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Join us for Sunday Sermons from Pastor Ronald Daugherty. Recorded live at New Beginnings Full Gospel Church where he presides as pastor. New Beginnings Full Gospel Church is located in the south side of Chicago. A small community church founded by Bishop Corneal Harper, and Pastor Joyce A. Harper in 1996. Rooted in service, community, love, and the teachings of the word. Under Pastor Ronald Daughertys leadership New Beginnings continues to be a staple in the community. Listen, Learn, and Be blessed.
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Hallelujah.
If you don't know that he's been good,
take a breath.
If it still works, then he's been good.
If it's still happening,
then he's been good.
that's still functioning and
he has been good and we owe
him the praise.
Amen.
You can have your seats.
We praise God.
We bless him and we magnify
him for his goodness unto us.
Nobody like our God.
Nobody like our God and we
are grateful and we are
thankful for his goodness unto us.
He's awesome in what he does
and the great thing about
it is that he continues to do
but he's always done.
Amen.
Amen.
Whether we stop to give him praise or not,
he done set it in motion.
It keeps happening over and over again.
And for that, we are indeed grateful.
We thank God for each of you
who are here in the sanctuary.
And those who have joined us
via Facebook or YouTube or
however you're seeing us, hey,
God is good.
We bless him and we thank
him for his goodness and
for you being a part of
what's going on in the
house of God on today.
We bless God.
We thank God.
We just want to come and as
we gather on Sundays,
we come to lift him up.
Why do I come to lift?
Yeah, I come with some things.
I need him to do some things.
But it's just like when you
go to work on your payday,
When they give you the check,
it's not for what you're about to do.
It's for what you've already done.
It's what you've already worked,
how you've already given.
So when we come into the house of God,
although I have some things
I need for him to do for me right now,
I've got to glorify him for
what he's already done.
how he's been faithful, how he's been good,
how he has made a way,
how he has covered me,
how he has kept me when I
kept the line and when I
didn't even see what the line was.
Amen, amen.
Some of us, we didn't have them days.
You know,
they taught you when you were
young to try to color inside the lines.
And some of us knew better,
but we just wanted to go
all over the paper.
Forget the lines.
Let me just express myself.
Amen.
In the days I stayed within the lines,
in the days I expressed myself,
he has been consistent and faithful.
For his goodness, I give him glory, honor,
and praise.
And again,
we thank God for each of you who
are here to be a part of
our worship on today.
Amen.
We're going to get into the
word of God in just a moment,
but just kind of let you
know as we are preparing for next Sunday.
Next Sunday is the first
Sunday of February, right?
First Sunday of February.
So y'all know we're starting
phase two of our Daniel Fast.
Sunday morning,
when you get up next Sunday.
I don't want you to forget,
so let me throw it in now.
Next Sunday,
we're starting phase two of
our Daniel Fast.
And the way that we do it here,
and we got reasons.
It ain't scriptural.
Well, that ain't in the Bible.
But we just for the sake of
the people here and for
what God is doing for us
and just for us being able
to see victory.
Sometimes I got to be able
to see victory before I
give myself fully to pursue it.
If I don't see it,
if you look a long way off,
I'm struggling.
So we've taken our 21-day
Daniel fast and we've
broken it up into three sections.
The first full week of January,
the first full week of February,
and the first full week of March.
For seven days,
we fast from six in the
morning to six in the evening,
nothing but water.
After six in the evening,
you can have a sensible meal.
Sensible wouldn't let me
clarify because for some of
y'all sensible is like
everything I missed.
That makes sense, right?
No, no, no.
Something light, something sensible.
So you ain't trying to go to bed, try to,
you know, made up for breakfast,
lunch and now dinner.
No, we have a sensible meal.
So from Sunday through Saturday,
from six in the morning to
six in the evening,
we do nothing but water.
For us, for our last hour,
from five o'clock to six
o'clock in the evening,
we get on our Zoom call and
we pray for the last hour.
So we pray each day out of the fast.
So we break it up in three sections.
So when you look at your Daniel fast,
you're not looking at 21 days alone.
You're looking at seven at a time.
seven at a section and I can
see myself doing seven a
lot of times as opposed to
doing 21. so we just kind
of adjusted just a little
bit so those of you next
sunday morning when you get
up go into the kitchen by
throwing the eggs and all
that on and uh we start our
fast next so let me tell
you now so you won't come
here sunday morning then
look at us oh man I forgot oh okay
If you forgot, you forgot on purpose.
Amen.
Amen.
So next Sunday we'll be
starting our phase two of
our Daniel fast.
And we praise God and we
bless God for those who are
entering in to do it.
David said this too when he
had sinned in numbering the
people and God began to
send judgment against the
people and people were
dying and God was ready for David,
ready to kind of intercede.
And the angel of the Lord
was going through the land
and he had his sword drawn.
And at one point God stopped him and said,
okay, stop.
And the angel of the Lord
kind of stood and hovered
over with his sword drawn.
David was able to see this
and the prophets talked to
David and David began to
realize he wanted to offer
sacrifice to God because
God had stayed the hand of
the angel who was
destroying the land because
of David's sin.
And I'm not talking about Bathsheba,
but when he numbered the people,
it was against what God wanted.
And David had pushed and had it done.
So David saw what was going
on and through words of the
prophet that was there,
David went to this field to
make an offering,
to build a sacrifice unto God.
When he got to the field,
the owner of the field saw
David coming and began to ask David,
why are you here?
And David told him,
I need to I need this field.
I need a wood for the
sacrifice to build the
altar and I need cattle or an offering.
And and then the owner of the field said,
listen, whatever you want, just take it.
You're the king.
I give it to you.
And David said, no, no, no.
I don't offer God nothing
that doesn't cost me something.
So when I begin to think
about fasting and stuff like that,
you know, we want to,
we want to give God the easy things,
you know,
that we got plenty of and things
of that nature.
But,
but when I really want to honor God
and reach him,
it's going to cost me something.
And I've got to be willing
to give the sacrifice.
So for a lot of us,
you think about not eating
from six in the morning to
six in the evening.
Oh Jesus, can I at least have my coffee?
Some of y'all, y'all,
they ain't right until y'all had coffee,
but y'all don't just do coffee.
Y'all got karma macchiato
with all kind of stuff in it.
Please.
Okay, so we're going to refrain.
We're going to offer a
sacrifice to God in our time of fasting.
So starting next Sunday,
we're jumping right into it, phase two,
and we'll hit phase three in March.
Just want to let you know so
you'll be ready so we can
get in there and do it.
But when we offer sacrifice to God,
he comes through.
Amen.
He doesn't allow us to
sacrifice for him and him
not do anything in return.
He blesses us.
He builds us and strengthens us.
So however, you know,
as you want to be a part of that,
I realize some of you have
medical issues and you've
got to take your medication
and then it calls for you
to take a little something
because some of it bothers your stomach.
I understand that.
And I'm not saying don't do that.
I'm not saying that.
Do what you need to do,
but you don't need a whole
breakfast to take your two pills.
Amen.
You can take your piece of toast.
It'll be enough.
It'll get it for you.
All right.
So next week,
starting Sunday through Saturday,
we'll be in our phase two
of our Daniel fast.
We want to also be mindful
of there are a number of
our members who are dealing
with illnesses.
We want to continue to pray for them.
We continue to pray for Elder Larry.
Our minister Dorothy is not here.
We're praying for her and a
various number of other
people who are dealing with some issues.
We want to keep lifting them up in prayer.
God is able and he's doing a great work.
So let me encourage us to
pray for one another.
When you don't see your
brother or sister here,
please lift them up in prayer.
You don't know what's going on,
but God does.
He hears and answers prayer.
He hears and answers prayer.
Glory to God for his goodness.
God is a great God.
All right, all right.
Let's move on.
Let's get on down the way.
Faster next week.
Just have to throw that
there one more time.
God is good.
All those who have your Bibles,
if you would open up to
Book of Romans chapter 8.
We just kind of continuing
down the way that we've
been going this year.
Our theme for the year is let's grow.
Let's grow.
Let's grow.
And we're looking at the
areas in which we grow.
The first quarter of the year,
we'll be talking about
growing spiritually.
There needs to be some
developing in us as we're
moving on to serve and to know the Lord,
growing spiritually.
Next quarter,
the second quarter of the year,
we'll be talking about
growing financially.
And I'm not talking about
everybody getting rich.
I'm talking about getting
your finances in order.
doing things the way that
God has prescribed them for
us and that will help us to
benefit us financially.
And it may cause us to get rich.
You don't know.
But as we do it the right way,
then there are blessings attached to it.
I think the third quarter
we're talking about growing relationally,
and that's with husband and
wife relationships,
parent and children relationships,
family type deal,
all of those type of
relationships we'll be kind
of covering during that time.
We want to grow relationally.
In the last quarter,
we'll be talking about
growing in a self-development.
I think I said academic growth,
but self-development.
There are some things in you,
there's potential in you.
And you don't want to die
not having at least exposed
yourself or expressed that potential.
So we want to be growing in
those areas so we're developing.
So God has a full person that he's using.
and doing great things for us,
but we bless God and we
thank God for what's going on.
So in the book of Romans chapter eight,
we're gonna start at verse nine.
It says, but ye are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit,
if so be that the spirit of
God dwell in you.
If any man have not the spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit is life
because of righteousness.
But if the spirit of him
that raised Jesus up from
the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren,
we are not debtors to the
flesh to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die.
But if through the Spirit ye
do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live.
And we'd just like to take
as a thought for this morning.
I know how I want to say it,
and I'm going to say it how
I want to say it,
but I'm going to say it the
way that I said it, wrote it.
How are you living?
Spelled it all, L-I-V-I-N-G.
But when I looked at it, I said,
how you living?
Like we said in our neighborhood,
how you living?
We don't get all proper,
how are you living?
And now we say, how you living?
In other words,
what's going on in your life?
How are you doing the things that you do?
What is the path that you're taking?
How are you engaged and what
are you bringing in the
past as you go about the
walk that you are in?
How are you living?
What are you engaged in?
What are the goals that you
have and all of this type of stuff?
How are you living?
Some of us,
we look at our lives and
they're real raggedy.
We just fly by ear,
by the seat of our pants,
whatever we feel like we're
doing and stuff like that with no goal,
with no destination other
than I'm going to make it
through the day.
Didn't make up my bed this
morning because I'm going
to get back in it tonight.
For some of y'all, that's a travesty,
the devil.
You ain't going to make up your bed.
What's wrong with you?
But we bless God because, you know, hey.
But how you living?
How you living?
How you living?
So we've been talking about
this spiritual growth and
we're talking about growing
and developing spiritually.
And one of the things we
talked about on the first
Sunday that we talked about it was,
our topic was flesh,
you ain't the boss of me.
And we discussed how God created this body,
this flesh to give us
connection with this world
that he created.
And when God did all of that,
he looked at it and said, this is good.
Very good.
Man was so in sync with God
that whatever God said,
whatever God's thoughts
were about the thing,
man followed through fully.
We talked about God talking
about the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
He told them not to eat of
the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.
And so in tune were they
with God that they didn't
even look in the direction.
of the tree.
So how do you know that?
Because when the serpent
brought the tree of
knowledge of good need to Eve,
Eve hadn't even looked.
When she looked at it, it says,
then she saw it was
something to be desired.
So how can it be something
beautiful or desirable and
you don't know that it's desirable?
You ain't been paying no attention.
Why were they not paying no attention?
Because God said, don't bother it.
So in sync with God were the
people that if God said don't do a thing,
then they turned and went the other way.
Ain't no need of me going over there.
God said no.
God said no and I'm gonna do
what God says.
God visited them in the cool
of the day and they were glad to see him.
When the enemy beguiled them
when he tricked them.
That's the thing about y'all.
Y'all got to watch
advertisement because
there'll be some things
that you ain't even thought
about in a commercial come
on and all of a sudden it's in your head.
Oh,
I ain't had one of them in I don't know
how long.
And you start desiring it again and again.
The more you see the advertisement,
the more you want it.
And before you know it,
you're going in the
direction of that thing.
So what the enemy was doing
to Eve was beginning to
advertise the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
Listen,
you've been not even paying that no
attention.
Let me get your mind over here.
Look at this tree.
It look good.
Something to be desired.
And if you eat of it,
you will be like God.
She saw that it was
something to be desired.
Went in that direction.
So I have to be careful
about what's going on.
And especially, you know,
when I'm dealing with this flesh,
because that's what the
enemy tempts us through.
The pull and the desires of this flesh.
There's some things that he
know you ain't even interested in.
It don't do nothing for you
or nothing like that.
You know, you see it.
But there are some other
things that just the sight
of it catches your full attention.
And the thing about the
devil was he takes notes
about what gets your attention.
And if ever he needs to get
to you or want to get to you,
you know he's going to
bring up something that you
are interested in,
that you have some inkling toward,
that you desire.
That's what he bloom blasts in your eye.
You're like, ooh.
Before you know it, you keep looking,
he will pull you in.
It's through the desires of
this flesh that he gets us.
So this flesh that God
created and said was good,
the enemy tempted Eve and
through her yielding to the temptation,
now this flesh has been
infected with an illness
called sin and is dying now
where it was living before.
Dying because it's now
separated from the will and
the purpose of God in that
it crossed the line.
It did what it was not
supposed to do and it began
to bring about a death.
So the next time God's come
walking in the garden
instead of Adam and Eve running, say,
hey.
They was like, oh.
And they went to hiding.
Pulled them and got their
attention through this flesh.
So that God created and said was good.
Now it's being corrupted.
And it's not in sync with
God like it once was because of sin.
we talked about that flesh
you ain't the boss of me so
it's getting controlled
realizing what goes on with
this flesh without yield to
it because it's trying to
bring me under subjection
to itself so last week we
came and we came back and
we're trying to help us
grow for so so the way that
I begin to grow is one
become become aware of
what's stopped or uh hindering my growth
I got to become aware of
what it is so now I know what to fight.
And man,
if I don't know that the cake is
giving me sugar diabetes, OK, move on.
All right?
Or the salt is causing my
blood pressure to go up, I keep doing it.
But when I start knowing it,
now I got to do something
about it so I can't eat the whole cake.
I can't eat not in one sitting.
It ain't good like that.
It ain't good like that.
So I become aware of that so
that I can begin to fight this.
So the next thing,
the lesson we talked about,
we talked about what's in
your head or where your
head at last week.
Our thoughts, the space and place,
our minds begin to become
really kind of pulled in
the direction of either our flesh,
Or our spirit.
The mind, they say, is the battleground,
the battlefield.
And there is a fight for the
control of the mind.
So I have to keep my mind in
the right place or toward
spiritual things or the
things of God so that I'm
not snared by what the enemy is bringing.
So what I begin to feed my
mind is the direction that I go in.
We kind of use that as an illustration.
Last week,
have you ever been walking
somewhere or even driving?
All y'all drivers,
as you're driving somewhere
and you're in your lane,
you got your hand on the steering wheel,
10 and 2 or 1 and whatever,
with your knee or however you're steering,
because y'all get fancy.
But you're in the lane,
you're going straight,
but something over here
catches your attention and
you turn your head to look at it.
And you look back and you
see you have veered in the
direction of your head.
Unconscious to you what was going on,
you start going in the
direction because the
direction of your head or
what's going on in your
mind is the direction you
eventually going to be going in.
So I have to keep my mind in
the right thing so I stay
going in the right direction.
And although I may sometimes
be caught up in things in this world,
in my job situation, stuff like that,
my mind gets pulled in
various directions because
of the environment that I'm in.
When I get by myself,
I got to realize that I need to detoxify,
get my head back in the
right space and place so
that I stay in the right track.
Because if I just keep
allowing those things to
infiltrate my mind,
I'll be pulled in that direction.
So I've got to do something
to counterbalance what's been going on.
I've got to find spaces and
places where I get with God
and before God so the
things that I've been
experiencing all day long,
he can detoxify me.
He can get me back in line
or get my head straight so
I'm not pulled in those directions.
So I've gotta be careful and
mindful of these things so
that I can begin to grow
and to develop the way that
I need to grow and develop
because of what's going on around me.
I wanna be what God wants me to be.
I wanna live like God wants me to live.
So I'm going in the
direction that he has me or
that he wants me to go.
That he wants me to go,
the things that he wants me to do.
So today we're gonna talk
about how you're living.
How are you living or how you're living?
Depending on what side of
the street you live on.
Tomato, tomato, potato, potato.
Same thing.
All right.
So as I'm thinking about how I'm living,
as we read in the verses in Romans,
it begins to talk about
that when I begin to live
after the flesh or give
myself to the pullings of the flesh,
it's really bringing about a death in me.
So if my only way of
carrying out or living this
life is the influences of
this world and this world system,
I will find out that I am
setting myself up to die
spiritually and not be all
that God will have me to be.
We realize this,
that when Jesus was here
among this earth and he
walked and he talked to his
disciples about him leaving
and going back to heaven, he said,
but I won't leave you comfortless.
I'm going to send you
something that's going to help you.
He says in John 14, 16 through 18 says,
and I will pray the father
and he shall give you
another comforter that he
may abide with you forever.
Even the spirit of truth
whom the world cannot
receive because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him,
but ye know him and he,
for he dwelleth with you
and shall be in you.
i will not leave you
comfortless I will come to
you so jesus is saying to
his disciples I gotta get
out of here but I'm not
gonna leave you to fend for
yourself in this world by
yourself I'm gonna give you
a comfort because later in
the 17th chapter as he's
praying for them he says
father you know telling god
to keep them because they
are in the world but they
are not of the world
I need you to keep them in
the way that God keeps us
in the right path is that
he gives us his spirit.
And the Spirit of God is
there to lead us the right
way and keep us on track
and on course so that we
fulfill the plan and
purpose of God for our lives,
so that we grow and develop.
But I've got to realize and know this,
that as I'm living this life,
that there is this flesh
pulling one way and the
Spirit pulling the other way.
And they're both vying for
life in my body.
And I've got to determine
how I'm going to live.
Am I going to live after the flesh?
or am I gonna live after the Spirit?
So God sends me this help of
the Holy Spirit to help me, to guide me,
to lead me in the way so
that I'm not drawn or taken
over by the things of this world.
He gives me His Spirit,
but I've got to choose.
I've got to choose which one
I'm gonna follow.
And it's left up to me to make the choice.
Yes, we tell God, you know,
we want the Holy Spirit to
come on us and just take me
and move me the way.
He can guide you.
But you got to follow.
He can lead you.
He can point you.
But you got to take steps in
that direction.
And they're both vying for
our attention and pulling for us.
And we got to make the decision,
how am I going to be living?
Am I going to live after the flesh?
Or am I going to live after the spirit?
He says, you live after the flesh,
then it's going to lead you to death.
But if you live in the spirit,
then there is life that comes to you.
But I've got to make the determination
And step in the direction of
where I'm going.
I've come to find out this about God.
With every temptation that
has come my way.
With every challenge that I have faced.
Although sometimes I may
have fallen into that.
But when I go back and analyze it.
God has been faithful always
for me to provide a way of escape.
If I take it.
If I take it.
Somewhere in that path, a door opened,
a window opened,
something came that said to you,
this ain't the way you wanna go,
come out now.
But it was left to me to
make the determination
whether I will come out or
whether I'm gonna stay in.
But for a lot of us in a lot
of different cases,
we decided that we gonna
hang around for a little bit,
cause it ain't that bad.
This feels good.
I'm enjoying what's going on.
When it talks about Moses
having to make the decision
about whether he would
suffer with the children of God,
the recompense or what comes with that,
or to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season,
Moses chose rather to
suffer with the people of God.
But when you start talking
about suffer and then enjoy,
if I offered you suffer,
and I offer to enjoy, where you going?
For most of us, listen,
if you gonna give me cake or medicine,
you know what I'm taking.
I don't like sweets, okay.
Whatever I offer you as
opposed to medicine,
you ain't taking the medicine.
Although I know that we were
talking about castor oil yesterday.
And I know, listen,
I don't even care how much
sugar you put with it.
I don't want the castor oil,
but it's good for me and
it's going to run whatever
in me out of me.
It's the choice that I make.
There's a choice that will
lead me to life.
And there's a choice that's
gonna lead me to death.
And I gotta determine which
way I'm gonna be living.
What am I gonna yield to?
What am I gonna give myself to?
And although it may be
pleasurable right now,
what is the end result of this?
Will it get me to where God
wants me to be?
Will it move me in the
direction of growing in God?
Or is it going to hinder me
to the point that it kills me?
Some of us in our progress
or in our striving to
achieve goals in our lives
and things that we have set
before us and it's a common
occurrence across every situation.
Whenever you set a goal and
you set your mind and get
in that direction,
you will find out that as
soon as you start moving in
that direction,
distractions come from everywhere.
Vying for your attention.
Come on,
it ain't gonna be but for a minute.
Some stuff would only take a minute.
So I've got to stay on
course and I've got to keep
my heart and mind in this
space and place and realize
that God sent his spirit to
me so that I will not be
ensnared or trapped by these things,
but I can live in the
spirit and enjoy the
abundance of life that God has for me.
Use the word God didn't send
his spirit to me.
Have you given your life to the Lord?
I know we got through, you know,
you got to get saved and
then you got to be filled
with the Holy Ghost and stuff like that.
Let me tell you what happens.
You don't get into God
without first the Spirit drawing you.
You ain't even looking in
God's direction unless the
Spirit is drawing you.
And then when I give my life to God,
when I surrender and say
yes to him that I want him
to be my Savior,
the thing that gets me into
the body of Christ is the Spirit.
It seals me.
It becomes the mark on my
life that I belong to him.
Now, yes,
there is this feeling of the
spirit and then there's
feeling again and feeling again.
But when I give my life to God,
I get his spirit right then and there.
The scripture says,
if you don't have his spirit,
then you are none of his.
So if I gave him my life and I became his,
then let's say I got the spirit.
I got his spirit.
Now there is growing in the
Spirit and there's
developing in the Spirit
and there's having the
Spirit fully fill your life
and lead you and guide you,
but you ain't got to wait
on nothing to get His Spirit.
Now the thing that helps the
Spirit grow is that I start
doing those things that are spiritual.
I get in his word, I get in his presence,
I come among the saints and
service time and things of
that nature and I learn of
him and that begins to fill
and grow me in the spirit.
So when life starts
presenting its challenges
or its temptations to me
because I'm living in the spirit,
I can say no or turn away
from the things of this life.
But when I'm not feeding my spirit, man,
why does this wolf thing
keep coming up in my head?
When I'm not feeding the spiritual man.
Hmm.
Jesus told his disciples
when he went in the garden to pray,
he got them together.
He left nine of them here.
He took three with him a little closer.
Then he left them and he
went to pray and he told them,
tarry here and pray while I, you know,
go.
And then he got himself when
he came back an hour later
and he saw them sleeping.
And he said,
could you not watch with me for one hour?
Then he says this thing.
He said, the spirit is willing.
But the flesh.
There is a desire to do the
things of God and to be
what God wants you to be
and live the way.
But there was a flesh that said, no, no,
I want my cake.
I want my ice cream.
I want to take me a nap.
I done worked hard all day, dah, dah, dah,
dah, dah.
And before you know it,
because the spirit man has
not been built up, although he's willing,
he doesn't have the power
over the flesh and the flesh wins out.
So when I receive Christ and
I receive his spirit and
God has given me his spirit
to help me to grow and
develop and be what he wants me to be,
I've got to give food to the spirit.
I've got to give food to the spirit.
I've got to give food to the spirit.
Okay, God.
Okay, so some of y'all ain't been here.
Guests and visitors,
I'm not saying y'all ain't
been coming to church.
But been in our service.
So a couple of Sundays ago
we gave the example of the
little story of the
grandfather and his son, grandson,
who the grandfather's
talking to the grandson and
he's saying to him,
in every person there are two wolves.
Says one is bad and greedy
and angry and wants to do
destruction and all of that.
And says one is peaceful and
mild and wants to do what's
right and things of that nature.
And he says those two wolves are at war.
They are fighting each other.
And he left it.
Didn't say anything else.
Said the grandson thought
about the situation and everything.
Said grandfather.
Which one wins?
The grandfather said, the one you feed.
The one you feed.
So as I'm living this life
and there is a warfare
going on in my head and in my mind,
the one who wins is the one I feed.
So if I'm continually
yielding to the flesh and
doing what it desires, guess what?
I'm feeding it.
And I'm fueling it.
And it's gaining power over
the spirit in my life so
that when I would do good,
Evil is present with me and
I find myself doing what I
would not do other than
what I know I should do
because of how it's being fed.
So in my life,
I've got to be sure that I'm
living in the spirit or
trying to do those things
that are spiritual so that
I'm getting victory and
power over the flesh.
If I don't,
when the situation or
circumstance rises and
they're pulling at each other,
guess who's going to win?
So I've got to stay in the spirit.
See, we start thinking spirit.
No, you ain't got to live in the church.
There's a life on the outside of here,
but you got to learn how to
be spiritual outside of here.
And that means yielding to
or giving myself to those
things that are spiritual
that builds up this inner
man so that as I live for him,
then I live in the spirit,
then I have life and not death.
So I get in my word.
I get before God in prayer.
And I'm not saying you got
to be on your knees all this time,
but even in your daily work, listen.
Some of y'all got, well,
wives and husbands, and y'all,
when you was back courting
your girlfriend and stuff like that,
you at work,
and you doing stuff like this,
and you doing stuff,
and you sit for a minute as
you're doing it,
and a smile get on your face,
and one of your friends
know what's going on, say,
you thinking about that girl, ain't you?
Smile came out of nowhere.
Although you were engaged in work,
something else got your mind.
Spiritualism says that
although I'm doing what I
need to be doing,
something else has my mind.
And I yield to that and I
give myself to that and it
builds me and it
strengthens me and it helps me.
It's where I live.
It's where I spend my time.
So I don't have to stay in the church.
I just need to take the church with me.
So when I go to work and I'm doing my job,
although I'm doing my job,
my mind is on my father.
His blessings,
the strength that he gives me,
the things that he gives me
to help me make it from day to day.
And I keep my mind on him.
And because I keep my mind on him,
he keeps me in perfect peace.
Because I stay spiritual.
I keep living in the spirit.
I keep doing those things
that build up my spiritual.
So when the temptations of
the flesh comes along,
I can turn from that
because that's going to
lead me to death and I ain't dying.
No, no.
I'm going to live in him and
develop in him.
Does this happen overnight?
No, it doesn't.
But the more I give myself
to the work of it,
it begins to happen in my life.
I overcome challenges and
obstacles in my life by
keep yielding to the Spirit of God.
Keep taking my failures to him.
Say, God, help me with this.
I don't want to fall in this anymore.
I need your strength, Lord,
so when it comes, Lord,
make me aware so that I can
move in the other direction
so it does not overcome me,
but build me up on the inside.
Let me find scriptures in
your word that will help to
build me in this so that I
can be stronger than the
temptation that's coming
against me so that I live
in you and get victory over
the flesh every time.
It's part of my growth.
It's part of my development.
It's part of me becoming
what God wants me to become
because I yield to him and
I don't let the things of
this world take me under,
but I stay where he wants me to stay.
Because I stay spiritual.
I keep living there.
That's my dwelling place in
the spirit of God.
That's what I allow to have
control in my life, the spirit of God.
Too often where the enemy
gets a foothold is that
begins to do things that
appeal to the flesh side of me.
And as he continues to do
that and as I keep giving
way to that or hearing that
or spending time in that,
it begins to pull me away
from the spirit.
I'm not walking in or
yielding to the flesh so
god wants us to grow and
god wants us to develop as
we're going forward in him
and the way that he wants
us to do it he's given us
clues as to where along the
way as to how to do it one
keep your mind in the right
place and to live in the
spirit yield to the things
of god that you know are right
Do the things that you know
benefit and bless your life.
Pull away from the stuff
that you know ain't doing
nothing but pulling you in
the direction that you don't want to go.
It is hindering your progress in God.
And if I want to grow in him
and develop in him,
then I've got to be a part
of living in this spirit
where his spirit has control in my life.
And I'm not yielding to the
things of this flesh,
but I'm walking in him and
experiencing life and peace.
Don't happen because
somebody laid hands on you
and the oil got on you and
stuff like that.
Boom, strong in the spirit.
No,
you strong because you keep living in
the spirit.
You keep doing it.
A lot of, I wish,
I wish it could happen like that.
Just touch me and make me right.
Just lay hands on me and
make me everything that God
want me to be.
Do it, do it for me, Jesus.
I want it, I want it.
And he said, I want you to have it,
but you got to participate with me.
You got to work with me.
You got to live in the spirit of God.
It's all about choices that
we make and decisions that
we make and directions that
we want to go in.
God's got blessings and
plenty that he wants to
yield and give to us,
but it's all by the way we
live in him and do those
things that are right in his sight.
He sends his spirit to quicken us,
to make us alive.
And he gives me life so I
can stay in him and not
yield to the things of this world.
My God, my God.
But it's my choice as to how I live.
How I live.
How I live.
He ain't going to make you.
He's going to try to lead you,
but he ain't going to make you.
It's my choice.
So as I do it God's way,
then God causes the
benefits of that choice to bring forth,
as I said in what we talked about,
the last verse in Romans said,
but if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die.
But if he through the spirit
do mortify or make dead the
deeds of this bodies, ye shall live.
How you living?
What's got the control?
What's got the, what's guiding you?
Who got the remote?
That's the one who controls the channels.
Who got the remote?
Allow the spirit of God to
be calling the shots in your life.
Live in the spirit and you
won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.
You'll grow and develop and
be everything that God wants you to be.
Oh, Jesus.
Okay.
He keep playing with me.
He keep playing with me.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
So, so it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,
it's, it's stuff like this, you know,
Every now and then we're in
the house playing around
and stuff like doing the
various things with my
father or my mother and stuff like that.
And we jump and we're playing,
telling jokes and doing
this and it's all fun and games.
But then after a while it gets serious.
And she said, no, no,
I need you to sit down right now.
I need you to hear what I'm saying.
I need you to understand what I'm saying.
It's not, we was playing a minute ago,
but this is serious business.
So I need your attention so
you can get what I'm saying,
so you can do what I need you to do.
When it comes to our growth,
when it comes to our development,
God said, I can give you the blessings,
I can do this, I can heal the body,
I can do that, but I need you to grow,
so this is serious.
Not that none of that other stuff is not,
but this I need you to get.
there'll be challenges
coming your way there'll be
difficulties you're going
to face there'll be
temptations they're going
to pull at you there's
going to be circumstances
they're going to try to vie
for your attention and get
you to go in the direction
but you've got to be
spiritual so you can
rightly discern and walk in
the path that god has for
you it's not always the enjoyment
Sometimes it is a suffering way,
but anybody who has gone
through anything and they have grown,
what they say, no pain, no gain.
Growing is a difficult
process in the sense that
it comes with exertion,
it comes with participation,
it comes with
Something being needed from you.
But if I'm going to grow,
then I got to do the necessary.
So I'm encouraging,
and this is the word that
comes to us on today,
that we would be engaged
and allow the Spirit of God,
that we intentionally walk
in the way of God.
That means I get in my words.
That means I spend time in prayer.
That means I fellowship with the saints.
I fellowship with the believers.
I get in crowds that
encourage me in the things of God.
And all of this is helping
me to live in the Spirit so
that I don't yield to the
flesh and that I grow and develop in Him.
How you livin', how you livin'?
What's the path you takin'?
Well, I do a little bit of here,
I do a little bit of that.
We go back and forth,
back and forth gets us nowhere.
We give full commitment and
surrender to the things of
God so that that plan, that purpose,
the spirit might live fully
and completely in us.
How you living?
How you living?
Let's pray.
God, we bless you.
We thank you.
We honor you.
We give you glory.
We thank you for this thing
that you desire for us.
development and growth in you.
You wish above all things
that we would prosper and
be in health as our souls prosper.
Sometimes we don't read the whole thing,
we just, it would that we would be,
you know,
Have wealth and have health.
And we stop right there.
But it says,
in proportion to the way your
soul prospers.
How does my soul prosper?
I stay in spiritual things.
In my word, in prayer,
in relationship with him,
in drawing near to him.
And as my soul prospers,
and so will I be in health.
and receive the things that I need.
So today, God,
we want to yield to you and
be for you and do those
things that help us become
spiritually mature.
You're seeking to perfect us.
That means to mature us.
And it happens as we yield to you.
So today,
Help us take real good look
at how we're living.
And through the path that we're living,
we'll determine where we're going.
And if we want to go with you,
help us to walk in the spirit.
Help us to allow the spirit
that dwelleth in us to be
fed and nurtured so we
don't yield to the flesh.
We bless you and thank you
for growth that's taking
place because when we grow,
not only do we develop spiritually,
but you release to us
because we can handle the
blessings that we look for.
Wealth, health, strength, position.
Because we can handle it
because we mature.
Help us to grow.
Help us to grow.
Put us in the right space and place.
so that what we do aids us, benefits us,
so that we don't die, but that we live.
In the name of Jesus, we ask.
Amen, amen.
If you're here today or
listening through Facebook
and you are not,
or you realize that it's
leaning more to the flesh
than it is to the spirit,
You control the growth as to
what you yield to.
So if you have not been
giving it to the Lord,
walking in those things that build you,
this is a time to turn it around.
If you haven't given your life to the Lord,
that's where we start.
Because we don't get the
Spirit down on the inside
of us without receiving Him as Lord.
And the spirit on the inside
of us is our helper to get
us to maturity.
So if you have not received
Jesus and you want to,
or if you've been struggling in this area,
and based on what you may
have heard today,
you've gotten some clues,
some insight as to how to develop better.
For you will be praying.
We'll pray one other prayer
before we close off of Facebook,
and it's this.
If you want to receive Jesus,
this is the time we do it.
And if you want to grow and develop,
get back in line,
this is the space and place for it.
So those who would have
either of those desires,
pray this prayer with me.
Say, Lord Jesus, I come to you today, one,
opening up my heart and my
life for you to come in and live in me.
I pray today, Lord,
that you would wash away
the sins of my past and
today ignite in me, start in me,
begin in me this walk of living for you.
I open up to receive your
spirit to dwell down on the
inside of me so that I
might live in it and become
all that you would have me to be.
I thank you right now for
salvation in Jesus' name.
For those who are struggling, we pray,
Lord,
that you would strengthen us to get
our feet planted in solid
ground and intentionally do
those things that help us to grow in you.
We want to live in the spirit.
Strengthen us to do those so
we can be all that you
would have us to be and do
all that you would have us
to do in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
For those on Facebook land,
thank you for joining us on today.
YouTube, however it's going.
Thank you for being a part
of our worship on today.
We pray that you are blessed
and benefited.
And if you would,
come and join us on the next occasion.
We'll see you then.
God bless.
Have a great day.
Amen.
Amen.
Come on,
put your hands together real quick.
Give God praise.