 The solution to overcoming sin is simple. Yep, you heard me pornography lust pride anger drug addictions any addiction the solution is simple Hey smart Christians, welcome back. I want to talk about something that we all deal with not necessarily As it's manifested the same way, but every single human being has this one thing in common sin Now how prevalent is it over us? How much it dominates us or how much we control it? It varies from person to person and it's not necessarily More pervasive in people who are new Christians more so than it is people who are older Christians meaning that There are many people who have been believers for a long time a lot longer than some newer Christians Who seem to struggle more with a particular sin or what sin in general then newer Christians? And there's a reason for that. I did say the solution for sin I don't care what it is. Whatever stronghold is the solution is simple now Executing it. That's not so simple. That's the key. So what I'm going to tell you What I want to share with you is something that I have seen that I have kind of used when it comes to either Working with or counseling with someone as I've tried to do it even and kind of do it myself It's hard when it's you yourself trying to work on the things that you know, bother you Especially if you're not open about it if you're not telling others about it and it does help when someone else is Prevented information obviously you don't share with everybody because everybody can't hold your issues in confidence like you may need So but it does good It's helpful if you can find or have somebody and if you can't find a particular friend that you trust And you then find someone spiritually mature a pastor maybe not even your pastor if you can't if you feel like you don't trust your Passion, which is which would be sad but find somebody some mature man or woman in Christ Who can walk you through this and here's what I wanted to share with you? I've seen it with whether there was someone who was literally dealing with porn Whether it was someone who was dealing with homosexuality Even someone who wasn't just an avid racist someone who could not stand blacks. I've seen it work with them as well This is something that it works over and over It's kind of like when you see people wanting to lose weight or Someone wanting to get a hold of their finances They might buy these books or they might watch something on on the internet or go to seminars They're all saying the same thing. It's not an issue of what you know It's just it's an issue of what you do But here is the issue because when you're trying to overcome a sin what you're really overcoming Isn't the actual sin that shows up what you're trying to overcome is what's causing the sin now That's something that you already know But what you're trying to really overcome is me or in your case you what I mean by that is this We are Frail insecure beings. I don't care who you are I don't care if the person doesn't come across this way I'm not letting on to it Everybody is frail in some ways insecure. We all need Validation we all need to be accepted. We all need to be appreciated When you start feeling less in yourself you try to find ways to validate yourself and it can show up in ways Such as with some men or some women get caught up into porn or sex Some get caught up into drugs just something to make you feel better about the person that you're not That may even make you feel close to the person that you want to be or if you feel like you're not gonna Be that person just to kind of bring you some relief because when insecurity meets frustration We've got a problem right you get so frustrated the fact that you can't get past something You can't get something to happen or this issue that you're dealing with just won't go away And when that happens you're open to doing and trying anything and That's when this sin becomes more of a stronghold and so well Corey. I know what the issue is I know my problem. How do I fix it? You said it's simple. I know you said it's not easy to implement But it's simple. So what's a simple solution? What the simple solution is this you cannot love or give more attention to The sin then you can the fix Here's what I mean. You showed me a stronghold you showed me an addiction I'll show you something that's been intentionally kept away from God You showed me a stronghold or addiction. I'll show you something that's been nourished the most Our problem is I don't care who it is. It's an issue of proximity The closer you are to a source the more you feel that source and So the one thing that works. I've seen it work time and time again over and over again is Focusing on this issue of proximity and I use this example I've said it maybe a couple times in other videos, but but not to deal with these strongholds. It works Let's say God is on this side of the room and your sin or sins plural are on this side of the room Well, when you want to focus on that particular sin, I need to do something to fix this I need to do this I need to do that you get close to the sin But who do you get further away from from God, but if you get closer to God you get further away from the sin What I know is this you're not going to find a man who's going to be able to help you to walk through all the Steps to get you through this through that from point A to point B. No, what happens is this As you get closer to God the person who is better suited at fixing These issues these and these ultimately boil down to a heart issue is God I've seen it work with someone who's struggling with homosexuality who rather than focusing on trying to get past homosexuality Focus on getting closer to God because what happens is he began nourishing his relationship with God as opposed to nourishing his relationship with Maybe other man or thoughts. How does that work? You spend time doing something You become comfortable with it. You can relate to it. It starts nourishing comforting you back Let me give you a good example Have you ever met someone? Maybe you yourself have dreaded at some point in time working out You know, you needed to for health reasons to feel better. What have you and Before you started working out you dreaded you hated it even at the very beginning you worked out and I don't want to do this But if you were one of the ones who pushed through and kept at it, what happened? You got better at it. You enjoyed it. You look forward to it even probably dreamt about it You start reading more and more about it. You started buying nutritional supplements and things like that Same thing when it comes to finances or anything else you spend time with something it becomes a part of you Well, the same thing holds true when it comes to these strongholds Think about how the disciples were with Christ now Paul says this in second in second Corinthians 10 for Matter of fact start in verse 3. He says for though we walk in the flesh. We do not war according to the flesh So we're not going to do things the way maybe the world would do we're gonna our battle plans are a little bit different Verse 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not conom But mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds Casting down every argument and every high thing that exhaust itself against the knowledge of God Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So how do you bring every thought into captivity? You've got this going on that going on and that that addiction. Have you ever found yourself doing good and Then all of a sudden Bama pop pop pops up Well, the more that you are Preoccupied with God the more those thoughts become captive to to God Something's got to take the place of those thoughts But when you have taken your focus and attention off God, well, I was what happens Something else comes in think about the disciples again when they were with Christ. They were at their best Peter is ready to slay everything but the moment the moment Peter gets out of God site Well, the moment he thinks he's out of Christ site How does he behave? He starts denying Christ and I don't know him. I never know my swear to God. I never knew him, right? So that's what we do and sure from time to time. We talk about our addictions. We talk about our struggles We we bring them up But we kind of keep them at bay again talking about finances We talk about man, I really didn't need to get my finances under control. I need to save some more We talk about it, but we don't take active measures in doing so in treating it Jesus told about how his disciples did not need to fast because he was there But when he leaves Then the time is gonna come well, they're gonna fast because what is it supposed to do supposed to bring about Closeless and so the closer you are to him the better it is for you to overcome these things now Everyone has these issues Paul who let's just be honest He ranks at the top of the chart when it comes to spiritually strong men in the Bible and he said the things that I don't want to do I continue to do the things that I Want to do I don't do it. What's wrong with me? I'm just I'm just messed up, but this is his But his solution was in Christ and what he could do from I'm just wretched all this in the dwells in me But when Christ the more he dwells in me the more he abounds the more I move away from the things That are bothering me that are holding me down Now there's two ways that you get past as I said, it's a simple fix. It's a simple solution But it's just hard to implement and so what does Paul say? I beat myself in the simplest Discipline myself and it's going to be a push It's one of those deals where you just push at it and push it you make up your mind I'm going to push at it no matter what which is why it's all it's always helpful to have a partner Like when you work out it's good to have someone to walk with you to help push you to encourage and motivate you But it's going to be a struggle. It's supposed to be tough. Life is supposed to be tough, huh? Because ultimately God is going to get out of you what he needs what he wants and it's going to happen in one of two ways Either voluntarily or involuntarily He has a way of kind of squeezing out the things that shouldn't be in you the things that you know You shouldn't have any affiliation with he has a way of getting out of you and trust me I know from experience. I'm pretty sure most of you do too as well. It's not a pleasant experience when God Gets it out of you. You know what David said Purge me with Hissa wash me. That doesn't even sound easy doesn't even sound like it feels good to be purged But that's what he does if you let him now The easier way to do it is to work in concert with him to not fight and push against him because if you are his He is going to Bring about a change in you As my father used to say some of you are missing the same thing. Well, you're gonna learn You're gonna learn either the easy way or the hard way, but you're gonna learn and so it's going to happen right now our profession and our walk are in two different places We are called and professed to be at this level, but in practice. We're here at some point. They're going to meet We can kind of help that along and in submitting and being obedient to him Reading praying and here's where the push comes in When you don't feel like it forcing yourself sometimes it is a chore Sometimes you've got to push through this is one of those things where it's going to be Easy to do there's gonna be days where you feel good about it's gonna be days where you don't How do you make him your first love when you love all these other things? You have to deny those other things you have to force yourself to spend time in his word in prayer Watch what you watch watch what you let come into your eyes and your ears when you're on on YouTube We're on on the internet or when you're watching TV or listen to the radio Those are the things that you do to help yourself overcoming sin This isn't anything new you've heard this over and over and over and over again The issue is this when are you gonna do something about it? When are you gonna take the steps to overcome this thing that's bothered you over and over again? Maybe it's destroyed some relationships in your life. Maybe it destroys some business opportunities Maybe it's it's left you homeless or destitute. Maybe it's left you as an outcast Stop embracing the thing that has brought you down and run to the thing or the person that can bring you up And so when I say it's just that simple It is just that simple watch how you notice the closer you get to him the longer you're with him the easier It becomes to start overcoming some of these strongholds because you'll find that it's not so much you doing it It's gonna be him. Amen