Frogs in the Bedroom: The Relationships That Defile Your Rest

Sermon outline

Sonship is maturity, and a son guards his place of rest and his nourishment from the relationships, music and noise that defile them, because God does not speak in the noise.

1. Sonship is about maturity, not gender

   When the Bible talks about sonship it includes both men and women. All of creation goes from labour to birth to growth to maturity, and in the Spirit that maturity is measured not by age but by your revelation of who God is, what His word says and His plan for your life. A true son grows up to think, behave, walk and talk like Jesus. It is not about calling somebody dad or mom.

   Illustration: A son does not live like the soapies and the telenovelas, going from one episode of drama to the next. Through summer, autumn, winter and spring, and through a raging storm, he is the same person.

   “Sonship for the believer is about maturity.”

   • 1 John 4:17

2. Infant, child, disciple, son

   He walks through the stages the way a child grows. The infant has just accepted Jesus and needs someone to feed him and change his nappies while he learns what the blood, sanctification, redemption and righteousness mean. The child learns the way, so that church, the prayer meeting and the Word every day become his culture, and his habits, speech and thinking start to change. The disciple begins by disciplining himself and putting somebody in his life to help him. The son is the one who is sent. Fail at one stage and you do not stand still; you retrogress.

   Illustration: It is lovely to walk into a house and smell baby powder and hear a baby in the background. Hear that crying every day for years and you start asking the Lord what you did.

   “Sons don't sit. Sons are sent.”

3. You know you have arrived when you no longer respond like you used to

   The enemy throws drama at you so that you react the way you used to and fall back to stage one. You know you have grown when your speech, your actions and your thinking are no longer what they were, because the Holy Spirit's ways have become your ways. A son does not get caught up in the drama. He brings people together, stands firm, enacts the Father's will and is not moved by whether he has a car or money. Even his prayers change, from bless me and my home to the church, the leadership, the government, the community and souls.

   Illustration: When someone brings a story, the son does not go looking for more drama to talk about. He says, let me call that one and let's put you together, because two cannot walk together unless they agree.

   “You know you arrived at each of those areas when you no longer respond like you used to respond.”

   • Amos 3:3
   • 1 Corinthians 9:27

4. The world does not know us, so stop trying to fit in

   The world will never identify with you because it did not know Jesus, and they have to see the difference in you to receive it. Creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, but it will not see them while they try to fit in. Trying to be like the world while asking God to bless you is futility and frustration. The blessing does not come by manipulation; it comes by submission, consecration and disciplining yourself, on the condition that God alone is worshipped.

   Illustration: Just because the world has a gold tooth, a flower tattoo down the thigh, Dickies or Nikes does not mean you have to. If someone has the brand you wanted, say bless the Lord, I'm so happy for you, in your time it's mine.

   “We do not get the blessing of the Lord by manipulation, we get the blessing of the Lord by submission.”

   • 1 John 3:1-2
   • Romans 8:19-20
   • John 17:14-16
   • Hebrews 7:7
   • Matthew 6:33

5. The frogs: unholy relationships that defile your rest

   The second plague brought frogs out of the river into Pharaoh's house, bedroom, bed and kneading bowls. Spiritually frogs speak of defilement and unclean spirits that breed in stagnant water, and God never called His people to be stagnant water but rivers of living water. Frogs do not come with claws; they come in volume, and open the door to one and you open it to a thousand. The bedroom is your place of rest and your secret place, whether your home, your church or your relationship with your man of God; the kneading bowl is your nourishment. The frogs are the unholy relationships in your inner circle that turn you against your pastor, your cell leader, your spouse and your own children, and that leave you unable to pray or receive the Word. Some of them know more scripture than you and spin it, as the devil did with Jesus in the wilderness.

   Illustration: The person whose story is so good that when they tell you somebody stole fifty, you check your own pocket. A husband who was good enough for twenty years in shorts and sandals suddenly looks worse than the man at work in a suit and tie. The toxic voice is served up like roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, with rat poison inside.

   “They don't come with claws like wolves, they don't come with claws like lions. They come in sheer volume and contamination.”

   • Exodus 8:3
   • Revelation 16:13
   • John 7:38
   • 2 Corinthians 6:14
   • Galatians 3:1

6. Procrastination: the frogs died but the stench remained

   Some people in your life try to give you the truth, but when the frogs are already there you put it off, because a part of you still likes the story. When Pharaoh relented the frogs died, but the carcasses stayed and stank, and his heart was hardened. Choosing tomorrow means you either do not want to deal with the fallout or you are not sure you want to burn the bridge. Even after you draw the line, you still have to clean out the dirt. This is the outer court, inner court and Holy of Holies teaching again: drawing boundaries and counting what the frog is costing you.

   Illustration: A rotten orange at the back of the fridge goes unnoticed until the whole dozen has gone bad. By then it is no longer a plaster; it is an amputation.

   “When the frogs are already there we have something called procrastination.”

   • Exodus 8:13-15

7. Not every frog is a person: God does not speak in the noise

   Music, films, books and the dances on TikTok can defile just as surely as people. Someone can read a fashion magazine cover to cover and fall asleep at Psalm 1. Songs about another man's wife and rap that calls girls by names shape how we think, speak and behave. Christian music comes from a heart of worship, and worship is between you and your King, not you and the artist. God is jealous and will not share you, not even with yourself. He is not asking anyone to become a monk, only to make the decisions that let the noise of the world fall away so God can speak.

   Illustration: He tells the story behind a worship song played before the offering, written by a South African worship leader at a time he needed God to come through, and asks whether we look at the story behind a song or only at the stage and the lights before putting Drake back on.

   “God never speaks to you in the noise. He speaks to you when you are seeking Him.”

   • 1 John 4:4

In this message