LIFE Lesson 16 - Arise to Walk in Newness of Life

Praise the Lord! What an incredible journey we're on right now as we go through the 40 lessons making up the curriculum for Life Ministries. In this video, I'm teaching lesson number 16. We're right in the middle of studying the good news. That's what the term gospel means, the good news. In the previous lesson, in lesson number 15, we talked about addictions, dead and buried, and we recognized the fact that Jesus didn't just die for us, but he died as us on the cross. And so when I come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and making him my Lord and Savior, that means the old person I used to be before I came to saving faith in Jesus Christ is dead and gone. He's behind me, and so that old influence shouldn't have dominion in my life anymore. I mean, I've never seen a dead man do anything. He can't move. He can't breathe. He can't speak. He can't get up and walk. He can't do anything if he's dead. The old me is dead. You need to remember that. You need to receive it. You need to reckon it to be so, because that is the authority of the Word of God when you identify with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the person you used to be, the drug addict, the alcoholic, the overeater, the overindulger, the one who was addicted to this or that or the other thing, that old person is dead in the grave. Praise God. Now, in this lesson today, we're going to continue to talk about the good news of the gospel, and this part, in my opinion, this is the part that I can get excited about more so than any other part, and that's the fact that my Jesus didn't stay dead.

He rose again the third day. This lesson is lesson number 16. It's entitled, Arise to Walk in Newness of Life, Resurrection Power. Man, that's what we're going to be talking about in this lesson. Now, before I get into this lesson, I just want to reread a text that I read in the previous lesson as we talk about the gospel. Let's just define the gospel. We want to identify what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Apostle Paul's writing to the church at Corinth, and he says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you. So Paul's saying, I want to remind you what the gospel is, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved. If you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. Then he goes on in verse 3. Now here's what the gospel is, verse 3, For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. Praise God. In the very first verse in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, Remember the gospel I proclaim to you. And then he goes on in verse 3, and he defines that gospel. He says, It's the death, the burial, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When I identify with that gospel, when I identify with who Christ is, and what Christ came to do, what he completed, the gospel, he is the gospel, that he died in my place. And praise God, when he rose again the third day, he arose in my place. If you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you put your faith in him, then you can reckon this to be so. You can count it to be true on the authority of the Word of God that when he died for you, he died as you. And when he rose again the third day, he arose from that grave for you, but he arose from

that grave as you, offering you resurrection power. Man, that's the power we need to be set free. Resurrection power. You know, some programs talk about a higher power. Well, we're going to identify who that power is. It's our resurrected Jesus Christ. I'm not bashful. I'm not ashamed. I'm bold and courageous. I'll stand on the tallest mountain and proclaim, Jesus Christ is the only way. He's the power you need to live a transformed life. Now, in this lesson today, we start in Romans chapter 6, and again, this is one of the longer lessons in the curriculum, just like the previous lesson. And it's not by chance or accident that these two lessons are talking about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they both happen to be two of the longer lessons in the 40-week curriculum. We need to focus and understand and receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. It will bring you freedom. Let's jump in and get started. Romans chapter 6, beginning of verse 1. Paul writes, and he says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many as us? us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Thank God for the gospel." Yeah, this text refers to baptism. Baptism, water baptism, is a picture of the gospel. I believe water baptism ought to be by immersion. That means the person goes all

the way underneath the water. And the reason why I believe that is because the word in our Bible, baptism or baptized, is from a Greek word that actually means to immerse. And so when Jesus was baptized, He went all the way underneath the water. Every time a person is baptized in the New Testament, they are baptized by immersion. Immersion, baptism by immersion represents the blessed gospel. The old man is dead and buried. That person is placed underneath the water. He's in a watery grave. And then he's lifted up. And not only is the old person dead and buried, but now there's a new person that wants to walk in resurrection power and serve the Lord and bring Him honor and to bring Him glory. Just like Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. Water baptism represents that. When someone comes, that's their public profession of faith when they're baptized. They're saying by their actions, I'm identifying with the death, the burial, and the resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed gospel. John chapter 10 and verse 10, Jesus said to thief, that's Satan, that's our enemy. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus offers us abundant life. The good news of the gospel is you can be transformed. You don't have to continue to be the person you used to be. That old man is dead, right? That's that previous lesson. He's dead. He's gone. Jesus says in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 5, behold, I make all things new. He makes all things new. All means all. That's all that all means. That includes you. That includes me. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, He makes us new. I'm not the person I used to be. Romans chapter 6 and verse 8 says, now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once and for all. But the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also, here's that word, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That word reckon, it's not just a southern word. I grew up in the south and eastern North Carolina, but it's actually a word that means to count it to be true. Count it to be true. Reckon yourselves. Count it to be true that you are dead indeed to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, if the old man is dead, he's not going to have dominion over me anymore. The person you used to be before you came to saving faith. Again, this is in the previous video, in the

previous lesson, that person is dead and buried. Now, as a believer in Christ Jesus, we've got a power in us we didn't have before. We've got resurrection power, because Jesus came forth from that dead, dark, lifeless tomb on the third day, not just for us, but also as us, and he offers us that resurrection power. Our sins can be forgiven, and we can walk a transformed life. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. We're saved because of the gospel. We're empowered because of the gospel. We're being transformed, praise God, because of the blessed gospel, and it's a gospel of grace that we've got to latch our faith onto in believing, recognizing who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done perfectly for us through the gospel. You know, the word grace means to receive what you do not deserve. It means that God offers you a gift. There's no way you could earn it. You never could do enough good things, you know, to break free from addictions, to be forgiven for all the wrongs you've committed, not just your addiction to drugs or alcohol or whatever is being that stronghold in your life, but all your sins can be forgiven. You say, oh, I don't deserve it. That's the whole point of grace. God offers us this gift of grace. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve his grace. You know, we don't want justice. If we got what we deserved, we'd all be in trouble. We'd be separated from God forever in a place called hell where all sinners were guilty of sin. Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death. But God, in his love for us, came after us, came to this world, died on the cross, rose again the third day to offer us forgiveness, but also resurrection power. And we can live in that resurrection power. You know, Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter three, you gotta be born again. You must be born again. If you're gonna enter into eternal life and be made right with God, you've gotta be born again. If you've been born only once, you're gonna die twice.

And what I mean by that is, if you've only been born physically, you're gonna die a physical death, and you're gonna die a spiritual death. That's separation from God. But if you've been born twice, I mean by that, if you've been born physically, and then you've been reborn spiritually, accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're only gonna die once. And that's a physical death. And for a born-again believer, really physical death is not death at all, because physical death is just us leaving this sinful world and stepping into glory in the presence of God for eternity. In Acts chapter one, verses seven and eight, Jesus is promising his followers before he leaves this earth and ascends back to the Father in heaven. He says in Acts chapter one, verse seven, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. That promise is from Jesus that we're gonna receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's gonna come upon you, and then you're gonna be my witnesses. He says, then you're gonna receive power. Well, the Holy Spirit has come.

Read Acts chapter two in your New Testament. That's the day of Pentecost. Right after Acts one, seven and eight, right after Acts one, that chapter, we find in Acts chapter two, the coming of the Holy Spirit in fullness, and the Holy Spirit comes and fuels believers for the very first time. That's how our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God lives in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. All that began in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost. And that Holy Spirit power in us is Holy Spirit resurrection power in us. And so if that power, that's the same power that arose Christ from the dead on the third day. That's how powerful the Holy Spirit is. He can raise a dead man. And so if the Holy Spirit who lives in me has the power to raise a dead man, can't he meet my other needs? Isn't he strong enough to break the chains that bind us in addictions and strongholds? Certainly he is. He's all powerful. I'm talking about the very presence of God, God in spirit, the Holy Spirit living within us. It's 1 Corinthians chapter three, verses 16 and 17, says, do you not know that you are the temple of God

and that the spirit of God dwells in you? Now, just think about that a moment. That's God Almighty living inside of your body. The one who created everything out of nothing. The one who day looked into blackness, there was nothing there. And he spoke everything into creation. I'm talking about God Almighty, the God of the Bible. I'm talking about that power is in you. The same God who one day just grabbed a handful of stars, flung them up in the atmosphere. He said, one day they're gonna call that the Milky Way. I'm talking about a God who one day build up the ridge of mountains. And he said, one day they're gonna call that the Blue Ridge Mountains. I'm talking about a God who created everything around us. I'm talking about a God of all power and all might. He lives in me as a born again believer in the presence of the Holy Spirit. You know what we ought to do? If we would reckon that to be so, if we would count that to be true, every time the devil came against us or demon came against us to tempt us, we ought to kick him out of the way and say, hit the road, Jack, and don't come back no more, no more, no more, no more. You have no place in front of me tempting me. I'm a child of God empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I've got resurrection power. I can overcome the tempter. I can break free from addiction and strongholds and bondage. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 6, 1 and 2, he said again, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And Paul says, absolutely not. How can I continue to sin when I know what grace means? How can I continue to sin when I know what grace cost my Savior? He had to go to the cross and die in my place to offer me that free gift of grace of salvation. How can I remain in sin any longer? And we've got to understand the gospel and receive it and apply it to our lives. And if we do, and we reckon it to be so that Christ died in our place and so the old man is dead and buried and he rose again from the dead. And so now I've got resurrection power because he did that in my place. When we truly believe that, that changes our lives. The fruits brought forth from our lives are going to be different from what they were before we came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. I often tell people, if you've never been changed, you've never been saved. Because when you get saved and really believe in the gospel, it changes you forever. In Matthew chapter 7, verses 17 through 20, Jesus is speaking and he talks about trees and fruits. As you can tell, a tree by the fruits that it bears.

So if you're a born-again believer, a follower of Christ, the fruit, the evidence coming forth from your life ought to line up with that, ought to testify to the fact that you know Jesus Christ. The fruits of the Spirit are recorded in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23. Here's the fruits that our lives ought to show forth when we're living in resurrection power. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law. That's Galatians chapter 5, 22 and 23, the fruits of the Spirit. When I live my life in resurrection power, when I allow the Holy Spirit who is in me to have full control of me, when I surrender myself totally to God, there's going to be these fruits in my life. People are going to know. People that knew me before I came to Christ and know me now, they're going to know there's a change in Mike Dixon. He's not the person he used to be. He's not acting the same way. He's got new appetites. He's got new desires. He's got new wants. He's not living the life that he used to live. His life has been changed. Yet, you know, I know as a born-again believer there's still a struggle. If the old man is dead and buried, why am I still tempted? Why is it that I still want to do what's wrong? Because the influence of who I used to be before I came to Christ, even though that person is dead and buried, that influence is still left behind. Let me read this to you in Romans chapter 7, beginning of verse 15. Paul's writing, he says, For what I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice.

But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do. But the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that is evil. That evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Then Paul says, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? That's a hard text to read. It's almost confusing, isn't it? And Paul is writing that. It's almost like, what's wrong with the Apostle Paul? Is he bipolar? Is he schizophrenic? Is he confused? Paul says, why do I find it so easy to do the things I know I shouldn't do and so difficult so many times to do the things I know I should do? He says, I know there's nothing good in this flesh. Paul says, I know the law of God is good. You know what Paul's describing? Now remember, Paul's a Jew, and the Jews looked up to the law of God, the Ten Commandments and the over 600 rules and regulations they came up with from the Ten Commandments.

They elevated those to the level of, you had to obey all those laws, all that religious law in order to be made right with God. And the Apostle Paul was a Jew. And so Paul is saying, in my flesh, I fail. I want to live up to the law. I want to live up to all these regulations, but I'm not able to. And then he says, I'm a wretched man. Now this is parallel to the struggle that you and I experience as born again believers. We're pulled to the right and pulled to the left. We want to do what's right, and then again, we want to do what's wrong. We've got the influence left behind from the old person we used to be, who's dead and buried now, but the influence is still there, and it pulls at us. And then we've got that new nature within us, that resurrection power that the Holy Spirit brings into our bodies, into our lives, and those two are always at odds. And so the Apostle Paul says, O wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? Well, the very next verse says this. Thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Know what Paul's saying? Paul's saying, even though I don't always hit the mark, even though I don't always live up to the law, even though so many times I find it so easy to do what's wrong, Paul's saying, that does not define who I am. That's not my identity. Paul goes back to his identity is found in Jesus Christ. And so he knows he's a born again, blood-bought child of God. He's redeemed, he's adopted, he's sealed, he's predestined, he's loved, he's forgiven. He's a child of God.

And God loves him even when he misses the mark, even when he falls short to the law. And so Paul says it's impossible for me to live up to the law. But living up to the law was never the answer to begin with. The answer is found in Jesus Christ. Again, Paul says, I thank God through Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, our Lord. I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The answer is in the gospel. And who is the gospel? Our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it's not always easy to live a Christian life. We are pulled away. We are pulled astray. We got to go against the world and the flesh and the devil to live the life that will bring honor and glory to God. And many times we fall short. There's a promise in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13. It says, no temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. That's a wonderful promise to memorize because it doesn't matter what the temptation is that comes upon you. God has promised he's going to make a way of escape

so you can get away from the presence of the temptation. And if you can't get away, he's going to give you the power and the strength that you need to bear up under it patiently to do the right thing. You don't have to yield to temptation. You can overcome it. That's a promise from God in his word. And the Bible says in Numbers 23, verse 19, God is not a man that he should lie. He's not going to lie. We can count on his word, on his promises. And so no temptation has overtaken you that's not common to man. Whatever you're struggling with right now, it's the enemy that wants to make you believe or lead you to believe that you're the only one who struggles with it. Not according to 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there's no temptation that's overtaken you that's not common to man. Solomon, who was known as the wisest person who ever lived, Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. Any struggle, any temptation that you have to fight against, it's common to man. Don't believe the lies of the enemy. The enemy wants to isolate you. He wants to pull you away from the herd. He wants to pull you away from the body. And so he can pounce on you once he isolates you.

And so be on guard. Make sure you're renewing your mind. Make sure what you're thinking about your struggle, about your recovery, about the strongholds and the addiction that you're breaking out of. Even right now, I'm going to speak life into you. Jesus Christ is breaking those chains. The Holy Spirit is working in your heart, working in your life, working in your situation. Just take one more step forward. Don't you dare turn back. You take one more step forward. You know, I believe too many people give up right on the brink of a miracle. I believe so many people get so close to recovery and being healed and delivered from their addiction, one step away from it, and they stop and they turn around and go back. Don't you dare turn back. On the authority of the word of God, you're going to be more than a conqueror. You're going to break free. Whatever it is that you struggle with, you're not the only one struggling with it. We can choose to be victorious. We can choose to walk in the resurrection power that we have as born-again believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. This lesson records an account recorded in Genesis chapter 39.

It's a rather long text. It's verses one through 25, or one through 23 in Genesis chapter 39. And it's about Joseph. If you remember anything about Joseph, he was a son of Jacob. Jacob had 12 boys, and Joseph was one of those boys. And through those 12 sons of Jacob would come God's chosen people, the people of Israel. Well, remember the coat of many colors? That's Joseph. Joseph was his father's favorite son. And so Joseph's dad, Jacob, made for him and gave him a coat of many colors, which was a coat that a supervisor would wear. And because Joseph was favored by his father, his 11 brothers, they began to despise their brother, Joseph. In fact, I know it's a long text here, but let me see if I can read through it. It's Genesis 39, beginning of verse one. And what I want you to hear is that Joseph, even though he... a lot of dysfunction in his past. Even though he was wronged and sinned against and hurt in so many devastating ways that could have stuck with him throughout his life, Joseph chose to trust God anyway, and to be faithful in what God had called him to do. And Joseph chose to forgive those who wronged him. Joseph chose to walk in the power of God as a born-again believer. He trusted God. Now listen. Genesis 39, beginning of verse 1. Now, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and so the brothers, again, they hated their brother Joseph. They ended up selling him to a caravan that was passing by to try to get rid of their brother, and this caravan was headed towards Egypt. And the brothers took the coat of many

colors, tore it in shreds, put animal blood on it, took it back to Jacob, their father, and they told their daddy, this is all we could find. We couldn't find Joseph. Evidently, he was torn apart by a wild animal. This is all that we have left. And Jacob was left to mourn what he thought was the death of his son. Those brothers knew what they had done. They sold their brother Joseph into slavery. Well, God was still all over Joseph, because Joseph trusted God. And so even though he ended up in Egypt, the Bible says, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph. That's important. The Lord was with Joseph. Right now in your recovery, in your withdrawals, in your struggles, let me speak that word again. The Lord is with you. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us. He is all powerful and almighty. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian, and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hands. See, Joseph was blessed because Joseph had faith in the one true living God. So Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and he said, Lie with me. But he refused. And so Potiphar's away on business. At home is Joseph, his servant, and Potiphar's wife. And Potiphar's wife begins to make the moves on young Joseph. And I'll summarize the rest of this story. She wants Joseph to sleep with her. She's like, Nobody will find out. My husband's not around. It's just you and me. Come lie with me. And Joseph would not do it. Joseph said, How can I do this thing and sin against God? Joseph knew that this sin would be against God, and so Joseph refused. In fact, the Bible says he took off running, and she's left standing there with his coat. And man, she's hot. She's angry because Joseph rejected her. And as soon as her husband Potiphar gets home, Potiphar was next in rank to the king of Egypt. And when Potiphar got home, she said that Joseph tried to rape her. And so they end up taking Joseph, and they throw him in a dungeon in a jail. They lock him up, even though Joseph was innocent. Who's Potiphar going to believe,

his wife or his slave? So he believes his wife, and he throws Joseph in this dungeon, and he's made to be a prisoner, not because of anything he did wrong, but because of everything that he did right. Now, there came a time when the king of Egypt had a dream, and he needed an interpreter, and nobody could interpret that dream. And Joseph, being in prison, had already displayed the fact that he could interpret dreams. God gave Joseph that gift. And so Pharaoh hears about that, the king of Egypt, and so he calls for Joseph to come. And Joseph is released. He stands before Pharaoh. Pharaoh tells him the dream, and Joseph interprets the dream and begins to explain to the king, there's going to be seven good, bountiful years that we're going to have good crops, and we're going to have a good harvest. But then right after those seven good years, there's going to be seven years of famine. So Joseph said, we need to prepare for the seven years of famine by storing up grain and provisions during these next seven years that are going to be good years. And so, long story short, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, made Joseph like Secretary of Agriculture. He put him in charge of all this to make sure everything was carried out. And so Joseph quickly got to a place of authority and rank. Seven years, good, prosperous. They had plenty. Joseph led the people of Egypt to store up plenty of grain. They built all these places to store the grain and the harvest. And then after those seven good years came the seven bad years, just like Joseph had told Pharaoh was gonna happen. Everybody around Egypt didn't have anything to eat. And so everybody had to come to Egypt to get their food. And when they came to Egypt to get their food, they had to stand before Joseph, Secretary of Agriculture. Well, Jacob and his other sons end up coming to Egypt and they end up standing before Joseph. They didn't know it was Joseph at first, but Joseph reveals himself to his family. And as soon as he does, his brothers think, man, he's gonna get us, he's gonna kill us.

They were afraid. When they realized it was Joseph, the one they betrayed, who was now an authority in Egypt, that they were standing before begging for food. And Joseph says, I'm your brother, Joseph, the one you sold to the caravan. Immediately they think he's gonna seek revenge. But the text tells us Joseph didn't seek revenge. Joseph looked at his brothers and he said, look, I'm not seeking revenge. Revenge is not mine. Revenge belongs to God. What you meant for evil, God has meant for good. Isn't that something to say? After everything Joseph went through, he could look at the big picture and he could say, you know what? What you meant to destroy me, what you meant for evil, God took and he's meant it for good. And he's brought me to a place where not only was Joseph able to save his own family, Jacob and his brothers, but Joseph was able to save no doubt thousands of people during those years of famine where nobody had anything to eat. And because of the wisdom and discernment that God gave Joseph, Joseph was able to be used by God to save the lives of no doubt multiplied thousands of people. Now, Joseph went through some bad times. I mean, being betrayed by his brothers,

being a slave in Egypt, being thrown in prison for something he didn't do, being accused of rape when he didn't try to rape Potiphar's wife, all those things. But God used all those things in Joseph's life to bring him to a place of blessing, authority, where he could be used by God. I want you to look at your life right now and all the things that you would say would be difficult things. And we all have difficulties. I mean, life can be tough sometimes. Life can be cruel sometimes. But if you put your faith in Jesus Christ and believe the gospel, when you identify with the fact he died in your place, he rose again in your place, you've got resurrection power in you and God's doing something, even in the pain. God's got a purpose in the pain. God's got a purpose in your difficulties. In Romans 8, verse 28, it says, "'For we know that all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose.'" Everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the good things, bad things, the things that feel good, the things that bring us pain. If we're trusting God, he's using all these things for our good and for his glory. And that very next verse in Romans 8, verse 29,

it tells us the Holy Spirit is conforming us into the image of God's son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. And so in order for that to be done, sometimes we got to walk through valleys. Sometimes we're gonna have difficulty. Sometimes things are gonna happen in our lives that we don't understand. Choose to walk by faith and not by sight. Even in those times that you've got more unanswered questions than you do answers, trust God, God's working on your behalf. And you've got enough power within you in that resurrection power within you as a born-again believer to overcome any struggle that you're engaged in right now, any warfare that's raging. Whatever it is that's wanting to pull you back into those strongholds, take one step forward. Trust God, rely on the Holy Spirit, that resurrection power that's within you. God will be faithful to bring you through this period of recovery where you'll understand, you know what, I've recovered. I'm not an addict anymore. I'm not chained to that addiction anymore. The power within me, that resurrection power, all because of the gospel, I've been set free and I'm being transformed. You gotta choose to walk in that resurrection power every day and not to walk in your flesh.

Can I pray with you? Dear Heavenly Father, Lord God Almighty, we thank you for loving us, Lord, so much. You were willing. You didn't have to, but you were willing to come to this earth in the form of a man, Jesus, the sinless, spotless lamb. And you were able to come, willing to come, loving us enough that you came to die on a cross, Lord, in our place, to rise again the third day in our place. And when we reckon it to be so, when we look to the gospel in faith. faith and receive it, Lord, into our lives. We've got that resurrection power. We can't overcome. Chains are broken. Lord God, we do recover. I'm not the person I used to be. And Lord, I'm praying for everybody listening right now, Lord, I'm just praying a holy hand over them right now that, God, you'd break those chains. Help them to walk in this truth that, Lord, their deliverance is more than guaranteed. Lord, it's a done deal. All they've got to do is walk in the truth of who you are, what you've already done. It is finished. Lord God, we thank you for the victory you offer us. Help us to walk in that resurrection power. In Jesus' name, amen.