WORD WARS | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

winning the war within. We're gonna be talking about building our life on a foundation of the word of God. We're gonna be talking about our thought life. We're gonna be talking about strongholds. We're gonna be talking really about living from the inside out, not from the outside in. And I believe God is gonna help us. This is Romans chapter 12, verse two. Romans chapter 12, verse two. We're just gonna read one little verse together. But such a powerful verse. This is one of those like what should be a foundational verse in your life. Romans chapter 12, verse two. Do not conform to the pattern of this world. That word world there is world system. It's not earth. It's the way we do things in this world system. Don't be conformed to that. That word conform is to be pressured from the outside, to try to be put in a mold. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Here's the response to that. You will be able to test and approve what God's will is. Now, these three things that he's gonna say, they're not three levels of the will of God. This is the will of God. The will of God is good, pleasing, and perfect.

You can live in the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. Anybody want that for your life? Amen, say amen, everybody. So we're gonna talk about word wars. Word wars. Father, I thank you for your word. We honor it. We embrace it. We lean into it now, and we ask that you speak to us. We pray that you transform us now by the renewing of our mind. As we renew our mind, as we regulate our mind, as we focus our mind on the word of God, we give you the glory for all that you're about to do in our lives. In Jesus' name, everybody said amen. Amen and amen. So Romans 12 reminds us that we are in a war and that war is happening in our mind. There is a war between the world's system and the word's system, between the kingdoms of this world, the Bible calls it, and the kingdoms of our God, that there are two systems, two ideas, two worldviews, two ways of approaching life, approaching God, and approaching each other, that we are gonna live conformed or transformed. But friend, we are in a fight, but I just, I've got good news for you. I felt like the Lord told me to remind you yesterday morning as I was in my final hours of preparation and prayer.

I just felt the Lord tell me to remind you, you can win this fight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can have victory in your thought life, victory in your emotions, victory in your worldview, that you can win. That God has not told us these things to tease us or to tempt us, but he has given us the word of God as a battle plan, as weapons, as a tool of victory. And I declare 2026, you're gonna win in life. In Jesus' name, come on, clap your hands if you agree with this preacher. You can have victory over addiction. Victory over unforgiveness, sinful patterns, fear, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, that in 2026, you're gonna win. That on December 31 of this year, as we enter into the next year, you will not recognize yourself because you're gonna have victory on the inside that is gonna get on everything on the outside. Come on, anybody believing for some victory this year? In Jesus' name, elbow your neighbor, say, I'm a winner, I'm a winner. Come on, tell them, I'm a winner. And I wanna tell you, you're not too old to win. You're not too far gone to win. You haven't made too many mistakes to win. You're not too stuck to win the war within. So now let me help you in this.

Let me remind you of what happened when you got saved. When you got saved, something powerful happened. When you gave your life to Jesus, something powerful happened. Here's what happened. God rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and he transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son. Done happened, done. You are saved. God took your dead spirit and he resurrected it. God took your dead spirit and he yanked it out of the kingdom of darkness, out of this world system, and he placed it into the kingdom of God. That's done. You go, I don't feel that way or act that way. Right. Now we have to renew our mind to a spiritual reality. See, when we talk... change, we're not talking about I'm a sinner trying to get better. When we talk about change, we're talking about I'm a son and daughter trying to figure out who I am now in this new kingdom. Radically different. Radically different. We're not on a journey of self-improvement. We're on a journey of self-discovery. Discovering who we are now in Christ Jesus. Big difference. And now we're having to learn new things. See, it's like, you know, if you move to Italy tomorrow and you became an Italian citizen and you got the paperwork that says, I'm a citizen of Italy. It's done. You got it. And it's a done deal. I am now a citizen of Italy. Okay, wonderful. Now you got to learn a new language. Now you got to learn to drive on the other side of the road. Now you got to learn new cultures. And you got to learn a new currency. And everything is now different within that new. You are an Italian, but now you're gonna learn how

to be an Italian. Because they eat different things. And they eat at different times. And they have a radically different culture. So yes, now legally you are an Italian, but now you're gonna become what you legally are. Listen, legally you are a child of God, paid for by the blood of Jesus. But now I need my mind to be renewed to this new thing that I'm in. Come on, we're gonna win the war within this year. In Jesus' name, give me a good amen. So, so how do I win this war within? Well, number, number one, you have to choose your source. You have to choose your source. Choose your source. I'm gonna give you a thought right now that I think is maybe the most important thought I've ever given you. So I'm, I'm, I'm gassing myself up right now. Get ready for that because I'm building this up. And I am on purpose. I'm actually, I'm actually giving you this early in the sermon because I didn't want to, as a good, good preachers, wait for the good stuff at the end when all the, you know, everything's riled up and you got the keyboards and everything. But I'm actually gonna give it to you up front because I was afraid that if I wait till the end I might not get to it. So I'm, I'm gonna give it time. I know it's a big, I'm telling you it's a big deal. And when I say it, nobody's even gonna care. It's gonna be crickets. But I don't care. No, no, I'm not even looking for a response. I'm telling you something that's gonna change your life. That's gonna suck when I say it. But I don't care because I'm actually, I'm trying to get this in your spirit. So if you don't take notes, this is the time to start. Every thought has a source. I told you isn't it? You could leave right now and you'd get everything you needed for that right there. Every thought has a source. Thoughts don't just happen. Thoughts arrive. Thoughts come to you. Have you ever thought something like, where did that, what the heck? That wasn't me. Where did that, where did that come from? It came from somewhere. Because thoughts have source. Thoughts don't just appear. Thoughts arrive through your eyes, through your ears, and through your words, and through history, and through trauma, and through pain, and failure, and success, and good, and bad, and ugly. Every thought you think came from something you've experienced. This is so powerful. Here's why this is so powerful,

because you don't think you have any power or authority over your thoughts, but you do. And so what I need to do is I need to correct my sort. I can't correct my thinking till I correct my source. Y'all are trying to think better in 2026, but you haven't corrected your source yet. You can't keep drinking salt water and go, why am I dehydrated? I'm drinking, I'm drinking, I'm drinking. It's not your desire to be hydrated that's hurting you. It's your source that's hurting you. That's why they say if you get lost at sea, drink your urine, don't drink the salt water. Nasty, huh? But think about that, that your urine is a better source of hydration than the salt water. It's not desire, it's source. We all have it. That's why you're here. You're here because you have a desire. You're here because you want to love God. You're here because you're trying to do better. You're here because you love God. You're here because you love... The desire's there. But why is the devil kicking my rear end? Source. Source. Source. Every thought has a source. Thoughts arrive. This is why it's so important to start with the right source. The Word of God. The Word of God must become the foundation to my thought life. So I'm going to give you one of my favorite Bible verses, Romans 10.8. What does it say? Look at that. That's what the Bible says. The Bible says, what does it say? What does the Bible say? That's where to start.

What does the Bible say about my marriage? What does the Bible say about money? What does the Bible say about community? What does the Bible say about my kids? What does the Bible say about my parents? What does the Bible say about my boss? What does the Bible say about my life? What does the Bible say about my future? What does the Bible say? That is the foundation of healthy thinking. The Bible says. One of my favorite preachers of all time. He's in heaven now. Dr. Billy Graham, the great evangelist to our nation. Billy Graham would always be preaching, and I would love to hear Billy Graham preach because he'll say, the Bible says. The Bible says. The Bible says. Y'all, we need more of the Bible says in our, not I think, not I feel, not I had a vision, not I had a premonition, not I went to hot yoga and had, no, the Bible says. Not I had a dream, not God told me. The Bible says. You better be a part of a church that says, the Bible says. I don't listen to preachers that have more God told me than the Bible says. No, the Holy Spirit told me.

Okay, cool, you can get one of those a sermon maybe, and it better be really good. And it better not disagree with what the Bible says. This is my north star. This is truth, not my truth, the truth. I don't have a truth. I only know the truth. The Bible says. Because thoughts have a source, and I better make sure I'm going to the right source. The Bible is a love letter from God. It's full of history and prophecies and promises and commands. It reveals Jesus, and Jesus reveals God, the Bible says. I told you that every thought has a source. Let me show it to you now in Mark 5. There's a woman, she's sick. She's been sick for 12 years. She's spent all of her money on doctors. The Bible says she's not getting better, she's getting worse. But watch this, when she heard about Jesus. Everybody out loud say, every thought has a source. Okay, watch, what we're learning right here is her source. Her source is hearing about Jesus. She's starting to hear the testimony of Jesus. I'm healed, I'm saved, I'm free. I can see, I'm forgiven. I'm alive, the leprosy's gone. I can walk, whatever it was, I can hear. She's beginning to hear a new message.

She's heard one message from the doctors for 12 years, we can't help you. Now she's hearing a new message. It's so powerful. Were any of you freaked out when you started coming to this church, you started hearing good news? Anybody, was anybody raised in a bad news church? Anybody, come on, let me see your hands. You were raised in a bad news church, right? So you start coming here and you're like, oh my God, why is this so? Because the Bible's good news, not bad news. So you start hearing something new. She came up behind him and the crowd touched his cloak, for she thought. Verse 28, because she thought. Every thought has a source. Her thought came from what she heard about Jesus. If I could just touch his clothes, I'll be healed. Where the heck did she get that thought? I don't know. But she got it from what she was hearing. Your thinking is coming from your source. Every thought has a source. By the way, faith has a source. We don't put our faith in faith. Faith is not your source. Ooh, let me go here for a second. Faith has a source, Romans 10. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.

So a lot of people call faith, Call what they believe faith, but it's really not faith. It might be like sincere, and it might be religious, and it might have some God talk in it, might sound spiritual, but it isn't faith because faith is born in the Word. So faith has a source, and it's the Word, and your thinking has a source, and your thinking should be, better be the Word. And when you choose the Word of God as your source, your faith, your thoughts, excuse me, become faith-filled. So now not every thought is defeat. You start seeing possibility. Your thoughts become full of imagination, and hope, and life. I told you that's the best point of the day. And I'm telling you, not every good thought gets a good amen, but let me just tell you something. You gotta get ruthless about your source. You have to get ruthless about your source. Aye, aye, aye. Number two, choose to be transformed. Choose to be transformed. Transformation is a choice. Do not be conformed, be transformed. That means they're both a choice, and you're choosing every day, am I being conformed or transformed? The average person in America is thinking 50 to 70,000 thoughts a day, and 70% are negative.

And most people are okay with that because they don't think they have power over that. They just think, oh, it's just part of my life. But you have a say in your thoughts. You get to make decisions about what you think about. Kenneth E. Hagin, before he went to heaven, he said this. You can't stop every bird from landing on your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair. That's so bad, that's cold. That is awesome. But see, those birds of negativity, those birds of hopelessness, those birds of fear, anxiety, whatever they are, they come, and we just go build that nest. I guess that's me. No, no, no, shoo, shoo, shoo, you can shoo them away. You don't just have to deal with them. You don't have to just deal with it. You can actually push back on them. So you have to start thinking about what you think about. I am the thinker of my thoughts. Wow. Not my spouse, not my boss, not God, not the devil, not my pastor, not the government, not my kids, not my parents. I am the thinker of my thoughts. I cannot control everything around me, but I must lead my inner life. And if I'll change my source, I can change my thoughts. And if I can change my thinking, I can change my words.

And if I can change my words, I can change my actions. And if I can change my actions, I can change my life. So my thoughts, this would be powerful to write down. My thoughts are affecting my emotions. My thoughts lead to actions, and my thoughts are creating patterns. Everybody say patterns. One more time, everybody. Everybody say patterns. So here's what a pattern is. A pattern is the dominant thought that we've embraced in our life. And dominant thoughts become easier and easier to think. Let me help you here. Dominant thoughts become easier and easier to think. Your brain, your brain, okay, not your mind, not your soul, not your spirit, your brain, the gray goop up here in your skull. Your brain is looking for the path of least resistance. Your brain doesn't wanna stretch. Your brain wants ease. That's not a bad thing, because if you're doing healthy things, it's easier for your brain to just keep doing those things. If you're doing unhealthy things, it's easier for your brain to do those things. Does that make sense? So like addiction, if you're addicted to cigarettes, you know they're not good for you. But it's not just that your body is craving nicotine.

It's actually that you're used to holding it in your hand and having something in your mouth. It's more than just the addiction. It's that your brain wants repetition. It's not just the high you get from going to the blackjack table. Maybe this is gonna be the, it's not just that. It's the repetition of I get up and I go to the casino and it's a whole thing that your body is craving. Your brain is craving repetition. Some of you think, I can never wake up early. Of course you can. You just would have to get in the repetition of it because your brain wants to wake up at the same time. Your brain wants to go to bed at the same time. Your brain wants to eat the same foods. Your brain wants that. Your brain wants what are called neural pathways, the path of least resistance. So if you choose to do the right thing over and over and over and over again, your brain will actually start craving it. There are people in this room you like working out. I don't know who you are and I don't get it, but you like it. Why? Because you've done it enough that now your brain, not just your body, not just your soul, not just, your brain actually craves it. And your brain is looking for path of least resistance.

We bought a, we moved last year, and when we moved, I went to my old house twice. Just drove, just, one time I was on the phone with Shannon and I pulled up to the house, I go, oh my God. She goes, what? I said, I'm not at the house, I'm at the old house. One day I pulled up to the house and I started hitting the clicker. Well, the clickers aren't working. That wasn't my, that wasn't my house anymore. But my brain still went to the old. Oh, can I preach a little bit? That club isn't your house anymore. That addiction isn't your house anymore. Those drugs aren't your house anymore. That negativity ain't your house anymore. That racism ain't your house anymore. That unforgiveness isn't your house anymore. But it's all your brain knows and I'm having to rewire my brain to go to a new place and at first it's weird. But it's all your brain knows. And at first it's weird. You know, for everyone behind the front row, when they stand, you can stand too if you want to. Like, I wonder what, are they, do they get paid to do that? No, they're just excited, you can join them. You can join them. Look what Dr. Caroline Leaf said.

She's a neuroscientist, brilliant woman. You can find all her books online. She said this, as we think, we change the physical nature of our brain. Now again, this is not just willpower. It's not the mind, this is your brain. Change the physical nature of your brain. Same way that if you do pushups every day, you're gonna change the physical nature of your chest. You do pull-ups every day, you're gonna change the physical nature of your back and shoulders. You do curls every day, you're gonna change the physical nature of your biceps. Right, does that make sense? You run every day, you're gonna change the physical nature of your legs. In the same way, as we think, we change the physical nature of our brain. As we consciously direct our thinking, direct our thinking, we can wire out toxic patterns of thinking and replace them with healthy thoughts. Amen. All right. So I'm gonna be conformed or transformed. Conformed means to comply. This is what this word means, this is crazy. With the standards, rules, and laws of the land. To be conformed.

It's pressure from the outside forming you into the standards, rules, and laws of the land. Now when I say that, I'm not talking about the American government or I'm not talking about like, you know, speeding law. I'm talking about the cultural laws of the world system. Cultural laws like greed. Cultural laws like unforgiveness and bitterness. Cultural laws like jealousy. Cultural laws like negativity. Cultural laws like dog eat dog. Who do I gotta destroy to get to the next level? All that competition. All that is the laws of the land of culture. Lying and cheating and stealing. But it's not just to be conformed to like sin or destructive ideas. It's like, think about this y'all, because we're being conformed by culture, but we're also being formed by like family language. How many could admit at least some negative family language that you grew up with? Can you wave your hand at me if like some of you, okay, some of you came from perfect families, but others of you, right, we all get cancer. Nobody makes money in our, who do you think you are? Well, you think you're better than us because you're gonna go to college. That's family language, that's destructive. Some of y'all came to church this weekend

and you've got friends or family who are making fun of you. You want to church? They didn't say that about the club. They didn't say that about the bar. You go to the bar Friday night, you go to a day club Saturday morning, you go back to another club Saturday night, go to another day club Sunday morning, and nobody said. The thing about it, and then you go to church and they go, you know all that preaching wants is your money. You're spending $30 on a cocktail and I want your money? Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Now if it makes you feel better, I'll serve you virgin margaritas. Oh! Thank you, I saw you guys stand. I had a few people stand. We'll catch it one of these days. It's a neural pathway, we gotta learn it. My point is, I ain't trying to get your money. There's no fee at the door.

I don't know who tithes in this church. I don't know who tithes. How'd they build that building? How'd they build that building? And we got $3 billion casinos down there. $20 million church, huh? Seems a little expensive. That's like a Jim Gaffigan thing, did you hear that? That was funny. But like, what are we talking about? Those are laws though. So you serve at your, you go to a small, what's a small group? So you don't just go on Sunday, you go on a Tuesday night too. Sounds like a cult. And yeah, we got season ticket holders in here for the Knights and for the Raiders, spending thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. I played golf the other day with a guy who, he goes to every home night game here. Everyone, goes to everyone. I didn't go, well, that kind of sounds like a cult. I don't know about all that. I don't know, that's great. I'm gonna preach. Family language, cultural ideas, regional ideas. You know, preachers, I had so many preachers call me

when I moved to Vegas, from Vegas, to tell me not to plant a church in Vegas. You know, you're real preachy, Jabin, you're real churchy. You know, people don't do that here. Really, okay, so you're speaking for three million people sick, okay. People don't do that here. Three million people sick, okay. People don't give here, people don't give. People don't attend church here. I see this family right here, I see that family every week. My guy with his kid, I see you every week. What's your name again? I should know your name. Chino, right, how do I forget Chino? Chino's here every freaking week. Your son got baptized last Saturday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, Chino. Chino, Chino, when I moved here, Chino, everybody stop. You're taking up my time. Chino, I moved here eight years ago, and I got a call, oh, it's a local pastor. He must be calling to give me money. Hello, pastor. No money, no money. You don't wanna plant here. Nobody goes to church here. They won't keep coming. You're here every week. What are we talking about?

People here every, I see y'all here every week. People give here, people serve here. But there were regional ideas that told us what could and couldn't be done. That's all conformed, or we could be transformed. Okay, so now transformed is different. Conformed is from outside in. Transformed is from inside out. We are inside out people, not outside in people. Okay, here's what transform means. It means a renewal, renovation, and complete change for the better from the inside out. A dramatic change in form, appearance, and character. That word transformed is a Greek word metamorpho, where we get metamorphosis. It's what happens to a caterpillar when they become a butterfly. When you look at that caterpillar, they have a butterfly on the inside of them. Right. But they have to go through a metamorphosis. They have to go through a transformation. It's in them. See, inside out. That thing is in you. That child of God, that man of God, that woman of God, that generous soul, that humble person, that prayer warrior, that is in you. But it's gotta be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So it's not that you're not a man of God and you need to become a man of God. It's that that man of God is in there, hidden in Christ. But now through the work of transformation, you begin to walk out and those wings begin to spread and that change begins to happen. It was there the whole time. It just, it had to, it had. to be renewed, the renewing of your mind. Lastly, choose God's will, choose God's will. Choose God's will. So he says, don't be conformed, be transformed, then you will know. You will know God's will, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Okay, here's what I want to say about this. The will of God is not a mystery. The will of God is not for a few. And the will of God is not hard to discover. Now I say all that and you go, uh-uh. Because if we were to poll you and say, what's your number one question that you want to ask Pastor Jabin, everyone would go, how do I discover God's will for my life? Because people don't think they know God's will for their life, but in reality, we're trying to answer that question too soon and we're skipping a step. Because if your mind's renewed, you'll know God's will. By default, you'll just know it.

If you design your thought life, the will of God shows up by default. The will of God, though, is only known by the renewed mind. The will of God is only known by the renewed mind. So we have whole classes trying to teach people to discover their spiritual gift. You don't need a class on discovering your spiritual gift. You need to renew your mind. And when your mind's renewed, you'll know what to do. This is why they'll tell you that an experienced bank teller, if you were to bring them counterfeit money, the moment they touched the money, they'd go, this ain't real. Not because they had a class on how to see counterfeit money, but because they touched the real thing so much, when anything counterfeit comes, when any lie comes into their life, they go, nope, fake, counterfeit. When your mind is renewed, you just know God's truth and God's word. And what God's doing in your, you just know it. You know it in your knower. So instead of me trying to teach you how to know the voice of God or how to know the will of God, let me just get you hooked up with the truth, with the real thing. And then all the mystery begins to leave your life. The fog begins to lift. So here's the craziest thing about Romans 12.

We have that whole thing on renewing your mind. And then the rest of the chapter, Paul's gonna talk about your spiritual gift and how to use your spiritual gift in the body of Christ. This is crazy. He says, if you're a prophet, prophesy. And if you have the gift of hospitality, open your home up. And if you have the gift of giving, give generously. And if you have the gift of, he goes through all these gifts of the Holy Spirit and he says it, Kiefer, like they know. He doesn't write a chapter on how to know you're a prophet. How to know if you have the gift of healing. That's what we do in America to make money off of people. How to know if you're called to be a pastor. By my class. Paul doesn't have to do that. Rah, Lord, renew my mind right now. I don't like these guys. Because he goes, if your mind's renewed, you're a prophet. Yeah, prophesy. Gift of giving, do it. Gift of hospitality, do it. Gift of teaching, do it. So he's assuming they know their gift. Which by the way, gift is just a little Greek word, keres. It's the same word we get for grace. You used to know your grace. There's a grace on me for this.

There's a grace on me for kids ministry. There's a grace on me to preach. There's a grace on me for worship. There's a grace on me for giving. There's a grace on me to open up my house. There's a grace on me to serve here. There's a grace on your life. And when your mind is renewed, you know your grace. And then you just give in to the grace. So now the will of God, watch me. The will of God looks like a gift. Now, it's not perfect in the sense that, you know, it's always going to be perfectly easy. But there's a grace on it. There's a gift on it. You know, I just need prayer, Pastor. I'm just trying to decide if I should marry this girl. Y'all been dating for 98 years. Get married. She's your gift. Get married to her. Renew your mind. And then where there's grace, you just give into that grace. It's a gift. The renewed mind creates clarity about our calling and our purpose. Life gets so much better when you live in a transformed life and not a conformed life. It gets so much better. So much better. Not perfect, not easy. But a grace, a gift starts flowing. Changes everything. Hallelujah.