Sheryl Brady - Weapons of Self-Destruction

On your way down, touch somebody and tell them, «Weapons of self-destruction.» I want you to get your pen, your paper, your iPad—whatever it is that you write with—because today I want you to write some things down. I’m not here to just preach and teach and make you feel great; today I’m here to arm you with some things that I believe will help you in your walk with God. How many of you know we need help in our walk with God? I’m ready; I want to grow—how about you? I’m not happy to just stay where I am. I think we should always have a desire to grow and to advance in the kingdom of God.

2024 has been a year for the record books! I mean, from church scandals to leadership scandals to corporate America scandals—you just name it! It seems like every day you wake up braced for, «What in the world am I about to hear today?» However, that makes me really grateful and thankful for the fact that early in the year, Bishop—or I believe it was Bishop—spoke and said, «Let’s get bottles of oil and make sure everybody gets a bottle of oil.» Has anybody used your oil this year? Woo! I’ve used some; some of y’all had to come back for seconds! I just want to know where you put all that oil—that’s what I want to know. But anyway, I put it all over my house! I anointed the door with oil; I anointed the dog with oil. I mean, we just did it! And one night, when Bishop forgot to turn his car off, I think we were moments away from something pretty terrible. But by the grace of God, He used my little dog, whom I anointed, to make us aware that something was wrong in the house. By the grace of God, we were able to come out of that alive. I am grateful for that.

I say that to say that, really, the truth is we’ve been through dangers seen and unseen. If you knew all of the things that were coming against you in 2024, you might just be shocked because there has been a lot of warfare—warfare that we have been able to see from the political arena to the church. There has been all kinds of warfare: warfare that we could see and warfare that we did not even see. Sometimes you just have to say, «Lord, I thank You for what You kept me from.» You don’t even have to tell me what all You kept me from, but I thank You for keeping me from it. You don’t know how many planes come close to your plane. There are things that you just don’t know—how many sicknesses that could have hit your life, but by the mercies of God, He kept you, and you are still here. He kept us from outward enemies that were targeting us, but He also kept us from inward enemies that were fighting within us. Actually, the Bible teaches us that we have three enemies: one is the world, one is the flesh, and one is the devil. The world is the fight happening around you; the flesh is the fight happening within you; the devil is the fight happening against you.

So your biggest enemy—let me tell you, this might come as a surprise to you today—but the biggest enemy is not the devil. Come on! Alright, because how many of you know he is defeated? He is defeated! Your biggest enemy is not even the world, but your biggest enemy—the enemy that does not want you to fulfill your purpose and doesn’t want you to become what God said you would become—is right within you. You are your worst enemy.

Now, we often talk about «No weapon formed against us shall be able to prosper,» but we must remember that there is also a raging war going on within us. There are weapons in us that are trying to prosper. Paul summed it up for us when he said in Romans chapter 7, verse 19: «For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that is what I am doing.» He said there is a war going on inside of me. «Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?» Paul is admitting here that he is struggling to figure himself out.

Now, before you act like you have never had a struggle in your flesh or that you have never had a carnal day in your life, let me remind you who this is that is admitting that they’re trying to understand their own life: it is the Apostle Paul. He says, «Yes, I am an apostle; yes, I am anointed; yes, I’ve turned cities upside down; yes, I wrote over half of your Bible; and I too have had my share of inward struggles.» Paul was struggling to figure himself out, and in essence, what he’s saying here is, «Listen, all of my intentions are not enough. As much as I’ve done and all that I’ve intended to do, they are not enough.» Many times we know what to do, but getting ourselves to do it—that’s another story altogether. We are not naturally inclined to do things that are difficult; we are naturally inclined to do what’s easy, convenient, and self-gratifying.