Listen in as Priscilla Shirer take the stage at Passion Conference to speak about winning spiritual battles and how we can overcome the darkness. Be encouraged as Priscilla Shirer discusses how prayer is our best weapon against the powers of the enemy. This video was brought to you by TBN Networks®. SUBSCRIBE here and never miss an upload! https://www.youtube.com/c/PraiseTBN/?… WATCH full Praise episodes for free on the TBN app: https://watch.tbn.org/praise
NEED PRAYER? TBN’s Prayer Partners would love to pray with you and are available 24/7: 714-731-1000 (U.S. and Canada) and +1-714-731-1000 (International). On the air since 1973, TBN’s flagship ministry and talk show Praise is one of the most recognizable — and most watched — Christian programs in the world. Taped before a live audience and hosted by TBN’s own Matt and Laurie Crouch along with other popular personalities, Praise features the best in contemporary Christian music and worship, fresh and impacting ministry voices, engaging interviews from a wide variety of guests, and a fast-moving hour of relevant talk you won’t want to miss! #praise #priscillashirer #spiritualwarfare 0:00 Intro 1:00 The plans God has for you 9:18 Understanding the power you have 16:20 The schemes of the enemy 26:15 The full armor of God 29:39 The breastplate of righteousness 36:08 Understanding your spiritual heart
back the carton and let the enemy know
we got our eyes on you
and we’re gonna use some weapons that
actually work back there behind the
curtain y’all I wish I had learned this
when I was 18 19 20 21 years old that
that person that physical problem isn’t
really where you need to invest your
energy pull back the curtain use the
weapons that actually have power
I cannot even begin to tell you how
excited I am
to be here
thrilled finally to be a passion this is
my first time being at passion
I I’m the new kid on the Block thank you
for making the new kid feel welcome it
is a privilege to be a part of what God
has already been doing through this
movement for these years these decades
that God has been sowing seed into the
lives of of you
y’all don’t even know what it is that
the Lord has in store if you cannot even
imagine I’m trying to tell you that
whatever is in your mind right now about
what God might do with your life
it is too small for what he’s actually
planning to do
too small
you cannot fathom what God has in mind
for you the reason why I can say that
with that much boldness
is because while there are 30 plus
thousand of us that are gathered
together in these three Arenas and then
those that are on the other side of the
screen in their homes
30 000 sounds like a big number unless
you consider the fact that with seven
plus billion people on the planet
the fact that he’d let us be the ones
that are recipients of what he’s done
over these last few weekends really it’s
just our last few days really it’s just
a drop in the bucket thirty thousand
sounds like a lot but in the grand
scheme of all the people that could have
been here y’all he chose us
that means he intended for you to know
you’re an arrow
that your expectation is that you’re
getting ready to go places the likes of
which you could never imagine
oh I like y’all y’all talk back to me I
go to that kind of a church where they
talk but you know I go to the kind of
church where if the preaching gets
really good to us we might throw
something at the pastor
a shoe a baby anything might go flying
up there
y’all are my people y’all came to have
church
three boys
um it’s a little bit scary to me that
they are nearly and will be very soon in
the next few years will be about your
age three sons the distinguishing
characteristic about my boys is that
they are giants they are huge boys my 15
year old is six foot two inches tall he
wears a size 14 men’s shoe my 13 year
old is about six one he wears a 13 men’s
shoe and uh they Tower over me I have a
nine-year-old who’s coming up in the
ranks with his brothers they are tall
boys somebody come help me feed these
people
and one of the distinguishing
characteristics about or what makes
their size work for them rather is that
they do love sports so whatever sport is
sort of in season that’s what we’re
playing at the time my second son for a
lot of years he’s in a basketball now
but for a lot of years baseball was his
thing and I enjoyed that I enjoyed
baseball season I liked going out there
for Spring ball I liked Spring ball
because you go sit in the cool of the
evening while your kid is practicing I
remember all those years of of little
league when he was just coming up and
we’d sit out there in the cool of the
spring evening Under The Lights of the
bleachers watching and practice and
enjoying just uh that that whole
atmosphere I like Spring ball so much
the only problem with Spring ball is
that it is going to become Summer Ball
and I don’t know what happens where you
live wherever you’re coming from but I
can’t tell you in Dallas Texas which is
where I still lived
and where I was born and raised in
Dallas Texas in the summertime it
doesn’t warm up slightly
it gets hot I’m talking about slap your
mama hot that kind of hot the kind of
hot where you feel like the sun must be
mad at you about something like you did
something to the sun and the Sun is
trying to get you back all summer long
that’s what it feels like and you’re
sitting out there at a game trying to
enjoy your kids game and it really still
is okay when there’s just one game the
problem is that at the end of every
season there’s a tournament
so you got to be out there on a Thursday
at 8 A.M and 10 a.m and noon and 2 p.m
and then depending upon how your kids
team did you’re gonna have to come back
on Friday at 8 A.M and 10 a.m and then
they give you a little lunch break but
you got to come back for the 2PM game
the 4 P.M game and then if your kids
team had the nerve to do well you got to
come back again on Saturday for the 8
A.M game and 10 a.m and noon and two and
man you’re sitting out there under the
blazing sun trying to be happy that your
kid is doing well
really you’re wondering if it’s ever
okay to pray they lose so you can go
home
I will never confirm nor deny that I
have ever done that
but I will tell you that we were sitting
out there at a tournament so several
years ago
sun was Blazing we were so excited for
the lunch break just because that meant
we would be able to go to a restaurant
where there would be air conditioned and
ice water that actually had ice in it we
got refreshed we came back
we drove our SUV up into the parking lot
opened up the back of the SUV so that we
could pull out all the gear that we
needed to go to the next game in the
tournament we were three days into the
tournament hot sweaty they were doing
well we were trying to be excited about
it ready for the next game I was walking
behind my son to get from where we had
parked the car over toward the Dugout
where the next game was going to be
played and so I gathered up all the
stuff you know the ice chest that you
have and the um the umbrella that you
might have to go over your head and you
know the water bottles the the backpacks
the The Baseballs the mitts all that
stuff and I was following behind my son
my second son Jerry Jr is a fairly
gregarious personality he’s outgoing
he’s excited for a challenge so I could
see that in his step as I followed
behind him I could see a skip in his
step his chin was up his shoulders were
back he was excited about the next game
and I gotta tell you he’s pretty good in
baseball he has a natural knack for it I
remember at 10 years old the first time
he got a good hit and sent it sailing
over the fence line at 10 years old and
I think it’s partly because of his size
just a lot of power behind his swing a
great as a first baseman so we were
really excited about his success in
baseball and and I watched him as he
kind of hopped and skipped over to the
next game just excited about the next
challenge in the tournament
but because I was following behind him I
had my eyes glued on him and I could see
when something changed
I could see that as we took the short
walk from where we’d parked the car over
to the Dugout I could see that his
shoulders started to hunch over and his
head hung down I could see that that
skip that had been in his step had
changed he was kind of walking like he
was nervous he was wringing his hands a
little bit I saw that he was looking
around his eyes darting and looking a
little bit sketchy I was trying to
figure out what happened to my boy it
was a short walk from where we parked
the car over to the Dugout and all of a
sudden his countenance had completely
changed so I started looking around
trying to figure out what was going on
why did he look so insecure and fearful
all of a sudden
I realized that as we were going toward
the Dugout we were walking past
some kids from another team they were
all laying on the grass underneath the
shade of an oak tree getting ready for
the next game as I passed them I could
see this was the team we were about to
play next
kept walking and I kept getting a look
at these boys and when I looked at them
I realized what my son’s problem was
we had faced this team before
we had faced them earlier in the season
and when this team had played my son’s
team earlier in the season they had
annihilated us
it had been a complete embarrassment a
complete upset this team right here
y’all they were serious baseball players
but we had to walk right by them to get
to The Dugout as we walked past there
were two players they were talking to
each other one was whispering to the
other I think he thought he was
whispering but we could hear him
he leaned over to the other one and he
said
there goes that big kid from the Red Sox
team
is he the one that hit the ball and it
went over the fence
yeah he was the one at first base the
one that caught any of the outs that we
got in the game that was him
so that’s Jerry Shire
when my boy heard his name crossed the
lips of the opposing team members
there’s shoulders that had been hanging
down all of a sudden I watched them pop
back again
it’s just Shin go up I watched him get a
little swag back in his set as he headed
over toward the dugout
in fact we had to bring him down a few
notches before the game started
it’s amazing really how your countenance
changes when you’re really overhear and
understand what the enemy thinks about
you when he sees you coming
it doesn’t mean that the challenge goes
away it means that in the face of it
you’re different your stance is
different because you recognize that
when the enemy sees a daughter or a son
of God coming his way he’s shaking in
his boots not because of you but because
of the holy spirit of God that lives on
the inside of me
I came to tell somebody today that even
if you don’t believe what it is that the
word of God declares to be true about
you you need to know that the enemy does
knows that every single thing that God’s
word declares to be true about you every
word that has been declared over you in
these last few days of this conference
even if you’re not convinced about it
the enemy is he knows that you have been
forgiven he know
he knows therefore now no condemnation
for those of us who
us Christ Jesus
Victory he
ating the competent by the spirit of God
he knows therefore now no condemnation
for you or for me no shame no guilt he
knows that you have not been given a
spirit of fear but a power and love and
of a sound mind and y’all he knows that
in the end we win
and I’m saying what ashamed it would be
for the enemy to believe more about your
potential than you do
what a shame that would be for us to go
out of here with all of this inspiration
that we have been given this investment
of God’s word that he has gathered us
together over the course of these days
to Worship in spirit and in truth and to
hear his word declared true over our
lives what a tragedy it would be for us
to walk out of here and still live like
we were before we came through these
doors
so what the enemy will do is scatter
challenge in front of your life because
listen you’re going back home to
challenge y’all do know we going back
home in a little while right
and don’t we wish we could wake up to
this every single day
don’t we wish that we could have God’s
word spoken over our lives with this
much Authority and power every single
day and be in the presence of leaders
who can lead us into the presence of God
and worship every single day like this
but the reality is we’re going back home
the challenges of your University campus
the challenges of your home your
relationships your friendships on your
job those challenges will be sprawled
out in front of you when you get home
and let me tell you something what the
enemy hopes is that the sight of them
will cause you to shrink back in so much
fear and insecurity that you’ll never
step up to the plight of being who God
has called you to be listen if you’ve
placed faith in Jesus Christ I hope you
know that the enemy understands he
cannot destroy you he knows his chances
are over of destroying you so he is
going to spend the rest of his time and
the rest of his energy just trying to
discourage you
trying to distract you so that you’ll
shrink back in fear and insecurity and
not step up to the plate and be who God
has called you to be
it is at least in part to this end
that the Apostle Paul gives us a passage
of scripture that has become a Lifeline
for me
in fact I was talking with Christine
yesterday Chris and I have known each
other for a very long time very close
friends and she was asking me what I was
going to speak on and I had several
thoughts of directions that I was
leaning toward
but in the end we as we were talking the
question came up if there was only one
thing you could say to them
if there’s only one message that you
ever have the opportunity
to tell these students these young
people that will be gathered together on
this occasion what would that message be
and there was one thing that immediately
popped into my heart and my mind for you
at the end of this year’s passions
Passion Conference
the words of the Apostle Paul
he writes them in the book of Ephesians
listen let me just tell you quickly
before I read this passage you got if
you if you’ve not read the book of
Ephesians you’re gonna have to read the
book of Ephesians
y’all listen
it’s it’s like for real
the Apostle Paul y’all know he was a bad
boy he gave us most of what would become
the New Testament letters written to
first century Believers that now
disciple us and help us to mature as
Believers and as the body of Christ and
Scholars say that of all of Paul’s
writing really the cream of the crop the
cherry on top of the cake is Ephesians
because in the book of Ephesians y’all
he just spends the first half of the
book just rehearsing who you are as a
daughter or a son he wants to make sure
you step up to the plate rise to the
occasion of who you’ve been recreated in
Christ to become those of you who place
faith in Jesus Christ last night who
stood took your feet at the end of
Pastor Louie’s message and you placed
faith in Jesus listen the old has gone
and the new has come you’re a daughter
you’re a son and you have full rights
and privileges that have been granted to
you the Apostle Paul wants you to know
what is the hope of his calling and
choosing you he writes in the first and
second and third chapter about the
treasure that you have he wants you to
know about the mercy that has been
lavished upon you the grace that has
been given to you he wants you to know
that if you’ve been rejected by
everybody else you’ve been hand-picked
chosen and adopted by the one true God
he wants you to know that if you’ve dug
a pic of sin for yourself that is so
deep you can’t find your way out of it
that the mercy of God is so great and so
Grand that it can reach down into any
pit and snatch you up out of it once and
for all in fact Paul gets so worked up
that by the time he gets to the middle
of the first chapter he bursts out in a
prayer and he says I’m praying that the
eyes of your heart would be open
so that you would just know what is the
hope of his calling and choosing you
and after going over and over and on and
on about the lavishness the richness the
grace the mercy the goodness the
adoption that has been poured out over
us the Forgiveness that has been granted
to us he’s trying to figure out how do I
close this letter to make sure they step
up to the plate
how do I put an exclamation point on
passion 2018 to make sure that what God
has given them they don’t hand over to
the enemy as soon as they walk out the
door
and the Apostle Paul writes these words
to us in Ephesians chapter 6 beginning
in verse 10.
he says finally
you be strong in the Lord
and in the strength of his might
he says put on the full former of God
so that you may be able to stand firm
against the scheme somebody say schemes
against the schemes of the devil he says
we wrestle not we struggle not against
flesh and blood but against the rulers
against the powers against the world
forces of this Darkness against the
spiritual forces of wickedness that are
in the Heavenly places he says so
therefore you might as well just go
ahead and put down all the weapons of
this world that aren’t working for you
anyway and take up some weapons that
actually have some power he says take up
the full armor of God so that you may be
able to resist in the evil day and
having done everything to stand firm he
says you ought to just stand firm
therefore in these few verses of
scripture the Apostle Paul begins to
introduce to us a concept that has not
been at least in the context uh thus far
in church development at that time had
not been as overtly described as it is
right now in Paul’s letter he brings up
the topic of spiritual warfare
he says you have an enemy
he says I want to make sure that it’s
loud and clear there are other places in
the Old Testament and throughout
throughout the new y’all where we can
infer that we have a spiritual unseen
battle going on but this is the first
time that an author comes right out and
says you have an enemy
and he is scheming against you
that when you leave this place in just a
little while when I leave this place in
just a little while you need to know
that there is an enemy he is against you
he is not for you he plans to do
anything and everything in his power to
stir up challenge in your life enough to
cause you to shrink back and not rise up
and stand firm in the victory that you
have been given in Christ Jesus that’s
why the Apostle Paul says stand firm
because you have an enemy
an enemy that wants you to think that
just because he is invisible he is also
fictional
he wants to be chalked up to nothing
more than a caricature a cartoon picture
a myth a character for a kid’s nursery
rhyme he doesn’t want you to recognize
the influence that he has over your life
possibly to to cause you to never walk
into the full expression of God’s grace
and goodness in your life he is Sinister
he is a master Illusionist and he is a
deceiver and he hopes to cleverly
disguise himself behind life’s most
pressing problems to where you will
forget he is even there
he wants you to point fingers at him or
at her at your boss at your parent at
that particular Professor or your R.A in
your dorm he wants you to think it’s
that advisor or it’s that financial
problem anything Flesh and Blood because
he knows as long as we’re looking at the
Flesh and Blood we will direct all the
wrong weapons at the wrong culprit
will think our money will work we’ll
think our rationale and logic will
actually work we think that the diploma
we’re about to to achieve and receive
we’ll think the diploma will be work
worth it we’ll think that the
connections will work anything natural
cannot take care of the supernatural
when your problem is unseen and
spiritual you need weapons that work in
that Realm
so the Apostle Paul says you got to know
first of all that your enemy is not the
person you are sitting next to today
that your enemy is not your parent at
home your enemy is not that Professor
that is difficult to work with your real
enemy it’s not your boss on your
part-time job your real enemy is unseen
he is hoping y’all that we will forget
he’s there
he is the master Deceiver so there’s a
little church around the corner from my
house in Dallas I’ve been taking my kids
there since they were little uh to
Harvest Festival that’s basically this
Church’s answer to Halloween
so we will go there for Harvest Festival
and this church has a good old-fashioned
Trunk or Treat does anybody know what I
mean when I say Trunk or Treat
okay
all right so Trunk or Treat for those of
you who are not clear on what that is
that’s when members of the congregation
volunteer they volunteer to bring their
cars into the parking lot on Harvest
Festival night so that they can open up
the trunk of their car so you go into
the parking lot all the trunks are open
and each person has basically crafted a
carnival game or some sort of fair game
out of the trunk of the car so kids line
up one trunk after the other they play
whatever the game is and then most of
the time whether they win or lose the
person that owns that car gives them a
whole bunch of candy and sends them home
we’re always so grateful
so we stand in line
one car after the other waiting on bags
of candy and we play one game after the
other a few years ago
the biggest line the longest line at the
carnival wasn’t behind the a car it was
behind the bed of a truck it was really
clever
a huge truck had been parked in the
parking lot
and they put a step ladder right at the
bed of the truck so that a kid could
walk into the bed of the truck they had
attached a table top which was about the
same size as the bed of the truck they
had attached it to the side of the truck
cut six holes into it put some fabric
some drapery over it and out from those
holes every few seconds a puppet would
pop through they gave the kid a huge
plastic Mallet and the job of the kid
was to run up and down the inside of the
bed of the truck as he tried to hit the
puppets on top of the head it was a
homemade whack-a-mole game is what it
was
and it was the longest line me and Jude
at the time he was like four Jude is my
youngest me and Jude are standing in
line we’re waiting on our turn behind us
there’s another kid he’s with his his
mom he’s probably four or five as well
and y’all he was hysterical
because he was annoyed at this whole
situation and he was making sure she
knew it
he was first of all annoyed because Mom
I don’t understand why I got to stand in
this long line didn’t we come to the
carnival to have fun this ain’t fun
standing in line ain’t fun I have an
idea mom how about this how about I go
play all these other games while you
stand in line and hold our place and
then when it’s our turn I’ll come back
and join you in line
but he was not only annoyed about the
line the four-year-old was also annoyed
because Mom I don’t even understand this
game why in the world would I waste all
my energy running up and down the inside
of that truck to hit the puppets on the
top of the head if when I hit them on
the head they’re gonna disappear but
then they’re just gonna come back as
soon as I hit them on the head what’s
the point of this game
so everybody in the line is laughing
hysterically because this four-year-old
this five-year-old is talking so much
about all of his frustrations
finally he gets so frustrated
that he works himself into a frenzy to
where all I saw out of my peripheral
vision was a four-year-old flash running
past me as he ran forward and he grabbed
the drapery off of the table top and
pulled it clean off
underneath there were three adults with
puppets on each hand
that day we all got a good laugh but we
also got a good lesson
there is always something you can’t see
influencing what you can
and if you spend all of your time your
energy your effort trying to hit at what
you see popping up in your life you’re
gonna be so frustrated and by the way
exhausted because as soon as you take
care of one thing another one is coming
back unless you do what the Apostle Paul
says pull back the curtain and let the
enemy know we got our eyes on you
and we’re gonna use some weapons that
actually work back there behind the
curtain y’all I wish I had learned this
when I was 18 19 20 21 years old that
that person that physical problem isn’t
really where you need to invest your
energy pull back the curtain use the
weapons that actually have power
the Apostle Paul wants you to know that
the tactics of the enemy are serious
business and so he uses a specific word
to describe them
he says schemes
listen to me he knows your weaknesses he
knows how to dangle what carrot at the
right time in the right way to make sure
you are snagged in particular have you
ever wondered or found curious is that
particular carrot is always dangled in
front of you when you are most tired
when you are most vulnerable when you
happen to be most hungry
most alone most weak that particular
carrot the one that wouldn’t mess with
your friend because it’s not her deal
it’s not his deal he’s not enticed by
that but the one that entices you always
shows up at the right time y’all that’s
not coincidence that’s a scheme
the enemy is trying to derail you he’s
trying to make sure that you don’t walk
in a manner worthy pleasing of the Lord
that you come in here but then you don’t
go out of here the purpose to live for
the glory of God he’s trying to trip you
up
not only for his own benefit but because
he does not want you having access to
everything that you are privy to as a
rightful heir to the King of Kings and
the Lord of lords
it’s a scheme
so if he’s got tactics
we need tactics
the Apostle Paul outlines them for us
I’m just going to read them to you
because he says in verse 13 you need the
full armor and here’s what they are
verse 14 he says make sure that your
loins are girded with truth then he says
you need a breastplate and the
breastplate is called righteousness and
then he says in verse 15 you got to have
something for your feet if you want any
hope of being able to move forward
successfully so your feet need to be
shot with the preparation of the gospel
of peace and then not only that but he
says there are some flaming missiles of
the evil one that he fully intends to
send sailing into your path you gonna
need a shield and The Shield is your
faith and then you know there are lies
there are strongholds that he’s going to
try to erect in your mind you’re going
to need something to protect your mind
he says you need a helmet and the helmet
is your salvation but not only that he
says that you are going to need a sword
really a dagger of the spirit it was
about 18 inches long or so the one the
Apostle Paul all is referring to you
need a dagger so that when the enemy is
all up in your space you’ve got
something close at hand to make sure
that he stays at Bay you need a dagger
of the spirit and the dagger is called
the what
the word of God
but y’all he doesn’t stop at those six
can I just say that there is one more in
18 verse 18 traditionally it’s taught as
six I really believe there are seven
pieces of armor because in verse 18 He
says pray
he says pray
[Applause]
not like you know a prayer a day to keep
the devil away
not like a prayer over your meal
just because that’s what your mama did
and your Grandmama did and that’s what
you’re supposed to do
not something quick and casual
fervent
prioritized prayer
y’all you can’t have Victory if you
don’t pray
do you hear what I’m saying to you
prayer is the key that unlocks the
resources of heaven so that they can be
Unleashed on planet Earth
prayer is the key he’s actually given
you to get all the good stuff down here
because I don’t know about you but I
don’t want to wait to get to heaven to
experience all that God has for me any
Bits of Heaven he plans to give me on
Earth I want it right now prayer
accesses the Bits of Heaven he intends
to give you now
and prayer listen prayer is what pushes
the kingdom of darkness back
it’s what pushes it back that’s why
Jesus said my house shall be called not
a house of good preaching
not a house of good singing not a house
of great spotlights and production not a
house of great cafes I hope you have all
of that enjoy it but Jesus said at the
end of the day my house better be called
the house of prayer because spotlights
and fog machines and great singing and
great preaching that won’t necessarily
push the kingdom of darkness back but
when my people who are called by my name
when they will humble themselves and
when they’ll pray he says that I will
hear from heaven I’m gonna heal the land
the enemy will have to bend the knee at
the name of Jesus in prayer
so pray
there’s one other piece of armor I
couldn’t get to buy without talking to
you about it for a few moments y’all
still awake everybody gain
[Applause]
it’s in verse 14.
he says put on a breastplate
called what
righteousness
Jerry and I live in a fairly rural part
of Dallas Fort Worth
we like it that way close enough to the
city we can get there quick but it’s
quiet and lazy we live on a little
two-lane sleepy Road somebody’s got some
horses over there there’s some cows over
there and one of my closest friends
lives across the street that’s why we
like it because she’s got a pond in the
front of her property
so I’ll get the boys and the two fishing
poles I bought on sale at the local
Walmart I have a tackle box too that I
got on sale there because and you know
we need things we need extra hooks
because the boys always lose the hooks
extra bobber thingies you know because
we need extras of those I also have
gloves in The Tackle Box because y’all
know I don’t mind going fishing but I
ain’t gonna actually touch no fish
so we walk across the street with
whatever hot dog meat we’ve got left
from the week because you know we’re
professional fishermen so our hot dog
meat is our bait
we walk across the street we stand in
this little Cove underneath some trees
and we fish just right there most of the
time just little sun perch stuff like
that we can catch quick in an hour we
can catch like 10 or 12 fish just a
little quick easy little fishing trip
every now and then though I’m feeling
adventurous
what that means is is that we will get
into my friend’s little row boat they
bought on Craigslist it’s metal it’s not
a big deal it’s just a little it’s
seaworthy it can hold us up that’s all
we need
swim I will uh row out into the middle
and we’ll fish from there every now and
then
but I always think twice before I do it
and here’s the reason
because in order to get in it we first
have to turn it over
they leave it upside down as they should
to drain water while nobody’s using it
so I got to turn it over to get in it
and what I do know for sure
is that when I turn this thing over
something is either going to hop out
from underneath it
someone’s going to Waddle out from
underneath it or worst of all oh
Something’s Gonna slither
out from underneath that boat because
the environment under there is moist and
damp and perfect for Critters
do you know what I’ve noticed every
single time we turn it over something
comes out and never once have I had to
write a golden sealed invitation and
send it into the brush nearby to invite
the critters to come and join us at one
o’clock today you’re welcome
never once have I had to invite them
because the environment created by the
upside down boat is invitation enough
righteousness is right side up living
that invites the sunlight of God’s favor
and blessing upon your life
unrighteousness
in behavior that is out of alignment
with the truth of God that you’ve been
sitting underneath for the last few days
it’s behavior that is out of alignment
with the truth of God to where you don’t
have to invite the enemy and come and
make himself at home in your life you
just keep living upside down
and the environment created by upside
down behavior is invitation enough
listen to me you can pray against the
enemy till you’re blue in the face but
if you and I leave passion and we do not
walk in Holiness we do not live in our
lifestyle that is in alignment with the
truth of God we will have wasted our
breath in prayer
Paul says somebody’s got to live right
it’s flat out straight up
holiness
it’s a word that our our grandmothers
and our grandfathers back in the good
old days when you went to church and you
sat on a wooden Pew it’s before some
Churches became so pre-seeker sensitive
I remember y’all I wouldn’t listen I’m
off track listen I went to a church and
they said we are a pre-seeker sensitive
church and so we actually want to sort
of uh in a way they said dull down the
actual literal name of Jesus just so we
can get people in first then we will
we’ll be more direct later on I said oh
you have invited the wrong person
because there used to be a day and time
where it was just black and white
where there were fewer gray areas and
tolerance yes come as you are but don’t
stay as you are
holiness
brothers and sisters I implore you by
the mercies of God to walk in a manner
worthy of this calling by which you have
been called that every bit of truth that
you have received this weekend to align
your lifestyle to it to not determine
that you will still dig your heels into
the ground and live immorally or speak
immorally or do the things habits and
Lifestyles and choices and relationships
that you know are outside of alignment
with the truth of God turn the boat
right side up
so that you can invite the favor of God
on your life the Apostle Paul says
righteousness is your breastplate the
Roman army in the first century they had
many pieces of armor as you know but the
breastplate would have been one of the
most critical the reason why was because
it obviously protected the most vital
organ they had their heart
the heart is the lifeline for your
physical well-being all of the blood
flow the Vitality the energy that you
need to function in every level of your
life comes from the Vitality of your
physical heart what the physical heart
is to the physical life your spiritual
heart is to your spiritual life all of
the Vitality the energy that you need to
be who God has created you to be to have
fervency in your prayer life to follow
him with passion and with fire to read
the Bible it and not just be ink on a
page but you hear his voice speaking to
you to have clear reception between you
and the Holy Spirit you need a vital
spiritual heart that’s why if I were
your enemy more than all else I’d be
after your heart
because one shot to the spiritual heart
will wipe you out
your spiritual heart is comprised of
four things your mind the way you think
your emotions the way you feel your
Ambitions what you purpose to do and
your conscience your conscience is not
the voice of God but your conscience is
like this wiring that helps this
microphone amplify my voice the the
conscience is the microphone that the
Holy Spirit uses to help you hear the
voice of God so if I were your enemy I’d
be after your heart because if I could
get to your heart that would mean I
would have automatic access to your mind
now I could Tinker with your thinking
I’d have automatic access to your
emotions I can mess with the way you
feel and make sure they’re out of
alignment with the truth of God I can
mess with your Ambitions to where what
you want to do is totally out of
alignment with what God wants you to do
and more than all else I’d want to make
it sure I have a shot to your heart so
that I can Short Circuit the wires
between you and the Holy Spirit
now you can’t even hear God speak to you
because you didn’t have a breastplate on
the Apostle Paul says Holiness is your
breastplate Holiness blocks you from a
full frontal attack of the enemy
Holiness keeps the enemy at Bay to where
when he comes looking around for some
people that he can infiltrate some
upsound down environments that he can
fester in he can’t find that with me or
with you because we’ve chosen right side
up living aligning ourselves with the
truth of God Brush Place in place
securing us against the schemes of the
enemy Holiness is your breastplate
I came to tell you to live right
I came to tell you not to just have
heard all of this to go home and live in
accordance with it
be ye holy not by your power not by your
might but by the spirit of God
there is no relationship you’re in that
if it is out of alignment with the truth
of God that the Holy Spirit himself
won’t help you to sever so that you can
walk in holiness there is no lifestyle
you are living that is too uh that
you’re too wound up in that you can’t
break free from no matter how you feel
in this moment you can walk in holiness
there is no way you have been speaking
no addiction that you have no habit that
you have been festering in your life
that you have been harboring in your
life that the Holy Spirit won’t Empower
you to break free from so that you can
walk underneath the banner the favor of
Holiness in your life be ye holy y’all
listen
listen
back in our Grandmama and our
grandparents days great grandparents
they wanted to honor God more than they
wanted to impress people
see the problem with Instagram and
Twitter and social media if there’s a
problem y’all the problem is
we want this
we want to be impressive
and if I’m worried for Our Generation
it is that we are impressive
but we don’t have breastplates on
it is that we have the Applause of
people and our selfies are perfectly lit
and we have a whole bunch of friends and
a whole bunch of Instagram likes and
people are following us and the enemy is
thrilled because we have sacrificed
holiness
on the altar of impressing people
you gotta live for the Applause of
Heaven you gotta decide I will not be
politically correct before I will choose
to be holy
I will not be impressive before I will
choose to be holy I may not be the the
person that everybody wants to be around
I may not be the most impressive but
what I will be is Holy because the time
is coming y’all where we are going to
see our savior face to face
and when we see him he will not ask us
how many Instagram followers we had
he will not ask us how many friends
liked our post he will not want to see
the Selfies that we took when we see him
face to face he’s going to ask us did we
do business with his son Jesus Christ
and then
and then we’re gonna give an account
and I don’t know about y’all
but I’m looking for
I want a well done
I want Jesus to look at me and say you
did the thing girl
not because they bought the books they
bought the Bible study they saw the
movie no you did the thing because you
honored me
whether with an audience of one or an
audience of 30 000 you honored me
I came to tell you brothers and sisters
walk
with integrity
be in the dark who you are in the light
everything that your God has entrusted
to you over these last few days the
enemy does not mind he doesn’t like but
he doesn’t mind that you heard him he
didn’t mind you came here what he Minds
is if you leave here and live by what
you heard
you father
if you’re here
if you’re in this room stay standing if
you’re in this room or one of the other
Arenas are at home and you know you were
living in a way that is out of alignment
with the truth of God your breastplate
is not in place you are open to full
frontal attack by the enemy because you
haven’t girded yourself with holy living
and maybe you’re in a situation where
you’ve been trying to live right but by
your own strength and power you just
can’t seem to pull it off and you need
the Holy Spirit to do what he does
set you free to empower you to rise up
in Victory to step up to the plate and
hit a home run for the kingdom of God
y’all remember
y’all remember in The Lion King
Simba’s messing with the hyenas and he’s
like where and they’re like seriously
he does it again wow and they’re like
you got to be kidding he does it again
and they’re like
no you’ll never take us down you’re too
weak you’re too small you’re too puny by
yourself
he tries it one more time
he lets out his best Roar but it sounds
like something big and giant and it
echoes off of the mountains nearby and
the enemy enemy amen
[Applause]
[Music]
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