Are you ready to be forceful? Part 2

Matthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Luke 16:16 “16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.”

Meaning of Eagerness and Zeal

Overwhelming enthusiasm: Large crowds rushed with great excitement to hear John the Baptist and Jesus, acting like an army trying to break into a city.

Deep spiritual hunger: People who want God's truth refuse to let anything stop them, pushing past every barrier to find salvation.

Entering and thriving in the Kingdom will take force. Are you ready? You will have to fight (not in the way you may think) you will need Faith your most trusted weapon, your secret ingredient

Accept Jesus Finished Work

Forceful not by might or works but by faith

John 5:24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

It is the accept

Are you holy? Are you righteousness? Are you a Christian? Do you have Christ image?

When God sees as His Son Jesus, do you does accept you?

Transfer of Trust to Jesus

He should be your first stop. Check it out, he wants to be your first stop

1. You will have to fight your flesh

This flesh has a default setting to adore everything else but God and His Spirit

Wants to gossip, spend, obtain, win, feed, eat, it want sex, it wants stimulants, alcohol, fun, revelry

You and I have to deny or flesh and feed our Spirit: Feed it with faith, the word, prayer, fasting, fellowship, church, giving

If not careful and if this default setting is left uncheck and not updated with Godly settings it will adore, have affection for and even worship unconsciously the things of this world!

David Foster Wallace‘s 2005 commencement speech to a graduating class at Kenyon College

Unfortunately commit suicide 3 years later, His speech to graduates and faculty was entitled

You get to decide what to worship.

In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is that they’re unconscious. They are default settings.

They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.

And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self.

2. Force out idols

An idol is an image or statue worshipped as a god, a person heavily admired or adored, or a false idea

Main Meanings

Religious Object: A physical object, figure, or statue that people pray to or treat as a god.

Admired Person: A famous star, athlete, or role model who receives deep love and great respect from fans.

Metaphorical Focus: Anything in life—such as money, power, or work—that a person values more than anything else.

Philosophy: A false thought or error in human reasoning

If you realize this is you and where you are, lets share it with God

Matthew 7:24–27 “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand)

1 My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Refrain: On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

2 When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain]

3 His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. [Refrain]

4 When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. [Refrain]

You and I also, too, have to do a idle check. Because anytime we worship something, it will always cause us death in several areas of our life slowly. Over time, taken from us, essentially what God has already freely given to us. And won’t hurt us.

Be Spiritually disciplined

Once saved you will need to maintain force to grow your sanctification: Feed our Spirit more than our flesh

Galatians 5:13–18 “13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Uproot Idols

Wanted, comforted, accepted, loved, wonder

Recognition, victory, matter, power, fame

Escape, peace, euphoria, relief

Whatever you feed will be dominate - Flesh vs the Spirit

Faith Wins the Fight - Feed your Spirit and give all your worship, attention, and affection to Jesus

Are you ready to be forceful? Your primary weapon is Faith, it is Faith in Jesus, (right where I started) the finished work for Christ and continued work of His Spirit is how you transfer your love and trust for idols centered on Him.

Dr Tim Keller - I am more sinful and flawed than I dared ever believe, I am more love and more accepted than I ever dared hoped. It means human flaws run deep, but God's grace and acceptance are even greater but you should also too be fighting for your salvation, and saying, saying both of these in equal measure.

The Two Truths

More sinful: You have hidden flaws and selfish habits. You cannot fix yourself or earn perfection on your own.

More loved: God knows every bad thing about you. He still chooses to love and forgive you through Jesus Christ

The Two Great Truths

Deep Sin: You see the true depth of your flaws. You stop making excuses for bad choices.

Deep Grace: You see the true depth of God's love. You stop trying to earn your way to heaven.

Equal Measure: Believing only in your sin leads to despair. Believing only in cheap grace leads to pride.

Living the Balance

No Hiding: God already knows your worst parts, so you can stop lying to yourself and others.

Active Faith: You fight against sin because you love God, not because you are afraid he will leave you.

Real Growth: Grace gives you the safety to admit your faults and