December 29, 2025 • 34 mins
A practical teaching by Pastor Matt Cruz on moving from temporary relief to lasting freedom in Christ, based on 1 Samuel 16:23.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Hungry Gen podcast, and I just want to
thank you for joining us today here at HG. Our
vision is to see thousands saved locally and millions globally.
We hope you enjoyed this week's message.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I want to begin reading.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
In First Samuel, chapter sixteen, Verse twenty three says, whenever
the tormenting spirit troubled Sauw, David would play the harp,
then Saul would feel better and the tormenting spirit would
go away. Let's pray, Holy Spirit. I thank you that
you're already here doing great things. I thank you for
strength and my vocal cords. I thank you for this
(00:37):
precious group of people arrest their attention. And may the
truth of your word be preached with power and authority,
with clarity and with accuracy, with love and compassion, in
Jesus' name, And everyone says amen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The Bible says that.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
David would play the harp for King Saul, and when
he did, Sauw would feel really, but the problem was
that Saul was never delivered. Relief without freedom is not deliverance.
If I could tell the message anything today, it would
(01:14):
be that from relief to freedom, from relief to freedom,
saw experienced relief, but he never experienced freedom. He felt better,
but he never got free. And the Bible says, as
I read that verse, David's worship sued Saul's torment, but
(01:35):
it never healed his heart. And I feel like the
Lord is saying today, that's how many believers are living.
We love moments that make us feel better, but we
avoid what would actually make us free. Saul wanted relief
without submission. He wanted comfort without change. It sounds a
(01:57):
lot like the American Church. But feeling better is not
the same as being free. You could be soothed and
still be bound.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Can we be real today?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Recently the Lord showed me something.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I wasn't feeling well, and I woke up one morning and.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
My mom said, there was a plate of French toast sticks.
How many love French toasts?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Glory to go, She said, there's a plate of food here,
and there's a leaf pill on the top of the plate.
Take this a leaf pill. Anybody know what a leave is.
It's like ibuprofit.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So I've been on this.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Journey lately of wanting to take organic things. So I'm
thinking to myself, I don't want to just suppress what
I'm feeling. I want to get to the source. I
want to strengthen my immune system. So I had purchased
this bottle of it's called Sufficiency and it's like a
high dose of vitamin C and I wanted to take
a scoop of it. So I looked up what does
(02:53):
a leave do for me that this vitamin C won't do?
And I thought, the Holy Spirit show me something when
I looked it up. Essentially, a leave makes you feel better.
Vitamin C helps you get better. A leave numbs the
pain and the symptoms, but it's the vitamin C that
(03:16):
strengthens your system.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's what goes directly to the root.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And I feel like the Lord is saying that there
are many Christians today who are living on spiritual a leave.
Many don't want healing, they just want numbing. They don't
really want freedom, They want relief. But if we can
be honest today, there's a difference between relief and freedom. Too.
(03:42):
Many are managing symptoms instead of confronting roots. And I
want to encourage us today with this, do not focus
on the symptom, focus on the roots. I feel like
the Lord is trying to help somebody today that if
you do not deal with the root, the symptom will
keep coming back.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
What are you saying, Matt. It's not just anger.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It's unresolved hurt and unforgiveness in your heart.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It's not just lust.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What it is is a hunger for intimacy and affirmation
that was never healed. It's not just anxiety the symptom
that you're dealing with. It's fear and control, fighting for
lordship instead of trust in Jesus.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's not in security that you're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
That's the symptom, But the root is the identity being
rooted in performance instead of sonship.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are you following along today?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It's not just addiction that's the symptom, But the root
is pain looking for relief and healing. It's not comparison
comparison in your life. It's a lack of contentment and gratitude.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's not bitterness.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's disappointment that was never processed with God. He does
not want you and I to manage the symptoms. He
wants to get to the root of the issue and
he wants to set you free. Come on, how many
know Jesus came to set us free, not just for relief,
but for liberation.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Somebody say, Amen, it's not.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Just people pleasing, it's the fear of rejection ruling your heart.
It's not just distraction, it's the avoidance of what God
is calling you to face. It's not exhaustion that you're feeling.
It's living from striving instead of surrender. It's not even rebellion.
It's unsubmitted areas that one control. Many of us deal
(05:29):
with cycles. But the root is that doors were never closed.
And you can manage symptoms for years and still never
heal the wound. And I feel in my heart to
say this, this consumer driven gospel that has crept into
the American Church for many years, it has taught us
to stay comfortable in pain instead of confronting what caused it.
(05:53):
And we've been taught for so many years in the
Western Church on how to manage anger, and manage anxiety,
and manage addiction and manage brokenness, but not always how
to let Jesus deal with.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The roots and the wound beneath.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
The surface and not allow true deliverance to take place
in our life.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Can I say today that symptom management.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Keeps you functioning, but it's deliverance that makes you free.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
It's deliverance that liberates you.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Relief numbs the pain like that a leave pill, but
deliverance removes the source.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Jesus did not come.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
For us to be better at managing brokenness. He came
so that we could become whole. He came so that
we can experience true freedom and have a life and
life more abundantly. Amen, we need to deal with the root.
Help us Lord to deal with the root. For too long,
(06:50):
much of the American Church has been neutralized, meaning we
become in some ways sedated, softened. This pastor of says,
spircely domesticated. And that's what neutrality is. It means the
urgency was numbed. Somewhere along the line, the boldness was diluted.
(07:12):
In fact, Leonard Ravenhill, a great Revivalist who lived.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Many years ago, he said these words.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
In many churches, Christianity has been watered down until the
solution is so weak that if it were poisoned, it
would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine, it
would not cure anyone. That's what neutralized Christianity is. It
settles for relief instead of freedom, and a lot of
(07:38):
believers today. They're great at gathering crowds, but not so
great at making disciples. They're great at speaking about God,
but not demonstrating God. The Bible says the Kingdom of
God is not a matter.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Of talk, but of power. Are you with me today?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Leonda Ravenhill also said the world out there is not
looking for a new definition of Christianity. They're looking for
a new day demonstration of Christianity. We are called to
demonstrate the power and the love of God.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And I don't want to have a neutral faith. I
don't want to go into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
With neutrality, because neutralized Christianity is Christianity without confrontation. It's
Christianity without holiness. It's Christianity without repentance. It's a Christianity
that preaches messages that calls you to feel good and
to suggests that following Jesus is about personal gain rather
(08:33):
than surrendering under His lordship. It's about what God can
do for you right now, rather than how He desires
to change you from the inside out. That is a
transactional gospel, not a transformational gospel.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Come on, I want to confront this today.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
We are in a church that preaches the uncompromising gospel
of Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but I
don't want to be neutral with the devil. I don't
want to be in the gray area with the devil.
I don't want to be neutral in my prayer life,
neutral in my devotion life. I need the fire of
God on the altar. I need the power of the
Holy Spirit in my life.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I don't want a.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Gospel that is about self improvement instead of self denial.
I don't want to preach messages in twenty twenty six
that is about my preferences instead of His presence. I
don't want to preach how to unlock your potential instead
of laid down your life.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Come on, I want to get to.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
The roots of the issue, and I want people to
leave with true freedom and liberations. Somebody say, Amen, Christianity
is not about becoming a better version of you. It's
about becoming a more accurate reflection of Him. I don't
want to look more like me. I'll become worse. When
(09:42):
you try to look like you, you will become worse. But
when you try to look more like Him, then and
only then.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Will you be just like him.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It's all about being conformed into the image of Christ.
Taking up your cross daily, Jesus, as those who desire
to follow after me must deny themselves, take up the
cross daily and follow me.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
We've got to choose Jesus. We've got to choose righteousness.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Romans tells us to put to death what is earthly
in you, put it to death. A man of God
with the name of Oswald Chambers said these words, If
I do not put to death the things in me
which are not of God, they will put to death
the things that are of God. Paul explains why this
happens in Galatians five sixteen. He says, so I say,
(10:30):
let the Holy Spirit God your lives. Then you won't
be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature
wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of
what the spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires
that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These
two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are
not free to carry out your good intentions. But when
(10:52):
you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under
obligation to the law of Moses. But how many, oh
that the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in
your life, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self control. The Bible says there is no law
against these things. We who belong to Christ Jesus, we
nail our passions and desires of our sinful nature to
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as Cross and crucified it there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
This is what Verse twenty four says.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We must crucify our passions in our desires, and we
must come alive in Christ and walk this thing out.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
How many want to.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Apply the word of God to your life like never before?
In twenty twenty six. I don't know if they have
a chart, if you could put it up. I came
across this chart a while ago and I added it
to this sermon. What you feed is what you become.
If you look at a carrot, if you slice a
piece of it, it's shaped just like a pupil, because
(11:51):
it's good for your vision. If you eat a lot
of walnuts, if you actually look out, it's double sided.
One side is shaped like your brain, because it's good
for your brain.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
It's good for your memory. The other side shape like
your heart because it's good for your heart.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Grapes. That part got left out, But it's good for
your lungs. Somebody say, Amen, tomatoes good for your heart.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Ginger.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The way that it is shaped is that's what targets
the area in your life. Now.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I don't believe that's by accident. I believe that that
is by God's design.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That you are what you eat, Amen, and what you
consistently take in is what you eventually become.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What you feed determines what strengthens you.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Every day's an opportunity to either strengthen your relationship with
God or neglect it. So your rate of growth, My
rate of growth is determined by what we feed our spirit.
Every day, you're either leaning more toward God or you're
drifting away from God. You're drifting away from your devotion life.
But friend, what you feed is what will grow in
(12:55):
your life. Your spirit is like a garden. What you
feed will grow.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Are you with me?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
May we feed ourselves with the Word of God. Pastor
of flat you said this one day. If you don't
feel like reading, force yourself to read the word. Force
feed yourself. If that is true naturally, it's absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Spiritually.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You cannot feed on junk food and expect good health.
You cannot starve your spirit and then wonder why you're
weak spiritually. If you feed fear and lust and bitterness,
if you feed a fence or comfort, don't be surprised
when your life reflects that what you feed is what
you become. And we've got to feed ourselves the Word
(13:43):
of God. We've got to get this thing in us.
This word is so powerful. This is why the Bible
says the grass withers, the flowers fade, but it's the
Word of God that stands forever. This word, when you
open it, it begins to open you. When you read it,
it begins to read you. It's alive and act. That's
why you can read one passage and you can get
something fresh and something new, over and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Why because it's alive and active. And this is why people.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Speak against this word, because it speaks against their lifestyle.
The most hated book, yet the most sold book. It's
banning over fifty countries. This book is alive, sixty six
books written by different authors who lived at different times,
yet it still points to the same man, Jesus Christ.
It's aligned perfectly. And we've got to feed ourselves with
(14:31):
the Word of God. Oftentimes we think that we need
to feel like reading to read, we need to feel
like praying to pray to pray. But I want to
tell you today that faith does not start with the feeling.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Faith starts with the decision.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Sometimes you don't need to oh, actually, all of the time,
you don't need to feel a certain fire or stirring
in your spirit just to pray or read the Word
of God.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I believe that as you discipline.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Your self to read the Bible, discipline yourself to pray
and get into the presence of God, that's what creates
the desire to be with God. I believe that discipline
precedes desire. I believe that obedience precedes desire. When you
consistently spend time in the presence of God and in
the Word of God, all of a sudden, it creates
the desire to be with God.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Are you with me today? So I want to encourage
us that we've got to renew our mind.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Romans twelve says, do not be conformed by the pattern
of the world, but be transformed by what the renewing
of your mind.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
We have to constantly renew our mind.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Not everything is a deemon. You just got to renew
your mind. But some stuff it is demonic and there's
influence there, and I'll get into that in just a moment,
but we've got to get.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
To the root of the issue.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Saul was relieved, but he did not get free.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
He was soothed, but he did not get liberated.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And God wants to liberate us today.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
While the enemy can't touch our wen, he could still
have ground in our soul.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Can I be real for a second?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Well, Fhesians four twenty seven says, don't give place to
the devil. That word placed in the Greek means ground
or territory. For a long time, I was in the
gray area when it came to deliverance. I believed in it,
grew up around it. I would grow up pastor of
Ladd coming home to my dad casting demons out of
a five year old boy. Some of you would you're
(16:27):
probably thinking that's not possible. Well let me let me
say I saw quite a few things. This boy was
causing havoc in his parents' marriage. He would run around
the church naked. They would get oil and he would
yell not the oil his mom.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
As my dad was praying for him.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I came home from work one day to this and
his mom was like, that's not my son, that's not
my son. And my dad said he felt like he
was wrestling with someone with grown man's strength. I grew
up around this family gatherings. They would tell the kids
to go in the other room and they would pray
deliverance over family members that were manifesting. But then some
years ago, I found myself in the gray area where
(17:04):
I didn't denied deliverance. I did not not believe in deliverance.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
But I didn't pursue it. I got turned off by it.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
If I can be super transparent, and then there came
a moment where I experienced my own deliverance.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Bizarre feeling.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I never went through a session like this in my life.
Before this moment, I wasn't seeing many demons manifest In
meetings I would preach in I would be effective in
seeing healing and people get baptized with the Holy Spirit
and fire. I would preach messages that I believe, by
God's grace would be effective and people would experience the
transformative power of the Holy Spirit, but not many demons
(17:45):
would manifest. But after this session that I went through
every meeting, people throwing up people, screaming, demons coming out
of people. Now, to the non spiritual person, or maybe
to the over spiritual person, they say they're turned off
by that stuff. And I was in the gray era.
(18:06):
But why, all of a sudden are these things happening
After I experienced my own freedom.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
I was dealing with intrusive thoughts for years.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I mean, it would it would be so overwhelming in
my mind, and I'm like, God, why am I experiencing this?
And after I went through this session, all of a sudden,
the first meeting I preciate Bakersfield, California, freedom is happening
at the altar. After that service, I went straight to
the airport to take an overnight flight to stand up
in a friend's wedding. Do you want to know what happened,
(18:34):
I'm gonna tell you. I'm on the plane, this tall
man sitting in the window seat. Now, I'm just trying
to sleep, and no one bothered me, And all of
a sudden, I get startled and I wake up to
this tall man in the middle seat slamming his head
into the table tray in front of him. He threw
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his whole head, his wrist. Now I'm gonna sh this,
and you could take it for what it is. But
his wrist curled up, his neck is moving around. He's
getting in this lady's face, who's sitting in the window seat.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
She's nearly standing up on her chair.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I don't know whether I should sock the guy in
the face or what. But I thought to myself, now
I don't know. And that was a demon, but he
looked like a demon. Ten years of traveling, this has
never happened to me before, and all of a sudden,
I experience freedom, and this happens. It's because when I
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was in the gray area, I wasn't a threat to
the devil. But when I experienced deliverance for myself, now
I'm on Hell's radar. Deliverance must happen first in the believer,
in the minister, if it is to flow through the minister.
The demonic realm recognizes authority, it recognizes authenticity. And when
you when you experience freedom for yourself, the devil looks
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at you and says, ah, he he sees now, she
sees now they get it, and he gets very upset
and he tries to cause havoc in your life. Are
you on Hell's radar. I don't want to preach cute messages.
I don't want a neutral faith. The Devil is fine
with me preaching on comfort as long as I don't
(20:20):
preach on confrontation. He's okay with me coming to church
as long as I don't look more like Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
He's not afraid of you sitting where you're sitting. He's
afraid when.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
You start to embody the character and the nature of Christ.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
We've got to look more like him. We've got experience
true liberation.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
If I'm going to be effective in my calling, I
need to get to the root of issues, and I
need to say, God liberate me. I want to shout
it from the rooftops. Come on, I got nothing to hide.
I'm free. I'm liberated, and you can be too. Something shifts,
something happens when you experience freedom, when you get to
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the root of issues. Deliverance is like being in a
boat filling with water. You can grab a bucket and
work hard and lose your voice trying to get that
water out of the boat.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
But hear me today, the water is not the problem.
The hole is.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
And until that hole was plugged, the water will continue
to come back. No matter how hard you try to
get it out. Those are strongholds. Behavior is not the root.
There's a stronghold. There's demonic influence in your life. And
I believe once deliverance becomes real to you, something begins
to shift in your life and in your ministry. Hear
(21:36):
me today, This is one of the most hotly debated
topics in the church. Can a Christian have a demon?
Now we're at Hungry Jen You know we believe in
deliverance here. It's one of our core values. If they
didn't tell you, now you know, deliverance is essential. Demons
coming out is a good thing. Are you with me today?
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This is important to know. A Christian can have anything
they want to have. As Pastor Vlad says, a Christian
can have a demon, but a demon can't have a
Christian because they don't own us. We're owned by Jesus.
Salvation deals with your ownership. Deliverance deals with your occupancy.
There are areas in your soul. If you look at
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the Temple in Jerusalem, you got the outer courts, the
inter course, the Holy holies, and the outer There was
there was merchants and thieves, and Jesus drove them out.
This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The outer
courts is your soul. The devil can have a ground.
Your spirit is sealed unto God, unto the day of redemption.
The scripture says, the devil can't touch your spirit, but
your soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions is
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vulnerable to evil forces. And that's why we expirit things
in our life because the devil has real estate in
our soul. He's got ground, he's got access. The problem
is not ownership. The problem is influence and access. The
torment he had access, but the deliverance meant that access
was broken. See before deliverance, the enemy had a voice
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in my life. After deliverance, all he has is a whisper.
And even the whisperer doesn't carry any power to it.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Come up and see, temptation is only a suggestion. Now
all he.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Has is a suggestion, and discipleship teaches you how to
shut down the suggestion. Are you with me today? So
we need freedom. We need not relief, but liberation. The
enemy doesn't fight what doesn't threaten him. And I believe
when believers hear me today from a heart, When we
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avoid freedom, when we avoid liberation out of fear, ignorance, pride.
What happens is we become spiritually neutralized. And again, the
devil's fine with you going through the motions as long
as you don't experience with me say, neutrality is not
an option.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
We're not called to a neutral faith. You and I
are not called to a self centered Christianity.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
In twenty twenty six, I don't want a Christianity that'll
make me feel better. I want a Christianity that'll make
me look like him.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I don't want to be neutral with my prayer. You
know what this ought to punish the devil in the eye.
He's not neutral about attacking you.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
You can't be neutral about standing on the word of God.
He's not neutral with attacking your health. You can't be
neutral about declaring the promises of God. He's not neutral
about tempting your purity. You can't be neutral about guarding it.
He is not neutral about whispering lines in your mind.
You cannot be neutral about declaring the truth of the
Word of God. He's not neutral about distracting or calling.
(24:45):
You cannot be neutral about staying focused. Come on, somebody.
He's not neutral about silencing your voice. You cannot be
neutral about opening your mouth. It's time to not be
neutral with the devil and stop letting him rob your peace.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Come on, stand on the word God.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
He's not neutral about reminding you of your past, so
don't be neutral about walking in your new identity. I
don't want to fake Jesus in my life. People are
preaching of fake Jesus. See the fake Jesus comforts you
in your sin, but the real Jesus confront your sin.
I want to preach the living Jesus of the Bible,
and I want to experience the power of this Jesus.
I need him to come in my life. I don't
(25:20):
need a ted talk. I need deliverance. Come on, I
don't need coping strategies. I need the anointing that destroys yolks.
And I believe that this church that God is raising up,
in this generation that God is raising up, is done
with motivational sermons.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
They're done with.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Five points and how I can live a better life,
how I can be motivated and listen. I'm about that stuff.
But I need the anointing. I need freedom in my life.
I don't want to look free but not live free.
I need the anointing. I need the oil. I don't
want to sit in church every Sunday and still be bound.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I don't want to settle for relief in my life.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
If the devil has declared war, I'm coming not with neutrality.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I'm coming with the power of the Word of God.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
If he's coming without yous, come on, I'm coming with
the blood. If he's coming with fear, I'm coming with faith.
If he's coming with discouragement, I'm gonna come with encouragement.
Come on, it's time to rise up. In twenty twenty six,
I came with my own Amen. Praise God all the
way from Pasco on course. Freet praise God. I'm telling
you today, don't be neutral with the devil. Neutrality is agreement,
(26:24):
Silence is consent, Tolerance is permission. Hear me today, and
I refuse to agree with Hell. I refuse to consent
to defeat. I refuse to tolerate darkness. I refuse to
be neutral anymore. I'm no longer the gray area, and
(26:45):
neither should you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
We've got to confront the devil.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
The Bible says that when demons begin to manifest, that's
how you know the Kingdom of God has come upon
a place, and the Kingdom will not be advanced by
our churches being filled with people, but rather the people
in our churches being filled with God.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We need God, we need the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
This generation's hungry. They're hungry, So Saul, I'm hungry too.
Was never delivered. Feeling better is not the same as
being free that a leaf pill or the vitamin ce.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Tacos. No, we're always gonna choose tacos there. Praise God
for the l pastor I feel the Lord.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Red forty put that chart up again? Or ginger, Praise.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
God, I got all of them in my pocket. Are
you gonna choose gummy worms or carrots? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
It's between you and the Lord. But what you feed
is what you become. You are what you eat and
twenty twenty six. May I encourage us with this today.
May we be so on fire in a flame of
the Lord. May we cultivate this fire of first love
in our hearts that when the enemy comes, it'll only
(28:28):
be a suggestion and we can shut that down by
the power of the word of God.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
May you be so on fire in fact.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
My prayer for us this morning and the last Sunday
of the year is that we would have such a
holy desire for the Word of God that we would
not read it out of obligation, but we would read
it out of adoration.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
We would not read it just.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
To check it off like a chore, like a list
of the Christian faith, but we would get into the
Word because we want to know the all.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
What do they say?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
This is the only love letter where the author is
in love with the reader. May you come to know Jesus,
not about Jesus. May you come to know him for
who he is.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Friend. When you see him, you can't stay the same.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up,
and I was ruined. He said, I'm undone twenty twenty six.
We cannot have a neutral faith twenty twenty six. We
cannot be in the great area any longer. Twenty twenty six.
It's time to not have relief in your life any longer,
but true freedom twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
God is wanting to liberate you.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
He's wanting to break the chains that the devil has
had on you, hindering your faith. Let me ask you
this question today. What needs to be trampled out of you?
What is keeping revival out of you? What needs to
be washed out of you? Let the Holy Spirit examine
you right now as I'm ministering, and let him open
the door of your heart and take an inventory of
your spiritual condition. How much fuel is still left? Where
(29:55):
are you at in your walk with Jesus? Is the
fire on the altar? Jesus said to the church at Ephesus.
He said, go back, this is what I have against you.
You forgot what you did at first. Go back to
what you were doing in the beginning. That is the
fire of first love. Some of us today we don't
need just another message. We need a flashback of what
God has done for us in the past. And when
(30:16):
you remember what He did for you in the past,
that is an indication that you can trust Him with
your future. I don't know who this is for today,
but God's track record is amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
It is flawless, and all you have to do is
get a flashback.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Do you remember that day when the Holy Spirit came
upon you and you received power? Do you remember that
day where God saved you, healed you, pulled you out
of the Marie clay and set your feet on the
solid rock.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Do you remember that day where God initially spoke to
you for the first time. Do you remember that day?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
God healed you from that disease and protected you from
that car accident, and he kept you from that hurt
in that pain and the devil trying to take you out.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
We need a flashback.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
That's how we keep the fire first, Love, Bernie, are
you with me today? David's worship soothed saws torment, but
it never healed this heart.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
What you're dealing with today is not a symptom.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
There's a root, and whatever it is, let the Holy
Spirit shine a light on that area.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
And let them deal with it. It's pride in believers.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Where we want to avoid deliverance and we want to
avoid what we really need.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Now.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Don't preach on that. Can't tell you pastorally, how many
places I've gone to. I think most of the time
they know who they're you know, bringing before they come.
But I've heard some things. Don't preach on this. You know,
we're a little bit more conservative.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
In this era.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And listen when I preach, I come under that authority
of the House, Praise God. I believe in excellence and order.
But listen, when you preach from the very words of God.
Billy Graham said he would take those words and he
would drive it supernaturally into the human heart. We need
the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a hurting
(32:11):
world out there, and you have the truth on the
inside of you. You are the hope that they are
looking for, a city set on a hill that cannot
be hidden. Nobody puts a basket over a lampstand. Come on,
you've got to take that thing off so it can
have light to everyone in the house. God is calling
you to be a light in your sphere of influence.
God is calling you to be a light in your workplace,
(32:33):
in your family, in your neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
But you gotta walk this thing out. Listen, people who.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Do not know God but know you, they can come
to know God because they know you. Why, because you
are walking out the word of God. The Bible says
that we are living epistles, read.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
And known among all men. Friend, you are the sixty
seventh book of the Bible.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Let's walk this thing out. Twenty twenty six. Don't have
a neutral faith, don't be in the great area. Let's
rise up, step forward in our faith. Put our shoulders
back and say, devil, you are feed. You will not
have my family, you will not have my health. You
and not have my mind, You will not have my ministry,
you will not have my finances. I'm done. I'm gonna
put you in the corner and I'm gonna take your snacks.
(33:11):
Hey man, come on, You're gonna look at my life
and God is gonna get the glory. I'm done letting
the devil beat me up. I'm done letting the devil
steal my lunch, money, steal my joy, my peace, my strength.
I'm done living a defeated life. I need the power
of God. I've got nothing to hide. I want to
shout it from the rooftops. Don't sell for relief, sell
(33:33):
for freedom.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Thanks for listening to today's podcast. If you are blessed
by this message, be sure to subscribe and send it
to someone, and don't forget. You can always share it
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and other resources, go to hungrygen dot com. Remember better
(33:58):
is not good enough.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
The best is yet to come.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
MHM
This is Hungry Gen podcast, and I just want to
thank you for joining us today here at HG. Our
vision is to see thousands saved locally and millions globally.
We hope you enjoyed this week's message.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I want to begin reading.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
In First Samuel, chapter sixteen, Verse twenty three says, whenever
the tormenting spirit troubled Sauw, David would play the harp,
then Saul would feel better and the tormenting spirit would
go away. Let's pray, Holy Spirit. I thank you that
you're already here doing great things. I thank you for
strength and my vocal cords. I thank you for this
(00:37):
precious group of people arrest their attention. And may the
truth of your word be preached with power and authority,
with clarity and with accuracy, with love and compassion, in
Jesus' name, And everyone says amen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The Bible says that.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
David would play the harp for King Saul, and when
he did, Sauw would feel really, but the problem was
that Saul was never delivered. Relief without freedom is not deliverance.
If I could tell the message anything today, it would
(01:14):
be that from relief to freedom, from relief to freedom,
saw experienced relief, but he never experienced freedom. He felt better,
but he never got free. And the Bible says, as
I read that verse, David's worship sued Saul's torment, but
(01:35):
it never healed his heart. And I feel like the
Lord is saying today, that's how many believers are living.
We love moments that make us feel better, but we
avoid what would actually make us free. Saul wanted relief
without submission. He wanted comfort without change. It sounds a
(01:57):
lot like the American Church. But feeling better is not
the same as being free. You could be soothed and
still be bound.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Can we be real today?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Recently the Lord showed me something.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I wasn't feeling well, and I woke up one morning and.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
My mom said, there was a plate of French toast sticks.
How many love French toasts?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Glory to go, She said, there's a plate of food here,
and there's a leaf pill on the top of the plate.
Take this a leaf pill. Anybody know what a leave is.
It's like ibuprofit.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So I've been on this.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Journey lately of wanting to take organic things. So I'm
thinking to myself, I don't want to just suppress what
I'm feeling. I want to get to the source. I
want to strengthen my immune system. So I had purchased
this bottle of it's called Sufficiency and it's like a
high dose of vitamin C and I wanted to take
a scoop of it. So I looked up what does
(02:53):
a leave do for me that this vitamin C won't do?
And I thought, the Holy Spirit show me something when
I looked it up. Essentially, a leave makes you feel better.
Vitamin C helps you get better. A leave numbs the
pain and the symptoms, but it's the vitamin C that
(03:16):
strengthens your system.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's what goes directly to the root.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And I feel like the Lord is saying that there
are many Christians today who are living on spiritual a leave.
Many don't want healing, they just want numbing. They don't
really want freedom, They want relief. But if we can
be honest today, there's a difference between relief and freedom. Too.
(03:42):
Many are managing symptoms instead of confronting roots. And I
want to encourage us today with this, do not focus
on the symptom, focus on the roots. I feel like
the Lord is trying to help somebody today that if
you do not deal with the root, the symptom will
keep coming back.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
What are you saying, Matt. It's not just anger.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It's unresolved hurt and unforgiveness in your heart.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It's not just lust.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What it is is a hunger for intimacy and affirmation
that was never healed. It's not just anxiety the symptom
that you're dealing with. It's fear and control, fighting for
lordship instead of trust in Jesus.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's not in security that you're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
That's the symptom, But the root is the identity being
rooted in performance instead of sonship.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are you following along today?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It's not just addiction that's the symptom, But the root
is pain looking for relief and healing. It's not comparison
comparison in your life. It's a lack of contentment and gratitude.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's not bitterness.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's disappointment that was never processed with God. He does
not want you and I to manage the symptoms. He
wants to get to the root of the issue and
he wants to set you free. Come on, how many
know Jesus came to set us free, not just for relief,
but for liberation.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Somebody say, Amen, it's not.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Just people pleasing, it's the fear of rejection ruling your heart.
It's not just distraction, it's the avoidance of what God
is calling you to face. It's not exhaustion that you're feeling.
It's living from striving instead of surrender. It's not even rebellion.
It's unsubmitted areas that one control. Many of us deal
(05:29):
with cycles. But the root is that doors were never closed.
And you can manage symptoms for years and still never
heal the wound. And I feel in my heart to
say this, this consumer driven gospel that has crept into
the American Church for many years, it has taught us
to stay comfortable in pain instead of confronting what caused it.
(05:53):
And we've been taught for so many years in the
Western Church on how to manage anger, and manage anxiety,
and manage addiction and manage brokenness, but not always how
to let Jesus deal with.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The roots and the wound beneath.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
The surface and not allow true deliverance to take place
in our life.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Can I say today that symptom management.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Keeps you functioning, but it's deliverance that makes you free.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
It's deliverance that liberates you.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Relief numbs the pain like that a leave pill, but
deliverance removes the source.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Jesus did not come.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
For us to be better at managing brokenness. He came
so that we could become whole. He came so that
we can experience true freedom and have a life and
life more abundantly. Amen, we need to deal with the root.
Help us Lord to deal with the root. For too long,
(06:50):
much of the American Church has been neutralized, meaning we
become in some ways sedated, softened. This pastor of says,
spircely domesticated. And that's what neutrality is. It means the
urgency was numbed. Somewhere along the line, the boldness was diluted.
(07:12):
In fact, Leonard Ravenhill, a great Revivalist who lived.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Many years ago, he said these words.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
In many churches, Christianity has been watered down until the
solution is so weak that if it were poisoned, it
would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine, it
would not cure anyone. That's what neutralized Christianity is. It
settles for relief instead of freedom, and a lot of
(07:38):
believers today. They're great at gathering crowds, but not so
great at making disciples. They're great at speaking about God,
but not demonstrating God. The Bible says the Kingdom of
God is not a matter.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Of talk, but of power. Are you with me today?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Leonda Ravenhill also said the world out there is not
looking for a new definition of Christianity. They're looking for
a new day demonstration of Christianity. We are called to
demonstrate the power and the love of God.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And I don't want to have a neutral faith. I
don't want to go into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
With neutrality, because neutralized Christianity is Christianity without confrontation. It's
Christianity without holiness. It's Christianity without repentance. It's a Christianity
that preaches messages that calls you to feel good and
to suggests that following Jesus is about personal gain rather
(08:33):
than surrendering under His lordship. It's about what God can
do for you right now, rather than how He desires
to change you from the inside out. That is a
transactional gospel, not a transformational gospel.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Come on, I want to confront this today.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
We are in a church that preaches the uncompromising gospel
of Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but I
don't want to be neutral with the devil. I don't
want to be in the gray area with the devil.
I don't want to be neutral in my prayer life,
neutral in my devotion life. I need the fire of
God on the altar. I need the power of the
Holy Spirit in my life.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I don't want a.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Gospel that is about self improvement instead of self denial.
I don't want to preach messages in twenty twenty six
that is about my preferences instead of His presence. I
don't want to preach how to unlock your potential instead
of laid down your life.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Come on, I want to get to.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
The roots of the issue, and I want people to
leave with true freedom and liberations. Somebody say, Amen, Christianity
is not about becoming a better version of you. It's
about becoming a more accurate reflection of Him. I don't
want to look more like me. I'll become worse. When
(09:42):
you try to look like you, you will become worse. But
when you try to look more like Him, then and
only then.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Will you be just like him.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It's all about being conformed into the image of Christ.
Taking up your cross daily, Jesus, as those who desire
to follow after me must deny themselves, take up the
cross daily and follow me.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
We've got to choose Jesus. We've got to choose righteousness.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Romans tells us to put to death what is earthly
in you, put it to death. A man of God
with the name of Oswald Chambers said these words, If
I do not put to death the things in me
which are not of God, they will put to death
the things that are of God. Paul explains why this
happens in Galatians five sixteen. He says, so I say,
(10:30):
let the Holy Spirit God your lives. Then you won't
be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature
wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of
what the spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires
that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These
two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are
not free to carry out your good intentions. But when
(10:52):
you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under
obligation to the law of Moses. But how many, oh
that the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in
your life, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self control. The Bible says there is no law
against these things. We who belong to Christ Jesus, we
nail our passions and desires of our sinful nature to
(11:16):
as Cross and crucified it there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
This is what Verse twenty four says.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We must crucify our passions in our desires, and we
must come alive in Christ and walk this thing out.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
How many want to.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Apply the word of God to your life like never before?
In twenty twenty six. I don't know if they have
a chart, if you could put it up. I came
across this chart a while ago and I added it
to this sermon. What you feed is what you become.
If you look at a carrot, if you slice a
piece of it, it's shaped just like a pupil, because
(11:51):
it's good for your vision. If you eat a lot
of walnuts, if you actually look out, it's double sided.
One side is shaped like your brain, because it's good
for your brain.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
It's good for your memory. The other side shape like
your heart because it's good for your heart.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Grapes. That part got left out, But it's good for
your lungs. Somebody say, Amen, tomatoes good for your heart.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Ginger.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The way that it is shaped is that's what targets
the area in your life. Now.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I don't believe that's by accident. I believe that that
is by God's design.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That you are what you eat, Amen, and what you
consistently take in is what you eventually become.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What you feed determines what strengthens you.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Every day's an opportunity to either strengthen your relationship with
God or neglect it. So your rate of growth, My
rate of growth is determined by what we feed our spirit.
Every day, you're either leaning more toward God or you're
drifting away from God. You're drifting away from your devotion life.
But friend, what you feed is what will grow in
(12:55):
your life. Your spirit is like a garden. What you
feed will grow.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Are you with me?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
May we feed ourselves with the Word of God. Pastor
of flat you said this one day. If you don't
feel like reading, force yourself to read the word. Force
feed yourself. If that is true naturally, it's absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Spiritually.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You cannot feed on junk food and expect good health.
You cannot starve your spirit and then wonder why you're
weak spiritually. If you feed fear and lust and bitterness,
if you feed a fence or comfort, don't be surprised
when your life reflects that what you feed is what
you become. And we've got to feed ourselves the Word
(13:43):
of God. We've got to get this thing in us.
This word is so powerful. This is why the Bible
says the grass withers, the flowers fade, but it's the
Word of God that stands forever. This word, when you
open it, it begins to open you. When you read it,
it begins to read you. It's alive and act. That's
why you can read one passage and you can get
something fresh and something new, over and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Why because it's alive and active. And this is why people.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Speak against this word, because it speaks against their lifestyle.
The most hated book, yet the most sold book. It's
banning over fifty countries. This book is alive, sixty six
books written by different authors who lived at different times,
yet it still points to the same man, Jesus Christ.
It's aligned perfectly. And we've got to feed ourselves with
(14:31):
the Word of God. Oftentimes we think that we need
to feel like reading to read, we need to feel
like praying to pray to pray. But I want to
tell you today that faith does not start with the feeling.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Faith starts with the decision.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Sometimes you don't need to oh, actually, all of the time,
you don't need to feel a certain fire or stirring
in your spirit just to pray or read the Word
of God.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I believe that as you discipline.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Your self to read the Bible, discipline yourself to pray
and get into the presence of God, that's what creates
the desire to be with God. I believe that discipline
precedes desire. I believe that obedience precedes desire. When you
consistently spend time in the presence of God and in
the Word of God, all of a sudden, it creates
the desire to be with God.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Are you with me today? So I want to encourage
us that we've got to renew our mind.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Romans twelve says, do not be conformed by the pattern
of the world, but be transformed by what the renewing
of your mind.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
We have to constantly renew our mind.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Not everything is a deemon. You just got to renew
your mind. But some stuff it is demonic and there's
influence there, and I'll get into that in just a moment,
but we've got to get.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
To the root of the issue.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Saul was relieved, but he did not get free.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
He was soothed, but he did not get liberated.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And God wants to liberate us today.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
While the enemy can't touch our wen, he could still
have ground in our soul.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Can I be real for a second?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Well, Fhesians four twenty seven says, don't give place to
the devil. That word placed in the Greek means ground
or territory. For a long time, I was in the
gray area when it came to deliverance. I believed in it,
grew up around it. I would grow up pastor of
Ladd coming home to my dad casting demons out of
a five year old boy. Some of you would you're
(16:27):
probably thinking that's not possible. Well let me let me
say I saw quite a few things. This boy was
causing havoc in his parents' marriage. He would run around
the church naked. They would get oil and he would
yell not the oil his mom.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
As my dad was praying for him.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I came home from work one day to this and
his mom was like, that's not my son, that's not
my son. And my dad said he felt like he
was wrestling with someone with grown man's strength. I grew
up around this family gatherings. They would tell the kids
to go in the other room and they would pray
deliverance over family members that were manifesting. But then some
years ago, I found myself in the gray area where
(17:04):
I didn't denied deliverance. I did not not believe in deliverance.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
But I didn't pursue it. I got turned off by it.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
If I can be super transparent, and then there came
a moment where I experienced my own deliverance.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Bizarre feeling.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I never went through a session like this in my life.
Before this moment, I wasn't seeing many demons manifest In
meetings I would preach in I would be effective in
seeing healing and people get baptized with the Holy Spirit
and fire. I would preach messages that I believe, by
God's grace would be effective and people would experience the
transformative power of the Holy Spirit, but not many demons
(17:45):
would manifest. But after this session that I went through
every meeting, people throwing up people, screaming, demons coming out
of people. Now, to the non spiritual person, or maybe
to the over spiritual person, they say they're turned off
by that stuff. And I was in the gray era.
(18:06):
But why, all of a sudden are these things happening
After I experienced my own freedom.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
I was dealing with intrusive thoughts for years.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I mean, it would it would be so overwhelming in
my mind, and I'm like, God, why am I experiencing this?
And after I went through this session, all of a sudden,
the first meeting I preciate Bakersfield, California, freedom is happening
at the altar. After that service, I went straight to
the airport to take an overnight flight to stand up
in a friend's wedding. Do you want to know what happened,
(18:34):
I'm gonna tell you. I'm on the plane, this tall
man sitting in the window seat. Now, I'm just trying
to sleep, and no one bothered me, And all of
a sudden, I get startled and I wake up to
this tall man in the middle seat slamming his head
into the table tray in front of him. He threw
(18:56):
his whole head, his wrist. Now I'm gonna sh this,
and you could take it for what it is. But
his wrist curled up, his neck is moving around. He's
getting in this lady's face, who's sitting in the window seat.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
She's nearly standing up on her chair.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I don't know whether I should sock the guy in
the face or what. But I thought to myself, now
I don't know. And that was a demon, but he
looked like a demon. Ten years of traveling, this has
never happened to me before, and all of a sudden,
I experience freedom, and this happens. It's because when I
(19:35):
was in the gray area, I wasn't a threat to
the devil. But when I experienced deliverance for myself, now
I'm on Hell's radar. Deliverance must happen first in the believer,
in the minister, if it is to flow through the minister.
The demonic realm recognizes authority, it recognizes authenticity. And when
you when you experience freedom for yourself, the devil looks
(19:58):
at you and says, ah, he he sees now, she
sees now they get it, and he gets very upset
and he tries to cause havoc in your life. Are
you on Hell's radar. I don't want to preach cute messages.
I don't want a neutral faith. The Devil is fine
with me preaching on comfort as long as I don't
(20:20):
preach on confrontation. He's okay with me coming to church
as long as I don't look more like Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
He's not afraid of you sitting where you're sitting. He's
afraid when.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
You start to embody the character and the nature of Christ.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
We've got to look more like him. We've got experience
true liberation.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
If I'm going to be effective in my calling, I
need to get to the root of issues, and I
need to say, God liberate me. I want to shout
it from the rooftops. Come on, I got nothing to hide.
I'm free. I'm liberated, and you can be too. Something shifts,
something happens when you experience freedom, when you get to
(20:57):
the root of issues. Deliverance is like being in a
boat filling with water. You can grab a bucket and
work hard and lose your voice trying to get that
water out of the boat.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
But hear me today, the water is not the problem.
The hole is.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
And until that hole was plugged, the water will continue
to come back. No matter how hard you try to
get it out. Those are strongholds. Behavior is not the root.
There's a stronghold. There's demonic influence in your life. And
I believe once deliverance becomes real to you, something begins
to shift in your life and in your ministry. Hear
(21:36):
me today, This is one of the most hotly debated
topics in the church. Can a Christian have a demon?
Now we're at Hungry Jen You know we believe in
deliverance here. It's one of our core values. If they
didn't tell you, now you know, deliverance is essential. Demons
coming out is a good thing. Are you with me today?
(22:01):
This is important to know. A Christian can have anything
they want to have. As Pastor Vlad says, a Christian
can have a demon, but a demon can't have a
Christian because they don't own us. We're owned by Jesus.
Salvation deals with your ownership. Deliverance deals with your occupancy.
There are areas in your soul. If you look at
(22:23):
the Temple in Jerusalem, you got the outer courts, the
inter course, the Holy holies, and the outer There was
there was merchants and thieves, and Jesus drove them out.
This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The outer
courts is your soul. The devil can have a ground.
Your spirit is sealed unto God, unto the day of redemption.
The scripture says, the devil can't touch your spirit, but
your soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions is
(22:45):
vulnerable to evil forces. And that's why we expirit things
in our life because the devil has real estate in
our soul. He's got ground, he's got access. The problem
is not ownership. The problem is influence and access. The
torment he had access, but the deliverance meant that access
was broken. See before deliverance, the enemy had a voice
(23:08):
in my life. After deliverance, all he has is a whisper.
And even the whisperer doesn't carry any power to it.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Come up and see, temptation is only a suggestion. Now
all he.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Has is a suggestion, and discipleship teaches you how to
shut down the suggestion. Are you with me today? So
we need freedom. We need not relief, but liberation. The
enemy doesn't fight what doesn't threaten him. And I believe
when believers hear me today from a heart, When we
(23:41):
avoid freedom, when we avoid liberation out of fear, ignorance, pride.
What happens is we become spiritually neutralized. And again, the
devil's fine with you going through the motions as long
as you don't experience with me say, neutrality is not
an option.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
We're not called to a neutral faith. You and I
are not called to a self centered Christianity.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
In twenty twenty six, I don't want a Christianity that'll
make me feel better. I want a Christianity that'll make
me look like him.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I don't want to be neutral with my prayer. You
know what this ought to punish the devil in the eye.
He's not neutral about attacking you.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
You can't be neutral about standing on the word of God.
He's not neutral with attacking your health. You can't be
neutral about declaring the promises of God. He's not neutral
about tempting your purity. You can't be neutral about guarding it.
He is not neutral about whispering lines in your mind.
You cannot be neutral about declaring the truth of the
Word of God. He's not neutral about distracting or calling.
(24:45):
You cannot be neutral about staying focused. Come on, somebody.
He's not neutral about silencing your voice. You cannot be
neutral about opening your mouth. It's time to not be
neutral with the devil and stop letting him rob your peace.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Come on, stand on the word God.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
He's not neutral about reminding you of your past, so
don't be neutral about walking in your new identity. I
don't want to fake Jesus in my life. People are
preaching of fake Jesus. See the fake Jesus comforts you
in your sin, but the real Jesus confront your sin.
I want to preach the living Jesus of the Bible,
and I want to experience the power of this Jesus.
I need him to come in my life. I don't
(25:20):
need a ted talk. I need deliverance. Come on, I
don't need coping strategies. I need the anointing that destroys yolks.
And I believe that this church that God is raising up,
in this generation that God is raising up, is done
with motivational sermons.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
They're done with.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Five points and how I can live a better life,
how I can be motivated and listen. I'm about that stuff.
But I need the anointing. I need freedom in my life.
I don't want to look free but not live free.
I need the anointing. I need the oil. I don't
want to sit in church every Sunday and still be bound.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I don't want to settle for relief in my life.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
If the devil has declared war, I'm coming not with neutrality.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I'm coming with the power of the Word of God.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
If he's coming without yous, come on, I'm coming with
the blood. If he's coming with fear, I'm coming with faith.
If he's coming with discouragement, I'm gonna come with encouragement.
Come on, it's time to rise up. In twenty twenty six,
I came with my own Amen. Praise God all the
way from Pasco on course. Freet praise God. I'm telling
you today, don't be neutral with the devil. Neutrality is agreement,
(26:24):
Silence is consent, Tolerance is permission. Hear me today, and
I refuse to agree with Hell. I refuse to consent
to defeat. I refuse to tolerate darkness. I refuse to
be neutral anymore. I'm no longer the gray area, and
(26:45):
neither should you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
We've got to confront the devil.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
The Bible says that when demons begin to manifest, that's
how you know the Kingdom of God has come upon
a place, and the Kingdom will not be advanced by
our churches being filled with people, but rather the people
in our churches being filled with God.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We need God, we need the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
This generation's hungry. They're hungry, So Saul, I'm hungry too.
Was never delivered. Feeling better is not the same as
being free that a leaf pill or the vitamin ce.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Tacos. No, we're always gonna choose tacos there. Praise God
for the l pastor I feel the Lord.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Red forty put that chart up again? Or ginger, Praise.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
God, I got all of them in my pocket. Are
you gonna choose gummy worms or carrots? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
It's between you and the Lord. But what you feed
is what you become. You are what you eat and
twenty twenty six. May I encourage us with this today.
May we be so on fire in a flame of
the Lord. May we cultivate this fire of first love
in our hearts that when the enemy comes, it'll only
(28:28):
be a suggestion and we can shut that down by
the power of the word of God.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
May you be so on fire in fact.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
My prayer for us this morning and the last Sunday
of the year is that we would have such a
holy desire for the Word of God that we would
not read it out of obligation, but we would read
it out of adoration.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
We would not read it just.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
To check it off like a chore, like a list
of the Christian faith, but we would get into the
Word because we want to know the all.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
What do they say?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
This is the only love letter where the author is
in love with the reader. May you come to know Jesus,
not about Jesus. May you come to know him for
who he is.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Friend. When you see him, you can't stay the same.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up,
and I was ruined. He said, I'm undone twenty twenty six.
We cannot have a neutral faith twenty twenty six. We
cannot be in the great area any longer. Twenty twenty six.
It's time to not have relief in your life any longer,
but true freedom twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
God is wanting to liberate you.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
He's wanting to break the chains that the devil has
had on you, hindering your faith. Let me ask you
this question today. What needs to be trampled out of you?
What is keeping revival out of you? What needs to
be washed out of you? Let the Holy Spirit examine
you right now as I'm ministering, and let him open
the door of your heart and take an inventory of
your spiritual condition. How much fuel is still left? Where
(29:55):
are you at in your walk with Jesus? Is the
fire on the altar? Jesus said to the church at Ephesus.
He said, go back, this is what I have against you.
You forgot what you did at first. Go back to
what you were doing in the beginning. That is the
fire of first love. Some of us today we don't
need just another message. We need a flashback of what
God has done for us in the past. And when
(30:16):
you remember what He did for you in the past,
that is an indication that you can trust Him with
your future. I don't know who this is for today,
but God's track record is amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
It is flawless, and all you have to do is
get a flashback.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Do you remember that day when the Holy Spirit came
upon you and you received power? Do you remember that
day where God saved you, healed you, pulled you out
of the Marie clay and set your feet on the
solid rock.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Do you remember that day where God initially spoke to
you for the first time. Do you remember that day?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
God healed you from that disease and protected you from
that car accident, and he kept you from that hurt
in that pain and the devil trying to take you out.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
We need a flashback.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
That's how we keep the fire first, Love, Bernie, are
you with me today? David's worship soothed saws torment, but
it never healed this heart.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
What you're dealing with today is not a symptom.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
There's a root, and whatever it is, let the Holy
Spirit shine a light on that area.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
And let them deal with it. It's pride in believers.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Where we want to avoid deliverance and we want to
avoid what we really need.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Now.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Don't preach on that. Can't tell you pastorally, how many
places I've gone to. I think most of the time
they know who they're you know, bringing before they come.
But I've heard some things. Don't preach on this. You know,
we're a little bit more conservative.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
In this era.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And listen when I preach, I come under that authority
of the House, Praise God. I believe in excellence and order.
But listen, when you preach from the very words of God.
Billy Graham said he would take those words and he
would drive it supernaturally into the human heart. We need
the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a hurting
(32:11):
world out there, and you have the truth on the
inside of you. You are the hope that they are
looking for, a city set on a hill that cannot
be hidden. Nobody puts a basket over a lampstand. Come on,
you've got to take that thing off so it can
have light to everyone in the house. God is calling
you to be a light in your sphere of influence.
God is calling you to be a light in your workplace,
(32:33):
in your family, in your neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
But you gotta walk this thing out. Listen, people who.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Do not know God but know you, they can come
to know God because they know you. Why, because you
are walking out the word of God. The Bible says
that we are living epistles, read.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
And known among all men. Friend, you are the sixty
seventh book of the Bible.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Let's walk this thing out. Twenty twenty six. Don't have
a neutral faith, don't be in the great area. Let's
rise up, step forward in our faith. Put our shoulders
back and say, devil, you are feed. You will not
have my family, you will not have my health. You
and not have my mind, You will not have my ministry,
you will not have my finances. I'm done. I'm gonna
put you in the corner and I'm gonna take your snacks.
(33:11):
Hey man, come on, You're gonna look at my life
and God is gonna get the glory. I'm done letting
the devil beat me up. I'm done letting the devil
steal my lunch, money, steal my joy, my peace, my strength.
I'm done living a defeated life. I need the power
of God. I've got nothing to hide. I want to
shout it from the rooftops. Don't sell for relief, sell
(33:33):
for freedom.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Thanks for listening to today's podcast. If you are blessed
by this message, be sure to subscribe and send it
to someone, and don't forget. You can always share it
on your social stories. Stay connected with us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook,
and Twitter. For more information on internship, prayer line conferences,
and other resources, go to hungrygen dot com. Remember better
(33:58):
is not good enough.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
The best is yet to come.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
MHM
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