What is Hindering Your Relationship with God?

What is Hindering Your Relationship with God

In this episode of Standing in Defense of the Gospel, Chris Meador challenges listeners to examine the things that may be standing in the way of a deeper relationship with God. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Peter 1, Romans 8, Ephesians 6, and other scriptures, Chris explains that spiritual warfare is not limited to outward struggles or difficult circumstances—it is anything that wars against the truth of God and keeps believers from walking in the fullness of His promises.

This message encourages believers to recognize the lies, doubts, strongholds, and carnal mindsets that oppose the knowledge of God, and to take up the weapons God has given through His Word and Spirit. Chris reminds listeners that through Christ, we are not bound to sin, fear, unbelief, or condemnation, but have been given precious promises that allow us to become partakers of the divine nature.

With practical exhortation and scriptural encouragement, this episode calls listeners to stop living on defense and begin going to war against whatever is hindering their walk with God. Whether the hindrance is unbelief, spiritual attacks, old mindsets, or personal struggles, the answer is found in standing on the Word of God, taking every thought captive, and fighting to possess the promises God has spoken.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Standing in Defense of the Gospel. I am your host, Chris Metter, and I just want to welcome you and thank you for joining in today. I'm really looking forward to this topic today and the word that the Lord has placed in my spirit. And I just want to again welcome you and encourage you and you know encourage you to make sure you have your Bibles. And let's let's go into the Word of God today and see where He's going to take us because again, I have a great expectancy, and my desire is to equip God's people with the Word so that they can go forward in their relationship with God. And that that really is the purpose of this podcast. Um, you know, not sure I don't recall what I did before, what I've said before about this podcast, um, and why I named it the way that I did, but really the intent is for people to be able to stand on the truth, to be equipped by with the word of God and the Spirit of God, and to be able to defend the truth in their life, right? Be able to defend the truth of the gospel that is under constant attack by the enemy, because the enemy's desire is to separate us from God and to keep us separated from God, and the way that he does that is by warring against the truth. So if we have the weapons to be able to fight back against the enemy, then we are able to stand against all the attacks the enemy can throw at us and walk in the truth and walk in that complete and perfect will of God. So uh don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but again, just want to kind of refresh your memory or introduce the the reason that I that I named the podcast this. Again, I don't recall if I really went into it uh in the first couple of episodes, so I wanted to make sure to mention it here because I feel like this topic today uh really uh goes along with the title of the podcast. So um today's episode uh what I'm gonna talk about is um what is hindering your relationship with God. Okay, that's the topic. What is hindering your relationship with God? And I'm gonna go right into the scriptures here and then begin uh expounding the word. So we're gonna start in Second Corinthians chapter ten, and we're gonna go to verses three through five. And this is what the word says. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Alright, and so we're gonna start there in verse four and just really get into the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Alright, so God has given us weapons to wage spiritual warfare, and that's really the first point I want to start with. Um, we are so many times I feel like people think the uh spiritual warfare is bad things happening to you, right? You get a flat tire, you get in a car accident, you have money troubles, you know, you have all of these natural afflictions, right? Things that just don't go your way. And uh, you know, we think that's the limit of spiritual warfare. Well, spiritual warfare is the enemy trying to keep you from possessing the fullness of the promises that God has for your life, right? So anything that opposes the truth that God has established is something that is warring, uh that is spiritual warfare, right? It is warring against the truth. And the truth is what should live inside of us, right? Through the Holy Ghost. Uh the Holy Ghost, uh Jesus said that the Holy Ghost, right, will come and show us what is true, right? He would teach us the truth. And so anything that wars against the truth that is being revealed to us by the Holy Ghost, then that is spiritual warfare. And this is goes into many different avenues. Um and so what I want to really get into today is that God has given us weapons to wage spiritual warfare, and that's what Paul says. He says they're not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. See, when it goes talks about the high things that exalt itself against the knowledge of God, that is talking about God's knowledge. It's not my knowledge of God, it's not your knowledge of God, it's not what we know about God, but it is God's knowledge, meaning God's truth. Our knowledge of God is limited. Uh, many people only know about God what they've been told about God, right? And so, and we only know if we have a prayer life and a relationship with God and we read and study his word, we only know about God what God has revealed to us. So it's you know, it's not always what we know about God, it's about God's truth and God's knowledge. And so, until he reveals something to us, right, we don't know it. And so anything that is going to exalt itself against God's knowledge or God's truth, that is spiritual warfare. That is an attack. And this warfare goes on in the mind, and that's why Paul goes on to say, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Every single thought must be brought under obedience. All right, let's go to our next scripture, and I'm going to continue bringing this bringing this out. Second Peter chapter one verses three through four. All right, so second Peter one, three through four. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world through lust. Alright, so in this verse here, uh a couple of things I want to point out. Alright, first part in verse three, it says, according as his divine power. So God's divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. That means there is nothing that is off limits for us. There is nothing that can hold us captive, there is nothing that can overtake us, there is nothing that can uh prevent us from walking out this life in a godly manner. There is nothing. But where does this power come from? Where does this divine power come from? It comes through the knowledge of him that hath called us unto the glory unto glory and virtue. Alright, so it is through again the truth, the knowledge of God, God's knowledge, through that truth he's called us to glory and virtue. Alright, and it says that whereby are giving unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. So right there, he says there are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, and it is by these promises that we might be partakers of the divine nature. All right, the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in this world. God has made us promises that we can have a divine nature. We are not stuck with a sin nature or a carnal nature. And that is one of the greatest lies the enemy wants to throw in our face is say that you will always be stuck with this carnal nature. You will always be stuck with this sin nature. You will always be the way you are. There are some things that God cannot change. Right? I know that is that is a warfare. That is a lie from the enemy. That is that is a lie because you know what the Bible says the devil is the accuser, accuser of the brethren. I believe it's in the book of Revelation where it says the accuser of the brethren has been cast down. Well, the devil is the accuser of the brethren. There is no truth in him. He was a sinner from the beginning. He is the father of all lies. And the greatest lie that he tries to tell is that there is no way that God can change us. There is no way that God can change me. I'm just too much of a sinner. I'm too ungodly. I've had this, I've I've had this thought process for 20 years, I've had this mindset for 20 years. This is a part of me. It's not possible for me to change. This is just the uh the thorn that in my flesh that I have to bear. All of those different ways that the enemy wants to phrase that lie, it is still a lie. You can put a lipstick on a pig, and it's still a pig. Well, the enemy tries to phrase this lie in a lot of different ways, and it is still a lie. And so we have to realize that we are promised, there are many precious promises, and it is by those promises that we may be part might be partakers of the divine nature. All right, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go away from my notes for a second, and I'm gonna go to a different scripture that just came to my mind. So you give me just a minute, I'm gonna find it. Uh, but I'm gonna find pull this scripture because the Lord just dropped it in my spirit, and I believe it ties right in to this word that I'm sharing with you today. All right, this is first Timothy one and eighteen. All right, first Timothy one and eighteen, and this is what it says. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. All right, so Paul is speaking uh specifically to Timothy, and he's talking about prophecies that uh somebody, you know, again reading it, somebody has spoken about Timothy by the Spirit of the Lord. And Paul is saying, look, what these people have spoken about you, you need to take these things as the word of God, and you need to war because you will fa you might be facing opposition in your walk with God right now. You might be facing opposition in your relationship with God, you may be facing doubt, you might be facing unbelief, you might be facing a lack of confidence. But know that these prophecies that went before on you, they are the word of the Lord. And by these words of the Lord, you go to fight, you go to war, you go and fight, and you fight to lay hold on the promises that God has for you. Well, that is no different for us right now. Maybe you have never experienced anybody specifically by the Spirit of the Lord telling you something about your life. Maybe you've never experienced that. But what you can have and what everybody has access to is this scripture. And Peter said that there are many precious promises whereby we might be made partakers of the divine nature. Well, those precious promises, we haven't possessed them yet. They have been foretold, right? They have been prophesied, they have been told for many times and many years throughout scripture that we can be a partaker of the divine nature. Well, we take this word of God and we go to war. Paul says in uh I believe it's in Ephesians 6, he starts getting into uh the armor of God. And he says one of the things that he describes in the armor of God is the sword of the Spirit, right? The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I'll go over there real quick, and then I'll keep going through uh through the what the Lord has shared with me. But here, all right, Ephesians six. So we'll start reading at verse ten. And we'll go ahead and we'll read down, and it looks like the sword of the spirit is the last one. So um I'll read in verse ten, and then I'll kind of tell you where I'm going as I read. So starting in Ephesians six and verse ten. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and then 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 wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Verse thirteen, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand and in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Verse fourteen, stand therefore. Alright, so I'm gonna pause right there at verse fourteen. Um so even though verses thirteen and fourteen, having done all to stand, stand therefore. That is part of also where the name of this podcast has come from, uh, was standing, right? Learning to stand. And even when you've done everything that you can to do to stand, continue standing. Continue standing, because somewhere God will bring the deliverance. But going to verse uh seventeen, I'm gonna just read that one because it gets to where I want to go. Um it says, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And when the Lord started talking to me about the weapons that we have, uh he specifically dealt with me about the word of God and the sword of the spirit. And when we go back to 2 Corinthians 10, he's saying, he said, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, right? And as I read that, the Lord started speaking to me about the word and how it is the sword of the spirit. It is not carnal. All right, the word of God is not carnal, but instead it is, as it says in Hebrews, it is quick, which means it's alive, it is powerful, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is a fierce weapon that we have. And even in Timothy, the scripture that I that I just shared with you in Timothy, where Paul said, Take the prophecies that have gone before on you, and thereby with those war a good warfare. Right? Paul is exhorting Timothy. He's saying, Look, somebody has spoken about you by the Spirit of God. You take that as the word of God, it is just as good as the Scripture, and you war a good warfare, and you fight against the devil, you fight against the evil heart of unbelief, you fight against doubt, you fight against unbelief, and you fight to possess the call that God has placed on your life, you fight to possess the promises that God has placed on your life. And Peter says even the same thing, which we already read, where he said, by these many great and precious promises. Well, where are these promises coming from? They're coming from the Word of God. Right? We have promises in the Word of God, and these promises are that we can be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. There's no corruption that can hold us. There is no corruption that can hold us. The Bible tells us that in 1 John 3 and 8, it says, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The works of the devil is sin, ungodliness. The work, the sin is what brought in the carnal mind, it's what brought in spiritual death. And Jesus Christ has conquered and destroyed the power of sin. He hath made us free. He has made us free. I shared this with you maybe a week or two ago in one of the episodes. Who the Son has set free is free indeed. He has made us free from the law of spiritual death. Let's go now to Romans 8, because that scripture just came to me as well. And actually, as I was uh, you know, I've been thinking about this podcast for a few days and meditating, and and this is a scripture that came to me. Um I hadn't planned to share it today, but it just it came back to me, so I want to share it with you now. This is Romans eight. Alright, so we're gonna go to Romans eight, and we're gonna go, we're gonna start with verses one and two. Alright, Romans eight, verses one and two. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. See right there. Right there, we have been made free from the law of sin and death. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. We are not bound. We are not bound, we have been made free. Notice in verse one, it says, There is now no condemnation. There's no condemnation. Condemnation means a judgment. There is no judgment against us if we are in Christ Jesus. And if we walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Alright, go back to the episode I did maybe a week or two ago. All right, talking about walking in the spirit. If you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. See, if we are continually walking after the Spirit of Christ, if we are continually seeking to be conformed to Christ, to let Christ rule and reign in our lives, if that is where we are continually seeking, if that is where our mind is positioned, right, and our mind is oriented, if we are seeking for the truth of Christ to be made manifest in us, then there is no condemnation. There is no condemnation, there's no judgment against us, because he has made us free. He has made us free. I'm going to continue on into verse three here. For what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemns sin in the flesh. This scripture right here is powerful. It is truly powerful. This scripture is telling us it says that what the law of Moses could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, what that means is that the law of Moses by itself could not make us perfect. A list of do's and don'ts could not make us perfect. The only way that God can make us perfect was to redeem us from this carnal nature, from this sinful nature. And how did he do that? He sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, that's what for sin means there, and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. When it says that God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that doesn't mean two eyes, two ears, a mouth, and a nose. That doesn't mean just because Jesus had a physical body and walked on this earth that that was the likeness of sinful flesh. Because fle because a human by itself is not sinful. A human by itself is not sinful. When God created Adam in the beginning, God created him. Two eyes, two ears, a mouth, and a nose, but he created him in the image of God. What is that image of God? It's not the physical body, it's not the physical appearance, it is the nature of God. It is the dominion and the authority, the power, the power over sin, the power over you know, just the power, the authority and dominion. I'm not going to get into all that today, but that is how he created man in the image of God. Did not know sin. He did not know sin until the devil came in, until the serpent came in. He beguiled Eve. He deceived her. And then Adam made his choice to hearken to the voice of his wife. Right? He made the choice. He was not deceived. That's what the Bible says. It says that Adam was not deceived in his transgression. Right? He was not deceived. He made the choice to sin. He made the choice to listen to the serpent who had beguiled his wife. Alright. And so he was not deceived. And so therefore, what God had to do in order to redeem us is he had to send his son Jesus Christ, all right, in the likeness of sinful flesh. That means Jesus had to battle the sin nature. He had to battle temptation. Just like me and you, he had to battle it, and he overcame it. The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that Jesus was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. The only way that he was tempted is because he was a flesh and blood man, just like me and you, and he was able to submit to God. He was able to submit to God and not give in to that temptation. And so now, as it says in verse four, he did this so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Alright, so again the same thing. Verse five for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Alright, so there's a lot there, and I want to try to bring everything together and not cover too much ground. But I want to go I want to pay attention to these verses that we just read in Romans, where it talks about to be carnally minded is death, spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. That word enmity means hostility. So the carnal mind is hostile against God. It will not submit to God. When it talks about that there in Romans 7, where it says it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. What it's saying is that it's not just going to roll over and play dead just because the Spirit of God shows up. But instead, it is going to fight against God's righteousness. It's going to fight against God's law. It's going to be an enemy. It's going to create a warfare, right? It's not just going to give up and surrender. So it it's not saying that it's not possible to bring it under subjection. It's just saying it's always going to fight you. As long as it lives, it's going to fight. And so we are to fight back against it. And that's why the weapons of our warfare, they are not carnal. But they are mighty through God. They are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, the casting down of imaginations, and every high thing that it's exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And so what we have to do is we have to begin going to war against the things that are hindering our relationship with God. And this is really where I want to kind of sum up the point today. I've given you a lot of scriptures, a lot of word, but I want to bring it all together and sum it all up for you. And the point of today is it's time to go to war against whatever is hindering you. Whatever it is, whatever it is that's hindering your relationship with God, it's time to go to war. And the way that you go to war is you fight back by using the word of God. You fight back by using the sword of the Spirit. If you're fighting doubt and unbelief, you find a word in this in the Bible, you find a word that God has spoken to you. One of the greatest ways that I am able to war is by things that God has spoken to me in my own prayer life. When he has quickened the word of God to me, when he has made the word alive to me, and I know that God has spoken it to me, there is nothing that can stop me. Yeah, I might go through a warfare, I might go through a battle, but man, when God has revealed something to me, I can stand on that. And I have for many years. There's many times where I have faced wars of doubt, wars of unbelief, questioning if I'm on the right path, questioning if I'm in the will of God, questioning if some of the things that I believe are the truth. You know, I've been through all of those things. And I can go back, I'm not going to get into detail today, but I can go back to one moment when God revealed himself to me, when he spoke a word to me, when he gave me a revelation on my own. I didn't get it from anybody else. I got it on my own. God revealed himself to me, and I can go back to that moment every single time, and I can say, God, you spoke that to me. You revealed that to me, and that is how I stand. And if you are having a hard time standing in your relationship to God with God today, or you feel like you are fighting a battle, you need to get in your prayer chamber, you need to get in the word of God, and you need to ask God to speak a word to you, to bring a word back to your remembrance, to do something, to give you a word that you can stand on and fight on. And if nothing else, if you don't have anything, you can take this word that I'm preaching today and you can say, God, you have you said in your word that we that I can be a partaker of the divine nature. I may not understand it fully. I may not be a partaker of the divine nature today, but God, I believe that word. I can be a partaker of the divine nature. Or you can go back to the first scripture I gave you, and you can say, you know what, God, I may not understand everything. I may not know where I'm at spiritually, I may not know how to fight my way out of this one. But what I do know is that the word says that the weapons of my warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God. And I am taking this word because this is your word, and I believe in your word, and I will stand on your word. It's not my word, it is God's word. It is the written and living word of God, and that is how we stand. The Bible, Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It's time to take this word of God, it's time to go to war. Whatever is hindering you in your relationship with God, get off defense and get on offense. Get off defense. It's time to get off defense. Don't be sitting around anymore. If there is something hindering you, if there is something in your way, then wake up and go to war and tell the devil to go back to hell where he belongs. He doesn't belong in your life, he doesn't belong in your mind, he doesn't have any place in the mind of a believer. The devil has no authority in the mind of a believer. The only authority the devil has is what we give to him. He has no rights. His power has been stripped. The Bible, I said it earlier, 1 John 3 and 8, for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The very purpose of Jesus Christ living on this earth was to demonstrate to us that man can live holy and godly and righteously in this present world. In this present world. And that is what Titus 2, 11 and 12 says. Here is we have what we need in God. We have what we need in God to go forward. And if you want more in God, if you want a better relationship with God, then it's time to fight for it. It's time to get rid of what's hindering you. Right? And I'm not saying when I say what's hindering you, I'm not even saying that maybe you're doing anything. Maybe you're just under attack. And that attack and that voice and the lie of the enemy, that may be what's hindering you. It may just be that. Maybe you're doing everything right. Maybe you are uh doing your best to live a clean, upright, and holy life, and that's not your hindrance, right? It depends. Some people have vices, some people just have warfare. Well, we got to go to war. And if you've got that voice, you've got that warfare, then you need to begin attacking that voice. You need to be seeking God and asking him to show you how to fight that voice. Because there is a word of truth that is made to combat it. Because he said that every thought can be brought to the obedience of Christ. So this is where I'm gonna leave it today. But I want I want you to take this word, go to war. Uh you know, there are so many promises that God has made us, and the devil's purpose is to try to keep us from possessing these promises. He doesn't want us to have what God has for us. That's why he'll even lie to you about what God does have for us. He wants to hinder it. And so now it's time to begin going to war against this carnal mind, going to war against these lies that try to oppose the word of God, and to go to war against the enemy for trying to sow these lies into our lives. So I pray this has been a strength to you. May God bless you. And I just encourage you to continue in the word, because if you continue in the word, God will surely hold you hold you up. May God bless.