So what's going on, everybody?

How's it going, everybody?

I'm Derek.

And I'm Matt.

And today we are putting on the helmet.

We are, we are.

It's a helmet of salvation.

Yay.

I love hats.

Yeah.

So like anything that's even related to wearing a hat or helmet, I'm like, I kind of get.

I get excited, excited about it.

Get a little excited.

You know, everybody should be excited.

We get to wear a hat today.

And say it's a cowboy hat of salvation.

We've had the belt buckle of truth.

Oh, you got them?

Do you got them?

The Carhartt of righteousness.

The breastplate.

What?

The Carhartt.

Yeah.

Okay.

And what are the boots?

They're just boots.

Alright.

And what you come up for?

For the shield.

For the shield.

It's the working gloves.

The working gloves.

The working gloves of faith.

Because that's what they do, is they protect your hands.

The working gloves.

Oh, man.

Amen.

You are sticking to this.

And the cowboy hat of salvation.

The cowboy hat, that's what we're doing today is the cowboy hat of salvation.

Today we're gonna find a helmet.

Hallelujah.

On the helmet.

All right, so yeah, if you are just teaming, tuning in for the first time and we hope that you are.

If you haven't done it before and if you can get through his song intros, I want to welcome you to our spiritual warfare series.

We are now at episode seven.

The not so good Star wars movie.

Oh, goodness gracious.

And what is it?

The Spiritual Warfare Awakens.

No, I'm just kidding.

Episode seven.

So we've been going through a spiritual warfare series and we hope you go back and watch the rest of them.

We have a focal point on Ephesians, Ephesians 6 and the armor of God.

And we've been going through weekly each piece and talking about it.

And there's a lot of carryover, a lot of crossover, a lot of things that blend into each other when it comes to these things.

Yeah.

But I think it is.

It's been helpful to like differentiate.

Like when you're saying put on your armor, you know, like knowing what each piece actually is in like.

Yeah.

In a.

Easier terms is kind of nice and not just talking.

Yeah.

Practical.

I like to practice.

And they do.

They all match.

They all fit together.

That's.

That's the way armor's supposed to be.

Is it supposed to all fit together?

I mean, it's supposed to work together smoothly.

So there is a lot of carryover.

It's because it's all connected.

And so I think it's.

I think it's a really, really been cool.

I haven't heard too many podcasts or, you know, sermons where it goes through each and every one separately, like through, you know, break down.

Breaking them down deep.

So deep down.

All right.

Yeah.

So as we're going through it, I hope that you're following along and reading along and maybe making some moats, some notes.

Moats.

I made some notes.

You can make a moat.

You can make some moats.

We need a moat around the house.

The notes.

Taking notes, sharing, caring.

Or emotes.

You can do that.

You can make us an emote of the truce response.

That would be cool.

A little emote.

A little.

What do you call it?

Hieroglyphic.

Hieroglyphic, yeah, that's what it is.

You know, the little emojis.

Is that what the kids are telling you, an emote?

It's basically modern day hieroglyphics.

I think they call them emotes on.

On, like video games and stuff.

Whenever you.

Oh, yeah, it's called an emote in a video game.

It's an emoji.

It's a hieroglyphic.

Either way.

Hieroglyphic.

A cute little picture to react.

Helmets.

We're gonna talk about helmets today.

Protecting your brain, the mind.

Your brain, the mind.

In house.

Salvation protects and secures our thinking.

Oh, right.

Thinking.

Putting on our thinking caps.

Like I said, your brain.

Thinking cap.

Thinking cap of salvation.

Thinking cap of salvation.

Sorry.

So, okay, yeah.

Opening icebreaker.

Question is, what's one piece of advice or truth you've heard that has stuck with you and shaped how you think?

One piece of truth or advice that has shaped the way I think.

Is this like anything or is this just.

Yeah, why not?

Why not?

I mean, if you need a minute.

I got one.

I got one.

Okay, go for it.

I got one.

My dad gave me this advice.

Hey, my dad gave me mine, too.

That's amazing.

Way to go, dad.

It's the same thing.

We're gonna have to sit our dads down and be like, you told me this was original.

No, I don't think it was that, but.

So my dad looked at me, actually, I was going through a really hard time, and my dad looked at me and he told me that, you know, you gotta treat things in life like what I was going through and other things.

Like a chess match, you got to be.

Be strategic.

You can't say anything, you can't unsay, and you can't do anything.

You can't undo.

I think that permeates through all of life.

I mean, seriously, you got to think about what you're going to do, what things you allow to come from your mouth.

Because once they come out, sometimes y' all, you can't put them back in.

It's out there now.

People have heard it.

And the same thing with your actions.

If you do things.

I'm not laughing.

That's great advice.

Okay.

Oh, it is.

It is great advice.

But.

But I now understand why I play chess the way that I do.

Okay.

Are you a little more cavalier?

I'm the guy that goes, you're a cavalier.

And I hit the timer because it really throws people off.

I mean, it will.

You don't want to play.

You have no idea how many people I've timed out, because I just go.

And they're like, that's not what I was expecting him to do.

And it'd be completely random.

And I've timed a bunch of people out.

I'm not good at chess.

Don't get me wrong often.

Okay.

Yeah.

Well, anyway, getting away from the chest.

Yeah.

So you just gotta.

And, you know, you can't.

There's certain things that once you do them, you can't undo them.

That's true.

So, you know.

Yeah.

It was a good piece of advice, and it definitely helped me at that time, and it has been stuck in my head ever since.

So way to go, dad.

There's some advice right there, you know.

Like, I think about that, and I think about, like, when Jesus gave the advice or the saying, those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

He didn't say, don't live by the sword.

He said, go buy one.

He told them to, you know, and so, like, sell your cloak.

Yeah.

And so, like, it.

It.

It's so true that you need to be intentional with what you do, because if you do it flippantly.

Yeah.

And you cut somebody's ear off, you know, like, you're probably gonna pay the price for that.

Whereas, like, sometimes that's the only way to get through the battle.

You know what I mean?

So, like.

Yeah, that's so good.

That's such good advice.

My dad gave me the advice, every day's a holiday.

Some just pay better than others.

And the translation for that is.

I love the translating.

Is basically just like, look, every day is a great day.

God's given it to you.

You know, it's yours, it's his.

So, you know, it's a day to rejoice.

And, you know, some days are happier than others.

Some days.

Some days pay better.

You know, some.

Some days are fun, Some days are, you know, exciting.

And then other days are just a day that's been given to you and you are to rejoice and be glad in it regardless.

And so some days it's easier to do that.

Right.

So that's my dad.

My dad gave me that saying and it really, like, it helps.

Like, when you think about life that way, it doesn't matter what you're going through or what comes against you that day.

It's like, you know what?

Yeah.

Today's a day that's been given to me by God.

You know, like, so even though it's a hard day, it's a holiday.

That's good.

Although it does remind me of Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.

But today, that is why it's called the present.

Anyway, so that's pretty good.

So anyway, it's something like that.

I watched it with my son when he was young.

It was.

I haven't really watched it in a while.

So.

Yeah.

The helmet.

Putting on your helmet.

Talk about what it means to guard your mind today.

Yep.

So buckle up your helmet.

Put on your Carhartt, put on your boots.

He's back for the country thing again.

The gloves.

And welcome to the truth response.

Sarah.

Operating Sounds good.

You should pray today.

Sweet.

I'm going to do it.

You ready?

Yep.

Are you sure?

Nope.

Okay.

Father God, I just want to thank you so much for another day, God, that we get to glorify you.

We get to learn about you, we get to talk about you, we get to share you with others.

And God, as our week unfolds and the struggles happen as we go through life, God, the spiritual warfare comes.

I just pray that hiding your word in our hearts allows us to have access to that armor, that protection that we have that only you give us.

God, I pray that we can remember it daily, that it can fend off all of the spiritual blows.

God, thank you for your many wonderful blessings and the outpouring of your love and grace and your mercy that just overflows on a regular basis.

Father, I pray that it reaches everyone we come in contact with.

God.

God, I just.

I thank youk for salvation.

And I just pray that yout make clear the unclear in this chaotic world.

It's in your precious and holy name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Time to put my helmet back on.

AKA my hat.

Your hat?

My hat.

All right.

The helmet of salvation.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

So once again, this comes from Ephesians, chapter 6.

And this is from verse 17.

And take the helmet of salvation.

So interestingly enough, right at this point, we've put on our belt of truth, which holds everything together.

We got our breastplate of righteousness.

We've got our boats of peace and our shield of faith.

Yep.

We're getting ready for battle.

Yes, we are.

Now we put on our helmet.

Putting on the helmet.

Helmet of salvation.

And if you don't remember, if you haven't watched the other ones we've been talking about where Paul has drawn his inspiration for these things, and that's the Roman soldiers.

And so the Roman soldier's helmet was a heavy bronzer iron which covered the head, the cheeks, and sometimes the neck.

Obviously very important places to be to be guarding.

Lots of deadly blows to be made to the head.

Yeah.

And it guards against all kinds of stuff, not just weapons, but even falling debris.

There's lots of things that, that, that can actually guard you from.

Including the rain.

Yeah, yeah.

Rain too.

Sure.

I mean, what's.

I mean, sometimes in the heat of battle when it's just raining, that's just another thing to be like, now I'm like soaked.

I can imagine.

It would get kind of hot, I would say.

I will say that I.

It would get hot.

I do like the design of the old helmets, the like from the Greek helmets.

The Corinthian helmet is amazing.

It actually looks like a Mandalorian helmet.

Yeah.

That and then like the Spartan helmet.

They're very similar where it's like eyes to a little opening in front and.

But the rest of everything else is covered.

So that one's pretty cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So if nobody knows what I said when I said Mandalorian, if that just went over your head, no pun intended, then you got to think Star wars and Boba Fett and those.

The green guy with the cool helmet.

That's what I'm talking about.

So yeah, those helmets were awesome.

I don't know, sometimes I wish we were still like walking around wearing these things.

Seems like it'd be a lot of fun.

Not down here in Florida.

Nope.

Built in air conditioners.

Nope.

Built in air conditioners.

No.

That would be amazing.

It would be, but it wouldn't work.

A cooling helmet with.

Ah, you could build one.

Someone needs to build me a Mandalorian helmet with cooling inside that has solar panels on the outside and I will wear it all the time.

There you go.

Somebody tell Lathan.

There's that weirdo walking around.

Somebody tell Lathan to get on that.

So anyway, yeah, they protect you from all kinds of things and, you know, it's important.

So why do you think Paul uses the helmet to represent salvation?

I think it's a load off of our minds.

That's why I think if that it's funny because we're talking about putting something on our head, but it's a load off.

And the reason being is that, you know, of all the things that we have, we worry a lot about a lot of things.

Worry and fear.

And the things we have to worry and fear the most about are our position with God and if there's something we still have to do versus if we're okay with him and our guiltiness and all that stuff and salvation.

The fact that we can be saved from everything that we've done and be right with God and walk in that is like a load off our mind.

And not just everything we've done, but everything we're going to do.

Oh yeah, because here's the real kicker then.

We're not worrying about every single little minute detail, right?

Like, it's not like it's.

You don't have to build up those, those barriers and that for those fences to a point where you can't even uphold the things that, that you're doing in the first place, right?

It's very.

It guards against the whole pharisaical mindset where it's like, well, we're gonna just add another 5,000 laws to this thing so that we're making sure every little detail is covered.

Where it's like, okay, Jesus said, look, once and for all, you're mine, I bought you.

And so with that, I mean, we can't just disregard it, obviously.

Like, it's not just like to be thrown away like garbage.

But I mean, with that, we don't have to be like, oh, dang, am I gonna.

Okay, so I need to like, you know, it doesn't.

There's.

It's not to cause you anxiety, it's not to cause you worry.

It is healthy to fear God, but at the same time, like, it's not a fear of like, am I going to heaven?

Is he gonna, you know, send me to hell?

Like, blah, blah, blah, can he forgive me?

Will he forgive me?

Right?

Yeah.

What if I die before I ask for forgiveness?

Like, yeah, that gets out of the way.

You know, it's funny, removes all that.

Our mind is such a, such a puzzle of a thing where we're just constantly considering possibilities and when you can take off the big Things, then the rest of you gets really easy.

We've talked about this in a few of the episodes we've done already where this armor protects us because we're able to deflect things like attacks from our enemy, attacks from our enemies that try to, you know, make us feel guilty, remind us of things we've done.

But also, you know, if you spend all your time thinking about those things, instead of thinking about righteous things, like, instead of how can I get right with God?

You can be thinking about man.

I'd really.

I feel like I should be worshiping God.

I feel like I could be serving God with this.

I feel like there's something to be grateful for.

I feel like there's someone I could share this with.

The differences in what we can do because we're protected from the things that are going to weigh down our mind with stuff that we don't need to be weighed down with.

As I tell some people, it's like getting rid of the clutter.

When you have a firm understanding in our minds of where we stand with God and who we are with God, then it gets clearer.

Everything, all that muddling mess goes away and we can start to think straight.

And if we can think straight, we can see straight and talk straight and be straight.

So it's really important to protect our minds.

Yeah, yeah.

So as we move into, like, what is salvation?

Well, we got justification from our past, right?

Sure.

So our past is something.

The things we've done, like I said, those things can be weighing on us a lot.

And under the Old Testament, under the law, we would be trying to make amends for that.

We'd be trying to have somebody make.

A sacrifice for us so that we.

Can atone for that.

And honestly, as Paul points out thoroughly in Romans, like, it really doesn't.

We don't get saved from that because.

The law just thoroughly tells us why.

We continue to fall short.

So our past needs to be.

Needs justification.

And so Ephesians 2, 8, 9 kind of goes over that.

Did you want to read that?

Yeah.

For by grace you have been saved through faith.

Through faith.

Not of yourself.

Not of yourself.

But it's a gift of God.

Exactly.

Not by works.

Not by works.

So that you can't boast.

That's right.

So the thing is that, you know, as I was saying, we couldn't do it.

Romans makes it sure.

Like, under the law which we were given, this shows us.

People say, well, that's.

It was given so that you can be justified.

No, it's actually really.

It condemns you.

But it's because we can't get out of our sins.

It's because we can't justify ourselves that we needed that grace of God, and it's given to us so freely.

Not something that we did.

We didn't earn it.

In fact, we still didn't earn it.

Well.

And okay, so my.

My buddy Carl, he's with the Lord now, but he actually used to talk about this concept of dual justification, and he explained it in a really good way.

And we won't get into the.

The whole idea of dual justification, but you can think of justification this way.

You're in the middle of a battle.

Yep.

You're on the wrong side.

Okay.

Right.

And you realize you're on the wrong side.

And the commander of the opposing army comes up to you and you ask for forgiveness, and he makes you right, right then and there and adds you to his side of the battle, add you to his army.

Like that would be a big deal.

Right?

Like that's kind of a big thing.

So it's one of the ways he would describe it.

Because then the secondary is getting back.

Yeah.

I mean, it's kind of interesting because the Bible does tell us that while we were still sinners, while we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us.

And you're right, it is by grace, by faith, not by works.

Now, there's an interesting little side journey, just for a moment.

Does that mean there's no need to do any works ever?

Technically, I mean, on technical tickets, to be saved?

Technically, no, but we.

But it is expected that once you receive such salvation, that it should produce works within your heart, within yourself, within.

Within your immediate area.

And then.

So, I mean, but that only happens as we become a new creation and our minds are renewed, which moves us.

To the next bit.

So we have our past, and now we move into the present.

The present is where we work in sanctification.

So we go from justification to sanctification.

Sanctification is that we are being saved from ourselves more than anything else is.

We're becoming better versions of us.

We're becoming more like Christ.

And it's a journey, y' all.

Actually, it's a lifelong journey.

Will we ever get perfect?

No, but we're going to get a little better at it all the time.

And as we go on that journey intentionally, as we make the right moves, kick back to earlier, we do get.

To be a little better.

And God works with us, and he helps change us from inside of ourselves, and we become better people.

We do better Works, not evil, works.

And we start to look more like him and represent him better in the world for sure.

So First Corinthians 1:18 states that for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

It is a power.

And that power of God inside of us is what helps us on the sanctification journey.

Because without him, we can do nothing, but with him we can do anything.

And that includes becoming better.

Yeah.

Scripture also tells us to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

I'm gonna find out where that is.

I can't remember.

Yeah.

And then, of course, we have.

So we did the past, the present.

That's Philippians 2:12.

2:12.

And now we have the future.

The future is glorification.

So we can.

We'll be.

We can be justified and sanctified now.

We can be glorified.

And in the future, we'll be glorified.

We will be saved from this whole mess of a world, from everything that is under the curse, and we will be able live in a glorified state with our Lord and Savior, with our God in.

Well, after this.

The Bible tells us that there is.

A new heaven and new earth where we will live in a new Jerusalem with our God.

It'll be amazing.

We'll have access to Jesus all the time.

Yep.

So Romans 5, 9, and 10, since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him?

For if we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son.

How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?

Yep.

So good.

Yeah.

And so there's so much to look forward to in the glorification that is coming.

And so salvation then is secure for us and is active and ongoing, meaning that it is continuing to shape us and make us better and giving us.

And we keep yearning for and working towards that perfection that we will one day receive, not even achieve, when, like I said, when we can get out of this curse that we live in, there's so much to look forward to there.

No more pain, no more suffering, no more.

No more tears, especially not any sad tears.

It's going to be fantastic.

And so what's interesting there.

So that gives you something which is really important, which is the assurance of salvation.

Assurance of salvation is really what this helmet is about.

It is kind to the assurance that we have the knowing that it's locked in.

It's like saying, you know what I.

People would say they have assurance in that they're going to be fine because they have enough money or they have the right house or whatever it is that their health is okay.

They're assured that their kids will be.

Taken care of if they pass away.

That kind of assurance times two really is the fact that our ultimate needs and everything are met.

We're good.

And so you wear that.

It protects your mind from all those things that would try to darken it, to try to confuse it, weigh on it, confuse it, whatever.

Yeah, yeah.

So first John 5:13.

He's.

He's writing.

And this is.

This is like coming to, like, a head here.

And it says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Right.

You've already got it.

Yeah.

Chores.

Yep.

I'm writing this stuff to you so that, you know, you got it.

And it's one of those things that we no longer have to question.

Yeah, yeah.

It's so good.

I was actually just reading through First John 5 this past Monday.

It's such a great first.

I mean, I say it about every book.

It's such a great book of the Bible, y' all.

It really is.

But no.

Yeah.

So we can know.

We can know that we're good.

Yeah, that's.

It's awesome.

Which is something that most other religions don't have.

Right.

Like, that's a big question mark.

That's because every other religion is works based.

We have to earn something or do something.

Right.

To achieve something or atone and such.

Which is ours is the only our God, the only God, the one God.

That's why he stepped in and said, stop trying to do it yourself.

All these other things are still trying to sell you the same thing.

Do it yourself.

He's like, it's not about doing it yourself.

It's allowing me to do it and having faith.

And it's so important to remember that, because it's not about us, it's about Him.

Our reliance for everything, including the most important things ever, are all on Him.

And when we can give it to him and know that he's got it, what else is there to worry about?

Yeah.

I mean, God even went to the extent of making the covenant with us, but with Himself.

Yeah, yeah.

Right.

Like, instead of having us take up the other part, it was me.

And me.

Yeah.

So in Genesis, there's a.

There is a scene, the one that he is referencing, which is a fascinating thing.

For those who know what they're reading, because it's easy to kind of glance over.

But there's a scene where Abraham is.

He's told to take all these animals and cut them in two and place one half on one side and one half on the other, including some birds, he would say, and put them on each side.

Now, in those times, what it meant was that you were going to walk between them and it was a binding contract for each person in the contract, or in this case the covenant, to walk between the animals.

That meant that you were both in the contract, it was lifelocked, and that the person that broke the contract was now responsible for and would take up the penalty.

Now what's interesting is that Abraham was then put into a, they say like a deep sleep.

It could have been like a vision state.

And he saw two things go through, which was a torch and a burning pot.

And both represent God.

God walked through on his own accord, and he walked through on Abraham's accord, which means that if we fail, he takes the punishment on himself, which he did.

He upheld his end of the bargain, which is interesting.

He said if we failed at that point, that symbolizes that he is going to come and pay the price for that.

And so he did.

He came and he sent his son.

To pay that price.

And because of it, we can be free through the grace that he's given us.

It's amazing.

He couldn't even walk through for himself.

Abraham couldn't.

God's like, nope, I got that too.

It's such an amazing.

Yeah.

That that story actually has deepened my understanding of salvation when it comes to, like, I didn't.

I hadn't thought about it that way.

I mean, I knew that like, I've known for a long time that, that he paid the price for us, but I had missed that for a long time.

I mean, I think I learned of that story.

I mean, I've read the Bible a bunch, like several times over, had papers on lots of it.

And I have missed that up until like six or eight months ago.

And then it was like, oh, wow.

It was like super cool right there.

Like, and so like that was like.

So not only did God know, but like he knew that we couldn't.

Yeah.

Which is, I mean, talk about a forward thinking God that just knows what.

Needs to be done and is willing to do it.

The love that that shows is outstanding.

I'll tell you what, something that deepened my understanding of not only my salvation, but even my sanctification.

Was.

So I was 21 I was 21.

And that is when I officially accepted, fully accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Because right before that, there was a couple years where I kind of pushed away a bit.

I wasn't fully, fully away, but enough.

Enough to where I know the difference and I don't like the other me.

But that being said, when I came, when I invited Christ in my life, I changed me.

I tried to change me.

I was like, I'm going to do.

All the right things.

I'm going to talk the right way, listen to the right things, do the right things.

And I tried so hard to be the person I thought God wanted me to be.

And then, interestingly enough, some things were still not going right.

And I was like, God, what's the deal?

So to speak.

And actually, I was a little more complainy, I guess we'll call it.

But I was complaining.

I said, lord, I don't understand.

You know, this is.

I'm trying to be the person I think you want me to be.

And he's like.

He spoke to me for the first time in my life that I could hear his.

That I knew it was him.

But he said, yeah, yes, but that's not who I.

That's not how I made you.

Which was interesting.

And I missed the point.

I thought it was something else.

Later to learn, God showed me that he had to get me there, not me get there.

If I was doing it, I was faking it.

He didn't want me to fake it, he wanted to make me into it, which was a huge difference.

So when I was doing it on my own, I was prone to make the mistakes because it was just me trying to force it and make it when it wasn't there.

God wanted to genuinely instill these things in me, genuinely take out the bad things and work with me on truly understanding why I needed to be certain ways and what I really needed to push against versus what I should accept.

It was through that process that I understood the sanctification process in a whole different level.

It's like, oh, wow.

He really, like, don't get me wrong, it's great that we put in the effort and he recognizes that, but he's the one that's really going to help you change what's inside of you.

Praying and keeping him involved in that is so vitally important, so vitally important that you have him along the journey because we are dangerous creatures and we can't be trusted in mind or in heart.

He's got to be in there doing the work.

So, yeah, the Relationship is so vitally important.

So you know how much I love music, right?

Yes.

So Pat Benatar said that love is a battlefield.

Yeah, but the Bible says the mind is where the battle takes place, Right?

So so often it's where the enemy attacks us.

It's just that little, hey, don't you think, you know, kind of a thing.

And in Second Corinthians 10, 4, 5, it says that the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.

On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.

And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

I'm going to say that last bit again.

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

It is something that is not only intentional, but it is a forced thing.

It's not a natural state.

We have to take it captive and force it to be obedient to Christ.

I'll tell you it's interesting because a lot of, A lot of times when I'm reading the Bible just for myself, not necessarily because I'm trying to prepare a teaching or a sermon or a lesson or whatever it is that.

I mean, obviously I do this for a living, but when I'm just studying, for me, I often do so in a place of doing kind of a heart check or a mind check on where I'm at.

And so when you become really reflective and you have that kind of checks and balances system as you go through scripture and hold yourself up to it, it's interesting how often we have so much to work on and so much to learn.

When you have those thoughts, it's interesting to go back and go, well, this is where I was, but why was I there?

Why did I think that way?

Why did I get angry about that?

Why did I get sad about that?

Why am I worried about that?

And sometimes it's really great to have someone that's willing to go there with you.

For me, that number one person is my wife.

Like, my wife is so great about helping me slow down and go, well, why are we feeling this way?

You know, And I mean, it's life changing, but just to have scripture and then have, as you're reading through it, for me, it's like going back through, oh, I remember this day.

I was like this.

I was feeling this way, I was acting this way, I was thinking this way.

Now I got to kind of check why I was there, because this is showing me something different.

And it's so important, I think, to do so and help clear out the cobwebs, so to speak, and try to help you work to find new ways of thinking, as you're saying, being intentional and holding them captive.

So when, if they come back and you see those kinds of thoughts, those things that you don't like, you know that you shouldn't, and you can recognize them quicker and go, ah, wait a minute, I'm back to this spot.

I'm back here.

How did I get back here?

Right.

And how can I go forward kind of thing.

That's good.

So what are some of Satan's attacks on the mind?

Well, the first one that comes to mind is doubt.

Is it a tricky one to navigate a little bit?

Right.

Because that's that question that probably most of us have asked at some point or heard in our mind at some point is, are you really saved?

That is the number one that I hear about when it comes to.

When it comes to playing with the camera.

He's playing with the camera with his foot.

So that's all him.

Yeah, it's my bad.

For those who are just listening, they have no idea what just happened.

So that's the number one worry.

When it comes to faith.

I mean, there's different things you can have doubts about, like, did God really do this?

Was this really true in the Bible?

And there's plenty of things you should explore.

I talked about this.

When it comes to the truth and other things where it's like, doubts can be faith building.

So it's taking them hostage in those and going, all right, so what do I do with this then?

And then let's go to the Bible.

Let's go to the Lord.

Let's go in prayer.

Let's go to object pastor or someone who you can rely on and go, okay, so what's this about?

And maybe even have somebody just help you explore it.

And that can be an amazing faith builder right there.

But doubting your salvation is really difficult, and it can really shake you up.

Sure.

So are you really saved?

Well, as you just read from First John, we know we can be.

Right, Right?

We know we can be saved because of who we believe in.

Believing in Jesus.

Right.

Believing that God sent him.

That's how we can be saved.

You want to read the verse?

Do you have it up?

You don't have it up?

There's not a verse for that one.

But no, there is a verse.

Which one you got?

I have to find it.

Give me a second.

Well, okay.

So, yeah, doubt you Got to learn that, you know, when you accept.

People ask me this question before, and I asked them a very simple question.

It's like, well, is.

Do you believe that Jesus is.

We usually ask them first, who is Jesus to you?

And I'm listening for their answer.

But if I was going to ask the questions, it would be who you know, not easily.

Who is.

Just.

Do you believe that he did.

Is the Son of God?

Do you believe that he did die on the cross and that he rose from the grave?

Do you believe that because of what he's done and who he is, that he did that so that you can be saved from your sin?

Have you made him the Lord and Savior of your life?

Like, is it his way or your way?

And if the answers are all in the right place, you're good, man, if you're living that way.

The thing is that people can hear those things and they can know the answers that should be said.

But you got to believe it.

If you believe that stuff, if that's in your heart, if he's the Lord of your life, if his rules, go, man, you're good.

You're good.

You're saved.

Now, here's the thing, though, right now, you got to live it.

Because if you really believe it, right, then you got to live it.

You can't just say, oh, I believe it, and then do nothing with it.

You got to believe it.

You got to live it, and it's got to be.

And when you live it, it changes you.

That's that sanctification.

It changes you.

We talked about that.

It's important to have that come into you and start to make you into a new version of you.

And then it kind of just naturally starts to pour into those around you.

So, yeah, doubt, condemnation and guilt, that is another difficult area where, you know, it's an enemy loves to attack us, make us feel bad for the things we do.

Especially after you've come to Christ and you do something stupid, could be something small, doesn't matter what it is.

But he loved to come at you.

Well, look.

Look what you did.

Look at you.

You're just sinner, you know, you're that person that did this, you know, and guilty, guilty, guilty.

Whereas it's interesting because, like, if you look at Paul, right, He's like, I'm the chief of all sinners, right?

He's like, I'm the center of sinners.

I am the guy who has sinned the worst and the most.

And I believe that that's partially because he should have known better.

Right.

Like, he was one of the guys that should have recognized Jesus.

Yeah.

Paul was a guy that was very zealous for God.

And as a Pharisee, he thought what he was doing as Saul the persecutor, he thought everything he was doing by persecuting Christian church and putting his people in jail and allowing them to be killed and such, that was for God.

That's what God wanted.

And so he closed his mind to anything else until, quite literally, he was knocked off his high horse and realized he's never been so wrong in his entire life.

And he took that personally.

And he became not just an advocate for Christ in the church, but.

But one of the greatest church builders and supporters that we've seen.

And I think that's because he was like David in the way that is, like, okay, I realize my mistake, and I'm not gonna let the guilt eat me.

I'm gonna do something about it.

You know, I'm gonna run headlong the opposite direction.

I'm going to repent and turn from the ways that I've been going and follow with everything that I have to the point of, you know, being put in prison to the point of even death.

Like, I'm gonna run headlong at the world with Jesus.

And when, you know, it would easily be able to creep in and be like, yo, you were the dude killing all these people.

Yeah.

You know, like, and.

And honestly, when.

When he first went to the.

The apostles, they rejected him because of it.

Yeah.

But Barnabas was like, yo, I'm gonna take this dude.

You know, this kind of reminds me of Anakin.

Like, I'm gonna take Anakin.

I'm gonna train him up.

But Jesus, Paul ended up being a good guy the whole time, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He went from the dark side to the light side.

Yeah.

So.

But the thing is that, you know, trying to live with what we've done, sometimes, you know, the thing is, God says, you're free.

The enemy wants to say, you're guilty, guilty, guilty.

And God says, free of all charges.

Were you sure?

Scripture tells us a couple times these things.

You were.

You were.

These things were.

Past tense.

That's over now.

Now you are considered forgiven.

When you get to heaven and those books are open, it says, good to go.

It's amazing.

And we can be assured of that because of our faith in Jesus.

So that's important.

So keeping that in mind helps you when it comes to those things where you start to feel guilty, you start to feel.

And the other thing is not feeling or Thinking that you're not good enough.

Good enough is crazy.

Right.

Especially when it comes to the fact that.

And it happens a lot with ministers.

I can tell you, I've been through plenty bouts of this.

But, like, look at who God used in the Bible.

With the exception of his son, they all had problems.

Some of them sinned beforehand, some sinned afterhand.

There were some problems across the board one way or another.

You can even look at his apostles.

Obviously, we know about Paul.

Peter denied him and was very impulsive.

John got a little above himself.

John, the one who he loved, got nicknamed Sons of Thunder because they got a little ahead of themselves a few times.

A little too, you know, I want to be of this position.

And he's like, no, that's not for you.

Like that everybody had something, you know, and so it's wild.

If God can use everybody he uses in the Bible, he can absolutely use you.

Yeah, there's drunkards, there's murderers, there's.

There's, well, adulterers.

There's.

Well, not just use them, but like, he loves you.

Yeah.

It's not all about.

It's not.

It's not just about whether he's can or can't or will or won't use you.

It is.

He loves you in a way that is kind and patient and, you know.

Yeah.

All of First Corinthians 13.

Like, he does that, right?

He is.

That embodies that towards you and it doesn't matter what you did.

And the verse I was looking for earlier, but I think fits even better with this one because of the condemnation bit is John 3 when it talks about in 18, whoever believes in him is not condemned.

Right.

Like Jesus is talking to Nicodemus in this bit, and he's like, let me tell you how this actually works, you know?

And so.

And it's.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned.

So if you are listening right now and you're like, oh, I believe in Jesus.

Done.

Yeah.

I mean, there you go, right?

Romans 8.

There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Right?

Yeah.

Now, it does say for those the other side, though, you've already been condemned.

Yeah.

The condemnation happened before Jesus, right?

Before Jesus came to give.

You take away the condemnation, you don't.

Take the gift and you stand without it.

That's pretty much what it is.

And I'll tell you what, for one more thing, I just want to push that button one more time.

There are some that say to themselves, well, this thing I've done, maybe even these things I'VE done.

They don't just go away.

Because like I said earlier today.

Yeah.

Some things you can unsay, some things you can't undo.

Right.

And for them, they're like, that's always there.

That's never going to go away.

The funny thing is some things can only be erased.

Erased not by us, but by God.

And God can redeem anything.

Well, and especially if, like, if you recognize that you shouldn't have.

Right.

Whatever that thing is.

Done, said, whatever, now turn around and use it as your testimony.

Because he still loved you.

Yep.

Loves you anyway.

So.

And then so we got doubt, we got condemnation and guilt, and now confusion and false doctrine.

Oh, my goodness.

If this isn't live and well in today's age, I tell you, this is.

Not only is it.

There's so much that's out there that's helping people stumble in their faith and understanding, but the fact that people argue about it, stuff that they don't need to be arguing about, it's everywhere.

Let me talk to church people real quick.

Church people?

You church people who have been doing church for a long time.

I'm one of them.

Right.

You church people.

Right.

Colossians 2, 8 says this.

So see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Now, how many churches out there die on the hill of tradition?

Oh, yeah.

Instead of Christ.

I once had someone come to me and they were trying to give me an argument for this thing that they did.

A tradition.

Yeah.

And I said, well, in the Bible.

And they said, why does it have to be in the Bible?

I said, as soon as you ask that question, you're lost.

So some traditions that aren't in the Bible aren't bad.

It's not that.

Look, I'm not saying that some things.

Can'T be positive, but some things do need to go by the wayside.

Yeah.

Some things it's like, no, you don't need to do that.

Well, why not?

Because you don't need to do that.

I can tell you because I often go back to Scripture because that's our.

That's our guidebook.

But if somebody's like, well, why is it.

Because that's what God gave us, that's why.

But anyway, my Protestants coming out.

But yeah, so confusion.

There's a lot of confusion in this world when it comes to what's really the truth.

The number one thing that you need to focus on is who Jesus is is more than Anything else?

If you were going to put it.

What's the top of the pile?

Matt?

Derek, what do I need to know about the Bible?

What do I need to know more than anything else in the Bible?

What would be the thing?

If I can get this down, I'll be okay.

The book of John.

Who Jesus is.

Who Jesus is.

He is the son of God who came and laid himself down, was crucified on that cross and rose on the third day so that to show who he was, by the way, and let us know that our sins have been paid for and our eternity is at hand.

And by having faith in him, we can be free.

You always talk about how every book of the Bible is your favorite book of the Bible.

It's becoming a running joke, but it's bad.

My favorite is clearly John.

John is such a great.

And that's where I tell everyone to start.

Like, if you've never read the Bible before or you're lost at where to start, start with John.

Because here's the deal.

You kick off running, right?

Like, you hit the ground running with Jesus.

You learn who he is, why he is here, right?

What his whole mission is to do, and then how to be like him.

That's the whole book, right?

Like, that's, that's what.

And it's the human feeling side of what, what, what and who Jesus is, right?

Like, it's just.

It's just as clear as can be as far as, like, it can just hit with everybody.

It just is so real and so, like, it's my favorite, you know?

You want to know what I love about John?

Reading the book of John, his Gospel and as well as his letters and even revelation to a degree, is John is so poetic.

John writes with his heart.

And that's the thing that fascinates me the most when I read John.

I can see his heart in everything he does.

Like Paul.

Paul was very educated, he was very smart.

He knew how to get what he needed to convey over to pretty much anybody.

Peter was impulsive and straightforward, and that comes across a lot in his writings, especially when it comes to, you know, first and second Peter.

But John's got so much love and he writes with his heart.

And in that comes this almost poetic way of writing that just captures your imagination in ways that.

I mean, he spent a lot with Jesus and Jesus at a young age, and Jesus was definitely kind of like that himself.

Here's an experiment for you.

If you've been in the church a long time or even not, and just are able to Dive in.

Right.

If you're.

If you're at a point where you can just dive in, start with John 1 and Genesis 1.

Oh, yeah.

And you watch the themes.

It's incredible.

I mean, John was not.

I mean, he was genius.

Right.

I mean, obviously it was God telling him.

Right.

But, like, the fact that it just flows so well with the.

Starting from the beginning.

Yeah.

And it just.

The themes hit just one right after the other.

We actually started the podcast when we started.

We started with that.

That was our origins.

Some of our origins.

So that was before me by far.

Yeah, yeah.

But, yeah, no, yeah.

It's such a great book.

So confusion, false doctrine.

There's a lot of crazy teachings out there, and there's a lot that we could say about it.

But let's just sum it up at this.

Take everything you hear and take it back to Scripture.

I mean, and I mean everything.

If it's a YouTube video, if it's something somebody wrote, if it's in a book that's not the Bible, if it's from a preacher, if you don't understand it, if you're unsure of it, take it to Scripture, hold it up to God's Word.

And then in some cases, you find people that you can trust that can go in there and can help you also sort through it.

But, like, if you're going to hold up to anything, hold up to God's Word.

There's so much.

I mean, that's the best tip I can give you amongst anything else when it comes to.

Because the market is flooded with crazy stuff all over the Internet.

Take it to God's Word.

See what God's Word has to say about any of it, and just read it for yourself.

That's the biggest thing.

You know, people want to put their interpretations of stuff online, and I've heard good stuff, trust me.

I think there's a lot of great stuff out there.

I really do.

But I think there's an equal amount right now of stuff that's just garbage, and it's hard to wade through that pool.

So just try to keep yourself in the right mind space there.

And that goes to you having a personal relationship with God and His Word.

The next probability would be hopelessness and despair.

The devil wants us to feel ostracized.

He wants us to feel alone.

And he doesn't want us to feel like we're saved.

He wants us to feel like doom and gloom, like it's over.

Kind of like the Eeyore of the bunch.

Just.

It's okay.

Well, I Guess everything's bad.

And you know, that's not the way God wants us to be.

He wants to have hope.

That's the whole part of the gospel, is to give us hope.

Jesus is our hope.

And our ultimate hope is, of course, like I said, being right with God and being able to have eternity with him.

And if those things are at hand for you, if you're right with our.

Lord, man, yeah, it's really easy to fall into the trap of it's never going to get any better than this.

And you know what?

That's correct.

Until we get to heaven.

But right now, like I said at the beginning with my dad's advice, like, yo, today is a day that the Lord has made and let us rejoice and be glad in is already great.

Right.

And so we need to take that thought captive and realize that it's not true.

Right.

It's not true that it's even a step before the whole there's no way out.

Right.

It's not going to get any better, but rather it's already great.

Like the way of thinking about it.

It's not bad.

Paul talks about in Philippians how, like, you know, in all things, whether I'm rich or poor or sick or in health or in jail or free, like I've learned to be content with God and all that I have.

Yeah.

So.

And it's important.

So another thing that when it comes to, we are not meant to.

Although the enemy wants us to feel alone, we're not meant to be alone.

We've talked about it before, but it's important to find people to do your faith life with.

I mean, church is important.

That's what the church is for, is to help encourage one another.

But find people within the church.

Find your small group.

Find those people that you can have real relationship with that when you're feeling those things, when you're dealing with doubts, condemnation, guilt, false doctrine, confusion, hopelessness, despair, they can come beside you and help encourage you with it and help you work through it.

I mean, I hope you're seeing the theme there, but we talked about it with the shields.

Sometimes you need people to come and lock shields with you.

Helps protect you from the front, from the back and everything.

It's going to help your head too.

Having people help keep you in the right head.

Space is so important.

And you want positivity.

You don't want people that are going to become a cancer and continue to breed terrible things inside your head.

And if someone's being negative or what's the Word that they use now, it's not poison, it's, oh, man, toxic.

If someone's being toxic around you, then you might need to just spend less time with that person.

Pray for them, love on them.

But you need people that are filling your head with good things, not terrible things.

And then that's the other thing, is that you need to be renewing your mind.

Romans 12:2 says that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, which means sometimes you might think you know things, sometimes you might think that you're okay.

But sometimes you need to go back, learn it again, renew your mind, have someone tell you it again.

Sometimes people come into churches, and I've heard them go, ah, I've heard this sermon before.

And what they mean is, they've heard this story, they've heard this scripture.

Great.

Hear it again.

Let God speak to you again.

I was with a really large church up in Maryland, and one of the pastors there, he had a couple sermons, I want to say, like, three, maybe four, that he did more regularly.

I wouldn't say, like, every week.

He would be like, maybe once a year, maybe once every two years or so.

And we knew him that they were sermons that he really liked, but they were impactful.

And he would be like, I think it's time to bring that back.

And.

And for some people that have been there for long, 10 years, it's like, yeah, you've heard it maybe three or four times now.

Hear it again, help get it.

A couple of things about it is he might have added something to it.

Number one, God continues to speak through people all the time.

But maybe you need to hear it again.

Maybe there's something you missed the first time.

Maybe there's something that will help you remember it so that you can then pass that forward.

You never know.

Don't close your mind off.

Let it be renewed in everything that you do, even the messages.

There's times where I'll go back and I'll listen to the same sermon, the exact same sermon that was recorded or same teaching that was recorded from a Bible teacher or preacher that I like.

And I'll listen to it again and again and again because I knew it was so good.

And I know there's stuff that I'm forgetting when I go to think about these things.

Same thing when it comes to scripture.

We can read scripture again and again and again.

I spoke about this before.

I spoke about the fact that I studied Philippians in seminary, and I thought I knew it until I got out of seminary.

And started studying it to preach it and realized I'm learning every time I did Philippians here in a sermon.

And when I was preparing for it, I was like, man stuff again.

I didn't see this before.

How did I not see this before?

And it's because, first off, I think God can't give us everything at once.

Our heads would explode.

But I'd be okay with that.

That's part of the journey.

God's gonna continue.

Let's do the Matrix thing.

Yeah.

He's gonna continue to help mold you and shape you and give you the new information, help you go deeper.

It's all part of it.

So continue to transform your mind.

It's so important.

I don't want to gloss, I don't want to gloss over the rest of that, that passage because the whole thing in its entirety speaks to what we're talking about.

Starting from one.

No, from just all of two.

That was just a snippet from.

That's a snippet from 2.

So it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world.

Start there.

Yeah, don't be like everybody else.

It's not about being like, don't just go with the flow.

Don't, don't just like, don't get stuck in the rut of, wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed, wake up.

You know, don't, don't get stuck in this whole, like everybody else is doing it.

And so letting your guard down and allowing it.

Right.

So do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, which we just talked about then.

Alright, so like, there's a promise, there's, there's a, okay, why, why do we do this?

Why don't we want to be, you know, conforming to the pattern of the world, but instead be renewing, be transformed by the renewing of our mind, which by the way, like it says, be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Our mind gets renewed and then we get transformed.

Right.

Like, so there's that, but also, like, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.

How many times have, have you heard, like, I just don't know what God's will is.

I don't know what God wants me to do.

I don't know what he needs me to do.

I don't know what he's got planned.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

So let me tell you, this is how you know what God's will is, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed, be changed, be turned into a new creation by the renewing of your mind.

Because then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.

His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

I say amen to that.

That's like that.

We could end it right there if.

We could, but we're not gonna.

It's so good.

We're gonna keep going.

So good.

We're gonna keep going because you need.

You need to understand how you can do that.

And so how you can do that is by putting on your helmet.

And what does that mean?

That means meditate on scripture.

Have we said that before in this series?

Yes, a hundred times.

Right.

Because it's super important.

It's important to meditate on scriptures, specifically for the helmet, about salvation, identity.

You are a little anointed one.

You are a Christian, so you are this little anointed one.

Yeah.

You need to remember who you are.

As my grandma used to say, know who you are and whose you are.

Right.

Yeah.

So.

And now that's been said all over the place, but she said it a lot.

So meditate on scriptures about salvation and the identity of Christ.

Ephesians 1 and 2 are great, great places to start for that.

We're not going to read all of 1 and 2, but that's a great place to start.

All right.

If you need a pinpoint to start on that.

Ephesians 1 and 2, which we're in Ephesians.

So read it.

Read Ephesians.

So another thing you can do.

I'm going to do two at once.

I would recognize Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7 when we want to be going and with everything that we have to worry about.

I'm summarizing this, but go with thanksgiving and with worship to God.

We want to.

When you.

So number one, constantly be.

Find your things to be thankful for.

And the number one thing you can be thankful for when it comes to God, is your salvation.

Remember I said that the number one thing that we have to look forward to, the number one thing that we have to be thankful for, is the fact that we are already good.

So if you're good with our Lord and Savior, you have something to be thankful for at all times.

And to regularly remember that and be thankful in that with your prayers and such is so important.

But when you are thankful to God, that should promote a very important thing, which is worship.

Worship is something that, if you're engaging in worship, it lifts and centers the mind on God.

And it takes it out of those dark places.

It's hard to worship our Lord and Savior and be depressed at the same time.

It's hard to worship him and be worried about these things at the same time.

It's hard to worship him and be battling the enemy at the same time.

He then takes over.

Let me adjust one word in there.

One word.

So here it is.

Like, I do.

I do.

Let's not say and be like, okay, so it's hard to be this.

Right?

It's hard to be this and stay this.

Yeah.

Because how often have we gone to God?

And I know that's what you meant, but I want to clarify it for them because, like, how often do we go to God in a point in which we are just completely broken?

Oh, yeah.

And we start worshiping him in that.

And we have to start there.

I don't believe in leaving your luggage at the door.

I don't believe in the whole leave your everything this week at the door before you come into church on Sunday.

No, screw that.

Jesus says, come as you are.

You come to him in your brokenness and start worshiping him.

And you can't stay there.

Right.

Like, there is just something about it.

I 100% agree with what you're saying.

I just.

I want people to hear that, like, it's okay to come to God broken.

That's where he wants you.

Right.

To come is.

Just come.

Just be you where you're at, but I'm not going to leave you there.

And it's really hard to come to him that way and stay that way.

Yep.

Another thing you can do is we talked about this a little bit last week when it comes to shield but conf.

Confess and declare the truth audibly.

So knowing the truth and saying it out loud can help our mindset.

It's important.

Of course.

I want to say, when it comes to the audible, speaking to God out loud is a great thing.

And if you're not one of those people that likes to do it in front of people.

I mean, if you're just here, go in your private room.

Let's just have him do it now.

Totally fine.

Let's just have him do it now.

Right?

Romans 1:8 1.

You said it earlier.

Just say this verse, right?

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Yeah, dude, that's it right there.

Speak it.

Start it right there.

Speak it.

Wherever you are, say it.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You are not condemned.

Yep, you are not if you are in Christ, you are not condemned.

And declare it, man, declare it out loud.

It's so good.

Learn to practice.

Learn sound doctrine and stay rooted in gospel truth.

The gospel.

There is the fact that knowing who Jesus is is the soundest of doctrines that you can have.

Be firm in who he is.

Be firm in what he's done for you.

Like I said, the things that are of most vital importance, be firm in that and understand them.

And stay rooted in that.

If you can stay there, then it helps.

With so many different things, even other parts of the Bible.

I remember when I was in seminary, I had an Old Testament professor that just took us through the ringer and he was trying to shake us and rattle us and give us all kinds of different perspectives.

And he did such a good job that it was a really hard class.

There were people that dropped out of seminary because of that class all the time.

And the thing I said when I got through, it was like, if I didn't have my anchor in Jesus the way I did and who he is, man, that class might have rattled me a bit more than it.

But I knew who Jesus was.

I was firm in that.

And because of that, didn't matter what he threw at us, whether he wanted us to see if he could make us doubt it, or if he wanted to see if we can question it, or whatever he was trying to make us do at different times, just to kind of force us into that next level.

I knew where I was, so I was good and I could get through it just fine.

And that's in a Bible college.

Imagine what the world's going to try to do.

So you've got to have that anchor.

You got to have Jesus and know exactly what you're solid on that firm foundation, that cornerstone that won't be moved.

It's important.

Discipline is really important.

And just remember this.

It's gonna sound really dumb, but it's hard until it's not.

And with practice, it becomes easier.

So the more you do something, the easier it becomes to do.

And good things that are hard things are worth doing.

So discipline is not easy.

The path that you're being asked to walk, if you want to follow Jesus, is not an easy path.

However, it is the best one you can walk.

It's the only good one.

So it's worth the hard in the up front.

Yep, yep.

And yeah, also being able to recognize, as it says, as you'll start to know the good and perfect will of God, you'll be able to understand things better when you start to recognize lies in your life and take them captive.

You want to be able to quickly replace them with the truth so that your mind stays on the right things all the time.

And you're only going to get better at doing that sometimes.

Look, it happens.

You get caught up in something.

That's where sometimes the best thing is to have someone in your life that can come alongside and go, nope, that wasn't right.

And I think you know it.

And sometimes that reminder is all we need.

But you'll get better at recognizing, nope, that's not true.

Nope, that's not from God.

And then replacing it with truth in your life.

Maybe it's a good time to go back and listen to our third episode, which was on the Belt of Truth.

There's so much to it.

There's so much to it.

But that's going to help you just stay in the right mind frame.

You want that helmet to keep you in the right mind frame?

Yeah.

Remember that you can't work your way to salvation, but you can be renewed by the trans.

You can be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

And that's what Jesus calls you into, is that relationship that he takes what he has done and who he is and transforms you by you allowing him to come in and make that transformation happen.

Just know that like man, he.

He.

He wants you to be free of the fear and the doubt and the confusion.

He wants you to think clearly.

He wants you to be wise in your decision making and confident in the way that you live in Him.

Allow him to renew your mind so that he can transform you into that right, so that you can be walking with him in his will.

So as we, as we wrap up, you have any final thoughts you want to share?

I would say, I would say my final thoughts today would be just to continue to remember.

Remember who Jesus is and who that makes you.

Not who you were, who Jesus is and who he makes you.

That's so important.

That's going to be at the top of the pile.

So you know, if your identity is not in the things of the past, it's not in the things that you're doing.

You don't even need to worry about your identity in the future.

As long as you have your identity in who Christ is and who that makes you.

And then everything else would do fine.

That's good.

So I want to say, like, we've gone through a lot of this so far.

All of it's flowing together.

I hope you guys see how it flows.

Fits so well together.

I hope you guys can see a little bit better.

An unpacked version of like four chapter or four verses in the Bible.

It's a lot of unpacking and it.

Does overlap a lot.

I want to give a heads up.

The next couple of weeks is going to be possibly a toss up.

There's going to be some out of town, there's going to be some missing.

I don't know.

We kind of wanted to hit all of these.

We've tried to hit all of these in the spiritual warfare, or we could both be here for it.

So you might get a different episode, you might get a remote version of the next one, whatever.

Just be aware that if there's gonna be a little bit of a shakeup possibly over the next couple weeks, and if not, well, then disregard this message.

But just know that that's a possibility.

I just want to give you guys the heads up so you're not like sitting on the edge of your seat.

But.

But what's interesting is that now we've got the pieces of the armor minus one, and the next piece is the only offensive weapon.

Right now we've been shielded by our shield, by our helmet, by our sandals, by our belt, and by our breastplate, but now we get a sword.

So when we get to our eighth episode, we will be talking about the sword.

What is the sword?

Sword of the spirit.

Which is the word of God.

Which is the word of God.

Using the word that is our weapon.

And so we will talk about that in episode eight.

It's going to be a good time.

I hope you can join us and that you've been following along.

Invite your friends, whoever you think might be able to benefit from this really important that you also bring in not only your comments because we definitely want to hear your feedback, but we need questions.

Remember, we're going to finish up this series by having a Q and A type episode where we take the questions that you send in and we try to answer them to the best of our ability on our last episode.

So please send them in.

And the person that sends in the most questions, this guy has promised to buy them a truth response T shirt.

You're getting a T shirt if you've asked the most questions and we'll send.

It to you or anyone you want us to send it to.

And it's on this guy right here.

This.

So it's gonna be awesome.

Who doesn't want a T shirt?

We love T shirts.

I tell you what, I've always gotten a kick out of people who are like at hockey games or baseball games, they come out with those shirt cannons and people lose their minds.

One time I looked over at someone, I said, man, it's a T shirt.

You're wearing one.

But anyway, so T shirts.

Who doesn't love a great T shirt?

I love T shirts.

It's great.

I'm a T shirt guy.

Reading this week, obviously read ephesians, read Evasion 6, 17 is where we're at.

I would say go ahead and read the whole thing.

A couple weeks ago, I said to read Romans 8.

If you haven't read it, this is amazing week because we've already referenced it.

To read Romans 8.

And I mean, like the whole chapter, it's so good.

But also, also if you have read Romans 8, if you haven't read it, if you have and you're looking for another one, definitely chapter four of Philippians.

There's such good things there to keep in mind at all times.

And you'll see that when you get to Philippians chapter four.

All right.

And to end this, this episode, I want to ask the reflection question for the week.

And that is what is one truth about your salvation or identity in Christ that you need to meditate on this week?

So thank you for listening, for joining, for hanging out with us, and God bless.

Hey, thanks for joining us.

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Thanks for joining us this week and God bless.