Every thought and every word in our life is saturated with a spirit.
I am responsible to determine what spirit that is.
Jesus said to some of His friends, you don’t know what spirit you are of when you say that.
They were unaware of what spirit had persuaded them to speak such a thought.
Now, you are responsible. You can embrace or reject a spirit. First, we must identify what spirit is this?
What is pushing me to speak?
These friends of Jesus were talking but kind of … unaware.
They had not particularly pinpointed the spirit that was influencing their verbiage that was flowing out of their heart and it was from “beneath”.
It was a dark, demonic spirit that was telling them and suggesting to them, hey, you should say something stupid, which we do that a lot.
Do I know what spirit is influencing me in this moment?
Can I identify?
Is it possible?
If I’m responsible for what comes out of my mouth and I give an answer to God, and I’m responsible for how other people perceive my words, …
because spirit has an impact, right?
We’re going to use an illustration now about spiritual identifying and then we’re going to face three of the spirits that we wrestle every day.
Here’s the illustration.
Every day we wrestle.
Multiple times a day we enter the octagon
facing multiple spiritual demons.
They are determined to smash the snot out of our spiritual purpose.
Did you know we have a spiritual purpose given to us by our God who expects us to do the thing that He expects us to do?
We have a job.
We show up.
We’re not here just to absorb fluffiness and to add a couple pounds and absorb some nutrition and wander …
Anyway, we’re here on target, on purpose, with instructions to accomplish the thing that God wants us to do, right?
By the way, every day you wrestle, it’s not optional.
It does not say, for we sometimes wrestle; for we occasionally wrestle.
It says for we wrestle.
If you made it out of bed today and you lived at all, you did have opposition: spiritually.
Yes, you did.
There is no discharge from this war.
You will not be able to escape your wrestling match tomorrow.
We are enlisted in the Lord’s army for life.
We are on front line, live-action in this spiritual wrestling warfare.
The same content there, the context in Ephesians 6, when it talks about wrestling, it talks about warfare.
It’s like hand-to-hand combat.
Armed combat with a live enemy who has the destruction of your life as their goal.
For we wrestle against genuine evil.
You cannot use mental gymnastics to just avoid the evil in the world.
You know why people don’t like evil?
Because they don’t like God.
If you knew how good and strong God was, you would know that God has strong opposition.
And you would choose your position to be infused with the power of God against the forces of evil.
We don’t get to set the rules in life.
We just get to participate.
That’s option one:
Participate.
That’s the only option, by the way.
You will enter the octagon.
You will get hit in the face.
You’re going to get hit, it’s going to hurt, and you might as well smile and learn a couple moves.
Do you know why the All-Wise God strongly suggested that we learn to meditate on Scripture?
Why did God recommend a regimen of healthy, spiritual, daily meditation?
That means ruminating, chewing, absorbing nutrients from certain key words and verses.
Maybe He did it just to keep ourselves sane and stable and upright and winning in this battle.
Because the devil uses words to deceive us.
Whereas God knew that we would have an enemy who’s trying at every turn to insert flaming, fiery darts of deception and discouragement.
So, why do we as believers, to function best, need to have a song in our heart, a tune, connecting with the Lord?
If someone has no sing, they have no spirit.
You know why?
Because we must occupy our mind, our soul, our heart, our spirit with that which is from above.
Otherwise, we naturally sink down into absorbing the filth and the muck of the world and the darkness that comes from below the world.
There is a deep, dark place that we can all sink to and we’ve probably all visited there.
So God said, pretty much, “thou shalt meditate therein day and night.”
Why, sir?
Why?
To arm and equip your mind to be able to combat the destruction that’s coming your way.
You have a very worthy foe.
Every word we speak … and every thought we think is saturated by some certain spiritual influence.
It is.
People can smell.
If your teeth are brushed, they can tell.
If you’ve spent time in the scripture, they can tell.
If your prayer life is on cue, or if you’re a faker, they can smell it a mile away.
Now we’re done with that illustration and now we get to the heart of it.
You ready?
There are three.
Welcome to Wrestling Practice.
There are three main spirits that seek to destroy me and you every day.
Daily we wrestle against these three specific opponents and we’re going to teach you a couple moves.
Number one, we all agree, we know this, if you pass the microphone around, who’s got an idea?
What’s the name of your number one opponent?
Yes, we all agree, fear.
Why is fear so natural a fit to glom onto our brain and our soul?
It’s like we’re naturally fearful beings, right?
Right out of the box in Revelation 21:8 it says, But the … fearful.
And then what?
And then unbelieving.
And then abominable, which is things that make God regurgitate, just disgusting, revolting human things that God never intended.
But we are by nature fearful creatures.
Why?
Maybe we don’t have enough God to help us.
Alright, stick to the script here.
It’s like fear is our natural blanket.
It’s like our self-defense.
We fear because we think we have to.
No one else is going to defend me.
I have to defend myself.
That’s the fear-based mindset.
I don’t need God.
I don’t have God.
There’s no God.
There’s obviously not enough evidence that God cares enough to defend me in this situation, so I have to step-up and defend myself, and I’m so scared.
I have to motivate myself with fear because I have no one to protect me.
I’m vulnerable.
I’m weak.
I’m tired.
I’ve got to move myself to action using this lever of leverage of fear.
So fear-based decision-making produces … garbage.
You know, I know how I make decisions in the spirit of fear.
It’s just generally, what’s a better word than stupid?
There’s no better word.
It’s stupid.
I don’t know of a Bible word.
Foolish, there we go.
Fear-based decision making does not, … there’s no way to finish the sentence.
What is stronger than fear?
You know; the Holy Spirit just told you.
What, according to God and His precious Book, gives us power over fear?
You better have 27 answers to that question at your fingertips and on the tip of your tongue.
You better ammunize.
You better get some ammo in your soul because you’re going into the battle against fear every day of your life.
“Perfect love casteth out fear.”
You thought of that one.
Perfect, mature, God-level love.
Cast out fear.
Kick him out.
I mean, pick him up like a WWF wrestler and throw him over the top ring.
Throw him into the audience.
Here it is.
Being confident.
You like that?
Being confident of this very thing, that he which began a good work in you will be faithful to perform it until the coming of Christ.
God wants to do something through you.
Get out of my way, fear.
I’m going to work.
Me and Jesus are coming through.
I’m confident that he who started a work in me will finish the job.
I know Whom …
I have believed and am persuaded that He is able, I’m persuaded, I’m not fearful, I’m persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
He’s keeping me and I’m keeping on with what He intended for me to do.
I’m 10,000% saved and sealed and Spirit-filled and I love it and I’m on purpose, on fire, on purpose, on-target with my God.
Don’t have time for fear.
God is our Shield and Defender.
He is a very present Help in time of need.
I shall not fear.
We’ll get to that.
I like this verse 2 Kings 19:34
Here’s God.
You ever want to hear the voice of God?
Ask Him.
Say, God, could you just tell me what You sound like in this verse?
“For I will defend this city to save it for Mine own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”
And I’d feel pretty safe if God declared that.
Here it is.
Psalm 46.
We pick it up in verse 2 and we just roll a while.
Therefore will not we fear …
Though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, say, La! (Selah)
Why, God is in the midst of her.
She shall not be moved.
God shall help her, and that right early.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
[That means the God of armies.]
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah.
It means pause, rewind, and think about it a little while longer.
Is that comforting?
Is that courageous?
Does that give you what you need to go forward?
So, your choice.
Fear-filled or fear-less?
100% your responsibility.
Hundo on you.
Choose you this hour, A or B. Option A, Scripture-saturated, Spirit-soaked action.
Or B, Satan-inspired, fear-filled nothingness.
Just fear, tremble, torment, torture.
It’s how we live.
It’s our operating system.
By default, we are fear-based thinkers.
Upgrade to Apple.
Just kidding.
You gotta get a new… Anyway.
Number next one.
The second spirit.
So the first one is fear.
We overcome with faith and confidence and the presence of God and the Bible.
Beat that big bad devil with a Bible verse.
Boom!
Number two.
The second spirit that tends to flood our soul like a vacuum.
just fills us up is frustration, right?
We just tend to blow up, overreact.
Why?
We cannot process.
We have a limited capacity processor.
We cannot calmly evaluate the facts.
As soon as we have one or two facts, we tend to just go ballistic, overload.
Overanimating.
Total cartoon-level childish behavior based upon limited understanding of small information.
Frustration, confusion, anger.
Sequence happens consistently every day to almost everyone who’s unaware of it and doesn’t have a plan.
If you don’t have a plan, you will be smashed in the kneecaps.
See, fear comes right for your nose, but frustration just takes you out down-low.
Ankles, knees.
He’s a low shooter.
He comes in down low.
He’s going to get you down there.
He’s got a great ankle pick.
He’s got a great low-level single.
This is the guy you have to avoid.
You have to have defense on multiple levels.
Let’s look at the definition of frustration, shall we?
If we’re going to wrestle this guy, we’ve got to know his name.
We’ve got to watch some tapes.
We’ve got to know the techniques.
First mention in the Hebrew language is Ezra chapter 4 verse 5.
Here we see someone hired counselors against them.
Why?
“To frustrate their purpose.”
The word frustrate here means, number one, to break up.
Used figuratively, to violate or to make ineffective.
Smash it down.
Number two definition: to split apart, to divide, or to cause to be double-minded.
“I’m so confused.
I have two different ideas.”
Frustration can bring out a split personality.
You ever meet somebody? …
Totally different person two minutes later.
Just the bomb went off.
Kaboom!
They reached the level.
Frustration.
I’m so frustrated.
Emotional overwhelm.
The next mention in Scripture is this phrase, “I do not frustrate the grace of God.”
That word, I looked it up, says outline of Biblical usage:
Number one, to do away with, to set aside, to disregard, to toss it out.
Number two, to thwart the efficacy, to block, [I’m going, just read the definition], to thwart the efficacy of anything, to nullify, to make void.
Number three, to reject, refuse, or to slight.
We do not want to do that to the grace of God.
We want to allow the flow to have the desired effect, right?
Frustrated people tend to throw things away that they know are right.
Just throw it all out and just go with a whole different direction …
infused with overwhelming emotional chaos based on a misperception of basic data.
Bible, Psalm 71:1, “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.
Let me never be put to confusion.”
Please prevent my brain from a state of confusion because when I’m confused, I need help.
I need God.
I don’t want to make dumb decisions.
What is frustration?
It’s adding emotional fuel to an existing fire.
It’s getting more worked-up.
Does that help?
Getting emotionally ballistic based on limited capacity to process information properly.
I do not understand or agree with the facts, so I’m just going to go to the crazy level.
Right?
We all get presented with facts every day.
They’re beautiful things if they’re sequentially lined up.
When they get out of line, “I don’t understand.
I don’t get it.”
I don’t want to think about it anymore.
I just want to feel.
I’m going to vent so everybody can step back while I vomit all over the place because I’m confused.
I don’t get it.
I don’t get it.
Well, what’s making you not get it?
Do you need help?
Are you asking for help?
Should you ask God?
What is confusion?
It’s a mixture of several things that do not belong together.
Confused people, you’ll notice, they don’t want one thing fixed.
They want to bundle together two or three things at once.
I’m feeling confused because of A and B and C, but not in that order.
I’m just so confused.
Intentionally mixing-up a proper sequence leads to frustration.
Just leave it alone.
It’s 1, 2, 3.
Follow the rules.
Stop overthinking it.
What is frustration?
It’s the opposite of Divine order.
Total chaos.
That’s human nature.
Here we see God in 1 Corinthians 14:33.
God, [our blessed, beautiful, amazing God, our God,] is not the author of confusion.
Nothing God writes …
was from a spirit of confusion.
Here then, we can imply, who is the author of confusion?
Probably the opposite of God.
Let’s not allow this demon to take us down.
So, what’s your personal plan?
What’s your specific action to offset and overcome and not allow confusion and frustration to dominate your thinking cycle?
If you have no plan, that is your plan: nothingness, and you will be decimated in the worst MMA style in the octagon again tomorrow.
Please list three solid Bible verses in the comment section below to illuminate, [that means to light it up,] and eliminate confusion from your heart, your mind, your soul, and your conversation.
How often do the people closest to you perceive that you experience frustration?
Do you get frustrated at work?
Do you get frustrated around certain people?
Do you get frustrated while driving?
What does it?
What’s that trigger, trap, pull?
Is that once a week?
Let’s ask them.
Let’s do an interview.
“How often does this person get frustrated?”
Now certainly, our God offers a powerful solution.
Yes.
Are you curious enough to find it?
I’m not going to give you the solution.
You’ve got to go dig for it.
Do you want to win against confusion?
Make a plan.
Number three, the third demon, giant, that you’re going to tackle, destroy.
This third devil is the devil of defeat & discouragment.
We just give up.
We sink under the spirit of lethargy.
We just don’t know how to engage.
We tried fear, and that didn’t work well.
Then we tried fury, just getting ballistic and frustrated and overflow.
And that didn’t solve the problem.
And now we reach the point where, “Well, I just don’t know then.”
We throw up our hands in disgust.
We give up because our best weapons were non-functional to process life.
So what?
I quit.
I’m done.
I’m out of here.
I don’t want to continue this relationship.
Why?
Because the spirit of fear cannot force that other person to conform.
And because confusion is just causing me to swirl in circles and now I’m tired.
So what do I do?
I’m done.
I give up.
I don’t want to.
I’m just a non-participant.
That’s called the spirit of lethargy.
Sloth.
Non-engagement.
The opposite of industry.
The opposite of diligence.
The opposite of purpose.
The opposite of calling.
It’s the spirit of quitting.
The opposite of winning through Christ.
We are champions.
We are conquerors.
We are kings and priests.
Wherever there is work to be accomplished, some people find a convenient exit.
Well, I just didn’t like his attitude.
I’m going to quit.
He could have said it nicer.
Okay, that’s your excuse?
Fine.
Imagine, just be there, right?
We’re going to do 3D IMAX movie of Moses.
Here it is.
“Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord’s side?
Let him come unto me!”
Read that passage and see if Moses was using a sweet tone or an almost going to break your face with these stone tablets I got from God sort of tone.
What does the next verse say?
And he, [Moses, ]said unto them, [the children of Levi, who responded to his invitation,] Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from the gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
And about three thousand were killed.
And you want to quit.
You do not have the convenience of tapping-out in this spiritual war.
You cannot allow yourself to be pinned in this spiritual wrestling match.
This wrestling match does not end until Jesus blows the whistle and you go home.
You cannot give up.
You cannot walk away because you don’t like someone else’s attitude.
You cannot just become a pansy.
That is not an option.
You are supposed to be being filled with the Spirit of God to learn to overcome life’s obstacles.
You’re supposed to be a champion, a Christ-like one.
You’re supposed to be maturing into the fullness of the stature of Christ who called you to glory …
and virtue.
You’re supposed to be a mentor by now, a model for other people to look to because the God, your life pattern is passionately pursuing God and other people want to follow Him.
The devil loves discouragement.
The devil laughs when we quit.
There’s got to be a better Bible answer.
What is God’s remedy for fear?
Himself!
Trust …
Him.
Have Him with you and you won’t be afraid.
Number next.
What is God’s solution for confusion, frustration, and anger, which are all three the same thing?
You got to figure that one out.
That’s in the comments.
What is God’s… Number next.
Third one.
What is God’s recommended alternative for slothfulness?
Gaining proper momentum.
Being properly motivated.
Moving on purpose with the right fuel.
Overcoming, let’s back it up.
Number one, we’ve got to overcome fear with faith.
Trust God.
Verbalize your trust.
Solidify your trust.
Scripturize your trust in Him.
Meditate and mantra your trust in the Lord.
Memorize “anchors for your soul” that give you confidence and faith and trust and courage in the Lord.
Stop letting the devil smash your face with fear.
Learn one defensive tactic against your main competitor of fear.
No fear.
No confusion.
No laziness.
Tomorrow.
Right?
No fear, no confusion, no laziness.
In the Bible, there’s an attitude of a guy who’s like, “Oh, I’m hurt.
I’m in this war.
Take me away.
Carry me from the battle.”
And our preacher from umpteen years ago used to say, “Carry me TOOOO the battle for I am wounded!”
So you got hit.
So you got hurt.
Get up and go toward the war!
Be diligent.
Stop quitting.
Stop your stopping.
Quit the quitting lifestyle.
Quit being such a quitter.
Be diligent instead.
Be determined.
Be dogmatic.
Fill and fix your hope on God.
Be strong and courageous and do exploits.
Numbers 11:25, “When the Spirit rested upon them, [what happened?]
They prophesied and did not cease.”
They carried on.
They continued.
I’m looking at the clock.
It’s 2:21 in the morning.
They were filled and on fire and people thought they were drunk on Pentecost because the Spirit was fluidly flowing through their system.
Do you and God get together and overcome some of these demons?
We’re going to overcome the spirit of quitting, right?
Nehemiah, he finished the wall.
He did a great work.
And would not succumb to the temptation from the demon-infested tormentors that were sent as messengers against him.
Here it is, Nehemiah 6 verse 3.
And I sent messengers.
No, no.
Nehemiah sent messengers back unto them.
There it is.
“And I sent messages unto them, saying,
am doing a GREAT work, so that I cannot come down.
Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?”
That’s an awesome verse!
Print that out, make it bold font, put it on your wall, and read it … until you like it.
I’m going to read it again.
Nehemiah 6:3, “And I sent messages unto them.
[They’re going to send me a messenger.
They sent him a letter.
He’s like, I’ll send you a message] saying, [I think he wrote it really large.
Here’s the message.]
I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down.
Why should I leave?
Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?
He was saying, tell me why I should quit.
Can I quit in the face of my grandparents who blazed this pathway of Christianity for our family for decades?
Can I quit in the face of my father who stayed faithful all the way through the finish line?
Can I quit on all the people who should hear the gospel by my voice and lungs and voice box?
Am I going to give up on their eternity?
Can I quit on my God who never quit on me?
Think of all the people you hurt by letting the devil convince you to be lazy, to slack back.
Laziness?
Here it is.
Pause.
Breathe.
Laziness is not doing 100% of what God fully expected you to accomplish today.
Genesis 39:22, And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.
(Now prison’s not a pleasant place, but here’s Joseph in the prison.
It’s a high-pressure situation, right?)
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.
(Here it is.)
And whatsoever they did there, he, Joseph, was the DOER of it.
I put the word doer in ALL CAPS .
That’s the phrase.
Joseph was in an unpleasant situation, “and whatsoever they did there, he was the DOER of it.”
Are you the doer?
Are you-er the doer?
Can it be said of you in your high-pressure situations in life?
Did you step up with God and embrace the responsibility?
And whatsoever they did there, that guy was the doer of it.
Or were you the quitter?
Proverbs 10 verse 4, “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand.”
Slothful, pull back.
I’m just going to do a little less, just a little less.
“He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.”
And I don’t think that’s for personal gain.
I think that means he had the capacity to be a blessing to many.
The slacker becomes the lacker.
Up!
and to the work.
Let’s get it done, boys.
Up!
Let’s go!
You know the people who hung around Jesus Christ, they did things.
Greater works than these shall you do.
And they’re like, no way, dude.
You’re greater than this?
This is like full gear.
Can you think of one time that Jesus or the God of the Bible was lazy?
No, they did amazing accomplishments.
In fact, Jesus in Matthew 11:29 says, He invites us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me.”
Let’s work together so you can learn.
“For I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls.”
How?
By working together.
Well, how?
“For My yoke is easy, my burden is light.”
You’ll like the job.
You’ll enjoy the pace.
It’s a good rhythm.
Let’s go to work, boys.
Everyone needs to identify the problem, the spiritual problems, and embrace the solution.
We covered three of them today.
Fear blocks the gospel, but faith carries the gospel forward valiantly, courageously, empowered by the right spirit.
Frustration spins a man around in circles so that he cannot accomplish that which he should.
Confusion causes delay.
Confusion is unproductive.
The devil wants me confused constantly.
God, however, wants supreme clarity.
God expects action based upon simple instruction.
Go do the thing.
Take my message to the people.
Clarity speaks clearly.
God is our courage.
Courage comes from knowing who is with me.
“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen.”
Matthew 28, verse 20.
Remember that?
The Great Commission, the second part says, “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and [as a bonus, here’s the promise, don’t be discouraged, don’t be delayed.]
and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, [because that’s where I expect you to go.]
Amen.
You have the very presence of God with you, Every thought and every word in our life is saturated with a spirit.
I am responsible to determine what spirit that is.
Jesus said to some of his friends, you don’t know what spirit you are of when you say that.
They were unaware of what spirit had persuaded them to speak such a thought.
You Are Responsible You Can Embrace or Reject a Spirit First, we must identify what spirit is this?
What is pushing me to speak?
These friends of Jesus were talking but kind of unaware.
They had not particularly pinpointed the spirit that was influencing their verbiage that was flowing out of their heart and it was from beneath.
It was a dark, demonic spirit that was telling them and suggesting to them, hey, you should say something stupid, which we do that a lot.
Do I know what spirit is influencing me in this moment?
Can I identify?
Is it possible?
If I’m responsible for what comes out of my mouth and I give an answer to God, and I’m responsible for how other people perceive my words,
because spirit has an impact, right?
We’re going to use an illustration now about spiritual identifying and then we’re going to face three of the spirits that we wrestle every day.
Here’s the illustration.
Every day we wrestle.
Multiple times a day we enter the octagon
facing multiple spiritual demons.
They are determined to smash the snot out of our spiritual purpose.
Did you know we have a spiritual purpose given to us by our God who expects us to do the thing that He expects us to do?
We have a job.
We show up.
We’re not here just to absorb fluffiness and to add a couple pounds and absorb some nutrition and wonder.
Anyway, we’re here on target, on purpose, with instructions to accomplish the thing that God wants us to do, right?
By the way, every day you wrestle, it’s not optional.
It does not say, for we sometimes wrestle, for we occasionally wrestle.
It says for we wrestle.
If you made it out of bed today and you lived it all, you did have opposition spiritually.
Yes, you did.
There is no discharge from this war.
You will not be able to escape your wrestling match tomorrow.
We are enlisted in the Lord’s army for life.
We are on front line live action in this spiritual wrestling warfare.
The same content there, the context in Ephesians 6, when it talks about wrestling, it talks about warfare.
It’s like hand-to-hand combat.
Armed combat with a live enemy who has the destruction of your life as their goal.
For we wrestle against genuine evil.
You cannot use mental gymnastics to just avoid the evil in the world.
You know why people don’t like evil?
Because they don’t like God.
If you knew how good and strong God was, you would know that God has strong opposition.
And you would choose your position to be infused with the power of God against the forces of evil.
We don’t get to set the rules in life.
We just get to participate.
That’s option one.
Participate.
That’s the only option, by the way.
You will enter the octagon.
You will get hit in the face.
You’re going to get hit, it’s going to hurt, and you might as well smile and learn a couple moves.
Do you know why the All-Wise God strongly suggested that we learn to meditate on Scripture?
Why did God recommend a regimen of healthy, spiritual, daily meditation?
That means ruminating, chewing, absorbing nutrients from certain key words and verses.
Maybe He did it just to keep ourselves sane and stable and upright and winning in this battle.
Because the devil uses words to deceive us.
Whereas God knew that we would have an enemy who’s trying at every turn to insert flaming, fiery darts of deception and discouragement.
So, why do we as believers, to function best, need to have a song in our heart, a tune, connecting with the Lord.
If someone has no sing, they have no spirit.
You know why?
Because we must occupy our mind, our soul, our heart, our spirit with that which is from above.
Otherwise, we naturally sink down into absorbing the filth and the muck of the world and the darkness that comes from below the world.
There is a deep, dark place that we can all sink to and we’ve probably all visited there.
So God said, pretty much, thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
Why, sir?
Why?
To arm and equip your mind to be able to combat the destruction that’s coming your way.
You have a very worthy foe.
Every word we speak
And every thought we think is saturated by some certain spiritual influence.
It is.
People can smell.
If your teeth are brushed, they can tell.
If you’ve spent time in the scripture, they can tell.
If your prayer life is on cue, or if you’re a faker, they can smell it a mile away.
Now we’re done with that illustration and now we get to the heart of it.
You ready?
There are three.
Welcome to Wrestling Practice.
There are three main spirits that seek to destroy me and you every day.
Daily we wrestle against these three specific opponents and we’re going to teach you a couple moves.
Number one, we all agree, we know this, if you pass the microphone around, who’s got an idea?
What’s the name of your number one opponent?
Yes, we all agree, fear.
Why is fear so natural a fit to glom onto our brain and our soul?
It’s like we’re naturally fearful beings, right?
Right out of the box in Revelation 21:8 it says, “But the fearful …”
And then what?
And then unbelieving.
And then abominable, which is things that make God regurgitate, just disgusting, revolting human things that God never intended.
But we are by nature fearful creatures.
Why?
Maybe we don’t have enough God to help us.
Alright, stick to the script here.
It’s like fear is our natural blanket.
It’s like our self-defense.
We fear because we think we have to.
No one else is going to defend me.
I have to defend myself.
That’s the fear-based mindset.
I don’t need God.
I don’t have God.
There’s no God.
There’s obviously not enough evidence that God cares enough to defend me in this situation, so I have to step up and defend myself, and I’m so scared.
I have to motivate myself with fear because I have no one to protect me.
I’m vulnerable.
I’m weak.
I’m tired.
I’ve got to move myself to action using this lever of leverage of fear.
So fear-based decision-making produces garbage.
You know, I know how I make decisions in the spirit of fear.
It’s just generally, what’s a better word than stupid?
There’s no better word.
It’s stupid.
I don’t know of a Bible word.
Foolish, there we go.
Fear-based decision making does not, … there’s no way to finish the sentence.
What is stronger than fear?
You know, the Holy Spirit just told you.
What, according to God and His precious book, gives us power over fear?
You better have 27 answers to that question at your fingertips and on the tip of your tongue.
You better ammunize.
You better get some ammo in your soul because you’re going into the battle against fear every day of your life.
Perfect love cast without fear.
You thought of that one.
Perfect, mature, God-level love.
Cast out fear.
Kick him out.
I mean, pick him up like a WWF wrestler and throw him over the top ring.
Throw him into the audience.
Here it is.
Being confident.
You like that?
Being confident of this very thing, that he which began a good work in you will be faithful to perform it until the coming of Christ.
God wants to do something through you.
Get out of my way, fear.
I’m going to work.
Me and Jesus are coming through.
I’m confident that he who started a work in me will finish the job.
I know whom.
I have believed and am persuaded that He is able, I’m persuaded, I’m not fearful, I’m persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
He’s keeping me and I’m keeping on with what He intended for me to do.
I’m 10,000% saved and sealed and Spirit-filled and I love it and I’m on purpose, on fire, on purpose, on target with my God.
Don’t have time for fear.
God is our shield and defender.
He is a very present help in time of need.
I shall not fear.
We’ll get to that.
I like this verse 2 Kings 19.34
Here’s God.
You ever want to hear the voice of God?
Ask Him.
Say, God, could you just tell me what you sound like in this verse?
For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant David’s sake.
And I’d feel pretty safe if God declared that.
Here it is.
Psalm 46.
We pick it up in verse 2 and we just roll a while.
Therefore will not we fear.
Though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, say, La!
Why, God is in the midst of her.
She shall not be moved.
God shall help her, and that right early.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
That means the God of armies.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah.
It means pause, rewind, and think about it a little while longer.
Is that comforting?
Is that courageous?
Does that give you what you need to go forward?
So, your choice.
Fear-filled or fearless?
100% your responsibility.
Hundo on you.
Choose you this hour, A or B. Option A, scripture-saturated, spirit-soaked action.
Or B, Satan-inspired, fear-filled nothingness.
Just fear, tremble, torment, torture.
It’s how we live.
It’s our operating system.
By default, we are fear-based thinkers.
Upgrade to Apple.
Just kidding.
You gotta get a new… Anyway.
Number next one.
The second spirit.
So the first one is fear.
We overcome with faith and confidence and the presence of God and the Bible.
Beat that big bad devil with a Bible verse.
Boom!
Number two.
The second spirit that tends to flood our soul like a vacuum.
just fills us up is frustration, right?
We just tend to blow up, overreact.
Why?
We cannot process.
We have a limited capacity processor.
We cannot calmly evaluate the facts.
As soon as we have one or two facts, we tend to just go ballistic, overload.
Overanimating.
Total cartoon level childish behavior based upon limited understanding of small information.
Frustration, confusion, anger.
Sequence happens consistently every day to almost everyone who’s unaware of it and doesn’t have a plan.
If you don’t have a plan, you will be smashed in the kneecaps.
See, fear comes right for your nose, but frustration just takes you out down low.
Ankles, knees.
He’s a low shooter.
He comes in down low.
He’s going to get you down there.
He’s got a great ankle pick.
He’s got a great low-level single.
This is the guy you have to avoid.
You have to have defense on multiple levels.
Let’s look at the definition of frustration, shall we?
If we’re going to wrestle this guy, we’ve got to know his name.
We’ve got to watch some tapes.
We’ve got to know the techniques.
First mission in the Hebrew language is Ezra chapter 4 verse 5.
Here we see someone hired counselors against them.
Why?
To frustrate their purpose.
The word frustrate here means, number one, to break up.
Used figuratively, to violate or to make ineffective.
Smash it down.
Number two definition, to split apart, to divide, or to cause to be double-minded.
I’m so confused.
I have two different ideas.
Frustration can bring out a split personality.
You ever meet somebody?
Totally different person two minutes later.
Just the bomb went off.
Kaboom!
They reached the level.
Frustration.
I’m so frustrated.
Emotional overwhelm.
The next mention in scripture is this phrase, I do not frustrate the grace of God.
That word, I looked it up, says outline of biblical usage.
Number one, to do away with, to set aside, to disregard, to toss it out.
Number two, to thwart the efficacy, to block, I’m going, just read the definition, to thwart the efficacy of anything, to nullify, to make void.
Number three, to reject, refuse, or to slight.
We do not want to do that to the grace of God.
We want to allow the flow to have the desired effect, right?
Frustrated people tend to throw things away that they know are right.
Just throw it all out and just go with a whole different direction.
infused with overwhelming emotional chaos based on a misperception of basic data.
Bible, Psalm 71.1, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.
Let me never be put to confusion.
Please prevent my brain from a state of confusion because when I’m confused, I need help.
I need God.
I don’t want to make dumb decisions.
What is frustration?
It’s adding emotional fuel to an existing fire.
It’s getting more worked up.
Does that help?
Getting emotionally ballistic based on limited capacity to process information properly.
I do not understand or agree with the facts, so I’m just going to go to the crazy level.
Right?
We all get presented with facts every day.
They’re beautiful things if they’re sequentially lined up.
When they get out of line, I don’t understand.
I don’t get it.
I don’t want to think about it anymore.
I just want to feel.
I’m going to vent so everybody can step back while I vomit all over the place because I’m confused.
I don’t get it.
I don’t get it.
Well, what’s making you not get it?
Do you need help?
Are you asking for help?
Should you ask God?
What is confusion?
It’s a mixture of several things that do not belong together.
Confused people, you’ll notice, they don’t want one thing fixed.
They want to bundle together two or three things at once.
I’m feeling confused because of A and B and C, but not in that order.
I’m just so confused.
Intentionally mixing up a proper sequence leads to frustration.
Just leave it alone.
It’s 1, 2, 3.
Follow the rules.
Stop overthinking it.
What is frustration?
It’s the opposite of divine order.
Total chaos.
That’s human nature.
Here we see God in 1 Corinthians 14:33.
God, our blessed, beautiful, amazing God, our God, is not the author of confusion.
Nothing God writes
was from a spirit of confusion.
Here then, we can imply, who is the author of confusion?
Probably the opposite of God.
Let’s not allow this demon to take us down.
So, what’s your personal plan?
What’s your specific action to offset and overcome and not allow confusion and frustration to dominate your thinking cycle?
If you have no plan, that is your plan, nothingness, and you will be decimated in the worst MMA style in the octagon again tomorrow.
Please list three solid Bible verses in the comment section below to illuminate, that means to light it up, and eliminate confusion from your heart, your mind, your soul, and your conversation.
How often do the people closest to you perceive that you experience frustration?
Do you get frustrated at work?
Do you get frustrated around certain people?
Do you get frustrated while driving?
What does it?
What’s that trigger, trap, pull?
Is that once a week?
Let’s ask them.
Let’s do an interview.
How often does this person get frustrated?
Now certainly, our God offers a powerful solution.
Yes.
Are you curious enough to find it?
I’m not going to give you the solution.
You’ve got to go dig for it.
Do you want to win against confusion?
Make a plan.
Number three, the third demon, giant, that you’re going to tackle, destroy.
This third devil is the devil of defeat.
We just give up.
We sink under the spirit of lethargy.
We just don’t know how to engage.
We tried fear, and that didn’t work well.
Then we tried fury, just getting ballistic and frustrated and overflow.
And that didn’t solve the problem.
And now we reach the point where, well, I just don’t know then.
We throw up our hands in disgust.
We give up because our best weapons were non-functional to process life.
So what?
I quit.
I’m done.
I’m out of here.
I don’t want to continue this relationship.
Why?
Because the spirit of fear cannot force that other person to conform.
And because confusion is just causing me to swirl in circles and now I’m tired.
So what do I do?
I’m done.
I give up.
I don’t want to.
I’m just a non-participant.
That’s called the spirit of lethargy.
Sloth.
Non-engagement.
The opposite of industry.
The opposite of diligence.
The opposite of purpose.
The opposite of calling.
It’s the spirit of quitting.
The opposite of winning through Christ.
We are champions.
We are conquerors.
We are kings and priests.
Wherever there is work to be accomplished, some people find a convenient exit.
Well, I just didn’t like his attitude.
I’m going to quit.
He could have said it nicer.
Okay, that’s your excuse?
Fine.
Imagine, just be there, right?
We’re going to do 3D IMAX movie of Moses.
Here it is.
Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord’s side?
Let him come unto me!
Read that passage and see if Moses was using a sweet tone or an almost going to break your face with these stone tablets I got from God sort of tone.
What does the next verse say?
And he, Moses, said unto them, the children of Levi, who responded to his invitation, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from the gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
And about three thousand were killed.
And you want to quit.
You do not have the convenience of tapping out in this spiritual war.
You cannot allow yourself to be pinned in this spiritual wrestling match.
This wrestling match does not end until Jesus blows the whistle and you go home.
You cannot give up.
You cannot walk away because you don’t like someone else’s attitude.
You cannot just become a pansy.
That is not an option.
You are supposed to be being filled with the Spirit of God to learn to overcome life’s obstacles.
You’re supposed to be a champion, a Christ-like one.
You’re supposed to be maturing into the fullness of the stature of Christ who called you to glory.
and Virtue.
You’re supposed to be a mentor by now, a model for other people to look to because the God, your life pattern is passionately pursuing God and other people want to follow Him.
The devil loves discouragement.
The devil laughs when we quit.
There’s got to be a better Bible answer.
What is God’s remedy for fear?
Himself.
Trust.
Him.
Have Him with you and you won’t be afraid.
Number next.
What is God’s solution for confusion, frustration, and anger, which are all three the same thing?
You got to figure that one out.
That’s in the comments.
What is God’s… Number next.
Third one.
What is God’s recommended alternative for slothfulness?
Gaining proper momentum.
Being properly motivated.
Moving on purpose with the right fuel.
Overcoming, let’s back it up.
Number one, we’ve got to overcome fear with faith.
Trust God.
Verbalize your trust.
Solidify your trust.
Scripturize your trust in Him.
Meditate and mantra your trust in the Lord.
Memorize anchors for your soul that give you confidence and faith and trust and courage in the Lord.
Stop letting the devil smash your face with fear.
Learn one defensive tactic against your main competitor of fear.
No fear.
No confusion, no laziness.
Tomorrow.
Right?
No fear, no confusion, no laziness.
In the Bible, there’s an attitude of a guy who’s like, oh, I’m hurt.
I’m in this war.
Take me away.
Carry me from the battle.
And our preacher from umpteen years ago used to say, carry me to the battle for I am wounded.
So you got hit.
So you got hurt.
Get up and go toward the war.
Be diligent.
Stop quitting.
Stop your stopping.
Quit the quitting lifestyle.
Quit being such a quitter.
Be diligent instead.
Be determined.
Be dogmatic.
Fill and fix your hope on God.
Be strong and courageous and do exploits.
Numbers 1125, when the Spirit rested upon them, what happened?
They prophesied and did not cease.
They carried on.
They continued.
I’m looking at the clock.
It’s 221 in the morning.
They were filled and on fire and people thought they were drunk on Pentecost because the Spirit was fluidly flowing through their system.
Do you and God get together and overcome some of these demons?
We’re going to overcome the spirit of quitting, right?
Nehemiah, he finished the wall.
He did a great work.
And would not succumb to the temptation from the demon-infested tormentors that were sent as messengers against him.
Here it is, Nehemiah 6 verse 3.
And I sent messengers.
No, no.
Nehemiah sent messengers back unto them.
There it is.
And I sent messages unto them, saying,
am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.
Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?
That’s an awesome verse!
Print that out, make it bold font, put it on your wall, and read it until you like it.
I’m going to read it again.
Nehemiah 6, 3, and I sent messages unto them.
They’re going to send me a messenger.
They sent him a letter.
He’s like, I’ll send you a message saying, I think he wrote it really large.
Here’s the message.
I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down.
Why should I leave?
Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?
He was saying, tell me why I should quit.
Can I quit in the face of my grandparents who blazed this pathway of Christianity for our family for decades?
Can I quit in the face of my father who stayed faithful all the way through the finish line?
Can I quit on all the people who should hear the gospel by my voice and lungs and voice box?
Am I going to give up on their eternity?
Can I quit on my God who never quit on me?
Think of all the people you hurt by letting the devil convince you to be lazy, to slack back.
Laziness?
Here it is.
Pause.
Breathe.
Laziness is not doing 100% of what God fully expected you to accomplish today.
Genesis 39, 22, And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.
Now prison’s not a pleasant place, but here’s Joseph in the prison.
It’s a high-pressure situation, right?
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.
Here it is.
And whatsoever they did there, he, Joseph, was the doer of it.
I put the word doer in all caps.
That’s the phrase.
Joseph was in an unpleasant situation, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
Are you the doer?
Are you-er the doer?
Can it be said of you in your high-pressure situations in life?
Did you step up with God and embrace the responsibility?
And whatsoever they did there, that guy was the doer of it.
Or were you the quitter?
Proverbs 10 verse 4, He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand.
Slothful, pull back.
I’m just going to do a little less, just a little less.
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
And I don’t think that’s for personal gain.
I think that means he had the capacity to be a blessing to many.
The slacker becomes the lacker.
Up
and to the work.
Let’s get it done, boys.
Up!
Let’s go!
You know the people who hung around Jesus Christ, they did things.
Greater works than these shall you do.
And they’re like, no way, dude.
You’re greater than this.
This is like full gear.
Can you think of one time that Jesus or the God of the Bible was lazy?
No, they did amazing accomplishments.
In fact, Jesus in Matthew 11, 29 says, He invites us, take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
Let’s work together so you can learn.
For I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls.
How?
By working together.
Well, how?
For my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
You’ll like the job.
You’ll enjoy the pace.
It’s a good rhythm.
Let’s go to work, boys.
Everyone needs to identify the problem, the spiritual problems, and embrace the solution.
We covered three of them today.
Fear blocks the gospel, but faith carries the gospel forward valiantly, courageously, empowered by the right spirit.
Frustration spins a man around in circles so that he cannot accomplish that which he should.
Confusion causes delay.
Confusion is unproductive.
The devil wants me confused constantly.
God, however, wants supreme clarity.
God expects action based upon simple instruction.
Go do the thing.
Take my message to the people.
Clarity speaks clearly.
God is our courage.
Courage comes from knowing who is with me.
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Amen.
Matthew 28, verse 20.
Remember that?
The Great Commission, the second part says, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and as a bonus, here’s the promise, don’t be discouraged, don’t be delayed.
And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, because that’s where I expect you to go.
Amen.
You have the very presence of God with you, encouraging you to deliver this precious gospel message.
Don’t let the devil drain you of your God-filling.
Get refilled.
Fight the devil.
Be strong in the Lord.
Not fearful.
Fight the devil.
Get clarity of mind and clarity of action.
Zero confusion.
Fight the devil.
Speak trust to God.
Be not afraid, only believe.
So here today we covered three enemies of the gospel that you wrestle every day.
Fear, frustration, and discouragement.
You have only two options, my friend.
Learn to successfully wrestle against these three demons or the wrestling match just continues.
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