A Summary of Jon Weece's Teaching with Expanding Scriptures
My friend Chris sent me this message and a personal note of connection this week. Can a person of God fall away and sin so deeply, hurting the people they love, even destroy their family and still be counted as a person of God? This is the difficult reality we live in and the difficult reality Jesus lives to intercede for us now. The Holy spirit groans and creation groans and we have a pain in our side that won't fully go away - yet God's grace is sufficient for us.
A few weeks ago we laid hands on Chris, I recommended this because his story reminded me of my story. Suffering in Christ, with Holy Spirit brings unfathomable hope (Romans 8:17-30)
The Core Problem: Appetites That Promise but Don't Deliver
We are creatures of appetite, wired for desire, but sin hijacks those desires, promising satisfaction while producing bondage. The things we reach for most often (comfort, distraction, control, pleasure) can quietly become the things that own us.
"For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption." — Galatians 6:7-8
"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart." — Proverbs 21:2
"I have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial. I will not be mastered by anything." — 1 Corinthians 6:12
Step 1: Identify the One Behavior Holding You Back (35:15)
Honest self-examination is where transformation begins. Many people stay stuck not because they lack willpower but because they've never named the specific thing standing in the way. Naming it brings it into the light.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me." — Psalm 139:23-24
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." — Hebrews 12:1
"But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." — James 1:14
Step 2: Build a "Stop Doing" List and Replace It (35:25)
Willpower alone fails because it only says no. Lasting change requires substitution, filling the space with something better. Scripture doesn't just command us to stop; it calls us to put on what we've put off.
"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires... and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God." — Ephesians 4:22-24
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." — Romans 12:21
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely... think about these things." — Philippians 4:8
"But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." — 1 Corinthians 9:27
Step 3: Anchor Gratitude in the Promises of God (37:47 – 38:50)
Weece points to three pillars that sustain a changed appetite:
Creation. God made you on purpose and for a purpose. You are not an accident to be managed but an image-bearer to be sanctified.
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." — Ephesians 2:10
Crucifixion. The cross didn't just forgive the past; it broke the power of the old self. You are no longer a slave to what once owned you.
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." — Romans 6:6
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." — Galatians 5:1
Consummation. The story ends in glory, not defeat. That future hope reframes every present struggle and makes the temporary pleasures of sin look small by comparison.
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." — Romans 8:18
"Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." — 2 Corinthians 7:1
The Bottom Line
Gratitude for what God has done, in creation, at the cross, and in the coming kingdom, is not just an emotion. It is a weapon. When the appetite for God grows, the appetite for lesser things shrinks. The goal is not white-knuckled restraint but a genuinely transformed desire.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." — Psalm 37:4
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." — Psalm 34:8
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