SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the Senior Pastor of the Road at Chapel Hills.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_01: My heart is to empower you to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: I hope this message impacted you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to go back to Ephesians 4.
SPEAKER_01: We're going through the book of Ephesians, and I'm going to give you a quick synopsis since we missed a week, and that is that the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians in your Bible are what we would call positional truths.
SPEAKER_01: Positional truths or theological truths or doctrinal truths.
SPEAKER_01: It's about our position in Christ in the heavenly realm, in the fourth dimension.
SPEAKER_01: But then there's also practical truths, and that's the last three chapters, four, five, and six.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're talking very practically about how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And the illustration I gave, and I'll just rehearse it again, is that there's a story told, probably not true, but it might have been true.
SPEAKER_01: I mean it could be true.
SPEAKER_01: That an eagle fell out of a nest into a flock of turkeys and grew up as a turkey, even though it was an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: And that little eagle would look up in the sky and see these beautiful eagles and wish he could soar like the eagles, but he's just pecking on the ground with a bunch of turkeys.
SPEAKER_01: And the reality, though, is he's not a turkey.
SPEAKER_01: He's an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: And when you were born again, when you gave your life to Christ, you became a new creation in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You were giving a new mind.
SPEAKER_01: You were given a new heart.
SPEAKER_01: You were given a new spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You're under a new covenant, Jesus said.
SPEAKER_01: You are an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: You're not a turkey.
SPEAKER_01: But you've been raised to be a turkey.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the church, you've been raised.
SPEAKER_01: I say there's two problems that keep us in turkeyism.
SPEAKER_01: The first one is the church.
SPEAKER_01: The evangelical church is more concerned with filling the pews with turkeys than building eagles that sore.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not true here.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to build eagles that sore.
SPEAKER_01: And the way we do that is we equip the saints.
SPEAKER_01: We do empower you.
SPEAKER_01: We do wholehearted dance.
SPEAKER_01: We have supper shine for women.
SPEAKER_01: We have wholehearted men on Tuesday mornings for the men.
SPEAKER_01: We're trying to equip, equip, equip, empower, empower, empower.
SPEAKER_01: So the first problem is the church doesn't do it.
SPEAKER_01: We do it here.
SPEAKER_01: Second problem is you.
SPEAKER_01: You're the problem.
SPEAKER_01: You're basically lazy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm basically lazy.
SPEAKER_01: I was telling Leo today, we're having breakfast together between services, and I said, it's starting to, there's some movement southward.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I weigh the same.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a shift happening.
SPEAKER_01: There's a migration.
SPEAKER_01: There is a migration of illegal immigrants moving into this area.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't like it.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: But I'm lazy.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm lazy.
SPEAKER_01: I eat stuff put in front of me and I eat it.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like we had that dinner last night, and oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01: Matt Wilcoxon put it together.
SPEAKER_01: And Melody Baker.
SPEAKER_01: You get Matt Wilcox and Melody Baker working together, and I'm telling you what, you'll be stuffed.
SPEAKER_01: And so the way we did it, which was what I think was genius, because our house can't hold 50 people sitting down.
SPEAKER_01: So we're standing up, and then Matt, working through Melody, working through all the waiters and waitresses that helped us, were giving us cups of incredible, it was all gourmet.
SPEAKER_01: Gourmet salad in a cup, gourmet a pulled pork in a cup, and all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just chowing, man.
SPEAKER_01: And I wake up this morning and I'm like, I shouldn't have done that.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm lazy, right?
SPEAKER_01: So you tend to be lazy.
SPEAKER_01: You tend to want to just go with the flow.
SPEAKER_01: And what worked before is not working now.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I get, there was a time in my life eat anything I want, do anything I want, and I look, you know, I look half decent.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've never like arm them or something, but I mean, even though that's my middle name.
SPEAKER_01: But no, I, you know, you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody that's over 40, you know, go like this.
SPEAKER_01: If it hasn't happened, wait till you're 50, it will.
SPEAKER_01: At 60, it definitely happens.
SPEAKER_01: But there's anyways of migration south.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have to now renew our mind in a different way.
SPEAKER_01: It's not as easy as it was.
SPEAKER_01: And I think with the advent of pornography and the advent of great restaurants and the advent of the ability to text, I mean, you know, that struggle is real, and if you don't stay on the cutting edge of a disciplined mind, you'll find yourself in trouble.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll find yourself being a turkey when God made you an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: And so and so you can break out of that.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Paul's trying to emphasize to us today.
SPEAKER_01: So turn to Ephesians chapter 4, and I'm going to call this don't be deceived, you're a new person, part two.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be deceived, you're a new person, part two, because part one was a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01: It's seven steps.
SPEAKER_01: I see seven steps in these verses, 25 to 32, where Paul gives us seven steps to soaring like an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: Seven steps to the new you, the new person, the new creation that you already are.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just telling you how to act like an eagle, even though sometimes you hang out with turkeys.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you guys that come to wholehearted men, you know, you got a table full of turkeys.
SPEAKER_01: You do.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: But all of us at those tables are trying to become eagles because we already are one.
SPEAKER_01: And so if we don't encourage each other, we won't make it.
SPEAKER_01: So that's why we do what we do.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we have tables on Tuesday morning, is so that we can all, who are actually eagles, can break out of being a turkey.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what he says.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 25.
SPEAKER_01: He says this therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
SPEAKER_01: So step one is tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Always tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's amazing what can happen in your life if you learn to always tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Remember that movie, Liar Liar?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, maybe not everything, but you know, he just tells that what he's thinking, oh, but that's a comedy.
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, the reality is this is that, you know, I like what Mother Teresa says, if you want to be successful at everything in your life, learn every day to pray for one hour and always tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for one hour, always tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And there's something powerful of trust between a husband and wife if you're married, where you just know the person's always telling you the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Now they may say it like this: I said, honey, that I was gonna do this, but I forgot to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's tell the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you forgot to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Say you're sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Don't say I never heard you.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I my grandparents were great people, okay?
SPEAKER_01: My granddaddy was a rancher in South Carolina.
SPEAKER_01: My grandmother was always working with him, she always did the books.
SPEAKER_01: And I knew them, I mean, what I remember of them was in their they were 60 and above.
SPEAKER_01: So I knew them later in life.
SPEAKER_01: Granddaddy's slowing down, grandmother's slowing down.
SPEAKER_01: But I remember in the kitchen, I'd hear them start just picking at each other.
SPEAKER_01: And then grandma always say, Well, I just didn't hear you.
SPEAKER_01: I just didn't hear.
SPEAKER_01: I was always relying with, just didn't hear you.
SPEAKER_01: I was at the meeting, you know, in the kitchen the day before, and they're practically shouting at each other.
SPEAKER_01: So she was lying, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So she was a good liar.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you do that.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't hear you.
SPEAKER_01: You heard them.
SPEAKER_01: Own it, man.
SPEAKER_01: So steps to soaring like an eagle is become a truth teller.
SPEAKER_01: Now you don't have to tell the truth to everybody that you don't trust, but I'm talking about people you trust, be a truth teller.
SPEAKER_01: Other people just shut off.
SPEAKER_01: Just don't say anything.
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, you hear what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Y'all understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying that learning to regularly tell the truth first to yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Just say right now to yourself, I'm up to no good.
SPEAKER_01: You are.
SPEAKER_01: Without Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I'm up to being an eagle, say that.
SPEAKER_01: With Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta say that.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta remember that.
SPEAKER_01: It's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: So start off by telling the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's saying that is so important.
SPEAKER_01: Number 20, verse 26.
SPEAKER_01: Be angry.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine the Bible says, be angry and do not sin.
SPEAKER_01: Do not let the sun go down in your wrath.
SPEAKER_01: So anger is not a bad thing if it's against things like injustice and unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you have to get angry with your kids.
SPEAKER_01: If they're running out into the street, you're gonna get hit by a car.
SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes you finally have to draw the line and say you're gonna get a spanking for doing that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like I have a child that, beautiful child.
SPEAKER_01: Almost does everything that anybody could ask, even more.
SPEAKER_01: But she got in a habit of writing on the walls all over the house.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, writing on the wall.
SPEAKER_01: I said, don't do that.
SPEAKER_01: And don't do that.
SPEAKER_01: And finally said, you're gonna get a spank.
SPEAKER_01: So I gave her a little spank, a little slot on the bottom.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and she quit writing on the wall.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and I wasn't angry about it, but but there is anger that's that is in a good place, but most of the time, anger is misplaced, right?
SPEAKER_01: Most of the time we get angry for the wrong things, and he's saying, confess it.
SPEAKER_01: Confess your anger.
SPEAKER_01: You're all gonna get angry, you're all gonna make that mistake, and in the process of that, that the part that we miss so much, especially among men, in my opinion, is we don't confess it.
SPEAKER_01: We don't say we're sorry.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't get in a habit of saying you're sorry a lot, you're not gonna grow.
SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna grow into the ego God called you to be.
SPEAKER_01: There's something inside our conscience and our heart when we regularly say we're sorry, that we get sick of saying we're sorry.
SPEAKER_01: And so we actually stop doing the behavior that we're sorry for.
SPEAKER_01: I get tired of saying I'm sorry about certain things, so I finally change.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're not saying you're sorry and you're sweeping out under the carpet and you're hiding it, well, you're not gonna change.
SPEAKER_01: And so, it's amazing with anger.
SPEAKER_01: You can do a hundred times, you can be a gentle, kind person, and if you burst out in anger once, that's what everybody remembers.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: It's really bad with pastors.
SPEAKER_01: When I was at Mountain Springs, it was bad.
SPEAKER_01: I'd get all upset about things.
SPEAKER_01: And man, I am so like over that now.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean you guys can mess up back there, but I'm just saying that, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, because everybody, I my mindset has been everybody's working hard, everybody's doing the best they can, and we're all gonna make mistakes.
SPEAKER_01: It's just that sometimes the mistakes are things that you guys see, and I think it's a distraction, but we're gonna figure it out with kindness, not with anger and pushiness and act like I'm a big CEO or something.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a shepherd, I'm not a CEO.
SPEAKER_01: And as a shepherd, we love our sheep.
SPEAKER_01: We work with our sheep.
SPEAKER_01: We all make it's okay to make mistakes.
SPEAKER_01: And as we make mistakes, though, anger does not help.
SPEAKER_01: So confess your anger.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 27.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is a biggie, one of the shortest verses in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Circle it, underline it, highlight it, star it, check it, whatever you need to do.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 27, nor give place to the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the devil's real, guys.
SPEAKER_01: The devil is out there to steal, kill, and destroy.
SPEAKER_01: Take you out.
SPEAKER_01: Steal your heart, kill your future.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he does.
SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing he does.
SPEAKER_01: That's all that the devil knows how to do is steal, kill, and destroy.
SPEAKER_01: And the way he does that, this word, place, give no place, is the same word we have for stirrup on a saddle, on a horse.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying that if you don't confess your anger, if you walk in the sins of the flesh, there's a point where the devil, and I don't think it's the devil himself, but I think it's generic, meaning demons, demons and the devil, because they're all in there kind of part of his army, they'll get a foothold in your life.
SPEAKER_01: They'll get a stronghold in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So the word, we have a disservice because of one of the translations of the King James Version, which is in the 17th century, that was probably a good word then in the English language, was possession, be possessed by the devil, be possessed by a demon.
SPEAKER_01: Daimonosomai.
SPEAKER_01: Daimonosomi in the Greek does not mean ownership.
SPEAKER_01: If someone possesses my car, they own it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe the devil can own you as a believer.
SPEAKER_01: I don't actually, very rarely does he own even an unbeliever.
SPEAKER_01: The reason I believe that is because we're all up to no good on our own so well.
SPEAKER_01: But the reality is, is that he can, here's what the word means.
SPEAKER_01: Daimonosomi in the Greek means influence.
SPEAKER_01: The devil can influence you.
SPEAKER_01: And I use the word around here, demonization, not possession.
SPEAKER_01: Not demon possession, demonization.
SPEAKER_01: Demonization means that the devil can influence you.
SPEAKER_01: And the devil's not going to influence you, capital D devil, because none of us are powerful enough that he would deal with us, but he sends demons our way.
SPEAKER_01: A third of the angels of heaven fell with him.
SPEAKER_01: The demons are out, this is the demons.
SPEAKER_01: So listen to what I'm going to say.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my hand represents the deeds of the flesh, your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Let's say it's anger, gossip, envy, strife, lust.
SPEAKER_01: And we all struggle from time to time with all of us.
SPEAKER_01: But when you confess to the Lord, Lord, I confess that I was angry, there's no power.
SPEAKER_01: You've ripped the power away from that anger.
SPEAKER_01: You surrender that to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But if you continue to allow sins of the flesh to be manifested in your life, you're gossiping all the time, or you're going to that porn website all the time, and you're allowing that, there's corresponding demons, you guys.
SPEAKER_01: There's demons of lying, there's demons of lust, there's demons of gossip.
SPEAKER_01: And if you continue, I don't care if you're a believer or not, because I'm not talking about your salvation, I'm talking about your sanctification.
SPEAKER_01: And I can explain that in a second.
SPEAKER_01: There is a corresponding demon that could come in and lock in.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we get into alcoholism.
SPEAKER_01: That's how we get into drug addiction.
SPEAKER_01: That's how we get into porn addiction.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say we don't, we, we we kind of we kind of have really bad sins, and then we have nice sins.
SPEAKER_01: So the nice sins are gossip.
SPEAKER_01: Oh well, just gossip, you know.
SPEAKER_01: That's a nice sin.
SPEAKER_01: But if you go and have an affair with somebody, that's a bad sin.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, that is a bad sin.
SPEAKER_01: And that is worse than gossip.
SPEAKER_01: But there's reasons for that too.
SPEAKER_01: But the reality is there's really not nice sins.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So some of you women, all the women look at me.
SPEAKER_01: One of the struggles you have is you talk too much.
SPEAKER_01: You gossip.
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm not saying every woman gossips.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that.
SPEAKER_01: Don't walk out right now, you can walk out later.
SPEAKER_01: Let me finish this.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, I'm used to people walking out.
SPEAKER_01: People walk out every week.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay with me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even think about it.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you don't want to grow, then don't come here.
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, so so women tend to gossip a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: You don't just have guys on the phone going, did you hear what Joe did?
SPEAKER_01: Oh much.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we don't struggle with that as much, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You guys do.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So you gotta confess that.
SPEAKER_01: Or you could have a demon come in and make you addicted to that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I've known some women like that.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, they need some help, man.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cast that sucker out, you know?
SPEAKER_01: But but then, guys, our struggle is lust.
SPEAKER_01: We battle with lust.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you keep, if you keep going back to the porn site, man, there could be a point where a demon comes in, locks in, and you get a major league addiction to that.
SPEAKER_01: You hear what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So here's the way it works is that when a demonic spirit comes in, they can start getting a foothold because you're not confessing that area.
SPEAKER_01: Now, two choices.
SPEAKER_01: One is a power encounter to get that demon out, and that's where you actually drive it out, and I've driven out hundreds of demons.
SPEAKER_01: Or there is a truth encounter.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me explain the difference.
SPEAKER_01: So a power encounter, you cast a demon out.
SPEAKER_01: A truth encounter, you crowd the demon out.
SPEAKER_01: Write that down.
SPEAKER_01: A power encounter is you cast the demon out.
SPEAKER_01: A truth encounter, you crowd the demon out.
SPEAKER_01: So the best way I can explain it is that when we moved to our house 22 years ago in Black Forest, it was infested with mice.
SPEAKER_01: And so if we used mouse traps, that's the casting out of the demon, mouse traps and fumigation, and we tried everything.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Or we could find out what the demons are feeding on, and we could start cleaning the house and start crowding them out with good things that they don't want, and they leave.
SPEAKER_01: So here's why I say that.
SPEAKER_01: So from time to time, I'll come off the stage, I'll be dating, or we'll do a conference, or I'll be at a conference like I was last weekend, and this happened in one case.
SPEAKER_01: I was in the middle of a seminar.
SPEAKER_01: The seminar was, what was it called?
SPEAKER_01: It's called How to Become a Wholehearted Warrior.
SPEAKER_01: It was a men's conference.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm doing this seminar with about 50 guys, and this guy keeps going like this while I'm talking.
SPEAKER_01: I think, okay, he's got some kind of mental or physical problems.
SPEAKER_01: That's what I thought.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't think about demons or anything.
SPEAKER_01: I just kept teaching.
SPEAKER_01: And then he just raised his hand in the middle of talking.
SPEAKER_01: I said, What?
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, I've got demons.
SPEAKER_01: And then he starts changing, his voice changes and everything, and I'm like, oh, this is gonna be great.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'll never get invited to this place again.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm with a bunch of conservative evangelicals, probably never seen anything like this happen before.
SPEAKER_01: It's happening right there in the seat.
SPEAKER_01: And then I go, um, okay, I'm looking at you.
SPEAKER_01: I hear that it seems like you have a demon right now.
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, I do, I do, you know, all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, I command you in the name of Jesus to shut it down.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to hear from you anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in charge here.
SPEAKER_01: This is my seminar, so shut up.
SPEAKER_01: So the guy just shuts up.
SPEAKER_01: I said, quit shaking like that.
SPEAKER_01: Quit shaking him around.
SPEAKER_01: So he quit shaking.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, now look at me.
SPEAKER_01: What's your name?
SPEAKER_01: Gave me his name, not the demon, but the guy gave me his name.
SPEAKER_01: His name was, I don't know, Ralph Hilary or something.
SPEAKER_01: I always think Ralph, yeah, Ralph.
SPEAKER_01: Ted.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Ted.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Ted, you can cast that demon out.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to cast that demon out of you.
SPEAKER_01: You need to cast the demon out because you let him in.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, so here's the first thing you do is hang with me in the seminar.
SPEAKER_01: Because in the seminar, we're going to crowd out the demon with truth.
SPEAKER_01: And it's going to take you, for as long as you've had that demon, sometimes it takes that long to get it out.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's the deal, guys.
SPEAKER_01: You can cast out a demon of lust out of someone, and then they're happy.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's I'm free.
SPEAKER_01: I'm free.
SPEAKER_01: But they don't have any new habit patterns and disciplines developed in their life.
SPEAKER_01: In three days they're back to the porn website and scriptures, Jesus said he'll bring back seven more stronger than the first one.
SPEAKER_01: So I would rather disciple a person into freedom than cast their demons out into freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Now there's a place for casting demons out.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did his demon casting out, his exorcisms when he was passing through villages.
SPEAKER_01: When that was the only shot he was going to have, he did it.
SPEAKER_01: But does he cast out any demons and his disciples?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Because what he's doing is he's crowding them out.
SPEAKER_01: And I think Peter was probably packing a few growlers.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the guy brushed his teeth with shoe polish.
SPEAKER_01: He always had his foot in his mouth, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so he probably had a few growlers that he was packing around.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you in this room are packing some growlers.
SPEAKER_01: You sir.
SPEAKER_01: It's part of this world we live in.
SPEAKER_01: You can be set free.
SPEAKER_01: And the best way you can be set free is not getting someone to cast out your demons, but crowding them out with truth.
SPEAKER_01: Where you start saying, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna look at porn anymore.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna have some blood-stained allies that are gonna help me guide me through that.
SPEAKER_01: Or I'm gonna quit gossiping.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna have some women in my life that are gonna help me grow in it.
SPEAKER_01: That's how you crowd them out.
SPEAKER_01: They don't hang out in clean houses.
SPEAKER_01: Mice don't hang out in clean houses for the most part.
SPEAKER_01: And these demons don't hang out with a believer who's passionate for.
SPEAKER_01: Lord and they're fired up and they're going for it.
SPEAKER_01: So don't give place to the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody look at me and say bad idea.
SPEAKER_01: Say bad idea.
SPEAKER_01: Give a place to the devil.
SPEAKER_01: It's dumb.
SPEAKER_01: Be smart.
SPEAKER_01: Be an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 28.
SPEAKER_01: Let him who steals steal no longer.
SPEAKER_01: But rather let him labor.
SPEAKER_01: Working with his hands.
SPEAKER_01: What is good?
SPEAKER_01: That he may have something to give to those who have need.
SPEAKER_01: Now, some of you lost jobs because you chose not to do the vaccination or something like that.
SPEAKER_01: You've lost your job.
SPEAKER_01: God's got a job for you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry about it.
SPEAKER_01: You just, but you gotta work.
SPEAKER_01: Work with your hands.
SPEAKER_01: It may not be your dream job, but get in there and work.
SPEAKER_01: Get a job.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you have to go to Walmart or someplace like that and be a greener.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
SPEAKER_01: There's something powerful about just working, even if it's not the perfect job.
SPEAKER_01: I remember my son Daniel, he came back from college and he couldn't get work, and he graduated from college, had two degrees.
SPEAKER_01: But he knew how to chainsaw because he's been chainsawing with me all these years.
SPEAKER_01: And so he knew how to chainsaw.
SPEAKER_01: He knew how to build stuff.
SPEAKER_01: So he started building chicken coops and chainsawing trees for people.
SPEAKER_01: Not exactly your dream future job, right?
SPEAKER_01: But he did it.
SPEAKER_01: And he just did it and he did it.
SPEAKER_01: And someone noticed his work ethic and invited him in to becoming a financial advisor, and now he's just hugely successful.
SPEAKER_01: But something happened, I think, in his heart by working hard that opened doors that someone noticed that he was working hard, and then God opened those doors.
SPEAKER_01: So don't just sit around and be all upset because you're out of work.
SPEAKER_01: Ask God to give you wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: He's got work for you to do.
SPEAKER_01: And then make more than you need so you can give.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_01: Make more than you need so you can give.
SPEAKER_01: Be a giver.
SPEAKER_01: Be a generous giver.
SPEAKER_01: Important.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
SPEAKER_01: So he's saying, look, you need grace coming forth out of your tongue.
SPEAKER_01: Edifice.
SPEAKER_01: Edification.
SPEAKER_01: It comes from the word edifice.
SPEAKER_01: That means it builds people up.
SPEAKER_01: Your words build people up or they tear people down.
SPEAKER_01: How many had good, who had good coaches at some point, maybe either in a musical instrument or life planning or sports?
SPEAKER_01: How many had good coaches?
SPEAKER_01: How many had bad coaches?
SPEAKER_01: Same hands go up.
SPEAKER_01: That's true.
SPEAKER_01: Because I think most of our lives, if you avail yourself to coaching, you have bad coach, you have good coaches.
SPEAKER_01: And if you said, what was it that was the difference?
SPEAKER_01: It's usually the way they spoke to you.
SPEAKER_01: It's what they said to you.
SPEAKER_01: And with certain coaches, you know they believe in you.
SPEAKER_01: And you have other coaches, you know they're just putting up with you.
SPEAKER_01: So there's something about building up with your tongue.
SPEAKER_01: Practice that.
SPEAKER_01: Practice that in the lobby.
SPEAKER_01: Practice that at home.
SPEAKER_01: Practice that if you're married with your spouse.
SPEAKER_01: Practice that with your man.
SPEAKER_01: Think of ways to say encouraging words to your kids.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, they're going to find encouraging words from the devil.
SPEAKER_01: They will.
SPEAKER_01: They'll start moving off and they'll start messing around with other people.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love you.
SPEAKER_01: I really.
SPEAKER_01: I love you.
SPEAKER_01: No, you lust you.
SPEAKER_01: You lust you, you don't love you.
SPEAKER_01: You women out there, you got some guy that you're dating and he was trying to get you into bed.
SPEAKER_01: You tell him, you're lusting after me, you don't love me.
SPEAKER_01: If you love me, you take me to church and hear Pastor Steve and you come and bother.
SPEAKER_01: That's what you tell him.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Well.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just men, women can be doing it too, you know.
SPEAKER_01: But where are our kids going to hear any encouraging words if it's not from mom and dad?
SPEAKER_01: And the school system's not going to do it.
SPEAKER_01: They never quite measure up there.
SPEAKER_01: Their peers in high school, everybody's comparing.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, all of you that are in high school, it's a fake world.
SPEAKER_01: High school is that's the only time in your life where you're going to have all these cool guys, you know.
SPEAKER_01: You know, walking around and everything, all the little cheerleaders and everything, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: It's not like that in the real world.
SPEAKER_01: So don't be deceived.
SPEAKER_01: Guess try not to fit in.
SPEAKER_01: Try not to fit in.
SPEAKER_01: Try to be a person of tenderness and kindness, looking up for the little guy.
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'd like to see road young people doing.
SPEAKER_01: You look around, and the kid that's getting bullied should become your best friend.
SPEAKER_01: You should learn to be a protector of that person and you take care of them.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Be the odd one out.
SPEAKER_01: Be an outlier for Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Don't try to fit in with these people.
SPEAKER_01: I remember all the cool guys on the football team and everything when I was in high school and what they're doing today.
SPEAKER_01: And the choices that I was making after I got saved, especially, and the choices that I made and who I married and the family I raised.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't fit in back then.
SPEAKER_01: And so don't worry about not fitting in.
SPEAKER_01: Not fitting in is a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: And uh and when you do, you'll start having other people that don't fit in, and you'll become a little army.
SPEAKER_01: You'll become a little band of brothers or a band of sisters, and you guys can hang together.
SPEAKER_01: And let your family be your best friends.
SPEAKER_01: Let your mom and dad be your best friends.
SPEAKER_01: You may not have many friends when you're in high school.
SPEAKER_01: None of our kids had a lot of friends in high school.
SPEAKER_01: And we say, we'll be your best friend.
SPEAKER_01: We'll hang together as a family.
SPEAKER_01: So they need you.
SPEAKER_01: It's important.
SPEAKER_01: Edification, building up each other.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 29, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers.
SPEAKER_01: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the tongue grieves the Holy Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_01: Don't grieve the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Don't make the Spirit sad in your life by the way you choose words and the way you treat people.
SPEAKER_01: When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we bring sorrow to God's heart.
SPEAKER_01: He loves you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to be rejoicing with you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to bless you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to bless our city.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to bless our churches.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to bless our county.
SPEAKER_01: If we start having believers that actually handle their finances God's way, start treating each other God's way, start having marriages and family God's way, they'll be bountiful fruitfulness and prosperity in our county.
SPEAKER_01: God wants to do that.
SPEAKER_01: He cried out to Israel all through the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Let me be God.
SPEAKER_01: Would you not serve me?
SPEAKER_01: Would you not worship me?
SPEAKER_01: And I will open the windows of heaven and bless you.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is we get in this habits and we have corrupt words coming forth and we say mean things to each other and we're getting angry and it's grieving to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't it be exciting you could say at the end of each day?
SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's a day-to-day thing.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think today God was really powerful in my life.
SPEAKER_01: I think he was really excited, he was really moving in my prayers because you weren't grieving the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You were letting him flow.
SPEAKER_01: And you go, well, see, that'll never happen in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Well, no, it won't.
SPEAKER_01: It won't happen in your life, but it can happen tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: One day.
SPEAKER_01: Just take today, the rest of the day.
SPEAKER_01: Halfway there.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we're already halfway through today.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna go watch your Broncos game.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Watch the Broncos game in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You know, if you guys are gonna have lunch or something, well, have lunch in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let everything that you say and do be edifying and building up to others.
SPEAKER_01: And then go to bed and do that.
SPEAKER_01: And then wake up in the morning and just do Monday.
SPEAKER_01: And then do Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll mess up.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll go back to the old habits and say you confess it.
SPEAKER_01: You say you're sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Let's practice.
SPEAKER_01: Three really important words.
SPEAKER_01: I am sorry.
SPEAKER_01: I am a dope.
SPEAKER_01: So I say I am sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Say I am a saint.
SPEAKER_01: I am an eagle.
SPEAKER_01: I'm learning to quit being turkey.
SPEAKER_01: You say that enough to yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And you can say it better than that.
SPEAKER_01: That's not very good to sit, but pretty good.
SPEAKER_01: Theologically, it's accurate.
SPEAKER_01: You'll start, you'll get through 24 hours.
SPEAKER_01: And then it'll be 48 hours.
SPEAKER_01: You start stringing them together, and you might actually start to see answers to prayer and miracles happening in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Because God's not grieved anymore.
SPEAKER_01: He's set free in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is how he concludes his seven steps.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Let all bitterness, wrath.
SPEAKER_01: Let me go start back at verse 30.
SPEAKER_01: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
SPEAKER_01: And be kind to one another.
SPEAKER_01: Tenderhearted.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiving one another.
SPEAKER_01: Even as God in Christ forgave you.
SPEAKER_01: So learn seventhly to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving.
SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
SPEAKER_01: What that can do in our lives is we learn to be kind and tenderhearted and forgiving.
SPEAKER_01: And not trying to be macho or not trying to be cool or being so full of pride that we're always pointing the finger at everybody else.
SPEAKER_01: Do you like to have a finger pointed at you?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, do you like that?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you kind of dig that?
SPEAKER_01: No, we don't, right?
SPEAKER_01: We don't like that.
SPEAKER_01: I get that from time to time in social media and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: People point the finger at me and they don't like what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_01: They don't like what I did last night.
SPEAKER_01: With uh with leaders, political leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, he's a rhino or he's that or he's that.
SPEAKER_01: Can you just give, can you just get off your stuff and start doing some positive stuff, quit complaining about everything?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So, so we got school board elections coming up.
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you've got somebody that you're for on that, then get out there and help them.
SPEAKER_01: Knock on doors.
SPEAKER_01: If you've got someone sick in your life and you feel like that God's giving you a gift of healing, give them a call.
SPEAKER_01: Go over there and pray for healing on their lives.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, what I'm saying is let's be tenderhearted, let's be loving instead of complaining, let's move forward with the eagles that we are and bless others and strengthen others.
SPEAKER_01: It's really fun, it's really exciting, and it's really joyful.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.
SPEAKER_01: My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.
SPEAKER_01: And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to the road.org.
SPEAKER_01: God bless you.