If God Felt Hunger Then What’s Your Excuse?

Jesus is fully God and fully man, and that single detail “He was hungry” changes how we see His closeness to our weakness. We connect the incarnation to real life, confronting our favorite excuses and calling each other to one concrete change through the Spirit’s power. 
• Jesus in the wilderness and why distraction keeps us shallow 
• What fasting is and how hunger trains dependence on the Father 
• Why “He’s God” can become a way to distance Jesus from our pain 
• Philippians 2 and the humility of the incarnate Christ 
• Hebrews 4 and Jesus’ ability to sympathize with weakness 
• Jesus and real human experiences: grief, anxiety, betrayal, temptation 
• Why Jesus comes for more than a sacrifice: He shows how to live 
• The “I’m not Jesus” excuse and the call to imitate Christ 
• Proof texting, affirmation culture, and letting Scripture lead 
• Grace that sustains change and sanctification that fights the flesh 
• Two options in any problem: change the situation or change perspective 
• Change that starts in the home and overflows outward 
If you need someone to talk or pray with, I am always here for you

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Transcript

Jesus God Or Man

Josh 0:00

So moving into this week, our big idea is this is Jesus God or man? And I know most of us in here, we already have the correct church answer. He's both. And we understand the hypostatic union a hundred percent and how Jesus can be a hundred percent God and a hundred percent man all at the same time, right? The problem is, is most of us, even though we know the right answer to say, probably don't spend a lot of time focusing on it. Probably don't understand really what it means to sit here and say that Jesus was a man. Probably don't understand what it means to sit here and view Jesus through that lens, and I'm gonna show us as we move through this today that that is very, very detrimental to us. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into it. Father, I thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray that as we move through it today, that Father, it is your word. That is not my thought, not my opinion, but the power of your word to shape us from the inside out. Father, I pray that even today you move powerfully, that God, you just shape our hearts and mold us, that Father, we see you for who you are, and that God, we are changed forever because of it. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, in Matthew 4. And after 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

unknown 1:36

Okay?

Fasting Hunger And The Point

Why “He’s God” Misses It

Philippians 2 And True Humanity

Jesus Sympathizes With Weakness

Grief Anxiety Betrayal And Temptation

Josh 1:36

That's all we're gonna look at today. Jesus, to put this into perspective, Jesus is baptized. He immediately has this triumph like we looked at two weeks ago. The heavens have burst it open, the audible voice of God the Father has said, This is my son with whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit leads him into the wilderness like we looked at last week. And we looked at how the wilderness is this pruning ground where we're separated from the distractions of life because we live a very, very distracted life, especially nowadays with the entertainment we have that just carries around in our pockets. We were at a volleyball tournament yesterday, literally thousands of people there. And I would go out on a limb and say that the vast majority, probably in that 95 to 99 percent range, were glued to their phone even as life is happening in front of them. We live these distracted lives. So Jesus is out in the wilderness, led there by the Spirit, to be tempted by the devil. Now, in preparation for this, because Jesus understands what's happening, in preparation for this, Jesus fasts. And we're not gonna get into fasting right now, we're gonna get into that later in the book of Matthew. But basically, here's what fasting is it's me deciding for myself I'm going to give up so that I can focus on. It's when I sit here in this case and feel the hunger pains welling up, it causes my brain then to go, hey, I need to go to prayer. I need to be one-on-one with the Father. I need the strength that I don't have. It's so I don't depend on me, but become wholly dependent upon Christ. Now, Jesus goes 40 days and 40 nights, Matthew says. Most of us in this room at 40 minutes are probably sitting here going, I'm starving. And that's how we play, right? Imagine this 40 days and 40 nights. Now, what most of us immediately go to, and and the reason I say most is because I've had this conversation with a lot of people. Yeah, but he's God. And that is true. Jesus is God. And and I understand what you're driving at there, but it's the same thing when we fast forward to the cross, too. I've talked to a lot of people who have been like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was crucified on the cross, but he's God. Like it wouldn't have felt the same to him as it would to us because he's God. It wasn't that bad. And this is why this verse is so important. Because Matthew is including a detail here that is vitally under vitally important to our understanding of who Jesus is. Matthew says he fasted and he was hungry. See, the Bible tells us that God is not a God that needs, right? When we get into Acts 17, Paul is arguing with the Athenians and he goes, he's not a God who exists in temples made by human hands, nor is he dependent upon human needs. In other words, God doesn't hunger. He never hungers, he never slumbers, he's never tired, he's never any of that. And we have no problem, most of us looking at Jesus and going, and he's God. So he doesn't need all of these things. And the truth that Matthew is pushing at us right here, that most of us under overlook is Jesus is God, but he's hungry, and that shows us Jesus is man. Now, why is that important? Well, Paul in Philippians 2 starts with this in verse 6, he says, Who, he's talking about Jesus, who though he was though, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. In other words, you guys aren't gonna understand the hypostatic union, how God or Jesus is all God and all man. He's not a 50-50 like demigod, like when we think of Hercules or someone like that. He is all God and all man, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. See, I again, we are good with seeing Jesus as God. We're good with the miracles, we're good with the powerful, we're good knowing that we serve a God who is able to. We really struggle with understanding that Jesus is a man. And like I started with, this is a detriment to each and every one of us. Because here's what I need us to understand: if Jesus is only God, how can he relate to you and what you struggle with? How does he know you're how does he feel what you walk through? How does he deal with the things that you're going to face on a day-to-day basis? He becomes this distant figure. And for most of us, that's how we view him. That he's just far off and kind of involved in our lives. Do we understand how detrimental that is? And some of you, I get it. You may have had parents that were those distant parents. I didn't. I had the opposite of that, an overbearing mother. Okay? But see, we view Jesus as that, right? He's just this far away, far off God who, yeah, he's in control of everything, but he's not involved in everything. But listen to what the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 4, verse 15. The writer of Hebrews says this for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Here's what that means that thing you are walking through, that thing that is so overbearing, that thing you don't know how you're gonna overcome, that thing that keeps you up at night, Jesus knows what that's like. That stress that's always hitting you, that that that I don't know if I'm gonna be able to, Jesus knows what that's like. Guys, think about this. Not only does Jesus know what all of that's like, y'all realize Jesus was homeless, right? Y'all realize Jesus wasn't going to a job, right? Like he had to depend on people to give to him. And I get it, you're sitting here going, he fed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread. That's true. But who was he dependent on to do that? He went, the father is gonna provide. See how many of us walk around with that mentality? Or how many of us sit here and just stress and struggle with going, how am I going to? Because we don't trust the father is going to provide. Like, think about this. We we we have children that we know that don't have a stable house, that don't necessarily know where their next meal is gonna come from. You think they got some trust issues with father figures? You think they're sitting here, some of them don't even know who their father is. And then what we do is we transfer that to our heavenly father, and we sit here and go, because my earthly father was imperfect, my heavenly father can't be perfect. And all of those things we feel in the here and the now, we transfer over to our heavenly father, and then we go, this is why it doesn't work out. But what the Bible just showed us is that Jesus stepping into creation was about so much more than a sacrifice. See, so many of us we we just boil down Jesus coming into creation because we needed our sin debt paid. And the cross, although it is pivotal to everything else in our walk with Christ, it is not the only reason Jesus comes into creation. If it was, why did he need to go 33 years? Why did he need to have an earthly ministry? Why couldn't he have just been sacrificed? I mean, abortion was a thing back then too. Couldn't that have just been the sacrifice right there? But there's other reasons. Yes, through his death on the cross, since debt is paid, and through his resurrection, eternal life is given. But remember, nothing, nothing, no thing you walk through in life, Jesus is unfamiliar with. It doesn't matter how bad it is, it doesn't matter what you're struggling with, Jesus is familiar with it. For instance, lost a loved one? You know that pain you have because that person is no longer here? That loneliness you feel, all of those things. All we gotta do is look to John 11. Starting in verse 34, it says, And he said, Where have you laid him? Talking about Lazarus. They said to him, Lord, come and see. And verse 35 is what? Jesus wept. Jesus knew what was about to happen. He knew he was about to call Lazarus out of the grave. Like he knew there was about to be a resurrection, but yet what does he do? He weeps. Why? Because Jesus knows what it's like to love someone and let someone die. Think about it. Do you hear about Joseph past the birth narrative in the Gospels? Why not? Because most likely he died. Because he's not around for anything else. You don't think Jesus understands the pain of losing someone you love? You feel overwhelmed and anxious. You're that person that you just you want to just try to like push it all into a ball. You want to control everything. You want your life to look a certain way. You just struggle with anxiety. Guess what? Luke 22, 44 shows us, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. Anyone in here? That's you? You've been that stressed, that anxious, that overwhelmed? Because Jesus knows what that feels like. Jesus knows what it's like to have a thing in front of him that he's sitting here going, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to deal with this. Like some of us, I get it. There are mornings you're going, I don't want to get up out of bed. Some of us, I get it. You're sitting here going, like, if it's gonna go wrong, I it's gonna go wrong to me because that's the way it always happens. And you're so negative and miserable in your life, and you have no joy going on because all you do is focus on all of the negative things that are happening to you. Jesus knows exactly what that feels like, to the point that he is literally praying to the Father and He is so stressed and so anxious that his blood is bursting through his skin. He knows what you're dealing with. You're someone in here, and people talk behind your back? Those people that you thought were your friends, you thought were close, you thought we're gonna walk with you through thick and thin. Matthew 26, 15 through 16 shows us, and he said, What will you give me if I deliver him over to you? This is Judas talking to the high priest about Jesus. And they paid him 30 pieces of silver, and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. I'm gonna go one further because I get it, everybody in here, you got those people in your life. We've all been there, but I'm gonna go one further. Jesus knew what Judas was going to do. You didn't know that your best friend was gonna do that to you. Like Jesus knew what he was going to do. You don't think he understands what it's like to be betrayed? You don't think he understands what it's like for people to talk? He's the most hated man in the first century. I would argue, even today. But understand this. Jesus understood what it was like to have people betray him. That's not new. You can't go to him and go, but Jesus, you don't understand. Like I can almost picture it, right? You're standing there and you're praying and you're talking with Jesus and you're like, you don't get it. And Jesus is just looking at you all with that smile on his face, going, You're right, I don't get it. Why don't you go read my word a little bit more? Because I get it. I've been where you are. You're someone who's sitting here going, the devil's trying to get me to fall. It's just attack after attack after attack. Well, starting next week, we're gonna be looking at Matthew 4, 3 through 11. You're not gonna see it up on the screen because it's next week's sermon, and I want to give you a T so that you come back to hear it. But Jesus knows what it's like to be tempted by the devil. On the very things he's struggling with the most. You're someone that that's sitting here going, but you don't get it. I may not. I may not have gone through what you're going through, but I do know someone who has. Because there isn't a thing you can go through that Jesus didn't walk through. And here is where it comes in. If you really there's two phrases I hear all the time in church that just go right through me. Number one, like we talked about at the beginning, when everyone's leaving and it's I'll see you next week, goes right through me. Because I go, you've already decided in your brain, I am not talking to you throughout this week. How are we gonna be there for one another? How are we gonna love one another if we already know I'm not talking to you until next week? And then you wind up missing next week, and then it's like a month, and then it's like you show back up. It's almost like we should give you a first-time visitor's card at that point, right? So there's that. Number two is this. But I'm not Jesus. See, it's easy for us to sit here and go, yeah, Jesus walked through it all, but I'm not Jesus. I can't do the things that Jesus did. See, not only did Jesus walk through everything that you're gonna face in life, but he did it perfectly. He showed you, he gave you the example. Here is how you handle it. Here is not only how you handle it, but here's how you listen to me very carefully, overcome it, move past it, change from the inside out. But I'm not Jesus. I don't care how Jesus did it. I'm not Jesus. And yes, I understand. I get it. It is not hard for any of us to look at one another and go, no, you are not the perfect creator, the uncreated creator. I get it. But let me ask you, who are you trying to be though? Like, who is your model? Like, who are you striving to be like? See, some of us it's a lot easier, and we here's what we wind up doing. We wind up picking like disciples. And we go, that's who I'm gonna try. Like, like, I really admire Paul. And I do. Paul did a lot of amazing things. Like, I love that Paul can go to Athens, a city-state in Greece that prided itself on logic and reasoning and being able to debate. Why? Because I can see myself in that. Like, I love to be able to debate. I love to be able to sit and talk. But not only does he go there, but he shows them all up at the same time. So I can see myself in that. Some of you are like, my boy Peter. Peter ain't smart, he ain't this like eloquent man. Peter even like in the Bible, Peter writes, hey, Paul writes some things that are hard to understand. So he's basically going, Paul is smarter than I am, but he's a fisherman.

unknown 19:05

That's right.

The Excuse “I’m Not Jesus”

Scripture Calls Us To Imitate

Josh 19:06

And Peter's the first one. It doesn't matter what's going on. Peter's the first one to stand up and go, but I'm gonna do something about it. Jesus is getting arrested, I'm cutting a dude's ear off. Jesus asks a question, I'm the first one to blurt out an answer. It's not ever right, but I'm the first one to burst out an answer. See, and what we do is we find these people that we see some of ourselves in, and we go, that's who I'm gonna be, because they're a little bit lower, and I can do that. But not Jesus. He's way too high. There's no way I'm gonna be able to be like Jesus. But you guys want to know the problem with this way of thinking? Do you believe the Bible? Well, 1 Corinthians 11:1 shows us from Paul's own mouth imitate me as I imitate Christ. In other words, here's what Paul's saying: stop looking at me and look to Jesus because that's who you need to be like. Not me. I'm just a man. Paul would go on to say things like this: like, I am the chief of sinners. In other words, don't be like me. I tell you guys this all the time. My goal in life is not for you to be like me. I know who I am. And trust me, you ain't gonna be better off if you're like, I'm gonna do what Josh does. Unless it's fishing. Other than that, be like Jesus. Don't be like the other people. And if you're like, yeah, but that's only one verse. Well, I'm glad you said that, because in Ephesians 5:1, we also see this. You ready? Be imitators of who? God. And he goes on to say, as children. If you're a parent in here, you understand this. One of the biggest things that will upset you with your children is when you see yourself in your children. Now, that's kind of ironic when you stop and think about it, right? Because you don't get upset with yourself for acting like that. But when your kids do it, all of a sudden it's a big deal. Like I'll tell you right now, JT struggles with an explosive temper. So when you put me and him together, man, fireworks can fly really quickly. And see, and I can look at him and I can see that, and I'm like, dude, calm it down. You know how many times I've looked in the mirror though and been like, dude, calm it down. What's wrong with you? Be an adult. Never. Because see, I'm not looking at this going, I need to be an imitator of God. See, we use this cop out, well, I ain't Jesus all the time. And we use it when things get hard. Or we use it when we don't want to do what the Bible's telling us to do. Well, I'm not Jesus. So I'm not that. That part doesn't apply to me. Listen very carefully. Yes, there are little numbers if you're reading along in your Bible that you can click on and it'll give you like cross-references to what that verse is. Those are the letters. The numbers will give you like uh definitions of certain words. If you have a study Bible, you might have like other things in there. But there are nowhere in anywhere in scripture where there's an asterisk that says, except for Kathy. You are not in the back of the Bible where Jesus is like, look, this applies to everyone else except Gabby. See, and our problem is we want the Bible to bend to us. We don't want the Bible to say what the Bible says. Because sometimes what the Bible says is hard and it attacks my heart idols. And I'm not even gonna admit that I have idols because that makes me weak. But see, understand this. The Bible is given to us so that we may look more like Jesus. That's what sanctification is. In 1 Thessalonians, that's what Paul would write: that we are being sanctified to look like the Son. In Ephesians 1, verse 4, it says, yes, we are predestined for adoptions as sons and daughters. Why? To look like the Son. Our goal in life should be to look like Jesus. But instead, here's what we do. JT, put up that third testament slide. Here's what we do. You guys ready? This just happened this week. Bishop, whatever her name is, a progressive pastor and the leader of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, said during a recent Center for Public Theology and Public Policy message that I'm of the opinion that we need a Third Testament because the Bible has become problematic. Guys, this is not isolated to just this one person. Here's the problem. Some of us, you listen to way too many voices. Because what you're really doing is you're looking for someone that's going to affirm what you already think. You're looking for someone that's going to be able to make an excuse for what's already going on in your heart. There are churches here in Deltona. There is a church, and if you're listening to this online, I have air quotes up, right down the street from my house, that is affirming, that sits here and goes, Yes, not only can we be female pastors, but they can also be LGBTQ plus whatever, however, whatever is going on with that abbreviation now. But yet they're gonna call themselves a church. Why? Because I don't want the Bible to say what the Bible actually says. I want it to affirm what I want it to affirm. I want to start with my conclusion and then build fact around that. You wanna know why I teach verse by verse, book by book? It's because I don't want to admit anything out of the word of God, the whole counsel of God. Because it's very easy to craft a sermon and use Bible verses to back up everything I'm saying, and I can make it believe whatever I want to believe. You're a husband in here who thinks your life would be better if you had a couple of wives? I can show you where polygamy is in the scriptures. I could show you where you could sit here and go, oh, I'm gonna have all of these desires of my heart fulfilled in Scripture. I can also sit here and show you verses that show you one wife is more than you can handle. It's better to live in the desert than with a nagging wife. See, we can make it say whatever we want to. It's called proof texting. And guys, listen to me. There are plenty of quote-unquote pastors who have very large congregations who I know you listen to their podcast because you share their stuff online, who do believe stuff like that. And understand you can find someone that is gonna line up exactly where you want them to. And as long as you sow into their ministry, they're gonna keep lining up exactly where you want them to. But the Bible calls us to what? Be imitators of God, to be hard-headed like Jesus, to do the things that make you look like the Son. Why? Because he was a man. He knows exactly what you're walking through. And he handled it perfectly. Think about that. You can sit here all day long and go, well, I'm not perfect, because that's just another way of saying I'm not Jesus. But isn't that what you should strive for? Are you gonna fall short? Absolutely. It's what grace is all about. And in 2 Corinthians 12, when Paul, like we looked at last week, was talking about the third level of heaven, and he says that he was given this messenger from Satan, this thorn in his flesh, and I prayed to God three times to take it from me. Understand, this is a guy that is preaching a sermon in a multi-story house. A dude falls asleep, falls out the window, dies. Paul walks over, looks at him, and goes, he'll be right back up. And the dude walks back up to the thing. This is a dude that's just like walking by and his handkerchief falls out of his pocket and it's healing people. He goes, I prayed. You think you think he's got this special relationship, right? And what did God say? I will not remove it from you, for my grace is sufficient for you. See, some of you, we make that idol out of going, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. And yet God is sitting here going, Listen to me. My grace is sufficient for you. Again, there's never gonna be a time where anyone, and I'm not gonna give it because I heard about it all last week when I gave this illustration about JT. There's never gonna be a time where he's not gonna be my child. And you don't think your heavenly father looks at you the same way? He goes, I loved you enough to die for you. And you think what, you're gonna make me mad? Disappointed to where I'm not gonna be with you? Come on, I'll move heaven, literally move heaven and earth. Literally bring heaven to earth. Like we say it all the time when we're trying to like, you know, be sweet.

unknown 28:33

Right?

When People Rewrite The Bible

Josh 28:34

Like, Debbie, oh, I love you so much, I'll would move heaven and earth for you. No, I wouldn't. If I'm already comfortable in bed and she needs water, I'm gonna be like, I'm texting Gabby to go get it for you. Like, I'm not getting out of bed to go get it. Jesus, on the other hand, leaves glory to come take our place. That's love. That's what love is. See, Jesus wasn't given so that he could simply be a sacrifice. Jesus was given so that we may know how to live life. Like, think about it. You want to know how to do marriage? Like it's super easy. I'm telling you guys, like, marriage is one of the easiest things in the world you can do. Debbie and I, in a month and a half, are hitting 22 years. And it's super easy. Ready? Here's how you do it. Ephesians 5, 22 and 25 say this wives, submit to your husbands. The verse continues on, there's other things, but if we get that part, wives, submit to your husbands, right? Husbands, what do you have to do? Love your wife as Christ loved the church and die for her. Here's what that means. It doesn't matter what I want. I have to lay that down. Because that's what Jesus did for me. See, Jesus gave us that example. In fact, a funny story. Debbie and I had been married on our first year. And y'all know how the first year is like super blissful and you're always happy and you never argue and all of that, right? We're sitting there and I was like, Debbie, you know you vowed to obey me. She's like, No, I didn't. I was like, yeah, you did. I was like, and not only did you say that in your vows, but it's also in the Bible, and she's like, no, it's not. So we go to Ephesians and we read through this, and she kind of looks at me and she's like, mmm, that one's gonna be hard for me. And yeah, there was a learning curve for both of us. But once you realize all it takes is put the others' needs before your own, it's super easy. So you're sitting here and you're going, yeah, but what about with kids? I want to know how to parent. Ephesians 6, 1 through 4 shows us that. Right after it talks about marriage, it goes, children, children, honor your parents. Right? Honor your parents. And see, all the parents in here can go, amen. Listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. You know how many times I hear how good my mother's wisdom is? And the Bible tells me I should honor her. And I try with everything I do to honor her. I didn't always. And see, in parents, you gotta you can't just stop at that verse. You can't just beat your child down with honor me. Because what's it say to you? Parents, do not make your kids angry. But bring them up like Christ. Jesus fashioned a whip. So is this really the argument you want to have in front of everyone? You want to know how to handle those who try to harm you? Oh, and just parents, just so you know, before your kids, like, try to be smart, Alex, like mine. Understand it's not saying don't discipline your kids. Because spare the rod, spoil the child. Sometimes the back of your hand is the best verse you or best discipline you can give. And if you are a parent in here who is into that soft parenting, as a teacher, not as a pastor. As a teacher, I want to talk to you. Your kid is terrible. Okay? If you are into that gentle, what is it, gentle parenting, that's what it's called now? You're you have a terrible child. I just want you to know that because no one else will. So moving on from that, you want to know how to handle those who try to harm you? All you gotta do is look at John 18. In John 18, Jesus is standing before Pilate. Pilate looks at him and goes, Do you not know that I have the power to take your life? God, I wish I was there. Because do you know what Jesus' response is? You ain't taking nothing from me. I lay it down on my own accord. Like, think about this. Jesus is looking at Pilate, his creation, who he breathed life into, and he's sitting here going, you think you got it over me? See, but what happens when someone talks about you? What's your first response? We're like, oh yeah? And not Jesus. Jesus is like, do what you gotta do, man. Because as Romans would show us in Romans 12, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with one another. It ain't saying other people, right? You can't control other people. You have a hard enough time controlling yourself. Stop trying to control anyone else in your life. Because you can't control yourself, let alone someone else. And that's what the Bible is sitting here saying. As far as it depends on you, what you can control, live peaceably. You guys want to know how to submit to God? This is probably the biggest one right here. Luke 22, 42 says this Father, you are willing, remove this cup from me. In other words, here's what Jesus is saying: I don't want to go to the cross. Sound familiar? Like some of you in here, you might be looking at your own cross that you're to pick up daily, and you might be looking at it going, Jesus, I don't want that cross. It's too much for me. I can't handle this. And you may be sitting here understanding the words Jesus is saying right now. If you are willing, can you please take this from me? I can't carry it anymore. And I'm not trying to make light of whatever it is you may be going through because it may be sucking right now for you. But Jesus doesn't stop there, does he? Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. See, it's real easy with kids because, like, we'll get in the car, and and it doesn't matter. One of my children will be like, where are we going? And here's my response that way. And they'll go, yeah, but where? We're going that way. You can open your eyes and see which way we're going, can't you? And you'll hear them getting madder and madder and madder, as I won't just go, oh, we're going to Publix or we're going wherever. But see, it's to get them to understand this. It may not be what you want. Very rarely is it. Anyone in here you ever started a business? And in your mind, you went, oh, this is gonna be amazing. I'm gonna be my own boss, no one's gonna tell me what to do. I'm gonna have like short. Full transparency, right? I went, we're gonna get through like a year. I'm gonna be able to go out and just fish whenever I want. Debbie can handle all the teaching. I work more as my own boss than I've ever worked for someone else. See, because we we have this skewed vision of what it should be. But not my will, but your will be done. That's how we're supposed to submit right there. It doesn't matter what I want. Jesus, it doesn't matter what I have built up. It doesn't matter that Thursday I have plans. Because I want your plans, Father. I want to walk where you want me to walk. I want to have the conversations you want me to have. See, we are without excuse because everything in our lives should be governed not by what we desire, but what Jesus has already done. Not just because he is God, but because he is exactly, he has been exactly where you are and did it perfectly. You cannot come up with a situation or scenario that I cannot go back to the Bible and go, but Jesus, and stop with the excuse, but I'm not Jesus. Because not only does the Bible call you to be imitators of Jesus, not only does the Bible tell you that sanctification is looking more like Jesus, but if you are sitting in here right now and you will look me in the face and go, I am a Christian, then listen very carefully. Romans 8.11 says this the same spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. Uh-oh. Because again, if we're gonna sit here and go the Bible is true, then understand this that that same spirit that went Jesus rise dwells in you. So if it can resurrect Jesus, if the Holy Spirit can resurrect Jesus, if the Holy Spirit can not only resurrect, but fully to be able to push the stone out of the way for Jesus to walk out. See, when Lazarus is resurrected, where are his grave clothes?

unknown 38:10

Still on them.

Grace Is Sufficient For You

Jesus Shows How To Live

Josh 38:10

Still on them. He comes out like a mummy. They have to remove the grave clothes. When Jesus walks out the tomb, where are his? Still laying in the tomb. And that same spirit, if you're gonna sit here and go, yes, I'm a Christian, yes, I believe in Jesus, yes, I've put my faith in this, that same spirit resides in you. So what's your excuse? You're gonna sit here and go, I ain't Jesus? But the same power that resurrected Jesus resides in you. Jesus already gave you the example. Here's how you should handle it. So what then is our excuse? Here, let's try it on. You ready? I'm too lazy. It's too hard. You know what you sound like? A spoiled child. See, this process is called sanctification. And understand, sanctification isn't easy. Listen to me, guys, it's not easy, and I get that. Fighting your flesh is hard. Why? Because everything in you wants it to be different. And we live in a world that says you are perfect just the way you are. But you ain't. And you know this. You know this because you know what fights you had with your spouse this week. You know this because you know how your children were acting this week. You know this because you can feel that misery just welling up inside of you. We are not perfect the way we are. We need to fight our flesh, and that is an active thing to do. That's when that wells up and that idea of I'm not Jesus comes up in your mind. You need to be able to fight that. You need to be able to sit here and go, nope, same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is in me, so I can win this. I can move past this. I could reach out to a brother or a sister because I need a brother or a sister right now. See, some of you, you knew over this past week that you were struggling with something and you should have reached out to me. But you went, no, I already know. He's not gonna be okay with it. He's not gonna let me stay right there. He's going to cause me to have to do something, and I don't want to do that. Why? Is it because you love misery that much? Because some of us, you do. You don't want to change. You don't want things to be different because that takes work or that's scary. And what if I change but they don't? What if I change but the situation doesn't? Listen to me very carefully. You have two solutions to any problem you will ever fight in your life. Only two. You can A, change the situation, or B, change how you look at the situation. That's it. And sometimes, 90% of the time, it's gonna be you need to change perspective. You need to change how you're seeing what is happening. Because if you change how you're seeing it, you're going to wind up changing the situation. Like I can look at a bad day of work and go, oh, this sucks, and I'm gonna quit my job. Or I can look at a bad day of work and I can go, okay, here are the things I need to do different tomorrow. I can look at a fight I have with my wife and go, that's it, we're incompatible and we need to move on. Or I can look at that fight and go, here's how I need to handle this differently next time. Because I can't control her. The first question I will ever ask you, if you ever came to me for marriage counseling, is this if the other person doesn't change, are you still willing to stay? Because understand, they may not. So are you willing to? Are you willing to press in? Are you willing to change the things you need to change? Because you can only control you. See, I get it. Fighting your flesh is hard. Some of you, you've been doing it since childhood. And you're still carrying it with you. And you can't move past it because that's actually more comfortable. Because this is all you've ever known. And so that person that hurts you, or that that trusted individual that lied to you, or whatever the case may be, you're just carrying that around with you because it's more comfortable to carry this than this new Jesus stuff of letting it go and trusting that the Father has you. But understand, you're never gonna move past it because you don't want to. Because you're it's like a security blanket for you, and you're just wrapping yourself up in it. Where Jesus is sitting here going, take the blanket off. It's hot. You don't need a blanket. Seriously, you look like any teenager nowadays. Just got that sweater on, it's 150 degrees outside. You live in a walking around with a hoodie. JT, look at what he's wearing. Like y'all think it's a joke. And some of you, that's how we treat it. We're just like, I'm comfortable. But we're called to fight our flesh, and that's what we need to be doing. Because yes, the world may say you're perfect the way you are, but God says, no, you're not. But through my son, you can be. And if we actually got serious about this as a church, how different would our houses look? You guys want to know where change starts? It doesn't start on this giant platform, and you got all these thousands and hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and all of this. That's not where change starts. Starts right in your own home. Like you want to influence the next generation? Influence your kids. That's where change starts. And when your home is different, where does that change overflow to? Well, where's the next closest place? Your neighbors. And then what you wind up seeing is your street is different. And then where does it overflow to? Your job. To your friends. To those people you actually have a relationship with, not the thousands of people that you're friends with. Look, they liked your picture because they knew that last time when they didn't, you said something to them. Because you were like, it it said you saw my story. What's up? They don't actually care. If they did, they would have probably been in the picture with you. Right? This is why I hate social media. If we ain't talked in the past 20 years, guess what? We ain't close. Like, you guys ever ran into someone you went to school with? And you're like trying to catch them up on 20 years worth of history, and you're like, well. So moving on to 2005, and like, come on, man, we ain't close. That's why we're not talking right now. And some of you high schoolers, I get it. You're like, oh, these are my lifelong friends. How many people in here, you're lifelong friends with someone you went to high school with? One. Two. Still not a good statistic. Stop putting all your stock into that. So as we close, our challenge this week is this. Understand Jesus was a man. Understand that thing you're dealing with, that thing that you can't get past, Jesus knows what it's like to be where you are, and he already showed you how to handle it. Understand it takes fighting our flesh. So our challenge this week is this. What is that one thing? What's that one thing that's keeping you from looking like Jesus? Maybe it's something you need to let go of. Maybe it's some pain that you've been carrying since childhood that you're sitting here going, hey, I need to be done with this. Maybe it's it's something you need to add to. Maybe you're sitting here going, you know what? I'm a crappy person and I need to love others the way that I love me. What is that one change that you're sitting here going, hey, I need to look more like Jesus, and this is how I'm gonna do it. And your challenge this week is to do it. I'm not telling you to change your entire life over the next week. You can. However, all I'm asking you to do is change one thing. That thing that you know you need to be changing. That thing that Jesus, this entire time I've been preaching, has been putting in your mind, sitting here going, hey, when when he gets that challenge, this is what you need to do. Change that one thing. And then continue to pray to Jesus to reveal all those other things. And listen, I'm not trying to beat anyone down in here. What I'm trying to get us to understand is if we are in Christ, then the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, which gives you the ability to change all of those things, to have life and have life abundantly. So this week, just change one thing. If you need someone to talk or pray with, I am always here for you. Well, Father, I ask and I pray by the power of your spirit, God, that you search our hearts, O Lord, and that you just root out and bring to the surface those things this week that you're sitting here going, hey, it's time to let go of, it's time to change, it's time to be different, it's time to be made new. And Father, I ask and I pray that you give us the strength and the boldness to actually make those changes too, Father. Father, I pray that as we move into this next coming week, that Father, we do so understanding that you are supreme over all, but yet you are familiar with everything we walk through. And Father, I ask and I pray that that if there is anyone in here that you're sitting here going, hey, wake up. That Father, you awake, O sleeper, and that we just live a more sanctified life following after you. That we imitate you, Father. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.