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[0:00] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. All right, gentlemen. Well, hey, that was a much better introduction than I expected, so thank you all.

[0:13] ! I'll tell you what, go ahead and open your Bible. I'm going to go ahead and give you three spots, so I want you to stick your finger in the ones. Of course, we're going to be 2 Corinthians 10, so go ahead and crack open there. We'll start there.

[0:24] Put your finger in 2 Timothy 2, and then the other one will be Psalm 1. And so, guys, thankful to get to be here.

[0:40] I'll kind of talk a minute while you're getting your spot there, but thankful to get to be here. This is good fun. Man, I love seeing this many guys coming out and getting to be a part and just getting to sit here and talk through the Word.

[0:54] And I love how Pastor Jared even set it up for today. It was very much, hey, we're going to be here. Let's hear the Word. Let's let the Word sink into our lives. And then let's just fellowship, have some good food, talk with one another, but let others in, right?

[1:10] And this is the whole thing. You let the light of the Lord coming in. That's a lot of how He does the work. That's the accountability. Accountability isn't anything, like, big and crazy. It's just letting His glory, His light shine on it and letting others into there.

[1:23] And so this is a great place to lay a lot of those foundations, right? So, okay. If you got to those spots, then give me an amen. Amen.

[1:34] All right. Let me pray for us first. Here, Father, thank You so much just for today. Lord, I thank You for this time. Lord, I thank You for Your Word. Lord, I thank You that You are more than able.

[1:47] You, in You is the victory. In You is life and light and goodness. And we just thank You, Father, that we are a part of that and we get to walk in it.

[1:57] And so, Father, I pray You would be here. Lord, speak today. Let Your Word, let it speak, Dad. We love You, Father, and we thank You. It's in Jesus' name that we do pray. All right.

[2:08] So, guys, as we were looking, 2 Corinthians 10 there, it says, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

[2:19] For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

[2:34] Now, we were starting to talk about that already, but if you didn't notice where that thing starts off in verse 4, it says, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, right?

[2:45] Is this world a playground or a war zone? I don't know how many times you thought about that, but, you know, if it's a playground, then okay.

[2:56] What's the point then? Let's have as much fun as we can. How many times can I go on the merry-go-round as fast as I can before I throw up, right? The whole goal is enjoyment. Let me have as much fun as I can.

[3:08] And then if somebody gets taken out, well, yeah, that's a tragedy, right? I mean, that was supposed to be a safe place to play and enjoy, and the whole point is, let's have a great time.

[3:20] But if it's actually a war zone, and you poke your head up out of the bunker and start running around like it's a playground while stray bullets are flying by, nobody's really surprised when you get picked off then, are they?

[3:36] Right? When we watch the news in the world today and we're watching and talking to folks or just even hearing what's happening in people's lives in this world, if our mindset was a playground, oh, my gosh, I can't believe that kind of stuff happened.

[3:48] That's amazing, like, in such a terrible way. But if it's actually a war zone, yeah, that's a casualty. That's kind of how this goes. And so for us, this is a war zone, and we know it, right?

[4:02] And he's calling us. He's telling us, hey, as men, it's a war. Okay. Well, if it's a war, then what are we in for? What's the objective? All right?

[4:13] Well, Jesus said it this way. Is it Matthew 22 when they ask him, hey, what's the greatest commandment? Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, all your mind.

[4:28] I grabbed a different one. I was going for strength in there, too. I almost misquoted it then. All right. And then verse 38 of that one, he says, this is the first and the great commandment, and the second is like it.

[4:38] You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. I always thought that was interesting, the way he connected them, where he said it is like it. I just would have expected a different connector, but it's very intentional because he's speaking of this relationship from us to the Lord, and then he's saying the second one is like it.

[5:01] It's a mirror how these interactions go on this plane as well, right? This is very much, yes, I love the Lord. I give him everything, but I shut everybody else out. Something isn't right on this angle then, right?

[5:13] No, the second is like it. And so you'll see that through, as we're walking through different stuff, how those, that seems to be what the Lord tells us all, right? You'll hear many of the churches, what's the goal?

[5:24] To know him and make him known, right? Again, it's this level and this level, right? Okay, so at face value then, that's our objective. That's what we're supposed to do here in this world. Sounds easy enough, right?

[5:35] Love God, love people. Face value, no problem. But you've got an enemy. There's an adversary who walks around. Peter says, hey, you've got an adversary.

[5:47] Walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, right? Jesus, when he's asked about it, he's telling him in John 10, 10, he says, the thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, all right?

[5:59] I don't know about y'all, but personally, none of those four things sound good. I don't want to get devoured. That sounds really bad, right? And then if it's also, hey, this is a war, this is my team, my brothers are the ones who are standing here beside me, I don't want to see them get eaten.

[6:13] I don't want to see them get killed or destroyed either, right? That sounds pretty bad, okay? So great. Y'all are following with me? Then how do we war against this? How do we go about fighting?

[6:24] Well, it's just like Pastor Jerry was talking. The weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal. Neither are the enemy's tactics. We were talking about that.

[6:34] His aren't carnal either, right? What does he do? What is his tactics? He deceives and he spreads fear. That's really about it.

[6:46] They come in different forms and fashions. Most of it, you know, a lot of it comes with a deceit. You know, he'll sow discord. He'll sow in so that you division and making everybody mad at each other. He'll put the temptations in front of you, right?

[7:02] Oh, it's better. Oh, that won't hurt anybody, right? I mean, it's all these. It's still deception. But that's really it. He can deceive. And he can sow in fear.

[7:13] Now, I want y'all to think about those for a minute, too. If we don't listen to the deception, if we don't allow ourselves to be fearful of it, does it actually have any effect then?

[7:28] No. Every bit of this is just baiting almost. And that's all he's got. That's all he's got. Because in Colossians 2, it would say, hey, he's been disarmed.

[7:40] By the cross, by what Jesus already did, the enemy has now been disarmed. So this is still all that he has. He just has deception and fear, right?

[7:51] So we can be wise now to the schemes of the enemy. Go over to 2 Timothy with me. And so in 2 Timothy 2, here at the beginning, he says, You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

[8:20] And thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, no man that wars, entangles himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier, who's enlisted him as a soldier.

[8:38] We're staying on this theme. You know, obviously Paul is picking this up too. It's a war zone. This is a war. But you endure hardness, endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

[8:52] It's not an easy path. It's not an easy thing. War never is. It's not supposed to be. The rest comes after this. But here, this is our time. We get to, this is our only chance.

[9:04] Y'all know this is our only chance where we get to actually walk by faith. This is the only time. Because once we're on the other side, once we're in heaven, we'll see. Our eyes will be able to see.

[9:16] We'll see him face to face. God, what a glorious day that's going to be. But in the meantime, on this side here, we can't see. We look through a glass dimly, the word says, right? We walk by faith.

[9:28] This is our chance to do it, guys. This is our opportunity. And he says here, hey, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

[9:40] And then he says, no man that goes to war entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Don't get entangled, right?

[9:52] This is going to be the part that we're going to probably hang on to the most of our time where we're talking together. Because my part with the, back in the 2 Corinthians verse was the casting, shoot, before I mess that up, I'm sorry.

[10:09] Casting down of imaginations, right? Jared had the part of pulling down the strongholds. Next part was the casting down of imaginations or arguments. But so much of that has to do with getting entangled and having that stuff be a part of you and in your life and in your walk here, right?

[10:29] And so as we, our whole goal, I want to be pleasing to the Lord. I want to please the one that enlisted me as a soldier. So how do I do that?

[10:40] I don't get entangled in this, the affairs of this world. There's a good picture of this that I want us to go to. Don't lose your finger. Keep your finger here in Timothy, but go to Psalm 1.

[10:54] And over in Psalm 1, if you're there, say amen. All right, that was like four of y'all. Y'all got a minute?

[11:06] Y'all good? Okay, good. If you're there, say amen. Amen. That sounds a lot better. All right, let me read it here. It says, Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

[11:22] And in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper.

[11:36] The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

[11:51] Now, as we look at this one, right, the main focus of this is the blessed man, right? What does it mean to be blessed?

[12:02] We throw that around. That's good Christianese, right? How are you today? I'm blessed and highly favored, right? All right? But what does that actually mean? Well, I'll tell you.

[12:15] If I knew where it was on my notes, hold on. Where did it go? There we go. Wrong page. Blessed, it means to be supremely happy or fulfilled, right? I had always heard that one.

[12:25] It's just, you know, blessed, make happy, right? But it's more than that, though. There's this, because, how's the Lord do? The Lord loves, he overfills.

[12:37] That's just his nature. He goes above and beyond at all times. Hence, it's not just mercy, it's grace, right? And so, oh, he's supremely happy or fulfilled, right?

[12:48] The blessed man. How many want to be the blessed man? Yes, exactly. That should be all of y'all. Me too, right? I want to be the blessed man. I want to be supremely happy and fulfilled.

[13:00] Well, how do you do that? Well, great. He gives you three don'ts and then some do's, okay? So, we'll start with the don'ts, because that's the order that it comes. So, he said, blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

[13:21] All right? So, he breaks down. He's giving you three of those first. And they kind of go as a progression, to be perfectly honest with you. The first one, it says, hey, this man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, right?

[13:34] So, your walk, we speak in those terms. How's your walk with the Lord, right? That has everything to do with your character. Again, so going back to what Pastor Jerry was talking this morning. They don't walk in the counsel.

[13:48] What's the counsel? Counsel, that's counsel, advice, listening to what the folks say. Which folks? He says, you don't listen to the counsel of the ungodly, right?

[13:58] Is your character having a part with those ungodly, the advice of those folks who are the ungodly then? Right? Y'all following me? So, it begs the question then, for you and for I, what voices are you letting in?

[14:17] What are you taking into your life? What are you watching? What are you listening to? Are those the voices of the ungodly? Are you listening to their advice? Right? And they slip it in in really sneaky times and ways.

[14:28] You might be watching a cooking show, but they're still just slipping in part of what they think about everything anyway, right? So, number one, does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

[14:38] Number two says, nor stands in the way of sinners. Stands in the way. The way, meaning like a path, right? Can we all agree that the righteous are not going the same direction as the ungodly?

[14:54] Right? We don't follow their path. Right? Jesus would say, if I can keep up with my notes. There he is. Matthew 7, he says, enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.

[15:09] And there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few that find it.

[15:21] Do you find yourself walking their path? If you find yourself alone on that road, it feels lonely and there aren't many with you, don't be surprised.

[15:38] Right? Very frequently for those who follow the Lord, can it be a lonely road? Absolutely. There is a sanctified time of separation that the Lord uses.

[15:51] Are we supposed to be out of fellowship? Absolutely not. But even within fellowship, there are times in the walk of a believer where it can be very lonely, but that's where the Lord is doing what?

[16:03] He's separating you. He's got something special for you during that wilderness time. Don't outrun that. Let him have his work.

[16:14] Let him speak during those times. Right? But for me and for you, back to this part, they don't stand in the way of sinners.

[16:27] The first one is listening to their counsel. It's listening to their advice. The second one here is now starting to walk in it. Are you in that path? Are you finding yourself walking the same way that they are going?

[16:39] Right? And then the last thing he would say, the third one, he says, blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of the scornful. All of a sudden, there's a... We speak in those terms as well.

[16:50] Right? There's a seat. Like, you know, you think of Congress. A Senate seat. A seat of the House. Right? There's a position. There's a place. Right? He says, blessed is the person who doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful.

[17:06] Scornful mocker is another word for that there. Right? You're not one who's taking the place. This hasn't become your identity. This hasn't become your position that you're sitting with those who are now mocking and mocking what the Lord is doing.

[17:23] Do y'all see the progression in that, too? You're taking in the advice of them. Then at some point, you're walking in that way. And then it all of a sudden gets to... At some point, it turns and now, this is who I am.

[17:37] And I've taken this position and I'm sitting in this seat. Right? You tell me, where is it easier to stop that progression and to turn it back around if it's going in the wrong direction?

[17:50] It's much easier at the front end where it's just the advice, where you're just... You've been listening to something on YouTube or you've got friends who are just talking and telling you stuff.

[18:02] Much easier to cut it off at that end than when you've already made it all the way down to... You're sitting in there mocking. The mockers aren't always on the external, by the way.

[18:14] There's plenty of times I've got a mocker inside of here that's got plenty to say. All right? But... That's the don'ts.

[18:25] He flips it on verse 2. And he gives you the what to do. Now, just so y'all know, the Lord always has don'ts. But if your whole basis of relationship on the Lord is the don'ts, I don't do this, I don't do that, and therefore, I'm a good Christian.

[18:43] Right? You're doing a good thing at living life, not living a sinful life, but you're not living life then. Okay? The Lord always gives us the, hey, don't do this because I need to make room for what we are doing and what we are about.

[19:00] Right? So, we're going to avoid the sin. Yes, because I've got life and life eternal for you to live here. And so, for here, right, he was already speaking.

[19:11] Hey, we don't need those voices. I don't need the ungodly counsel. Right? But in verse 2, he says, But this man's delight is in the law of the Lord.

[19:22] And in his law does he meditate day and night. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Now, the law of the Lord, it's a literary term.

[19:34] Right? This would be what they call a synecdoche. Right? It's the law of the Lord. We know that that would be like the Torah, but it's using the specific to address the whole. This is the whole word of God.

[19:45] Okay? So, you want to be this man. You don't have to just sit in Genesis through Deuteronomy.

[19:56] But you can work through the whole counsel of God. I can't believe I blanked there, guys. Thank y'all. This is still nerves. Work with me. I appreciate you very much. But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

[20:12] Right? Delight. Do you delight in the word of God? You know, the example. So, I have the privilege of getting to teach the youth here. And so, we were talking about this the other day.

[20:24] And it was, you know, that was the example. Like, I call up my boys and go, Hey, guys, listen. I know it's busy. I need you to stop what you're doing and play your video games for about an hour.

[20:37] And they would say to me, Okay, Dad. No problem. I'm delighted. Okay? If it's your delight, is it a chore to do?

[20:48] No. It's a very different answer when I go, Hey, the dishes are undone. I need you to jump on that. Right? I don't get the, Oh, I'd be delighted. That's just not how that goes.

[21:00] All right? But, he's here. This is the delight of this blessed man. One of the other ways to kind of think of it would be, Hey, how hungry are you?

[21:15] What's your appetite for the Word of God? Right? And we talk in those terms. Man, that book, I couldn't set it down. I devoured it. I devoured this thing.

[21:26] Right? It's the same kind of thing here with the Word of God. How's your appetite? Are you happy with just, I read my verse?

[21:37] Hmm. Boy. I'm full. That was great. I got my one verse for the day and walk on. Right? Or is it you get into it and you're just like, Man, I can't stop. This is so good. Right?

[21:48] I, His delight. This man's delight. His appetites aren't for the other stuff now. His appetites have been trained to be here in the law of the Lord.

[22:00] And then it says, Not only does He delight in the law of the Lord, but in His law does He meditate day and night. Right? That word meditate, I got a little note here. It says, To ponder by talking to oneself.

[22:12] Right? It would say to mutter. Like, to mutter to oneself. You know? I don't know how many of you guys, when you read the Word of God, you get up, you go, Man, that was great.

[22:24] You set it down, and then all of a sudden it's like, Oh, that's right. I've got emails. I've got this. Oh, my wife needs me to go do that. Gosh, I've got to remember to make sure to go pick this up from the store on my way home too.

[22:34] And then what just happened to all that you read? That thing made wings and took off. Right? I get that. We're not exempt. Okay? Those things happen.

[22:45] But, this is, this blessed man, well, hey, he meditates on it day and night. It rolls around in there still. What do you do with it?

[22:57] When you read, when you, when you have, well, number one, are you in the Word of God? Right? Okay. Start there. If you are, then what are you doing with it afterwards? Right?

[23:09] Do you talk about it? Do you journal? Do you try to memorize something from it? Do you go digging more? Did it actually peak enough of your curiosity? You're going to pick up, you know, a Bible dictionary or a commentary or start listening to a sermon about it?

[23:24] Or do you just talk about it with, with other folks? Do you have people that you would actually like, pick up the phone or see when, or see in person and go, man, do you know what I was reading? And either talk to them about it or ask questions.

[23:37] Hey, what do you, have you read this one before? What do you think, what is it trying to say? Right? But how else do you help roll that around and meditate on it day and night?

[23:47] If those aren't habits of yours, hey, consider it. This is part of it. Right? And, uh, this man says he meditates day and night.

[24:01] And then the Lord gives an illustration of what that looks like. Verse three, it says, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in season and his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper.

[24:20] I want whatever in the world I'm doing to prosper. I'm not going to lie. I really do not enjoy working hard on something for it to flop. Right? But this is it. This is what this, this guy who's delighting in the Lord, this is part of it.

[24:36] Right? And he gives this illustration here. He says, okay, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I said this the other night and I chuckled to myself. I'm so thankful that he said a tree and not like a shrub.

[24:47] You know, because I think in my mind, I imagine myself to be probably much bigger in the Lord than I actually am. Um, so I love that he just kind of plays that for me too. Right?

[24:58] Okay. Shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. This ends up being, right, when we hear river of water, we're talking about fruit.

[25:11] We're talking about not withering in, in the, in the dry season in those times. How does that relate to mine in your life? What is that picture of? Well, the river ends up looking like this Holy Spirit.

[25:23] That ends up being, y'all remember Jesus when he's at the, uh, he's at the temple. It's that feast day. It's the last day of the great feast and they're pouring out the pitchers. And that last day, they take an empty pitcher and just symbolically pour it out.

[25:36] And they had, you know, six other days have been pouring the water on. And that last day, it was an empty one. And it was the picture of when the Lord would pour out his spirit. And Jesus just can't even contain it.

[25:48] It's the solemn day. It's perfectly quiet. And Jesus just cries out, all who would thirst come unto me and from his belly will flow torrents of living water.

[25:59] Speaking of the Holy Spirit, right? In this picture here, the tree gets planted right beside the rivers of water. The Holy Spirit, we're that tree now with our roots growing deep down into the Holy Spirit and getting to draw up that life, that ever, everlasting, eternal life.

[26:17] We are drawing that in now. And because of that, now we bring forth fruit in season or out of season and it won't wither, right? When you hear the fruit, what do you think of?

[26:29] What do we think of? That'd be Galatians, right? The fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, even in the dry times, like we were just talking about, right?

[26:40] There's dry times in life, in our walk with the Lord. But even in the dry times, is there still fruit? Is it still sweet?

[26:51] Is it still juicy? Is it still appetizing to the folks who are around you? Right? Because you think about that tree, we're talking about the tree that's right by the riverside. There's the tree that's not planted right by the river, but it's off a little bit.

[27:05] When it's dry, can it, can it have the same, can it produce the same fruit? Is it going to, is it, does it have enough water to be able to produce ripe, juicy peaches?

[27:18] Probably not. It's just trying to survive. But in that same time, in those same conditions, the one that's planted right by the river, no problem. It brings it right out. How are you in your life during that time, during those dry times, would the people around you say, yeah, what's still coming off of, coming out of your life, what's still being produced?

[27:41] It's still sweet. It's still, oh, it's lovely. Right? Does it look like love, joy? Does it, is it still peaceful? Right? Right? I want to be that guy.

[27:54] I want to be that guy. We, me, me and Pastor Jared talked about this on different times. The last thing that I really want to do is end up being that old crotchety man at the end of my life. You know, get off my lawn.

[28:05] Right? I don't want to be that guy. Right? How do you do that? Oh, you got to still be plugged in to that river of eternal life so that the fruit that does come off, it's still pleasant.

[28:20] I really hope that I'm the old man just telling the same dumb dad jokes over again, still giggly. That's really my like, oh, please God, let me be that. You know?

[28:34] But this is the man that I want to be. Right? Right? And so, in light of the rest of what we're talking about, right, how do we, how do we want to be?

[28:53] Who do we want to be? You know, as we go back, you flip back to 2 Timothy. I mean, the whole point is, again, I want to please him.

[29:06] I want to be pleasing to the one who enlisted me. How do I do that? Right? Well, not get entangled in it. And what's he, what's he calling? Even those, those first verses there that are in 2 Timothy.

[29:19] Chapter two, verse one, he says, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you've heard of me among many witnesses, commit those to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

[29:33] Like, are y'all catching those first two verses here? It's again, this relationship, hey, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And then committed to faithful men who will commit it to other faithful men, right?

[29:49] Who will teach again. It's this relationship here. This is that theme kind of comes up. Y'all can just kind of keep watching that as you read through the scriptures too. But this is who we're to be.

[30:03] And the last, the thing that's going to happen is you've got an enemy who wants to trip you up. He wants to entangle you. He wants you to fall. You think about the armor that's talked about in Ephesians and what's it there to do?

[30:18] He says, I'm giving you this armor so that you would stand, so that you will stand in the day of the enemy, in the day of, well, of warfare hit then, right?

[30:31] He wants to entangle you. And so as we're thinking about, as we're thinking about getting entangled, right? Where's the best place to go ahead and not to short circuit that of that progression we were talking about in Psalm 1?

[30:49] It's at the beginning, right? Having good, good gates, good walls, as far as what are we allowing into our life? What are we allowing into our mind in the first place?

[30:59] Let me give you two, let me give you two verses here that we're going to filter some of the rest of our talk here through, right? Romans 16, 19. And he says, I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.

[31:17] And that's Romans 16, 19. All right? I'm just giving you all that again so you can write it down. But he says, I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil, right? I want to be wise in what he's already asked me to be delighted in, right?

[31:33] What's the good stuff? I want to delight in that. Be here. Be wise in this. And then he says, be simple concerning evil, right? Okay.

[31:43] Simple, like ignorant, like I'm a simpleton, you know? Do people, when they're telling you jokes, do you kind of give them a like, I've really got no idea what you're talking about.

[31:54] You know, I've had those. I have been so thankful because at other times I knew exactly what they were talking about, much to my shame, right? And then later at other times in my life, they're saying stuff and I'm going, I've got no idea.

[32:08] You know, there's, there's a verse in Titus that says to the pure, all things are pure. And I still remember that day, guy comes up, he's, he like is telling me this stuff and I'm kind of giving him this blank look and he starts to, because he still wants it to be funny.

[32:23] So he starts to explain more. And as he's explaining more, you can see this kind of shame coming over his face as he's even saying what he's saying. And it was one of those moments I just went kind of like, oh, Lord, you've changed me to the pure, all things are pure.

[32:39] I had no clue. Oh, this is really cool. You know, it's like the increments of it. Right. But this is where I'm simple concerning some of that stuff.

[32:50] And you know, how do you do that? I mean, so much of it, like, do you, what are the movies that you're taking in? What are the things that you're listening to? You know, like, because that's what half of it is. Oh, did you see that movie?

[33:03] Actually, no, I did not. I'm actually a better man without that stuff still rattling around in my brain, you know, after I go to bed later. So no, right. Be, be simple concerning evil.

[33:15] The other one that, that pops up whenever I think of this is Romans 12, nine. And he says, let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.

[33:28] It's not often you get the word abhor, right? As something like, this is what you need to do. Abhor this. All right. But this is one of those. This is, this is part of that like litmus test that the Lord has used in my life many a time.

[33:40] Right. So again, just so if y'all write it down, that's Romans 12, nine, let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, clean to what is good. Right.

[33:51] And just thinking about, Hey, what are you taking in? If you're looking at stuff on the computer, on your phone, adult content stuff, that's kind of blatant.

[34:01] It's evil. Abhor it. Have no part of it. Right. Knock it off. Stop it. Okay. That's, that's kind of the easiest one that we all know.

[34:12] You look at it and I pray that the Lord pricks your heart when it does. Right. And as one who's, who's argued with that kind of stuff throughout, you know, life, don't let that little voice get turned off.

[34:31] That voice, those times, those moments, that's the Lord calling you back. And I'll be honest, if when you hear that voice, if all of a sudden your initial reaction is, Oh junk, I need to run and hide, you miss the point of what the Lord is doing.

[34:50] Because what the reaction needs to be, the reaction that he calls us to have is to, Oh junk, I got to run to my dad. He can fix this. I can't fix this. And if, if that's the way that you are with your heavenly father, you're on the right path and you're doing what's right.

[35:08] Because that, any of these things, any of these moments, right? It's a call to come back to him. It's always an indicator. Oh, I'm a little off. I need to draw close. Right?

[35:19] Okay. I've got a progression in my head. You're going to walk with me for a second. Right? You got the stuff that you know is just blatant evil.

[35:30] Don't do that. Right? Then I'll talk to you. I'm a, I'm, I'm just walking through. We're going to challenge everybody here. So if you ain't, you ain't like pricked here in a minute, then I don't know. You're, you're either doing great or you're just not listening.

[35:41] But, so for next set in my mind was kind of like the movies and shows. Right? What do they glorify? Right? I loved action movies.

[35:52] I've always loved action movies. But do they glorify murder? Okay. Well, murder is evil. Abhor that. Right? The funny movies, romantic movies or whatever, those kinds of things, those shows, are they slipping in the subtle lustful stuff?

[36:06] When you turn it off, it's still a scene replaying in your head then. Right? I don't need that in my life. I'm a better man when that's not in my, rattling around in my brain, to be perfectly honest. Right?

[36:17] Abhor it. Let it go. Well, Aaron, that really doesn't leave a lot of TV shows that we can watch. Agreed. Let them go.

[36:30] Let them go. But what else am I going to do with my evening then? I've had that thought. Like, the amount of time that I have wasted in my life over, like, shows.

[36:41] We loved to watch the NFL, the NBA, all that kind of stuff. And then they started pushing so much junk, and it's like, I can't even enjoy this.

[36:52] Let it go. If I'd have done that years ago, I probably would have picked up a new instrument. I probably would have learned a new language. I'd have definitely studied the word more. I probably would have another degree under my belt.

[37:03] You know, it's all the time that I would have spent with my family, the projects that we could have done. I mean, just sheerly the wastefulness of the time should be enough to, for us all to go, yeah, we should probably just put that down and learn how to, you know, do woodworking or something.

[37:16] You know, welding. Thank you, Kevin. You know, whatever in the world it could be, should be. Right? Let them go.

[37:28] All right? And then the last one then that in my mind starts becoming, okay, well, what are you doing with, uh, with this one then? Right? I mean, half of, it's not watching shows most of the time. It's like, okay, let me, let me put on a, something YouTube or start scrolling through Instagram or Facebook or, you know, any, any of these things.

[37:44] And it ends up with, it's funny because Facebook, we just aren't on Facebook. I don't know. I mean, my wife ain't been on Facebook in forever, but had to get back on because of some like stuff with the school and just watch, seeing all of our old friends and just to watch, how angry people get.

[38:00] They just like throw some random thing in there. Something political pops up, you know, Oh, Biden was the greatest. And then you just watch it like explode, you know, and just everybody, and the fuming anger just like flies out.

[38:16] Oh, can you believe what this person did? What this person did? Oh, and then they, and then you just start going at each other in there. You know, you've had, it falls right in line with the news too.

[38:29] Right? I mean, that's where so much of, of people get their news now is off of the YouTube or whatever else. Right? It's not so much CBS like it used to be or whatever, but you're watching those.

[38:39] And then how do you come out of it? Do you,! has the fruit of the spirit like increased in your life coming out of that? Because I'll be honest in mind, it normally is not.

[38:51] I've normally come out of that either mad. Normally I'm just mad. I'm just mad. And the way, and then I know that they do it intentionally and you'd know it too. They do it to bait you and just like, I can't believe.

[39:03] And it's normally something I've got zero control over. I know nobody who's actually directly affected, but boy, they're telling me that I should be mad. And you know what? They're right. I should be mad. Right?

[39:14] Or it goes the other way and it's the fearful. Oh gosh, what is going to happen? Is the economy really going to collapse? You know? Where does it leave you when you are taking all that in?

[39:32] Because I'll challenge you the same way that I've gotten challenged. I'm a better man, not really paying that much attention to it. I'm a much better man when I'm staying, paying attention to this or really paying attention to what the Lord is doing in my world right around me.

[39:49] What's happening in the people's lives that are right there. The ones that I got put in charge of. How's my wife? Okay. Number one ministry, right? If I'm mad because of what I just saw on the phone and then I come in the house and she goes, Hey, how are you?

[40:02] And I'm going, Oh, you won't believe this. I pretty much missed an opportunity. Right? Kids come running. Hey, dad, do you know, can you, you want to come and do this?

[40:14] Okay. Yeah, let's, let's, let's go do it. But I'm gritting my teeth because I'm mad about something stupid that I just watched on there. Right? Guys, it ain't worth it. We are citizens of which country first?

[40:28] Heaven. Second is this one. And it's so easy to get riled up and roped in and again, entangled, entangled in the affairs of this world.

[40:44] Is it wrong to know those things and to see those things? No. Right? Face value. No. The Lord has done incredible work through Christian men.

[40:59] I think William Wilberforce, right? Ending slavery. All of that was based in and standing on the word of God. Yes. But if it overtakes his call for you, if it overtakes your attention, so you're not delighting in him and in his word, you're missing those opportunities of the things that he's actually playing.

[41:23] Turn it off. Turn it off. Let it go. Now, I will say that in a conference like this where we are talking very much about breaking strongholds, resetting your mind, you know, there's stuff here.

[41:52] Oh, well, I can make my checklist. You know what? You're right. I need to, I enjoy that YouTube, but I should, I should put that one aside. Okay, great. And then I need to make sure that every morning I'm waking up.

[42:05] I'm going to set my alarm for 430 in the morning so that I can get up and have my time with that. And then at night, I'm going to do this and I'm going to make sure to pray. And, and you make your list, right?

[42:18] that's not the point, guys. Y'all know that, right? Because if your relationship with the Lord is based on, well, if I do this, if I do that, I'll be a better Christian.

[42:34] And I don't know, you get a better star, an extra jewel in your crown. Like, I'm not really sure actually how that works, but I know that that's what's inside of each one of us almost, because it's like, I, I, I just need to do more.

[42:52] But the Lord would say to you and me, Hey, you're already doing okay. You're, I love you. I died for you. How many of your sins were yet future when he died on the cross?

[43:05] All of them. The ones that you've already done now, and the ones that you still are going to do. Do those catch him off guard? No, no, no, no.

[43:18] And again, guys, when, when these things are coming up, when all of a sudden that thought pops up in your mind, take it captive. Yes. But that needs to be again.

[43:30] Oh, I need to run to dad, not run away from dad because he's going to punish me. No, I need to run to him. That's the call. That's an indicator light.

[43:40] That's like the check engine light just came on. Right? Oh, all of a sudden I had this thought. Oh, Lord. Okay. I'm coming to you. Lord, take care of this.

[43:51] Right? Same thing. It's supposed to be that flashing. Turn back to me. Because what's his call is his call to be better or to be closer. Does he want you to be a better Christian?

[44:05] Is that what he's pushing? Is that what he's telling you here? Or is he saying, no, I want you to be closer to me. When these things happen, when stuff happens, when stuff's coming in. Oh, Lord.

[44:16] Lord, Lord, help me. He's asking you to draw closer. Right? That's the whole idea. Abide in Christ. Don't be entangled in this world.

[44:28] I want to please the one who enlisted me. This is how we fight that battle. We draw close. The one who already has the victory, the one who is victorious, that's the one.

[44:41] Right? Father, we do. Ah, Dad. Thank you that you love us. Thank you that you would call us that blessed man. Lord, and I pray that we would get to turn, and we would get to walk in that.

[44:54] Lord, I pray that we would not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. We would not walk in or stand in the path of sinners. We've not sit in the seat of the scorners. Lord, but I do pray that these men, all of them, all of us, Lord, we would be those that delight in your word and that we would meditate on it day and night.

[45:10] Father, I pray that you would just continue to show us more and more what it means to put off the old man and put on the new man and the character of him. The one that is renewed in righteousness and looks like you, Father, I pray that we would be that one walking around here, joyous, with peace.

[45:29] Ah, Lord, I pray that that would be not anything manufactured, but just by your spirit. And as you fill us afresh, Dad, fill us afresh today.

[45:40]  We need you, Father. We thank you, Lord. Thank you for what you are doing, how you're moving, how you're working. You are good. It's in Jesus name that we do pray. Amen. Amen.