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Examine with Pastor Chuck Swindoll the providence of God. Discover how God’s sovereign hand guides all things for His good purposes and glory.

From the Series: Romans: The Christian’s Constitution

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Authors Brooke McGlothlin and Stacey Thacker know the rollercoaster of parenting teens: from facepalms, to moments of dread, to triumphs. They offer wisdom and practical help from the trenches to help you fight for your teenagers rather than against them. Brooke and Stacey believe you can unlock the full power of partnering with God through prayer—and navigate your changing relationship with peace, joy, and confidence as you locate the wisdom you need each day. They’ll help you feel purposeful, not powerless, in your parenting.

Show Notes and Resources

• Learn more about Brooke at brookemcglothlin.net and connect with Stacey on Instagram
• Get Brooke McGlothin's books "Praying for Teen Girls" and "Praying for Teen Boy's" in our shop
• Review our resources at FamilyLife.com/PrayForTeens

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• See resources from our past podcasts.
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I think I've lost the same five pounds 200 times - uh-huh. That's enough to make about six of me! Actually, I used to weigh 55 pounds more a number of years ago, and I lost it. But that's no great accomplishment. As anybody will tell you who has that same battle, the challenge is to keep it off. So I set a certain ceiling, and then I would kind of have this anchor weight. And as my weight creeps up there, which it often does, I yell down to the engine room, "Reverse all engines! It's time to go to work!" Frankly, it's just too hard to fight 20 or 25 pounds. It's much smarter, I've learned, to fight the problem when it's a baby than when it's full grown.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fighting It When It's Small."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is in 2 Corinthians 10, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 3. It's a battle briefing for spiritual warfare. It talks about how to fight spiritual enemies - but that which will weigh us down, hold us back, make us spiritually unhealthy. Here's what it says: "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. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

That's an exciting passage. It talks about God's power to destroy fortresses of sin in our life. Then it goes on to talk, not about immoral behavior or pornography or attacks on people, it talks about our thoughts. It talks about arguments, pretensions, and then every thought. It presents the fantastic prospect of capturing every thought for Christ.

Now, when you're fighting being overweight, you have to fight that early in those first few pounds that you start to put on. When you're fighting sin, you have to fight it early, when it's just a thought. See, your mind is a jungle. Savage animals roam across it all day long, right? Thoughts of revenge, thoughts of lust, sexual impurities, proud thoughts, self-centered "me first" thinking, bitterness is there, anger. Usually we don't start fighting back until this idea animal becomes an action. Well, then it's too late. The Bible spells it out in James 1:15. It says that, "Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." Seems like it would be easiest to fight it as a thought, as a desire, doesn't it?

Successful spiritual warfare doesn't wait for sin to become a plan or an action. Successful spiritual warfare has to be fought in the jungle of the mind. It's there we find sin in thought form - a thought that needs to be captured and not allowed to roam free any more. Daily we capture thoughts as soon as they appear, and then immediately, consciously you turn that sin idea over to Jesus Christ.

General Douglas MacArthur said, "The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words - too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy." Now, think about this in terms of sinful thoughts: too late in realizing the mortal danger, too late in preparedness, too late in uniting all possible forces to resist it. See, this passage says that sin, even the strongholds of sin, are beatable unless you wait until it's too late.

Capture sin when it's a thought...just a thought. Take it from a former guy battling the weight battles. You can stay spiritually fit if you learn to fight it early.

During the Blitz on London on December 29, 1940, a bomb destroyed a warehouse near St. Paul’s Cathedral and the resulting fire raged for two days. When Biddy Chambers received the news that all 40,000 copies of Oswald Chambers’ books stored there were lost—which she had compiled and edited but not insured—she set down her tea cup and remarked to her daughter, “Well, God has used the books for His glory, but now that is over. We’ll wait and see what God will do now.”

Perhaps Biddy was remembering what Oswald had written at the start of the First World War before his death. He noted how Jesus spoke to His disciples about “the inevitability of peril” so that when horrible things happened, they would “not be scared” because He was with them.

Indeed, Jesus told His friends of the trials they would face: “In this world you will have trouble. But,” He continued, “take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He wanted them to remain strong in their faith in His Father so they could withstand the trials and challenges they would endure.

Biddy’s quiet confidence in God carried her through, and eventually the books were reprinted and became classics for generations. We too can find encouragement and hope in Jesus’ promises that He has overcome the world. We know that He won’t leave us (14:18) and will give us peace (v. 27), no matter what we face.

Health insurance or health cost-sharing—which is the better fit for your family? With open enrollment upon us, it’s the perfect moment to explore your choices. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and Lauren Gajdek highlight the key differences between health insurance and health cost-sharing. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live—biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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Segment 1

• Ray Comfort preaches with TPUSA on campus, later appears on Fox News.

• Ray skillfully pivots every question back to the gospel.

• Refuses to get pulled into distractions—stays laser-focused on Christ.

Segment 2

• Ray’s tone is winsome yet bold.

• Pushback comes when preaching hell, but he still lands the gospel.

• Challenge: if you live near a campus, why not go witness too?

Segment 3

• Too many pastors treat their people like they’re unintelligent.

• Ben Shapiro praises John MacArthur’s depth.

• Sin leaves believers unsettled—don’t numb yourself to conviction.

Segment 4

• A faithful preacher makes truth reachable but stretching.

• Al Mohler warns of America’s cultural dumbing down.

• Even in healing debates, the question is clear: do we trust a logical God?

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Thanks for listening!

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Many Christians are unaware of the benefits available through their salvation. Dr. John Neufeld unpacks one of the most neglected doctrines—being "in Christ." Discover what Paul meant when he used this phrase 216 times in his writings and how your life is inseparably bound to Jesus from eternity past to future resurrection.

Making the Most of Your Salvation: In a world of endless technology, the opportunity for learning, communicating, and creating is at an all-time high. But for many of us, we don’t take full advantage of all of the resources at our fingertips. We know that many of us aren’t using technology to its full capacity, but did you know that many of us view our salvation in the same way? Join Dr. John Neufeld in the 10-message series, Making the Most of Your Salvation, as we learn about a sad reality that many Christians face: We don’t appreciate all that our salvation has to offer us. All too often, we see salvation as something that is there, that we understand, but we don’t take full advantage of. We go to church, we try to read the Bible, and we know that we’re going to heaven when we die. But there are so many other benefits of salvation that have the power to revolutionize our lives!