Women's Bible Study - September 21st, 2022
First B Jackson
2022-09-21

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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I'm just gonna pray if you guys want to join in. We're so happy to see everybody here. I have a feeling people are running late today. It's a little chill today. Well, father, we come before you.

Thank you so much, Lord, that you are with us. You're amongst us. When there are two or more gathered, you're in our midst. Thank you, Lord, that you have done everything that we need to do to come before you. Your word says that we come boldly before you.

There should be nothing hindering us, that when you look at us, we're righteous. We're righteous not because anything that we've earned or done, you have completely done it all, Jesus. So we don't need to earn coming into your presence with you. We don't need to earn to be near you. You actually are waiting and desiring us to just look and glance and turn everything to you.

You actually want us to come with all of our stress and troubles and distractions. That's what you desire, and you want to help us clean it up. So I just pray right now, Lord, even as we're coming before you, settling down, that you would help us, Holy Spirit, to put all of our attention upon you. We know by faith you're already here. We don't need to ask or beg.

You're already here. So just align all of our senses. Holy Spirit, take over mind, body, spirit. We just desire to love you and worship you and honor you right now, Jesus. This is my favorite verse just because I think it just to remember that this life is just an internship.

And I love that it reminds us of the end of our life standing before him when he shall come. We thank you for all that you've done. We remember even our own testimony, all that you brought us. Think in the study, was just love that it was a reminder to remember all that he's done and that he can do the impossible because I remember what he did in me. So we thank you, Lord, for your presence, your nearness.

We thank you for the wisdom to come forth. We ask the Holy Spirit you would lead every word from Deborah's mouth. We ask that you'd anoint her and even our own hearts that we receive the knowledge of the Lord. Amen.

MIN, Blake, thank you. Thank you, Charlene. Can we give it up for Charlene? Wow. Wow.

Thank you. Thank you for taking us to that place right before the throne. We've got some talent in this valley, don't we? Amazing. Okay.

Alright. First of all, does everyone have a handout in case you wanna take notes? There's a few extra up here on this table if we need one. All good? Alright.

Alright. Let's just jump in. This chapter, little g gods. Where did this come from? So I often quote I've been quoting John Mark Comer.

He wrote this book called God Has a Name. And I have to tell you, chapter two of his book, which is what we're we're on chapter two, kind of rocked my world because he just explained in such a way how there are little g gods out there, and just helped me to be more in tuned to them and to their strategy, and why he kind of explains why we should even be in tune. So this week, we're gonna talk about those little g gods. And I think it's very fascinating that when Moses was on the mountain with Yahweh, the very first commandment God gave Moses for us was, you shall have no other gods before me. And I have to think if that was the first commandment, God knew we were gonna struggle with this.

He knew it was gonna be a struggle for us. John Mark Mark Comer says, Yahweh wants us to know his name because there are many gods and they all have names. How many Americans do you think believe in the devil? I just heard this research on the radio this week. The reporter said that it's now less than 50% of Americans believe in him.

And shockingly, as the progressive church movement grows in America, those pastors are teaching that they don't believe in him either. That it's old superstition and wise tales. Author John Wilkinson says, the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he doesn't exist. And many scoff at the ideal of him. But I have to say, what world are you living in?

I mean, we see acts of kindness, we see good people, we see love in our world. I see it all the time. But turn on the news for five minutes, and you see a different story, don't you? I mean, we we see our cities being looted. We see the increase in violence and murder.

And I I watched this clip after Roe v Wade was overturned of these girls interrupting a Sunday church service. And the way they were dressed and the things they were saying, I was like, I don't know how you can look at this and not logically conclude there are two forces at work in our world. There are two forces and you know what what the enemy does? He says he says that he has he causes us to ask the question when bad things happen, is God good? But that is not the narrative we should play.

All murder, rape, child abuse, everything evil and ugly originates from him. Has nothing to do with God. Everything good comes from God. And I saw this kind of play out in real time several years ago. My husband Greg and I were in Thailand and we were going there to support some American Christians, this American Christian couple who went to Thailand to help kids who were sex trafficked.

I mean, talk about evil. Okay? And we were outside of Bangkok, pretty deep in the jungle at this safe house. And I still get emotional when I talk about it. We were there for about a week and we spent time with the kids.

There were oh my gosh. I wanna say a 100 kids. Some of them as young as two years old. Okay. I will have to tell you though that my faith in Christ was very deepened because I I could identify the kids that they had just rescued.

There was just this emptiness about them. And the kids that had been there for a while, and that had broken free from this evil, and you could see the life coming back in them. And their whole strategy was really simple. It it was just this. It was the blood of Jesus they prayed over these kids.

It was the healing power of Jesus they prayed over these kids, and nothing I can't imagine how these kids got on the other side, but they did with Jesus. And the shocking thing for us is we went with a very small team and we went to bless them. Right? And they told us one night, we have a surprise for you. The kids had a surprise for us.

And the kids have learned, I think it was the praise song shout to the Lord in English to bless us. And I cried for like two hours because I'm like, they wanna bless me. Are you kidding? But that is the power of the work of the Lord. But what happened was I was sitting one day at lunch with the director of the Safe House.

And I said to him, I said, okay. After being here for about a week, I don't get it. Like, I have to believe in America. Even even if we are getting away from God and his word. I have to believe that if my neighbor saw something weird going on, they will call the police.

I have to believe that most Americans will call the police if they saw this evil. Why don't the Thai people stand up? Why don't they do anything? You know what he said to me? He said, they would never publicly say this, Deborah, but this is a polytheistic Buddhist country.

And the philosophy that drives this is karma. So they believe that somewhere in that child's past life, they did something to deserve what is happening to them. Now, I will say to their credit, they are starting to make some changes. Not enough in my opinion, but they are starting to make some changes. And I my takeaway was, oh my gosh.

These little g gods do have an influence in how we think. And I thank God that I don't live under karma, that I live under the grace plan of Jesus Christ. And so what is this war that's happening that we can't see this invisible war? Well, there's a doctrine called the angelic conflict that many theologians teach, and I'm going to give you the cliff note version of the angelic conflict. Okay?

So it starts like this. Long before the advent of human history, long before we were here, Satan arrogantly rebelled against his creator. He wanted to make himself like the most high. In Isaiah 14, Satan declares that he will someday take the place of Yahweh, the most high. And many theologians believe that during this rebellion, he took one third of all angels with him.

We get this from Revelation chapter 12. These angels are called what today that went with him? Yes. They're called fallen angels and demons. And Ezekiel 28 gives us a great visual of why he even thought he could do this.

This is God talking to him. You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.

Your rich commerce led you to violence and you sinned, so I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. Your heart was filled with pride because of your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor, so I threw you to the ground. So what is our takeaway from this passage? He was probably the angel of all angels.

Beautiful, wise, he was exquisite, and he began to think, I got this. I I can be God. He had a very bad God complex. But here's the thing about Satan and this is what we have to remember. He is not God.

Last week we talked about what Yahweh's name means that he is eternal, he is above all, he always was, he always will be. He is the creator, no one created him. Satan is created and he doesn't have the attributes of God. He is not all knowing. He is not omniscient.

He doesn't know our future. He can guess and predict, but he doesn't know. He is not omnipresent. He is not everywhere at all times, and he's not omnipotent. He's not all powerful.

Only our God, our big g Yahweh are these things. So in this rebellion, God justly condemns Satan and his fallen angels to eternity in hell, and Jesus said this in Matthew 25. Jesus said hell was originally made for him and his demons, And Revelation 20 tells us how it all ends for him, and I will just tell you it does not end well. It does not end well for him. So God created us, one of the reasons in this doctrine of the angelic conflict as to why God created you and me, he created us to resolve this conflict.

Because human volition is the focal point of the firestorm. Will we in our free will choose this free grace plan of salvation? God says, I I know how to save you, and I will do all the work. I'll die in the cross for you, and I will save you. You just accept the gift, or will we follow the arrogant system of Satan?

And and the rub is he knows how to get because in our flesh, we still have to deal with sin, and he knows how to tap into that. So as believers, we have to be careful because he lives to discredit the truth of this. This is what it's all about. Do I believe that God says who he is? Will I conform to how he says to live my best?

If he says don't do it, will I walk away from it? Or will I say, it's okay. I can compromise and engage a little and and do this. This is where it is. This is why the temptation when Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan in Matthew chapter four, two of my biggest takeaways from that temptation is, like, why does Satan just say to Jesus, just throw yourself off this high place.

You'll be fine. I think that just is Jesus teaching us that we have to refuse to test Yahweh by being careless and reckless with the life he's given us. And we can be so careless and reckless with our spiritual life. We can go day after day and not even think about him. Not even ask him what's your will today.

Not even ask him, what's your plan for me? We make decisions all the time. We don't even include him. We do our financial budgets. He's not even consulted.

We are so careless and reckless. We move, we don't even ask him, is this your will for me, Lord? Or is this my will for me? We make all kinds of decisions carelessly and recklessly. And then the devil said to Satan, turn these stones into bread.

And I thought, I think that is so important for us to remember because what did Jesus say? He said, man does not live by bread alone, but by every worth that word that comes out of the mouth of God. Why did Jesus say that? He said, look, don't be careless and reckless. You feed your body every day.

I would be willing to wager that tonight when we go to bed, not one of us forgot to feed ourselves. But how many days do we not feed our spiritual self? We need to nourish our soul as much as we need to nourish our bodies. And I would I get it, you know, reading this is sometimes kinda hard and confusing. So do whatever it takes to get these principles in you.

I have on my phone a free app from Moody Radio. They have fantastic teachers, you can listen to them anytime and I just play those teachers when I'm making dinner, when I'm taking a shower. I constantly get these principles in my mind because this is the truth that I want my mind to be playing. Because God says, look, there is a war and whether you're aware of it or not, you're engaged. And our struggle from Ephesians six is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

And that's why we're talking about this today because second Corinthians two eleven says, in order that you and I aren't taken advantage of because we will be taken advantage of if we don't know the game plan. So in order that we are not taking advantage of by Satan's schemes, we can't be ignorant of how he works. Okay? So how does he work? Let's talk about that.

First of all, when the Bible says that Satan is the God of this world, what does that mean? It means that he influences worldly philosophies and worldly thinking. And second Corinthians four four says, the God of this world, a little g God, has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Satan's schemes include promoting false philosophies in this world. Do do you think that's playing out in real time today?

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Stick your head out of your tent for five minutes. I we see it playing out right in front of us today. So why do we struggle with these idols?

Because this false philosophy sound good sometimes. In the Western world, few people bow down to an idol made of stone. We don't do that. But even if you take the idols away from many countries I've been in, even if you take those idols away, they're still going to worship those idols. And John Mark Comer says, the real problem with idols is they are worshipped because they are considered living beings somewhere in the cosmos with power and authority.

Every idol you see has a story behind them, and they have rules that come with them. And this is why generation after generation worships these idols because they represent someone. Wow. Wow. Pastor Steve Cuss, I listened to this amazing podcast by this guy pastor Steve Cuss.

He's new to me, c u s s. And he says the question that you and I have to ask ourselves because we don't we don't have these idols in the Western world. But the question that we have to ask ourselves, is there anything in my life that I feel like I'm not okay unless I have other than Jesus. He says that's probably your idol. An idol is anything other than Jesus that I feel like I have to have to be okay.

I mean, do I have to have the perfect kids to be okay or live in a certain place to be okay? Do I have to have good health to be okay? What do I have to have to be okay? Pastor Tim Keller has done a lot of research on this and has written some amazing things and he asked the question, why do we lie? Why do we fail to love like we know we're supposed to love?

Why do we live selfishly? He says, of course, the answer is because we're weak and sinful. But the deeper answer is that something other than Jesus is more important to us. We have a greater desire for this something than we do for Yahweh. Satan and his demons number one objective in this war is our war and thoughts.

This is where he gets us. He works twenty four seven to make us question, is God really good? Is he really there for you? You know what? That hurt, that circumstance hurt.

Where was God? He wasn't there for you. He works twenty four seven to make us question our purpose, our worth, our value when God says, I love you so much I would die for you. And he did. I love you so much you were my ideal.

I knit you together and I have plans for you. The Bible tells us in John eight that Satan is the father of lies, and Matthew four that he's a tempter. In second John one, he's a big deceiver, and he is a thief that comes to only destroy and hurt us in John 10. So this is the question I have for you. Do you this chapter in John Mark Krummer's book just made me aware of what is going on in our world because if you look up where Satan is at work.

In first first Thessalonians two, there is a spirit of confusion. In Isaiah 59, there is spiritual blindness. And in Galatians one, hello America. There is rebellion. There is division, a spirit of divisiveness, and a perversion of God's promises and God's commands.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a very brave man that survived communist Russia. He was in Russia before the communist took over. He was sent to the gulags. He escaped Russia, and he was an outspoken critic of what the communist did. And he says, when people asked me he's passed away now, but when people asked me, how did the communist take over these good people of Russia?

This is what he says, to destroy a people, you must first sever their roots. What are the roots of America? What were we founded on? We are not a Christian nation, but we are a nation of Christians. And we were founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Where did our founding fathers come up with this? They came up with this from the word of God. So you sever those roots. He said, if I were asked today to formulate what the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up 60,000,000 of my people, I would say, it's this. We forgot God.

We just forgot him, and that's how it happened. And I look around today and I am like, Lord, bring us back to you. Cause a revival to happen. Let it start right here in Jackson and let us spread throughout this entire country because the evil forces have been emboldened. And do you know why I think they've been emboldened?

Because we humans in this angelic conflict, we are both influenced. We're either influenced by the narrative of evil or the narrative of good. We are influenced, but then in turn, are influencers. And I think because we find ourselves in this time where we've gotten so far from God, we in general in America are more easily influenced by a different narrative and it's not God's narrative. And the more people that are influenced by the narrative and influence others, the more emboldened the dark forces have become.

But John encourages us in John four four. He says, remember who you belong to. You belong to God. You are a child of God. You have already won the victory.

The victory is ours. We just need to walk in it and claim it. And then he goes on to say, it doesn't matter what comes at you. What lies or false philosophies come at you, the spirit at work within you is greater than the spirit at work within them. So we claim that the spirit at work within us is greater.

But I just have to share this first because just I I read a lot, and I read what's happening in our cultures, and in our universities, and in our government, and there is such a spirit of deception that has seeped into our churches. And Paul said, do not be deceived. The culture is gonna get away from God, and the culture is gonna preach these false philosophies. And in in first Corinthians six nine through 11, I'm gonna read this verse to you. Paul says, do you not know that if you do these things and you say they're okay, if you compromise them, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.

He said, don't be deceived neither neither the sexually immoral. What are our kids taught? They're taught in college they're weird if they're not hooking up with every other person. Neither the sexually immoral, the idolaters. We're gonna close with four idols we need to be aware of and we need to put down in our life.

The adulterers. Adultery used to be a terrible thing. In our culture, no one even notices anymore. The homosexual offenders, the thieves, the greedy. We had a blockbuster movie with Gordon Gekko saying, greed is good.

So all these kids graduating, going to Wall Street, believing this narrative, greed is good. Take what I can take. It's good. It's okay because it's powerful. Nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

What Paul is saying here is, yeah, we all fall short. We can commit any one of these sins anytime, but we confess to the Lord and we're back in fellowship with him. But Paul saying, if you're gonna say these lifestyles are okay with God and think you're okay with God, you're deceiving yourself because that is not truth. The culture tells you it's okay, but God says it's not okay. The enemy knows how to get us.

Right? He knows how to play narratives that make us rationalize and justify what God says, that's not okay. So pastor Steve Cuss identified four idols I wanna share with you that wow. I heard this podcast a couple weeks ago and I cannot get out of my head because I think I struggle with all four at some point. And I will say to you that he said something to the effect of every single one of us, one of these idols is the the main one that we need to put down.

Okay. The first idol is, I have to be in control to be okay. I have to be in control to be okay. Our culture teaches us the more control we have, the more power we have, and we love power. We do.

But the sin of control is deceptive because it gives us a false sense of power. Okay. How much control do we really have? I mean, did these past few years show us how much control we really have? The Lord says, you're not in control.

I'm in control. I'm sovereign. You don't get your next breath unless the Lord is okay with that. It's a false illusion that we're in control. And controllers end up working against God because they never learn to submit to him.

The need to always be in control is a red flag that I'm not really trusting God. That I don't really believe he will answer me when I seek him. That that he says draw near to me and I'll draw near to you. He says when you're at the crossroads, ask me. I'll tell you which path to take.

If I have to control every situation, I'm not really believing that. And doesn't don't control freaks. They just ruin relationships, don't they? I mean, they're so exhausting. We don't always have to be in control.

Jesus teaches us to pray, not my will, Lord, but your will. And, you know, Jesus was teaching the disciples in Matthew chapter 16. I wanna read the Amplified because I thought this was so interesting in the Amplified. He said to his disciples, if you want to follow me, if you really want to follow me, then you're gonna have to deny yourself. The Amplified says, you're gonna have to set aside your selfish interest.

You're not always going to be in control. If you want to follow me. And take up your cross. The Amplified says, take up your cross is expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come your way. Trusting the grace of God is going to get you through it.

And it's the the saddest thing with the Israelites. We're told they got right up to the edge of the promised land. And what did they say when they could have entered? What did do you remember what they said? There's giants over there.

They were unwilling to trust Jesus and go into the promised land, to the land of thriving. Jesus says, if you will follow me, the Amplify says, believe in him, conform to his word, obey his word, and just trust him, you will walk into a place of thriving. So the question we have to ask ourselves is, do I have to be in control to be okay? Idol number two, I have to be the center of attention. I have to be the center of attention.

Are you okay sometimes just being invisible? Some of you are like, yeah, we're fine with that. My friend just gave me this amazing little book. It's called The Invisible Woman. You can read it in like two nights.

Well, can read it in one night, but I fall asleep, so it took me two nights. But it's called The Invisible Woman. And I love how the author shares how Martin Luther, way back in the day in the fifteen hundreds, when the clergy were like the the rock stars, And he was urging just ordinary people, not people with a platform like the clergy of his day, to find God's perspective about them. And she wrote, Martin Luther preached that it was not the nature of the work that made it holy or purposeful. Doing the dishes is no less holy than giving an offering.

Luther believed a housewife had a great as a calling as a high priest, and that both should perform his or her work as though God was watching them. Because he is. He is watching us. Holiness comes from God and from the heart of the person doing the work. Not really the work itself.

I mean, God says, I have a reward waiting for you in heaven. If you give a cup of cold water in my name. He's not asking for big things. He's just asking for a heart to serve him and glorify him. Ephesians two ten says, you are God's masterpiece.

You. You are God's masterpiece. He has created you in Christ Jesus so that you can do the good works he planned specifically for you long ago. And don't put the American spin on that, that that good work has to have a big platform and a thousand likes on social media. It can just be serving dinner for your family in a joyful way, picking up your kids and really listening.

How was your day? That means something to the Lord. So if I'm not the center of attention, am I okay? Am I okay being invisible to people? Idol number three, I always have to be right.

Okay. So one of my favorite definitions of humility, because what does scripture tells from all over? Old Testament, New Testament. That God opposes the proud, but he lifts up the humble. And one of my favorite definitions of humility is having a teachable spirit.

Do you have a teachable spirit or do you already know it all? Do you have all the answers? Philippians two three says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility value others above yourself. I'm not saying this is easy, especially when we know we're right. Right?

This past Christmas, my son and I got in an argument over something so stupid, but I I'm just gonna tell you I was right. And he was getting so worked up. And I felt in my spirit, the Holy Spirit say to me, your relationship with him is more important than being right. So just lay it down. And I was like, is that the devil or is that the Holy Spirit?

Okay. So I said, you know what Grayson? It's fine. I understand what you're saying. It it's fine.

I'm I'm good. We're good. And I hugged him and he goes, mom, what the what are you okay? I'm like, yeah. It's it's totally fine because you mean way more to me than this silly argument.

Do I always have to be right to be okay? Yeah. Even if we know we're right, we don't have to prove it. And if we're really listening to other people, it's interesting how you can kind of shift and go, oh, I didn't really think about it like that. Idol number four.

Everyone needs to like me. Okay. Here's the deal with this idol. We all want people to like us. We all want to be popular, but guess what?

We're moving into a place where truth is not popular. And you just might lose a couple friends. You might have some family members that aren't crazy about you because we live in a post truth culture. And you know what that means? I mean, I think it's bananas because this is what it means.

In a post truth culture, everyone's truth is really the truth. And we all know that is not true. Because everyone's truth cannot be the truth. There is a truth. Unless we think this is a new place we're in, way back in the day in Isaiah.

I mean, this was like four thousand years ago. Isaiah wrote in Isaiah fifty nine fifteen, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. And Isaiah said, what's good will be called evil and what's evil will be called good. And if you stand up for what's good, you're the one that's going to be attacked. And you know what?

Everyone doesn't need to like me. It's okay. Doctor Erwin Lutzer shares this story in communist Russia where a director of a paper factory stood for truth one day, and then he went to the gulag for ten years, to the prison, the Russian prison for ten years, where he was just fed over and over and over the communist indoctrination. And one thing that that he had to agree with before he could leave the prison was that if a communist speaker was speaking, that he would never be the first one to stop clapping for whatever agenda was being shared. And doctor Lutzer said, it's not enough today that we go along with the woke culture, but we have to clap for these anti biblical world views.

And if we don't, we're gonna be attacked and we're gonna have ugly labels put on us. What is canceled today will be criminal criminalized tomorrow. And we're already seeing that. I just read about a pastor in England and pastor David Lynn in Toronto, Canada who were arrested for sharing a passage on sexual immorality. And the people didn't like it, and the police arrested them.

This is happening in real time. Because the growing trend in North America is that if anyone shares a topic that does not fit with our culture's view, you're going to be silenced. And I will tell you, I've personally experienced this. My nourishments Facebook page had about 38,000 followers, and I only share what I consider encouragements and inspirations. Biblical encouragements and inspirations.

Facebook started censoring me. And I can tell when you have a page, it's different than a personal Facebook. You can go and on the backside and tell how many people have opened it, how many people they have allowed to view it, and all of a sudden, I went from thousands to like 10. And I reached out to Facebook like three times and they never answered me. So, you know, media is starting to censor us.

And I was just sharing Bible verses, encouraging Bible verses. As Charlotte makes her way up to close our song, I wanna share something from George Orwell's nineteen eighty four. Have you all read that book nineteen eighty four? Well, there's this interesting story, I think it's toward the end, about this smart little boy, Winston. And this interrogator takes Winston into the back room and the interrogator says to Winston, Winston, what's two plus two?

And Winston's like four. And interrogator says no Winston, two plus two is five. Or two plus two is three. Or maybe two plus two is both. Now did Winston believe that?

I don't think he did. Just like today, we all know that little Sarah is not Sam, and little Sam is not Sarah. When my grandson was born last year, they were so excited. They're posting all over Instagram and a friend of a friend called my son and said, how rude of you to say that you have a baby boy and to call him a he. He, Griffin should decide what he is.

And my son said, I have to I gotta tell you, in the Delivery Room with all the nurses and the doctor and Brittany and me, when Griffin came out, it was obvious what we had. We have a boy here and we're gonna call him a boy and he is a he. He is a he. So why did the interrogator do that to Winston? What was the motive?

The motive was to make Winston comfortable living a lie. And that's the narrative today to make us comfortable as we redefine words as our children and universities are told what they can say, what they can't say. My daughter in Paramount is required to go to indoctrination classes. I mean she just says mom it's so stupid, but not everybody thinks it is. Not everybody does.

It's to make us comfortable living with lies. I'm just gonna close with this quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He said, in keeping silent about evil, he experienced this in Russia. He said, in keeping silent about evil and bearing it so deep within us, no sign of it appears, we are implanting it and it will rise up a thousand fold. The simple step of a courageous individual is to not live the lie.

Refuse to live the lie. We had a great discussion in this group last week that we are not the Holy Spirit. We don't wag our fingers in people's faces, but we very lovingly and gently stand firm on truth. That's our job. Because first Corinthians 15 says, thanks be to God.

He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are victorious. He will give us the strength to stand the truth. Lord, thank you so much for your word. I pray, Lord, as Joshua turned to the people when they entered the promised land and he said to them, throw away your gods, throw away those little g gods and choose for yourself today whom you will serve.

I pray, Lord, that we can all say like Joshua said, as for me and my house, we're gonna serve Yahweh. He's gonna be our God. Thank you, Lord, for being such a good, amazing, loving, forgiving, always having our back kinda God. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

We give you our eyes, Lord. All of our attention, Jesus. We ask that you would search us even in our conversations that you would search our hearts and reveal those things hindering us, those little g gods.