Shownotes
We can look to Jesus for best practices to experience our best lives as daughters and sons of God. In this recast episode, we explore a "Jesus tactic" -- give no ground to the Devil. As we grow, we can diminish friction and terminate self-sabotaging setbacks that work against momentum. (Live podcast recording)
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Transcripts
Hello there, friend.
Speaker A:This is Brian Del Turco.
Speaker A:I have something for you today.
Speaker A:It's really what I'm calling a Jesus tactic, a Jesus best practice.
Speaker A:After all, if we're disciples of Christ, if we're Christ followers, if we're what Dallas Willard calls an apprentice of the kingdom, we can look to Jesus for best practices.
Speaker A:And I have something today that I'm calling a Jesus tactic on how to deal with the devil.
Speaker A:And it's basically don't give them any ground.
Speaker A:Cut off the access points that the enemy uses to come against you with oppression, resistance, friction, attacks.
Speaker A:And we'll see this in this episode.
Speaker A:This is episode 98 and I did a live podcast this morning, PodBean, our hosting provider.
Speaker A:By the way, even if you have another podcasting app that you use, I encourage you to download Podbean either on iPhone or Android.
Speaker A:It's one of the top five podcasting apps on the planet.
Speaker A:They have a new feature, live podcasts, and you can use that app to listen in.
Speaker A:I'm going to play a recording from a live podcast we did this morning.
Speaker A:We can develop as an apprentice of Jesus with others, and we can begin now to live in the light and power of the new heavens and the new earth.
Speaker A:And we can reduce the resistance that we are incurring, lower the friction and really stop chronic setbacks where we self sabotage ourselves and we hinder any momentum we begin to build up.
Speaker A:As we follow Christ, we discover how to give the devil no ground to come against us.
Speaker A:We eliminate his staging ground, our lives, and greatly reduce the friction, the resistance and the attacks.
Speaker A:I'll come back at the end with just a few comments.
Speaker B:Hey there.
Speaker B:Good morning friends.
Speaker B:Brian Del Turco here.
Speaker B:Jesus Smart the podcast.
Speaker B:This is 8:30am Eastern time in the United States.
Speaker B:We have a live podcast today and it's about shutting the door to the devil, keeping the devil out, giving him no ground in our lives.
Speaker B:We're briefly just going to look at what I call a Jesus tactic, how he models for us how to keep the devil out, how to give him no ground, no openings.
Speaker B:And you know, Jesus is the smartest person who's ever walked the planet.
Speaker B:The son of God came as a human.
Speaker B:He's the smartest person to to walk the earth.
Speaker B:He shows us how life works best.
Speaker B:I like to say that the future belongs to him and the future is already breaking into our time.
Speaker B:It's sort of like a sunrise.
Speaker B:Even before the sun rises over the horizon, you can see the horizon begin to light up and glow and the sky begins to fill with light.
Speaker B:And I think it's like that in history.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:You know, the Bible says that the true light is already shining in Romans, and the darkness is already starting to pass away.
Speaker B:And it's like we're looking at that horizon, the coming of the Lord, the fullness of the kingdom coming, and yet the horizon is starting to glow.
Speaker B:And here is the good news.
Speaker B:We can live now.
Speaker B:We can start living now in the light of that age which is to come.
Speaker B:The new heavens and the new earth, the power of it.
Speaker B:Hebrews6.5 says that we can begin to taste or sample the powers of the age which are to come.
Speaker B:And so I'm.
Speaker B:I'm really motivated about, you know, developing as an apprentice of Jesus with others.
Speaker B:It's important for us to be in a vibrant community of faith, a church, but beginning to live now in the light and power of the new heavens and the new earth which is coming.
Speaker B:And what we're talking about today, briefly, is just, hey, how can we reduce resistance and reduce friction, minimize friction, and really, you know, how can we stop these chronic setbacks which hinder our momentum as we're learning how to give no ground to the devil?
Speaker B:You know, the terms tactic and strategy are often confused.
Speaker B:Tactics are like the actual concrete means that you use to obtain an objective, while strategy is sort of the overall plan, the overall pattern.
Speaker B:And when I say Jesus tactic, we can see in Jesus, he models for us how to be successful in him and how to give no ground to the devil.
Speaker B:What am I referring to?
Speaker B:Well, In John chapter 14 and verse 30, this was, I believe, on the evening before Jesus was crucified, he's with his disciples, and he says, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.
Speaker B:That is a reference to.
Speaker B:To Satan who was coming.
Speaker B:He would be tried that night.
Speaker B:He would be crucified the next morning.
Speaker B:But he goes on to say, he has nothing in me.
Speaker B:Jesus was saying, the ruler of this world is coming, but there's nothing in me that he has.
Speaker B:There is, like, no ground in me.
Speaker B:There is no basis in me by which he can.
Speaker B:Oper 8.
Speaker B:I'm freely giving my life at the cross.
Speaker B:It's my decision.
Speaker B:I'm in charge here.
Speaker B:The ruler of this world is coming, but he has nothing in me.
Speaker B:He was with his disciples.
Speaker B:He said the devil was coming, but there was no basis in him from which he could.
Speaker B:From which the devil could operate or control him.
Speaker B:There was no anger in Jesus, right?
Speaker B:No Lust.
Speaker B:There was no bitterness.
Speaker B:He was perfectly obedient to the Father.
Speaker B:There was nothing in Jesus life that was out of harmony with the Father's design.
Speaker B:And so the devil had really no ground against Jesus.
Speaker B:What Jesus was doing as he went to the cross, as he went to trial that night in the cross, the next morning, and as he rose again from the dead, this was all about the Father and Jesus.
Speaker B:This was an activity, a plan that they were pursuing.
Speaker B:The devil had had no basis against him.
Speaker B:There was nothing in him.
Speaker B:And that is the Jesus tactic.
Speaker B:Can we.
Speaker B:We're not perfect, but can we really grow and develop and become more conformed to the nature of Jesus where we can eliminate and minimize and cut off the ground in our own lives from what Satan can.
Speaker B:Can operate?
Speaker B:Here's a verse In Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 26 and 27.
Speaker B:You know, one of the most common things that we deal with as a human is anger.
Speaker B:Anger is one of the most foundational sins, if you will.
Speaker B:It's one of the most basic responses that we can have.
Speaker B:We get frustrated.
Speaker B:You know, we have unrealized expectations.
Speaker B:We can become angry.
Speaker B:And Paul said in Ephesians 4, 26 and 27, be angry and do not sin.
Speaker B:Don't let the sun go down on your wrath.
Speaker B:Don't give place to the devil.
Speaker B:And this word place here is very interesting in the Greek, from Ephesians 4.
Speaker B:It's the Greek word topos, from which we in English get our word topography.
Speaker B:What does that sound like?
Speaker B:It sounds like ground or territory.
Speaker B:Paul is saying, be angry.
Speaker B:Do not sin.
Speaker B:Don't let the sun go down on your wrath.
Speaker B:Don't give ground or topography to the devil.
Speaker B:Don't give him an opening.
Speaker B:Don't give him a place in your life from which he can unduly like, influence you and attack you.
Speaker B:In Genesis chapter four, we see this conflict resolution, this relational problem between Cain and.
Speaker B:And Abel.
Speaker B:And we can really see here an early principle, an early nugget, a truth.
Speaker B:I know there was a problem with the offering.
Speaker B:Cain was bringing an offering of the fruits of the ground.
Speaker B:And it says the Lord had regard to Abel's offering because it was a sacrifice.
Speaker B:It was an animal, it was a lamb, I believe.
Speaker B:And this is all, of course, a type and a picture of the sacrifice of Christ which would come.
Speaker B:But it says the Lord had no regard for Cain's offering.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And Cain really had, through a fit about this, he really got into an anger problem with his brother.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And God checks him and says, if you do well, will you not be accepted?
Speaker B:And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.
Speaker B:Sin is at your door.
Speaker B:Cain, be careful, you know, keep the devil out.
Speaker B:And interestingly, in the Hebrew, it's a picture of a.
Speaker B:Of a crazed animal outside Cain's door, a vicious animal.
Speaker B:And if Cain gives it access, it will come in and tear him apart.
Speaker B:And of course, you know, we know the rest of the story.
Speaker B:Cain did not respond to God, to God's, you know, admonition, if you do well, will you not be accepted?
Speaker B:But if you don't do well, sin lies at the door.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He killed his brother.
Speaker B:And it's a picture of sin as a crazed animal coming in and just tearing a situation apart.
Speaker B:Francis Frangipan says something that I really love.
Speaker B:He says, how do we defeat the enemy?
Speaker B:Our victory begins with the name of Jesus on our lips, uttered in fervent prayer.
Speaker B:But our triumph is consummated or completed by the transformation of our nature where Christ himself dwells as Lord in our hearts.
Speaker B:You know, when we first come to the Lord, our victory is initiated as we confess the Lord as our Savior as we repent of our sins, and it begins at that point, and our victory continues on our lips as we pray.
Speaker B:But Francis Frangipan is saying, our triumph or our total victory is consummated.
Speaker B:We really complete it by the transformation of our nature being conformed to the nature of Christ.
Speaker B:Our attitudes, our motivation, you know, our speech, our activity, the way we deal and relate to people, conflict resolution and doing all we can to create and maintain peace in our relationships.
Speaker B:Being holy, you know, becoming sanctified, set apart from this dark world system and more and more set apart to God's kingdom, to his nature, to, to.
Speaker B:To his way of.
Speaker B:Of living and being.
Speaker B:We're saying that, you know, Jesus is smart.
Speaker B:He knows how life works best.
Speaker B:He created everything, he designed everything.
Speaker B:He knows how it works.
Speaker B:And so it starts with the name of Jesus on our lips at conversion and even later in prayer.
Speaker B:But it's consummated by our nature being transformed.
Speaker B:See, if we, like, minimize and get rid of anger, if we get rid of lust, right, if we get rid of bitterness and unforgiveness, relationally, that's a killer.
Speaker B:We can cut off the ground of the enemy in our life.
Speaker B:We can shut the door.
Speaker B:See, Christ has won the victory, there's no doubt.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And we are now the righteousness of God in Christ, right?
Speaker B:But we have to practically walk it out.
Speaker B:My friend, I have to do this.
Speaker B:And I know what setbacks are all about.
Speaker B:You know, I know what it's like to start maintaining or start creating some momentum in my development in Christ.
Speaker B:And I know what it is to see that momentum dissipate and be reduced because I've compromised in some way or, you know, I haven't been consistent in expressing the nature of Jesus.
Speaker B:I've been carnal.
Speaker B:You know, inconsistency.
Speaker B:It's the, it's, it's really the power of staying clean.
Speaker B:I'm not talking about legalism here.
Speaker B:I'm not talking about like a performance mindset or like a works.
Speaker B:Righteousness.
Speaker B:We are saved by grace.
Speaker B:But, but my friend, grace.
Speaker B:We have to really look into what the grace of God is.
Speaker B:Grace is not just remedial.
Speaker B:It's not just so I can keep messing up and going back and asking for forgiveness.
Speaker B:I mean, it.
Speaker B:Grace includes that.
Speaker B:It includes that unmerited favor.
Speaker B:We are justified by grace alone.
Speaker B:We're made right with God.
Speaker B:That is our positional standing.
Speaker B:But grace is also empowerment from God to begin living more and more in the way he wants us to, according to his design, to really optimize ourselves as a Christ follower.
Speaker B:Grace is empowerment to stop doing that thing, to stop that unforgiveness, to create and maintain peace relationally no matter what, to stop yielding to lust and, and carrying our sexuality in a way in faithful marriage right within that design.
Speaker B:If we're not married yet, it's on the horizon for us.
Speaker B:But grace is empowerment to live according to design.
Speaker B:There's a very powerful passage in First John, chapter one, beginning with verse five.
Speaker B:John says, this is the message we've heard from him, and we proclaim it to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
Speaker B:So if we say we have fellowship with him while we continue to walk in darkness, we're lying and we're not practicing the truth.
Speaker B:But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, right?
Speaker B:There's going to be, it's really going to enhance our horizontal relational plane.
Speaker B:And it says the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Speaker B:If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Speaker B:But if we confess our sins, verse nine, just a great promise when we mess up, right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker B:I mean, it is the power of being clean, staying clean with the Lord, keeping short accounts, like perhaps on a daily basis.
Speaker B:Lord, is there anything today, attitudinally or motivationally in my life or words I've spoken or things I should have said or done that I did not do?
Speaker B:You know, shortcomings by omission.
Speaker B:Not just commission, but omission, right.
Speaker B:Routinely ask the Holy Spirit to search our lives and reveal to us how he wants us to develop.
Speaker B:Are there any access points that we need to close?
Speaker B:It's a smart tactic.
Speaker B:I'm saying it's a Jesus tactic.
Speaker B:Jesus in John 14, on the night before he was crucified, said, look, the Prince of this world is coming, but he has nothing in me.
Speaker B:Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 4 to give no ground, give no topaz, no topography, no territory in your life to the devil using that really big issue of anger there.
Speaker B:But we can apply it to anything.
Speaker B:Here's what Jack Hayford says.
Speaker B:He says the reason for many people's discouragement and defeat is because at some point they are not in right alignment with the Lord's ways, either because they don't realize it or due to outright disobedience.
Speaker B:He's saying defeat is caused by something that's out of alignment with the Lord's design, the Lord's ways for our life.
Speaker B:So he continues to say that learning how to align in God's ways is essential to establishing a life that is efficient.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Efficient.
Speaker B:In moving on in the victory Jesus has for us, Jesus has obtained the victory.
Speaker B:We are saved by grace, through faith.
Speaker B:We are instantly upon, you know, regeneration.
Speaker B:We're put in right standing with God.
Speaker B:When God looks at us, he sees the righteousness of his son, Christ.
Speaker B:That's accredited to our account.
Speaker B:But we also are invited by the Lord.
Speaker B:We're commanded by the Lord to work out that salvation with fear and trembling in a practical way, you know, to become in our.
Speaker B:Our daily experience what we already are positionally before God because of the merits of Christ.
Speaker B:So here's just a few takeaways as we land this today that we can close off the door.
Speaker B:We can close off access points, the dark powers that would seek to penetrate into our lives through unconfessed sin, you know, compromise, things we're putting up with that are really breaking our momentum as we seek to develop in the Lord and as we seek to live our best life in him and really, you know, discharge our calling, if you will, those things that break our consistency and Break our momentum.
Speaker B:We don't have to put up with that.
Speaker B:We can stop that.
Speaker B:A tactic is give him no ground.
Speaker B:So here's just a few takeaways.
Speaker B:Do a personal audit on how things are going in your life.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Just do a personal audit.
Speaker B:And, you know, it says in Psalm 138, the Lord will perfect that which concerns me.
Speaker B:Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever.
Speaker B:Do not forsake the works of your hands.
Speaker B:I think it was David writing that.
Speaker B:Psalm 138, verse 8, and then in the next Psalm, Psalm 139, and this is definitely David at the very end of the psalm.
Speaker B:Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Speaker B:You see the personal audit dynamic there?
Speaker B:Search me, O God.
Speaker B:We're inviting him in.
Speaker B:Show me, like, what I'm missing.
Speaker B:Show me sins I don't know about.
Speaker B:Show me patterns in my life that are not in alignment, as Jack Haford was saying, are not in alignment with your ways that are like blind spots.
Speaker B:Search me, O God.
Speaker B:Know my heart, try me, and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in that way, everlasting.
Speaker B:See again, back to Jack Hayford when we're out of alignment with the Lord's ways.
Speaker B:So David is saying, lead me back in the way that's everlasting.
Speaker B:That's staying power.
Speaker B:Being clean is staying power.
Speaker B:I. I think there is a verse that says, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
Speaker B:We need to carry that healthy sense of the fear of the Lord that keeps us clean, that keeps us in that place of joy and positivity.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Keeps us developing in Christ.
Speaker B:Keeps.
Speaker B:Well, what do you think?
Speaker B:Can I pray for you?
Speaker B:Just a few sentences, my friend.
Speaker B:And for myself as well, because I'm just as much in need as anyone.
Speaker B:I see it as even more so.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the grace of God, which not only forgives our sins, but empowers us to be transformed.
Speaker B:And I thank you for the joy that's available in the Lord.
Speaker B:The positivity, the vision.
Speaker B:Eye has not seen, ear has not heard.
Speaker B:It is not entered into the heart of man.
Speaker B:All the things that God has prepared for those who love him.
Speaker B:Jesus, we're saying that we're not only saved to go to heaven someday, but we're saved to be transformed now.
Speaker B:We're saved now to begin to walk in those good works that you have for us to really live our life according to design from above and to live our best life in you and to really maintain continuity and consistency, we ask for that Father.
Speaker B:So show us Lord, if there's any wicked way in us.
Speaker B:Show us how we can shut the door and cut off any access points.
Speaker B:Lead us in the way.
Speaker B:Everlasting Holy Spirit, we thank you.
Speaker B:We welcome you in Jesus name.
Speaker B:Hey there my friend.
Speaker B:My name is Brian Del Turco.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:I have another blog [email protected] I encourage you to go to jesussmart.com and do a search.
Speaker B:Go to the archives or go to the search field.
Speaker B:How to defeat the devil with the Word of God.
Speaker B:Again looking at Jesus experience in the wilderness.
Speaker B:Temptation with Satan, another Jesus tactic.
Speaker B:How to defeat the devil by speaking out the word of God against his temptations.
Speaker B:Another tactic.
Speaker B:Jesuss smart.com you could check that out.
Speaker B:There's also a podcast there.
Speaker B:There's about 90 mid-90s, 90 now I think.
Speaker B:This podcast is obviously on Podbean.
Speaker B:You're listening to this live podcast on Podbean, but it's also on Apple and just about anywhere podcast can be heard.
Speaker B:It's on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker B:It's on Spotify.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So my friend, I appreciate you.
Speaker B:Remember, as with Jesus, our horizon is always brilliant.
Speaker B:It's empowering to follow him.
Speaker B:Make it a smart week.
Speaker B:All the best.
Speaker B:Until next time.
Speaker B:Bye bye.
Speaker A:So as I see it, I think the question is how far do we want to develop in Christ?
Speaker A:There really is no ceiling.
Speaker A:You have blue skies all above you.
Speaker A:You have horizons that extend out infinitely before you.
Speaker A:How much do we want to develop?
Speaker A:We can look to Jesus for tactics and best practices.
Speaker A:After all, he came in human form.
Speaker A:He was fully yielded to the Holy Spirit, fully empowered.
Speaker A:He was fully obedient.
Speaker A:And he's a model.
Speaker A:He's a template for us on how to develop as a Christian, as a Christ follower, as a daughter and son of God.
Speaker A:You can go to jesussmart.com to learn more about the podcast.
Speaker A:I encourage you.
Speaker A:If you don't have the Podbean app yet, download it to your device and it will least test out and explore the next live podcast or two and test out that live functionality with chatting, questions, comments in real time.
Speaker A:Appreciate you.
Speaker A:Go to the Show Notes page for this episode for links and further information about this theme.
Speaker A:We'll catch you next time.
Speaker B:Wow.