What Goes In, Comes Out

And I had a lot of different notes on, you know, from parenting to marriage, on all the things we've heard before, you know, from exasperating your children and training them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and marriage, husbands loving your spouse, and there's so many things we could, so many directions we could go. But I was thinking that the key really going forward, if we want better marriages, better parenting, is we're going to have to get to the foundation. And what really matters, and I shared with some of you, I think on texting or email that I was going to share a few of my regrets and challenges with parenting and marriage. And I don't want to talk too much about that, but I think the biggest two that really stand out would be worry and time. Worrying too much about things that I can't change. And then the time factor, not realizing how quick that time goes, and maybe being a better steward of my time, and saying no to things I should have said no to. And you realize as your kids get older and they're out the door that you miss some opportunities. And now granted, we can't go back and beat ourselves up, and we did the best with what we could, but those would be the big two, is just worrying too much, maybe being too protective, which, I mean, nowadays you definitely want to be protective, but worrying and not giving things to the Lord, and those can really weigh on a marriage. But what I want to do, launching this, is talk about where we must begin. And there are many keys to successful parenting and marriage, but the foundation of success in all these areas is going to have to do with something most of you are aware of, but maybe you didn't think about it in this regard for parenting and marriage, and that is surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit, walking in the Spirit, so you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And that's really, if I were to look and encapsulate everything, that's where success or failure really hinges, right? Because you can, I can push, you know, integrity, be gentle, be slow to speak, love your spouse, husbands, and a wise respect to your husbands. You can push that on people, but if they're full of the flesh, how's that going to work? And so we have a lot of flesh coming out and not a lot of spiritual fruit coming out. And so getting at the problem, actually at the root, is really going to help us this evening, almost said this morning. Galatians 5, Galatians 5 is an incredible chapter to read, even tonight if you can, or tomorrow, read the whole thing. And I'm going to read something from a Bible I usually don't use, it's the Amplified version, so Galatians 5, 13-15. The Amplified version, what the Amplified version does is, instead of honing in, what the translators would do is they would, when they're interpreting the Greek, they would, it's called a formal equivalence, they would find a word that matches that word, pretty much in our own language, our own vocabulary. But the Amplified will throw in a few different words in there and give it some extra meaning, like with an explanation point. And so where they got the text from is very reliable, but it's a little bit, it'd be more of like a, not quite a commentary, but what they call a dynamic equivalence, you know, thought for thought translation. So the Amplified Bible, for you my brothers, you are called to freedom, only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature, for worldliness, for selfishness, but through love, serve and seek the best for one another. Now, it's a pretty interesting concept because, and you can underline that, you probably don't have your Bibles open, but if you did, Galatians 5, you can open Galatians 5, verse 13, you were called to freedom. And I wanted to talk a lot more about freedom, but that would become its own sermon. Because a lot of Christians will say, well, I'm free to do this. Have you heard that before? I'm free in Christ to do this. And usually it's not always a good thing. Well, I can do this, I'm free. And I mean, you fill in the blank, from anything from alcohol to many different things, you know, I'm free to do this. Okay, but don't let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature to work inside of you. So although a person is free to do something, it might not be wise. Is that interesting? So you're free to do it, sure. Smoking, people have asked me a lot, can I keep smoking? I guess. You want to go to the early grave, struggle with cancer and lung disease. And I mean, there's freedom in Christ, but we also have responsibility. And I one of those is 1 Peter 2.16. Do not use your liberty as a cloak for vice. Now what that means is I have a liberty, I can do this. And they're using that liberty to hide the vice. And many Christians, we can get trapped in that I can do this because I'm free in Christ. And he's saying here, yes, you are free. But don't let that freedom turn into an opportunity for your sinful desires. So the first step is the first step with parenting marriage. And what I think God is really impressed on my heart this week is correcting the blind spots. Anybody have any blind spots? Okay, half the room is honest. Blind spots are what we don't see. We think we're great in this area. We don't think we have flaws. We don't we don't do this wrong. But other people can see you know that that's a blind spot. And so what happens is time with God reveals areas that we need to work on. And that's why we stress so much prayer and worship and and seeking God and and that time with God is going to I don't know about you, but that when I pray, if I'm sincere, God's going to deal with me. And that's why many people don't want to pray. A quick prayer driving to work, sure. But heart wrenching soul searching prayer, where you say Lord, this this morning, I'm gonna spend an hour with you. Speak to me. Dig deep into my heart. Show me if there's any wickedness within me, Lord, I want to do your will get ready, get a pen and paper out. You know, I've done that before. It's like, okay, forgive that person. Restore that. Ah, I was rude to my wife yesterday. You know, and God's got showing you these areas, or maybe snapping at the kids and different things. And and so that time with the Lord is really important. Because then now you know what the blind spots are. Now you can correct them. And to be a better parent, a better husband, better father, better spouse, better wife, in your case, some of you, it's correcting these blind spots. God tests you to develop you. Satan tempts you to defeat you. I thought that was a good quote from Tony Evans. God will test you to develop you. Anybody going through a test? Oh, yes, you know the test from God. Because it's difficult. It's, it's painstaking. It's challenging. It sparks anger. And we're going through this test. And God is developing us. But if we're not careful, Satan will be will use it to defeat us. And so one key thing in scriptural truth theology is when you remove something, you must also add something. And we I used to teach us all the time in health and fitness. Okay, you remove those bad things. Okay, you got to put something in their place. You're in the Snickers bar, you got to have an apple with some almond butter. Right, you're removing something, you've got to add something, put something in its place. So as you're removing things from your life, that's where you add this time with the Lord and and the filling of the Holy Spirit. And I think it's also important to know we don't suppress, we surrender. Because a lot of people, they get they get tied up or they get into tough situations when they try to suppress the lust, just just suppressing it and pushing it down. Have you ever pushed down a basketball in the water? You know, the farther that gets down and suppressing and now there's something to saying no and turning from but but we're called to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit. And he takes that burden, he begins to change us. And what is so difficult now becomes easy because the Holy Spirit is given full rule and reign in your heart and your life to change you. And then he goes on to say for the whole law, going again off Galatians, for the whole law concerning human relationships is fulfilled in one precept, one thing, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, that is you shall have unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit. Boy, that sure is easy to read. Is it easy to read for you? Because I can read it and go, yeah, that sounds great. That is so true. Boy, oh boy. But then when I go outside those doors and have to practice it, that's where it gets difficult. And you know, with a lot of this stuff, it's the old saying, it's simple, but it's not easy. It's so simple to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit, to obey God's word and let him change us, let him lead us as parents and as spouses. But it's not easy because the flesh wants to fight against that. So the main culprit in all of this is self, self, self, self, selfishness, self-focus, self-assertive, self-made. Have you ever heard people say, said, I'm a self-made man. And then they're proud of it. I'm a self-made man. Let me tell you, you don't even have that breath you just took without God's grace over your life. We are not self-made. We are not self-governed. But when we put so much emphasis on self, that selfishness can really destroy us and take us out. Controlling, I think I had this morning, we have a lot of, when there's marriage issues, a lot of it has to do with controlling. Maybe one spouse is controlling. Have you heard that before? That we're controlling. And that also comes from self, not promoting the other, but focusing on self. And what does a controlling spirit look like biblically? It's, they are, and they try to intimidate the other person. And they get moody when they're not getting their way. They don't want you to spend time with people. They want you to stay isolated. They don't want you to excel, or they don't want, they don't want you to be promoted. And believe it or not, that's a lot of struggles in marriages, in some marriages. When we're walking in the flesh, we don't want the spouse to be maybe promoted, or given a certain position, or around others a lot. That fleshly, that fleshliness can begin to give us a controlling spirit. And that's all linked to selfishness. But praise God, there is a cure. And then he goes on to say, but if you bite and devour one another, boy, this church in Galatia should, was pretty like us today in America. But if you bite and devour one another in bickering and strife, watch out that you, along with your entire fellowship, are not consumed by one another. And this is so important. This is what we try to, we try to root it out early on, when we see this happening in the body, is when bickering and biting and devouring, when that, when that begins, when strife begins to happen, we try to reconcile it as soon as we can. Because it is like cancer. And you know, when that, when that flame starts, it's not hard, it's not easy to put out. Because we all like to talk, and that bickering, and that strife, it's part, see, all of this is the outflow of the flesh. When the flesh is given rule and reign, that this is what it does. And I think I gave the analogy Sunday, it's like jumping into a river and doing nothing. Which direction will you go? Down, down, whatever way the current's going. And that's what happens as a Christian. If we don't do anything, we don't stay in one spot, the flesh begins to pull us in that direction of the flesh. If the flesh is not being restrained, if the flesh is not being restrained via the filling of the Holy Spirit, the deeds of the flesh will flow out. So the only way to really restrain that works of the flesh is by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Think about that. When I'm not full of the Spirit, what am I full of? Self. I know what some of you were thinking, but I wasn't going there with that. So as I'm full of the Spirit, I'm pushing out the deeds of the flesh. Love, joy, peace, contentment, it's flowing out. Not easily, you know, but it's flowing out. I'm working on it, but it's pushing out the other things. Those things aren't in me or in you, that's where the irritation comes in. Snapping at people, upset, anger, frustration, moody. We have an excuse for our moods now. I'm just having a bad day. It's that time of month. I'm having a hard day. I went through a lot. My work, whatever. And we have these excuses, so it's like, oh, okay, I understand. And we never really get past and work on these deep issues. So again, what goes in comes out. I don't have to try to be critical, it just floats out. I don't have to try to be selfish, it just flows out. I don't have to try to be angry, it just flows out. And then we look at verse 16. But I say, here's the key. How long did it take me to get here? 15 minutes. But I say, here's the key. Walk. I like how the Amplify put this word in there. Walk habitually. Other translations say walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the deeds, the lusts of the flesh. But what it's really, I mean, that is true, but it's also, it's a habitual choice. It's a habit-forming thing that must happen. I say to you, walk habitually in the Holy Spirit, which is seek Him and be responsive to His guidance, and then you will certainly not carry out the desires of the sinful nature, which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts. Now it's interesting because as Christians, I think this is, is it not one of the greatest challenges? Lord, I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to act that way anymore. Why am I keep falling in this area? Why, why, why? I have this, I want to do what is good. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin and death? For with the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. That's Paul. Oh, wretched man that I am. Paul? Oh, there's not much hope for us. But it's, it's that, I think this is the biggest struggle in the, in the lives of most, most Christians, is knowing what to do, but the challenge is doing it. And then we leave here, this sounds great, we're on fire for God, we worship, and then comes tomorrow morning at work or in the home. Those who still have little kids at home, you know, that can change really quick in the morning. Or air conditioning's not working, something breaks, electrical goes down, and we can get, we can get really frazzled very easily. But again, remember, when you remove something, you must add something. It's not about suppression, but surrender. So it's a habitual walk in, in walking by the Holy Spirit. I'm going to get to that in a minute, what that looks like. But another verse that is so important is 1 Corinthians 13, four through seven, because this is walking, this is habitually walking in the Holy Spirit. Love endures with patience and sincerity. Oh, I'm sorry, serenity. I guess sincerity would be good too. Love endures with patience and serenity, mental calmness. Love is kind and thoughtful. It is not jealous or envious. Love does not brag, and it doesn't, it is not proud or arrogant. So here's the challenge. I know what to do, now I have to do it. See, that's walking in the Spirit. Okay, love is patient. Okay, I've got to work on my patience. Love is kind. Love is not easily angered. Love does not keep any record wrong done against it. And you see how that works? Okay, I have to make a decision now to engage what love is. As I'm doing that, I'm walking in the Holy Spirit, and I'm removing what the flesh wants. So it's walking in these areas. We can't just think it and hope it happens. Can we? Love is patient. It's kind. It's thoughtful. It's not jealous. It's not envious. It does not brag. It is not proud or arrogant. And so if we memorize these things, this verse, and let's say something comes up in us, and we want to brag, we want to be proud and boastful. Any marriages ever? You guys ever struggle with that? You want to get that last word in? You want to win the argument that you want to, and bragging or boasting, and you're not very patient. You're actually, it's a funny thing. In marriage, you're so comfortable that you're not very patient, and we're not, but if somebody comes over, then we're really patient. Somebody from church knocks on your door. Oh, hello. Come on in. Wait a minute. What happened to the argument you were just having? What happened? How rude you were just being? Oh, see. Oh, so you can control that. Huh. That's interesting. Hmm. See, it's a choice as a believer. We have a choice. Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill. Doesn't mean you won't struggle. Doesn't mean you won't struggle. Walk in the Spirit. You will not fulfill. Allow the lust to the flesh to come to completion. You will not fulfill those desires that you'll be tempted. There's a struggle, but if you walk in the Spirit, humble yourself, patiently endure. As you're doing these things, you're being filled with the Spirit. Love is not rude. Uh-oh. Love is not self-seeking. Do you know a lot of problems in marriage are caused by self-seeking? Seeking self, what I want, what I desire. And so as we begin to exercise love in these areas, and this is going to start as early as tonight, folks. As soon as you leave here and you get home, there's going to be opportunities to be rude, self-seeking. You're not provoked, nor overly sensitive and easily angered. Isn't that interesting? The second paragraph. Love is not easily provoked, meaning you're not anybody overly sensitive. And that can really be detrimental. When we're overly sensitive, we can take what people say to a level where it doesn't need to go. We can read into things that are not there. And so that's something we have to repent of. Lord, your word says I'm not easily provoked. I am not easily angered. It does not take into account a wrong done against it. It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth, meaning when right and truth prevail. And so that's what when we also on this, when we talk about hot button issues in our culture today, you know, many churches aren't doing that anymore because it's just too, it's hot. The hot buttons are hot. We kind of step on toes when we do that, but that is actually true love. True love rejoices in the truth. I want to tell you the truth about this lifestyle choice you're making. I want to tell you the truth about critical race theory or the real heart behind racism in America. What's really going on? What's really going on with the drag queen events? And there's an event coming up in Boise, Idaho, drag queen, drag day for kids in Idaho. Jack Gibbs just posted it and I shared it this evening, trying to get some churches there to talk to the sheriff, because see that's not mean and hatred. That's just, hey, I'm compelled by the truth. When you're full of the Holy Spirit, you're going to have to speak the truth. And I think that's the problem in the hearts of many pastors and Christians. There's not that fullness of the spirit. So it's easy to suppress the truth as not to offend. But that will not be the heart of the Holy Spirit. You'll have to speak the truth in love. Love bears all things regardless of what comes. You know, on that note, this is what we try to tell young couples. When you say I do, it doesn't mean I'll try it out. I remember a young lady, the wedding vows, and they're making the vows, and death do you part and all that. It got to that point. She said, you know, yeah, you know, she acknowledged that, but as long as you treat me nice. Which, you know, that's obviously, you don't want somebody being mean to you. But I don't know if that's, you know, the outclaws there. And we have to realize how precious marriage is, and how God designed it. Now there's hope for those who've been through divorce and brokenness, and I believe God can restore and rebuild and redeem that fractured relationship. But I also believe that love bears all things. So you go into it, hey, even if they end up in a wheelchair, even if they end up mentally deranged as they get older, even if they, and that's why, you know, even adultery, you don't have to bail out the first, you know, mistake there. Sometimes you bear with that person. Now if it's a habit, that's where I think they have the clause that Jesus said, except for sexual immorality. If you married a joker and he's not going to change, and he just continues to cheat on the person, continue to cheat on the person, commit adultery, there's an outclaw there, I believe, Jesus taught about. And so, but love bears all things. So it's not like, what can they give me? Do you know how many men marry because they want a trophy wife? Oh, it's quiet. It is quiet. But is that not true, guys? You know, Mary, look at, you know, looks are what they can give me. And this is, but that's not, the biblical is dying to self. And what it says here, bears all things, no matter what we go through, I am here with you until the end. It believes all things. What that means is it looks for the best in each other. Anybody need help with this or just me? Critical spirit can just come up easily. Yeah, but you know, but you know, but you know, believes it best. Now we don't want to be like a doormat, golly gee whiz, and just get fooled all the time. And I'm just always thinking the best, that person who calls from PayPal and needs my credit card number, I bet it's just an honest worker there. And I'm just going to err on the side of grace. It looks for the best in each other. And I think what the Bible teaches, in my opinion, is when I talk about when I preach a lot to err on the side of grace. What does that mean? Something happens, what's my flesh going to want to do? Judgment, critical spirit, animosity, backbiting, belittling, whatever. It just, it's going to want to do that. I don't have to do anything. I can just sit there. And that's where it's going to go. But to err on the side of grace, you know what, they probably didn't mean that. They're probably having a bad day. I'm sure, I'm sure that's not how, you know, they wanted me to take it. I don't think they did that on purpose. I don't know if that's their motives. Now, at some point, you know, you might have to lovingly confront if this proves to be untrue. But erring on the side of grace is what you'll see. That's why Jesus said, turn the other cheek. Erring on the side of grace. If somebody wants your cloak, give them two. They want to go the extra mile. You know, you err, so that way you're leaning towards the filling of the Spirit. Does that make sense? You're, you're, you're on God's side. You're erring on the side of grace. Doesn't mean you're, you're the, the pavement and the other person's a steamroller. And you just capitulate. But you, you err on the side of grace. Because if I don't do that, I can become pretty critical. Most of us can, correct? Why did they say that? Did they? Hmm. And why did, and you take it a certain way. And then you start thinking about it, right? You're getting upset in your mind, not erring on the side of grace. And so that's what it's teaching us here. It hopes all things, which means remain steadfast during difficult times. Boy, are we in that right now? This, this last two years has really test, tested Christians and the church. When a vessel is struck, what's inside comes out. And what is coming out is fruit of the, is the fruit of the spirit coming out? Man, I'm going through it. Love and joy and peace and gentleness and kindness and self-control. When I hear Biden's speech, love and joy, peace, contentment, does that just flow out? Oh no, no. That guy's, man, he's, he's making me really mad these days. But what do you do? Err on the side of grace to some point. You know, you also have to act. You also have to, to take action and, and things we can do. But it endures all things. It hopes. In other words, true love puts up with things. They don't quit and give up and say, I'm out of here. And so you have this huge picture of love. Love is patient. Love is kind. It doesn't envy. It doesn't, it doesn't boast. It's not proud. It's not rude. It's not self-seeking. It keeps no record of wrong done, done against it. And so as you're walking out in love, you're going to be full of the Holy Spirit. How to walk habitually. Anybody need, need help in this area? How to walk habitually in the spirit. That's the key. That's the key. Right there. Because I can tell it, tell you to, tell it to you right now and then I can hit traffic tomorrow and it falls apart. So before I talk about this briefly, let me encourage you. That's why it's called a walk. There's tripping. There's, I shouldn't have acted like that, man. I'm just, I really regret that. I flew off the handle. I got upset. And so it's a walk of walking in the spirit and you learn, you grow, you get back up, you apologize, you repent, and you're walking in this walk. And what happens though, if we fall and we mess up, we stay down on the ground and we don't get back up and walk in the spirit. And I think a lot of people think it's, it's, you're going to get up in the morning, just like glide on the, glide in the air. Like you're on a cloud all day. I'm walking in the spirit, walking in the spirit. They took my parking spot. Doesn't matter. My kids are crying and yelling. Doesn't matter. IRS is wanting to get audit. Doesn't matter. Talking to Verizon. I owe this man. It doesn't matter. Just, just walking in the spirit. Maybe, maybe some of you are at that. If so, I'd love to, to talk to you afterwards and let me know how the day is just smooth selling all week long. You just go to bed feeling great. Get up feeling great. You know, the Lord is your strength and you're just full of joy everywhere you go. Every person you touch, you just, it's just this life of the spirit. And you know, that's just not reality because Paul writes about that, but see, that's our goal. That that's what we shoot for. That's, that's the standard. And the problem isn't that we raise the standard and miss it. It's that we lower it and we hit it. So walking in the spirit there there's there's biblically speaking. Paul doesn't go into a checklist. He just says, walk in the spirit. The reason is I believe because some things are obvious based on, you know, praying in the spirit, surrendering, repenting. There's there's key things in scriptures that tell us we can walk habitually in the spirit. Now keep in mind though, sometimes you need to make a quick decision. And you just have to let integrity guide you and an instinct and there's quick decisions. But normally it's a walk. It's a habit forming walk. And as you do things more often, it becomes easier. That's why habitually it's a habit. And have you noticed if you forgive someone or don't let something offend you and you keep practicing it, it gets actually easier. It doesn't get more difficult. I mean, maybe sometimes you go, this is frustrating. I've been doing this for three months. This person is not changing. That can get frustrating. But obedience becomes habit forming. So here's how biblically speaking the best way to walk in the spirit. Number one, beginning tonight and tomorrow morning, you have to start to develop a life of prayer. What does prayer do? It tunes you in. It's like a radio station. You're not going to hear the frequency unless you tune it in. So the time with the Lord is saying, Lord, this is my time with you. The God of the universe wants to meet with you, speak to you, lead you, guide you, deep calling into deep. The Holy Spirit of God that resides in you as a believer has fellowship with the Father. And so as that prayer is, it's building me up. It's encouraging me. It's strengthening me instead of going right to the news. That's really not encouraging me. It's discouraging me. And so how many of us are not tuning in to the Spirit of God in the mornings or evenings throughout the day and just stopping? And that's how you walk in the spirit. You get direction. I get so much direction where I'm just stopping and praying on how to act, how to treat my spouse or my kids. And selfishness is really crushed in the prayer closet. And the more time you spend with God, the better you become spiritually speaking. Because you can't spend a significant time with God and not change. Because you're not going to play games with God. If you're playing games with God, you're not going to be praying. You can't have both of those. So prayer helps us tune in. And then the Bible talks about surrender. Tune in, jump in. Surrender to me is jumping in. I surrender, Lord, to your will. I want to do what you want me to do. I'm jumping in, and I'm being full of the Spirit. Because what's the opposite of surrender? We're not surrendering to God. It's fighting God. So I'm not going to surrender. I know anybody who's done this. I know what God wants me to do. But one honest guy, Henry, I'll raise my hand too. I know what God wants me to do. But, and at that point, you're going to hinder that walk of the Spirit. You're going to hinder that habitually walking in the Spirit. Because you can't say, I don't think so. And then keep walking in the Spirit. Because you got to start at that point. Now again, not perfection. We all, I'm sure I'm disobeying God in some area myself. I mean, we're fallen creatures on this side of Calvary, on this side of heaven. But there's a difference between someone willfully saying, nope, I'm not going to give up that area. I'm not going to change. I'm not going to work on that. Then we forfeit that walking in the Spirit. And that's why there's no love and joy and peace and contentment and gentleness and long-suffering. That's why there's no fruit there, because we're stuck in this area. So surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit. Basically, like what Jesus said, not my will, Lord, but your will be done. And me and my wife have a saying. And both of us, it's not easy. But we say, go with the flow. And you don't say that when the other person's not in a good mood. Right? Oh, just go with the flow. Get over it. But there is something to that each day. You know, just, I got to go with the flow. I got to surrender to what God wants to do. My flat tire, this just broke. I had an hour phone call. I was getting so frustrated with the place for my truck that you can, I guess, turn on your car remotely. That's pretty cool. But the app's not working. She told me to call Dodge, and Dodge told me to call back to them. And I'm like, you guys keep telling me to call the other person. Somebody's got to help me with this. And I could tell, here it comes. I don't have time to do this. I'm working on it. I got the sermon open on my screen. So it was exactly one hour. But this, I remember reading this, just, Lord, just go with the flow. And we can really remove a lot of struggles and anger in this area, because we usually want things done our way, in our time, according to our method. So we're the most comfortable, or it's the most convenient. It's about a selfishness. And then once that, what's, do you ever have any, you get up in the morning, you say, okay, here's what I'm doing today. Here's my schedule. Here's my plan. And when there's a monkey wrench thrown into that, how do you feel? You say, praise God, this is great. Oh, well. Wow, this is great opportunity. It pleases the Lord. No, you get upset, like I do sometimes. That's why we learn to go with the flow. Okay. It's not going to be what I want, but Lord, you know what's best. And so that is really the embodiment of surrender. Because we're surrendering, Lord, what is your will today? He might have you go somewhere because of someone else. Could that be? But selfish Shane wants to do his thing. I don't want to go there. I don't want to do that. I'm in a hurry. But God redirects so we can maybe be a blessing to others. And so surrendering to what God's will is, God's sovereignty will really relieve a lot of the pressure. So as you're, as you're praying and saying, Lord, whatever your will is, you're surrendering to things that come up. You're not getting upset. And then another area here is repentance. Repentance. Is anything sticking out tonight? You have to call it out. You have to repent of it. You have to repent. Repentance is reconnecting and reestablishing that walk with the Holy Spirit. So if I'm walking with the Spirit, but I get out of sync with God, man, I'm really not going in a good direction. I wasn't nice to my spouse today. I kind of got irritated with the kids, irritated with other people. I'm just not feeling it. I'm moody today. This, this life is hard today. What do I need to do? I need to repent. I need to repent and say, Lord, this isn't right. Instead of making excuses. And so as I repent, what happens? Joy comes back in because now I'm in a right, now I'm in a right relationship with God. So as I'm praying, surrendering, repenting, making choices, that's the next one. I'm making choices. Obedience. Obedience is, is, is very important to walking in the Spirit because a lot of, you know, so many people are confused. God's will, God's will. I don't know what God's will. I don't, God's will actually is not as difficult as we make it. It's lined out in Scripture pretty clear, very clear. I mean, the Bible talks about His will is that you are saved. His will is that you make disciples. His will is that you are holy and set apart. His will is, you know, and there's a couple other areas. His will is that you are filled with the Spirit. And so as we're living our life, what's His will? Making decisions based on integrity, following the scriptural course. I don't know God's will in this area. Well, I know it's to love, and love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it's not rude. If I'm talking about a major decision that I'm making in my life, I'm going to take time, I'm going to seek the Lord on it. I'm going to say, Lord, you open doors, you close doors, you give me confirmation. Lord, I'm just going to wait on you. And His will then begins to unfold. And so God's will has a lot to do with obeying His written word, not following inner voices. That can get you in trouble. Now, if I had time, I could talk about the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is controversial. You'll have charismatic churches on one side and very conservative churches on the other. You know, I like to go back and forth on this, right? And it's, I mean, neither extreme is healthy because if it's all just, well, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, Holy, well, what's God's word saying to you? Well, the Holy, what's Jesus saying to you every day in His word? You can get direction right through the word. However, we know God can lead a person to do like the whole lead of the Spirit. And they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. They were led by the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit closed the door in, with the disciples. And so the Holy Spirit can lead. Sometimes is there a prompting like, I don't, I just have to go talk to this person. Well, am I going to read that in Matthew 6? So see, there is a, there is a leading of the Holy Spirit that is there. I kind of found it interesting. I was at a, it's called the Shepherd's Conference at John MacArthur's church about eight years ago. And I know they're not really big into the leading of the Holy Spirit, but they had up on the screen, a Chinese man who fleed the persecuted church in China. And he kept talking about how the Holy Spirit led him to take a different road to miss the police at his house. Well, hold, wait a minute. That's what I'm talking about. That, so you do believe that? Well, in certain cases. And so, but see, you, you, we have to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading because not everything is, for example, to be a pastor, that's not in 1 Thessalonians 6. I don't know if there's chapter six, right? It's, it's the leading God's, there's a, there's a burden that God gives you. And there's that burden line up with scripture. Do other people confirm it? Does it not go away? You're like, Lord, I give me confirmation in your word. And the scriptures are coming out that confirm this. So you can be led of the Holy Spirit, but it can also be led by demonic influence as well. Did you know that the enemy can plant thoughts? Shoot those fiery darts. Remember those fiery darts are not physical darts. I've yet to get hit by a fiery dart. Oh, that hurt. Oh, he got me again. Where are they going? So if you just say grounded in his word, if you feel God is leading you to do something, for example, when we did, when we launched out on JetHawk, when we did open JetHawk Stadium that two years ago, it was incredible. There's nowhere in the Bible that's going to tell me to do that. But is it biblical? I hope. Reaching out to the community, leading people, baptizing, but see that the Holy Spirit was leading and confirming and opening doors. And so it is an area where I like to be open, but cautious. First and foremost, what does God's word say? And when the Holy Spirit led us to purchase the radio stations, that wasn't in the Bible. The principle was good stewards, financial integrity, seeking godly counsel, open doors, confirmation. But God can lead us not outside of his word, right? Because the word always is the foundation. Any type of leading must submit to the word of God. Always. If it's, if it's outside of that or gray area, well, I know what the Bible says, but you're already in trouble. But it's what we, it's where we get our word supplement from. Anybody take supplements, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, all the supplements that we don't get naturally in food are enough. What's it doing? It's not the meal. It's the supplement. And so that's why the, the, the, the lean, the Holy Spirit can be supplementary to your study in God's word. I mean, I can't tell me how, maybe some of you are in here where, you know, just I'm going throughout the day and, oh, I haven't thought of that person's name and six months and I'll just reach out. I'll email. How are you doing? I can't believe you emailed me today. Can you talk like, okay. And wouldn't you know it? Perfect timing. You can ask pastor Abram before he came out here. I pulled over on Avenue N. I hadn't read an email from him. He had a church plant in LA for a year. I'm just driving. I'm like, oh, I bet he could speak when I go on vacation. I went, where, why did, where did that come from? Pull over, email him, come to find out he's having a really finance. He's about ready to quit the ministry. It just perfect timing that God did. So we're not led by the spirit anymore to do these things, but see, it all lines up. If you get a desire, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't have married her. Maybe I'm married. Maybe I married the wrong person. I bet that's the Holy Spirit. Now you might've married the wrong person, but you said, you concreted it in there. But I've met people that they're just so far off because they trust their own internal feelings and what they're sensing and not what God's word says. And I think it was J.I. Packard. I don't want to say the quote, but you know, a good 90% of our direction comes from God's word. So the leading of the Holy spirit is supplementary and it's going to line up with God's word. There's usually a, a, a, a strong desire. Anyone have a strong, strong desire, maybe to reach out to your neighbor or a friend or a family member that's completely out of the blue and wow, they're just, you're on my heart all week. I can't get this off. I can't get this off of my heart. What's God's prompting you. You're not going to turn to Genesis chapter 26 verse two, call your call Chris today and see it. So that's how it works. But if you're not in the word, the word won't be in you. And so many people are following voices or being led to do things, but they're, they have to stay grounded in the word. And if they're not grounded in the word, I would tend to doubt a lot of the leadings they're having. The leadings are having are probably coming from their CNN viewing or Fox news for you conservatives. I'll come after, I'll come after you every each group, but isn't that true? No matter where you're, if you're, if you're in the, if you're in the world mentally, it's going to be really hard to be led of God's spirit. God's spirit will be leading you to get out of it and go to prayer meetings and get back into church and those types of leadings. And God will lead a prodigal son as you're praying, as you're praying for your prodigal son, your prodigal daughter, you want your children walking with the Lord. God, God can begin to lead them. Mom, dad, I'm just all week. I've been thinking about God. I couldn't sleep. I don't know what's going on. Praise God. So I never want to discount the work of the Holy spirit. I think it's profound and powerful, but I don't want to be, because I trust God. I don't trust me. I don't trust every thought that comes up here. So I'm usually testing it, getting confirmation on certain things and, and asking God for confirmation and looking to his word. And I'm trying to think if there's been times where usually if it's not of God, as you're praying, as you're looking at his word, it will kind of just kind of go away and there won't be a lot of peace. I just don't have peace about them. This doesn't feel right. And so there's a lot of indications on, maybe I'll talk about that Sunday because I'm talking a little bit about God's will. And can you stop God's will from happening? Talking about Esau and election and that whole, how that works with, with, with election. And I'll just give you a little, a little nugget right now. When God wants to do something, he's going to do it. Can't stop it, but there's perfect will permissive will, you know, where within God's sovereignty, we are given responsibility and that there are some things that are conditional in the Bible. So even for example, if you don't believe 2 Chronicles 7.14 is for us today, if my people are called by my, my, by my name will humble themselves and pray. Okay. That was for Israel. Some of you might say, I mean, I think the principle still applies without a doubt, but think about it. He said, if you do this, then I will do this. So that was conditional. God says, if you do this, I will relent from the judgment. And then I will begin to heal your land. So, so see, you can, there are some things within God's will, but you're not going to, you can change his plans from calling Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. Could Paul, God said, I want Paul, I'm knocking him off that beast, or whether, whether the translation of the Bible, maybe say he wasn't on a beast, but he was, he was walking there, the road to Damascus, and he was just blinded. Paul, he said, you are chosen vessel of mine. Jeremiah, before I even formed you in the womb, I called you to be a prophet among the nations. And so God will do certain things. You can't stop that. You just go with what we call his sovereignty. But then within that sovereignty, I believe there are aspects of you doing his will that relies a lot on our choices. And that's where hard work comes into play, discipline, walking out spiritual disciplines and living for God. And God will begin to open doors for you and, and, and begin to promote, not in a sense of what we think of promote and glorify your name and get all this money, but begin to promote, give you more, give, bless you with more things because you're, you're following his will and his way. And so within his perfect will, I believe there is permissive will as well. But that would be the keys to walking in the spirit, prayer. And why I talk a lot about worship, because to me, worship is, is an integral part of all this. Think about this. As I'm worshiping, I'm praying. As I'm worshiping, I'm surrendering. I surrendered more things on this altar tonight as I'm worshiping. Things that God's showing me. Give this, you know, worrying too much about your kids and too much about, I look at our nation. I'm like, my goodness, what are we leaving our kids and our grandkids? It's almost like you think, oh, God doesn't got this. God's confused. He needs my help. I'm so concerned. But God says, I got, they're my kids. I'm just a steward. Remember that parents? You're just a steward. Thank God. Isn't that relieving? Oh, that's right. They're not really my kids. They're my gift from you. You're dad, you take care of them. I'll just, I'll help steward them, but ultimately they're yours. And then you begin to worship and you begin to pray and you begin to be filled to go with your spirit, Holy Spirit. You begin to repent of bad attitudes. And maybe some of the things I said, did anything resonate with some of you men that are, would be controlling, dominating the marriage. Don't want your spouse to be elevated at all. And we want to just hinder them or, or are you rough? Are you mean spirited? Are you angry? Are you arrogant? Shane, you're reading my mail. No, I'm just telling you about men. I've spoken enough men's conferences. I'm speaking at two more coming up the end of the year. And I know what guys struggle with. And it's what, here's what happens. There's so many rabbit trails, my goodness. But as men, God has given us this fighting mentality to protect, to work hard, to nurture, to do things that are tough and that toughness. But if that toughness doesn't stay tender, it, you can become overbearing and hurt and lash out. And that's where men have to take those things captive and love their spouse, where women have to respect their husbands and honor them and understand, okay, God's leading them or it's up to you. I'm going to submit to what God wants to do in our home and in our marriage through you seeking God. But remember husbands, you can't say, hey, you're supposed to submit if you're not seeking God. The context is husband is dying to self, following Christ, loving her as Christ loved the church. And then the woman wants to follow that type of leadership. You can't, you know, I know some guys who've said that. Woman, this is my house. I pay the bills. You need to submit. But if anything grabs your heart, something you need to repent of, any of those areas that God is showing you to work on a stronger marriage and to be a better parent. If you need to get rid of that, that anger, that anger, that animosity, that frustration, these things that are just tearing you apart, bring it to the altar tonight, if you'd like, or at least repent of it and say, God, I need help in this area. Doesn't mean you're going to be perfect when you leave here, but now you've dealt with it. You've exposed it. You've brought it to the light. And now you're