Okay. Yeah, we can begin. Yes. So we've come to the concluding chapter of our course, which just is like more like a reminder to us of why we have in fact done this entire course. Why are we focusing so much on holiness and overcoming the evil one overcoming the world and the flesh and where is the point? What's the main focus of why we are doing all of this? Why should we be living an overcoming life? And there are just three points mentioned in this final chapter. So this is basically why we choose to overcome temptation. This is basically why we choose to not get swayed by Satan. It is because we want to honor God. We want to reach out to the world by world. I mean, the people in the world, you want to reach out to them and help them get delivered out of the grip of the world and the grip of Satan. And we want to be fruitful in whatever it is, whatever calling it is that God has placed in our lives. So we will look at these three points.  That would be Matthew 11 verse 12. So maybe we can read out that. Look at the significance of that and then move into our three points. Alright, so if someone could read out for us, Matthew 11 verse 12, please. Matthew 11 verse 12. Matthew 11 verse 12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffer violence and the violent take it by force. Yeah. And here when Jesus speaks these words, we get the impression that he's speaking it in a positive sense. So he is happy that people are being violent. He seems to be happy that they are forcefully taking the kingdom. So over here it's not talking about the evil one overcoming the kingdom of God. It's not talking about any attack, any evil attack against the kingdom of God. Rather, it seems to be talking in a positive sense, because this is what it says. If you look at the earlier verse, you know, Matthew 11 verse 11. It says that truly I tell you among those born of women, no one has a rise in greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. So it talks about how even the least in the kingdom of heaven are able to take the kingdom of God violently now. So in that sense that even the least person in the kingdom today is greater than John the Baptist, because John the Baptist didn't have access to the finished work of the cross, which we now have free access to. So, you know, if you are feeling rather small in your ministry, if you're feeling rather weak and helpless, you know, in your personal life, because of the situations that you're facing, if you feel that you're, if you feel like as if you are the least in the kingdom of heaven, you are greater than even John the Baptist is what Jesus himself is saying, because now anyone who really wants to can forcefully take the things which are available to them in the kingdom of God.  It may never happen, because God is looking for people who will actively step out in faith and claim what belongs to them, you know, in the kingdom of God. So those who just simply sit around passively hoping that maybe some angel will come and give them all the things which they require, they may never get it because God is not for spiritual laziness. On the other hand, if someone has been stirred up by all the scriptures that they are reading, and they're eager to see it accomplished in their lives, and they think, all right, I'm going to stand on these scriptures and I'm going to step out. I'm going to try making these things happen even in my life, in my situations, and they take hold and they declare those things over their lives, and they come against the evil one and they cancel his works. And, you know, they're doing a lot of works, a lot of works of faith, working out the things, you know, putting into action the things which they have only learned in theory up to now. Such people who are not just sitting around passively but violently, actively claiming what belongs to them. Over here, the wording that is used is, you know, it says that the NIV says, violent people have been raiding the kingdom of God. That's what God wants us to do. Go into the treasure house, literally raid it. When a robber walks into, let us say, a bank, it's not like he's going to take, you know, one currency note from there and walk out. No, he's literally going to raid it. He's going to take everything that he can get his hands on. If there are precious stones and gems in the lockers, he'll take those. He will take all the currency notes. If there are bonds available over there, he'll take those. He'll take just about everything that he can lay his hands on, you know.  No, that's not what we have been taught in scripture. It talks about people who are actively in the battle and are standing their ground and having done everything to remain standing. So, it's very clearly talking about warfare. It's talking about active involvement and participation. It's talking about taking what is yours. You know, it's like to use a very simple example, you know, the mother has baked this lovely cake and the cake is sitting over there on the dining table. And if all the kids are just, you know, sitting in their room and, you know, thinking, yeah, when the time comes, my mother will come and she will give it to us. It may never happen. You see, she has done her part. She's placed the cake on the table. Now, anyone who's interested, anyone who believes that the cake is indeed on the table will have to go forth, you know, and take their portions, raid it, raid the dining table and take what is theirs. So, there needs to be some enthusiasm from our side, you know, after what Jesus has done on the cross, after that amazing victory that he has won for us. If we are just sitting around passively thinking, ah, if he feels like it, he will give it. And when he gives it, I will take it. That kind of lazy, uninterested attitude is not something that God expects from us. I mean, imagine how that mother would feel, you know, after she bakes this really lovely cake and she places it over there for her family and the family is not even interested in coming and looking at it. How would she feel? So, I think the Lord enjoys it when we raid his treasure house, when we take what belongs to us, you know, in Christ. Which is why he, you know, even in that Luke 11 passage, he says, you may have a shameless friend who is not willing to get up in the night to help you. And then, you know, you have to, what? With shameless audacity, you have to go on pestering him and only then he will very reluctantly get up and give you what you require simply because he wants to go back to sleep. So, your friends may be like that, you know, but what God is saying is, when it comes to me, all you need to do is ask and you will receive, seek and you will find a knock and it will be opened to you. You know, is what he says. So, God is not like some, you know, uninterested friend who doesn't really want to help, who can only think about his own interests. God is not like that.   So, we should not be passive when it comes to fighting the flesh, you know, fighting, overcoming the world and defeating the devil. So, when it comes to these three things, laziness is really not going to get us anywhere. When the flesh, you know, tempts us, when we are stirred up to do wrong, when we feel an urging to go against what God has commanded. We don't just passively sit over there and think, oh yeah, this is too strong for me. No, God would like his people to use the finished work of the cross to overcome in their personal lives. So, people who actively, you know, take a stand against the flesh and they overcome the world and they cancel every work of the devil. Each time it happens, such people are the ones who are violently taking their stand and saying, I will not give up my position in the kingdom. They are the ones, you know, who will really come out victorious. And so that should be our stand. We should be very active in our overcoming rather than, you know, being very passive and waiting for God to come down and do something for us. He has already come down. He has already done all that is required. Now it is our part to come to the table and take what is laid out over there on the table for us. So, having understood that, you know, we will look at three reasons why we live this kind of a holy overcoming life. It's much easier to just give in to the world, give in to the flesh, allow Satan to do what he wants and, you know, just live, exist from day to day. That would be easier. But why do we actively choose to stay holy? Why do we actively choose to overcome? The one main thing, of course, is because we want to bring delight to the Father's heart. That's the first point that's mentioned in your notes, the verse that is given over there. That's basically 2 Corinthians 5 verses 9 and 10. If someone could please read out 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 9 and 10. 2 Corinthians 5, 9 and 10. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. There seem to be two things mentioned over here in these verses. One is that we are doing all of this to be well pleasing to him, so that he'll be very pleased with us. He'll be happy with the way we are living. So that's one reason why we do it. And the other is because we are going to have to face the judgment seat of Christ, where one day we will be judged for everything that we have done in the body, whether good or bad, it says over here. So how are we to understand this? Should this make us very fearful? Because one day we're going to be facing God, we're going to be facing the judgment seat of Christ. Should that make us very, very fearful in the way we choose to please him? Because we all know that, right? I mean, some of us who've had bad experiences probably will be able to acknowledge that more. Where we please, not because we want to, but because we are too scared to not please. So we please out of fear because we are terrified of that person. We don't want to put that person in a bad mood. So we try our best to keep that person happy because we are very scared what will happen if that person gets angry. So is that the attitude that it's talking about over here? Most definitely not, right? Because that's not the impression that we get from the scriptures at all. So just to kind of get the right perspective, if we can also look at Romans chapter 8 verses 15 to 17. Romans 8, 15 to 17. Romans chapter 8 verses 15 to 17. So you have not received the Spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him a father for his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his hares. In fact, together with Christ, we are hares of God's glory. But if we are fish in his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yeah. So when we look at 2 Corinthians 5, 9 to 10 in the light of this passage, it helps us to have the right attitude. Over here in this passage, you see it's talking about how we are now God's own children. And this is how he wants us to address him, not just with that word father, which itself is an intimate word, which is a good word. But we are also allowed permitted to use this very informal word abba.  So, you know, so this was such a very informal, such an intimate word. And that is specifically placed over here in scripture for us.  And, you know, so some people who are listening may feel offended thinking, my goodness, how can this person pray like that? You know, at least they should have the decency to use the formal word father. But here we see in the scripture that we're actually being encouraged to use that very intimate, informal word of, you know, papa or daddy, you know, whatever, you know, term that we use in our own languages. So, what we are being told over here is that we can be like children, like little children in his presence. And so it says in the very first verse, Romans 8 verse 15, the spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again. When we were in the domain of darkness, always scared, always fearful, what's going to happen next? And that is why you have people, you know, offering all kinds of things in front of their idols because they are scared that if they don't offer those things in front of the idols, what bad things will be done to them?  This is all operating out of deep fear.  You know what? You can actually use that most intimate word of Abba, not even the formal word of Father, but that intimate term Abba is what you can use. So that should be our approach to this Lord. In the light of this, if we are looking at ourselves as God's children, with that attitude, you know, keeping that in mind, that perspective in mind, if when we look at 2 Corinthians 5, 9 to 10, we see it very, very differently where it says, so we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. So over here, why are we choosing to please Him? Not because we are going to be terrified of the judgment day, but we are pleasing Him because He is our Abba Father. And coming back to, you know, Romans 8, this is what we see in Romans 8, 17. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. So our elder brother, Jesus Christ, He went through all those sufferings. You know, if you remember, it says that He learnt obedience through suffering. It was not easy for Him to always submit to the Father's will. And He did it, in fact, every single time, never sinned. Every single time He chose to do the Father's will, it involved a lot of suffering and sacrifice. He went through that. So now we choose to be like our elder brother and we choose to share in His sufferings in the same way that He suffered, in the same way He chose to submit to the will of God, we choose to do that, in the same way He carried His cross, we choose to carry our cross. So in that sense, we become disciples, we become true followers of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. And why are we doing this? Because I know it talks about Jesus Christ and it says, for the joy that was set before Him, He did that. He didn't do it grudgingly thinking, oh, this is something I have to go through now because my Father has asked me to do that. He says, let this cup be taken away, but let your will be done because He was thinking of the joy that was set before Him. That one day He would receive His reward. And so we go to this judgment seat of Christ with that same confidence knowing that all the hard work we have put in, you know, in sharing in Christ's suffering, now we will also share in His reward. We will also share in His glory. So we're not doing all of this grudgingly or negatively or fearfully. We are doing it because now we are part of the family. Whatever our elder brother experienced, we are also going to be experiencing most of that. You know, we all always pray and we say, Lord, you know, let the life, our lives be good. Let us have much joy and happiness. And in spite of that prayer, we go through trials and difficulties. God permits it because He is teaching us to become just like our elder brother. You know, now we are all part of the family. So what our, you know, the private Godhead went through, we kind of share in that, you know, the pain which they felt, you know, when Jesus Christ had to go through what He did on the cross. We actually are participating in whatever our Heavenly Father went through, what our elder brother Jesus Christ went through. We are participating in that. We are sharing in that. And we are learning to respond to these things the way, you know, our God did, the way Jesus responded. We are learning to respond in that way towards all these difficulties.  He will grant that to us and grant that to us. But along with that, there will be trials, there will be difficulties, there will be tears because this is part of life. We share in the sufferings of our elder brother because we know that when we come through this victorious in the same way, you know, imitating Him, imitating the example that He said for us, then we also will share in His glory. So on that day when we are standing before the judgment seat of Christ, we are standing in front of the judge.  But we are also standing in front of our elder brother, you know, who did so much for us so that we can walk in victory. And He watches us so proudly when we take up our cross and we follow Him and we are faithful to Him. It brings Him joy to see us imitating Him so faithfully. So on that day when we are standing in front of the judgment seat, we can have this deep satisfaction of knowing that we were well pleasing to Him.  It's not just something that is done grudgingly. It's done out of faith because we genuinely believe that we are part of God's family. We now know that whatever we are going through, we are going through it because He went through it and He's allowing us to go through those same things because we will start learning to imitate Christ and, you know, react and respond in the right manner to different things. And in the process we start becoming like Him and it brings great joy to the Father and to the Lord Jesus, you know. So the Holy Spirit is there to enable us, equip us to live in this way and we choose to do that. And so in the same way that we are sharing in His sufferings, we will also share in His glory. So the first reason why we choose to live in holiness, work towards a sanctified life is so that we can be well pleasing to our Lord. And of course the second thing is that we do this because the world is watching. You know, Jesus, when He came, He said, I didn't come for those who are well.  I have come for such people.   So they may think that we are what? Museum exhibits, you know, something strange to be stared at and wondered at. But gradually when we continue to continue to live in this particular way and they see the hand of God on our lives, when they see how in spite of the difficulties we have not been defeated, but we have learned to overcome and they see that we are living victoriously in spite of all the things that are going on. Then they start watching in a different way. They start feeling hope in their hearts. They start thinking that maybe what this person has, if I turn to this God that this person has, maybe things can change in my life as well. Maybe I don't have to stay in the stuck, in this addiction anymore. Maybe I too will be able to overcome. It starts putting hope in their hearts.  It talks about, you know, all the, you know, what clicking on the likes and clicking on the dislikes. People are hunting for role models. They are like desperate for someone that they can put on a pedestal and look up to, you know, because they don't believe in God. They don't think about him. But something in their heart aches for someone to imitate. Because that's what God has created us for, right? That we are meant to be like our Creator. They have dismissed the Creator. They don't want any part of the Creator. And so they try to place human beings on the, you know, influencers, people that they can look up to and admire and follow. So such people, it's important that we represent Christ to them. So the way we live, they are watching. And that can either just, you know, make them feel disgust or it can start stirring up hope and a desire for something more. So if we are living badly, then they'll just be disgusted and say, oh, this is the way all Christians are. But if they are watching us and they see Christ reflected in our lives, they may think, yes, I've seen a lot of Christians who are disgusting, but these people are different. They seem to really have this Christ which is talked about in the Bible. And so then they start feeling hope in their hearts that maybe they too can change. Maybe their lives also can be transformed. And when they see us overcoming very, very painful, difficult situations and coming out of it victorious, they think, oh my goodness, if the power of this God can help them come out of something like that and live in joy and victory. My goodness, maybe if I place my hope in this God, that same power will be released into my life as well. So we are really, we can make a huge difference in people's lives. So this is what it talks about in 2 Corinthians 2, 14. If someone can read out, 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. He diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge. And over here in NIV, it says he spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. So these people are not interested in opening the Bible and reading it. They are not interested in listening to the sermons that are there on YouTube, but they like to watch. They really like watching people. And so they watch us. And so we become the aroma of the knowledge of him. So they look at us and they see his fragrance in our lives. Even when we are being hurt and crushed, they see that in spite of it all, we are able to hold on because we have someone sustaining us, someone who is holding us up, who is helping us. They see that and that fragrance starts influencing them. So we can make a difference in people's lives. We can show them that they are not helpless. If they can just come to the Lord Jesus, their lives also can be changed. And they begin to realize that sin is not as powerful and the evil spirits in Satan are not that difficult to overcome because here we are believers doing it on a daily basis. So they realize that, oh, okay, you know, these people are not living under the fear of all these evil spirits and if they are able to overcome, then maybe the Satan and his evil ones and his evil spirits are not really as great and as powerful and as scary as we thought we too can overcome them. So it helps them to get a godly perspective of this entire situation of life and all of that. So that's the second main reason why we choose to strive towards holiness and live overcoming lives. The third one is, of course, so that we individually as believers can be fruitful. Nobody likes to live an entire lifetime put in so much hard work and then, you know, find out at the end that they didn't achieve anything. Their life was utterly fruitless, useless. Who on earth would ever want that? Every little thing that we do for God, it's our desire, that it is somehow bearing some fruit, that it's making an impact for God's kingdom in some way. I mean, that's the desire with which we do it, right? No one does it just because of out of a sense of duty saying, oh, fine, I have to go and do this because it's my duty and so I will do it. Nobody ever does these things passively. We do it because we genuinely want to believe that these little efforts that we are putting in are somehow making a difference, you know, for the kingdom of God and it's bringing pleasure to the heart of God in some way. So that is the reason why we do what we do. So it is so important that we, you know, understand why we are putting in all this effort. 2nd Peter 1 versus 8 and 9. If someone can read out, 2nd Peter 1, 8 and 9. 2nd Peter 1 versus 8 and 9. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Yes, and what are these, you know, it says, for if you possess these things, you know, possess these qualities, it's talking about the earlier verse. 2nd Peter 1 verse, you know, 6 and 5, 6 and 7, where it talks about how to your faith, you add goodness and to your goodness, you add knowledge and your knowledge, you add self-control. You're kind of adding something more to the qualities which you already have in Christ. You know, you keep adding on to it. Why so that? It says you will be kept from being ineffective and unproductive. So nobody wants that. It says over here, whoever does not have them is near-sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. So they live defeated, the ones who are blind. They live defeated lives because they are not adding on to what has already been given to them. So at the moment of salvation, when that person places their faith in Jesus Christ, you know, that's also, it's also a gift we saw, right? Nobody is able to believe on their own. They are given the gift of faith to be able to believe in Jesus and that is how they are able to do that so that nobody can boast. So once they have received this gift of faith, you are expected to keep adding on to that the other things which are available to you now in the treasure house of the kingdom of God. So which is why it says over here, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness and to support this goodness which you are now gaining to support that with knowledge and then whatever knowledge you are gaining on a daily basis to add to that self-control so that you are able to use that knowledge in a wise manner in your everyday practical circumstances and then to that self-control you add endurance because at times it becomes really difficult and then you start adding endurance to that. You don't just say, oh, good nice now I receive this gift of faith and you don't just sit over there with that gift of faith. You add on all the other things that are available to you from the treasure house. You continue to raid that treasure house. Continue to draw upon all that is available to you in Christ. You keep doing that so that one day you will be able to stand complete. You will not be ineffective. You will not be unproductive but rather you will accomplish what you were meant to. You will be able to fulfill the things that God has for your life. It says, add to whatever you already have keep adding daily and when you do that then it says we will be able to live fruitful lives. When we talk about fruitfulness we talk about fruitfulness in two senses. We talk about fruitfulness in all that we do in the sense whatever I am doing it has made some impact for the kingdom. It has accomplished something in the spiritual realm. It has brought pleasure and joy to the father's heart. We talk about fruitfulness in that sense and there is also the other aspect of fruitfulness where you start becoming like Jesus himself. That of course is talked about in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 23 where it talks about that one single fruit of the spirit which starts showing in your life. People who look at you start seeing this one single fruit. What is this one single fruit of the spirit which they see in your life? It is the love and the joy and the peace and the forbearance and the kindness and the goodness and the faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All of this is basically that one fruit of the spirit. It is basically his nature, it is who he is. So literally who Jesus is you know all the love and the joy and the kindness and the faithfulness and all that which he has in him that starts showing up in your life. You start looking like that when people look at you that is what they start seeing and how does that happen? It just happens when you choose to walk by the spirit you choose to be led by him rather than living by the flesh you choose to follow the spirit. So on a daily basis even as you are learning to overcome even as you are striving towards holiness you resist the temptations which come your way you overcome the worldly standards which others are very happily giving into you do all of that with the help of the Holy Spirit he needs you step by step so even as you are walking in the step with the spirit and not fulfilling the other lusts of the flesh and the temptations of the world and giving into the attacks of the evil one even as you are refusing to just give up even as you are walking in faith you actually start looking like Christ when people look at you they will see love, they will see joy peace, forbearance kindness, goodness they will start seeing all of these things so we will be fruitful in the sense that whatever we have done will bear good results some kind of eternal benefit and we also strive towards being fruitful in who we are becoming as persons where we become more and more like Christ so we keep in mind that we are going through this rather difficult process of overcoming so that we can bring joy to our Father and one day when we go and stand in front of the judgment seat of Christ we can have the assurance that we lived in a way that imitated him that imitated Christ, that imitated our elder brother so we will have that assurance that we have done it in the right manner the second reason why we live the overcoming life is so that the world which is watching desperately looking for role models when they see our lives they will feel hope they will think that maybe my life too can change in the same way this person's life is getting changed it puts hope in their hearts and third we do it because each of us has been called with a calling I don't mean just a calling for full time ministry because we all have different kinds of callings we have callings as parents there are callings that we have in society because of the roles that God has given to us in society in reaching out to people there are callings which we have which are expressed in our workplace where we touch people's lives in different ways in that work environment where we are working on some secular project but God is using us over there he has a calling for us over there so we all have this desire to be to be successful in fulfilling these callings and he will make it happen even as we keep our eyes focused upon him and so we choose to be overcoming so that we can be fruitful for the kingdom of God so this was more like a summation of all that we have looked at over the past three months I think so we are basically done with the course now if anyone at all wants to ask any doubts or questions you can do that otherwise we will close with the word of prayer and of course I will post the assessment so we had 50 questions in the multiple choice questions in the midterm we will do that again now for the final you will have another 50 multiple choice questions and the portion for this will be from wherever we had stopped I suppose I don't particularly remember but I think overcoming life is not something that we have touched in the assessment the previous assessment that we had it dealt with that whole concept of holiness understanding the holiness of God why we need to be holy all of that and we also I am pretty sure covered the portion on repentance and that whole thing that whole repentance section also I think got covered in your last assessment so for this assessment the portion will most probably be just the overcoming life so all the chapters which we covered in the overcoming life that will form the portion for this semester for this particular exam so any questions at all otherwise we will just close with the word of prayer oh yeah thank you but yeah any questions and yeah I admit that all that we have covered it's not easy it can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit but that should not be a statement which makes us feel defeated because this power of the Holy Spirit is literally the resurrection power of God so it has no limits to what it can accomplish through us so even the least in the kingdom of God has got this resurrection power that we are creating in them so we never have to feel that oh I will not be able to overcome yes we will all be able to overcome so yes I think there are no questions so let's just conclude with the word of prayer and you know commit ourselves into the Lord's hands thank you so much Lord for all that we could cover over the last three months Lord there are so many lessons that you taught us there are things that were impressed upon our hearts when you directly spoke something to us directly regarding our own personal situations so we pray oh Lord that we will walk in all of these things that you have revealed to us you enable us, you equip us from our side all we are asked to do is to walk in step with the Spirit the rest of it you will do through your Spirit so you are the one who will give us the power you are the one who will enable us you are the one who will give us the strategy to overcome the evil one whenever he attacks you are the one oh Lord who will guide us in all of these things from our side all we are being asked to do is to take up our cross and be willing to listen to you and submit to you and obey trustingly even when it is very very difficult if we can just cooperate from our side then you oh Lord will take care of the rest so much oh Lord that you have given us this assurance on our own we could never make it but in you oh Lord victory is guaranteed except for those who choose to be lazy for everyone else victory is guaranteed if we can set aside our spiritual laziness oh Lord we can accomplish great things um through you so we pray oh Lord that you would help us to give up on all spiritual laziness that we will effectively overcome the flesh and overcome the world oh Lord and cancel the works of the evil one every time he makes an attempt to overcome us so we pray that you would oh Lord help us you make us victors oh Lord thank you Lord in Jesus name amen amen so thank you and have a good week and regarding the prayer you know which Enoch had mentioned I will follow up on that and we will see what can be done alright here thank you so much thank you thank you so much thank you


But if this legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful, painful for everyone.  And I have nothing, nothing but time. And I am going to use all of it if people think that they're going to wear me down. If yesterday didn't show you that you can't wear me down, you cannot wear me down. I literally left the floor yesterday, went up to my office, and laid down on the floor. I laid down on the floor, hard floor, and took a 20 minute nap before going to committee hearings. You cannot stop me. I will not be stopped. If LB574 gets an early floor debate and moves forward, it will be very painful for this body. That was Nebraska Democratic Senator Makayla Kavanaugh warning her colleagues in the legislature that in the event they pass LB574, there is going to be hell to pay. Now what is the bill that she's referring to? Well, LB574 is a brazenly anti-trans bill that would inflict a lot of harm on trans people in the state of Nebraska. As Insider explains, LB574 or the Let Them Grow Act would ban doctors in the state from performing or referring anyone under the age of 19 for gender-affirming care, including surgical procedures, hormone treatment, and puberty blockers according to a release about the proposed bill. So that right there is what she's fighting against. It would do actual harm. These authoritarian Republicans are saying that they have the authority to override what parents want, and even though they have no medical expertise whatsoever, they can even override what doctors say is medically necessary care. For some adults, I mean 19 years old, they're honestly saying that adults at that age don't have the right or shouldn't have the right to express themselves with regard to their gender. It's insane and it would cause pain. They know that this would increase suicidality, but that's the point. Like the cruelty is the point. They know that what they're going to do will inflict pain. But Kavanaugh says, okay, have it that way. If you want to inflict pain on them, I'm going to inflict pain on you. So what is her strategy?  Insider continues, a Democratic lawmaker in Nebraska on Thursday vowed to filibuster every bill the GOP led legislature tried to pass to stop the state from passing bans on abortion and transgender health care. Quote, I want to annoy you.  Senator McKayla Kavanaugh told the Nebraska legislature at a meeting Thursday night, local CBS News outlet KMTV reported at Thursday night session, Kavanaugh was heard filibustering through legislative bill 147 KMTV reported, but she isn't stopping there. She promised they would be hearing from her on every bill being presented during this term. Quote, this body decided they want me to go on. I don't know what we want to call this my vendetta on behalf of trans kids, because this is how the session is going to be for every bill Kavanaugh said KMTV reported. Damn. That right there is what it looks like to wield power effectively. This is what you do when you don't have a majority in Congress in any state legislature.  That is genuinely brilliant. It takes stamina. It takes a lot of energy, but she's doing it because she knows that stopping this bill from going through would potentially save lives. And that's not hyperbole. Again, if you deny medically necessary gender affirming care to this portion of the population that is already at increased risk of suicide, this could lead to many trans kids killing themselves. So she's saving lives here by doing this potentially. And what she's doing is noble.  So let's listen to her explain her strategy in more detail on MSNBC. This was from a couple of days ago. Well, tell me how this works in practical terms. I know that it's a 90 day session, I think we're in like day 36. And with the way the filibuster rules work, you can effectively spend hours, you can use up hours of the legislative clock and calendar for anything without anything coming up to a vote through this tactic. By using this tactic, what do you think you could logistically accomplish in terms of stopping legislation, stopping the legislature from governing? Well, by my back of the envelope math, we have approximately 518 maximum hours left of debate this session. And that means that we could pass potentially no more than 42 bills. And that's not very many for the entire legislative session. And this is a long session. And that means we have to pass a budget. So I'm just going to practically make sure that my colleagues have to make a choice about what it is they want to do, what our job is, and is our job to legislate hate, or is our job to govern and work on tax cuts and work on the economy. So I'm forcing their hand. And you're calling the question as to what they are doing and what they do want to spend their legislative hours and their capabilities on.  Let me ask what this strategy entails from you. I know you spent Thursday and Friday talking for hours on the floor. I understand part of that time you were fighting a cold and a sore throat. I mean, presumably this is physically kind of a big ask just for yourself being able to do this as a human. Yes. Well, it turns out I had strep throat. Oh, which I didn't know. Yeah, that was a fun. So I apparently I can literally filibuster through a virus that attacks your vocal chords and that I'm proving I'm willing to do. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. This is too important. I think it's important for us to focus on what it is we're responsible to do as state legislators as legislators across the country. What is our job? Our job is public policy. Our job is not to legislate hate. But at the end of the day, this is going to hurt children.  I don't care how tired I am. I am not going to look back on this moment in time and say I didn't do everything that I possibly could to fight for and protect children, especially our most vulnerable children, which are trans youth. Incredible.  But she doesn't have to turn a blind eye because this doesn't affect her family as a lawmaker as a public servant. She knows that she has to fight for people in this state. And that means putting herself on the line, staying there, not leaving, talking nonstop to help these families who send her there to represent them. And what she's doing is a public service. And not only that, I think she's created this blueprint that other Democratic lawmakers need to follow around the country. And it's not the only bill that she's filibustering, by the way, that's bad. They also are proposing a heartbeat bill in Nebraska that would ban more abortions. So what she's doing here is really important. And I just want to dream for a moment if Democratic lawmakers in all states had the courage to do something like this, because obviously Nebraska isn't the only state where Republicans are proposing deeply harmful policies. For example, Texas lawmakers introduced a brazenly discriminatory bill that would give tax cuts exclusively to straight couples that have kids while excluding gay couples who adopt. So imagine if a Democrat in Texas filibustered every single bill until that was defeated. Iowa Republicans proposed a bill ban and gay marriage in the year 2023. Tennessee is poised to become the first state to ban drag performances. I mean, there's been over 300 anti LGBTQ plus bills proposed in 2023 alone, most of them anti trans bills. So imagine if rather than just speaking out against these policies, Democrats in these states actually wielded power effectively and blocked them. I mean, this isn't the only strategy filibustering every single bill isn't the only thing that you can do in my state of Oregon, for example. Well, Republicans just left. So the legislature couldn't actually reach a quorum to pass climate change legislation. There's that as well. There are things that you can do to block these bills that are very harmful if you are in the minority. And I just want more people, more representatives to be clear to learn from politicians like Kavanaugh, who I think are just fierce and really, really instrumental in protecting our civil rights and civil liberties. I mean, imagine how much pain and suffering Democratic lawmakers around the country could prevent by being as courageous as Makayla here. Now, what's interesting is that you would think that this is something that is just going to appeal to Democrats, but even some Republican voters might like what these Democratic lawmakers are doing, because believe it or not, these anti-trans bills, they're not actually popular. At least in the deep red state of Kentucky, as trans activist Aaron Reid points out, a new poll shows that 71% of people in Kentucky oppose laws that ban gender, affirming care, even 62% of Republicans oppose these laws, yet Republican politicians waste political capital on them anyway.  Wyoming Republicans, for example, are trying to rein in their party's hyper fixation on culture war issues. So what Kavanaugh is doing isn't just popular. More importantly, it's moral. Fighting for disadvantaged people, fighting for marginalized people is exactly what politicians should be doing. So if every single Democratic politician around the country did what she did, I think we'd be in a much, much better place. So watch and learn, Democrats, because she just showed you that the situation isn't hopeless if you don't hold power. You can still do a lot as a member of the minority party in government. So do it.


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