What Goes In, Comes Out — Shane Idleman

The Foundation for Better Marriages and Parenting

And I had a lot of different notes on, you know, from parenting to marriage, on all the things we've heard before, from exasperating your children and training them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord and marriage, husbands, loving your spouse.

And there's so many things we could, so many directions we could go. But I was thinking that the key really going forward, if we want better marriages, better parenting, is we're gonna have to get to the foundation.

And what really matters. And I shared with some of you, I think on texting or email, that I was gonna share a few of my regrets and challenges with parenting and marriage. And I don't wanna talk too much about that, but I think the biggest two that really stand out would be worry and time.

Worrying too much about things that I can't change. And then the time factor, not realizing how quick that time goes. And maybe being a better steward of my time. And saying no to things I should have said no to.

And you realize as your kids get older and they're out the door, that you miss some opportunities. And now granted, we can't go back and beat ourselves up and we did the best with what we could, but those would be the big two, is just worrying too much, maybe being too protective.

Which, I mean, nowadays, you definitely wanna be protective. But worrying and not giving things to the Lord, and those can really weigh on a marriage. But what I wanna do, launching this, is talk about where we must begin.

And there are many keys to successful parenting and marriage, but the foundation of success in all these areas is going to have to do with something most of you are aware of, but maybe you didn't think about it in this regard for parenting and marriage, and that is surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit, so you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And that's really, if I were to look and encapsulate everything, that's where success or failure really hinges, right? Because I can push integrity, be gentle, be slow to speak, love your spouse, husbands, and with wise respect, your husbands.

You can push that on people, but if they're full of the flesh, how's that gonna work? And so we have a lot of flesh coming out and not a lot of spiritual fruit coming out. And so getting at the problem, or actually at the root, is really gonna help us this evening, I almost said this morning.

Freedom in Christ and Responsibility

Galatians 5, Galatians 5 is an incredible chapter to read, even tonight if you can, or tomorrow, read the whole thing. And I'm gonna read something from a Bible I usually don't use, it's the Amplified Version.

So Galatians 5, 13 through 15. The Amplified Version, what the Amplified Version does is instead of honing in, what the translators would do is they would, when they're interpreting the Greek, it's called a formal equivalence, they would find a word that matches that word pretty much in our own language, our own vocabulary.

But the Amplified will throw in a few different words in there and give it some extra meaning, like with an explanation point. And so where they got the text from is very reliable, but it's a little bit, it'd be more of like a, not quite a commentary, but what they call a dynamic equivalence, you know, thought for thought translation.

So the Amplified Bible, for you, my brothers, you are called to freedom. Only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature, for worldliness, for selfishness, but through love, serve and seek the best for one another.

Now, it's a pretty interesting concept because, and you can underline that, you probably don't have your Bibles open, but if you did, Galatians five, you can open Galatians five, verse 13, you were called to freedom.

And I wanted to talk a lot more about freedom, but that would become its own sermon. Because a lot of Christians will say, well, I'm free to do this. Have you heard that before? I'm free in Christ to do this.

And usually it's not always a good thing. Why can I can do this? I'm free. And I mean, you fill in the blank. Anything from alcohol to many different things. You know, I'm free to do this. Okay, but don't let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature to work inside of you.

So although a person is free to do something, it might not be wise. Is that interesting? So you're free to do it, sure. Smoking, people have asked me a lot. Can I keep smoking? I guess. You wanna go to the early grave?

We struggle with cancer and lung disease. And I mean, there's freedom in Christ, but we also have responsibility. And I don't know if we have the bullet points up on this one, but one of those is 1 Peter 2, 16.

Do not use your liberty as a cloak for vice. Now, what that means is I have a liberty. I can do this. And they're using that liberty to hide the vice. And many Christians, we can get trapped in that. I can do this because I'm free in Christ.

And he's saying here, yes, you are free, but don't let that freedom turn into an opportunity for your sinful desires. So the first step with parenting, marriage, and what I think God has really impressed on my heart this week is correcting the blind spots.

Anybody have any blind spots? Okay, half the room is honest. Blind spots are what? We don't see. We think we're great in this area. We don't think we have flaws, we don't do this wrong. But other people can see, you know, that's a blind spot.

Prayer, Blind Spots, and Spiritual Growth

And so what happens is time with God reveals areas that we need to work on. And that's why we stress so much prayer and worship and seeking God and that time with God is going to, I don't know about you, but that when I pray, if I'm sincere, God's gonna deal with me.

And that's why many people don't wanna pray. A quick prayer driving to work, sure. But heart-wrenching, soul-searching prayer, where you say, Lord, this morning, I'm gonna spend an hour with you. Speak to me, dig deep into my heart, show me if there's any wickedness within me.

Lord, I want to do your will, get ready. Get a pen and paper out. You know, I've done that before. It's like, okay, forgive that person, restore that. I was rude to my wife yesterday. You know, and God's showing you these areas or maybe snapping at the kids and different things.

And so that time with the Lord is really important because then, now you know what the blind spots are, now you can correct them. And to be a better parent, a better husband, a better father, a better spouse, better wife in your case, some of you, it's correcting these blind spots.

God tests you to develop you. Satan tempts you to defeat you. I thought that was a good quote from Tony Evans. God will test you to develop you. Anybody going through a test? Oh, yes, you know the test from God.

Because it's difficult, it's painstaking, it's challenging. It sparks anger. And we're going through this test and God is developing us, but if we're not careful, Satan will use it to defeat us. And so one key thing in scriptural truth theology is when you remove something, you must also add something.

And I used to teach this all the time in health and fitness. Okay, you remove those bad things. Okay, you got to put something in their place. You're in the Snickers bar, you got to have an apple with some almond butter.

Right, you're removing something, you've got to add something, put something in its place. So as you're removing things from your life, that's where you add this time with the Lord and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

And I think it's also important to know we don't suppress, we surrender. Because a lot of people, they get tied up or they get into tough situations when they try to suppress the lust, just suppressing it and pushing it down.

Have you ever pushed down a basketball in the water? You know, the farther that gets down and suppressing, and now there's something to saying no and turning from, but we're called to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit and He takes that burden, He begins to change us.

And what is so difficult now becomes easy because the Holy Spirit has given full rule and reign in your heart and your life to change you. And then He goes on to say, for the whole law, going again off Galatians, for the whole law concerning human relationships is fulfilled in one precept, one thing, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That is, you shall have unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit. Boy, that sure is easy to read. Is it easy to read for you? Because I can read it and go, yeah, that sounds great.

That is so true. Boy, oh boy. But then when I go outside those doors and have to practice it, that's where it gets difficult. And you know, with a lot of this stuff, it's the old saying, it's simple, but it's not easy.

It's so simple to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit, to obey God's word and let Him change us, let Him lead us as parents and as spouses, but it's not easy because the flesh wants to fight against that.

Selfishness, Control, and Conflict in Marriage

So the main culprit in all of this is self, self, self, self, selfishness, self-focus, self-assertive, self-made. Have you ever heard people say, said I'm a self-made man and then they're proud of it?

I'm a self-made man. Let me tell you, you don't even have that breath you just took without God's grace over your life. We are not self-made. We are not self-governed. But when we put so much emphasis on self, that selfishness can really destroy us and take us out.

Controlling, I think I added this morning, we have a lot of, when there's marriage issues, a lot of it has to do with controlling. Maybe one spouse is controlling. Have you heard that before? That we're controlling.

And that also comes from self, not promoting the other, but focusing on self. And what does a controlling spirit look like biblically? It's, they are, they try to intimidate the other person and they get moody when they're not getting their way.

They don't want you to spend time with people. They want you to stay isolated. They don't want you to excel. They don't want you to be promoted. And believe it or not, that's a lot of struggles in marriages, in some marriages.

When we're walking in the flesh, we don't want the spouse to be maybe promoted or given a certain position or around others a lot. That fleshliness can begin to give us a controlling spirit. And that's all linked to selfishness.

But praise God, there is a cure. And then he goes on to say, but if you bite and devour one another, boy, this church in Galatia was pretty like us today in America, but if you bite and devour one another in bickering and strife, watch out that you, along with your entire fellowship, are not consumed by one another.

And this is so important. This is what we try to, we try to root it out early on when we see this happening in the body, is when bickering and biting and devouring, when strife begins to happen, we try to reconcile it as soon as we can.

Because it is like cancer. And you know when that flame starts, it's not easy to put out. Because we all like to talk and that bickering and that strife, it's part, see, all of this is the outflow of the flesh.

When the flesh is given rule and reign that this is what it does. And I think I gave the analogy Sunday, it's like jumping into a river and doing nothing. Which direction will you go? Down, down, whatever way the current's going.

And that's what happens as a Christian. If we don't do anything, we don't stay in one spot, the flesh begins to pull us in that direction of the flesh. If the flesh is not being restrained, if the flesh is not being restrained via the filling of the Holy Spirit, the Ds of the flesh will flow out.

The Fruit of the Spirit Versus the Flesh

So the only way to really restrain that works of the flesh is by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Think about that, when I'm not full of the Spirit, what am I full of? Self. I know what some of you were thinking, but I wasn't going there with that.

So as I'm full of the Spirit, I'm pushing out the deeds of the flesh. Love, joy, peace, contentment, it's flowing out. Not easily, but it's flowing out, I'm working on it. But it's pushing out the other things.

Those things aren't in me or in you, that's where the irritation comes in. Snapping at people, upset, anger, frustration, moody. We have an excuse for our moods now. I'm just having a bad day. It's that time of month.

I'm having a hard day, I went through a lot. My work, whatever, and we have these excuses, so it's like, oh, okay, I understand. And we never really get past and work on these deep issues. So again, what goes in comes out.

I don't have to try to be critical, it just flows out. I don't have to try to be selfish, it just flows out. I don't have to try to be angry, it just flows out. And then we look at verse 16. But I say, here's the key.

How long did it take me to get here? 15 minutes. But I say, here's the key, walk. I like how the Amplified put this word in there, walk habitually. Other translations say walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the deeds, the lusts of the flesh.

But what it's really, I mean, that is true, but it's also, it's a habitual, it's a habit-forming thing that must happen. I say to you, walk habitually in the Holy Spirit, which is seek Him and be responsive to His guidance, and then you will certainly not carry out the desires of the sinful nature, which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts.

Now it's interesting, because as Christians, I think this is, is it not one of the greatest challenges? Lord, I don't wanna do that anymore. I don't wanna act that way anymore. Why am I keep falling in this area?

Why, why, why, I have this, I want to do what is good. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin and death? For with the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.

That's Paul. Oh, wretched man that I am, Paul? Oh, there's not much hope for us. But it's that, I think this is the biggest struggle in the lives of most Christians, is knowing what to do, but the challenge is doing it.

And then we leave here, this sounds great, we're on fire for God, we worshiped, and then comes tomorrow morning at work, or in the home, those who still have little kids at home. You know, that can change really quick in the morning.

Or air conditioning's not working. Something breaks, electrical goes down. And we can get really frazzled very easily. But again, remember, when you remove something, you must add something. It's not about suppression, but surrender.

So it's a habitual walk in walking by the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna get to that in a minute, what that looks like. But another verse that is so important is 1 Corinthians 13, four through seven. Because this is walking, this is habitually walking in the Holy Spirit.

Love endures with patience and sincerity. Oh, I'm sorry, serenity. I guess sincerity would be good too. Love endures with patience and serenity. Mental calmness, love is kind and thoughtful. It is not jealous or envious.

Love does not brag, and it is not proud or arrogant. So here's the challenge. I know what to do, now I have to do it. See, that's walking in the Spirit. Okay, love is patient. Okay, I've gotta work on my patience.

Love is kind. Love is not easily angered. Love does not keep any record wrong done against it. And you see how that works? Okay, I have to make a decision now to engage what love is. As I'm doing that, I'm walking in the Holy Spirit and I'm removing what the flesh wants.

So it's walking in these areas. We can't just think it and hope it happens. Can we? Love is patient, it's kind, it's thoughtful, it's not jealous, it's not envious. It does not brag, it is not proud or arrogant.

So if we memorize these things, this verse, and let's say something comes up in us and we want to brag, we want to be proud, boastful. Any marriages ever, you guys ever struggle with that? You wanna get that last word in?

You wanna win the argument? And bragging or boasting, and you're not very patient, you're actually, it's a funny thing. In marriage, you're so comfortable that you're not very patient, but if somebody comes over, then we're really patient.

Somebody from church knocks on your door. Oh, hello, come on in. Wait a minute, what happened to the argument you were just having? What happened, how rude you were just being? So you can control that.

Huh, that's interesting. See, it's a choice as a believer. We have a choice. Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill, doesn't mean you won't struggle. Doesn't mean you won't struggle. Walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill, allow the lust to the flesh to come to completion.

You will not fulfill those desires, that you'll be tempted, there's a struggle. But if you walk in the Spirit, humble yourself, patiently endure. As you're doing these things, you're being filled with the Spirit.

Love, Truth, and Faithfulness in Marriage

Love is not rude. Uh-oh. Love is not self-seeking. Do you know a lot of problems in marriage are caused by self-seeking? Seeking self, what I want, what I desire. And so as we begin to exercise love in these areas, and this is gonna start as early as tonight, folks.

Soon as you leave here and you get home, there's gonna be opportunities to be rude, self-seeking. You're not provoked, nor overly sensitive and easily angered. Isn't that interesting? The second paragraph, love is not easily provoked, meaning you're not anybody overly sensitive.

And that can really be detrimental. When we're overly sensitive, we can take what people say to a level where it doesn't need to go. We can read into things that are not there. And so that's something we have to repent of.

Lord, your word says, I'm not easily provoked. I am not easily angered. It does not take into account a wrong done against it. It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth, meaning when right and truth prevail.

And so that's what, when we also on this, when we talk about hot button issues in our culture today, you know, many churches aren't doing that anymore because it's just too, it's hot. The hot buttons are hot.

We kind of step on toes when we do that. But that is actually true love. True love rejoices in the truth. I want to tell you the truth about this lifestyle choice you're making. I want to tell you the truth about critical race theory or the real heart behind racism in America.

What's really going on. What's really going on with the drag queen events. And there's an event coming up in Boise, Idaho, drag queen, drag day for kids in Idaho. Jack Gibbs just posted it and I shared it this evening, trying to get some churches there to talk to the sheriff because see, that's not mean and hatred.

That's just, hey, I'm compelled by the truth. When you're full of the Holy Spirit, you're going to have to speak the truth. And I think that's the problem in the hearts of many pastors and Christians.

There's not that fullness of the spirit. So it's easy to suppress the truth as not to offend, but that will not be the heart of the Holy Spirit. You'll have to speak the truth in love. Love bears all things regardless of what comes.

You know, on that note, this is what we try to tell young couples. When you say I do, it doesn't mean I'll try it out. I remember a young lady, the wedding vows and they're making the vows and death do you part and all that, it got to that point.

She said, you know, yeah, you know, she acknowledged that, but as long as you treat me nice, which, you know, that's not, obviously that's, you don't want somebody being mean to you, but I don't know if that's, you know, the outclaws there.

And we have to realize how precious marriage is and how God designed it. Now there's hope for those who've been through divorce and brokenness, and I believe God can restore and rebuild and redeem that fracture relationship.

But I also believe that love bears all things. So you go into it, hey, even if they end up in a wheelchair, even if they end up mentally deranged as they get older, even if they, and that's why, you know, even adultery, you don't have to bail out the first, you know, mistake there, sometimes you bear with that person.

Now, if it's a habit, that's where I think they have the clause there, Jesus said, except for sexual immorality. If you married a joker and he's not going to change and he's just continues to cheat on the person, continues to cheat on the person, committed adultery, there's an out clause there, I believe, Jesus taught about.

And so, but love bears all things. So it's not like, what can they give me? Do you know how many men marry because they want a trophy wife? Ooh, it's quiet, it is quiet. But is that not true, guys? You know, marry, look at, you know, looks are what they can give me.

And this is, but that's not, the biblical is dying to self. And what it says here, bears all things. No matter what we go through, I am here with you until the end. It believes all things. What that means is it looks for the best in each other.

Anybody need help with this or just me? Yo, critical spirit can just come up easily. Yeah, but you know, but you know, but you know. Believes at best. No, we don't want to be like a doormat, golly gee whiz, and just get fooled all the time.

And I'm just always thinking the best. That person who calls from PayPal and needs my credit card number, I bet it's just an honest worker there. And I'm just going to err on the side of grace. It looks for the best in each other.

And I think what the Bible teaches, in my opinion, is when I talk about, when I preach a lot, to err on the side of grace. What does that mean? Something happens, what's my flesh going to want to do? Judgment, critical spirit, animosity, backbiting, belittling, whatever.

It just, it's going to want to do that with, I don't have to do anything. I can just sit there and that's where it's going to go. But to err on the side of grace, you know what? They probably didn't mean that.

They're probably having a bad day. I'm sure that's not how, you know, they wanted me to take it. I don't think they did that on purpose. I don't know if that's their motives. Now, at some point, you know, you might have to lovingly confront if this proves to be untrue.

But erring on the side of grace is what you'll see. That's why Jesus said, turn the other cheek. Erring on the side of grace. If somebody wants your cloak, give them two. They want to go the extra mile.

You know, you err. So that way, you're leaning towards the filling of the Spirit. Does that make sense? You're on God's side. You're erring on the side of grace. Doesn't mean you're the pavement and the other person's the steamroller and you just capitulate.

But you err on the side of grace. Because if I don't do that, I can become pretty critical. Most of us can, correct? Why did they say that? Did they, hmm. And you take it a certain way. And then you start thinking about it, right?

You're getting upset in your mind, not erring on the side of grace. And so that's what it's teaching us here. It hopes all things, which means remain steadfast during difficult times. Boy, are we in that right now.

This last two years has really tested Christians and the church. When a vessel is struck, what's inside comes out. And what is coming out? Is the fruit of the spirit coming out? Man, I'm going through it, love and joy and peace and gentleness and kindness and self-control.

When I hear Biden's speech, love and joy and peace, it's happening. Does that just flow out? Oh no, no. That guy's, man, he's making me really mad these days. But what do you do? You err on the side of grace to some point.

You also have to act. You also have to take action and things we can do. But it endures all things. It hopes, in other words, true love puts up with things. They don't quit and give up and say, I'm out of here.

And so you have this huge picture of love. Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't boast. It's not proud, it's not rude, it's not self-seeking. It keeps no record of wrong done against it.

And so as you're walking out in love, you're going to be full of the Holy Spirit. How to walk habitually. Anybody need help in this area? How to walk habitually in the Spirit. That's the key, that's the key, right there.

Developing a Habitual Walk in the Spirit

Because I can tell it to you right now and then I can hit traffic tomorrow and it falls apart. So before I talk about this briefly, let me encourage you. That's why it's called a walk. There's tripping, there's I shouldn't have acted like that.

Man, I'm just, I really regret that. I flew off the handle, I got upset. And so it's a walk of walking in the Spirit. And you learn, you grow, you get back up, you apologize, you repent and you're walking in this walk.

And what happens though, if we fall and we mess up, we stay down on the ground and we don't get back up and walk in the Spirit. I think a lot of people think it's, you're going to get up in the morning, just like glide in the air, like you're on a cloud all day.

I'm walking in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit. They took my parking spot, doesn't matter. My kids are crying and yelling, doesn't matter. IRS is wanting to get audit, doesn't matter. Talking to Verizon, I owe this man, it doesn't matter.

Just walking in the Spirit. Maybe some of you are at that. If so, I'd love to talk to you afterwards and let me know how the day is just smooth sailing all week long. You just go to bed feeling great, get up feeling great.

The Lord is your strength and you're just full of joy everywhere you go, every person you touch. You're just, it's just this life of the Spirit. And you know, that's just not reality because Paul writes about that.

But see, that's our goal. That's what we shoot for. That's the standard. And the problem isn't that we raise the standard and miss it, it's that we lower it and we hit it. So walking in the Spirit, there's, biblically speaking, Paul doesn't go into a checklist.

He just says walk in the Spirit. The reason is, I believe because some things are obvious based on praying in the Spirit, surrendering, repenting. There's key things in scriptures that tell us we can walk habitually in the Spirit.

Now, keep in mind though, sometimes you need to make a quick decision and you just have to let integrity guide you and instinct and there's quick decisions. But normally it's a walk, it's a habit forming walk.

And as you do things more often, it becomes easier. That's why habitually, it's a habit. And have you noticed if you forgive someone or don't let something offend you and you keep practicing it, it gets actually easier.

It doesn't get more difficult. I mean, maybe sometimes you go, this is frustrating. I've been doing this for three months. This person's not changing. That can get frustrating. But obedience becomes habit forming.

Prayer as the First Practice of Spiritual Walking

So here's how, biblically speaking, the best way to walk in the Spirit, number one, beginning tonight and tomorrow morning, you have to start to develop a life of prayer. What does prayer do? It tunes you in.

It's like a radio station. You're not gonna hear the frequency unless you tune it in. So the time with the Lord is saying, Lord, this is my time with you. The God of the universe wants to meet with you, speak to you, lead you, guide you, deep calling into deep.

The Holy Spirit of God that resides in you as a believer has fellowship with the Father. And so as that prayer, it's building me up. It's encouraging me. It's strengthening me instead of going right to the news.

That's really not encouraging me. It's discouraging me. And so how many of us are not tuning in to the Spirit of God in the mornings or evenings throughout the day? And just stopping, and that's how you walk in the Spirit.

You get direction. I get so much direction when I'm just stopping and praying on how to act, how to treat my spouse or my kids. And selfishness is really crushed in the prayer closet. And the more time you spend with God, the better you become spiritually speaking.

Because you can't spend a significant time with God and not change. Because you're not gonna play games with God. If you're playing games with God, you're not gonna be praying. You can't have both of those.

So prayer helps us tune in. And then the Bible talks about surrender. Tune in, jump in. Surrender to me is jumping in. I surrender, Lord, to your will. I want to do what you want me to do. I'm jumping in, and I'm being full of the Spirit.

Because what's the opposite of surrender? You're not surrendering to God. It's fighting God. So I'm not gonna surrender. I know, anybody who's done this, I know what God wants me to do. But one honest guy.

Henry, I'll raise my hand, too. I know what God wants me to do. But, and at that point, you're gonna hinder that walk of the Spirit. You're gonna hinder that habitually walking in the Spirit because you can't say, I don't think so, and then keep walking in the Spirit.

Because you gotta start at that point. Now again, not perfection. We all, I'm sure I'm disobeying God in some area myself. I mean, we're fallen creatures on this side of Calvary, on this side of heaven.

But there's a difference between someone willfully saying, nope, I'm not gonna give up that area. I'm not gonna change. I'm not gonna work on that. Then we forfeit that walking in the Spirit. And that's why there's no love and joy and peace and contentment and gentleness and long-suffering.

That's why there's no fruit there, because we're stuck in this area. So surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit. Basically, like what Jesus said, not my will, Lord, but your will be done. And me and my wife have a saying.

And both of us, it's not easy, but we say, go with the flow. And you don't say that when the other person's not in a good mood, right? Oh, just go with the flow, get over it. But there is something to that each day.

You know, just, I gotta go with the flow. I gotta surrender to what God wants to do. My flat tire, this just broke. I had an hour phone call. I was getting so frustrated with the place for my truck that you can, I guess, turn on your car remotely.

That's pretty cool. But the app's not working. They put me, she told me to call Dodge and Dodge told me to call back to them. And I'm like, you guys keep telling me to call the other person. Somebody's gotta help me with this.

And I could tell, here it comes. I don't have time to do this. I'm working on, I got the sermon open on my screen. So it was exactly one hour. But this, I remember reading this. Just, Lord, just go with the flow.

And we can really remove a lot of struggles and anger in this area because we usually want things done our way, in our time, according to our method. So we're the most comfortable or it's the most convenient.

It's about a selfishness. And then once that, do you ever have any, you get up in the morning, you say, okay, here's what I'm doing today. Here's my schedule, here's my plan. And when there's a monkey wrench thrown into that, how do you feel?

You say, praise God, this is great. Oh, well. Wow, it's this great opportunity. It pleases the Lord. No, you get upset like I do sometimes. That's why we learn to go with the flow. Okay, it's not gonna be what I want, but Lord, you know what's best.

And so that is really the embodiment of surrender. Because we're surrendering, Lord, what is your will today? He might have you go somewhere because of someone else. Could that be? But selfish Shane wants to do his thing.

I don't wanna go there. I don't wanna do that, I'm in a hurry. But God redirects so we can maybe be a blessing to others. And so surrendering to what God's will is, God's sovereignty will really relieve a lot of the pressure.

So as you're praying and saying, Lord, whatever your will is, you're surrendering to things that come up. You're not getting upset. And then another area here is repentance. Repentance. Is anything sticking out tonight?

You have to call it out. You have to repent of it. You have to repent. Repentance is reconnecting and reestablishing that walk with the Holy Spirit. So if I'm walking with the Spirit, but I get out of sync with God, and man, I'm really not going in a good direction.

I wasn't nice to my spouse today. I kind of got irritated with the kids, irritated with other people. I'm just not feeling it. I'm moody today. This life is hard today. What do I need to do? I need to repent.

I need to repent and say, Lord, this isn't right. Instead of making excuses. And so as I repent, what happens? Joy comes back in. Because now I'm in a right relationship with God. So as I'm praying, surrendering, repenting, making choices, that's the next one.

Obedience, God's Will, and the Leading of the Spirit

I'm making choices. Obedience. Obedience is very important to walking in the Spirit. Because a lot of, so many people are confused. God's will, God's will. I don't know God's will. God's will actually is not as difficult as we make it.

It's lined out in scripture pretty clear. Very clear. I mean, the Bible talks about His will is that you are saved. His will is that you make disciples. His will is that you are holy and set apart. His will is, and there's a couple other areas.