Have we been on a series of talks called we will overcome and I keep thinking we’re done with it and so I’m not even going to try and say when we’re going to be done with this could be the last one or maybe we may not be done till June, but I’m just saying the world is still talking about today. Last week we talked about overcoming with who, what, when, where, and why. When. We don’t know how we talked about that. If you didn’t get a chance to look at that, get it on our website or the YouTube channel and go back and watch that. But today I want to talk to you about overcoming with good overcoming with good. The sermon notes are available on our website or on the YouVersion Bible app, so if you want to pull that out, you can get those on there to follow along with your Mt Carmel Church.
But right there in your homes, I encourage you to get your Bibles out. Why? Because we at the road’s church, we believe that every time we open the Bible, we believe that God wants to speak to us, that he has something to say to us. So right there, if you would, let’s make some noise as we open up our Bibles to numbers. Chapter 13 numbers 13 yes, I hear you right home. Always excited when I watch people that do a little recording back of them watching in their home. Those shout out to some friends watching from all. Got friends in Atlanta watching, got friends in LA watching, got friends watching in all around the region that neighborhoods watching it, families gathered together. Shout out to all of you, so glad that you could be with us this morning. Let’s jump into what God has to say here in numbers chapter 13 we’ve read it for a few weeks now.
I’m just gonna read three verses today. We’ll start reading in verse 30 it says, then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and he said, let us go up at once and take possession for, we are well able to overcome it, but the men who had gone up with him said, we’re not able to go up against this people for they’re stronger than we are, and they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they’d spied out saying the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in our men of great stature there. We saw the giants, the descendants of ain. It came from the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight. I want to pray. Father, I just thank you for your word Holy spirit Mt Carmel Church.
I welcome you just to come and speak to us right now in Jesus name. I pray through every device, through every broadcast, whether it’s on podcast or through a screen right now. I pray that you come into that person’s life and bring revelation to them. I pray they will feel your presence. They will know your presence. I pray they will encounter you in a powerful way. They’ll not just hear words about you that not just be words of man’s wisdom, but Lord, I pray for the demonstration of the Holy spirit and power in their life that their faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but it would be in your power. God. So I thank you for what you’re going to do today. We give you the praise for it ahead of time. In Jesus name, everybody say amen. Amen. Thank you for typing in.
Let us know where you’re watching from. We always want to greet you from wherever you are viewing this experience right here. Kayla makes a statement in verse 30 here’s what he says. He said, let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it. Now he’s made, made this statement not because that they were not facing any opposition or because the opposition they was facing was not real nor significant. They were facing real military opposition. They were facing fortified cities. They were facing literal giants. So this was what they were going up against. So it wasn’t that this opposition was not real or significant, is that Kayla believed two things. Kayla believed two things. Number one, he believed that the opposition that they were facing was legit. I mean like too legit. I mean like too legit to quit.
Come on somebody. Only a few percentage of the viewers know what I’m talking about to legit. But anyway. Number one, he believed that the opposition they were facing was legit. It was real today for your Mt Carmel Church. It was significant. But number two, he believed that they were well able to overcome it. Now it’s possible to believe both that you can believe that the opposition you’re facing is real and you can believe that you’re well able to overcome it, but it depends on which one you focus on. If you focus on number one, if you focus on the opposition or the difficulty of whatever you’re facing in life, if you believe in focus on that, you’ll never be able to believe that you’re able to overcome it because you’re so focused on what’s wrong, what you’re going against. The resistance or opposition. You’ve got to believe that your wealth but will come up and if you over, if you will focus on number two.
If you’ll focus on that, you’re well able to overcome it, then no matter what number one is, you focus on the fact that you are well able to overcome plug and play, whatever the it is. It may be Corona virus, it may be marriage issues, it may be health issues, it may be children issues. It may be financial issues. It could be whatever. No matter what your it is this morning, if we’ll focus on the fact that we are well able, then it doesn’t matter what my it is that we’re well able to overcome it. That’s what Kayla believed. He believed both of those things were possible. Now sometimes when you focus on that, we’re well able to overcome it. Some people get offended, some people get upset, and they think that when you, when you talk to them about them being well able to overcome it, they think that you’re minimizing the significance of what they’re going through the best Mt Carmel Church.
But I want to encourage you today that whenever we focus on being well able to overcome it, we’re not minimizing the opposition in your life. We’re maximizing the provision in your life. We’re maximizing what God wants to do in your life. We’re not minimizing the significance of difficulty. We’re not minimizing the tragedy that you’ve gone through in your life. We’re not minimizing the hurt and the pain, the misfortune. All of those things that you’ve had to deal with. No one is minimizing that. We all go through difficulty, but when we focus on that, we’re well able. We say no matter what the it is, even if the it is, it didn’t work out like I it to. I’m all, I’m well able to overcome that fact. I’m well over able to overcome that. It didn’t work in the timeframe that I wanted to work in.
I’m able to overcome that. Whatever your it is this morning, focus on the fact that you’re well able to overcome and God will bring you through. This is what Caleb believed. This is what we want to focus on in our life. Sometimes people get offended if you focus on the second one because they, they just think that you’re not appreciating what they’re going through. But that’s not the case. So what created the opposition or the resistance or the difficulty in this situation? What created the opposition? There was no opposition for the Israelites in the wilderness. There was no, but they weren’t experiencing that life that God had for them. There were, there was no opposition there. There was nothing going on. There was no difficulty, no, no tragedy that they were facing, no warring going on. There were no, no, a strong military. There were no fortified cities Mt Carmel Church.
There were no giants out in the wilderness. So what created the opposition? There was no opposition for them, but they weren’t experiencing. So they had to make a choice. Here’s the choice. They had to make either passively accept the less than God’s best life that they were experiencing the wilderness or number two, fight to overcome the opposition to possess everything God wanted them to have. That’s the two choices they had. Number one, passively accept the less than God’s best life that they were experiencing in the wilderness or fight to overcome the opposition. Cause. Here’s what the fight was about. Here’s what the opposition was about. Who was the opposition? The opposition was the Canaanites. Now we talking about the Canaanites and driving them out. God was not driving out a bunch of innocent people. We talking about God driving out the Canaanites. You’re like, what was the deal?
Driving out these poor people? No, these were evil people. They sacrifice their own children in worship to their God. They were sexually immoral and perverted in many ways, these were evil wicked people because they practiced that God had given them room to repent. You’ll study where God says their sin came to fulfillment, that it was the guy who was just driving them out because he didn’t like them is because their wickedness, their sin, the evil in the land was what God was wanting to get rid of. So here was the root of the opposition here with Mt Carmel Church. There was no opposition until the Israelites decided to drive the Canaanites out of the land and live in their place. So the root of the opposition was the evil way of life that wanted to stay represented by the Canaanites and the good godly way of life that wants to move in and possess in their place represented by the Israelites.
So here’s what Caleb said, let us take possession of a land that is currently possessed by evil, for we are well able to overcome it with the goodness of God. Here’s the truth that you need to get in your heart. The process of overcoming the evil in the land with the goodness of God created opposition. It’s a theme for this, for the message today, which you need to get the process of overcoming the evil in the land with the goodness of God created opposition. It created it. So let’s see what that looks like. How does that relate to our lives? Chad, bring it forward to 2020 we are facing real military opposition. We are facing fortified cities. We are facing literal giants. We are facing real significant problems, but they just come in. Different forms come in different ways and different avenues. We all deal with evil in our own life and different levels to give you te top Mt Carmel Church.
We all have issues. We have our flesh. We have evil temptations. Without God. It says we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve got evil in this world that we have to deal with. We’ve all got in different levels, different areas of our life, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, behaviors that do not line up with the way of God. Here’s something we’ve got to get into our hearts and be clear about this. Attitudes, behaviors, lifestyles, ways of thinking that don’t line up with the way of God. Those things are evil. There is no God, the devil and some middle ground. Anything that does not line up with God’s way for our life. It is evil. There’s only two options, good and evil, God’s way and the kingdom of darkness, the light of God and the darkness. There’s only the hope through Jesus and their sin.
So we’ve got two options, and this is what happens in our life. The root of our opposition. Whenever we choose to drive out the evil in our life and replace it with a good godly way of life, it creates opposition. The root of our opposition, the root of our conflict in our life is when the goodness of God. We try and drive out any evil in our life. Drive the evil that wants to stay, wants to stay. The flesh, wants, sustain our life. When we try to drive it out with the good, it creates opposition. How many of you have had this experience in your life that when you try to do good, it seems like everything? There’s such a fight going on. It’s because it’s true. Opposition comes when we try to do the right thing and drive out the wrong thing. It creates conflict with a better Mt Carmel Church.
It creates opposition, so we shouldn’t run from it. We should embrace it. It’s a natural part of the process, so now we have, it leaves us with a choice to make two things passively accept the wilderness of our current existence, living less than God’s best for our life. When we realized there’s an opposition or number two, we can fight, overcome that opposition to live the life that God has for us. We can either passively accept the marriage that we are currently at or we can fight to possess the one that God has for us. We can passively accept the situation in our life through our mindset, our habits, our attitudes, our language, how we talk, how we think we can passively accept it living lower than what God has for us and our children, our family lives. We can passively set by and just let it happen with a good Mt Carmel Church.
Or we can fight to possess, fight to achieve everything that God has for us that’s going to be part of overcoming the opposition in our life. So how do we overcome this in practical sense? Let’s turn our Bibles to Romans chapter 12 just two scriptures that I’m going to have you turn to today. I’m going to highlight a couple other ones, but Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 and I’m going to look at verse 21 how do we overcome the evil in our lives? Ted, you say that maybe you need to type in there. I’ve got some stuff I need to drive out. I got some stuff I need to drive out. Got to drive it out. We’re going to drive out the evil with good. Look at Romans chapter 12 look at verse 21 says, do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good, very short verse one sentence.
Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Remember we talked about the word overcome in the English language. In the Webster dictionary talks about a word that can either be a state of being like something we are, we can be overcome. We use the word in that context be something we are. I am overcome by grief. I am overcome with fear, overcome by something or the word overcome can be a verb, an action. Something we do so overcome as either something we are or something we do, something we are or something we do and we have a say so in which one we are, we have, we have a choice to make. We’re either going to be overcome is going to be something we are or it’s going to be something we do. So you guys type in there is going to be something I do.
I choose to overcome. I’m not good. I’m not going to be something I am. It’s going to be something that I do. So now noticing this worse, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good two uses of the word. Overcome some ways through the same. I want to break this down. We’ll take some time to break this down because I want you to see, I pray that governors bring revelation to our heart with this. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The two words overcome two ways that they’re the same. Both of them are a verb in the Greek language, I’m talking about this in the Greek, not the English. The new Testament is written in Greek and Aramaic language, so this is the Greek language. Both of them are a verb means they’re both an action or a state of being.
Both of them are in the present tense. That means that it’s an action or state of being in process right now. It’s going on right now. So he’s saying, don’t be overcome right now, but right now overcome evil with good. So he’s given it the present tense. It’s the present tense use of that. It’s also the imperative tense, the imperative tense. What does that mean? It means it’s a command, an intention, an exportation or a request. Here’s important. The imperative is not an expression of reality, but of possibility. What does the imperative tense mean? That means it’s an exhortation. It’s an encouragement. It says it’s speaking of intent. So God is speaking to you. Do not be overcome. Imperative sense means it’s not my choice for you. It’s not my desire for you to be overcome, but to overcome evil with good. It’s not necessarily your reality, but it is my desire for you to give you a new Mt Carmel Church.
It speaks of possibility, so we need to know that even though I may not be overcoming right now, it is God’s desire for me to overcome. It is his intent for me to overcome. It’s his purpose for me to overcome. Even when I’m being overcome by circumstances and by situations. He said, Whoa, that’s not my attempt for you to be overcome by evil. I’m going to exhort you into the possibility of overcoming evil with good, and that’s so good. Speaks of God’s intent for us. So he gives us that option. But here’s the difference. Here’s the most powerful part of it that I found between these two words, overcome by evil. The first one, overcome by evil is the passive tense. Here’s what that means. The subject is being acted upon. The subject is the receiver of the verbal action. Do not be overcome by evil.
Overcome. There’s the passive being acted upon. The receiver of the action by that word by is a Greek word who pullets means under or beneath. It’s like a victim, like holding you down. Do not be overcome by evil. Don’t be held down by it. Don’t be a victim of it. Don’t let it hold you beneath the life that God has for you. Don’t be overcome. Don’t be the recipient. Don’t let it act upon you. Don’t passively set by and let things happen to you and hold you down and keep you beneath. The Bible says that you’re the head and not the tail above only and not beneath. He says, don’t be overcome by evil. Don’t let it hold you down. I believe there’s people watching right now that the enemy is trying to hold you down, trying to keep you living beneath the level that God has for you, but I want to encourage you, God’s exhorting you right now saying, don’t be overcome by evil.
Don’t be passive. Don’t be a recipient. Don’t just let it do to you. Whatever it wants to do to you, but some points we got to take the next step. Look what he says here. Don’t let it drag you under. Don’t let it drag you under overcome with good but overcome with good. The second overcome, first one is passive. Second one is active. Somebody say active, it’s active. Sam will be active. Type it in. I’m going to be active. I’m not going to be passive. I’m not going to be past them on be active and here’s what it says. The subject is performing. The verbal action in this one, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome, overcome. Notice there’s no subject there. It’s understood you, but you overcome evil with good. You are the subject. I am the subject you, the subject is performing the verbal action.
Notice the difference instead of being acted upon. In this one, the subject is doing the acting. It’s doing the action steps. It’s the one the difference. It’s not just receiving but it’s delivering. It’s just not letting it happen to it, but it’s the one carrying out the action. What are you carrying the action out with? How are we doing it? He’s over. He’s doing it with good. What’s the action step we’re overcoming with good Mt Carmel Church optons? Now this is important. Do not be overcome by evil. Don’t let it come upon you. Don’t let it act upon you, but overcome with good action step. What am I overcoming with somebody? Say with I’m overcoming with good, with good, with good. Overcoming with good. What does that mean? The word width has two applications. It’s a word in just E N and the Greek language, but it has two applications.
I’m going to tell you those. Number one, it speaks of position. How do we overcome with good, with good speaks of position means like in inside or a month. So we overcome. Here’s the message that God’s telling you we overcome when we get in good in position in good, when we get in the right position, when we get in a godly place, when we get in a right place, let me, let me illustrate it to you with a new Mt Carmel Church. I brought something, I don’t know if this is going to translate to you as good as it does to me, but I brought two pitchers of water, obviously one represented by good, one represented by evil, and I just went and felt like God was saying that we overcome evil with good and we’re talking about position, talking about getting in the right here I would say we’ve all got evil habits, evil thoughts, evil tendencies.
We got things we’re struggling with, things we’re trying to overcome. So here’s how God says, I want you to overcome. I want you to overcome by getting in the right position. Don’t get caught out of position and we don’t just get out of evil habits by just trying to get rid of them. See, we don’t. We can. Too many times we make the mistake of trying to overcome evil by just getting out of evil. It’s not about just getting out of evil, it’s about getting into something else. See, cause you can get out of evil and just pour it out. It didn’t, didn’t do any good, didn’t do any good, but if you will, pour your habits into good habits, fuel, pour your thoughts into good thoughts. Pour your life into the good things and keep pouring it in there. The more of your life gets into the good and less of your life into the evil.
If you’ll keep pouring, keep pouring bad habits. Keep pouring things that don’t come from God. Keep pouring them into good. Pretty soon my life will be full of the goodness and I’ll be all out of evil. Why? Because I poured it into something else. I get out of something by pouring into something else. Don’t just try and stop the evil in your life. Pour it into the good. Pull your life into what God has for you. He’s wanting to do a new work in your life. Don’t just try and stop bad things. Pour them into good. He says, we get out of, we overcome evil with good. We overcome in position so it lets the second application. If the first application is we overcome and position. The second one is we overcome by an instrument. The word with means an instrument. Speaking of by or how buyer, how overcome evil with good one getting into the right place, getting the right position for a new Mt Carmel Church experience.
I’m getting into right? I’m getting into church. I’m getting into my Bible. I’m getting into the right things. I’m getting out. I’m getting out of the wrong friends because I’m getting into the right friends. When I’m getting into the right thoughts, all of a sudden I’m out of the wrong thoughts. When I’m getting into good habits, all of a sudden I’m out of bad habits. Get into the right thing. That’s position. I just still felt I was still feeling God on it. I had to share it some more, but then the second one about instrument I’m getting worked up, I still got to speak. So the second one about its roots is about how, how by, so we overcome it with good with now becomes good, becomes an instrument. It’s not just a position, but now good actually becomes the instrument by which we overcome evil.
All bullets. Check this out. It’s the instrument by which how so? Good, good. Let me give this. Good becomes more than just an option for behavior, but a weapon for your arsenal. Good is not just an option for a different kind of behavior. Good becomes a weapon in my hands. Now when understand God in my life is more than just a different lifestyle that I can live. No, no, no good. I overcome evil with good, it becomes a weapon in my hand. Let me, I brought an illustration. I brought something else. I got it. It’s like this got a sword here and when, when Israel would strike with a sword, when they would, when they would overcome the enemy, they would strike with a sword which actually did, which actually killed the enemy. Was it the sword or was it the Israelite?
Notice it was both because a sword laying on the ground kills no one a sword laying on the ground. It’s not going to do any good, but a sword in the hand of a warrior that knows how to use it becomes a weapon for destruction, but the person has to put it into action. They have to use it, they have to apply it. So me applying the weapon that’s given to me, I apply that weapon, put effort into it, and now I can destroy the enemy. This is what happened for the Israelites. They overcome with it. The sword on the ground doesn’t hurt anybody, but in our hands it makes a difference. Ephesians six 17 says, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, overcome evil with good. The word of God and the ways of God are not just an option, but now they become a weapon in my hand.
The Bible on my shelf will not destroy the enemy in my life, but I will overcome evil with good. When I take the Bible off the shelf and I put it in my heart, then now it becomes a weapon in my hand. This is what God’s saying, overcome with good it be the good, the God life, the word of God. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter four his word is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit and the joints and the Morrow. God is saying now when we overcome evil with good, he’s saying with good, it becomes an instrument. Now. Now I understand that when I choose God’s way of doing things, when I choose a godly way, it’s not just a choice of behavior, but it’s a weapon against the enemy with a new Mt Carmel Church.
It’s a weapon against evil. Whenever you choose to pray instead of throw up your hands and and have and just fall into the circumstance of your situation, every time you choose to break, let me, let me say it this way. I was, I was dealing with some stuff and I, I went to prayer and my prayer time with God and I was just dealing with some thoughts, deal with some things, some things I’m trying to overcome and and I was struggling. I cried out to God. I said, Lord, what am I not going to have to deal with this anymore? These thoughts and these feelings. I was praying, God, when am I going to overcome? I’m tired of beauty. Maybe you’re the same way. Maybe there’s things you feel like you’re dealing with every single day and you’re wondering when when God, when am I going to be done dealing with this?
When am I going to be over this? I had a great friend when I was telling a friend of mine one time. I said, Hey, you know when I’m so here’s what I’m struggling with. Here’s what I’m trying to get through and I’m dealing with these thoughts and these fears, these insecurities, and I don’t want her, you know, what about this? I’m struggling with this, and he said, listen, Chad, do you realize how many people are not strong? Not struggling with that at all? They’re not dealing with that at all because they don’t care. They don’t want to do that, and so here I am in prayer and I’m saying, God, when am I going to overcome? What am I going to break through? And he said, Chad, you are this. This thought just came to me said, Chad, the fact that you’re here praying, you’re overcoming everything with our Mt Carmel Church.
Sometimes we’re thinking that we’re only overcoming when the opposition isn’t there, but I’m telling you sometimes the presence of opposition in your life is proof positive that you’re overcoming because you’re driving out the wrong thing and replacing it with the right thing. I would say I had a few better people in here to encourage me right now. I hope online that this has ministering to you because talking into cameras, it just is not the same. But I want you to know that in your life, the fact that you’re resisting the temptation, you’re overcoming the fact that you’re saying no when you could say yes. The fact that you’re saying yes when you could say no, you are overcoming, overcome with good, with good at is your weapon. It does not mean that the enemy, the evil is not going to come. It doesn’t mean evil’s not going to show up.
It just means you have something with you to overcome it with. It means that when the enemy shows up, you’ve got something with you. He shows up with temptation. He shows up with discouragement. You just say hello to my little friend, and you bring the sword of the word out and you begin to cut it up with the promises of God that we’re not going to just sit back and be acted upon, but we will say, no, I’m not going to cower. I’m not going to cower in fear to discouragement, intimidate intimidation or fear, insecurity. I’m not gonna allow you to back me in a corner and hold me beneath the life that God has for me. I’m not gonna let you hold me down. I am going to overcome because greater is he that’s in me than he that’s in the world. I’m going to overcome evil with good cause.
I’m telling you this today. We are either being acted upon being a receiver, or we’re the one doing the acting. We decide we didn’t make the choice in our life and I want you today. I want to be the one in my life to remind myself to be the deliverer, to be the deliverer of good, as to the receiver of evil, to be the deliverer of the overcoming promises of God. Whenever the enemy comes to just let them be acted upon. Don’t be overcome by evil, held underneath, underneath, but overcome evil with good. Get in the right position, get in the right place. Get in this situation where God, what you get in the right thoughts get in his viewpoint. When we’re looking at a world today and what’s going on in society, we got to get in the right frame of mind. You got to get in the right perspective with good, with good, get with good partner with good.
Don’t partner with Beth. Don’t partner with evil. Don’t partner with discouragement. Don’t partner with fear. Don’t partner. They’re there. Yes, they’re there. They come to my mind all the time, but I just kept partner with them. I got to say, no, I’m going to get with goods and when we get with good, we overcome evil. We’re the ones doing the action instead of being acted upon. As I was preparing this yesterday, Dawn came out of the room, she’d been to spend some time in her quiet time with God and she came out of the room and said, Hey, I feel like I have a word of word from the Lord and your Dawn’s pretty quiet. She doesn’t say a lot, didn’t like to get up in front of people a lot, but she felt like she had something and so she said, well, this, go with what you’re doing.
I feel like I’m supposed to share it. And so I read through the word and it was exactly as you’ll see when you hear it. It was exactly on point with what God had put on my heart to share today. And I said, absolutely, you can share that. So I’m going to have her come up right now and she’s going to share with you what God put on our heart and we’re going to let God speak to you and encourage you through that. Come on, welcome my wife come. We’ll give her some handclaps in the bottom. This is my wife Dawn. We’ll make sure that she has an opportunity to share what God’s put on her heart. Go ahead. Thank you so much. And as most of you know, I don’t really like being up in front of you and,
and um, and speaking and saying this, but last week, um, last couple of weeks I’ve just had this feeling, these feelings of, um, of not caring or just thoughts and feelings of, um, I can do that later or, you know, I really don’t want to do that. And just those feelings coming upon me. Even the thoughts a couple of of mornings, a couple of thoughts of being like, you know, I wish I could just stay in bed. That would be really nice if I could just stay in bed all day and just not do anything. And um, those things just kept coming to my mind. And one day is, as I was walking around the track, I began to ask God, I began to say, God, why am I having these thoughts? Or why am I feeling this way? Because it’s not really a normal thought for me.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like to sleep in, I’ll use some sleep in days, but not an all day, you know, being in bed kind of thing. And so I was just, as I was walking and I was just like, God, why am I having these feelings? I don’t feel like that is who I am or what I’m supposed to be thinking or doing. And so, um, as I say, as I was walking, I begin to see, like around me, I just begin to see the only thing I can really describe it as a dark haze. And it was, I could see everything around me. I could see, um, the school and I could see my house, but there was just this dark haze all around that. And, um, so I said, you know, God, give me a word, give me something that I can put to these thoughts and these feelings for your Mt Carmel Church services.
And then now this, this vision of this dark haze just kind of there. And as I saw it, I, I was sensing that, you know, it wasn’t something that was going to overtake me like in a second, but that it was one of those things that was going to, you know, it was slowly coming in, just kind of day by day, maybe week by week, you know, just kind of coming in slowly. And, um, so I just, I, I asked God to give me a word to put with it and why I was thinking of these things. And, um, sometimes, and you may be like me, I like God to show me that that’s really him. You know, that it’s not just me being maybe lazy or will everybody, you know, we don’t really have anything to do. I’ve got all day, I’ve got all kinds of time, you know, so I just, I wanted him to show me that it was something going on that he was speaking to me with a new Mt Carmel Church.
And so I asked him to give me a word and because if he hadn’t given me a word right there on my walk, then I wouldn’t be up here because I’d be like, it’s just for me. I’m lazy. I need to get up and go. Do you know, you’d go do something. And so as I’m walking, the word lethargic came to my mind. And that word, lethargic means sluggish or apathetic. And um, the word apathetic means showing or feeling, no interest, no enthusiasm or no concern. And I thought, wow, okay. Um, I said, God, you know, what are, what are you, what are you speaking to me? And so I feel like God was telling me that I was letting myself get lethargic, that I was becoming sluggish. And you know, it may just be for me, but I really felt like this word was for a lot more people than just myself.
That during this time, whenever we’re quarantined and we’re in and we’re totally out of our routines and our schedules, that it’s so easy for that sluggishness to creep into our life. And, um, so I believe that God was showing me this one for myself personally, but then also for, for you, for, for others that may feel this way. And, and I believe that God is revealing this because this would be the worst time for his people to fall into this, the worst time for us to begin to get sluggish, the worst time for us to, um, have no interest or no feelings and is, um, this is such an important time in our history for our great country that I believe this word is kind of twofold. I believe that it’s for us personally, you know, God say, come on, let’s go. You know, let’s not get sluggish.
Let’s not get lazy, let’s stay the course. Let’s stay focused. But I also believe that it’s a word for just for are the things that are going on around us right now that we should not become sluggish of them. We should not become lazy in the things that God is asking us to do. And um, you know, I asked God for a specific word cause he kind of works with me that way. He kind of comforts me in that, that if, if he’ll kind of give me a sign that I know that I’m on the right track. Well you know, who knows that our God is even better and goes above and beyond what we even asked. And he gave me a song that exact same day as I was walking. I was listening whenever I walk, I’m always listening to music and I was listening to some praise and worship music with a new Mt Carmel Church.
And usually you know how when you get in like a set, it kind of plays the same songs over and over. So I’m usually listening to the same songs over and over. And I don’t know if it was as I was adjusting my phone or whatever, but all of a sudden this song came on that I had never heard before. And, um, the, I began to listen to it and I was like, Oh wow, this is, this is perfect. This goes along. Exactly. And so I took my phone out and the name of the song was my weapon by Natalie Grant. And, um, I want to read you the first verse. I’m going to read you just a little bit of this song. So it starts out, let every lie be silenced and all depression. Cece, let every dark assignment bow down at Jesus’ feet. Let every curse be broken. Let every storm be tamed and all that comes against us. Be bound in Jesus name.
And, um, I continued to listen and then the chorus came and this is what the chorus says. Your presence is my greatest weapon. Pressing back, the darkness, breaking every chain. My worship opens up the heavens crushing every stronghold when I speak your name. And I thought that’s when I heard that, that the heat you are pushing back the darkness. I mean that just hit home because the darkness was coming and I could sense it coming. And you may be there today in your room, in your living room, wherever you’re watching this from today. And you may be sensing the darkness coming and maybe you don’t know what it is, but maybe this is what it is for me. This is maybe what this is. It is. And God is warning me, Hey, you know, it’s time. Let’s not be lethargic. Let’s not be sluggish. Let’s pay attention. Let’s be alert.
If you’re like me and have began to feel sluggish and apathetic, this is the darkness that the enemy wants to close in on us. And I tell you today to get into his presence, it is our weapon to push back the darkness and to break every chain. His presence is what will make, um, the walls fall down. You got our, our weapon, your presence opens up the heaven and pushes back the darkness. And I just say to you today, church, be vigilant. Push back. Being sluggish, sluggish, and apathetic. Stay focused, be watchful and stay engaged with what you’re doing a better Mt Carmel Church.
and with what you’re, when pay attention to what is happening around you. We must not be lulled to sleep. So I hope that that speaks to someone today or, or helped someone today that has maybe been the same thing. And so it’s kind of a warning, but I believe that it’s also an encouragement that God loves us so much that he would let someone begin to have those feelings and have those thoughts and then he would give be a word to be able to speak, to encourage us as a, as a, a body, as a individual, as a nation, to not fall asleep, but to let his presence be our weapon and to help us push the darkness that we see every day in this world to help push it away.
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I hope you see the symmetry and what God was saying that, and we’re not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good, that we’re not going to be complacent, not going to just be passive lethargic. That’s what the enemy wants to do. And I believe this word is,
as Don said, I believe it’s not just for us individually as people, but I believe it’s a word to our nation. I, I believe it’s a word to people that we’re not going to be overcome. We’re not going to be pushed around by the darkness, wouldn’t be pushed around by the, by the enemy. But we’re gonna overcome with something we’re gonna overcome with good. We’ve got something with us. We’ve got something on our side. You don’t have to be overcome by the things that are trying to overcome you. You can overcome with something, but that with is Jesus. There’s no hype to it. There’s no emotion to it. There’s no power in our own bravado or to our own confidence in ourselves. The victory is in Jesus, overcome evil with good. And when I say good friends, I’m not talking about good deeds. Jesus said this, that there is only one who is good. He said, why do you call me good? There’s nothing good in me except for Jesus. So what is the good that we overcome? Evil with it is Jesus. It is him.
Thanks so much for watching with us. We love our online family and we invite you to connect with us. We have a few different ways you can do that on our website@theroads.church as well as on social media. You can text to give by texting the amount, space, roads to four or five, seven, seven, seven and we’d love to pray for any needs you might have. So send us a message and let us know how we can partner with you in bringing the light and love of Jesus to your world with a new Mt Carmel Church.