Collateral Damage vs. Tactical Surrender

What if the way to win your hardest battles is to stop fighting them on your own terms? We open Matthew 2 and watch Herod grasp for power at any cost, then turn the lens on ourselves to see how a need for control quietly harms spouses, kids, friends, and even our sleep. The twist: surrender isn’t losing—it’s strategy. When the threat feels personal and pride wants the last word, Scripture calls us to trade clenched fists for open hands.

We trace the thread from Rachel’s weeping to Jesus weeping, revealing a God who isn’t distant from pain but deeply moved by it. That compassion reframes everything. You don’t have to be the hero, the fixer, or the flawless parent. The New Testament reminds us that our only offensive weapon is the Word of God, and our true power is prayer. This isn’t passivity; it’s placing the fight in the hands of the One who already broke the power of darkness. Control isolates us and shrinks our world to fear. Tactical surrender reconnects us to love, community, and a peace that doesn’t depend on outcomes.

We get practical too. Start with one place you’re gripping hard—an argument, a decision, a schedule—and name the fear beneath it. Pray short and honest. Open Scripture before your inbox. Ask a trusted friend to check in. Practice a physical cue of release, like open hands in worship. Replace revenge with Romans 12’s way of overcoming evil with good. You’ll notice arguments cool, sleep returns, and joy resurfaces—not because life is easy, but because the throne is already taken.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s tired of white-knuckling life, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your story might be the nudge someone else needs to finally let go.

Transcript

Big Idea: Control Versus Surrender

Josh 0:00

Alright, but this week, as I jump into our message, I'm gonna start with our big idea, and that is this. Would you rather have collateral damage or tactical surrender? And I know like some of those terms may not be like things we are familiar with saying, but it really boils down to this is control so important to you that you're willing to hurt innocent people? Or could you accept surrender if it means you're going to win the war? And I know, like in some of our minds, we're probably sitting here going, uh, isn't surrender the opposite of winning? And we're gonna dig into that and what we're gonna see. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into it. Father, I thank you so much for the opportunity to be up here, and I ask and I pray that God, I am just a tool that you use to speak to your people. Father, I ask that it is not my opinion, it is not my words, but that God, it is you speaking to your people to shape us, to look more like your son, so that we may seek and save what is lost. Father, I pray that we just in our spirits go deep this morning, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so Matthew 2, picking it up in verse 16, it says this. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, a voice heard in Rama weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they were no more. All right, so as we jump into this, obviously this is going to be dealing with a little bit darker than what we are used to in Scripture, right? Like most of us, we we have this picture of Scripture and of Jesus, and it's just this peace and love and light and all of that, but yet here we are seeing a very, very dark thing. We're back with this evil King Herod, who is tricked by the wise men, and he becomes furious. Now there's some things we need to know about Herod as we are jumping into this. Number one, Herod is extremely paranoid. And he's paranoid not for like good reasons, he's paranoid because he thinks that everything and everyone is out to attack him, to gain his spot as king, because that is the most important thing to him, and he will do anything to keep that power and that control. He actually has assassinated some of his own kids because he thought his sons were plotting on him to get his throne. He's actually killed at least two of his wives because he thought they were plotting on him so that their kids may become the heir to the throne. He has some control issues, to say the least. Because he's sitting here and he looks at everything around him as it is an attack on him. And so when we last saw the magi that they are talking about, they come to meet Herod. And just to make sure everyone is caught up and we're all on the same page, when they come in to meet Herod, they go, hey, where is this new king that has been born? And Herod, remember, couldn't bring himself to say the king. He used the term the child because he was not okay with people thinking that there was another king going to be on the way. And then he goes, When you guys find him, come tell me where he is, so I too may come worship the child. And we we looked at that false worship and the idea behind that. Now we knew, and I told you back then, that Herod wasn't going to go worship. He went, hey, I want you to do the work for me. When I find the child, I can go murder that specific child, and that way there is no threat to my kingship. However, what winds up happening is after the Magi come and they worship Jesus, they give the gifts that we looked at last week to provide for Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt, they receive a dream that goes, hey, when you leave, don't go back to Herod. And then shortly after that, Joseph receives a dream in which the angel of the Lord tells him, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. So now Herod has just came to the realization that his master plan, that his complete idea of how he is going to remain in control, is going up in smoke. Now, some of us, we know what that feels like, right? Because you look at your life and you go, if if people would just, if I could just squeeze a little harder. Now, normally JT is the like the illustration of all illustrations, and trust me, I have plenty of illustrations for JT as I work through this. But this first one I'm actually going to use Kayla for. Kayla used to love, when she was little, catching lizards at the house. And she would catch these lizards, and then like because she didn't want them jumping out of her hand, she would like squeeze and you could see like the forearm muscles. And this poor lizard is like sitting in her hand, like frozen, and then you would watch it take its last couple of breaths. But she was going to squeeze it with everything she was to keep that lizard from going away. Some of us, that's how we're living life. You live your entire life like a child trying to squeeze, because if you can just be in control, if you could bend life to you, then everything would be perfect. Well, what's the problem with that? Problem with that is just like Kayla did not realize she was hurting what she was trying to protect, the same may be true for you. That you are actually hurting those around you. That collateral damage are the innocent people around you as you're trying with everything you are to desperately maintain control of everything. And here's the problem: why do you want control so bad? Like, really, do we think we know what's best? Anyone in here gonna tell me what's going to happen tomorrow? Like, think about your plans later today. All of us in here right now, we have some kind of idea of what today is going to look like, right? How many times are those gonna go according to plan, though? Like, honestly, Friday night, and I felt so bad for this guy, there's a guy that has tried to go shrimping now three times. And every time we make plans to go shrimping, something happens. And so he texted me Thursday. We had plans to go out on uh Friday night to go shrimp. He texted me Thursday, he's like, hey man, are we still on? And I'm like, Yep, we are good to go. And I woke up Friday and as I was getting the boat ready, I felt this like wind. And if you spend a lot of time outside, call it what you want to, you could feel that some this wind was not feeling right. So I was like, uh, let me check the weather. And sure enough, I open up my weather app and I look at it and I'm like, there's a 95% chance of rain tonight. So I text this guy and I'm like, hey man, not for nothing, just check the weather. We're gonna have to play it by ear. And he's like, I I just saw that too. I was about to text you, I was about to let you know. Well, I was like, hey, we'll make a call at four. Because we live in Florida, right? Sometimes it says it's gonna thunderstorm in the morning and it winds up being the hottest day of the year. Like when you saw the video announcements, I was wearing a sweater, right? Because the beginning of the week was really cold. Now it's like, good night. Can someone drop the air conditioning another 20 degrees? 2867. So 4 o'clock came and I went, nope, we're not gonna be able to go. See, that's how much control we have over this thing, right? We have all of these plans, and we go, hey, this is what's going to happen. And then something comes along. We were singing blessed be your name this morning during praise, right? Anyone know where that actually comes from? Because that's from the Bible. Who said it? Job. How much control did Job have? See, Job was just sitting there being a righteous man as Lucifer walks into the court of heaven and stands in front of God and is like, hey, look, here's what I was doing. I was just going to and fro doing different things. And he goes, God gives him permission to go after Job. Job was not an evil and wicked person. And God went, hey, look, go for it. Have at it. I bet you can't take them down. And yet Job writes these words. I mean, he loses everything in life. Except for, and I think this is a different sermon, so I don't want to get into it. If you notice, Debbie's laughing because I'm pretty sure she knows where I'm going, right? Job loses his wealth, his health, his kids. Do you know what Job didn't lose? His nagging wife. Satan knew that a nagging wife can be worse than all of that other stuff. And was like, just leave her there. Okay? Like I said, I think there's another sermon there, but but what we see is we don't have the amount of control we think we do. And the tighter you squeeze, the more you're just hurting those around you. And see, and what Herod's doing is he's sitting here going, I am not going to lose my kingdom to a child. And so what he does is in his infinite wisdom, how he knows he can solve this, is he sends soldiers to Bethlehem and he goes, go kill every male child that is two years and younger. We call this the slaughter of the innocents. And I know all of us in this room have never done anything like this. And I understand that, right? Anyone in here? It's immunity. Okay, so no one in here has like slaughtered just an entire town of kids. However, however, uh-oh. Huh? And Tim just hit where I was going with this, right? Those thoughts have crossed your mind at times, haven't they? And if they haven't, you haven't been around kids enough. And I sit here and go, we all have that in us. This crazy idea that we can just hold on to control and power. You know what Herod never thought? I'm gonna hurt people. Like, like Herod's thought wasn't these innocent children. His thought wasn't the families that are going to be impacted by this. He didn't care about any of that. He just went, I'm not going to lose my throne. And the craziest part is, he could have killed everyone in that region. Guess who was already gone? So it doesn't even matter how much control he's trying to exert here, Jesus is already gone. The one that you are actually after is already gone. See, and some of us that we need to understand that. That you are drinking a poison that is slowly killing you, and the one you're looking to get ain't even there anymore. Think about it, and this is something I tell people often. I get you're losing sleep over it, but the person you're talking about, they're not. Like, think of that one person that just popped into your mind right now. They're not sitting here stressing about it the way you are. Their life isn't changed the way yours is. You are becoming miserable and drinking this poison that's just going to lead to bitterness and anger and all of that and make you a miserable person and affect your time with your family and your friends and your sanity. And guess what they're doing? They're living their life. And you're not even a second thought in their mind. And yet we just devote all of this to what? Collateral damage. You're losing time with your friends, you're losing time with your kids, you're losing time with your spouse, you're losing time with yourself. For what? See, they're not losing sleep over it. That's why this is such a dangerous place to be. Because your marriage, your kids, your coworkers, your family, your friends, they're the ones that suffer. Because of our need to be in control. To think that we have to understand and control everything that happens around us. When at the end of the day, we have so little control to begin with. Think about it, you're miserable, and what does that cause with your spouse? Attention, which leads to what?

unknown 13:43

Arguments.

Bitterness, Poison, And Lost Sleep

Josh 13:44

Arguments. How many arguments have you ever had with your spouse that that had nothing to do with what you were actually angry about? I mean, I luck out. Debbie never does this. She compartmentalizes everything in her life and never brings home stress or anything from work. I mean, Miss Al uh Mr. Allen and Miss Kathy obviously figured out the secret to that with 45 years, right? But think about it. This starts to become arguments that are too much to deal with. Anybody in here, you you ever had those months where it just seems like no matter what, everything turns into an argument? From what I'm seeing, it's just me and you. But it does. I guess. The weight of our worry becomes crushing and suffocating to the other people. Anyone in here? Like you're a business owner or something, you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, right? You're sitting here and you're looking, especially if you're looking at your employees, going, hey, it's my job to make sure they eat. And so you carry this weight and this burden, and and again, it just becomes crushing, and you just sit here and go, just like Herod, if it you're you can't take my spot though. I have to be the one with all the answers. I have to be the one that gets this perfect. Think about it, you're a parent, you do this with your kids, right? Like, and I get it, because I've fallen into this trap many times. You know how many times JT throughout his life has heard this? If you would just do what I tell you to do. Like, I know what is best. Here's the problem. I know what's best for me, but he's not me. Although he looks like me and for the most part acts like me, he's still got Debbie mixed in there too. And so there is a difference there. He's not my clone. And some of the things I'm interested in, he may not be interested in. So why am I trying to force everything in there? Because in the end, what am I going to change? In the end, what am I going to protect? To quote it best, in the end. What? Does it even matter? You're a sinner and you shouldn't know those music. See, right after we see this straight abuse of power with trying to maintain control, Matthew writes something else. And remember, we talked about this a little bit last week, right? We talked about how Matthew is one of the big things he is really into is proving that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. And so he quotes a lot about the prophets who talk about the Messiah who is to come. And here we get this other fulfillment of prophecy. This one, Matthew is quoting Jeremiah, saying that Rachel is weeping for her children, for they are no more. And here's what this prophecy is really showing us. In this, Rachel is a type. He is not specifically, when Jeremiah is doing this, he is not specifically talking about Rachel. Does anybody know who Rachel is?

unknown 16:59

Leah's sister?

Arguments, Family Strain, And Control

Prophecy, Rachel’s Tears, And Exile

Josh 17:01

She is Leah's sister, and Leah was the ugly one. But married. She's Jacob's wife. And this is the wife Jacob has that he like really loves. Remember when Jacob goes to work for his uncle Laban, like he gets tricked into marrying Leah because Laban looked at Leah and went, there's no way someone's gonna marry her, so let me marry her off first. And then you can work a little bit longer for Rachel. And what winds up happening is Rachel is the wife whom Jacob loves. And actually, Rachel doesn't even give uh Jacob the amount of kids that he was desiring. Now, does anybody know what Jacob's name is changed into? Israel. This is where the nation of Israel comes from. And what happens when Jeremiah is talking about this is they are leaving, they are getting into exile into Babylon. And Jeremiah is looking at, and at this time it wasn't Israel, like just to give you a little bit of history lesson. This is only the southern kingdoms. The northern kingdoms that we do call Israel have already fallen to the Assyrians. Now Babylon is coming in and taking over Judah in the south, which is where David and eventually the Messiah come from, right? And Jeremiah is looking at these people going into exile, and he's sitting here going, Rachel is weeping for her children are no more. In other words, this whole nation is going into exile. This whole nation is going into slavery. This whole nation is no more. Alright? However, Rachel is just a type of what is going to come. Rachel is representing how God looks at his children. Think about it. And I'm not the first person to say this, but there's no pain like kid pain. When your child is hurting as a parent, it doesn't matter if it's a little scrape on the knee or they've literally thrown their entire life away. That just rips your heart out, right? And our heavenly Father is sitting here looking at his own children and he is weeping. In fact, right before Jesus is crucified, and we got a couple of years before we get to this, but right before Jesus is crucified, he stops, he's leaving Jerusalem before he's going to be brought back in to be crucified, and he looks back at Jerusalem and he weeps for Jerusalem because he goes, It didn't have to be like this. Had you just repented, had you just followed me like a mother hen, I would have gathered you in. And he's looking at the people and he's going, it doesn't have to be like this. And he is weeping for them. And what Matthew is pointing to and what this prophecy are pointing to is something so much bigger. It's this that our reality is getting swept up into this cosmic battle between God the Father and the devil. If we go all the way back to Isaiah, in Isaiah 14, we see this. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the most high. That is the rebellion of the devil. This is what gets Lucifer kicked out of heaven right here. This is what he gets cast down to become the king or the ruler of this earth. And since Lucifer's first rebellion that we saw in Isaiah, his desire has been the same. I will be like God. You want to know the scary part for us? Some of you that have been here long enough, you already know it. In Genesis 3 5, we see the fall of man, right? We see Adam and Eve choose to eat the fruit. Here's the line that gets Eve to actually eat it. You ready? And God knows this: you will not surely die. For the day you eat the fruit, your eyes will be open and you will be like God. You want to know the deepest, darkest desire of your heart? To be God. How do I know this? Go back to look at the control thing. I want to have complete control over the universe. Things that happen to me, if you're someone who is easily offended, why are you offended? Because everything's a personal attack, right? Someone tells you at work, hey, you're not doing as good as you should be. What is that? That's a personal attack on me. Instead of going, hey, you know what? I do have things I need to work on, it's how dare you. Do you not know who I am? Do you not know I Employee of the month three times in a row, and then you're like, we don't even have an employee of the month program. Just because you put your picture on a wall doesn't mean anything. But that's what winds up happening because as we know this, our deepest desire is our pride. Why do you think the Bible says pride comes before the fall? Because you know what a humble person does? Blessed be the name of the Lord. You give and take away. I don't have any control on this. I just have to kind of go where God leads me. You know what a prideful person says? I'm gonna make it myself. You know the hardest person in the world to talk to about repentance? A prideful person. Because if you don't need to repent, because you haven't done anything wrong. You know how many times I've talked to people and they've been like, well, you know, I've never cheated on my wife, I've never stole anything, I've never killed anyone. Like, I've kept at least eight out of the ten commandments. I'm not that bad of a person. And I'll tell you right now. Have you ever lied? Like, think about it. How many times do you have to lie before you're a liar? And we mean to tell us that we've never lied. Come on. How many times have I told Debbie one more cast? I've lied millions of times. I go and it's sitting here and we think, do you not know who I am? And we fight back just like the devil did. Not caring about the collateral damage of those innocent people around us. Because we sit here and go, you don't understand who you're dealing with here. And right here, what we are reading, this is the start of that battle in our own reality. This is why God is weeping, because the devil knew that the one who was coming to crush his head was here. And the devil stupidly enough thought, if I can kill him while he's a baby, then I don't have to worry about my head getting crushed. And yet God's sitting here going, bro, I'm 15 steps ahead of you. What do you mean, if you can kill him? Well, what the devil does is he manipulates Herod. And he sits here and goes, Hey, someone's gonna take your throne. Don't you want your throne, Herod? Don't you wanna be the cool one, the popular one, the one that everybody listens to? Go kill him. Because if you kill the king before the king becomes the king, you remain the king. But yet God isn't shocked. We saw this last week, right? That God wasn't surprised. Yes, Rachel is weeping, but God knows that this sadness will not last. See, because when we hurt, God hurts. And if you don't believe me, read your Bible. All throughout Matthew, we're gonna see that Jesus is moved with compassion. Do you know what that means? Like I feel bad for you. Does anybody know the shortest verse in the Bible? Jesus wept. Why did he weep? He knew that he was about to raise Lazarus, right? Why is he crying?

unknown 25:37

Everybody else was.

Josh 25:38

Because everyone else was. See, so many times we have this idea that God is just this far away entity. Sure, he's powerful and all of that. And yeah, he died on the cross, and you know, and now my sins are forgiven. But understand, this is an intimate personal relationship. Like if Debbie gets hurt, do you think that hurts me? And she gets hurt a lot. She is not the most coordinated person you will ever meet. Or like last night, we we got home from the barbecue, and you know, and she had been on her feet all day, and and we're not spring chickens anymore, and apparently, like her just joints were in pain. So as we're in bed, I'm like, babe, I'm so like, what can I can I like? What can I do? You want some ibuprofen? Like, because that fixes everything in my body. Like, what is it that we can do? Because when someone I love hurts, I hurt. And if you don't hurt when people you love hurt, you need to stop and go, wait, do I actually love them? Because if you're just like dead on the inside because like someone around you is hurting and you're like, you stop looking at me like that. There's nothing wrong with telling someone, hey, suck the tears back in your eyes. That doesn't mean that you're not hurting. Sometimes we just need to be in control of that, right? Now, that being said, listen, if you were sitting in here this morning and you're carrying some heavy weight, because I know some of us are, listen, Jesus hurts with you. Your heavenly father is looking at you and in compassion is sitting here going, he is telling you right now through me, hey, listen, I love you. And I'm here for you, and I will carry that for you. Gabby, after a game one time, decided she wanted to practice her sliding.

unknown 27:46

Oh my god.

Cosmic Conflict: Pride And The Fall

Josh 27:48

And she went to slide into a base. She did not slide though. It was like a belly flop on the ground. She didn't move, she didn't any of that. It wasn't a like slide, it was just slam on the ground. We were like 15 feet away, and as soon as she hit the ground, you could hear and I looked at her and my heart broke. Because I know how bad that hurts. Do you think I made her carry her bat bag back out to the car?

unknown 28:17

Yes.

God’s Compassion And Shared Sorrow

Josh 28:17

You think I was like, hey, get up, dummy? No, I went, Kayla, you carry her bat bag out to the car for her. Because I hurt for her. Some of you listen, God is trying to let brothers and sisters into your own lives because he's sitting here going, hey, dummy, I'm making this easier for you. You keep closing yourself off, you keep retreating, you keep thinking you can do this alone, all you're gonna do is make it harder on yourself. Because God looks at his kids and just like Rachel, laments. Some of you think you're not worthy to be loved. And I get it. You had a terrible relationship with your parents growing up. Listen, your parents were imperfect sinners, just like you. Everything they did was not done correctly. But stop putting them and God in the same thing. Stop looking at God and going, you're just like. Because here's the difference. Your heavenly father is a good, good father. Who gives good gifts. Just because you want to pout your feet and try to maintain control over this is not a direct influence on God. Maybe you're doing it wrong. Maybe you need to understand, hey, there's something else I need to do. Because listen to me. If you're sitting here thinking you're gonna work for your worthiness, and now we can bring JT into it. You know what JT had to do to be worthy of my love? Anyone want to take a guess? And I have a high standard. Yes. If you do not like fishing, like, but what do you have to do? Really? Be born. That's all he had to do. Like, I remember to this day, like he's 18 now, he's off, like he's he's a grown man, right? Of course he knows if he ever says that in front of me, he's gonna be doing grown man things like finding another place to live. But I remember like it was yesterday, counting them little fingers and little toes, just to make sure he had 10 of each. Snapping and going, did you guys see this? Like he's a day old and he already held his head up. And my mom looking at me, going, nope, that's not, nope. All he had to do was be born. And I loved him with a love that I never even thought possible. Listen, your Heavenly Father is weeping, is looking over you, and is sitting here going, I love you with a love you never thought was possible. And all you had to do was be born. I knew you were gonna make mistakes. I knew you were gonna be drawn to things that were wicked. I knew that there were gonna be things in your life that just you weren't supposed to do and yet you still did, and guess what? I love you anyway. That was the entire point of me sending the serpent crusher into creation to go to that cross. Was because I knew you weren't gonna get it right. I can look at all of my kids and with as much love as I have for them, I knew they weren't gonna be perfect. I knew there would become a day where they would lie, where they would sneak around, where they would do things, where they would be drawn to things that were not good for them. You know what my role as their parent is? Is to fight for them, even if that means I'm fighting them. Because they're gonna be drawn to things like that. And that is what God is sitting here doing. He's sitting here going, stop thinking you have all the control in this. I gave the cross because you didn't have the control. I sent my own son in because I went, you're not gonna be able to, but guess what? He is. He is worthy and able to take your place. And for some of us, we just need to hold that. And we just need to sit in that. And some of us here, listen to me very carefully when it comes to control. This battle that you're fighting right now was never your battle to fight. You weren't ever supposed to be the hero. See, we that's our problem right there. We're not Rocky going up against, I forget his name, the Russian. I know it's Rolf, no, not Rolf. Ivan Drago Drago, yes. Thank you. But that's who we think we are, right? Listen, your problems in life are not Goliath, and you are not David. You are not strong like Samson, you are not wise like Solomon. Do you know what all of these Old Testament people show us? It's written in Hebrews. What? Jesus that one is coming that is greater than. And he came. And he went, I'll crush all of this. Here's all you gotta do: put your hope, your trust in me that I will handle it. Like, like you parents in here, are any of your kids wondering what like if they're gonna eat today? Why not? Because you got it handled, right? But yet, the girl's birthday, we're celebrating today. I have heard no less than 20 times every day for this past week what the plans for their birthday are. Like me and Debbie are just idiots, and we can't put together a birthday party. Haven't done it, you know, 16 times before. We do the same thing to Jesus, don't we? No, no, no, no, no, no. Jesus, look. You gotta do it the way I think you should do it. Jesus, I know you were in control and could probably put this together, but listen to what I have to say. See, this battle we see played out through the rest of the book, it was Jesus' battle to win. You know your role in it? Paul shows us in 2 Corinthians 10, 4, he shows us this: the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. What? In fact, if you go through Ephesians 6, does anybody in here know the only offensive weapon that is mentioned in the armor of God? What is it, JT?

unknown 34:52

Sword of the Spirit.

Loved Before You Earned It

Josh 34:54

You got the sword part right. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It's Ephesians 6, 17. That's the only offensive weapon. Everything else is defensive. You know why? Because the battle isn't yours to fight. Listen, no one in this room, no one in this room, myself included, are a match for the power of hell. I don't care how big and bad and spiritual we think we are. I get it. Like you're like, well, Paul, you ain't Paul. How do I know that? Raise your hand if you wrote half of the Bible or half of the New Testament. None of us? Raise your hand if you were like, I'm throwing out demons and stuff like that. Listen, when Jesus shows up to the man at the tombs, he doesn't even like talk crap. Like if I was in his place, I would talk a lot of crap to the demons because I know you can't fight back. All Jesus does is show up and the demon comes up to him and is like, what do you have to do with us, son of the Most High? Please do not destroy us. Throw us into those pigs. See, and some of us we have to understand you've been getting your butt kicked for weeks, for months, for years. And yet you want to still stand up and try to fight back? At some point you need to realize you're not a match for this. At some point you need to realize you don't have control over this. At some point you need to realize no matter how hard you squeeze, you are just causing collateral damage to everyone around you. Because you are not the man you should be, and you are not the woman you should be, because you are so wrapped up in your own little heart issue. Now, here's what tactical surrender looks like. That divine power we talked about to destroy enemy strongholds. Does anybody know what it is? Begins with a P, ends with a Ray. Pray, prayer. That's it. Praise would be a good one. That's it. Hit your knees. See, think about it. And I've told you guys this uh uh for months now. There's one person in here that I have made it a goal. Like when I see them raise their hands during praise, I will know the Spirit of God is just moving through this room. Because when you realize here's what I'm doing when I raise my hands, what am I doing?

unknown 37:22

Surrender.

Not Your Battle: Jesus Wins

The Only Weapon: Word And Prayer

Josh 37:23

Surrender. Tactically surrender. Sit here and go, you know what? It's not my battle to win. Now I get it. You're you're like, do you know who I am? I get it. Because you're gonna ascend to the throne of the Most High, is that what it is? Because you have control over all of this? I'm sitting here going, surrender. Tactically surrender, hit your knees and go, you know what? I am not enough. But my father is. I can't do it, but Jesus did. See, JT has this saying, he says all of the time black out before you tap out. And if you're not familiar with what that saying means, here's what it is JT would rather me choke him out until he is unconscious than admit I can't beat daddy up in a fight. And I'm gonna tell you guys right now, JT has passed out many times over the past year. Because he will come in my room, I don't even start stuff with him, but he will like feel himself. And then next thing you know, like we're on the bed, and JT's in a guillotine. Or, and that's usually what it is, because he he really likes to try to double leg me. And next thing you know, you hear. And then Debbie's like, okay, enough. And then he wakes up and you could just see the see some of you, you have that same mentality. I'm gonna blackout before I tap out when it comes to the powers of hell in the darkness. And I'm sitting here going, why? Why not just let Jesus be Jesus and do what Jesus is gonna do? Tactically surrender and sit here and go, you know what, devil? You got me. You're bigger and badder than I am. You're more powerful than I am. But you know what? You can't beat up my dad. See, some of us, we need to go back to that second grade mentality, right? Where you like the trash talking you did wasn't like how big and bad you were. It was you knew if your dad came in, that bully that was just like getting on you, like you're like, my dad'll beat you up. And none of you in here have ever said that. Come on. That's a lie. I've heard you say it. You've said my blood, you've told people my dad will shoot you. And I sit here and go, see, some of us, that's where we need to get to. We need to look at our dad and go, I don't have to be bigger and better than you, devil. Jesus is, and by the power of his blood, guess what? It sustains me, and I am worthy simply because he said I am. That's it. None of this relies on me. What do I want to sit here and have this much control over? Why is there a position that I want to try to maintain? Why can I not just tactically surrender, throw my hands up and go, Jesus, you are on the throne, you are the king that was promised, and all I have to do is be loved by you. That's it. You don't have to fight in any of this. All you gotta do is reap the benefits of it. Because understand this, I'm a pretty peaceful guy. Try to hurt one of my kids. I got from Osteen Elementary to university. Okay, and if you're not familiar with all of that, that means I drove all the way through Deltona and all the way through Orange City. Does anybody want to guess how long it took me to do that? An hour? Four minutes. And I didn't even have lights and sirens on my truck. Why? Because someone messed with my kid. And when I got there, and the deputy looked at me and went, Do you want to pursue charges? I didn't have to sit here and think. I went, not only do I want to pursue charges, but here's the charges I want to pursue. And here's the Florida State statute number that goes with that charge. And then he looked at me and went, Oh, are you Elio? And I went, not anymore, but yes I was. Why? Because my child is hurting. Some of you need to understand that. And not just understand it up here, but believe it in here. Listen, when when John pens John 3.16 and he goes, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Understand, he was writing that for you. The only thing required is just belief. Believe in your father who has called things like this, the Lion of Judah. Like, how would you light that for a nickname if people were like Stephen the Lion? That would mean like you did something to earn that, right? Like no one calls you a lion because you're like, unless it's like the cowardly lion. But other than that, he's called the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In fact, here, listen, listen to how your father is described in Revelation 19. You ready? Then I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diodems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread on the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty, on his robe and on his thigh. He has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. See, I think, and I I I I think it's awesome when my girls look at me and go, my dad's the strongest person I know. But you know what I don't have? The power to rule with a rod of iron. I don't have a sword coming out of my mouth. My eyes aren't like fire. None of that. So if I'm looking down the power of hell and darkness, why do I want to try to fight at my own strength? Why do I want to be Herod? Why do I want to put together a plan? Why do I want to try to squeeze and cause collateral damage to my family when I can just tactically surrender? And go, Jesus, I can't, but you did. See, our challenge this week is easy. Here it is. You ready? Super easy for me to say, super hard for us to do. In the words of Elsa, here is your challenge. Let it go.

unknown 44:58

I'm so bad at you right now for this.

Tactical Surrender Over Stubborn Pride

Josh 45:01

Let it go. And I know me standing up here is super easy to say that. Because, well, I don't know. You don't understand what they did. You don't understand how the devil is trying. You don't understand how my life is falling apart. No, I probably don't. You know why? Did you pick up the phone and tell me about it? No? So who really is to blame on that? You. Either do something about it or let it go. Those are your two options. Hey, who is preaching? But that's all you gotta do this week. Whatever that thing is, and just start with one. I'm sure there's hundreds of them if you really go through your life. But just start with one and go, you know what? I'm gonna let it go. In Romans 9, God says this: repay no one evil for evil, but repay evil with good. For vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. You don't have to worry about vengeance. You don't have to worry about repaying that person that wronged you. You don't have to worry about any of that. You know what you have to worry about? You. That's it. Let God handle that. Because listen to me, you may be big and bad. Has anyone in here ever spoken to the light and created darkness? Or nope, spoken to the darkness and created light. So if you can't do that, then I think God's got us beat. So let go. Let God. You need someone to do that with you? Pick up the phone and call someone throughout the week. Stop and go, hey, is there any way we can do dinner? Hey, is it cool if I come to your daughter's softball game? I just need to hang out with someone. Or go, hey, you want to take the boat out this week? You want to do some surf fishing? Tim has opened up his house if you want to go hunt hogs. No, the turkeys are just for me. They can get the hogs. But just let it go. Learn to laugh, learn to have joy, learn to lean on one another. Stop being miserable. Stop trying to control everything, and stop hurting everyone around you. Have a happy life. Choose that. So, Father, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here, God, that right now on their heart, you are sitting here going, you know what he is saying is true. Father, give them the courage, give them the strength, and let them let it go. Stop holding on to it, stop trying to control it, stop trying to sit here and go, I gotta master this. But to just fall back and go, you know what? I'm gonna choose to smile today because I'm not gonna let them have control over me. I know they're not losing sleep over it, but Father, I ask and I pray that whoever it is, stop losing sleep over it. And they choose, Father, to let you control it and not put it on them. Father, I pray that you set free and you break chains and you, Father, just fight the powers of darkness that are going on in their head, drive it out, Father, and illuminate with a great light in which they have never seen to give them peace that surpasses understanding. Father, I ask and I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.