Do you suit up everyday | Pr Gloria Paul

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to a message to go from ex Church.
We hope this message will light up your day.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have your Bible, so you can turn with
me to Matthew chapter four. Okay, Matthew chapter four, verses
one to eleven. Yeah, you're going to read this scripture first,
and then we will see how Jesus responded to temptation. Okay,

(00:33):
are you all there? Yes, Okay, come, let's read this together.
So Matthew chapter four, verse one on wards. It says,
then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he
had fasted forty days and forty nights afterwards, he was hungry. Now,

(00:54):
when the tempter came to him, he said, if you
are the son of God, command that this stones become
bret But he answered and said, it is written, man
shall not leave by braid alone, but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God. That was his
first respond verse five. Then the devil took him into

(01:17):
the Holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
and said to him, if you are the son of God,
throw yourself down, for it is written he shall give
his angels charge over you, and in their hands they
shall bear you up. Lise you dash your foot against
a stone. And verse seven, Jesus said to him, it

(01:38):
is written again, you shall not temp the Lord your God.
And again the devil took him up on an exceeding
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world and their glory. And he said to him, all
these things I will give you if you will fall
down and worship be Then, Jesus said to him, with you, Satan,

(02:01):
for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only you shall surf that the devil left him,
and behold, angels came and ministered to him. So we
can see three responses here from Jesus. How do you
think he responded? What are your thoughts? What do you

(02:22):
observe about Jesus here during his time of temptation resistance?
He Yes, he referred to the Bible. Right, Jesus referred
to what the scriptures said. And you know that the
devil used scriptures also. Okay, So don't think that the devil,

(02:43):
the enemy does not know the Bible. He may know
more than us, right, And so that is how you
was playing around with tempting Jesus. But Jesus used scripture
to resist the temptation. Yeah, what else can you notice
about him? What do you think enabled him to respond

(03:11):
courageously and not give room for temptation? Do you think
it was just an overnight respond What do you think
caused him to be that strong and firm? He was prepared, right,

(03:32):
he was prepared. Remember, he was in their journey of
fasting and prayer. He has a relationship with God. Remember
when we read scriptures, even when you know, even when
he was in the multitude of these disciples performing miracles,
I'm pretty sure his schedule was so busy everyone wanted
to see him, but he still choose to take time

(03:52):
and pray. Right, he will go down up, we'll go
up to the mountains and have his own quiet time.
And those are the things that make someone strong. Right,
when you go for a battle, you can't just do
all the gym that you need to do in a
day work out, be strong, you know, and Okay, I
want to go and fight tomorrow. That's not how it works, right.

(04:13):
It is a journey. It is a process, and we've
got to prepare ourselves towards it. Okay. When someone goes
for a battle, okay, or even for a competition, what
do you think some of the things that they would
do for a sports competition, maybe training like prepare yourself,

(04:34):
eat well, sleep well. What else do you think the
coach will actually tell them to look out? Let's say
it's a bedminton tournament, so, okay, strategy, what would you
try to understand? No one needs sports yet. So if

(04:57):
you've gone for tournaments, what do you think the coach
will tell you to be ready for to be aware
of your opponents? Do you think so? Right? The culture
actually say hey, this is the guy's strategy. You better
look out, you know, you better, you know, be prepared
because it's gonna come this direction, or it's gonna hit

(05:17):
you this way, so you've got to be ready. How
many of us know who are our opponents? Yeah? Let
me just remind us this morning that when we go
through our life in this journey, you're not just battling
with you know, flesh and blit. The scripture tells us

(05:38):
that we're battling with principalities, right, and that is the enemy.
And if Jesus himself face the temptation from the enemy,
what more is especially in this time of uton, right,
And so I think it's very important for us to
be prepared to face the battles. When I say bad

(06:00):
doesn't mean it's just challenges, just because we have challenges.
And again, how many of us can be prepared for challenges?
Sometimes you don't know if it's coming, right, But I'm
talking about the every day that we live our lives,
how we actually prepared. Do we put on what we
need to put on? Okay, not just the outer that
looks good, but what's in the inward as well? Yeah,

(06:20):
and so you know you're going to focus about how
can we first understand about this opponent, the enemy, right,
and what is the encouragement that God is giving us today? Yeah? Now,
the first thing that we've got to understand about the
enemy is that the scripture says you're in first speitter
five eight, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil,

(06:46):
walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may divore. Okay,
that's the scripture here, meaning that is how the enemy
is trying to look out for ways, you know, to
bring those thoughts to your mind and make you feel
like Hey, you're not doing good, you know. Hey, are

(07:08):
you sure you can do fasting and prayer? Are you
sure you can fast? Yeah? He puts those kind of
thoughts into your mind. He makes you feel little, you know.
And sometimes one of the things that the enemy likes
to do is to play around with our self esteem,
our identity. Yeah, that's the first thing. He always likes
to mess around. And we've got to be ready to

(07:33):
not give room for that. Yeah. If you've watched you know,
if you've gone to the Safaris, or you've watched all
these discovery channels, you know, and when you look at
the lion trying to get into his prey right for
his meal time, what do you observe of a lion?
What does the lion actually do? Does he just go

(07:53):
and attack or what does he usually do? He observes
what he's aiming. Is he quiet? Yeah, you wouldn't even
know that he's there, right, and all of a sudden,
he knows when it's the right time to attack. Okay.
And that is how sometimes the enemy may work, not

(08:14):
in just loud and scary looking. It can be the
most deceiving way, in the ways that you don't think
it's even a problem. It's okay, it's just a little
what I'm just not doing this small thing. It doesn't matter.
But little by little, the enemy has took a photo
on our minds, on our hearts. The moment you give

(08:35):
room to death, it's easier to give more room, and
then you get drowned towards it. Yeah. So the first
thing we've got to understand about the Satan is that
he is a roaring lion. Yeah, you know it says
here even in Hebrews ten twenty five. And let us
consider one another in order to stir up love and

(08:58):
good works, not for saking the assembling of ourselves together,
as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another,
and so much more. As you see the day approaching,
and when you say the day approaching meaning the coming
of God. Yeah, And so we need each other, We

(09:19):
need the fellowship of the church, we need the encouragement.
We've got to remind and say that, hey, I think
you're you're drifting too far away, why don't you come back? Okay?
Or you see a brother or sister feeling down, give
them their encouragement, Remind them what the word of God
tells you. Because It's always been the part of plan,
the plan of God, to bring a community together. Yeah.

(09:41):
No one is meant to leave by themselves. As much
as we like our quite our medtime and all that, well,
there's time for that. But when it comes to faith,
I think it's very important that we come together as
one church or one community. Yeah, that you have someone
to at least speak about your faith, your struggles, so

(10:02):
that you're not just all there by your style self. Yeah. Now,
another thing that we need to know about our opponent
here is that it says here in John eight forty four, right,
that the Satan is a liar and a father of lies. Yeah,
he's a father of lies. You know, he's a murderer

(10:22):
from the beginning and does not stand in the truth
because there is no truth in him. When he speaks
a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he
is a liar and the father of it. Do you
know where you can see this example At the very
beginning of the Bible, when God told Adam and if
do not eat the fruit, what did the Satan tell

(10:43):
to if you will not die? Right, you will not die?
When God told them clearly, do not do it? And
then they were deceived by it, right, and a lot
of things that sometimes catches it or brings us to
a place of feeling weary or troubled. It's because of

(11:03):
the lies of the enemy, okay, and the lies of
the enemy can be deceiving. Yeah, And that is why
Jesus could receise temptation because he knew the truth, the
truth that was found in the Word of God, that
man shall not leave vibraid alone, that you shall only
worship the Lord, your God, and no one else. So
whatever that the enemy tried to throw towards him, he

(11:26):
knew that you are telling a lie because I know
what the truth is. So if I can ask all
of us this morning, how many of you know the
truth of who you are in the eyes of God.
So if anyone else tells you something about you, you
know that a that is not the truth, because I'm
actually precious. I'm created in the image of God. I

(11:48):
am formed. You know God the Word of God says
he knew me in my mother's womb. How precious is that?
So if someone tells you that you are good for nothing,
you know you what's your purpose? You're going to resist
it and say no, I'm not going to give room
for those things in my life. Yeah, as we grow

(12:09):
as believers, I think it's important for us to resist
to speak the word of God. You know, there's power
when we declare the word of God. Yeah, when we
say it out, when we say no, this is not
from the enemy, this is the meaning is not from God.
This is from the enemy. And say what the word
of God tells us. Right, the scripture tells us, I've
given you a spirit of power, of love and sound mind. Right,

(12:35):
sound mind. So the enemy knows that the sound mind
is what God has given us, and he wants to
mess with that. Because when you don't have a sound mind,
what's happening. You don't know what's going on, right, You
don't make rational decisions. You're all over the place. You
struggle with the thought of who you are. But God
wants to give you a sound mind. Yeah. And as

(12:57):
we step in into this ute, and my encouragement for
all of us in this fasting and prayer is to
hold on to the truth. Do not give room for
the temptation, no matter what your physical eyes may see.
I know it's easy to say, right, don't worry, but
it is sometimes easy to be worried because we live
in a fallen world. We live as humans. Yeah, we

(13:21):
make mistakes, but that is when we need to hold
on to the truth even more. And the more we
speak against it, the more firm we become, and we
can receive the temptation of the enemy. Amen. Are we
getting something from this? Yeah? Right? So in Romans eight one,
it says there is therefore now no condemnation to those

(13:45):
who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Turn to
the person next to you and tell them there is
no condemnation. You are called to walk in spirit. Yeah,
your called to walk in spirit. Yeah. Let's not give

(14:07):
too much room for this is how I'm feeling, this
is how it's going to be. Yeah, sometimes we go
so much with our feelings. It's okay to recognize the
seasons that we're in and how we're feeling about it.
But I think it's also important for us to go
back to the sauce that can help us recover that feeling,

(14:29):
because only He can bring you give you the joy
that you need, the joy that sustains right, the joy
that remains not of the world, but of him. Yeah,
of him. Right, so we are called to walk according
to the spirit, and remember there's no condemnation. Yeah. So
the truth is okay, the truth is God is these

(14:52):
true things. Okay. God is everywhere. Okay. We call it omnipresent,
meaning is everywhere. He sits at beside you. It's with
you in your car, he's with you at home. Okay.
He knows when you are alone, He's there. Sometimes when
you can't feel it, just tell yourself, I know, I

(15:12):
know God is there, and when you really seek, you
can feel him. I can testify of this many times
you can feel God's presence. Yeah, He's everywhere, omnipresent, he says.
Here he's omnisten, meaning God knows everything. Okay, do you
know how you're tomorrow will look like, well, you kind
of have a schedule like I'm going to wake up,

(15:33):
what time I'm going to leave this time? But do
you know exactly what's going to happen? But you know
God knows it? And you know what kind of assurance
it gives you when you know that you're walking with
someone who knows it. All right, you are confident, you
know that it's fine because God has sought it out.

(15:54):
He has planned my future. I may not have much
in my bank account, but well, he has already sorted
out my future. Right. I may not know what's my
next job going to be like, but you know what
God knows, and as long as I walk in His ways,
everything is okay. Right. I may not know where I'm

(16:15):
going to study, what scholarships and am I going to
get what university I'm going to go to? But you
know what God knows. God knows where you're going to go,
and He's sorted all of it. Right. This is the
truth that we need to tell ourselves. Remind ourselves that
God knows everything. Right, and he says that God has
great power and influence, omnipotent. He is powerful, right, he

(16:41):
is powerful. You know what the truth is? The enemy
is not any of this. So no matter how you
can shake things around in your lives making you feel
all that you're feeling troubled, you've got to tell the
enemy you are not any of this. You don't know
how my future is. You know what that is saying?
They say, right, remind the enemy the future what his

(17:03):
future is, because we know who won the battle? Who
want the battle? Jesus Remember the battle is worn. It
is not an ongoing battle, but the battle is worn
because he went to the cross. He has done it
for us church, we've got to remind ourselves that the

(17:23):
battle is worn. And because the enemy knows that, he's
trying his best to bring more people to his side,
especially God's children. Right, because we have won. We know
the truth and he tries to mess up with the truth.
But don't give room for that, because a lot of

(17:45):
things that we see that's happening around us is because
of the lies. Yeah, is because we forget what the truth.
It's not like we don't know the truth. For those
of you I've been here attending church, going for homes,
I'm pretty sure you know the truth. But you know what,
we forget the truth sometimes when we get so clouded

(18:05):
with situations in life or troubles that comes our way,
or things that people tell you, and you say, maybe
it's not you know what, I've been praying for so
long and I don't hear anything. It's God really there.
He is there. Yeah. But the thing is he works
in his way, he works in his timing, and that

(18:26):
requires our obedience, our trusts. As you walk with him,
you begin to realize you begin to trust in His ways,
not what our physical eyes sees, but his ways. Amen. Right,
So remind yourself this church, as you walk in this
week that God knows everything. He is powerful, He's everywhere

(18:48):
around you. Yeah, it's everywhere around you. And that's one
place that the enemy cannot mess up with is when
you are in God's presence, when you're seeking Him, when
you're praying in tongues, when you're speaking to God. Do
you know praying in tongues is one language that the
enemy does not know. Yeah, that is the only language

(19:10):
that you can communicate to God. Praying tonguses is basically
praying in spirit. Yeah. And if you cannot, if you
don't have that gift, if you desire for it, God
gives you the desire. Yeah. And if you don't have
it yet, you can just pray to God. Speak to him.
He understands, right, So half that time with him and men. Right.

(19:32):
So it says in Hebrews six twelve, most of us
may know this scripture, for we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places. Men, and you know,

(19:56):
I mean some of you may know that I started
a new job and now my job requires me to
go into the ground to school grounds, right, and every
day is different for me because I'm dealing with different people,
sometimes interesting personalities. And some of these schools I go
to are they can be in the rural places, you know,
so it's a very different community. And I remember one

(20:18):
of my first few visits that I went. It was
not easy. Okay, it was not easy because a lot
of the ones teachers that I'm working with, they are
way experienced, right, And sometimes when they look at me
and they wonder how it's my age, what's my experience?
Like that's the first thing that they would ask, you know.
But it's not just that. But I felt because every

(20:40):
time I go into the schools, I pray first, right,
I make it a point to pray because I'll tell
a lot because you know, when you have a job
and God has given you a job or has positioned
you somewhere, I always believe that it's for a bigger
purpose besides making the income, right, you are meant to
make a different and in that place. And to me,

(21:02):
my job is a ministry by itself. I've always seen
when I was a teacher and now that I'm coaching teachers,
and so every school I go to, I would say
a prayer. And so the first time I went, I
realized there was just a lot of resistance. You know,
It's just it's something that was not right in the spirit,
and they were just not open. And you know what,

(21:23):
I went back and I just prayed. I said, I
just spoke the word of God, you know, And I said, God,
I know as I go into the schools, I'm not
just working with flesh and blood, but it's principalities because
of different faith, different struggles on the ground, different needs. Right.
And the moment I started declaring God's word, Yeah, the

(21:44):
moment I started declaring God's freedom, there was a change
in the next visit I went, right, there was a
next It was not because like I could speak better,
because I think I was just doing the same thing,
but I felt God just opened the atmosphere, He opened
the hearts of the people, right, And that is what
I mean by you know, we are working with principalities.

(22:09):
Some things you cannot fight with flesh and blit. No
matter how much you talk, no matter how much you
try with your ability and your strength, you just can't
get true because God needs to work. And you know
what that is the time he shows up and you
realize that, Hey, this is why God has brought us
here to bring a change. Yeah. And of course a

(22:30):
lot of what I do is to bring or make
education available for children. And that has always been my
focus that no matter what we do, it's to reach
out this generation. Right, And so it's always important for
us to remember our purpose, our calling. Each of us
have that right. Each of you are positioned in different

(22:50):
places for a reason, and pursue that. Don't just be
caught up with the eight to five eight to five routine,
you know. Spice things up, right, Spice things up by
bringing God into it, allowing God to move. Ask him, God,
if you've put me here, that must be a bigger reason,

(23:12):
that must be a purpose. And leave that out. You
know why people sometimes feel very mundane or tired or
weary because sometimes we just tend to pursue things for ourselves.
But the thing is, I just I wondered, I have
this question, how much can we do for ourselves. Right,
we can take care of ourselves. We can, you know,

(23:33):
do all the things that we love. But you know,
we are created to create. We are created to give.
What was the first task that God gave Adam? Do
you remember to take care of the garden? To name
the animals? You know there was a big responsibility, I'm sure,

(23:57):
And why we have all the animals names. Right, he
gave him a task. You don't just say, okay, Adam,
just enjoy everything that I've given to you. Of course
he wanted him to enjoy, but just rest, just sit down, rest,
enjoy the sunshine in the park, have a picnic. You
do not tell that to Adam, right, he told Adam

(24:18):
you gave him, You give him a specific assignment. And
I believe we are created for that. We all have
a specific assignment. Beat in the marketplace, be in the school.
But one common assignment that we have is to glorify
God's name, a man, to glorify God's name, to bring
his gospel out, to share his love. And until we

(24:40):
do that, we will feel it was the point of life. Right.
And if you have that question today, can I just
encourage you to pursue the things of God. Ask God,
what is it Lord that you want me to do
for you? How can I glorify your name? How can
I bring your love to those around you? Yeah? How

(25:01):
many of you have felt God's love? Yes, your fel
God's love? But you know that there are many out
there who have not felt God's love? What does peace mean?
And I have friends so actually when we have conversations
like hey, what is peace? Actually? Does it just mean
having a good meal or having good sleep? But we
all know that that's not exactly peace. Peace is what

(25:23):
God gives, Peace that sustains this right. What true love
is love that sets us free? That we know that
no matter what mistakes we can do in life, we
can always turn back to God. He forgives and he
welcomes us with open arms. Right, But many out there

(25:43):
have not experienced this, and that is why there's the
feeling of no hope. Right, there's no feeling of hope
because who can I put my hope on? Who can
I put my trust on? But we know who we
can put our trust on. So many, each one of
us have an assignment right to not live our lives
just for ourselves, but for others. And God gives us

(26:08):
the enabling to do that as well. Okay, right, we're good.
I'm drifting somewhere else from my scripture here, but maybe
it's just for someone to know and to hear this.
Right In Jeremiah twenty nine eleven, it says, for I
know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you a
future and a hope. Turn to the person next to

(26:31):
you and say, you have a great future and a
hope in God. Yes, and keep reminding this to each other. Yeah,
sometimes when life happens, you forget, right, But we need
the encouragement man. So now let me just quickly go

(26:53):
into this this this scripture, this message is going to
be a two part right, and the next sermon will
cover the other portion. But I just like to share
with us like a practical way on how can we
prepare ourselves every day when we go through battles. Like
I told you, when I go into my work, my school,
I need to prepare myself in a certain way. And
the scriptures have actually taught us that. Okay, And we

(27:15):
spoke about battles and going for competitions. You know, we
firstly we know who our opponents are, right, And the
second thing is to actually prepare ourselves. You know, titles
asking me this morning, So what's the title of today's message?
The title of this message is actually, do you suit
up every day? Right? Do you suit up every day?

(27:38):
And I'm not just talking about dressing up fancy and
you know, of course those things make you feel good, yeah,
but do you suit up as though you know that
you're going for a battle, that you know that no
matter what life shows to me, I still have it
all because God is with me. Yeah, so suiting up.

(28:03):
Let's look at the Book of Efficients right Ephicians, chapter six,
and if you've been familiar enough, this particular chapter here
talks about the armor of God. Right, and this is
the armor that Paul reminds us to put on when

(28:27):
we go for battles. Okay, And there's a whole big
study from this. That's why I'm breaking it into two parts.
And we're just going to study the first three that
we can learn from verse eleven onwards. And how can
we apply this right? I always believe that the word
of God is practical, So when we learn something, we've
got to be able to apply it immediately. When we

(28:49):
step out. Yeah. So let's see what the word of
God tells us here today. Okay, So let's read some
scriptures here. Ephicients chapter six, verse ten onwards are all there? Okay,
all right, let's read God's word together. It says, See, finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the

(29:11):
power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to stand against the wills
of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hols of

(29:32):
wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day. And having done all to stand
wells fourteen, stand therefore, having gridded your ways with truth,
having put on your having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

(29:57):
and having showed your feet with the preparation of the
Gospel of Peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. One was seventeen. And take the
helmet of salvation and the sort of the spirit, which
is the word of God a man. So we can

(30:21):
see that there are six parts to the armor of God.
That that is shd here. Yeah, And like we spoke
about just now, you know, an army or a soldier,
when he goes for a battle, he doesn't just try
on the armor on the day of his battle, don't
you think so? Right, I'm sure he tried it out,

(30:42):
he practiced it. You see if it fits it. Well.
You remember the last message we spoke about David fighting right,
Remember when you know when he was given the armor,
he took it off because it is not for him.
And that is why he just went in like a shepherd,
because that was what stood him and he went ahead
fight the battle with that. And the same thing is

(31:02):
when we put on the armor of God, it is
a daily preparation to bring us there. Just like how
Jesus right, he had his journey. He walks with God.
He knows the word, and that is why when he
faced temptation he could resist it. And the same thing
is with us when we wear the armor, we've got
to be prepared for it. Yeah, and you know we're

(31:27):
going to just look at the first portion here where
it says in verse fourteen. Right, verse fourteen, it says,
stand therefore, having graded your ways with truth, having put
on the breastplate of righteousness. So I believe we have yeah,
the picture here. Okay, we're going to talk about the
first two, which is righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness and

(31:50):
the belt of truth. Okay, let's try to understand what
does the scripture tell us here. Now, this is of
course an image of a Roman soldier, you know, who
wears it full and the reason why they actually wear
a belt is to just make sure everything is fitted
tight and they're just ready, right, they're ready to go

(32:13):
for it, you know, so that they don't have to
be edjussing what they need to adjus while fighting. It's
going to be very distracting, right, so he tightens it. Yeah.
And so when we say, you know, when we say,
when the scripture here tells us having greated your ways
the truth, the truth is what keeps things in place, right,

(32:34):
And you think so when we spoke about knowing the
truth and resisting the enemy, because now you know the difference,
you can tell. Okay, when I hear this voice, I
know it sounds like it's a temptation. It sounds like
it's deceiving. So it's not from the enemy. Why, because
I know the truth. I've read the scriptures, I remember
the scripture, and so that keeps me in place. And

(32:56):
this is what we mean by the armor. When you
go forward in battles, First, gird yourself with the truth.
How much of truth do you know? Okay? How much
of truth do you know when you know that, if
you know that you're going for a fight, and if
you've got to receive something, do you know scriptures in hand? Okay?

(33:17):
Do you know what to say? Can you reply? Like
how Jesus replied. Everything that he replied was with scriptures. Yeah,
And I think it's very important for us to know scriptures,
to rememborize at least a couple of it, okay, and
so that when something is not right, you can always
go back to the Word of God. Yeah, to the
Word of God. Now John fourteen six, it says I

(33:40):
am the Way, the truth and life. So first you've
got to know that he is the truth. Secondly, you've
got to buckle ourselves with scripture. Yeah. And thirdly, is
we need to be truthful? Yeah? He takes us to
respond as well. Okay, So we know that the truth
comes from God and him alone. The word comes from Him.

(34:04):
Keeping ourselves gooded with scriptures, and we've got to be
truthful as in we walk in the fear of God. Yeah,
because we know that God sees our hearts. He sees
the condition of our hearts. Men see the outwit, but
God sees what's within you. So it's very important for
us to walk uprightly. Yeah. So that's the first thing

(34:27):
that the scripture tells us. Ya. Let's just look at
another scripture from Philippians Tree eight to nine. Okay, Philippines Tree.
It says, yeah, Yet, indeed, if I also count all
things laws for excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,
of Christ, Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered

(34:49):
the laws of all things and count them as rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,
but that which is true faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is from God by faith. Yeah. So Paul tells
us everything else is rubbish. He has uses a word

(35:11):
like that, Okay, but what matters is righteousness in God. Yeah.
And So the next part that we can see here
in when we talk about the armor of God, it
shares here about the breastplate of righteousness. And do you
know what a breastplate does? What is a breastplate does?
What's the function of it? It protects your heart? Right,

(35:35):
And so that's why they need to arm themselves. So
no mettal whoever tries to use the sort or in
our times they use a gun. Right, you have that
breastplate as a protection. And you know how important to
God our heart is right book of probless Out of
your heart springs out everything but life. And so it's

(35:58):
important that we keep our hearts right in righteousness. Again,
when we say righteousness, it just means the quality of
being right morally right, walking in justice. And when you
walk in uprightness, that protects you, keeps you safe, Okay.
And so that's why I want my prayers every day

(36:20):
is God, could you check the condition of my heart.
Sometimes you may not know what's withinness, but God reveals things,
whether it's unforgiveness, whether it's things that trouble you, He
reveals and he shows you how to overcome. Yeah. And
so as you step forward in this fasting and prayer.
Can I encourage you to step forward in righteousness? So

(36:40):
there's any area in your life you feel like God,
I want to be better because we all work in progress. Right.
If there's areas that we feel that we want to
be better in terms of our attitude, our respond well,
there's a good time to do that. Come clean before
God and say God, these are my struggles. Can you
show me how to overcome? Can you give me guidance?

(37:01):
Because I can't do it with my own flesh, but
true God, I can do it. Amen. Yeah. So let's
walk in truth, you know, inviting God, walking in holiness
and come as you are, right, Come as you are,
but don't stay as you are. Okay. God will take
you as you are, no matter what shape and size.

(37:22):
That's our God. Right. But as we come before him,
let's come with the intention and desire of God. I
want to walk out feeling better. I a walk out
feeling free, liberated. Yeah, and he does that for us. Amen? Right?
So the first one, what is the first one that
you have to put on as you go for your fight?

(37:44):
Belt of truth? And how would you do that? Buckle
up with very good, buckle up with scripture. Right, remember scriptures,
And of course the second one is yes, breastplate of righteous.
Let's put that on. And no matter what people tell
you or do to you, you're protected, right, you say,

(38:07):
tell what you want. I am a child of God.
I'm still going to walk forward. Yeah, a big confidence. Amen. Now,
the last one that we're going to look at today
and the remaining we can look at the second part
as we go back to the scriptures here. Okay, let's
look at verse fifteen. Okay, Ephesians chapter six, verse fifteen,

(38:27):
and having showed your feet with the preparation of the
Gospel of peace. Right. And if you've not been familiar
with the Roman soldiers, and you know their shoes, they're
not exactly like the shoes that we're wearing now, but
their shoes had they look like boots, and their nails

(38:49):
as a soul of it. You know, if you play football,
right football, I'm sure you've seen those shoes. Right, it
has a grip, and that was how their boots were like.
It had a grip below. And you know why they
have those grips so that they can stand firm, so
even when the enemy tries to push them, they'll not

(39:10):
fall because there's such a grip on the ground, towards
the ground. Yeah, and so imagine if you are walking
out with the grip of the gospel, and if someone
tries to even push you with your thoughts, try to
work around with you, you know, try to say funny
things to mess up with your emotions and your day.
They say, tell me, tell whatever you want, because I

(39:32):
have a firm grip with the word of God. Did
the Gospel, And the word of God says what peace
his peace brings you. True, you can use all those
kind of things towards you, but you still hold firm
because the Word of God says peace that surpasses all understanding,
Peace that I give to you, not of the world,

(39:54):
but the peace that Jesus gives us. Right, how many
of us have that grip as we step out of
our homes. Okay, we don't just wear our Japanese slipper.
Imagine you walk with that and if the floor is slippery,
what's gonna happen? Yeah? First, it's noisy, annoying. And another

(40:14):
thing is that you will trip. Okay, girls, imagine if
you wear your heels and if you go for your hike,
what's gonna happen, it breaks, it gets stuck. Right, You've
got to go out with the right shoes, the ones
that are comfortable again, do you know? I mean just

(40:36):
affected teacher all that. If you wear the right shoes,
it helps your poison as well. You may not feel
when you're younger, but you're older, you will feel all
the pain. Okay, So wear the right shoes. Yeah. Having
a firm grip the word of God and his peace
John fourteen, let's look at Romans fife. One. First is therefore,

(41:01):
since we have justified true faith, we have peace with
God true our Lord Jesus Christ John fourteen, twenty seven.
Peace I live with you. My peace I give you
not as the world gives. That is who our God is.
He gives us that peace. And I just got this

(41:25):
thought as I was preparing for this scripture. You know,
how can you wear on the shoes of peace? Right?
And most of the time when you wear your shoes,
you've got to bend down. Again, I'm not gonna bend down.
I'm bearing a budget room. But most of the time
you've got to go down and wear your shoes or

(41:46):
to tie your shoelace. And you know what, it requires humbleness. Yeah,
it requires humbleness to say it's not my ways. What
I know what I can do on my own court.
But Lord, I'm submitting to your wayste And if you
can start your day that way, humbling yourselves, bowing down

(42:08):
before God first, before you can do anything at all,
you're submitting to his waste, right, you're submitting to his
wayte humbling yourselves before him, and that helps you to
stay grounded, to stay grounded. You know, most of the
times we tend to lose ourselves when we lose ground,

(42:31):
when we forget our roots, when we forget who are
we as a person? You know how far we've come.
And sometimes to do that is to just be able
to count your blessings, to remember all the things that
God has done in your life. I'm sure if you
count it, this is so many of it, right, you
can keep counting, and those are the things that keeps

(42:54):
you going. But before, when we just lose ourselves and
think about the problem, the frustrations and the whole bubble
that we could be in, that's when we lose the
grip and we tremble. And you know what, when the
enemy sees we tremble, he tries to take an opportunity
from that. But before anything of that happens, step out

(43:17):
with taking charge. Remember, your life is given by God.
You've got to take charge of your life. Do not
let your social media take charge of your life. Do
not let an influencer tell you how to leave your lives.
Let God tell you how to leave your lives. Right,

(43:38):
because He created you means he knows the best, right,
He knows the best for you. Amen. So my encouragement
for all of us today again, And I'm sharing this
because I saw how what it means to wear the armor.
You know, when I had my own frust, my own struggles,
my own disappointment. Right, I just had to choose to

(44:02):
put on the armor before stepping out because then I
realized that it's so much easier because I'm not doing
it by myself. God is with me, right, God is
with me, and he's journeying true. So let's do that. Okay.
When we start out a week this week, some of
you might be on holidays, some of you may be
you know, seeing different people around you or in cam Yeah,

(44:25):
can you put on this truth buckle yourself with truth,
your breastplit of righteousness. Walk in righteousness. Sometimes, maybe this
is the time that you want to come clean before God,
ask him to reveal things that you may not know
what's going on. Right, and wear the right shoes because
your feet is carrying you. You don't want to mess

(44:47):
around with your feet and your poisture. Right, walk with
the right shoe that holds the grip and that comes
from the peace of God. Right. And when you do this,
you realize that the enemy will say, Okay, this person
I cannot do anything because he or she is so
firm in the ways of God and they know what's

(45:09):
the truth, and we walk in that truth. Yeah, let's
rise up in our faith. Yeah, let's rise up in
our spirit, in our inner man. Okay. Remember we are
living in tough days. You may hear this many times, okay,
and sometimes you may be thinking, well, is it my
life already tough? What you're talking about? Okay? I feel you. Okay,

(45:33):
we just need to come up to a place of
realizing that God, God has it all in charge. Who
am I submitting to? Yeah? And I just want to
declare that each of you will see testimonies at the
end of this past thing right, And we say testimony
is it doesn't have to be great signs and wonders

(45:54):
all the time. It could be dead if you're praying
for it, or it could be just a change of heart.
It could be a of an atmosphere, it could be
an open door. If you step forward with that, things happen.
Step in with expectations. It's okay to have expectations as
you step forward with God. Right. I'll just invite the

(46:15):
worship team, yeah, and Gods God most, because God sometimes
will be I know, and I always imagine he'd be
just standing and saying, I'm here waiting, Why aren't you
asking me anything? You are you struggling all by yourself
when I'm here holding your hand, when I'm here to
comfort you, right, and I'm here to give you the

(46:37):
help the strength you need. Don't do it all by yourself.
What the word of God tells us. Come to me.
All of you were heavy laden, and I will give
you rests, right. And I just sense that some of
you may need their rests in God, not just the
hours of physical rest, but the rest in Him. And

(47:00):
when you have your soul rested, life seems to be
a little bit more lighter. You don't feel troubled, you
don't feel weary and anxious, but you submit to God
and say hey, because God has it all. Remember he
knows everything right, He's everywhere. It's omnipresent. So what else

(47:20):
do we need when we have got.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more
information on our church, please visit as church org. We
are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that
this week is going to be a good week. I
hit for you.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
God bless