The Devil Made Me Do It // The Paradox of Purpose (Week 3) – Pastor Charles Metcalf – Transformation Church

Pastor Bree’s Introduction

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Pastor Charles Metcalf’s Introduction

• • Charles has been thinking about all these sermons and the concept of purpose – and it all means nothing without our “yes.”
  • Until we give God our “yes”, many are the plans in a man’s heart, but we need to be reminded to give God our “yes.”
  • Lord, we say “yes” today.
  • We’ve been leaning into God’s purpose for our life. Scripture says that many are the plans of man’s heart, but God’s purpose prevails.
  • Purpose is a paradox, it is not either/or, it is both/and.

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Genesis 25:27-34 New Living Translation (NLT)

Esau Sells His Birthright

27 As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

31 “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

33 But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.

Today, Charles has a specific assignment. He has to address a portion of purpose that has been perverted, twisted, misused, and cultivated and even furthered by people of faith. Today, he wants to introduce the concept of deferred responsibility.

Deferred responsibility is happening all over our country and society – it makes everybody else the problem with you life – blaming everyone else for what you’re going through.

Deferred Responsibility: – The act of placing ownership of one’s attitude, circumstance, or life on another person or party.

“If they would have told me”…”if they would have let me know then I could have”…”it wasn’t me”…this invites other people into the drivers seat of your life, and then blames others for not taking the turns you wanted to take.

It’s pushing the responsibility on everyone else.

You can see this a lot when people get saved and people blame “the devil.”

Some churches talk about the devil more than they talk about Jesus. Yes, you do have an enemy. The devil is not an idea or bad energy, he is a real enemy that doesn’t want you to walk in purpose. He’s really active and is a real thing.

Ephesians 6:12 New Living Translation (NLT)

12 For we[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

The enemy is real.

For the next few moments, don’t give him anymore credit than he deserves.

Message Title: The Devil Made Me Do It

We live in a time where it’s easier to blame the devil than to acknowledge what you are doing. Today, Charles is coming to speak against deferred responsibility and blaming the devil for everything.

Let’s look at the story of Esau and see what’s really going on. We say things like “the devil made me do it”, and get into a space of blaming him for being tempted and sinning and being off of purpose. The bible does not say that the Bible is the one making you sin or the one tempting you.

James 1:14-15 New Living Translation (NLT)

14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

The devil is very real, but don’t blame him for stuff that’s not him. When you give him more credit, you rack up things that you think he’s done and you think he’s more powerful than he really is.

Today, let’s take some responsibility and ownership of our life.

God has given you all the power you need to do exactly what He’s called you to do.

Let’s look at Esau’s life.

Genesis 25:29 New Living Translation (NLT)

29 One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry.

Esau was just distracted. It wasn’t the devil.

It’s regular stew but he got distracted.

The stew represented instant gratification. When we’re walking in purpose, we get distracted by what we can get right now.

1. One of the Biggest Distractions When God Wants to Do Something New, Is What You Can Get Now 

Beware of right now.

Esau was distracted by what he could get right now.

What is it in your life that you’re tempted to get right now?

Purpose is a process.

2. Purpose is a Process

It takes time. Just like with good food, you have to prepare.

You think you can serve for a few weeks or apologize a few times – but instant gratification is one of the greatest distractions to your purpose.

Beware of what you can get right now.

Many of our plans are quicker than God’s purpose. Our plans can be done in our own ability, but if we’re going to walk in the purpose of God, it may take longer.

It’s easier to look at pornography or DM people than to wait for God. It’s instant gratification and a distraction to our purpose.

Genesis 25:30-32 New Living Translation (NLT)

30 Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

31 “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

Was he being dramatic by saying he was starving? He was hungry but his emotions told him he was starving. Sometimes it’s not the devil, but your emotions.

When we’re walking in purpose, we look to blame the enemy when really it’s just our emotions.

3. God Gave You Your Emotions

The church has butchered our emotions by claiming that your emotions are the devil. God wouldn’t give you something if it was the devil. Jesus wouldn’t have them if it was the devil. Jesus was about to heal Lazarus and raise him from the dead, and knowing He was about to do that, He wept. We have to stop telling people they’re stronger or holy if they don’t talk about their emotions.    

4. God Gave You Your Emotions, but Your Emotions Are Not God

Your emotions need to be in the car, but they cannot drive it.

Having emotions is not a lack of faith. Your crippling people when you say that. You have emotions but haven’t dealt with them in a long time. Your secret addiction is your emotions.

We have a responsibility to be aware of our emotions.

Your emotions are real, but they may not be reality. You need to acknowledge them and deal with them, but they may not be reality.

He really did feel like he was starving.

5. What You Feel is Real, but It May Not Be Reality 

As believers we have a responsibility to be self-aware.

The Holy Spirit is one of the greatest self-awareness tools. This is also why you need community. You’re not you when you’re hungry, you’re just emotional.

Esau felt hungry. Being hungry is real. He was very hungry. When you’re hungry, you’re not in the greatest state of making decisions. It’s like going grocery shopping when you’re hungry – you just grab stuff. When  

6. When You’re Hungry, You’re Vulnerable   

Realize when you’re vulnerable/exposed/can’t be trusted in this situation.

Don’t start looking for a spouse, when you’re hungry – or start a business when you’re hungry for attention or validation.  

Some of you wives are hungry for attention, but do not step outside of God’s purpose to fulfill that hunger.

Some of you are hungry for affirmation from someone older – for someone to say “you can do it” – but don’t go to the wrong source.

The problem wasn’t the desire of being hungry – it was the decision he made.

7. The Problem Is Not the Desire, It’s the Decision 

The problem is the decision you make with the desire. This is why the Holy Spirit is so necessary. He can show you that desire and say, “let me help you with that decision.”

The Holy Spirit can show you when you’re vulnerable, and it may feel real, but you’re possible just a little vulnerable.

For some, one of the most spiritual acts you can do right now is to tell someone you’re a little vulnerable right now, and that you feel a little overlooked, and that you’re only active on IG because you’re trying to fill a void – can you just cover me in this moment? This is why purpose is not a solo gig. You need people you can go to.

Just like being hungry, when you’re tired you don’t make good conditions. This is why hustle culture doesn’t transfer to the kingdom of God.

There’s a pace of grace and it’s not pressure by performance, IG, or TikTok. Do not get distracted.

For Esau to give up his birth right for some soup is insane. Esau was just being irresponsible.

We can blame the devil, but it’s really just you being irresponsible. You didn’t get the job, not because of the devil, but because you didn’t recognize the value of the job and you had typos all throughout your resume.

Nobody who has a moment of infidelity in their marriage got married with the idea of that being what they would do. In the moment, they couldn’t see the value of what they had, and beyond that moment.

One issue we have in culture today is making massive decisions and being very short-sighted. We’re making decisions based on what we can see right now. Therefore, we insert our will. God doesn’t move based on what you see right now. He is looking from a completely different perspective.

Please do not trade what you have right now for soup.

How many answers in the Earth right now were traded for soup? Have our leaders traded a promise for soup? How many times have you traded God’s purpose for “what you know?”

Your comfort and the way your family did it could be soup. “How we’ve always done it” can be soup. That’s a trade that’s irresponsible.

In these moments, it’s important that we acknowledge when it’s not the devil and we’re being irresponsible and not recognizing the importance of what we have – e.g. our jobs.

God is looking at how you handle your current assignment and uses it to continue to reveal what He has for you. When you don’t steward the “little bit” it can’t qualify you for what’s next.

When it comes to purpose, don’t sacrifice what God has next for what you can be doing right now.

You have value right now. You have purpose right now. You have the same power that got Christ out of the grave living on the inside of you right now.

Declare that you won’t be irresponsible trying to get to your next when God has graced you right now.

When Charles was growing up, he thought by the time he got married he wouldn’t struggle with pornography when he got married. It didn’t go away. It hurt his marriage because he didn’t deal with it in the season where he should have already dealt with it.

Don’t push off your responsibility for “right now” to later. “Now” always shows up later.

The insecurity now always shows up later. Deal with it now, you won’t just magically become confident.

Do not be irresponsible with “now.”

Could Esau not make soup? It was just soup. Sometimes we’re just Lazy.

8. Sometimes It’s Just Laziness   

The Holy Spirit doesn’t override your laziness. The devil is not attacking your health or purity, you’re being lazy.

If you don’t prepare, God won’t just give it to you. Wake up for the job.

There is a level of laziness in creatives in the world right now. You have a responsibility to develop the thing that God has put on the inside of you. Some things won’t be released to you while you’re underdeveloped.

Do not be lazy with the gift God has given you.

Don’t be lazy with what God has given you. Don’t be lazy with the wife that God has given you. Do not be lazy with the gift God has given you – go on date night, get your wife flowers, tell her you love her – don’t be lazy.

Don’t be lazy with the husband God gave you. Your prayers can change an entire household. You can grow life in your husband.

Don’t be lazy with the ideas. Don’t be lazy with what God has given you.

Was it the devil or was I just distracted, emotional, vulnerable, irresponsible or lazy?

It wasn’t the devil, it was you.

The devil is not omnipresent like God, so he just hopes that you can stay distracted and remain in a cycle. He won’t have to worry about your purpose if you could just stay emotional and not submitted to God. He doesn’t have to do anything. If he knows you make irrational decisions and keep hurting yourself, and not consult God or your friends, or wont wake up on time, or won’t develop what’s on the inside of you, he doesn’t worry about your purpose.

When we give the devil more credit, we live in a space of being defeated. There are some things you don’t necessarily need to be praying about over the devil, but you just need to be disciplined.

The tagline for this series is that it’s not as deep as you think. There are many things we’ve made so much deeper than we think. Parts of walking in purpose is discipline.

Submit your natural (emotions, distractions etc.) and be disciplined.

9. You Can’t Be A Disciple Without Being Disciplined 

We have to take responsibility for what God has placed in front of us. You’re going to have to be disciplined.

For Charles, he had to recognize that he had a lack of discipline in his life when he was having severe panic attacks. One of the things that have kept him from having them is waking up on time and working out. The prayer was not forsaken, but there were also practical things. There are some boundaries that need to be in place. For Charles, working out is more mental. It’s practical for him. These things practically prepare him to walk in purpose. It’s spiritual, but it’s also practical.

It is spiritual and practical. You need to pray, but you also need to read your bible, fast and also need to work out. There are practical things that you can do.

Charles wish he could have asked Esau to just wait. “I get it, you are hungry, but please just wait. I understand there’s a lot and you feel overwhelmed, but please just wait.” This is what the Holy Spirit does when you’re in that moment of pressure and you want to make a decision.

The Holy Spirit tells you to just wait. You’re tired, overlooked, overworked, and insecure, but please just wait.

This is the biggest decision of your life – please do not trade your birthright for stew. It looks promising, you need to feel love, but just wait because it’s not what you’re looking for.

Just wait.

You might be the product of waiting for a long time, but just wait.

Those that wait on the Lord is talked about in scripture. God can make you stronger when you wait, not weaker. You’re not weaker or missing out when you’re waiting. Those that wait on the Lord, He will renew their strength. He is renewing your strength while you’re waiting.

You’re hungry, tired, feel insecure, and misunderstood, but just wait.

When you invite the Holy Spirit to help, and He empowers you. He gives you the power and the desire to do what pleases Him.

There is a real enemy, but today, you may need to own up to what has been you.

Maybe you’re vulnerable, maybe you’re hurt – wherever you are, God can meet you there.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I thank you Lord Jesus that you are allowing us to become aware – of areas we may have pushed off on the enemy, but may have been our own distractions, vulnerabilities, or even just laziness. Your mercies are new every morning. We pray new mercy for areas that we are vulnerable, irresponsible, distracted, or lazy. Thank you for empowering us for what you’ve called us for. We pray that you empower us in the practical. Show us what needs to change. Show people what they need in their marriage. We want to be disciplined disciples of you Lord God.

There’s a real enemy and his goal was to separate us from our creator. You were designed intentionally, and you are loved by God. He loves you right where you are. He accepts you just as you are. You may be struggling, and wherever you are, His loving arms are surrounding you right now.

If you just want to surrender and say the ultimate yes, repeat this prayer.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving me. Dear Jesus, I admit I’ve made mistakes, save me, change me, transform me, I trust you with my life, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

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SUMMARY NOTES

1. One of the Biggest Distractions When God Wants to Do Something New, Is What You Can Get Now
2. Purpose is a Process
3. God Gave You Your Emotions
4. God Gave You Your Emotions, but Your Emotions Are Not God
5. What You Feel is Real, but It May Not Be Reality
6. When You’re Hungry, You’re Vulnerable
7. The Problem Is Not the Desire, It’s the Decision
8. Sometimes It’s Just Laziness
9. You Can’t Be A Disciple Without Being Disciplined

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