November 14, 2025 • 26 mins
True Freedom Is Not the Absence of Temptation but the Power to Say No.
Hebrews 4:15
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Hebrews 4:15
We are (LIVE) on our website's [Morning Devo] podcast now!
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:::: https://live.soulwinnerz.org and we want to see who you are by simply clicking here https://chat.restream.io/fb :::::
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good morning family, Good morning, God bless you. Welcome back
to the Morning Devo. It's your brother Sam Lopez. Today
is Friday. From the time of this recording, it's a Friday,
so you know what we do on Fridays. We get
together and we go through session called Authentic Imitationology. This
is episode or session or Morning Devo number one hundred
and thirty five. We've been together for a minute on Fridays,
(00:25):
So good morning is a new day and new start.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And we're gonna focus on the perfector and the author
of our faith when we're going to try our best
to imitate the most successful person who has ever lived
on this planet Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Good morning,
sister Joanne, I see you. Good morning, God bless you.
Welcome back to the Morning Devo with my sister, my friend.
It's Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So it's authentic Imitationology.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We're gonna be talking about not giving in, because if
you give in, I believe that's a sin. When you
give up, when you give up on what God has
planned for you, when you give up on a hope
in Jesus, when you stop trusting, when you stop leaving,
when you stop having faith, when you stop connecting, when
you stop being a part of what God wants you
to be a part of, you're giving in. And I
(01:07):
think giving in a sin. And we're gonna explain that
in a minute. True freedom is not the absence of temptation,
but the power to say no. In other words, when
you feel like giving up, when you feel like giving in,
when you feel like doing something that opposes the word
of God, when you feel like not participating what God
(01:30):
wants you to participate in, you're giving in. And when
you give in, you sin. That's my point, amen, And
I'm going to try to explain that more better. Since
Joanne said has a comment here, she says, God is good.
Went to my appointment yesterday. Everything went fine, Praise God.
The only thing I woke up this morning not feeling
too good to my stomach. But I ask the Lord
(01:53):
who put your hand to put his hands over me
and take away this pain in my stomach. And the
name of Jesus, Amen, and we know that to the Lord,
you know pain, sickness, disease and everything. The Lord took
care of that on the cross many years ago. So
thank you for sharing your testimony about what happened at
(02:14):
your doctor's appointment. Thank you so much, Lord for having
our sister here with us today. So let's go forward.
If you have any questions, comments, testimonies, prayer requests, or
anything along those lines, the live chat is there.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
That's what we're here for. Amen. Also, if you're at
live that so win is with his z dot org
live dot.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So winners with his z dot org. There's a love
chat there as well. Also so one is with a
z dot org. If you go to the live stream page,
there's a chat underneath the live stream there. What else
and on live that soone is with a z dot org.
I recommend you visit is a live chat. There's an
interactive Bible right there on the website or on an
(02:54):
app on your mobile device, and you can follow a.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Long word for word from the scriptures. So we're gonna
pray first.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
After we pray, we share this out for like sixty seconds,
and then on the other side of these sixty seconds,
we'll get right into today's scripture, which is Hebrews chapter
number four, verse number fifteen, Hebrews chapter four, Verse fifteen.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Lord Jesus, you're amazing. You're amazing. We continue to testify,
We continue to believe.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
We continue to trust, we continue to hold on to
your promises, because all your promises are yea and Amen.
I pray Lord God, that you will continue to guard
God and protect us a head you protection over us physically,
emotionally and spiritually. In the powerful name of Jesus. I
pray Lord God, that you will continue to do a
great work in the hearts of all those who are
connecting now who will connect later, in the heart of myself,
(03:43):
my wife, our family, our children, our grandchildren, that you
will continue to inspire us to walk forward, to lead
us into all truth, like your word says. By way
of Holy Spirit, God, I pray Lord God, that we
would not give in to temptation, not given to sin,
not give up on what you have promised in our lives.
Look God, but we continue going moving forward in victory,
(04:05):
knowing that you are continuously true, that you are continuously powerful,
and that you are Elroy, the God who sees before
we see anything. You see it all, from beginning to
end and from end to the beginning.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And Jesus only name.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
My prayer is by faith, and all those who agreet
we say amen to the Amen. Help me share this
out ladies and gentlemen, sixty seconds, and when we come back,
we'll get right into Hebrews, chapter number four, verse number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I'll be right back. I almost left the music on. Amen.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So let's go for it, ladies and gentlemen, let's get
the scripture on the screen. For those who are just listening,
no worries if this is your first time on the
morning Devo. On Fridays we connect on a session that
we call authentic imitationology. We're trying to imitate the most
successful person who has ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ.
(06:14):
He was a perfect example, perfect Lord, perfect man, perfect God,
perfect savior, and he did the perfect sacrifice to atone
for our sins, to pay the sin debt that we
owe for disobeying a holy, righteous, loving God.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
So on Fridays we switch gears and we really focus
on what Jesus has done in our lives and what
he can do in your life. If you're not born
again yet, if you're still seeking truth, you gonna bump
into the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're seeking happiness, the
world's gonna throw all kinds of stuff your way, and
it's gonna seem like you're not gonna be in need
of a savior. It's gonna seem like you're not gonna
need God. It's gonna seem like you don't need anything
(06:52):
but what the world offers. But the world system does
not work. The world system is full of lives and deceit.
The Kingdom of God. Come on into the Kingdom of God.
There's truth, there's freedom, there's power, there's love, there's grace,
there's mercy. Everything that God offers to us, Amen, is
available to us. So we don't have to give up,
(07:13):
We don't have to give into sin. We could just
move forward knowing that God got our back, Amen, and
that He has the best plan, the perfect plan for
our lives individually and together.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So that's what we do on Fridays, just to let
you know, and if this is your first time, welcome,
let me personally welcome you to the Morning Devo. We
try to get here Mondays through Fridays, five thirty am
Eastern Standard time in the studio. So let me put
this on the screen so that way we could read
this word for word for those who are listening, and
for those who are watching, we could see.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Amen, what's going on here? Authentic commentationlogy.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Like I said every Friday, five thirty am Eastern Standard Time. Today,
I'm calling this one giving in is a sin. I'm
explaining that in a minute. He Wus Chapter four, verse
fifteen says, for we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations,
(08:11):
but one who has been tempted, knowing exactly how it
feels to be human in every respect as we are,
yet without committing any sin. Now, be honest, do you
know anybody on this planet Earth that never sinned? Do
(08:36):
you know anybody on this planet Earth that has never
been tempted? Do you know anybody on this planet Earth
that doesn't feel things right? This is what says Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Apart although he was one hundred percent man, he was
also one hundred percent God.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Don't ask me to explain that that's a God thing,
and this be things that God has done and that
God is doing that it's a mystery to a human being.
I'm okay with that. I don't know everything, and neither
do you. But the separation here is that the Lord
Jesus is the high priest right and he sympathizes with us.
(09:18):
He understands our weaknesses, he understands our temptations. But even
though he was tempted, knowing exactly how it feels to
be human in every respect, he did not commit any
sin that sets Jesus apart from man, just regular man,
right mankind like us. Jesus is Lord, he's king, he's perfect,
(09:43):
he's powerful, he's loving a man.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He forgives.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
He offers eternal life for all those who are willing
to listen to what he said and to trust what
he's doing. Amen, and obey his word and follow him.
Not follow a religion, not follow a church, jump denomination,
but follow him a real savior. Right, still saves, still, heals,
(10:09):
still performs miracles, signs and wonders, still knows how you
and I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Amen, And he still saves us.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
He still loves us, He's still He's still committed to
his promises. Amen, for our lives. Let me get to
my notes before I start preaching. God is that good? Amen?
I can tell you a million and one things that
God has done in my life, but it's not for that.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Amen. You can testify. Amen.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I can testify too. We know God is good he's real.
So true freedom is not the absence of bad things.
True freedom is not the absence of tempting things. True
freedom is having the power to say no, having the
power to not give up, having the power to not
give in Amen, and moving forward. So many people who
(10:58):
say that believers, they feel defeated it because they're tempted.
But I got news for you. Temptation itself doesn't mean
you're failing. Temptation is not sin. A lot of people say, oh, man,
I was tempted, I sinned. No, you were tempted to
(11:19):
do something apart from the will of God in your life.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Remember, we're living in a fallen world. Right now.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
There's a war going on for the minds of mankind.
In other words, right now, as we're speaking, we're listening,
we're following a man who read the word, and in
the spiritual realm, there's a war for our souls. There's
a war for our attention. And man, we can't see it.
Sometimes God, will you know, let us see in the spirit.
(11:51):
But right now there's a war, and then there's war
a man. There's a lot of words being spoken, there's
a lot of fights being fought in the spirit realm.
That's why you could be somewhere doing great and you'll
get this voice come through your mind or thought that's
really not righteous, is wicked, and then it causes you
to tempt Temptation causes you to do something oppose from
(12:15):
what the Lord would have us do. That's a temptation.
But you're not sinning because you're tempted. I want to
keep on going. Temptation is not a sin. Giving in
to the temptation is a sin. Right, you feel defeated
because you're tempted, But temptations not a sin.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
How do I know this?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Jesus himself was tempted, and the Bible says the Lord
God cannot be tempted, and he doesn't tempt us. So
Jesus himself was tempted. He's God right well in his
human form. According to Matthew chapter four. You got to
read it for yourself. I can't read it now. Matthew
chapter four, verses one through eleven. He was tempted by
(12:59):
the devil himself. He was sent to the wilderness after
Jesus received the power of the Holy Spirit, and power
by the Holy Spirit that's sent to the wilderness and
to be tempted by the devil himself. And if you
read that section of the scripture, if you read how
the Lord was tempted by the devil a man, the
devil doesn't do anything new. He's tempting us the same
(13:21):
way Jesus was tempted by the devil himself. He used
the word of God to fight back a man, yet
he himself did not sin. We have the power of
Holy Spirit that when the devil tempts us, when the
enemy shoots fiery darts all way, we could actually say
no to those sinful ideas and those temptations. So if
(13:45):
Jesus was tempted, then that means temptation could not be
a sin. It's not a sign of weakness either. Temptation
is a normal battlefield for every single believer. Normal battle.
It's a battle, though, but it's a normal battlefield. So
you shouldn't be feeling guilty or shame. Oh man, I
(14:07):
was tempted yesterday to do X Y Z.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But did you do it? Did you give into it? Amen?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
The power to say no proves that you're free in Christ.
The power is to say no to the things that
before Jesus saved you, and before he saved me weed
to always fall into the same tricks of the enemy.
We were in bondish of sin. We couldn't say no
to something bad. We couldn't say no to sin. We
couldn't say no to addiction, we couldn't say no to us.
(14:33):
We couldn't say no to anything because we were a
slave to sin. Now that you're in Christ, you're born again.
You believed and trusted in the power of God's word.
Now you could say no. You have to battle sometimes
to say no, but literally you could say no to temptation,
no to sin. So the enemy's goal, the devil's goal,
(14:53):
is not just to tempt you, right, not just to
tempt you, but it's to make you believe that because
you' feel tempted, you're already defeated.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And that's a lie. From the pit of hell smells
like smoke. That's a lie.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Just because you get tempted to do something doesn't mean
that you're defeated, doesn't mean that you failed. It just
means welcome to the planet, right, Welcome to the battlefield,
Welcome to the believers.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Walk.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Amen, We're gonna be tempted, We're gonna be tried, amen,
But we don't have to. We could willfully sin, but
we don't have to. That's why I tell people. Well,
people say, well, you know I have no choice. I'm
gonna sin tomorrow. You have a choice number one and
you don't have to sin. Do an experiment.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
If you don't believe me, because I know this is
probably hard to believe, don't sin today. You'd be like, oh, well,
I'm already No, You're probably gonna be tempted today. See,
we need to change our thinking. The Bible says in
Moments twelve that we need to renew our mind, renewing
our mind by the word of God. Amen, think about it.
Do you really have to sin today? Think about it clearly,
(16:04):
think about it honestly, And now you prompt the Holy
Spirit saying no, you don't.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
You don't have to.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
But if you give in to temptation, you will sin.
But if you say no to the things that's tempting you, Amen,
guess what you're walking in. You walk into freedom the
power of Holy ghosts Now, if you're gonna surround yourself
with people that are always habitually sinning and then hiding
their sin, going to church and going to this, that
and the third and saying they're Christian, which they probably
(16:32):
are Christian, but somehow, some way they've given into the
lie of the enemy, saying that they have to fail,
that they have to fall, that they have to sin,
and that's just not the scripture. Boble says, we're free
if you're free in Christ, Amen, you walk in freedom
the power to say no to the things that are
trying to lead you to death.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And we know the scriptures.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Man, sin, Lisa death, not all sin, Lisa death, but
sin and general leads to death.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Right, So freedom is not removing temptation.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
It's not asking God, God, can you please remove this
temptation from me? You know, it could be a prayer,
but if you think about that prayer, you're like, you're
basically telling God to remove you out.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Of this world.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And if you're removed from this world, then you're not
in the world anymore. So you're actually asking God to
die and be with him, which is not a bad deal.
I'm just saying, like, if you want to live, you
have family, you have children, you have an inspiring future. Amen,
you want to be here as long as possible. You
(17:41):
want to live in victory as long as possible. To
be an example to others that God could do a
great work in their lives as well. But if you're
asking God to remove temptation, then it means you're asking
God to remove us or remove you from this earth.
To be careful what you pray for. So a lot
of people say, Lord, take away this desire, Lord, take
away this pain, Lord, take away this temptation. But God's goal,
(18:07):
if you think about it, it's not to eliminate every
temptation around you. His goal is to strengthen you during
the temptation, remind you that you're not alone. Right, So
when temptation loses its power over you, you get to
realize that you have the power of God in you.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Right. Why we want to live in true freedom. We
want to live in the truth of Christ. It's not
found when the battle disappears. You know you're free.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
When the battle no longer controls you, When the battle
no longer defeats you every single time, that's when you
start realizing it encourages you.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You get this courage, You.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Get this boldness to say, listen, I know I'm gonna
be tempted, but that doesn't mean I have to give up.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
That doesn't mean I have to give in. That doesn't
mean I have to fall every time flat on my face.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
It doesn't mean that I have to, you know, repeat
the same things that you did five years ago, ten
years ago. No, you could walk forward if you fall
into some old things that you used to do.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And the enemy continues to try to trick you in
the same way. You know, he doesn't do anything new,
because there's nothing new about him. He's an old, ancient lie,
the Father of lies, and he's defeated Foe. The Devil
is defeated, Jesus the Christ, the Lord, and Omega, the
King of Kings and Lord of Lord is defeated the Devil,
but he's still our enemy. He's still the Father of lies.
(19:37):
He still hates all of God's creation. So don't get
into a conversation with him or his demons or his people,
and get into a conversation with Holy Spirit God when
you feel weak, when you're tempted. I like what Charles
Stanley used to say, he's with the Lord now, Amen.
He says, don't make decisions when you're too hungry, when
(19:58):
you're too angry, when you're too lonely, you too tired,
or when you feel hungry, when you feel angry, when
you feel lonely, when because we're tired. Because when you
do make decisions in that weak state, you're not really
focusing on the one who could feed you and feed
your spirit, the one that could take the pain and
anger away. You're not focused on the one who is
(20:21):
with us. Because if you're saying you're lonely, you're forgetting
one big piece of the pie, one big piece of
the puzzle.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That we're never alone. We have holy Spirit. And if
you're tired, Amen, then that means we have to be
mindful and we have to rest in Jesus, Rest in
his word, Rest in the spirit, Amen, and physically rest.
Don't make big.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Decisions if you're hungry, angry, lonely or tired. That was
his point and he proved it.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
If you could ever find Charles Stanley's video or DVD
or CD or audio clips on that teaching, you'll be
blessed for it. A man, I know it's blessed to
change my life, change my way of thinking.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Amen. The joy Us.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Good morning, God, bless you, God, bless you to you
and your family as well. Thank you for blessing the
group with your presence, and I hope you have a great,
amazing Friday and the rest of the week, and my
system and my friend. So real freedom is when the
chains of sin are broken. Think about it. Even if
(21:22):
the invitation remains to sin, even when the temptation is
still there, you're still free. Because God broke the chains
of sin in your life and in my life. We're
no longer bound to sin. We're no longer slave to sin.
The Bible says it New Testament, all throughout the New Testament,
(21:43):
that we're new creatures in Christ. The old person, the
one that used to be defeated, the one used to
be deceived all the time, the one who used to
be tempted and fall into temptation all the time. That
old person is venito, done dead. We live in the
newness of Christ. Now I should be excited to somebody.
Right now, we don't have to say yes to the
(22:04):
things that are actually saying no to God. We don't
have to say yes to the old way and no
to the new way. We could reverse the curse, Jesus,
reverse the curse for us. We could say yes to
the things of God, know to the things of the enemy,
know to the things of the flesh and know to
the things of sin. And when temptation does come, we
(22:24):
have a weapon for that, because no temptation has seized
us except what is common to man, and God is faithful.
He will not let us be tempted beyond beyond what
we could bear. Right first Communitans ten thirteen, Read it
for yourself. We have a weapon to fight the battle
of temptation. It's called the Word of God. When you're
(22:45):
trust in Him, when you love Jesus, when you follow
his commandments, when you know who you are in Christ
and who Christ is in you, you pretty much unstoppable.
Will we mess up, Yes, because it was a messed
up world and we're not perfect, So every now and
then we'll make you know, bad decisions. But it doesn't
mean we have to stay stuck in a ruts. Doesn't
(23:07):
mean that we have to be overcome by sin every
single day. Doesn't mean that we have to give in
to sin. It doesn't mean that we give up. It
doesn't mean none of that. All it means is that
we're human and man or woman, and we need a
perfect God to lead us to God that's to protect us,
to save us, to rescue us. To forgive us and
(23:29):
to give us the empowerment of His spirit to live
a victorious life, a life that no one needs to
be ashamed of. We're not ashamed of the Gospel over
here because we know that's power into salvation. We trust
the Word over here. I trust the Word. I believe
the Word. And man, the issue is do you? And
when we come together, united by faith, we show and
(23:53):
prove to this world that's in desperate need of a savior,
this world that's walking in darkness, who needs the light
of Christ. We prove to the world that believers in
Christ Jesus are different. We walk different, we talk different,
and we empower situations, and we shine light and expose darkness,
and we walk together in unity knowing that one day,
(24:14):
one day soon, that our King, that our Lord, that
the line of Judah, that our Savior is coming back. Amen,
He's coming back, and he's coming back soon. So I'm
trying to stay the path. Hopefully you're just trying to
stay the path, fighting a good fight of faith and
knowing that temptation is not a sin. Giving into it
(24:34):
becomes a sin.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Real freedom is when the chain is gone, even if
the imitation remains. So the old you used to be
a slave to sin, right, I say that all the time.
You can see that all through the scriptures. When temptation called,
you had to answer. It's not that you were like,
just let the phone ring, it'll go to voicemn. No,
you had to answer when temptation called. When you was
(24:59):
in your old way, please, you had no power, you
had no strength, you had no resistance. Why because we
weren't submitted to God, so we couldn't resist the devil
right back before we were saved. And that's why we
have to be careful how we speak to people who
don't believe right now. They don't understand that they're in
(25:21):
shackles right now, they don't understand that they have no
power to resist. But now that you're a new person
in Christ, for those who are saved, you're forgiven by
the Father, you're freed by the Sun, and you're.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Empowered by his spirit. And man, there's a lot more.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Maybe we'll get into it next time we get together,
but I'm out of time.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I hope you're inspired. I hope you're encouraged.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I hope you could know that true freedom is not
the absence of bad things, not the absence of temptation,
but it's actually the power to say no to it,
and you'll be walking in true freedom, the freedom that
Christ gave us. He was chapter four, verse fifteen. Read
the whole chapter for yourself. I'm out of time. Thank
you so much for hanging out with me for these
morning DeVos. God bless you all, God keep you all,
(26:07):
and remember always that God is good.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Peace,
Good morning family, Good morning, God bless you. Welcome back
to the Morning Devo. It's your brother Sam Lopez. Today
is Friday. From the time of this recording, it's a Friday,
so you know what we do on Fridays. We get
together and we go through session called Authentic Imitationology. This
is episode or session or Morning Devo number one hundred
and thirty five. We've been together for a minute on Fridays,
(00:25):
So good morning is a new day and new start.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And we're gonna focus on the perfector and the author
of our faith when we're going to try our best
to imitate the most successful person who has ever lived
on this planet Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Good morning,
sister Joanne, I see you. Good morning, God bless you.
Welcome back to the Morning Devo with my sister, my friend.
It's Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So it's authentic Imitationology.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We're gonna be talking about not giving in, because if
you give in, I believe that's a sin. When you
give up, when you give up on what God has
planned for you, when you give up on a hope
in Jesus, when you stop trusting, when you stop leaving,
when you stop having faith, when you stop connecting, when
you stop being a part of what God wants you
to be a part of, you're giving in. And I
(01:07):
think giving in a sin. And we're gonna explain that
in a minute. True freedom is not the absence of temptation,
but the power to say no. In other words, when
you feel like giving up, when you feel like giving in,
when you feel like doing something that opposes the word
of God, when you feel like not participating what God
(01:30):
wants you to participate in, you're giving in. And when
you give in, you sin. That's my point, amen, And
I'm going to try to explain that more better. Since
Joanne said has a comment here, she says, God is good.
Went to my appointment yesterday. Everything went fine, Praise God.
The only thing I woke up this morning not feeling
too good to my stomach. But I ask the Lord
(01:53):
who put your hand to put his hands over me
and take away this pain in my stomach. And the
name of Jesus, Amen, and we know that to the Lord,
you know pain, sickness, disease and everything. The Lord took
care of that on the cross many years ago. So
thank you for sharing your testimony about what happened at
(02:14):
your doctor's appointment. Thank you so much, Lord for having
our sister here with us today. So let's go forward.
If you have any questions, comments, testimonies, prayer requests, or
anything along those lines, the live chat is there.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
That's what we're here for. Amen. Also, if you're at
live that so win is with his z dot org
live dot.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So winners with his z dot org. There's a love
chat there as well. Also so one is with a
z dot org. If you go to the live stream page,
there's a chat underneath the live stream there. What else
and on live that soone is with a z dot org.
I recommend you visit is a live chat. There's an
interactive Bible right there on the website or on an
(02:54):
app on your mobile device, and you can follow a.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Long word for word from the scriptures. So we're gonna
pray first.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
After we pray, we share this out for like sixty seconds,
and then on the other side of these sixty seconds,
we'll get right into today's scripture, which is Hebrews chapter
number four, verse number fifteen, Hebrews chapter four, Verse fifteen.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Lord Jesus, you're amazing. You're amazing. We continue to testify,
We continue to believe.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
We continue to trust, we continue to hold on to
your promises, because all your promises are yea and Amen.
I pray Lord God, that you will continue to guard
God and protect us a head you protection over us physically,
emotionally and spiritually. In the powerful name of Jesus. I
pray Lord God, that you will continue to do a
great work in the hearts of all those who are
connecting now who will connect later, in the heart of myself,
(03:43):
my wife, our family, our children, our grandchildren, that you
will continue to inspire us to walk forward, to lead
us into all truth, like your word says. By way
of Holy Spirit, God, I pray Lord God, that we
would not give in to temptation, not given to sin,
not give up on what you have promised in our lives.
Look God, but we continue going moving forward in victory,
(04:05):
knowing that you are continuously true, that you are continuously powerful,
and that you are Elroy, the God who sees before
we see anything. You see it all, from beginning to
end and from end to the beginning.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And Jesus only name.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
My prayer is by faith, and all those who agreet
we say amen to the Amen. Help me share this
out ladies and gentlemen, sixty seconds, and when we come back,
we'll get right into Hebrews, chapter number four, verse number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I'll be right back. I almost left the music on. Amen.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So let's go for it, ladies and gentlemen, let's get
the scripture on the screen. For those who are just listening,
no worries if this is your first time on the
morning Devo. On Fridays we connect on a session that
we call authentic imitationology. We're trying to imitate the most
successful person who has ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ.
(06:14):
He was a perfect example, perfect Lord, perfect man, perfect God,
perfect savior, and he did the perfect sacrifice to atone
for our sins, to pay the sin debt that we
owe for disobeying a holy, righteous, loving God.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
So on Fridays we switch gears and we really focus
on what Jesus has done in our lives and what
he can do in your life. If you're not born
again yet, if you're still seeking truth, you gonna bump
into the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're seeking happiness, the
world's gonna throw all kinds of stuff your way, and
it's gonna seem like you're not gonna be in need
of a savior. It's gonna seem like you're not gonna
need God. It's gonna seem like you don't need anything
(06:52):
but what the world offers. But the world system does
not work. The world system is full of lives and deceit.
The Kingdom of God. Come on into the Kingdom of God.
There's truth, there's freedom, there's power, there's love, there's grace,
there's mercy. Everything that God offers to us, Amen, is
available to us. So we don't have to give up,
(07:13):
We don't have to give into sin. We could just
move forward knowing that God got our back, Amen, and
that He has the best plan, the perfect plan for
our lives individually and together.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So that's what we do on Fridays, just to let
you know, and if this is your first time, welcome,
let me personally welcome you to the Morning Devo. We
try to get here Mondays through Fridays, five thirty am
Eastern Standard time in the studio. So let me put
this on the screen so that way we could read
this word for word for those who are listening, and
for those who are watching, we could see.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Amen, what's going on here? Authentic commentationlogy.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Like I said every Friday, five thirty am Eastern Standard Time. Today,
I'm calling this one giving in is a sin. I'm
explaining that in a minute. He Wus Chapter four, verse
fifteen says, for we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations,
(08:11):
but one who has been tempted, knowing exactly how it
feels to be human in every respect as we are,
yet without committing any sin. Now, be honest, do you
know anybody on this planet Earth that never sinned? Do
(08:36):
you know anybody on this planet Earth that has never
been tempted? Do you know anybody on this planet Earth
that doesn't feel things right? This is what says Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Apart although he was one hundred percent man, he was
also one hundred percent God.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Don't ask me to explain that that's a God thing,
and this be things that God has done and that
God is doing that it's a mystery to a human being.
I'm okay with that. I don't know everything, and neither
do you. But the separation here is that the Lord
Jesus is the high priest right and he sympathizes with us.
(09:18):
He understands our weaknesses, he understands our temptations. But even
though he was tempted, knowing exactly how it feels to
be human in every respect, he did not commit any
sin that sets Jesus apart from man, just regular man,
right mankind like us. Jesus is Lord, he's king, he's perfect,
(09:43):
he's powerful, he's loving a man.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He forgives.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
He offers eternal life for all those who are willing
to listen to what he said and to trust what
he's doing. Amen, and obey his word and follow him.
Not follow a religion, not follow a church, jump denomination,
but follow him a real savior. Right, still saves, still, heals,
(10:09):
still performs miracles, signs and wonders, still knows how you
and I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Amen, And he still saves us.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
He still loves us, He's still He's still committed to
his promises. Amen, for our lives. Let me get to
my notes before I start preaching. God is that good? Amen?
I can tell you a million and one things that
God has done in my life, but it's not for that.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Amen. You can testify. Amen.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I can testify too. We know God is good he's real.
So true freedom is not the absence of bad things.
True freedom is not the absence of tempting things. True
freedom is having the power to say no, having the
power to not give up, having the power to not
give in Amen, and moving forward. So many people who
(10:58):
say that believers, they feel defeated it because they're tempted.
But I got news for you. Temptation itself doesn't mean
you're failing. Temptation is not sin. A lot of people say, oh, man,
I was tempted, I sinned. No, you were tempted to
(11:19):
do something apart from the will of God in your life.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Remember, we're living in a fallen world. Right now.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
There's a war going on for the minds of mankind.
In other words, right now, as we're speaking, we're listening,
we're following a man who read the word, and in
the spiritual realm, there's a war for our souls. There's
a war for our attention. And man, we can't see it.
Sometimes God, will you know, let us see in the spirit.
(11:51):
But right now there's a war, and then there's war
a man. There's a lot of words being spoken, there's
a lot of fights being fought in the spirit realm.
That's why you could be somewhere doing great and you'll
get this voice come through your mind or thought that's
really not righteous, is wicked, and then it causes you
to tempt Temptation causes you to do something oppose from
(12:15):
what the Lord would have us do. That's a temptation.
But you're not sinning because you're tempted. I want to
keep on going. Temptation is not a sin. Giving in
to the temptation is a sin. Right, you feel defeated
because you're tempted, But temptations not a sin.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
How do I know this?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Jesus himself was tempted, and the Bible says the Lord
God cannot be tempted, and he doesn't tempt us. So
Jesus himself was tempted. He's God right well in his
human form. According to Matthew chapter four. You got to
read it for yourself. I can't read it now. Matthew
chapter four, verses one through eleven. He was tempted by
(12:59):
the devil himself. He was sent to the wilderness after
Jesus received the power of the Holy Spirit, and power
by the Holy Spirit that's sent to the wilderness and
to be tempted by the devil himself. And if you
read that section of the scripture, if you read how
the Lord was tempted by the devil a man, the
devil doesn't do anything new. He's tempting us the same
(13:21):
way Jesus was tempted by the devil himself. He used
the word of God to fight back a man, yet
he himself did not sin. We have the power of
Holy Spirit that when the devil tempts us, when the
enemy shoots fiery darts all way, we could actually say
no to those sinful ideas and those temptations. So if
(13:45):
Jesus was tempted, then that means temptation could not be
a sin. It's not a sign of weakness either. Temptation
is a normal battlefield for every single believer. Normal battle.
It's a battle, though, but it's a normal battlefield. So
you shouldn't be feeling guilty or shame. Oh man, I
(14:07):
was tempted yesterday to do X Y Z.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But did you do it? Did you give into it? Amen?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
The power to say no proves that you're free in Christ.
The power is to say no to the things that
before Jesus saved you, and before he saved me weed
to always fall into the same tricks of the enemy.
We were in bondish of sin. We couldn't say no
to something bad. We couldn't say no to sin. We
couldn't say no to addiction, we couldn't say no to us.
(14:33):
We couldn't say no to anything because we were a
slave to sin. Now that you're in Christ, you're born again.
You believed and trusted in the power of God's word.
Now you could say no. You have to battle sometimes
to say no, but literally you could say no to temptation,
no to sin. So the enemy's goal, the devil's goal,
(14:53):
is not just to tempt you, right, not just to
tempt you, but it's to make you believe that because
you' feel tempted, you're already defeated.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And that's a lie. From the pit of hell smells
like smoke. That's a lie.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Just because you get tempted to do something doesn't mean
that you're defeated, doesn't mean that you failed. It just
means welcome to the planet, right, Welcome to the battlefield,
Welcome to the believers.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Walk.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Amen, We're gonna be tempted, We're gonna be tried, amen,
But we don't have to. We could willfully sin, but
we don't have to. That's why I tell people. Well,
people say, well, you know I have no choice. I'm
gonna sin tomorrow. You have a choice number one and
you don't have to sin. Do an experiment.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
If you don't believe me, because I know this is
probably hard to believe, don't sin today. You'd be like, oh, well,
I'm already No, You're probably gonna be tempted today. See,
we need to change our thinking. The Bible says in
Moments twelve that we need to renew our mind, renewing
our mind by the word of God. Amen, think about it.
Do you really have to sin today? Think about it clearly,
(16:04):
think about it honestly, And now you prompt the Holy
Spirit saying no, you don't.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
You don't have to.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
But if you give in to temptation, you will sin.
But if you say no to the things that's tempting you, Amen,
guess what you're walking in. You walk into freedom the
power of Holy ghosts Now, if you're gonna surround yourself
with people that are always habitually sinning and then hiding
their sin, going to church and going to this, that
and the third and saying they're Christian, which they probably
(16:32):
are Christian, but somehow, some way they've given into the
lie of the enemy, saying that they have to fail,
that they have to fall, that they have to sin,
and that's just not the scripture. Boble says, we're free
if you're free in Christ, Amen, you walk in freedom
the power to say no to the things that are
trying to lead you to death.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And we know the scriptures.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Man, sin, Lisa death, not all sin, Lisa death, but
sin and general leads to death.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Right, So freedom is not removing temptation.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
It's not asking God, God, can you please remove this
temptation from me? You know, it could be a prayer,
but if you think about that prayer, you're like, you're
basically telling God to remove you out.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Of this world.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And if you're removed from this world, then you're not
in the world anymore. So you're actually asking God to
die and be with him, which is not a bad deal.
I'm just saying, like, if you want to live, you
have family, you have children, you have an inspiring future. Amen,
you want to be here as long as possible. You
(17:41):
want to live in victory as long as possible. To
be an example to others that God could do a
great work in their lives as well. But if you're
asking God to remove temptation, then it means you're asking
God to remove us or remove you from this earth.
To be careful what you pray for. So a lot
of people say, Lord, take away this desire, Lord, take
away this pain, Lord, take away this temptation. But God's goal,
(18:07):
if you think about it, it's not to eliminate every
temptation around you. His goal is to strengthen you during
the temptation, remind you that you're not alone. Right, So
when temptation loses its power over you, you get to
realize that you have the power of God in you.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Right. Why we want to live in true freedom. We
want to live in the truth of Christ. It's not
found when the battle disappears. You know you're free.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
When the battle no longer controls you, When the battle
no longer defeats you every single time, that's when you
start realizing it encourages you.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You get this courage, You.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Get this boldness to say, listen, I know I'm gonna
be tempted, but that doesn't mean I have to give up.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
That doesn't mean I have to give in. That doesn't
mean I have to fall every time flat on my face.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
It doesn't mean that I have to, you know, repeat
the same things that you did five years ago, ten
years ago. No, you could walk forward if you fall
into some old things that you used to do.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And the enemy continues to try to trick you in
the same way. You know, he doesn't do anything new,
because there's nothing new about him. He's an old, ancient lie,
the Father of lies, and he's defeated Foe. The Devil
is defeated, Jesus the Christ, the Lord, and Omega, the
King of Kings and Lord of Lord is defeated the Devil,
but he's still our enemy. He's still the Father of lies.
(19:37):
He still hates all of God's creation. So don't get
into a conversation with him or his demons or his people,
and get into a conversation with Holy Spirit God when
you feel weak, when you're tempted. I like what Charles
Stanley used to say, he's with the Lord now, Amen.
He says, don't make decisions when you're too hungry, when
(19:58):
you're too angry, when you're too lonely, you too tired,
or when you feel hungry, when you feel angry, when
you feel lonely, when because we're tired. Because when you
do make decisions in that weak state, you're not really
focusing on the one who could feed you and feed
your spirit, the one that could take the pain and
anger away. You're not focused on the one who is
(20:21):
with us. Because if you're saying you're lonely, you're forgetting
one big piece of the pie, one big piece of
the puzzle.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That we're never alone. We have holy Spirit. And if
you're tired, Amen, then that means we have to be
mindful and we have to rest in Jesus, Rest in
his word, Rest in the spirit, Amen, and physically rest.
Don't make big.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Decisions if you're hungry, angry, lonely or tired. That was
his point and he proved it.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
If you could ever find Charles Stanley's video or DVD
or CD or audio clips on that teaching, you'll be
blessed for it. A man, I know it's blessed to
change my life, change my way of thinking.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Amen. The joy Us.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Good morning, God, bless you, God, bless you to you
and your family as well. Thank you for blessing the
group with your presence, and I hope you have a great,
amazing Friday and the rest of the week, and my
system and my friend. So real freedom is when the
chains of sin are broken. Think about it. Even if
(21:22):
the invitation remains to sin, even when the temptation is
still there, you're still free. Because God broke the chains
of sin in your life and in my life. We're
no longer bound to sin. We're no longer slave to sin.
The Bible says it New Testament, all throughout the New Testament,
(21:43):
that we're new creatures in Christ. The old person, the
one that used to be defeated, the one used to
be deceived all the time, the one who used to
be tempted and fall into temptation all the time. That
old person is venito, done dead. We live in the
newness of Christ. Now I should be excited to somebody.
Right now, we don't have to say yes to the
(22:04):
things that are actually saying no to God. We don't
have to say yes to the old way and no
to the new way. We could reverse the curse, Jesus,
reverse the curse for us. We could say yes to
the things of God, know to the things of the enemy,
know to the things of the flesh and know to
the things of sin. And when temptation does come, we
(22:24):
have a weapon for that, because no temptation has seized
us except what is common to man, and God is faithful.
He will not let us be tempted beyond beyond what
we could bear. Right first Communitans ten thirteen, Read it
for yourself. We have a weapon to fight the battle
of temptation. It's called the Word of God. When you're
(22:45):
trust in Him, when you love Jesus, when you follow
his commandments, when you know who you are in Christ
and who Christ is in you, you pretty much unstoppable.
Will we mess up, Yes, because it was a messed
up world and we're not perfect, So every now and
then we'll make you know, bad decisions. But it doesn't
mean we have to stay stuck in a ruts. Doesn't
(23:07):
mean that we have to be overcome by sin every
single day. Doesn't mean that we have to give in
to sin. It doesn't mean that we give up. It
doesn't mean none of that. All it means is that
we're human and man or woman, and we need a
perfect God to lead us to God that's to protect us,
to save us, to rescue us. To forgive us and
(23:29):
to give us the empowerment of His spirit to live
a victorious life, a life that no one needs to
be ashamed of. We're not ashamed of the Gospel over
here because we know that's power into salvation. We trust
the Word over here. I trust the Word. I believe
the Word. And man, the issue is do you? And
when we come together, united by faith, we show and
(23:53):
prove to this world that's in desperate need of a savior,
this world that's walking in darkness, who needs the light
of Christ. We prove to the world that believers in
Christ Jesus are different. We walk different, we talk different,
and we empower situations, and we shine light and expose darkness,
and we walk together in unity knowing that one day,
(24:14):
one day soon, that our King, that our Lord, that
the line of Judah, that our Savior is coming back. Amen,
He's coming back, and he's coming back soon. So I'm
trying to stay the path. Hopefully you're just trying to
stay the path, fighting a good fight of faith and
knowing that temptation is not a sin. Giving into it
(24:34):
becomes a sin.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Real freedom is when the chain is gone, even if
the imitation remains. So the old you used to be
a slave to sin, right, I say that all the time.
You can see that all through the scriptures. When temptation called,
you had to answer. It's not that you were like,
just let the phone ring, it'll go to voicemn. No,
you had to answer when temptation called. When you was
(24:59):
in your old way, please, you had no power, you
had no strength, you had no resistance. Why because we
weren't submitted to God, so we couldn't resist the devil
right back before we were saved. And that's why we
have to be careful how we speak to people who
don't believe right now. They don't understand that they're in
(25:21):
shackles right now, they don't understand that they have no
power to resist. But now that you're a new person
in Christ, for those who are saved, you're forgiven by
the Father, you're freed by the Sun, and you're.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Empowered by his spirit. And man, there's a lot more.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Maybe we'll get into it next time we get together,
but I'm out of time.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I hope you're inspired. I hope you're encouraged.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I hope you could know that true freedom is not
the absence of bad things, not the absence of temptation,
but it's actually the power to say no to it,
and you'll be walking in true freedom, the freedom that
Christ gave us. He was chapter four, verse fifteen. Read
the whole chapter for yourself. I'm out of time. Thank
you so much for hanging out with me for these
morning DeVos. God bless you all, God keep you all,
(26:07):
and remember always that God is good.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Peace,
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