Frankie Mazzapica - You Don't Belong to the Lies
The title of today’s message is «You Do Not Belong to the Lies.» You do not belong to the lies. Um, thank you, all seven of you. You do not belong to the lies. This is part three of a series. Next week will be the start of a new series. Um, I don’t know what it is going to be yet, but it’s going to be really good. But this is, this is part three. And, uh, the series that we’re in is «Places, People, and the Holy Spirit.» The place that you’re in right now, God has put you there. Why has He put you there? Because there are people around you that you are supposed to influence. Uh, and how do you influence them? The Holy Spirit brings, uh, thoughts to your mind to do for them or to say to them.
Uh, there are five love languages. Many of you guys are familiar with them. But people are most comfortable expressing love in one of five areas. Uh, the first one is my expression. This is the one I feel most comfortable with: encouragement, words of affirmation. Uh, those of you for whom that is also your gift, God has placed you in the place that you’re in with the people that you’re around to use your mouth to express it. Uh, another way-I’ll just go through them real quickly because I wasn’t planning on talking about this part, so I’m just throwing it out there. This is just for free; I’m not going to charge you for it. The other one is gifts. Uh, when you bring a gift to somebody, uh, that’s your way of expressing love.
God wants you in the place that you’re in with the people around you to give them gifts because that’s how you express it. Other people express love through acts of service, uh, where all of a sudden you just do something nice for them that they weren’t expecting you to do. Um, the other one is quality time. When you sit down with somebody and it’s just, you know, you’re talking to them, you’ve got the cell phone over there, you’ve got everything turned off, it’s just you and them; that’s how you express it. Um, and then the fifth one-I don’t remember. Does anyone remember? Physical touch! Of all things for me to forget! Um, I’ll just move along before I say something stupid. Um, but these are the places that God has sent you. But if the Holy Spirit isn’t bringing these thoughts to your mind, it’s typically because you are entertaining lies.
When you’re listening to the lies of the enemy, you cannot hear the voice of God. The lies of the enemy tell you that your life is never going to get better than what it is right now. The lies of the enemy tell you that the way you look and the way you act is not going to open up any doors for you. Nobody is going to look at you with favor; nobody is really going to like you. And oftentimes, people have something called feeling unlovable, where you are confident that you love them; you’re confident that you love people. But anytime somebody says, «I love you,» you don’t believe it.
And why is that? Because you hear lies. Sometimes when you’ve been distant from God for a long time, and then all of a sudden you find the courage to kind of lift your chin to Him, the enemy will come and say, «You’ve been distant for too long. You know what? God knows what you did last night. He knows what you did last week. He knows what you did last year. He also knows that you don’t even pay attention to Him for the majority of your life. So why even pray? On top of which, why even ask God to forgive you, because you know you’re going to do it again anyway?»
These are the lies. And what God comes along and says is this: this is in, uh, Psalms 103, verse 14. It says this: «I know you were made from dust. You were made from dust. You are not capable of being good. You need me.» The enemy says, «You are scum. You’re a sinner. You’ll never be good.» And the Lord comes along and says, «I know that you’re made from dust. I made you out of dirt. Your body is holding together the dirt that God made you from. I mean, basically, you’re a dirt bag. If we’re just going to be super honest, if someone ever calls you a dirt bag, just be like, 'I know; my pastor told me that.'» But these are lies that you have.
And so I want to talk about three major things to kind of combat that because you do not belong to those lies. The first thing that I’m going to talk about is maybe we once knew who we were. Maybe you once knew who you were. And then I’m going to talk about how you are tested during a season of waiting where you’re kind of in between seasons. And then the very last point I’m going to make is when you are feeling weak and inconsistent. When you’re feeling weak, that does not cancel the call of God that’s on your life. We’re going to use Gideon as our case study. This is in Judges 6:12. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, «The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.»
Now, it’s perplexing that the angel called him a mighty warrior because he’s afraid. He’s scared because the Midianites are sneaking into his camp where he’s leading the Israelites, and every time their crops grow, they come in there and steal it. And so they are afraid of the Midianites. And so the angel of the Lord shows up and says, an angel from heaven shows up and says, «You are a mighty warrior.»
See, I want to tell you that the lies that are in your head are lies. Listen to this: You know the devil is speaking to you whenever you think a thought that makes you feel terrible because you don’t want to talk to yourself like that, and God doesn’t talk to you like that. So where in the world is that thought coming from? Any time you think that. And this is what Gideon is thinking. He’s thinking, «I’m…» No, watch what he says; the angel says, «Mighty warrior,» and Gideon says back to the angel, «Pardon me, my lord,» Gideon replied, «but if the Lord is with us…» this is what he says to the angel, «If the Lord is really with us, why has all this happened to us?»
Have you ever thought that? Where are all of his wonders that my mom, my grandmother, my father, and my aunt and my uncle, and our ancestors told us about when they said, «Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?» But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian. What he’s saying is, «I used to believe that God was with me, but now I don’t even know what I believe. I can’t even wrap my head around it.» These are the lies that someone starts believing. «I don’t know that I believe what I used to believe.»
Um, let me show you a picture of myself when I was in high school. Uh, look at the… You can tell I was a punk just by looking at me. Um, this season of my life, I’m just going to say this: um, I was working on my testimony. Okay? Um, I was doing more things that God didn’t like than things that he did like. But I was going to church every Sunday, and I remained convinced, in spite of all that, I was convinced that the forgiveness and the mercy of God would never stop flowing in my life. I was convinced that every single time I said, «Lord, forgive me,» that he would not even hesitate. But even more so, in spite of it all, I was 100% sure that there was an angel ahead of me preparing a way because God had a call on my life, 100% sure that what is coming is better than what I’m experiencing.
I say that, why am I talking about that? Because people often say, and maybe people have said this to you, «If you could go back to your old self, what would you say?» I don’t want to go back to my old self and say something to him. What I want is for my old self to come back and say something to me. Because somewhere along the journey, oftentimes, I forget what I once knew. Have you been… did you… was there ever a season in your life where you were convinced that God’s love was on you, and you were going to move from good season to good season, and now I don’t even know if I believe that? Don’t you wish that old person could come up to you and slap you in the face and say, «Come on!»
This is what was going on with Gideon. He’s like, «God, I used to believe because you were there for my parents, so you were there. You were my uncle. You were always there. But now, where are you?» Thi… this is where Gideon was. And so since your old self can’t come up to you and slap you, at the end of the service, I’m going to be out in the lobby, and I’m willing to smack every single one of you and say, «Come on, don’t believe this stuff!» Uh, you know, um, Luke, will you throw me that basketball? Um, not all of you have done this with a basketball. Okay? Um, but a basket of four or five basketballs has been in our house just laying on the ground for years. It’s just… it’s just that. So basketballs end up in the bathtub. We’ve thrown basketballs into the ocean, in the pool.
Now what’s interesting is if you take a basketball or any ball and you hold it under the water and then you let go, what happens to the basketball? Does it just come up? Does it stay there? If you let go, does it just kind of drop like you’re holding a rock? It just drops. Does it float to where it was? Does the ball, after being submerged, go back to where it was? Yes or no? What happens to the basketball after you submerge it? Say it again. It goes higher than it did before. You’re ahead of me. Time to put your hands together. Not only are you a child of God; even though everything’s been happening to you, and you’ve been inconsistent, all the things you may feel-you’re underwater right now, and nothing good is happening to you. No, you’re underwater.
I want to tell you: do what you did last time you felt underwater-hang on. It’s not like you’ve never been here before, so just hang on. Because if you can hang on, then you will go higher than you were before. Just hang on. Don’t run. Don’t get mad at God. Don’t just say, «I’m out of here!» No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just hang on and say, «I don’t have anyone else to depend on.» That’s good. And you will. I know you don’t remember who you were. Just hang on. Are you with me? Say yes. Are you ready for the next point? Thank you, my boy. Oh, you caught it! You can play for the Texans because clearly nobody can catch a ball. No, you can be a wide receiver tomorrow-nobody can.
Okay, anyway, I’m over. Point number two: Your faith gets tested during the waiting. But watch what Gideon said. This is in Judges. He goes this: Even after a face-to-face encounter with the angel of the Lord, Gideon still wrestles with doubt and asks for a sign. Think about this. Think about this. An angel shows up, and you see them, and then you look back and say, «I don’t believe a word you’re saying. You need to show me a sign.» How deep is the lie that Gideon is believing? How deep is it? You know when you do something, and I was talking to somebody the other day, and they said, «I just keep telling God, 'I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.'»
I’ve been there before. How deep is the lie that you have to say so many «sorry’s,» and you’re never going to get out of it? You know what I said back? Stop saying you’re sorry. He heard you the first time. Now every time you say sorry after this, this is the enemy telling you that you’re sinful, you’re horrible. This is the enemy at this point. See, there’s two types of guilt. These are the things why I want you to take notes. There’s two types of guilt. It’s talked about in 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verses 10 and 11. It says that there is godly guilt and worldly guilt. Godly guilt is when you start feeling compelled to the Lord, like you did something wrong, but you’re drawn to the Lord.
The Bible says that godly guilt leads to repentance: «Lord, I’m sorry.» And then after that, it leads to salvation, where it feels like you are forgiven. And then watch this: Then it leaves no regret, meaning you’re not beating yourself up anymore. This is godly guilt, right? And then you move on. And then there’s worldly guilt that leads to death. Worldly guilt is, «I can’t believe I’ve been like this. I can’t believe-listen to this-are you listening? I can’t believe I don’t even care about God. I don’t even care.» And then you catch yourself. And if the Lord can touch your heart, if He can-because sometimes it’s like, «I don’t care, I don’t care,» — He can’t even touch you. If the Lord can touch your heart, it leads to «I’m sorry» or just death. You’re cold. You just do not care, or it leads to a type of death where you just get distant and down and discouraged.
Two types of guilt. These are lies that we have to fight-this lie-because if we don’t fight it, if we don’t fight it, get it out, get it out, because you have to remove and replace. Write that down: Remove and replace. The only way you can get one thought out of your mind is to start thinking about something else. And so you have to say, «I, I, I, I gotta start thinking about I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.» Not «I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.» It’s «I love you, I love you, I love you.» And then you quiet down the lies. If you don’t quiet down the lies, then the places and the people-you do not affect them because the Holy Spirit isn’t flowing through you, because the lies put a kink.
Let me illustrate this. Um, Connor and Nick, come on up here. I need your help. I need your help. This is Nick’s first time here, and he’s really mad right now, but Connor’s been here a long time. So, um, Nick, why don’t you take this one and go way over there? You take that part and go way over there. All right, that’s good. That’s good. That’s good. Yeah, come forward a little bit. That’s perfect. That’s perfect. That’s perfect. No, just leave that. That’s good. No, that’s good. That’s good. Boom.
All right. Now, Nick, if every time you think a thought that makes you feel down, you’re like, «That’s the enemy.» So you push it out and you start just saying, «Lord, thank you for forgiving me. Thank you. I love you. I love you. I love you.» I’m telling you, if you say, «God, I love you» 97 times in a row, that’s the best prayer you can pray. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get creative, because nothing you’re going to say is really better than that. «I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I really love you. I love you.»
See, at that point, you cancel out lies. And so then, when you do that, I want them to see you real quick. Let’s say that you’re doing that. Put that on your heart, because now the place and the people, what the Holy Spirit is doing in here, can flow through here into here. However, if you believe the lies, you may love God, but you’re so down, you’re so discouraged, you’re so beat up, you hate yourself. I’ve said this before: Everybody fights something, okay? Nobody gets a pass to live an easy life. What I fight is depression -that’s what I have to fight. And if you’ve never fought depression, you don’t know what it’s like. Depression feels like your life is horrible and it’s never going to get better. In fact, it’s probably going to get worse.
So when I’m thinking this, like Saturday and Sunday and Monday, I kind of worked my way out of it. I’m believing so many lies that what’s in me I can’t flow out. Why? Why? Why? Not because I don’t love God, but there’s a kink in the hose. The lie is causing a kink in the hose. And so, because there are lies, you-you are, watch this-inaccurate. That person is in your life, places, and people, but the Holy Spirit can’t come through. Why? Because at some point, if there’s a kink in the hose, if there’s a kink in there, then all of a sudden what we realize is that you’ve got to get that kink out. Are you with me? Say yes. Everybody who sees him after service, go tell him that you’re glad he’s here, because it’s his first time. You can just throw it over there somewhere.
See, it wasn’t that bad. Last, last, last point: your weaknesses-and we’re all weak somewhere-your weaknesses do not cancel out the call of God on your life. So don’t freeze up. In fact, He will allow you to feel overwhelmed by your weaknesses so that you are overwhelmed by His power. You cannot be impressed with His power if you’re impressed with yourself. Let me give you an illustration. So in Judges, Gideon has to put together an army to overtake the Midianites. He’s scared, and he comes before God and he’s saying, «I can’t live like this anymore.» Everybody has to get there at some point: «I can’t live like this anymore. I’ve tried all my options.»
See, God should be our first option, but typically He’s our last. Have you ever been there? Now, I’m not preaching at you; I use the word «are.» He’s typically our last. See, I’m anointed to preach this, but I have to live it like everybody else. And the Lord allows us to feel weak so we can see His strength. The Lord did not send you trouble; He allowed you to experience the trouble that you have so that you can experience His strength.
And so Gideon now has to fight the Midianites, and he looks to the Lord and says, «I have no other option except for You, but I only have 32,000 soldiers. The Midianites have like three, four, or five times that.» And the Lord looks at him and says, «32,000? Too many!» Doesn’t that tick you off? " God, I’m in trouble!» Not really. «How about some more?» And then the Lord says, «This is what I want you to do: I want you to ask the 32,000 if there are any of you who are scared, and whoever raises their hand, let them go home.»
I’m talking to you right now about how God delivered Gideon. The Lord says, «I want you to go look at the 32,000.» And, um, you guys can come on up, Omar. I want you to ask them, «Are there any of you that are scared?» Hands go up everywhere. The Lord says, «Let them all go home.» Then I want you to take the remainder, bring them down to a river, and tell them to drink some water. He doesn’t give them any cups or anything like that. He says, «Drink the water.»
So there were some who took the water and drank it like this. And then there were some who embarrassed their mothers because they stuck their fat faces in the water and lapped it up like a Rottweiler. If their mothers would have been there, she would have slapped them. And so God says, «Gideon, take all of those morons and let them go home.» And so now Gideon only has 300 soldiers. He says, «I want you to surround the army and just, getting to the end of the story, praise Me! Don’t even bring a switchblade, just praise Me!»
And God caused the enemy to fight themselves. And it was at that moment where Gideon realized that he had been believing lies. It was at that moment where he said, «I don’t belong to those lies; I really am the son of God.» And you really are a daughter of God. You really are a son of God, and His mercy endures forever. You cannot exhaust it, and He’s got favor on your life.
There’s a song that we heard earlier this week that I believe can echo this message, and I really hope that it blesses you. The enemy keeps whispering to me, «Yeah, these days it’s all that I’m hearing. I used to know who I was, now I look in the mirror, and I’m not so sure. Lord, I don’t want to listen to that anymore.» The truth is, I am a Father’s child; I make Him proud and I make Him smile. I was born in the image of a perfect King; He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing.
The truth is, I am truly loved by a God who’s good when I’m not good enough. I don’t belong to the lies; I belong to You. And that’s the truth. When I feel like there’s so much noise, redeem it, but it sounds like grace instead. You remind me who I am when I look in the mirror, and I’m not so sure. Lord, I don’t want to listen to the lies anymore.
The truth is, I am a Father’s child; I make Him proud and I make Him smile. I was made in the image of a perfect King; He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing. The truth is, I am truly loved by a God who’s good when I’m not good enough. I don’t belong to the lies; I belong to You. And that’s the truth.
I know who I am 'cause I know who You are, and I hold Your truth inside my heart. I know the lies are always going to try to find. So I am a Father’s child, and I make Him smile. I was made in the image of a perfect King; He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing. The truth is, I am truly loved by a God who’s good when I’m not good enough. I don’t belong to the lies; I belong to You. And that’s the truth. That’s the truth. Thank You, Jesus, for Your truth.