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Welcome to Global Harvest Calgary's podcast, where faith becomes real and purpose comes alive. We pray that today's message helps you recognize the hand of God in your everyday life and discover the unique purpose He has placed inside you. Our heart is that you don't just hear a sermon, but truly experience his presence, his guidance, and his love in a personal way. Whether you're in a season of searching, rebuilding, or stepping into something new, you're not here by accident. God is closer than you think, and your purpose is greater than you imagine. Enjoy the message.

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Alright, so Ephesians chapter 6 from verse 10. It says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ever let's take it from verse 13 together, one to go. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore, having guarded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shot your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fairy darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Father, we are grateful for the opportunity to begin. Thank you for your manifest presence here, even right now. We ask for your breath upon the teaching and the preaching of your word. Let it build us up and give us an inheritance among the saints. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we prayed, Amen. Somebody shout Amen. So we're talking about the whole armor of God, and we had laid a foundation of the fact that we're engaged in a conflict. There is a battle going on. And um I did say to us that I found that the message translation of verses, uh, I think I think in particular should be about verse uh verse 12, I believe. In the message translation, he kind of chose this in, and I kind of, you know, all right. It says, and this about wraps it up God is strong and he wants you strong. So take everything the master has set out for you. Well-made weapons, the best of the best materials. First of all, we're talking talking about take everything, and and uh you know uh the King New King James says, take the whole ammo, and he said that in verse uh 13 as well, repeated that that we take therefore take the whole ammo. He said God kept emphasizing everything, not a part of it, but everything. And and the reason is because some of us uh we find one or two more convenient, or we default into it, but the scripture is saying every bit of it is necessary. Some said the whole ammo, yeah. So our understanding can't just be on one or two, it has to be everything, everything that's the emphasis of scriptures. So he says, Take so take everything the master set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials, and put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. This I love this. He said, This is no afternoon athletic contest that you walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps a life or death fight to the finish against the devil and his angels. I mean, think about that. He says, This is not this is not a walk in the park, this is this is serious business going on here, all right. Um, and it's important that we we we take it with that level of seriousness. As I thought about that, yeah, um, the the before before now, actually, um the the other you know how uh versions are modified, right? Okay, so it says this is not after no athletic contest in the old message translation, which is interesting to say that now. It says this is no weekend war that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. He said there's no athletic contest, and you know how it is that somebody, well, yesterday, some somebody, some some group of people won the NBA finals, praise God. Uh amen. Amen. Now, let me tell you something. You you you need to understand as as as the territory changes, you have to keep abreast of things changing. Okay, so whereas you might have been just a soccer lover, amen. When you come into Canada and come into Calgary, you start looking out for hockey. Can I get an Amen? Yeah, and and just understand how the at least it moves from one side to the other and understand your team. Praise God. Okay, and then the same thing with basketball, it just goes with the territory, so you need to keep abreast of keep abreast of these things, amen. Amen. I I don't want to change my message. Let me stay there. So, anyway, it says no afternoon contest that you walk away from and think, but in the old one, it says this is no weekend war that you walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. And I thought about a weekend war, you know how that some people think walking with God is just about weekends, particularly about Sundays. You know, we just come for a couple of hours. We're here, you are serious, and then you move on as if till I see you next week, Lord. As if we're telling the Lord to keep the fire burning, you know, and and that that you understand that's not the Christian life. Praise God. This is a continuum, it is every day we're involved, and and and that's why we have to keep the fire burning. Let me tell you anybody, you need to keep the fire burning. All right, so we're not just talking about that. What that what happens at weekends, we're talking about this thing is still the end of our lives, all right. So he wants us to take it with that level of seriousness, okay? And then so as we started out two thirds ago, we considered that there's seven that we find in Ephesians chapter six, and the first, of course, talked about um the belt of truth, and we've dealt with that. That the truth of Jesus is the truth, the word of God is the truth, and that for this generation that that in particular says, I know my truth, and your truth is even from no, the truth is the truth of God's word, God's word is final. Whatever God says is what it is. Can I get an amen? So you don't have your truth. I don't have my in fact. I remember was Pastor Zebakarit that was sharing some time ago that his kids will come to him and then they want to hold him, they want to pin him down, say, Dad, Dad, now tell us. We don't want you to tell us what the Bible says, tell us what you think about this, and then you pass for a minute. I say, I don't have an opinion. Whatever God says is what it is, it's final. What God says it is is what it is. Can I get an amen? Yeah, so we must understand that what God says about it is what it is, it is what it is, and that's final about that. Okay, so we our truth is subsumed in his truth, yeah. So we want to live by God's word, and and we also said the devil likes to trade with a lot of lies and tell you that you can't do what God said you can do, he will tell you God is not who God says he is, and that you are not who God says you are, and and all of those kind of things, he likes to play those kind of games, but you need to be grounded in the truth. Some say, I know who I am. Of course, number two, we talk about the breastplate of righteousness, and we said that it's interesting that it covers the vital organs and that the the the breastplate um of righteousness speaks of our right standing with God, what Jesus has done for us is given us right standing with God. So now before God, we're not sinners anymore. God does not look at us and wonder what's going wrong with these people. No, now he sees us, he calls us his beloved. We are the chosen, we are a chosen generation, and we stand before him blameless, we are guiltless, we are faultless before the eyes of our God. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, that's who we are. Praise God, and then we said, but it also has a B part, which is not just uh our state, our lifestyle of righteousness. So we we we we righteousness is imputed to us, and we have right standing with God because of our right standing with God, we now have right living in God, okay. So now we begin to live right and walk in holiness because we are righteous people, we are right people, and that it is it is it is a weapon of war. Praise God, yeah. You see, because this this is where it meets. We must understand if he says this is the armor, God is telling us that truth is a is a weapon of war, he's telling you righteousness is a weapon of war, okay, so that the devil does not cheat you out of your blessings and tell you you you don't qualify for what God says you qualify for. You say, devil, keep quiet, you're a liar. Okay, and then you also understand that your holiness is also part of your warfare because you keep yourself out of out of the enemy's reach, and you you you mind where you go and and the things that you do. Can I get an amen? And don't get yourself into trouble, all right? Church, talk to me now. All right, so number three, we talk about having our feet shut with the preparation of the gospel, and it was last Thursday. We were jumping into that, and and I said to us that every time I've I mean it talks about being prepared to preach the gospel, anyway. And uh Paul had told Timothy, second Timothy chapter four and verse two, he said, preach the he said, he said, do the work of an evangelist. I like how he said that do the work of an evangelist. It's as though he knew that some people would come to church and say, Well, me, I'm not an evangelist, me, I don't have the gift of preaching. He says, No, don't don't go there, do the work of an evangelist, be be be instant in the old King James or the new kingdoms be prepared in season and out of season. So, any day, any time, have your feet shut with the preparation of the gospel. And the Lord said to me, Every time I read that scripture, I thought of the preaching of the gospel as a defensive stance, which is in itself is powerful. How that is a defensive stance, but you understand it's also an offensive stance because for the soldiers, their boots were not just to keep their feet protected, it's also a weapon of war. They tread the enemy with it. Hallelujah! And so God was saying that the preaching of the gospel is also for the expansion of the kingdom, it is a warfare, and that's why the god the devil does everything he can to prevent people from getting saved. He he tries, he puts a veil over their eyes, it would sometimes use offense in church or from church, it would sometimes. I mean, one of the when we did uh uh I remember Pastor Dekule did a survey of the tribal community, and we're trying to find out you know the kind of people we have around us and and what their their disposition to church and Christianity is. And the statistics were interesting because we came up with some people, uh they have this church history of people that have taken advantage of them, and so they don't trust organized religion, they don't trust, I mean, they you hear all of those kind of things, and some of us here today, man, have even made up our minds that have even said I'm not going to a Nigerian church because of hurt. Oh, I'm glad we are it's even though most of us are Nigerians, we are not a Nigerian church, we're a global harvest church. Can I get an amen? Oh, yeah, because all of those funny, funny, you know, choop, chip, chip story peddling and and back biting and and and koinonitis, you know, problem of we from this tribe and those from those kind of tribes. That's not who we are, we are all children of God, and by God's grace, Ghanaians are coming, and and and by God's grace, uh South Africans are coming, but Europeans are coming, North Americans are coming, and and and people from Eskimo, the Eskimos are coming, praise God, yeah. And and and we find out that there are aliens in the moon, praise God, anyway. So you understand it's the church of the living God. Can I get an amen? Yes, it is, and and that so the preaching of the gospel, and so what the enemy does is to try to make sure people don't yield to this gospel and deceive them, and and and and we have to be prepared to preach, as the Lord will open the door and give us the opportunity to do so. Paul said in Romans 1:16. I thought of that this morning, I just excited my heart. He says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it is the power of God unto salvation. So the preaching of the gospel is powerful. Oh, yes, it is powerful, it is powerful. In fact, you are the evidence that it is powerful. If it changes your life, it means it can change other people. Hallelujah. Oh, yes, so so you understand it is it is warfare. So for now, listen, remember, I it said take the whole ammo, isn't it? It means any Christian that is not preaching is not fully dressed. Well, yeah, that's what it means. Because so you understand you can't drop that all out of your ammo, you can't, you must be part of it, you must be prepared to preach and speak about this God that you've met, this God that has turned your life around. Glory to God. Okay, number four, we talk about the shield of faith, and the shield of faith is usually very exciting, you know, because yeah, you know, whatever the enemy, you can quench all the fairy darts of the enemy. Hallelujah. And I like that that we must put our shield of faith up. And and I said, for me, the best way to explain faith is is Mark 11:22. When Jesus spoke this word, have faith in God. For me, that's the that's the height of it all. Have faith in God, have faith in God. What is that got to do with the shield? If your shield of faith and your faith is in God, it means you must trust that God is able to keep you safe, God is able to protect you, God is able to defend you, God has your back. Hallelujah. Every child of God must know that their God is stronger than the devil, so you're never intimidated. No wonder the psalmist says Psalm 27. It says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? It says, The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? It says, when I think of God and I think of men, no chicken. When I think of God and I think of the devil, nothing, nothing. So whether charms or juju or voodoo, it says there's no enchantment against Jacob, neither there's any divination against Israel. It says, Look, as long as I am in God, I know I am safe. Because for anybody to judge you, they have to judge Jesus first and judge the Holy Spirit. Now, and this is it, because if you remember, he said taking up the shield of faith. So the question is, why did he say take it? Is it because you can leave it? And this is what I mean. It's possible to be fully born again and still think witches in your village can kill you. Yeah, what has happened to the person is now the person is redeemed, but the person has dropped their shield. They don't believe they don't believe God can keep them safe, they don't believe God can bless them in. Meanwhile, first John 4 tells you that you have overcome them. For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, and then in first John, first John 5 4, it now says it says it says this is the victory that has overcome the world, even your faith. This faith. So if you don't pick it, you will enjoy the victory. So you have to believe it. You have to believe, and that's why. Look, uh people can be exposed to the same thing and their outcomes are different. People can hear the same thing and their outcomes are different. In fact, there was warning in Hebrews about about that that we should not be like those people who heard and did not believe, because the word did not mix with with faith in those that heard it. So the children, and it was referencing the children of Israel, who heard God said was taking them into the promised land, but when they saw the giants, they could not believe that their God was stronger than the giants. That was their problem. So sometimes you enter a land, you enter an organization, you enter a place, and there seem to be giants there. Your God is greater. Take your shield of faith, your God is stronger. Hallelujah. No matter the situation, and it says the very darts that the enemy throws and the devil throws different things, it might throw sickness, he might throw something. Just always remember that your God is greater. Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God, you are higher than any it's a powerful song. And if our God is for us, who can stand against us? And if our God is with us, what's it, my God is great. So have faith in God, have faith in God is our defense. All right, so let's move forward today, amen. Like we've been on that journey in the last two Thursdays. Honestly, that's why you shouldn't miss church. It's I I mean, I just tried the summary of the summary. Should we go forward? So in verse 17, Ephesians 6, it says, and take the helmet of salvation, the helmet of salvation, and this is interesting because it says, Wear salvation like a helmet, and and I think it has to do with in your cognitive part to remember salvation, that you are saved. You must remember what it did for you on the cross, you must remember Easter, you must remember the victory, you must remember that now you're saved. Pastor Fumo was quoting this morning, and it was reminding us of Romans chapter 10, 9 and 10. It says, Because if you believe in your heart the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Because with a heart man believes unto righteousness, or with our mouth, confession is made unto salvation. So you understand that now you are saved. All right, so it says, Wear the elements. Remember, you're not the same old person anymore. All right, now that's almost taking you to righteousness, but there's something in particular I want to bring out here. You see, because the Greek word here, salvation, and the same thing you find in Romans chapter 10, is is a Greek word that that is that is it's called soteria, but the real point is it's more than spiritual deliverance, it's more than you being saved from sin. You see, what it's saying here, that word is a is a big word, is a it's an all-encompassing word that has to do with your deliverance, your safety, your peace, your in fact, it means wholeness, really. It means that salvation, your salvation is a complete salvation. When I was thinking about this, I just remember that hymn. Your heart is such a full as well. I don't know how many of you remember that the love of Christ our Savior has to search of full salvation. You know, we can sing it without understanding what we're talking about. That it is full, it is every area of your life, it is your spirit, soul, your body, it is your finance, your marriage, your everything God did was a Christ did a complete work, it is finished, it's a complete work he did for us. So it says, When you remember salvation, don't just think I used to be a sinner now, yeah, yeah, yeah. That he did that and much more, and everything that has to do with you. And the reason I believe that is the nature of this God, because through scriptures you find the same thing. Can I get an amen? Through scriptures, you find the same thing. John 2, John says, I wish above all that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. You see, it's it's touching every aspect of your life. I think what some transition might say that everything be all right with you. So God, when Christ came and as he went on that cross, he wasn't just thinking of making sure you're not going to hell, he wanted everything to be all right with you. First Thessalonians 5 23. And Paul says, and I pray that God will sanctify you wholly. Give me there's something I'm missing out from. That from that beginning good, it says now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, holy. Look at that, holy, completely. It says, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, this is not just one part, God wants to touch every area of your life. Salvation covers every aspect. The the shadow of our salvation is the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. You remember? You remember? Good. So, like they had the Passover, Christ became our Passover. So that's our deliverance out of Egypt. That's that's why Egypt is a type of the world, it's just a typology. Can I get all right now? The Lord reminded me of something. You know, when when Moses went to Pharaoh and said, God said, Let my people go, that it may go and worship me. Pharaoh said, No, you are not going anywhere. In fact, there was a the first one was a problem because and I needed to watch what has happened. Moses had come to the elders of Israel and told them the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, he has sent me, deliverance is coming. So hope. I mean, imagine slaves hearing that their lives are about to turn around. They were excited, things were popping up. And so by the time Moses went to Pharaoh, imagine that the people were already, maybe some of them started packing their things like we can't believe we are living. So Moses said, Oh, no one, you see, you are filling their heads with nonsense. That's why some of them are not working. In fact, it's because they don't have enough work. That's why they have the place to even think that they are living. It says, double their labor. Don't give them the materials they need to work. Let them go and look for the material and still. So it's like telling somebody you need to produce 20 blocks a day. But before you used to supply the person sand, water, and I say, You know what? Now don't supply sand, don't supply. Let me go and fetch the water, let me go and get the sand, and it must still produce 20 blocks a day. That's what Pharaoh did to them. He says, You you guys, you're really beginning to think you're going anywhere, give them work to do. And the people groaned. In fact, Moses, they were like, Look, what did we do to you? We were suffering enough. Now you've you've multiplied our trouble. And really, kind of the template of how they behaved throughout. But the point is, Pharaoh said they're not going nowhere. Exodus chapter 8, 25. Now, after the Lord has sent the flies, the Bible said, Pharaoh called them and said, You know what? Okay, okay, okay, okay. You guys want to sacrifice, right? Come and sacrifice to the Lord in the land. Don't go anywhere, stay in Egypt and do the sacrifice to the Lord. He's saying, I know you guys want to be saved. No, you, and for me, what it means is, well, you can be born again, but still stay in bondage. Yes, you can be saved, but look, let nothing change. Just continue the way you are, the way Shabbi, at least now you've accepted Christ in your heart. She be faith is of the heart. Talk to me now. So accept Christ in your heart, but let your lifestyle continue. Let that bondage still be able to still go to bed afraid at night, still not be sure of where your next meal is coming from, still go through sickness and perpetual bondage. And I mean, he wants to keep them in bondage. But Moses said, No, we have to go. And then he still hardened his neck and said they're not going anywhere. You go to Exodus chapter 10, verses 10 and 11. This was before the locusts were released. Now it says, Okay, okay, okay, I've decided I'm gonna let you go. But the only thing is let only your men go, leave your wives, your children, and everything, but at least let the men go and worship the Lord. But Moses said, No, we're not gonna leave our children and our wives behind. All of us need to get out from here and go and worship the Lord. I says, Okay, you know, and for me, I saw a parallel of sometimes it's the man in the family that gets saved. Everybody else remains unbelievers, it's the mother that gets saved, everybody else remains unbelievers. He says, At least she be she she she's stone now. You a sibling gets saved, all the other siblings remain unbelievers. And they said, No, everybody has to go, and then he had in his neck again, didn't let them go, and then you move forward, Exodus 10 24. Now darkness fell. No, could for three days they couldn't see. See, some of those things when you read them, it's shocking. How about the Bible says somebody could put their hands in front of them and they couldn't see it? It was thick darkness. That's what the Bible said. So now he called him back. He says, Okay, you can leave, you all of you can go, you can go with your wife, go with your children, but leave all your livestock and hurts. And I see how someone says, Thank God my dad is safe, thank God my job. But the family is poor as a muskrat. Nothing is moving for them. Financially, they are down, things are not moving. The devil says, At least, thank God you're going to heaven. But Moses said, No, we're not living that way, sir. That's not how it's gonna be. Moses said to him in verse 25, Exodus 10. Moses said, Nothing, you see, I like the way the I think the old King James or those he said, not even a hoof. Ah, not a give me message translation. He said, Not even a hoof, not not even the the one of the legs of our cow or or something will be left. Do I find that? He says, Moses said, You have to let us take our sacrificial animals and offerings with us so we can sacrifice them to worship our God. Our livestock has to go with us and has to go with us with not a hoof left behind. They are part of the you see, it says it says, even their leg is part that everything belongs to God. Hallelujah! Everything God has given you belongs to Him, everything God has given is part of your worship to God. He said, We're not leaving anything behind, we're going because the salvation plan is complete, it is whole, it is for you and your children and your children's children, it is for your well-being, it is for your sanity, it is for your protection. Everything is part of the salvation package. I thought you will give God praise in the house. So when he says, put on the helmet of salvation, he's saying, Wear this, knowing that Christ died for every aspect of your life, and don't let the devil take advantage of any part. Everything has been redeemed, so you can trust God for your children, for your spouse, for your money, for your health. He says Christ paid for it all. Oh, where are the grateful harvesters this morning? Hallelujah. Wear the helmets of salvation in your battle in life. Remember that Jesus shed the blood for it, He's played the price for everything. So don't let the enemy take any part of you, keep any part of you in Egypt. Hallelujah. You know, when we do water baptism, this is interesting. I just remember this. You know, it's it's immersion, isn't it? And when we immerse people, which is symbolic of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ, even if if one of your toes is showing, we'll baptize you again. You see, because we don't want your toe, your toe must be saved. Oh, I don't know if you hear what I'm saying. Everything must go and be buried with Christ and resurrect with Christ. Hallelujah! Complete past such a full salvation, the helmet of salvation. So, do you have your helmet with you this morning? Are you getting it? You can see it, put it on your head so you remember every area is covered. Can I get an amen? So it says the helmet of salvation, and then that says the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Hallelujah. Some exciting stuff here. Every child would always anticipate the day they can maybe hold the knife when mommy's cutting something, or or so, or you watch actual movies and you see the sword fight tang tang. And then if you have two boys around, you look for two sticks and say, Yeah, let's start. Or somebody hits the other on the shoulder, bam, and somebody cries, mommy, beat me. Yeah, because sword is exciting. Hallelujah. The word of God is exciting, it is beautiful. When you have it, you are delighted. Woo! Hallelujah. David said, I rejoice at your word, like a man that has found great spoil. Ah, the word of God is sweet, it is sweet, it is sweet. He said, Take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. God said, Every child of his must take up their sword. Take up your sword. Every time you say, Take up your sword, take it is the word of God. The word of God is like into a sword. Hebrews 4 12 says, God's word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. John saw a revelation of Jesus. John in Revelation chapter 1 and began to describe him. In verse 16, he said, He had in his right hand seven stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. That's his words coming out, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. The next thing he said was that he fell as though he was dead at the feet of Jesus. And then this is interesting because you remember this John is the one that used to put his head on Jesus' lap, but now he sees him in his glory and he says, I fell as dead, powerful. Jesus set aside his glory to come into this world. Rev was telling us, if he had called Mary's womb would have exploded. That's your God, though. That's your king, that's our king. Hallelujah. This sword, take it in warfare. Remember, it's part of your warfare. So to not be acquainted with your Bible, you're already at a disadvantage. Alright. So you understand you need this, we need this for our lives. We need this for the journey. Are you following the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God? And I said, the word will deliver you from and help you overcome. It will deliver you from and help you overcome two aspects. Number one, it will help you, it will it will deliver you from and help you overcome your old self. The word of God will deliver you from your old self, it will help you overcome your old self. How many of you have an old self? Let me turn to the person. Say, I'm glad is you knew you that I met. Amen. Because I don't want to go to that side. There was somebody, the old person used to beat me when we were babies. Thank God for Jesus. Yes. Some people, their old self, my god. Reverend George, are they going? Reverend said, Reverend George said, he said, he said it was so terrible. I mean, let me let me give you the reference. So it was after the service was preaching once. I mean, not once, it happens. People will come to ask for his handkerchief, just with the understanding that they took handkerchiefs and aprons from the body of Paul, and then miracles happened with it. So sometimes people would ask for his handkerchief and prayer, and miracles were happening. And then he said to himself, A me. That's a Yoruba expression for saying, Me, he said, people are asking for my handkerchief. He would drink, you know, when people drink so much, their sweat is alcohol. Oh, yeah. When you if you meet proper drunks or or people who are addicted to nicotine, they even their sweat, you could smell it, you could you could oze it. He said, Who would have asked for my ankerchief? See what Jesus has done, see what transformation is brought into my life. Come on, let's give him praise and glory. The word of God will deliver you from your old self, from your messed up, useless self. Listen, Hebrews 4 12. We quoted the beginning, we didn't finish it. It said, For the word of God is quick and powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing to the person that the piercing to dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of bones and marrow, and it is a diserner of the thought and the intent of the heart. Now, let me unpack what I just said. It's telling you that as you read the word of God, it will let you know if what you're about to do is spirit or flesh, it will let you know if this is your old you talking or the spirit of God talking in you. It will let you know if this action you're about to take is carnal or it is spiritual. It says the word of God will divide, and then also the same way, if you have a good idea, you're not just sure if it's a God idea, God's word will divide it, it will let you know if this is God or just something good you thought of because it will pierce, it will divide between your soul and your spirit, it will discern the thoughts of your it will reveal your heart to you. The word of God is powerful, the word of God is powerful. Without this word, I don't even know. I will not be here today. As a young Christian, I was looking for how to straighten up my Christian life now that I was saved, and I saw the question. I didn't know David asked the same question in Psalm 119 from verse 9. He says, How can a young man cleanse his ways? How can a young man cleanse his ways? I was a young man that needed my ways cleansed. He said, It is by taking heed according to your word, oh Lord. It is by taking heed according to your word, oh Lord. He says, Your word have I found and hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. The word of God kept me from sin, keeps me from sin, keeps us from our old self. This word is powerful, it is a weapon of war because the battle goes on between your spirit and your soul. Oh, yes, oh yes, between the flesh and the spirit. There's a way, Galatians. Paul told the Galatians, this war is going on. So you as a Christian must know what you need to overcome. Revel tell anybody, right? We said, Look, if you if you know you're having no problem with lost, no problem. Sit down with Ephesians chapter 2. Sit down with it, read it, read it again, see what is done for you. Gather, and I started doing some of those things. I noticed where did this one come from? I need to I need to brace up with diligence and look for some dangerous scriptures in Proverbs. I need to behave myself as a good pastor. I look for first timory, second timory, titles, those are pastoral teachings. I'm I'm looking for if there's a situation, I gather the scriptures to guide me through it. Because the scripture will guide you through it. So so for your personal, you want you, I don't you want personal transformation? Get into the word of God. Romans 12 from verse 1, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If you renew your mind, you will know the perfect will of God. It will bring you the word of God will bring you into it, it will change your life. Can I get an amen? It is spiritual, and every child of God must know that spiritual warfare. You see, spiritual warfare is no one which flying somewhere, it is your soul not wanting to allow your spirits to rise, and and for you, for the real you, that's why I said it will deliver you from your old self because there's a new you inside you. The new you is in the image of Christ, the new you is kind, it is nice. You see, that guy that gets the old one, the new tender that person that can be nasty is the old one. That's why it's it's unfortunate for a Christian to say, but you know that's who I am, that's who you were. There is a new you now. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, all things have passed away. Behold, you must you see that behold is critical. Behold means look at it, look at it. You're a new creature, look at it. Jesus did something in you, line up with the word and let it turn your life around, it will deliver you from your old self, and then the word number two will deliver you and help you overcome the devil. It will deliver you and help you overcome the devil. It's a sword of the spirit, it's the tool of God. Nobody displayed that like Jesus Himself. Matthew's account gives us of and Luke also chronicled the same thing. Matthew chapter 4, Luke chapter 4. From verse 3, Matthew 4, 3. It says, and the devil came to and sometimes the devil shows up. I said, sometimes the devil shows up. Ephesians 6 was telling us how the devil shows up. And and sometimes I tell people, I said, it's also difficult to know where this devil is been. He's been in Iran lately. He's he's been troubling them in in in in yeah, what's uh in uh what's Russia and what Ukraine for a while now. He's been showing up in Nigeria every now and then. He's the devil, he's the bad devil, and sometimes he shows up in families, sometimes he tries to show up in your finance, show up in your health. Sometimes it tries to show up, and so we are not on mindful that the enemy see anybody that tells you there's no devil is is deceived. Anyone that thinks if you don't trouble the devil, you don't trouble you, he's naive. Yeah, and and sometimes I feel a lot of Christians used to be that way that don't trouble the devil, if you don't trouble the devil, the devil will not trouble you. So the devil came to Jesus and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command the stones to become red. And then Jesus answered, It is written, it is written. Jesus is the son of God. God's response to the devil is his word. God's response to the devil is his word, not the not Jesus' stature, it was not Jesus' fine face. God responded to the devil with scriptures. He said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The devil didn't leave. He said, Oh, scriptures you want to use, let's go there. Then he said to him, Next verse, he took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and then dropped scriptures and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself 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 feet against the stone. Let me stop and say something here. You must understand that it is not the letter of the scripture that's saved. You see, this is why those days people used to open their Bibles to Psalm 23 and put it under their pillow. Yeah, yeah, no, too. You see, you what you don't understand is that, and I think some of those movies have done bad things because somebody was a vampire, was chasing somebody, he now brought the Bible, and the the vampire left him alone, making vampire, see original vampire here, he's quoting scripture. So, I mean, I'm I'm trying to make the point. Oh, talk to me. They said, Oh, spring holy water, you and the water is and and that's why I tell people if you have your babies, don't put three crucifixes on the baby's neck. I said, for starters, it's even trouble because you have put, let's even say Christ was there. You put Christ and two thieves on your baby's neck, in the minimum. Is that not where they got it from? He was crucified. So why you adding thieves to your baby? Because it's it's not in the crucifix, it's it's and besides, it's not on the cross anymore. I'm just trying to say, so you understand why you're putting a body on a baby's neck, and putting the baby in jackals already, so because the letter, the letter killed, it's the spirit that gives life. So he says, the word that I speak to, their spirit and their life, it is the life of the word, it is the life of the word, and and and and listen to me, God will, and this is one of the all time ultimate tests of whether what you're doing is of God or not. God will not ask you to do something that will contradict another part of his word. He will never ask you to do it. Ever. Because it's that if you are the son of God, jump down. I mean, no, what are you talking about? Is it not the do I need to jump down to put you know the dare game that kids used to? How many people have gone to trouble because somebody dared you? Say, I dare you. You can't, you can't you can't write missed name on with with uh with a horn on the side, say me, and then you write and Mr. Benedict enters the class. Would you this? Everybody point at you first. From dear to trouble. Some people have dead, I mean, I mean, some silly dears, adults. Oh no, I can't, I can't even sports car and do all kinds of some crazy, you know. Let me tell you something. Even the now, I don't mean anything, but I'm saying even the cold, the ice challenge, yeah. I know you see it's subtle. Anything that is pushed to an extreme becomes trouble. So there's a place between where we move from playing and fooling around to getting into big trouble. Some kids have died in ice because somebody dared them to go to that they couldn't walk on on a frag on a thin layer of ice. You see, some of those things are silly. Guys have jumped off from a bridge because somebody dared them. That's why you must the trick has not changed, though. It was the same thing that made Adam and Eve lose their place, isn't it? So Jesus had to say to him, Look at it, let's dash your feet against the stone. So Jesus responded, verse 7. It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And then the devil still didn't go, took him to the highest mountain, and then showed him all the world and the glory thereof. And then said to him in verse 9, All this I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. And then Jesus said again, Away from me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and he may alone. Every time the devil came, Jesus said, It is written, it was the weapon was the word, the weapon is the word of God. Are you seeing it? And then so and the devil left him because you can resist the devil and he will flee from you. I needed to make I need to make a point of this. Somebody said the devil left him, said the devil left him. Said the devil left him. It means the devil can live, you can make the devil live. You must never forget. Look, whatever the situation is in your life, you can make the devil live. If you stay on the word, he will live. It may start and he may pretend as if it's not going. That's why the Bible says resist him steadfast in the faith. If you are steadfast, if you stay on to be steadfast means to be consistent, to be persistent. If you stay in the word, that thing will change. The devil will live, and you will see the glory of God, you will see angels ministering to you. Can I get an amen here? The word is a weapon. Now, let me let me wrap it up this way. We'll continue on Thursday. Let me wrap it up this way. Do you know, sir, that Jesus was not quoting Stamps? Do you know Jesus was not quoting Isaiah? You know, because some of us have our favorite scriptures. Do you know what he was quoting? Deuteronomy. He was quoting Deuteronomy. There is life in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers. Every book has power in it. Every book has power in it. If you don't read it, you will miss out on what is available to you. So thank God for favorite passages, but child of God, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for you. All scripture profitable for you, all every part will bring something, it will reveal a part of God that perhaps you've never seen before, and the light of God will shine from it, and that's where your victory lies. Can I get an amen? On Friday, I was sharing, and it was Zephaniah 3:17 that kept ringing in my heart. I just kept remembering the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. As I as I meditated on you, how about okay, Lord? Thank you. And I just dropped it on the group that the Lord your God, number one, is in your midst, and number two, he is mighty, he is mighty. Isaiah may have a semblance of that, but this is a remmer for now. So as you read it, the word will jump, it will come along. That's why. In fact, let me put it this way it's the power of preaching. You see, some of the things you're here, see where your faith is right now. How did it get there? Because you came, and that's why you shouldn't miss Thursday. And if for any reason you miss it, you should ask for questions because every faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Every time you hear it, it will do something to you. It will do something to you. It's the blessing of reading the scriptures for yourself. I can't tell you how many times we found something and you highlighted it and you underlined it. If you're reading, you're using the hard copy, and you you know, you just saw something. Wow, and it's called a Rema, it comes alive to you, it's revealed to you. Glory to God. It's the blessing of memorizing scriptures. You see, because when he happened, Jesus didn't say, Let me go to the temple first, let me go and carry, let me go and look for, let me go to the synagogue. Let me see if I can find the scroll and do something. It was in his heart. Now we have an advantage. If something hits you, you can still pick up your phone. If you remember where you read last, if it was a hard copy, you know, there were days when there's a scripture in my heart. I should know it's on the right side of my Bible when I was reading it, and so I flip, flip, flip, flip, and I find it there. That's one of the advantages of the hard copies. Hallelujah. But thank God for the highlights, and uh, I'm not sure if the U version, if you can check all your highlights, yes, you can. You can check all your highlights and and and and and read it. So I'm saying to you, as you read it, you find the truth, it's treasure. Are you here? I just want to ask you in your personal time of reading, have you found any verse that blessed you? Okay, open to it now. Any of your any of your favorite verses, anyone on Thursday, we're going to verse 18. It says, praying always with all manner of prayers and all times. Open one of your favorite verses. If you found it, you can stand and just read it to yourself. I want you to read it twice and begin to thank God for it. Or whatever that verse means to you, whatever it's supposed to do, begin to thank God and begin to take it right now. One of those favorite verses, any any passage of the Bible, anyone, anyone that that has blessed you, that has that meant something to you. Anyone that you found. Anyone that you found. Aha. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. Ha ha ha ha ha. Sukabara. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. For you care, thank you, thank you for caring for me. Thank you for caring, thank you for anticipating the need and meeting it before it even arises. Thank you, Father. What a God you are, what a king you are. Yes, Holy Spirit. And where's your scripture? Everybody, find your verse, find your verse, find your verse in the Bible. What's one of your favorite verses in the Bible and thank God for it? Thank God for it and let it come alive in your heart. Whatever that verse tells you to do, do it. If you need to remind God of something, remind him of it. If it's if it's a thanksgiving point, thank God for it. But but by all means, look for your verse, look for your verse. Jesus opened it and found there is where it was written. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, ekasharaba, eke barosto. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

SPEAKER_00 53:01

Yes, Lord, yes, Lord. Thank you for joining us today. We pray this message didn't just speak to your mind but truly ministered to your heart. May the word take root in your life, producing faith, clarity, and boldness as you walk out the purpose God has for you. If this message encouraged you, be sure to share it with someone who might need it. And we'd love to connect with you, join us in person, and become part of what God is doing here at Global Harvest Calgary. Until next time, keep experiencing God and walking confidently in your purpose.