Drink Again

SPIRITUAL DEATH 

(Revelation 3:1-3) “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” 


 Unrelenting trial and temptation. 


(Psalm 143:3-6) “The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.” 


 Personal tragedy. 


(Psalm 61:2) “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to a rock that is higher than I.” 


 Attacks from others.


(Psalm 109:3) “With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.” 


 Working without rest. 


(Psalm 63:1-2) “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” 


 Guilt and shame.


(Psalm 38:4) “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.”


DRINK AGAIN 


(Revelation 22:17) “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” 


1. Respond to the invitation.


 (Isaiah 55:1-2 NLT) “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.” 


2. Renew your relationship with God. 


(Isaiah 55:3 NLT) “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.” 


3. Repent of everything that is in the way. 


(Isaiah 55:6-7 NLT) “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously."

Video
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/drink-again

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

Behind the Gates of Hell

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)

12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Forgiving a debt is a financial term.  

What if every debt that you owed was cancelled? 

What you owe.  You'd no longer have to pay. 

It means that I expect nothing from you even an apology.  

It is a great idea until you are faced with forgiving someone.  

On the cross, Jesus gave us a receipt paid in full that our sin debt has been paid.  

Are you keeping record of someone else's debt?

We are required to forgive as we have been forgiven.  How do you want God to forgive you?  

Quickly?  

Completely?  

Forever? 

Go and do likewise.  

Unforgiveness is trying to collect a debt that the other person doesn't know they owe, or could ever pay.

Record keeping ruins relationships.  Relationships are messy.  If you don't want to get hurt, don't get married or have kids.  

You will get hurt.  You have to forgive to have quality relationships.  

Ephesians 4:32  (ESV)

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

You don't lose your relationship with God when you sin, but you do lose your closeness.  When you ask forgiveness, it is restored.

Forgiveness is not saying that what they did was okay.  Forgiveness is automatic trust.  

If you hold on to your hurt, you hold on to the pain of the past. If you hold on to what they did, you are punishing yourself.  

Don't do the time for someone else's crime.  Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free, and the prisoner is you.  Don't be held captive by the pain caused by others. 

1 Peter 2:23  (ESV)

23 When he (Jesus) was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Matthew 6:13  (ESV)

13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.

Temptation is all about who you are following.  

If you follow Jesus, He is keeping you from the pitfalls.  

The devil has been doing this for a long, long, long time.  He's smarter than you or me.  He doesn't have any new tricks.  

Addiction is irrational, but we struggle to break free. If you think that you got it, it's got you.  

Temptation is customized for our weakness.  If you don't know where you are weak, you can't prepare for the devil's attacks.  

Temptation is a liar.  It makes promises that it'll never keep.  It promises freedom, but puts you in bondage. 

It promises happiness, but will rip joy from your life.  Sin is pleasurable, but when we pray.  We pull the curtain back and see sin for what it really is.  

To survive temptation, it's not about strength, but being smart.  Don't stand up to temptation, but run from it. 

1 Corinthians 10:13  (ESV)

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

There is not temptation that you can't defeat with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Recognize that you are in a war.  Evil is trying to destroy you.  The Church is not a cruise ship, but a battleship.  Not with people, but within the spirit realm.  

Adversity is simply the enemy's response to your progress. When you gain ground, Satan loses ground.  

You are in a fight, but you are not alone.  You are in it with your Father, God, if you've given your life to Jesus Christ.

  

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

18 And I (Jesus) tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell] shall not prevail against it.

We don't fight for victory, but we fight from victory.  We know who wins. 

Remember, the victory is yours.

If you go back to ungodly friends, you go back to old sins.  

Mike Haman, Healing Place Church  

Video

http://healingplacechurch.org/media/our-father/      

Turn the Page on 2018

Isaiah 43:18-19 A  (NET Bible)

18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;
don’t recall these former events.

19 “Look, I am about to do something new.

Stop going over your old history.  Look to God and look ahead.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NET Bible)

22 The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;

his compassions never end.
23 They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!

You can turn the page. 

You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep reading the last chapter over and over again.

Make a decision today to turn the page on your past.  

Your past failures are lessons not life sentences.  

Vulnerability will heal you.  Isolation will kill you. 

1.  Turn your heart over to God.  

Our outside never changes until our inside changes.  1 Kings 8:58.

2.  Turn your mind over to God and be renewed in your thought life.  

Is 26:3, Col. 3:2, James 1:8, 2 Timothy 1:7.

3.  Turn your actions over to God by putting off the old man and replacing Him with the new man.  

Ephesians 4:21-23.

You are 1 page from great things happening.  

Then, you can help others change their page.

Dino Rizzo, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/turn-the-page

Freedom is a process

John 8:36  (NKJV)

36 Therefore if the Son (Jesus) makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

How to stay in freedom.  

Luke 11:24-26  (NKJV)

24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

The Captivity Cycle.

Step 1.  Freedom from Sin

Step 2. Prosperity 

Step 3. Bondage because success might breed pride and materialism. 

How to Stay Free

1. Admit when you need help.

Luke 15:15-17 (NKJV)

15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

2. Humbly repent when you sin to God and others.

Luke 15:18 (NKJV)

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

James 5:16 (NKJV)

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

3. Daily choose to reject the Devil's lies.

Luke 15:29-31 (NKJV)

29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.

4. Daily choose to read and receive God's truth from the Bible.

Luke 15:22-24  (NKJV)

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

1. The Robe of Righteousness means to see yourself as God see you. 

2.  The Ring of Authority means to know the authority and power of Jesus's name to retain your freedom.

3.  The shoes mean that you can now have freedom from the predicament of sin.  

Prayer for Freedom 

Heavenly Father, I bow in worship and praise before you.  I surrender myself completely and unreservedly in every area of my life to you.  I take a stand against all the working of Satan in my life.  

LORD, I resist all the endeavors of Satan and his wicked spirits to rob me of the will of God.  I choose to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.

I pull down every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ and loose into myself a sound mind, the mind of Christ. Thank you LORD for setting me free.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/stay-free1

God of the 2nd Chances

God always give you a second chance.  He did for Jonah.

    

Jonah 1:1-5 (NLT)

1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 

5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

Every decision that we make costs us something.  Every wrong decision impacts those who are closet to you.   Are your decisions bringing you closer to God?

1. Take responsibility for your bad choices. 

Jonah 1:12 (NLT)

12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

God is waiting at our point of crisis to rescue us.  

2. Turn away from your bad choices. 

Jonah 2:9 (NLT)

9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
    and I will fulfill all my vows.
    For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

Repentance means to change your mind so deeply that is changes you.  

3. Embrace God's grace.  

Jonah 3:1 (NLT)3 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:

We serve the God of the second chance.  You're not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.

Tom Mullins, Guesting speaking at Church of the Highlands.