Baggage Pt. 3 - Attached Baggage

 (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)  “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”     Title of my message:  Attached Baggage      (Romans 7:15 NLT)  “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it.  Instead, I do the very thing I hate.”     Cycle of Destruction:    You think it's your identity.    You feel increasingly hopeless.    You become defensive.    You become a slave.    You learn to live with it.   (Romans 6:12-14 NLT)  “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God… Sin is no longer your master… Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”  What has mastered you? Do your family and friends say you have a problem? Do you continue even though you’re hurting people? Do you arrange your schedule around it? Can you go one week without it? Is it leading you to isolation? Are you trying to keep it a secret?   (2 Corinthians 3:17)  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”   My plan to detach the baggage:   1. Stop the excuses.   (Luke 14:18-20)  “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’  Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’  Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’”   (Philippians 4:13)  “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”     2. Cut the ties. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)  “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning…” (James 4:7)  “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”   3. Fill the void.     (Ephesians 5:18)  “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”     Fill the void with:   1.  God’s Word.   (Ephesians 5:26 NLT)  “…washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”   2. Prayer. (Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT)  “(Jesus) understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin.  So let us come boldly to our gracious God.  There we will receive His mercy, and grace to help us when we need it.”   3. A Small Group.    (Proverbs 28:13)  “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”   (James 5:16)  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”   4. Serving.    (Romans 12:21)  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”