Keep Christ In The Equation

Transcript

Welcome And The Core Question

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good evening everyone. I'm your host, Reverend Corey Young, and you're tuned in to order my steps, the Christian journey. Today, we're not just talking, we're confronting something. What happens when Christ is removed from the equation? Not removed from your mouth, not removed from your study, but removed from your decisions, your mindset, your priorities, even your everyday life. Because it's possible to mention his name and still live like he's not involved. And the truth is, anything you remove Christ from, you are now responsible for sustaining. John 15 and 5 says this I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Now, let me remind you, that's Christ speaking. So if Christ's speaking, he's telling us that apart from him, we can do nothing. So when Christ is removed, direction is lost. When Christ is removed, you don't stop moving, you just stop being led. You wake up, you go, you grind, you plan, but you're not being guided. And there is a dangerous confidence right there that comes from being busy without being called. Because movement can trick you. It can trick you into thinking you are making progress. It may seem as if you're making progress, but you're making progress without Christ. You start choosing based on feelings, deciding based on pressure, moving based on fear. And now you're reacting to life instead of being led by God. You can be in motion but out of order. You can even be advancing but in the wrong direction. You can even be winning publicly but missing God privately. Because when Christ is removed, purpose gets replaced with preference. And anything built on preference will eventually collapse under pressure. Even when Christ is removed, identity gets confused as well. When Christ is present, identity is settled. You know I am who God says I am. But when Christ is removed, identity becomes negotiable. Now you're adjusting yourself to fit environments. You're shrinking in rooms God called you to stand in. You're becoming who people expect instead of who God created. And now you're wearing masks just to feel accepted. Because without Christ, you perform instead of live. Without Him, you prove instead of walk. You even choose approval instead of purpose. And the danger is you can gain attention and still lose yourself. Because identity without Christ is like a house without a foundation. It may look good, but it won't stand. Even without Christ's identity, and even when Christ is removed, sin becomes normal. When Christ is removed, conviction doesn't disappear immediately. It just gets quieter and quieter and quieter. Until eventually, compromise becomes comfortable. What used to check you no longer corrects you. What used to bother your spirit now entertains your flesh. And now you've adjusted your life. You've adjusted your life to fit what God called you out of. You start saying things like, it's not that serious. Everybody is doing it. God understands. But what you're really saying is, I removed Christ from this area so I can do what I want. And now sin is no longer something you fight, it's something you manage. And that's a dangerous place to be. Because what you normalize, you stop resisting. Strength runs out when Christ is removed. You can only carry life in your own strength for so long. At first, you feel capable, then you feel pressured, then you feel overwhelmed, then you feel exhausted. Because you were never designed to be your own source. Jesus didn't say, without me, you can struggle. He said, Without me, you can do nothing. Nothing means no lasting peace, no sustaining strength, no real fulfillment. And some of you right now, you're not just tired, you're spiritually drained. Because you've been trying to be your own provider, your own peace, your own solution. And you were never built for that. Because when Christ is removed, burdens increase, but strength decreases. And even with that, your peace disappears. Peace is not a product, peace is a person. And when you remove Christ, you remove the source of peace. So now you've got success, but no rest. You've got money, but no calm. You even have opportunities, but no stable stability. Because everything around you is loud. And nothing within you is settled. That kind of peace only comes from joy, from Christ. So without him, you're constantly overthinking, overreacting, overwhelmed. Because peace doesn't come from control, it comes from surrender. But here's the turning point. Even if you removed him, you can bring him back. He didn't walk away from you. You just stopped acknowledging him. So put Christ back in the equation. You don't need to fix everything first. You don't need to clean everything up. You just need to come back. Start including him again in your decisions before you move, in your mornings, before your day starts, even in your struggles instead of after you break. Because when Christ comes back, confusion turns into clarity, weakness turns into strength, chaos turns into peace, and life gets back into alignment. So ask yourself honestly, where have I removed Christ? From my thinking, my bad habits, my relationships, my priorities, because whatever you remove him from, you are now trying to sustain. Trying to sustain without his help. You don't need more hustle. You need more Holy Spirit. You don't need another strategy. You need his presence. Because life without Christ will drain you. It will confuse you. It will break you. But life with Christ will sustain you, will guide you, and it will keep you. I'm Reverend Corey Young, and this has been another episode of Order My Steps, the Christian Journey. Until next time, keep Christ in the equation and let him order your steps. Let us close out with the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. We come before you right now first just to say thank you. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for not giving up on us, even when we remove you from areas of our life. Lord, you see every person listening right now. You see their struggles, you see their solemn battles. You see the places where they tried to do life without you. And right now, God, we acknowledge that we need you. Father, forgive us for the times we leaned on our own understanding, and for the times we made decisions without seeking you, for the times we replace you with all of our wants. Wash us, cleanse us, and renew us. Lord, we invite you back into our areas of our lives, back into our minds, back into our decisions, our relationships, our homes, our purpose. Anywhere we remove you, God, we put you back. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, order our steps to Heavenly Father. Strengthen us where we are weak. Give us clarity where we are confused. Give us peace where we've been overwhelmed. But we ask that you break every burden, lift every weight, silence every voice that is not like you, and restore everything that was out of alignment, the Heavenly Father. God, we declare that we will no longer try to do life without you. But from this day forward, we will seek you. We will trust you. We will follow you. Have your way in our lives right now, dear Heavenly Father. Be who you said that you would be. Not just parts, but every part of our lives, Dear Heavenly Father. And we come to you right now, dear Heavenly Father, in your Son Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.