I've Got My Balance Back

This powerful message takes us deep into the tension between spiritual warfare and personal responsibility, asking us to examine a critical question: Is it a demon or a decision? Drawing from Matthew 17:14-20, we encounter the story of a boy tormented by seizures and demonic influence, whom the disciples couldn't heal. Jesus responds by teaching about faith the size of a mustard seed and the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. What makes this teaching so compelling is the balance it strikes—we're called to be aware of spiritual battles without becoming obsessed with demons, to recognize that some situations require deliverance while others simply need discipline. The message challenges us to stop blaming the devil for consequences of our own choices, whether it's financial struggles that stem from poor budgeting or exhaustion from binge-watching until 3 AM. Yet it also affirms the reality of spiritual warfare and equips us with weapons: God's Word, prayer, and fasting. Perhaps most transformative is the revelation that God speaks the same words over us that He spoke over Jesus—'This is my child whom I love, with whom I am pleased'—not because of our performance but because of our identity. When we understand this, we stop fighting for victory and start fighting from victory.