All Things Are Possible

Dr. Bernie Miller: Your heart makes a terrible GPS. It reroutes you to comfort, to revenge, to hate, pride, and fear. God doesn't give you any of those things. God doesn't just want to correct your choices; he wants to direct your paths.

I'd rather be under God's mighty hand and wrong than not be under his hand and right. Because if I'm under his hand, wrong or right, I know that I'm protected by the power of God.

Happy belated 4th of July. I hope you had a wonderful time yesterday doing whatever they do on the 4th of July. My wife and I stayed at home and enjoyed some food and had some time of just relaxing. She had to relax coming back off of her trip to Pennsylvania, and I had a good time relaxing with her coming back and being back.

The 4th of July, it's something about the 4th of July weekend where we learn freedom isn't foolproof. I say that because why would normally rational grownups hand explosives to Uncle Bubba who convinced them he'd watched a YouTube video about fireworks? Then he's reading the instructions in one hand and a lighter in the other hand.

Then minutes later, after lighting the fuse, he says, "Run!" Dogs start barking, kids are screaming, somebody's brush and twigs in their lawn is on fire. Then Mrs. Bubba, call her Bubba Cakes. Mrs. Bubba Cakes asks her husband, "Bubba, was that supposed to go sideways?" "I don't know."

Isn't it amazing how people can celebrate freedom while making some incredibly foolish decisions? That's why Paul says be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise. It reminds us that freedom doesn't mean we can live carelessly. Freedom requires wisdom and responsibility, and we need to have both of them.

We celebrated political freedom this weekend, but Paul isn't talking about political freedom in Ephesians chapter 5. He's talking about spiritual freedom, which a lot of us don't understand how we operate in that freedom. Just because Christ has set us free doesn't mean we should live foolishly.

Paul says in Ephesians 5, "Walk wisely." Then he says, "Redeem the time." Then he says, "Understand the Lord's will." Don't be controlled by wine, but be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Why? Because freedom isn't permission to do whatever you want. Freedom is an opportunity to do what God wants.

He set you free not to be on your own and independent of him; he set you free so that you can obey him because he has the best advice in the world because he's God, he's your maker, and he knows how you're made. One day a year, we celebrate Juneteenth and Independence Day, but God calls us to live in holy dependence every day of the year.

In Ephesians 5, Paul teaches us several things: how to walk carefully, how to think carefully, and how to worship continually. We're going to look at first how to walk carefully. Verse 15 of Ephesians 5 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, and not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of every opportunity," or making the most of your time. King James says "redeeming the time" because the days are evil.

Let me break all that down. First of all, wise people decide because every choice determines direction. Watch your steps. Have you ever stepped on a Lego piece barefooted? I remember Zack was growing up. I stepped on it and went, "Ah!" I got up and I didn't know what I was stepping on. I knew it had to be something other than an animal, but it hurt.

That little piece caused such a painful reaction in my mind and in my body. Spiritual little compromises here and there can also cause painful reactions in your spirit. Walk means wise habits. Value every opportunity that God gives you to walk wisely because time is the one thing we spend whether we want to or not.

Money can be replaced; time cannot. Someone said, "My biggest exercise each morning is jumping to conclusions." Don't count your days; make your days count. When we worry about tomorrow, we're blind to today's open doors. Just imagine receiving a bank account that deposits $86,400 into your account each day.

Every morning as soon as the clock hits eight, it's deposited into your account. At midnight, whatever you didn't use disappears. You can't save it. You have to spend it. You can't borrow more. You have to use every dollar wisely. God deposits something even more valuable. He deposits 86,400 seconds every day into our lives.

You can't store a second or a minute and hold it over to the next day. You cannot retrieve yesterday's seconds. You cannot borrow tomorrow's minutes. When today ends, they're gone forever. The question isn't whether you'll spend them; the question is will you spend them on things that matter eternally? Will you spend them on the things that God wants you to spend them on?

Don't be foolish; make the most of every opportunity and think carefully. I met a young man. He saw us coming into the movie to see the movie *Michael*. My wife and I and her brother and sister-in-law. People know that I used to work with the Jacksons and Michael in particular and that I was in charge of certain things.

A lot of my friends have been saying, "How come you haven't put nothing up on Facebook?" I said, "Why?" God didn't tell me to do that. "But you've got all these trophies and all these plaques." Yeah, I've got them. So what? What is that going to do? I'm not doing that. If God wants me to do anything, God will tell me.

"How will he tell you?" I don't know. He normally just has somebody ask me about something that's related. Wouldn't you know, people have been asking me ever since the movie came out, and I have not done a thing. But I'm up there minding my business at the store, replenishing my coffee stock, and a guy from the *Courier* says, "Hey, Pastor Miller."

"How you doing, man?" We stopped and talked. "You worked with Michael." "Yeah." "Can we do a story?" I said, "I didn't ask you to do it. You came to me. That's the only time I'll do something, when somebody asks me and God gives me the permission. Yeah, I'll do something."

If y'all see something coming up, I didn't start it. I don't need publicity. I get all the publicity I need right here being pastor. That is a part of my past history and not something that I run away from, but it's not something that I like to brag about. It's just a part of my history.

He was asking me about some things and I said, "Yeah, I know some insights into why he made *Bad* because there was something else that he made that wasn't released. Total album, but it wasn't released, so he made *Bad*." "Well, why?" "Have your reporter call me and I'll give it to you. I'll share that with you."

"Just give me a little bit of it." So I told him a little bit about it and he says, "Oh, so that's why he called it *Bad*." I was in the meeting. "I'm going to have them call you." If you see it in the *Courier*, I talked to my wife about it. She knows how I am about that kind of stuff. She gave me the green light.

I'm just a part of history and I'm not running from my history. I had a good time in some of those things, but those things are not who I am now. They just led me to the Lord and let me know that I didn't need all that to be fulfilled. What I needed was Jesus Christ and his righteousness.

Don't be foolish; make the most of every opportunity and think carefully is what Paul is saying. Ephesians 5:17, Paul is going to contrast foolishness with understanding. He says, "So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."

He's contrasting foolishness with understanding. You've got to learn God's will. God's will isn't hidden because he enjoys hide and seek. He reveals his will through his word. Have you ever tried to assemble something without reading the instructions? How many of you would try to put together a puzzle without seeing the picture?

You'll be all day trying to put those pieces together. How many of you would try to put together something without the manufacturer's instructions? Life works better when we follow the manufacturer's instructions. That's God. He made us. Leave worldly influences. Don't get drunk with wine.

This isn't merely alcohol. Don't get drunk with control. A lot of people are drunk with control. You can't control certain things because God is the one who is in charge of everything. In Colossians, it says God holds all things together. When you think you're holding something together, you're really messing it up because you're not in charge of anything.

God has allowed you to be able to be in whatever position that you may have. Whatever controls you becomes your master. Some people are intoxicated with anger, money, position, success, approval, entertainment. That can lead to a lack of restraint if that's your master. Anything replacing the Spirit becomes an idol.

"Be filled" means as a way of life with the Holy Spirit as the controlling element in your life. If something controls you more than Christ, it's too important in your life. For those on the radio, let me say it again. If something controls you more than Christ, it's too important in your life.

God is first in my life. My wife is second. Our son is third. The church is fourth. Everybody else comes after that. Christ is the head of the church, and since I am the undershepherd, he is the one who controls me. He tells me how to live my life, and he's the most important person in my life because I know how raggedy my life used to be.

Ephesians 5:19 says, "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." Worship continually. Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Being filled produces visible results. We sing; we're Spirit-filled. When you're Spirit-filled, you sing. Some people are standing next to me saying, "I don't think they're singing in tune." You know who hears them in tune? God does. How many of y'all had kids that tried to sing? They were nowhere on the scale, but you heard them singing beautifully.

In your ears, they sound perfect because that's the way they've been singing around the house. You're already used to those off notes, but the people around you aren't. God has auto-tune. Singers don't always sing on pitch, so a producer will use auto-tune. Auto-tune will make that note that's flat come up to the right place and that one that's sharp be the right note.

God has an automatic auto-tune on all his children's voices. God judges the heart singing to see if it's filled with the Spirit or if it's filled with performance to impress people. Being Spirit-filled produces thankfulness. Gratitude changes our perspective. Complaining magnifies problems; thankfulness magnifies God.

Two men in jail looked through prison bars. One saw mud; the other saw grass. Two different perspectives. The guy was looking for mud; he was looking for something to complain about. The other guy was just glad to be able to look out and see something other than those walls.

Being Spirit-filled produces submission. It's not a weakness. Don't let anything control you. You let the Spirit control you. When people get drunk, are they in control? No. That's why they get locked up. They're driving erratically. They think that they're supposed to be going in one direction; they've taken the wrong exit, which is really an off-ramp.

They're coming on the off-ramp thinking they're getting on the right way, and they're really getting in the way of oncoming traffic. A lot of people make that mistake when they're drunk. They think they're going the right way; they're really going the wrong way, and the headlights in front of them, they don't realize that they're coming into danger.

That's how it is when people are not controlled by the Holy Spirit. Humility in action is when God washed the disciples' feet. Jesus was above everybody, but he humbled himself and became as we are. The greatest became the servant. Many of you, I love you so much because I see how you serve other people.

I see how you conduct your business. You're not all showy about everything. I appreciate you serving the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of you work within the church. I appreciate all that you do. I don't tell you that enough and I tell you that again today because I really do.

Whenever you are fed the word, you always give. If I start preaching some nonsense, y'all are going to stop giving. I'm never going to start preaching no nonsense because I want the lights to stay on and I want y'all still to be able to be fed and I want to be the one that's able to do that as long as I can.

Being Spirit-filled produces a transformed mind. Romans 12 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." It's something that's done to me. I don't do this to myself; it's done for me.

So the Holy Spirit does something to me. I don't do this to myself. It's something that's continuously being done to you and to me. Conformed means stop allowing yourselves to be continuously shaped by the culture in which you're living. Allowing yourselves to be continuously shaped by the culture around you is a bad idea.

This comedian looked at his wife and he looked at his kids running around. He said, "I told you having kids was a bad idea." God never said having you was a bad idea, but we have to be conformed to something that's passively done to us. Stop allowing ourselves to be continuously shaped by the culture around us.

Don't let yourself be squeezed into a mold that God didn't make. The world constantly pressures us through persuasion like advertising, entertainment, social media, peer pressure, and even our own sinful desires. The world says success equals possessions, pleasure equals happiness, feelings determine truth, you deserve everything.

But Paul is saying, "Don't let the world do your thinking." He's saying think with the mind of Christ because God has given you the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. It's amazing how fast fashions change. How many remember the bell-bottoms? What about the parachute pants? What about the skinny jeans?

Some of us have a photo album full of pictures that should remain classified until Jesus returns when he can make all things new, even your things in your photo album. Paul is saying don't let your soul become as trendy as your wardrobe but be transformed. Transformation is where we get the word metamorphosis from.

It's used of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. This isn't behavior modification; it's spiritual transformation. Religion often says "try harder". I was trying as hard as I could to stop something and I never did until I finally said, "God, I need you to help me stop doing this." You know what happened? I stopped doing it.

I told him to take the taste out of my mouth. He did it. He changed me, and many of you. If I look back over my life, you know that God has changed some things in you. You're not the same person you used to be. God has made you new in spirit and in attitude.

You've got a different talk; you've got a different walk because God has made all things new. The things that are still old and rusty, he's going to take care of that, but you've got to give him time. God doesn't want you to modify your behavior; he does all that by transforming your mind.

The Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out, not just in our actions but also in the desires of our heart. Trying to become holy without God changing your heart is like trying to drive a car with a cracked engine block. It disrupts the engine's internal functions. A cracked engine will leave you stranded on the interstate.

Renewing of your mind means making something new in quality, not replacing our brain but our whole way of thinking and processing information. But you can't do that if your spirit is cracked, your mind is somewhere else other than on God. You can't make the right decisions.

Renewing the mind means making something new in quality, not replacing our brain but our whole way of living, thinking, and processing information. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God as a filter through which we filter everything we see, hear, and think. The Holy Spirit changes what we love, what we value, how we react to things in our life.

Things that have been done to us, decisions that we've made so that we don't make those same mistakes again. Our renewal comes through scripture, prayer, worship, obedience, and through Christian fellowship because iron sharpens iron. Have you noticed your phone constantly tells you it's time for updates? I hate it because you never know what's going to turn out.

Do I really need this update? I go online and I say, "Do I need this update?" "Well, here's what's going to happen when you do." I go, "I don't need that update." But when it comes to God, he tells us we need some updates. But when you're notified that updates are available, now you could ignore it if you want to.

Soon your apps are going to freeze, your battery's going to die, and everything on your phone's going to shut down. Spiritually, we do that with God. God says, "I've got an update for your heart. It's in the word of God. Open the Bible. Let me show you where it is. I'll lead you to it." We click "remind me later" on God.

Paul says don't postpone God's updates. The world wants to fit you into its mold. God wants to free you through his makeover. He wants to take you, renew you, transform you, and change everything that there is that's not like him so that you can be more like him. A changed life always begins with a changed mind.

Perfect means complete; it means lacking nothing. There are five marks of a Spirit-filled believer: we walk wisely, we redeem the time, we understand the Lord's will, we're controlled by the Holy Spirit. We know when we don't need to do something because there's a check in our spirit.

How many of y'all knew that about somebody that y'all wanted to have friends with a long time ago? Your mama tried to tell you, "That ain't right. That's a loser." "But I'm in love." You still have that phone number? I bet you don't. You know why? Because your mama was right and you got something better because God gave you something better.

He's a better God. He gives you the very best. He doesn't give you any leftovers, no foolishness. He gives you the top shelf. You reaching from the bottom. God says, "No, come on up here. Let me show you where it is. This is the good stuff." Because I only give good stuff.

God is saying I want you to have my best because I made you the best. You are the best version of yourself. So the question is are you controlled by the Holy Spirit? Is your life Spirit-filled? If not, it can be. And it's very simple. Admit that you have sinned.

The greatest sin of all is rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the greatest sin. But you can take care of that sin today. All you need to do is say, "God, I receive Jesus Christ as my savior. Forgive me for rejecting him all this time. I receive him now and I believe in him as my savior."

"I admit that I have sinned. I admit that I have sinned against you, and my sin sent your son to the cross, and he died for my sins, and I'm sorry for my sins, and I want you to be my savior." That's all you need to do is admit you've sinned and having rejected Jesus Christ all this time.

Now all you need to do is receive Jesus Christ because the Bible says as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. And then God says his grace and his mercy comes into your life.

Mercy is the compassionate removal of misery. You deserve to die right there on the spot right now if you don't know him as Lord and savior, but God is giving you another few seconds. In fact, I've given you 86,000 seconds, and you're using them most of them right now by overthinking it.

Ask Jesus to be your savior. He wants you to be in the family of God, and I want you to be in the family of God. I wasn't too ashamed to come down when I gave my life to Christ. I couldn't wait to get down to the altar. And I got down there and I was nine years old.

They took me in the back and they said, "Here your tithing envelopes." They didn't tell me nothing about being saved. They were telling me how to tithe. I did have a paper route and a shoe shine box, and I used to shine shoes next to Mr. Bellus's bar. I had Duke and Lady just in case some of the guys want to come up and rob me.

Mr. Henry said you can take one of my dogs and they'll be your bodyguard. One of them tried to stick me up. Mr. Henry said, "By the way, I'm making you a new shoe shine box." Then he had Duke or Lady up there with me. My mom worked in the bar, but what she going to do if some guys up there trying to stick me up?

So I had Duke or Lady. And Mr. Bellus came out and said, "None of y'all can shine shoes on my side. It's only for him. Bernard." He said, "If you mess with him, I'm calling the police." I said, "Mr. Bellus, you ain't got to worry about that. Duke or Lady will eat them up."

It took years later before I gave my life to Christ in 1988. That's how long I'd been in and out of church, and I was just a church hopper. I never got Christ until 1988 when somebody gave me the clear gospel. I was at the top of my profession and I thought I was all that. Somebody's out there thinking they're all that. That was me.

They said, "You need Jesus. You've gotten everything that you want, but you're not happy. You have no peace." They were talking to me. I was watching the *700 Club* and somebody that was in the profession was talking to somebody else about it. The Holy Spirit came on me and said, "You better get on your knees."

I got down on my knees by my waterbed. That was a long time ago. I gave my life to Christ. But the devil tries to steal the word that's trying to be sown in those who want to be saved. That's why they wanted to give me some tithing boxes because the devil had already stolen the word that God was trying to sow in my heart.

So it took all those years. I thought I was okay and then I realized I'm not okay. Maybe you've been church hopping and maybe you think you're okay. Can I be honest with you? You're not okay. You need Jesus. He'll tell you if you're okay or not. There is no way anything or anyone can separate you from the love of God. There's nothing that you can do to separate yourself from the love of God. It is a done deal, it's sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, and we're sealed until the day of redemption.