Triumph over Temptations - 03.15.2026

Luke 7:1-10, Luke 4:17-21, Hebrews 4:14-16

7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A key verses will be. As it reads, it says, And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. Now you should take your seats. Let's talk about triumph over temptation. Verse 4, chapter 4 opens up by saying just in the King James Translation. Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Being 40 days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing. And when they had they were ended, he afterward hungered. And then the devil said to him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. I want to speak, touch on just the first of those components that when we think about this satanic strategy sometimes. The text is telling us some important things. It's coming right on the heels of the verse we read from chapter 3, where this where the Holy Spirit is, where he's being baptized, and the Holy Spirit is descending on him. Matthew talks about it descending as a physically as a dove on him. And then hearing the voice of God powerfully proclaiming that this is my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased. And then for him to move into a wilderness, desert type hormones for 40 days and 40 nights. But to sometimes we read through this text and we miss the important piece of this, the preparation that God has done in through the life of Jesus, very God and very man. Because it says that he was full of the Holy Ghost when he returned from Jordan. And he was being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. Now, what that says, what that says to me in my interpretation of this is that not only had God had God pronounced who he, his, his whomess and his reason, then this indeed was his beloved son. And he was very well pleased, anointed him by the Holy Spirit for the mission that was taking place at this age, this season. But he has indeed prepared him for this wilderness moment. God's not leading him into the wilderness unprepared. He says he was full of the Holy Spirit. So you now you've got the the Holy Spirit is now the human side of Jesus. Helping him to understand that you're going into this wilderness moment not as a victim. Come on, church. You're going in as a conqueror. And so there's a different attitude when you understand that when you're going into this journey, and you know that God has not only given you the identity that you need to walk this walk of faith, but it's giving you the power that you need to walk this walk of faith and the purpose that you need to be fulfilled through Christ Jesus to walk this walk of faith. And so the wilderness journey doesn't scare, doesn't scare Jesus, doesn't worry Jesus. He goes into it fasting and praying for 40 days, knowing that indeed God the Father has indeed positioned him and prepared him and moving him into this moment as he kicks off his very uh formal ministry for lack of a better term. And I'm keeping in the back of my mind his also, he's the God man, so the divine side of him is recognition that all of these things are created by him and for him and sustained in and through him. So there's this there's this powerful play that's taking place, this powerful uh unity that's taking place between the God and the man and God coming in flesh in Christ Jesus, that lets me know that He's walking into this setting. Uh empowered, uh, enlightened, confident that indeed, even though he's about to fast for 40 days, which draws him closer to closer to God and his in his the God the Father and his intimacy, that indeed he knows he's going into a land by himself, a barren land by himself, and there will be tests. The text tells me that being 40 days tempted of the devil. So we get to the point that we we we tag on to the very end of the temptation, but the text is telling me that for 40 days while he's fasting, the enemy is tempted. And I thought, now what about that application, Lord? You know, it's it does seem like every now and then Satan has this interesting way of uh predictably, almost predictably, showing up and attempting to to attempt to confuse and see if he can't steal the joy of the very thing God is calling us to. I'm about to come over there to where you live now. Have you noticed, or is it just me, that it seems like if God opens up this marvelous opportunity to do something that seems that many times is beyond my ability, I can't fashion or imagine that I would be stepping into that opportunity because I can't see how my arms are large and strong enough or large enough to be able extended enough to handle the task. Can't see how I can possibly intellectually deal with the situation. It's bigger than anything. I can imagine I don't have, I don't necessarily have an image in front of me that's that's showing that someone else has succeeded at that, but God is calling you and I uniquely for that particular task. And you start getting happy about the opportunity that God is laying out in front of you, the privileges He's given you, uh, the preparations he pulled into you. And when you and just as soon as you step out and start rejoicing in that moment, doesn't it seem like something tries to get in the way and take that joy? Am I walking this by myself? Doesn't it seem like something something tries to confuse you, something tries to bring some fear, something tries to make you lean into your your your flesh and remind you that you can't do this by yourself, but you never were designed to do this by yourself. This was a God thing, this was an empowered thing. And the beauty of him saying that he was filled, he was full of the Holy Ghost. It just reminds us that as we step out to do what God has called us to do, that there will always be some challenges. There will be, in this fallen world we live in, there will be temptations, there will be trials, there will be tests. There will be, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death type of moments. And the Lord wants to remind us, as he reminded David, but you need to you don't need to fear any evil. Because I'm with you. I'm riding my staff, they're guiding and comforting you. I'll even prepare a table in front of you before your enemies, where you can relax and dine while the enemy's up in the high ground, thinking he's got all the power and all the advantage here. And so Jesus walking in the wilderness by himself, apparently, making, apparently seemingly vulnerable and alone, uh hungering, fasting, and getting to the point where the enemy is trying him moment by moment, test by test, trial by trial, is not a moment of fear, it's a moment of victory. It's a moment of indeed victory. Because now Satan does what Satan has a tendency to do. He he has shown himself, I mean, you know, this is a new strategy from Satan. Please don't understand he's not, he may apply to a new setting, but it's not a new strategy. You you remember him having a conversation with Eve. So so there's nothing new about him saying no, did God say that? Are you sure God said that? Are you sure that's what you heard? Are you sure you interpreted it correctly? He didn't say that. You know, you're not gonna die. I mean, my goodness, eat, do what you need to do. You just he you're afraid God's afraid that you're gonna be like him if you if you eat if you eat of this fruit, that you know the difference. It's one thing in knowing the difference between good and evil, it's a whole nother thing in having the power to deal with the difference between good and evil. So he's not doing anything new here. He's just now coming in an attempt to to thwart and and separate and and distinctively uh uh to the best thing and even confuse the God man. I mean, the very in the very individual that that created him. Not created the evil, but created the the angel that became Satan, Illucifer. So here it is. He comes to him with the first test, and the three tests are clearly those from the biblical book, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Amen? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. That's his distinctive. He's coming at him. So he starts out. The devil came to him as son of God, if if indeed you are the son of God, now you just you just had the pronouncement on you from God Almighty saying, This is my son in whom I'm very well pleased. Satan comes in and says, Well, if you're the son of God, then basically prove it. Prove it. Command these stones that we made bread. I'm I'm I'm I'm saying that you're hungry. He I'm sensing that you're hungry out here. You fasted for 40 days. I've been I've been trailing with you, I've been I've been tempting you, I've been been been Satan's been playing the game for 40 days here now, and he thinks he's got an opportune time because Jesus hadn't eaten anything in all that period of time, and it says he hungered. So see that Satan immediately goes at what he feels like it's a human fleshly need. And he tells and he attempts in that process to get him to do something that get him to take his reliance off of God the Father and place it on himself. In other words, where is your God? You're out here hungry. Where's where's God the Father? If it is written, that's why Jesus takes him to the Word. He said, Take this command, these stones out here, and make them bread. You know you can satisfy your own need. You you're supposed to be the Son of God. You can produce the bread, turn these rocks into bread. You know, you gave them manner, you showed that manner to those folk down there when they were in the wilderness. So you can certainly produce bread. Do something for yourself. How about having a you need a Jesus moment. You you need a moment, you need a self-moment out here in the midst. You you suffered long enough, you've given long enough, you tore long enough, you waited long enough. Why isn't God providing for your needs? Where is God who's supposed to be your provider? Why isn't he providing your bread out here? You say you're hungry now after fasting with him for 40 days, after walking intimately with God the Father for 40 days, so he's attempting to impugn the integrity of God and the and the veracity of God indeed, the provision of God, the care of God. He said he doesn't care for you. Take care of yourself, provide for yourself. And Jesus does what Jesus lays an example down in front of us by basically powerfully and basically taking him to the scriptures. He takes him to Deuteronomy 8:3, and he says, It is written. And man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. So the one who so the very one who would say, doing his walk, doing his journey toward the cross, that I am the bread of life. He who eats of me shall never hunger, shall not thirst. Is now being tempted to produce physical bread to fill his own physical need. And rather than arguing with Satan, he takes him to the word. And there is a foundation for how we should, how we should handle our moments when it feels like that we handle all of our moments, when it feels like that we're not only facing great opportunities, but we're facing great struggles in life, and we can't get our arms around them. We know we can't handle them by ourselves. And and everything around us is telling us you just need to give up on God. You just, you know, where is he? Why, if God is so good, then why are you constantly struggling down here? God is so good that even when he blesses you with something, why does it, why does there not seem to be any continuous joy in that? Yeah, you know, why why where is God in the midst of your times? That's that's the enemy who wants to sprinkle that in your ear. And you just simply need to go to the word of God and give him one of those it is written moments. Don't stand on your own philosophy, don't lean into your own understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And Jesus lays the example down. Number one, as he as he seems to attempt, as he attempts to get Jesus to discuss distrust God's character. Then he walked him down to the next one. David devil taken him up on a high mountain, showed him, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, the text says. Matthew has these flipped, uh, the second and third, but the order. And the day and the devil said to him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them. For that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus said, Get thee behind me, Satan. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou worship. So he's now appealing to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye. I've got Satan is trying to Satan is trying to convince the creator of all things. I just need you to, I just need you to fashion. I'm I still, in my humanity, I'm still trying to fashion it on. This is the pride, this is the pride and the arrogance and the stupidity of Satan. That he still thinks that he has a he has a way of stopping Jesus from having, from breaking the breaking the fellowship of the relationship of God the Father and God the Son, and somehow stopping the mission of Jesus going to the cross to pay the price for your sins and for mine. He's trying to stop the process, the purpose of what's going on here, by attacking the veracity and the integrity and the character of God the Father, and therefore, if the if the one who's sending you on the mission has no, has no care cannot be trusted, has no integrity, then then how can you trust what he says about himself and what he will do for you? That's the argument he's putting from. So you need to fend for yourself, Jesus. And if you don't want to fend for yourself by making bread out here hungry, then how about trusting in Satan? Satan says, How about trusting in me? I got some power then. Matter of fact, the power's been given to me. Satan says, I got the power. And I don't mind giving it to you. You still got to report to me, but you know, you just got to bow down and worship. I can delegate a little bit of that out to you, and then you can be a happy camera down here. I can get you up out of this wilderness moment that you're in. You worried about some stuff? I can take care of that for you. Let me show you what it looks like by showing you off, by giving you a panoramic look at what the world could look like if you're operating under my headship. And I love that Jesus takes him back to the word. He loves Deuteronomy, so he just walked him right back to Deuteronomy 6.13. And and and and and and and and I jotted down in verse 10. It's a powerful, he just quotes that word. He just takes it right to the word. We're not going to argue philosophically, we're going to tell you what has already been said by God. And God's word is true. You shall worship God, worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall you serve. There is no compromise here. There is no straddling of the fence here. There is no I can I'll I'll I'll worship God only to this point, and then you know, may maybe I can't go any further. There is no, there is no, I'm worshiping me, and I'll worship God only when I need him, type of scenario here. And you notice so much of the human faulty philosophy in life, the heretical teachings in life, always try to pinpoint a couple of things. They try to get the world to think that you cannot, you cannot be, you first of all, that you don't need salvation because you can be like God. All you gotta do is live some sort of way, some sort of standard that they will, that humanity will dictate. And they'll tell you this, the Eastern religions will tell you that you can become God like. Let me appeal to you, I'll appeal to your the lust of your flesh, let me try your lust of your eye here. How about a little fame and fortune for you? How about a little recognition, a little power, a little money, a little all you can even have all of this stuff if you just worship me. And so many times we have to be we have to be careful about the about how the world attempts to draw us into a mindset that is uh self-centered and world-centered and not Christ-centered. Because subtly and deceptively, I mean it's it's it looks it looks good to the eye. And we know that everything that looks good to us is not necessarily good for us. And Satan is trying to, okay, Satan's in the process progressively trying to move him towards, again, denouncing the character, separating the character, distrusting God's character, and then to live independently of God. How many of us know that if you try to live independently of God, they're gonna be, you're gonna feel consequences. I mean, you're gonna feel consequences. And yet in our yet in our fallen nature, we tend to try to we tend to try to solve everything. We tend to fall into that trap of trying to solve stuff apart from God's wisdom and his blessing for our life. It's just one of those human things. And God keeps the Holy Spirit inside of us, convicting and empowering and giving us wisdom and maturing us and shaping us. This doesn't sound like a sermon y'all gonna hoop on. But stay with me. It's good stuff. Because it's he's working us through how do we how do we understand who we are in the midst of the life journey that we're going through and recognizing the purpose that God has us here and walking in that purpose as it fits into God's plan. And as when we get our identity right and our purpose intact, and we trust in the God who created us for this and the equipping that he's giving us to do this, then we know that even when we walk into this in these wilderness moments, even whether they're great moments or they're or they're struggling moments, that our God is with us through it all, and He's He's He's He's by outside, on our side, and inside of us, helping us through every single component of this situation here. So when the enemy tries to tell you you don't need to trust God, you can't rely on God to get you through this, then you can push back because not only has the word told you that, you've got that standard to let to lean into, but you've got the experience with God that you can trust on and lean in put by yourself for yourself and know that the same God that delivered you from those issues in days past is the same God that's walking with you today and will be with you in days in the future. So you don't need to fear. You don't need to fear, and you don't need to try to try to live that life apart from him. Because the true blessing will absolutely flow when you're living that life in and with him. So he tempts Jesus, be independent, man. You don't you don't need this. And Jesus tells him very there's only there's only one place worship is to be direct. And that to the Lord thy God, him only shall you serve. So distrust God and live independently of God, lust of the eye, lust of the flesh. And finally he says, And he brought him to Jerusalem. Set him on the pinnacle of the temple. Said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, then cast yourself down from hence. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee. And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Satan has gone from Satan has gone from progressively a trying to move him away for distrust of God's integrity and character, living independently from God and promising him something that he cannot produce, that no one can produce. There's a glory, there's a kingdom that I will give unto you. And God the Father has already said there'll come a time when all these kingdoms shall bow down. You will rule over rule and reign over all these kingdoms, Jesus. And then to get to the third leg of his is basically to get him to worship and follow him and trust in him and all of these things. He's tempting him to trust in him in all these things. Basically, throw yourself down off the temple. Because angels, he quotes, he quotes Psalm 91 at him. We read that. We read that together. That's that's the beauty of reading. He quotes Psalm 91 at him. As if to say, you know, I can quote a little scripture too. The other things haven't worked well, but let me let me since you're quoting the word at me, let me give you a little word. And here's here's a part of the subtlety of what goes on that we that we, the Lord is maturing us and shaping and giving us the sermon as he shapes us and matures us in our walk of faith. It is so important, church family, particularly in the season that the Lord has blessed us to live in now, to make sure that we spend time with the Lord in his word, so that when those who attempt to attack, subtly attack God through his word, or even confuse us in the process of following his word, we'll just lift the text out of its context and then apply his own meaning to it. Basically, the intent, the purpose behind quoting the text wasn't so that he would trust in God and his angels would gird him up. It was basically to prove to him that you don't need God. The intent was to prove God to be a faulty father in his walk of faith. So he says, so throw yourself down. Throw yourself down now. If you throw yourself down and God is faithful, then his angels will gird you up. If he's not faithful, then you're gonna hit the you know you're gonna hit the ground and it's gonna be over for you. And I'm thinking to myself, now here's Jesus. The funny end is that God, he's the creator of the universe and all things, and and now he's standing as a God man, and you've got a created entity, Satan, attempting to use satanic logic on an on the on the divine, on omniscient Jesus, like he's gonna somehow fool God. Help me out, family. Somehow he's gonna confuse the God man, and then to have the audacity to quote scripture, take a scripture out of his context, the author of the word itself, and try to quote it back at him in order to lead him astray, in order to do, get him to do something for him, do for him, to come under his allegiance if you come into allegiance with him, if you will, and tempt God. It's not that the scripture was bad, it's that you don't use the scripture to tempt God. Why would you test God? He's faithful, he's proven himself faithful. And why do I do I need to prove, does Jesus need to prove himself to you? Satan, the purpose was not to prove that he's God to Satan. Satan knows that he's the son of God. That this isn't about identity and purpose. This is about him trying to, him again, trying to get him to worship and follow him, to live independently of God and to distress God's character, and therefore turn his back away from the very purpose for which he has come. That he will give his life on the cross for your sins and for mine. And rise on the third day. So the one who's talking about toss yourself from a pinnacle is talking to the one who says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except and through and by me. It's the one who says, I'm the door, and it's through me that you have access to the Father. It's the one who says, I am the bread of life. If you partake of me, then you should never hunger and thirst again. It's the one who uses the powerful I am statements to make it plain that he indeed is God in flesh. And he just takes him to the text once again. The Deuteronomy 6.16 text, when he tells him, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And the powerful example that we have in front of us, that we always want to keep in front of us, is the faithfulness of God, the promises that He's already fulfilled, the character of God, the integrity of God, and how He is He is faithfully shaping and moving in our lives to position us, to give us the identity that He has in store for us, the purpose He has in store for us, to fulfill not only the process, but the projects that He has He lays out in front of us. And He's gonna do that by walking alongside us, by being our present help in time of need, by giving us the provision that we need, the protection that we need, the peace that we need, and the power that we need, to go through the wilderness moments and deal with the temptations, with the wisdom that God has given us, not only through his word, but that the presence of the Holy Spirit empowering us allows us to draw, he gives us that sense of understanding and discernment as we look at at the enemy's trappings and temptations in life. They're gonna come as long as you're living and breathing, they're gonna be temptations, they're gonna be trials, they're gonna be, they're gonna be things, tribulations we're gonna go through. So, how do we deal with those things? How do we how do we wrestle with those things? How do we lean into those things, believing that while the enemy might want to use them to shut us down or to confuse us, to distort our thinking, or to steal our joy, God is on the other side of somehow making all these things work together for good, for his glory, for those who trust in him, believe in him, and love him according to his word. And so he lays down this powerful word for us to lean into and lean on in our daily walk. So that women's about information and understanding, turns around. Women that was not a standard that we can lean into, a word that we can draw our strength from. We're not without wisdom and discernment that can come from the Holy Spirit in our walk of faith. But we are walking in his presence and in his power and in the certainty and the understanding that we are his children. We are his children. And so that's how Paul gets the audacity to say that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. We're more than conquerors in the wilderness. We're more than conquerors outside of the wilderness. We're more than conquerors when we're being tempted. We're more than conquerors when we're when we're triumphing. We're more than conquerors in every single situation because our Lord is with us in every single situation. And so I found myself, let me let me give me my life lessons here. I close out with this powerful text that we read in our in our reading together. Let me flip, let me flip through the Ephesians moment if you don't mind. The Ephesians. I think I might have given it to you over there on the screen. If you can put it up before I can flip to it. Can you give me that Ephesians text? Let me see right there. Ephesians 4, 14 through 16. That'll be read together as a family. That way, by the time I finish flipping through these hard pages here, it'll already be there. There you go. No, that doesn't feel like that one. No, I'm sorry, I said Ephesians. Give me Hebrews. Give me Hebrews 4. There you go. Hebrews 14. Here's the beauty of our carrying it forward, seeing then that we have a great high priest. That is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our protection. This is our profession. This is our application. This is our application. We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Can I just drop a pen and just pause right there for a moment? Lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. He's walked through all of that. He knows what we're going through. The very man, very God and very man, but without sin. Feelings of our affirmative, but was at all points tempted like we are. Yet without sin. That's how he qualifies. It's a part of his qualifications for being the great high priest. Let us therefore, because of who he is, because of what he's done, because of how he can identify and empathize and understand what we're dealing with down here in our daily walk, because he knows what it's like, the fears that we go through, the anxiety that we deal with, the chaos that happens in our lives, because he knows our ups and downs and our weak moments and our strong moments, because he realizes that there are times when we don't want to even get up out of bed, and times when we want to sprint towards a great activity, those times when the sin is coming at us trying to confuse us. He knows all of those situations. He knows every aspect of it. Because he is the great high priest, he's now the great high priest. And because of that, we can come boldly be unto the throne of grace that we may obtain the mercy that he has for us and find the grace to help us in our times of need. What are you dealing with today? Give me those life lessons if you don't mind, church family. Here we are. Satan's strategy includes attacking believers during times of kingdom victories and human struggles. Be spirit-filled. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us permanently, but he fills us daily. Be yielded to him. Yield to his power, yield to his wisdom, be empowered by him, feel his grace and mercy operating in and through our lives. Because you're gonna have will we're gonna have wilderness moments. Satan program, this program includes distorting God's word and receiving God's followers. Be word-filled. In this information age, or whatever we would call this AI-centric age that we live in now, there's the distortion is so lifelike, it's so it can seem so real, the imagery. You know, you didn't distort a word here and there, uh attempt to redefine terminology, and that's that's a big part of the of the game that's being played. Let's redefine the words. On one generation, on one scale, the word might mean one thing. Well, now we're gonna go in there and hijack that word and give it a whole different meaning. Am I in here? I won't stay long. I won't stay long. So you need to understand what God says in his word. Satan said, let me let me just hijack that for a moment there. Why don't you just worship me? You know, God, God, God, you can't trust him, you can't rely on him. But you can get Satan's telling me you can rely on him. Yeah, that's real. So it's important for us. Spend time here. And his God's presence, his power, provision, protection, and peace enable us to walk victoriously in and with Christ daily. Be worshiped, fulfilled. Give God what is due Him and Him alone. Give Him the glory, give Him the worship. There are in the human vernacular, there are benefits to worshiping God. There are benefits. And you know the strategy he's laid. Biblically, the strategy has been laid, our Satan strategy he's been revealed. We know who he is, we know what he does, we know he's we know the predictable approaches that he comes at us, the subtlety, uh, the lust of the eye again, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life components of life. We we know all of that on the surface, and we have to walk through that in this life journey, and we're not walking alone. It's important to understand we're not walking alone, but in the power, in God's power, and Jesus, the power of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. We who are new creatures in Christ Jesus, we who are more than conquerors, and then through Christ Jesus, can walk with a new vision, a new purpose, a new uh significance, kingdom significance, and trusting in the Lord and leaning, and I love that old testament, and leaning not unto our own understanding. So, Father God, I just want to take a moment and thank you again for giving us this time together with you in worship in your word for understanding and application. And with your guidance and your calling, anointing on our lives, we pray that you will just use utilize us, Lord. Give us an opportunity to fulfill the plan and purpose and potential that you have for us. Help us to be mindful and discerning about the enemy and his traps, his deceptions in life. Leaning into you, leaning into your this fellowship and relationship with you, and leaning on your holy word. Help us to stand further and be faithful. All this we ask in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.