I'm Running on Empty
Human-ology Series- Pastor Dharius Daniels
Matthew 4:10-11
We are most prone to our greatest dysfunction when we are wrestling and walking in seasons where we have our greatest depletion.
We are more prone to act unwisely during seasons where we are more empty.
The enemy weaponizes this reality as an act of spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare is not just the enemy’s attempt to take us down, it is also his attempt to wear us out.
Matthew 4:1-
Tempt- to prove or strengthen or corrupt or destroy
In Chapter 3, Jesus is baptized and the Holy Spirit affirms Him.
He’s led to be tested in Chapter 4.
Every temptation was an identity test.
He won’t lead you into sin, but He will lead you into struggle. Struggle is often a test, He uses struggle as school. - Whew!
He’s strengthening me by teaching me experientially
The wilderness represents a season of transition.
The wilderness represents a time when God disrupts the familiar, without disclosing the future. - CURRENTLY :) haha God.
Transition requires trust when you don’t have answers. You’ve got to live through it to look back and und erstand it.
The wilderness represents a season of preparation.
Book of Deuteronomy- Book of conversations about a place they hadn’t made it to yet. Deut. 8:11-18 ; He’s talking to them about not forgetting, even before they have it.
God is getting you ready spiritually and mentally for what He’s getting ready to do. He takes you there mind first.
The wilderness represents a place of separation.
Sometimes the separation is about appetite - there may be misalignment with the appetites. All separations aren’t evil.
They were delaying the inevitable. This is what happens when we hang on to things God is trying to protect us from. There is still a misalignment on appetites.
Separation is attitudes and mindsets-
Giants can represent adversities.
They saw themselves as grasshoppers. They thought the problem was the giants, but the problem was how they saw themselves.
They missed out on a winning a fixed fight.
The wilderness represents a time of temptation.
Exodus 32:1-
“Come make us gods who will go before us”
Their unmanaged anxiousness became a doorway to idolatry. Let me create something that makes me comfortable, because you took something that made me comfortable.
Vs.11- The angels still had to tend to Him because He was still human! He was depleted physically, emotionally spent, and relationally isolated- He experienced spiritual warfare. Even winning can wear you down.
Winning is expensive.
Jesus models a reality for every human: Every human will deal with a degree of depletion. Even Jesus had to have angels attend to Him.
Samson = Progressive Depletion
Jonah = Progressive Depletion ; Refer to Chapter 4, what was his condition after surviving?
The enemy is after your energy.
How Do We Experience the Renewing Ministry of the Holy Spirit?
Acknowledge- Acknowledge the need, acknowledge the capacity you’re at. Pride leads to pretending. Stop masking the emptiness. This is all I have, not all I have access to.
Ask- We have not because we ask not. Are we asking for the right things? Asking aligns your expectations. Some of our disappointment in people comes from having expectations of them that I can only get from God.
Accept- Acceptance refers to what the Spirit will lead you to.