Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Minister Max Lucado – Powerful Preaching on Why You Must Think About What You Think
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Well, you can win this war on worry.
- 0:04Speaker 2: You really can.
- 0:06Speaker 1: You can say goodbye to anxiety. You can say farewell
- 0:09Speaker 1: to fret. Anxiety does come with life, but it doesn't
- 0:13Speaker 1: have to run our lives. God has a solution. God
- 0:17Speaker 1: has a prescription for anxiety. And it's found in the
- 0:21Speaker 1: book of Philippians. And this summer, we're going phrase by
- 0:24Speaker 1: phrase through this wonderful promise. The words are about to
- 0:28Speaker 1: appear on the screen. Maybe you've memorized the passage by now.
- 0:31Speaker 1: If so, you don't need to look at the words.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Just say it. If not, read the words. Let's all
- 0:36Speaker 1: say the passage together. I encourage you to sit up
- 0:39Speaker 1: straight and fill your lungs with air and your hearts
- 0:41Speaker 1: with hope and say this passage like you mean it.
- 0:45Speaker 1: Are you ready? Here we go. Rejoice in the Lord always.
- 0:57Speaker 1: The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but
- 1:01Speaker 1: in everything and the peace of God. Whatever things are true,
- 1:23Speaker 1: whatever things are just.
- 1:26Speaker 2: Whatever things are pure, Great job.
- 1:40Speaker 1: Before I pray, I want to say thank you on
- 1:42Speaker 1: behalf of Dean Lynn and myself for the prayers and encouragement.
- 1:48Speaker 1: Dean Lynn's mom went to be with the Lord just
- 1:51Speaker 1: a few days ago. We said goodbye to her last Monday.
- 1:54Speaker 1: We appreciate so much your encouragement and thoughts. Roma Dean
- 1:58Speaker 1: Preston was a one of a kind woman who didn't
- 2:01Speaker 1: have to change much to become a resident of heaven.
- 2:04Speaker 1: She was already angelic. We miss her, but we're looking
- 2:08Speaker 1: forward to seeing her soon. Thank you, Lord, for great
- 2:12Speaker 1: people like her. Thank you so much, Father, for this
- 2:15Speaker 1: opportunity that you've given us. We bless you, Lord, and
- 2:19Speaker 1: ask that you forgive our speaker. His sins are too
- 2:21Speaker 1: many to count. We pray that you'd have mercy upon us,
- 2:25Speaker 1: that we might see Christ as Christ. And through Christ,
- 2:29Speaker 1: we pray. And all the church said. In her short
- 2:35Speaker 1: 13 years, Rebecca Taylor has endured a bout with severe
- 2:39Speaker 1: pancreatitis that has resulted in more than 55 surgeries and procedures,
- 2:45Speaker 1: approximately 1,000 days in the hospital, and all in all,
- 2:50Speaker 1: a ride on a roller coaster. that never stops. Kristen,
- 2:55Speaker 1: Rebecca's mom, talks about pancreatic complications with the ease of
- 3:00Speaker 1: a surgeon. The vocabulary of most mothers includes phrases like
- 3:07Speaker 1: cafeteria food and cell phone and slumber party. Kristen knows
- 3:12Speaker 1: this vernacular as well, but she's also acquainted with words
- 3:16Speaker 1: like blood cells and stents. And most recently, hemorrhagic A
- 3:23Speaker 1: few months ago, she wrote these words in her blog.
- 3:27Speaker 1: This past week's new landmine was the phrase hemorrhagic stroke,
- 3:33Speaker 1: a phrase I heard dozens of times by numerous physicians.
- 3:37Speaker 1: Over and over and over, I was hit with a
- 3:40Speaker 1: possible affliction that filled my mind and consumed my thoughts,
- 3:44Speaker 1: an affliction that not only had not happened but might
- 3:48Speaker 1: not ever happen and yet crippling nonetheless. This past Sunday,
- 3:55Speaker 1: our preacher, Max Locato, started a very fitting series on anxiety.
- 4:00Speaker 1: And we reviewed the familiar Philippians 4-6 passage. Do not
- 4:05Speaker 1: be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
- 4:09Speaker 1: with thanksgiving, present your request to God. I presented my
- 4:13Speaker 1: request to the Lord as I had done so many
- 4:16Speaker 1: times before. But this time, this time, I needed more.
- 4:21Speaker 1: And so, using Philippians 4, 8, and 9 as a guide,
- 4:25Speaker 1: I found my answer. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, what
- 4:32Speaker 1: was true in my life at this particular moment? Answer,
- 4:36Speaker 1: the blessing of all my family members eating together. Whatever
- 4:40Speaker 1: is noble, the blessing of enjoying each other's presence outside
- 4:45Speaker 1: of a hospital room. Whatever is right, the blessing of
- 4:49Speaker 1: experiencing my two sons' daily lives. Whatever is pure, the
- 4:55Speaker 1: blessing of all three children laughing and playing with each other.
- 4:59Speaker 1: Whatever is lovely, the blessing of watching Rebecca sleep peacefully
- 5:03Speaker 1: in her bed at night. Whatever is admirable, the blessing
- 5:07Speaker 1: of an honorable team working tirelessly on Rebecca's care. If
- 5:12Speaker 1: anything is excellent, the blessing of watching a miracle unfold.
- 5:16Speaker 1: Or praiseworthy, the blessing of worshiping a Lord who is
- 5:19Speaker 1: worthy to be praised. Think about such things. I stopped
- 5:24Speaker 1: the dreaded phrase hemorrhagic stroke from sucking joy out of
- 5:29Speaker 1: my life. Its power to produce anxiety was now rendered impotent.
- 5:35Speaker 1: And when I dwelt on the bountiful blessings in my
- 5:38Speaker 1: life happening at this very moment, the peace of God,
- 5:42Speaker 1: which transcends all understanding, did guard my heart and my
- 5:47Speaker 1: mind In Christ Jesus. A true unexpected miracle. Thank you Lord.
- 5:55Speaker 1: Now did you see what Kristen did? She practiced thought management.
- 6:00Speaker 1: She stopped the dreaded phrase from sucking joy out of
- 6:03Speaker 1: her life. She took time to think about what she
- 6:06Speaker 1: was thinking about. Hemorrhagic stroke was a phrase hovering over
- 6:13Speaker 1: her life like a South Texas thundercloud. But rather than
- 6:18Speaker 1: think she had to stay with that thought in her life,
- 6:21Speaker 1: she took that thought and walked it to the exit
- 6:24Speaker 1: door and told it to leave. I think the apostle
- 6:27Speaker 1: Paul would have been very proud. You probably know this,
- 6:32Speaker 1: but in case you don't, I'm so happy to let
- 6:35Speaker 1: you in on some good news. You select your thoughts.
- 6:42Speaker 1: You do. You didn't select your birthplace. You didn't select
- 6:47Speaker 1: your birth date. You didn't select your parents or siblings.
- 6:51Speaker 1: You don't determine the weather. You don't get a vote
- 6:53Speaker 1: on how much salt goes in the ocean. There are
- 6:57Speaker 1: many things in life over which you and I have
- 6:59Speaker 1: no say. But the greatest and most important activity in
- 7:04Speaker 1: your life is one over which you have absolute dominion.
- 7:08Speaker 1: You get to choose what you think. You are the
- 7:13Speaker 1: air traffic controller of your mental airport. You determine which
- 7:19Speaker 1: thoughts get to land and which thoughts need to leave.
- 7:22Speaker 1: You sit in the control tower directing the mental traffic
- 7:25Speaker 1: of your world. If a thought lands, it is because
- 7:30Speaker 1: you gave it permission to do so. If a thought departs,
- 7:34Speaker 1: it's because you commanded it to do so. You select
- 7:38Speaker 1: your thoughts. For that reason, the wise man urges, be
- 7:44Speaker 1: careful what you think. Because your thoughts run your life.
- 7:52Speaker 1: Thoughts have consequences. Do you want to be happy tomorrow?
- 7:56Speaker 1: Then sow seeds of happiness today. Do you want to
- 8:02Speaker 1: be cranky and irritable and downcast tomorrow? Then just crawl
- 8:08Speaker 1: into the mud pit of anxiety and guilt and negativism today.
- 8:15Speaker 1: We become... What we believe. This was the teaching of Jesus.
- 8:19Speaker 1: A couple of blind men once asked him for healing.
- 8:23Speaker 1: And he responded by saying. Do you really believe I
- 8:27Speaker 1: can do this? They said. Why yes master. And he
- 8:32Speaker 1: touched their eyes. And said. Become. What you believe. We
- 8:38Speaker 1: become what we believe. Healthy. Thinking. Results. In healing. Or
- 8:48Speaker 1: another way of saying it, healing begins with healthy thinking.
- 8:54Speaker 1: Your challenge is not your challenge. Your challenge is the
- 8:57Speaker 1: way you think about your challenge. Your problem is not
- 9:02Speaker 1: your problem. Your problem is the way you look at
- 9:04Speaker 1: your problems. The issue is not the traffic. The issue
- 9:08Speaker 1: is the way you're thinking about the traffic. Your problem
- 9:14Speaker 1: is not your boss. Your problem is the way you're
- 9:17Speaker 1: processing life with your boss. There are many circumstances in
- 9:22Speaker 1: life that we simply cannot change. What we can change
- 9:27Speaker 1: is the way we think about our challenges. We are
- 9:31Speaker 1: the sum of our thoughts. Now Satan knows this. For
- 9:36Speaker 1: that reason, the devil is always messing with our minds.
- 9:40Speaker 3: He is. He is.
- 9:42Speaker 1: He has one aim, and that is to pollute your thoughts.
- 9:45Speaker 1: And he traffics in lies. He traffics in deceits. He
- 9:49Speaker 1: fills the sky with airplanes that carry nothing but anxiety
- 9:54Speaker 1: and fear. And he is doing his best to convince
- 9:57Speaker 1: you and to convince me to let these planes land
- 10:01Speaker 1: in our mind and unload their stinking cargo into our
- 10:06Speaker 1: thought process. He promotes a fraud or a false wisdom
- 10:12Speaker 1: that the Bible describes as earthly, unspiritual and even demonic.
- 10:20Speaker 1: Did you know Satan has never spoken a word of truth?
- 10:25Speaker 1: He has never, never spoken a word of truth. He
- 10:29Speaker 1: lied to Eve in the garden. He lied to King
- 10:32Speaker 1: David in the throne room. He lied to Judas in
- 10:35Speaker 1: the upper room. He lied to Peter at the night
- 10:38Speaker 1: of the trial of Christ. He lies to unbelievers by
- 10:42Speaker 1: blinding their minds. He lives a lie. Jesus said about Satan,
- 10:48Speaker 1: He has always hated the truth because there is no
- 10:52Speaker 1: truth in him. Just as God cannot tell a lie,
- 10:59Speaker 1: Satan cannot tell anything except a lie. He is a
- 11:04Speaker 1: living lie. He is the master of deceit. But the
- 11:10Speaker 1: good news is he's not the master of your mind.
- 11:15Speaker 1: You are. And God will help you direct your thoughts.
- 11:19Speaker 1: You have God on your side. And you have God
- 11:23Speaker 1: helping you learn to manage your thoughts. High on the
- 11:26Speaker 1: priority list of God is this. He wants you to
- 11:30Speaker 1: think and act like Jesus. He wants to transform you
- 11:39Speaker 1: into a new person. By doing what, church? By changing
- 11:44Speaker 1: the way you what? Think. He's going to get inside
- 11:49Speaker 1: your mind and he's going to help you think healthy thoughts.
- 11:53Speaker 1: One of the ways that God helps us do this
- 11:56Speaker 1: is by equipping us with Satan's playbook. Yes, we know
- 12:00Speaker 1: exactly what Satan is up to. Every one of his
- 12:04Speaker 1: thoughts fits into one of three, at least one of
- 12:09Speaker 1: three categories. Godless, negative, and amplified. All of the thoughts
- 12:17Speaker 1: of Satan are godless, negative, and or amplified. So anytime
- 12:30Speaker 1: you find yourself thinking godless thoughts, you know where they
- 12:35Speaker 1: come from. A godless thought is something like, well, God
- 12:39Speaker 1: doesn't care. Or God does not exist. Or if he
- 12:44Speaker 1: does exist, he's not near. Or he can't help me.
- 12:49Speaker 1: Anytime you find yourself wading into a difficulty without consulting God,
- 12:55Speaker 1: then the devil is doing to you what he did
- 12:59Speaker 1: to Eve. He convinced Eve to make a decision about
- 13:02Speaker 1: the forbidden fruit without consulting her creator. This was his
- 13:06Speaker 1: first and this is his oldest trick. He wants you
- 13:09Speaker 1: and me to face problems without facing God. He does
- 13:14Speaker 1: not want God included in the conversation because once God
- 13:18Speaker 1: is included in the conversation, out goes the devil, in
- 13:21Speaker 1: comes hope. So the moment you sense that you're in
- 13:26Speaker 1: the middle of this negative thought pattern and you haven't
- 13:29Speaker 1: thought about God in moments, days, months, then he has
- 13:34Speaker 1: you where he wants you. Because his thoughts are always godless.
- 13:39Speaker 1: Also the thoughts of Satan are always negative. He has
- 13:45Speaker 1: never encouraged anyone anytime. His goal with Job was to
- 13:53Speaker 1: so consume Job's sadness. That Job had no friends and
- 13:58Speaker 1: Job had no hope. His goal with Judas was to
- 14:02Speaker 1: lead Judas to a place that was so dark. that
- 14:06Speaker 1: Judas finally took his own life. Here's what Jesus says
- 14:11Speaker 1: about Satan. He comes with the sole intention of stealing
- 14:18Speaker 1: and killing and destroying. He wants to lead you and
- 14:22Speaker 1: me to a dark place and convince us that no
- 14:26Speaker 1: light will ever come into this dark place. Some of
- 14:31Speaker 1: you are there today. You think no window will ever open.
- 14:36Speaker 1: No light will ever come. That is a lie that
- 14:38Speaker 1: comes straight from the pit of hell. It's a lie.
- 14:43Speaker 1: No life is irredeemable. No life is irredeemable. No person
- 14:48Speaker 1: is unlovable. No problem has absolutely no solution. It may
- 14:54Speaker 1: come with difficulty. But Satan wants us to stay in
- 14:59Speaker 1: this negative world that is dark. And once he has
- 15:03Speaker 1: us there, you know what he does? He turns up
- 15:06Speaker 1: the volume. And the thoughts he distributes are not only
- 15:12Speaker 1: godless and negative, they are amplified. They are overstated. They
- 15:21Speaker 1: are exaggerated. They are irrational. They are inflated. Phrases like,
- 15:28Speaker 1: I'll never get out of this. We'll never get out
- 15:31Speaker 1: of this. I'll never get a job. I'll never lose
- 15:35Speaker 1: this weight. I'll never have friends. Those overstatements, those negative, overwhelming,
- 15:43Speaker 1: amplified statements, those are the mark of the beast himself.
- 15:50Speaker 1: Maybe you've never had those thoughts, but most of us have.
- 15:55Speaker 1: Satan wants to leave us in this kind of thought pattern. Yes,
- 15:59Speaker 1: we are the Some total of our thoughts. And some
- 16:03Speaker 1: people lead thoughts that are nothing but godless, negative, and amplified.
- 16:08Speaker 1: What kind of person would these thoughts create? An anxious,
- 16:14Speaker 1: troubled person. They have nothing but godless, negative, anxious thoughts.
- 16:24Speaker 1: They are surrounded by a swarm of.
- 16:33Speaker 1: Everywhere they turn, they've got gnats everywhere. And they follow
- 16:37Speaker 1: them wherever they go. Do any of you have gnats
- 16:41Speaker 1: buzzing in your head? Well, now you know where they
- 16:45Speaker 1: come from. Now you know you don't have to think them.
- 16:50Speaker 1: Did you know that just because you have a thought,
- 16:53Speaker 1: you don't have to think it? That's a nice idea,
- 16:59Speaker 1: isn't it? Just because you have a thought, you don't
- 17:03Speaker 1: have to think it. You don't have to let it in.
- 17:07Speaker 1: Just because that plane of negativism or godlessness, just because
- 17:12Speaker 1: that plane full of amplified impossibilities and irrational thoughts, just
- 17:16Speaker 1: because it's circling over its head, you don't have to
- 17:19Speaker 1: give it permission to land. You can do what the
- 17:22Speaker 1: apostle Peter says. Peter says, be alert and of sober mind.
- 17:26Speaker 1: Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion
- 17:30Speaker 1: looking for someone to devour. Resist him. Resist him. Standing
- 17:35Speaker 1: firm in the faith. In other words, don't let him
- 17:38Speaker 1: get into your head. Fix your thoughts on what is
- 17:42Speaker 1: true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable.
- 17:51Speaker 1: Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of Praise. Remember,
- 17:56Speaker 1: you're the air traffic controller of your mind. And if
- 17:59Speaker 1: a thought comes into your world, it's because you permitted it.
- 18:03Speaker 1: You are not a victim. You are not left without protection.
- 18:08Speaker 1: God has empowered you to control the thoughts which come.
- 18:12Speaker 1: And since belief precedes behavior, you can correct your behavior
- 18:17Speaker 1: by creating the right beliefs. And your most important job
- 18:22Speaker 1: is to keep Satan's thoughts out And bring God's thoughts in.
- 18:28Speaker 1: So we resist the thoughts of Satan. We identify them.
- 18:32Speaker 1: And we resist them. And then we welcome the thoughts
- 18:36Speaker 1: of God. The thoughts of God are easy to identify.
- 18:41Speaker 1: Because just as the thoughts of Satan are godless. The
- 18:45Speaker 1: thoughts of God are what? God-centered thoughts. The godly thought
- 18:52Speaker 1: quickly calls God into the situation, quickly consults God, quickly
- 18:57Speaker 1: turns attention to God, saying, God, I'm anxious. Would you
- 19:00Speaker 1: help me? God, I'm anxious. Are you sovereign over this? God,
- 19:04Speaker 1: I'm guilty. Is your grace big enough? You go quickly
- 19:08Speaker 1: into the throne room of God. You don't dwell out
- 19:11Speaker 1: here without involving God. You talk to God before you
- 19:14Speaker 1: talk to anyone or anything else. You go quickly to God.
- 19:19Speaker 1: It's not a matter of taking the problems to the bar.
- 19:22Speaker 1: It's not a matter of taking your problems out on
- 19:24Speaker 1: your kids. It's a matter of taking your problems quickly
- 19:27Speaker 1: into the presence of God and leaving them there. Be
- 19:31Speaker 1: anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
- 19:34Speaker 1: let your requests be made known to God. So God
- 19:39Speaker 1: is quickly involved into the conversation. You can do this
- 19:42Speaker 1: and I can too. So godly thinking, I'm sorry, thoughts
- 19:46Speaker 1: from God are quickly God-centered. Thoughts from God are... are
- 19:50Speaker 1: always inspirational. Always inspirational. God quickly brings hope. He is
- 20:00Speaker 1: the Lord of hope. He is the Lord of light.
- 20:03Speaker 1: And he wants to bring encouragement into your world. And
- 20:06Speaker 1: he does so by using this book right here, the Bible.
- 20:13Speaker 1: He equips you with scriptures that will give you strength
- 20:18Speaker 1: with which to stare down the thoughts of the devil.
- 20:22Speaker 1: So when these fearful, anxious thoughts come, you turn quickly
- 20:27Speaker 1: to some passages. Jesus, you said, If anyone is weary,
- 20:32Speaker 1: let him come to me and he'll find rest. Okay, Lord,
- 20:36Speaker 1: here I am. You said that, Lord. Lord, you said,
- 20:40Speaker 1: you taught us to say, the Lord is my shepherd
- 20:42Speaker 1: and I shall not want. Will you be my shepherd
- 20:44Speaker 1: right now? Will you walk me through this? You have said, Lord,
- 20:48Speaker 1: that even if I walk through the flood, I will
- 20:49Speaker 1: not drown. Even though I walk through the fire, I
- 20:51Speaker 1: will not be burned. I'm going to stand upon that, Lord.
- 20:54Speaker 1: Your word says that you can take that which is
- 20:56Speaker 1: evil and you can redeem it and you can turn
- 20:58Speaker 1: it into something good. So at the very moment Satan
- 21:01Speaker 1: is buzzing around you with all of these gnats, you
- 21:04Speaker 1: are waving those thoughts away by using truth out of
- 21:08Speaker 1: the scripture. And God brings inspiration. And he also brings
- 21:14Speaker 1: the truth. His thoughts are always factual. The first thing
- 21:22Speaker 1: the apostle Paul says is meditate on this. Whatever is what? True.
- 21:31Speaker 1: Whatever is true. The devil wants you to go down
- 21:34Speaker 1: a path called possible assumptions. Well, if this happens, then
- 21:39Speaker 1: that's going to happen, then that's going to happen, and
- 21:41Speaker 1: then that's going to happen, and then, oh, it's going
- 21:43Speaker 1: to be terrible. That's where Satan wants you to go. Paul,
- 21:48Speaker 1: inspired by the Holy Spirit, says, no, just meditate on
- 21:50Speaker 1: what is true. What's factual? What's the truth? Well, the
- 21:55Speaker 1: truth is I messed up. I did. But the truth
- 21:58Speaker 1: is God's grace is greater than my sin. Does that
- 22:01Speaker 1: make sense? The truth is we're really struggling to pay
- 22:04Speaker 1: the bills. But the truth is God still loves us.
- 22:08Speaker 1: And he's going to help us. He's going to walk
- 22:10Speaker 1: us through this. The truth is the sermon is long today.
- 22:14Speaker 1: No offense. But the truth is there's something in here
- 22:19Speaker 1: I want to learn. And so we focus on the facts.
- 22:23Speaker 1: We don't, oh, if only we could learn this. We
- 22:27Speaker 1: don't allow Satan to lead us down these rabbit trails
- 22:31Speaker 1: of possibles and what ifs and this is going to
- 22:34Speaker 1: happen and oh my goodness. He wants to lead us
- 22:37Speaker 1: into this world full of alarm and anxiety. There is
- 22:41Speaker 1: no joy out there. There is no joy out there.
- 22:49Speaker 1: But there is peace right here. So don't let Satan
- 22:53Speaker 1: take your thoughts down that trail of assumptions. Jesus said,
- 22:58Speaker 1: the world has enough trouble. Today has enough trouble in today.
- 23:02Speaker 1: Don't worry about tomorrow. So these are the thoughts from God.
- 23:09Speaker 1: Where Satan brings nothing but gnats, God brings what? Gifts.
- 23:15Speaker 1: Aren't I clever? He brings gifts. And this clever, yeah,
- 23:20Speaker 1: go ahead and applaud that. That's just wonderful. I'm just kidding.
- 23:26Speaker 1: But the choice is yours. Every day, you and I
- 23:29Speaker 1: have the choice. Are we gonna live surrounded by gnats?
- 23:33Speaker 1: Are we gonna live surrounded by the gifts of God? Okay,
- 23:37Speaker 1: here's how this works. So tomorrow morning, a message is
- 23:41Speaker 1: left on your cell phone and it's from the doctor's office.
- 23:45Speaker 1: And the doctor says, or his assistant says, Dr. Jones
- 23:49Speaker 1: would like you to come into the office because your
- 23:52Speaker 1: tests are in. What are you going to do with that?
- 23:56Speaker 1: What are you going to do with that? Well, Satan
- 24:01Speaker 1: is right outside the door and he wants to creep
- 24:05Speaker 1: in and he wants to bring with him a swarm
- 24:08Speaker 1: of gnats. He wants you to go down the godless path.
- 24:14Speaker 1: The godless path says, well, if there is a God,
- 24:16Speaker 1: he doesn't care. Things have gone haywire. I got to
- 24:19Speaker 1: fix this myself. Oh no, I must be being punished
- 24:22Speaker 1: for something. He wants you to engage in a self-conversation
- 24:27Speaker 1: that does not include God. He wants to lead you
- 24:31Speaker 1: into a path of negative thinking. Oh, I just knew
- 24:35Speaker 1: it was going to happen to me. You know, my
- 24:37Speaker 1: dad got sick. My mom got sick. My grandma got sick.
- 24:41Speaker 1: I guess it was just a matter of time. You know,
- 24:43Speaker 1: I have been noticing blurry vision lately. I bet I
- 24:46Speaker 1: have a tumor. Oh, my goodness. And then this negative
- 24:50Speaker 1: thought is going to lead to what? Amplified thoughts. Amplified
- 24:57Speaker 1: thoughts like, who's going to raise the kids? Who's going
- 25:01Speaker 1: to pay the bills? I don't think my insurance is
- 25:04Speaker 1: going to handle this. Oh, my goodness. All this happens
- 25:08Speaker 1: just as a result of one phone call. This person,
- 25:12Speaker 1: if they're not sick, is going to be sick by
- 25:15Speaker 1: the time they get to the doctor. Did you know
- 25:18Speaker 1: that the Bible says anxiety... Weighs down the human heart.
- 25:24Speaker 1: Anxiety itself. Can make the heart sick. But there is
- 25:29Speaker 1: a better way. And this better way is prescribed by God.
- 25:33Speaker 1: Again through the pen of the apostle Paul. He says.
- 25:36Speaker 1: Capture every thought. And make it give up. And obey Christ.
- 25:43Speaker 1: Well you talk about an empowering verse. You can do
- 25:46Speaker 1: what Christian did. You can capture the thought. Hemorrhagic. Stroke.
- 25:51Speaker 1: comes into your mind. Well, I'm going to capture that
- 25:53Speaker 1: thought and I'm going to make it give up. I'm
- 25:56Speaker 1: going to make it surrender to the authority of Christ.
- 25:59Speaker 1: So when these thoughts of anxiety come into your world,
- 26:01Speaker 1: you slap handcuffs on them, right? Instead of just letting
- 26:06Speaker 1: them come in, you slap handcuffs on them and you say, well,
- 26:09Speaker 1: wait just a second now. I don't know if you're
- 26:11Speaker 1: from Christ or not. And so you take that anxious
- 26:15Speaker 1: thought and you march it over before Jesus himself who
- 26:18Speaker 1: has all authority in heaven and on earth. And you
- 26:21Speaker 1: just ask him, Jesus, is this anxious thought from you
- 26:25Speaker 1: or not? And he always tells the truth. And he
- 26:30Speaker 1: will help you say to that thought, Satan, get thee
- 26:33Speaker 1: behind me. He will tell it to leave. And when
- 26:37Speaker 1: Jesus removes an anxious thought, he always replaces it with
- 26:42Speaker 1: a godly thought. And he will bring a different thought process.
- 26:48Speaker 1: And instead of overreacting to a phone call about needing
- 26:51Speaker 1: to go to the doctor, you will respond like this.
- 26:56Speaker 1: You'll respond with God-centered thinking. Before you call your mom,
- 27:00Speaker 1: before you call your kids, before you call your neighbors,
- 27:05Speaker 1: you're going to call out to God. I mean, you've
- 27:07Speaker 1: not even hung up the cell phone and you're saying, well, Lord,
- 27:10Speaker 1: I'm going to need you on this one. Oh, I
- 27:13Speaker 1: need help. I'm feeling some fear coming, but I believe, Lord,
- 27:16Speaker 1: that you're mightier than this. And then you turn quickly.
- 27:19Speaker 1: And the Holy Spirit, who has assigned the task of
- 27:21Speaker 1: guarding your heart and mind through Christ Jesus and to
- 27:25Speaker 1: give you a peace that passes understanding, he will bring
- 27:28Speaker 1: to your mind verses, some of which you've memorized, some
- 27:32Speaker 1: of which you've heard a preacher say, or some of
- 27:34Speaker 1: which you've seen on a wall, you know, hanging in
- 27:37Speaker 1: somebody's house. These verses will come to your mind and
- 27:41Speaker 1: you will stand on those promises and Be anxious for nothing,
- 27:44Speaker 1: but in everything, by prayer and petition, let your requests
- 27:46Speaker 1: be made known. Okay, God, I'm going to stand right there.
- 27:49Speaker 1: I'm going to be anxious for nothing, but here's my prayer.
- 27:51Speaker 1: Here's my petition. Would you please give me that peace
- 27:54Speaker 1: that passes all understanding? And you'll begin to receive this inspiration.
- 27:59Speaker 1: It's not that it's easy, please, but it is that
- 28:02Speaker 1: it's possible. And it's certainly that anxiety and getting caught
- 28:06Speaker 1: up in the anxiety is an option. Anxiety comes with life.
- 28:11Speaker 1: But it doesn't have to run your life. And so
- 28:15Speaker 1: the godless thoughts are replaced with God-centered thoughts. And the
- 28:21Speaker 1: negative thoughts are replaced with inspirational thoughts. And all those
- 28:24Speaker 1: amplified thoughts are replaced with what? With the truth. With
- 28:29Speaker 1: the fact. Here's the fact. The doctor called. That's the fact.
- 28:36Speaker 1: I don't know why. So I'm not going to chase
- 28:39Speaker 1: the assumptions. I'm not going to assume something is bad
- 28:42Speaker 1: when it's not. For all I know, he may have
- 28:45Speaker 1: good news. For all I know, he may think I'm
- 28:48Speaker 1: such a picture of health, he wants to take a
- 28:51Speaker 1: picture of me and put me on a poster. For
- 28:54Speaker 1: all I know, he may send me on a funded
- 28:56Speaker 1: tour so I can inspire other people to be as
- 28:58Speaker 1: healthy as I am.
- 28:59Speaker 3: Who knows?
- 29:01Speaker 1: Why do we assume that bad is going to happen?
- 29:06Speaker 1: Why do we assume that bad is going to happen?
- 29:08Speaker 1: I'll tell you why. Because there is a devil who
- 29:11Speaker 1: prowls around like a lion looking for someone whom he
- 29:15Speaker 1: may devour. But we're going to resist him and be
- 29:17Speaker 1: firm in the faith. And when those thoughts come, we're
- 29:20Speaker 1: going to stand them down. We're going to take every
- 29:22Speaker 1: thought captive and make it submit to the authority of
- 29:26Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And we're going to receive not the gnats,
- 29:30Speaker 1: those buzzing insects of the devil. We're going to receive
- 29:33Speaker 1: the gift of God, which is a peace that passes
- 29:37Speaker 1: understanding and a gentleness that is made evident to all.
- 29:41Speaker 1: Which would you prefer? Me too. I've never liked gnats
- 29:45Speaker 1: to begin with. Kristen and her family have found this
- 29:51Speaker 1: level of peace. Just a couple of weeks ago, the
- 29:54Speaker 1: family was Went back to Minnesota where earlier in the year,
- 29:58Speaker 1: Rebecca received a transplant. Seven months ago, Rebecca was barely surviving. Now,
- 30:04Speaker 1: just the day before her 13th birthday, Rebecca was full
- 30:08Speaker 1: of life. She was vibrant. She had gained a remarkable
- 30:12Speaker 1: 30 pounds. Her liver was steady and her health was
- 30:16Speaker 1: improving and she was named the transplant team's walking miracle.
- 30:21Speaker 1: The doctors could not imagine with such complications. That she
- 30:25Speaker 1: would be doing so well. Kristen made another entry in
- 30:30Speaker 1: her blog. She wrote just a few days ago. I
- 30:35Speaker 1: watched these interactions with a silent sense of awe. It
- 30:38Speaker 1: is easy to praise God during seasons of wellness. But
- 30:42Speaker 1: it was during my greatest distress. When I felt the
- 30:45Speaker 1: Lord's presence poured upon me. And it was in those
- 30:48Speaker 1: heartbreaking moments. I learned to trust this God. Who provided
- 30:52Speaker 1: unimaginable strength. During unimaginable pain. The apostle Paul calls that.
- 30:59Speaker 1: A peace. That passes understanding.
- 31:02Speaker 2: Amen.
- 31:04Speaker 1: Lord this is our prayer today. That you would grant us.
- 31:08Speaker 1: A new way of thinking. That we would not be
- 31:10Speaker 1: the victim of thoughts. But that we would take our
- 31:13Speaker 1: thoughts captive. Before they take us captive. And that heavenly father.
- 31:19Speaker 1: We would let our thoughts be God centered. We would
- 31:23Speaker 1: let our thoughts come. And bring inspiration from your scripture.
- 31:27Speaker 1: And that we would let our thoughts be factual. Built
- 31:29Speaker 1: on truth. And that we would receive this gift. That
- 31:33Speaker 1: you so want to give us. Father I'm very excited
- 31:36Speaker 1: to offer this prayer. Because I know you will answer it.
- 31:39Speaker 1: Because this agrees with your will.
- 32:28Speaker 3: Thank you. so so.
- 34:43Speaker 2: Thanks for watching!
- 35:15Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 36:33Speaker 2: So Thank you.
- 37:42Speaker 4: Loving you alone feels so beautiful. And yet, it hurts
- 37:53Speaker 4: the most.
- 37:58Speaker 3: You became my quiet sunrise, the dream I never dared
- 38:03Speaker 3: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my breath.
- 38:10Speaker 2: A little away.
- 38:12Speaker 3: Held this love like fragile glass so precious soft and
- 38:18Speaker 3: true but every beat inside my heart was only reaching
- 38:23Speaker 3: out to you unspoken love is sweet and painful like
- 38:31Speaker 3: honey mixed with rain a tender hope i hold so
- 38:36Speaker 3: tightly while it Slowly breaks me. Loving you from just
- 38:43Speaker 3: one side now leaves my soul in silent blue. Cause
- 38:48Speaker 3: the deeper that I fall alone, the lonelier I do.
- 38:57Speaker 3: I can't blame my heart for choosing someone.
- 39:01Speaker 1: It could never keep.
- 39:04Speaker 3: So I smile through hidden heartache and love you quietly.
- 39:10Speaker 3: Unspoken love is sweet and painful like honey mixed with rain.
- 39:18Speaker 3: A tender hope I hold so tightly while it slowly
- 39:24Speaker 3: breaks me. Loving you from just one side now leaves
- 39:29Speaker 3: my soul The lonelier I do. Maybe loving you in
- 39:57Speaker 3: silence is the closest I can stay. Though it leaves
- 40:03Speaker 3: behind a sorrow that may never fade away. Unspoken love
- 40:14Speaker 3: is sweet and painful like honey mixed with rain. A
- 40:20Speaker 3: tender hope I hold so tightly while it Slowly breaks
- 40:26Speaker 3: me loving you from just one side now. Leaves my
- 40:31Speaker 3: soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that I fall alone,
- 40:39Speaker 3: the lonelier
- 40:43Speaker 1: I do.