“And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” (2 Cor. 1:10 NLT)

God will seek out His sheep and rescue them

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” (Ez. 34:11-12 ESV)

Cry to the Lord

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (Psalm 107:28 ESV)

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:14 ESV)

Therefore…

“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.” (Psalm 37:39 ESV)

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Tim. 4:18 ESV)

“In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Eph. 4:26-27 NIV)

Anger happens, but control it!

Jesus got angry when He saw the money lenders in the temple, therefore, not all anger is bad. But, anger must be controlled and not allowed to get out of hand. The above passage says, “do not let”, which means you do have the ability to control your anger. The verse also gives the command, “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry”. And a warning, “do not give the devil a foothold”, which you will be doing with uncontrolled anger.

Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Eph. 4:31 ESV)

Watch out!

“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” (Prov. 22:24-25 ESV)

Therefore…

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” (Prov. 29:11 ESV)

“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.” (Eccles. 7:9 ESV)

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:18-20 ESV)

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” (Prov. 19:11 ESV)

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Prov. 16:32 ESV)

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5 ESV)

Three wrong beliefs that hold Christians back from having total victory

• Wrong Belief #1: “I know that God is forgiving but what I have done is too much.”

The Bible says…

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14 NLT)

“… as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NIV)

• Wrong Belief #2: “I must punish myself to be forgiven.”

The Bible says

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” (Eph. 2:8 ESV)

In other words, we can’t do anything to add to what Jesus did on the cross to cover our sins. He did more than enough to cover all sins, It’s called “grace”, which is God’s unmerited favor.

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Rom. 11:6 ESV)

• Wrong Belief #3: “I know that God has forgiven me, but that doesn’t matter. I can’t forgive myself.”

The Bible says…

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20 NIV)

“…so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:1)

Renew your mind with God’s Word (swap your thoughts with His thoughts)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Rom. 12:2

“With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.” (Psalm 108:13 ESV)

Quote:

“The feeling of being, or not being, forgiven and loved, is not what matters. One must come down to brass tacks. If there is a particular sin on our conscience, repent and confess it. If there isn’t, tell the despondent devil not to be silly”.  - CS Lewis

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16:19 ESV)

Jesus gave authority over the power of the enemy

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:19 ESV)

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 ESV)

Believers will do the works that Jesus did

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV)

We have been given authority to cast out demons

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues.” (Mark 16:17 ESV)

“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17 ESV)

We have been given weapons with divine power to destroy strongholds

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” (2 Cor. 10:3-5 ESV)

Therefore…

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:19-21 ESV)

“But test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thess. 5:21 ESV)

Test the spirits

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” ( 1 John 4:1 ESV)

Test yourselves

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor. 13:5 ESV)

Test your faith

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3 ESV)

Therefore…

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:2 ESV)

“So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7 ESV)

“…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Heb. 12:1 NLT)

Put off your former way of life

“…put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.” (Eph. 4:22 NIV)

Persevere

“You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” (Heb. 10:36 NIV)

Therefore…

“The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Rom. 23:12 NIV)

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for edification, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” (Eph. 4:29)

Keep your lips from speaking evil

“For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” (1 Peter 3:10 ESV)

“So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” (James 3:5 ESV)

Bridle your tongue

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.” (James 1:26 ESV)

Therefore…

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Col. 4:6 ESV)

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Psalm 141:3 ESV)

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 ESV)

“Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.” (1 Chron. 16:11)

God’s face is His presence

When the Bible talks about seeking the face of God, or speaking with God face to face, as Moses did, it doesn’t mean you actually see God’s physical face, because, no one can see God’s face and live (Exo. 33:20). According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary: Face [N] means simply presence, as when it is recorded that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the "face [RSV, 'presence'] of the Lord God" (Genesis 3:8 ; Compare Exodus 33:14 Exodus 33:15, where the same Hebrew word is rendered "presence").

Therefore…

“Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness.” (Psalm 31:16)

“Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:135)

“God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us.” (Psalm 67:1)

“O LORD God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.” (Psalm 80:19)

“Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.” (Psalm 105:4)

“The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.” (Num. 6:25-26)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 NASV)

Abundant: present in great quantity; more than adequate; over sufficient, two-a-penny; full, rich, filled, generous, lavish, ample, infinite, overflowing, exuberant, teeming, copious, inexhaustible, bountiful, luxuriant, profuse, well-provided, well-supplied, bounteous , plenteous.

In God’s right hand there are pleasures forever

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NASV)

Every good thing is from God

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17 NASV)

God teaches you to profit

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.” (Isa. 48:17 NASV)

Therefore…

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33 NASV)