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City Light Church Las Vegas | Jabin Chavez
The Road To A Restored Soul | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church
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The Road To A Restored Soul | Jabin Chavez | City…
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Psalm 23. I've never preached from Psalm 23 in my life. I'm gonna do it today for the first time. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. Now watch this. He's gonna tell you how he restores the soul. You ready? He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Everybody, out loud. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Come on. Can you say amen to God's word today? He restores my soul. He leads me on paths of righteousness. And I want to talk about the road to a restored soul. The road to a restored soul. Thank you, Lord, for these moments we share. Pray you speak now in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. He restores my soul. My soul. My soul. The soul is your mind, will and emotions. Your soul is your mind, your will and your emotions. Let me say it like this. When Jesus saved you, he saved your spirit. The real you. Your spirit, man. That's what he washed. I'm washed in the water. Washed in the blood. I'm good as new. Oh, hallelujah. We sang that this morning. It was the first song, though, so nobody heard it, but it was the first song. We'll sing it second song next week, J.R. so people hear it. So I'm born again. I'm saved. The book of Colossians says that I'm perfect, I'm holy, I'm cleansed. But, man, I don't always act like it. Anybody else? There's days that you're, like, super saved. And then there's days that you're like, omg, who is that? That's your soul. So my spirit is saved. My soul is being saved. We could call it, if you're a church person sanctified or from Psalm 23, it's being restored. To be restored is to return back to. Or to be returned to, or to be brought back to its original place. When God restores your soul, he brings you back to who you were. Before sin, before trauma, before pain, before abuse, before the divorce, before. Before the disappointment, before the sickness, before the disease. God restores your soul. Because all trauma is happening in your soul, in your mind, your will and your emotions. So God is bringing you back to who you were in your innocence. The scripture says to the pure, all things are pure first. John says that with this hope we have in Jesus, we are to purify ourselves. What are we purifying? Our soul. When I talk about a restored soul, I'm not saying that I am in denial of the pain, in denial of my past, and in denial of what I've been through. No, but the restored soul means that my past no longer dictates where I'm going and the decisions that I'm making. I'm informed by my past, but I'm not mastered by my past. Why? Because I now have a restored, innocent soul. I said this last week. I'm going to say it again. Let's put on the screen. We're going to say this together. Everybody out loud. Here we go. I am a spirit. I have a soul. I live in a body. Okay, so that's who you are. You are a spirit. You have a soul. And you live in this dirt suit or earth suit. May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Watch this. Your whole spirit, soul and body. So all of my trauma is happening in the soul, and then it acts out in the body. Now, what the devil is after is your soul. He's not after your spirit because your spirit's washed in the blood. Your spirit is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Your spirit the devil can't get to. So he's. He's after your soul. Look at Psalm 143. For the enemy has pursued my soul. That's what the. The enemy's after your. After your what? Your mind, will and emotions. So when Jesus says in John 10:10, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. He's come to steal, kill and destroy your soul, your mind, your will and your emotions. So that enemies pursuing my soul. God is wanting to restore my soul. Who I submit to or say yes to determines my future. I can go to heaven with an unrestored soul, but I can't fulfill the will of God on my life unless I allow the Holy Spirit to restore my soul. Soul. Okay, so mind. He's after my mind, my thoughts, how I process life and people. What do I think about? The enemy's after my thoughts? Because as a man thinketh, Proverbs says, so is he. So if the devil can. Can begin to influence and pursue my thought life, he can pursue my life. And so he's pursuing my mind. He's pursuing my will. This is called addiction. Addiction is that place that you have given a substance or an experience so much authority in your life that it now calls the shots. And addiction is very real. Alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addiction, gambling addiction. There's actually a part of it that your body now craves. It craves the excitement. It craves the rush. It craves the. The substance and what it does to your body. It craves the sex and the pleasure that it produces. What is that? So now the devil's pursuing my will, and I need God to restore my will so that addiction no longer controls my life and my decision making. You know, God can set you free from addiction, but if you get delivered and don't have a restored soul, you'll just go right back to it. I think deliverances happen every Sunday, like, legit. I think it happens. Not with. Not the stuff you see on YouTube. Like, you really walk out of here and you're like, oh, my God, I feel a million pounds lighter. What was that? God just did a miracle in your life. The problem is, if you don't have a restored soul, you just go right back to it. I'm not saying you were demon possessed. I'm saying there's, like, a real freedom that happens. You're like, I'm really gonna do this, man. You have the excitement to do it. You feel God on you. It's like, I'm gonna. And then by Tuesday, you're back in the cycle. What is it? That's an unrestored soul. And then he's after your emotions, your feelings. You always feel you live by your feelings. A pursued soul is led by emotion. So when you've allowed the enemy to pursue your soul and to get in your feel, you're always up in your feelings, in your feels. Feelings are not bad. Emotions are a gift, but they can't be in charge. Emotions are beautiful, but they can't be the boss or you'll die. Like, you will destroy your life. Okay, so how does God restore my soul? He. He does it with me, in partnership with me, when our will comes into agreement with his will. Okay, in the same way that you have to work on the health of your body, you have to work on the health of your soul. It doesn't just happen. It takes intention, focus, and a constant dependence on Jesus. So I'm on the road to a restored soul. Here's the first thing that I have to remind myself of. I have to stay on path. Stay on path. He restores my soul. He leads me on the path. Okay, one more time. I know, I know. You only got an extra hour of sleep. Hold on. Let me do this again. He restores my soul. How? By getting me on a path. I can't have a restored soul without being on a path. A plan, a pattern, a roadway. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter each day. Proverbs 4:18. Now watch this. Here's what Proverbs 4:18 tells us. That the righteous have a path. Holiness has a path. Generosity has a path. Servanthood has a path. By the way, wickedness has a path. Greed has a path. Sin has a path. So I think sometimes when I start talking about paths and patterns, like I am right now, it feels overwhelming and intimidating. Don't feel that you're already on one. I'm just asking you to get on a new one. A better one. So, the path of the righteous. The righteous have a path. It's the direction of my life. It is the daily obedience. And it is the daily direction to go towards heaven. Jesus tells a blind man, go, wash. He tells him where? In the pool of Siloam, which means sent. So he sends him so watch. Tells him to go, Tells him to wash, tells him where to go. And this is brilliant. And the man did it. Isn't that awesome? Wouldn't that be so easy if we just obeyed God? Wouldn't life be so much better if you just say yes to Jesus? He went, he washed, and he went home. Seeing the restoration happened in the going. The restoration happened in the washing. The restoration happened in the sending. As he moved, he was healed. As he obeyed, he was healed. As he went in the direction that God had for him, he was healed. The restoration of the soul happened step by step, day by day, little by little, week by week, month by month, year by year. I'm getting stronger and stronger. It's getting brighter and brighter. Cause I'm on a path. God is the God of paths and patterns. Of direction, not perfection. He's the God of principles, not feelings. So commit to the path. There's a path for you. And you must play your role on the path. I said he's the God of paths and patterns. Look at Exodus 25:40. Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain. So there is a pattern. Again, this sounds intimidating. It shouldn't be. You're already in a pattern right now. You're already in a cycle. You're already in a loop. You're already on a Path. So I'm asking you to get on a pattern that is in accordance with God on the mountain, his presence. The vast majority of you in this room, you wake up at the same time. You go to bed at the same time. You watch the same shows. You do a lot of that. You're already on a pattern. So relax. Don't be overwhelmed. I'm asking you, let's go Back to Exodus 25 one more time, according to the pattern I've shown you on the mountain. So God is a God of patterns. He's a God of paths. Think about even when he created the world. First it was light, then it was water, then it was earth, then it was plants, then it was animals, then it was man. Move any one of those in the wrong pattern and it doesn't work. So we had to do light, because you need light to live. Then water, because that's what's going to cause this whole thing to work. Then land, then plants, then the animals eat the plant. If the animals would have come first, they would have died. So they eat the plants first, and then they move around the earth and they go potty, and they spread the seed, and the bees take the pollen and the. And all of it goes around. And now it's a perfect ecosystem. For what? For humanity. What, you just think, bang, that happened. You just think that you're some kind of goo that came out of something. No, no, no. This is the design of God. You never look at a beautiful piece of art, go, wonder how that happened. No, you go, who was the artist? Of course, we're from the imagination of God. Of course. This is the idea of God. And he's the God of patterns. I'm just telling you, you can change your patterns to have a restored soul. And the path and the pattern will outlast my ever changing emotions. So get on the path number two. Invite his presence. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you're with me. Your rod and staff comfort me. You're with me. A really special friend of mine. He's a dear friend. I'm not trying to name drop. It's just happening on accident. But he wrote the song that we just sang, Jesus be the name. His name is Steven Furtick. And I said, you're such a great songwriter. I'm such a bad songwriter. How do you become a great songwriter? And he said, a great song isn't about the line, it's about the next line. So, like, because I'm not a good Songwriter. I would have said, jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the praise because it rhymes, but that's boring and forgettable. Stephen is a brilliant songwriter because he goes, who gets all the glory? And you go, that doesn't rhyme. But that's what makes it grab. A great song isn't about the line. The great song is about the second line. I will not fear. It's not a great line. That's not where the power is. The power is not in. I will not fear. I will not fear. I will not fear. I will be brave. I will be brave. I will be brave. That's what you tell a six year old that doesn't. The power is not in. I will not fear. The power is in. You're with me. The power is in. The second line, the power is in. Okay. I will not fear has nothing to do with my bravery. It has everything to do with God's presence. David declares, I will not fear because God's with me. Many scholars believe that Psalm 23 was written as King Saul was pursuing David, trying to find David, to kill David. So as David is fleeing King Saul, he's writing songs like God is with me. For real. There's nothing in David's life at this point that would say, God's with me. Oh, that's powerful. All David has known up to this point in his life is rejection. He was rejected by his father, he's rejected by his mother, he was rejected by his brothers. He's now been rejected by his king. All that is called trauma. And David goes, God's with me. Because David knows. Please, please, please, please look at me. David knows that his song, not Saul's song, not his daddy's Jesse song, not his brother's song, not the devil's song. David knows his song is writing his story, and David knows that he can write his story. And David knows that he can write a song that is theology and music and beauty that is gonna get him to go forward. That ultimately, you write your story, you write your song, and there's nothing that someone who hates you can do about it. And there's nothing the devil can do about it, and there's nothing that those who oppose you can do about it, and there's nothing your parents can do about it. You get to write the song that determines your story. And David says, I'm gonna write my own song. God's with me. Me. And God was with him. See, fear is born in the past, faith is born in the future. I Said last week that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Fear comes by seeing. Faith comes by hearing faith. Fear comes by seeing. In other words, I saw what happened to another, and I think it's going to happen to me. Or I saw what happened to me and I think it's going to happen again. That's fear. Faith over fear means choosing the future with God over past pain and trauma. I will not let my past master me. It can teach me. I can learn from it. But it isn't the boss. So, David, David, David could say, I fought the lion and I fought the bear, and I'll take on this giant, too. That's faith. Faith is choosing to see the faithfulness of God in my past. Even if I didn't recognize it at first, I can now look back and go, oh, I saw it with the lion. Oh, I saw it with the bear. Oh, I see it with this giant as well. That's faith. Faith is Psalm 27. Though my father and mother reject me, the Lord will take me in. Faith is looking at a King Saul who's trying to kill him and say, that's God's anointed and I will not touch him. That's faith. Faith is not delusional, but it is supernatural. Faith is telling a different story story than the story your eyes are seeing. This is faith. Faith chooses to not be led by the obvious, but to be led by the invisible hand of God. That's faith. It's not obvious, and I don't see it here yet, but I hear it and I sense it. And I can. I can sense the invisible hand of God working. And I'm going to say, yes, that is faith. And people who don't have faith will look at you and go, you're crazy. You're right. But you're not writing my song. I'm writing my song. And his rod and his staff comfort me. Two different pieces of equipment. The rod was a short club that you would use to knock out enemies and to push back lions and tigers and bears. Oh, my God. And the staff was this long, crooked piece of wood that you would use to grab a sheep by the neck and pull them in close. David said, I have my own rod. I have my own staff. And I've had to do that with my sheep. And now I feel that same rod and that same staff in my own life as God is pushing back devils, pushing back Saul, and pushing back sickness, and pushing back sin, and pushing back temptation and pushing back the enemy of my soul. And I can Feel God pulling me in close and keeping me close. And that same God is going to see me through this. He's anointing my head with oil. My cup runneth over. I will not fear. Lastly, choose your influence. Choose. Choose your influence. Verse 5. He talks about my enemies. Verse 6. He talks about the house of the Lord. Whose voice. Whose influence will you allow? In two voices, two stories, two narratives, who will you choose? Will your enemies be the leading voice in your life? Or will the voice from the house of the Lord be your influence? You have unhealed trauma. If enemies are still influencing every decision you make. And it can happen in two ways. Number one, it can happen in fear, right? You just have fear. But there's another unhealed trauma. It's you who are obsessed with your haters. You're actually trying to live your whole life to prove them wrong. That's not a victory. That's not a win. You didn't believe in me. Look at me now. They don't care. What a terrible motivation to live for people who did not believe in you then. That's not resolve. I don't live to prove anybody wrong. I don't live for my haters, whoever they are, or whoever I think they are or whoever I've created them to be, which for 99% of us, by the way, in the room, we don't even have any. At best, you have a misunderstander. To all my misunderstanders, that doesn't really roll off the tongue. So I don't live. I don't live my life going. And you're gonna see it. I live my life going. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, man the team Come dwell in the house of the Lord. God is my focus. I'm not the focus. And my enemy isn't the focus. God is my focus. See, because David didn't even say this. And I will ascend the throne, and I will become king, and I will show Saul who's boss, and I will show my daddy that I was. No, none of that. I'm going to prove to my brothers that. No, none of that. Just. I want to be in God's house. That's called a healed soul. That's called a restored soul. I had a guy come up to me after the other service, and he. He goes, man, he goes. I attended this church for a long time. He was in a flake turned this church for a long time. And then I attended this church for a long time. And now we're here and we're so. And he goes, you're the talk of the town. I went, we all. I'm not. I'm not listening to any of it. I will dwell in the house of the Lord. Talk of the town. It was a compliment, but I just want to dwell in the house of the Lord. Recently I got introduced to Preach for a Friend, and he was trying to give me a compliment, and it didn't come out. He goes, man, we're going to have Jaden come up. I mean, we're all just shocked. Amen. Like, can you believe what God has done with this guy? I was like, thanks. And then he, like, caught it and he's like, no, I mean, like, die. Just die. I like that. But I'm. But I'm not living for that. And nothing in me is like, yeah, I did. Yeah. Look, I just want to dwell in the house. I got nothing to prove to nobody. I just want to dwell in the house of the Lord. I'm living for the applause of one. I'm living for the compliment of. I'm living for one person to say, well done, my good and faithful servant. I'm living for that voice. And I've got to stay in the house of the Lord. The road to a restored life requires the house of the Lord, the gathering of the saints, the worship of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, the preaching of Jesus. I've now followed God long enough, 27 years of following Jesus that I've had good and bad seasons with the church, the house of the Lord, y'. All. I've had good and bad seasons with the church since I've been the pastor. Some days I don't want to show up. Shannon's like, you're. You have to go, bro. You're it. You're the pastor. Oh, yeah, okay, okay, I'll go. But I have just stayed steadfast to say I will. I will dwell. That word, dwell means I just sit down. That's what it means. Just sit down, get comfortable, just plop down. I will dwell in the house of the Lord. I ain't moving. And I'm here today because I've chosen to dwell. And I just want to call you. To dwell in the house of the Lord to make church a non negotiable and to make the people of God a non negotiable in your life. We Talk in Luke 15 about the. There's this story about the prodigal son. There wasn't a prodigal son. There were two prodigal sons. Because when the Father starts the party. Both sons are not in the house. They both had to come home. They were both out. They were both sons, but they were both outside the house, and they both had to come home. The irreligious and the religious, let me say it like this. The good son and the bad son, the older son and the younger son, the obedient son and the rebellious son. Both of them found their way out of the house, and they both had to come home. And I do want to call. I don't know who you are in this room. I got your address. Today I want to call you home. Today I want to call you home. Get in church. Get in church. Every time the doors are open, stay in the house. Because the road to a restored soul will require the house of God. It is not good for man to be alone. Don't do this on your own. Don't do this without a spiritual family. I've been pretty. I felt, like, pretty transparent the last, I don't know, couple of months. I've just been trying to share a little bit more of my story with you. And I do want to thank you. You haven't made me regret it. Like, you've been real kind about it, so thank you. But here's what I can say. I'm 42, and I'm probably, for the first time in my life, trying to deal with and unpack my own trauma. And here's what I can say at 42. He restores my soul. Does anybody have that testimony today? He restores. Would you stand up and give him praise today? He restores my soul. He restores my soul. Would you bow your head and close your eyes everywhere?