How do we stay surrounded by holy all week long?
Are you getting an atmosphere like this and a presence like this,
and it's like the longer we dwell on it, the thicker it gets, the heavier it gets.
But how do we do it when we're not here?
And I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to emphasize some things,
because some of us might be going through some difficult times,
some of us might be hurting,
some of us might be having challenges that we don't know how we're going to overcome.
In this human life, Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble.
It's just because this world's fallen.
We're going to have problems here. It's just the way it is.
But how do we stay surrounded by holy
and not get pulled into the unholy
that is so prevalent in this world?
You ever think about this?
Paul, the apostle Paul, was away from Jerusalem most of his ministry.
He was on mission trips. He was...
He wasn't...
He didn't spend a lot of time in Jerusalem.
He came there a few times and met with the church leaders,
but that's not where he hung out.
Paul had people trying to kill him.
He was stoned and left for dead.
He was beaten with rods,
not not whips, rods several times.
He was whipped several times.
He was in continual opposition.
There was a group of people that literally followed him around the world to oppose him.
It's like they felt that was their calling from God.
To just follow Paul around and declare this guy's nuts.
Every time he had meetings,
somebody was there shooting off their big mouth.
He was wrong.
How did Paul, who had people with him,
but he was the one leading?
Sometimes he had Timothy with him.
Sometimes he had Titus, Silas for a while, Barnabas for a while.
But it seems from Scripture that Paul was the one leading all the time.
He was the one initiating. God asked him to do these things.
How did Paul deal with his depression that tried to get on him?
How did Paul deal with his discouragement?
How did Paul not get a bad attitude?
Over the continual opposition and persecution?
How did he get back up and keep ministering
after the third time of being left for dead and being whipped and being beaten with rods?
How did he stay encouraged and focused and faithful and on track?
There is no evidence that he ever had to go to someone to get prayed for.
There's no evidence in Scripture.
No, I'm not saying. The people that were with him didn't get together and try to encourage them and pray with them.
I'm not saying that.
But sometimes in the church the mentality is,
if I can just get someone to pray for me, then I can get through this.
How can you stay surrounded with holy the presence of God
without getting prayed for all the time?
Paul gave us a number of keys that he lived by.
One is he prayed in tongues almost continually.
We have got to learn how to discipline ourselves to pray in tongues
not occasionally, not daily, almost continually.
It is a huge key.
Number two, he trained his mind not to get into the negative.
He said whatever is honest, whatever is pure, whatever is just, whatever is righteous,
think on these things.
Guard your mind.
Don't let it just go where it wants to go because it will go into a negative pity party.
Think on the things God has told you.
Think on the things that are promises to you.
Think on the things that he is asking you to do.
Think on who you are in him.
Think on your identity in him and what he is calling you and making you to be.
Giving thanks in every situation.
That is a key, Paul had.
Rather than grumbling about the situation, thank God he is working in it.
Thank you God, you see what is going on in my life.
Thank you God, you love me beyond anything this world has to offer.
Thank you God that you are directing my steps and your word will speak to me
and your spirit is given to me to comfort me.
Thank you God that the way out is already prepared because you will allow no temptation to take me
but such as his common demand and with every temptation you make a way of escape.
Thank you God, you are faithful and even when I am faithless, you are faithful my God
and you watch over and you keep and you guard and you've given your angels to surround me
and they will guard me lest I dash my foot against the stone.
Thank you God for who you are to me.
And thank you God the victory is at mine.
The victory is mine.
For all the promises and you are yes and amen.
You are the one who leads me into triumph.
Thank you God, it doesn't make any difference what it looks like today.
Thank you for what you're doing.
And praise him in the middle of the situation.
Praise him.
When they were in jail, when they were locked down, they had just been whipped, their bodies were aching.
They praised him.
We have to learn to surround ourselves with holy, to just stay in it.
Use the spirit language God has given to you more and more and more and more.
Guard your thoughts.
They will take you negative if you don't do what Paul said.
And guard your thoughts, guard your heart on what you allow yourself to think about.
Thank him for what he's doing.
You say my situation is horrible, I don't see a way out. That's alright, God does.
You thank him for the way out. And he'll show it to you.
He'll show it to you. He loves us too much to let us sit in a situation and be destroyed.
He will show us the way out.
And praise him in advance for what he's already working to make it happen.
And to fit where me, I'd add one more thing on.
Realize it's not all about you.
He's working in other people's lives and hearts at the same time he's working with you.
Because what you do has an effect on others.
And sometimes our timetable is, OK, God, already? Come on.
How long is it going to take for you to get your act together and get me out of this?
Well, remember, there's others he's working with.
And that might be why you're stuck in it a little longer than you like.
Because he's working on them at the same time he's working on you.
But there's always an end game.
There's always a way of escape. Always.
And you will come out victorious.
But we have to learn to surround ourselves in holy.
Listening to music, godly music is great.
Listening to godly speakers is great.
Paul didn't have either one.
Stop and think about it. Paul didn't have either one. He didn't have a stereo.
And there weren't any podcasts back then.
The greatest, the greatest, is what we choose in ourself and what comes up and out of us.
The Holy Spirit was given to make sure we walk through this thing.
He is our comforter. He's the one called alongside us.
Tap what is already in you.