Summit was honored to have Pastor Ernie Frey, one of my overseers, speak this Sunday. He brought a powerful word and challenged the church to examine individual, spiritual health. Galations 5:16 tells us, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” But how many of us can say we walk by the Sprit every day, allowing God to guide us to make wise decisions instead of giving in to sin? Pastor Ernie pointed out three important concepts that I want to focus on, the first one being that “There are spiritual forces waging war against us—CONSTANTLY!” Satan knows our weaknesses and preys on them. If someone struggles with lust, the enemy is going to strategically take every opportunity he can to get that person to look in that direction, the wrong direction. But when our focus is on something outside of ourselves and on eternal things, we’re going to have the desire to pour time and energy into things of worth, not filth.
The second concept that Pastor Ernie presented us with is: “The battle is a civil war—taking place internally and externally!” What does this mean to me? At an internal level, our minds are a battlefield; we are bombarded with self-doubt, selfishness, and confusion. When we spend more time in the world than we do in the Word and the presence of God, we’ve pushed God out and have only made room for negativity. At an external level, you physically act out your state-of-mind. Pastor Ernie explained that when someone is consumed with selfishness, for example, that person ACTS selfish. That selfishness can eventually manifest as anger, which is acted out. A can of worms is opened, and we go from one sin to the next.
The third and final concept that we’re going to examine here is the idea that: “We cannot win individually—we need a team!” Pastor Ernie could not be more right. If we throw ourselves into the world and rely on our own strength, we succumb to sin. If, on the other hand, we surround ourselves with mentors and godly friends, they’ll hold us accountable and keep our eyes focused on Christ. God has a specific calling on everyone’s life. We’re all called for a purpose, but sometimes (okay, most of the time), we get distracted. I’ll leave you with Pastor Ernie’s warning: “If you don’t have a team around you, you’re not going to get where you’re going.” Where should we be going? Straight into the arms of Jesus and not the world.