Transcript for:
Navigating Temptation: The Great Escape

let us pray father thank you that there is nothing coming that you have not seen already that you are ahead of us making crooked paths straight and making Hills flatten opening doors and turning things around father I thank you for the ordered steps I thank you for the dark places where you're speaking light I thank you for the chaotic places where you're speaking order you alone Jesus H we are so grateful if you would help this earn vessel pour out a word from you on today I feel so full of your spirit but but let it pour out to be what they need in every individual life let it be translated and transformed for the benefit of your kingdom we want to be more like you and we want to do your work thank you for helping us in Jesus name amen amen amen don't sit down I want to read I want to read a verse to you real quick a couple of verses and then I'll let you sit down come on iPad do the thing there we go we're going to start with 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 it says no temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man look at your neighbor and say it ain't special it ain't special I I know we're special I know a lot of things are special but this thing ain't special it's common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the Temptation will also make make the way of Escape that you may be able to Bear it I came here to talk to you today about the Great Escape we need to know the way of Escape go ahead have your seats let me let me get going so often we hear that phrase we hear about he will make a way of escape and H we expect it to be a big thing a miracle in the moment and sometimes it is sometimes you pick up the phone and say in the text that you shouldn't have sent and it doesn't go through it's not delivered maybe the numbers changed maybe the signal dropped we don't know what went wrong but God said ah don't do it sometimes you hop in that car impulsively maybe to go somewhere you wasn't supposed to go and the and the and the tank is empty and if if you stop for gas you're going to be late anyway so you might as well not go sometimes you get ready open your mouth and say something you shouldn't and the next thing you know is can't get it out sometimes he will show up and make a way of Escape he will block something to give you a moment to get your mind right sometimes no matter how hard you try to reach for the thing it'll be the store you drive to in that far away City to buy that alcohol in the middle of the night and you find out that City got a law that they don't sell alcohol after midnight go home he makes ways of Escape he does do that but we don't only have to depend on his miraculous provision of Escape at the last minute when you walk into a new place how many people look around for the exits some of us have the wherewithal to be aware if something pop off I see a door right there there I see a door right there I see a door right there sometimes nowadays when I'm walking in the mall because of the times we live in by the but by the blood of Jesus you never know what's coming around the corner so sometimes I sit down in that food court I look up if I saw something coming this way I could grab my children when my children were young I could grab my kids and we could go in that store and get behind you're paying attention for ways of Escape but when it comes to the enemy coming to tempt you coming to knock you off your Square coming to change your direction you will find yourself too often in places where you have not checked your exit well one earring down I let's fight you have come in and found out you didn't check for your exit so when the enemy showed up you weren't ready ready to know which way the Escape Route was but what if I'm about to tell you where the Escape Routes are so that you don't have to go down Hebrews 4:15 says oh one of my favorite verses and I get to talk about one of my favorite passages in the Bible today Hebrews 4:14 says seeing then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the son of God let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize in the King James it says who cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities with our weaknesses infirmities human weakness but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin Let Us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need now I've preached Hebrews 4:15 often particularly because it refers to the emotional experience of Jesus it says we have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities in the King James in the new King James it says um that we sympathize with our weakness but if you look at that word in the Greek it's he feels with us he knows everything we felt because he has a body like ours and because emotions are bodily experiences and he's able to have all of our emotions and his body was a fallen body let me it wasn't a Divine perfect it wasn't his Incorruptible body that he got after the resurrection he had a body just like ours that's why he was able to be murdered cuz you can't kill God so God was wrapped in Fallen flesh he had to have our experience to defeat our experience so that we could have the keys to hell in the grave so that we could be Victorious and so along the way the Bible says that he learned obedience by the things that he suffered which means he was tempted as we are yet without sin and so the fact that it says he that we have he has the feelings of our infirmities and was tempted the emotion is not the same as the Temptation the feeling that we have puts us in a state of mind the state of mind is the Temptation the Temptation is a mental state and so I want to dig into the mental state today I want to dig into the Temptation and so we see Jesus actually go through this this isn't just some good sounding rhetoric that Paul wrote or whoever wrote Hebrews there's arguments about that but we see Jesus actually had the Temptation experience so let's go to Matthew chapter 4 in Matthew chapter 4 Jesus has been driven into the wilderness is by the spirit he was dri and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward hungry Jesus was hungry let's start there again Jesus had a body just like ours and so by the time he had been 40 days in the wilderness he was now hungry I think hungry has to be an understatement he had eaten no food in 40 days we know he must have had water because the human body could not have gone that long but he had no food in that 40 days furthermore he was outside he wasn't glamping he was outside wild animals hot days freezing nights he's in the desert so I'm going to just Holy Ghost extrapolate to say that on top of being starving Pastor Tor has us on this fast no shade sir on top of being starving I'm gonna guess he was tired cuz that don't sound like eight hours of comfy Temperpedic sleep so Jesus's body is in its weakest possible State and the enemy comes to him and says if you be the Son of God turn these stones into bread now I have a few things to say about this temptation number one I would have failed it flat the enemy wouldn't have even had to ask me turny I would have already had my mouth would have been full with whatever I would have cuz that's my that's a weak area for me but it's not just food it's physical pain see we have to find the universal element in Jesus's Temptations because if it says he was tempted in every way like we are yet without sin when will I ever be 40 days in the desert being asked to turn stones into bread it's never going to happen so what was it about the Temptation that was as we will be tempted we have to find the universal Human Experience that he's having and the universal Human Experience he's having In This Moment is physical pain when we are in physical pain our decision making is compromised it's the truth and you know it you might have had a surgery and you trying not to overdo it on the painkiller but that pain hit a certain level maybe you decided to have an unmedicated birth ladies I did that but there's this moment when you're like ah bring the epidural I changed my mind there's a physical pain can alter your decision making maybe you went out to run a marathon at a certain Pace but halfway through that cramp in a leg slows you down it changes the way we do things when we're in physical pain we tend to be grumpy we get fussy we get Snappy some of y'all can't go till 2:00 without eating without being dangerous to somebody you nether Snickers you not yourself 2 o' Jesus 40 days now he is in an extremely physically compromised State physical pain and his response is what verse four Matthew 4:4 but he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god so let's just check out the anatomy of the Temptation here first we have an identity challenge who are you if you be the Son of God the enemy always comes first against who it is that you believe that you are so not only does he challenge if is him but he challenges him to prove it by using his power to meet his own need as he sees fit now Jesus had the power furthermore talk about turn stones in the bread and he's quoting scriptures about the bread he is the bread he said I'm the bread you telling me to turn a stone in the I'm the bread but he could have maybe forgotten that in a moment where physical pain was overwhelming but he quoted a scripture so we got to look at the identity challenge we have to look at the state of the body and then what do we know about the word there's three dimensions to this temptation now we know Jesus was fully Divine and fully human so he's killing it on the fully Divine he knows he's the son of God but then he also has to deal with his body where did that scripture come from that he quoted it is Deuteronomy 8: 2:3 this is back when they were roaming around in the wilderness and God let them get hungry it says ' and thou shalt remember all the ways which the Lord thy God LED thee these 40 years in the wilderness to Humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keep his Commandments or no and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with Mana which thou knowest not neither did the fathers know that he might make thee know that man does not live by bread only but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord does Man live so he's quoting script rure but the important part of that passage is when we are hungry when our bodies are weak it shows what's in our hearts a temptation is designed to get in your mind and drill down to the truth and you won't know your truth till you're under that pressure and that was that moment now Jesus was able to quote a scripture I want to say this I want the memory verse back is any folks that grew up in Church anybody I sister Johnson do you remember we used to have a memory verse and let me not know my memory verse and Hear My Father's Footsteps walking towards my room on a Saturday night when I'm supposed to say that verse on Sunday morning in Sunday school I knew them verses cuz it wasn't worth the payment I told y'all physical pain not my preferred temptation but I'm so grateful for those years of just memorizing scripture and memorizing scripture and memorizing scripture because when the enemy comes at you you don't have time to run to the index in the back of the Bible and try to look up one verse out of context about what you're going through right then if the Holy Spirit cannot bring it to your remembrance right in that moment you're missing out I want memorizing again I memorize the verses sometimes at night when I have a hard time falling asleep I play my Bible app and I will recite the words after the Bible says it as I fall asleep sometimes when I'm driving a long way in my car I will just put on the Bible app and I'll just recite right after what it's saying honey so and so begat so and so begat so and so begat so and so my daddy told me God will set you free with the bagett so I will say it whatever is in this word because it is alive it is quick it is a two-edged sword and it is your weapon against the enemy when Temptation comes what comes up have you hidden the word in your heart cuz that's where it's supposed to be it said he let them be hungry to see what was in their heart when you find your body compromised what comes out of your heart it depends what you hid there I need you to know the word we're going to come back to that let's go to the next Temptation Hallelujah somebody going to memorize some verses this week do it do it I know all the that's why y'all hear me start quoting Bible it don't matter what version they got on the screen qu King James coming out my mouth cuz that's what we had and so I memorize it that's what I know so that's how it's going to come up memorize it in whatever version you want the devil will recognize that you're quoting the word but get it in your heart so it will come back out of your mouth out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks when the enemy attacks you it don't always need to be the first thing to say Jesus please help me what if a word came out of your mouth my God okay okay I gotta go I gotta go to the next Temptation so that didn't work being free from physical pain was not enough to compromise Jesus to utilize his power for his own benefit and we have to pay attention to that physical pain is associated with the body but it's also associated with our needs that's why the in the Book of Matthew It also says that we shouldn't be worrying about what we're going to eat what we're going to drink what we're going to wear where we're going to live all of those are physical provision relationships and when we get caught up in wanting to take care of our physical needs by our own power all the time and we never check in with God we endanger ourselves and so many of us think we aren't worrying about where we going to live and what we going to eat what we going to wear because we have it but do we really have this down pat because this first temptation is about Kingdom Focus if we don't worry about what we're going to eat what we're going to wear where we're going to live all of those things the Bible says seek ye first the kingdom and all these things will be added unto you this is what we saw Jesus do he sought the kingdom first his position as the Son of God and not using his power that he did have to manipulate to feed himself he does food Miracles later but this wasn't the right time you have to be willing to lay your power down your capacity down yes you could take that job but is it the right one yes you can get that house but is it the right time yes you can buy those things and you want that you want to wear but maybe you're supposed to seow some of that money instead what are you willing to lay down to see what God might provide for you next next Temptation verse 5 then the devil took him into the holy city and set him on the Pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the Son of God throw yourself self down for it is written he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against the stone so the first Temptation he just came to him straight body and power physical pain but this time not only does he try to get him back he flips it with the word he said oh you want to call scripture we go scripture see you got to the the enemy knows that book front to back do not let him out study you in the word of God he knows that word front to back he can quote it you quote it he will use it but can you use it and can you use it correctly because the Temptation here first and formost he says again if you be the Son of God so now he's coming at him identity the first time he tried to get him to prove his identity by his power now he's trying to get him to prove his identity through relationship how many of you feel most comfortable in who you are based on the relationships that you're in how many of us get caught up in our identity being determined by who loves us and how well they love us how many of us waste our time testing relationships I wonder if this friend will be loyal I wonder if this man will be right I Wonder If This Woman's going to stick by me and we're testing testing testing never feeling safe he asked Jesus to prove who he was based on his relationship with God some of us are walking around we've been declaring things I'm a child of God and God's going to do for me I'm a Child of God so God's going to do why for me and it hasn't happy and it hasn't happier you're getting nervous cuz people are looking at you and you're declaring these things my grandmother used to say that she used to get up every Sunday we had testimony service when I was a kid some of y'all know what testimony service is and my grandmother gave the same testimony every single Sunday and I'm so grateful because I have it memorized it's a witness it's generational blessing that I have of how God healed her from she called it the yell JIS when she was a child how healed her from jaundice healed her from asthma healed her from heart trouble and she had very bad arthritis her knees were swollen like grapefruits it was so hard for her to walk and she would reach down and she' say if he don't heal me from this old arthritis it ain't because he can't see that's the faith that we need see see we want to prove that we are God's favorite by what he does for us we want him to show up and prove that he's loves us the way the Bible says that he loves us but baby I don't care what you've declared if people are looking at you and you're waiting for him to show up with the house you declared or the spouse you declared or the job you declared and they say well where is your God honey I don't know he going to come and if he don't do it it ain't because he can't if he doesn't do it that don't mean he is not my God if he doesn't show up the way I prefer baby it ain't because he can't that's some Faith but the enemy wasn't expecting that he showed up saying well well doesn't the bible say that what was he tempting Jesus with emotional pain that's the universal he was tempting him with emotional pain double dog dare you do they really love you we all know what that feels like and none of us want to be in emotional pain none of us want to feel unsafe in our relationships none of us want to feel like the future is unpredictable especially when we're in relationship with the all Mighty God and so he brought him an emotionally painful Temptation how many people emotional pain for you is worse than physical pain you rather have a broke arm than a broken heart I know you out there that temptation is real you like now hold on cuz my arm will heal but I don't know if my heart will ever recover so you try so hard not to be hurt not to be rejected not to be let down not to get it wrong not to pick wrong know wrong walk wrong do wrong with the person that you love because emotional pain is a state you find intolerable and so he tested Jesus on whether he would trade freedom from emotional pain for the enemy suggestion that he misused the word Psalm 91 is the verses that Jesus was quoting oh y'all know Psalm 91 many of y'all have probably behaved as poorly as the enemy is trying to do here Psalm 91 is all about feeling emotionally safe but in Co everybody memorized this we was just like no pestilence shall come near my dwelling place we had Psalm 91 down pat I'm under the shadow of his wings there's no fear he protect me from the snare of the Fowler we had it all this verse is this Psalm is all about protection and it's verse 4 11 and 12 that Jesus quotes I mean that the Enemy quotes directly but we have to be careful that we are not applying the word in an effort to avoid something that scares US versus the application of something that God told us to do do you hear the difference you got to know your motivation you got to know what's really under here because if I can stand and say God if he don't do it it ain't because he can't but then I also declare that he covers me with his wings but if it's oh my God oh my God he covers me with his wings he covers me you with me because when we run to the word in that kind of text all the time we can grab it just to be delivered from what we're feeling rather than asking God what he wants what he's doing and so we try to make a demand of God so Jesus says to him what's Jesus's response to the enemy he says that you will not tempt the Lord your God Jesus says it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God Matthew 4:7 period don't tempt God you it that's not up to you there is such an important balance that requires spiritual maturity to be his child and his little child and his adult child both his dependent and his Warrior both his lamb and his lion we have to be able to walk that line so that we are not in the world just trying to use the Bible as a shield for everything that might hurt us and get us what we want because if when we don't get what we want it knocks us off our course with God we need to revisit what's happening he said it is written you shall not tempt the Lord your God all right next one so he tempted him with emotional pain here also emotional pleasure because if he had jumped and God caught him or the angels caught him that would have felt good wouldn't it I mean we all want to just fall into the arms of somebody that we love yeah God friends romantic Partners we love to fall in love it feels so good and the desire to pursue emotional pleasure in relationships as a way to escape emotional pain is also a Temptation physical pain emotional pain emotional pleasure this was a Temptation here emotional pleasure derived from relationships be careful how you try to be someone's favorite the boss the teacher the pastor the department head I learned in leadership to have to minister to some people who were so willing to volunteer all the time but it wasn't really about serving the lord it was about me it was about getting being near me because they had wounds my other wounds emotional wounds leadership wound wounds and here's a person who is safe and I and I do my very best to be safe and if I blow it I apologize but I believe that I have matured to a place of being a safe person and so they're attracted to that and meaning to heal but if I don't call out hey this is what's really happening and let me help you walk you to God's hand and not just be my assistant my person my thing because I got now I need the help and I'm not looking at the health of that person we need this in healthy leadership but also I need you to pay attention what are you seeking because if it's really about serving God then with that that department or that area shifts in some way and then they no longer need that type of service in the house for the Lord and now your heart is broken because they put me out after I did all this where what well I don't know why I had to go that way but I trust the Holy Ghost are you serving God are you feeling rewarded for serving the lord for contributing to the house of God so that it moves from generation to generation and it is strong and are you willing to be moved from any place to any place to any place that God would have for you to be or will you be offended and brokenhearted because you feel personally slighted ba glory to God anyway sometimes the emotion pleasure of being in a relationship with someone or relationships of all kind is a Temptation from the enemy if you love is free when you give from a love place it's free I've been teaching about love for weeks now it's just on my heart so much when we give out of love it's free yes people should take say thank you and there should be reciprocation but we have to pay attention to the fact that if they don't give it back if they don't come back and show me out if I ask for something and they can't offer it and now I'm offended and now I'm annoyed well I did all this for you and you can't do that for me why do you remember every single thing you did for them for the last three years how are you able to list that off the top of your head if it was free so have your boundaries and let your yes be yes and your no be no if it's a yes then let it be yes because of love because you thought God LED you and if they never remember you I hope they do but if they don't was it free because a lot of times we're giving we think we're acting in love but it's not free cuz down in here we're a little tight in the chest a little tight in the gut and these things destroy the house of God because we need to be giving in love we need to be moving freely love keeps no record amen okay that was free that was free third Temptation the enemy is not done he's got one more going down Matthew 4:8 again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me then Jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve that's one of the Ten Commandments my goodness Jesus quoting Deuteronomy right there but I mean that's a Ten Commandment you have no other God but here's how the enemy is slick right here this third time he doesn't say if you be the Son of God this time he doesn't say anything he is leaving Jesus to choose whose son he will be will he be God's son or will he worship the enemy and make himself the enemy's son he doesn't say are you the Son of God he basically says choose and what is he tempting Jesus with emotional pleasure again but in a different way he says if I will give you all the kingdoms of the world so that gives us not only riches physical riches but also Adoration of the people some receive their major emotional pleasure from their interpersonal relationships me and this person me and my small group of people but some primarily are tempted to get their emotional pleasure from group power relationships yeah followers stages getting a little bit elevated in your small group leadership I know that's not going to happen here because of the need for the Adoration of the masses that's a form of emotional pleasure too and some are not tempted so much by the interpersonal relationships but the group adoration will attract them every time and it shows up in so many places but will you chase that under the guise of spirituality I just want to get as many people in for Jesus as I can and then you name it Janice Jones Ministries well I'm not criticizing nobody if there's someone here named Janice Jones that was my era it was not meant for you be careful there's so many opportunities in our modern culture to put ourselves in front of lots of people and to feel the Adoration of the crowd so you got wearing everybody out because you published your four self-published book and you got 17 photos a day that don't even look like you actually attracting somebody to Jesus social media has made this very dangerous very dangerous and it is a temptation I love social media in some ways hate it in other ways but there are times when I want to post something and I don't because I want to check myself am I attracting attention to myself yes I understand God's called me yes he's given me as a gift to the body I stand strong in who I am in the Lord but I'm always watching myself and when especially I am going through a trial I am quietest because you don't think they know what you talking about but you are bleeding and leaking all over the place if you cannot be silent or you're struggling to do it you need it more because our desire to be embraced and supported by the masses is a Temptation that the enemy can use to to get you to worship his way instead of God's way you're not saying you're worshiping Satan he can't convince people like us to just worship do devil worship but he tries to get us to go with his systems and his ways you know one of the things that I adore and I've had the privilege to know Pastor Sarah so well as a friend in these last several years it's just how dedicated she is to putting Jesus at the Center of things she's adored by this world she doesn't have to focus that on Jesus like she does to keep a crowd but she does it because she's always Jesus first that's one of the things I probably the thing I love the most about her traveling around the country with her on tour and watching how she is backstage and with staff and that's because the opportunity to be adored the enemy's way is a Temptation in this day and age we have to be very careful we have churches that have grown beyond our wildest dream size mega churches but if all we're ever thinking about is entrepreneurship models instead of Temple models we are actually doing it the devil's way yes Corporate America has some wisdom to give us but we don't just swallow it whole we make sure that God is always at our Center that this platform is always sacred whether you got a 100 people or 100,000 people when you go out to start whatever Ministry God's called you to do make sure you get a word from the Lord and structure from scripture before you just try to copy your Mary Kay multi-level marketing procedures and say oh I can just do this with Ministry that is how you bow down to the devil to get all the things of the world baby your pink Cadillac will not be worth it if you got it his way the devil's way you have bowed down and made yourself his child and God will is not pleased with it and he's going to deal with the body from top to bottom if we don't get this straight stop making success look like what the world says that it is that is US bowing down to the kingdoms of this world rather than the kingdom of God if you follow the kingdom if you don't worry about all the things about yourself if you stop worrying about who likes you and whose group you're going to be in and whose network and whose Mastermind in invited you stop stop everybody got a mastermind you ain't mastered nothing said I was in a mood but it's the truth when you move into what God's called you to do it should be with such depth of humility as you are constantly working out your soul salvation with fear and trembling don't ever get off that job that's your number one job and if we're not careful not only will we chase the emotional pleasure of the Adoration of the crowd but the physical Pleasures that money buys it is nothing wrong with having wealth at all but obtain it correctly and use it correctly and pay your tith and so and don't forget where it came from when it gets done God has given us gifts and talents I'm A Gifted person I'm not all down on nobody I know that I'm gifted by God I am humbled by that I don't deserve it it is by the grace of God that I am what I am and so as long as I keep that in my mind as long as I remember me at my lowest moment not to condemn myself but to praise God for what he would use a Wretch like me as long as I stay focused on the fact that if it was not for the blood of Jesus I wouldn't be standing here now at all as long as I don't forget that the day I tried to take my life in college and passed out of the hospital and I said God is your it's your call I don't care and he let me wake up then this is a day that I would have never seen so I'm rejoicing and I'm glad in it because this is a day I tried to Forfeit in my pain as long as I remember that then yes sometimes my body is tired my body was tired today I'm preaching 17 times this month I've never done it I'm exhausted but I'm so privileged to Stand Here tired and declare that Jesus is Lord I'll never ever ever get over that you got to hold on that's why testimony service was so good because we told our stories over and over we were reminded of our low points and where he brought us from and if it had not been for Jesus but when we are not inspired to remember we can forget ourselves in front of the crowd and then emotional pleasure and physical Pleasures tempt us four things Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus stay with me cuz I'm I'm a little more than half dumb stay with me fourth things the enemy tempted Jesus with physical pain emotional pain emotional pleasure physical pleasure those are the only four experiences that human beings have take a minute and think about it there's nothing that you've been through there's nothing that you desire the outcome of which will not be categorized in one of those areas we're either seeking to be free from our physical pain seeking to be free from our emotional pain seeking to access some physical pleasure experience or seeking to access some emotional pleasure experience we come into the house of God feeling emotional pain and heavy we leave feeling emotionally pleasure with joy all of the even our spiritual our experiences with God funnel through these four areas this is all we got and we're negotiating all the time it's currency so it's like I got pesos Franks Euros is different currency and so sometimes I have to pay the emotional pain cost of something that'll be a physical pleasure cost later like let's say it's going to cost me the emotional pain of delay gratification to not buy these things and save up this money but then the thing that I wanted to buy I'll get and that's the physical pleasure so that physical pleasure is going to cost me this many emotional pain dollars or if I am tired like I may be tired right now but I'm willing to pay the physical pain dollars and not go to sleep and sleep hard all night because of the emotional pleasure that I will get when I please my Lord and preach this word I can sleep another time so I'm will to trade I'm willing to [Applause] pay Jesus man he paid it ultimately in every way he said I'm delaying that gratification God I'm already the king of these things but not right today I'm not having the whole experience today I got to be crucified and resurrected and Ascend to my father and then I'll be in that seat so the enemy tried to rush him he tried to get him to pay now for something that he was going to have later see and the enemy was do that so you have these four experiences that's all it is if you can remember that it will change the course of your life because every one of us has one of those four things that's our weakest Point emotional pain I can ride it but I have a physical pain limit that comes sooner I I have good friends who have high physical pain tolerances I know y'all are in here you up here with it and y'all just lifting weights and running long and I'm just like ma'am I'm them Olympic athletes are no joke could never be me what you mean you out here with tape knee tape ankle tape wrist landing on an injury to get up baby I would have been disqualified it's not my thing none of them are better than the other some of you have an emotional pleasure relational thing you're a relational person you're that good friend that always says yes I'll help you move babysit get your car fixed do the things borrow money you're a yes you're you have a natural yes love you guys you're the best friends ever we need you in this world the challenge is my emotional pleasure people often don't really calculate what it's costing them and so while he is physically abusing you but the physical pain doesn't rank as high for you as the emotional pleasure of the days when the relationship is good and so for you the currency yeah some of you are getting some clarity about some of the decisions that you've made over and over and over again and you realize it's because you're always chasing the same thing and so on the day when the person in the relationship treats you the way you've been hoping to experience again that emotional pleasure is such a high payout for you but the physical pain of them slapping you and attacking you is a lower payout for you somebody else would leave on that payout but they wouldn't be able to endure something else that they needed to endure none of them are better than the other they're all Fallen States and so let me just side note this stop feeling Superior about the one that is your thing cuz you didn't do anything to get it and it's functional in some places and dysfunctional in other places my physical my lower physical pain preference is very functional in some ways and in other ways it used to be very dysfunctional because the emotional pain issues didn't matter to me and I was not a healthy person to be in a friendship with because if you got on my nerves even though it would hurt your feelings that plug is being pulled baby I didn't never had no boundary problems I ain't never had no problems no comes rolls right off my tongue no and so I had to allow God to crucify that in me and resurrect me more whole so that I could bear the fruits of love and peace and joy in relationships it wasn't okay I was born that way but that's not the way that I would look like Jesus and so every single one of us has one that stands out for us and it's controlling your decision-making and it's controlling your patterns and if you don't identify it it will continue to keep you in the same Temptation cycle and you will go down every time pay attention to that there's only four things you're wrestling with in this whole world and then the one that's your top one is really that main one if you can increase your capacity to manage each of those things you would be able to respond better to Temptations let me go on to your Escape Routes then I didn't forget first Escape door first let me go to this know who you are in God your first Escape door is your Divine identity do you know where it is do you know who you are in God who did he call you to be who are you developing into see Jesus was fully Divine and fully human and so he was fully Divine upfront and he was conquering a human experience we're fully human upfront we're trying to conquer a Divine experience we're moving towards that day when we will have our Incorruptible body but it's a journey from here to our full Divinity and in this Earth we're going to just Edge in that direction Edge in that direction by crucifying our flesh and so we have to know who we are called to be in God how often do you declare who it is that you are how often do you remind yourself who it is that you are I have a list of declarations that I've been declaring over my life daily for almost two years and one of them they all start with I am and one of them is I am preaching the gospel do you know how that changes me on a hard day when I get to that one on the list and I say I am preaching the gospel and sometimes it doesn't feel real there's been moments and Seasons where it didn't feel like it was really going to be there that I was going to be able to hold on to and I'll say it again I am preaching the gospel I am preaching the gospel I am preaching the gospel until I'm marching around my apartment preaching the gospel I am constantly getting in contact with who I am in God you got to be like Paul when he was on the boat that was headed to Rome and the storm was twirling and he was about to be Shipwrecked and he said an angel of the Lord came to tell me that we're going to be all right he said an angel of the Lord who I am and whom I serve you got to get up every day and remind yourself who you are and who you serve if you wake up in the morning say I belong to God and I serve God I belong to Jehovah and I serve Jehovah I belong to Jesus and I serve Jesus I belong to the Holy Spirit and I follow his leading every morning do you know how that would change you when the enemy came and tried to say if you be if if I be if I be I am but we don't we try to run to that when it's too late but your first Escape door is the one Mark who you are in God know who you are in God where is that door cuz you can go right out that you can get right out of there because when you are entwined with him in that way you remember who you are it's so much easier to just say hey you're asking me to do something that's inconsistent with who I am but if I haven't declared that in weeks he'll slip right past me say it on the day that you know it's true and say it on a day when it feels like a confession of Faith but it don't change who God said that you are and have a scripture to stand on about it I'm not saying I am I am the President of H I'm talking about who did God call you to be an unshakable identity the the world didn't give and the world can't take cuz the world can take money and the world can take a structure the world can take houses and gold but you cannot take who God called me to be I'm a preacher and you can't get that from me who are you if you know who you are that's your closest escape exit that's your closest door that's your closest escape know who you are the second thing know where you are and I mean that personally Jesus knew he had a human body so he didn't move quick he spoke a word know where you are is emotional pain a trigger for you is bright and shiny are bright and shiny things a trigger for you will you save and save and save because you're trying to do something responsible and all of a sudden that savings account is empty because that car was so much prettier even though you didn't need it right now what gets you you have to know yourself while you are declaring who you are ordained to be in heaven and that fully Divine place that you're traveling to know who you are in your fully human place you got to be real and you got to be honest because if you're not honest your subconscious will carry you right on to be standing right next to the thing that you don't need to be standing next to so that when the enemy comes and bumps you you fall right in you have to be honest about who you are start with those four things what's your top anytime you are dealing with that issue seek wisdom from someone you don't have to do all of this stuff by yourself number one you have the Holy Spirit but also when we are in the one of those four things that really can get to us it can make it harder for us to hear God clearly and it can make us more prone to try to misuse the word the way the enemy tried to do with Jesus with Psalm 91 so when you know you're in your weakest spot slow down seek wisdom but you have to have that self-awareness it's very important Hebrews 12 I believe it's 12 hold on make sure I'm right that says that we have to cast aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us weights are important because we can seek forgiveness for a sin of course the Bible says that he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins but sometimes what we're not paying attention to are the weights the weights these are childhood traumas personality things stuff that's not a sin by itself but it puts me in a position where I'm more likely to sin we see this especially with childhood trauma and experiences addiction runs in some families and so often addiction overlaps mental illness and so people become addicted because they're really trying to treat a mental illness if you're if alcoholism runs in your family heavy depression probably does too depression makes us like 300% more likely to become an alcoholic like these things are linked do a Google later for something called adult adverse childhood experiences AC and it has a list of 10 things that can happen to us as children that increase our chances of struggling in our adulthood with addiction with financial problems with relationship problems with physical health problems all linked statistic Bally to things that happen to us as children those are weights that we must heal but if we don't and we just keep trying to pick off the fruit of it so you're beating yourself up for relapsing you're beating yourself up for going back to that alcohol back to the drugs back to the sex back to the relationship you're beating yourself up you're asking for forgiveness you're trying to lay aside the sin but you haven't addressed the weight the thing that's making you vulnerable to it in the first place and we are so much harder on our our elves even than God because the Bible does say he'll forgive us for our sins It also says that if we confess our faults to one another and pray for one another that we might be healed now why would God associate healing with a fault with a sin because he knows the function of weights and God is so much more interested in healing you than punishing you I promise I promise anybody in here ever in the foster care system or or taken in a foster child or known someone who did that child will come into the home and they have been through hell they're carrying trauma and so when that child starts bucking against you and yelling at you and sneaking out of school and doing the things you you know why you know why you know what happened to them and so you don't say you better stop you know what do you do in that case when you're dealing with a wounded child Who's acting out the right response is I love you so much the right response is to throw your arms around them to let them know that no matter what they do they can't push me away the right response is to show my steadfast unconditional love we know that so then why don't we think our father in Heaven sees the parts of your behavior that are linked rooted the fruit of your pain he wants to heal you not hit you with a lightning bolt that's what you've learned from Earthly Authority but that's not who God is and so in order for you to have this Escape Route I need you to know what your weights are I need you to know what causes you to get in a direction where the enemy can tempt you into a sin you're now asking for forgiveness for I need you to know what your attractions and your triggers and all of your things know exactly where you are with those things if you know where you are with those things you can get out Escape door number two Escape door number three Grace you got to know his grace I preached a message last week about or Grace to proceed and the fact that we always think about Grace just as this kindness that God kind of gives us when we blow it but Grace is also Divine capacity and ability to do something God will give you Grace under the Temptation pressure he will give you the capacity to get out even though you fell 17 times before sometimes you may only be able to get this one thing out of your mouth when you are in that Temptation situation God I need Grace Grace you better stop caring who's seeing you who hearing you who looking I don't care if you standing in the middle of them allall if he about to try to give you that number and you know you ain't supposed to [Applause] Grace baby you better run like Joseph who left his robe and said I got out Grace see we don't always fight that hard we don't we don't always fight that hard you might have to start yelling at the TV Netflix leave me alone I'm not watching I'm not I need Grace you better get serious about this thing Grace is an exit door it is an escape door it will give you the capacity and the ability to behave differently to decide differently to do it differently Hebrews 4:15 which I quoted earlier we have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities but he was tempted in every way yet without sin it says in Hebrews 4:16 can you throw Hebrews 4:16 up there let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace and help in our time of need so when I not need all the time like need to pay my rent need to buy shoes but need to not fall need to not give into this temptation I have a need that some other sinful thing is trying to meet I'm going to God to meet my human need the right way Grace and I love that it says come boldly because boldly and needy we don't usually put together but I want you to be needy with God and we don't like to be needy and I want you to be boldly needy because that's what the Bible says it says come boldly before the throne of grace in time of need the Bible also tells us that where sin does abound Grace does much more abound again that's not just much more abound to cover us although God covers us but also to empower us with capacity and ability to not fall into this same thing again and there's not a person who knows Jesus at any point in our life that we don't need this kind of Grace at sometimes on our week and it's not always the big thing maybe you're past the Big Ten Commandment breaking sins but it's that attitude it's fear it's shrinking back when God said move forward it's not snapping at your partner when they're in a bad mood and you just turning back tit fortat and you choosing not to do that it's about being peaceful truly having the fruits of the spirit Grace when my patience is short my fruit of my patience is short Grace when the fruit of Love is short Grace when the fruit of peace is short Grace I need you to do that the door Mark Grace that's your third exit door but there are four exits here and the fourth one is love you have got to do it for love one of the number one reasons we fail in our walk with God and following God the way we want to and developing spiritual maturity the way we want to is because we're trying to do it by force we're scared not to do it we feel obligated to do it we feel guilty if we don't do it but if you do it for love God said that if you love me keep my Commandments I believe I hear that in two ways one if you love me you would do this but also if you love me it will be natural and only do it if you love me if you love me keep my Commandments don't keep my Commandments if you don't love me because it's not going to be what it needs to be some of us are going through the motions we're doing all the things we're giving our bodies to be burned we're doing all of the Prophet signs we have gifts as 1 Corinthians 13 said but it said if you have not love it's nothing so only try to do this thing that we call Walking With Jesus because you in love with him when's the last time you really sat down and just had some love time with Jesus just sat when in your prayer closet not to go in there and ask for the 17 things you got on your vision board and confess that they are and speak but just to sit in there quiet with your arms around yourself like he's hugging you and just feel like man every day I love it I love it if I don't have a butterfly moment with Jesus the end of the day things don't go right for me because I love him there may be something I want to do that I know isn't going to please him or something I want to do that I know is not the right season in my life and maybe he doesn't changed my desire for those things but I'm so grateful for the opportunity to say I Choose You I Choose You I Choose You I choose you thank you for the opportunity to say I Choose You Yes I want this job or yes I want to live here or yes I want to I Choose You I Choose You I choose you I love you too much to break your heart if you don't do it for love don't do it at all cuz it won't be anything that's how we become like the Pharisees and the Sadducees we got to do this for love how much you love him that will be your closest widest Escape door every time if you forget who you are if you forget where you are if you forget the scripture and call for Grace if you would just constantly cultivate your loving relationship with him and not just how much you love him cuz you can't start there cuz he I love him because he first loved me so teach me how to receive your love so that I can pour it back out I want to remind myself I want to testify I want to write down the stories in my journal again and again of the moments where your love astounded me not just when you saved me but I appreciate that but last year and last month and last week and yesterday all of the evidence that he loves me every time he does a little something for you you should write it down on a piece of paper and just drop it in a jar got home safe no car accident thank you got up in the plane and came down didn't get taken out in midair 17 times this month thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you put it in the jar put that in and when you're having a hard day reach in there and be reminded oh my God he loves me he died for me he sacrificed for me he provided for me he healed me oh my God he met me in a lonely moment he held me and quiet in my body he loves because then I am inspired not to break his heart because you know what Sin is Sin is just breaching the boundaries of my relationship with God sin is a boundary violation when you're in a relationship with somebody that relationship has boundaries if you tell them a secret you expect it to keep it if it's your romantic partner you expect them to be faithful all relationships have boundaries boundaries keep relationship safe and strong sin is just a boundary that has been set around my relationship with God and because I'm in love with him I don't want to do anything to hurt this relationship I tell you his level change it every time four escapes here's your routes know who you are at him know where you are know his grace know his love one two three four doors you will never not be able to get out of a Temptation if you remember where your doors are stand to your feet he has made a way for Great Escape because of how he loves us if you're in this room and you don't know Jesus you're missing out maybe somebody brought you today maybe you've been coming for a few weeks you've been thinking about doing this God thing maybe Jesus used to be the center of your life and circumstances and temptations and challenges and pain disrupted your connection with him but you want it back I encourage you today if you'd like to establish a relationship with Jesus that sounds like this one the loving one that makes a way of Escape for those hard things just lift your hand up cuz I never oh I see you hey hey I see you I see hands oh praise God yes yes if you want to join us at the altar you don't have to but I will invite you to come down and let me pray with you and let your family of God celebrate you you don't have to I see your hand but if you want to you can you'll be just as saved in your seat but you're welcome I see somebody walking this way hey if you're watching us online and you're thinking that's me oh my God Dr Anita something bigger than you touched me today I felt God pass you God is calling me into a deep relationship with him I want Jesus in my life you don't have to wait till your Easter Sunday church visit you can have Jesus right now where you are say this prayer with us and Jesus is about to change your life he hasn't forgotten about you he hasn't left you behind he hasn't dropped you he's not mad at you he is in love with you I have no words for how much he's in love with you but it's the kind of love that you dream about having Jesus is the one I promise you they're still coming I see you oh hallelujah we're going to have those in front if there's anybody else who wants prayer today you just want to come to the altar you absolutely can that God will help you remember these Escape Routes that on your next Temptation you will indeed make the Great Escape because you know who you are in him know where you are know his grace know his love in ways that you'll never forget let me pray that over you and seal that word today and while I prepare to pray for them some of you may want to sew a seed on this word a seed is not always about the material thing this isn't this not the marketplace of the Kingdom I'm going to sew the seed and I'mma get my car I'm a s to se I'm going get my house but he does do those things and I'm a witness but if you just want to seal this word with a seed because this is what you needed and you want it sealed I see the pmts have envelopes you can scan the code up here I personally try to sew in any offering that comes my way if it ain't but $5 $50 every time the water is troubled to sew I sew I have lost track of the seed time Harvest cycles that I'm in I just when the Harvest come in I don't even know which seed it was no more it don't matter I'm just going to keep on sewing and so I Perpetual Harvest every single time the water is troubled the anointing is moving and we have time to sew seed do it do it if it's a dollar do it because the he gives seed to the Sewer so you got to be a swer yes and then he'll give you more seed and then you get fruit and you give more seed and the cycle is Perpetual there will be so many blessings in your life if you came down here to give your life to Jesus you're my favorite people of the day I'm so happy for you just say this prayer with me Jesus thank you for dying for me thank you for loving me first for me forgive me for the ways that I've sinned dropped the ball not done what I know was good for me and what you wanted I'm sorry come into my heart and live there in Jesus name amen so easy just like that you got him and don't be afraid I hear some of your heart saying can it please be different this time and the Holy Spirit said to tell you absolutely absolutely absolutely you will not regret it the enemy will try to come to you and lie and say that God's not there for you and he will try to get you to move in his Direction just remember that the woman of God said today you are his daughter you are his son you are his child and you don't have to prove that to anyone in any way stay in that Bible stay in a good house like this your life will never be the same they have a Counseling Center here they can help you with those weights sometimes a counselor can help us to lay down those weights that keep dragging us down it's just another way to heal and I'm praying you are ordered to the right person that you need for those who came down for this message a prayer from the message I speak peace over you I speak strength over you I speak love over you I speak Joy over you we seal this word in your heart and the enemy cannot steal it I thank you that the exit doors are permanently etched on your heart that the Great Escape will be made this week this month this year there will never be another time when the enemy will come to tempt you where the Escape doors are not clear to you and in between Temptations be led by the Holy Ghost to read his word and to pray and to confess who you are in God and to do the things that make you well so when the enemy comes you are laughing at him because he has no opportunity to trap you all he can do is complain to his demons about the Great Escape you made in Jesus name amen I love you Potter's House God bless you