Keep Yourselves

would you pray with me right now church lord today we call upon your name for there is no other name no other name given among men whereby we must be saved it is your name jesus lord we are thankful for our time together today thankful for the word lord god through worship thank you for that once again lord i make myself available to you we must have you today god we want to hear from you today sweet jesus sweet jesus breathe into this room lord i pray and let the word of god take root within our hearts and our lives in jesus name thy kingdom come lord thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven in the name of jesus can you bless the name of the lord together come on lift your voice to the lord lift your voice to the lord i love you jesus i believe in you lord i believe in you jesus and i bless your name somebody say in jesus name thank you so much singers musicians thank you for stepping in and doing the things of god for all of our sunday school teachers our staff at the door sound lights everybody that's involved and thank you to all you worshipers look at your neighbor and say worship sure does look good sure does look good you can be seated if you feel like you need to i honor all of you today for those online i trust the lord's grace and mercy is working in your life there is much today that we can be involved in we all can can work a job if you have a job here lift your hand come on identify it's okay it's not a shame to have a job huh yeah we can also be involved in the lives of our kids if you have children here today don't raise your hand you're probably tired but just not it's okay yeah we have hobbies that we can get into you know whatever that hobby would be whether it's you know my hobby is going to church i'm anyway and i like different things so i give myself to some of those things reading and writing and not arithmetic life is simply living we learn and we grow aren't you thankful that we have a lot of things in our lives that can occupy our time we all know and we realize that every day we have choices that we have to make right we have choices that we have to find some way to navigate as parents for an example of young children sometimes children can take up all your time all right frog look around see the young parents in here and the exhaustion look on their face yeah kids can really take up your time those that have older kids they can also take up your time all you older parents in here go yeah still praying for them right uh the challenges of life sometimes in certain situations can almost seem overwhelming too much to bear difficult to navigate if you will the fact of the matter is is that every single one doesn't matter if you're a newborn or you're 110 years old doesn't matter you're making choices and your life is full of day in and day out simply living amen we know that through those choices we always want to make the right choice i'm not sure if i don't know if anybody's ever just decided to just mess everything up yeah i think i'm just gonna make all the wrong choices now i will say as a dad with a couple of kids growing up in my house that when it came to like board games or things like that i would always pick the underdog i'd always choose the one that nobody wanted and then i'd always just make it a nuisance for everybody i wasn't interested in the win i just wanted to be a problem i mean i'm talking about because i knew that my son for an example he was a sorry loser and it was just great to watch him explode we understand though boy my mind just remember we understand though that life sometimes is a challenge to understand and to comprehend and the choices that we make they have a way of bearing in on us there's a motto that we that we've actually learned growing up as children when life gives you lemons you make lemonade i'm not sure what that means but i'm sure that it's a positive thing it means that you take the best of a situation and you do something with it we all want for an example there's a desire that's within all of our hearts is we want god's love in our lives we want the power of god to be working in our lives as individuals we want to show others for an example that god truly is doing a work in our lives how many here want to be a positive example to those around you yeah you want to make sure that that you're demonstrating the love of god and his power in your life you plow forward through your challenges don't you put your hand on the on the wheel put your hand on the plow put your hand to the shovel whatever it is and you constantly move forward you may not know what's next but your faith says god is in control therefore i'm gonna go into the unknown looking and expecting for the hand of god to show itself somebody say i know god will i'm sure that as we grow and we live our lives we are doing all that we can to be the best that we can be but the fact of the matter is simply this the struggle is real the struggle persists doubt can come to you how many has ever had god answer a prayer come on throw a hand up wave it god's answer to prayer and the moment you recognize that doubt came in and tried to take it anybody come on knowing god full well moved all of a sudden fear doubt questioned did it i don't know well was it i'm not sure try it out because we are humans we have to choose i choose to believe the report of the lord i choose to say devil go away quit lying to me into my family to my church but in the name of jesus victory belongs to the lord now hang on to me a moment today there are times that trials and things happen in our lives it presses us and and there are times friend of mine i don't mind telling you it's time for you to find your prayer closet and get in there and get a hold of god you don't need to run to somebody else don't need to log on and watch a video don't need to get a book out and try to figure it out you simply just need to get on your face before god and say god i ain't getting up off this floor till an answer comes anybody know what i'm saying believing that the choice is here i could go to the right or i could go to the left or i could go backwards but one thing's for sure if i get god into the situation i got a feeling everything is gonna be all right see if you ever get god's hand working in your life then the victory looks a little more possible come on it might be that you know where tomorrow is but the week after you're not sure but if you know god's gonna be there tomorrow because he was there today demonstrated himself yesterday the next week come on i'll face you head on by the power of the holy ghost that lives in my life we make choices on how we perceive life we know that the real promises of every day are there has anybody here been promised anything today yeah what have you received as a promise today god's word now i realize as humans many times we we look at the day-to-day disappointments and sometimes we build our lives around what has not happened as opposed to what possibly will happen because we see fear and doubt and we can embrace that because everyone around us perhaps is embracing it but what if today on this sunday afternoon you were simply to put a blind ear and a blind eye to those around you and say you know what i don't care what anybody says i'm going to believe god for this it don't matter what the past has happened no matter what somebody on my right hand or my left hand trying to tell me i believe and i am going to trust and move forward in the name of jesus come on you need to know friend all the good things that come from the hand of god he knows where you are and he is helping you move forward in your daily choices and activities he didn't say that you'd always be happy he didn't say the road would always be easy but what he did say is whatever situation you're in the hand of the lord can be upon your life if you will simply trust and believe and fight the good fight of faith come on the struggle is real but you're not fighting by yourself there's an unction and an anointing that rests upon your life you can take it to the devil's face devil you're a liar leave me alone i don't care what you have said there's been some promises made to me i choose to rest upon them in the midnight hour the name of the lord god can be exalted when the enemy comes against me i can't see the standard of the lord rise up and push it back it's all in what you choose to believe let me let me give you a story here the word of god is powerful the scriptures are powerful that's why you need to give yourself joshua anybody remember joshua in the scripture now after the death of moses joshua 1 1 says the servant of the lord it came to pass that the lord spake unto joshua the son of none moses's minister saying y'all ready for this moses my servant is dead this is the voice of god to joshua moses is dead it will get no more than that for the finality he's dead but god talking to joshua looks and says to him now therefore arise get up joshua go over this jordan thou and all this people unto the land which i do give to them even to the children of israel hear it every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon them that have i given unto you as i said unto moses verse 4 from the wilderness and this lebanon even unto the great river the river euphrates all the land of the hittites under the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast hear it there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as i was with moses so am so i will be with thee i will not fail thee nor forsake thee verse 6 be strong and of a good courage for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which i swear unto their fathers to give them we're still in the word verse 7 only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which moses my servant commanded thee turn not from it to the right hand nor to the left thou that mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest this book of the law shall thou depart not out of thy mouth shall depart not out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night thou thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou thou shalt have good success have not i commanded thee question mark be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismay for the lord thy god is with thee whithersoever thou goest joshua had seen god work through moses joshua had observed through god doing through moses what his plan was but friend of mine moses is dead now he's off the scene now joshua's looking unto the god of moses trying to comprehend exactly what he needs to do the hand of the lord that was on the life of moses is now being confirmed upon the life of joshua but the words of the lord god unto joshua was telling him i'm not going to leave you i'm not going to walk away from you the same glory that you saw in moses you're gonna see it unfold in your life don't turn to the left don't turn to the right don't turn and run back but move forward that's why he told him multiple occasions you be strong and of a good courage know in whom your trust is know who holds you in his hand know who can make a way where there is no way no who can get you up the mountain and bring you down the other side know who's gonna pick you up off of death's bed know who can breathe into your life and heal your mind know who can come into your home and set it right know who can save a backslider and bring them home know who can speak into the life of the enemy and make him turn and run he was telling joshua i am with you be of a good courage oh come on has anybody identified god is on your side god is on your side i am with you i will not leave you come to tell somebody today god is with you god is with you moses he had a walk with god did he not no question now joshua has reached the point where his walk now will be noted we can learn a lot about this account in the scriptures if we take the time to study and read it moses is gone joshua is picking up the responsibility because the voice of god has deemed it so he was to be the leader of god's people listen he was to take them over jordan into the promise that god had given to moses but it was going to take something so supernatural that joshua was going to have to accept the challenge and move on the word of god what was happening in the life of joshua is a lot about what's happening even in our lives today i am very thankful friend that god blesses from generation to generation there is truly no greater joy than to see your children serve the lord no greater joy than to watch them sing and worship god lift hand there's no greater joy than to know that they're serving the lord i don't mind saying there are times when i pray for my kids that all i can say is lord don't let them stray don't let them walk sideways but let them always follow you in the straight and narrow i'm thankful that i in my generation am able to pass along to the next generation thankful the possibilities of the future generations as long as you are following god listen carefully god is leading you he is opening doors for you he is making a way for you he is blessing you he is providing for you he is protecting you he is leading you he is on your side and he loves you i wish you tell somebody close to you the lord loves you today as we see every day the hand of god in our lives we see him through the tough choices and through the times that we're unsure of what to do next we simply learn to trust him there are times friend listen carefully to pastor when you may not see the hand of god but you can trust the hand of god you may not see all of it unfold in front of you but you can trust him that's why if you don't know him you won't know how to follow him if church were a simple ritual and a law and a rule that you could sign off abcdefg you would have expectations that would be limited to what you were able to do but friend of mine you can be a rich man or a poor man and you can respond to heaven the same and the lord god will come in and move in your life we simply trust that in our growth and in our learning we are developing a relationship so that we know him we're always looking unto jesus he is always making a way he is always making a way joshua didn't know until he trusted i want to draw your attention today if i could for the next few moments to a letter written in the new testament the authors john in this letter to the church he simply writes he writes about god's plan and purpose now john was a follower he was a disciple of jesus we've all heard of john haven't we he has known though a very interesting bit of history here john did not die of martyr's death he was allowed to live and in fact the letter that he wrote this first one and was written in 90 or 92 or 93 a.d a lot of the other disciples many of them had died horrible deaths but john lives and so john follow this carefully john is not only there at the beginning of the church age but he lives through a generation or so of people that have sold what they have and brought to the church and the church gave to those who hadn't you come on y'all know the story and y'all you'll understand it john lives through this john in his in his ripe old age if you will he he he writes a letter to the church and he he reminds the church of the power and the privilege that they hold in simply knowing the name of jesus jesus came to save humanity john wrote john john writes and he gives incredible power and credibility to those who are following after jesus in in your own time take re read first john second third you'll find these are such incredible encouraging words john wrote to the church to tell them there are some that are falling by the way now this church is very young at this point okay it's not hundreds and thousands if you will of years old the church is very new but they're growing with exponential just growth just explosive growth john is writing and what he writes he's he's trying to confirm in the church its purpose and its call he is attempting to allow them to see that the word of god will solidify the relationship in his letter notice what he said he reaches for the church people because they had begun for in just that short amount of time they had begin to allow the day-to-day activities of life to begin to distract them from the things of god what used to be a a a vitality what used to be a power and a desire was now beginning to wane and people they were looking for things and they weren't finding them and in their way they were comparing the world to the church and john was chiefly concerned of this we've already established over the last few minutes god can god show through joshua i'll be with you i'll open doors i'll make a way you'll carry them through but i want to read to you this just so vividly jumped off the page at me and i know most of y'all probably memorized all this but i want to read you first john chapter 5 the very last verse little children verse 21 keep yourselves from idols period what's it say this is how he ends the letter now we have done a study of the letters haven't we on wednesday nights several months ago we went through a bunch of them and almost all the salutation the grieving and all that from paul and it was super cool i greet thee upon thee and thou and this and thus and thus and they're there they're there and all along again in the name of the lord jesus and it was real flowery if you will and then at the end it says please greet and so forth be nice and so forth until we meet again and then but this is how john this old fella ends his letter he simply says keep yourself from idols amen but i don't maybe maybe i i don't know maybe i'm lying to myself but sometimes friend i wonder sometimes if the church how can it not be exploding and growth and exploding in the miraculous and exploding and day to day week in and week out of people in the altars and the waters of baptism and people are baptized and miracles and all i i believe those things happen but i wonder sometimes why is it that we can go days weeks and months even and this almost feel like things have dried up or feel like that we have gone through a barren spa or a dry place and and where we used to be excited about a sunday morning it it begins to now become what can i get done before and what can i get done after and and when it used to be you know what i i go to a jesus only church it's now become yeah i attend church when i when i can and i i wonder sometimes in our generation in 2021 if something has happened and john really knew how to simply speak into the lives of people and the word that he said here little children church family listen to what i'm telling you you're new in this you're trying to grow but you've got to keep yourself from idols listen to me kevin god will not come in and destroy your idols if you don't allow him to come in and show himself first humanity will always worship something they will always run to something you don't believe it look around you any sports venue you want anything that you want to gamble and bet on anything you want to smoke anything you want to drink any place you want to go anywhere you want to invest your money it's out there you can put into it all you want to roll it over time and again buy it sell it buy it again let it go away however much you want now if you want to fly to the moon up in outer space you're welcome to if you have enough money the point is this what has happened is in our land in our society in humanity this was happening way back in 1980 back when the church was still new the holy ghost was being poured out in the midst of that what john told the church keep yourselves from idols how can it be that he would sign off in a letter so abruptly and tell i believe that in the generation in which we live it's the same thing that you and i need to declare in fact i don't know about you but i might add this to my nightly prayer before i close my god keep me from idols don't allow my children to become idols don't allow my job to become an idol don't allow the things of the world to become an idol don't let anything come between you and me don't let what i have become an idol don't let my time in my pocketbook become an idol but oh god help me to realize and understand that you can see me where i am and you can get me over jordan into the promised land as you were with my grandparents you can be with me and you can be with my children but god i pray it's strong and fervent today don't let idolatry take over the church come on come into the house of the lord should be a smile on your face and a pep in your step i get to go to church today i don't know what to expect when i get there because if god shows up there ain't no telling what can happen a blinded eye could be opened up a deaf ear could be opened somebody could come up out of a wheelchair a healing touch could cut somebody the holy ghost could move in a life they could speak with tongues why because when you come into the church house anything is possible but if idolatry has come in keep yourself from idols amen listen to me carefully it's almost rude sounding this letter he didn't say hey y'all y'all go have fun you know keep yourself clean you know how it is but through the struggle just let god be god no it's just keep yourself from idols amen imagine getting this letter that's it yeah oh but he did say amen so let it be surely frank did you drop a page you had one job to do bring the letter no man that was all there was i wonder sometimes if the lord is allowing us a space of grace in this hour for us to get our attention and our mind set in its proper position come on there's a whole world out here that's dying and going to a devil's hell unless it allows the blood of jesus to be applied to its life but to say the same the same thing can happen in a church you can come to church every day of your life and still miss it keep yourself from idols it might sound rude it wasn't real fluffy it wasn't real soft there was no pro script oh by the way i just was trying to help you out or come on don't be mad don't be sensitive first of all don't get upset and all that he was just telling them look you think for one moment that you can know jesus that you can be in this first generation church and to not have issues and problems you just wait till 2021 where they're going to look at sin and they're going to say there's no such thing as a bad decision they're going to be men marrying men women women they're going to kill babies they're going to do drugs government's going to this doctor's on and on and on it goes you think if you can't live for it there that somehow you're going to now friend of mine when you open your eyelids in the morning you better be thankful that the blood of jesus still works in your life you better not ever let your children get out of the house unless you've prayed over them you better not ever walk on your job unless you've anointed every step you take you better declare the word of the lord i will have no idol before my god i don't care what it takes i don't want my children to look at me years down the road and say daddy you had it but you gave up on the end no friend i want to know be on the shadow of a doubt my god is still god i'm gonna go out of this world shouting and worshiping and every chance i get i'm gonna bless the name of the lord why because i've got to keep myself from idols come on brother dakota help me out for a minute don't allow the things of this world to come between you and god as the old timer used to say keep the main thing the main thing his plan his purpose his blood his victory his heaven his reward his eternity his crown his way his word his promise his declaration his glory his anointing his power in your life focus on his word keep looking at the word keep seeking the face of god keep running after the lord god don't let the things of the world distract you from him keep yourselves from idols oh stand with me please come on listen to me carefully this is eight minutes after one i got the clock right there front of me understand something friend i have declared this multiple times i will again for the sake of this message you will not simply show up in heaven you're not going to wake up there and wonder what just happened you're going to know that you know that you know this this what i've been looking for ah there there you go there there he is that's that's him that's something that's the power right there oh look there's no light bulb they're in a light switch they're in the sound system it's just him and me oh look there's my grandma mark hey grandma there's my dad standing over there i come to love the lord for an eternity and bless the lord i got here because i made up in my mind i was not gonna let anything come between me and heaven i wasn't gonna let success i wasn't gonna let a car i wasn't gonna let a house a job a bank account close my children anything else keep me from god but i decided i will keep myself from the idols idols something between you and god right now close your eyes everybody in the room and if you're online i want you to think very very hard right now think very very hard search very very deep is there something that you have put between you and god yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah come on think about it is there something you spend more time with than with god is there something that has more importance than god come on think about it you're not thinking about the one on your left or right this is you right now this is you yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah come on think about it look at yourself lord if i have anything then my life that has come between me and you i pray right now that it would move i pray right now that it would move i pray right now that i would gain a proper perspective on your gifts your purposes and your pleasantries that you've allowed me to have and let me god not put them between us but let me lord be so close to you i can hear your eyes blink i can hear your heart when it beats i feel like today in this sanctuary this needs to become an altar of sacrifice some of y'all need to be running right now to this altar lord i have dropped the ball i've gotten it all out of whack and i'm so sorry this altar is open right now come on lord i just want to be close to you i i i don't i don't want i don't i got to keep myself from idols i got to keep myself from idols i can't let that pressure and those things rub on me lord i've got to come to you come on come on it's time to pray lord jesus you know where i am you know what i'm doing you know what's going on please forgive me please forgive me lord i need your grace i need your grace and mercy to work come on praise somebody time for you to get real with god lord i can't let idolatry come between you and i i've got to reach for you and hope for you come on that's right the altar is the place to do that the altar is the place to pray that prayer come on that's right press into his presence lord i believe you and i trust you there is power oh in your name jesus come on pray jesus i know god you've been good to me you have blessed me lord you have you have allowed me to have and to possess things lord you've allowed me a job you've allowed me hell on and on lord but i can't let anything no thing come between us i can't let idols in the way of serving you and loving you come on pray church get a hold of god pray church get a hold of him lord i must have you today that's right come on praying lord i gotta have you today in my life that's right come on you know how to pray talk to the lord you know how to pray talk to the lord jesus you're perfect god you're holy there is power i am not and you are i need your hand in my life i need you lord in my life jesus that's right come on praise reach to the lord now i just need you jesus i must have you jesus i need you in my life lord i need your word i need your truth i need your blood to cover me lord come on would you lift your hands to him praise the name bless the name surrender to him lord i give it to you i give it to you jesus it's yours lord it's yours help me to keep the perspective right lord god i love you jesus i need you jesus jesus jesus yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah if you'll notice in the life of joshua he didn't know what to do moses always did this i don't have a stick i don't have the i don't know how this works do you realize that when they crossed over jordan that joshua was the voice of god he could have allowed that to become his idol y'all don't know who i am but instead he was reminded daily god you're in control and it's all from your hand so right now for the next minute would you just love the lord come on put a praise in your heart right now and give it to god lord if i praise you if i lift you up if i magnify your name if i exalt you and keep you higher lord god then nothing can come between us things lord god don't have to stop our relationship but i can see lord god your face clearly come on just love him i i love you lord i believe in you lord you have the answers jesus it's all about you jesus it's all about you jesus it's all about you jesus you're the waymaker you're the healer you're the deliverer you're the one there god that provides you're the one that makes it well come on somebody just love him and thank him i love you lord and i thank you lord come on god can fill you with the holy ghost right now and that repentant heart in that heart of thankfulness god can work in your life i'm trusting you for him lord i'm trusting you for it i'm gonna believe you for it lord i'm not gonna let the things of this world get between us uh that's right that's right god oh god oh god i need you today i believe in you come on lift a voice of praise oh yeah you have triumphed over the doubt and the fear come on god is number one in your life yeah come on the power and presence of god is number one in your heart there's nothing between you and god come on there's nothing between you and god there is nothing between you now it is him he is your god i love you today jesus i worship you i trust you lord and i believe you for great things in the name of jesus somebody say in jesus name yeah victory in the name of jesus there's victory in the name of jesus there is victory in the name of jesus i love you lord get a hold of somebody right now we're going to pray one for another lord i pray for my brother my sister my family right now i pray god that you would help them encourage them that your word would speak through them to them in them god that they would recognize and understand without you nothing they are nothing lord they mean dear god i pray for them help them lord to recognize your truth your peace your way god i pray for it in the name of jesus that the power of the cross work in them let the glory of the lord move in their lives i pray for it in the name of jesus i speak against fear and doubt in jesus name i rebuke it in the name of jesus we are overcomers by the word of our testimony and god we declare the good things that you have done in our lives hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah there is victory in the name of jesus that's right there is victory in the name of jesus keep me lord god i don't want idolatry i don't want idols dear god to come between us but lord i must have you i've got to be close to you i've got to fall in love with you jesus nothing else matters lord but touching you oh that's right come on somebody bless the lord before you go home oh that's right come on get into perspective god you're first you are first in my life the name the name the name the name of jesus aren't you thankful today for the name of jesus i love all of you and i'm so thankful you came to church today thankful for those who joined us online the spirit of the lord is real and it's right every day is a day of victory when you serve the lord amen pray with me right now as we go our way lord i thank you for our time together today that you've allowed us to love to lift you and to praise your name pray god that you would bless the church help us lord to be found doing your will in this hour lord god we want to be the church of the hour found doing what you your purpose is for this generation god i pray you'd help us to stay away from idols to serve you only lord to serve you only jesus you only protect and keep us god go with us lord every step we take let us pursue you god with hunger and diligence bless the family of god anoint every church every church body god anoint and keep us i plead your blood lord over those who are sick today god be a healer to them make a way in their lives i pray for it in the name of jesus to god be the glory for the things that he has done somebody say in jesus name