Upset the Vows - Part 4

Tim Ross | March 14, 2021

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Transcription

Hey, y'all. Good morning.

I love you guys so much and I'm so grateful that you are all here. If you're watching us online, live, I love you. Whether you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, we are so grateful that you decided to join us today. I want to give a shout-out to everyone that has been commenting and leaving words of encouragement for us, and telling us how your life has been changing as you've been engaging with us at Embassy City. Whether you are one of our residents who are far away or one of our Vitamin E-people, I love you and I'm so grateful that you've connected with us today.

I want to give you a couple of things before we jump in. By the time I'm done with this message, we'll be halfway done with this series called Upset the Vows. I want to let you know that you should be changing your outlook if you are a married person. If you're a single person, you should be taking copious notes. If you're in a trouble spot in your marriage, then I really want to encourage you to take advantage of the resources that we have. Whether that's through XO Marriage, whether that's through the Marriage Minute, that's an email that can come to you on a daily basis; whether that's counseling that you need or a personal therapist that you need one-on-one for you to have a breakthrough in your own personal life, we want you to take advantage of all of the resources that are available to you.

The other thing I want to say is that if you've been listening to the messages on a weekly basis on the weekend but you haven't been watching Unpacked, you are not doing your homework. Everything that I talk about on the weekend, Juliette and I unpack, that's shown during the week on Wednesdays. If you're here on the weekend, we tape it live at 1:00 PM and couples have been coming back for that.

If you're not watching it on Wednesday, you are not doing your homework because we are unpacking some stuff and breaking some stuff down, and answering questions that you still are asking us to counsel you for. If you haven't done your homework, don't ask for a tutor. Do your homework and then maybe you'll have your question answered and you won't even need a counseling session. All right, then?

Now, we're going into the fourth message in this series. I have a preachy-teachy thing on me today. I'm just telling y'all all that right now. I felt it every time I go to study it. There was some place, I'm like, "I need to break this down and teach this," and some other stuff that I'm like, "I might just stomp and just yell at you," not because I'm mad just because I'm excited. I'm an exhortative teacher, that's my default setting anyway, and I feel it a little bit more today.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to go to the Book of Genesis 3. If you're taking notes on this message, and you should because nerds rule the world. That's exactly right. If you're taking notes on this message, the title of this message is Unpack Your Bags. I'm telling you to unpack your bags. This message, this weekend, is intended to give you some practical application and some tools for you to work on you. The first three weeks you was probably side-eyeing your spouse, praying in the spirit hoping they get the hint to every point I was taking, and somehow you forgot that every sermon wasn't just for your spouse. It was also for you. Now, I'm being very direct and pointed in saying to you on today, unpack your bags.

I don't even want you to worry about what your spouse is going through this weekend. I don't want you to worry about the thing that frustrates you the most about your spouse, and  he ain't doing that and she ain't doing this, and they still didn't apologize for that and they hurt me last week, last month, when we first got married, on our honeymoon. They didn't share their steak. We share in our family and they didn't even offer, they ate the whole thing in front of me. This weekend, you unpack your bag. Don't even think about them. Unpack your bags.

Let me pray because once I start, [sings] I'm not stopping until I'm dropping. Bow your heads, let's pray, shall we? [prays] Holy Spirit, help us to unpack our bags. Like for real. Hey, man, can you tell the move I'm in already? Genesis 3:1, here's what it says, "The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day, he asked the woman, did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any tree or just from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'"

Can I just pause? This is what happens when you stop communing with the Lord and conferring with each other. Eve responds to the serpent's question. Didn't he say you could eat of every tree? Oh, no, he just said we couldn't eat of this tree. He told us that we couldn't eat it. We couldn't even touch it, except God never put that in there. He said you couldn't eat it. He didn't say you couldn't touch it. You see what happens when we add even a little bit to God's word? This is why I'm strongly encouraging everybody when I teach something, please check it in the Bible. If I add something to it or take it away, please go, "I can't take that part."

"You won't die." [chuckles] That sounds just like Satan. "You won't die," and this is why these three words have such deception in them because a lie is the absence of the truth. Deception has a little bit of truth in it but completely distorts and twists the facts for the deceiver's benefit. "You won't die," which is actually true. If they bit the fruit they wouldn't drop dead; but when they bit the fruit they did start dying.

How many people have a cell phone with them today? How many people would say you have a full charge right now?  I got 99%, I'll make it through the whole day. Your cell phone is dying right now. The moment you took it off the charger it started dying. That's what happened to Adam and Eve when they bit that fruit. They didn't drop dead but they did start dying because disconnected from the eternal life force and source that is God, they began to die. It wasn't right away but they did start dying.

"God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. The woman was convinced." That's all it took. "She saw the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her." Pause right there. I want you to see there's three points by which all sin is expressed; lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life. All three are found in this one sentence. "She saw that the tree was beautiful," lust of the eyes, "And its fruit looked delicious," lust of the flesh, "And she wanted the wisdom it would give," her pride of life.

When the Scripture says that Jesus was tempted in all points yet without sin, it was lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The way sin entered the world was lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. "So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her." Oh, when I get to heaven, I am going to-- [exclaims]. After I see King Jesus and go holler at Peter, I want to dap up Paul, I want to go see Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those are the three Hebrew boys, I do not call them by their slave names.

Then I'm going to be like, "And where is, does anybody know which room in the mansion Adam is in? Did he make it?"

"I just need to go holler at him real quick because I need to ask him some questions. He saw his wife being influenced by a demonic spirit and just stood there?" [whispers] "What's happening here?" [verse 7] "At that moment, their eyes were opened and they suddenly felt shame at their [sound cut] nakedness." The moment you stop making that connection on an intimate, emotional level it's the moment you start judging the external, the flaws. You become ashamed of yours and theirs. I got to hide me and I got to hide what I-- And I want you to cover up what I see in you.

"They suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord among the trees." The thing that they were supposed to manage, they were now hiding amongst.

"Then the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'" Please pay close attention to this question because this is the first self-awareness question in the entire Bible. "Where are you?" Can we agree right now that the God of the universe, who is omnipresent and omniscient and omnipotent, was not looking for Adam? Are we all in agreement? That God did not fall through the garden like,  "Adam. Adam. Man, he's usually hanging out on the inside of the garden. I can't-- Adam."

He knew where he was, so this is a self-awareness question. I know where you are, do you? Where are you? Do you know where you are right now? Do you know how you feel right now? Do you know why you're petty right now? Do you know why you're frustrated right now? Do you know why you're having mood swings right now? Where are you?

[verse 10] "He replied, 'I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.'" I love God's response. "Who told you you were naked?" This is one of the best lines in Genesis because here's the thing, they'd never said the word naked before. "'Who told you you were naked? the Lord God asked. 'Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?'"

Now, before I go any further I got to break down this tree real quick. Because remember, the trees that they could not touch were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here's what I need you to understand about that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve didn't know good and the absence of evil prior to biting that tree. They didn't even know good. They knew God.

They had no judgement of good or evil. They didn't know either one. What they knew was God. They knew holiness. They knew righteousness. They knew what fellowship was. They knew what connection was. They knew what vulnerability was. They didn't even know what good was because our good is not even good enough. Here's what they thought was good, "Let's cover ourselves, we're naked."

Do you know if they hadn't bit that fruit, it'd probably be, I don't know, 72 degrees all over the whole world and we'd all be naked right now? Straight up chillin, naked, and not even knowing it. Nobody would have any insecurities about their bodies, they'd just be sitting up like, "Yes, you good, I'm good, we good." They didn't know good and the absence of evil. They didn't even know what good was. They knew God.

God knew, as soon as he said the word naked, "Who told you that? Did you eat something I didn't tell you to eat? Did you digest something, did you take in something that I never told you to take in? Do you now see yourself in a perspective that I never wanted you to see yourself in? Do you now see your spouse in a way that I never wanted you to see your spouse in?"

"The man replied, 'It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.' Then the Lord God asked the woman, 'What have you done?' 'The serpent deceived me,' she replied, 'That's why I ate it.'" Blame shifting started right here.

Now, here's what I want you to understand. Throughout Scripture, it is very, very clear, and the writers, especially Paul, makes it very, very clear that Eve was deceived; Adam sinned. That's what it says. It doesn't ascribe what Eve did as sin. It says she was deceived. It says Adam sinned. Would you like to know why they both don't get the ascription that they both sinned? Because Eve had a better assessment than Adam. When God asked Eve, "What did you do?" She said, "The serpent deceived me, I got played."

"That's just bottom line, sir. I got played. You know what? I was fooling around that tree too much and I didn't talk to Adam about it at all. You know what I mean? I was getting tempted, started getting weak. I didn't confer with my husband and we didn't- kind of processing and talking about it, then this serpent just came up, started twisting stuff up in my head and left to myself, when I think to myself, I be thinking I do the right thing but I don't." You know what I’m saying?

"He started off with this question, 'Didn't he say something about every tree?' Then I forgot what you said, start adding stuff to it."

"Before I know it, I got this fruit in my hand, I done bit it, passed it to Adam, he ate it, too."

Eve was honest."I, sir, was deceived. I got played." Guess what Scripture says for the rest of the Bible? She was deceived. Here's why Adam sinned. He blamed God. Why was it called sin when it came to Adam? Because Adam actually blamed God for this. Do you know how many people have blamed God that they're in a bad marriage? "God, why did you do this to me? How come we're in this situation? I might have missed you. I don't think I heard you. It's your fault, Lord."

God is sitting there like, "Really? I asked you where you are and your response is, 'It's the woman You gave me. If You wouldn't have brought this person, I wouldn't be in this situation.'" Instead of looking at yourself and assessing where you may be the problem in the relationship, where you may be the issue in the relationship, where you may be the stumbling block in the relationship, it's easier to just shift blame.

 "I ain't have a daddy. I ain't have a mama. I got hurt by an ex and so that's why I still don't trust you." It sounds like you have some bags to unpack. Instead of continuing to blame others for your actions, it sounds like you have some work to do that you, for some reason, don't want to do. I just want you to know you're not the first one to hide amongst some baggage.

1 Samuel 10:18, it's an interesting situation that happens. Israel wants a king. They've never had a king. They've been led by God up until this point. They have had some judges and some prophets, but now they want a king. Samuel tries to convince the children of Israel, "You do not need a king," but they demanded a king. Then God confers with Samuel and says, "Don't worry about it. Don't be upset about it. Give them what they want. I've chosen a man. His name is Saul. He’s a Benjamite. Go get him."

They have this huge procession, and bring all the tribes of Israel in and they get down to picking Saul. They're about to coronate him and here's what happens. Later, Saul called-- Samuel, I'm sorry, called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah.

"And he said, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all of the nations that were oppressing you. But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, 'No, we want a king instead.' Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans. So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of the Matrites were chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared."

When they asked the Lord, "Where is he?" The Lord snitched.

The Lord dropped a dime on you boy. [verse 22] "The Lord replied, 'He is hiding among the baggage.'" He is hiding among the baggage. Baggage. Can we be honest enough to say that every single one of us has some baggage? By a show of hands, who can willingly admit that they have baggage? If this is not 100% of hands, I will literally come down your row.

Now, when we hear the word baggage, we automatically associate baggage with some traumatic problem or issue. That doesn't have to be the case. It just means you've lived. There's no way you've made it through life without a bag. These little babies left the hospital with a bag for them. I mean, when mommy gave birth to these babies and daddy pulled the car around; a car seat, a little go bag, little bottles, some wipes and some little beginner diapers was in that bag. That baby has only been here for like 12 hours already got baggage.

The moment you come into the world, you come in with a bag and the longer you live, the more bags you accumulate. You came into this service with a bag. Some came with purses, some came with wallets, some came with briefcases. Everybody has something. Every time you get on a plane, you got baggage. Baggage isn't the issue; unpacking the bags is the issue.

I have four points to this message. All my Scriptures are done. This is so practical. Child, listen. If you don't get what I'm about to say in these four points, your geeter is broken. I got four points. Please write these points down. This is as practical as I can get them and I want you to implement them. You need to exercise them this week. Again, do your homework. Watch Unpacked. Juliette and I will actually unpack your bags for you to understand how we've done this in our relationship and how others have done it as well.

Point number one, please write this down, bring your bags. Not theirs, yours. Bring your bags. Don't try to act like you don't have those bags. Do not hide those bags, or I should say stop hiding those bags. It's interesting what we do to get into a relationship. Usually, how you try to get into a relationship is how you try to maintain that relationship. Too many of us have checked in- thank you, Holy Spirit- into the relationship with the appearance that we have no bags.

I want you to imagine somebody going on an international flight and all they had on was some pants, a shirt, some flip-flops. They're checking in for an international flight and they were like, "Are you going to be check-in any baggage?" "No." "This is a 17-hour flight. You're going to Australia. It's a 17-hour flight from DFW to Sydney. How long are you going to stay?" "I'm staying forever. I'm making a commitment to move to Sydney, Australia, and I'm flying there right now." "You have lived 20, 30, 40, 50 years, you have no bags to take with you on this trip?" "No, I don't have any baggage."

That's how people show up in relationships.  "There's nothing wrong with me."

"I don't have any baggage. I just bring it to the Lord, and He just takes it."

"I went to the altar call and-" [mimics transformation] "-I'm delivered. Completely and totally, utterly delivered." You're like, "Are you sure you don't have nothing?" People don't want to bring their bags. People don't want to bring their bags because they're afraid of being judged. If you saw the bags I have, are you going to judge me? Oh, my goodness, we need to normalize baggage because we all have it, so bring your bags and bring all of them. [chuckles]

Thank you, Holy Spirit. Some of y'all still got stuff in storage. I'm feeling it now. I've got a radar today. Some of y'all brought your bags, but you have not disclosed to your spouse that you have storage.  "I still have some stuff in storage. I know we got married and moved in together and I brought my lamp."

"We agreed to bring this dresser drawer. I like it. It's functional," but you're still paying money in Arizona on storage, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, but you're mad because they squeeze the toothpaste from the middle. You're mad because they didn't do the dishes after you cooked. You didn't ask them to do it, you thought they should know to do it and they didn't do it, and so you're looking at that instead of thinking about how to transfer your baggage. Bring your bags.

Now, I'll say in my relationship to Juliette, we both have baggage that we brought into the relationship. Juliette- if I was to give you a picture of it- Juliette probably had a duffel bag, two rollers. When I came into the relationship, it was  beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

She's like, "What's that sound?" I'm like, "What?"

Beep, beep, beep, beep. "What is coming?" "A lot."

"I have-- It's a lot. It's just an 18-wheeler."

"You might take a few years to unpack it all. I'm just going to bring them all." Before you try to, in some pride, be like,  "Yes, I only got a duffel but they brought a whole truck." You've got nuclear launch codes in your bag with a toxic chemical that could spray a generational curse for a thousand generations. Before we act like we going to compare these things, let's just know a small bag could be as lethal as a truck. Bring it anyway. You got hurt? Bring it. You got some PTSD? Bring it. You got a sexually transmitted disease? Bring it. Bring all the bags because if you don't bring all the bags, you'll never be naked and unashamed. Bring your bags.

Point number two, when I tell you this stuff is basic, unpack your bags. What was Saul doing? He was hiding amongst the baggage. That's what happens when you pile it all up. I hear a lot of people that- when we do marriage counseling, they'll bring their bags. They'll bring up their bags. "I got this and I got an issue with that," but they won't unpack it. You bring your bags to unpack your bags.

Whenever I take a trip, no matter where I go, even if I'm staying at a place for a night, when I get into the hotel room, I must take everything out of the bag. Hang everything up. Put everything where it needs to be. This is the way I don't actually forget anything when I get ready to leave because I literally reset the bag because I emptied the entire bag. I don't just take little stuff out at a time.

I've seen people come home from a long trip and that bag will stay there for the next three weeks. They'll just go in there and get some drawers and then they never unpack the bag. They bring the bag, but then they don't want to unpack it. Let me tell you why they don't want to unpack it. A lot of stuff that's in there is just hard. Can anybody admit that sometimes it's just hard unpacking bags? I just don't feel-- I know I packed it. But to unpack it? Anybody move from one house to another, one apartment to another? You got boxes up there for like four months. "What's in there?" "All of my dishes." "What do you eat on?" I've been buying paper plates for three and a half months. This fork works. I don't have no company so what is the problem?"

It can be tiresome to unpack bags, but you have to do the work of unpacking your bags. This is one of the most extravagant gifts that you can give to your spouse is to do your own self-care and your own work on you. Everything is not about the two of you. Some of this is you.  "Well, if she just did this, our marriage would be better." If you would just work on you, your marriage would be better.

Some of this ain't got nothing to do with her. You're still triggered off the stuff you did when you was 15. You've brought it into the marriage, you brought the bag in and now you're blame shifting, now your bag is her problem. Your bag is now his problem, but you packed that bag when you were seven. How is it now her problem? You packed that bag when you were 19. How is that now his problem? Somebody gave you a bag you didn't even want. You have a hard time unpacking it. I'm telling you, you got to do the work of unpacking your bag.

Point number three, please write this down, sort through your stuff. You see how basic this is? Sort through your stuff. I've packed so many bags, I can tell you by memory how I get it done. I have this great garment bag roller that I don't have to check-in, fits in the overhead bin, and so I put my blazers in the front part and any shirts that I have. Then I do one fold and in that fold there’s beard balm in one, I have a razor and a mirror in another. Then at the bottom of the bag when I open it up that's where my shoes go. That's where my little clear travel kit goes with my lotion, my toothpaste and my toothbrush. That's also where the socks go, the shoes go. That's it.

I have it in certain compartments. When I get home, I have to sort through it. The blazers get hung up. The underwear goes back in the drawer with just the underwear. The socks has it has its own sock drawer. The shoes go back. I have to put the little Cedar wood thingies in them. That's how you keep leather shoes, write that down. Then the lotion has to go back over here. Then the toothpaste has to go back over here.

You have to sort through it because most people that unpack bags do a very poor job of labeling them. When you sort through your stuff, that's where you go, "You know what? If you want to know why I flare up right here, when I was eight I was abused by a neighbor, so I get triggered. I need to sort through this stuff. That's why I do this. I'm sorting through and that is why I do that. My dad yelled at my mom a lot." Not you daddy because I know you're watching, and mama, and y'all didn't yell. It's an example.

My dad yelled at my mom a lot and so when you raise your voice, I just shut down. If you want to know why I can go blank. Now, this is me. You may say I'm passionate and I'm not even loud, I'm just passionate about what I'm talking about, and I come from a boisterous family and we're just loud. Okay, I get triggered. I'm sorting through my stuff. I'm not saying you're loud, I'm just saying when you normal, if this is your normal, your normal triggers me. I'm sorting through my stuff. I'm not blaming this on you. I'm just telling you, I break out in a rash when you do this. I flare up when you do that. I'm sorting through my stuff.

Now, listen to me. Most people can't sort through their stuff by themselves. You need help. The container store exists for a reason. They know you're not that good at organization, so they made a whole store to help you get your whole life in order. I'm just telling you, I strongly encourage you to get some help. You're going to hear this over and over and over again. Use all the resources that are available to you and get some help sorting through your stuff.

The more you sort through your stuff, the better you show up as the you that you were created to be in your marriage. You working on you helps the marriage. I'm going to say that again. You working on you helps your marriage. Everything is not about what your spouse is doing. The majority of this is how you show up in the marriage.  "Well, I'm doing my part. What about them? When are they going to start? I'm doing all the work." Sort through your stuff.

Which brings us to point number four, please write this down, put away your stuff. Sort through it, put it away. "Tim, I'm sorting through all this stuff. How do I put it away?" You need to know where stuff goes. You sort through that stuff and you go, "A lot of this stuff is in my past and that's where I need to put it. I need to put it away in my past. That's where this goes.

I know I used to act like this, I used to look like this, I used to be like this, I used to talk like this, but this goes into the category that I'm going to call my past. I am learning some stuff, and so I need to put this stuff away because this is going to-- And I realized why that was happening, and now I've learned to show up more curious than I was. Instead of being defensive over every little thing you say, I'm just not going to-- I'm just going to assume the best and let you actually finish your sentence without cutting you off. See, that's me working on me. You're going to finish your whole sentence today. Happy Tuesday."

Sort through it and then put it away. Sort through your stuff and then put it away. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Some of this stuff, you don't need to bring up no more.  "Four years ago, when you said--" If you bring your bags, unpack them, sort through them and then put them away, there should be some stuff in the past that you don't even bring up no more.

I need to dig into this a little bit more. I feel this one right here. Your past is ruining your present and keeping you from seeing the future. I'm going to say that again. Your past is ruining your present and it's keeping you from seeing the future. "Well, Tim, that hurts a little because there's some stuff that happened in my marriage and it's painful and I'm not sure. I don't receive that at all." Well, this is how divorces happen because the moment you stop unpacking your stuff--  "Did God say-- I mean, do you have to stay with them? Don't we all make mistakes?"

"Did he not say that you couldn't eat of every tree?" Eve was deceived.  "My bad, I got deceived." Adam, "God, it's Your fault." It all started with one question, "Where are you?" Are you self-aware enough to know what your bags are and how to unpack them? May 1st will be 22 years with Juliette. In the 22 years I've been married to Juliette, we have the biggest breakthroughs in our marriage when we have the discovery that we needed to unpack our bag. When I can come back and go, "Okay, so my bad. I pray"-- Have you noticed that when you have your quiet time with the Lord, when it's really the Holy Spirit, they don't even talk to you about your spouse?

The Holy Spirit don't even bring up your spouse. You go in the prayer room mad.  "Get them, Lord. Work on them, Lord. Deal with them, Lord. Show them who was right in Jesus name. Amen." Here's the Holy Spirit, "Your tone was off. You went too far when you said this," and you're like, "What?" Is there anybody beside me? Listen, I go into that prayer closet. Are you going to say he needs to deal with me. This is why when God spoke to Adam and Eve after their sin, He dealt with them individually. He said,  "Okay, Eve, it's going to be tough for you when you have kids now. That pain is going to be there. They'll make epidurals later, but you're going to feel that and you're going to want to control your husband but he's going to have rule over you."

Then He said to Adam, "None of this was supposed to be work for you. Now, you're about to sweat and y'all got to leave. Just to make sure you don't come back, there's going to be an angel here with a flaming sword going back and forth. Mission Impossible hasn't been made yet so you won't get back in here."

Unpack your bags. This message, along with the next two or three, are the tools that I want to give you that give the biggest breakthroughs in your marriage. If you're dating right now, you got a cheat code. If you're in premarital counseling, the very next session you go into show up with your bags. Check them all in. Because if they still want to be with you after they see all that, you've got your forever person and that's who you want.

I've never showed up to the airport where they were like,  "Are you bringing that?" You need all that?"

They go, "Put it up here." Some of the stuff that you need to unpack, it might cost you extra- extra work, extra time, some extra apologies- but if there's commitment, then you'll be able to travel for the rest of your days.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? My hope and my prayer is that something is being stirred in your heart, even though I know and feel and sense that this weekend is a challenge. I'm challenging you this weekend. I'm stretching you this weekend. I'm calling you to do something that maybe you didn't want to do, maybe you tried to do, maybe you unzipped the bag and opened it up and took out a few things and then was like [groans] "This is too painful. I don't want to do the rest of this."

My encouragement to you is to unpack your bags. My encouragement, if you're watching, is to unpack your bags. You are not responsible for unpacking your spouse's bag. You are responsible for unpacking yours.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want you to think about what needs to be brought, unpacked, sorted and put away. For some of you who are watching or maybe in this room, you may not know Jesus as Lord and you need to give your life to Him, I would strongly encourage you can do that. Jesus would love to step into your life and turn it upside down, [chuckles] which in the Kingdom really just means right-side up with the message, love and hope of Jesus Christ.

If you don't know Jesus as Savior and you would love to have a relationship with Him, maybe you're just open to have a relationship with Him, what would it take for you to give your life to Jesus today? Would you be opposed to receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord? If the answer is no, then I would ask you to give your life to Him and let Him do something for you that you can't do for yourself.

If that's you and you're in this room and you want to give your life to Jesus, while every head is bowed and every eye is closed, I just want you to raise your hand. "I want to give my life to Jesus today." Thank you. I see that hand. Thank you so much. Heaven rejoices with you. If you're watching and you're accepting Jesus right now, I just want you to type, "I'm in. I'm in on this relationship with Jesus Christ."

I'm telling you, for those that raised their hands in this room and for those of you all that typed, "I'm in," in the live chat, I just want you to know that heaven is having a party on your behalf right now. [prays] Father God, I pray that You would bless every married couple here. That they would show up with their bags to unpack their bags, sort through their bags, put away their stuff. God, I'm so grateful for every person that has made a commitment to make Jesus their Savior and Lord, and as You take us deeper in this series, may marriages get stronger and the enemy's influence get weaker. In Jesus name. Amen.