Was’ up everyone!
We had a rad Creative practice last tuesday night! I commend every member of our team for diggin’ deep and passionately pursuing the heart of God!
I spoke on a subject that is relevant to every human being whether you’re a teenager or you’re an elderly. The title of my message was “Living in the Light,” here is a breakdown of the notes I had, hope it helps!
Purity is such a battle these days. I’m not just talking about sexual purity, but about the arsenal of weapons that bombards our lives daily. We often excuse ourselves from being pure by insisting that it is so hard to be pure in these days. All sorts of excuses are given, “all the pornography on the internet,” “all the drama, sex, and violence on TV and in the movies,” “That piece of gossip was so juicy I had to share it with my best friend,” and we use the excuse “everybody’s doing it.” Bottom line, purity is not easy because the Devil knows how to co-opt some of our most basic and human desires and get this, WE PREFER TO GIVE IN AND HAVE THEM DISTORTED THAN TO BE DISCIPLINED AND HAVE THEM BLESSED.
Ouch! I can think of thousands of times in my life where I’ve taken the easy exit and gave in rather than be disciplined and choose purity. It’s a battle that everyone, even you, has to deal with. This very battle can take the strength and passion away from our spiritual worship.
You see, all of life, spiritual and sexual are part of our offering of worship. That’s why Paul talked about offering our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12). He said this is our spiritual worship. How intense is that, our bodies our the very temple, home, in which the Spirit of God lives. Problem is, our sorry ol’ fleshly, prideful sacrifice’s keep wanting to crawl off the alter.
I then asked this question, “What are you OFFERING to God?
Is your spiritual worship distorted or is it purified and holy, pleasing to God?
So what happens if you have done some crazy things in your life, you’ve chosen the easy exit and distorted your heart with the junk this world has to offer? What do you do? Do you wait for the next big name preacher to come through your city and go and get prayed for, cleansed and healed? That is definitely one way, but not God’s way of living a champions life!
I’ve come across one of the most powerful tools to help us champion this life, to help us live in the light and experience the very freedom that was blood bought by Jesus, that is through ACCOUNTABILITY.
So if you we’re to come to me and say “can I be accountable to you,” this is what I would say.
1-The Old way of Life has to go!
Ephesians 4:20-24 (Message) “Since then, we do not have the excuses of ignorance, everything, and I do mean everything, connected with that OLD WAY OF LIFE HAS TO GO. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And take on an entirely new way of life, a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.”
2-You chase, you submit to accountability!
Ephesians 5:21“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ!”
The problem we can run into is that we wait for someone else to do the work for us, we have to chase accountability, call them on the phone, book an appointment and make it happen.
3.Be accountable to what you are allowing in your life, in your mind!
Ephesians 4:23 “be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh spiritual and mental attitude)
Simple really, we are new creations in Christ but we still have to put off the old and put on the new everyday!
4.I would ask you the tough questions! Exposure=Freedom
Ephesians 5:11-14 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose, reprove(to speak of disapproval), and convict(to declare guilty) them!
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is the light that makes everything visible, this is why it is said:
Wake up O’ Sleeper
Rise from the dead
And Christ will shine on you!”
We must learn to open and vulnerable with someone that we trust with every little secret, every little skeleton in the closet. This will allow God’s light to shine on you and bring healing.
5.Be accountable on a consistent basis!
Don’t think by having one awesome meeting with someone and talking through issues is going to solve anything. Accountability and living in the light must be consistent, something that’s done again and again and again and again.
If we embrace accountability in our lives we will experience freedom like God intended, joy unspeakable. We will be positioned in freedom, able to dwell in His sanctuary, abide on His holy hill like Psalm 15 says,
“Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart, and has no slander on his tongue, and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without question and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will NEVER BE SHAKEN!!!!
