepare our heart because we're gonna go through a season of serving and maybe even serving someone that you don't like, serving a boss at work that gets on your nerves. And you need to prepare for this opposition, prepare to refuse to be bitter, refuse unforgiveness. I'm going to prepare myself to serve people who don't deserve to be served. In Ephesians chapter six, all of these pictures of fighting and take a stand, it's the same common language. It's prepare to stand and fight. And when you have done everything you can to stand, keep standing and put on the breastplate of righteousness, put on the helmet of salvation. It is all this idea of girding up your loins, prepare, prepare to fight, okay, prepare for battle. In first Peter, I wanna read this one. This one's pretty powerful, an imagery that we maybe don't think of when it comes to preparation or girding up the loins. In first Peter one, he uses the same language of gird up, but he uses mind, gird up your mind. Let me show it to you. In first Peter 1.13, it says, "'Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind,

"'be sober and hope in the end for the grace "'that is to be brought unto you "'at the revelation of Jesus Christ, "'as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves "'according to the former lusts in your ignorance.'" So he's saying, don't gird up your clothes, don't gird up your loins. I want you to gird up your mind, okay? I want you to gird up your thoughts. Paul says, take every thought captive and make it obedient. to Christ, even in the act of girding up your thoughts, you are preparing for battle. You are refusing to let the enemy attack you, to attack your mind, and we're girding up, we're preparing, and let me tell you something, opposition reveals preparation, or the lack thereof. And what I see in scripture, and we see it in Jeremiah's life happening in this five weeks we've been studying, is that before God moved, please hear me, before God moves in our life publicly, for people to see, He often prepares us privately, okay? So this is what we see God doing in Jeremiah, He did it in Moses, He did it in Gideon, He did it in anybody who's ever been called by God to do powerful things. There is a private work that happens to us before the public work is seen, and part of this work is preparing, preparing for opposition. I know you don't like this sermon,

but I'm telling you, opposition is coming. Are you ready for it? Are you prepared for it? All right, let's keep going, let's go to verse 18. Verse 18 says, for see, today I've made you strong, like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. You will stand against the whole land, the kings, the officials, the priests, and the people of Judah. So he uses a simile, oh, you know how I love similes. He says, you will be like, you will be as strong as a fortified city, okay? So number two, opposition reveals. Opposition reveals how we're built. Opposition reveals how we're built. I love this simile, I love this imagery. He says, today I have made you a fortified city. I love that. So in this preparation, these four weeks that we've been studying, in the four weeks in this first chapter of the Lord confronting Jeremiah, challenging Jeremiah, encouraging Jeremiah, he's like, in that process, I have made you a fortified city. Now we gotta look at, if it's saying it's like a fortified city, then we need to study fortified cities, all right? What do fortified cities have that we can adopt into our lives? Number one, fortified cities have strong walls.

Fortified cities have strong walls. When something hits a wall, the wall doesn't bend. It doesn't bend, okay? Walls, in the context of our lives, are boundaries. Walls are boundaries. Walls are things or value systems that we have put in place that we will not bend. We will not break. When culture hits this wall, it will fall to the ground, okay? So if we're a fortified city, it means we have strong walls. The enemy, opposition is coming. Are your walls ready? When unforgiveness presents itself, will it hit your wall and fall to the ground, or will it penetrate the wall? Will you become bitter, okay? When an opportunity for lust hits you, because opposition is coming, when lust presents itself to you, will it hit the wall and bounce off and fall to the ground, or will it penetrate and come inside the walls? When someone, let's just get real, all right? When someone of the opposite sex flirts with you, will it hit the wall and fall to the ground, okay? This is serious stuff. In Proverbs 4, verse 23, it says, "'Guard your heart above all else, "'for it determines the course of your life.'" Guard your heart above all else

because it determines the course of your life. Nehemiah knew the importance of walls. He went to build the walls around Jerusalem. And the Bible says that he went around the wall looking for weak places in the wall. And when he found a weak place, he would bring reinforcements. Why? Because he knew the value of a wall. And if we're to live, if we're to be as strong as a fortified city, our values have to be strong, okay? Our boundaries have to be strong. The second thing fortified cities have is strong foundations. They have strong foundations. Storms, I love this saying, you may have heard it before. Storms don't create foundations. Storms reveal foundations. Foundations, in our context, I believe, are convictions. So foundations equal convictions, all right? What are we built on? Let's go to Matthew chapter seven. Let me read a familiar passage to many of us. Matthew 7, 24. It says, "'Anyone who listens to my teaching,' this is Jesus, "'and follows it is wise. "'They are like,' another simile.

"'They are like a person who builds a house "'on a solid rock, on a foundation. "'Though the rain comes in torrents "'and the floodwaters rise, wind beat against it, the house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. When storms come, the fortified cities, the fortified foundations. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish like a person who builds a house on sand when the rain rains and the floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Same storm, okay? Same storm hits two houses. The storm revealed the foundation. The storm revealed the foundation. And opposition coming your way will, mark my words, it will reveal what you're built on. It will reveal what you're built on. So when opposition comes, what do we really believe, okay? When opposition comes, what will happen to your belief in God, okay? What will believe to your life, your belief in God as your provider when you lose your job, when opposition comes? You'll find out what you're built on. You'll find out the foundation. What happens to your belief in prayer when your prayers aren't answered?

What will happen to your confidence in God when criticism comes? What will happen to your belief in forgiveness when someone deeply hurts you? These are all really important questions because you don't discover what you're standing on until something pushes against you, okay? And opposition is coming and it will reveal your foundations. The third thing fortified cities have is strong gates, strong gates. I love this point. This is my favorite point. Think about the difference between a wall and a gate, okay? A wall protects, a gate decides, a gate decides. Gates are equal to discernment, okay? Gates are your discernment. A city doesn't survive because nobody comes to the gate. It survives because it knows what to let in, okay? It's the Trojan horse story of the city of Troy. They had the strongest, most powerful fortified city of all time, but they let the Trojan horse through the gate. And it begs the question in us is what will we let through the gates of our city? What will I allow to come in? No matter how strong my walls are, I still have a gate and I get to decide whether the gate opens or whether the door remains closed. So not every voice gets influence in my city.

Not every opportunity is an opportunity from God. Not every movie is beneficial to let in. Not every friendship in your life is beneficial to let in to your city. Not every criticism that you receive has to make it through your gates, okay? So we get to decide. You don't have to open the gate to let unforgiveness in and bitterness in. When bitterness and unforgiveness comes to my gates, I don't have to let it in. I don't have to let it come into my city and destroy the inner workings of my life through bitterness. It's a choice, it's a choice. And the Lord tells Jeremiah, you are a fortified city. And Jesus modeled this. The Bible says that Jesus didn't respond to every accusation. He just didn't respond. He refused to let those accusations in. He didn't chase every opportunity. He didn't chase everything. The Bible says that Jesus often withdrew from the crowds. So we, but the Bible says we're like a fortified city. We must have strong walls. We must have strong foundations. And we must have strong gates, all right? Last one, let's go to the last one, verse 19. Verse 19 says this, they will fight you.

They will fight you. He's saying what I'm saying today. Opposition will come, but they will fail. I love that the Lord adds that. Hey, it's gonna be hard, but they'll fail. And then he says this, four. He says, because, four means because. Because I am with you and I will take care of you. The Lord has spoken, okay? Number three, last but not least, is opposition reveals your perspective. Opposition will always reveal your true perspective. That's what happened to the servant. Opposition came and his perspective was that they were surrounded and that they were going to die. Elisha's perspective was different. He said, those who are with us are greater than those who are against us. Jeremiah, God told Jeremiah the same thing he showed Elisha. Yes, opposition is hard. Yes, it is. Opposition is coming, but I am with you. I will never leave you and I'm greater than the opposition So those two things I'm with you and I will take care of you Elisha's servant was fixated on who was against them Elisha's servant saw the opposition Elisha was more fixated on who was with them. So opposition asks us a question When opposition presents itself to you in your life, it is asking you a question who's with you Who's with you? Can Lord give me the same perspective of Elisha No matter how powerful no matter how big the opposition is. Let me see that you have surrounded what's surrounding me

That you have surrounded the enemy that is surrounding me. Let's let's read a couple of quick passages when we done Let me show you this in Romans 8. This is Paul Paul says this to remind us of the similar thought He says what shall we say about such wonderful things as these if God is for us Who can ever be against us Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all Won't he also give us everything else who listen to these words who dares accuse us? Whom God has chosen for his own No one for God himself has given us right standing with himself Who then will condemn us no one for Christ Jesus died for us was raised to life for us and he's sitting in the place of honor at guards right hand pleading for us Now listen to verse 35. Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble? Calamity persecution persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened by death Opposition Opposition Verse 37. No, despite all these things Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us and I am convinced Paul is convinced I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love neither death nor life nor angels nor demons Nor our fears or today for today for for today Nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from from God's love No power in the sky above or in the earth below Indeed nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us From the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord There's this um, this this principle for for this called diplomatic immunity When an ambassador of a nation goes to another nation They know they're safe, even though they're alone Because they carry with them the authority of the nation in which they came So our ambassador to the most dangerous country in the world

Knows that they are safe because the principle is what is it known by everybody is if you attack the ambassador of that nation you are declaring war on that nation and If we truly are children of God If we are sons and daughters of the Living God, we are the Bible tells us we are ambassadors of Christ and when opposition Comes our way and they declare war on us. We are not alone We are not fighting this battle alone God is with us and God is fighting for us and when the enemy declares war on you he's declaring war on our Lord and we need to have a posture of Preparation for opposition and to not be afraid. What do you tell Jeremiah? Don't be afraid or I will make you look foolish in front of them We have to we have to get courageous. I know I know this is I'm kind of I'm not telling very many jokes I'm not telling very many stories. I'm trying to bring some authority today. So please bear with me to encourage you that Opposition is coming. Let's stop sticking our head in the sand and hoping it doesn't come let's just know that is coming and fight and know that No devil in hell can defeat us if God is for us who can be against us So so mark one last passage mark chapter 4 mark chapter 4 verse 35 This storm, okay, so we believe us know this passage They get in a boat and they're going in a storm comes and a storm is symbolic of opposition Something is coming to keep them from making the progress on the lake to where they're trying to get its opposition It's an opposition. It's a storm It says as evening came Jesus said to his disciples. Let's cross over to the other side of the lake So they took Jesus in the boat and started out leaving the crowds behind leaving the crowds behind Although other boats followed but soon a fierce storm came up high waves were breaking into the boat and it began to fill with water and Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat with his head on a cushion and the disciples woke him up shouting Jesus Teacher don't you care that we're going to drown? When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves silence

be still and Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm and then asked and then he asked them. Why are you afraid Do you still have no faith and the disciples were absolutely terrified? Who is this man and they asked each other even the wind and the waves? Obey him So it begs this question and I love the first part that I read in verse 36 It's powerful if you can if you if you can put it back up on the screens just for verse 35 36 It says in the beginning of verse 36. It says so they took Jesus in the boat and Started out It's the most important part of this entire story It's the most important part of your entire story is the fact that they didn't go on the journey They didn't face opposition without Jesus. It says so they took Jesus and put him in the boat and they went with Jesus and when opposition came and Opposition is coming storms are coming but because Jesus was in the boat Jesus spoke to the storm Jesus spoke to the opposition Because when the storm came to attack the disciples what they didn't realize is they were attacking Jesus to and so Jesus stood up and fought the opposition and Demanded and commanded the opposition to be silent and to cease So that it begs the question of all of all of us How we see opposition will depend on whether or not Jesus is in our boat Of whether or not we are taking him on these journeys And some of you are facing opposition right now right now and I'm gonna pray for you in just a moment So maybe maybe for some of us it's time to gird up our loins it's time to prepare for battle it's time to stop Sticking our head in the sand and trying to avoid fighting the opposition and avoid fighting demonic forces and avoid

Fighting the opposition that's coming your way It's time to gird up your loins and prepare to fight prepare to fight this battle prepare to fight cancer Prepare to fight bitterness prepare to fight the enemy who's coming to try to take your kids from you Okay, it's time to to to gird up our loins and prepare to fight for some of us it's time to to Secure the walls of our city That you are a fortified city and some of us need to check the boundaries check the walls of our city What are our values are we are with are we? Withstanding what God is saying to us and the values that he's putting in us and through us Are we are we in God's Word? Are we establishing our life based on the values in this book? Are we are we sure are we positive that we're standing on the foundation of Jesus? Are we sure that he is the cornerstone of our life? Are we sure that our gates are secure? Are we sure that people aren't we're not allowing things to come through the gates of our city? Some of you need to reevaluate your city Reevaluate our is your city fortified or not and last but not least some of us need to change our perspective Some of us need to change our perspective Of who is with you change our perspective when Jesus is in the boat with us. I Want to pray for you today for those of you that are facing opposition right now and For the rest of us that we know opposition is coming so father right now I Pray for those in the room those watching online. Those are those that are watching this two years from now That are facing opposition that are facing a storm God I prepare I pray right now that you would that they would first off that they would make sure you're in their boat That you that Lord that you would be with them and That you would fight for them. That is the promise you gave Jeremiah It says you said they will fight you but do not be afraid for I am with you and I will take care of you. So hear me right now if you are in opposition if Jesus is in your boat He is with you and he will take care of you Lord for the remainder of us Lord help us gird up our lawns Help us to prepare

For battle to prepare for opposition to not just float through this life, but to be on guard to God guard our hearts, Lord, to be prepared, in season and out of season, to know that there is an enemy out there who wants to steal and to kill and to destroy. And so I need to prepare my mind. I need to gird up the loins of my mind. God, prepare us for seasons of change. Prepare us for attacks from the enemy. Prepare us for the darts of the enemy that comes to invade our thoughts and give us the courage to take every thought captive and to make it obedient to Christ. Thank you, Lord, that you are with us. We could not do this without you. Thank you that you are with us. Thank you that you are for us. Thank you for the story of Jeremiah, Lord. Thank you for what you've taught us in this five weeks. And God, may it stick with us as you prepare us the way that you prepared Jeremiah. We thank you for it, in Jesus' name, amen. We're so grateful that you joined us today. At Victory, we pray big prayers to a big God, and we expect big results. If you would like to receive prayer, you can submit a prayer request by visiting victory.church slash pray. If this message or any of our messages have impacted your life,

and you would like to partner with us through giving, you can do so at victory.church slash give. Thank you again for joining us. At Victory Church, we live life to the full.