When you go where you are not meant to be,
you will find what you are not meant to see.
People of God, grace and peace to you all in Jesus' mighty name.
Let us pray together right now and commit this time into the mighty hands of God.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You from the depths of our hearts
for the precious blood You shed for us on the cross of Calvary.
We acknowledge, we recognise how undeserving we are
and we are grateful for everything You are,
for everything You have done.
Lord Jesus Christ, let the light of Your Word
shine bright in our hearts today with understanding.
Let Your Word have its way in our hearts and help us to apply this truth
to our daily lives, in Jesus' mighty name, we pray.
And the children of God said, 'Amen!'
Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Jesus Christ!
I want to share a message today that
I believe will encourage you, but also challenge you.
I was speaking with someone recently and the person asked a very good question
and I want to share the question asked.
The answer to that question gave birth to the message you're about to hear today.
So the person was asking me about something I had said in a previous message.
In that message, I had said, 'If God permits it,
He will prepare you for it,
He will give you peace in the midst of it, and He will promote you through it.'
I hope you remember that message. It's a word of encouragement.
Whatever we may be facing as Christians, as children of God,
listen, if God permits you to pass through it,
He will provide peace in the process of seeing you through it.
That's a word of hope.
But the question this brother asked me was very straightforward.
He said, 'Brother Chris, I'm going through a difficult situation
right now and I don't have any peace in the midst of it.
Does this mean God did not permit it?
I'm going through a terrible situation
and God did not prepare me for it.
I don't have peace in the midst of it. I'm not seeing promotion coming from it.
So does that mean God was not aware,
God did not permit it, God did not allow it?'
I said, 'This is a very good question.'
People of God, if you are going through a difficult situation
and you don't have peace of heart in the midst of that situation,
oftentimes it is because it is self-inflicted, not divinely permitted.
Take note, I said, 'Oftentimes'.
Many times you're going through a challenge, trial,
you don't have peace in the midst of it.
You're filled with worry, anxiety, fear.
Oftentimes it's because it is self-inflicted, not divinely permitted.
Not always.
There can be some situations where God allows it, but maybe that situation
shifts our focus off God and we fall into that trap of panic, fear, worry.
Remember our Lord Jesus Christ when He called Simon Peter to come.
It was an instruction from Jesus, 'Come!'
Peter came, but when he saw the waves, the winds, what happened?
His focus left the Saviour and turned to the storm.
When he saw the waves and the winds, fear stepped in.
He began to sink.
Sometimes our situation can feel so overwhelming and our attention is taken
from our Saviour, from our Source.
That's true.
But today, I want to talk about
the challenges, the trials, the difficulties that are self-inflicted.
Because when you face a self-inflicted trial,
you will not be prepared for it,
you will not have peace in the midst of it, and you will not be promoted
through it unless you turn to God in the face of it, in repentance.
Now, what do I mean when I say a self-inflicted trouble, a self-inflicted trial?
Well, people of God, take note of this.
Those of you who are connected today, you brought your notebook,
you want to take note of something for further reflection, you can write this down.
A self-invited temptation leads to a self-inflicted trouble.
I'll say it again.
A self-invited temptation leads to a self-inflicted tribulation.
There are temptations that God allows.
There are temptations that we invite.
Let me just read from 1 Corinthians 10:13.
This is a very popular Scripture when talking on this subject matter.
But I want you to think carefully about this.
1 Corinthians 10:13,
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation
will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it."
If you cannot find a way out, you have shown the way in.
People of God, if you are with someone,
you can tell the person or you can tell yourself,
“If you have not found the way out,
you have shown the way in to sin.”
If you don't find an escape route, you have let sin take root.
This is what the Scripture is saying here.
The temptation that God permits is accompanied by a way out.
But the temptation we easily fall into is the temptation we invite.
And if you open the door, don't blame the devil for entering through it.
Don't blame the devil for entering through
the door you leave wide open for him.
I hope you follow what I’m saying here, people of God.
If you invite temptation, don't assume God will help you to fight temptation.
God will not see you through the temptation invited by you.
If you invite it, you are left alone to fight it.
This is the reason why many people today are facing self-inflicted trials
in their marriage, in their health, in their finances,
because they set themselves up for temptation.
And when you set yourself up for temptation,
temptation will soon be set up for you and you will likely fall into it.
The consequences of falling into that temptation
often lead to self-inflicted troubles.
I want to talk to you today about two very common ways
we invite temptation so we can examine ourselves in the light of God's Word.
Two ways that we invite temptation -
1. We go where we are not meant to go.
2. We do not go where we are meant to go.
Oh, thank You, Jesus.
I will say it again, people of God. There are two common ways
we invite temptation, or two ways in which we tempt the devil to tempt us.
1. We go where we are not meant to go -
being where we are not meant to be as children of God.
2. We don't go where we are meant to go.
Now, if you are to look at these two common ways in which we invite temptation,
I think the first one is something far easier to understand.
As a child of God, there are certain places we should not go,
I should not go, you should not go.
You should not go to a place where Jesus Christ would not be welcomed.
Don't expect God's grace, God's protection, to cover you
when you go to a place, knowingly, where sin is celebrated.
You are walking into the lion's den.
You are asking for temptation to come.
And when you go where you are not meant to go, what happens?
You are on your own.
And this natural strength cannot overcome sin's power.
Natural wisdom cannot defeat the devil's cunning.
You say, 'I'm strong in myself.'
You go to a place where Jesus will not be welcomed.
You go on your own.
The Spirit of God is not there to protect you.
The Spirit of God is not there to make a way out for you.
You're going to fall into the trap you have set for yourself.
So I could give a very simple example, right?
Let's say someone is praying, 'God, I want to stop drinking alcohol.
I know this is bad for my spiritual life, physical life, financial life, marital life.
In every department, it is bad, sinful.
I want to stop drinking alcohol,' and you receive prayer.
You join the Interactive Prayer Service
or you go to a living church to receive prayer or you're seeking God on your own.
But after that prayer, you use your own two legs to walk
to a bar, to a club, to a pub where alcohol is being sold and celebrated.
You are walking into the trap that you will fall into.
You're going to fall straight back into that ungodly influence. Why?
Because you are going where you are not meant to go.
What business does a child of God
have with a place that celebrates sin, or a place that celebrates darkness?
So I think it is easier to understand that particular example.
Hey, as a child of God, some places are off-limits.
I should not go there.
There is no justification for going there.
But let's now look at the second one,
because it's not just about going where you are not meant to go.
Do you know what is the cause of many invited temptations?
We are not where we are meant to be.
I want to turn to the Scriptures to read a story
in the Old Testament that illustrates the danger of this,
and that is taken from the Book of 2 Samuel.
Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 11.
Now this is the account of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah.
I believe you are familiar with this story, David and Bathsheba.
It's a well-known story.
How could this man after God's own heart, the king,
succumb to that temptation with Bathsheba?
Let us examine not just the sinful action,
but what happened before that led to that temptation.
So I want to read this account.
Let's start from verse one,
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle,
that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel;
and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah.
But David remained at Jerusalem.
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed
and walked on the roof of the king's house.
And from the roof he saw a woman bathing,
and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
So David sent and inquired about the woman.
And someone said, 'Is this not Bathsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?'
Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her,
for she was cleansed from her impurity;
and she returned to her house.
And the woman conceived;
so she sent and told David, and said, 'I am with child.'
Then David sent to Joab, saying, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.'
And Joab sent Uriah to David.
When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing,
and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered.
And David said to Uriah, 'Go down to your house and wash your feet.'
So Uriah departed from the king's house,
and a gift of food from the king followed him.
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house
with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
So when they told David, saying, 'Uriah did not go down to his house,'
David said to Uriah, 'Did you not come from a journey?
Why did you not go down to your house?'
And Uriah said to David, 'The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents,
and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields.
Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife?
As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing."
I'm going to pause the reading here.
This is a very sad, sobering story,
and, although we will not read the entire passage,
eventually, because Uriah does not go back to meet his wife,
David sends him back to the battle with a letter to Joab,
effectively arranging his murder,
and Uriah was killed on the battleground.
And afterwards David then took Bathsheba to be his wife.
It is a seriously sad story - how a man who loved God,
a man after God's heart, could not only fall
into that trap of temptation, but then go on this journey of cover-up
that led him to increasingly worse sins.
Before I go back to the beginning of this chapter to examine what led
to David being in the place where such a temptation struck,
I think it's worth saying something important here -
sin always outstays its welcome.
It gives you far less than you desire and takes far more than you realise.
Sin is like a wildfire that cannot be contained once lit.
No human efforts to contain it will succeed without repentance.
Sin will take you further than you are prepared to stray,
will hold you longer than you are willing to stay,
and will cost you more than you are ready to pay.
This is the case of David and Bathsheba.
It's a big lesson, people of God, a very big lesson.
David's attempt to cover up his sin
became a downward spiral that led him increasingly
down into the depths of even more sin.
The more you attempt to cover up sin, the tighter it increases its grip on you.
The wildfire of sin can only be contained by a repentant heart.
Or let me say the wildfire of sin
can only be contained by the blood of Jesus Christ,
which we have access to when we repent genuinely, sincerely.
I know this is a serious subject, people of God, but let's look into this.
What happened to David?
What happened that he fell headlong into this trap of Bathsheba?
Okay, I want to read again to you 2 Samuel 11:1.
Let's examine the scenario before this encounter.
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle..."
David was a warrior.
He had been with his army on the battleground,
but on this occasion, the army went out to battle
but the king remained at Jerusalem.
I hope you see where I'm going with this, people of God.
David was meant to be with his men at the battle
but he remained in Jerusalem.
And because he was not where he was meant to be,
the idleness that he fell into soon led to the temptation that he invited.
Why do I say idleness? 2 Samuel 11:2, "Then it happened one evening..."
Take note - in the evening, David arose from his bed.
His men are fighting on the field while David was sleeping in his bed.
I hope you follow the lesson I'm painting to everyone here, people of God.
In the afternoon he was sleeping - a time he was not meant to.
And then he got up in the evening and went up to the roof.
When you go where you are not meant to be,
you will find what you are not meant to see.
If you are searching for what is not missing,
you will soon locate what you are not looking for.
David went up to the roof in the evening
because he was on his bed in the afternoon,
while his men were fighting on the field of battle.
People of God, there's a big lesson here.
There is a very big lesson here for all of you, for all of us.
If David was with his men on the field of battle,
he would not have been at that place, at that moment
where his eyes saw Bathsheba and he fell into that temptation.
Do you know there are many testimonies that your eyes may never see
because you are where God wants you to be.
He has preserved you.
He has protected you.
He has seen you through battles you didn't even know existed,
because you were in the right place.
There is no moment spent in God's projects, God's assignments,
that is wasted, that is missed, that is lost.
You have no idea how God has rescued you
just by being in the right place and doing the right thing -
being in your assignment.
What happened with David?
He stepped out of his duty, and so he stepped into temptation.
People of God, think about this.
When you step out of the path of your duty,
you will soon step into the path of temptation.
If you neglect your assignments, it will surely deflect your focus.
If you let down your guard, idleness seeps in,
you can fall into that temptation.
David was not an idle man. He was a warrior, a man of war. We know his exploits.
We have so many examples in the Scriptures.
He was not an idle man, but in a moment of idleness...
Or let me put it like this,
a moment of idleness turned into a moment of madness.
And the man after God's own heart fell to the sin of adultery.
This is a serious message, once again, people of God.
We don't know how God has been preserving us
simply by our presence in His presence,
by being in the right place at the right time.
I used to hear some people say today,
'I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
People of God, let me tell you a vital truth,
as a child of God, you will not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why?
Because if you are in the right place with God,
He will preserve you from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Think about how many troubles people enter today,
how many negative situations emerge today because people are in the wrong place,
at the wrong time, with the wrong people.
Because if you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time,
you will get connected to the wrong people -
people that divide your life, people that subtract from your life.
On the contrary, if you are in the right place with God,
you will be moving at the right pace
and you will find yourself surrounded by the right people -
people that will add to your life, contribute to your spiritual growth,
multiply your life.
When you are committed to your assignment from God, He will connect you to those
who are equally committed to the same cause.
Let me give you advice, because many people reach out to us at God's Heart TV,
with this issue of marriage, 'I want to find my godly partner, the right person.
When will the right person come?'
People of God, you will not find the right person in the wrong place.
You will not find the right person in the wrong place.
If you stay in the right place with God,
He will bring the right person at His appointed time.
But we get desperate. We look at our age.
We look at all these other circumstantial factors, pressures from society, and we
go to the wrong place, at the wrong time, and expect to meet the right person. No!
These are invited temptations.
And if you invite temptation, don't expect spiritual benefits.
Don't assume a spiritual benefit for a self-inflicted trial.
As I'm recounting this story of David, you can just reflect
on your own life, your own journey of faith.
Let's contrast David's attitude to Uriah's attitude.
Oh, there is a big difference.
Uriah left the battle, but the battle did not leave him.
He physically left his assignment, but his assignment did not leave him.
Even when he came back to see the king, he refused to go and meet with
his wife or eat and drink as the king wanted. Why?
Because he said, 'How can I do this whilst those men are on the battlefield?'
Even though Uriah left the battle in flesh,
he did not leave the battle in spirit.
The problem with David is that he was neither
present in the battle in flesh nor in spirit.
I hope you understand, people of God.
Even if David was not there physically,
if he was alert that a battle's going on,
there are people putting their lives on the line to fight his enemies,
he would have joined them in spirit.
He would have stayed alert to that assignment,
even if he was not physically in the place of that assignment.
But whilst his men were busy fighting his enemies on the field,
he was busy playing games with the enemy on the roof.
Take note, I'm not saying Bathsheba was his enemy.
The devil is our actual enemy.
He was not present in the battle physically,
but equally, he was not present in the battle spiritually.
Some people may say, 'David is a fighting man.
You know, he'd gone out to many battles. He'd won many victories.
This was a time for him to rest.
It's not every time he had to lead the men in battle.
He could have gone back to rest.'
Okay, people of God, I agree, there is a time to work, there is a time to rest.
But when you rest when you are meant to work,
it will only leave you more stressed.
If you relax at the time you are not meant to,
it is far from relaxing because it is accompanied by guilt.
There is no real pleasure in ill-timed leisure, unearned leisure.
I hope you follow what I'm saying, people of God.
It's a divine decree to rest. Yes, there are times this body needs rest.
But if you rest in the body, don't relent in the spirit.
Don't rest in the spirit. This was the problem of David.
He not only left the battle naturally, he was not there spiritually.
That's why idleness crept in.
Look, I'm not saying you should not rest.
Of course, this body needs rest.
But look, rest is an extension of your assignment, not an escape from it.
Rest should be an expression of faith, not an exception of faith.
What do I mean?
If you are to rest this flesh, you must not rest your spirit.
You must stay alert.
Watch and pray.
Many of us today, what happens?
We say, 'I want to rest. I want to relax.'
But in the process of relaxing, what are we doing?
We are where we are not meant to be.
We see what we are not meant to see.
If you want to rest, don't simply look for something that can entertain your flesh.
Look for something that can edify your spirit
because the devil does not respect your time of relaxation.
Look at David - if this could happen to a man after God's own heart,
how much more so should we be careful?
Be careful, people of God.
Don't tempt the devil to tempt you. Don't invite temptation.
Now, some of you may hear this message today and say,
'Brother Chris, David was a man of war.
This was a clear-cut scenario. You know, his soldiers were on the battleground.
Me, I am not working in the army.
I'm not going to fight a physical battle. What can I do?
What do you mean that I must stay in the place where God wants me to be?
I must stay in my assignment. What does that mean practically?'
People of God, if you take care of your relationship with God,
you will know there are assignments all around that He has given you.
There is no one connected here whom God has not given an assignment.
If you drown out the noise of your situation and listen to the prompting
of your conscience, you will know what you need to do.
Your contribution to others is an assignment from God.
I will say it again.
Your contribution to others is an assignment from God.
Use what is in your hands to help and watch what is in your hands grow.
If you have too much time for yourself,
you will soon find yourself spending it on your wants, not your needs.
And man's wants are unlimited.
The confusion of needs with wants is the cause of the crisis in contentment.
We are not content and lack of contentment
makes you a candidate for carnal comparison.
We're not content.
We're so busy looking at the lives of others rather than living our own lives.
I remember an old saying that there are three types of people in this world -
those who make things happen,
those who watch things happen,
and those who wonder what happened.
We're too busy comparing ourselves with others,
focusing on what we want rather than what we need.
God has promised as a good Father to meet the needs of His children -
not necessarily our wants.
David had everything that he needed.
God had given him everything, even more abundantly, more than he needed.
But because he neglected his duty, his focus was deflected,
and he started focusing on what he wanted, not what he needed.
And then he saw Bathsheba and fell into the trap of the devil.
It's important, people of God, that we address issues like this,
not to condemn you, no.
Look, even if you're watching this message right now and you reflect and realise,
'My situation is self-inflicted because I invited temptation' -
there is hope because the answer to a self-inflicted trial is repentance.
When you turn to God with all your heart, He can still turn that situation around
and it can still lead to your progress and promotion.
That's the mystery.
Even David, with what happened...
Do you know, people of God, that after this, when the prophet Nathan rebuked him
and he repented, do you know that this very scenario led him to write Psalm 51?
A Psalm, I believe so many of us present here have read
and been touched by the Holy Spirit.
A message that resonates through generations,
that came from a repentant heart.
And even though sin connected David with Bathsheba,
we know that eventually their union produced King Solomon,
a man who has provided such words of wisdom through the Proverbs,
and someone who was even part of the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What does this mean?
Even if your trial is self-inflicted,
and right now, you don't have peace in the midst of it,
the answer is to repent.
Repentance comes when you stop blaming and start changing.
Stop blaming.
‘I'm facing this because of what they did to me.’
‘I'm going through this because of my family background.’
‘I did this because everyone in my workplace is doing it - it's okay.’
‘I'm going through this difficulty because of the corruption in my government.’
‘I'm facing this because of that.’
Even if there is an element of truth in that allegation,
spiritually, the answer is not to blame.
Blaming will not produce change; it will keep you in chains.
Repent, reconnect with God
and He can still provide that peace in the midst of it
even if you face the consequences of it.
Repentance does not necessarily remove consequence,
but it enables you to put the best construction on it.
May God bless His Word in the midst of our hearts.
And may He help us to stay on the path of our calling
that we avoid the road that leads to our falling.
In Jesus' mighty name we pray, amen.
At this point, I would love to hear from one or two of you,
if there's a lesson you have learnt from this sermon, this word of encouragement,
or perhaps you have a question to ask in the light of this message,
let's give some time right now for that.
I am Eliane.
I'm originally from Ivory Coast, but I'm a Dutch citizen living in Amsterdam.
Brother Chris, I want to say thank you for the message about King David and Bathsheba.
This message really touched me because it captured my own story.
I found myself where I shouldn't have been
and I met a married man and I had a child for him.
And the only child that I have was born with sickle-cell anaemia.
So I know that what I did was very wrong.
And I'm always asking God to forgive me because it's very bad.
And she's the only child I have.
Now she's doing fine because I'm praying every day for her
and I have taken her to a man of God to pray for her.
But sometimes I think that the consequences are still there.
I think that maybe I may lose my child and when I think about it
I'm always crying and I'm always asking God for forgiveness.
This message really touched me.
It is my story.
I'm so sorry.
Please help me beg God.
This is just what I wanted to say, it's a comment.
I don't have any question. I know that what I've done is very bad.
I'm just asking God to help me, to forgive me.
Because I even asked the woman,
the married woman, before she got divorced with her husband,
I asked for forgiveness.
But my daughter, my only child, she has sickle-cell anaemia.
Mama, so thank you very much for being open.
We can see your tears.
We know to have a child in a health challenge,
as a mother, we understand your heart. So let me thank you for being open.
You know, that's why I said that this time of question and answer is very important.
It makes it practical.
What our mother is saying is a real situation that she's in.
But, mama, I want to encourage you, first of all.
Our God is not someone that
you have to beg for forgiveness for many months or years before it is released. No.
The devil who tries to incite us to sin against God
is the same one who tries to twist our understanding of who God is after we sin
so that we fall into the trap of condemnation.
‘Because I've done this and I am facing a challenge, this is God punishing me.
This is the consequences and I cannot be forgiven.
Or I have to maybe do certain sacrifices in order to be forgiven.’ No!
The blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for you, mama,
for me, is so abundant, so sufficient
that when we turn to Him with all of our hearts and repent -
we can see your tears as you repent - it's over.
You are forgiven.
If there is a situation, in this case with your daughter,
don't assume that the challenge she's facing is
a retribution or a punishment for what you did. No.
Situations come in life. The question is, what do we do about them?
Here you are today seeking God.
A child can be sick. That doesn't mean that
because of that sickness, they are limited from achieving
what God wants them to achieve while they are here on earth.
And it doesn't mean that you as a mother should move around laden
with guilt and condemnation because of a mistake you made in the past.
That is the devil's intention to rob you of joy, to rob you of peace.
Yes, we are not denying there is a challenge with your daughter.
And I am happy you've said you've taken her for prayer.
Prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is powerful.
There is healing in the name of Jesus Christ.
But for you, mama, don't go through life thinking that God is
punishing you for your past mistakes
and that the only evidence of His forgiveness,
is if that situation in your daughter's life changes.
‘Oh, I am not forgiven until that situation changes’ - no!
Situations may be there in life.
Even though the circumstance behind her birth is what you have shared,
that doesn't mean it's the cause of her having sickle-cell.
A child could be born with an affliction.
It doesn't necessarily mean it's because of the circumstances behind their birth.
So don't have that mindset that the only evidence of
God's forgiveness for me is a change in my daughter's situation.
What must you do? Take this to God in prayer.
As you've turned to Him, you've recognised,
you were even open to say it publicly, that you did this, it was wrong,
you've identified - as far as you do that with your heart
and you acknowledge that, it's over.
Spiritually, the blood of Jesus washes it clear, washes it clean.
You start afresh.
So, mama, please, thank you for being open,
but I want you to dry your tears.
Our God is not one who is going to be
counting the magnitude of your wrong and holding it against you. No.
Sin is sin.
All of us stand in helpless need of His divine forgiveness,
and all of us can receive that divine forgiveness
on the platform of faith and repentance.
So we will join you in prayer for your daughter.
We know there is healing in the name of Jesus.
Thank you for being open to share that. We can see mama's tears.
And I know her words have touched many of us as well today.
My name is Gabriel from Colombia.
My question is why is it that the more I pray, the more I fast,
the more I read my Bible, the more the temptation?
And sometimes I fall into it.
What our brother is talking about is something I've heard many times.
People ask, 'I don't understand. I'm trying to draw closer to God,
but it seems as if the temptations and trials are increasing, not decreasing.
Am I doing something wrong? What's going on here?'
And I would just encourage you, my brother,
there is no prayer, no fasting, no spiritual maturity in this world
that will remove the reality of temptation
because we are in a world which is dominated by those in darkness.
I don't say that to cause fear or apprehension,
but if we look at society, we look at what's happening,
we are living in a world that people have strayed so far from godly principles.
Sin has dominated so many hearts.
So as we navigate this world, it's a reality.
There will be a lot of temptation.
And as you rightly said, there are times you fall.
There's a big difference, though, as I said in this message,
between the temptation God allows and the temptation we invite.
If God allows temptation but you still fall into it, because we are weak
and sometimes we succumb to the flesh, what will happen?
You will repent and learn from that situation.
‘Oh, what happened that I fell?
This is what happened before I fell - I learn from it.’
You actually increase your spiritual maturity
through the experience of succumbing to temptation.
But if it's a temptation you invite - when you fall into it,
you are not going to have that spiritual benefit.
That's the difference.
Once again, I'm not saying you cannot turn to God afterwards.
There's no situation, no matter how bad, that stops us
from the decision of turning to God.
Even if a trial is self-inflicted, even if temptation is self-invited,
you can still turn to God.
But if you are seeking Him, praying, fasting, reading the Scriptures and yet
that temptation keeps coming and perhaps you fall, that fall
will lead to your rising. What do I mean? You will learn from that temptation.
You will increase your strategies in how to deal with it.
You will be more sensitive to the areas that, perhaps, led to it.
It will actually result in your growth, spiritually.
This is a mystery.
Why is it that the path to spiritual growth
is so often steeped in tests, trials and temptations?
Well, God has to equip us for the task He has for us.
You don't get equipped in the school.
You get equipped on the field.
I hope you understand, people of God.
You don't get equipped in ‘theory’; you get equipped in ‘practical’.
This is life - the realities of life, the temptations of life.
But if you repent, learn from it, run back to God in the midst of it,
that temptation becomes a source of your spiritual growth.
So don't be discouraged.
And as I said, don't assume that one day you will reach a milestone spiritually
where temptation disappears.
‘Oh, I have overcome all of that. I will never be tempted.’ No!
As far as we are in this world, it will come but there is grace.
God has promised a way of escape, a way out.
And it is important for me to emphasise
that the message I've given today is for believers.
The understanding of a self-inflicted trial, versus
a trial that God permits, is on the basis of someone who has been delivered.
There are some challenges that are as a result of demonic influence,
which is why prayer in the name of Jesus Christ strikes at the root spiritually.
That's why sometimes you can try and find every solution naturally.
But if something is spiritual, it needs to be dealt with in prayer.
So I am not denying the reality that there are some demonically influenced
situations that people face, maybe as a result of generational curses,
not through something they themselves have done to inflict themselves.
That's why we talk about deliverance in the name of Jesus Christ.
But irrespective, this truth remains valuable for everyone.
Because it’s far easier to... Let me put it like this.
Some people today are very fond of finding a scapegoat to make them feel better
in the midst of their problem, and it's easy to blame the devil.
‘Oh, the devil is behind this!’
Even though the works of darkness may be behind what you are facing,
don't agree with the mindset that quickly points the finger in blame.
Because even if the devil is kicked out, you have a role to play.
It's not good for us to propagate the mindset of blame.
I hope you understand what I'm saying, people of God.
It's very easy for us to say, 'Because of my family background,
this is why I'm facing this.' And there may be truth in that statement.
Maybe there's a curse in the family that needs to be broken,
but don't have that mindset that quickly attaches blame to something
beyond your control, because it doesn't encourage stewardship and responsibility.
After your deliverance, after your freedom,
you must use what is in your hands today.
Grace and peace be unto you.
Brother Chris, thank you for allowing yourself to be used
by the Lord God Almighty.
I am Donald, watching from Frankfurt, Germany. I'm originally from Cameroon.
This story concerning Bathsheba and King David...
As Christians, most of us have our favourite Bible figures in the Bible.
David has always been my favourite.
I have been asking myself, that this same David, who
I learnt from in Psalm 119, who said "Thy Word have I hidden in my heart
that I may not sin against you,"
how could he fall into such temptation?
But today, I have understood that there was a time when kings
usually go to battle, and he stayed home and fell into temptation.
And I was always asking myself this question because,
as the man of God, Brother Chris, rightly said,
because of this, David had to write Psalm 51.
I saw that he repented,
but during the course of it he fasted for almost a week.
David didn't eat anything, and when Nathan the prophet came to him,
Nathan the prophet said God had declared that the child
Bathsheba was carrying wasn't going to live.
I was asking myself, ‘Why is it that God forgave David
but the child could not live? But still He gave David Solomon.’
But today I've understood that,
even when we sin against God and we have been corrected or punished,
the consequences - we have to pay for.
That's what I've learnt today.
Because I have been asking myself, ‘Why is it that David prayed and fasted,
but the child couldn't live, knowing God forgave him?’
Thank you so much for the revelation.
I'm happy. That's my contribution and what I've learnt.
You touched on a point which we didn't cover today in the aftermath of David's
sin with Bathsheba, where the first child she bore grew sick.
As you rightly said, David was fasting and praying for the child to be restored.
In 2 Samuel 12, I'll read from verse 19.
I want to emphasise a point with what my brother said now.
"When David saw that his servants were whispering,
David perceived that the child was dead.
Therefore David said to his servants, 'Is the child dead?'
And they said, 'He is dead.'
So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself,
and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.
Then he went to his own house and when he requested,
they set food before him, and he ate.
Then his servant said to him, 'What is this that you have done?
You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive,
but when the child died, you arose and ate food.'
And he said, 'While the child was alive, I fasted and wept;
for I said, 'Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me,
that the child may live?'
But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
This is a very deep statement from David.
We could preach an entirely different message
just on this response from David.
But the point that I want to make to our brother to
emphasise the area he is sharing is that
even though this account is before the coming of Christ
and the blood shed on the cross,
we know that ultimately judgement and justice are in the hands of God.
We cannot determine or dictate the way and manner the consequence of sin strikes.
Definitely, we know our God is merciful.
But we should not view God's mercy as a
justification for continuing knowingly in sin.
Some people today prepare their prayers for forgiveness
even before they have sinned.
‘I know this is wrong, but God is merciful,
so before I sin, I'm already ready to ask for forgiveness afterwards.’
This is trying, naturally, to turn God's mercy,
God's grace, into an avenue of enablement for sin.
‘Because of God's mercy, because of God's grace -
I'm His child. If I sin, God will forgive me.
God will not allow the consequences to strike.’
If we do what is wrong, repentance does not necessarily mean
there are no consequences.
We cannot dictate or determine how that happens.
David's words in these verses clearly reveal his understanding of
God's position and his own position.
‘I can just seek God for mercy, but I don't have the power
to bring the child back to life or restore the child to health.
So far as the child is still alive let me plead before God for mercy,
but I cannot dictate the way and manner that mercy manifests.’
I think our concern should be
to run from sin, to depart from sin, to disconnect from sin.
If you play with a fire and don't get burnt, it does not mean you should enter that fire.
‘I did this, there didn't seem to be a consequence.
Maybe it means I can do it, I can go ahead.
If I pray extra hard, God's grace will cover me.
I will give a larger offering in church this Sunday,
I will increase the amount I'm giving in church - that will cover me.
But I can be doing this in secret.’
Don't mistake God's mercy unto repentance as God's approval of transgression.
My name is Audrey. I'm originally from Zimbabwe.
Right now I'm in Northern Ireland.
Thank you, Brother Chris, for the word.
I think when you read the word from the Book of 2 Samuel,
I had to reflect as you were reading the story of King David.
I had to reflect to myself, and I was also picturing myself being at
a place where I was not supposed to be, when looking at my past.
Then I realised when this was happening, it was not a good thing.
So now my question is about repentance.
How do I know that now my relationship with God is good?
Yes, I know, I pray, I do all those things.
I see that God is working in my life - these are good things,
these are breakthroughs.
But I want to know, how do I know that my relationship with God is good,
especially concerning this issue of repentance?
Your attitude to sin is a far clearer indication
of your spiritual life than your current situation.
The truth within that statement is the answer to the question.
Because it's common today for people to
use external yardsticks to try and gauge where they are spiritually.
‘Maybe I've had a testimony, I've received a blessing or a breakthrough.
Oh, that means God has favoured me, I'm a child of God.
I'm in the right place with God.
I've been healed of a sickness and my health is good, so I’m a child of God.’
But these are not measurements that we should use
to determine where we are spiritually.
Our attitude to sin is a much clearer indication. Why?
Because what does sin ultimately do?
Sin separates us from God.
And you talked about repentance, and I talked in this message
today about repentance.
And it's a very common theme we talk about because what is repentance?
Repentance is the recognition of that
and returning to God, running back to God to ask for forgiveness,
knowing that His blood shed on the cross of Calvary
is the only thing that can contain the wildfire that's caused by sin.
Look, people of God, we're not here to just use spiritual language loosely.
We are talking about real life and real situations.
There's no one present here, including myself, who can claim perfection.
No one is perfect.
When I talk about attitude to sin, I'm not talking about absence of wrong.
It doesn't mean you are not going to make a mistake.
But what do you do when you realise?
That's a clearer reflection of your relationship with God.
Because I can know, the Spirit of God prompts my conscience.
I can know when I do the wrong thing. I can know when I take the wrong step.
I can know when I see what I'm not supposed to see.
I can know when I go where I'm not supposed to go.
You can know. How? The Spirit of God prompts your conscience
through the Word stored in your heart.
Now, what do you do when your conscience is prompted?
Do you blame or do you change?
Do you realise, recognise, repent, run back to God?
That's the reflection of a healthy relationship with God,
not the absence of wrong,
but the speed at which you recognise and get back on track.
If we justify sin, if we downplay sin, if we minimise sin,
it is a sign we are not in the right place spiritually.
It's not about blessings. It's not about material progress.
'A man can be sick in body yet be a friend of God,'
to quote Prophet T.B. Joshua.
A man can be poor yet richer in spirit than the billionaires of this world.
So we don't measure spiritual things by material yardsticks,
my sister, but by our attitude to sin.
This is why we must feed our conscience with the Word of God.
We must feed our souls with the Word of God
because the Word of God reveals
the standard of God for what is right and wrong.
Today's world is trying to flip that standard, not just shift it.
I hope you understand, it's not just to shift the standard;
it's trying to flip the standard.
Right becomes wrong, wrong becomes right. That is the work of satan.
There are many things that happen in society today
that people say, 'It's okay, it's fine.'
But if you go to the Bible as the standard, it is wrong. It is sin.
Just because others do it doesn't make it right.
Just because you see someone sinning without consequence,
does not mean that you, with the knowledge of truth,
can take the same course and expect the same result.
Anyway, the deception that one sins without consequence is a lie.
If you sin without immediate consequence, it is just preparing you
for the more significant consequence that is coming.
God may give - perhaps there is time for repentance,
but it's not a sign of His approval.
If you see someone, maybe they even claim to be a Christian,
but you know they are living an ungodly life,
and they don't seem to see the repercussions,
don't think that God's favour is on that person -
they can sin without consequence. It's not a sign of God's approval.
It's a sign of God's patience to encourage them to repentance.
But if you don't repent, my brothers and sisters in Christ,
the wildfire will spread.
The beautiful thing about repentance is that it doesn't require your money,
your position, wealth.
It doesn't require connections.
It doesn't require you to meet a very holy man of God for you to repent.
‘If this man of God prays for me, then I will be able to repent.’
No - repentance is a decision of the heart.
And as you are listening to this message right now,
the blood of Jesus is more than enough.
No past is too bad, no sin is too deep that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away.
But remember what I said, Jesus died to free us from sin
and its consequences, not to sin without consequence.
Yes, good day Brother Chris, and the members of God's Heart TV.
I have listened to your sermons on WhatsApp.
My question is, how do we go to God, reading our Bibles and by meditation?
Can Brother Chris, just give us maybe two examples or an example of
how to meditate on the Word of God,
so we may know God better, or know God's presence
because there're a lot of us that don't know the presence of God.
Thank you, Brother Chris.
Our brother was talking about practical examples.
I like that! It's good to be practical here.
So one thing is clear,
if we recognise the Word of God is not merely meant for our minds,
or these ears, it's meant for our hearts,
it means that for us to meditate on the Word, to read the Word effectively,
our heart has to be settled.
Our heart has to be right with God.
So when it's time to read the Bible,
you don't just pick up the Bible and turn to your Scripture.
You first of all settle your accounts with God.
So let's say you as husband and wife,
maybe you have had a clash, you've had a disagreement over something,
and you are angry with your wife or
she's angry at you and maybe some wrong words
have been spoken and you now say,
'Let me go and read my Bible.'
And you open the Bible and start reading. What you are reading will not enter.
You are just reading for the sake of reading
because your heart is disturbed, your heart is troubled, your heart is angry.
You need to first of all go and settle.
Settle with God and settle with your wife.
Once your heart is settled, when you read the Bible,
you can give full attention to it.
Meditation is all about an undivided focus on the Word of God.
So let's say that you read a passage of Scripture.
You don't just read and then jump to the next verse.
You read and pause.
Think about it. What does this mean for me?
Do I understand this? Maybe you need to read it aloud.
How does this message apply to me?
As you think about it, it's something you even write down.
You have it in a notepad or even on your hand.
During the day, you remember it as you are working.
You give attention, you think about it.
This is where we talk about meditation
because it's deep engagement of the heart with His Word.
The problem today is that we try to jump to meditation without settling our hearts.
I want to meditate, but I am holding unforgiveness towards someone.
I want to meditate, but I have just watched something lustful.
I want to meditate, but I've just used bad words to someone at work.
And you say, 'Let me just read the Bible.'
No, there's a process.
That is why it's important that we have daily time with God,
so that we can have daily reckoning with sin and daily settlement of the heart.
Because the longer you take to settle your heart, the more blocks are built up.
We take too long to settle issues.
You know, I used the example of marriage because it's a common thing.
It's a common problem in homes today.
There are clashes - that's normal, but we don't settle them quickly.
We allow them to continue.
We go to sleep with our hearts still in anger.
We go to bed without settling an issue. And what happens?
You just build it up because you now carry over
the next day's issues on top of the one of yesterday,
and then how can you read your Bible? How can you pray? How can you meditate?
So we've got to go back to the basics.
If I'm to pick up my Bible and read, even if it's just a verse,
I need to recognise my heart is the instrument through
which the Holy Spirit will bring understanding of this verse.
So is my heart right? Is my heart settled?
If the answer is no, what must I do to settle it? Perhaps I need to repent.
Perhaps there's someone I need to say, 'I forgive you.'
Perhaps there's someone I need to say, 'Will you forgive me?'
Perhaps I need to call my wife and say, 'Please, it's over, sorry.'
And then you read the Bible.
I believe, my brother, it's not so simple as a mechanism.
Like in school, if you are studying for an exam,
maybe you could memorise this or people have certain ways of studying.
When it comes to the Word of God, it's not the brain that is ultimately required.
You employ the brain, but it is ultimately the heart that will receive it.
So the most important thing is to settle your heart.
No one knows the state of your heart better than you.
So if your heart is not settled, you can know.
Then when it's time, if the heart is settled and it's time to read the Word, give your best.
I can't emphasise that enough.
Give your best! Give quality time.
Give your best attention. It is not, like I said, to tick a box that
after a long day of work, let me just read a verse before sleeping.
Even if your heart is settled,
you are likely not going to receive any revelation from that verse
because you are coming to receive it at the time that you are disturbed.
Look at this case of David and Bathsheba.
Look at the understanding, the revelation that came about what led to that sin.
That is not merely by reading that verse once.
It's reading the verse, reflecting on it. What does this mean?
What happened to David that he fell into this trap?
How can I learn from this? How do I apply this into my life?
It goes deeper than just reading.
It calls for the full attention of the heart.
So, this is my encouragement to you, my brother.
I hope you understand.
Thank You, Jesus.
Hello, my name is Otis, originally from Liberia.
I live in Florida, USA.
So my question goes back to one of the sermons
that you preached about being focused on the Word of God.
My question is, if we are praying or reading the Word of God,
to be sincere, when I'm praying, sometimes I get distracted.
Sometimes thoughts come to mind.
Sometimes I will just focus on some negative things,
or sometimes positive things.
Different thoughts will just come in while I'm praying or reading.
This has been bothering me for years.
Even up to today's date, even if I'm listening to a sermon,
sometimes my mind gets distracted and thinks of other things.
This has been bothering me.
I wanted to ask this question for a very long time.
First of all, the fact that there is a battle
when you want to read the Word of God shows that you are doing the right thing.
If it was easy, smooth, simple, no battle,
no distraction, no negative thoughts, then it's questionable
whether it is truly going to enrich you spiritually.
So don't be discouraged by that -
‘Anytime I want to read the Bible, negative thoughts come, why is this?’
No, it's a good thing.
But one thing is clear, thoughts will come,
but you determine what you feed your heart with.
As soon as you recognise the negative thought,
don't give attention to it by agreeing with it or taking it further.
You must immediately rebuke it and reconnect.
It doesn't mean that in the journey of faith, such thoughts will not come.
But if you are quick to recognise it, like what you are saying now,
as far as you recognise it, God has given you the power to overcome it.
You are not a slave to your senses. You are not a slave to your thoughts.
One of the biggest lies the devil has championed is that we are a slave to this flesh.
‘Oh, that thought comes, I cannot control it.
I just must do it. I am distracted. I must do that.’
No, you have the power of choice.
You have the power of discretion.
That is what makes us humans -
that spark of divinity that differentiates us from all other animal species.
We have the discretion to choose between right and wrong.
So don't cede that power to the lies of the devil
by concluding, when a thought comes that you must succumb to it.
‘I will just get distracted’. No!
If you identify a distraction, rebuke it in the name of Jesus.
The Scripture says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
No matter the lie the devil may try to paint in our minds,
the truth in the living Word of God is far more powerful.
As far as we stand in Truth, we are more than conquerors.
But it doesn't mean there will not be a battle.
That is why we talk about alertness.
Watch and pray.
This is a reality, my brother.
And of course, as well as identifying a distraction, we need to also identify
if there is any action we must take to disconnect from that distraction.
Because Jesus said, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off."
So sometimes you may say, 'Something is distracting me,'
but the very thing distracting us is still with us.
Last time, I talked about the phone.
The phone is a device that we are to use.
We are not to be used by it. It is to use.
It is not for us be used by it,
that if we pick up our phone, we get so engrossed in what we are
seeing that it steals our time meant for other things.
So for example, read a physical Bible,
don't read the Bible app on your phone.
I'm not saying a Bible app is bad,
I'm just saying the phone is a source of distraction.
So if you are reading the Bible on your app and suddenly
a notification comes, a message comes, you are tempting yourself.
Let's say you are inviting the temptation of distraction by that.
So you also identify - is there anything around me that is also causing distraction
that I need to take an action to deal with?
But as far as we are in this world, there will be that battle.
Don't think that the closer you draw to God,
the intensity of the battle reduces, no, but your ability to identify the devil's
tricks and traps, the sensitivity to the things of the Spirit increases.
And that's why you find yourself easily overcoming.
But as far as we're in this world, the battle will persist.
The battle will continue. So don't be discouraged
that you get distracted or negative thoughts come,
but as soon as you identify it, get back on track, reconnect.
It's a very good question because we are talking about something very practical.
And I think some people feel that, if I'm reading the Bible,
there will be zero negative thoughts or zero distractions.
And that is not a realistic perception.
You can play a role to reduce
certain elements around you that could cause distraction,
but ultimately this is a thing of the Spirit.
The Bible is the only Book that can transform us.
If you want to watch football, you're not going to have that kind of problem.
If you want to just read the news it's not going to be a problem.
If you want to study for school, it's not going to be the same problem.
But once you pick up the Bible or you're going to read something
that will spiritually edify you, definitely, a battle is taking place.
So we are not afraid of that. We are alert to it.